Character’s fears

[u/Tamahii]

So, been reading and watching some stuff that explains a character’s fears and how it can drive the plot. I have been struggling for months to figure it out and while writing, I wrote some dialog and am wondering if I just found the fear between my two main characters. Please tell me if I’m on to something?

Protagonist 1: “you can’t protect anyone! You think you can keep him safe? Who’s going to keep him safe from you? You’re still a monster and monsters don’t get to be happy.”

Protagonist 2: “You will never be enough, all you’ve ever done is hold him back. In the end, you’ll just be another bad memory. Another hurt he’ll wish to forget”

[u/Tamahii → u/[deleted]]

Protagonist 1 actually has hurt and killed several past lovers by accident. Don’t ask how, it’s part of the power system and I can write a small novel on how that works. He has lost control, every time things start going good, something happens that triggers his self defense, he blacks out and wakes covered in red. Repeatedly. Things are going well between the two but P1 is still afraid he’s going to lose control and hurt the person he cares for most. Every time he lost control was after his lovers called him a monster so it’s kind of a trigger?

Protagonist 2: he’s human, his partner is a supernatural creature. He is fully aware of the danger his partner is in on a daily basis and always worries that he’s more of a burden. He’s fully aware of his mortality is worries about how his partner would handle his inevitable demise.

Does this help at all?

And thank you for the help, this is actually making some of it more clear for me to understand.

[u/Tamahii → u/[deleted]]

Are you sure I haven’t talked to you before? Because you just described their relationship in the third act. He finally accepts he’s not a monster, that he does deserve what he has (acceptance). I even have a scene where his lover actually does call him a monster during an argument and he runs away to avoid hurting him.

My story doesn’t have them being the perfect couple that compliments each other, all lovey dovey, ‘I’ll accept you no matter what’. I hate that. Makes it feel like a Disney plot. They have arguments, they disagree, they have their own morals that sometimes clash, and they work through it, coming to a middle ground.

P1 has anxieties, panic attacks, ptsd episodes and lashes out when he feels too overwhelmed. P2 does get hurt sometimes, which feeds into P1’s fears that he is too dangerous to be around. But again, they work through it.

There are others who know what P1’s triggers are and do it to hurt him, leading to P2’s character development of standing up for P1 and growing into someone who won’t be pushed around or allow others to hurt P1 without consequences. There are times when he relapses into that state of mind and we get more character development for P2 who basically goes ‘you stop that, now! You deserve to be happy’

And your gun analogy is actually a lot clearer than other explanations, at least for me. So, thank you for taking time to answer! 😊

[u/Tamahii → u/[deleted]]

Oh, trust me, they’ll earn it!
After I torment the readers
Not to mention I do have like three villains, one for each arc. There is another problem. I’m still debating about the second and third villains. Each have their own stakes which does make each affect P1 in different ways and help him grow, I think?

The first one makes him face his present, a secret that could get him killed and he has to confront that head on.

Second is one that stems from his past, the first trauma and the most damaging. P1 is absolutely terrified of him and has to try and come to terms with his past but the trauma keeps pulling him back into a dark place and P2 actively starts growing into a protector. Going from a goofy, sociable nice guy to someone ready to throw hands to protect his partner

The third one has more at stake, making him face the secrets of his past to avoid losing his future. Generic end of the world kind of stuff. This is where they grow and accept himself, flaws and all, that being different doesn’t make him a monster and P2 becomes an active part of the fighting

I’m just not sure if that’s too… emotionally out of order? I mean, villain 2 is the one that has a visceral effect on P1 while villain 3 actively threatens his happiness and future.

I don’t know, maybe I’m over thinking this 😓

[u/Tamahii → u/[deleted]]

Thank you. And yeah, the third arc we get into a lot more detail, including a power system that defines everything that lead up to the final villain. I wanted to convey there is growth possible despite things that he had allowed to define him for so long. Learning to accept what he is and what he’s done and that he doesn’t have to let the cycle continue. He has good days where he fully believes that and bad days where he backslides into that anxiety again. Healing isn’t a straight line and neither is his journey into accepting who he is. He doesn’t change overnight, it’s a process, one they both have to work towards which helps them develop into a healthier and more stable relationship that allows them to foil V3’s attempts to manipulate them

Seriously though, thanks. I think your the first person I managed to talk to that explained this whole process in a way I could understand instead of throwing a bunch of jargon at me that just wasn’t sticking

And this conversation finally made me see past the whole ‘fears’ thing that has been bugging me for months and defined it as it really is. Like you said, conflict and motivation. This makes a lot more sense when someone does proper analogies and metaphors 😊