any advice on creating a mlb oc/kwamis? I love the writing youve built in the mlb universe and claudia that resides in it! additionally i also wanted to explore the more working/lower class of paris as well as i wish that was explored more in canon since everything seems so perfect!
OC CREATION ADVICE:
(Keeping utility in mind)
I've mentioned/alluded to this in previous advice posts, but what I'll start off with that what I think separates the usual OC from a character with utility is having a broader purpose or themes in mind you want to use the character for. Thinking about that will require you to come up with other characters in their orbit that act as catalysts for their own development (or vice versa), and then what that development looks like, the end result you'll get from that development, and how that development + end result advance your message. You might be surprised when you get to a certain point, because... once you've done enough with that, you'll have a decent cast of characters and a plot. Like I've said, Claudia would not be as strong as she is now if TWEoS didn't exist. The authors before us have these stories because they have personal philosophies, politics, or messages they want to express, too (Miraculous included) and their characters would also fall flat without those. Hell, some of them still do. Might as well put your best foot forward.
Does this mean you have to assign every OC a position on the political spectrum and read Marx before you boot up Ao3? No. God no. I mean, go read Marx anyways. I'm sure you already have a lot you want to say in this regard, you're just not used to thinking of it in those terms.
What's also worth keeping in mind is that Claudia Perreault and Karra are so layered now because I have been using them in works since 2022. She did not spring from my keyboard fully-formed (because I was not as good in '22 as I am now, and also getting a character fully fleshed out on the first go is terribly difficult for anyone), and you shouldn't hold yourself to such a standard either.
As for research specific to working-class Paris, I can't really provide advice more specific than... research? The broad strokes of living a working-class life in a big city are applicable across the board, I think, but for the particulars I tend to do a loooot of snooping around to look for culturally accurate details. Thankfully, the internet is your friend and you can very easily look up popular music and 8pm news broadcasts on places like Youtube, snacks on websites like Carrefour, etc.
KWAMI-SPECIFIC ADVICE:
(Building a kwami to reflect its holder)
I can do a follow-up for my philosophy on making kwamis based on folklore, but I should admit that I created Karra to compliment Claudia first, and unless your kwamis don't have a holder you should design them as reflections of their holders first and foremost. For example: The first iterations of the Coyote miraculous only dealt with turning the wearer invisible, because Claudia is a guarded person who considers herself unremarkable, and thus wishes she wasn't seen at all. Likewise, its weapon has always been a set of throwing knives to reflect how Claudia interacts with the world: She's very cold and sarcastic, so her biting wit translates into a bunch of small, sharp objects thematically meant to invoke teeth.
So, when it comes to miraculous powers, I would go one of three ways:
The holder is already familiar with their power and skilled at it -> The power is a reflection of their innermost desires or how they see themselves, perhaps a flaw or psychological weakness intrinsic to their character.
The holder is NOT familiar with their power and the story deals with them growing more comfortable -> The power is an avenue by which they overcome a psychological weakness and thus is something that challenges their pre-existing worldview.
The holder is NOT familiar with their power, Evil edition -> Their power is a vice that impedes their growth and encourages them to give into their worst flaws. This can eventually lead back to option 1.
Then from there, the miraculous's tool should represent how they interact with the world. Are they combative? Maybe it's a traditional weapon. Are they immature? Maybe it's a toy. ...So on and so forth.
