Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Tuesday Tropes: The Cosmic Plaything


Kyle picks up a parking ticket on his windshield, only to notice that a wheel lock will now make it impossible for him to drive away. This is the straw to the proverbal camel's back. Kyle shakes his fist into the air and cries, "You wanna monkey with me some more? Bring it on!"

Unfortunately, Kyle never noticed the banana peel behind him ...

The Cosmic Plaything - a paranoia trope, when a character knows, "for certain," that the universe or some higher being has it out for them, because they are going through a series of rather unfortunate events, or just a really long run of bad luck. This trope can take on the form of curses, self-imposed problems, or maybe the gods really are messing with the character, just to see what happens. You know how those Olympians enjoy their human chess games, right?

Take our first example from Holes. Stanley Yelnats (and his family) are cursed with never-ending bad luck, all because of his no-good, dirty-rotten, pig-stealing great-great-grandfather, and only by complete accident was this curse lifted.

How about that awkward moment in Last Action Hero, when Jack Slater meets the actor who plays him in real life? Apparently, the fictional character didn't like what the actor made him do ...

"You fall out of the choppa, next time ..."

What about Dolorous Edd from Song of Ice and Fire. He complains over everything, yet he downplays his plights by saying he's better off than what most of the other characters are going through ...

"There's sun on my face ... but I've had worse ..."

Let's not forget Arthur Dent from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. His list of horrible happenings are endless, even before his planet is destroyed to make way for a hyperspace express route ...

 http://persephonemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/hitchhikers-ford-arthur-hug.gif
"That's perfectly normal paranoia. Everyone in the universe has it."

Life tends to throw lemons at us every now and then. Sometimes, more than we can handle. The best thing we can do is not panic, take a breath, and repeat to ourselves that "everything will be okay" ... but what fun is that? We can do what we want to our characters, which is the closest thing we mortals have to being a god, right? Now go out there and make a character's life miserable. It's your move, bub!

Where have you seen this trope? Have you included The Cosmic Plaything in your writing? Have you ever felt this way?

I'm David, and where did I put those car keys ...?

23 comments:

  1. Everything seems to work against my main character in the third book. (Although he doesn't think everyone is out to get him.)

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  2. That's pretty much how the 4th Scarlet Knight book started out. She lost her job, got evicted, etc. etc. I also used something like that in a book called "Chet Finley vs. The Machines of Fate" where the eponymous character loses his girlfriend, gets fired from his job, gets shocked while working on a computer, and then uncovers a vast conspiracy against all of humanity that leads to him nearly being killed numerous times. All in a day's work.

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  3. I use this all the time, and one character even curses the powers that be for putting her through it all. Little does she know I"m the one with that power and her misery is much too entertaining to alleviate. :)

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  4. Wow I haven't seen Last Action Hero in YEARS!!!

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  5. Speaking of the Gods and their chess board... (I'm thinking Percy Jackson here.) I've toyed with this trope, mostly in MG works, because let's face it, when you're a kid, the world is out to get you.

    Check the cheese box for those keys, eh?

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  6. I love to play dragon god on mankind. I have a wicked fascination to bring misfortune to my characters. Sometimes maybe a bit too much.

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  7. This is something I'm working on... right now in my revision, actually! And I LOVE HOLES!!!!!! Such a great film!

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  8. Lol, I especially like the one of our former Governor;)

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  9. I gotta say you make me think!!!!!!!! sandie

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  10. Kind of like the garden rake that cartoon characters step on to slam them in the face? :) It's good to pile problems on characters, to make them stronger, but got to be careful not to overdo it!

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  11. Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner just popped into my head.
    :D

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  12. Check your hands. My keys ALWAYS end up in the most obvious locations :P

    I love Holes!! Just don't go near the yellow spotted lizards.

    My main character is a tiny bit paranoid...but there's a murderer on the loose, so she has a fairly valid reason for it.

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  13. Everytime I look in a mirror, I go "ye gads!" before
    I realize it's just me...

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  14. Whenever I watch movies or read a book with my friends they always ask, "Why would you do that!?" And I always tell them, "there wouldn't be a story if they didn't."

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  15. LOL, my poor MC feels this way in the first book of my MG fantasy series. When his guardian has let the refrigerator go empty (just as well because it looks like the refrigerator is broken) and he tries to buy a breakfast burrito at the corner convenience store but the store microwave doesn't work, he thinks: It figures. My life is a cold burrito.

    Of course, it's about to get a lot worse and a lot more exciting ... as is the case in most of these stories.

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  16. The keys are always left in the ignition here. Don't ask me why though.

    I loved watching Holes with my kids. Great family friendly movie!

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  17. Holes is one of my favorite books - I love Stanley's awful circumstances which are fixed by accident.

    I have no used the Cosmic Plaything, but it does sound like a fun thing to do! :)

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  18. Cosmic Plaything is a great way to move the plot along.

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  19. Great examples of "cosmic playthings!" It's always nice to find the unexpected.

    Julie

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  20. I love making my character's lives miserable, and then making it all turn out in the end :)

    ........dhole

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  21. Without those cosmic playthings there would be no suspense, would there?!
    I love it when a character who appears to be heading for disaster is suddenly diverted by a chance occurrence...:)

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  22. Very true, it's so much fun to write our characters into one tight squeeze after another knowing we have the answers to all their predicaments :)

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