Portraying a character's "gut instinct"?

[Ireth]

I'm having a bit of trouble with a story/RP I'm working on. Casper, the protagonist, has been kidnapped, and his family and friends are trying to find him. Casper is being held in what was once a laboratory disguised as a ranger station in the Black Forest (the real one in Germany). Three years prior, Casper's son Jason was kidnapped by the lab/ranger station's previous inhabitants (scientists, of course) and experimented on before being rescued by his father, boyfriend and other friends. Currently the building is a base for a group of Nazis: Heinrich, their leader, wants revenge on Casper on behalf of his father, whom Casper's father had killed during WW2.

Now, Jason and his family have long since discovered that Casper has been kidnapped, but they have nothing but guesswork to lead them to the culprit. They are fairly sure of who did it and why, but they have no idea where Heinrich is keeping Casper. I want Jason to suspect that the old lab/ranger station is involved somehow, since he'd remember his own kidnapping and think it would make a good secret place for the Nazis to hide now that the scientists are gone. I just can't figure out how to portray his "gut instinct" as being believably correct. Help?

 

[The Din]

I'd say a dream sequence would suffice, as in a nightmare of his own imprisonment. It could come to him every night since the kidnapping, or he might dwell on it during the day/be reminded of it by every day objects, etc. You could make it more believable by having him find clues, (as in footprints in the forest or some item he remembered from the lab) which would convince him to believe his dreams.

 

[Ireth]

Nightmare sequences seems like a good option -- I could mix things up a bit and have memories of Jason's own imprisonment jumbled up with images of his father's captor, whom Jason and his family have been researching extensively in an attempt to find where he's keeping Casper. I don't think they'd be able to find any physical clues though; they've searched the spot where Casper was taken and found nothing, and searching the forest or the lab would be impossible. Jason and his family live in Nuremberg, a good three-hour drive away from the Black Forest. They're only going to actually go there when Jason finally gets fed up with sitting around and says they have to get out there and start actually looking for his father NOW, for multiple reasons.* As it is, Jason's gut instinct will be the only lead they have to Casper's location at all.

*Reason one: the police can't find anything either, and three weeks go by between the kidnapping and the escape/rescue which has yet to be written. Reason two: Casper was recently bitten by a werewolf, and he has until the next full moon before the curse is complete. He was kidnapped a week after the bite, leaving him with three weeks to spare before the next full moon and his first transformation. They need to free him before the full moon so they can hopefully cure him before he changes. The escape/rescue happens the night before the full moon, which means there's no time to cure him. And no, I don't want him to be cured at all.

 

[Penpilot]

One thing you can do is seed the idea of "Like father like son" earlier in the story. You have a pair of father/son sets so I don't think it would be a shoe horn. All you'd need is a couple of lines. With that set up all you have to do is get Jason to have the thought that Heinrich is just like his father. He walks like is father, he talks like his father, he thinks..... And I think that should get you where you want to be. Jason can now suspect the ranger station.

 

[Jon_Chong]

I second Penpilot's idea. Dreams scream too much of deus ex machina here. By giving a series of clues that lets the readers and Jason work it out, you're not only giving the reader some interactivity, you're also grounding it in something the readers can understand.

 

[Ireth]

@Penpilot: Your choice of words is rather confusing; I'm not quite sure what you're getting at. When you say "have Jason think that Heinrich is just like his father," do you mean "his father" to be Jason's father Casper, or Heinrich's father? I really hope it's the latter, since Casper and Heinrich are really nothing alike at ALL, physically or mentally. Though I'm not quite sure how to pull that off either, since neither Casper nor Jason ever knew Heinrich's father personally, and all they'd have is stories that Casper's father would have told about the war. I'm not even sure if Casper's father is still alive to ask.

@Jon: Good point, but I don't really have any "readers" per se. It's a private roleplay between a friend and me, and I doubt anyone actually reads it but us. There is interactivity, but it's just between the players, and we're plotting it out together anyway.

 

[Christopher Wright]

A thought I have:

At some point in Jason's capture I assume people were looking for him, and for a while did not find him because the place where he was hidden away either wasn't in the area people thought was best to look, or because it had properties that hid it away so well.

If a similar search is under way for Casper, with the same results (i.e. "we can't find him!") then that would surely strike a chord with Jason's own experience, leading to "well have you looked in the place where I was held three years ago?"

I think that would be a pretty natural assumption to make on his part. It would require, however, that other people be involved in the search, and based on your description it appears only the family knows.

 

[Ireth]

One of the main reasons Jason's rescue came so quickly was because he was able to get in contact with his family by phone and let them know exactly where he was after they'd tried and failed to find him for three days. He was able to do that with help from a fellow captive who distracted the scientists long enough for him to escape his cell, but it still proved very dangerous for both of them, as the scientists caught Jason in mid-phone call and dragged him away kicking and screaming, and the other captive was similarly subdued.

As for Casper's current state, he has no such luxury of being able to get to a phone, as the Nazis have him working himself to exhaustion 18 hours every day under close supervision, and he spends the remaining 6 hours asleep. Jason has suggested to his family that maybe Casper was taken by the same scientists who took Jason, which would lead them to exactly the right place, but that idea was shot down since the scientists in question have disbanded long since.

 

[Christopher Wright]

That gives you an in! If his suggestion was shot down, have him be ornery and disgruntled that it was dismissed so quickly, and that no one is considering it at all. That way it's not just instinct that's driving him. It's a possibility that's being ignored, so even if he's not absolutely sure he might want to check it out so he can feel comfort that it's not being overlooked. Or he could do it out of defiance and anger towards the people who wouldn't even consider it.

 

[Ireth]

That's very true. I still need an excuse for him not to speak up about it sooner -- at this point it's been about a week since Casper was kidnapped. I don't want the rescue to happen for another two weeks yet, so he can't get too disgruntled yet or else my whole plot is blown. But I need to at least establish that that's Jason's mindset, and have the idea nibble and gnaw away at him until he finally gets fed up and explodes. THAT is my main trouble.

 

[Christopher Wright]

You can do that by escalating the suggestion/dismissal.

For example, the first time everyone is discussing where to look, he could say "what about where I was three years ago?" and someone can say "no, not there" and immediately start talking about something else. So he gets annoyed by that, but not annoyed enough to press the issue. And the next time the discussion happens, he brings it up again, to have it shot down again, which annoys him more and makes him stew a bit. So the THIRD time he presses on, asks why, and someone explains, somewhat hurriedly, that "it can't be there because ..."

You can build up those conflicts over a series of two weeks, even have it get to the point where someone accuses him of wasting their time by focusing on irrelevant things, at which point he just might be pissed off enough to go out on his own and see for himself... or something.

 

[Penpilot]

@Penpilot: Your choice of words is rather confusing; I'm not quite sure what you're getting at. When you say "have Jason think that Heinrich is just like his father," do you mean "his father" to be Jason's father Casper, or Heinrich's father? I really hope it's the latter, since Casper and Heinrich are really nothing alike at ALL, physically or mentally. Though I'm not quite sure how to pull that off either, since neither Casper nor Jason ever knew Heinrich's father personally, and all they'd have is stories that Casper's father would have told about the war. I'm not even sure if Casper's father is still alive to ask.
.

Sorry about that. I meant have Jason think that Heinrich is just like Henrich's father. And sorry again. I misread the line that Casper's father/Jason's grandfather killed Heinrich's father. I thought it was Caspar who killed Heinrich's father.... darn that's a lot of fathers....haha. Anyway. How about this. Have Jason think something along the lines of evil being passed down from generation to generation, son from father like an eternal cycle. Grudges passed down, deeds repeated, places cast back into night. Jason remembers the darkness of the ranger station and...

Does that get you where you want to be?

 

[Ireth]

You can do that by escalating the suggestion/dismissal.

For example, the first time everyone is discussing where to look, he could say "what about where I was three years ago?" and someone can say "no, not there" and immediately start talking about something else. So he gets annoyed by that, but not annoyed enough to press the issue. And the next time the discussion happens, he brings it up again, to have it shot down again, which annoys him more and makes him stew a bit. So the THIRD time he presses on, asks why, and someone explains, somewhat hurriedly, that "it can't be there because ..."

You can build up those conflicts over a series of two weeks, even have it get to the point where someone accuses him of wasting their time by focusing on irrelevant things, at which point he just might be pissed off enough to go out on his own and see for himself... or something.

The first dismissal has already happened pretty much as you said. I have yet to have Jason bring it up again, which is the reason for this thread. The police aren't proving to be of any help in finding Casper, and everyone's morale is low. they're mostly just trying to keep their hopes up that Casper will be found, not worrying about finding Casper themselves since they don't have any real leads on where to go.

The others' reasons for rejecting Jason's thoughts are sound, which makes things difficult. Jason was kidnapped because he is a lycanthrope -- the scientists were kidnapping lycanthropes and werewolves (which are not the same thing in this canon) and experimenting on them in the hopes of finding a cure. Trouble is, no one outside of Jason's family and some close friends (most of whom are either fellow lycanthropes or mages) even know that Jason is a lycanthrope, or that Jason is the one who bit Casper and passed on the curse to him. So they'd have no reason to think that Casper was kidnapped solely because of his lycanthropy, and thus no immediate reason to associate it with the ranger station. All they know is that Heinrich is a Nazi out for revenge. The ranger station would still be a good place for an evil person or group to hide, though, which is why Jason would continue to think about it as a possibility.

Sorry about that. I meant have Jason think that Heinrich is just like Henrich's father. And sorry again. I misread the line that Casper's father/Jason's grandfather killed Heinrich's father. I thought it was Caspar who killed Heinrich's father.... darn that's a lot of fathers....haha. Anyway. How about this. Have Jason think something along the lines of evil being passed down from generation to generation, son from father like an eternal cycle. Grudges passed down, deeds repeated, places cast back into night. Jason remembers the darkness of the ranger station and...

Does that get you where you want to be?

That's a very logical train of thought for him to take. It could work even if the ranger station only comes to his mind as a tangential afterthought, as I said above. "I know the scientists are long gone, but that would still be a good place for someone to hide their evil deeds."

 

[Penpilot]

That's a very logical train of thought for him to take. It could work even if the ranger station only comes to his mind as a tangential afterthought, as I said above. "I know the scientists are long gone, but that would still be a good place for someone to hide their evil deeds."

It also has some nice symmetry. Casper went there to rescue Jason. Now Jason gets to return the favour. Also there's the criminal always returns to the scene of the crime thing.

And finally, darn, good supervillian lairs are just plain hard to find. Imagine moving into a lair too close to say to Dr. Frankenstein. He'll all be in your face saying "Your dam were-dogs jumped the fence and chewed on my monsters." And then you got to explain about lycanthropes and werewolves and how there are no were-dogs in your compound. Next thing you know, it's poop flying and abby-normal brains splattering in supervillian warfare, Lycanthropes and Werewolves vs Frankenstein's Monsters. And that's just not good for the supervillian community at all.

 

[Ireth]

*nodnod* Exactly. Though technically Casper is going to escape the building before Jason and co. arrive; it's just a matter of them finding him in the woods after they see the building and the set of footprints leaving it.

*cracks up* That's some interesting imagery you've got there. And do I see a Young Frankenstein reference? Nice. XDDD

 

[Penpilot]

*cracks up* That's some interesting imagery you've got there. And do I see a Young Frankenstein reference? Nice. XDDD

It's kind of just what falls out after a bump in the head : D

 

[The Dark One]

Attack of the Were-Nazis? Interesting concept, which Tim Burton might be interested in directing...

To my mind there is an obvious plot flaw in this that can easily be deleted. The whole idea of gut instinct is too hard, so limit it or get rid of it.

If it was my story, I'd have the MC be convinced that the other chap had been kidnapped and taken to the same place...but he doesn't know where it is, except maybe the general area. He might know the prison intimately, and have at least one clue to its location, but if he was taken there himself unconscious, or with a bag over his head, he doesn't know how to get back.

He's convinced the other guy has been taken to the same place but he has to find it.

 

[Ireth]

I'm not sure whom you're referring to as "the MC" and "the other chap", Dark One, but it seems to be backwards from what's in my mind, just by your wording. Casper is the MC and Jason would be "the other chap". Casper knows exactly where he is and how to get home, he just doesn't know how to escape yet. Jason doesn't know the way there, but he knows the building and he could easily find a map. Casper also knows that Jason hasn't been kidnapped to the same place, as they would have seen each other during the past week that Casper's been there.

At this point there are only two prisoners of the Nazis: Casper and his friend Vincent. They were kidnapped together; Casper for revenge, as said above, and Vincent because the Nazis didn't want to risk him escaping them and telling Casper's family about the kidnapping. Vincent is going to be instrumental in the escape, but they're still planning out when and how to act.

As for the actual "gut instinct" idea, I NEED to have some way for Jason to figure out where Casper and Vincent are with literally no other leads as to their location. Jason and his family and friends have searched the crime scene extensively by sight and smell (being a lycanthrope, he has a sense of smell equivalent to a wolf's), and that hasn't proven too useful -- he can't exactly track a single car on the highway three hours after it's left the crime scene. He and his family and friends have been researching the kidnapper extensively but found nothing as to his location, otherwise they would have tried to find Casper and Vincent already rather than waiting for the police to do it.

As the plan is right now, Jason and co. are going to find Vincent and Casper not very long after they escape, due to Jason and his gut instinct finally getting fed up at their inactivity and urging the others to follow his train of thought and look in the place he thinks to look. They'll go to the place under cover of darkness, unknowingly at the same time as the captives perform their escape. I don't want to have the captives escape and nobody find them until they can get to a phone and contact the police and their families.