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

Probably report directly to Dr. Hould, his boss. She has direct connections to government officials who could do a lot more about the problem than the regular authorities. Besides, he wouldn't really want to speak to the police himself - too many bad memories...

Q: Your MC is told they have five days to live. There is NO way to avoid it. What do they do with their time?

cat_named_easter said:

Q: Your MC is told they have five days to live. There is NO way to avoid it. What do they do with their time?

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Depends when in the course of the story it happens. If it's towards the end then:

A.: he would freak out because there is no-one to replace him as king… well, except for that rebellious kid who's being manipulated by the evil guys, but that's the last person A. wants as a successor! He would spend his last days begging and begging the Gods to free the only people who can help, and when that fails, he would make sure to go out with a bang. Preferably in a way that motivates the kingdom to stay together.

K.: he would hand his responsibilities over to his cousin and find a way back to his son. He would spend his last days with him.

A.: she would get everything in order, give away her belongings, send a message to her parents (since she wouldn't be able to get to them in time) and then do something really, really crazy that would otherwise have resulted in her death. During the rest of the plot, she's always afraid of doing the "right" thing because it will likely end up killing her, but since she's going to die anyway, may as well do it, right?

Question: What was your MC like as a child? Do they have good memories from their childhood? Any particular events that influenced them a lot?

StarryEyes said:

Question: What was your MC like as a child? Do they have good memories from their childhood? Any particular events that influenced them a lot?

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They were them in proto form -- my brother and sister MCs were in competition from day one. So when the recruiter turned up, and she, being older, aced the test, he was determined to follow. This sowed the seed for their later relationship.

MC3 -- his main problem was being thrown out of the guild and brainwashed into following the new leader after the old ones were killed. He feels stifled and trapped and desperate.

YOur MC has a choice

they save the closest family member. Or they save ten innocent people

Choose

And no Kobayashi Maru

Mr Flibble said:

YOur MC has a choice

they save the closest family member. Or they save ten innocent people

Choose

And no Kobayashi Maru

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No idea what that last bit means.

Chess's closest family member would be his husband (the prince) or his mother (the shipping magnate). Sorry, ten innocent people--they're both way more important than you are!

Question: Your MC catches a glimpse of their younger self half a street away. Do they run to catch up, so they can warn/advise/drop gentle hints/all-out lie about the future? Do they cover their head and walk away quickly before younger self notices them?

Kobayashi Maru was the "unwinnable" test in Star Trek that they used to test captains -- think no good answer. The one, and that was my point, that Kirk jiggered with so he could win. My point -- no jiggering to make it so no one died.

As you were

Mr Flibble said:

YOur MC has a choice

they save the closest family member. Or they save ten innocent people

Choose

And no Kobayashi Maru

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Depends which family member it is. If it's his wife, he chooses the ten innocents as his wife is a military officer like him and they each have a duty to save innocent lives. If it's his parents, he might choose them. But he'd be tortured by that choice.

Marlys said:

Question: Your MC catches a glimpse of their younger self half a street away. Do they run to catch up, so they can warn/advise/drop gentle hints/all-out lie about the future? Do they cover their head and walk away quickly before younger self notices them?

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He would be stuck to the spot, and it would trigger a poignant cascade of memories. No, he wouldn't talk to his younger self.

Would your MC prefer a fixer-upper or a move-in-ready house?

Katharine Tree said:

Would your MC prefer a fixer-upper or a move-in-ready house?

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If she had someone she likes to fix it up with her, she'd be happy with a fixer-upper, but if she had to do it all by herself she'd prefer a move-in-ready house.

Your MC is on a crowded airplane and the stranger in the seat next to him/her falls asleep on her/his shoulder. What does MC do?

E.F.B. said:

Your MC is on a crowded airplane and the stranger in the seat next to him/her falls asleep on her/his shoulder. What does MC do?

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Punch them. Hard.

Your MC is taken to a magical-fantasy-derp world. They're offered one completely random flavor of the best ice cream in the universe, except they have no choice over what flavor is picked. They're handed a greenish-brown scoop of something like boogers on a cone. What do they do?

Peter would eat it, pretending it was no big deal, even if it really terrible. Or really good. He'd comment that he's had better.

Your MC is lost in the desert, miles and miles from civilization. Who do they want with them?

Rhoald would want Drais with him. Drais is immortal and has traveled the length and breath of the world, so would know the desert, its inhabitants, its ways, and how to survive.


Your MC has a job at DisneyWorld. Which character would they be?

Gaston. The one who won the pushup contest.

Your MC has just driven a VW breadbox van across the United States and onto the beach at the Pacific Ocean. Where does s/he go next?

To a book store, to find a book that is actually a secret portal to their home-universe.

Would your MC read your book(s)?

Shirokirie said:

Would your MC read your book(s)?

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Probably not. He read a lot of adventure stories as a child, though they were of a less romantic, more sanitized nature than mine. Tolkein rather than Outlander, if you get my drift. As an adult, he doesn't have patience for novels. He'd much rather be down at the pub talking to people.

What is your MC's stimulating beverage of choice?

Cheap wine. The cheaper, the better, because he's usually broke. In his hometown, this means St. Wandrille, a particularly awful, sour vintage bottled by nearby monks. If someone else is paying, of course, the sky's the limit.

How does your MC feel about his/her mother?

Smiling Ted said:

How does your MC feel about his/her mother?

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Oh, boy. She left when he was six. He and his brother came home from school and the house was empty. She called once, the next morning, to promise she would be back soon... but she never was. Never heard from her again.

With his bloated sense of responsibility and firmly internal locus of control, he has always had the idea that if he had tried harder, she wouldn't have left. A small secret part of him blames his troublesome brother, too. Anyway: he has spent his subsequent life trying to please women. He's been more than a bit of a male slut, as an adult. Always searching for someone to love him unconditionally.

Question: your MC is camping and bears start to sniff around. What does s/he do?

Katharine Tree said:

Oh, boy. She left when he was six. He and his brother came home from school and the house was empty. She called once, the next morning, to promise she would be back soon... but she never was. Never heard from her again.

With his bloated sense of responsibility and firmly internal locus of control, he has always had the idea that if he had tried harder, she wouldn't have left. A small secret part of him blames his troublesome brother, too. Anyway: he has spent his subsequent life trying to please women. He's been more than a bit of a male slut, as an adult. Always searching for someone to love him unconditionally.

Question: your MC is camping and bears start to sniff around. What does s/he do?

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I actually have a bear scene in my novel. So, if it's just the one bear, and he doesn't have his horse to make a getaway, he'd try what worked before - luring it into a cave, then building a fire at the entrance and suffocating it with the smoke. He'd prefer just to go quietly on his way, though, if the bear is agreeable to that.

Question: Your MC has just survived the most terrifying event of his/her life. How does s/he de-stress afterwards?

Twick said:

Question: Your MC has just survived the most terrifying event of his/her life. How does s/he de-stress afterwards?

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Training. Staff katas, most likely, but he increasingly enjoys meditation as well. And a nice BBQ sandwich, if he can get it.

Q: Your MC is faced with a problem. Their normal approach for these sorts of things cannot solve this one, and they know it. How do they respond?

Give my MC a Rubik's Cube, he'll show you The World's Most Functional Penis. On the plant he lives on there are intelligent creatures with what humans have learned to call the Swiss Army Dick. You may wonder how this is relevant to solving an unusual problem.

Well, who has problems with you're built and stocked full of solutions?



Does your MC know the meaning of their name, and/or why that specific name was chosen for them?

Shirokirie said:

Does your MC know the meaning of their name, and/or why that specific name was chosen for them?

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Oh, I'm going to have to quote my manuscript here, in a scene where my MC explains how he got named "Chessman" when his mother intended to call him "Stanley."


Question: Your MC is offered a choice of either death, or to give up one of the following: their most prized possession, a state secret, or sex. Which do they choose?

Death. Because they know they'll end up resurrected.

What hope does your MC have for their future?

Shirokirie said:

Death. Because they know they'll end up resurrected.

What hope does your MC have for their future?

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Next to none. My MC is near only concerned with surviving the high stakes game that is 2076 corporate enforcement. It's not like she has a choice, either, being company property and all.

Your MC finds out their closest companion has been kidnapped by a militarized force, demanding their life in exchange for the companion. What does he/she do?

Trip F. said:

Next to none. My MC is near only concerned with surviving the high stakes game that is 2076 corporate enforcement. It's not like she has a choice, either, being company property and all.

Your MC finds out their closest companion has been kidnapped by a militarized force, demanding their life in exchange for the companion. What does he/she do?

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The militarized force would wish they were never born.

Your MC ends up with a dirty stray kitten. What do they do with it?

That's a good question!
Dyjian doesn't have kittens.
And if there were any, they'd be used for food.
F-o-o-d!!!
FOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!
FOUD!
FEWD!
EEEEEEE-TAAAAAAAANNNNNNNN!

That's the beauty of an alien world though. =D



Assume your MC had to go to an American college/university. How would they feel about wasting their money and possibly two years of their life on 'generalized' courses that have nothing to do with their field of study?

Shirokirie said:

Assume your MC had to go to an American college/university. How would they feel about wasting their money and possibly two years of their life on 'generalized' courses that have nothing to do with their field of study?

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He went to university--in Scotland--and decided after the first term that the whole thing was one big bloody waste of time. However, at that age, he still had enough "good lad" in him to push through and finish. However:

[FONT=&quot]When he walked away from his last university exam, on which he earned thoroughly mediocre marks, he felt as if a flight of balloons had been let loose in his soul.


Question: is your MC in good stead with his or her family? Why or why not?[/FONT]