hey honey!! i need help: when it comes to creating charas, what methods do you use to develop their backstory and personality? bc i always get intimidated w/ that part bc i want my chara to be realistic , y'know?
alright this is super super late but !!! here are some key factors:
rich kid plots are ruining good characters. none of these rps offer much when it comes to groups because guess what .. everyone is literally the same. you can explain them however you want but it’s always these lukewarm characters with very little development opportunity. if you call your character something like “my little ball of sunshine” or “my angry son” or anything other typical intro post bullshit like … your character is boring. super boring. unless they’re unique enough, which .. they rarely are. the new mary sue is an angry asshole matthew daddario or literally any female fc with a sweetheart personality. everyone keeps limiting themselves because they want to play likable, easy characters, and that’s not what good writing is.
2) find the polar opposite and run with it. far, far, away with it.
my first thought when i pick the fc i want to play is to assess what they’ve already been associated with, and go in a totally different direction. with actors its easy because most people tend to (intentionally or not) stick with their fc’s most popular role, and model their character after it. i’ve never seen shadow hunters, but the common ground most matty d’s share are assholes/lotharios, so i can only assume that’s the type of character he plays. dylan obriens tend to be sarcastic funny guys. lindsey morgans are tough girls with no feelings, and josefine pettersens are generally soft and sweet. while these character ideas are good, the fc match is a bad choice because … everyone is expecting it. it’s nothing new. your character doesn’t have depth. i honestly can’t remember a single character’s name that had that type of personality/backstory matched with those fcs. your character is your work, and your work should be good enough to be remembered.
with models, its a little harder, but think of your stereotypical gigi/kendall/bella: rich, stubborn, stuck up or sweethearts, bland and boring blah blah blah, but honestly how hard can it be to switch that up?when it comes to underused fcs, i honestly just take them at literal face value. sure i research a little bit (i’m careful not to make singers into singers, models into models, etc) and try to avoid mimicking any character i can find that they’ve played. a lot of my process is just thinking about everything these entertainers are NOT, and moving on from there.
3) write WHO you know, and WHAT you don’t.
you know other humans, yes? you’ve seen tv, you’ve read books, you know stories …? even rumors about people i go to school with inspire me. no matter what you do, parts of your personality (your speech patterns, your thoughts, ideas, etc) will shine through your character. if those personal traits are the only realistic parts of your character, then you aren’t doing enough for them. think of your friends, of anyone you know. think about what makes them … them. their ticks, their interests, their history, their humor. for some reason, everyone in the rpc is afraid of writing REAL flaws. so many of these characters are so 2 dimensional because people are so hung up on getting their characters to be likable or sexy or perfect and its just like … you’re writing a human being, aren’t you? write manipulative characters that spread lies or rumors. write characters that fuck up and get defensive and are wrong in the argument. write characters that harbor actual *secret crushes* that aren’t just the first step to a ship plot. let them be embarrassing, and slam their hand in a door trying to be cool in front of someone. give them real insecurities, like where they fit in with society. characters who can’t control their emotions and cry at confrontation, even if they started it. give them opportunities to fuck up and grow without ridiculous ooc meddling in thier affairs. even stuff as small and useless as allergies help connect both you and other writers to your character. its little things that give your character flare and realism. 90% of my traits and ticks and flaws in characters come from people i know in real life, or my own experiences. don’t be afraid to tackle personal things like that.
as far as WHAT you don’t know: stop being afraid to step out of the box and write a real human being. write characters with disabilities, with hearing aids or wheel chairs or speech impediments. its been like four years and i STILL remember a blind colton haynes i met in an rp because he was so .. unique.
4) for general inspiration, hit spotify and tumblrs.
the more obscure the song, the easier it is to base a character off of it because ... no one’s heard it, have they? so i get lost in my indie spotify acc, or i find a random huge aesthetic tumblr blog and i dig from there. you can find those by typing in literally any random word for the url, but for some help to get started these are some of my faves: x x x ... you can also just go to @museinspo ‘s page and go to like ... a random page in the 500s and build from there !!
5) honestly ? write who you want to see.
at this point there’s only like ... four different personalities and backgrounds that every rp character has atm, so i just make it a point to .. write the kind of character i’d be interested in writing against. granted, this doesn’t ensure a perfect character experience (sometimes i make a character too complex and i lose interest much faster bc .. bc its just not right for me, you know?), but it does create a bigger personal investment in what you’re writing. when it honestly comes down to it, you can build a character out of a shitpost if you take a couple seconds to just ... think one out. when it comes to plotting i find it easier to just leave as much room as possible in your character’s backstory/current life to make stuff more flexible so it works, but honestly like ... the less dramatic you go, the easier it is to make them realistic. that’s just something to keep in mind when you write up a new character.
this sort of got away from me and a lot of it was just getting stuff off my chest but heRE you are my friend i hope this sounds less bitchy than i think it does !! but if u got any specific questions i can probably chill and answer with a decent lengthed response jfdkaf
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