Character Assassination (or How to Destroy a Canon Character in One Easy Lesson)

[ostarella]

What do writers of fanfic like to do most? That should be obvious - take the characters they know and love from a television show, movie, or book and put them in new situations, or expand on canon experiences. What do readers of fanfic like most? To read about the characters they know and love in these new situations.

So why, in God's name, do so many writers completely ignore who the characters are?

I'm speaking, specifically, about A-Team fanfic, but this can be asked of any - Harry Potter, Buffy, Star Trek. The fandom doesn't matter. The genre - het, gen, or slash - doesn't matter. The story doesn't matter.

The characters do.

The CHARACTERS do.

We love our characters. We love the nuances, the experiences, the unanswered questions. We love how they react to circumstances. We love the interaction between them.

So why do so many authors completely ignore them when they write? And I do mean, ignore them. In TAT, the guys are Special Forces soldiers who have been through war, POW camps, being chased by the military for years - they face bullets, bombs and fists as if in a game of basketball. They thrive on living on the edge. So what do so many writers do to them?

They make them cry.

Now, crying isn't all bad. Given extreme enough circumstances, any man will break down. But a familiar scenario is that one of them gets the crap beaten out of them, and one of the others sits down and cries in anguish.

Who the hell is that guy?

This happens in all genres - het, gen, slash. ALL genres. The author wants to tell a story, and they use the characters in their fandom to tell it. Great. Fantastic. But suddenly the characters are doing things and saying things that they never, ever said on the show, in the movie, or on the pages of the book. Doing and saying things they would never dream of in canon.

These are not the characters we know and love and want to read about in new situations.

These are strangers.

These are OCs.

Of course, one has to make an allowance for slash. And I know - there are definitions of slash ad nauseum. For my purposes, we're talking about our characters having a sexual relationship with another character of the same sex. In slash, by this definition, the guys are acting out of character. We accept that, because of the genre. We accept that. But that doesn't mean that our Special Forces guys suddenly become stereotypical fairies. It means that *our* guys, the characters we know and love are having a homosexual relationship that needs to be explored - as *our* guys. (And for heaven's sake, admit that it *is* a homosexual relationship, and leave the homophobic "we're not gay, just having a same-sex relationship" at the door.)

What do writers of fanfic like to do most? Take the characters they know and love and put them in new situations. What do readers of fanfic like most? To read about the characters they know and love in these new situations.

If you can't stick with the characters, the canon characters, then write an original story. Don't call it fanfic. Don't use our guys' names. Because these *aren't* our guys. Okay? Just write the story with your own characters - because that's exactly what you're already doing.

Comments

[ostarella.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Face is relatively easy compared to Hannibal. I think part of that (probably a large part) is we get to see so many different facets of him over the series, whereas Hannibal is not nearly so developed as an individual character. I always have a hard time with Hannibal, because I tend to see the Colonel so much more than Hannibal, and it makes it hard for me to recognize (and write) his more "human" side.

[billy-shriner.livejournal.com]

You really did need to get this off your chest, and rightly so! This is what LJ is all about! ;o)

I was thinking the other day how even we have some detail/background on BA, with his Mamma. Murdock and Hannibal are hardest in that we don't get much background on those two.

I totally agree though, and I am very happy for someone to tell me if I've got them OOC... as it is hard sometimes to get it right. But I never intentionally write them OOC and I will remember the number one rule! Never, under any circumstances, make them cry!!! ;o)

Oh which reminds me on another note, I was *thinking* of attempting a *slash* fic only as a bit of a joke really, to see if I could keep them as the guys. Its a small plot bunny, that if I get a chance I'll write and share on here. It won't get appreciated on the ATSB ;o) as it will be taking the piss slightly ;O)

[ostarella.livejournal.com]

Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying they can *never* cry - I've had it happen in my own writing. But the circumstances are very important. They aren't going to cry at just anything, and they aren't going to allow it to become a "luxury". When I had Face cry in "Friendship's Choice", it was after literally months of stress and tension, physical and emotional turmoil. And even then, he was embarrassed and tried to put a stopper on it as soon as he could.

I guess my whole point about the crying is that, yes, some men are comfortable with it, and yes, it's a very healthy thing to do - but most men don't want to give in to those emotions. Especially a "man's man" like our guys. They aren't touchy-feely, and they aren't "enlightened" in that way (thank God). So don't write them that way.

I think we should all give a "real" slash story a shot - not only as a challenge to ourselves, but frankly, I think we've got a good enough handle on the guys that we could actually do it "properly". ;-)

[beckyblack]

Yeah, part of my objection to the crying (in the revised version of the chapter I "submachinegunned") was as much dramatic as about characterisation. It was too soon, like I said, it left nowhere else to go. And heck, aside from that point I liked the rest of it!

I'm trying so hard to think of a slash story now. :D

[billy-shriner.livejournal.com]

Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying they can *never* cry -

No, I know, there has to be a very good reason. Men do tend to cry less.

[beckyblack]

I wonder if that's why I've moved more towards focusing on Face the last few long stories, after writing focusing on Hannibal for quite a while. Maybe I've explored as much of Hannibal as I can find, but Face has more potential.

[ostarella.livejournal.com]

I think I'd agree with the potential - Face has so many "personalities", we're never sure which one comes close to the "real" person, plus so many things have happened in his life that set him apart from the mainstream. On the other hand, I love when a writer can "unlock" Hannibal. He has his own kind of potential, I guess - almost like an OC, because we can look at his actions, words and characteristics and more or less decide for ourselves what makes him do it. I think that's one reason why I've tended to "do" BA more than I originally did. I'm finding that, if I push past the facade, and look at the "little things", he's quite a likable, if gruff, character.

Murdock I still have problems with, but I think that's because I've associated the actor with the character too much. But if I look at him with a darker perspective - though not going to the "Dark Murdock" - instead of the happy nut, I do find him more realistic to deal with.

[beckyblack]

Murdock I still have problems with, but I think that's because I've associated the actor with the character too much.

That can defintely be a danger. Which is one reason I never get heavily into the fandom for the actors, I don't always want to know that much about them, as it colours the interpretation of the character. No wonder I was almost round the bend while Dirk was on Big Brother.

[ostarella.livejournal.com]

"No wonder I was almost round the bend while Dirk was on Big Brother"

Oh, I know. There have been a couple bunnies I've totally discarded because I knew I was getting too "close" to the actor versus the character. Then again, I've met Dirk, so he's "real" now, versus another "image", if that makes sense. So it's much easier for me to recognize and keep the two separate, and I'm much more comfortable knowing I'm actually dealing only with the character. You'd think I could do the same with Murdock, but I think that because I never got a handle on the character before meeting the man, it almost inevitably colors my view of the character.