#Compare Jessica to like. Sam. Even if you don't SYMPATHIZE with Jessica because she's an asshole

[elytrafemme]

I know y’all didn’t come here for me bitching about the writing decisions of fucking Until Dawn and The Quarry but like I’m in such a. clenching counter staring at a wall. Literally putting characters in a horror setting has the potential to develop them SO WELL because you’re putting them with active interaction with stimuli that creates fear and distrust and frustration. which can help develop a character so much because those kinds of emotions have so much NUANCE-- How does X character respond to frustration? How does X character express fear? What happens when the distrust between A and B creates? How strong was their pre-existing relationship for it? How much does that impact them?

Like. Okay. Ashley from Until Dawn. I’m forever mad about her because they had so much fucking opportunity to characterize her as being resentful and cowardly but they DIDN’T STICK TO IT. Like Ashley getting angry at Chris depending on a decision he made earlier on that SHE ENCOURAGED is already frustrating but it’s so much more that when we don’t see that being how she is as a character. It’s literally just done for the convenience of that setting up a character death and showing the butterfly effect but it doesn’t make sense. 

And that’s the whole issue is that it feels like every character is made to act in certain ways that would set up deaths and plot points without paying mind to what they’re actually like as character beyond this vague archetype. I literally could not tell you one THING about Mike’s character because the entire thing with Mike is that he like progresses plot a hell of a lot. But does he care about his friends? Is he a harsh asshole? He and Sam exist to just Get Shit Done but it doesn’t. It. Fuuuuuck meeeee dude. 

Also Jessica just never gets character development because she’s inside the mines half the time so she enters there the Damsel in Distress and LEAVES the Damsel in Distress. The feminine flirt who is helplessly dependent on everyone else to get anything done for her awesomeeeeeee (My therapist has heard too much about Jessica from Until Dawn can you tell?) 

Also Emily has like no character development by the end depending on Matt’s survival? Because she might just be like nah FUCK him anyway I hope he dies and it’s like. Emily is arguably to me one of the strongest characters but then some things happen and it’s like okay but she went nowhere. She entered hating half the characters and she LEFT hating half the characters. Entered playing the victim and left playing the victim. Where does this go.

Static characters are SO GOOD when you have them mixed with dynamic characters. When their mindsets and changes CLASH with each other. Y’all are DSMP-ers that’s why- nevermind I’m not getting into DSMP character discourse over this post I’ll save my thoughts on THAT for a rainy day.

Point is static characters work but like it doesn’t when there’s maybe one character that changes and everyone else. Doesn’t. It’s hard to RELATE to anyone in Until Dawn because all of them do illogical shit! And the problem is it’s not like oh they’re teens it’s illogical it’s like ILLOGICAL illogical. Inconsistent! No fucking teenager leaves someone to die in front of their eyes because they’re upset over something that didn’t even happen earlier when that’s NOT the way that teenager has EVER responded to anything! It’s just. You can’t CONNECT with them. Because they’re all so badly written.

I need water. Or just to keep watching The Quarry and hope I get proven wrong.