Heya! It's Tokai Teio! or, rather, the one that showed up recently. you might also know me as the Cripple Crown Emperor. And I'm here to give you some writing advice.

Now. first order of things:

"who the fuck are you? why should I take advice from you?"

excellent question. I'm the co-author/editor for a currently ongoing webnovel series (also Uma related, btw) on Royal Road that's recently passed 90,000 words.

"That's a lot of words!" And indeed, it is. Throughout that writing journey, I've picked up a few things the hard way, and now I'm here to share them with you, so you don't have to get into the same pitfalls that I have gone through.

So without further ado, let's get started!

Part 1: Dissecting your character

Before we begin, we need to understand what a character is.

A character is, in its essense, two parts: the external (appearance), and the internal (personality).

For RP, you might include a third part, which is powers & abilities, though those can arguably be separated into the external component (how they influence their appearance) and internal (how the abilities impact them). more on that later.

for the sake of this guide, we won't be touching up on the external. that's for you to decide, and I'm not a graphics designer. I cannot give you advice on that front.

The internal components of a character consists of the following. personality and what I like to call "the core".

Now. Good news! Since you're in an RP sub, usually those things will already be dictated for you. Most of us are playing pre-made characters. If it's not, you've got slightly more work cut out for you.

Most people will boil down their character to only their personality. And while this is an easy pitfall to get into (trust me, even I do this sometimes), it is often fatal in terms of character depth.

Think of personality as labels- funny, quirky, quick-mouthed, gloomy, energetic, reserved, sarcastic, cynical, etc. Basically, this is the first thing that comes to mind when you think "Character". You can mix and shuffle these labels around to create new combinations, and some do make for very interesting characters. If that is all you base your writing off of, however, things quickly start to get one-note, because these labels ultimately do not provide depth to your character.

At the end of the day, you need something to separate your happy-go-lucky Tokai Teio and your equally warm smiling countryside girl Special Week, and that something is...

Part 2: What's below the surface

Congratulations. Once you reach this part, you've officially gone deeper than most people ever will. Two "cheerful" characters can feel completely different depending on why they act that way, and if you can come to understand that, then your writing will elevate itself to a whole new level.

In this layer, we have a character's beliefs, motivations, and worldview. These are the root "causes" of a character's personalities, with what you see on the surface manifesting as a result of all of these combined. These parts are also, in of themselves, very tightly linked.

To start things off, motivations are the engine that drives a character forward. What do they want? Why do they want it?

Take Special Week, for example. She is a countryside girl who came from Hokkaido to run in the Twinkle Series and fulfill her dream of running in the Derby. That makes her hardworking and earnest, because she hasn't been around the city very long. She was raised by a good mother, who, in addition to being very warm and supportive, has raised her to have excellent manners, so she is very polite when it comes to interacting with others.

Now, needs come in different levels, or as we call it in psychology, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. (Trust me. This part is relevant.) To put it in layman's terms, someone who's starving is not going to be worried about Romance.

at the very bottom, we have food and shelter, which, seeing that the world here is Tracen, probably don't play a big role into your wants. This is not to say they cannot, however, as Oguri's tendency to eat a lot does stem from the fact that the horse itself was constantly hungry and learned to scavenge for food whenever she can. The next few levels are what I want to emphasize: belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization.

These can only come about when the step before them are satisfied. A person will naturally want to belong in a group, to receive and give affection, to have someone they can trust. once that is realized, they can then work towards gaining recognition within the group, and finally, strive to be the best self they can. Depending on where your character is at their journey, this will almost always help you dictate what exactly it is that they want, and what exactly they need to achieve this.

When you tackle your own characters, especially ones that you want to flesh out well, you have to reach deep into both their backstory and character motivations to understand why they are the way they are. Uma Musume have character stories for specifically this reason, and if you take the time to look through them, you will have a lot to learn.

But we are not perfect. Nobody is. Someone who always makes the perfect choice isn't realistic by any means, and can risk becoming a Mary Sue. A good way to ensure that doesn't happen is...

Part 3: fears and insecurities

Fears and insecurities are what prevent a character from acting perfectly rationally. They are also what makes them feel human. A lot of people say "just give your character flaws", but that feels like terrible advice to me because it simply doesn't explain the why.

Take Special Week again.

Let's take that character beat and extrapolate it. If she's a countryside girl, then that should obviously shape her insecurities. She doesn't know the customs around in the big city, and she has never been in a big city before. She gets lost, she goes in awe, and misses curfew.

Like we see in the anime, when she comes face to face with her new classmates, she's nervous, awkward, trips in class, and gets played off for a gag. However, she doesn't let this hold her back, and eventually makes friends with the girls in her class.

When you're skimming through a character's backstory, ask yourself this: "how does this event impact my character?" Memories should shape your character's worldview. Actions should have consequences. Everything adds up to eventually become what they are.

Someone who was bullied as a child could grow up to be silent and awkward, withdrawing from society because they don't wish to be hurt; or they could become witty and laid-back, to try and distance themselves from the pain. Both stem from a deep-rooted avoidance of pain, but depending on how your character handles that event, they could branch off in wildly different paths.

At the end of the day, how your characters choose to tackle these fears and insecurities is the core of how you define your character. Do they shy away? Do they square up? Do they push forward and eventually conquer their fears despite them? That is up for you to decide, and it will be a defining characteristic of what makes your character yours.

So make sure you have your character's fears and insecurities down pat, and make sure you know how they would be able to respond in times like these.

But okay, I hear you say. I have my wants. I have my needs. I even have my fears and insecurities. What more can I do to make my character interesting?

I'm so glad you asked.

Part 4: contradictions

Tsundere. Moe gap. Breaking character. whatever the hell you want to call it. these are, in my opinion, the BEST parts of a character, and ironically, despite the fracture of the perfect image that you want the character to be, is what makes them whole.

Because, again, real life is not perfect. People are messy. Emotions are messy. Characters are... messy.

Take Tokai Teio, for example. On the surface, Teio is energetic, cheerful, playful, and incredibly confident. She acts almost larger-than-life, constantly smiling and charging forward no matter what stands in front of her. But underneath that confidence is someone absolutely terrified of losing her ability to run. Her optimism is not there because life has been easy for her. In many ways, this confidence exists in spite of her circumstances.

Take Fuji Kiseki, for example. She is the mentor figure to Jungle Pocket, constantly cheering her on in a confident playboy demeanor during Beginnings of a New Era. She is meant to be this absolutely untouchable, undefeated champion Uma Musume whom Pokke looks up to, but she, ironically, parallels Pocket's journey in the "what if".

Because like Pocket, who wonders what could have been had Tachyon not retired past the Satsuki Sho, struggling to comprehend the meaning in winning the Derby; Fuji Kiseki is haunted by what could have been has she not retired, wondering what meaning she could possibly have in her current circumstances if all she has to validate her is the past. and it's this part of her that shows us that she too is vulnerable, wanting in self-validation despite having every reason to believe in herself.

And what I'm trying to say here is, the most compelling part of a character isn't what they show us on a daily basis. It's the fault lines that show when their core personality clashes with their deepest insecurities, showing us cracks underneath what would be otherwise the pristine glimmer of a perfectly curated shell. These moments are what make them compelling.

But also, they should not exist just becomes. They have to logically stem from your character's backstory and follow through on what that logic implies. A contradiction without a cause is not depth, it's just randomness. If your character suddenly acts completely differently for the sake of shock value, that's simply inconsistency.

The key difference is whether the audience can trace the emotional logic backwards.

Why is the confident character secretly insecure?
Why is the cold character terrified of attachment?
Why does the cheerful character break down under pressure?

If the answer ties back into their experiences, motivations, fears, and worldview, then congratulations: you've successfully created emotional depth.

People naturally hide the parts of themselves they dislike. Characters should too. What I'm saying is, characters aren't at their best when they're composed and front-facing. They are at their best when they are vulnerable. And if there's one thing you should take away from this guide,

By making your characters imperfect in a way that is unique only to them...

...They become a perfect version of the character they were destined to be.

Outro

Now, that was a lot of rambling. It is currently 1 in the morning, I don't even know if I've explained myself correctly, but I hope I was able to help.

It took me a lot of time and effort to write this, so I'd appreciate any kind of feedback if you've read this far. If you liked what I've written, let me know in the comments. If you have anything you'd like to add, let me know in the comments. And if you'd like to see me do anything else, again, let me know in the comments.

Until next time though...

Teio, out.

This is an emergency announcement from the Tracen Security Department.

Ovoid, colloquially “egg-shaped” objects of blue-and white color have appeared around the academy. the origin of these objects are currently unknown.

STUDENTS AND FACULTY ARE ADVISED TO AVOID THESE OBJECTS AT ALL COSTS. DO NOT APPROACH AN INSTANCE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

These objects are highly volatile. When living creatures, particularly humanoid ones, come into close proximity or direct contact. When approached, these objects [DATA EXPUNGED]

████ ██ █ ██████ █████████ ███ ██████ ███████ ███████ ██████ ███ ████ ███ ███ ████████ ██████ █████.

██ ███ █████, ███ █████████ ████ ██ ████ ████ █████ ███ █████ ███ ████ ████ █████ ██ █ ███-██████. █████ ███████ ██████ ████ ███ ████, ███ ████████████ ███ ██████ ████ █████ ███████. ██████ █.

Currently, these objects have resulted in [DATA EXPUNGED] deaths, with [DATA EXPUNGED] in critical condition.

Report all discovered instances to the security department immediately.

She comes to a stop by the fountain, looks up, and lets out a trembling gasp.

Please. Heed my prayer.

There is but one thing that I desire more in the world and yet cannot have…

that is, to be her.

I have neither her talent nor her spirit, and yet I must bear the weight of her colors. They are heavy. Why must I be the one who walks on while her dream ends early?

So please, I beseech thee… Heed my call and make my will come true. Take me away…

And return her in my place.

She finishes her prayer with a shaky breath and awaits.

I thank you all in advance.

This image is pretty much self explanatory at this point. There was a Ug Bourbon in the lobby too.

All things considered I don’t think this is healthy for the game..

Edit: yeah, I know I’m contributing to the problem. But running Oshi in this economy is practically asking to get your ass kicked by meta.