Beginning of the Hollow Bastion Arc (ch67)

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So, things I knew: It is into the new year before Cloud, Zack, and Aerith head to Hollow Bastion.  Leon and Cid tell them that even if Hollow Bastion (Radiant Garden) is still there, it would be greatly changed and Aerith may not like what she sees.  Aerith wants to see new sights, craving adventure.  Leon decides not to mention that Hollow Bastion really isn’t all that new.  They get there and the world is greatly changed.  Aerith is devastated by this.  She is angry at herself because she knows that Leon and Cid had been right.  Yuffie wants to go as well, but she isn’t allowed.

Things that got added: Aerith being apprehensive about the whole thing.  She’s also drastically in denial because she’s convinced that it will be okay.  Ish. Even though she knows it’s not.  Yup, it’s a psychological thing that happens. 

Meanwhile, Zack’s using this as a way to see what happened to his own world.  And Cloud’s just going along for the ride. 

Feels regarding Leon and Rinoa’s presents! I wanted to include a bit about the rings, because it’s like a major plot point in the game and also incredibly adorable. So I decided the two of them exchanged rings as tokens or foci for knowing when the other one was in danger.  And they’d always know if it were true, and then they could always come to the other’s aid.  I’m not kidding when I say they’ve literally pledged their lives to each other and not even marriage is going to change it all that much.  Well, they think so anyway, marriage is to some another great adventure, but that’s not what I’m talking about here.  But yeah, that’s what went down when he visited her. 

by neoangelwink on dA

Everything following Aerith getting to her house is just a bucket load of feels.  I got to explore what a world falling into darkness could look like.  I knew that Hollow Bastion did survive, because, well, KH1.  But, like, what happened to Aerith’s house? So I explored it.  Aerith got lucky that her house was mostly undamaged.  Good thing, too, because it’ll get remodeled later and be used as base for the HB Restoration Committee HQ.  *nods vigorously*

But the books, the quilt, the clothes, the pictures…

And then I throw Heartless at them.

Just wait until you see what’s coming next!

Muahahaha!

Teaser Quotes:

“Wanna help with a science experiment?”

“So what are we doing?”

“Interested in making some exploding green goop?”

“Oh, absolutely!”

“How about I drop you off at Disney Castle and then head out?”

“I wouldn’t want to keep you from…”
“I just need to go do some mercenary work.  The last few places we’ve been have been pretty quiet.  But I can take you to Disney Castle! Besides, Disney Town’s got a better stock than this place.”

“If you’re sure…”

“’Course I’m sure!”

“Kay, I’m really leaving this time.”

“I’m gonna see if I can catch up with him.”

“Tifa said she hasn’t been able to talk any sense into him.”

Anywho, I"m having a thing with holiday music still.  Feel free to ignore me.  But the Piano Guys are still awesome.

ANOTHER SHAMELESS CHRISTMAS POST!

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by LynxGriffin

No specific Tumbl for this one.  There’s a particular post that relates to this chapter that I have a link to below, however. 

I know no one's reviewed this one yet, but I don't really expect you to have because holidays and all that stuff, but I hope this is some more holiday cheer for you as the holidays come to an end. 

I also know that the picture over there has hardly anything to do with the chapter, but OT3 forever feels!

I got really excited about the holidays, okay? I did a holiday chapter in the Prequel, but I wanted to do another one in line with AtP and BB.  The only person who didn’t get included this time around was Shera, and that’s because Sora and his friends don’t meet her until later, like it’s set for B3 and everything, and there’s a part of me that while I know that this is AU, I want the ability for it to be canon if I get around to declaring it canon.  Because, I’m the author and I can do that.

I wrote the chapter the other day because I really didn’t have plot for it until then.  Mostly I was busy with school work, those of you who have been following any of my progress (or, simply reading this blog) know that I’ve been superbusy and it’s kinda disgusting.  Regardless, I finally got onto break and I wrote this little one-shot up. 

Things I love about this chapter: Tifa telling Aerith to go to bed because otherwise Santa won’t come.  Because Santa’s real in the KH universe and that makes me really happy. 

I also made it a thing about how everyone’s trying to give Aerith a day off and all Aerith wants to do is help.  Yup.  Aerith wants to cook and help clean.  Because she just does. 

Aerith’s favorite song? Probably “Na Hu O Ho” by Fiona Kennedy.  Rar I think said something about that.  But, yeah.  Aerith likes Irish music.  *nods vigorously*

There was a part of me that wanted to do this whole tangential thing where Sora takes Riku to see Santa.  But then I didn’t, because I was already set on the Aerith plot and the Riku meeting Santa thing just didn’t flow.  Also, Namine’s got a point, he’s probably on vacation.  I can do a little snippet in B3!

And, good news! Sephiroth didn’t crash the party! Yup yup!  I did reference the Spring Dance (or whatever it was called) that was put into Plan Beta.  Because Sephiroth did crash that and no one’s forgotten about it. 

Then there’s the whole thing where Zack gives Aerith a ring.  Rar threw a fit about it.  It was cute.  No, he’s not proposing.  Zack honestly just saw a beautiful piece of jewelry and bought it for Aerith because it matched her eyes. 

Though, off-scene, Leon’s thinking about needing to talk to Zack.  I should probably do a post about that.  Oh wait, I did.  {link}

Anywho, that post basically was all the rest of the feels, so I guess I’m done. 

Teaser Quotes!

“Then what?”

“I hadn’t thought that far.  Whatever it is, I want to do it with you.”

“I miss you already.”

“Don’t.  Wait ‘till you’re gone to miss me.”

“Were you expecting a letter?”

“Um, I suppose so…”

“I see you’ve met my Knight already.”

“Who’s powers did you inherit?”

“It’s a bit of a complicated story.”

Also, I'm going to a Lindsey Stirling concert in May and I'm so excited because I've basically gotten all my friends to go, too :P

SHAMELESSLY POSTING CHRISTMAS (Ch66)

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by jsheaisaninja on dA

Yup.  Shamelessly posting about Christmas.  Basically, all I knew was that I was going to have a holiday chapter here.  I knew it from the very beginning of outlining that I was going to write and post one.  So I did.

Also, ignore the fact that the pic to the left is completely unrelated.  I saw it and laughed.  Because Squall.  I had a better one, but I couldn't find a proper source, so I won't dare put it on here.

Anywho, moving on.

I got really excited when the holiday chapter lined up with actual Christmas.  Despite the fact that I wrote it forever ago.  :P  I partially delayed posting because of that.  (The other part was totally still because school was killing me.) But yeah, holiday chapter.  Also, I'm aware that I'm using "holiday" and "Christmas" fairly interchangeably.  Because, "holiday" is the general term, but like... it's technically the commercial Christmas holiday, there's a tree and presents under it and stuff.  *shrug* So yeah... don't hate me.

Zack being able to make eggs got established a couple of chapters ago.  And Aerith not being good at bacon just showed up about now.  I mean, everyone's got something they're not good at, right? But Leon can make bacon, so it worked out :P

I knew someone was going to be getting Yuffie a shuriken.  Despite Cloud being the one thinking about it several chapters ago, I thought it made the most sense for him to give her one.  But yeah, everyone else getting Yuffie materia was also just funny.

Anyway, I never did write the bit with Leon going and visiting Rinoa.  I mean, the feather is definitely something she gave him to get to her, but he will still use a star shard.  I'll talk more about what they exchanged after next chapter though, just so I don't spoil anything.

Teaser Quotes:

"I don't know, but I'm going after him."

"They left."
"Together?"
"No, he left by himself.  She followed him."

"Relax a little! You've been brewing potions all day! She's turning you into a witch!"

"But back to the aliens... look at that one!"

"Think of it as a vacation."
"While you're learning, though?"
"Do more squats."
"Heh.  Yeah, I guess so."

And another Christmas Video!

Plotting (Ch65)

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So, technically this is a bit of a filler chapter.  As in, it moves us from the chapter involving Gongaga's (and subsequently that entire world's) fall into darkness and into the actual visit to Hollow Bastion.  But that's not for a few more chapters yet.

A couple of things changed from the original outline to this chapter.  Originally, this was going to be the first time Aerith asked Zack about accompanying her to Radiant Garden/Hollow Bastion.  However, I realized that her doing that is a little bit out of character because it's somewhat unsensitive.  However, I mostly fixed that by having them talk about it sooner so that when the topic gets brought up, it's somewhat Zack's decision to go.  Because he does what to, just to see.  Plus, the guy loves adventure and all.

But then (and I always knew this was going to happen) I was going to stick a holiday chapter in right before they could go.  And guess what's getting posted in a couple of days?!?

by Gatchacaz 

I'm really excited.

Also, this makes me happy:

This person does a lot of videogame-related cross-stitch patterns.  If I had more time, I'd probably stitch some myself because they're so freaking awesome.  Anyway though.

In other news, I'm finally done with finals! Which, theoretically means I'd be rearing right back up to post fifty bajillion things and keep going at full-tilt.  However, I've still got some stuff going on, so posting will still be a bit slow.  Plus, then Christmas :P

However, if anyone's interested, I wrote a thing with the three main characters based off of Axel, Roxas, and Xion.  I love getting approved for creative works in my major.  The premise is clearly different (well, mostly.)  But anyway, if anyone's interested in reading a lovely sci-fi short story with three recognizable personalities, just lemme know.

In other, other news, I'm going to be writing a holiday-special for my main KH-fic.  I have absolutely no idea the plot of it yet, but it will probably involve everyone I can throw into a room together, well, mostly, considering I operate with a cast of like, 20 people.  Regardless, it'll probably be mostly AU, though it might be able to fit in between Betwixt and Between and Book 3, I suppose the holidays could have happened in there.  *shrug* Anyway, that'll get posted as a one-shot sometime next week.  And that's in addition to the already-written holiday chapter for the Prequel.  Holiday cheers all around!

I think that's all I have to say for now.  I still have some work today, but once I'm done with that, I'm going to go hang out with my friends and we'll be celebrating the end of the semester!

Review Responses:
No, KKBeckett, you won't know what's going on with Cloud for a couple chapters.  Because spoilers :P

Teaser Quotes:

"Rinoa..."
"I can do this!"

"Rinoa, I'm the hospital here."

"It's because you're a Sorceress isn't it?"

"Best to learn from the best!"

"I can't have you get hurt! You, or any of my friends."

Have a Christmas Video: (mostly 'cause this little girl is adorable--I love ASL)

Darkness Falls (64)

Yay for a lack of original titles.

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by gyokuto

Look at these adorable boys!

And I'm so awful to them :(

Granted, I knew I was going to drop their homeworld into darkness.  Because I'm an evil author like that.  Plus, it makes it easier for me to do things like that because I know that the minute Sora comes around (though, it'll be a few years) He'll restore all the Worlds.  (Remember that I don't follow 3D where there are sleeping worlds.)

So the outline looked like this: Zack (20) and Cloud (18) had been in Zack's hometown, just visiting.  Zack had been bragging about his achievements.  Heartless in large amounts begin appearing.  The world is being swallowed by darkness.  Cloud recognizes this and tells Zack what is about to happen.  Zack wants to save everyone he can but Cloud tells him that there isn't time.  Cloud is becoming frantic at the influx of darkness.  Zack hastily takes the two of them to Traverse Town--to safety.

Though, I did add in that Zack wanted to save his parents, because Zack would want to save his parents.  But then I made him choose between them or Cloud.  And Cloud passed out.  And Zack is just like "Grarg! you're making my life difficult!"

Also, this was supposed to be the event that actually got Cloud and Zack to Traverse Town the first time.  The materia sub-plot got added in later.  Zack and Cloud would have been avoiding Traverse Town before that point because Cloud was being touchy.  (Though, how Zack would have managed to get Cloud to Gongaga before Traverse Town is beyond me, good thing I didn't go with that plotline.)  Anyway, clearly things changed.

Review Responses:
KKBeckett: No, Cloud's darkness is not happy.  Just you wait a few chapters.  I'll have another one posted in a couple of days.  And shhh! Everyone's mostly fine, you know that! :P

Teaser Quotes:

"I'm so sorry."

"The cannon's overheating!"
"@#%)(&@#%^(()!@"

"Stop talking! You'll only hurt yourself."

"Curaga, Curaga. Curaga! Curaga!"

"Stay awake. Stay with me.  I need you awake."

Muahahaha!

I'd give you a Christmas Video... but I love this TSFH song too much...

Letters from the Girls (63)

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I'm trying to remember if it was a conscious decision to have the letters be written only by the girls on the cast, or if that is just what happened.  And I can't remember in the slightest.

I knew I needed another letter from Tifa, because it had been a while since I'd done one of those and Tifa basically sends a letter to Cloud from every world she stops on that has post (which is pretty much all of them).  Plus, it was just fun to have her write one from Traverse Town where he totally was recently.  And then make references to everything.

The letter from Aerith was just about necessary.  It's furthering the plot where Aerith wants to go see Radiant Garden and has asked Zack for help.  I think originally, she was just going to ask him when he swung by next, but that was before I started doing the letters, and it didn't make sense for her to wait, so that got changed.  Meanwhile, as I'm writing that, I can make casual references to the holidays.  Which I'm doing again, now.  Teehee!

Then there's Rinoa's letter, which was also somewhat necessary because I knew Rinoa wasn't going to be able to swing by Traverse Town for a bit because of training.  She's got lots to do and she feels she only has so much time to do it, (we've gotten past the point where she's going to burn up from the inside with power, but anyway).  Yeah, so there's that letter.

And then, I decided to do a letter from Kairi.  Apparently, I have a thing assigning letters to students.  I guess it's cause I had pen-pals when I was a kid? Probably something like that.  Only because Yuffie had to do one too, but she wrote to Cloud.  Kairi wrote to Sora, and was adorable.  And I did a picture of her letter, because look at that adorable handwriting! Kairi, in general, is just so darn adorable, sometimes I don't know what to do with myself.

Anyway, so a deeper explanation about how come there hasn't been one big holiday bash together.  Lemme take down some current ages in here so I don't have to keep flopping around... Rinoa and Leon are 21, making Aerith 19.  Kay.  The two major couples at this point, Zerith and Squinoa basically met 4 years ago.  For those first two years, Squall and Rinoa were away saving Rinoa's world.  Zack was dealing with Genesis during that time.  He dropped by to see his parents one year, and ended up spending the other with Angeal.  The following holiday is after Angeal's death, and Zack probably forgot about the whole thing entirely.  Aerith didn't want to drag him back for the holidays because he was clearing his mind, so the gang in Traverse Town had a quiet one with the addition of Leon now that he was back.  Rinoa was busy dealing with excess Sorceress power.  And, the next holiday is actually the one that's coming up.  Ha! I knew I could figure this all out.

So, if you haven't noticed, I'm going to have a holiday sequence in the Prequel.  We're a few chapters away from it right now.  I'll post it closer (wow, I almost said close it poster) to Christmas.  If I have time (read: when I'm done with the next 6 essays, 1 short story, and 2 finals), I'll do a somewhat AU holiday sequence with Sora and the gang set sometime during Betwixt and Between, probably.

I'm kinda in a super holiday mood, if you haven't noticed from my Axel icon with a Santa hat on Tumblr.

Oh my gosh, my holiday sequence could involve Sora dragging Riku to Christmas Town.  I've been meaning to do that.  Oooh! That's exciting.

But back to my holiday mood, even my D&D group is doing a Christmas special this coming Friday.  (Of course, given how the group is south of the equator, it's totally going to be Christmas in July in Pleasantville (Pleasantville has nothing to do with being south of the equator, just the town we're in...) Anyway, but yeah.  This is exciting.  It keeps me sane during the last push of school.

I'll be posting a little slower, like every 4 days instead of every 2, only because I just can't keep up with everything I want to do for any given chapter.  But, I'll probably pick back up again once the break starts.  Though, I'll be wanting to catch up on writing, too, so I'm not entirely sure.

Well, enough of me jabbering.

No spoilers on what's gonna happen for the holiday sequence.  :P

Teaser Quotes:

"Fire in the hole!"

"You have got to be kidding me."
"You can say that again."

"Stick close.  We can watch each other's backs."

"How did it go?"
"It went."

"Can people have darkness?"
"What do you mean?"
"Can someone's darkness manifest into its own separate person?"

AND A CHRISTMAS VIDEO!

Developments (62)

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by fortisisimo on dA

See, first there's the addition of Demyx to the Organization.  It's been a while since any new recruits.  The last person anyone found was Cloud, and he was totally still a somebody.  Still is.  Always will be.  But really, the last two recruits added were Saix and Axel.  It's been a while.  Not that it matters, Xemnas has a crapton of plans in place.  *rolls eyes*

Then there's the development in Rinoa's training.  Which is going well, I suppose.  She just doesn't like fighting everything that's in her memories.

Then there's Leon trying to make that second entrance to the Secret Waterway--an entrance which Merlin puts there for him.  And we've now entered the wonderful relationship that is Merlin and Cid not ever getting along.  It's so amusing.

And then there's Tifa, who's getting closer to Cloud, but she's still a while behind him.  However, I enjoyed making references to all of the people.  Though, it's so weird, that Tifa knows none of them.  I mean, she will eventually, but she has no clue who any of them are as of yet.  And Yuffie's just so incredibly rude.


Anyway, review responses.

KKBeckett: Is Xigbar up to something? Oh, I probably suppose so.  I think he's always up to something.  :P  Why was Master Yen Sid making Rinoa fight out of her memories? Well, I suppose it's because he sees the value of learning from past experiences, and he has the ability to literally make something like that happen.  Rinoa, however, does not believe that she will gain anything by fighting Squall, and Master Yen Sid decides he's not going to argue her on that one, because that's not really his place.  Rinoa, honestly, should learn to fight alongside him.  Which, she already knows, so whatever.  Yes, Tifa did see Aerith, but she really doesn't recognize her, which, as I mentioned before, is so picking weird!

*sigh* Another short blog post.  I suppose they'll get longer in a bit though :P

Teaser Quotes:

"What's causing all of this?"
"If I knew, I would tell you."

"Stand back, I'm going to call a summon."
"If you haven't noticed, I can't move."
"I'm not going to aim it at you!"

"Do you have a Blizzard materia?"
"No! I can only carry four.  And between my Cura, the Steal, and Bahamut, I've only got room for one more.  You're lucky I didn't have the Fire equipped!"

"Summoning again!"
"But I want to!"
"Fine!"

"What are those green ones?"
"Focus on those! They can Cure the others."
"On it!"

More Christmas Videos!

What is it like? (61)

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So, a bit of info, I have basically finished the Prequel.  Basically.  However, I am nowhere near finishing posting all of it.  I've got nearly 50 chapters left to post.  Which is both scary and exciting at the same time.  I'm trying to keep to a -fairly- regular schedule when it comes to posting, as in, every other day, but even that's a bit timey whimey.  So, don't be surprised if there's a new chapter or two! And I know that because I'm posting so fast, I might lose some of you reviewing on every single chapter, but do still leave reviews!

Also, I have 30 chapters of Book 3, but I won't start posting that yet because I want to wait until the Prequel's all posted.  However, I haven't written anything else for that since after Nano ended (literally, I got 30 chapters in 30 days--61K words, guys!!).  I've been working on essays for class and stuff, though I hope that once I get into the break I can start writing again.  Or maybe making AMVs or drawings and designs or something.  Never fear, I'm still immersed in this universe!

Now that that business information is out of the way, let's start talking about the chapter!

We are basically halfway between BBS and KH1.  (Fun fact, we are LESS than halfway through the TIMELINE of the Prequel, because I'm covering up THROUGH things, not up TO things.  However, we are technically more than halfway through chapter-wise because the second half of the 12ish years goes faster than the first half for whatever reason.)

So anyway, having been 5 years since the plunge of Radiant Garden into darkness, Aerith now wants to go back and see what it's like.  Leon and Cid both insist that this is a bad idea, but Aerith wants an adventure.  They argue, she insists, but they won't go with her.  So she decides that she'll wait for Zack and Rinoa.

And that's basically the chapter, once I've included the parts about them not wanting Yuffie to know what they're planning because while Aerith wants to go see what's left of Radiant Garden, she doesn't want to bring Yuffie along.

by ninappe

Insert slightly unrelated picture of Aerith here.  But it's so adorable! So I wanted to include it!

The part at the end where Aerith starts writing not just letters to Zack, but stories to him? Yeah, that wasn't planned.  She just decided it would be a good idea, so I let her.  It's really cute, actually.  As for Yuffie writing Cloud? Idk.  Yuffie likes Cloud.  I'm beginning to wonder if she actually has a crush on him and I just didn't notice.  Idk...

But no, I'm excited about the Hollow Bastion arc (as I'm affectionately calling it at the moment.  It actually jump-starts another arc with a much more interesting name, but I can't tell you because that's riddled with spoilers!)

The other interesting thing is all the misinformation floating around about the Keyblade.  It exists in canon, too.  Mostly because I think Square wasn't super sure what all they were doing with the Keyblade lore at the time when KH1 came out, so by the time KH2 came out, they were retconning some stuff because the lore expanded and got tweaked.  Anyway, but it's not a huge retcon because it actually would make sense for the FF Gang to simply be missing parts of information because the Keyblade Wielders have all but disappeared! By the time Sora shows up, most of them figure he's the only one around.  Mickey's been hiding it! (I totally blew rar's brain when I told her that!) Anyway, that's fun stuff.

Hmm, I think that's all I've really got for all of you.

Teaser Quotes:

"You're not from around here, are you?"

"To be honest, I'm looking for someone."
"Humor me, who are you looking for?"

"For someone who knows every face in town, why do you live in a hotel?"
"Long story."

"But the letters don't matter now."

"That would be leaving my job."

I think this video is slightly appropriate :P

When did this ship get added to my armada? (60)

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No, seriously, when did I start shipping Cid/Shera so hard? Like, I KNEW that the minute I was going to include Shera, I'd end up shipping them... but then... I just... started shipping them... SUPER DUPER hard.

What gives?

And they're just so awkwardly adorable.  They're not like the teenage awkward that we get with all the other couples because Cid and Shera are adults with their lives a little bit more figured out and...

by MrsKaktus

THEY'RE JUST SO PICKING CUTE.

Literally, this was what was in my outline:
Cid and Shera begin a serious relationship, joking that coworkers should never date, but neither of them care.  They also begin to work on ships to travel off-world, because Cid has gained a fair amount of gummi blocks.  Their cannon-work is put on hold.

I just don't understand where all the FEELS came from.  (Or am I just exaggerating their adorableness in my head? Because that is also completely possible.)

Anyway, I'm gonna stop having feels about this.

Teaser Quotes:

"It would seem that I am not yet on a plane of existence where such a simple thing as magic can harm me."

"I am but darkness.  And I can touch that what is darkness."

"I can't let you do that."
"How do you intend to stop me?"
"I haven't figured that part out yet."

"I'd like to wipe that smirk right off of his face."

"Is he going to be okay?"
"If I have anything to say about it, he will be."

{Eheehee, I'm so excited for upcoming chapters!}

Have a Christmas video to get you into the holiday spirit!

Embrace Your Dreams (ch59)

And Cry because that game is so sad.

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This chapter was completely not planned at all.  But I wanted to sort of get a first-hand experience of the nightmares... because I'm weird like that? I dunno, there's a part of me that's always been the tiniest bit attached to dream/nightmare sequences and what they can show about a person.  I just don't do it frequently because dreams can often be considered a cop-out in writing.

by Wen-JR

But anyway, this was fun, weaving together different scenes that didn't get to happen in Zack's actual life, but could happen in a dream.  Most of them were scenes that I enjoyed or found important in Crisis Core and thus I felt like incorporating most (all) of them.

I guess that's really all I have to say.  The chapter basically speaks for itself.

Review Responses:
KKBeckett: Are the nightmares omens? I'll let you decide (insert evil smiley face here.)
The good news is, while you don't know where I'm taking this, *I* know where I'm taking this.  We're actually a little more than halfway through I would say.  Halfway, you say? But we're 60 chapters in! *shrug* I tend to write longer stories once I'm situated in the world.  Plus, I'm spanning more than 10 years with this.  *dances excitedly* Oh, just you guys wait!

Teaser Quotes:

"People lived here."
"I lived here."

"This was my home."

"The darkness, I can feel it.  I don't think it's coming for us.  I think it's just here."

"I cleaned out the firdge.  And I threw away your science experiments."

"Whatever this is, I will smack sense into you!"

Have some more Zack feels while you're at it! (This post is full of them!)

A Growing Family (ch58)

And not because anyone's getting pregnant! They just keep adopting people! *MINE*

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Well, this whole sequence ended up being a lot longer than originally planned.  And by sequence I definitely mean the "family feels fest in Traverse Town" sequence.  Also known as Cloud's first visit slash the visit where Zack and Rinoa are both there at the same time.

I just kept adding things to it, though! And so long as I figured the things I was adding were productive, I just kept adding chapters.  Though, this is actually the last of the chapters of this sequence/arc/thingy.  Not quite like the "end of a volume" sort of thing, like with what happened by the end of the FFVIII arc, but certainly the end of a longer sequence-arc than just a chapter.  I'll stop talking now because I can feel myself make less and less sense as I continue.

by twin-cosplay on dA

Anyway, have a picture of Yuffie because this girl is an awesome cosplayer of her.

Also, I just love how everyone ended up getting divided into chapters.  Aerith and Rinoa ended up together, where they kept trying to "out-polite" each other as KKBeckett put it.  Aerith does this frequently, she did it at the end of AtP when Tifa and Cloud showed up and it all ended with Yuffie giving up her bed for a bit.  (They've since added another room up there.)

Meanwhile, Zack and Leon go inspecting because the two of them get along pretty great.  And Cloud's just helping Cid because he can, but he's also betting Yuffie because he wants munny for a new sword.  Yup.  I just.  Yup.

But then Zack and Cloud have to leave because Cloud has to leave because he doesn't want to hurt anyone.  Zack has absolutely no idea why Cloud thinks this, but he wants to do what's best for Cloud.  Aerith, as usual, is super supportive of the whole thing, but it's sad because they have to say goodbye and *sniffle* my feels.  

Review Responses:
archsage: I don't think it's so much as Yuffie has a crush on Cloud, as she admires him for whatever reason.  She just decided one day (the day he first showed up) that she was going to like him.  She respects him because he's not Leon, he's not cranky-pants (Cid).  He's not even Zack, who she has to like because he's an extension of Aerith.  And he's certainly not Rinoa, who really just doesn't know how to deal with Yuffie.  (And that's probably because Rinoa had her own mischievous days and she's still that way and she really doesn't spend too much time for Yuffie, and her case was already sunk because of Leon.)  Cloud actually sort of cares for Yuffie in a way.

Anyway, that was a rant.  I appear to have come off as unclear.  I haven't actually watched any of RWBY, but it's certainly on my to-do list.  I keep seeing it show up on my tumblr dash and I know I just need to start watching it.  But, no, right? Kairi! And Rinoa! Ugh! His portrayal or Rinoa is wonderful!

And I kind of feel bad about Kiros and Ward, but I have such a huge cast already that I just... *sigh* I really can't!

KKBeckett: I think I ship Zerith harder than I ship Namiku.  And that's saying something.

Teaser Quotes:

"Why can't I go?"
"Because it's too dangerous."
"But they're going!"
"I don't think they should go either.  But I can't stop them.  They're all adults."

"Well, it looks like it's settled then.  You can't go anywhere until you're at least fourteen."

"Don't you even think about using Fire to light the stove.  It lights on its own."

"Well, let's head outside.  I hate leaving from indoors..."

"There's a difference between knowing and seeing."

And... well... I have feels about this video because it's just so darn beautiful.

Not technically the mafia... (ch57)

by griffinkhan

Sorry, I was still amused by KKBeckett making the FF Gang out to be the mafia. Because that's totally what they look like, right? (I kid, I kid.)

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I'm pretty sure this chapter was basically intended to be fluff with some minor plot points put in.  As in, Yuffie telling/showing Cloud the secret hideout was the only plot point I had to hit.

However, I also had to include Zack doing squats because it was bothering me that I hadn't been able to include that before.  (No, seriously, it was bothering me a crapton.)  Anyway...

The kissing bit (or them talking about kissing) was totally Yuffie just popping into my head and saying that.  So, naturally, I had to work in the dialogue.  Mostly because it's just all of the #accurate.

Originally, Yuffie was just going to tell Cloud about the hideout, and then someone like Aerith or Leon was going to hear about it, but then it just worked so pleasantly into her showing him it because she trusts him.  And then Leon's watching because he can't stand the silence of the hotel (well, he can't really stand silence, but I'll have feels about that later.)  And then he's all like... what should I do? And he wanders back to the hotel and Rinoa's there waiting for him because he's been writing to her off and on asking her to come visit and she basically just decided one day that she was going to, despite the fact that she probably should be training and stuff.

But no, again, I get to have feelings about Leon... because... well... Idk... that bit about not liking silence because of it reminding him about the end of time and I just... don't even... know where that came from.  And then him seeing Rinoa and having a very typical reaction to seeing the person that you WANT to spend all your time with.... yeah.  And then throwing them in a room with Zerith.  So much win.

Review Responses:

KKBeckett: yes, EVERYONE ships Zerith.  Really, everyone.  Cloud's certainly one of them, because he'd seen how Zack talks about Aerith and then he saw them together and just.  Yup.  Also, yes, that was a reference to people getting new weapons.  Blatantly.  Because I'm cool like that.

Teaser Quotes: (Because I enjoy them!)

"Wha' in'a name'uh all tha's Holy in'a Worlds're yeh doin'?"

"I'll have to get the cot out of the closet."
"I can sleep on the floor, really."
"No, you're sleeping in my bed! I'm sleeping on the cot."
"You don't have to."
"Yeah, right.  It's cool.  I've slept on the ground before."
"I've slept on the ground before."

"Anything you want to talk about?"
"Nibelheim."
"Yeah?"
"We need to go."
"Okay.  Wanna go now?"
"No."
"Okay.  We'll go tomorrow."

"This World is falling into darkness."
"No, there's no... We have to go back! We have to save..."
"There isn't time! If we don't leave now, we'll get sucked in, too."

"Can I have some eggs now?"
"Of course! I'll get you some right now."
"I made them myself."
"Oh, really?"

And then, well, I'm just impressed by these cellists:

Some more family feels! (ch56)

I've given you family feels before, haven't I? If not, I'm surprised.  Rar's been handing them out like candy.

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Also, I hit 100 Reviews! (I'm at 102 right now.)  Woot!

So this chapter is a conglomeration of several things.  First of all, we've got Marlene's birth, which we're in Barret's POV for.  That was fun.

by TaoPaint

Then we've got Tifa's search for Cloud.  And Tifa can use light corridors, which I'm surprised none of you said anything about.  But maybe it's not all that cool.  Which is fine, it doesn't have to be, I just expected someone to say something.  Ah well.  But regardless, Tifa can use light corridors because she's A) a freaking strong-willed person and B) her heart's got enough light in it to manage.  So, yeah.  Fun times!

And then we have the family feels.

See, I knew that Zack and Cloud would end up visiting Traverse Town anyway.  Cloud was going to be super uneasy about the whole deal, because he doesn't like to be around people, but Zack insists that everything will be fine because the people they're around can totally handle weird things.  Originally, this would have been where Cloud told Zack that he had been in the Realm of Darkness (because I'd intended for him to keep that a secret, but he ended up sharing that on their first meeting, so okay then.)  Regardless, even if that conversation had happened around here instead of several chapters ago, Zack still would have insisted that Cloud had nothing to worry about and they'd all help him out.

I thought Cloud was going to throw up a huge panic regarding going and being around people, and I was like, perhaps I'll have to knock him unconscious? Is Zack going to bring someone else to Aerith for healing? But, as it turns out, Cloud is a big boy and sucks up his own worries for a bit so that Zack can visit his girlfriend.  Classic case of characters not behaving in a way in which the author planned.  Because Zack introduces Cloud to the gang and Cloud's welcomed beautifully.

Then we've got the section with Merlin, which ended up tying into the family feels.  I knew Merlin was going to move into Traverse Town right about now, so I inserted him into the chapter.  What ended up happening, was he got caught up in an argument regarding family.  Because Blake is a real person who may or may not have helped Yuffie out with the Heartless occasionally, so she threw out the name as a cover for spending time in her secret hideout.  When she tries to make her cover more real, Blake does the typical thing and says that they weren't really friends so she should back off, but then he also takes things a step too far and insults their family.  (Originally, it was just going to be him insulting Aerith, but it turned into insulting the whole family because it flowed better and I ended up liking where that went.)  But poor Merlin, who gets completely sucked into the whole thing...

But then there's some Cloud and Yuffie bonding, which is super nice! Because... well... idk, people bonding with Yuffie is nice.  She's still kinda young.  And she still lies slightly pathologically (minus to Aerith, if we're not counting the secret tunnel thing.)  But she grows out of that.  I swear.  She's still ornery, but she gets better.

Quick Review Responses:

SpiritDreamWarriors: Of course I shall continue! I'm a little slow at the moment, but I hope to make up for lost time over the holiday.

archsage: Yes! Family is about so much more.  Anyway, I'm not really too into RWBY, but I have seen Dead Fantasy!

KKBeckett: I appreciate your mafia reference.  Also, yes, Tifa's basically just following Cloud around at every world he's been in since coming back from the Realm of Darkness.  Because he's with Zack, he's been to a lot of Worlds.

Anyway, I should be a person and go to bed... so... have some teaser quotes real quick!

"I want to go somewhere, just for a bit.  To see the sights! I'm not weak, I know how to take care of myself. However, you're the one with the star shard."

"I'll stay here and..."
"Take care of Yuffie?"
"No, make sure she doesn't follow you."

"I do want to know why you're doing this."
"Practice.  Training.  Something like that."
"You're bored, aren't you?"

"Why aren't they're any Keyblade Wielders around?"
"They've all but disappeared.  Something's happened and the Worlds have gone dark."

"Who are you writing to?"
"Zack."
"Are you writing mushy stuff?"
"Maybe just a little."
"Ew."

And then... well... good music!

Brotp Feels (ch55)

Because Zack and Cloud are one of my brotps.

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Zack Fair by Ex-Shadow on dA
Cloud Strife by Malindachan on dA

They really are though.  This chapter basically just solidified their friendship for me in my head.  Mostly asthey're derping around in the Shinra building as they're on a mission to get materia.  Because, though they've sort of started to call each other "friend" before, it's in this chapter that it's completely legit.

It's where we realize that Cloud's slightly impressed with Zack's shenanigans, and he'll do anything if he thinks it'll work.  And Zack's like "yes! I like this one! I will keep him!"

Of course, they're not entirely just shenanigans, given how there's the entire discussion at the beginning of the chapter when Cloud's telling Zack how he basically just figured that Zack could take care of himself in the event that anything happened and meanwhile Zack's thinking that if anything were to happen, he'd manage to take care of them both.  (Zack's not going to let anything on the scale of Angeal happen again.)

That picture up there is just so perfect (though they totally didn't take the stairs in my fic, but the elevator), the idea behind it is so accurate.  They're infiltrating the Shinra building! Like partners in crime! I was so happy when I stumbled across it a couple of weeks ago in my image search.

Also, I'm very excited for upcoming chapters because it's when Cloud actually gets integrated into the rest of the group.  Sure, he's met Yuffie and I've made a slight reference to Yuffie liking Cloud (like, doesn't disrespect him) from FF7.  But Aerith! And Leon! And... eeheehee! Can't wait!

Surprisingly, that's all I have to say on my brotp feels at the moment.

But you can have some teaser quotes!

"Who sabotaged my cannon!"

"I didn't do it!"
"I was actually going to ask if this is the last of the milk..."
"Yeah.  Tell Aerith we need more."

"I don't like flying."
"Nobody asked yeh."

"Don't you ever wonder what Radiant Garden looks like?"
"Um, to be honest, no."

"I wish we knew how to fix Worlds."
"That requires something called Kingdom Hearts.  And a Keyblade.  I think."

And then there's this gem!

Yup, more letters (ch54)

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It occurs to me that my author's note on this chapter doesn't make a whole ton of sense, or it makes sense, it's just highly unamusing.  This is entirely because I was putting the chapter up late last night and I was sleep deprived and working through the medication over the migraine.  (I should have been sleeping, but there was homework....)

So, ignoring the odd author's note, let's talk about the chapter.

I don't really ever plan out the letters chapters.  I never have, I probably never will.  I basically just look at my outline and decide "That looks like a good place for a round of letters" so I put it in.  There have been a couple of times where I elected not to do the letters because I couldn't think of anything to write and I don't want to force the letters.  This was one of the instances, however, where I could better bridge what was going on through letters than anything else.

So, starting with Aerith's letter to Zack, what we're dealing with here is Aerith first trying to help Cid, because Aerith likes helping people in general, and she's been asking around to see what might work best for Cid's cannon prototype.  She asks this of Zack some undetermined time before this chapter and he responds sometime later (though still before the chapter, the last chapter also) about materia.  This is the letter Aerith had written before the start of chapter 53, she finishes the letter to Zack and starts one to Rinoa before going and making dinner, there was her afternoon.  Aerith does the usual thing and tells about how Traverse Town is.  Then she asks about Cloud because she cares.  Then she tells Zack not to be jealous because she still cares for and thinks about him as well.  She tells him her dream (which stemmed from a dream of mine, actually... because I legit dream about this stuff).  Aerith asks about Zack and also what Cloud's favorite foods are.  She makes a comment about wanting to go to festivals, but then ends the letter.  She curiously does not talk too much about herself, not really.  A point I will discuss later.

Aerith's letter to Rinoa is the letter she's writing at the start of chapter 53 when Leon joins her at the table.  Aerith's super awkward in this letter, I realize, looking back at it.  There's an awkward introduction and it just continues being awkward from there.  She talks a bit about herself, but only in the mage-sense to give Rinoa a background.  Then she goes into that whole "nice" thing which just cracks me up.  She's so blunt about it.  Also, she completely rats Leon out and it's amusing.  She asks Rinoa about what sort of food she likes and then what it's like to fly.  Which, is both a reference to Aerith being scared of the sky and the wings Angeal has in Crisis Core.  The being afraid of the sky part comes in where Aerith says how she thinks it would be scared to fly.  Not that Aerith's actually afraid of the sky in my universe, because she's not, she sees the sky as a way to connect with Zack when they're worlds apart.  And then the whole freedom of wings is a reference to Angeal.  Yup.  Then Aerith asks if Rinoa has any suggestions for the cannons in her typical helpful manner and then closes the letter wishing Rinoa luck.  Again, Aerith talks little about herself.  (I feel like I'm writing an essay here, but I'm actually just reflecting on Aerith's character.)

Then there's Leon's letter to Rinoa which he spends most of chapter 53 writing.  Side note, I keep changing what Leon's handwriting is, annoyingly.  I just can't settle on something in my head.  I know it's a bit of a scrawl, but that's all.  Anyway.  Leon's awkward too, but he's always awkward and Rinoa's totally okay with it.  The letter is a whole ton of feels: he is angry at Rinoa's father for not caring about her, I discussed in the last blog post Leon's feels regarding Cid and his current cannon building escapades, then there's the whole Father!Cid bit that I just adore... He misses her, he tells her that he's skeptical of Yuffie, he feels weird being back in Traverse Town, but he loves Aerith's cooking.  A completely normal letter from him.  Completely.  Especially the "Also, I love you" part.  Goodness, Leon.

Then there's Zack's letter to Aerith, which was probably written shortly before this chapter and the one before, but Aerith has not gotten it yet.  Zack's letter actually makes me sad.  He's so happy-go-lucky at the beginning.  He puts the ! after Aerith's name just because.  He tries to describe Halloweentown and fails (funnily enough, the world he's on is super festive and Aerith was talking about festivals, I can't remember if I planned that or not.)  Then Zack starts asking about what to do regarding Cloud's nightmares.  And that question isn't even completely relating to Cloud's nightmares, because Zack's getting nightmares too.  Except, where Cloud's getting suffocating nightmares about the darkness and something following him, Zack is getting nightmares about Angeal.  But then Zack changes the subject by saying that he considers Cloud a friend and he's really glad he met him, but he also misses Aerith and he's torn between the two.  Then he starts asking all the questions that he knows Aerith's going to answer anyway whether he asked them or not, but he ends with an emphasized "PLEASE TALK ABOUT YOURSELF I MISS YOU AND I JUST WANT TO KNOW HOW YOU ARE FEELING".  Sorry about the caps there, it was totally Zack.  And then he admits in the PS that he's getting the nightmares too and my heart simply breaks for him.  *sniffle*

Wow, that was a ton of feels.  I feel a bit bad about that.  Except, I don't.  :P

Teaser quote time!

"Well, then go.  Do whatever it is you need to.  But be careful!"

"I feel like there's more darkness floating around and I don't want you to get caught up in it."

"That, my dear, is a wild ride."

"Everything okay? Or is that a dumb question?"

"What are the odds that we'd end up finding each other? Two country boys who were just off to find adventure."
"You know, I think we found adventure."
"You can say that again."

I LOVE this video.  Just... yes.

Witty Title! Witty Title! (to the tune of secret tunnel) (ch53)

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I don't know why I keep making references to the Secret Tunnel.  I just do.

Warning: Leon feels ahead. (Not my feels about Leon, but Leon's actual feels, because there is a difference.)

by yukimaria on dA

So, Leon's kind of out of it for this chapter, mostly because he's growing adjusted to living in Traverse Town again and he's writing a letter to Rinoa and he doesn't think he's too terribly good at that and Aerith writes letters like she's breathing and he's a bit jealous that Cid doesn't need any help with the cannons anymore, but at the same time he's kinda glad because he's never been really good at that sort of thing either, he just puts up with it, he's much better thinking about that sort of thing in the theoretical sense, and he's glad for Cid because he has Shera, but he misses Rinoa like Aerith misses Zack, and what is it that Yuffie's up to these days, does she seriously have a friend? or is that just another one of her white lies to keep her out of trouble because of what she's really been doing? but on that vein of thought, what has Yuffie really been doing? he doesn't know...

See, Leon feels. I suppose I should have warned you about that.... *goes and adds warning*

Also, "Am I missing an eyebrow?" -Adam Savage, Mythbusters (but it's totally Cid right now, don't even argue.)

The rest of my feels I think I explained on the tumblr.

This chapter was never actually plotted out, which is why I think it goes a bit all over the place and has a bit of everything, because I only had a prompt to discuss Squall's feels about missing Rinoa and Aerith's feels about missing Zack, which only come up at the very end of the chapter.  But I also got in some Cid and Shera love and another hint at Yuffie's antics, yay!

I will spare you all my feels about how I'm super done with school and really just want to sit and write and do nothing else because that's actually what I want to do with my life but I also have to pay bills and I should finish my bachelor's since i started it and yeah...

That was me sparing you.

Teaser quotes! (which are way more exciting!)

"You don't mind swimming,d o you?"

"Apples are really expensive right now."
"But I love apples!"
"Then you pay for them."
"Fine! I will.  Can I put them in your basket though?"
"Yes, I suppose."

"I've gotta ask, do you get weird looks for the wings?"
"All the time."

"Someday though, someday I'll be a part of the adventures."

"I uh... may have given her a summon materia."

Nifty video!

Magik, you should be in bed right now (Prequel Ch52)

Chapter

I don't have a tumblr for this one because I didn't make one for some reason...

The only note I really took as I was writing it was "oh look, another mini feels fest"

Mostly because it's another step in Zack's healing journey... and I'm having problems making notes live about those because of all the raw emotions.

That said...

This is a picture of Zack and Cloud as wolves.

photo by kimikow1

I just... it's adorable.  Anyway.

My original notes for this chapter were: "Zack and Cloud find themselves in Olympus.  Zack is so upset he nearly throws the star shard.  Cloud convinces him that they must be there for a reason.  Zack finds his sword hanging as a trophy-momento.  He turns it into a memorial."

It didn't change much from that, really, it just got expanded a whole heckovaton.  I kinda feel bad for Cloud, though, because he really has no idea everything about Zack and Zack's past as it relates to Angeal is loaded.  Cloud's tragic backstory is at least fairly simple... he got sucked into the darkness.  (Well, okay, I said fairly simple.)

Anyway, but I love the brotp that is Zack and Cloud.  Almost as much as I love the brotp of Riku and Sora.  Almost, but not quite.

Basic general update... I'm sorry when I fall behind, even though my average is every other day, so when I fall behind I doubt it's noticed too much, but I do still feel bad when I fall behind (like now.)  School, however, is trying to kill me and plus, I'm writing book 3 for nano (or at least a large portion of it because I can guarantee you it's going to be more than 50K (though it may not be 80K like my novel was at the end of nano last year)).  But I do like interacting with you guys and I know you're all busy too, but if/when you have a moment, I love it when you drop a line!

Teaser Quotes:

"That could have gone really poorly."
"Yeah, but it was the first thing I thought of."

"Just, go in there, say you don't feel good, faint, then I'll nick some materia, grab you and go."
"Are you sure?"
"Do you have a better idea?"
"No."
"Here goes."
"Someone help! I think I've been Poisoned!"

"Midgar? What was he doing here?"

"I punched him because he said we were weird and weren't a family."

"Zack, what...?"
"Squats! I do them sometimes."
"He does them a lot.  When we're not killing Heartless, that is."
"How have I never noticed?"
"Usually, when Zack's here, he's either injured, with someone who's injured, or kissing you."

Appropriate Video:

Vexen Feels (Can't Escape chapter 65)

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Rar's Tumblr Event Thing

I think we all kind of feel bad for Vexen.  I, at least, do.  The poor guy doesn't really have any friends anymore (they're all mostly dead), he doesn't see eye-to-eye with Ienzo anymore, he's staying in another universe because he's afraid of his past (namely Xehanort-who isn't even around anymore) coming to haunt him.  But in that other universe, he's hardly allowed permissions for anything, he's not particularly good for anything, but he cares about Riku, and by extent Namine, and he just wants the best for them though he's terribad at showing it.

by halfdemondog on dA

However, Vexen with goggles is a thing I like.  (See the picture).  Idk, I saw it and I liked it.  Plus, in my
head, Vexen wears glasses now.  It's a thing.

But we did get a lot of character development out of Vexen and Riku.  Mostly with Vexen being reminded that Riku is not an experiment and he should be notified if Vexen is going to use him for an experiment.  It's clicked in Vexen's head now, especially after that whole stint with Xemnas.

Meanwhile, Namine's just having a meltdown and Riku's got a massive headache for it.  It totally has everything to do with their connection.

And, Vexen had a dumb and took them to the wrong Castle Oblivion, probably sending my Vexen Replicas panicking about their security (only to stop panicking when they figured out who it was.)  They probably figured if it was anything important, Master Vexen would let them know.  And since he left again, they'll leave him to his business.  (Heh, I actually didn't account for the three of them being in CO, it just like, did not occur to me until just now... but that's totally how that would have gone down.  Had they tried to interrupt Vexen and Riku, Riku would have just left...)

And, I have absolutely no notes on this chapter, so I think I'm just gonna wrap this blog up here.

Have a video!

Cid and Shera (Prequel ch51)

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I can't remember when I decided that I was including Shera, but I don't think it was the first intended outline.  I think that was because I was scaling it to characters I knew I was using in AtP/BB/etc.  However, I'm sure that by the time I was including Angeal and Genesis, I was including Shera.  In fact, I'm pretty sure Shera got included before Genesis, even.  (Mostly because I wasn't sure how I was going to be writing for Genesis, anyway...)

by jameson9101322 on dA

And, about the time I included Shera, I basically started falling in love with the whole Cid/Shera ship.  (As in, I found artwork of it on dA and was like OMGFEELZ.)

Originally, Shera was basically just a stranded scientist who had a large want to get rid of the Heartless.  But then, I started fleshing out her backstory and somewhere in there she ended up being a lab tech at Disney Castle and she's personally worked on the King's ship.  Yep.

But now she's totally staying in Traverse Town for a bit because of a cannon attachment project.  Because, at this point, gummi ships are really only used for travel.  We've got a few more years before KH1 and the addition of weapons to gummi ships.  This is the time for prototypes.

There will naturally be more of Cid and Shera in the future.  Eeheehee.

Also, Shera will appear in Book 3! I just haven't written that part yet.  Well, technically she's in the area, just the POV I was in wasn't going to allow me to introduce her... give me a couple of chapters.  Yadda, yadda.  (My Hades is showing.)

Anywhosawhat... that's all for now!

Teaser quotes!

"I suppose I've just figured that if something were to happen and I were to go crazy or something, you'd be able to take care of yourself."
"And you while I'm at it ... you've gotta stop worrying about hurting other people.  You're not some pariah that everyone hates."

"How do you know this stuff?"
"I met a Sorceress once."

"Shoot, do you need sunscreen?"

"Have you ever been to a beach before this?"
"No."
"Really? You lived fairly close to Costa del Sol, didn't you?"
"There was a mountain in the way."
"Oh, yeah, right."

"Just pretend like you belong!"

And obligatory video! (I love this arranger!) (ugh, can't seem to embed this one, oh well, here's the link.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDfBi-blLFk