Other Random question of the day

[Idea]

Well, the whole concept just bundles together a lot of things that are very useful, if often just treated as shortcuts, from a writing perspective. Being an orphan has the whole drama of dead parents and associations with a bad or at least impoverished environment to grow up in, there can be ties to the plot via why the parents died, it can be motivation, also who those parents are may be tied to the plot or worldbuilding or serve as a twist or justify something about the protagonist, etc.... Plus being an orphan will also often let the hero be an underdog at the start or excuse why they haven't been using their talent or maybe put them in the care of people who mistreat them because they don't really know them etc...

On the discovering they have powers side you have this idea of "wow, if this random orphan secretly had powers wouldn't it be awesome if you did too?", plus powerful gifts in of themselves can be huge plot and character drivers or be at the center of the action, mystery or generally fantastical/epic aspects of the story.

A mentor figure can have plot ties, is more wise and experienced but ultimately intended to be surpassed, thus serving as a benchmark while also helping the protagonist (and the audience) to get introduced to the worldbuilding, plot etc... They can serve as a unique close relationship, often cashed in on upon the mentor's death, they can help progress the protagonist to the point of it being a little more believable that they can do the kinds of feats they can later....

I could go on, but I think my point is made. Tropes are often tropes for a reason, and while some just use them just because, there's a lot to unpack about their potential, a lot of useful things they carry.

As a sidenote, I don't think I would characterize you average mentor character as manipulative, much less in this trope sequence. Persuasive or a little forceful, sure, but I think a mentor that is manipulative is its own thing that can or not coexist with the whole sequence of the orphan destined for greatness tropes.

 

[AlexneushoornTheGreat]

Random question of the day:

What's the greatest rags to riches story done in fiction (In your opinion)?

 

[Idea]

Don't know if it's the greatest, but I quite enjoy the Count of Monte Cristo

 

[EmperorNorton1]

Probably the Ragged Dick (hehe) series by horatio Algier. it is a perfect example of pro-capitalist and pro-protestant propaganda. "If you work hard every day and then go to church and pray, good things will happen to you. Don't ever steal, even if you and your family are actually starving to death, be frugal, and you too can have this escape from poverty! and dont ever question the system that put you in your abased situation"

also the main character, dick, starts out as an unhoused fourteen-year-old shoeshiner who just wants a bed to sleep in, an education, and a guarantee of food, an escape from the drudgery of poverty.

well, it worked really well, it was one of the most popular books of the day.

EDIT: Algier was a pedo what the fuck why was i not told this.

 

[AlexneushoornTheGreat]

Random question of the day:

Do you believe that the movie Idiocracy could sooner or later become a reality?

 

[Idea]

I think many would argue we’re living it. An exaggeration of course, but with a colonel of truth to it.

 

[EmperorNorton1]

that movie tipped really quickly into eugenics from what i remember, the whole "intelligence is solely an inherited trait, and all the intelligent people decided to have kids" bit. for that alone, no, because unless if the corporate overlords decide to systematically weed out all intelligent people so that they can rule without question, and that process is still going on at the time of the movie and the corporate overlords have also been affected, well... no. humans are intelligentt.

 

[AlexneushoornTheGreat]

Random question of the day:

Do you have any mementos from your high school/college days that you still keep to this day?

 

[Chielite]

Random question of the day:

Do you have any mementos from your high school/college days that you still keep to this day?

Oh yeah, I have many.

They are all small trinkets given to me by my friends. A heart locket, a small steel frog... I'm glad I never threw them away.

 

[Onmyoji]

I have notebooks with stories we wrote with a friend. Very cringe but also fun to read.

 

[Idea]

I can be a bit of a hoarder and can get attached to certain nostalgic things, so yeah, got them mementos in spades. Plus there's the stuff I keep around because it's useful. Certificates from random stuff, a script from a play me and some friends put on for a talent show, a script from a play from class, some objects from trips, some old drawings and paper writings, old books, old notes (school and personal), the list goes on.

 

[Kaiju Cat]

Random question of the day:

Do you have any mementos from your high school/college days that you still keep to this day?

Actually I kept my high school graduation mug it has the names of all the students who graduated that day including the names of my cousins as a mementos. Of course my high school diploma.

 

[AlexneushoornTheGreat]

Random question of the day:

How come when George Lucas brings back previously killed Star Wars characters, no one bats an eye, but when Disney does it, everyone loses their minds?

 

[Onmyoji]

Who did he bring back? Technically, Anakin didn't die before becoming Vader. And by the time episode 3 happened, we knew that he wasn't dead. And Han Solo was never dead, just frozen.

 

[Idea]

no one bats an eye

I doubt that

but when Disney does it, everyone loses their minds

I am not that into star-wards so I only have second and third hand information on this. What it seems to me from what I hear though is that Disney is bringing characters back en-masse for what are evidently not story-related reasons but a mere continuation of the sheer lack of imagination that brings you the live action remakes, and in the process invalidating and further running into the ground previous major story beats, namely order 66.

 

[Sorin]

I don't know enough about Star Wars to say for sure, but I imagine that George Lucas being the original brain behind the franchise while Disney is not may be related. Also, I feel like people have just gotten more critical overall.

 

[AlexneushoornTheGreat]

Random question of the day:

Do you have a short temper? If so, what happens when said temper is lost?

 

[Idea]

A little bit of it. It used to be much worse when I was younger and I learned to reign it in more thanks to some therapy. The little misfortunes that keep accumulating can still cause me to lose control though, it most often just manifests as grumbling and potentially shouting in the street, or sometimes hitting something like a wall.

 

[AlexneushoornTheGreat]

Random question of the day:

What are some do's and don'ts with modifying fanfiction content into a more original setting?

 

[Idea]

I guess the main thing would be to (1) try to figure out what the core elements you want out of the fandom you want to keep/explore deeper are and (2) what changes or different approaches you think the original fandom failed to explore. Step (1) of that is more important when it comes to making it original content, since distilling things down to the core components will help you make something that is less just a straight up copy and making it actually distinct in a standard fanfiction often isn't held to, whereas step (2) exists in fanfiction as well. It's a difference in the scale of the expected difference in (2) though, since whereas in fanfiction you want to see how the fandom's context mingles with or reacts to the changes made, in original content those changes aren't so much "changes" as they are their ideas that need to stand not in contrast but on their own. There's a lot less leeway when it comes to setting something to happen in original content, at least as far as what people's suspension of disbelief.

That lack of the benefit of contrast with the original when it comes to exploring previously unexplored angles, brings me to another big point, which is to be mindful of what is or isn't carried over. Making a character based on a badass character isn't necessarily going to make the new character badass as well. Even making a faithful replica might fail to accomplish that goal if you don't also have the surrounding context. It also isn't necessarily true that just because something may be extremely popular, hype or liked, that those characteristics will carry in some onto things based on it. There's a lot more nuance to this rule than the previous as for instance making an RP in a certain genre while that there's an extremely popular show in that genre that's on people's minds has much better chances of succeeding, but that's harder to time than one might think and isn't itself any guarantee, scaling especially in-non linear fashion with success/popularity, which is to not even mention long-term/short-term contrast.

What is far more likely to carry over though, is your preconceptions and self-imposed creative restrictions as a writer. You could carry ideas and think things must be done in a certain way without realizing the only reason you're thinking that is because that was how it was done in the fandom, or you might think something is a good idea because it happened in the fandom and it went over well.

It could be quite a pitfall, but in terms of what you prevent yourself from doing and what you attempt to do, to not have an awareness of what elements and expectations carry over from the original fandom onto an original work based on that fandom.

 

[MxKit]

That lack of the benefit of contrast with the original when it comes to exploring previously unexplored angles, brings me to another big point, which is to be mindful of what is or isn't carried over. Making a character based on a badass character isn't necessarily going to make the new character badass as well. Even making a faithful replica might fail to accomplish that goal if you don't also have the surrounding context...

What is far more likely to carry over though, is your preconceptions and self-imposed creative restrictions as a writer. You could carry ideas and think things must be done in a certain way without realizing the only reason you're thinking that is because that was how it was done in the fandom, or you might think something is a good idea because it happened in the fandom and it went over well.

This is great advice! I agree with everything you've said but want to piggyback off of this point in particular and add:

If you're turning what was originally fanfic in some way, whether just in concept or filing the serial numbers off an actual fic, you're going to want to keep in mind that fanfiction is written for fans of the original canon, and that is both a strength and a weakness. Original fiction, like the canon itself in most cases, is going to be establishing the worldbuild, the characters, and their relationships with one another in very different ways, ones that are more in-depth than fanfiction often does. This doesn't make fanfiction weak writing, but it does mean that fanfic makes for a weak original story, because people will go into fic already knowing all about Joe and Mary and their friendship and how they're coworkers at a cafe while being spies on opposite sides of a war the fic readers also know all about; all of those things will have been established in canon! Because the fanfic reader already knows all of this, not as much work needs to go into explaining any of this and making the reader care about it.

But that means if you reimagine this fanfiction idea as an original story, it's not enough to just change things enough to make them your own. You also have to put in the work that canon did to make your readers understand and care about all the things that fanfic readers already know and care about.

My advice would be that you should not just be making adjustments to your fic/fic idea, but also revisiting the canon itself, and also (if applicable) canons that are more like the story you're wanting to turn your fic into. For example, if you have a fanfic idea for a high fantasy TV show that you've decided you want to turn into an original urban fantasy story instead, you're going to want to take a close look at your fic/fic idea, yes. But IMO you should also revisit said high fantasy TV show and watch it with a more clinical eye: How did it establish the characters and their relationships? How did it do its worldbuilding? How did it make you care? And it might not hurt to pick up an urban fantasy canon you like, too, and turn that same eye onto it as well. If you want to turn some of those elves and dwarves into vampires and werewolves, how did the creator make those monster characters compelling and sympathetic? How did the urban fantasy combine its fantasy and real-world worldbuilding? Etc.

Even if you don't add a third canon, I think it's best to rework your fanfiction content by paying attention not only to the fanfiction itself but to how the canon introduced you to things and made you care enough to want fanfiction in the first place!

 

[AlexneushoornTheGreat]

Random question of the day:

What are some movies/TV shows/video games that really divided its target audience the most based on opinion (In your opinion)?

 

[EmperorNorton1]

The 2018 Les mis miniseries. The director said specifically he wanted to break away from the musical, which he insulted. a massive chunk of his potential audience would be mizzies.

And then he No-Homoed the heavily emplied relationship, he cut all but three of the most beloved characters, and he gave enjolras a moustache (deadly sin) basicaly he alienated a good chunk of Les mis fans, including myself.

 

[AlexneushoornTheGreat]

Not sure if I asked this one before, but...

Random question of the day:

What are your views on people who play video games for the sole purpose of making other gamers miserable?

 

[Idea]

As Thomas Sowell once said

“Not all of it can be repeated on television”