Robot vs Vampire: WHO WOULD WIN?

[Great Rumbler]

I never felt the desire to write a fanfiction, nor will I ever do so.

[A Black Falcon]

I haven't tried fiction writing since elementary school...

[Great Rumbler]

Oh, I right of ton of fiction. But fan-fiction? No way.

[Weltall]

Personally, I don't like fan fiction.

Now, I have read some great ones. IcyBrian has a lot, and there was one called the SquareFiction library (which sadly no longer exists), and in some of those, you had stories that actually took these characters and, without changing basic factors of their motive or personality, actually make them deeper and more interesting.

For instance, there was one short Xenogears fic (and I think it was at that site with all the nasty) about Fei, and how he handles trying to be a father to Emeralda (since he technically is also Kim Kasim, the man who created her). It was really touching, and it left me feeling good after reading it.

However, most of them lack creativity or are poorly-written (If something is written and there are lots of spelling or grammar errors, I can't read it), and those that aren't total crap are often unimaginative or take creative liberty way too far.

I love to write fiction, but I'm far too much of a control freak to write fan fiction, even if I wanted to, for writing fan fiction involves taking someone else's characters, world, setting, and you have to at least loosely follow the rules of this creation. When I write my own fiction, every single facet that is mine to shape and control as I see fit. When I'm on a roll and writing something I really like, I feel an empathy with my characters that I cannot feel with someone elses, for I know my characters better than anyone else ever can. I know every one of their dirty little secrets and hidden desires, for they are all the result of me.

[Dark Jaguar]

Um, sorry I never heard of that site, and also thanks for defining that for me... I guess it should have been obvious... And um, no I really don't have any idea what "hentai" means. I imagine in the context it means "straight sex" though... If it means ANYTHING else don't define it! I honestly don't want to know whatever other thing they may come up with...

[A Black Falcon]

hentai = pervert / perverted. Pretty much any sexual fafics are called 'hentai' -- anything close to an R rating for sexuality. :)

The word's also frequently used in manga and anime, by female characters towards the male ones (translated into English of course as 'pervert').

[Dark Jaguar]

I do believe I said DON'T define it... Oh well, not as bad as I thought. Surprising really, in it's honesty. Maybe these people have low self esteem?

[A Black Falcon]

You said don't define it if it's really bad, but I wouldn't call that really bad... it's a really common term in anime and manga, and not just adults-only stuff. You just wouldn't know that if you watch it all in English.

[Dark Jaguar]

Well I don't actually KNOW Japanese, so I sorta HAVE to.

[Geno]

Ryan's right, the fanfics at IcyBrian are some of the best. I've tried submitting fanfics to them before and they're very picky. I'm glad they're picky though because the fanfics I submitted sucked and they can do without bad fanfics. They don't allow lemons, so no worries about Cloud/Sephy sex. The really good FF7 fic that I mentioned is called The Search for Aeris. It's at IcyBrian. If you ever, on whim, feel the desire to read RPG fanfiction, look for something at IcyBrian. You won't have much luck elsewhere.

[Great Rumbler]

I haven't really read a fanfiction before, but if I was going to read one I'd probably want to read one those that you guys are talking about as opposed to just about any others.

[Geno]

Some fanfics are good enough to be a part of the series or video game or whatever that they're based on. Most, however, aren't even worth glancing at.

[Dark Jaguar]

I'll just stay away from the whole lot of it.

[A Black Falcon]

Well I don't actually KNOW Japanese, so I sorta HAVE to.

subtitles, DJ, subtitles... :)

[Geno]

Subtitles are funny sometimes. :D

[Great Rumbler]

On bootlegs.

[Geno]

Yup.

[Great Rumbler]

Sometimes they're not funny in a good way, though.

[Dark Jaguar]

Um ABF, that's still English... That's still depending on the translation being accurate. That's not the original Japanese you are reading down there...

[A Black Falcon]

True, it does depend on the translation being accurate, but it's easier to just line up a block of text with the words that are being said as they were meant to (from a filmmaking standpoint, the film is designed to work in its primary language... you know, talking speed, etc...)... so yes, you're still at the mercy of translators. You always will be unless you learn the language. But at least it's closer to the way it was meant to be than it is dubbed.

Oh, and I meant that you can hear the Japanese when you use subtitles -- so you will almost certainly learn a few Japanese words, if just by sound, not by writing.

[Great Rumbler]

Um ABF, that's still English... That's still depending on the translation being accurate. That's not the original Japanese you are reading down there...

What do you do? Turn the sound all the way down when you watch something with subtitles?

[A Black Falcon]

Yeah, that was my point... you can't help but learn a few words, at least.

[Dark Jaguar]

Can't help it? How exactly am I supposed to learn random words? I mean, I can see it when they say ONE word and that's all they show, or if they say one word repeatedly for dramatics, but most of the time I really don't even know where their words start or end. It all just bleeds into one massive runon string of sounds.

[A Black Falcon]

Listen for more than a few minuites and telling the words apart isn't hard... really, Japanese isn't really that hard to say or to distinguish words, it's the characters barrier that's the real problem for learning it...

And as for learning words, how could you not? They talk. You hear them talking. You hear the words. You see translations below. Sure, we have different sentence structures, sometimes it's not exact word replacement (though with subtitles it's closer), etc, but still... it doesn't take much effort at all to figure out a few words, especially the common ones!

[Great Rumbler]

I guess maybe it would help if you had an idea of what particular word or phrase you were listening for though. Still, I've been able to pick of a couple of words by listening to Japanese tracks.