Randomness, The Doctor Is In - On How not to Bash

[dlgood]

So, I finally went to the doctor to get my knees checked out. And as it turns out, the preliminary diagnosis is Bursitis and Patellar Tendinitis. In both knees. So this means more resting, PT, anti-inflammatories and wearing sleeves for awhile. And possibly, I might have to go get injections and what not. At this point, I wish they would have just busted out the needle, drained what had to be drained, and shot me up with whatever cortico-steriod they think I'll be needing.

But the fun thing? Apparently, this is a condition traditonally known as "Housemaid's Knee" - because the knee seems mostly okay until you actually get on your knees to clean the floor or somesuch, at which point it is remarkably painful.

Note - this does not amuse me because of the term "housemaid" or any particular gendered connotations. Mostly it's because if there's anyone I know who doesn't do nearly as much housework as should be done, it's me. This would be like getting "Tennis Elbow" without actually playing tennis. (Not that I do) Seriously - if I'm gonna be getting housemaid's knees, at least I should be cleaning my house. This is just shameful.

(As is the condition of my house - fortunately I'll be bringing in an OCD Neatfreak of a tenant next month...)

BTW - Recieved a favorite reply in an offlist discussion where I tried to explain why a writer's work was Bashfic:

You insist that I MUST see (Insert Character Here) as sympathetic, in a situation where you already know that my views are opposite.

Now, actually - I claimed that if you don't want to write Bashfic, then yeah - you have to be able to consider all of the characters (at least not counting moustache twirling villains like Warren) from a sympathetic POV. You don't actually have to sympathize with them - or necessarily go with it - but you do have to be open to considering the possibility.

It's the willingness to accept ambiguity. We don't want stories so amorphous that nobody has any idea what you're going on about - but ambiguity is key. Shades of grey.

People generally have motivations. One should explore that. And not just one motivation - usually - people have several. It's really great if you can work it so that characters have conflicting motivations, and then find themselves in situations where they have to make value judgements around those conflicting values.

It would also help if characters have motivations that aren't clear or clean - some should be pretty and noble, and some should be ugly and ignoble. Because - hey - that's humanity. And ideally, as a writer, we shouldn't make excuses for characters having ignoble motivations. Especially the characters we like. It's okay for them to have those ugly motivations. It can be bad if they act on them - but it makes them human characters instead of simple fantasy objects or cardboard cutouts.

And when it comes to characters we dislike, whether it's Spike, Riley, or Kennedy or anyone else - we shouldn't write off their better motives - most people have them.

So that's my key - be ready to explore the characters and consider them as having multiple motives, preferably layered and conflicting for the better dramatic possibilities. If characters behave as they do out of multiple motives - if acts can't be attributed only to one motive, good or bad, you have some ambiguity. You have humanity in the story. Might not make it actually good or bad, but at least you'll be making sure that you aren't writing Bash-fic.

Comments

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Sorry about the knees - been commisserating with my mother who got a torn minscus on the tennis court and is getting halcogn treatments next week. And I think back in 96 or 97 - I ended up with tendentitis in both knees - what solved the problem was physical therapy on my back - oddly the back caused the knee problem. I was sitting incorrectly at work and sleeping incorrectly (ie. on stomach not side or back, and on footon - very bad idea). Then the knees going out ten years back on a tread-mill which ended hopes of running. So, I emphasize and hope you feel much better soon, at least you have an excuse to avoid housecleaning or order the neat-freak tenant to do it.

Regarding Bash-fic? I think there are two major mistakes fanfic or any writer makes - and that is a) idealizing/overly romanticizing the character or b) bashing the character and making them the mustach twirling villian. I've seen incredibly good writers bash Buffy to the extent that I am pulled out of the story and rolling my eyes. Actually, I'd have to say the characters I've seen bashed the most are oddly the ones that have also been idealized the most - Angel, Buffy, Spike.
(Course I've seen every single character in the show bashed at some writers hands, one of the funniest was actually Willow at one time.
The writer, who I won't name mostly because it was too long ago and can't remember who the person was anymore just the fic, really had it in for poor Willow.

I think Whedon says something on the Wild at Heart Commentary that addresses your point succinctly - and it is an offhand comment to a question Seth Green poses. "How do you write villains and make them interesting?", "Well," states Whedon, " the thing to remember is that the villain doesn't see him or herself as a villian, they are the hero of the piece. I mean you don't go around thinking I'm a villain and twirl your moustache evilly. In your head - you are the hero, the protagonist, the other guy - the obstacle is the villian. As a writer you have to remember that. Not very interesting to me to make them all dark and horrid, that's dull. I want you to root for them a bit." (Okay that is by no means a direct quote, it's my paraphrasing of something I vaguely remember him saying...but, if you look back at the series, both series and ask yourself which antagonists (better word than villain) were the most interesting or really grabbed you - you'd discover they were the ones that weren't predictable, were multifaceted and didn't always fall completely into "evil or black and white" connotations. The one's who did, we were more or less happy to see the last of.

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Sorry about the knees - been commisserating with my mother who got a torn minscus on the tennis court and is getting halcogn treatments next week. And I think back in 96 or 97 - I ended up with tendentitis in both knees - what solved the problem was physical therapy on my back - oddly the back caused the knee problem

In my case, I just tripped going down the staircase and took a Chevy Chase style pratfall. Softball season is over, and I'm actually going to sit out the Alumni League football, so that's good. Historically, most of my injuries have been secondary - me injuring myself worse while trying to play through a minor injury instead of getting prescribed rest. Because I am dumb.

the characters I've seen bashed the most are oddly the ones that have also been idealized the most - Angel, Buffy, Spike.

I think this goes hand-in-hand. Idealization begets contrarian-reaction. Beyond which, any character that is idealized to a large extent will also probably be demonized in equal part. There's a limit though - half the people who would demonize just as much as another might idealize probably just drop out of the fandom.

Beyond that, though, largely just probably because of Shipper wars, I've always seen a lot of Riley-bashing as he gets caught up in being an obstacle to hardcore fans of both B/S and B/A...

I want you to root for them a bit

Yeah - that's a good key. Ideally, if I were writing a show I'd want to have it come across where there was something of value that every character could teach each of the other characters - and equally that there'd be something of value that each character needed to learn from each other character. At least, I'd like viewers to be able to take that away without having to do contortions to think it. (And then I would create a ridiculous character that really, nobody could learn anything from, and this character would be a cautionary tale, until unexplored depths would be revealed. At which point I would license the image on lunchboxes and make oodles of money...)