I'll start things off with my character Vardah here. Vardah was wounded by friendly fire while she was in the marines and that injury led to her leaving the corps and entering into a program to help her with her PTSD. Had that not happened? She might have gone career. Stayed in there for twenty years or more, been deployed many more times, and being the type of person she is she probably wouldn't have gotten help for her PTSD. She would have buried it like she does with a lot of other things.
Sometimes a character has that one event. That one small thing that in their past that dictated how their life went. Something that, at the time, seems about as inconsequential as a coin flip. Some things that are in within one's control and things that are completely outside it? Going to a restaurant one day instead of staying home and ordering take out. Trying to run home during a rain storm rather than wait for it to pass because it didn't seem like it would last that long. To, well, a literal coin flip. The point of this thread is in the name. What would your character be like with one little tweak. Now, don't worry. I'm not asking you to consider something drastic like flipping your character's species, race, gender, or sexuality. I'm not at all talking about that stuff. I'm talking about looking into their background and seeing what would happen if you changed one seemingly minor event. Did a character only discover they had an allergy after they picked a dish seemingly at random? What would have happened if they didn't find out then but maybe down the line or perhaps never had it in the first place? Did a character win the lottery because they happened to buy a ticket when they went into a gas station to buy some smokes? What would have happened to them if they had opted to buy an air freshener instead? Does your character have a mental health issue that they only found out about when someone off-handily mentioned something with similar symptoms in a let's play they happened to watch over something else? What would have happened if they didn't decide to look it up then? What would your character's lives be like if they had made a different choice or if their illness was slightly more severe or benign. What would they be like if they had just one little tweak.
If you need some examples on what I mean? Please refer to the example below.
| Character One | They were born with a peanut allergy. Without it they probably would have tried one particular dish that sounded good to them. Knowing their habit to come back again and again to places they like? Chances are they probably would have been a regular and been there when that restaurant was in need of employees. They could have ended up working at that restaurant as a first job rather than simply never noticing that help wanted sign. |
| Character Two | He has commitment issues but if he didn't? Chances are he probably would have settled down with the first person he met rather than deal with his other issues. If he never would have dealt with his issues he may have never discovered a group where, not only did he meet someone he would end up settling down with, but missing out on that interaction that helped them both. |
| Character Three | If she had chosen to get on the road sooner rather than staying home just long enough to finish that episode of that show she loves? She might have been there to stop her friend from accidentally falling and breaking her ankle. If she hadn't prevented that? Well, said friend maybe would have never developed that first crush which led to them eventually not only dating but getting married down the line. |
Along with that? I have a few additional rules.
- Given that this is a thread examining character's pasts and not everyone's pasts are 100% great. There is a chance that sensitive topics might come up. While I won't prohibit these topics from being addressed? I ask that you, first, black out the text dealing with said subject. For example: Example text. As well as that? Even though this text is now blacked out I ask that you keep extreme, graphic, or explicit details out. While you can allude to certain things? Please keep in mind that this thread is not mature. Try to keep things PG and PG-13 at most.
- Try not to spam the thread by which, I mean, try not to post three or more characters of yours in a row. Let other people have a chance to come in and talk as well.
- Restrict changes to minor things. Again, don't change say your character's race, or gender, or setting, or what have you. This thread is based on seemingly small things that are either within our control or just outside of it. These are things like deciding one thing over the actual choice they made or if an issue was out of their control and went on a day or two longer or had a slightly better or worse outcome for them. Basically if you need a better descriptor? Think of it like this. You aren't changing your character's school career but you are changing what they maybe had for lunch one day or decided to skip a class where they didn't in canon.
- Don't cause drama. If someone breaks the rules or does something that could be decidedly off? Contact me and I, or the admins if needed, will deal with it.
Current Ban List:
- None, let's keep it that way.
Claude is a good example of how simply being born into nobility has shaped his character a LOT. He is actually very impulsive by nature but the life among nobles and other higher ups has forced him to become more controlled and cunning because those people will use any chance they get to ruin your and your family's reputation.
So if Claude had been born into a family of lower social standing he would be much more impulsive and aggressive by nature, probably being part of a gang or something because of his strong need to control people and the space around him. He'd still be as smart and cunning and calculating as he is but his social situation would have made it easier for him to take that kind of delinquent path, and I don't think it's in any way against his overall nature: he wants to be adored and respected, and being a slightly more mature and faster to craft up plans would still give him the opportunity to hold a leader or leader-like position among his peers. And like knowing what backwater town delinquents and other "problem children" are like and being part of those group even myself at times it doesn't necessarily take much more than just some charisma and good planning skills to become appreciated and respected lmao.
I actually have an entire AU where Jonathan and Claude come from each others' social standing and I honestly love that AU's delinquent Claude a lot. He is kind of a mix of that obligatory evil cheerleader girl you see in American High School movies and the delinquent kind of character who could have been an alright person had their life started from a different place. There is just something I enjoy in the whole concept of like a really tiny pretty boy who just keeps the whole school on their toes solely because he knows how to deal with people and knows how to fight. Sometimes I almost regret this isn't his canon character haha but it wouldn't have worked in the game the way I wanted things to turn out
The first one to come to mind is this guy. In the plot he's from, the first completed android of each project/series tends to set the general impression/reputation of the entire class. And what did Mitya here set? That the project 941 Akula is a bunch of aggressive hotheads who are completely void of siblings bond unlike androids in other projects. It all started from his tactless interaction with his supposed younger brother. I'm going to put the entire explanation in a spoiler since it'll be quite long.
Because the project 941 was completed at the height of Cold War, Mitya felt that there could be a chance that he and his supposed younger siblings wouldn't survive the conflict if the Cold War actually escalated to full military confrontation. Therefore he believed if they lacked the siblings bond, it'd be easier for them to move on in case some were lost in battles. Once TK-202, the second android, completed and commissioned, of course he sought to bond with Mitya as siblings but instead, Mitya simply told the second Akula that he himself 'don't view him as sibling' and didn't elaborate the reason. He didn't realize the second comprehended his intention in a wrong way until TK-202 set the calamitous chain reaction.
As it turned out, the project 941 isn't only the project that all members don't view each other as siblings, the worse is they even consider the others as enemies and a mass fight broke among them very often. Although deep down Mitya acknowledged that it's his fault for not handling the initial interaction better, he never admitted it to anyone. Instead, to keep up with what he had started, he kept harassing the youngest two whom survive to this day.
Had Mitya not been completed as the first of the project or at least handled the interact with TK-202 better, he wouldn't have caused such major rift among his supposed siblings. Even though TK-202 could possess the same view about siblings bond, he would likely be more tactful to handle the belief and in turn, not necessarily turned all members into the huge mess of 'androids from the same project who hate each other's guts'. Which means Mitya could have had a decent relationship with the last two surviving 'supposed' younger sibling like TK-17 and TK-20. That would also save the guys in Northern Fleet from going through several coordinated efforts to break up a fight between five or six Akula androids in the fleet (especially consider that other submarine androids are all shorter and lighter than the Akulas, trying to break up the mass brawl each time is very challenging and exhausting).
If Jet hadn't attended the party where he got his face damaged, he would probably have a much wider circle of friends and he'd definitely be more outgoing and social than he now is. The way people started treating Jet changed very dramatically when he received his scars: his relatives and family friends would pity him, while strangers and classmates would fear him. Had he been absent from the party, he probably would never have had to hear all the rumors about him being a gangster or a mafioso's son and have people cover and run away in fear when he as much as looks at them.
Being treated that way definitely affected Jet a lot, making him much more introverted in behavior than he initially used to be.
Had his mother not perished on a rare occasion when she visited the hospital, Vova wouldn't have this problem about not willing to settle down and start his own family. Although at the time his mother perished he was still too young to understand anything, growing up learning how his mother passed away instilled a sense of anxiety to him concerning starting a permanent romantic relationship with a woman. Especially after learning that his mother originally didn't involve with the organized crime realm but was a secretary of an 'associate' in business world of his father.
That condition will also affect his life in another way; his sole half-brother wouldn't be born. Viktor's mother was originally brought into contact with the clan to become a substitute mother figure/nanny for Vova before his father started a relationship with her. If his biological mother was alive, possibly Vova would still have younger sibling - maybe more than just one even. And I imagine that then he would grow up with typical siblings bond - you know, when you either love or hate them. This situation would lead him to confront some undesirable circumstances in later life, like either he or one of his younger brothers might be killed in their struggle for power to inherit the clan after their father steps down.
Obligatory H/J post because it's something I thought about a lot with hir. Good thread idea is good though! Will revisit with other chars.
During her years in RADA, the young woman then known as miss Julia Beck volunteered to working on a stage adaptation of Peter Pan. Had Julia not done so she might not have had that really deep conversation with her friend-of-a-friend Lietenant Wright, who was a theater fan but had never seen behind the stage, and thus it would not have kickstarted their friendship. Had they not been on friendly terms she'd not have gotten drunk in his presence one night and accidentally confessing to liking women, and they'd never have become each-others confidantes over that slip of the tongue. Had they not been confidantes (and eventual spouses) the persona of "Henry Newman" would not have been born.
Instead...she considered her marriage to Terry to be one of the best things to have happened, because of his contacts, his trustworthiness, the way he was a partner in crime in her crazy plans and how she could talk about anything with the man. But had it never occurred due to her not volunteering to help out with Peter Pan...sure, it would have erased her eventual career, involvement in the supernatural and role in Wyderia. But without Terry and the "Newman" persona she'd have been more motivated to pursue emotionally fulfilling relationships with her female lovers. Julia might've even still ended up moonlighting as a man, though this time with the knowledge of her female lovers, in order to take them out on dates in public.
====
And something from hir roleplay:
Newman helped out with the exorcism of a young, possessed woman named Jane Parker, who'd been kept as a test subject in The Supernatural Department. He left her unconcious body in the care of a nurse in the military bases' medical ward and was called off on urgent matters. When he returned, the nurse informed him that she'd discharged miss Parker, for she had wanted to see her family and there was no reason to keep her in the ward against her will. She wasn't seen again. Had Newman given explicit instructions not to have the girl leave before he's had a chance to look at her, then Jane Parker might not have gone missing that night. She'd not have re-emerged two years later, possessed again and shooting up a tailory where my new character was trying to negotiate a dress.
if she slept thru the night and didn't end up going for a walk to clear her head, her life would've gone in a completely different direction as she wouldn't have been attacked by the vampire on the side of the lake and would've gone and partaken in a hagraven ritual w/ the other witches she lived w/ when she woke up - thus turning her into a hagraven against her will and not living out the rest of her life in a vampiric court
If Caiden had never met his friend Sean when he was still in high school, he would have never killed a man to defend him. He would never have to make a deal with a skilled criminal to keep authorities from finding out. He never would have run away from home when the investigation threatened to lead to him. He wouldn't make another deal in his own naive times to the same criminal to work as a hitman for her until his debts to her were paid. He wouldn't have such a strained relationship with his brother, he wouldn't have had to drop of the face of the earth at all. But, he wouldn't have met his adopted son, and that boy would be dead if he hadn't.
Blacked out texts include abuse mentions, self-harm scars and murder.
If Viktors first girlfriend, Elisa, wouldn't have tried to get sole custody for their child because she claimed Viktor is abusive towards her and her son, Clyde wouldn't have been born, and Viktor wouldn't have this many scars, especially self-harm scars. He maybe would have also not seen how his best friend was drunk driving, ran over two girls, and killed a girl and himself in the progress, and Ellie would have never wound up in a wheelchair.
But also, if he would not have been bullied, he probably would have never become a racecar driver.