I like Jungs archetypes and I would always recommend incorporating them into your characters. Borrow from the believable gritty everyday life and grow it with your storytelling. However, look at people, be a watcher. In my blog I have studied the historical Jesus, examined Joan of Arc and characters like Cyborg and the other Justice League members through my cunical lense. We find characters in politics and ateas of analytical atheism or evangelical christianity. Sometimes its understanding the context of which these characters characterise that very context. Check out my website, it is quite eclectic, but it is secretly leaning towards compelling characters: Www.compellingcharacters.co.uk

Whazzup! Whazzup! I hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday brunch! And Happy Belated Turkey Day! I just wanted to share some golden eggs and iron kegs with regard to writing the ambiguity of a character’s justice, exploring their pursuit of perfection, war and aggression, and peeling back what elements lay the foundation for what it means for a character to be human—as well as what it means for one of them to denounce or cast aside their humanity (consequences and merits), moreover, how these themes of Arcane drive forward character evolution.

And Yes, there will be Arcane Season 2 SPOILERS!

So let's get jinxed, relax a little, feel that shimmer flowing through your blood, rock yourself to sleep, and let's sew up the last few seedlings of one of my favorite series.

Vander’s Struggle and Humanity

Despite his attempts to become the perfect father, Vander cannot shield Vi and Powder from the darkness of the world—no more than any of you can shield your own children. But the human struggle of doing right by those you swear loyalty to, even to the point of sacrifice, is where we see him clash with Silco in a voracious battle to the death. Vander casts away his humanity by taking shimmer to protect Vi from Silco’s lackeys. Even up to the point of the explosion, where we see his humanity shine the brightest—all for the inkling of a chance that his children might survive and be afforded the chance to live in Piltover.

And it’s clear that no matter how hard we strive for it, there is no such thing as perfection.

Vi’s Attempt to Shield Powder

Perhaps it was Vi’s attempts to protect Powder from the depravity of Zaun and Piltover. Rather than preparing her for the cruelty of the world, she tried to shield her innocence, which led to the transformation of Powder into Jinx.

Or perhaps it was the combination of Powder being an outcast in her in-group, constantly ordered around and admonished for the slightest inkling of imperfection, that caused her to strive for perfection so much that it spurred her transformation into Jinx. This led to her psychosis and sickly pursuit to simply belong, regardless of the code of morality and ethics that those around her adhered to.

All in all, the elements that encompass Arcane—its message to humanity and the lessons we are to take from it—are breathed right through the eyes of its characters. The intricacies of their journeys and transformations are key to the larger story.

If you’re interested in an intricate analysis of the complex Arcane characters, their evolution throughout the entire series up to now, and what pushed forward their change, disturbed their philosophy, and moved them to action, uncovering the beauty of imperfection, and understanding Arcane's message to humanity: https://youtu.be/GnLmAER8f48?feature=shared 

So, I am writing a story about a couple through the eyes of the wife, who loves her husband quite a lot, even though he beats her sometimes. The husband character is super complex, as he is trying to be a nice husband for her sake, but he is triggered into negative behavior by his past trauma and other struggles.

The story starts with them knowing about his disease that will kill him very soon, and he gets happy as if getting liberated, which she can’t understand at that time. One day, she tells him she is leaving because she has had enough of him. She wants to stay away so she doesn’t break anymore.

He asks her to stay together and celebrate his liberation for a week, and the main part of the story starts there, as they go through his childhood memories. During this week, she gets to know more about him, his childhood trauma, and the painful things that shaped who he is.

I have already written about Day 1, which explores his childhood trauma and memories. I am now looking for ideas for the further days. I want to keep the story sad, exploring the life of a toxic man who tries to be loving, even after all his childhood trauma. Please suggest ideas for the following days.

You know how Miku has her square hair things, Rin has her bow, and Luka has her crown thing? Well I need ideas for some hair accessories for my oc like the examples above so ideas would be apprecated :)

Role Villain later turn anti-hero

motivation We call female anti-hero U and her lover A What U look like light tan 6 feet tall 2 inches blonde hair body type muscle deep voice. A is 5'1 dark tan red hair pretty boy and petite bit high voice. She was in a long term serious relationship with this one male entity.

You see we two entities love each other want to be with each other at all time they fusion together to make a other entity.

They fuse together for 10 years years later a power hungry king decided to spit them part with magical tool. Then her lover get trap into magical crystal that king happens to have with him. U try to attack the king but his guilds beat the crap out U to point where she get Knock out. She later on awake up decided to look for her lover. When she got to kingdom she decided to tranformed into her power form to attack the king and his guilds but unfortunately she set fire to kingdom and people house. And the king was able to trap her into crystal and put her into a temple where she was trap in for 300 years. All she want is to get her lover back when big bad who say she can help her to get her lover back

What do you think about her motivation

I have heard a lot of answers to this: add layer to characters; give depth to the story; add powerful themes and stuff. What I need is some case studies. If y'all can give examples of some great characters arcs and their respective stories with powerful moments, it'd be a ton of help. The examples can be from novels, movies and even TV series. Begin from: How do these characters have layers? How's the theme helping in making their arc powerful? To: What made the character moment.

Character Name: Ashton AKA Avalyn Shelvik

Character Age: 17?

Character Gender: Female

Character Backstory: In a faraway enchanted land, a daughter was born to an evil queen, and was named Ashton. The queen feared that if Ashton grew up with her father, a human who had stumbled into this enchanted land and they fell in love, Ashton would adopt some humane things she considered weak, such as love, kindness, generosity, etc. The queen wanted her daughter to be a witch like her, and hence killed Ashton's father.

Ashton grew up with magical powers she inherited from her mother, lonely, with only a horse to keep her company. Her ruthless mother, the evil queen/witch, wanted her to be "perfect", "devoid of emotions", and "fit to be the next queen". For this, since the age she could read, Ashton was forced to train with her mother's minions, who were, obviously, stronger than her because she was only a child. Everyday she'd get hurt training with them, but the evil queen would force her to "keep going!". When her long training sessions were finally over, instead of relaxing, she was forced to read lofty books she never wanted to read. But one day...a miracle happened

Plot: Ashton always wanted to be set free, even though she was forced to act obedient but she was secretly rebellious. such as when her mother forced her to wear queenly dresses, she'd sneak up in shirts and cargo pants whenever she got the chance and ride around with her horse named Robin, who could talk. One day while riding Robin, her mother's minions chased them, demanding her to come back to the palace, but Ashton wasn't listening. it was the day she turned 17, and also she wanted to be finally free. Running away from them, Ashton and Robin stumbled upon a portal, which led to our world. Through ups and downs, Ashton carved her path in a world she barely knew, alongside her horse, Robin.

Ashton took up the name "Avalyn Shelvik" and tried to act British to fit in the early 20th century England. It was later learned that Ashton was sent to this world for saving the people, and reluctantly, she got into the murky realm of espionage, saving people from the shadows. When her time in our world was finally over, she and Robin ventured back to the enchanted land through the portal, but soon realized that the evil queen, almost having reached the end of her lifespan, was still searching for them. Ashton (or Avalyn) eventually defeated her mother, the evil queen, leading to the land rejoicing for freedom and Ashton being declared the new queen.

But...the haunting memories of her mother's treatment towards her lingered in her mind, and she struggled with PTSD.

Character Personality: Ashton/Avalyn is very cold, almost stone cold, ruthless, disciplined, ambitious ,calculating sometimes and silent. she can be blunt to the point she's perceived "rude" & sassy but is generally detached. she has a sophisticated sense of style and speaks with dignity but generally acts like a tomboyish badass. Her flaws? she can be arrogant, cruel, heartless, and has some slight anger issues, though she hides it under her composed exterior. born analytical and strategic with a deep sense of loyalty, even to her mother in her early years, Ashton also has an "i dont care" attitude. But she possesses a vulnerable side too, which is open to animals and kids. Basically i wanted to aim at her being "badass" with flaws and all, in her own way.

Appearance: Imagine her to look something like this: DeviantArt image (ByTNDinah)

How she breaks some molds:

• Ashton seems like the overused "Ice Queen" trope in fanfictions. But she's far from it: despite acting icy and regal, Ashton generally doesnt care about the "regal" ways of acting. the way she talks is often informal, and also doesn't act so feminine and is certainly not a damsel in distress. She also doesnt have such stunning looks "ice queens" in stories are known to have, but has practical, understated appearance.
• Despite struggling with PTSD, Ashton doesn't do reckless and harmful things like People with PTSD are known to do. She rather unwinds in a more mature, logical, private way, the most common being journaling her thoughts or just...doing some punching (lol)
• She is highly independent and complex

What do you call the trope where the main male character is often portrayed as weak/dumb/immature but their close female friend or relative is portrayed as strong/smart/mature and always berates the main male character on their weakness, Dumbness, and maturity? An example i can think of is in the original Ben 10 series, where Ben is often seen as weaker (without his powers), dumber, and less mature compared to his cousin Gwen who is strong (without powers), smart, and mature.

Hello it is me again, I have been developing the protag for my project Death of an oleander. Here I have written out the basic structure of Nathan, please note for part 2, the irl inspiration for Nathan is just my interpretation of the person, please do not judge the irl inspiration for Nathan and just the character Nathan, it would be kindly appreciated to hear some feedback.

The ideas of Nathan

Since I cant give a proper description of Nathan Chang, I might as well give the idea instead…

1. The character Nathan.

The character, Nathan Chang is from my up coming project “death of an oleander”. Nathan, a teen with neglectful parents, bad school grades and a uncertain future ahead of him, numbs his pain by going to the local bars in the red light district he lives in, he then meets a girl the same age as him named Natasha who co-runs and drug trafficking business with her partner drew Gunman, after exchanging numbers, Nathan starts texting Natasha often, Natasha then manipulates nathan to join her business and befriends Natasha's team of gangsters and drug traffickers, where Nathan participates in drug use, rape, murder and child grooming. This caused Nathan to grow desensitized to the violence , being controlled by Natasha, he is then forced to hurt all the friendships he has made, and watch as he hurts them. At the end, Nathan is forced to kill and rape Natasha, which causes him to break, leaving him a man who is left in a state where he is unconscious of what's going on around him.

2. The human/interpretation “Nathan”

Nathan is inspired by my friend who seldomly talked, he would often be by himself everyone I saw him and rarely anyone talked to him if at all, I thought of approaching him out of our curiosity and ended up talking to him, this got to the point where I genuinely had feelings for this guy, but then he stopped talking altogether, he stopped seeing my messages, stopped talking to me, and basically stopped functioning. This Broke me so bad to the point where I turned miserable. Now you may be asking, what does this have to do with Nathan?

For some part of my life, I thought that this friend I was talking to was just socially anxious of the world around him, and that, in some part of him, he did wanted a friend, a connection. Which is the same way with Nathan, a teenager who has always wanted a connection with another person, someone he can trust and talk to. But when my friend stopped talking to me, and everyone else. I started thinking something must've happened to him, I don't want to make Nathan some character that I can say “oh look, my friend doesn't think I'm a true friend to him” because I didn't want anyone to see my friend like that.

I felt that in some way, Nathan is how I see my friend, someone who genuinely wants a connection but doesn't know how to make one, Nathan is a figure who wants love in a environment where he can't grow as a person, he wants to grow as a human, to feel the joy of having a day out with someone, to feel the love we can get from those who care about us. Nathan does come with his flaws, as with any human being as he refuses to change out of fear for his future, causing him to become reliant on others, he also is unaware of how his actions effect others as he doesn't see what he does throughout the story is wrong, Nathan is not a inherently bad nor good person, as he judges, criticizes and lashes out against others. But his reliance on Natasha and his refusal to change out of fear causes him to become more of a servant to Natasha and causes him to lack his own judgement.

At the end of the day, Nathan is character that focuses on changing for the better, but due to natashas manipulation, the environment around him, and lack of support causes him to become a shell of a being. Nathan is a character who had the goal of simply developing a connection and having a future where he can function as a person yet with the circumstances around him caused him to deteriorate as a person instead.

Another symbolism for Nathan is an oleander, where he wants to grow as a person yet he grows too attached to a person and ends up destroying everything he has build up. I don't know if anyone can find any semblance in this metaphor but to me, I interpret people as oleanders. We're prone to be toxic, we always were, oleanders are flowers that are toxic yet beautiful, they need care and love, yet they also destroy and ruin, that's why I chose to name the book “death of an oleander”, due to the struggle for connection and the refusal of growth in certain people.

3. The problem Nathan

Some problems I have thought about is Nathan coming off as passive or bland, yeah sure, he does come off as passive, but idk what to do about that part. When I wrote Natasha, she came off as cartoonishly evil and one dimensional.

I don't want this problem to happen for Nathan because his topic hits close to home, I want to give him the same effort as I had put in my friendship with my friend.

It also feels kind of bland for Nathan to commit crimes for Natashas amusement, I wanted to aim for the dynamic between makima and denji in Chainsaw man(I have read the manga). But it feels like Nathan is just an extension for me to prove how evil Natasha.

Note: idk how sloppy this post is, however I did want to make sure Nathan is a character and not a one dimensional trope on tv tropes :v

Whazzup! Whazzup! I hope everyone’s enjoying their Saturday brunch!

I thought I’d share some things I’ve picked up while trying to chisel out how to best craft a mentor for the protagonist in my story.

Is it ancient, wrinkled, boomer-wise-man jargon?

Well, analyze your own personal experiences. Did you respect your old Auntie Mildred because her boils were pitted like barnacles or because she was gumming down applesauce without her dentures?

NO!

It was the knowledge and the archive of information that she had accrued throughout the course of her life, and you being able to live out and confirm that knowledge by witnessing the result of the actions she encouraged you—or deterred you—from taking.

And with that knowledge, there comes a guidance that allows the mentor to gauge the limits of their apprentice, as well as know when it’s best to encourage them to push past this perceived threshold.

Your Mentor Should Push Your Character Beyond Their Limits

Or at least, in this respect, have experienced events to the point where they are able to guide their mentee on what step they should or shouldn’t take in order to gain favor and help them push beyond their limits.

If you’re looking for a way to pose a mountainous barrier for your characters or merely a way to strengthen the bond between master and student, give that apprentice a threshold and have their mentor work to crack through that glass ceiling.

I’ve learned while writing that a good mentor also…

Encourages Emotional Growth

It’s one thing to gain physical mastery in a skill set, but it’s another to maintain the discipline of discernment in when and where you should utilize said skills. Discipline and patience are two such elements that taper off impulsivity.

This, perhaps, maybe the most important—or at least the most interesting—role that the mentor plays in your story.

Why?...

Well, this is most likely where apprentice and mentor will clash with one another regarding experience vs. impulsivity. It could be a source of conflict and provide an opportunity for you to compare and contrast their code of ethics.

If you want my more thorough analysis of this topic, or inspiration from a fictional context (Levi Ackerman, Yoda, Tony Stark, General Iroh, and Joel): https://youtu.be/UKYuStJpbiA?feature=shared

Inspired by short circuit, I’m writing story about mass produced robot “Miner” who gains sentient following an accident.

This unit was assigned to remote area a “mining village” where the robots and miners are working together.

I do want him to act a child like demeanor, showing curiosity around him.

He understood that he “refer to himself as male” is robot and people around him as human, but he doesn’t understand the difference between them. Like seeing bed as recharging stations.

While not a major flaw, I do seem him being somewhat a jester or a child, especially to the people who don’t know him. Pranking, or making unfunny jokes.

He is also kinda of hoarder as he will hoard every gift he ever receives, giving these objects name or tag name.

he dose remember or comment to memory the exact details of the gift when received.

he does have a hard time letting go or being separated from these objects. Unable to decide which object to throw away due to no space.

For now, my goal I want to explore with him is, is grief of losing someone, and experience the meaning of death.

I do feel it is kind of cliched but not sure what other ideas I should try and explore.

This may be a more writing question, but I didn't know where to post this. But I'm writing up a character bible/animated show pilot. And right now I'm having a bit of trouble writing for a particular scene. So one of my characters is a sort of genie-esk human. Who can manipulate matter into whatever they want.

The catch is that he's based off my own experiences with ADHD and Autism. To where I may excel in some areas, I tend to falter quite drastically with simple tasks. And this is something I cannot control even when I'm trying.

So I'm trying to represent that kind of vulnerability in this show/pilot. To skip a lot of details, my character (who's named matrix) has broken into a high tech something prison. And talks with his captain on com links, about having to do a simple task like pressing a specific button.

And here's where the issue comes in. Whether due to poor communication or too much information. Matrix does not do the simple task and gets captured. Now I may be getting Mabel pines weirdmaggedon PTSD here. But I have a fear that people wouldn't understand this scene. And hate my matrix for being stupid.

The scene is not meant to taken as "its his fault and he should be blamed for it" It's meant to say that he truly feels upset that he's not able to do a simple task. Which is a scenario I've found myself in multiple times personally.

So I’m writing many character for my collection of short stories and scene packs for “Ace Boons” on Patreon.

The main character Eddy, a young woman struggling with apathy, desensitization and dissatisfaction transforms into a pillar of her community through music.

I’m writing her character who is in part me in a way: stud black woman, recent grad but heart isn’t in what she pursued, loves rap/hiphop/jazz/rnb/motown and she combats isolation,loneliness,dissatisfaction with her raps. Alongside her friend they call themselves the ace boons(meaning close friends). They do music to and are apart of their community doing music and shady illegal things from time to time to get by and see goals materialize.

I draw inspiration from my favorite artists like Kendrick, SZA, Wu Tang, and many more but just them off top.

I really want to understand and create the characters or people that feel real, like someone we know. I’ve never completely been through what say Kendrick raps about completely but when I listen to his music especially the new drops today, I see Eddy and other characters in them.

How can I really study up and grow these characters into my vision? What are the methods yall use?

Appreciate in advance 🙏🏾

I have this idea about a main character that started as a good person.

Basically a bullied teenager who is transferred (isekai) to a different world to become that world's hero but the sudden shift of lifestyle he got there, he has magic based powers, has a title of Savior, has all attention to him basically treating him like royalty, makes him crave power and attention that he becomes consumed by it and it changed him to be the worst person ever.

My question is, how do I make the development more natural and not forced? Thank you.

I have an idea for character development between Silas, the protagonist (the book takes place from his focus), and Callan (TECHNICALLY the main character, while we do not watch the book from his eyes, the world and conflicts revolve around him as a character with Silas being dragged along with the story) in which Silas is appointed as a serf to Callan (a prince) due to Silas' ability of foresight surrounding the prince being seen as useful to the protection of the prince. This leads to the two becoming close friends, sharing every day of their lives. For the next few years from boys till late teens. I want them to fall close to in love and for the audience to root for their love story, but just before their love is sealed, Callens father dies in battle.

Now in this book there are twin deities, Erain, one of love and passion (this is the good Silas' visions come from) and the other Thyone of war and conquest. They usually live in harmony but this particular kingdom denies Erian's existence, except for the prince who believed that Erian was still out there protecting his father and keeping his family together. When Callan's father dies, Callan begins to go mad, blaming the gods, but mainly Erian for not protecting his father, thus slowly resenting Silas as he is the "eyes of Erian" being her fate of foresight.

The connect to the two is served one sided, driving Silas to repeatedly attempt to stop Callan from killing himself in battle like his father (proven in visions will occur if he doesn't change paths) to the extent that Callan calls for Silas to be sacrificed in the name of Thyone (a very normal and welcomed act in this kingdom due to their main gods beliefs), even after Silas survives through Erian, he lives to save the man he loves, but when it comes down to it, Silas is responsible for Callan's death and is struck with the moral quarrel that in the face of trying to do good and love, he killed the only person he ever wished to protect as destined by Erian and his visions. His love blinded him to the morals and consequences of his actions which is the ultimate moral of the book.

My close friends have pointed out the fact they never truly get to be in love, its a whole heap of queer baiting, But i feel this is a believable character development and love story of a desperate lover trying to save what he loves most if we spun it to be a straight couple? Some people have told me to change Silas to be a woman but that would make it a bit difficult with some of the other main points of the story, it only really works if both are men due to the way the society functions (set before the characters were chosen during the world building and its quite elaborate and set out).

I guess what I wish to ask is "is this queer baiting" and what could I change about their dynamic to achieve an outcome that isn't such?"

 Okay so, I have this oc based of the goddess Nepthys of ancient Egypt. This oc name is Nebtho, nebtho has a 2nd husband who had a bad physical relationship with their son but she never divorce nor said anything to him about it. Her first husband went missing after a year into their marriage, she's the goddess of darkness but  she was nice and strong. She moved her soul into a glass dimension as to where she couldn't feel anything the rest of her life until she were to end this domain. 

The reason why I ask this is because people say that no one get obsessed with one random person because their nice to them.

What I'm do you think is unrealistic for my character to be obsessed with my character because she was nice to him (my future villain)

In London, England, the year of 1875, A baby Faerie/human boy was born. His mother had become sick soon after birthing him, and not too long after, she died. This left him in the custody of his father, who was not in the right condition to raise a child.

A friend of his passed wife’s agreed to care for the baby in his place.

The new parent took the baby in, however; because the baby looked inhuman, the parent understood that Jester would be seen as an abomination, unfit to general society. They sent Jester to move into the attic of their house, and there, Jester stayed for the duration of his childhood.

The maid would visit the attic every few times per day to ensure that all of Jester’s needs were met. Jester was given toys to play with, but even with his toys, he couldn’t help from longing to join his family downstairs, or to join the kids he could hear playing from outside of his window.

The first time Jester’s faerie power showed itself was when he was seven years old. He had accidentally teleported himself into the garden nearby his house. Human girl of his age named Aurora had been in that garden at the same time, and so, the two of them met.

.

They have a good bond. They would play together by playing tag, pretend, and with toys including dolls.even in spite of sometimes getting in fights. Jester would always be the one to apologize, and Aurora would always forgive him. When he was a little younger, he would always cry when she had to leave with her sister. She would comfort him and let him know that she would be back. He quickly grew out of it but would get depressed when she had to leave. He loves to hold hands and follow her like a lovesick puppy.

They focus to separate at age of 12

So his decide to run away to find Aurora.

Once his find her again as teenager His Happy more then anything to see Aurora again but his hate that Auroa have lots of guys friends. And how close she is with them. his hate them talking to her and that she hang out with them more then him.

Then later in their young adult years Jaster got even more upset with Aurora getting a boyfriend and hanging out with him even more then him to point where they barely see each other. And his have a lot a dark thoughts and fantasies about Aurora boyfriend.
Jester feels like he can't function without Aurora that his need aurora without her there be no purpose for him.

confess his love to aurora to her. Aurora told him his wasn't feeling like that and that she be moving away that she won't she him again. Jester got down on his knees and hand and start begging for her to not leave him. Begging her to stay.

but anyways what happens next aurora just slowly walks away(not knowing how to handle this situation or what to really say to him while he's begging for her to not leave him . Jester notice this run to her and give her arm (not super hard) his still begging her and almost about to cry she ask him to let go jester can't hear over his begging her eventually aurora snap then punch him in the face

So I was told that my character (who's the villain in my project) is poorly written, but I want her to be well written yet be still evil (I want her to be like a near pure evil character (Google it if you do not know what a near pure evil is)) but the thing is I'm a beginner yet I really want this character to work. First off to get things straight.

1.the project I'm working on is about the importance of connection and the effects of disconnection to society

This project is called "death of an oleander" and it's going to be a book about disconnection from others, I wanted to write about a story where a desensitized teenager named nathan, who grew up in a red light district, goes to parties to numb the pain from his empty life (where he has neglectful parents, terrible grades and an uncertain future), he goes to this club where he catches the eye of Natasha ( the character I wanted to talk about), they exchanged a conversation and for once Nathan felt something meaningful has happened to him, after they exchanged numbers, Nathan starts texting Natasha, often revealing his personal experiences to her, Natasha and Nathan's relationship grew to the point where Natasha introduces her gang of criminals to Nathan, where he joins immediately, throughout the story nathan is manipulated by Natasha into hurting everyone close to him, Nathan is then confronted by his parents about his decisions with his social life and future, meanwhile Natasha continues to ruin his life, nathan is forced to r@pe people , beat, drug, or kill them just to amuse Natasha, when he realizes what he has done was wrong he confronts Natasha, who guilt trips and gaslights him into being under her control. The story ends with Natasha forcing Nathan to kill her, which traumatizes Nathan to a degree where he reverts to a half conscious state (where he doesn't interact with others)

2. What Natasha did in the story

Besides the extra long plot summary I gave you, Natasha has already done some bad things right at the beginning, for one, she sells drugs, she got into the business after being groomed by a man named Drew Gunman, a drug trafficker himself(and a cameraman for pornos), they have found a connection after drew message Natasha online when she was just 14. The dynamic between Natasha and Drew is (to me) toxic, yeah the obvious is that Natasha was groomed, but part of her genuinely took pleasure in the drug trafficking industry, she also took part in running Drew's porn site, and delved in depraved acts herself even at a young age, from petty bullying and stealing, to downright killing animals brutally. Drew on the other hand, genuinely felt some form of companionship yet knew what he was doing was wrong, yet he was deprived of a genuine connection from a young age, it led to him seeking someone to talk to, even if it was a child. What led to Natasha being like this is that she grew up the same way Nathan had, being neglected and ignored, she turned to the red light district, and committed brutal acts in small animals to little kids by the time she was a preteen, important note I want to make...

She did not do this as some form of comfort and did this out of genuine sadism and a sort of way to cope with boredom.

Natasha commits rape by proxy, as she asked her gang members to rape people while she films them for entertainment, drug trafficking, animal cruelty, pedphillia, blackmail, bribery, murder, and infanticide. (No I won't be developing into detail but feel free to comment if you want those details or dm)

But a thing about Natasha is that she seemingly wants a relationship with someone equal as her, not someone who's desperate for a connection (like drew) but someone who actually thinks and talks like her, she does this with Nathan by trying to make him depraved like her but Nathan wants to change and grow with someone who (like Natasha) wants a equal, yet strives to grow as a person (to become better), which Natasha doesn't possess, due to her overlying narcissism and her refusal to set past her point of view.

This part makes me come to the conclusion that the only person she can truly love is herself, yet she's beyond the point of living herself in a healthy way, she lives herself in more of a "I want others to be like me in order for me to acknowledge them" type of way, which is unhealthy

Which is where the title comes from, "Death of an oleander" represents a person who you want to have a connection with who refuses to change for the better, which is the case for Natasha and Nathan.

3. Problems with Natasha

I felt like some problems I have with Natasha are that 1. She's cartoonishly evil 2. She's a one dimensional character 3. She may not be a threat to Nathan

1. What should I do

To make her seem less evil is a daunting talk, considering she needs to pass the moral event horizon to be considered a near pure evil villain, and the world she's in is full on just violence everywhere so I need to make her stand out, one solution I have planned is to focus on her manipulation tactics more, and how she ruined Nathan's life. Another is to make her more aware of her actions, making her sadistic, but that'll just take me back to the start.

2. I feel like she's just evil... For the fUn oF iT.

Honestly , this part frustrated me, because Natasha is a complex character, yet I feel like she's missing Soo much more, Natasha is more complex in my head tbh, but I have trouble executing her into description.

3. Is she tho???

I want your opinions on this so please give me feedback.

Sorry if this post is sloppy, it's 1:00AM and I'm so tired, I also wanted to apologize if some of the topics in this post are offensive, no idk how reddit works, yet I want some feedback and tips, everyone said I should try something simple for a beginner, and I should definitely try that but I really am hyperfixated on this project, please give any tips on writing , feedback, and how I can make Natasha a villain worthy of both good writing and being an absolute human dumpster fire

Can I ask a quick favor? I'm doing a character development exercise and need the eyes of someone who doesn't have any prior connection to the subject. Just go by your first impression. Please look at the photo and click as many or as few descriptors as you think apply. Thank you!!!

https://forms.gle/R8Pjbj3jLZgd3Asm7

I have this coming-of-age fantasy story with two children in focus who are attending to the same class in a battle academy.

She is a prodigy beloved and admired by her class for her warm personality and charisma.

He is a soft delinquent who has nothing to show up and whose heart is closed off from others.

Of course the two can't keep away from each other. He tries his best to make little miss perfect trip up, while she makes an effort to fix him. Albeit they are always fighting, deep down they hold affection for each other.

It's very easy to see how the boy can be positively affected by her, for a caring presence does help to heal the scars that are making him who he is currently, and who will one day be the past of a greater man.

But, you know, it would work better if this growth would be a two-way one. There comes the question: How can someone who is seemingly standing beneath can help her to grow into someone better?

She is what others could call a great person. She is mature enough to help, or at the very least support others in their problems. I think what her recipe needs is a pit that others can easily step over, but she cannot escape from. Something human that she pursues but can't catch. Something even the broken boy can teach her about.

What are your opinions? What could the girl's flaw be? Feel free to ask for more information should my explanation feel too watered down.

Whazzup! Whazzup! I hope everyone’s enjoying their Saturday brunch!I thought I’d share some things I’ve picked up while trying to create revenge arcs for my own original characters.

We’ve all felt it, haven’t we? The blood boiling hot in our veins from being swindled, backstabbed, and discombobulated by someone we once considered an ally—someone we could swear had only our best interests at heart.

Of course, revenge entails the act of retaliation for having been wronged, or at the very least, having perceived someone’s motives as malicious. So what better way to spark the fires of revenge than to take something precious from your characters?

Take something precious from your character, and they will scrape, claw, and delve into the darker recesses of the human experience to retrieve what was lost—especially if what was stolen was emotionally tied to their very identity.

What’s the most important aspect of tackling revenge that you should pay careful attention to? It’s understanding what revenge means to your character.

Remember, introspection is key to forging strong emotional bonds between your character and the audience. And if you ever feel adrift, know that you can always return to the foundational principle of scoping along the shoreline to find clarity.

To keep the audience engaged and your character’s fire burning, create consequences for their pursuit of revenge. Consider asking these developmental questions:

• Does the character lose their sense of stability or sacrifice their morals to reclaim what they believe was stolen?
• Do they harm others in the process?
• What are the consequences of failure, and how high are the stakes?
• Who or what are they avenging, and why does it matter?
• Finally, who or what is standing in the way of their vengeance?

If you want a more thorough analysis of this topic, with both fictional (John Wick, Sasuke Uchiha, Kurapika) and historical context (Julius Caesar and Julie d'Aubigny) https://youtu.be/w7yzNbgl-gU

 I hope you’ll join us to find out why revenge is a dish best-served cold!

So I have been plotting a novel for a while. It will be 3 novels in a series. Anyway the mc is 22 yeracold guy. But the thing is he has reincarnated. In the past he was a girl , choosen one type hero. She was Bound to an objective by forbidden magic . But she rewrote that spell and unknowingly caused herself to get Bound to another objective. Meaning she will return to fulfill it any how, even after death , via reincarnation. Anyway now she has reincarnated. But as boy . He doesn't have any memory of his oast life as a girl or a hero or the magic . But he too is a choosen hero and he has been sent to fulfill the original objective. Now here comes actual question. I personally, in my country a rather ancient belief is that ' soul ' can not be destroyed. It remains same regardless of body. And in old scriptures too there's not much body dysphoria is mentioned. I too think it's soul if remians same and is born again within the same species, it shouldn't be a problem for adjusting. I have read lessa webtoon . The mc there too was girl in past life , and he isn't particularly concerned about the gender thing. Simply just focusing on the events . So...is that alright?

Ps : there's body horror in the book. But it's related to magic rather than this .

https://preview.redd.it/b7g8m82wmw0e1.jpg?width=1589&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=70f13639c6c4bf4ed94cc28e121550a1869b5096

Character is a member called the stormkin whos sole goal is to protect the dangerous lands they live in, this mans name is Aki, His design is inspired by native American culture and his power is earthquakes, hes abled sense and footsteps or movement in the ground beneath him and cause minor earthquakes by planting his hand on the earth however if he wants to slam to weapon behind him it causes major earth quakes which he would prefer not to do, just looking for feedback in terms of designs and anything more.