Fanfiction Lounge

I still gotta write the Oregon trail/pokemon crossover crackfic too :S

Along with finishing my current chapter... hummm...

And I am currently doing one with Pokemon Colosseum, whee. Basically keep in mind what Astinus said - try to add something to game's story - make it more interesting and all that jazz. Consider any additions if any, and how you'd protray all fo the features of the game into a realistic (if you go for that angle) story.

Thing is, you guys are doing Pokemon.

Pokemon.

Pokemon.

The games, particularly, have the most open story in pretty much any game I've ever seen. Colloseum to a lesser extent, but =\. FFTA2 has a very definite storyline, and it's much harder to make it...original, y'know?

Meh, I'm being too pessimistic. D=

Ninja Caterpie said:

Hmm...indeed.

But enlighten me to as what this Captain N. is. I am confuzzled.

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Captain N, one of the worst best cartoons from the 1990s.

And it doesn't really matter what the basis is for your fic. I mean, you can write the FFTA2 storyline from an unexpected character, like a sword! (I read a published story like that that was damn good.) Or there's other things you can add in that would make it your own. Don't just write down what happens in the game, with that basic knowledge. Make the battles real with description, toss in some character thoughts that weren't explored before in the game, write from a random character's point-of-view. There's all sorts of various things you can use to make your novelization different from the game.

I haven't played FFTA2, since I don't like the style of the Tactics games, but I have read a few novelizations of different games, and the ones that I enjoyed were the ones where the author did something different.

Heck, here, to get you started is another person's novelization of either the first or second game i don't know. You can see what they've done, and it looks to be a high-standard piece of work, so there you go.

Edit: I also have to say that I read each and everyone of your posts in Luke's voice. It's quite amusing.

Astinus said:

And it doesn't really matter what the basis is for your fic. I mean, you can write the FFTA2 storyline from an unexpected character, like a sword! (I read a published story like that that was damn good.) Or there's other things you can add in that would make it your own. Don't just write down what happens in the game, with that basic knowledge. Make the battles real with description, toss in some character thoughts that weren't explored before in the game, write from a random character's point-of-view. There's all sorts of various things you can use to make your novelization different from the game.

I haven't played FFTA2, since I don't like the style of the Tactics games, but I have read a few novelizations of different games, and the ones that I enjoyed were the ones where the author did something different.

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Quoted for Truth. In particular the underlined parts.

Novelization seems to be a complicated matter (never have I tried) but also fun. The fact that the fandom we're writing in is quite open in several basic aspects allows a writer for a (somewhat unnatural) good possibility for openness. There are simply too many angles to explore that something could not be done in an original manner (here I am reminded of Pokémon-X for some reason).

But that other universes are more "plot-closed" is not much of an issue, either. As mentioned above, anything that has not been given the, or enough, limelight can be thought of a starting point for a good perspective flip. Not only that, the sole fact that some events and perspectives have been left unexplored enough makes writing about them viable, no matter the plotclosedness (word invented for the occasion FTW) of the... well... plot. Case in point, Final Fantasy VIII gives the player exclusive access to Squall's (the lead character) thoughts. But there are thoughts that are, at least IMHO, far more interesting to explore given what the game shows us. Cid, for example, would seem to have taken exit left, coward-style, near the middle point of Disc 2. That Quistis's incompetence was suppossed to be due to her being hot for her students is never explored, even in fanfics for some reason. Given all the plot-related convenience of a game like Triple Triad and the importance of the cards and challenges I'm very surprised I haven't heard of anyone taking a Yi-Gi-Oh approach to it (I mean come on, there's a point in the game where you play a card game IN SPACE). And I can only imagine what a standard battle under overkill-lover Selphie's perspective would be (if someone has done it before please please send me a link to it).

Then again, I guess it is only natural that most fic writers either take the already proven path of retelling a story almost verbatim, use the High School Alternate Universe Exemption Clause, or turn to lemon/slash/prøn. Or heck, all them alltogether.


All in all, the others have said what had to be said. I simply emphatize the point of why not.

Astinus said:

Edit: I also have to say that I read each and everyone of your posts in Luke's voice. It's quite amusing.

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You mean... something like this?


So, no intention to deviate from the interesting conversations here (never would) but hope you don't mind asking how did you spend X-mas. And also ask where does that X come from. It's not that it is a very spectacular holiday with superpowers to be called like the X-Men, right? And I'm sure "X-mas" is older than "X-Men". I'd rather ask here than google around, because for semantic, cultural value stuff the net still doesn't feel competent enough (I tried finding why some cultures associate the color yellow with treason, without success). That, and there may be some insanity in the answer.

Ninja Caterpie said:

Thing is, you guys are doing Pokemon.

Pokemon.

Pokemon.

The games, particularly, have the most open story in pretty much any game I've ever seen. Colloseum to a lesser extent, but =\. FFTA2 has a very definite storyline, and it's much harder to make it...original, y'know?

Click to expand...

That...sounds like a cheap excuse to me. Making it original is something you pretty much have to do before you can rightly call it your own work. If the whole of your plot and all it encompasses is lifted straight from the game, then that's really just glorified plagiarism since none of the interesting parts that make it worth reading will be yours. :\

Besides, pokémon games...open-ended? If anything, they are extremely linear. There is only one set order in which you can advance the plot, and the way in which the plot advances is completely out of your control. The few times you get a YES/NO prompt, only one option will ever advance the plot while the other will be summarily overruled by the NPCs, so you don't even have a dialogue choice. The only things that are really open-ended are what pokémon you use to get the job done and what you get up to after the actual storyline has played out to its end. That's not open-ended. If you want seriously open-ended stuff, we're talking stuff like Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross (where what decisions you make during the game will alter the outcome, to the point where - in Chrono Trigger - you can end the game with the main character dead) or Harvest Moon (where the only definite is your 'win condition' of getting married and even that doesn't end the game per-say). Those are fandoms where you can argue actual built-in open-endedness. With Pokémon, just like with FFTA2, you get precisely as much open-endedness and liberty as you carve out for yourself. No more; no less. If you set out to narrate the events of the story with the personal restriction that everything will go precisely as it does in said storyline then you obviously can't change anything since you made it a de facto rule that you can't.

Creative liberty. Take it, embrace it, make use of it. That's what fanfiction is for.


As for X-mas...it stems from the twin facts that people are lazy and will always look for shorter ways to spell things and that poor literacy is cool, particularly if there's an X or a Z involved.

solovino said:

So, no intention to deviate from the interesting conversations here (never would) but hope you don't mind asking how did you spend X-mas. And also ask where does that X come from. It's not that it is a very spectacular holiday with superpowers to be called like the X-Men, right? And I'm sure "X-mas" is older than "X-Men". I'd rather ask here than google around, because for semantic, cultural value stuff the net still doesn't feel competent enough (I tried finding why some cultures associate the color yellow with treason, without success). That, and there may be some insanity in the answer.

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I suspect that some people wanted to celebrate Christmas but disliked Jesus for whatever reason. [shrugs] I have no clue, really.

Ninja Caterpie said:

Thing is, you guys are doing Pokemon.

Pokemon.

Pokemon.

The games, particularly, have the most open story in pretty much any game I've ever seen. Colloseum to a lesser extent, but =\. FFTA2 has a very definite storyline, and it's much harder to make it...original, y'know?

Meh, I'm being too pessimistic. D=

Click to expand...

Like Alter Ego said, if you decided to stick to the game like glue without the character waking up late and going to the professor (that's ANIME :X ), then yeah, not too much openess there. The plot is already established what you have to do to get from point A to point B. It's not that hard to write a Pokemon story that stays true to the events of the game but also has its twists and turns, so the Pokemon games shouldn't be that much different. I admit, my stories are totally different from the games, but 1) I also use some anime influences and 2)My stories actually explore dfferent Pokemon classes (Nothing, Everything exploring Ruin Maniacs and Policemen and Heart of the Sea Pokemon fishermen).

TL;DR version: Pokemon games are just as hard to make an original story like any other games.

I've explored Pokémon classes quite a few times, the most non-spoilery examples being a made-up Gym Leader (who was a Rocker when he was younger and has retained practically every scrap of fashion sense he did back then) and Casey's outfit, which is practically identical to that of a Chaser (we think Palkia's taken a shine to them). Though it doesn't relate quite as much, the old design of yet another Holon Gym Leader was very similar to a FR/LG Super Nerd. This deserves a question, I think...

Have you ever used Trainer Classes or Characters of the Day in your stories?

Have you ever used Trainer Classes or Characters of the Day in your stories?

Trainer classes, yes. In Smile and Nod, a character is specifically refered to as a 'bug catcher', and another described in terms that could well fit a Youngster. With profession-related ones (like Ruin Maniacs, Jugglers, Bug Catchers, Policemen etc.) I see no real problem in going by class since it's descriptive of what they are and do and thus it's hardly a stretch for people to call them that. In the case of titles like Lass, Cooltrainer, Youngster and so on, however, I prefer not to go by the title because the justification for labeling them like that isn't really that convincing.

As for trainer of the day...no I haven't and I don't plan to either. In general, incorporating 'of the day/chapter' type things seems - to me - like just plain padding the story, and I've seen enough of groan-inducing anime filler to swear off ever resorting to that kind of stunt myself. I prefer to keep my cast counts down, so I try to avoid putting throwaway characters at the center of things. As far as I'm concerned, the focus of the day is always the plot or the development of a central character(s); preferably both.

Have you ever used Trainer Classes or Characters of the Day in your stories?
I already mentioned that I did, but I'll go in more detail. :P

In NE, Bunny and Jacob are both Ruin Maniacs, despite them not having any Pokemon of Rock, Ground, or Steel. :x However, Jacob should be considered a Gentleman because he's a professor and there's no trainer class for that. :x Timmy and Lucas are Policemen. What's funny is Timmy has a Noctowl and I didn't know they are common for Policemen in D/P/Pt. XD

In Heart of the Sea, Damus is a Fisherman, but an old one. :P 'nuff said. Speaking of which, expect me to talk more about him in future bold topics. XD

As for Characters of the Day, I don't do them the reasons Alter Ego mentioned. The closest person to be a Character of the Day is Momoan/whatever her dub name is from the Pokemon anime in NE. She had to be there as the group did crashed into a contest in progress. :X

Have you ever used Trainer Classes or Characters of the Day in your stories?

This is Xavier. He's a character in one of my fics, and as you can see, he's simply a recoloured Youngster sprite. The twist is that he's not actually a Trainer, but details, schmetails.

. . . then again, said fic is a retelling of Pokemon Emerald, so it's expected that there'll be a few Trainer Classes. >_<

Ninja Caterpie said:

Hmm, what do any of you think about writing novelisations on certain non-literature texts?

Like, for example, I've got this idea of writing up Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 as a novel (blame the addictiveness of the game). D=

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If you haven't played FFTA, I recommend you start there. The plot is heaps better than FFTA2.

Astinus said:

Captain N, one of the worst best cartoons from the 1990s.

And it doesn't really matter what the basis is for your fic. I mean, you can write the FFTA2 storyline from an unexpected character, like a sword! (I read a published story like that that was damn good.) Or there's other things you can add in that would make it your own. Don't just write down what happens in the game, with that basic knowledge. Make the battles real with description, toss in some character thoughts that weren't explored before in the game, write from a random character's point-of-view. There's all sorts of various things you can use to make your novelization different from the game.

I haven't played FFTA2, since I don't like the style of the Tactics games, but I have read a few novelizations of different games, and the ones that I enjoyed were the ones where the author did something different.

Heck, here, to get you started is another person's novelization of either the first or second game i don't know. You can see what they've done, and it looks to be a high-standard piece of work, so there you go.

Click to expand...

Oh, hmm. Yep, high-standard piece of work for two chapters...I think I'm going to figure out a different way to make these battles work...blame the Judges.

Edit: I also have to say that I read each and everyone of your posts in Luke's voice. It's quite amusing.

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Indeed? How very interesting.

txteclipse said:

If you haven't played FFTA, I recommend you start there. The plot is heaps better than FFTA2.

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I couldn't be stuffed halfway through, so I kinda stopped. But then again, I could just restart and go through FFTA...=\ Montblanc's awesome could do that...=\

I think I've incurred the wrath of some FFTA FFL regulars with my laziness.

I'll just crawl into a hole and muse over my decision for now.

I remember watching the old live action Super Mario show (with guest star Inspector Gadget, one episode).

Worked during Boxing Day... was fun...

I've just now realized that my Delta Species banner did link to Delta Species... on Pokémon Elite 2000 Forums. Wrrrroar. So if anyone was turned off from reading something somewhere else, it's been fixed! xD In other news, FFL, how was/is your holiday break if you have one?

Wait. Wait.

People don't work every day?

Mind. Blown.

Say, to get some random activity here: I have a character who's in the mafia (lolwhat) and I need a really (how did he put this?) cool badass name. Either suggestions of names or a place where I can start looking and get some ideas would be wonderful.

Just in case anyone thinks of it, not "Donald", because then he would be "Don Don" (which is loltastic).

Asty, I say give him a codename kinda thing. It's been a bit overdone, but as long as it's not overly stereotypical (like Dagger or Shadow or something), it can work, especially if it has some significance. Like my new OC, Romulus. He's very much a 'lone wolf', so the name fits, see? Even though his real name is Joseph Hart. (which is badass enough in its own way.) (b")b

The mafia is well protected though, so he could tout his name... hmmm

Alastor Reginald
Allan Montgomery
Eric Lanaird
Sven Diotelis
Antonio Lambert
Rory Semblay

lol those I made up in my head.

Feign said:

The mafia is well protected though, so he could tout his name... hmmm

Alastor Reginald
Allan Montgomery
Eric Lanaird
Sven Diotelis
Antonio Lambert
Rory Semblay

lol those I made up in my head.

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Oh, dang! The bolded name reminds me of my favorite manga/anime character. Bay Alexision approves this name! :cer_boogie: Yeah Astinus, go with that name! :P