archetypes

[kradeelav]

telling IC’s 1-minute elevator pitch to relatives/coworkers/etc is always  fascinating … the premise is enough of an ethical question in itself that - idk how to word this - people’s reactions tells me far more about themselves vs what’s being told?

like, I usually start with the ‘action/adventure comic following a dictator’s daughter, escorted by mercs…’  bit - which they usually perk up at the oddball premise, and ask a few questions about that - most of it is pretty dang sympathetic to Diane over the mercs, actually; which surprises me.  (since i never explicitly said that she has any intention of resisting her father’s ideas; obviously in the comic proper, that (eventually) happens - but it’s the assumption here - we’re not dealing with miss snow white innocence over here.)

however

where the comments massively diverge on tone is when I sometimes drop in the second part: ‘-she’s also followed by a demon that’s been locked up in her father’s basement; he used to be a Bad Dude as well, but now he’s helping her as part of a deal.’

a slight minority of people (usually the nerdy dudes lol) light up and instantly get playing with the ‘born bad: permanent, or not?’ theme; whereas on the other hand there’s been definitely a few .. slightly recoiled, guarded comments along the lines of ‘….and he’s a good guy?’.  (they kinda-sort of get it with a quick clarification; but - note the starkly different knee-jerk responses, here -)

like, -i- personally always found it … interesting that demons were in the ‘made and remain evil’ box, no questions asked, rather than ‘made terrible choices; were evil because of those and not where they started  / twisted by someone else’s hands / literally didn’t have a choice in the thing / were soldiers just Following Orders / idek it depends on the worldbuilding let’s ask the creator!’ line of thinking - (i mean obviously most people don’t overthink villainous archetype like yours truly does, probably healthier that way lol) - but-

it’s just … darkly amusing to see that when presented with two beings with pretty much the exact same backstory of blood on their hands (morality-wise) -  archetypes instantaneously tip it to one side.

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# i goddamn love villain archetypes you guys - playing with the horrific idea that there's visual cues to being evil  #when that is *literally* the point blank definition of some Fucked Up shit in a bad way  #evil is a verb not an adjective!!! and yet we accept *so* *many* stories where it's the reverse... #(there's also probably some lingering ridiculous ideas that girls are inherently Less Evil there too which i ain't even gettin into)