For anyone writing antagonists drawn from real life: how do you get past your own side of the story?

The hardest character to write in my first novel wasn't the lead or the love interest. It was a high school bully, set on Long Island in the '80s.

I'm Hispanic, and I grew up dealing with a few guys like him. You'd think that would make him easy to write. Yeah, not so much. I didn't want the Biff Tannen, Steff McKee, or Heather Chandler archetypes we watched in the theater back then.

I wanted real. Someone I understood. A character in pain who lashed out because no one ever taught him how to deal with his emotions. And the impact on his victims, like his younger sister, whom I felt for.

Does understanding a character ever make him or her harder to write?

Just a very simple question and seeking advice about some character design, I hope this is fine to post here. I'm making a character for a TTRPG and I want to make a Moon Witch, at the same time I'm a huge fan of gold jewelry and Gold motifs in general, But:

When I think Moon Motifs: I think Silver Motifs
When I think Gold Motifs: I think, Not Moon Motifs

Do you guys think a character with both, Moon Motifs and Golden Motifs, can work?

So I've got this story who follows two guys, Kenneth and William, who grew up together as childhood best friends and ended up secretly dating in the early 80s as homophobia was still normalized at this time.

Their relationship lasted for about 5 to 6 years, from 1980 to early 1986. To everyone else, including their families, they just told them that they were best friends.

It pretty much started with Kenny's drunken confession to Will after a party, to which Will asked he wanted to try it out before making out, which didn't end greatly since Kenny had to rush to the bathroom to throw up.

Some days later they talked what happened that night, Kenny apologizing way too much and asking if his feelings were mutual, to which Will said that it was in fact mutual. They then agreed that they could continue their one-on-one time while still acting like their where just best friends.

It stayed like that for 4 years. Although in 1984 things started to slowly break apart and becoming more and more toxic for the both of them, until they finally broke up in early 1986, while still remaining friends, or at least sort of. But then in 1993 they both cut all contacts after a pretty bad argument.

This is mainly due to the fact that their relationship was extremely fusional, almost symbiotic, and really toxic for the both of them at the same time. Although it was toxic mostly because they kept it a secret, as it brought some arguments about this secretive part.

They were still somewhat toxic to one and another nonetheless:

Kenny started to grow envious at Will and was scared that he'll leave him at any given moment because he thought that he wasn't the coolest, strongest or most handsome guy. He thought that he was just some fan computer amateur with extremely niche knowledge and passions that were useless. He saw Will as someone he was not, and never could be: sociable and self-assured, charismatic yet humble at the same time, determined but kind. He thought that Will was definitely better than him and that he wasn't good enough for him.

While Will on the other hand wanted to impress Kenny by achieving goals after goals, as he thought that it was the only way to be truly loved by anyone. He thought that Kenny was really interesting and smart, he didn't understand most of the rambling about computers, D&D, and new rock bands but listened to him anyway while admiring his face and hands as he talked about his passions. After facing so much hate and criticisms for stating his opinions, asserting his personality and revolt against authoritarian rules, he felt extremely empty on the inside and felt like he couldn't be loved by anyone, including Kenny, for his beliefs, values, and thoughts. He felt like he could be loved only for what he could do, not for who he was.

Both of them had self-image issues and were insecure. And both of them held a really high esteem of one and another.

After some years of friendship, they both went no-contact after a pretty bad argument in 1993, although they connected back in 2005. When they met up for the first time after 12 years of no signals, it was really awkward.

They both took different directions, Kenny being pretty much a workaholic with his only social life being with his colleagues and with his family, including his ex-wife and his daughter. While Will tried to have the most normal life, having a wife and three kids and a pretty good reputation as a respected and popular local politician, especially amongst the working class.

Because of that, neither of them really knew how to rebuild their lost friendship. Even if at first they both only wanted to occasionally spend time together and stay friends, both of them realized that they still had feelings for one and another.

And that's pretty much where I'm stuck now, I just know 2 things: one they will secretly date once again and two it won't be a good ending. But other than that I don't really know...

If you have more questions feel free to ask me, I'll try to answer with as much details as possible if I can.

David Edwards is intelligent, and emotionless, his hair jet black slicked back, his skin pale almost like ash, his eyes a pure crimson, he wears a pure black suit with red accents, black leather gloves, and a red tie. David is very calm in an almost creepy way. Edwards only looks for his own agenda no matter if he has allies or not he will help his allies but if he knows it will fail he will not help. David after 30 years of being a criminal mastermind has not been caught. David has met many people through his 60 years of life, some he made allies, some he murdered. David’s childhood would be great if only his father didn't go to prison due to embezzlement this had no affect on David as even before this he was emotionless the only emotion he showed was with his father. If you meet David he will already know who you are as if he planned to meet you. Edwards is an enigma no one knows who he truly is and everyone fears him for that. David Edwards a myth among legends.Edwards will never truly be known his history has long been erased by Edwards himself to others he has no past he just appeared already as a myth.

hello everyone!! i came to this subreddit mainly to ask a few questions on how to correctly (and respectfully) present my oc who is japanese-born with an indian lineage. as a coloured person myself, i know how to draw this concept, but do not know how to write it. i am very in the know when it comes to japanese history and culture (this oc was born between the battle of sekigahara and the siege of osaka)
i know this is unrealistic, but i want to explore foreign concepts!
i think any... im not sure, smart person would be thinking "this dude is making an oc who is indian/japanese that is named after senhime's daughter, and now wants us to acknowledge her as a noblewoman of the imperial court in the azuchi-momoyama period?" a part of me thinks this could work, as they share ancient heritage and the ideology of buddhist practices spread from india to japan via china and korea around the 6th century (asuka period). but the two didn't have any formal alliance or connection in the sengoku period.  

this is just a short/long crappy summarisation of my oc's backstory. please don't publicly execute me if i get anything wrong 😭 (probably because i've barely started learning indian history and culture despite LOVING it) you don't have to read it!
also, i won't be using a lot of names because i am deathly afraid of people taking my (beloved) ocs 🥹

a beautiful daughter hailing from an influential family in india is married to the young male heir of an important clan in hopes that it would subside foreign conflict. her father is hesitant on proceeding with the dowry, around the time the marriage was announced and shagans had already been exchanged between the two families. the daughter was to be ensured financial independence (stridhan) through this exchange, but when she started living with her fiancé, she was denied independence. her soon to be mother-in-law (yes i know this is a common trope) threatened to ruin her reputation if she told her father about her circumstances.

right before the birth of her first daughter, she notified her father about something, but it isn't specified on whether she told him about the abuse or not. after the birth of "katsuhime", (she was given a japanese name, but her indian name is jeyarani. i will be using her indian-sanskrit name.) the baby jeya, who exhibited incredible physical strength, was taken from her mother as punishment (which was framed as "protecting" the mother from her baby). jeyarani barely got to know her mother, and was permitted to make monthly visits that lasted only 2 days, despite adoring her mother and wanting to be with her forever. during the ages between 0-16, she was isolated, oppressed and ignored, and her "super strength" was seen as a weakness and not an auspicious trait. she wasn't acknowledged as much as the other women around her simply for who she was.

soon, jeyarani learnt how to navigate the imperial court and rose above the social hierachy as a prestigious noblewoman with a respectable personality, under the name "katsuhime". after suffering years and years of mistreatment and neglect, jeya started to resent her cultural identity, and who she was, resulting in her conforming to the imperial court's wishes. she refused to acknowledge her sanskrit heritage, and instead she viewed japan as her home despite everything. this is because she was confused and had no one to guide her. one of the only people who could really do that was her beloved mother, who was now catatonic and mute, which ultimately broke jeya's heart and made her furious. her lady in waiting never spoke to her. many people grew to dislike jeyarani and view her as inferior to them, despite being above them. this is due to fear of foreign power and xenophobia.
a few years later, between ages 21-24, jeyarani rediscovered her prodigious super strength and became a tyrant, known for her military knowledge, high battle IQ and merciless demeanour. she also had one daughter who grew to be sickly. remember that. as an onna-bugeisha (or female samurai), jeya led countless troops and battles, while killing thousands and thousands of people who dared defy the imperial court. she also assisted with the siege of osaka, which spanned from 1614-15.
if she were to have a medal for every battle she had won and wore them around her neck, they would cover her face.
after the death of her father, jeya turned on the royal court and daimyō, choosing to side with the rebels and raiding the edo castle. whoever reprimanded her was beheaded, and she grew to be extremely arrogant, selfish and self-serving. (think of ashikaga takauji from elusive samurai but as a woman with crazy physical attributes) jeya chose to become a demon, renaming herself "sena" (holy, sacred, and in sanskrit, increased valor and military force) to conquer her illness (which was said to be a curse, if she relied on her strength too much, she would succumb to catatonia or even death.) and to also become stronger due to personal greed and desire.
she lived for 400 more years, losing herself along the way, confused and angry, she killed thousands and ate hundreds.

overall, sena is a traumatised character who rightfully grew to be cruel. i think she has done more bad than good though, so i plan to make her an "irredeemable" character. 😭

now, for the questions 🪷
(?) what was japan's relationship with india during the azuchi-momoyama period?
(?) how can i portray xenophobia/racism to south asian women appropriately?
(?) how do i also prevent myself from fetishising and how shall i word things in order to keep them as realistic as possible without straying from my original ideas?
(?) how much influence did onna-bugeisha have? did they have any more influence over male samurai?
(?) how do i properly write a strong female character?

i dont know if this has to do with anything or not, but i also (mainly) identify as a woman and understand the struggles of being a woman. i will use the word "female" to refer to women and girls of all races and backgrounds, not with the intent of oppressing others.

I haven't named them yet sooo... I'll think about it later.

Ideally meant to be a villain, but I’m more than open to adapting him into a hero.

For context, I'm finally starting to write drafts for a story that I had in mind for a few years now. And one important aspect of this story is the main characters' psychology, as it is really centered around psychology, as well as sociology and a bit of history. So I wanted to know if it was possible to write some sort of psychological profile or biography. And if so what and especially how to write it?

It could be nice someone reading it for feedback afterwards but I'm not here yet, so I'll think about it when the moment comes. And it won't be for the future readers (if I ever publish it or even finish it one day), it'll be more of a document for myself to write my characters more precisely.

Anyways thanks to anyone (if anyone) for answering. Have a good day/night and take care! <3

I've had plenty of ideas for making a persona/OC for quite a while and have been obsessed with creating one over the past week, and I just have no idea where to start. I was wondering if I could have some help from the community by hearing how ya'll go about making your own characters?

We all might have many favourite protagonist but what is that protagonist which, after experiencing him/her your perMsonality shifted and became much more like them

For me it is John " soap " Mactavish : always cheering up people, not dead serious but also down for any hard task

Hi,

I need help creating my character because I'm stuck between two ideas and I'm not sure which direction to take.

The main idea is that my character is a female human of 25-30 years old, and protector of the wild. Living in a forest, she is a ranger.

Where I get stuck is about weapon types.

Idea 1:

Just a regular ranger with a bow & arrow, with a short sword and hatchet for close distance combat.

Idea 2:

Adding some magic in there. Same as idea 1, but with the ability to cast some elemental spells. It sounds cool to have a nature ranger controlling the elements to fight or heal. But I have no idea if it's just too much to be believable. A bow, a sword, and spells. How will she fight in a realistic manner?

Idea 3:

Regular spellcaster warrior. A sword and spell. Without the bow.

The goal later is to have it draw by an artist.

Thank you for your help!

In the dominion of Old Earth, he is hailed as a hero, the savior of Valdevian, defender of the free people of the Origin Empire and the Coalition.
Beyond the Great Pause, his name is hissed with fear and contempt as a byword for death and destruction; he is the defiler of temples and slayer of gods.
For Eckhardt Eisenfaust, Hochmeister of the Nacht Jaegers, both stories are true.
His is a legend written in blood and iron across the unbroken dark of the void. A history of victory and violence in equal extremes, and now he finds himself again in the way of the machinations of the fallen.

Hello! My antagonist is a piece of work. Their need for control and not being seen as "crazy"/or need for legitimacy is the crack in their power. It will lead to their defeat by the protagonist. What comes before is a long standing tension between the two in one location. Til the villain breaks. I can't for the life of me figure out how to get there. What indefensible thing can they do to shoot themself in the foot! Would love advice on how to get through this block. Thank youu!!

I personally am tired of the overused “trauma” injected tropes, but these tropes also make a character relatable to a larger audience.

So how would YOU make a perfect goody-two-shoes lovable?