I believe that you can tell a lot about a writer based on what their characters are like. What are their values, etc. I also wanted a reason to talk about my characters and also read about psychology-y things about yours. xD

Since being introduced to it at uni, I've been really interested in psychology. So I am now really interested in discovering myself through my writing. As such, I'm trying to explore my weaknesses via my characters.

Ruby has my aspect of myself that is self-hating. I also recently realized that because I have internalized narratives about my worth and how others see me, I was prone on making assumptions about others having bad intentions regarding me. So I thought it'd be interesting to explore that with Ruby, who assumes that everyone hates her for being a werewolf's sister, a halfblood, biracial, etc etc.

Seneca has my more narcissistic tendencies. The inability to accept that she might not be right all the time, the "my way or the highway"-ness. She also represents what I believe I should be like, Slytherin-y, smart, hard-working, etc.

Christobal is me before I discovered Ego work. I enjoy writing him being all offended when others disagree with him, for example, because he's so deep into his Ego that he thinks it's a personal attack.

Cecily is a character I don't feel as close to as say Ruby because I was never into sports tbh. She has the aspect of me that is really honest and can't really hide her true feelings.

Lastly, Marcus is my desire to work in fashion and my love for aesthetics and the like.

I realize that it may sound as though I'm living vicariously through my characters, but I'm not like trying to play Soph in different bodies. I just see what aspects of myself have seeped into them, because I don't think it's really possible to write someone outside of your way of viewing the world. So if I was, say, to write a Deatheater, I'd write it based on my impression of what a far-right, neo-Nazi is like, for example.

  

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set by MJ

Ooh I like this! I'm not sure that all of my characters have traits of mine, but I can say the ones that do are definitely more entertaining to write!

Bella was given my impulsiveness. I don't make the same dangerous and life-changing decisions that she did, but I have a really hard time stopping myself from doing something (or worse, buying something) if I decide I want to in that moment.

Charity is based less off me, but more on my experience working with elementary-aged children in the aftercare program. Kids these days are really knowledgeable and sometimes too knowledgeable, leading to this scary quality where nothing seems to phase them. They try to act like grownups even if they don't have the emotional capacity to, because that's what they're exposed to.

Dionisia has my job struggles. Neither of us finished a higher level of education but define ourselves by our jobs, so there's that struggle of wanting to "better ourselves" despite not having the means to.

Edric has my pessimistic skepticism rooted in my fear of disappointment.

Finnian has my unfiltered goofiness. When I get close enough to someone to where I don't fear their judgment, I am a total clown.

Frida has my emphasis on patience. As a preschool teacher I always get comments on how I "must have so much patience!", and I guess it manifested in Frida from early on.

Handsome was made right before my seventeenth birthday and, like me, struggled to figure out where his place in the world was. I think we still followed each other in the end because we're both in jobs we like, but know we COULD be happier.

Helga has my sociability. I'm not sure why, but I think it I was suddenly a Victorian I'd be a lot like Helga. She less like me and more like how I think I would have ended up if I was raised in that era.

Holly was given my childhood problem of making meaningful relationships.

  

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— set by MJ <3 —

I may do the others eventually but for Alfred:

When I was getting out of the Navy someone said "Sooner or later, you'll miss this. If you never miss it, it means you never loved it."

I made Alfred right after I got out and he wasn't meant to be a representation of my life at all — his whole initial plot was inspired by this book I read about an expedition — but whenever he geeks out about nautical knowledge in a post I get a sort of "oh, yeah. Nostalgia." feeling that makes me think of what that chief told me when I was getting out.

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   Billie Farrow, Melody Crouch, Ruby Urquart

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER

This sounds like fun. Ummm. Not all of my characters have a part of me, but some definitely do.

Billie's boyishness comes from my childhood. In my preteen years, I was constantly confused for a boy, and I didn't really care all that much. In fact, I posed as a friend's "boyfriend" to help sort of scare away a creepy kid. While Billie poses as a boy for much different reasons, I was just adrogynous and made it work, I guess. She WAY more outgoing than me, though.

Archer was gifted my anxiety and introvert tendencies. <3

Eli got my quiet?

Jon gets my love of the outdoors.

Zachariah was gifted with my love of books, cats, and his general nature is probably closer to me than any of the other characters.

Thomas gets my wife's short fuse? rofl

Leo has my homicidal tendencies MWAHAHAHA. (Just kidding. haha Leo is his own person.)

Clem, Fleur, and Deanna don't particularly have anything I can think of.

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

At this point I feel like I've got a character muse for my every ~mood, although some of them who aren't anything like me are the most fun to play? Of the ones I do relate to...

I enjoy playing the eldest brother a lot, or else the "responsible one". The ~eldest sibling vibes are particularly strong with Ari, probably because of the ten year age gap between me and my little sister IRL.

Calliope is me. Lol jokes, but also >.>

Carmelina and Ewart and Elias a bit are my ~passionate nerd self, which is a very visible part of me. I like books and get caught up in weird obsessions for years on end xD

Like Conall, I too hate people and parties. In spite of that? I also relate to Jude because I too am an idealist who wants to make a difference & generally cares too much.

Phyri is named after my fave poem and has my love of the Romantics, but either there is some of me in her idgaf attitude or writing her has gradually rubbed off on me irl, because I do sometimes take stock of life and think "Oh. Phyri would be proud."

Rosamund is probably most like me in the all-round personality sense (although I would rather die than be a healer).

Aaaand I so very generously gave Theo my clinical depression #sorryTheo

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   Cassius Lestrange, Charlotte Beauregard, Holly Scrimgeour, Jupiter Smith, Marcus Lytton

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look ANOTHER beautiful bee!set <3

Maddie -indicisive people pleaser, wants to be liked
Benevolence- antisocial
Ginny - up front, hedonistic, over indulgent
Emma - too wrapped up.in books
Gwen - drama lover
Rose - very guarded
Meserimus- ambition and desire to be remembered
Samuel- tendency to over romanticize people and events
Cad - pettiness
Yuri - easily wounded/thinks the worst

  

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^  Look what Lady did  ^

Acacia is the most teen-me you will ever see. Obsessed with art, angsting over differences of myself from others that I can't change. It's all the feels.

Ace and I both care a lot about the people we love, but are just utterly done with other people's drama (case and point, Ace's entire relationship with Avril).

Alina has my snippy side. I get annoyed at people easily, and she reflects that a lot. A lot more determined than I am though.

Camille is my flight in fight or flight when it comes to the family drama. We both would rather stay out of it. But at the same time, the gossip is there.

Claire is probably the least like me. We're both creative. But I write while she does. And I'm not great with pranks.

Dorothy just wants to make everything right with everyone and it speaks more to my middle school days. I always wanted to make everything OK, and it backfired a lot emotionally. I feel bad for her, she's gonna deal with a lot of stress.

Earth is my quirky little one. I love her so. I think she's partially what my childhood self wanted to be. Whimsical and quirky.

IDK what Finn gets from me yet, still getting to know him.

Gerald gets my competitiveness, by a lot. Ever see me play Mario Cart and you'll definitely see what I mean.

Guinevere got my mama bear quality. A bit naggy, but tries to be a sweetheart.

Henrietta and I are both wall flowers at parties and don't really know where life is taking us.

Hestia and I both tend to say the wrong thing at times. Her playfulness is something I really connected to when she was a first year.

Liliana is where I get to let out that pent up snarkiness that I hide not-so-well.

Maida is my people pleaser, and I have a sense of that for all of my life. I partially grew out of it, but I see it come around now and again.

Maxima is from my judgy side. She and I judge the world together.

Naomi and I share a lack of belief in our own family's religion.

Rosie and I are just plain frustrated by our life circumstances and feel stuck.

Sweetie was b*tch personified for me in her first year or so. She's had the most development. I was sick when I came onto Charming, and I feel that her attitude was how I let out some frustration. Her plot changed her, and I know I've changed since then. She has a special place in my heart.

Warwick is just a brat and I love him. Another judgy type and it feels like I'm picking up a theme.

Winifred constantly worries about her children to a capacity, but also has this sense of what she wants in her own life. I'm definitely the protective sort, in my own way.

  

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Magic by Elaine!

Baxter - is responsible me, I wish I had his dedication to his job tho XD

Beckett is young flirty me, hands down haha

Winnie - me in a different life, I totally would have rocked a job like hers in the VE

Eloise - Lulu has my dedication to relationships.

Elsie- I actually don't think Elsie and I have too much in common other than clumsiness lol

Eavan - my straightforwardness and stubbornness for sure.

Eugene - is also very much me if I were a privileged dude. Love of animals, especially small weird ones!

Febs - is mom me. I like it, but I'm not great at it sometimes and sometimes I really need a break XD

Gordon - me if I ran my own (legit) business, I would love to own a bookstore.

Mason - Mason is me. Through and through, just a dude lol

Nora - I too am a classy lassie that likes sports.

Phineas - Phineas is me when I'm hangry. I'm and old fart who gets super sarcastic.

Sloane - is actual me as a child lol

  

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MJ always makes her so pretty

Lottie - who I wish I could be in social situations, someone who is comfortable in her own skin and not painfully socially awkward around other people. xD

Cassia - this was unintentional, but Cassia has the part of me who feels insecure about how smart - or not smart - she is. xD

  

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avatar & signature created by the talented mj

Okay I'm going to do the rest of these now xD

Ophelia - enjoys talking shit about people but doesn't want to be known as the sort of person who enjoys talking shit about people >>
Ernest - has my inner monologue when dealing with dumb people and gets to say some of the sarcastic things I prevent myself from saying
Jules - is a qualitative researcher which is what I'm doing for my workstudy job and also something I'm tentatively considering as a forever career. Her righteous indignation at the perceived gaps in the research community is my grad school norm.
Ben - has my relationship priorities, I think. In his sweeter moments not when he just wants to bang xD


Thom, Tib, Adam, and Emrys are a little harder but they've got their moments, I think. Tib maybe my more cynical 'society is doomed so let's just burn it all down' moments.

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   Benevolence Crouch

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Get Featured in Witch Weekly!

Sliding in here quickly to say that I've just had the revelation on this sharkiest of days that Tig is the embodiment of my spiteful womb. My womb is incredibly powerful and malicious, she forces those around her to submit to her schedule and encourages them to be bitches too. She even makes me a bitch. She grows stronger every month and lives to torture me. Even the pill cannot subdue her. Oh yeah, when I was last off the pill I think I was starting to migrate to codeine from ibuprofen+codeine because SHE HAS NO MERCY. Ibuprofen doesn't touch this bitch. Naproxen? LOL.

Who does that sound like? Coincidence? I THINK NOT.

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   Charlotte Beauregard, Melody Crouch, Ruby Urquart

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Thanks to Bee for this magnificent set <3

So to be fairly frank, I attempt to avoid creating characters that are too similar to myself. Certain elements of myself leak into them but if they get too close to my own personality I either scrap them before they are written or abandon them. On that note, here are some similarities that have leaked in:

Sisse - Her cheerful vivaciousness is something I'm known for, so is her ability to be friends with everyone.

Flo - Her fierce protectiveness.

Lucy - Her daydreams and optimism is something I've shown in the past when in love, granted I'm tempered with a great deal more pragmatism.

Felix - His drive to know what is going on and to do the research is something I feel super strongly.

Caro - Her ability to put on a good show and be the most of what anyone wants at any given time. She's like me when I was still dating, trying to be what everyone wanted of her.

Percy - His self doubt.

Nimmie - the writer in me, always looking for new stories.

And then we have ....

Sera - Is based on a character who was written to be the complete opposite of myself. To the point when I wrote the first version of her I literally would base her actions on what I would not do.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

I play the violin and piano so most of my characters play them. Which works since most mc or uc kids were expected to be instructed in them anyway for 'culture' xD

Aleksei got the confusion I have went through and still am going through in figuring out my gender identity though they have a lot more of a grasp of which way they lean. xD In a modern world (and on modern sites), they would eventually realize themself to be transgender female. But of course, in the VE, they do not have the vocabulary or the knowledge about that. Robin and Judah also fall under this in different and varying degrees.

Darling definitely got that sweet side of myself that wants to see the best in everybody.

Tristan got the brunt of my mental health and depression on top of my music stuff. xD

There's probably more but those were the ones I could think off the top of my head. xD

  

Beau: it wasn't really intentional but he has a lot of my anger towards my parents.
Freya: her desire for children was me before t came around haha. Also her people pleasing nature and her love of hosting.
Jo: has my agnostic spiritual views. I grew up in a similar-ish family (read: went to church weekly) and was always uncomfortable about committing to any one religion. Also her fear of commitment was something I really struggled with when I first met Mike.
Maggie: she, like me, would throw herself to the wolves if it meant her children never had to suffer. She was also given my anxiety.
Melody: she's the one I'm most unlike I think. We're definitely both impulsive, but I'm not anywhere near as bookish or happy to research any one subject in depth. She does have my romantic views of what a marriage should be, though.
Will: his devotion to his family/friends. His athleticism.

  

Oz is an inventor, I invent new ways of fortifying my backyard when my dog escapes to roam the neighborhood. We're basically identical.

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MJ is the light of my life <3

I think most of my characters are potentially what Id 'like' to be like - Ginny is outgoing and flirty - I am ABSOLUTELY not...the fact that I managed to get married is a miracle, Maddie is waaaaay sweeter and more patient than I am, Merida is too whimsical and chill.


Christabel is political, feminist and irish. She is the most like me I think.
Murdocks has my outgoing introvert vibes...I can be fun - for a short period of time and I prefer to do it with my close friends or family.
Vera's Bi

  

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MJ is a National Treasure