Multiple Settings •don’t make eye contact with the dorky potato• | Long Term | Dark | Heavy Character Development | Adv Lit by a lazy ass

[retrosmoja]

Fair warning... this is really long.​

me: repeatedly calls myself lazy in this post
also me: works on it for literal days

this is a sheepish smile. drawn by me.​

I like to skip the uptight introduction phase where we tryhard using formal speak to prove we’re classy in-character and worth each other’s time. I’ve got a background in advanced lit stuff, but… I really can’t be bothered to play the elitist game anymore.

My posts are polished—nearly all my brain cells work when I write official IC stuff. I’ve been doing this for 12+ years.

Despite that, I only use 2 brain cells to handle everything OOC, and they’re lazy little fuckers. Pretty sure one drinks on the job, the other one thinks he’s funny, and neither proofreads until after shit’s published. But it’s okay. OOC is when you peel the bra off after a long day of patriarchal bullshit. I’m not sleeping in a corset to prove something, friends—I just don’t care enough.

Let’s be chill and straightforward instead of calculating it all out like any number of bird species with fancy mating rituals.

Before I introduce myself, lemme give you a quick rundown so you can decide if you wanna read more or smash that back button and forget I exist.

THE RUNDOWN

I love OOC chatter, please join me on discord to meme about dumb shit and get sparkle eyed over OC things

I’m 24, so I prefer writing with people 18+

Open to all pairings, queer or straight. MxM and NB// are my favorite. FxF is rare just because 95% of my characters are male (including FTM) or under the non-binary umbrella.

Heavy character development is my jam, expect to really dig deep and focus on that vs basing things more on plot.

I apparently don’t know what a side character is because all my OCs end up in the very developed main character club. I do very well with partners who like working towards detailed universes with a bunch of fleshed out OCs. Nobody interacts with just one person forever… where’s the rest of the world?

I’m supremely NOT a fan of slice of life, canon OCs, high school anything, and fandoms in general.

I don’t really care about post examples—it’s boring without context or any attachment to the OCs mentioned. If I like you, your vibe, your ideas— I could generally care less what your writing style looks like. I’m good enough at this shit to adapt to you if needed. (pft, look at my arrogant ass over here)

My post length varies. Sometimes I’m lazy. Sometimes I’m extra. Quality of content > length of post. Fuck minimum word counts. I’ve dropped 4-6k word posts before and played that 1k minimum game. Fuck that game. What is this, a college essay? Not me pulling a kusco’s poison on something that’s supposed to be enjoyable. If we like what the post does for the story, who cares if it’s one paragraph or a whole ass novella?

That said… if you come over here asking me if I’m cool with one sentence posts because fUcK MiNiMuM wOrD cOuNtS, I’m going to throw a half eaten bag of pretzels at you and call you a smartass. You don’t get to keep the pretzels. I’m still eating them.

I’m 100% ghost and MIA friendly, no heads up required, no getting pestered, and no worries about it being awkward if you come back. Obviously nobody really enjoys being straight up ditched, but… eh. I really don’t have it in me to be anal or hold grudges.

I eat pineapple on my pizza. I know that’s a dealbreaker for a lot of people, but tough shit. I regret nothing.

Expect me to be really fucking slow. Seriously. Lethargy is my common state of being, not the exception. Don’t use me as your sole roleplay fix—I’m a decent side of fries, not the enchilada that’s big enough to eat for 3 days.

I’m fairly active brainstorming or chewing unrelated fat OOC—you might hear from me daily, even—but official posts can take me deadass 8-12 hours to finish so I’m really sporadic about it. I personally think my writing is awesome enough to be worth the trade off of irregularity, but, hey. Some people don’t vibe with it and that’s okay.

I adore dark and gritty things. It’s generally difficult to trigger me so most topics are 100% okay, but one notable exception is anything involving pedophillia. I have personal experience with that sort of thing, and while I’ve dealt with my trauma enough to openly talk about it… it’s totally possible for something to hit me wrong. Ever been so seethingly angry it makes you nauseous? Me with anime sometimes. Oh, so it’s comedic relief now, is it? Ha. Ha. Ha. Yes. This garbage fire of a human is very funny >:c

I’m very respectful of triggers so do let me know if there’s anything that should be avoided. Although I do try to tell you in advance when I first pitch an OC like, oh yeah, this one has an eating disorder, any objections or concerns? Sometimes I forget, so never hesitate to let me know if you aren’t comfortable with something. I’ll never be upset or take it personally.

Now you get rambles.

I’m Jasper, aka Jazz, a self proclaimed mega dork. The dorkiness is charming. I promise. Haha, this poor fool believes it.

I’m non-binary. They/them pronouns are preferred but he/she is cool too and I’m down for gendered language in general. People find me intimidating sometimes, but I’m a cinnamon roll. I’m down for the bad puns, the old memes, the dad jokes, the not being able to play a genocide run in Undertale because it’s too hard to betray Sans like that and presumably murder the monsters I’ve befriended.

If you’re into MBTI… I’m an INFJ.

I’m also satirical shit and a sucker for social commentary, so you’ll see a lot of political undertones in my writing. So. many. undertones. What flavor are those undertones? I’m progressive. So far left, I’m even left handed.

I also love poking at religion. Christianity gets thrown under the bus a lot. No, it’s not bitterness.

...it’s maybe somewhat bitterness.

My roleplaying style tends to gravitate towards detailed universes that generally grow to have dozens of OCs… so I do tend to pitch things with that in mind. Normally I start with a central pair and it just naturally goes from there.

My last one started with 3 OCs total, 2 were mine and 1 was theirs, and after 3 years we had 40+ OCs each.

the pun is the most important thing here
I bet you like diving headfirst in a dazzle of badassery, don’t you? Well it’s your unlucky day because this isn’t the Olympics, and I am but a humble potato. I do the potato thing and never jump into anything… I roll.

Because they’re roll-plays.

This was not drawn by me—it’s a screencap from a szin animatic. ​

Look, ok… this hobby really sucks sometimes. I’m sure you have a couple horror stories, just like I do.

So what makes it not suck?

Lots of things, probably, but I’m gonna focus on 2: open communication and clear expectations.

I like to make friends and get a feel for you before officially starting a roleplay—mostly to establish a baseline level of comfort so we feel ok communicating vs letting things go until it’s not fun anymore.

It sounds kind of stupid, like, bro. What? Why you making this big thing like it’s so hard to fuccin communicate??

Mmmmm…. well…. nobody seems to do it. Not unless it’s an explicit thing you tape to your forehead in hopes that people get used to the idea. You have to allow time to figure out, ah, they’re not just saying “let’s communicate” or “I’m down to communicate,” they actually mean it and it’s gonna be okay to speak plainly.

We’re creatives. Artists can be sensitive about their shit. Anything that’s not entirely positive can feel like a personal blow to our person. Shit, they said they didn’t like this thing I made OH MY GOSH WHAT DOES THAT SUBTEXT SAY—

[squints at fine print]
u suck nerd get bent.


Ah. So that’s how it is.
more szin... random screenshots are how I express myself​

It’s totally possible that in being honest about how we feel, you might say something that hurts me, and I might say something that hurts you.

I see absolutely nothing wrong with that because that can be resolved. It’s pretty easy for me to be like, ok yeah, that hurt a little bit but I respect where you’re coming from and we’re cool. That path leads to resolution, whereas letting things go until you can’t anymore doesn’t.

So you can expect me to be honest and communicate. I’m not an ass about it. This is pretty much the tone you can expect:

“I don’t think this vibes with my OC, they wouldn’t do this thing. But if we adjusted the idea in this way I think it would work, or how do you feel about this alternative path?”

“This conflict is too heavy for me right this second, can we take a break?” Or “I don’t feel like talking about this thing right now, can we brainstorm something else in the meantime?”

“I’m not sure what it is but something about this doesn’t sit right with me. Maybe we can talk about it and figure it out, or we can put this thing on pause for the time being until I figure it out myself?”

“I don’t love that idea, and this is why. Let me tell you what I was thinking and maybe we can find a compromise or something different we both like.”

I don’t want to hurt feelings, so I’m gentle with feedback and I try to be very productive by being clear about why I feel the way I do and offering suggestions on how we can move forward.

I also like to plan things out ahead of time so nobody gets caught off guard with things they’re not down for.

Shoutout to that one RP partner that suddenly made things weird and you just kind of laughed it off at first but eventually yeeted because this is supposed to be fun and not weird or uncomfortable??

Yep. Yep yep yep. Looking at you, person who lowkey goddmodded pregnancy on my abducted underage OC after trying to push an explicit sex scene with their whole ass adult OC despite the fact we hadn’t talked about shipping them at all...

Holy fuck, amirite?

You can’t just force shit on people with no warning or discussion on it. It doesn’t even have to be potentially triggering things, either—it could be seemingly dumb shit that you’re just not feeling and being forced in that direction kills your desire to keep writing. Or there could be things that someone likes in a general sense but in context of this specific story or dynamic they’re just not down with it.

It’s my policy not to write major things unless we’ve talked about it. I always talk a lot OOC, brainstorming and planning things out. I love doing unofficial character chats. I use them to brainstorm and talk about the characters, figure out conflicts, motivations, solidify their quirks and characterization, the way they speak, all that shit, and develop a good sense of the dynamic between our OCs before writing official posts. I use character chats to flesh out interpersonal conflicts and get a sense of what works and what doesn’t. The characters and story always ends up way more interesting and in-depth when I do this with people.

My character chats often include more than just dialogue, it’s really a diluted (read: lazy) version of actual posts.

They might be a few words if it’s some dumb back and forth over something silly, or they could be a few sentences, or a few paragraphs with rough descriptions of more polished things. I might more quickly and explicitly write the inner workings of an OC’s conflict, whereas in an actual post it would be drawn out in several posts and more subtle, but for a character chat I’m really just conveying the core to you or trying something out to see how it feels.

If we brainstorm OC dynamics + plot points first, it’s no big deal to change things if we don’t like the direction or we think of something that requires retcons to previous material, but if we jump in and it’s already in official posts it’s like… uhg, do we really wanna say anything when all this work has already been put into polished posts?

I’ve completely ditched entire arcs before because after working through it with character chats to take snapshots of certain points and see how the characters would react to each other, it wound up unpleasant and neither of us liked it. So we retconned it all and tried something different.

If we talk about major plot points and arcs before they’re officially written, we all know what to expect and it’s possible to make sure we’re both happy with how the story goes. We end up loving the story because only things we’re happy with are allowed in. So there’s a lesser chance of it becoming a chore because you don’t like the direction and it’s not exciting anymore.


just OC things
Making character sheets lowkey bores me. I know I just have to do it once and then it’s pretty much fine forever, just adjusting things as needed, but… bleh.

My creative process is kind of a mess, so being forced to organize it into neat little presentations before I can even convey anything to you is basically the bane of my existence. Can you just read my brainwaves?

No?

Uhg, fine. That’s fair. Let’s compromise with somewhat organized rambling.

I have a Google spreadsheet to keep track of OC details like name, height, age, sexuality, gender, pronouns, etc. I use this database for both our OCs, updating it with whatever you tell me about yours, too. You’re free to use it as a helpful reference or completely ignore its existence.

Here’s how creating / pitching a character typically goes

>Periodically update OC Database with whatever info is figured out. There’s usually blank spaces. Stuff like MBTI or DnD general alignments are somewhat petty details, but I keep them in the spreadsheet because… I guess I like torturing myself with the chore of it, eventually.

One year later just: oh, by the way, figured out Jerry is chaotic evil :T

Exact age is also a detail that tends to be figured out later… it’s variable based on the story, so.

[in discord]
[backing up to a Google doc if I’m being a good potato and staying organized]

>Send face claim

>Send any relevant song(s) that represent the OC

I usually have at least 1 general vibe song for each OC—it’s part of my creative process. Sometimes an artist matches up with my idea of the OC’s voice. Other times it doesn’t match at all… so I say fuck it and don’t offer an example of their voice. Occasionally an OC doesn’t have a song at all, but that’s pretty rare, ‘cause… it’s cooler to have a song, y’know?

(Depending on your taste in music, you’re either gonna hate me having songs for all my OCs or enjoy getting your playlist fed).

>Ramble my ass off about random shit—backstory tidbits, personality things, inner conflict details, random OC quotes, possible character dynamics between this OC and your OC(s), this random poem I wrote that I’m somehow both proud and embarrassed about…

OCs tend to adjust/change some from the initial pitch as we plan stuff or play around with CCs, so it feels like a waste of time for me to put together a legit character sheet. Plus… I’m lazy. So. I don’t like doing them, and I don’t care if you avoid them too.

Also… the fact I have a spreadsheet should reinforce my earlier declaration that I’ve previously had 40+ OCs in one RP. It should also give you an idea of why I’m lazy about character sheets. Who the fUCK wants to make 40 character sheets?? It gets old. It gets really old.

I promise you’ll get an intuitive feel for my OCs even if I’m not so proper about introducing them. It’s fine!

All that said, the OCs offered in this thread do have more polished sheet-like things because I’m talking at you and not with you at this point, so... it’s kind of necessary to go a bit extra to convey things.


Every single one of my OCs are queer somehow. I’d be utterly shocked if one of my characters wound up being cishet. I have cis characters, and I’ve had a few het characters, but putting the two together never happens for me. Maybe I’m just too queer?

Most common sexualities:
Pan, Gay, Bi, Ace.

I’m a huuuuuuge fan of romance—but keep in mind that a lot of times, people use the concept of romance as a crutch and get lazy with their character dynamics. They’re in love, so the relationship is deep!!! No, no. It isn’t deep unless you make it deep. If you took away the stereotypically romance things, the attraction, the guilty pleasure clichés, would the relationship still be interesting?

I’m also a huge fan of platonic shit. There’s dynamics you can only have outside of romance, y’know?

I also have Ace and Aromantic OCs that have different concepts of what a relationship means vs the mainstream idea of one.

It’s all good shit, so I’ll pretty much go for whatever you prefer + whatever feels best for the OCs in question.

Onward to Plots and OCs
I originally intended to elaborate on most of this and write up sheets for about a dozen OCs... but after spending a few hours trying to accomplish that, I’ve decided it’s way too much to write (and read) so fuck that idea.

Definitely click on the Dr. Bennett tab and take a look at Hemmie—he’s a wonderful example to get a feel for my characters.

I got lazier about writing sheets for the remaining OCs because I’m really rEALLY ready to be done drafting this thread. Especially since writing threads on mobile tends to make RPN spazz and randomly erase shit... among other quirks. I’m pretty done with this text editor’s bullshit at this point. You can probably see the downhill trajectory of my patience.

Ps: I don’t usually do fandoms... but if you’ve ever seen Into the Badlands or the Netflix series Marco Polo and want to do something lowkey inspired by either of them, I’ll probably fucking love you.

If you have your own ideas, pairings, or cravings that you think I’d be a good match for, absolutely feel free to tell me! I have plenty of interests that aren’t mentioned here... and other ideas, too. it’s not an exhaustive list by any means. I just had to stop before I went too overboard.

Also... I didn’t write his character sheet because, again, I’m ready to be done and just find some partners, but I wanna highlight a pairing that I’m really craving.

Sheriff of Nottingham x Robin Hood

Sheriff is my OC. Here’s a super lazy pitch: Brook is a gunslinger with sociopathic tendencies, a loose moral code, and he supports the regime unquestionably not because he believes in it (he doesn’t really believe in anything) but because he owes his life to someone and considers it a debt. He really likes Robin—but that means he likes to poke Robin, like a schoolboy who’s mean to his crush. I don’t mean like in a romantic way, it’s more like admiration and amusement. (Would love the dynamic to give off esoterically gay as fuck vibes, however, and developing romance is an option). Think esoterically gay obsession vibes like Graham and Hannibal. Brook generally views life as dull but Robin is exciting. He pretends to, but doesn’t actually fight seriously because he doesn’t want to kill Robin. That gives off patronizing, better-than-you, toying around vibes. He secretly wants Robin to like him, too, and wants to prove that all Robin’s negative perceptions of him are wrong. Even the ones that aren’t wrong. Not because he’s ashamed of any of them, mind you—it’s just really fun to prove Robin wrong.

actual picture of me introducing your poor OC to my OC​

Anyway, on to listing other random shit to get your attention.

• Reimagined Fairytale, Folklore, Alice in Wonderland — possibly with steampunk / early industrialization / bleak wartime vibes - generally more realistic vs magic based. <— Dr. Bennett and Barnes are from this one. Brook x Robin Hood probably would be too.

• [TAKEN] Arthurian legend — can also include reimagined fairytales, etc, but likely more magic based vs realistic. <—Merlin

• Reimagined Howl’s Moving Castle + Spirited Away + (lowkey) Demon Slayer

• Corrupt religious order / Roman Catholic Church + supernatural beings

• Sci-Fi dystopia - heavy classism, androids, augmented humans, systemic oppression, modern slavery (both human and Android), question of what constitutes humanity, etc

• Angels and demons <—Michael, paired as Pessimistic Guardian Angel x Fallen Archangel

• Greek Mythology <— (I have tons of OCs for this one)

• Norse and Celtic Mythology

• Abrahamic Mythology

> I have some worldbuilding to combine different pantheons into one universe—Greek, Norse, Abrahamic, etc. It’s basically a “pre-creation” war where the Abrahamic god is trying to destroy the other gods to make a monotheistic world. I say “pre-creation” because the victor decides what history is written, so the resulting creation myth is whatever the prevailing pantheon decides vs what the actual truth is. Everything that happened before would become an erased, forgotten history. It’s not literally pre-creation.

• Dr. Bennett
• Michael
• Merlin
• Barnes

• 
  ((My version of the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland))
  
  
  Heimeric “Henry” Bennett
  Cis Male. He/Him. Bisexual. 6’0. Likely mid to late 30s.
  
  Spoiler: song

  
  His voice is the deeper one right after the one that sounds like a kid.
  
  PhD in Humanities, maybe sociology or English
  
  Once a gentleman and a scholar, drafted as a soldier, he had his worldview challenged and became a revolutionary. His government went full savage to brutally wipe the revolution out, and he was among the captured, suffering psychological torture. Then, with only a fragile grip on his sanity, he was shipped somewhere far away and auctioned into slavery.
  
  He used to be a good man, the type of man to turn the other cheek, but he struggled after suffering the intense mental distress that accompanied the revolution’s defeat. He desperately wanted to stay true to himself and be the bigger person; he wanted to see good in people and the world. He wanted to remain unchanged by what happened... surely they would win if they changed him, if they broke what made him good.
  
  And yet, despite all his desperation to avoid it... eventually his scars proved too deep and countless. The good man snapped.
  
  Necks. He snapped necks.
  
  He murdered an entire family, children included—and went on to live life as man who had completely lost sight of who he used to be.
  
  • I’m always walking as somebody else •
  
  He now believes that there isn’t any good in the world or in people—it’s all just a lie, a pretense. He watched the culture of slave holders, perpetuating horrors while maintaining this illusion of being good people. He thought of his own nation, how everyone bought into the facade of their environment and ignored the underlying brutality. He thought of himself—how he believed himself such a good person, not capable of the things he’s done now. The more he thought about it, the clearer everything became. Goodness is a lie.
  
  Goodness is a disgusting, nauseating lie.
  
  He has this duality of having a really intelligent manner about him while also being beastly, primal, savage.
  
  He uses brutality to cope with his own mental instability, to come to terms with being hurt far beyond what he was capable of enduring.
  
  
  . . .

  “...I don’t want to be the victim anymore. I don’t want to be the trampled, the broken…”
  
  “I don’t want to live in fear of the next strike.”
  
  “I don’t want to scurry and hide in the dark corners of this cruel world, wondering what will come first—the slow withering away or being found and broken for the last time.”
  
  “...I want to do the breaking.”
  
  “Do you think it would feel better?”
  
  “Do you think they feel better? Is that why they’re so openly cruel… does it feel better to own it, rather than bind your hands to live an appealing lie?”
  
  “I can’t survive with bound hands anymore… I can’t endure a single blow more.”
  
  “I won’t endure it. I refuse! I—“
  
  [shaky]
  
  “I want to do the breaking.”
  
  “...I want…”
  
  [steady]
  
  “I will do the breaking.”
  
  He started traveling back towards his country, committing acts of murder along the way. Anyone who seemed like they deserved it. Anyone who seemed like they might be a threat. He started gaining a following—people who happened to be saved by his acts of violence, outcasts who had no place elsewhere, people who wanted to escape the “civilized” toil and live a life where a warrior could do as they please.
  
  He essentially became a warlord.
  
  Many call him the Warlord of Hearts, based on a clearly endearing habit of pulling hearts out of chests.
  
  He now claims a territory in the outskirts of his homeland—a territory that’s well defended, thanks to a fearful reputation, his experience in war, and the efforts of warriors that joined him along the way. After establishing this permanent territory, many took to calling him the Red King, based equally on his pseudo kingdom, bloodshed, and distinctive red hair.
  
  He carries himself as an antagonist to the entire world—except those few granted a sense of belonging within his own borders—and given the chance, he’d even fight against those faces of the failed revolution, those whom he used to call his friends.
  
  He doesn’t bother to pretend there’s a self-righteous reason for it, either.
  
  
  . . .

  “I hate you because of everything I’ve endured on account of standing with you. I don’t care to debate the nuance of what was and wasn’t your fault. I don’t care if you also suffered—or how much.”
  
  “I blame you. It makes me feel better, so I blame you.”
  
  “You, and everyone—anyone I feel like. That’s my truth. You don’t like it?”
  
  “I don’t give a damn.”
  
  “So don’t come here with talk of right or wrong—don’t you dare tell me to be the bigger man. Don’t beseech me to walk the righteous path, to save yours or anyone else’s ass—I’ll hear none of it.”
  
  With a dangerous energy like a bear rising to its hind legs, in an instant, seemingly on a whim, he puffs himself up and invades their space. He devours the air between their faces until there’s little left—towering, looking down on them, closing in like a puzzle piece about to make a perfect fit.
  
  His advance had not yet stopped when he screamed—a scream without a shred of self control.
  
  “None of it!”
  
  It was the type of scream that drags up the sludge of despair and rage from the pit of your stomach and forces it out the throat, violently, as though puking out your insides, so all may see the disgusting, putrid tangle of that which makes you so very human… but brings only discomfort, even sickness, to any who are forced to acknowledge something so foul could exist in one who shares their species.
  
  It was a scream that made the next one hoarse, broken—a scream that leaves a residue that would be felt in his throat for days thereafter.
  
  There was a pause. Silence settled, his beard sparkled on account of keeping the spittle that didn’t travel to the other’s face. His posture remained larger than seemed possible given his normal mass, and his chest became a glutton for breath—a slight wheeze in one, surely the cost of forsaking self-control.
  
  He was not ready to yell again; he couldn’t yell again—but he tried, and it was apparent in the inflection of his voice that the attempt was there. Conveying that intent was enough to satisfy him.
  
  “Get the fuck out of my face.”
  
  Hemmie: gets in your bitch ass face
  Also Hemmie, 2 seconds later: get the fuck out of my face
  
  love u Hemmie, never change.
  
  Okay, that was a perfect example of how I do CCs.
  
  You’ll notice the tense got fucked in the middle there—I started in present tense and then switched to past tense. I thought about fixing this but decided not to because in a CC that tends to happen—SHAMEFULLY ENOUGH, BLAME MY TWO BRAIN CELLS—and if I’m using this as an example, fixing it here would be cheating. In an actual post, that would be fixed, and the whole thing would definitely be longer. Currently there’s nothing besides dialogue in the first half, after all.
  
  This would be a more polished CC because I went ahead and expanded the things outside of dialogue.
  
  Usually I start with dialogue, then I write cues in tags [like this] to outline actions, how dialogue is delivered, and any flowery language that’s already in my head at this point. Like the bear thing and the violent scream paragraph. If I write something in the tag that I’m really feeling (the scream thing) I’ll expand it, maybe add supporting paragraphs, and the CC gets more polished.
  
  The one before this that just had dialogue and two tags—[shaky] and [steady]—was a good example of a lazy CC. It’s not as impressive or pretty, but it gets a point across that otherwise wouldn’t be conveyed because I’m either too lazy to write out a whole thing or I’m still figuring shit out. Or both.
  
• 
  
  
  Michael
  ((Archangel, Guardian Angel))
  Non-binary. He/It. Panromantic Asexual. 6’5. ESTP-A.
  Voice: Ben Caplan
  
  Spoiler: songs

  
  
  
  I adore Ben Caplan... can you tell?
  
  Honestly, the songs do a phenomenal job of conveying his vibe, so I’m not gonna ramble much right now.
  
  He’s very level headed and stable in his emotions. It’s generally difficult to sway him towards feeling anything too intensely—happiness, anger, anything. He’s usually just calm and maybe a bit playful.
  
  His worldview is very cynical and pessimistic... but not bitter. He kind of just sees the world as a shithole and accepts it for what it is. He likes it, even—because there’s something genuine about a shithole, you can’t really pretend it’s anything other than what it is.
  
  He’s wholesome in his own way… he really likes people and has this unconditional love for them, even if they suck. But most people wouldn’t realize he feels that way because of how brutally he says things. He doesn’t see negative as inherently bad, but others take it at face value and think negative words = negative feelings. Nobody relates to his weird worldview so he’s misunderstood so long as he never communicates this positive subtext that only he sees… and he never communicates it because it’s obvious to him, so… obviously it should be apparent to others?
  
  He’s protective in a quiet way that lets you fall and hurt yourself, but he’s there to patch you up after.
  
  He’s not close to the other archangels—his work is on earth, and he greatly prefers a genuine shithole over the cherry-picked, sparkling pomp that’s heaven… so he’s the only archangel to live full time on earth and pretty much never set foot in heaven.
  
  He’s not always regarded well, either, due to an insubordinate manner and quite sacrilegious views that only intensified with his time on earth… but he’s a loner, so most aren’t aware of how bad it’s gotten.
  
  I have an idea for a pairing:
  
  You have a warrior archangel that’s sort of the opposite of Michael’s sacrilege—they actually believe in what heaven stands for. They enjoy the fact that heaven is a beacon of sparkling pomp (thanks to the blinding sun that shines out of God’s asshole, clearly). They’re the top dog, the most favored Angel.
  
  But something happens, and like the last archangel who was God’s favorite (hi Luci) they fell from heaven.
  
  Since they’re essentially a fallen teacher’s pet, and especially since they were a warrior Angel, there’s a lot of beings who’d love to take advantage of the fact they’re fallen and unprotected by God’s grace. They’re really not popular anymore.
  
  Michael gives no shits, however, and his loyalty doesn’t wane over something so stupid as falling from grace… so he protects them.
  
  Cue conflict because the warrior is proud and has the popular opinion of disliking the dark guardian Angel that seems more like a demon than an Angel, but largely gets away with it because he only ever stays on earth.
  
  But Michael gives no shits and protects them regardless of them wanting it.
  
  . . .
  
  Michael: ...fight me.
  Angel: what?
  Michael: fight me. if you won’t treat that wound, I’ll kick your ass and treat it after, along with whatever wounds you get from me.
  Angel: that’s insane—
  Michael: it’s effective.
  
  . . .
  
• 
  
  Spoiler: Worldbuilding Preamble

  A magic or supernatural being that’s not human = fable.
  
  Originally, humans and fables co-existed in the same spaces… but over time, humanity pushed the fables back. They no longer lived in the same spaces—they had their own territories, and the only interactions between them were around the borders of those territories.
  
  As time passes and it becomes rarer to see fables, interactions with them start to become legend or folklore instead of history, reality.
  
  Over time, this presented a problem for fables. Something about their existence requires human belief in them. Let’s say the first humans were made of earth and the first fables were made from galaxy particles or something… so they can’t remain in this world without those beings who originate from earth tying them to it. Fables weaken and fade and their mental health deteriorates as humanity forgets them.
  
  Some fables tried to counter this by keeping belief alive in humans. They were called dream-makers.
  
  They became imaginary friends, inspired legend, whisked children away and took them on grand adventures before returning them home, hoping to keep the belief and memory of fables alive.
  
  But it wasn’t enough. Children get older and stop believing in the magic of their childhood. Society is built to disillusion belief in such things.
  
  So the conditions worsened. Fables started getting sick. Disease spread. Vitality faded. They started forgetting themselves. Losing their minds. Lands that were once nourished with magic started dying. It was a slow, inescapable, agonizing death awaiting everyone and the efforts of dream-makers only prolonged the suffering. It couldn’t stop it.
  
  That is… until the dream-makers became dreambreakers.
  
  “If it’s simply too much for you to believe in my kindness, that’s fine. I understand. You can believe in my cruelty instead.”
  
  So dreambreakers basically wanted to scare the living shit out of humanity because if they’re afraid for their survival, they’re probably not going to stop believing in the things that’re actively threatening them.
  
  THE PLAN WORKED GREAT.
  
  The morality of it is a little bit… maybe a smidge messy. People live a nightmare and some of them die.
  
  . . .
  I will not make martyrs of everyone here!
  You wish me to stop, for their sake? Give me a break!
  What about our sake?
  I’m not asking them, as a species, to die—the lot of them!
  Just to believe, live in fear that they might.
  Just to sacrifice some, so we don’t have to sacrifice all.
  Spare me your fragile heart that you think I’m the villain here.
  . . .
  
  To bring Arthurian legend into it—
  
  Whereas other places might be more removed from fable territory, Camelot is a human kingdom that’s more central / in the midst of it.
  
  You’d think they’d be fucked when the dreambreaker thing started happening, but there was enough proximity there that people generally believed in legends, fables, and such. There wasn’t a need to target them because their belief was already enough.
  
  But Arthur’s father took issue with the dreambreakers terrorizing other bastions of humanity, and/or maybe there was a personal reason for it, and it was decreed that magic is outlawed in Camelot.
  
  So fables and magic aren’t allowed in the kingdom—anyone found to be capable of magic, practicing sorcery, or of fable blood gets executed.
  
  Important distinction in Camelot’s case, they don’t chalk magic up solely as demons like some more distant Kingdoms might. It has this weird duality of being a Christian kingdom but still acknowledging legend and pagan shit. Probably because of their location, it’s totally possible to come into contact with those things if you venture too far outside the kingdom. They want to know what they’re actually dealing with so they can properly defend themselves from it.
  
  If they see a dragon, they’re not gonna be like ohnodemon—that’s stupid. They’re gonna be like ohshitdragon. Much smarter.
  
  There’s still a peace in Camelot because despite their policy of executing fables, the knowledge and belief of them is still passed down… so there’s no reason for dreambreakers to mess around with them.
  
  
  Merlin
  Cis male. He/him. Bisexual. 5’7. ENFJ-T
  Voice: Isak Danielson
  
  Spoiler: song

  
  POV: directed at himself, “you” being himself and “he” being Arthur.
  
  Merlin grew up in a country village near the outskirts of Camelot. He’s half human, half fable. His father didn’t stick around, and his mother died in childbirth, so he was raised by an old man in the village who knew the mother.
  
  Half fable is effectively no different than entirely fable, so he was taught to be ashamed of his blood, afraid of anyone figuring out what he was. His hair is naturally colored blue and green, but he continues the old man’s ritual of dying it black to hide what’s obviously not a human trait.
  
  He’s a sorcerer and a seer by blood, able to use magic and see visions of past, present, and future.
  
  He might be proud of his eyes if he lived elsewhere, but in Camelot, among humans, they stand out as unusual. His fears aren’t always founded, but he’s afraid that everyone who sees them will question his humanity. Yet there’s no way of changing his eyes, so he’s learned to be reserved around those he’s unfamiliar with, acting timid, averting his gaze so they may not think about it too much.
  
  It’s a stark contrast from his manner around those he trusts—warm, playful, and even cocky—and the shift in behavior once someone unfamiliar approaches is usually sudden and noticeable.
  
  As far as Arthur and Merlin… Merlin sees a prophecy that’s basically like yeah Arthur will be a really awesome King and unite a bunch of people that weren’t united before.
  
  Sounds awesome, right?
  
  Unfortunately, two scenarios could equally fulfil this prophecy. Arthur could unite all the things, ushering in an era where humans and fables live together in harmony… or he could be like rAWR and kill the fables, uniting the remaining humans.
  
  
  
  Merlin: * perpetual internal screaming *​
  
  He tries to figure out what future is more likely, but there’s no definitive answer to be had.
  
  
  So since magic = death in Camelot by order of Uther Pendragon, obviously he’s going to teach his son, Arthur Pendragon, the future king, to likewise have no tolerance for it. He might even be taught to hate magic.
  
  THEREFORE:
  
  Merlin: is magic.
  Arthur: hate magic.
  
  I’m no expert but I do believe there’s potential for conflict here.
  
  >Merlin hides his true self out of shame and fear for his life.
  
  >Over time he becomes close to Arthur, and there’s probably a specific point when a high level of trust is established and it seems like it’s really necessary to tell Arthur about his magic… like later you can look back on this moment and be like yeah he probably should’ve told him at that point… but he doesn’t because more than death, even, he’s afraid of Arthur not accepting him for who he really is. Bonus points: there’s a vision of Arthur looking at him with a look of mistrust and such. Merlin doesn't always see things clearly when it comes to Arthur. He’s not objective. So for something like this vision of Arthur looking at him with mistrust, he wouldn’t know for sure if it’s legitimately a prophetic vision or if he’s just letting his own fears get the best of him and imagining the worst.
  
  >Eventually, down the line, it’s probably revealed to Arthur in a less than ideal way that Merlin is magic—and regardless what Arthur might privately think of magic at this point, positive, negative, or neutral... with Merlin specifically, it feels like a betrayal because despite the relationship and level of trust between them, Merlin straight up lied about this, beyond just hiding it for years—he lied.
  
  >seriously ok Merlin is the person he trusted most out of anyone, but now there’s vibes like: I don’t even know who you are. You didn’t trust me enough to tell me??
  
  >BAM ironically Arthur in his feelings of betrayal looks at Merlin in exactly the way he feared all those years ago because of the vision OHMYGOSH SELF FULFILLING PROPHECY??
  
  Obviously other stuff would happen after that, but I don’t feel like going down a whole ass rabbit hole by myself.
  
• 
  Barnes is an established OC that’s been in RPs before… and he’s quite possibly my favorite OC. I’m not going to name a specific pairing. Though I do have some thoughts. I will say, in general, he’s really fun to pair with OCs who like to throw their authority around and command respect
  
  
  Barnaby Van Alst
  ((based on the white rabbit from Alice in wonderland))
  Cis male. He/Him. Gay. 5’6. Thirty-something. INTP-A.
  
  Spoiler: song
  
  A renowned doctor who’s feared and loathed as a person.
  
  Van Alsts have a reputation for being the black sheep of the noble houses, and Barnes is perhaps the most Van Alst of anyone.
  
  He has a dignified way about him, yet refuses to adhere to the social expectations of nobility. He’s resolved to be genuine at all times, which puts him at odds with propriety, but he’d sooner recieve punishment for something stupid than do something he’d regret.
  
  He’s blunt, impertinent, stubborn, and greatly resents authority. He will not bow or yield to anyone unless they have his genuine respect, which is difficult to come by.
  
  . . .
  
  Historically, Van Alsts have found a balance that allowed them to keep noble status despite most everyone wanting to strip them of it. They’re hated for their trademark impudence, but they’ve achieved status as a necessary evil due to their skill.
  
  For generations, every successor has been a doctor, inheriting all the knowledge and private research of those before them. Their reputation of sometimes saving the unsavable causes most to tread carefully, lest their lives depend on it someday.
  
  “It’s best not to let people too close. You’ll find I don’t require acceptance. I only want you to need me enough that you have no choice but to overlook all the ways I don’t suit you.”
  
  Since the reputation of their skill is the only reason they’re able to maintain their status and their pride, bowing to no one, it’s vital that no one endangers that reputation.
  
  And Barnes endangered it. His grandmother realized in his late childhood that he’s schizophrenic, and if anyone were to discover that fact, it would discredit his ability as a doctor. The options were to see him cured or killed to avoid that outcome.
  
  Killing him wasn’t the most desirable option, as it would endanger the bloodline, so they threw ethics out the window in an attempt to cure him.
  
  He was isolated. Underwent all manner of experimental treatments—some of which genuinely sought to cure him, others served merely to instill via pain that certain things must be hidden from others at all costs.
  
  He wasn’t cured. It couldn’t be cured. But he learned to hide his affliction enough to evade detection.
  
  . . .
  
  He killed his grandmother in his mid teens. It was during a treatment—he’d hidden syringes of various substances and found an opportunity to inject her, passing it off as a natural death due to seizure.
  
  With that, he was the only remaining member of the Van Alst bloodline. Someone else took charge of the house until he finished his education, becoming a doctor, and took his place as the successor.
  
  . . .
  
  Those who’re ignorant of his reputation might underestimate him due to his short stature, but he’s a fighter. He refuses to take any shit because if you just take it, they’ll keep giving it. So he always hits back. It doesn’t matter what the consequences are—he’d regret it if he didn’t.
  
  “I don’t care if I die. All the scars I inflict before leaving will satisfy me well enough.”
  
  “They all think twice before crossing me… because regardless of what happens to me, they know they’ll never emerge unscathed.”
  
  . . .
  
  Sometimes he puts on a mask and becomes “The White Rabbit”—
  
  —I’ll explain exactly what that entails later. I’m still not sure which direction to go with it since he’ll be in a universe that’s not very developed yet and I don’t know what sort of OCs you’re gonna have. The direction of those things affects the direction of his masked activities.
  
  Last time, the Rabbit used war experience to terrorize nobles Jack-the-Ripper style.
  
  This time I’m thinking of having him align with the government that wiped out the revolutionaries (and fucked up Heimeric—sorry Hemmie). I didn’t explain it but there’s a bunch of broken revolutionaries due to the tactics the government used against them. Barnes was drafted into service as an army medic, so I’m thinking the Rabbit became a thing there, on account of those tactics.
  
  ...ask me about it later—I really need to shut up if I’m ever gonna finish this thread...
  
  . . .
  
  He’s a doctor, but to be perfectly honest… Barnes doesn’t subscribe to the Hippocratic oath. Get on his nerves and he’ll refuse to treat you, regardless of the possible death or suffering you may endure.
  
  He won’t feel guilty about it.
  
  . . .
  
  One time someone decided to flex their authority and “suggest” Barnes to bow them. It didn’t go as they’d hoped. After some wordplay and a few threats back and forth… Barnes looked as though he would give in and offer a bow, only to headbutt the poor bastard instead.
  
  “Good lord! I’m so out of practice, I seem to have done it wrong.”
  

Okay, okay—I’m done. I did the thing. Can I have friends now?

I’m resisting the urge to add more OCs... resisting the urge... resisting...