u/Ok-Performance-3336

Hello! I am looking for a little help in completing my protagonist's moveset. I already devised her striking style, her signature techniques and her mobility and footwork, but her grappling game is still a bit lacking. So I am looking for a few suggestions. I am taking suggestions of fictional characters I can study (even fighting game ones), real fighters and wrestlers, specific styles and techniques I can look into— Be free to suggest me anything.

Here's what you need to know about my protagonist:

• WHO IS SHE:

Self-taught fighting prodigy looking to make her father and kingdom proud. Dreams of being a legendary hero just like her dad when he was younger, but he's grown overprotective in times of peace, so he sheltered her. Arrogant and hot-headed weeb. Barely 20 years old.

• HOW DOES SHE FIGHT:

Her fighting style is very Hong Kong cinema inspired. Because she's not very big, she compensates with agility and impossible flexibility.

She fights mainly with kicks and has a preference for the flashy, acrobatic stuff. Because her father wasn't willing to teach her anything more than basic self defense, she had to sneak out to train in secret.

Unfortunately, most of her training material came from Anime and Kung-fu films. Which explains why she settled for the stylish stuff. She can make it work, but she will need a master later on to refine it.

Though in her defense... her father was feared for having a similar, kick-crazy style that allowed him take on whole groups of enemies. So in the end, she only wants to emulate her old man.

• WHAT ARE HER REFERENCES:

For her kick-heavy, acrobatic style, I am taking inspiration of these disciplines:

◇ Capoeira (with some Breakdancing and Parkour stunts).

◇ Taekwondo.

◇ General Wushu acrobatics.

◇ Jeet Kune Do (for her punching. She even screams "WATAH!" like a dork when showing off.)

In short, she fights with Tricking.

Picture something like Yagami's Crane Style (from Lost Judgment) and Eddy Gordo (From Tekken). This is a protagonist agile enough to do fucking Air Combos.

• WHAT I NEED HELP WITH:

To put it simply, I want to give her throws that fit her stylish, highly cinematic fighting style. But I am not sure of where to look. She is good, and the fact that she didn't kill herself while practicing flips for almost a decade shows that she has talent, but she's still untrained. Her kicks hurt, she can dodge well, but she's not the type who learned how to do a BJJ ground submission.

So what can I use instead for her fight scenes?

So far, I only have one reference for a throw she can do.

And that is a WWE-styled flying head scissor.

So maybe Professional Wrestling throws would fit the vibe I gave her? Or is there something else I can use? Something I'm not seeing?

Now let me get this out of the way first: Indeed, I am trained. I have a brown belt in Judo and trained Muay Thai close to an year. I am not one of these guys who get all of their Martial Arts knowledge out of Ninja manuals or something.

I did have to quit due to mental health problems. It's a long story, but the short of it is that I... didn't enjoy doing these two arts anymore. Way too competitive. And I was about to quit for real until I discovered Martial Arts media, like Kung-fu films and the Yakuza series. It made me realize fighting can be more than just scary confrontations— It can be used for emotional moments and character development, and that's what I wish to replicate as an artist.

I base everything my characters do on real techniques and styles, but flair and choreography takes priority rather than deciding which traditional techniques are useless. I prefer settings where every single style of fighting — even traditional ones — can kick ass, rather than having everyone fight like an UFC champ.

I am now looking to start practicing again in a Choy Lay Fut school. To grow closer to some of my idols, like Bruce Lee, and to learn firsthand what can be used and exaggerated for my flashy fight scenes.

So, I am wondering if i can use this subreddit for help sometimes. To ask things like "what grappling style can I give this character to complement his Kyokushin background?" or "what would be the coolest, most stylish way to knock out this larger antagonist I have?".

Or is this not the best place to ask these questions in? I do admit that I'm afraid of being told to stop seeing Martial Arts like this, or that I'm being disrespectful somehow... my experience with the broader Martial Arts community on the internet isn't the best, so I gotta make sure before I start posting in here.

And... I am not against using more "mythical" stuff too, like Pressure Point poking, while also acknowledging this wouldn't work in real life. As long as it serves the story well, fits the character and has a good sense of flow, I will be willing to consider anything.

I wish to write a TADC AU, and just this day I wrote myself a pretty good hook for it. If everything works out, it will feel like some of my favorite ever horror stories, like Poppy Playtime and Silent Hill 2. I was excited to create good lore for it and plan a whole bunch of secrets to be found.

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But then I remembered how the fandom reacted to episode 7. How happy so many people were with that episode shitting on theory making and mystery hunting, which are the kind of things I prefer in a story. I consider myself an author who's not very interested on characters. I'm indifferent to their struggles, and I prefer characters who feel more like they're representations of something rather than people. So...

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I dunno... I guess I just don't wish to alienate those who happen to read it? It'd be very different from a human AU or something, because I am not against simplifying these versions of the characters just so their drama won't get in the way of the mystery and the atmosphere... but by doing this, I'm removing what the people in that fandom are there for: the character relationships and the psychological study. So what is the correct move for me?

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Should I take this fic and turn it into an original Mascot Horror story? Should I rework it to implement a bit more of character relationships? Should I just... post it anyway and hope I will find atleast one fan in a bunch of "this doesn't feels like TADC" comments?

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I wish to write a TADC AU, and just this day I wrote myself a pretty good hook for it. If everything works out, it will feel like some of my favorite ever horror stories, like Poppy Playtime and Silent Hill 2. I was excited to create good lore for it and plan a whole bunch of secrets to be found.

​

​

​

But then I remembered how the fandom reacted to episode 7. How happy so many people were with that episode shitting on theory making and mystery hunting, which are the kind of things I prefer in a story. I consider myself an author who's not very interested on characters. I'm indifferent to their struggles, and I prefer characters who feel more like they're representations of something rather than people. So...

​

​

​

I dunno... I guess I just don't wish to alienate those who happen to read it? It'd be very different from a human AU or something, because I am not against simplifying these versions of the characters just so their drama won't get in the way of the mystery and the atmosphere... but by doing this, I'm removing what the people in that fandom are there for: the character relationships and the psychological study. So what is the correct move for me?

​

​

​

Should I take this fic and turn it into an original Mascot Horror story? Should I rework it to implement a bit more of character relationships? Should I just... post it anyway and hope I will find atleast one fan in a bunch of "this doesn't feels like TADC" comments?

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When i was young, I had a very troublesome childhood, the kind that turns someone into a teen who's scared of everybody and full of undiscovered triggers. My mind was a mess, so...

I didn't consume many stories that were "character focused" during these formative years. I couldn't relate to any character in the animes my friends recommended to me, and the dialogue in a classic romance book had the potential to trigger me somehow. They weren't helping me reflect on my circumstances or something. Thet just felt like "noise". I needed something more... "detached" to help clear my head.

Vibe-centric, atmospheric stories helped a whole lot more. I didn't felt like I had to be "there". I could be just a passenger, watching the events unfold. Melancholic backgrounds and empty environments helped me "medidate" and gave me something to focus on that wasn't self destructive. I could just sit back, relax, take in the minimalistic lore and come up with conclusions at my own pace. It helped me endure.

But that was me as a teenager. I'm 22 years old now. I've evolved a whole lot since then. I can work decently with characters now, and I have a few settings that are a mix of "character-focused" and "worldbuilding-focused" with how the wider setting influences its inhabitants. And yet, my dream still remains to replicate the sheer, meditative tranquility I felt while playing Shadow of the Colossus and Scorn.

I want to make an atmospheric story one day. Keep characters and dialogue to a minimum and make the broken setting itself the main character. If I manage to create a story like that, I will have peaked as a writer and perhaps, i will have helped someone going through similar traumas feel at peace, even if for a fleeting moment.

... But I have my doubts.

I'm in a writing group. I've managed to make a few good friends in there, but I have trouble communicating with the more experienced writers. They straight up admitted that they cannot understand my "I don't care much about characters" philosophy. They didn't tell me to stop, they didn't tell me adopt their standards, but it makes it hard for me to share my own ideas. In fact, one of my "half character/half worldbuilding" settings was actually created to help me better get along with them. They helped me appreciate characters more, and I genuinely enjoy watching and reading their suggestions... but I still have my dream.

Is it an unrealistic dream? I am not against being told it cannot work or if my approach is wrong.

I consider myself a Worldbuilder first before a writer. So when i search for fanfics, the first thing I focus on is if they expanded the setting or if the atmosphere is good.

I don't consider myself that interested on characters compared to you guys. Some of my favorite ever protagonists are simple "cameras on legs" explorers because, in my view, they don't waste time with complex backstories. They get right into the mystery, and I like that. Either that, or hypercompetent characters.

When I watched BNHA with my girlfriend, she couldn't stop talking about how well written the characters were and how thematic was Shoto And Deku's relationship. Then she asked me if I agreed, and I said that i did, but I was more interested on how the setting itself worked. I guess I wanted more... theories and applications. I could recognize that the characters were good, but my mind just wasn't focused on them. It never was.

That doesn't means I can't appreciate character drama or analyze deeper characters, tho. Which is why my friends, who are also writers, told me to start small and do character studies before jumping into Worldbuilding-centric fics. Just to get the hang of it.

... The thing is, all of my previous attempts at starting a "lighter" fic failed miserably. I hope I don't sound rude saying this, but I... don't find "normal" stuff that interesting to write. I don't like scenes of characters navigating through college life, I don't find their personal problems that interesting to write about, and I don't like scenes that are just homes or bedrooms or classrooms.

I tried fixing that by writing whole papers on why a character would act a certain way based on external reasons, but I realize that doing that for every single scene is exhausting.

In a nutshell... focusing on that isn't being very fun for me. But I have to write eventually, don't i? I have to write something, ANYTHING, if I want to gain skills to do as much worldbuilding and atmosphere as I want later down the line. So how can I fix this? Is there a way to make this "fun"? Or i just gotta bear with it and like- write worldbuilding fics with simpler interpretations of the characters only during "cheat days"?