I swear there is already a thread like this. But I'll be damned if I can find it. If you know where it is let me know so I can combine them.

The purpose of this thread is to ask a brainstorming question for your original fiction and get an answer or two.

Be as specific as you can about what you are trying to brainstorm.

Bad Question: What should the plot be for my new story about dinosaur ghosts that scream at people from under their beds?

Good Question: I have a story about dinosaur ghosts that scream at people from under their beds because they feed off the visceral reaction it produces. Assuming that the dinosaur in question must be small enough to fit under an average bed, what dinosaur do you think would be the most terrifying in a visual/auditory sense for this role?

 

BLACKMAIL

A character, let's call him/her CASEY, is being blackmailed. I am trying to come up with more ways in which someone can be blackmailed while it is still understandable to the reader that (1) CASEY isn't really in the wrong, and (2) CASEY isn't going to call the blackmailer out.

Example 1: Casey was in abusive relationship with a politically powerful man in the 1950s and ran off with the baby. She left with the baby and got a job as a schoolteacher, pretending that her husband died in the war. She is being blackmailed with this information knowing that (1) she'll lose her job if it comes out and (2) her abusive ex-husband will get the baby. Assuming that 1&2 WILL happen, and it makes sense she'd try to keep that information under wraps.

Example 2: Casey was a conductor on a futuristic underground railroad helping to smuggle children out of a war zone. One of the children he smuggled out grew up to become one of the worst terrorists with the highest civilian kill count in this fictional war, and they couldn't have done it without his unwitting help. Assuming that the reader agrees that rescuing children from a warzone is good, he could be blackmailed with this information assuming that the public sentiment is that he helped the worst terrorist in living memory. His life's work is on the line and would not be accomplished if discovered.

More examples?

Normally when you see blackmail in fiction it's because the individual being blackmailed did something that most might agree with as 'wrong.' Pictures were taken of them in a compromising position with women. They were embezzling. They committed some crime that they want to stay quiet and the reader/viewer generally agrees that they shouldn't have done whatever it was even if they are also on this characters side in hating the one doing the blackmailing.

Understanding and sympathizing with the situation isn't the same thing as agreeing that the character never really did anything wrong to begin with, yet they're being blackmailed anyway. I'm looking for more examples of the latter.

TVTropes is usually helpful here, but in this case it doesn't seem to have a specific trope for such a specific subset of blackmail (though it has plenty on blackmail in general).

 

ChaosGuy

Posting this here because he read my thread and discussed it with me on IRC, and I wanted a record of it here in case I come looking for it later...

More ideas welcome!

 

CheddarTrek, from the examples here, there are two general patterns I'm seeing (which are not strictly exclusive of each other, mind).

1) Casey has a secret s/he wants kept (which I suppose is a requirement for any blackmail situation to arise in the first place)
2) Casey's action had unintended negative consequences which couldn't have been reasonably predicted but still paints him in a bad light (i.e. an optics problem).

1 seems to always happen. 2 is optional.

Delving into a more supernatural setting, maybe Casey has superpowers, and someone finds out, but he doesn't want it out because the government/insert organization of preference will be after him if it becomes widely known.

A variation I can think of: maybe in this world there's a societal expectation that all people with powers become either heroes or villains, whereas Casey isn't interested in becoming involved (maybe because he's a pacifist). While no one will be out to get him, if it becomes widely known it would be really disruptive to his normal life. Of course, in this variation the stakes aren't as high when the information is revealed so the "breakpoint" -the point where Casey decides he's had enough of this shit and tells the blackmailer to go ahead or go away- will be much easier to hit.

 

Thanks for the idea! Though this one doesn't quite fit the criteria I was looking for. In my case there need to be two 'sides' to the equation that would be against Casey should things come out. He needs to be in danger from two/both sides.

In your example, the police would have to also say "Casey is bad/wrong" when he comes forward with the information, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.

What I'm shooting for is that Casey ends up doing something that two sides would hate him for, while the reader agrees with Casey.

In Halt's example this could sort of work because everyone with a superpower is supposed to be either a hero or a villian... so if Casey decides to be neither, both sides would be pissed but the reader would understand.

With LittleChicago's example it can work if I tweak it a bit. Casey delivers a package but realizes it's a bomb at the last minute, so he throws it into the trash and goes into hiding. Years later his employer might be pissed that he had betrayed them while he would be under investigation from the police simply because he had been a member of the organization.

In my specific story there was a war and "Casey" (not his real name) ends up changing his name and then decades later someone discovers his identity. And it needs to work out that both sides in the war would view him unfavorably for something he did that the reader would consider the right choice.

Thanks for the great thoughts so far all!

 

Wow, thanks @E Descending. I'm still working on this story so that insight is welcome.

Reasons to switch sides in a war...

1. Realize the people you've been fighting for have been doing something in secret you disapprove of. I.e. You are fighting for your country's freedom. Turns out your country has been kidnapping children from other countries and brainwashing them, and you realize maybe your people need to be kept in check.
2. Realize the people you've been fighting for are fundamentally unsound in some way, including yourself. Perhaps you've always been 100% on board with your country, but then you discover that you've been given drugs your entire life without anyones consent to shift your thinking to be in line with what they want.
3. Go undercover and end up going so deep that you change sides without intending to.
4. Your loved one needs surgery/help, and it's only the other side that can provide it. You don't want to change sides, but you place your loved one above your country.
5. You do everything for your country but due to politics you take the fall for someone else. You end up destitute and alone, and come to resent what you once stood for.
6. Money, fame, fortune.
7. You have a personal goal that comes before all forms of loyalty. I.e. You want to obtain the 'gem of magical powers' or some bullshit, and you fight for whichever side seems to be most likely to aid you in your quest.
8. Check out the Turncoat Trope for further ideas (I haven't read through it yet, but <3 TVTropes)