#character-building — Public Fediverse posts

✮ Doors and Us ✮

“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.” — Vincent van Gogh

His world begins with a mop.

The frayed and loose strings of the mop head that washes the floor, scuffed with the day’s elements and stained with indifference by the feet that walk on them. The surface looks clean again, and the love that beams from them is an understatement. For the rest who walk through those halls, they would never notice, even as they see their reflection on the polished surface. People may cast their eyes on the art hanging on the walls, but not on the floor. Who does? Who cares? Someone is pocketing change to do the dirty job. His skin might as well be made of glass. Nobody sees him, the person wearing overalls behind a yellow sign. Unless, of course, his services are required. Someone spilled something in the pantry. What is his name again?

Even so, he didn’t grumble. Didn’t flip off the pesky person behind her back. Didn’t mock her for the way she talks. He simply said, “I’ll be with you shortly.” He loved the opportunity. Somewhere in the past, people didn’t look him in the eye. His name was preceded by a title. A title that meant nothing here. He neither folded nor bent. Neither griped about the luminous appeal of the title he didn’t have. He was often heard saying, “How can one be expected to be blessed with such big responsibilities if one cannot be entrusted with a modest task, though unworthy of one’s skill, and not do it very well?” Quotable. Grade A philosophy. It made sense.

One day, he left. Thanked everyone. Not one dry eye in the room. Years later, he popped in to say hi. He held the firmest handshakes. His eyes in sync with his classic smile. He walked the hall every morning. Feet shod in Derby, brogue, or Oxford daintily slapping the floor. Heads would sometimes turn his way when he stopped, dug in his pocket, and wiped off something on the floor. Now, why would the CFO do that? He shrugged. “Creature of habit,” he remarked.

So when the new guy, who kept leaving the trash behind the door for the morning shift to deal with, told everyone that the man above couldn’t relate to him, laughter ensued.

If a door is offered, big or small, take it. Be grateful, and you will never feel empty.

Whether it’s ego or shame, people pass up the chance that comes from humble beginnings. God often leaves doors of opportunity half our size, and most of the time, people fail to recognize them because they are unwilling to bend and squirm their way through. It is only by being grateful that we can walk through these doors or windows, and we cannot expect them to warp themselves to fit us. It’s a matter of adjustment and spirit. If by humility we will be led into a better tomorrow, then crawl through if we must. Fortune favors the bold, and the boldest course of action is to have the courage to be humble enough to learn what we don’t fully understand.

You see opportunity in pleasing people, but pleasing people will get you nowhere. No matter how hard you try. Of the thousand good things you have done, some people— especially the entitled ones—will perceive them as your obligation to them and nothing more. Sadly, when your usefulness has run its course, they will see you as incompetent. Instead, be just and be the best of who you are.

Opportunities are only valid when people are impressed, wrong! The minute you stop impressing people is the moment you set yourself free. Many of us believe that we are what we wear, or at least we try. It’s not what we wear that gives us personality; it’s our character that defines who we are, no matter what we wear. Stripped bare, are you no longer who you are? The true meaning of value lies in who we are.

Surprise and impress yourself with something new every day. Poke it with a deep sense of wonder and curiosity until a new school of thought and an array of new talents burst inside you. You see, even doors can be walls that keep people out. It’s not that they don’t have the key. It’s not that they don’t have what it takes. But some are passive. Their door isn’t glossy enough for them. Yet, when it comes to doors that waste their time, they would gladly pay to get through them.

Leave your ego at the doorstep, and when you do, you get to learn something. That’s what usually gets in the way of people; many of us are too good to be modest. An example of this is when people get laid off. A number will never cease to complain and will eventually bury themselves in the grief of what was.

Sometimes, all it takes is to take little steps and try to run again.

Transpose! Don’t stagnate believing that you will always be invincible. If the magic is no longer there, there is no sense in dwelling on the past long gone. Avenues are waiting to be explored, only if you are willing to lose sight of the past, so that they become material.

Our lives are littered with doors that often lead to new adventures and, with such, challenges. Some keys are not meant to be in your hands; sometimes, the only key that unlocks doors leading to your destiny is you.

Copyright © Erwinism. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations used in critical reviews or scholarly work. This work is protected under international copyright laws. Unauthorized use or reproduction of this material is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action.

Live it Up!

System Hack: Making a Useful Character Questionnaire

https://cannibalhalflinggaming.com/2026/06/10/system-hack-making-a-useful-character-questionnaire/

@nacho_borracho should be fine, there are specific carveouts in workplace law for family businesses https://www.vic.gov.au/child-employment-licence#exemptions #CharacterBuilding

Second recovery parkwalk today, at sunny but breezy Cramond. Enjoyed it until the last km when I realised I’d probably overdone it, based on the unpleasant chest pain (don’t worry it’s “normal” for SCAD recovery). Finished a bit demoralised.

At home I realised I might be able to hit 50 parkruns on my 50th birthday so decided to focus on that instead of trying to be faster, and next time I’ll walk a bit slower. Ego suitably chastised.

#parkwalk #parkrun #SCAD #characterBuilding

"glissory' is still on hiatus while I'm pantsing forward with new characters, new plot developments and whatnot. But I decided to post a character sheet with current and emerging (and very delightful) new characters. An update on this and new series plans in a few days. #scifi #amwriting #sciencefiction #ETs #paranormal #deepweird #phenomenon #extraterrestrials #interdimensional #series #amplotting #characterbuilding #characterdesign #characterbuilding #plottwist

https://www.patreon.com/posts/look-at-of-152431652

So, I'm curious, how do you find names for the characters of your stories?

So aus Neugier, wie findet ihr Namen für die Figuren eurer Geschichten?

Have you ever wished Kindness and Caring were taught in school as a specific lesson plan? Here's an open source lesson plan that does just that and includes all subjects (Math, English, Science, Health, etc.) with Kindness and Caring as the central theme. It offers lesson plan ideas for any age from preschool to college and beyond.

https://www.onecommunityglobal.org/caring-and-kindness-lesson-plan/

#Kindness #EducationForGood #CaringCommunity #CharacterBuilding #TeachingCompassion #EmpathyMatters #OpenSourceLearnin #OneCommunityGlobal

Life is Strange: Expanding Day 1 – From Max’s Selfie to the First Signs of Something Strange

https://jaimedavid.blog/2025/10/29/23/11/27/analysis/jaimedavid327/7927/life-is-strange-expanding-day-1-from-maxs-selfie-to-the-first-signs-of-something-strange/

Ah, yes, another profound revelation: friction good, comfort bad! 🙄 Clearly, we needed a deep dive into Captain Obvious’s diary to learn that struggle is character-building. And who knew that AI is the harbinger of our creative demise? 🤖🎨 Thank you, 2025 Nostradamus, for this groundbreaking wisdom!
https://jameelur.com/blog/overcoming-friction-leads-to-growth #frictionisgood #comfortisbad #AIandcreativity #characterbuilding #CaptainObvious #HackerNews #ngated

We've found that the qualities required for successful building - attention to detail, perseverance through setbacks, willingness to start over when necessary - these shape us as people.
Tag someone whose character was forged in a workshop. These lessons extend far beyond motorcycles.
What personality trait has building motorcycles developed in you? The garage is a character building institution.

#workshopwisdom #characterbuilding #bobberculture #lifeskills

🎥 👉 @vlx.bobber

On #Andor, #revolution, and #characterbuilding in #nowadays #storytelling:
"In these universes characters and settings are monetary assets, to be exploited, protected, and manipulated according to the owner’s wishes. Understanding them requires understanding what the owner wants: how this story fits not just with the other stories to which it is connected but into the ever-proliferating network of brand identity and profit opportunities of which it is a part. (This is one of the things that differentiates such corporate storytelling from mere sequels, and from the more familiar dictates of genres and adaptations.) It takes so much #metatextual awareness that it can feel, at times, like watching Hollywood movies made under the Hays Code, or like reading novels written under strict censorship. The best works of corporate storytelling are, in a sense, acts of quiet resistance, written in the blank spots of the #enforcednarrative."

https://www.nybooks.com/online/2025/07/24/the-revolution-will-not-be-star-wars/

How To Be: Jacket

…You like to hurt people, don’t you?

https://squarefireballs.invincible.ink/how-to-be-jacket/

The Power Of Trickery

It is a point of meaningless lore amongst 4th edition character optimisation back when we had a community on a forum maintained by the company with some standards and a sense of shared identity and not just scattered to the winds of subreddits and blogs, that the Fighter feat Polearm Momentum was the single most commonly ‘stolen’ thing from any class.

https://squarefireballs.invincible.ink/the-power-of-trickery/

Character building? Yes, Chef!
What "The Bear" teaches us about character building.
By Kern Carter.

https://writersaresuperstars.substack.com/p/character-building-yes-chef

#newsletter #writing #characterbuilding #TheBear #goodreads

How to Be: Astro Boy

Hey, here's some good news! This article is a little different because it was made during a time of technical downtime but now, heroically, only a few hours from live, Fox was able to get things running so I could upload pictures here. Hey everyone tell Fox happy birthday because she rules!

Anyway, let's talk about making Astro Boy, from Astro Boy!

First of all, let’s address the scale of the problem to summarise what we know of Astro Boy.

Astro Boy is the central character of a [...]

https://squarefireballs.invincible.ink/how-to-be-astro-boy/

How to Apply Stoicism in Times of Crisis: Practical Tips #stoicism #stoicwisdom #philosophyforlife #crisismanagement #resilience #acceptance #characterbuilding #wisdomforlife ⏩ Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/3zbtnzb9

How To Be: Tsubaki Yayoi

This month we're doing something I don't normally do, which is - no, I do fight game characters all the time, but what makes this one special?

She's got a hat.

Tsubaki Yayoi is a character of a rarer type than you see here. Specifically, she's a character who I was introduced to as part of this blog series. I have no pre-existing interest in her, I do not know the games she's from and I'm not familiar with what she's like. This means that this time instead of having an impression of a [...]

https://squarefireballs.invincible.ink/how-to-be-tsubaki-yayoi/

As I've mentioned before, these are backstories. I was originally planning to end with her getting the tickets and being all adorably hopeful, but I was a little sad, because I knew the LI was slated to break her heart. (You can't have a second chance romance story without people blowing their previous attempt together.) BUT now she makes a new friend who I think is going to wind up being important to her, so I got to end optimistic as well. :)

#StoryADayMay #writing #CharacterBuilding

Story-A-Day update:
Today's prompt was a story with two characters wanting the same thing but disagreeing about some part of it.

I wrote a scene with friends who want to go to college together but are looking for very different things in a school. I don't think what I ended up with stands alone as a story, but as an exploration of the backstories and personalities of two of the MCs from My Next Faerie Novel, it went really well.

#StoryADayMay #CharacterBuilding #writing

How To Be: The Animorphs

One way or another, I'm going to find a way to make a build for How to Be that involves the druid, and if this is how we do it, this is how we do it. See, I can't tell you who these characters are, or where they're from. All I can tell you is that we're going to do our best to make builds for them, and one of them is definitely going to be a druid. [...]

https://squarefireballs.invincible.ink/how-to-be-the-animorphs/

https://squarefireballs.invincible.ink/how-to-be-eda-clawthorne/

This is a brilliant interview with a sociopath. What a great resource for writers!

What It’s Like to Be a Sociopath

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/02/25/magazine/patric-gagne-interview.html

#Writing #Authors #Fiction #Sociopathy #Empathy #CharacterBuilding #WritersCommunity

Ever wonder what truly defines character? James A. Michener said it best: 'Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.'

Keep pushing, keep trying, and let your character shine!

#Perseverance #CharacterBuilding #Leadership #fridaymotivation #Character

D&D Character-building Poll:
Does your character know how to care for a baby? #dnd #poll #characterBuilding

Friday night, under 16 hockey in the pouring rain, with just a touch of hail. Apparently it's #CharacterBuilding

Ok. AI gave me this image. They're now your main character. What's their story? What is their world like?

#AIArt #Writing #FictionSketch #WritingExercise #CharacterBuilding #WorldBuilding

I've added more collectables to the site for you to keep track of - use the website to maintain a list of collectables you own, and save the ones you want to get to a wishlist!

LEGO and Character Building (which are LEGO-compatible).

I’m crazy about LEGO so this is a fun addition to the site for me!

https://tardis.guide/2023/03/more-collectables-lego-and-character-building/

#DoctorWho #LEGO #CharacterBuilding