Follow TV Tropes

Following

Your Character Meets Their Early Draft

Go To

Kanonite Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
#1: Jan 13th 2016 at 4:22:00 AM

What the title says. Through some quantum mishap, your characters encounter early drafts of themselves. How do they react?

Em would slap his for spinelessness and easy corruptibility.

handlere The Exia is my waifu from Hell Since: May, 2011 Relationship Status: Robosexual
The Exia is my waifu
#2: Jan 13th 2016 at 5:13:52 AM

Draft!David would probably envy Now!David, because Now!David has a far more stable life growing up. Now!David, on the other hand, envies Draft!David because at least he doesn't have to deal with horrors trying to take over his mind each night.

Draft!Khan would probably slap Now!Khan for being a jerk. Now!Khan probably thinks Draft!Khan is a wuss

Rose would probably intimidate Elise.

Draft!Slyde and Now!Slyde would probably be friends, since the only thing that changed was their occupation (Draft!Slyde was a Psycho for Hire, Now!Slyde is just a freelance psycho.

edited 13th Jan '16 12:51:08 PM by handlere

Seen in the profile picture: the Gundam Flauros Rebake Full City, piloted by McGillis Itsuka, captain of the Turbines
Kakai from somewhere in Europe Since: Aug, 2013
#3: Jan 13th 2016 at 7:11:59 AM

Then!Trisar and Now!Trisar would probably not start off liking each other a lot, and would wonder why a prince of a desert empire and a miner from a snow country have the same name. Then!Trisar would be freaked out by Now!Trisar's unnatural magics, while Now!Trisar would tell Then!Trisar to man up and shed some aristocratism (you can see I went a long way with his character's concept...).

Now!Largo would wonder how Then!Largo survived ten years in his job, as the old version was much more squishy. He would also love to riff off Then!Largo, who's absurdly defenseless against snarkery.

Rejoice!
JHM Apparition in the Woods from Niemandswasser Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: Hounds of love are hunting
Apparition in the Woods
#4: Jan 13th 2016 at 10:36:18 AM

Only a few have changed significantly, but the ones that have, for the most part, have just become less villainous. In one rather extreme case, my earlier draft of the character split into two distinct people, both of whom changed entirely but one of whom retained that earlier personality as an earlier version of themselves who interacted quite negatively with the other character spun off from that concept.

I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
KillerClowns Since: Jan, 2001
#5: Jan 15th 2016 at 7:16:54 PM

Let's see... interestingly, all of the major characters from my early drafts, save Rachel/Roshni and Asau/Aseyu have become minor characters or background players who wield political and economic power rather than showing up personally. So I can't use any of my current major characters for this. Still, for a few select...

After briefly finding Draft!Asau amusing, Current!Aseyu would give her previous self a very long and pointed lecture on the line between flirtation and sexual harassment. Possibly while holding her previous self in an armlock. They may or may not end up sleeping together anyways.

Draft!Rachel and Current!Roshni would get along really well, spending hours debating Dungeons & Dragons versus Pathfinder, army setups for Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, Magic: The Gathering deck synergies, et cetera. The main thing (aside from the name) that has changed for her is the perspective she's seen from — fundamentally mundane American geeks look really weird to the Uelane.

Draft!Sigmund and Current!Sigmund would be able to cooperate, but there would be tension between the former's shameless though restrained Greed and the latter's more complex ambitions. At least they'd correctly realize that they more or less have no overlap in their goals; Draft!Sigmund would take all the short-term benefits and honor any promises he made to not interfere with Current!Sigmund's more long-term schemes to make the world a (from his perspective) better place.

Current!Julia would find Draft!Julia painfully naive, even though both are very idealistic, but because the increased competence goes with an age increase, it'd be more I Hate Past Me than anything.

Draft!Alice and Current!Alice would hate one another. The former would disdain the latter's relative unwillingness to kill (even if it is for pragmatic rather than moral reasons) and tendency to send subordinates rather than do the dirty work herself, while the latter would find the former a disgustingly unprofessional, needlessly sadistic thug.

Draft!Amu and Current!Amu would inevitably fight to the death, the latter correctly recognizing the former as an irredeemable psychopath. The former is a more powerful mage, but the latter would probably win simply because he's smarter and more able to use non-magical tricks like martial arts and a non-magical pistol he uses to shoot Anti-Magic wielders.

In general, most of my characters have gotten closer to a neutral alignment, and by design, occasionally subtly hypocritical.

edited 15th Jan '16 8:03:42 PM by KillerClowns

tsstevens Reading tropes such as You Know What You Did from Reading tropes such as Righting Great Wrongs Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: She's holding a very large knife
Reading tropes such as You Know What You Did
#6: Jan 16th 2016 at 3:45:52 AM

Ooohhh...Draft!Jessie was very typical of the prototype or model Blue Heelers character, that cop with heart, as much of that style of character as possible without being unrealistic, as real as possible without being flat or boring. Now!Jordan (changed the name) is still very much the idealist, the superbly suited to the job in theory (physically she's almost perfect but it's the skill and experience that she still needs) but much of the early character draft or model is gone, her look is more natural, real in a sense in that she doesn't come across as done up or made up to look more glamorous, and her personality is more real. She's not as seemingly naive, she thinks and reacts more like a real person would, that's perhaps the best way I can put it, Jordan is less of a character or made up of character traits that make her up and more real, more complex.

Currently reading up My Rule Fu Is Stronger than Yours
nekomoon14 from Oakland, CA Since: Oct, 2010
#7: Jan 16th 2016 at 3:59:37 AM

Enykeo would take one look at Merling and hate him for having donkey ears and wearing clothes that match his hair and eye color. He wouldn't even want to bargain for the boy's soul. He'd laugh at the wizard's hideous lack of fingers, nose, ears.

Meanwhile, Merling would piss his pants because Enykeo is the definition of Evil Is Sexy and Merling would be terrified. In fact, he'd have waking nightmares about the demon king.

edited 16th Jan '16 4:02:07 AM by nekomoon14

Level 3 Social Justice Necromancer. Chaotic Good.
Novis from To the Moon's song. Since: Mar, 2011 Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
#8: Jan 17th 2016 at 1:24:08 AM

My project is still on the first draft, but I can compare them to earlier concepts.

Current!Caleb would find his earliest version's name a little strange, but all versions of him would probably get along well, though earlier ones may find later ones more cynical attitude troubling (though they'd understand why). The earliest would also mourn the loss of a friend who got dropped in development.

Much less so with Zane, who didn't have much of a personality at first. One thing they'd clash over is Caleb, seeing as how they were first straight up enemies but now there beorst frenemies.

Autumn would be rather confused seeing how her conceptual lineage is pretty non-Euclidean. Nothing would make them straight out dislike each other, except perhaps the earliest' criminal past.

Current Nicolette would tell the early one to cool it with the superiority, while the earlier one would say the later one has gone soft. Expect some Not So Different moments.

The Director would be horrified by the character he shares the most conceptional DNA with; which is very little.

Half and his lineage wouldn't care much about each other; they're just extra annoyances to deal with. Half might look down on one earlier version for being subservient to another character.

Current Sebela would give earlier Sebela a pep talk and teach her how to better deal with morally murky situations.

Erol the Larvae and past Erol would get along fine and even sympathize with each other's backstories. The Larvae would encourage the past version to do something with his power rather than walk around being mysterious (it took a reimagining for me to figure out his goals, still working on it really).

Fun topic, by the way [tup].

edited 17th Jan '16 1:33:23 AM by Novis

You say I am loved, when I don’t feel a thing. You say I am strong, when I think I am weak. You say I am held, when I am falling short.
ironcommando smol aberration from Somewhere in space Since: May, 2009 Relationship Status: Abstaining
#9: Jan 17th 2016 at 1:37:18 AM

Calia meets her draft... she'd probably get along with that unnamed crystal serpentine dragon-goddess who shapeshifts into a dark-skinned lady. Yes, she's wildly different from her draft indeed.

IC meets his draft... he'd give his draft (a robot, instead of an Energy Being) a bunch of weaponry that's much higher-tech than anything said draft's game has, and give him something to eliminate that machine virus easily.

edited 17th Jan '16 1:39:21 AM by ironcommando

...eheh
trashconverters "Team Ken, baby" from Melbourne (Series 2) Relationship Status: This is not my beautiful wife!
"Team Ken, baby"
#10: Mar 14th 2016 at 8:46:17 PM

Current!Heron would probably feel sorry for Draft!Heron: he thought he had it bad, Draft!Heron is just so pathetic and depressing, a 200 year old twink, perpetually stood up and heartbroken, and oh so Byronic! He could almost certainly beat the poor soul in a fist fight, but he wouldn't really want to fight him in the first place.

Current!Heron then thwacks SecondDraft!Heron across the face for being such a second rate Bernard Black Expy.

edited 15th Mar '16 4:43:44 AM by trashconverters

Stand up against pinkwashing, don't fall for propoganda
Eagal This is a title. from This is a location. Since: Apr, 2012 Relationship Status: Waiting for Prince Charming
This is a title.
#11: Mar 15th 2016 at 7:43:17 PM

B.B. would be creeped out by the fact that early B.B. (who is about ten plus years older than current B.B.) was attracted to the woman who is current B.B.'s adoptive mother.

He'd also attempt to arrest early B.B., because early B.B. is a supervillain, while current B.B. is a superhero(-in-training).

Early B.B. was a douchebag. Current B.B....well, he's also a douchebag, but he tries not to be.

edited 15th Mar '16 7:44:19 PM by Eagal

You fell victim to one of the classic blunders!
DeathlyTaco Since: Mar, 2016
#12: Mar 16th 2016 at 6:31:33 PM

Current!Melanie meets Draft!Melanie...

One of the first things Current! would say is "Jeez, stop it with the goggles, you're burning my eyes! Gaaah, melting, melting, like overcooked eggs, oh God help me!"

Other than that, it's a bit tricky because Draft!Melanie wasn't a completely defined character in my brain, just an incomplete "prototype". An idea still in development, with hardly even a back story or motive. But Draft! certainly had more malice and would be more likely to cross the Moral Event Horizon, whereas Current! has a heart of gold but is convinced that her destiny was written in stone at birth and she thus has no choice but to serve the extremist Apocalypse Cult. One is more outright villainous and the other is an Anti-Villain struggling with her self-identity coming into odds with her moral conscience. So, they'd probably hate each other. Draft!Melanie might see Current!Melanie as too soft, too cowardly, and Current! would be disturbed at Draft!'s lack of conscience and Ax-Crazy tendencies. Not So Different moments might ensue, depending on the circumstances.

edited 16th Mar '16 6:31:56 PM by DeathlyTaco

Last_Hussar Since: Nov, 2013
#13: Mar 17th 2016 at 2:01:03 PM

I don't feel my finisheds are that different in character to the original first paragraphs. I feel I always have a strong sense of who they are to start with, or at least they do. I don't think I change them, I think I just know more about them. I know people don't often understand, but sometimes it really is 'I Just Write the Thing' (see how P Terry talked about Vimes on that page.)

Sometimes I have placeholders, and I don't know that they will be important until later.

Case in Point.

I've just restarted toying again with two characters in a fantasy setting that I haven't visited for years. When I first introduced them they were breaking into a bedroom as a thorough-fare to escape the Watch. I refound an old friend from RP 20 years ago on Facebook, and all of a sudden I knew a lot more about the woman whose sleep they disturbed (because it seems natural she is a proxy of my friend's PC/general attitude etc), and what I thought was a 'Grey Mouser/Grey Mouser' set up, actually is more like Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, or Spy Vs Spy vs Spy. Whole scenes are jumping into my mind.

So these aren't Draft vs Finished, but people I am coming to know.

ironcommando smol aberration from Somewhere in space Since: May, 2009 Relationship Status: Abstaining
#14: Mar 18th 2016 at 11:53:38 PM

Reaper meets his draft... he'd be shocked at how cruel, evil, manipulative and dishonest said draft is. However, since his original draft would've killed off a bunch of other suits and gained more abilities, he would need help in order to take said draft down.

Basically the draft is what Reaper would've become if he didn't repent.

edited 18th Mar '16 11:56:33 PM by ironcommando

...eheh
Sharysa Since: Jan, 2001
#15: Mar 29th 2016 at 12:07:43 AM

This is fucking awesome.

Current-Cord and Early-Cord would give each other hugs to end world hunger. They're both Deconstructions of the Asian Gangster stereotype, but Early-Cord was forced to take up his Chinese-born father's mantle despite Cord being THE LEAST emotionally suitable person for leading a gang, and he's heavy on the sour side of Knight in Sour Armor until his Character Development kicks in and gets him back to Current-Cord's personality. He'd be amazed at how Current-Cord's stayed so NICE through the shit-storm of gay-bashing, racism, and gang life. Also, Early-Cord was pretty subdued, but it's a plot point that Current-Cord's monologues are literally taking place in the show—people instinctively notice that Cord gets really eloquent when he's running on high emotions (good feelings and bad ones), and it's also a sign that he's actually a superhero, despite constantly calling himself "another fucked-up Asian gangster."

I'm still trying to figure out whether his "superpower" is being the metaphorical heart of the gang and everyone loves him because he clearly loves people back, or whether he's literally got Psychic Powers that manifest in him being able to charm the fuck out of people in addition to mundane charisma and loyalty.

Terry's name is now Thad. Despite my attempt to give Terry a normal life so he can be The Everyman nurse contrasting with Cord's Anti-Hero, Thad's hinting that his parents divorced, his mother raised him with the help of her brother, and Thad became a nurse because they wanted to avoid the "mediocre black kid with no dad" stereotype. On the other hand, they'd both be amused that their relationship roles with Cord have reversed—Terry was the open and talkative Nice Guy who carefully pieced Early-Cord's former personality back together, while Thad's still nice, but he fell in love with Current-Cord because Cord talks like poetry.

edited 29th Mar '16 12:12:07 AM by Sharysa

Murataku Fits in Heavy's pocket! from Straya Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Fits in Heavy's pocket!
#16: Apr 8th 2016 at 1:56:42 AM

Current!Oya would be disgusted with Draft!Oya's (by his standards) relaxed attitude and willingness to argue with or disobey his master. How dare he put the others in danger that way.

Draft!Oya would be amazed at the massive stick Current!Oya has up his arse, and would be rather offended at the way his current self treats his friends, massive issues be damned.

Basically they would hate each other and things would get messy.

The last thing you hear before an unstoppable juggernaut bisects you with a minigun.
Voltech44 The Electric Eccentric from The Smash Ultimate Salt Mines Since: Jul, 2010 Relationship Status: Forming Voltron
The Electric Eccentric
#17: Apr 17th 2016 at 10:18:27 PM

Modern Arc would take a moment to quietly wonder why he shrank between drafts, then take time to observe and chat with Classic Arc. It wouldn't take long for him to realize that Classic Arc is a far cry from the genius and problem-solver he makes himself out to be; then again, it'd make Modern Arc put himself under the microscope with that much more intensity. He'd strive to improve himself without being a smarmy jerk — as tough as that might be for him.

Davis (the modern) would opt to make a nice pot of chili to enjoy with Deias (the classic). Davis would spend most of his time nerding out over Deias' world and life up to that point, all too wary of the latter's lack of strife (and his penchant for wearing the same expression 24/7). Eventually, they'd have to go up against some monsters, highlighting the differences in their styles; despite both of them Playing with Fire, Davis would note that he's a calm and practiced martial artist, while Deias is a hotheaded swordsman with a reckless style and a short fuse. Despite that, they'd both agree to spar with one another to become stronger — and understand one another even more than before.

My Wattpad — A haven for delightful degeneracy
Oudynfury Since: Mar, 2015
#18: Apr 22nd 2016 at 8:19:17 PM

Current Aenlen Once Noble is an In Name Only of the original draft. Hell, they don't even occupy the same role in the story - the original's the Big Bad and the new one's the protagonist. Current Once Noble would be disgusted by his draft, who was an Omnicidal Maniac who's primary motivation was more or less personal amusement. In fact, he'd probably think he's encountered a magical duplicate of some sort, given that the current Big Bad also dabbles in omnicidality. Given that Current Once Noble is devoted to defending the world at any cost, it's highly likely that there would be a fight between the two of them, which would be entertaining to watch, and probably won by the draft version, because he has much greater magic (though arguably the current one is physically stronger).

FlambeNobunaga Has it out for Huion for their driver BS. from Somewhere, someplace, I don't know, man. Since: Apr, 2016 Relationship Status: RelationshipOutOfBoundsException: 1
Has it out for Huion for their driver BS.
#19: Apr 24th 2016 at 1:58:23 AM

Modern Paz would probably be taken aback at how bland and "nothing" early Paz was. She seems like she walked straight out of the Bella Swan school of personality traits.

Modern Blake would probably silently put up with early Blakes "witty" remarks and "clever" quips before snapping. He'd drag early Blake into a dark corner, and start beating him while saying "I appreciate that you're more or less the comedic relief in this story but I do not appreciate you being the comedic relief as in it's a "relief whenever you shut your fat fucking mouth!" YOU'RE NOT FUNNY!!!"

Modern Gwyn would probably shake his head in disbelief at early Gwyn. He looks and acts like an angsty teenager with severe parental issues. He also is also probably one of those people that listens to "Crawling" by Linkin Park unironically.

Modern Scarlett would at first wonder why her name was Cheyenne in the early draft initially, before gawking at how much of a (for lack of a better word) callous bitch she is. She'd say, "Lighten up! You seem like you hate everything and everyone in this world for no good reason! And not in an Asuka from Evangelion/Tsundere sort of way either! You're just a bitch!"

The above post should be taken with a good amount of salt. 126% of whatever comes out of my mouth is intended sarcasm, humor, or hyperbole.
NotSoBadassLongcoat The Showrunner of Dzwiedz 24 from People's Democratic Republic of Badassia (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Puppy love
The Showrunner of Dzwiedz 24
#20: Apr 29th 2016 at 4:34:23 PM

Now!Bjorn would ask Draft!Bjorn what does he need an unwieldy hunk of steel for. Because sure, a BFS is pretty cool, but being a Magic Knight is cooler, particularly if you add some roguish tricks like lockpicking and disabling traps.

Draft!Bjorn can crank out a whirling attack with his greatsword, so what. Now watch Now!Bjorn unleash a combo of sword attacks, magic-assisted jumps, short-range magic attacks like kinetic blasts and earthquake stomps, finished by what I can only compare to Yondu's Whistlebolt.

Anyway, "Yondu's Whistlebolt" sounds like a D&D spell, now doesn't it?

"what the complete, unabridged, 4k ultra HD fuck with bonus features" - Mark Von Lewis
GreatKaiserNui Since: Feb, 2014
#21: Apr 29th 2016 at 5:19:56 PM

Current!Kaiser would probably be envying Original!Kaiser's firm grip over the Entire Multiversal Empire that is now realistically impossible for him to control alone so he has to put faith in Governors he will never see.

§◄►§
Swordofknowledge Swordofknowledge from I like it here... Since: Aug, 2012 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Swordofknowledge
#22: Apr 30th 2016 at 12:20:12 PM

Hmmm. All of these characters are from the current story I'm working on so they're fresh in my mind:

  • Early Glenn Waldron and Current Glenn are identical in all but appearance, so my permanent version would be interested to see a tall and skinny white guy with the same name and family background as him, oh and with both legs attached. He would be a little jealous about the leg, but he would quickly realize the usefulness of having a skilled planner and strategist who basically is him in terms of how they think. The two of them would love to bounce ideas off one another and both work hard to reign Kiera in when necessary.

  • Kiera's early version was much older than she is—almost in her early 70s—while the current Kiera is in her late fifties. Their biggest difference is that Original!Kiera was human while Current!Kiera is an elf and thus her history is far more steeped in elven culture and all its trappings than the human version's. Current Kiera would be bitter and rather jealous that the original had such a easygoing and relatively pampered childhood, whereas she suffered a great deal for simply being born into a clan the rest of her people hated and cursed. Original!Kiera was inducted into the Mage's Guild from childhood while Current!Kiera was taken into the organization in her twenties, so Current would automatically assume Original worked less hard for her powers and skills. All in all, neither of them would like one another, since Original would feel antagonized and persecuted for something she couldn't help and Current would feel that Original was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Oddly the one thing both of them might respect is their shared history of losing their families to the Pariahs and their resulting hatred for the creatures, which led to them leaving their organizations and joining the Black Knights. In some ways Original had it worse, since she actually had to watch her twin daughters slowly die while trying to vainly nurse them back to health from being drained by Pariahs. Kiera merely heard about the death of her daughters and husband due to not being there when it happened.

  • Kajack and Vania's early versions would be surprised and awed at their current selves due to the dedication, resourcefulness and brutality when accomplishing their goals. They'd also be extremely jealous of the powers the current versions were given in service to their City, since they blow their past versions out of the water. However they would be horrified that the current versions are actually sick and elderly and their "eternally" youthful and robust appearances are simple temporary gifts to help them accomplish their mission.

edited 30th Apr '16 12:21:33 PM by Swordofknowledge

"Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake." —Edgar Wallace
ladytanuki Friendly Neighborhood Lich from SF, CA, US Since: Apr, 2012 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
#23: Apr 30th 2016 at 10:00:22 PM

Oh my, this'll be interesting...

Phoebe (new) would be utterly astonished at Orbie (old) - namely how weird her name is and the fact that her hair is blue. Orbie, on the other hand, would be pleasantly surprised to see the development of her future self, though she might be displeased about Phoebe's status as a Midwest country girl who loves horses and wears a cowgirl hat. She might think it a bit stereotypical.

Gon would find it hilarious that he used to be called Falco, also the name of a Star Fox character, and was originally from a Digimon fan fiction. To this, Falco would make fun of Gon for being a nerd, and the two would have quite an argument about their viewpoints.

Kelsey (old) would be disappointed to find out that Yamiko (new) can't use telekinesis, and doesn't have any psychic powers in the story where she has Mons. Since Kelsey essentially grew up alongside me, the meeting would be like a young adult meeting their early teen self.

More to come soon...

Come, my child of the devil. Your mother is calling you. Hear my call in Hell's grand hall, where all our dreams come true.
lapisandsapphire MARKET PRICE EGGNOG EGGNOG EGGNOG eggnog yum from The Babyrealm Since: May, 2015 Relationship Status: I'd need a PowerPoint presentation
MARKET PRICE EGGNOG EGGNOG EGGNOG eggnog yum
#24: Jun 7th 2016 at 5:37:38 PM

My OC Sabrina was originally the epitome of weeb-ness. She wasn't even formed by me for the most part, but a friend (now thankfully an ex-friend) who basically dictated all of her character development to me. She was a Genki Girl with almost zero substance to her. Current Sabrina is almost the complete opposite. She's a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who likes to tease people (The universe she's in right now wouldn't allow her to have access to the internet, but if she did she'd be a Garbage Post Kid ), and really the only thing left from her original characterization is that she's a Cloudcuckoolander and Crazy Cat Lady.

If she met her original self I'm not sure if she'd stab Beta-brina in the pancreas or curl up in a fetal position and cry that she was once that vapid. Possibly both.

edited 7th Jun '16 5:38:37 PM by lapisandsapphire

spacealien Since: Apr, 2016
#25: Jun 7th 2016 at 7:06:55 PM

I started writing this story in eighth grade. I am now entering my senior year of high school. The characters have changed quite a bit, natch!

Draft!Detective was such a little badass. He would be horrified to realize that his current self is a glorified insurance salesman who dated the enemy. Current!Detective would be a little intimidated, and then quite disgusted at just how dogmatic this other Detective is.

Draft!Bird was actually a human. The idea of being an Eldritch Abomination who routinely abuses her underlings as a display of status... unsettles her. She doesn't want to talk to the other Bird anymore. Current!Bird thinks that Bird was weak. Those who cannot subjugate the inferiors are unfit for the cause of Order.

Draft!Billiards was much more... dastardly. She laughs wildly and skewers a mouse with her pool cue. Then she tries to flirt with herself. Then she tries to kill herself. Then she apologizes. Current!Billiards is understandably terrified. She thinks this timeline is best left to wither away and die. Let entropy take its course, and all that.


Total posts: 41
Top