How do YOU get into character?

[Eternal.Journey]

I know there are probably a few blanket tutorials on here about how to RP which contain getting into character, but how do YOU do it? I have been here for 10 years now and I've been struggling since day 1. Once I'm there I'm there, but to get there in the first place is difficult for me.

Please share, I would love to know. It would be a big help to me and I'm sure to others as well.

For me, a character isn’t a “getting into character” type of thing. Most characters I play have a teeny tiny part of “me” in them, in one form or another. From personal experience, it is far easier to be someone that you partially already are than someone completely alien. Yes, this sounds odd coming from someone who plays predominantly Wild, Nomads and Vagrants, but even the “character” of an alien can be a tiny part of oneself.

Take Jack, my Freelancer, as an example. He is Bretonian, drinks a lot of coffee and is an explorer at heart. Im British, used to drink a lot of coffee and would love to be able to explore the world, see different countries.

A different example would be my Nomad Nymph, Vaer’Lif. They are more curious about their surroundings and others than directly/blatantly hostile. I have curiosity and a fascination with space and the happenings in the universe, I enjoy staring up into the sky and just watching time pass by the movement of the stars.

Every character has meaning, has purpose, has that little fragment of personality from me as the “actor”. Its harder to embody something that you are not, or to treat people in ways you yourself wouldn’t wish on anyone. The only consistent thing that does make any character a struggle to become, for me, is mood. More often than not, I have to feel “right” to play certain characters. I cannot if I do not feel up to it and this cannot be changed easily, if at all.

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