Gancena

Hey, guys.

I've been thinking about this for a little while, especially since I've begun to post VCC on Archive of Our Own, which is another site tailor-made for fan fiction.

See, I've been wondering if it really is necessary to cross-post here to dA when there are now two fanfic websites it's present on, especially since their posting processes aren't so labor-intensive. That is: I don't have to manually italicize or otherwise manipulate the text to match the Word copy; it's done so automatically on the other sites. So I've been thinking of just stopping and letting FFN and AO3 take the helm.

Of course, if there's a strong opinion about this, then I'll continue posting chapters here. And even if there's not one now and there is one later, that's fine, too.

But for now, VCC postings will be discontinued on dA. You may find the fic on Fanfiction (dot) net and Archive of Our Own under the same name. Thank you for your time.

Updateception? No, that'd mean the update's within the update...

This journal's actually going to be short, for once.

So in a weirdo effort to pretend to be somewhat professional, I got a tumblr. One guess to the URL before I post it:

gancena.tumblr.com/

Also, I would like to refer to you my Twitter. Even though it's mostly silliness and not-so-occasional links to petitions, I do mention when I'm working:

twitter.com/#!/Gancena

I'll tell you where I've been, but only most of it is true.

I've taken a class on the psychology of creativity.

I watched like one episode of Captain N for lulz, strangely enjoyed it a bit, and thought about how easy it would be to make it good.

I used my final project in that class to make it good. Sort of. Really, I just wouldn't have gotten to the premise without Captain N.

Then over the holiday break, I agonized over whether or not I could really be as good a writer as I want to be considering my laziness and both genius and horrible -- but published and profitable! -- writing that I'd been encountering.

Then I went on an adventure that took years in there but an instant out here and decided to finish starting to write it down.

Now, I'm going to get over myself and get back to full-power fanfic writing again. For real this time. Hopefully. At any rate, I'm going to try and get over myself. If I fail, no freaking surprise. If I don't, then I totally rule.

Starting this month. I have to turn in a paper tomorrow, so this month.

Thanks to a class and Captain N.

...Wait, what the fu--

COMING FEBRUARY 2012

TO FANFICTION.NET AND DEVIANTART

A NEW ADVENTURE ON A MASSIVE SCALE:

THE CAPTAIN OF THE VIRTUAL CONSOLE

Oh, Jesus. How do I begin?

Well... a new Mortal Kombat fic is kurrently under development. I'm seriously hoping this one can be more viable than the others, but honestly, that's gonna be more of a matter of me getting off my ass and actually putting it together.

It is going to be an epic, covering the whole story, involving a self-insert.

But that's A Foreigner's Tale, right?

Actually, this one will replace AFT as the main MK story I'll be writing. If I kontinue AFT, it'll be more of a side story to honor the old kontinuity.

Yeah, this one's gonna be based off the new one, BUT... having my own kharacter in there will be a change in and of itself, but I'll also be playing around with the universe of Mortal Kombat. Namely:

--This will be based off the new kontinuity, but I will include several elements from the old that the new "forgot". I say that in quotes because they may not have actually been forgotten; the NRS team may have just liked some things better. I really don't know.
--Furthermore, I will also be pulling elements from other adaptations: the movies, the TV shows, the komics, the webseries, the whole shebang. Anything I can get my hands on. What I choose will mostly be based on what I simply find interesting. Kombatants' personalities may be meshes of their depictions in various adaptations, not just the games.
--If I need something -- a location, a piece of the mythos, anything -- that I feel I need, I'm going to make it up myself, though, naturally, I'll stick to the kanon as much as I can. Let's hope I'm not going to feel like I have to make up stuff about the Elder Gods. I'm waiting on Word of God for that one. |3;;;

Basically, I'm trying to build a sort-of Ultimate Universe for Mortal Kombat, even though there's going to be an OC and even though it's just a fanfiction and there's a million directions it could go. But if this is going to be my magnum opus, then the world should match the story itself in scale.

The difference in kontinuity -- and in Gancena the character's kharacter, since I've mentioned I've done some growing up -- will inherently make this very different from AFT.

--First, Gancena herself. She will definitely remain human. She will be older than AFT's Gancena when she started her adventure. She'll be going it alone. And, most importantly, she's not the one telling the freaking story. I recently realized how much may be missed in AFT because I insist on it being first-person. So I'm shifting it to third-person omniscient. We're going to jump points of view all over the dang place, sometimes even in the middle of scenes. This is going to be a story about everyone.
--I'm straddling the fence on whether or not to have the events begin shortly before or shortly after the new game's release -- that is, will she know about the rehashed events or not? I'm leaning towards the latter, honestly. That would be the ultimate blindsiding -- Gancena would only have kore knowledge to work on, and I'd have to keep that in mind as I was writing -- making for an interesting challenge for both author and kharacter.
--There will undoubtedly be less books. I'm kurrently anticipating three big ones, but if the number changes, it's going to go up.
--There is the issue of only one game thus far being in the new kontinuity. However, some events are still set to trigger, if you think about it. I'm determining what'll still happen. I'll go from there. If I take so long that another new game is released, I'll, again, see if I can merge the events. I doubt I'll reboot this a second time just to accommodate that new game, though I may write an alternate book to explore the events if they turn out differently from my predictions or whatever Gancena accidentally triggers.
--Speaking of triggers, I intend to determine what kinds of events and outcomes I want to see, but I'll be using a new storytelling technique: I'll write this in terms of kharacter. That is, I will not force plot points to happen. I'll set them up, but in the end, I'll just write and see what the kombatants do based on the personalities they ultimately end up with. Most of the events of Mortal Kombat 9 should be similar or the same, but how similar? I don't know just yet.

The working title of this fic is On Purpose. Very subject to change.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a few more discoveries to make (i.e., Arcade Ladders to play) before finalizing this thing.

Undetailed Spoilers Ahead for Mortal Kombat 9

So I'm at home this weekend -- the last weekend before Dead Week and Finals Week at Tech. And I. Am. Playing. The. Fuck. Out of Mortal Kombat.

I am loving it so hard. It's so beautiful... and the Story Mode is so well-crafted!

I'm assuming there are 16 chapters (don't korrect me if I'm wrong), and if I'm right, then I am on the last battle of the penultimate chapter.

I should be almost done by now, if not totally done. But I've decided I'm not going to play Story Mode in front of my dad, who is currently working in the gaming room (In before "Why is he in the gaming room?": It doubles as an office).

Hence, the title of this journal.

Here goes the explanation: You all know how emotional I can get over fiction of any sort, and Mortal Kombat's been a very special case. Little details that I recall from the story can make me tear up if they're sad. Stick them all in an overt event and amplify the emotion, and you can have a bawling Gancena in seconds.

This Story Mode has ripped out my heart, stabbed it, stomped on it, set it on fire, squished it, stuck it back in, and ripped it out again. It has patched it on occasion -- thankfully. Point: Its Emotional Torque is fucking magnificent. And I'm not even done with it!

So the most recent cutscene I witnessed was... heavy. In fact, I think it's the heaviest one I've yet seen. I mean... geez...

It was so intense, that Dad actually turned in his chair to witness it (his back to me, thank God). I... Oh, hell. As long as I don't give details. I saw a kombatant die -- probably for good this time -- in front of me, and, naturally, I gasped.

Dad said "Oh, (real name), please." Like I was being overdramatic.

You know how I once said that my enthusiasm is everyone else's "overenthusiasm", or something like that? My normal, understandable reaction is everyone else's "overdramatic" reaction.

I didn't say anything. I just sat there and kept watching, letting myself tear up.

But I knew right away that I couldn't keep going with him in the room. He wouldn't understand. If I started sobbing, he'd have to remind it's not real. That'd actually make it worse.

So when I got off the console, Mama came in the room to discuss something with him. As I passed by to leave, she asked for my help in making some food. I agreed, saying that it'd hopefully cheer me up.

"And why aren't you cheered up now?" Mama said.

I told her -- honestly, in front of Dad.

And he said, trying to make a joke, "So you're sad that Ching-Chang killed a lot of people."

I could only stare, brow furrowing, jaw hanging open. I didn't realize he was joking at the time; I know he doesn't understand this series. But on another level, I thought he was being so insensitive, just brushing off what I had just seen!

You think he'd learn his lesson from the goddamned Sleepless Night. BUT NO.

When he noticed my face, he said, "(real name), you're taking it way too seriously." (Why do you think that is?)

Mama, at least, understands that I get attached to characters, even if she doesn't even know their names or what stories they come from. She even urged my dad to try and do the same as I was leaving.

Minutes later, he asked me to come back and see him. I assumed he was going to lecture me, but I think he finally got the idea that lectures just don't work, so he showed me a couple videos instead.

It worked for a little bit, but I couldn't stop thinking about how hurt I was on a deep level.

He wonders why I prefer fiction.

I've occasionally tried to bond with him and, like tonight, he's occasionally tried to bond with me.

But tonight, I think I've given up on my father.

He can't hope to understand how I think and what I feel.

Goddammit, Dad.