Saturday, December 8, 2007

Burning Anna

Brent and I have had a few BITs discussions for characters here, and they're all, you know, tough-as-leather men-at-arms and ex convicts/sailors/military etc. So, I'm looking forward to having one for Lady Anna! Now, really, a discussion oughtn't to be had without the contribution of the man whose Belief created Anna in the first place. But... maybe just this once we'll leave Dave out of the loop. I don't want a lot of Beliefs like "Count Tristam is strong and handsome and I want to have his children" or Traits like "smoking hot" and "sex addict." :P

Hold on a second, I might be putting the cart before the horse here. Does Anna even have her lifepaths yet? I know Brent sent me a link to her Google Page, but it was empty save for theme music. What have you got for me, Brent?

23 comments:

Tertullian said...

I've been pestering Dave about it, and he says he plans to burn her up Monday before the game. You want I should break his legs or something?

Lurkermeyer said...

Heh! Well, maybe if he doesn't deliver.

Lurkermeyer said...

Well, we can talk about BITs without lifepaths. Personally, I have no ideas about Anna. Anyone want the floor on this?

Tertullian said...

I was just telling Jenna the other day that she should start using her court-wise skill to make up unflattering stuff about Anna, just to piss Dave off.

Lurkermeyer said...

Just reading that comment made this post totally worthwhile.

Tertullian said...

Well first off let's talk about what we've established about Lady Anna so far. We know she was genuinely upset about Francis' death, so we can surmise that she's capable of seeing the good in even the most unlikable of people.

Lurkermeyer said...

My impression is that she lied to herself about Francis until she started to believe it. She chose to believe that there was good in him as a coping mechanism because she was going to have to marry him. Francis probably also treated her as well as he knew how, because having a moderately content-seeming trophy wife would be on his list of priorities. She probably had a head full of that "love comes after marriage" sort of stuff, too.

And, anyway, he was brutally murdered by brigands; I can see that evoking some sympathetic feelings from her. Perhaps Francis' death made her realize what he really meant to her! No, I jest. XD But it would be Dave's luck.

Tertullian said...

See, and I thought she was just a good person. Would she have internalized that enough for it to be capital B belief?

Lurkermeyer said...

Heh. Sure, her being a good person has something to do with it.

Tertullian said...

Maybe something more general, about her father knowing what's best for her or something like that. I imagine Lady Anna as having bought into what is expected of her quite a bit more than the Duchess.

TheJenna said...

I always saw her as naive, which is probably a given, but maybe not too smart either. That will, naturally, depend on what her life paths are, I'm sure. I bet she's also very good at socializing, and natural hostess. Does what is expected of her, as is her lot in life. That sort of thing.

Tertullian said...

We may have a casting decision, people! Further updates as this story progresses.

Lurkermeyer said...

I certainly agree that she has bought into her situation more than the Duchess. I also really like the 'not too smart' angle. It creates this image of a lady who always hopes for the best and even when things aren't the best she can pretend that they're really not as bad as they seem. I like it.

Btw, what is your casting decision, Mr. Naylor?

Tertullian said...

Emmy Rossum is the person Dave is currently considering.

Tertullian said...

I like the idea that she's dull enough to be able to comfort herself with trite platitudes like "every cloud has a silver lining" and "it's always darkest before the dawn" and honestly believe them.
There's an incredible innocence to it. You get the idea that Francis did try as well as he could to be good to her because to do otherwise would be like kicking a puppy.

Lurkermeyer said...

In the recesses of my mind I had wanted for Francis to have some deeply hidden redeeming qualities; that is a perfect example of one.

I like what we've got going so far. So far it seems like Anna has the kind of self-deluded innocence that would be so very grotesquely shattered by the discovery that her beau killed his own brother in order to have the opportunity to woo her.

TheJenna said...

I like that too! It makes what Tristan did seem like such ridiculous, gruesome overkill. (Such as it was.)

TheJenna said...

Also, other than picking out a body, has Dave gotten anything about her burned up? Lifepaths, traits, whatnot?

Tertullian said...

haha no. He continues to claim that he'll have plenty of time to burn her up Monday. By that time we'll already have her personality sketched out, if not her BITs.
So I suppose I'll start the work ball rolling by submitting an Instinct for your approval:
"Always look for the good in situations."

Tertullian said...

In fact, the casting decision is not even a sure thing. It's just the first possibility he's seriously considered.

Tertullian said...

I did make him read the thread, though, and he seemed like he could get behind some of our ideas.

Tertullian said...

And in response to Paul's post earlier - it's the same self-deluded innocence that I think would keep her from being able to admit that Tristam killed his brother unless he told her himself.

Lurkermeyer said...

Oh, she definitely would.