Dear 5K writer
Mar. 24th, 2019 01:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysavvryl Hello, I hope you have fun with this exchange!
I love reading and have a wide range of tastes, with the genre picks being my favored types. Save one, the one request with 'darkfic' as a genre is mostly due to the canon material already having dark elements and my request focusing on one of them. I do like darkfic when the mood strikes me or with some fandoms, but mostly I prefer more idealistic and optimistic stories. I'm mostly neutral on romance plots and not interested in smut. Also not interested in high levels of gore and violence, but canon-typical violence and discrete bits of gore are generally fine by me. When it comes to games with a choice of protagonist gender, I nearly always go with female to match me. But with fanfic of those games, I'm fine with either protagonist gender.
That should cover the general, so here's some specifics.
Dark Cloud 2 (Lin, Alexandra)
I love this game for having so much to do, being so vibrant, and having lots of colorful characters (even if many of them would benefit from more attention to develop them). It's also very optimistic, changing the world not just in the present and future, but in the past too. I picked two women from this game who I believe have good potential for stories and development, plus I like them both.
Lin: I adore Lin, from her timid teenage self to her playful elder sage self. Her character goes through a bit of development in-game, becoming braver and determined after traveling with Max and Monica, but then it skips a century to where she is the Great Sage (and one of the most lighthearted video game sages I've run across too). It'd be nice to see some of the in-between, including how Balance Valley itself changes from a new town with a strange landscape into the grand temple for the Moon Crystal it becomes.
Also, despite how this whole game is about fixing things through time travel, they give up on trying to save the original Crest from his sacrifice. Lin and Crest are one of the few ships that I favor strongly, so I'd be really excited to see him being saved and they both go on to become Great Sages.
Alexandra: We don't see much of Alexandra in-game, so she seems impossibly sweet and good. Still, she's a queen who lives in a massive and elegant palace, and there's some kind of war or conflict going on that ruins her land. What was happening back in that ancient age? And how did saving her change things? Does she try to escape to a peaceful life or hold onto her rule? I view Alexandra as having a motherly relationship with Sirius, so I'd prefer they not be shipped.
Persona 3 (Protagonist, Thanatos)
I love that this game has you trying to balance a normal school and social life alongside fighting a supernatural threat that leaves people utterly apathetic so they call for the end of the world. And then when that threat manifests, it seems like it's far too much for a bunch of high-schoolers to take on even with the power of their personas. Still, you press on to stop the end of the world anyhow, with the power of friendship to back you up! However, one of the more interesting parts to me is something that's left up to player interpretation: how the protagonist deals with having Death in the form of Thanatos sealed up inside them for years.
I nominated these two separate, although I'm interested in a story about both of them. This is so their relationship is open to whatever interpretation you go with. Also, I have only played through the vanilla NA release, but I am familiar with other versions through LPs. Thus, I don't have a strong preference for the protagonist's name or gender.
My fan theory about this game is that the protagonist is a lot more aware of what's going on than they let on. The meta reason behind why they need things explained to them or don't know the truth about Thanatos is that the player needs these things explained, or not explained so that plot twists are unexpected. But what would be the in-game reasons the protagonist keeps quiet? I believe that they're aware that they're going to die sometime; it fits with the game's motto, plus the personas most related to them (Orpheus, Thanatos, and Messiah) are all related to Death too. And to me, they don't seem surprised at the supposed first time they experience the dark hour, on the way to the dorms. Cautious, maybe, but not frightened or surprised. Then when you consider the in-game social stats, they change a lot over a year.
So what motivates them to change so much? Or return to the area their parents died in? Did they know about the Fall and come back to trigger that, only to change their mind over the year? Or maybe they really don't know these things. How is it then to live with Death inside you, whether you know it or not?
Pokemon (Magikarp Salesman, Original Hoenn Trainer, Original Sinnoh Trainer)
I don't care how popular or niche, easy or difficult, any game is. What matters to me is how fun the game is to me and if it inspires me. So Pokemon is a series I keep returning to to play through, write fanfiction, and read fanfiction. I was most into Pokemon games around the third and fourth gens, so although I've played through the main series in each generation so far, Hoenn and Sinnoh feel most nostalgic to me. So I'd like to see a story set in one of those regions. Maybe a small plot, maybe part of a bigger one, just something there.
Except, of course, for the famed Magikarp Salesman who could show up in those two regions but could really show up wherever. If you take in-game lore into account, things like Pokemon evolution and potential are little understood by the average person. So is the Salesman aware that Magikarp has the potential to become the really powerful Gyarados, or is he just out to make a quick buck with an easy scheme? Does his scam come back to bite him? And what other Pokemon-related scams might he be up to?
Animal Crossing (K.K. Slider, Animal Villagers- Peppy, Normal, and/or Lazy)
Animal Crossing is the video game equivalent of chicken soup, just a nice comfort game that helps me feel more positive about things.
K.K. is one of my favorite AC characters, so laid back and chill but he must be passionate about music. He's also quite talented in being able to cover so many music genres with just a guitar and his voice. It's fun to listen to him in a cafe, or dance way far into the night when he's being a DJ. But, the most striking image I have of him is from the Gamecube version, where he showed up at the train station when the stars were shining, or when rain or snow was falling, just to play music for whoever came up to him. He seemed very indie back then, passing out a free aircheck weekly as long as you showed up to listen. Now in New Leaf, you can buy his music in stores and he has a permanent music job in the club, so how did that change come to be?
As for the villagers, they're personalities I love and always want to have one or two in my towns. The Normal girls include most of my favorites; they're so warm and kind, while also being the lone sane person in a town full of crazies most of the time. My current New Leaf town has Sally, but I always hope to see Mitzi or Coco move in. The Peppy girls bring so much spirit into a town and are great for cheering people up, or completely annoying them with their energy. I currently have Twiggy as my Peppy girl, but I don't have a strong attachment to her and might replace her if she wants to move; I don't favor any particular Peppy girl, but the town never feels right if I don't have any around. And with the Lazy boys, I find them hilarious and so imaginative. I currently have Drago and Doc as my Lazy boys, though really I've never run into a Lazy I didn't like. A story focusing on one of these types, or maybe some crazy times with all three, would be great!
Also, I have a little challenge exercise that I've done with Animal Crossing before. Start up a week-long game journal for an Animal Crossing town you're playing, where you record what your neighbors do or say in that time: their conversations with you, their requests, random actions like fishing or shaking trees, talking with others and how they emote afterward. After the week is up, come up with a story based on the journal. Maybe expand on a problem or conversation they had. Maybe the random conversation generator came up with something wild (I have not forgotten 'creamed spinach karate' or getting stuck in a mire of molasses from a magazine maze game). Have fun with this one if you decide to do it!
I love reading and have a wide range of tastes, with the genre picks being my favored types. Save one, the one request with 'darkfic' as a genre is mostly due to the canon material already having dark elements and my request focusing on one of them. I do like darkfic when the mood strikes me or with some fandoms, but mostly I prefer more idealistic and optimistic stories. I'm mostly neutral on romance plots and not interested in smut. Also not interested in high levels of gore and violence, but canon-typical violence and discrete bits of gore are generally fine by me. When it comes to games with a choice of protagonist gender, I nearly always go with female to match me. But with fanfic of those games, I'm fine with either protagonist gender.
That should cover the general, so here's some specifics.
Dark Cloud 2 (Lin, Alexandra)
I love this game for having so much to do, being so vibrant, and having lots of colorful characters (even if many of them would benefit from more attention to develop them). It's also very optimistic, changing the world not just in the present and future, but in the past too. I picked two women from this game who I believe have good potential for stories and development, plus I like them both.
Lin: I adore Lin, from her timid teenage self to her playful elder sage self. Her character goes through a bit of development in-game, becoming braver and determined after traveling with Max and Monica, but then it skips a century to where she is the Great Sage (and one of the most lighthearted video game sages I've run across too). It'd be nice to see some of the in-between, including how Balance Valley itself changes from a new town with a strange landscape into the grand temple for the Moon Crystal it becomes.
Also, despite how this whole game is about fixing things through time travel, they give up on trying to save the original Crest from his sacrifice. Lin and Crest are one of the few ships that I favor strongly, so I'd be really excited to see him being saved and they both go on to become Great Sages.
Alexandra: We don't see much of Alexandra in-game, so she seems impossibly sweet and good. Still, she's a queen who lives in a massive and elegant palace, and there's some kind of war or conflict going on that ruins her land. What was happening back in that ancient age? And how did saving her change things? Does she try to escape to a peaceful life or hold onto her rule? I view Alexandra as having a motherly relationship with Sirius, so I'd prefer they not be shipped.
Persona 3 (Protagonist, Thanatos)
I love that this game has you trying to balance a normal school and social life alongside fighting a supernatural threat that leaves people utterly apathetic so they call for the end of the world. And then when that threat manifests, it seems like it's far too much for a bunch of high-schoolers to take on even with the power of their personas. Still, you press on to stop the end of the world anyhow, with the power of friendship to back you up! However, one of the more interesting parts to me is something that's left up to player interpretation: how the protagonist deals with having Death in the form of Thanatos sealed up inside them for years.
I nominated these two separate, although I'm interested in a story about both of them. This is so their relationship is open to whatever interpretation you go with. Also, I have only played through the vanilla NA release, but I am familiar with other versions through LPs. Thus, I don't have a strong preference for the protagonist's name or gender.
My fan theory about this game is that the protagonist is a lot more aware of what's going on than they let on. The meta reason behind why they need things explained to them or don't know the truth about Thanatos is that the player needs these things explained, or not explained so that plot twists are unexpected. But what would be the in-game reasons the protagonist keeps quiet? I believe that they're aware that they're going to die sometime; it fits with the game's motto, plus the personas most related to them (Orpheus, Thanatos, and Messiah) are all related to Death too. And to me, they don't seem surprised at the supposed first time they experience the dark hour, on the way to the dorms. Cautious, maybe, but not frightened or surprised. Then when you consider the in-game social stats, they change a lot over a year.
So what motivates them to change so much? Or return to the area their parents died in? Did they know about the Fall and come back to trigger that, only to change their mind over the year? Or maybe they really don't know these things. How is it then to live with Death inside you, whether you know it or not?
Pokemon (Magikarp Salesman, Original Hoenn Trainer, Original Sinnoh Trainer)
I don't care how popular or niche, easy or difficult, any game is. What matters to me is how fun the game is to me and if it inspires me. So Pokemon is a series I keep returning to to play through, write fanfiction, and read fanfiction. I was most into Pokemon games around the third and fourth gens, so although I've played through the main series in each generation so far, Hoenn and Sinnoh feel most nostalgic to me. So I'd like to see a story set in one of those regions. Maybe a small plot, maybe part of a bigger one, just something there.
Except, of course, for the famed Magikarp Salesman who could show up in those two regions but could really show up wherever. If you take in-game lore into account, things like Pokemon evolution and potential are little understood by the average person. So is the Salesman aware that Magikarp has the potential to become the really powerful Gyarados, or is he just out to make a quick buck with an easy scheme? Does his scam come back to bite him? And what other Pokemon-related scams might he be up to?
Animal Crossing (K.K. Slider, Animal Villagers- Peppy, Normal, and/or Lazy)
Animal Crossing is the video game equivalent of chicken soup, just a nice comfort game that helps me feel more positive about things.
K.K. is one of my favorite AC characters, so laid back and chill but he must be passionate about music. He's also quite talented in being able to cover so many music genres with just a guitar and his voice. It's fun to listen to him in a cafe, or dance way far into the night when he's being a DJ. But, the most striking image I have of him is from the Gamecube version, where he showed up at the train station when the stars were shining, or when rain or snow was falling, just to play music for whoever came up to him. He seemed very indie back then, passing out a free aircheck weekly as long as you showed up to listen. Now in New Leaf, you can buy his music in stores and he has a permanent music job in the club, so how did that change come to be?
As for the villagers, they're personalities I love and always want to have one or two in my towns. The Normal girls include most of my favorites; they're so warm and kind, while also being the lone sane person in a town full of crazies most of the time. My current New Leaf town has Sally, but I always hope to see Mitzi or Coco move in. The Peppy girls bring so much spirit into a town and are great for cheering people up, or completely annoying them with their energy. I currently have Twiggy as my Peppy girl, but I don't have a strong attachment to her and might replace her if she wants to move; I don't favor any particular Peppy girl, but the town never feels right if I don't have any around. And with the Lazy boys, I find them hilarious and so imaginative. I currently have Drago and Doc as my Lazy boys, though really I've never run into a Lazy I didn't like. A story focusing on one of these types, or maybe some crazy times with all three, would be great!
Also, I have a little challenge exercise that I've done with Animal Crossing before. Start up a week-long game journal for an Animal Crossing town you're playing, where you record what your neighbors do or say in that time: their conversations with you, their requests, random actions like fishing or shaking trees, talking with others and how they emote afterward. After the week is up, come up with a story based on the journal. Maybe expand on a problem or conversation they had. Maybe the random conversation generator came up with something wild (I have not forgotten 'creamed spinach karate' or getting stuck in a mire of molasses from a magazine maze game). Have fun with this one if you decide to do it!
