Fanfiction Lounge

[Krome Jr.]

Hey I finished the first chapter of my fan fiction story, it's called Krome, The Poke'mon Cloner.

 

[icomeanon6]

Hey I finished the first chapter of my fan fiction story, it's called Krome, The Poke'mon Cloner.

Congratulations! For future reference, you usually post an announcement like that in the thread called "Fanfiction Announcement Thread."

 

[Orange_Flaaffy]

What are your thoughts on canon? Should it be followed to the end, or do you disregard it?
Nether :). I don't think canon following is all or nothing, I stick to ten being the normal starting age, but also show that not everyone stays with it, and that there are many of other things your parents can drag you into that are not training after the fact (which in a way is still following canon, as many of the NPCs seem to battle for fun as a hobby with their level 20's :) ). Besides starting age and the facts of the pokemon themselves I change canon when the elements I have in mind would fit and not upset the larger framework of the world :)...

 

[Astinus]

I've been watching that thread on SPPf, reading it whenever there's a new post, and really, I don't quite follow what it's about either. I just see it as yet another way for people to get their knickers in a knot over fanfiction. So you can make whatever snark-filled remark you want to about me, but next time, remember that threads on SPPf are on SPPf, and that this is PC. They're two entirely different forums with a few members that don't post on the other, and that sometimes members come to PC to get away from SPPf because of something that happened.

What are your thoughts on canon? Should it be followed to the end, or do you disregard it?
Follow it mostly, but if it's a small matter that I can overlook, I'll change it. Like I said before, I'm not going to change the evolution paths of Pokemon, but I am going to change a small matter, like where a common Pokemon is located.

 

[Gummy]

What are your thoughts on canon? Should it be followed to the end, or do you disregard it?

How many times have I answered this question? I don't really follow canon at all. I just don't like the restrictions; I want my writing to be free.

 

[Orange_Flaaffy]

I've been watching that thread on SPPf, reading it whenever there's a new post, and really, I don't quite follow what it's about either.

It was really simple to start with, I just asked if ten year olds were truly overused as trainers, as many people had been saying they were in writing topics of as long as I've been in this fandom. Then I was trying to start a talk about what would be needed to write a realistic ten-year-old trainer if you wanted to, and other members turned it into a teenagers are good vs. canon is god debate in the meantime :P.
That's it in a nutshell :).

So you can make whatever snark-filled remark you want to about me, but next time, remember that threads on SPPf are on SPPf, and that this is PC. They're two entirely different forums with a few members that don't post on the other, and that sometimes members come to PC to get away from SPPf because of something that happened.

Don't worry, I try my best to not talk about things there here, as SPPF likes to fight over every little thing ..I am glad PC isn't like that :)

 

[JX Valentine]

Because we're talking about canon (and have been for the past two questions, I think), allow me to quote a rant that I really think should be repeated and linked to on every writing forum. The full rant is here. The quote is as follows:

Example: I read a horrible Punk!Hermione fic, which really had no redeeming features. But rather than bash it I focused on single A/N that was put in the middle of the story. It said something along the lines of "A/N: in it she had her Evanescence CD." Along with pointing out that A/Ns in the middle of stories disrupt the flow, I also noted that HP canon takes place in the mid-90's, before Evenscenes was a band. I suggested she change the band to something more time appropriate. I though I said it rather nicely.

The response? "It's fan-FICTION. I can write it however I want."

But the whole point of fan-fic (except AUs, which I'm not talking about in this rant), is to work with given characters in a given universe. Hence the word FAN. Yes, in original fiction, you can write whatever you want (doesn't mean it'll be good or other's will like it). But in fan-fiction you have to respect canon.

And really, if you don't WANT to respect canon, you shouldn't be writing fan-fic. I'm sorry, but you shouldn't. You should write fan-fic if you really are a FAN. And being a fan means you like and respect canon period.

....

If you can't respect your fandom, I can't respect you fic. Period. I don't care how good it is.

I think the above also covers elements that really aren't disputed in canon. For example, yes, the legal minimum age for a person to get their trainer's license is given as ten in at least two mediums (the anime and at least one manga continuum -- the game never mentions what age the minimum for a license is past the small booklet that came with Red and Blue, but it can still be assumed that, given the other media, the age is around there too). Changing it to, say, thirteen is illogical, not only because you'd have to explain why you're changing canon for it and also because I'm sorry, but a thirteen-year-old is just as incapable of taking care of themselves in the wild anyway, so that excuse is out the window.

In certain cases where the element is so trivial it doesn't matter or the element contradicts itself in the same continuum (e.g. Team Rocket's backstory), I'm less likely to care. However, I do believe that one should at least make an effort to try following canon because, yes, we're writing FANfiction. We don't exactly have literary freedom (although the Pokemon fandom is fairly open). If you want creative freedom, then you'll have to write original fiction, where there's no strings and no lines you, as a fan, would be crossing.

 

[Scarlet Weather]

Don't worry, I try my best to not talk about things there here, as SPPF likes to fight over every little thing ..I am glad PC isn't like that :)

What? How dare you insinuate that PC is a happy, idyllic place! We can argue pointlessly just as well as Serebii! *shot'ed*

Heheh, now moving on...

Have you, as a reviewer, liked a fic initially, only to go back and read it and discover that it was a complete mess?


This has actually happened to me. I miss a lot on my first readthrough, and I've learned the hard way that if I don't review a fic from start to finish twice, I'll completely miss things. That isn't to say that, well... "De Tal of Ultimet Destinie!!!111!111!!"-style bad won't register, but sometimes it takes me a few minutes to diagnose a Sue, if the story is subtle enough about it. I just wanted to know whether I'm the only one.

 

[Gummy]

Have you, as a reviewer, liked a fic initially, only to go back and read it and discover that it was a complete mess?

You better not answer this question, Astinus. =P Since I don't review many fics (big surprise) I rarely run into a situation like this. However, there was one fic that I used to follow before I started writing and I thought it was amazing. Unfortunately, the author stopped updating until only a few weeks ago. I was anxious for the extremely long awaited chapter but now that I've become a writer myself, I'm beginning to notice the many mistakes in the story. I guess you can't really judge good work unless you've written something of equal or greater quality (not to sound cocky or anything).

 

[Negrek]

Have you, as a reviewer, liked a fic initially, only to go back and read it and discover that it was a complete mess?

Heh, yes. I was quite the fan of "random humor" 'fics in my early teen years, it would appear.

Ah, for the days when I could be endlessly amused by people screeching, "LLAMAS AND CHEESE!!!" for no apparent reason...

 

[icomeanon6]

What are your thoughts on canon? Should it be followed to the end, or do you disregard it?
I don't think that following canon is a very important aspect of a story. Isn't it more important to be sure that your work is creative and original in its own right? If people want to read a transcription of a video game just for the sake of accuracy, they might as well just watch the anime and avoid fan fiction entirely.

 

[Orange_Flaaffy]

Have you, as a reviewer, liked a fic initially, only to go back and read it and discover that it was a complete mess?
Yes but I don't think it is a matter of my getting to be a better writer myself or anything of that nature...I think sometimes tastes just change.
And it is not so much the story is a mess but that I have picked up a few more pet peeves in the time I've been away from it ...

 

[Krome Jr.]

Hey I made a mistake on my fan fiction story, I didn't make the first chapter yet, well actually I did now, but the last post was the prologue.

 

[Gummy]

Okay... so go post the first chapter in the same thread. It's okay to double-post as long as you are contributing to the story.

 

[bobandbill]

No. If you think that, you've missed the point by so wide a margin that it might possibly have ended up in a different country than you. If so, I'm sure it's looking around in sad, bemused distress. Perhaps it will take the time to attempt hitchhiking back in your direction.

Unlike some however, I'm unable to get my head over large debates like that one. :) Although, not much need to go so far to tell me I'm wrong (which I probably am, wasn't quite thinking straight there and forgot large amounts of that argument anyway).

Heh, yes. I was quite the fan of "random humor" 'fics in my early teen years, it would appear.

Ah, for the days when I could be endlessly amused by people screeching, "LLAMAS AND CHEESE!!!" for no apparent reason...

There's something we agree on - ahh, the old days of being easily amused....

Have you, as a reviewer, liked a fic initially, only to go back and read it and discover that it was a complete mess?
Occassionally, but not quite to the level of a 'complete mess' - after all, only started really looking at a fair amount of fanfictions over a year ago (can't really remember how long it was... but somewhat before I started my fic).

Occassionally other reviewer's comments cause me to realise something I may have missed, but it usually isn't major.

 

[Bay]

What are your thoughts on canon? Should it be followed to the end, or do you disregard it?

I'm pretty much in the same page with bobandbill here. I believe at least the Pokemon canon should be followed mostly but a few things can be flexible.

As for my stories, both "Nothing, Everything" and "Destiny's Tricks" are both set in Sinnoh and I actually kind of mixed both game and anime canon in those two stories but also do a couple of my own twists too.

Have you, as a reviewer, liked a fic initially, only to go back and read it and discover that it was a complete mess?

There's been a couple of fics where I really was a fan at first but then months later I read the recent reviews that pinpoint the mistakes that I didn't notice before. Pretty much the thing with that is as the months progress I'm learning more of the elements of a good story.

 

[JX Valentine]

I don't think that following canon is a very important aspect of a story. Isn't it more important to be sure that your work is creative and original in its own right? If people want to read a transcription of a video game just for the sake of accuracy, they might as well just watch the anime and avoid fan fiction entirely.

It tends to be a misconception that following canon = copying straight from the original source. Following canon just means getting the details right -- characterization, facts, that sort of thing. It doesn't actually mean that you need to strip originality away from the story and simply feed the reader the game verbatim (which is, unfortunately, what a lot of authors in this fandom seem to think it is). Really, all fanfiction is is an exercise in expressing fandom by writing a story while respecting the original work at the same time. Otherwise, it wouldn't be called fanfiction, you know what I mean?

The only form of literary work where you can be completely free to disregard any sort of canon would be original fiction, where you set the canon anyway.

Have you, as a reviewer, liked a fic initially, only to go back and read it and discover that it was a complete mess?

All the time. I started reading and reviewing fanfiction in my early teens, and what I liked then is vastly different from what I like now. That is to say, a lot of my favorites that I loved at that age I went back and realized that the plot was paper-thin, that the characters were vastly OOC, that the fic hadn't been proofread, and/or that a Sue ran rampant in it.

 

[Astinus]

D: You mean I spent all that time trying to think of some way to not swear on these forums and come up with a good argument for nothing? We all dropped the subject.

Mogey mogey mogey. ><

The only form of literary work where you can be completely free to disregard any sort of canon would be original fiction, where you set the canon anyway.

What does one do when they write from a canon where the own author keeps screwing things up? What source of canon information do you follow? What the older books say? Or the newer books?

You better not answer this question, Astinus. =P

It's okay, Gummy. I don't answer the questions anymore since I'm not that active in the Pokemon fandom these days, so the questions just kind of fly right by me without a care. :D I just poke my head into this thread and post off-topic, to make it seem like I care, and to raise my post count (because large post count means a large ego.)

 

[icomeanon6]

(because large post count means a large ego.)

I think my ego just got wiped from existence. :\

 

[Gummy]

It's okay, Gummy. I don't answer the questions anymore since I'm not that active in the Pokemon fandom these days, so the questions just kind of fly right by me without a care. :D I just poke my head into this thread and post off-topic, to make it seem like I care, and to raise my post count (because large post count means a large ego.)

Well then, someone knows exactly what they're doing here at PC. ;)