tofutush's oc creator questionnaire

word count: 3,614 | reading time: 13 min

original question list found here

my OC universes get mentioned here a lot (PTC, centennia, PM), so if you don't know anything about that, have a quick skim thru my ocs page for short synopsis :] it's a quick read :]

A little self-introduction!

Hi I'm sacher

How long have you been making OCs?

Ever since i could draw, probably. I grew up around lots of media with “universes” or open worlds, like barbie, the rainbow magic series, and winx, so coming up with my own characters to insert in those universes was how i got started :]

Who was your first OC ever? (If you don't remember, answer for the earliest that you do remember.) Are they still in use? Did they go through any iterations?

Don't remember my first OC, but my most relevant & earliest OC was a girl named Ame i made in the 6th grade. Her and her story were inspired by undertale which i was mega obsessed with back then.

Who is your favorite OC, currently?

This answer may be suprising………. But for once it is not enzo castor, but a new OC…….

Who is your newest OC as of right now?

Relevant to the previous question as well. Her name is Ai Sato, she's part of a new bunch of ideas i have for a new story project. It will take a while for me to debut this selection of characters and the world she's from, but she's a cast member of a fighting tournament to become the new death >:] every character in that story has had a run-in with death and as a result has been subconsciously led to a dying town in the midst of the badlands where they have been allowed to compete to have reign over the cycle of life/death… Ai herself was the daughter of a mad scientist and had her body altered by experimental medicine which almost killed her (hence the metal jaw). After working under her father for years as an assassin to keep eyes off his work, he dies peacefully in his sleep before she could get closure her own way. Not knowing how to feel, she finds herself in the badlands accepting the tournament invitation. While the other tournament-goers have some deep philosophical reason to become death, Ai has decided that if she becomes death, she'll use it to bring back her dad so that she can kill him herself.
Oh yeah she also has a brother that she had no idea existed until her dad died because he kept him secret and treated him much much better than he did for her (which isn't by a lot because he was also an “experiment” and also was pretty messed up just in a different way). But her brother is so nice and sweet despite the horrors and it pisses Ai the fuck off because she can't afford to be nice but she keeps him around because….. [SPOILER!!!]
I love herrr i love her sooo much it's crazy. I describe her and her story as very cold and grim but ai herself banters a lot, she's got a dry morbid kind of humor and takes nothing serious. She knows she looks kinda scary and her story's kinda scary and so she tries to be the reliable happy face of the torney which contrasts a lot with her cadence and resting poker face - she's fun! However her lax attitude gets her into trouble a lot because when you take nothing serious, you tend to hurt the people you love when they come to you for guidance… which… she doesn't feel bad about that at all actually. She came to the torney for a fight, for enemies, to literally kill her own blood, so if people end up falling for the happy face, it's their fault, not hers. (compartmentalization) (self loathing) There's a lot's going on with her but it makes her story arc so satisfying for me. Oh also she's in lesbians with another important tournamentgoer who sees fighting as an art form OKAYYYY i'm talking too much. that's it, okay.

How many OCs do you have? If you have multiple, then do you have blatant favoritism?

At least a hundred atp, many belonging to different universes in varying genres, but the common theme across whether or not they are a favorite is this:

Do they die and come back to life (metaphorically or literally)?
Are they easygoing and quiet with tired eyes?
Are they connected against their will to some sort of cruel legacy or burden?

Do you create OCs with other people, or is it mostly solitary?

The only OC i've ever “shared custody with another artist” is otis who technically isn't my character but instead found a new home in PTC after his original project went on hiatus :]

Do you create your OCs for specific story(s)? What are the genre and common themes featured in your story(s)?

Nope, i make the OCs and their character dynamics first, and then the world gets built around what I think would strengthen the characters' impact the most.
For genre, I love fantasy. For a long long time the only thing i ever made were characters in fantasy settings. I think this changed when i made plastic mind and warmed up a lot to modern & futuristic genres as well.

Are your OCs from a fandom?

Veterans know that PTC used to be a JSAB AU. and also that enzo and callisto hopped from fandom to fandom across multiple AUs and projects including one allusive DR:SE i've mentioned a few times before. And also, kairos (if you've seen my artfight page) used to be part of a fanganronpa. I've had a blogpost prewritten about kairos for ages but i'm very picky with its wording, eventually you'll hear me talk about it.

Do your OCs live in their own universe(s)? How different is their world from ours? (If you have fandom OCs you can still answer this with the world of the franchise!)

Plastic mind: same as our time period on our earth, adjacent timeline with advanced robotics
Centennia: not earth, but an earth equivalent in 2 arcs. arc 1 takes place in earth's equivalent of roman-conquered greece, and arc 2 takes place in a 1800s britain-america equivalent
PTC: takes place on a galaxy of 4(?) planets vaguely similar to our own. Life's not much different than our time period, aside from some soft fantasy elements which lead to advanced weaponry and convenient space travel.

If you got isekai'ed into your OCs' universe (if there are multiple, pick some of the most notable), how long would you survive?

When i made plastic mind in 2020 i based it and its characters off a romanticized version of my coming-of-age LOLLLLLLL i'd survive.

Centennia: ok so the lore is that everyone thinks the world is ending soon and have pinned it on this one specific continent because every 100 years there's a catastrophic continent-annihilating disaster there. So, long as i'm not on that continent or move away from it, i'd probably survive. But here's where the gambling comes in. If I truly believe the world will end and that no amount of relocation would work, I could instead save myself by making a shady deal with a cunty red-haired woman and her lackey. Then they'll let me live forever. But if i live forever and the world ends… then who's watching Foxy?
PTC: oh hell nah they're nuking planets left and right brah my ass is dead

Do most your OCs belong to a (set of) species?

For centennia, the immortal main characters are technically considered “cryptids” and have a whole second form, so they technically count as another species. For PTC, no. All of the characters are assigned animal traits/motifs, yes, but they're all too humanoid. Their animal traits/homeplanets are treated more like a nationality than species.

Do you draw pictures of your OCs? If so, what kind of pictures do you draw?

Character portraits and sometimes conceptual scenery pieces based on lore.

Do you enjoy drawing new reference sheets?

I put them off as long as possible bcs when a character is new for me, their design is so prone to shifting & changing. My enjoyment depends on how much i like the design.

Do you write about your OCs? If so, what sort of text do you write?

I used to write both prose and comics religiously. And then one day some primal levels of self-awareness hit and i've had trouble with the responsibility of being perceived since. Like i am so anxious to post any writing ever. Ever since i started my artblog i've been trying to inch my way back to the light. I wanna publicize some tangible storytelling again BADLYYY, I just gotta commit but predictably i'm very picky……….. I put my whole heart into my little ideas but caring doesn't equal good, and when things i love aren't good, it's hard to not see it as a personal reflection. I like to think i have a healthy relationship with art, but writing is like… a toxic on-off-again relationship LOLLL

Aside from drawing and writing, is there anything else you're doing for your OCs? Like… making a website, perhaps?

Dude… i've been researching sewing patterns and shit. I've been stalking online shops for cheap fabric and shit…. Dude i'm gonna make felt plushies

What's your general process in making new OCs?

Rule of cool, that's literally it man. all of my characters have started out as one-off doodles/designs that i get attached to, and then snowballs into obsession simply because i thought they were cool at first.

Relatedly, which comes first for you, the OC or the story setting?

I'm a character artist above all, so the OC often comes first :] in the rare instance where it's the other way around, it's because I was inspired by a pre-existing concept that i want to add a twist to. Ai Sato's story is one such case, where I'm making characters to place in a decaying town in the badlands.

Relatedly, how do you name your OCs?

I can't explain it, but sometimes there's a syllable or certain letters I associate with a character. Like sometimes you'll see a design and think “oh this guy HAS to have a C-name” or something. I came up with Giomi's name like this. If I don't have that initial intuition, then I'll look up a name with a thematic meaning which matches the OC. For example, “Isra” is named that way because a baby name website LIED TO ME and said his name meant “freedom.”

Relatedly, do your OCs gain a life of their own during the creation process?

This only happens if I start writing. My characters neeeever stay linear if i start typing out their dialog and actions, it's really fun though!

Relatedly, do you focus more on the design of the OC, or their personality? Or is it an even blend, or something else?

Personality 100%, it's what gives my design meaning in the first place. I think my designs in general are pretty un-subtle. (glances towards Archer)

Do you assign your OCs birthdays? Is their calendar different from ours?

Yeah! And depends on the universe, for PTC every planet has its own timekeeping system. For example, Halaro separates its years in "BA" and "AA," meaning before avrom and after avrom. avrom, being a hundred-years reigning emperor and religious figure. Paradise uses sundials for hourly times but i haven't figured out the worldbuilding for its timekeeping or for the other planets yet.

Do you keep track of OC creation dates? Do you consider the creation date to be their birthdays?

Nope and nope

How do you handle OC ages? Do they age up with you, stay static, or grow within the universe?

For PM, they've stayed at approximately the same age as they started - it's not a story I actively work on but one that I interact with to engage with idealized feelings if ykwm, so it makes sense why they stay static. For centennia, OMGG i feel motherly towards this story. Callisto used to be 13 years old when I created him at 13. Now he's an adult and i'm and adult that's craaazy. Same is the case for isra and marcene who also aged with me as i grew up! For PTC, it's actually the first story i created from scratch as an adult and so it's also the first story of mine to purposefully have the majority of characters much older than i am… because all of my other relevant stories were made when i was in my teens and,,, yknow how teens think 20y/o is the oldest that cool characters can get. And yknow how i'm also 20-some now. Eek changes must be made…

Are there any rules you set for yourself when making OCs? How often do you break these self-imposed rules?

Rule of coollllll

What are things you enjoy the most in OCs?

I looooove characters that are hypocrites, much to psychoanalize in characters that lie to themselves.

Conversely, what are your pet peeves about OCs?

There's this one OC artist that i think about on occasion who had this super popular character, but then a malicious person started fetishizing them to such a devilish degree to the point the creator took down all of their artwork of that character and never posted them again. My pet peeve is the weight of being perceived ouuuughh

What's the most common trope you fall into when making OCs and their stories? Do you even like these tropes?

Psuedo-victorian fashion and formalwear even if it doesn't fit the setting. It's my one comfort zone, I will not throw away an opportunity to draw a character in sharp & flashy costume.

Conversely, do you have any trope you like but doesn't get to use it much in your OCs?

mother/daughter relationships in media are really powerful to me but i don't have any interest in writing them

Tell me the weirdest and wackiest piece of out-of-context OC lore you have.

Ummmm the planet, Paradise, is made of mainly fungi and there was nothing technically living there until settlers & space travelers brought in new agriculture and such. The planet that is home to the runes which give life also has no natural life on it 🤷

Tell me the saddest and most tearjerking piece of OC lore you have, with context if needed.

I would hate to loredump because centennia arc 1's full completion & release on this website is very much in the realm of possibility, so spoiling would be pointless. just wait for me please x

Tell me the scariest and freakiest piece of OC lore you have, with context if needed.

Everything here is set to change bcs i'm still developing it but: The narrative of PTC is haunted by the war between the water-based planets, Otania and Hythie, which was devastating to the point of complete world-end for both parties.

CW: discussions of war

The war itself was utterly pointless. Otania started this war of expansion on its neighbor due to escalating nationalism and imperialist ideals by their increasingly authoritarian government. Hythie was largely outclassed and easily crushed (at first) yet the number of Otanian casualties was devastating, something very paradoxical. This is because much of the casualties inflicted on the Otanians were not done by Hythians, but by the Otanians themselves in their own ranks. Otanian spaceships were littered with the bodies of their own long before they ever landed on Hythian soil due to severe infighting and mutinies, something entirely intentional on the part of Otania's government. Their military structure is completely dependent on cruel leadership, cultlike loyalty, and diabolical hazing. They WANT the internal frustration, because it ensures that after the months-long space journey to the other planet, that the soldiers would be restless - and their one and only allowed outlet? The slaughter of Hythian soldiers. Most Otanian soldiers were not even recruits, but conscripts, mixing genuine loyalists with people with no willpower who complied because “it's expected of them”. Many were not the “type to kill” but by the end, who can say?
Honestly it's only karmic that they lost the war which they were soo confident about and killed their own over. And even when they lost they decided to be salty losers about it and blow themselves and all the enemy land up. Like ok man. No justice here I GUESS. There's even some asshole trying to bring them back. Do nawt do that bro.

Tell me the sweetest and most wholesome piece of OC lore you have, with context if needed.

All of the main cast members of PTC are people who in the realest sense, should be dead. But somewhere, somehow, they find their way to the planet Paradise. In PTC lore, this is treated like the aversion of a "canon event" - something that NEEDS to happen, but is averted because this specific selection of people together could save each other, and survive Paradise. This place with no life but instead is given life by the people who find their second chance through it. something something broken people coming from broken planets healing and building a new world together. okay

Tell me one meta thing about your OC lore. Like scrapped / revamped stuff?

Centennia formerly existed as a “season two” to a story project i was making at the time called “another misadventure” but as my passion for AM dwindled, i was still so so sooo attached to its season 2 characters. and so l ended up separating centennia from AM and made it its own story. Now centennia is like AM's sister-story which takes place in the same universe, but the plots are wholly disconnected! Wonderful decision because it not only gave me more creative freedom, but lowering the scope of AM also gave me lots of new love for its story. The AM characters still show up in centennia, except they're in their “retirement arc” and act as side-characters to marlow and I think it's really cute.

How do you think your OCs think of you? Are you their parent, their creation god, their suffering-bringer…

Funny thing about this question is that Giomi is actually aware of the audience to some extent and so is archer, that's why they're the mascots of PTC! :] giomi knows that the creator and any extra eyes are only here because they want to feel something, and so she kinda has a showman mindset. She doesn't resent the finickiness of those beyond her world and she isn't obsessed with their attention either, they're just travelers that pass by to her. When they're not there, she focuses on the other characters around her, the ones she's reaaaally interested in. Meanwhile, archer doesn't get it and doesn't try to, lol. Plenty of gods in the PTC universe, what's meaning in another one? The rest of the characters would most certainly view me as a suffering-bringer though.

How much TRAUMA do you give your OCs!!

Do you have a Mary Sue? Bonus points if they're your self-insert!

The premise of all of my stories is that sometimes when you die you come back and get to have awesome powers.

Do you have a self-insert then? What role(s) do they play?

graverobber and grave haver, simultaneously. someday i'll share her lore on this site, but her brief synopsis has been on my artfight page for a while.

What are your biggest influences when it comes to OC or worldbuilding? Could be media, other people's OCs, anything.

Other OC artists! I have a list of them on my favorites page.

Are you happy with these influences, or would you like to break away more?

I fall into traps of accidental plagiarism a lot because I forget where I see ideas/concepts and mistake them for my own when trying to brainstorm. Whenever I realize this, I make subtle tweaks to distance myself from source material. Isra was based off another artist's OC who I was obsessed with in my teens and I completely forgot this was his inspo source until like a year ago. I started changing his hair and face shape since I realized. I still need to update his refsheet. similar case for maël

Do you try to break out of your comfort zone when coming up with new OCs and stories?

Not usually if I'm honest. If I ever get serious about making a product out of my characters (indie project or something) I'd most definitely have to recruit editors and character designers to tweak what I've made. Once again my designs and even my plot/themes are very unsubtle.

How do you organize / categorize your OCs, if at all?

By universe!

Do you have any advice you would like to give to new OC creators?

It's so cliche, but just have fun. You don't have to make a product or anything, the point of hobby-ing is that it's all just for you, so be indulgent to your heart's content.

What are some boundaries you think people should have regarding other people's OCs (or things to take notice of if you create together)?

People's attachment to their own characters varies wildly from person to person, so literally just ask the creator if your concept is OK before creating supplemental works of their OC.
In regards to collaborating with ppl: I'm a very finicky person, so when I had writing partners I'd only want to bring my best to them, when in reality, keeping things from them and curating my ideas blocked concepts from snowballing. Instead, ask SO many dumb questions, voice SO many stupid ideas, be annoying, it's how you'll progress and learn SO MUCH from each others' styles. When you're working in a team you gotta be embarrassed to make progress.

How often do you think about your OCs, expressed as a percentage of your waking time?

Lol like 90% if i'm honest. I treat my hobby like my fulltime and i treat my fulltime as my side hustle that's just how it's always been

What impacts do you think your OCs had on your life?

I walk through my own unresolved angst through my plot, it helps me organize my own mind a lot.

Do you want to become POPULAR? If you are already popular, what's the secret ingredient?? :eyes: :eyes:

No way. I'd love to be popular if i was a fanartist but if my oc art is popular i feel like i'd need to get my act together. Becoming the face of your own work is not for the faint of heart

Are there any songs you think describe an OC or a story perfectly?

For PTC it's literally “sweet dream in sea major” by miracle musical. The song's about a siren but the cosmic and sea themes combined with talks of bliss, paradise, and death are so PTC-core. The siren is Giomi btw ooooohhhhhhhh

Might you have a paracosm? Look it up!

PTC is the closest thing to it bcs i daydream a lot about it, but I've never had a consistent universe dating back to childhood.

Finally, do you still recognize the word "OC" after seeing it so much?

lol lmao