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blitterbug In reply to Daroneasa [2005-04-06 07:06:11 +0000 UTC]

I can answer this question, oddly enough, because since drawing this picture the whole Naromi story has jumped several leagues forward. I actually have the shape of a plot beginning O.o

Arqueran / Thornapple is the main protagonist. I use the word "protagonist" rather than "hero" because, particularly at the beginning, Thorn tends behave in ways normally attributed to a villain He's vain, self-centered, shallow and rakish, a wealthy businessman and the younger son of a great House. Everything he does is for his own profit. His ambition is to secure an exclusive trade alliance with the Elin bordertowns, but because the Elin and the Naromi are at war, he has to do this behind everyones' backs... and things wind up going badly wrong for him.

So he's not a "hero" character. But I like him. He's interesting. And I'm tired of the same old version of the 'reluctant protagonist/anti-hero', where it turns out that -really- they had a heart of gold from the beginning, they were just -pretending- to be a jerk, and they're really gooey-schweet and honorable underneath it*... I mean... Bah. >_>

*Member of the "Han Shot First" Movement.

Whee, long reply XD

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Daroneasa In reply to blitterbug [2005-04-06 12:09:35 +0000 UTC]

*Squee!*

I love him! Thank god, I was hoping he was that sort. My character Ataskra is like that too, and throw in the fact that he's a murderer...and he just happens to save his entire species through his schemes and plots. But he'd still be the 'villain' if I weren't using his POV. He's got a few slightly redeeming qualities, but in the end he's a twisted, scheming bastard. And the thing about scheming bastards: they end up tangled in their own web of plots and lies.
There's an EXCELLANT book that I've read called "Jack of Shadows" by Roger Zelazney. The protagonist in that story is delightfully wicked. And of course there's Alex in Clockwork Orange too. It's a grand tradition, I'm glad someone else appreciates it.


*looks up* Long reply reply. But I had to squee. XD

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blitterbug In reply to blitterbug [2005-04-06 07:13:03 +0000 UTC]

Just to define things further... I have nothing against anti-hero characters with moral codes, or whatever. What I don't like are the anti-hero characters who are redeemed by love, or some other rubbish, and end up being "decent people" by the end of the story. I'm sorry, authors, but I prefer them when they're being underhanded bastards and ENJOYING it, not making true promises of undying love to your beautiful heroine and expressing regret at having "wasted their life" before now... grrrr.

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Daroneasa In reply to blitterbug [2005-04-06 13:17:01 +0000 UTC]

Preach it, sistah!
They can't be wicked and then turn around and be this great guy by the end of the book. It just spoils all the fun, doesn't it? In the end, people who twist a character around like that in their writings are typically only manipulating their chars, and that leads to books that sound, well, contrived. Tell a story like it's history, let your characters do what they will and don't try to force someone who's a born killer to be a saint by the end.

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blitterbug In reply to HexerGraf [2005-04-05 20:35:33 +0000 UTC]

^_^;; I actually never had a problem with coloring AS myself... the idea of someone else being involved was because we might have a deadline for printing, and I tend to be slow and methodical. Nocturne was colored over two nights, about nine hours.

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