traincat

Part two of my responses to questions about The Goes Wrong Show from Tumblr!


solspeak: What elements of Robert's character/voice do you try to keep in mind when you're writing him? Why are you so weird about Robert? Are these two things connected? robert

The main things I bear in mind when writing fanfiction about Robert Grove:

- Robert is always acting. The world's a stage, and he takes that very literally. He's always looking for opportunities to give some sort of performance to some sort of audience, in the theatre or out of it.

- Robert is always correct. Whatever he says, no matter how ridiculous, he says it with perfect confidence. He'll also refuse to take the blame for anything, because that would mean admitting that his actions were wrong, and he is, as mentioned, always correct.

- Robert enjoys giving advice and assistance. His efforts to help will probably make things worse, but he's convinced he knows how to solve your issue, and good luck persuading him otherwise.

- Robert is a very genuine and serious person, but he's not an honest person, which is an interesting combination. He says what he means, he's not in the habit of playing pranks (I'm struggling to think of times he even makes jokes), and, when he lies, it tends to be either because he's panicking or because he believes the lie is necessary for the greater good. (Not everyone will agree with Robert's interpretation of 'the greater good'. For example, he believes that, for the sake of theatre, he should play the lead role at any cost.)

- Following on from that thought, Robert expects other people to be genuine in return; he's a trusting person, I think! He doesn't necessarily expect them to be competent, but he expects them to mean what they say.

- Robert's speech is always a little too grand. He doesn't speak like a person; he speaks like someone acting from a script. His choice of phrasing tends to be on the elaborate or old-fashioned side, and it's rare for him to hesitate or stumble over his words.

- Robert is selfish and has questionable morals, but it's rare for him to act maliciously. When he hurts people, it tends to be because the consequences of his words or actions simply did not occur to him, often because he was too focused on his goal to consider that he'd be hurting someone in the process. The people around him end up just as hurt, of course! But, for characterisation purposes, I think it's important to remember that Robert isn't a cackling villain; he's an inconsiderate friend.

- Although Robert is often rude in his thoughtless bluntness, he thinks of himself as polite, so he’ll follow surface-level rules of politeness like saying 'please’ and 'thank you’.

- Robert is a slightly lonely person, although he may not consciously acknowledge it, and enjoys the company of the drama society.

- Robert is extremely goddamn weird about Chris. Are you writing a Robert/Chris fic? No? Doesn't matter. He is still thinking about Chris two hundred percent of the time.

- Fundamentally, all of Robert's actions proceed logically from the belief that nothing is more important than acting. He's very weird, but he's weird in a way that makes internal sense.

As for why I'm so weird about Robert... well. In part, it's because he's such a fun character! He's dramatic and ridiculous and in-your-face in a way that I find an absolute blast to write, and I have a lot of fun exploring his insane dynamic with Chris.

In part, it's... I'll be honest: it's because Robert Grove, as played by Henry Lewis, is ridiculously hot. I've always had a weakness for a large, imposing man with a loud and aggressive persona, and he's extremely handsome on top of that. The first episode of The Goes Wrong Show I watched was 'The Lodge', which features one of Robert's most attractive roles, and my two main reactions were 'this is very silly and pretty fun' and 'this show contains the hottest man in the world???'

In conclusion, Robert Grove is hot as hell and twice as unbearable, and I find him deeply compelling.


the-red-thread-that-strangles: How is the practice that somehow was scheduled on Valentine's Day going?

It sounds to me like this is a question for the Cornley Drama Society themselves, so I've sent it their way!

Dennis: We've got a question from someone called... the-red-thread-that-strangles? Bit violent. Um, she wants to know how the Valentine's Day rehearsal is going.
Chris: Fine. It's going fine, obviously. We're professionals; I don't know why you'd expect anything else.
Robert: You're being needlessly defensive, Chris; all she asked was how it's going. Thank you for your interest, Ms Strangles. It's going very well.
Chris: We're professionals. It's going very professionally.
Dennis: Annie kissed everyone. And Max.
Chris: In a – in a professional fashion.
Dennis: I liked it. I thought it was nice. And I made everyone Valentine's Day cards.
Robert: Absolutely illegible.
Dennis: But you knew what they meant, right? Because you know what day it is.
Robert: I suppose that's undeniable.
Chris: (very reluctantly) The cards were a nice touch.

I put out a call on my Tumblr for people to ask me questions about the Goes Wrong Show; here's the first batch of my responses!

enter_doctor_frog: what's robert's ideas about musicals? does he like them, would he ever put one on, does he look down upon them, etc

By beautiful coincidence, I was thinking about Robert’s attitude to musicals just before I received this question.

I think Robert likes musicals! My instinct is that he has a slight preference for classic rather than contemporary theatre, but he enjoys both, and he’s not particularly snobbish about genre; he sees value in theatre in all its forms. He’s happy to embrace Peter Pan being a pantomime, for example, whereas Chris insists on presenting it as a Serious Adult Play.

(I think Chris does look down upon musicals; he’s occasionally willing to include a musical number, but I suspect he does it with a pained look. I headcanon that Chris wrote The Spirit of Christmas himself, which might seem strange when I also think he doesn't like musicals, but this is why it's a bad musical! Most of the songs delay the plot rather than moving it forward, because Chris has no respect for the art of the musical; he just thinks 'give each character a song, done.')

Therefore, Robert would absolutely put a musical on. In fact, he’d probably try to write the songs himself, and his castmates would desperately have to prevent him; the results would not be good.

Anonymous: if robert got a persona 5 calling card, how do you think he and the rest of the society would react?

Oh, interesting question! I think Robert would be outraged by the aspersions the card cast on his character, but I don’t think he’d be worried about it; he wouldn’t really expect the Phantom Thieves to succeed in stealing his heart.

Chris, on the other hand, would worry a lot; he’d lie awake, wondering whether Robert’s personality is suddenly going to change. In many ways, it would probably be more convenient! And yet the thought bothers him in ways he can’t pin down.

mygoeswrongblog: Robert is invited to a halloween costume party: What is he wearing and how does he want everyone to react? (bonus if you wanna think about how people would actually react)

Robert dresses as a famous stage actor or playwright for Hallowe'en, and he responds with absolute scorn if anyone asks what his costume is; he’s obviously Richard Burton. Everyone goes ‘how were we supposed to know that?? you’re just wearing normal clothes!’ with the exception of Dennis, who sees Robert and immediately goes 'oh, nice Richard Burton costume.’

mygoeswrongblog: Do you think Robert likes to gamble?

I don’t think Robert habitually gambles; he doesn’t seek out opportunities to gamble. However, if you invite him to play a game with financial stakes, he will promptly lose all his money to you.

mygoeswrongblog: What sorta thing do you think Robert likes to listen to if anything?

I think Robert mainly listens to classical music and audio dramas. The fact that he did a show on the radio makes me think he’s a radio listener.

mygoeswrongblog: Do you have any idea what Robert's favourite play is?

Robert's favourite play is Summer Once Again, a self-penned masterpiece tragically cut short in its first performance. (I firmly believe that Robert wrote Summer Once Again himself.)

For plays by other people: I think he likes both classic and modern theatre, but I think his favourite is likely something Shakespearean. Maybe something on the dense and difficult side, like King Lear, or a comedy that he takes bizarrely seriously. He puts on Much Ado About Nothing but insists on playing it like he's playing Hamlet.

mygoeswrongblog: What do you think Robert's driving motivation is?

Robert is driven, at all times, to put on a performance and get a warm reception from his audience. When I say 'at all times', I mean at all times. If you're in bed with Robert Grove, he's still thinking of it as putting on a performance for you, his audience.

Whether Robert is on the stage or off it, he's always in the actor's mindset; he is overwhelmingly, all-encompassingly passionate about theatre. Theatre's a significant aspect of all the characters' lives, but theatre is Robert's entire life. The only other significant interest he canonically has (or the only one I can think of, at least) is teaching, and most of the teaching he does is teaching others to act: leading the Cornley Youth Theatre, writing acting books, running acting courses.

It’s only just hit me that my 'Robert likes to cook’ headcanon (which is admittedly based on very little; he mentioned that he likes to make crêpes on Christmas Day, and I took that and ran with it) also fits into his love of performing: cooking a meal is a performance, and then you serve it to your audience and get their reactions!