by Knit

For this month's character feature I’d like to introduce ElysiumGuardian and his character, Faelan! His RP takes place in a fairly modern setting where his protagonist lives as a demon hunter at a top secret organization. He is crass, rude, and quite a bit stubborn. After the death of his sister he recklessly attempts to gain a better footing in the demon hunting world by ironically being bonded to a demon to harness her power. First, we’ll ask the creator himself a few questions and then turn it over to Faelan to answer a few himself. I won’t waste anymore time so let’s jump right in!

Knit:

Well thank you very much for participating in this interview! I'll start off with the question, “What do you see in this character that you see in yourself?”

Elysium:

Well, the concept behind Faelan Bystrom was actually the harder parts of my life. Just missing the better parts, and the obvious lack of fictional stress relief that is killing demons. I try to make my characters distinctly unique though, so I can't say there is too much of myself in my character, or of my character in me. In fact, if anything, he's quite a step away from my actual personality, I like to think things through, and Faelan likes to let anger tell him what to do. I'm pretty health conscious and Faelan can easily consider his best friends to be Captain Morgan and Jack Daniels.

Knit:

What was the inspiration behind this character?

Elysium: 

Oh, I guess I already kind of answered that in question one. RIP. Faelan's past is pretty dark, and I had a rough childhood, but like I said, his isn't something he really grew out of. Instead, it turned him into who he is now, and he lets it fuel him somewhat. He's angry with his life, and takes it out on those around him, something most of my other characters don't have to struggle with. It was an interesting style of writing I hadn't done and wanted to try out.

Knit:

Did your character inspire the plot of your RP or did the RP inspire the character?

Elysium: 

A little bit of both. The overall story behind this RP is a bit darker than any of the other ones I currently have going, so he has a messed up backstory to help fit the more aggressive style of the RP. But on the same note, we had a general idea of our characters and their roles and how that would integrate with the flow of the story. So the story was based a little bit around how the characters would interact before they were ever made.

Knit:

What are some aspects of your character you want to portray the most when RPing?

Elysium: 

Definitely his aggression and inability to handle stress well. While I like to think I make most of my characters have enough flaws to not seem Mary Sue, Faelan definitely takes the cake for my most fucked up character. Dealing with not only being orphaned at a young age by being abandoned, then raised with his twin sister (who recently passed away from cancer) in an orphanage that gets ransacked by demons, on top of his general tendency to cope with stress via violence or alcohol.

Knit:

Is the character creation process something you like to take a lot of time on or do you just play it by ear and let the character develop by themselves?

Elysium:

Most of the time I develop the plot extensively before ever starting the actual roleplay, weeding out any partners who want to [do] just weird furry smut for example. I think that good planning of the actual plot leads to a successful RP, and that any characters with a decent writer will fall into place to match the plot. Faelan had a very basic backstory to go by, and most of it was more made up on the spot to give his character some flavor, but it was designed and inspired by the plot which my partner and I worked on for a few months before ever actually starting. I'd like to think that the on-the-spot style of his character creation works well to match the extensive planning of the plot, since there is a fairly distinct view of what your character will be doing throughout the RP.

Knit:

What advice could you give for developing a character throughout an RP?

Elysium: 

Developing a character should come fairly easy with a dynamic enough character, and that development doesn't always have to be a big ordeal either. Tiny things like having your character try to stop smoking or falling deeper into a bad drinking habit are both changes that people will see reflecting off your character, even giving you some more incentive to explain your characters in style. Explaining how they deal with those changes that they might not have control over can always be a fun opportunity to develop a character, keep them from being a stale Mary Sue.

Knit:

Well alrighty, thank you so much! Let’s go to your character Faelan and ask him a few questions, shall we? So, Faelan, give us a brief explanation of what's happening in your life right now.

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Faelan: 

Well, I've got more issues than I have alcohol, which is a pain in the ass. I have to deal with being in hell, stuck to a lizard I only kind of don't hate, and surrounded by plenty of things I really do hate.

Knit:

Could you explain the kind of world you come from?

Faelan:

Have you not been to Earth? Its name literally means dirt. There's too much to explain about it, and I honestly don't give enough current fucks to be bothered.

Knit:

What do you like people to know about you when you first meet them?

Faelan: 

My favorite kind of booze. It's free by the way. Free booze. A beautiful ass and a couple of regrets go pretty well with that.

Knit:

What do you think the future holds for you?

Faelan: 

Fucking lemons?

Knit:

What are some qualities you wish you could change about yourself?

Faelan: 

I wish I was better at finding alcoholic sunscreen, and worse at finding shit that wants me dead.

Knit:

Why have you resorted to demon hunting in your life?

Faelan: 

Resorted? What makes you think I "resorted" to this? Plenty of normal people willingly join the military. Millions of people have thrown their lives away fighting wars with themselves. I'm doing something a step above that bullshit. Notice how you don't see accounts of demons ripping people to shreds in the streets? That's because people like me enjoy doing what we do. Keeping demons where they belong, hell.

Knit:

Well, um, on that note do you like where you are in your life right now? 

Faelan: 

I am literally in hell.