Writers' Workshop General Chat Thread

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

@lisianthus
There was a part of me that at least wanted to get to 22,000 posts, haha. Don't worry about it too much; it doesn't really matter to me either way!

 

[Beth Pavell]

There is a certain amount of nostalgia on this one, it has to be said. I wonder how much Workshop history is buried on these pages

 

[Greninjaman]

I shall post a question here that I put on the other one when it was still up: How does one make writing a Pokémon Journey Fanfic easier to manage and handle?

 

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

I shall post a question here that I put on the other one when it was still up: How does one make writing a Pokémon Journey Fanfic easier to manage and handle?

Contrary to perhaps somewhat popular belief, you really don't need a full team of six in a "proper" journey fic; a team of three or even less will often suffice and will also certainly keep you from spreading yourself too thin, so to speak, as far as personality and character development for each team member goes (as I would recommend building up for reasons that I'll elaborate on below). And also contrary to perhaps somewhat popular belief, you don't need a full set of companions, either, as in three or four of them à la the anime, especially if they have their own set of Pokémon and/or a separate interest or goal from the main character. Just one companion could easily suffice — or even no companions, if you'd like; who says that you absolutely need any in the first place? — and will obviously keep you from, again, spreading yourself too thin.

Meanwhile, I would also suggest that you "keep your eyes on the prize", so to speak, when it comes to things like character development. As well as, perhaps most importantly, remembering what said proverbial "prize" even is. What kind of story are you trying to tell with your journey fic exactly, you should ask yourself. With a lot of random journey fics that I've come across, I've found that they often focus too much on the battles themselves and not so much on why they're important besides just the sheer sake of battling. What are the characters fighting for, exactly, and why is it so important for them to win? And how does that answer reflect the kind of characters they are and why we should root for them... or perhaps not, even? Think about that, and then give them some kind of a goal related to that; an "end", so to speak, to which the middle and the beginning will lead to. It doesn't have to be "the end", if you know what I mean, just "an end" that serves as some sort of catharsis to the journey you've chosen to have your characters have so far. And also remember that "characters" don't just mean the humans, but also the Pokémon, too. They're not just ones and zeroes in a video game anymore, or perhaps they never were to you... in any case, a story has greater demands on Pokémon as characters and as living beings as much as they have on the humans. They don't have to be all but human — à la, say, the anime — but they have to be believable and relatable, somehow.

So to sum it all up, figure that out character development above all, and make everything in the story revolve around and build upon that. The fat will naturally start cut itself out once you do that, I think.

 

[Greninjaman]

Contrary to perhaps somewhat popular belief, you really don't need a full team of six in a "proper" journey fic; a team of three or even less will often suffice and will also certainly keep you from spreading yourself too thin, so to speak, as far as personality and character development for each team member goes (as I would recommend building up for reasons that I'll elaborate on below). And also contrary to perhaps somewhat popular belief, you don't need a full set of companions, either, as in three or four of them à la the anime, especially if they have their own set of Pokémon and/or a separate interest or goal from the main character. Just one companion could easily suffice — or even no companions, if you'd like; who says that you absolutely need any in the first place? — and will obviously keep you from, again, spreading yourself too thin.

Meanwhile, I would also suggest that you "keep your eyes on the prize", so to speak, when it comes to things like character development. As well as, perhaps most importantly, remembering what said proverbial "prize" even is. What kind of story are you trying to tell with your journey fic exactly, you should ask yourself. With a lot of random journey fics that I've come across, I've found that they often focus too much on the battles themselves and not so much on why they're important besides just the sheer sake of battling. What are the characters fighting for, exactly, and why is it so important for them to win? And how does that answer reflect the kind of characters they are and why we should root for them... or perhaps not, even? Think about that, and then give them some kind of a goal related to that; an "end", so to speak, to which the middle and the beginning will lead to. It doesn't have to be "the end", if you know what I mean, just "an end" that serves as some sort of catharsis to the journey you've chosen to have your characters have so far. And also remember that "characters" don't just mean the humans, but also the Pokémon, too. They're not just ones and zeroes in a video game anymore, or perhaps they never were to you... in any case, a story has greater demands on Pokémon as characters and as living beings as much as they have on the humans. They don't have to be all but human — à la, say, the anime — but they have to be believable and relatable, somehow.

So to sum it all up, figure that out character development above all, and make everything in the story revolve around and build upon that. The fat will naturally start cut itself out once you do that, I think.

Why is proper in quotation marks?

 

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

@Greninjaman
From my admittedly anecdotal experience, most journey fics really like to have the main character with a full team of six, as if that's some kind of unwritten expectation in the Pokémon fanfic community. The quotation marks were meant to be kind of my sardonic response to that, as you should feel free to do whatever the hell you want (within reason) in fanfiction. Or so I believe, anyway!

 

[Greninjaman]

@InfiniteBakuphoon
I imagine that doing too many areas would also be a problem. You don't want to do too many areas, or you risk burning yourself out.

 

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

@InfiniteBakuphoon
I imagine that doing too many areas would also be a problem. You don't want to do too many areas, or you risk burning yourself out.

You mean regions, or just cities? In either case, I have some ideas about that. With the former, I notice that some people tend to create grand plans for their fics right off the bat, planning out doing the first part in one region and then another in a second region and all of that. But some of the best fics - and the best stories, period, I've found - often have a smaller scope. Which, in the case of Pokemon journey fic, could be as small as only one region, or even one part of a region. No one says that your characters have to travel the whole world in order to have an adventure! And with the latter, if your adventure revolves around cities like with, say, a badge or coordinating quest, perhaps you might choose to spend more time in a few large cities versus a large amount of places in-between, such that the readers can kind of get to know the former better for that worldbuilding fun! In-between could be just indistinct forests or other routes, where the focus could be more on training, intergroup dynamics with other companions, rival encounters if your characters have rivals, and such. But of course, make sure that everything serves the overall goals that you're trying to achieve with your story!

 

[CynthiaLover]

I wanted to bounce an idea off of you all regarding Psychic Duelist Django.

To start, remember in the Yu-Gi-Oh DM anime where Marik was leading the Rare Hunters? Yet when Marik reformed and Yami Marik was destroyed the Rare Hunters seemed to disappear. That left some interesting fridge horror that they could still be out there, as they were pretty numerous and had powerful decks, thus could still be a threat that the gang could've potentially faced. But, obviously, they ceased to be relevant after Battle City.

In my series, Lucifer did the same thing, creating a gang of minions to hunt and brutalize Django and co (along with any other Duelists they could terrorize and steal from), albeit they were called Shadow Stalkers. While Django faced off against 5 of them (and they had their souls destroyed by Lucifer for failing him), there were plenty more Shadow Stalkers left but they vanished after Cyber Clash. I was thinking of revisiting that concept, showing that the Shadow Stalkers still exist and, while they're not under Lucifer's command anymore, they want to regain his favor by ending Django and co and collecting their Numbers (despite Lucifer seeing the Shadow Stalkers as disposable pawns at best, especially since they were humans and Lucifer was a Psykinox with a great deal of racial pride and a god-complex).

Do you think that's a good idea? And what decks/archetypes should I use for them? The ones that did Duel (on-screen) used the following archetypes: Exodia, Dark Magician, Heraldic Beast, Zombie World, and Vampire. It would also help justify a decision Django would make near the end of the series to allow Sinderella and Whambelina to become his (and by extension his friends') personal bodyguards (despite by that point the main threat is gone).

What do you think? Should I bring back the Shadow Stalkers as a straggling group in hopes of regaining Lucifer favor so to give the gang less standard opponents (like Roger and Vanessa, who have pretty much become the Iago of the series, complete with mantra "when in doubt, beat up Roger and Vanessa")? And what archetypes do you think I should use for them? Let me know what you think.

 

[EzloSpirit]

Welp. I've been writing this short story since 2020. It's 3500 words so far, and I'm maybe slightly over halfway through. I finally opened up the document for the first time in 2.5 months, and I froze up, as usual.

tl;dr Anxiety is fun.

 

[Catz]

Don't I know that feeling. You can do it!

 

[Greninjaman]

Question concerning egos: Can someone be heroic even though they have an ego?

 

[StormyStinger]

Question concerning egos: Can someone be heroic even though they have an ego?

Yes. It's your actions that determine your heroism, not how you judge yourself.

 

[Yung Dramps]

Ok, so for months now I've been going back and forth with myself on whether to do a critical analysis on why I don't like the works of a prominent DB fan manga writer/artist. Is this worth it or is it just too niche and petty even if I do it respectfully. They didn't do anything bad, I just don't like their work lol.

 

[StormyStinger]

Ok, so for months now I've been going back and forth with myself on whether to do a critical analysis on why I don't like the works of a prominent DB fan manga writer/artist. Is this worth it or is it just too niche and petty even if I do it respectfully. They didn't do anything bad, I just don't like their work lol.

Well, you could always consider asking the writer privately if they'd be okay with it if your unsure if it'd go down well with them.

As for if it's too niche, I for one would read your analysis if I have the time.

 

[Yung Dramps]

Well, you could always consider asking the writer privately if they'd be okay with it if your unsure if it'd go down well with them.

As for if it's too niche, I for one would read your analysis if I have the time.

Oh no lol I'm not worried about personally offending them. I think I'll go through with it eventually tbh.

 

[StormyStinger]

Does anyone have an idea how to refer to someone a character physically bumps into?

The best I can think of is "Bump-ee" but I'm not sure if that feels right?

 

[BackSet]

Question concerning egos: Can someone be heroic even though they have an ego?

Late but yes absolutely some of my favorite characters are heroes with large egos.

 

[CynthiaLover]

I have a question on how to make a certain fight in an upcoming chapter in Shooting Star Rider feel interesting.

For context, I'm getting to the point in the series where the concept of Viron Fusion (where Virons fuse with hosts, usually humans) will be "properly" introduced (it was hinted and only seen in shadows at the end of an earlier chapter). In this case, a Berserker Beta Viron that got away from the gang before will have fused with the ghost and skeleton remains of a long-dead man (which will provide a very interesting yet fun Easter Egg to Pokemon fans). However, because the ghost of the man is a bound ghost, the new Viron Fusion form can't leave the grounds he died on, and fusing with said ghost provides greater benefits than canceling the fusion, so he instead lures potential prey to the location with a rumor about treasure (which, ironically, turns out to be true). The location this all takes place is an abandoned amusement park (with the ground that the amusement park was built on was once at the bottom of the ocean), which eventually leads to the amusement park being hauled onto a ghost ship so the bound ghost Viron can become an "evil, wandering spirit" without actually leaving the grounds.

Now, onto the real question: making the resulting fight interesting. Since he's a bound ghost he's immortal to direct damage, as the ground he died on heals him, thus necessitating more creative thinking in actually defeating him. And in that vein I want to make the fight more interesting. Since the battlefield is an abandoned amusement park should I try to incorporate some of the rides into the fight? And if so what rides should I use? The amusement park ruins possess your standard fare of rides: rollercoasters, a Ferris wheel, bumper cars, basically what you'd see in any amusement park, albeit the rides are more "retro" compared to the more "modern" one the gang has gone to in the past. Should I incorporate the rides into the fight and if so what rides should be used and how? Thanks in advance.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

Does anyone have an idea how to refer to someone a character physically bumps into?

The best I can think of is "Bump-ee" but I'm not sure if that feels right?

I don't think there's a single word for that that doesn't sound awkward. Maybe rephrase whatever it is you're writing?