As the titles say, across all your works which 3 characters are your most popular? How do you actually feel about them compared to your readers? Did popularity ever affect how you’ve written them?
Meg is by far the most popular right now, since her stories just get more readers. And she's a hell of a lot of fun to write for, too. We are having an utter blast watching her play on the page. She seems to be really good at ignoring author knowledge and just being a dumb ass sometimes. But also, she's a full blown dragon romping around in our home town and drinking gourmet coffee beverages with her friends. What's not to love?
Phage is probably our next most popular, because it's in almost all of our stories (all but Meg's books). And it's basically Entropy Itself made manifest as a cranky but apologetic parental figure who occasionally gets humiliated just a tiny bit. We find that we are fans of it in pretty much the same way our readers tend to be.
Fenmere was our first most popular character, and she's very well known in our hometown for the newspaper comic she starred in. We love her deeply for so many reasons that even her fans will never understand.
All three of these characters? They're also headmates. They're us. We get to live their lives when they front and share consciousness with the rest of us. They get to see themselves on the page and feel all sorts of feelings about it. They write for themselves, generally, and so their fictional versions are self inserts, really.
And probably because of that, and popularity they've gotten has really only just encouraged them to be themselves even more. Maybe ham it up a little bit.
Of the ones I created and posted here, Kelly Morgan Pierce seems to be the only one who really is popular. I really like her father too, and suspect he will get a few fans; and I am kind of sorry about what happens with him.
Also, I really like Jack Diamond but he does not seem to have any real traction here. May have to see if he can get any fans on Royal Road or Space Battles or somewhere else.
Though in "Between Worlds," a character who does not show up until about ten chapters in and who was never supposed to be more than "the character who keeps coming home from or leaving for work when the others are heading elsewhere", but who decided that she just HAD to be one of the major characters and slowly kept encroaching on the story, may wind up eclipsing a few others both for me and for readers - but only time will tell there.
As for whether popularity has changed how I write them? Only in that I have spent a little more time writing Kelly's stories than some of the other ones I am working on.
Frost - MC: Pretty much the most popular simply by being the MC of the series (and seemingly the center of the other side stories as well to some capacity).
Jury - FL: Female lead and was the first friend of the MC. I believe she became a favourite due to the 1st Arc (where she could only form simple words), until eventually being able to confess an "I love you." to the MC + their continued relationship, also the fact that she's related to one of the largest 'villains' in the shared universe.
Cer - Companion/friend/adopted daughter(?): This one I didn't expect to be so popular. She was originally written as a gag character meant for people to point and laugh at (hence giving her the title of the Jester of Speech), but in time I realized that I could use this for a great and deserving story arc (where she despises this and breaks through the admittedly self-imposed perceptions of herself which were built as a way to gain attention, but now realizes that her own self worth is the most important thing).
Cer is probably the no 1. character referenced in some way. Someone has a -1 IQ moment? Too horny for their own good? We call that 'Cer Syndrome', and have some emotes related to this phenomenon.
(Special thanks to @Bobple for making a bunch of animated gifs for the Discord!).
Like this one! (my personal favourite)
I think what made Cer more compelling and loved is that there was alot more beneath the surface of her just being a gag character, and to this day she is the only one in the series that has not experienced an existential breakdown which is a testament to her mental strength, determination, etc. Basically, she's a character that defied expectations and pulled through at crucial moments. She's one of the characters that make you laugh, but will also make you cry when you learn more about her.
Cer can be a love her or hate her character. I'll love this character no matter how many people hate her.
Who is Cer? For the blind, She is the vision. For the hungry, She is the chef. For the thirsty, She is the water. If Cer thinks, I agree. If Cer speaks, I am listening. If Cer has a million fans i am one of them . if Cer has ten fans i am one of them. if Cer has only one fan then that is me . if Cer has no fans, that means i am no longer on this earth . if the world is against Cer, i am against the world.
A lot of other chars could have easily replaced the top two, like Nav and Snap.
From Mad God: Ren, the MC, because I like writing cocky, big-mouth MCs who say what she thinks.
From House of Amarin: Once again, the MC, Lia, as I enjoyed writing her growing up from a kid to someone who is willing to sacrifice herself to save others.
From Hogwarts: Lockhart. I really enjoyed starting out with his base character and developing it more through the story. Seemingly, my readers also enjoyed it, mentioning that they didn't think they would grow to like him.
From Steel & Mana: Yuri. My MC's third wife went from a psycho bandit to a mother who would still cut your balls off and wore it as an earring if angered.
