1. 33percent

    33percent Active Member

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    MC telepathic problems

    Discussion in 'Character Development' started by 33percent, May 19, 2012.

    Hey this is my first post been reading on these forums quite sometime now. I've been writing my book for a half a year more of a hobby and write whenever I get a chance because I'm in the military. Anyways my main character is telepathic thing is he possesses dreams and memories of other people. Hears voices of people's thoughts randomly like any normal telepathic. Just for a male being telepathic and having the ability to read other people's minds, and see their visions, thoughts etc.. knowing their deepest secrets.

    The problem is him having perspectives of other people's memories, thoughts of the opposite sex- females because MC is male. Besides the point I don't want it to be like the movie "What women want." or "ground hog day" takes advantage of what women are thinking or knows when a women is attracted to him etc..

    How can I have the MC being a male telepathic and not have him manipulate other women for his own disires by reading what women want in a guy for example. The best solution I can think of is he holds himself high on moral stadards. I can even go further and more disturbing I mean I don't think a guy wants to have visions of a girl he likes being with other men or what she has done with other men. It goes same with women as well. or I'm just putting too much thinking into him being telepathic.
     
  2. thecoopertempleclause

    thecoopertempleclause New Member

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    Three words: he is gay.

    Job done. But seriously, why would you want to close the door on that kind of storyline? The potential corruption of a hero through acquired power is a compelling sub-plot at the least. You could perhaps have him use his power to less than reputable purposes, then if you don't want him to fully succumb, give him a really bad consequence of such actions, so he learns the downfall of using his powers for personal gain.
     
  3. 33percent

    33percent Active Member

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    Obviously any guy would love to take advantage of it even I just the reason I brought it up having females POV on it. I just want enough romance/sexual as in like Harry Potter for example. Just showed some kissing, and them getting married having kids in the end. I thought of him being telepathic has I got further in the book but didn't want to involve much romance/sexual which in a way derails the plot of the book. Just I continue having majority of the book involves war, killing, being around realism of death him being telepathic is more of a weapon to surviving. Then having both men, and women fight next to each other in the open battle fields being around each other is like 24/7. Romance/sexual incidents is going to happen.

    Or I can have a other telepathic female to counter the MC abusing his gift. First part of the book he has already experienced an life threating tradegy him involving being with his best friends girl. You do have a good point on him using his powers of a fault of the character that tries to corrupt.
     
  4. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    The natural tendency of any being is to utilize his, her, or its natural abilities. Social norms may result in an ethical limit, but because telepathy is not part of human behavior, such ethical considerations will have to go against a lifetime of instinct.
     
  5. jazzabel

    jazzabel Agent Provocateur Contributor

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    Well, first of all, every person would misuse such a gift, at least initially. So, you can have him do a "been there, done that and this is why it doesn't work/doesn't produce desired results/isn't fun anymore"
    You can literally come up with any reason why he no longer does it.
     
  6. Gonissa

    Gonissa New Member

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    Maybe he sees women's thoughts and freaks out. I read a short story like that once. It was a bizarre social commentary on the over-modernization of women. But of course, you might not be going there.

    So what's the aim of this story? Is it to develop a world of people with supers, or to illustrate one man's path to greatness or folly? Or something else entirely?
     
  7. 33percent

    33percent Active Member

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    I'm glad you asked that, at first it wasn't in my orginal plot of the book. It is more to illustrate the MC path to greatness/purpose and folly. The MC being a telepath came part of the story for a reasoning to keep him alive in a stasis for so long after the MC tragedy. I'm trying to choose the best realistic, and believeable route. Just after I dug deeper him being a telepath, just more questions come about. It's starting to split the plot in two; involving his abilities.

    In the book he's not the only one having telepathic abilities there is other kids younger or older having it. I'm thinking about him going to schools for his abilities with him working with other peers that invovle females as well. I guess I can apply a good/dark side to people having telepathic abilities? I guess the same concept can apply to for example Harry Potter, being Wizard you can easily manipulate anyone for your own bidding even if it involves something for your pleasures. Can it really come down to their character?
     
  8. dave_c

    dave_c Active Member

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    not meaning to be too old fashioned, but you could just give him a sense of dignity and honour.
     
  9. Ettina

    Ettina Senior Member

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    What if he falls in love with a woman who is extremely honest? Myself, I don't think having a telepathic companion would bother me at all, because I have a tendency to blurt out whatever I think anyway. In fact, I'd love to know a telepath, because when I'm stressed out I have trouble speaking and they could anticipate my needs and help me in that situation.

    So maybe he has a tendency to slip up and reveal that he knows stuff he shouldn't, and it puts people off. (Or, if there's no Masquerade, it could just be widely known that he's a telepath.) Then finally he meets a girl who has no interest in keeping her thoughts private, and in fact sometimes wants to communicate something and doesn't know how, and she finds his telepathy attractive. (Basically like me, except not asexual.)
     
  10. Ashrynn

    Ashrynn Active Member

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    You could have him be like Charles Xavier - He only enters your mind if given permission!

    Just kidding!

    If he is hearing their thoughts randomly I would say that you should really put things into a different light. Rather than him using the knowledge in a way that benefits what if it trips him up? For instance he thinks things are going well, but then he hears a thought that tells him otherwise and in the process of trying to make things better he only messes things up worse.
     
  11. indy5live

    indy5live Active Member

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    Go opposite of Nicolas Cage's character in the story 'Next'. Instead of only be telepathic when something involves his own future, make it where your MC can only read telepathic thoughts unrelated to him. Not sure exactly what kind of plot you have going along with the telepathy, but if you can afford to do this, it's an easy fix.
     
  12. 33percent

    33percent Active Member

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    Thanks appreciate it from your POV. Well he does have both a female/male companions kinda like (Ash,misty,brock) in Pokémon. I could have the her attracted to him being telepathic over time because that's my plan having them both fall for each other. Like you said I can have her open minded to him, letting him in her mind to find out what is troubling her. She is very insecure, trained combat killer that takes everything serious companion. I'm trying to bring a "All quiet on the western-front"(My favorite war book) approach to it but Sci-fi. Both women, and men fighting along each other all the time in a sense it's more of a brother/sister hood.

    The main reason I brought the main question of having telepathic reading female minds is because he'll be around, and fighting with them on daily basis not just his companion. Since sometimes people's thoughts of voices/images/memories come random. I'll have him too keeping his mouth shut when yet he knows their deepest secrets becomes it will be a norm to him. I'm debating to have people become really very unease, and become nervous around telepathic indivduals because of their keen sense knowing.


    I was thinking along the lines of their training forbids to "falling in love" is or reading other people's thoughts w/o disclosure or just in general for self-pleasure. I could use a Light/Dark side approach to being telepathic. I know down deep people who have such a ability will abuse it taking advantage of people who don't realize until it's too late, and I can create more antagonist characters. The MC is dedicated warrior having a sense of dignity and honor that he wants to uphold a other reason why he doesn’t do it.


    Plot I have for the telepathic is humanity has come only began to understand ourselves, and what we are truly capable of. Discovery of us being telepathic is only the start of a breakthrough. I didn't want to make the MC too "special" he's not the only one who is telepathic, and it's a rare trait to have 1 out 100 people are telepathic. I have it in the story the telepathic traits are dormant unless something triggers it or gradually evolves . It's more used as a discrete MOS in the military it is more of valuable asset for military/strategic purposes. He's not the only one who is telepathic so he goes to a school with other peers where he gets educated/trained with who have the same abilities. While a open war is breaking out having constant civil unrest, political upheavals and so on.
     

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