10 Questions to Ask Your Characters.

[Deleted]

Wasn't sure exactly where to put this...but since the gist of this post is about character developing, I'll toss it here. Feel free to move if needed!

Now and again I listen to the Paper Wings Podcast, which is really geared more toward visual artists (ie comic creators, filmmakers). There is one episode in particular that I listen to a lot, and it's helped me on so many occasions in fleshing out my characters. The episode is called 10 Questions to Ask Your Character. I fall back on these questions quite a bit, and since they've been a great help to me, I thought I would post the questions here as well. Feel free to reply as briefly or as in depth as you feel comfortable with. Or if you'd prefer to keep your answers private, just write them up and save it somewhere on your comp.

[Deleted]

Let's give this a shot

1. What do you want more than anything? How do you act when this is threatened?

Dev chuckles a bit as he leans back in his back chair and responds, "A government of the people, by the people, and for the people. I'm just the man to get us there." Dev puts a cigarette into his mouth and lights it with a match struck on the corner of the chair. "We defend. Who wouldn't do this? We defend at all cost. Give them the bayonet if we must."

2. What is your worst memory? What is your best memory? How do you act when someone asks about it?

Dev takes a long drag and slowly exhales through the nose as a solemn expression darkens his face, "When I returned to Crystal Tokyo, after the Black Moon, and I was told by my father that he hard buried my mother without even a word." After a pause, "When I was in college, I had just won the state championship for a cross country meet and as I was reveling in the glory I remember my father was standing in the crowd with my mother and they were looking at me with such smiles and pride. I ignore them. Nobody gets to know about that. Those that do are dead and gone."

3. What is your favorite outfit? Why is that important to you? Or is it?

Dev chuckles a bit, "There have been a lot. At the present its this dapper three piece linen suit I am wearing. I find that it suits my present nature. It's important to dress for the occasion. After all, are we not civilized men?"

4. What are you most afraid of? What do you do to keep this from coming true?

Another solemn drag from the cigarette then exhaled smoke, "A common life and heroes that can't save their people." A slight nod then, "Sacrifice and the will to overthrow tyrants."

5. If you could live anywhere, where would you go? What does this say about you? What does this place mean to you?

A melancholy look and a wry smile came upon him as he leaned back into the chair. "There is a little place in Djibouti that is right on the shore. It's peaceful, gorgeous, and exotic. It's says leave me in peace. This is where I had my first victory and realized the power of the people."

6. How does your age define you?

"Experience sir and the patience to achieve all."

7. Who knows you best? What do they know about you that nobody else does?

He put out the cigarette and responded bluntly, "That question doesn't matter. They're dead now."

8. How has your family shaped you? Does being around them make you feel more like yourself or less like yourself? How does the legacy and expectations repel or confirm you?

"They made me exactly who I am. Through their death and dismissive behavior. When I was a child more but when I was young less. It confirms me absolutely. History is important. You have to know where you come from in order to get where you're going."

9. How have your times shaped you?

"My how they have changed. We have seen wondrous things. The best of times and the worst of times if you will. But they are the foundation to bring about a better world. The world must burn before it can regrow into its natural glory."

10. What do you do for a living? Do you love your job and why?

"At the moment the basic needs of survival and exercise of one's mind. But I believe I shall return to my revolutionary ways soon." Dev gives a slight glance then lights another cigarette. "It's very important to love your work to be good at what you do."

[Jo KIM]

1. What do you want more than anything? How do you act when this is threatened?

I want my family to be happy, healthy, and safe. Anybody threatens my family, they're gonna see what a mama uryuu I can be!

2. What is your worst memory? What is your best memory? How do you act when someone asks about it?

My worst memory. . . no, it's not the destruction of the world, although that's pretty high up there, too. I think it was the day of that debutante ball, because I felt so outside of the rest of the group I was supposed to be part of, and because I found out pain can't always be a good thing. I don't really care if someone asks about that. I don't even care much if people ask about sensitive things from my past. Everything that happened to me contributed to making me who and what I am now, so why should I be ashamed?

3. What is your favorite outfit? Why is that important to you? Or is it?

I like to wear a halter top and leather mini-skirt, as it shows off most of my tattoos. I would also say I liked my Arcana outfit very much except for the fact it had a thong and platforms as part of battle attire. What was my mun thinking? The Arcana outfit was important to me because that was an important turning point in my life, but other than that clothes aren't nearly as important to me as they are to most women.

4. What are you most afraid of? What do you do to keep this from coming true?

I am very afraid of getting old and of my own death or the deaths of those I care about. Unfortunately, there's not much I can do to prevent any of those, so I just have to hope against hope it doesn't happen.

5. If you could live anywhere, where would you go? What does this say about you? What does this place mean to you?

If I could live anywhere at all I would go back to the homeworld but knowing the things I know and seeing the things I've seen. My world and heritage are important to me, but I wouldn't go back to the same situation I was in. I hope that says about me that I've grown and changed from what I was, which would be a good thing.

6. How does your age define you?

Middle age made me want to get serious about having a normal, respectable career and a family, if that counts for anything.

7. Who knows you best? What do they know about you that nobody else does?

I would like to hope my husband knows me, but maybe we should go on one of those quiz shows to make sure we know each other well enough? I think he knows more about my childhood and how that affected me than anyone else living. I'm not the type to share my whole sob story with just anyone.

8. How has your family shaped you? Does being around them make you feel more like yourself or less like yourself? How does the legacy and expectations repel or confirm you?

My family expected a lot out of me, and at the time I resented them for it. I think they shaped a lot of who I was back home, but I think a lot of who I am now has been shaped by my experiences on Earth instead of anything my parents did or didn't do. I do think they would be proud of most of what I've accomplished in the past 16 years, though the type of shop I own would probably still be a source of embarrassment to them. I'm not sure I understand the rest of the question.

9. How have your times shaped you?

Well, it's impossible to grow up on a world that's ending without it shaping you to some extent, no matter how my parents tried to shield me from it. I started out really sheltered, and then once I got out into the world I lost that innocence really fast. Then there were the Arcana days, where I learnt to be responsible for someone other than myself and to care about more than my own needs and desires. I don't think I could've become a mother in the first few years after that, when we were still so hated. I wouldn't want to bring a child into a world where he would be hated just for being who he is, so in a way I'm kinda glad the tech went out, since our helping them relearn how to get along without it was one of the things that helped us become more accepted in society. I don't think I'd be who I am and where I am today if I hadn't gone through everything I have. I guess adversity builds character. Still, I'm glad my kids don't have it as bad as I did; I don't want them to have to suffer, as much as it can be avoided.

10. What do you do for a living? Do you love your job and why?

I own a lingerie shop called Kinky Boots, and have for 16 years or so. I wouldn't say I love the job. I hate the business aspect of it with all the paperwork and required reading to do. But I like the job and my shop-- I wouldn't have kept it this long if I didn't. I like being able to improve people's marriages and romance lives.

[Deleted]

1. What do you want more than anything? How do you act when this is threatened?

I want more than anything for my life to be uncomplicated. I like it when things are easy. But from my experience, life isn't easy. I'm not even talking about on the big epic scale either, but let me tell you life without a hot water heater is hard. Really it's the choices that come up that are hard, and a lot of times it's the easy path that screws you over in the long run.

I tend to do...well, run from my complications. Running is probably what gets me into the most trouble.

2. What is your worst memory? What is your best memory? How do you act when someone asks about it?

My worst memory is the night I ruined someone's life. Remember what I said about running from my problems? For me...for the longest time, running meant curling up in a bottle of booze. And one night, I thought it would be a good idea to get behind the wheel. I don't even remember the wreck, because I was just that drunk. I found out about it when I woke up in the hospital. I crippled a woman, and I don't even remember it.

I don't like to talk about it. Few people know about it at all just for that reason.

As for my best memory, that's a bit of a toss up between the day Eleazar and I moved in together and the day Cody was born. I know, the day I married Eleazar should rank higher than the day we moved in together....but by the time we got around to marrying, we had been together for awhile. It was just a given by that point. When we moved in together...well, that was a much bigger step, especially on El's part. AFterall, you don't just shack up with a goddess senshi on a whim, right? And as for Cody...despite everything going on, the first time I got to hold that tiny bundle of joy in my hands just...it made all the complications seem that much more worth it. Ask me about those memories anytime.

3. What is your favorite outfit? Why is that important to you? Or is it?

My favorite outfit? Well...I can tell you it isn't my guard uniform and it isn't the fuku. Not saying I'm not proud of wearing either of them...but I'm much more comfortable in my own skin when I'm wearing a pair of ratty jeans and a faded t-shirt. I think it's important that whatever you wear, it needs to feel good to you.

4. What are you most afraid of? What do you do to keep this from coming true?

Losing. And I don't mean in the most basic of senses. I don't mind losing at games or competitions. What I'm afraid of...is losing when the stakes are high, where the outcome really and truly matters. That plays some part in why I've pushed myself all these years with my martial arts studies. When the Argenians arrived on the scene and I first got my powers, I had no clue what I was doing. I wasn't a help to anyone, least of all to the people that I wanted to help the most. And for so much of the Divya crisis, I had to sit on the sidelines. Maybe if I had taken that owl Divya's offer, or if I'd let Ava restore my powers sooner, I could've been that one person that made the difference. Maybe we would still have our technology.

If trouble comes again...I want to make sure that I know what I'm doing, so that I'll win where it really matters.

5. If you could live anywhere, where would you go? What does this say about you? What does this place mean to you?

Honestly, even though having no tech sucks, I'm already living where I want to. I like Crystal Tokyo. I love how it's just this central cog to this big machine that runs our world. It's the center of inovations, and where the world looks to when they need help. And for me...my best and my worst memories took place here. I wouldn't' want to live anywhere else.

6. How does your age define you?

I guess it's really odd that I didn't really start to mature and grow up as a person until I was in my 30s. Even though I had my dream job early in life, I still lived life like it was just a big party. I didn't realize just how much I was wrong until much later.

7. Who knows you best? What do they know about you that nobody else does?

Eleazar knows me better than anyone else, including my parents. He knows my strengths, my weaknesses, what makes me happy and what truly bothers me. Often times he doesn't even have to ask how I'm feeling. He just knows me well enough to know when my day has been rough, or if it was terrible.

8. How has your family shaped you? Does being around them make you feel more like yourself or less like yourself? How does the legacy and expectations repel or confirm you?

Considering my family disowned me not long after the fallout from the Argenian crisis, I don't' know how they really shaped me. Even before that, there was always this...air of disdain. I was a bother, I was a mess, their problem child. And they always just assumed that I would never get my life back on track. I never want to be like them. That's why I fought so hard with Eleazar over sending Cody to military school. I don't want my son to think that we feel he's a lost cause. That's the furthest from the truth. If I've done anything good in this life, it's to show that even the biggest screw up can change her ways.

9. How have your times shaped you?

I'd say my times have helped me to grow as a person. Had things not gone the way they did, I would probably still be drinking my problems away. Now I have other ways to deal with my problems (or not deal with them depending on how you look at it).

10. What do you do for a living? Do you love your job and why?

I'm a member of the Royal Argenian guard, and I oversee training for the guard members. I don't know if I'd say I love my job. Do I get enjoyment out of it? Most of the time I do. But honestly, I feel it's my duty to stay on. I could have left the guard years ago, but I feel that I can best serve the Argenian people by ensuring that their Queen is safe.

[Deleted]

1. What do you want more than anything? How do you act when this is threatened?

More than anything I want to be a good person and help people out as much as I can, especially since I became vilified in Earth's mythology and like I was evil incarnate. I feel like I have to prove that's not what I am. I'm not sure how my good intentions would get threatened. Um, if I'm ordered to do something that goes against that, like when I was told to attack the palace, I do it only reluctantly, and try to prevent harm to innocents as much as possible.

2. What is your worst memory? What is your best memory? How do you act when someone asks about it?

My worst memories are of the days when we had to live like pirates. Not only was that time hard for me personally, but it was also the first time I ever lost anyone. My best memory is the "honeymoon period" of my marriage with Sharmila. Not honeymoon like going for a trip together, but the time when we were both still so deeply in love and I hadn't yet succumbed to my urges and become unfaithful. Those were great times. I don't like when people ask about either of those time periods because they're both so painful to me in different ways. I tend to clam up about them.

3. What is your favorite outfit? Why is that important to you? Or is it?

I like to be completely naked any time I can get away with it. It's important to me because it's the natural state, how we all came into the world, and because it's what's most comfortable to me.

4. What are you most afraid of? What do you do to keep this from coming true?

I'm most afraid of losing more people who are close to me, even more so now with a family to think about. I know they'll probably die long before me, but it's still not something I want to accept or think about. Maybe even more than that, I'm afraid they'll find out about who and what I really am and leave me on their own the same way Sharmila did. Being left is more painful than losing someone to death, because with death the person couldn't help it. If they just leave it means they chose not to be around you anymore. Unfortunately, I haven't done enough to keep the latter one from happening, which I know I need to do. It's just that every time I try my real nature wins out and I'm back where I started. Maybe I would've been better off staying single indefinitely if I can't do any better than I am.

5. If you could live anywhere, where would you go? What does this say about you? What does this place mean to you?

I like Earth because it holds a lot of my best memories, but it holds some really bad memories, too, so I have mixed feelings about it. I'm not even really sure this is my ultimate place to live, but it's as good an answer as any. I dunno, what does that say about me?

6. How does your age define you?

I'm old enough to know better now, but still young enough to do it anyway.

7. Who knows you best? What do they know about you that nobody else does?

I dunno. There are some things I've never told anybody, not even family or close friends. Some things are just too painful to talk about with anybody.

8. How has your family shaped you? Does being around them make you feel more like yourself or less like yourself? How does the legacy and expectations repel or confirm you?

My parents spoiled me up until my brother came along, so I guess they contributed to both some of my more spoiled behavior and some of my biggest insecurities. When I'm around them I feel like I'm 2,000 years old again. The legacy of their treatment of me and expectations for me is probably what made me the underachiever I am today.

9. How have your times shaped you?

Well, I was born long after the homeworlds were dust, so I grew up on a ship. I don't know what it's like to have a home planet. I think that's made me appreciate nature more because people who grew up on planets take it for granted and I can't do that. Then there's the Shadow Galactica thing I mentioned before. I think that's made me more serious and less carefree and more melancholy than I used to be. And this time on Earth I have to deal with being part of a hated minority instead of being seen as a god, so that's a BIG change. Life right now is hard, and really different than what I'm used to.

10. What do you do for a living? Do you love your job and why?
I'm a Divya of Love and Fertility, and I love that job. I get to preside over weddings, bless babies and just generally interact with people at the happiest times in their lives. I also like being able to help plants grow because there's nothing like seeing what you've planted with your own two hands come to fruition.

[Deleted]

1. What do you want more than anything? How do you act when this is threatened?

More than anything I would be honored to be chosen as Helios' successor as Guardian of Elysian. If I thought he was about to pick someone else I'd probably just go quiet and sullen and not tell him what's wrong if he asks, because I don't want him to know how important it is to me. He'll just feel pressured to pick me if he knows, and then I'll never know if I got it based on merit or that I pressured him into it.

2. What is your worst memory? What is your best memory? How do you act when someone asks about it?

My worst memory is of being captured and tortured by the Dead Moon Circus. My best memory was of the days when I was little and Helios and I were so close and I went pretty much everywhere with him. I liked feeling so close to him. I don't answer if people ask about my past, or I give a wiseass answer. Mostly nobody asks, though. I guess I make it clear from my personality and carriage that I'm not interested in making small talk.

3. What is your favorite outfit? Why is that important to you? Or is it?

I don't wear clothes unless I'm a human and have to for decency's sake. I like to wear the collar Helios gave me, because he gave it to me and he's my best friend.

4. What are you most afraid of? What do you do to keep this from coming true?

I'm most afraid of Elysian being conquered by evil again. What I do to prevent that is to try to learn self-defense so I can take care of myself and my home if it's ever threatened like that again.

5. If you could live anywhere, where would you go? What does this say about you? What does this place mean to you?

I would live in Elysian, of course. That's where I was born, and it's a paradise, so who wouldn't want to go?

6. How does your age define you?

Being an adult, I would like to be taken more seriously than when I was a kitten, but some people still insist on treating me like a kitten, which makes me angry.

7. Who knows you best? What do they know about you that nobody else does?

Helios knows me better than anyone, but there are still a lot of things about me he doesn't know and even some he might never know (namely how I feel about him, which I shouldn't tell, especially now that he has a wife and child).

8. How has your family shaped you? Does being around them make you feel more like yourself or less like yourself? How does the legacy and expectations repel or confirm you?

Helios is the only family I have. He raised me from a kitten, so you would think he's responsible for a lot of who I am now, but I think those Dead Moon Circus people did more to shape me by what they did to me than anything that happened to me as a kitten.

9. How have your times shaped you?

I guess the times I've lived through that have shaped me the most were the Dead Moon Circus days. Something about being kidnapped and tortured to within an inch of your life that does that to a person.

10. What do you do for a living? Do you love your job and why?

Right now my job is to train those Amazon girls, and no, I don't like it in the least. I still have a lot of unresolved anger issues with them.

[Zoisite]

1. What do you want more than anything? How do you act when this is threatened?
More than anything I would like to find the right one and get married, but I don't know who that is yet. My chances at finding the one and getting married are being threatened by those people who say they come from the moon, which is why I came to the Golden Kingdom. I'll do whatever it takes to prevent this world being conquered.

2. What is your worst memory? What is your best memory? How do you act when someone asks about it?
My best memories were as a very young child with my mother; she loved me so much she made up songs and bedtime stories about me and gave me pretty much anything my little heart desired (including a pony). So my worst memory, of course, was when my mom went to have another baby and I never saw her alive again. Most people know better than to bring up my mom's death around me, but if someone did I would be understandably upset.

3. What is your favorite outfit? Why is that important to you? Or is it?
The outfit I feel the most attractive in right now is a white ruffled shirt with voluminous sleeves, black pants and a green and gold brocade vest. I like it because the ruffles and brocade make me feel decadent and fancy, but I'll be likely to retire it if it falls out of fashion.

4. What are you most afraid of? What do you do to keep this from coming true?
Formerly my biggest fear was being unprepared to rule and becoming a poor king to my people, but at the moment my biggest concern is that Earth may be taken over by those moon people. I'm hoping this experience will help me feel more ready to rule in my own lands.

5. If you could live anywhere, where would you go? What does this say about you? What does this place mean to you?
I've never been anywhere besides the North Lands and now, the Golden Kingdom, so I don't know whether I would like some other place more. I would like to travel a bit, but in the end I think no place in the world could ever mean more to me than my homeland.

6. How does your age define you?
I'm still young, which I think makes me a little more impulsive and not as democratic as what people expect from me. I've been told I'll probably settle down with age, but I don't really know that I want to get that old. I can't even imagine myself ever being old, frail and wrinkled! If I can't stay young indefinitely, I would rather die before I get too old.

7. Who knows you best? What do they know about you that nobody else does?
Everyone seems to think they know me, but I don't feel like that's true. I like to believe I'm a mysterious person, not very transparent at all, or at least that's what I strive to be.

8. How has your family shaped you? Does being around them make you feel more like yourself or less like yourself? How does the legacy and expectations repel or confirm you?
I feel like my mother shaped me a lot in my younger years, but after she died, my father wasn't nearly as engaged and that made me feel kind of unwanted. I feel like I was raised more by tutors and nannies, and in a way some of them feel more like family than my dad. My little sister, well, I know it's not her fault my mom died, but I still can't help blaming her for it. If she'd never been born maybe my mom would still be around. I also worry the people expect me to be as strong a king as my dad was, which I don't feel like I can be. I would rather be known for being a kind and just king than a powerful conqueror type.

9. How have your times shaped you?
I feel like I'm a very modern person with new ideas and positions on a lot of things despite that my dad was so traditional. I think that was my mom's influence. She was a very kind and gentle sort of person.

10. What do you do for a living? Do you love your job and why?
I don't mind the idea of being a king, but the reality of it is very different than the expectations. It's a lot more work and less glamour than you'd think, looking at it from a distance!

[Princess Ciela]

1. What do you want more than anything? How do you act when this is threatened?

What I want more than anything is no longer possible; I want to spend my life with Kai. But I was weak. I did nothing as my future was destroyed, something I will regret for the rest of my life.

2. What is your worst memory? What is your best memory? How do you act when someone asks about it?

My worst memory was Kai's death. I keep reliving it over and over in my mind and wondering why I didn't do anything to prevent it. My best memories were of sneaking around to see Kai behind my family's backs, especially the times we had conjugal visits.
Anyone asking about Kai's death will hit a sore spot, but I do like to reminisce over the good times we had, and would be glad to share that with someone I knew I could trust.

3. What is your favorite outfit? Why is that important to you? Or is it?

My favorite things to wear are tank tops and capri pants because they are easy to move around in. I wouldn't call them important to me, but being free to wear pants rather than skirts is important to me because it allows me to be myself.

4. What are you most afraid of? What do you do to keep this from coming true?

What I am most afraid of now is losing anyone else that I care about. I want to be able to protect the people closest to me, but I fear that I can't.

5. If you could live anywhere, where would you go? What does this say about you? What does this place mean to you?

Right now I want to live as far from Uranus as possible, but I fear that says I am a coward who refuses to face my problems.

6. How does your age define you?

I'm supposed to be of the age to marry, which is meant to be a happy and important time. Instead, for me, it is like a hell.

7. Who knows you best? What do they know about you that nobody else does?

Kai was the one who knew me best. I don't feel like anyone else does, or even wants to, especially not my family. Kai knew me to be a lot more carefree, youthful, and normal than anyone else. I wasn't expected to act like a princess or an adult with Kai. We had fun together.

8. How has your family shaped you? Does being around them make you feel more like yourself or less like yourself? How does the legacy and expectations repel or confirm you?

I feel like my family has spent all my life trying to groom me into a proper princess,
and if you had asked me before I might have said I was fighting them every step of the way, but now I realise I did let them make me think I was above everyone else, that I was a prize to be won by the fastest in the kingdom. I shouldn't have let myself fall into that trap. The expectations of my family and my place within it disgust me now. I want no part of any of it.

9. How have your times shaped you?

I think there are certain things about being a princess that are changing. My parents allowed me to avoid skirts from the age that I was able to express that preference. I've been a more free-thinking and independent person, whether they like that fact or not. I know that when or if I ever become queen, a lot of the rules and customs of the land will change, including the barbaric way by which the princess is married off.

10. What do you do for a living? Do you love your job and why?

Like it or not, I am a princess. That's what I'm expected to be. And a Senshi, on top of that. I know being a Senshi is dangerous and that I may well die defending my world and the system. That used to bother me a lot, but not so much anymore. Now I feel like dying well would be my best chance of being reunited with Kai in whatever comes after this life.