#problematic characters

[xunehh]

off the top of my head

[thebellekeys]

so, i saw this post on instagram and my response is just the hardest disagree ever... you want characters who are morally black, or unhinged, or problematic, but you don’t want them to do, say, or think truly problematic, prejudiced things? listen, you cannot call for unlikeable characters in media who only do tasteful evils like murder but not uncomfortable evils like racism or hate speech. you cannot call for novels with characters who are acknowledged to be problematic and at the same time demand only a socially acceptable and clean form of problematic behavior. the reality of messy, problematic characters isn’t to have the reader root for or against these characters or even internalize their ideas. the point of these problematic characters is to reveal the harshness and complexity of the world, not to reinforce moral or political ideals. you cannot explore the truth of society and people in books if you will only accept characters who are sanitized of reality.

[thedeathwitchescats]

There are some characters that I am willing to take criticism on and then theres the aftg cast, nesta archeron, aelin and crew, fiona Gallagher, micky milkivich, sandy milkivich, Mandy milkivich, Damon Salvatore, violet sorrengail, xaden riorson and the rest of my problematic favs. They are the mfs that I just will not hear criticism on. You can point out their flaws till the cows are home, your blue in the face and Sunday had passed, i will not give two shits. They can do no wrong in my eyes.

[moonandris]

It’s not my fault I like to write and read dark and spicy fiction... 🥺

Me reviewing the list of trigger warnings for my scifantasy/dark romance WIP: Bahahaha, I am literally ✨ n e v e r ✨ getting this published. This is the kind of story where you finish writing it and yeet it out in the ether of the Original Work tag on AO3 before lighting up a cigarette and contemplating your life choices. 🤣😭

[himi-wiz]

If I have a nickel for how many pathetically toxic, practically irredeemable unless it's an au adult men I ended up enjoying, I'll have 3 nickels.

It's not a lot but it sure as hell weird. Also all three are involved in the stem field in some way who are determined to stick to their committed evil paths even if it sucks for them and two of them are retired military personnel that are pretty shitty dads or dad-figures in their 40s.

Guessing game:

First is a sorry excuse of a doctor running a Mafia whose greatest joy seems to be shipping his apprentices, acting delusional enough so people would underestimate him but also he likes being delusional anyways, game theory and bugging his ex-husband. Way too obsessed with finding optimal solution, please stop logick for once and have a heart, you managed that in a canonical au before why are you doing this.

Second is a conman who helped the current government overthrow the system by creating the setting's famed mind control musical device, may have helped created a bunch of pink clone children and is happily avoiding child support (for both his bio and clone ones) and spends his life on various schemes cheating people out of money. At least he's got drip and a very good voice. 100/10 will get cheated and wouldn't even realise it.

Third one is a sad mop of a failing med student pressured by his parents who gets obsessed with hunting down his current target because of jealousy when this walking inferiority complex can't cope with his daddy/mommy issues. Talking about why he is heinous is a serious spoiler but when your best friend is a little girl who understands you because you both have antisocial tendencies is not a good sign.

[passionphantom]

Darren Jae Hallow ( an original character from my old dead dove comic called Dark Clouds )

I added his character and parts of his story into the story I have called Tears Of Iscariot ( a wip that will post in October 2023) and changed his design a little bit.

[theconsofrom-coms]

Falling in Love While in a Relationship? Nope!

Just Justified Cheating!

We can't lie and say that there are many romantic comedies out there in which this becomes one of the main premises. Tell me...does this sound familiar? "Guy in a relationship meets girl who changes the way in which he sees many aspects of his life, she is so different from his own girlfriend/fiancée/wife and such a breath of fresh air, and she seems to treat him so much better!" and vice versa. Yeah, this is something that has become so popular in rom-coms that it should be a sub-genre of its own, I call it Justified Cheating!

We will be focusing on three movies in whose main couple is implicit of Justified Cheating. "Something Borrowed", "The Wedding Planner", and "Sex and the City 2" But make no mistake, there are dozens of rom-coms out there with a cheating premise.

Something Borrowed, or should I say, I will cheat on my fiancée with her best friend!

NOBODY IS INNOCENT IN THIS MOVIE! Rachel, the main character of this movie is in love with her best friend Darcy's fiancée, Dex, and after a night of drinks, end up sleeping together. This act becomes the catalyst for an affair that lasts basically up until the week before the wedding. And before anyone says "poor Darcy," well things are more complicated than that, as we find out that Darcy has also been having an affair with a man named Marcus, moreover, she's pregnant with his baby! WITH HIS BABY! But the cheating is soon found out, and Darcy, while hypocritical, is upset at finding out that her best friend has been sleeping with Dex, a man she was already engaged to.

This movie romanticizes cheating, as though it is okay as long as you have feelings for one another, as Rachel and Dex did since they had known each other since law school. That if you aren't totally fulfilled in your relationship, it is totally fine to find someone else out there to revitalize you, as long as you are still with your partner and make them believe in the so called relationship you have with each other.

The Wedding Planner, a guy just being a guy!

Mary is a woman who after a fatal break-up with her fiancée who she had found cheating with her maid of honor and best friend (Funny, how this seems to be a pattern, huh) has focused on her career as one of the best wedding planners in the industry. It all changes when she is rescued by a man, called Eddie. They go on a date and seem to have a genuine connection, even almost kissing at one point, but it all comes tumbling down, when she finds out that Eddie is the groom of the latest wedding Mary is planning.

It's funny to see how when confronted by the issue, all Eddie has to say is "Maybe I was just being a guy..." as if that is any excuse to cheat on your fiancée. Just guys being guys, right? Mary is no less innocent, as she continues to flirt with and make suggestive remarks towards Eddie when it comes to her growing feelings, although I will praise her for removing herself from the situation once she realized she was playing with fire. In the end though, Eddie and his ex have an amicable break-up the day of their wedding and Eddie finds Mary. While, there was never any instance where Eddie and Mary slept with, kissed, or showed any sort of physical affection, the intent behind their interactions was there. It was obvious that they were both falling for each other and instead of staying apart to avoid any heartbreak, they continued to be constantly in each other's faces. So yeah, apparently if you start falling out of love with a woman you've been with for a multiple amount of years, it is okay to cheat? Really?

And finally, Sex and The City 2, looking for unnecessary drama.

Well...what could we really expect from a movie whose main character is Carrie Bradshaw? Throughout the entirety of the franchise, both movie and show it was shown that Carrie thrived on the idea of having a relationship filled with glamour and drama, which is why it is so hard for her to live a regular married life. Finally, after so many years of wanting the aforementioned "Mr. Big" to be the one man in her life, she starts to feel stale in her marriage after 5 years. She is concerned that the sparkle of their relationship will fade, especially because they have decided not to have children. It would just be the two of them, for the rest of their lives.

This need for drama is only intensified when, in a trip to Abu Dhabi with her best friends, she runs into Aiden, a man who she had considered to be her other great love. A man, mind you, who she had previously cheated on with Big. They greet each other as old friends do, and considering the perplexing circumstances of their reunion, Carrie starts to believe it meant something. Although her friends advise against her going to dinner with Aiden, saying she's "playing with fire" she turns a blind eye to their warnings. And drumroll please...kisses Aiden on that date. And while many may say that it was just a kiss, it was not because it involves a man who once upon a time, was just as important for Carrie as Big is. While her and Big are able to reconcile after this incident, Carrie is never fully punished for her actions, although let's be honest, when has Carrie ever suffered the consequences of her actions in a permanent way.

And so, that is all I have to say in respect to romantic comedies' hidden subgenre, Justified Cheating!

I'll be back soon with our next topic, what will it be?

I wonder...

[manufacturedrainbows]

It's so hard naming Bad Guy Tm characters because then I feel terrible for every real life person that also has that name

[glamrockdreams]

It's so hard liking a problematic character lbc I like them bc they're fucking hot not bc of some deep internalized fetish

[ashleyfableblack]

For the most part, agreed, very emphatically.

Good writing creates a world that draws a reader in. To create such a world requires characters which are relatable on a emotional if not intellectual level. This requires nuance and complexity.

"Good" people do "bad" things. "Bad" people do "good" things. All four of those concepts are built upon ethics and morality depending highly upon the individual's perspective- the sum of thousands of experiences, often unique to circumstance. NO two persons will hold the identical evaluations of another- even when both belong to the same group, race, ideology, sexuality, etc.

Not all fictional characters are perfect examples of the writer's worldview, nor SHOULD they be. Writing like that isn't writing fiction as much as giving a dissertation on personal politics in a mask.

If a viewer wants a story with clearly labeled "good-guy\bad-guy" archetypes with no clear actions of sex or sexuality in which all "inappropriate behavior" is directly addressed and admonished and the author always clearly dictates a punishment to the "bad guy" and the reader's sympathies are NEVER to be muddled nor their own ethics questioned, they're in luck. We had that in america in the 1930's. It was called "The Hayes Code".

It sucked. It's effects are still part of our culture but it's more or less still dying a much-deserved slow death.

I hate tumblr’s idea of ‘problematic’ characters so much.

An example of a problematic character would be a stock character of a marginalized group that’s reduced to a conglomeration of stereotypes that have a harmful effect on people from that group in the real world.

A problematic character is not a developed character with developed flaws and belief systems that people irl happen to be at odds with. It is not a character that interacts with other characters in ways that hurt them within the narrative. That’s what a story is. That’s what creating characters means. Developing a fleshed-out fictional person to serve a function within one’s narrative.

And characters that are solely mouthpieces for the creator’s own moral views and belief systems, regardless of what those views are, are bad characters, and make bad stories.

[everyonesadoptivedad]

Stole this for this fandom bc some pEOPLE need to hear this today.

[general-sleepy]

Fic writers, put in the tags what the difference in hits is between your most and least viewed fics. Mine is 7,720 (7,779-59).

[namesarehard123]

Story Teaser

History is written by the winners.

A quote that’s often used to refer to the lack of humanity in some retellings of stories, but try as historians may, they will never get the full story.

They weren’t there.

But that doesn’t stop them from trying.

They’re detectives of the past, and what happens when a mystery is unearthed?

 What happens when the stories turn out to be fake, and cruelty is exposed?

The thing about truth is that it is perceived. 

Even when we don’t want it to be.

Link: https://www.wattpad.com/story/309151855-search

[mckitterick]

[ ID: tweet by downstar_ao3: Just a reminder that fictional characters aren't real people who need to be held to account for their actions. They are vehicles to tell a story. Their flaws and contradictions are a feature and not a bug. And appreciating the role they play in the story is not a moral failing. /ID ]

hey, writers: your characters don't need to be perfect human beings, especially not the villains and antagonists

even your hero or protagonist should learn and grow over the course of the narrative (just like, y'know, people do)

[problematicbracket]

Hey. I wanted to do a bracket, but it took me a while to pick a topic. I finally got one. Welcome to the Problematic Bracket.

I'll be briefly taking character suggestions as well as including some characters that I would like to see thrown in. The only requirement for a character to be entered is that they're "problematic" in some way or another. That can be as small or as big as you like. It can be a character you love or a character you hate, as long as they qualify.

For the time being, feel free to send asks with the bastards you'd like to see in the running. If I need to, I'll make some kind of form. I'm not going to be taking this too seriously, and any hate received will be ignored. This bracket is for fun and doesn't condone the actions of anyone who is added or shown on this blog. All I ask is that if you explain why they're an asshole that you please do it in the least spoilery way possible. Thanks.

Also, for personal reasons, this blog will be kept somewhat anonymous. You can refer to me as Mod Haiji or Mod Towa if needed.

[passionphantom]

When you arrive in Hell and Satan gets to fuck you first.

(My OCs)