I wrote about my goals/anti-goals for the comic somewhere, with added explanations. #volpeonIsekai
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I started off by formulating goals and anti-goals for what I want the comic to be.
The goal is to create a story following the protagonist's journey. He learns how to live his new life, and later on may set out to seek answers for why he was reborn.
As for anti-goals:
Human mind in creature body who lives life strategically
In some stories, the protagonist is reborn and immediately able to think like a grown up human. This never made sense to me because the mind is a function of the brain, and the brain is neither fully developed yet, nor is it human anymore (if they were reborn as non-human).
"Inner creature" as personified antagonist
I just don't like to view it as "human side" vs "animal side", where the animal side poses a threat that might take over the protagonist's life.
Use and understanding of human language without effort
This is a big one for me. I realize that a story has to be conveyed to human readers/viewers, and therefore you need to express what's happening with human concepts and language.
But I've found that in a lot of stories, language is actively used by the creatures even if the author tries to frame it as mere translation of the way they usually communicate. Sometimes they can understand what humans say. Sometimes animals as a whole speak one unified language and humans another. They're able to convey complex messages. They use weird made-up words and terms to describe objects that are clearly tied to humans, but use regular language for more abstract concepts that are actually still very human. And this influences their interactions as a whole to be more human-like, too.
It all feels very inconsistent and too convenient to me. So I want to avoid the use of language except to narrate what's happening and what's going on in the protagonist's mind.
Human focus
Humans sometimes are used as a device to create an interesting plot, where the protagonist finds themself getting involved in human schemes. I'm fine with occasional interactions, but I don't want to make them the focus.
RPG mechanics
Something that keeps being used more and more in popular media, specifically anime and manga. I hate it.
Global stakes
Sometimes, it's fine to tell a story that does not devolve into a battle against a huge threat.
Turning past life completely irrelevant
The past life is the point of the story, and the protagonist's long-term actions are motivated by it. If they were able to adapt perfectly, I might as well drop the premise and start with a fully non-human character.
Dwelling on past life
At the same time, I don't want to add blunt reminders that the protagonist used to be human, such as by drawing comparisons to the human world all the time.
Overall, the comic is probably going to fall into the slice-of-life genre. I hope I'll be able to keep it interesting.
@areon@icy.wyvern.rip