I know What's Beneath the Snow Fields, a ridiculously long FF7 fic from 1999

[Odysseus]

So, I was doing a lot of digging around old FF7 fan sites from the late 90's, when I stumbled upon this story. The original site for it is long dead, but an archive for it exists hosted here. The story is a sequel to FF7 that seemingly centers around Vincent and a clone of Aeris, though I don't know a ton since I've only read the first seven chapters (there are 100.)

Reason I'm bothering to make a thread about this is because I know some of you might find this interesting, and also because I could use some help accessing the artwork on that site. Flash is dead, and it seems like the gallery was displayed using Flash, so I was wondering if anyone knew of any alternatives? I think I've found the new target for my custom book hobby since SOMEONE is dragging their feet, and having that art would be great for that.

@Prism do you know anything about getting at flash content now? I'm dumb.

EDIT: Never mind, the domain owner miraculously responded to my email very quickly, I got what I needed.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I remember that fic well. I thought it had been turned in a doujinshi by someone I think is a German or Scandanavian fanartist, but it turned out to be another big late 90s fic, "Sink To The Bottom With You" by Catalina.

http://doujinshi.art-engineer.de/index.html

I've always really liked her Butterfly Symphony, for obvious reasons.

 

[Odysseus]

Here, seeing as this thread exists now anyway, here's a moral dilemma for you. If you create a book out of a decades old fan fiction, do you fix the typos, or leave them alone as part of presenting the work as it was?

 

[looneymoon]

team keep the typos

 

[Torrie]

So, I was doing a lot of digging around old FF7 fan sites from the late 90's, when I stumbled upon this story. The original site for it is long dead, but an archive for it exists hosted here.

Wooooow. It must have felt like opening a treasure chest. Incredible how long the fic is, I wonder how long it took the author to finish it. Judging by the hoster's foreword... Quite a bit. I read the first 4 chapters in one sitting. The story is really intriguing.

If you create a book out of a decades old fan fiction, do you fix the typos, or leave them alone as part of presenting the work as it was?

I'm all for fixing the typos because typos are just little accidents. They were never meant to be there and happened to stay in the text due to the author's oversight or illiteracy. It's a shame for me to see names spelled without capital letters, or quotation marks omitted, or letters misplaced in a word. I don't see how they might be part of presenting the work as it was. After all, you're not going to beta-read the text and correct the syntax or grammar -- just doing a little cosmetic work, that's all.

 

[Odysseus]

There's something to be said about preserving a work as old as this exactly as it was when it was written, warts and all. Those sorts of spelling errors, missing words, lack of capitalization, etc. are all indicative of what fan fiction IS, so I think there's merit in keeping it as-is in that regard. None of it compares to some of the super out there word choices the author makes anyway lol.

On the other hand, I also know I'm the only idiot alive who would bother to proofread and fix up something as long as this is, which means this could be the only opportunity to create a slightly improved version of it lol.

I could go either way, so I leave it to the court of public opinion.

 

[Torrie]

If I were an author whose works were re-published as a book or part of compilation somewhere, and I looked through them in order to bring back some memories, and if I saw all those typos and errors (I imagine my literacy and skill would defo improve with the time), I'd be pissed off Not trying to incline you to get on a time-consuming task, but I know that a lot of authors are striving for producing a work at the best level possible.

Wait, I really have to sit down and think for a minute.

I have always believed that fan fiction is just... fiction created by fans, for fans. Mistakes and typos are inevitable, because none of the works is proofread by a professional editor or something, and that's okay, that's something that readers have to put up with if they want a good story with favourite characters. But top quality stories are not only those that demonstrate fantastic storytelling, but also those not containing any errors that would obstruct the view.

Perhaps I'm talking like that because I've edited so many En-Ru translations and literary works that I can't help noticing such moments when the text needs editing, so it's kinda semi-professional, lol. Also, it's a way to preserve the language with the established set of spelling rules and educate the reader as well.

Looking forward to hearing other opinions on this dilemma.

 

[Erotic Materia]

I'm on Team Fuck Typos. Torrie pretty well covered it already, but I'd want my work to be presented as cleanly as possible, rather than cringing at mistakes I overlooked in the past.

Maybe a footnote about minor editing for typos would be a small concession?

 

[Odysseus]

Maybe a footnote about minor editing for typos would be a small concession?

Good suggestion, if I fix the typos that's what I'll do. I want to hear what @LicoriceAllsorts and especially @AngelaRose have to say about it, then I'll make my decision.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

If it were me, I'd want the editor to fix my typos so I don't look like any more of an idiot than I am already.
When you start cleaning up the grammar is when it gets into the morally grey area.

 

[Odysseus]

If it were me, I'd want the editor to fix my typos so I don't look like any more of an idiot than I am already.
When you start cleaning up the grammar is when it gets into the morally grey area.

No intention of doing that, I'm leaving it at typos. One thing I'm wondering about right now is, all throughout the story "Shinra" is spelled as "ShinRa" with a capital R. The older version of Shinra's logo from before the remake has it as "Shin-Ra" which is where I assume that came from. Should I add the hyphen, or should I leave it alone?

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I'd leave it, it's a historical variant, not a typo.

 

[Roundhouse]

Wonder what the author's take on all this is, haha.

 

[Odysseus]

Wonder what the author's take on all this is, haha.

Hasn't been heard from in over a decade, at least not by the person who hosts the archive of it. I'd ask the author directly if I could, but that doesn't seem to be an option.

Officially spell checked nine chapters. To the story's credit, there really aren't many actual typos. Instead, the big fix has been the improper use of ellipses. For some reason the author very consistently only used two dots instead of three. Maybe that's just a fanfic quirk I should have let be, but too late now :/

The most substantial changes I've made thus far are adding two words to finish an incomplete sentence, and adding two other words where the author just seemingly forgot to write them somehow.

 

[Prism]

I’m getting to this late, after the issue was resolved, but there are some alternate browsers that still are still able to support flash, my browser (Pale Moon) being one of them. With that said…getting an actual .swf file from these archives doesn’t seem likely. Have you ever gotten one from them?

Otherwise, they can be ran on Windows in an executable using the Adobe Debug Flash player. What was the solution that worked for you? Did it end up sidestepping Flash entirely?

 

[Odysseus]

I’m getting to this late, after the issue was resolved, but there are some alternate browsers that still are still able to support flash, my browser (Pale Moon) being one of them. With that said…getting an actual .swf file from these archives doesn’t seem likely. Have you ever gotten one from them?

Otherwise, they can be ran on Windows in an executable using the Adobe Debug Flash player. What was the solution that worked for you? Did it end up sidestepping Flash entirely?

I didn't find a solution to actually access the files on the site. This wasn't something from the web archive, the site is still online right now. I found the owner's email address on one of the pages and she sent me all of the image files directly.

I should have been more clear in my initial post. The original site made to host the story is gone, it doesn't even work in the web archive. Someone else made a different site as a mirror, which still works even now.

 

[Prism]

Oh, nice! That’s good thinking to reach out. Sometimes the more direct option really is a better way to get results, lol. It’s like a mindset of a journalist or detective.

 

[Odysseus]

Alright gamers we're in the money. With the help of the web host, I started putting together the cover for the book:

She did the art, because I abjectly refuse to draw anything for any of these books I make for some reason. The background is an HD version I made of what she was already using on her site, I thought the composition of that was nice as it was, though the art of Vincent on the site was drawn by someone else who is no longer around to give permission. This isn't the final cover, I also want the antagonist of the story (a Turk who used to be Vincent's comrade) to be standing off to the right in the distance so it looks like some kind of dramatic encounter. The cover is a wrap around image, Vincent and Aerith are on the back side cover.

Reason I'm posting this now is because I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a logo Font. I want it to be kind of mysterious and dramatic but I'm no typographer.

 

[looneymoon]

Oh my god that fanart is a nostalgia bomb. I never read the fanfic, but I remember visiting the site a bunch way back in the day.

Not usually a fan of cursive, but I think a nice cursive would fit the feel of the image. Give it a bit of a Wuthering Heights type feel.

 

[Prism]

Wow, that looks great! What a charming work of art. I agree that cursive would be a very classy addition to that image, as it seems to be a rare situation where applying cursive as a font makes sense - it feels nostalgic and sentimental. Google fonts is a good resource for free, quality fonts...though maybe a period-appropriate font would also work.

 

[Odysseus]

There's a certain charm to how that image was constructed. The Shinra building is just ripped right out of Crisis Core and made only 20% opaque, the ruined city around it is just a stock background which I was able to find on reverse image search pretty easily to get in high quality, and then all that's just covered up with two layers of white trees and snow, with a plain white 0% hardness brushstroke on the bottom. I'm impressed with how good it looks for how simple it is lol.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Not usually a fan of cursive, but I think a nice cursive would fit the feel of the image. Give it a bit of a Wuthering Heights type feel.

That's literally the thought process I was following. Do it, do it.

This isn't the final cover, I also want the antagonist of the story (a Turk who used to be Vincent's comrade) to be standing off to the right in the distance so it looks like some kind of dramatic encounter.

Any possible way I can talk you out of this?

 

[Odysseus]

That's literally the thought process I was following. Do it, do it.

Any possible way I can talk you out of this?

Give me a good reason and you might.

Also I'm using this font.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Nice!

Give me a good reason and you might.

It's just so beautifully atmospheric, and invites multiple readings as it is at the moment. It comes off as both alternatively tranquil and like the hanging tension before the gust of a storm.

 

[Odysseus]

Nice!


It's just so beautifully atmospheric, and invites multiple readings as it is at the moment. It comes off as both alternatively tranquil and like the hanging tension before the gust of a storm.

What if he's a vaguely defined silhouette?