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whoa hey a meme!
Pick a character I've written and I'll list the top ideas/concepts/etc I keep in mind while writing them that I believe are essential to accurately depicting them.*
*I don't think it follows that if other people don't have those concepts in mind they're inaccurately depicting them. For what it's worth.
*I don't think it follows that if other people don't have those concepts in mind they're inaccurately depicting them. For what it's worth.
no subject
1. Natasha didn't have a normal childhood, so she can't relate a lot of the time to what "normal people" feel and think.
2. However, she's a fantastic spy, so she can appear perfectly normal. She can talk perfectly normal and have perfectly normal conversations and fool people into thinking she's an American gal in her late twenties with a perfectly adequate grasp of pop culture, traditional childhoods, and healthy emotions.
3. She never feels normal.
4. Her English is better than most native speakers (she has a substantial vocabulary, because sometimes she has to pretend she's a diplomat, etc), but every once in a while she still searches for words or translates things in her head. It's never obvious that she's doing this--for instance, she doesn't have to pause to think, and her wording is never awkward and she never says, "how do you say?"
5. Clint saved her and she's highly aware of it.
6. She doesn't ever think she can repay the debt to him.
7. She's convinced that she should, and seeks ways to compensate.
8. She wishes she could be Clint when she grows up.
9. She doesn't feel compelled to follow orders.
10. She can't destroy her emotions, though she wishes she could--so she uses them against people instead.
11. So she doesn't visibly emote much around people she cares about.
12. She doesn't really feel guilty about this, because she pretty much always assumes she's being used.
13. I don't do this with every TV/movie canon I get into, but I think because the movie wasn't really long enough for me to feel settled about everyone's speaking patterns, I look at pictures of the cast a lot to try to think about how they would say things. When I look at Johannson, I always notice the way she smiles. It's very unique. And cute. I suppose that's why Bruce notices it too.
14. She trusts people more easily than you might think, because she knows she can take them down. So obviously, she doesn't trust people all the way.
15. Except for Clint, who is Natasha's every exception.
no subject
1. Is that why she was so good with kid!Bruce? He wasn't exactly a "normal" kid, and maybe because of that it was easier?
3. She deserves all the hugs, too. :(
4. (My college Russian professor, though he did have an accent, still had a better English vocabulary than most native speakers. It was damn impressive - I could just sit and listen to him talk all day.)
8. D'aww. Cute and sad at the same time.
13. That is neat! When I read Bruce's interactions with Natasha, I was kind of delighted that he noticed that about her smile too, because I think it's adorable and full of character. (In fact I've enjoyed reading all of the characters because you do such a good job of making me see them, from Tony's intense gazes to Steve's unconsciously noble postures, and Clint's smile too. I love it.)
14. I like this one a lot too.
no subject
4. I took a Dostoevsky class in college, and the prof was actually the Russian prof. Excellent English and more articulate than most--but I have to remind myself not to make Natasha as articulate as my prof was, because otherwise Natasha would stand out. And the point is, she blends in.
13. Thank you! I still feel sort of like I don't have a handle on understanding how to describe these characters, so I'm glad you think it works :o)