That was my intention from the beginning.
So, wait. Your intention was to copy the Team Rocket motto word-for-word and claim it as your own? :| Because my point wasn't that I thought you were copying. It was that I think it's not that cool to plagiarize, even in a fanfic.
My reason: Because it's cool. Yeah, it's not a very good reason but if people don't like it in the actual fic, I'll remove it.
Put it this way. Right now, I'm actually a little bit turned
off from your fic. Even in context, it would sound incredibly cheesy (because the Rocket motto inherently is), forced, cliché, and not terribly creative because, well, you're basically taking the motto word-for-word and claiming it as your own invention when you actually didn't put much effort into getting the rhyme scheme down or figuring out the images you wanted to use. On top of that, the fact that in this thread, you tried to make it seem as if you created the motto yourself and just wanted to make a Rocket-esque rhyme comes off as if you don't think particularly highly of your readers because it implies that you didn't think anyone would catch on.
In short, yes, it's a bad idea, sorry to say.
Yes, and I, by no means, want to go down the route you said. Al, Alex and Allison stay true to Team Plasma's goal: liberating Pokemon from people and they are NOT stereotypical for the most part. I plan to make them just like the Team Rocket trio in the BW Anime right after BW23 and 24: a mix of seriousness and competence along with slight comic relief and light-heartedness.
So... you're still going to create characters who aren't particularly deep because they're basically knock-offs of some other characters? I don't mean to put it bluntly, but half of my point was that lots of authors tend to create characters who are basically JJ&M with different names and in different organizations. Taking the current JJ&M doesn't necessarily mean you're avoiding that problem.
Moreover, there's a lot more to creating developed characters than just adding in a few little bits and pieces here and there. Lots of people have created antagonists who are related in some way to the protagonists. (I even have a few myself in a fic or several.) What I mean is you'll need to take your characters a step
beyond that and make them act like
people, not roles. As in, in order to create good antagonists (or protagonists, for that matter), your first step is to nail down their personalities and make them seem believable, not just copies of some other character out there.
That's nice. Lots of people have, though. I mean, my writing two years ago isn't the same as my writing right now. If you
don't grow as a writer, there's something wrong with you.
However, just because you've grown as a writer doesn't necessarily mean much of anything. Most readers won't particularly care whether or not you've grown because all they'll see is what you're doing right at that moment. Therefore, instead of using "I'm better than I was" as a mantra, try using "I want to be better than I am now." As in, in order to improve as a writer, you'll need to get over how you thought you were not too long ago and look
forwards, not backwards. Improve, not brood on the past. And I mean that in the nicest way possible because it'll only hurt you if you keep comparing yourself to how you once were instead of figuring out where your current weaknesses are and doing something to rectify them.
If you want to see it, check it out. It's right here on the Fanfiction forums.
To be blunt and honest, I'd be more inclined to do so if I had more of a reassurance that you'll pay attention to what reviewers are telling you. I've already gotten a little turned off by the plagiarism (which it really was, considering you didn't make a note that everything but the characters' names in that bit was actually from the anime), and you've just spent an entire post responding to my feedback (which you've asked for, mind you) by telling me you're a great writer capable of deep characterizations and whatnot.
If you don't mind me saying, let me offer another piece of advice. The best way to advertise your fanfiction is to show that you're receptive to feedback. You can do this many ways. On your story thread, you can respond to reviewers with courtesy. On discussion threads, you can have intelligent discussions with other people. Alternatively, if you
create threads asking for advice and feedback -- just like you tend to do -- you can meet each response with a sense of humility, gratitude, and the willingness to communicate. If you ask for advice but respond to it by telling me that it's not relevant, that's going to tell me to avoid your story because you won't be receptive of anything I have to say. (Fic authors who are like this generally churn out bland fic because they won't listen to concrit that could help them.)
Tl;dr, don't ask for advice if you don't want advice. Also, this still isn't an excuse for plagiarism, sorry. :|
