Written into a corner.

[RecursiveDescent]

Time to remove the MC of the protagonist main POV status, and pass it on the "brat" instead.

I dont like losing protagonist. Many people dont like losing protagonist. This is rude and an insult to your MC, but this is not a lie.

If MC lose at training, its acceptable. But If he lose at actual important battle, he's a loser. Its simple gut low level thinking, yes. Im losing in interwsr in your MC now that he loses.

Because the brat manages to win an unlikely opponent, now The "brat" might be a good shounen protagnonist material. He win against your current MC, and therefore he should shoulder the reaponsibilities of the MC.

As the "brat" manages to beat and take the tiltle of "MC Protagonist", he can also get the chance to face the whole threat that could "METRIC TON of people get screwed by the mc leaving the school, including the badguy."

Ex-MC could just do cleanup the mess and regret phase after that, before turning him into another forgotten main character.

A main character doesn't have to 'never lose' there's nothing interesting about a main character where nothing can ever go wrong for them. Not every story is aiming to be a power fantasy with a perfect mc that always has his way.

 

[Anonjohn20]

So, here's the scene. MC and brat in a magic school setting fight. Mc challenged brat because brat insulted MCs sister. Brat sets the rules to no magic, just bare handed fighting. MC loses.

Part of the fight was, if I win, you leave the school. However, there were no time constraints on that, so the MC says. "I have obligations. I will leave at the end of the semester in three weeks. Then never return.

The brat is a little confused., but agrees. He assumes the MC is just trying to save face. He can't imagine the MC actually leaving. He was expecting the MC to beg to stay.

Then everyone finds out he went to the headmaster and dropped out of the school. It will be his last semester.

Now, at first the brat is happy, but quickly finds out that everyone the MC helped now Hates the brat. The MC has been working with the crown advancing the science and magic studies of the country so now they are afraid of losing the most powerful elementalist they have to another country.

A lot of people was the brat to drop the bet, but the MC will honor the bet, no matter what. He agreed. He lost. The only thing the MC has that is his own is his word, so he won't back down on leaving.

He won't accept a rematch, because he can't be sure the brat won't throw the fight. He won't change the terms of the bet, because he's not a cheater.

Given this situation, under what conditions do you think the MC could be convinced to stay, because a METRIC TON of people get screwed by the mc leaving the school, including the badguy.

I'm okay with the story going south, but I was just trying to think of a way out of this and I'm drawing a blank.

Thoughts?

If MC was helping/benefitting a lot of people and the MC's contributions were being noticed, then its possible that someone influential like the headmaster or a professor could accept him not being a student of the institution and take MC in as a private apprentice/assistant. After a couple of years of loyal service, the institution could hand him an honorary degree.

Time to remove the MC of the protagonist main POV status, and pass it on the "brat" instead.

I dont like losing protagonist. Many people dont like losing protagonist. This is rude and an insult to your MC, but this is not a lie.

If MC lose at training, its acceptable. But If he lose at actual important battle, he's a loser. Its simple gut low level thinking, yes. Im losing in interwsr in your MC now that he loses.

Because the brat manages to win an unlikely opponent, now The "brat" might be a good shounen protagnonist material. He win against your current MC, and therefore he should shoulder the reaponsibilities of the MC.

As the "brat" manages to beat and take the tiltle of "MC Protagonist", he can also get the chance to face the whole threat that could "METRIC TON of people get screwed by the mc leaving the school, including the badguy."

Ex-MC could just do cleanup the mess and regret phase after that, before turning him into another forgotten main character.

Struggle and loss is how character development happens. You read in all the classic epics that the MC faces a major loss: The odyssey, Iliad, Beowulf, Gilgamesh, etc. they all had to lose to develop their characters and become greater.

 

[Placeholder]

It's not gambling, it is a duel. How society handles that is established law and custom.

 

[Gazzosa676]

The disaster situation. Something really catastrophic happens to which only the protagonist can help, so, for moral obligation, he has to stay or the school will be screwed. The semester ends, he is still in school, the brat still wants him to stay, so in the end he says "fuck the bet".
If he doesn't want to say "fuck the bet" after the disaster is resolved, he could be carried in situation after situation that don't allow him to leave until graduation, but it will need a lot of grey matter to make it look like it is a legit concatenation of events.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

The MC plans to keep the wager. The brat tries to talk him out of it, and loses his temper when the MC insists on taking the honorable path - but this loss of temper triggers something; maybe it frees an Eldritch Horror, or causes some random bursts of magic to erupt, or summons a Bugblatter Beast or something that imperils both of them. The MC saves the day, but only due to something else the brat does - and in a way that gets the attention of a teacher who knows all of what has been going on and insists the MC remain, perhaps as a Teacher's Assistant not a Student if that might be a way to honor the bet.

 

[Mikeynohmore]

Is the MC autistic? I haven't read your story, but the degree to which he seems compelled to completely change his life course over a dumb bet with a dude he doesn't like and who wasn't even taking it seriously in the first place is kinda insane.

 

[Indicterra]

Use the sister

 

[TLCsDestiny]

Generally I like the characters acting out who they are, and it seems you have done that. How smart is the brat? Can he make ANOTHER bet or a bigger bet to overcome this one? Perhaps follow through but get MC a teacher that will teach him one on one? Have a tournament instead? lol might think about it! Good luck!

 

[MesaMesa17]

You could introduce a new threat, one that endangers not only the school but the entire country. The MC then realizes that leaving would not only endanger those he cares about (eg sister) but also the country he serves. His sense of duty to protect the country could override his obligation to the bet, and everyone also vouches for him to stay

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Is the MC autistic? I haven't read your story, but the degree to which he seems compelled to completely change his life course over a dumb bet with a dude he doesn't like and who wasn't even taking it seriously in the first place is kinda insane.

The MC is a bit of an emotional cripple. Basically got crapped on for most of his life, but then figured out not to get crapped on. You start curb stomping people.

He puts his own survival first, his word second. Why? "Because it's the only thing that's mine that nobody can take from me."

When you view EVERYTHING as disposable and Everything as temporary because everything had been taken from you at some point or another, you tend to want some sort of permanence.

This guy is a bit of a psycho. Like mafia goon level nut job. He has zero problem murdering people, because everyone is evil.

Until he winds up in a world where you have cartoonish morality. Him giving a crap about someone other than himself is character development. Believing he is the superior fighter in CQC is his ego talking because he's stomped enough skulls. He's just not used to fighting in the body of a kid and underestimates his enemy.

He shouldn't win without being lucky and he isn't lucky.

He doesn't care if he stays or goes, so the bets outcome wasn't something he thought about, because he was going to win. But having gotten in enough fights, he sticks to his code. You bet, you lose, you pay up. He'd have no respect for a welcher, so he'd never think of backing out.

A man's word is his word and if he doesn't keep it, he's not a man.

That's not autism, BTW. That's most men.

 

[QuercusMalus]

Time to remove the MC of the protagonist main POV status, and pass it on the "brat" instead.

I dont like losing protagonist. Many people dont like losing protagonist. This is rude and an insult to your MC, but this is not a lie.

If MC lose at training, its acceptable. But If he lose at actual important battle, he's a loser. Its simple gut low level thinking, yes. Im losing in interwsr in your MC now that he loses.

Because the brat manages to win an unlikely opponent, now The "brat" might be a good shounen protagnonist material. He win against your current MC, and therefore he should shoulder the reaponsibilities of the MC.

As the "brat" manages to beat and take the tiltle of "MC Protagonist", he can also get the chance to face the whole threat that could "METRIC TON of people get screwed by the mc leaving the school, including the badguy."

Ex-MC could just do cleanup the mess and regret phase after that, before turning him into another forgotten main character.

No.

 

[beast_regards]

I have an idea.

We could solve the issue right here.

I just need my Interdimensional Toyota(TM) Truck

I'll start with running the brat over with my truck. Don't worry if he is just in the shower, by patented Interdimensional Toyota(TM) 8-wheeler would just crash through the wall of the 3-story building and run him over....

Don't worry if the trucks aren't a thing in your setting, that's why it's Interdimensional.

The MC would be stricken by this sudden attack, and would want to do something about this injustice, alas, the Interdimensional disappears into the void before he could intervene.

But there is this document about dropping from the school. Don't worry, my Interdimensional Toyota(TM) 8-wheeler is fully operational again and would crash through the walls of the principal office, running him over. Then my beautiful cat-girl assistant will steal the note.

The MC would give a chase, and then I run him over with the truck. (Crushing through walls doesn't always work on protagonists, that's why I have my cat-girl assistant, after all, to lure people in)

Of course, the MC survives the collision with my truck, that's why he is MC. He is immune to death by the truck since this works only in episode 1.

Then, as he recovers, me and my catgirl assistant keep the road rage across the campus, and then, in the end, the fully recovered MC would have no choice than to continue studies to honour the fallen and eventually find the way to catch the famous duo of Little Girl & Truck.

 

[MajorKerina]

Nah. See, that's how readers come to distrust you. When they can see the hand of the author.

I write the story logically. I set up the situation and very rarely does luck play a part. If a shift in personality is needed to get out of a situation, then the story sucks.

I live with these limits so the reader can trust me.

The MC is arrogant.
He's great at magic, not at regular fighting. He should lose.
He shot his mouth off and has to pay the price.
The MC also has a skewed perspective, so he had no idea his bet would affect anyone but himself, but he is a man who keeps his word.

This is the situation and the MC leaving the setting to explore elsewhere is acceptable, as long as it is LOGICAL.

Ah. Returning as a teacher. That one has merit as well.

And thanks to everyone for the ideas. This isn't an argument. Just a discussion.

So you say write without having a plan for how to end it and you say that's more trustworthy than preparing your story appropriately? I mean do whatever you want but it's not untrustworthy to make sure you have a way to finish your story instead of just saying I'm going to unleash this thing and if it works it works and if it doesn't well then at least I followed through on that rationale. That makes absolutely no sense to me. Stories don't just happen, writers create and plan them.

 

[Anonjohn20]

So you say write without having a plan for how to end it and you say that's more trustworthy than preparing your story appropriately? I mean do whatever you want but it's not untrustworthy to make sure you have a way to finish your story instead of just saying I'm going to unleash this thing and if it works it works and if it doesn't well then at least I followed through on that rationale. That makes absolutely no sense to me. Stories don't just happen, writers create and plan them.

Lots of writers don't plan in advance, some writers, like Stephen King, Judy Blume, Margaret Atwood, Jack Kerouac, and George R. R. Martin, are famous for just winging it. Lots of writers are pantser writers rather than plotter writers.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

So you say write without having a plan for how to end it and you say that's more trustworthy than preparing your story appropriately? I mean do whatever you want but it's not untrustworthy to make sure you have a way to finish your story instead of just saying I'm going to unleash this thing and if it works it works and if it doesn't well then at least I followed through on that rationale. That makes absolutely no sense to me. Stories don't just happen, writers create and plan them.

What I have found over the years is that you need a basic structure - not an ending per se, but a climax - in mind. The characters may well tell you that you're full of it and take things in different directions (have one story I'm working on where a character meant to be a minor supporting character flat out demanded to be one of the MCs instead, and even showed how that would fix a plot hole I had not considered).

I once saw a jazz harpist who described the harp as "an instrument you spend half your life tuning, and half your life playing out of tune" - writing is often like that. Never completely in tune, but you just play on and hope you get to the end without messing up too badly.

 

[Anonjohn20]

What I have found over the years is that you need a basic structure - not an ending per se, but a climax - in mind. The characters may well tell you that you're full of it and take things in different directions (have one story I'm working on where a character meant to be a minor supporting character flat out demanded to be one of the MCs instead, and even showed how that would fix a plot hole I had not considered).

I once saw a jazz harpist who described the harp as "an instrument you spend half your life tuning, and half your life playing out of tune" - writing is often like that. Never completely in tune, but you just play on and hope you get to the end without messing up too badly.

So you are a planster, a combination of a pantser and a plotter. As a full-on pantser, I say fuck structure, I have a conflict in mind and I go with the flow. If it worked for the creator of gravity falls, the creator of Naruto, and Stephen King it'll work for me too (or maybe I'll die trying).

 

[CharlesEBrown]

So you are a planster, a combination of a pantser and a plotter. As a full-on pantser, I say fuck structure, I have a conflict in mind and I go with the flow. If it worked for the creator of gravity falls, the creator of Naruto, and Stephen King it'll work for me too (or maybe I'll die trying).

Well, I'm more a "Plans are good and needed when you start, but no plan ever survives contact with the MC" type... :D

 

[Theirl]

Let the mc go away play the consequeces the mc learn he is not a island and his pride has a price not only to him, the brat suffer the co sequences and try to repent, there other ways the country can have the mc stay, like give him a job in the castle or give him a job as a diplomat politically marry him to someone and send him to end his studies in another xontry as a envoy o shit like that..

 

[TheEldritchGod]

So you say write without having a plan for how to end it and you say that's more trustworthy than preparing your story appropriately?

I start at the end and work my way backwards. There are 3 acts, 6 plot lines, and 18 key scenes.

You seem to think that Fx is more important than the spirit of a scene.

 

[RepresentingDesire]

So, here's the scene. MC and brat in a magic school setting fight. Mc challenged brat because brat insulted MCs sister. Brat sets the rules to no magic, just bare handed fighting. MC loses.

Part of the fight was, if I win, you leave the school. However, there were no time constraints on that, so the MC says. "I have obligations. I will leave at the end of the semester in three weeks. Then never return.

The brat is a little confused., but agrees. He assumes the MC is just trying to save face. He can't imagine the MC actually leaving. He was expecting the MC to beg to stay.

Then everyone finds out he went to the headmaster and dropped out of the school. It will be his last semester.

Now, at first the brat is happy, but quickly finds out that everyone the MC helped now Hates the brat. The MC has been working with the crown advancing the science and magic studies of the country so now they are afraid of losing the most powerful elementalist they have to another country.

A lot of people was the brat to drop the bet, but the MC will honor the bet, no matter what. He agreed. He lost. The only thing the MC has that is his own is his word, so he won't back down on leaving.

He won't accept a rematch, because he can't be sure the brat won't throw the fight. He won't change the terms of the bet, because he's not a cheater.

Given this situation, under what conditions do you think the MC could be convinced to stay, because a METRIC TON of people get screwed by the mc leaving the school, including the badguy.

I'm okay with the story going south, but I was just trying to think of a way out of this and I'm drawing a blank.

Thoughts?

I honestly like it.
Your mc could make their own independent researcher group with the connections he build and down the line he returns as a professor to the academy?