The Plinkett Test

[Vae]

Something I heard about in a video that seems pretty interesting.
[source]
 

Quote

 

The Mr Plinkett character test is a way to test how multi-dimensional and strong the character is.

You must describe the character without mentioning:

Appearance

Skills

Plot relevance

Relationships

You must only describe the character in terms of their personality.

 

Apply the above to your fursona / story characters / whatever you want to run through the hoops and post it here.

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Ludwig:
   Ludwig is an unrelenting perfectionist, fueled by his upbringing and his own insecurities to maintain an iron grip of control on both himself and the situations around him.
In spite of this, and in spite of his narcissistic posturing, he has a deep love-hate relationship with himself and the things he does, often feeling more of a passenger to expectations and circumstance than personal decision. He buries these problems under heavy drug and alcohol abuse.

He's indulgent and flashy with his wealth, and enjoys the finer things in life. You will not find cheap foods, possessions, or materials on Ludwig's person or in his living spaces.

Recreationally, he enjoys reading about various subjects like history, strategy, current events, and fashion, working out, bar-hopping, flying aircraft, and singing.
To relax, he often spends time soaking in showers or hot tubs, or sunbathing.

He has a long-running sadistic streak. At best, he enjoys messing with people and unraveling them a bit. At worst, he takes a particular pleasure in breaking them, physically and mentally, and reminding them of both their own place in the world and his position over them.

(Some of these apply more directly to human Lud than koopa Lud, but most of them still apply to both.)

[Cap'n Crosseye]

Solace:

She can be rash and hotheaded, and her patience is situational at best.  Willful ignorance and being difficult for the sake of being difficult frustrate her to no end.  This can make her rather hypocritical at times, as she tends to run away with her stubbornness if she doesn't personally see a benefit to a belief or solution to a problem.

Despite this, she feels as though she doesn't deserve her position in her career, feeling as though she was a minority promotion.  Knowing that she can face criticism for showing weakness, she keeps quiet and rarely confides in anyone for fear of her insecurities being used against her.  Instead, she copes with bourbon and a brash, abrasive outward appearance.

One could argue that she only cares about her crew and ship.  Casualties happen, and while she allows her crew to mourn, she will refuse to allow it for herself.  She is well aware that she's a ticking time bomb for burnout or a mental breakdown, but asking her to express her thoughts and emotions might as well be asking her to translate ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.

 

Sabata:

A viper in tall grass.  Greed drove his ascent and fear keeps him there.  He uses intimidation, charm, and money to maintain a group of loyal underlings within his company.  Failure is not tolerated, and those without a purpose are cast aside.  If an underling can prove their worth, they are allowed to remain.  He is careful not to flaunt his wealth; "A fool and his money are soon parted" is a phrase he'd taken to heart since he was young.  

Meditation, music, and driving keep his nerves cool.  A good book and glass of gin provide optimal relaxation.

 

I'll probably add more later.

[LuckyOwlTheFictionCritic]

Arron "Lucky" Owll:

Some say Arron is passionate like no other about reading and writing. Others say he is obsessed with it. Despite all that, Arron is easy to get along with, friendly even, as long as you carry a healthy respect for the written word. People who have seen him with those who write off or disrespect literature have described it as "watching a train wreck on a freeway during rush hour". Otherwise, he will happily talk, share his experiences, learnings, and opinions with, even help you. without a moments hesitation. Provided, of course, you have his hard-earned trust before hand. Being polite to someone and being their friend are two very different, yet important, things to him.

He attempts to hide his low class, southern upbringing by hiding his accent and putting on a mask of sophistication. Though, his complete disregard for differences of gender, race, class, and country, his afore-mentioned obsession/passion for literature, as well as his family's infamous temper, tend to make him drop both efforts in favor of what he believes is right, needed, or in anger.

[Fantasma]

Zardicus Bloodscar:

Xir is so cool and stuff

 

 

VAL LOG OUT OF MY ACCOUNT BEFORE YOU POST

[Vae]

9 minutes ago, Fantasma said:

Zardicus Bloodscar:

Xir is so cool and stuff

This is the writing subforum, not the Blackhole.

[Mandragoras]

I'm not going to get too in depth with my opinions about Red Letter Media and the Plinkett reviews in particular, but let's just say that they're really, really not positive. However, this is a neat writing exercise, particularly useful for beginners who might have some bad habits; it predates RLM, of course, and has many variants, but it's meant to be simple and make a point.

I'll do a few, because why not:

Caroline is the sort of person who would, if pressed, claim to desire nothing more than peace and time to herself, to read or gaze out the window or listen to music. This would seem accurate to her. Why would she want convolution and noise in her life, or any sort of interruption to her inner piece? Yet upon closer examination, this desire for calm is somewhat contradictory, less a desire for order than to be a silent party to extravagant things, to take risks without being constantly seen—something which she has long had enough of. She would gladly make many mistakes in the pursuit of a secret life of adventure, even knowing that she would regret them even before the deeds were done. Only tentatively can she admit this to herself, and only in those moments of silent contemplation which she claims to crave.

Ossian has a similarly complex relationship with leading "a quiet life," albeit a very different one. He grows older and his work grows scarcer, and he is at peace with this development, yet he does not hesitate to continue when the opportunity rises, seeing no other truly meaningful way to fill his days. He has done truly horrible things to others, yet while he is far from devoid of remorse or empathy, the decisions that he has made strike him as more troubling in that they might have been empty than evil. After all, he has good reason to think poorly of himself already, having lived with himself for sixty long years. But why do anything at all? Even in the absence of a counterfactual, the question remains. He thinks about this a lot. He imagines himself a plant, or a stone. He remembers their eyes.

Philip does not know himself, but more than that, feels as if there is a part of him which is hiding things from the rest of him. Normally optimistic and well-meaning, every now and then he will be tempted to say something cruelly sarcastic out of turn, hold back some important detail when relating information, resort to sudden quick violence as if it were all the most natural thing in the world. Yet it isn't. It's as if he'd learned all this, had it drilled into his head, yet forgotten himself, forgotten his masks and armour. He is soft and exposed now, he realises; yet strangely, he is unafraid. Perhaps this too is armour.

[Augmented Husky]

On 5/30/2017 at 4:09 AM, Mandragoras said:

 

Philip does not know himself, but more than that, feels as if there is a part of him which is hiding things from the rest of him. Normally optimistic and well-meaning, every now and then he will be tempted to say something cruelly sarcastic out of turn, hold back some important detail when relating information, resort to sudden quick violence as if it were all the most natural thing in the world. Yet it isn't. It's as if he'd learned all this, had it drilled into his head, yet forgotten himself, forgotten his masks and armour. He is soft and exposed now, he realises; yet strangely, he is unafraid. Perhaps this too is armour.

I'm quite intrigued and happy with how balanced and easily explained Philip is....that element of uncertain action would make him a compellingly interesting character to follow

[Victor-933]

I already know I'm utter dogshit at writing characters but let's keep going and see what happens.

--------

Brynnemaure Somos is a domineering supremacist who firmly resents his younger contemporaries, deriding them as weak and inexperienced. He firmly believes that his harsh demeanor is just what the doctor ordered for the troubled times ahead, and many believe that his dark past has cost him his humanity.

Somos does not show remorse for his actions, and it could be argued that he doesn't even feel any. He does not tolerate any appearance of weakness and has a uncanny knack for zeroing in on "weak links" and trying to break them -- or more ideally, reforge them into something more suitable.

In addition, he is fully devoted to his career, viewing the perceived failures of his subordinates as failures of his own. He prefers to keep his personal life hidden, viewing such trivialities as a distraction from his assumed purpose, but privately he is wracked with guilt over his perceived and actual failures, and tends to isolate himself from others and avoid any sort of intimacy beyond professional courtesy.