[Workshop] Fight Scenes

Lotus Crystal

FIGHT SCENES

A fight scene is a scene in role-playing or writing where more than one character is involved in a fight. The fight scene may include a variety of fighting styles, including martial arts, magic, cat fights, or even just trying to survive under an assault. The fighter does not need to know how to fight to be involved in a fight scene and, by extension, you don’t need to know how to fight either. For your part, all you need to know in order to write a fight scene is an ability to have fun while writing, self-acceptance of the fact neither you nor your opponent may know how to fight in real-life, and a basic understanding of how fights are typically carried out in your series of choice.

Why is writing a fight scene so hard? Well, for a couple of reasons.

You likely do not know a lot about fighting, particularly fighting involving magical or supernatural attacks/defenses. But, don't worry, your opponent likely does not know anything about fighting, either.
Because you don't know a lot about fighting, you have no idea what to write. But, don't worry, there are ways to find out without taking any martial arts classes.
You cannot control your opponent’s actions or reactions.

Here are a couple of ways to overcome those reasons.

Accept that you are not a martial artist or a magical girl in real life, so you cannot rely on real-life experience. This is okay and other role-players also do not have real-life experiences to rely on.
Watch fight scenes in anime or read fight scenes in manga. You'll learn a lot about what types of fighting occurs in the series typically and you can always use those scenes, in your own words, to form the basis of the next fight scene in your fan-fiction or role-play.
Follow the role-playing courtesies for fight scenes. Don't know what those are? Keep reading.

There are some commonly accepted courtesies for role-playing fight scenes. These are also a good list of courtesies to keep in mind while writing fan-fiction, because the courtesies will help you keep your characters in check.

You can only control the actions of your character and, therefore, cannot determine how your opponent will react. You can state the desired outcome of your attack, but you cannot state the outcome of your attack.

Here is an example:

"Sailor Jupiter threw a punch at her opponent. Jupiter knew she could pack a wallop, but she had never fought against this youma before. Hopefully, this youma was just as weak as the ones she fought before."

You must give your opponent a chance to react, hence you cannot determine the outcome of your attacks, including the damage likely to be received. Because your opponent needs time to react to your character's attacks, the fight may progress a little slowly.
On the other side of the coin, this means that you get to determine whether or not your opponent's attacks will hit your character or not and, if the attacks do hit, to what extent the damage your character will receive.
Be realistic about your character's fighting abilities, tolerance for pain, and the extent to which your character can take a hit. In other words, you need those attacks to hit your character and for your character to be hurt and to be tired.
When creating your character's attacks for a character profile, keep in mind that all attacks, offensive or defensive, will have a limitation, exception, or weakness. Even the strength of the Silver Crystal is directly affected by Sailor Moon's mental state, so it'll be weaker if she is stressed or very upset.

Lotus Crystal

Fighting Styles

If you are aware of the multitude of series available in manga and anime today, you have likely noticed that there are different ways to describe a fight. The fighting in Naruto can be described very differently from Sailor Moon, because the characters rely on different ways to fight the enemy. Some series, like Naruto or Dragonball Z, will rely more on depictions of martial arts, while a magical girl series, like Sailor Moon, relies more on depictions of magic and, to some extent, weapons.

That being said, this means you do not need to reply on depictions of martial arts, such as elaborate punching and kicking combinations, to write a good fight scene in Sailor Moon. If you think about it, most of the sailor senshi do not have formal martial arts training, so you cannot really expect for the fight scenes do not need to be described as a fight between martial artists. Check out some fight scenes in Sailor Moon. They are nothing like the fight scenes in Naruto or Dragonball Z for exactly that reason, the girls are not martial artists.

But, if you want to incorporate this style of fighting in your writing, then I would recommend you to watch some fight scenes from martial arts anime or read some fan-fiction inspired by a martial arts anime/manga. Some great examples would be Ranma ½, Naruto, Dragonball Z, or Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple.
Top Reviewed Naruto Fan-Fiction
Top Reviewed Dragonball Z Fan-fiction
Top Reviewed Bleach Fan-Fiction
Top Reviewed Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction

Of course, there are some awesome Sailor Moon fan-fiction out there with fight scenes. I would recommend
The Brooch by Jason Ulloa.

Lotus Crystal

Fight Scene Example

Here is an example of a fight scene from the workshop, as role-played by VBabe and Sailor Uranus. While reading the example, keep in mind the role-playing courtesies. Neither VBabe nor Sailor Uranus determined how the other person's character would be affected by or react to the attack. And, behind the scenes in a different Skype conversation, they determined how the fight would progress and how it would end.

VBabe

"Sailor Venus sighed as she tried to release the tension she was holding in her body. This would be a difficult battle and she needed her mind to be clear. In front of her stood the notorious panty thief. With a smirk, she silently thanked the gods that she did not need to wear underwear with her sailor senshi uniform."

"Sailor Venus smiled brightly and held out the victory sign in front of her. "I'll let you take the first shot, because I'm feeling generous today." "

Sailor Uranus

The panty theif twirled the edge of his moustache, his other finger looping a pair of panties around in a circle lazily. "Oh, ho, Sailor Venus, you are too KIND!" In a flash, he released his moustache, pulled on the elastic of the underwear, aimed, and fired towards his enemy, hoping the energy-empowered pair of bikini briefs would fly true and vanquish the do-gooder, that he may return to his nighttime activities!

Sailor Venus

Sailor Venus, perhaps a bit too generous, allowed her opponent to take the first shot. The panty thief slung an energy-empowered pair of bikini briefs. With a squeal, Sailor Venus flung herself to the side and dodged the bikini briefs. "Who's are those! Ew!" Rolling to her feet, she pointed her finger strongly at the panty thief. "You return those at once!" Not waiting for a response, she dashed toward the villain and jumped, aiming a kick toward his head. "Sailor V Kick!"

Sailor Uranus

Darn! She evaded his attack. He smiled rougishly at her reaction, taking delight in her discomfort, but fell into a defensive crouch a she raised her finger towards him, preparing for whatever attack may come his way.

Venus was quick, however, and he did not get out of the way completely by the time her kick tore through the air beside him. His eyes wide, he narrowly missed a foot to the face, but he was quick and devious and had a Hanes Her Way sticker ready in his hand. He attempted to hit her upper thigh with it!

VBabe

Sailor Venus yelled loudly as she felt the panty thief touch her upper thigh. With a pained squeal, she fell to the ground. The blonde lifted her head up to quickly inspect her thigh only to find a... Hanes Her Way sticker? Oh, she was feeling a little dizzy. With a groan, she ripped the sticker off her leg and began to feel a little better.

Sailor Uranus

He cursed under his breath, rolling away. The sticker had stuck, but not long enough for the full intended effect. He had one last trick up his sleeve, and he reached for it "G-STRING HURRICANE!" he yelled, and sloppily aimed g-string thong after g-string thong at her, firing at will with a poor aim.

VBabe

Coming to a stand on shaky legs, Sailor Venus uttered a few well-placed words about her stance on Hanes panties. Narrowing her eyes, she adopted a familiar stance. "Rolling Heart--!" Her attack cry was cut short as a hurricane of G-strings were thrown her way. That was enough! Back-flipping away from the onslaught of thongs, she cried "Rolling Heart Vibration!" and watched her attack soar.

Sailor Uranus

Preoccupied with the variety of colors and patterns he had aquired, watching the dainty panties fly effortlessly from his fingers, he was very much in his own world and had no idea what was going on when he was suddenly hit, full-force, with an energy attack. He flew backwards, striking hard into the chimney behind him, and passed out, dreams of a field of cheeky-laced bottoms flying through his head.

If you don't know how to determine how the characters' should react to an attack, then you and your role-playing partner can use a dice or random number generator to determine who will receive or evade an attack. Talk with your partner to determine how the fight should progress, and when and how the fight will end.

Lotus Crystal

How to Practice Writing a Fight Scene

Do you feel up to practice your writing? Great! You can use the prompts below to practice your writing on your own. There is no obligation to share what you wrote, but if you want to share what you wrote feel free to do so here or in the Practice Area.

So, what if you are capable of writing a fight scene, but you really don’t know what to write? I mean, you aren’t a magical girl that regularly fights demons, right? Honestly, this is your best excuse to watch an episode from Sailor Moon. Grab your favorite episode and your best writing utensil, and then describe each fight scene in your own words. This is a great way to practice writing fight scenes and understand how fighting is usually depicted in Sailor Moon. Want a real challenge? Grab a Sailor Moon manga and describe the fight scene in your favorite chapter. This will be more challenging, because more of the details are left up to your imagination.

Prompt 1

For this prompt, you will watch a fight scene from Sailor Moon. As you watch the clip, and feel free to pause, use your own words to write the fight scene as if you were writing a fan-fiction or a role-play. In other words, someone has already provided to you what will happen during the fight, but you still have to write the scene.
Click here to watch the video you will describe.

Prompt 2

For this prompt, you will do the same thing, except this scene is from Naruto. The style of fighting is very different from Sailor Moon, because the fighters are ninjas, not magical girls.
Click here to watch the video you will describe.

Prompt 3

For this prompt, find your favorite fight scene from the Sailor Moon manga (or a series of your choice) and do the same thing: write the fight scene in your own words. This will be more of a challenge, because less details will be provided to you.

Lotus Crystal

If you have any questions or you want to provide your own comments, feel free to respond to this thread.

Lotus Crystal

Don't forget you can post your responses to the writing prompts. (:

Also, I am available if you'd like to practice role-playing a fight scene.

Pyramidal Crystal

Is it too late to jump in?

Lotus Crystal

It is never too late! These threads will always be open. (:

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[Workshop] Fight Scenes

[Workshop] Fight Scenes

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