More Plotting

So I left off yesterday after some reposting of an old conversation between me and rar.  I thought I might continue what I have of that for your guys' benefit.  Because, honestly, there's a lot of good stuff about how the whole idea for Zerith's wedding came up.  

Though, tbh, I almost wished I'd remembered this whole conversation when I wrote the chapter of Aerith's wedding day, because that first line there is beautiful! Then again, I do like it better where there's some week-before set-up, and the line wouldn't have flowed with all that leading into it.

magik: "it was in a church--Aerith's doing... Zack didn't care (would have married her on the moon for all he cared)" nice, simple... She'd probably settle for Yuffie, Tifa, and Rinoa for the bridesmaids.  Zack would have Cloud, Leon, and I'd think of a third person

rar: shoot since when were there THREE flies?? sorry i just, we had two and killed one but now there's two

magik: they do this thing called breeding. I'm channeling hades, apparently. 

rar: yeah but they're all big and have only been around for this afternoon??

magik: I"M NOT WRITING FOR HIM TOMORROW DARNIT< I"M WRITING CLOUD AND TIFA

rar: I'M SORRY

magik: and sephiroth

rar: THAT'S FRUSTRATING

magik: i need to get in a sephiroth mood

rar: write Hades anyway??? ??? just write it now. go back and do cloud later

magik: no, because then i either A) have to get into Mickey's head or B) have Aqua hover over his shoulder. the time for hades will come. he just needs to hush.

rar: okay, just trying to help

magik: but i need to deal heavily with mickey for that chapter

rar: riiight

FYI: This was the Hades' attack on Disney Castle sequence.  Just for anyone wondering.  I changed Donald/Daisy's wedding into Zerith's wedding very early on into Remnants.  But I am SO SO SO happy with that change.  

This here is some more plotting for the Cloud arc:

magik: hmm... do i want to throw Cloud into Agrabah?

rar: idk? you could

magik: thank you, Tifa, for that line

rar: what line? 

magik: "Cloud, we are wandering around in the desert, and for what?"

rar: stick 'em in Agrabah then

magik: because like, he'd park his bike, and then just start wandering aimlessly, though Tifa knows it's not aimless

rar: how'd they get back to the bike?? he should not lose track of it. just saying, that'd be bad

magik: Tifa can get herself right to it.

rar: goooood point

magik: Cloud just doesn't ask. Tifa's "job" is to go get the bike and save Cloud's butt.

rar: ha yeah 

Because that was before Tifa'd really revealed to anyone that she could form light corridors.  Not that it's a huge deal, but as a point of reference. 

And this upcoming bit was some plot arc that I'd intended on using for Sora.  It kind of made its way in, but not entirely.  

magik: spam you some feels about charrie development: because Sora... Sora's got a darkness problem. not huge, but it's there. because he no longer has so much light in his heart. yup, it's a thing. and while it's not a "problem"

rar: oh yeah, now that Ven's gone

magik: it's a problem in the fact that he has NO IDEA how he's supposed to take care of it, so he has to learn

rar: thaaaaaaaaaaaat's true

magik: and Riku and Kairi have to help him through it, once he admits he needs help. I think it's the only topic he and Kairi fight on, actually. And Kairi... Kairi's learning how to wield a Keyblade, and that's all find and dandy. but then there's Xion, and Xion's just amazing because she's a perf replica

rar: of course

magik: and kairi knows that xion and roxas technically wielded before her and it shouldn't matter, but it does. And Roxas, who just spent a year training and that's all he did. and Kairi's just like... "why can't I be that good?" and then there's Riku... 

rar: (they do have like a year on her tho. both of them. I GET KAIRI'S FEELS I'M JUST SAYING)

magik: shh... it shouldn't matter but it does to her, anyway... but then there's Riku who's kinda just quietly bettering himself

rar: that's Riku for you

magik: he's over most of his demons/skeletons. he's coping. except for when he's not. he and Namine get locked in this "you need to stop being so hard on yourself" thing, because they're both struggling with it. and idk about Roxas and Xion's development at the moment, outside of them wanting to become masters. it'll come to me

but then there's Axel, who gets a double-whammy of character development. first of all, because he's finally coping with everything that involved Isa/Saix, which is huge and major. then he thinks that it's weird that he's included in Sora's friends because, sometimes, he sees himself as the enemy, still. anyway, i'm sorry, did I saw two, i think I meant three... the third one involves Kuin but not in a romantic way, in a "i need to respect you" way, because that whole thing with Xehanort and she has to come to terms with that, and apologize, and realize that she can't do it alone. And Axel can respect her for that

Wow, that was a lot of character talk.  As you can see, a lot of that made it into the 115 chapter monstrosity that is Remnants.  Some of that didn't.  

I never really did deal with Sora's darkness problem.  It came up a bit.  Here and there.  But not overly so.  I think I'd wanted to include it because I knew that Ven was no longer in Sora's heart anymore, and Sora had less light to combat the darkness--plus, Nomura had hinted at stuff like that for KH3.  Well, it didn't make it in to the extent that I'd originally thought it would.  Sure, in my headcanon, he and Kairi probably do argue about it a bit.  I just never wrote it because it never really seemed to flow.  Sora's optimistic and happy, and he wants the best for everyone.  When he worries, it's not because he has darkness problems, it's because he's trying to figure out how he's going to kill four people--all of whom he's killed before and now he has to kill them again.  He's afraid of Xehanort getting one of them and it never once occurs to him that Xehanort'll come for him, too.  At least, not until Xehanort does do that.  

Meanwhile, Kairi's apprehensions about Roxas and Xion being amazing do show up, when it comes time for them to take their Mark exam.  But even that worry was lessened because Kairi is reminded that different people are good at different things.  

Riku and Namine do have this "you need to stop being so hard on yourself" for literally everything.  But, honestly, the best interactions between them are when they're dealing with the aftermath of her shattering Marluxia and her throwing Xehanort from her head.  Good, solid, conversations.

Roxas and Xion are quietly adorable on their way to becoming masters.

Ah yes, and Axel and Kuin.  I'll talk about that now.  Sometime during Betwixt/Between, I realized that trying to pair Axel with Kuin just wasn't going to work.  It might have worked in someone's vague crack-fic after AtP had BB never been written.  But Axel being who he is and Kuin being who she is meant that that two of them would never be a healthy relationship.  And I wasn't in the mood to write an unhealthy one.  So I turned them into rivals and acquaintances, who'd never pursue anything romantically.  It felt better that way.  

Also, it let me subtly ship Akurokushi.  One of my biggest OT3s as of late. My final chapter does contain a reference to that.  

I'll continue in another (and probably final) blog about wedding traditions. 

Halloweentown (Chapters 89-93)

So this whole section starts with Axel sitting in the Gummi ship as they're all on their way to Halloween Town.  Yes, they're totally on their way to Halloween Town to go to Christmas Town so that Sora can prove to Riku that Santa exists.  That whole thing started as something that I honestly think was suggested in a review in AtP and I literally did not get around to it until now.  (Yet again a thing that was supposed to go in Betwixt and Between but didn't.)

The arc obviously expanded out after that.  It got placed this far into the fic because it wasn't a huge major plot point that needed to happen any specific time, and especially after I decided that this was where Marlynort was going down, that influenced my decision to put it here.

So, Axel on the gummi ship.  I think one of the most interesting things that came out of this chapter was Axel contemplating what time had done to him versus Leon.  Leon's still on everyone's minds after almost getting Norted in Traverse Town.  This gets the wheels in Axel's brain turning a lot because he's had several close calls with Xehanort as it is already.  Plus, he knew Leon from when they were kids on Radiant Garden.  So that's gotta be trippy.

Giving everyone new outfits for Halloween Town was interesting.  I wish I could draw better to do those... but it literally takes too much effort for me to do that right now.  Sad day.  If only I had more time.  If you want to do that though, feel free.

Anyway, then the HB gang talking about going and getting kids for the school.  Denzel is adorable.  Just saying.  Also, sticking Yuffie on a team with Leon is just amusing.  Because Rinoa's obviously not going to go because her arm hasn't quite healed yet.  Plus, Yuffie deserves to go places, I've been writing this whole thing so long where she always gets told no.  Denzel knows she gets told no a lot.  But here we go, Yuffie getting told yes.  Yay!

And then, Aerith and Zack discussing wedding plans.  And Yuffie just quietly listening in, kind of grossed out by the whole thing but at the same time rooting so hard for them it's not even funny.  And Denzel's just so surprised at how many Worlds there are.  And I actually think Yuffie does go and travel the Worlds a bit after Hollow Bastion is restored.  Not that I'm going to write that far.... (I say that now... and then we'll see where I am in two years.)

And then MINNIE AND MICKEY FLUFF which is honestly what I live for sometimes oh my gosh.

And then we've got Terra, Aqua, and Ven getting a nice break and a vacation.  With Ven all like "This isn't quite the life that I dreamed of... but this is basically the life I dreamed of."  Beautiful.  I love giving them a break because they've had such a hard time.  My babby's oh goodness.

And then we're in Christmas Town.  With new outfits again (though these one's you've probably seen examples of all over the interwebs.)  And then, they don't see Santa for long when Marlynort shows up.  And then things get real.  The line "Well, Santa, either we destroy your entire office, or we break a window" is probably one of my favorite lines.  And Santa's just like "Oh break the window."

Cue fight sequence.  It surprisingly wasn't a long one.  I could have probably made it longer, but I always struggle with whether or not it's good to write long battles with loads of detail, or shorter ones with a comparable amount of detail.  I don't want you guys to be reading battle forever.  So, I settled on a shorter one with a few Combo name drops and the whole focus being on whether or not Namine was going to be able to Shatter Marlynort.

But she was.

A++++++++ to Namine.  Overcome girl!

Then, switch gears to Cid and Shera talking about rebuilding his workshop.  Bringing back loads of things.  Woot.  Tifa and Aerith talking some more about the wedding because that's what happens when there's a wedding on the horizon.

Ah yes, then Kuin running into a Remnant.  That obviously wasn't going to be a big huge deal because the Remnant knows he can't get Kuin because of who she is--flexor, perfect balance of light and darkness--so he doesn't try.  He honestly just wants to stay clear of her because he knows she wants him dead.  But they have a little battle and then he disappears.  I wasn't super clear on whether or not she killed him--but you can assume she didn't.  Because the Remnant's a jerk.  Not that it'd matter, because he'd just respawn.

And then Marlene's first day of school and running into the Moogle Girl! I couldn't resist!

Then we have aftermath of Namine shattering Marlynort.  And I tried to do a good job showing what it would have been like for her... but honestly... *I* don't know what that would have been like.  It's not like I have those powers or anything.  So I (like every other writer) made my best guess.  Based on what I've described Namine's powers as... it did require her to be picking and prying through the memories enough to have a good grasp to shatter.

I decided that Namine shattering him was an appropriate way for him to go.  After their history in Castle Oblivion and what Marluxia has become and who Namine has grown into.  It was fitting.  So hey, Marlynort is gone.

And I know I'm halfway through a chapter here... but the next bit goes straight into Castle Oblivion.  Which is the next arc and thus next blog post.  So I'll see you for the next blog.

Disney Castle Arc (Chapters 10-17)

Interesting, the first arc took 8 chapters, so did the second arc.  Anyway.

The Disney Castle arc was a combination of several things that I had set up for myself in Betwixt and Between and due to horrible planning, wasn't able to complete until Remnants.

from the Disney Wiki

First of all, I had this desire for Hades to attack Disney Castle.  It stemmed from a game called "Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom" in the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World.  It's basically where Hades decides that he wants a new summer home and the castle in Magic Kingdom is going to be it.  So he contacts his favorite villain friends (Maleficent, Doctor Facillier, Ursula, Jafar, etc) to rampage around until he can claim the castle for his own.

I fell in love with the idea and wanted to included it, replacing Cinderella's Castle with Disney Castle itself.  Plus, it gives me more of a chance to play with Mickey, who's always a fun character to write for.  I set it up in Betwixt and Between with Namine, Kairi, and Aerith learning of Hades' plot, but I never enacted it because I stopped Betwixt and Between before I wrapped up all of my plotlines (with the full intention of I'd wrapping it up in Remnants.)

The next thing included (at least in chapters 8 and 9) is the idea that Sora and the gang would all be chilling on Destiny Islands, and then be summoned promptly elsewhere.  Granted, given my canon, I'm sure that sort of thing happened all the time, with Cid or Mickey calling one of them up and being like "Hey, can you take care of such-and-such Heartless problem for me" and them being like "Yeah, sure, totally on it!" But I wanted to write it out, so here it was.

Though, as a side-note, originally it was that Aerith was in trouble that pulled them all away, back when I was still trying to incorporate FF7 into my fic like I incorporated FF8 back in the prequel.  I scrapped that idea because it's a fic in and of itself practically (or at least a huge chunk of one) and I didn't want to do it.  (Mostly because I didn't want to kill Zack or Aerith.)

Oh yes, and then comes Axel starting to read through Saix's journal.  Which will have important information in it.

Of course, as all of that's going on, I have Cloud and Tifa off on their little adventures (which happen periodically through half the fic).  Because they're in Agrabah at the moment because Cloud thinks Sephiroth's going to show up there.  Spoiler alert, he does.  I think I stuck them in Agrabah because I liked Cloud's dynamics in Agrabah from rar's fic.  But ignore me.

Tifa using corridors of light is just something so neat.  Since I gave her that ability in the prequel, of course she'd still be able to use it now.  And Cloud's just now learning about it, because she's kept it secret for so long.  But Cloud should know.  And meanwhile, Rinoa's just like, if Sephiroth comes after me, I will fight him.  Okay, kay?

by rongs1234 on dA

I love Mickey fighting.  He only does it when he feels he has to, but Hades attacking Disney Castle kind of gives Mickey reason to fight.  And Hades going after Minnie was just dumb, because the whole "let go of my wife" thing is just beautiful.  MickeyxMinnie is my forever ship.

Oh look, ZackxAerith in chapter 14.  Shameless and I don't care.  But gotta include life in Hollow Bastion even when the action is elsewhere.

And of course, even after they've dealt with Hades, I'm going to also make them deal with a Xehanort Remnant.  (Hint, they'll do that a lot.)  And I loved being in Xion's POV for this because Xion thinks faster than everyone else because she's got a computer for a brain and so she strategizes and then spends the remaining time figuring out how she's going to enact said strategies--in the same time everyone else is still figuring part  a out.

Riku is officially the first person that the Xehanort Remnant tries to go after.  And of course that fails miserably because Riku has actually built up a tolerance to that sort of thing.  And then he's just an ass and he makes everyone believe for three seconds that Xehanort might have done something, before just being like JK NOPE SUCKERS!

Cid and Shera love.  This is me, reintroducing her to the story, because she wasn't around in AtP or in BB.  And now she's back.  And I'm totes cool with that.  I don't know if I ever mentioned it, but I did actually intend on killing Shera in that massive cannon blast in Traverse Town, all that time ago.  She was supposed to die and it was going to freak Aerith and Cid both out.  It would also solve the "where has she been" problem.  But then I decided I didn't want to kill her (especially since she survives in the FF7 timeline--she and Cid quietly get married, even!) So I decided that she went back to work for the King.  But anyway.

Things I'm really okay with:
-Everyone on Destiny Islands being ready to help
-Xion reading upside-down
-Xion giving absolutely zero cares regarding walking in on Axel
-Aerith's hunches and sending the appropriate people to help
-Ven using shotlocks
-Tifa being able to use corridors of light
-Rinoa being like "ima punch Sephiroth if he comes after me"
-Rinoa's dynamic with Cloud and Sephiroth in general, I guess
-Mickey fighting Hades
-Hades out-hotting Axel
-Xion's computer-like battle planning because she's a Replica
-Everyone protecting Ven from Neoshadows
-Namine shattering things and then conveniently not talking about it

Overall Post about the Prequel

Yeah, I know, no one's seen me in nearly a year.  Because my life got really crazy this time last year only beginning with my last semester college and deciding to move across the country after graduation.  So, what ended up happening, is I didn't do posts for the last third of the Prequel.

But these are my thoughts (six months after officially completing it.)

The Prequel was actually really fun to write.  I wish I had as much time as rar has to make character pages and all that stuff for all of her characters.  But I don't have the time.  (So enough of your lamenting magik, get on with it!)  So yeah, the Prequel was really fun to write.  It was fun getting to play with the cast as they grew up and became the characters they are in AtP etc.  The Prequel made me really get a handle on the Squinoa and Zerith relationships for sure.  It also made me fall in love with Shera and really have an idea of how Sephiroth was related to Cloud.

cosplay by CanisPanthera on dA

The last chapter (or epilogue) of the Prequel that I posted back in June is (as you've probably already noticed) nearly the same as the first chapter (or prologue) of Remnants.  That was intentional and not because I was being lazy.  I wanted there to be a very specific tie between the two.  It brings together the FF and KH casts beautifully.  Leon, Aerith, Yuffie, Kairi, and Axel are all looking over a place that all of them had called home at one point or another (intentional.)  Not that the latter two refer to it as home anymore.  But Kairi and Axel still want to help restore Hollow Bastion just as much as the others.

The chapter was short and a preview of what was to come, the giant battle of Hollow Bastion that I'd been hinting at since Betwixt and Between but had yet to follow through with.  And I also got in a cute line of Leon telling Aerith that she needs to sleep.  Like the brother he is to her.  *snickers*

I think those are all my thoughts at the moment.  I hope everyone is having a great time of year! I know this time of year can be stressful to students.  So, hang in there!

I'll have a few more posts over the next few weeks and as I finish up Remnants.  I won't do a post every chapter, but every major World I suppose.

Have a good day everyone!

The Hollow Bastion Arc becomes the Sephiroth Arc (ch69)

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MAN I AM SO EXCITED THAT I’VE POSTED THIS CHAPTER YOU HAVE NO IDEA.

BECAUSE IT IS RIDDLED WITH THE WORST SPOILERS EVER.

I mean, granted, you all KNEW I was gonna drag Sephiroth in at some point, but I loved holding off on the WHEN.

Well, now he’s here and clearly causing problems. 

This chapter did give me some difficulty when it comes to getting it down on paper, because what I had in the outline ended up being just enough different from what got written down on the page.  I can’t even remember why at the moment, but something to changed and it made things ever so slightly more difficult.  Anywho…

See, we’re all now well-aware of Cloud being bothered by the darkness in his heart and him not saying anything. 

by FujimiyaRan on dA

Oh, I think I remember what happened, I definitely added Sephiroth using Cloud to try and kill Aerith and Zack stopping him, because I’d established in AtP or BB, one of the two, that Cloud had nearly killed Aerith and it was Sephiroth’s fault and I decided that now was just a good a time as any to put that in.  But hey, I’m still really okay with how the chapter turned out. 

Anywho, then Tifa shows up and screams for Cloud.  Sephiroth accepts Tifa to be Cloud’s light and states that he is Cloud’s darkness.  Cloud wakes up and slashes at Sephiroth, demanding him to leave his friends alone.  Cloud and Sephiroth fight. 

The usual. 

Now that I’ve got Cloud’s shadow around, rar and I keep having feels about shadows and their people.  Because that’s just a fun relationship to play with.  I’ll be playing with it throughout the Prequel, and also in B3.  Because I’m cool like that.

Also, I realized that when I was writing the Christmas one-shot, I had to be careful about what I said regarding the last staff that Cloud got Aerith… because I hadn’t posted this chapter yet!!! But now it’s posted and I can have some feels regarding Cloud getting Aerith a staff that LITERALLY saves her life a week later because Sephiroth decides to show up.  And here he is again, giving her the pieces to make another new staff and Aerith (and Zack) have to wonder if Sephiroth’s gonna show up again, but he never did.  Like I said before, Sephiroth didn’t ruin Christmas. 

Anyway, I’m over the feels, I think the chapter basically speaks for itself on them.

Teaser Quotes!

“Sheesh, what put you in a mood?”

“Tired.”

“All you do is sleep, it seems!”

“The newer recruits get harder jobs than those of us who have been around longer.”

“You sent Demyx on that mission?”
“I do not have high hopes for the new recruit.  Besides, I have a different mission for you.”
“Oh boy, sounds like fun.”

“Oh gracious no! I wouldn’t want to be a bother!”

“He’s rather unassuming for a King.”

“His wife’s the same way.”

“Honestly, I’d rather he find Cloud.”

“I agree.”

I'm kind of attached to this video.  It makes me really happy for some reason.  So does the song. :)

ANOTHER SHAMELESS CHRISTMAS POST!

Chapter

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

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)

Letters from the Girls (63)

Chapter

Tumbl

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!

Embrace Your Dreams (ch59)

And Cry because that game is so sad.

Chapter

Tumbl

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!)

Cid and Shera (Prequel ch51)

Chapter

Tumbl

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

Crossover Continued (Can't Escape ch63)

No, I'm not spamming you with chapters and posts.  not at all.  

Chapter

So, originally, the whole crossover was supposed to take place during Betwixt and Between.  It was during the whole "restoration and rebirth" kind of thing that I had going on, and the crossover was a part of that.  But then I wrapped Betwixt and Between up sooner than originally intended, so it got put after Betwixt and Between but before my Book 3.  (Like, literally, a couple of days before.)

by veritas-project

I remember using this image a long time ago (back when we were all still on Posterous) during the chapter where Namine and Riku ended up running into Shad.  Don't ask me why I used this picture then, but I did.  But now I'm using it again.  It's more appropriate, even though Riku and Repliku aren't going to be fighting each other.  Like, ever.  Alongside, maybe, against, never.

Man, I'm not quite sure where the "comparing injuries" conversation came from, it was probably Sora's idea.  Regardless, it totally happened and it flowed, so we kept it.

Eheheheh... the Larxene stuff, gets me every time! Oh, just you wait.  It's awful spoilers.

Man, does this group go off on all the tangents.  But, what can you do? It's a combination of them all talking about Xehanort/Xemnas/Ansem.  Which rar and I knew was going to happen, because there's the whole thing where Riku's like "man, I gotta deal with these guys again?!?!"

This is also the conversation that spawns Namine desiring to literally summon her sketchbook like a Keyblade.  Yup.  It's a thing.  Well, it'll be a thing.

Oh, this conversation happened:
rar: IS RIKU'S WRIST STILL BROKEN
magik: DEPENDS
magik: WHEN ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?
magik: ARE WE TALKING CROSSOVER
rar: YES
magik: UGH, LOAD THE SPREADSHEET COMPUTER

Riku's wrist is still braced, actually, sometimes.  (He never actually got it set the cocky-butt, and then Xaldin did drive a lance through that same hand, so...) Heheh.  But I had to load the darn spreadsheet just to check.  By now, at least, Sora's hands are both functioning... remember Xehanort breaking his wrist during the battle of Castle Oblivion?  Anywho.

I think that's all I've got for now.  Except this.

Fight Against Adel in Rinoa (ch30)

Link to the Chapter: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/30/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

Link to the livetumbl: http://magiksbrain.tumblr.com/tagged/ch30/chrono

So, this is the chapter where Leon finally decides that he's going to go after Rinoa.  Goodness, that took some persuading.  (Actually, it really didn't.  Edea basically just had to tell him what he needed to do.)  Anyway.

Literally, this is what I had written in my outline:
Leon, Zell, and Quistis were forced to go back to Balamb without Rinoa, but with Laguna.  Despite everything Laguna said, there was no retrieving Rinoa.  After agonizing about this for a while, Leon takes it upon himself to go rescue Rinoa.  He realizes that he cares about her a lot, maybe even to the point of love.  Edea coaches him a bit about Sorceress Knights and he goes off to rescue her.  On the way, he realizes that he loves her.  He brings Rinoa back to herself and she gets the two sets of Sorceress powers under control.

Yeah, so that happened.

by *Mar-ka on dA

Well, it kind of happened like that.  That particular portion of the outline hadn't been updated since I decided
that Adel's consciousness wasn't going to die yet.  Originally, Rinoa just lost control of the second set of powers, rather than Adel having anything to do with it.  But, aside from that modification.

What I do wish I had done, was maybe make the fight against Adel take a little longer.  Reading through it again, I feel like I shortened it by too much to keep it in a chapter length.  I don't know.  Anyone else have any thoughts on that?

Despite that, I'm glad I included the Adel conscious in favor of Rinoa just losing control.  It make Rinoa the only girl who gets possessed, sure, but that's one girl out of a load of boys who have trouble with "shadows" (e.g. Rar's Sora, Riku and Cloud (and kind of Zack).)  *not spoilers because of AtP and BB*

Though, it does make this sequence a little bit darker than originally planned.  Whoopsies.

Then, to piggy-back off of what the livetumbl has going on... I *love* the sarcasm that Leon's got going on.  "I'm going to go visit it as a tourist attraction--no, I'm going to try and rescue her, you dumbwit!"  The second half of that post refers to Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog.  Because sarcasm, that's original.

Then, in those last moments, he's just so mushy.  And he's never been more grateful that Rinoa's always called him 'Squall' in his life.  I made sure that Adel always referred to him as 'boy', and it's not until Rinoa's truly herself again that she calls him 'Squall.'   Heheh.

So, yeah.  That's all I have to say.

The Fight Against Adel (22)

Because, we needed more fights.  Actually, we did.

Link to the chapter: (I swear it's the chapter this time, not my fanfic profile) http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/22/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

Link to the tumbl (it wasn't live, I basically went in and added my thoughts afterwards): http://magiksbrain.tumblr.com/tagged/ch22/chrono

I'm actually doing a thing where I'm not livetumbling what I'm writing right now because I'm so far ahead and spoilers, and it takes more effort to livetumbl what I'm writing.  However, I'll still make posts under tags for each chapter later with my thoughts.  Because little snippets of thoughts are funny.

Erm, if you didn't know, a Can't Escape chapter went up! Link in the previous post.

Um, yeah, so, this chapter!

Leon is mostly just like "oh my gosh guys, must you be all dumb-sounding!" Because, Rinoa and Zell both drive him up a wall.  Quistis is quiet, he likes Quistis.  (Shh, Squinoa shippers, that'll happen later.)  Of course, then he's super impressed with Rinoa lying her face off to get them in there.  And then when Zell starts flirting, he's all jealous.  Yup.  That happened.  He just squashed it.  (That didn't make it on the tumbl, huh...)

Anyway, I contemplated several different ways for them getting to Adel without help from the president of Esthar, because that scene happens later! (I mean, I could have moved them around... but I had already planned it out this way...) (That, and the tourist idea was super funny and amusing.)

by ~retamal1990 on dA

But yeah, Quistis and Scanning is a thing.  (I never really used the Scan spell in the game *shrug*).  Anyway, Quistis is actually super quietly badass during this whole scene because she's orchestrating what will go on, keeping track of everyone, and all that jazz.  She doesn't have to worry about Curing anyone, because that's Rinoa's job, but she does think to add things to Rinoa's barrier when Adel keeps using the Quake spell.  Anyway, yeah, minor Quistis appreciation paragraph.

So, anyway, a while ago, back in Betwixt and Between, I talked about Flexors, and how they can cast magic from all ends of the spectrum.  All Sorceresses are Flexors. Sure, Adel is basically an evil Sorceress, but that doesn't prohibit her from casting spells like Holy and Ultima.  Just like how Rinoa's a good Sorceress and that doesn't stop her from casting spells like Meteor and Flare.  Aerith, however, is not a Flexor, so while she can have a basic understanding of black magic, she is a white magic caster.  (Shh, I'm aware that elemental magic technically counts as black magic, but I say it's elemental magic.  Also, I'm not sure where Gravity fits in.  I suppose it's technically dark, but it's use in KH in general throws me off.)

Yeah, okay, so I realize now (as KKBeckett points it out) that Leon basically got knocked out during the ends of the last TWO Sorceress battles.  Granted, Edea was trying to specifically kill him.  Adel was just trying to kill them all.  Zell passed out, too.  Anyway, yeah, Rinoa saves his life the first time, and Quistis gets him with a good Curaga during the second one.  Meanwhile, Rinoa's angrily throwing magic at Adel until she dies.

And then Rinoa passes out.  Which is a thing that happens when you absorb another Sorceress' powers.  In my canon, that is.

Review Responses:
archsage from ch21, I PMed you about that one, because that answer is highly spoilerish.

archsage from ch22, go ahead and beat FFVII first since you have it on steam.  But FFVIII is pretty fun (in my opinion).  Though, I will grant the story can be a tad confusing.

KKBeckett: I'm glad you think Rinoa's sassy!

archsage from Can't Escape ch61: congrats on being review 200! And I can't really tell you who's going to meet up first.  (i mean, i know, just spoilers.)  I mean, just on rar's end, we have an emotionally unstable Riku and a darkness-ridden Sora.  Should be fun either way!

And now for a video: (more VOCALOID stuff)

The Fight against the Darkness (21)

I am aware that that blog post title only applies to one quarter of the chapter that I just posted, but it's really the only fight that's going on in this chapter (as opposed to gearing up to the fight against Adel and Cid's fights against libraries and bookstores.  Neither of which make good blog titles.

Link to chapter: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/21/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

Link to liveblog: http://magiksbrain.tumblr.com/tagged/ch21/chrono

And the truth behind why Rinoa had magic in chapter two comes out.  Adel tried to possess her.  See, when I wrote the chapter, I hadn't quite decided whether or not Rinoa was a Sorceress or not.  I think in my head, I assumed she was, because she needed to be for the chapter for the plot I already had in place to function.  It was only later that I decided that Rinoa wasn't a Sorceress yet because, I liked the transfer of powers idea and there really was no other way (that wasn't ridiculously complicated) that I could work it out.

But, in the game, Rinoa doesn't become a Sorceress until Sorceress Edea almost dies and transfers her powers.  In my canon, here's Rinoa exhibiting Sorceress powers before she'd even MET Edea, so I decided to go with the possession (or attempt of possession) route.  Because, it's so Kingdom Hearts.  It really is.  Okay, well, it's so Xehanort, but still.

The raw magic, as explained by the chapter, came from an attempt of possession by the Sorceress Adel, who was trying to possess another girl in order to free herself from prison.  Rinoa seemed like a good enough candidate because of her connection to one of Galbadia's generals.  However, the full possession attempt fails because of the safeguards around Adel's prison.

Rinoa was then able to use magic for about six months while the residual Sorceress power slowly drained from her system.

Cue everything between chapter 2 and chapter 21.

Rinoa decides that now is as good of a time than ever to mention that she had magic before, answering just about all of Quistis' questions as well as getting some of her own answered by Edea.  Meanwhile, Leon and Zell are just like "okay, whatever".

Moving onto Cid! (I wonder if this is going to be a long blog... probably not... because I really only am going to ramble on and on about the Sorceress part of this chapter)

See, I knew that Cid researched, I just was never quite sure when, so I decided that I would explore in a chapter snippet when he's researching.  So look, there he is researching gummi ships (because, face it, they're more stable than star shards).  This also marks when he decides to start collecting gummi blocks.

So back to the Sorceress plot... Everyone makes plans to fight Adel and while everyone's like "oh, it's a super good idea for Rinoa to do this", Leon's the only one who's like... "Who decided this is a good idea? This is not a good idea! Rinoa, you could die!" (Leon loves her, it's a thing, but he doesn't admit it yet and he won't for a while.)  And then Edea's like, "Well, you're going to need a Knight..." And because Leon's in love with Rinoa, he agrees to it without really thinking about what he's getting into.  And he justifies it by saying he's just trying to keep her from doing something stupid, when really, he loves her.

That's not spoilers, it happens in the game.  The him loving her part.  Not the Rinoa absorbing Adel's powers.  Though... I'm forgetting who absorbed those in the game, I think it might have been Ultimecia... the game was very much like "We have to kill Adel so Time Compression can start" and there wasn't a lot of "who's absorbing that power?"

It was while I was writing this part of the chapter that the lone post on the livetumbl came up.  See, I was plotting things that happen upon Adel's death and I was wondering if I was being a bit mean to Rinoa, but then I figured that a ton of crap happens to the game.  Of course, then I wondered if I was making her character useless, which led to a huge brainstorming session in which I could both be mean, and still have a good character.  Yep.  That happened.

And then, stuck at the end of the chapter, is Cloud's fall into darkness.  I knew from the beginning that it wasn't going to be like other's falls into the darkness.  His descent (because, it's kind of a descent, since he does eventually end up with a shadow (not spoilers, it comes up in Betwixt and Between)) isn't really his fault.  He just wanted to adventure, and then he was unfortunate enough to be on a World as it fell into darkness.  He will then be IN the Realm of Darkness for a while, and he won't be the same when he comes out.  I won't say too much, because I haven't even written all of that yet...

So, yeah, wow, long blog post...

Review Replies!
KKBeckett, I answered most of your review above in my rant lol.  But yes, that's what happened with Rinoa, and yes, he totally LIKES her.
And Cid's feels are so adorable! He's secretly a Zerith shipper.
As for Cloud, and that World being plunged into darkness, I suppose it's technically Xehanort's fault.  Though, I'm pretty sure this one was Ansem or Maleficent.

Have a video! (From Geek Week on YouTube not too long ago)

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.)

by ~lyxia on dA

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...

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!

Stepping Stones (Prequel Ch5)

I feel that's an accurate description of the chapter: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/5/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

It kind of is a "stepping stones" chapter, considering it's made up of four smaller parts.  Each of these parts is a step away from what happened before and/or a step towards what's coming next.

We hadn't seen Cloud yet, but I needed to set up several things with him:
-His relationship with Tifa
-His unhappiness of where he's at
-His want to go adventuring
And so I did just that.  Sure, in a future chapter with him (minor spoilers), he's still in Nibelheim, but he's working towards his goals.

We had yet to see a chapter featuring Isa and Lea as main characters, only as side characters.  I didn't particularly have enough information on them to warrant a full chapter.  It's not really an area I'm exploring and what happens to them is relatively explained in the games themselves.  I took what we knew and made a snippet of a chapter.

Kairi's chapter featured both her and Zack.  It was a step away from Kairi in the first chapter and it certainly pulls from that.  It's also a step away from the last chapter where Zack was featured.  He's now in Hollow Bastion and looking for his own means of transportation outside of the black feathers.  Kairi's part of the chapter is also a step towards what will happen next--both in Hollow Bastion and for Zack.

Then there's Aerith's part of the chapter, which also features Kairi.  Go figure.  Aerith's part of the chapter, similar to Kairi's, pulls from the first chapter, as well as leads into future chapters.  Just you wait and see.  The plot is moving forward!

The picture on the right depicts the characters ALMOST at the age at which I'm writing them.  (I'm a year off.)  I saw the picture and really wanted to use it.  I feel it reflects how they all look at this point in their stories.  Picture courtesy of ~sakurabatou on DeviantArt (though she has since moved to a new account).  I realize I could just use the picture when the characters ARE those depicted ages... but I have other images I want to use heheh...

Review Responses!

WritersProse Chapter 2&3: I really appreciate your analysis and such! I'm also glad you found Rinoa's relationship with Angelo cool :) I do apologize for how this ends up coming across with the constant switching every chapter. Though, I do promise that several chapters down the road, things are a lot more connected.  It helps that several characters will meet up and start interacting with each other on a semi-permanent basis, the stories will become connected and there won't be such jarring switches.  On that note, I will strive not to do recaps of previous chapters as I switch to a new one like I seem to have done with chapters 2 and 3.  I'm trying to keep everything set in a KH universe, though a lot of Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core will bleed through.  I'm glad to hear my characterization and dialogue is solid, however :)

KKBeckett Chapter 5: Yes, that was definitely a reference to the Buster Sword (though in my canon, Cloud has YET to get it come Betwixt and Between--which is a function of Zack having it lol).  But yeah, totally a reference.  I'm glad you like the Lea/Isa bits, even though you found them eerie.  I find that entire relationship eerie and a bit tragic (as you can see by the end of AtP...).  KH3 isn't going to change that I don't think.  I question if Isa is redeemable.  I'm up for a little debate on that, however.  Anyway, it's seen later in the chapter how Kairi knows what a star shard is--she heard Mickey and Aqua talking about them likely.  (If that doesn't actually happen in BBS... whoops....) However, some of that is Kairi just knowing things like that as a function of being a Princess of Heart.  And Zack is all for taking the tip.  And yes... darkness is coming.  (I don't consider this spoilers, considering the games themselves dictate Radiant Garden's/Hollow Bastion's history.)

Video!

I love TSFH.  You should listen to them sometime.  I watched this video and had feels.  So I'm sharing it with you all.

Byes for nows!