Thursday DE

[needsmoreresearch]

As I wrestle with my new computer, I'm tempted to ask: how do your characters handle frustration? Not just the big soul-crushing why-is-the-world-like-this kind, but the little everyday annoyances as well?

Comments

[just_cant_lose]

Gene - same way he deals with everything else. Shouts, hits things, drinks.

Javert - by pursing his lips, talking to himself and looking stern, and occasionally bursting into 1000-word rants.

Valjean - patiently. With added 'I deserve this' thoughts to himself.

Courfeyrac - rants to an audience of friends, then turns it into a joke (unless the frustration is re: monarchy et al) and decides to be cheerful instead.

Bruce Wayne - broods, but doesn't really sweat the small stuff.

Bruce Banner - can't let himself sweat the small stuff. Meditates, lets it go.

Jack Aubrey - swears, sometimes shouts at people, sometimes sounds off to Stephen. Generally fixes whatever the issue is.

Jim - adds it to all the other frustration of everything ever about being alive, and uses it to fuel his world-hating revenge against everything else in existence. Sometimes has people killed, or blows something up.

[crabbycustomer]

^

[bjornwilde]

Izana: Gets hyper dedicated and focused. Usually they put up with things to a frightening degree so when they do have enough, it surprises people.

Ahsoka: Rants and grumps. I'd feel sorry for Anakin if he didn't do similar. ; p

Sabine: Gets quiet and closed off.

Sam: Gets more snarky.

Touji: Is very zen about everything and has to be that way. If he does start having trouble, he will remove himself from the situation.

I'll see if the others want to speak up later.

[whiiiip_laaaash]

Frustrations usually mean something gets stolen. Sometimes it's even related to what's frustrating him. Otherwise Quicksilver just finds a way to mess with things or people that frustrate him and wanders off quietly snickering.

[genarti]

Enjolras makes an effort to ignore minor everyday annoyances as not worth focusing on, just set it aside and deal with what you've got and focus in on the important stuff, etc. Sometimes that works, and sometimes he gets kind of exasperated or cranky in a way that shows. If you really push him, and you're the source of the annoyance, he might get actually snappish, though it's still relatively mild and it passes fast.

Cosette sublimates it into chatteriness, whether it's in the form of cheerily distracting everybody (including herself) from whatever the annoyance is -- I'm not bothered! Let's all be in good moods, see how cheerful I am! -- or in the form of lightly and cheerfully chiding someone for doing whatever it is, to charm and jolly them out of doing it. Or she goes off to indulge in a bad mood for a while in private where no one else will be bothered by it, especially if she can garden or work on a room's decorations or cook or something, and socialize again only when she's gotten over her irritation.

Thor... it depends a lot on the context, whether he feels constrained into good behavior (e.g. in a diplomatic context, somebody else's home territory, while in active prince mode, etc) or feels free to go AAARRRRGH WILL THAT MACHINE NOT STOP BEEPING or whatever. But either directly addressing the source of the annoyance (oh look putting Mjölnir through the microwave stops it beeping!) or working off his frustration with physical activity is usually a good go-to. He mostly does the latter, even though sometimes he thinks really hard about the former and possibly even threatens to do it.

Kazul gripes about things, casually threatens the source of the annoyance, breathes flame accidentally in annoyance, and generally harrumphs about. Either that, or she just puts up with them for ages and then latches pleasedly onto somebody else's suggestion for fixing them, depending on her mood and how much satisfaction drama queening about is. (For example: an annoying knight in front of her gets all the drama. A loose shelf, she'll probably spend ages just rolling her eyes, putting the stuff she cares about on other shelves, and not bothering to fix it.)

[merryeccentricities]

Bahorel: lots of ranting and cursing, the occasional bit of property damage. Which he sort of enjoys in its own right, so that's all right.

Joly: mutters and grumps and sulks and hmmphs for a few minutes, and then forgets about it and goes back to his usual mood as soon as he gets a chance. Company helps. So do cats.

Gringoire: Tries to be Stoic about it and philosophize his way out of being frustrated. Out loud. To himself. Or to Djali these days, which at least looks marginally less odd.