I find it kinda odd how people talk about writing “flawed” characters like the flaws are an afterthought
Like “cool cool we’ve got this perfect hero now to just sprinkle on some Irritability and Trust Issues then microwave for 6 minutes on high until Done”
But I’ve personally found it feels a lot more useful to just… think of the flaws as the Good Traits except bad this time
The protagonist is loyal? Maybe that means they have a hard time recognizing toxic relationships and are easily manipulated by those they want to trust
The hero is compassionate? Maybe they work too hard and overextend themselves trying to help people and then they refuse to ask for help when they need it themselves for fear of burdening others
They’re dedicated to their ideals? Maybe they’re also too stubborn to know when to quit and they have trouble apologizing for their mistakes
If they’re creative, they can also be flighty. If they’re confident, they can be arrogant. If they’re brave, they might be reckless. If they’re smart, they could be condescending. Protective can become controlling, and someone who’s carefree could very well also be emotionally distant
In my opinion, the best “flaws” aren’t just added on afterwards. The best flaws are baked in deep, ‘cause they’re really just virtues turned upside down
J. R. R. Tolkien on escapism in “The Lord of the Rings” (x)
“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisioned by the enemy, don’t we consider it his duty to escape?…If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we’re partisans of liberty, then it’s our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!”
I’m gonna go ahead and rant real quick. I’m a fanfiction author, and I’m constantly looking for ideas I like. A lot of those ideas come from prompts, or tumblr posts, or other fandoms, or existing tropes.
Sometimes, fics already exist in those tropes.
So here’s my apparently “unpopular” opinion: I like reading fics of the same trope. If there’s a fic where they’re famous actors and they fall in love that I enjoy, I want four more slightly different ones. If I’m writing a fic where one is catfishing, I want to read the trope in at least four other fics like???
I like to see other authors’ take and style on common tropes. Just because one fic in a trope exists doesn’t mean the trope is off limits for the fandom. Far from it – take a chance with that trope. If you’re worried you’re too similar, mark it inspired by. You’re not going to copy someone exactly, and you could have an interesting spin on it. I want that spin to exist.
If two fics of the same trope can’t exist, I might as well delete over half my fics, including some of my most popular. It’s discouraging to hear people drop ideas because something like it exists – or even maybe exists.
tldr; more than one fic can exist within a trope or prompt in a fandom and be good fics. Please write whatever you want, even if something similar exists. Someone (like me) will read them all and enjoy them all.
We literally used to do these as challenges! Throw out a trope as a prompt, a bunch of people would write around the trope. It was wonderful! Even though the basic concept was the same, every single story was different and they were all delightful! Never think “someone’s already written this, no point in me doing it.” WRITE YOUR STORY.
I’m on a new ship kick right now, and I have lost count of how many “character A can’t sleep because they have anxiety and insomnia, character B shows up and showers them with compassion and coziness despite all their protests, then they kiss/bone/pine” fics in this ship that I’ve read in the past week. They’re all delightful.
If a trope is good, then honestly? I will happily read multiple fics of the same trope. Put them in a fake relationship, give them coffee shops, oh no there’s only one bed, and someone has panic attacks and needs comfort for their hurt. Give it all to me.
I often hear the argument that having major characters die is more
realistic than having them always come through unscathed. Of course it
is. But I personally don’t want my fiction to necessarily be “realistic”
– I want my fiction to be entertaining. For me, that means watching
engaging characters I care about get into and out of dangerous
predicaments, working and thinking together in order to defeat the bad
guys. While some authors (and readers) like the tension of wondering who
will live and who will die, I prefer the tension of seeing how the
heroes are going to think or work their ways out of each difficult or
impossible situation they find themselves in. If I want realism and the
deaths of people I care about, I can turn on the news.
–Timothy Zahn, interviewed by TheForce.Net, 2008
Tim Zahn just summed up my entire issue with adult movies and fiction
I do not want to get invested in a character just to have them die or be violated or whatever, I don’t care that it’s dramatic. It’s not fun, it just leaves me angry and frustrated that I wasted my time on this media.
honestly 👏🏼👏🏼 and, truth be told, the idea of a character going through various trials and making it through them isn’t entirely unrealistic in itself. No, in real life we may not be battling absolute monstrosities and barely escaping, but how often do we face trials and end up making it out and growing?
i LOVE seeing characters grow because I myself love to watch myself and others grow in general (and it’s a love many of us possess).
so it’s kinda hard to have that appreciation and entertainment in a fictional context when everyone’s dying the hecc off
ive been sitting on the toilet for 20 minutes trying to piss but the pee keeps getting lost in my confusing Woman Body
Ive had to explain that usually when ladies vanish into the bathroom it is because they must slay the internal minotaur in their piss labrynth SO MANY TIMES NOW.
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