#and backstories and beliefs and quirks and whatnot

[rosykims]

how do you come up with your character backstories? they're all so detailed and well thought out and you always seem to have an abundance of fun and interesting trivia for all your characters as well. would you be willing to give tips to someone who has a hard time coming up with anything beyond like. the basics lol 😔👉👈

WAH THANK YOU FOR SENDING THIS 🥺 i always feel a little embarrassed talking abt my ocs because i tend to start and never stop lol, and theyre all very special to me so its a sort of vulnerable extension of myself in a way. even if im only sharing with them with the lovely ppl who live in my phone its always a little stressful, so i really appreciate that they left a good impression!!

as for tips, i just wanna say as a disclaimer that i am very chronically online. ive also had multiple periods of extended free time in which ive been able to really hyperfocus on certain media and the characters i want to create within them. ALSO, a lot of my ocs ive had in development for several years and theyve just evolved naturally. ashara, for example, i made when i was 19, and im 26 now lol. ik this is cliche to hear, but i rly do think its important to go at your own pace when developing characters and do whatever makes YOU happy, before looking to anybody elses ocs , because we all have different lifestyles and creative processes and whatnot ❤️

that being said, i can def share a few things that helped me! firstly, i always start developing characters based solely on vibes and sensory stimuli, so i'd highly recommend making a pinterest moodboard for them and/or a music playlist! pinterest esp, since its such a great way to start brainstorming and getting a visual idea of what you want your character to look like/embody/represent. its a great place for inspiration in general.

secondly, one of the most important steps in developing any character is motivation. what does your oc WANT? why? what would they do to get it? should they get it? would would happen if they got it vs if they didnt? do they ACTUALLY want it or just think they do? answer those questions and you've already got a pretty solid foundation to work with. another really useful piece of advice a friend gave me several years ago was this: "what is something your character believes in at the start of their journey, that they no longer believe by the end of it?" for example, my warden oc elspeth believes in traditional heroics and black-and-white morality. by the end of dao she does not. theres a LOT to explore between point A and point B.

lastly, when i make ocs its very important to me personally that they feel inextricably TIED to the media they belong to. this is completely optional ofc, bc lots of people enjoy characters they can drag and drop into different stories, which is fine! for me though, i like taking cues from the world around them. it makes them feel natural to the plot, the setting, the canon characters, etc, because it helps me pin down some of their more hyperspecific quirks. there are a few ways to go about this.

the easiest way imo is to look at any major Core Issues within whatever media you're working with. like real life, people have OPINIONS about ISSUES and POLITICS lol, and those opinions are usually influenced by their own lived experience or personal belief system. so if you can identify a few key figures, factions or events in your story, and give your character an Opinion or Reaction to those things, it can pretty naturally be evolved into a unique and interesting backstory. to use elspeth as an example again: "elspeth dislikes orlais". thats a political opinion about a faction. and then to expand on why? "because her family/country fought in the occupation and she loves her family/country". from there we learn she's nationalistic and places value of lineage. then you could say — "she enjoys history and geography because it allows her to better appreciate her country. she cares deeply about all ferelden peoples, and has studied techniques from avaar and chasind communities". and you can keep branching out and expanding from there. and once you've exhausted that thread, move on to a diff one! "elspeth is nervous around mages". why? "because her religion tells her to and shes never thought to question it." why? etc etc etc.

alternatively, i find it really helpful to find an overlining theme in the type of media im working with/creating. sometimes its easy (baldurs gate 3 has a confirmed theme of autonomy vs authority, da4 will have a confirmed theme of regret, etc) but if its not as clear cut or your designing your own original world, its fine and great to take your own creative interpretation of things and run with it. for example, origins for me is very reminiscent of loss of innocence and war. inquisition is, to me, about personhood and losing it to your own mythology. once you've got a theme it can really help help translate into a cohesive story you want to tell and a character you want as an outlet. and since the character will be thematiclly relevant, you might also find it easier for them to connect to the cast/setting/story etc.

sorry this is so long, but i hope you gained something out of all this word salad lmao. one more thing i want to mention — its also fine to NOT do any of this. sometimes i get overwhelmed feeling like i have to come up with a unique/multi-faceted character every time i go into characterization, and virtually 100% of the time its Never that deep. if you find yourself getting stressed or overwhelmed, remind yourself that its perfectly fine to dream up a simple and straightforward character who makes you happy, and let the rest come to you as your character goes forth into the story. sometimes simplicity is best because you arent held down by the restrictions you've placed on them yet.

sending love, i hope this helped !!!!!! if you have any more questions or just want to chat, feel free to send another ask or slide into my dms ! ❤️❤️❤️

[daydreamingonalternia]

[Updated as of: 09/05/25!]

Vivixi Merixi

Name origins: N/A, just liked the way it sounded.

Gender: Transfem

Pronouns: She/They

Sexuality: Demiromantic Asexual [Ace]

Adult or Minor: Adult ‼️[I am NOT comfortable with Vivixi being in any NSFW or suggestive interactions, situations, etc. This is the only adult troll who so far has this rule.] ‼️

Lusus: Mothbee [Alive]

Caste: Goldblood

Classpect:

Sign: GEMCER, sign of the INTIMATE [Prospit + Blood]

Typing Quirk: +THIS!!! is a test sentence to demonstrate the QUIRK!!!+ [:D]

Prefixes and suffixes with +

First and last work of a sentence is always capitalized

Little to no grammar

First and last word, along with being in all caps, always trailed with either !!! Or ??? Or !?!/?!?.

At the end of every sentence, there is a emoticon. This changes depending on mood or tone.

More info below the cut!

Personality: Loud, louder and loudest. That's Vivixi! Always having to be the centre of attention and the life of the party. Vivixi is at their best when she's surrounded by company, and at her worst during the quieter more isolated periods. She's always about the positives and the energy, but struggles to connect with others on a deeper or more subtle level - she also struggles with deeper topics or emotions. Often the one to take things at face value as is. Stubborn in her beliefs and way of living, she also finds compromise difficult to achieve. She does truly try, but chances are if you can't keep up with her then she'll be running on ahead without looking back, unintentionally. Excitable and easily entertained, Vivixi is just a utter whirlwind of energy. Though she definitely lets her emotions take control of her thoughts, actions and judgements. All about the now, and the future! The past? Left in the dust. She may not be the brightest tool in the shed, but they're always quick with a joke and a laugh.

Backstory: [N/A?? She just kind of. Exists. TBA if I can think of something.]

KNOWN trivia:

MAJOR SWEET TOOTH!! They have a hoard of sweets in their respiteblock that they always keep restocked and replenished.

Vivixi and Incari have known each other since they're youngest sweeps. The two of them are also neighbors! They're v good friends! (Sibling type of bond).

Vivixi may be the only troll on my blog who actually knows EVERYONE else in my cast, some as friends, others as more of an acquaintance. [Actively friends with Incari and Freana!]

Extremely potent and powerful psionics that she struggles with a LOT - often having to discharge it dangerously, or have the assistance of Incari's voidrot to drain it. Has practically ''exploded'' herself, and others, on multiple occasions.

If you touch her, or she touches someone else, she will always 100% shock them. This ranges to a small buzzy jolt, to a full on taser-like shock, with no way for her to control it. These shocks aren't lethal but they can hurt like hell!

Quadrants:

♦️:N/A

♥️: N/A

♠️: [no interest.]

[Ashen never included.]

Original design by @/windy-trickster with minor changes!

Open for interaction, asks and whatnot! If you'd like to plot anything (quadrants, anything long-term, etc, please don't get afraid to send through a message!)

[ref TBA]

[alyasalias]

Dabi Theory

I have a theory that Dabi is secretly on the Hero-side of things...or at least not 100% on the Villain's side. Spoilers for the Training Camp Arc as well as for the latest fights in the manga. You have been warned.

I've been re-reading HeroAca lately and I'm currently at the Summer Training Camp arc. I just got to the point where Eraserhead is fighting the Dabi clone and I noticed something odd: what Dabi said. Dabi tipped them off to the fact that the students were the target. Sure, what he said could have been a jab at the heroes...but I wonder if perhaps it was a veiled message like what Hawks did with Endeavor and the book.

Magne was quick to figure out the fact that someone spilled the beans on "Bakugo Katsuki" being their target and she/they seemed really panicked that it had been found out. Through the process of elimination, she/they deduced that Izuku must have fought Muscular, 'cuz there were only a couple of people on their team that she/they believed could have been the leak. It seemed like secrecy was a big deal for this band of villains.

Dabi's a smart guy as well. We've seen very little of him, and know even less about him...but we know he's calculating. We know he's not impulsive or whatever. He was the one in charge of recruiting Hawks when recruitment was usually Twice's job. He was the one that had the most contact with Hawks and also the one that trusted Hawks the least out of all of the Villains. He even lied to Hawks about the Nomu attack. "It was supposed to be tomorrow--in a different location"--Hawks said to him. Through his actions, we can kind of infer that Dabi is a cunning and calculating sort of person. I don't think he's done anything on impulse. He doesn't seem like some for-laughs villain that'll spill the beans for fun.

So...yeah, what the Dabi-clone said to Eraserhead got me thinking: what if Dabi has been on their side all along...or at least he's not 100% on All For One's side. He joined the League claiming to be inspired by Stain or whatnot...so the whole "punish the 'Heroes' that aren't selfless enough" sort of thing. We know that Twice doesn't control what the clones think, know, or feel. The clones know everything that the originals know at the point they were cloned, so the Dabi-clone wasn't saying all of that because it was Twice's words...they were Dabi-prime's words/thoughts/actions.

Dabi's a smart guy--he always has been. He had know way of knowing what Eraserhead and the teachers/adults knew. It was a chaotic situation--the teachers were panicking, trying to corral all of the students to the building. The students were scattered over a large area. There was mass confusion--that would have been clear. It would have been safe to assume the teachers didn't know what the Villains were after or even if they had a goal in mind for this particular attack. For USJ they had a clear objective: they wanted to kill All Might but All Might wasn't there when they got there--they admitted that much. Hosu and the Hero-Killer incident(s) were a bit more of an unknown for the side of the Heroes, and the way everyone talked about it made it seem like they believed Stain had joined the League and that's why the Nomu were there...so as far as the Villains know, the Heroes believed that Hosu was a coordinated attack with the Hero-Killer simply to attack things. Then we come to the training camp..."the students are the target" wouldn't be their first thought, I'm pretty sure. If I were one of the teachers I'd be thinking, "crap--do they think All Might's at this camp?" or even "damn...they found us somehow. Is there a traitor in our midst that leaked the information or is it just a coincidence that the Villains are here now and they decided to attack for no reason like in Hosu?" Officially, to the characters within the HeroAca universe at least, the students haven't been the target of Villain attacks. They were involved, but they weren't the primary targets at any point up to the present.

Dabi's a smart guy, so I don't think he'd leak information even in jest. He seems like the type to keep his mouth shut rather than go for a way to rile up his opponent. He had nothing to gain from tipping off Eraserhead to the fact that the students were their target. Sure, it'd cause a panic and it'd take a while for the teachers to narrow down which student they were after...and maybe Dabi hoped to capitalize on the confusion that sort of panic would spread...or on the despair aspect if they failed to realize it was Katsuki until the last moment. However...I just don't think Dabi's that sort of person.

I think Dabi intentionally leaked the information to Eraserhead and disguised it as a jest. He intentionally waited until the clone was dying before he said it too and we've already established that the clones think/feel/know/act independently from Twice. Twice doesn't control the clones.

So...yeah...why leak the information, right? I have two theories on that. It's possible that Dabi's a secret agent--like Hawks--sent by some Hero commission or agency or whatever to infiltrate the League. Maybe a group realized that the whole "inspired by Stain and he was working with the League" rationale was a good cover and they sent Dabi in. Personally, I don't see too much support for this theory as of yet. We don't have anything on Dabi's backstory. Even his reveal to Hawks on what his real name was or whatever was blacked out in the manga. It's only fan theories that suggest he's Todoroki Touya. My second theory, and the one I think is more probable at this point with the evidence we have: Dabi is very much like Spinner--he's not on the Hero's side or the Villain's side, he's a man who was inspired by Stain and wants to do something about the plague of undeserving 'Heroes'. We see that sort of story play out in other media too--in the Doctor Strange movie they portrayed pre-mystic-arts-Strange as a pompous doctor that chose his cases based on the fame it would awarrd him rather than on saving lives. Heroes in it for the fame or for the money exist in HeroAca too and Stain hated them--All Might and Deku are currently the only people he believes worthy of the title of 'Hero'. Spinner held fast to those ideals, stopping Magne from killing Izuku during the training camp. It proved to me that Spinner, at the very least, isn't fully aligned with the League. He's following what he believes are Stain's ideals. He'll go along with their plans and whatever so long as All Might and Izuku aren't harmed (from what we've seen so far). I wonder if Dabi's the same way...but slightly more cunning. We know Spinner was a NEET and whatever before joining the League and at times he seems kind of lost or like he's being indoctrinated more and more into the League. If I assume Dabi's "smarter" than Spinner and that he did his homework on Stain...I believe that it's possible Dabi tipped off Eraserhead to the students being the target because of his beliefs. Stain wouldn't want to harm the children. The children aren't Heroes. Sure, they're Heroes-in-training and some of them have motivations that Stain would detest...but Stain did try to spare Tenya when he first saw him and realized that he was just a student. Maybe Dabi decided that an attack on students at a training camp wasn't in-line with Stain's ideals. They brought the fight to the students without provocation. Nobody said "well, this will be a hit to Hero society and All Might if we were to kill/kidnap a few students at camp". Their objective was to capture Bakugo Katsuki because they believed him to have the ideals of a Villain due to what they saw of him at the Sport's Festival. Stain wasn't interested in making Villains. In his own way, Stain was trying to create a better society. He was trying to get Heroes to wake up to the heart of the matter--to be altruistic and all. He wanted to create a world where Heroes did things for the sake of the people--not for fame, Hero-points, or money.

The more I think about this, the more I'm thinking that Dabi's tip-off that the students were the target was deliberate. He may not have been on the side of the Heroes, but he didn't want to see kids get kidnapped or killed. He didn't engage any of the students directly either. Their task was to capture Katsuki and go away and he recalled the Nomu just in time--preventing it from killing some students (potentially unknowingly). Also, there's that scene where he's clearly staring at the bushes that Aoyama was hiding behind. It's likely that he saw Aoyama and chose not to fight/kill a cowering student.

This theory also fits in with the latest fight we saw with Dabi too. Dabi vs. Hawks and Tsukuyomi. Hawks is number 2 on the Hero charts--the chart that Stain would have disapproved of. Hawks is a super popular Hero--he's famous--that's something else Stain would hate. Saving people's lives shouldn't become a spectacle or something that makes someone famous or whatever in their eyes. So...I think that Dabi wasn't just wary of Hawks joining the League...I think that if Dabi's an avid Stain-follower he never trusted Hawks in the first place because he disliked what Hawks represented in Hero society--#2 Hero of a broken system and basically the face of what hero-fame looks like. Stain wouldn't approve of Hawks being some super popular symbol. He can save people and make it look effortless with his feathers and whatever...Stain would probably be angry that Hawks gets paid to do it and that he gets all the fame and whatever...like "if it's gonna be that effortless for you and whatnot, then do it and move on...you should be doing it and you shouldn't be basking in the praise and glory--just save the people without stopping to be thanked and praised." It also fits with Tsukuyomi being able to run away with Hawks too. Lights are Dark Shadow's weakness and Dabi's is a fire Quirk--it would have been a really bad match up. Maybe they only got away because Dabi realized a couple of things: 1) Tsukuyomi was a student and 2) Tsukuyomi was acting like a true Hero in that moment. He wasn't just following orders or saving Hawks for the fame and glory. He saw his mentor up there and he moved without thinking to protect someone he saw needed help. He stood up to face Dabi, putting himself between the one that needed saving (Hawks) and the threat (Dabi) despite the fact that they were a poor match up. Stain would probably approve of Tsukuyomi's actions here--staring death in the face for no reason other than "I saw someone that needed help and I came to give them help".

[awritingjourney]

Creating Characters: Archetypes and Cliches

To me, characters are essential to a great story. They make the story what it is. They drive the plot and create conflict. They need to be respected which means that they shouldn't be something that you throw together at the last minute. Again, 

essential!

However, sometimes it is hard to come up with a complete, real, and 3-D character. Sometimes you don't have an idea as to what the character should be or how to even form one. That's understandable which is why I want to introduce you to some jumping off points on creating well-rounded characters. 

Firstly, an archetype is an idea of a person (in our case) that has been imitated. An archetype could also be a theme or setting, but let's just stick with a character for today.

Common Character Archetypes:

The Hero: this character is the star of the show. They are wholesome, brave people that are here to fight against the cruel unjustness in the world. Ultimately, they win either by saving the world or sacrificing themselves for the greater good. They're just amazing.

 Think Hercules, Percy Jackson, Katniss Everdeen, Tris

The Mentor: This is the wise (typically old) person who nurtures the hero on their journey and helps them grow into their role. They teach the hero important lessons about love, life, justice, and whatnot. However, they always got the hero's back, not content with playing a passive role. They'll intervene when they see fit.

Think Dumbledore, Gandalf, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Harry Hart

The Villain: He's the bad guy, the one whose main purpose is to destroy the world and destroy the hero for getting in their way. He's not someone you want to mess with. He's bad. It's in his job description. 

Think Voldemort, Moriarty, The Joker, Count Dracula

Secondly, a cliche is usually an overused word or phrase (but to us, it can be an overused type of character).

Common Character Cliches:

The Bad Boy: Okay, I'm guilty of loving the bad boy cliche, but here's the thing, it is overdone especially in YA. Just go to the homepage of Wattpad and I promise you'll see a plethora of Bad Boy books. He's the that's gorgeous, rebellious, and sometimes British. He's also very secretive and he'll only tell you anything when he absolutely has to and even then, it pains him.

Think Noah Shaw, Damon (TVD), Edward Cullen

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl: She's the hot, sexy, fun, cool girl that every guy loves, but no one really knows anything about her because she's more of a fantasy than a real person. She's the drive that keeps the boys going. 

Think every girl in a John Green Novel, Anne of Green Gables, Leslie (Bridge to Terabithia), Sam from The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Good Girl Gone Bad: She does nothing wrong. She goes to school. She does her work. She obeys her parents. It's usually around her teenage years where she meets a bad boy and completely loses her shit. But before that, she's good and wholesome.

Think Sandra Dee, Olivia from Easy A

Okay, those are the differences between cliches and archetypes but they are both great jumping off points for creating your characters. With cliches, since some people are already wary of them, it's best to turn those cliches on their head and to help the characters beyond their labels. In one of my stories, I took the bad boy cliche and gave him a personality beyond his label. 

You can do this by:

giving the character personality traits and quirks (especially quirks that might contradict the archetype or cliche)

give them a backstory

give them unexpected motivations

don't be��afraid to mix and match different archetypes and cliches with each other

let the character develop and arch and grow

backstory gives the character a reason and motive behind their actions. Don't be afraid to really jump into their history.

maybe the manic pixie dream girl wants to be celibate because of religious beliefs and she's a total geek or maybe the hero doesn't want to be a hero anymore and just quits. Maybe the mentor turns into the villain or the mentor is a good girl gone bad. 

everything that happens to the character will most likely change them in some way, so let that show. Maybe they go from a bad girl back to a good girl again. 

I hope you try to be creative and fun with your characters and make them well-rounded, real people. This is a quick run through, but there are hundreds of more cliches and archetypes that you can use as a basis. Happy writing!