Still, if someone could give themselves an ideal (in their minds) appearance, that would be a major confidence booster.
Not necessarily. And not even necessarily in a way that would register as "outgoing". Again, much would depend upon the specific character's motivations.
What if your character comes from a non-white, non-American background? What if she's, oh, say, devout Muslim, and she finds out she's a shapeshifter? I guarantee you she's not going to turn into somebody who's prone to show off her power in public, no matter how much inner confidence it might give her.
What if she comes from a background where what is considered an "ideal" appearance isn't necessarily even her own idea, and she has to use her power to conform to an ideal that's imposed upon her? She may think initially that it's a good idea, but if it's forced upon her, that isn't going to build her confidence. It's going to eventually wreck it. Especially if she's in a situation where someone, a parent or an abusive spouse say, is constantly harping on her for not being thin enough or pretty enough or big-chested enough or whatever.
What if she's actually already quite happy with the way she looks and doesn't see any need to play around with changing herself other than minor cosmetic issues at most? E.g., she's nearsighted and wants to fix that? If she's already at peace with her looks that isn't going to necessarily show any outward sign of confidence boosting. She might just want to change it because being nearsighted is annoying!
What if it's a male character and he's a football player, and he's less concerned with how he looks necessarily and more concerned with making himself bigger, stronger, faster so he can win the game? What if he actually goes overboard with it and pushes himself too far?
What if an old man is a shapeshifter and is quite happy to just use his power to keep himself in the best health possible?
What if a cancer patient discovers she's a shapeshifter? I absolutely guarantee you that she's going to give way less of a shit about walking around scantily clad and more about oh, say, making herself not die.
Long story short, I very, very much recommend against just automatically assuming that because a given character has a given power, that he or she is going to automatically react to it the same way. That's lazy worldbuilding, and it does your characters a disservice. Think about them as individuals instead and what drives them and what they care about, and let that determine how they'll react to having a specific power. Whatever power that might be.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2011-01-11 05:23 pm (UTC)Not necessarily. And not even necessarily in a way that would register as "outgoing". Again, much would depend upon the specific character's motivations.
What if your character comes from a non-white, non-American background? What if she's, oh, say, devout Muslim, and she finds out she's a shapeshifter? I guarantee you she's not going to turn into somebody who's prone to show off her power in public, no matter how much inner confidence it might give her.
What if she comes from a background where what is considered an "ideal" appearance isn't necessarily even her own idea, and she has to use her power to conform to an ideal that's imposed upon her? She may think initially that it's a good idea, but if it's forced upon her, that isn't going to build her confidence. It's going to eventually wreck it. Especially if she's in a situation where someone, a parent or an abusive spouse say, is constantly harping on her for not being thin enough or pretty enough or big-chested enough or whatever.
What if she's actually already quite happy with the way she looks and doesn't see any need to play around with changing herself other than minor cosmetic issues at most? E.g., she's nearsighted and wants to fix that? If she's already at peace with her looks that isn't going to necessarily show any outward sign of confidence boosting. She might just want to change it because being nearsighted is annoying!
What if it's a male character and he's a football player, and he's less concerned with how he looks necessarily and more concerned with making himself bigger, stronger, faster so he can win the game? What if he actually goes overboard with it and pushes himself too far?
What if an old man is a shapeshifter and is quite happy to just use his power to keep himself in the best health possible?
What if a cancer patient discovers she's a shapeshifter? I absolutely guarantee you that she's going to give way less of a shit about walking around scantily clad and more about oh, say, making herself not die.
Long story short, I very, very much recommend against just automatically assuming that because a given character has a given power, that he or she is going to automatically react to it the same way. That's lazy worldbuilding, and it does your characters a disservice. Think about them as individuals instead and what drives them and what they care about, and let that determine how they'll react to having a specific power. Whatever power that might be.