Fanfiction Lounge

[Blue Angel]

Ack, I watched the Harry Potter 4 movie. Just...>.> Luckily the fifth one was much better. XD

It's sad... The fourth is the one we have and the third is my favorite ><
They ruined Harry Potter 4.
The fifth WAS better, I must admit.
Looking forward to the 6th(next year sadly, they moved it back from this summer)

 

[JX Valentine]

Well, when it comes to canon characters you really need to factor in that a lot of people who want to write a fanfic probably see the anime as the main canon and go with that. They may enjoy the games, but really, there's not much you can do with the game characters since there's not much to them. You have to pretty much create them from scratch, and a lot of authors, namely younger, newer ones are afraid of that. Meanwhile you have the anime which is who knows how old and has a core cast of characters that are decently characterized, providing a basis for the beginning author to build off of without needing to do too much work themselves. And then regardless of which canon the author chooses to follow, there's the natural allure of their own character being a Pokémon Trainer and doing what they themselves want to do, as I mentioned before.

You have a point, and it's really a shame. Part of the beauty of fanfiction is to actually do a little bit of work to go beyond canon (without violating it, of course). Maybe it sounds rather naive of me to say it, but I just think a lot of people are missing prime opportunities to be incredibly creative by completely ignoring a character they would have to work a little on to get to work. *shrug* But maybe I'm being a bit too direct about it. ^_^;

Take a look around forums like here and Serebii and you'll see that the large majority of authors are young, beginners, and quite honestly not that good at it. It's those people who flood the fandom with all the generic fics about anime characters and boring generic journeys.

Well, we'll have to define "beginner" here, I think. There's some authors who only write OT stories and have for years because they can't move on to something that isn't. On the other hand, I do agree that these are the people with beginner-level skills.

As for absurd things like "ZOMG, he's Ash's son!" I think that's partially shipper fantasy and a desire for their own character to be someone important in the world immediately without needing to work for it like all other characters.

XD Oh, partly. Also, probably partly an excuse to keep calling it Pokemon fanfiction. I've seen Gary Stus in action-adventures call themselves descendants or relatives of Ash for the sole purpose of connecting themselves to the main cast as a life buoy.

Exactly, that's why I have a sort of grudge against Saber's Pokémon Revelation over at Serebii, and I know I'm not the only one.

Ooh. I've heard of it tons of times from people on my LJ friends list, so you're definitely not the only one.

...But I've always been tempted to read it, just because I keep hearing that either a fanfiction is inspired by it or that people are tired of seeing yet another fic that's a knock off of it.

That and I'm the masochist who keeps contemplating reading Eragon, just to see if it really is that bad. Even though I read the prologue and burst out laughing halfway through it. In a Barnes & Noble. Fun times.

Yeah, I don't know about other people, but while characters are very important to a story, a fic that relies completely on them so much that they overshadow subpar writing and plot just doesn't deserve the massive fanbase Revelation has.

...And now my brain has come up with the phrase, "Is this the Twilight of the Pokemon fandom?"

Apparently the problem isn't just with writers not wanting to think outside the box, it's readers too who refuse to read anything imaginative.

Welcome to the Pokemon fandom. XD

(Oh, FFNet. How entertaining your reviews are.)

It reminds me of numerous other fics with similar titles, most of which are mediocre to downright awful.

Well, on the positive side, it could be worse. (If you can read that with a straight face, feel free to comment.)

That's why I like TRINITY. Simple, short, effective. Especially when it manages to stay capitalized unlike on Serebii... I need to get a mod to edit that thread title and change it to "TRINITY (Rated PG-14)" or something... In its own way TRINITY also seems kind of campy, though, but hey, what can you do?

Personally, it just reminds me of the chick from The Matrix.

Which is to say, I think it's sexy.

But I'm weird.

And would have tapped her if I could.

If you like any combination of mecha, animals, giant guns (especially in the original series where there's the Gravity Cannon which fires what are basically miniature black holes in that it creates an immense gravity field that implodes anything near it. Dear lord, that thing is overpowered. Naturally it's still not powerful enough to destroy the villains), or overdramatic fight scenes with plenty of exaggerated movements and repeated stock footage it's definitely something you should see! :D

Giant robots?! Sign me up!

If the anime writers wanted to base an episode/movie on your fan fic, would you give them the rights to?

The conversation would go like this:

Them: "Jax Malcolm, we want to make a movie out of your fanfiction!"
Me: "...Did you read it?"
Them: "Absolutely."
Me: "I mean really read it?"
Them: "Of course."
Me: "And you want to market this to children."
Them: "We don't see anything wrong with that."
(Insert flashback to the scenes where Mercury has her throat ripped out, where the nameless girl in the prologue is stabbed in the back of the head, where Romeo and Juliet get it on under the watchful eye of Tybalt, and where Viola's sexuality is questioned. Also, the one-shots in which Bill encounters a prostitute, has sex with Celio, overdoses on herbal hallucinogens, and is nearly killed. Numerous times.)
Me: "Okay!"

Popularity =/= quality of workmanship. Argument ad populum and all that. I wish I could share your faith in Paolini's improvement, but all the signs regarding his next book have been decidedly unfavorable.

Should I bring up a detailed analogy to Anne Rice to further support this comment? Or can we just leave it at her name and grin knowingly?

Which reminds me. Twilight series. Who's read it, and should I for the sake of masochistic curiosity?

 

[Blue Angel]

Well, on the positive side, it could be worse. (If you can read that with a straight face, feel free to comment.)

It wasn't a straight face... It was a face of a person staring with extreme horror as he watches a story being "morphed" into a really bad story with horrible grammar and spelling, no plot flow, and makes NO sense.

It was like a talentless writer wrote a story. Sad... Sad... Sad...
Another story murdered... *R.I.P.*

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

If the anime writers wanted to base an episode/movie on your fan fic, would you give them the rights to?

Let's see:

Producer: Sorry, Mister, um...
Me: 479.
Producer: Mr. 479, our research shows that 87% of our demographic does not want college-level mathematics as part of their Pokemon watching experience. Furthermore, 96% do not feel that 1982 Oldsmobiles are "cool cars." Also, your choice of songs for the soundtrack will not "mesh" with our target audience. And finally, while we do appreciate companies like Choice Hotels and Applebee's sponsoring the project, we're trying to attract a younger age group, one that doesn't make the dining and lodging decisions for the household. Therefore, we are not interested in your project. My apologies.
Me: Oh well, what can you do?

 

[Sunnybeam]

Looking forward to the 6th(next year sadly, they moved it back from this summer)

My mom threw a hissy fit about that. =O

Well, we'll have to define "beginner" here, I think. There's some authors who only write OT stories and have for years because they can't move on to something that isn't. On the other hand, I do agree that these are the people with beginner-level skills.

OT in and of itself isn't bad. Many writers, myself included, write mostly OT fics simply because we enjoy using our own characters. I mean, read Bubblebeam's Vision of Darkness: The Sinnoh League and try to tell me that all OT fics are awful. It's when you delve into the realm of unoriginality and cliche that the quality drops.

(Oh, FFNet. How entertaining your reviews are.)

There are times when I want to whack my FFnet readers upside the head and scream at them to leave more comprehensive reviews.

Well, on the positive side, it could be worse. (If you can read that with a straight face, feel free to comment.)

...Just what the hell was that?!

Them: "Jax Malcolm, we want to make a movie out of your fanfiction!"
Me: "...Did you read it?"
Them: "Absolutely."
Me: "I mean really read it?"
Them: "Of course."
Me: "And you want to market this to children."
Them: "We don't see anything wrong with that."
(Insert flashback to the scenes where Mercury has her throat ripped out, where the nameless girl in the prologue is stabbed in the back of the head, where Romeo and Juliet get it on under the watchful eye of Tybalt, and where Viola's sexuality is questioned. Also, the one-shots in which Bill encounters a prostitute, has sex with Celio, overdoses on herbal hallucinogens, and is nearly killed. Numerous times.)
Me: "Okay!"

...Holy...

Should I bring up a detailed analogy to Anne Rice to further support this comment? Or can we just leave it at her name and grin knowingly?

Who? What? I'm young and ignorant, please fill me in...

Which reminds me. Twilight series. Who's read it, and should I for the sake of masochistic curiosity?

Oh holy Mew...I avoid that series like the plague. It's so popular, it has to be bad.

 

[Ascaris]

...But I've always been tempted to read it, just because I keep hearing that either a fanfiction is inspired by it or that people are tired of seeing yet another fic that's a knock off of it.

Saber's fic was written long long long ago. Many journey fics today are cliches of Saber's fic.

That and I'm the masochist who keeps contemplating reading Eragon, just to see if it really is that bad. Even though I read the prologue and burst out laughing halfway through it. In a Barnes & Noble. Fun times.

It's not that bad. I mean he sucks in the character development department but he wrote it when he was fifteen. FIFTEEN!

Well, on the positive side, it could be worse. (If you can read that with a straight face, feel free to comment.)

Pardon me...

(HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA)

 

[Negrek]

It's not that bad. I mean he sucks in the character development department but he wrote it when he was fifteen. FIFTEEN!

He started writing it when he was fifteen. He finished it at sixteen, then spent two more years revising it and preparing it for publication, meaning he actually finished the first edition at eighteen. Then Knopf picked it up and started another round of revision on it, and it wasn't actually published in the form that most people recognize it until he was twenty-one. He had six years to revise it and apply all that he'd learned, and yet... it's still as bad as it is.

Also, age is no excuse for suckiness. I've read fifteen-year-old authors who could beat the pants off Eragon in terms of quality, but who have yet to be published.

You're right, Eragon is more like mediocre fanfiction than abjectly awful, but the series has actually gone downhill from the first book.

 

[Ninja Caterpie]

Well, on the positive side, it could be worse. (If you can read that with a straight face, feel free to comment.)

I-I-I...I think...that...that was a joke, not real, like Oni Raichu's "Atak of the Grate stom" or something. Right?

Pookérangers

Yes, he's a Poo-keranger. Looks like a fic that someone typed up in the reply box.
My eyes hurt. Very badly.
-cringes-

Them: "Jax Malcolm, we want to make a movie out of your fanfiction!"
Me: "...Did you read it?"
Them: "Absolutely."
Me: "I mean really read it?"
Them: "Of course."
Me: "And you want to market this to children."
Them: "We don't see anything wrong with that."
(Insert flashback to the scenes where Mercury has her throat ripped out, where the nameless girl in the prologue is stabbed in the back of the head, where Romeo and Juliet get it on under the watchful eye of Tybalt, and where Viola's sexuality is questioned. Also, the one-shots in which Bill encounters a prostitute, has sex with Celio, overdoses on herbal hallucinogens, and is nearly killed. Numerous times.)
Me: "Okay!"

...
Are you sure "Them" are sane? xD
Ah...I'm gonna go and read that fic...
-explodes-

 

[Blue Angel]

I-I-I...I think...that...that was a joke, not real, like Oni Raichu's "Atak of the Grate stom" or something. Right?

That sounds like it would be a fun "parody" to read :)
Would be worth a good laugh :)

Oh, in P.E. yesterday, this guy went off the court to grab the volleyball as it rolled away, then picked it up and threw it really high. He was trying to pass the volleyball to the other team, but instead it swished through the basketball hoop behind them. It was SO funny.

Sad thing was he couldn't serve or bump the ball after that...

I guess he lost all of his accuracy with that lucky shot.

 

[JX Valentine]

OT in and of itself isn't bad. Many writers, myself included, write mostly OT fics simply because we enjoy using our own characters. I mean, read Bubblebeam's Vision of Darkness: The Sinnoh League and try to tell me that all OT fics are awful. It's when you delve into the realm of unoriginality and cliche that the quality drops.

Oh, don't get me wrong here. I was saying that there's some people who write OT stories because they don't want to move on to something more original. I never said that people who write OT stories in general can't move on to something more original.

Basically, yeah, I acknowledge that there's good OT stories out there, but OT is a genre with certain definitions -- that is, certain archetypes that most OT stories touch upon at one point or another (like the evil team bent on saving the world, a gym circuit, et cetera). The writers I'm referring to stick mostly to OT stories because there's those life lines, and while a better author can take those definitions and use them loosely while expanding on their own story, the writers I was referring to often simply expand on the life lines, if that makes sense.

In other words, it's not the genre. It's the people in it who find comfort in the list of things an OT story should or most often contains and aren't brave enough to branch out and try something new.

There are times when I want to whack my FFnet readers upside the head and scream at them to leave more comprehensive reviews.

Mine (when I was still posting stuff there) actually entertained me because of this. XD I should really start posting again on FFNet. Those were fun times full of muse abuse, wrong predictions, and "are you sure this has anything to do with the story."

...Just what the hell was that?!

The FFNet fic in its natural habitat.

Who? What? I'm young and ignorant, please fill me in...

Basically, Anne Rice is the author of a number of vampire books. Angsty vampire books. (Although aren't they all?) Angsty vampire books with an abundance of description and exposition. (Not even kidding here.) For that reason, her books are either well-loved for the vampire sex or passed off as trash to the people who have come to the conclusion that her work isn't impressive.

(But what she's most notorious for is the fact that she can't take constructive criticism.)

Oh holy Mew...I avoid that series like the plague. It's so popular, it has to be bad.

XD Well, it's not so much the popularity I'm interested in. It's the fact that everyone I know says it's full of angst and pretentiousness.

And my response is, "...But it's a vampire book."

I-I-I...I think...that...that was a joke, not real, like Oni Raichu's "Atak of the Grate stom" or something. Right?

Alas, no. Welcome to FFNet.

...
Are you sure "Them" are sane? xD

They can't be if they ever approach me to make a movie out of anything I do. XD

 

[Bay]

Never read Twlight and Eragon yet. I have one friend who says Eragon is good, though. XD Probably I want to read them to see how bad and angst (in Twlight's case) they are. XD

Huh, I have a couple of reviewers said to me one of the reasons they like NE is because the plot is original and strays away from the OT genre. XD

 

[Sunnybeam]

Oh, don't get me wrong here. I was saying that there's some people who write OT stories because they don't want to move on to something more original. I never said that people who write OT stories in general can't move on to something more original.

Basically, yeah, I acknowledge that there's good OT stories out there, but OT is a genre with certain definitions -- that is, certain archetypes that most OT stories touch upon at one point or another (like the evil team bent on saving the world, a gym circuit, et cetera). The writers I'm referring to stick mostly to OT stories because there's those life lines, and while a better author can take those definitions and use them loosely while expanding on their own story, the writers I was referring to often simply expand on the life lines, if that makes sense.

In other words, it's not the genre. It's the people in it who find comfort in the list of things an OT story should or most often contains and aren't brave enough to branch out and try something new.

And even then, some of those list items aren't so bad if you use them right. (The evil team especially - I've seen one or two authors who've created really good antagonists.) But yeah, if it's overdone, there isn't much that can save it, apart from close-to-godliness in every other respect.

The other thing that kills most OT fics is the stubborn insistence upon writing within anime canon. It's even worse when they claim to work within canon, but actually ignore all of the rules (I read the piece of horrendousness called Artic vs. Ash on PFU...and laughed at the "author's" noobishness after your (Jax's) review... :D)

Mine (when I was still posting stuff there) actually entertained me because of this. XD I should really start posting again on FFNet. Those were fun times full of muse abuse, wrong predictions, and "are you sure this has anything to do with the story."

Yaaaay for muse abuse!

Scorch: -cowers in a corner- You're so mean to me.

I still post on FFnet, mainly because I've got friends over there. Jasper and Rose, I'm doing this for you...!

(But what she's most notorious for is the fact that she can't take constructive criticism.)

...Wow.

XD Well, it's not so much the popularity I'm interested in. It's the fact that everyone I know says it's full of angst and pretentiousness.

Never read Twlight and Eragon yet. I have one friend who says Eragon is good, though. XD Probably I want to read them to see how bad and angst (in Twlight's case) they are. XD

The writing style of Eragon is pretty good, but the story itself just...blows.

 

[txteclipse]

XD Well, it's not so much the popularity I'm interested in. It's the fact that everyone I know says it's full of angst and pretentiousness.

And my response is, "...But it's a vampire book."

No. It's a love triangle book about a vampire, werewolf, and normal human. And it's an mpreg book, at that. Run. Swiftly. Away.

 

[Sunnybeam]

No. It's a love triangle book about a vampire, werewolf, and normal human. And it's an mpreg book, at that. Run. Swiftly. Away.

-still in muse mode-

Aqua: O/////O

Scorch: As your muse/partner/big brother/fluffy Arcanine pet/online guardian, I hereby ban you from reading Twilight. For the sake of your young and impressionable mind.

Aqua: O////O

Lugia: -pokes- I think she's dead.

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

Wow... I think I'll pass on reading that, I think.

It might give me twisted ideas for a whole bunch of crackfics that aren't kid-appropiate. And no, I'm not talking about that Pokemon/Rickrolling crossover I have planned, either.

 

[JX Valentine]

No. It's a love triangle book about a vampire, werewolf, and normal human. And it's an mpreg book, at that. Run. Swiftly. Away.

And people aren't calling it crack fic?

 

[Blue Angel]

No. It's a love triangle book about a vampire, werewolf, and normal human. And it's an mpreg book, at that. Run. Swiftly. Away.

I do have to admit.
That sounds really, REALLY, strange...

Oh BTW, There is this new thread "Until My Finest Hour"

It is one of the best I have seen (only saying this because of the great quality and the fact that he doesn't know about the fanfiction annoucement thread).

I know there probably are better, but if you read it and can think of any that are better, please list them here (maybe so I can read ;p)


There are a lot more "open fics" without Astinus to close them *sigh*

Lol, already seen/read 2 bad fics today.

 

[Ninja Caterpie]

Don't worry about Astinus not being here, Ausaudriel can still sort of mod around...xDDD

Anyway, I agree with Blue Angel.
Until my Finest Hour is...well...really god!

 

[Sydian]

Don't worry about Astinus not being here, Ausaudriel can still sort of mod around...xDDD

:|

Audy is a Super Moderator, so of course she can.

 

[Saffire Persian]

No. It's a love triangle book about a vampire, werewolf, and normal human. And it's an mpreg book, at that. Run. Swiftly. Away.

Uh. Mpreg? What? Unless I'm behind on the terms, Twilight and its sequels did not have any mpreg in it.