The Edgelord thread

If this exists, lock this thread. But anyways, this is the thread about extremely edgy characters. They can be done well, but more often than not, they are usually horrible. Use this place to discuss them.

I've been thinking of making 2 separate versions of an edgy character of mine. One that will still be kept in the story I'm thinking of but have much more rare appearances as to give them that "oomph" of their edge and to keep their intended feeling of being a danger, a threat or a rarity. The other copy is gonna be the main character like I originally planned, but much more edgier and thrusted into a world of edge that will have a resemblance to the usual depictions of hell. Is this a good idea? It's more of a test, and I'm just wondering if I should go with it. It's to see where they fit more.

Another thing: Should edgelords have rare appearances to maintain the "darkness" of the edge, as to make sure they don't quickly become a hated character that is viewed as a beginner's "realistic" character?

Edited by CardboardBot on Oct 22nd 2022 at 3:34:23 PM

I prefer characters that are depicted as completely underwhelming at first, then have a breakout scene where they earn their edginess.

If they’re generally unlikeable, or, even worse, boring, I don’t think having them show up as rare appearances is really going to matter all that much.

Instead, it might be better for the character to treat “the darkness” itself as a Godzilla Threshold that most of the time they have it under control, until they’re put in such extreme situations that they either willing or unwillingly let it loose, even though it always leads to even more long term problems for them, and thus partially justifying their dour outlook, even though they are otherwise pretty personable.

In essence, keeping the “edge” without making it feel hollow and pointlessly cynical.

I don't think "edgelord" is a specific enough word that I can tell exactly what you have in mind - I associate it with, basically, a '90s Anti-Hero or a Byronic Hero (or to be less generous, someone who hasn't read Nietzsche and can't spell it but likes him for the aesthetic). What's the character's actual role in the story? How do other characters perceive them?

I think at least for me, a character who just wanders around slashing up worse people and muttering grim truisms about shadows is not very interesting without some depth - by which I don't mean a tragic backstory about how they got this way, but seeing them in other situations besides the filthy alleys that feel like home. It's a bit like seeing artists' depictions of tyrannosaurs always mid-roar with prey in their claws - okay, it's a predator, but statistically it can't always be hunting, it also at least needs water and something to do after lunch and at least third of the day it must be asleep. What does the enterprising edgelord do when not an-edging? Do they repair their own equipment, indulge in hobbies, keep a diary of their thoughts and observations and good one-liners for later? Do they have to constantly fight the urge to order their coffee "black, like my heart" and just smirk to themselves about it instead? Or are they actually always edgy, even during an off-day or an out-of-genre experience and they seem to be having some kind of mysterious third emotion besides Slasher Smile and Death Glare, hitherto unknown to science, that they can't quite put their finger on?

I think edgy central characters work best when audiences can understand and believe in them. By that I mean, suspend disbelief about the actions they resort to. Not like..."i can make them wholesome in my self-insert fanfiction!" type of 'believe in them', no not that.

They do also work well as rarely-glimpsed supporting characters with edgy presence. If the story they're supporting takes on a more noble-bright tone or even harsh-dingy or whatever it's called that's closer to the middle, then a supporting edgy character can lend a sense of that yeah there are all sorts of different types of people in this story.

Finally...they do apparently work well as power fantasy, although that rather depends on how wellness is defined.

Lately I've been delving into Chuck Palahniuk's writing advice, and the minimalism recommended for controversial subject matter. It's more about prose technique than the moralism, and I think it's writing advice that can still apply successfully to wholesome subject matter too though? The "Burnt Tongue" technique is basically advice to avoid received text or clichés; the "Recording Angel" technique is basically show don't tell...So I don't entirely understand why generally polished writing should apply particularly to controversial subject matter. But there's that.

Mainly, I think that in a World of Edge the main thing is a sort of what woo-woo types call Shadow Work...applying to either the development of themes, or to the character development, or both in the development of the plot.

The psychological concept of the Shadow is that some body of consciousness, individual and collective, has this egotistical or overly-image-concerned "light"...like, "This hurts my feelings or makes me uncomfortable, so I have to ignore it or eliminate it because it's worthless at best and evil at worst."

Shadow Work means that the very things that are antithetical to this "light" is recognized and processed. I find that that's where the best use of edgy can come from, because the Shadow is also the source of wisdom and creativity. It's just that it can be painful to recognize and to process.

So...sorry if this got wayyyyy off topic, but my point is that to me it's less of one edgelord character and more the thematic context or the philosophical struggle of the story overall.

Or it could be more an exploration of the hellscape that haunts the author's imagination. That can still turn into something accidentally deeper and more thoughtful, and more importantly more coherent, than the author intended or predicated.

I mentioned Chuck Palahniuk above, but I've only read Fight Club and I definitely think subcultures that took that book as a misogynist's how-to manual are reading too shallowly. But that happens.

I've also been getting into the stageplays of Sarah Kane, and I think moral guardians saying that it's too unsuitably violent to ever be staged...are also reading too shallowly. That happens, too.

Because in both of those, it's not all on one edgy character (let's say, Tyler Durden from Fight Club, or Tinker from Cleansed) but how the plot and themes of their stories contextualize a sort of "argument for" them, in the sense of...here are the causes and reasons for their existence, and here are the consequences of their existing.

Edited by Wrensong on Oct 25th 2022 at 8:06:37 PM

I think this should move to writer board since is not worldbulding but a writing question.