#it could also start off as a typical fridging but evolve into something more complex

[crwbannwen]

Below is a rant about how much I love how Walter Pensive is written.

So we all know fridging, right? When a character (usually a woman important to the usually male MC) is murdered to spur some motivation and revenge plot for the MC. It’s bad; it reduces a character to a plot device and merely support for another; and since it’s often gendered, it’s quite sexist. It’s killing not just the character but their agency.

But there is no reason why killing a character to snap another one into gear ends up diminishing the dead character so much. People are just fridging badly.

And Walter Pensive proves this. He is so fridged that it somehow strengthens his character. A wife dying and motivating her husband tells me nothing about her because of course she mattered to her husband. Someone dying and motivating multiple communities of people and bringing together even people who’d never met him and had just heard of him? That tells me so much about him.

And it’s not that they’re just avenging him, they’re getting justice against someone who’d been terrorising all of them. They’re following his lead, not avenging him. And afterwards he is honoured with Pensive day, so it’s just amazingly written.

Also he’s the man who named the Hallowoods, his legacy extends so much beyond someone’s revenge spurred murder spree.

[spiders-hth-is-an-outlier]

Today in Strongly Worded Opinions (That You Didn't Ask For), I'm going to assert that there are too objective ways to measure whether or not a relationship is strong in story terms – by which I mean, unrelated to whether or not readers/viewers personally like the dynamic or the chemistry of the actors (in such cases as there are actors involved).

So for the sake of clarity, be ye advised: this isn't about shipping, fuck it, ship whatever you want idc.  Shipping a strong relationship isn't inherently better than shipping a weak one – heck, you could just as easily argue that it's the lazier, less creative route.  Also, I don't care?  I don't care, it's just fandom.  Follow your arrow.  This is about ways to discuss whether or not a relationship introduced into a text succeeds or fails as an element of the story – or really as I'm going to prefer calling it, if a given relationship forms a strong or weak story element.

For this I'm presuming that you're creating a relationship between a protagonist and a secondary character introduced as a piece of the protagonist's overall story – protagonist/protagonist relationships aren't really a different situation, but they do have more moving parts, so for simplicity's sake, let's   stick with a Main Character (we'll call that M) and a Significant Other (S for short).  Also, these relationships by no means have to be romantic; any relationship can be measured as weak or strong in story terms.

Also, I'm going to say everything here as though it were factually true, even though it's just my opinion, which is correct, but if you disagree then it's only my opinion, but I am correct.  Ready?  Okay!

Strong relationships have story functions; in reality nothing means anything and people just like each other because they do, but fuck reality, it's a huge narrative mess.  And my basic premise here is that the story function of a strong relationship falls under one (or more, if you wanna get real fancy) of these three categories:

The relationship can unlock under-explored elements of M's story or character through mirroring or intimacy (often shows up as “friends to lovers”).  There is backstory that hasn't been unearthed yet, or some reaction or experience in M's life that could advance the story, and S can serve as a means to get at it.  Maybe M and S share a similar trauma or life story; maybe S is the first person M feels able to open up to about something profound and relevant.  Maybe part of M's story is a conflict between how they seem to others and how they see themselves or their own potential; maybe S is the person who sees them the way they see themselves...or sees M as the person they're afraid they'll never be.  The story goal being met here is giving M a boost toward successful completion of their story arc, so even though there could be conflict, S is fundamentally pulling on the same side as M in the major story conflicts, in such a way that by the end, the reader should feel like M's success is at least in part because of what they gain from their relationship with S.

The relationship can function as a piece of the story's overall conflict, or as a secondary subplot conflict (often shows up as “enemies to lovers”). Traditional romance novel plotting effectively slots the love interest into the role of “antagonist,” because the romance's conflict is generally driven by people not getting what they want from each other until certain win conditions are met.  In this kind of relationship, M and S might be actual-facts competitors, or be divided by ideological concerns, or they might be forced into proximity by the plot but clash on some personality level.  The arc of this relationship is typically going to be about the M softening up as the relationship develops – if M starts out ruthlessly single-minded, maybe realizing that they're running roughshod over S in the process is part of their character breakthrough; if the story is about M realizing that they've underestimated the complexity of the world around them, maybe coming to recognize S as an equal is how that gets concretized for the reader.  Basically this is a story where S presents a problem that M has to solve, and the more central to the narrative solving that problem is, the stronger the relationship is.

The relationship can serve to divide M's goals (often shows up as “love versus duty”).  This is a story where M has to accomplish two separate things in order to fulfill their arc, but those two things aren't easily integrated. One of M's goals might be fulfilling a vow, or filial duty, or seeking revenge, and the other goal is some form of protecting or obtaining S.  If the story puts M in a position of having to choose, then the relationship is inherently strong; it's providing narrative drive, whether or not S is especially well-developed as an individual character.  This one can be tricky, because a very weak relationship can serve a superficially similar purpose, by demonstrating M's devotion to duty or obsessive pursuit of whatever when M rebuffs S to keep them out of harm's way or to avoid distraction or whatever. The difference is that in those superficial cases, the audience is meant to recognize that aw, that's sad, M has really had to Make Sacrifices – but there's really no dramatic tension involved; we know all along that M is going to Make Sacrifices in purusit of the real goal.  When this is done seriously with a strong relationship, the audience is meant to feel divided as well; Romeo and Juliet just doesn't work as a story unless the audience likes Juliet and Mercutio, unless they fully identify with the dilemma that Romeo is in when he has to either avenge Mercutio's death or spare Tybalt for Juliet's sake and the sake of their future together. That's a big fucking story moment, and it only works because the audience buys both relationships – Romeo's with Mercutio and with Juliet – as narratively strong, to the point where Romeo's choice is not a forgone conclusion.  This one is much easier to get wrong, I think, than the other two are!

What I'm saying here is that a strong relationship isn't really determined by how personally compatible two characters seem to be; a lot of movies that fridge a character's wife, for example, rely on actors convincingly portraying, in a brief window of time, two compatible people who care for each other – I'm thinking of, like, Richard Kimble and his wife in The Fugitive, who I think do sell the idea of a loving and happy marriage, but the relationship itself is a weak one.  The story only really needs the bare fact of it – “Kimble had a wife that he loved and then this happened” – to kick off the actual story; the relationship between Kimble and Gerard is a stronger one narratively, because much of the emotional tension of the movie, what makes it more effective than just a series of chase scenes, is the way their mutual respect evolves as they compete against each other, and the story question of “Kimble really needs an ally, is this the right person for him to trust?”  It's such a strong relationship that it comes as a huge relief of tension when he does make that gesture of trust and it turns out to be the right choice.  The audience is happy that Kimble will be exonerated, but the audience is equally happy that the conflict between these two charcters is over – we didn't like them being at odds because we didn't want either of them to lose!  Now, would these two people ever be close friends, let alone come to love each other?  No? Yes? Who cares?  Kimble loves his wife more, but has a stronger relationship in this story with Gerard. From a writing perspective, it's trivially easy to introduce an S and say “M loves this person,” but it means relatively little.  It's harder to introduce an S and say “some part of this story now hinges on how M navigates knowing this person,” but that's kind of what has to happen in order to create a payoff that's worth the effort.  A strong relationship provides skeletal structure for the story; it can't be stitched on at the margins.

This is an even tougher sell in something like a television series, where the introduction of S may come in well after the story is underway and the bulk of M's characterization is already in place.  That's why introducing a late-season love interest is a notoriously dodgy proposition!  To demonstrate weak vs strong relationship in action, I'm going to take an example of what I think was a failed attempt and pitch some ways to doctor it up into a strong relationship: Sam Winchester and Eileen Leahy.

This is objectively a weak relationship.  She doesn't materially affect the metaplot of the series, or drive any major choices, or reveal anything about Sam's character.  She's just, you know, generally nice and attractive and Sam likes her, which is a fine start, but then the writers just leave her idling in the garage forever.  But it didn't have to be that way! Say we wanted to make it a Type 1 relationship: super easy, barely an inconvenience!  Eileen is very like Sam, actually, in that she lost her parents as an infant and then had the entire rest of her life shaped by the trauma and the pursuit of revenge.  That's amazing.  How many other people, even hunters, share that specific experience with Sam Winchester?  Sam was physically changed by drinking demon blood in infancy; Eileen was physically changed by being deafened by the banshee or whatever it was in infancy.  Even just allowing them to talk about that would have made the relationship stronger.  Sam is affected by the fact that there is no Before Time for him; even now that they've long since had their revenge on ol' Yellow Eyes himself, he grapples with the fact that he's forever robbed of any memories of innocence or safety or a life that wasn't lived in the shadow of this killing.  Eileen also has had her life's quest for revenge fulfilled, and also has to reckon with the fact that it doesn't actually give her access to the innocence that was stolen from her.  Maybe she struggles with that.  Maybe Sam can open up to her because she knows what it's like to look back on your child self and feel that however strong you've made yourself, you're never strong enough to protect that child.

What if you want to write something spicier than Sam and Eileen talking about their sad feelings?  Okay, let's take a Type 2 story.  Eileen has been a lone hunter with a disability all her life; it's fair to guess that even if she can't match Sam's physical strength, the fact that she's survived at all means that she's pretty indomitable.  Maybe she's had to be ruthless, even brutal in her hunting style; maybe she has a shoot-first-ask-questions-never approach to hunting that she credits with her very survival, but that Sam finds excessively rash and bloody.  Maybe they fight about it.  Have her kill some ambiguous, maybe-not-dangerous monstery types, a werewolf or something, and Sam's like, hey, we really can't just-- and Eileen is like, look, I hunt how I hunt, come with me or don't.  I mean, this is a retread in some ways of early season conflicts about who to kill and when, but everything in the latter seasons is a retread anyway, so whatever, and it provides something interesting to have Sam deal with this whiplash of how there seem to be two Eileens, the smiley, jocular sweetheart who eats pancakes with him and the one who kills like she's swatting flies.  What if he wants one but not the other?  It doesn't really work that way, does it?  Is this something he can dismiss as a foible, or is this a dealbreaker? The dude is almost forty, if he distances himself from Eileen, how many more hunters does he think he has a chance to meet and marry?  If she won't even listen to his concerns seriously, is it really a good relationship anyway, or will Sam's needs always end up taking a backseat to Eileen's?

A Type 3 fix could just come down quite plainly to, what if Eileen is ready to retire?  She's had her revenge.  She's lived her life on the hunt.  Maybe she's done, and maybe she wants Sam to be done with her.  Doing this in season 15 would circle Sam back to his season 1 story conflicts in a nice way, I think – why does Sam do this at all, if it's not for revenge any longer?  Does he feel personally responsible for every dead person he could've saved but didn't – is that a reasonable boundary, or lack thereof, to set?  Is a compromise possible – could he continue to coordinate hunts while also getting out of the field and starting a family, or is that still putting his family in the shadow of too much violence and danger to tolerate?  What's Dean going to say?  He's pitched a fit in the past when Sam said he wanted out, but he's mellowed with age, hasn't he?  Maybe he'll get it now?  But maybe Sam also feels guilty and fearful, because he knows Dean will hunt without him, so now he's in more danger because of Sam's choices, if Sam makes this choice.  It's a little heteronormative, as story conflicts go, but it's thematically appropriate to Supernatural, and the fact that Eileen isn't speaking out of timidity but out of the same weariness that Sam has so often felt about the whole endless cycle makes it feel a little less “the little lady won't let me go on adventures anymore.”  This might not be my pick of the three, but the point is that it makes for a strong conflict, a legitimate divided loyalty for Sam to wrestle with, and one that doesn't have a clear right answer.

Anyway, hopefully that helps illustrate what I mean when I say that the narrative strength of a relationship doesn't have anything to do with how likeable an S character is – Eileen is very likeable! But that doesn't substitute for building her into the fabric of the story in some way.  My expectation is that a serious protagonist relationship should bend the story arc in a way that requires response, and if it doesn't, I don't take that relationship particularly seriously.  Canon can declare a relationship real by fiat, but it can't automatically declare a relationship meaningful without, you know, making meaning of it.

Oh, and there's not anything really wrong with weak relationships – most M's are going to have several in the story.  My point is just that the difference between a weak relationship and a strong one isn't really a matter of taste or preference, but has a functional meaning that can be tested and measured, and if there's argument to be had about it, the argument can take place on evidentiary grounds.  Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[kiaracarrera]

Pouge Life S2

I’ve been trying to enjoy a healthy work-life balance but since isolation leaves not a lot of ‘life’ options here I go again writing another essay style OBX post, this time on all my thoughts, wants and ideas for a potential S2, enjoy!

Edit: This got longggggg and yet I’ve got lots more thoughts, especially on our side characters, let me know if you want a part 2. 

I’m getting the strong vibe that the start of next season is going to be a rough one for our remaining Pouges. I’m hopeful that JJ, Kiara and Pope will stick it out together but sometimes situations like this push you further from the ones you love then they do pull you together. Ideally John B would find a phone and give the guys a call to let them know he’s alive, but that seems too easy so it’ll never happen. I will say I do kind of feel like John B lacked in the friendship department this season and Pope/Kiara/JJ worked really well as a trio so I’m interested to see the way their friendship evolves next season after being impacted by this loss and especially with the change of dynamics in the group.

We NEED more parent scenes, not so much Luke Maybank please and thankyou, but the Heyward's and Mr & Mrs C! I saw someone accuse Heyward of being abusive and I will not stand for that. These families are watching their children be reckless and dangerous and if I was them I’d certainly be like “hell no you can’t hang around with those pot smoking, gun wielding, underage drinking, potential criminals” part of me thinks these families need to take their children away from the OBX, at least for a little while, but most of me just wants to make sure JJ isn’t abandoned in his time of need. I’m also going to need these parents to foster our orphans children please. JJ & John B both need guardians so why can’t the Heyward's take one and Mr & Mrs C take the other! Sarah might also need a new guardian but I feel like she probably has a ton of people ready to take her in. 

I want flashbacks!! Now hear me out, I’m not often a fan of flashbacks because I feel like sometimes they can take away to much from the present buuut imagine the kind of flashbacks we could get -  

How the Pouges met and how they became friends.

How the group was affected when Kiara went ‘full kook’ and how she came back to being part of the crew (Did they accept her with open arms, were they weary but accepting, did she have to earn their friendship back) 

Kiara and Sarah friendship scenes 

I want Sarah and Kiara friendship scenes! I want them to develop a true friendship, one that's separate from the boys, reminiscent of their past, where they sneak off to do things and vent about boys one where they laugh and cry together and I have a strong feeling the writers will indeed give us this!

Matter of fact, I want more Kiara scenes period. I feel like she was the most underutilised character of this seasons and she deserves more. 

Jiara. Need I say more? Even if the writers don’t want to pair them together next season I want the Pope/Kiara ship to come to an end and for them to start working on developing that relationship.

I want Pope to get a new scholarship and for John B to clear his name!! I want these boys to be happy and to not have to worry about what the future holds for them (see the point I made about the boys being adopted) 

I just want more Pouge scenes! Scenes where they’re not running from the law or putting their lives in danger. My favourite scenes where the ones where they were all together, hanging out or celebrating. I just want more Pouge’s 4 Lyfe fun. I’m curious and if you’ve read this far I’d love to hear - Do you view Sarah as or want Sarah to become part of the Pouge crew? Personally I was a fan of the Core 4 crew but I can see why others would disagree. 

I want more development with Rafe. I think the difference between a good villain and a great villain is the complexity of character and Drew Starkey certainly has the acting chops to play a complex character so let’s give him the chance!! I want Ward/Rafe scenes that acknowledge that Rafe has always felt pressured and unappreciated by Ward, scenes that show us why he is the way he is. I’ve also seen some head canons floating around that Rafe and Ki have a little bit of a past and honestly, I’m here for it. In my second time watching the show I felt like there was a spark of chemistry between the characters and a story involving these two that perhaps showed a softer side to Rafe could really enhance his character! My idea (this ventures into potential fanfic territory so I’ve placed it under the read more.) is: 

When Kiara and Sarah became close Kiara spent most of her time in the Cameron household ‘We stole beers from your dad’s fridge’. Rafe had always been a little bit of an asshole and never had much time for his sister or her friends but there was something different about Kiara, something in the way she wasn’t like the typical Kook girls he encountered that sparked an interest in him and a certain softness too. Nothing ever happened between the two whilst Sarah and Kie were friends but after the fall out Rafe would occasionally visit Kie at the wreck. Eventually they became close and shared a short but secret romance. Short because as Kiara began developing her friendship with the boys again she started prioritising them and distancing herself from Rafe, who in turn became spiteful and resentful. When the two officially drew a line in the sand Rafe continued to despise the Pouges, more now than ever whilst Kiara, who saw the cruel and vindictive side to Rafe refused to acknowledge she’d ever let him in.