thoughts on fanfiction, and a FF7 plotbunny

I think one reason I keep stumbling into new fandoms (where I mostly read and forget to comment) is because I have been trained by reading science fiction and fantasy. I'm used to holding back judgment and figuring out strange things. I can hold back and piece together canon backstory from the occasional mention in fics. And I follow authors -- meaning if someone whose work I like writes in a couple other fandoms, I'm likely to try reading those stories as well as the ones I have canon background for.

(This has the odd side effect of making me not care much about getting around to reading/watching the actual canon. Because there's no guarantee it'll be as good as the fic, see? And in the case of movies and tv shows, I'm particularly apathetic since I've always been focused more on words than pictures. I am not a visual person. And I grew up mostly ignoring the television -- I was already 10 years old before I watched anything that wasn't PBS or the evening news.)

Anyway, I've been poking around some Final Fantasy VII fic lately, and I've come to the conclusion that someone needs to write an AU story in which Zack survives. Then he, Cloud, and Aeris can restore Sephiroth's sanity, fight Jenova and Hojo, and slowly rebuild and restructure their world while gradually ending up in a nice, messy foursome. At which point they can have sex. (Lots of sex. In many and various combinations. Yay smut!) But there should also be lots of plot and character development and stuff.

If I A) actually knew the canon, and B) weren't such a lazy bum, I'd write it myself. :-)

thoughts on fanfiction, and a FF7 plotbunny

I think one reason I keep stumbling into new fandoms (where I mostly read and forget to comment) is because I have been trained by reading science fiction and fantasy. I'm used to holding back judgment and figuring out strange things. I can hold back and piece together canon backstory from the occasional mention in fics. And I follow authors -- meaning if someone whose work I like writes in a couple other fandoms, I'm likely to try reading those stories as well as the ones I have canon background for.

(This has the odd side effect of making me not care much about getting around to reading/watching the actual canon. Because there's no guarantee it'll be as good as the fic, see? And in the case of movies and tv shows, I'm particularly apathetic since I've always been focused more on words than pictures. I am not a visual person. And I grew up mostly ignoring the television -- I was already 10 years old before I watched anything that wasn't PBS or the evening news.)

Anyway, I've been poking around some Final Fantasy VII fic lately, and I've come to the conclusion that someone needs to write an AU story in which Zack survives. Then he, Cloud, and Aeris can restore Sephiroth's sanity, fight Jenova and Hojo, and slowly rebuild and restructure their world while gradually ending up in a nice, messy foursome. At which point they can have sex. (Lots of sex. In many and various combinations. Yay smut!) But there should also be lots of plot and character development and stuff.

If I A) actually knew the canon, and B) weren't such a lazy bum, I'd write it myself. :-)

tentative plans for "Tides"

I have been working on the next bit of "Tides," called "Spring Cleaning," but Team 7 is insisting there should be witty banter and I'm not particularly good at writing witty banter. *sigh*

Still, it progresses, and I think I can have the rebuilding-the-team/friendship parts done in... say, four more sections after this. One for Sakura, called "Leaders;" one each for Sasuke and Naruto in which there is an encounter with some missing-nin, or sound-nin, or something... some excuse for action anyway; and one more for Sakura, in which they leave Wave Country and I finally get my scene on a boat that I've wanted to write since I started this story. Probably called "Wings."

Which is a big spoiler-type hint, but whatever. :-)

After that, the actual hunting down of Akatsuki and Itachi would be a new story, since the focus shifts from rebuilding to revenge. (And also because I want to know more about what Kishimoto has planned before I start flailing around with established villains.)

tentative plans for "Tides"

I have been working on the next bit of "Tides," called "Spring Cleaning," but Team 7 is insisting there should be witty banter and I'm not particularly good at writing witty banter. *sigh*

Still, it progresses, and I think I can have the rebuilding-the-team/friendship parts done in... say, four more sections after this. One for Sakura, called "Leaders;" one each for Sasuke and Naruto in which there is an encounter with some missing-nin, or sound-nin, or something... some excuse for action anyway; and one more for Sakura, in which they leave Wave Country and I finally get my scene on a boat that I've wanted to write since I started this story. Probably called "Wings."

Which is a big spoiler-type hint, but whatever. :-)

After that, the actual hunting down of Akatsuki and Itachi would be a new story, since the focus shifts from rebuilding to revenge. (And also because I want to know more about what Kishimoto has planned before I start flailing around with established villains.)