POPULAR: Simple Questions, Simple Answers

[Greninjaman]

Does the story place a lot focus on them and their inner thoughts, desires, character arc, etc.?

Really should have been more specific...
No, the story is about a character trying to wake up the person. Like, the whole point of the story revolves around waking the person up.

 

[Welkamo]

Really should have been more specific...
No, the story is about a character trying to wake up the person. Like, the whole point of the story revolves around waking the person up.

In that case, maybe? I think they would be a main character, but I wouldn’t worry too much about whether or not they are.

 

[Greninjaman]

In that case, maybe? I think they would be a main character, but I wouldn’t worry too much about whether or not they are.

I guess you are right. Can't really be a character in a story if you spend the entire thing in a coma/enchanted sleep...

 

[Nitro Indigo]

Reminds me of Michael Morpurgo's Cool, which is told from the perspective of a coma patient.

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

How do I make battles interesting to read? I can throw in cool tactics but how do I make "normal" combat not boring?

 

[Welkamo]

How do I make battles interesting to read? I can throw in cool tactics but how do I make "normal" combat not boring?

Some suggestions:

• Make the reader care about the stakes. Ask yourself: "Why do the characters care about the battle's outcome, and why should the reader care?"
• Add personality and strategy! Do the Pokémon and trainer want to look pretty while battling? Are they brute forcing or defending? Things like that can provide insight into character.
• Don't just show action—have the characters speak, go into deep monologues, go melodramatic.

 

[KrspaceT]

How do I make battles interesting to read? I can throw in cool tactics but how do I make "normal" combat not boring?

Try to study the best anime battles and think how to write those more than how you would write a game battle

 

[CynthiaLover]

Not sure how "simple" this question is but as Nova says: Here goes something.

I need a bit of help figuring out some ideas on an upcoming (mini)arc in Dawn of Courage. At one point the party will be on a boat heading to the next continent. They end up rescuing Dominic (who by that point has been fully cemented as an antagonist due to once allying himself with Muu's army in an attempt to kill Nova) but since the threat of both aquatic monsters and Muu's naval force (Captain Boneacuda and his zombie sharkmen) they are forced to make a truce with Dominic until they reach the next continent. Basically the truce boils down to "he who draws blood from the other first gets kicked off the ship" and acts in a fairly similar vein to the truce/ceasefire event from Beast Wars. Dominic, obviously, tries to milk this by giving Nova non-violent grief until after the battle with Boneacuda where, in a fit, he slashes Nova across the face with a broken sword after Nova makes a smart remark, thereby getting him quite literally ejected from the ship and left at the mercy of the aquatic monsters.

But I need to think of ways for Dominic to milk the truce. One idea I had was that he would always kick Nova out of his cabin when it was time for bed every night, since Dominic isn't allowed to have a cabin because he didn't pay for a ticket, so he opts to steal it instead due to his massive self-entitlement complex. In that case Nova gets the last laugh as not only does a member of the ship's crew (who is a Buffalo-type Beastman) tie up Dominic and throw him onto the deck every night as punishment, but Nina invites Nova to sleep with her instead. But I need a few more ideas on possible ways for Dominic to try non-violent methods to milk the truce out of petty spite (pretty much all of it is directed toward Nova due to the mutual hatred they have for each other). Suggestions would be great. Thanks in advance.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

What would be a good place for two students of opposite sexes to talk in private in a 90s American high school?

 

[BackSet]

What would be a good place for two students of opposite sexes to talk in private in a 90s American high school?

Behind the bleachers maybe?

 

[BackSet]

How do Japanese names work when it comes to English? I know in Japanese you use the surname unless you're close to the person so does that carry over to English? And what if somebody has a more western first name (she's named after her mother's college roommate and best friend) but a Japanese surname?

 

[CynthiaLover]

Need some suggestions on an upcoming chapter. The party (well, Nova, Nina, and Kettu, to be exact) will be attending a class to better bond with their familiars. I need some suggestions on what kind of trust exercises would be good to help people bond with their familiars. This chapter will also be bit of a lore dump, as it'll delve into more about familiars as a whole, the importance of trust between master and familiar, along with showing off ones that haven't appeared yet. But I need some ideas on trust exercises for the cast (and characters-of-the-day) to participate in so they can better bond with their familiars. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks in advance.

 

[Greninjaman]

Need some suggestions on an upcoming chapter. The party (well, Nova, Nina, and Kettu, to be exact) will be attending a class to better bond with their familiars. I need some suggestions on what kind of trust exercises would be good to help people bond with their familiars. This chapter will also be bit of a lore dump, as it'll delve into more about familiars as a whole, the importance of trust between master and familiar, along with showing off ones that haven't appeared yet. But I need some ideas on trust exercises for the cast (and characters-of-the-day) to participate in so they can better bond with their familiars. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks in advance.

Maybe a challenge that was created for the specific abilities of that familiar and the person who has it?

 

[CynthiaLover]

Maybe a challenge that was created for the specific abilities of that familiar and the person who has it?

Sorry, meant to reply sooner but I was pretty burned out after my outing with my folks.

That is an idea, although some familiars are on the rarer side, such as Gorgon Vipers. So it might be hard to have a species-specific exercise for familiars that are very rare and/or have very little information known about them. Maybe something along the lines of type-specific would work better, like exercises for Dragon-type familiars or Avian-type or Beast-type, and so on. That way it'd be general enough to cover the needed bases while being specific enough to cater to the particular familiar species. Got any suggestions on that front?

 

[Greninjaman]

Sorry, meant to reply sooner but I was pretty burned out after my outing with my folks.

That is an idea, although some familiars are on the rarer side, such as Gorgon Vipers. So it might be hard to have a species-specific exercise for familiars that are very rare and/or have very little information known about them. Maybe something along the lines of type-specific would work better, like exercises for Dragon-type familiars or Avian-type or Beast-type, and so on. That way it'd be general enough to cover the needed bases while being specific enough to cater to the particular familiar species. Got any suggestions on that front?

Makes sense that rarer ones would not have much info about them. Also, type-specifc certainly sounds like a good idea. Like, if one challenge works for one fire based creature, why not all of them?

As for ideas...
For water based creatures, putting out fires is an obvious challenge to have.