FAQ | Commissions | Characters
ADVICE TIME.
I made a journal similar to this a while ago:
DRAW WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANTSince this is art related I'll rant here.
Because of the Steven Universe shit on Tumblr and now people being offended by how you may draw your own character (which was seen on here), I need to jump in here and give my angry thoughts.
DRAW WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU WANT. Doesn't matter if it offends someone else. YOU CAN DRAW IT. Of course you can't post certain things to specific sites because of rules, BUT BESIDES THAT DO WHATEVER YOU WANT.
People are trying to police on what illnesses you can give to your characters or how you represent your character. Some people are even saying "if you don't have that illness you can't have your character with that illness."
BULL. SHIT. That is taking it TOO far. INSTEAD, you should encourage people to RESEARCH the said illness so they are getting it right. But even if the artist doesn't want to, it's their right.
It's just so frustrating to see people telling others what they can and can't draw. I'd draw protest art if I could handle a bunch of people
But I have some other things to say now! And this new one isn't as mad sounding. ahahaha
This is something I am super passionate about, so I wanna share my feelings for this. So in a way it will be giving advice on how to make "believable" characters, and yet don't have to at the same time.
First small thing: make an overpowered character if you want to.
Go as mary/gary-sue as you want. They are your characters! Many characters in anime are over-powered and very much loved. Many times it's fun seeing them over-powered. More fun when there's a twist to them, like One Punch Man.
This also goes for things they might be "perfect" at or are a general prodigy. Go ahead! Just know that if you rp with someone and you have an over-powered character, it may make it frustrating on the other person. It can also be easy to not have interesting stories either. BUT YOU CAN STILL MAKE THEM THAT WAY!
Now for the biggest part of this journal:
Make any kind of character you want, either it being from different sexualities, races, sexes, species (though also be mindful of closed species) and any kind of disability or ANYTHING ELSE that can happen. You don't have to experience it yourself to make a character with it.
You can also go by stereotypes. They are there for a reason. It's wrong of people to say "NEVER GO BY STEREOTYPES!" cuz then they are ignoring the many people who ARE stereotypes.
My advice: just treat the character as that: a character.
When it comes to believability, characters are super complex. Just think about each person you know. They are all different in their own ways. Treat your own characters like that!
So this next part of advice is for if you want to make them realistic instead of "overpowered/can do everything right" kind of thing.
First, lets go with an example. A gay character. What makes a character gay? Their sexuality. The ONLY thing you need for that character to be gay is for them to be sexually attracted to the same sex. THAT'S IT. Everything else is up to you! You can make them as stereotypical as you want, or as far away from stereotypes as you want, or a mix of both! Figure out their likes and dislikes and how their society is towards them and how they react to that as well as general personality and if they have any possible mental disorders and... the list goes on! The more you add to a character, the more realistic they theoretically will be!
Don't go by what people say you "can" and "can't" do with a character because they have specific interests. Not everyone will like your character, and that's fine! But they can't tell you to not go into something.
Now, when it comes to specific other things, like mental illness or physical disabilities, these would be better with a bunch of research, and talking to those who deal with it. Hear from lots of different places since everyone goes through things differently. You can then figure it out from there! However, this is only if you're giving a character a SPECIFIC problem! If you make up a problem, you can do as you like!
For example, my character, Chet, seems as if he has "split personality disorder" (I know it's called something else but this explains it more easily) but it's very unique to himself. When he's not hungry he is more calm and regrets a lot of what he does... but when he becomes hungry he is very different and murderous, not caring what he does. That's just the tip of his problems, but I'm not trying to base him off of a specific mental issue. He is his own character, so it won't follow specific things.
Like with being gay, if your character is of a skin tone, like a black character (and you yourself are not), make them as their own character! The only trait they have in common with other black people is their skin color. The door is wide open! Now if you want them to be a part of something specific, like the black panther party, or lives in the ghetto, or any "stereotypical" black thing (and shhh if you are suddenly offended by what I said here. Each race has their stereotypes), then you'll want to do research. See why some black people live in poor neighborhoods (and also know that any race can!). Or read up on success stories of black people getting out of there, or compare it to black people who have lived rich ever since they were born! See the differences between them. It also depends on culture. A black character and a white character living the same life may be very alike (like with mannerisms, food, language, and so on. Interests can still vary wildly, however), while if they were a part of two very different cultures, they'd be very different in all those things!
This all goes for any race/nationality. If your character deals with our world, it will be best to do research on the specific cultures you may have the character in, but still treat them as their own character! I'd just say be wary of false stereotypes (stereotypes that were given to a race but isn't actually something that ever happened, or happened to ONE person.)
Like me for example, even though I have a fantasy world, I am doing lots of research of Japanese culture to put into my world, with some differences, but also trying to avoid false stereotypes. I love the Japanese culture, so I want to do what I can to learn more!
But if your character is in a fantasy world and they aren't based on real life, their skin color wouldn't dictate how they are as a person (besides the made up cultures you do).
I have mentioned my trans character before, and I know there will be people who will be angry at me for a variety of reasons (that I'm not trans, or that I don't portray the character how they like, or even showing anything negative about them). To me, they'd only be seeing my character as "trans" and not as a person. That annoys me. :/ But I will simply ignore them and do as I please. Some people will be able to relate to the characters, while others won't. The character isn't meant for everyone who is trans to relate to them. That's not reality.
But, if you do want to make a character that focuses around a specific thing about them, go ahead! I may personally not like it, but as I've said you should make characters how you want. You just shouldn't dictate how others make their own characters.
I really want to drive this point home: each character is their own person. Treat them as such.
I have stereotypical characters, opposite ones, and mixed ones. It makes it fun when they all interact together!
So have fun with it!
And if you need any further advice, go ahead and ask me. :3
