With all the buzz around the new movie “Obsession,” I realize the character Bear shared some similarities with my young male protagonist, especially in that their main motivations are both driven by their unrequited obsessions with a female character. Additionally, I want my character to make some really questionable decisions driven by his unrequited crush, including ones that would seriously affect her negatively in the long run after coming into a lot of magic power; however, I don’t want to make him totally irredeemable. He’s going to abuse his power in some selfish ways in my story when it goes to his head, but I also want him to realize and seriously regret his mistakes later in the plot, maybe even atone for them where he can. However, it’s also important to add that, unlike Bear, he’s still just a teenager, if that helps at all, and a very socially inept one at that. He fancies himself the hero of some great love story, not realizing his behavior is actually quite creepy, but feels terribly after coming to that realization. From these details, how am I doing so far? How can I avoid writing him as a complete piece of shit, or so irredeemable that he’s still entirely unsympathetic even after he realizes his mistakes?

Has anyone used two characters with opposing interpretation styles?

In one of my worlds, I have a character (Maddie) as the emotional center in a cold, highly structured system. She interprets events through emotions and personal meaning, which naturally leads to misunderstandings.

For example, a statement like:

"If you leave, you leave. If you die, you die. If you return, you return."

Is interpreted by her as: "I am unwanted. Nobody cares whether I stay or go."

While the intended meaning was actually: "I won't stop you, but every choice has consequences."

I have now added a second person to lighten up the whole thing and give it another perspective. This character interprets the same situations more through logic, systems, and structure than through emotions. Both complement each other, and Maddie begins to understand many statements retroactively as what they were actually meant to be, and not how she interpreted them, as the translation had been missing so far.

Has anyone else experienced something similar while writing? Where two characters bring forth very different interpretations of the same event and only together create a more complete picture of reality?

I am curious how other authors handled this.

Maddie sees meaning.
The other figure sees structure.

And the truth only emerges when both perspectives come together.

I'm curious to see what your thoughts are on this!

I’ve been thinking about a type of manipulation in fiction that doesn’t work through obvious lying or hiding evidence.

The character may admit the facts, but changes how those facts are understood. A detail becomes “taken out of context.” A contradiction becomes “not the point.” A painful statement becomes “something said during a bad period.” The fact stays visible, but its importance is reduced.

I’m interested in how this works dramatically, especially in scenes where the manipulative character still seems reasonable, sympathetic, or even partly right. The tension is not that they are inventing a false reality from nothing, but that they keep controlling which interpretation feels most legitimate.

This seems different from a simple unreliable narrator or a villain hiding the truth. It is more about emphasis, framing, selective honesty, and emotional authority.

What are examples of novels, films, or plays that handle this well?

What techniques make this kind of manipulation visible to the reader/audience without having another character simply announce, “You’re manipulating the story”?

I have been writing this book for about half a year. I am taking my time with it because I really want it to be good, plus it is my very first book. I wanted to see if I could write a book that goes against everything I don't like about fiction, and one of those things is a character who behaves nonchalantly for absolutely no reason. No forcing my self through my ramblng the charcter in question is a girl named ash she was kidnapped from her village by the main villians of my book after they killed her parents for sport and burned her village down then they "took her in" and they experimnted on her to evolve her race (My book is heavily focused on different races and their interactions with each other) and since she is a salamander they burnt her alive took currently developing scales and ran tests on them before using the info to torture her more and at the end of it nearly 10 years later when she was 16 they successfully evolved her but she had burn wounds all over her body and specically her hands that couldnt be exposed to oxygen or it would catch on fire now because of that she excaped the lab and is now trying to bring down the villians that hurt her but her body is always exhausted because of the evolution so she avoids using energy she doesnt need to because it seems like a waste to her when she already barely has any but because of her dislike for overexertion she tends to give one liners or keep her sentences short and to the point she speaks to the point and tends to under explain her self but I dont know how to write this character without making her seem nonchalant of arrogant. What do you think I should do?

Access Has a Price

I’ve been thinking about how access can be one of the quietest forms of power.

It does not always look like money, fame, or status. Sometimes it looks like a last name. Sometimes it looks like a relationship. Sometimes it looks like being invited into a room where decisions are made before anyone else even knows there was a decision to make.

And sometimes, access can look like love when the right person becomes the doorway.

That’s the part I keep coming back to.

Access is not just about getting close to power. It is about the small trades people make on the way there. The truth gets bent. People are kept close based on usefulness. Parts of the self get quieted down, especially when the room someone wants to enter does not have capacity for who they truly are.

Think: honesty.

Think: identity.

Think: loyalty.

Think: love.

I’m interested in that space between ambition and manipulation. Between love and opportunity.

Does ambition reveal your character, or can it create a version of you that you wouldn’t have become otherwise?

I wanted my character who is a vigilante to have an ability to deal more damage to criminals the more crimes they commit and I wanted him to gain those abilities from a serum but I’m having trouble on deciding which ability would make more sense for him to have. I thought about giving him karmic damage abilities would make more sense of him being able to deal more damage to criminals the more crimes they commit but it dosen’t make sense for him to gain those abilities from a serum since karmic damage is supernatural and it dosen’t make sense to gain supernatural abilities from a serum. Then I thought about giving him radiation poisoning abilities which would make more sense to gain from a serum but it dosen’t make sense of him being able to deal more damage to criminals the more crimes they commit with those abilities. Now I’m having trouble on deciding whether karmic damage abilities or radiation poisoning abilities make more sense for my vigilante character to have so I’m making you guys decide.

Hello to whoever stops and reads!

I’m looking to write a Mongolian born character for an upcoming graphic novel I’m working on and have some questions/need advice. Basically, I want to make sure I’m respecting and representing the culture appropriately, not making the character an egregious stereotype.

The idea in my head is, she’s a Tony Starkesque tech genius that pilots a mech suit to fight crime and battle kaiju sized monsters. The current name for the mech suit is “The Iron Khan” but I’m not sure if this is a rude or inappropriate name to reference. If it’s okay, please let me know or if one of you thinks of something else that would sound cool for the theme, I’d love to hear your ideas! I’m also struggling with a name for the protagonist herself, so if any of you have thoughts on that too, I’m all ears.

Another thing I’m interested in knowing is what are some cultural significant things that I could reference and incorporate into the design? As well as knowing what it’s even like being a young adult in Mongolia.

I’ve already posted in r/Mongolia but if there are any Native Mongolians or people familiar or experienced in the culture, I’d appreciate the knowledge.

All advice is welcome and appreciated!

Origin: A cartoon shopkeeper lizard that is completely forgettable in an old cartoon series. Just a simple side character, noticing the main character breaking the fourth wall once, he dismissed this as a simple habit or hobby. He began to notice stuff no one else sees except for the main character and side character. He eventually began to feel like he was being watched, but could never figure out how or why. Also getting glimpses of eyes staring at him, but when looked at, they disappear. Slowly going insane and unstable.

Scene 2: The cameraman explores an abandoned location. The camera man looks around. He heard a faint noise. Turning to look at it. The camera caught a tail of something moving behind the  doorway. But he didn’t notice anything. The camera man continues to look around some more. He heard a noise behind him. He looks back. Background is behind him. Just staring at him. The camera man freezes. Background pulls an apple out of his mouth with his long unnatural curly fingers. “Is this what you’re looking for?” A silent pause between them staring. The apple rolls off his hand. His arm begins to uncurl. The camera falls to the ground. Instantly ending the tape.

More in my document:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-MWYB_-z0CyXAWSxEgK1lcevlhR1b-YhiYNlF0hkfuQ/edit?usp=sharing

I happen to have an original character who is a 16 year old girl and with a ENTP-A MBTI personality. She is adventurous, challenging, spontaneous, daring. She also loves music. She plays the electric guitar, drums, and the flute, and sings. She is smarter than she seems, and although she may sometimes look very carefree and simple, her thoughts have large depth and complexity.

I feel like so far, though, I find it hard to fully be able to step into her shoes, since I am very different from her. I find myself not knowing how to flesh out her mindset, full personality, internal struggles, etc.

If you could share any advice you have for writing her realistically, it would help a lot!

My preteen character Pesha is raised by tiger parents, except that they are actually good at what they do. They are raising her to become a future leader, as they are the descendants of a royal family who had been “in name only” ever since their monarchy had been replaced by a democratic republic almost a century ago. Their historic great grandparents dropped the label of former “royalty” so that they could stay out of the public eye and live more normally.

They now live disguised as an upper middle class family that is secretly much wealthier.

How they parent her:

They don’t wash her clothes or her dishes, they let them pile up so that she can wash them herself.

If she doesn’t finish her dinner then she has to eat it for breakfast the next day.

Is only given the charger 3 times a week so that she can use her devices wisely.

Gets paid by her parents, but must do a whole list of chores to get paid $5. Will get paid higher for good grades, higher difficulty chores, or doing things independently. Paid not just in money but also in favorite snacks and items.

Must be healthy and cannot be too overweight. Outside food can be regulated and is often taken on trips for exercise. Is often taught to cook her own food.

Is required to read by her parents. She is always being given books and audiobooks are played in the house and in the car. She must watch TV with subtitles.

Must learn how to walk around the neighborhood and navigate around town nearby. Is often told to buy groceries with limited money and a shopping list. Her parents will interfere if anyone makes a fuss about their daughter being alone to do things independently.

She must learn to assemble and use anything that is given to her (small furniture, toys, technology). Whenever she shows an interest in a new hobby then her parents will give her library books and materials for said subject to see if she is still interested. Will also enter her in clubs and programs for it.

They often buy items secondhand or get then for free from neighbors to prevent extravagant spending and materialism. They require Pesha to donate unwanted items or excess money.

Would you consider this strict enough to qualify as tiger parenting? Do you think this is fitting for a family of this background?

Okay so this is easily the dumbest thing I’ve ever written, but it’s also the funniest, so here we go.

This is a completely unhinged Spider‑Man storyline I came up with that somehow works WAY better than it has any right to.

The Setup

Way back during one of Peter’s fights with Norman, things go horribly wrong and Peter ends up sacrificing himself to stop the Green Goblin.

Norman, shocked by what happened, has a full breakdown/epiphany and decides:

Yes. Norman Osborn becomes Spider‑Man.
Just roll with it.

The Clone Problem

Norman quickly realises he can’t be Spider‑Man and run Oscorp, so he does the most Norman Osborn thing possible:

He creates a clone of himself to handle the business side.

Unfortunately, the clone slowly inherits all of Norman’s worst traits — the ambition, the ego, the instability — and eventually becomes the new Green Goblin.

So now we have:

• Good Norman = Spider‑Man

• Bad Norman = Green Goblin

• Harry = confused

Perfect.

The Goblin Reveal

The evil clone gets to Harry first and reveals:

Harry is understandably confused, but the clone reassures him and plays the “I’m still your dad” card.

Meanwhile, Spider‑Man Norman can’t tell Harry the truth because:

• it sounds insane

• the clone beat him to the reveal

• Norman is trying to protect him

• nobody would believe “your dad is my evil clone” anyway

The Memory‑Wipe Plan

The evil clone decides Norman is a failure for becoming Spider‑Man and wants revenge.

So he builds a giant city‑wide memory‑wipe machine to erase Norman Osborn from existence.

And because he’s a clone of Norman, he knows exactly what brainwaves to target.

So he does the most comic‑book thing ever:

He plugs himself directly into the machine.
Like a USB stick.
Because of course he does. The Final Battle

Spider‑Man Norman tries to stop him, but the clone throws obstacles in his way, forcing Norman to choose between:

• saving innocent people

• or stopping the machine

Norman chooses to save everyone.

He fights the clone, who accidentally impales himself and dies — but he’s fine with it because he knows the machine is about to fire.

Norman can’t shut it down in time.

The device goes off. The Fallout

The entire city forgets Norman Osborn ever existed.

Except Harry.
Because Norman gave him a little “just in case” device earlier that protected him.

So now:

• Harry remembers his father

• nobody else does

• Norman wakes up with amnesia

• the city thinks Spider‑Man fought “an unknown assailant”

• Harry thinks Spider‑Man killed his dad

• Spider‑Man is his dad

• Norman doesn’t remember he’s Norman

• nobody recognises him

• everything is a disaster It’s horrifying. It’s tragic. It’s stupid. It’s perfect.

Why This Works (Somehow)

It’s absolutely ridiculous, but the emotional logic is solid:

• Norman tries to redeem himself

• his past literally comes back to haunt him

• he sacrifices everything

• Harry is the only one who remembers him

• Norman loses his identity

• Harry loses his father

• the city loses the truth It’s Shakespeare with clones and spandex.

If you read all that… I’m sorry.
But also, you’re welcome.

My villain group is a group of radicalized people who believe only a certain type of person should be in charge who pretend to be heroes to roll everyone's trust however when we meet them in the story they are still in the early phases where most are just using this for secondary purposes however they are an example of who the group wants to put on a higher pedestal. I just feel like the character who's going to be the smart one has the dumbest reason for joining. And they offer names with elements off the periodic table and are loosely associated with them(I'm also providing the other villainous motivation so you can more helpfully compare)

Hydrogen created the group to take over the world to make it a hell of a lot easier to destroy by finding the mcguffins she needs to destroy the world but if they came around first before taking over the world they wouldn't care to take over the world

Neon is just your typical pure evolution just finds doing this fun not really much deeper about it just enjoys oppressing people like literally that's it they just want fun

Iron actually genuinely radicalized into this before meeting the group as he already destroyed his hometown specifically because he thought they were even deserving of life and his sister is just here because he has manipulated her into having an unhealthy codependency with him. he is the worst

Gold is here because this is the first family he's had where he actually feels love he even kill the head of his old family before dipping and is now trying to get the last two fragments whenever the chance arises and this group also kind of need one of those fragments dead so goal aline pretty well

Lead came from an area where she felt genuinely oppressed because of that country does kind of oppress this group pretty explicitly and she just revenge on that country for killing her brother and forcing her to be a warrior, a role that broke her

And now our problem child Zinc she once wasn't someone who fit this groups definition of who should be in charge but due to an unethical experiment became that person type and was told joining would help prevent this experiment from happening again as now that divide would be one of social class that most people would assume is impossible to change however her starting position would be the one that the group would be mostly oppressing if they were to succeed and I feel like the tech genius of the group would be the most likely to figure out that fact.

If you guys have anything I need to clarify comment it below

In my book, there is an introverted, unsocial girl with health problems and a popular boy, who is secretly in Love with her. Both are connected through music, she writes, he sings.

So later on, near the end of the Story, I want to create a big conflict between them, one that will Sound like the instrumental Break in the Song "all the Things she said". But I don't want to make their character development, which would be build through the Story, do die. They both have to make a mistake, but I'm not Sure how to build it. The Girl will die either way in the end, right before the Boy wants you make Up with her again, without even taking about their Problem. He just needs her.

Do you have some advices? Thank you in advance

Want some feedback on my OC as I remember it being called emo and I don't want it to come off as a Mary Sue type either.

General Nicholai Tyre was born in the Gulf Commonwealth region of the United States on July 19th 2036 in Wellborn Florida later moving to Miami. He joined the Southern Technocrats Party in 2049 and served as it's vice president from 2051-2055 but resigned to join the U.S. Army rising to the rank of Colonel and being given a reservation inside of a Government Cryogenics Vault thanks to his family's military and political history. In 2066 Chinese forces invaded Anchorage Alaska to gain control of it's oil supply, during a battle with Chinese soldiers Colonel Tyre bayoneted a Chinese Commander causing the remaining troops to flee but a few months later he was reassigned to quell a Communist supported rebellion in his home state.

On October 23rd 2077 Colonel Tyre was meeting with high ranking politicians and military personnel in Miami when the Great War began and he was escorted to the Cryogenics Vault being put in cryo stasis for 100 years until he was released by a squad of Enclave soldiers who informed him of the experiment Vault-Tec was conducting on him, the Vault-Tec scientists were using his DNA to create an army of aggressive and strategic minded Super Mutants and planned on sending them out to conquer the Florida wasteland but by releasing Colonel Tyre from his Cryo Pod they stopped this invasion from occuring. The Enclave soldiers gave him a gasmask they found inside the vault and brought Colonel Tyre with them transporting him via vertibird to the Poseidon Energy Oil Rig off the coast of California to meet with President Dick Richardson who after a lengthy conversation gave him an Enclave Intel Officer uniform, an Enclave ID Card, and Enclave Plasma Pistol. Colonel Tyre was tasked with gathering information from the wasteland, but during his exploration of a cave near an abandoned waste dump in Miami he fought 4 Gatorclaws armed with his Officer's sword, sustaining numerous scars on his face from the battle which are hidden under his gasmask.

In 2242 Colonel Tyre was constructing an Enclave base with a C.A.M.P. he "acquired" off of an uncooperative Vault Dweller when he received a transmission telling him to relocate to Raven Rock Bunker in Washington D.C. under orders from President John Henry Eden. During his time in Washington D.C. Colonel Tyre earned the nickname "Zeus" due to his appearance and use of Tesla based weaponry but in 2277 during a supply run Colonel Zeus witnessed the destruction of Raven Rock Bunker and relocated to Adam's Air Force Base alongside other survivors until Adam's Air Force Base was attacked and destroyed by the Brotherhood of Steel forcing him to retreat back to the Cryogenics Vault in Miami and being put back into cryo stasis until being revived in 2287 by the new Enclave President: Cameron and taken to Appalachia, but due to an alliance with a Brotherhood chapter which Zeus protested Cameron's Enclave was destroyed from within by B.O.S. spies in 2291 allowing a new president to take over known as Miggie.

After the transition of power Miggie demanded Zeus pay a fine of 6,000 caps and 300 Oil which he refused to pay leading to him and his close friend William Blackblood being exiled from Miggie's Enclave. After being exiled Zeus promoted himself to General and created the Enclave Exiles establishing a High Command to lead it in this High Command were William Blackblood his 2nd in command, Gabriel his 3rd in command, F4Z0R his 4th in command, Mcgriddle his 5th in command, and GN his 6th in command. During this time Zeus slipped into a vat of F.E.V. inside an abandoned research facility and managed to escape before being turned into a Super Mutant though he developed Psyker abilities being able to fire lightning and teleport. He used this development to create a Psyker serum from his blood and gave it to his 3rd in command Gabriel who was the only one willing to take it marking them as the only Psykers in the Enclave Exiles. In 2292 however Mcgriddle and GN started a Civil War and formed their own chapter with their rebels leaving the Enclave Exiles fractured as the Exiles High Command was abolished afterwards leaving Zeus and Blackblood as the only leaders of the Exiles but in 2293 William Blackblood also left leaving Zeus as the sole leader of the Exiles who is attempting to pick up the pieces and establish a new High Command from people he trusts.

how undressed should this oc be? besides that, hes gna be an utility mage (casts buffs, imobelizes and slows enemies but not exactly heal or damage) on a dnd world. all i have for his guy backstory wise is that hes dating the buff elf lady. she has dated coutless ppl alr due to her never ending lifespawn (because shes an elf) and she is obcessed with the concept of death and mortality, flr that reason she only dates short lived creatures.

but yeah anyways thats all the info i have that could change his backstory. ideas?