Loosely inspired by the thread on the general board regarding reading bios/profiles, I figured it'd be fun and perhaps even useful to hear what kind of profiles others enjoy reading! Whether it's about the layout, structure or information itself, feel free to share your favourite types here, or even show characters whose bios you personally enjoy a lot (and for what reason). Maybe you enjoy wikipedia-like layouts on profiles because they help you navigate the bio easily, or perhaps you're really into having images scattered around the layout to spice it up a little!
Just remember this is not a thread about bios you DON'T enjoy reading. Keep your negativity elsewhere, and please be respectful of other people's personal tastes. The emphasis of this thread is on the things that you like rather than you dislike, so let's stay mindful and promote the positive ;v;9
Good: I enjoy reading profiles on the shorter side
Bad: I hate reading long bios
Good: I like user X's bios because they're always very in-depth and well written
Bad: I like user X's bios because it's rare to see actually well written characters on this site
I really like detailed bios where it really shows that the writer is really passionate about the character! That extends to both descriptions and number of details listed. I also love characters with complex personalities/backgrounds, amoral/villainous character bios, and detailed backstories!
Short bios are great as well though when I'm short on time and need a short synopsis about a character :)
Okay I know its been a while since the last post but since I've been here long enough and I finally know what to post for my answer
I usually enjoy bios a little on the short-medium side. I also always liked seeing all the CSS profiles and the fancy coding. I like how it kinda pops things out for a character, especially if the layouts share the same theme with the character. And among those layouts, I love the ones the have a little About/Summary section that way for forum games I get the general gist of the character but can come back and read the more detailed areas later.
I feel sad that no one reads long bios- I'm totally guilty of this- especially when it comes to characters story. I write and write until I'm satisfied. Well, then again, I write for myself, not for someone else.
I'm going to be honest here, I like long profiles- even if the character doesn't interested me I can see how invested you are by the length of your text, even if I don't read it I can tell that at least the person worked hard on their OC, which is something I just love.
As in terms of layout, I like organized CSS with toggles or pills, I just feel like they're easier to read and give it more of a polished look. If I'm going to read a long bit it is better to use tabs to not feel like your reading someone's college thesis. Maybe with a little summary on the front to get the overall feel of your character with a picture at the side, aesthetic boards are also great. I like when they talk about things such as personality, facts and trivia, appearance, likes dislikes, all that jazz- oh and the most important thing, their story. You can't have an OC withough a story! Well, at least that's how I see things, don't take my word for it :P
I like bios that can give me a summary of the character's story, and if it hooks me actually goes into heavy detail. That way I can get an idea of the character before I dive too far into it. That and a bio that has a readable font.
I like bios where a lot of thought has been put into the writing, and structure of the writing & layout itself-- I like to be able to get the gist of a character within like 30 seconds of looking at their page, and then read the rest of it if something really hooks me in! My ADHD brain's capacity to pay attention is very powerful, but only if I can focus it to a laser point. Long, detailed profiles that include the lenses & prisms I need to do this are a total joy to read!!!
A simple, elegant code can do wonders at increasing the ease of access of that information, too, as well as being pretty in itself. I like when a few static pictures are included on the profile for some extra interest. But there's nothin wrong w/ a plain vanilla layout either :o
@Caine, your profiles are actually a really great example of what I mean! You can take the characters in at a glance of their landing page, and then proceed to dive deeper into the buffet of all the information under different tabs [chef kiss] scrumptious
I also like @callilux 's profiles -- the voice they r written in is very engaging. Sort of more like reading a story than reading a profile, which is pretty apt for the turbo epic legendary god type characters shes working with. and a dash of jokey irreverence sprinkled in too to balance it out :') good nice
I do like short, sweet profiles as well! It's possible to get a feel for a character with just a few sentences, and there's something alluring about the mystery of ones like that, too. Honestly I am very very lazy & if i can read something in 3 seconds that's... not a bad thing :'v
I also like profiles that aren't written in a completely objective style--where some of the character's voice comes through in the writing. A bit more like an autobiography than a wikipedia article? But not quite. That said, I like to have the hard facts as well where they're important--I'm greedy ;v
Syrinqeloquent This is kind of off topic but since you both mentioned wanting more in-depth bios, I think these threads might interest you! You might already know them but I'm putting them here just in case anyone else might also wish to read those on the longer side