I figured out the story I want to tell, they are a dysfunctional family full of hate

Thank you
I see now, I think if I give good reasons why they have these motives, things that either I or others can relate to, even if they are for bad reasons but it's a fictional story so it can work lol. I think a good way I can explain is the grandfather felt weak as a child because he felt his dad maybe gave more attention and respect to sibling brother? Maybe the grandfather took it the wrong way that his brother was given more respect because he was to be chosen to inherited the family heir. Or the brother was better skilled at martial arts training which his father saw better potential in his brother than him and because his brother was better at control than he was? So this drives the grandfather to go against his brother and his father tempting to kill them both and take the family heir for his own?

But when could I fit in the curse?

So I'm finally getting somewhere!

Well this is supposed to be more cyberpunk sci fi. And the MC is the grandson of the story who has like some sort of good/evil struggle within him like a programed chemical cursed in his veins. When he starts to do bad things or kill, the chemicals or curse in him grows stronger and his evil side starts to grow and take over but he doesn't want it to. It's like he's a completely different persona when his evil side starts to rise and does evil things but he remains mostly on the good side which tries to fight against his evil one.

He's supposed to of inherited it which started through his grandmothers side and then passed on through his father. Though I'm not sure how this inherited curse or power could make sense? He has anger for being born from his family because of this and the actions they take, like deceiving him and trying to kill him, he is against their actions and motives and wants to end them and finish off his family curse

Yes he had anger towards his father, like he didn't feel loved enough and his sibling he felt got more attention than he did which was also jealousy, driving him more mad and wanting to take his father out (who is actually the MC's great grandfather and the father of the grandfather. I know it sounds confusing this family tree lol) so he could run the organization but in a more ruthless way because the anger got the best of him, this is where the grandmother then comes into the picture who was sent out to marry him to get close to him and basically feeds of of others hatred which is drawn to her. And when he finds out and kills her the curse (or chemical is unleashed causing the family to have a never ending field hatred curse apron eachother. Now every action that happens drives another reason for hate and vengeance through the family.

Yes this would most definitely affect people from feeling any love or remorse, like a demon or devil in a sense their evil actions take over without care. I don't have anything involving breaking this curse and so that love and peace can return to the family, not that there was really any real peace to begin with. Maybe the MC has some peace within him the most but also evil and he hates his entire family bloodline for this and the mysterious one responsible for causing it in the past he learns. There's no true happy ending here, just an ongoing conflict of family hate until they are destroyed or defeated which only the MC can do.

 

I really like this set up!

So like the family feud brings them closer in more dark and twisted ways?

This is what I planned for my story! The one who's the major cause are not the ones fighting or getting involved with the family feud but more so responsible for encouraging it. That's interesting what you mentioned about Albania and Germanic medieval nations. For my particular story revolves around a Japanese mafia family. Could the same thing apply?

Thank you I really appreciate it

I plan on having my story pretty dark for the most part.

Because he hated the MC's father since the father would have inherited his mother's curse and because he was probably felt the MC's father would be like his mother and because the MC's father would of wanted revenge on his father anyway for killing his mother by the time he got older so the abuse and tempt to kill the MC's father had to go through from his own father (the MC's grandfather) this made him go evil and of course the family curse passed down to him makes it worse lol. The curse makes them almost blind for their actions and feeds on hate, vengeance and anger. The more angry they get, the more hatred, revenge, the more bad they do, the more evil actions it will feed on them. Almost like a parasite that loves hatred so to speak.

I am! Am I getting better at understanding this?

 

I'm trying to get you interested about the inner - not outer - world of your charters motivation and the base where it stands.

1. Harry Potter want's to become a wizzard. - Why?
2. Because he want's to belong to some community and have a place in the world. - Why?
3. He has a deep need for belonging and appreciation. -Why?
4. He is an orphan who has been raised in a closet under stairs in dysfunctional family. That family points out all the time that he does not belong to the family.

4. Trauma, wound: Not being loved, not belonging.
- What to do for it.
3. Need: To belong, to be loved, to have some appreciation.
- What to do fot it?
2 Want: To get a position in a community of outcasts and weirdos.
- What to do for it?
1. Outer motivation: To become a wizzard (and to have skills and social position above those who bullied him).

The most important guideline in writing fiction is that characters must not be psychologically unbelievable. And going to the roots of they motivational base is how you check this thing.

I have made myself a structure for character file. When it's empty, it's six pages and 221 words long. There is 19 sub areas which I should know and understand about character. 16 of them are only about motivational base of a character. Three which are not are: 1. ID & story position, 13. story and 14.backstory. And as you you can image, story and backstory are related to motivational base.

I don't know have you read books like Vogler's Writer's Journey, Schgechter's My Story Can Beat Up Your Story, Cron's Story Genius, Corbett's Art of Character and so on. That kind of books might help you to pay attention to this area.

I hope that things I say help you to write.

 

Yes! I think we have struck an understanding! Keep building on that idea (giving relatable motivations), I love what I'm hearing so far. Especially the jealousy aspect with the grandfather.

I think this is an area where you could get really creative. Once your characters' personalities and histories are all sorted out then adding the curse is just a matter of what it means to you, or where it comes from. Personally, after learning more about your MC I really like the idea of "the curse" appearing at the onset of commiting destructive actions (like from his grandfather), and then is inherited through later generations. Almost like a tradition.

Maybe Grandfather marries a woman who was also born with the same curse, and the combination intensifies the effects? That seems to be in keeping with everything you have mentioned so far.

Exactly how it happens though, where the curse stems from, and the extent of its influence is up to whatever you believe works. Is the curse related to their actions, somehow? You said it gets stronger the more they give in to it, so could it be fought and broken, even if it doesn't happen in this story?

The curse also grows stronger the more of these characters are together--is that what you were saying? If so, would the MC find himself better able to handle his temptations by distancing himself from the negative influence of his family?

That's interesting. I like it. He wants to see good being done even though he doesn't believe he can become good. Tragic. Damn. Why is that? Is it a "chemical" or was it engineered? Is there a sensation when the curse is active that he can feel?

Hm...if vengeance drives further reason for hatred and revenge, what if one of them, namely the MC, decided they didn't want to seek revenge? What would happen?

Also, am I remembering correctly that the MC's Great Grandfather was good? Does the MC admire his GGF? What was the man like before he died?

I might be getting too involved, haha.

Well, it's a very selfless thing to want to put a stop to all of the destructive behavior of his family, so I would say that's a strong show of goodness in the MC. (A remnant from his grandfather?) I would find it difficult to believe he's evil simply on account of that.

Also, this. Why doesn't the MC like their actions? If he was evil like them then wouldn't he agree with their methods, rather than be trying to fight against them?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and story with me. I think there's a lot of potential here now that I understand more. I would definitely encourage you to keep challenging your own ideas and fleshing out each character's past. Also, I don't know if you've started writing yet, but getting the story down even just once helps to fill in the blanks. Many times a story doesn't reach its best self until it's been written and rewritten a number of times.

 

This should be very helpful to me! So it's about me figuring out each step that relates to why each of the family members take their actions and motivations, besides just the involvement with the curse.

Sadly I haven't yet read them what do they offer that involve in similar events to mine?

 

Yes, you are. Keep exploring the world, your characters and their motivations. Soon, you will get answeres.

 

Thank you, I was trying to figure out more possibilities on what would cause this family to go against one another and why they hate each other so much and what leads each one to hate more

You mean once the grandfather begins his bad actions? That could make sense. It could be sort of the breaking point where it started to release it's inheritance through the family.

This is good! I was thinking the woman he married would have an even stronger ties to this curse, like some type of demon heritage that runs through her family clan for centuries, like a demon/devil mixed race with some kind of Kitsune fox and Jorogumo spider demon mix? She'd look human of course, like her possible disguise. The grandfather is basically human with a curse. What do you think?

Hmm well I was thinking of having this family Japanese and if the grandmother (the grandfathers wife) had some type of Kitsune/Jorogumo demon heritage in her, it would of stemmed from her side from her ancient ancestors of Japan but to add to that someone or something from way further back from the Middle East supposedly had made a packed with her ancient Japanese clan family members which gave them this demonic like powers and it just became integrated within their culture so technically it stemmed from the Middle East as some sort of supernatural powers like from Mesopotamia?

For the grandfather, the curse was more like someone influenced and persuaded him into having anger towards his sibling brother and father that he was no good compared to them and gets less attention. Crating the jealousy and hatred in him. The woman he married, she basically found him and was drawn to him or eachother since her demonic race sense hatred and feed on it. The curse becomes stronger and more hatred arises so it has a less of a chance being broken.

Yes, it would grow stronger that way when they are together but also grow stronger in other ways. The grandfather is driven with even more madness and ruthlessness distrusting his wife, and after finding out she's not human he kills her, viewing her as a monster and not as his wife anymore but this just unleashes the curse even further and any killing murder will make things worsen. Now feeding on that hate even more, it will spread even further into the family generations. It feeds on negativity. So now the grandfather treats his son bad as if he's a monster, who was still a child at the time, being abusive and even tries to kill his son (the father as a kid) why? The fear that he may turn on him for killing his mother and that he carries the same monster in him his mother had and that negative energy is fed upon.

Yes, it's tricky for the grandson because his grandfather was ruthless to him because of what he's become and his father was ruthless and evil to him, thanks to the grandfather(the fathers dad). The hatred is passed down, but the grandson manages to have balance due to his mother(the fathers wife) since she was filled with goodness. I'm still not sure if I should go with this as a chemical that was engineered or a supernatural thing of a curse. But he would feel something when the curse is active, it would be some form of uncontrollable pain and the need to not want to do evil like his family who are cursed.

Do you like chemical that was engineered as a curse? Or inherited down the line as a supernatural family curse better?

At this point, the MC would strive for vengeance to end the family curse by defeating his grandfather, father, possible other members of the family and the one responsible for manipulating this curse to happen in the first place. Even wanting to destroy the root of the cause of the curse invented from ancient times so it can no longer get into the hands of others, it may be a tragic end for him but not necessarily. I was going to say that he never met his great grandfather as he would of been killed before he was born.

It's okay, I appreciate your advice anyway

It's more like on the MC's mothers side where the goodness stems from. But in a way the grandfather and even the father had some goodness in them, not much but a slight amount that was still there but due to so much corruption, it's mostly been long gone at this point.

Well for one thing, he was deceived by his grandfather, as he temped to do the same thing he did to his son (the father) but the mc grandson escaped from the grandfather and his men, also confirming that the MC was defiantly not human, simile to the father and grandmother. The MC's father also evil as he wants to absorb the MC his sons powers for himself so he can become stronger. Maybe even the MC's mother gets corrupted or possessed with evil. He even has a half sibling and uncle that are evil. They basically all tried to kill him at some point, though they want to kill eachother, the fact they tried killing him made him realize their ways are wrong and the mothers oldness in him prevents him from going fully evil.

Thanks! I appreciate all the help and tips, any advice is helpful

I wanted to ask something else, does it sound better if the family was Japanese or Argentinian like from South America? Or just have them as Americans?

 

Yes thank you I will

What do you think would add an interesting dynamic story wise if they were from Japan, Argentina? or US?

 

First, I would advise you to study the cultures you mentioned below to see the dynamics between them. Maybe the story of the countries can give you an idea of how the characters interpret the world, their philosophy of society. If one of the characters are from the contries you mentioned below, maybe could be a start from the curse? The phylosophy behind the family? The hate for each other?

I hope this helps.

 

I'm thinking I can make a good story out of this if they were Japanese? Only because it seems a lot of the mythology can mix well with some of these attributes like demons angels and things like kitsune the nine tailed fox and spider demons? I was thinking of this curse thing to be some sort of supernatural spider curse, that was passed down from the grandmothers side of the family. Could make for some interesting cultural dynamics?

Thanks

 

All you have to do now is just experimenting stuff. Try as well the other countries you mentioned. See folklore and urban legends. Just have fun with your world and characters.

You are welcome.

 

Thanks! I think I'm going to make this MC and his family from Brazil now. I think I can get very creative with this idea. And the curse in the family would relate something to spiders like some kinda spider powers.

What would be some good ways to get inspiration on their designs?