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RAE posted an update in the group Sci-fi Writers 1 year, 10 months ago
So I’ve got a problem, I like to plan out stories like crazy and many of them I will never write down but will just be added to my mind’s archives. One of theses stories will be the death of Grathmere, my hidden Antag for Guardian Angels and the following 3 books (What can I say? I wanted a complete story). The problem is, after he is defeated by his own son, Alpha, and his daughter, Leahae, learns the truth, he disappears from radar, so to speak. (SOOOO many commas! LOL) Then Arln Firehead becomes Realn emperor and Fettian warlord and the two peoples merge into one warrior nation. I know you have no idea who or what I’m talking about but I think that can be irrelevant for what I need. So into the Fettian Age he leads small rebellions and tries to rise again to greatness but now he must die. (C was so happy when I told him that it was finally time that he can kill him, he never liked Grathmere but I just loved him too much.) So now the question is, HOW do I want to kill him? I don’t want him captured and publicly killed by the Fettians for all the things he’s done. He is immortal so forget him dying of old age. And I want him to meet Alpha and Leahae again, maybe even restore the relationship he once had with his daughter and never had with his son. But how should I do that? C wants me to put him on this primitive planet and basically have him go on vacation and become a semi-good-guy but then…Grathmere is not suicidal so that’s out. I did think that maybe he does restore a relationship with his only surviving children and then make himself mortal but I’m not sure…I would like suggestions, please.
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Hi RAE! I have returned. I shall now proceed to pepper you with suggestions good, bad, and downright awesome. (Teasing. I promise I don’t actually talk like this in real life.)
Anyways, about Grathmere. There’s always the standard ‘badguy turns good, saves goodguy, and dies’ trope. However, I’m not sure that this trope would really make much of a dent on his children, considering the very broken relationship. I mean, yeah sure, he saved them and died doing it, but he was still an evil person who (correct me if I’m wrong) tried to kill them himself at some point in the past.
You could make it a semi heroic death, where he dies in battle against the Fettians, though I know that doesn’t give you any chance for reconciliation.
Honestly though? I like C’s idea. Put him on a primitive planet, give him a little (or a lot) of time to cool down. THEN throw some kind of trouble at his kids that they must have his help to solve and pull him out of retirement. You could fill a whole book with their quest to solve this problem and with working through the relationship. He could die at the end or not. There would be any number of ways to organize a death.
Well, that’s all I got for now. I’ll let you know if I have any more ideas.
Grathmere is a hard character to read. He’s a Wondian Nameless Thing making a little harder for me to put on my Character Cloak. He has never tried to kill Leahae, and she didn’t even know he was such a monster until he was defeated for a while my Alpha and the other Assassin Clones. He has almost killed Alpha more than once, on purpose, but I don’t think he actually would plain out stab Alpha in the heart type of kill him. Alpha, because of some stuff from his DNA, is immune to most diseases except one, and it’s variations. That is how Grathmere happens to almost kill Alpha is he caused Alpha to catch it.
Anyways, that is a piece of their broken relationship, and we didn’t even go to how Alpha is like “kill on sight” to Grathmere. I think Grathmere shall rebuild a daughter-father relationship with Leahae and tries for Alpha but Alpha refuses. Grathmere then goes who knows where while Leahae talks to her brother. I can see flower-sweetened Leahae trying to mend the gap but I can’t see war-hardened Alpha doing that. I think the two of them need to battle it out but who should win? What do you think?
My mom thinks a prophet should show up at the final duel and preach forgiveness. Or all three should die.
Anyways… So, did Grathmere accidently give Alpha the disease or was that on purpose? I get that Leahae is a sweet person and all, but if her brother kills Grathmere when she was just beginning to get to know him, it would probably cause seriously damage to the sibling relationship. Of course, Grathmere could kill Alpha, but the only way readers are going to buy that is if Alpha kinda turns villain, which might mess with everything that you’ve already got. And it would also cause difficulties in the father-daughter relationship. Soooo… I don’t know?
It’s a tough one. I like the prophet idea but getting one…hard. I also can’t see Alpha breaking down and crying, neither can I see Grathmere. All three…that would spiral into chaos for a Realn clan and a entire kingdom Leahae rules.
On purpose. It does not last forever but when he’s under the effects, he’s helpless. It can. Last hours or even months but it always goes away.
I think Grathmere thinks he’s killed Alpha and so leaves and “retires” somewhere. Alpha is beat up but not killed and the siblings are still whole and meanwhile the fact that Grathmere didn’t kill him eats away and in the end you think Grathmere is going to become a good guy but the Fettians catch him and execute him…Do I like it? No. Does it work? Yes. There has got to be other way to do this!
Alpha doesn’t really have to break down and cry. Neither does Grathmere. They just both need to decide that it’s not a good idea to kill each other right now. That doesn’t mean the relationship is going to be completely healed on the spot, but it can at least open the way for it to begin.
Yeah, that last idea works. But if you don’t like it . . . I’d recommend leaving it alone for a little while and letting the ideas simmer. You might just wind up having an epiphany. 🙃 I mean, it’s happened to me before. Maybe also pray about it? Ask God to take the story where he wants it to go? Though I know it feels like an odd thing to pray about…