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A character who, when they see another character enjoying themself/doing something fun/generally having a good time at all, feels an anxious urge to make them Stop That. Not because the chastising character is some bitter jealous fuck who just can't stand it when other people are happy, but because they're traumatized after having been cruelly, violently punished many times by someone else for the crime of Visibly Being Happy.
So their urge to make the other character Stop Being Happy now is actually a misguided attempt to protect them. They're actually frantically trying to help as they hiss awful things like "Stop that, stop that, that's bad [you'll get in trouble]! Oh my god, quiet down! Stop smiling! Right now!! Stop it!! Shut up!!" at the other guy.
It's a product of them being conditioned to associate Clearly Being Happy with Bad Painful Things About To Happen As Punishment For Being Caught Showing Joy. They might even think that Showing/Feeling Joy is like, Morally Bad and makes you a Bad Person, if that was a justification they always heard as to why it was okay for their abuser to hurt them for it.
Some things I can think of off the top of my head that could have conditioned the character to feel and thus behave this way:
Having some type of religious trauma from being taught some horseshit like "We're put on this mortal plane to suffer, to atone for the sins of our ancestors, so enjoying yourself is a sin because you're skirting your punishment," etc.
Spending a lot of time around/being raised by a miserable old abusive fuck who WAS just bitter and jealous every time they saw someone else happy, because they weren't, so they continuously harmed the character for something along the lines of "Rubbing my nose in the fact that you're happy and I'm not"
#I believe I see this utilized in a low-key sort of way pretty frequently. Like there's never any attention drawn to it but sometimes --#-- a character who is a prick will have it revealed in their backstory that They Were [Wrongly] Taught It Was Good/Safe To Behave That Way#When the behaviour that they thus now perceive as ''Good/Safe'' is actually Bad/Dangerous in a normal context#And the alternative; the behaviour that they've been taught is ''Bad/Dangerous''; is actually Good/Safe in a normal context#Yet they'll chastise or even snub other characters for exhibiting that Perfectly Normal And Good Behaviour due to their upbringing#.Replies#Tropreciation#I enjoy explorations of how Trauma Can Make You Do Really Unhealthy Things Without Realizing They're Even Bad Behaviour/Thought Patterns#Because I am someone who sometimes catches himself thinking in Potentially Unhealthy Ways while trying to think of how to Avoid Abuse...#I also saw someone else mention recently that it's apparently quite common for people who develop Bad Coping Mechanisms --#-- to try and teach OTHER people those same Bad Coping Mechanisms when they see those other people struggling --#-- with the same problem[s] they had that caused them to develop those behaviours themself to survive#Because they only see that Bad Coping Mechanism as ''thing that saved me''; not ''thing that can and will hurt me and/or others normally''#Really made me sad and made me think#I like to see Unhealthy Trauma Responses pointed out gently in fiction; as like a kind/non-judgemental detached-perspective --#-- explanation of Why Someone Might Feel The Need To Think And/Or Behave This Way and subsequently Why That Could Be Harmful --#-- To Them And/Or Others Around Them#Because then like I Understand It and feel I will be able to catch myself and stop myself if I ever fall into the Unhealthy Pattern myself#idk it's a little hard to describe why it's such a Bringer Of Peace-Of-Mind to me#Also lets me better understand why someone ELSE might be Behaving In A Confusing And Possibly Hurtful Way To Me --#-- while seemingly not intending to do harm#Which can hopefully allow me to respond less reactively/emotionally and more diplomatically to the likely-unintentionally hurtful behaviour#...I think I'm just craving a rewatch of BeyBurst season 1 lol. The characterization and in-depth psychological trauma explorations --#-- there are just unmatched.#It's fantastic in later seasons too but the slow-paced plot of s1 really makes the character writing stand out the most
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