Yesterday morning I had this idea for an 'idol' group (as in the JPop singers) Their stage names are Fee Fi Foe and Fum (a Giant this way comes) The joke is that they're extremely tall (each one being taller than the last) Their stage costumes are often themed after folklore characters (little red riding hood, hensel and grettle etc) But other than that I got bubkis, I'd like to use em in one of my projects but I'm not sure what I could do with this joke ._. I don't have a whole lot of characterization down for any of them. I kind of want them to be accurate to real idol groups rather than how media (especially video games) depict em.
You mean there's a difference? I don't know much about J-Pop or K-Pop other than a few snippets of news (abuse by the record/management companies, etc.; the music doesn't appeal to me), but I toured with a Doo-Wop group during the 50's revival in the late 80's/early 90's. They were dads and grandparents at that point, relatively normal people. The stories they told about before they settled down, however... It all starts with research. There are plenty of books, videos etc. about groups like that. The concept goes back to the 1930's, and probably before, although that was usually girl groups. You may want to start with The Monkees; they were put together as the cast for a TV show in the 1960's. They were known as the Pre-Fab Four, which is a Beatles reference if you aren't old enough to remember. (The Beatles were known as The Fab Four.) Then move on to The Jackson Five (a family group from which sprang Michael Jackson), Boyz II Men, One Direction, NSYNC, New Kids on the Block, Hanson (they were all brothers), Menudo, Big Time Rush, New Edition and the Back Street Boys. Unless you are doing a children's book or a satire ("The biggest group on the planet!!!" "Nobody can top them!"), I don't think that this would go very far. Just keep in mind that most performers are talented people (for the most part) thrown into the spotlight of fame. How they handle the myriad of pressures - fans/celebrity, the media, legal issues, artistic arguments, relationships, addictions, etc. - is what makes the story. The Monkees fell apart when they tried to take control of the music, etc. rather than continuing the course the producers and management had mapped out. Just for fun watch the film "That Thing You Do." Entertaining and a brief glimpse of how groups were handled in the early 60's.
I feel like video games tend to romanticize them a lot. Kinda like how anime and pop culture romanticize Ninjas and Samurai. Granted they seem to be grounded in reality (I mean other than the fantasy elements, like in the game Omega Quintet) but I don't know how accurate those depictions are. They kind of are satire since the stories I can use them in are both parodies. The kind of Idol group I want them to be like are the Japanese kind, since in both stories the setting is Japan-inspired or Japan itself. I don't know if I'll go for the insane popularity thing, if I do I don't know if I'll make them popular around the world. Maybe that can be part of their story arc.
You need to start with a situation. Once you put these characters in some sot of situation your story can begin. And from that you'll be able to better develop your characters. I think it's very hard and maybe pointless to try to develop characters without their stories being part of it.
Sounds like you need a story. Bands get into all kinds of crazy shit. Moreover, you can write about a band doing just about anything and it won't cross into the realm of disbelief. ETA: even a metal band saving the world from an alien attack with their subtle use of minor 6ths in major keys wouldn't be too silly. Or it would be so silly it could achieve real narrative gravity.
Yeah I need to find a story for them, because they're so underdeveloped it is tempting to toss them into any of my current projects (I can think of at least two, where the characters are eccentric enough they'd fit) But on the other hand it's also tempting to write their own story for them. Hell, I MIGHT be able to scrape up an abandoned idea of mine and work them into that. I don't have too many 'old' projects (by old I mean like, ones that never really got off the ground, like the shit that never got past the 'thinking' stage.) but I do have one that might work. I'm sure I can scrape together something for this idol group, especially if it gets them their own unique story.
I'm trying to think of tall girls in jpop. Probably that one girl in Berryz Kobo. She was pretty tall. 5' 11" or something like that. They are out there, but there aren't many. Usually there's a tallish girl, but her height is always an asset. Tallish is like 5'5" or so. Since they're so tall, you can have them being kicked out of their old bands. They got too tall and were forced to graduate early for marketing reasons. Your story can be about them forming this new band because they're skilled and still want to dance/sing. You know, those heights are only really tall in Japan. Maybe their new band fails in Japan and they go to Mexico. Mexico loves jpop bands. The groups will often tour in Mexico City while they seldom tour the US.
Your description sounds like a group using a gimmick to drive their popularity. One possible story arc is, what happens when they get really popular, and then the gimmick isn't working anymore. How do they deal with the decline.
Is it really a gimmick if they're using their features to their advantage? It's no different than a band being say, all red heads for example. I guess a 'gimmick' might be if they all had heterochromia (holy shit, spelled it right the first go) which would be even more rare than them being extremely tall. I think I am going to use them in their own story though, I'd rather the story focus on them rather than them be like a little side feature of the story. As for their popularity, I'd say they'd be around as popular as Vocaloid is, you know, extremely popular within the fandom, but basically unknown to those outside of it. Part of the story could be them overcoming that weakness.
I will be the first to admit, I am clueless about the specific genre here. But it appears my comment, helped get your creative thoughts flowing on this one. Which is a lot of what the board is about.
