Anyways, I hope Jeph will introduce some dark character in the future.
I think that it would be great for QC to have an above-the-line villainous cast member. Having a villain in the cast need not lead to QC becoming "dark" (although, honestly, a bit of black humour in QC wouldn't go entirely astray).
Basically what they tend to call a 'Karen' on the Internet.Whocallwhatnow? If that's the term we're going with, I must say that I'm a bit of a Karen myself. Not in the specifics that miss Pink Juicypants is a Karen, but generally; I have my idiosyncratic lifestyle that often cacophonizes the locals. Often, no-one is to blame for the trouble that is caused by our interactions (though I suspect they consider my existence a nuisance. Relative to the effects by other locals, I am---but nothing in our explicit agreements (nor in the implicit ``agreements'' called ``laws''---which I follow!) contraindicates such activity---though such activity are. Contraindicated, I mean.) I've learned to be loath to attribute blame. I consider the following anecdote instructive: My phone had WiFi problems. But only at this one cafe. Everywhere else it worked perfect. So this cafe is to blame for poor WiFi? But one day, my phone stalled; I had borrowed my friend's phone for the day (he wasn't using it anyway), and the WiFi at that cafe worked perfect. Tomorrow, my phone is fixed; it's WiFi at that cafe, is not. Something about the interaction of that phone and the WiFi at that cafe. I think it's unfair to call miss Juicypants' actions antisocial. ``Parasocial,'' perhaps? I think they're many pretty okay ideas that together won't make her realistic.
Both? Maybe Hanners' mom is one in charge of postprison chassis provision. By funding (for some business strategy, or a calculated public image purpose---both, knowing miz Chatham's business sense) or whatnot. This could promise major development for the involved characters---be they pro- or an- tagons.
- Hannermom
- An official in charge of deciding whether or not May ought to be granted a properly functioning chassis (perhaps the one Roko has already spoken with)
Thanks for kicking this off. "Antagonist" is definitely more in line with what I was going for.
We do have at least two antagonists ready to roll if Jeph so chose:
- Hannermom
- An official in charge of deciding whether or not May ought to be granted a properly functioning chassis (perhaps the one Roko has already spoken with)
I hate that trope.Wait, I thot Mike was your favorite DoA character.
The person who goes out of their way to annoy people/stir.
People who in real life would either be ignored, or introduced to Mr Boot.
Good post. I'd just like briefly to point out that the author need not limit themselves to just one of these types of conflict. I don't recall mentioning this before, but the best type of external conflict is one that manifests or amplifies an existing internal conflict, and acts to propel the story.
As you said, QC does not really need an external conflict - there is a host of internal conflicts that already exist in the comic. The trouble is, many of them have been sitting undeveloped seemingly forever, and one of them has existed from comic #1. Marten's will almost certainly go exactly nowhere without an almighty shove.
Character: Marten
Want: Work out a career/life goal to chase
Obstacle: His own passivity and lack of proactivity
So what kind of inciting incident will kick off a chain of events leading to change?
With regards to Marten, he does have Claire now who won't hesitate to kick his butt if she feels he needs it. The 'almighty shove' that he needs might be that he gets fired from the library (and maybe Claire will be offered his position? That would spark conflict between them).