The Twilight Mexican
Ex-SeeD-ingly good
- AKA
- TresDias
That Japanese trope needs to die in a fire.
Fanon Stereotypes! or How We Learned to Continue Worrying and Rant a Bunch
- Thread starter Ite
- Start date
Clement Rage
Pro Adventurer
On Angeal: It's not so much that he's a monster, it's that he can be used to create more monsters, which will be used to create bad things. Shinra will want him in the labs for study, Hollander also wants him in the labs for study, and both of them will send people he respects to hunt him down. From his perspective, he's carrying the zombie virus.Anyone he can turn to for help will want to use him for their own ends, so the only way to stop that is to merge with various monsters so he can stop spreading the virus. When he transforms, Hollander despairs because he no longer has 'Just one sample!' of Angeal's cells to study.
Skan
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- dief
That almost makes sense, which is better than not making sense at all, I suppose.
He's not truly creating more monsters, though. His cells are getting grafted onto existing monsters. If anything, that's actually better than just leaving monsters hanging around to do monstery stuff; sure, his cells make them stronger, but it's also clear he has the ability to influence their actions, so they don't even have to act as monsters if he doesn't want them to (see: the chimera in the church).
I'm also not convinced ShinRa wants him in the lab to study (didn't they give a "kill on sight" order? -- and anyways, I doubt Hojo cares about Hollander's failed experiments). Nor am I convinced that Genesis actually attempts to hunt him down for Hollander; he made a huge show of giving Angeal a choice in the matter, and as far as Genesis is concerned, it's already a "win" if Angeal's no longer working for ShinRa. If anything, it's Angeal hunting down Genesis rather than the other way around.
He's not truly creating more monsters, though. His cells are getting grafted onto existing monsters. If anything, that's actually better than just leaving monsters hanging around to do monstery stuff; sure, his cells make them stronger, but it's also clear he has the ability to influence their actions, so they don't even have to act as monsters if he doesn't want them to (see: the chimera in the church).
I'm also not convinced ShinRa wants him in the lab to study (didn't they give a "kill on sight" order? -- and anyways, I doubt Hojo cares about Hollander's failed experiments). Nor am I convinced that Genesis actually attempts to hunt him down for Hollander; he made a huge show of giving Angeal a choice in the matter, and as far as Genesis is concerned, it's already a "win" if Angeal's no longer working for ShinRa. If anything, it's Angeal hunting down Genesis rather than the other way around.
Clement Rage
Pro Adventurer
He has influence on the monsters, but not control. Lazard had impulses, but it was his decision to go along with them. Aeris' pet just happened to be a good natured monster, the rest are fairly prone to attacking Zack given the chance. Most of them are just powerful killers that wear his face.
Genesis doesn't want to hunt him down, but would he change his mind as he deteriorated and became desperate? Angeal doesn't know. Zack will be sent to hunt him from the Shinra side, or someone else he taught, and he'll eventually either have to kill them to escape, (basically his sons, if the Zack relationship is anything to go by) or die/be captured and become a lab rat at their hand. His father died to give him a chance at SOLDIER, and so he threw himself into it, but now, thanks to his new wing, he failed, to the point where his mother killed herself when she saw what he'd become (we know she didn't, but he doesn't). What's left for him at this point, except to be a monster that spawns more monsters that just destroy stuff? His best friend wants to use him for is own ends, and Zack and Sephiroth have a kill order.
That's a pretty depressing place to be, if that interpretation is correct.
Genesis doesn't want to hunt him down, but would he change his mind as he deteriorated and became desperate? Angeal doesn't know. Zack will be sent to hunt him from the Shinra side, or someone else he taught, and he'll eventually either have to kill them to escape, (basically his sons, if the Zack relationship is anything to go by) or die/be captured and become a lab rat at their hand. His father died to give him a chance at SOLDIER, and so he threw himself into it, but now, thanks to his new wing, he failed, to the point where his mother killed herself when she saw what he'd become (we know she didn't, but he doesn't). What's left for him at this point, except to be a monster that spawns more monsters that just destroy stuff? His best friend wants to use him for is own ends, and Zack and Sephiroth have a kill order.
That's a pretty depressing place to be, if that interpretation is correct.
LicoriceAllsorts
Donator
I thought Gillian did kill herself. Exactly why she chose that moment to do so, I've never understood. Was she waiting to see Angeal one more time?
Angeal's determination to commit suicide by Zack has always been one of the most intriguing parts of the game for me. It seems like an unforgiveable cruel thing to "push on" Zack (who does in fact complain later in the game "why is everyone always pushing things on me?"); we have to accept that Angeal had some kind of noble motive for forcing Zack to kill him (rather than, say, killing himself), and I assume his motive was to open Zack's eyes to the reality of Shinra.
Except... Angeal never seems to have been particularly anti-Shinra. He even tells Zack at some point during Genesis' attack on the Shinra Building that he isn't rebelling against the the company and is even thinking of returning. He veers between self-loathing for being what he terms a 'monster' and his ideals of loyalty to his company, his soldiers and his friends. In short, he doesn't really seem to have thought anything through. But I don't think he was deliberately characterised to be this way.
For example, unless he was very stupid he must have realised that stripping Zack of his innocence about Shinra would not actually help Zack in any way, since Zack isn't in a position to leave Shinra. (Sephiroth is equally naive when, just before the Nibelheim mission, he speaks of possibly leaving the company. As if that would be allowed). Knowing the truth about Shinra may make Zack disenchanted, and eventually even cynical, and bitter, but as far as doing anything about it goes, he can only continue to work for Shinra, or die, or live a life on the run. A life on the run is probably the best option, although, as we've seen, Shinra catches up with all its runaways, eventually.
Sorry, that was kind of rambly.
Angeal's determination to commit suicide by Zack has always been one of the most intriguing parts of the game for me. It seems like an unforgiveable cruel thing to "push on" Zack (who does in fact complain later in the game "why is everyone always pushing things on me?"); we have to accept that Angeal had some kind of noble motive for forcing Zack to kill him (rather than, say, killing himself), and I assume his motive was to open Zack's eyes to the reality of Shinra.
Except... Angeal never seems to have been particularly anti-Shinra. He even tells Zack at some point during Genesis' attack on the Shinra Building that he isn't rebelling against the the company and is even thinking of returning. He veers between self-loathing for being what he terms a 'monster' and his ideals of loyalty to his company, his soldiers and his friends. In short, he doesn't really seem to have thought anything through. But I don't think he was deliberately characterised to be this way.
For example, unless he was very stupid he must have realised that stripping Zack of his innocence about Shinra would not actually help Zack in any way, since Zack isn't in a position to leave Shinra. (Sephiroth is equally naive when, just before the Nibelheim mission, he speaks of possibly leaving the company. As if that would be allowed). Knowing the truth about Shinra may make Zack disenchanted, and eventually even cynical, and bitter, but as far as doing anything about it goes, he can only continue to work for Shinra, or die, or live a life on the run. A life on the run is probably the best option, although, as we've seen, Shinra catches up with all its runaways, eventually.
Sorry, that was kind of rambly.
Clement Rage
Pro Adventurer
Badly phrased. I meant 'we know she didn't kill herself for that reason', although I could actually be wrong.
It doesn't seem to be easy to kill yourself with Mako enhancements. Lucy tried, failed, and is still complaining about it 30 years later. Maybe Gillian knew once Shinra arrived there was no other option. Since Zack figured Angeal did it, my headcanon was that she used the Buster Sword, which 'symbolised her family's honour'
It doesn't seem to be easy to kill yourself with Mako enhancements. Lucy tried, failed, and is still complaining about it 30 years later. Maybe Gillian knew once Shinra arrived there was no other option. Since Zack figured Angeal did it, my headcanon was that she used the Buster Sword, which 'symbolised her family's honour'
Skan
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- dief
@ Clement: It would be odd if Angeal had less control over the monsters than Genesis had over his copies (who probably had a stronger sense of self to begin with, having been SOLDIERs). I'd always assumed Angeal was having the copies attack Zack to provoke Zack into killing them, because otherwise, who else could do it safely?
I like your second paragraph though, and I'm willing to believe that Angeal, in a bout of dark, muddled thinking, might believe Genesis, Zack, and/or Sephiroth would actually kill/seize him rather than just letting him go about his merry way. Though ShinRa declared him dead and seemed to have stopped any active hunting, Angeal himself clearly wasn't able to stop interfering in the matters, and the more he interfered, the greater the chance they'd want to finish him off. Even if Zack and Sephiroth ended up rejecting kill orders with their 1st Class privileges, ShinRa would send someone to clean him up eventually.
It's also possible that he didn't want to do to them what Genesis did to him: he didn't want to put Zack or Sephiroth in the position of having to choose between SOLDIER or friendship. Look where it landed him, after all.
It is still odd that he chooses to die when there's still so much to be done and so many things to regret, but depression does make people tunnel-vision and spiral.
ETA:
@ Licorice: I don't think Angeal ever says that he's thinking of returning. He just says he can't stop thinking like a SOLDIER and that he still wants to protect his "SOLDIER honor," even if he's not technically SOLDIER anymore.
I actually don't think he's loyal to the company. I think he's loyal to SOLDIER and what SOLDIER entails -- he seems to believe that SOLDIER is or should be about saving and defending the weak -- but not the company, necessarily. But SOLDIER's attached to the company, and so, he works for the company and for SOLDIER, because they're ultimately still the best way to get things done. Until Genesis gets in the way.
I always thought he had Zack kill him, because he couldn't commit suicide (similar to how Lucrecia couldn't). I admittedly still have no idea how Gillian did it.
@ Clement: Gillian afaik didn't have Mako enhancements, just Jenova cells. I always kind of ran off the idea that something about Jenova's survival instinct made it very difficult to commit suicide, but as I said above, no idea how Gillian killed herself when Lucrecia failed.
On another note: I take back what I said about Angeal knowing about Lazard working with Genesis. It seems he doesn't. When he finds Zack in the slums before they go to Modeoheim, he says, "I've informed Lazard as well. They'll come pick you up soon."
I like your second paragraph though, and I'm willing to believe that Angeal, in a bout of dark, muddled thinking, might believe Genesis, Zack, and/or Sephiroth would actually kill/seize him rather than just letting him go about his merry way. Though ShinRa declared him dead and seemed to have stopped any active hunting, Angeal himself clearly wasn't able to stop interfering in the matters, and the more he interfered, the greater the chance they'd want to finish him off. Even if Zack and Sephiroth ended up rejecting kill orders with their 1st Class privileges, ShinRa would send someone to clean him up eventually.
It's also possible that he didn't want to do to them what Genesis did to him: he didn't want to put Zack or Sephiroth in the position of having to choose between SOLDIER or friendship. Look where it landed him, after all.
It is still odd that he chooses to die when there's still so much to be done and so many things to regret, but depression does make people tunnel-vision and spiral.
ETA:
@ Licorice: I don't think Angeal ever says that he's thinking of returning. He just says he can't stop thinking like a SOLDIER and that he still wants to protect his "SOLDIER honor," even if he's not technically SOLDIER anymore.
I actually don't think he's loyal to the company. I think he's loyal to SOLDIER and what SOLDIER entails -- he seems to believe that SOLDIER is or should be about saving and defending the weak -- but not the company, necessarily. But SOLDIER's attached to the company, and so, he works for the company and for SOLDIER, because they're ultimately still the best way to get things done. Until Genesis gets in the way.
I always thought he had Zack kill him, because he couldn't commit suicide (similar to how Lucrecia couldn't). I admittedly still have no idea how Gillian did it.
@ Clement: Gillian afaik didn't have Mako enhancements, just Jenova cells. I always kind of ran off the idea that something about Jenova's survival instinct made it very difficult to commit suicide, but as I said above, no idea how Gillian killed herself when Lucrecia failed.
On another note: I take back what I said about Angeal knowing about Lazard working with Genesis. It seems he doesn't. When he finds Zack in the slums before they go to Modeoheim, he says, "I've informed Lazard as well. They'll come pick you up soon."
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LicoriceAllsorts
Donator
Well, I can't help feeling that Lucretia's efforts to kill herself were more along the lines of sitting with a glass full of whiskey and staring at her open pill bottle while the shadows slowly grew longer across her bedroom floor... Or wading waist deep into the ocean, standing there for an hour or so and then wading out again, rather than shooting herself in the head and then waking up next morning to find herself surprisingly alive. It really isn't that easy to relinquish life when you have unfinished business in the world.
I realise she says, "The Jenova inside me would not let me die" and yes I acknowledge this probably means her cells are unkillable. But I still like my version.
Plus - she says, "I heard that [Sephiroth] died five years ago." Now, who could she have heard that from, locked away inside her crystal in a cave accessible only by submarine?
I realise she says, "The Jenova inside me would not let me die" and yes I acknowledge this probably means her cells are unkillable. But I still like my version.
Plus - she says, "I heard that [Sephiroth] died five years ago." Now, who could she have heard that from, locked away inside her crystal in a cave accessible only by submarine?
Roger
He/him
- AKA
- Minato
Not really, not Veldt and his Turks and daughter, not Cloud, not Sephiroth, not Genesis, not Hollander. They only got Angeal because he wanted to commit suicide by SOLDIER operative. They got Lazard, Zack, Gast and Aerith. Except Zack was travelling towards Midgar and Aerith was just living there for a decade and half. Only faced with having to protect Marlene allowed the Turks to finally negotiate her surrender. Gast is the only one that they tracked down who wasn't making a big ruckus. And that was a personal matter for Hojo.
We do know of SOLDIER operatives that just quit and were allowed to quit. Zack wasn't so special yet they couldn't let him leave. If Sephiroth just decided to choose civilian life, would Shinra really waste away their entire military budget to fail to stop him?
Keveh Kins
Pun Enthusiast
Always figured Shinra went after Zack because they feared whistleblowing. A 1st Class Soldier with a fanclub is pronounced dead, then turns up years later with a horror story that not only brings their unethical experimentation out into the open, but could easily lead to the details of the wider Nibelheim incident being unearthed. Then again, Shinra seem to be the law so you'd have to wonder why they would fear an investigation.
Headcanon is that Pressie Shinra for all his cunning got excessively paranoid after Sephiroth flipped and all the Avalanche attempts on his life and so on. That's why he does something as drastic as order the plate to be dropped, just to get rid of a group comprising less than five or six individuals. S'also why he puts Rufus out to pasture for so long. I'd imagine it was only a matter of time before he turned on someone like Reeve as well, just because he objected so much to what they were doing. It's total headcanon but given what he does in the game it's not difficult to picture Shinra sending an army's worth after Sephiroth if he chose to defect, when they killed off thousands just to get rid of a handful of terrorists
Cat Rage Room
Great Old One
- AKA
- Mog
We do?
LicoriceAllsorts
Donator
Yeah that guy who runs the shop in Junon used to be in SOLDIER.
Starling
Pro Adventurer
Lately I've been finding an awful lot of OC centric fics, mostly of the trapped in the game or first female SOLDIER kind. What's the point of having the plot revolve around an OC? Also, I was under the impression the people who assumed there weren't any female SOLDIERs generally did so as an excuse for yaoi shipping, sometimes accompanied by treating mako like an aphrodisiac.
I can only think of one fic that offered a sensible and thought out justification for that being the case and it wasn't for shipping purposes.
Speaking of shipping, would it be a good idea to have a thread about why people like/dislike various pairings, as well as why they're popular? This would, of course exclude Cloti and Clerith.
I can only think of one fic that offered a sensible and thought out justification for that being the case and it wasn't for shipping purposes.
Speaking of shipping, would it be a good idea to have a thread about why people like/dislike various pairings, as well as why they're popular? This would, of course exclude Cloti and Clerith.
Obsidian Fire
Ahk Morn!
- AKA
- The Engineer
I think this has to do with how as time goes on, more and more good AU ideas have been exhausted and written about. So it feels like there's less room for creativity. TBH, I see this type of thing happen in nearly all fandoms. Generally speaking, the longer the fandom has been around, the more and more the fan-works become about OCs, self-inserts and pairings rather then actual plot. Eventyaly, I usually stop reading fan-works because the original work is so much better.
Part of the problem with FFVII being a video game is that there's only one field model for SOLDIERs, troopers and the like to conserve disk space, so I think that's where the male-only sterotype for SOLDIER came from initially. The ironic part is that no one in the cast actually says that those organizations are male-only and Cloud himself takes Aeirth's desire to join up with SOLDIER seriously, so there probably is female SOLDIER and troopers, it's just that there's no plot related reason for the game to mention them.
The Twilight Mexican
Ex-SeeD-ingly good
- AKA
- TresDias
Deepground has tons of females. They may not be Jenova-type SOLDIERs, but if the original mako-enhanced-only SOLDIER program had females, there's no reason to think the Jenova-type program didn't.
Also, yes, OC and self-insert is the eventual fate of all fandom's fanfics, though it's usually also the mark of very young and/or inexperienced writers from the outset as well.
Also, yes, OC and self-insert is the eventual fate of all fandom's fanfics, though it's usually also the mark of very young and/or inexperienced writers from the outset as well.
LicoriceAllsorts
Donator
Actually, I often enjoy OC stories in FFVII's world. It's a world that allows for further world building, and I like the idea that it's full of people just living their lives. I don't really care for OC Turks, or an OC new member of Avalanche, but I love stories about OC soldiers, 3rd classes, Shinra salarymen, train guards, Gold Saucer jockeys etc...
There's nothing wrong with the OC concept in principle, it's just that so many are poorly executed - but that's true of all fanfic.
There's nothing wrong with the OC concept in principle, it's just that so many are poorly executed - but that's true of all fanfic.
Starling
Pro Adventurer
The only justification I can think of for female SOLDIERs not being a common thing would be that if injecting a woman with J-cells and impregnating her is how they go about making the best SOLDIERs, then would they have issues about the female SOLDIERs having kids? I don't think I saw any discussion about how the enhancements might affect the hypothetical offspring of your standard SOLDIER. It's one of those things you can either treat as unimportant and move onto other plot points or use as an integral part of the fic.
I still see a lot of untapped potential in this fandom. Even if an idea's already been used, there are multiple ways to spin it and blend it with other ideas to make a different story. You could have two stories starting with the same basic plot and have them go completely different directions from there by including other ideas or even just going for a different level of seriousness. One of the great things about the compilation is that if you can manage to work out which sources you rely on for canon elements and which ones you ignore, it can give quite a bit of flexibility. Factor in crossovers and the possibilities are probably limitless.
I sometimes find fics with a premise I find interesting and would like to see explored but either get reduced to an excuse to write smut about two characters with the plot reduced to decoration, the grammar is too eye bleedingly bad to salvage, the fic was discontinued or it simply wasn't very well executed. It makes me sad to see interesting new ideas wasted or not fully explored and then never touched again.
I still see a lot of untapped potential in this fandom. Even if an idea's already been used, there are multiple ways to spin it and blend it with other ideas to make a different story. You could have two stories starting with the same basic plot and have them go completely different directions from there by including other ideas or even just going for a different level of seriousness. One of the great things about the compilation is that if you can manage to work out which sources you rely on for canon elements and which ones you ignore, it can give quite a bit of flexibility. Factor in crossovers and the possibilities are probably limitless.
I sometimes find fics with a premise I find interesting and would like to see explored but either get reduced to an excuse to write smut about two characters with the plot reduced to decoration, the grammar is too eye bleedingly bad to salvage, the fic was discontinued or it simply wasn't very well executed. It makes me sad to see interesting new ideas wasted or not fully explored and then never touched again.
The Twilight Mexican
Ex-SeeD-ingly good
- AKA
- TresDias
Yes, I have to agree with that. I personally love OC concepts when done at the man-on-the-street level, but it usually ends up being some wacky-ass AU version of things where there's this new super special snowflake member of AVALANCHE or SOLDIER -- whom I can't help but think resembles the author in name and/or appearance -- that is plopped into a retelling of events.
I hate that shit.
I hate that shit.
LicoriceAllsorts
Donator
I totally agree, Starling - canonically nothing says women aren't in SOLDIER, or in the regular army either. Women are Turks, so what's to stop them being in the other two services?
That said, I have a headcanon which states that Shinra tried to make women SOLDIERs, and failed, because biologically female humans experienced extreme adverse reactions to Jenova cells. While a few women made it through the initial treatment, the failure rate was so high, and so many female recruits died, that Shinra made it a policy to recruit only men.
I can't remember: Did Lucretia have Jenova cells injected into herself before conceiving Sephiroth, or were the cells injected into his fetus and then they passed over into her bloodstream? Same with Gillian - was she ever injected with Jenova cells?
That said, I have a headcanon which states that Shinra tried to make women SOLDIERs, and failed, because biologically female humans experienced extreme adverse reactions to Jenova cells. While a few women made it through the initial treatment, the failure rate was so high, and so many female recruits died, that Shinra made it a policy to recruit only men.
I can't remember: Did Lucretia have Jenova cells injected into herself before conceiving Sephiroth, or were the cells injected into his fetus and then they passed over into her bloodstream? Same with Gillian - was she ever injected with Jenova cells?
The Twilight Mexican
Ex-SeeD-ingly good
- AKA
- TresDias
Lucrecia was injected while pregnant, Gillian before.
EDIT: Or, more likely, both were injected while pregnant, but Sephiroth's embryo form was injected directly while Gillian -- rather than the Angeal embryo -- was injected. It's actually not entirely clear, but here's what the CC Ultimania says:
EDIT: Or, more likely, both were injected while pregnant, but Sephiroth's embryo form was injected directly while Gillian -- rather than the Angeal embryo -- was injected. It's actually not entirely clear, but here's what the CC Ultimania says:
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Starling
Pro Adventurer
I think Gillian was injected with J-cells, then her genes were mapped onto Genesis and THEN she passed them on to Angeal during pregnancy. As for Lucrecia, I don't think they specify whether she was directly injected too or if they only injected directly into Sephiroth and managed to affect her enough to make her immortal.
Your headcanon sounds like it's based on the difficulties Lucrecia experienced with her pregnancy. I figure pregnancies are hard enough on a body without throwing that kind of experimentation into the mix. The good justification I mentioned earlier was about how the author interpreted mako affected people and the difference between its effects on both genders. In short, it worked but males on average could handle larger amounts before suffering psychological effects provided they had adequate moral support and mental fortitude to cope with the effects of the enhancements. Therefore, it was more practical to only do the procedure on males in order to have a more mentally stable army.
I once read a fic that had a female SOLDIER say something at one point and I had to stop reading a moment in awe that I finally found a fic that had female SOLDIERs as a standard thing. I find it sad such a thing is so rare as to incite that reaction.
If a fic is about a known but nameless npc, I don't consider that an OC. In regards to OCs in a story, I don't think they should so more than act as supporting characters or add depth to the story. If they get mentioned in the summary, they were probably given too much importance.
Your headcanon sounds like it's based on the difficulties Lucrecia experienced with her pregnancy. I figure pregnancies are hard enough on a body without throwing that kind of experimentation into the mix. The good justification I mentioned earlier was about how the author interpreted mako affected people and the difference between its effects on both genders. In short, it worked but males on average could handle larger amounts before suffering psychological effects provided they had adequate moral support and mental fortitude to cope with the effects of the enhancements. Therefore, it was more practical to only do the procedure on males in order to have a more mentally stable army.
I once read a fic that had a female SOLDIER say something at one point and I had to stop reading a moment in awe that I finally found a fic that had female SOLDIERs as a standard thing. I find it sad such a thing is so rare as to incite that reaction.
If a fic is about a known but nameless npc, I don't consider that an OC. In regards to OCs in a story, I don't think they should so more than act as supporting characters or add depth to the story. If they get mentioned in the summary, they were probably given too much importance.
Skan
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- dief
The "problem" with OCs is that they too often take center-stage in fanfics, and most people don't read fanfics to read about OCs. They read fanfics to get more of their favorite characters, above all else -- even above exploring the world, I'd hazard -- and an OC often gets in the way of that sort of character exploration.
LicoriceAllsorts
Donator
On the whole, I agree. But there is the occasional fanfic with OCs so engaging that I really come to enjoy their story and care about them. A good example is "Thorns" by Vathara. I became so interested in the OCs's stories then I ended up caring about them more than I did about Cloud, Zack and Aerith.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3878848/1/Thorns
Obsidian Fire
Ahk Morn!
- AKA
- The Engineer
^^Vathara is one of those fan-fic authors where you wonder why they're writing fan-fics instead of actual fiction, they're just that good.
That said, Vathara says in her fan-fic Embers that she really doesn't make OCs from scratch; instead she takes characters from other works and re-tweaks their backgrounds to fit what-ever 'verse she's sticking them into. If you read some of her other stuff, it's pretty obvious that the main "OCs" in Thorns are some of the cast from Stargate: SG-1 with altered backgrounds to fit into the FFVII universe.
I will admit that Thorns has done more to shape my headcanon of the state of FFVII academia (including the Shin-Ra Science Department) then all of official Canon put together.
That said, Vathara says in her fan-fic Embers that she really doesn't make OCs from scratch; instead she takes characters from other works and re-tweaks their backgrounds to fit what-ever 'verse she's sticking them into. If you read some of her other stuff, it's pretty obvious that the main "OCs" in Thorns are some of the cast from Stargate: SG-1 with altered backgrounds to fit into the FFVII universe.
I will admit that Thorns has done more to shape my headcanon of the state of FFVII academia (including the Shin-Ra Science Department) then all of official Canon put together.
Skan
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- dief
Ah, Thorns, my old enemy. 
I've tried to read that story a few times before, because it's recommended everywhere, but my interest always peters out in the first scene. If/when I give it another go, I'll keep in mind that the OCs are basically SG-1, though.
In general though, people need to ask themselves if an OC is actually necessary to the story. Sometimes you get gratuitous OCs that don't quite yank the limelight away from the canon characters, but their roles can be played just as well by the canon characters.
I've tried to read that story a few times before, because it's recommended everywhere, but my interest always peters out in the first scene. If/when I give it another go, I'll keep in mind that the OCs are basically SG-1, though.
In general though, people need to ask themselves if an OC is actually necessary to the story. Sometimes you get gratuitous OCs that don't quite yank the limelight away from the canon characters, but their roles can be played just as well by the canon characters.
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