on the subject of "exploring horrifying implications" i have something i've recently come to appreciate re: characters / worldbuilding but because it's not solely about horror, i wanted to make my own post
my friend jennie has been talking about this a lot but it basically comes down to "push your stupid idea so hard that it wraps back around to emotional resonance" but i think it can apply to "push it so hard that it wraps around to horrifying implications"
I'm struggling to think of an example from my own writing.
i might circle back around but let me give you the basic thought process:
"stupid name/concept" and then repeatedly diving into the "why" and the "what do they think about this" and "what does the world think about them" and pushing that until you find emotional resonance or perhaps horror. never done horror, but i imagine it could be done.
what does it mean to be so beautiful it hurts people to look at you? it means you have to hide your true self, it means being afraid of people seeing you as you are, it means shame. it means that even if you make yourself beautiful to compensate for hiding yourself, you know you're not what you should be. not mine, but my favorite example of this.
i dont have many pure chucklefuck or even chucklefuck-leaning characters but we'll go into Pander. long post under the cut, but the top part is the gist
pander is a character for a campaign an irl friend is planning and eventually running. the concept of the campaign is "all the pcs are married to the same bard and while they all know each other exists, they've never met. now that Chaddeus Thaddeus the Third has gone missing, they all have to band together and find out where he went"
enter Pander. hundreds of years old satyr who's the embodiment of fey revelry. The slutty bard archetype pushed to the max. she's got an 8 int and a 5 wis but a 20 charisma. she's ditzy, she's bubbly, she's an extrovert, and she loves having and talking about sex and she loves games and bets and wagers. She's so beautiful that it's otherworldly and knows it, and uses it to bewitch and dazzle. she doesn't understand a lot of mortal customs, and
through asking myself "why" and digging into possibilities, i have pushed it back around to emotional resonance.
what do people think about pander? they think she's an airhead who doesn't have anything interesting to say. what does pander think about this? she kinda embraces the ditzy thing and pretends it doesn't bother her, but even though she would never show it, it really does bother her. why? because she doesn't feel heard. she doesn't feel listened to.
okay, so she's married to Chaddeus Thaddeus. why? she could have any person in the world with her beauty and charm, theoretically. why him? because he makes her feel heard. there's no stipulations or conditions, he loves her as she is. she doesn't have to pander to him to get him to love her.
why does she feel the need to pander to people? why did she go so far as to take it as her name? because she was in a survival situation that required her to. well what was the survival situation? she was kidnapped from the feywild as a small child (4-5 year-old equivalent in fey terms) and taken to a circus. her purpose was to be dazzling and charming and otherworldly and to be a fey giving a performance to draw people in and get money.
well, what does she think about this? she's bitter she wasn't able to grow up in the feywild. why? because the fey in the feywild are more beautiful for growing up there. she wasn't able to be exposed to the magic as much as the rest of them. what do the fey think? she's to mortal-touched to be fey and she's too fey to be mortal. she doesn't belong anywhere, and is so desperately craving attention and validation and the only way she thinks she can get it is by being beautiful and dazzling and over the top and showy all the time.
chaddeus is the only person she's let in enough to see her true self. why is she going on this journey? because she's so scared of losing him.
y'know? its not "angst for angst's sake" its finding logical conclusions that have led to "x stupid concept"
why are they this way? how can we find resonance?
for pander, it's through making bonds with people she feels comfortable enough with to let in.
i really like stuff like this idk thank you goodbye
my beautiful cinnamon roll too good for this world fave:
KALA/WOLFGANG
my trash-shit fave:
sun/prison grandma but only as bffs
my I love to hate them fave:
none??????
my I hate to love them fave:
daniela/lito/hernando
my I wouldn’t piss on them if they were on fire non-fave:
rajan/kala
my I didn’t care about them either way at first but the fandom makes such a big deal about them now I can’t stand them non-fave:
ugh will/riley im sorry
my I could take them or leave them kinda non-fave:
jela and his wife
my I will go down with this ship and I won’t put my hands up and surrender, there will be no white flag above my door. I’m in love and always will be fave ship:
KALA/WOLFGANG AGAIN SUUUUUE MEEEEEE
my dirtybadwrong fave ship:
?????????wolfgang/kala bc they’re the hottest guy/girl????
my they’re cute together and I dig them but I’m not all that terribly invested kinda fave ship:
idek kala’s parents???? riley/her dead husband?????
my I didn’t care about this ship either way at first but the fandom makes such a big deal about it now I can’t stand it non-fave ship:
my beautiful cinnamon roll too good for this world fave:
BEN/LESLIE
my trash-shit fave:
donna/ron sue me
my I love to hate them fave:
mona lisa/tom
my I hate to love them fave:
jean ralphio/literally whoever
my I wouldn’t piss on them if they were on fire non-fave:
jerry/his wife idec
my I didn’t care about them either way at first but the fandom makes such a big deal about them now I can’t stand them non-fave:
???????? ann/andy??????
my I could take them or leave them kinda non-fave:
ron/his current lady whose name i cant remember i m sorry
my I will go down with this ship and I won’t put my hands up and surrender, there will be no white flag above my door. I’m in love and always will be fave ship:
BEN/LESLIE AGAAAAAAAAAAAIN
my dirtybadwrong fave ship:
andy/april they both need counseling on how to be adults
my they’re cute together and I dig them but I’m not all that terribly invested kinda fave ship:
tom/donna only bc bffs
my I didn’t care about this ship either way at first but the fandom makes such a big deal about it now I can’t stand it non-fave ship:
????????????
my MAKE IT STOP non-fave ship:
???????? i dont anti-ship often omg i’m sorry it makes me so bad at this
doctor who is obvious, so lets go with oitnb and orphan black too?
oh shit omg ok
OB:
my beautiful cinnamon roll too good for this world fave:
helena/her embryo container
my trash-shit fave:
sarah/cal
my I love to hate them fave:
??????? i love all the ships name one i love it
my I hate to love them fave:
alison/beth
my I wouldn’t piss on them if they were on fire non-fave:
beth/art
my I didn’t care about them either way at first but the fandom makes such a big deal about them now I can’t stand them non-fave:
???????????????
my I could take them or leave them kinda non-fave:
sarah/paul
my I will go down with this ship and I won’t put my hands up and surrender, there will be no white flag above my door. I’m in love and always will be fave ship:
ALISON/DONNIEEEEEE
my dirtybadwrong fave ship:
soccercop sue me
my they’re cute together and I dig them but I’m not all that terribly invested kinda fave ship
i fucked up the formatting but helena/jesse
my I didn’t care about this ship either way at first but the fandom makes such a big deal about it now I can’t stand it non-fave ship:
none tbh
my MAKE IT STOP non-fave ship:
also none???????? i love most of the OB ships
OITNB:
my beautiful cinnamon roll too good for this world fave:
nicky/morello
my trash-shit fave:
piper/alex
my I love to hate them fave:
red/healey???
my I hate to love them fave:
??????????
my I wouldn’t piss on them if they were on fire non-fave:
larry/piper
my I didn’t care about them either way at first but the fandom makes such a big deal about them now I can’t stand them non-fave:
poussey/taystee im sorry
my I could take them or leave them kinda non-fave:
those two random guards idefk
my I will go down with this ship and I won’t put my hands up and surrender, there will be no white flag above my door. I’m in love and always will be fave ship:
poussey/soso
my dirtybadwrong fave ship:
alex/piper again whoops
my they’re cute together and I dig them but I’m not all that terribly invested kinda fave ship:
morello/her husband technically idek
my I didn’t care about this ship either way at first but the fandom makes such a big deal about it now I can’t stand it non-fave ship:
Merry: Who would you swear loyalty to, or to whom have you already done so?
YOUUUUUUU (soulja boy tell em) nah but for real you and claire and a couple other important ladiez out there
Gimli: Have you ever had an opinion about someone that turned out to be completely wrong?
i can only think of one recent example which is that i thought doctor intern was a pretty cool guy but he’s turning out to kind of be a pretentious douche
Bifur: What is your most interesting injury, and how did it happen?
i got stung by a jellyfish once! i was down the cape with some family friends when i was maybe 8 and we kept seeing jellyfish wash up on the shore but we went swimming anyway so of course i got stung, and then i went to the hospital in an ambulance and they gave me unlimited juice and junie b. jones books and after it stopped hurting it was a pretty chill time?? and i had a cool dotty mark from the sting along my stomach and arm for a while
14: (truth) If you could only wear one outfit for the rest of your life (consisting of clothes you already own), what would it be? (dare) Tag someone you follow who has amazing fashion sense.
DARE: girl bye i don’t wanna keep most of my clothes for the next week but my-doctor is a classy stylin lady
15: (truth) If you could rock any unusual article of clothing/makeup technique/hairstyle, what would it be? (dare) Go to the blog of the last person you reblogged a text post from. Reblog your favorite of their selfies.
TRUTH: i literally want to try out so many aesthetics i would love to go for a totally punk look but i would love to be earthy hipster scum but i would love to be hyper feminine but also i want to be classic and businessy so basically i want to dress in the wardrobe of every clone on orphan black
also i wish i could get away with cool makeup??? i’ve been dabbling in bright lipstick but i dont really leave the house in it…..and i’m terrified of bright eye shadow and any kind of blush/bronzer and i have no idea what to do when i’m in the same room as liquid eyeliner
