The Fifth Act

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Fanfiction
Title: The Fifth Act
Author(s): Sinnatious
Date(s): Published to LJ: 02 Nov 2009
Completed: 16 May 2010
Expanded Universe: 2010-2011
Published to AO3 in March 2012
Length: Main story: 161,697 words (38 chapters)
Incl. Expanded Universe: 180,662 words
Genre(s): Time Travel
Fandom(s): Final Fantasy VII
Relationship(s):
External Links: LJ, FFN, AO3, Archive

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The Fifth Act is a gen time-travel Final Fantasy VII fanfiction by Sinnatious. The main story follows Cloud Strife after he accidentally time travels from after the destruction of Midgar to the early days of the Wutai war. He decides the best way to prevent future calamities is to destroy Sephiroth, Jenova, and Hojo, but his attempts to do so lead him to be unexpectedly close to the SOLDIER program and its three stars.

Members of the Final Fantasy VII fandom often consider The Fifth Act as a notable, classic fanfiction. Different communities of readers describe the fanfic differently, with the story commonly described as a Peggy Sue plot, a subversion of Peggy Sue stories, and/or a time travel fix-it.

A tie-in expanded universe for The Fifth Act has also been created by Sinnatious and other authors. The bulk of this expanded universe is comprised of short gift fics, which are a mix of side-scenes that fit in with the main story and alternate universe prompts.

Summary

Cloud has an accident with a Time materia, and finds himself in the middle of the Wastes at the start of the Wutai War. There are people to save... and for that, there are three people who need to die.

Development, Narrative Choices and Inspiration

The title is a reference to the in-universe play Loveless, with which the character Genesis is obsessed. The play is unfinished, with only four acts, and the characters of the fanfic discuss their preferred endings for a hypothetical fifth act.

Sinnatious has noted that this style of time-travel fic is "well trodden ground" in the fandom, and considered writing this fic "pretty much just self-indulgence on my part". Readers at the time noted that the choice to have future!Cloud travel to the past in his older body was unusual (instead of his memories and abilities being transfered to his younger body)[1][note 1]

Fan Responses and Reviews

this fic is so damn epic It combines every incarnation of VII to date - the original, advent children, crisis core... and it does it so freaking well. There are two types of fics I'm drawn to: AUs, and seriously canon compliant. This fic is the latter, and it blows everything ever out of the water. the amount of detail, the sheer awesomeness of all the fight scenes, the plot - the plot. Time travel. sinnatious doesn't take shortcuts. She doesn't gloss over any details. She goes the hard yards and never cops out. She juggles so many narrative threads and so many character voices, it's unbelievable. Maybe this won't be the fic for you, because there's no romance -- but I urge you not to pass up reading this. She uses ff7 knowledge to create similes. similies. This is without a doubt, the most fulfilling, in character time travel fic I've ever had the pleasure of reading, and the best ff7 fic, hands down.

munchinglunch, 2010 [2]

The Fifth Act by Sinnatious is regarded in the FF7 fandom up there as one of the best time travel fanfics of all time. I love this fic so very much, and it heavily inspired me to write my own FF7 time travel fic![3]
SUPER second this. Well-plotted, well-paced, well-characterized, well-written. I remember following it on LJ as it was being written and thinking GODDAMN are they published yet and if not why not
So I have reread this twice now. I still like it, it captures much of the tone of FFVII. Cloud is OP, and yet still emotionally stunted. Which while typical of this kind of wish fulfillment fic, works well here because it's Cloud, who truly sucks at the feelings and emotions part of life. The fights are very well done, and I would put it at a highlight of this fic.[4]

Quite possibly the best fic in the entire FFVII fandom, Sinnatious gets inside the heads of all the characters really well and works in game elements such as materia equipping, too. One of my favorite things about this are all the small details and how they build up over the course of the story both in foreshadowing and- well now that would be a spoiler, now wouldn’t it? x3[5]

Probably the best or one of the best time travel fics out there! And it’s completed to boot! Really puts a different spin on things. My favorite parts are usually of Sephiroth trying really hard to be friends with Cloud.[6]

Pretty much one of the only two FFVII stories I will ever recommend[7]

I'm going with The Fifth Act by Sinnatious. It's a FFVII (original game) time travel genfic and it is just so incredible in so many ways. There is such a journey, so much care put into it, and around 2/3 of the way it starts pummeling you with feelings and it never stops. I read it around once a year and it never fails to make me feel so much. There is something wonderful about watching someone face their flaws and organically learn to do better, and there is something so very touching about a single, impulsive act of compassion changing the world.[8]

Okay I probably could have skipped the long list and just linked this one. It's widely popular and well-regarded, and I totally agree with the reputation. One of the best time-travel fics I've ever read!! Check out the sequel/au spinoffs in the series too, some of them are really funny. (The main story is mostly serious/dramatic in tone though.)[9]

The best of FFVII would have to be the much-recced Fifth Act by Sinnatious. I honestly would be surprised to discover that the author is not a pro; the deft balance of the emotional beats, which get very iddy but then pull back in a way most would not, are the kind of thing that when I've read other fics with that level of skill, most of those authors I've later discovered write professionally.[10]

Fandom

Fanart

Recursive Fanfiction

Fanbinding

External Links

Notes

  1. ^ In the years since "The Fifth Act" was published, more older!Cloud time travel fics have been written and gained popularity, such as Professor Strife (AO3), Two of a Kind (AO3), and tides don't turn (AO3).

References

  1. ^ Comments on The Fifth Act, Chapter 1, Archived version. Posted to Livejournal between 2009 and 2011.
  2. ^ From the intro to their podfic for The Fifth Act by sinnatious, Archived version published 2010 .
  3. ^ Comments on The genuinely best fanfictions you have ever read? posted to r/FanFiction Aug 13, 2021
  4. ^ "Comment on The Fifth Act by Sinnatious - T (Final Fantasy VII)". DarkLordPotter.net. Jan 13, 2019. Archived from the original on 2023-06-16.
  5. ^ "Apirl 25, 2013 Tumblr post". Archived from the original on 2023-06-06.
  6. ^ "FFVII fic recs aka TIME TRAVEL PALOOZA". {{cite web}}: |archive-url= requires |archive-date= (help); Unknown parameter |archviedate= ignored (help)
  7. ^ "Comment on Final Fantasy VII Fanfic Recs?". SpaceBattles.com. Oct 21, 2011. Archived from the original on 2023-06-06.
  8. ^ "March 2, 2022 Tweets". Archived from the original on 2023-06-06.
  9. ^ Comment on Re: Fic Recs - Fix-it (LOTR & FF7) posted to fail_fandomanon, May 20, 2023
  10. ^ Comment on Re: Fic Recs- Favorite Time Travel fics posted to fail_fadnomanon, Oct 11, 2020
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