Fanfiction Lounge

I just adore the way Xanthine's rants get more and more fast-paced towards the end. Heck, I just love Xanthine!

Thanks for the cookie, RukarioX ^-^

txteclipse: You know, my fiancée kind of keeps telling me to write original fiction instead of fanfiction, because fanfiction is, well, obviously, just fanfiction. I kind of understand his point there. It's something I could never publish, for example. Something I technically can never get credit for and so on. I get that. That's not why I'm doing this.

Uh, watch out, a rant is coming....

Why the heck do I write fanfiction, then? Although I used to love the TV show so much, it's been almost nine years since then. Besides, I never even saw any episodes of Johto League. What was it that brought me back to this fandom after all these years? It was Pokémon Diamond, which is funny, because the plot of that game is practically nonexistent. I originally joined these forums because of that game, and something got me into this. The game is the reason I joined the fandom, not the reason for my fics. Why do I do this?

Obviously I do it because it's fun. I enjoy writing fanfics and getting commented about them. Also, he's very much wrong if he thinks this will do nothing to my changes of becoming a writer one day. Why wouldn't it? The language might be wrong, but the basic elements are the same in all possible fiction there is, be it a historical drama or a parody of Star Trek. Neither does the language effect the basic elements as long as you know it sufficiently enough. (If your vocabulary or grammar is too limited, of course it's going to affect the finished piece. I mean, if the only verb you know for emitting words is "say", it will be a severe blow for the story.)

Moreover, it's not like I just write the games or other canons all over again. Writing fanfics, just as any other fiction, does include that creative process that sometimes has you jumping of joy and sometimes banging your head to your keyboard. In a way, Pokémon fic with canon characters is like writing historical fiction with actual characters. Also, if you use your own characters, it's like writing a story that happens in the current time of real world - the premises are set in both of them very similarly, as you have the common items used, the geography, the laws of physics and all those set for you. The only thing that really makes it different is that the premises we used are owned by someone. Why does that make fanfiction less valuable or less... honorable?

A good story is a good story, be there Pokémon, dragons, vampires or ancient Egyptians in it. The basic elements never change drastically. The only thing really different about fanfiction - not just Pokémon fanfiction but all of it - is the sheer amount of it. Every second person writes it, so there are craploads of crap out there. Maybe that's what makes the whole lot of it so underrespected... But, face it, very, very crappy books are published every day, but no-one still complains about literature being useless waste of time and a time-consuming hobby.

The word fan-fiction doesn't give any story the right to be crappy. (I've seen it used as an excuse for abysmal writing. Why? Why?) It doesn't give people the right to do whatever they want in their fics, completely defying all common sense, logic and the laws of physic (unless, of course, that's the whole point, like in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy), neither does it give anyone the right to criticize someone for writing it. It's fan-made fiction of pre-set worlds or characters, but it's fiction nevertheless.

Uh, I guess that was it.

On another note, I think it's rather funny how the people who write Star Wars books get to write fanfiction and get paid for it. I really hope it's a dream job for them, because otherwise it would be unfair to the people for whom it would be.

I do write a lot of original stuff, too, though. A lot of it. Five times as much as fanfiction. I'm getting worried, though, because this is like some weird drug to me. I'm starting to slip to other fandoms as well! I'll try to be strong, but I don't know how much longer I can resist.... Arrgh....

*hangs from a cliff with hands slowly slipping...*

Thus I end my post in a cliffhanger. Literally!

Not sure if this is quite the right place, but authorz I needz yourz help! *z*

So, I started writing a Fan Fic, in which a kid and his town is transported into were Littleroot is in Hoenn. *This all happens because Palkia is a wimp* Anyway, I was wondering, what should I call it? I was thinking Pokemon: Across Space, but I'm not sure.

Any suggestions?

An-chan said:

I just adore the way Xanthine's rants get more and more fast-paced towards the end.

Click to expand...

That's because about halfway through it, I realized it was 12:30 on the night before a 9 o'clock class. XD

Heck, I just love Xanthine!

Click to expand...

*bows* Thank ya kindly.

That said, to respond to txt, I've got two things to say, one of which An-chan has already said, so let's start with that.

Writing fanfiction doesn't mean you're not being creative. It just means that you're being a different sort of creative. This relates mostly to this point:

In a way, Pokémon fic with canon characters is like writing historical fiction with actual characters. Also, if you use your own characters, it's like writing a story that happens in the current time of real world - the premises are set in both of them very similarly, as you have the common items used, the geography, the laws of physics and all those set for you. ... It's fan-made fiction of pre-set worlds or characters, but it's fiction nevertheless.

Click to expand...

Short (haha) and a bit more elaborate (as in, not possibly bending An-chan's words in a way she may or may not have meant beyond this point) put: What makes fanfiction creative is not just pulling it off. It's working with the tools you're already given -- tools that aren't necessarily there in original fiction (although, yeah, this depends on what you're writing about) and making it work while still staying as true to those bits of canon as necessary to make it recognizable to an audience. In other words, being creative in fanfiction is in part knowing how to write an interesting story and part staying true to the rules set by the one already written. It is, essentially, a sort of brain-teaser, a dare to bend your mind in order to write something your fellow fans can enjoy.

That's something original fiction doesn't take into consideration. With original fic, you still have to bend your mind, but it's to a much lesser degree in that you don't have canon in place to act as a barrier on top of law or actual fact. So, in a sense, you're actually freer to do what you want. You just need to focus on creating a workable, enjoyable story.

Not-so-short story even shorter, this is the difference between fanfiction and original fiction creativity:

Fanfiction creativity: Brain-teaser. Forces you to do brain acrobatics (i.e., come up with creative solutions) in order to get a workable story to wrap around the obstacles of canon.
Original fiction creativity: Free-flowing. As long as you don't completely violate basic laws of realism (and sometimes not even then), you can do pretty much whatever you want to get a story.

The second point I'd like to make is also what An-chan mentioned but I'd like to add onto. You're not doing this for money. This is merely a hobby. You most likely have no intention of becoming a writer, and if you do, this is an exercise that warms you up for the big guns. Everyone starts somewhere, and with fanfiction, as I've mentioned in the above rant, you've got a pre-set audience in the form of your fellow fans. If you intend on becoming a writer, this means you've got people to help you improve on your skills, which can then transfer to creative writing. If you don't, then that means you're doing this just for fun. It's just as good as playing video games, and really, it could be worse. You could be doing meth in your spare time instead.

Point is, don't feel like you're not creative or any less of a writer by writing fanfiction. It's a misconception that fanfiction isn't creative (or good, for that matter, because we'll still shred the crap out of your work if you don't write decently -- more than if you wrote original, I think, given how many crappy books are on the market nowadays), and really, it's something you do when you're bored. Not only that, but you're probably working your way up to the point where you feel you've got sharp enough tools to start in on an original fiction. Unless your father thinks you're going to be like our dear friend Pao with his purple-prose-laced dragons (and, really, even then), I'd say write what you feel like writing. You're young. You have a lot of years ahead of you before you hit the real world. Let it be a hobby now and worry about trying to force yourself to write original fic later when you're in my situation (i.e., junior in college, really hoping you're not getting a desk job right after getting that degree).

Goodbye said:

So, I started writing a Fan Fic, in which a kid and his town is transported into were Littleroot is in Hoenn. *This all happens because Palkia is a wimp* Anyway, I was wondering, what should I call it? I was thinking Pokemon: Across Space, but I'm not sure.

Click to expand...

Final Fantasy Tactics.

I kid. I kid.

Seriously, yeah, Pokemon: Across Space makes me think either someone's going to do some space travel or it's meant to be a humor fic. (You know. Like Jews IN SPACE.)

Unfortunately, I'm also terrible at coming up with titles. I'd suggest thinking about what else is in your fic and the tone you want to convey in it. If it's serious, perhaps consider something else that has to do with space (such as, perhaps, "Spacial Distortion") or name it after an item or concept that becomes important later on.

Perhaps Wikipedia diving might help as well for inspiration. Look up articles on spacial theory and see what happens.

Sorry I'm not much help here.

Shoot, Xanthine stole my FF Tactics joke before I could make it.

To aspiring authors who write fanfiction, I'd just like to point out that CLAMP started out drawing doujins, which are basically visual versions of fanfiction and got good enough to move on to their own stuff.

Then again, CLAMP hasn't finished a single series I actually like outside of doing character designs for Code Geass, so the metaphor just broke down. xD

Xanthine said:

Final Fantasy Tactics.

I kid. I kid.

Seriously, yeah, Pokemon: Across Space makes me think either someone's going to do some space travel or it's meant to be a humor fic. (You know. Like Jews IN SPACE.)

Unfortunately, I'm also terrible at coming up with titles. I'd suggest thinking about what else is in your fic and the tone you want to convey in it. If it's serious, perhaps consider something else that has to do with space (such as, perhaps, "Spacial Distortion") or name it after an item or concept that becomes important later on.

Perhaps Wikipedia diving might help as well for inspiration. Look up articles on spacial theory and see what happens.

Sorry I'm not much help here.

Click to expand...

And that's why the title is the hardest part...

Pokemon: Jews in Space! Yeah, nice ring ya got thar'

Thanks guys. Those were great points. I don't really know why I was letting what my dad said get to me...I started writing not even caring if anyone read what I wrote. I was just sitting there bored, and I went "hey! Fanfiction!"

And it's not like I'm not being creative. I swear, my imagination has expanded so much since I started writing fanfiction that it's not even funny. I still have plenty of original ideas, it's just that I use canon as a basis.

I guess I just needed a return to center, to remember what I'm writing and why. So thanks for that, again.

Xanthine said:

That's because about halfway through it, I realized it was 12:30 on the night before a 9 o'clock class. XD

Click to expand...

I know the feeling. "...Whoops!" That happened to me, too, yesterday, when I was playing sims and suddenly noticed that it was already 11:30 and I hadn't read much to the two tests I had today. xD They both went well, though. I guess having fun is a much better way to prep oneself than studying until you die of boredom.

Short (haha) and a bit more elaborate (as in, not possibly bending An-chan's words in a way she may or may not have meant beyond this point) put: What makes fanfiction creative is not just pulling it off. It's working with the tools you're already given -- tools that aren't necessarily there in original fiction (although, yeah, this depends on what you're writing about) and making it work while still staying as true to those bits of canon as necessary to make it recognizable to an audience. In other words, being creative in fanfiction is in part knowing how to write an interesting story and part staying true to the rules set by the one already written. It is, essentially, a sort of brain-teaser, a dare to bend your mind in order to write something your fellow fans can enjoy.

Click to expand...

Oh, yeah! Thank you dearly for bending my words, because I completely forgot to ramble about that. I would, however, say it a bit differently.

In my opinion, writing fanfiction is a bit like a game. I once used to play a game where you were given a set of words and then you had to do a sensible poem out of them. Some think the poems I wrote that way are totally worthless, but I had a lot of fun writing them, so I still like reading them as evidence of my utter greatness. Essentially, fanfiction is a bit like that, just a lot more complex. We have concepts, characters, deities and other stuff that we put them together in a sensible way to create a flowing, interesting plot and credible characters. Fanfiction is written more or less like one would do a puzzle. Yeah, like Xanthine said, it's like doing a complex, long-term brain teaser. Or a game. Pick whichever allegory you think is better

I have to mention, though, that some fics use a considerably smaller amount of the original pieces of the puzzle than some. I'm kind of writing one like that, but I'll most probably revise it because it's getting a bit off track. I feel that writing fanfiction is more enjoyable when you actually take the pieces of the original puzzle and put them together in a way no-one has thought of before. If you make it all up, it's boring. *cough*

Fanfiction creativity: Brain-teaser. Forces you to do brain acrobatics (i.e., come up with creative solutions) in order to get a workable story to wrap around the obstacles of canon.
Original fiction creativity: Free-flowing. As long as you don't completely violate basic laws of realism (and sometimes not even then), you can do pretty much whatever you want to get a story.

Click to expand...

QED. Besides, fanfiction, I think, is predominantly about writing. The real entertainment comes from writing it. Reading is just the thing that naturally follows. It's also entertaining to read, of course, some fics more than others, but reading is the part people do more half-heartedly (except for betas and other serious reviewers, obviously, but they're a small precentage of the people who actually read what you wrote) and simply for fun. Writing, in the other hand, is both beneficial and absorbing. It takes your time and needs your heart in order to work.

Of course, it's the same with original fiction, too, but writing and reading are more equal when it comes to novels and short stories.

...If you disagree with me, I'd love to hear it. *grin*

Everyone starts somewhere, and with fanfiction, as I've mentioned in the above rant, you've got a pre-set audience in the form of your fellow fans. If you intend on becoming a writer, this means you've got people to help you improve on your skills, which can then transfer to creative writing.

Click to expand...

Also, if you're writing in a language other than your own, it's super beneficial for your language skills. I'm a living proof of that! My pronounciation might not be top-notch, but at least I have greater vocabulary and better knowledge of English grammar than many of my fellow students - or even older ones - at school. With that as my weapon, no-one can deny the fact that writing fanfiction has been good for me! MWAHAHAHAHA!

Lastly, I shall say this:

When people get an idea for a story, they should write it. Be it Star Trek fanfiction or an original, historical drama, you should just do it. It's a lot better to be a young person with a mediocre, non-publishable piece of fiction that to be an elderly person repenting they never wrote their idea down. In my opinion, any kind of writing is good for you, and all forms of fiction and even some forms of fact require creativity. If people just succumb to their faith as office workers and decide not to let their "childish, unreal dreams" or whatever get them all excited, they're going to kill their creative mind before they know it. It's okay to be career-minded, but it's not okay to kill yourself mentally. Even if only three words per day, you should always write that story down.

If anyone ever tells you writing fanfiction or any fiction is
1) chasing after a dream that cannot come true
2) waste of time
3) not creative or
4) any other possible crap,
tell them that you're going to write it anyway, because who knows what might become of it. Many great writers never thought they would actually be writers. Many people who should have been writers never became writers, because they didn't have the courage to do it. Many people who should never have been writers became writers in their stead. If you have an idea, go for it. You can even try to have it published. If it isn't good enough, you'll just be a bit disappointed. If it gets, that "childish, unreal" dream just came true.

I don't know. Totally uncreative people scare the heck out of me. I want to believe that they could have been crative, too, but they didn't want to, because it would be just too cruel if people were born like that.

Anyway, the point was, that writing is never bad. Always write. And if someone tells you you shouldn't write, hit them with a fish. Pike, preferrably. Or one of those horrible pink salmons PETA allows you to dress up on their website. *shivers*

...I provoked myself. Sorry for the rant. ^-^'

@This whole canon thing: I have to say that when I first saw Xanthine emphasizing the fan part of fanfiction when I first came here and how she strictly enforces that fanfiction stick to canon, I was a bit put off. Now after reading this recent post, I feel a bit better with the clarification of general canon that was made. I guess I thought at first that she meant you had to stick with the anime, game, or manga canons, but this clarification of general canon in which you retain just the core aspects even if you disregard the other parts of the anime, games, and manga sets my mind at ease; the reason being that I write entirely in this general canon, disregarding all characters and plots from existing sources. I do this because, to me, I'm a fan of the Pokemon concept. I like the Pokemon themselves, training, all that stuff. However, I'm not such a fan of the characters and plots of the anime and such.

One thing, though. I do modify some things slightly, not necessarily because I just want to but because I want to flesh out unexplained details. One big thing is the school system, which is never even mentioned in any official canon. I have it set that, starting at six, a kid receives six years of primary education, after which they can apply for a trainer's licence at age 12, or go on to either a secondary school (if they have no interest in Pokemon) or a Pokemon Academy (which covers more advanced topics about Pokemon, such as battling and training strategies), both lasting for four years. This bumps the minimum age up by two years, however if I were to reduce primary school to four years I just don't feel like that would be enough schooling, especially with the addition of Pokemon-focused curriculum. Thus, I did break one aspect of canon, but I have a reason for it (school). Does that sound okay?

A more extreme example would be the whole mystical energy that is the source of all creation and can be used like magic thing, but the truth is that it doesn't necessarily conflict with canon since I present it as something which very little is known about, and people who can actually channel it are exceedingly hard to find, hence explaining why it's never seen in official canon (well, actually, it kind of is in all the psychics, as that ability is derived from a lesser form of it). In fact, I've actually tied it into the fully canon Aura, so while it's more radical, it's less canon-breaking to me.

TRINITY is a completely different ball game, though. The only thing that really carries over to it is Pokemon and the lore of the old days back when training actually existed, but since it's in the distant future...I think that's allowed an exception.

@This whole creativity in fanfiction thing: I must say that anybody who thinks that fanfiction automatically sucks because you haven't made every single little aspect of it yourself should really sit down and read even just one good fanfic. The fact is, as has been said, that fanfics can be plenty original in their own ways. Take my very own TRINITY for example: yes, it's a Pokemon fanfic, but it's set in the far distant future and so incorporates several sci-fi and cyberpunk elements. Pokemon training is pretty much gone (because of a catastrophe which will be explained later as part of the plot) and no longer the focus of the story, instead replaced by the interaction between humans and Pokemon in an age where they can fully communicate and even live together, and how this is gradually being torn down by society itself. While CYPHER's plans drive the plot, it's this widening rift between humans and Pokemon that is the true core focus. On a side note, I now see why a reviewer for the Waves sidestory compared the plot to Battlestar Galactica <_<

Anyways, go ahead, tell me that that's an unoriginal idea for a fanfic. The plot is so unlike any of the official Pokemon canons, but simply because it has Pokemon it must be unoriginal, right? I'd seriously laugh if someone were honestly able to say that.

The fanfiction name has been tarnished by the crap load of awful stock fics; bad shipping ones and generic OC journeyfics being the worst offenders when it comes to Pokemon. This by no means of the imagination is all that fanfiction has to offer, though, and people who think otherwise deserve to be shot. Or forced to read a good fanfic. And then shot for the hell of it.

Xanthine said:

That's because about halfway through it, I realized it was 12:30 on the night before a 9 o'clock class. XD

Click to expand...

Bah, that's late for you? Try staying up till 3 when you wake up at 8:30. Now that's fun, especially when you tend to do it every freakin' night!

Xanthine said:

Fanfiction creativity: Brain-teaser. Forces you to do brain acrobatics (i.e., come up with creative solutions) in order to get a workable story to wrap around the obstacles of canon.

Click to expand...

Hah, I've never had any problems writing fanfiction, probably because it's all I've ever done and because I don't use any established canon, instead just using general canon off of which I create my own personal canon to use.

An-Chan said:

When people get an idea for a story, they should write it.

Click to expand...

Oh good lord, if I did that... Do you have any idea what horrors my mind conjures? Take the other day, for instance. Lately I've been in a kind Yu-Gi-Oh kick after watching the Abridged Series and finding a PSP version of it. Since I apparently have a fetish for mechanized devices that strap on your arm and allow you to do stuff that could be done just fine without it, my mind instantly tried to incorporate the concept of the duel disk (a thing used in YGO to play a card game standing up instead of sitting down, basically. Oh, and it projects holograms. Fun.) into Pokemon. Obviously the first to come to mind was a Pokemon TCG fic using direct rip-offs of Duel Disks. Of course if I did write that, it'd have absolutely no plot and be bound to my ancient knowledge of the Pokemon TCG (like, way back in the GS era). Would be fun for a YGO parody, though.

The second idea was to incorporate the duel disk into Pokemon itself, using a similar device to hold a trainer's Pokeballs. Now that one, actually, I have put a good deal of thought into. I've thought out the device enough that it seems feasible (it even incorporates an automatic Pokeball delivery and retrieval system, delivering the balls straight into your hand and pulling them back out, as well as an integrated Pokedex and PDA), but the real kicker is that I've planned it as being one about a kid who gets sucked in from the real world to the Pokemon world. Only in the real world, we have an advanced form of the Pokemon game using similar devices as in the Pokemon world that go on our arms and store our Pokemon data and can project holographic images of them. That one, as absurd as the source of the idea is, could work. It'd be in the future, although I'm not sure if it'd be the same time-line as TFC and TRINITY are, so the use of advanced technologies and wide adaptation of what I am currently calling the Pokedock (because you dock your Pokeballs in it. Laugh with me, people) could be explained. It's still utterly ridiculous, though.

But...I have been thinking over ways to do a similar real world crossover type fic for a long time now. The use of those devices wouldn't even be that important to the story, but would provide a point of familiarity for the main character after he finds that the previously holographic projections of Pokeballs and Pokemon are now real balls, with real Pokemon. Oh, and the ideas I've thought up for the real world game version of Pokemon is awesome and I would love to write about that. They're not quite real battles as in the anime, but more like game battles in real time, with PP replaced by cool-down timers (a powerful attack can't be used for a minute or so, while lesser ones may recover in just a few seconds) but otherwise retaining all the stats.

Anyways...I just want to say something I'm really proud of now. TFC chapter 29 is done. Finally. Didn't take as long as TRINITY chap 2, but still, this means that this original version of TFC is now also finished. I can finally get on to the rewrite, which means... I can finally post it here! Yay! I'll be able to get that annoying "coming soon" out of my sig! :O I'm feeling kind of determined right now, so who knows, maybe it won't take months to finish the first chapter.

Truth be told, I think one of the reasons it takes me so long to write chapters is because I'm simply not happy with how TFC has turned out. (with TRINITY, it's because I've had a lot more real world disturbances, a sidestory, and the ordeal of having to get through a plot I never even planned on ahead of time) TFC is simply a mishmash of various styles, plots, tones, and genres that show just how badly it all came together in the start, where I had little to no planning. With a rewrite I'll be able to settle into the tone and style I've wanted to use but couldn't. I'll be able to fix all the plot holes and inconsistencies that exist early in the story. I'll be able to add new details and subplots, such as that surrounding Shrike's name (it's not his real name any longer, thus ridding me of being guilty of giving my main character a completely unrealistic name that stands out from all the rest. Well, sort of... Oh, just stone me now). I'll be able to fix mistaken decisions I've made that seemed fine at the time, but are terrible after execution (see, pretty much all of part 2). I'll no longer be bound to just telling events from one view if I want it to flow well, as it will be in third person which I find superior for this sort of story. TFC shall be reborn, and perhaps the enthusiasm that once led me to bring out chapters twice per week will return. Or not, but I can hope.

So keep an eye out. TRINITY may be what most here know me for, but TFC is my baby. It was my first successful story, and will now get a chance to shine the way I've always intended it to. (And which it did at first when I had lower standards)

Now, if only I could take care of that darn title... Ah well.

Wow, you can tell I'm in a good mood now because I didn't use a swear once, not even damn.

EDIT: Whee, I forgot to turn automatic spell-checking on. Go me!

I got an interesting idea just now, but it might be kinda boring to you all. A Pokemon Day Care Service type of story. But I don't even know what I want the main plot to be yet. Anyone got any ideas about where I should go with a story like this?

Shrike Flamestar said:

I guess I thought at first that she meant you had to stick with the anime, game, or manga canons, but this clarification of general canon in which you retain just the core aspects even if you disregard the other parts of the anime, games, and manga sets my mind at ease;

Click to expand...

*nods* Basically, if I said stick to only one canon, I'd be a hypocrite. One of the things that appeals to me about Pokémon, though is the existence of general canon -- as in, yeah, there's the show and everything else, but underneath that is a set of rules that links all of the media together. Fan authors have the option to take that and run with it, so they can go through an entire fanfiction without revealing which universe it's actually set in. (Hence, OT stories.) Still, they're expected to stick with those basic rules at the very least and build on top of it.

To clarify even more, I'm not saying just stick to canon and don't add anything to it. I'm saying remember that you're writing fanfiction, so screwing up the basics is a stupid thing to do. The only thing that makes fanfiction what it is is the tie between the story and the original work. Once you violate that, you're better off writing original fic. In other words, you can add all you want on top of the basics, but you just can't blow off the basics when it's convenient.

One big thing is the school system, which is never even mentioned in any official canon.

Click to expand...

Actually, it is. And I'm not even talking about the Pokémon-related academies, either. Toshihiro Ono's Electric Tale of Pikachu makes frequent mention of the fact that Ash is on a trainer's leave, or a period of time in which he's permitted to leave school to train Pokémon. It's usually considered temporary, and trainers are expected to come back and resume their education after the period's over. In a sense, I guess it's like taking a leave to study abroad.

(In general, Toshihiro Ono's manga is awesome because it explains certain things that appear in the games or the anime but aren't really developed. This includes TMs, the license process, and even the badge system.)

However, your explanation sounds equally reasonable because it also seems to take into consideration the way the educational system works in Japan (six years of primary education, after which the child applies for junior high school). As in, you've got a logical reason for setting the bar higher, as opposed to doing it just for the sake of doing it or because you're underestimating the survival abilities of a preteen (the way most people tend to do it).

The fanfiction name has been tarnished by the crap load of awful stock fics;

Click to expand...

I love you for this comment.

Bah, that's late for you? Try staying up till 3 when you wake up at 8:30. Now that's fun, especially when you tend to do it every freakin' night!

Click to expand...

Okay, yeah, you win.

Oh good lord, if I did that... Do you have any idea what horrors my mind conjures?

Click to expand...

Do you realize that you should totally do it anyway? Seriously, nothing's more hilarious than scarring the potential audience for life.

Of course if I did write that, it'd have absolutely no plot

Click to expand...

Which would probably put you in the same range as the badfic you mentioned earlier, only judging by your writing style, I'd say it wouldn't make me want to smash my head into a concrete wall with incoherence and lack of characterization. So, in other words, you'd still be one step ahead of the crap in fanfiction.

Would be fun for a YGO parody, though.

Click to expand...

"Screw the rules. I have a Charizard!"

Yeah, I'm just going to leave you with that.

Konekodemon said:

I got an interesting idea just now, but it might be kinda boring to you all. A Pokemon Day Care Service type of story. But I don't even know what I want the main plot to be yet. Anyone got any ideas about where I should go with a story like this?

Click to expand...

Sex.

Oh, come on. Like no one else thought that when they read the words "Pokémon Day Care."

Seriously, just think about the sorts of things you think happen at a day care, the characters you want, and whether you want this to be an ordinary story about ordinary Pokémon (see "Life of Kira" by EmeraldSky for an example) or if you want something major to happen. I can't quite give you plot ideas because it's a fairly vague concept you've got there, but my advice is just to sit down and cover a piece of paper with whatever ideas pop into your mind first.

Oh.... My.... Arceus!

I've been in a leave due to sickness for about, what, three weeks with intermitent appearances, and this this had avvanced a lot!

Trying to get up to speed with the Lounge. :classic:

txteclipse said:

I've seriously got to be the only seventeen-or-older on this forum who has not yet seen Evangelion, then. Rats.

Click to expand...

Count me in, too. And that was by personal choice.

What is the most common thing happening in your fan-fictions?
Right now? Hounds behaving like puppies. People having no clue about their missions. Oh, and suspected terrorists getting to compete at a Regional Pokémon Championship.

Xanthine said:

First, let me start off by linking to a few rants that might say it better than me. (One of them also answers icomeanon's comment about doing whatever you want in fanfiction.)

Rant #1 (Although, okay, I wrote this one two years ago.)
Rant #2
Rant #3

Click to expand...

Oh I love to be back and read Xanthine's rants.

Giovanni having a cute and fuzzy moment with his Persian's kittens behind closed doors...
Gimme link! Gimme! GIMME! --- Want to read!

...ditzy Lorelei who wants in bed with another member of the Elite Four...
Gimme, toooooooooooo :D

Oh, wait, those were only examples, right? :(

Oh well, back to reality....

Shrike Flamestar said:

One thing, though. I do modify some things slightly, not necessarily because I just want to but because I want to flesh out unexplained details. One big thing is the school system, which is never even mentioned in any official canon. I have it set that, starting at six, a kid receives six years of primary education, after which they can apply for a trainer's licence at age 12, or go on to either a secondary school (if they have no interest in Pokemon) or a Pokemon Academy (which covers more advanced topics about Pokemon, such as battling and training strategies), both lasting for four years. This bumps the minimum age up by two years, however if I were to reduce primary school to four years I just don't feel like that would be enough schooling, especially with the addition of Pokemon-focused curriculum. Thus, I did break one aspect of canon, but I have a reason for it (school). Does that sound okay?

Click to expand...

I did something like that. I raised the bumpee by two (to 12), having the kids follow a five-year primary education with two courses over the last year focusing basic economy and geography. By the age of 12, the kids who want to do the Pokémon Way can take either a Trainer's leave (educational journey) or a Trainer's instruction (educational internship), both lasting for a max of three years.
At the age of 16 at most, the kids, regardless of having taken the leave or the internship, return to the educational system for two or three years, depending on level, with some field courses where they are to use their Pokémon (kinda juvenile community service). At the average of 18 the kids graduate from school and acan go to the world again (collegue, championships, contests, crime syndicates, Celebi hunters, or anything that begins with 'c'). However, young trainers or researchers who have shown to be very promising and committed can be eximed from the second school stage and instead be switched to another system where they are watched and taught privately by teachers (for those who are travelling) or by their employees (for those who got a job). For example, a very promising youth may have already become a Gym Leader at age 14, in a place like Johto, and using bug-types. But that still will mean that Gym Challenges wil be unavailable on Mondays because the Leader is having private math and languages test... :D

Does that kinda work too, Xanthine?

Shrike Flamestar said:

The second idea was to incorporate the duel disk into Pokemon itself, using a similar device to hold a trainer's Pokeballs. Now that one, actually, I have put a good deal of thought into. I've thought out the device enough that it seems feasible (it even incorporates an automatic Pokeball delivery and retrieval system, delivering the balls straight into your hand and pulling them back out, as well as an integrated Pokedex and PDA)

Click to expand...

OMG!!!!!! Well you are not the first one. I have had similar ideas after some time of watching both Pokémon and some Seigi series at the same time. Like, a Poké Ball-launching vest. Yeah, a vest. A special device inside the sleeves would store the Poké Balls and would activate when the arm is stretched and the palm is open, so that in a very fashion-heroic way the character would give a battlecry while raising his two arms and BAM! two Poké Balls appearing in his hands. Add to that the soud effect of the Pokédex speakers integrated into the vest's shoulderblades, with a prerecrded message like "It's throwing time!"

After that I cooled down and returned to the normal idea of wearing a Poké belt. But I am still open to certain degrees of exentricity. :D

Xanthine said:

Konekodemon said:

I got an interesting idea just now, but it might be kinda boring to you all. A Pokemon Day Care Service type of story. But I don't even know what I want the main plot to be yet. Anyone got any ideas about where I should go with a story like this?

Click to expand...

Sex.

Oh, come on. Like no one else thought that when they read the words "Pokémon Day Care."

Click to expand...

OMG, Xanthine, that's actually what I thought! :P I just read the words and it popped into my mind. In a fun way, of course. And kinda nostalgic, too: Nidorino❤Nidorina always comes to mind when I think about daycares and tag battles. Why don't nidos get more love... ?

I ave to say I would like to read a Day Care based story, probably because I have never done that before. Plot? The difficult part is the beginning, as usual. Depending on the kind of story you want to narrate (as in comedy, drama, ...), it should be only slightly difficult to come up with something among the lines of a Day Care gone wrong because of the new employee trying to bath a Jolteon, or a "corrupt" DC where the Pokémon are forced subliminal messages to prefer only a certain brand of Poké food (thus indirectly affecting the Trainer marketplace), or even throw a lampshading to the very in-game idea and have a comedic story of that only one Grandpa/Grandma taking care of a Lv99 Naughty-natured Giratina.

When writing about canon characters from the main cast of the series, how loose of an interpretation is permissible before you're better off writing with your own OCs?

Being that I don't write canon characters (for a reason), i would not know what to answer. But I do share the general idea exposed here that as long as your portrayal of the character is still tied with the concepts that make that character uniquely identifiable (and recognizable) for us, you're at least OK. Like the idea of warm and fuzzy Giovanni (with the kittens, not the giant Slowpoke).

Genre is less of an issue, because it helps to tie the adjectives together. You work from the genre and not for the genre. For comedies you focus on facets like "nice" or "goofy". For drama you focus on "strong", "amoral" and the like. And so on.

Overall, with the little attention I give to canon characters, I'd say as above: as long as I can keep up with the personality concepts set, I'm fine.

Oh I wasn't going to use cannons in this story, just ocs, the daycare owner, is going to be my main oc character, Kairi that I rp with a lot, and her best friend Pokemon is a Pikachu who helps her look after the daycare, along with a few workers here and there.

solovino said:

I've been in a leave due to sickness for about, what, three weeks with intermitent appearances, and this this had avvanced a lot!

Click to expand...

Ouch. Good to hear you're back on your feet, though. O_o

Giovanni having a cute and fuzzy moment with his Persian's kittens behind closed doors...
Gimme link! Gimme! GIMME! --- Want to read!

Click to expand...

Close enough moment: Toshihiro Ono's Surf's Up, Pikachu has Giovanni using the phrase "fuzzy wuzzy" and proceeding to float around in a daze over the world's most powerful Slowpoke (which his scientists created after getting his signature while he was completely wasted).

I love that comic. It's seriously the best thing ever.

...ditzy Lorelei who wants in bed with another member of the Elite Four...
Gimme, toooooooooooo :D

Click to expand...

There's many reasons why I only stalk deviantArt. This is one of them. Promiscuous Lorelei and a Mary Sue daughter? Okay! :D

Oh, fandom.

Does that kinda work too, Xanthine?

Click to expand...

Workable by me. Mostly, what irks me about bumping the bar up is the bunch of stories that do it just because "omg, liek, u cant take care of urself at 10!!1" Or "i just felt liek havin an oldr trainr." School system is a decent enough excuse, although you may still get people wondering why the system doesn't let them out at age ten.

OMG, Xanthine, that's actually what I thought!

Click to expand...

*high fives*

Also, you get positive rep for adding the embellishments.

Why don't nidos get more love... ?

Click to expand...

Because they're not as cute as Eevee, Dratini, Vulpix, Pikachu, Pachirisu, Buneary, your mom, or the legendaries. :<

Konekodemon said:

Oh I wasn't going to use cannons in this story,

Click to expand...

That's a shame. It would've given your fic a lot of bang. *rimshot!*

Seriously, that's fine if you don't want to use canon characters. In that case, where are you starting? Did she just open up/wants to open a day care? Then you could find a story in her struggles to get it set up. Is the day care already established? Even just a day-to-day sort of fic (a la the one I mentioned earlier by EmeraldSky) might be interesting. Now that you have your cast, toy around with the things you can imagine them doing to find something you might want to write about.

Xanthine said:

Sex.

Oh, come on. Like no one else thought that when they read the words "Pokémon Day Care."

Click to expand...

That's most certainly what I first thought.

Xanthine said:

Actually, it is. And I'm not even talking about the Pokémon-related academies, either. Toshihiro Ono's Electric Tale of Pikachu makes frequent mention of the fact that Ash is on a trainer's leave, or a period of time in which he's permitted to leave school to train Pokémon. It's usually considered temporary, and trainers are expected to come back and resume their education after the period's over. In a sense, I guess it's like taking a leave to study abroad.

(In general, Toshihiro Ono's manga is awesome because it explains certain things that appear in the games or the anime but aren't really developed. This includes TMs, the license process, and even the badge system.)

Click to expand...

Huh, interesting. Guess that shows how little I know of, well, any of the different manga series.

Ironically, Shrike in TFC ends up doing a similar thing in leaving the Academy to go on what he had hoped would be a normal Pokemon journey, however for him it's the exception and not the rule.

Xanthine said:

However, your explanation sounds equally reasonable because it also seems to take into consideration the way the educational system works in Japan (six years of primary education, after which the child applies for junior high school). As in, you've got a logical reason for setting the bar higher, as opposed to doing it just for the sake of doing it or because you're underestimating the survival abilities of a preteen (the way most people tend to do it).

Click to expand...

Yay, someone got what I was going for! Yeah, the school system in heavily modeled after the Japanese school system, as I portray the Pokemon islands as I colloquially call them as having been settled by both the Japanese and the US within a relatively short period of time from one another, thus leading to bleeding of cultures (such as Japanese schools, while English is the official spoken language. I can assume that there'd be places where Japanese would be spoken too, but of course I can't represent those).

But yeah, while I question how well an average kid from the US would do if they left on some journey by themselves or with a small group of friends to face off against dangerous beasts while exploring the wilderness, I don't really put much thought to it in the context of Pokemon since those children grow up specifically with leaving home at such a young age in mind. I mean, even in the canons that don't really dive into what goes on much before a kid becomes a trainer (I'm looking at you, anime), you can be sure that they've prepared themselves both mentally and physically for the challenges they'll face. People who change the minimum age just because seem to forget that, instead just assuming that the kids in the Pokemon world must be exactly the same as kids in our world.

Even within our world, you just have to look outside the boundaries of your own country to see that kids aren't always pampered so well. I hate to use it as an example, but just look at all the countries that use child soldiers in war. Just because your childhood and those of all kids in your country may be one way, doesn't mean that everyone, even those raised in a different culture, grows at the same rate and learns the same things.

Xanthine said:

Do you realize that you should totally do it anyway? Seriously, nothing's more hilarious than scarring the potential audience for life.

Click to expand...

Guess I should bring some of my super secret not-pr0n fics over here too, then! Those'd be sure to scar anyone here!

What? I said nothing.

Xanthine said:

"Screw the rules. I have a Charizard!"

Yeah, I'm just going to leave you with that.

Click to expand...

Oh god, you don't know how hard that made me laugh. I should so do it. Seriously, I should. Sometime. Maybe. When I have free time.

I got an interesting idea just now, but it might be kinda boring to you all. A Pokemon Day Care Service type of story. But I don't even know what I want the main plot to be yet. Anyone got any ideas about where I should go with a story like this?

Click to expand...

Well, I've got this story right here that I saved that's also about a Pokemon day care. The plot is quite interesting, and I'd recommend you to work off it if I could. Alas, the plot would be one of those things that would no doubt scar people for life and so I am afraid I can't post it here. On the plus side, it's not pr0n. Seriously.

...You guys don't believe me, do you?

solovino said:

OMG!!!!!! Well you are not the first one. I have had similar ideas after some time of watching both Pokémon and some Seigi series at the same time. Like, a Poké Ball-launching vest. Yeah, a vest. A special device inside the sleeves would store the Poké Balls and would activate when the arm is stretched and the palm is open, so that in a very fashion-heroic way the character would give a battlecry while raising his two arms and BAM! two Poké Balls appearing in his hands. Add to that the soud effect of the Pokédex speakers integrated into the vest's shoulderblades, with a prerecrded message like "It's throwing time!"

After that I cooled down and returned to the normal idea of wearing a Poké belt. But I am still open to certain degrees of exentricity.

Click to expand...

Heh, what I have so far is a sort of blade-like device with six clips to hold Pokeballs on it, attached to an armband that has a touchscreen which wraps around the lower arm. Due to six Pokeballs that are lined up, even in their compact form, being longer than a child's lower arm the blade folds in half, resting on top of the arm (over the top half of the touchscreen) with the Pokeballs facing up when in standby mode. When a battle is initiated, one half of the blade swings up as the blade rotates down to the outer side of the user's arm with the Pokeballs facing outward, the blade then sliding backwards so it extends past the elbow. When the trainer calls out the name of a Pokemon or selects them on the touchscreen, the blade will slide forward or backward as needed so that the clip with the right Pokeball is lined up with a series of rails that run along the side of and bottom of the user's arm. The clip slides along those rails to the bottom of the arm, and then along that rail to the wrist where the ball is then pushed into the hand. Powerful electromagnets can then pull the ball from the hand back into the clip, at which point it will return to the blade.

The real world version is similar, but lacks the actual clips and rail system. Instead, the blade is a hologram projector that projects images of the Pokeballs superimposed with the Pokemon inside them. When a given Pokemon is defeated, their Pokeball will disappear thus allowing the opponent to easily see how many Pokemon the other guy has left. Also, the blade doesn't fold but instead retracts.

As for what they say... Well, for the real world game version I've come up with the exclamation "Pokeballs, set!" after the person chooses their Pokemon, and then "Battle on!" which they both shout in unison after releasing their first Pokemon. For the Pokemon world version, I don't imagine they'd say much themselves for the preparation stage, the device itself instead saying something like "Battle mode, activated" with the same shout of "battle on!" by both opponents as they start.

Oh god, I need to stop watching this stuff. It's bad for me...

Xanthine said:

There's many reasons why I only stalk deviantArt. This is one of them. Promiscuous Lorelei and a Mary Sue daughter? Okay! :D

Click to expand...

Rofl.

Xanthine said:

Because they're not as cute as Eevee, Dratini, Vulpix, Pikachu, Pachirisu, Buneary, your mom, or the legendaries. :<

Click to expand...

Rofl, your mom.

Xanthine said:

That's a shame. It would've given your fic a lot of bang. *rimshot!*

Click to expand...

xD

Shrike Flamestar said:

Well, I've got this story right here that I saved that's also about a Pokemon day care. The plot is quite interesting, and I'd recommend you to work off it if I could. Alas, the plot would be one of those things that would no doubt scar people for life and so I am afraid I can't post it here. On the plus side, it's not pr0n. Seriously.

...You guys don't believe me, do you?

Click to expand...

Hell no. xD

Now, what else has gone on while I've been at school...?

I like school. Except in my FAN world...this is what happens:

At the age of 5, kids start school and get comprehensive education until they're 9/10. Then they can elect to start Pokemon schooling or just continue with usual education. Pokemon schooling lasts one year, and they take a basic examination once it's over to acquire a Trainer's License or to go one more year to learn extra stats. Usual education goes up to high school and whatnot. Pokemon school does stuff, and then they can go play, but have their adrenaline and come back and start school again in high school.
:\ Mike elected to take the extra course, and was in the middle of it when leaving Hoenn. He already has a Trainer License, so it's kay. :\

First, my mom really doesn't get that much love in Pokemon fan fiction, not even in my work. Then again, any fic with my mom would also have to have self insert me in it, and me running over cute wild Pokemon in a 3,500lb. LeSabre probably wouldn't set too well with many folks.

As for schooling, first I need to mention that in my world, Pokemon are not indigenous to all areas. Places without Pokemon have a standard 12-year schooling system. In Pokemon-abundant regions, kids have the choice between schooling plans. One is the five year "Pokemon training" track, which would let them leave at age 10 or 11 to train. The other is the regular 12 year schooling program for kiddies who want to grow up to be nuclear physicists and CEOs and internet fraudsters (hacking for fun and profit FTW) instead of trainers. A major plothole which I still have yet to rectify is what happens when a kid moves from a region without Pokemon to a region with them and then chooses to do the "Pokemon Training" track. I would imagine some sort of "crash Pokemon" course would need to be in place. Or heck, Google would work wonders.

Of course, the whole schooling scheme goes out the window with my character, who skips several grades and finishes a four year college program in two 0_O

Shrike, the arm thing could totally fire pokeballs like a railgun. Then the electromagnets could suck it back in. I had an awesome visual image of someone snipe-catching a wild poke from a couple hundred yards away.

When writing in first person POV, does the character's speech need quotes around it if he is speaking to the reader?

No. I'm pretty sure it would be incorrect to do that, actually.