i tend to like sci-fi or fantasy type worlds! the combination fantasy and sci-fi is the shared world i have with a friend we call auroverse. i do have one which is more realistic if you disregard the furry part, but there's still some more magical elements
Want to suggest a question? Feel free to DM me!
I figured that since the "weekly show me a character" thread has been alive and running for a couple of years now, I could give a shot at doing similar with development questions! I'll post a new prompt each week both on this starter thread and the comment section! Feel free to post answers weekly or combine previous ones into one post - whichever feels the best for you.
Week 43: (Pick a character) How do they feel about big gatherings like parties? Do they enjoy having a lot of people around them or do they prefer less (or none)? How likely are they to approach people they don't know?
Previous weeks 2021
Week 1: (Pick a character) What would you consider to be the most impacting event in their life (that isn't their own birth or death) and why?
Week 2: (Pick a character) What makes them feel the most confident? Is it more internal (being good at something, succeeding in things etc) or more external (being praised, getting their skills acknowledged by others etc?
Week 3: What is your favourite part of character creation and why? Does it depend on character/time/your mood/etc?
Week 4: (Pick a character) How does your character generally react to failures, both their own and the failures of others?
Week 5: Do you have distinct "favourite" characters among your ocs, or does your current favourite change? Or do you consider them all "equals"?
Week 6: (Pick a character) If someone were to attack them out of nowhere, how would they try to defend themselves? Or would they try at all?
Week 7: How do you feel about your characters sharing traits/interests/etc with you? Do you try to avoid similarities or do you embrace them?
Week 8: When you create a new character, how much of their story do you work out on the spot? Do you prefer to get all details done at once or prefer to add more little by little?
Week 9: Which one of your characters would you consider to be the most "unexpected" character from you and why? The reason can be anything from their story to themes and even the design.
Week 10: When you're creating a new character, how much do you think about their family/guardians? Are they usually an active or a distant presence in your characters' lives?
Week 11: What was the first original character you posted online like? Do you still use them?
Week 12: (Pick a character) How do they feel about positive attention? Do they thrive in it or does it make them uncomfortable? Feel free to talk about the nuances of "positive attention" or attention in general if you want!
Week 13: What's the most drastic non-visual change you have made on a character? Why?
Week 14: Pick your oldest and your newest character on TH. Would they get along? What would their chemistry be like?
Week 15: What is your process when it comes to naming characters? Do name meanings matter to you? Do you pick a name with a "purpose" or based on a "feeling"?
Week 16: (Pick a character) What is their love language? Does it depend on people? Have it changed throughout their lives? Is it a combination of several types? (Suggested by PicklePantry)
Week 17: Pick your current most and least favorited characters. What do they have in common? What's different? When were they posted on TH? Do you think they still reflect your current tastes in character design and/or story?
Week 18: Have you ever learned a tip/trick related to character/worldbuilding development that changed the way you view your works? Or do you have some specific tips/tricks that you consider to have been particularly helpful for you?
Week 19: Have you ever had OC related "advice" that has done more harm to you than good? If yes, how did you end up learning out of it?
Week 20: (Pick a character) What's one memory they wish to never forget (and why)?
Week 21: What kind of compliments do you enjoy the most when it comes to your characters? Is it about design? Certain story elements (backstory, personality, trivia etc) or maybe about people finding them easy to understand?
Week 22: What do you find to be the most important aspect when you create or buy character designs for yourself? Is it the colors, clothes, silhouette, simple design to draw fast or something else?
Week 23: Pick two characters you'd consider similar to one another, either in design or story/personality. What would you consider to be their main differences?
Week 24: (Pick a character) How reliable would they consider themselves to be? Would other people agree with them?
Week 25: (Pick a character) What would they consider to be their greatest passion? Alternatively, what is something they find to be "their own special thing" that they delight in doing?
Week 26: When you're reading someone's character profile, where do you start? Is it the overview? Trivia? Backstory? Something else?
Week 27: If you had to name exactly one movie that has had a huge impact on you as a creator, which one would it be and why?
Week 28: How did you discover original character communities/the general concept of them on the internet? If you don't remember, what would you consider the most fun aspect of ocs for you right now?
Week 29: (Pick a character) If they had to pick an animal to describe themself, which one would they pick and why? Would you describe the character with the same animal or would your own pick for them be different?
Week 30: What's the most bizarre/interesting/weird piece of trivia you have learned while doing oc research? Did this trivia find its way into the character or some other character later on?
Week 31: (Pick a character) How do they express their anger? How does it appear to others, and how does the character themself feel about their own anger? Does their society encourage or discourage certain expressions of anger?
Week 32: What's the biggest story and/or personality related change you have made on a character? What made you want to change it?
Week 33: (Pick a character) What do they do on their free time? Do they have hobbies or have they had any in the past? What's something they wish they could put more time into (such as learning a skill, participating in some activity etc)?
Week 34: (Pick a character) What kind of impression does their appearance tend to give to others [in their worldsetting]? Is it an impression they want to give to others? Are they aware of the way people perceive them in the first place?
Week 35: Have you ever created a character but refrained from actually posting about them publicly? If yes, why? And if no, could you ever see yourself in a situation where that could happen?
Week 36: (Pick a character) What is their most treasured item and why? If they don't have any feel free to talk about the reason for it!
Week 37: (Pick a character) Who is their most trusted friend and why? How would the character describe this person? And if they don't have anyone they trust, feel free to talk about the reason for it!
Week 38: (Pick a character) What's their preferred sleeping position? Are they a calm or a restless sleeper, and do they like sleeping next to others or prefer sleeping alone?
Week 39: (Pick a character) What do they typically smell like? And why? Do they use a certain perfume, cologne, or deodorant that makes them smell a certain way? Suggested by soyyemilk
Week 40: (Pick a character) Where did they grow up in? Did they live in the same place/area most of their life or did they move places? How would your character describe the place they consider their childhood home (or the closest thing to it)?
Week 41: Which one of your characters would you consider the hardest to draw? If you're not an artist yourself, what would you imagine being the hardest?
Week 42: (Pick a character) How open are they about their feelings? Do they have anyone to talk to if they're worried? Are they more likely to talk about positive or negative feelings with others?
Previous weeks 2020:
Week 29: Which one of your currently posted characters has gone through the most changes throughout the years?
Week 30: Which part of character creation do you tend to struggle with the most?
Week 31: (Pick a character) What are they afraid of? How do they handle their fears? How do they respond to other people's fears (friends, strangers etc)?
Week 32: (Pick a character) How does your character feel about change? Do they welcome with open arms, or are they afraid of it?
Week 33: How do you go about making a new character? What kind of things do you like to keep in mind when planning their story/personality? Do you consider your other already existing characters when planning new ones (avoiding stuff already done with one character etc)?
Week 34: (Pick a character) What do they consider their greatest achievement? How about their lowest low moment?
Week 35: Do you have story elements or certain character tropes/cliches you love to use in your characters? If yes, what are they? If not, have you ever noticed common elements despite trying not to have them?
Week 36: (Pick a character) How do they handle money? How do they earn it, if at all?
Week 37: What kind of settings do you prefer to use in your works?
Week 38: What kind of villains do you prefer to create? Does your preference differ from what kind of villains you love to see in fiction?
Week 39: (Pick a character) Do they have any goals/dreams/aspirations in life? What are they? If they don't have any, does the lack of them ever bother them?
Week 40: Are there things in fiction you love to consume, but prefer not to create yourself?
Week 41: What do you usually do if you can't connect with a character you have or you can't make them work quite the way you'd like?
Week 42: (Pick a character) What kind of things get them excited? How are they like when excited?
Week 43: What type (human, feral, anthro, monster etc) of characters do you have the most? Have your tastes changed at any point?
Week 44: Do you have any fears or insecurities as a creator? If you do, are these more based on your work itself or the way other people will react to it, or both?
Week 45: Do you tie your interests/hobbies to your character in any way? Why/why not?
Week 46: Do you prefer developing your characters on your own or by interacting with other people (be it RPing or discussing)?
Week 47: What kind of questions do you prefer to be asked when it comes to your characters or setting?
Week 48: What kind of conflict do you like in fiction? Is it a conflict of interests? Morals? Based on lies or miscommunication? Something else entirely?
Week 49: When you get an idea for something you'd like to explore in fiction, are you more likely to make a whole new character for it or use the idea for an already existing character?
Week 50: How do you use your characters? Are they something you collect? Part of a story? For RP?
Week 51: What kind of layout do you use for your character profiles? What makes you like it?
Week 52: What do you do when you feel like you have ran out of ideas or you have hit a creative wall with your work?
Week 53: Do you like to look back at your creative works or do you prefer to just keep on going and paying little attention to what you have made in the past?
What kind of settings do you prefer to use in your works?
i really want to use pure fantasy, but in the end i always go for a mostly modern/ supernatural setting :'D by mostly modern i mean a "modern-fantasy/ supernatural" hybrid that leans more towards modern designs (like seeing a demon character wearing punk street clothes) idk why i like this setting the most but i guess one reason is that it lets me be more lenient on world building since it's already based on/ pretty much a modern world w/ a lil bit of supernatural creatures here and there i have to explain :P
What kind of settings do you prefer to use in your works?
very excellent question!! modern either with a slight sci-fi twist, or modern taking place in another dimension. dealing with robots or characters with animal ears and tails is really fun to play with in a certain setting.
What kind of settings do you prefer to use in your works?
Dystopian and Modern Fantasy are my main go-tos, but I'm pretty fond of sci-fi and high fantasy as well.
What kind of settings do you prefer to use in your works?
I really llike fantasy settings in general but...not for my novel. My stories are low fantasy and are set in real countries (sometimes in fictional villages/cities though) between 1850-1940s because that's my favorite period; I have only one fantasy-like setting which is the hidden magical island called Halmaime, kinda like Atlantis, but still, there aren't any dragons or elves I promise
Week 38: What kind of villains do you prefer to create?
Does your preference differ from what kind of villains you love to see in fiction?
Oof I actually don't really like creating villains. My story is one which is like Slice of Life. So no alien overlord that destroys Earth in a week or so.
I like to have Antiheroes personally. Or Villain - to - Hero. I absolutely hate villains that only exist because they are mean and wanna kill everything in their path. Villains that are technically correct and only do what is necessary? Hating doing it? Knowing that it's absolutely wrong? Only being there so they can overthow the bigger baddie? Yes. That is my type of villain.
Week 38: What kind of villains do you prefer to create?
I love making chaotic villains who don't really even see themselves as villains! I especially love the kind who simply act according to how they were created or what is "normal" to them, in particular monsters who have no concept of human right and wrong. I also love lady villains, I always physically have to stop myself from creating more of them because I just think they're Very Cool lmao. Oh and I also like school bullies, mainly because I used to be bullied and have first hand experience even talking and getting to know a bully better so I can use my own experiences while portraying them.
Does your preference differ from what kind of villains you love to see in fiction?
My taste in villains is way broader than how I prefer to write my own! I'm also not super picky with villains and will only really draw a line in offensive/hurtful portrayals (like equating being gay or trans with being evil etc)
What kind of villains do you prefer to create?
Does your preference differ from what kind of villains you love to see in fiction?
Villains...
When I was younger I had a huge weak spot for villains who thought they were doing the right thing or who had sympathetic motivations. “Chaotic good” villain types. Sometimes they were even right but the cost involved was what made most see their decisions as villainous.
As an adult I often don’t even consider these same characters villains anymore.
my mindset has shifted , I guess? They’re a symptom of a greater problem. I tend to see villains as the driving forces OF these problems. In media I tend to like loveable jerk antagonists these days, though. The kind that are just fun to hate. (๑╹ω╹๑ ) Think Sterling from Leverage.
But, most of my villain writing is as a gamemaster. And...still, as a GM I like throwing curveballs like that at players. ‘Villain’ in common parlance is a matter of narrative perspective. Sometimes they join former foes and then against allies once they have the other side of the story. That’s always fun.
And realistically, most people doing the grunt work of imperialist empires usually DO think they’re on the right side of history until educated. No empire is going to teach it’s citizens the whole truth. The really dangerous ones are the people that know The truth and still feel they’re in the right. Supremacists. Bigots. Super realistic, super common place... I don’t like writing them, but it’s satisfying to watch them get taken down when I do. We had a whole shadowrun mission that was basically just beating up neonazis once to blow off steam.
The true villains I like writing these days are often politicians or the wealthy people puppeteering them.
It feels more realistic than super powered villains that just want to destroy the world, these days.
of course, said hyper wealthy characters often ARE destroying the world, it’s just a side effect they don’t care about rather than their motivation. My latest ‘villain’ for shadowrun, my party never even met. They just got to read emails sent to and by them.
They were a cult leader being funded from the outside. (By the black lodge, but my party doesn’t know that yet. ) They were just in it for the money. People were easy enough to manipulate and they were literally getting paid to setup a fake religion and get people to worship them.
the minor baddie my party DID punch out during that mission was a technomancer just running security for a paycheck. I wouldn’t even consider him a villain—just an obstacle they had to deal with.
Wk 38.
The villains I prefer to make (or rather the ones I end up making) usually have a certain goal in mind they want to accomplish and would probably stop at nothing to achieve it. They're ones who have some sort of plan in mind and would work on trying to perfect it in their own ways. They have some sort of inspiration behind their ideas which drives them whether it's something or someone, however this also becomes their weakness if something beyond their control happens to them.
Hm in other media I guess I still like ones who have a goal they want to achieve; and then I kinda like those plot twist villains/ antagonists (1) who pretend to be your friend but then betray you in the end (and maybe along the way there's hints that would foreshadow that) or (2) seem so unassuming or more like a background character that it's surprising to see their true self when they reveal it; and theneven the ones that are actually "friendly" with the hero but still like to fight them lol, I haven't kept up with dragonball in far too long but i think Frieza counts as this?? xD ;;
Finally, my time is now.
The first time I made villains was when I noticed how RPs would dwindle down into one-line replies because there wasn't really any plot left. Making a villain brought conflict and was generally fun. The first one I ever made was a typical cartoon-esque villain: a loud knucklehead that could easily be duped. I had a ball writing him, and I still love making villains like him today. But I started branching out, I started wanting villains that were an authentic threat and were authentically evil, and would experiment with different kinds. Honestly, there's no one kind of villain I love. They're ALL really good to me: the clueless henchman, the irredeemable monster, the mastermind, the misguided anti-hero. I have fun playing each kind of villain and seeing characters' reactions to them!
Seeing villains in media doesn't really alter my opinions about what I like; if anything, it gives me ideas for what my villains could do or a new kind of villain to make. Although I will say I get a taste of my own medicine when a villain does a big twist or hurts a character I like KEKEKEK It's like... I hate the character, but I hate them because they're such a good villain. Then I feel bad when I make my own villains put characters through the same pain KEKEKEK
My villains are usually government officials or secret organizations. Knowing your enemy had the backing of the government of a fully developed nation makes the scope of the threat all the larger.
It makes the readers think: "Hey, when they beat this guy, will the government come after them full force? Will another guy just take that guy's place?"
There's also other types of villains I've used, but they're more regulated to my story rather than being a specific trope.