On Love

Dr. Mercury by JR Blackwell

I’ve podcasted and written a bit on villains/antagonists and how to make them believable, but the ever-eloquent and so-damned-talented-I-want-to-hate-her-but-I-cant JR Blackwell said it so much better in this blog post.

A villain can be many things – from the casual cruelty of the hobbyist to the concentrated machinations of an expert. But Arching, the true Arching of a hero, that, my friend, takes love. Oh, it’s often thought that it’s hate, boiling rage or vengeance that fuels the rivalry between a hero and villain, but this is only the surface of the grand story. Deep down, beneath the rage, beneath all that fire and vitriol, must be love. You must love your hero, my friends; you must love her like she is your own child, like she is a part of your soul.

~from It Takes Love

She’s right, you know.

In podcasting, starting with the juggernauts JC Hutchins and Scott Sigler, some of us have self-appointed nemeses. Mine, if you didn’t know, is Matt Wallace, former pro wrestler and wordsmith behind many Parsec-winning short stories and the brilliant Failed Cities Monologues. Now, I want Matt to succeed. I want Matt to get book deals and money and groupies and hookers and blow. I want Matt to be the biggest thing the world has ever seen.

That way, when I destroy him, it will be that much sweeter.

Nobody wants a wussy enemy. Take The Tick, who has to deal with Brainchild calling him his arch enemy.

‘Arch enemy’? You must be joking, Charles. I mean, I don’t like you and everything but if I ever *do* have an arch enemy it’s not going to be some creepy little brat with a glass head.

You have to want your enemy to succeed, you have to root for them (when they’re not up against you) just so your eventual victory will be that much more awesome. And if someone else takes out your enemy before you do, then you will feel a hollow place in your heart.

All of that sounds like love to me. Well, most of it, anyway.

I had a realization the other day. Let’s face it. I have a jealous streak. I have human emotions. There are people I have childish feelings toward regarding their successes; I want to TAKES their successes from them, preciousss, as they do not DESERVES them…. Then I realized that I’ve watched some of my friends achieve successes, and the only jealousy I feel is, “when will it be my turn?” Feeling bad towards them, blaming them, wanting to take from them, never occurs to me. And I realized that it’s because I know them, I love them, I want shiny happy things for them. The people I feel the real gnaw-your-fingers-off jealousy toward are people I don’t know. They aren’t real to me, they are simply SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE. (No, I’m not saying whom.) But the people near me, the friends I get to watch as their careers skyrocket, I’m proud and thrilled for them, and just trying to get my own jetpack strapped on so I can catch up.

I love JR Blackwell. That’s why when she does amazing photo shoots and writes heart-wrenching fiction that goes along with it, I can’t hate her. I just admire her more.

So I guess, to get rid of the feelings of jealousy I have, I have to learn to love the people whom I’m jealous of. I have to appreciate their work, and if possible, meet them to have them be people to me instead of FIGUREHEADS WHO HAVE WHAT THEY DO NOT DESERVE AND THEREFORE I SHOULD TAKE THEIR SUCCESS FROM THEM.

Ahem. Where was I? Right. Love. It’s powerful, in both writing and life.

You have to care about something to want to interfere with it. You have to cheer something on in order to want to defeat it. Remember this as your write your antagonists.

Alternatively, in real life, if you actually do love someone, it’s easier for you to cheer for them when they succeed. And if you’re feeling those dark, rotting feelings of jealousy and anger and hurt when someone else does well, then a little love works there, too.