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How To Write A Good PJO Time Travel Story

Discussion in 'Fanfic Discussion' started by Archinist, Jul 19, 2019.

  1. Archinist

    Archinist Hαn Sαlsæd First

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    The rare PJO stories that fall under this category are... predictable?

    Harry Potter, Naruto, the whole she-bang has a gazillion time-travel stories. Some are good, others mediocre, others bad.

    The only (slightly) notable one was Requiem of the Hero by Zayad, but the fic seems to be abandoned, and the author uninspired. Not to mention the fan-fiction was rather cracky by the time Percy actually goes back to the time of the Lightning Thief.

    Instead of a 'Percy goes to Greece' 'Percy goes to start of the books' etc., I was thinking of something else.

    With Olympus destroyed, and about to be executed, Percy finds himself in the 40's. He doesn't know why he's there, how, or what he's going to do.

    This brain-child of mine was sprung from recalling that the Axis Powers were apparently headed by Children of Hades. Most of all, though, because I've grown obsessed over the conspiracy that Hitler never died.

    Currently a backseat for me, but I think it's a unique premise. I perhaps could make something enrapturing from it.
     
  2. Utsane

    Utsane Groundskeeper DLP Supporter

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    It is indeed a unique premise. I think, if I remember right, that Nico di Angelo was born not too long before the 1940's according to a reference from the Heroes of Olympus, book 1. It might be interesting to have Percy find Nico and Bianca, since he would know that they were in the Lotus Hotel and Casino during that time period.

    Upon meeting them Percy could either team up with them to stop Hades, or they could join opposing sides of the war. I do think that this interaction would have to be a pivotal part of the first arc of this fic. Can't see any reason why Percy would forget about them, or not want to see them.

    Either way, this is an interesting premise. I look forward to seeing your effort!
     
  3. Archinist

    Archinist Hαn Sαlsæd First

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    @Utsane I'll admit I hadn't taken the diAngelos into account.

    My initial premise would involve a long-winded conspiracy with Hitler's odd disappearance (this is factual; the Allies never found his body). Where's he hiding, what plans does he have, etc.

    I do think the divine world should play a part, but not a main one. Primarily I want this to be centered around the world theater. Explore the characters' motivations. Such as how the hell did their demigod heritage play a part in the war? Hitler is most likely a son of Hades, it's practically shoved in our faces in the first book.

    The story brings me a billion conundrums into how to incorporate a variety of things. How does the Mist play into this? Which world leaders were the sons of which gods, if at all?

    I want the whole shebang to ultimately be about the threat of Kronos. Remember, the fucker is insidious. He turns at least a thousand demigods to his side with his dreams, and it's possible he somehow influenced men like Hitler.

    I wish for it to be a nuanced, conspiracy political centered story. Although it could be anything at this point. Not sure where or how to start it, to be honest.
     
  4. Methos

    Methos High Inquisitor DLP Supporter

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    If you think about it, casting Hades children as Nazis and Hitler especially, was among the more stupid things the author did.

    There is currently semi decent Time Travel PJO, Kronos in his revenge threw Percy back in time.

    My advise if you wish to focus on WW2, avoid casting Hades children as Nazis.

    Actually, best to ignore ww2 at all, consider WW1.
     
  5. Halt

    Halt 1/3 of the Note Bros. Moderator

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    So first, I think you have to decide what sort of story you want to tell thematically.

    Is this meant to be a classic good or evil, or a more morally ambiguous story?

    Because any story that hopes to have any sort of nuance cannot be so simple as to involve one side with Hitler. Culturally, we've painted him as the ultimate bad guy, the next Satan, that anyone who sided with him must by default be inredeemably evil.

    Even Luke as Kronos, in the very end, was not lol I'm gonna kill babies cuz I want to. There was some attempt at humanising him.

    Two ways I can see around this. First, you have a mix of people from different parentages siding with Hitler. Second, as someone else said, go WW1 which was a conflict more about complex political alliances crashing down on itself in classic Great power politics. Germany sides with the Ottomans against the Russians kinda thing. That sounds a lot like gods having petty vengeances taking sides to me.

    If you really want to interact with the Di Angelos, you can always just AU it in service to the story.

    Now, your wanting to explore the greater world is understandable, but ultimately overlooks that all good stories are first and foremost born from characters. Interesting characters. "The only thing worth writing about is the human heart at conflict with itself. Everything else is set dressing."

    If you think about the expansive serieses, your Game of Thrones, your Lotrs, these are all incredibly personal stories still. The world building is centered around character experiences and that's key.

    If you forget character in favor of the world, it's not a story. It's a textbook,and readers wont care.
     
  6. Archinist

    Archinist Hαn Sαlsæd First

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    Thank you for the suggestions.

    I personally don't enjoy, if even believe Riordan's spiel about demigods being the WW2 World Leaders. For a couple of reasons:

    One: This may be a matter of personal preference, I think that it significantly cheapens the significance of the world leader's actions.

    Two: How the hell everything started is beyond me.

    Three: It makes no sense. George Washington, supposedly a child of Athena, made America. He wasn't a child of the Big Three. How Hitler is a son of Hades, along with Mussolini, and the Allies being the children of the other Big Three, confuses me. How did they come to conflict?

    Ultimately, I'm just going to write it as a totally mortal conflict. But Hitler has some grasping of the divine. Maybe he should be a clear-sighted mortal? I don't know. But I think it would be interesting.
    --- Post automerged ---
    I went over the writing advice thread by @Halt. The part that sticks me is the stakes.

    There first has to be a reason for Percy being there. If nothing changes, the war goes the same and so does human history. So there need to be stakes at hand.

    Why does he have to interfere?

    The idea of a Nazi base in the South Pole has always enraptured me, particularly the idea of Hitler's obsession with some lost civilization the 'Aryan race' was descended from.

    I'll admit I'm really new to this forum, at least compared to the majority of people on the site. Some have written fan-fiction longer than I've been alive.

    This leads me to the Wastelands of Time by Joe, but particularly the spiel with Harry racing against Voldemort to reach Atlantis. Hitler and his cabinet had some fantastical idea of finding Atlantis. Not to mention his desire to find supernatural artifacts (i.e., the Ark, the spear that killed Jesus, etc.).

    I want the plot to involve the mystical shit Hitler was obsessed with. How it should, though, I'm not sure.
    --- Post automerged ---
    Which one is this?
    --- Post automerged ---
    I want it to be morally ambiguous, but at the moment I haven't the slightest clue how.

    The proposed story is just an idea right now. I do understand what moral ambiguity is, just not how to write it.
     
  7. Mestre

    Mestre Professor

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    Well, if you want a "morally ambiguous" story involving a hero and nazis, you can have then fight in the first arc until they encounter the real enemy, the Aztech Vampire Gods of Fitness, in which point they join forces to defend humanity. You also can´t forget that the commander of the nazi contingent will save the hero in the last confrontation with the villain.

    If you want to kill Stroheim-I mean the nazi leader, you can kill him in Stalingrad during the Epilogue.

    5/5 story
     
  8. Archinist

    Archinist Hαn Sαlsæd First

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    That is... actually pretty interesting.
     
  9. Utsane

    Utsane Groundskeeper DLP Supporter

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    IIRC Hitler also had some time-travel research going on. Something about a bell, maybe?

    Percy could be there because of Hitler, and could be trying to find his way back to his time, when he realizes that he has the opportunity to kill Hitler, and so of-course he tries to.
     
  10. Archinist

    Archinist Hαn Sαlsæd First

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    Holy fuck I totally forgot about the bell.
    --- Post automerged ---
    I think the ultimate keystone to this is giving the Nazis some justification for their actions.

    No matter how twisted, utilitarian and inhumane it is. Maybe preparing for the alien invasion or a gazillion different things. I think it has to be supernatural in some form.
     
  11. Utsane

    Utsane Groundskeeper DLP Supporter

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    Kronos deceived Hitler into believing that the Jewish people wanted to bring down the entire Olympic system, perhaps?

    I really don't think you should try to justify the actions of the Nazis. It will put off all but a handful of readers, and those will likely only stay for the wrong reasons. Better to just keep the Nazis as the bad guys, or leave them as secondary villains, away from the real moral quandary that the story will deal with.
     
  12. Archinist

    Archinist Hαn Sαlsæd First

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    I am by no means a Nazi sympathizer.

    Kronos is the keystone of this, I think. And this would serve as a motivation for Percy to work against Hitler. Sure, it won't be morally ambiguous since it's the same big bad and protag to drive the plot, but I think it works.

    Although incorporating his obsession with the arcane, I'm still not sure about that.
    --- Post automerged ---
    I personally think the fic should start at D-Day, as a matter of confusion and mystery as to what's happening.
    --- Post automerged ---
    I hate auto-merges.
     
  13. Agent

    Agent High Inquisitor DLP Supporter

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    You might have to take some inspiration from Marvel on this. The whole Hydra and Schmiddtt/Red Skull thing.

    Hitler himself can just be a clear sighted mortal (If that) and it could be his advisers and closest allies that are the Demigods. They're all just using him and don't believe his spiel and instead just want to kill all mortals, not just those that fit with Hitler's vision. One of the advisers can even have a conversation with Percy where he goes "Who do you think is going to be the first person we kill when we win?" Hitler himself may be thinking that he'd be made a god in return for his aid. Or, if he's aware that the other gods are on the side of the allies, he might just not want to die and think that Hades, being the god of the Underworld is the best one to get behind.

    Although, did Riordan ever state which side Hades was actually on? Could do an interesting spin where Zeus and Poseidon are with the Nazis and Hades is with the allies. Percy could be torn between siding with his dad and doing what's right.
     
  14. Archinist

    Archinist Hαn Sαlsæd First

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    Again, I think Kronos should be the cornerstone of all this. Poseidon says he enters man's dreams and whispers evil thoughts. Again, with the manipulation of Hitler. Casting him as a son of Hades is pretty cheap in my opinion. Thus; clear-sighted mortal.

    But his motivations would have to be tied with the supernatural world in some way.

    I personally think that gods picking sides in the conflict, at least in Riordan's version, is arbitrary. Ultimately WW2 didn't play any role in the books other than being the cause of the Big Three swearing the oath.

    (Which was also stupid. Demigods birthed from every Olympian have made big changes.)
     
  15. Otters

    Otters Groundskeeper ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

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    Well, there are a few things I think you need to decide before you go in so you can keep your story straight. Don't necessarily tell me the answers, just consider having these points decided before you begin.

    1) Is your story going to be affecting the outcome of WWII, or just set there?
    2) Is the end result of your story going to be the "canon" timeline of what actually happened in history, or will it be a diversion into an alternate world?
    3) Are you going to make historic figures demigods/monsters, or create original characters to fill those roles?
    4) Who is your antagonist? Not just all of Nazi Germany, or Hitler as its figurehead. Who will be the personal nemesis of characters in your story?
    5) What do your characters want? Are they trying to get home, trying to "preserve the timeline" or trying to make the world a better place by helping wherever they can?

    If you're looking for kooky Nazi fringe mysticism, I'd suggest perhaps bring the Hollow Earth conspiracy into play. There's a good analogue with the underworld waiting to be used there.
     
  16. Archinist

    Archinist Hαn Sαlsæd First

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    I think for the story to include what I want (Nazi occultism, a race inside the earth, crazy mystical shit) it has to take place in a world where the gods don't exist. Thus, it's him on his own in a race against the Nazis to stop their quest for dominion of the world.

    I, at least, think that would be a better premise than plain old time travel.
     
  17. Methos

    Methos High Inquisitor DLP Supporter

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    I'm trying to figure why Poseidon will give a shit about Axis vs Allies war.
    How many demigods outside USA are born ?
    Further if Poseidon had a son who for some reason joined with the Nazis, at most it will be with their Navy.
    If Poseidon children care enough about politics.

    At most I can see him annoyed about Axis and Allies polluting his seas with their submarine and shipwrecks.
     
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