General writing fiction discussion thrad.

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I'm sorry, but I hate "Inspire" and refuse to acknowledge it as canon. First off, what does it mean to "emit life"? What kinds of inanimate objects can be made to "emit life"? Computers? Cranes? Coffeepots? Submarines? Rockets? Paperweights? Secondly, if Reeve actually possessed this ability and was not a complete and utter bastard he would have used it to a) stop the plate from crushing the innocent babies of the Sector 7 slums, and b) stop Meteor. He could have got the time on the plate release mechanism to turn itself off and then jam itself. He could have got the drop on Sephiroth by using the Presidential paperweight to bash the old man's head in. His failure to even try means he goes from being an interesting, flawed, well-rounded character to being a total dickhead.

Where did he get this power from, anyway? I suppose I could just about accept it if it were his Limit Break, and if for those ten seconds, when the energy generated by his pain and suffering reaches a critical point, he can make stones sing and raindrops laugh - but he seems to be able to call on it any old time he chooses, which nobody else in the Compilation can do, except for Aerith, and her super-power - hearing the cries of the Planet - is carefully justified and fully integrated into their world-building. Moreover, it's clearly shown by Bugenhagen that anybody can hear the cries of the Planet. You don't have to be a Cetra. You just have to listen. Aerith was born with a high developed ability to listen, something which she carefully honed. But it isn't a unique skill.

I see no reason why Reeve should be such an anomaly, when he's so ordinary in every other way. No, "Inspire" is just a SE asspull lazy explanation for how Cait works.

I think he recorded his father speaking and used those recordings to make a voice bank for Cait.

 

[Skan]

I guess if one really wanted to mess with the Inspire idea, it'd make the most sense to connect it to materia magic somehow (e.g. the Manipulate that comes with Cait).

 

[Unlucky]

Maybe he wasn't Inspired to even try anymore.




/runs to hide in a corner

 

[Octo]

Yeah the whole inspire thing was fucking stupid. WE CAN ACCEPT THAT ITS A ROBOT CAT OK? YOU DIDN'T NEED TO MAKE UP SOME WEIRD SHIT ABOUT HOW IT WORKS.

ugh.

 

[Keveh Kins]

Spoiler: Reeve's Inspire Limit Break?

Or maybe it's more like those two kids in Spongebob who brought the creep snow man to life

 

[Ravynne Nevyrmore]

It also appears that Reeve's beta ability "Inspire" seems to have made it into firm canon... according to his Ultimania character file:
Wonder what that's about.

Maybe in this full length JPRG that I still fantasize they will make, Reeve can be the playable party member with Cait Sith being one of several options of robot-puppet-creatures he can choose to fight with in battle, Pokémon style.

Attack
> Inspire
Magic
Item

> Cait Sith
Pikachu
Fat Chocobo

"Cait Sith, I choose you!"

I'm sorry, but I hate "Inspire" and refuse to acknowledge it as canon. First off, what does it mean to "emit life"? What kinds of inanimate objects can be made to "emit life"? Computers? Cranes? Coffeepots? Submarines? Rockets? Paperweights? Secondly, if Reeve actually possessed this ability and was not a complete and utter bastard he would have used it to a) stop the plate from crushing the innocent babies of the Sector 7 slums, and b) stop Meteor. He could have got the time on the plate release mechanism to turn itself off and then jam itself. He could have got the drop on Sephiroth by using the Presidential paperweight to bash the old man's head in. His failure to even try means he goes from being an interesting, flawed, well-rounded character to being a total dickhead.

Oh I'm sure there are some limitations on his ability that would have made those things impossible. The plate itself was probably too big, or too far away (maybe he has a special connection to control Cait long distance), or it only works on constructs he has built himself. I think looking too far into this is kind of like trying to reason that they should have just used a Phoenix Down on Aerith or that Supernova should have just killed the entire solar system instantly or that SabinTifa can't suplex a fucking trainRuby WEAPON. You just have to give game mechanics a pass as they pertain to storyline sometimes.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Maybe in this full length JPRG that I still fantasize they will make, Reeve can be the playable party member with Cait Sith being one of several options of robot-puppet-creatures he can choose to fight with in battle, Pokémon style.

Attack
> Inspire
Magic
Item

> Cait Sith
Pikachu
Fat Chocobo

"Cait Sith, I choose you!"

Now this I could believe in.

Oh I'm sure there are some limitations on his ability that would have made those things impossible. The plate itself was probably too big, or too far away (maybe he has a special connection to control Cait long distance), or it only works on constructs he has built himself. I think looking too far into this is kind of like trying to reason that they should have just used a Phoenix Down on Aerith or that Supernova should have just killed the entire solar system instantly or that SabinTifa can't suplex a fucking trainRuby WEAPON. You just have to give game mechanics a pass as they pertain to storyline sometimes.

If he'd had this power from the get-go I wouldn't object to it. Tifa's a monk, so she can suplex anything; Aerith was dead and not just knocked out, so a Phoenix Down wouldn't work on her; and Supernova... yeah, I got nothing. But Cait was always a robot with an unspecified degree of AI, and everybody was fine with that explanation. Inspire is redundant. Especially as Reeve is never, ever seen to use it on anything else. At least Tifa punches things lights out consistently. And Phoenix Down obviously didn't work on President Shinra either.

 

[Ravynne Nevyrmore]

If he'd had this power from the get-go I wouldn't object to it. Tifa's a monk, so she can suplex anything; Aerith was dead and not just knocked out, so a Phoenix Down wouldn't work on her; and Supernova... yeah, I got nothing. But Cait was always a robot with an unspecified degree of AI, and everybody was fine with that explanation. Inspire is redundant. Especially as Reeve is never, ever seen to use it on anything else. At least Tifa punches things lights out consistently. And Phoenix Down obviously didn't work on President Shinra either.

There's a lot of things the compilation has expanded on, many of them yielding a hearty "wat" as the appropriate response. Reeve's control of Cait Sith being attributed to an ability called "Inspire" is the least of my grievances.

 

[Ravynne Nevyrmore]

Speaking of over-tagging on AO3, my excessively tagged Anomie Theory that I posted 3 days ago now has 20 hits that I'm pretty sure weren't all you guys, as opposed to my other two posted maybe a week earlier that still have no hits (that weren't me). Then again, Anomie Theory is rated Explicit whereas the others are Teen and General. So either over-tagging does achieve results, sex is the only way to sell on AO3, or a combination of both.

Anyone have any better ideas of how to get people to read your fanfiction? Or is it just kind of a matter of making it available and letting those who want to find it find it?

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Have a Cloud/Genesis/Sephiroth threesome?

 

[Ravynne Nevyrmore]

Have a Cloud/Genesis/Sephiroth threesome?

So it's just a matter of "they'll find it if they want to"?

 

[Skan]

It's probably 'cause you backdated the other fics; backdating means they don't show up on the front page.

Re: Inspire. I'm really not that bothered by it. The chances anyone will actually deal with Cait Sith's origins in their fics is extremely low. (But if anyone is interested, here's a fun developmental Cait Sith fic by Larathia.)

I've always liked the idea of Phoenix Down being a Deckname for some kind of medicinal plant that looks like phoenix down but really just has an effect like smelling salts (but amplified).

 

[Ravynne Nevyrmore]

It's probably 'cause you backdated the other fics; backdating means they don't show up on the front page.

Oh. Hmm. Maybe I'll take them down and repost out of curiosity, then backdate them later so that people still know they're old and don't judge me too harshly for old writing/content.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

^^Due to ff.net's and deviantART's restrictions on on exactly what explicit stuff can be put up on their websites (not that anyone listens), AO3 tends to have a higher percentage of explicit fanworks then the other two sites do. So that's where people go when they're specifically looking for explicit stuff it seems like. As opposed to if you're not looking for explicit stuff, in which case, ff.net has a lot more of that is is better known anyway. So you'll probably get more hits on explicit stuff on AO3.

And yes, sex sells better then anything else... if you're not going that route, you pretty much have to cross your fingers.

 

[Skan]

You can just say that in the author's note section without backdating: "Written in 20XX."

 

[Unlucky]

Super off topic, but I just noticed Ravynne's avatar is a gif and now I can't stop laughing

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

If you want to attract a larger audience you could try posting pages from your doujinshi on tumblr, linking to where it's posted on deviant art, and cross-linking to your other fics. You could also try making a Facebook page for it and a twitter. A good way to build up a following is either to join fic communities and do fic exchanges, or do RPing on tumblr. I quite enjoy the fic exchanges, but I'm terrible at RP!

 

[Skan]

Fic exchanges are great if you have the time and are willing to write things you wouldn't normally write. I'm a big fan of ff-exchange, which runs a pretty big FF fic exchange called DOINK but also has an off-season where they just encourage people to fill unfilled prompts with no commitment necessary.

As for fic communities, I can't speak for any other platform, but I don't think there are active FF7 comms on LJ or DW anymore. If you don't already have a following from the pre-Tumblr era, tough luck.

RP on Tumblr is awful. I don't know why people use that platform.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I don't know of any active FF communities on LJ or Dreamwidth. The Genesis Awards collapsed in a rain of fire and brimstone. There doesn't seem to be anywhere but tumblr these days. And yes, its format does seem terrible for RPing. I think the only reason people use it is because people are using it, if you see what I mean - if you want to RP, that's where it's happening.

I never thought that tumblr was good for anything except reblagging art.

 

[Skan]

There's also areyougame, which is a video game fic exchange with some FF7 representation. The main mod is gonna retire from modship soon though, so I dunno how long it's gonna keep going.

Everyone is on Tumblr, so everyone goes there, even though everyone complains about how awful it is for everything but art. But nobody is willing to leave, 'cause otherwise they'd be cut off from fandom community. (Hell, there was all that hubbub about the graphics-width change, but I bet none of the people who complained would actually really leave. They'll put up with it and deal, just like they put up with Livejournal's shit for years, because they don't have an alternative right now -- and I don't think things will trend back to long-form blogging sites.)

 

[Ravynne Nevyrmore]

Super off topic, but I just noticed Ravynne's avatar is a gif and now I can't stop laughing

If you want to attract a larger audience you could try posting pages from your doujinshi on tumblr, linking to where it's posted on deviant art, and cross-linking to your other fics. You could also try making a Facebook page for it and a twitter. A good way to build up a following is either to join fic communities and do fic exchanges, or do RPing on tumblr. I quite enjoy the fic exchanges, but I'm terrible at RP!

Oh hells no am I ever touching Tumblr with a ten foot pole. Isn't that where teenage SJWs go to blog about cutting their wrists and demand their legal right to be recognized as otherkin? I don't see what Tumblr is good for except reblogging gifs of Girls and striving for Most Hipster of the Hipsters.

Nor would I ever RP fan characters. I can't think of a worse bastardization.

 

[Skan]

Eh, RPing a character is like co-writing half a fanfic from one character's POV while your partner writes the other half from another POV. I used to participate in those large-scale community prose RPs on LJ (where there's an overarching plot, a ton of different people playing a ton of different characters from all sorts of medias, and the mods scooting the main plot along while the player-characters form their own plotlines and relationships with each other). It's actually a great way to practice characterization and writing, if you're not too much of a control freak and if your partner is decent.

What boggles my mind is that some people RP over Twitter.

 

[Ravynne Nevyrmore]

Eh, RPing a character is like co-writing half a fanfic from one character's POV while your partner writes the other half from another POV. I used to participate in those large-scale community prose RPs on LJ (where there's an overarching plot, a ton of different people playing a ton of different characters from all sorts of medias, and the mods scooting the main plot along while the player-characters form their own plotlines and relationships with each other). It's actually a great way to practice characterization and writing, if you're not too much of a control freak and if your partner is decent.

Yeah, but I'm too much of a control freak.

I used to RP original characters. AOL Rhy'Din, that sort of thing. Had some pretty great communities there, then moved on to a MUD that took care of combat and race mechanics so that there was some kind of regulation to it, which was even better. Then that MUD died and I haven't bothered since because nothing will ever be as good again. Freeform RP is a mess. Even what we had on AOL got out of control with everyone trying to outprose each other with all their emerald orbsing and flaxen tressesing and who could write the longest, most convoluted paragraphs.

And I would say your description of RPing as it pertains to writing is not inaccurate. I'd say it falls somewhere between co-writing and improv acting, and I always loved that aspect of it. Building a character, acting as that character, and building a web of relationships for your character through the character's actions.

But I feel like in order to succeed at fanfiction, you really need to spend more time—contemplating the character, the situation, and damn near every facet of compilation canon that is remotely relevant to whatever thing is currently on the table—than what is possible while roleplaying. And having two people with totally different ideas of the characters in the scene could easily throw the whole thing off.

I set up a Dreamwidth thing but I'm not entirely sure how this thing works. Like, where's my status feed?

 

[Skan]

Our RP experiences might be totally different, but I actually find RP great for just throwing characters into random situations and seeing how they react -- so I personally think it can force you to contemplate facets you would otherwise not consider while writing fanfic. (I definitely don't think it's a substitute for writing your own stories, however.) But all in all, YMMV.

The DW FAQ probably will explain this better than me, but:

DW is an LJ copy (but better and ad-free), so if you're familiar with LJ, it's pretty much the same. But if you're not, think of DW as a blog that you can use to subscribe to other blogs (whether personal blogs or community blogs). When you subscribe to a blog, their posts will show up on your reading page.

You subscribe by going to a blog's profile page and clicking "subscribe"! If I recall correctly, if you subscribe to a personal blog, you will also have the option of adding that user to your "circle." If you add the user to your circle, they will be able to see your locked posts. DW allows you to make private posts, public posts, and posts locked to an access list, i.e. your "circle". You can actually customize your circles so that some posts show up to people in one circle, while others show up to people in another circle, so on and so forth. Basically: good privacy features!

There are a few ways to engage with people: a.) making personal blog posts (which your subscribers can comment on), b.) making blog posts to community blogs (which will show up on the reading page of the subscribers to the community; people used to do to advertise fanfic, start discussions, etc. -- e.g. ff7_fanfiction), c.) posting comments to other people's/community's blog posts or other people's comments, and d.) just PMing people.

It's a great place for long-form blogging, but there's hardly any community on DW. Long story short: There used to be a massive fandom community on LJ (it's still active for some fandoms, usually huge TV fandoms). LJ started undergoing some shitty changes, and DW was created as an alternative fandom-friendly place (one of the masterminds behind DW participates heavily in FF7 fandom actually). For whatever reason though, it didn't catch on fast enough, and there was a fandom exodus to Tumblr instead.

 

[Ravynne Nevyrmore]

Our RP experiences might be totally different, but I actually find RP great for just throwing characters into random situations and seeing how they react -- so I personally think it can force you to contemplate facets you would otherwise not consider while writing fanfic. (I definitely don't think it's a substitute for writing your own stories, however.) But all in all, YMMV.

The DW FAQ probably will explain this better than me, but:

DW is an LJ copy (but better and ad-free), so if you're familiar with LJ, it's pretty much the same. But if you're not, think of DW as a blog that you can use to subscribe to other blogs (whether personal blogs or community blogs). When you subscribe to a blog, their posts will show up on your reading page.

You subscribe by going to a blog's profile page and clicking "subscribe"! If I recall correctly, if you subscribe to a personal blog, you will also have the option of adding that user to your "circle." If you add the user to your circle, they will be able to see your locked posts. DW allows you to make private posts, public posts, and posts locked to an access list, i.e. your "circle". You can actually customize your circles so that some posts show up to people in one circle, while others show up to people in another circle, so on and so forth. Basically: good privacy features!

There are a few ways to engage with people: a.) making personal blog posts (which your subscribers can comment on), b.) making blog posts to community blogs (which will show up on the reading page of the subscribers to the community; people used to do to advertise fanfic, start discussions, etc. -- e.g. ff7_fanfiction), c.) posting comments to other people's/community's blog posts or other people's comments, and d.) just PMing people.

It's a great place for long-form blogging, but there's hardly any community on DW. Long story short: There used to be a massive fandom community on LJ (it's still active for some fandoms, usually huge TV fandoms). LJ started undergoing some shitty changes, and DW was created as an alternative fandom-friendly place (one of the masterminds behind DW participates heavily in FF7 fandom actually). For whatever reason though, it didn't catch on fast enough, and there was a fandom exodus to Tumblr instead.

I see. I joined some communities but I guess because the Reading Page says it only displays things that have been posted in the past 14 days, and the communities I joined haven't had new content in weeks, there is nothing there. Dead, as you say.

Ugh, is Tumblr the only option for fandom these days? I don't care about people's other fandoms or most of what's going on in their daily lives; I only care about the FF7 stuff. Even this site is almost dead for that and I'm under the impression that we've got the highest concentration of dedicated FF7 fans anywhere.


Edit:
Pop quiz, guys: "Naivety" or "naiveté"? And also do you speak American English or British English because I think that might be relevant?