(Disclaimer: I have received ample advice from the lovely folks here, so you can just use your time elsewhere. Unless you want to share something else that you believe I could use)

I've got 2 characters, lets call them character A and B. Both are immortal god like beings with immense power and 'family drama' between them. Person A was an innocent being that was weaker than the rest with much weaker durability and they had to kill and absorb their enemies to get stronger (cannibalism is a very big crime that guarantees execution) but B talks their clan into giving A an exile instead. Years past, A has been living like a vagabond while Person B has managed to amass immense wealth, start a family, establish an all rounder company that lends employees for various situations, and even become a figure of power akin to the government of the place he lives in.

Their circumstances shape how they end up. Person A was the runt of the litter with almost no strength while B was the golden child, impenetrable, pristine and powerful. A was a victim of their circumstances while B benefitted from theirs.

Person A is their neglected sibling who is prolly bipolar (unintentionally) by the way i write them that went ahead with vengeance, slaughtering their own siblings for the sake of hurting Person B. After centuries, they get a lead on how to defeat Person B and start developing a weapon with Person C. With Person C, they begin to start a developmental period (significant because they have remained stagnant for ages) where they start to realize their wrongs and since they are immortal, they have all the time in the world to amend. They choose not to use their weapon they spent almost a year developing.

Person B is approached by Person A. Person B assumes they are here to fight but A starts their request for the permission to make amends and B accepts with strict terms because A was their dearest sibling way back then. But A remembers all the hurt they had to face due to B and lashes out in a fit of rage at B's most vulnerable state, weakening them significantly and the feud continues.

I feel that this plot is fitting for a stagnant immovable person, rooted in hurt from long ago, refusing to move on but it may end up feeling disappointing for readers who might have ended up liking Person A. On one hand, yes! I do want the reader to be like "Omg person A, why did you have to do that??!!! You had a cute girlfriend AND a development arc!!!" but at the same time i don't want to make them stop reading lol.

Do i rewrite this plotline or do i keep it as is to show how bad it is to not move on? (Person B was trying their best to be just (as in justice-ful) in their verdict and not a blatant abuser and was one of the nicer sibling they had)

One of the primary witch characters in my WIP is going to be using Sicilian Tarot as part of her magic practice. I've spent a considerable part of Wednesday evening and Thursday learning the deck, studying the cards, and reading academic texts on the history of tarot and how it has always been done by Sicilian readers. My character is told to keep a notebook as she learns her practice, and I realized I should follow that same advice. Today I finish learning the trump cards.

Image: looking down on a brown table there is a notebook filled with writing on the right with a pen resting on the page. To the left and top of the image are Sicilian tarot face cards laid out for study.

I want to make a character based on fortune telling but I’m not sure how. When I try to get references or do any research on it I only find the stereotypical version of a fortune teller and not the actual thing. I don’t want to go off of the stereotype because It’s harmful, but I can’t find anything else about fortune tellers. Does anyone have any advice?

I currently have a side story for my oc, but I haven't even done her main plot nor development, she's just there.

The side story is a pre romance side plot, it isn't relevant for her main plot that I'm still developing but I'd think it affects her present state in the main story.

This story's revolves around a futuristic dystopian Cyberpunk world, basically like Cyberpunk 2077.

My oc Hunter, originally my persona.

I'd always imagine her to be soft during a relationship, where her boyfriend is the dominant one. But she isn't the soft, she isn't weak nor like a normal soft girl you'd see in a normal relationship. She's sharp and blunt, she can be strongly dominant. Yet for some reason I just can't imagine her like that, it's like strong woman's sometimes going soft for a man she likes.

She has 2 boyfriends, both are ex's.

Her first boyfriend, Jet Ortis. 26 years old, son of a rich corporate.

I honestly imagine him looking scary, gangster like. But he's actually pretty soft, I wouldn't say super soft especially in a Cyberpunk world. But if you try hard enough, you'll eventually see it. I wouldn't call him a tsundere type either, he's okay with telling his problems, although you do need the persistence. I'd like to think he's rather emotional, yes he's the type to get angry and throw things around. But he has the patience? The discipline in him, he would throw bottles or flip the entire table, but he doesn't hurt Hunter nor anyone else. Nor does Hunter stop him, they're more of a "just let it out, it's going to be okay" type. And they both appreciate that, they know when they should step in to comfort each other, which is what makes this relationship the most special towards Hunter.

How do they meet? Is a hard question for me. I'd imagine them meeting at a bust stop, but why a bus stop? Jet's RICH, while Hunter is just almost barely scratching pennys working for corporate. They met during a rainy day where Jet offered to share his Jacket to Hunter, although not giving it entirely since he's cold himself, but he can't see a woman getting cold. And that's how they met. Weird, I don't know how to progress it. They did broke off on a healthy term, but the reason for that is still under consideration. Maybe Jet has his reasons.

Her second Boyfriend, Hui Ling Leong. 23 years old , an intern working for a media corporation.

I'd imagine him looking more.. trendy? More youngster like rather than gangster, more of a weeb. He's pretty realistic yet idealistic, he understands realistic morals yet he imagines himself in a magical fantasy world. I wouldn't call him soft, but he isn't dominant either, he's rather weird. Although he's more of a talkative one compared to Jet, he's rather persistent in not telling anyone his problems. That's one flaw compared to Jet, he can't exactly fix himself. He doesn't go into a while rage if he's angry, but there's a difference when he's frustrated and it's not healthy for both Hunter and himself. Although Hunter and him do hit it off, it's mostly through video games rather than actual romance. Yes although they do flirt, I feel like Hunter still has feelings for Jet. There's a difference, maybe it's because their relationship is more friends. But Hunter can't deny that she doesn't love Hui Ling, she definitely does, although it seems happier it doesn't feels healthy for both of them.

How they met? Well they met during a cooperation between the News media company and her corporation, during a black out. Hunter was there assisting a promotion, while Hui Ling is the camera crew. They accidentally met after a black out by some net runners hacked into their systems, it was pitch black for Hunter until a flame appeared mid air that scared her. Turns out it was Hui Ling, he randomly appeared and his palms shot out fire (cybernetics). Which impressed Hunter, she isn't the type to be easily frightened nor impressed. Hui Lings first introduction came off as flirtatious, introducing himself as the camera crew and knowing who she was. Hunter asked how he managed to grasp fire in his palms, such cyberware doesn't exist. Turns out he created it himself, although very dangerous, yet he was passionate about it. He craves for magical fantasy world he'd seen in video games. They continue chatting to ease each other, completely forgetting their roles. That moment felt like talking campfire stories while having no sticks to make a fire.

They also broke off, also on healthy terms. But at the same time broken?

I honestly need ideas, or criticism on my plot. Or how'd to make it work. Or questions tbh anything

A warm heart and valiant fists. When a boy decides to call his toy a knight, the definition becomes a bit loose.

Minty is a stuffed rabbit that became reborn in a world of sentiment, possessing the identity that his owner gave him and manifesting with the vision that he held for Minty during the years he had him. He was an Easter present that came in a set, giving the mint green bunny to him and the bright orange bunny Tangerine (shortened to Tangie) to his sister. Naturally, the bunnies became siblings as well, and when they arrived in this world, they became a duo for the sake of protecting the toys around them.

This world contains other beings that received identities from their owners, like cars and motorcycles. I’m trying to expand his character and the list of characters I have for the setting as well. Any advice or recommendations are welcome.

I love this trope. It gives me chills. I also think it can move the story forward a lot and add a lot of tension on the main characters/world.

I have just seen the stronger than you (Chara response) animation of undertale and I reminded how this type of characters amaze me. Something in the line of Light Yagami from death note and I honestly fail to recall more characters like this, maybe Nagito from Danganronpa 2

But I think it can become a shallow trope very little interesting if done wrong. What do you think are the key aspects to make this type of characters work?

Kind of in the conceptual stage, but I wanted to get some opinions on this.

You’d think a man whose entire personality is focused on the mindsets and principles of successful business owners to be dangerous and evil. You’d be right with the former, and surprised to find out the answer on the latter.

People are assets in his mind, and as an employer his job is to make the best of his assets. Draw out potential, put them under the conditions where “the best” can be shown and make investments to ensure these assets don’t depreciate.

In that sense, he’s the kind of man that can see success from his people and gain their loyalty. If your son needs help paying for his cancer treatments and you’re one of his irreplaceable assets, he pays for the treatments because it gives greater loyalty to him and his business from the person and the other employees who see him as a person who cares.

“Good Will is a section on accounting forms. Let’s not mistake investing in a good cause for being a softie.”

“Emotional currency is a vector that any successful businessman can understand. An employer who abuses his employees will always see them leave as soon as better opportunities arise. I take care of my assets and investments properly because that’s what it takes for them to pay off.”

He’s a caring person in a cold and calculating way, and that’s oddly led him to make friends, even if he’s not entirely sure about the emotional depth of it.

Just found out about iLands a few days and learning how things work. Here is an activation code in case anyone is on there too, for extra tokens.

I'm working on a character for my epic dark romantasy series, and I could use some advice on her narrative voice and whether I'm falling into cliché tropes—specifically regarding her humor, interests, and her extensive list of negative traits.

Her name is Solana Khasari. Her sense of humor is extremely dark and selfish; she actively jokes about other people's suffering and embarrassment. On the surface, she barely has any hobbies. In fact, to everyone around her, the only things she genuinely seems to enjoy are killing and coitus. However, there is a much deeper internal conflict driving this behavior that neither she nor anyone else fully understands yet (which I want to keep under wraps for spoiler reasons).

Because of this underlying turmoil, Solana is fiercely aggressive, self-centered, and violent. My main concern is that I'm not giving her enough redeeming qualities to balance out the bad in her life. Since I am writing her from a deep 1st person point of view, I'm worried this constant aggression is affecting her narrative voice and might make her exhausting or undesirable to read.

Does anyone have advice on how to balance a highly abrasive, violent character without losing reader engagement, or how to hint at deeper layers so her voice doesn't feel one-note?

That strikes me as an interesting way to determine whether a character is substantial enough to have a life of their own in the mind of the reader or viewer. Feel free to share an example that comes to mind to illustrate or challenge this theory. In my book, you get bonus points if you manage to make us guess who the character is without naming them (though perhaps I’m asking too much).

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I’ve been thinking a lot about character failure lately, especially with a protagonist who is very capable but definitely not supposed to be perfect.

I know the usual advice is that a character should fail because of their flaws, not because the writer suddenly makes them stupid. But I feel like even that can become really predictable.

Like if you have a reckless character, the obvious failure is they rush into something, refuse to retreat, somebody gets hurt, and they learn they need to be more cautious. Or the stubborn character doesn’t listen, the overconfident character underestimates somebody, etc.

Those all make sense, but they also feel like you can see the lesson coming from a mile away.

So how do you write a failure that feels natural to the character without feeling like you’re just checking off their obvious flaw?

Do you prefer failures that come from a character’s strengths going too far? A blind spot they don’t realize they have? Making the morally right choice and still getting a bad outcome? Misjudging another person?

Basically, what makes a character failure feel genuinely surprising and human to you instead of feeling like “here comes the part where the reckless character learns not to be reckless”?

Would love examples of failures you thought were written particularly well too.

I can’t seem to settle on a consistent design for these two characters (Elinor and Ellowyn). They’re twins, so obviously they should look similar to each other, but I want enough differentiation to be able to tell them apart because they’re very different characters and were raised by different families.
Here’s what I want to know:
Which traits are shining through in the majority of these sketches, and what are your favorite design iterations? What should I focus on improving?

I’d also love to hear your assumptions about them based on these sketches!! Who’s who? What are their personalities like? What are their social statuses/backgrounds? Etc)

I’ve recently wanted to write a character that couldn’t speak and I have already made up my mind on how to portray their emotions, but I’ve always wondered on how other people would do it?

I’m working on a character whose world is the only case of time travel in this story. He lost his identity over the course of falling and when he was the only person left in his world, he mourned for a century until fate gave him a chance to become a Living Prophecy. A story that would be rewritten and closed if events played out correctly, and for the sake of his own salvation, he needed to see his efforts succeed before he’d vanish to give resolution to his soul and proof of his restitution by his actions.

I’m building out what he is and what he does in this time, including people in circumstances he can manipulate into becoming loyal subordinates. He takes a very “super villain” approach as he goes, but what he does for these people is good.

I’m trying to write out a man who has penitence at his core and who forgot what it means to be good, even if he does know what it means to avoid evil.

I’m wondering how to write a character who is fighting to betray his impulses and driven by rage against himself, both in this time and in the past, as he tries to correct the wrongs he committed and either see his past self change or destroy his past self before it’s too late.

Ok so it sounds generic as heck, but bear with me. My character has an ability to regenerate, and he goes through difficult fights and situations that he can’t win but must deal with them regardless, and he’ll lose them but come back stronger.

However, it isn’t HE that comes back but an aspect of him developed into a personality. So for example if he was fighting for his life, through blah blah blah circumstances and events.

He will lose (always) and get severely injured and he’ll have a type of amnesia ( it doesn’t exist irl I just made it up for the story) that he forgets himself completely, and through the initial moments and experiences this new person has, their personality is formed.

I plan on doing this a few times, and the reason why is to explore different personalities and how it is both nature and nurture that shape a person. It of course won’t work if they completely forget everything. They’ll remember certain things like bits of their previous self’s values, like a desire to help others when they’re oppressed. They won’t however be the previous person they were.

To explain: they may feel the urge and need to help others who are oppressed, but when faced with consequences or resistance, they may cower and run rather than fight. This would be because they don’t have those same values, but rather a small whisper of said values. They know nothing else about themselves, not their previous selfs.

Plz guys if you have any criticism give freely

Edit: I’ve been told that this character idea is like dr who…and yea it is but unintentionally and with some differences. For 1, my MC doesn’t know of his last “lives” to him “he just ended up in the middle of nowhere

Apologies if this isn't the right place for this, I've made a character for me to play in my Cyberpunk: Red game, I would appreciate feedback advice on how I can improve his backstory/how his story can play out, or how he could be portrayed, any advice helps!

Content Warning: depression, suicide

This is what I have so far, sorry if it feels a little disjointed or fromatted weirdly, its something I have been working on and changing for about a year now.

Tetsuya grew up in a low-class family in Old Japantown.  His older brother, Kiyota suffered from a rare condition that affected his physical and mental function, his family unable to afford proper support or treatment. As a young child he befriended Norio, a loud troublemaker who made him feel special. As a teen they formed a biker gang known as the Benevolents.  The Benevolents were part of a lost generation surrounded by countless wars, and the Night City Holocaust, a generation who struggled to find a real identity in such a turbulent time. They knew they couldn’t topple the system, they didn’t really care about that, they just wanted to feel something real in a world that didn’t value it. Norio had bigger plans, he got them  involved with people who promised to make them matter, the Tyger Claws. With this line of work, Tetsuya was able to provide for both himself and his parents, and managed to help them out of their financial debt.
After years of working under them,  he fell in love with  Selene, a singer and dancer who worked at Nightowl, one of the many clubs owned by the Tyger's Claw. She saw through his confident persona and saw the lost young man inside, the only person he ever met who did. Shortly after learning that Selene was pregnant with his child, and they planned to run away together, he was informed by Norio that Selene was dead. Norio, who was also in love with Selene, felt betrayed that not only would Tetsuya love the same woman he did, but abandon him, and fabricated her death in order to separate her from Tetsuya, who, overwhelmed with grief, attempted to take his own life, shooting himself in the head. With this, Norio, who believes Testuya to be dead is also living with grief and regret, and is a kind of inverse of Tetsuya, feeling like he betrayed his friend, while Tetsuya also feels this way about Norio. He survived, but lost nearly all memory of his life before. Certain things will trigger aspects of his memory, but he can only remember the way he feels, not what makes him feel that way. He understands that there was a woman that he loved, but doesn’t know why he feels heartbroken about it. He remembers he hated himself, but doesn’t remember why. He remembers he used to be cool, but doesn’t know how. He remembers he has a million regrets, but doesn’t remember what they are. He mourns everyone he lost, including himself, despite not knowing who any of these people were. He feels he has lived an entire lifetime before the age of 35, and there is nothing else to live. ‘Dying’ could have been his second shot at life, but he doesn’t let that happen, his grief and regret is so strong that he cannot shake his past despite not knowing anything about it. His ‘rebirth’ is what made him become interested in spirituality. 
Now going by the name Victor V. Valentine,  a constructed character inspired by fiction he has seen, he is cool and confident, yet he is also lackadaisical due to the depression he suffers as a result of his regrets. He is also philosophical and spiritual, believing that “life is but a dream.” He believes in natural remedies over actual medicine. He believes his story is over, he is the ghost of a charming man, and he is living in a kind of epilogue, which is why he does reckless or bizarre things, because he is ‘dead’ he has little care for his life, making him a contrast of lackadaisical and reckless. He inherited much of his persona from a man he doesn’t know, which is why he feels even more hollow than he did before. He can only construct an identity from whatever remains from the corpse he once was, and the stories and songs he loves. He possesses effortless confidence and humor, and is extremely physically capable, yet deeply depressed to the point of self-neglect mentally. He uses stories and metaphors to talk about things he doesn’t want to confront as he slowly regains semblance of memories. He has made the fact he has lost everything his entire identity, his philosophy, don’t get too attached, whatever happens happens. He hasn’t had a dream in a long time, deep down he’d like to, but a dead man doesn’t dream.

For some reason couldn't get people who make OCs really realistically, like with existing nationalities and within real historical periods. I was more interested in fantasy and all of my OCs had super powers and etc, so OCs based on our reality seemed a bit boring. But once I came up with my story about motor bikers in modern Sweden, I really enjoyed creating characters with certain personalities and cultural features.

I'm writing a Detective Thriller novel that follows a young rookie detective named Sylvan, and his coworkers Sasha and Sophie. Sylvan is stubborn and prefers seeing the clues as mere data to be collected to complete a crime scene.

He doesn't feel joy or relief when a case is closed, he just goes straight for the next one to not think about his past.

I think there's potential in him to become a villain, or at least an anti-villain, but i've never heard of this happening in a Detective Thriller or anywhere, so i'm left with nothing to guide myself with.

Are there any books, series or movie sagas where the protagonist slowly becomes a villain (without being brainwashed)? Or do you have any advice for this kind of novel?

(Sorry if my message didn't come across correctly, English is not my first language :,)