General Fan Fiction Thread

[ekrolo2]

An next question, how do you usually handle a sad scene? Getting across the emotion and all?

I haven't written many so my experience is limited on this front. The few times I have, I've mostly focused on how the characters react to the sad event. Vegeta tries to mask his grief by lashing out, Dende just breaks down completely, Krillin tries to find some silver lining against all common sense, Goku's like an awkward little kid who doesn't really know how to handle what's happening,...

Writing people dealing with a sad event like death is hard for DB since a lot of the characters are either just pissed off for a while about it or don't acknowledge it much so its hard to realize a scenario where you've got to go past that.

[Kanassa]

Writing people dealing with a sad event like death is hard for DB since a lot of the characters are either just pissed off for a while about it or don't acknowledge it much so its hard to realize a scenario where you've got to go past that.

This is what I have planned.
Uh, spoiler to anyone who reads my fanfiction... Those people exist right?
[spoiler]Well, the two characters for the scene I have are F!Trunks and F!Pan. Pan's just been severely beaten to near death by one of the villains (Torne), resulting in the kidnapping and possession of her mother, Videl. Trunks had just ascended to Super Saiyan 2 over the death of Bulma (Which he is indirectly responsible for), lost control, levelled half a city killing the person who did it and almost struck Android 16 in his rage. They're training for their next encounter with the villains in the midst of a rain storm, both letting their anger and regret towards themselves through a sparring match, Pan still unable to reach her Super Saiyan form. She starts to yell at Trunks about how this wouldn't of happened if he took her seriously in their training, trying desperately to find a way not blame herself.

They get into a spat where Trunks admits that he does hold her back a bit, but not out of doubt or looking down on her, but out of fear that she'll become as reckless as her Grandfather and get herself killed. She for once finally manages to pin him to the ground, finally telling him tearfully that Videl had been taken, adding that they've really only got each other now. Everyone else is gone. She swears that what ever happens, they're fighting together, whether that means they go hand-and-and into the other world or not. "They're gone... They're all gone. Mom, Dad, Bulma. It hurts, Trunks. Because I know I could of saved them if I was stronger... You're all I have left, and I refuse to lose you. You hear me? I won't lose you!". And for a brief moment Trunks is able to see a flash of gold envelop her before they hug.[/spoiler]

[ekrolo2]

Has anyone done some more superhero-y fics with Great Saiyaman? Like giving Gohan his own Lex Luthor or rogues gallery or 60s comics style batshit lunacy storylines?

[TheUltimateNinja]

Has anyone done some more superhero-y fics with Great Saiyaman? Like giving Gohan his own Lex Luthor or rogues gallery or 60s comics style batshit lunacy storylines?

There's tons on FF.net.

[Kanassa]

How do you guys handle fight scenes? I go the more long paragraph route, but that seems to easily lose people.

[Alruneia]

How do you guys handle fight scenes? I go the more long paragraph route, but that seems to easily lose people.

Long paragraph route. Well, if you consider 200-300-word paragraphs long. I haven't heard anything about that losing people (none of the three people who have read my work besides myself have told me that). What's the alternative, anyway?

[Gog]

How do you guys handle fight scenes? I go the more long paragraph route, but that seems to easily lose people.

So, too make the fight scenes interesting, well one of the ways to do so is too make the fight interesting to read. Change up the landscape, the powers, make it gory, and make it suspenseful. You could also sprinkle in some thoughts and speech from the characters, to liven up the battle more.

[Kanassa]

How do you guys handle fight scenes? I go the more long paragraph route, but that seems to easily lose people.

Long paragraph route. Well, if you consider 200-300-word paragraphs long. I haven't heard anything about that losing people (none of the three people who have read my work besides myself have told me that). What's the alternative, anyway?

Low description, action and result? That's what I've been seeing most of the time. I've been told that my fight scenes need to be shorter, because they're hard to digest.

[Alruneia]

How do you guys handle fight scenes? I go the more long paragraph route, but that seems to easily lose people.

Long paragraph route. Well, if you consider 200-300-word paragraphs long. I haven't heard anything about that losing people (none of the three people who have read my work besides myself have told me that). What's the alternative, anyway?

Low description, action and result? That's what I've been seeing most of the time. I've been told that my fight scenes need to be shorter, because they're hard to digest.

Oh, I think I see what you mean now. Gonna have to pretty much disregard my previous comment, then. Yeah, if you're spending time describing the nature, spin, direction and force of every move, I can see that losing people when what's interesting to the readers is really just that a move and its effects happen. People usually think fast-paced action when they think Dragon Ball, so having too much description feels sluggish and causes skimming. I say save the details for the most important hits.

[Kanassa]

Long paragraph route. Well, if you consider 200-300-word paragraphs long. I haven't heard anything about that losing people (none of the three people who have read my work besides myself have told me that). What's the alternative, anyway?

Low description, action and result? That's what I've been seeing most of the time. I've been told that my fight scenes need to be shorter, because they're hard to digest.

Oh, I think I see what you mean now. Gonna have to pretty much disregard my previous comment, then. Yeah, if you're spending time describing the nature, spin, direction and force of every move, I can see that losing people when what's interesting to the readers is really just that a move and its effects happen. People usually think fast-paced action when they think Dragon Ball, so having too much description feels sluggish and causes skimming. I say save the details for the most important hits.

I really only describe the effect of the hit most of the time, interlaced with character thoughts, plans, exclamations and reaction.

[Doctor.]

My next fanfiction is going to be a tournament in Hell. I'm thinking about what villains to include. If I only include the manga villains, then it's going to be a short tournament and I'll have to add a lot of new original characters.

• Tambourine
• Tao Pai Pai
• Raditz
• Nappa
• Zarbon
• Dodoria
• Ginyu
• Jeice
• Burter
• Guldo
• Recoome
• Freeza
• Dr. Gero
• Cell
• Yakon
• Pui Pui

Movie villains, though I'm not sure if I'll include them or not:

• Dr. Wheelo
• Lord Slug
• Coola
• Broly
• Tullece
• Bojack

Noticeable omissions:

• Red Ribbon Army officers and Tsuru-sennin - The first group wouldn't have much staying power in a tournament like this (even when the battle powers are equalized, which is what is going to happen) and I like to think the latter repented at some point.
• Drum, Cymbal and Piano - They don't have much of a personality nor were they very impactful in the story, unlike Tambourine.
• Piccolo Daimao - Reincarnated into Piccolo Jr, so he's not in Hell.
• Cui - Same reasoning as Drum, Cymbal and Piano, though I'm leaning on including him if the roster ends up too short.
• Androids #19, #13 and so on - They're robots. Gero counts because he had his brain.
• Dabra - He's in Heaven according to anime filler.
• Zamasu - Beerus erased him from existence; I'd love to include him just for the potential character interactions, but can't think of a way to asspull him into this story.
• Babidi - He's a magician, so I don't know he'd fight. He could just take control of every fighter and win, seems pretty broken to me.
• Hirudegarn, Kid Boo and Janemba - The first two are mindless monsters, so they've already reincarnated. Janemba got purified by the end of movie 12.
• Movie villain henchmen - Same reason as Cui and other henchmen.
• Paragus - He's going to be a part of this if I choose to include movie villains, but he's not a fighter.

Did I miss anyone? Thoughts on who I should or shouldn't include in this kind of story?

[ekrolo2]

I'd totally keep Zamasu in there, maybe even have him interact with Turles and think to himself "Hrm, maybe I can steal his body!"

I wouldn't be so sure about Beerus erasing him too, that arc kind of fucks up when it shows Gowasu vanishing when Black kills him when he should just get right back up with a halo over his head. Previous instances certainly support that you'd need to "kill" someone twice to destroy them in the afterlife.

[Doctor.]

I'd totally keep Zamasu in there, maybe even have him interact with Turles and think to himself "Hrm, maybe I can steal his body!"

I wouldn't be so sure about Beerus erasing him too, that arc kind of fucks up when it shows Gowasu vanishing when Black kills him when he should just get right back up with a halo over his head. Previous instances certainly support that you'd need to "kill" someone twice to destroy them in the afterlife.

I don't know, I'm pretty sure it was stated when Gods kill other Gods, they get erased, so that would cover Gowasu vanishing, because he got killed by Black, a God.

What do you suggest about Babidi? I think he'd easily conquer this whole tournament since everyone is evil so if I am to include him, I should limit him somehow.

[ekrolo2]

I'd totally keep Zamasu in there, maybe even have him interact with Turles and think to himself "Hrm, maybe I can steal his body!"

I wouldn't be so sure about Beerus erasing him too, that arc kind of fucks up when it shows Gowasu vanishing when Black kills him when he should just get right back up with a halo over his head. Previous instances certainly support that you'd need to "kill" someone twice to destroy them in the afterlife.

I don't know, I'm pretty sure it was stated when Gods kill other Gods, they get erased, so that would cover Gowasu vanishing, because he got killed by Black, a God.

What do you suggest about Babidi? I think he'd easily conquer this whole tournament since everyone is evil so if I am to include him, I should limit him somehow.

Beerus barely knows what he's talking about there so I wouldn't put much stock in what he says.

I would probably make limit a person's will power. As we've seen from Vegeta, you can fall under his spell and then not do what he wants if you've got a strong enough will. Broly, Yakon, Recoome, Dodoria and Zarbon would probably fall under his sway but I can't imagine Cell, Coola or Freeza from falling under his sway.

[Kanassa]

I'd totally keep Zamasu in there, maybe even have him interact with Turles and think to himself "Hrm, maybe I can steal his body!"

I wouldn't be so sure about Beerus erasing him too, that arc kind of fucks up when it shows Gowasu vanishing when Black kills him when he should just get right back up with a halo over his head. Previous instances certainly support that you'd need to "kill" someone twice to destroy them in the afterlife.

I don't know, I'm pretty sure it was stated when Gods kill other Gods, they get erased, so that would cover Gowasu vanishing, because he got killed by Black, a God.

What do you suggest about Babidi? I think he'd easily conquer this whole tournament since everyone is evil so if I am to include him, I should limit him somehow.

Beerus barely knows what he's talking about there so I wouldn't put much stock in what he says.

I would probably make limit a person's will power. As we've seen from Vegeta, you can fall under his spell and then not do what he wants if you've got a strong enough will. Broly, Yakon, Recoome, Dodoria and Zarbon would probably fall under his sway but I can't imagine Cell, Coola or Freeza from falling under his sway.

Well, if we take otehr non-canon material into account, those guys have shown to be able to fall under his control.

[Rubens]

You can also include:

• Cold (but not go overboard with him like DBM did),
• Tagoma (although now that I think of it, he's in a frog's body so your Ginyu would be in Tagoma's body);
• Shisami;
• Spopovich.

If you include movie characters:

• Cooler's squad Sauza, Neiz and Dore;
• Garlic junior;
• Bojack and his crew.

[ekrolo2]

Which tense do you prefer? Past or present? As a guy who's used both, I can see advantages to both. Past is more familiar to people and allows you to more easily drops heaps of exposition in-between the descriptions for fights or the environment or dialogue. Present lacks this (or rather it feels much more awkward to do) but it does create a much better sense of urgency because everything is happening right now.

[Anime Kitten]

Which tense do you prefer? Past or present?

Past. I know I slip up and use present a lot, though. I feel like you can still create a sense of urgency or tension if you use descriptions with just the right precision. Experimentation has certainly helped me improve my writing style; I mean, my fic's (soon to be debunk) "Introduction" piece is not nearly as well written as it would be had I wrote it today.

Though I probably express none of this in my Kanzenshuu posting style.

[Nejishiki]

Generally, my preference is present tense for the sake of pacing. One should be well-balanced anyway yet I find myself rearranging "the past" (for the purpose of weaving in subtle details) before the final draft is released. More often than not, past tense is utilized for pertinent repetition on my end. Of course, that's not law, it's just that my style gravitates towards retaining just enough interest being moving on. It goes without saying that patient & hasty writing both work if you put your mind to it. The trick is recognizing how to control your speed for the type of story you're developing.

[Kanassa]

How do you guys prefer to go about scenes that have stuff that's only explained later, where it kind of looks like a glaring plot hole until a few chapters down the line give more of an explanation?