Yesterday my dad took me out for lunch and errands but stopped before he left the house to ask if I’d be ashamed to be seen with my hick dad while he wore bib overalls.
I laughed in his face and came back dressed like this:
We have had numerous arguments about whether I dress like a hick or like I’m gay. Look, Dad, a fella can be both.
Thanks! This is the most haunting idea ever planted in my brain and I won’t be able to unsee it unless I dramatically change my look.
Stephen Hillenburg was a marine biologist who created Spongebob as a part of a project to help educate kids on the ocean while working at the orange county marine institute. many of the characters in this educational comic went on to become a part of the series, including the future cartoon’s titular character, then known as Bob the Sponge.
this cartoon revolutionized the industry and in its initial boom was widely adored for its ability to be enjoyed by all ages and all demographics, creating an animated juggernaut for its generation akin to the simpsons or looney tunes, with people of all stripes able to remember its finest moments at the drop of a hat.
hillenburg began his official work on this groundbreaking program 15 years after graduating college. he left his career at the marine institute to study at CalArts. he didnt get his MFA until the early 90s. spongebob squarepants, now considered by many to be nickelodeon’s premier nicktoon, began airing the year he turned 38. his adventure as a professional truly shows the power of pursuing far-flung dreams, and that someone can do something huge long after their supposed “prime.”
this man changed animation, nickelodeon, and the childhoods of millions of people around the world forever in his unfortunately short life. i think it should be known just how much he managed to do in his time here, though, and his work and lofty ambition was something to be admired.
the above clip, featuring tiny tim’s “Living in the Sunlight,” is from the debut episode, “Help Wanted,” partially written by Hillenburg. It perfectly encapsulates the completely unorthodox and wildly entertaining tone that made this show so great.
Don’t have them die of old age after a long, fulfilling life. Many people don’t even think of this as sad (note that this can still work if you have enough of the other factors).
Leave one of their major goals unfinished. The more enthusiastic they are about completing the goal, the sadder.
Give them strong relationships with other characters.
Make them fight against whatever is causing their death. Their ultimate loss is sadder if they struggle.
Kill them in the middle of their character arc.
Don’t describe their funeral in detail. Maybe it’s just me, but I find that long descriptions of funerals kill the sadness.
That’s enough Satan’s publisher…
>B)
7. If possible, try to kill them off in the middle of the story, so we had time to like them and we will have time to let the loss settle in.
8. Also, place surviving characters in a situation where having the deceased person there would help them get out. You can choose whether you will point this fact out or if you want the audience to make the connection themselves.
9. Make them die by sacrificing themselves to save someone they love from a danger created by the antagonist.
based on a few deaths that made me blub like a baby…
10. have their loved one, broken hearted, tell the team to stop fighting because “its over.”
11. have their pet come looking for them.
12. have their loved one perform a popular song at their funeral so it makes the fans cry whenever it’s played.
13. family witnessing the death and/or blaming themselves.
~ Mulan
so… let’s add some frustration to your dear readers’ sadness, shall we?
14. kill the character in the middle of making a joke, smiling, or expressing/experiencing joy/happiness.
15. make the character’s death slow and painful, but make them unable to call out for help even though they can literally see the other characters nearby.
16. after killing the character, have others think the character had betrayed them so they’d always hate them and remember them as traitors and never say nice things about them… Give your readers no chance to have group-therapy with other characters by making them the only ones who know the truth.
17. right before their death, show a side of them nobody has seen. (someone who is always tough and brave being genuinely scared of dying alone; someone who is always laughing being in tears before dying, etc.)
18. make them the only person who knows a big important secret that would help other characters in the story.
19. have them being lied to before dying. (thinking they’ve been betrayed; thinking they weren’t loved; thinking they’ve lost their loved ones, etc)
20. make the character very enthusiastic/passionate about a certain goal, constantly put stress on their goal, have them die unexpectedly before they can reach their goal.
and the best one…
21. have another beloved character kill them–better be a close friend to your character, one that absolutely nobody suspects, one that everyone can’t help but love, one who is always enthusiastic about things and encourages your character. THEN
reveal the truth only later when it’s too late and the a-hole character has already escaped.
have a cowardly character know the truth and never tell anyone else
have another character find out the truth and have them die before revealing it to others.
have the said character ^ not actually die, but go through something so they’d forget the friend of the deceased character is actually an asshole.
This way only your readers will know the truth, thus the frustration would be… most enjoyable for you.
Satan out.
24. Show how it effects the other characters. Don’t just gloss over it. Is this the death that pushes them over the edge? Do they blame themselves? Do they scream at everyone and break down, or do they suffer silently?
25. Have their family find out. The mother screams, the dad cries, the brother punches the wall or holds the body sobbing “I was supposed to protect him”, or “come on, you need to wake up”
Antra no stop pls
22. Don’t kill their body. Kill their mind.
Leave the physical shell walking and talking, but strip out everything that made that person who they were. Make them forget all about their loved ones, themselves, their experiences and past, their skills, and have them have to start over completely from scratch. Physical and mental disabilities bonus points.
And keep them in a place where their loved ones will be taunted every day by a living ghost.
27. Have them die by accident. Take the character the readers will love most, who has never been mundane throughout all the time the readers knew them. Take that special character, the leader, the fighter, and let them die from something none of your characters could have prevented. A rotten bridge, a runaway carriage or drunk driver. Anything that could happen to anyone. Let it happen to them.
I feel so much pain right now.
This post pleases me
Describe their death through a loved one’s eyes during a moment of triumph. Describe their exhilaration about their win, only to crush it later as the character dies
28. Make the death pointless. Maybe they died trying to save their child from the antagonist, but it turns out the antagonist never had the child, they were just at a friend’s house and forget to leave a message.
29. Make the death a character whom someone else depended on to keep themself functional. Make the death happen to a character who knew what to do to keep their friend or family from spiraling downward. Don’t necessarily kill this character off, let them slowly get back onto their own feet later, but first let the surviving character get knocked down. Let them get lost without their supportive character.
30. Make it happen after an argument. Make them die before they had a chance to make amends. Cripple the surviving character with guilt over what turned out to be their last words to each other, now to be left unresolved forever.
31. Give the other characters survivor’s guilt.
32. Make a surviving character have to take over the dead character’s responsibilities. Make them feel overshadowed, struggling to live up to the idolized memory of the dead character. Let them try to emulate the dead character in the role they inherited, then struggle with the fact that they’re not that dead character.
This is so useful seeing as I kill off all my characters
@carverly
Just reading some of these made me hurt, so I feel like this would be useful to you
This one might be my favorite 🦇⚰️ #vampire #vampirebat #bat #halloween #spooky #inktober #sketch #art #artwork #inktober2017 #drawlloween #drawing #cute
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