How to get to know your characters better?
(feel free to add your own thoughts to this list, hope it helps!) req by @miricalebabyy44 <3
what will your character be like if they were in your shoes?
is your oc the mom friend or the dad or the childish one in their friendgroup ?
do those "poet, king, soldier" quiz for your oc. im being fr
do the "36 questions to fall in love" quiz as your oc.
ik your ocs trauma have an impact on their character, but how would they be like, if they hadn't gone through that experience?
does your oc have similar tastes as you do? (music, art, fashion, coffee/tea etctetc)
will they "i only live once so I'll do it for the plot." or will they "i only live once ffs, i don't wanna die." ?
what is your ocs opinion of love? how is/was their love life on a scale of 1-10?
will your oc let go of someone precious to them when they know they're putting them at danger?
around whom does your oc lets their guard down?
are they romantically constipated or a hopeless romantic?
what type of music does ur oc like?
write a lot about your oc if you're struggling to get to know them. find a drabble prompt, and write what they'd do.
do they trust others easily or do they get trusted by others easily?
what is something your oc will never talk to anyone about? (their answer can be deep, like some emo trauma or like smthng like back when they shit their pants or smthng yk)
do they give off golden retriever energy, or a black cat energy? (or both?)
what will THEIR opinion be on YOUR current life? will they be ur friend? will they trust you?
will your oc survive in a fantasy setting, a war setting, a dystopian setting, a futuristic setting, a medieval setting? will ur oc survive after getting stranded on an island, or a forest?
does your oc like their parents, do they like how their life is, do they feel like they're born in the right gen?
if they are ever to get one wish definitely granted, what would they wish for?
how did they react to their first kiss? (if they have had it by now lmao)
what's an ideal day for your oc?
lastly, who does your oc go to when they've fucked up?
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50 Questions For Your Characters
What motivates your character?
How does the public view them? (Doesn't have to be anything major, it could be classmates, friends, strangers in the park, etc.)
Is your character an optimist or pessimist?
Does your character care about their reputation and/or how others perceive them?
Is your character more of a family or friends person?
What, if anything, sticks out about their appearance?
Is your character good with kids?
What are some internal obstacles that your character has to overcome?
What emotion does your character feel most frequently?
If your character is an antagonist or something of the like, do they self-justify their actions? If so, how?
What events in their past helped shape and influence them into who they are today?
What are some of your character's pet peeves?
Who is the closest person to your character?
How did they become so close?
What habits does your character have?
What is your character's relationship with their family?
Overall, is there anything special or peculiar about your character compared to others in your story?
Who/what comforts your character?
Summarize your character's goals in one sentence.
Who's in the way of those goals?
What is your character's relationship with their emotions?
What regrets do they have, if any? (From any part of the story, not just exposition.)
If your character is at a loud, people-filled party, how would they act?
From childhood to their current age, how has your character changed?
What is the main setting of your story and how does it impact your character?
What are the top three most distinguishable personality traits of your character?
How does your character view themselves? (Expectations, intelligence, confidence, self-belief, etc.)
What emotion is the most unfamiliar to your character and how do they deal with it?
What are the three things that your character values most?
Is your character hiding something from other people, if so, what?
What genre of music does/would your character love?
How does your character view their past?
What are three positive traits that your character has?
What are three negative traits that your character has?
Imagine the ideal home for your character. Where would it be located? What type of housing would it be? Who/what would be there?
What are the things that make your character enter a full rage/cold mode? (Depends on their character.)
What does your character want to change about themselves?
Someone your character dislikes goes up to them and confesses. How does your character react? (Doesn't have to be a rejection.)
What does your character have yet to realize about themselves?
Is your character good at time-management and responsible?
What kind of clothes does your character wear?
What is one thing that your character dislikes about themselves? ("Nothing" is also a valid answer.)
What does your character see as the greatest injustice?
What does your character fear?
On a scale from 1-10, how intelligent is your character? (1 being incredibly stupid with almost no knowledge of the world, and 10 literally being Light Yagami. If you don't get it, that's on you lol; but it's basically having over 200 IQ.)
Does your character specialize or have remarkable talent in anything? If so, what is it?
In a group setting, what role would your character have? Leader, co-leader, follower, or outsider?
What event in your story altered your character the most?
In the end, what is your character grateful for?
Why did you choose to use this character to answer these questions? (I would love to see your answers!)
Happy writing~
3hks :)
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@theplacewhereidumpmyinterests I can't talk about most of them because they're part of an AU verse I want to keep secret until I have the first fic that's part of it written, and idk when that will be (by summer?? HOPEFULLY??), but I guess I can talk about the other one because idk if/when I will write a fic for him (I'd like to but like I am only human)
"more AUs Dandy?" LISTEN all I do is sit around and think about "what if"s, okay?
ok so this started as me being like, hm, we see Lou Jitsu with a rotating door of women, so many he doesn't seem to remember all their names, so it's not totally out there to think he might have gotten one of them pregnant, right?
and thus Marcus (middle name Kyle) was born! literally!
so the story for this is, Lou Jitsu had a fling with a woman in the early 90s, pre-Big Mama. they were both in agreement that the whole thing was casual and it didn't last very long, but oopsie-daisy about six weeks after their last night together she finds out she's pregnant.
she debates what to do for a bit, because, as established, Lou Jitsu is kinda a fuckboi and she doesn't really want a relationship with him. But once she decides she's definitely keeping the baby she feels like she can't just not tell him, right? so she tries!
...unfortunately he's dating Big Mama by that point and she interferes to make sure that Lou Jitsu never meets with the woman and never finds out, because she knows this would get in the way of her plans.
she takes never hearing back from LJ as a sign he just isn't interested in the kid and resolves to single-motherhood. which she is the best at, btw.
she's still considering trying to introduce Marcus to his dad at some point, but unfortunately her kid isn't even 5 before Lou Jitsu suddenly goes missing, with his teary fiancée telling a sob story to the cops. assuming, same as everyone else, that he's dead, she lets the whole thing go, though she does tell Marcus who his dad is once he's old enough to understand everything.
Marcus goes through periods of being obsessed with Lou Jitsu, watching all his movies and consuming every piece of media about him that he can find, and periods where he can't stand to even hear the name. it's up and down. from his perspective, LJ abandoned him and his mom, but he's also dead, so it's not like he can have closure on this ever, right? so it's just a thing he has to deal with on his own.
but he's fine! he's alright. he gets through high school, then college, then accepted into vet school just fine.
then... his mom gets sick and dies.
yeah, that's a hard blow.
but he's alright! he has a few buddies from college he still sees now and then, and he's started his zoo vet residency at the Bronx Zoo (with a particularly special interest in reptiles), so lots of new people to meet that way! he's doing great! he's not lonely at all!
(a few months ago, he was suddenly woken up by a surge of something, like dozens of voices were crying out to him for help, tugging him toward something, saying his family needs him...
yeah, no idea what that was about. he doesn't have any family anymore.)
then the sky opens up and aliens come out.
Marcus is at work, because of course aliens would attack at the beginning of his shift. he spends the day ushering survivors into safe zones within the zoo, using his medical knowledge to handle first aid, and just trying to stay sane as the whole world turns upside down.
and then just as suddenly as it all started... it stops.
in the aftermath, everyone around him is just trying to get home, desperately calling their loved ones and praying for the best. Marcus starts trying to figure out how he's going to get home, because the trains definitely aren't running, and as he looks as his phone for a spark of inspiration, he realizes... no one has tried to call him. his coworkers' phones have been going off all day, whenever they can get signal, as loved ones try to reach them, but... he doesn't have anyone trying to reach him. and as he sits there he realizes he doesn't know who he should be calling, either.
so. that's pretty depressing.
and as he's sitting there, thinking about his life and what led him here, in a now empty vet clinic outside the bronx zoo... he hears a noise. and then, voices.
ah great. looters.
at first, Marcus tries to call 911 - but obviously the call center is swamped. so he decides to take care of the problem himself, going to see who's there and get rid of them...
wait, who is he kidding? he's definitely not paid enough to confront potentially armed looters! he's going to get out of here.
but just as he starts to leave, he hears the voices again - coming from one of the surgery rooms this time. and they're talking about IVs... scalpels... anesthesia...
suddenly he realizes that these aren't looters - they're here to try and treat somebody.
and like hell is he going to let some idiot kill someone trying to do DIY surgery.
so he turns back around and bursts into the room... on two humans, a rat that counts as giant even for New York, and four very big, very injured turtles.
one of whom immediately points a gun in his face. to be fair, that's what he thought would happen.
"Donnie!" yells the biggest one, and, oh, they can talk. huh.
"Relax, it's just a tranquilizer!"
"Donatello!" that's the rat. there's a sound like a whip cracking and the one with the gun makes a startled noise and drops it.
now the rat is in front of him. he's looking up at Marcus imploringly. "Do you work here?" he asks.
"Y-yeah. I'm a vet."
the rat bows very politely. "my sons are seriously hurt, and I don't have the supplies to help them at home. I understand it is a lot to ask, but... we must use your supplies. please, if you could just look the other way."
Marcus looks around at the turtles, especially the one on the table, the one worst off. he looks mangled. he won't live long if he isn't properly treated.
a rat, two humans who look like teenagers, and the turtles. who the rat called "sons". now that he's noticing, they're all pretty short, other than the big one. are they also teenagers?
"...Are any of you doctors?" he asks. the littlest one starts to raise a hand, but the girl grabs it and forces it back down.
everyone else has left by now. he's the only doctor here.
alright. guess he's doing this.
"...okay, everyone make some room. let me get sterilized, and I'll see what we're working with here."
and that's how the son Lou Jitsu didn't know he had becomes primary care doctor to his teenage mutant ninja half-brothers. ^^
(and then a bunch of other stuff happens)
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my total drama oc is a reversal of the show's pre-established "villain" archetype.
right off the bat, they're just the worst person; outright antagonistic towards everyone and constantly causing conflict amidst the cast, openly orchestrating people's eliminations, blatantly cheating but in such a way that technically they're not breaking any rules- without disguising themself behind a mask of geniality (like alejandro, heather and julia did).
and they're kept around well into the competition because their villainy? it's ratings gold. people love a good antagonist, especially one that's so productive. the audience loves to hate them, or hates that they love them, and everyone is gunning for their downfall- which only becomes more and more tempting with every elimination.
plus, chris is more than happy to enable them so long as they keep things interesting.
interestingly enough, they never seem to use the confessional. or at least, none of their confessions are aired. well, that's not exactly true. one confession is aired, and it's them boasting to the audience that they wouldn't understand the inner machinations of their mind, and that they don't deserve to hear their thoughts.
consequently, the audience has no idea what they're thinking at any given time, only seeing glimpses of their schemes throughout the episode until everything comes to fruition- like a puzzle finally being completed. it's a smart move for the network, because it means the audience gets to watch their plans play out in 'real time' without their insight/foreknowledge, making it just as impactful to the viewers as it is to the competitors. it helps with immersion, which is a boon for the ratings!
until their elimination, wherein their confessions are played out on the big screen, and it's heartbreaking.
they explain, in their first confession, that they were accosted by chris at the beginning of the competition to act as the main antagonistic force for the show, and that he's turn a blind eye to their antics so long as they kept the viewers watching, even paying them a decent salary if their act was good enough. because they're smart- smart enough to play the rest of the cast like a fiddle if they wanted to, and chris wants them to.
what a great deal, right? being given blanket permission to be as conniving as possible, and a pay check to boot- who wouldn't take the opportunity?
and they round it out by "getting into character" on camera, sneering haughtily at the lens and- you guessed it- boasting to the audience that they wouldn't understand the inner machinations of their mind, before giggling dorkily at the silliness of their statement, commenting that it'd we way too obvious they were faking if they acted that snooty. they're a theatre kid at heart, so the idea of "playing the villain" is exciting! it's going to be so fun!
but their second confession is sombre. they're visibly tired, wiping away at the concealer under their eyes to reveal some heavy bags, and they're curled up into a pitiful ball in front of the camera. they divulge that the pressure to constantly live up to the shows expectations of antagonism is crushing, and their status as a social pariah is more draining than they'd care to admit, and that- despite the apparent glee they've been committing these acts of villainy with- being so outwardly morally corrupt has left them with a constant churning of guilt in their gut. they only agreed to be the "bad guy" for the money, which would help their family's financial situation tremendously, but they're growing increasingly uncertain if the reward justifies the risks.
by the third confession, they're actively sickened by their actions, eventually devolving from airing their frustrations, lamenting their choice to method act as such an awful person, to throwing up into the confessional's toilet as they hold back guilt-leaden tears and repeat a mantra of "i'm sorry, i'm sorry,". they're drowning in the murky waters of their persona, and backing out now would only lead to more scrutiny and suspicion from the people who were supposed to be their friends, and they know they'd deserve the mistrust. plus, backtracking from their deal with chris would jeopardise everything- from the dirty money they've earned from their antagonism to their place in the competition itself; they'd be voted out in a heartbeat without the network's safety blanket of plot armour!
they don't know what to do. they barely even know who they are anymore.
and then the camera's focus cuts to the real-time them, who's sat ashen-faced and deathly still as their weakest moments are broadcast, not only to the people who rightfully hate them, but to the whole world.
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