Oh Goshes I've been away for some time, and that's to begin with.
Release of HG&SS has got me occupied with the music, that simply rules.
To more current affairs...
Do you have villainous teams in your stories? If you do, do they happen to have sub-bosses (or commanders/minibosses/whatever)? Bonus points if they're more than two or three characters and/or are together all the time.
Team Rocket. ANd, given the current developments in HG&SS, I mostly think I'm going to go the subboss/commander/admin/whatever route. So far I have four "Controllers", rank which Syd is one of them, but two of them are there simply as filler...
What kind of atmosphere do you like to create in your fic (overall)?
Not a dark one like the rest of you, mind. I mean, for that we got real life, right?v*dies* -- I like, however, to play the surprise or the convolution in plots to build in the characters a sensation of "hey, that's what
shouldn't happen".
Feign's definition (quote: "a correct answer to a meaningful relationship to Pokemon")
A very interesting concept. I hadnever thought too much on the "behavioural" connection. If I read it wholy and try to go back to your original question...
Why do you like Pokemon, in terms of meaningful relationships?
The first thing I remember I liked about Pokémon was the openness, in the sense that the games and anime paint the idea that, with resourcefulness of minf and the right kind of creature (and sometimes not even the
right kind...), anything can be achieved, so it's a large-scale call to adventure. Go around, do stuff. See a rock?
It is pure eruption memento and weights over 9 tons Get your Pokémon to lift/break/move it! At a level, it kinda goes with what Sparkling Dragon said about "lastability". There are a lot of things to do and you will eventually get the chance to try most of them except Japan-only events.
Then I became enchanted, sort of, by the sense of chivalry in its broadest (and oldest) sense. You know, that almost-extinct thing? Where you jump into action everyday not because an Evil Overlord doomed your hometown and kicked everyones' Growlithe puppies ten years ago, but because solving problems every day is made something correct (and fun) to do? Back in 2002/2003, turning the system ON, picking a random town with its troubles, going around announcing "Hey, I have 5 Pokémon and an HM slave, the Universe has authorized me to solve your troubles!"
and having the punch to back it up, was what essentially crowned the good things that made my day, every day... and balanced out the bad days, as well. Yes, it's self-fulfillment in a way, given that one of the things I like the most of life is the ability to take a peek at friends' problems and always provide at least an opinion; but it was still presented as something much saner and
practical, for its kind of world, than games like the Final Fantasies or GTA do.
Not that I'm bashing GTA, which I usually do, and with FF is a more solid matter of the genre...
The anime plays this in a different way, especially with the movies, but I think it ends up the same.
As for relationships with people I can't say much. I started an
underground Pokémon Battle Ring at school back when RBY (I think it was 1999) and kept talking with those friends for a very long time. Nowadays only two of us keep playing Pokémon, but I know we all still enjoy games with the same spirit. I like games that call you to converse (not just "chat") with other people. Most of my career's students who played Age of Empires also liked History and Mythology, and playing the game, be it for fun or competition, kinda connected us and allowed us to share information, perceptions and wishes. The same happened with Pokémon: it gave us a (good) excuse to be more open to each other.
Unfortunately here where I live Pokémon (and most -mon series by name association) became a sort of stigma shortly after our underground club, although I have to say that made my relationship to the games more personal and cherishable. After a four years gaming hiatus, the second thing I came back to was Pokémon and I instanstly remembered why I liked the games so much.
And I'm really stretching this too much. All in all, what I like of Pokémon is essentially that it called to make the world a better place. It was a call addressed to no one in particular, but the games made it funny to jump in to the adventure.
Citrinin said:
Hmm, has anyone experienced the feeling that you know what needs to happen in, say, 3-5 chapters, but is struggling to get there?
Yes, sometimes. That's the reason my other fic hasn't advanced much (I have written only one chapter in 3 months...). I feel sometimes that me myself get caught in that" no can happen" mood I described and that I somehow have to "tweak" things around and then start running in circles thinking why can't this or that idea work, and all that... But never actually
sit and force myself to solve the issue.
So sorry, Citrinin, but I can't offer much help. I can say, however, from my own experience, that for some f***ed wicked reason, once you become
tired of fighting the issue and trying aids or shortcuts, a seemingly obvious solution appears when you're busy doing something else completely unrelated and objectively much more important. So be careful! Also, of course, go with La Pompa's suggestion, heck I should to
that myself... :D
Also,
welcome to our Lounge
of Insanity to our newest member Sgt. Shock. Any relation to Lt.
Guile Surge, by chance?