7 Days of Fandom
Sep. 13th, 2010 12:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lexDay 3 – What character archetypes drive your interest in fanfic?
Okay, as with the rest of the meme I will assume this is for reading rather than writing.
It's hard for me to pin down the characters I like to read. I think generally I like the ones with hidden depths. And I mean honestly hidden - not some half-assed OH NOES DOUBLE AGENT thing. I like it even better when all the contradictory facets of the character are true. Take Jack from MSPA, specifically the Sgrub instance: I know he's using the trolls for his own ends, and I know they're going to betray him and he probably knows that, and he's also kinda violently bff with Karkat and there's some stabbing which may or may not have been intentional, and all of these things are true! A similar example is Longarm in TFA: I really believe he was a damn good Autobot, a kind and loyal leader of his bots, and he is also a cruel and loyal Decepticon. He is both these contradictory things. He can deal with personnel issues by mediation and stern talks or by shooting them in the face. Longarm is fucking awesome.
I mean, look at the pattern of characters I like: Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Bluestreak, Prowl, Longarm, Blurr... Bluestreak and Blurr are usually portrayed as weak and even immature, but Blurr is an incredibly competent Elite Guard (he went into enemy territory in deep cover with NO WEAPONS and kicked fucking ASS and RAN THROUGH SPACE TO REPORT with Decepticons on his heels!) and Bluestreak is a goddamn badass sniper. Hidden depths! Sunstreaker and Sideswipe hit my thing for semi-feral people. They hit it hard. And Prowl - okay, like, all of him is hidden depths. He isn't personality-less, he's subtle. I adore Prowl. And if a writer comes out and says WELL BEHIND CLOSED DOORS HE'S ACTUALLY A SEX KITTEN I hit the back button because seriously, okay - just as you should show not tell, you should also think about show vs. imply. Getting the right balance of showing and implying is hard, but it's so damn worth it to read.
Okay, as with the rest of the meme I will assume this is for reading rather than writing.
It's hard for me to pin down the characters I like to read. I think generally I like the ones with hidden depths. And I mean honestly hidden - not some half-assed OH NOES DOUBLE AGENT thing. I like it even better when all the contradictory facets of the character are true. Take Jack from MSPA, specifically the Sgrub instance: I know he's using the trolls for his own ends, and I know they're going to betray him and he probably knows that, and he's also kinda violently bff with Karkat and there's some stabbing which may or may not have been intentional, and all of these things are true! A similar example is Longarm in TFA: I really believe he was a damn good Autobot, a kind and loyal leader of his bots, and he is also a cruel and loyal Decepticon. He is both these contradictory things. He can deal with personnel issues by mediation and stern talks or by shooting them in the face. Longarm is fucking awesome.
I mean, look at the pattern of characters I like: Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Bluestreak, Prowl, Longarm, Blurr... Bluestreak and Blurr are usually portrayed as weak and even immature, but Blurr is an incredibly competent Elite Guard (he went into enemy territory in deep cover with NO WEAPONS and kicked fucking ASS and RAN THROUGH SPACE TO REPORT with Decepticons on his heels!) and Bluestreak is a goddamn badass sniper. Hidden depths! Sunstreaker and Sideswipe hit my thing for semi-feral people. They hit it hard. And Prowl - okay, like, all of him is hidden depths. He isn't personality-less, he's subtle. I adore Prowl. And if a writer comes out and says WELL BEHIND CLOSED DOORS HE'S ACTUALLY A SEX KITTEN I hit the back button because seriously, okay - just as you should show not tell, you should also think about show vs. imply. Getting the right balance of showing and implying is hard, but it's so damn worth it to read.
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Date: 2010-09-13 10:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-15 12:40 am (UTC)