Why do I do this to myself?!

[sekiharatae]

When I read a summary like this:

As a fan I was insulted by AC. FF7 can do better than that. We can do better. So I'm writing this, which tells a different story of what happened 2 years after the game. Work in progress. Old chapters subject to revision. Criticism always appreciated.

I should know I'm not going to like the story.  More, I should realize that it's a pit of annoyance waiting to open up and swallow me. 

The 'we' is obviously meant to be 'I'.  While I certainly believe I, personally, would have enjoyed ACC if it had more cloti moments, that doesn't mean I think I can do a better job of telling an FF7 story than its creators.  Yes, you can argue that some of the compilation suffers from fanservice, but that statement is definitely colored by what sort of fanservice you want to see.  (For example, cloti fans enjoyed the new ACC scenes, while clerith ones most likely did not.)

If the summary wasn't warning enough, there is a script version of the fic that is completed.  Since the novel version is still in-progress, I decided to take a peek at the ending in the script version, so see if it would be worth slogging through the 20+ chapters of the novel version.  The first chapter is a 'legal notice and author's statement'... because 'disclaimer' is too simplistic I suppose.  (It's what the peons use.)  Said statement contains the following text (bolding and italics added by me):

So take heart, my fellow disillusioned fans; by using the power of your imagination to flesh out the non-existent film I’ve delineated in these pages, you will experience but one example of the viable alternative that exists in respect to Advent Children and mass-produced culture in general. This is an alternative that transcends economic, legal, and authorial restrictions on creativity, allowing it to exist as it truly is, governed only by the limits of the imagination. For what is Advent Children’s story but another fanfic with a copyright attached to it? As long as we all have imaginations, we all have control over imaginary worlds. No single individual, not even the author, can rise above this egalitarian model, unless, of course, he can trick others into believing that his word is superior and somehow truer. There is, in fact, no objective truth in an imaginary world, which is why it is imaginary and not reality in the first place. Secondly, because the pleasure of an aesthetic experience comes from within, one’s personal interpretation and memories of that experience will always trump authorial intention in the heart of the individual. I don’t understand why so many people think authorial intention is important to Final Fantasy VII when it’s not even an auteur work in the first place.

I wouldn't be able to have a conversation with this person in real life.  I'd be too tempted to slap him. 

First, I have a nice, extensive vocabulary, but I still think you should phrase things in easily accessible language, especially on fanfiction.net.  *rolls eyes*  Secondly...  Another fanfic with a copyright attached to it?  The author who created the world can't claim his word is superior?  Not an auteur work?  What planet does this person live on? Not to mention... but if you're a 'disillusioned' fan, you're not really a fan anymore... so why are you still playing in this fandom? (Possibly, just to annoy people like myself.) Add the fact that the ending is pro-clerith, and I'm left with the impression that is is just another clerith fan, but one with an impressive vocabulary and an ego to match.  (He argues much the same way the rational ones do:  by using loaded language rather than actual proof. In particular:  if you don't agree that his version of what happens after the game is a viable alternative, that AC/ACC is just a fanfic itself, then you must have been tricked into believing your imagination is sub-par.)  Obviously, AC/ACC was crap, because it didn't tell the story he wanted to see. 

Mind you, if Cloud had decided to drown himself so he could walk into the lifestream with Aerith at the end of ACC, I would agree that it was crap... but I wouldn't be interested in playing in this playground anymore.  I'd be a disillusioned fan, you see. ;)

My ability to find things that annoy me is really unparalleled.  

Comments

[kitsune13-tam.livejournal.com]

snicker*snort*

I remember reading that 'summary'. I thought - boy, that's some ego on that kid. Then I went in and poked around. Not only was the writing atrocious, the characterization was waay off and the storyline was sub-par. I couldn't finish plowing through a chapter of it.

The world's full of egotistical little snots - unfortunately the internet let's them out of their caves to annoy the rest of us. ;)

[meimi.livejournal.com]

LOL! I love over-entitled fans. They are some of the funniest things ever. And hey, maybe this precious little snowflake will show up on fandom_wank once they're legal. :Db

[lrdrandallslady.livejournal.com]

O.o...Though firmly a fan of the games and AC, I don't really read much in the FFVII fandom except for yours (which I adore), I really, really want to slap this person. WTF?? The ego that some people manage to develop inside their tiny little heads really astound me at times.

Probably a good thing I don't know which story you are referring to or I might be tempted to give the author a piece of my mind.

[qwi-xux.livejournal.com]

O_o

Really? I was laughing (more in disbelief than humor, believe me), when I saw the bit about the author intent not being important. HAHAHAHA. Just...yeah. As an author, I believe the author's intent is VERY important. Yes, people can write fanfic about whatever they want. They can play with canon, they can write AU, but the original work will remain the original work. If the author is dead and the book was written long ago, and there are no notes on what the intent was, then maybe things would be a bit more open to interpretation if the message of whatever they were writing was unclear. But this? O_o

That's just...wow.

[nekohooch]

o.O
What?
How?
How in the world can that person even stand himself? I would just slap myself silly if I had an ego like that. And not in a fun way.
People like that really tick me off. And what do you want to bet that he used a thesaurus? grrrr...

[nekohooch]

also...this was in the reviews as a response:

...Rest assured, when this story is finished and up for a proper publication (i.e. anywhere but ), I'll make sure there's a nice preface or something to get all of this across.

...
..
.
Dear God, please no.
All the ff.net people are already leaving reviews to boost his ego, please don't let him be published...

[sekiharatae.livejournal.com]

Oh dear lord. O.o

Happily, it looks like his reviews are from the same 3 people... over and over and over.

[drarmp1t.livejournal.com]

You are far too kind to spend your time reading that. I don't bother with these self-proclaimed my-fic-is-better-than-the-original. The summary itself is irritating and how exactly was AC insulting? I'd like to see him try to come up with a better storyline. You're probably right about him not satisfied with the way AC ended but that's what's great about it. I think part of the reason why FFVII is so popular is because Cloud's relationship with Aeris and Tifa are both possible and fans could see him with either character. If fans favor one or the other more and want to their own ending/story, we have fanfiction and there's a reason why it exist D: Idk. I hate elitist with a passion...especially if they're bashing about my favorite game ever D:

[reignashii.livejournal.com]

the first sentence of that paragraph you gave from the person made my brain go on auto pilot xD and barely read the rest of it, then auto pilot turned off when it was your writing again lol. the person sounded boring and suffocating in his own lil world xD'' someone needs to pop that poor person's bubble. =x

[elanor-pam.livejournal.com]

Oh no they DIDN'T.

It's like... it's like Harry Potter and the Harmonians all over again! D:

things to rant about, things that annoy me.....

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, but Tae, you even rant in an entertaining way!!! An annoyed Tae is still a good read!
I get nervous when I read 'egalitarian'...I just know I'm not going to get something or anything that follows. It's like a pavlovian response in me: my brain starts backing away. I go to my happy place. Which would be ff7, Cloud and Tifa, Cloud and me--so what displeased your writer is exactly the cure for egalitarian angst de moi.
I'm trying to think if I saw the same summary--if not that one, maybe something similiar. Recently. Oh well, the playground, as you say, awaits and it's time to take a moment and dream a bit--or maybe I just did...... thx, Tae. mc

[ashfae.livejournal.com]

Ooh someone's got a high opinion of themself! Baaah, what a twit!

...I really want to watch AC again now. Ohhh the animation. Oh my god Cloud was hot.

[knit-lace.livejournal.com]

I can tell just from reading the long author's rant that he/she is an angry Clerith fan; they tend to rant a lot about being disillusioned with ffvii lately, especially with ACC, since the movie is just too Cloti to them. Some also like to use inflated language to gloss their failed logic.
At least this person didn't proclaim that the characters
are superior to the creators who created them!!!

[valentineninja.livejournal.com]

---> Found a response of the author as a review: "Consider it an alternate universe if you must -- a much better written alternate universe that (if you didn't already know better) reads more like the real sequel to Final Fantasy VII."

Wow. Really, someone needs to knock this person off of his/her high horse.

[lucifer-hatter.livejournal.com]

wow. I really loved Advent Children, and while it could have used more Cloti scenes, the movie was still fantastical and full of win! And "dillusioned fan"? Is that what they are calling fangirls these days or something? This guy is rather insulting...