Okay, kicking this right off with a topic that I've seen...mostly everywhere. (I'm looking at you reader-insert authors.)
I love reader-inserts as much as the next person does. Its letting you, the reader, insert yourself and interact (limited as it is) and talk with characters you love and adore from the bottom of your heart. There are a LOT of these kinds of fics out there, especially in Watty. Which is good and all.
But then there are THOSE fics.
The title of this chapter says it all.
Characterization.
Did you know I read reader-inserts first before looking up the fandom? Yikes. Recipe for disaster. Imagine my utter surprise when the characters IN GAME differed GREATLY from the reader-insert interpretation? Let me give you a good few examples.
(Now I know its not every fic okay, there are some fics out there that are quite close to their canon characterizations. And I know due to the difference in upbringing they'd be a bit different, but this is a rant -- kind of. Please bear with me and take what I say with a grain of salt. This is meant to release some pent-up frustrations I had long before when I realized a few things about the fandom. Don't take it TOO seriously. It's offensive as hell, but I'm not forcing you to read this thing, okay?)
(This is also based on what I had seen before so it, again, MAY NOT BE ENTIRELY ACCURATE.)
Zack Fair.
In Game: Sweet charismatic flirt who is super friendly, super active and cares A Lot about his friends. Dedicated to the point of killing his own mentor because said mentor (goddammit Angeal) asked for it. And literally dragging Cloud's comatose ass for a year before dying protecting the blonde.
Fandom: Playboy pretty boy who doesn't know the meaning of No. Cocky as shit and kind of a pervert at times. I saw a fic that ONE TIME that portrayed him as a dumbass. Sometimes at odds with Cloud, or not at all close to him.
I don't know where to begin. For one thing, I'm PRETTY DANG SURE Zack isn't as STUPID as he makes himself out to be. He was the NEXT CHOICE in the Lieutenant Commander potentials when Genesis and Angeal decided to fuck off to who knows where. Sephiroth, the Silver General, respected Fair and relied on him MORE OFTEN THAN NOT. The puppy is enthusiastic and eager, not a moron.
Side note: Isn't HE the brotherly kind type? Why isn't HE the one offering the reader to live with him if its the 'reader who is a fan of KH and FF' drops in their universe type of fic? Why is it always Cloud? Also, Zack is canonically older than Cloud, and there are only a HANDFUL of them on Wattpad. Archive of Our Own and Fanfiction.net sticks to relative canon ages, but wattpad switches them around. Or at least make them the same age. Like maybe a one year difference. But that's another topic entirely so...
Genesis Rhapsodos
In Game: Hot-headed and SUPER COCKY. Kind of a dick? Quick to assume and witty -- very powerful and foul-tempered. Passionate and NOT FRIENDLY AT FIRST MEETING. Is the pretty boy given the chance. Insightful when it comes to Loveless, but has a tendency to take things too far -- overdramatic.
Fandom: Chill and Formal, suave. Loveless quoting but in flirts instead of the philosophies of life. Is not a dick. At all. Not even 1% dick. Kind of bland when you compare him to the other characters. Prince Charming (but its super annoying to me).
WHY. IS. GENESIS. SO. DIFFERENT. Where is my hot-headed snarky redhead?! Where is the Genesis who gives a TON of (not so good and healthy) SHITS because so and so happened? Where is he?! Did he fade away into the mist never to be seen again?
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Valley of Thoughts
RandomMy headcanons, character discussion, pet peeves, anything under the sun. Includes very biased opinions and a whole lot of rants and rambles~ May include plot bunnies and one-shots as well.
