DOINK! Friending Meme!

[ffexchange_mod]

We’ve always wanted to have a friending meme for Doink, but... in an exchange where gifts are surprises, and gifters and recipients are big secrets, it never seems like the right time. So we’d like to have one now! No one has to worry about ruining the big reveal, and we all get to have fun and make some friends!

If you’d like to participate, we’ve prepared some text you can copy and fill out to tell the community a little bit about yourself, where friends can find you, and which parts of Final Fantasy fandom make you sparkle like a happy Megalixir. Feel free to fill out as much or as little as you’d like - we encourage everybody to share their fandom likes and loves, so that you can connect with like-minded fans, but it isn’t necessary.

The way to play is quite simple:

1. Copy the text, fill it out, and leave a comment! We’ll have two posts, one for LJ and one for DW - if you’re looking for new friends in both places, feel free to fill both out.
2. Scan the page and read about the Doink community! Does someone look interesting? Strike up a conversation! Make some friends! WRITE COMMENT FIC. Whatever you’d like!
3. Add folks to your various friend networks as you desire!
4. Repeat as needed.
5. Everyone wins!

Just two notes before we start:

• This is not exclusive to Chocobo Down participants, or to Doink participants. It’s open to everyone! So please spread the word.


• We hope this doesn’t really need to be said, but please stay kind, positive, and respectful of everyone’s widely different kinds of fandom love.

Enjoy!

<b>Name / Pseud</b>: <b>Journals (LJ, DW, etc) / AO3 username</b>: <b>Other places I’m looking for awesome fandom friends:</b> [other journals, Twitter, Tumblr, etc] <b>FF canons I’ve experienced</b>: [games played, movies watched, etc] <b>FF Fandoms I’m active in</b>: <b>Ways I participate in fandom</b>: [writing, reading, drawing, reccing, flailing, lurking, etc!] <b>5 characters I love and one sentence why</b> 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. <b>5 pairings I love and one sentence why</b> 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. <b> Themes, kinks, tropes that I really love to see in Final Fantasy fanworks:</b> <b> One ridiculous thought or question I have about FF and/or fandom, to start discussion with my new fandom friends:</b> <b>Anything else?</b>

Livejournal post

Comments

[liri]

It's actually a pretty new idea to me, but it would do a lot to explain why we get the occasional racially distinct character but no more.

The airships do complicate things, especially since they seem to have infinite fuel.

[liri]

*fistbump*

So for FF6 the War of the Magi did it, clearly, and for FFX you could blame it on Sin. Maybe the Eidolons are keeping terrible secrets about IV's world.

[liri]

Reeve is the BEST. If I was ever going to play all the Compilation stuff, it would be for him.

The other thing to remember is that on at least some of these worlds, they have been conquered by an almost global culture at some point, often in the near-recent past, and it could be that the language and currency are simply left-overs from that.

That definitely describes VII's Shinra conquest. I... didn't really love VIII, so would that be another under that heading?

[liri]

There are a lot of librarians here! And you play WoW, too?

I'm already lamenting not taking Rydia to see Edward first chance I got.

[lindorie]

Name / Pseud: Lin
Journals (LJ, DW, etc) / AO3 username: lindorie,saffron_penguin
Other places I’m looking for awesome fandom friends: lindorie

FF canons I’ve experienced: I, II, IV, VI, VII (AC, DoC), VIII, IX, X, X-2, XII(well... still chugging along.)

FF Fandoms I’m active in: VI, VII, VIII, and IX and X on occasion. What constitutes active?

Ways I participate in fandom: reading, doodling, flailing, lurking, with the disclaimer that I am too chickenshit to actually share but hey, a girl's gotta start somewhere

5 characters I love and one sentence why
1. Selphie: She's spunky and she likes trains and explosions and has a badass limit break and... I see a lot of myself in her, okay?
2. Celes: I have a huge lady boner for strong female characters, bonus points if they're extra complex, and Celes is definitely one of them!
3. Steiner: His first name makes me giggle (c'mon, Aldelbert!), he's bumbling and hilarious as a character, and I like how over the course of the game he becomes less of a stick in the mud.
4. Yuffie: I blame nagia; I also see a lot of myself in her too -- she clashes with Godo over tradition and the fate of Wutai and it kinda reminds me a lot of my own personal clashing with my mother and her Filipino sensibilities.
5. Laguna: DO I REALLY HAVE TO EXPLAIN WHY, HE'S SUCH A DOOFUS AND I LOVE HIM

5 pairings I love and one sentence why
1. Selphie/Irvine: THEY'RE MY OTP, OKAY?
2. Garnet/Zidane: It's a love story I have no problem getting behind.
3. Beatrix/Steiner: It's cute and there's potential for hilarity
4. Yuffie/Vincent: I think they can compliment each other well, I also shamelessly blame nagia for her portrayals of the two.
5. Dude, my brain hurts. I like a lot of pairings. There.

Themes, kinks, tropes that I really love to see in Final Fantasy fanworks: Magic meta, world building, fleshing out of characters, real world elements (like fiddling with politics?), PORN lol wat

One ridiculous thought or question I have about FF and/or fandom, to start discussion with my new fandom friends: Soooooo... What the hell is up with that crater over by Trabia Garden?

Anything else? I fart around with Dragon Age, Harry Potter. I harass my cats and knit too much. I moonlight as an in-home caregiver for crazies, oh gods I wish I was putting that lightly but I'm not. Let's be friends? :3

[lindorie]

SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE, CLOSEST TO THE EMERGENCY EXIT wait what

[liri]

Almost everyone in VI is over 18, save Gau and Relm. I didn't really start to find that refreshing until around the time VIII came out.

I've been told that XII was originally going to have Basch as a main character, but they threw in Vaan because they were afraid to skew the cast too old.

[traxits]

If I remember right, VIII does indeed fall under that category. Sadly, the details escape me, but I think the Centra only fell some ... 80? 100 years pre-game? That is, I think, a short enough time period that there would be holdovers from that society.

Reeve is awesome, but sadly, there's really no point to play anything but the base game and Dirge of Cerberus if you're looking for Reeve stuff. Honestly, I got my Reeve fix from DC by reading the scripts and watching the cutscenes on youtube since I am terrible at FPS. He's in a few chapters of Before Crisis, but not too much. I think you're better off reading scripts for that one as well.

Just. Oh, Reeve. We need so much more Reeve love.

[lindorie]

FEMSLASH IS SHALLOW? THEN I DON'T WANNA BE RIGHT

I love how you listed Stiltzkin! He's one of my favorite moogles in the history of EVER. Then again I have a rather unhealthy fondness for moogles.

[cumuluscastle]

Yes, I heard that too about FFXII. I would have liked to have played that game, I think.

I didn't know that about FFVI, actually. I wasn't sure on some of the ages.

It's not that I mind younger characters. I do appreciate a mix though and I maybe find it somewhat absurd for an all teen cast to save the world all the time. Sort of like Mystery Solving Teens.

[saharasnow]

Haha Locke/Terra has been my OTP since like, forever.
I'm not into yuri pairings, but somehow Celes/Terra seem to work o.o

[laceblade]

Name / Pseud: laceblade
Journals (LJ, DW, etc) / AO3 username: mystickeeper, laceblade / laceblade
Other places I’m looking for awesome fandom friends: [other journals, Twitter, Tumblr, etc] ribbonknight, ribbonknight

FF canons I’ve experienced: FFVII + AC, LO, CC, FFT, FFIV, FFV, FFVI, FFVIII, FFIX, FFXII
FF Fandoms I’m active in: FFVII - I'm kind of mono-fannish, but I read fic in XII and Tactics.
Ways I participate in fandom: heinous posts of glee, reading fic, appreciating fanart, trying to contribute more to Fanlore articles, trying/failing to write my own fic.

5 characters I love and one sentence why
1. Tifa - She has overcome so much, and will do anything to protect those she loves, even if it means lying to them.
2. Balthier - The greatest FF hero ever created, sorry, but totes true.
3. Celes - It was so great to have a badass lady also in touch with her femininity. I guess that's true of lots of FF ladies, though.
4. Ashe - Moving past a place of grief and a broken kingdom, she's able to help run a rebellion be a BAMF. 'Nough said.
5. Agrias - A lady knight who protects Alma like no one else - AWESOME.

5 pairings I love and one sentence why
1. Balthier/Fran
2. Locke/Celes
3. I'm not really into specific ships, so long as they're written in a believable way....
4.
5.

Themes, kinks, tropes that I really love to see in Final Fantasy fanworks: Loyalty, exploration of throw-away lines from canon, elaborate world-building, most especially fics that make me reconsider characters from canon. Like, fandom has sold me on Aeris.

One ridiculous thought or question I have about FF and/or fandom, to start discussion with my new fandom friends: HAS ANYONE ELSE READ THAT BARRET/RED XIII PORN FIC AT AO3?! I.....I LIKED IT.

Anything else?
I have some fannish angst because I don't feel like I contribute a lot.
At the moment, my locked posts talk about various health issues, most especially chronic pain that I've had for the last 15ish months (IT SUCKS).
I've read FF7 fic for like, over a decade. Still kind of feel like I'm not "in" fandom, though.

[lindorie]

Edward -- He has absolutely none of the skills required for a Standard Video Game Party Member and is also surprisingly non-angsty for someone whose life pretty much sucks all the balls

THIS THIS THIS omg

[lindorie]

Heyooo!

I have a lot of fannish angst too! I keep meaning to put on my big girl panties and just bloody post something but the chicken shit part of me wins out in the end. In the end I just flail, read, and rec on occasion :/

[traxits]

HEY, YOU! WE SHOULD TOTALLY BE FRIENDS --

Oh, wait. *laughs* Fancy seeing you here!

Also, I don't think you should have fannish angst. You are a wonderful person to talk to and be fandomy with. I mean, hey, you put up with me. *grin*

[sarasa_cat]

Name / Pseud: Vieralynn (aka sarcat, sarasacat)
Journals (LJ, DW, etc) / AO3 username: vieralynn, vieralynn.livejournal.com, saarcat on ff.net (only partial list of my fic), AO3 (fic needs to go back up asap, you can find it all under friend lock on LJ/DW)
Other places I’m looking for awesome fandom friends: I have a yet-to-be used tumblr account that will probably become far more active very soon, once I have fandom friends there. :)


FF canons I’ve experienced: FFIII, FFIV, FFVI, FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX, FFX, FFXII, Dissidia, FFT, Vagrant Story
FF Fandoms I’m active in: FFXII (Ivalice in general), occasionally Dissidia
Ways I participate in fandom: reading, writing, lots and lots of flailing on stories that don't want to be written in a short straight-forward manner, meta'ing, art recs, occasionally making icons and image manias

5 characters I love and one sentence why
1. (FFXII) Noah aka Gabranth - A bucket of tragedy, trying to do right yet flailing spectacularly, all while caring deeply about the people closest to him yet, confusing hurt with hate (all that hate for Basch stems from fraternal love).
2. (FFXII) Fran - A strong female with great lines, fantastic snarky voice&body acting, great backstory with so much potential for fandom interpretation and additions.
3. (FFT) Ramza - He just plain does what he must (and I swear he is a far future descendant of Basch).
4. (FFX) Auron - Epic ronin badass, with epic katana, and a punch-in-the-gut backstory that becomes increasingly more epic as his story unfolds.
5. (FFIX) Vivi - For me, his quest for identity and meaning was the highlight of FFIX.

5 pairings I love and one sentence why
1. Balthier/Ashe(/Al-Cid) - Because Balthier and Ashe have already decided that they cannot be together despite wanting each other, and because of Balthier's Far Too Obvious eye-rolling groans around Al-Cid/Ashe (and Fran's smirking while watching it unfold).
2. Basch/Vossler - Crossing class boundaries, clashing interpretations of loyalty, duty, and noble action, and tasty hardbodied knightly omnomnomnomnom.
3. Delita/Ovelia - class issues, political intrigue, love, betrayal, gut-stabbery.
4. Auron/Lulu - because they are two kindred spirits who could have an endless conversation about death without ever saying a word (and because Lulu/Wakka is the biggest piece of crack that Squeenix has ever sold us).
5. Penelo/postgame!Noah - because if a seriously injured & disabled Noah survived, orphan-mothering Penelo would offer to be his carer for All The Wrong Reasons the moment Larsa bats his big, long eyelashes at her and Hero of the People Basch puts his hand on her shoulder and says, "I know you will take good care of my brother," and once Penelo, Vaan, and Noah are living under the same roof, not only does the situation demand the utmost of forgiveness, they have to deal with Rabanastrians thinking that Noah is kingslayer Basch (or kingslayer Noah), ANNNNNNDDDD EVENTUALLY, after the 3rd or 4th time Penelo breaks up with Vaan during yet another screaming, yelling fight, a very upset, slightly drunk Penelo will no doubt seek comfort and sympathy from Basch's mirror image lookalike, which, of course, quickly ends up with needy!insecure!Noah not saying "No" as a half-naked Penelo crawls in between his sheets (for All The Wrong Reasons) ... and two weeks later Vaan wants to stick a fork in his eye right after Penelo and Noah "secretly" hold hands under the dining room table after learning that Larsa and Basch think that Penelo/Noah is Very Good News.


Themes, kinks, tropes that I really love to see in Final Fantasy fanworks:
- Crossing social class boundaries and cultural boundaries.
- Explorations of how political issues infest people's lives and shape their relationships (Ivalice, anyone?)
- Supernatural themes, gods as bastards, death, ghosts, memories, reflections
- Porn/sex that deeply explores characters' inner selves
- Stories with meta, layers, and subtext under subtext
- Complex, anti-cookie-cutter relationships
- OT3s, OT3s with twincest

One ridiculous thought or question I have about FF and/or fandom, to start discussion with my new fandom friends: What's your theory of why Vossler's armor has some dog collar action in it?

Anything else? Due to life weird shit a little over a year ago, I hastily put most of my fic (pr0n!) under friends lock. I plan on using much of my upcoming winter break to put my fic back into public spaces, so right now only my non-porn fic is up in ff_fortnightly and ff.net.

[sarasa_cat]

I second third your biggest fanfic pet peeve. (and I slap myself whenever I do it.)

BTW, Vaan/Noah and any comparisons of Noah and Seifer perk up my ears right away! Vaan+Viera BFFs too. What are your thoughts on all of those?

[sarasa_cat]

Rikku/Wakka : I think I've just found a new pairing that interests me!

[sarasa_cat]

Wait. Squeenix put Auron into one of their Disney x-over games? No. Oh, no. Ohmygodno.

Fang, Faris, and Fran walk into a bar. Describe ensuing mayhem.

You've just convinced me that I must play FFV so I can either write this or prod someone else into writing it.

[sarasa_cat]

Agreed, Ashe/Balthier are 100% canon. The UST is palpable throughout the whole second half of the game.

(Is it okay if I ask you how Fran's backstory resonates with you? I point up to my default icon.)

[sarasa_cat]

I second all that traxits says about what FF characters eat.

[sarasa_cat]

Another Auron/Lulu and Balthier/Ashe fan! *waves*

[sarasa_cat]

*waves* Wow, another Ramza fan!

♥ Vossler/Basch ♥ Fandom always needs more of this pairing. I love all of the bromancy knowing glances they give each other.

Fandom has really warmed me to Yuffie/Vincent. (Funny how fandom does that?!)

[sarasa_cat]

Continuing on that FF age thing:
And why are the few older female characters given mysterious ages? Fran is ?? years old. Fang is 521 but is "physically 21."

Also, some characters seem a bit mature for their age. Do you really believe that Balthier is 22?

[sarasa_cat]

I too would have much preferred Basch as the main POV character in FFXII. Perhaps we would have learned more details about his backstory and how his brother came to hate him so much.