this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2026
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writing

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Yes it makes sense. It would motivate them powerfully. But it's been done too many times, and it's too easy.

The rule makes you find more interesting ways of motivating them. Are they driven by bruised pride? By romance? By obsession? Anything is more interesting than rehashing the cliché Hollywood loves.


Similarly, don't make a villain more evil by saying "they're a dictator and also a kiddie-fiddler orremoved". That's just tacking on villainy.

That would be like having a right-wing US President, and saying "oh he's also aremoved and best friends with a child-trafficker" - lazy, unrealistic writing. Make your villains more nuanced please.

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[–] Renin@hexbear.net 5 points 1 day ago

The character has a healthy relationship with his family, then their nephew has to move in due to and Nephew so talented it overshadows Character, it's not like the family starts to be dismissive, they still care about each other, but now Nephew gets all the spotlight. You'd expect the Character to get jealous, but they actually become friends and Nephew offers to serve as a mentor, however the Character is like really bad at learning, hurting themselves in the process, this gets the family worried and they ask Nephew to stop it, which is quite severe psychic damage all things considered. After making a recovery Character decides to lay down and accept being mediocre, they get occasional encouragement to keep on, but none of it prevents them from the depressive slumber, years pass and the nephew eventually leaves, things go back to the way they used to?