forum Unique protagonist

Started March 25, 2018 by @Paperok

tune

@ninja_violinist What is her name? why is she as wildly hypocritical as she is? How do the other characters react to the way she is? what kind of story is she in? How does her character arc tie in with the said story? also long is good :)

Even though Kado's the main main character, he wasn't the first one I made so I'm still really working on him.

He was raised on a prosperous farm where he lived comfortably with a loving family. He was taught how to be hard working and generous.
He's very charismatic and loves sharing and listening to stories with other people. Kado developed a curiosity for the world from all the stories he was told and has an adventurers spirit although he never intended to leave his home town until he was forced to.
He saw the world as it was told through stories, seeing only good and evil and not understanding the complexity of it. Although he has a certain sway over people he is easily manipulated and has to face reality through harsh lessons.
He is a natural leader and very strong willed with a chivalrous drive that makes him look naive in many people's eyes.

Eh I think that's a very basic overview of Kado

@Reblod How about the overall story, how much of it do you have planned out?

@Paperok sure! my story is set in a post ww3 world where guns are obsolete because of bulletproof armor, so the weapon of the future is sound. people get nanotech shots around 12 and if they're compatible, they're able to use the nanomachines in their body to summon an instrument, and then a "harmonic spirit", which is an entity made entirely out of nanomachines that is controlled by music. It's kind of like the stands in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, but more like the Stardust Crusaders stands and less like stands after Diamond is Unbreakable. singers are really high rank, though, and they get a different shot that's entirely dedicated to their harmonic spirit and reacts to their voice. Spirits have AI so they're capable of acting independently of their users.

Any spirits or instruments that aren't from the nanotech shot are considered deviant technology and their users are targeted.

@nekh I love that concept! Why are the deviants targeted for not using nanotech? Are the more powerful? What kind of state is the world in? They seem to have a big focus on weapons; are they still at war?

@Paperok thank you! people generally settle disputes by music. they're at peace, but nobility and other high-ranked people are getting bored of the peace and starting proxy wars and other trouble. technically everyone is using nanotech because all harmonic spirits are nanotech, but it's a general stigma thing against not using your shot. for example almost nobody carries instruments around because their instruments are inside their bodies until needed, so antaya draws a lot of attention for having her ukulele. or if you're incompatible with your shot and you salvage something from somewhere like nicolas, then you're kind of cheating. but mostly some of the nobles are trying to stamp out any individuality. my boyfriend (who is helping me write) says its also a commentary on the music industry and people being shot down for doing something different.

@Paperok Her name is Victoria, but only the foolish or the brave call her anything but Tori.
Her hypocrisy makes sense in her own mind - there was an incident in her childhood where her closest friend "betrayed" her and left. So she decides that she won't give her loyalty to anyone who doesn't deserve it or who would do something like that - but obviously that's not how it works in life, so it's pretty hypocritical.
Other characters have little patience for Tori. She can be funny in a sarcastic way and sort of okay to be around, but once her good favor is lost she's not subtle about her dislike. Most people think she's weird, arrogant, and selfish, and honestly they have a point. (This feeds a lot into her victim mindset.) She might start out well, but unless she really likes someone there's a low chance of the acquaintance ending well.
Her story is strange because she's telling it in hindsight in an audiorecording (dual narration with the other person who experienced the same thing). So there's a disconnect between the story she's telling and where she's at characterwise (she goes through two major arcs - one in the tale she's telling, and one as she talks about it). It's kind of hard to explain.
Her loyalty arc is basically fueled by spite. She meets a guy struggling with loyalty and they have several ugly confrontations about it, where they eventually decide to never speak to each other again. Then she decides to change her ways to spite him. The arc is definitely more subplot and characterisation than the actual focus of the story though.
Thank you for your interest!

@nekh that's very interesting and pretty unique; how much of the plot do you have mapped out?

@ninja_violinist I like Victoria. could you explain the main plot/focus of the story to me?

@Paperok The main focus… Tori is randomly flung into a world not her own, in the middle of a warzone. Unfortunately the people who end up capturing her are the "villains" - fighting an imperial war of aggression and lacking the moral scruples to keep anyone alive who isn't useful to them. Though Tori survives by offering up her services to the psychopathic leader, she is constantly forced to choose between her own life and comfort and what she knows to be right. The two main themes are loyalty (loyalty to one's beliefs and conscience) and culpability - the fact that she made those choices to survive doesn't change that fact that she made them and made people suffer for them. So yay for moral dilemma and emotional trauma, I guess
[Honestly I'm not too happy with the plot yet. I'm one of those unfortunate writers who has characters but has no idea what I'm doing or where I'm going with them.]

@ninja_violinist What world does Tori come from? if thats the case why dont you explain some of the other characters? say the ¨psychopathic leader¨"what is he all about?