Fan Fic Pitches

         Here are a couple of my current fanfiction ideas.  I'll be pitching some of the simpler ones first, and pitch the more complex, convoluted ones (especially the crossovers) in later posts.  That way, I can practice somewhat with short and sweet stories, and then move onto bigger and better tales once I get the hang of writing.



P.S.: While these pitches are all E-rated, I'll let you know off the bat most of my planned stories will have Teen to Mature ratings, on the grounds most of my fanfic ideas cross over with mature rated games, and will have cursing, violence, blood, gore, and possibly even terror to match.  Don't worry about "detailed" sexual content, though, as I personally think detailing intercourse A) detracts from the main story, and B) would likely gross out several of my potential readers (especially if they somehow think I'M enjoying those scenes a little too much).  Anyway, without further ado, here is my tentative list of "future fanfiction projects!".



- The Last Stand (based on the Flash Game Series created by Chris Condon and Con Artist Games):

         The thing I like the best on this cult-hit Flash Game franchise is that the atmosphere is nice and palpable, but the story is barebone, ripe for expansion.  The premise is relatively simple: a zombie infection has broken loose, and your character is desperately trying to survive.

         The first two games focus on a man (revealed to be named Jack in the third game) building barricades, stockpiling weapons, and trying to find other survivors in the day, while fending off the hordes of ravenous undead flesh-eaters at night (the titular "Last Stand").  The first game was static, set in what I could only assume was outside the front of a "doom bunker" Jack had either built in anticipation of the zombie horde, or had stumbled across while fleeing the zombies.  The second game has Jack travel across country to Union City, hoping to catch the evacuation boats and planes off the mainland, while shoring up wherever he could on the way.  The third game shifts to a player created character, who had just stumbled onto the zombocalypse after crashing their car, and being forced to fight their way through Union City to find their spouse, and then to get off the mainland. 

         Since this simplistic but still effective Flash Game translation of the classic zombie apocalypse is SEVERELY underwritten (I only found ONE real fanfic piece set in the TLS verse, (albeit a good one), and all the other links appeared to indicate the only other fanfic piece about this franchise is some bizarro crossover with ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS!!!), I decided it's time to step up to the plate, and try my hand at breathing undead life into The Last Stand's currently inert corpse.  The stories (one for each entry in the games) will be mostly dead serious in tone, and all the humor of the dark and gallows type.  Unlike the undead in "Plants vs. Zombies", the infected here are NOT goofy in the slightest.



- Tropico (Created by PopTop Software, currently owned by Haemimont Games)

         In case you think The Last Stand will be a little too, y'know, "bleak" for your tastes, this fanfic idea will take you to the lovely Caribbean for some much needed fun in the sun!  The little island of Tropico, a lovely little cesspool of Third-World Latin America, makes a distinction from city-builders like SimCity by planting you in the steel-toed boots of "El Presidente", an opportunistic dictator in the heat of the Cold War.

         Although the second game of the series took a sharp turn to starboard in a kooky "Pirate King" simulator, the other three games focus on the shenanigans that were ripe during the Cold War era, from missile crises to coup d'etat's.  To make sure El Pres is not on the painful end of these upheavals, he'll have to cultivate his island from simple farming to heavy industry (or tourism), and appease the demands of not only the factions on his island, but also the ever-looming USA and USSR, all while stuffing that Swiss Bank Account to ensure your own retirement.  Needless to say, the humor here is very cynical, like Dr. Strangelove (or "How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb"), but it's a VERY consistent part of the experience, mixed in with hilarious pop-culture shout-outs, and the generally campy sense of humor of comedies in the time period.

         Sadly, for a game so funny and so ripe for comedy fan fic potential, the game has literally no fanfic pieces that I could discern (and the few crossovers with Tropico I COULD find were really, REALLY lacking in quality).  Not only is Tropico a hilariously dark spoof of Third World dictatorships on its own, but it's recent status as a full-on weirdness magnet (think "NYC" or "Tokyo"-level weird) make it the perfect candidate for plopping ANY fictional universe on its Caribbean shores.  Want espionage and intrigue, a la James Bond?  Too easy.  Alien fleet crash lands in the jungle?  No problem.  Space-time vortex randomly spits your favorite characters in the Presidential Palace?  Why the heck not?!  In Tropico, anything goes!  My actual story ideas will be open to suggestions (i.e. YOU can ask me to do a story of your choosing on Tropico).

         Some important characters for Tropico, to give you a quick idea of what the game has in store:

- El Presidente: The leader of the magnificent island of Tropico, ensuring all his subjects are "taken care of" under his rule.  Can range from anything to a pragmatic villain, and flat-out "Stupid Evil" maniac, or even a genuinely nice guy that realizes he needs to fight a little dirty in politics. (Notice: for those wanting a female Presidente (available since Tropico 3), I'm writing as a separate character - Madame Presidente, the vain, money-chasing wife of El Pres.  This is not to insult the ladies: I'm only basing this personality off of her quotes in the game, and I might just reveal she can be just as cunning and guile as El Pres... or that El Pres is just as vain and money-chasing as SHE is, if not more so!)

- Penultimo: El Presidente's long-suffering assistant, who is ashamedly loyal to El Pres when not trying to poison his drinks or organizing assassination attempts.  In spite of being a blindingly obvious Starscream, his sheer incompetence has assured El Pres he would NEVER be successful in displacing his power, and any attempt that even came close would result in a quick commute to the firing squad.

- Juanito: The bombastic DJ of the radio station Tropico News Today (This is TNT, we are dynamite, AND WE ARE ABOUT TO EXPLODE!), Juanito never fails to keep a positive attitude no matter what happened on Tropico, especially since he would be executed if he said anything to the contrary.  Unfortunately, his lack of creativity in his lines lead to his "unfortunate" demise in Tropico 4, and has forced Penultimo to take his spot as host of TNT.

- Betty Boom: An EXTREMELY irritating guerrilla fighter, who is so violently leftist that she goes after other communist governments!  Her radio station, Radio Free Tropico, is only really funny when her rhetoric blows up in her face, especially with a not-so-bad El Presidente in charge.  She vanished around Tropico 4, (thank God!), and has been replaced with the equally ultra-violent revolutionary Marco Moreno (a Che Guavera look-alike to boot!).



Anyways, those are my first two pitches.  Be sure to read and review, (preferably detailed reviews), and I'll see if I can try actual stories of these two franchises outside of my schoolwork.