Comments | ds_workshop: Benton Fraser Is (Probably) Not a Puppy Kicker

brynnmck in ds_workshop

Benton Fraser Is (Probably) Not a Puppy Kicker

Jul 15, 2007 23:08

Hi! This is my first time, so please forgive any lack of expertise/finesse. ;)

I'm here to blather at you regarding the following question: "How do you manage to keep the guys in character when they keep wanting to develop personalities of their own?" (I'm going to focus primarily on the characters' behavior here, since the lovely sageness already ( Read more... )

craft: character, craft

Comments 22

sageness July 16 2007, 09:56:19 UTC

This is fabulous. I will come back with something more coherent when my brain starts cooperating. :D

sageness July 17 2007, 00:19:57 UTC

Back! Now with 80% less headache! :P ( ... )

brynnmck July 18 2007, 04:28:32 UTC

Thank you! Thanks for the opportunity to do this. :)

That's funny, because I associate "that's not buddies" pretty strongly with Kowalski, too--probably because that's where I first heard it, and I thought it was hysterical, and then only realized in HCL that maybe it's a CALLUM thing--but in a different way than I associate it with Billy. (I'm trying to remember if I've ever used that in a Kowalski fic. I can't remember.) But you're right, especially with Kowalski, I think there's a definite tendency to sort of cling those external signposts of his character--the verbal and physical tics--and leave something wanting in the character motivation. Because Kowalski and Billy are definitely using that phrase in entirely different ways and for entirely different reasons ( ... )

green_grrl July 16 2007, 14:52:55 UTC

Again, watching an episode or two can sharpen your focus and help keep all those multiple personalities in their proper places.

Yes! Best advice ever. In other fandoms, I have go-to episodes for when I'm trying to re-immerse myself in a character's voice. I'm still working on that in Due South.

*I would also like to congratulate myself on getting through this entire essay without ONCE exhorting anyone to "check yourself before you wreck yourself." I assure you, this has not been easy, but I have DONE IT for the benefit of EVERYONE. You're welcome!

Yes, I see how you did that. *snicker*

brynnmck July 18 2007, 04:29:25 UTC

Hee! And thank you. :) And it's not such a hardship to watch these things, is it? :)

green_grrl July 18 2007, 04:40:29 UTC

Oh, twist my arm. ;-)

dragonflymuse July 16 2007, 14:55:08 UTC

Thank you for tackling this topic! I spend more time angsting about what the characters would do vs what I want them to do that the actual telling of a story (or lack of story, if PWP is attempted) gets lost.

Since my wonderful Beta isn't in the dS fandom, I rely on friends (hugs primroseburrows) to proof the betaed draft and let me know where voice or characterization falters.

The grey area for me around keeping the boys in character is with future fic or pre-series fic. What little information we get from canon about their past lives (or what we extrapolate from canon to use as fodder for future fic character growth) has to be carefully pondered and processed: yes, I agree that Fraser is not a puppy-kicker, but is there anything from canon that could be used as a precursor for him becoming one? At the time, I am sure his stated inability to help the mugging victim in VS II was seen, initially as very OOC for Fraser; it is only after careful consideration of his past and 'current' relationship with Victoria that her destruction of Fraser sense ( ... )

brynnmck July 18 2007, 04:34:29 UTC

Ahhh, yes. Pre- and post-canon is sort of a different beast. In that case, you're extrapolating, which leaves you on more uncertain ground, but it gives you more leeway, too. And you can absolutely bring Fraser to a place where he'd kick puppies. I guess what I'm saying (and I think you're saying, too) is that in those cases, the writer has to connect the dots more thoroughly for the reader, and then it becomes completely acceptable. But if you're writing mid-canon Fraser and he's kicking a puppy without the writer doing anything to explain that behavior, it's going to come off as very odd. (And of course puppy-kicking is an extreme example, but even, as you say, Fraser refusing to help someone--whether before or during or after canon--is something that's going to really stand out, and you can't just trust the reader to know how you got from point A to point X without illustrating that somehow. IMO.)

Thanks for participating!

budikavlan July 16 2007, 16:11:52 UTC

(jibe)

brynnmck July 16 2007, 16:20:47 UTC

Oops--thanks!

leonandra July 16 2007, 16:25:57 UTC

I'm still going to say that canon is the best resourceThat is so true! I first saw Due South on TV, then stumbled upon fanfic while watching it again. Then, for about a year, I mainly read fics. Recently, I started watching the episodes again and was very surprised to discover that the Fraser in my head was nothing like the one on screen. The Fraser of the pilot didn't even look like "my" Fraser. Pilot!Fraser is so young, ernest, clueless and pretty that it broke my heart ( ... )

brynnmck July 18 2007, 04:37:49 UTC

Yes, this is an excellent point. Fraser, especially, changes pretty noticeably over the course of the series (as you would, over three-plus years of your life, especially if your life is as chaotic as Fraser's--hee). His time in Chicago marks him, for better and for worse, and the episodes you cite are perfect illustrations of that. Great point, thanks for bringing it up. :)