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And way to back that one up. I'm totally swayed now. Seriously, which ones? How so? Why is our fandom worse for the exclusion of them? And besides, that's a sweeping generalization. I could just as quickly say every theme known to man has been used, you just haven't picked up on it. Most writing is very lite. You're taking the entirety of original works and comparing them to a very narrow category. It's irrartional. *Many* original works contain no deeper meaning. EDIT: As an appendage to that, odds are you haven't seen a good representation of all original works because people only tend to read *good* literature. When have you picked up a book in a store and thought, "This looks sucky, I'll buy it!?" It's a question of underrepresentative bias. |
Which would you post; an introduction, or the first chapter when beginning a story?
I've always posted some kind of author's note at the very beginning, usually including information such as when I started writing the story, whether or not it's completed, and how many chapters have been written so far if it's not completed, among other things. I don't usually give away much information about the actual content of the story in the introduction beyond a little fair warning about things that might offend the sensibilities of some, though. Now, as far as prologues go, one of my stories has one, and the other story doesn't. How long do you wait in between posting chapters? I post a chapter whenever a new one's finished and ready, which is... very infrequently these days. XD; That's when I don't already have a bunch of chapters already ready to post, anyway. When I do have multiple chapters ready to go at once, I usually don't post more than once a week--I tend not to post even that often, actually--and will wait longer than usual after posting especially long chapters in order to give folks more time to read what's already there. What pokemon would you like to see have a major part in fanfic more often? Voltorb and/or Electrode, please. ^^ More Magnemite/ton/zone, too. Oh, and Probopass! ^^ Eh, lately I've just been itching to read stories that prominently feature any of those Pokémon--if any of you know of any stories that do, please direct me to them. ^^ How do you choose your characters' teams? Very few of my characters actually have teams. For those who do... Spoiler:
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"? I... can't seem to think of a least favorite explanation. ^^; There aren't really any explanations for that that bug me, not even "miraculously able to for no reason at all". What do you think the easiest tense to work with is? I find past tense easier, but maybe just because that's what I use most often. Whenever I use present tense, I often catch myself slipping into past tense out of habit. o.o; Are One Shots worth writing? I'd say yes, definitely. I tihnk they're worth every bit as much as chaptered works. |
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I'm not asking anyone to think the same way I do. Can't people agree to disagree ? Everyone on all the main pokemon fanfic forums aside (or added in, I just mean to say this is not aimed at anyone here in any sense, or meant to start debate in any way), I'm sure I am not the only author in all of fanfic who has a bias/generalization or three about the fanfic world... |
How long do you wait in between posting chapters?
However long it takes me to write the next one. I'm really not one to keep my chapters for some set length of time; I'm too eager for feedback. What Pokémon would you like to see have a major part in fanfic more often? None. I really don't care about the species of the Pokémon people write; as long as their characters are interesting and they're well portrayed, it's all the same to me. And no, seeing trainers start with Eevee in fics doesn't annoy me one bit. I've never understood the whole deal about overused and underused Pokémon. How do you choose your characters' teams? It depends. For The Quest for the Legends, I planned out Mark and May's teams beforehand in order to give the attacks their Pokémon knew the best type coverage possible such that I liked all of the Pokémon they used. I also planned out the Pokémon that the Gym leaders had by simply making sure that every fully evolved Pokémon of the type they trained obtainable at the level their Pokémon were at was on either the leader's team or some junior trainer's. (This was in the G/S/C era, note; I've actually nearly entirely kept to the Gym leader plan, only switching out a couple of their Pokémon for Hoenn ones so that the complete lack of third generation Pokémon wouldn't be too conspicuous.) However, for all other Pokémon trainer characters I've written, I've simply given them the first Pokémon that crossed my mind they would have. I tend to use the first thing that crosses my mind quite a lot while I'm writing. 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"? Anything that is solely there to make the character speshul. What do you think the easiest tense to work with is? I'll have to be different here and say I love both of them for their different purposes. Present tense works for me in some one-shots, but I prefer the past in my chaptered works because they don't really carry as much of a sense of happening "in real time". I guess present tense, to me, brings you closer to what is going on in the story and immerses you more in what is happening. It makes things more dramatic and more, well, as I said, real-time. If it's paced well enough, the present tense can, I guess, convey the situation more effectively as if one were part of it. In chaptered stories, there is always the wait between chapters, and it's kind of unconvincing, somehow, to maintain that in a chapter posted a couple of months later the same thing is still happening "here and now". At least I get that feeling. But yeah, I like writing some things in present tense and some things in past tense, depending on what they are. Are One Shots worth writing? Depends on what the point you want to convey is. Some things are appropriate for one-shots, other things for chaptered works. Also, wow, you guys post ridiculously much in this thread. o_O I remember when the fanfic lounge was completely dead, but now the times have changed... |
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?
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How long do you wait in between posting chapters?
I wait as long as it takes for me to get an idea as to what events occur in that particular chapter, which is probably in a day or so. Then I begin writing it, which takes me a little less than a week. What do you think the easiest tense to work with is? I'd say past tense. I don't know why, but I've always found that to be the easiest to write and the one I use most often. How do you choose your characters' teams? I just pick any random pokemon for each person. Of course, I try to balance the teams out as best as I can, and try not to pick the same pokemon for two trainers. Are One Shots worth writing? I think they are. Not every idea needs to be written in 20+ chapters or so... 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"? "My character is The Chosen One, and he/she has special powers that will help him/her fufill their destiny!" (In the first fanfiction I ever wrote, I actually did that :P) |
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You can't just throw out 'unsupported opinions' and expect us to :):):):) and throw cookies at you. |
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I hope you realize I was agreeing with her at that point? Maybe I just didn't state myself clearly enough. Quite honestly I don't read enough stuff on SPPf to be able to say for myself whether or not she's right--for all I know, most stories there could be the same. I was just pointing out that the fact that she'd 'heard' it and was judging it based on that--or so her statement implied--seemed remarkably similar to what she was saying Orange_Flaaffy was doing, and it detracted from her overall argument. The second line was supposed to be an agreement of what I took to be the point she was trying to make--that it's not a good idea to be making generalisations. All good now? :) 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"? Honestly, I don't review enough to have seen many fics like this. ^.^;; But, 'just because I said so' would probably be up there. Fanfiction or not, it's still a story about a real-life parallel and still needs to make... a certain amount... of logical sense. What do you think the easiest tense to work with is? Past tense is easiest for me--in fact I'm sure I read somewhere that most people tend to think in past tense, which is why it's so common. Just don't quote me on that. I've tried present tense before, though, and I really enjoyed writing it--it's a tense I'd love to try again, but I'd probably only use it for first-person, which isn't a PoV I write in very often. Are One Shots worth writing? That's... kinda like asking if fantasy or romance stories are worth writing. O.o It depends a little on the author's preference, a little bit on how much story there is to tell, and a little bit on how it would be best for the story to be told. Like 'Heart of the Magma'; it's 35 pages long but I still consider it a one-shot, because it's fairly self-contained and doesn't any need any more than what's already there. Some might consider it a two- or -three-shot, though. ;) ...and is it just me, or do I refer back to my stories an awful lot? O.o Whoops. 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? This is an issue I really need to start thinking about. XD All my characters right now either aren't battlers, came into the story with pokemon which have been with them for long enough that they know most of their attacks, or have been given pokemon from family members which are already fairly well-trained. Or I just haven't gotten far enough for them to need to learn more attacks. :3 Off the top of my head, though, I think if a pokemon was learning an attack of a differing type then it would need more rigorous training--especially if the attack were an elemental. Like, say, an aerodactyl learning Flamethrower (which it can). They're not fire-types, so you'd think it would take a lot of effort to learn, and since it's not physical in any way, but a generation of energy, it can't use what it already has--ie, its body and weight to perform, say, Earthquake. But, in general, if we're talking physical training/conditioning as opposed to the computer disk TMs, I'd go with physical training all the way. |
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BTW, I am EXTREMELY mad at Madina Lake for stealing my happy b-day thread. BUAH BUAH BUAH! |
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?
Generally, I just have them learn the level-up moves naturally as they grow. TM moves are taught through TMs, which just look like the CDs from the games; breeding moves, on the other hand, are taught through training, since the Pokémon can utilize the move, but doesn't do it naturally. The idea was that the parents can teach the move to the Pokémon when it is very young, or the trainer can go through a bit more trouble to manually teach the Pokémon how to use it. |
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And that's all I really have to say on the subject. Anyway. 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? *shrug* It depends on the move. Because I'm used to anime-style battling (as in, the actual forum activity), I sort of assume that Pokemon know their level-up moves already. With TMs and HMs, they usually have to be taught through special means, such as the way Ash taught his Swellow Aerial Ace. Using this method, the trainer has to actually learn how to teach the move through manuals/reading material/special CDs that look like the ones in the game, set up an appropriate course/training ground, and spend a lot of time with the Pokemon, trying to teach it how to summon whatever ability it has to use the move. And yeah, that's for every TM/HM. XD I know. Really freaking complicated and could probably be handled better by someone else, but I like doing it this way for the mini-plots. |
Eh...work. It makes me miss out on things.
Are One Shots worth writing? "Worth"? Odd sense of wording. They are, if the idea needed to be presented isn't enough to carry a full multi-chaptered story. One-shots are challenging to write, at least for me (*kicks aside a few notebooks full of fluffy one-shots*), since there's so little room for expansion on the ideas, so plots and characters have to be dealt with in a short time. 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? Training, training, training. For TMs/HMs, I follow the anime and have the trainer work alongside the Pokemon to teach the move. It creates a good bonding time for the characters. As for the level-up moves, those take some training, but require for the Pokemon to be "older" before they can correctly use the energy needed to perform the attack. |
Are One Shots worth writing?
Definitely. In fact, I find them a lot more satisfying to write than chaptered stories (which would explain my lack of chaptered stories). They are also, like people before me have said, challenging to write, and as a writer, challenges are what you want. Of course, I'm not denying that chaptered fics are difficult to write, but One-shots are just as difficult in their own way. You have to complete the entire plot in a short space, without leaving out vital points, and not leaving the reader guessing things that they shouldn't. They are also great for writing reminiscent thoughts (like having a character look back on something that happened in his or her past) and can use canon characters easily. In fanfic how do you handle the issue of how Pokémon learn new moves? Do they have to do detailed training for different types of powers? I let the Pokémon's powers evolve. For instance, is a Squirtle were to learn to use Water Gun, I would have its trainer call out a command like "Bubble" and then have Squirtle issue a thick stream of bubble that eventually becomes a water gun. In the case of physical moves (like Tackle or Tail Whip) I would have the trainer and Pokémon work together to perfect it. I use a similar strategy when teaching a Pokémon a move that it does not naturally learn. Deathspector |
Aight, gotta a question
How do you logically solve the problem of water pokemon (without legs such as Kingdra) in battles on land? |
attack of the fossils
meh mine will be better its called attack of the fossils
all fossil pokemon go on a rampage and the legends must stop them before the world is destroyed presenting the newest legend (created by me) velocidon which can only be revived by fossil. |
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?
Dangit, my original reply to this question didn't post. -_- Anyways, only one pokemon has really learned a new move so far and due to lack of training and/or other reasons, he can't use the attack more than half the time, and usually when he does, it's under powered. Perhaps with training, he will be able to use it more effectively, which I do plan to incorporate. |
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Well, I haven't gotten very far to that point yet but i'll try to take advantage of of their appearance (for example: Horsea, Seadra and Kingdra hop about on land but lack the full capabilities when on water) or if they have one, their dual type. (Mantine for example, which I really want to add as a party member to my fic will, like Scythemaster said float about mid air pretty due its flying-type nature taking advantage of wind currents but, like the example above, performs far better in/on water). |
If I HAVE to have a legless water pokemon in a battle, I'll make the battle at least near a small pond or something.
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However, for Magikarp... Remember how Magikarp flopped around doing nothing at the end of "Pokemon Shipwreck"? Yeah. XD And why do I do this to poor Magikarp? Because it's Magikarp. |
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Yeah, float in midair sounds good. |
Well floating in the air sounds pretty damn logical xD
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How do you logically solve the problem of water pokemon (without legs such as Kingdra) in battles on land?
This has brewed me a lot of trouble, but I just have them not use those Pokémon on land. When I want them used, I write some pond or river into the environment or a pool into the arena or whatever. But I think I'm going to change this for the next version of my fic, because it's annoying as all hell. |
How do you logically solve the problem of water pokemon (without legs such as Kingdra) in battles on land?
Have the battles take place near a small pond, or in a hotel swimming pool. Honestly, the Stadium/Colosseum trick of having them float in midair looks ridiculous. Gyarados/Milotic might be able to slither on the ground because they are serpent-like , but for the others... meh. |
How do you logically solve the problem of water pokemon (without legs such as Kingdra) in battles on land?
I just don't have them battle on land. If they do battle on land, they are inherently useless. Gyarados and Mantine, due to their flying dual-type, are exceptions to the rule. 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? With my fic's universe (and I can say this with certainty) TMs are essentially computer programs that interact with a registered trainer's Pokedex to "trick" a Pokemon's brain into remembering that move even though it didn't know it in the first place. It works on a similar principle to how the Pokedex can cancel evolution in the Pokemon Special manga. So while the Pokemon could master the move through intense training, the TM is basically a shortcut that bypasses it. TMs are relatively new technology in my fic, so usually only fairly rich trainers or ones in positions of authority (law enforcment, E-4 members, etc.) can use them. Spoiler:
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Do you use themes in your fics? If so, what are some examples?
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-The best-laid plans always fall awry -Humanity as a race is not inherently perfect and cannot become attain perfection. -Just having self-confidence isn't enough -It is not for humanity to mess with powers beyond their control -Love is blind. Any questions? |
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- Destiny. - The absurdity of politics. - The absurdity of life. - The impact of death. - The ever-cliche "power of one." - The consequences of the past (specifically, clinging to it). - The extent and definitions of loyalty. - And my favorite, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." But this really ties into destiny and the inevitability of the future. Or something pretentious like that. XD For other stories, I've had: - The effects of memory. - The perception of reality. - The futility of the efforts of a single person against the actions of the masses. ("So the World Turned to Ash") And other fun things that I can't think of off the top of my head. But mostly, I like working with the theme of inevitability of the future. As in, no matter what you do, sometimes, things just happen. |
Don't really felt like answering the other topics because I just woke up from a nap. XD
Do you use themes in your fics? If so, what are some examples? I am a huge fan of themes, so I jampacked quite a few for "Nothing, Everything". Here are a few: Spoiler:
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I'll only name a few for now..
-Luck -Luck vs. fate -Fate vs. Free Will -Coincidence -Good things come in threes, but bad things come in twos. -Repitition -The six degrees on seperation theory. (connections) -The morals of pokemon treatment/capturing/battling. -Home -Sentimental items -The past -Abandonment -Love triangles (gasp) -Independence vs Dependence (freedom vs captivity) -miniscule things which play a much greater part later on (foreshadowing) -Hitting rock bottom (The shadow proving the sunshine, If you will) -Isolation vs Being with others -Rivalries -Dreams/visions -Relationships going bad. -Life and Death -Eyes (its not as weird as it sounds o_O) -Redemption -Strong yet shaky friendships/bonds -Rebellion (against authority/other) Thats all that comes to mind for now. |
How do you logically solve the problem of water pokemon (without legs such as Kingdra) in battles on land?
Ohhh, another toughie. There are some non-water pokemon like that too--like pupitar. I've been trying to figure out a decent way for them to move around, but all I can come up with is that they have really good balance and stay on their tails/whatever, or if that doesn't work, they use their bellies. Obviously it would limit their maneuverability, which is where things get annoying, but... Using a pokemon's secondary type is a good idea, usually I just looked at their physical characteristics. Although I could never imagine either mantine or gyarados flying (and in gyarados' case it's not really necessary anyway), for the purposes of the battle I could see it. As for kingdra, well, dragonair can fly even though they don't have wings and aren't a flying type, so maybe it's a dragon thing to be able to float? :P Although the bagon line can't do it... but they're fire dragons more than water dragons, so... Plus there is the thing about battling near a lake/pond/whatever, but I personally wouldn't want to limit a trainer to just using water pokemon in the right context, not if there's a way--or a need--to do it elsewhere. Do you use themes in your fics? If so, what are some examples? I honestly don't think that much about themes--I just write, and whatever themes come out of the story, come out of the story. ^.^;; I guess my most obvious one would be 'Choice and Consequence', which sort of looks at how much a choice can impact the rest of one's life, as well as how much the consequence and how the consequences are handled--or not--can do the same. The theme's not really that active a part of the story, though... as in, I'm not writing the story for the sake of expressing the theme. 'Brother My Brother' has a theme, too, I guess--something along the lines of 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions'. AWC looks at what does and doesn't constitute a reasonable cost, and at what point a person crosses the line to become bad despite their original intentions--which is similar to BMB--and I have another fic in the works with the same theme... no, make that two, one a one-shot and the other an OT. ...come to think of it, the issue of morality--what's crossing the line, what's not, when is something right--or if not right then justified--and can one be redeemed if they've done something really bad--is probably the theme I work with most. Even if it's not prominent within a fic, there are certain characters for whom it still crops up in a big way, because I view it as an issue which is integral to their development. That's leaving aside the fact that it's a potential issue for just about any character, bad or good. |
How do you logically solve the problem of water pokemon (without legs such as Kingdra) in battles on land?
When it comes to those types of pokémon, I'd write them as having a great deal of trouble battling on land. Having a stream/lake/ocean nearby would really be ideal for using such a pokémon. Not that it couldn't fight on land, I just wouldn't expect it to have a great deal of mobility. It could move itself around by using hydropower, hopping, and the like, but I imagine that would be very difficult to control. Do you use themes in your fics? If so, what are some examples? Themes? I use a lot of common themes in my stories. One of my most common ones would have to be death--experiencing it, dealing with it, accepting it... just about anything that has to do with death. It just fascinates me for some reason. Also, I deal a lot with the themes concerning friendship--the everlasting bonds we make with one another. Yes, I know that sounds cheesy. Oh, and before I forget, I was going to say this yesterday, but Happy Belated Birthday, Hanako! |
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Thank you, Saffire Persian, for the belated wishes.
How do you logically solve the problem of water pokemon (without legs such as Kingdra) in battles on land? Avoid it at all costs. I plan out my scenes before I write them to manage diverting the chance that an explanation needs to be written. That said, I also don't touch the "hovering" Pokemon, like purple_drake mentioned in her post. Do you use themes in your fics? If so, what are some examples? Mainly, I use either friendship, perseverance, or defeating one's own inner demons to better one's self. That's really all I can say on the subject, since I never think about what message I want to send across in my writing. |
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? |
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Evil plots, I really don't have an opinion on. I admit I'm a sucker for the "let's invoke the apocalypse!" concept. |
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As a reader/reviewer, is there some specific type of antagonist or evil plot that you would not want to see in a fanfic?
I'll be one of those odd people and say that I really don't care what's used in a fic for the antagonist. (Seriously, the whole "alien race that isn't understood" has been used multiple times in sci-fi books, yet I just love my favorite book.) Really, it doesn't matter to me who the antagonist is, or the protagonist. Just as long as the story is written in a new exciting way and isn't just a rehash of the games/anime. Alter Ego, we have "first fic insecurity" in common. Weird how we seem so confident when reviewing, yet when it comes to our own stories, it just never gets perfect. |
Do you use themes in your fics? If so, what are some examples?
The themes tend to weave themselves into the story and then I get interested in them. The Quest for the Legends, therefore, is full of themes that I didn't exactly deliberately decide I wanted to write a fic about, but which just sort of appeared and I started thinking about after that: Spoiler:
Scyther's Story had the primary theme of corrupt society, standing up to it, rising above the masses and overcoming childhood indoctrination. The Fall of a Leader picks up the theme of corrupt society and adds the major theme of hypocrisy, along with the road to Hell which is paved with good intentions and how power corrupts. As a reader/reviewer, is there some specific type of antagonist or evil plot that you would not want to see in a fanfic? Villains who are stupid. I can't stand villains who are stupid. I want some real conflict, not the hero escaping a group of bumbling idiots every couple of chapters. Villains who are stupid include any villains repeatedly doing things on the Evil Overlord list, such as revealing their plans to the hero because "he's going to die anyway", conveniently explaining to the hero how the doomsday machine works or wanting the hero to die by his own hands. The hero can make mistakes, but villains can't be properly threatening unless the hero truly escapes through a method they couldn't possibly have foreseen. For the love of God, don't make the villain waste his time taking on the hero in a fair Pokémon battle. I don't want to see the hero get away because the villain wanted to "humiliate him" but didn't even consider that he could lose the battle. Come on, that's just cheap. |
I use a lot of themes, but they are usually just the result of telling the story. It's kind of unavoidable, I guess, even though I would see no reason to avoid them in the first place...
As for villains, I like what you said. I'm trying to make mine as believable as possible, so I'm trying to avoid monologues and "mercy situations" that conveniently allow the protagonists to escape. They just seem cheezy, and the villain comes across as less powerful and intimidating. |
As a reader/reviewer, is there some specific type of antagonist or evil plot that you would not want to see in a fanfic?
Uhm... yeah. Dragonfree pretty much said it all. ^.^;; I love the unfairnessness of a realistic villain, which is one of the reasons why I advocate using guns and things in fics--'cos c'mon, the Rockets in particular aren't about to let go of any advantage. I guess it kinda ties in with the whole 'child saviour' thing the games have got going, because the Rockets do come across as kinda stupid that way... which they'd have to be in order for a child to 'realistically' take them down like that. ...I could tell you the kinds of villains I like to see, but yeah, other than that one, I can't think of any others I wouldn't. ^.^;; |
Regarding the villain issue:
While the head antagonist should not be so stupid as to reveal his/her plan, not all of their subordinates (admins/commanders/executives/grunts/peons/etc) might not be so intelligent. Or show that level of common sense. Or they are overly narcissistic and boastful. After all, the leader only has so much control over their underlings, especially in the field. And any punishment that the leader does inflict on their henchmen will be too little, too late as far as alerting the protagonist. I suppose what I'm trying to say is, don't have the big leader reveal their plans, but if it fits the character of certain subordinates to let slip tidbits of information, I have no qualms with it. |
As a reader/reviewer, is there some specific type of antagonist or evil plot that you would not want to see in a fanfic?
I agree with Dragonfree and purple_drake that the antagonist should not be a stupid bumbling idiot who trips over his or her own feet just in time for the protagonist to escape. While I am fond of extremely innovative villains, I'm not fond of the typical evil genius who wants to rule the world. Neither am I fond of the scientist villain who has some scheme that would blow the world up if the hero wasn't there. So while I'm not a big fan of stupid villains, the over smart ones are just as bad. A lot of people say that your protagonist should be balanced and realistic. Well, the villain should too. Deathspector |
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Oh, and to answer my own question: yeah, I can't stand the stupidly evil villains, especially the 'I do bad things because...because I'm EVIL! MUAHAHAHAHAA!' types. <.< I like antagonists that can be taken seriously, thank you very much. As for the plots...well, Glajummy already got to know this one but I'm sick and tired of the 'we changed the DNA to make super pokémon' shtick. >_< Seriously, gimme' a plausible superpowered pokémon scenario that doesn't even mention DNA and I'll be very, VERY happy and love your fic forever. Or at least for a while. :3 And since purple_drake brought it up... What's your favorite kind of antagonist? |
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Two types: 1. The kind who are actually psychotically evil. I'm not talking about the mad James Bond scientist who randomly tells the protagonist about his evil plans and uses genetically mutated sea bass. I'm talking about the kind who mess with the protagonist's mind. The kind who don't have a lab to experiment on puppies but prefer to set puppies' tails on fire instead. The kind who are just messed up, lax angsty past or logical motivation (other than "Heehee! Burn things!") to make them that way. I'm thinking maybe along the lines of Hannibal Lecter. 2. The kind who are evil, even though even the audience can't tell they're evil. They're the kind who act like protagonists but, as a twist, end up being one of the main characters' worst enemies. Prime example: Kaworu Nagisa (Neon Genesis Evangelion). My gods, these kinds of villains have such a potential to make a story interesting because the audience just never knows what they'll do. |
To combine the two topics on villians, I am actually fine with stupid antagonist if it is their character and if the story is comedy. I have one in "Simplicity" (at another forum), though it's comedy. XD As for his/her assistants, I am also okay if they are stupid too. Like DarkPersian said, the assistants probably don't know what is their leader's plans.
As for villians I like to see: developed ones. What I mean by that is villians who are going towards their goals but also kind of iffy about it. They are not one hundred percent sure if everything will be right because of the protagonists going for him/her, his/her assistants aren't doing their jobs, there were some plans that suddenly didn't worked out, etc. Eventually the villian will realise there were some things that have to change if he/she wanted to make her plans work. And well, even though there is one fic I have read (a trilogy to be exact) that is with the usual elements of stupid assistants, DNA superpowered Pokemon, and the leader that wanted to take over the world, I still love that fic because the author put a lot of character development on the main characters (both the good and bad characters). |
What's your favorite kind of antagonist?
The misunderstood ones. I love reading about enemies who are made out to be evil, and then when defeated, you find that they're not evil and the person who defeats them comes to understand them. I really think I need to take some time off to read my favorite books again. .-. Quote:
One of the things that helped me is the quote "To do a common thing, uncommonly well, brings success". I'm hoping that even though all I'm writing is a generic OT fanfic with a generic plot that the quality that I bring to it will make up for not having anything never seen before by the fandom. |
My least favorite kind of antagonist, actually, isn't the cliche villain. It is the villain who does not have the common sense to send in his Admins to do some sort of high-priority heist as opposed to useless grunts who fall to the hero. Actually, I'm pretty tired of the whole "evil team takes over the legendary".
My personal favorite antagonist is a variation on Hanako's. They want to accomplish some sort of goal "for the good of everyone", but they use the wrong methods to do so and disregard anyone who gets hurt along the way. In fact, their recklessness to accomplish their own ends corrupts and destroys them. |
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Besides, having the protagonist's life saved by any antagonist's stupidity, no matter how reasonable it might be that this particular antagonist really could theoretically be that dumb, is just lame. I mean, can you get any more anticlimatic than that? Hero has been captured by villains who want him dead, but instead of killing him on the spot, he's put into a prison cell with only one guard who happens to think it's fine to sleep on duty with his keys somewhere in plain sight? Hero has been locked in a room with some elaborate mechanism to kill him activated, and nobody thinks of watching him to make sure he's actually finished off before going to celebrate? Hero is walking somewhere and sees two of the antagonists openly discussing the details of their evil plan where anyone could hear them? A hero who prevails thanks to such passive strokes of luck is one hell of a dull hero and, more importantly, completely fails to make the reader actually want him to win, because he has simply done nothing to deserve it. So basically, even if you can argue that that half of the evil team is going to have brains the size of peas, then please, please, for the love of God, have it be the other half that's after your protagonist. Nobody likes to read about a hero whose primary feat is having overcome a group of idiots who, had they possessed any inkling of common sense, would have easily killed him in chapter two. Comedy, of course, is an exception to rules like this, since you're never meant to feel like the protagonist is really being threatened, but in any non-comedy, stupid villains are a no-no. What's your favorite kind of antagonist? - Antagonists you can sympathize with. The ones you can really, really understand, whose point actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it. The ones who are genuinely troubled and conflicted about the evil they do. I'm a sucker for conflicted characters. - Antagonists who are utterly psycho in an interesting way, where you read about that antagonist and realize that his mind is messed up in the most twisted yet fascinating way. I love characters with psychological disorders. They absolutely have to be intelligent for this to work, though, and I need to get some actual insight into their minds. Characters who are just there and whose villainy is simply waved off with "Oh, he's just a lunatic" are disappointing. To expand upon this: What do you like and dislike in a protagonist? I'm a real sucker for weakness (mental, rather than physical). I don't want them to be whiny crybabies about everything that happens to them or anything, but I melt over scenes where, say, the protagonist lands himself in a situation where he is positive he is about to die and can't do anything about it, stops being Mr. Courageous Hero and just gets really freaking scared (provided it's well written and described, of course). Likewise, "tough guys" who absolutely never have such a moment of weakness even when called for, no matter how otherwise balanced the character may be, don't really strike that chord with me. In general I love reading about fear, rage and despair, really. I think they're by far the most interesting feelings on the spectrum of human emotion. Definitely far more interesting than the tiresome old romance in my opinion. |
Hey I'm a rookie here, I have wroten one fan fic. I'll write it all here
Chapter 1 You think I'll actually write a story here, you think. I'll actually write a story, here, you. Think. I'll. Actually write a story here you think, I'll, actually write a story. Here, you think. I'll write a story here. Once upon a time, You a child met a guy named Think who met a guy named I'll who met a hot girl named Actually who likes Write who met a strange man named A whos sidekick was Story who liked a girl named Here. Hope you enjoy it!!! |
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She never said that all subordinates are/will be idiots (at least to not what I read). Think about it, The big boss has his close set who he handpicked (and usually, truly understands their vision) and leaves all his faith and trust in them to carry out his will. That close set will then run some recruitments with probably their own set of favorite subordinates who they give leeway to specific details who will then recruit members on their own and so on. All I'm saying is that despite the groups "vision" there will be some in there who joined for reasons beyond that. And moreover, are recruited by who knows in that said group but as far as that overall group is concerned are in there as one thing: Extra hands/hired muscle to achieve the dream. Yup, not the smartest but they're brute force gets the job done. Ruthless thugs, bullies, won't be above firearms and blunt weapons will use an extra Pokemon or two the moment their "fair" fight is screwing them over etc. (Man, if something like that happened in the games, specifically Gen III which started the double battle concept... that would've been too cool.) If these things with hero's outwitting bumbling lowly bad guys bug you so much then simply get annoyed at the sort who abuse this concept. I mean, the game, along with the Rocket trio in the anime, is at fault here too when that's concerned and that are the primary drives to how many writers do stuff. I don't know how people think but they got their reasons that's totally beyond me. Not everyone/anyone in a said group is gonna know the hero (not until they somehow do so much collateral damage to the team they get blacklisted), but I do agree with your point that even the lowliest of members will NOT be a pushover when it comes to some kid meddling in on their affairs. Who knows, they might just take it easy as its just a kid as the villains in the games always tend to do. But that doesn't make them pea-brained either. It's really something in the eye of the beholder. Lame or not, DarkPersian479 has a point, the big boss and his mini bosses don't really have total control over their underlings and what they think and do, give a damn about their motives unless they somehow learn of it themselves and deem it a stain to their dream enough to do something about them. It's the author's call if they want their hero to always run off with such innate luck for reasons all their own. Hah... But yeah, a lot of reasons for that. And oh, please avoid stuff like "Nobody likes..." it feels like your speaking for me and... that pisses me off actually as my ideals aren't like yours. |
What's your favorite kind of antagonist?
Well, ACC-M just mentioned one of my favourite kinds of villains--the kind with the right intentions but totally the wrong means. Unlike him, though, I like seeing those characters redeeming themselves. By that I don't mean suddenly realizing they were wrong at the last minute (through the efforts of the protagonist) and stopping short all their plans; but I do like seeing them survive whatever happens and realizing where they went wrong, and just kind of starting to put their life back together. Plus conflicted antagonists, like Dragonfree said... and I'll agree with the psychotic antagonist too, but I'll also expand on that and say I love antagonists who can really mess with your protagonist's mind (which often, but not always, goes along with the psychotic thing). Karasu from Yu Yu Hakusho is a good example of that. :3 I love mind games. What do you like and dislike in a protagonist? I'm not entirely sure how to answer this one... I'm sure if I thought about it I could think of some things I'm not fond of (saying Mary-Sues/Gary-Stus is a given so I'm not even gonna bother) but most of the time I just go along with however the protagonist is written and if I don't like them then I just forget about them later. O.o Hmm... well, one thing I can think of is that I love seemingly tough guys (or seemingly cold guys) with a like for something you'd never expect. Like Kuwabara from Yu Yu Hakusho (sorry about all these non-Pokemon refs, I started reading/watching YYH again recently! ^.^;; ), who is, at first glance, your stereotypical brawny tough guy who loves street fighting and isn't too hot at school, but he also really likes studying and is obsessed with cats. So yes, characters with unexpected (but not unrealistic) quirks. :3 I also like snark. :3 And I love calm, unreadable characters (with the optional aura of 'danger') and characters who seem to know everything, but not to the point where they're... hmm, how to explain... 'over-hyped', I guess. They don't constantly lord it over others, it's just what they do. ...although now that I think about it, I usually only like male characters who are like that. O.o Or maybe it's just because the only ones I can think of right now are male. Female characters are a little harder for me to pinpoint... I'm not particularly fond of really strong-willed women because I can get bored of them really easily, but I also don't like it when the female is a china doll who can't do anything. So something in-between, probably, although I do tend to lean towards shy/reserved female protagonists. ...Oh! I like characters who are devoted parents (or pseudo-parents), too. :3 |
Um, what I said was that the admins, the ones in a position of power, are at least going to be somewhat intelligent, but the grunts perhaps not necessarily. You seem to be stuck in the notion that I was somehow saying every villain on any evil team ever should have an IQ of 200 and be perfectly devoted to the motives of the group, which is not at all what I meant.
My main point was that even if some people in the group are bumbling idiots, having the plot be about a hero escaping a group of bumbling idiots precisely because they are bumbling idiots simply does not make for good fic unless it's comedy. Get annoyed at the people who abuse this concept? To hell with abusing it; I've never seen it done well and can't for the life of me imagine it being "done well", period, no matter how great the writer is, unless that particular villain or group of villains is in the story for purely comedic purposes (i.e. not to provide some actual conflict for the story). Sure, an author can do it if he likes, but it will just not be interesting. It never even crossed my mind that any person on Earth could find it exciting to watch a hero escape a group of utterly incompetent villains simply because they're incompetent; it struck me as the kind of thing that's not exciting by definition, hence why I felt fairly justified in claiming that "nobody likes" it. People can like it for comedic reasons, that is, if that's what the idiot villains are there for, but it just makes for one hell of a weak conflict. Also note that seeing some random ten-year-old and not assuming he/she is going to be a major threat =/= incompetence or stupidity. That is perfectly reasonable. It becomes stupidity when it is blatantly obvious that the person isn't just any random ten-year-old and they're still not taking reasonable precautions, or when, on the assumption that it's just a random ten-year-old, the villains somehow figure the kid won't call the police if he's just heard them openly describe their planned assault on important corporation X. It may well be realistic for some of the villains to be stupid and incompetent, but it's just painfully uninteresting to read about villains whose stupidity and incompetence is used as a plot device to get the hero on with the story. It's kind of like characters going to the bathroom. Yeah, sure, it's realistic, but that doesn't mean it's something people want to read about. |
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What do you like and dislike in a protagonist? I like the protagonist who has some inner demon to conquer. Like their views on the world get changed from what they originally thought over the course of the book. They have to go out with some flaw and learn to overcome that flaw in some way. I dislike the perfect protagonist, who can't do anything wrong at all. They're made out to be perfect in whatever they attempt to do, and they attempt to do anything. There's never anything that they can do wrong, whether it be Pokemon battling or relations with other people. On the "bumbling antagonist" subject, isn't that how things are normally run with evil crime things? (Unless I am completely wrong, which I could be, since I never studied the history of evil crime syndicates.) There's the head honcho of the scene, who's running the whole mess, keeping his eyes on everything so that things go his way. Then there are the people below him, who take care of controlling the grunt group. And then in the grunt group, there's bound to be some grunts who are so excited that they're helping the boss that they make some mistake. Like celebrating that they captured the hero and haven't yet killed the hero. Those sent to do the meaningless grunt group are bound to make mistakes. And it's as Isaac said with the evil team fighting a young trainer. In the beginning, nothing is going to look like a serious threat to the evil side unless it's some official, like a Gym Leader or even the Elite. The grunts aren't going to see some punky ten-year-old kid, or however old the hero is, and think that they're in trouble until they start losing to the hero. The hero might get easy streak in the beginning, and might meet the grunts who make a mistake. |
First, I just posted Chapter 3 of my fic! Please read and review!
Just to elaborate on my stance on villain underlings: It doesn't matter how smart the leader is, unless he's got ESP, it's impossible for him to know every detail and characteristic of every person he hires. I'm going to briefly mention that emotions like anger and fear can cause a person to momentarily act out of character (i.e., your normally calm and subdued underling going ballistic and spouting off details when they're close to defeat), as when emotions run high, mistakes can be made that ordinarily wouldn't be made. Not that this should happen each and every time, but occasionally, emotion should get the best of a villain. Some people excel at hiding their true intentions. In the villain example, consider a person who's simply joining for the power and wealth, not caring about the leader's true vision. He can be all, "Yup, totally agree with you" during the interview process, and even afterward when having meetings with the boss, but on the field they follow their own agenda. The head honcho can take every precaution to make sure their underlings are all on board with the plan, but having a tight-knit organization without any rogue agents is nearly as unrealistic as having a gang of total morons. In real life, think of the company that ends up hiring someone who defrauds the company, or the school that hires a teacher who turns out to be a child predator. Of course, if the company or school knew of these intentions, the person would never get the job. But these people can be so skilled at throwing up a facade of being an upstanding citizen that the higher-ups never have a clue about these ulterior motives until the damage has been done. And running background checks won't always pick up these guys either, with the amount of identity theft we have today. So realistically, picking up on a person's true intentions can be difficult, regardless of how intelligent or how many resources the recruiting party may have at their disposal. No, not every grunt should be an idiot. But, all members needn't be this perfect group of flawless villains. IMO, both are rather unrealistic situations. Your villains don't need to be idiots, but nor do they need to be perfect, unemotional drones. |
Well everyone's defended their points in the past and I'll defend mine.
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Sadly to say, I'm not stuck on any notion, I call it how I see it. And because of that I brought about my reasoning about the big boss has his group (the admins) they, while carrying out their missions, may have their favorite few who they trust and they may have their subordinates and so forth. So who gets into the group and why and how they think and why is totally up to them and the various media points people pool these ideas from. (Or the writer whose making them...fair enough) THAT'S what I argued. Quote:
EDIT: Not every conflict (villain related or not) in a chapter has to be some giant epic/psychological field-scape/happy-go-lucky merry go around with villains/morals of the day after all. And that's the vibe I'm starting to get from you in general with that comment, so do correct me if I'm wrong. Quote:
If anything, Hanako better emphasized what I tried to describe so look at that point if I'm not a viable enough source. Never flat out said you're wrong, I just don't agree with (or honestly like) your approach as I have my own ideals and pretty much agreed with DarkPersian479's stance on things. The villain underling, which I took to the whole big bad organization rank system, especially the grunts because I'm such a grandstander like that. "Nobody likes..." was what got me riled enough to post at all. Self-righteous? Maybe, but I'm in here for me. |
I like complicated protagonists and I don't like protagonists who are completely static and/or are very "Ash-like".
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What do you like and dislike in a protagonist?
I don't know...I guess I am fine with any protgagonist as long as he/she will be developed later on in the story. I also like protagonist that have a weird but realistic personality. EDIT: After thinking about it, I'm going to put a bit more substance in this answer like I did with the antagonist question. :3 What I basically meant by developed ones is, IMO, is ones that have goals but are probably iffy about it. They will react to the challenges that came to them and sometimes it will either make them stornger or weaker. In then end though, they are still determined towards that goal. In short, I don't the character to be all happy go lucky throughout the story wihile attempting that goal of his or hers. He/she will soon realize there are challenges that will soon either make or break. ...Huh, now I think about it, I like any character who is sure/unsure of his/herself. XD Also, like Hanako and a few others, I like protagonist whose view is suddenly being challenged because theirs is a little abusrd and such. |
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I'm not particularly fond of huge evil organizations to begin with, actually, but when that is the case, I have no problem with occasional agents who are stupid, either. All I'm asking is for exploiting blatant stupidity not to be the hero's primary method of getting out of trouble and that at least the admins, the ones in a position of particular power in the organization who are both hand-picked by the primary villain and few enough for him to be able to oversee them fairly easily, do not with every word they say radiate the impression that they have a negative IQ. If they really are that stupid, they're definitely too stupid to hide their stupidity from the boss cleverly enough to get picked as admins in the first place. Or, for that matter, into any role of power or importance. You can make a plot in which some members of a criminal organization clearly have no brain at all despite their superiors having some, but then they have definitely not been able to conceal that from their superiors well enough to earn the trust to be left to guard a dangerous prisoner alone. Of course a situation in which stupid agents going on a stroll happen to find the protagonist and imprison him while unable to contact their superiors could technically happen, but that's when it gets to my other point: why do it have to be those mind-numbingly stupid agents who find the protagonist, when it would be so much more interesting and exciting to have the protagonist found by somebody competent? When you could have the protagonist put in real danger? Quote:
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Why does everyone keep saying things like "But villains who do X aren't really being stupid, they're being perfectly reasonable!"? Well, thank you for noticing! That's why I don't have a problem with villains who do X. "Situation Y can happen without any of the main villains being stupid!" Then great, by all means make situation Y happen in that way! Look, I'll restate my points here. I don't like it when the stupidity of villains is used as a deus ex machina in order to make things easier for the protagonist in a situation that is supposed to be exciting. This was my main point, posted in response to the original question about antagonists you dislike seeing. As a completely separate point, put forward in response to DarkPersian479's post after my initial response to the villain question, I find it blatantly unrealistic for an intelligent head of a criminal organization to personally appoint people who are obvious idiots to important positions in his organization. Note the lack of any implication that every villain coming anywhere near the protagonist at any point is necessarily in an "important position", although once the villains are well aware that the protagonist poses a major threat to them, things like guarding him as a prisoner ought to be considered an important position. I also mentioned in that post that even if it is reasonable for villain X to be stupid, my original main point still stands. DarkPersian479 was tackling a completely unrelated issue by trying to justify how the villains might realistically be stupid. I was never saying that stupid villains were unrealistic; I was saying that if the villains are stupid, no matter how realistic it is for them to be, the conflict against them is not exciting. If that particular conflict is not intended to be exciting, then that's obviously fine, but whether or not it makes sense for the villains to possibly be stupid has nothing to do with this. Now, unless you have something to say against the restated points, this is all some sort of major headache of a misunderstanding of what I was trying to say. |
Err... craziness?
Alright, question of the day: If you are working on or have recently completed a fanfiction, did you have the storyline planned out from the beginning, or are/did you working/work blindly, with no idea what will happen next? For me, it's a bit of both. I have a disjointed idea of characters and events I want to show up at some point, and the basic feel of the story, but I don't know who or what is getting the characters from point A to B, since the events themselves don't make the entire fanfic. Oh, and to answer what kind of protagonist I like- well, I'm not a huge fan of the Byronic Hero that a lot of poorly-written angst-fics seem to be creating variations on, but otherwise I'm okay with a whole range. I usually don't appreciate static protagonists from either extreme. If your character is slitting his wrists, he needs some closure to that little issue. If he's always happy-go-lucky, he needs to learn that life isn't sunshine and rainbows. The protagonist needs to have flaws as well, and they must be his own fault. No getting away with the whole "it was his environment/upbringing, he couldn't help it" shtick. If your character is mercilessly stealing money from people, they have to eventually take responsiblity or it has to be shown that they are the only ones responsible for their current situation. |
-_-. You people talk to much. You people to bold, italisize and underline things...a little too much. xD
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Alright so now I'll cease my rambling and say that Hanako is AWESHOME! Lawls, NO GO HANG OUT WE YE FRIENDS YA CRAZY KIDS! |
god damn.... I've still been viewing posts, but took the past week off from replying (which seems to take up even more of my time as I tend to put lots of thought into my posts) so I could complete a translation. The questions just piled up all the while. Welp, best get cracking.
BTW Scythe, you didn't answer my earlier question: You do actually read my huge-ass walls of text, don't you? Where do you get your inspiration from? various otaku fodder. You know, the anime, the manga, the games, I'm just now starting to read a light novel (it's nice that they provide at least some visual aid, even if it's just the main character designs most times), overall mainly Japanese media. Often times, I'll see a nice dramatic scene or some other device and feel like I want to use something similar in my own story (though, I try not to cross the boundaries between "inspiration" and "rip-off", nor do I try and force such scenes into the story when such an element clearly seems out of place). More recently, I've enjoyed the ending to AIR... Spoiler:
The music I listen to (which is also composed mostly of anisongs) also helps me think of scenarios. Who is your favorite character in a fanfiction on this forum, other than one of your owns? Pass. Do you tend to make your protagonist the same gender as yourself? Not really. Sure, a few of them are males, but I plan to start off with a one-shot featuring Kaede from the anime (Katie in the dub... she's an opponent in the Houen League's Taikai Tournament). I'm also thinking about having my erogee put some focus on Fuutarou's girlfriend. The sequel to my serial might also have a female focus (though, I see it phasing out a bit for a male character I plan to have introduced a bit later). Finally, if it's any consolation, the main character in my serial wouldn't even be the heroic one most the time, but often times be incompetent in battle and needing backed up by a female character. What do you prioritize in plot writing? Do you start by figuring out the ending/big theme and work your way towards it with the chapters or do you just decide on the story as you go, leaving the ending open until it's time to write it? As I said before, my writing process has been pretty jumbled since I was just taking over a simple concept that my brother abandoned at first. At first, I took his scenario and thought of an ending that'd eventually lead to (and a rather sappy ending at that). However, after thinking on fleshing out the middle, better characterization, having the beginning make a bit more sense, altering the main character, proper usage of themes, etc., the ending has drastically changed, and is bound to change even more by the time I finally release it. Do you like reading/reviewing fanfics or one shots better? Pass. Does anyone have a set writing time every day? Or do you wait for inspiration to strike before sitting? I have yet to actually get into writing. I am, however, constantly working on the story in my head. When your characters are talking through though, do you write with speech marks or through italics? I'm doing doujinshi, so clearly, this need not apply to me. However, when the characters are thinking, I intend to do what other manga use: that "shining halo", as Wiki called it (I really can't think of a better term ^^'). Which would you post; an introduction, or the first chapter when beginning a story? before I start releasing my doujinshi to the public, I wouldn't mind releasing teaser pages and character designs. How long do you wait in between posting chapters? haven't done any work yet. Pass. How long will you wait in between posting chapters for your upcoming fic? that's better. Personally, after hyping up my work a bit on line, I'd like to start out selling it at an overseas convention, or just have a doujin retailer sell it online (either in the form of books for individual chapters, or possibly even collected tankouban). I would start posting scans a few months later, one chapter at a time, and maybe a month between chapters (having it available a lot sooner is basically me giving incentive for people to buy). Aside from posting chapters that I already completed online, my pacing otherwise might be variable. Aside from the conventions I can first sell them at not having a set schedule (except for Comiket, which comes about twice a year; it might be different if I do sell online, though), I'd like to make chapters that're around 40 pages in length, much like the manga that're published in monthly magazines (and that said, a once-a-month basis sounds nice... but first, I need to actually get into the habit of drawing manga to see how difficult of a process it'd be for me and whether or not I could keep it on a consistent schedule). What pokemon would you like to see have a major part in fanfic more often? Again, I don't read the fics around here. However, as I said in an earlier post, there're a lot of Pokemon that I feel the actual franchise tends to ignore a lot. As Gravy (of SPPF fame) might tell you, Dunsparce is a SERIOUSLY neglected Pokemon, and I'd be inclined to agree with him whenever he wonders why the hell the anime can't give it focus (after not getting any since its debut episode, which was itself a rather meh filler lost in the middle of the forgettable Jouto region) rather than making Arcanine or Scizor appear for the billionth time. Same goes for a lot of Jouto Pokemon, really (most people consider Qwilfish quite forgettable, in particular.... though ironically, after building up a reputation as such, it's actually not as forgettable as you'd think). How do you choose your characters' teams? well, I rarely have major characters with an actual team in the first place (I don't really involve competitive battlers in some of my stories, especially my serial). Though, most characters tend to have a small number of Pokemon anyway (below the usual maximum of 6). Whatever the case, when I decide what Pokemon to give certain characters, I usually consider what role the characters play, whether or not they could invoke a particular theme in the Pokemon they use, and geographic location to an extent. There's also experience in capturing and training, so not everyone will have a team of full-evolved powerhouses, and also the rarity of the Pokemon as it's portrayed in most of franchise (given, their rarity varies between locations, games, different versions of the same game, etc. Still, I try to look at it in a somewhat sensible fashion rather than just giving every trainer and their mother something like a Milotic, a rare Pokemon that's ridiculously difficult to find in the games, and takes some skills as a Contest Coordinator to get it to evolve on top of that). One interesting thing to note is that my erogee takes place in a desert. In the games, there's never even been a desert until the 3rd generation, and even so, we've had few Pokemon that could be encountered in such an environment. That said, I've had an interesting time thinking up suitable Pokemon that could sensibly be seen in a desert. Also, I sometimes do the same as Dragonfree here.... Quote:
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"? even though I don't read any fanfics, just hearing about Mary Sues sickens me to no end. Anyway, I find the whole concept of "The Chosen One" pretty damn cheesy. Though, that can apply to several things other than just understanding Pokemon. What do you think the easiest tense to work with is? intend for my work to be visual. Pass. Are One Shots worth writing? yes, I do. I'm hoping to do one about Kaede as a means of testing the waters of doujinshi. See if it's not something too difficult for me to handle, while at the same time releasing my work to the public and building a reputation before I do a serial. 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? I just use TMs. I don't see myself explaining it within the story itself, but I can see myself doing bonus pages. Basically, my vision of TMs was inspired by Toshihiro Ono's Dengeki! Pikachu manga. The idea of a powder being sprinkled on the Pokemon makes me think that some new elements are being added into its body that can allow it to perform a certain attack (and this info is relevant to a particular scene in the story). Though, since the games have finally started revealing what TMs should officially look like, I think I'll start using the disc shape.... but it won't phase me much. Discs are small but contain a lot of electronic data within that little layer. Who's to say they can't contain elements (especially in a franchise where creatures can dissolve into energy for the purpose of portable transportation)? I could even envision a nifty scene where the disc spins, floats in the air, and projects a ray of light onto the Pokemon while syphoning these elements, finally breaking afterwards. I see myself using egg attacks as well, though I sorta side-step the idea of having Pokemon learn them after they're born (when you think about it, the whole idea of TM elements can apply here as well, except replace elements with hereditary genes). Some Pokemon, even wild ones, are just born with the ability to use certain attacks. Usually, I'll try to keep this realistic and make it seem like a breeding-compatible Pokemon that naturally learns the move lives within the area. For example, one can expect to find a wild Trapinch with Quick Attack in a desert environment that hosts both Trapinch and Gligar (and their evos). How do you logically solve the problem of water pokemon (without legs such as Kingdra) in battles on land? I too see them hopping on their bellies (or their tails in the case of the Horsea line), flopping on their sides (Magikarp usually looks pathetic enough to do just that), Gyarados and Mantine can just fly, and in the case of the big guys like Lapras and Wailord, they can drag themselves forward with their fins (much like a sea turtle on a beach). Also, if Misty's Goldeen can jump over to a theme park on land, and several legless Pokemon in the anime like Metapod and Pineco can jump around the battle field like there's no tomorrow, it's really not so unfeasible for water-types to have some proficiency on land. Unlike some of you, I don't try to avoid this portrayal altogether.... in fact, I actively try to show it off in some cases. See, I'm under the notion that, like the games, Pokemon battles should be somewhat universal (I say somewhat because some environments could seem obviously restricting.... but chances are, the human trainer themselves could barely stand such an environment, like fighting underwater, on top of water while surfing, or using fire-types in a lava pit. Otherwise, if a human can tolerate it, any Pokemon will probably be capable of fighting to some reasonable degree). It really doesn't seem right for water-types to be completely restricted to bodies of water that the humans likely won't be around much anyway. Also, this kinda ruins the whole advantage water-types are supposed to have over fire, ground, and rock types, as you'd more than likely see them in dry environments (and even if someone was fighting with such a Pokemon near a body of water, what's to keep you from using any land-based Pokemon and simply pushing the sucker in there?). Mind you, I don't have plans to feature a main character prominently using a finned Pokemon or anything like that, but in my serial, I do intend to give a Seaking to one of the first Rocket grunts encountered, and who makes subsequent appearances throughout the story (for the record, I chose Seaking as the Pokemon of choice long before the meme started up). Upon first appearing, this character's Seaking breaks up a fight by jumping up into the air, forming water vapor around itself, and finally crashing down between the two combatants with Waterfall. Even though it's a small role, I feel this first appearance alone should be enough to show that this Pokemon is quite capable on land. My erogee will also have a character who raises water-types (even though it takes place in a desert, the city the characters live in is built around a large oasis), among them being a Lumineon. Do you use themes in your fics? If so, what are some examples? as I said before, I'm having some problems discerning what themes could possibly be present throughout my story, and have no clue what I could focus on as a central theme. However, from what I see so far.... Spoiler:
As a reader/reviewer, is there some specific type of antagonist or evil plot that you would not want to see in a fanfic? oh, mainly just those one-dimensional types. You know, the kind that're evil for no real reason and just wanna take over the world or blow up the world or something just for the hell of it. It really sucks when the author can't even provide some kind of insight to them apparently having an obvious mental condition, and how they managed to get into their position of power in spite of it (otherwise, I don't mind the villains that're simply insane if they've been fleshed out a bit to seem realistic, maybe having a mental break-down through a traumatic event. And hell, the insane ones can be capable of doing some pretty sick, inhuman ****. In my serial, one of the main villains.... well, you probably don't wanna know what acts he commits throughout the story, but PM me if you're really interested). BTW, on the issue of dumb villians: it is possible to have an antagonist be stupid but still be a major threat. It's a matter of brawns over brains, and if something is extremely powerful with no realization on how to use their own strength.... well, sometimes they still won't be a threat because they can't follow their master's orders or realize when to defend themselves (the Kyoto arc of Rurouni Kenshin featured something like this XD), but they can just as well be a pretty dangerous force that should be reckoned with (and often times, they'll be a threat to both parties, acting as a double-edged sword to their master, assuming they even have a master and aren't just rampaging on their own). Isn't anyone familiar with Azathoth? What's your favorite kind of antagonist? I think one of my absolute favorite types of antagonists are those who're at some point shown to be just as moral as the protagonist, and over time, you start to wonder which side is really right and whether or not it's really for the best that the protagonists defeat them, or even if it'd be better that the antagonists win. That's the kind of conflict I really like, the shade-of-gray portrayal which really makes you, the audience, have to think about which side should really be rooted for in the end. I also enjoy antagonists that show up late and are, quite simply, against the ideals of everyone else in the story, causing all factions to form a temporary truce to take down the common foe (though they may or may not exactly be on friendly terms). Some fine examples of this can be found in some of Chiaki J. Konaka's works, like Texhnolyze and Digimon Tamers (D-Reaper not being a human and not exactly being a Digimon fit in very well with the series' theme of both forming partnerships). To some extent, I also really like those antagonists who go against common stereotypes (like a corrupted angel instead of a devil, or something that's cute and cuddly yet capable of blowing up the sun... bonus points if the cute thing doesn't take on the typical "possessed" appearance at any time. Akira Toriyama's tendency to make the small guys be more powerful than the buff, muscular types was also appreciated)... lastly, there're those villains who just sorta hide in the crowd, being in plain sight the entire time and never seeming at all like a threat, just seeming like background material (though, the ones who act as a protagonist are also good, so long as they do a damn good job of keeping up the facade), until they eventually reveal themselves. Mind you, these are just the antagonists from the common "hero vs. villain" types of conflicts. If you want to count just any obstacle in a storyline, be it a disease or conflicting emotions, as an "antagonist" (and I guess they can be just as valid), I would also deem those to be good. What do you like and dislike in a protagonist? Personally, I'm really sick of those protagonists from shounen series who're just all hyperactive and have goals of "being the best" at whatever it is they're doing. I mean, maybe it's realistic (albeit redundant) of most tweens to get in over their heads, but then when you've got someone in their late teens in such a position.... yeah (given, my erogee features an 18-year old trainer who strives to be a Pokemon Master, but to be fair, he's not I'mmagonnasucceed crazy nuts about it, nor is it the only thing on his mind.... and should the player make it the only thing on his mind, it's not exactly portrayed in the most positive light). But that aside, I also hate it when everything the protagonist does is just too convenient. Earlier in the thread, I brought up how in the games, pretty much everything is served to the player on a silver platter.... I'd give the games leeway, since it wouldn't be quite as fun if you're restricted from getting any Pokemon out there or don't have a powerful boss to fight. It's when that crap translates into a more detailed storyline that it gets to be a problem.... take the anime for instance. The protagonists almost always seem to be at the right place at the right time to help out with something, or participate in some event that they may or may not (usually the former) ultimately end up winning, or whatever. Come to think of it, this can apply to a lot of episodic anime (you can't help but wonder just how many murders have taken place within close proximity of Conan, and how many more are gonna occur around him in the future). Not to say not everything can't be convenient (I mean, how can some storylines even get started if nothing occurs at the right time and place?), but it's over-doing it that I really dislike (especially if the plot conveniences are purely in the protagonist's favor). I'm also not very fond of "The Chosen One" scenarios, as I mentioned before, though I guess it might be possible to pull those off correctly in some manner. Personally, I like protagonists that're very down-to-earth... they have simple goals in life, they're not constantly striving to be the most powerful person in existence, nor are they very powerful in the first place. They're not hyperactive and adventurous, they probably fear death (though, they may still go on adventures if it's a means of furthering their personal needs somehow), and in the end, they probably won't be the one to ultimately take down the final antagonist, but rather, will just be someone that was along for the ride and is lucky just to have gotten through the whole ordeal with their life intact. Also, if they're sad, it's because they're genuinely suffering in some way and not because of some emo bullcrap, and they can also show severe weakness in their traumatic past and could be susceptible to mental breakdown (as opposed to using their pain as motivation to fight or even strengthen themselves). They may freak out just from killing somebody, and even a fight with the most typical of opponents isn't the most easy of tasks for this physically and/or mentally weak character. In contrast to that, I also enjoy matured protagonists who start out strong and experienced and pretty much bypass any of the typical adolescent growth seen in most storylines (though, it still doesn't mean they can just off every opponent with ease, nor does it mean there aren't some more complex things they're still learning)... similarly, the mentor types are also pretty enjoyable characters. |
Poke Special Manga: DP's Charpter 18: VS. Mamoswine is now up! Check it out!
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[QUOTE]What do you think the easiest tense to work with is?
intend for my work to be visual. Pass./QUOTE] But even comic books have written words to them :) |
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...although, the question is what tense you find easiest to use, not what you intend to use, so... ^.^;; Yaw. Ignore me. If you are working on or have recently completed a fanfiction, did you have the storyline planned out from the beginning, or are/did you working/work blindly, with no idea what will happen next? I think we've already had a question similar to this... either that or I answered this question in conjunction with a previous question... but meh, anyway. I always know at least generally what's going to happen in a story, but I've only once started posting a (non-pokemon) story without having planned the whole thing out beforehand. Which means that that story is currently on the backburner and hasn't been updated in over a year. ^.^;; For CaC, I had the whole thing planned out in such detail that I was getting confused, so eventually I just rewrote the plotline with enough detail for me to know what was going to happen in the chapter instead of every single little thing, which made it a lot easier to get through. Luckily I remember enough of my original intentions and the original details to be able to fill it out accordingly. One-shots... one-shots are a slightly different matter. I know what the story's going to be about, but I don't always have it planned out, and sometimes use the writing process itself as a way of threshing out how I'm going to tell the story I want to tell. It also depends a little on how long the one-shot's going to be; if I know it's going to be fairly long then I will, generally, try to thresh it out beforehand. Okay, new topic! What do you think of using song lyrics in stories? Well, speaking as someone who's tried using a song in her story and utterly failed, having the character aware of the song and its significance is an exceptionally difficult thing to do, and it can very easily turn corny. Good luck to anyone who wants to try it, but seriously, it would take a lot of skill and control to pull it off well. I don't mind stories which use the lyrics as a kind of counterpoint to the story itself, as long as it's not forcing me to read through long chunks of the lyrics or I don't need to know the song to really understand the story. I don't usually go that way myself anymore, although I have been tempted to write a one-shot songfic or two in the past. :P All that said, I still like connecting songs to stories in some way. I don't make up entire soundtracks to my stories, but there are some songs which I've used for inspiration for certain scenes or themes and which have fit so well that I've felt obliged to use some lyrics or the title as the title of the relevant chapter. ...and hey, that made me think of another possible topic: How do you pick your titles? Well, like I said before, I sometimes use song lyrics or titles as a title themselves, but other than that I'm a sucker for having phrases or quotes as titles in general--and that includes paraphrased phrases. Quite a few of my stories have been named using full/half/paraphrased phrases (like 'A Problem Shared' or 'The Eyes of the Abyss'). Usually, though, I choose my story titles depending on some theme the story shows (like 'Misdirected' or 'Where Shadow Reigns') and leave the phrases and quotes for the chapter titles. |
If you are working on or have recently completed a fanfiction, did you have the storyline planned out from the beginning, or are/did you working/work blindly, with no idea what will happen next?
Like purple_drake said, I think I answered this before, but oh well. I usually plan the beginning, middle, and end and then think about themes and characters to use. Eventually as the story goes, sometimes I change scenes if I felt it's not going anywhere. What do you think of using song lyrics in stories? I'm fine with those. In fact, I think it's an even more fun experience listening to that song while reading it! XD How do you pick your titles? I pretty much think of titles that are related to the story. Sometimes I use a title from a famous book and twist it a bit. For instance, the title "Heart of the Sea" I got from the title of the book it's based on, "The Old Man and the Sea". For "Nothing, Everything", it's from a line close to at the end of the movie "Kingdom of Heaven" (great movie, though ^^ ). That title also relates to a few themes of the story. |
Wow. Missed a bunch o' questions while I was idle.
Am I just vain for enjoying this sort of conversation? On the other hand, I'm also brain dead this week, so that could explain why I haven't had too many intelligent things to inject into the conversation... Quote:
And yes, if it's not clear enough, the type of protagonist I hate the most is Shinji Ikari the angsty teenager who whines constantly kind. I mean, at least sparklypoo Sues are amusing. Angsty teenager types just remind me of how sad my high school experience was. Quote:
I can't remember how many times I've reworked what I wanted to do with the ending to Midsummer Knights, for example. However, when I started it, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do except for the fact that I wanted to write a darkfic, and I wanted it to be a combination of a mindbender and a good, old-fashioned Shakespearean bloodbath romance. After that point, I've played with ideas, ditched some, adopted others. I think there was one possible ending that I've considered briefly in which Viola turns out to be a cyborg. And then I realized that I really shouldn't plan fanfics at four in the morning when I'm on an alcohol-induced buzz. (This, unfortunately, is not an exaggeration.) My fics in general tend to take the same path. When I put the first few paragraphs down on paper, I generally don't know what I'm about to do. In the middle, I consider all kinds of possibilities, and the end tends to be a slapdash attempt to actually settle on the ending. Quote:
1. I fail at matching up lyrics. I'd be perfectly happy to post an example and let you be the judge of this, but if not, just trust me on this one. 2. I find that when other people do it, it's a little jarring. It interrupts the flow of the story by breaking it up with lines from a song, thereby creating an almost jerky feel to it while the reader (i.e. I) attempts to recall the way the song actually sounds. Sure, there's fics out there that have managed to overcome this obstacle (i.e. the jerky feel to the story) by using the pauses for emphasis, but on the other hand, I've also read a lot of stories that fail as equally spectacularly at it as I do. Quote:
"So the World Turned to Ash" - Subtle spoiler and a reference to the prophecy in the second movie. "Goldfish Funerals" - Involves an actual goldfish funeral. "Nyctophobia" - The name of the actual fear of darkness, which the story is centered heavily on. "The Hunter" - Deals with a Pokemon on the hunt. And for another megafic that I've been on and off with: Project: Firefly - Also a subtle spoiler involving a scientific experiment gone wrong and a machine that glows like a firefly. Might recycle this title, however, although that's its original intent. So, really, I just take the most obvious element of the story and turn it into something obscure. |
What do you think of using song lyrics in stories?
If done well, I like it. After two tries at this I found out what works and what doesn't so I plan to have a much better version in the future. I also encourage the readers to listen to the actual song while reading (unless it distracts them ;) ) How do you pick your titles? Lets see. "Never in the Wrong Time or Wrong Place" is a verse from the chorus of Desecration Smile - Red Hot Chili Peppers. The verse, as well as the actual song deals with many themes that I have present in my fic. Although it's long, I still chose it. Oh yeah, I also made a holiday picture for my fic. I know it doesn't look like much but this took 3-4 hours because MS Paint wants revenge against me. :D Here it is! Merry Christmas |
What do you like and dislike in a protagonist?
Where to begin? I mean, there are so many kinds of protagonists I like that it's difficult to list them. x.x Well, I do have to admit a certain fondness to the inner demon types. Not ones who angst about the same thing from end to beginning, mind you, those whiners are just plain annoying, I mean ones who start out with a serious issue that they learn to process and work to overcome as the story progresses. A bit on the same note, I also like protagonists with deep-seated biases as well as protagonists who are capable of being honestly selfish, lazy, or petty, ones who will not automatically be the most empathic and skilled trainer in existence and won't always hold the moral high ground over the antagonists in every regard. One thing I also value very highly in a protagonists is staying true to their background. If the character is a pampered, upper-class child who has spent their entire life in luxury I would expect them not to be adapted (mentally or physically) to a rough life on the road right from the get go, if a character has been raised in a freakin' Mightyena pack they should not be the most articulate, hygienic or civilized person around, and if the character is from an average suburban background with no unusual education to their name, I would expect them not to know the names, strengths, weaknesses, and attacks of every freakin' pokemon under the sun. Just...common sense, really. A lot of times, it seems like the author is pouring their own knowledge into a character who would hardly be justified to know it, and at times...well, the background is just left hanging there and not really used for anything, which makes me wonder: why create an elaborate backstory if you don't intend to use it for anything? What I do like to see is a character tapping into the things they are good at and adapting these skills to solve the problems they encounter. Tying back to the inner demons, beliefs and biases accumulated earlier in the character's life that hang over their shoulder throughout the story are very fun. :3 As for what I don't like to see...static characters. If a character develops nowhere, if they can go through an entire story without a single adaption of their personality, a single change in opinion about anything, or a single new idea penetrating their thick little skulls then the story has been largely pointless on their part. I like to see character development, preferably in large doses. That being said, characters who develop way too fast and/or without any real reasons are just as bad as the static. Personality traits aren't built up overnight, and they aren't torn down that fast either. :< So yeah, I like seeing humanity in protagonists, including human weakness (Unless they're non-human, in which case...well, it depends on what kind of non-human is in question. xD), but at the same time I'm a sucker for seeing characters overcome their demons, not become flawless, but become better in some respects...and possibly worse in others. :3 As for antagonists...well, nothing I can say that hasn't been mentioned already. As you might have guessed from the above, I'm a sucker for the bad guys with morals, the ones who think they're doing something good and whose actions and reasonings actually make sense. Misunderstood ones fall under the same umbrella for me too. Other types of antagonist I enjoy include the persuasive double-crosser, the one who's your best friend right until he stabs you in the back and who'd sell out anyone just to further their own schemes but whom no-one wants to think of as a bad guy, sometimes not even after they have been betrayed. Finally, the just plain old psychotic villain (Oh yes, the Hannibal Lecter types are lovely). I like them with a certain sense of ingenuity to their madness, though, as the cackling 'muahahahhaa!' madman kind is just plain boring. <.< What do you think of using song lyrics in stories? Not really my cup of tea. They're fine when done right, horrible when done wrong, but I've never really looked at a piece of fanfiction and gone 'hey, this could use some song lyrics'. I think they do just fine without them. Listening to a certain song while reading to get me in the right mood is one thing, but seeing the lyrics amidst the narrative isn't really doing anything for me. How do you pick your titles? Very slowly. Ehh...I just rack my brain until I find something that fits, which usually takes a while. No real method, possibly why I'm so bad at titles. |
If you are working on or have recently completed a fanfiction, did you have the storyline planned out from the beginning, or are/did you working/work blindly, with no idea what will happen next?
The second option. I like flying by the seat of my pants, never knowing what's going to happen. There was one time when I had plotted somewhat the beginning of a fanfic, but it wasn't exact, so there was still freedom. It made writing a bit easier, because I wasn't sitting there waiting for my characters to do something. I prodded them along. But in general I prefer the method of letting things happen as they happen. (Life isn't plotted out, so why should my character's lives be?) What do you think of using song lyrics in stories? I only did one song fic, and that was in a different format that I haven't seen anyone else use. What I did was actually use the lyrics in the narration, so there was no fancy formatting. You just had to keep your eyes open as to what was lyric and what wasn't. I would post an example, but I doubt any of you ever heard the song. :< How do you pick your titles? In the beginning, I pick whatever sounds good at the time. By some later date, I find that the title sucks the big one, so I'm always keeping my ears open for a better title. My titles come as a sort of surprise to me sometimes, especially the good ones. |
http://pkmncommunity.com/showthread.php?p=3173981#post3173981
^ My new chapter is up. If you are working on or have recently completed a fanfiction, did you have the storyline planned out from the beginning, or are/did you working/work blindly, with no idea what will happen next? I have the rest of the story for Magma mostly planned already and I can give off some spoilers if anyone wants. How do you pick your titles? Well for my first attempt I just named after the region it was in then thi time the simplest thing sounded best, Magma. |
Tee-hee...managed to naughtily sneak my way to enough computer time to finish this, so...commenting on a few things. :3
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At least you don't have my problem of constantly having to wonder whether the main plot is too far-fetched to make sense to anyone else. I...seem to have a problem of complicating things, sometimes needlessly. x3 Quote:
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They look like giant plushies, and their type cross is pretty cool... at least, it gave me a helluva lotta trouble the first time I ever had to fight it, 'cos I didn't know what types it was and all the common elementals didn't work. XD And did I mention that they look like giant plushies? <3. Quote:
Aside from the fact that there are other pokemon which are just cool, there are probably logical reasons why some pokemon are used over others. For instance it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that dunsparce is a great digger, since that's its escape method... but since diglett are natural diggers, a lot of trainers would probably go with them instead. I'm actually really having trouble trying to imagine a scenario in which dunsparce couldn't just be switched with another pokemon... although I suppose with a drill for a tail, maybe it can drill through rock, which diglett can't? And since it's smaller it'd be able to make a hole with more precision than, say, a rhydon? ...and I just looked up its TM/HM movepool. O.O WOAH, that little fella's flexible! Talk about underestimation... *forum rumbles under the churn of creative juices flowing* Quilfish (despite being a water-type) is a little too small to be used as a great surfer, but I can so see it being a ninja-classed pokemon... I mean, it's water/poison, so the combination could mean that its poison might mix better with water than other poisons, thus providing a reliable form of undetectable assassination through food/drink... ...and I have come to the conclusion that I'm rambling, so just ignore me. ^.^;;; But yes, even though I'm not hyped on the OU/UU debate, I still like hearing which pokemon are which just to try and analyse why and imagine scenes in which such pokemon could be uniquely used. :P |
Yesh Yamato, I do have no life, and sit here on my computer reading your long-ass posts (not sarcasm)
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Interestingly enough, Cradily is sadly neglected in the official franchise as well. I mean, I think it got a pretty decent battle against Roxanne in the Special manga, but in the anime, its debut (and thus far, its only real appearance) was pisspoor. And is anyone but me getting annoyed that every time fossil Pokemon are featured in the anime (fossil Pokemon themselves rarely being brought up and almost never shown to be owned by a Trainer despite finally incorporating the games' resurrection method since Advanced Generation), they always gotta focus on the same ones? Aerodactyl, Kabutops, Armaldo.... the "they look like vicious monsters so let's use them in a Gaijuu movie spoof" crap is REALLY getting old. Quote:
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People really need to stop confusing genuine angst with all these "the world hates me" emo kids commonly featured in the media. I mean, if someone's entire family was slaughtered right before their eyes, would you honestly expect them to get over that? Especially within a weeks time? I think not. If anything, it's when they show weakness in succumbing to sorrow (or some other problem they've got going on) like that that they'll seem more realistic, more human. Anyway, I'll answer the new questions later.... there's only three right now. Hopefully, it won't build up a lot like it did last time, but unless you guys get really nuts with bringing in the new questions, such won't be the case by the time I post (possibly tomorrow). |
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Personally, I found the entire situation of his father abandoning him and then forcing him to kill off a nice number of living creatures (Kaworu and Toji included) to be unrealistic to begin with, but then, that's the basis of the show anyway, isn't it? |
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Cradily needs more love, really, but it's sort of a trickier case since they're fossil pokemon so you can't just hand one to a protagonist without any explanation of where the flarp it came from. Quote:
And yeah, the movepool is amazing. It's usually gamefreak's standard form of apology to pokemon who they have decided to completely screw over in stats and/or type combination. (I mean, just look at Farfetch'd, the poor thing has a crazy movepool and still gets outclassed even in the Never Used bracket). Quote:
... Dang, now I have this sudden urge to add an assassination by Qwilfish into my fic. xD *Shot* If we're running a Japanese-style culture, Qwilfish could also gain its uniqueness in being hunted for use in fugu dishes. (A bit cruel, but definitely something that the other pokemon can't imitate) Hmm...the poor things could even have been hunted to near extinction, resulting in them being a protected species and a big scheme of underground Qwilfish hunting on the payroll of unscrupulous restaurant owners and gourmets. Okay, yeah, looks like I'm rambling now. But dang, figuring out unique situations for pokemon species is fun. XD Anyways, I think the basic evaluation of pokemon stems from two things: the games and the anime. If a pokemon is unfortunate enough to be rare and happen to be a rather weak or at least hard-to-use battler (Dunsparce, and Farfetch'd come to mind) and also doesn't get much anime coverage, then most people will disregard it because they aren't used to seeing it (They don't run into them in the wild a lot, no-one they battle uses them, and the anime doesn't showcase them) and favor the ones they are used to seeing (Species that are everywhere like the Pidgey line and ones which are canonically treated as very strong like Tyranitar, Alakazam, starters and legendaries). Having used Cradily, Tangela and Furret quite frequently on Netbattle, I can't count the times I've run into people who really had no idea what they were dealing with. (Honestly, some of the reactions I got from people when Tangela switched into their Groudon's Earthquake without breaking a sweat, outspeeded it, and OHKOed it...ahh, priceless. Even more fun than wiping out Tyranitar with Furret, actually. xD) But yeah, you peoples have probably never been NB geeks like me so I'll stop going on about the strategic bit. Point is that these species need more love. x3 Quote:
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... Dang, I slipped into strategy rambling again. *Smacks self* I've got to stop doing that, really. >.< |
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Whichever way you look at it, in terms of overall knowledge you probably still pwn me. :D *waves a flag for the dunsparce* Now I wanna use one in one of my stories! ^^ Quote:
Muahahaha, Venus flytrap pokemon. :3 Well, not really, but close enough. Quote:
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I LOVE IT! XD I swear we were thinking on the same wavelength. I mean, even looking at the pipes for a full city spread, you could have a quilfish go in and wreak chaos--cutting off water supplies to places which need it (say, a lab...) by having them inhale and block the line, or using their quills to jam machinery (you may have noticed I know nothing about water systems)... whooo, great distraction for the authorities, who's going to notice a nice little theft or something in the midst of all that? :3 To say nothing of the possibilities of mass poisoning... That's it, in my strange little world Koga or Janine are getting a qwilfish on one of their side-teams. <3. Quote:
XD Nah. Now it's in my mind, it does make a whole lotta sense, though. Who would expect a quilfish to be used as a weapon like that? No one seems to notice 'em. :3 Quote:
One of my personal favourites, though, is trying to find logical, realistic explanations for impossibilities. Like the fact that dragonair can fly when their wings (such as they are) are way too small to do so. Or how a char's tail-flame stays burning. Or where the hell water pokemon which haven't been anywhere near a water source generate enough water for a Water Gun from, let alone a Hydro Pump. :3 Fun! Quote:
...and I have come to the conclusion that I am tired, because I'm acting more fangirlishly than normal. *vanishes* |
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Hence why I claimed them all. x3 Quote:
... Okay, yeah, maybe that's taking the balloon similarity a bit too far...and in a bit too much of a cruel direction. The ravine glide is feasible enough, given a strong enough wind, though sadly...it probably won't be light enough to carry much with it. Which sort of sucks since escape by Dunsparce flight would be kind of fun. xD Quote:
Still, the ability to pop in and assassinate someone while they're taking a bath is pretty evil. Handy pokemon all around. :3 Quote:
And speaking of conundrums, there's one I'd actually like some opinions on: is it feasible for pokemon know their own species names? I mean, in the anime they respond to them automatically, but would a pokemon grown in the wild really have a human-given name? Or is it just that they hear the same sounds that are in their own cry (since they all use their own names for that) and interpret it as a message of some sort? Oh, and would pokemon call themselves (or each other) pokemon, given that the pokemon in question hasn't had contact with humans by which it could have learned the term? Yeah, just something that's been at the back of my mind for a while. x3 |
YAY!!! My posts make two more people their b****es. Ii kanji da na~. ^^
If you are working on or have recently completed a fanfiction, did you have the storyline planned out from the beginning, or are/did you working/work blindly, with no idea what will happen next? forgive me if I end up repeating a few things from an earlier post. I started off the narrative with a few ideas from my brother (many of which I don't see as being particularly good anymore), but for the most part, I was on my own. The narrative was a mess, because I was just rushing through all the game areas, important events like Gym battles and Pokemon captures, and just trying to get to the Rocket plot (which in itself only had a beginning and somewhat of a build-up to the end planned out at the time). A lot of this was really unimaginative, as well.... though, a few good things came out of it. At times, I would try to make things more interesting for a few chapters, and as a result, I ended up creating some new characters whom I still intend to use. When I wrote the script, I originally intended to just rewrite the narrative in a simpler format in hopes of quickly getting back to where I left off. I ended up changing this and tried fleshing out the characters and events more when I looked back at how bad everything was. However, it still could've been done a lot better, and I feel as though I tried forcing a theme and shoving it down everyone's throats (something's amiss if even the author thinks the main character's b****ing too much about being homesick, and while I was writing it -_-). While I originally had a lot more planned upon starting this than I did the narrative, my sudden mid-writing decision to put less emphasis on the journey really started throwing me off a bit. This time around, I'm really hoping to have almost everything planned out correctly, have proper characterization, fitting themes that aren't spelled out to the reader, etc. Seeing as doujinshi-production is more complicated (you cannot redraw as easily as you can retype, you just can't), I'm trying to prioritize this as the final revision, which makes planning out beforehand all the more important. However, even then, I can't be 100% certain how the manga could pan out once I actually work on it. What do you think of using song lyrics in stories? meh.... I'd rather not involve songs that can't even be listened to. Sure, you have lyrics, but where's the tune? The audience is expected to just come up with a tune for the lyrics themselves? **** that! Now, soundtracks on the other hand.... doujinshi proves that fans can make a LOT of stuff, and I've often contemplated the idea of hunting down amateur bands, even using my own pocket money. An original soundtrack to accompany my doujinshi just sounds so badass! ^^ I also wouldn't mind full voice-overs in my erogee (in both Japanese and English... or maybe just Japanese). That said, I might have a scene in the erogee where the main characters sing karaoke (it'll probably involve Fuutarou's girlfriend coercing him to sing a duet with her, even though he can't sing to save his life XD). How do you pick your titles? [shrugs] Pocket Monsters Chronicles was my brother's title, as I said. But this was crap, didn't fit the story, and 4kids already tarnished the name. I thought about the name "Pocket Monsters Revelations" instead, but someone brought up that I probably shouldn't use the franchise's name in the title. This made me realize: a lot of doujinshi actually don't directly refer to their series of origin. Several of them also use a rather obscure title consisting of a single English word or phrase which vaguely, if at all, relates to the content (one of my favorite H-circles, Black Dog, will often title their books after a rock band.... it's kinda hit-and-miss. One Sailor Mars book, Sailor Moon being a series they often do hentai of, can be fittingly called "Red Hot Chili Peppers" or "Magician's Red", while another Mars book is strangely called "Pearl Jam").... though, I wouldn't wanna go to that extent. I still don't want to publicly reveal the title to my first serial at this point. However, I can say it consists of two English words, but they heavily relate to the storyline (it's actually the name of something within the story, for that matter). Quote:
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As for the idea of Pokemon knowing their own name when called out by a human.... I brought up how Pokemon seem to already know attacks earlier, so it's not hard to imagine they have their species names imprinted in their minds (if they don't have a small grasp on human languages altogether). Remember, I also suggested the idea of relating Pokemon training to dog training earlier. Pokemon could realistically come to understand their name and attack commands over time. Quote:
Also, I don't read much of the manga.... I mostly just go on summaries from Serebii. Though, I did translate the first two volumes after I was provided scans for them (I also read Viz's version of the first volume years ago). |
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I have a theory that their cells can absorb lighter-than-air gases--say, something like hydrogen--and when their cells build up enough of these gases then it enables them to float. Flying seems seems to be a matter of choice for them, though, so I haven't quite worked out how they manage to control to absorption enough that they can choose when they want to fly or not... but anyway. Mind you, this is also coming from someone who knows next to nothing about chemistry aside from what she's looked up on the 'Net, so... XD Quote:
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(...actually, I think I got that idea from reading the SPPf version of Pocket Monsters Chronicles, Yamato-san, with the way you portrayed Eevee. *hides* I'm sorry, I never reviewed it!) I also think they would use body language quite a bit too, like real animals do. :P As for pokemon calling themselves/each other pokemon--I like to think not. In fact I tend to think that they have different designations for things like cities, pokeballs, Pokemon Centres, etc. I generally have pokemon call themselves 'Kin' if referring to pokemon in general, and then 'brethren' when referring to one of their own type, right down to the generic 'pack' or 'eyrie' or whatever for their family groups and/or trainer and team (if they're human-owned). Haven't managed to figure out what they call each other if referring to specific species, though... about all I know is how eeveelutions refer to one another (eg, eevee=='cousin of the wilderness', vaporeon=='cousin of the lake'). I kind of view it as a separate 'culture', even though I also generally see pokemon as being intelligent enough to understand human speech too, so in time they would learn the human way of saying things. :P Quote:
Even so, the anime has seemed to experience a downslide in quality. :P And I'm not too keen on the Sinnoh region, so... *shrugs* eh, at least that option's open if I do want to continue watching it. :P Quote:
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While I'm not sure if the manga differed drastically, most of Shinji's problems in the anime This would imply that I'm speaking of the vice versa. In other words, I was saying I didn't read the manga (all the way through, as I have volumes seven and nine) but watched the anime, knew that the manga differed drastically from the anime on several points (including the level of Kaworu's involvement and whether or not Toji actually died), and wasn't sure if the manga differed from the anime in terms of the way it depicts Shinji's depression. Or, put simply, if one says "in the anime" and "not sure if the manga differed drastically," it usually means they haven't read the manga thoroughly but have read the anime. Quote:
I can't completely remember if this actually verges from my original argument (because I'm too lazy to look for my own posts), but the point is that there really is such a thing as making a situation so farfetched that although it might be logical for a character to angst about his life, it still may be headdesk worthy as well as something that just seems like the author might be trying a bit hard to make an angsty character. |
well, I assumed otherwise because saying you're not sure if the manga differed can give the impression that you did read the manga and you're not sure if it differed from the anime (which could be a switched-around way of saying you didn't watch the anime and are not sure if it differed from the manga), and by bringing up "Shinji's problems in the anime" can still lead me to think you're using what you only heard about as a basis for your argument. Really, bringing up the manga in the first place was what was throwing me off... it was kinda unnecessary, especially considering this isn't an anime that was adapted from a manga (thereby making any manga not be the original material).
And I wouldn't say it's the author trying to force angst.... more like he's trying to portray a reluctant hero in a more realistic light than all these cookie-cutter heroes with a sense of justice and a taste for action and adventure. If anything, your argument kinda drove this point even further. The fact that the setting is fiction should have no bearing (and shame on you for doing that... you're in fanfiction, for Christ's sake), it's still an arguably well-thought approach to how a real person might handle the situation at hand, as well as conveying the show's theme of individuality. Quote:
BTW, when you say SPPF version of PMC.... would you happen to be referring to the old narrative version? Or just the scripted version that I posted there? If it's the former, then kudos for being that long of a fan, I'd like you to PM me whatever you remember about that old thing. If it's the latter.... PM me anyway. I would care to hear some feedback, and especially what you think of all the changes I've announced here. ^^ |
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Unnecessary personal jabs from both sides aside, what does and doesn't define fiction is relative (aside from the obvious difference of fact versus what simply doesn't exist or never happened). Considering the story as a whole, I just don't believe producing a character like Shinji (either from the start or through the surrounding web of events) is particularly realistic. Yes, a gung-ho, guns-blaring protagonist is annoying, but a whining, whimpering child who goes into the story as a whining, whimpering child is just the other end of the spectrum, not the happy medium that would, in my opinion, make for an interesting protagonist or something that would indicate a level of realism. It is, merely, the opposite to what most shounen anime tout as a hero. In fact, it's something that seems to appear with a certain frequency in shoujo anime, from what I've noticed (although I may be misinterpreting some characters). I personally interpret it as similar to creating an anti-Sue. The other end of the spectrum isn't necessarily good or a realistic view of things, even though it's a nice change from the usual end of the spectrum one might encounter. Also, when did I mention the setting (which, as a lit geek, to me means "the time and place in which the story occurs"), as opposed to the events leading up to a character's present state of psyche (the plot and background)? |
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Hmm.... you know, I kind of prefer the shounen hero to the supa-angsty-life-completely-sucks protagonist myself. That isn't to say that it's my favorite type of protagonist, but being an optimist myself I find that I'm drawn to characters that remind me of myself (or what I wish I could be). I know that it's really not accepted to come out and admit that I think Uzumaki Naruto is probably higher on my scale of "I like this protagonist" then a more morose and angsty hero due to the fact that the latter is usually more realistic then the former, but the fact is that I'm completely biased as far as things like that go. If a character is going to sit around in a fic and angst, angst, angst for thirty or so chapters I'm going to lose interest. When handled correctly, I happen to find an optimistic protagonist more interesting then one who is pessimistic, and I love thinking of ways to do so. Personally, I'd say that my favorite protagonist type is one who is extremely optimistic and somewhat inspiring, but one who remains human by including a character flaw that usually stems from his optimism. Overconfidence is usually a given, but I think that it works out better if the character is made out to be unknowingly selfish, that is, he doesn't notice how much of his life revolves around constant self-gratification at the expense of others. When he realizes this about himself, he is able to develop and grow as a person. Of course, on the other end of the spectrum you can have them be completely self-righteous and overly wrapped up in whatever they're doing without realizing that they go against what they preach. A hypocritical protagonist or a selfish one on a journey that forces them to admit to their flaws and grow... that's what I like to write and read about. On the other hand, if someone angsts but does not remain eternally angsty or registers character growth, I can read a fic with much darker elements. Of course, maybe I'm just saying that because I haven't watched Evangelion yet and I don't know my angst threshold. I mean, I've stopped caring about Sasuke because all he's done in the Naruto manga for three flippin' years is angst about Itachi, angst about Itachi, and angst about Itachi. He's got a reason and everything, but he's still getting annoying what with the lack of any other emotion. (Of course, seeing him interact with Karin did help me remember that there was apparently some tiny part of him that was not completely angst-dominated...) |
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Anyway, at the risk of not having an abundance of intelligence to add to this conversation, I'll just say that I agree with you regarding shounen heroes with flaws. I also like the idea of your example, with the protagonist being self-centered at first, only to grow later on. As for angst thresholds and Evangelion, I've only seen a handful of episodes of Naruto, but I'll take your word for it with Sasuke and explain Eva like this: Think of Sasuke. Now, think of Sasuke piloting a mecha, and that might be a little like what the character relationships are like in Eva. (I wouldn't know for certain, but it's an example I hope will give you a bit of an idea. ^_^;) At the risk of breaking the conversation, a very special Midsummer Knights act is up. In it, Sebastian talks about the dangers of drugs Imogen learns the meaning of Thanksgiving Viola and Haunter are involved with a raping of a well-known poem. Apologies for any awkwardness. It was my attempt at making a rhyme scheme. |
I've made a fan-fic, it hasnt been getting much feedback or attention. However what feedback it did get is positive. Its called "Pokemon: Grand Anual Tournament" I'll post a sample chapter for anyone intrested.
Chapter 6: First fight. “Looks like you’re fighting first Kane!” Nantai laughed. Kane groaned. “Well we should go take our seats.” Nantai said as he walked out of the room. The arena was huge. It was a Tera Area so it alternated though geographic settings. The setting was "Mountain" for this match. Melody sat next to Bryant. Nantai and Benito sat next to each other and were discussing battle strategies. The crowd was cheering loudly. A man walked onto the arena he was wearing white and black clothes. He was obviously the referee. “Alright everyone lets get this battle underway!” He yelled into the microphone, “our first fighter, Kane!” He turned and held out his hand to one side of the arena. Kane came walking out. He looked embarrassed. “And out next fighter, Tyrell Smith!” he turned again and held out his hand at the other side of the arena. Tyrell came walking out, waving and blowing kisses. “He’s a pretty boy…” Melody sneered. Bryant didn’t pay attention to her comment much. “Who do you think would win?” Bryant asked “Kane or Tyrell?” “I guess it would depend on what pokémon they choose first.” Melody replied. Bryant and Melody were getting anxious for the battle to start. “Alright fighters we want a good fair fight!” exclaimed the referee, “So no cheating alright?” The two fighters nodded. “Alright, let’s begin!” The referee yelled. “Come on out, Cyrus!” Kane yelled as he threw out his pokéball. It popped open and out of it came a Charizard. The Charizard roared and blew fire. “Get out there Medicham!” The other fighter yelled. Out of his pokéball came a Medicham. “Cyrus, use fire spin!” Kane yelled. His Charizard roared and blew a tornado of fire at the Medicham. The medicham got caught in it and was being burned. “Medicham,” Tyrell yelled “use ice punch!” The Medicham jumped out of the fiery vortex. Its fist began to glow, it came dropping down at the charizard. “Cyrus, fly!” Kane yelled. The Charizard looked up and began to fly into the sky. The medicham came down and hit the ground. “Medicham, again!” Tyrell barked. His Medicham jumped back up into the air. He was going to throw another ice punch at Kane’s Charizard. “Cyrus, substitute then pile drive!” Kane yelled. “Pile drive?” The other fighter said confused. There was a poof of smoke and the Medicham hit Cyrus’s substitute. Cyrus flew back at Medicham and grabed him. “Meda!?” Cyrus flipped over and began dropping and spinning. There was a large crash on the arena and Medicham was hit head first into the ground. “Good job Cyrus!” Kane yelled throwing Charizard a treat. The Charizard caught it and gulped it down. “Grr…Medicham, return!” Tyrell growled as he called back his Medicham into its pokéball. “Gengar, go!” Tyrell yelled throwing out another pokéball. Out of it came a Gengar. “Gaaar!” The Gengar yelled. “I guess I should be calling ya back to Cyrus, return.” The Charizard gave one last roar and was returned back to its pokéball. “Get on out there, lassie!” Kane yelled throwing out his next pokéball. “Garde!!” Cried a Gardevoir. “Gengar, use shadow punch!” Tyrell yelled. “Lassie, do some of your womanly stuff!” Kane winked. The Gardevoir was surrounded by hearts and began “Teasing” the Gengar. The Gengar stopped and gazed at the gardevoir. “No!” Tyrell yelled, “Don’t fall for it, it’s a attract!” The Gengar didn’t listen and continued gazing. “Ha!” Kane laughed, “Lassie use magical leaf!” Gardevoir began scattering colorful leaves around the Gengar. The leaves then flew at the Gengar knocking it over. “Grr…” Tyrell growled, “Gengar, Shadow ball!” Tyrell yelled. “Gen..gar…” The Gengar replied in a dream like state. “Ha! It appers your gengar is too much of a lover-boy!” Kane taunted, “Lassie use hypnosis!” Kane yelled. “Garrr…devoir…” The gardevoir said also in a dream like state. The Gengars eyes began to droop. They soon shut. Tyrell growled. “Now lassie, use, dream eater!” Kane yelled. The Gardevoir began to float and white and black balls began flying to it from the Gengar. The Gengar fell over. “Gengar is unable to battle,” The referee yelled, “send out your next pokémon!” Tyrell growled, “He won’t beat you…” He said taking out his next pokéball, “Go, Mettagross!” Out of it was a blue four leged pokémon. It looked kinda like a spider with a “X” on its face. “Gardevoir, return!” Kane yelled. His Gardevoir returned back to its pokéball. “Go, Chompy!” Kane yelled. He threw out his next pokéball. Out of it came a shark like pokémon on two legs. “Gaaar!!!” The Garchomp roared. “Metagross, use frustration!” Tyrell yelled. “Metagross!” Metagross yelled. It flew at the Garchomp knocking it pretty far back. “Garchomp,” Kane yelled “you alright?!” Kane asked. “Gaar…” Garchomp jumped back up, “Chomp!” It nodded. That was pretty strong frustration attack, Bryant thought to himself, That Metagross must really not like that guy. “Garchomp, use dragon rush!” Kane yelled. The Garchomp charged at metagross quickly. Its head and body began to glow blue. “Metagross, move!” Tyrell yelled. The metagross ignored the order and was hit by the attack. The metagross flew back but quickly ran back forward. “Good metagross use hammer arm!” Tyrell yelled. “Meta…” The metagross turned away. It used earthquake instead. Kane’s garchomp fell over. “Garchomp, end it with giga impact!” Kane yelled. The garchomp jumped back up and charged at the metagross and knocked clear into the arena wall. The metagross was knocked out. “Metagross is unable to battle, Kane wins!” The referee held up a green flag. The crowd cheered loudly and all of Kane’s team ran out onto the arena to congratulate him. “Wasn’t that a great battle!?” Benito asked. “Yeah it was…” Bryant replied quietly. But that frustration attack, it was too strong. Bryant thought to himself as they left to their seats. |
I've posted chapter 3 of my fanfic, Magma.
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Yes, Skii, I read it, you can expect the review at some point in our lives.
As for Hyosuke... It's sort of, well, there are grammatical errors everywhere, and it's spaced out all wrong. Quote:
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Now, what happened to the topics? How do you choose what fan fiction you are going to read? Randomly, or is it organised? That question could have been phrased better, I know. |
How do you choose what fan fiction you are going to read? Randomly, or is it organised?
I always like reading new fanfics. I rarely read extremely popular fics, myself. |
How do you choose what fan fiction you are going to read? Randomly, or is it organised?
I'll read one that's been recommended to me, but I'd normally pick either the newest fan fiction work or a really old one that everyone has forgotten about. Anyways, I felt really impatient, so I decided to post my fan fiction, chapter one... I know you said you'd pre-read it Jax, but I have somehow messed up my e-mail account... If you want, you can do chapter two instead. |
How do you choose what fan fiction you are going to read? Randomly, or is it organised? All kinds. Sometimes it's of my friend's, if someone asked me a review or is in need of one, ones that are recommended, and ones from my favorite fanfic authors. There are a few times I want to read fics that has a lot of chapters already just to pass the time. XD And oh, sorry everyone that I was behind on the reviews. I was busy with editing "Nothing, Everything" and a couple other thing. That and my house had a power outage just on Christmas Day. >.> Will get to reviewing a couple today. And speaking of NE, expect it probably on January 1st. Woot, New Years! ^^ |
Call For Betas:
ATTENTION! I am in need of a Beta reader for my fic (link is in my sig). In particular, I need someone who is skilled with character work. If you wish to help me, please drop me a PM. Thanks! How do you choose what fan fiction you are going to read? Randomly, or is it organised? It depends. Some of the best fics I have read have been ones I've randomly chosen to read, while some of the most hyped and recommended ones have been rather blah IMO. But usually once I find an author that I think stands above the rest, I'll usually stick with their works (provided their future fic isn't of a subject/genre that I don't like). So, basically, I sneak around silently like a ninja, looking for fics to pick up and read. I try out recommendations from other fic authors, but those recommendations seem to be quite hit and miss for me. I'm not one for judging by titles (I'll look at content to see if it's one worth sticking with), with the exception of the word "Team" in the title. Nine times out of ten, "Team" refers to a PMD-type team and fic, and I steer clear of anything PMD. |
Ah ha ha ha, Bay. :x I'm on the case with the beta work. It's just that I got a new video game that's really good, innovative, and fun to play. So I've gotten lazy. Plus, I got a new book by a certain author that I'm obsessed over.
How do you choose what fan fiction you are going to read? Randomly, or is it organised? Point-and-click sometimes. If a fic is new here, then I check it out to see if it follows the rules. Other times, I get a request for a review, which is how I started following DP479's fic and Griff's. And then I have a friend who recommends well-written fics, so that's how I find others. Quote:
And on the plus side, it took me a few days, but I have two semi-good pages of my prologue written for my OT fic. It will probably be a few years before I get around to editing it. *goes back to reading* |
It's okay. I tend to be lazy sometimes too. XD There was one game I was playing too but then I halt the progress to focus on editing the latter chapters of NE and am now getting back on the review business. XD
And also, that's one good thing about being quietly known...you won't have crazed fans asking when is the next chapter coming and what team my character will have. I'll feel guilty not putting up the chapter in fast speed and it would be all horribly written. XD All right, new topic... What are your guys' fanfic resolutions for 2008? Any new fic ideas you want to write or want to get the chapters done faster? Pretty much my resolutions is posting the chapters faster although that might not happen because I'm now taking harder courses in my university. :X Also, I hope to finish this one romance fic that's been on my head for quite some time (thinking of starting it tonight, actually XD) |
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