In which the obvious is news to me

[lolaraincoat]

So I'm writing not one but two bad guys for hp_dungeons, a RPG/soap opera whose recent developments are best explained in cartoon form, over here and it disturbs me -- to put it mildly -- to find all that awfulness in my head and put it on the screen. I didn't know there was any part of me that was so ... so ... nasty, you know?

I mean, I've been voicing Charlie Weasley for a year now, and he's a really nice guy (and all the sweetest bits of Charlie's character come straight from observation of fishwhistle so I can't even claim that Charlie's niceness makes up for my evil characters' meanness, because it's not mine) but this is -- different. I'm seriously unnerved.

Fanfic authors, has this ever happened to any of you? And if so, what did you do about it?

Comments

[djinnj.livejournal.com]

I did get disconcerted the first time I had F become really vicious; mostly because I was enjoying it!

I think we have to have some connection with our characters, however awful they are, or else they are insubstantial. At least, we do if we aren't geniuses. And evil is often something quite normal twisted just a little bit or missing a small but key element. At least, that's the evil I tend to think is more interesting to write and read about.

I actually have trouble writing aspects of S because he isn't a saint, and it's too easy to write him as some sort of Santa Claus figure. Which is sort of the opposite problem.

[lolaraincoat.livejournal.com]

Hah! yes, I see where that would be exactly the problem with S. and a number of other more-or-less white hats in the Potterverse (at least in fanfic.) One of the best ways to motivate bad (selfish, unthinking, greedy, etc.) behavior in an ambiguous character is to have them run up against material limitations imposed by the real world. In a magical world, where there's likely to be more than enough for all, you lose that possibility - it's too easy for Scrooge to act like Santa, and there goes the story.

Somehow this is all connected in my mind with the Mary Sue issue but I can't quite figure out how.