#ardea writes stuff

The Villain's Options:

-Repent: "I recognize that I have been acting wrong/causing harm; I regret those actions"

-Atone: "I will selflessly work to undo my actions/repay the debt/rebuild the destruction/heal the hurts I have caused"

-Seek Forgiveness: "This is what I have done to you, here is my sorrow, would you release me from this unpayable debt/shame/guilt I bear towards you?"

-Be Redeemed: "I may reenter the fellowship of those who were my enemies/those who I harmed, at their invitation. My identity is no longer Villain."

-Betray: "I have deceived the hero, I was never regretful and have no intention of changing my ways; I will now hurt them when they have offered mercy and trust"

-Regress: "I am Not Villain but old habits die hard; I am continuing to Make Mistakes and the cycle of personal development, atonement and need for mercy continues"

The Hero's Options:

-Forgive: "I am no longer holding your past actions against you, I have cleared the slate between us and am willing to start fresh. I will not seek revenge/you need not fear me."

-Seek Justice: "This sentence/punishment/fine is in proportion to your actions and your repayment to/removal from society is being enforced by authority outside your own conscience."

-Show Mercy: "You deserve this punishment/fine/sentence, but I will reduce it/not exact it from you."

-Offer Redemption: "In this way, you have regained our trust; we invite you into fellowship and no longer see you as Villain."

-Betray: "I never intended to forgive Villain, but offering it to them lulled them into a false sense of security and I can now defeat/imprison them."

-Refuse Forgiveness/Seek Vengence: "You will always be Villain; you are not permitted to attempt atonement, your actions demand Harshest Justice/banishment/execution/revenge and there is no recourse."

Depending on where characterization goes, the 'hero' and 'villain' role can flipflop mid-narrative very easily! Reader buy-in is necessary and what counts as a 'forgivable' versus 'unforgivable' act of villainy will change depending on story, setting and audience culture. An ensemble cast of heroes may all have a different response to a villain in this process, and an ensemble cast of villains may distribute themselves across multiple options as well.

It's a very useful writing tool IMO. I didn't used to do it much until I realized I was essentially doing it as part of the editing process, so I might as well start with it instead of doing all the same work later.

-For example, I'm working on a scene for Stray Physicists for immediately after the game narrative ends. We're basically in original fiction with some cannon character names at that point, so I can make up whatever I want. If my goal is "a very close, uncomfortably intimate look at the effects of Blue Shift on Calhoun and the logistics of its immediate aftermath," then how the scenes take place, where the characters are going, and who is with them is all very important.

So far those scenes have been written-

-Outside, in a jeep, in a van and in a motor home

-Stationary during a break in travel, and moving over rough roads

-With limited people and with privacy, and with a crowd of people and forced exposure

-With Calhoun still trying to take foremost responsibility and resisting help, and with Calhoun 'taking her boots off' for a minute and accepting the help

So, where I'm from in Very Rural Very White USA, there's a distinct verbal dialect that I am somewhat convinced is a product of:

-less focus on language, reading and linguistics in school in favor of focus on hands-on mechanical learning and life skills, and those learned in-person, not from text

-verbal/auditory communication more prevalent than written communication between individuals- spoken conversation weighted more highly than letters, emails, texts, etc.

-Consistent use of CB truck radios in family cars prior to advent of cell phones that has now altered pronunciation for multiple generations

-Cultural focus on oration and oral performance- poetry, songs and storytelling over printed word or visual media. (cowboy poetry and spoken word are two sides of a very interesting coin)

I am not a linguist or an anthropologist so I don't know if my guesses are at all relevant or near the truth, but when I use what I hear in writing, it shows up like this:

-"Ay they're gonna be commin' fer you now."

-"You sure you wanna be doin' that?"

-"That ain't gonna be a good time, kid. Not for you, not for anybody."

-"An then he says somthin' like-" (which would sound like 'anen 'e says somthinlike')

'ing' endings on words just get chopped off and 'are' is hyphenated or dropped entirely. 'Hey' gets shortened, consonants are pronounced more strongly, words and phrases run together as a single sound. Grammar is secondary to emphasis. I like writing with it because it makes dialogue distinctly different from the otherwise rule-following narration and lets me play with character expression. It also lets me write characters that sound "real" and authentic to my own ears.