# Playing a role - MC throughline **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [August 23, 2017, 2:24am UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/playing-a-role-mc-throughline/1178 "2017-08-23T02:24:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leah](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/leah/32/425_2.png) [@Leah](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/Leah)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 2:24am UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/playing-a-role-mc-throughline/1178/1 "2017-08-23T02:24:03Z")
I am having trouble understanding my MC signpost of “Playing a Role.” My MC is not successful in her goal. She goes from Developing a Plan to Playing a Role to Changing One’s Nature to Conceiving an idea. Does the “role” have to do with the MC goal or can it be a role in the OS goal? Can anyone provide actual examples of similar throughlines? I seem to grasp these concepts best that way. ---
**Author:** ![HaroldLloyd](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/haroldlloyd/32/405_2.png) [@HaroldLloyd](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/HaroldLloyd)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 4:49am UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/playing-a-role-mc-throughline/1178/2 "2017-08-23T04:49:50Z")
I believe the signposts have the emotional implications and personal perspective on any happenings. [http://dramatica.com/analysis/washington-square](http://dramatica.com/analysis/washington-square) In Washington Square (essentially the movie The Heiress), the “playing a role” MC signpost is essentially: as Catherine starts to feel more comfortable with Morris’s expressions of love (happenings from the OS), she puts on the “courtship” hat and temporarily adopts the behavior of an engaged woman. I think the key is how her emotional life interacts with the happenings of any throughline(s). [http://dramatica.com/analysis/witness](http://dramatica.com/analysis/witness) In Witness, the MC signposts 1-4 mainly apply to: 1 - MC throughline (with some OS) 2 - OS 3 - MC 4 - RS [http://dramatica.com/analysis/to-kill-a-mockingbird](http://dramatica.com/analysis/to-kill-a-mockingbird) In To Kill a Mockingbird, MC signposts 1 & 3 have little to do with the OS. Granted, the MC has little to do with the OS in general (except for a few key moments). ---
**Author:** ![jassnip](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/jassnip/32/452_2.png) [@jassnip](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/jassnip)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 7:45am UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/playing-a-role-mc-throughline/1178/3 "2017-08-23T07:45:50Z")
Heya Leah, Spitballing: So your character develops a plan to do something say rob a bank, but in order to rob said bank she needs to pretend to be someone or something say a building inspector, but she falls in love with the bank manager and decides not to be a criminal anymore, but he finds out who she really is and doesn’t want anything to do with her anymore, so she’s left to think about the I shoulda, woulda, couldas, but no high life and no love life. Something in her plan requires her to pretend to be something or someone she’s not. Does that help? ---
**Author:** ![Leah](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/leah/32/425_2.png) [@Leah](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/Leah)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 8:20am UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/playing-a-role-mc-throughline/1178/4 "2017-08-23T08:20:06Z")
The trouble I’m having is that by the 2nd Act, when the MC Signpost 2 of Playing a Role is to happen, the MC goal is already abandoned. So, can the role be related to the OS goal, the IC goal, or the Main vs.IC goal? According to the post above, it sounds like it can. But is the intent of the 4 signposts to be all tied to their particular Throughline? Do the examples above “work” or is their message confused by the back and forth? ---
**Author:** ![Leah](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/leah/32/425_2.png) [@Leah](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/Leah)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 8:46am UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/playing-a-role-mc-throughline/1178/5 "2017-08-23T08:46:40Z")
This might help to understand the scenario: My MC goal is to get to know her biological mother. In Act 1 she is disappointed in how she is received by the mother and abandons the goal. If she hadn’t abandoned the goal, the role she plays in Act 2 could be the perfect daughter. But that doesn’t fit the narrative. Maybe she should act out and play the role of the bratty daughter. That could work. Or the role could be something different and related to the OS goal. I guess it depends on how I want the audience to feel about the MC. If she’s bratty, they will like her less. If she chooses an altruistic role related to the OS goal, they will like her more. The more I think about it the more I like the bratty concept. The IC is flawed and it makes sense that the MC is flawed too. ---
**Author:** ![mlucas](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/mlucas/32/275_2.png) [@mlucas](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/mlucas)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 2:46pm UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/playing-a-role-mc-throughline/1178/6 "2017-08-23T14:46:44Z")
There are a lot of things that can fall under the Playing a Role (originally `Being`) term. Acting, behaving a certain way, pretending, faking, bluffing, conning, etc. Even stuff like “acting normal” and “acting out”. So your idea of her being bratty works great. Also note that you can use the negative a term in Dramatica, so perhaps in Act 2 the conflict comes from the fact that she is “NOT being the perfect daughter”. Or another way you could do it is for to “pretend to be the perfect daughter”, but you’d want to make it clear (at least by the end of the story) that she’s faking it. ---
**Author:** ![jassnip](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/jassnip/32/452_2.png) [@jassnip](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/jassnip)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/playing-a-role-mc-throughline/1178/7 "2017-08-23T16:12:37Z")
> [@Leah](#): > > My MC goal is to get to know her biological mother. In Act 1 she is disappointed in how she is received by the mother and abandons the goal. > > If she hadn’t abandoned the goal, the role she plays in Act 2 could be the perfect daughter. But that doesn’t fit the narrative. While she may abandon the get to know bio mom idea, she probably doesn’t lose whatever CONCERN & ISSUE drove her to seek out bio Mom in the first place, as that need wasn’t met. So that’s kind of the question you’re looking to answer. Who does she think she needs to be, and for whom, in order to meet her CONCERN? The MC throughline is something that nobody else is dealing with. For example, in Star Wars, nobody but Luke is learning to become a Jedi. As an example from my own story I’m working on right now. My MC’s CONCERN and ISSUE are INNERMOST DESIRE and CLOSURE. Basically she’s trying to make peace with a dead woman. Her need is to not have the gapping whole of hate eat her alive for the rest of her life. The only way to do that is find some form of forgiveness and closure. But no one else in the story is dealing with her grief and anger at a woman who isn’t around to make peace with anymore. The OS this takes place in is a Chili Cook Off. So what is your MC dealing with that no one else is? ---
**Author:** ![MWollaeger](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/mwollaeger/32/82_2.png) [@MWollaeger](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/MWollaeger)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 7:02pm UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/playing-a-role-mc-throughline/1178/8 "2017-08-23T19:02:27Z")
> [@Leah](#): > > …when the MC Signpost 2 of Playing a Role is to happen, the MC goal is already abandoned. I’m going to stop you right here. MC’s don’t really have _goals_ per se. In _Edge of Tomorrow_ it is not Cage (Tom Cruise) does not have the _Goal_ of accepting his own mortality. In _Lord of the Flies_, Ralph does not have the _Goal_ of learning how to think like an adult. Ralph knows that he has to (and fails at this), whereas Cage does not even confront his fear of death. In fact, he’s largely protected from having to face it. So, from the Dramatica perspective, something is a bit wonky. I’m going to take a big step back here and ask you to explain the difference between the Protagonist and the Main Character. I have a follow-up question after this. ---
**Author:** ![Leah](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/leah/32/425_2.png) [@Leah](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/Leah)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 9:09pm UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/playing-a-role-mc-throughline/1178/9 "2017-08-23T21:09:34Z")
Good point. Perhaps I haven’t identified things correctly. Perhaps I’ve been too influenced by other methods that require stating a goal for the main character. Let me try to explain it this way: Imagine if you will that the main character in To Kill a Mockingbird was Atticus and not Scout. The overall story problem here is inequity. Even though Atticus is the Protagonist in the story, he does not set out to conquer inequity. He sets out to have his client exonerated (through manipulation). In the process though, he takes on inequity more so than anyone else in the story, thus making him the Protagonist. If he had been the main character, would his MC throughline have been the signposts that fall under manipulation or the signposts that fall under fixed attitude since he is the Protagonist, or both? In a similar way, the overall story throughline in my story is fixed attitude. But Anna (the MC) does not set out to conquer inequity (I’m going to call it prejudice for the time being since I think that explains it better), she sets out to develop a relationship with her mother. Through that process, though, after a series of events, she takes on the issue of prejudice, more so than anyone else in the story (making her the Protagonist). And, as a sidenote, even though she doesn’t succeed in the relationship with her mother in the way she intended it, by overcoming her prejudice concerns she allows for a mother/daughter like relationship with someone else that she would not have had if her prejudices had remained. So the overall story signposts are those on fixed attitude, but the Main Character signposts are Manipulation, initially having to do with her relationship with her mother, but perhaps shifting to the issue of prejudice and back again. ---
**Author:** ![MWollaeger](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/mwollaeger/32/82_2.png) [@MWollaeger](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/MWollaeger)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/playing-a-role-mc-throughline/1178/10 "2017-08-23T23:08:30Z")
> [@Leah](#): > > Perhaps I’ve been too influenced by other methods that require stating a goal for the main character. While it seems like there would be a way to map the ideas from other methods onto Dramatica, you’ll find that it isn’t generally true. When it is true, you’ll see that it only applies to a small fraction of the stories that Dramatica defines. Most of the time, it will actually hinder your ability to understand Dramatica. For instance, I have a personal agenda to wipe out the idea of the _Inciting Incident_. _Inciting Incidents_ come laden with the idea that stories don’t _really_ begin until the turn into the second act, and before that, everything is ordinary. _A Raison in the Sun_ happens when it happens because it is _not ordinary_: the check is coming tomorrow. _Star Wars_ happens because plans have been stolen – _not ordinary_ – and Darth Vader has boarded a ship he is not supposed to board – _not ordinary_. If you hold onto this, the value of the _Driver_ and the _First Act_ will be lost. > [@Leah](#): > > If he had been the main character, would his MC throughline have been the signposts that fall under manipulation or the signposts that fall under fixed attitude since he is the Protagonist, or both? Neither. If Atticus had been the _Main Character_ he would have had a problem that was unique to him and little to do with his client. > [@Leah](#): > > But Anna (the MC) does not set out to conquer inequity (I’m going to call it prejudice for the time being since I think that explains it better), she sets out to develop a relationship with her mother. Nobody sets out to conquer _the problem element_; people set out to get their goal. If the hurdle to reaching their goal is that their mother is a prejudiced cavewoman, then they will deal directly with that, maybe by bringing in a Neanderthal and helping her mother learn they’re not so bad. But generally not by tackling the ideas of equity and inequity directly. ---
**Author:** ![Leah](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/leah/32/425_2.png) [@Leah](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/Leah)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 1:01am UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/playing-a-role-mc-throughline/1178/11 "2017-08-24T01:01:25Z")
The Main Character is the character from whose perspective the story is told. If the story is narrarated in first-person, this character is often the Narrarator. That is the case in my story. The protagonist is the person that drives the overall story throughline. I’ve always thought of my MC as protagonist but when I put it in this context, I think maybe my Reason character is the protagonist. She is the “bridge” between the two cultures. I haven’t given her (Reason) much time in the spotlight. Does that matter? I could easily change that. She’s neither MC nor IC so I had her in a very secondary role. Another potential problem is she has almost zero contact with the Antagonist. Does that matter? ---
**Author:** ![MWollaeger](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/mwollaeger/32/82_2.png) [@MWollaeger](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/MWollaeger)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 1:24am UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/playing-a-role-mc-throughline/1178/12 "2017-08-24T01:24:31Z")
> [@Leah](#): > > The Main Character is the character from whose perspective the story is told. In the Dramatica framework, the Story is the combination of the four throughlines. How it is told is relevant, but goes under the _storytelling_ framework, and we don’t generally get into that too much here, for better or worse. But I bring it up, because you are describing the MC from a different perspective than you need if you want to understand the storyform. The Main Character is the character whose skin we get inside when the story is told. Their emotions are our emotions. We feel Luke’s pain and betrayal when Vader says, “I am your father.” We don’t feel Vader’s manipulation or …pride? Does he feel pride? We don’t know… and that’s my point. The _Protagonist_ is the character who has both _Pursue_ and _Consider_. Loosely, though, it pretty much covers the person _going after the story goal_, but not always. Most stories don’t have an archetypal _protagonist_ which is why it can be easier to think about it as _the person going after the story goal_. I would resist saying that this is the person who _drives_ the story. At various points in _To Kill a Mockingbird_, other people drive the story. The townsfolk who show up to lynch Tom Robinson, from my perspective anyway, are _driving_ that part of the story. Atticus gets ahead of it, but he’s not bringing the energy to the scene. This _Driving_ is something Dramatica captures with the _catalyst_ (although not exclusively). So, looking at it this way, ask yourself this question: \*Something is off in my story… that’s why it’s a story. [If there is no imbalance, there is no story.] What event or decision will erase all the tension that’s making people act the way they act in my story? Okay, who is pushing to make that event happen?" ---
**Author:** ![Leah](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/leah/32/425_2.png) [@Leah](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/Leah)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 2:13am UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/playing-a-role-mc-throughline/1178/13 "2017-08-24T02:13:23Z")
> [@MWollaeger](#): > > What event or decision will erase all the tension that’s making people act the way they act in my story? Okay, who is pushing to make that event happen?" The characters are all suspicious/wary of each other because of their prejudices - some of which are learned and some of which were “earned.” The events that will tackle these issues involve spending time together, getting to know one another, learning each others hopes/fears, developing empathy for one another. The character who is pushing for these things to happen most is the one I designated as the Reason Character, Rose, who is the daughter of the IC. For example, when the injured MC is brought to the IC in order for the IC to care for her, the IC is upset that she is being asked to care for a “white girl.” She has been badly treated by whites (including the killing of her parents at the Wounded Knee massacre). It is her daughter, Rose, who interferes to convince the IC that she must care for the MC, if not because she cares, but to please the Spirits. When the IC has a PTSD episode which scares the crap out of the MC, it again is Rose who explains to the MC why it is that the IC is acting the way she is (she describes the trauma that the IC has endured) and tells the MC what she can to do to help the next time it occurs. I have only worked out these two examples but they are significant, and they might be enough. But if Rose is the Protagonist, what is my MC? Could she be reason? or are these characters complex? ---
**Author:** ![MWollaeger](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/mwollaeger/32/82_2.png) [@MWollaeger](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/MWollaeger)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 6:52am UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/playing-a-role-mc-throughline/1178/14 "2017-08-24T06:52:29Z")
Your characters are probably complex. Most characters are, and it’s not totally worth worrying about if you have a grasp on how your characters will act. Your MC is probably still Anna. You gravitated to her for a reason. But the question you have to ask yourself now is along the lines of _What problem is unique to her in this story?_ In _Lord of the Flies_, everyone is stuck on the island, but only Ralph has been nominated Leader. And, more pertinently – since Piggy, too, has a unique feature: butt of the jokes – Ralph’s struggle with his Leadership is explored. Piggy’s low status never changes and is never explored. ---
**Author:** ![Leah](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/leah/32/425_2.png) [@Leah](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/Leah)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 3:56pm UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/playing-a-role-mc-throughline/1178/15 "2017-08-24T15:56:21Z")
The MC unique problem is chaos. Specifically the lack of order she feels after the death of her foster-mother. This is what drives her to seek out her biological mother. Regarding complex characters, can a character have qualities of both a driver character and a passenger character? As long as they are not in conflict with each other? This board is really helpful BTW, thanks everyone for your help. ---
**Author:** ![Leah](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/leah/32/425_2.png) [@Leah](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/Leah)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 4:04pm UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/playing-a-role-mc-throughline/1178/16 "2017-08-24T16:04:37Z")
> [@MWollaeger](#): > > Your characters are probably complex. Most characters are, and it’s not totally worth worrying about if you have a grasp on how your characters will act. Maybe they are, but I want to define the characteristics to make sure that all the bases are coverered. ---
**Author:** ![MWollaeger](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/mwollaeger/32/82_2.png) [@MWollaeger](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/MWollaeger)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 4:16pm UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/playing-a-role-mc-throughline/1178/17 "2017-08-24T16:16:23Z")
> [@Leah](#): > > Regarding complex characters, can a character have qualities of both a driver character and a passenger character? As long as they are not in conflict with each other? Yes, and if they aren’t dynamically opposite, a character can have them. By definition, because they aren’t in the same quad, any driver and any passenger quality can exist in the same character. > [@Leah](#): > > The MC unique problem is chaos. Specifically the lack of order she feels after the death of her foster-mother. This is what drives her to seek out her biological mother. Let’s stay away from things like Order/Chaos for now. Not because I want to disregard the work you put into getting there, but since you are just learning this system, it’s unlikely you’ve hit on the right storyform. Holding onto it can make it tough to see the light, so to speak. And just to reassure you, it took me 27 full storyforms to get my first one correct, all for the same story. Your character’s mother died. I can see why that is a problem, but what exactly _is_ the problem here? For our hotel manager in _Psycho_ it’s one kind of problem. For Tyrion Lannister, it’s a different kind of problem. I’m sure someone here could come up with a story where a maternal death is liberating. So, before jumping into things like Chaos and Order, tell us like you would have the character tell their shrink or best friend. _I can’t think straight._ _Every time I go to bed, her ghost comes to me._ _I fear my own mortality now._ _I worry she never loved me, and now never can._ That kind of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Leah](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/leah/32/425_2.png) [@Leah](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/Leah)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 5:10pm UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/playing-a-role-mc-throughline/1178/18 "2017-08-24T17:10:15Z")
> [@MWollaeger](#): > > but since you are just learning this system, it’s unlikely you’ve hit on the right storyform. Yep, I’m starting to realize that! I still believe I have a fixed attitude story, but “Memories” doesn’t seem like the right goal. I want the characters to think about prejudice, and to consider the past circumstances that lead people to act the way they do. I think “Contemplations” might have been a better goal. So, if Anna was talking to shrink (in my story I imagine her talking to her pastor after church), here’s what I imagine she would say: _She was my rock. She always helped me to put things into perspective. Without her, I have no one to guide me, tell me when I’m going down the wrong path, encourage me when I’m down, etc…_ Also: _I never knew my father. My mother left me when I was a baby. She couldn’t take care of me. She knew my foster-mother could. I love my foster-sisters but I never felt equal to them. They always made me feel a bit inferior for not being a blood relative. And for being an illegitamate child. My foster mother made me feel like I was family. She never treated me different. With her gone, I feel like I have no one._ ---
**Author:** ![MWollaeger](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/mwollaeger/32/82_2.png) [@MWollaeger](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/MWollaeger)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 8:44pm UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/playing-a-role-mc-throughline/1178/19 "2017-08-24T20:44:44Z")
> [@Leah](#): > > Yep, I’m starting to realize that! I still believe I have a fixed attitude story, but “Memories” doesn’t seem like the right goal. I want the characters to think about prejudice, and to consider the past circumstances that lead people to act the way they do. I think “Contemplations” might have been a better goal. It’s hard to say given what I know if _Memories_ is the wrong way to go. For instance, nobody is born racist, it must be learned. And when it is learned, it goes into our _Memories_. [It’s hard not to think of _Memories_ as something other than how we experience memories in our conscious – _Haha, it was so funny when Dad got drunk and went into the wrong bedroom, where our guests were staying_.] But, they can be more like _pattern recognition_: My mother’s attitude towards the Latinos in our neighborhood trained me to think of them as inferior. But now, thanks to some catalyst, you bump into _Truth_ and _Falsehood_. [_Oh, man, my dad wasn’t staggering around; he was trying to get some action with Mrs. Henry!_] And from there, you can see things like how the economics of your neighborhood kept Latinos in an inferior position, but it had nothing to do with them. There was a built in _inequity_. [_My mother and father had a lopsided marriage, where she demanded things from him, but gave nothing in return. No wonder he sought comfort in Mrs. Henry!_] But, you can do the same kind of thing by going down _Contemplation_ as well. I just want to point out that the _goal_ is not the element you have chosen. The goal is more human than that – _who doesn’t want to feel like an equal partner in their love affairs, just like our errant patriarch?_ And, by the way, you already have _Equity/Inequity_ baked into your description. But for the MC, this wouldn’t be part of the OS. It would be something like _Psychology\>Conceptualizing\>Circumstances\>Inequity_: I don’t know how to plan things without someone guiding me. I get emotionally turned inside out whenever I try, because I never developed a way to do this on my own, because I was always felt inferior and relied on their greater wisdom. ---
**Author:** ![mdeatherage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@mdeatherage](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/mdeatherage)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2017, 10:40pm UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/playing-a-role-mc-throughline/1178/20 "2017-08-27T22:40:39Z")
Hey, Leah: I read some about your story in the other thread about the IC’s influence, and when I read some more here, I couldn’t shake this thought: If the MC has abandoned her goal by the end of Act 1, that wasn’t really her goal in her storyline. Now I read this bit about Anna’s internal thoughts: > [@Leah](#): > > I love my foster-sisters, but I never felt equal to them. They always made me feel a bit inferior for not being a blood relative. And for being an illegitimate child. My foster mother made me feel like I was family. She never treated me different. With her gone, I feel like I have no one. And now the thought I can’t shake is “She doesn’t seek order. She seeks to fit in.” Or like the song in Disney’s “Hercules” says, “I would go most anywhere to find where I belong.” (But that sounds like a do-er, not a be-er.) All I can really advise after getting lost in the program for about an hour while resting my back today is to remember that problem/solution is paired in a 2 X 2 grid with symptom/response. The symptom is what Anna _thinks_ the problem is, and the response is how she tries to solve it. The problem element is what the problem _really_ is, and the solution is how it’s really addressed. Is the problem really chaos, or is that how Anna perceives it (the symptom)? If you have this in Fixed Attitude/Memories, then chaos/order is either the problem/solution _or_ the symptom/response. The other pair is change/inertia. Does that seem right? Perhaps you could look at chaos/order in other quadrants and see if the complementary pair for symptom/response is a better fit. (That would upend your storyform, of course, but that’s what the process is like.) If _none_ of them seem right, then that would be a strong sign that you are fighting the storyform so much because it’s not the right one. You can see this in the big levels like jwollander suggests, or in the small ones, but if it doesn’t fit you must…rejigger. [Next page](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/playing-a-role-mc-throughline/1178.md?page=2)