When The MC Has To Die

Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by EBohio, Dec 27, 2018.

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  1. Tristan's Opa

    Tristan's Opa Senior Member

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    Think Ned Stark. He died but is still part of the story.
     
  2. Selbbin

    Selbbin The Moderating Cat Staff Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    I'm a pantser and I agree. I didn't know my MC was going to kill herself until she did. My best piece of writing ever, because it was true to the story.

    Yosyp told me that everyone is guilty of the good they didn’t do. But who am I? Who am I? I am no angel. I am no hero. I am a lost and lonely slut living a life that makes no real difference to anyone. I am a mistake. I am an aberration. I am standing with my toes out over the edge, high above the beating heart of waves exploding against the boulders in a white froth that washes back out to the massive grey ocean that goes on and on forever; on and on to the rest of the world; a world that is so fucking big that I could never fully comprehend. Far in the distance I can see a freighter, slowly crawling to some exotic place that I’ll never get to see. Two seagulls glide past me, squawking as they ride the wind together; dipping and diving and dancing before they suddenly turn and fly far away. This is the beginning of time. This is the end of time. And I’ve never felt so alone; so totally and utterly alone. There are no voices or feelings to give me comfort; nothing from Zoia or Juno Nine; nothing at all, not even from God. The sweeping wind is dead. The cold winter bite is dead. The deep ocean water is dead. The dark grey sky is dead. No. I am alone. I am totally alone. And I am terrified.

    Think good thoughts, my children, and dream good dreams. My eyes are closed and I feel the rain on my face. I feel the strong wind washing over the tips of my fingers that dangle by my side, palm brushing against my thigh and pretending it’s you. You caress my right thigh, tracing the curve of a scar I got when a disturbed old man I was helping stabbed me with a broken bottle of wine. You trace the long, thin line on my left hip where a girl my own age slashed me with a razor because she didn’t like the way that I looked. You stroke the patch of soft, mutilated flesh on the inside of my right thigh where a group of teenage boys burnt me with nitric acid after raping me, again and again and again. You explore the long ripple of thin corrugations all the way down my leg where I cut myself with sharp shards of glass, again and again and again, to block out the memories of Marcus, of dear old Yosyp in the camp, of growing up all alone, of trying to sleep while almost freezing to death with a dry empty stomach and head full of doubt, terror, and self-hatred. Each line is a memento of something I want to forget. Each scar is a reminder that the past is very, very real.

    I take your hand. We are standing together on the edge of the valley of the shadow of death, bare and pure; children of nature; children of God; innocence on the precipice of damnation. Let us remind ourselves that one-day God might forsake us. Let us pray. My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. I kiss your warm, wet lips. Tongues curl and caress and explore. We pull tightly against each other, skin on skin, arms desperate to hold every piece of you; to draw me inside you, or you inside me. Then you whisper a soft secret in my ear; a secret that kills me with beauty. No. No. No. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. Our eyes are closed and our bodies are locked in a warm embrace; full of passion, full of wonder, full of peace, bare feet dancing on the cold stone. And with legs entwined we lean and let ourselves over the edge, and now we are falling, falling angels embraced in rapture. And we are falling. And we are falling. And we are all falling. And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! For then would I fly away, and be at rest
     
    Last edited: Dec 28, 2018
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  3. Selbbin

    Selbbin The Moderating Cat Staff Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    He had to die. If he didn't, then the series would be weak and show that it had no bite. There would be no tension as you know good people won't die. That's the problem with the last series. They're too scared to permanently kill anyone significant, and when they do kill someone like-able (like Hodor) they make too big a deal of it and ruin the moment, so there is no real tension.
     
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  4. Tristan's Opa

    Tristan's Opa Senior Member

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    Agreed. I feel it has dropped in quality in many areas. Seems like success brings too much money and they lose focus or creativity. The cinematography and special effects are pretty good.... story is wavering.
     
  5. Matt E

    Matt E Ruler of the planet Omicron Persei 8 Contributor

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    I feel like there's going to be a blood-letting of epic proportions in the last season. Seems like the core characters ended up having plot armor all the way through, we just didn't realize who they were until everyone else kicked the bucket. I guess we'll see in a few months.

    They killed off a ton of characters when Cersei blew up that cathedral right? I was just rewatching the end of season 2, and damn, drunk Cersei is both fascinating and terrifying at the same time.

    Wow, that's really good. DM me some info if that's published anywhere.
     
  6. Selbbin

    Selbbin The Moderating Cat Staff Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    Yeah, but no fan favorites and no heroes. Only a villain, really. And one we wanted dead anyway. Now, had Tyrion been there....


    It's not published.
     
  7. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    Yeah we care about creating a realistic character that readers can invest themselves in, and yes its normal to feel emotion about the work we create.. however it is distinctly not normal to care so much about a fictional construct that you can't 'kill' them because you 'need them for yourself'
     
  8. Jupie

    Jupie Senior Member

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    It's interesting to read the reactions to the topic creator's love for his characters... admittedly, I think it's always good to maintain a healthy dose of distance and impartiality when it comes to your creations, but is it really that strange to feel attachment to your 'darlings'? If so, add me to the 'mental health' list... after all, you've spent months, maybe years of your life with your characters and hopefully you should feel something for them by this point. For me, I start feeling a connection with my characters almost right away -- I mean they most likely resemble myself or my friends in some way or another -- so the inevitable question of whether I should kill them will always hang a little weightily in my mind...

    When it comes down to it, I will do the deed if I have to... I don't think I'd sacrifice a good story purely because I can't bear to kill my dear MC. Most writers will tell you that at some point, maybe even at the very beginning, the fate of your characters is already out of your hands for the most part -- it may be you writing it, but really it's their tale your telling, not yours, and what happens to them is almost as beyond your ability to predict as your own life is. That is to say, we can try and influence what happens in our futures and with some success if we're lucky but when we get right down and to it, how much do we really control, in reality? Probably not a great deal, especially when it comes to our deaths (cheerful though that may be).

    I don't have much new to offer on that score. I think as someone already said you need to be true to your characters, and if that means killing them then kill them you must. Now, you may feel an emotional connection and find this difficult to do, but that is very different to avoiding it altogether. If you love your character, you must do right by him / her, and that means not interfering even if it pains you to do so... their honour and creditability is at stake, and you don't want to ruin what could be a good story with a sloppy, over-sentimental ending just because you can't bear to do what's necessary. As a writer, we often have to make hard choices at some point... but if you're trying to get out of them, you can be sure your reader will pick up on it... and it'll end up ringing falsely in the end most likely.

    That's of course assuming you have to kill off your MC at all. So often these days writers turn to death and to fast-paced action scenes because they think it's what people want to see. And sometimes, they're right. Death is always a possibility and a fact of life -- it's also a good way to raise the stakes and be hard-hitting in some way. But not always. It can even be tiresome and predictable at times... and there are other ways to add drama and make a story's ending sting than just death. Resolution comes in many other forms, as it were, and not all of them have to be tragic. It's okay to write a fairly happy ending, even, so long as it's not dolloped with treacle and makes you wish he had died, that is. But by the sounds of it, what you're planning is a big self sacrifice that he can't conceivably get out of and if your MC is a courageous, noble sort of guy... or the only guy in this situation who can make this sacrifice mean anything, then I'd say let your character bow out the way of the samurai. People will remember him for it better and it if makes you feel something then you've honoured your MC in the best way possible. Chances are, he'd thank you (from somewhere beyond the curtain of death) and give you a pat on the back.

    As Stephen King would say (Dark Tower style) Ka is a wheel, and Ka cannot be trifled with. You must bow to it, and with thanks.

    Or you could ignore all this and do what pleases your heart the most. That's as good as any way to behave, I guess.
     

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