In search of...

[auronlu]

1. Fanfics with excellent action sequences.
I'm looking for (a) skilled writing and (b) vivid writing that puts the reader on the edge of her seat.
Example: "No Tragedy Today" by ellnyx.

2. Fanfics which write FFX character dialogue well, capturing their in-game voices.
Many of you know that I am obsessed with voices, from voice acting (Dwight Schultz doing anything, Fran & Balthier) to fanfiction which catches mannerisms so perfectly that I can hear canonical characters' voices in my head.
Example: "Grieve" by lynnxlady, which I've read until I've got the danged thing memorized.

I need to find more fics like these, both to enjoy and admire, and to help my chameleon muse rise to the task before it.

I'm working on LHAD again, and I'm struggling to accomplish four things in one chapter without getting bogged down: choreograph a epic battle sequence, juggle several character and plot arcs which all hit major beats, and give several different characters a moment to shine. Authentic voices and an adrenaline pace will sell or break this chapter. I need to remind myself how it's done when it's done right!

Comments

[suspensionpoint.livejournal.com]

(followed from ff_press, hi :P)

2. Voices! I am also obsessed with voices. It's not normal how excited I get over a fic with good characterization... I guess because in the FFX fandom, it seems so rare, haha. >_<
Then again, I guess good characterization is all in the eye of the beholder, right?
Well, anywaaay... I'm not sure if any of these will help you with your story, or if you'll even like any of them, or if you've read them already, lol, but here's a few off of my ff.net favorites list that always stun me, by feeling like they could have been scenes straight out of the game:

Seymour and Kinoc--
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4772297/1/Sides

Involves.. basically all of Yuna's crew :P--
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5308909/1/On_the_Precipice_of_the_World

(post x-2) Tidus, Yuna, Wakka, Baralai--
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2560388/1/Sixty_Seconds

Jecht, Tidus, Yuna, and younger Zanarkand parent-mode Auron, heh--
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3731614/1/Stories

I looked through my recently reviewed, too, but nothing there stuck out, so this is all I got at the moment ;[... and i can't really help you with the first one because I'm not an action person. I like a good, heavy-on-characterization drama. xD;;

[auronlu.livejournal.com]

Oh, excellent!

I know the most common comment I'll give on a fic I like is that I hear the characters' voices, but I'm kicking myself for not bookmarking/saving particular pieces where that's so. To Know Foreverness (http://c.fanfiction.net/s/3541775/1/To_Know_Foreverness) (Wakka, Lulu, Vidina) is another, and I know I've recently read a few of owlmoose's that made me hear voices (that sounds wrong), and I'll sometimes read bits of "Soldier of Spira" to help me lock down Auron's voice. But there are others; I'm just blanking.

[ETA: Aha, "Sides" is that creepy Seymour & Kinoc scene by storyless/muggy_mountain... so is "To Know Foreverness". Obviously, I need to read anything by Mugs I've missed.]

If you like voices, check out Xoa's "FFX Undub (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g7dlKkX8rg)" videos, overlaying the Japanese version of the game with the English subtitles. There are a few characters (Tidus, Yuna, Elma, Lucil) whose original voices are better.


I once prided myself on good characterization and voices, then got bit by the plot bunny bug and lost my old style of characterization, dialog, and not enough plot.

So, reading list! That looks like a tasty selection. Thank you!

[suspensionpoint.livejournal.com]

"but I'm kicking myself for not bookmarking/saving particular pieces where that's so."
Mhm, I definitely need to do that one day, too, because I'm just that obsessive, lol.

But that reminded me, I have a few things saved on delicious!
Including my all time favorite Auron story ever. I feel like his voice is by far one of the most difficult to capture, but this is just absolutely perfect, I think:
http://viniel.wordpress.com/2007/08/03/fic-dust/#more-132
And it helps that it has a side of Tidus and Yuna characterization, whom, if it wasn't obvious, I totally fangirl over. xD;;

Anyway, I hope some of these might help, if only a little. ^^;


Ooh, I'll def check out the 'Undub's, hehe! My biggest gripe with FFX is it's voice acting, but I know it's not really anyone's fault. I just.. didn't care for it too much. I maintain that the game is best played on mute. :P Maybe the original is better...

[venefica-aura.livejournal.com]

Hello! You left a comment on a story of mine, "The Ghost and Mr. Highwind" and figured I'd check out what's up here!

Auron's voice was actually the first FFX one that I got because he's from a long long line of Older Dudes with Pasts (tm) that I tend to just... I dunno get. "Dust" was one of the first things I ever wrote for FFX, pretty much just after I played it (I did a whole series of shorts for each of the mains, minus one or two... it was a while ago) and he was pretty fresh in my head. Actually, at that time I really guess I sort of identified with Auron... which is probably unusual for a woman in her mid-20s. So I'm happy to see that it sounds like him to other people, and not just me co-opting him. XD I liked writing the Cid and Auron prompt because it's taking my First Videogame Hero and letting him interact with another one of Dudes I Identify With. I keep meaning to write something with Lulu and Tifa, as they are Chicks I Would Totally Date, which is another category of mine in FFs. XD

I also have a couple of reccomendations, though I had to dig as I'm not as active in FFX as I am in say, FF7, but they have really interesting dialogue/characterization. I'm not much of an action person, so yeah. XD

Lightning Marble (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2375257/1/) (a sort of Lulu/Rikku that a friend of mine wrote for me aaaages and a penname ago that I still quite like)

Ligatures (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4450485/1/), an Auron/Lulu that is very complicated and subtle, about how I would imagine any of Auron's post-death relationships would be like.

He calls him a Wute mostly based on the way he's dressed, because FF7 is pretty modern--well, 80s/90s modern--in how they dress, except Wutai. Cid wouldn't actually dwell too much on the actual ethnicity, I always thought, just figured Auron was some kind of sympathizer at the very least. Cid always struck me as an immediate impressions sort and just referred to people in his mind based on those.

[auronlu.livejournal.com]

Oh, got it with the Wute, that makes sense. I was just not catching the connection to Wutai until you explained.

Ligatures is one of the bestest Aulu fics ever. :)

I think I've read Lightning Marble before, but see I failed to leave a review! Must correct oversight. It's a good one.

And I should probably be leaving comments on your fics where they're posted on ff.net or your LJ or something!

[venefica-aura.livejournal.com]

Oh it doesn't matter where. XD Really. My stuff's so helter skelter that I don't really care.

[auronlu.livejournal.com]

Also.
Lulu and Tifa?
I think my head just exploded.

I think I have a tidy little reading list now: track down other stories by authors I like/know (and a few I don't so well... firefly and Luc Court)... rinse, repeat!

I think Auron expresses the cynicism and disillusionment a lot of us first encounter in our twenties. However, he does it more eloquently than most.

[venefica-aura.livejournal.com]

Actually, it was probably how terribly closeted he is about everything and how closeted I was about everything at the time of playing FFX. XD

That and I'm probably really a cranky old man deep down.