Fanfiction Lounge

Is there any genre/mood/literary device that you just can't bear to read?
Yeah, quite a few, though the biggest would have to be pregnancy / babies. It's the most giant turn-off for me and whenever I see it, especially if it involves the main character, I drop the story instantly and try to erase it from my mind. Another giant turn-off for me is angst. I can read angst in small doses, but when it gets dumped on me over and over again, my mood drops and I ditch the story entirely. I don't want to read a story where the main character is put through such bad situations and can hardly recover before being dropped into it again.

I am going to write a fanfic with me in it, and my Pokémon will match the ones I own in my games. But here's the problem, most of their names are unoriginal, like my Blaziken's name is Fire, and he was sent to Pearl from Emerald, and now his name is stuck like that! Many Pokémon I sent from Pal Park have unoriginal names. Another problem is my Umbreon named Shadow, who I don't want to lose happiness just because I have to trade him back to Pearl to change his name. I also have a Vaporeon named Aqua, a Jolteon named Thunder, a Flareon named Flame, a an Espeon named Cute Power (maybe that's OK), a Leafeon named Leafy, and a Glaceon named Icy. If I have to use such names and Pokémon in my fanfic, will you please forgive me? I only want to match the Pokémon that are from my games. I'll make up for the species and names of the Pokémon used by giving them a lot of personality. Another problem, I don't know what it should be rated. Death is mentioned, and a character will come close to dying, but it won't be all that bad, just emotional. I'll probably rate it PG with some warnings, would that work? And a character that isn't me will most likely have Pokémon with original nicknames.

I think I'll trade my Eeveeloutions to rename them anyway, so they'd fit in my fanfic. I used an English/Japanese online dictionary and entered the Pokémon's types to get these.

Basic-Seijou
Aqua-Gogyou
Flame-Kasi
Thunder-Dendou
Cute Power-San
Shadow-Sumizome
Leafy-Bokuso
Icy-Koori

How are these?

We can fogive you for using those names, yes. Except perhaps Shadow. Hey, I'm doing a similar thing with the Pokemon on my Platinum. However, what immediately sets alarm bells ringing, for me at least, is this-

VelvetEspeon said:

I am going to write a fanfic with me in it,

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This is called a self-insert, and is to be avoided at all costs. It's generally frowned upon in fanfiction to base a character off yourself. I mentioned earlier that I was writing a fanfic similar to this one. In that, I am not using myself as the Trainer, but Cassie, my in-game character. As such, I'm loosely basing her character off Hikari's, in anime canon. I can't write your fic for you, but I highly recommend you use an original or canon character.

Sadly, I really would like a character based off of myself. But I'll tell people if they don't like it, they should not read it. Or maybe, I shouldn't write anything...:( OK, that's settled. I am never writing fanfiction. Ever. Ok, maybe only for my family. They'd love it.

Dagzar said:

Don't be like that. Having a self-insert main character doesn't make the story automatically bad, it's just that they tend to turn into Mary Sues, where everything goes their way. As long as you keep your character realistic with flaws and such, you should be fine. ;)

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Ok, maybe I'll do it, then. But by everything going their way, do you mean things like winning every battle, getting whatever Pokémon they want, everyone likes them and hates the characters they don't like? Well, I doubt anything I write would be like that, seeing as I want to make the Cycle Shop Manager hate me, other Trainers having legendary Pokémon as well, and restricting the Pokémon I have in the fanfic to the ones I have in my games. Like, I can't have a Mew.

An example of some parts would be something like this:

"Velvet could not stand it. A member of Team Galactic is her friend, but no one excepts it besides her family and Pokémon."
"Cute Power was easily defeated by the attack."

Ok, maybe I'll do it, then. But by everything going their way, do you mean things like winning every battle, getting whatever Pokémon they want, everyone likes them and hates the characters they don't like?

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Yeah, that's basically what I meant.

Well, I doubt anything I write would be like that, seeing as I want to make the Cycle Shop Manager hate me, other Trainers having legendary Pokémon as well, and ristricting the Pokémon I have in the fanfic to the ones I have in my games. Like, I can't have a Mew.

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That's good, but about the legendary Pokemon, you should think about why your character and other trainers would have them. Legendaries are one of a kind (usually) and considered gods among Pokemon, so make sure you have an explanation on why your characters would have them.

Velvet, I'm not trying to discourage you from writing fanfiction, far from it. I'm just suggesting things that might make it easier. Oh, and this,

But I'll tell people if they don't like it, they should not read it

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is also something you should avoid. This is the most common excuse used by writers to avoid getting negative reviews. If you think people aren't going to like it, change it so that they will. The only time where this is used is when a fic has content in it that may be offensive to some people, such as graphic violence, shonen-ai, lemon, racism etc. You post fanfiction on the internet because you want people to read it and give you feedback. As a matter of fact, I recommend you read this thread and this thread before you even think about writing fanfiction. The second one is about reviewing, but there is some excellent advice for writers in there as well, including the reworded tips I have given you here.

Sparkling Dragon said:

This is called a self-insert, and is to be avoided at all costs.

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I can't exactly relate to this, seeing as a running gag in my stories is my self-insert minor character (a rather blatant insert, even going so far as to switch the perspective to first-person when she arrives). I think a better use would be: "This is called a self-insert, and should not be used as the main protagonist just to be safe." Sometimes they're livable when not especially blatant, don't feature as the main focus of the story, or even when they do reflect precisely the moods and actions of the person they're modeled after. It's perfectly fine to have a character based after yourself, as long as they're a good character with human characteristics. After all, relating with your character helps you get a better feel for them when you're writing about them, doesn't it?

Well, you're right, Giratinasaur. As a main character was what I meant. For a joke, it's fine.

As long as you reflect all of your character as a person into the fic character - bad as well as good - and treat your Author Avatar as just another character with the same luck/skills/what have ye as any other character, it should be just fine.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I only renamed my Umbreon, since I like the name Sumizome, anyway. Eeveeloutions and legendary Pokémon may be overused in fanfics, but I'll try very hard to give them interesting personalities. As an example, Sumizome will hate all wild Pokémon, and wants them all to be captured or destroyed. And Sumizome will go a little crazy and attack wild Pokémon once and a while, but would be stopped before he hurts them badly. And flaws about my character? Well, I will be easily annoyed, and I'll hate the Cycle Shop Manager with my entire heart. Isn't his name Ricksaw? I think I'll check Bulbapedia. And there will be another main human hero, incase you get sick of me. I'll also explain the legendaries as they appear. And there will be more than one of each Legendary involved, too. But that will be explained, seeing as the concept of alternate timelines will be involved, and in the fic, the Pokémon world will be disorted in some places, although not visible. But it would be difficult to know what people/Pokémon came from which timeline. Also, the real world will be mentioned, but I doubt it'd play much of a role in my fanfic.

That all sounds extremely interesting and fun to read, with the whole alternate continuities business. Maybe your fic should take place in a dimension that's sort of a crossroads for all of the other ones, so that it doesn't seem too strange that all of these characters not even from that dimension just suddenly start popping up. Also, you might want to put a disclaimer at the beginning of the fic stating that you do not believe there are only one of each species of Legendary. It might stop some people from complaining about it.

Good luck to you!

Yes, because some reviewers are annoyingly narrow-minded. Yeah, try the Reviewing and You thread I linked you to before for advice on how to deal with reviewers.

Well, I'm starting my fanfic, but there are quite a few breif explanations on where the legendary Pokémon I own came from, and they are boring. I guess I'll introduce most of my legendaries later, so you won't have to read all of those tiresome explanations all at a time.

Do you have a beta reader?

Sparkling Dragon said:

Do you have a beta reader?

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Not really. I wonder if I need one or not.

No story 'needs' a beta reader, but in all honesty they're almost guaranteed to make your story better.

The disclaimer thing would be important, because in this fic, my Palkia is female.

Yes, beta readers are incredibly useful, and a good one is an invaluable tool for any writer. Although I must admit that I don't have one, but that's only because I'm eternally, incurably, destructively egotistical, so you shouldn't really listen to me. In other words, do as I say, not as I do. ^_^ There's a thread somewhere where you can request a beta.