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So here’s a quick question for you guys out there…if you were a prince with an army and arsenal at your disposal, and you discovered that a traitor had killed your father and had captured your older brother, how would you react? What would you feel?
Yikes… that depends so much on the guy’s personality. The prince’s, I mean. If I was the prince I would probably faint… but I’m sure that’s not helpful. 😛
Can you sketch out his personality a little? I could tell you so much more that way.
I would probably pace the floors of the palace in a small area back and forth at such a rate as would ware through the floors in a day or two in a completely zoned out deep concentration that excludes the rest of the world. Meanwhile my head would be spinning at a million miles per hour at how to capture this evil despicable wretch of a traitor without imperiling my older brother. It would probably take me about two hours of constant pacing, frustration, and a few exasperated shouts before I finally came to a conclusion. My entire mental arsenal would be focused on that one issue and I would shove anyone out of the way who would try to disturb my mental concentration at all. (Yikes, that’s bad!)
Now I’ve never actually had something like you described happen to me, but I’ve acted this way once or twice before under very traumatic circumstances, like when I couldn’t find our cheese grader and when I invented a philosophical paradox I couldn’t solve which threatened to sink all of reality into a black hole. Thankfully I eventually solved it. You can thank me you don’t all live in a black hole.
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@Kate-Flournoy he’s calm, cautious, and not in the least bit afraid to face his enemies. His brother has been his best friend and has constantly looked out for him; basically they’re very close.
@Daeus, first off, I must say thank you for making me laugh very hard! That last paragraph was awesome! And secondly, your “reaction” gives me something to think about and work on. In my next book I’m finally writing about a girl because I’m sick of trying to write realistic guy reactions: I’m not a guy and I don’t know how guys think in every instance! I mean, I know basics (I’m not stupid) but when it comes writing and I’m trying really hard to get everything right it gets hard for me.
Glad to help. And the last paragraph, what’s really funny about it is that it is actually true (except maybe the black hole thing. I’d have to talk to some scientists).
That’s a good idea to have a female protagonist. That’s actually trendy you know. Bonus points. I’ve even thought about writing a pirate story with a female protagonist, not so much because I think I could do it well, but more to stretch my mental capacities. It won’t be for many years though, when I think I can do it and not totally wreck it – not unless I become depressed and need to laugh at myself really hard, but I normally have enough to laugh at myself about. Like treating a missing cheese grader like a million dollars that fell out of my pocket. But hey, I use that thing a lot.
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I find I actually prefer to write about males then females. Seeing as my favourite topic to write about is war, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised!!!
@joy-schmidt have you watched Narnia-Prince Caspian? (I’ve only just watched it. So good. Cried heaps and heaps.) Your prince makes me think of him. He is calm and cautious, but when he learns about his father he looses all his sense and attacks his uncle. (Bad move!!!)
Or if you’ve read the Ranger’s Apprentice book 12. Alyss gets killed an Will seeks revenge until the murderer is killed. In the end he is nearly killed himself. *sniff sniff* And then he learns to let it go and becomes human again instead of a monster bent on payback. *happy ending*Haha. Never read it. In fact hadn’t heard of it till now. 😛
The book you mentioned “Ranger’s Apprentice” (from what you said) sounded similar.
It is a book of thrilling suspense, vivid characters, and the deepest emotions you will find in all of fiction.
It is also my favorite fiction piece ever.
It is amaaaaaaaaaaaaazing. (I have problems with understatement)
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RA is by John Flanagan. And with a bit of fixing, they are an awesome series. If you haven’t read them you should!!!
It sounds like a book that I would cry at. (Everything makes me cry. I feel for all the heroes and when they cry so do I) Whenever we watch a movie that we know is going to be sad, my siblings say “Let’s get out the bathers and snorkels, we are about to get an indoor swimming pool.” 😛 It’s just not fair. But I’m hoping though, that one day I’ll make a really good actress because of my easy crying ability.@Daeus I’m sure we all thank you we don’t live in a black hole. We are very grateful. 😉
@Joy-Schmidt okay… I think I got it. I’ll just ask a few general questions to get you started. First off, is he cautious because he doesn’t have experience? If so, the caution is going to be one of uncertainty and indecisive fear, with lots of nail-biting, hair-tearing, and floor-wearing-down, probably topped off by a bad decision that is just the opposite of cautious.
Or is it a caution of experience? If so, he’ll probably be relatively calm (at least have no terrible nervous attacks) and probably be able to figure out without too much stress what had better be done.
What is the character of the bad guys who have the older brother? Are they scoundrels? Or are they in some semblance honorable? If they’re scoundrels, all bets are off as to what had better be done, unless they have a reason not to kill their prisoner. Ransom, for instance.
But if they have some semblance of honor, they will probably be more open to negotiation, and won’t fly into panic mode the moment they see the younger brother marching up with an army.
What does the younger brother know of the bad guys’ character? How will that shape his thinking?
And finally, since the brothers were close and the younger brother most often looks up to the older, the younger one is probably going to be asking himself what his older brother would want done— what he would do were he in the little brother’s place.Whew. Hopefully that was helpful. 😛
@bluejay you should read the Count of Monte Cristo. But make sure you get the unabridged version. Seriously. And if that’s how easily you cry… make sure you have a good supply of kleenex on hand. 😉Really depends on his personality and the circumstances, I would think.
I mean, was the danger of this happening obvious before? Was he fearing this would happen? Or was this a total bolt out of the blue for him? And how was the message delivered? Gently, or someone unsympathetically bursting it on him?
I’m not sure if you do the MBTI for your characters, but that would help narrow down the personality range of reactions.
Just from your short description, I’ll go with the hypothetical ISTJ who was told the news that he was not expecting in an unsympathetic manner.
He’d probably pretend he’s fine as a front for his men, but be alone a lot trying to let it sink in. He’d avoid the subject as much as possible and throw himself into some form of work (say putting together a rescue party for his older brother) with surprising enthusiasm to try and put his father’s death out of his mind.
Burying his grief down deep, in other words. If and when he saves his brother and the two get to talk about their father dying, then would be when the more outward grief would leak out.Sorry, I might have run too far with that. 😛 Anyway, hope it was helpful.
For my part, I very much doubt my brother would ever ask what I would do in his circumstances.
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Well obviously it depends on their relationship… but for my part, if I had an older brother whom I really, really admired and looked up to, that’s what I’d ask myself, especially if I wasn’t very experienced myself.
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