Fanfiction ► The Fan-Fic Writer's Moving Sidewalk

[Nyangoro]

Well, for my FMA fanfic (since I'm trying to make it a direct sequel), I try and think of ideas in line with canon before I even start writing a chapter. Even if I come up with an idea that, as is, couldn't fit into the canon; I try and think of a way to make continuous.

Though people sometimes look down on fanfiction writers, it really does take a lot of effort to combine original material and canon material in a credible manner.

 

[Dr_Mario64]

Slowly depart from the canon, go for original stuff. You can easily kill off the other 30% with a little more creativitiscal thinkeringly.

EDIT: Nvm just kill the canon and replace it with original

Thanx 4 the advice! I'll get to work right this minute. If you'd like to critique me I'll provide a link for the updated version. Well, that settles it, Brain. Work your magic! Oh, and have some extra neurons tonight--on me.

 

[Danica Syer]

I always feel weird working on any KH fanfiction, because I always end up using mostly original characters, set in the KH world. Like the fanfic I have focuses on mostly OC's. Half the time I feel like this makes me look bad or something because I'm just 'using' the source material to give me a background without really trying. I guess if you were to see what I wrote it would make sense, but has anyone else ever encountered this?

Don't worry, it happens to many of us too. For me, personally, I think as long as you don't make it too much about the OCs more then the canon character. If you can like try have them both in the spotlight of your story, it probably works. I have encountered this as my story is using both OCs and canon. I think you should go over and see what you could edit and omit out, and see how it reads to you. I think that could always work. I do that with mine.

I don't think using OC's is a problem most of the time. In fact, I think it's a good step in the direction of original story telling. Pure fanfiction is great for those of us who like to tell stories and weave plots but aren't good at setting up the background. Using OC's means that you're improving at making characters. All that's left is working on setting, and you're ready to write your own original stories.

That's not to say canon characters are bad, or that fanfiction is purely for the purpose of preparing for original works, but I do like OC's. The only problem is that stories about OC's don't get as much attention. Luckily, I don't really mind. My writing is split pretty evenly between all-canon and all-OC characters.

I agree with you on all of this. Not to mention: Why do they call it a fanfic even? Aside from the fact that it's the fans who write the story based off their favorite media and such. I also think OCs could work as long as you don't make the story entirely always all about them. If they can share the story with the canon character, I think that would work and also if they have alot of the cannon stuff but not to the point where your exactly copying/miming the actual story.

Also I'm trying to write a Terra x Cinderella story since I ship those characters. I realize I'm doing a one-shot and all but I was wondering when writing wordy description, how do you know when it's too wordy in contrast to that of having loads of description? For example, I was writing mine and it's not wordy enough and or the words diction just sound bland in contrast to those other fanfic and books I read.

Okay for example I'm trying to write a scene in which Terra lands in Castle of Dreams and is walking over to where the water fountain area where Cinderella was crying and I'm trying to say it was dark but I don't want to use words like: It was dark outside, the stars were shining like diamonds outside. <--It's okay for a beginner...but yeah. :/

And also, I read other people's examples for reference and or to get an idea. Maybe my problem with this is the description of the locations. I mean, has any of you had that happen? Also is there any possible advice/explanation how I can improve on not only word diction but also how to describe location and settings? That'd be great, thanks!

 

[Evello]

Also I'm trying to write a Terra x Cinderella story since I ship those characters. I realize I'm doing a one-shot and all but I was wondering when writing wordy description, how do you know when it's too wordy in contrast to that of having loads of description? For example, I was writing mine and it's not wordy enough and or the words diction just sound bland in contrast to those other fanfic and books I read.

Okay for example I'm trying to write a scene in which Terra lands in Castle of Dreams and is walking over to where the water fountain area where Cinderella was crying and I'm trying to say it was dark but I don't want to use words like: It was dark outside, the stars were shining like diamonds outside. <--It's okay for a beginner...but yeah. :/

And also, I read other people's examples for reference and or to get an idea. Maybe my problem with this is the description of the locations. I mean, has any of you had that happen? Also is there any possible advice/explanation how I can improve on not only word diction but also how to describe location and settings? That'd be great, thanks!

I don't have some all-encompassing rule, but I actually try to fit descriptions of locations into descriptions of people, actions, and the like. Something along the lines of "Cinderella's pale skin seemed to glimmer against the dark night sky." That way you're not only describing Cinderella, but the sky as well. I do this for pretty much any description that I don't know what to do with. I'm not a huge fan of wordy description, though, so I think I tend towards the lower end of the description spectrum.

 

[Nyangoro]

Eh, I prefer OC main characters in fanfiction than canon ones. It shows more creativity and, imo, has a lot more potential.

 

[localorange]

No idea if this is going to get noticed, but here goes nothing *crosses fingers in hope*...,

I got into fanfiction a few years ago to use it as a release for my overactive imagination. Then I became obsessed with the character development, and now that's why a great deal of my fics never get posted - I'm often more focused on the joys on character development. I find analyzing canon characters and developing OCs to be way too much fun. However, I've been pretty wary on making Kingdom Hearts OCs. Something makes me feel that all of the OCs I'll develop in KH will be more vulnerable to becoming Sues and Stus than any of the other fandoms I've written in.

I'm looking to write a fanfiction based on Aqua's time in the Realm of Darkness. It's pretty much going to be my own interpretations on what this mysterious Birth by Sleep v2 could be about, especially since I haven't seen anything past what the secret ending for BBS:FM showed us. I've got a list of worlds for Aqua to travel in. I feel that if there is actually going to be a BBS v2 game, then there will definitely be more characters that people will see other than Aqua and the sea of various heartless she'll encounter. I feel Malificent will be a definite, so I want to stick her in there. How she'll run across Aqua, I don't know.

But since I love dealing with character development and analyzing everyone from canon protagonists and OCs, I wanted one of my main focuses in the story to be the psychological deconstruction of Aqua and how she picks up the pieces and rebuilds herself. While I feel she played a sizable part in what happened to Terra, it's ironically one of the things I love about her; it's a subtle way of making her flawed.

My goal in this is for her to realize:

A) The role she played in pushing Terra into the hands of MX
B) New insight into Terra's emotional needs and how no one really recognized them
C) How utterly unprepared she really was in confronting darkness, and her coming to terms with the idea of balance.

But I feel this isn't something that Aqua is going to realize on her own. I feel someone is going to have to give her a very rude shove in order for her to realize all of this because of her staunch loyalty to Eraqus and his teachings. She's going to cling even tighter to them now, given her master's fate and where she is by the end of BBS.

This is where I got the idea for the inclusion of Final Fantasy Characters. I feel the only antagonist that could properly give Aqua the psychological torment that I'm looking for other than MX is Sephiroth. He's the kind of character that would be more than delighted to take Aqua's flaws and shove them in her face, and then take Aqua's strengths, pick out the flaws, and shove them in her face again and again and again, all for the sheer purpose of seeing if he can yank some darkness out of her for his own enjoyment. Sephiroth is a different brand of evil than MX in many ways, and I'm curious to see how Aqua would be able to handle it.

In order to give Sephiroth a reason to even approach Aqua, I'm working on incorporating Zack and Cloud into all of this. Cloud has the buster sword in the KH universe, even though it's wrapped up in bandages. So I'm working on incorporating FFVII elements for the two of them and fitting it all into the KH context. Sephiroth mentions that he's essentially the darkness in Cloud, which indicates to me that Cloud has spent enough time in the Realm of Darkness before the events of KH1 in order for Sephiroth to materialize in that sense. Since Cloud would have had to get the buster sword from Zack, that means that Cloud and Zack had to have met and interacted with each other some time between BBS and KH1. I recently have become acquainted with Crisis Core, so I'm leaning towards having both Zack and Cloud spending enough time in their own FFVII world for Zack to obtain the buster sword from its original owner, and then for that world to fall into darkness on its own, plunging Zack and Cloud back into the Realm of Darkness. Then they run into Aqua, and stick with her for a long time. I'm aware that Cloud apparently comes from Radiant Garden (according to KH wiki) in the KH universe, so what I'm going to mention in passing is that Cloud ended up in his original FFVII world after Radiant Garden fell to darkness.

I can easily see Aqua seeing Ven and the more idealistic side of Terra in Zack, and I can definitely see Aqua seeing Terra in Cloud. I feel if Aqua would survive in the Realm of Darkness for over a decade, she's going to have to interact with others at one point or another - that doesn't mean she has to remember precisely whom she interacted with by the time she escapes, since the Realm of Darkness does destroy one's mind severely enough that a person can forget their own name.

Does this sound ok? The idea of Sephiroth being to Aqua what MX was to Terra has grabbed my mind and isn't letting go. The only issue I'm trying to figure out is precisely how Sephiroth would know about the events of BBS. If anyone has any ideas on that one, I'd be incredibly grateful. =).

 

[madammina]

It's easy enough (have you been spying on my Rapture though? ^_^)

We have a wing feather at the end of BBS, and it's severely hinted Sephiroth can traverse the worlds. Just have him spy on Zack for a bit during BBS, have Aqua capture his attention, then he spends a chunk of time piecing together what happened in BBS. Later -once he has a good handle on the game- he enters the RoD.

 

[localorange]

It's easy enough (have you been spying on my Rapture though? ^_^)

We have a wing feather at the end of BBS, and it's severely hinted Sephiroth can traverse the worlds. Just have him spy on Zack for a bit during BBS, have Aqua capture his attention, then he spends a chunk of time piecing together what happened in BBS. Later -once he has a good handle on the game- he enters the RoD.

Thanks for the advice. =) My only question on that would be his connection to Cloud. I read on KH wikia that Cloud was apparently 22 at the start of KH1. What would make him 12 during the events of BBS. Unless Sephiroth is just an insane being of darkness in the context of the KH world and he becomes amused by Cloud in the future? I read that when Zack was talking about the hero he wanted to be like, Nomura said that Zack actually was talking about Sephiroth. So should I consider the idea that Sephiroth's origins are different in the KH universe as compared to FFVII?

As far as Rapture, I have no idea what you're talking about, so don't worry. =) Is that a fanfic you're writing?

 

[madammina]

Most character origins are different from their original games, but they are similar.

We can probably consider Zack and Sephiroth have at least met- considering how they were very good friends in Crisis Core.

Yep, partway done too. I'm just having issues with Part 2...

 

[localorange]

Most character origins are different from their original games, but they are similar.

We can probably consider Zack and Sephiroth have at least met- considering how they were very good friends in Crisis Core.

Yep, partway done too. I'm just having issues with Part 2...

Hmmm. Well, considering that, as far as we know, Zack in Kingdom Hearts actually originated in the Olympic Coliseum in the KH universe. So would it be a stretch to imagine Sephiroth originated there too? He could have been a creation of Hades who previously thought he was human. When he found out he wasn't human, he could blow his top and rebel against Hades to sort of parallel the events in Crisis Core.

Do you think it would still work if I hinted that Zack and Cloud were thrown into their original FFVII worlds long enough for Zack to get the buster sword? Or should I switch all of that to the Olympic Coliesum? I'm writing the Fall of Radiant Garden right now, and I've hinted that Zack managed to find a way to travel worlds (I think I hinted about a mini gummi ship of his own, I got it from the gummi blocks falling from the sky from the Ansem reports - I might fix that when I got back and edit everything). Since Cloud appears to be from Radiant Garden in the KH universe, I put them together by having Zack there when the world fell, and the two of them get swallowed by darkness when Zack tries to save Cloud from getting pulled in. I read on KH wikia that Cloud is 22 at KH1, which means Zack would be trying to save a 13 year old Cloud in Radiant Garden.

Did you post your fic on the fanfiction forum here? I'd love to read it.

 

[madammina]

I'd put Sephiroth as an Even experiment though. Even is sort of like Hojo, and wouldn't be averse to the experiments in question. Sephiroth can still rebel though.

If you had them thrown into the original world, you may be dealing with doppelgangers, as the FF worlds are to be considered distinct from the KH ones. It may get too confusing (though it would be kind of fun to have Zack freak out over Aerith but Aerith never dated Zack in KH)

Yep. It's called "Rapture" and it's BBS and Bioshock mashup.

 

[localorange]

I'd put Sephiroth as an Even experiment though. Even is sort of like Hojo, and wouldn't be averse to the experiments in question. Sephiroth can still rebel though.

If you had them thrown into the original world, you may be dealing with doppelgangers, as the FF worlds are to be considered distinct from the KH ones. It may get too confusing (though it would be kind of fun to have Zack freak out over Aerith but Aerith never dated Zack in KH)

Yep. It's called "Rapture" and it's BBS and Bioshock mashup.

Ooo, I like the idea of Sephiroth being an Even product! And you're right, Even is sort of similar to Hojo. Should it just be implied that Sephiroth spent some time in the Coliseum and maybe found out that he was an experiment from Hades? I can see Hades having no issue pointing it out to him at all. So then I'd just have to figure out a different way to age Cloud than what I originally had in mind, since no one ages in the Realm of Darkness.

 

[madammina]

Yeah, finding out he's an experiment from Hades is fine. It fits too... and then he can work his way through Even's notebooks and find out exactly what happened (cough) Shin Ra Mansion (cough)

 

[localorange]

Yeah, finding out he's an experiment from Hades is fine. It fits too... and then he can work his way through Even's notebooks and find out exactly what happened (cough) Shin Ra Mansion (cough)

Lol, thanks. =) And idea just occurred to me about Cloud then. It seems that in the KH Universe, Cloud may very well have spent a great deal of time in the Realm of Darkness, or at least have been acquainted enough with darkness enough to give him issues that are on par with what he was dealing with in the FFVII world. So I could just have him older than I originally pegged him to be when Radiant Garden fell, and his time in the Realm of Darkness slowed his age down? Or should Cloud escape Radiant Garden with everyone else, and use a ship made by Cid to travel the worlds and he can meet Zack that way?

 

[madammina]

Hmm....

Could Cloud be part of the experiment which created Sephiroth (just donated DNA, not involved) and then enter the RoD which corrupted Sephiroth? (Sorry, I looked back over your original post and noticed an issue with Experiment Sephiroth vs RoD Sephiroth)

I don't have a good answer for you in regards to traveling the worlds, sorry.

 

[localorange]

Hmm....

Could Cloud be part of the experiment which created Sephiroth (just donated DNA, not involved) and then enter the RoD which corrupted Sephiroth? (Sorry, I looked back over your original post and noticed an issue with Experiment Sephiroth vs RoD Sephiroth)

I don't have a good answer for you in regards to traveling the worlds, sorry.

It's ok, you're still helping me out a lot with the little kinks, so I'm really grateful. =)

Cloud being part of the experiment which created Sephiroth would have meant that Even would have had to outright find a way to take DNA from him since Cloud is a member of Radiant Garden. That probably wouldn't have sat well with Ansem at all, and could be a step towards the rift between Ansem and his apprentices. Is there any mention of Ansem's apprentices experimenting on the hearts of people that weren't themselves? Because if there is, Cloud could have been a victim of that.

And then the traveling of the worlds...perhaps Zack could have gone to Radiant Garden and been one of the people that escaped on Cid's ship. Cloud would have been among them. Cloud bonds with Zack, Cloud is interested in getting stronger so he can take back Radiant Garden. I imagine that would be a very common feeling among people in Traverse Town - the idea that they should just get stronger so they can take down the darkness and restore their world. Cloud however, feels he can't do it in Traverse Town. So Zack asks Cid to build them a smaller ship, and teach them how to pilot it. Zack and Cloud go to Olympic Coliseum, where Zack helps Cloud train and the two stay there for a number of years.

Then Cloud meets Sephiroth in battle. Sephiroth senses a DNA link between them, and takes an interest in Cloud.

Meanwhile, some sort of event happens where Sephiroth torches Thebes, and Cloud gets a moment of recklessness and follows Sephiroth right into the RoD. Worried about what's going to happen to Cloud, Zack doesn't think twice, and follows him in. Maybe the Organization wants Even, now Vexen, to go and get his old creation back?

A second option built from that could be that Vexen goes to the Coliseum to get Sephiroth and he can't. So he takes Cloud instead. Zack goes to save Cloud. Vexen could have taken cloud to lure Sephiroth back to him. Sephiroth knows its a trap, but wants to destroy the nobody of his creator anyway, so he goes after him. But that all depends on how much Vexen remembers of his past life. I think it's probable that he could remember creating Sephiroth in his past life, since Days indicated that Xigbar knows a lot more about Xemnas than anyone else, stemming from his experiences as his somebody in BBS.

Then it could just be indicated that Angeal is part of Olympic Coliseum as well, and Zack got the buster sword from him.

Do you think this will work? And I'll definitely take a look at your fic, it sounds really interesting.

 

[madammina]

I like the first option. But the second has possibilities. (And Vexen =/= Xigbar, so keep that in mind)

Well, could Angel be a survivor from a destroyed world who is stuck in the RoD? While searching for Cloud, Zack finds Angel and Angel passes the sword along that way.

Just keep thinking it through, and you'll find something that works.

Really? Great! I like people to tell me what they liked, didn't like, and how I can improve. So, this way, I can improve.

 

[localorange]

I like the first option. But the second has possibilities. (And Vexen =/= Xigbar, so keep that in mind)

Well, could Angel be a survivor from a destroyed world who is stuck in the RoD? While searching for Cloud, Zack finds Angel and Angel passes the sword along that way.

Just keep thinking it through, and you'll find something that works.

Really? Great! I like people to tell me what they liked, didn't like, and how I can improve. So, this way, I can improve.

You've helped me a lot, so I want to help you. =)

I like the idea with Angeal. I know Vexen=/= Xigbar. To me, Xigbar indicates that some nobodies in the Organization remember more of their past lives than others. Do you think that Vexen remembering he created Sephiroth would be probable or not? But now that you did remind me that Vexen=/= Xigbar, I'm guessing Vexen would have zero memory of Cloud and getting his DNA. Perhaps Vexen would remember Sephiroth trashing the lab in anger and Xemnas or Xigbar remember more details? And then they order Vexen to bring Sephiroth back?

 

[madammina]

Thanks.

Well, Xemnas already has the amnesia issue so it may just be Xemnas (and Roxas) who don't remember anything. All the secret diaries and comments make it seem that the only forgetting other Nobodies do is what happens naturally. Vexen may forget about Cloud simply because he was dong alot of experiments and he just forgot some of the detail though. Lexaeus could remember more details about Cloud if he attended to him, but knows nothing about Sephiroth since that part never really involved him. (Sorry, Lexaeus fangirl)

 

[localorange]

Thanks.

Well, Xemnas already has the amnesia issue so it may just be Xemnas (and Roxas) who don't remember anything. All the secret diaries and comments make it seem that the only forgetting other Nobodies do is what happens naturally. Vexen may forget about Cloud simply because he was dong alot of experiments and he just forgot some of the detail though. Lexaeus could remember more details about Cloud if he attended to him, but knows nothing about Sephiroth since that part never really involved him. (Sorry, Lexaeus fangirl)

Lol, it's totally ok. I've always been curious about the nobodies we really don't know about, like Lexaeus. I've always wondered if Lexaeus remembered Saix and Axel from their times as somebodies, or if it was always Xaldin's somebody that was throwing Saix and Axel's somebodies out of the Castle in Radiant Garden.

I feel like Sephiroth would have been such a big experiment that Vexen wouldn't have been able to forget about him, even if he had tried. Did Lexaeus get along well enough with Vexen? It seemed like the Org members had their preferences of whom they spent time with the most. I'd say that Zexion would be a viable option as someone who remembered more details, but then again, Zexion's somebody was really young when he fell into darkness, since the first 6 members became nobodies about 1 year after BBS. So Lexaeus could be another option to someone that remembers the details of Vexen's experiments as a somebody. And I will admit, the idea of Lexaeus and his Axe Sword stomping in to help Vexen grab Sephiroth sounds very appealing to me