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Mar. 10th, 2014 04:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dmxratedSo, I've been having another pair of simultaneous discussions between Jake and Chelle regarding storybuilding. Nothing too special with Chelle, just her finally getting through to me that storywriting is about character development and growth. Regarding Jake, though, I asked him to ask his friend Zerodius about the purpose of each part of Earthbound's plot that isn't directly related to any of the Sanctuary locations.
According to Jake, here is everything that Zerodius has had to say regarding Earthbound:
A major theme of the game is humorous, little scenes that build up to form a greater, coherent narrative, actually fitting the main theme of the game. Said main theme is *growing up*.
With the Sharks, the point is that Giygas' influence is not just direct; just his being 'around' leads things to grow more dangerous and vicious. In the case of the animals, it's obvious, but in the Sharks, it's them being the lowest and weakest 'evil' humans in the scale (probably not even really evil, just mean), and yet being driven to terrorizing the town. Ness beating them up isn't just to get to Giant's Step; it's because a sign of heroism is to do what it's right, even if it's the little things. In this case, stopping the Sharks may not really have changed anything in Onett itself in the long run... but he still helped a bunch of thugs change their lives and turn into good people.
Everdred is there to show that the answers aren't just 'right and wrong'. He's the boss of Burglin' Park, he's a shifty guy, people think he's the one who kidnapped Paula... But not only did he have nothing to do with that, but despite being a criminal and not a good person, he's not Evil. And he's capable of being a decent person, even then. Not only that, but it's what allows the endgame thematic to work out. Paula's Pray works because of Ness forming bonds with everyone. Even the people who nobody would accept.
Apple Kid: It's a moral lesson. You'd think Orange Kid is the best inventor, what with being rich-ish, popular, cool, and all... But while Apple Kid is a poor loser with hygiene and hunger problems and who nobody likes, he also happens to be actually competent and creates inventions that happen to be useful on your trip. In short, 'don't judge a book by its cover'.
A point [the Runaway Five] makes is that, just as much as Giygas is the embodiment of corruption and darkness, they're the embodiment of hope and happiness thanks to their songs. Thus, why their music is strong enough to overcome the ghosts and zombies.
Related to that, the zombie plague is to display how utterly evil Giygas' powers are: He's not just corrupting humans, he's bringing back the dead and having them attack humans, and even creating monsters. As he puts it, "He drains the life out of the very world and reduces it to a mockery of itself, inhabited by mockeries of people."
Regarding Jeff, he simplifies it as such: Ness and Paula know there are four heroes who need to work together to stop Giygas. They, however, are trapped in a cave with no way out that they can think of. They don't know where Jeff is, or even *who* he is. Neither does the player, to that matter. But they know he's someone who can help them. So when Paula tries contacting someone, *anyone* who can help them, 'Destiny' lets Jeff answer the call.
As for the capture event in itself? It's to show that the zombies *aren't* your standard, mindless variety, and capable of scheming. In other words, Giygas' creations.
Bubble Monkey is there to foreshadow the connection between Ness and the Monkeys, and also to explain how Jeff makes it that far.
[Lake Tess is] there to show how different that part of the world is from the rest of the world. And a reference to a real life location, like Stonehenge, in a level.
[Actually, it has occurred to me that Lake Tess also exists to ensure that you recruit Bubble Monkey from the drugstore in front of Snow Wood Boarding House. As just specified, he is a foreshadowing character, and without him, you can't summon Tessie and cross the lake. It's possible that the developers might have added the lake in as an obstacle after the story was already developed; ditto for certain other obstacles such as the iron pencil statues.]
[Tessie herself is] It's a Nessie expy. It helps you because it's intelligent.
For Brick Road... as he put it, he's there more as an in-joke for the devs and to allow for commentary on dungeon structure and such. It's kinda like the Celadon Building. Still, because he's amusing, he doesn't think removing him would improve the game.
After that point, Jake told me that he couldn't go on any more, and to sum it up, he emailed me the following from him:
Because the guy wanted to tell a story.
This is the shortest explanation but I will elaborate a bit.
With the Mother games, the goal is not for a generic quest. And that stems from two radically different goals. In Dragon Quest, the journey is the point. As in, the whole point is to beat up monsters, level-up, and beat up enemies with bloated stats eventually. 'Save the world' is an excuse to move to the next set of targets. And 'this town has X problem' is the excuse to stop at a town beyond buying equipment.
The Mother games tell a cohesive story with a clear beginning, events linking everything, that eventually lead to the end. With Earthbound, this is noticeable but in Mother 3, it's pretty much blatant that the game's structure is divided more into 'chapters' than in 'stages'. (Earthbound still separate events by location. Mother 3 echew this completely ; it's the game world that changes instead. Though you still move from area to area, the journey actually make you tread a lot less ground than Earthbound)
To summarize...
In Dragon Quest, the point is to beat up bad guys.
In Earthbound, this is Ness's journey.
Jake himself added:
The comparison to Dragon Quest comes because of your asking being derived from that 'simplified list' you've been bringing up. They were a story first, and a game second, where Dragon Quest is a game first, and a story second.
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Now, let's compare that to everything I've thought up to date for Starbound. Admittedly, some things are inspired directly from the Earthbound trilogy, but most things aren't. Also, I'm just listing what inspired each element, and since the story in general is still relatively undeveloped, there is lots of room to give an actual purpose to anything that doesn't currently have one.
0) Themes: A major one is that the world is not so simplistic as people render it for fiction. There is more to it than the countries people can immediately think of. There's more to a country than the cities that people go to on vacation or the things or concepts that people normally associate it with. People look, act, and dress much more diversely in any given place than TV will lead you to believe, and the clothes they wear during regular activities (as opposed to special occasions) will usually run along similar lines as anywhere else, such as business suits for office jobs, or different kinds of shirts and skirts, shorts, or pants for leisurely activities.
Admittedly, some might argue that trying to make the people inhabiting the various countries the party will visit realistic would go against the Earthbound spirit. However, keep in mind that Japan, the country in which Lucky Star was produced and is set, is as easy to reduce to The Theme Park Version (which The Simpsons did) as each Gundam pilot except for Domon Kasshu in Mobile Fighter G Gundam had been to a Captain Ethnic of the country they represent. Quite frankly, it wouldn't be fair to the rest of the world that Japan be the only country not reduced to its "essentials". A general rule here, is that everyone is to be treated as equally as possible.
And, before anyone asks, Patricia Martin is not a Captain Ethnic. Despite the stereotypical blue eyes and blonde hair she sports as the show's token American, she is nothing more than an otaku who sees Japan as a mecha for anime and related fetishes such as for maids or miko, and fails to appreciate it for what it really is.)
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Speaking of equality, there's also the fact that canon characters tend to have established acquaintances or experiences to refer to, while OCs don't, and even those of the former are limited. With the latter, twelve hours worth of stuff that happened throughout a year and a half was covered. We started out with Tsukasa, Kagami, Konata, and Miyuki. Kagami in particular is revealed to be friends with two others named Ayano and Misao. Konata's cousin comes to live with her, and makes friends with Minami (who lives next door from Miyuki), Patricia (who works the same part-time job as Konata), and Hiyori. The manga goes even further, establishing Izumi as the representative of Yutaka's class, Tamaki and Miku as friends of Izumi's, and Kou as the president of the Animation Research Club in which Hiyori, Tamaki, and Miku participate among others. Such, needless to say, is not the case with original characters.
While references to canon characters or events might sometimes be justified or even necessary, they really should be kept to a minimum, for the simple reason of fairness to OCs who don't have anything canon to refer to or interact with.
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Chelle has also made the following suggestion about the value of different life forms:
They've just seen aggressive animals that wore sunglasses, so now they might have a bit of curiosity on what this means for all animals and how the sentience is affected. That kind of theme can be referred back to later on when the aliens are asked for justification, or even later when it comes to Philosoma being used by the villains.
She had also suggested that the girls come of age, since that was a common theme throughout the Earthbound trilogy. Even in-story, Ichirobei mentions that one's true self is brought out in times of crisis, and concepts such as Tsukasa gaining a backbone and Miyuki becoming more alert and less accident-prone are definitely up there.
1) Rokuna and her friends: Rokuna herself entered the fic as a result of me learning that amethyst used to be one of four cardinal gemstones (five if you count diamond) alongside ruby, sapphire, and emerald. Her friends were originally conceived when I had her mentioning towards the end of chapter 3 that she has three her age with long enough hair to be updone, originally for the purpose of keeping the Magé Stones' selection criteria a mystery. And Yamazaki is there to ensure that Rokuna had at least one guy (other than her father) to be slightly embarrassed in front of when her friends comment on her hair when it gets updone.
That said, yeah, I'm probably gonna need a reason why Yamazaki should remain home with Rokuna's other friends. Rin, Junko, and Chitose were originally expecting to choose a Magé Stone each and weild the powers that they contain, but Yamazaki, like Tsukasa, had no such chance and would've had to make a different contribution anyway. And no, he cannot be some kind of jerkass, nor do I want him (or anyone else) killed off this early in the story. Perhaps Rokuna would've brought him for the same reason why Konata and Miyuki suggested letting Tsukasa come along, because he has no other real friends outside Rokuna's circle and might have been unable to make any before they entered his life. Or, maybe the other girls still need him themselves for whatever reason, since Rokuna can't bring all of them and didn't want to single anyone out.
What to do with him...?
2) Kendo: Only makes sense that Rokuna learn some way to fight in preparation for her role in the world.
3) Rokuna's birthday: Inspired initially from the gift boxes that you see everywhere in the Earthbound trilogy. At some point, I was hoping to include the use of different items from the games throughout the fic, and the girls' departure from Rokuna's house would have originally had Ichirobei advising them to check every box they come across and make creative use of their contents.
Originally, I didn't have any real plans at all to write about the beginning of things from Rokuna's perspective. Starting with Yamazaki at the end of the third main chapter, I was originally planning on having each of Rokuna's friends meet the party at separate points during the same day while they take care of things around town. This probably won't be necessary now that they've been established, but they'll get another chance to appear later on.
4) The main fic's first scene: A combination of the first chapter from volume 5 of the manga and Ayano's inter-chapter appearance in volume 6. Also there to ease the readers into things.
5) The poltergeist and the following events: Even though I do otherwise want the whole fic's plot to be original, I did want to capture the feeling you get when, in Earthbound, you walk out with Pokey and King in the calm of the night to find Picky. The way I ended up mirroring the beginning events of both that game and its prequel just came naturally.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abTaRhOCv5U
6) Garlic: Canon to Mon Colle Knights, and in this case, a better way than any to convince Kagami to bring Tsukasa along for the journey, since she knows how to cook much better than Rokuna.
7) Nanako: The cutaway to her at the end of chapter 2 seemed like a better way than any to end the chapter when I did so, because she is a frequent player of the same Internet RPG that Konata plays and signed onto to bid everyone farewell.
8) Gyopi and the pet store: Gyopi has been canon since his capture by Kagami at the summer festival in episode 5. Naturally, Kagami asks her older sisters to watch over him at the end of chapter 2, and explains how to take care of him.
Also worth mentioning is that, upon reading the first draft of the completed chapter, Chelle explained what more there is to taking care of a goldfish, and also assumed he'd be living inside a bowl or tank. I showed her a scene in episode 15 where Kagami feeds the fish, and she commented that the pond's lack of an ecosystem is gonna bring him to an early death. With that, we already have an idea of something to make happen before revealing the first mana spot's location.
As to where things go after the girls arrive at the store, Jake suggested that some kid might have stolen something from there, Yamazaki saw him, the girls know who to look for upon reading his mind, and them catching up to the kid could lead to something else. Chelle, however, suggested that whatever had possessed the animals in the woods is also affecting the ones inside the store, and now they've taken it over. (The Starman Jr. that was stalking the girls the previous night was responsible for the former, though there could definitely be a different alien causing the latter.)
9) The beach: This will be where the party will find its first mana spot, in the form of a seashell-shaped rock formation, before entering Magicant for the first time. Chose that form in particular as a reference to Earthbound Zero, and also to let Konata compare it to a chocolate cornet. Chose the location because Water is the best element for it to complement, and also to make some real use of Nanako, since she lives in the same prefecture (Kanagawa) where she and Yui took the main four to the beach for the anime's sixth episode.
10) Magicant: A means by which the party will travel directly to different parts of the world without having to board planes too often (especially since they're not supposed to know immediately after one mana spot where the next one is). Should also mention that I liked the one in Earthbound Zero better than Earthbound's version, not just aesthetically, but also because that part of EB just feels mildly depressing to me, particularly when you're all alone, save for maybe a Flying Man, upon leaving the populated part of that place. (Somehow, the Cave of the Past, which most would find downright somber and unnerving, doesn't seem to bother me so much.)
11) Don't trust people too easily: Started off with something I was planning for the last main chapter. As Minami recaps the last part of the final battle from the night before, which involves Yutaka, Hiyori starts imagining yet more yuri ideas between them, and then catches herself and frets. Miyuki senses this, and asks if anything's wrong, and the scene cuts off from there. Offpage, Miyuki would've told her that what she fantasizes about is her own business, and has a word with her friends about having gone through her stuff at least once before.
(This is one thing that Chelle advised me to just let go of, since that's all the beginning and end of a recap of things would've led to. At first, I was a bit reluctant to do so, but in hindsight, I probably will, if also for the sake of equal treatment. After all, even if any of the OC mains develop any recurring gags throughout the fic (which is unlikely as that is), whatever friends they'd have obviously won't have enough pagetime to develop anything along the lines of Hiyori kicking herself for her own perverted thoughts or Minami lamenting her lack of a bust.)
At some point earlier on, I thought up a scene that I hoped would imply the aforementioned offpage stuff when one would stop to think about it. Said scene would involve Daví privately having some sexual fantasies about his traveling friends, which Rokuna senses and gets mad at him for, including some kind of physical harm inflicted upon him. Kagami calls her out for whatever she would do to him, while Miyuki consoles him and tells him that it's okay for one to fantasize about whoever they want, provided they keep it to themselves.
It is from talking to Jake about the possible situation that he decided that learning not to trust people too easily is something that needs to be dropped for once, instead of "learn to open up to people."
12) Points visited so far:
-Great Britain: the country where my father's family comes from.
-Brazil: Jake's home country.
-Turkey: In tribute to Dad's friends Hamit and Behiya Bunyat back when he was working in Patchogue. Not that I interacted all that much with those two people, but they are the reason we ever tried out Turkish food.
-Bermuda: Home to my Aunt Tracy and Uncle Steve.
-Long Island (Daví): Part of New York State in which I live. Since canon character Patricia Martin never did specify where in America she lived before coming to Japan, I've decided that this is where she'll have lived (and worked part-time at Hooters with Desiré and others).
-Virginia (Miyuki): Home to my Grandma Barbara, Aunt Marie, Uncle Ray, and Cousin David.
-Connecticut (Konata): Relatively close to Long Island, where she will meet with Daví and end up working at Hooters, and also for nostalgic reasons (two different times covered in the same entry).
-The points where Rokuna (Canada), Maria (Libya), Nursen (Sudan), Kagami (Saudi Arabia), and Tsukasa (India) will be forcibly relocated to from Bermuda were decided based on RandomInteger and Google Maps, as have been any subsequent dropoff locations following the New Year's festival for that year. Incidentally, Sudan is a great place to showcase a certain war that had already been going on even before the aliens came, and Canada itself will tie in with something else.
13) The Chimera Laboratory: The aliens will do anything and everything short of nukes to eliminate as much of humanity as they deem necessary. This includes creating chimeras, which have to come from somewhere, and the one that Rokuna (and Claire before her) come across is probably just one among many worldwide.
14) Tristan: Put bluntly, an excuse to have some of the girls to change a male infant's diaper. The lack of any other people (or even any aliens) in the town which Miyuki finds him was inspired from Earthbound Zero, where all the adults of Youngtown have been abducted to Mt. Itoi, leaving their children to fend for themselves. This case will probably remain a mystery even through the end of things.
15) Desiré: Part of a four-way tie-in. She and her father are illegal immigrants from Guadalajara, Mexico, looking for work and a better life. Konata, Miyuki, and Daví were forcibly dragged to America from Bermuda during a battle, and just need to regroup with their separated friends wherever they are. Konata and Miyuki actually live in Japan, while Daví lives in Brazil. And while Desiré had crossed the southern border into America, Rokuna and Claire will be coming in through the northern border to regroup with their friends. (The illegal immigrant situation in America also has a reference planned for it during the finale.)
16) Hooters: Jake's idea to begin with. This, being a fake one, is where the aliens would operate some kind of underground factory beyond the storeroom, and also to hypnotize Konata and Miyuki into working there as Hooters Girls instead of searching for their friends.
17) Back in school for a week: Put simply, this is an arc I'm hoping will be dedicated to everyone canon to the franchise beyond the main four (as well as Rokuna's OC friends). In general, this has mainly to do with 1) opening up the possibility that, should anything spin off from this fic, the remaining two gemstones will pic one or two characters with long enough hair for it, and 2) increasing the attention they get in the fanbase. Chelle did say that we could cross that bridge when the time comes, but in the meantime, I probably could give them their own fics altogether. Such is exactly why I wrote Birthday of Destiny as the first of several short stories to showcase a few minor characters each.
-Minoru Shiraishi: Mostly about enabling him to be present at a party that Miyuki's parents and Ichirobei will hold after the final battle, since he is a recurring character in the anime. Since none of the other canon characters are really actually friends with him, it's up to one of my OCs to befriend him during their possible time at school.
-Izumi, Kou, Tamaki, and Miku: Especially the latter two, but worth noting is that none of the main four have ever exchanged a word between these four. Kou is known in the manga to challenge Konata at a fighting game at the arcade, but only when the latter is already playing. Konata once did spot Izumi in the hallway shortly after graduating, sensing her as a fellow otaku, but that's about it.
If mainly to remain consistent with that, it might be best if one or more of the OCs befriended them first. Incidentally, though, Yutaka's birthday just so happens to be December 20, less than a week before Winter Break, and since she does befriend them in the manga, that might also be a good opportunity for them all to meet one another (and as a bonus, to also foreshadow her importance in the endgame).
Edit (3/14/14): If the two groups haven't already, it's quite possible that they will meet one another during a future volume in the manga. Having read a thread on LSSF about the differences between the anime and the manga, there are several strips late in the latter's fourth volume where Kagami introduces Ayano and Misao to the other mains and vice versa. This is never shown in the anime, and they never do show any direct interaction with each other, although Misao and Ayano have been to Kagami's house at least once, have participated with all of them in Patricia's cheerleading number, and Misao does mention Konata a few times (referring to her as "Shorty") and witnesses Kagami lending Tsukasa a textbook one time. (To say nothing of a certain OAV segment, which is all just a dream anyway.)
18) The Hunt Club: Most likely not going through, but worth noting nonetheless. Coming off from Daví about trusting people cautiously, I was reminded of a line from Bonds, in which Konata mentions that, because of this group that consists mostly of the upper-class students at Ryouou, she had taken a while to trust Miyuki before they became friends. From there, I thought it would be interesting if, during the girls’ time back in Japan, they used their sixth senses to dig up all the Club’s secrets and use them all against them.
Turned out that such a feat would’ve suddenly become too easy with the girls’ sixth senses. Not only that, but it just seems kinda cheap to use some paranormal powers to defeat something that originated in a fic with no supernatural stuff to speak of. And, to begin with, the whole point of Bonds was that, in such situations involving bullies and mass murder as the fic revolved around, people are often left to draw their own closure on things.
For that reason, I did bring up the possibility with Chelle the other day, about giving the Club its own fic to take place before the anime. However, after specifying it as a way to deal with my issues with Bonds itself, the two of us agreed that it would probably be best just to put the whole thing behind me instead.
(On a side note, Izumi's parents insisting that she inherit their company when they retire instead of doing what she likes and becoming a cook when she grows up would also be an interesting thing to tie in with Rokuna voluntarily having taken up kendo for the sake of Shigesato and Mikami's legacy instead of choosing something preferable to herself. However, part of the former *did* have to do with her unnamed older brother, according to Bonds, having been removed from society after getting into drugs. Canonically, he has made at least two appearances as an upstanding person, and I would prefer to keep things that way. Ditto for Misao, who was only a bully according to Bonds, not in canon.)
In any case, the Hunt Club was going to be the primary factor that would bring everyone at Ryouou High School together. With them scrapped, we’re gonna need something else to fulfill that purpose. But, like Chelle said, we can cross that bridge when it’s time.
19) The Miyakawa sisters: This is meant to equate to one of those times in Earthbound, when you’re supposed to select a food item in your inventory to give to someone. From there, I actually managed to devise a whole scene involving them, although I do have yet to actually write it. Plotwise, they will be the ones to first mention Akira Kogami while spending some time with the mains at the cosplay cafe, clueing them in on who is most likely in trouble according to a previous, cryptic line stating “The idol will be seized.”
20) Bosspilder/Ivo: Stems back from when Chelle and I were discussing who or what the Big Bad should be. I described roughly what Giygas and Pokey’s motivations were as the main villains throughout the Earthbound trilogy, and since the latter’s is sometimes said to be “because he was bored”, Chelle replied with "So, someone who just wants to be evil? I don't have much to say about that." The discussion didn’t end there, but that line left a pretty bad taste in my mouth.
Therefore, while there is no single Big Bad for the fic, and while most of them are in for the benefit of the Philosomans, there is one whose deeds actually are for his own amusement, but they are very specific. Namely, “Break the Cutie,” where he takes cute, innocent-looking moe girls between the ages of five and 25, and puts them through all kinds of physical and psychological torture ending only in death.
There. I feel better now.
21) The capture and demise of Akira: Put simply, Akira is by far my least favorite character in the franchise, and I would like her not to appear in any fansequels should this fic spawn any. I know she wasn’t treated too well herself, save by her friends in the manga’s Akira Nation, but I’m not gonna let it be an excuse for the way she treated Minoru in the anime’s Lucky Channel segments.
22) Germany and M: Germany happens to be where Chelle used to live. Having once waged a war of conquest and genocide on the rest of Europe sixty years ago, parts of it are now fighting a defensive one against the Philosomans. There are also alien factions that the humans living there are fighting alongside, who oppose the humanicide that other factions believe is in the best interests of Philosoman life.
23) The New Year's festival: A special night of the year, and a better time than any for an event to take place that a series of cryptic messages could lead up to.
24) Yamato: Role based off of the one she had in Ryouou Gakuen Outousai. There is something she has been sent to Ryouou High School by an unspecified entity to bring the mains to, but something something is implanted into her somewhere that makes sure she forgets until the time is right. Exactly what she needs to lead the party to has yet to be confirmed.
25) The number 12: My personal magic number, based on the twelve birthstones of the Gregorian calendar, which was inspired from Dark Cloud and is in turn the basis for the Magé Stones. Also the number of elements in a system based on such things as Monster Collection and Digimon Frontier, consisting of Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Thunder, Ice, Life, Metal, Light, Shadow, Time, and Space.
26) Yutaka's role in the endgame: Mainly to show how truly despicable Bosspilder/Ivo is, by seizing not only someone who looks particularly childlike for her age and extremely ill and weak, but whom Konata (one of the initial party members) and Minami (who joined the party while making her own way from Tokyo to save her, as opposed to being abducted) both care deeply for, as the last captive whose suffering he'll be able to enjoy. Never mind that he has lots of girls rounded up at Rokuna’s school to choose from upon being forced by the party and his fellow generals to flee to Philosoma.
According to Jake, here is everything that Zerodius has had to say regarding Earthbound:
A major theme of the game is humorous, little scenes that build up to form a greater, coherent narrative, actually fitting the main theme of the game. Said main theme is *growing up*.
With the Sharks, the point is that Giygas' influence is not just direct; just his being 'around' leads things to grow more dangerous and vicious. In the case of the animals, it's obvious, but in the Sharks, it's them being the lowest and weakest 'evil' humans in the scale (probably not even really evil, just mean), and yet being driven to terrorizing the town. Ness beating them up isn't just to get to Giant's Step; it's because a sign of heroism is to do what it's right, even if it's the little things. In this case, stopping the Sharks may not really have changed anything in Onett itself in the long run... but he still helped a bunch of thugs change their lives and turn into good people.
Everdred is there to show that the answers aren't just 'right and wrong'. He's the boss of Burglin' Park, he's a shifty guy, people think he's the one who kidnapped Paula... But not only did he have nothing to do with that, but despite being a criminal and not a good person, he's not Evil. And he's capable of being a decent person, even then. Not only that, but it's what allows the endgame thematic to work out. Paula's Pray works because of Ness forming bonds with everyone. Even the people who nobody would accept.
Apple Kid: It's a moral lesson. You'd think Orange Kid is the best inventor, what with being rich-ish, popular, cool, and all... But while Apple Kid is a poor loser with hygiene and hunger problems and who nobody likes, he also happens to be actually competent and creates inventions that happen to be useful on your trip. In short, 'don't judge a book by its cover'.
A point [the Runaway Five] makes is that, just as much as Giygas is the embodiment of corruption and darkness, they're the embodiment of hope and happiness thanks to their songs. Thus, why their music is strong enough to overcome the ghosts and zombies.
Related to that, the zombie plague is to display how utterly evil Giygas' powers are: He's not just corrupting humans, he's bringing back the dead and having them attack humans, and even creating monsters. As he puts it, "He drains the life out of the very world and reduces it to a mockery of itself, inhabited by mockeries of people."
Regarding Jeff, he simplifies it as such: Ness and Paula know there are four heroes who need to work together to stop Giygas. They, however, are trapped in a cave with no way out that they can think of. They don't know where Jeff is, or even *who* he is. Neither does the player, to that matter. But they know he's someone who can help them. So when Paula tries contacting someone, *anyone* who can help them, 'Destiny' lets Jeff answer the call.
As for the capture event in itself? It's to show that the zombies *aren't* your standard, mindless variety, and capable of scheming. In other words, Giygas' creations.
Bubble Monkey is there to foreshadow the connection between Ness and the Monkeys, and also to explain how Jeff makes it that far.
[Lake Tess is] there to show how different that part of the world is from the rest of the world. And a reference to a real life location, like Stonehenge, in a level.
[Actually, it has occurred to me that Lake Tess also exists to ensure that you recruit Bubble Monkey from the drugstore in front of Snow Wood Boarding House. As just specified, he is a foreshadowing character, and without him, you can't summon Tessie and cross the lake. It's possible that the developers might have added the lake in as an obstacle after the story was already developed; ditto for certain other obstacles such as the iron pencil statues.]
[Tessie herself is] It's a Nessie expy. It helps you because it's intelligent.
For Brick Road... as he put it, he's there more as an in-joke for the devs and to allow for commentary on dungeon structure and such. It's kinda like the Celadon Building. Still, because he's amusing, he doesn't think removing him would improve the game.
After that point, Jake told me that he couldn't go on any more, and to sum it up, he emailed me the following from him:
Because the guy wanted to tell a story.
This is the shortest explanation but I will elaborate a bit.
With the Mother games, the goal is not for a generic quest. And that stems from two radically different goals. In Dragon Quest, the journey is the point. As in, the whole point is to beat up monsters, level-up, and beat up enemies with bloated stats eventually. 'Save the world' is an excuse to move to the next set of targets. And 'this town has X problem' is the excuse to stop at a town beyond buying equipment.
The Mother games tell a cohesive story with a clear beginning, events linking everything, that eventually lead to the end. With Earthbound, this is noticeable but in Mother 3, it's pretty much blatant that the game's structure is divided more into 'chapters' than in 'stages'. (Earthbound still separate events by location. Mother 3 echew this completely ; it's the game world that changes instead. Though you still move from area to area, the journey actually make you tread a lot less ground than Earthbound)
To summarize...
In Dragon Quest, the point is to beat up bad guys.
In Earthbound, this is Ness's journey.
Jake himself added:
The comparison to Dragon Quest comes because of your asking being derived from that 'simplified list' you've been bringing up. They were a story first, and a game second, where Dragon Quest is a game first, and a story second.
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Now, let's compare that to everything I've thought up to date for Starbound. Admittedly, some things are inspired directly from the Earthbound trilogy, but most things aren't. Also, I'm just listing what inspired each element, and since the story in general is still relatively undeveloped, there is lots of room to give an actual purpose to anything that doesn't currently have one.
0) Themes: A major one is that the world is not so simplistic as people render it for fiction. There is more to it than the countries people can immediately think of. There's more to a country than the cities that people go to on vacation or the things or concepts that people normally associate it with. People look, act, and dress much more diversely in any given place than TV will lead you to believe, and the clothes they wear during regular activities (as opposed to special occasions) will usually run along similar lines as anywhere else, such as business suits for office jobs, or different kinds of shirts and skirts, shorts, or pants for leisurely activities.
Admittedly, some might argue that trying to make the people inhabiting the various countries the party will visit realistic would go against the Earthbound spirit. However, keep in mind that Japan, the country in which Lucky Star was produced and is set, is as easy to reduce to The Theme Park Version (which The Simpsons did) as each Gundam pilot except for Domon Kasshu in Mobile Fighter G Gundam had been to a Captain Ethnic of the country they represent. Quite frankly, it wouldn't be fair to the rest of the world that Japan be the only country not reduced to its "essentials". A general rule here, is that everyone is to be treated as equally as possible.
And, before anyone asks, Patricia Martin is not a Captain Ethnic. Despite the stereotypical blue eyes and blonde hair she sports as the show's token American, she is nothing more than an otaku who sees Japan as a mecha for anime and related fetishes such as for maids or miko, and fails to appreciate it for what it really is.)
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Speaking of equality, there's also the fact that canon characters tend to have established acquaintances or experiences to refer to, while OCs don't, and even those of the former are limited. With the latter, twelve hours worth of stuff that happened throughout a year and a half was covered. We started out with Tsukasa, Kagami, Konata, and Miyuki. Kagami in particular is revealed to be friends with two others named Ayano and Misao. Konata's cousin comes to live with her, and makes friends with Minami (who lives next door from Miyuki), Patricia (who works the same part-time job as Konata), and Hiyori. The manga goes even further, establishing Izumi as the representative of Yutaka's class, Tamaki and Miku as friends of Izumi's, and Kou as the president of the Animation Research Club in which Hiyori, Tamaki, and Miku participate among others. Such, needless to say, is not the case with original characters.
While references to canon characters or events might sometimes be justified or even necessary, they really should be kept to a minimum, for the simple reason of fairness to OCs who don't have anything canon to refer to or interact with.
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Chelle has also made the following suggestion about the value of different life forms:
They've just seen aggressive animals that wore sunglasses, so now they might have a bit of curiosity on what this means for all animals and how the sentience is affected. That kind of theme can be referred back to later on when the aliens are asked for justification, or even later when it comes to Philosoma being used by the villains.
She had also suggested that the girls come of age, since that was a common theme throughout the Earthbound trilogy. Even in-story, Ichirobei mentions that one's true self is brought out in times of crisis, and concepts such as Tsukasa gaining a backbone and Miyuki becoming more alert and less accident-prone are definitely up there.
1) Rokuna and her friends: Rokuna herself entered the fic as a result of me learning that amethyst used to be one of four cardinal gemstones (five if you count diamond) alongside ruby, sapphire, and emerald. Her friends were originally conceived when I had her mentioning towards the end of chapter 3 that she has three her age with long enough hair to be updone, originally for the purpose of keeping the Magé Stones' selection criteria a mystery. And Yamazaki is there to ensure that Rokuna had at least one guy (other than her father) to be slightly embarrassed in front of when her friends comment on her hair when it gets updone.
That said, yeah, I'm probably gonna need a reason why Yamazaki should remain home with Rokuna's other friends. Rin, Junko, and Chitose were originally expecting to choose a Magé Stone each and weild the powers that they contain, but Yamazaki, like Tsukasa, had no such chance and would've had to make a different contribution anyway. And no, he cannot be some kind of jerkass, nor do I want him (or anyone else) killed off this early in the story. Perhaps Rokuna would've brought him for the same reason why Konata and Miyuki suggested letting Tsukasa come along, because he has no other real friends outside Rokuna's circle and might have been unable to make any before they entered his life. Or, maybe the other girls still need him themselves for whatever reason, since Rokuna can't bring all of them and didn't want to single anyone out.
What to do with him...?
2) Kendo: Only makes sense that Rokuna learn some way to fight in preparation for her role in the world.
3) Rokuna's birthday: Inspired initially from the gift boxes that you see everywhere in the Earthbound trilogy. At some point, I was hoping to include the use of different items from the games throughout the fic, and the girls' departure from Rokuna's house would have originally had Ichirobei advising them to check every box they come across and make creative use of their contents.
Originally, I didn't have any real plans at all to write about the beginning of things from Rokuna's perspective. Starting with Yamazaki at the end of the third main chapter, I was originally planning on having each of Rokuna's friends meet the party at separate points during the same day while they take care of things around town. This probably won't be necessary now that they've been established, but they'll get another chance to appear later on.
4) The main fic's first scene: A combination of the first chapter from volume 5 of the manga and Ayano's inter-chapter appearance in volume 6. Also there to ease the readers into things.
5) The poltergeist and the following events: Even though I do otherwise want the whole fic's plot to be original, I did want to capture the feeling you get when, in Earthbound, you walk out with Pokey and King in the calm of the night to find Picky. The way I ended up mirroring the beginning events of both that game and its prequel just came naturally.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abTaRhOCv5U
6) Garlic: Canon to Mon Colle Knights, and in this case, a better way than any to convince Kagami to bring Tsukasa along for the journey, since she knows how to cook much better than Rokuna.
7) Nanako: The cutaway to her at the end of chapter 2 seemed like a better way than any to end the chapter when I did so, because she is a frequent player of the same Internet RPG that Konata plays and signed onto to bid everyone farewell.
8) Gyopi and the pet store: Gyopi has been canon since his capture by Kagami at the summer festival in episode 5. Naturally, Kagami asks her older sisters to watch over him at the end of chapter 2, and explains how to take care of him.
Also worth mentioning is that, upon reading the first draft of the completed chapter, Chelle explained what more there is to taking care of a goldfish, and also assumed he'd be living inside a bowl or tank. I showed her a scene in episode 15 where Kagami feeds the fish, and she commented that the pond's lack of an ecosystem is gonna bring him to an early death. With that, we already have an idea of something to make happen before revealing the first mana spot's location.
As to where things go after the girls arrive at the store, Jake suggested that some kid might have stolen something from there, Yamazaki saw him, the girls know who to look for upon reading his mind, and them catching up to the kid could lead to something else. Chelle, however, suggested that whatever had possessed the animals in the woods is also affecting the ones inside the store, and now they've taken it over. (The Starman Jr. that was stalking the girls the previous night was responsible for the former, though there could definitely be a different alien causing the latter.)
9) The beach: This will be where the party will find its first mana spot, in the form of a seashell-shaped rock formation, before entering Magicant for the first time. Chose that form in particular as a reference to Earthbound Zero, and also to let Konata compare it to a chocolate cornet. Chose the location because Water is the best element for it to complement, and also to make some real use of Nanako, since she lives in the same prefecture (Kanagawa) where she and Yui took the main four to the beach for the anime's sixth episode.
10) Magicant: A means by which the party will travel directly to different parts of the world without having to board planes too often (especially since they're not supposed to know immediately after one mana spot where the next one is). Should also mention that I liked the one in Earthbound Zero better than Earthbound's version, not just aesthetically, but also because that part of EB just feels mildly depressing to me, particularly when you're all alone, save for maybe a Flying Man, upon leaving the populated part of that place. (Somehow, the Cave of the Past, which most would find downright somber and unnerving, doesn't seem to bother me so much.)
11) Don't trust people too easily: Started off with something I was planning for the last main chapter. As Minami recaps the last part of the final battle from the night before, which involves Yutaka, Hiyori starts imagining yet more yuri ideas between them, and then catches herself and frets. Miyuki senses this, and asks if anything's wrong, and the scene cuts off from there. Offpage, Miyuki would've told her that what she fantasizes about is her own business, and has a word with her friends about having gone through her stuff at least once before.
(This is one thing that Chelle advised me to just let go of, since that's all the beginning and end of a recap of things would've led to. At first, I was a bit reluctant to do so, but in hindsight, I probably will, if also for the sake of equal treatment. After all, even if any of the OC mains develop any recurring gags throughout the fic (which is unlikely as that is), whatever friends they'd have obviously won't have enough pagetime to develop anything along the lines of Hiyori kicking herself for her own perverted thoughts or Minami lamenting her lack of a bust.)
At some point earlier on, I thought up a scene that I hoped would imply the aforementioned offpage stuff when one would stop to think about it. Said scene would involve Daví privately having some sexual fantasies about his traveling friends, which Rokuna senses and gets mad at him for, including some kind of physical harm inflicted upon him. Kagami calls her out for whatever she would do to him, while Miyuki consoles him and tells him that it's okay for one to fantasize about whoever they want, provided they keep it to themselves.
It is from talking to Jake about the possible situation that he decided that learning not to trust people too easily is something that needs to be dropped for once, instead of "learn to open up to people."
12) Points visited so far:
-Great Britain: the country where my father's family comes from.
-Brazil: Jake's home country.
-Turkey: In tribute to Dad's friends Hamit and Behiya Bunyat back when he was working in Patchogue. Not that I interacted all that much with those two people, but they are the reason we ever tried out Turkish food.
-Bermuda: Home to my Aunt Tracy and Uncle Steve.
-Long Island (Daví): Part of New York State in which I live. Since canon character Patricia Martin never did specify where in America she lived before coming to Japan, I've decided that this is where she'll have lived (and worked part-time at Hooters with Desiré and others).
-Virginia (Miyuki): Home to my Grandma Barbara, Aunt Marie, Uncle Ray, and Cousin David.
-Connecticut (Konata): Relatively close to Long Island, where she will meet with Daví and end up working at Hooters, and also for nostalgic reasons (two different times covered in the same entry).
-The points where Rokuna (Canada), Maria (Libya), Nursen (Sudan), Kagami (Saudi Arabia), and Tsukasa (India) will be forcibly relocated to from Bermuda were decided based on RandomInteger and Google Maps, as have been any subsequent dropoff locations following the New Year's festival for that year. Incidentally, Sudan is a great place to showcase a certain war that had already been going on even before the aliens came, and Canada itself will tie in with something else.
13) The Chimera Laboratory: The aliens will do anything and everything short of nukes to eliminate as much of humanity as they deem necessary. This includes creating chimeras, which have to come from somewhere, and the one that Rokuna (and Claire before her) come across is probably just one among many worldwide.
14) Tristan: Put bluntly, an excuse to have some of the girls to change a male infant's diaper. The lack of any other people (or even any aliens) in the town which Miyuki finds him was inspired from Earthbound Zero, where all the adults of Youngtown have been abducted to Mt. Itoi, leaving their children to fend for themselves. This case will probably remain a mystery even through the end of things.
15) Desiré: Part of a four-way tie-in. She and her father are illegal immigrants from Guadalajara, Mexico, looking for work and a better life. Konata, Miyuki, and Daví were forcibly dragged to America from Bermuda during a battle, and just need to regroup with their separated friends wherever they are. Konata and Miyuki actually live in Japan, while Daví lives in Brazil. And while Desiré had crossed the southern border into America, Rokuna and Claire will be coming in through the northern border to regroup with their friends. (The illegal immigrant situation in America also has a reference planned for it during the finale.)
16) Hooters: Jake's idea to begin with. This, being a fake one, is where the aliens would operate some kind of underground factory beyond the storeroom, and also to hypnotize Konata and Miyuki into working there as Hooters Girls instead of searching for their friends.
17) Back in school for a week: Put simply, this is an arc I'm hoping will be dedicated to everyone canon to the franchise beyond the main four (as well as Rokuna's OC friends). In general, this has mainly to do with 1) opening up the possibility that, should anything spin off from this fic, the remaining two gemstones will pic one or two characters with long enough hair for it, and 2) increasing the attention they get in the fanbase. Chelle did say that we could cross that bridge when the time comes, but in the meantime, I probably could give them their own fics altogether. Such is exactly why I wrote Birthday of Destiny as the first of several short stories to showcase a few minor characters each.
-Minoru Shiraishi: Mostly about enabling him to be present at a party that Miyuki's parents and Ichirobei will hold after the final battle, since he is a recurring character in the anime. Since none of the other canon characters are really actually friends with him, it's up to one of my OCs to befriend him during their possible time at school.
-Izumi, Kou, Tamaki, and Miku: Especially the latter two, but worth noting is that none of the main four have ever exchanged a word between these four. Kou is known in the manga to challenge Konata at a fighting game at the arcade, but only when the latter is already playing. Konata once did spot Izumi in the hallway shortly after graduating, sensing her as a fellow otaku, but that's about it.
If mainly to remain consistent with that, it might be best if one or more of the OCs befriended them first. Incidentally, though, Yutaka's birthday just so happens to be December 20, less than a week before Winter Break, and since she does befriend them in the manga, that might also be a good opportunity for them all to meet one another (and as a bonus, to also foreshadow her importance in the endgame).
Edit (3/14/14): If the two groups haven't already, it's quite possible that they will meet one another during a future volume in the manga. Having read a thread on LSSF about the differences between the anime and the manga, there are several strips late in the latter's fourth volume where Kagami introduces Ayano and Misao to the other mains and vice versa. This is never shown in the anime, and they never do show any direct interaction with each other, although Misao and Ayano have been to Kagami's house at least once, have participated with all of them in Patricia's cheerleading number, and Misao does mention Konata a few times (referring to her as "Shorty") and witnesses Kagami lending Tsukasa a textbook one time. (To say nothing of a certain OAV segment, which is all just a dream anyway.)
18) The Hunt Club: Most likely not going through, but worth noting nonetheless. Coming off from Daví about trusting people cautiously, I was reminded of a line from Bonds, in which Konata mentions that, because of this group that consists mostly of the upper-class students at Ryouou, she had taken a while to trust Miyuki before they became friends. From there, I thought it would be interesting if, during the girls’ time back in Japan, they used their sixth senses to dig up all the Club’s secrets and use them all against them.
Turned out that such a feat would’ve suddenly become too easy with the girls’ sixth senses. Not only that, but it just seems kinda cheap to use some paranormal powers to defeat something that originated in a fic with no supernatural stuff to speak of. And, to begin with, the whole point of Bonds was that, in such situations involving bullies and mass murder as the fic revolved around, people are often left to draw their own closure on things.
For that reason, I did bring up the possibility with Chelle the other day, about giving the Club its own fic to take place before the anime. However, after specifying it as a way to deal with my issues with Bonds itself, the two of us agreed that it would probably be best just to put the whole thing behind me instead.
(On a side note, Izumi's parents insisting that she inherit their company when they retire instead of doing what she likes and becoming a cook when she grows up would also be an interesting thing to tie in with Rokuna voluntarily having taken up kendo for the sake of Shigesato and Mikami's legacy instead of choosing something preferable to herself. However, part of the former *did* have to do with her unnamed older brother, according to Bonds, having been removed from society after getting into drugs. Canonically, he has made at least two appearances as an upstanding person, and I would prefer to keep things that way. Ditto for Misao, who was only a bully according to Bonds, not in canon.)
In any case, the Hunt Club was going to be the primary factor that would bring everyone at Ryouou High School together. With them scrapped, we’re gonna need something else to fulfill that purpose. But, like Chelle said, we can cross that bridge when it’s time.
19) The Miyakawa sisters: This is meant to equate to one of those times in Earthbound, when you’re supposed to select a food item in your inventory to give to someone. From there, I actually managed to devise a whole scene involving them, although I do have yet to actually write it. Plotwise, they will be the ones to first mention Akira Kogami while spending some time with the mains at the cosplay cafe, clueing them in on who is most likely in trouble according to a previous, cryptic line stating “The idol will be seized.”
20) Bosspilder/Ivo: Stems back from when Chelle and I were discussing who or what the Big Bad should be. I described roughly what Giygas and Pokey’s motivations were as the main villains throughout the Earthbound trilogy, and since the latter’s is sometimes said to be “because he was bored”, Chelle replied with "So, someone who just wants to be evil? I don't have much to say about that." The discussion didn’t end there, but that line left a pretty bad taste in my mouth.
Therefore, while there is no single Big Bad for the fic, and while most of them are in for the benefit of the Philosomans, there is one whose deeds actually are for his own amusement, but they are very specific. Namely, “Break the Cutie,” where he takes cute, innocent-looking moe girls between the ages of five and 25, and puts them through all kinds of physical and psychological torture ending only in death.
There. I feel better now.
21) The capture and demise of Akira: Put simply, Akira is by far my least favorite character in the franchise, and I would like her not to appear in any fansequels should this fic spawn any. I know she wasn’t treated too well herself, save by her friends in the manga’s Akira Nation, but I’m not gonna let it be an excuse for the way she treated Minoru in the anime’s Lucky Channel segments.
22) Germany and M: Germany happens to be where Chelle used to live. Having once waged a war of conquest and genocide on the rest of Europe sixty years ago, parts of it are now fighting a defensive one against the Philosomans. There are also alien factions that the humans living there are fighting alongside, who oppose the humanicide that other factions believe is in the best interests of Philosoman life.
23) The New Year's festival: A special night of the year, and a better time than any for an event to take place that a series of cryptic messages could lead up to.
24) Yamato: Role based off of the one she had in Ryouou Gakuen Outousai. There is something she has been sent to Ryouou High School by an unspecified entity to bring the mains to, but something something is implanted into her somewhere that makes sure she forgets until the time is right. Exactly what she needs to lead the party to has yet to be confirmed.
25) The number 12: My personal magic number, based on the twelve birthstones of the Gregorian calendar, which was inspired from Dark Cloud and is in turn the basis for the Magé Stones. Also the number of elements in a system based on such things as Monster Collection and Digimon Frontier, consisting of Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Thunder, Ice, Life, Metal, Light, Shadow, Time, and Space.
26) Yutaka's role in the endgame: Mainly to show how truly despicable Bosspilder/Ivo is, by seizing not only someone who looks particularly childlike for her age and extremely ill and weak, but whom Konata (one of the initial party members) and Minami (who joined the party while making her own way from Tokyo to save her, as opposed to being abducted) both care deeply for, as the last captive whose suffering he'll be able to enjoy. Never mind that he has lots of girls rounded up at Rokuna’s school to choose from upon being forced by the party and his fellow generals to flee to Philosoma.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Response.
Date: 2014-03-16 02:30 am (UTC)Themes: You know, I do not understand the point on OCs not having 'established acquaintances or experiences to refer to'. Just because you're inventing these experiences it doesn't make them any less relevant or important.
Rockna and Friends: Honestly, it's easier to say Yamazaki stays at home because he's strong enough to take care of things over there and that Rockna would feel better if she knew others were safe. At some point, you have to bite the bullet and go with a 'cheap' explanation if it means settling a question that doesn't need to be explained. Or he just decides to stay because he doesn't want to leave yet, due to his classes. Or he has a family member who needs his support as well [grandfather for instance].
Magicant: So why do you want this setup to be depressing, in particular?
Desiré: The Robocop remake that came out had a joke about the US/Mexico border issue being inverted, with the Mexican president calling US immigrants 'aliens'. Even then, is this all you have in mind for her?
School Unity Thing: Couldn't Onett's invasion be enough of a similar send-up for that? Maybe the school holds a path to Magicant or something?
Miyakawa: ...what?
Ivo: 'no single Big Bad' sounds somewhat unpleasant. Remember, the Big Bad is the lynchpin of the story: once he's truly taken down, the story is ready to end. Just because a villain can be the most apparent doesn't mean he has to be the True Big Bad or such, but...
Yamato: Well, either it's a trap or it's a boost.
Re: Response.
Date: 2014-03-16 10:17 am (UTC)I think you misread that part. What I said, was that EB0's version somehow felt less depressing than Earthbound's version, partly because you revisit it several times throughout the game, with everyone currently in your party, instead of traveling it all alone, once, towards the end of the game.
Desiré: The Robocop remake that came out had a joke about the US/Mexico border issue being inverted, with the Mexican president calling US immigrants 'aliens'. Even then, is this all you have in mind for her?
What I specified in the main entry, currently, yes. But, like I said, there is plenty of room to expand upon her role in the story.
School Unity Thing: Couldn't Onett's invasion be enough of a similar send-up for that?
There's already gonna be one of those comprising the first part of the endgame. I would like this part of the story to be somewhat more tranquil (for the most part, anyway), at least until Bosspilder shows up to capture Akira (and even then, not a full-scale invasion). Hoping that Yincira will be able to discuss this further.
Maybe the school holds a path to Magicant or something?
Probably not, or else people would have already noticed. Will have to discuss this with Yincira, unless you'd like to expand upon that.
Miyakawa: ...what?
I'm guessing what's confusing you is that line I referred to, The idol will be seized. That is one of a few lines that would have been said to the twins, Maria, and Nursen during their time in Magicant, before regrouping with the other half of the party on Long Island.
Please tell me if there are other parts of that that you'd like me to clarify, or if you'd like me to expand on what would've been stated in Magicant.
Ivo: 'no single Big Bad' sounds somewhat unpleasant. Remember, the Big Bad is the lynchpin of the story: once he's truly taken down, the story is ready to end. Just because a villain can be the most apparent doesn't mean he has to be the True Big Bad or such, but...
What I meant by "no single Big Bad" referred mainly to at least several aliens of equal rank conquering the planet. Given what you cleared up, though, yes, that would make Ivo the Big Bad as far as the main characters are concerned.
Yamato: Well, either it's a trap or it's a boost.
Most likely the latter.
Elaborating further...
Date: 2014-03-16 03:54 pm (UTC)That's what this is mainly about, and if you or Yincira would like to suggest anything, I am open to suggestions.
no subject
Date: 2019-07-17 11:47 am (UTC)If the game's meant to be a story first anyway, you don't have to worry about staying true to the game's structure over a logical story construction.
Concerning themes, what you describe there (more to it than the stereotype) is missing what the more actually is. How does this more tie together with the journey of the characters?
As for all the other stuff, it's kinda random. What do you want to do with that list?
no subject
Date: 2019-07-17 11:48 am (UTC)I'm assuming that by "more", you mean more to a culture than what people generally associate it with, and that it's not really a theme if it doesn't tie in with the characters' journey. Really, it would be more of a sideline thing, as anything. Even you yourself agreed that The Theme Park Version of anything or anyone is just lazy and uncreative, which is what goes against the purpose of writing itself.
As for all the other stuff, it's kinda random. What do you want to do with that list?
Would you consider the list pertaining to Earthbound also random, even though everything in it serves some kind of purpose?
I mean, yeah, I see your point, in that a story shouldn't consist of stuff just happening for no real reason. Since a lot of it is concentrated between the fourth and fifth plot coupons, though, they could be used to build up to other things yet to happen until the endgame, and everything to take place between the first plot coupon and the party's separation could build up towards it all beforehand.
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Anyway, regarding what you said on DeviantArt regarding characterization, I have consulted Jake yesterday for some tips on how to create them from scratch. Even though he has agreed to come up with some further stuff for my OCs, he did advise me to start off by describing myself the way I would describe a character.
I'll admit that the most likely reason it doesn't come naturally to me, is because most OCs I think up are mainly just placeholders for something else, like with this fic, MCC/Cult, and the Beehive Brigade.
But anyway, as of today, I've started a document listing as many defining traits of the four mains as I can think of, so as to provide him and myself a list of what kinds and what extent of characterization I'm seeking for my OCs. It also includes some stuff about how characterization worked in canon, and how the differences between that and my story affect the process. If you want, I could show this to you when it's finished. Should I?
no subject
Date: 2019-07-17 11:49 am (UTC)You contradict yourself :
"A major one is that the world is not so simplistic as people render it for fiction. "
"Really, it would be more of a sideline thing, as anything."
I didn't say it's not a theme because it doesn't tie to the characters. It is a theme, and a pretty good one, but could use some fleshing out. There's a lot of different ways to look beyond a stereotype. The characters journey is against a villainous force who turns out to have a decent reason for what they are doing, so how you treat the countries they visit can serve to prepare them in a way that makes them more willing to listen to their side.
"Would you consider the list pertaining to Earthbound also random, even though everything in it serves some kind of purpose? I mean, yeah, I see your point ..."
Not context : the story. Not context : Earthbound.
Context : your entry. Entry's point : stuff for your beta-readers. My point : don't know what you want me to do with that list, because I can't see how it relates to the topic you started with. What kind of concrit do you want on it?
Sure, send it along. I'm probably not much use giving advice on character creation, though.
no subject
Date: 2019-07-17 11:50 am (UTC)Oh. It was just a comparison between stuff in my own story and stuff in the game, mainly to continue the dual conversations I was having between you and Jake about a week or so ago. Wasn't necessarily looking for critique, just any thoughts in general that you might've had upon reading it, although the former is still welcome.
Sure, send it along. I'm probably not much use giving advice on character creation, though.
Okay, then. When I do, I will hope you'll understand at least the point I'm trying to make with the introductory section better, like I myself seek to.