Our characters

The Fujoshi Guide to Web Development features gijinka (anthropomorphizations) of programming languages and concepts. Each of our characters is engineered from the ground up to cater to "transformative" fandom—that is, people who create fanfiction, fanart, meta, and much more.

The protagonist

Boba-tan

Boba-tan's profile picture'

Dislikes

  • Bullies
  • Bigotry
  • Boredom

About

After getting isekai’d to a world where programming concepts are anthropomorphized as hot fictional characters, Boba-tan has now embarked on an exilarating journey to learn all she can about web development.

Kind, enthusiastic, intense and a bit weird (but, unless you’re fictional, generally harmless), Boba-tan represents the best a fujoshi can be.

Tropes

Trivia

Boba-tan was created to be BobaBoard's mascot, but has held many jobs throughout her career. Her ethnicity is Chilean.

Localhost

Localhost is where the characters that reside on your own computer live. While GitHub theoretically comes from the Cloud, he's often following Git around and (much to Terminal's chagrin) is an almost-permanent fixture of the place.

Git

Git's profile picture'

Dislikes

  • Physical exercise
  • Desserts
  • GitHub’s attention

About

Localhost HQ’s resident catboy is as cute as he is changeable. Kind and sweet on the surface, his friendly demeanor can easily turn catty when provoked out of strangers’ sight.

Despite his moodiness, Git’s photographic memory makes him a powerful ally to those who learn how to tame him.

Tropes

Trivia

Git (the technology) will officially be 18 on April 7th, 2023. This equals 10010 years old in programming years.

GitHub

GitHub's profile picture'

Dislikes

  • Boredom
  • Spicy food
  • Being rejected

About

Corrupted by the evil tendrils of capitalism the Cloud, GitHub is Git’s online counterpart. Materializing near Git every chance he gets, their psychic connection drives his obsessive behavior.

Despite his villainous demeanor, GitHub is a good team player who loves social gatherings — not that he’d want anyone to know that.

Tropes

Trivia

Cloud-based characters can instantly materialize wherever a web connection exists. Kinda like Castiel.

Terminal

Terminal's profile picture'

Dislikes

  • Noise and chaos
  • Bad hosts
  • Ill-behaved catboys

About

The most important member and live-in maid-pa of localhost HQ, Terminal is always ready to gently nudge beginners toward new adventures.

While some of his syntax might be dated, age gives no sign of slowing him down. Quick, powerful, and performant, his abilities are feared by beginners and revered by experts.

Tropes

Trivia

Also known as shell. Any resemblance to Revolver Ocelot is completely accidental.

Browserland

Browserland characters are responsible for bringing the web as we know it to life. Always hard at work to display any website in its full glory, Browserland's most famous trio (HTML, CSS & ARIA) is inseparable.

CSS

CSS's profile picture'

Dislikes

  • Itchy fabrics
  • Tidying up
  • Credit card chargebacks

About

The creative force of Browserland, CSS honed his fashion sense by dressing his childhood friend HTML in extravagant clothes (a hobby he still maintains).

While he made a career out of providing the web with the flourish he needs, he grows his creative skills by running an online shop on the side. Being deaf, he often communicates via sign language.

Tropes

Trivia

CSS's math prowess is as keen as his fashion sense. It has to be: standard orgs keep adding ways to measure and color page elements.

HTML

HTML's profile picture'

Dislikes

  • Talking
  • Waking up early
  • OSHA violations

About

The hardest worker in all of Browserland, HTML shows up wherever there’s a (web) job to be done. Quiet, dependable, and overworked, he somehow always manages to appear professional.

While he’d much rather spend time scrolling the web and listening to music, he can’t help being dragged into CSS and ARIA’s neverending shenanigans.

Tropes

Trivia

It takes an average of 5 artists to get his face right. And even then, they might accidentally lose his headphones.

ARIA

ARIA's profile picture'

Dislikes

  • The bourgeoisie
  • Prolonged silence
  • Pineapple

About

Born to a rich family, ARIA’s life was upended when he was sent to work among Browserland’s plebs. Smitten by HTML and his work ethic, he’s now his most loyal colleague, and a cup ramen connoisseur.

His constant talking and his intuitive empathy make him the spokesperson of the HTML/CSS/ARIA trio. His generous allowance also bankrolls their adventures.

Tropes

Trivia

While his full name is WAI-ARIA, most refer to him simply as ARIA. Incidentally, it means "air" in Italian.

FAQs

Can I make fanworks with your characters? #

Yes, please. Fanfic, fanart, memes, meta, elaborate shipping charts… literally anything (and we really do mean anything) your fannish heart desires!

We’re making these characters for fandom, and thus, you to play with. Consider them your dolls, so go ahead and give your faves a happy ending, put them through the wringer, and smash them together however you please.

We’re so excited to see what you make. If you feel like sharing, tag us on Bluesky, tumblr, Twitter, or Mastodon so we can gush about it! Fics can go in our very own AO3 tag, too.

How much room is there for headcanons? #

All the room. Our designs and character profiles are just a starting point, not canon per se. They’re not meant to limit your imagination, but to spark your interest instead.

GIF of Captain Barbossa from Pirates of the Caribbean saying 'The canon is more what you'd call guidelines than actual rules.'

We welcome your takes on our characters’ backgrounds, personalities, genders, relationships; all of it. We can only hope these characters stick with you long enough to inspire you that way.

For our part, we use he/him for the programming gijinka in official materials as a nod to the genres that inspired FujoGuide. That’s our convention, it doesn’t need to be yours!

What goes into designing the cast? #

We bring the characters to life by combining programming concepts and our favorite character tropes. We decide how characters fit together and develop their looks, personalities and quirks to make them feel unique and memorable.

The research stage involves pulling bits from our own experiences and those around us and, of course, going down plenty of rabbit holes. When we need a perspective we don’t have, we bring in outside consultants. For CSS, that meant working with Moon, our Mi’kmaq sensitivity reader, and a deaf sensitivity reader who prefers to remain anonymous. You can see all our collaborators on our contributors page.

Are there more characters upcoming? #

Oh, so many. We started developing the cast before we’d settled on what Volume 0 would cover, which means we built out a lot of characters who haven’t had their turn in the spotlight yet.

Here’s a little sneak peek:

Sketches of the unreleased FujoGuide character [Redacted]. He has a thicc build, a medium-dark skin tone, and tightly curled black hair shown in different styles. On the left is a nearly full-body drawing of him wearing a patchwork sweater, smiling, with a flat top hair style, and holding a steaming mug. The artist's notes read 'dimples? uwu'. In the middle are two side profiles with hair ideas: the top one has a flat top with fade hair style and the bottom one has box braids on top with a fade. The artist's notes read 'yarn braids :3'. On the right is a drawing of him knitting with his elbows on the table and his tongue sticking out in focus mode. He is wearing a white long-sleeve shirt and a very short hairstyle. The artist's notes read 'focusing too hard'.Sketches of the unreleased FujoGuide character [Redacted]. He has a thin build, a light skin tone, and long hair swept to one side and gathered in a ponytail. He is neatly dressed in a button down shirt, collared vest, dress pants, driving gloves, and oval bottom rim glasses. On the left, he is holding and reading a large book. In the middle, he is sitting cross-legged and looking thoughtful with a finger on his lips. On the right, he is walking down a grand staircase with one hand on the railing and a pencil behind his ear.

We can’t go into many details because they will be featured in future volumes, but know that there are so, so many more hot anime boys waiting for you.