Team Plasma Motto

After deciding to scrap my initial Team Plasma motto (which was like the TR BW motto word for word), I've decided to ask for your help in writing out a motto/speech for the Team Plasma Knight Triad, Al, Alex and Allison.

Here's how it starts:

Alex: "'Who Are You' is the question indeed."
Al: "The answer to come when we feel the need."

This is a obvious homage to Team Rocket in BW. The rest of the motto will describe what Team Plasma stands for (liberating Pokemon from "foolish trainers") in a poetic way. But I'd like your help in writing it since I'm not much of a poet.

If you have any concerns or questions about Al, Alex and Allison, then feel free to state them but remember this: they do not appear all the time as writing crutch for me. Trust me, I'd NEVER do that.

So, what are your ideas?

Like I said in the other thread, the TRio has a motto because they want to show off the fact that they're evil. You know. Play up the hype and everything. Butch and Cassidy have a motto because they're supposed to be exactly like the TRio except with different names and slightly different attitudes. Everyone else, if you notice, doesn't have a motto of some form. That's because the organization as a whole actually doesn't have its field agents just strike poses and announce who they are. It's just a JJ&M kind of thing because they're flamboyant, extremely egotistical, and sort of terrible at the whole villain thing. (If you'll also notice, they don't do the every single time they appear in the more recent episodes. That's because they're trying to take themselves more seriously and act like the master thieves they supposedly are. This is opposed to earlier seasons, where they would say the motto regardless of whether or not they're using it to introduce themselves to Team Twerp.)

Long story short, as I've said in the earlier thread, it's not a good idea to have a motto just to play homage to Team Rocket. The motto says a lot about those characters and how they reflect on their organization. (JJ&M were considered embarrassments to Team Rocket, mind you.) Not only that, but readers will look at that and shrug your Team Plasma members off as TRio clones, regardless of whether or not they actually are. That's because most journey fics have cookie-cutter fan-created villains complete with a motto, so it's just safe to assume that another rhyme indicates another typical team. Sure, you might write something awesome later on down the line that makes these characters be new and original, but by then, it's really too late. You'll want to convince your readers from the get-go that they're not reading something ordinary and same-old, or they'll be less likely to slip you favorable reviews (if they stick with the fic at all).

If you still want to use a motto, here's the thing. It's best to write your own. The reason why I say this is not because I want to discourage people from replying to you. It's because no matter how much you tell us about these characters, the only one who knows the most about them is you. You'll know whether or not Alex is extremely poetic and would come up with certain images, and you'll know whether or not the exact wording of a certain line is perfect for Al. Every word needs to fit those characters, just like every word of all of the Team Rocket motto says volumes about JJ&M. Your best bet is to think about the kinds of messages and images they would want to talk about and then work from there.

Long story short, as I've said in the earlier thread, it's not a good idea to have a motto just to play homage to Team Rocket. The motto says a lot about those characters and how they reflect on their organization. (JJ&M were considered embarrassments to Team Rocket, mind you.) Not only that, but readers will look at that and shrug your Team Plasma members off as TRio clones, regardless of whether or not they actually are. That's because most journey fics have cookie-cutter fan-created villains complete with a motto, so it's just safe to assume that another rhyme indicates another typical team. Sure, you might write something awesome later on down the line that makes these characters be new and original, but by then, it's really too late. You'll want to convince your readers from the get-go that they're not reading something ordinary and same-old, or they'll be less likely to slip you favorable reviews (if they stick with the fic at all).

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Well, like I said before, I'd NEVER do that. Al, Alex and Allison are just recurring characters who are members of Team Plasma. Unlike cookie-cutter villains, they believe what they're doing is correct and for the greater good as Rezo (Ghetsis) is leading them to believe. They think that they're doing noble deed when really they're doing bad and they don't cause any unnecessary trouble for the hell of it.

Al is meant to be the brother of one of the main characters and a drama plays out between him and his sibling. It's to be a defining point in the series. Of course, I can't spoil it.

If you still want to use a motto, here's the thing. It's best to write your own. The reason why I say this is not because I want to discourage people from replying to you. It's because no matter how much you tell us about these characters, the only one who knows the most about them is you. You'll know whether or not Alex is extremely poetic and would come up with certain images, and you'll know whether or not the exact wording of a certain line is perfect for Al. Every word needs to fit those characters, just like every word of all of the Team Rocket motto says volumes about JJ&M. Your best bet is to think about the kinds of messages and images they would want to talk about and then work from there.

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Well, the sad truth is that I'm not very poetic or good at this kind of stuff. So I'm just asking for ideas. I do plan on giving credit to whoever helps me the most in my fic.

You really haven't told us anything about the characters themselves. Yes, we get their overall goal, but we don't really know if your characters are the ones to stand around and waste a few minutes saying a motto when they could be doing more important things.

I understand that you want the homage in your fic, but does it really make sense for it to be there? I mean in terms of why the characters would do it, or if it makes sense to the plot. You can have the motto in there, but if your characters don't seem like those to say the motto, then it won't make sense.

Just knowing that the characters are pretty much like a whole mess of other villains out there (believe they're doing the right thing when they're really not) isn't going to help others write a motto for you.

Try to make a motto on your own. Look up some rhyming dictionaries online and play around with the lines until you have a motto that makes sense for your characters to say. It'll sound better because you're really the only one who knows your characters deep enough.

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And Venzeron: No. Just no. That's exceedingly not helpful and does not fit anything at all what matt044 is looking for. (And it's plagiarizing, which is a humongous "NO" in life.)

Did you even read his posts? Those aren't the characters he's using, and there are three characters that he needs to write a motto for.

matt0044 said:

Unlike cookie-cutter villains, they believe what they're doing is correct and for the greater good as Rezo (Ghetsis) is leading them to believe.

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That actually describes a lot of villains.

To put it in perspective, Dungeons & Dragons actually describes antagonists pretty well by filing them into specific categories. These are:

Chaotic Good: The people who honestly believe that what they're doing is right, but they don't see that it's most certainly not. They act on this mistaken ideal by resorting to destruction or anarchy in order to make room for something new and better. (Yes, I realize that chaotic good also describes protagonists who just don't give a crap about rules. Panty and Stocking in Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt are a perfect example of this side.) As an example, let me tell you about a couple of other groups. There's a couple of groups who work to make the world more habitable for every living thing in it. Then, there's another group who want to create a brand-new world (not necessarily scrapping the old one, even) in which they can set up a utopia full of peace and order.

Incidentally, who are those organizations? Well, the first two are Teams Aqua and Magma. The second? Team Galactic. All three (in the games anyway) felt that what they were doing was absolutely right and necessary. They just did incredibly dumb things to get their goals accomplished. (And at least Teams Aqua and Magma realized how moronic those methods were. Cyrus just went off his rocker instead.)

Lawful Evil: You ever have an evil government that happened to be elected or born into the office by completely legitimate means? You know, the kind that oppress the people using the laws that they have every right to create and enforce? That would be lawful evil. Or the entire premise of 1984.

Neutral Evil: The kind of evil that's not necessarily psychotic (in the incoherent, mass-murdering kind of way) but the kind that doesn't really color inside the lines, if you get what I'm saying. They're the kinds of villains who just don't care about your rules so long as they get to play by their own. A lot of what people would think of as stereotypical villains would probably fall under this category for the simple reason that a lot of villains are after world domination/setting up a new world order/whatever just for the sake of being evil, rather than because they can back up their evil with good ideas on one level or another.

Chaotic Evil: The Joker.

But seriously, chaotic evil attempts to overthrow the government, sets fire to orphanages, and jaywalks. Why? Because it's fun. These are the characters who are out to destroy order, the world, as many buildings full of innocent people as possible, not because they want to establish something instead or because they want power but instead because they can.



In short, what you're describing is actually a classic example of chaotic good. There's a lot of examples of this, especially in Pokémon canon. That isn't to say that it can't be new and original. I'm just saying it doesn't necessarily prove otherwise. That's why you'll need to work hard at making sure everything else about your characters doesn't sound cookie-cutter.

Al is meant to be the brother of one of the main characters and a drama plays out between him and his sibling. It's to be a defining point in the series. Of course, I can't spoil it.

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As I've said to you via PM, this kind of thing is pretty much older than dirt. In fact, I'm planning on using the same idea myself, only the characters in question are father and son, not brother and brother. Again, it's not necessarily something that will automatically be labeled as unoriginal if you do it, and it's still possible to be pulled off. It's just that this idea is more of a trope, so it won't necessarily convince people either way.