Do you like reading/reviewing fanfics or one shots better?
Umm...are you implying that one-shots aren't fanfics? o.O But yeah, depends on my mood and the fic. Sometimes I just want something short and sweet (or something besides sweet, depending on the one-shot) where I don't have to spend x amount of hours catching up with the story just so I can give a review in good conscience. One-shot plots also tend to be less complex and there's just a certain beauty to boiling a story down to such a compact size. On the other hand, chaptered fanfics have length on their side, allowing for more in-depth character development than could ever be feasibly crammed into a one-shot. There's also something to be said for not having to leave a wonderful character behind right after having gotten to know them. (In a metaphorical sense, of course) So yeah, I like both. x3
Does anyone have a set writing time every day? Or do you wait for inspiration to strike before sitting?
Flimsy as my writing discipline is, I have to wait for inspiration. If I'm not in the mood, I can bang my head against the keyboard for hours at an end without getting anywhere with my fic. Given my real life issues, I'm treating of my fic as a long-term project anyway.
When your characters are talking through though, do you write with speech marks or through italics?
Talking through thought? If you mean some sort of freaky telepathic powers thing then that would be quotes in italics (if, for some reason, I wanted to make it perfectly clear that it's telepathic), if you just mean relating thoughts word-by-word then it's single quotation marks and italics. Those are RPing convention that has stuck with me. :3
Which would you post; an introduction, or the first chapter when beginning a story?
Not quite sure what you mean by 'introduction'. If you mean a prologue...well, I have one set up for my fic in the works (still locked in debate with the little voices in my head over whether or not it's doing everything I want it to do, but there will be a prologue), but I can't really say anything about fanfics in general. I mean, that's completely dependent on the fic in question. x.x If you mean author's notes then yes, knowing me I won't be able to resist. I have this thing for seeing my incessant drabble in type; it's a confidence booster. xD
How long do you wait in between posting chapters?
As long as it takes for me to be satisfied with what I have. Given my sluggish pace in writing the first for mine, that's a pretty long period. My ideas are usually so disorganized that it takes quite a bit of pruning on my part before I get them to make sense and I tend to make a rewrite or three even when posting for RPs, where the individual post has far less scope than a fanfic chapter. I doubt that I'd ever go for more than once a week, even if I had multiple chapters written up and ready to go. I know what a pain it is to review fics that grow chapters faster than daycare Magikarps plunk out eggs so I wouldn't want to subject anyone to that. I'd want some feedback too. *First fic insecurity*
So yeah, a week, a month, the minimum length of a compulsory service period in the Finnish military...it all depends. xD
What Pokémon would you like to see have a major part in fanfic more often?
Feebas! ^0^
And no, not one of those demeaning 'ugly duckling' stories. <.< I'd love to see a fic where Feebas, for once, gets to escape that accursed pokédex entry that has it faultily pegged as the ugliest pokémon in existence. Feebas needs more love. ._.
Actually, I do have a short story type thing about that on the back of my head. Hmm...rather than complaining about it, I think I might try to do something about it one of these days. x3
Other than that, any one of the countless overshadowed and overlooked ones would be nice. (The Voltorb starter in 'I can't believe I'm doing this' was a choice that really made me smile) Just...something that surprises me. Given the sheer amount of pokémon species available, the ones who tend to get the spotlight are disappointingly few.
How do you choose your characters' teams?
I usually start with the role I want the pokémon to fulfill (I.e. the reason I want my character to get a new pokémon in the first place). I may need a certain kind of personality for character development purposes, a pokémon with a specific set of abilities or just a certain look to it. Then I take a look at the pokémon that match the criteria and pick one that makes sense for my character to obtain (so no wild Chikoritas in the middle of a frozen tundra or anything). At times, the pokédex data of the pokémon might also clinch the decision (like for my Ralts-dependent character), it all depends. x3
As a reviewer, what is your absolute least favorite explanation for a character that understands Pokemon outside of "miraculously able to for no reason at all"?
"It's my story and I do what I want", hands down. Just born with it is also a regular, as is the whole "miraculous bond of empathy/friendship". Any explanation involving the word 'pokémorph' will also be chastised heavily. <.<
Are One Shots worth writing?
Wow, talk about biased formulation. Yes, one-shots are just as deserving of being written as chaptered works.
In fanfic how do you handle the issue of how pokemon learn new moves? Do they have to do detailed training for different types of powers?
Depends on the move. Sometimes I do it as heat-of-the-moment improvisation that's later honed into a working attack, sometimes it's something the pokémon learns to do as they grow in strength or by evolution (like an ember attack developing to flamethrower, scratch to slash etc.) and sometimes it's good old fashioned taking the pokémon aside and hand-walking them through the move. x3
How do you logically solve the problem of water pokemon (without legs such as Kingdra) in battles on land?
There's really no way to logically solve that. (If by 'solve' you mean a marine pokémon fighting like normal without water. Floating in mid-air is not logical by any stretch of imagination) I typically avoid using marine pokémon in this type of situation, but if it can't be avoided then I limit the marine pokémon's fighting ability, A LOT. Something like a Kingdra could still be able to fire out ranged attacks (probably carried by the trainer), but close-combat fighters like Seaking would just flop around and look ridiculous. Swimming pokémon in general wouldn't be able to move on land other than by floppy type movements, though. Similarly, pokémon that can technically move out of water but would be burdened from doing so (like Omastar) would have their movements slowed down.
Do you use themes in your fics? If so, what are some examples?
Yep. It's not like I decide "right, I'm going to do this theme"; it's more that I go through my ideas and then notice tendencies towards certain themes and just encourage those a little. Happiness (specifically, what happiness is), misconceptions, moral problems of heroism and freedom versus safety are fairly prevalent in my current setup and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to resist the allure of the old friendship cliché either. xD The whole coming of age and defeating one's own demons thing will also be in there somewhere, as will -- most likely -- the tendency to believe what you want to believe rather than what the facts actually tell you.
There's a lot of other stuff, but those are probably the big ones. x3
Anyways, just a random question:
As a reader/reviewer, is there some specific type of antagonist or evil plot that you would not want to see in a fanfic?
