First off, I'd like to thank you very much for laying out detailed concrit. I'll just say outright that I'm assuming you're one of the mods, both due to your concerns and due to the delays in mod replies to my plotting questions. If this assumption is wrong, I'm sorry for presuming, and you can correct me at any time.
I'll expand first on Czeslaw's canon behavior, since you're right that it's relevant. In both the anime and novels, Czes is definitely physically weak and capable of being intimidated. His backstory includes years of torture and he reacts badly to being kept in a position of helplessness. On the train, the Rail Tracer first scares him with promises of "the unknown", and then provides a demonstration, with tortures described in Czes' narrative as worse than anything he'd previously experienced. Thereafter, Czes is terrified of Claire and reacts to his presence by screaming and running-- emotionally reduced to the terrified, helpless kid he's been before.
All of this is accurate, and I've worked to keep Czes' reactions to immediate demonstrations of power consistent throughout the game. He's run and cowered from both monsters and PCs. When Claire himself showed up, Czes tried desperately to avoid him. But the technicians have been largely a distant enemy, and when Czes has seen them, they've come across as normal (selfish) humans who have amazing resources. None of this is either unknown or particularly scary. And his canon reaction to a distant threat is noticeably different.
In both the anime and novels, Czes tries not just to gain an upper hand, but to permanently destroy everyone who poses a danger to him or his secrets. He practices alchemy, makes explosives, and researches the formula for immortality. He forms contacts in the military and with criminal organizations both locally and internationally. Before his redemptive moments, he plans to consume every immortal (and possibly every human) in the world, and as soon as Szilard is out of the way he gets started. While Czes won't win any open fights, he's confident in his ability to succeed by subterfuge and proxies, and takes chances that could get him devoured as a result. He tries to hire a mass murderer and blow up the train, and when that fails, he still stays to learn who to kill later. When first confronted by the Rail Tracer, Czes lies, sneers, and attempts murder. While Claire reverses that specific situation drastically, Czes is injured and killed by others throughout the series without caring or reacting much at all.
Czes has been in the Box for almost two years now. He's experienced harm, but nothing even approaching Claire's level, or Fermet's. He's also been accepted and cared about for the first time since he became immortal. Honestly, the last two years of game time have been some of the most positive in the kid's life, and he's developed plenty. But in canon or otherwise, Czes isn't a passive character. His defining villainous actions are pre-emptive murder efforts, and he calculates and attempts schemes more than nearly any character in the series. Particularly when stuck in a situation he sees as hazardous to himself or those he values.
You say I'm using OOC knowledge. If you can clarify the specifics, I'd be glad to supply threads or explanations. If the issue is more with your above concerns that I'm misplaying Czes, I hope this alleviates some of those. The impression I'm getting, both from this and other interactions, is that my attempts to involve Czes in the metaplot as an active participant are unwanted-- whether due to the way I've done it, your perception of the character, or something else entirely. I respect that you mods are doing a lot of work to manage a very complicated game, and I can see where characters trying to color outside the lines may be a hassle. If that's the problem, I have no issue backing off or working out something different. But I would very much appreciate it if you could reply soon and let me know.
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carisma_sensei
no subject
Date: 2015-06-26 09:49 am (UTC)I'll expand first on Czeslaw's canon behavior, since you're right that it's relevant. In both the anime and novels, Czes is definitely physically weak and capable of being intimidated. His backstory includes years of torture and he reacts badly to being kept in a position of helplessness. On the train, the Rail Tracer first scares him with promises of "the unknown", and then provides a demonstration, with tortures described in Czes' narrative as worse than anything he'd previously experienced. Thereafter, Czes is terrified of Claire and reacts to his presence by screaming and running-- emotionally reduced to the terrified, helpless kid he's been before.
All of this is accurate, and I've worked to keep Czes' reactions to immediate demonstrations of power consistent throughout the game. He's run and cowered from both monsters and PCs. When Claire himself showed up, Czes tried desperately to avoid him. But the technicians have been largely a distant enemy, and when Czes has seen them, they've come across as normal (selfish) humans who have amazing resources. None of this is either unknown or particularly scary. And his canon reaction to a distant threat is noticeably different.
In both the anime and novels, Czes tries not just to gain an upper hand, but to permanently destroy everyone who poses a danger to him or his secrets. He practices alchemy, makes explosives, and researches the formula for immortality. He forms contacts in the military and with criminal organizations both locally and internationally. Before his redemptive moments, he plans to consume every immortal (and possibly every human) in the world, and as soon as Szilard is out of the way he gets started. While Czes won't win any open fights, he's confident in his ability to succeed by subterfuge and proxies, and takes chances that could get him devoured as a result. He tries to hire a mass murderer and blow up the train, and when that fails, he still stays to learn who to kill later. When first confronted by the Rail Tracer, Czes lies, sneers, and attempts murder. While Claire reverses that specific situation drastically, Czes is injured and killed by others throughout the series without caring or reacting much at all.
Czes has been in the Box for almost two years now. He's experienced harm, but nothing even approaching Claire's level, or Fermet's. He's also been accepted and cared about for the first time since he became immortal. Honestly, the last two years of game time have been some of the most positive in the kid's life, and he's developed plenty. But in canon or otherwise, Czes isn't a passive character. His defining villainous actions are pre-emptive murder efforts, and he calculates and attempts schemes more than nearly any character in the series. Particularly when stuck in a situation he sees as hazardous to himself or those he values.
You say I'm using OOC knowledge. If you can clarify the specifics, I'd be glad to supply threads or explanations. If the issue is more with your above concerns that I'm misplaying Czes, I hope this alleviates some of those. The impression I'm getting, both from this and other interactions, is that my attempts to involve Czes in the metaplot as an active participant are unwanted-- whether due to the way I've done it, your perception of the character, or something else entirely. I respect that you mods are doing a lot of work to manage a very complicated game, and I can see where characters trying to color outside the lines may be a hassle. If that's the problem, I have no issue backing off or working out something different. But I would very much appreciate it if you could reply soon and let me know.