Character Questions - Tumblr Posts

Character Question 14

How do you handle conflict with someone else? Do you avoid fights, or are you aggressive? Or are you passive-aggressive and only give the appearance of cooperation?

Bella: Chess master strikes again! She will swindle the other person onto her side. Don't argue with her unless she's sleep-deprived or super hungry. At that point, she will probably break down crying if you try to fight her. Otherwise, she's almost guaranteed to win. But generally, she tries to avoid fights.

Freddie: his only tone setting is sarcastic. He will snark at you till the end of your days and will insult you and argue with you if you disagree with him. He is the Smartest Being, the Supreme Overlord when it comes to having to deal with those of Lower Intelligence. The only people smarter than him are his parents. And the historical geniuses. He's sometimes sent out of the classroom for correcting and/or talking back to his teachers. Passive-aggressive to the end!

Zach: He doesn't want to fight you. It takes a lot to set him off, but once he's mad, it's explosive. Tip! Don't pick on someone who can't defend themselves around him. He will punch and kick and not let up until a respected adult pulls him off the bully. He will fight tooth and nail anyone who is mean to those that are truly close to him. Once he's removed from the bully he will 1. Challenge them to another fight 2. Give them the silent treatment after that. Don't mess with him. Why would you want to see such a happy boi angry? Why?

Character Question 15

Fists or words

Zach: fists all the way. Mostly because he'd be creamed if he tried to Fight with words.

Freddie: basically the opposite. He can ruin someone with words and will be absolutely murdered if he gets into a physical fight. He might claw at you if he gets frustrated, but he's easy to brush off (like a feisty kitten)

Bella: prefers words. Her silver tongue will beat anyone. However, if she's forced to, she can hold her own with fists (even more with a sword)

Character Question 16

If your character could only save one thing from their burning house, what would it be?

Bella: her tool belt. It's got all of her most important flash drives and her tools which took ages to collect. Or at least she'd grab that after making sure her family is safe

Freddie: His comics. His portable chemistry kit would catch his eye, but the comics are so much more valuable, in more ways than one. He loves them more than life and they bring him so much joy. Also, they're no longer being printed as quickly as they used to be, so there's a finite quantity in the world.

Zach: He would run up to his bedroom and start tossing stuffed toys out the window. He would stay saving toys until the door was on fire and he couldn't breathe before jumping out the window himself and swinging down the tree.

Thank you for giving me prompts while I muster up the motivation to write 2 (3?) chapters before I get to the event

Freddie: he has, and can go for months, and possibly longer without talking. His emotions, which if he was willingly mute, would be mostly negative, so he'd communicate through glares.

Bella: She can probably go for quite a while without talking. By nature, she's very private, so she'd be fine just communicating with gestures, especially since she had a lot of practice with that in her earlier schooling years.

Zach: maybe 10 minutes? Provided he's not sleeping. He's social and loves to talk about, talk with, and talk at people. Once he comes out of his shell in canon, the other two are going to struggle to shut him up. He may not understand much, but he'll try his best, and will probably ask questions in all the wrong scenarios until he isn't completely lost.

How long can your OC go without talking?

Character Question 17

What do they love to hate?

Freddie: everything. He can find something bad about basically anything. But he goes out of his way to hate on technology, mostly cos he's not as good at it as he'd like.

Bella: people who go out of their way to hate things. She loves to tear down their opinions with facts and reason. She has made many people cry in these situations.

Character Question 18

What is their choice of weapon?

Zach: A spear. The short and far range and  would allow him to protect more people (GLORYYYYY! HONOR!! stand behind me, good citizens)

Bella: A sword. She's good with hand to hand combat, so she'd be fine if she was disarmed. She's also done fencing! (I think I've mentioned this before) She really enjoyed it and is very good (although she wouldn't admit it)

Freddie: A crossbow. He's not getting near the front lines, not if he can help it. Also, it doesn't take much strength (especially if he gets Bella to install an automated loading system). Also, also, he can dip the arrows into chemicals.

(Freddie's is only if they had the resources for it and he learned about different weapons. This would be his choice. In canon, he either screams and runs away or he throws a dagger and/or one of the Reverse Balms Bella gave him)

Character Question 19

What is in their pockets?

Bella: she has a mini toolkit and a Swiss army knife. She also has a photo of her family by the beach. This is only applicable on the rare occasion she doesn't have her toolbelt on her.

Freddie: a periodic table from his first science fair that he went to with his parents. He also has the gold block from his element blocks.

Zach: the smallest stuffed animal (a blue sheep) from his collection and one of his dad's old badges.

Character Question 20

What is their most treasured possession?

Bella: her tool belt, for sure. It had the things she needs for any tinkering. She can also create basic projects with it (as long as she has access to solid materials, like a steel bar and laser cutter to shape it). If she had to choose one thing from the belt, it would be her souped-up USB stick. It fits 3 times as much as the largest commercially available one. It has the base programming for her best projects and lots of photos of her family.

Freddie: he has a notebook he takes everywhere with him that he writes down equations in. It was the last birthday gift he got from his parents (before they left they had a present set aside for him 2 years into their trip) and he carries it everywhere with him.

Zach: when he was seven, his father gave him an old badge. He carries it almost everywhere and hides it under his collar whenever he can. It means the world to him and he can't wait to earn his own.

What’s your OC’s least favorite thing that’s considered a common occurrence? 

Character Question 30

Are they superstitious?

Bella: Typically, she's not. They make no sense whatsoever. She does however have a very particular way she goes to bed before big competitions. She won't touch the project that's competing. She adds something to her first prizewinning project. Then she does her bedroom routine in reverse. She always places in the top three. Is this from skill or the ritual? Who knows? She doesn't want to risk it.

Freddie: he thinks superstitions are dumb and a waste of time. He won't open umbrellas indoors and will hysterically scream and back away from anyone who does. Three times he either was present or he opened an umbrella indoors something bad happened. The first time he sprained an ankle stepping off the curb. The second time he failed a science competition for the first time ever. The third time he received news his parents were going to space for a long time.

Zach: He has a pair of lucky socks that don't match. They're getting a bit small and worn out at this point, but his dad has a few replacement pairs in bigger sizes ready. He has a certain arrangement for his stuffed toys before important events. He does knock on wood a lot too - something he learned his mom did and makes him feel closer to her

Character Question 31

How did their parent's death affect them?

Zach: he hates that his mother's death affects his dad. And his stuffed animal collection is very important to him. But since his mum died when he was a toddler, it doesn't affect him much (I still haven't figured out how she dies. If she dies in a drive-by shooting/car chase that she wasn't involved in he would be more driven to be a police officer)

Freddie: grieved for his parents. He feels their absence prominently in his life. Despite not being the best parents, they were active in their child's life, so when they left for space he was depressed. It took a lot for his foster parents to help him recover.

When the government pronounced his parents as legally dead since they'd been missing for so long, he went into denial. He screamed at anyone who tried to reason with him for the first hour, then was silent for weeks. His foster parents were extremely concerned about him, but luckily it wasn't as bad as last time since he stayed in denial grieved already he didn't truly grieve (he didn't actually fully recover. It is doubtful he will ever be the same, naturally. At least the first time he had a probable date to look forward to. His exuberance for life greatly diminished after his second round of depression. Happiness level - 9 - 2.5 - 7.5 - 2 - 6.5)

Character Question 31

What is their idea of a really fun time?

Zach: he wouldn't like to be alone, but if he had to he'd probably play video games. He'd love to spend time with anyone at a park, provided there are trees and a ball to toss around.

Bella: a book club! She'd love to hang out and discuss good books with close friends. Alone, she loves to create new bots, crack codes, and read.

Freddie: eww, people take him to a science fair and enjoy the purity of him feeling out over cool simple experiments. He loves reading graphic novels and his side projects that he sometimes does for money. Or to prove a point. More often the latter.

Character Question 32

What do they do to entertain themself?

Bella: When she doesn't have access to her tools (which is rare) she loves to binge her favourite cartoon shows. Either that or read. She loves mystery and often plays a game with herself: how much faster can she figure out the puzzle before the detective/main characters. So far, only Sherlock has bested her, and it's only happened twice. That, and she drools over gadget magazines before realising she can best all the creators and starting a newer, improved version of her favourite thing from the catalogue.

Freddie: Straight to his comics in free time. If he has reread most of them recently, he turns to his hero themed projects. He finds it very easy to zone out and can lose days to his passions. It's totally worth it though, and easy enough to catch up.

Zach: If he's at home, he'll go outside and shoot some baskets on the driveway, bounce a ball against a wall, use the gym bars in the backyard etc. Provided he has an excess of time, he might go to the local skate park or parkour studio (?) And practice his moves there. Post short story, he might read a page or two from a lent comic book, but he generally reserves them for winding down before bed.

Character Question 33

What is their favorite fairytale? Least favorite?

Bella: The original sleeping beauty is her least favourite, for obvious reasons. If sleazy kings could not take advantage of helpless women, that'd be great. And let's not encourage cannibalism, even if your husband is not nice to you.

Mulan is probably her favourite. Where a self confident woman dupes an entire army, fights, wins, takes care of her family, and then comes back and can be happy with herself is a compelling and inspiring story for her.

Freddie: Stupidity frustrates him endlessly, so the fairytale about the sausage, the bird and the dog/mouse (or something like that) is probably his lead favourite. They disrupt the order they have and all suffer for it which infuriates him to no end.

His favourite is the stonecutter one. (Where a stonecutter wishes to become grand things and the mountain he's carving on, which is magic, and likes him, grants his wishes, before he ends up a stonecutter again because that's where he's happiest) He likes the idea of dreaming beyond your place in life. Find a boon in life and twist it to your advantage. Use observational skills to find and best something greater than you. 

Zach: Snow White is his least favourite. Can we not bully people based on things they can't control? That would be nice. Again, cannibalism is not a great thing to attempt. And putting down women is very old fashioned and something he doesn't like. It's okay to be protective, as long as women are independent and able to rise to wherever they wish.

(I'm terrible with remembering names) There's a fairytale where this woman's husband and the father of her child is taken away because of a curse, so she goes on this incredibly long journey, wearing through a pair of iron shoes and being helped by relatives of the sun and moon. Zach loves the perseverance and kindness shown by the characters, so this is probably his favourite.

Character Question 34

What is their password? (Or the pattern they use to choose passwords)

Zach: he has named every single one of his stuffed animals. They are his passwords. If it needs a number and it's a plush from a birthday, he uses that number. (If that makes sense)

Freddie: he uses science facts. He'll abbreviate it or he'll use the first letters. Sometimes he uses obscure scientists that he admires!

Bella: you know the passwords Google suggests? She uses those. But she memorizes them. None of them are saved on any computer - she's too worried about hackers since she's made a few online enemies in her time. No one has ever kept her out of somewhere she wants to be, especially if it's hurting society.

Heya! 🌷🌻🌳 for the plantie ask game? You can pick one or you can go all out and do them all :> (Go all out please) @/free-as-an-ox

!! It's nice to meet you, Kat! I think I'll do this one with Bella since I haven't shared some of this stuff about her before 🌷 Does your oc have any collections? What of? Any reason why? Jars and jars of tiny screws. They're left over from past projects, most of them busted, but she can't bring herself to let them go, so she keeps them as a reminder of what she's accomplished. All the jars are colored in greyscale and purple shades, arranged from darkest to lightest, with purple beginning on the white end. Some are warped from welding gone wrong and lids are dented because her cat loves to experiment with gravity. Also, tiny things are cute.

🌻 What little things make your oc happy? Would they admit that they make them happy? She loves sitting down and unwinding with cartoons. There's just something about being able to let go of the pressure of everyday life and just watching feel-good shows. And yes, she's cried over them. She won't deny it if someone confronts her about it, but she won't go out of her way to share it, since she aims to be perceived as a serious person most of the time.

🌳 What are some things your oc is proud of? Her earliest projects. She programmed the lights in her room to be sound activated when she was about 8, a dirty clothes sorter, and a mechanical stationary organizer at 9. She still uses all of them and has only had to do minor upkeep over the years. Though she loves the prize-winning things she's made, she wouldn't trade the first projects for anything - they opened her eyes to how much she loves programming.

Planty OC Ask Game

🌷🍀🏵️ for the spring ask game?

Hii Len!!

🌷 Does your oc have any collections? What of? Any reason why?

I have for some reason decided to make this question the master list of collections

Bella: Jars of tiny screws. Explained here

Zach: Stuffed animals. He's carrying on his mother's collection

Freddie: comics Superhero graphic novels. He's just a fan understatement

Fera: tiny, handmade clay sculptures. She grounds herself from others' feelings by having something to fiddle with. Also, all the things she makes are too adorable to scrap

Nala: pens. you know those tacky, not very good pens business give away? those, and green flannel. She's gay and likes green, what do you expect

VH: beanies. it began as a way to better protect them from contact and then it spiraled out of control

🍀 Who has the best luck of your ocs? The worst?

VH probably has the worst luck, considering the powers they got stuck with. And I'll give Fera the best luck (disregarding her own bad deal with powers) so she now finds pennies pretty much everywhere, and will almost never miss a bus

💮 What are your oc’s best skills?

VH is incredible at gymnastics. They go all out at their gym and are probably in the top five of their age group state-wide. They love being able to physically spend themselves, balancing out the hours they spend at home hiding from people

Fera can bring a garden back from the dead, and she's done it before. I'd say she works magic on it, but that's not her power. She's just great with plants.

Planty OC Ask Game

Oh hell I’m doing this for Daisy because F Scott Fitzgerald is incapable at giving her a personality, and this makes my life easier:

1. Alcoholic: She’s a cocktail girl, partial to a mint Julip but not only that. Especially sweet ones, she will tolerate the taste of alcohol but it’s best if it’s masked in other flavours. Non-alcoholic I think she’s fond of a peach iced tea, or something similarly sweet and a little flowery - like elderflower cordials!

2. Elaborate. Everything *has* to be perfect, hair perfectly waved, makeup perfectly stylish, clothes fashion forward but not too daring. After all, what other worth does she have?

3. She has No idea, she is does not look at the price level rich, probably a dress or jewellery. It would be her piano or silverware but they were heirloom.

4. No. As with anything related to her appearance she’s dedicated to keeping it completely perfect. If she could I think she’d tattoo a daisy on her shoulder though.

5. She is a cryer, it was probably over a hangnail, or a missed appointment. BUT she cannot cry over the things that actually affect her deeply, like her relationship with Tom will elicit little emotional response but accidentally calling on someone twice in one day will have her sobbing.

6. Only child, only girl. She had all the family pressure of having to marry rich, and continue the familial line. That’s why the conditioning is baked in so deep, she truly believes that if she’s not the perfect paragon of femininity she has failed.

7. Nice, sensible, Mary-Jane esque heels that match her dress. Think Character Shoes in musical theatre but not necessarily in black or tan.

8. Meticulous, all soft hangings and blurred edges. Lilacs and buttercups, soft blush pinks, nothing darker than a light grey. Everything has its place, down to the perfumes on her dresser, and where each individual tube of lipstick should be. She collects porcelain figures, and they’re all neatly displayed on a shelf. But, hidden in the bottom drawer of her dresser is a collection of sentimental items, ranging from old letters to pictures, anything that’s too private to be displayed. Just for her.

9. Holidays mean parties, and parties mean performing the perfect hostess, (at one point)wife, and mother. Far too much trouble for what they’re worth. Though, deep down, she likes seeing how Pammy lights up on christmas morning. It’s a complicated relationship.

10. In her purse there is always: Powder, lipstick, and a compact mirror. She also will not leave the house without a pair of gloves, and at least one item of jewellery. And a hat, of course.

So my problem with most ‘get to know your character’ questioneers is that they’re full of questions that just aren’t that important (what color eyes do they have) too hard to answer right away (what is their greatest fear) or are just impossible to answer (what is their favorite movie.)  Like no one has one single favorite movie. And even if they do the answer changes.

If I’m doing this exercise, I want 7-10 questions to get the character feeling real in my head. So I thought I’d share the ones that get me (and my students) good results: 

What is the character’s go-to drink order? (this one gets into how do they like to be publicly perceived, because there is always some level of theatricality to ordering drinks at a bar/resturant)

What is their grooming routine? (how do they treat themselves in private)

What was their most expensive purchase/where does their disposable income go? (Gets you thinking about socio-economic class, values, and how they spend their leisure time)

Do they have any scars or tattoos? (good way to get into literal backstory) 

What was the last time they cried, and under what circumstances? (Good way to get some *emotional* backstory in.) 

Are they an oldest, middle, youngest or only child? (This one might be a me thing, because I LOVE writing/reading about family dynamics, but knowing what kinds of things were ‘normal’ for them growing up is important.)

Describe the shoes they’re wearing. (This is a big catch all, gets into money, taste, practicality, level of wear, level of repair, literally what kind of shoes they require to live their life.)

Describe the place where they sleep. (ie what does their safe space look like. How much (or how little) care / decoration / personal touch goes into it.)

What is their favorite holiday? (How do they relate to their culture/outside world. Also fun is least favorite holiday.) 

What objects do they always carry around with them? (What do they need for their normal, day-to-day routine? What does ‘normal’ even look like for them.) 

Get to Know Your Character

Here are some questions to consider for character development:

What parts of their childhood trigger them?

How do they treat themselves when they're feeling sad?

What parts of themselves do they tend to hide?

How do they punish themselves when they make mistakes?

Who are they loyal to? Why?

Who do they avoid? Why?

What emotions or situations do they try to avoid? Why?

What angers them?

What are their insecurities?

What are their emotional triggers?

How do they feel about love?

What are their fears?

What is their relationship with their family like?

What kind of people do they tend to gravitate towards?

What do they like/dislike about themselves?

Happy writing ❤

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I'm late again!

Meg has several pets, technically. She speaks to animals, so she has "animal friends" such as Michael the raccoon. Her mom also has a turtle.

Kairi had a dog, named Aki. Adrasteia.... she's not into taking care of things, so if she had one, it'd likely be an exotic animal for status/vanity reasons.

Blorbo Blursday #6

Would your character ever own a pet? If so, what and why? If not, why not?

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