Hey, all. Should have taken the time to stop by in here sooner, but...yeah. I procrastinate. A lot. Sike should be able to vouch for that, seeing as how she's had to suffer my excruciatingly long breaks in between chapters before (what was my longest? About four months, I think?). Astinus to an extent too, but the breaks when she was betaing for me were shorter. <_<
Guess I'll answer some questions now, seeing as I'm in a question-answering mood.
Well, how else is he supposed to pass the first nine years of his life?
Okay, so it's not a real topic. Shoot me. It is a question, though! :D
Well, he could write crap fanfictions about how he dreams his journey will be and post them on the internet for all to flame and crap on seeing as they're so crappy even a retarded, dyslexic monkey could write better. (no offense to any retarded, dyslexic monkeys that happen to be posting here. I love you all. No joke.) Hmm, guess they wouldn't exactly be fanfictions though, just...fictions. If anything that would probably mean there'd be even more crap awful fics than there is in the real world, good god. On the plus side, there'd be an actual chance of getting published... Now that would rock.
Where was I? Oh yeah, questions.
What's the touchiest subject you can touch on in Pokémon fiction? How should you handle it? In other words, how controversial should you get on which issues?
To me, nothing can be too touchy. Now, I personally won't ever write about suicide, but if someone can do it
well (which is the biggest problem with
everything when it comes to fanfics), then go ahead and try it. Contemplated suicide without actually doing it shouldn't be a problem to do well at all, it's if the person actually goes through or even attempts it where things get tricky (and where you need to be sure you avoid portraying it as good). Whatever happens the author should expect to get some whiplash, but hey.
Now, seeing as these are Pokémon fanfics, how about trying something a little different when it comes to suicide, such as a Pokémon committing suicide because their trainer is so bad? Would make a great twist for a journeyfic parody.
icomeanon6 said:
I did write one thing that could be described as touchy: in my main fic, the protagonist almost single-handedly kills every Mew in existence. Quite a pity, really, but I've got to hook the readers in somehow.
I actually did something that was pretty much the exact same in one of my crap n00bfics that I never posted online (in part due to a lack of an internet connection and knowledge about where I would post it at the time. Internet, be grateful). In the backstory for the antagonist he pretty much went crazy when he first saw a Mew (not knowing what Pokémon were) and stabbed it through the head with a sword before launching into a Mew killing crusade. Twisted, but oddly pleasing and therapeutic.
Despite the lack of Mews my main fanfic (the one not on here <_<) still has this evil group who are on a crusade to exterminate not just a single species, but all Pokémon period. There have been a few scenes involving them that have been quite nasty, such as this slaughter where an assassin killed four Pokémon and then their trainers... But again, it's all oddly pleasing. Some people may consider genocide to be a touchy subject, but I certainly don't. :D
Pretty much, I see no boundaries in writing and believe that anything can be done so long as it's done well.
What do you think of using real places/pop culture/soft drinks/other real stuff in fics?
Well, here's the thing, I picture the Pokémon world as basically being an extension of our world with many of the same companies and brands and all. There's evidence for this in the video games, such as the Nintendo consoles in the main character's bedroom as was mentioned but also references to real animals and even some real world locations. Above all, though, it's simply my personal interpretation and is what I've worked into the "fanon" I've created for my fics.
Now, despite that, I try to avoid referencing real items and instead substitute generic terms when possible, such as pop instead of Coke and generic cell phones and MP3 players rather than iPhones and iPods and such. The reason for this is simply because, yes, having real world items in a Pokémon fanfic can seem a bit jarring and out of place despite my personal interpretation of the world (an iPhone on the same belt as Pokéballs? Yeah, just a
little jarring. I can so see an Apple-branded Pokéball, though. The iBall; Pokéball, cell phone, and MP3 player all in one. Yes, that means trainers would end up having six cell phones and MP3 players on them at all times, but that just makes it seem even more Apple-like. <_<). I don't necessarily mind if it's done, I just think that that in most cases it can flow better without specific references.
Real locations, though? Those I don't mind at all, and in fact I have referenced the Pokémon Islands as being located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean between North America and Japan. No real world cities have been referenced yet—and none probably will in my first fanfic since there's really no reason to—but in my second fanfic (TRINITY, the one I have on here) I may. It takes place in a city which is completely fictional but located on the east coast of the United States so I can imagine references to cities like Chicago and New York popping up sometime.
There's a ton more questions I could answer but I'll spare you to keep this from getting any longer. So...yeah. I like answering questions, but I don't like looking over what I wrote and seeing it ended up so long. -_-