#ffv7

Reliving some of the most iconic moments of Final Fantasy VII. The thing I love about the game is being able to replay these moments as I imagined them when I was a kid.

Yeah Sephiroth's appearances in Rebirth had MUCH more activity behind them than they did in part 1, and said activity was certainly the closest (keyword: CLOSEST) thing we've gotten to the horror from his appearance in the original in a long time.

Loz is taking the picture.

ＲＵＤＥ ＆＆ ＲＥＮＯ

His impact

Reading glasses would really suit Reeve.

I wonder if there is a correlation of whether someone has been active in, or at least in contact with, transformative fandom and their reception of the changes made to the FFVII Remake, especially in regards to its ending and its meaning to the overall narrative and implications to the plot of the game and the Compilation of FFVII. Please keep in mind: the discourse on the FFVII Remake sparked my line of thought, but my argument is not specific to it, but rather to Fandom and the reception of alterations/supplements to canon in general. I don’t go into any details of the game. This is spoiler free. I also do not go into anything relating to questions such as: are changes/alterations/additions to canon a good thing? Was specific change x in specific game y a good thing? Is one type of fan reaction or fan engagement “better”? I refrain from any value judgements. This is about fans and how the consumption and/or production of Fanfiction and other transformative Fanworks could be related to how someone engages with/reacts to additions to a canon like Prequels, Sequels, Reboots or Remakes. The ‘argument’ I am going to make is just something I am personally curious about and is completely based on equally personal observations and experiences. (It is also completely born out of the fact that I’m an English major with too much time on my hands, now that I’m locked in my 28 m² “apartment”. And I use that term liberally. So, there is that.) My theory is that people who are involved with transformative fandom and/or are at least familiar with its traditions and practices are more likely to be accepting of (maybe even drastic) changes to a canon. Because exploring canon divergences has been THE major practice in transformative Fandom for decades. It constitutes probably one of its most important functions (next to community, personal creative outlet, escapism and many others). Just take a look at all these different and specific tags that you can use on the Archive of Our Own to filter works and which just describe the work’s relationship to the canon: Canon Universe, Could be Canon, Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe – Canon, Canon Compliant, Not Canon Compliant, Personal Canon, Better Than Canon, Canon Rewrite, Canon Related. And I am sure, I missed some. And don’t let me get started on all the funny, creative tags people make up to…further express what their stand on canon is. But as much as transformative Fandom likes to mock canon and ‘throw it out with the garbage where it belongs’, Fanfiction, at its core, is still a loveletter to the characters, themes and narratives of the original, or at least to the potentials it held, when canon was executed “poorly”. Being able to appreciate what transformative fandom does shows in itself a wish/need/openness to explore and see alternate versions of what the original story is or could have been. Especially in contrast to affirmative fandom where (and this is an overgeneralization!) a more ‘canon is holy and should not be altered’ mindset still seems to be dominant. For someone who is very engaged in affirmative fandom practices alterations to the canon might be harder to accept (no matter how well or badly those were executed). Being familiar with common fanfiction tropes and plot points (or narrative tropes in general) also could make you more used to seeing, or just recognizing, and not further questioning the use of certain plot elements. Multiverses? Time travel? Everyone Lives/Nobody dies AU? We have seen it all before. In Fanfiction we will find a way to make the things we want to happen possible. And almost anything goes. I mean it: we have really seen it ALL. Mermaid AU? Mpreg? Crack fic? Crack treated seriously? Speaking from my very personal point of view: having been involved in Fandom for almost 15 years, there is nothing that can shock, and very little that can surprise me anymore when it comes to Fanfiction. (And, overall, I do think that’s a good thing!) My take is that the tropes that are common in Fanfiction might not bother someone as much, when they can look at it with thoughts as: That is just like that fic I read a few years ago. Your reading habits (here in the sense of any type of ‘text’ you engage with, no matter if book, film, game, etc.) shape your perception and experience of media. And a literary practice like Fanfiction that lives of creativity and exploration and taking your own approach to a narrative, curates a certain open mindedness that is necessary to enjoy what Fanfiction ultimately does: reinvent, reimagine and remake. This is not supposed to be an all convincing, all explaining thesis. I am sure there is some truth to my argument, but it is in no way meant to explain all of people’s personal reactions to, for example, the changes made in the FFVII Remake. Please hit me up with further evidence or counter arguments: I take everything from fandom anecdotes to fandom studies research, or just your own personal ramblings. Feel free to add on, to agree or disagree. Just let me know what you think, because I’d love to hear someone else’s thoughts on that.