#i was gonna say ‘no books published this century’ but outsiders came out in 2003

[mysterycitrus]

this isn’t a specific character for the hc game but! i have a meta look behind the curtain question — i’m curious how many of these hcs you had locked and loaded, ready to go, part of your own personal character bibles vs how many you had to sit and think of in the moment

either way holy shit they’re all so so good, i’m still v new to dc but your understanding of the characters is my favorite i’ve seen of any fan creators, respectful and knowledgeable about the canon but also so fleshed out and given so much heart and depth and nuance that dc can really lack sometimes

that is really very lovely to say and i really appreciate it

idk how to describe it exactly — wrt my personal creative process, once ive read enough of a character it just gets really easy to make logical jumps about how to add characterisation that’s internally consistent. i kinda just…. vibe it out? even for characters i don’t necessarily like, it’s very quick to patch stuff together for them provided ive consumed and thought about enough canon material. most of the headcanons ive been writing is just stuff im coming up with as i go through

for example, for donna i knew i wanted to incorporate robbie in some way, so — she holds someone else’s baby -> wally has a new baby -> wally’s new baby probably has red hair, like robbie -> this is naturally upsetting -> rinse, repeat. likewise for her photography as a motif for her lost memories -> she remembers many different lives -> she’s a photographer -> she’d use her photography to capture concrete moments in her life, etc. idk if that makes sense

same deal with persephone… none of those character interactions are planned. i just started writing them and the characters did what they wanted to do. i basically just judged which characters would affect dickie’s tenuous mental state in ways that would best suit the narrative. there are specific books i read to try and monitor accuracy but other than that…… it’s all just vibes. vibes and logical conclusions and trusting that im being true to the character’s intent tehehehe

good luck with ur dc journey! try to avoid anything published this decade 🌝