This is a good question. I didn't necessarily base my characters on anything, but rather as subversions of tropes I found obnoxious. There is a bit of backstory to it. My main characters, Apollo and Julian, featured in 'VTGtaHR' were created 5-6 years beforehand and were/are in a different comic. Back then I admittedly read bl/yaoi more and was tired of some particularly prominent 'seme' 'uke' tropes, how the uke is always depicted as a stereotypical woman (not just appearance, but with body language and how they talk), but violently hates femininity and identifies as an AAB male. While the seme is always a "cool headed" abusive creep, having people fall all over themselves for him.
So Julian was meant to be a "pretty" looking character who, despite having obvious masculine traits, fully embraces femininity and is non-binary. Also meaning to be the mature character, who usually plays the role of an adult when no one else is, but can be stubborn and unreasonable at times. Admittedly I did give Julian some issues I have, just to see them from a different perspective and figure out how they can be tackled.
Apollo was meant to be a less appealing guy. Not super handsome, not super educated or ambitious, immature and is awkward in social situations. He is also submissive but self-entitled, and can be prejudice towards things he can't understand.
Despite them meaning to be two-dimensional counter tropes, I've had a lot of fun messing with and developing their personalities. Particularly their flaws, I love working negative traits into a character. A less mature protag means more growth for them on their proverbial journey... but of course they can't be so unappealing they're perpetually unlikable, there's gotta be a bit of charm.
