I Don't Want To Know What I'm Capable Of

[redbrunja]

So, the combination of reading Side Jobs while my mom is reading Dragon Bones made me realize another one of my bulletproof kinks: people who are LEGITIMATELY* afraid of what they're capable of and struggle with where their moral lines are.

Examples would be: Harry  Dresden; Ward of Hurog; Alexandra Udinov, daughter of Nikolai Udinov (BANG. BANG.) (I'm on the fence about The Doctor.)

What do you think of this trope? Who are your favorite characters who embody it? Tell me in the comments.

*By which I mean, it's not just that these characters have moral qualms but have to actively safeguard themselves against being as bad as the people they're fighting. So I would argue that Sarah Coner wouldn't apply but Raylan Givens is SO MUCH THIS. And yes, I have noticed that it is a VERY male-dominated trope.

Comments

[mildmay.livejournal.com]

So unfortunate. My mom and I were SO disappointed with Xena when the writers started writing 'on the bad crack' as we phrased it. I have never even seen the last couple of seasons.

I think I watched quite a bit of season 5, but might have quit around the midseason break, because I don't think I saw the end of that season and I know I didn't watch season 6. Though I caught bits and pieces of a couple of episodes and facepalm'd a lot. It really is unfortunate because the first couple of seasons were so strong, but then all of a sudden it was like "wait, what are they doing?"

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Yeah... I wish American television didn't have such a push for more and longer seasons. So many shows would have been so much better and so much more consistent if creators could and did go 'we have a one-season/two season/three season story' and just left it at that.

[mildmay.livejournal.com]

I agree. I think there have been quite a few shows that would have benefited from having a limited number of seasons or a limited number of episodes, rather than just dragging on and on.