#oc development meme

Below are 35 character development questions, each loosely inspired by a track on the original Broadway cast recording of Hadestown. Make Sure to specify muse for multimuse blogs!

Act 1

Road to Hell: what archetypes / tropes does your muse fit?

Any Way the Wind Blows: is your muse a trusting person?

Come Home with Me: how does your muse approach asking someone out?

Wedding Song: is your muse an idealist or a realist?

Epic I: what’s your muse’s favorite season?

Livin' it Up on Top: does your muse enjoy parties?

All I’ve Ever Known: does your muse believe in soulmates?

Way Down Hadestown: if your muse could travel anywhere, where would it be?

A Gathering Storm: does the weather ever affect your muse’s decision making?

Epic II: is your muse a jealous person?

Chant: is your muse oblivious, or do they tend to be aware?

Hey, Little Songbird: has your muse ever been offered a life changing opportunity? Did they take it? Why or why not?

When the Chips Are Down: what’s the hardest decision your muse has ever had to make?

Gone, I’m Gone: what loss has impacted your muse the most?

Wait For Me: what’s the farthest distance your muse has ever traveled?

Why We Build The Wall: what are your muse’s political beliefs?

Tagged by: Technically I wasn’t tagged, I was stalking @thatoneshadyshop ‘s “Lillandril’s family” tag to write the next part of the RP I have with him buuuut in my defense...I wanted to. So here goes, five cute facts about Saufinril.

He’s very shy. Very shy. It’s more evident when he’s younger than when he grows up, but he’s still shy in various ways.

His family (namely, his paternal grandparents, his mother and his brother) refer affectively to him by the pet name “Finn” (but y’all probably already knew that)

When he was little and he first heard of how the Bosmer created their homes out of singing, he went outside and sang for hours to a tree, trying to achieve the same result (spoiler alert: nothing happened).

He loves Arpen, the mutt he adopted on Ivarstead and brought over to Riften when he moved. Arpen is trained in Altmeris, although it’s only a few necessary commands (‘stay’, ‘come’, ‘down’, the like). One day that he was bored, he made a silly nursery rhyme for Arpen. He sang it to him when nobody was home and it was just them both. 

He absolutely adores fireflies; whenever he sees some he always (discreetly, so as nobody sees him doing it) catches one to just, have it in his hand, walking on his fingers. He’s very gentle with them and lets them fly off later.

You didn’t specify a muse, so I did a bunch XD

1 What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)? Briyanna-Briyanna was never meant to RP, or have backstory, etc. I created her purely because some friends asked me to make a healer.So, her first consideration was her name (Brianna, but it was taken. I had a funky a character until it was reported, so I had to add the y. Briyanna was born).

Tshion-Tshion was created as a kind of AU "Tseng" from Final Fantasy 7. His first element was his backstory, which entwined with his betrothed (Aurelian, an AU "Rufus"). When said betrothed was deleted after a falling out with her player, Tshion changed completely. Once again, his backstory was his first element.

Geri-Name here. I made her as a joke using my own name. It wasn't taken (on FEATHERMOON no less!), and ... it kinda stuck. Her full name, however, is Gerilynn.

Kailara-Backstory. She is the daughter of Briyanna and Elesen Lakirr, and was the result of a rather wild tryst during the Lunar Festival.

Da'arin-Da'arin is kind of a cheat.. since he is an OC of mine from MANY years ago and has nothing whatsoever to do with any game/verse other than one in my own head that I may never write, becasue I'm terrified of it.I did have to come up with a good reason for him to be on Azeroth, though.

Lan'doriel-Story. This poor thing has been through some shit, and he and his sister are all the other has. I mean. They've sacrificed everything (but each other). What have YOU given?

3 How did you choose their name? Briyanna-Briyanna is a derivitive of Brianna, who is an OC of mine from many years ago, in a story that I may never finish.

Tshion-An alternate pronunciation of "Tseng" - pronounced "Shion" or "Sung" or "Tshung". I went with Tshion.

Geri-.... It's my name. I plugged it in as a joke. It took. *shrug*

Kailara-Joint effort between Elesen's player and mine, as we went back and forth with different names until this one stuck to us both.

Da'arin-Based on an OC of mine as stated above... again, with a story that may never be written.

Lan'doriel-I clicked "random" until Landoral came up, then I changed it to Landoriel .. then gave it the ' for inflection.

8 What (if anything) do you relate to within their character/story? Briyanna-Have you ever been so deeply in love, only to have that stripped from you, be strung along and dangled with bait?Yeah. We share that.Briyanna found a happy ending.I moved on, and found someone better than the dick who strung me along.

Tshion-At the end of the Third War, Tshion had lost everything - home, family, everything but what he carried.I, too, have lost everything. I regained it, and so did he - in different ways, but still.

Geri-Uhm... We have our name in common? She's NOTHING like I am... the only thing I can relate to her is that her family doesn't understand her and drives her NUTS.

Kailara-We both have a strong will. Don't tell us we can't do something. We'll turn around and tell you we can..... also, we both might have a serious crush on Medivh.

Da'arin-We're both a bit cynical, have sarcastic humor, and both of us think Khadgar's an idiot at times.

Lan'doriel-When it comes down to it, we will do ANYTHING for our sister(s).

19 What is your favorite fact about your OC?Briyanna-Despite all she has gone through, she keeps going. She doesn't give up easily, and is very stubborn.

Tshion-He defies all the odds for the man he loves, and will stomp anyone who tries to tell him it's wrong.

Geri-Does her own thing. Doesn't give a flying fuck what others think.

Kailara-Is an anomaly. Loves books. Drools over a man three times her age, and doesn't care what others think.

Da'arin-Was born a warrior, died, became a mage. Talk about selective amnesia.Live Da'arin? He was the mage 'half' when his soul split. If/when he dies, he'll wind up a Forsaken warrior.The irony kills me XD

The New York Times published a list of 36 questions designed to get to know your partner better. They work incredibly well for character development, so I’ve compiled them here. Feel free to change partner to another loved one when appropriate! These questions are taken from this site in particular. Hope you enjoy!

If you could invite anyone in the world to dinner, who would it be?

Would you like to be famous? In what way?

Before making a phone call, do you ever rehearse what you’re going to say? Why?

What would constitute a ‘perfect’ day for you?

When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?

If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30 year old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you want?

Do you have a secret hunch about how you will die?

Name three things you and your partner appear to have in common.

For what in your life do you feel most grateful?

If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?

Take four minutes and tell your partner your life story in as much detail as possible.

If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?

If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future or anything else, what would you want to know?

Is there something that you’ve dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it?

What is the greatest accomplishment of your life?

What do you value most in a friendship?

What is your most treasured memory?

What is your most terrible memory?

If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living? Why?

What does friendship mean to you?

What roles do love and affection play in your life?

Alternate sharing something you consider a positive characteristic of your partner (feel free to change this to another loved one if need be). Share a total of five items.

How close and warm is your family? Do you feel your childhood was happier than most other people’s?

How do you feel about your relationship with your mother?

Make three true “we” statements each. For instance, “We are both in this room feeling ... ”

Complete this sentence: “I wish I had someone with whom I could share ... ”

If you were going to become a close friend with your partner, please share what would be important for him or her to know.

Tell your partner what you like about them; be very honest this time, saying things that you might not say to someone you’ve just met.

Share with your partner an embarrassing moment in your life.

When did you last cry in front of another person? By yourself?

Tell your partner something that you like about them already.

What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?

If you were to die this evening with no opportunity to communicate with anyone, what would you most regret not having told someone? Why haven’t you told them yet?

Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire. After saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash to save any one item. What would it be? Why?

Of all the people in your family, whose death would you find most disturbing? Why?

Some facts for the high elf death knight, Lum, from World of Warcraft ^^

8. What (if anything) do you relate to within their character/story? 

Sometimes I too am very cranky and don’t like dealing with people. Also I, too, wouldn’t know what to do with a baby if handed one unexpectedly. Rae’s introversion is more extreme than mine, but relatable to me.

12. What have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of art: writing, drawing, edits, etc.)? 

I consider Rae to be not neurotypical, but it’s tricky to figure out how hard to lean into that; I don’t want to be heavy-handed or overly stereotypical in writing her.

14. If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be? 

a) prefers puzzles to people

b) when it doubt, throw in some profanity

To be honest, I haven’t written her all that much yet, so it’s possible that will change over time, but that’s where I’m at right now!

2. Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind? 

Nope! Kascinda was my first Warden, so I went in unspoiled and knowing very little about the world or game mechanics. I picked a background and a class and off I went.

5. Is there any significance behind their hair color? 

She has reddish hair because I thought it looked cute.

Actually, she has exactly Leliana’s haircut, which made the moment when Leliana exclaimed “I like your hair!” kind of weird from a meta point of view.

8. What (if anything) do you relate to within their character/story? 

She thinks Alistair is really cute. ;)  She also tries to do the right thing, even when she’s not treated well by her society, misled by her superiors, etc. (Don’t read too much into this, Tabris has a way harder life than I do, but she really wants to help people, and I certainly feel that.)

13. How far past the canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story, if at all? 

Yay! These are fun asks. :D

9. Are they based off of you, in some way? 

I mean, we’re both blonde? We both care about people? But Val is mostly not much like me. Much more -- I wish I was this charismatic and fit and also had space magic, y’know?

12. What have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of art: writing, drawing, edits, etc.)? 

Well, I haven’t really tried drawing her. I think the most tricky thing currently is plotting her way out of the mess she is in. In general, making sure she thinks like Shepard, and not like me.

15. What is something about your OC can make you laugh? 

Going through screenshots, particularly ME2 screenshots, where she’s often quite smirky. In general, her dorkier social moments with Garrus or Tali.