Let's take a moment to recap

Recap

In the last few posts I've had a bit of a circuitous route to sorting out the Thematic elements of Fiend.  near the end of the process I discovered I'd made an enormous gaffe, and had to backtrack a bit to sort it out.  By doing so I've touched on nearly everything we've done since the start, so it would be good to recap where we're at.


So where are we with the chessboard

After all the to-ing and fro-ing we made a couple of relatively minor changes to the character chessboard.  To get the theme mapping to work we swapped Fiend and Elaine in the bottom right Dimension. I also noticed we had Peter twice in the same top right quad, so I had to swap him out with Elaine from another one - hopefully this won't break anything else.

This gives the 'final' character chessboard at the moment.

Motivation Dimension Consider Jacob Logic Bobby Pursuit Jacob Control Thomas Feeling Thomas Reconsider Fiend Uncontrolled William Avoid Fiend Faith Peter Conscience Elaine Support Peter Help Katie Temptation Katie Disbelief William Hinder Elaine Oppose Bobby	Purpose Dimension Knowledge Thomas Ability William Actuality Katie Aware Peter Desire Jake Thought Katie Self Aware Fiend Perception Elaine Order Thomas Equity Jake Inertia Elaine Projection Fiend Inequity Peter Chaos Bobby Speculation William Change Bobby
Certainty Peter Probability Thomas Proaction Fiend Inaction Elaine Possibility William Potentiality Fiend Protection Bobby Reaction Jake Deduction Thomas Reduction William Acceptance Peter Evaluation Katie Production Jake Induction Katie Reevaluation Bobby Nonacceptance Elaine Methodology Dimension	Proven Thomas Theory Katie Effect Fiend Trust William Hunch Elaine Unproven Bobby Test Thomas Cause Peter Accurate Fiend Expectation Elaine Result Bobby Ending Jake  Determination Katie  Non-accurate Jake Unending William Process Peter Evaluation Dimension

And where are we with the Theme grid?

Since we only need to use four squares of the Theme Variation and Theme Character grids, we'll just present these as a table:

Throughline	Class	Type	Variation	Character
Overall Throughline	Physics	Doing	Skill	Perception v Actuality
Main Throughline	Psychology	Being	Desire	Proaction v Reaction
Impact Throughline	Mind	Preconscious	Confidence	Effects v Causes
Subjective Throughline	Universe	Progress	Threat	Pursuit v Avoid

And has the Crucial Element changed?

Yes it has.  It should be an element in the main character, and it should be an element where the impact character is opposite in the grid.  But it would be a good idea if it appeared on the Main Throughline as well. if it's Crucial to the plot then it has to happen to the Main character.  This means the Crucial Element can now only be Proaction v Reaction.


What is the Driving Problem of each Throughline?

Overall Throughline : Not everyone can become more skilled, some are gong to be successful and some are going to fall by the wayside.  While it can be seductive to look for shortcuts, or to appear more skilled than you are, in the end only the good should be successful.

Main Throughline:  Jake reacts badly to situations, he wishes he could be different.  As the story progresses he realises by that only by indulging his desire to remove the block, can he become more pro-active and less reactive, in order to defeat Fiend.

Impact Throughline: Fiend is supremely confident, but he is ignorant of the damage he is doing to others with his schemes and projects.  Outcomes only give the illusion of success, if the foundational support crumbles below, and he is unable to see Jake's change.

Subjective Throughline: Jake and Fiend offer serious threats to one another.  Fiend sees Jake as an equal and wants him to join him.  His subconscious desire for this is his downfall.  Jake goes from Admiration to Fear and then Hate throughout the story.


So what has that done to the story?

The story opens in a world where skill is paramount, everybody is trying to better themselves, and sometimes the perception of skill is used instead of the actuality of it.  It's a competitive world.  Jake comes into the story a damaged man, having killed someone as a youngster.  He is ill-suited to the competitive environment, so shelters under the wing of his elder brother, who takes part in the world positively.  Unfortunately for him, William is a bit of a faker, he runs on the perception of skill rather than actually having it.  Fiend comes into the story, and is fearless and successful.  His confidence leaks out into those around him, and Jake and brother William are taken in at first and swept away.  But eventually, Jake sees through the glamour at the ill-effects his activities are having on those around.  Fiend tries to convince Jake to usurp his brother and unleash his inner self.  Jake avoid this, and unable to convince William to step back a bit, and completely unable to actually confront Fiend on his own, he retreats from the life, watching the spiralling chaos until William is killed.  Jake then tries to defeat fiend using normal mean, failing.  Fiend is taunting Jake, wanting him to replace his brother at the head of the gang.  At the climax of the story, Jake uncovers the solution to a mystery which sets him free of his mental block, and he can unleash himself safely, free to pursue Fiend and finally defeat him.

That's not bad at all.


Next time

We'll continue where we left off.