#and if you ever feel devalued in the rpc because of what kind of character youre writing im sorry and you deserve better

[shdwtouch]

While I absolutely agree with the sentiment and think oc positivity is sorely needed, comparing writing canon muses to fast fashion sounds a bit icky to me. I know you don't mean it in a bad way, but it does kinda sound like you're implying that people writing canon characters are putting less love, effort and creativity into their portrayals. Just because there are multiple people writing the same character doesn't cheapen their value, so I'd personally look for some other metaphor.

firstly, just want to say: I have so much anxiety about this message. like I know you're coming from a good place but its confrontation and alarm bells in my head so let me see if I can articulate. ; ; also, I'm posting this from mobile so I apologize for any weird formatting etc owo;

I'm going to stand by my statement (tho I deleted the tags [edit: I did take a screenshot for context sake]) honestly because I definitely was not implying that canon portrayals have less value, in fact I specifically stated that both canon and original characters have value, just like fast fashion and couture have their own values.

let me explain my thought process.

you walk into, say, Walmart and pick up a pair of Levi's. why ? because you've probably worn them before and like them, or heard of them from others and want to try them out. or because you're simply browsing and like the style and color and they're in the right size so why not ? canon muses have that ease of access, whether it be knowing the fandom or simply having a range of content and reviews to go off of as a "consumer".

original characters don't have that luxury; I don't know about other people, but for me sometimes engaging with original characters - and this is coming from someone who writes predominantly fandomless original characters and agonizes over how accessible their lore is - is, well, bottlenecked by my own energy and willingness to engage with the information and content the creator had provided. it's much easier for me, energy wise, to play a video game and then gravitate to muses from it because I'm already familiar with them, so I already have a foot in the door so to speak.

I fucking love reading original lore tho ! I also FUCKING LOVE canon divergence and headcanons ! but it isn't always easy to engage with or incorporate, and I think that's something that impacts a lot of people in how they view ocs compared to canons. original characters just often take more effort to engage with and understand, and that's not a bad thing ! but in a busy life it's understandable that folks want to go to what is comfortable and what they know, so they pick up a pair of Levi's instead of going to get a tailored pair of pants.

next, I should clarify that the characters are clothes, and we, as writers, are the ones who wear those clothes. which is to say, our own personal style and actions play into the overall appearance and feel of our portrayals. two people can take the same shirt and make completely different outfits with it ! maybe one of them decides to crop it, or bleach it, or cut it up and sew it into something new. and all of these things are valid ! and they all have value. you may be wearing the same shirt as someone else, but you still style it the way you want to. you still look different, still unique, still beautiful. there is nothing bad about liking fast fashion or canon characters. fast fashion is convenient, so are canon characters. some canon characters are poorly written and need to be dressed up or fixed to be worn, while others are quality and wonderfully made ! just like clothes ! and honestly, the same applies to original characters too !

the pants I'm wearing right now ? my favorite pair of pants. I've had them for like... four years. and they're still going strong. fast fashion isn't necessarily cheap, just like couture isn't necessarily haute. but again, it's about how you wear it. and everyone in the BG3 rpc wears their clothes, whether they be canon or original, in their own unique, beautiful way ! we all have our own style, and that style provides value to what we're trying to portray. neither canon nor original characters are better than the other, they BOTH have pros and cons. just like fast fashion and couture. they both have value, and their mode or means doesn't detract or add to the value of the final product.

I apologize if it seemed I was implying canon writers aren't as valuable as original writers, or somehow cheaper due to volume, in my tags. I definitely see where you are coming from and that's a valid perspective. However, that was not my intention and I hope I've managed to clarify my stance and explain myself a bit better. thank you for your message, I hope you're well ! sending lots of good vibes ♡

also, in case anyone was curious, my pants:

they are incredibly soft and flowy, very nice. I sleep in them and wear them out. I know they're winter themed but I think they're subtle enough to be worn outside the season, plus they have polar bears on them and I love polar bears !

also, if it's of any value, I have written my fair share of canon characters. I wrote extensively for assassins creed and marvel, in fact that's where I got my start in the rpc ! if I had to carry the metaphor, my "fast fashion" would be my (canon divergent) cli.nt bar.ton. I may have gotten him from marvel but I have since sliced him up and incorporated the pieces of my portrayal into my original projects ♡

#《 ° inbox 》 we just got a letter ! i wonder who its from ? #《 ° puffin.exe 》 im a puffin ! i dont do much #° mobile post ! #and now ? now we hide. *scurries away* pls be gentle with me ; A ; i swear i have no bad intentions and never wanted to start discourse #ive just been watching crafting videos and the metaphor jumped out at me idk but yeah i love both oc and canons #i know how much love and effort goes into both writing canon and original characters ♡ they are both valuable #and if you ever feel devalued in the rpc because of what kind of character youre writing im sorry and you deserve better

[madamhatter]

Just wanted to touch up on something that comes up frequently as a visible challenge Sophie faces: her seeming inability to leave her current circumstances and following her dreams/beliefs/etc.

(Head’s up: under the readmore contains my observations in the RPC and a minor complaint mixed with HC).

In all verses, this is an arc that Sophie usually goes through (or has gone through) that takes a great toll on her and takes a long time for it to be completed. This has a presence in most aspects of herself including her ambitions, self-perception, relationships and much more. Some are indirectly influenced by this like when it comes to romantic relationships. This manifests in her having issues with long-term relationships. This ranges from believing any relationship with her is doomed, relationships that do happen may continue existing only if she provides/she has use, and generally, it is not possible for her to keep one since her misfortune will directly make her partner unhappy. 

Overall, this aspect of her character is largely ingrained in her and greatly impacts everything she does and everything she believes herself to be. 

While this rarely happens, I get into situations where people underestimate or brush it off as more of a bother than actual needed development. In comments and questions, the general energy is quite off-putting. It undermines the circumstances and literal life-changing move that Sophie needs to take. It becomes a hinderance and gripe of why she can’t drop what she’s doing and go out there already.  (If you feel this is towards you in any way, it isn’t. If this ever did come up between us, I would’ve addressed that immediately. This post is in no way a vague-post and this section is more of my observations. Also this hasn’t happened in years but the memories creep on me.)

I know some people are peeved about this "opinion,” but it isn’t one. This a repeated offense that happens across fandoms and rpcs: muses who identify, act, present, and appear out of the particular desired spectrum of characters do get shafted by other muns/fans and/or get scrutinized unfairly by them. This isn’t anything new. It’s clear that a character in any series will get numerous amounts of “hate” because of certain traits, while a white/white-passing cis-male who they share traits with are praised and embraced the community. Moments of vulnerability and emotional openness with a character become common complaints about said characters. A nuanced perspective/expression becomes reductive by fans to being “weak.” Same goes with elusive and abrasive characters, same goes with soft-spoken and careful characters, same goes with empathetic and kind characters, same goes with defensive and caring characters who are not the fan favorites.

If characters do not exhibit the archetypical “badass” and do not endorse the power fantasy, they are usually not well-received by audiences. There is a persistently aggressive mindset in many fans that devalue, ignore, and undermine the variety of stories in a series in favor of an acute selection. While people may not admit it, this largely falls into the community's perpetuation of misogyny, misogynoir, colorism, racism, ableism, transphobia, homophobia, etc. that they could not and will not address. 

Just because you aren’t invested in a character does not mean their story is underdeveloped, uninteresting, and unimportant. If you dislike a character, consider the reasons why. Compare it to your favorite character if they have similarities. You may start noticing the larger, but unfortunate, implications that will arise in review or in the comparison. I.E., Is your favorite “not like the other girls” in canon? Do you dislike this character so much for not being as “capable” like the others? Why is this character be able to express their trauma through visible expression while the character you dislike can’t? 

This isn’t a “you can’t dislike characters” conclusion. You can dislike whoever and whatever nilly willy and that’s you. This is a “consider and check the criticisms you have about this character” conclusion. Recognize when criticism starts and ends before it becomes prejudice.

I realize this is left-field from the original topic and doesn’t directly relate to Sophie. But as I described, there are these narrowed funnels of tolerance for particular characters and if who you’re writing for doesn’t fit that, it becomes a hassle. A hassle in exploring character motivations, dimension, strengths and weaknesses, and just generally a harder time in getting anywhere for future thread/relationship/plot development.

Sophie’s background, personality, and conflicts are better received in characters who are masculine-presenting. People are more likely to actually understand the development and struggle too. They’re less likely to see it/refer to it as as an “obstacle,” which beyond annoying! Her challenges aren’t an “issue” just because she isn’t forward and immediately reciprocating to your character! She isn’t an accessory to a ship you want with your character! Her internal endeavor does not make things “difficult.” It makes things difficult for you to get whatever commodity you want out of her that benefits/flourishes your character. 

But, to Sophie’s situation and why she can’t “drop it” as easily as she can. 

Canonically, Ingary’s culture has cemented that birth order plays a large role in what is expected and possible for daughters. As abundant as the references are on this blog, the eldest daughter is basically defined by having no fortune or chance in her future. Any AU she is in would still keep these ideas persistent because these conditions are essentially the foundation to why she made certain decisions as a child that A) made everything about herself secondary to her and B) focused and drove herself for the betterment of her sisters’ lives.

The structure of everything to Sophie is her family; that is the only thing she has known for herself, despite the conflict she carries. That has been everything she’s known all her life and it has been reinforced by how the adults in her life treated her and taken advantage of the situation. She hasn’t known anything outside of these circumstances and only has been proven by her loved ones that it is something meant for her to do and something that she will keep on doing. 

Sophie’s biggest challenge means she has to unlearn almost everything. She has been groomed to participate with the world in a certain way and perceive the world in a certain way that places her at a disadvantage and makes her exploitable. The entirety of her worth has been equated to her usefulness and what she can bring to others; there is quite little she sees in herself that is worth something.. and what she does see as ‘worth something’ means it is valuable for someone else’s use. 

To challenge the foundation, her family of her current self would break her. The biggest trust she has is in her family and they are the consistent people in her life that she would not ever let go of (unless, it would make them happy/safe/for the better). To have to unearth what her parents essentially done to her and taken from her....The act of acknowledgement would make her spiral into a ways of questioning, hurt, and great terrors that she doesn’t want to face. She would continue with the construction everyone has made because if no one else does, who will? She wouldn’t even dare consider having her sisters taking ANY of the responsibilities she’s done or any of the unsavory things she did. 

After all, this is all that she has, that she can trust, they she can rely on. She is clinging onto it for dear life. 

To rectify the wrongs in her life, to her, will be a state of forever displacement and distrust. She cannot throw herself to do everything when she’s already a part of a system that requires her. To get rid of that system means that she is, once again, the the odd daughter whose destiny was proven right. She is the eldest daughter meant for misfortune if she couldn’t even keep this position in her late father’s hat shop and couldn’t keep supporting her sisters as she vowed herself to do. Too much of what she’s built for her family and their stability relies on her, and if she isn’t there, everything else will crumble, which would be destroying what she spent all of her life trying to maintain.

Considering that she will need to process that her circumstances are NOT normal, that her treatment is NOT normal, that her experiences ARE trauma, that her childhood and youth never existed, that the main figures in her life, that the few individuals she truly trusted used her (both mom and dad) and almost RUINED the family (dad), ...it is nothing something someone who’s into her budding adult years can handle within a matter of months. 

So, she lives painfully aware of it, but doesn’t move; she weighed the pros and cons and decides that it is best to keep where she is than leave. Too much is at stake, too much...

It is...really...a process. A painful and slow one, but not tedious and not a bother. It is a necessary for Sophie. 

#( in which we learn about the eldest ; headcanons )