(Following is the text of a class I presented today, 21 Jan, at 2pm, on "Envisioning Your Character". The audience members were kind enough to allow me to make a record, and at the end there was a request for me to post this here, so I am doing so. Please feel free to discuss further.)
[14:12] Mercury Gandt: Good evening
[14:12] Louis-Francois de Fiennes (mercure14.larsson): bonsoir
[14:12] mercure14 Larsson (fr -> en): Good evening
[14:13] Charlotte-Marie de Tancarville (brownbat): bonsoir
[14:13] Elisabeth-Charlotte de Fiennes (cherish.carver): Bonsoir everyone
[14:13] Mercury Gandt: Bonsoir
[14:13] SiobhanMcCollins: Bonsoir
[14:13] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): Bonsoir, hello, thank you all for coming!
[14:13] Angelique Eugenie deTancarville (angelina.melchior): Bonsoir
[14:14] Charlotte Martine de Gramont (aaries): boinsoir madame la vicomtesse
[14:14] Joseph-Hyacinthe de Rigaud (defiennes): bonsoir a tous
[14:14] Joseph-Hyacinthe de Rigaud (defiennes): rezzing
[14:14] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): First off I want to ask, does anyone mind if I make a notecard record of this class?
[14:14] Mercury Gandt: Bonsoir 
[14:15] Charlotte Martine de Gramont (aaries): not at all
[14:15] Joseph-Hyacinthe de Rigaud (defiennes): smiles at all the familiar faces
[14:16] Joseph-Hyacinthe de Rigaud (defiennes): Mlle de Fraisac, bonsoir
[14:16] Joseph-Hyacinthe de Rigaud (defiennes): enchant
[14:16] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): As always our RP class is OOC, out-of-character. I'm just talking to you as Elisabeth Milneaux, a fellow SL'er and RP'er.
[14:16] Charlotte-Marie de Tancarville (brownbat): Bonsouir Comte Vaudreil.
[14:16] Joseph-Hyacinthe de Rigaud (defiennes): smiles
[14:18] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): This class will be on "Envisioning Your Character". Next week I will present "Communicating Your Character". Many of you are already very good at this, and from your questions and contributions I hope to learn something also, as I always do when RP'ing with you all.
[14:18] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): What are some of the first things you thought about, when you began to create the character you roleplay?
[14:19] Mercury Gandt: Why am I different from the others? :P
[14:19] Elisabeth-Charlotte de Fiennes (cherish.carver): what kind of personality I wanted her to have and how to put
[14:19] Elisabeth-Charlotte de Fiennes (cherish.carver): it across in rp
[14:20] SiobhanMcCollins: What kind of clothes do I want to wear? lol
[14:20] Joseph-Hyacinthe de Rigaud (defiennes): get the right look for starters
[14:20] Charlotte-Marie de Tancarville (brownbat): How can my character support those I RP with
[14:21] Marie-Jeanne du Barry (marielouise.harcourt): How does my character interact with other characters?
[14:21] Docteur Panacek (pekel.panacek): I based my personality on my own selve in RL .... because it was the subject i knew all about.... Is that wrong?
[14:21] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): Hee yes, what makes me *different*, a good idea ... what kind of personality do I have - that's really important ... clothes, a look! Yes, how do I ... how do I roleplay with others, really ...
[14:22] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): No, that is often a successful roleplay strategy, as long as you know what you are doing with your character, that's the first decision you have to make really.
[14:23] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): Pekel, you mostly RP in the Coeurs, which is really free-form RP, you can be really an 18thC version of "yourself", respecting historical differences in the times.
[14:23] Docteur Panacek (pekel.panacek): yes
[14:24] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): Or you can make up a character that is entirely different from yourself - or somewhere in between, whatever you like.
[14:24] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): ... excuse me while I, er, have a leg of turkey ...
[14:24] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux) turns away and scarfs down a turkey leg in a very ladylike fashion.
[14:25] Sultry Night-Matova (sultry.night) laughs
[14:25] VSL: Roleplay Meter 2.5: Health now is
[14:25] VSL: Roleplay Meter 2.5: 38
[14:25] Charlotte Martine de Gramont (aaries): scarf down and ladylike in the same sentence
[14:25] Charlotte Martine de Gramont (aaries): lol
[14:25] Elisabeth-Charlotte de Fiennes (cherish.carver): lol
[14:25] Sultry Night-Matova (sultry.night): mm
[14:26] Royal Flatley: ladies have to do there part at a feast too
[14:26] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): Hee well I had to feed the meter ... but that is a point about what you can do with character here at Versailles.
[14:27] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): In contrast to the Coeurs, where you have a lot of room to do what you want - and it's a really fun place to RP, I love it - Versailles requires one to take either a known historical character, or to take the name and position of a person in one of our "fictional" Houses.
[14:28] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): Either way you are starting with some predetermined things, if you go into the Tancarvilles you will have a different family heritage than if you go into the Amblises. And different siblings and so on.
[14:29] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): You can't just make up, ohhh, I have five sisters and two brothers and we were happy/miserable/sent to the convent ... usually you have to get together with family members and agree on your past history.
[14:30] Louis-Francois de Fiennes (mercure14.larsson): et que faire lorsque les membres de notre famille ne repondent pas,
[14:30] mercure14 Larsson (fr -> en): and what to do when our family members do not comply
[14:30] Joseph-Hyacinthe de Rigaud (defiennes): or vanish.....
[14:30] Charlotte-Marie de Tancarville (brownbat): nods
[14:30] Joseph-Hyacinthe de Rigaud (defiennes): in thin air 
[14:30] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): If you are a historical character, even more so, you have the challenges of researching your character, and trying to enact them faithfully ...
[14:31] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): Ugh, I have had that happen in a family I was in before ... my husband ran off on me! (Why the vicomtesse is a widow ...)
[14:31] SiobhanMcCollins: and perhaps deciding which historical sources to trust or use?
[14:33] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): Unfortunately it's beyond the scope of this class, but I plan to have a class within the month for and about the houses/families, and Marie-Louise and I will try and give them all tools to help them communicate better, and some models to follow, and we can discuss some things like this. Whenever you have problems like that, do talk with her, or any of us in management, it's really annoying and we've all had it happen so we know.
[14:34] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): Siobhan, yes. Whatever kind of character you have, you are going to have to do some research. Most of us are here, because we are interested in the 18th century, especially in France.
[14:34] Joseph-Hyacinthe de Rigaud (defiennes): I'd love to have some insight in the family trees of those families, for RP purposes too
[14:35] SiobhanMcCollins: I just meant there are varying sources and stories, so you have to pick and choose what seems like the real stuff.
[14:36] Royal Flatley: true
[14:36] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): Many of us have already put in some time studying biographies, histories, art, architecture, music, literature, and/or other things which may have engaged us - yes, well, I think you often have to take into account who wrote what when, and why.
[14:37] SiobhanMcCollins: That was what I meant, yes.
[14:37] Louis-Francois de Fiennes (mercure14.larsson): mon arbre me donne une famille oui mais elle n'est pas la
[14:37] mercure14 Larsson (fr -> en): my tree gives me a family Yes but it is not the
[14:37] SiobhanMcCollins: I'm really into history, so I've noticed the discrepencies.
[14:38] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): For example, there is the Memoirs of Madame Campan, which is an excellent resource for the end of the reign of Louis XV, and thentire reign of Louis XVI ... but you have to be careful with her ...
[14:38] Sultry Night-Matova (sultry.night): do you all hae to approve the charater. and what happens if some one els already picked the charater
[14:39] Joseph-Hyacinthe de Rigaud (defiennes): can the fictional Family Trees be published?
[14:39] Joseph-Hyacinthe de Rigaud (defiennes): it's so intricate often
[14:39] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): if you just read her at face value, you'll get the idea she and Marie Antoinette were BFFs, and ... that was not exactly the case. Others understate their cases ...
[14:40] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): The family trees maybe, I can't really go into that at the moment, you might ask Fy Rae (Prince de Conde), he is trying a pilot project on that at the moment.
[14:40] Joseph-Hyacinthe de Rigaud (defiennes): great
[14:40] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): And, yes, we DO have to approve the characters ...
[14:40] Sultry Night-Matova (sultry.night): ty
[14:41] Louis-Francois de Fiennes (mercure14.larsson): donc certains titres pour le moment sont a l'eccart
[14:41] mercure14 Larsson (fr -> en): Therefore some titles for the moment are a the eccart
[14:43] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): At Versailles, as at most other roleplays in SL, one applies to have a recognized character and position in the RP, this is processed by our Roleplay Director, Marie-Louise Harcourt. She works to find a place for everyone in the different families and places that are open. Sometimes roles *are* taken ... but there are other roles, similar types of people, and so maybe another, similar character might be considered. This is part of the assignment process.
[14:44] Sultry Night-Matova (sultry.night): ty
[14:44] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): And this is all in the beginning ... you decide who you are, your basic look, you settle your personality, and then ... yay you can just RP, you don't have to think about it anymore, right?
[14:45] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux) grins.
[14:45] Sultry Night-Matova (sultry.night) laughs
[14:47] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): Obviously, I'm asking a rhetorical question ... usually, after you do a lot of thinking like that, you're good for a few months, maybe, but then you'll notice something about someone else's look ... or some gap in your character's history will bother you ... *something* will come along, and you'll find yourself tweaking. Poking. Taking another look.
[14:48] Joseph-Hyacinthe de Rigaud (defiennes): that's the fun bit, to develop it further and make it come to life
[14:48] Charlotte-Marie de Tancarville (brownbat): there also has to be some consistency in the character so the character is believable.
[14:48] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): Envisioning your character is not just for beginning in a roleplay, it's an ongoing process. It's just like considering your look every few years, looking at your hair ... or making an emotional or mental examination every so often ... yes, it is.
[14:49] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): The more time you live with your character, act with it, go into different situations, you realize where gaps are, and consider how to fill them.
[14:50] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): And then when you fill those, RP actually becomes easier ... I'll give you an example, well two.
[14:51] Louis-Francois de Fiennes (mercure14.larsson): il est dommage que les jeunes venue soit laisser
[14:51] mercure14 Larsson (fr -> en): It is a pity that young people come is left
[14:52] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): First is me ... in personality the vicomtesse is based on me in RL, I like to say she's a nicer version of me, but all the same she is not me, she has a different history, family, experiences, I've written things down as I have thought of them and her biography has grown over time. What is her attitude towards life, and what are her motivations - why is she at court in the first place?
[14:53] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): Because I have answers to these questions, it's often easy for me to react in given situations, whereas in the past with other characters I might have had a harder time thinking up a response to a situation.
[14:56] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): The second example, is someone I know who plays a historical character. She has read ... gee most of the books available about her character, and a lot of the online stuff, she knows her character pretty well. When she plays her character, she really enacts that character, because she has spent time considering how that person acted in real life in many actual situations ... she's fortunate to have a lot of information! But it helps her to play an important character here, and that is the main thing.
[14:56] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): So ... questions about envisioning your character?
[14:58] Docteur Panacek (pekel.panacek): yes.... we can only choose from a certain list of pre - made characters? What about 97 % of history?
[14:58] Docteur Panacek (pekel.panacek): The ones no one ever talkks about ,
[14:58] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): Well, and I'll just add one very important word ... research - oh gosh no, Pekel. Really it depends on the RP.
[14:59] Louis-Francois de Fiennes (mercure14.larsson): mon personnage est fictif comment dois je me comporter? puisque je suis rserv
[14:59] mercure14 Larsson (fr -> en): my character is fictional, how must I be me? Since I'm reserved
[15:01] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): I mean, at Versailles we have fictional and historical characters of the ruling class and upper nobility, since ... it's Versailles. Although sometimes people begged outside the gates. There are other, generally urban, RPs here in SL where there is more of a socioeconomic mix ... does that answer what you were asking?
[15:02] Royal Flatley: so people play nobility here usually?
[15:02] Jean-Jacques Honfleur (jake.vordun): There are very few bourgeoisie that i know of.. I am one of them
[15:02] Mercury Gandt: I'm one of them, too
[15:03] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): ... well Mercure, you don't have to play a character which is similar to yourself. You could make Louis-Francois very different. Outgoing, excitable ... or you can play him reserved, which would be easier, it's for you to decide.
[15:03] Joseph-Hyacinthe de Rigaud (defiennes): some historical characters have gaps in their history, so some improvisation is needed there?? How would you approach that?
[15:03] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): Yes, most play nobility, we have bourgeoisie finally, hurrah!
[15:03] Jean-Jacques Honfleur (jake.vordun): that makes two that know of then haha
[15:03] Jean-Jacques Honfleur (jake.vordun): yay, nice to meet you.
[15:03] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): And we are adding servants, which we need badly also.
[15:04] Royal Flatley nods
[15:05] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): Well, what you have to do is read everything you can, and try to understand their personality, then, you will often be able to say, "I don't KNOW he would do this, but it's PROBABLE because in this other situation he ...."
[15:07] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): In controversial incidents it is possible that one roleplayer will OOC'ly challenge another's behavior, the authenticity of it, so the more that you know, the more you understand, the more you have ... oh dear I hate these words, so New-Agey, but it is somewhat like acting, and it is like many actors do, to get into their parts early in rehearsals ... the more you commune with your character and envision who they are, the more confident you will be in playing them.
[15:08] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): I actually don't like that verb, "envision", it sounds like management-speak to me, but when I was trying to think of a name for this class it just wouldn't go away!
[15:09] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): Because it's what you need to do, not every day, anymore than every day you sit down and make a searching list of New Year's Resolutions.
[15:10] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): But, at different junctures, and often you will be prompted, especially if you make what you feel is a false move in RP, or you just feel "strange" where you were perfectly comfortable before ... it's good to ask, do I need to reconsider the depth of my character? Her story?
[15:11] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): Does my character really look like he should? Maybe there has been a fashion advance and you haven't bought a new suit in six months ... or a new skin in two years ...
[15:12] Joseph-Hyacinthe de Rigaud (defiennes): still wish, us men had more choice for outfits
[15:13] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): Seeing your character, inside as you play them, and outside as others see him, will be an incredible help in your roleplay, I wish you every good thing in it. - Next week we will look at *communicating* this character more clearly to others, HOW to do that, and we will actually practice, you all will do much much more!
[15:14] Constance-lisabeth de Bonzac (elisabeth.milneaux): So unless there are any more questions - that's it!
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updated by @lady-hartfield: 24 Oct 2016 01:39:48AM
