u/Pansycacke

I've read about this, I've looked for other advice. All I get is pretty much, "Just sit down and let it happen." I don't want to come off as a moron or something, but that's not... helpful? I know sometimes it can be like that. I like to write essays. Sometimes the idea simply appears in my mind and I know exactly where to go; sometimes the right sequence of words appears out of thin air. But with fiction, it simply doesn't happen.

I'm constantly stuck on two things. First, planning: I keep feeling like the key points and the structure of the plot aren't clear enough yet, so even if I just sat down and started writing, I would eventually hit a wall, and the only solution would be to take several steps back, figure out what didn't work, and fall into the planning spiral again.

Second, plain fear of not being able to live up to my story. I know a first draft is usually never the thing you want to let others read, but I fear that no draft might ever be the one I want; not the "perfect" one, just the one I want. If I haven't even reached the point where the planning, even if it doesn't solve everything, feels like enough, how will the actual story turn out?

Maybe I need to discuss my story with someone else, maybe I reached a point where my own perspective isn't enough anymore; maybe it just isn't the right time yet. Whatever it is, it is frustrating. And I want to solve it.

Maybe I need to discuss my story with someone else; maybe I've reached a point where my own perspective isn't enough anymore; maybe it just isn't the right time yet. Whatever it is, it's frustrating. And I want to solve it.

First, I think it’s necessary to say that this story is, with no intention of being ashamed of it, Pokémon fanfiction. The thing is, I wasn’t a Pokémon fan when the concept was born. So why Pokémon fanfiction? Well, Pokémon is the biggest entertainment franchise in the world; everyone knows the basics. Also, I’m a furry (oh, yeah, the fanfic is furry).

Pokémon has always been in my orbit. And of course, even though I had never played a game, never owned a single card, never watched the anime, I still had my favorites. So, as a writing experiment a few years ago, I created two OCs with them: a Charizard who had always refused to have a trainer being forced to get one, and a Lucario he had once been in a relationship with, before circumstances separated them and turned them into rivals.

I wrote a little story about them. Even though I never finished it, I knew it was a story about moving on. The Charizard did. The Lucario didn’t. But there’s something important there: I never finished it. They were just characters I thought about for a while and then didn’t think about again for years. Until a few months ago.

For various reasons, Pokémon started seeping into my life like never before, at the same time that my desire to finally write fiction returned (I’m an essayist; I’ve written entire theses on different subjects, but never fiction). I started researching the franchise more. And many ideas I’d had throughout my life but never did anything with suddenly began taking shape when I filtered them through Pokémon. So I didn’t just become a Pokémon fan. I realized the story I had always wanted to tell was already there, in that Charizard and that Lucario I had abandoned years ago.

In very little time, that simple story about a sports rivalry grew into a story about a major tournament where the mystical nature of Pokémon is put to the test; about an ancient war threatening to return; about questioning institutions and society’s expectations; about how love can bring out both the worst and the best in us. About fighting for the life you want to have.

And the story kept growing. Soon I realized the Lucario had the potential for sequels. One of them launches into a spacetime conflict caused by the events of the first story, where the Lucario meets a multiversal variant of the Charizard. Someone he falls in love with again, someone he wants to stay with forever, but eventually has to let go (if you’ve seen Loki and Life is Strange, you more or less know where this is going).

So, in very little time, I had the complete structure of a trilogy. One where all those ideas I’d had throughout my life finally meant something. All I had to do was fill in everything between those key points and turn it into a chain of consequences rather than a series of checkpoints to reach.

And this is where everything started falling apart.

Apparently I moved so quickly through the story that I rarely stopped to consider how far this relationship could go. How endearing, mundane even within this magical/multiversal conflict, painful, tragic, inspiring it could be. And now I don’t know if I have the strength to tell a story where they are already ex-boyfriends from the beginning. Where their relationship ended because of a secret beyond what their reality allowed them to conceive at the time, where that relationship could exist again but eventually has to end again, even if this time it isn’t a breakup, but a mutual goodbye.

Or maybe it didn’t really move fast. Maybe it moved at exactly the pace it needed to. And precisely because it happened so gradually, I never noticed when these characters went from simple OCs I wrote as an experiment one night when I was bored to symbols of everything I believe in. All I ever wanted. All I ever needed

Yeah, this is an Enjoy the Silence reference; the Lucario is canonically a Depeche Mode fan, and Depeche Mode is quite present in the soundtracks I made for the stories. Anyways...

We often write about what we know. I’m aware I wrote this story as a product of a life where I’ve faced these situations more often than I’d like. Not a magical multiversal war, for God’s sake. Situations where I’ve had to accept that things won’t always be the way I wish they were, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be something else out there. Maybe I wrote this story as catharsis.

Yet, it also became a refuge where things CAN turn out the way I want because it’s MY story. But writing a version where these characters are allowed to stay together would mean abandoning almost everything I already have.

So I do nothing. Neither the story where they stay together nor the story where they don’t. And honestly, I don’t know what to do.

I know wanting to write this trilogy is more than “commitment.” It’s writing something I know has potential, something I need to say, because ultimately that’s what stories are too: a need to say something.

But they’re also desires. The desire for something that doesn’t exist to exist; to imagine a world where, just once, everything works out.

And I don’t think my dilemma can really be solved by asking which of those two things I should listen to. Whether I should listen to what I need to say or to what I want.

I think the question that actually scares me is:

How do I know if I’m resisting this ending because it stopped being true for these characters, or because it’s still true and that’s exactly why it hurts so much to write?

Some context: I only really got into Pokémon a few months ago.

I knew the basics. It’s the biggest entertainment franchise in the world, and I’m part of the furry fandom, so Pokémon was always somewhere in my orbit. I had favorites, even OCs, but never went much deeper.

Then Pokémon started filtering into my life more and more, and I decided to actually explore the franchise.

That’s when something clicked.

I’ve wanted to write a story for most of my life. I had countless characters, concepts, scenes, and ideas, but they never quite became anything. Once I started filtering those ideas through Pokémon, they finally began fitting together.

The story I’d always wanted to write turned out to be a Pokémon fanfic.

Since then, I’ve been trying to immerse myself in the franchise to feed that story. Pokémon battles as a spectator sport are a huge part of it: stadiums, fans, sponsors, teams, events. There’s even a major scene built around a fan event, where a lot of the story is set in motion.

I’ve imagined that event over and over, but I’ve always felt like I couldn’t quite make it feel real.

Then I found out there was an official Pokémon anniversary event in my city.

Yesterday, and today.

I had no idea it was happening, and by the time I learned about it, tickets were long gone. I’m still so new to the franchise I didn’t even know.

And from everything I’ve seen, it was almost exactly the kind of event I’d been imagining for my fic.

I missed it.

I know this probably sounds dramatic, but I feel like I lost an experience that could have given so much life to my story. More than that, I wanted to experience it as a new Pokémon fan, especially because this franchise has become incredibly important to me in such a short time.

I’ve already been dealing with other stuff I won’t bore anyone with, and this ended up being the thing that broke me.

I’m honestly devastated.

I guess I just needed somewhere to vent.

Fights are an extremely important part of my fic. And not some confrontations or battles out in the open, but fights staged as massive sporting spectacles. Right now, Champions is probably one of my main references, but I'd like to know your favorite pieces of media that match this vibe and aesthetic. I'm in need of some serious inspiration.

I have this story that I've been planning for months. Years, really, if we consider that it is the result of numerous stories I've carried with me throughout my life, finally taking shape.

I have this setting that I know can be fun, exciting, adventurous, terrifying, mundane, cosmic and existential, all at the same time without contradicting itself. I have all these thematic connections and implications; not because I consciously set them up, but because they simply emerged as answers to questions I've asked myself over and over again.

I have these characters that I know are complex, charismatic, charming, tragic, vulnerable, strong, brave.

I have this story, and I know it can become something great. I'm not talking about writing "the greatest story ever told," but about the greatness I can see within the story itself; the potential that is always there, right in front of me.

But I'm afraid I won't be able to do justice to that setting, to weave in all these implications without laboring the point or merely glossing over them. I'm afraid I won't be able to bring these characters to life, characters who have become more than fiction to me. They may not "exist," but they have become symbols of everything I believe in.

I'm afraid that, no matter how much I write, how much I study the craft of storytelling, or how many drafts I go through, I'll never be able to live up to that potential.

Important note: this is planned as a trilogy, and nearly every character takes on a different role in each story. The order of the references matters, it determines which traits are most prominent in each character.

This is just a small experiment I wanted to try. You’re goated if you recognize all of my influences.

Main cast:

• MC1 (protagonist → deuteragonist → coprotagonist):
  • Rumi, K-Pop Demon Hunters
  • Orion Pax/Optimus Prime, Transformers One
  • Jayce Talis, Arcane
• MC2 (deuteragonist → major supporting character → major supporting character):
  • Kwan Ha, Halo TV Series
  • Kamala Khan, Marvel Comics/Studios
  • Max Caulfield, Life is Strange
• MC3 (tritagonist/antagonist → protagonist → coprotagonist):
  • Jinu, K-Pop Demon Hunters
  • Viktor, Arcane
  • D-16, Transformers One

Recurring cast:

• RC1 (main antagonist → supporting character → dead lol):
  • Eobard Thawne, The Flash CW
  • Albrecht Entrati, Warframe
  • Catherine Halsey, Halo
• RC2 (background character → main antagonist → antagonist):
  • Ballas, Warframe
  • Sentinel Prime, Transformers One
  • CLU, Tron Legacy
• RC3 (looming presence → major background character → main antagonist):
  • Machine Herald Viktor, Arcane
  • Doctor Strange Supreme, Marvel Studios What If
  • The Indifference, Warframe
• RC4 (non-existent → antagonist → major supporting character):
  • Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Movie 3
  • Mewtwo, Pokémon
  • Tenno/Main Character, Warframe

You can have a structure, you can have worldbuilding, you can have characters and their backgrounds, thematic connections and implications, and a long etcetera. But this isn't an actual story. This isn't the narration someone else is going to read: the small moments that make the characters and the world they inhabit an entity rather than just a series of words that'll get the plot somewhere.

I've been writing essays my whole life. I know how to describe an idea and expose it. But I don't really know how to make a text a breathing depiction of a moment in time. I have the overarching events and situations I want to reach, but right now, they're just checkpoints and not portions of a story.

I don't know how to make my ideas into an actual story, and I'd really appreciate getting some advice.

I'm outlining a long story. There is a point near the beginning (beginning-ish?) where the world completely changes. Some House of M-type stuff. However, there is still an important introductory sequence before the main conflicts truly begin. Because of that, I'm not sure whether this sequence belongs at the end of Act One or the beginning of Act Two.

I've also noticed that the middle section of the story carries much more weight than the beginning and the ending. That is where the relationships, community, internal conflicts, and everything that can later be lost are developed. The final act contains the major revelations and definitive choices, pretty much untying all the threads the story has knotted, but it is simultaneously much shorter than the second act.

I'm concerned about two things: pacing and narrative weight (the first and third acts are much shorter, not because I'm actively trying to compress them, but simply because the story doesn't seem to require further development there, yet cannot help feeling the second act absorbs almost the entire experience of the story) and the story clearly having trouble fitting within a three-act structure (I'm not sure whether that is a bad thing; I've written essays pretty much my whole life, but I'm quite unfamiliar with novels and stories).

One detail that might be important: this is a sequel in which the antagonist of the first part becomes the protagonist, and an altered-reality version of the first part's protagonist becomes the co-protagonist. You technically already know the characters, meaning the shorter Act One might be negligible, but I'm still worried about potential pacing issues.

Quick context: I’m a casual fan. I have barely watched the anime, I haven’t played many games besides Pokke-Tournament and the Minecraft Cobblemon mod (if that even counts lol), haven’t read the manga. The reasons why I found myself wanting to write a Pokémon fanfic are quite extent (I have already detailed them in this post). Still, I hope we can overlook that detail for now.

I wanted to ask for recommendations for episodes or movies from the Pokémon anime and maybe some stuff from the manga that could work as references to feed and enrich the themes and elements from my fic; a ”brief” but comprehensive look into the franchise (not looking into playing games right now; hope that doesn’t sound as bad as I know it may sound, but I don’t know how large these games could be, and I don’t want to continue putting the writing process off).

It‘s a story that comes from the ethical questions around beings who are clearly as intelligent as humans being used for a sports and scientific industry. I’m interested in exploring how both the people using them and the beings themselves have simply accepted that system.

The story intends to talk about the messed-up implications that would definitely come with something like that. It would all revolve a massive conspiracy that traces back to the roots of society as it is known (whose discovery comes with attempted murders), complicated romances, existential crises, and everything that can emerge from a world built around a fighting sport.

But I it does not intend to minimize or reject the core of Pokémon. On the contrary: I want to preserve the impact of battles as something that can give someone purpose, the idea that the dynamic between trainer and Pokémon can be deeply meaningful, and the importance of bonds

Even within the ugly things the story will have, I also want its foundation to be an intimate story about two people learning to love each other, with slice-of-life moments, tenderness, humor, simplicity, and silly little things.

What I’m looking for above all are references for tone and aesthetics: what it feels like to live in the Pokémon world, what that world looks like, how battles are presented as a sport or spectacle, and which episodes or movies handle more serious themes without losing the heart of the franchise.

One final important detail: two of the main cast of characters are a Charizard and a Lucario. I need Charizard and Lucario content.

Book 1

1. E-Pro - CapeLion V2 Remix — Beck
2. ROCKSTAR (TAK Remix) — PearlAbyssMusic, TAK, LUENA
3. Levels — Avicii
4. Kill For Love — Lady Gaga
5. When We Touch — Benny Smiles
6. Rock And Roll Rave — The Preatures
7. let them know they’re on your mind - acoustic — Cavetown
8. City Walls — Twenty One Pilots
9. Only One King — Jung Youth, Tommee Profitt
10. Escapism — The Warning
11. After - 2022 — Atomic Guava
12. Enemy - From the series Arcane League of Legends — Imagine Dragons, Arcane, League of Legends
13. Love Divine — MONA
14. Strong — Tesla Boy

Act 1, track 1 to 4.
Act 2, track 5 to 9.
Act 3, track 10 to 13.
End Credits, track 14.

Book 2

1. Up From The Bottom — Linkin Park
2. Never Take It — Twenty One Pilots
3. Into The Void — Nine Inch Nails
4. I Know You Can Feel It — Nine Inch Nails
5. Brand New — Battle Tapes
6. Save Yourself (with Big Data) — MNDR, Big Data
7. Friday Night Fire Fight — Aligns, Rubicones
8. Valkyrie - Rework — Battle Tapes
9. Digital Power — Le Cassette
10. 1977 — Adam Young
11. Monster — Imagine Dragons
12. The Call — Warframe, Matthew Chalmers, Francesca Hauser
13. A Message — Gareth Coker, Halo
14. The Trip - 2023 Remaster — Still Corners
15. Falling Back (feat. MNDR) — Oliver, MNDR

Act 1, track 1 to 3.
Act 2, track 4 to 11.
Act 3, track 12 to 14.
End Credits, track 15.

These two are a closed story. There's no missing third part. Book 1 works as a self contained story, but leaves a single, small yet big question that makes Book 2 possible. The order is important, since the songs tell the story (some of the most important moments of both books have become a thing only after listening to many of these songs).

And yes, it is "end credits." It's the feeling of "the story is over, and it was a hell of a journey."

“I told you we should’ve left! We lost the device, and you nearly got us killed just because you wanted to stop at some stupid bar! Ugh, I hate how reckless you are and how everyone else always has to deal with the consequences. You haven’t changed one bit in almost twenty years!”

This isn’t the first time Ryder has hinted that he knows Tallis somehow, but this time is different. Almost twenty years? There’s something Ryder isn’t telling him.

“In your world... we weren’t just rivals, were we?”

Ryder’s expression changes instantly. He freezes, every muscle in his body going rigid. For a moment, it looks like he’s about to explode in anger. Instead, a tear slips from one eye. Then another from the other. And another. And another. Until he finally breaks down sobbing.

Tallis hurries over and catches him before his legs give out, staying beside him until the worst of it passes.

“In my world, we were both on the same preliminary roster. We were the ones who qualified to join our trainer’s team.” He pauses, taking a shaky breath and wiping at his nose. “All that time we spent together, you looked after me during every training session. You taught me how to fight in ways I never could’ve imagined.” He stops again to steady himself. “When I met you, I was a Riolu. Then you made me believe there was something waiting for me in my future. That my past didn’t define me. That I didn’t have to exist just to make other people happy. You gave me a home. You gave me something that made life feel worth living. You helped me evolve. You made me who I am...” His voice cracks. “And then you left. You became obsessed with fighting and forgot we had a dream together.”

He pulls away from Tallis’s arms—not roughly, but not gently either.

“I loved you, Tallis. I loved you with everything I had.”

Tallis is on the verge of tears himself, but he holds them back. He doesn’t want to look weak. Not for his own sake, but for Ryder’s. He doesn’t know how to feel about any of this. He isn’t the Tallis Ryder knew. He has no idea what that Tallis was like. But he knows they’re similar enough to awaken these feelings in the Lucario, similar enough for Ryder to look at him the way he had onstage just hours ago.

For the first time in his life, Tallis had found someone he never had to justify himself to. Someone who hadn’t judged him when he tore his shorts apart and slipped into a pair of heels, but instead looked at him as though he were the most beautiful being in the world. For the first time, he had felt truly free. All because of Ryder. And maybe—just maybe—that was the same thing the other Tallis had felt for him.

Eventually, Ryder’s tears stop. But he remains on the ground, curled in on himself, tail tucked between his legs without caring that Tallis is watching.

“Heh. Curled up like that, you look like a blueberry,” Tallis says, trying to lighten the mood.

At once, Ryder’s ears perk up.

Blueberry.

That’s what Tallis—his Tallis—used to call him. But there’s no way this Tallis could know that. Why did he say it? Why here? Why now?

Then Tallis tries something else.

“Hey, I noticed you had a hard time using those wings earlier.”

Ryder lets out a low growl. It doesn’t sound like a well-intentioned comment.

“Are you making fun of me?”

“No,” Tallis replies calmly. “I’m saying it because I think you can do better. I know you can do better.”

Those words.

I know you can do better.

Ryder knows perfectly well that Tallis is talking about the wings. But they strike a much deeper nerve than that—a place Ryder thought had died long ago, a place he never expected anyone to reach again.

Slowly, he pushes himself upright and looks at Tallis.

“Are you saying you want to teach me how to fly?”

Tallis simply gives his wings a little shake, smiles, and offers him a hand.

“Come on, grumpy dog. Get up. We’re not going to waste those wings you stole so shamelessly.”

I was never really a fan of this franchise. Not saying that it is bad, just saying I've never really gotten into it. I never watched the anime, save for some episodes. I have never played any of the games by myself (save from Pokken-Tournament and the Minecraft Cobblemon mod, if you can even call it a Pokémon game). I never even joined the Pokémon GO mania.

Why am I writing a Pokémon fanfic then? Well, I'm a furry; Pokémon are part of that fandom because they're animals. Whether you're a lifelong fan or just a casual observer, you've inevitably come across all kinds of artwork featuring these characters.

I developed a particular affinity for two of them: Lucario and Charizard. What they clearly represented, even if you knew nothing about the franchise, and what people saw in them on multiple levels.

Years ago, I pictured two original characters based on those Pokémon. Longtime rivals who shared a past together. Cliché, not going to lie. I wasn't looking into something deep and complex. I eventually stopped thinking about them. But recent circumstances turned those characters and their story into something larger than I could've imagined myself back then.

And as that story took shape, it also became increasingly clear why this story could not be told with characters who weren't Pokémon. Not because the Pokémon had become essential; I've run multiple experiments and the story still works pretty much the same even without Pokémon if I just pull off a Watchmen (hoping the reference comes across). But because the incarnations of the characters as Pokémon have become emotionally important to me. I can replace them. But I don't want to, and I won't.

But, if I'm to use Pokémon, then I must understand it. I have a fair knowledge of the basics and some deeper elements. However, it still faces limitations. And even though I'm taking numerous liberties (for example, my setting is purely built upon an anthropomorphic animal society where both normal animals and Pokémon coexist, the Pokémon themselves anthropomorphic as well), I don't want to write a story that only happens to have Pokémon characters. I want to write something that, as much as it is mine, shows utter respect to the source.

I'd greatly appreciate some suggestions, guidance, and explanations on all that its world implies: history, aesthetics, tone, technology, biology, anthropology, culture, the fights and the sport itself, all the mythological stuff around Arceus and the Pokemon he created. Feedback on the actual story as well, as much as the hermetism I'm maintaining with this story allows.