idk if this really answers the question, i love love LOVE when characters are exposed to situations that could potentially make them vulnerable or even look the opposite of what they're supposed to be.


the smartest kid in the class actually failing a test? beautiful.

a powerful ceo losing all of their influence and wealth? delicious.

a famous celeb being blackmailed and doing whatever they can for it to stop? amazing.

a usually calm and collected character losing their absolute shit?



i appreciate when writers put their characters in uncompromising positions 'cause it just feels realistic that not things can go their way 100% of the time, and it's interesting to see how they deal with such dilemmas and solve them (if they, the character, even want to)!

you’re gonna like code geass

i will admit being guilty for being familiar with the series, in love with one of their ops as they're from my fave band (flow), often using face claims from them, but never watched the series. 😔

still valid. clamp design is fantastic. may the jibun wo be with you

I like when characters have flaws that obstruct them in obtaining their goals. I see apps that ask you to balance negative and positive traits, but I find that difficult because, in my view, those are context-based, sometimes even in the eye of the beholder. An insanely stubborn character would be annoying as a younger sister; they'd probably make for a great heroine intent on revealing the evils of the empire. Stingy people might hate spending money on themselves, but delight in spending on others. Kind people can still unleash of a fury of which hell hath no.

My favourite sort of characters (I admit, not "good" necessarily) embrace that, and respect that not all traits are black-and-white. A baseline "good" roleplay character is, in my opinion, is one that is equally good at playing a protagonist's role as they are at playing the supporting character or antagonist.

And I adore characters that challenge themselves, or whose entire story is about changing. If I write Neil, the straight A student who never strays from the "right" path, I'd be thrilled to write him taking the teacher's wallet in a moment of weakness...and ecstatic thrill. Come join me as we find the boundaries of the rules and escalate into bigger and bigger crimes until the entire house of cards comes falling down.



I'll also be first to admit that I don't always feel like writing (and reading) something high-class. Sometimes I just want something stupid saccharine with the developmental depth of a penny; brain off, just write fluff, and give me a fluff character to go with it.

...Which reminds me of why I don't like writing in-depth personality writeups on character profiles. For these sections, I prefer to write just the passable minimum for the site's standards, and nothing beyond that. Because for me, I feel that the personality description should only serve as a "what to expect when interacting with this character", essentially a run-down or summary of their surface traits. As far as their innermost traits go... that's something I prefer to explore and develop in-RP than to put down on a character profile page; and yes, often their inner traits can be quite the opposite of their surface traits. I know some might argue that detailed writeups are useful for maintaining consistency, but I tend to beg to differ. Ergo, I feel "locked in" if I have to provide a very detailed personality writeup, since for me it feels like it means 'forcing' my character to develop along a predetermined or scripted path, which kinda sucks out a good deal of the fun, IMO.