#about characters

[ryuichirou]

What do you think about Lilia and Idia's chats? I know you ship them but did they affect you in any way?

Sorry for the late reply, Anon!

This is one of those asks that I really went “oh no I have to think about this one properly, this is a very important topic” lol But it’s probably for the best because today is kind of a perfect day for me to write about this particular topic.

As always, I ended up talking a whole lot, so I hope you enjoy reading it. I’ll try not to digress too much!

Short answer would be yes of course it affected me: I’m pretty sure it was one of the main reasons why I started shipping them in the first place.

As someone who crawled out of Homestuck’s cradle (and will stay there forever at least in some capacity), I really love it when characters chat. I think all of us act a bit differently when we’re on the internet, even if we’re trying to be 100% honest, or at least we are perceived a bit differently. And when you have two characters who know each other irl, but also know each other online as different people, and one of them is crushing hard, it creates such an interesting dynamic… so beautiful.

It’s very interesting to see Idia swooning so hard. He doesn’t act that way around anybody else, even people he is kind of close with (Azul is the only example but), which contrasts nicely to his usual snarky antisocial self. I love it a lot when this type of character gets very into someone and ends up being a bit tormented by his own inner demons: he craves to be closer to that person, he wants to spend more time together, but he is scared that the moment he accepts his feeling he’s going to get hurt. He is terrified of being vulnerable, but Muscle Crimson makes him so happy that he just can’t help himself. Idia is so cynical and pessimistic, he already accepted the fact that he’ll stay lonely forever, and yet whenever Lilia appears, he gets hopeful, romantic and longing. Very Megara of you, Idia lol

What doesn’t help is that no matter what Muscle Crimson does, somehow it only makes him more perfect in Idia’s eyes…

For starters, in ch6 Idia said that one of the things he loves most about Muscle Crimson is that he never oversteps and is very understanding of him, and how he is very natural in a way he expresses things. What I’m trying to say is that Idia never feels like he has to explain himself or push himself, like MC always gets it and never pries into his affairs. This is the thing that Idia usually struggles with the most: social expectations, the pacing of a conversation, the arbitrary rules of how two people should communicate; and he doesn’t have those issues with MC whatsoever. It’s very easy for him to talk with MC because the moment this usual obstacle isn’t present, Idia is suddenly very eager to connect with another person. MC is chill, MC is nice, MC is mature and MC isn’t needy. We see it so much with their online conversations, it’s incredible.

I also really love their chats because they very nicely show what exactly Idia wants from a relationship. Whenever I talk about Idia’s ideal type, Idia’s love language, Idia’s anything, I always end up talking about it: Idia loves quality time and sharing things that he loves with others, so the fact that he can play videogames with Lilia is massively important for him, but this isn’t the only thing. In Idia’s dorm uniform vignette (god that vignette is such a feast for a multishipper), Idia gets so excited because MC not only agreed to listen to his favourite band, but also was engaged enough to express that he wants to listen to them! On his own volition! Azul-shi who didn’t even bother to listen to their music that Idia kindly brought to him should take notes!

I’m sorry but let’s take a look at this dialogue (official translation from wiki but I just want to make a point okay):

<Muscle Red>  

Ah, I see. My apologies for not being well-informed on the topic.

<Gloomurai>   

NP! sorry for rambling about something you don't care about lol

Imagine ranting to someone about your oshiis, and instead of being annoyed or politely agreeing with you, the person goes “oh I’m sorry that I haven’t heard about them”. Of course, Idia’s instinct is to pull back a little and to apologise for his rambling and to joke about MC not being interested – not as a jab at Lilia, but as a jab at himself instead for bothering him with unnecessary information.

And instead of just letting the conversation go to some other lane (which would’ve been a bit sad, but ultimately not that bad because Lilia’s initial response wasn’t an annoyed one), for some reason, MC does this of all things:

<Muscle Red>  

Actually, after seeing how passionate you are about them...

<Muscle Red>  

My interest in this Premo group has been thoroughly piqued.

<Gloomurai>   

you're already interested just from hearing me drone on and on?

<Gloomurai>   

you're like the nicest guy. i'd give you 100 rare drops if i could

<Muscle Red>  

Would you recommend a particular song for a first-time listener?

Not only he didn’t get a “ehhh yeah cool”, but he also got a “send me their songs” instead. It’s like Lilia is actively trying to lure this poor otaku boy into his embrace lol But the best thing is that it is so casual and genuine, even Idia-the-biggest-cynic doesn’t feel like he is just trying to be nice about it. And as I always say, despite being a hikikomori, Idia is good at reading people, and someone as insecure as he is would’ve definitely thought that MC was just being nice. But he didn’t, instead he got super excited about it.  The boy is so smitten he’s melting as we speak...

And not only that! When in that exact vignette some shenanigans happen with the website of the band, and Idia gets upset about it, MC is so quick to cheer him up and comfort him. It’s interesting with Lilia because he really is wise and mature, but sometimes he doesn’t quite know what to say to comfort someone?? There are some areas in which he is a bit clumsy, I guess, but it seems like when it comes to Gloomy Samurai, it feels like he knows him super well. How his mind and emotion operates, what makes him upset. It’s sweet that he is very eager to support him and feels genuinely bad for him; we’re even shown Lilia himself in his own room being troubled that his online buddy might get depressed over what happened. It’s just so… sweet?? I don’t think Idia had anyone other than Ortho support him like that before. I’ll talk about Lilia in general in a moment though.

One last thing about this vignette is that I wanted to talk about is this little exchange:

<Gloomurai>   

it'd be so cool if we could meet up IRL...

<Muscle Red>  

Oh? Well, if you wish to meet offline, I'd gladly visit whenever you like.

<Gloomurai>   

oh nonononono, i live in a super remote place rn!

<Gloomurai>   

i'd have to take planes, trains, buses, and boats to go p. much anywhere

<Gloomurai>   

meeting up would be a whole THING...

Imagine Idia fucking Shroud not only having a gaming buddy he is excited to talk to, and not only entertaining the idea of meeting said buddy irl, but also EXPRESSING THIS IDEA OUTLOUD? And once again, he is met with enthusiasm, because OF COURSE MC wouldn’t mind hanging out irl! And the moment he gets that response, he pulls back once again, keeping his distance, being anxious and overwhelmed by the possibility of meeting up with MC. It’s incredibly interesting to see Idia acting this way, and once again it shows just how much he doesn’t want to ruin what they have right now. Let’s be honest, it’s not just the fact that he is in NRC; he would’ve easily traveled somewhere if he needed to, they have portals, for fuck’s sake, although not for personal usage. In this convo Idia does what Idia does all the time in their chats: he dares to express interest in MC’s irl affairs, and then gets terrified that MC won’t like it, or MC will answer and somehow this newfound knowledge will ruin something, or that things will get weird: Idia just doesn’t want to risk breaking this balance between them that is super fragile in his eyes.

I love him being so unsure and anxious. I love him being invested and infatuated, but also being so afraid to get hurt. It’s like Lilia is taming him little by little… which isn’t intentional on Lilia’s part lol He’s just hanging out with the guy he likes to hang out with! And the guy is out there falling in love deeper and deeper with every single one of their chat.

But the thing is, this is still not completely one-sided. It’s just that we tend to focus on Idia during these chats, and Idia is really crushing hard on Lilia, but when we’re shown Lilia’s side in his Suitor Suit vignette, we have a little more info on how he feels.

I find it interesting that after Idia’s little rant about how marriage in-game is a stupid mechanic and that it’s such a pain, Lilia changes his mind about asking Idia if he wanted to get married in-game… for unlocking an achievement of course. Which is SUCH A SHAME because Idia would’ve gone full 180 on this topic and would’ve accepted his proposal so fucking hard lol After learning just how much Idia pulls back and rambles, the whole thing really feels like Idia thinking that someone like MC would never ask him for something like this, and how suggesting it himself would’ve been stupid: what if MC thinks that he’s weird or clingy or cringe? So he threw the ball to Lilia’s side of the court so aggressively, that Lilia just figured that Idia hated the idea in general and didn’t want to play with him at all… SUCH A SHAAAME.

But still, it shows that Lilia also doesn’t want to make Gloomy Samurai uncomfortable. Not from the place of extreme shyness, but from the place of loving hanging out with him and not wanting things to become too complicated.

But also!! It’s so interesting to compare the way they act and type. Lilia is so proper with his lack of emoticons, but he is still playful with his comments from time to time. So reliable, so mature, of course Idia’s mental portrait of Muscle Crimson is “older man who may or may not have a family and may or may not be a proper businessmen” lol The boy is talking to someone else’s husband and dad in his head… I also love moments during which Lilia just goes “oh yeah I used to wear armour for work” and Idia just assumes that he’s joking around. I want to see more of their chats ahhh! And I want the big reveal!!

On a personal note (you don’t have to read that part lol), I have my own sentimental reasons to be so into this whole thing. It feels very nostalgic because the whole dynamic, the situations, even the typing style to some degree, it all feels very similar to what we went through ages ago. I won’t point at Lilia and say “he’s just like me for real” because I definitely wasn’t as slick as him at the stupid age of 16, but I did try to have this mature image back then lol But also, just like Lilia, seriously underestimated just how much that antisocial sweetheart I enjoy talking to a lot is into me.

Those early stages of the growing and blossoming relationship, moments of pulling back, showing initiative, trying and being insecure about all those things: I can see it in them, especially in Idia. Since I was technically the Lilia of the situation, I feel such warmth witnessing those early steps in Idia, his crush and his doubts about the whole thing. It’s like… flirting, but not quite? Some other style of flirting that isn’t really noticeable until you really look at it. Since I myself was quite dense back then and, once again, didn’t notice a crush (that I was told about btw) for quite some time, I feel especially sorry for Idia and his pains LOL But also, especially hopeful~

It’s precious. I could’ve written something edgier or sexier but ultimately I feel like it’s very precious, at least to me lol I really love these two. And this is why I’m writing this post today of all days. Very sneaky of me.

Anyways, thank you so much for your question, Anon <3 I love these two a lot.

[25-kopeek]

Meet my another character Alan! Just a very shy, gentle and caring boy...

Btw since Adam is a dog (idk in what way, i still can't choose. maybe i should make him a dog boy, like a hybrid, or he'll just have such personality.), Alan is a sneaky- I mean a sweet white snake.

[cevans-is-classic]

I wrote a poem about maladaptive daydreaming, which pretty much sums up my level of delusion

I dream of touching your hand Feeling your lips, Listening to your laugh. I dream of long nights, coffee mornings And movies at noon. I dream of the smell of you on my clothes To know your secrets Of your favorites And your dislikes I dream with my eyes wide open Begging to be normal To get over the dreams But they bring comfort Not much else will bring I dream of a life Where you know me And say my name With a whisper I dream of calling you Messages back and forth Wondering when I'll see you again I dream of you Far more than I should I dream one day you'll think of me And all my maladaptive daydreams.

[lanthart]

💕🌟 My fav types of characters part 01!  🌟💕

[riddle-me-ri]

I have a question how do you think the penguins would react to their s/o being a sailor mouth? Like just cursing alot even when they're happy or excited. I want to know because I curse alot too. :P

Okay so, so sorry it took so long to get back to this. I first read this as like a request but then realize it was more of just a general question lmao.

So I'm just gonna answer normally with my thoughts, cause one I couldn't get it out of my head (I too have a sailor mouth) and plus...I just felt like I needed to upload something and this is a little change of pace. Hope you don't mind!

Arkhamverse Penguin: definitely finds it amusing. may tease you about it even though he has no room to talk.

Reevesverse/Farrell Penguin: he's honestly shocked at first. he couldn't imagine such a sweet face could say such things. when he realizes it's more or less how you show your enthusiasm it, now he aims to get that excitement from you every time.

Gotham Penguin: he's flabbergasted. the last thing he expected, but if anyone knows anything about impulsive emotions it's him, so he can't judge too much.

BTAS Penguin: *le gasp* such language! you're far too precious to have such jargon pass through your lips! oswald understands being excited, but please...

TNBA Penguin: much like btas, he's shocked when he first hears it. he finds it very uncouth. he understands it sometimes can't be helped, but don't be surprised at the disapproving glare he gives you.

Telltale Penguin: oz thinks it's absolutely adorable. such strong language from such a cute little face. makes quite a humorous juxtaposition.

One Bad Day Penguin: oz adores it. much like reevesverse penguin, he'll go out of his way to ensure he gets that reaction out of you every time. knowing he's one of the few that can do it. it makes him feel special, plus seeing you happy and excited warms his heart.

The Batman (2004) Penguin: likely to teach you some more choice words, or better yet, you two may just come up with your own. either way he loves it, it's one of the things you two have in common.

Batman Unlimited Penguin: much like BTAS and TNBA he's extremely taken aback. he blushes unsure how to react or respond, but he's always pleased to see you so enthusiastic about something.

[drabbles-mc]

The fics i wanna write already and the first two episodes aren't even over yet.

[lilpillies]

i don't wanna waste my time///Bully Fic///Idea #3

Ah shit, here we go again.

I just remembered a certain character that I can finally write about beating up using my boys on him!

This list of ideas are more of random facts about each characters or some other stuff.

I want there to be a chapter of Johnny and Bif (you add some of the boys there too, if want) to put aside of their grudges and beat the ever living shit out of Mr. Burton. That would be fun!

Johnny know how to fight; he was taught by his father and Mr. Petersons (That's what I'm naming Beatrice's grandparents).

Beatrice knows some fight moves but she doesn't like to be violent, she does use them when she needs to defend herself.

Johnny would always makes sure Beatrice is able to defend herself. He knows that she doesn't want to be violent and he would do the fighting for her.

There was a time in their Freshman year, Johnny gave Beatrice a butterfly knife and Beatrice lost her mind and denied Johnny knife.

Johnny and Lola started dating in their Junior year (or maybe Sophomore?)

They had a very long puppy stage until it went down hill during their Senior year?

Lola enrolled at Bullworth late during her Sophomore year?

Beatrice is friends with some of the non-cliques students.

Beatrice lives with her grandparents, because her parents died in a car crash and she survived. Her grandparents are from her mother side.

Weirdly, Beatrice, Johnny and Bif mothers all were friends. They went to Bullworth together.

A whole full circle moment.

A chapter of Beatrice inviting Bif to her home, have some dinner and meet her grandparents.

Maybe during one of their semester breaks? They are going to have semester breaks.

Bif learning that people can have loving family members, he's a little jealous of Beatrice but is happy that he can experience it.

Bif having a fun time talking with Beatrice's grandfather, Mr. Petersons, about boxing

Bif's mother is a high functional alcoholic.

Bif's mother does care for Bif. His father is like a grey character, father mentally in the mid-2000 were very tough and sad, even when their rich.

There are days, Johnny and Beatrice would get permission to visit their families, during weekends.

Majority of the Bullworth students have family that live around the Bullworth Town.

The some that don't have family in town just live in the dorms or they can visit with their friends as well.

Johnny is smart but doesn't have the need to show it off.

Johnny is that kind of person who would be patience for the few moments until he yells 'How can you not be getting this!' 'This shit is easy!'

Johnny's mother is a mechanic.

Mandy is dating Ted but sometimes she wants to break up with him because she feels he doesn't respect her.

Mandy was kind of jealous of Beatrice when she found out that she has a relationship with Johnny.

Mandy only became friends with Beatrice to get information on Johnny (I just learn that Mandy likes Johnny).

I was chilling one night and thought "who would be endgame"? I really wanted to be Beatrice/ Johnny because they're the whole reason for the story ideas. And to have the childhood friends ending up with each other, is such a cliche thing to do, but I love it. Having Johnny understand his love for Beatrice and coming to the realization that Beatrice was always by his side, is something. BUT! Its also something to have Johnny be late on understanding his love for Beatrice and learning that Beatrice was holding that childhood crush and coming to the point that its time for her to let it go. And accepting someone else's, that being Bif. Bif is in love with Beatrice and Beatrice can recuperate his feeling.

The more I think about the relationship, the more I'm kind of treating like a visual novel. (And I haven't played those since a long time ago, like, 86 years ago?) And that such a big brain move but at the same time, takes a lot of time and effort!

There's, like, 4 routes; Johnny, Bif, maybe Mandy or she stay single and does her thing. The two obvious route, a secret route and a route that some didn't that can happen.

The words of a man mad. Smearing poopy at the walls of his ideas.

[missnight0wl]

I don't get why people put Rowan in Ravenclaw just because they are a nerd when their intense loyalty (toward MC in particular) and ambition make Slytherin fit them like a glove.

Oh, tell me about it! Like, no offence to anyone who claims that, but people insisting that Rowan is obviously a Ravenclaw is one of my biggest pet peeves about this fandom. And while I absolutely see your point about Slytherin, the thing is that Rowan fits really well into every House. The same goes for MC because those characters were purposefully written that way: to fit into every player’s story. I even remember seeing Matt London’s post addressing this very thing (although I believe he talked only about MC).

No, but seriously. Let’s take a look.

Gryffindor. Back in Y2 when Rowan got hurt because of the Snowflake Door, they were absolutely terrified because it was the closest they ever got to dying. They also didn’t want to return to the Cursed Vaults. Still, after talking to MC, they decided that they can help in other ways. Later on, Rowan is even one of the options to accompany MC to the Vault of Ice. And they do agree if you ask them! Honestly, the theme of “bravery is not the lack of fear but facing your fears” is really quite common in the series (with Neville, Ben, and whatnot), so I don’t get why it’s not a more common conclusion. Also, you know how people claim that Rowan is the HPHM version of Hermione? Well, look at what House Hermione was.

Ravenclaw. Ok, so this one doesn’t need much explanation. It’s no secret that Rowan loves to learn. Although I think it’s important to point out for a Ravenclaw!Rowan in particular that for Rowan it’s not just about being a good student. They quite clearly enjoy gaining knowledge on its own.

Slytherin. Rowan might be the most ambitious person in MC’s year, if you ask me. I’d say that they can be quite determined and resourceful, too. As for loyalty you mentioned… Well, the thing is that loyalty per se is actually a Hufflepuff trait. Slytherin is more about brotherhood. And sure, you could argue that it’s similar to loyalty, but I feel that Rowan’s loyalty is more of a Hufflepuff ind.

Hufflepuff. Ok, so here we have the loyalty I mentioned above. I guess you could also call Rowan hard-working, though I’d personally qualify it rather s ambition. Still, I think that the very Hufflepuff thing about Rowan worth keeping in mind is how inclusive they are. because the thing is that Rowan didn’t have to choose MC for their friend. If they had a different personality, they could’ve decided to start fresh, befriend someone who wouldn’t have a bad reputation already.

Rowan has a pretty solid basis to be in any House, in my opinion. Let’s add to it in-game choices and personal headcanons… And honestly, I really can’t say that one interpretation is more valid than the other.

[bigtreefest]

Let’s Talk About Some Important Distinctions Between Decks and Honeybee

This is something I’ve been wanting to share showing the differences between the readers in You Catch More Bees With Honey (Honeybee) vs. The Rainmaker (Decks) in the Outta Nowhere AU. They’re definitely best friends and have a lot of similarities, but there are some key differences that I think play a lot into their personalities and how they react/interact with the people around them (especially their love interests).

But first, let’s talk about their similarities.

Both are:

- Hardworking

- Honest

- Spitfires who won’t take crap (just in their own ways: Bee will take it with a smile and make a remark that will likely go over their head, only her friends realizing how snide it is. Decks will make dirty looks, and consider physical engagement, although that hasn’t happened since that one close call in college…)

- Will do anything for a friend

- Insanely intelligent

- Absolutely hilarious, although it’s rare someone is around to appreciate it

Decks:

- Quick to judge and unchanging in beliefs

- Outwardly stoic

- Swears like a Trucker

- Everything has to be a very certain way

- Takes time to build trust and show true colors

- Frugal to afford nicer things

- Raised comfortably

Honeybee:

- Gives most a chance to prove themselves despite first impressions

- Outwardly warm and kind

- Rarely swears

- Sees the beauty in everything/ not too particular

- Quick to open up

- Frugal to keep a nest egg since farming can be unpredictable

- Raised humbly

As always, asks are open for character traits like this, or pretty much anything else! This was fun to make, so lmk if there’s anything else you might want to know about story characters, AUs, etc.

[card-queen]

Story Craft: Character Basics

Ahoy and welcome. Characters won the poll so I'll start my guide by going over how I go about creating and developing characters. Before I begin, I'll be using my own characters as examples. Not because they're especially good or shining examples of this or that, but simply because I created them and I 100% know how and why I created them. So if you go through this and think "um, that doesn't sound very interesting" then first of all, 'WOW OK RUDE MEAN AND CRUEL ALSO', but second of all (and much more importantly), that's good and I encourage you to keep a hold of those feelings. Stories and crafting stories are completely to taste and one person's fine is another person's too much. Stories all about capturing and recapturing feelings, so if something doesn't hit the mark then it's good to take a look and figure out where it went wrong, where you might have gone or if the whole thing wasn't to your taste at all.

And now...

Characters!

Everyone loves characters and has favourites, least favourites and enjoys dreaming up new scenarios or even alternate universes to put them in! Crack open a how-to book and they'll probably have a more mechanical view of characters as tools of the plot, designed to elicit reactions and progress events... or something else really dry and with all the joy of a tier list for cutlery. The truth is that characters ARE made with a mechanical use in mind... but they're also the beating heart of the story and the world. And there is a lot of fun to be had in really hammering out the technical aspects of characters, and I'm here to show you!

Part 1: The Basics

Characters should contain three components: Personality, Purpose and Perspective.

Personality is who they are, how they make us feel and how they get on with other characters. This is the most readily understood aspect of characters and often what people create for their early OCs or ones that don't have a story. This is where you'd put their personality basics, MBTI, enneagram, etc.

Purpose is what they do in their story, what roles they perform and what themes they embody. This is the most mechanical aspect that all the books want you to understand. This is where you'd put their archetype or tropes you associate with them.

Perspective is their place in the world and their role in society. This is kind of a middle-ground between personality and purpose as both their actions and attitude can be shaped by their place in the world, obligations or upbringing, but by give it a category of its own, we can have more fun and ensure that every character has a healthy amount of entertainment potential.

A quick word on 'theme' that I've learned over time. Don't stress out too much if you haven't figured out the key theme(s) of your story, it's something that comes with time and work. I've found that people talking about theme often end up making it sound more like a preachy underlying message that permeates your work and I can't help but feel that, despite their efforts to say 'don't make it preachy'... it's gonna come across as preachy more times than not. For me, theme is something that ends up being core to your main character's struggle and it's something that a lot of other characters and story elements can have their own angle on, deepen the issues or show a path towards growth. I didn't figure out my theme until I was going through all the things going on with my main character and noticed that a lot of characters have deep issues with these things too. These things come with time, just keep at it and remember to give yourself time away from work to give yourself fresh eyes!

It'll make sense more later as I use things in conjunction with each other, but to keep things simple and streamlined, I'll be using a basic trait system to describe a few aspects of each character -- I don't want to be here too long going into intricate backstories or the elevated nuance of each characters perspective. Ain't no one got time for that! Now... Bring out the ragamuffins...

(Cas, Conoric, Gwynnen, Hughwen, Sarabonney)

I'll just go over my main character, Cas, and hopefully show you how he fits in my world, story and works (or clashes) with the others characters.

Personality Team Player. Cas is a born leader who gets along with people. He's open-minded, hardworking and willing to see the merit in anyone. Cunning. He has a keen eye for reading people and situations, picking up on subtext which he uses to get what he needs. Determined. Cas can take determination to an unhealthy degree, misusing his body and own needs just to get a task down. Self-Reliant. While a team player at heart, he's unwilling to put too much on others and ends up taking on took much himself. Purpose Criminal Minded Hero. Cas has a mind shaped by his time as a sneak thief and street-level spy which he uses to solve crimes and help others within his community. While it gets results, his methods do not align with the strict moral values of some of his peers & superiors. Loyal to Ethelia. While Cas is not keen to weigh in on any discussions about the ruling of his country, he is actively against the rebels. Price of Honesty. Cas is TORN by his desire to just be honest all the time and his fears over what happens when he's too open. He's been nothing but honest about his childhood ties and all it's gotten him is more trouble and judgement. Thoughts on the Past. Cas tries to distance himself from everything that has happened, doing his best to forget and move on. Despite this, all of his motivations are driven by his obsession with his past. Perspective Authority Figure. Cas is seen by many as a respectable person to go to for help and wears his duties with pride. Criminal Past. Cas was once affiliated with a criminal brotherhood and despite his best efforts, that stain still colours his image. Ethelian Commoner. Cas had a relatively standard upbringing for Ethelia, (ignoring his time in the gang), with the same devotions and job prospects as others around him. His scope of the world and other perspectives is quite limited but he's eager to keep up and learn.

...okay, that should do for now. Here's the neat part:

This is a neat little visualisation of all the points I just went over about Mr Cas, with some alternatives for the personality points I went over. The personality points have a negative interpretation of that positive trait, which typically comes from them over-doing it. The negative aspect should be something that is key to how your character thinks. Determined being overdone into Workaholic makes sense. Cunning being overdone into Secretive isn't so straightforward. It plays on Cas' natural desire to see the best in people and be a Team Player, so rather than start trouble, he just keeps his mouth shut. Thinks of all of these little traits as Attack Points. They a weapons in the character's arsenal, designed to help other characters and show them growth, to exploit other characters' weaknesses and provoke conflict or meaningful change.

They can be simple, like this:

Cas' good nature and willingness to find the right way to understand and work with people makes it easy for his brother, Conoric to open up and come out of his shell. The two share a mutual understanding of how the other works and are able to work in completely opposite ways but towards the same goal.

But they can also get a little more complex, like this:

This is ostensibly a conflict between Cas and Gwynnen about Hughwen. Both Cas and Gwynnen see eye to eye, as both men are authority figures of sorts and both a loyal to Ethelia, so their conflict will always be civilised and handled with conversation and respect. Ultimately this conflict is about Hughwen's.... hmm... level of trustworthiness. His first impression is rancid, he's the only survivor of an attack and he has a very guarded manner that makes him look like a liar... and being accused by people in authority activates ACAB mode in him were he starts being snide, snippy and putting words in peoples mouths just to look and feel that extra bit persecuted. Cas naturally wants to believe in Hughwen and when Hughwen gets more defensive and leans into his idea that everyone is out to get him, it makes him look more like a black sheep underdog and makes Cas EXTRA want to stand by Hughwen. Gwynnen takes a more level-headed but letter-of-the-law approach, asking the logical questions but analysing and scrunitising every answer. If it doesn't match up with other stories or the evidence he's found, Gwynnen starts getting sceptical and asking more and more questions, which puts Hughwen's back up and activates Defiance Mode. Cas and Gwynnen oppose the other on the criminal background vs nobility background. Cas may accuse Gwynnen of not understanding how people outside of restricted society work and how people might hide their smaller crimes to avoid judgement. Gwynnen may accuse Cas of seeing himself in everyone with criminal or shady instincts, wanting too hard to see the best in everyone.

If you were to visualise all of your character interactions, it might be too big and too wordy but keeping the points of conflict in mind may help you develop characters and their interactions more thoroughly. Seeing where a character's weakness is and how it can be exploited or overcome is fun. Flipping and corrupting positive traits and aspects into negative, detrimental traits is fun. Finding how characters can get along and how they can clash in ways that go beyond "you are rich and I am poor, so I hate you, but we both like chess, so I guess you are not all bad" is SO MUCH FUN.

Get out there and have so fun. We'll be back whenever I can formulate what I want to say to talk about MBTI and Enneagram later.

In the meantime, if you have any questions or want to give me lots and lots of praise, then my Asks are VERY open.

UNTIL NEXT TIME!

Happy creating!

Want more writing advice? Check out this post!

[sourcherryandsprinkles]

Would you ever write for a Bucky? I don’t see anywhere saying you wouldn’t but I don’t see anywhere saying you would lol

I'm currently watching all the Marvel movie (just got access to Disney+) but I have not seen much of Bucky yet (just finished Thor: Dark world). There's high chances he will make it to my character list when I watch more of him

[ryuichirou]

I really love the lengthy analysis you wrote about Vil and Jamil in the past! Do you have anything similar to say about Riddle, if you haven't already? Or maybe about Riddle and Trey, if you're more comfortable with talking about relationships between characters.

Dear Anon, I am very happy you liked my analysis of these two! It’s been a while, I even forgot that I wrote it, so it’s insanely nice to hear that someone still reads these posts and enjoys them. As you might have already noticed (it seems to be my mission to keep repeating it to make sure no one ever forgets about it), I am not as speedy with my replies as I used to be, so this reply is long overdue. But I always have stuff to say about these boys, and Riddle very interesting and very dear to me as the boy who introduced us to how broken these boys are and how interestingly TWST plays with the theme of trauma.

We don’t post about him very often, but I like Riddle a lot. I think out of all of the housewardens he has the biggest vibe of a broken kid hidden behind his strong facade. I guess this is my way of saying that Riddle is the most childish out of all of them lol It shows not only in his tantrums (Ace compared him to a baby for a reason), but also in how obviously excited he gets when he sees anything that is fun; it’s like his inner kid reacts before Riddle composes himself and acts like he isn’t interested. We’ve seen a bunch of moments like this, I think. In a way, all of the overblot boys didn’t get to live through their childhood in a “normal” way, but Riddle expresses it in a very obvious way.

But it’s not only about cakes and games: Riddle is very immature emotionally too, and it’s hard to blame him for that, because let’s be honest: this is the first time Riddle deals with people. Isolation is a difficult thing to come back from, and if you shove a heavily sheltered boy into an high school/college and put him in a position of housewarden, of course he’s going to act like a little dictator: this is the only way to assert authority he’s ever seen. And since Riddle himself is a good kid (i.e. a kid who is terribly afraid of making his mother angry) and doesn’t misbehave, he is completely unequipped of dealing with a whole dorm of teenagers who aren’t very good or excited to live by the Queen’s Rules. Even those who don’t want to cause trouble can’t remember all of them, they’re basically written in a way that are meant to sabotage you, but Riddle would never acknowledge that: if he learned them, others must too, otherwise they just didn’t try enough. But they just won’t listen, and Riddle gets frustrated instantly: it’s them who are unreasonable, not him!

Of course it is a metaphor and an exaggeration, but I think Riddle portrays a very real thing that a lot of us have either seen or experienced. His standards for himself aren’t just high, they’re absolutely unreasonable, but this is his entire reality and he can’t even see that this isn’t how things are for the rest of the world. He’s like a little goldfish (lol) who lived in a tiny aquarium for its entire life and then got transferred into an ocean without any kind of adaptation or even a quarantine. Riddle is already a second year, but I think the shock of everything around him still hasn’t gone away completely, partially because Riddle spends a lot of time stubbornly ignoring the feeling that he is the one in the wrong. If he is wrong, than mother is also wrong, and that can’t be – this is the only thing he is sure of.

You know, there are some people who really enjoy having a system of rules in their head, or rather principles, and it gives them a very valuable and helpful structure (even if that system of rules/principles isn’t perfect and backfires sometimes). Vil is that kind of person, Sebek is that kind of person... Riddle isn’t. I genuinely think Riddle is the type of person who would enjoy living without a set of rules, but with basic logic to help him navigate the world; does that make sense? Anyways, unfortunately, Riddle can’t live without a manual: he never learned how to. We see it both in his book and in book 6, when he shocks Azul over and over again by just how rigid he is.

Speaking of which, I love that Riddle didn’t have a 180 degree turn after his book. Of course, it’s partially because we have to keep the status quo intact a little bit, and he wouldn’t be the personification of the Queen if he didn’t have his rules; but I also think this is very true to life. Just like the boys said at the end of the book 1, you don’t have to change everything at ones, taking baby steps is okay.

But taking baby steps also means that you will keep bumping into issues and conflicts, which is crucial for growth, but also could make Azul fucking Ashengrotto say that he will beat the shit out of you if you won’t shut up lol

Their entire dynamic in book 6 was very good. Both Azul and Riddle are horribly stubborn, obsessive freaks, but for entirely different reasons and in very different ways. And both of them have their guard up, but interestingly? I think Riddle is better at trusting people and being genuine about his feelings or thoughts about them than Azul. Maybe he’s made a better progress than Azul in that sense, maybe he’s always been better, but this is what I mean: Riddle doesn’t mind genuinely complimenting Azul for his achievements, and a lot of time he didn’t even mean to offend Azul with his remarks. To Azul, however, every compliment is given with a reason and every snarky comment is given to metaphorically push someone down the stairs. Both of them have a lot to learn though lol but it’s fun to see them working through this misunderstanding and actually working together.

You asked about Trey; and honestly, even though we kind of liked him from the beginning, we didn’t think much about him (mostly because we met the rest of the characters whom we were very excited about). But the more I think about Trey, the more I get amused by how much of a dark horse he is. I feel like Trey’s forced neutrality and desire to stay “hidden” from any kind of event or conflict or attention at all is interesting: it’s subtle, but it’s definitely there. He has this inoffensive image of a good and caring older brother type, and it’s true that he is caring and supportive, but it’s also isn’t entirely out of his desire to do good things. I’m not saying that he is an asshole, but he isn’t like Silver or Kalim, if that makes sense, he doesn’t have this hero-like desire for everyone to be happy or to protect the weak no matter what and to help out everyone: whether Trey wants to admit it or not, he has his priorities. And I feel like Trey doesn’t even want to necessarily be “the good guy”, he really just wants to be “the normal guy”, and sometimes “the normal guy people could rely on”.

What I wanted to say by that is that Riddle is Trey’s main priority no matter what. I’m stating the obvious, but this is why he didn’t protect Ace and Deuce (who were in Heartslabyul for less than a week) from him, this is why he kept asking everyone to just be patient with Riddle and to tolerate the way he treats everyone. Because it was more important for him to protect Riddle and to avoid him feeling like he does the wrong thing.

And while it’s partially due to Trey’s personality and his relationship with Riddle, I feel like Trey is also kind of traumatised by what happened back then. Not to the degree that Riddle is traumatised of course, but it’s probably tough for someone who’s always been a good kid to get yelled at by someone else’s mother for hours for doing something that you believe wasn’t even bad. I think Trey feels extremely guilty because he knows that whatever he felt, Riddle had it even worse. So it’s not surprising that he is terrified of hurting Riddle even more: every time he looks at the way he acts, he knows that it’s a result of him being abused. I’m stating the obvious here lol but I like that Trey is stuck in this “sorry, but I will keep hurting all of you because not hurting him is more important”.

We watched Ghost Marriage Event recently (haven’t seen the vignettes and voice lines yet) and I think it’s very interesting that it was kind of tied to the Trey/Riddle situation, which Ace even directly addressed. We even got Trey (and Cater too, to be fair) going yikes because he felt called out by what Ace was saying to Chubby about the way he treated Eliza. Even if you love someone, you can’t just let that person get away with hurting others. Even if you think it will keep them happy, it will never help them in a way you think it will. Riddle gets hurt by staying a tyrant that everyone despises, and Trey knows that he does, but doing that important step of stopping him and having a talk with him is too scary to even consider. This is why he needed that wakeup call from Ace of all people.

I guess that makes Ace more emotionally mature than Trey and Riddle both in a way lol

Anyways, I love their relationship a lot, and even though I’ve mostly been talking about the very basis of their relationship, I think there is a lot to explore with these two.

[25-kopeek]

I'll post Adam's reference today, but for now here their difference in height (Adam is a bit like a shrimp here, but he's still just a little bit shorter than Alan).

[writing-is-a-martial-art]

truly some people have no genre savviness whatsoever. A girl came back from the dead the other day and fresh out of the grave she laughed and laughed and lay down on the grass nearby to watch the sky, dirt still under her nails. I asked her if she’s sad about anything and she asked me why she should be. I asked her if she’s perhaps worried she’s a shadow of who she used to be and she said that if she is a shadow she is a joyous one, and anyway whoever she was she is her, now, and that’s enough. I inquired about revenge, about unfinished business, about what had filled her with the incessant need to claw her way out from beneath but she just said she’s here to live. I told her about ghosts, about zombies, tried to explain to her how her options lie between horror and tragedy but she just said if those are the stories meant for her then she’ll make another one. I said “isn’t it terribly lonely how in your triumph over death nobody was here to greet you?” and she just looked at me funny and said “what do you mean? The whole world was here, waiting”. Some people, I tell you.

[koobiie]

shoutout to everyone who wants to infodump but cant string together coherent thoughts to form sentences and instead just look at you like this