Character Meme...

[cairistiona]

Gacked from nearly every writer on my flist!

Pick a character I've written (canon or OC) and I will give and explain the top five ideas/concepts/etc I keep in mind while writing that character that I believe are essential to accurately depicting them.

Comments

[mrowe.livejournal.com]

Well, since someone has to: Aragorn...

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

And you know what? He's probably the hardest to summarize in 5 points, but here goes:

1. For my stories these days, he has to be based on book canon. Much as I love Viggo's portrayal of him and enjoy reading movie-verse fics, the movies did him a disservice with the whole "he turned from his destiny" thing. I flirted a little with following movie-verse in my earlier stories but now I try to write him as a man who has firmly accepted his role and destiny as King. That's too vital an aspect of his character to disregard. See Liz' Hobbit to Hero book!

2. I try to keep in mind his very dry and subtle sense of humor. He was grim, but Tolkien famously describes him as having mirth that would bubble up like a spring. So I picture him often having a twinkle in his eye and a little quirk to his lips, and of course, when he's relaxed amongst family and friends, the humor really comes to the fore. In the books he can have a snarky, dare I say smart-ass sense of humor--though very subtle--and I try to show that now and then, when appropriate, because Aragorn always knew when he could safely unleash that side of him. I also see him far more relaxed once he became King, and so on the rare occasion when I write 4th Age stuff, he smiles much more easily and a lot of the grim lines in his face have eased, making him appear more youthful. Plus, he's no doubt eating and sleeping better than during those hard years as a Ranger. *g*

3. His kindness has to be a part of any story. I've seen writers take too harsh a line with him, making him out to be arrogant rather than confident, and all but rude to people, even Arwen. Nothing throws me out of a story more quickly than an arrogant Aragorn. I try to keep him courteous and aware of the importance of other people, regardless of their station in life. An arrogant man would never have allowed those men who grew faint of heart at the Black Gates to leave, and I keep that in mind when I write him. I also keep in mind that as a healer, he would have a deep well of compassion.

4. Arwen. Not that I write much romance, but he's in love with Arwen, and no other woman (or man, dwarf, hobbit...) would do.

5. Courage. I try not to make him so much the super-hero that he never feels fear, but as a man who does what needs doing despite the fear, which is really the true definition of courage. The movie *did* get it spot on with his growling, "I do not fear death!" He didn't really fear death--he had that strong sense of hope, estel, within him that allowed him to firmly believe that more lay beyond this life than memory, and so that hope also gave him a lot of courage. Obviously, the man had harrowing experiences, some of which still haunt him (the Wraiths), but those experiences tempered him rather than broke him. I try to keep that in mind when I write battle scenes or scenes like in "The Ranger and the Eagles", where he was nearly peeing his pants from fright when Durvain flew him to Beorn's Hall. I want to show the human side of him that we can all relate to (he may not fear death and what's beyond, but I don't see him courting it or liking the idea that he might meet death sooner rather than later!), but also show that he can gird his loins better than anyone when it comes to facing up to his fear and overcoming it (and thankfully, I have a very good beta in Liz who points out when I've written him too wimpy!)

I could go on with 6, 7, 8, 9... 100... but the meme says 5. :)

[inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com]

'I have a very good beta in Liz who points out when I've written him too wimpy!'

Hee, hee, I don't think you've written him too wimpy in a long time!

And I so agree with all you've said here.

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

Hee, hee, I don't think you've written him too wimpy in a long time!

I think the last time you had to call me on it was in "Ranger & Eagles" when I had him a little too paralytic when he was dangling in Durvain's talons. *g*

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

Your idea of Aragorn is very like mine. I'm loving reading all the comments in this meme.

[mrowe.livejournal.com]

Thank you - an insightful list, and his dry sense of humour is one of the things I like about our Ranger

[shirebound]

Ivorwen or Denlad!

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

Ooh, can I answer for both??? Heck, it's my LJ, I guess, so I will! *G*

First, Ivorwen, because she's a little easier:

1. She's a strong person, emotionally and physically. Not given to panicking or losing heart, and she can shoot a bow or set a snare with the best of them.
2. She's a great cook and also spins and then weaves cloth for blankets for everyone in the settlement, and knits hats and scarves. She's one of these industrious types that's never idle.
3. She absolutely dotes on Aragorn when he happens to be with the Dunedain. She likes to feed him, always claiming he's too thin. She does the same with Halbarad and Denlad.
4. She's widely viewed as the "clan mum" by all the rest of the Dunedain. She sends chicken soup to those who are sick, and there's the aforementioned giving of blankets and woolens to all.
5. She and Dirhael have a very strong marriage... they have a teasing sort of relationship, where she pretends to fuss and henpeck and he pretends to be annoyed by her. She's also acts as a sort of straight man to Dirhael's more teasing, playful side.

And now Denlad:

1. He sees Aragorn as the father he never had, and would give his life for him.
2. He's honest to a fault, without guile but also has a tendency to pull pranks. Also, he likes chickens.
3. His maternal ancestry is Numenorean, but his paternal ancestry is unknown, and only guessed at by Aragorn, who thinks he likely is descended from the House of Hador somehow. To my mind, he's definitely related to the House of Hador, similarly to the way the Northmen are related to that line of the Edain. There's some interesting stuff about the Northmen and the House of Hador in "Unfinished Tales", and their connection to the Edain isn't made altogether clear (they might be a coalition of peoples, or they might be a 4th House of the Edain). So Denlad's own ambiguous parentage works as a sort of symbol of that ambiguity with that particular line of Men. He's related to the Dunedain and the House of Hador and the Northmen (and who knows, maybe the Rohirrim as well, since they might have come from the Northmen), but no one knows exactly how! All we know is that it does make him closer to being like the Edain than of ordinary men, with one particular trait showing in that he'll have a fairly long life if he doesn't fall in battle.
4. He has a terrible shyness around women, due in part to his upbringing, where, because of his mother's occupation as a prostitute, "good" women shunned them, and when circumstances eventually forced them to move to a very isolated farm, he never had much interaction with girls his age. So he's a little backward in that regard.
5. He is a complete protege of Halbarad, right down to the way he fights and the way he frets about Aragorn's safety. He sees Halbarad partly as a beloved but cranky teacher, mentor, uncle and friend.

[shirebound]

she pretends to fuss and henpeck and he pretends to be annoyed by her.

I love that. What fun to read these summaries.

[dreamflower]

Halbarad

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

Ooh, fun!

1. He's Aragorn's first cousin, in my universe. His father is Gilraen's brother. He's also ten years older than Aragorn, looks a bit like him but is shorter. He wears his hair long, in the manner of Elves, partly to indulge his wife's infatuation with Elves (and Elladan in particular). He's very close to Elladan and Elrohir, due in part to their riding with the Dunedain but also because of an incident with a troll when Halbarad was a young man, which story will someday see the light.
2. He sees himself as the "Keeper of the King", which ancestral duty he's proud to carry on.
3. He loves Aragorn as a brother, and fusses constantly over his health, his happiness, his recklessness, you name it. There's really no limit to his mother hen act.
4. He stands in as leader of the Dunedain when Aragorn is off on errantry or hunting for Gollum or any of his other travels.
5. He's a bit of a curmudgeon, but he has a very soft heart under the crusty exterior. But he doesn't suffer fools lightly.

[imbecamiel.livejournal.com]

Oooo, fun!

Let me see... how about either Glorfindel or Elrond?

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

Gosh, those two are the hardest for me to write!

Elrond:

1. He loves Aragorn as a son. None of the movie stuff where he's all cold and disdainful of Aragorn and Men, etc etc. His own twin brother chose the Secondborn's fate, after all, and so I don't see Elrond becoming so antagonist against Men, especially the Dunedain, who are his kin, having descended from Elros. There's tension between Aragorn and Elrond, of course, because of The Love That Shall Not Be Named, but overall, there's still affection.

2.He's hospitable and generous. He made Rivendell and the Last Homely House a haven to all folk.

3. He's wise, knowledgeable, knows the lore of nearly all of M-e history. You will lose a trivia contest with him, so don't even bother.

4. He's compassionate. He's a healer, after all.

5. He has a deep well of sorrow that he nevertheless doesn't allow to fester into bitterness. Losing his wife has he did, at least for his remaining time in M-e, would have marked him indelibly, but I don't see that it broke him utterly. He did not fade, after all, so he must also be an incredibly strong minded person.

Glorfindel:

1. He's utterly confident. I can't see an Elf or Man going around with bells on his horse if he was even the least bit insecure about himself!

2. He's selfless. I think the same drive that caused him to go into hopeless battle against the Balrog is still quite strong in him. I think he'd do whatever it took, even if he had to die again, to protect Rivendell, Elrond, his family, and all the good folk of M-e safe.

3. He's joyful. Again, going back to the bells! A curmudgeon wouldn't tolerate bells on his horse.

4. In my 'verse, he loves children, and in particular dotes on little Estel. I haven't written many stories about Glorfindel and Estel but I have this whole wonderful series of idyllic moments between the two of them.

5. Again in my 'verse, he likes Eagles a lot and has a lot of artwork depicting them in his apartments. He's an art lover of any kind, actually.

[suzll.livejournal.com]

Dangnabit, all the ones I was gonna ask have been taken! Enjoying the answers though :D

So for my request, let's say Miriel *g*

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

Wow, okay... she's probably my least-developed minor character, so here's what I have so far:

1. She's younger than Halbarad, by about 3-4 years.

2. She and Halbarad have known each other since they were children. He thought she was a horribly annoying brat and she's always had a crush on him. I think. I haven't finished writing their romance, so it could be that she doesn't really have a crush on him. That's still up in the air. When they were teens, she pestered him with far too many questions and had far too many freckles and too much frizzy hair.

3. She outgrew the frizzy hair and freckles somewhere between her fourteenth and sixteenth years, much to Halbarad's delight.

4. She's a very strong woman, an able helpmeet to Halbarad, and a devoted mother to all their children.

5. She's completely infatuated with Elladan, something that makes her nearly speechless around him, and something that Halbarad fondly tolerates, because he knows he's her true soul mate.