How well do you know your main character? the SF/F edition

ThatWeirdGuy

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What is something your MC is bad at? How do they compensate or overcome this?

Well, my MC's most noticeable weakness is his lack of any physical ability. (Strength, speed, accuracy, etc.) This doesn't usually cause any problems, since he can scheme his way out of most problems - but he has trouble improvising. This means that my MC is pretty helpless when it comes to dealing with surprises and unknown factors, or anything else that he can't plan for in advance.

Now for my question: Things have been going well for your MC. Suspiciously well. How do they respond?
 

xanaphia

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Now for my question: Things have been going well for your MC. Suspiciously well. How do they respond?

Well, according to my story, Aurianna respond by getting knocked up and engaged. That way, it's even more jarring when she is forced back into the main conflict.

Your MC discovers they have a five year old child. (In the case of a female main character, assume magic/time travel/ alternate reality transplant is involved) How do they react? Where do they go from there?
 

evilsapphyre

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Your MC discovers they have a five year old child. (In the case of a female main character, assume magic/time travel/ alternate reality transplant is involved) How do they react? Where do they go from there?

Yumi would insist that there is no way that this could be real. She couldn't not know about a child, and she's not in a remotely stable relationship to even consider having a child. She's a master of denial, but she'd find herself hesitating to treat her doubts the way that she normally would (alcohol, sex or drugs to not deal). After all, she'd have to be responsible for this sudden child. She'd have to just suck things up, and try to be a parent even though she knows nothing on how to do it. (And be freaking out if she had no idea who the father was.)

My question: Your MC hears a loud noise in their closet, during the middle of the night. They go to investigate and find a small, rabbit sized hole, with a twilight glow emanating from it. What do they do? What do they find?
 
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WriteMinded

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Answer: My MC would call her guard and go back to bed after instructing him to wake her if he found Saxons in the hole. (Haha. Actually, my MC fits xanaphia's question much better than this one.)

Question: How would your MC react to encountering a maneating monster in the forest?
 

xanaphia

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As a paladin, Aurianna has been trained in and tasked with destroying such monsters. Her sense of justice and overconfidence in her abilities might drive her to rush in recklessly, but she has always been one to dive head first into such challenges. Fighting comes easy to her, and is usually her first solution to obstacles.

What does your MC fear losing?
 

heykatydid

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As a paladin, Aurianna has been trained in and tasked with destroying such monsters. Her sense of justice and overconfidence in her abilities might drive her to rush in recklessly, but she has always been one to dive head first into such challenges. Fighting comes easy to her, and is usually her first solution to obstacles.

What does your MC fear losing?

Answer: A loaded question, as this changes each time he does, in fact, lose it. At first, his relative freedom and isolation in the woods; when that has been taken, his options for the future to get it back. He fears losing both of his childhood friends, and then his own life. He likely never thought there would be anything he feared losing more than his existence, but to his dismay, there is: the Mage prince he rescued and set free.

Question: If your MC had a perfect foil, the opposite in every way, what would they be like and how would your MC feel about them?
 

Twick

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Answer: A loaded question, as this changes each time he does, in fact, lose it. At first, his relative freedom and isolation in the woods; when that has been taken, his options for the future to get it back. He fears losing both of his childhood friends, and then his own life. He likely never thought there would be anything he feared losing more than his existence, but to his dismay, there is: the Mage prince he rescued and set free.

Question: If your MC had a perfect foil, the opposite in every way, what would they be like and how would your MC feel about them?

In some ways, his brother is his foil - the brother is physically handsome, active, very much the extrovert. Someone of great physical courage, but also a "people pleaser" who dislikes personal conflict. More a doer than a thinker. Someone who grew up believing that the world is a good place, and who suffers when he learns it isn't, as opposed to the MC who found his mother's murdered body before he turned four years old.

MC loves his brother above all else.

Question - Your MC has been given bad service. Very bad service. What do they do? Get angry? Grumble to themselves? Take the offending waiter/servant/saleclerk's head off efficiently but with panache?
 

AR_Kingston

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In some ways, his brother is his foil - the brother is physically handsome, active, very much the extrovert. Someone of great physical courage, but also a "people pleaser" who dislikes personal conflict. More a doer than a thinker. Someone who grew up believing that the world is a good place, and who suffers when he learns it isn't, as opposed to the MC who found his mother's murdered body before he turned four years old.

MC loves his brother above all else.

Question - Your MC has been given bad service. Very bad service. What do they do? Get angry? Grumble to themselves? Take the offending waiter/servant/saleclerk's head off efficiently but with panache?

Hmm, well we would have to asume she would first have to take on physical form to get service. But, let's assume she did get bad service, I think she would just let it slide. She lives in Europe where tiping is non-existant, so it's not like she can stiff the waiter. And she has only been dead for 153 years, so a bit of bad service would be a change to her mundane routine. Katya would just shrug it off and move on, but she would complain about to Victor later on.

Question-Your MC is trapped in a burning building with their loved one, and a puppy. They can only save one. Who do they save, and how do they justify it?
 

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Question-Your MC is trapped in a burning building with their loved one, and a puppy. They can only save one. Who do they save, and how do they justify it?

Well, most of Aurianna's loved ones are close to her badass level. So they should be able to save themselves from the burning building, freeing Aurianna to rescue the puppy. In the case that her loved one is unable to help themselves, then she helps her loved one, no questions there. Puppies are cute and all, but they aren't going to hold a candle to the people she cares about.


Question- One of your MC's loved ones has been accused of a crime. The evidence looks bad, but they insist they didn't do it. What does your MC do about it?
 

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Question- One of your MC's loved ones has been accused of a crime. The evidence looks bad, but they insist they didn't do it. What does your MC do about it?

Yuta would work together with Yukari to escape the jurisdiction of the accusation. Even if she was guilty, he wouldn't let her be punished for it.

Question- Your character has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. What do they do with their remaining time?
 
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WriteMinded

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Yuta would work together with Yukari to escape the jurisdiction of the accusation. Even if she was guilty, he wouldn't let her be punished for it.

Question- Your character has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. What do they do with their remaining time?

Answer: Actually, my MC was diagnosed with a terminal illness. She escaped it by allowing a secret government agency to send her back in time — to long before she contracted her disease — to do a little spying for them.

Question: How would your MC deal with this situation?: A serial murderer is about to get away free, again, and she/he can't prove the man is guilty.
 

ThatWeirdGuy

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How would your MC deal with this situation?: A serial murderer is about to get away free, again, and she/he can't prove the man is guilty.

A: My MC would probably act based on the moral from an old story his parents taught him: "Never get so lost in making your enemies the losers, that you forget to make yourself a winner." As such, his response would really depend on the threat the killer poses to him and his crew. If the killer poses no threat, my MC would move on with his life. However, if the killer posed a significant threat, my MC would probably manufacture fake proof, or bribe/blackmail important officials to insure the killer got a death/life sentence.

Q: There are three death traps. (Yes, death traps. Horrible, cheesy, absurd deathtraps.) One holds twenty random bystanders, another holds a young doctor that is likely to go on to save a few hundred lives if they survive, and the last one holds a close personal friend of the MC. They only have enough time to save the victim(s) of one of the traps, but in doing so they will sacrifice their own lives in the process. Who do they save, their friend, the strangers, the doctor, or themselves? Or, do they risk saving no one, in a valiant/desperate attempt to defy the rules and save everyone? (Sorry for the long question.)
 

Kjbartolotta

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Moonbird- "Ah, yes. This old quandary. I know it had name before this, but I'd always heard it as the Deceleration Problem, a loathed sim scenario among officers, raiders, and fledgling captains everywhere. A starship is coming in system, and, for some reason, the deceleration budget has been drained unexpectedly. So they can't slow down, and to make matters worse the system's laser array is offline, which sounds improbable but does happen. The starship is moving at speeds entirely inappropriate for a populated system, and there's the real chance the vessel is going to do some damage when it blazes out of control past the habitation swarm. Oh, and all of your friends, compatriots, and even some copies of yourself are on said starship, which you are responsible for stopping. Occasionally there's a third ship carrying some bauble that can rescue civilization, save that and destroy the other two if you can handle such a contrivance.

"It's an absurd scenario, I know, and one clearly invented for the aims of philosophers and not soldiers or travelers. But everyone faces this sim at some point, and, like it or not, how you choose to handle it ends up as a permanent point on your brag sheet. They come up in Real too, but each of them are unique, and what kind of person thinks they're smart being tested in the hypothetical with such unwinables? Who enjoys these meaningless trials, or thinks it improves their tactics when the situation is real and pressing? Who can perceive the real meaning behind such tests, where the intent of the tester and their agenda is always a third or fourth layer that must be accounted for. Who finds them funny? If the problem comes up in a crisis, my choice is to deal with the situation as necessary, makes the decisions I think best at the time, and deal with the consequences. Otherwise it's just some idiotic game wasting useful memory.

Sorry for playing with the question, Moonbird is trying to make sense of it as much as she can understand it in her context. And she refuses to answer it straight on because she's a little defensive about it and is the kind of person that would trying to save everyone, every time, no matter how stupidly that turns out.

Your MC gets some money to build a modest palace. The palace must have a lavish bedroom, big hall, and spooky basement where the MC keeps something secret. Plus whatever else you want, and define 'palace' as loosely as you desire.
 

Shirokitty

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Note: Not sure what happened, so reposting this.

Your MC gets some money to build a modest palace. The palace must have a lavish bedroom, big hall, and spooky basement where the MC keeps something secret. Plus whatever else you want, and define 'palace' as loosely as you desire.
That's oddly specific, Shiani thought as she eyed the note. She began tapping against her leg, trying to decide whether this was some sort of joke. Yet the money seemed all too real.

Deciding that it would be nice to have a real house again, Shiani hired some people to build the palace. Of course, the girl had therm build a mansion instead of a palace. And instead of a basement she had them build a garden on the roof where she could practice her witchcraft. The only secrets she really had were her illegal tomes, and for that a locked chest would do fine.

By the time it was finished, the house had little in common with the palace from the note. Shiani, after all, had never been one to play by the rules. That had no doubt played a part in her becoming the Red-Eyed Witch, the most wanted woman in all of Eclasia.

Content with herself, she laid down on the grass in the secret garden atop her roof. The girl fell asleep while looking at the sky.

Your best friend has been killed. You know who the killer is, but don't understand why he'd do this. What do you do?
 

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Sage would suspend them in the void, allowing them to drift in an infinate expanse of white space. The person would be able to move, function, explore- but it would be nothing but white space for as far as they'd ever be able to go. They would be left with their regret.

What does your MC's mind palace look like?

Note: if you could describe their mind, their memory bank, their state of mind as a building, palace, or mansion, or slum, what would it like?

ie: For mine it was a drab and desolate labrynth made of stone, the walls constantly dripping with water that formed pools at her feet and enlightened by a glow that radiated from nothing. As the book progresses it gets better and less depressing.
 

ThatWeirdGuy

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Your MC is now in a different genre entirely! Which genre and what is their new role?

Mystery/Thriller, as the main antagonist.

Your MC has found themselves in another world. It's similar to their old world, but without any magic/advanced science. If they had any special powers or technological devices, they're gone now. How do they react, long term and short term.
 

The Pandion

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Your MC has found themselves in another world. It's similar to their old world, but without any magic/advanced science. If they had any special powers or technological devices, they're gone now. How do they react, long term and short term.

Well that sucked! Just about to kick ass and I get transported to a... somewhere. No magic, no nothing! What would I do? Get cash! Money is king everywhere and a guy has to eat. How? Well, I am already set up to be a brilliant sneak thief with my athletic abilities and fighting skills and bonus you don't have to speak whatever language they speak.

Long term? Learn the language, that's tops, next thing would be to find out how the hell the spell worked. With this being a no magic zone one has to wonder how the spell connected the two wherever's. So maybe there is a loophole and if there is, well that brings us to stage three, finding the intelligent people. Then you just roll from there, oh and don't get caught. People tend to be a bit funny about strange people.

QUESTION: Your MC finds themselves facing their greatest challenge yet, a bag filled with hungry, hungry seamonster yet they cannot throw it away as it contains something of great importance. How do they get the Important Thing and not get eaten OR destroy the Seamonster (because we all are equally worthy of not being killed for simply being ourselves)?
 
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Shirokirie

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QUESTION: Your MC finds themselves facing their greatest challenge yet, a bag filled with hungry, hungry seamonster yet they cannot throw it away as it contains something of great importance. How do they get the Important Thing and not get eaten OR destroy the Seamonster (because we all are equally worthy of not being killed for simply being ourselves)?

They put the bag down...

And run away - because the bag contained common sense, and they got that.

Your character just discovered the love of their life, who found out that the love of their life happens to be a fillet of tilapia. A filet of live, cognizant Tilapia. Your character obviously has more sense than the love of their life, and has to find a way of reasoning with an otherwise idiotic love interest.

However, this love interest is SO stupid, they don't understand the language your character speaks!

How do they communicate A) their love for this person, B) why loving a live, cognizant fillet of fish is stupid, and B) that they're stupid, and they should know that?
 
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The Pandion

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Your character just discovered the love of their life, who found out that the love of their life happens to be a fillet of tilapia. A filet of live, cognizant Tilapia. Your character obviously has more sense than the love of their life, and has to find a way of reasoning with an otherwise idiotic love interest.

However, this love interest is SO stupid, they don't understand the language your character speaks!

How do they communicate A) their love for this person, B) why loving a live, cognizant fillet of fish is stupid, and B) that they're stupid, and they should know that?

Well... You don't! I mean this whole love thing was obviously a moment of seriously bad judgment on my part or else that weird tasting soup last night. So I am going to leave her to her fish, may they have a long and happy relationship, and find someone more suited to me and if need be I can always eat more of that soup! :p

QUESTION: You get knocked on the head and lose all memory and knowledge of who you are, what you were doing or where the hell you are. But there lingers a feeling that you were up to something really important. How would you deal with this and find out who you are and what important thing you were doing?
 

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They would ask around and would likely find their way to Sennet. Sennet isn't cruel like that so he would at least tell them the bare bones. My MC would try to build something to recover memories to figure it out.

What would make your character betray their cause?
 

The Pandion

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What would make your character betray their cause?

Nothing... I mean if really put on the spot he would not be above saying that he would happily through the last of the wizards in a fire himself (he wouldn't of course! a little lie never hurt anyone except the bad guy ;p fool that he is!) but he would only ever do that to buy time and think of a way out of the situation. But he would never actually betray his cause.

QUESTION: What would be the worst situation to put your MC in? By worst I mean the setting them against the one thing that they cannot defeat, overcome or triumph over in the end?
 

jekwrites

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The worst situation for my MC would be having his closest friends turn against him. He relies so heavily on his friends as a support structure in his life that without them he would be incapable of functioning or believing in himself anymore.

QUESTION: To what lengths will your MC go to obtain information from an enemy?
 

Shirokirie

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QUESTION: To what lengths will your MC go to obtain information from an enemy?

About 12 feet. Although, more realistically, I just had a 'heroine' eavesdrop on an unsuspecting couple that went from 'good, yay!' to 'Aw, you're bad now... :(' - So, I guess they don't have too hard a time with that...?

Okay, so.

Your MC wakes up in an alley. They soon discover that they've been opened, and then stitched up haphazardly. Beside them is a note that reads:

Dear PAIN IN MY ASS,
I've planted a bomb in your guts.
If you want to live, you must do 3 horribly asshole-ish things.
See how you like being the story's asshole.
Sincerely,
MV (Main Villian)

What does your MC do?
 

HaHs

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Okay, so.

Your MC wakes up in an alley. They soon discover that they've been opened, and then stitched up haphazardly. Beside them is a note that reads:

Dear PAIN IN MY ASS,
I've planted a bomb in your guts.
If you want to live, you must do 3 horribly asshole-ish things.
See how you like being the story's asshole.
Sincerely,
MV (Main Villian)

What does your MC do?

My MC is a bit of an asshole anyway. I think she'd certainly do the 3 asshole-ish things and then make it her private mission to bring about justice by punishing the MV in a brutal but "justifiable" (to her) fashion.

My turn now?
Your MC is lost in a strange city where they do not speak the language, do not know the geography/customs and do not have any contacts. Nobody else speaks their language, either, nor do they recognise the MC's customs. To the MC it is a completely alien place to be and to everyone else the MC is completely alien. What does your MC do?