Hope this is alright! i'm not natively english so some stuff might be worded weird!! sorry :( Thanks for the great course!

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Personality refers to the unusual ways your character behaves. What aspects of your

character's personality are specific and unique enough to stand out quickly?:

Kuro Matsuda, a man of many words to those lucky enough to find him, whispering around rumors of those who he has a slight disliking to. He is quick to understand a situation and figure out how to make things in his favor, Kuro tends to be very unemphatic to people around him, judging those who even slightly raise their eyebrow at him. Due to years of unresolved childhood neglect and trauma, Kuro has a big resentment to the world around him, his actions could be worded as reckless and troublesome to some but to Kuro, he feels like he has the right to do this, after everything his father and brother have done to him, he feels like he has the rights to make things ‘less boring’ for him.

Despite his own disliking for the world, Kuro gains quick attachment to those who show him basic care and kindness, this is a flaw he sees in himself and tends to avoid those who are trying to befriend him in any way. He shuts himself off in hopes that no one gets to see his less wary self.

Kuro tends to destroy his relationships badly due to his attachments, he feels extreme issues with abandonment and fears of losing those who he sees as someone who understands him. To many he could be called possessive, but to him, if he can even savor the moment of being understood and being loved, he doesn’t mind what they call him. This tends to backfire in the moment though, as he can go to extreme measures to keep those feelings, one of the cases is spreading rumors of his best friend, who he made to look as a witch who’s using spells to kill folks outside the village they live in. (The beginning of my story takes place in the time where Witch trials and executions were still a thing, I’ll add so it makes a bit more sense), this ended up with Kuro watching his friend get dragged to the town plaza and get murdered right in front of his eyes. This all happened because said friend was hanging out with his boyfriend, which caused Kuro to assume that they wouldn’t be able to spend as much time together, which triggered his fears and caused him to feel an amount of anger he wouldn’t be able to describe.

Contrast is how the elements of pop come together. What are some ways that your

character's pop creates unexpected contrasts, tensions, or combinations that can

surprise or intrigue the reader?

While Kuro is usually very unemphatic of people, it might surprise the reader to find out he’s quite needy for attention from those he cares about, willing to sacrifice whatever is necessary to keep that attention on him.

Action refers to the things your character can do. What does your character do that is

interesting, unique, or compelling? This can include specific skills, talents or abilities. It

could also be their job or profession.

Skills:

-Kuro has quite the strength in his upper arms from working as a blacksmith, he can carry weight easily.

-On the topic of being a blacksmith, Kuro can handle a few tools that are handy for repairing or making stuff.

-A smaller thing is that he’s somewhat above average in the kitchen, He can make basic necessities and some more skilled dishes.

Backstory is the interesting elements of your character's history. What elements of your

character's history and life experience up to this point are interesting, compelling, or

unusual? What aspects of their backstory stand out?

Growing up in a small town, Kuro was born into a family off a single father and his twin brother, Fuji Matsuda. Quickly his father took note that Kuro’s features were more prominent to those of his mother, who had died after giving birth. This caused the boy’s father to be spiteful towards his own son, developing hatred for him, despite only being a young child. Kuro picked up on this very fast, seeing his father spend more time with his twin, admiring them more then the black haired boy. It didn’t make it better that Kuro was picked on by his twin, being mocked and degraded for the smallest of things. This only increased when Kuro seemed to be better at the job his father was working to give to Fuji. Being called ‘Worthless’, ‘A good for nothing’ and ‘Pathetic display of a man’ daily started breaking Kuro into the resentment for loving families, he seemed to despise whoever had a better upbringing then him. This caused Kuro to adapt his families mannerism, a unemphatic boy who seemed to care less what others thought about him. He started speaking back to his brother and father, who didn’t seem to appreciate that their son wasn’t so easily turned back into a corner.

The male was starting to hear rumors about his family, some that weren’t pleasant, all it did to him was make him grin. His mind only full with one sentence.

“Good. See what kind of shitshow this world really is.”

Kuro started to even participate into some of the rumors himself, finding it humorous that his family was getting humiliated and shamed by the entire town. It finally made him feel some joy in his life, this caused his rumoring path to begin.

The male was swift with his rumors, it started small, but it started going out of hand at times. Kuro was too delusional to see the damage he was causing, he didn’t care whatsoever. This was his revenge on the world for his own miserable life.

On a faithful day in the library, where the male was trying to spread rumors again, he met a brown haired person, above average height, dark blue eyes like the ocean...Hm, he didn’t know this person whatsoever.

Kuro made his way over innocently, showing no sign of malice in his demeanor, something he had learned over the years, Kuro slightly eyed the person, now noticing he was reading a book about old history of this town. Strange, no one was ever interested in those books whatsoever, this could be juicy rumor material-

“How long are you going to keep staring?” The person spoke, his voice sounded posh and somewhat deep.

This was the first time Kuro was spoken to first, it took him aback for a minute. Kuro simply sat down next to him and tilted his head.

In the end, Kuro got to know this person was named Fuyuhiko Fujikawa, he came from a town farther away and came to study the history of neighboring towns. Kuro didn’t seem to mind this person, as they were very friendly to him, explaining what they were doing and was caring enough to not ask him questions.

Days passed and Kuro and Fuyuhiko kept hanging out, they got along very well. Kuro liked this person. He knew that was wrong for him. He didn’t want to like this person who had showed him the right amount of sympathy he needed to have.

It was all Kuro ever wanted, someone who was nice to him, not out of pity, but out of genuine care.

Everything started going well, it didn’t seem to be as bad it used to be anymore. Kuro had a friend that he could rely on…Someone who cared about him.

Though this didn’t last as a new visitor had come into town, and Fuyuhiko seemed to have taken interest in him too. He never forgot the moment he caught those two in the town plaza holding hands and talking happily. He felt rage, uncontrollable rage.

If their friendship had truly meant nothing, then Fuyuhiko wouldn’t mind being rumored about, right?

Limitations are things that limit the way the character relates to the world around them.

What are some of your character's limitations that make their pursuit of their goal more

difficult? What makes their life or quest harder?

In the present world of my story, where they are reincarnations of those versions of them who died, Kuro meets his old friend again, Fuyuhiko Fujikawa.

This causes him to be immobilized by shock for a minute, before rage comes back because of what he’s gone through, or simply, his twisted truth he made up in his head about the whole situation.

Throughout the story, Kuro finds it hard to accept his former friend and even goes out of his way to try and make Fuyuhiko feel the same rage he felt at some point (albeit no response from the other to this attempt, which fuels him even more.)

This stirs up trouble in the group where Kuro doesn’t seem to be the perfect leader anymore, even seemingly downright unsuited for the job to those around him.

This worsens when he sees his twin brother Fuji, which turns out to be even worse for his mental health, causing Kuro to have a mental breakdown/shutdown.

Misbeliefs are the character's flawed beliefs about themselves or the world. What are

some of your character's doubts, fears, accepted lies, or other beliefs about themselves

or the world around them that make their pursuit of their goal more difficult? What do

they need to learn or discover in order to succeed?

Kuro’s fear of abandonment comes into play quite often, he’s often seen to be quite against some of the groups members into his own belief that they’re all against him at that point due to his own faults.

The male also still heavily carries the belief of: “I had a miserable life, so I’ll make this as miserable for you guys as it was for me.”

While Kuro does not get rid of those feeling entirely at the end, he still learns that people aren’t always against him, that they also have needs and wants. Most importantly, he learns that they are allowed to say no to situations he wants them to say yes. (Despite his dismay)

Motivation is the collection of wants and needs that compel a character to overcome

the obstacles of the story. What does your character want? What matters so much to

your character that they will do extraordinary, dangerous, or costly things to acquire or

achieve it? If you asked them what they wanted most, what would they tell you?

In the beginning, Kuro wouldn’t know what he wants, but I think he’d start to believe that maybe all he wants is to feel loved and safe by those around him. Validation of his loved ones and reassurance that they won’t leave him whatsoever.

What does your character need? What does your character truly need to be happy,

fulfilled, or whole?

I think his wants and needs would be quite the same, but a need for him would be someone who is willing to support him throughout his life.

What are the contrasts in your character's motivation? Are there any contrasts or

conflicts present between your character's wants and needs?

Not many contrasts to be honest.

Agency refers to the actions and choices your character takes to attempt to achieve

their drive. What types of actions or methods does your character rely on to get what

they want? What types of actions or methods will they need to learn through the story

in order to succeed?

Kuro’s actions are very extreme, especially to get the feeling of sympathy and kindness.

His actions heavily rely on manipulation and guilt tripping, some times downright threatening, Whatever stops them from leaving.

In the most extreme cases, Kuro will even downright threaten with suicidal threats;

While Kuro doesn’t necessarily learn these all throughout the story, Kuro needs to learn to make his fear of abandonment not too extreme, even though that’ll be hard, he needs to learn to express his emotions normally.

How will their agency affect, determine, or influence key events or moments in the

story?

At some point in the story (Which I will write for the final task) Kuro gets put off as leader, being replaced by Fuyuhiko, which caused his rage to come in. Kuro seemingly storms off in anger and in the end gets attacked by an unknow figure. This is also where Fuyuhiko’s point of view will come in.

Describe your character's core demographics. Include: age, gender, physicality, family,

social class, education and any other things that you can think of.

Full Name: Kuro Matsuda

Ethnicity: Japanese

Age: Died at the age of 19

Gender: Cis Male

Physicality: Less energy then most.

Family:

-Unnamed Father (Hatred)

-Unnamed Mother (Never knew)

-Fuji Matsuda (Twin brother/Hatred)

Social class: Middle class

Education: Knows basic things, specialized in the blacksmith category

Mental illnesses: BPD + PTSD

Song I associate with character: Replay- Lady Gaga

Voice Claim: Sylvain- Fire emblem three houses

Describe your character's most important personality “adjectives and adverbs.”

-Needy

-Clingy

-Manipulative

-More talkative when feeling understood

-Let’s fears take him over

-Easily angered

What are your character's preferences, both loves and hates? What does your character

love enough to go out of their way or sacrifice for?

Validation of those around him, feeling needed too.

And the obvious, Kuro will go out of his way to make sure people stay with him when attachments, he will sacrifice whatever he has in moments of splitting.

What does your character hate so much that they will react strongly to? How do they

react to those things?

The most hated thing for Kuro would be his family, even seeing Fuji back alive made him react so strongly out of disgust that it caused him to mentally shut off.

Who is your protagonist at the beginning of the story?

Kuro is the protagonist of this story, He starts off very annoying and a downright brat, I wouldn’t be surprised if people disliked Kuro from the start due to this.

Who will they be by the end of the story? How will they have changed?

Kuro will be less intense in his emotions, while they are still present somewhat, Kuro will have learned stuff from Fuyuhiko to have helped him distract those bad thoughts and fears for a bit. Kuro will also become more open about his emotions and past.

Who does your character need to be in order to achieve the resolution of the story? How

will their personality, skillset, beliefs, etc influence the climax of the story?

Kuro will need to be someone who can hear out Fuyuhiko out, as they are the one who knows most of the situation that these characters are in.

In the end, Kuro will believe in the rest of the group enough, to trust them that they’ll help them get out of the situation. His believes will have turned around a bit that some people can be trusted.

Is your protagonist's drive big enough to propel them through the whole story? Can

they live without it? What would happen to them if they don't achieve it?

Kuro’s whole drive is to just get away from everyone in the beginning, he’s very keen on being alone and free. Kuro wouldn’t be able to survive without this though, as this drive makes him meet people that help him throughout the story. Kuro being alone in their situation would also get him killed.

Is your protagonist's flaw one of the primary obstacles that stand in the way of the

resolution of the story?

Kuro’s biggest flaw is that he sees everyone as an obstacle to overcome, he’ll need to overcome this to work together, since the person behind his reason for being in the situation isn’t easily taken down alone.

How will your character overcoming their flaw enable them to “solve” or resolve the

conflict of the story?

As I explained before, Kuro will start to trust those around him more after they help him with him breaking down, this causes him to lower his walls around them, and belief that they’re there to help.

The character Intro is how we meet your character. What aspect of your character will

you focus their intro on?

Kuro will be introduced as a person who’s quite arrogant and unemphatic, this will be shown further when he meets Fuyuhiko again which causes him to seemingly be rude to the person without even explaining why.

I want to make it obvious from the start that Kuro is not a protagonist who’s all happy and go lucky.

What fun or compelling ways will we see or experience that element in the scene?

-Kuro will intentionally walk into Fuyuhiko

-Obviously showing signs of unresolved rage

-Calling him names throughout the scene (and throughout the middle part of the story)

Character Spotlights are how we discover your character. Write out a “laundry list” of all

of the most significant elements of your character.

-Kuro is as I mentioned above, not the typical ‘Happy and Supportive’ type of protagonist.

-Kuro will have issues with expressing his emotions other than rage.

-Kuro won’t be very friendly towards people he meets.

-He’s not very social and despises touch

-Kuro will destroy his friendships throughout the story, which will not be forgiven easily.

Choose three, and brainstorm a few ideas for scenes or moments that would reveal that

element of the character on the page.

Kuro will have issues with expressing emotions other than rage:

At one point of the story, Kuro could have a moment of rage by being teased by another character, this causes the whole group to go silent for a bit, before someone speaks up and says they should just keep going.

He’s not very social and despises touch:

This could be shown by Kuro flinching every time someone touches him, and whenever Kuro has to talk to someone new, it’ll be small talk.

Character Payoff is how we experience catharsis with your character. What does

“satisfying” look like for this character in their character arc?

A satisfying moment could be where Kuro seems to soften up to someone from the group, even smiling at them and having a normal conversation with them.

To outline your arc, begin by describing the character intro:

Kuro gets introduced by being in a lab cell, waking up from slumber and being grumpy about the whole place, this will continue when Kuro accidentally opens his cell and steps outside, feeling a slight wave of freedom wash over him. Though this won’t last long as Kuro will end up meeting Fuyuhiko, who he flat out insults by just seeing him, Kuro seems to get annoyed and angered by their appearance, even pushing him back what he’s doing here.

Next outline at least two or three character spotlights. For each one be sure to describe

how they change or move forward as a result. Note that you can include as many as

you'd like if you want to create a more complete character arc for this project.

Kuro seems to flinch around the others when they touch him, this gets noticed and gets spoken about, Kuro mentions that he’s not used to touch, and that he gets nervous about it. This ends up with Kazuto reassuring him that it’s alright, and that they don’t mind. Kuro seems to be taken back, but smiles slightly at the reassurance before nodding.

(Kuro seems to be getting slightly more trustable towards the group, and seems to even experience a positive emotion)

Kuro meets Fuji Matsuda, his twin brother who he knew mocked him and treated him horribly, this ends in him breaking down, which makes the others (besides fuji) worry about him, seeing a more vulnerable side to the black haired male. This makes Kuro wonder why people are nice towards him, which after the reassurance makes him ask, which Wolf speaks to about them caring about him, which once again, he seems taken back from. This causes him to softly sob again which worries the rest, but Kuro just tells them not to worry, saying he’s happy that people care about him.

(Kuro has seemingly given up his walls a bit by showing his emotions come through, and feeling loved makes him feel safe)

Finally, describe the character payoff for this arc. Describe the ways that this payoff

justifies and rewards the audience's investment along the way

Kuro opens up to the others about his troublesome past, and that he’s so afraid of abandonment that he ends up pushing people away even more. He opens up to Fuyuhiko that he caused their death and that he felt so guilt and ashamed for it.

This causes the others to understand his actions, though not necessarily an excuse, it gives an insight on why he is what he’s become today.

Pull together everything you've developed about your character so far by writing a

scene for them. It could be one of the moments from their character arc, or something

else entirely. Have fun showing some of the core aspects of your character in action on

the page.

Kuro couldn’t believe what he was hearing right now, they were removing his leader position… Did they forgot who even saved them from their cell? It was him! He was the one to escape from his own cell and got them to this point! And they’re replacing him with the goddamn guy he hates! It was a smack in his face, it felt like they were purposely doing this to make him feel even worse.

His fight started itching; a feeling of anger was starting to make its presence into his body, Kuro started sweating a bit, this happened when he got too emotional, but right now he could barely keep it in.

“You’re replacing me with Him?“ his voice sounded almost as if it was breaking; Kuro felt betrayed at this moment, his lips shut close, his mind was going blank at this point. Kuro seemed to feel only rage.

“It seems like you can’t do anything right, huh?” Fuji looked at his twin, a feeling that Kuro knew all too well was making it’s presence as well. The feeling of feeling unloved.

“Shut up! Just shut up god!” his voice seemed to show more emotions then before, slight sobs were starting to come out his mouth, he felt like it became harder to breathe.

“None of you understand…None of you guys will ever understand! They aren’t to be trusted!” he yelled out, which caused Fuyuhiko to raise his eyebrow.

“In what way am I not trustable? If you have any objections to how I lead, I’d like to hear.” His voice sounded as monotone as always, Kuro couldn’t wrap his brain around it.

“G-God shut up! You know what, if this how it’ll be, I’m out! Find your way out of here yourself!” He threatened before storming off before even hearing any objections.

The last thing he heard was Fuji yelling after him, mockingly making a sobbing noise.

Elliott Piasecki

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