XCOM Fanfiction

[DeadlyAlbatross]

Does the subj even exist? Should it?
Anyone willing to try their hand in it?

Opinions and information, please.

[Dranak]

It exists, some is decent. Arad's "Stardust" series is by far the best I have personally read. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/100455/stardust

Yes, that's a MLP/XCOM crossover. No, I'm not trolling you. It actually is pretty good.

[SievertChaser]

Hell yeah it exists.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanficRecs/XCom?from=FanficRecs.XCOMEnemyUnknown

[DeadlyAlbatross]

In frickin credible. But begs the question of whether I should try to add some more to the list.

Okay, thanks, folks.

[SievertChaser]

If porn qualifies as fanfic (under my observations, it probably does, given the impressive overlap), then a corollary to Rule 34 ensures there's a fanfic of everything.

[DeadlyAlbatross]

You really, really, really shouldn't have brought it up...
But my question had something else as its reason. A friend of mine observed that XCOM 2 setting is about as flimsy as your regular 60-ies pulp fiction; I thought I could whip something up in line with this quality during my vacation.

[SievertChaser]

Publicado originalmente por CalibrationHero:

But my question had something else as its reason. A friend of mine observed that XCOM 2 setting is about as flimsy as your regular 60-ies pulp fiction; I thought I could whip something up in line with this quality during my vacation.

Well, it's more than it's not a story-driven game, so the plot was not supposed to be a strong point. Combine that with the game supposedly being set in "Reality unless noted", and you have a very nice canvas indeed.

[DeadlyAlbatross]

Well, when you say 'canvas', it's more like Pratchett's tablecloth as demonstrated in Thief of Time. You have the cloth on which to serve a meal and set the table, but you have grease spots and grains of knocked-over salt and maybe even a slight wine spill, seemingly without rhyme or reason. And yet you have to fashon out of that something that is if not beautiful, then perhaps at least decently wholesome.
I gather the most prominent techniques involve placing candlesticks on the grease spots and cleverly arranging the herring dish to cover the spilled soup or wine or whatnot.

I find it take a surprising amount of skill from both cooks and servers, even if caviar doesn't make an appearance.

UPD:

Come to think of it, serving the soup in a common pot wold be a nice touch, because then the servers could make the guests regard any spills as if they'd alread been there.

[DeadlyAlbatross]

Is now a good time to ask how psionics of the Elders actually work?

[SievertChaser]

Publicado originalmente por CalibrationHero:

Is now a good time to ask how psionics of the Elders actually work?

Err... nope! Something something midichlorians something something space magic.

Just pray to the Emprah it's not the Warp. Enemy Within gave a lot of connecting points to Wh40k.

[DeadlyAlbatross]

No, I didn't mean explaining the medium through which it happens, that I can do myself. But I am unclear why what would - and should - be waves in nature, is suddenly a focused flow. I mean, if they had monuments and retranslators for psionic networks, then people would probably feel protected in certain places, as if by a higher power. That influence would be easy for the Elders to produce and would be unfocused.

However, for some reason, if only for that of poor game design, the elders do not do that. Instead we have a pseudo-fascist police state with self-reporting of dissidents done by its neighbours, which implies military and psychological pressure and fear, not complacency through safety.

Does it then follow that the Elders are unable to affect wide-spread, if subtle, change in minds andd mst resort to focused influence and psionic amplifiers? Okay, well and good, except last I checked the Sectoids _were_ living psi-amps. For some reason they don't do that anymore and instead use their own psi-amplifying equipment.

If that is true, then we either have a case of lore rape (sicne sectoid-human hybrids have been established to have psionic capabilities enough to affect long-term decisions in humans they conversed with, implying ability to affect crowds on a lesser scale), or I have missed my mark on how things are supposed to work here.

I'm afraid whoever wrote XCOM just didn't give enough thought to the setting and just threw in some generic oppressive shtick mechanics and elements together. Meh