Shall I continue Decagram past Family Matters?

[akk]

I'm thinking about whether or not I continue the Decagram past FM. While I have quite some plot I'd like to tell, I'm not sure it would still be a fanfic.
36° was about their connection & Seishiro's past as Sakurazukamori.
Family Matters is about how they continue & the past of their clans.
Additional plots would be (in no particular order):

• Yue's story
• Setsuka's story
• Seishiro's life around the time of making the bet, between the making of the bet and its execution, until the beginning of X
• what happened with Subaru's parents
• and the continuation of Family Matters would tell how all that affects their present existence.

But I'm pretty far from the canon already and the distance would increase necessarily with the next part.
So far, 36° & FM are seen rather positively, but I wonder if I don't "overuse my stay" if I stray that far from the canon into original territory.

What do you think?

Comments

[akk.insanejournal.com]

:) Thank you for your support. I guess I got startled by the amount of stuff I consecutively added to the TBX verse and wondered if I am truly writing fanfiction now or something else entirely.

I'm still happy to write it, despite the occasional bout of frustration.

[kijin_san.insanejournal.com]

That is good - we still wait impatiently for every chapter :)

To put it aside, would writing something else be that bad? I know many people who would love to be able to create original content and can't. They say it it frustrating as well :D
Hmmm, I guess this is just my curiosity but:
1) why you write it?
I know the answer may be very personal (or not at all...) :), as I said, just my curiosity.

[akk.insanejournal.com]

No canon is complete. If you come across certain gaps or missing pieces and the plot requires that pieces of information you have to make up your mind about what (might have) happened. Dang, there's original content to your fic.
You might decide not to write about that content in detail and gloss over it, but it's still there in the back of your mind when writing. For continuity of your plot, you have to keep it in mind and it influences the future in your plot.
Strictly speaking, everything past the final day in X-fandom (with few scenic images from the tv-anime) is original content.
I don't think one really can escape original content if one wants to write a round / sound plot in any universe. If nothing but strictly canon content was to exist, all you can write is a retelling - and don't you dare speculate about why a character did something (or choose that particular pair of socks on that day!) :)

To answer your question: I write original content because I like sound, well-rounded plots (then you can't escape it) and I write the occasional fanfic related original story because for those well-rounded plots I have to handle a lot of background data and those often take the form of side-stories (sometimes, the side stories become larger than the fanfic they relate to, but that's life). :)

[kijin_san.insanejournal.com]

"I write original content because I like sound, well-rounded plots (then you can't escape it) and I write the occasional fanfic related original story because for those well-rounded plots I have to handle a lot of background data and those often take the form of side-stories"

But you are just shooting your own leg now :)
If the stories are already in your head, you should write them down for them not to get lost :)

I know, I know, it is easy to say but it also takes forever. :)
However as a professional librarian I always scowl at anything that is created but isn't recorded :P

I guess we are all afraid of the time when people who write wonderful things get bored/stuck or are not interested anymore in creating. Pushing them never really works (damn!) :), and I get the feeling that in that particular case blackmail wouldn't work either... :P

[akk.insanejournal.com]

Shooting my leg? How?
My question is not about whether or not I finish the current story. I will. And the side stories that appear because of it will be written. I don't leave stuff unfinished, that's not my style.
However, the fic-universe I created is expanding and I had to decide whether or not that's okay, because it is possible to bring things to a nice well-rounded conclusion when focusing entirely on Family Matters main plot at this point. I decided to go with expansion and also write _and post(!)_ the other stories. Had I decided otherwise, I most likely would have written the stories anyway, but probably more independent from the fic-universe.
My worries were a lot about "how to write them" and not really about "whether to write them". Muses are very stubborn (and egotistic!) critters. They can't be stopped! Believe me. ;)

Regarding large, unfinished epics: if people started posting, they ought to finish. If they don't know how, they should say so (instead of silently disappear) and make a post of their initial layout or ideas to go on, even if they themselves lack the time, the spirit or the writing ideas to do so. At least, the readers then have an idea how it could have ended (or somebody else can take the fic and run with it; at least it has a chance then!)

Regarding this phase of FM: expect more bouts of "waaaah, this can never work!" It's the final quarter of the plot; many threads to handle, little space left, virtually no leeway to wriggle if something doesn't sound exactly as it should; whining is normal. ;)

[kijin_san.insanejournal.com]

“Shooting my leg? How?”

:) By creating never-ending cycle of side stories. Ok. I know that it isn’t exactly so, but such fast expending universe may lead astray any writer, especially when the stories are already there in your head (you may be tempted to write those dialogs, witty jokes, great descriptions that are in your head instead of working on the part of the main story that you cannot finish since forever and that makes you scream every time you even look at it :) )

“because it is possible to bring things to a nice well-rounded conclusion when focusing entirely on Family Matters main plot at this point”

and that is amazing because it could easily be an endless saga, but the truth is nobody expects less of you (old “with the ability you get the responsibility” rule)

“Had I decided otherwise, I most likely would have written the stories anyway, but probably more independent from the fic-universe.”

To tell the truth I would love that :)

“It's the final quarter of the plot; many threads to handle, little space left, virtually no leeway to wriggle if something doesn't sound exactly as it should; whining is normal. ;)”

Perfect :)
As I said we are lucky to get a god story and not an endless saga.

[akk.insanejournal.com]

I don't shoot my leg, because the side stories don't have to be read in order to have fun with the main story/ies.
I already try to make each main story halt at an end where it is bearable to stop following the Decagram arch in case one looses interest. (One=reader; not author!)
Writing side stories is essential for me to ensure congruent & conclusive plot. They almost always light up specific background details which influence character behavior or plot. I usually develop them until I am sure how the character(s) would have handled the specific issue. If the side story is close to completion at that point. I finish & post it (For example: teeny!Seishiro's fisticuffs with Suoh) if not, the written snippets get shelved "for further reference (example: Seishiro secretly healing Suoh after he was stabbed by the TS in 36°-X; Subaru was asked to do that, but Suoh rejected help. The Sumeragi wouldn't go against explicitly expressed wishes; Seishiro doesn't give a damn about that). The latter might at some point being turned into a story, or not. But not anytime soon. The main plot goes first.
Yue's story will be independent (mostly). But I will prepare the 3rd story of the Decagram in connection with Family Matters. Like I prepared Family Matters in 36°. There is definite main chara plot left to be told. No reason not to do that. :)

[kijin_san.insanejournal.com]

"No reason not to do that. :)"

All in the hands of the author :) *bows with respect*

BTW: I love the way how you list the facts, and the way it shows how much you love it :P

[akk.insanejournal.com]

Partially, I'm nervous because I'm going to turn certain issues upside down with chapter 16 ff. Hence... :)

[kijin_san.insanejournal.com]

*laughs* now I can't wait :)