What are some things you learned about your characters after you started writing them?

catori went from an anti-hero-esque angsty and stoic teen girl with a fondness for red lipstick, to an anti-hero-esque angsty teen girl who's actually very much a dumbass with no regard for her personal safety and a love of causing trouble that mostly pertains to harmless fun and being an idiot

Negative went to clingy-i want you back ex- to does it look like I give a crap? kinda girl.

((an iconic character development, i stan))

I'm writing a Scooby-Doo fic and now I now Velma is never impressed, Fred is a theater kid, Daphne cannot tell if she's flirting or just being her usual charming self, Shaggy is the only one keeping the whole team from a mental breakdown, and Shaggy is still just a scared hungry good boi

Narrator was originally a horrible person and a cliche, extremely intellegent 'trickster' type villain and now hes an extremely intellegent friend with trauma

If I put all their personalities together I basically have my own - by which I mean a mess that no one - not even I - understand. I've also learned that Sapph has extreme anxiety and is not as emotionless as I originally made her out to be.

ooh boy do my characters have minds of their own

i thought paike was a huge jerk just because that's who he is, but the more i got to writing him he showed me that it's just a front he puts up because he doesn't want to get close to people. he's afraid of commitment and of finding someone who cares about him only to lose them.

aeolus, i learned, actually does have a sense of humor! but it's very dry and he tends to deliver the humorous line with a straight face, which makes it hard for others to tell he's joking. but he knows when he's joking, and he thinks he's really funny.

Daisy's actually not a pushover and also the voice of reason.
Niara is not the voice of reason and is likely to run headfirst into trouble
Phoenix is trying to convince herself she doesn't feel guilty about what happened
Zara gets attached to people and then will do anything for them. Also she has a lot more morals than I thought she did.
Lea is actually really good with people. Also she has a sister, they do not get on well. Also she does not make friends easily.
Esta, despite being a performer, is actually an introvert
Kairi tries to be the mother figure of the friend group

Kohmir went from a straight up asshole to a really nuanced whose self respect actually helps him to tolerate people in a very quiet way. i love him. so damaged but so healed– he gradually left his trauma behind and instead became someone who pushes himself no futher than he can handle, who knows how to handle his emotions and fears and is just. beautiful. loving. careful.

CJ being bi wasn't particularly surprising; he and Naomi parallel each other in some ways, and she's always been a bi disaster. His having such a specific "type" (prettyboys leave him cold, but he's a total salmon) was.

Talula being nonbinary just kind of happened.

Heath being a trans man, I wrote his whole first arc and a time skip till I finally made it canon. I wrote him ambiguously on purpose since I hadn't decided if he was cis or not yet.

Daren having an anger issue, I originally started writing him as a tired over-worked older brother but he devolved into an angry, resentful, holds-grudges kind of guy.

Jacob: Hey, you remember my archnemesis I've been fighting for over five years now?
Me: (sipping tea) Yeah, what about him?
Jacob: Turns out he's my dad.
Me: (spews out tea) HE WHAT?!?!?
Jacob: And I have a twin sister.
Me: (shatters cup with my bare hands) WHAT?!?!
Jacob: It's Black Hawk.
Me: (keels over from shock)

Me: (peacefully reading a book)
Magic Water Sword: Hey, did you know I can talk?
Me: (Jumps away from sword, wide-eyed) WHAT THE CRAP??
MWS: I have a name too. It's Kaysen
Me: Oh, that's pretty good.
Kaysen: I can turn into a person.
Me: REALLY!!!!?!?!?!?!?!??
Kaysen: (transforms)
Me: (faints)

I originally had Praxis as a warlord of a country, but eventually through some backstory building I ended up with a sympathetic basically hero of his own story. Also, he hated Fire Elementals but I have him elemental power himself. So he became a guy being manipulated by a Green Dragonborn/kobold maybe, so he was more like Peril from WIngs of Fire then my original idea.

I learned that i think i might have an addiction to character backstory design and physical design(like what they look like) because of just how detailed i made SkullFace…

I've realized how much of a complex character Kenzo is. I wanted him to just be this charming deranged guy but when I created his backstory you realize his character has a lot more depth and you can realize why he is messed up. I mean he found his mom who unalived herself when he was nine then was sent to live with his dad who ltreated him like cinderella. So he has some major attachment issues while also a savior complex