Hey y'all. It's been an eternity, and I'll be surprised if anyone remembers who I am. A long, long time ago, I came up with an idea for a novel. In short, the villains are the seven deadly sins personified. They kidnap two females each and put them through a series of trials. One girl dies at the end of each trial. Whichever girl is left standing takes the place of whichever sin she most personified during the trial, and the original one dies. My MC Nina will end up being envy. My first idea was to have her be seduced by the power and be corrupted into wanting the position, ending with her killing her own sister (who she had an awful relationship with her whole life) to achieve her goal. I'd do a sequel where she realizes she's wrong, the other demons are wrong, and the saves herself. But now I'm wondering if I should make the story play more on the sins. The demons aren't evil, the sins aren't evil, and the seven deadly "sins" are actually an important part of a person's character (at healthy levels). If I did it the second way, my story would have to change a lot. Can't have my demons killing people and try to say they aren't bad people. The reason for my predicament is that I don't see my demons as evil. They're just people with dark magical abilities. I find myself rooting for a couple of them even. And that's not good. lol I doubt anyone else will see them the way I do and readers will likely want the demons punished, which I don't want to do. And they won't want them to achieve a happy ending because, hello, murderers and stuff. So I'm not sure what to do here. Any advice?
Milton, four hundred years ago, made audiences in Anglican/Catholic England question their mental and spiritual depictions of Satan in Paradise Lost. From his writing, I feel I understand Satan better as an angel, not just a devil. People can most certainly accept a relatable demon nowadays. Both your routes sound quite interesting, but the second I would say is better. Not because it's a better idea, but because you are more connected to the characters. One of my favorite "rules" in writing is to write things you yourself would read. If you like the characters and route of the second idea, even if it takes more work, it will probably come out easier and better. I would go with that one. Otherwise you may be forcing too much and it can make your characters flat and plot stale. But I would read either idea honestly. They sound fun.
No worries, I'm still relatively new here so odds are we've never even conversed before. Just wondering, as a general thing, if you'd done any research into the actual seven deadly sins? Like, in terms of Christian ethics? It's actually kinda fascinating. I'm only asking because surprisingly often, people don't do that and just go with whatever they assume the sins represent. Turns out the sins aren't just arbitrary "evil acts/thoughts" or rules that make God mad at you if you break them. They're more like... unhealthy behavior patterns that weaken you spiritually. (Or morally, if you prefer.) Very severe character flaws, if you will. Or bad habits that prevent you from becoming a better person. They also denote fairly specific things, as opposed to how we use the words colloquially. I never really got why sloth or lust or pride were bad things until I looked into this stuff. For example, the sin of Sloth isn't just being ordinary lazy, it also refers to moral laziness - not bothering doing what you know is right, because it would inconvenience you, or you don't consider it your problem, or you're not brave enough. Basically, it's the sin of "not trying hard enough to be good." (Might be my favorite of the seven sins simply because it's so subtle yet relatable.) I dunno, maybe that could be a good angle for you: Your demons may not be evil, but they have some very severe flaws that result in amoral behavior even if they're not actively trying to be bad people.
So there's no good out come for the character? She either dies or becomes a horrible emotion? So where's the drive is succeed and survive? The thin about the sins is they can apply to people who aren't even trying to be bad. They are mostly, emotions we all feel at some point, if only for a mere second. What is her goal? because mine would be to escape their clutches. Why do they need another demon to represent envy when there is all ready a demon for that? Can't really be of any help as I don't fully understand the premise. You could try both paths and see which ends up better.
That's why I'm leaning more towards the first option. The story is essentially about the divide between Nina and her sister. They basically hate each other because they're jealous of the life they both live. Nina feels her sister is the favorite and does everything right and gets anything she wants. Her sister feels like Nina is free and can do whatever she wants without approval needed and doesn't have to work hard for what she wants. So it's put this rift between them. They were both kidnapped, so the entire story drives them further and further apart until it's just the two of them, and Nina feels like she's finally better than her sister and kills her. So yes, she goes crazy. She's consumed by the envy she feels for her sister until it destroys her and she becomes a demon like the rest of them. (Plot twist, the current envy demon is her sister's fiance). The demons originally only do it because they're bored. Some of them have been around for hundreds of years and they use it as entertainment. I haven't decided how often they do it, but they do it pretty often and they don't always get a demon out of it. If the victims (sometimes groups of men) aren't corrupted enough, they don't become demons and the entire process is a waste.
They all start as humans who became demons through some act, usually murder. My wrath demon kills her husband for being abusive. My greed demon kills a business partner after threatening to expose his schemes. So they're all pretty bad and have done bad things. But they're still people who aren't completely 100% evil. And I'm struggling with that. lol Like my pride demon very much cares about my MC, in a very human way. And the wrath demon is his sister, so he is very protective of her. Sloth and gluttony are nonchalant and don't care about the politics, but they're fun and like to party and joke and play pranks and whatnot. I have a soft spot for sloth, actually. lol He was turned as just a teenager so he's still immature and fun. I've done a lot of search, but I may need to do more just to be safe. I thought about changing them to be my own version of the seven deadly sins so that I wouldn't have to ascribe to Christian beliefs, but I think the seven deadly sins would be more wildly recognized and easier to convey. So I'll have to do more research!
The thing is, if you go and actually read about what the seven deadly sins are in Catholic doctrine, it becomes pretty clear that they are evil. If you're going to pervert their meanings beyond recognition, then ok I guess, but it seems like it would be hard to truly represent greed or gluttony or lust in a sympathetic way.
Well that's why I was considering this option. I had planned on making these "demons" exist before Christianity and when Christianity came along, they didn't like the way the "demons" lived, so they perverted it to make them seem worse than they actually are.
I think you're really messing around with philosophy too much. Pride, lust, and the like really are evil. After all, it's clear that it's envy destroying the sisters' relationship, and you can't really spin that to make it good. Or if you could, you would be doing a disservice to your more easily influenced readers. Not to mention that "pre-Christian" doesn't really matter, as Christianity is the expansion set of Judaism, which has existed for a very long time. The definition of demon is the same, and I'm going to be honest, I've always hated those stories that try to make demons nice or relatable (mostly happens in Japan, it seems like), because a demon is characterized by evil -- in terms of species, it's the exact same as angels, except they've turned away from morality. That is to say, being a demon is a moral choice for a spirit being, not a species distinction. That, and the demons as you describe them don't sound like they're capable of good. The game you've created (actually very interesting) makes them look 100% evil, and quite frankly this story sounds amazing as one of those really messed up dark horror stories. I don't see how they could force people to play their game and be sympathetic at all.
Remember that the seven deadly sins aren't from the bible. Some denominations incorporated them into doctrine at some point, but they're from a book that most denominations consider to be a work of fiction. I don't know that this information is germane to your story, but it's worth knowing. I like your second idea, but I wouldn't think that showing them in a sympathetic light would necessarily preclude a little murder, especially in their past. There are plenty of ways to humanize a character that has committed or continues to commit atrocities. Show the reader what you like about them despite their perceived or assumed personas, and the reader might like them too.
