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So tonight's Lost was all about the Big Gay Love Story of Clare and Kate, Aaron's Mommies (it was also about the Big Gay Alternate Universe of Sawyer And Miles, Partners, but who's blog is this anyway?).
( I am so stupid. )
( I am so stupid. )Mar. 17th, 2010
A word about berserk buttons
Mar. 17th, 2010 03:53 pmI've noticed something looking over the TV Tropes entry on the Berserk Button. Don't bother clicking and spending the next three hours there, I'll summarize. Every hero in genre fiction gets pissed off when his loved ones or children are threatened/harmed. There's really nothing special about that. Just about every human being on the planet feels that way. There's no one who really goes "Child being abused? Meh." aside from Catholic priests.
Nothing wrong with that, it's just generic. On the other hand, take Marty McFly. He really hates being called a chicken. You can tie that in with how his father is so nebbish (pre-retcon), but it stands alone pretty well. It's instantly distinctive and gives some nice flavor to the character. So, if you're creating a character and you want a handy flaw, try coming up with a fun and original berserk button.
Take Jeff, for instance. Jeff is a perfectly nice doctor/lawyer/cop/superhero. The thing is, when he was little, his dad cheated on his mom. They got divorced. Jeff had to leave behind all his friends to live with his mom when she moved out. Plus, if his parents had stayed together, he's pretty certain his sister wouldn't have gotten hooked on drugs. And it's not like they had irreconcilable differences. It's because his dad couldn't keep it in his pants.
Okay, daddy issues, big deal you're saying? Well, now Jeff really hates infidelity. Intellectually, he doesn't even try to understand it. He's married and he and his wife talk their problems out. If you're willing to not just be in a relationship, not just move in together, but stand before your God, your family, and your friends and say you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you should damn well follow through. If Jeff learns someone is a cheater, he loses all respect for them. In fact, he may do something crazy like give them 24 hours to 'fess up before he tells the cuckold for them. His friends check out movies before they go out to make sure that the characters don't commit adultery, because they don't want to listen to him rant on the way home.
Now, could this character be annoying and self-righteous? Sure, depending on the execution. But it's a very distinctive quirk and it gives you a pretty solid skeleton to hang Jeff's stories off of. Now consider Bob, who was beaten as a child and now takes it personally when children are abused. That's been done before. You'd have to come up with a pretty good twist or execution to get me interested in it.
The basic thing you want to do is take a pet peeve and then exaggerate it. Maybe someone can't stand gendered insults, or people who welch on bets, or cruelty to animals. It's all about finding something to set the character apart, and then letting his or her voice develop from that.
Nothing wrong with that, it's just generic. On the other hand, take Marty McFly. He really hates being called a chicken. You can tie that in with how his father is so nebbish (pre-retcon), but it stands alone pretty well. It's instantly distinctive and gives some nice flavor to the character. So, if you're creating a character and you want a handy flaw, try coming up with a fun and original berserk button.
Take Jeff, for instance. Jeff is a perfectly nice doctor/lawyer/cop/superhero. The thing is, when he was little, his dad cheated on his mom. They got divorced. Jeff had to leave behind all his friends to live with his mom when she moved out. Plus, if his parents had stayed together, he's pretty certain his sister wouldn't have gotten hooked on drugs. And it's not like they had irreconcilable differences. It's because his dad couldn't keep it in his pants.
Okay, daddy issues, big deal you're saying? Well, now Jeff really hates infidelity. Intellectually, he doesn't even try to understand it. He's married and he and his wife talk their problems out. If you're willing to not just be in a relationship, not just move in together, but stand before your God, your family, and your friends and say you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you should damn well follow through. If Jeff learns someone is a cheater, he loses all respect for them. In fact, he may do something crazy like give them 24 hours to 'fess up before he tells the cuckold for them. His friends check out movies before they go out to make sure that the characters don't commit adultery, because they don't want to listen to him rant on the way home.
Now, could this character be annoying and self-righteous? Sure, depending on the execution. But it's a very distinctive quirk and it gives you a pretty solid skeleton to hang Jeff's stories off of. Now consider Bob, who was beaten as a child and now takes it personally when children are abused. That's been done before. You'd have to come up with a pretty good twist or execution to get me interested in it.
The basic thing you want to do is take a pet peeve and then exaggerate it. Maybe someone can't stand gendered insults, or people who welch on bets, or cruelty to animals. It's all about finding something to set the character apart, and then letting his or her voice develop from that.
