Tips for writing to an influencer or youtuber character, but who is a real douchebag?

[EliseValkyria]

Hello everyone again

Today's topic is about I need advice or ideas to write to a character, who as the title says is an influencer or acts as a famous youtube.

Now the context of why

In my novel, the protagonist has a harem of girls, all of them are of different races, a fox girl, a succubus, an angel, a mermaid, and including the protagonist himself who is now a slime girl. All of them work in a tokyo themed cafeteria created by the mother of the protagonist, the theme of the cafeteria is a fantasy world where the employees "are dressed up as monster girls" and serve a little bit of food from around the world to give the feeling of traveling to another world, obviously for the customers they think the place is pretty good because of the quality of the costumes and all that without suspecting that they are really served by real monster girls.

Now, I just finished a rather "emotional" plot arc in the story so I want to make a simple filler arc, something uncomplicated to relax the tension of everything that happened before.

And the idea I have is that an influencer comes to the cafeteria several days in a row to annoy all the employees and other customers alike. Nothing really new really.

The problem is that I don't consume this kind of content at all, so I really have no idea how to do it right.

How the hell do these types of people who would sell their own mothers for likes act?

Any ideas are welcome, thank you.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

And the idea I have is that an influencer comes to the cafeteria several days in a row to annoy all the employees and other customers alike. Nothing really new really.

The problem is that I don't consume this kind of content at all, so I really have no idea how to do it right.

Bruh. Nothing new yet you don't consume this kind of content and have no idea how they act. Do you even need this customer to be an influencer?

How the hell do these types of people who would sell their own mothers for likes act?

They don't act like douchebags from the get go.

 

[EliseValkyria]

Bruh. Nothing new yet you don't consume this kind of content and have no idea how they act. Do you even need this customer to be an influencer?

They don't act like douchebags from the get go.

I would like him to be an influencer because first of all it means that he is someone who frequently broadcasts to an audience at any given time. Which would certainly annoy the mousy girls who don't want to be caught out by something as stupid as someone recording a video by walking into the kitchen of the place without asking.

And that character doesn't have to be built from scratch, just one day working in the restaurant someone comes along and then boom. Mr. Beast walks in the door giving away a car to the first person who enters the fish tank and removes all the water.

 

[dummycake]

You just need to watch one video.
Any of the countless essays about the time Logan Paul went to Japan. That one is peak influencer behaviour.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

I would like him to be an influencer because first of all it means that he is someone who frequently broadcasts to an audience at any given time. Which would certainly annoy the mousy girls who don't want to be caught out by something as stupid as someone recording a video by walking into the kitchen of the place without asking.

And that character doesn't have to be built from scratch, just one day working in the restaurant someone comes along and then boom. Mr. Beast walks in the door giving away a car to the first person who enters the fish tank and removes all the water.

Well, since they don't want to get caught, you can start with this influencer arguing over his rights to film\stream in the cafeteria. Refusing to stop streaming. This can spiral into some sort of grudge. Write this character as someone relatively two-faced and entitled. Since it's an influencer, this person have to keep at least some sort of a facade to viewers. Don't know what will force this influencer to visit this place again though. I hope this helps at least a little bit.

 

[dummycake]

Well, since they don't want to get caught, you can start with this influencer arguing over his rights to film\stream in the cafeteria. Refusing to stop streaming. This can spiral into some sort of grudge. Write this character as someone relatively two-faced and entitled. Since it's an influencer, this person have to keep at least some sort of a facade to viewers. Don't know what will force this influencer to visit this place again though. I hope this helps at least a little bit.

If it's in Japan or the street is like Japan themed, he could be like "BUYING EVERYTHING ON NIPPON STREET WITH ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS"

 

[RepresentingWrath]

If it's in Japan or the street is like Japan themed, he could be like "BUYING EVERYTHING ON NIPPON STREET WITH ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS"

But what are the reasons to keep visiting the same place several days in a row?

 

[Temple]

How the hell do these types of people who would sell their own mothers for likes act?

This applies to webnovel writing too, for example writing litrpg to get likes even if that writer doesn't even know about litrpg much. Or if here, then getting on with the latest smut trend. Many, many, many writers also sell their souls for likes, followers, etc. Just transpose that to doing it out there instead of tapping away at a keyboard. It's the same principal of wanting external validation.

 

[Succubiome]

Today's topic is about I need advice or ideas to write to a character, who as the title says is an influencer or acts as a famous youtube.

The problem is that I don't consume this kind of content at all, so I really have no idea how to do it right.

As far as I can tell, it's a sales/hype job of sorts.

As an influencer/youtuber, you're making friends with the viewers and convincing them you're cool/funny/attractive/whatever, your personality is actually one of your biggest assets, the content you can produce is your second one.

Influencers and youtubers make their living off of the content the create, so inevitably anyone who does that as a living is going to have come to terms with that or be struggling with it beneath the surface-- if they couldn't handle it at all, they would've left the business.

That's not at all to say they're morally bankrupt-- just unless they're new to it, you'll get certain people in that field because they can handle it in the short or long term, like any field. Some will find a way to succeed while staying mostly true to their original selves, others will increasingly compromise as they chase the dream, or because they don't see other options for themselves.

Other than the personality vs content split, I agree with @Temple here-- writing webnovels is also being a "content creator", as much as I hate that term.

On a practical level, even "shock jock" type influencers/youtubers usually won't repeatedly go somewhere unwanted unless they think they can get away with it -- they don't wanna get in actual trouble -- so I'd give them either a reason they think they can get away with this, or an outside stressor so great that they can't give this up... maybe their first video at the shop turns out their most views in a while, and they're barely making payments on their apartment-- or if you wanna be more dramatic, owe a bunch of money to the mob or something.

Alternately, you could have a noble-hearted youtuber/influencer, more Michael Moore-ish in ethos, who (rightly) thinks there's something going down there behind the scenes, but is incorrect in what it actually is, and is using their ability to bring social media's eye on it to shine a light on it. That'd give another reason for repeated attempts to dig deeper.

---

I guess I'd also say to watch a few influencer videos/tiktoks to get a feel for the vibes?

Having even a cursory firsthand knowledge will probably help.

---

Ooh also: like in any camera on/camera off type job, having them act like a radically worse person when they're not broadcasting is not is great if you wanna make them a hypocrite.

 

[Deleted member 84247]

They can come in there like they are vlogging about a place. It would make sense for them to blog about an infamous place where monster girls serve you. Depending on if it is a stream or a recording will change how the character would act. If it is a stream they might answer chat questions and talk to their chat about the servers. If it is a vlog recording they might just video around the area, and give reasons why they like the place (maybe try to get an interview with staff).

Edit: I don't know about how to make them a douchebag, and I didn't actually see that part of the question. Just disregard everything I said.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Ehhh...

The idea doesn't grab me. But okay...

People like that are addicts. They suffer from chasing the dragon. They got a huge dopamine hit and then they wanted it again, except... the next hit wasn't as good, or as long.

So... what was wrong? What needed to change?

They try harder, get advice, start chasing trends, but they just can't get that rush.

Soon, they reach a point where it doesn't matter. They aren't chasing likes for the high. They are doing it so they don't feel like shit.

They are in pain, and like any addict will do whatever it takes to get even a whiff of the good stuff. It's the same as a heroine addict, or a gambling addict, or a power addict.

They start to lie to themselves. Whatever it takes to justify their addiction, but unlike heroin, nobody knows their an addict because they are living the dream. And so they are nice, and kind, and liars. They lie like rugs.

And if you try and explain how fucked they are, they'll laugh at you. Because you are just someone else trying to drag them down. Because I'd the situation was reversed they'd try and drag YOU down.

Everyone is evil, just like them.

You'd do the same thing, given half a chance.

HE IS JUST BETTER THAN YOU.

And then one day... it all comes crashing down. Either you move onto a new addiction, or you admit you are an addict, and evil, and you look back at all the pain you caused, they lives you destroyed, the homes you ruined, the way you took perfectly happy people and tortured them for no other reason than because you thought it made you strong.

And what's worse, you'll never be punished. You'll never see judgement, because you never broke the law. That was half the fun, ruining peoples lives, legally. Hearing their screams and recording them, keeping a play list of your favorite life's destroyed. Oh, you can lie to yourself, and say if it was legal, how could it be wrong...

But if you are unluckily, you'll learn the truth, and that there is nothing to undo all the suffering you caused to the tens of thousands of victims.

You won't even know who they were or how to tell them you are sorry. You will never be punished, never forgiven, just languishing in a half state of knowing, you won. You got away with it. You are home free.

And that's the Hell you will have to live in for the rest of your life.

 

[EliseValkyria]

But what are the reasons to keep visiting the same place several days in a row?

Well the idea is that there is a rumor, in the area saying that in a nearby park there are rumors of UFO appearances, so the influencer is just pulling content from there, but not to get a people tired, he or she go into the cafeteria to not just broadcast a camera 24/7 in a public park without anything happening.

Why a UFO?

It's a long context, but in short the main character knows the angels, and because he ended up in another world type isekai for a silly reason of a Goddess, they had to go and bring him back, they did that with a spaceship of the angels and used the park in front of his house as a parking lot a couple of times.

It sounds crazy, I know, but in the novel it is better explained.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Well the idea is that there is a rumor, in the area saying that in a nearby park there are rumors of UFO appearances, so the influencer is just pulling content from there, but not to get tired of going into the cafeteria to not just broadcast a camera 24/7 in a public park without anything happening.

Why a UFO?

It's a long context, but in short the main character knows the angels, and because he ended up in another world type isekai for a silly reason of a Goddess, they had to go and bring him back, they did that with a spaceship of the angels and used the park in front of his house as a parking lot a couple of times.

It sounds crazy, I know, but in the novel it is better explained.

No-no, I was ruminating why a content creator will continue visiting the cafeteria. A content creator had a bad experience, why would he return? He already milked the drama, he needs something new. At least from my understanding.

And the idea I have is that an influencer comes to the cafeteria several days in a row to annoy all the employees and other customers alike. Nothing really new really.

I have no Idea why an unfluence will come to the cafeteria for several days in a row. Not saying this won't or can't happen, just saying that I can't help you here. My brain is too smol.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

No-no, I was ruminating why a content creator will continue visiting the cafeteria. A content creator had a bad experience, why would he return? He already milked the drama, he needs something new. At least from my understanding.

I have no Idea why an unfluence will come to the cafeteria for several days in a row. Not saying this won't or can't happen, just saying that I can't help you here. My brain is too smol.

Addiction is the obvious answer. He needs his fix and for whatever reason, he thinks he can get his fix at the that restaurant. Doesn't matter if it's true or not. He thinks it. He doesn't care if people give him likes because he's cool, or a fool.

All that matters is that dopamine high.

 

[Succubiome]

Well the idea is that there is a rumor, in the area saying that in a nearby park there are rumors of UFO appearances, so the influencer is just pulling content from there, but not to get a people tired, he or she go into the cafeteria to not just broadcast a camera 24/7 in a public park without anything happening.

I mean... staff or owner can just tell the influencer to leave and not come back if they're making a nuisance of themselves? I can't think of countries where customers can't just get told to get lost by a business? Unless this non-fantasy world isn't much like IRL anyways.

Influencer really needs some sort of leverage here to not just get booted when getting sufficiently annoying-- a segment of toxic fans who have done bad stuff to those who have caused problems to the influencer in the past, swing with a local food safety or zoning board that could get the business shut down, being the child of someone important... something.

That they're willing to leverage this would also help show off that they're a jerk, conveniently.

 

[EliseValkyria]

As far as I can tell, it's a sales/hype job of sorts.

As an influencer/youtuber, you're making friends with the viewers and convincing them you're cool/funny/attractive/whatever, your personality is actually one of your biggest assets, the content you can produce is your second one.

Influencers and youtubers make their living off of the content the create, so inevitably anyone who does that as a living is going to have come to terms with that or be struggling with it beneath the surface-- if they couldn't handle it at all, they would've left the business.

That's not at all to say they're morally bankrupt-- just unless they're new to it, you'll get certain people in that field because they can handle it in the short or long term, like any field. Some will find a way to succeed while staying mostly true to their original selves, others will increasingly compromise as they chase the dream, or because they don't see other options for themselves.

Other than the personality vs content split, I agree with @Temple here-- writing webnovels is also being a "content creator", as much as I hate that term.

On a practical level, even "shock jock" type influencers/youtubers usually won't repeatedly go somewhere unwanted unless they think they can get away with it -- they don't wanna get in actual trouble -- so I'd give them either a reason they think they can get away with this, or an outside stressor so great that they can't give this up... maybe their first video at the shop turns out their most views in a while, and they're barely making payments on their apartment-- or if you wanna be more dramatic, owe a bunch of money to the mob or something.

Alternately, you could have a noble-hearted youtuber/influencer, more Michael Moore-ish in ethos, who (rightly) thinks there's something going down there behind the scenes, but is incorrect in what it actually is, and is using their ability to bring social media's eye on it to shine a light on it. That'd give another reason for repeated attempts to dig deeper.

---

I guess I'd also say to watch a few influencer videos/tiktoks to get a feel for the vibes?

Having even a cursory firsthand knowledge will probably help.

---

Ooh also: like in any camera on/camera off type job, having them act like a radically worse person when they're not broadcasting is not is great if you wanna make them a hypocrite.

ok, this is excellent, these are really good tips.

thank you very much!

 

[TheEldritchGod]

I mean... staff or owner can just tell the influencer to leave and not come back if they're making a nuisance of themselves? I can't think of countries where customers can't just get told to get lost by a business? Unless this non-fantasy world isn't much like IRL anyways.

Influencer really needs some sort of leverage here to not just get booted when getting sufficiently annoying-- a segment of toxic fans who have done bad stuff to those who have caused problems to the influencer in the past, swing with a local food safety or zoning board that could get the business shut down, being the child of someone important... something.

That they're willing to leverage this would also help show off that they're a jerk, conveniently.

Dude...

Who was that guy who barged into strangers' homes and filmed it live? Even after getting arrested he did it again.

You assume you are dealing with sane people. And in a fair number of cities, the police just won't care.

 

[Succubiome]

ok, this is excellent, these are really good tips.

thank you very much!

Very welcome!

 

[TheMonotonePuppet]

Hello everyone again

Today's topic is about I need advice or ideas to write to a character, who as the title says is an influencer or acts as a famous youtube.

Now the context of why

In my novel, the protagonist has a harem of girls, all of them are of different races, a fox girl, a succubus, an angel, a mermaid, and including the protagonist himself who is now a slime girl. All of them work in a tokyo themed cafeteria created by the mother of the protagonist, the theme of the cafeteria is a fantasy world where the employees "are dressed up as monster girls" and serve a little bit of food from around the world to give the feeling of traveling to another world, obviously for the customers they think the place is pretty good because of the quality of the costumes and all that without suspecting that they are really served by real monster girls.

Now, I just finished a rather "emotional" plot arc in the story so I want to make a simple filler arc, something uncomplicated to relax the tension of everything that happened before.

And the idea I have is that an influencer comes to the cafeteria several days in a row to annoy all the employees and other customers alike. Nothing really new really.

The problem is that I don't consume this kind of content at all, so I really have no idea how to do it right.

How the hell do these types of people who would sell their own mothers for likes act?

Any ideas are welcome, thank you.

Check out (from the fan anime Project: Eden's Garden) the Ultimate Social Influencer Kai Montago and some of his quotes.

Kai Monteago

Kai Monteago is a student of Eden's Garden Academy, and a participant of the Killing Game featured in Project: Eden's Garden「‍模‍倣‍」. His title is the Ultimate Influencer, and his animal motif is the butterfly. Kai is a young man of average height and build. Kai has pale light skin, honey yellow...

projectedens-garden.fandom.com

 

[BearlyAlive]

Easy solution: Just make him a racist influenza. Problem solved. Why would a racist even get popular? Most readers wouldn't care.

Less easy solution: Make him a food critic that's secretly a racist. Same as above, tho.

Medium rare solution: Make him an awkward teen that likes one of the girls but is obnoxious about it.

Rare solution: Don't make him a social media illness, just some well-known pain in the a...round the neck. "Do you know who muh daddy is" works just as well in annoying people as phone addicts that think themselves important.