[NaNo] Letter to the Editor

[leasspell_dael]

Dear Self;

Using video-game cameos to fill-in for the KH characters' parents was supposed to prevent you from needing to make up back-story and characterization while still having standards with which to hold yourself. Giving the parents further back-story defeats the purpose of this. Especially as it's not plot relevant. Remember the plot? The bit you haven't started writing yet?

...

*sigh*

The worst part is I'm not even certain that the scene that's causing me this consternation is going to make it into the final draft. I'm not even sure the scenario that's plaguing me would make sense in the greater scheme of things. I'm going with it for now, though, because I'm having problems getting into the groove today, and I have to write something.

*mutters mutinously before returning to the document*

(In the interests of helping others procrastinate on their NaNo/general discussion, how do you guys deal with characters having absent or vaguely referred to family?)

Comments

[stealth_noodle]

I usually try to keep vague families more or less vague (unless they're an important part of what I'm writing) so that I don't fall down the rabbit hole of endless backstory.

I've been down there before. It's deep, dark, and filled with the urge to write rambling domestic scenes.

[leasspell_dael]

*whimpers*

That's sort of where I am now. I'm mainly managing to suppress the urge, but every now and again a scene slips in... I may have shot myself in the foot with the cameos, too. I keep trying to incorporate as much of their original canon as I can... I should be taking a page from Squeenix's book and just leaving them as clones with basic character traits, backgrounds not included...

But then a, wouldn't this be neat? slips in. I think I'm on a slippery slope. Do they have fic-digression rehab?

Then again, the idea of Serah Farron from FF13 as a yankee from Shibuya before growing up and moving to the Destiny Islands and having Sora (and Neku) is amusing me to no end. *snickers*

*slaps self* Must. Stay. On. Track.

[stealth_noodle]

Hee, Kingdom Hearts is like a deep, sticky trap for this. It is pure BACKSTORY OVERLOAD. I'm 80% sure that my not having written any KH fic is because my sense of self-preservation keeps kicking in. :P

[leasspell_dael]

So true, so true.

I think one of my biggest disappointments in the first KH, was when they made all of the Final Fantasy characters from Hollow Bastion. Of course, I should have been prepared for this, after seeing Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka on the Destiny Islands, but I must have blocked them out, because through most of the game I assumed the others were the same characters from the FF games... (with minor modifications to fit into the KH-verse)

One of my favourite ponderings is figuring out how to make it so their back-stories are intact.

FF8 characters are easy: Time Compression. Make the Darkness take the world during that, the characters are tossed to a variety of worlds. Time compression left their ages wacky and their GFs took their memories (or at least warped them). Not perfect, but I can live with it.

It's the FF7 characters that make me twitch...

Wow. I sure love to hear myself talk... Sorry for rambling at you. ^^;

[stealth_noodle]

Someday I will go on a Great Hunt for all the good FF/KH fanfic that makes intact backstories work, and I will bookmark it ALL, because it really is fascinating. There's definitely good stuff out there for FF8, but 7 is tricky.

Have you read But That Was in Another Country? I'm pretty sure that, at this point, it will never be finished, but it's still my favorite take on getting the FF7 characters there.

[leasspell_dael]

I haven't read that one, but I now have it bookmarked for after NaNo, because after reading the first line I am interested. XD I look forward to seeing how it works out.

Thanks for the rec!