kutner dialogue (and characterization?) guide
i'll preface this by saying that I don't really consider myself to be an expert when it comes to writing kutner, or any of the characters really, but these are things I try to keep in mind when writing kutner's dialogue. but tbh my only guideline is "can I hear kutner saying this?" and if the answer is yes then it's good enough for me
kutner has a tendency to blurt stuff out -- "Sorry, most dying patients don't like to - not that you're dying." -- and then correct himself (or dig himself deeper into a hole lol). he says things impulsively. (another example is in 4x07 ugly). intrerrupts people sometimes.
building on that, he is blunt. he seems to say what he thinks. he calls house a jerk, multiple times (although not in a very negative way), he calls foreman a hypocrite in the greater good. he can be confrontional when it matters.
he simply doesn't seem to have much of a filter.
he also uses pretty informal wording, compared to the other characters, anyway. he uses slang and euphemisms at times: "babes" for hot women, "sucker", "stud", he uses "y'know". trails off a bit. sometimes "kinda" instead of "kind of".
but he still is not all that informal, he speaks in full sentences and he can use more formal terms. there's a balance to it.
"wanna" instead of "want to". "what's" instead of "what is". "you got somewhere to be?" instead of "do you have somewhere to be?". "you okay?" instead of "are you okay?".
he sometimes stammers a bit, an "uhm" or "uh" here or there but not a lot.
in general a really casual tone. sometimes omits the leading pronoun: "paged you?" instead of "he paged you?"; "must be" instead of "it must be"; "could be" instead of "it could be".
doesn't curse all that much, actually. he says "oh crap" a few times when he's annoyed. swears with words like "ass" because this is TV. also, use "screw" instead of "fuck" but that's more a "the characters don't use 'fuck' like at all" thing. although I do think kutner would use "fuck" if the characters could say it. probably not in hospital settings, though.
first of all: nerdy. superstitious. will make reference to his interests, to superstitious stuff and conspiracy theories. also has a lot of knowledge about a lot of random stuff. tends to use weird house-like metaphors.
brash. punchy. genuinely cheerful and happy-go-lucky, although less as the show goes on. but he's not gloomy or outwardly depressed. but he's also... not always joyful.
he is curious and nosy! he asks questions, he will question things. he wants to know stuff. asks people (even house) if they're okay a fair amount. part of it is because he does care about people, obviously. he's gonna be especially nosy about things and people he cares about. he is kind and compassionate, deeply so(even if he doesn't always show it). he is even a bit protective of the people he cares about. he wants to help. but he can also care in a really detached way, like a doctor would. he seldom actually gets attached to patients. i do think he tries not to care, his default is kind of a genial apathy.
direct. observant. can read people very well and will often state his obervsations as fact, because they often are. he's never really wrong. but also can get a bit lost in his own head and distracted and miss out on the other characters' drama lol. but when he is paying attention, he is perceptive as hell. he'll also point out the things he observes when someone is annoying him.
he can also be quiet and keep his head down a bit. he has convictions and opinions, but he's not always gonna voice them. he also doesn't always take sides. however, if he does feel strongly about something, he *will* disagree and even argue about it. he has a spine, he can advocate for himself. he also just doesn't have that many hills he's willing to die on.
he shares unimportant stuff about his life like the fact that he renewed his subscription for national geographic to his coworkers, but won't often actually talk about more deeper things. he tries to relate to people by sharing stuff about himself, he does seem to struggle a bit with things he doesn't understand (like why would a soap opera actor hate his super cool job? why wouldn't he quit and find what he wants to do if he's feeling stuck?).
he just... doesn't really open up. when he does, he never really lingers on it either, he talks about it in a simple, shallow manner (yes, his parents were killed in front of him, but he got over it; yes, he was the indian foster kid in a white family, but he loved standing out).
he does care about... appearing a certain way, despite acting like he doesn't care what people think of him. he wants to be Liked, he wants to seem Happy, doesn't care all that much about things like "being right" but will get somewhat defensive when people think he's made a mistake. he does maybe want to appear somewhat as a Hero, too.
he doesn't get actually angry often, but he does have a bit of a... short fuse, is tetchy. he can get *annoyed* pretty easily, frustrated (this isn't really a dialogue thing, but he tends to rolls his eyes when he does get miffed). when he is angry, he seldom actually yells. he will get a bit in people's faces, though, but he is able to calm himself down. can also be petty. he also doesn't really get sad, but he does get despondent, numb, quieter than usual. but he just rarely lets things get to him.
kind of avoidant. if he doesn't like someone/doesn't want to be around them, it's obvious because he will find ways to avoid them. he won't outright say "I don't like you" but he's unsubtle in this way, he doesn't need to.
makes jokes! when things are serious, he doesn't really, but he probably will in low-tension situations. for example, he will say "honey, I'm home!" when digging up a grave. (see also: him in "don't ever change" being like "congratulations on your wedding, you have a rare and incurable degenerative disease!" to a patient who won't remember it because he's joking around with taub. again, less so in s5). he's sarcastic, he's teasing, really playful sometimes. his teasing isn't really intended to come across as mean-spirited for the most part, but he can come across like that a bit. he can be kind of insensitive that way.
how do I put this... kutner's kind of horny in a very boyish nerd way. he finds people attractive, he calls women he finds hot "babes", of course there's the famous "amber's legs go all the way up to canada" thing. there's also a scene in "don't ever change" where he's immediately interested when he thinks the patient said the word "sex". he's kind of silly about it. but he can get somewhat sheepish when actually discussing these things, he tends to use innuendos and trail off, ya know.
seemingly very open with his feelings. he's way more repressed than he lets on, but he's also... if he likes someone, he's probably gonna say it. he calls taub his friend, it's pretty clear to see that he cares about thirteen and he likes house and finds him funny as hell. he grew to like amber and says so himself. he's generally open about his affections and friendly with most people.
he tends to scheme a bit but rarely with malicious intent, but honestly, he doesn't really play 4D chess all that much. his second opinion clinic wasn't really about trying to be malicious or screw with house. it was just. something he did without thinking of the consequences, he did genuinely think he'd get away with it.
if it's not obvious: impulsive! risk-taker! a doing "whatever it takes" kind of guy. he also dpes sometime do things without much reason besides thinking it'd be fun, to distract himself.
this is more an implied thing but he does seem to stew and dwell on things. he doesn't really seem to actually let go but acts like he does. he feels guilt for things he did more than a decade ago (bullying), as a kid. he's more conscious about the impact his actions have on other people than he lets on, even if he's impulsive. he feels very intensely, he can hold grudges and feel betrayed.
he's way less trusting than he appears to be. he wants to believe in people and be optimistic and idealistic, but I think he does struggle with it.
he loves kids but is probably more awkward around them than, say, chase. in theory he probably thinks he likes teenagers but the few times they have teenage patients he doesn't seem that interested in them (besides the patient in emancipation, and we know how *that* turned out). he is drawn to damaged people similar to himself (the aforementioned patient, and nicole in birthmarks, who was adopted like him) and arguably to do-gooders, nice people (the patient in "big baby" -- while he didn't exactly connect to her, he did seem to like her).
again. he is a dork, he is a nerd. quirky and awkward but still very social, even if he probably doesn't have as many close friends as he lets on. he makes a bunch of pop culture reference and references to his interests, he believes in supersititions and probably in aliens and bigfoot. his first line in the show is about a conspiracy theory.
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