Mistakes TO AVOID when writing
Summary
TLDRThe video explores various storytelling pet peeves across multiple media formats, including video games, books, comics, and music. The creator discusses how storytelling techniques may not work universally across different media. Among the key pet peeves are overly explanatory narration, poorly executed concepts despite good ideas (especially in LitRPGs), character derailment, power levels that kill story tension, and unconvincing romantic plots. The creator also criticizes overpowered protagonists with bland personalities, uses of characters as ideological mouthpieces, and when stories pause to overly explain their own mechanics. Each pet peeve is illustrated with examples from Pokémon, Jujutsu Kaisen, Solo Leveling, and more, essentially reflecting on how storytelling can be improved by respecting audience intelligence and allowing for more natural character and plot development.
Takeaways
- 📚 Storytelling techniques aren't one-size-fits-all across different media.
- 🤔 Over-explanation can be condescending to the audience.
- 📝 Great concepts need solid execution to avoid disappointment.
- 👥 Characters should not just be mouthpieces for the author's views.
- 💪 Overpowered characters often lack depth without real challenges.
- 🔢 Over-reliance on power levels can ruin narrative tension.
- 💔 Romance in stories requires genuine chemistry between characters.
- 🎩 Complex systems should not derail storytelling with explanations.
- 🧠 'Idiot ball' - when smart characters done dumb things to advance plot.
- 🎭 Characters should evolve naturally, avoiding jarring derailments.
Timeline
- 00:00:00 - 00:05:00
The speaker discusses the concept of storytelling across various media, including video games, books, comics, and music, and highlights their pet peeves related to this. A major issue is the 'allow me to explain' trope, where creators unnecessarily explain what the audience has already seen or heard, assuming they won't understand it otherwise. The speaker finds this condescending and unnecessary, although admits that explanation is sometimes needed for complex systems.
- 00:05:00 - 00:10:00
The speaker criticizes the 'fantastic concept, terrible execution' trope, especially in literature RPGs, where complex game mechanics are poorly integrated into the narrative, leading to stories focused on an overpowered protagonist at the expense of other elements. They also mention 'mouthpiece characters' used by writers to express personal views, often at the expense of storytelling, creating a disconnect with the audience.
- 00:10:00 - 00:15:00
Further, the speaker discusses the importance of avoiding excessive exposition in storytelling, as it can disrupt the narrative flow, referencing shows that derail to provide unnecessary details about the world or mechanics. They also touch on the problem with power levels in stories like Dragon Ball, where numerical power indicators can undermine narrative tension and storytelling quality.
- 00:15:00 - 00:20:00
They express disdain for stories that become self-referential, losing narrative focus by leaning heavily on past popular elements or inside jokes. The speaker is also critical of 'dick guide' characters, whose main function is to highlight the protagonist's qualities rather than having a meaningful contribution, often weakening the story's richness and depth.
- 00:20:00 - 00:25:00
The issue of overpowered protagonists lacking depth is addressed with examples from isekai and RPG genres, where main characters often possess immense power but little personality. The speaker criticizes simplistic moral outlooks and relationships within these narratives, which fail to challenge the protagonist or explore meaningful development.
- 00:25:00 - 00:33:05
Finally, the speaker discusses unrealistic or forced romantic plots, where character relationships lack chemistry and depth, reducing them to mere narrative conveniences. They also critique the trope where female characters lose their individuality upon entering a relationship, and the 'idiot ball' trope where intelligent characters suddenly act foolishly to force plot developments, ultimately disrupting character consistency.
Mind Map
Video Q&A
What is the purpose of the video?
To discuss personal storytelling pet peeves.
What example does the video give for a trope that should be left in a rough draft?
The 'allow me to explain what you just saw' trope.
Which genre suffers from fantastic concept but terrible execution?
LitRPGs (Literature RPGs).
What example is given for character assassination?
Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars sequel trilogy.
What is the pet peeve related to overpowered main protagonists?
They often have boring personalities and face no true challenges.
What does the creator dislike about power levels in storytelling?
They often remove narrative tension and can lead to inconsistencies.
What is the issue with romance in storytelling according to the video?
Lack of chemistry or reasons for characters to be together.
What's an example of a story derailing due to explaining how things work?
Stories that spend too much time explaining their power systems.
What does the term 'idiot ball' mean?
Characters becoming inexplicably incompetent to drive the plot.
What pet peeve relates to characters used as author's mouthpieces?
Characters whose sole purpose is to express writer's beliefs.
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- 00:00:00storytelling is the term I use to
- 00:00:02describe everything from video games
- 00:00:04books comics and even music it's a very
- 00:00:07broad topic but one which has a few
- 00:00:09commonalities across all the mediums
- 00:00:12sometimes what is good in one medium can
- 00:00:14be completely terrible in another
- 00:00:16regardless of the mediums we find
- 00:00:17ourselves experiencing a story through
- 00:00:20however I have some personal pet peeves
- 00:00:23which rustle my jimmies anytime I see
- 00:00:25them my goal with this video is not
- 00:00:27necessarily to tell other people how a
- 00:00:30story should be told but more so
- 00:00:32describe my own personal gripes and
- 00:00:34annoyances and perhaps provide an
- 00:00:36alternative which I think is better so
- 00:00:39sit down grab a drink a blanket hit the
- 00:00:41Subscribe button and if you're so
- 00:00:43inclined become a member to my channel
- 00:00:45to view videos early as well as some
- 00:00:47other perks listed on screen right now
- 00:00:49these are my storytelling Pet Peeves in
- 00:00:52no particular
- 00:00:57order the first thing on my list and
- 00:00:59some something I think should often be
- 00:01:01left in a rough draft of a story is the
- 00:01:04allow me to explain what you just saw
- 00:01:06Trope which I don't really have a better
- 00:01:09name for this and in this video you will
- 00:01:11likely see that I do not have a lot of
- 00:01:13good names for any of these things but I
- 00:01:16think you guys understand what I mean
- 00:01:18now this pet peeve in particular does
- 00:01:20not say anything about Exposition in
- 00:01:23fact in some of my other videos I advise
- 00:01:25you as writers to utilize telling the
- 00:01:29audience as just another tool to save
- 00:01:31time and pick your battles as a writer
- 00:01:34however if I were to add something to
- 00:01:36that advice I would say that you should
- 00:01:38not tell and show for the same thing
- 00:01:41this is where my pet peeve comes from
- 00:01:43it's the moment in a story where you
- 00:01:45have been shown or told something
- 00:01:47already and the writer for some ungodly
- 00:01:50reason doesn't think you understand what
- 00:01:52you've just seen or heard so they do
- 00:01:54both to make you really understand I
- 00:01:57find it to be fairly condescending as as
- 00:02:00a viewer and often times it comes off as
- 00:02:02the writer being insecure about how much
- 00:02:05Their audience can understand their
- 00:02:07thoughts and their world one example of
- 00:02:09this is in the old Pokémon anime which
- 00:02:12did this quite often a Pokémon would
- 00:02:14launch something like a flamethrower
- 00:02:16attack at another Pokémon the other
- 00:02:18Pokemon would get burned and winse in
- 00:02:20pain to show that it had been burned and
- 00:02:23then the show would cut over to Brock
- 00:02:26and Misty and Misty would ask Brock what
- 00:02:29was that
- 00:02:30and Brock would proudly declare to the
- 00:02:32audience that was flamethrower it's a
- 00:02:35powerful fire type move that can burn
- 00:02:37Pokemon sometimes like yeah Brock we
- 00:02:41[ __ ] know we just [ __ ] saw that
- 00:02:43commentary like this is often completely
- 00:02:45useless and the only utility it seems to
- 00:02:48serve is patting out run times it's kind
- 00:02:51of like when I loot back and make the
- 00:02:53exact same point twice in a row for a
- 00:02:55video I mean a completely understandable
- 00:02:57mistake that anyone could make and
- 00:03:00it's not actually that bad guys I mean
- 00:03:02come on I also acknowledge that
- 00:03:04sometimes it is necessary to both show
- 00:03:07and tell when the thing which is being
- 00:03:09shown is supremely complicated or when
- 00:03:12the audience could not be expected to
- 00:03:14fully understand what is happening based
- 00:03:16on their current level of knowledge
- 00:03:17jiujitsu kaisen and their power system
- 00:03:19comes to mind immediately sometimes [ __ ]
- 00:03:22happens and the narrator really does
- 00:03:24need to pull us aside and say Here's
- 00:03:26what you just saw but in that same show
- 00:03:29I also think gay the writer ends up
- 00:03:31[ __ ] his own story with that very
- 00:03:34same style of writing if you as the
- 00:03:36writer are always questioning whether or
- 00:03:39not people will understand your complex
- 00:03:41magic system then maybe it's time to
- 00:03:43simplify the magic system and make it
- 00:03:45more consumable for people instead of
- 00:03:47just padding [ __ ] out for the sake of
- 00:03:49runtime or overe explaining everything
- 00:03:51like it's a video essay trying to get
- 00:03:53more views from a longer video run time
- 00:03:56on YouTube and yes I did repeat the same
- 00:03:58joke and I'm still doing the joke I'm
- 00:04:01explaining myself to show you how
- 00:04:03annoying it is glad you understand now
- 00:04:05because you definitely wouldn't had I
- 00:04:07not repeatedly said the same thing in a
- 00:04:09different way anyways where was I what
- 00:04:11was I saying ah whatever moving on
- 00:04:13another pet peeve I have in storytelling
- 00:04:16is what I would like to call Fantastic
- 00:04:18concept terrible execution literature
- 00:04:21RPGs or lit RPGs are a genre of fiction
- 00:04:25which suffer from this concept greatly
- 00:04:28and if you don't know what a literature
- 00:04:29RPG is it's basically when a power
- 00:04:32system of a story is built upon
- 00:04:34role-playing game mechanics think shows
- 00:04:37like Don Machi solo leveling or even
- 00:04:40something like the Pokemon Adventure
- 00:04:41manga often times in this genre we will
- 00:04:44have a really wellth out and interesting
- 00:04:47game mechanic system for leveling up the
- 00:04:49stats of our main character only for the
- 00:04:51story to pretty much [ __ ] the bed by
- 00:04:54ensuring that our main character is
- 00:04:56pretty much the only person in their
- 00:04:58story who ends up mattering the only lit
- 00:05:01RPG I can think of off the top of my
- 00:05:03head which has not [ __ ] the bed in this
- 00:05:05way is the aformentioned Pokémon
- 00:05:07Adventures Manga which I highly suggest
- 00:05:10anyone read if they want to learn how to
- 00:05:12actually write game mechanics into a
- 00:05:14narrative which makes sense while
- 00:05:17simultaneously developing and building
- 00:05:19great characters with an intriguing
- 00:05:21story for children and adults alike
- 00:05:23digressions aside the reason this is a
- 00:05:25pet peeve of mine is usually because I
- 00:05:28cannot help but think about how good the
- 00:05:30story I'm consuming could be when it is
- 00:05:34instead held back by the writer's
- 00:05:36incessant need to fulfill a power
- 00:05:39fantasy for themselves and for the
- 00:05:41readers utilizing game mechanics are
- 00:05:44cool Concepts just to tell the most
- 00:05:46boring bog standard story imaginable
- 00:05:48where all the villains are basically the
- 00:05:50same person who will start [ __ ] with our
- 00:05:52Godlike main protagonist only to get
- 00:05:54folded like origami less than a second
- 00:05:56after talking their [ __ ] but this pet
- 00:05:58peeve of mine applies to more than just
- 00:06:01literature RPGs darling in the Franks is
- 00:06:04another great example of a story which
- 00:06:05had a fantastic concept but an
- 00:06:08absolutely terrible execution or rather
- 00:06:10it had a really good execution up until
- 00:06:13about 16 episodes in before absolutely
- 00:06:15[ __ ] the bed what sucks most about
- 00:06:17this pet peeve is the feeling of wasted
- 00:06:19potential and the inability to see what
- 00:06:22could have been still I don't find this
- 00:06:25nearly as annoying as my next pet peeve
- 00:06:27mouthpiece characters ironically enough
- 00:06:30the only characters who should keep
- 00:06:32their mouth shut happen to be the same
- 00:06:34characters who most constantly ruin any
- 00:06:36sort of good storytelling so that the
- 00:06:38author can vent to Their audience about
- 00:06:41something through a character that
- 00:06:42they've made mouthpiece characters are
- 00:06:44often suffering from a ly of other bad
- 00:06:46writing tropes but often times they fall
- 00:06:48into similar pitfalls it's basically a
- 00:06:51character who espouses the writer's
- 00:06:53belief and whom no one aside from a
- 00:06:55straw man ever seems to oppose the
- 00:06:58mouthpiece character much like the Mary
- 00:07:00Sue will force the story and world to
- 00:07:02come to a grinding halt around them so
- 00:07:04that the writer can create an allegory
- 00:07:06for whatever rant they want to make at
- 00:07:08the time it sucks to read and especially
- 00:07:12when it happens in the middle of a story
- 00:07:13that I'm already enjoying like honestly
- 00:07:16just do what I do and make a video essay
- 00:07:18on YouTube jeez somewhat related to this
- 00:07:22pet peeve is my pet peeve for whenever
- 00:07:24the author addresses the audience with a
- 00:07:26thinly veiled allegory or caricature of
- 00:07:29their critics when I think of this pet
- 00:07:32peeve I think of a a series of episodes
- 00:07:35from Teen Titans Go where freak Show
- 00:07:37tells the Titans about how shitty their
- 00:07:39current show is and how cool the
- 00:07:41original show used to be the writers of
- 00:07:44the show unapologetically put themselves
- 00:07:46in a position of victimhood and Their
- 00:07:48audience members in a position of being
- 00:07:51unsavory people and even when I don't
- 00:07:53personally feel called out by the straw
- 00:07:55man they prop up it's still not a good
- 00:07:57story to tell like who cares what people
- 00:07:59are saying about your show just make the
- 00:08:02show and ignore the audience who are
- 00:08:04hate Watchers if it's not clear by now I
- 00:08:06tend to hate any storytelling things
- 00:08:08which bring the narrative to a grinding
- 00:08:10halt just so the author can pull the
- 00:08:12audience aside and explain things to us
- 00:08:14like we're children this brings me to my
- 00:08:16next pet peeve which I call no I don't
- 00:08:19[ __ ] care about how this thing works
- 00:08:21please just continue the story a good
- 00:08:24example of this is any story for which
- 00:08:26part of the appeal is the mystery
- 00:08:27surrounding their power system world or
- 00:08:30lore only for the writer to decide we
- 00:08:33must know the truth of those things and
- 00:08:35derail any sort of competent
- 00:08:37storytelling to give us a quick lecture
- 00:08:40on how everything works it's the same
- 00:08:42exact Vibe as someone watching a movie
- 00:08:44with us and Them chiming in like um
- 00:08:48actually did you know that in real life
- 00:08:51if someone were to scream in space you
- 00:08:53wouldn't hear anything because there's
- 00:08:55no air in space and the sound is caused
- 00:08:58by air vibrating our eardrums like cool
- 00:09:02dude neat fact uh this does not help me
- 00:09:05enjoy the story more and now I've missed
- 00:09:09what the characters were saying so you
- 00:09:10could tell me how space Works my next
- 00:09:13pet peeve has to do with power levels oh
- 00:09:15boy power levels I have a bit of a
- 00:09:19LoveHate relationship with power levels
- 00:09:22airat Toyama God Rest his soul
- 00:09:24introduced the concept of power levels
- 00:09:26as a joke and everyone took it seriously
- 00:09:29don't get me wrong sometimes I think
- 00:09:31having a numerical measure of power is
- 00:09:34actually a cool way to gauge how strong
- 00:09:36a character is in comparison to other
- 00:09:39characters however the irony of power
- 00:09:41levels in Dragon Ball is that it was
- 00:09:43initially a writing device for Toriyama
- 00:09:46to show how meaningless they were in the
- 00:09:48first place and how power levels can be
- 00:09:50changed midf fight depending on the
- 00:09:52techniques that are being used I hate
- 00:09:55power levels in stories for several
- 00:09:57reasons one reason is because the
- 00:10:00community which talks about power
- 00:10:02scaling and power levels is completely
- 00:10:04insufferable and often ignores the
- 00:10:07merits of good storytelling to
- 00:10:09cherry-pick examples and do some sort of
- 00:10:11pseudo maath to determine and scale
- 00:10:13fictional characters the other reason I
- 00:10:16dislike power levels is what it often
- 00:10:18does to a story if a writer introduces a
- 00:10:21reliable power level system then we
- 00:10:23should know that someone with a higher
- 00:10:25power level will almost always beat
- 00:10:27someone with a lower power level level
- 00:10:29but that also removes any sort of
- 00:10:31narrative tension from the story so
- 00:10:33instead most power level systems end up
- 00:10:36destroying themselves in favor of
- 00:10:38telling a good story only to piss off
- 00:10:40the power scaling Community when someone
- 00:10:42like Goku gets injured by a bullet after
- 00:10:45not training for a few months who then
- 00:10:47proceeds to take a planet cracking punch
- 00:10:49to the jaw a few episodes later after
- 00:10:52having done at least a thousand push-ups
- 00:10:55power levels often don't have caps
- 00:10:57either and if they ever do introduce
- 00:11:00power ceilings to the story it can be
- 00:11:02very tempting for the writer to just
- 00:11:03find a way to break that ceiling anyway
- 00:11:06and have the debris crashed back down on
- 00:11:08the rest of the story in the process you
- 00:11:11know what's way better just don't
- 00:11:13introduce power levels in your story
- 00:11:15another pet peeve in storytelling that I
- 00:11:18have is when I see a story reference
- 00:11:20itself and while I can handle this Trope
- 00:11:23in moderation it quickly becomes
- 00:11:25annoying when the story seems to have
- 00:11:27lost the plot in of retreading old jokes
- 00:11:31or situations we've already seen The
- 00:11:33Simpsons is an excellent example of this
- 00:11:36there are countless moments in the
- 00:11:38modern Simpsons shows which rely solely
- 00:11:40on random [ __ ] humor for shock
- 00:11:42laughs or which reference the memes and
- 00:11:45inside jokes of their own series only
- 00:11:48for those references to make absolutely
- 00:11:50no [ __ ] sense in the context of the
- 00:11:52character referencing them Homer sending
- 00:11:55a gift of himself retreating into the
- 00:11:57bushes to Lisa as a way to avoid coming
- 00:12:01to her concert comes to mind a lot of
- 00:12:03the times to me this comes off as the
- 00:12:06writer saying remember when we were
- 00:12:08actually good guys and yeah it sucks to
- 00:12:11be reminded about how good something
- 00:12:13used to be all the while seeing how a
- 00:12:15story cannot seem to ever escape its own
- 00:12:18[ __ ] Shadow speaking of never
- 00:12:20escaping someone else's Shadow I got to
- 00:12:22say that I am also not a huge fan of
- 00:12:25characters whose sole purpose in the
- 00:12:27narrative is to dick guide other
- 00:12:29characters whether it's a villain of the
- 00:12:31show or one of the main character's
- 00:12:33friends I don't think anyone loves
- 00:12:35seeing a professional Glazer at work
- 00:12:37usually this type of character is a
- 00:12:39crutch that the author leans on so that
- 00:12:42they can build up another character and
- 00:12:44tell the audience about how cool that
- 00:12:46other character is because for some
- 00:12:48reason the author can't just show us how
- 00:12:51cool the other character is these meat
- 00:12:53writer characters uh also tend to be
- 00:12:56just rather pathetic and annoying
- 00:12:58characters too the most glaring example
- 00:13:00that comes right off the top of my head
- 00:13:02is eugin ho and if you have watched or
- 00:13:04read solo leveling but do not remember
- 00:13:07who Yu jinho is he's the pathetic trust
- 00:13:10fund baby who cannot stop throating s
- 00:13:13Jin Wu's [ __ ] for more than 5 Seconds
- 00:13:15anytime he's on screen a character like
- 00:13:17jinho is someone who serves no purpose
- 00:13:20to the story they often tag along to the
- 00:13:22main character to show how much more
- 00:13:24powerful and cool the main character is
- 00:13:26by comparison to the pathetic dick
- 00:13:29sucker following them around it's kind
- 00:13:31of like mogging or whatever the kids
- 00:13:33call it these days and funnily enough uh
- 00:13:36solo leveling ends up turning pretty
- 00:13:38much every single character in the
- 00:13:40series into a professional Glazer or a
- 00:13:44professional hater eventually so it's
- 00:13:46kind of just another reason why that
- 00:13:48story in particular [ __ ] sucks in my
- 00:13:50eyes but that's another video entirely
- 00:13:53speaking of turning decent characters
- 00:13:55into insufferable pieces of [ __ ] let's
- 00:13:57talk about character assassination next
- 00:14:00character assassination or character
- 00:14:02derailment is when you've got a
- 00:14:04perfectly good and likable character
- 00:14:06only to then switch their personality
- 00:14:08with the intention of making the
- 00:14:10audience despise them character
- 00:14:12assassination often happens when the
- 00:14:13writers of the show or story switch
- 00:14:15hands and either through ignorance or
- 00:14:17malicious intent a certain character is
- 00:14:20mishandled in the story often times this
- 00:14:22character does things which are far
- 00:14:24outside of their pre-established
- 00:14:26personalities and makes no sense aside
- 00:14:29from contriving some sort of conflict in
- 00:14:31the plot when character derailment
- 00:14:33happens it is often because the writer
- 00:14:35desires to use that character as a
- 00:14:37sacrificial lamb to slaughter in the
- 00:14:39hopes of creating what they would view
- 00:14:42as a more interesting story this is
- 00:14:44often not a matter of organic growth or
- 00:14:47development on the character's part but
- 00:14:49rather a complete and utter
- 00:14:51misunderstanding and mishandling of the
- 00:14:53character itself either the writer
- 00:14:56actually dislikes this character or they
- 00:14:58have enough hum ous to think that they
- 00:15:00can write it better some examples of
- 00:15:02this include certain iterations of
- 00:15:05Spider-Man the entirety of Zack
- 00:15:07Schneider's DC Cinematic Universe Luke
- 00:15:10from the sequel Trilogy of Star Wars and
- 00:15:12Master Chief from the liveaction Halo TV
- 00:15:15show and speaking of characters getting
- 00:15:18absolutely [ __ ] murdered on screen
- 00:15:20let's talk about one of my least
- 00:15:22favorite things to see in any battle
- 00:15:24shown in you know him you love him it's
- 00:15:27potential man the character of the show
- 00:15:30who is really strong guys we swear sure
- 00:15:34I mean this character always gets
- 00:15:36[ __ ] bodied by everyone they ever
- 00:15:39fight and only ever seems to get a w
- 00:15:42over faceless mukes to remind us how
- 00:15:44strong they are but it's not important
- 00:15:47right now we need this character to be
- 00:15:49our sacrificial lamb to establish how
- 00:15:52great other characters are by beating
- 00:15:54the [ __ ] out of this character non-stop
- 00:15:57when I think of this pet peeve my mind
- 00:15:59immediately jumps to Joo from jjk I
- 00:16:02think it's pretty self-explanatory if
- 00:16:04you've ever watched the show the only
- 00:16:07fights we ever see Joo in are fights
- 00:16:10with two of the canonically most
- 00:16:12powerful characters in history time and
- 00:16:15time again the narrator of jjk must
- 00:16:18assure us that Joo is actually strong
- 00:16:21heck heck even sakuna right after
- 00:16:24slapping the [ __ ] out of Joo for 30
- 00:16:27minutes straight and not getting hit
- 00:16:29once tells Joo to and the Audience by
- 00:16:32proxy that he was in fact strong and
- 00:16:36should be proud of himself and the only
- 00:16:38W Joo ever gets is killing one random
- 00:16:42old man who was never introduced before
- 00:16:45this burning nanami and making Maki go
- 00:16:48through her toi Arc so in essence Joo
- 00:16:52only killed one beline character
- 00:16:54throughout the entire series and lost
- 00:16:57every single other fight he's ever been
- 00:16:59a part of the thing I hate most about
- 00:17:01these types of characters is how the
- 00:17:02author almost seems allergic to giving
- 00:17:05them a w their only purpose in whatever
- 00:17:07story they find themselves in seems to
- 00:17:10be as a gatekeeper for who is strong in
- 00:17:13the series and who isn't it's especially
- 00:17:15frustrating when I actually like their
- 00:17:18character but they're just held back by
- 00:17:20the author's need to use them and glaze
- 00:17:23the [ __ ] out of a different character
- 00:17:24that I don't like the Pokémon games are
- 00:17:27notorious for this we need look no
- 00:17:29further than the rivals Pokemon puts in
- 00:17:32front of the protagonist of every
- 00:17:33Mainline game they've almost never got
- 00:17:36strong Pokemon teams the game resets and
- 00:17:38allows you to rechallenge them if you
- 00:17:40lose and right down to their
- 00:17:42personalities they are just complete
- 00:17:44pushovers I long for the good old days
- 00:17:47when Pokemon was not afraid to write
- 00:17:49[ __ ] Rivals for us to beat and I long
- 00:17:52for the Rival character who is capable
- 00:17:54of holding their own and getting W's
- 00:17:56outside of having their entire
- 00:17:59personality revolve around the main
- 00:18:01character the Rival of the Gen 1 games
- 00:18:03was compelling not because they were an
- 00:18:05[ __ ] to be beaten at every turn but
- 00:18:07because they were an [ __ ] who managed
- 00:18:09to become a champion of the Pokemon
- 00:18:12League before us and were our first and
- 00:18:14final obstacle for achieving our goals
- 00:18:18it was poetic in a way and I miss that
- 00:18:21[ __ ] genuinely and if we're talking
- 00:18:23about an easy way to fix a character
- 00:18:25like this I would tell every writer to
- 00:18:27do one thing recognize this character
- 00:18:30does not show True strength whenever
- 00:18:32they fight and give them a [ __ ] power
- 00:18:35up until they start to actually get a
- 00:18:37ton of W's and threaten the main
- 00:18:39characters or better yet if they are
- 00:18:42strong and they have to lose a fight
- 00:18:45make sure the fight is at least close to
- 00:18:47where we can still respect the [ __ ]
- 00:18:50loser and this brings me to my next pet
- 00:18:51peeve which is the overpowered main
- 00:18:54protagonist with a personality more
- 00:18:56boring than a wet napkin oh my [ __ ]
- 00:18:58god do I hate characters like this pick
- 00:19:00any isekai you see airing and you will
- 00:19:03find this character at the Helm of the
- 00:19:04ship nine times out of 10 often times
- 00:19:07these characters are gifted incredibly
- 00:19:09powerful abilities by some sort of God
- 00:19:11or Divinity only to be the most boring
- 00:19:14little goody Tes with those abilities
- 00:19:16I'm thinking of protagonists who cannot
- 00:19:18hold hands with a female character until
- 00:19:20they've gotten married that type of [ __ ]
- 00:19:23the type of protagonist that will
- 00:19:24proudly Proclaim that they are against
- 00:19:27slavery as if that's some sort of high
- 00:19:29bar or praiseworthy achievement to be
- 00:19:32against slavery Bell from Don Mai
- 00:19:35suffers greatly from this type of bad
- 00:19:37writing We Begin The Story of Don Mai
- 00:19:40characterizing Bel crannell as a coward
- 00:19:43too weak to defeat most monsters or even
- 00:19:46talk to women only to later on gain an
- 00:19:49ability which allows him to level up way
- 00:19:51faster than anyone else ever has in
- 00:19:54history so long as he is emotional
- 00:19:56enough and if that wasn't bad enough Bel
- 00:19:59cranel also seems to be the only person
- 00:20:02in the entire world with a semi
- 00:20:04functioning brain and basic level of
- 00:20:06human decency often times having to save
- 00:20:09poor defenseless women from getting
- 00:20:11harassed by proudly shouting it's wrong
- 00:20:14to harass women the worst part about
- 00:20:16this type of character is how completely
- 00:20:18[ __ ] non-controversial they are their
- 00:20:21opinions and virtues are almost always
- 00:20:24going to boil down to common human
- 00:20:26decency within a world where everyone's
- 00:20:28seems to be a dumb idiot that has never
- 00:20:30thought about their actions having
- 00:20:32consequences simplifying complex issues
- 00:20:35and problems into bog standard
- 00:20:38misinterpretations of true morality what
- 00:20:41there's a slave trade hey guys owning
- 00:20:44other people is wrong wh what I never
- 00:20:47thought about it like that you know what
- 00:20:49you're right I'm freeing all of my
- 00:20:52slaves uh Hey protagonist I I actually
- 00:20:55kind of like being a slave do do you
- 00:20:58mind if I consent to being your slave
- 00:21:01what well if you want to be my slave I
- 00:21:05guess you can consent is important after
- 00:21:08all that type of [ __ ] just makes me
- 00:21:11[ __ ] vomit anytime I see it happen in
- 00:21:13a story this overpowered protagonist is
- 00:21:16truly never challenged on their views
- 00:21:18and they rarely ever really build
- 00:21:21relationships with other characters
- 00:21:23relationships just tend to happen for
- 00:21:26these characters speaking of Rel
- 00:21:28relationships which just tend to happen
- 00:21:31let's talk about romance for a bit what
- 00:21:33do we think romance needs chemistry
- 00:21:36shared interests and effort from both
- 00:21:39parties to make the relationship work
- 00:21:41well for my next pet peeve we actually
- 00:21:43need none of these things have you ever
- 00:21:46watched a show or read a story where you
- 00:21:48think to yourself why are these two
- 00:21:50characters together well I have plenty
- 00:21:53of [ __ ] times whether it's from a
- 00:21:55normal show where the romance is not a
- 00:21:57focus to God [ __ ] forbid an actual
- 00:22:00romance story where the soulle focus is
- 00:22:03the romance I absolutely cannot stand
- 00:22:07when two characters lack any sort of
- 00:22:09good reasons or chemistry to be
- 00:22:12romantically involved with one another
- 00:22:14in fact when this happens it's often
- 00:22:16because the author has a male main
- 00:22:18protagonist and they've introduced a
- 00:22:19random female protagonist to their story
- 00:22:22now what is the function of this random
- 00:22:24female protagonist you might be asking
- 00:22:26it's basically just to check a box for
- 00:22:28the male protagonist to have a love
- 00:22:30interest and a happy ending these
- 00:22:32characters are not actually characters
- 00:22:33because they often function solely as
- 00:22:35robots for the protagonist to marry and
- 00:22:38Love by the end of the story I can often
- 00:22:40spot this in a story when I look at two
- 00:22:43characters in a relationship and I go
- 00:22:45hey wait a minute what do these two
- 00:22:47actually like about one another only to
- 00:22:49have surface level answers such as this
- 00:22:52character likes the way the other
- 00:22:54character smells or this character was
- 00:22:57saved by the other character once and
- 00:23:01now they have never gotten over it when
- 00:23:04there are so many good ways to make
- 00:23:06romance interesting in a story these
- 00:23:08relationships defiantly say no and
- 00:23:11instead expect us to all agree that the
- 00:23:14characters they've chosen to be together
- 00:23:16Mak sense this romance is often
- 00:23:20accompanied by the author telling us
- 00:23:21something to the effect of it was love
- 00:23:24at first sight or it's love which cannot
- 00:23:27be explained which is just a way of
- 00:23:29saying yeah they love each other for no
- 00:23:31reason I realize I've been rather vague
- 00:23:34for the past few paragraphs of this
- 00:23:36script so I'll give a few examples of
- 00:23:38this happening in fiction Romeo and
- 00:23:41Juliet any pairing in ncoy any pairing
- 00:23:45from Infinite Stratos any pairing from
- 00:23:47rent a girlfriend any pairing from
- 00:23:50insert romcom anime here s Jin Wu and
- 00:23:54chaii in Goku and Chi-Chi and any female
- 00:23:58parent in to the main character of an
- 00:24:00Adam Sandler movie also Terry mcginness
- 00:24:02and his girlfriend from Batman Beyond
- 00:24:05because literally every single other
- 00:24:07romance option is better in pretty much
- 00:24:10all of these romances there is a
- 00:24:12distinct lack of any actual romance sure
- 00:24:15some of them may provide the innocuous I
- 00:24:18like him because he's kind argument but
- 00:24:21that's hardly romantic chemistry
- 00:24:24especially when being kind is something
- 00:24:26almost anyone can be and it is very
- 00:24:29rarely ever fully recognized or rewarded
- 00:24:31in real life at least in that way I
- 00:24:34would rather my romances be filled with
- 00:24:36a mix of shallow and deep reasons for
- 00:24:39these characters being together I would
- 00:24:41like to see the cute interactions
- 00:24:42between characters that show how much
- 00:24:44they actually like each other's company
- 00:24:47and how much these characters care about
- 00:24:49one another some human [ __ ]
- 00:24:51connection is what I want to see I hate
- 00:24:53the concept that two characters must be
- 00:24:56together because one is a guy and the
- 00:24:58other is a girl all the while not
- 00:25:00providing the audience with anything to
- 00:25:02point to or Justify the relationship in
- 00:25:05the first place just that the
- 00:25:06relationship happens because it's
- 00:25:08heterosexual as if it's just meant to be
- 00:25:12relationships take effort and
- 00:25:14unconditional love is boring as [ __ ]
- 00:25:17speaking of which a pet peeve related to
- 00:25:19this is whenever I see an interesting
- 00:25:21female character on the screen only for
- 00:25:24them to become the most boring Trad wife
- 00:25:26imaginable after getting married married
- 00:25:28or becoming the main character's
- 00:25:30girlfriend this also applies to stories
- 00:25:32where the first kiss is basically the
- 00:25:35end of the story or getting together is
- 00:25:37the ultimate goal often times Romance
- 00:25:40Writers especially in Japan don't seem
- 00:25:42to know what to [ __ ] do with
- 00:25:44themselves after their two main love
- 00:25:46interests have finally tied the knot
- 00:25:48they were too busy dangling the concept
- 00:25:51of a relationship over everyone's face
- 00:25:53and writing about the chase to recognize
- 00:25:56that relationships and the conflicts
- 00:25:59therein do not stop when the bouquet is
- 00:26:02tossed I could also call this Trope
- 00:26:04taming the Tomboy and relate it closely
- 00:26:07to character assassination in fact I
- 00:26:09think this is one of the more common
- 00:26:11ways female characters personalities are
- 00:26:13assassinated in favor of someone more
- 00:26:16tame and boring darling in the Franks
- 00:26:18immediately comes to mind in this regard
- 00:26:2002 is probably one of the most
- 00:26:22interesting female characters in fiction
- 00:26:25there's a Mystique to her actions and
- 00:26:27the rebellious Untamed Spirit exudes an
- 00:26:30unspoken Riz upon everyone who watches
- 00:26:33her at least until she gets together
- 00:26:36with hero and turns into the most boring
- 00:26:38tread wife possible the moment and I
- 00:26:40mean the literal moment 02 gets in a
- 00:26:43relationship with hero all of her
- 00:26:44underlying flaws and interesting
- 00:26:46character traits and as well as engaging
- 00:26:49dialogue goes completely out of the
- 00:26:51window in favor of our boring main
- 00:26:54protagonist and whatever the [ __ ] he
- 00:26:56thinks about anything that's going going
- 00:26:58on all the while having 02 sit in
- 00:27:00silence and behave like a good
- 00:27:02girlfriend to me it often sends the
- 00:27:04message that the author thinks
- 00:27:06everything is resolved once characters
- 00:27:08get together and no one cares to
- 00:27:10actually contribute or put effort into a
- 00:27:12relationship when they know they no
- 00:27:14longer need to chase their lover around
- 00:27:16it's a rather Bleak and frankly
- 00:27:18disgusting outlook on human
- 00:27:19relationships that I'm afraid far too
- 00:27:21many people unironically believe in but
- 00:27:24sometimes I also think that this can
- 00:27:25fall in the opposite direction which
- 00:27:27brings me to my next pet peeve when two
- 00:27:29characters in a romance are having a
- 00:27:31stupid fight for no apparent reason
- 00:27:33other than to contrive Conflict for a
- 00:27:35story often times this will happen
- 00:27:38between someone like Mary Jane and Peter
- 00:27:40Parker in Spider-Man comics where the
- 00:27:42two will have some sort of strange
- 00:27:45falling out with one another that makes
- 00:27:47no sense for either of their characters
- 00:27:49but I think a much more popular example
- 00:27:51of this pet peeve would be from
- 00:27:53Invincible between Mark and Amber during
- 00:27:56the first season of invincible when we
- 00:27:58see Mark getting chewed out by Amber for
- 00:28:00keeping his superhero identity a secret
- 00:28:03I think everyone on the internet had a
- 00:28:05collective aneurism over it and for good
- 00:28:07reason to feel offended that someone is
- 00:28:09keeping a secret from you is one thing
- 00:28:11but refusing to understand that Mark did
- 00:28:13not want to endanger his family or you
- 00:28:16by revealing his identity is a
- 00:28:18completely different story the conflict
- 00:28:20seemingly only exists to contrive a
- 00:28:22reason for Mark and Amber to be fighting
- 00:28:25as some sort of melodrama in their
- 00:28:26relationship it also just ends up making
- 00:28:28us despise Amber as a character for
- 00:28:31being so completely batshit insane about
- 00:28:33it instead of just being reasonable and
- 00:28:35understanding instead it's meaningless
- 00:28:38conflict which comes off like the writer
- 00:28:40saying see this is what real
- 00:28:42relationships look like people fighting
- 00:28:45over stupid [ __ ] and that's just so
- 00:28:48unbelievably cynical and oversimplified
- 00:28:50that it tends to boil my blood whenever
- 00:28:52I see it but if that boils my blood then
- 00:28:54I would say that this next Trope app
- 00:28:57appup
- 00:28:58really but if that boils my blood then I
- 00:29:00would say that this next Trope
- 00:29:02absolutely vaporizes my blood into a
- 00:29:05fine Mist because holy [ __ ] do I hate
- 00:29:09when characters start playing idiot ball
- 00:29:11idiot ball for those who don't know is
- 00:29:13when seemingly competent characters or
- 00:29:16pre-established competent characters
- 00:29:18suddenly inexplicably become incompetent
- 00:29:22and that incompetency fuels the plot for
- 00:29:25the rest of the story this goes hand in
- 00:29:28hand with character derailment and
- 00:29:29assassination but with one distinct
- 00:29:32difference I am constantly made to
- 00:29:34wonder why these [ __ ] idiots are
- 00:29:37doing anything in the story when they
- 00:29:39could just stop being idiots for two
- 00:29:41[ __ ] seconds and fix everything and
- 00:29:44this is not a criticism of idiot plots
- 00:29:46either I actually really love stories
- 00:29:48like konosuba for example nor is this a
- 00:29:50critique of plots which rely on a
- 00:29:53character's stupidity to happen no this
- 00:29:55is specifically when a previously
- 00:29:58competent and intelligent or clever
- 00:30:00character causes tons of problems for no
- 00:30:03reason and retracts any character growth
- 00:30:07they might have had in favor of being a
- 00:30:09dumbass Fairly Odd Parents was a show
- 00:30:12that often did this in the later Seasons
- 00:30:14long after Timmy Turner learned the
- 00:30:16values of being selfless and caring
- 00:30:18about other people it always seems like
- 00:30:21he tends to forget those lessons just so
- 00:30:23that the plot can happen instead of
- 00:30:25being a story about growing up and
- 00:30:28maturing under the love and care of
- 00:30:30adoptive parental figures Fairly Odd
- 00:30:32Parents turned Timmy Turner from a dumb
- 00:30:34kid who needed to learn a few lessons to
- 00:30:36a maliciously selfish idiot who refuses
- 00:30:39to change or grow at all this also
- 00:30:42happens during a few episodes in
- 00:30:44Adventure Time namely The Saga of
- 00:30:46episodes where Marceline has to slay a
- 00:30:49bunch of vampires from her past Finn and
- 00:30:51Jake often the heroes of the story and
- 00:30:54of the realm are instead complete
- 00:30:57bumbling [ __ ] idiots which Marceline
- 00:30:59cannot rely on during numerous points in
- 00:31:02these episodes Finn and Jake will often
- 00:31:04fumble garlic bombs and hit themselves
- 00:31:07with it letting vampires get away or
- 00:31:09misunderstanding a situation and making
- 00:31:12it worse or just becoming useless
- 00:31:14captives who make Marceline's job way
- 00:31:16harder than it needs to be it just never
- 00:31:19made sense to me and I always kind of
- 00:31:21hated those episodes for the way they
- 00:31:23treated Finn and Jake another example of
- 00:31:25this is Luke Skywalker wherein the
- 00:31:27entirety of the sequel trilogy's plot is
- 00:31:29pretty much due to his own incompetence
- 00:31:32and jaded attitude for some reason he
- 00:31:34allowed all of the new Jedi to be
- 00:31:36slaughtered by one person and instead of
- 00:31:38bringing Ben solo to Justice he runs
- 00:31:41away to live as a Hermit for years where
- 00:31:43no one can find him only to not really
- 00:31:46teach Rey anything about the force while
- 00:31:48Rey kind of just bodies him during every
- 00:31:51interaction they have then he has one
- 00:31:54moment of competence only to reveal that
- 00:31:57he forced ghosted himself into becoming
- 00:31:59an actual ghost instead of I don't know
- 00:32:02staying alive and helping in any other
- 00:32:04meaningful [ __ ]
- 00:32:06[Music]
- 00:32:09way the more I write about this topic
- 00:32:11the more I realize that I can pretty
- 00:32:13much complain forever about things which
- 00:32:15annoy me in fiction it's an Unholy Hydra
- 00:32:19of petty hatred I list off one pet peeve
- 00:32:22and then two more appear in other words
- 00:32:25stay tuned for another video on this
- 00:32:27topic because this one is already too
- 00:32:29long hit the Subscribe button if you
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- 00:32:39thanks so much for watching and thanks
- 00:32:41for listening to me Yap for the last
- 00:32:43probably 30 40 minutes see you
- 00:32:48[Music]
- storytelling
- pet peeves
- narrative
- LitRPGs
- character derailment
- power levels
- romance
- tropes
- exposition
- media criticism