WHY AM I TSVIET RANTING AT THREE IN THE MORNING?!?
Dear Influx of New Dirge of Cerberus Fanfic Writers,
Hi guys. So great of you to join us. It's nice that you take great amounts of pleasure in the same group of super soldiers I do. That being said, did we even play the same game? It's not that I find your Tsviets "wrong," considering that the characters were briefly touched upon at best and a lot of their actions are left up to much interpretation. I respect that. This fandom has wiggle room and that's nice. It's nicer still that the fandom is still small enough to the point where I notice stuff like this (unlike the Inuyasha fandom, where it was exceedingly difficult to keep track of anyone writing for the fandom). Still, there's wiggle room and then there's Wall Banging.
So, to recap, six human beings (the fact that Argent doesn't exist outside of Japan is another rage entirely, but not one to blame on the fandom) have been trapped under ground for a minimum of ten years (Shelke) and a maximum of twenty-five (Rosso). They have been desensitized to the point of seeing murder as amusing, validating, and/or a way of life. These are not nice people.
Why the FLYING FUCK should Nero care about your Mary Sue? I ship Shelkero and one of the things I have difficulty with is getting Nero's head out of Weiss' ass for five seconds to acknowledge that Shelke MIGHT be up to giving two shits about him. Shelke has known Nero for about ten years. I'll give you less, considering that Shelke probably came in as a regular DG soldier. That's fair. But she didn't meet the man last week and I still have trouble making him care about her. So why would Nero care about your Mary Sue who just showed up today, made Tsviet like it was nothing (no small task, fighting every Tsviet plus or minus Nero and ending with Weiss the Immaculate himself) and is, to be honest, being a spoiled brat in only the way a Mary Sue can?
Also, lets have a pop-quiz on his personality: What was the one time Nero got emotional and crazy? A) When his one twu wuv (Shelke, your Mary Sue, whoever) got all pissy with him or B) When Weiss' life was threatened?
Pencils down! If you circled A, please play the game again. While I can't vouch for his reaction towards your Mary-Sue or the legitimacy of his affection for Shelke, when she decided to try and fight him, he was slightly amused. When Vincent and Yuffie decided to kill Weiss (again? He was already dead, but they had their weapons out), Nero freaked out, yelling and absorbing them. Your Mary Sue is not going to illicit such a reaction. See the paragraph about Nero having no concern for anyone who isn't Weiss.
But, you know what? Fine. Nero is the fandom equivalent of Pete Wentz, for God's sake! I can see why some characterization would come off his appearance. I can see why you'd want to tweak him to make him love your Sue. Fine. What I CAN'T see is how you feel the need to make those same tweaks to Weiss!
Lets get something out there. I love Weiss. Love him, despite the fact that 3/4's of his dialogue technically isn't even his and that he gets maybe 12 minutes of screentime out of two whole games (one of which is more or less centered around him and all his super-soldier buddies). Wouldn't trade him for all the Sephiroths in the whole, wide world. Obsessing over him Loving him as I do, I take a lot of looks at his characterization in other fics besides the five-or-so other people I know who write him. And that's cool, other people writing him! We need fresh takes on his character, considering how little we know about his character in general! But lets take a look at what we know for sure:
Now, keeping in mind the fact that we're basically dealing with Kain all over again (minus the Deadpan Snarker King vibe, though that can be argued), how is your Mary Sue going to wow over this man and make him fall madly in love within five seconds of meeting him? Considering that the last recruit they got for a Tsviet was killed? Considering that Weiss has never shown any inclination of affection towards ANYONE save for Nero? Show me how your Mary-Sue can do that within five seconds, where Weiss has probably known Shelke for about the same amount of time as Nero has and barely shows her anything?
Moving away from the sexy men, lets get to the people who actually have shown some cards as to their characterization.
Why do we keep characterizing Rosso as a slut? Okay, so she's got an accent. Nero and Cait Sith have accents. They're not sluts. Is it the clothes? Yuffie's wearing about as much. It could be argued that Yuffie is wearing less. The fact that she keeps calling Vincent "my love?" Fair enough, okay. But when has calling someone a name ever been the same as sleeping with him? What I keep seeing (and if you see differently, please point me in the right direction) is that fanfic use slut!Rosso in place of batshit!Rosso. While some sluts may be batshit, not all batshits are sluts.
Rosso is probably one of the more easily related-to characters, despite being one of the most psychotic. Born and bred in DeepGround, raised on murder and experimentation for twenty-five years, the woman has snapped. She's even perfectly aware that she's not a regular person, that none of the Tsviets are. Her greatest wish is to see the sky. I think, personally, that her mind reacted to experimentation and imprisonment the way that any of our minds would react: By snapping.
Azul is, like Weiss and Nero, one of those people who hasn't given us much to work with. This does not mean that he's a slow man. This means that he is a simple man and there is a difference. Weiss and Nero are manipulative. If they want something, they are probably going to be using it to further some kind of plan. Azul is not like this. If he wants something, it's because he wants it. He doesn't need the overly complicated plans: Go here, kill this. Bam. That's an Azul plan. This doesn't mean he's brain-dead. This doesn't mean he isn't exceedingly intelligent. Do you know how the American Dirge of Cerberus strategy guide describes him? "In control out in the field." He is one of Weiss' main field commanders. When Weiss' three remaining Tsviets were outside, looking at oncoming WRO forces, Azul was the first one to open his mouth, identify what was being done and interpret it. Azul is not stupid.
Argent is almost non-existent in the fandom and its hard to tell whether or not this is good. On one hand, the lack of ficcage with her makes me want to cry because it feels like her character exists in an alternate universe, but if you watch the cutscenes from the online mode, SHE'S RIGHT THERE. On the other hand, it means that I don't have to rip on any faulty characterization or weird tropes that I see with her. Unfortunately she's just invisible. A blank. Transparent.
And SPEAKING of Transparent, Shelke.
Getting the most screentime of all the Tsviets, we're shown a lot of Shelke's development as a person. We're shown that she learned how to tap into some of those emotions that she repressed without getting overly emotional. We're shown that Shelke was able to differentiate her feelings from Lucrecia's. We're shown that Shelke is not a whiny little kid, but a capable woman despite what her body would have us believe. And very little fanfic that I've seen will actually show that growth. A friend of mine has seen a fic in which Shelke actually went to hide behind someone in response to some stimulus. Uhm, what? Shelke didn't even hide behind people when she was completely Tsviet-brainwashed towards the beginning! When she had just gotten done regrouping with Azul, only to have him tell her that she was going to be eliminated (demonstrating some more emotional depth on Azul's part, by the way), Shelke's response was to stand and fight. Not even when she had switched sides (somehow, and that is a Wall Banger to END Wall Bangers) and was confronted by Nero did Shelke decide to go crying for Cid to come protect her. Shelke is one of the strongest characters in the GAME, probably one of the more competent ones as well, considering how much of the Online Mode was riding on her success. Yet fandom more or less fails to reflect this.
Guys, I'd LOVE to be proven wrong. I'd love to find some hidden oasis of all the best Tsviet fics in the world, I really would. And I'm not saying that badfic shouldn't exist, because it's a creative right and everyone's free to do whatever. But there's doing whatever and then there's ignoring canonical evidence.
Love,
~ A.H.
Hi guys. So great of you to join us. It's nice that you take great amounts of pleasure in the same group of super soldiers I do. That being said, did we even play the same game? It's not that I find your Tsviets "wrong," considering that the characters were briefly touched upon at best and a lot of their actions are left up to much interpretation. I respect that. This fandom has wiggle room and that's nice. It's nicer still that the fandom is still small enough to the point where I notice stuff like this (unlike the Inuyasha fandom, where it was exceedingly difficult to keep track of anyone writing for the fandom). Still, there's wiggle room and then there's Wall Banging.
So, to recap, six human beings (the fact that Argent doesn't exist outside of Japan is another rage entirely, but not one to blame on the fandom) have been trapped under ground for a minimum of ten years (Shelke) and a maximum of twenty-five (Rosso). They have been desensitized to the point of seeing murder as amusing, validating, and/or a way of life. These are not nice people.
Why the FLYING FUCK should Nero care about your Mary Sue? I ship Shelkero and one of the things I have difficulty with is getting Nero's head out of Weiss' ass for five seconds to acknowledge that Shelke MIGHT be up to giving two shits about him. Shelke has known Nero for about ten years. I'll give you less, considering that Shelke probably came in as a regular DG soldier. That's fair. But she didn't meet the man last week and I still have trouble making him care about her. So why would Nero care about your Mary Sue who just showed up today, made Tsviet like it was nothing (no small task, fighting every Tsviet plus or minus Nero and ending with Weiss the Immaculate himself) and is, to be honest, being a spoiled brat in only the way a Mary Sue can?
Also, lets have a pop-quiz on his personality: What was the one time Nero got emotional and crazy? A) When his one twu wuv (Shelke, your Mary Sue, whoever) got all pissy with him or B) When Weiss' life was threatened?
Pencils down! If you circled A, please play the game again. While I can't vouch for his reaction towards your Mary-Sue or the legitimacy of his affection for Shelke, when she decided to try and fight him, he was slightly amused. When Vincent and Yuffie decided to kill Weiss (again? He was already dead, but they had their weapons out), Nero freaked out, yelling and absorbing them. Your Mary Sue is not going to illicit such a reaction. See the paragraph about Nero having no concern for anyone who isn't Weiss.
But, you know what? Fine. Nero is the fandom equivalent of Pete Wentz, for God's sake! I can see why some characterization would come off his appearance. I can see why you'd want to tweak him to make him love your Sue. Fine. What I CAN'T see is how you feel the need to make those same tweaks to Weiss!
Lets get something out there. I love Weiss. Love him, despite the fact that 3/4's of his dialogue technically isn't even his and that he gets maybe 12 minutes of screentime out of two whole games (one of which is more or less centered around him and all his super-soldier buddies). Wouldn't trade him for all the Sephiroths in the whole, wide world. Obsessing over him Loving him as I do, I take a lot of looks at his characterization in other fics besides the five-or-so other people I know who write him. And that's cool, other people writing him! We need fresh takes on his character, considering how little we know about his character in general! But lets take a look at what we know for sure:
- He's manipulative
- He's a schemer (kind of goes hand-in-hand with manipulative)
- He leads a group of psychotic super soldiers who will follow him to the end and die for him.
- He loves his little brother, Nero, very VERY much.
- He had no qualms about the Player Tsviet dying in order to bring down the Restrictors.
Now, keeping in mind the fact that we're basically dealing with Kain all over again (minus the Deadpan Snarker King vibe, though that can be argued), how is your Mary Sue going to wow over this man and make him fall madly in love within five seconds of meeting him? Considering that the last recruit they got for a Tsviet was killed? Considering that Weiss has never shown any inclination of affection towards ANYONE save for Nero? Show me how your Mary-Sue can do that within five seconds, where Weiss has probably known Shelke for about the same amount of time as Nero has and barely shows her anything?
Moving away from the sexy men, lets get to the people who actually have shown some cards as to their characterization.
Why do we keep characterizing Rosso as a slut? Okay, so she's got an accent. Nero and Cait Sith have accents. They're not sluts. Is it the clothes? Yuffie's wearing about as much. It could be argued that Yuffie is wearing less. The fact that she keeps calling Vincent "my love?" Fair enough, okay. But when has calling someone a name ever been the same as sleeping with him? What I keep seeing (and if you see differently, please point me in the right direction) is that fanfic use slut!Rosso in place of batshit!Rosso. While some sluts may be batshit, not all batshits are sluts.
Rosso is probably one of the more easily related-to characters, despite being one of the most psychotic. Born and bred in DeepGround, raised on murder and experimentation for twenty-five years, the woman has snapped. She's even perfectly aware that she's not a regular person, that none of the Tsviets are. Her greatest wish is to see the sky. I think, personally, that her mind reacted to experimentation and imprisonment the way that any of our minds would react: By snapping.
Azul is, like Weiss and Nero, one of those people who hasn't given us much to work with. This does not mean that he's a slow man. This means that he is a simple man and there is a difference. Weiss and Nero are manipulative. If they want something, they are probably going to be using it to further some kind of plan. Azul is not like this. If he wants something, it's because he wants it. He doesn't need the overly complicated plans: Go here, kill this. Bam. That's an Azul plan. This doesn't mean he's brain-dead. This doesn't mean he isn't exceedingly intelligent. Do you know how the American Dirge of Cerberus strategy guide describes him? "In control out in the field." He is one of Weiss' main field commanders. When Weiss' three remaining Tsviets were outside, looking at oncoming WRO forces, Azul was the first one to open his mouth, identify what was being done and interpret it. Azul is not stupid.
Argent is almost non-existent in the fandom and its hard to tell whether or not this is good. On one hand, the lack of ficcage with her makes me want to cry because it feels like her character exists in an alternate universe, but if you watch the cutscenes from the online mode, SHE'S RIGHT THERE. On the other hand, it means that I don't have to rip on any faulty characterization or weird tropes that I see with her. Unfortunately she's just invisible. A blank. Transparent.
And SPEAKING of Transparent, Shelke.
Getting the most screentime of all the Tsviets, we're shown a lot of Shelke's development as a person. We're shown that she learned how to tap into some of those emotions that she repressed without getting overly emotional. We're shown that Shelke was able to differentiate her feelings from Lucrecia's. We're shown that Shelke is not a whiny little kid, but a capable woman despite what her body would have us believe. And very little fanfic that I've seen will actually show that growth. A friend of mine has seen a fic in which Shelke actually went to hide behind someone in response to some stimulus. Uhm, what? Shelke didn't even hide behind people when she was completely Tsviet-brainwashed towards the beginning! When she had just gotten done regrouping with Azul, only to have him tell her that she was going to be eliminated (demonstrating some more emotional depth on Azul's part, by the way), Shelke's response was to stand and fight. Not even when she had switched sides (somehow, and that is a Wall Banger to END Wall Bangers) and was confronted by Nero did Shelke decide to go crying for Cid to come protect her. Shelke is one of the strongest characters in the GAME, probably one of the more competent ones as well, considering how much of the Online Mode was riding on her success. Yet fandom more or less fails to reflect this.
Guys, I'd LOVE to be proven wrong. I'd love to find some hidden oasis of all the best Tsviet fics in the world, I really would. And I'm not saying that badfic shouldn't exist, because it's a creative right and everyone's free to do whatever. But there's doing whatever and then there's ignoring canonical evidence.
Love,
~ A.H.