And no, I don't mean music. By definition: Literary themes are useful for developing and getting an idea of writing literature; of course since it can be argued that roleplaying as an activity and collaborative storytelling is literature, literary themes can be gleamed from your own characters' stories as well. Simply, for each of your active characters, give a list of short phrases to describe the themes of their ongoing story. I'll start: Delari: Toxic positivity, coping with mental illness, deception, love vs. lust Noel: Search for purpose, crisis of identity, deception of self, tired of the status quo, effects of capitalism on the individual, speciesism, man vs. society Hierophant: Double identity, crisis of identity, deception of self, role of religion, violence vs. peace, coping with loss Catia de Guanciale: Breaking of traditional female roles, obsession, lost love, search for love, vengeance and spite, quest for power, desire for freedom, self-hate, cathartic evil, fear of failure, distance from family, desire for rebirth Leda Portia: Immortality, obsession with legacy, power and corruption, war, patriotism, power of words, rebirth, pride, loss of past values,
fuck it I'll drop the seaweed character for this post only because its kinda pog Zinaida Porokh: An undying love for the very act of living, murder of self, relevancy for the sake of being remembered. Survival through the loss of ones self. Love of every aspect of life, from pain to ecstasy. Control over what makes a person them. Liu Aledigger: The unending battle between addiction and hope, forgetting the past for the future, the search for family, yearning for a home as a nomad. Homelessness regardless of material wealth. Robin Icebells: Envy, the insecurity of a younger brother, leaving the shadows of their past, achieving something unachievable for the sake of beating said shadows. Unluckiest lucky man. Festive violence. got more but these are the only mfs I regularly use on GC so lul
woops forgot Bee Bitch: want to fuck a girl dressed as a bee not as much as a clown tho because the clussy hit diff
Belle: Small person in a tough world. Self-discovery. Finding your friends. Struggle against being corrupted by your environment. Lost love. Search for love. Facing fears. Tahi: Anything for peace. Vigilantism. Paranoia. Discontentment with the world. Desire for improvement. Thrill-seeking. Rebellion. Outcast by your own people. Cedric: Struggle to make ends meet. Vigilantism. Misfit. Troubled youth. Healthy (and unhealthy) anger outlets. Conflict of values. Love vs lust. Open relationships. Modest living. Creak: Blind bravery. Primitive man in an advanced world. Growing up in a savage land. Desire for adventure. Stoicism. Hatred of money. Self-sufficiency. Standing up for others.
Mir: Searching for Stability in a Chaotic World, Clinging to Innocence, Clinging to Friendship, Struggling to Stand Up for Oneself. Purple Palm: Coming of Age, Struggle for Autonomy, Optimism, Inevitability of Change
Jura: New loud world, loneliness, upkeeping the peace and traditions, appreciation of company. Lack of understanding and rejection of modern life and technology. Generally very happy with her life. Glad to be of help. Craves a crate of chocolate. Misery: Titular pain, stress, constant struggle with no hope of relief, seemingly neverending anger and trouble, regret around every corner, getting used to the brutal Fringe, being tortured both physically and mentally, humiliated, being a crippled mutant, betrayed by friends and her love. Emotions swinging between anxiety, obsession, lust, empiness and confidence. Rude, difficult character grinding against common etiquette, yet very highly valuing honesty. Rock-stubborn, passionate, indomitable vigor. Invisible, deperate grasping for life that runs like a train. Severe amnesia leaving the mind in shards and casting shade over lost chapters.
Hi hello I'm about to fucking destroy this thread. This took me two hours to finish. Masina: cycles of abuse, overcoming the odds, disassociation of the self, karmic cycles, moving past trauma, righteous anger, fate vs free will, ancestral influence, catharsis Milani: religious persecution, the human aspect of evil, addictive personality, memory vs reality, paranoia, search for belonging, spiritualism, love vs lust, public presentation vs reality, hidden self, true desires Leon: past vs future, positive male influence, empathy vs apathy, luck, the effects of social isolation, survivors guilt, vengeance, true kindness and generosity, what it means to remember, the importance of memories Kannon: running from yourself, sympathetic evil, self hate, mental illness, excessive cruelty, obsessive love, splintered psyche, scientific genius, the limits of cloning technology, selfishness Nifra: extreme dysphoria, extreme dsymorphia, extreme social anxiety, self isolation, the affects of parental abuse, innocence, how society disenfranchise the uneducated and mentally ill, feeling deserving of persecution Tigra: self indulgence, hedonism, nature vs nurture, toxic relationships, what it means to love, the effects of celebrity, pursuit of power, the mentality of a serial killer, the things necessity will drive someone to, caring vs cruelty Glitter: innocence in children, the effects of schizophrenia, the faults of the adoption system, the horrors of scientific experimentation, body horror, what it means to be human Nash: old vs new, the fragility of the human condition, pursuit of revenge, obsession, rage, finding beauty in death, what it means to be alive, nontraditional relationships, loss of humanity Mona: what it means to be a good mother, finding comfort in tradition, national progress, seeing truth in deception, hidden anger, domestic bliss, political responsibility, compliance vs morality Aluna: the effects of social media, the negatives of sex work, familial bonds, the flaws of organized religion, identity, the difficulty of immigration and cultural assimilation, the struggles of an artist
Fenyang: New horizons, desire for fortune, continuity of family, cultural indifference, identity, curiosity Rose: Discontentment with life, coping with extreme trauma, learning to be a parent, letting go of the past Moon: Fighting primal instinct, acceptance of family, domestication And now for some optional ones from past characters: Lange: Immortality, lust for power, drive for scientific growth, vengeance and spite, questioning morality, loss of humanity
Abraxas Kane: Desire for redemption. Power for peace's sake. Selfishness vs Altruism. Building something new from the old. Trying to be a good father. Aries: Love vs Hate. Regret. Living with mistakes. Bad habits dying hard. Finding peace in quiet. Lost with himself.
Caligula: Failed outcome of a carefree attitude. Looking for forgiveness from himself by changing his motives. Trying to spark a new wave of free people. Despise of life values, seeing them as a boundary that enslaves masses. Freestyle fanatic
Gossa- Gossa is my most complex and warped character when it comes to themes as she's designed specifically to be disgusting perversions of the typical literary themes one would come across. She's an extremely conflicted character when it comes to her themes as their antitheses often overlap with each other. Intelligence vs. Stupidity, cognitive dissonance. Excessive pride, self-loathing. Effects of nihilism on mental health. Effects of optimism on mental health. Hostility & why it's bad. Hostility & why it's good. Excessive raunchiness. Sycophant vs. Realist. Bipolarity & mental health. Brain damage. Praxis- Praxis's themes center around religion as she is a theocentric individual. Her faith in Kluex is intertwined uniquely with her in a way that doesn't appear in other characters. While she is a pious individual she cannot shake the doubts and judgement she gets for her faith in Kluex and as such is beginning to look down upon her own worship system, becoming ashamed of what she is. Overall I'd call this "fall from grace," theming but twisted in such a way that "grace" isn't particularly a good thing. Fall from grace, questioning religion. Questioning morality, religion as a catalyst for action. Effects of extreme discipline on the individual. Preservation of history. Cadcara- Cadcara is very new but she has the most "external" of themes, less relating to internal struggles and more working with cool technology and its effects on the body rather than the mind as Cadcara is a very mentally stable individual, especially so for a subhuman. Cybernetics, transhumanism, and isolation of personifying traits. Flesh vs. machine. Stuff like that. Nailhorn- Nailhorn is extremely full of themselves and every interaction one will have with them will slowly tilt towards being about them. They are so sure of themselves that they will do basically anything you ask of them as long as it gives them gratification that they are, in fact, better than the realspace normie that they are facing in that specific area. Themes I'd apply to Nailhorn are those often attributed to royalty-aligned characters despite Nailhorn only being a beta. Ironically, despite being a visitant and extremely bizarre to most others, Nailhorn has the most basic and cookie-cutter characterization of my characters, which goes to show dipsticks can exist in any dimension. Pride and prejudice, reputation, entitledness. Class dysphoria. Excessive haughtiness. Perceived power vs actual power. Oh yeah, and then there's bingus. Isis and her brother are a representation of duality with Isis being the "light" side of the spectrum. Think of the yin-yang. Innocence, pacifism. Optimism, gender roles... Stuff like that.
I'm going to probably edit in more of these as I think of them Zelis: Moving past trauma, finding love, naivety of the world, overcoming despair, self-delusion
Aria's the only one with clear themes, I think. She's probably my most thought-out character, all in all... which is why she also showed up in that recent inspiration thread all by herself. She has themes of artificial intelligence versus organic, and a lack of understanding of what she is. She's delusional, in very subtle ways that don't come through easily to the people around her; she thinks she's not fine for clear reasons, but she's both worse off than she thinks and for much different reasons than she thinks. I have a hard time putting her themes into a few words like the others, but... eh. Fuck it, a paragraph will do.
Dave – (Former) fall from grace, loss of innocence, quest for power, self-reliance, identity, arrogance and hubris, technology, what it means to be human. Transhumanism and immortality CE – Pride as downfall, the hazards of isolation, self-reliance, individual vs self, role in society and how it ties to identity and self-worth, denial of reality Kera'tiv – Evils by humanity (literal humanity, not sapientkind as a whole), freedom, convention and rebellion, self-preservation, cultural identity, fear of the other, individual vs. society
Uhh, not gonna dare to do all of my characters, so let's see which ones I think are interesting enough to write down, eh? So... Be prepared for most of this to be the La'Mic council. Teddy - Fringe living. Normalcy in this hellplace. Lesslyn - Megalomania, the lust for power, heartlessness, climbing to the top, manipulation, the loss of oneself in pursuit of power, irredeemability. Zuh'Ko Tran - Unpredictability. Certain uncertainty. Idiocy with purpose. Denial of change. Aestinys Frank - Steadfast in tradition, subservience to rules, getting lost in the time, tradition above all else. Gacquek Peyirdoui - Bullheadedness, saving one's own skin, caustic emotions. Olyivia Brasityier - Copycat, goallessness, the want for something for no end. Draephys Twins - Opposites attracting. Butting heads. Brief clarity amidst confusion. Dysfunctional relationships. Moirai - Wisdom with age, affectionate worldviews, seeing a little too much, joyous crypticism. Cooper - Relationships wearing, growing distant with your loved ones, lack of credit, lack of appreciation, fallout of drastic events. Thorn - Bullheadedness, brawn over brains, kinship through conflict.
James Hargrove: Work-comes-first, Laid back, Straight-shooter, "You do you," Hylotl-friendly, Happy grease-monkey. Randy Goldstar: Outdoorsy, See the stars, "Seen all types", River-of-words, Wannabe Peacemaker, Optimistic, Spring-in-your-step, Set new roots, Gentleman cowboy. (Future Character: *Ardak: Lost it all, Crisis-of-faith, Stubborn, Prideful, Self-critical, Find a new path.) *Up for input.
I'm pretty bad at assessing my own character, but I'll give it a try nonetheless: Lithui: Entrance into society, quest for friendship, desire for semblance, familyhood and origin, optimistic, unsinfully gluttonous, simple life of interest.
