Two characters of mine come to mind.
First is my old main, K'washi. I started off playing him as illiterate, with a bare grasp on the Eorzean language. He had enough knowledge to tell the difference between the different phrases he'd had written in his little book, and that was that. As time went on, he eventually met people that taught him how to read, up to and including his now-husband. Unfortunately, they've both fallen off the radar, pretty much, but it was a fantastic journey from start to finish, to see him grow from illiterate to not.
Currently, I have Yesukai, a former slave born into captivity that's recently gained his freedom. He knows enough about numbers to somewhat be able to tell the difference between them, and he knows the letter A. Largely because he was taught enough to understand what numbers were bigger than what for Triple Triad, but he's still developing and he's still very much a work in progress. And he still very easily messes up some numbers with other numbers.
But I also have a literate character, from start to finish. Akino Naeuri, former Princess of her little city back home in Othard. Reading is her pleasure in life and it's how she's learned so much about the world around her, despite being so sheltered.
My characters always have a history of developing (sometimes healthily, sometimes not). To do otherwise is to remain stagnant, and that's simply boring to me. I'm the kind of player that will revel in seeing a character develop, whether it's my own or someone else's, in whatever way they can.
First is my old main, K'washi. I started off playing him as illiterate, with a bare grasp on the Eorzean language. He had enough knowledge to tell the difference between the different phrases he'd had written in his little book, and that was that. As time went on, he eventually met people that taught him how to read, up to and including his now-husband. Unfortunately, they've both fallen off the radar, pretty much, but it was a fantastic journey from start to finish, to see him grow from illiterate to not.
Currently, I have Yesukai, a former slave born into captivity that's recently gained his freedom. He knows enough about numbers to somewhat be able to tell the difference between them, and he knows the letter A. Largely because he was taught enough to understand what numbers were bigger than what for Triple Triad, but he's still developing and he's still very much a work in progress. And he still very easily messes up some numbers with other numbers.
But I also have a literate character, from start to finish. Akino Naeuri, former Princess of her little city back home in Othard. Reading is her pleasure in life and it's how she's learned so much about the world around her, despite being so sheltered.
My characters always have a history of developing (sometimes healthily, sometimes not). To do otherwise is to remain stagnant, and that's simply boring to me. I'm the kind of player that will revel in seeing a character develop, whether it's my own or someone else's, in whatever way they can.
