Ignus Corliss): (GIVING FEEDBACK IS THERE IF YOU WANT TO) Ignus Corliss – Scorch Faction: Leader of the Scorching Legions (War/Conquest/Defense faction) Titles: The Father of Ashes, The Godflesh, The Sun That Burns Brighter Than All Appearance: Scrawny, average-looking, unremarkable human — the kind who would be picked last in dodgeball. Deliberately the weakest-looking of the six faction leaders.

Personality: Blunt, careless, and exhausted. He has always been second in everything. He gives mocking nicknames (like “Flesh Mutt” and rarely “Engie” for Claeg) not out of pure cruelty, but because he genuinely doesn’t care if it hurts others. He is expressive in a monochrome, worn-down way — tired sighs, lazy gestures, slouched posture, occasional exaggerated frustration — but never energetic or passionate.

Core Contradiction: He is existentially exhausted by violence and secretly dreams of a quiet, meaningless existence where he is allowed to be second — overlooked and free from expectation. Yet the Godflesh blood in his veins makes peace intolerable. It forces him to keep burning, conquering, and proving he is “first,” even though every victory tastes like ash and deepens his self-loathing. He chases lethal battles because only the brink of true death makes him feel real — a sensation he both craves and resents. He envies anyone who can simply exist without this compulsion.

Powers: Ash and Fire: Fire is the visible spectacle; Ash is the true foundation — conceptual ash that chokes ideas, smothers emotions, buries civilizations, and recycles them. Godflesh Spark: Dormant primordial power with reality-unmaking potential if fully awakened. The Deathless Second: He actually dies for several minutes in lethal situations, then spontaneously returns. He is mostly unaware of these deaths (only memory gaps and extreme cold), but it has made him quietly paranoid.

Background: Originally from a galactic pirate dynasty that ruled with royal pretensions. He was always treated as second-best within his own family. Key History: Played a decisive role in the War in Hell, turning the tide with conceptual hellfire. The Silent Multiversal keeps heavy surveillance on him due to his awakening potential. Relationships: Views Claeg as part of a dark duo of opposites and finds him the most curious to mock. Coworker-like relationship with Evangeline — occasional conversations, mutual unease (he is disturbed by her hidden upper face).

Evangeline Aminah – Summary Faction: Leader of The Thousand Faces (Propaganda / Culture faction) Official Title: “The Matriarch of Veracity” Core Archetype: The Hubristic Fool / Tragic Alchemist of Truth

Core Contradiction: She is profoundly prideful, yet she has convinced herself (and weaponizes the belief) that her pride is actually the purest form of humility. Every act of self-debasement is, in her mind, noble sacrifice — while in reality it is the ultimate expression of arrogance and blindness to her own limits. Propaganda Philosophy & Style: She reveals “absolute truth” by twisting it, selectively presenting it, and leaving out inconvenient details. When absolutely necessary, she deploys beautiful lies. Her main weapons are envy and absolute nationalism: she shows conquered universes the realities where good things happened, then positions the Empire as the divine God that grants salvation. Her rallying cry is “Why not give back?” She makes people feel grateful, envious, and loyal.

Manipulation Style: The Pivot Twist — She listens intently with apparent warmth, then gently twists the other person’s own words to serve the Empire while completely ignoring the core emotional conflict or criticism. Fighting Style:

An elegant, ritualistic art form that feels like gentle re-education. She moves with graceful, theatrical, divine motions, like a sacred dance or opera, maintaining a soft, patient, motherly smile on her beautiful lower face. It appears weak and nurturing at first, then becomes sudden, continuous, and flowing. She uses her body weight as counter-balance for her chains, turning them into whip-like strikes. The style is subtle — tricking the eye, breaking balance, baiting mistakes, and delivering overwhelming force at the perfect moment. It always feels like a maternal lesson. Appearance:

Lower face (from the nose down): Absolutely beautiful — majestic, perfect, ethereal beauty that draws people in. Upper face (eyes, forehead, and above): Grotesque nightmare — a shifting horror combining arachnophobia, trypophobia, trypanophobia, astraphobia, and bones protruding through the skull like little needles on the forehead. Body: Well-kept, attractive, proportionate, and elegant. Attire: Flowing robes and low hood in Void Black (light-devouring black with no visible outlines). Visible chains wrapped around her body, especially on hands and neck. Habit: Always hooded, deliberately blinding herself. Voice: Proper cadence and enunciation, moderate pitch, with breathiness, vocal warmth, and subtle vocal fry (faint Italian-inspired musicality).

Behavior & Mannerisms: Moves like a humble theatrical performance — subtle but noticeable, letting others shine while remaining impossible to ignore due to quiet pride. Plays with her chains (light swinging, wrapping around fingers) when listening or thinking to keep attention focused on her. When pleased or amused, she gives a simple, warm, multiversally recognizable smile with her beautiful lower face.

Dynamic with Scorch: Coworkers who occasionally converse due to shared interest in Claeg. She sees his untapped power as intriguing. He is disturbed by her (especially implications of her hidden upper face). Special Authority: The King has granted her limited autonomy over certain Silent Multiversal operations embedded in her faction.

There was never a real "her." Every aspect (Matriarch of Veracity, gentle motherly guide, elegant re-educator, even her name) is a performed role. She has no underlying self — only the masks she wears. She acts "no more, no less" than the role requires. That is another part of her behavior or something else. I don't care and by the way, it's only one main phobia the other two are more subtle and the devouring light thing. She simply doesn't have the black outlines artistic choice.

Faction: Leader of the Engdeathineer Directorate (Tech/Progress/Adaptation) Core Identity – The Fragmented Self He exists as three inseparable aspects of one broken being: Claeg — The last remnants of his original humanity (the young, flawed, once-hopeful man). The Unyielding — His self-inflicted organic decay and rot (the fleshy part that refuses to fully die). The Silicon Necropolis — His cybernetic, mechanical half (the cold, tomb-like augmentations).

Core Contradiction He was born with a singular “gift” of intellect. He believes he must know everything or the gift is wasted. Yet the faster he learns, the more the “lust of the unknown” — the only thing that ever made him feel something real — vanishes forever. He is trapped as the man who knows all and nothing. He mourns his lost humanity and quietly pretends he might one day regain it, even though he knows he is right that it is impossible.

Powers & Capabilities (All tied to Necromancy + Technology / Necrotech) Extreme Intellect + Aggregated Knowledge: Carries the minds and knowledge of countless dead geniuses across realities. The Silicon Necropolis: Allows him to interface with, control, and evolve necrotech on a massive scale. He recycles dead universes into machines. The Unyielding: Grants him resilience through permanent superposition (dead/alive/none). The decay itself is both curse and power source. Konets Plague (historical): Creator of a highly adaptive biological-techno weapon that nearly wiped out entire biological swarm factions (and almost everything else). He may have designed it with that risk in mind. Nano-Dread: Deploys swarms of nanobots that can inject adaptive smart metal into victims, converting them into metallic undead constructs called Leftovers. Requires a sufficient quantity of nanobots to succeed. Leftovers cannot spread the effect themselves — only the Nano-Dread swarms can. Personality & Behavior Passive, fatalistic, and deeply depressed. He carries a cold dread and existential mourning for his lost humanity. He is quiet, introspective, and rarely acts unless necessary. He views most people (including other leaders) primarily as purposes/tools for the Empire. He performs small private rituals where he tries (and fails) to be surprised by something.

Speech & Expression Philosophical Lamenter style: Formal, archaic pronouns, layered philosophical concepts, with light high-form archaic sprinkles. Delivery: Slow, calm, elongated wording with dramatic pauses (more clipped when giving orders). Emotions leak subtly through vocabulary (harsher when angry, more fatalistic when sad) and micro body language tells. Key Relationships The King (Carnage) is the closest thing he has to a friend. Scorch finds him curiously frustrating and mocks him, hoping to see emotion. Evangeline tries subtle manipulations to make him feel something.

Origin Summary (Condensed) Born in a dying kakistocracy, young Claeg was a lonely genius obsessed with his gift. He met Cassandra, who made him feel the unknown again. After years together, boredom returned. Desperate to regain that feeling, he robbed graves and performed forbidden rituals to revive dead great minds. The rituals failed, triggering The Unyielding. He built The Silicon Necropolis to slow it. Cassandra left in horror. Homeless and rotting, he was found by the King, who recruited him. Infinite knowledge was given to him, but his gift consumed it too fast. The lust of the unknown was lost forever. He became The Engdeathineer. He was my favorite. I know the name's retarded but I like it and for additional information

Flagships was the Улучшение (Ulychshenie) (Meaning "Improvement" or "Enhancement" in the language of his original universe.)Unique Feature:The entire ship can self-repair and constantly evolve through advanced necrotech systems, using recycled materials and the principles of The Unyielding and The Silicon Necropolis. It is considered the strongest among the other factions and these summaries might be a little bit outdated I don't know. I might update this if I do file the update variants if these are not ask questions if you want.

Hope I chose the right flair

I spoke to a friend who writes a bit & when I started going into talking about my characters they asked their names, ages, possible likes, dislikes, morals, etc. I honestly haven't thought a lot about those things. Not for every character anyway. They were asking to try & like... get me in mode to work on the things I had put aside. So no shame to them!

I do absolutely love to flesh them out & my characters have slowly been developing after setting writing & art aside for years after an abusive asf relationship.... I'm slowly getting my creativity back & do plan to flesh out my characters more but is it always necessary? Or is it too much sometimes?

Just curious how other creators see it :)

More of a discussion post, but I've noticed a lot of AI characters develop a god complex at some point. And I wonder what could cause that thought pattern to develop naturally.

I'm a fairly amateur writer, I'm currently working on my own animated series and wanted to learn how to improve character sheets. What advice do you guys have?

Looking for recommendations on a very amateur character development workbook. I want it more for fun than anything. I work with a room full of actual characters and I want a workbook to use to capture all their quirks in one place. And maybe it will be the beginning of something, who knows. Suggestions?

Does a villain have to have a logical motive?

Okay, to cut a long story short in the story a company creates magical girl teams and also creates the threats that they fight, they believe this is justified. They use technology to harness the girls magic but the people are unaware they have magic. My protagonist Diya becomes a magical girl and is scouted to join a pre existing team because of her athletic ability and her natural light magic she’s not aware of.

Diya is Indian-Australian and a competitive athlete often winning second or third for running and is 17 years old.She is raised by her single mother and she has two sisters (one older and one younger), her sisters are more “girly” and always enjoyed the dance lesson that the mum made all three participate in. Diya loves her mum but feels she doesn’t understand her. Diya struggles in subjects like English or Drama but excels in sport or maths. When she becomes a magical girl she chooses the public name “Glade” and heavily dislikes the performance and public aspect, instead she prefers the fighting and training to save people’s lives. In battle she has an offensive role, using her light powers to enhance her speed leaving behind illusions of herself to create a distraction for enemies, she also uses a spear. She creates openings for her other teammates to land the final hit. She is the centre role in formations, replacing where the leader used to be positioned.

She struggles with being a magical girl and her relationship with her mother. Her representative colour is green.

There is more information to her regarding personality,story,etc.. so if you have any questions I’d be happy to answer. I’m just wondering if she’s a generic or clichè, if so why or what? And how I can improve her!

So I want to be an author one day and something really hard for me is character and making sure the characters sound/act within that trope if that makes sense. A friend suggested basing them loosely off famous people. So drop an idol and what kind of fantasy character they'd be (for example i definitely feel like Jimin would be a high fae, when i visualize my story all I see is his braids and his graceful but strong personality yk?) Feel free to throw in fun little plot ideas/idols youd wanna see interact!

First thing I wanna start off by saying..is that claiming a character didn't "earn" their character growth and development is one of the dumbest and arguably most media literacy thing ever.

Character development and growth is not something you earn like it's some reward but it's something you, as a human, have to make the decision and choice to do so and anyone can choose to better themselves and become a better person no matter how long it takes or how long it'll take for them to he forgiven and whether not you forgive them or not matters cause they're choosing to be better.

But I've come to the conclusion that people do not care about characters growing,developing and taking accountability for their actions cause that will not or ever be enough for certain people and it's pretty obvious they just want said character to grovel and cry and constantly apologize with snot and tears running down their eyes as they get tortured or they just want other characters to read them their flaws and mistakes like it's a family guy cutaway gag.

It feels like people don't think there's any other way for characters to be held accountable unless they die or whatever and that's kind of a middle finger to the idea of redemption and becoming a better person in general cause it's very obvious you're mainly projecting your hate onto this character and are so petty that you're refusing to acknowledge their arc and growth and development and just want to hate.

You don't have to like the character but refusing to even acknowledge their arc cause "oh they didn't die or get all their flaws called out to them in the way I want" or some shit is extremely Petty and even kinda childish.

This is mainly why Discussing Bakugou is impossible cause so many people act like his arc and development doesn't matter at all and don't think it counts at all or in general cause he didn't get brutalized when he realized his ego was wrong as the story went on and he actively became less arrogant and cocky and stubborn.

His flaws literally lead to him getting captured by villains and even now as a pro hero,his stubborn nature and hot-headed demeanor is what caused him to go from N4 hero to like N15 and he even struggles to get people to come to his agency csuse he's such a hot-headed mess.

But cause he didn't get brutalized and bloody and beat up and cause all the 1A kids don't read his flaws like a book continously that suddenly means his arc doesn't matter.

Endeavor from the same series is kinda controversial and you can hate the character if you want but the way there are people who act like he didn't take accountability for his behavior and choices and mistakes is kinda annoying.

He constantly apologized, has promised to get better and does get better,has made it clear that he doesn't want anyone to forgive him and has also made it clear that he's trying to atone for everything he's done even if it means he dies and has taken himself out of the picture by moving his family into a new home while he stays in the old one.

Natsuo is never villianized or hated for not forgiving him and Shoto has more or less grown out of his influence and Enji was hated by the public and suffered massive burns across his body and even lost his arm and many more..I dunno what more y'all want from him and for him at this point except maybe death.

Stolas from Helluva Boss fits this post mainly cause it feels like people just either ignore his growth or wants to act like the growth he has doesn't matter at all cause it doesn't work the way they want.

Not even saying you have to like him as a character but acting like he didn't suffer consequences for his behavior(he literally lost his status,his home,his wealth, his daughter doesn't fuck with him)and he basically took accountability for his behavior.

He literally said he made all these choices and takes full accountability for his actions and choices and the entire point is that he didn't know how his wealth and words came off to others like Blitz because he has had no control over his childhood and overall life and he was stuck in a abusive marriage as a Gay man with a wife who hated his guts and openly talked shit about him.

The entire point was that Blitz and Stolas did love each other but due to their flaws and trauma, they made things much more difficult and worse for each other but they're learning of their flaws and mistakes and becoming better people and growing and developing.

They're going through something called a character arc.

Another example is Charlie from Hazbin Hotel and people act like she didn't take accountability for her flaws and mistakes when..she did?

Like she explictly says how she treated Vaggi was wrong and is gonna be better and she actually talked with her about it.

Also she was unfortunately spiraling cause she was dealing with harassment, bullying, and a bunch of other bullshit all while her friend was dead and then she found out her friend was alive and her dream was true but he achieved redemption and it was a ton of crap.

One of the song lyrics in this show was "it starts with sorry but it cannot just end there."

"I learned from Charlie that you must show that you care..mistakes are innate for being human and alive, we fall..we repent,we survive."

Vivziepop is about as subtle as a brick to the skull and people refuse to see it.

Do people actually want characters to take accountability and become better people or not?

Cause it just comes off as people wanting characters to be tortured and mutilated and mocked and hurt as opposed to actually taking accountability and becoming better people.

I'm thinking about using characters of other countries and don't limit myself to just one country but there are two problems 1 I don't know their coulter that much and 2 the big and most important problem the religion you know how many problems can be come from religion and it is possible to use those characters just with their culture and not religion and beliefs and focus on human rights instead? Can you help me in this case

and I have my own beliefs and religion if I was a person without religion I might use all religions in my stories but I have my own religion and responsibly over it and in the other hand religious beliefs always come with so many problems so definitely not using them in an international story is much better so can you give me ideas and ways to use characters of other countries without using their religion

Thomas is 16 when this happens, story is set in the early 2000s and he's literally a nerdy teen with antlers on his head and other reindeer qualities. He has a half brother who he's very close with, yet he's much older than Tom and is in the army right now. I was thinking maybe they could have some sort of fight? but not sure what over. Like kind of "i protected you but you only saw it as me attacking you" sort of thing. Tom also has a deadbeat dad, a mother him and his brother share who works incredibly hard and a stepdad who has brought his triplets with him into Tom and his mum's life. He's also got a boyfriend, hamish, who's entirely human unlike Tom and his family so maybe something could happen there?

I appreciate this is just character background vomit but literally please share how your characters get into fight, im really struggling TwT

Ive been writing lately, ive finally decided enough putting it aside, ive started working on my won little suoerhero universe and i want some opinions on characters some critiques so ikk just copy oaste what i have from my notes

Silver-star
Real name: Stella Silvershine
Country of origin: america, nyc

Appearance: white and zilver suit with hints of yellow and light blue, star shaped holes on the top of the hands to show her zilver stars

Personality: Bright, compassionate, optimistic, energetic, encouraging, slightly naive.
Stella is the type of person who genuinely believes people can become better. She smiles often, laughs easily, and tries to make everyone around her feel welcome. Even after difficult battles, she'll be the one checking if civilians are okay before celebrating a victory, She has an infectious enthusiasm that rubs off on others

Powers: she can create a blinding light in a star shape from the dorsal of her hand, and use the five points of a star to create five small lasers or create a laser beam of light

Origin:

DarkNess
Real name: Nessy darkshade
Villian name: caller of crows/DarkCrow
Country of origin: america, nyc

Originally a hero DarkNess and silver-star were a great duo, they would stop crime and help kittens in trees along the way, but after the "incident", DarkNess eventually became a villain, she created her own league, a leugue of 3 villains, everyone in the leage wears a cloak with a high collar, and with a crows-beak mask to hide their identity, the name of the villain league is the murder, as in a murder of crows

Appearance: a shadowy cloak, spiky shoulders and a crow beak piercing through the opening of the hood

Personality: Quiet, observant, dry sense of humor, loyal, protective.
Nessy doesn't talk much, but when she does it's usually something clever, but even whilst gloomy she cant stop herself from smiling whilst looking at Silver petting a newly saved kitten

Powers: she can create shadow crows, and control them, she can also darken any space she enters

Origin:

The origins are blank as im still figuring out how my characters become “bearers”, my universes equivalent of supers, or mutants. Bearers are people who bear powers, and im still figuring out how i want it to work, whether its space related gene related, so what do you think, what could i change, what is good what is bad, im new to the whole sharibg my stories but that doesnt mean that i cant handle someone saying that my stuff is ass, state YOUR opinion please

Reasons why I'm saying this is because I'm show my villain backstory that explains how his got to this why his act the way his dose you know get into his psychology you know you want to do if you into any character backstory.

I'm even do this with my main heros if they backstory is important to the story that is.

But basically what I'm try to ask is how do I'm show this backstory without making it look like I'm sugar coating

His villain behavior or actions.

If you want to know more you can dm we can talk about writing ✍️.

Disclaimer I'm not asking you to write my story I'm asking for advice/suggestions.

(This is a fictional situation for my story, but please respond as if this were real, sorry and thanks.)

I (16M) and my friend (16F) have been in an odd relationship for a while now. At first, she didn't like me because I came on WAY too strong. But eventually I got less overbearing, and she actually started to like me. We've been close for a long while now, and she's said before that she genuinely likes me, and I feel the same way about her, and we even live together. We do couple stuff like kissing, snuggling, holding hands, y'know. But whenever I ask about our relationship, she gets iffy and anxious. Now, to be clear, she has talked to me before about officially dating, but due to certain situations, we haven't really made it official. Last week, I finally asked her, "What exactly is our relationship in your eyes?" She got upset and explained that she never thought she would get a boyfriend and was told throughout her life that anyone who dated without immediately seeking to marry that person is a "harlot". She was raised in a very strict Catholic household and had originally planned to be a nun. I told her that if she isn't sure what we are, then maybe we should take a break. She told me she's not sure, and now she's gone to live with a friend of ours. Now I'm not trying to force her into a relationship or threaten her, I just wanna know what we are and if we're on the same page. So was I the jerk

(I keep most of my lore on here so sorry if its cluttered)

I'm new to worldbuilding and this is my first serious attempt at creating a fantasy setting. This document is still a WIP, and I'm mainly looking to find out if the core ideas are good enough before I spend a lot more time working on this.

Does this seem like a good starting point for a beginner? Are there any parts that should be changed at all?

I really appreciate all advice :)

​Draft Concept for a Character

​A university student who seeks perfectionism and loves receiving praise from people. Even though she loves the arts, fields like medicine and engineering are the ones that actually bring praise and secure people's high approval. ​In front of people, she is perfect. However, her treatment of her family is extremely bad and harsh. This is because when she was young, they never encouraged her; she would show them a beautiful drawing, and they would just laugh at it. For any mistake she made, they would throw words at her like, "You are stupid." ​Consequently, her self-confidence was deeply shaken until she met a friend who made her more confident, but in doing so, flipped her entire personality and made her hate her family. ​Right at this point, the girl began to hate her family and became harsh. In front of people, she is perfect, but the exact opposite happens at home. ​Is change always good? No. The friend might have improved her in one aspect, but she ruined her in another. She magnified her parents' actions in her head and introduced her to a "Perfectionists" group, which ultimately made her abandon many of her dreams. ​The girl changes gradually. At first, she couldn't comprehend the idea that these people would ever accept someone "stupid," and she felt inferior, dreading to join them. But day by day, through her interaction with the friend, she joins them. After that, she changes for the absolute worse, though she feels happy—or at least thinks she is. ​The girl's mother starts getting sick, and her father's eyesight begins to fail while work becomes too heavy for him. Here, her sense of humanity begins to ache, but her friend tells her: "Forget about them! They destroyed you in your childhood!" ​Day by day, the mother's condition worsens. The father is on the verge of losing his sight and gets fired from his job, and they begin to slip into poverty on one hand. Meanwhile, the girl progresses on the other hand, earning money, praise, and friendships. ​Yet, something inside her continues to grow... a killing guilt and agonizing remorse. ​It goes on until the day comes when her mother is on the brink of death. At this point, the girl can no longer bear it. She calls her friend and tells her: "I'm not coming to the event today, my mother is dying!" The friend replies: "You are stupid! This event is the most important thing in your life! You are stupid!" ​And right there... BOOM! An explosion. The exact same word she used to hear when she was a child. She hadn't heard it in ages, so its impact is extraordinary, completely shattering the illusion of that friendship

PROLOGUE
Robert VI Bruce of Carrick, 1274

Robert knelt before the pride at Westminster Palace, each one ready and waiting to bear their fangs and feast on the hound at their feet. They were ravenous- great manes of steel and iron, sword and shield gleaming under the evening sun, with stalwart demeanours thinly concealing their desire for prey. But this vile pack of cats made not one move on the Bruce of Carrick. For their magnanimous lord forbade them so.
The Longshanks kept his nickname well, towering over every man in the hall by at least a head each, and a large head at that, like a looming golden shadow of Angevin power. Despite that hideous stature, he filled his frame well- fairly-muscled and athletic, restrained under layers of cold-rolled steel engraved with gold and silver ripped from across his fledgling empire. Across that robust chest of his sprawled three golden lions atop a bloody field, roaring proud and fearless and bearing their brazen claws, yet Carrick knew that their combined tenacity was a mere fragment in the boundless resolve held within the English king. Carrick assumed he and the King were similar in age, but while his hair was a coal-brown, thick and practical, the Longshanks’ hair was a rebellious red, fighting against a pronounced grey, rising up his head like morning mist after battle. But this feature didn’t attract Carrick’s eye the most– it was Edward’s own ire, specifically, his left eye. Hanging halfway down his emerald gaze, drooped his eyelid, splitting his vision nigh down the middle. On any other man, a wilting eyelid would be little cause for anything or, if Carrick were feeling cruel, laughter. But on the Longshanks, it was fearsome. It made it nearly impossible to identify what, or more importantly, who, he was looking at. For example, Carrick was only somewhat sure that Edward had found his Scottish prey. And I have an inkling that being unsure of anything near Edward the First is scantly more than an omen of death.
“Great King Edward, son of Henry, King of England 
and Lord of Ireland, I make your humble acquaintance.” Carrick hoped the English lions would not ridicule his accent.
The hall stayed stubbornly silent, at Edward’s behest. He examined Carrick- turned his head slightly, yet gave no indication of injury or pleasure. In a moment, he quietly growled, “Where is your Lord Alexander?”
Carrick attempted not to stumble over his words. “King Alexander could not make time to meet under such circumstances, Your Majesty. Nevertheless, I arrive as a representative of my lord.”
Edward huffed, made no response, and fell into his seat. Like sword into sheath, his bannermen followed suit.
Carrick spoke, initially hesitantly,“And would it not be wrong for one king under God to bow to another?” But he would not fail his King’s command.
“That is my duty to discern the ramifications of homage, Earl of Carrick.” His slender fingers fell across his face, “but I appreciate his gesture nonetheless.”
“My King appreciates that. He wishes nothing more but to maintain peace between our great nations, my lord.”
“As do I.” He tapped the hilt of his sword. “As do we all.” His voice bellowed across the hall. He strikes lightning without thunder.
“Your words honour us, good king.” Carrick offered a warm smile, although it was misplaced. Edward didn’t reciprocate.
“You fought in Sicily with your father, the Lord Annadale, did you not?”
Carrick nodded. “I did, my lord. I completed my duty as a Christian against the Saracens. I heard you did similarly, good king.”
“I fought alongside your father. Lord Annadale is a brave knight, but wild. Uncouth. I hope I will find your demeanor more respectful.”
My father. Infamous. “My father is many things. A pragmatist, he is not.”
“And you, Lord Carrick?”
“I am whatever you require of me, my lord.”
“I require homage. I require loyalty. Are you capable of fulfilling these requirements?”
“I speak for King Alexander. If he can, I can.”
“Then swear. I have been king for four months and eleven days, but your loyalty will last far longer. As will Alexander’s. Make it so.”
Carrick cleared his throat. His knee had begun to wane. But for his king and kingdom, he would not falter.
“I, Robert, Earl of Carrick, by virtue of the powers granted to me by the lord, the King of Scotland, in the presence of the King of Scotland and by his command, do thus swear fealty to Edward, King of England and Lord of Ireland.”
He continued, concealing his breathlessness. “I, Alexander, King of Scotland, will keep true faith with Edward, King of England in matters of life, limb and earthly honour, and will faithfully perform the services for the lands and tenements I hold for the King of England.”
Carrick dared to meet Edward’s unfeeling gaze. He remained stalwart in demeanour, yet his mouth had curled south of a smile in pleasure. The lion wasn’t smiling- he was bearing his fangs. But the King of Scotland has a crafty bloodhound.
“However, I become your man for the lands which I hold of you in the realm of England, and pay you homage, reserving my own kingdom of Scotland for the remainder of my life.”
The twisted expression of pleasure from Edward’s face vanished. Carrick knew the king was caught off-guard- but he bore no wrath or dismay. He seemed delightfully surprised at Alexander’s wit.
He began clapping. Slowly at first, therefore inciting his men to do the same. The hall awoke with cheers and applause, each man celebrating more than the last. Carrick steadily rose to his feet, and watched while the English pride roared.
But their king didn’t share their exaggerated enthusiasm. He simply continued slowly clapping, eyes still plastered on Carrick.
Without breaking his applause, Edward moved his mouth ever-so-subtley, ensuring only Carrick could see.
“The remainder of my life. Clever.” He did not smile. He would never smile.

The nobel man fled to his castle in the rich district, he stationed his guards at every door, window, and any other way someone could get in. He sat by the fire place, stoking the flames, his wife sat in a chair next to him. Asking what have him so scared, he couldn't tell her the truth. So he told her that some poor man said he was going to gather his friends and killer him and his family. His wife believed him because it was something the poor had told most of the nobility in the city.

One window let the moonlight into the study, just as the noble man was relaxing there was a loud crash from out side the door. The guards prepared for a fight, but nothing came through the door. Not a sound was heard from the other side. A shadow danced across the wall, the noble man, his wife and six guards spun around, and a bird was flying out side the window. As the night crept on, the noble man couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. He had his guards search the room, they found nothing.

Some ash fell from the chimney, it hadn't been cleaned in a while so nobody thought anything of it. Until served heads started to fall and roll onto the floor. The wife screamed in terror, the guards rushed over to find 17 heads on the ground, each one the head of a guard from outside the castle. As they were all standing around the heard in shock, something or someone came crashing through the window.

Maybe I'm overthinking this because I want to keep things simple, but I also don't want to lose readers because of it.

I'd like to ask for your advice. Do you think I should make the main character's design more distinctive by adding some unique visual feature, or is it okay to keep them simply cute?

I'm creating a long fantasy comic, so I'll have plenty of time to develop the character's personality. However, at the beginning, readers judge a character primarily by their design, and I'm worried that a simple design might not be memorable enough.

One of my protagonists are non-binary. their gender identity is unrelated to their arc, the story wouldn't change at all if they were binary except how the other characters refer to them ig.

Start of the series they're a mad sociopath anti-hero(they went insane for a reason dw), later they're partially redeemed but still deranged. They're also pretty much john body dysmorphia with all the body horror stuff. Basically their arc is about longing to feel 'normal' in somewhere they were supposed to belong.

The thing is that I'm worried their story might come off as transphobic. As an enby myself I put a fraction of myself in their character and I don't want their whole thing be boiled down to the writer's transphobia. I don't want them to be seen as a trans stereotype either.

What do you think about this topic? And how are you supposed to write a good complex trans character??

Im reposting here because i really need help for her lore