Lemonsoda
Level 11
[A WIP AS OF RIGHT NOW, BUT WILL EXPAND ON IT.]
YOU WANT TO MAKE A CHARACTER?
GREAT!
WELCOME TO DOING JUST THAT, THAT'S WHY YOU CLICKED HERE
Characters! You love some, you hate some, and you feel painfully ambiguous to some, they come in multiple flavors shapes colors smells and pretty pretty trinkets.
BUT HOW DO YOU GET STARTED????????
THAT, my friend, . . is why we're here so.
This guide will go over multiple multiple topics regarding characters and their creation/making
It'll be tips from my personal understanding and what worked for me, what works for a lot of other people, and how they can be carried
NOTE: THESE ARE NOT STEPS TO TAKE, CREATION CAN HAVE ANY PROCESS IN ANY NUMBER OF STEPS OR WAYS. STARTING POINTS TO MAKING A CHARACTER CAN COME FROM, ANYWHERE AND EVERYTHING (ALL AT ONCE)
ADDITIONALLY, THIS GUIDE IS NOT MEANT TO INTENTIONALLY HURT, BULLY, OR INSULT COMMON MISTAKES/EXAMPLES WRITTEN IN
AT THE END IT'S ROLEPLAY AND WE'RE HERE FOR FUN. THE GUIDE IS FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO WISH TO REFINE THEIR PERSONAL CREATIVE WRITING A LITTLE MORE IN THE SPHERE OF ROLEPLAYING AS A FLAVOR OF GENERAL.
YOU WANT TO MAKE A CHARACTER?
GREAT!
WELCOME TO DOING JUST THAT, THAT'S WHY YOU CLICKED HERE
Characters! You love some, you hate some, and you feel painfully ambiguous to some, they come in multiple flavors shapes colors smells and pretty pretty trinkets.
BUT HOW DO YOU GET STARTED????????
THAT, my friend, . . is why we're here so.
This guide will go over multiple multiple topics regarding characters and their creation/making
It'll be tips from my personal understanding and what worked for me, what works for a lot of other people, and how they can be carried
NOTE: THESE ARE NOT STEPS TO TAKE, CREATION CAN HAVE ANY PROCESS IN ANY NUMBER OF STEPS OR WAYS. STARTING POINTS TO MAKING A CHARACTER CAN COME FROM, ANYWHERE AND EVERYTHING (ALL AT ONCE)
ADDITIONALLY, THIS GUIDE IS NOT MEANT TO INTENTIONALLY HURT, BULLY, OR INSULT COMMON MISTAKES/EXAMPLES WRITTEN IN
AT THE END IT'S ROLEPLAY AND WE'RE HERE FOR FUN. THE GUIDE IS FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO WISH TO REFINE THEIR PERSONAL CREATIVE WRITING A LITTLE MORE IN THE SPHERE OF ROLEPLAYING AS A FLAVOR OF GENERAL.
And a little Chapter Catalogue:
I. CONCEPTNG A CHARACTER BEFORE PLAYING/CREATION
- Gathering Inspiration!
- Aesthetics
- Symbols/Themes
- Tropes
- Extra!
[THE FOLLOWING BELOW ARE NOT YET WRITTEN]
II. CREATION AND REFINING DETAILS
- FASHIOONNNN
- Backstory
- Personality
- Establishing Identity
- Details (Quirks, random trivia, mental health, and the fun trivia)
- Personal Exaggeration
- Outcomes and Execution
III. TEST RUNS AND IMPROV
- Scenario runthroughs and prompts
- Established details vs Improv'd details
- Consistency vs Flexibility
IIII. OTHER DETAILS I DIDN'T KNOW WHERE TO REALLY PUT TO BE HONEST
✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏
I. CONCEPTING A CHARACTER BEFORE PLAYING/CREATING
BAM. INSPIRATION.
You wake up, when.
BOOM.
You're hit by the god ray of roleplay and start ITCHING
A cool calm suave guy with long hair bound for heartbreak in a romantic setting, but really. They're. . . BROKEN </3
So you make immediately, long black hair with leather jacket and shades, bound for delinquency. #Notlikeothers
You're proud but then. . .
um, actually, after all this time they feel. flat. and not. up to. expectation.
That was embarrassing. That cool calm suave guy has now seemed to morph into, actually kind of an ass who yells at their friends because no one #understand them
And now you feel bad about it.
But that is an extremely flanderized example of what ends up tending to happen. The idea is cool and your ipad baby dopamine rush filled brain wants to jump in and immediately perform!!!! But. Then they feel like a lot of other characters you made in the past just, , , reskinned?
They don't really have a lot going for them. . . .
There's also frequently the trap of, "they're totally a different character guys!", but it's actually your first character just now featuring being even MORE flavors of emo.
This in itself isn't inherently a negative thing either, though variety out from the box can really switch things up.
So, where to start?
INSPIRATION can come in EVERY SHAPE AND FORM. I mean it. Characters you like, shows you like, songs, favorite plushie, your own pet, animals, colors, the intolerance paradox, real life people and their experiences, etc.
Personal experiences and general itches are also how inspiration can just, flashbang you.
But, there's something pretty important.
You'd want to sort through this chaos.. You know?
Think of it like a giant, puzzle where everything needs to connect, or by some nature can connect. Inherently, nearly every concept in the universe is connected through being opposites, or just as a general life thing.
For the purposes of this guide, I'll also be making a character side by side!
Additionally, below are sources/forms of inspiration that help piece things together neatly, along with examples as to how even a single piece of the puzzle can change a lot of things for a character
꧁⎝ ༺✧༻ ⎠꧂
AESTHETICS
Goblincore, Alternative, Kidcore, Starflesh, Grunge, Dark Acadamia, Prep, Cybercore, Frutiger Aero, Goth, Coquette
There's literally an entire WIKIPEDIA, for aesthetics, give I'd recommend giving it a check!
Aesthetics are ONE OF the most reliable ways for making a character as it also comes with fashion, flair, and other connective pieces such as:
Dark Acadamia = Smartz, big trenchcoats, browns, and probably elegance in a character, chronic perfectionist uh oh
Goblincore = crow skulls, bones, rags, looks ike they just walked out from a witch hut in the middle of the swamp, likes to slurp up worms, I actually like being alone!! So!!!
Kidcore = joyous and nostalgic days, dresses like a dollar store clown on a saturday afternoon, stickers. so many stickers., please don't talk about time and essence of growing up um.
Starflesh = CHRONICALLY ILL, if you sneeze too hard they might fly away, a living weeping ghost, I like being talked to cause it's really lonely and I thought people hated me um h.. .
but not all characters need to match with their aesthetic. . .
it might even accidentally come off stereotypical if done especially bad, for certain subcultures!
So, do your research before you choose to make a mean gyaru because common misconception is them being really rude and loud (they were just loud to go against japanese stereotypes over women in society having to be demure and pretty, but were perceived as rude and obnoxious for literally existing with the subculture dying because gyaru itself then became dehumanized to be another form of objectification and form of beauty standard.)
Let's revamp our cool calm suave guy now shall we?
The best part about aesthetics is, you don't need to stick to one.
For our suave cool guy, it sounds a lot like. . a lot of different things but for examples sake. . .
Could be linked to delinquent culture?
So... Greasers, Rockability, and Bosozoku can probably apply pretty fucking well.
(Note: suave cool guy is just a little list of tropes, and interpretation of it is popped in differently for everyone, it so happens shades and leather is what popped in for me. But suave cool can easily be also someone who's maybe into theatre. It can even lean on a range from just shooting finger guns at people loserish kind, or genuinely flicking their hair back Y/N's CEO style. Adjectives are very flexible!)
MOTIFS AND THEMES
Animals, food, color schemes, patterns, associated items, plants, the kind of tree they have, to even as a general, to their personal taste to even how it contributes to their story as a whole symbols and theming is well. ITS FUN?!
Just like aesthetics they can vary greatly as any literally form. The elements, places, sounds, there can be so fucking many, and all of these help carve a deeper understanding of your character in a fun way, always multiple ways to link. And there can be plenty of different ways to find these too, the internet is a wonderful database
Don't know where to entirely start? here's a big ol list of some plus examples in parenthesis have fun
- Adjectives of any form (power, grace, meek, flimsy, stifled, ease, uncanny etc.)
- Feelings (From simple: Happy, sad, ablazened, null, overwhelmed. Or even more specific: Mal Du Pays, Sonder, Limerence, Anemoia, Xeno)
- Sounds (Rain, white noise, tv static, birds, clinks of glass, howling winds, yk)
- Allusions (things from existing works/myths/writings! Red riding hood's wolf, Princess Kaguya, Zeus, Romeo and Juliet, Medusa, the Monkey King)
- Items of like, literally anything (stages, masks for the edgelords (me too), books, chess, fire, claws, keys, robots)
- Abstract concepts (yin and yang, heaven and hell, school of athens painting, the nature of humanity,)
(A little tip: It's always fun to stretch it out or even put a twist on the theme too or expand past just what it is. As an example, A character who is on the more cutesy/fluffy innocent side can have a lamb as their symbol, but also follow a theme of "wolf in sheep's clothing" or an gentle/elegant character who "carries themself as a gentle rain" but look further and "they are also thunder")
Figurative writing is also your best friend when you want to show off these symbols in roleplay
And ways that other symbols/motifs are used, there's a big list here
Let's go back to our fun old school delinquent
And I'll use. .
Doves, Red Oak, sharp sounds (like steel blades or metal), ash, strength in isolation
One of these sticks out huh? Isn't that fun?
For such a supposed cool smooth acting delinquent who'd why's there a dove?
WELL MY GOOD FRIEND LET ME EXPLAIN IN
CHARACTER TROPES
Y/N and their CEO boyfriend alpha omega stuff are/is a trope yes leave me alone, coughs
But, tropes exist for a reason.
They're storytelling devices, and they exist because not only are they relatively important and commonly used but they can also help fuel the narrative when done "correctly" (there's no "correct" way to use tropes, I'm only using the word correct because a trope being well done is surrounded by context in every other aspect painted to the character and story they're in. You can have your Y/N and CEO boyfriend, I promise chat. there is a way.)
Tropes can always be fun to twist certain things about a character and turn them around and of course, add details.
Hell even a character's backstory and entire livelihood can be condensed into a trope (I know some of you reading this are trauma junkies. Abusive Parent trope abusers </3)
Examples:
Person who DESPISES humans but turns around and has a huge liking to animals (Animal Lover + Misanthrope)
Person who never learns their lesson even from past mistakes and continuously gets their hopes up over something (Aesop Amnesia + Determinator)
Tropes can come in even DURING roleplay
Silly person who regularly puts up a goofy face and is often mocked but months later can swing a sword in perfect precision after multiple traumatic events regarding them and their friends (Took a level in badass + grew a spine + break the cutie + in the end)
And depending on what these traumatic events it can range. . a lot
Honestly
There are multiple multiple, MULTIPLE tropes that can be smashed together
Tropes that can range from a character's main set of flanderized characterizations to their little tiny details
here's a big list of characterization tropes
As a note: TROPES DO NOT HAVE TO BE STRICTLY STRUCKEN TO. Play around and mash things together, tropes are not inherently bad nor strict just can help put into words the things you probably want out of your character more
Moving on with our little example delinquent who has a pompadour because I said so
Why did they have a dove?
Even if they've got a rougher exterior. they're actually a Pacifist.
Martial Pacicifist is the main one that'll be intended to play around with. (and I know most of you play with, this is a trap.)
Threatening mediator tends to pair well with this
but on the side they've also got. . .
Cooldown Hug, (because of the dove symbolism now), Doves Mean Peace, and Forgiveness
Spealling out a character now that's externally got a rough and tumble like look, while also probably boisterous and loud but. Is actually a huge softie.
But. . this still seems stale
It's just an edgy looking guy who's a big softie what else is there?
Well. . . .
EXTRAS! EXTRA!
So, this would just be a base. Actually. There's more to it. So much more you can add and do for flair. Because honestly
while the personality wrote itself. there's still more.
So, so much more that can be done.
Like giving them stupid trivia.
And you can just, do it because you can and add more. and more.
The "continuously asking why" to get things rolling
But it's also to ask so what? as well as to why this little tidbit is relevant
And also an "anything else?" that can come out of it.
So, for example. Because I said so for our example character.
Big guy likes baking and making sweets and also cooks a mean fucking spaghetti and meatballs (WHY? And you can answer that somewhere along the lines they've learned how to bake and cook for themself. Why? They weren't fed too well and had a harsh childhood. So? As an extra product they don't want anyone else to starve like they did and generously cooks and gives food on a regular basis. Because they were starved other habits that begun to stick onto the character is being an oppurtunistic eater and consuming as much food as possible)
(note: Fun thing, small shit can have layers. Unassuming motions can quickly turn into horrific realizations. Isn't it funny that the guy just eats so much food and is always seen with food or regularly nibbling on something in conversation? OH OH THATS WHY.)
(and that's how you can get people.)
But, not all things have to be deep and can remain silly as a little fun fact trivia that both adds more context to our character
Our big guy actually hates laying down on soft surfaces and beds and prefers the floor. They'll decline the floor. (why? Soft surfaces can fuck up their back bro can NOT arch. And.. there really isn't a so because it gives context that our guy likes to be practical in combination with the food tidbit. But, anything else? They actively sleep on a sleeping bag in the midle of their room)
(another context that advances being practical, but can also leave rooms for characters in roleplay oppurtunities to talk about it because surprise, this is a ROLEPLAY SERVER!!! along with it being pretty silly)
There can be so many other things you can add other than just little quirks that explain more about a character and their tropes and aesthetics than just following the books. Dwelving as much as possible is always a joy, especially helps shape out WHO you're roleplaying as.
Some other things that can help in shaping things out is. .
- Nervous ticks and habits (When they're a little upset/nervous/anxious over something, how is it shown? Excessive cooking? Hand over the arm? looking away? Maybe if it's a more serious subject they focus harder on the other person in conversation, get super animated or just. stay still.)
- Hypothetic questions (Any flavor of hypothetical question such as "would they take the red pill or the blue pill." A personal favorite of mine is "how many seagulls would they have to find in their room before they suspect someone is putting the seagulls in there" or even "hey can I copy your homework")
- AUS (no shut up, I don't want to hear undertale Aus bad they were on something. Alternate universes is basically theroizing how a character could've changed if one or multiple aspects of their life turned out different and imagining the kind of person they'd be after that aspect turned up. Can even be "MAKE THEM A MERMAID" and how they'd navigate the waters, coral reefs or translating their entire family into some mermaid lineage. It's an AU)
- MBTI (personality tests but, if you're sort of struggling on a character and how to enact them. . there's this database. . . and. You can cross reference how characters are written in those stories for those that have the same mbti. JUST saying)
- Tarot and Astrology (this is leaning towards Motifs and Themes. . but, they can also be prettyy personalized.)
- Gender (-just another aspect/thing that's part of their life. There's no such thing as "acting like a woman" or "acting like a man" it's just how they're born and then choose to be/present themself)
- Goals, dreams, and aspirations (this one is probably pretty obvious but things about where they want to end up would help shape how they function and live)
[Oh my, this is a lot, there'll be more, promise guys]
I. CONCEPTNG A CHARACTER BEFORE PLAYING/CREATION
- Gathering Inspiration!
- Aesthetics
- Symbols/Themes
- Tropes
- Extra!
[THE FOLLOWING BELOW ARE NOT YET WRITTEN]
II. CREATION AND REFINING DETAILS
- FASHIOONNNN
- Backstory
- Personality
- Establishing Identity
- Details (Quirks, random trivia, mental health, and the fun trivia)
- Personal Exaggeration
- Outcomes and Execution
III. TEST RUNS AND IMPROV
- Scenario runthroughs and prompts
- Established details vs Improv'd details
- Consistency vs Flexibility
IIII. OTHER DETAILS I DIDN'T KNOW WHERE TO REALLY PUT TO BE HONEST
✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏
I. CONCEPTING A CHARACTER BEFORE PLAYING/CREATING
BAM. INSPIRATION.
You wake up, when.
BOOM.
You're hit by the god ray of roleplay and start ITCHING
A cool calm suave guy with long hair bound for heartbreak in a romantic setting, but really. They're. . . BROKEN </3
So you make immediately, long black hair with leather jacket and shades, bound for delinquency. #Notlikeothers
You're proud but then. . .
um, actually, after all this time they feel. flat. and not. up to. expectation.
That was embarrassing. That cool calm suave guy has now seemed to morph into, actually kind of an ass who yells at their friends because no one #understand them
And now you feel bad about it.
But that is an extremely flanderized example of what ends up tending to happen. The idea is cool and your ipad baby dopamine rush filled brain wants to jump in and immediately perform!!!! But. Then they feel like a lot of other characters you made in the past just, , , reskinned?
They don't really have a lot going for them. . . .
There's also frequently the trap of, "they're totally a different character guys!", but it's actually your first character just now featuring being even MORE flavors of emo.
This in itself isn't inherently a negative thing either, though variety out from the box can really switch things up.
So, where to start?
INSPIRATION can come in EVERY SHAPE AND FORM. I mean it. Characters you like, shows you like, songs, favorite plushie, your own pet, animals, colors, the intolerance paradox, real life people and their experiences, etc.
Personal experiences and general itches are also how inspiration can just, flashbang you.
But, there's something pretty important.
You'd want to sort through this chaos.. You know?
Think of it like a giant, puzzle where everything needs to connect, or by some nature can connect. Inherently, nearly every concept in the universe is connected through being opposites, or just as a general life thing.
For the purposes of this guide, I'll also be making a character side by side!
Additionally, below are sources/forms of inspiration that help piece things together neatly, along with examples as to how even a single piece of the puzzle can change a lot of things for a character
꧁⎝ ༺✧༻ ⎠꧂
AESTHETICS
Goblincore, Alternative, Kidcore, Starflesh, Grunge, Dark Acadamia, Prep, Cybercore, Frutiger Aero, Goth, Coquette
There's literally an entire WIKIPEDIA, for aesthetics, give I'd recommend giving it a check!
Aesthetics are ONE OF the most reliable ways for making a character as it also comes with fashion, flair, and other connective pieces such as:
Dark Acadamia = Smartz, big trenchcoats, browns, and probably elegance in a character, chronic perfectionist uh oh
Goblincore = crow skulls, bones, rags, looks ike they just walked out from a witch hut in the middle of the swamp, likes to slurp up worms, I actually like being alone!! So!!!
Kidcore = joyous and nostalgic days, dresses like a dollar store clown on a saturday afternoon, stickers. so many stickers., please don't talk about time and essence of growing up um.
Starflesh = CHRONICALLY ILL, if you sneeze too hard they might fly away, a living weeping ghost, I like being talked to cause it's really lonely and I thought people hated me um h.. .
but not all characters need to match with their aesthetic. . .
it might even accidentally come off stereotypical if done especially bad, for certain subcultures!
So, do your research before you choose to make a mean gyaru because common misconception is them being really rude and loud (they were just loud to go against japanese stereotypes over women in society having to be demure and pretty, but were perceived as rude and obnoxious for literally existing with the subculture dying because gyaru itself then became dehumanized to be another form of objectification and form of beauty standard.)
Let's revamp our cool calm suave guy now shall we?
The best part about aesthetics is, you don't need to stick to one.
For our suave cool guy, it sounds a lot like. . a lot of different things but for examples sake. . .
Could be linked to delinquent culture?
So... Greasers, Rockability, and Bosozoku can probably apply pretty fucking well.
(Note: suave cool guy is just a little list of tropes, and interpretation of it is popped in differently for everyone, it so happens shades and leather is what popped in for me. But suave cool can easily be also someone who's maybe into theatre. It can even lean on a range from just shooting finger guns at people loserish kind, or genuinely flicking their hair back Y/N's CEO style. Adjectives are very flexible!)
MOTIFS AND THEMES
Animals, food, color schemes, patterns, associated items, plants, the kind of tree they have, to even as a general, to their personal taste to even how it contributes to their story as a whole symbols and theming is well. ITS FUN?!
Just like aesthetics they can vary greatly as any literally form. The elements, places, sounds, there can be so fucking many, and all of these help carve a deeper understanding of your character in a fun way, always multiple ways to link. And there can be plenty of different ways to find these too, the internet is a wonderful database
Don't know where to entirely start? here's a big ol list of some plus examples in parenthesis have fun
- Adjectives of any form (power, grace, meek, flimsy, stifled, ease, uncanny etc.)
- Feelings (From simple: Happy, sad, ablazened, null, overwhelmed. Or even more specific: Mal Du Pays, Sonder, Limerence, Anemoia, Xeno)
- Sounds (Rain, white noise, tv static, birds, clinks of glass, howling winds, yk)
- Allusions (things from existing works/myths/writings! Red riding hood's wolf, Princess Kaguya, Zeus, Romeo and Juliet, Medusa, the Monkey King)
- Items of like, literally anything (stages, masks for the edgelords (me too), books, chess, fire, claws, keys, robots)
- Abstract concepts (yin and yang, heaven and hell, school of athens painting, the nature of humanity,)
(A little tip: It's always fun to stretch it out or even put a twist on the theme too or expand past just what it is. As an example, A character who is on the more cutesy/fluffy innocent side can have a lamb as their symbol, but also follow a theme of "wolf in sheep's clothing" or an gentle/elegant character who "carries themself as a gentle rain" but look further and "they are also thunder")
Figurative writing is also your best friend when you want to show off these symbols in roleplay
And ways that other symbols/motifs are used, there's a big list here
Let's go back to our fun old school delinquent
And I'll use. .
Doves, Red Oak, sharp sounds (like steel blades or metal), ash, strength in isolation
One of these sticks out huh? Isn't that fun?
For such a supposed cool smooth acting delinquent who'd why's there a dove?
WELL MY GOOD FRIEND LET ME EXPLAIN IN
CHARACTER TROPES
Y/N and their CEO boyfriend alpha omega stuff are/is a trope yes leave me alone, coughs
But, tropes exist for a reason.
They're storytelling devices, and they exist because not only are they relatively important and commonly used but they can also help fuel the narrative when done "correctly" (there's no "correct" way to use tropes, I'm only using the word correct because a trope being well done is surrounded by context in every other aspect painted to the character and story they're in. You can have your Y/N and CEO boyfriend, I promise chat. there is a way.)
Tropes can always be fun to twist certain things about a character and turn them around and of course, add details.
Hell even a character's backstory and entire livelihood can be condensed into a trope (I know some of you reading this are trauma junkies. Abusive Parent trope abusers </3)
Examples:
Person who DESPISES humans but turns around and has a huge liking to animals (Animal Lover + Misanthrope)
Person who never learns their lesson even from past mistakes and continuously gets their hopes up over something (Aesop Amnesia + Determinator)
Tropes can come in even DURING roleplay
Silly person who regularly puts up a goofy face and is often mocked but months later can swing a sword in perfect precision after multiple traumatic events regarding them and their friends (Took a level in badass + grew a spine + break the cutie + in the end)
And depending on what these traumatic events it can range. . a lot
Honestly
There are multiple multiple, MULTIPLE tropes that can be smashed together
Tropes that can range from a character's main set of flanderized characterizations to their little tiny details
here's a big list of characterization tropes
As a note: TROPES DO NOT HAVE TO BE STRICTLY STRUCKEN TO. Play around and mash things together, tropes are not inherently bad nor strict just can help put into words the things you probably want out of your character more
Moving on with our little example delinquent who has a pompadour because I said so
Why did they have a dove?
Even if they've got a rougher exterior. they're actually a Pacifist.
Martial Pacicifist is the main one that'll be intended to play around with. (and I know most of you play with, this is a trap.)
Threatening mediator tends to pair well with this
but on the side they've also got. . .
Cooldown Hug, (because of the dove symbolism now), Doves Mean Peace, and Forgiveness
Spealling out a character now that's externally got a rough and tumble like look, while also probably boisterous and loud but. Is actually a huge softie.
But. . this still seems stale
It's just an edgy looking guy who's a big softie what else is there?
Well. . . .
EXTRAS! EXTRA!
So, this would just be a base. Actually. There's more to it. So much more you can add and do for flair. Because honestly
while the personality wrote itself. there's still more.
So, so much more that can be done.
Like giving them stupid trivia.
And you can just, do it because you can and add more. and more.
The "continuously asking why" to get things rolling
But it's also to ask so what? as well as to why this little tidbit is relevant
And also an "anything else?" that can come out of it.
So, for example. Because I said so for our example character.
Big guy likes baking and making sweets and also cooks a mean fucking spaghetti and meatballs (WHY? And you can answer that somewhere along the lines they've learned how to bake and cook for themself. Why? They weren't fed too well and had a harsh childhood. So? As an extra product they don't want anyone else to starve like they did and generously cooks and gives food on a regular basis. Because they were starved other habits that begun to stick onto the character is being an oppurtunistic eater and consuming as much food as possible)
(note: Fun thing, small shit can have layers. Unassuming motions can quickly turn into horrific realizations. Isn't it funny that the guy just eats so much food and is always seen with food or regularly nibbling on something in conversation? OH OH THATS WHY.)
(and that's how you can get people.)
But, not all things have to be deep and can remain silly as a little fun fact trivia that both adds more context to our character
Our big guy actually hates laying down on soft surfaces and beds and prefers the floor. They'll decline the floor. (why? Soft surfaces can fuck up their back bro can NOT arch. And.. there really isn't a so because it gives context that our guy likes to be practical in combination with the food tidbit. But, anything else? They actively sleep on a sleeping bag in the midle of their room)
(another context that advances being practical, but can also leave rooms for characters in roleplay oppurtunities to talk about it because surprise, this is a ROLEPLAY SERVER!!! along with it being pretty silly)
There can be so many other things you can add other than just little quirks that explain more about a character and their tropes and aesthetics than just following the books. Dwelving as much as possible is always a joy, especially helps shape out WHO you're roleplaying as.
Some other things that can help in shaping things out is. .
- Nervous ticks and habits (When they're a little upset/nervous/anxious over something, how is it shown? Excessive cooking? Hand over the arm? looking away? Maybe if it's a more serious subject they focus harder on the other person in conversation, get super animated or just. stay still.)
- Hypothetic questions (Any flavor of hypothetical question such as "would they take the red pill or the blue pill." A personal favorite of mine is "how many seagulls would they have to find in their room before they suspect someone is putting the seagulls in there" or even "hey can I copy your homework")
- AUS (no shut up, I don't want to hear undertale Aus bad they were on something. Alternate universes is basically theroizing how a character could've changed if one or multiple aspects of their life turned out different and imagining the kind of person they'd be after that aspect turned up. Can even be "MAKE THEM A MERMAID" and how they'd navigate the waters, coral reefs or translating their entire family into some mermaid lineage. It's an AU)
- MBTI (personality tests but, if you're sort of struggling on a character and how to enact them. . there's this database. . . and. You can cross reference how characters are written in those stories for those that have the same mbti. JUST saying)
- Tarot and Astrology (this is leaning towards Motifs and Themes. . but, they can also be prettyy personalized.)
- Gender (-just another aspect/thing that's part of their life. There's no such thing as "acting like a woman" or "acting like a man" it's just how they're born and then choose to be/present themself)
- Goals, dreams, and aspirations (this one is probably pretty obvious but things about where they want to end up would help shape how they function and live)
[Oh my, this is a lot, there'll be more, promise guys]
