Much nodding in agreement while reading your post. For me, I've been semi-monogamous with FF12, but I do enjoy branching out from time to time (although usually just x-overs).
Related to your three conclusions, the marvelous tensions and possibilities between #1 and #2 are soooooooooo very much the reason why I can think about FF12 fic (or other FF fandom fanfic) for daysmonths years on end. FFX and FFXII both have extremely rich worlds with oodles of compelling mythology, history, culture, and so forth. They're entire worlds just begging to be described in fiction.
#3: And romance can provide a lot of fascinating opportunities for character interaction.
Yes. That!
I never really cared for writing romance-driven plots before writing fanfic (admittedly, my fanfic romance plots are a bit odd ^^) but I do find that the romance itself is a super-easy door into characters' minds and that is really where I want to be when writing.
…
What draws you to become fannish about a source, rather than just liking it a lot? Are there patterns, or is it more random?
I think about that first question a lot because back in 1997-2000 I was insanely fangirlishly obsessed with FF7 yet I never felt compelled to write fic. Also, there are many, many books and movies I love but no, nope. No fic desires.
FF12+RW+FFT+VS compels me because Ivalice is such a rich multi-millennia world that mashes all of my political-socio-cultural buttons in really good writerly ways. I want to possess that grey-on-grey world and make it my own. ;)
Writing and planning Ivalice fic (definitely planning & drafting, as I've posted only a fraction of what I've written) has taught me a lot about the kinds of original fiction I want to write (which is different from what I had previously thought), the kind of world I need (although it doesn't need to be a magical/fantasy world), the kinds of character and conflicts I need, and so forth. But I can ramble on this point for hours…
Also, I've noticed that writing fic (or even just planning fic) makes me deeply like characters I didn't really 'like' when gaming. Writing character-driven fiction requires me to think long and hard about what's happening inside a character. Once an "a-ha!" moment happens, I suddenly empathize with the character and those moments of insight feel really awesome and create a great moment of writer's high. (Not that the resulting text is equally as awesome, but that's okay. There's always the big fat editing pile.)
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Related to your three conclusions, the marvelous tensions and possibilities between #1 and #2 are soooooooooo very much the reason why I can think about FF12 fic (or other FF fandom fanfic) for
daysmonthsyears on end. FFX and FFXII both have extremely rich worlds with oodles of compelling mythology, history, culture, and so forth. They're entire worlds just begging to be described in fiction.#3: And romance can provide a lot of fascinating opportunities for character interaction.
Yes. That!
I never really cared for writing romance-driven plots before writing fanfic (admittedly, my fanfic romance plots are a bit odd ^^) but I do find that the romance itself is a super-easy door into characters' minds and that is really where I want to be when writing.
…
What draws you to become fannish about a source, rather than just liking it a lot? Are there patterns, or is it more random?
I think about that first question a lot because back in 1997-2000 I was insanely fangirlishly obsessed with FF7 yet I never felt compelled to write fic. Also, there are many, many books and movies I love but no, nope. No fic desires.
FF12+RW+FFT+VS compels me because Ivalice is such a rich multi-millennia world that mashes all of my political-socio-cultural buttons in really good writerly ways. I want to possess that grey-on-grey world and make it my own. ;)
Writing and planning Ivalice fic (definitely planning & drafting, as I've posted only a fraction of what I've written) has taught me a lot about the kinds of original fiction I want to write (which is different from what I had previously thought), the kind of world I need (although it doesn't need to be a magical/fantasy world), the kinds of character and conflicts I need, and so forth. But I can ramble on this point for hours…
Also, I've noticed that writing fic (or even just planning fic) makes me deeply like characters I didn't really 'like' when gaming. Writing character-driven fiction requires me to think long and hard about what's happening inside a character. Once an "a-ha!" moment happens, I suddenly empathize with the character and those moments of insight feel really awesome and create a great moment of writer's high. (Not that the resulting text is equally as awesome, but that's okay. There's always the big fat editing pile.)