So I did a bunch of math, and there is a two sweep (about 4.4 years) gap in between Trolldown 1 and 2, and I would assume there is about a sweeps time difference between TD2 and Reconnaissance, because if there are a bunch of tourneys all bunched together it gets boring and confusing. With that logic, my two dumbasses would have been about 5 sweeps old (about 11) when the first Trolldown aired. Make of that what you will.
But let’s be honest this is just me being self indulgent before I gotta start working on round 4 of Recon
It’s never going to show on the final animation, especially as tumblr shrinks the final product, but Regiar has Tumblr, Trollian and Tinder on her iGrub
So, do you have any idea how to come up with a plot for a comic? Like, how did you do it during the original Trolldown and this one. Is there a specific way to make a good plot? -Stressed out kid in an OCT
Hey there! I’m not an expert on comic making or story making, but in case it will help, I’ll try and explain how I do it at least, just in case! ovo/<3
TLDR VERSION: BE FLEXIBLE, HAVE ONE OR TWO SET THINGS YOU WANT TO HAPPEN, WORRY ABOUT WHAT’S IN BETWEEN AS YOU GO, WORK OUT WHAT TROPES YOU WANT TO EXPLOIT AND WHAT ONES YOU WANT TO AVOID.
longer version (and some mini discussion of orwurm’s character) under the cut!
-Before any thing else, I think trying to have something that can flex and be altered if you need is a great idea! Because we all know what deadlines and trying to get what you imagine out as an actual image is like- Try to be loose and that way if you need to suddenly change your page count/etc, you’re less likely to get really stuck! Pretty much just ‘as long as A and B happen in this, it’s ok’.
-The next thing I do is just write bullet points! I tend to get really overwhelmed if I have a great big thing to look at, so it’ll be things like this that I start with and work from! Over time I’ll slowly add info about dialogue or a specific image I want in it, but I try not to cram too much down or I’ll feel like I have too much to do and get stuck QvQ.
- look at what everyone else is doing! Chances are that there’ll be some themes in your OCT, usually battle related or trauma related- Who’s using what? Are they using them well? Do they feel overused? Why? You might be able to see what people are doing well, or badly, better than in your own work (trying to assess your own work can be hard, we all feel that). Don’t -copy- anyone, but still be sure to check out what’s happening around you<3
-If you’re doing something art based, a lot like making bullet points, I’ll draw really tiny stick figure-esque boxes that roughly show some idea of what I want to do, then I just scale them up and draw over them! Like with writing, looking at a huge blank canvas is intimidating. Even if it’s ugly scribbles in the background, it’s an idea you had and it’s something to go from.
There’s not really any ‘one true way to make good original content’, but you can always try doing something not many other people are doing! Here’s where I talk about my own stuff, be it good or bad. During the first Trolldown a lot of people who were lasting a long time in the rounds had very friendly, protag-type characters with friends and romances and tragedy. I think in my case, I lucked out in that there was a lot of that going on, but Orwurm happened to stick out because she was basically a very selfishly driven antagonist-type character. Even her romantic interactions are very selfishly driven- she feels pity because someone made HER feel bad and she wants HERSELF to feel better. I don’t know but she might have done ok because people wanted to see her get beaten by the more positive chars, but in order for that to happen, she would have to survive long enough to get there! You can always try for ‘what is everyone else NOT doing’ and roll with that. It might be a bit of a crapshoot, but it’s always an idea. c:
I don’t actually super like my old TD entries, largely because I had some silly fan-adventure stuff I wanted to do that got shoehorned in there, which got confusing in some places.So I’d personally say if you’re going to include other peoples’ chars, or outside plotting, do it minimally or carefully. LOTS of people get shot down by trying to have a plot that includes other peoples’ work or characters. Namely because those other characters are NOT under your control. Their artists/writers could lose in other rounds, change their minds, etc, and you’ll be left in the deep end with loose plot threads. Try to keep it self contained!
That said, if there are NPCS and judge characters, INCLUDE THEM, DO IT TO IT. Those folks running the OCT are probably having a hard time behind the scenes and will like the recognition. They also built this whole central wolrdbuild for you and it will only make your work feel more official/canon if you include it! Try your dang-est to reference the characters, backgrounds, plot, as much as possible. That way you can better capture the flavour of the oct as a whole, be it visuals or story.
… I actually can’t think of much more to add, but I’d also say- Research! If you wanna put your character on a beach, google image some beaches and think about how you’d draw or write it. If you want ideas for plot or character, go on tvtropes and find the most appropriate genre and read around! Like, is your character a ‘war is hell’ type of person when faced with battle, or are they a ‘war is gorious’ type?
