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).
While I'm not sure if the manga differed drastically, most of Shinji's problems in the anime apparently stem from the abandonment he suffered, and because his father rejected him and then forced him into isolation (via putting him in situations where he kills off the people he gets close to), he finds himself in a state of constant loneliness. So, in that sense, yes, he dwells on it.
so wait? You're saying you read the manga and didn't watch the anime? I haven't read the manga, but I heard it was complete **** (like most anime-to-manga adaptions). Shinji in a state of constant loneliness? Episode 4 says otherwise. I doubt anyone who's lonely would want to run away where they'd become even less likely to experience human contact.
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
the idea of Pokemon saying their names is actually an anime cliche.... several mascot-like characters will say their own name (or some phrase) to seem cute (it doesn't even need to be the only thing they say... instead, it could work as a Japanese sentence particle or ending, as you can see with Nyaasu/Meowth in the Japanese version of the anime). Also, unlike what the English dub would have you believe, a lot of Pokemon don't call out their whole names in some drone-like fashion.... instead, a lot of Pokemon in the original version will only say a fragment of their name sounded out like an animalistic call (Juptor/Grovyle says "Jururururu" in growling tone). It's still an oddity that their calls resemble even part of their name (and we can't act as if Pokemon were named after their calls, since nearly all Pokemon are named after actual words, in both Japan and English-speaking countries... I can assume the French and German names have meaning as well), but again, it's an anime cliche. I guess most people just go with it in the end. And if it really bugs anyone, there's nothing in canon to suggest they must say their names (as a matter of fact, in the video games and the Special manga, they only tend to growl).
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.
XD Well, I could add that I haven't seen the anime any further than Groudon/Kyogre (and even watched that far for one reason only :3). Plus, since changing VAs mid-series is something that I absolutely loathe, it's not likely I'm going to watch any further than... when did they switch 'em, just after the Battle Frontier, right? So no further than that. And there's the fact that I'm way behind in the manga. ;_;
the Battle Frontier started not long after I made the switch to Japanese episodes. I watched the English version before mostly because, for a good while in spite of its popularity, Pokemon didn't seem as widely available online as other series. That's changed in recent years (it's either that, or I just never looked in the right places), and shortly after I got into the Japanese version during late Houen, I caught up with all the previous Advanced Generation episodes, and I'm even in the process of watching episodes from the first series (I've watched all the way up to the Whirl Cup in Japanese thus far). So, the VA switch had zero significance towards me... though, in a way, I've made a switch as well. But I'm prone to show bias towards the original version of something, and I do have an interest in the Japanese language itself, so obviously, I had no problems switching from English to Japanese voices like I did.
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).
