User blog:Corbierr/Characters as Story Devices (A Deeper Look Into Those Affected By THE PLOT)

''So I tried to write this earlier but it gave me a big headache because thinking is hard and the blog tried to kill itself as I was typing it so I gave up. But I'm relaxed, kind of focused and ready to write this thing for real! Enjoy!''

-

Greetings, humans and alien lifeforms. (You know which one you are.) Now I've already spent a bunch of blogs complaining about THE PLOT and how it utterly ruined characters. You may be wondering what else there is to discuss, because we all already know what my point is. But we haven't gone any deeper than saying that the plot is a character killer.

In this blog, I'm going to go over certain characters (Joy, Mara, and Jerome, namely) and not only examine how, exactly, the plot ruined them, but when these things started happening and how, exactly, one can tell the difference between a plot point and a genuine character.

But first, I would like to explain why I think this topic warrants so many blogs. Well, personally, I think it's a good think to think about, especially if you are a writer like me. Knowing how to make characters real and developed as opposed to being mutible to the whims of the story is a powerful way to make your story turn out much better. Besides, if I can't fix this damn show, I might as well bring light to the flaws and share my findings with the rest of you, because that's the only way to feel better about it- knowing that other people will listen and understand these points.

So without further ado, let's jump in.

Joy Mercer- The Walking Romantic Plot Device
Earlier today, during my headache over writing this blog, a good friend (who shall remain anonymous) said something along the lines of "Joy was not a character, until season 2-3, because she had more scenes and plots." I reacted very rationally and typed, all caps, that she was completely wrong and that tonight she'd see why. I want to apologize to this mystery friend for freaking out temporarily on her and say that, yes, these things are all subjective. But since this is my opinion blog, it's time to examine why I believe the exact opposite of what she said. (And to the friend, #SorryI'mNotSorryForBringingThisUpLoveYouAnyways)

First we must travel back in time to the ancient word of HOA Season One, where Joy was just the missing girl. I admit that we barely knew her as a person during this season. But what, exactly, was her character? Was she defined by her disappearance? Theoretically, I can see why one would be inclined to call her a plot-device in the first season. But you see, my argument is this-  '''Plot-device characters hardly have any free will or worth outside of their plot or subplot. They do not do anything besides fullfill the needs of the story by adding drama and acting OOC when needed.''' Joy, in the first season, was definitely a big part of the plot and fueled Patricia to do basically everything she did, yes, but she had a characterization- a role- outside of just being the "Kidnapped Chosen One". She was still a person, and the show went to lengths to show us that in small details- her friendship with Patricia, her scenes in the premier, and her crush on Fabian, for example- make her a bit more than the "MacGuffingirl." (Yes I could have just explained what it was but linking to the TvTropes pages was easier and would explain it better than I ever could.) Now I'm not saying that she was a completely fleshed out character, but at the very least you know she wasn't completely defined by being kidnapped. She still had personality and a life otherwise. And besides, what she did, while adding drama here and there, was not just for the sake of the plot- her actions were not done because they had to be done for the story, but simply because Joy herself was trying to escape and contact her friends ''regardless of Sibuna's actions. ''If she was a plot-device character, she'd have only been known as the missing girl with all her actions and traits focused on furthering the plot along. So in the end, season one Joy was a genuine character regardless of her lack of screentime.

But as we venture into the realm of the second season, something changes. I've already talked about how Joy's personality changed because the plot demanded she rival Nina for Fabian's affections, and I don't want to go into detail about it again, so let's just be simple and you guys should just rest assured that yes, Joy's character changed jurastically in the second season and yes, it was because of the plot. (If you want an actual explaination, read this blog). And this simple fact means that Joy, as a character, started becoming a plot-device around the time of the Jabian Kiss. I can tell. Because that kiss was simply just done because they needed to stir up more drama between Fabina and Jabian. It didn't further Joy's relationship with Fabian, it wasn't done as an act of desperation when Joy was in a weak spot and it didn't seem something like the s1 Joy would have done. It was done only because they needed quick drama and it was an easy solution- have Joy start doing tricks to get Fabian when all she did before was be kind of clingy with him. (And I should point out that her other actions, though certainly annoying to anyone who ships Fabina, didn't seem to be done for unnecessary drama and mostly just because Joy was still kind of confused and wanted to try and get close to him again. None of what she did actually caused any genuine problems until the kiss  -and I do use the term "genuine" loosely- and it didn't seem too far from how season one joy would act.)   From this started a slippery slope of her actions becoming more and more centered around whatever would cause the most drama possible. Sure, there were some moments where she wasn't causing trouble, but in general, her whole role of the season was just to cause trouble for Fabina as well as everyone else in the House and then reedeem herself in the end. '''She was not a character just because she had more screentime- she was a plot device because she was only used to add drama to the story and not just to be a person with an actual life outside of what she was doing for the plotline as well as the fact that her personality/mindset seemed to be constantly dependant on what would be needed for whatever scene in whatever episode. '''That's why she went from being sympathetic and conflicted and relatable one episode and sneaky, mean and selfish the very next.

And before I go any further, I do know that drama is needed in a story, but I just want to say once again that really good drama should be based around the characters and their struggles, and not the other way around. I'm not calling Joy or anyone else a poor character for causing drama, because then I'd be a hypocrite for loving the very dramatic Patricia. I'm calling them poor characters because most of the time, that's what they were, at least when the story got involved.

Season three, she seemed to be in an okay place at first, She was in Sibuna, she was back to being genuinely nice and...she was back to loving Fabian. These are our first clues that she was changing for the plot again, but at the time, we chalked it up to development. The only real reason I'm calling it a plot-caused change is simply because her crush on Fabian this season was only so she could get heartbroken so she could quit and that was just so she could get a makeover. Now, just because this change was done by the plot does not mean that Joy, at the beginning of the third season, was a plot device. Keep that in mind. It happened for the sake of the plot, but at least, it wasn't done to cause drama, it was one in order to develop her as a character. Which, in fact, made it okay. So, uh...no problem here. The real problem is instead that as soon as she quit Sibuna, she had made a plot-based choice that did nothing but free her up for future romantic plots. And then of course, you can tell she was beginning to become a plot-device again when she was in the gatehouse and did not belive Patricia and Alfie for absolutely no reason than that the plot said she would not be back in Sibuna in season three. When did she actually turn into a story-telling tool? As soon as Operation Jerome took off. Because it was around this time that Joy's character suddenly became submissive to Mara (which, might I remind everyone, was the exact opposite of their season 2 relationship) and her character suddenly became forced into another depressing romance plot where everything she did for now on was literally about this plot. She didn't talk to Patricia anymore, or have any scenes that didn't have her at least mentioning this subplot. (Until, um, she was a sinner but the sinners themselves were evil plot devices so yeah.) '''This time she went from a genuinely good character to just another player in a romance plot. I mean, the role could have gone to anyone so the fact that it was her was completely arbritary. It could have gone to someone like Patricia or KT and the end result would have been the same. Which means that Joy herself was less important than the story, making her a plot tool.'''

Mara was mentioned in this section? How odd, considering that she's next...

Mara Jaffray- Master of the Love Triangle
Let's dig deeper into Mara, shall we?

Once again, we'll start off with the first season. She started out fine, just a nice, smart girl crushing on Mick. And for a while, she was just that. No big changes, or any big plot moments. Nothing was wrong until she was called "boring" - scratch that, until she cheated on the test for Mick- and suddenly, temporarily, the plot took over, because damn it, this is HOA, even in season one, the romance plots have to have needless drama to keep people interested because it's not like romances can be interesting without random drama, right? *sigh* Anyways, first she cheated on that test for him, which was the first example of Mara doing something because the plot demanded it. Of course, this one was still kind of in character for her. She wanted Mick to succeed, yadda yadda.

The second big example- Bad Mara- was worse. Even though it was completely hilarious, it was OOC. I mean duh, the whole point was that she wanted to act differently, right? Except that it came out of the blue without any indication that Mara would ever do anything like this. This was the first time we knew Mara could ever stoop low to get revenge on a guy, and it was glorious, yes, but it was also plot-driven simply because the only real reason it happened was over a very little problem and they needed more drama to keep the Mickra shippers invested. As soon as Mick almost got in trouble and Mara developed empathy again, she turned  back to normal so... the whole situation was pointless and had no reason to happen. Over the season, we continued seeing minor shades of the plot making her act temporarily OOC and irrational, but nothing major enough to worth pointing out. So yes, there was only one big moment in season one of the plot directly controlling her, but even still, her whole character was defined by the love triangle. The only acception was when she was with Jerome- except not because even that was just to add fuel for a future  love triangle and tease shippers some more. '''Mara the character didn't matter too much, because like Joy in season 3, anyone could have fulfilled the role and the plot would have been basically the same. She amounted to just being a romantic player, nothing more, no matter what characterization she got.'''

And come season 2, things were a bit better for her over all. I'll keep this brief, because there is little to rant about this season, except for a few things and those can be covered in a few sentences. Over all, she was a rounder, better character than in the first season. She had a better plot, better scenes and even the one time she got into a jealous rage, she only fake-dated Jerome instead of, idk, sending Mick a computer virus because she could probably do that if she wanted to. Not that her role was still any better- last season, she was just a romance plot too, this time she was a romance plot tool as well as a development catalyst for Jerome. So yeah, better role over all but she still had a plot and characterization centered around a romantic subplot and even though in this season she did do more things like get involved with Vera, and the Jack Jackal thing, her side plot with the paper was just a way to stir up more drama- one with Vera, another time with Joy and thus add to Joy's "arc" rather than her own. What I'm saying is, yes, she did some great things this season, but that doesn't make her any less of a plot tool. Not standing up to Joy, getting to report on Vera even though that went nowhere, and the fake-relationship with Jerome were all just ways to continue the storyline and not develop Mara as a character. Yes, some of her best moments were plot-forced ones. I say they were plot-forced because if they don't go anywhere or do anything but add a bit of drama for an episode or two, they were plot actions, not character actions. That is, if Mara had done what she did and those things either mattered to her character arc or gave her a character outside of the subplots or even just were done because Mara wanted to do them upon her own free will, she'd have turned into a real character but since those actions were plot-oriented, so was Mara once again.   Again, I do think Mara was at her best in season two. I am not saying she was a poor character this season, just that she never got the chance to really become more than a player in yet another romantice plot even though she had many chances.

Oh god these paragraphs are long ugh. Ready for season three? Let's all take a breather first and let you all process what you've already ready. So...hear any good songs lately? Read any good books? I haven't read all summer I'm such a loser ughhh. Uh, you guys liking SSSOS so far?...I hope so.

Anyways back to the blog. In an effort to keep this short, I should just say that Mara in season three was totally and utterly defined by the plot in all ways by the time Operation Jerome became a thing. Honestly she started out fine, then started losing it when she refused to take Jerome back because you know drama it has to happen or we'll all die, and then she started slipping. Yes, we've seen Mara become a revenge-obsessed badass but that was back in season one for like 3, 4 episodes and had little to no bearing on the over all plot, so when it happened this time and stuck for all of the season it was a little...jarring. To put it simply, Mara, when she was in charge of Operation Jerome, ran completely off the plot. Everything she did was to add more drama and make Jeroy be together even though they had barely spoken before this season, and  that was it. '''Mara's entire character was based around the idea that HOA cannot have any relationship remain genuinely happy and stable for more than a week. That's kind of sad. '''

But I can't blame Mara completely for being messed up in Season 3. After all, one person played a big part...

Jerome Clarke- Proof that even the best characters can be ruined
It's the last section thank god *confetti*. Seriously you guys have no idea typing all this out is really hard and I have to think so much and it's just hard plus it's midnight and I'm tired and...

...This isn't the vent blog. Oh well, on with the blog!

This one will be the shortest, because in the first two seasons, Jerome was a genuine character. I mean he did have one or two "plot moments" but everyone did so whatever. It wasn't until season three that he became ruined. I don't think I need to really explain how, because you guys should all know how it went. Jerome's character fell down the plot-device slope as soon as he decided to kiss Willow. At that point, all previous characterization had been cast asside to bring back the Jerome that did not mind lying and, well, cheating, to get what he wanted. Okay, okay, so I know he was doing it because he was confused and wanted to spare some feelings but come-fucking-on! Jerome had been completely faithful to Mara up until this point and the show honestly wants to convince me that he'd honestly cheat on her? Please! That was such a plot-moment that it's the only one that was completely obvious. '''The Jerome Clarke we knew and love was replaced with a plot-driven clone that not only was forced to completely forget Sibuna-because apparently the mystery stuff doesn't stick too well anymore- but was also forced to fall for Joy and cheat on Mara, just to learn the same lesson he's already learned and get a new girlfriend. Do I need to explain my reasoning on this one? TELL ME I DON'T. '''

Conclusion
So what have we learned from all this?

Well, for one thing, one way to tell if a character is a story-device or not is by judging their actions throughout the season. If they were done just to add drama or move things along, it's a warning sign. If the character changes out of nowhere because the story says so, that's another red flag. And if the character could be replaced by another character for the same role and lose little in the overall story...yeah. If it's all three? It's not a character at all...

Also, surprisingly, that not all "plot-moments" or even all "plot-device characters" are bad characters. Sure, most of the time they are poorly written, but sometimes they can still be fine characters- they just lack an identity outside the plot. Of course, this is still something to avoid if it can be helped, but it does't always mean the character is bad, just that the plot itself needs work.

Lastly, just as easily as a character can turn into a plot-device, they can also do the reverse. It just takes them breaking the mold a bit and not always being focused on the plot at hand.

---

'''That's all for tonight! Thanks for reading everyone. Comments? Additions? Disagreements? Any other characters you consider "plot devices?" Ideas for future blogs? Whatever you'd like to say, please do so! '''