I want to tell stories about people I never got to see on TV growing up.
Stories about messy people, complicated people. Most modern audiences are uncomfortable with moral ambiguity because it’s difficult to label. Some of my best character writing has been the result of uncomfortable self reflection. The meanest people I’ve ever met are people I can see myself in. A version of myself I don’t want to be, but one that I can still recognize, somewhere buried. Isn’t that kind of scary? I find that compelling.
In Epilogue of Endings, Blu is a fun character because we only get to see him through Lucy’s eyes. He kept people at a distance, even back in the army, but there’s a side to him we don’t fully see. Even when we get to see his backstory comic later this summer, we won’t know what his life was like before the war. I want to keep it that way. It’s none of our business why he is the way he is because that’s not part of the story I want to tell. Some people might say it’s a bit disappointing, but I think it’s beautiful. We only get a small glimpse into this man’s life, we don’t know exactly where he came from or who he was before the war, but we still grow to love him anyways. Because it doesn’t matter who he was before, it matters who he is now.
In Galactic Defense Force, Axel is one of my favorite characters to write because they’re probably the most hard to love. Blu is easy for fans to connect with, he’s cheerful and funny and he protects the kids. When we meet Axel, they’re a proper jerk. They lash out against the people around them, they complain whenever someone tries to help them, and they have a long list of outstanding bounties for past crimes. They’ve always had an abundance of wealth, even after running away from their kingdom, so material possessions have lost all value. They’re numb to a lot of the galaxy and they’re spiteful towards the people who run it. However, despite their many flaws, we still see that Axel is a person. They have friends they care about, people they want to do right by, and they do want to make the galaxy a better place at the end of the day. Their methods are unorthodox and violent because that’s who Axel is. An unconventional, messy character. I don’t write them as a bad person. I write them as an angry person, a hurt person. I want Axel to be someone who is objectively hard to like, someone who doesn’t ask you to like them, but someone you can see yourself in and root for anyway. Because Axel will grow and learn to be gentle, learn to be kind, and I think that capacity for change in a fictional character is a beautiful thing.
The thought that we don’t want our media to challenge us is one that makes me sad. Some of my favorite stories are about people and places that are hard to define. Artists want to see themselves in the media they consume now more than ever. Who are we to shoot down the artists who give us the characters we’ve grown to love so much? Why do we have the right to say how every story should be told?
If artists did everything their viewers asked, we would lose the individuality that makes indie projects so compelling in the first place. The rough edges, the unpolished writing, the personal stories and unique designs. All of that would be lost.
I don’t want to live in a world without stories like this, so I’m going to do my very best to make a good one.💚💜
