How to Write a Bigot (without sounding cringe)

And then everyone clapped.
Going to try some new content because I've been writing a lot and I've also seen a lot of really cringeworthy D&D campaigns.
EDIT: Yes, sexism against men exists. I just accidentally used all misogyny examples oof. My bad.
Don't mind me and my shameless self-promotion oof.
References:
The Teen Titans episode: • Teen Titans | Respondi...
The Static Shock Episode: • That One Static Shock ...
Madoka Magica: • Madoka Magica - Metro ...
The good video discussing how kids shows tackle this topic:
The RWBY episode: • RWBY: Volume 1: Chapte...
Jamie de Jong: / @jamiedejonge3982
The Bloodland Saga (shameless self promotion): www.amazon.com/Bloodland-Chro...

[@peytonmac1131]

Worth remembering: women can be sexist, black people can be racist, LGBT+ people can be prejudiced. There's no group of people who are [this]. Anyone can be anything, and that can be explored in a story. Just, you know ... do research and be tactful.

[@yulee3266]

thank you

[@rocksreviewsreactions337]

True. The way this video sounds and the comments kind of make it seem like only. for a lack of a better word, the "right" is sexist, bigots, homophonic, racist, etc.

[@axe-tq2wn]

Amazon Lily arc

[@lonewolf0712]

@@rocksreviewsreactions337 I really don't get why the right specifically is targeted. I would say I'm right wing, yet I have friends of different races, sexual preferences, and even a trans friend. This idea I'm a bigot simply because of the way I stand politically is laughable considering how I really live. I just believe the Constitution is absolute.

[@unluckyomens370]

⁠@@lonewolf0712it usually right wing policies that target those groups so if I had to guess thats probably why Id limit it more to anyone who says theyre socially conservative id probably avoid just to stay out of awkward situations

[@limediamond4595]

It’s important to remember the golden rule of writing complex characters: just because you explain their actions doesn’t mean you justify them

[@zzodysseuszz]

But why would justifying them be a bad thing. Justifying one’s actions or beliefs is what every person alive does. That includes evil people. So if I want realistic characters I need them to justify their actions like the good people would justify theirs. Edit: that is stupid as fuck logic. That’s the equivalent of saying offensive jokes should be banned because someone I have no control over takes the joke seriously. It’s a completely ridiculous argument. If someone uses a fictional story to justify an evil then that says more about the reader than the writer. Refusing to elaborate on a villains beliefs and their justifications doesn’t make a character more unique. It does the opposite. Imagine if Sauron in the lord of the rings books was just evil and his reasons were “he wants to rule everything” the villain would fucking suck and be extremely bland. Instead Tolkien explains all his beliefs and why he thinks such things. You people just sound stupid or like amateurs. You’re all failing to comprehend the distinction between a good justification and a bad justification. You’re also completely failing to realise that a villain can’t have depth if they don’t try to justify their actions to themselves. Your villain will be shallow and one dimensional. A justification is literally the why they do it. Not the how or when. The why. Justification by definition means the reason for doing something. You can fail at justifying something, you can succeed in justifying and succeed in excusing, you can succeed in justifying and fail at excusing, justification is not an excuse for an act. It’s the reason for the act.

[@limediamond4595]

@@zzodysseuszz justifying them isn’t a bad thing, but having a villain who’s actions are explained but not justified creates a unique type of complex character

[@limediamond4595]

@@zzodysseuszz justifying their actions in the eyes of the character is also different than justifying them to the viewers

[@NelsonStJames]

I think this problem is mostly one of audience literacy, because we're coming to a time when if you stick a problematic character in a work of fiction that work is going to be said to be racist, sexist, misogynistic etc if other characters in the film aren't constantly calling them out on it. This is obviously unrealistic because most people with these traits don't blatantly voice or exhibit them around people that don't hold those beliefs. A good example of this is a couple of scenes in the Godfather where we hear mobsters make some very racist slurs against a group of people, but these scenes occur at a family dinner table, and at a meeting of mafia heads, where no one is likely to think twice about what was said, or to correct the person saying it. Does that make The Godfather a racist film -- of course not, because it's simply showing you how a certain group of people think. If writers aren't allowed to do this, then we might as well all be writing complete fantasy, because we're no longer writing stories about real people.

[@Slinaro]

@@zzodysseuszz I could be wrong, but I think a better phrasing for OP's point would be "just because you explain their actions doesn’t mean you excuse them". Understanding the origin of evil does not mean forgiving said evil, that what redemption arcs are for.

[@larsshort6367]

Kind of reminds me of how in Avatar, Sokka is kind of sexist at first, but learns through experience and interacting with others how women can be strong, and feminine, and equal. Actually that show did a lot of aspects of bigotry (and unlearning bigotry) really good for a kids show.

[@TheeOK1]

I can't help but feel that sokka wasn't sexist, but instead chauvinistic, and even then that was done out of his idea that such behavior attracted women. I don't think he ever saw women as lesser. That said show is goated

[@robertobear1749]

@@TheeOK1 I think I'd agree that Sokka didn't necessarily view woman as lesser(atleast in general), but I feel the need to be nitpicky. Chauvinism is literally defined by discrimination, though more specifically in-group bias. granted this brings in the can of worms if discrimination requires a power dynamic to be considered a noteworthy. Point is, I'd personally consider sex-based Chauvinism to be a sub-catagory of sexism, though of course not as bad as other categories. Chivalrous feels like the better term to use here. Chivalry is of course also sexist to some degree, though doesn't necessitate that women be inferior to function, just that they are in some degree deserving of it.

[@bombdotcom2168]

The same went for Jett and Hamma and their actions. They were hurt by the Fire Nation. Jett had his family taken from him, and Hamma (along with the rest of the southern water benders) was thrown into a prison, and although they have reasons and motivation for their actions, a lesson is taught as to why their actions went too far with Jett being willing to wipe out a village of innocent people and Hamma locking away innocent people simply because they're part of the Fire Nation. The point of having characters like these in the show is to teach a lesson, not to prove a point. That difference is blurred a lot of the time.

[@marocat4749]

@@TheeOK1 Thatsstillsexism,if good on sokka itwas more aboutsef confidence and learn first unlearn it.

[@marocat4749]

Alsojet in the end learned fromitwhile hana became a supervillain. Good uance of the show.@@bombdotcom2168

[@_.-._.-Y0K0-._.-._]

One thing that makes this more difficult is hearing ppl say cartoonishly evil things irl. Messes up the realism scale

[@sugasweet435]

For real, the news these days is just straight outrageous. Can’t tell if it’s a post from the Onion or a legit article anymore

[@michaellamas1497]

“Truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to be believable, reality does not”

[@Dubmentia]

​@@michaellamas1497 Forreal. There's so many real world stories that could be made into a movie or something, but hasn't simply because the true story is too unbelievable. Audiences would end up doubting it lol

[@gimmeyourrights8292]

This is the gripe people have against Pure Evil villains because they see them as "unrealistic" but there are people in the world who just want to hurt people.

[@DkKombo]

So at first I was liberal right? Then I was told because I play video games, am white, and male, that I am inherently racist, sexist and all that. Also doent help that metoo happened and a lot of people just ignored what happened to men and called peope sexist for, "trying to detract from the sexism against women" Cue doxxing, harassment and threats, nevermind that I was autistic and had no help all my life from that, but I guess because I was awkward and afraid that it meant that it didn't matter? So I guess people were just ableist against me and could be because I was "sexist"? Then I wanted to be trans but the trans community wouldn't accept me, not to mention my conservative family would've actually killed me for coming out as trans, so I was truly alone in all that. Add all this bottled up hatred and not being able to even vent it out, I went through major depression and anxiety and went into a mental asylum for a solid week. Of course, I never wanted to be this way, and I was sick of being angry, so I seemed to be welcomed more or less I the trans community. But i know I can never really trust anyone unless I want to be harassed again. So there's that. Racism and homophobia and even hetereophobia is complicated, but people will only accept that two of those things exist... Edit: fixed some spelling and autocorrect issues and fixed the format to make it more readable

[@user-qp1xo7el7l]

"Wow! Your depiction of bigot character is great! How did you manage to get such disgusting person so well?" "Bigot? It is my self-insert."

[@annajensen7360]

My mind immediately jumped to H.P. Lovecraft at this comment

[@PancakeTheKat]

@@annajensen7360SAME

[@arsxniist8883]

literally ranfren

[@luciusireckon2469]

Yeah sounds like me. I know what I'm doing is wrong but seventeen years of manipulation by X gender is hard to forget especially when I'm twenty

[@jh047o]

@@annajensen7360 possibly the only person to name a pet a racial slur

[@firenze6478]

My biggest gripe is writers who make victim societies who are perfect in every way and never have any prejudice of their own. Skyrim did prejudices really well. Everyone has prejudice, because everyone has different beliefs

[@MrTigracho]

This. Being part of a community that has been victim of discrimination due to racism doesn't redeem said community if they also hold prejudices. It may explain and influence the way they are like that, but at the end it does happen.

[@neoqwerty]

Honestly Skyrim kind of paled next to the complex interweave of racism, prejudices, and justified xenophobia that runs throughout it all. You kinda have to know the whole of Tamriel to understand just HOW stellar Skyrim is in that-- like, just to take the Saarthal issue, to center Skyrim for a moment: The Snow Elves and Atmoran had subtle tensions (due to the Atmorans being refugees from whatever metamagical disaster that froze Atmora either literally or in time (the myth is unclear on what it was exactly but it has to do with dragons and/or linear time/the flow of time), and the Snow Elves having cultural prejudice against the man races due to the Aldmer creation myth blaming men for breaking Aldmeris (which may literally be a fake myth that never existed and is just an older Tamriel)...) Then the Nords found the Eye of Magnus, the Snow Elves wanted it for their own and attacked, and set off a giant bloody war that made the Nords hyperaggressive against mer, so when the Chimer came in from the west to settle under Skyrim, the Nords saw nothing of enslaving and subjugating them for being mer and worshipping strange gods, which in turn made the Chimer really pissy because this was the third time they got burnt (first time being the Altmer, second being the Nedes that they'd TRIED to befriend), so cue Nerevar cutting a bloody swathe across the Nordic Empire with his Dwemer buddies (who were normally enemies of the Chimer). And the Chimer/Dunmer enslaved the Argonians and Khajiit with the excuse that "they're just animals", and extending it to everyone not Dunmer with "they're not as enlightened as us" (thanks, ALMSIVI, ugh) and "they deserved it"... The whole of Tamriel is a tapestry of conquests, wars, rebellions, and the resulting sociopolitical mess that that creates. It's honestly beautiful to work with and somehow it manages to still give enough hope through all of that by NOT replicating racism 1:1 but rather explaining it through part dogma, part theology, part plain old one-on-one bigotry, and part misguided attempts to be nice and help. But then it's also a world that understands madness isn't lolrandom, madness is dark impulses and self-contradicting, wild see-sawing wearing a comforting face of "haha jk I got you!" to pretend to be normal when you're falling apart and have moments of terrifying lucidity between all of that. Tamriel always does a surprisingly good job at touchy subjects. (including the very obvious nazi elves, down to infiltrating the institutions and reviving a cultural artefact for their own ends with a veneer of lost past glorious ages where elves were allegedly the superior force to appeal to the commonfolk and forcing the exile of all their dissenters until their nation is fully indoctrinated into racism. like, I really liked that attention to detail they put in the lore when you hunt down the books of a political refugee, down to no one believing him until the Great War happened.)

[@quoccuongtran724]

@@neoqwerty beats me to it but if i have to put a real life analogy to that mess, i would nominate the balkans at once

[@Merilirem]

Some societies were "perfect" though or at least didn't have the much stupid stuff going on. However they don't usually pair well with the kinds that dominated earth. Hence even evidence of such societies would naturally be lost to time. If you are a bunch of easygoing folks you probably aren't prepared to deal with an empire founded on conquest. People nowadays take it all for granted but thats because the same thinking is what worked when it came to dominating the world. It wasn't the only thing people did, it was just the only one that made it at large.

[@smokedbeefandcheese4144]

@@MrTigracho meh whenever somebody shows up and uses race as a tool of abuse you shouldn’t be surprised when people use it as a tool of resistance against that abuse. It’s not really the same thing. It has a different context. That’s like calling the Vietnamese racist for kicking out the French. And claiming because they were trying to take Vietnam in the name of their race just like the French were that they are equal. This is a silly point of view and doesn’t really hold up in the real world. I guess in books or whatever you talk about. It can hold up because the writer can maneuver all possible elements around whatever character they want to be good or bad. Because that is writing. But in the real world you shouldn’t be surprised if a bunch of racists start to find themselves persecuted when they find themselves on the back foot. Like look at south Africa. Those white people made life a living hell for multiple generations. and now their farms get raided and they themselves are put through the same things they put other people through. It’s like karma

[@YourWaywardDestiny]

Me writing a narcissist: I hate every minute of this Me reading the narcissist back to myself: Damn, it really is like that though, huh?

[@Wurmss]

Writing narcissists is hard, lacking empathy for other people is the complete opposite of me. The paranoia that narcissists have about everybody around them was a challenge too, though it was a one off character in a DND campaign I didn't stay in...always taking the selfish option made me hate my character and love how real it was😭

[@squirrel670]

​@@Wurmsssometimes they do the nice seeming option to look good and manipulate others.

[@oscaralbertoherrera5511]

@oo.mollyn this sounds like ableism with extra steps

[@Wurmss]

@@squirrel670 Yeah, but in this case my character was not a good person, nor did they want to change (fully aware of the disorder) ^^

[@Wurmss]

@@oscaralbertoherrera5511 How so? I'm not quite sure I understand but my goal was never to be ableist

[@agunia220]

The lines of two men in "Madoka Magica" was an actcual conversation the script writer Urobuchi overheard while riding a train.

[@secretlythreeducksinamansu3546]

One of the comments above is talking how the advice of this video becomes a little more difficult to absorb when you hear people saying cartoonishly evil things in real life. Reality is indeed, stranger than fiction.

[@JadeDragoness6]

@@secretlythreeducksinamansu3546 this. I went into a flat earth group on FB because well first I thought it was a joke, but also wanted to hear how they explain stuff like the moon, eclipses etc. Their explanations are bizarre. like "the moon is a hologram" type stuff and they really believe it.

[@peridoodle2644]

I think it was Tom Clancy that said something along the lines of "The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense."

[@aeoligarlic4024]

If those 2 men like that exist then no wonder they're dealing with low birth rates

[@Svraoa]

@@peridoodle2644, that line is frecking good, and on point. Reality does turn to make absolute zero sense sometimes, specially when it involves people.

[@loronaranja7]

I really needed this, i was struggling writing my villain's motivation/backstory for my dnd campaign and now i have a ton of ideas and inspiration :D

[@embroideredragdoll]

You know what I really like, Evil queens that are basically Margaret Thatcher.

[@garyromano7990]

here’s another idea for another dnd story: make it so that every person your friends kill makes the final boss stronger, but they know this. This means that they either kill stuff and make their enemy stronger, or take the harder route and don’t kill anything

[@vortex_all9055]

@@garyromano7990 undertale

[@vortex_all9055]

@@garyromano7990 you just reinvented undertale

[@furyberserk]

I hear people stop playing with those who have those qualities. I suggest not.

[@NelsonStJames]

Many people fail at writing "problematic" characters because they assume that aspect that they feel is problematic also defines who that character is. And because that aspect is also sometimes a hot button topic for them they don't want to show any other side to that character. It's odd that professional screenwriters get this wrong all the time. Fifty percent of racists in Hollywood films are so over the top as to be laughable. Honestly as a black person I wish actual racists were that overt because often when you've had a racist encounter you have to wonder was it even racist at all. The same thing is happening now with how sexists are being portrayed. I think this is in part due to what another post alludes to and that is that idea that humanizing an bad character is also justifying all of their actions; when it's only just making the character more realistic.

[@SeasideDetective2]

And I see nothing wrong with humanizing a bad character, no matter how wickedly they behaved or how unrepentant they are. When you do that, you are NOT saying, "Come on, this person wasn't THAT bad." You're saying, "This character didn't have to be evil, and it's a shame they turned out that way." It's regret, not sympathy. What really bothers me about fictional racists is that after non-racist people see them, they look at real-life racist people and think that racist is literally all they are. Or that racism is like an incurable cancer in that your morality completely dies as soon as you "get it." During the 1970s and '80s, and especially during the '90s, Hollywood unfortunately lapsed into this simplistic "Racism is bad!" mindset. It was many years before I started to see nuanced racist characters, and even then there was quite a lot of work to be done. It bothered me that the main character in AMERICAN HISTORY X didn't just become a racist, but also became a deranged murderer when he'd been in good psychological health all his life and one of the last people you'd expect to become a criminal. Yes, he was redeemed in the end - but would his real-life counterpart have to earn that much redemption in the first place? One of the first films I ever saw that I felt was completely honest about this topic was Disney's ZOOTOPIA. I appreciated that for most of the film there weren't many clear-cut good guys or bad guys - and even when there WERE clear-cut bad characters, in almost every instance you could understand why they turned out the way they did. What I appreciated most of all was the acknowledgment that most prejudice is not "evil," but psychological. The bunny character is forgiving, understanding, and compassionate toward the fox who has bullied her, but even so she is subconsciously afraid of all foxes. It's entirely possible to show kindness and tolerance toward a group of people, and mean it, but still have trouble getting along with them.

[@Soundwave._]

Yeah subtle bigotry is something that really needs more attention, it can cut deep. It also doesn't mean that it's a minor thing, either, it can be stuff like not getting a job/housing but not being able to be that bigotry was the reason someone changed their attitude negatively after meeting/finding out more about you. Or 'well intentioned' bigotry, e.g. "Oh but you don't disabled, you don't really need medication/aid/etc., right?" or "You're so articulate for a [insert race/class/mental/physical condition]" Or bigotry from within your own marginalised community, or from people you're close with and care about who don't realise they're being bigoted, or do, but think they're doing you a favour or it's not a big deal.

[@himesilva]

That's so true. People who are cartoonishly prejudiced are easy to tune out because there's no question about them being wrong. You don't take their words to heart because they're obviously bad people. It's when people use gaslighting and deception to make you question whether or not they "meant it" that it gets fuzzy, or when they employ a bunch of microaggressions that are so subtle that if you try to say or do anything about it everyone will think you're unreasonable/overconfrontational because it went over their heads.

[@Merilirem]

@@himesilva people are more OK making monsters than accepting that they could be a monster. If monsters are actually people it brings the lens back onto the people and people hate that. They want bad people to be monsters instead of people like them.

[@t3chkn1ght]

@@SeasideDetective2 "...racism is like an incurable cancer in that your morality completely dies as soon as you 'get it.'" I understand this a bit too well. I used to be a very conservative person, then January 6th happened and I defected to the left. I've been trying to teach myself about social justice issues since then (though, I still don't understand most of them), but where I feel I really messed up is in how I felt I had to approach my former fellow conservatives: As pure-evil monsters who only exist to be slain. This is primarily because I was guiding myself using cancel culture and my own anger at the conservatives for "tricking me!" Every problematic person cancelled and everything I've seen the alt-right do on the news just reinforced this idea that conservatives are pure evil and irredeemable. Essentially, I wanted to fight bigots, and became a bigot myself.

[@themesoceneofficial8559]

“No one does wrong, just because it’s wrong” Jack Horner: “Hold my Unicorn Horn”

[@normaldude7924]

“WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?! I MEAN WHAT SPECIFICALLY……”

[@Legomicroman]

Jack Horner is a great and funny character, but if we wouldn't have been so oversaturated with "sympathetic villains", he would still technically work, just not nearly as much as he does now.

[@DBArtsCreators]

Jack Horner is more "Evil personified as a Force of Nature" than a typical person. Closer to an avatar of a Chaos God from Warhammer 40k.

[@Justin-qj7fk]

Frieza: “Hold my scouter.”

[@tell-me-a-story-]

I think the key is to make it spicific and consistand with the charecter. Not just general bigotry.

[@userunfriendly9304]

You're bad at spelling.

[@baconboi4482]

What if he is the master of all bigots? He hates everyone and everything equally? So in a way he is so bigoted he no longer is

[@OktoberVanderslice]

Hi, just wanted to Pop in and let you know that it is "specific", "consistent", and "character"! (Not sure if ESL, but just thought I'd help❤)

[@AnEmu404]

Absolutely good point but the spelling is really throwing me lmao, i didn’t notice they were all wrong until i saw the reply ahah

[@tell-me-a-story-]

@@OktoberVanderslice yeah sorry not the best speller, though I am a writer. Thank goodness for spellcheck!

[@kierinhernandez7524]

To write a controversial character one must study 4 chan and reddit extensively

[@iitianwannabe]

and yt comments by filtering by newest

[@chh2010]

​@@iitianwannabeI did that and now I hate all mankind

[@user-pt1re4qp1r]

Y'all aren't ready for the cesspit that is Instagram comments. Less slurs than 4chan (obviously), but I feel that a lot of the sentiments are even uglier.

[@iitianwannabe]

@@chh2010 my condolences

[@phanastro]

@@chh2010 Well, at least you know how to write misanthropic characters now

[@arielortiz5643]

I love how that clip of High Guardian Spice caused so much harm to Internet's collective mind that it pushed so many writers, viewers, youtubers, animators and so many more to take racism, homophobia and similars more seriously and to write better stories. Somehow, they succeeded in bringing awareness to those topics, just not in the way they wanted 😂😂😂😂

[@andrewgreeb916]

It's appreciated since the rest of the internet is trying to pin homophobia on things that have little to do with the lgbt, such as leave the children alone.

[@ButtonMasherReal]

@@andrewgreeb916 "leave the children alone" is obviously a bad faith argument that is rooted in homophobia in 99% of cases. When people say "leave the children alone", they don't mean anything reasonable like "don't teach children about gay sex", they just mean "don't teach children that gay people exist".

[@gregrobinette8620]

​@@ButtonMasherReal found the pedophile. "Leave children alone" isnt homophobic or bad faith, it is dont teach kids about homosexual sex & dont take them to Drag/Pride for the same reason you shouldnt take them to a strip club. LGBTQ have proven that they deserve no trust, they also made homophobia the problem it is today, more so than the Bible did.

[@amogus1415]

​@@ButtonMasherRealThis is blatantly untrue.Theres numerous instances of people (even right wingers like tucker carlson)referring specifically to books and things like that about gay sex. Your comment is made in bad faith.

[@cheyannegiles9772]

@@amogus1415 Then if the problem is they don't want to expose children to sex, wouldn't they be upset about sexual things in general , including heterosexual sexual stuff, rather than specifically targeting gay people? When have you ever heard "leave the children alone" referring to heterosexual people?

[@SeasideDetective2]

Eddie Valiant in WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT is one of the best depictions of a "heroic bigot" I've seen in the movies. For one thing, bigotry's not his only problem. which is good because in real life there exist no people who are perfect except for one glaring flaw. Eddie is also a drunken slob, has a bad temper, is rude to his girlfriend and pretty much everyone else, etc. But he's also aware of his flaws and (though he doesn't like to admit it) has a sense of humor, which makes him more sympathetic than he'd otherwise be. It also helps that his bigotry has its limits. He knows that hating all Toons just because one of them killed his brother is irrational, but even so he'd rather not be around them. Rather than bullying the minority, he just wants them to leave him alone, which is true to life because most bigotry is passive. At the same time, there are some Toons for whom he makes exceptions, because he's been around them long enough to see their good qualities shine through. Eventually, he does track down the Toon who wronged him...and it becomes obvious that this Toon does NOT represent his community and had even betrayed it, vowing to exterminate all other Toons - something that Eddie had never wanted. Eddie kills Doom not because he's a Toon, but because getting rid of him is the best thing to do for humans and Toons alike.

[@areadenial2343]

You've got a good eye for detail. When I think of bigotry portrayed in media, I never would have thought of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but it's a damn good example.

[@SeasideDetective2]

@@areadenial2343 Actually, other people brought that to my attention. The first time I ever saw the movie, I missed all that. I was too busy "fanboy-ing" over Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny being in the same movie.

[@MASTEROFEVIL]

100th like

[@jamie1602]

Good catch. Doom also has the worst of humanity despite being a toon. He adores capitalism and there's something very disturbing about him. Roger admits he can't remove his hand from the handcuffs until it's funny. Dangerous things don't tend to happen unless it's funny, much like Bugs giving Eddie "the spare". While highly dangerous for a human and Eddie does survive, Doom killed Eddie's brother by dropping a piano on his head. They had given him the chase... And then the piano came down. So did Doom find that "funny" when he dropped the piano? Toons don't really murder and we get that from the film. It's an anomaly. It's an interesting thought to think of how Doom was designed or was possibly changed around humanity. He's so unpredictable he isn't even a toon anymore, he's more like a human...In the worst way possible. Hence why Christopher Lloyd is just so convincing and the reveal is just so difficult to fathon. Because toons have a way of thinking that follow punchlines and storylines. Doom thinks like a human occupied with order... and death. "Scotch on the rocks. AND I MEAN ICE!" Yet Eddie is given scotch...on literal rocks. And Eddie expected that, muttering the word "toons" as the penguins left. Everything the toons do is somewhat predictable and funny. But not Doom. His idea of funny is, as you said... wiping every toon out. His idea of funny is killing. And that's terrifying. It only makes more sense when Eddie has the moment of recognition and we get the reveal. Eddie was originally a funny person as we see in his office. He changed for the worst when his brother died. Judging by the newspaper clippings, he once had a warm relationship with Toontown. Dolores puts up with this because as we see in the vacation pictures, Eddie was a different person with his brother alive. Which is what makes Eddie's transformation all that more remarkable. Eddie changes from someone who witnessed something terrible that changed him, took away so much he enjoyed and loved, and turned him into a person he didn't particularly like... and helped him heal. And brought him back to the people he loved. Honestly, Who Framed Roger Rabbit isn't much like the book it's adapted from? But the movie itself is a masterclass not just in writing good characters, but in how to make your movie go the extra mile. It's why we still call it "bumping the lamp". Not all of your audience will notice, but those who do... You bumped the lamp. In all things you do, bump the lamp. Even in your writing. Bump that lamp.

[@Regal99]

Not to mention his reaction when the toon shoe is openly murdered.

[@samueldegrey7718]

I love how High Guardian Spice is doing the most by slowly becoming the texbook example of bad writing 😂

[@tetronym4549]

The Sigmund Freud of writing lmfao

[@brandonlyon730]

Velma is up there to.

[@kentonjen8475]

No surprise there given that most of the writing and characters on that show are psychological projections and self-inserts of the cast and crew.

[@maninanikittycat4238]

it's the perfect example of what **NOT** to do.

[@headphonesaxolotl]

Kind of like how Mighty No. 9 was for game design (It lead me to consider things like avoiding blind traps/hazards, explaining and designing levels around abilities, etc)

[@Andrewtr6]

The Teen Titans example is considered one of the best examples of this being addressed in a cartoon and it's the second time I've seen it mentioned this week. The first was on instagram where some people were actually trying to argue it was a bad seen because Cyborg says he's treated differently for being "half robot" instead of saying it's because he's black. The nuance of the scene just completely went over their heads.

[@tymonsulimastalman1727]

Definitely. Statement "Because i'm black" wouldn't have made sense in the series and to most viewers, as not once was Cyborg shown to be treated differently because of his skin than the fact that he's a half-robot. It would sound like a political statement by creators.

[@laisphinto6372]

from the show the mistreatment and the self doubt cyborg is only about the human/machine dilemma but of course american cannot see beyond skin color thats why i always find the hollywood nazis weird that team with the KKK completely misunderstanding that the racism of the kkk and the nazis is vastly different, the kkk is all about skin color meanwhile the nazis are very selective you are already an other by the nazis when you have like one ancestor that isnt a pure aryan. we all get the american racism version a thing that wouldnt make sense in for example in the balkans that is so specific your next door nighbor is inferior

[@ms.moronic9165]

In the comic run Teen Titans is based on, Cyborg's skin plays a much larger role.

[@VeraExora]

I’ll be the girl that brings up Arcane. The social divide between Zaun and Piltover was very well written. I especially like that the way it was introduced wasn’t through speech or through any action a Topsider took, but through the Zaunite kids.

[@vjm3]

Women can be sexist too. You need to develop the basis for which a person becomes sexist, and stay true to that. I think people who make a big deal of bigotry are people who don't allow themselves to try to understand the "why" of what makes people be those people. Which also segways in to the best way to write a bigot: Ensure you understand them enough to portray them as a HUMAN, rather than a caricature. It's easy to demonize a person you dislike, but humans (even the ones we despise) are incredibly complex and interesting.

[@thenaturalhorsetrainer]

THIS.

[@katarinadreams6955]

"love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." -Jesus Christ

[@therewasoldcringe]

women are so much more sexist in my experience

[@theorangeoof926]

“Misandry”, hating men.

[@ArbitraryOutcome]

Oh of course, women can easily perpetuate misogyny like how men can perpetuate misandry.

[@macm5542]

It would be fun making a cartoon villain be forced unto a grimdark series and being weirded out by the cruelty of the setting. To then become worse after learning how much evil can he be when being in a adult show

[@gaiuszeno1331]

I don't think that would work because grimdark settings have a logic to them that makes bigotry in any modern sense of the world obsolete.

[@macm5542]

@@gaiuszeno1331 i didn't mean a racist guy, i meant a cartoon villain, like skeletor

[@annajensen7360]

wouldn't this be like dropping a little fish in a big pond? I feel like the cartoon villain might be immediately taken out by a preexisting grimdark villain who didn't appreciate the competition. Then again sometimes cartoon villains have absurdly powerful weapons that more realistic works can't match so maybe you're right

[@Sorain1]

@@annajensen7360 That seems like the logical angle to take to me. villains like Skeletor have vague 'as needed' capacities you just don't see in more serious works. Meaning if they ever became serious, they're terrifying. Heck, take Mumm-Ra from The original Thundercats. Look at the insane list of abilities, knowledge, experience and resources this villain has! A monster like that in a setting less Noblebright is the stuff of nightmares. Once the gloves of convention are off, you'd expect a horror show to ensue. Often the villains in grimdark settings aren't all that powerful, because they don't need to be to pose a daunting threat to the heroes of their setting. (Exceptions exist of course, either from general enormous scope like 40k or truly brutally dark worlds like Berserk.) Just as putting a more grimdark hero into a kinder setting would see them struggle to adjust to how much less hard they have to push things, or see them become the new threat just because they are darker in contrast? The same is true in reverse, the villain either being disgusted by the depths of depravity on display and ending up a force for good, or diving in to become an evil so unspeakable local villains are threatened by it. Evil vs Oblivion is a trope expressing the extreme of that. Still potentially some good stories to tell on the topic, ya know?

[@t3chkn1ght]

Or, he'd just die within seconds, if we're going as grimdark as Warhammer 40k.

[@kitkattanimates]

Something I find helpful for making characters who have an ingrained bias but learn to overcome it is microaggressions. They're subtle shows of stereotypes the character believes and what the biased character says doesn't even need to be negative. Things like "You speak so clearly!" to a character that looks foreign but has been living in the same country as the other character their whole life, or "you're so (opposite of stereotype) for a (ethnicity or group of other character)". Microaggressions are exactly like the name implies: small and subtle. They can easily be dropped in casually without making a big deal of it, yet they're noticeable enough to make the prejudice in the character visible.

[@vitorhugobacicpessoavidal325]

Aka, Morello teacher from everybody hates Chris. I mean, it's more known here in Brazil even tough it came from USA, but it perfectly characterizes what is this micro-agressions and that "triyng to help" mindset

[@enraikow6109]

That's actually a great idea!

[@upvoter8798]

Didn't the professor who came up with the idea of mircoaggressions end up admitting, that yeah it might of just been him making stuff up. Taking innocent saying and just twisting it into meaning something else. Which is another thing one should be careful of when writing. If you make minor little thing to be some sort of great evil. It going to get hard to believe it and not think one or more of the characters are just on a high hose. For twisting innocent things into some great act of evil. When it just a minor misunderstanding.

[@kitkattanimates]

@upvoter8798 I'm not saying you should make it into a big deal. The whole point is that it is very subtle and shows that the character has good intentions but is still ignorant or subconsciously prejudiced and needs growth.

[@pleasegoawaydude]

I've never been wrong about someone turning out to be some type of far-right N*zi before, and the only thing I've ever had to reference are phrases like the ones in the original comment here. You're not gonna tell everyone to stop 'thinking too much' as it's often put, simply because you *can't* think even a little.@@upvoter8798

[@eternallyconfusedneveraware]

You did an amazing job tackling this subject. Prejudice is such a real, difficult topic and you cannot portray it by making your bigot a cartoon strawmen. It's become pretty annoying how this topic has been handled lately in media where it seems like things don't want to actually tackle topics like racism, but instead want to go "Wow look at this racist lol. Don't you just HATE them?" and exist solely for a them to be beat down either physically or verbally. Wish fulfillment really is such an accurate way to describe this writing. I've become convinced that shoehorning in a bigoted character in such a strawman fashion just to say bigoted things for the sake of being a cartoonish bigot is just the other side of the coin of "I wanna say bigoted, offensive things to be edgy and funny." And this might be a hot take, but being prejudice doesn't mean someone is completely evil. It's undoubtedly a very negative aspect of one's character and it shouldn't be excused or act like its nothing, but it is not the only aspect of one's character. People can learn to change that aspect and grow as a person when they're treated like people and not irredeemable monsters. It's why I like episodes from cartoons like American Dad or Simpsons that show the protagonist being the prejudice ones and learning to overcome their bigoted mindsets and come out as better people. Even when the situations can be cartoony, the characters can still feel real and have reasons they worry or have these ideas instead of just "I just hate X people, lmao".

[@zzodysseuszz]

It’s really not. Prejudice is one of the defaults of the human condition. You do it every fucking day over everything. We judge things subconsciously always even with little things like what foods we like. Prejudice is applied to every day life by everyone and it is dishonest to treat judging the unfamiliar as if it’s an alien concept or a rare negative one. Perfectly rational reaction to things you aren’t used to. Sometimes prejudice extends to race, which is a fair reaction. But the problem lies when it persists through ignorance. When someone becomes familiar with something new yet continues to hold the same prejudice. This was a survival trait of humans for millions of years, but nowadays it is somewhat rarely ever useful. Humans have learnt to apply nuance to these things more so now due to the fact that it’s nowhere near as dangerous to drop our guards with new things like it was up until a few hundred years to a few thousand years ago where doing that could get you killed. So when a person cannot or refuses to drop the prejudice there are a number of reasons why. But the main cause is ignorance, in order to drop prejudice or at least lessen it would be to show them the nuance in practise, make them more familiar with what is new. This will essentially force the ignorance out since it is no longer possible to ignore anything. “I wanna say bigoted, offensive things to be edgy and funny” this is you failing my litmus test and telling me that you are the average twitter user who thinks people like Jordan Peterson are fascists😂 it’s also a kinda nonsensical use of the word bigot. a bigot is someone who is stuck in their opinions. Like an old man who won’t admit his favourite soccer team fucking sucks.

[@roseykitty8748]

@@zzodysseuszz 😶

[@TomFranklinX]

Bigot is not a synonym for hateful. It is defined as an obstinate attachment to one's prejudice. "Saying bigoted things (that you don't believe in) to be edgy" is an oxymoron.

[@serenegenerally]

Prejudice can make someone feel more human if done right imo

[@TheNobleFive]

​@@zzodysseuszzThe only difference between you and the person you're replying to is semantics lol. You haven't said anything valuable.

[@DeaminZaints]

Biggest issue i always find with bigot characters is that they are falsely made incompetent for the sake of a character "owning" them when they talk about their beliefs. Like a sexist royal knight, getting completely decimated in a sword fight with some random street girl.

[@cerberusmutt4252]

THIS!!! It's, like, peak "intellectual masturbation" shit. You aren't writing it for the story, you aren't writing it for the audience's entertainment, you aren't even truly writing for yourself. You're writing it because you want to get off and be praised. Nothing else matters.

[@gabrielandradeferraz386]

as someone in the internet once said: " The good part of writing what you know is that you can always know more"

[@BugsyBugYT]

i was wondering how long i could scroll through this comments section before i came across a osp quote lol

[@gabrielandradeferraz386]

its a great quote@@BugsyBugYT

[@corrieproductions7442]

I love how so much writing advice is "Remember that characters are characters, and not plot devicrs"

[@henryrothert6160]

LocalScriptMan on KZbin gives the opposite advice, and it works really well. While he is a proponent of character focused writing, he recommends using each character as a means to provide a different perspective on your theme.

[@sum0xide]

this was fun to watch, as someone currently writing a story, its very helpful! :)

[@Nyarurin]

oh. The first season of RWBY. The nostalgia. RIP Monty

[@LokiScarletWasHere]

I miss classic RWBY. Especially Monty's version of Ozpin. No self-spoiling writing, just... "Ruby Rose... You have silver eyes... Newer RWBY and the anime adaptation ruin the fun.

[@Nyarurin]

@@LokiScarletWasHere i rly liked the earlier seasons a lot. It had a lot of charm back then. 3d season was a mixed bag, but it was the 4th one that completely killed the show for me, the vibe was totally different and the charm was gone. Didn't finish it and never watched newer stuff, but heard that it didn't recover. Shame :(

[@gjtrue]

@@Nyarurin It really hasn't. Still some decent bits here & there but it's all over the damn place.

[@blackknightjack3850]

For me the real challenge isn't making individual characters racist, but placing racist assumptions in a society so that the racism doesn't just come from named characters and come across as a society where individual racism is more permitted, but one that is actually systemically racist. The best I can come up with is that the "inferior races" are believed to be uncultured and uncivilized justifying their worse material conditions which then loops around to serve as the excuse's own justification via a vicious cycle.

[@liladuvendack9931]

For systemic applications I’d suggest going to a worldbuilding historical aspect. Find the basis that was used to start the divide, and then ask what next as the culture evolves and see how things spiral to keep that divide and those beliefs perpetuating cyclically. What stays in the culture that people don’t even realize is due to racism, and is instead written off as x y or z? And of course research systems in place and how they came to be in the real world

[@quinndepatten4442]

Black clover did this perfectly. Not necessarily with race, but with magic. The main character is consistently berated or talked down upon for his lack of magical potential. It's clear how it serves the society, who is perceived to have the most power and respect etc.

[@primaryhoodies6386]

I’m no expert but one way you could do this is by using “humor” (aka a racist making a racist joke) I see often bigoted people make fun of minorities when called out they defend themselves by saying it’s just a joke There’s plenty of material online you could use as examples. Having no one call out these characters making racist remarks or having one character call them out only for everyone to defend them could be a way to show societal /systemic racism and how it’s been normalized.

[@blackknightjack3850]

@@primaryhoodies6386 That certainly helps, but there's usually some racist assumption that works as the punchline of these jokes and that's more the issue.

[@PiracyMan]

@@quinndepatten4442 Well to be fair, in Black clover Magic is an inheritable trait, meaning that having NO magic is literally being an inferior race. This would completely justify trying to kill him, as him mixing and producing children will eventually worsen the Gene pool in a world where magic is normal. Since Asta (or whatever his name is) is a commoner, his descendants if they lasted long enough would eventually turn large swathes of the population into non-magicians, which would cause the nobles and the non-magicians to have a complete divide between magic and non-magic, giving complete ability for one group to oppress eternally. So it would be a good thing for Asta to die, for both the Eugenecist nobles, and the commoner. Except for the fact that the no-magic main character is actually a part-devil (iirc) or has anti-magic flowing through him. This technically makes him a complete threat to the world. Which would again justify trying to kill him. He alone has the ability to stop everyone elses magic. --- Relationships between commoner and noblemen are a whole different deal though, and can be somewhat attributed to just class as well. Because, dont forget, anyone can join the high society if they have enough magic, however that relies on them being able to enter and fight against, and even then they might be rejected simply for being poor.

[@daralic2255]

Another motivation is just feeling uncomfortable with people and just hate them because you feel uncomfortable.

[@kovacsnovak6745]

or some personal experiences that may have soured their view on those certain people

[@daralic2255]

@@kovacsnovak6745 Yup. Even though if similar experiences happen from the ‘In’ group they will individualize the transgression. But with an out group individualized transgression are collective.

[@MammalianCreature]

Yeah, sexual assault victims sometimes develop hate towards entire genders because of an extremely traumatizing experience with someone of that gender, usually at a young age. People get attacked by dogs and fear them for the rest of their lives.@@kovacsnovak6745

[@bananasinfrench]

YES this seems to be pretty common from what I've seen. Someone is uncomfortable with someone or a group of people and works backwards with their logic to justify why this group is actually inherently bad. A common example would be someone who has some non-straight thoughts and feelings, and finds it more difficult to ignore when others are comfortably out (or they feel others should be miserably in the closest like they are,) so they try to find reasons why lgbt people are actually evil to justify their discomfort and anger.

[@PiracyMan]

@@bananasinfrench mmm. Are you a biological woman? Because I can only explain why you're wrong in the context of men having "non-straight thoughts". Actually I cant be bothered waiting for a response. Okay, so for men, and you don't need to bother reading if you're a woman because this is something I have learnt only men seem to understand; Men are completely social, and we have care for each other. We have the ability to be friends and be close without wishing wicked things on each other. Its actually the opposite, we are completely unable to be friends with those we hate. Women can do that game all day. So what you called "non-straight thoughts and feelings", for men, they're genuinely most likely typical male bonding feelings. They're not homophilic in any way, they are purely care for the other hunters in the tribe. You then also referred to it as "miserably in the closet as they are". This is completely wrong, assuming the thoughts are what women think men having homophilic thoughts are. For one, they're not in the closet, since they don't even have a closet to hide in. For two, they're not miserable. So your logic and example is formed on an incorrect foundation.

[@debramcroberts6848]

Man, this hits close to home. My dad was born in the 50’s, when he was a kid there was a lot of news surrounding Little Rock. Unfortunately my grandparents and great grandparents were racist and said really bad things that I don’t wish write, and was overall taught racism. My dad later join the military, meeting many from different background and of different races. He was taught there that everyone one of those men there was basically his family in a way. Grandparents weren’t happy when dad talked about his new black friend, but dad never reverted back to the old family and cultural belief. He taught me doesn’t matter what someone looks from skin color to visible disability, what matters is one’s actions and heart, never appearance.

[@marley7868]

and remember the definition of bigot noun a person who is intolerant of an opposing view point or is needlessly attached to there own or a type of people remember it does not mention once what they believe in in particular

[@zzodysseuszz]

A lot of people who don’t apply this definition properly happen to be bigots themselves ironically 😂 Edit: Bigotry has NOTHING to do with hatred or emotion. Bigotry by definition is the refusal to change one’s views or beliefs. This applies to anything. An old man can be a bigot for not accepting that his favourite soccer team is actually fucking awful, just as a blm protestor can be a bigot for not accepting that all white people aren’t racist, this also applies to a KKK member, nazis, terrorist or literally anyone else for any motive whom won’t change their views. Wether their views are wrong or right is irrelevant.

[@Mentelgen-1337]

@@zzodysseuszz lets be real here i dont believe they dont give a shit. the more i think about it the more i am starting to laugh like a maniac because of that irony...

[@AlucardNoir]

So I'm a bigot because I don't think the world is flat? Or am I a bigot because I think the world is a spheroid? And if you think I'm joking tell me my interpretation doesn't fit your second definition. Ok, it doesn't because that should be a "their" and not a "there" but we can pretend autocorrect screwed you and actually interpret your written words as intended this one time.

[@excell211]

@@AlucardNoir The number of people that copy-paste the definition of rac1sm and discrimination to say that _the people pointing out the bigotry are actually the real rac1sts_ would be preposterous if it wasn't a common occurrence in this dunghole called internet...

[@marley7868]

@@AlucardNoir intolerant and disbelief or a low opinion are not the same bigotry is at it's core intellectual cowardice and a refusal to let yourself be proven wrong

[@Crazael]

9:51 In the case of Weiss, she's also probably only ever seen Faunus in the context of either people hurting or threatening her family. And might even have been targeted herself because of her family. And while she knows that her father is not at all a good person, there are surely people she saw as being good people who were hurt or killed in White Fang attacks.

[@sabotabby3372]

the bigger issue there is that like.... those faunus were still justified the status quo already violently oppressed them, RWBY just choose to only villify the violence done against oppression while largely handwaving the systemic injustice against Faunus as bad apples and saying that "incremental change was happening" which is.... exactly what bigots irl have been saying whenever marginalized people stand up for their rights and even there, there's a reason we had the Black Panthers and Stonewall before Civil Rights Act and Gay Marriage, and even now theres a reason for the Pink Pistols and John Brown Gun Clubs

[@GOLDHAJIKVONGOLA]

if i remember correctly she tells blake how she saw some of her family being executed by the white fang.

[@anondescriptbullet]

one of the worst parts ow RWBY was how the white fang (and that Blake was a member) is brushed aside in favour of a generic evil overlord. All they needed was just a single scene where the gang encounters someone that Blake had hurt as a member of the WF, but NOPE she turns out to be the _one_ squeaky clean former terrorist in all fiction

[@Sorain1]

@@anondescriptbullet That's the problem with letting the BBEG out of the shadows so early, the smaller scale conflicts that could drive drama just lose their weight in the face of the BBEG being on the move. If they'd taken time to address the known target supporting the BBEG (White Fang) properly and then had her step out of the shadows afterwards there would have been narrative space for it. Honestly RWBY's pacing and 'what do we spend our runtime on?' is really bad in general post volume 3. (It being something that already had some issues before that, and then it explodes into truly derailing problems afterwards.)

[@mileslugo6430]

There's this musician who actively talks to and befriends Ku Klux Klan members. He has a few talks on KZbin and he pretty famous for dissuade active Klan members from staying with the Klan. His name is Darryl Davis

[@zzodysseuszz]

Are you talking about Daryl Davis?

[@zzodysseuszz]

Never mind. Anyways, kkk isn’t bigotry. It’s ignorant prejudice. Bigotry is someone who won’t change their opinions. Which can apply to a lot of different subjects or person.

[@mileslugo6430]

@@zzodysseuszz got it in 1

[@animeproblem1070]

​@@zzodysseuszza bigot can change everyone has the ability to change hell bigot is very broad you dislike your favorite sports teams rival team you are legitimately bigoted against that other sports team words are important and your misuse of them is atrocious

[@gimmeyourrights8292]

​@@zzodysseuszz The KKK is bigotry because in your definition, a bigot is someone who holds strong opinions on something and refuse to change their beliefs. The KKK refuse to change their beliefs on my people and see us as trash which is what makes them bigots.

[@docileventriloquist]

This really is such a simple way of adding nuance to a character's hate but also makes the character feel like an actual person living in a world.

[@darlalathan6143]

Cringe material, such as cartoonishly evil bigots is always a risk when writing sitcoms, Bronze Age superhero comics, or kids' cartoons because you're writing escapist comedy for children. Underground comics, true crime, and ethnic films can be more realistic, at the other risk of being triggering.

[@sabotabby3372]

theres balance, Belos and Odalia Blight from owl house for example are both massive bigots and abusers and that show was made by disney (then cancelled for being queer) the show also has a lot of genuine redemption arcs, even by people who fucked up really badly, while never falling into the trap of redeeming fascists or people who refuse to change

[@kentonjen8475]

@@sabotabby3372 You know, I'm getting sick and tired of people saying that the show was cancelled for being queer. It wasn't cancelled for being queer; that was the whole reason it was greenlit in the first place since, on her podcast, Dana Terrace admitted that Luz was Bi prior to the show's renewal of season 2, and Disney allowed it out of "corporate ally ship." The show got cancelled because they couldn't market it in foreign countries and the ratings were dropping by season 2. In other words, it was definitely cancelled because it wasn't making enough money and Dana Terrace was merely saving face with that vague "didn't fit the Disney brand" excuse, which her sycophantic fans took as something homophobic on Disney's part. I mean, think about it? If the show was cancelled because of "queerness," then what about other shows that feature LGBT characters like Amphibia (although having three seasons, it wasn't even cancelled and still had a proper finale), The Ghost and Molly McGee, Big City Greens, and Hailey's On It? By that logic, those shows should have been cancelled by season 1. Anyways, sorry for going on a tangent like this.

[@15098D]

I had an NPC barkeep who wouldn’t sell to Kobolds because he was aways told they were the spawn of Tiamat and are thus invariably evil. My Kobold player and their party brought him on their next adventure and eventually changed his mind

[@sabotabby3372]

if you want to be spicy/realistic about it hit them with that "oh not you, you're one of the good ones" rhetoric much easier to say "[personal friend] is nothing like the stereotype/bogeyman", than to have to grapple with the fact that part of your worldview is fundamentally flawed and that you perpetrated awful harm

[@Vanta_Blue]

However did you manage to bring him along? Kidnapping? Hid the Kobold until it was too late to turn back? If he could be convinced upfront I would say his convictions were rather weak.

[@Sorain1]

@@Vanta_Blue Or the barkeep felt their life was being threatened even if that wasn't the intention of the party. The typical adventurer is essentially an unstoppable force to most everyone in the world they live in. Sure, the town/city guard might come stop them, but you'll be dead by then and you know it. Imagine trying to debate with someone that has a loaded shotgun in hand the entire time, one with no safety except their trigger discipline. That's not even just mages in this example, that's any adventurer because blades kill people.

[@LokiScarletWasHere]

"If you hate yourself afterwards, you're doing it right" This sounds like me trying to write anything. That filthy feeling really comes out when the plot demands I acknowledge the existence of romance. When I start to feel dirty, I just go back to reminding myself I'm not a writer.

[@nopenopity-nope6621]

I- I saw the spoiler warning for Puella Magi and thought you were gonna talk about the “GIRLS CAN’T LOVE GIRLS” scene-

[@Boomier]

As a black person seeing so many racists written overly dramatic is annoying like you get all the hate and none of the awareness so this video is pretty coo

[@laisphinto6372]

its also annoying that almost no one tries to make a black raacist intentionally against white people they always take it like a puppy seriously some should clap back and not be always the "racism is bad " holy angels

[@ollieenby]

HEY! Finally I get to talk about Ojamajo Doremi. In Ojamajo Doremi, there's two characters named Tamaki and Momoko. Momoko lived in America for most of her life, and Tamaki is a wealthy/spoiled kid who nobody really likes. In America, Momoko was best friends with a black girl named Beth. Tamaki assumes every white person in a photo is Beth, then saying "Beth can't be black, right?" Instantly the other characters get mad at her. But we can't really blame Tamaki. She's 10. We don't know if she's ever even *seen* a black person in real life. The episode is about her learning to be more accepting, and I love it soso much.

[@cerberusmutt4252]

Momoko was always my favorite!!! The episode about her earrings had me bawling. Ojamajo Doremi was so good

[@ThomasTrain-lo2xh]

Two Words. Archie Bunker.

[@cooperminion825]

He was meant to be the butt of most of the jokes. Basically a parody of the bigoted views of many people from his generation

[@megatron8449]

Who?

[@louisryan5815]

​@@cooperminion825And the director was so stupid and oblivious, that he ended up making him the most lovable character on the show.

[@cooperminion825]

@@louisryan5815 in a way that was kinda the point. People got to see him grow up and become less bigoted over time. He went from stuck in the 50s to stuck in the 60s like most of the parents who gave birth to the boomers. He even goes so far as to "tolerate" Edith's drag queen relative

[@drakenn342]

So, two things: That image with everyone grabbing a donut gives me anxiety. Second, I’m pleasantly surprised to see someone using RWBY as a positive reference for writing

[@Kennedy00Louis]

For real I was like: "RWBY? AS A GOOD EXAMPLE? HOLY" and I ain't complaining, just shocked, happily shocked lol

[@cookiesandtea6442]

Oh, I didn't fully absorb that until now! It's a bit tiring seeing this show get hate left and right, so seeing something positive on a video that isn't RWBY-centric? That's cool

[@Sorain1]

Hay, for all the mess, it has well done things to it. It's always worth pointing out the good and bad in things where they are.

[@alexdryver5090]

I have written and in table tops played a villain many times. That said let me put on my villain hat. There's another source of cringe when it comes to discussing bigotry in media and that is the protagonist never being confronted about their views and their smug sense of correctness. If in interacting with the villain there is never a chance of the protagonist having any doubt about there own correctness your probably doing it wrong or if they never have to defend their views. For this video I think a good example is The Turner Diaries the book is about a racist who is a foot soldier in a race war which over throws the us government and leads to genocide. The protagonist Earl Turner never has to defend his views, is absolutely sure he is correct, and only shows self doubt once when the cause leads him to smash a white woman's head in with a shovel and he's over it before the end of the page.

[@DistractedGlobeGuy]

Turns out, racists don't write racists very well because they don't have enough intelligence to even understand themselves, let alone others.

[@mr.protagonist5639]

Yeah wow that sounds pretty bad.

[@crimsoir3543]

Im liking that you are expanding not only on Hetalia contents. I really needed some advices on how to write characters without making it amateur, thanks Kolko

[@crypticcorgi8280]

0:58 _"and as some one writing about a raging sexist as a main character_ *_even tho I am a woman."_* I mean, there is kinda an underlying sentimentality peaking to the surface there. Women do face sexism. It is always emphasized culturally but it isn't the whole encompassing picture. Men face a lot of sexism too, but it is so normalized that you cannot see it unless "you reverse the roles." I am not saying this as a knee-jerk reaction. Just, if a writer wants to be really realistic and go down the road less travelled, maybe they should depict a misandrist as actually some one bad. Representation matters and if you mentally allocate one gender as a "the sexist gender," you are ironically sexist. Maybe there would less gendered selective compassion in our culture if men weren't the only ones people felt comfortable writing as faceless minions or one dimensional mustach twirling bad guys. I am tired of when they even show a woman who is intolerant to men, even the lampshading tries to justify it. It makes open misandry even fashionable and a sympathetic stance to have. As basic as it sounds, it would be groundbreaking representational wise to show a woman as an unapologetic sexist bigot. Because, despite it being something that happens in the real world, where do you see that in writing? It wouldn't just be brave, it would be honest in a way that isn't afraid to rub conventional social norms the wrong way. You know, thought provoking. You talk about being aware of the prejudices we gloss over, perhaps review the way you view men maybe? :S It was very loud how the only ideas for sexism you can come up with is from men. "Men are more sexist" (again, hoping people can see the irony in that sentiment. Admit it, it is nothing you've looked up. It is something you mostly feel and it is backed up by gynocentrism harping onesidely on men's wrong doings.) But that doesn't explain why you are avoidant to write the woman as a sexist. There is just a bit of gender tribalistic sexism just under the surface. So this video just feels... ironic.

[@Eclypsia13]

Indeed, 'I can't be racist/sexist/(insert sexuality here)phobic because I an "insert characteristic here" ' then congratulations you are what you say you're not.

[@starrykid9871]

nicole from class of '09

[@Sorain1]

@@Eclypsia13 It tends to show up, yeah. Flies in all directions like that.

[@rexthero]

THIS IS FUCKING AMAZING, genuine god level tips for writing characters who have these traits. not typically evil but also not typically good people. people blinded by cultures etc etc. Well done!

[@BurgertubeFounder]

Idk it sounds like this video outlines the way to write pretty cool characters who are awesome

[@EzekielDeLaCroix]

How to write a bigot without sounding cringe: Hero: "That's just a stereotype!" Villain: "Stereotypes exist for a reason." Hero: "..."

[@loneIyboy15]

And you've basically figured out the entire reasoning for "bigotry". The next step: A story where the "bigot" is right.

[@loneIyboy15]

@@jesterfairy3845 No, it's the real world. Or what, did you think "bigots" only had a point in fairy tales?

[@loneIyboy15]

@@jesterfairy3845 If you never thought the "bigot" had a point, then that sounds like a you problem, bigot.

[@DepartamentoDePantalones]

I think a good example of a well written villain could be belos from the owl house. But if you choose to use hime as an example for your work, it especially helps if you find people on social media (mainly twitter, sorry) who like to do deep dives into his character. He believed he was justified in trying to kill all beings on the boiling isles because he was raised to hate them (and most likely reading the Bible a lot, there was a lot of hints at his hatred being a religious thing). What made it worse was his brother (Caleb) not siding with him and his hatred once he met Evelyn, believing that she must have brain washed his brother. Belos was so deep in his headspace though that he couldn’t comprehend all that Caleb was telling him, despite Caleb having lots of evidence that witches aren’t bad. This led Belos to not only hate witches as a species but also his own brother, so he spends the next 400+ years on a plan to annihilate all of them in one go as well as getting genuine joy out of killing his own brother as many times as he liked, knowing that he could just make another copy of him to off later. Even though he was surrounded by witches and demons that totally could’ve convinced him to not hate them anymore, he put himself as the stronger person in the dynamic between him and the entire isles, making it so people would worship him like a god. In this position, he was still able to see the rest of the isles as things that are below him. This way, himself and others could never convince him that witches are inferior or the work of the devil. The writers took a lot of inspiration from their own bigoted family members as well as hate groups etc. To make Belos who he is. He is a bad person who deserved the ending he got and even as he was actively dying at Luz’s feet, he couldn’t tell.

[@MASTEROFEVIL]

Belos is from the puritan era. And during those days we all know what happened to someone who was accused of magic

[@grantstratton2239]

One example of how difficult this is to do well... she says "I had to write this raging sexist, even though... I'm a woman." As if women are incapable of being sexist. My thought is, if you can't empathize with the point of view of a certain kind of antagonist, you shouldn't write that kind of antagonist until you can do so convincingly.

[@fgkuv5232]

Liberals really think women can't be sexist. As a Russian living in a migrant ghetto near Moscow I can definitely say that central Asians are more racist to Russians and to each other than locals

[@sanserof7]

Yeah I don't get it. Lot of lack of self reflection here. We are all flawed, we have all done bad things, we have all had bad thoughts. It shouldn't be that difficult to be able to relate to a villain because of that.

[@Scarlet8375]

This is a very good video with a LOT of good advice. Well done

[@user-tv6or7lm6s]

If you want to write a really unsimpathetic villain, you can give them the most common reason for the prejudice among the leaders of any kind: power and wealth. It is easier to gain power by uniting the people AGAINST something, not FOR something. The most modern example would be, well, any conservative politician you know.

[@VincentEdelstein]

This is a great comment

[@Rikken552]

And any politician for that matter

[@blahblah94897]

Or war

[@seventeenseventythirteen7465]

@@Rikken552 Yeah but like, the rhetoric from Conservatives around trans people right now is just bordering on genocidal. It's ALLLLLL about trans people now. Tell me why Utah needed a bunch of laws banning trans people from attending sports, when there is on record only 4 trans students in America, none of which are at a competitive level and their class mates even protested against this. It makes the kids lives worse and helps absolutely no one in any material way. It's uniting bigotry towards LGBTQ people as "groomers/pedophiles", so bad that someone was murdered because she hung a pride flag in her convenient store window. All the rhetoric coming from people like Matt Walsh is "We need to eradicate them." shit. It's all in the end, for votes and more political power. They scare you into thinking there is this terrifying trans boogythem, and that stopping them is the biggest of deals. When in reality they make up a small small fraction of the population and affect no one in any other way than usually being cringe online. It's just the truth that they tend to be terminally online and cringe post occasionally, I know plenty of them.

[@theyaden]

More leftist politicians would fit here conservative ones are more likely to be called out and damaged by the accusation if it looks like they're doing that. It is indeed an effective plot tool on why someone is acting like a tool though. Show them getting everyone afraid of some group and make noise about them. Could be the 1%, immigrants, old white men or even using the slur cis to indicate the group they blame for a the ills they promise to solve.

[@brambojr4298]

I’ve never written a full story before yet I’ve had this one idea swimming around in my head for a while now where the world is run by an evil witch but she forces her husband to be the face of the tyranny, and thus the protagonist is a huge misandrist. I’ve always wanted to be able to write her as a flawed protagonist who learns and grows, but with a flaw so pungent I’ve had cold feet with actually committing to it. This really helped, thank you!

[@Halfort57]

Meh. Just write her as a Disney girl boss. People will better about it

[@graveyardshift6691]

As a wise Fuckmothering Vampire once said "Don't mistake youthful ignorance for genuine malice. Nobody ISN'T kind of an asshole in their 20s. And if they weren't? THEY WERE PROBABLY SOCIOPATHS." It's less writing a character you can't stand, and more placing them in a situation that challenges something they believed to be true and real as a child because that's what they were taught. "Everyone should hire a teenager before they grow up because they think they know everything." What lesson do you want to explore? What situation will place a character in the position to learn that lesson? And of course, the Golden Rule, how can you get the audience to think about it without ramming it down their throat?

[@RustBrand777]

One thing important about prejudice is everyone has it. You can even have prejudice for ONE individual. We call it enemies or just hatred. One thing to remember, while claiming you can’t have prejudice because your gay or black or a woman is in fact prejudiced.

[@ThatOneMan830]

This was... Something I needed to help both examine and reinforce what I'm writing. I'm in an awkward place where I'm a Jewish leftist and in my science fiction fantasy I'm writing I'm pretty much writing, as part of the setting, turtle nazis. The thing is, I want it to be genuinely *horrific* - as in, skin-crawlingly disturbing - and this was a good reminder of things to keep in mind when I write from their perspective. Thank you for this vid!

[@recordofragnarokisapurehyp6660]

I'm looking foward to these turtle nazis.

[@lilowhitney8614]

As a fellow jew, I suggest looking into the Nuremberg trials as well as Eichmann's trial. The defenses people used there are pretty enlightening. Something that always stuck with me - and that I NEVER see in people's depictions of nazis - is just the banality of it all. So many people defended their actions as "just following orders". That their part in the genocide was "just" driving the trains, or counting the people, or helping separate people into those that can still work and those that can't (while never bothering to think what happens to those that can't work. Nothing they can do about it anyway, right? and besides they're just following orders. If they won't do it then some other shmuck and then they'll be punished for nothing.) Personally, I find this kind of stuff more disturbing too. No matter how grotesque or horrifying the actions of those mustache twirling nazi villains that a lot of fiction shows, they never managed to hold a candle to how I felt reading the accounts of those jews who were responsible for cremating bodies and disposing of the ashes in concentration camps. And not just because one is fictional and the other is a real account. Idk, there's something about the banality of the work contrasted against the backdrop of the horror that makes it so much more horrifying to me than the more exaggerated attempts to disturb.

[@serenegenerally]

Ngl, turtle nazis sounds like a cool concept

[@michaelsimmons9052]

Are you just copying and pasting what the Nazis did into your story or are you you actually going to think what it means to be a national socialist in a turtle society? Also, here's a little tidbit of the German language that actually opened up some perspectives for me, Reich translates to Empire.

[@ham_the_spam4423]

@@michaelsimmons9052 how did that little translation help exactly, if you don't mind me asking? did it help you understand how the nazis were trying to copy the previous Reich(s) and promise the people of its restoration of glory?

[@aflacduckduck2278]

I think hank shrader is a great example of this. He’s slightly racist towards Latin people but he’s still the hero who we all love and root for

[@originalcharacterplznostea2749]

Not to mention he has to deal with cartels on a daily basis. He has to constantly see the horrors of what the criminal organizations. That would definitely mess with someone's perspective overtime.

[@OffSatan]

you know, as a european I will tell you right now that not interacting a lot with a certain ethnic group might also work in reverse. I have seen many African Americans come to Norway be in awe of how little racism they have to deal with on tiktok or whatever, but what I want to tell them each time is just "of course people aren't being that racist to you, you're not slavic, sami or arbic" cause we meet people like that every day, so it's far easier to pick up those anecdotes, or for sterotypes to form, biases build and get reinforced, all that jam.

[@Rambanlee]

I respect the deep dive behind these negative traits…I also appreciate hearing the Midnight Crew as the background music. This was informative and helpful for writing these kinds of villains.

[@bahutbharatiya3946]

Thank you! This really helped me write my self insert character in my new book!

[@mogo-wc7xw]

lmao

[@TomRobertGaming]

"The Antagonist always has a motivation" The Joker: "Am I a... joke to you?"

[@badart3204]

He does have a motivation though. Self fulfillment.

[@louisryan5815]

Honestly, doing heinous shit because it's funny is probably a lot more common motivation than you might give it credit for.

[@Algebruh2407]

The Joker has always had a motivation of some kind. Sometimes it is because he finds it entertaining, sometimes it is because he wants to watch the world burn, sometimes it is mental disorders that make him think that it is justice in an unfair world.

[@iitianwannabe]

joker doesnt see what u are he sees if he can break u

[@possumparty7983]

I was so confused for a minute because I remembered your voice, then I looked, you where the person I’d watched when I was into hetalia in middle school

[@Rurike]

One show i remember portraying a more "casual" form of racism was Everybody Hates Chris. His teacher in the show would say a lot of things that are pretty offensive, but it was obvious she wasnt saying these things out of spite or concious bigotry, if anything she was trying to be nice and supportive trying to help him integrate into the school better, shes just so uninformed that she unintentionally leans on a lot of negative stereotypes and doesnt know wat shes saying is bad. The show kinda uses this for comedy but its an interesting view on a pretty common form of biggotry, where the people arnt consciously thinking their better then someone or that x person is bad exactly but regardless end up coming off somewhat offensive due to in correct views they have.

[@peridrawland5955]

I think one of my favorite characters to fall in one of these categories is Baron Van Zieks from The Great Ace Attorney, he has an active bias against japanese people following an incident where he fell betrayed by one, despite admiring this japanese man before the event, and he also lives in a space where people are just unaccepting of foreigners from the East which probably just fed further into his hatred of the japanese that started with the betrayal. Later in the story the main characters learn of his backstory and reasons, BUT they never excuse his behavior before and after learning of what led to him developing that mindset. He develops and stops holding a grudge against this group of people at the end of the story, but even before that, I'd like to think he was handled decently.

[@stunseedordeesnuts]

Here is another BEST EXAMPLE! UNCLE RUCKUS FROM THE BOONDOCKS! Made by the genius mind of Aaron McGruder

[@nirvanaheights]

its a bit over the top (because its a satire, ofc) but its got the right spirit

[@Algebruh2407]

Uncle Ruckus is a bit different. You like him and his bigoted actions because he is such an over the top parody of "race traitors", that even people who are genuine racists feel like he has gone too far. He is so cartoonishly racist that his actions can be disconnected from reality and just enjoyed as a satirical joke.

[@julkap4190]

As a teacher I had a subject about multicultural education and how to help children to not be afraid of other cultures. You got your description why people are like this and how they can overcome it very well. 😊👍

[@rrteppo]

Children typically are not racist. They will bully people based on race or culture, but they bully each other on anything. Big forehead, don't run very fast, wear glasses, just being in front of them. They are super sexist though.

[@roboticfish317]

So I can become a better writer by being a homophobe for a while!?

[@Seato-Osty]

"To know the homophobe, one must become the homophobe." - Sun Tzomophobic, The Art of Hate

[@ahseymania]

​@@Seato-Osty10/10 tip

[@MrTigracho]

More like, thinking why an homophobe is like that might help you to be a better writer writting homphobia. Of course, if you want a villain you intent your audience to not symphatize, then don't think too much about it.

[@RAVEVelvet]

Technically yes, just to share my experience I was once a homophobe. Of course I am not one anymore I have changed I'm coolzzz now but I believe I have tons of info as to why people resort to something like homophobia In a Short sentence it's "bad influences". If you want a more detailed explanation then feel free to ask for more

[@MammalianCreature]

"Put yourself in your character's shoes" type of mindset, sometimes you have to do so. It always feels shitty coming out of a writing fugue when the character is a total shitbag

[@Extex_]

This started out as a writing how-to with an "apolitical" warningbat the beginning and turned into a very political rant halfway through then went back to a writing video

[@lordcoolington]

a great analysis!! i think it really puts into words the key difference between writing plot points and writing people. will def be thinking of this later while i write :)

[@Swe3t_Coffe3]

As someone who plans on writing a villainous protagonist in the future, yeah I needed this. Thanks, this helped a lot when it came to "putting things into perspective" and such! It's a really helpful guide. You get a like for this one.

[@99Bobson]

I'm 3 an a half minutes in, and she says "how not to make your antagonist sound like a cartoon villain" while showing her own writing of a guy that sounds exactly like an edgy cartoon villain. You can't make this shit up, I swear

[@bluecannibaleyes]

I mean, I expected as much from someone who says they’re looking at it from an apolitical view while simultaneously stating their own political view in a very bigoted way.

[@MJonMBoviM]

The more im hearing as the video goes on the more im convinced this is either gaslighting, ignorance, or self projection

[@yulee3266]

what makes you say that

[@studentmoviesandvibes1671]

"I dont believe people choose to be racist" god i wish that was true

[@jesusofbullets]

Sometimes it's taught, sometimes it's learned. Grow up as a minority in a overwhelmingly different neighborhood (such as White in a black neighborhood) and you'll find that most of the people aren't going to even try to be your friend, and that's if they don't harass you. Hell, both being taught and learning to be racist can happen. Your parents might not explicitly say something, but they may keep a close eye on you or guide you from speaking to certain people. If you confide in them about such harassment from the neighborhood, talking to them may reinforce the idea. Hell, racism can be learned from something as simple as hearing perceived victimhood or praise(whether it is or isn't in reality doesn't matter) constantly for or from a certain race, which may build resentment. I don't think its something people inherently choose, but rather something that slowly accumulates. You don't just wake up one day and decide that you hate a race. Same way how changing that is also a slow process as well. One doesn't just wake up one day fully not racist. It requires a lot of time, introspective, and exposure to a lot of different people.

[@PiracyMan]

Okay, so you know the high fetal testerone causing similar symptoms to Autism, and men having (averaging) high testosterone and are typically more systematic and objective right? Well, I am autistic myself. Quite heavily on the Neurological and Social side, but i'm not arm jerking or certain step around corner or no eye contact kind of guy. When I learnt about the high fetal testosterone relating to autism concept, a lot of thing fell into place for me. I am a male, I am autistic, I have a comparatively exceptional memory (but nothing super-special like those miracle babies) and I am racist. I know exactly the cause of my racism, and it comes down to objective views of people and systematic sorting of memories. If I look into my memory folders, the overwhelming majority of bad behaviour (disorderly, disruptive, disgusting) is from what I have viewed of drug/tobacco/alcohol addicts of all races and aboriginals on public transport (I am Australian). Then looking into my awful smells memory folder, I find the clips of the mentally retarded, heavily obese, aboriginals and Indians in it. All of which I observed walking on the street. Then looking into my 8 year old swimming pool memories, I find clips of myself being disgusted by literal faeces and leaving the recreation centre with my mum, and clips of me thinking to avoid indians with their families because of bad smells and them being the same as what I had to leave the recreation center because of. That overactive systemising machine in my head, sorting everything, if I view it from an objective with curiosity view point, gives rise to the suggestion that my racist beliefs are learnt rather than I was born with it. My mother isn't particularly racist or anything. So I couldn't have learnt it from her or been taught it by her. So I simply learnt it myself. and in response to jesusofbullets, I have been exposed to a LOT of different people. In negative and good lights. The thing is, the ultimate sum of it was a negative. The disgusted faces on the Cat Bus, the bad behaviour, the assaults, the conversations I have casually, the conversations I have had with past friends (of the other races). What I did learn is that there are simple certain factors that stem beyond society, sex, and class. So yes, I did have a lot of time, introspective conversations, and exposure to many different people. Which led to pre established morals of decency sorting memories into folders and that resulted in racist beliefs.

[@andrewgreeb916]

Hate is rooted fundamentally in love. Either they threaten something you love Someone you love considered them evil You loved them and they betrayed you So people do on some level choose to hate, and often at one point it was justified, but sometimes that justification has long past. In theory as long as the actual root cause doesn't still exist you can defuse hate

[@areadenial2343]

@@andrewgreeb916 I would moreso say hate is rooted in fear. Yes, it can be fear for something you love, but it can also be fear for your own interests, whether selfish or not. To reinterpret your examples: You fear something you love being harmed You fear rejection from a loved one if you don't share their beliefs You fear being betrayed again

[@AmoebaInk]

@@PiracyMan I'm a psychopath, so logical deduction is all I have. I'm hearing echoes of the justification for racism that comes from Darwinistic mindset. In cold evolution, you have more and less advantageous mutations, so species don't evolve together, rather branch, which can justify a lot of racist ideas. I have a Christian mindset which even if you also buy some aspects of evolution, it's a guided process by a God that loves all mankind. That differing premise between survival of the fittest and deliberate creation lead to very different mindset. All that said, racist often ignore the role of culture and history on groups as Aborigine is a culture and not just a racial group. And pretending you've really grasped all the "class" distinctions. Christians can come up with their own racist justifications, but it's shaded by cultural beliefs that aren't necessarily religious in nature. Conflating spreading gospel with "saving savages" from a more general ignorance. Logical deduction is dependent on what premises and information you feed on to reach your conclusions. This is why scientists can argue over the meaning of the same set of data, because their larger beliefs and knowledge bases conflict. Echo chambers are particularly dangerous for those of us who logically process because it feeds us and reinforces bad data.

[@rikuleinonen]

A lot of Finnish people are racist. Like, a lot a lot. My family, my old class as a whole, etc. The racism magically disappears if you connect with enough Finnish people, so that's a good thing at least. Thankfully, my English skills and such connected me to a sizeable amount of people from other races, so I don't think I'm racist myself. However, it really did start making me question things when I couldn't get myself to speak openly with an immigrant student in my class. It felt like I was talking to someone of inferior knowledge, even though deep down I knew that wasn't the case. So I wonder, why is it that even if you know what you're doing is racist, it's really difficult to stop doing it?

[@loveshack8172]

I think that's a really important observation you made. I'm not familiar with Finnish culture but I know it's not super diverse. I think growing up in a culture like that certainly affects your development and personal biases that can be hard to change if you've spent a lot of time there. I grew up in a very small town and recently started college in NYC. I'd never met a trans person before, though I never considered myself transphobic. But when I first met a trans person, I felt uncomfortable talking to them. I think growing up in a very small town (with a lot of bigoted people) influenced my biases. Now, I don't feel that discomfort anymore as I've had the opportunity to meet and work with a lot of trans people.

[@krishnavinesh5638]

I'm a simple girl. I see Aster, I click

[@Halfort57]

If Only the writers could learn of this irony...

[@neptunianRefrain]

this is a pretty good guide, i'll definitely be saving this video somewhere for future reference. also, i know you're a homestuck

[@tedtolliver572]

The Elevatorstuck in the background was a dead giveaway :)

[@FeedingTheDragons]

This is a fantastic video for me since i always have a hard time writing or playing evil people for my RPG campaign as well as my stories. Thank you for this in depth explanation! i really appreciate it!

[@ProfessorNilo]

Oh this is amazing... I've been searching for a video like this. I've been trying to give a few of my "too nice all the time" characters some deep rooted problems that may not be intentional, but feel very bad to other characters. So prejudice is a good one for that, but I always thought they sounded a bit forced... so this is very helpful. I'll gladly take the advice and try to work on some changes right now.

[@Sorain1]

One thing that might help you with that, 'Why are they soo nice all the time?' have they tied any kind of negative expression to evil? Do they just not ever openly express it while their internal view of things is full of condemnation for others and they are patting themselves on the back for 'being better than them' by not expressing it?

[@lyxthen]

One of my favorite examples of this is actually The Owl House. Emperor Belos/Phillip Wittebane has a mix of culture, upbringing and personal experience to justify his actions. He's outright evil, sure, but he's evil in a way you can believe. Like, "Yeah, I've known a guy or two like these", even though his case is a lot more extreme. I love his character so much.

[@F1areon]

IIRC Dana Terrace did partially base him off some of her relatives, who... aren't really the nicest people to say the least

[@lyxthen]

@@F1areon He really feels like some of my relatives fr...

[@Dragoz29]

0:54 my only problem is how you made this statement makes it seem like sexism is a one way street as if women can't be sexist

[@yulee3266]

yeah

[@branhun]

This is an incredibly informative, unbiased and thoughtful video. Great work!

[@VenathTehN3RD]

Honestly, I think my favorite examples to point to when trying to illustrate the "people always have a motive for what they do, even if you wholly disagree with that motive or think it's completely insane and nonsensical" are characters that are typically very, very chaotic (whether good, evil, or something in between). Characters like the Joker from the DC universe or Discord from Friendship is Magic. Despite how chaotic and even completely unhinged these characters can get, they (or at least in the stories that are typically considered their best when you have one with numerous different incarnations like Joker) still ALWAYS have something that drives them. It may be something morally reprehensible. It may be something extremely selfish. It may be something wholly out of their control or that they're unaware of. It may be something that no rational sapient being would ever consider a reasonable thought process. But whatever it may be, ultimately there's SOMETHING that explains why they are the way they are. Heck, a lot of the characters that people really love in stories are the ones whose motivations they can understand even if they disagree with their methods. For instance, My Hero Academia has multiple antagonists who fit into this category. Characters like Shigaraki, Stain, Toga, Dabi, and plenty of others might do horrible things, but you can absolutely understand why they started to believe the things they believe. Even when you disagree with their conclusions and methods, there are times when they make points about the society that led to their creation that are honestly very valid and even relatable. Or, to sum up my general feelings on the matter: A character's motive for being an asshole shouldn't begin and end with "Because the author needed someone to be an asshole in that scene."

[@witherschat]

My hero Academia is the only show I can think of that made me sad a villain died, because their writing is just *that* good.

[@joelwestman8809]

Not all bigots are teenage incels or facebook grandparents. It's good writing advice but don't think every bigot deserves sympathy. And not all of them have a good reason at all, or any reason.

[@zzodysseuszz]

A bigot is literally just someone that is super stuck in their opinions. Like most of these comments. A bigot could be an old person who refuses to admit his favourite soccer team actually sucks and will adamantly claim that they actually the best team. THAT is a bigot. By definition. It is not a negative trait or even a retarded one. It’s just a trait everyone has towards at least one thing in life. The title of this video should be “how to write ignorant prejudice”.

[@christophergarcia9022]

@@zzodysseuszz That's kinda just being a pedant, language evolves with the world and the people using it. In modern day, "bigot" has mostly been used for negative traits, and mainly for racism, homophobic and sexist traits. Hell, the very definitions of Bigot literally says "especially one who is prejudiced against or antagonistic toward a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular group". Yes, you can say "a bigot is just someone stubborn on their beliefs", but that's stupid, because then by your logic the words "moron" and "stupid" are on the same level as "retarded" in the modern day, just because they originally meant the same thing - now go out and use the word "retarded" when referring to something instead of "stupid" and see if you get the same reaction as just calling that somehing "stupid", and see how many people in the average use "stupid" in videos and comments - yet would totally not use the R word because language has evovled to a point where it's a slur. If you want to live in a bubble where words never change and don't get different connotations, sure, but that's not how language works.

[@joelwestman8809]

@@zzodysseuszz yeah it's got a new meaning. Deal with it

[@slavaosokin3521]

no ye 100% but I think that's what's being said here. Nothing in this video suggests that these bigots should be sympathized with, just that their have their own internal logic and most of them do have some reason for what they do. I don't think those reasons deserve to be respected or understood, especially if you're the one being affected by the bigotry, but if you are trying to understand their character or create a realistic one, I def think its p useful to consider.

[@joelwestman8809]

​@@slavaosokin3521 You misunderstood me. What you said about them having their own reasons, THAT's what I'm calling out here. Not all Bigots have reasons. Not all bigots have internal logic. Some bigots are just flat characters that hate for no reason. Malphoy doesn't need to be provoked to be racist, we know that minorities existing is enough to provoke bigots. The HGSpice character did not need sisters to become bigoted, we know that's not necessary. It's good WRITING advice, because you don't want randomly bigoted people in stories, but in reality people don't need reasons to be bigoted, sometimes they just are.

[@Lycaon1765]

Dope, smart video that really handles how to write these characters. Earned a sub, keep up the good content 👍

[@bige3738]

"The antagonist must ALWAYS have a motivation-" Jack Horner. That is all.

[@spinosaurusstriker]

But he has a motivation, using the wishing star, is just that his character trait is that he will do anything to get what he wants.

[@NekoBoyOfficial]

THANK YOU. You explained this very thoroughly. I literally have nothing else to add.

[@jafufudean8389]

You articulated this very well. Well done.

[@mrheadshot8757]

I AM A BIGOT 💪💪💪

[@guillermoelnino]

same

[@iitianwannabe]

oh no you guys are trolls

[@guillermoelnino]

@@iitianwannabe then why are y ou feeding us?

[@iitianwannabe]

not a prideful thing

[@guillermoelnino]

@@iitianwannabe pride is a sin afterall

[@Galvatron759]

“These are definitely still bad people, but they are people nonetheless”. Truer words have never been spoken.

[@m.a.1765]

Thank you so much for this! Now I can finally make my self-insert character more convincing!

[@Qurent]

While true for most villains and especially racists, sexists and so on, not every villain needs a justification for their actions, if you're writing a nihilist, they often don't need justification for their action, even if they know what they're doing is bad, they just don't care, Dark Knight Joker is probably the best example of that.

[@shadowofdimentio4618]

I saw the spoilers and was wondering how racism was in RWBY. I legit forgot about the Faunus storyline until I saw Blake haha. It was so badly done

[@MarDaFox]

I love this video especially when you said “or even in a d&d campaign” because in my d&d campaign my character has a hatred for elf’s because she thought an elf killed her mother (it was dark and in the woods so she only saw the shadow) now there is a half-elf and it makes for a great story

[@TamuSmann]

Thank you, not only for the great writing advice, but for the extremely thoughtful discussion on prejudice. Well done, madame!

[@Hario338]

Thank you for mentioning that part about the celebrity with the autistic kid! I didnt know about this person myself (I'm not big on celebrities tbh lol), but as an autistic person I really appreciate our struggles being represented here too!

[@dragonturtle2703]

Just found your video. So far, you just got a new subscriber. Honestly, I wish more people got this message in general. Though, I don’t really understand what would make me feel bad about writing a sexist where I wouldn’t when writing a murderer, war, avalanche, character with depression, or any other negative things in the setting.

[@jeffgoldblum7214]

I really like that section at the end, if you write something horrible and don't feel horrible for writing it, you're doing it wrong

[@Algebruh2407]

Something that I should add is that the bigot doesn't necessarily have to be the villain or a side character. Having a protagonist who has some bigotry can make a pretty good character as it can give them an arc where they have an internal conflict about their beliefs and learn that there way of thinking was wrong or that they had misjudged someone. An example that I give is Jojo from Jojo rabbit. Despite being a little boy, he fully buys into the Nazi propaganda and when he encounters a Jewish girl in his attic, he is afraid of her, initially only approaching her when he has armed himself because of his bigoted belief that she must be evil and dangerous. But over time, he becomes friends with her, even going as far as to lie to the people that he idolized and putting himself in danger in order to help save her. Honestly though, that movie has so much that can be studied to show how to make good characters that I cannot give it enough justice.

[@TheSuperCasual2914]

Thanks for this! I am actually writing a short story (that will later be a longer story) about species-ism between angels and humans. Angels being those who grant humans what they want, and humans in this world I created turning into selfish, lazy people throughout the years that only depend on praying and wanting what they want. I’m not going to go into too much detail aside from this because self-promotion is bad, and also it’s still in a planning phase.

[@mushroomy9899]

“no one just wakes up and decides they are going to be homophobic” nah i do that all the time, i hate myself.

[@jilliancrawford7577]

Imo there are two aspects to the upbring reason: the upbringing itself and why the character never rebelled against that part of their childhood and held onto it instead. We all go through a phase where we question and rebel against our parents to some degree. It's part of us coming into our own identity and distancing ourselves from our caretakers into adults. However, this doesn't mean we don't return to some of the ideals we initially rebelled against for various reasons. The rebelling and teturn don't have to be major or extreme to happen either. They usually aren't in real life. It could be minor things like valuing the ceramics or whetheror not this or that aspect of school is all that useful. Imo, the upbringing is most effective as a motivation if they come to agree with it despite the rebellion phase of growing up and becoming their own person.

[@honeydrop1118]

This is a fantastic video, amazing video essay, you got talent