I often read descriptions like "said X with a hopeful expression on his face"

Or "looking confused" and "puzzled"

I can imagine what a sad, happy, angry, excited etc. face looks like, but these just read like another character or the narrator reading somebody's mind. Are these actual facial expressions that I'm just incapable of identifying or are they literary devices to make you see into somebody's head without being in their point of view?

For those who wanna give it a read it's based off of undertale , but you DO NOT need to know anything about it , here are the characters :

Calista :

• Species : Human

• Story : A teenage girl who found herself in the bottom of some strange ruins , with no memory or way other than moving forward , she will have to find a way to escape the " abyss " , however , she is not alone , as she will be directly met with mysterious transparent young boy ( same age as her by the way ) as soon as she wakes up , he is no foe , a friend even , together they will face the different dangers of the abyss and it's inhabitants ( she is the main protagonist ) .

• Characteristics : carefree , honest , scaredy cat ,childish , kind , extrovert , average in turms of intelligence

• Soul type : yellow , is a rare kind of soul that gives the owner the ability to create hallucinations , clones and be invisible to the naked eye for a short while .

( Every human in this story has a soul , souls have different types that grant different powers to their wearer ) .

Evan :

• Species : Ghost of the vitae tribe

• Story : Was murdered by a sereal killer , he made a deal with one of the four primordial entities , vitae , that granted him the ability to wander free as a ghost in the world , he may do as he pleases as long as it doesn't include directly hurting living beings ( including plants and animals in general ) , his current goal is to help his amnesic best-friend in order to escape the hellish nest they found themselves in

• Soul type : None

• Basic ability : many magical spiritual powers come with becoming a ghost : he can float and go through walls , is invisible to most , cannot take physical damage , can control other people's bodies if given the permission , the vessel's physical abilities are pumped to their highest potential .

Characteristics : quiet with most people , kind , sarcastic courageous , only trusts Calista and his girlfriend charlie , is much smarter than the norm .

Fred :

• Species : mutated human ( monster )

• Story : Was captured during the great war by assailants from the enemy country at the age of 13 with his family , he was used as a research subject for 3 years by a group of scientist , Fred was forced to see the death of his parents and his little sister while he could not do anything , his rage was the only thing that kept him alive , he became a monster and used the strength that was enforced into him to destroy the lab in which he was captive , freeing the other victims with him , he then lead the rebellion against humanity , now he lives in the abyss and is one of the three royal commanders of the monsters .

• Soul type : void , a new soul artificially created by a clandestine group of scientist , can be " filled " by outside objects to creat something new

• Void soul type : Botany , a new soul type created by filling the void soul with all sorts of vegetations in the form of a special liquid , he has now a arm made of wood , he can change the type of wood his arm has , and the rest of his body can become any plant he wants and he can enlarge it to a terrifying extent , he can also control the plants around him .

• Characteristics : Calm , fearless , wise , keeps to himself most of the time , can use extreme violance when needed .

I am writing a story that is inspired by shield hero and while I like the story, I'd like to try my hand with a twist.

I was thinking of making him only using the shield as a weapon however would fists be considered a weapon or would that be a cop out?

It is the best paid assassin and boundy Hunter in the all Galaxy before resurrected on martian biological laboratory to rabbit like species kharkans created by human startup, he was human american CIA agent but after joining to secret operation named Black dragon when was send by usa soldiers to the middle east was killed by unknown enemy but He returned with change of identity. I can't tell you the exact history of my character because I'm still working on the perfect origin story, but I need a good characterisation from you.

I have story in mind but would like some outside view on the idea.

In short: Angus got tired of his depresing guarding job - humanity is just doomed in his eyes- and heavens byrocracy. He wanted to get himself demoted to less important job, but kinda overdone it and ended up fallen- in human word, locked in his human form, his angel traits muted.

He founds job as a bouncer (bc, well, he is like 2 meters and huge, stonefaced dude) and tries to not get even more depressed.

Will he regain his powers? Meet the people he guarded? Understand people?

And how the hell he ends at the pathology at hell, under Pablos scalpel?

Angus is a soft spoken, melancholik giant. Appearance wise, he is a mix of baroque beauty (cherubic, chubby face, blond wavy hair, pale) and intimating size (his angel form is 2 meters, solid build). He was looked after many people, but the few last ones just broke him. He sees humanity as doomed, bc they are not able to change in his eyes. He is also depressed from his job, bc he can't really do anything visible thanks to rules. After being stuck with guarding Oswald (sweet dude, but isolated thanks to his appearance and mental health problems), seeing his downfalls, he just has enought.

He tries to find a way to get off that job, thinking some minor hedonism would do the job. (Just...liking human stuff. Good book, food...Yes, I can now see that it's close to Aziraphale 😅). Well, he actually gets fallen for that. Ending up at human word, but locked out of his angel powers (almost), and in less flatering human form (bc the gluttony). Story continuation with him exploring the word, humans, himself.

The name shadow is a place holding.

Role in story one of the main villain

Personality traits Prideful Arrogant Dirty bag

shadow plan [basically flat at the simply just kill everything that is this and I mean everything( besides folk who work with him and a woman who his close to)do a factory reset of everything and recreate it in his own image and rules over it]

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.