How to use character versions

A character on My Spicy Vanilla is rarely just one person. She is twenty in the flashback and forty in the present. He is a mild-mannered accountant by day and a masked vigilante by night. They walk into the party in a disguise nobody recognizes. Character versions let you keep all of these under one character, each with its own look, personality and relationships, and pick the right one every time you write a chapter.

This guide shows you what a version is, how to create and edit one, how to choose it in the story form, and when a duplicate is the better tool.

What a version is

A version is a variation of the same character. All versions share the character's name and stay grouped together. Each version has its own profile: appearance, personality, background, portrait, voice and relationships can all be different.

One version is always the main one. The main version is the one you see in your characters list and the one offered first when you pick the character for a story. The other versions sit behind it, one click away.

Every version has a Version label that tells them apart, for example "Original", "Young" or "Undercover". The label appears next to the name wherever a version is shown, such as "Elena (Young)".

Ideas for versions

Any time the same person needs to be described differently, a version is the answer. A few ideas:

• Different ages. A "Young" version for flashbacks and an "Older" version for the present day, each with its own appearance, confidence and history.
• A secret identity. The everyday self and the alter ego. The vigilante version has a different outfit, a different way of speaking and no ties to the characters who know the daytime self.
• An alias or a disguise. An undercover agent who introduces herself under a false name, with a cover story in the Background field instead of her real past.
• A transformation. The human form and the wolf form, the mortal and the vampire, the person before and after the accident that changed them.
• Another timeline. The same character in a modern city and in a medieval kingdom, or in the timeline where they made the other choice.
• A different mood or role. The strict boss at the office and the relaxed partner at home, or the version who has grown bitter after a betrayal.
• A different look. A new haircut, a wedding outfit or a festival costume, saved as its own version so the portrait matches the scene.

How to create a version

1. Open Characters and click the character you want to expand.
2. On the character page, find the Versions block in the sidebar and click Add a new version. You can also open the edit page and click Create new version under Character actions.
3. The new version starts as a full copy of the current one: every detail, the portrait, the voice, the Writing Packs and all relationships. You land on its edit page right away.
4. In the Basics section, open the Versions group and change the Version label from the automatic "Version 2" to something meaningful, such as "Young".
5. Edit whatever should be different for this version and click Update version.

The first version of a character is labeled "Original" by default. You can rename it at any time from its own edit page.

What can be different per version

Each version is edited on its own page, and nothing is synced between versions after creation. That means you can change:

• Appearance. Age, hair, body type and the appearance description. The "Older" version can have gray hair and a scar the "Young" version does not have yet.
• Personality and background. Motives, fears, likes, dislikes and the story so far. The alter ego can be ruthless where the everyday self is shy.
• Relationships. Character, location, item and social group relationships are copied when the version is created and can then be changed freely. The "Young" version can be the student of a mentor, while the "Older" version is the owner of the vineyard and the mentor is long gone. The disguised version can have no relationships at all, so nobody in the scene knows who they really are.
• Portrait. Give each version its own portrait so illustrations show the right face, age and outfit. See How to use illustrations.
• Voice. Each version has its own voice and speed for audio narration. See How to use audio narration.
• Writing Packs. A version can belong to different packs than the main one, for example a "Medieval" version that lives only in your fantasy pack.

Keep in mind that the name is shared. If you change the name on one version, change it on the others too, or the AI will treat them as different people.

Picking a version when you write

In the story form, each character card that has more than one version shows a Version dropdown. Choose the version you want for this chapter, and the card updates to show that version's portrait, age and appearance. Choosing a version also selects the character, so you do not need to tick the box separately.

If you do not touch the dropdown, the main version is used. The same dropdown is available when you regenerate a chapter, so you can rewrite a scene with the other version without starting over.

The version you pick is the one the AI reads while writing, the one whose portrait is used in Character Consistency illustrations, and the one whose voice is used in narration. Everything else in the chapter stays the same.

Example: chapter 1 uses "Elena (Young)" for a flashback to the summer she left the village. Chapter 2 switches the dropdown to "Elena (Original)" and picks up in the present, twenty years later, with the same name and a different face, history and set of relationships.

Managing versions

• Switch between versions. The Versions group on the edit page and the Versions block on the character page list every version. The main one is marked with a star and a Main badge. Click any version to open it.
• Make a version the main one. Open the version and click Make this the main version, either in the Versions group or under Character actions. From then on it is the one shown in your characters list and offered first in the story form. Use this when the story has moved on and the "Older" version is now the default.
• Delete a version. Under Character actions, click Delete version. Only that version is removed. The other versions stay untouched, and generated portraits stay in your image gallery. If you delete the main version, the oldest remaining version becomes the main one.
• Archive a version. Premium accounts can archive a version to hide it from the story form without deleting it. It still appears in the version list with an Archived badge.
• Count on the characters list. A character with versions shows a "2 versions" badge on its card, so you can see at a glance which ones have more than one form.

Every version counts as a character toward the free account limit of 2 characters. Premium accounts have no limit.

Version or duplicate?

The edit page also has a Duplicate button. Both start from a copy of the character, but they are for different jobs.

Use a version when it is the same person. Same name, same identity, a different state, age, look or role. Versions stay grouped, only the main one appears in your lists, and you switch between them with the Version dropdown in the story form.

Use a duplicate when it is a new person. A duplicate is an independent character named "Name (Copy)". It shows up on its own in your characters list, has no relationships and no link back to the original. Use it as a template: copy your well-written detective, rename her, change the details, and you have her partner or her rival without filling in the form from scratch.

A quick test: if you would ever want to swap one for the other inside the same story, make a version. If they could both appear in the same scene as two different people, make a duplicate.

Tips

• Label versions by what changes. "Young", "Wolf form" or "Undercover" is easier to pick in a dropdown than "Version 2".
• Put the difference in the Background field. "Has not yet met Marco. Still believes her father is alive." tells the AI what this version knows and does not know.
• Give each version its own portrait. Otherwise the illustrations for the "Older" version will use the "Young" face.
• Check the relationships. They are copied from the version you started from, so remove the ones that should not exist yet or any more. The relationship view in your Writing Pack shows each version's connections. See Visualizing relationships in your Writing Pack.

Final tip

Start with one character you already use a lot and create a single version that differs in one clear way, such as age. Write one chapter with each version and compare. Once you see how the AI follows the different profiles, you will know exactly where versions can save you work.