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Where should the Story start?

  1. Before the Abduction of the MC

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  2. During the Abduction of the MC

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  3. After the Abduction of the MC

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  1. Asher Janos Hawthorne

    Asher Janos Hawthorne Member

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    The Man has no compass!

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by Asher Janos Hawthorne, Mar 2, 2019.

    So i'm writing two stories. One is about a warrior priest seeking revenge. and the other is about a guy who gets abducted and experimented on by "Aliens" only to escape and find out he is actually in another universe parallel to ours. The Guy (Through the centuries) becomes a well known smuggler, scavenger, merc, and all around badass who goes by the name of Chrysaor. slight problem is i don't know the story i want to tell with him. I don't know if i wan't to explore how a mild mannered professor becomes a ruthless warrior, or if i want to explore the aftermath of becoming said warrior and ask if he was ever really the man he once was or if he was really Chrysaor all along. Any Advice on decision making?
     
  2. Reece

    Reece Senior Member

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    I would be interested to read about a ruthless warrior who later is revealed to have been a mild mannered professor. Make me care about him first, and then I will want to read about his past.
     
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  3. The Dapper Hooligan

    The Dapper Hooligan (V) ( ;,,;) (v) Contributor

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    Isn't that the arc of Tom Hanks' character in Saving Private Ryan?
     
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  4. Asher Janos Hawthorne

    Asher Janos Hawthorne Member

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    Close! he was a high school English teacher. I actually am putting some thought in making the main character something more innocuous like a gas station attendant or retail employee.
     
  5. Reece

    Reece Senior Member

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    Accountant, tres bland. No offense to the accountants in the room >>.>>
     
  6. Some Guy

    Some Guy Manguage Langler Supporter Contributor

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    As a professor, he has opportunity to use knowledge from a different perspective when he's a warrior. All that needs to happen is that moment where he snaps, or has the epiphany, the transition. (a mirror to Ying Quo(?) in The Shadow)
     
  7. Asher Janos Hawthorne

    Asher Janos Hawthorne Member

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    Ying Quo? i've never heard of that. True, a chemistry teacher would have a differing perspective on a few vials of chemicals than someone else. the main problem is that most of the knowledge he could get may not necessarily be applicable due to the fact that he isn't in our universe. certain elements may not exist or function entirely differently in this universe. Tactics that were foolproof in our history could have been used so often that there is a hard counter for it in this one.
     
  8. Some Guy

    Some Guy Manguage Langler Supporter Contributor

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    Story writers prerogative. The Flash made the multiverse work.
     
  9. Asher Janos Hawthorne

    Asher Janos Hawthorne Member

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    True. True. it could be an interesting story seeing somebody who studied natures laws for a good portion of his life have to learn new ones.
     
  10. XRD_author

    XRD_author Banned

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    Make him a pre-K daycare attendant, or a neo-natal ICU nurse.
    Think how useful all that experience with babies will be.
     
  11. Asher Janos Hawthorne

    Asher Janos Hawthorne Member

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    It would certainly add to his patience,
     
  12. XRD_author

    XRD_author Banned

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    And some humorous reactions perhaps:
    Princess gets a tummy-ache.
    Warrior hoists her up on his shoulder and burps her.​
     
  13. Asher Janos Hawthorne

    Asher Janos Hawthorne Member

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    A Bloodthirsty warrior who wears the jaw of a vicious beast on his helmet, is feared by crime bosses and warlords for his skill and ruthlessness now faces his greatest challenge yet...teaching the nanny how to properly rock a baby to sleep!
     
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  14. Asher Janos Hawthorne

    Asher Janos Hawthorne Member

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    Okay so he was a Daycare attendant before his abduction. now i just need advice on if i should start the story alongside the afore mentioned abduction or after
     
  15. EBohio

    EBohio Banned

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    Me too.

    But do you mean ruthless warrior in a negative way like what an antagonist would be? Or ruthless because he has a particular set of skills like Liam Neeson and is only ruthless when he has to be so he can be a likable protagonist? Or like the David Carradine character in the tv show "Kung Fu" where he only uses martial arts to protect himself or others. Or like Dr. David Banner that only does damage when he turns into the The Incredible Hulk.

    Or it could be a psychological study on how a truly ruthless person was once a mild mannered professor but he isn't mild mannered now. I don't think he can be both unless it is a Jekyll and Hyde thing.
     
  16. Reece

    Reece Senior Member

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    Hmm, ruthless in the way of a protagonist who has had his lover killed in front of his eyes and has no qualms about slaying his enemies and getting himself some sweet sweet revenge. Not so likable as Neeson. Not so altruistic as Carradine. Maybe a bit bannerish, if is trigger wasn't rage but simply the presence of his foes, though I imagine that may enrage him. Though it doesn't have to. He could approach the situation calmly.

    That last bit works.
     
  17. Asher Janos Hawthorne

    Asher Janos Hawthorne Member

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    The way i was planning on him being was a bit like Neeson. He isn't just a psychopath who kills for no reason, but he isn't always as noble as Neeson, occasionally hiring himself out as an assassin to make ends meet. He would be extremely brutal but in a way that suggests efficiency more than thrill.
     
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  18. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    Nerdy Chemist.jpg + Alien head 1.png = Soldier M1.jpg

    Interesting when you do the 'math'. Abduction of an average guy, and somewhere in the middle
    he becomes Super Commando for hire. Question being was it the meddling of the aliens, or the
    severe trauma that turned this 'must kill' switch on in the man?
    On the first, I suppose that the Aliens could take any old human (average Joe), and physically
    alter him to be stronger, and tap into our deep ingrained mental acuity for violence.
    The second being, that the severe trauma has suppressed the man he used to be, and was replaced
    with a blood thirsty mercenary.
    While both are plausible, the second is far more interesting when you consider that it is bound somewhat
    to the dissociative personality to protect the weaker personality from the horrors they have endured as
    a result of extreme physical and psychological damage, as a form of a coping mechanism to keep the person
    alive and survive beyond said trauma, while keeping the original persona intact. Kinda like a self preserving
    alter-ego of sorts.
    With the Aliens 'sciencing' the shit out of the poor guy, well you can have it occur in several ways.
    A simple invasive (or not) neuro scan and re-wiring of his entire brain. (Or simply unlock the suggested
    ingrained alter ego that lies beneath the surface).

    IDK so many roots to go down to finding it, so mull it over a while and see what makes the most sense
    for your story, and the direction you want it to go in.

    Good Luck. :superidea:
     
  19. Some Guy

    Some Guy Manguage Langler Supporter Contributor

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    You don't even need aliens to suspend disbelief. Aliens are just cool. The lunatic fringe of ARPA in the late 60s thru early 70s had already succeeded in tipping the the brain over to alternate patterns of behavior, they just couldn't control it, especially not when they thought they did. The results were usually fatal, and always destructive. So, the power of the aliens would be to regulate how much he would change. No re-wiring required. It is terrifyingly easy to turn a human back into its primal form.
     

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