#so like. backstory reveal for the sake of it is antithetical to the work's text! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mochlus · 12 days ago

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I'm a character backstory hater ok. a hater. of backstories. people are always wishing they had more backstory for their blorbo well I DON'T. I don't care. I don't give a shit about blorbo's past ok. I get it I used to be in the camp of "you need to know how a character grew up and what their past was like to Really understand them" but that is WRONG. A character is not a real person. they are a piece in a story and to understand them you need to know the role they play in the story way more than you need some nebulous "past". yes, it is true that many ways people tell stories involve a character's past influencing their motivation for their present, and their role in the story. BUT THAT'S NOT ALWAYS THE CASE! sometimes a character as presented on the page or screen as they are in the present moment is all that needs to exist for them to perfectly fill their role in the story! The way they grew up doesn't matter! Their childhood trauma doesn't matter! I don't want to know more! I want the character to be engaging HERE and NOW! How much I like any given backstory is entirely dependent on how much it helps a character to be engaging in the story being told! I don't care about character pasts for their own sake! NOT EVERY CHARACTER NEEDS THEIR PAST TO BE SPELLED OUT FOR THE AUDIENCE

#suchobabbles #i love many stories that give characters deep and personal and winding pasts and make them three dimensional people #but those stories are built around that!#character backstory for the sake of character backstory without considering how it affects the goals and themes of a work #can just make a work straight up worse #so every time i see fans like 'i wish we knew more about xyz's past' my instinctual response is WELL I DONT!#this post was prompted by a tweet i saw about someone wanting more backstory for characters in a gag comedy series btw.#a series in which. when it revealed one of the other characters pasts #(which was prompted by an antagonistic audience insert character insisting he *must* have some sort of unique trauma to be the way he is)#literally had a joke about how he just grew up with a normal mildly shitty childhood #and that sometimes backstories really dont make the person!#so like. backstory reveal for the sake of it is antithetical to the work's text!#in asking for backstory you ARE ACTING LIKE THE ANTAGONIST OF THE STORY #WHICH IS WHY HE'S AN AUDIENCE INSERT JOKE. THE TEXT IS MAKING FUN OF YOU.

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