#god i suck at explaining afdgdjfd

[offtopicoverload]

Out of interest, how do you usually go about creating an OC? As I’ve got so many, yet hardly anything about most of them, apart from Alecto of course.

Super long, bear with me as I ramble incoherently to try and get my point across

So I can make connections between names and people really easily, like if I hear the name Emma, I kinda know what she looks like already (short, brunette, hazel eyes), and that she’s quieter and sweet and a bookworm, yknow

But it’s especially easy for plant names, which is one of the biggest reasons I use them, for the immediate visual they provide. I have an abandoned doc of fic ideas, but I still go back to it when I need a new MC, cuz there’s a list of plant/flower names at the bottom that I draw from

So I tend to take a name and immediately have a general idea of appearance and personality that I tend to further develop based on both LI and plot. So I have two Talia and two Marisol MCs, and the primaries came about based on the pairing, whereas the secondaries came about based on what the plot of a fic required.

I’ll use Willow and Dahlia for examples, just cuz I like them and just did headcanons for them

So when I first saw Willow on a list of plant names, my mind went “coiled hair, shorter, curvy, dark skin tone, standoffish, and stubborn” cuz it reminds me of a willow tree in both it’s appearance and the stability I associate with it. I probably went through a few different names and the images associated with them before settling on Willow, because her and Elisa fall under an “opposites attract” category I have. It basically means that I think Elisa would benefit from being in a relationship with someone vastly different for her cuz she’s such a dynamic and extra character. So Willow, her opposite, was decided to balance her out essentially. I don’t think someone like Hazel, who’s just as outgoing, would work, or even someone like Ivy, who’s pretty vain, or Lilac, who’s wild and a partier, because I think in one way or another, they’d fuel Elisa’s competitiveness, however unintentional. Elisa would try to outdo all of them, and that’s not a healthy dynamic. But Willow’s not like that. She’s understated, stays out of the spotlight, and is far more likely to reign Elisa in than egg her on.

So that’s one way I’ve come up with MCs, and is typically my main way, by trying to either even out the LI (Elisa), match their energy cuz I think they require some level of deep understanding (Marisol), or meet them in the middle if they’re not particularly extreme or wouldn’t benefit from either of the previous dynamics (Priya).

As for MCs that come around out of necessity for the plot, I’ll use Dahlia. I knew in TYL that I needed the MC to have seriously fucked up, but not be unforgivable. If Violet had cheated, it would have been thought out and definitely not a mistake, cuz Violet thinks things through and is (overly)cautious and anxious. So Violet was out right off the bat, but now I needed someone else. I needed an MC that had a habit of getting caught up in their emotions, but was also very regretful after the fact, so Marisol leaving her fiancé was entirely unbelievable. So I went through a few names and the associated images, and landed on Dahlia. (Sidenote- Sage was originally named Dahlia, but it was too similar to Talia, so I changed her up a bit, which meant I already knew a lot about Dahlia and her recklessness). But I also wanted Dahlia to have some chemistry with Marisol, so I adjusted her accordingly, making her super understanding and softer than my first draft of her in BoC. So Dahlia exists to fill a plot point of somewhat accidental cheating, but adjusted slightly to also match Marisol in a way I think would make a good relationship.

As for headcanons and backstories, I tend to pick a few things I think would either be central to their character, or just find interesting and would like to see. Dahlia being trans? That was purely cuz I wanted a trans MC. Violet being Argentinian? Purely cuz I love Latin America. Hazel being a therapist? That was a significantly later development based on her character and the maturity I made central to both her character and her relationship with Priya. Lilac having silver/grey hair? Purely cuz I love that aesthetic. Ivy being vain? Provides later plot points and explains away everyone in the Villa being into her, cuz she wants them to be, and tries to get them interested.

This is a really long and roundabout way of saying I have a bunch of vague ideas I pick from based on the relationship dynamic I think would be best for each individual LI, and then further develop to make sure that dynamic is there, as well as based on the plot I’m following. It’s also the reason I have so. fucking. many MCs, I can’t see Willow with Talia, or AJ, or Cherry, etc, she’s Elisa specific, same for nearly all of them. (The only exception is a new MC who’s dropping in the next few days that I might try using for any other S3 one shots I do, just to try it)