Backstories
Backstories. Every character has one, which means every creator has gone through the different processes of making one. As the owner of many roleplays, I know what it's like to have trouble with backstories, and annoyance with other people's Backstories. The most annoying part of having a roleplay, is one people don't read the rules. When I have a roleplay related to an actual series, my main rule is having no relation to any actual show characters. One time, a character was made in relation to the X-men characters. This is annoying because their editing the actual world.
Backstory Tropes... Often, Backstories hold too many of the same tropes. Often this is the abused child, run away, or left as a baby. I found most stories more enjoyable if the character leads a normal life that gets interrupted, rather then just having been an orphan. Sometimes, it can work, but I find it plays down the character and gives you a reason to leave out a lot of details and make a unique environment around them. If you play up the Orphan Trope, you'll end up with an Orphanage. This means your character will be used as a slave, the outcast in the orphanage, no friend until they meet that one person they can connect with... now sure, this can work, and I'm not saying it's wrong, it's just overused. Now, you can create a person with a loving family, support, and all the help they need... but they want to be the outcast. They don't get pushed out because their small or anything, their just generally an introvert. It forces you to develop not just the main character, but everyone around them.
If you have any questions, leave a comment! This was your Sometimes Host, Citty Cheshire, and another one of your Sometimes Tropes.
Backstory Tropes... Often, Backstories hold too many of the same tropes. Often this is the abused child, run away, or left as a baby. I found most stories more enjoyable if the character leads a normal life that gets interrupted, rather then just having been an orphan. Sometimes, it can work, but I find it plays down the character and gives you a reason to leave out a lot of details and make a unique environment around them. If you play up the Orphan Trope, you'll end up with an Orphanage. This means your character will be used as a slave, the outcast in the orphanage, no friend until they meet that one person they can connect with... now sure, this can work, and I'm not saying it's wrong, it's just overused. Now, you can create a person with a loving family, support, and all the help they need... but they want to be the outcast. They don't get pushed out because their small or anything, their just generally an introvert. It forces you to develop not just the main character, but everyone around them.
If you have any questions, leave a comment! This was your Sometimes Host, Citty Cheshire, and another one of your Sometimes Tropes.
Stereotypes
Disclaimer: If you are easily offended or sensitive about topics such as racism, you may want to steer clear of this post.
Still here? Good, that means that you're ready to face some facts. Now, these facts about stereotypes in movies don’t all directly connect with racism, but most do. Before I get you started on all the different problems, you should understand it as a whole. In shows, there always seems to be a sort of theme. Asian dude? Yeah he's the smart one. African dude? He's the tough guy. Stereotypes often aren’t on purpose, they're just the cause of somebody creating a generalized character without thinking of any possible consequences. But, of course, there is also reverse stereotypes. This is when something happens, and the audience thinks that the creator is stereotyping. We'll start with that topic.
Reverse Stereotypes
The main problem here is that people see something where nothing is. As an example, I want you to imagine a dude holding up a bank. Now imagine this man as a black man. Seems to be the writer is saying that black men are bad, right? No, they just chose a random character. This is a very serious problem, because it means that everything you do you might have to change, wether you want to or not. So if you ever get offended for some reason while watching or reading something, think about it first. Question yourself with these following questions.
I bet you'll find that this is just a randomized character with no background. This means that they were written for just anyone to fill the role. If it's a mystery show or book, then the guy's background is probably something like his family being in danger.
Stereotypical Jokes
Now this is where things get dangerous. In real life, if your Asian friend makes a joke about not being able to see, then it's fine. That's because they are Asian and are stating the joke about themself, not directed at anybody else. This can be taken to a whole new level once you post it in some sort of public form, wether it be a book, tv show, or movie. That one dude that is supposed to be funny because he squints a lot and only eats rice? That can easily be seen as offensive and well... it is.
How To Watch Yourself
Firstly, you should acknowledge that most of the human race likes getting offended for no reason. You can’t please everyone, but you can't use that as an excuse to say or do whatever you want. Next, depending on what you're doing, you can target jokes at your own race. If you make a joke on YouTube eating fried chicken with your other african dudes as a joke, or whatever else you might consider humorous, you're in the clear. This entirely changes once you enter something like books or shows. The reason for this is because not everybody will know your race or your gender. When entering that area, try to keep everything completely clear. If somebody complains about something you didn’t do purposely, then stand up for yourself. Apologize, but make sure you state that it wasn't on purpose. There are even more questions you could ask yourself.
Did you find any of this helpful? Let me know on instagram at Yoursometimestropes! This was another sometimes trope with your Sometimes host, have a wonderful rest of your life!
Still here? Good, that means that you're ready to face some facts. Now, these facts about stereotypes in movies don’t all directly connect with racism, but most do. Before I get you started on all the different problems, you should understand it as a whole. In shows, there always seems to be a sort of theme. Asian dude? Yeah he's the smart one. African dude? He's the tough guy. Stereotypes often aren’t on purpose, they're just the cause of somebody creating a generalized character without thinking of any possible consequences. But, of course, there is also reverse stereotypes. This is when something happens, and the audience thinks that the creator is stereotyping. We'll start with that topic.
Reverse Stereotypes
The main problem here is that people see something where nothing is. As an example, I want you to imagine a dude holding up a bank. Now imagine this man as a black man. Seems to be the writer is saying that black men are bad, right? No, they just chose a random character. This is a very serious problem, because it means that everything you do you might have to change, wether you want to or not. So if you ever get offended for some reason while watching or reading something, think about it first. Question yourself with these following questions.
- Would this scene change at all if the person had a different ethnicity or gender?
- Does the scene seem to be focusing on this character's ethnicity or gender?
- What is the reason for this character doing what they're doing?
I bet you'll find that this is just a randomized character with no background. This means that they were written for just anyone to fill the role. If it's a mystery show or book, then the guy's background is probably something like his family being in danger.
Stereotypical Jokes
Now this is where things get dangerous. In real life, if your Asian friend makes a joke about not being able to see, then it's fine. That's because they are Asian and are stating the joke about themself, not directed at anybody else. This can be taken to a whole new level once you post it in some sort of public form, wether it be a book, tv show, or movie. That one dude that is supposed to be funny because he squints a lot and only eats rice? That can easily be seen as offensive and well... it is.
How To Watch Yourself
Firstly, you should acknowledge that most of the human race likes getting offended for no reason. You can’t please everyone, but you can't use that as an excuse to say or do whatever you want. Next, depending on what you're doing, you can target jokes at your own race. If you make a joke on YouTube eating fried chicken with your other african dudes as a joke, or whatever else you might consider humorous, you're in the clear. This entirely changes once you enter something like books or shows. The reason for this is because not everybody will know your race or your gender. When entering that area, try to keep everything completely clear. If somebody complains about something you didn’t do purposely, then stand up for yourself. Apologize, but make sure you state that it wasn't on purpose. There are even more questions you could ask yourself.
- Does this focus too much on this character's race or gender?
- Does it go too far?
- Is it completely clear that this is humorous, or does it seem to serious?
Did you find any of this helpful? Let me know on instagram at Yoursometimestropes! This was another sometimes trope with your Sometimes host, have a wonderful rest of your life!
Character Continuity
Character Continuity may seem like an unreasonable chat, but this can actually be a fairly large discussion. When you begin a story of any sorts, you have either completely designed your character, or at least have an outline. It probably seems simple to stay within these guidelines, but alas, it is not this simple. As soon as you come up with an idea for one character, you may ruin another. For convenience, we're going to name our protagonist Jay, our Antagonist Jan, and our side kick Han. You want to show how amazingly strong Jay is, and how inferior Jan is. Han is a pretty good character, strong and unwilling to back down.
Jay walks into Han's room, only to find that she's been kidnaped! Jay knows that Jan is behind this, and quickly takes the Jaymobile to Jan's Base. Jay points his finger at Jan. "Give her back!"
Han is tied up and pleading in her binds, as Jay manages to defeat Jan and free her.
Do you see what happened there? Han was turned into a damsel, which was against her character. This can happen in other situations too. Some things can be used to keep your character nice and please your audience, but it doesn’t really matter if you leave it out. Say that your character has a breathing technique to keep herself gone, but it doesn’t matter if you don't always include it. Fans always seem to love it when you do. On the other hand, if you don't do something in certain situations, it can ruin the character. This is what we saw with Han.
These are some things for your character to do. Give them a quirk, like a breathing exercise, or OCD. Just the character fixing a pencil on their desk will really keep the character real. Always make sure that when you leave their comfortable zone of situations, you keep them real to how they act, instead of extending their knowledge or power. Even if your character has to freak out and be calmed down before escaping in their purely them way, it's better than making them know exactly what to do in that situation. A kawaii school girl will freak out at anything, but make sure that she only has one hidden ability. Like, she's the only calm person in a kidnaping and manages to get everybody else free. Don't keep the surprises coming, and make sure it doesn’t go against anything that happened in the past.
If you had a chapter/episode where Han just freaked out in the background of a mass kidnaping, but is perfectly fine when the episode is about them and they kidnaped, you have a problem. Han should have continued to freak out, even if they were just a background character in that one piece. Continuity can be a fun piece to play around with, but it isn’t always easy. Be careful with what you do, and reread what's happened in the past.
This was another continuous trope, and I am your Sometimes Host, have a wonderful week!
Jay walks into Han's room, only to find that she's been kidnaped! Jay knows that Jan is behind this, and quickly takes the Jaymobile to Jan's Base. Jay points his finger at Jan. "Give her back!"
Han is tied up and pleading in her binds, as Jay manages to defeat Jan and free her.
Do you see what happened there? Han was turned into a damsel, which was against her character. This can happen in other situations too. Some things can be used to keep your character nice and please your audience, but it doesn’t really matter if you leave it out. Say that your character has a breathing technique to keep herself gone, but it doesn’t matter if you don't always include it. Fans always seem to love it when you do. On the other hand, if you don't do something in certain situations, it can ruin the character. This is what we saw with Han.
These are some things for your character to do. Give them a quirk, like a breathing exercise, or OCD. Just the character fixing a pencil on their desk will really keep the character real. Always make sure that when you leave their comfortable zone of situations, you keep them real to how they act, instead of extending their knowledge or power. Even if your character has to freak out and be calmed down before escaping in their purely them way, it's better than making them know exactly what to do in that situation. A kawaii school girl will freak out at anything, but make sure that she only has one hidden ability. Like, she's the only calm person in a kidnaping and manages to get everybody else free. Don't keep the surprises coming, and make sure it doesn’t go against anything that happened in the past.
If you had a chapter/episode where Han just freaked out in the background of a mass kidnaping, but is perfectly fine when the episode is about them and they kidnaped, you have a problem. Han should have continued to freak out, even if they were just a background character in that one piece. Continuity can be a fun piece to play around with, but it isn’t always easy. Be careful with what you do, and reread what's happened in the past.
This was another continuous trope, and I am your Sometimes Host, have a wonderful week!