I knew where this was going right from the beginning really, (well, beginning meaning the fleshed-out FFVIII arc.) I knew that Rinoa was going to discuss what she should do about the fact that she has the power of multiple Sorceresses and how they would set a goal to maybe transfer some of her Sorceress power back to Edea so that Rinoa was not at risk of being consumed/corrupted by that power. Quistis, too, would volunteer to take some of that power in order to alleviate Rinoa's strain. Assuming they knew how to do that, which they don't at the moment.
Meanwhile, Squall was going to set up to go back home. Zell was to stay in Balamb, Laguna was to go to Esthar. Ellone would follow him, but after she helped out Rinoa.
by hinokami-san
I mean, I made some minor changes. In my outline, it was Squall's idea to go back to Traverse Town because he was homesick, but by the time I'd written it, Squall was mostly just conflicted and Rinoa had to convince him that going home was a good idea. Naturally, they'll keep in touch and visit each other.
The whole thing with Aerith's letters was added later. I mean, I knew Aerith was writing him, and I figured that Aerith's letters would probably get a little more worried as time went on. I mean, the last time we saw Aerith in-story was the chapter where she can't really focus on anything because she's worried both about Zack and about Leon and then she goes and fights Heartless and Zack drops in. It's been at least three weeks since that point. So yeah.
The artwork off to the side isn't really related to anything, except that I found it adorable. :-)
To respond to KKBeckett's review, yes, it is sort of like we're coming to a close. The FFVIII arc is almost done. But fear not, I have plenty more plot to come. I'd say what, but that'd be spoilers, so ya'll just have to keep reading.
I'll give you some teaser quotes because I like you all, though!
"You're wearing a lot of pink."
"I feel the same way about Zack most of the time."
"Most of the time?"
"Sometimes he's obnoxious and I want to smack him over the head with my staff."
"Do you need glasses? Of course it's me!"
"You ever traveled by star shard before?"
"Huh?"
"I'll take that as a no. Piece of advice: brace yourself."
"I don't think you'll believe me."
"Try me."
Anywho, I like this video. Also, I just like Sara Bareilles.
So I was watching my youngest sister play KH1, (mind you, this was several months ago), but I was reminded of the secret waterway and how sometimes Leon used it to train. It got me thinking about how they even found out about it in the first place.
cosplay by yu-kisaragi
But of course, the Great Ninja Yuffie would find it.
Young!Yuffie is a bit hard to write for. I think I've mentioned this before. For some reason, her head's really hard to get into, especially because there's this whole alter-ego of the Great Ninja Yuffie that is also in her head. I think this gets better as she grows older, like the different personalities resolve themselves within her. Regardless, this is the first chapter where I've done an entire chapter with JUST a kid. (I wasn't even doing full chapters with just Kairi!) I think it went very well. It helped that the Great Ninja Yuffie had a mission.
But yeah, as my tumbl says, writing the chapter without being at the leisure of just turning on my PS2 and wandering around Traverse Town made it a little bit hard. I didn't have access to KH1 at that particular moment, so I was reduced to walkthroughs and the wiki. And, as great as the KHwiki is, it was failing me for this one, because it failed to mention the entrance to the secret waterway from the alley. It only mentioned the one by Merlin's house. So I got SO confused. It's cool, I figured it out, obviously.
Also, rar and I got into this intense discussion about the locations of boxes in Traverse Town. Thankfully, boxes are not like buildings and can move around over the years. Then we also had an intense discussion to figure how Yuffie gets through the bars. I think we determined there was a hatch for maintenance, but Yuffie's small enough at 10 to just fit through the bars. Later, she'll probably loosen a bar to move aside as she gets through. Later, when other people know about it, I think they'd either use the aforementioned hatch or be able to slide through with one of the bars missing (ala the Little Mermaid 2, probably.) Then, Sora'll show up in, like, 6 years and just break the whole thing with a Trinity because... well... Sora.
Overall, a pretty fun chapter to write.
Yes, KKBeckett, her relationship to school is very amusing. She really doesn't want to be doing school, but she knows if she doesn't, Aerith will get disappointed, and Yuffie really doesn't want to disappoint Aerith. So she just keeps going, waiting for the day when Aerith tells her she can be done with school. (Something that is certainly a few years off.)
Here's some up-and-coming quotes:
"If I wasn't sure, I wouldn't be saying it. Will I miss you? Absolutely. Do I know that you and I may need to do separate things for a while? ... Absolutely."
"What, no hug?"
"I think my adventuring days are over, I'm getting too old for it."
"I know your family's not technically a real family, but it sounds like a really nice family."
"Cid's asleep! Goodness, how late is it?"
Have a completely unrelated, but slightly nifty video:
At last, the Ultimecia/end of time arc is resolved! There's still some more resolution as far as the FFVIII arc is concerned, but that's coming up soon as well.
Meanwhile, there's still Cloud to worry about. Oh, and the fact that Aerith's convinced something bad has happened to Leon. I'm evil.
Again, no tumbl. This time because I wrote this chapter with a very strong base of my other fanfic, To Save Him. There are subtle differences, but not enough that I was blogging about it.
by ~MCAshe on dA
Mostly I knew that Rinoa was going to go save him, using her vast amounts of Sorceress powers, and I becomes a power surge and takes them back to their own time, two or three days after she left originally.
didn't see a point of changing too much of FFVIII canon, since it is Rinoa that saves Squall at the end anyway. She transports herself practically to him, only having to walk a little bit at the end of time. She finds him unconscious at ... well, I suppose it's time limbo by that point. He doesn't wake up and his heartbeat's super faint and so she thinks he might actually be dead for a moment there. She starts weeping and then she
I mentioned in my notes "For once, she rescued him."
I am very fond of this chapter, mostly because it really solidifies the Squinoa dynamic. They are totes adorable.
Also, Leon has finally come to terms with his father's existence and it's he that initiates the hug. I love character development!
That, and Quistis totally ships Squinoa and completely understands why they don't feel like being the center of attention. Yup. That's a thing.
Boy, do I have so much in store for them later!
Coming up, we've got some Yuffie, which I know has been a request of some of the readers. Then, there's going to be some "What is Rinoa going to do with all of her powers" as well as "Someone should let Aerith know that people are okay." Heh!
Hmm, I think I'll give you some teaser quotes, because I'm in the mood:
"And you're wet! Yuffie! What did you do? Did you fall into the fountain?"
"You cannot change the past."
"Or I could just have a near-death experience."
"Don't be ridiculous. None of us are going to fight you just for something like that."
"The powers themselves would kick in anyway. Self-preservation tactic. It wouldn't be an easy fight."
"Besides, Leon wouldn't let us touch you."
"I just got this awful feeling this morning and I can't shake it."
"You have a family back home, that you haven't seen in over a year--nearly two! Go visit them!"
That's that for now.
I know I've posted this video before, but I just love it too much... Also, it's really hard to find good Squinoa videos....
I thought up this idea over the summer when I wasn't quite sure how I was getting Cloud out of the Realm of Darkness. I was going to go with having the Sephiroth part of his heart (because that exists) decide that he'd get Cloud out of the darkness for some reason, but I couldn't think of a good reason why Sephiroth would bother with such a thing. I wasn't really sure what else would work.
cosplay by thru-apeture-eyes
photo by AfterlifeUSEC
And then this idea with Xigbar happened. Xigbar basically just took over. And he gets Cloud out of the Realm of Darkness because he thinks he's a Nobody because he's not showing too many emotions but he's totally still a somebody (yeah, that's kind of a jab at Cloud I suppose), and yeah... The banter between Xigbar and Xemnas is just beautiful, mostly because Xigbar's the only one in the whole Organization who can get away with saying such a thing. And he takes the whole situation well, basically just saying "well, okay, whatever" because he's Xigbar, and that's Old Man Xehanort in a different body. All the same, Xigbar does what Xemnas says and just leaves Cloud on some world. And no, I'm not telling you which one it is. rar was able to guess, you could probably figure it out. (Yes, I'm mean.)
Also, this cosplay is fairly renowned on tumblr for being awesome, just saying.
Anyway, one last thought ('cause it's late and I want to keep this short). The person they're waiting for is Larxene. Which, I've mentioned before. But I just love the idea of them keeping tabs on her because they KNOW she'll make a powerful Nobody and it's only a matter of time. Heheh. But, we're a long way away from that if the last people to be added were Axel and Saix, just sayin'.
Anyway, not saying what's following Cloud either. Muahahaha!
This is the other half of the video I posted the other day. It's originally sung by Gumi, but she's not designed for English, so this is a pretty nice cover:
Excuse me while I set my feels aside from what I was writing to deal with the chapter that I posted yesterday. The only thing similar is the darkness, and that's an overarching theme. Heheh.
No tumbl for this one guys. It just didn't happen. Everything moved so fast and I kept switching POVs to get the full story surrounding it. Plus, I repeated a few things to get all the viewpoints and... yeah...
The only thing that would have gotten tumbld would have been my feels on Rinoa's hysteric breakdown.
But let me back up for a second.
Anyone notice how where they are keeps changing in relationship to time? (End of Time, Time Compression, Sliver in the End of Time, Present Time) This motif will continue in the next chapter of this arc. Yup yup. I thought I was being clever.
cosplay by leonhart cosplay
Also, Rinoa basically stabs you in a knife with her feels. But that's not before Leon wrings your feels out because he's started to forget Rinoa. Which is totally something that happens in the ending video in the game. I just abbreviated it. Honestly, reading it over again, I think it makes it scarier, because it seems so sudden. He's forgotten someone very important to him. And he is stuck on a sliver of time, and he's got nowhere to go.
And then Rinoa (understandably) starts raving. It doesn't matter what Quistis or Edea tells her, she's not going to accept the fact that Leon could be gone. And when Quistis reminds her that the journey they took was bound to claim at least someone, Rinoa goes on about how she was the one it was supposed to have claimed, not anybody else, especially not Squall. KKBeckett puts it accurately when she says "oh my feels." Because "ugh feels!"
It kind of just blows my mind when I think about how someone could come to terms with their own death before they can come to terms with others. I mean, I am aware that it happens. But, all the same... yeah... special things, really.
As it is, I shan't say anything about where this is going. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Those of you who have read All the Pieces are lucky. Not because you know how it ends, but because you know that it ends. (If that makes sense muahahaha!).
So, other than that, I don't have anything to say. Most everything I have to say comes with the next chapter of this arc. So... I shall leave you with a video and bid you a nice day!
I love the animation done on this one by mike-inel.
So today's been interesting. I spilled water on my computer and for a bit there, music would come out of both my headphones AND my speakers. I put it in rice, and aside from what might be a grain of rice in one of my vents... everything's working functionally now. *knocks on wood*
Oi, I don't have the munny for a new computer right now.
I don't really have much to say about this chapter, if I'm completely honest with myself. I mostly just let Aerith talk and everything else came along with it. I do think it's super adorable how she keeps wishing for Zack because she's worried about him (not that she's not worried about Leon... but Zack...) and first Cid shows up and then Zack shows up. And then she wonders and wishes for Leon.
by Tekesuta on dA
Who, in all honestly, if I could rig that, I'd have him show up right there. But... it just doesn't work. For starters, this chapter would have to come later because Leon's STILL dealing with end of time stuff and... yeah... no...
But Aerith's just super worried about everyone and... yeah...
But seriously, that's all I have to say about this chapter.
Have a nice picture of Cid because Cid love!
Though, the image in my head of Zack appearing mid-air and totally being rearing to fight is super amusing and amazing.
In regards to things that relate to more than just this chapter... rar's got me cringing every time one of my characters uses Thunder-magic. Thank you Riku. *glares*
I think that's it though. I won't say anything about how Leon's doing because... well... spoilers!
Dude... writing a blog when you're distracted is actually super hard. Meh. Anyway. So, in short, yay! Rinoa's possessed again and Leon has to save her, again. (I'm awful, I know.)
Originally, before I determined that Ultimecia's consciousness would fight back, it was actually just going to be a darkness-consumed Rinoa, because Ultimecia's magic was so infused with darkness that it ended up in Rinoa. But then, when I determined that Adel was going to possess Rinoa, it occurred to me that if Adel could do that, Ultimecia could/would as well.
And so here we are.
Poor Leon. And the Cures don't do any good because darkness. (It's a well-known fact in mine and rar's universes that Cures just don't work when there's too much darkness... see... haha... *sobs* ... Zack's death...)
Potions, however, work! Rar and I had a whole conversation on this, how potions just help the body heal, and the body doesn't want the darkness there, so it pushes the darkness out. As opposed to Cures, which are magic and just fix things... but the darkness can cancel them out. I mean, if there's only a little darkness, say, one dark bullet from Xigbar, it won't be a problem. But completely darkness-infused wounds, or a darkness-raging person... yeah, no, a Cure's not gonna work at all. Even if it's a Curasa.
by Kimika
Anyway, but Leon's gonna battle until someone dies (and hopefully it's Ultimecia.) Because Leon loves Rinoa and he admits this now. And Quistis isn't going to go down without a fight, either. So that was pretty fun to write.
I think, if I were to pick two favorite parts battle-wise, is when Quistis has Reflect on herself and it goes to Rinoa and Quistis just swears because she WARNED Leon about it, but then forgot it herself. And then the second is when Leon pulls the mega-potion out of his pocket and thanks Aerith and it works on Rinoa because Leon considers her an ally.
I'm also super a fan of the imagery of Leon holding Rinoa down, forcing her to get healed even though the battle is far from over. It's the tragedy-lover in me. I did the same thing in RE5 when you have to fight Jill when she's possessed. Yup. I'm a weirdo.
But, yeah, I think that's all I have to say on that note.
Anyway, this chapter marks the beginning of Zack's healing, slash the end of the current giant feels fest that we were on. I say current, because I can almost promise you that there will be more fests of feels.
Anyway, I'm not quite sure when I decided that Tifa's father was just going to be this absent, uncaring, backwards-ish figure, that just sort of happened. According to everything I remember from the game/what I've read on the wiki, mostly he just didn't want Tifa hanging out with Cloud because he blamed Cloud for Tifa getting hurt on Mt. Nibel. I don't think he had any other fault than that. However, once I started writing him, he ended up being someone who didn't want Tifa to fight, partially because he doesn't want her to get hurt and partially because he doesn't think girls should fight. He also doesn't feel like it's proper for girls to go out on adventures so.... But Tifa had to drag him home for dinner to tell him she was leaving. Yeah...
It does go into my vast-array of parent portrayals, however. Like, Kairi's biological parents are just legit gone and her grandmother died, but she doesn't remember her real parents so her adopted ones on Destiny Islands are just her real parents. And they're kind and accepting, supportive people. Sora's parents are a bit spacey, I feel, but they love their son. Riku's dad's a dead-beat goner, but his mother sure stepped up to the plate and filled the role of amazing single parent.
Not sure where Aerith's dad ended up... did I declare him dead? I don't think he would have left... he probably passed away. Aerith's mom didn't survive Radiant Garden's plunge-- but she was a lovely woman before then! Leon's mom died in childbirth and his dad's a bit of an absentminded dude with a big sense of wanderlust. (He's at least redeemed himself.) Cloud's dad is dead but his mom is supportive (uh-oh, I seem to have a lot of supportive mom's... actually, Sora's mom's a worry-wort and his dad's the carefree one, still though...) I think it's 'cause Riku's mom is just going to support Riku to the ends of the earth anyway, Aerith's mom was just knowledgeable and nice and Cloud's mom was like, "go do your thing, have some food!" (Very much like Aerith, actually...) And then there's Tifa's dad, who wants to constrain her, but can't because Tifa's too darn stubborn. Oh, and then there's Zack's parents: his mother is a huge Zerith shipper and just wants Zack and Aerith to settle down somewhere and then there's Zack's dad who's totes supportive of his son going out and killing things. And then Rinoa's dad is (oh eff... maybe I'm not so diverse as I thought...) because Rinoa's dad is somewhat like Tifa's dad in the manner of controlling and her mother's dead so nothing can be done about that. However, Squeenix set me up for some of this stuff... So... yeah...
Anyway, rar and I spent like, half a morning discussing how long it would take to legit walk from one place to another, trying to extrapolate miles and terrain and whatnot. It involved quite the map search of FFVII. This was about when I was beating Crisis Core, too, so I was actually calculating things as it was ('cause Zack and Cloud on a motorcycle and all.)
by darcywilliam on dA
But anyway, let's talk about Vincent for a bit, shall we? I have a lovely picture of him! (Excellent cosplay, actually).
I didn't actually include Vincent in the original outline. It was only when one of my readers asked if I was going to include him that I even thought about a cameo. And I figured this would be a great opportunity. Because, why the heck not? Tifa can totes meet him on the road. (I'm sorry, my roommate says 'totes' a lot and I appear to have picked it up.) But yeah, Vincent and his magical cloak are totally on the job for helping. I've also determined that Vincent's cloak can take him from World-to-World if he so chooses. Tifa's off-World transportation will come later.
And yeah, Vincent met Zack shortly after Zack left Gongaga, I feel. Before Genesis interfered, that's for sure. But Vincent never actually spoke with Zack, because Zack (like usual) was on his way somewhere and wasn't really stopping. And it is just amusing that Tifa runs into him later. (Though, her running into Zack and Aerith in Gongaga was certainly more planned than her running into Vincent.)
Excuse me while I be weirded out for a minute that Zack and Cloud haven't met yet. Okay. The minute is over.
So, HUGE update! 2.5 was released! Anyone super excited? I probably watched the trailer four times this morning on tumblr alone (as in, every single time it showed up on my dash) and then I think I watched it again on FB. Anyway... *dances excitedly*
So this chapter actually got written after I'd loaded up FFVIII and played that last battle again. Because, why not. T'was fun. That, and I watched two different playthroughs to get more ideas than just what I do. Because, seriously, I'm not writing Irvine or Selphie, and only some of their stuff gets transferred over to what I was doing with Edea and Laguna. And my solution with Rinoa is to stick her in her limit break and then just keep her healed. Then she just chain-casts. There's no strategy. And Rinoa in my fic would have strategy. So... yeah...
Ultimecia's a pretty fun boss battle, honestly. I found it incredibly easy the first time I played it (though, I'd had so much else go wrong with my game that I guess it just didn't quite match up to the suspense I'd gotten waiting for a functional third disk.) All the same, it's a pretty decent battle, though the storyline of 8 is all over the place, don't get me wrong. I think my stuff makes more sense lol.
Sorry for those of you reading the first posting of that chapter, I had missing words and stuff. Clearly I need to proofread better. I think it's all fixed now. If not, lemme know, I'll probably fix them
Again, I kinda feel bad for all the crap I put Rinoa through. This is the second time she's possessed. And Ultimecia's a stronger consciousness. And... yeah... I just... but... *shrug*. Rinoa is the one who just gets all the Sorceress powers in my story. Heheh...
And, yes, I did reference Shad. Don't even ask me why. I found it amusing and thus kept it.
Huh... is that really all I have to say about this chapter? I think it is. I mean, it's just a boss battle. The more interesting stuff will come in later chapters. O...kay... then.
Well, then in that case... anyone wondering what happens next will have to wait a couple of chapters. (I say two because the next chapter involves someone who is not these characters. You'll see!
As usual, have a video:
Oh! before I do that! I found other things to say... I think I've already attached Rolling Girl to Rinoa. Well, here, have another version of Rolling Girl (a really excellent cover if I do say so myself). A lot of my feels relate to rar's feels on this one (not the first time I've said this) but... yeah... enjoy!
Warning, this blog post is about half my feels on the chapter, and half my feels about the context surrounding this chapter. I don't expect you to read it. (not that I think anyone reads the blog anyways, but all the same...)
No link to a tumbl. I very obviously didn't livetumbl this chapter, and I didn't take notes like I've been doing in more recent chapters to put up on the tumblr later. And, well, um... going back and adding in notes just feels weird for some reason, so I'm not going to do it.
Anyway, I was going to write this chapter no matter what. It was on the slate because I knew I was going to deal with the aftermath of Angeal's death from Zack's perspective. It's not something I can just gloss over. The fact that Rand's death practically overlapped it is a completely different story. It did mean that I wrote this chapter before I wrote the previous chapter, because my version of "dealing with it" involved writing. I was going to write no matter what and I might as well be productive about it.
I sat at my kitchen table with my roommate and my sister kinda just watching, but they knew asking if I was alright was futile because we all knew the answer was "no."
So I sat there with my giant headphones in, listening to an odd mixture of the Crisis Core soundtrack, Linkin Park, Safety Suit, and Mumford & Sons, as well as a mixture of very Zack-feelsy-amvs on YouTube. And this chapter was born.
by ~Fanatic007 on dA
I didn't edit it too much, mostly because I wanted to keep the raw emotion that I fed into Zack. And Aerith.
Aerith is in no way telling Zack he needs to be strong and get over it. Aerith is simply telling Zack that he should not try so hard to grieve when no one is looking, because it makes it harder to function that way. It's okay to cry. You don't have to be strong all the time.
And... can we just take a second to appreciate the vast amount of strings in the Crisis Core soundtrack? I'm a sucker for strings, being a cellist myself. And... the sadness that the sound of a cello can produce, complete with the franticness of a violin. Sorry, music feels.
And, actually, I think that's all I have to say.
Yeah, it is.
Have another fitting video... (couldn't get the embed link to work either)
I wanted to include a battle against the Omega Weapon for two reasons, one because I made reference to it here. And there is just so funny, because everyone's talking to Aqua, Terra, and Ven, about how Rinoa and Squall are just so epic fighting together. And Rinoa makes mention of the "Ultima Weapon", though that is an error, it should have been "Omega Weapon" because that's the one in the game that has the attacks that I'm talking about.
official render from ff.wiki
Because this ugly dude is... well... ugly.
The second reason is that I had such an interesting experience fighting the Omega Weapon myself, that I thought to include it in my writing.
So, sidetrack for a second, while I mention a random factoid... It was established in AtP and BtE that everyone called Leon "Leon" except Rinoa, Quistis, and Zell. My original reasoning being that they all originate from FFVIII, so that name would stick. However, as I wrote the prequel, it became established that the only person who called Leon "Squall" was Rinoa, because she liked the name better and was too stubborn to listen to him telling her to call him Leon. Quistis and Zell would respect his decision to be called Leon. So, my options now are to either retcon that, or just say that after years of Rinoa referring to him as "Squall" they picked it up and he didn't feel like correcting them.
Anyway, moving on from that. So while I was fighting Omega Weapon in FFVIII, I didn't happen to kill him before he started his epic-beam-of-light-that-deals-9999-damage-so-you-die attack. I'm plugging along, using a ton of Life's and Full-Life's and trying to keep Squall in a state where he can use his Limit because Renzokuken! At some point during the battle, epic-attack-of-doom kills Rinoa. Literally, as soon as it works its way back to Squall, I get a limit and for the first (and sadly only) time in the game, I get the finisher of Lion Heart (as opposed to any of the other finishers). Naturally, the Omega Weapon didn't survive that. So, yeah, the experience was so amusing in my head, that I ended up including it here for you guys. Sorry about that lol.
I think mostly everything else was explained in the tumbl. So perhaps I'll leave it at that.
Have a Vocaloid video. Technically, it's an Akiakane and Yuyoyuppe cover. Because well, they're amazing.
Originally, I wasn't going to do a blog, because I'd said basically everything in the tumbl and I just... I dunno... but then I was taking a break from writing my paper and this photo happened, so I figured I'd do a blog.
I may just keep doing that and get really good at making letters. I should try and see if I can simulate a table or a desk underneath one. Anyway.
But yeah, so there's the easter egg with Zack and Angeal. I wanted to do a thing where the two of them visited Mt. Nibel for the tourist attraction it is and have Tifa be the tour guide (not quite unlike Crisis Core). However, it got to a point where I just wasn't sure where to put it in and I never ended up writing it. But just because I didn't write it doesn't mean it didn't happen. So I was able to have Tifa reference it in a letter.
This was one of several instances in this chapter where the time delay between letters being sent comes through.
Another of those times is definitely the Leon/Aerith letter sending. Sadly, that letter that Aerith sent, isn't going to make it to Leon before he goes forward in time. Just think about that.
The one that killed me the most, though, was the one where Zack's parents make mention of Angeal, having no idea what has gone on. That one just hit me right in the gut. So, yeah.
But yeah, that's all I really have to say about the chapter (not to sound weird or anything...)
Anyway, so I knew from the beginning that Rinoa would, at some point, think that Leon loved Aerith the entire time and it would come out and she'd be upset and yadda yadda. But as I was writing this, I realized how ridiculous that sounded.
However, what's not so ridiculous, is that Rinoa's got other issues, like, the fact that she's been possessed and feels that everyone hates her and she's only useful up until Ultimecia's gone and...
Yeah, all that stuff.
by RinoaNeko on dA
And it just pains her to think that maybe Leon doesn't love her anyway... but he does. And when he tells her that, she basically just bursts into tears. I think it a completely normal reaction. Mostly, I was just trying to keep the two of them from being ridiculous.
But yeah, this is also where Leon admits that he finally loves Rinoa. And the Squinoa shippers all cheer. Yes, Rinoa's being ridiculously emotional, but it's completely legit, because she's been through a lot and from her perspective, she feels that she's a walking timebomb. At the moment, she is, but they're going to fix that.
I think that's all I have to say, actually. This arc isn't as feelsy as the Zack one, mostly because Angeal's death is full of feels.
I can't come up with a better chapter title. But this is feelsy. Like, I cried through this whole sequence in the game, and then I knew Zack would have nightmares, and Aerith would be healing him and...
So, slowing down a little, I do a lot of POV switches in this chapter, unlike how I usually do it, mostly because these aren't separate scenes, they're all one scene that require different POVs. I think originally I wanted it all in Aerith's, but I realized the impracticality of that, so I ended up having a bit with Cid and a bit with Zack as well.
cosplay by Narga-Lifestream
So first there's the repeat, with Aerith finding Zack and realizing that he's injured. She's also piecing together possible situations of what happened, which I alluded to in the last blog, but here it is, actually happening. And she just feels so awful and wants to ask all the questions, but she doesn't because Zack's crying and that's never a good thing. Plus, she should heal Zack because he's not in great shape. Everything else, at that point, can wait.
And she's mentally calculating just how much healing she's going to have to do and where Zack should sleep and well, shoot, she might as well just put him in her own bed and then worry about everything else later. And Yuffie should just go sleep in Leon's bed because Yuffie should NOT be watching a healing. And Aerith also wants to give Zack privacy.
And that poor hotel owner I think has learned not to ask questions by now.
Also, I'm listening to the Crisis Core soundtrack as I write this... because, apparently, I need more feels.
Moving on, though, we've got Cid's portion of the chapter, which does have some humor in it, grim humor, but humor all the same. Cid is the one to draw the connection between Zack and Aerith to Laguna and Raine, because Raine was the healer before Aerith's mom, who was the healer before Aerith in Cid's eyes. Cid's also the one landed with keeping Yuffie out of the room. And while he doesn't want to argue with Yuffie, he knows Aerith can't right then, so he's going to have to. And though it doesn't happen in-scene, he does somehow manage to get Yuffie out of the room.
And then we're back to Aerith with the healing. She uses nearly her entire stock. She'll be making a shopping trip in the morning after that one. This is also where Zack tells her exactly what happened. And while she's totally cool with him waiting and telling her when he's ready, Zack needs to tell her what happened now or his brain is going to explode with the information. So he tells her and she feels awful on so many accounts. And there's absolutely nothing she can do but be there for Zack.
This is a HUGE development for their characters. Yes, Zerith is probably one of my most happy-go-lucky couples in the grand scheme of things. However, Zack's loss of Angeal makes the two of them realize just who they are to each other. Because, this is also where Zack's nightmares begin and Aerith is bound and determined to keep them away.
(Which of course, made me go all A:LGHSDG:KLHDSG over it because Riku tells the same thing to Sora in canon. Ugh.)
And then there's Angeal's letter to Zack, which he delivered to Aerith some number of chapters ago (I wanna say it was about five). Aerith never read the note herself, but she knew that this is what Angeal meant by she'd know when to give it to Zack. And that's what she did. And all Angeal wants is for Zack to live on, and be good to Aerith and let Aerith protect him as much as he wants to protect her. Because Angeal is the biggest Zerith shipper ever, I swear.
Aerith's the biggest Squinoa shipper, it's cool. (And I don't think they're official yet, heheh....)
So let's do some review responses:
archsage: Thank you very much! I'm glad I have Angeal's character down. I know you were hoping that he would live... but I wanted to stay true to the story in this instance. And a part of who Zack is is living through the death of Angeal.
KKBeckett:
No, it's not bad at all that you're laughing. I'd say I put in the humor there on purpose, but I really didn't. That's really just what Cid does. He's bitter but slightly humorous. But yes, that was muscle and I agree with your cringing. But... *hands you cookie* hopefully it'll help with the feels.
And, to finish off today's feels-fest:
(I'd recommend going to YouTube and clicking on the higher quality video, honestly.)
I wrote this chapter while simultaneously watching the scenes of Zack's fight(s) with Angeal repeatedly. I'd already passed that point in the game about a week prior and basically just called on those feels, plus the feels of me WATCHING THE PLAYTHROUGH OVER AND OVER AGAIN. Rar probably thought I was crazy. When I wasn't watching the videos, I was blaring the Crisis Core soundtrack. It was one of the scenes that literally requires I use headphones lest I drive everyone else bonkers with the constant sound-switching.
Clearly, this chapter is feels inducing. And I wouldn't have it any other way. I find the scene in Crisis Core to be so full of feels (granted, a lot of Crisis Core is more like Crisis Cries, as rar puts it). All the same, this was definitely one of the more emotional scenes. We've broken through Zack's core and it just makes you tear up a little.
by blazing-eyes on dA
Yes, I modified it a little bit. I'd already sped up Angeal's degradation with the serum, which basically meant that Angeal's degrading cells tried to meld with the Heartless, which meant that Angeal lost hope, thinking he truly was a monster. The only foreseeable way out of it as far as he was concerned was death and death by Zack was more honorable.
Meanwhile, poor Zack is still convinced that Angeal is not a monster, even when Angeal's half-Heartless. Yes, Zack does lose faith in Angeal's honor, but that becomes a moot point by the end of the battle. The Angeal that Zack will remember will be quite an honorable man indeed, despite everything that happened.
Naturally, the battle leaves Zack more emotionally damaged than physically damaged, though Aerith will have quite the healing job to do. But before I get too much into that, since that's next chapter, I'll just move on. Spoilers and such.
So, KKBeckett, to respond more to your review a couple of chapters ago, Zack had everything he needed in his stock up until this battle. He ran out of magic and had no ethers. He had a crapton of remedies equipped (mostly because that's all I was using at the time and I based his stock sort of off of my stock, and I was using remedies because I kept getting poisoned) and thus no ethers. Granted, he still won the battle, but is it really winning when you lose a friend in the process? We'll get to Zack's injuries more next chapter.
But yeah, Aerith at the end is mostly just like "I'll heal you now and we'll get to the talking later", because that's what Aerith does. Heal now, questions later. Though, I think there's a part of her who knows what happened. Zack showing up with Angeal's sword, Angeal not around? All that stuff. Yeah, she knows Angeal's dead. What she doesn't know is how. And that's a good portion of the gut-wrenching feels.
And then there's the fact that Zack realizes his sword is still in Olympus and more feels!
So, yes, very feels-inducing chapter. I'm surprised I'm not a puddle of feels at the moment.
Review Responses:
KKBeckett: I'm... uh... sorry? About the feels? I suppose? Maybe... I can't help that rar's giving you feels, either. Based on the fact that you've got Zerith feels, I have an idea of what chapter she just sent you. I'm sorry, heh...
archsage: Yeah, when Phil's at a loss, there's a problem. In my head, Phil is very much doing the thing when Meg died in the movie. Except, unlike Hercules, who's a god and can go get her soul from the Underworld, Zack has no such ability. Nor, do I think, would he want to go get Angeal, because Angeal wanted to go out. Bringing Angeal back would devalue his death. Meg's death was not supposed to happen and Hercules righted it. Anyway! Enough of that philosophy.
Huh, Terra and Riku, though? I don't particularly imagine that happening in my story. I want Terra to live! But it is an interesting image, I will give you that.
And no, nope. Nothing's going to quiet down for a few chapters yet. We're on quite the ride right now!
