#complicated characters

[crewdlydrawn]

This encompasses so succinctly why I love so many villainous characters.

[brownbookrecs]

Hey, I love the Locked Tomb. What kind of books do you recommend if I'm looking for something like that in regards to characters? Complicated characters with complicated interpersonal relationships? Bonus points for scifi and or fantasy.

Oooh thank you... let's see, complicated characters with complicated interpersonal relationships...

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler: the goat - time travel neo-slavery fantasy, follows Dana, a young Black woman, as she is sent back in time to her ancestors living on a plantation: both her white and Black ancestors. She has to keep her white slave owning ancestor alive long enough to ensure her own existence in the present. (Black American Author)

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka: historical (1990) realistic fantasy queer mlm. Follows the ghost of Maali Almeida, a young, gay, Shri Lankan, as he tries to solve his own murder. Starring the complicated relationship to his beard girlfriend and his real boyfriend who are roommates. (Shri Lankan Author)

This Town Sleeps by Dennis E. Staples: realistic contemporary fantasy queer mlm. Follows Marion, a young, gay, Ojibwe man as he navigates the history of his small town. There are so many characters in this one, and it really shows off the complex relationships between one family and the rest of the small town where they live. Everyone knows each other and they all have complex feelings about so-and-so's uncle or that one's great grandma. (Ojibwe Author)

Bonus: The Inheritance Trilogy by NK Jemisin: high fantasy, the characters are gods, so all have incredibly complex (queer even) relationships with each other. Not in the main rec because you do have to read at least to the second book to get the good good complexities and ideally the whole series to see the bigger picture. (Black American Author)

Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao: scifi/fantasy, this is the second book in the series, but imo I think the characters get way deeper and more complex in this book - which is why it's also in the bonus zone, would have to read the first book to understand what's going on in this one. (Chinese Canadian Author)

[hillotheartisticchhameleon]

I love complicated characters

[thekalosianpipelette]

I have dropped the next chapter of To Love A Supernova a few hours early, as I have a chaotic day at work today! This is Chapter 6: Uncharted Territory.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/83453286/chapters/221472671

At the recommendation of my beta reader, I have added an authors dissertation to the end of this chapter, as this chapter is one of the most nuanced, complex chapters of the entire book. We are digging right into the weeds of what happened between Ash and Serena in the Winding Woods from a wide range of angles... including the legal one.

It's uncomfortable, challenging, unsettling, and pushes my readers to grapple with their favourite characters behaving in ways that sit in the grey. However, there is a revelation that comes through that explains so much of my characterisation of Ash in particular in this story. My "why", so to speak. I'm really proud of this work. I feel it is unlike any other fanfics in the Pokémon realm and takes a very well-known and utilised character archetype and completely flips it on its head to emphasise a topic that I'm very passionate about.

Also, we get a beautiful piece of artwork by @marchingspace in this chapter of Steven and Diantha, which I will also post separately to my Tumblr to give it its moment in the sun.

[unheardoracle]

If you’ve ever looked at a fictional character and thought

"you’re not a villain, you’re the result of something"

...we’re probably going to get along

[redhoodscorvid]

I really appreciated the Gotham Knights game moment where Tim was talking about Red Hood's status as an anti-hero...

And Jason just stops him, like: don't gloss over what I did.

I think about that sometimes when I'm trying to fit together the many different pieces of Jason Todd. In UTRH, Jason was absolutely willing to hurt innocent people to weave a web he was putting Bruce at the centre of.

What does that mean for a Crime Lord Red Hood story? A Jason Todd story in general?

He's more interesting when he has to grapple with who he is and how he has to feel about that. A narrative that simply justifies his actions and claims he did nothing wrong isn't as much fun. (On the other hand, I don't like when he flips all the way over into unironically upholding Bruce's legacy... like he did in Gotham Knights.)

[nonbeans]

I don't know how to tell you that people are complicated and messy and they're going to have flaws.

[haorev]

“If you dare to write about less-than-charming characters, you don’t need to redeem them with an ending in which they see the error of their ways, mend their faults, and allow their flinty hearts to be transformed into a choir loft of goodness…Fiction can, and should, mimic life, with all it’s messes and discomfort and disquiet. Fiction should also prove just how complicated and troubled many people are.”

(Jessica Page Morrell, “Creating an Anti-Hero,” in Creating Characters: The Complete Guide to Populating Your Fiction, edited by The Editors of Writer’s Digest (Writer’s Digest Books, 2014): 141)