The Fight Against Edea (ch19)

Fanfic Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/19/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

Livetumbl link: http://magiksbrain.tumblr.com/tagged/ch19/chrono

And the truth comes out.  Leon didn't ACTUALLY do anything against Maleficent.  Quistis is a bit ticked (rather understandably), but Leon does his job.  Well, sort of.

It's not really his fault that Edea aimed an icicle right at his chest (ala the end of FFVIII disk 1).  (Excuse my snark, I was reading a snarky walkthrough to ensure that the battle I'm referring to really ended disk 1.  You fight Edea at the end of disk 1 AND disk 2.  Yay.)

But enough about FFVIII the game, back to the story...

I tried not to make the battle sequence too long, but rereading it, I'm wondering if I made it long enough.  Oh well.  There will be more battles.  Trust me, there will be more battles.  It also occurred to me that Leon didn't do much this battle.  Of course, the original plan was to not physically attack her, so he was left with pretty much nothing because Leon actually doesn't know too much magic at this point.  He'll get better.

Well, sort of.  At some point, why do you need magic when Quistis and Rinoa know all the magic? I'm referring to story mechanics, actually... in-game mechanics, I gave Squall loads of spells.  Because, he needs them!

Oh, for anyone new, I tend to use Leon/Squall interchangeably when I'm just talking.  When I'm writing, I try to remain consistent.  As in, everyone calls him Leon except for Rinoa.

Anyway, backtracking, to get back on track...

Leon's all like: "This is your Sorceress? I thought for a moment it might be Maleficent.  Oh well, she needs to die anyway."
And then Quistis is like: "What do you mean you didn't properly deal with your last Sorceress? I thought you knew what you were doing?"

Quistis isn't happy with Leon.

Anyway, they battle Edea and after the whole icicle-through-the-chest thing, instead of being captured and
jailed like in the game, Rinoa basically has a Limit (though she uses Squall's gunblade for it) and nearly kills Edea.  This causes the transfer of powers between the two, instead of the later fight like in the game.  Now that I think about it, I'm not sure why I'm describing what I did versus what the game did.  I know that what I'm doing is different (partially because FFVIII is long and partially because I haven't played it in years and when I wrote the timeline, I was basically going off on memory and wrote a condensed version.  Yup.)  Then there's the fact that I want to add the KH spin to it, hence the possessing and the plunging into darkness motifs.

Actually, I think originally, I wasn't going to use the icicle-in-the chest, so Leon would have been awake to make the executive decision to move everyone off the float, but then I used the icicle thing and Quistis decided that everyone should be awake before they moved.

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So, the two pass out because...well... transfer of powers.  It'll happen every time.  Quistis and Zell are surrounded by two passed-out women and a bleeding-to-death Leon.  Yup.  Quistis heals Rinoa because she knows Rinoa's not crazy (spoilers: at the moment).  And then she still has to have Edea healed to answer questions.  But Edea's fine now because Ultimecia's not possessing her! Woo!

It's about here that I decided that Ultimecia and Xehanort should form a fanclub for possessing and Genesis should join.  What is it with KH and needed vessels? Well, it's mostly Xehanort, but still.

But anyway, Ultimecia's now back where she belongs at the end of time (for now) and she's stewing because her plan failed.  But she's not even a main objective right now, they've got other things to figure out.

Hmm, I'm not sure if I have anything else to say...

Okay, well... video!

Yup.  Another one from me.  I had a thing with this particular Linkin Park album and how it relates to Axel.

Currently, I'm of the opinion that the new FOB album is AkuRokuShi.

Like, seriously....

The Fight for Zack's Life (ch18)

Part 1 anyway :P If you know Genesis, you know this isn't over.

Fanfic Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/18/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

Livetumbl: (short but amusing tags) http://magiksbrain.tumblr.com/tagged/ch18/chrono

by *K-Koji on dA

So, I somehow ended up including Genesis.  I didn't originally plan to, because I know he's a hard character to write for (and he is... I've been pulling from gamescripts, as you can probably tell.)  However, I still ended up doing it.  Mostly because I liked the idea of Genesis wanting to use Zack for a vessel, in true KH fashion.  So, I ended up keeping Genesis.

I liked the idea of Genesis being crazy and being aware of it.  Because, my opinion, Genesis is fairly self-aware in the game as well.  So Genesis is crazy and he knows it, but he also knows that he wants to try and use Zack to make his own degradation stop.  (Not that it actually would, but in his case, he thinks its worth a shot.)

So he shows up all crazy and wanting to make a vessel out of Zack, and he forces both Angeal and Zack to fight him.

Yay fight scenes! Tell me if you have any advice for those, I'm still working on perfecting a fight scene.

Poor Angeal kept getting knocked out.  Because Genesis wants to get to Zack, and he's forfeited his friendship with Angeal because Angeal's not helping him.  And Angeal just didn't do too hot this time around.  That, and the slash across the back was a low-blow.  However, in a rage (limit) Zack plunged his own sword into Genesis' shoulder.  (Not an uncommon attack, but I totally got the idea from Cookie.)

So yeah.  Somehow, I ended up tackling the Genesis arc and the FFVIII arc at the same time.  Granted, the FFVIII arc will span many more arcs after the Genesis one, but they ended up starting together.  Heh.

I know... I know... more from me... but... NAMIKU!

Quistis versus Something Wrong (ch17)

Link to the chapter: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/17/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

Livetumbl: http://magiksbrain.tumblr.com/tagged/ch17/chrono

Trying to keep up with the theme for the last several blogs.  Gonna need to change it though, I've got a new set of chapters that could use a different theme.  I know I said somewhere that Cloud's chapter was the last one in that sequence, but it's actually this one.  Technically.

This chapter basically officially sets up the Final Fantasy VIII arc.  Originally, I hadn't intended to even touch the FFVIII story except vaguely.  But then, I was talking to a few of my regular readers and they all suggested that I actually try and tackle the story, so long as I don't entirely rehash the game.

Well, my goal is to not rehash the game in its entirety.  There are going to be a lot of aspects that are shared from the game, however, there are going to be major differences due to the fact that I've added the KH element of darkness and Heartless.  So, it's like AU FFVIII.

Anyway, because I chose to tackle on the FFVIII story, my original timeline for this story greatly changed (and thus expanded).  It's making me question if I'll get done writing this in time for NaNoWriMo.  (Keep in mind I have many chapters written ahead of where I'm posting, but I can't post every day to catch up AND still do worthwhile Review Responses.)  That also means that you guys get to enjoy this story a little bit longer because chances are, I'll still be POSTING in November, even if I am (hopefully) done writing this story.  As you can see, I'm still worried about getting done in time.

AKA, my summer's over and I have significantly less time.

Anyway, but to talk about the chapter.  This chapter is a little bit more than filler, I suppose.  It does do the main job of setting up the next major plot arc to happen (after Hollow Bastion's fall, as well as the Zack/Aerith arc).  (But the Zack/Aerith arc is an overarching thing that will continue throughout the WHOLE story, not just a (albeit large) chuck of it.)

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Plus, it also gives me a chance to discuss who Edea really is, bring up some miscommunications that will
definitely come into play later, make a jab at the Squall vs. Leon name, as well as other things.

Check out that awesome Edea artwork to the right, btw.

I'm kind of enjoying the miscommunication that's going on though between what Quistis and Headmaster Cid assume Leon can do, and what Leon's actually done.  (Which, as far as Maleficent's concerned, is actually jack-diddly-squat.)

Fun fact: I actually considered using Maleficent AS the "Sorceress" that was causing problems on that world.  However, then I feel that Maleficent would have to either A) Escape or B) Die, and I wasn't quite sure how to plot that out.  Plus, I decided that things work better if Leon DOESN'T kill Maleficent now, because that kind of changes the tone of how KH1 works, and I'm trying to make this fit into KH Canon as much as possible.  (Except where deviations already exist between my pre-3D canon and 3D-established canon.)

Okay, well, let me answer the last couple questions that were brought up in reviews...

I know, Leon paragraphed.  It's one of the few times he (ever) does that.  I think it's because he has all of these pent-up feels regarding Radiant Garden's fall that he just expressed them all in one go.

As for Rinoa calling Leon 'Squall', it's something that was established back in Betwixt and Between where Rinoa's the only one that calls him Squall, despite everyone else calling him Leon.  I decided that it's something she's done from the very beginning.  He may try and correct her (if he does, it's off-screen) but eventually he gives up because he decides that it's a battle not worth fighting.  It's also something that's going to come in handy later.  You'll see.

erm... more shamelessness.  This one's also mine.  But it's epic... so...

Cloud versus Everyone at Home (16)

Link to the chapter: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/16/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

I didn't livetumbl for this one, sorry guys.

Anyway, so Cloud versus everyone at home.  It's one of the main reasons why he wants to leave in the first place.  He feels conflicted regarding Tifa's mother's death versus his father's death; he doesn't fit in, partially because he doesn't want to, but the rest because everyone finds him odd; there's a part of him that thinks about getting involved in SOLDIER, but Tifa's talked him out of that one by now; and the rest of him is just craving for adventure.

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So he leaves.  He tells his work, his mom, and Tifa.  He and Tifa make promises to help each other in a bind.  The caveat behind that, however, is that one has to KNOW that the other is in a bind.  And, sorry you two, but your hearts just don't have the connection for that.  SoKai can pull it off... Rokushi might be able to pull it off.  Zerith can pull it off because Aerith is special.  But CloTi? just... *sigh*.

Anyway, but this picture is adorable! It's those moments on the water tower (wow, almost typed Clocktower... Days, much?) that I find so endearing.  They're so cute and young.

And, slight spoilers, they're not going to be that way when they next see each other.  I say only slight because something similar happens in FFVII.  Granted, in my canon, Cloud's not going to try and become SOLDIER and then accidentally become involved in one of Hojo's experiments to the point where he thinks he's Zack.  But Cloud's gonna have some stuff happen to him.  Sorry, ya'll.

I used a bit of a different writing style for this chapter, as you can tell by the dialogue.  I didn't use dialogue markers, hoping that it would be obvious who was talking.  It's easier to read through if you assume that Tifa always talks first (unless otherwise noted).  Because, admit it, Tifa does that.

Review Responses:

Archsage! you're back! *hugs* Thank you so much for your kind words and compliments! I'm glad you're enjoying it! It's a blast to write.  I hope I continue to inspire you!

KKBeckett, Yes, Cloud has left.  *sigh*  As for Tifa following him, you'll see :P  (Spoilers.)

This one's shameless self-promotion.  I made this video a couple of years ago for rar's fanfic otp, Namiku.  Yup.  Check her out if you haven't :P

http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2278897/rarmaster

She would tell you to start with Falling to Pieces, probably.

Leon versus Things he Doesn't Want to Do (ch15)

But he gets roped into anyway.

Link to the chapter: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/15/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

Link to the livetumbl: http://magiksbrain.tumblr.com/tagged/ch15/chrono

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Have some Zell! He needs some love:

Anyway, so this is that Leon chapter I'd mentioned in the last blog.  Or last chapter.  Or... something.  I remember saying it, but now I can't find record of it.  *headdesk* Of course.  Anyway! Leon chapter!

I continued off the epic entry introduced last chapter and then just continued it into 'Leon getting roped into things he doesn't want to do.'  Because, in all honesty, he really doesn't want to have to go somewhere else and deal with anyone else's problems, he's got enough of his own as far as he's concerned.  But then something twinges in his heart and he wonders that if he helps these people, maybe he'll feel better about letting Radiant Garden fall.  (He still feels mildly responsible for that, yep.)  And so off he goes, despite hardly knowing these people.  And we call Zack impulsive.

Though, I do find it amusing (but completely rational of him) that he tries to pawn Zack off on the newcomers, it goes back to him thinking that he's got enough on his plate and it's completely logical for Zack to go, because Zack was going to leave anyway.  Plus, Zack calls himself a hero! And that's what they're looking for.  Leon does not consider himself a hero, and probably won't for a while.

Anyway, you'll note that Yuffie still calls Leon 'Squall', mostly because she knows it bothers him.  Which is why she's super quick to tell everyone else what his true name is, much to his chagrin.  Yuffie just thinks this is all great fun.  Leon's going to hate her in a bit when Rinoa picks up on it and insists on calling him 'Squall.'  It's cool though, Yuffie's super annoyed that not only does she NOT get to go and help these people, Leon's going instead.  So, congratulations you two, you've annoyed each other.

To expand on the livetumbl...

I basically explained why Leon is the epitome of 'can't be bothered.'

The continuity errors have to do with what is being blamed for Radiant Garden's fall.  Because in my KH Canon (actually, it could be canon.... i'm not entirely sure...) Xehanort plunges Radiant Garden into darkness about the same time he splits his heart and becomes a Heartless and a Nobody.  To compound the problem, Maleficent added a crapton of Heartless and darkness into the area, which just didn't help matters.  So yes, Maleficent is somewhat responsible and it's completely legitimate to blame her for it.  But, ultimately, like everything else in KH, it's Xehanort's fault.

And yes, Aerith has a look that makes everyone get defensive.  She gives Leon that look when she thinks that Leon might have agreed to let Yuffie go along to help.  Aerith tries really hard to keep Yuffie out of the Worlds' problems and only partially succeeds.  It's cute.

And then Aerith went and gave me feels regarding the fact that she felt every death that was a result of Radiant Garden's dirge.  Yup.  Thanks Aerith, for that.  Really wanted it.

And then there was the Xehanort and Ultimecia post.  It came about because rar and I were discussing how Xehanort and Ultimecia both have a thing with possessing people and I casually mentioned that they should make a club.  Yep.

Review Responses:

SpiritDreamWarriors from Chapter 14: I might be able to add Vincent in there somewhere.  It won't be for a while, because I've got the next long bit pretty much ironed out for what's going to happen.  But I can guarantee you a cameo or three before the fic's end.

KKBeckett: Yeah, if you hadn't read the chapters before this one and only heard about a Sorceress causing darkness problems, you're definitely given the jump to assume it's Maleficent.  I kind of did that on purpose.  Mostly so LEON thinks it's Maleficent.  And then he finds out that it's not.  Heh.  I considered actually doing that, but that would be A) too convenient, and B) Leon couldn't actually KILL Maleficent (because that messes with KH canon--don't get me started on her coming back... she needs to not die...) and I needed to give Leon someone (or two, or three) to kill.  Yup.

Anywho, that's all I have for you right now.

I love this video.  All the fandoms.  Advent Children even appears in it somewhere.  :P

Yuffie versus Everyone Else (ch14)

Poor thing, she just wants to be with people that she likes!

Link to the chapter: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/14/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

Link to the livetumbl: http://magiksbrain.tumblr.com/tagged/ch14/chrono

So, yeah, this chapter begun because I'm orchestrating multiple plotlines at once and they're all going to intersect for a moment and I needed a chapter like this to enable that.  Yuffie somehow ends up in the middle of it all.

Writing for Yuffie is fun, but I think she's one of the people I probably can't do a full chapter from just yet.  Child voices are a lot harder than adult voices, but I can get a chapter snippet from Yuffie just fine.  Yuffie can be summed up this entire chapter as just wanting to be with Aerith and Zack.  And... yeah.

And Cid's not really paying attention to any of it all, because he's learning about star shards and stuff and he wants to know more about travel and Zack's helping him in more ways than one, and so he's got his nose in a book.

And Leon's just like... "Was I this bad?" "How could you let her get out?" "Cid, why are you making me do this? You're the adult here?" "Ugh."  Typical Leon stuff.

And then I did a chapter snippet from Zell, because I don't use his voice very often.  He's kind of hard to write for though, in my opinion.  So, I'll probably stick to chapter snippets for him, if I'm being completely honest.  But, yeah, Zell was very impulsive with that star shard a couple of chapters ago.  And now they've all arrived in Traverse Town and who do they run into? Yuffie.

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Yuffie, in typical Yuffie fashion, gives them trouble up until the Heartless show up, then everyone's just focused on fighting the Heartless.  And Zell and co. are all rather surprised by the fact Yuffie's good at killing Heartless.

And then Leon makes an epic entry.  Heheh.  It's super epic in my head, because Leon's super angry at Yuffie for running off, and then frustrated that Heartless are involved, because he doesn't want Yuffie getting hurt, even though most of him knows she can take care of herself, but then he's still frustrated that she even got herself into a situation like this.  And then there are other people involved and... so he's angry and fierce and the perfect image of the hero that Rinoa, Qusitis, and Zell are looking for.  Heheh.

And then I had a chapter snippet with Kairi.  I like doing stuff with Kairi periodically so as to keep track of where she is in her life compared to everyone else.  I probably won't do a full chapter with her, either.  Not only because she's young (though, that's a main reason, same with Yuffie) but because she's not really the focus of this story.  The focus is the Final Fantasy characters.  So, yeah.

Review Responses

Yes, KKBeckett, Yuffie has a boomerang.  It's actually one of her weapons from FFVII.  I needed something for a younger Yuffie that wasn't a full-blown Shuriken yet, but still serious enough for Heartless killing.  But hey, Lea used frisbees on Unversed.  And no, Zack and Aerith aren't going to have typical teenage relationship drama and thus there would be no instance for him to pour tea down Zack's shirt.  Though, their facial expressions in my head are amusing.

Anywho, expect another chapter tomorrow everyone! It'll be fun!

Totally a Squinoa vid and I'm not even shipping them yet in my story.  But it's a Squinoa vid :P

Zack versus a Relationship that Doesn't Exist (ch13)

The little twerp actually thought for a moment there that Aerith and Leon were a thing.  It was super cute.  And obviously not true.  Zack's jealousy was thankfully short-lived.

Link to the chapter!: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/13/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

Link to the livetumbl: http://magiksbrain.tumblr.com/tagged/ch13/chrono

Not a whole lot there this time around... it happens.

Anyway, so this chapter is basically just a continuation of the last chapter's Zerith feels.  This is where Zack and Aerith ACTUALLY become a thing and it's super adorable.  Because Zack's all like "I think I like her *doesn't know what to do*" And Aerith's like "He's really sweet and nice, I like nice people... but I don't know what to do..." And Leon and Cid are both like "JUST KISS!"

Not really, but practically.  Zerith has a fanclub and the leader is Leon.

And then there's Yuffie, who's just like "WHY DO YOU INSIST ON LEAVING ME BEHIND! I LIKE YOU PEOPLE!" (Yuffie generally speaks in caps in my head.)  Granted, I know Yuffie and Zack don't particularly get along in Crisis Core... but Yuffie gets along with Zack in my canon, because Aerith likes Zack and Yuffie likes Aerith.  (Aerith's like, her favorite person, this is FF canon).  So, yeah.

But yeah, first date, pink ribbons.  Adorable.  I'm really glad I decided to split the last chapter and this chapter into two chapters, because it was originally supposed to be one.  But yeah.

Unfortunately, then Zack has to leave.  He's still a mercenary.  Granted, the Genesis business is going to

by *jameson9101322 on dA

change things a little (you'll see), but he's not one to be tied to one place for long.  But he's now officially a satellite to the FF gang in Traverse Town.

And hush, I know, I just posted a chapter about Zack and I'm posting a picture that lacks Zack.  However, this picture is cute and depicts the FF gang at their approximate ages right about here.  Ish.  Thereabouts.  It's cute.  Also, this artist does a LOT of art.  It's all really neat.

Anywho, so I'm aware that Zack should be squatting more, and I'm having conniptions about it.  Murr.  I just don't know how to incorporate it quite yet.  Every scene I've got with Zack he's doing other things and not squatting.  (sigh.)  The most squatting I've seen Zack do is when he's at Costa del Sol.  (I'm simultaneously playing Crisis Core.)  I'm also running missions to postpone my death.  It's cute.  "Let me just sit here right outside the Nibelheim reactor and run misssions.  Yup.  Totally."

So, review responses!

Yes, KKBeckett, Aerith and Zack need to look out for each other.  It's actually more of a "Aerith, make sure that Zack doesn't get in trouble" than a "Zack, make sure Aerith doesn't get hurt" kind of thing.  I love that about them.

Frankly, I just love Zerith.

That's all for now, have a video! (More Zerith!) (CANON Zerith)  I was super excited by all of these when they started showing up in my DMW.  They show up for every character, but I like Aerith's and Cloud's the best.

Aerith versus a Falling Zack (ch12)

Not that the two of them are actually fighting, but Zack certainly did change her whole day (life) around.

Link to the chapter: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/12/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

Link to the livetumbl: http://magiksbrain.tumblr.com/tagged/ch12/chrono

by ~TheFresco on dA

And, onto my happy feels about this chapter! Because trust me, I have happy feels about this chapter.  Mostly because of Zerith.  I love Zerith.  One of the driving forces behind me even writing this darn prequel was because of ZERITH.  I get to play with them! And they can meet, and fall in love, and NOT DIE SO YOUNG.  HA.

Not that Zack and Aerith have a COMPLETELY happy life.  Trust me... I'm not that nice of a writer.  Besides, they turn into such interesting people by Betwixt and Between that they've gotta have some hardships under their belts.

I'm really happy with the way this chapter turned out.  Zack landed in Traverse Town and he and Aerith ended up on a little 'date' like substance.  It's not really a date, that'll happen later.  But it's the beginning of Zerith, make note of that!

Wow, I'm having problems articulating this blog post because of the large amount of Zerith feels.  Well then.  Erm, so... I guess I'll just move on to Review Responses and then probably say more as more pops into my head.

So, from SpiritDreamWarriors:
Glad you like it so far! I promise I will definitely keep this up! Zerith won't happen in every chapter, but it will happen all throughout this entire story.  Promise.

From KKBeckett:
Yes, Zack does have a habit of 'falling' in on Aerith.  It seems to be a theme with the Compilation.  So I figured I'd incorporate it.  And, yes, Zack is very forward.  He practically offers a date to every girl he meets, but with Aerith, it's a bit different.  He doesn't phrase it as a date, and she's also the first one who agrees to go with him.  Again, not that this is actually a 'date' lol.  Though, I suppose it depends on what you define 'date' as, considering how Zack does end up paying.  Anyway, I will write more! You'll see!

To expound upon my livetumbl a bit, I apparently had trouble placing this set of chapters.  And by set, I mean 6 of them.  You've now seen three.  I had it worked out to where it would be Tifa, Rinoa, Aerith, Zack, Leon, Cloud.  And I liked that order.  Then, somewhere in there, I realized that the chronological order was Tifa, Aerith, Rinoa, Zack, Leon, Cloud... with Aerith and Rinoa's chapters flipped.  I even wrote them in that order, but I thought I was just mixing things up.  So I flopped them back.

Only to realize that by the time I was posting them all, Aerith's chapter does actually come before Rinoa's.  Oh well.  It doesn't really matter.

My obvious reference was the church, if any of you were wondering.  Aerith and churches just have this connection and I felt like including that image.

The irony is that Zack and Aerith were in Radiant Garden at the same time at one point and never saw each other.  Rather, Zack ran into Kairi--who told him about star shards.  Which then led to Kairi's grandmother wondering where Kairi had even heard of star shards, so she ended up going and asking Aerith, who had never heard of them.  And... yeah.  Irony.

I think, at one point, I had considered Zack running into Aerith in Radiant Garden before going off and buying the star shard.  Except Aerith couldn't tell him what a star shard was because I'd already established that she didn't know (Kairi did a Princess of Heart thing, tbh).  And, aside from that, I wasn't sure how to even orchestrate the scene.  So it got scrapped.  I then tried again to have Kairi run up to Aerith at the end of that chapter and Aerith see Zack as he walked away and wonder who he was, except I was in the wrong POV for that to work properly and I didn't want to change it, considering I liked the chapter Kairi had given me.  So... that got scrapped to.

But it's fine, because Zack and Aerith meet here, and they're adorable.  And that's all that matters.

This is actually a video made by rarmaster.  As usual, it has nothing to do with the chapter I've posted.  And if you want to know what's going on in the vid, click to go to YouTube and read the description.  Because it has a storyline.  Anywho.  That's all for now!

Rinoa versus the Growing Darkness (ch11)

Hello again! So as I said in the chapter, this happens roughly the same time as chapter 10.  Just on a completely different world.  The thing that is similar about them is the fact that both worlds have growing Heartless problems, yay!

Link to the chapter: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/11/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

Link to the livetumbl: http://magiksbrain.tumblr.com/tagged/ch11/chrono

As you can tell from the livetumbl, there's another chapter that happens at the same time as these past two, which will get posted in the next day or so.  It's very exciting, the plot is picking up tremendously.  I'm excited for the next things to happen.  So I hope that translates well and you guys can all pick up on that excitement.

Anyway, so things I have to say on this chapter!

I knew from when I first outlined this all, that the world Rinoa, Quistis, and Zell were on was in trouble.  Heartless, they do this nasty thing where they go searching for a world's heart and end up throwing into darkness, yeah? And it's a problem.  Quistis and Rinoa have both seen it.  Quistis has been researching it since a couple of chapters ago.  Though she's really only been looking in the Balamb area because that's all she's had jurisdiction for.  But she knows from the other Gardens that there are issues worldwide.  But Rinoa's appearance merely proves that the problems are worldwide and so they end up at Cid's desk.

by ~Jessami on dA

As for Rinoa, she's been waffling on whether or not she wants SeeD help.  But the increase of Heartless and the continued foiled plans as far as the Forest Owls go prove to her that she should go get SeeD help.  And so she begins her quest.

Meanwhile, Cid's got other issues.  Cid's wife (not spoilers) has gone crazy and is using the Heartless to her advantage.  Much like Maleficent.  It's super great, not.  And he has no idea how to deal with it.  He knows how to deal with Sorceresses, but Sorceresses surrounded by darkness? Not so much.  Hence the star shard, and telling Quistis, Rinoa, and Zell to find someone who CAN deal with the darkness.  Naturally, Quistis is skeptical, and Rinoa's not too far behind her, but Zell thinks it's a great idea and ends up taking them all... somewhere.  You'll see in a few chapters.

A lot of this ended up falling into place as I was writing it.  The entire FFVIII story line is more or less falling into place as I'm writing it.  I knew from the beginning that a modified version would happen, I just had no idea I would end up going so in depth on it.  You'll see.  It's exciting, in my opinion.

And that's actually all I've got for you.  There's other stuff I want to say, but I need a few more chapters to get posted before I can go in-depth on it.

The above video is awesome.  I want to be able to sign it sometime.  That gets filed under the "eventually" category.

Tifa versus Cloud's pipe-dream (ch10)

Hello everyone again!

Convenient link to the chapter: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/10/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

Link to the livetumbl (which has some pretty amusing stuff): http://magiksbrain.tumblr.com/tagged/ch10/chrono
{Note, the post that says that Cloud and Tifa are 12 and 13 is incorrect, they should be 13 and 14.}

I did have a lot of fun writing this chapter.  I got to explore the characters of Cloud and Tifa and I got super excited when I realized that Cloud didn't have to be mopey.  I mean, sure, he was mopey in the last chapter he was in, but that's when he felt like he was stuck.  Now, he feels like he's working towards something, so he's happier.  And Tifa's happier.

by ~TheDutchesse on dA

Unfortunately, just when Tifa thinks things are looking up, Cloud goes and puts a downer on it by saying he still wants to leave.  Hence the "Tifa versus Cloud's pipe-dream".  Though, even Tifa admits that it's something that's sounding more and more likely.  And she doesn't like it.

Tifa would really just like Cloud to stay, or to be able to go with Cloud.  She knows the first one is hardly possible, and the second is hardly likely either.  And it's upsetting to her.  Because she really likes Cloud.

Then there's the second half of the chapter.  Where Tifa's speaking with her teacher, Zangan.  Not much is really known about Zangan, even from the games themselves, so I'm kind of building my own character for him off of what I do know.  He basically turned into that person who just knows everything and is an "old wizard" or "helpful mentor" of sorts.  Heh, like Leon and Aerith end up being in KH, in my opinion.

So yeah, there's lots of talk of darkness.  And I spewed a LOT of stuff from KH1, as the livetumbl will tell you.  And then there was the stuff that he started spewing that I picked up from Hapkido and other things I learned from my Hapkido instructor.  Yup.

As far as review responses go, yes, KKBeckett, that was a Star Wars reference.  I was wondering if anyone would catch that.  Also, it's worth hoping for, but I'm not guaranteeing anything as far as how it actually works out for Tifa and Cloud.

Um, so yeah.  That's all I've got for you.  That, and this video.

And So The Story Begins.... (Prequel Ch9)

Well, a new part of the story, anyway...  This chapter marks the end of one part and the beginning of another.  It also marks an extreme passage of time.

Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/9/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

by ~YunaB-Rabbit on dA

So, Kairi's portion of the chapter happens directly after the previous chapter, the dirge of Radiant Garden.  The protection charm she had took her from that world and plopped her right into the seas of Destiny Islands.  From there, she was carried to the main island of Destiny Islands and was found by Sora and Riku, both of whom she instantly becomes friends with.  Though not mentioned in the chapter, nor will I do a chapter on this, Kairi is then adopted by the mayor and his wife and proceeds to begin a life as if she were their daughter.  She still retains memories of her old home, but five-year-old's only have so much memory recall, so things begin to blur and fade.

In between the last time we saw Quistis and now, she's been studying hard to become an instructor, and she finally makes it.  She's not even an instructor for an entire hour when she's called to do a mission to research the appearance of Heartless onto her world.  Proud and logical, Quistis takes up the job, knowing that since she has no classes or students at the moment, she won't have to put her life on hold to do it.  After this chapter, she will proceed to take Zell and maybe another Cadet or two and do as much research as she possibly can on the Heartless.  I will explore Heartless and that world later.

Tifa's in a conundrum.  She wants to take martial arts lessons, for many reasons, (protecting her town, trying to see if Cloud will take her on as an adventuring buddy, not wanting to be helpless) but she can't afford them and knows her dad won't pay for them.  I'm not sure when I decided that Tifa's dad would be such a pain, but it happened somewhere in this chapter.  So she tries to get a job as a tour guide for Mt. Nibel (a job that she has in Crisis Core) but unfortunately, she can't get the job at this point.  However, despite not having a job or the money to pay for the lessons, Zangan is willing to train Tifa anyway because he sees her potential.  I will explore this later as well.

Rinoa's magical powers finally dwindle and she decides that she must not be a Sorceress after all.  (Spoiler alert, she wasn't.)  She's initially upset, mostly because she's finally been able to master some good spells, but then she becomes relieved because she's not a pariah to society.  She starts thinking about other ways to fight and how she's going to help Timber without magic.  She reconsiders going back to SeeD and becoming a cadet, thinking about how she could help the Timber Owls that way, but the thought gets postponed because maybe, maybe she can handle things at the Timber Owls without magic and without being a SeeD.  Her plans to become SeeD will continue to get delayed partially because of things with the Timber Owls and partially because of the influx of Heartless.  (Trust me, this isn't spoilers.)

Things that did NOT appear in this chapter, but I can guarantee you are happening: the Organization takes form with the first six members, and Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, starts to bring darkness to more worlds.  Yup, yup!

So, there was no liveblogging for this chapter... however, I did go back and add the liveblogging link for chapter 8 below.

And this is super awesome....

The Fall of Radiant Garden (Prequel Ch8)

And the feels begin.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/8/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

EDIT: Forgot to put this in last time... the tumblr liveblog! http://magiksbrain.tumblr.com/tagged/ch8/chrono

This is one particular plot point wasn't even something that I WANTED to happen.  It was something that HAD to happen.  The fall of Radiant Garden, I feel, is such a crucial point in Kingdom Hearts backstory.  It shapes the lives of Cid, Leon, Aerith, and Yuffie so much.  

by *jameson9101322

Orchestrating the scene was a bit of a challenge, actually.  I wanted to get the feeling of the sucking darkness that happens on Destiny Islands at the beginning of KH1.  I also wanted to capture fear and franticness.  I then needed to include certain characters.  I think I did a good job, I haven't received any comments telling me otherwise.  KKBeckett talked about how I crushed her feels.  Which, well, I suppose that's a bit of a success, because that is what I was going for.  

So, brief comment about the pictures: I found them ages ago when I was looking for pictures of young Squall (think the first chapter, actually) and I liked them so much that I saved them both, figuring I could use them for a future chapter.  Well, this is that chapter and you get two images with it!

Anyway, so I chose to tell this chapter from Aerith's POV because Aerith has this thing where she can sense things.  She can sense the darkness, she can sense when people die.  She's just special.  She's special in the games, too (both the FFVII Compilation and the Kingdom Hearts series).  But even in my canon, she's pretty special.  I mean, she's the girl who just FINDS mega-elixers and would rather bop Shadows on the head to get them out of her house, rather than just kill them.  (Of course, the Aerith that exists in the prequel right now is not that kind to Heartless, that's a trait that comes with time.)  

by ~Rinny09

Aerith's becoming a very interesting character.  She's very full of light, but that's just something I know and haven't really brought up too much in the prequel.  (I actually have a headcanon that if Aerith was born a year sooner, she could have been a Princess of Heart instead of Snow White or something like that.  Heh.)  But Aerith is very full of light and very special.  

And I totally just ripped her whole world out from under her.  (Technically, KH canon did that, but still.)  Her mom is gone, her home is gone, her life is gone.  She's got Yuffie and that's about it.  Sure, she's got Squall-now-Leon and Cid as well, but at this point in the story, she hardly knows them.  But she's going to make do.  Because Aerith's a fighter.

Now that all my Aerith feels are out of the way, have some Leon ones.  He's just trying to save everything and he knows he can't.  Cid sends him out to grab some people and the only alive people he runs into are Aerith and Yuffie.  So he rescues them.  And he's totally willing to help Aerith and Yuffie get back to Aerith's mom's place.  Except for the fact that the darkness sucked that in before they got there.  (So it's honestly a good thing that Aerith went running off to Kairi's house.)  And so he just makes a new plan, which was actually the old plan, and goes back to Cid's.  

And then his life is overturned, too.  Not that his life in Radiant Garden was as happy as Aerith's, but it was his life.  And it's gone now.  And he's got all this self-doubt and anger and longing to have been able to fix it even though he knows he couldn't have.  But he changes his identity anyway.  Yep.  It's a thing.  

And the end.  The end just kills me.  Yes, KKBeckett, that's the scar.  He got it during the dirge of Radiant Garden.  (Gosh that's a fun word, dirge.)  And... Aerith's just like... "I know you couldn't save anyone, but it matters to me that you saved me and Yuffie."  And... well... feels.  

And that's really all I have to say on the matter.   

Have a video.  Particularly one that gives me Zerith feels.  If you want a deeper analysis on why, ask rar.  

Zack Feels (Prequel Ch7)

What's funny, is this particular chapter didn't even give me that many Zack feels.  But the Zack plot arc as a whole gives me a lot of them.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/7/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

by *chibiasta on dA. (she does a lot of
cute FFVII art if you want to check
it out!)

I knew from the beginning that Zack was going to meet Angeal shortly after he was out on his own (past Olympus Coliseum) and they were going to become fast-friends.  Granted, that friendship isn't quite there in this chapter, but it will grow.

Originally, it was just going to be that Angeal was going to agree to help Zack become a better fighter and keep Zack from falling into the darkness.  (I was going off of Zack's dealings with Hades back in Olympus.)  However, I later nixed the darkness idea, figuring I have enough people dealing with it and Zack doesn't need to be one of them.  Zack can have an awareness, sure, but struggling with it? Nah.

Then the Genesis plot arc merged in.  I wasn't sure, initially, if I was going to include Genesis, because I've heard he can be a pain to write for.  (He is, I have future chapters that include him).  But I wanted to include him nonetheless.  Genesis was how I explained the black feather at the end of the Birth By Sleep secret ending.  Genesis is, I believe, the only person in Crisis Core to have black wings? I could be wrong... I totally could be wrong... I haven't actually FINISHED Crisis Core (kill me later, I literally am working on it.)  However, it made for a convenient person, and then Genesis morphed into a villain for Zack, kinda like he's a major antagonist in Crisis Core (though, it's still mostly Hojo's fault, but whatever).

So, this chapter was born out of those facts, basically.  And I really do like how it turned out, actually.

I even livetumbld it a little....  http://magiksbrain.tumblr.com/tagged/ch7/chrono

Though, I warn you, there's only a couple posts there.  I got into the livetumbling swing in later chapters.  Though, I periodically drop out of said habit.  *shrug*

So, Review Responses:

KKBeckett: You're in for a wild ride with the Genesis arc, it's a feelsy one :P  And I'm glad you like my Angeal inclusion.  Also, Zack's just awesome.

And, as usual, have a video :)

Because I love the Piano Guys :)