It all comes Down to This (Chapters 107-end)

To any new readers who have come to the blog because you've started reading the fanfic now that it's labelled "Complete" or you've just stumbled across it... lemme direct you to the right-hand pane over there (desktop version) and scroll down to the appropriate sequence of chapters you're on.  I've got chapter numbers up too, so that should help.  Each post deals with a sequence of chapters, and there will be spoilers if you haven't read all in that set.  If you're on mobile, I think you should just be able to scroll down and click on the post you want.

Spoilers below if you haven't read this far.

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I'm clever and put 13 dots.  Anyway.

Well, time to talk about the final things about Zerith's wedding.  Like I'd planned to do two days ago before getting sidetracked.  Yup.

So I decided not to kill Xigbar.  I just... didn't want to do that to the sharpshooter.  It seemed weird, doing that, honestly.  I'd grown attached to Xigbar.  He's amusing.  And, honestly, he's got reasons to want to live.  Is he completely innocent, nope.  But he's just as glad as everyone else to be rid of Xehanort, so that's saying something.  He makes his weird amends by warning everyone at the wedding that Xehanort is coming, then after Xehanort's gone, he leaves as well.

Man though.. okay... I got like SUPER FIRED UP about wedding traditions on different Worlds and I was thinking about it for DAYS.  Way before I'd even written the sequence.  I was thinking about it nonstop and everyone I talked to about it was basically just like "magik, shut up."

The traditions of people being thrown in the ocean, who makes their own dresses, seeing the bride beforehand versus not seeing the bride beforehand, going out and doing stupid things the day beforehand, celebrating the last day as a single person traditions... all that stuff.

I really love the paopu fruit tradition though, and it seems so natural for Destiny Islands to have one like that.  And Kairi's just thinking the entire time Zack and Aerith are planning their wedding that... "They have to do this, well, they don't have to, but they should have the option... I'll just bring a fruit and it'll fit into the ceremony... WAIT THEY DON"T HAVE A SPOT FOR IT!"

That was fun to write.

I imagine that Destiny Islands has very informal weddings.  Like, weddings are just a big party to them.  Where as a place where Rinoa's from, they're more formal and traditional.  And then there's the fairytale weddings of Disney and the simple ones of Traverse Town and the varieties go on and on.  Yeah...

I can't remember why exactly I insisted on having a time skip... maybe just to show the passage of time.  Because I'd had this scene with Xion written forever showing the passage of time and I'd never been able to use it.  So, when I decided that Zerith was going to have a spring wedding, I just had everything else wrap up in the fall.  Then I could do a time skip and some recap and whatnot.

And then we've got the hints to Squinoa's wedding.  Which will happen.  I just probably won't write it, I'll be completely honest.  I haven't really come out and said this yet... but I'm going to be taking a break from fanfic for a while.  I have two or three other writing projects to work on and they all have the prospect of money.  I'll probably write drabbles and one-shots and post them of course, but I don't think I'll be taking on an epic again.  Squinoa's wedding totally happens in my canon, I just may not write it.  (Does that still make it canon?)

For anyone who's confused, Cid and Shera had a private marriage ceremony and left it at that.  Kind of like how you play Dirge of Cerberus and they're married and you're just like "okay" because Vincent doesn't ask too much about it because... well... Vincent.

I remember freaking out about who I was going to have be the justice/officiate of the wedding.  And then it was obvious.  None other than Mickey himself.  Because what says Kingdom Hearts more than Mickey officiating Zack Fair and Aerith Gainsborough's wedding? (While Sora and the gang are in the audience.)

Ah yes, then the real questions.  What about everyone else? Will they eventually get married?

Well, Cloud and Tifa aren't even dating.  They're still both trying to get used to living a life that doesn't involve Sephiroth.  They'll eventually get together I suppose.

Everyone else.. (with the exception of Terra, Aqua, Ven, and Axel) is all still in their late teens.  Marriage is several years off, despite what Destiny Islands thinks for Riku.  (They lead simple lives on the islands and are wholly unprepared to understand the EVERYTHING that the Keyblade Wielders do.)

So Riku and Sora can just joke about it.

HGHSGNGSGHSGDLKJSD:GLKH

The chairs for Angeal and Aerith's parents.

I remember reading something somewhere, a text post or something, about how at Aerith's wedding (if she were to have one) she'd put chairs up for the people who wouldn't be able to make it.  So that's how Angeal and her parents got chairs.

The dream that Aerith had, with Angeal and her mother wishing Aerith and Zack well... that was something I literally cooked up the day before I posted it.  It wasn't in the original draft or anything.  But then I thought of that idea and had to include it.  And I think it wraps everything up very nicely.  The whole last few chapters do.

So, this is Magik, signing off for now.  It's not goodbye forever.  But it's goodbye for now.

Thank you to everyone who supported this endeavor of mine! I'll post updates and probably give you a link to a blog for my (not fanfic) stuff.

Traverse Town AKA Mark of Mastery (Chapters 79-88)

This sequence started out more as a concept than anything else.  I wanted there to be another Mark of Mastery (ever since Betwixt and Between).  But I never got around to writing it because of how epically Betwixt and Between failed in so many ways.

But I still wanted to do the Mark of Mastery exam.  Traverse Town seemed to be as good of a setting as any, so I went with it.  The biggest question for me I suppose then was when I was going to put it.  The sequence as a whole got moved around several times for various reasons.  I didn't want to have it too early, to give the characters more reasonable time to be prepping for the exam (even if they didn't know it.)  But I also didn't want it to be the last thing because, for me, it didn't really seem like an end-game sort of plot arc.  So I wanted it in the middle.  I do know it got pushed back a little because when rar and I cemented the Larxene sequence of events, it was happening right in the middle, and I couldn't have half my cast go gallivanting off while they were supposed to be taking their Marks of Mastery.  So it got pushed back in that regard.

But overall, I'm fairly happy where it takes place.

I struggled a bit with pacing and POV.  I wanted to keep things interesting and do a mixture of POVs from the scenes, but I also didn't want anything to come off as repetitive.  There were a couple of near-entire chapter rewrites I think.  But you all seem to like it, which is good!

The first stage of the exam was very much like Aqua and Terra's first stage.  Yay element balls.  And since that was overall self-explanitory and not much more interesting than comments on particular fighting styles, I was able to have Riku, Sora, and Namine catch everyone else up with what else had been going on.

Then, to break up the narrative, I stuck in the scenes with Mickey and Xigbar, and Marlene in Hollow Bastion.  I wanted Mickey to run into Xigbar ever since the whole Xigbar arc got put in place.  And I'm really happy with how that turned out.

The bit with Marlene was more because I wanted to include something from Marlene's POV than anything else.  Because her and Denzel are such cuties.

 But back to the exam... The second part was Master against student.  Kind of like how Aqua and Terra fought each other, but at the same time, not really.  I paired who I paired very intentionally, trying (obviously) not to pair couples or close friends.

Aqua versus Kairi was very much me experimenting with different fighting styles.  I know I somewhat fell into the "Kairi as magic user" trope, and I should have had her do more power-house moves.  And I kind of regret that.  I don't regret Kairi just unleashing light when she feels like it though.  It really was an exercise in fighting styles.

Riku versus Ven was also fun.  Even more so because I told the whole thing from Aqua's POV.  Riku's tank versus Ven's lightweight almost Airbender attitude.

Then came Marlynort bothering Hollow Bastion.  That scene pretty much speaks for itself.  Things I'm super in love with is Denzel and Marlene's attitudes toward everything, Pi standing up to Marlynort, and Barret calling Zack impulsive.

So Terra versus Sora.  I wanted these two to spar because Sora brings out the best of everyone.  And Terra could use that.  (Sure, he's already gotten rid of some pretty nasty parts of his heart, but a little extra boost can't hurt.)  Sora's thought process through that entire thing was great to write as well.  Sometimes, Sora's hard to write for because he's so dang nice.  Sometimes, he's super easy to write for--because he's so dang nice.

Then we got Ven and Kairi's thoughts thinking back on the exams, because I wanted to get more rounded scenarios.  (I think these were some of the parts I had to rewrite, but maybe not.  I honestly can't remember.)  Through Kairi's POV we also get to see Aqua sparring with Xion and Kairi feeling a little like she's not all that great.  But then Sora reminds her that she is fantastic and he's such a cutie.

Then Riku versus Roxas.  And I couldn't resist a "Roxas-breaking-Riku's-hand" reference.  Because I just love that whole exchange at the end of Days.

Ah yes, then the Leon chapter.  This was one that I definitely rewrote a lot of to prevent being repetitive.  The first part not so much because it was stuff before the exam even took place.  Because the HB gang was at one point a Traverse Town gang and them wandering around seemed necessary.  But then I refined and condensed things from the exam that Leon could gloss over because you all had already read it.

And then comes the final portion of the exam.  I took inspiration from KH3D and had a little bit of a "dream-drop" sort of thing where they all fight something inside of their hearts.  Sora and Riku pretty much take it in stride but then Aerith gets super antsy.  So Namine starts delving to check.  And then... well... Xehanort.

Because when else would he show up.

Ah yes.  Then it was the chapter of Cloud doing things that I didn't plan on.  Which is fine... I just... didn't plan them.  Like the whole thing with the Hero's Medallion taken from Zack.  I didn't plan that.  Cloud went and did that on his own.  Like I wasn't watching or something.  But yeah, Cloud's done dealing with Hades.  Did Herc help him? Yeah.  But half of Cloud's character development right now is Cloud accepting that he can't do everything on his own.

 Then comes Rinoa during the Xehanort fight.  One of my favorite lines is "Was that a pattern they were in? How many times had they done this?" Because, Sora and Riku have done this.  A lot.

Mmmmm.  Ah.  Yes.  Leon almost getting Norted.  That one surprised everyone.  Including I think rar.  Because it's just so unexpected.  I wanted there to be one that came out of nowhere.  Because Nort going after Cloud almost makes sense.  In my notes, the Remnant tried to go after Rinoa first, but she's got so much power and even levels of light and darkness that he decided it wasn't worth it.  So then he goes after Leon instead.  And he gets close.

Then Rinoa is forced to fight Leon possessed by Xehanort much like Squall had to fight Rinoa possessed by Adel... and Ultimecia...

Then I switched gears and went backwards a bit into Namine's POV.  Namine drawing stuff going on in everyone's hearts.  And then Namine and Aerith coming to the same conclusion at the same time.  Aerith needed to be in Traverse Town.  And Aerith standing up to Yen Sid is a beautiful thing.  Because Yen Sid's such this aloof character that nearly everyone in all of Disney reveres and Aerith's just like "not taking your BS, send me where I need to go"

But then Namine is just like "take my star shard, it'll be fine."

Okay, granted, I was jumping around all over the place as far as time is concerned... but Leon and Rinoa proposing to each other.  Because Leon's been thinking about doing it for some time now, but he doesn't even get the chance to get all of the words out and Rinoa actually proposes first.  It's great.  And Aerith knows what's going on, but she just quietly gives them space.

Then we've got some wrap-up on Hollow Bastion's end.  But that's pretty much it.

Deep Space (various chapters between 70 and 78)

Let's talk about Deep Space and not about Larxene, kay? Because I want to give the Larxene post a ton of justice and Ima put it off for one more post, kay?

Deep Space kind of got overshadowed by the Larxene sequence, but it's still just as vitally important.  It's not like Corona, which was kind of just there because the whole plot of that was Marlynort causing trouble while action was elsewhere.  There's a major plot point in Deep Space which is Xehanort attempting to Nort Terra.  Which is a Big Deal.

 But unrelated to even that at the moment, is how in Hollow Bastion, Aerith's house is FINALLY done expanding.  For once, I actually know how many bedrooms she's got there because I redid the entire top floor and just added more bedrooms because I knew they were going to need them.  (Simultaneously, Zack's changed the plans so that one of the bedrooms can become his and Aerith's room when they eventually get married.  Yup.  That happened.)  Also, Cid and Shera are adorable and it's great.  They'll be together working on crazy projects forever and I love them.

ALSO ALSO is Leon asking Cid for relationship advice because he doesn't have anyone else to ask and he just wants to know what to do with Rinoa.  And it makes me think back to in the Prequel where Cid's watching Zack and Aerith be all lovey-dovey and he has a passing thought that Leon'll never get a girlfriend and then Rinoa shows up and BAM, Leon doesn't know it yet, but she's gonna be his girlfriend.

And Cid as everyone's father figure even though he didn't want to be is just another level of great.

Anyway, so Deep Space.  More like, LILO AS A SPACE PILOT.  I read a headcanon on Tumblr a while ago that included that and I was just like... I NEED TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN.  So, uh, I did.  Her age is really something that I never ironed out, but whatever, she's still the youngest pilot ever amongst a whole ton of aliens and it's Super Cool.

And then Namine, Vexen, and Aerith show up and Axel's like: "Heheh, you're the real Vexen, I'm coming along to mess with you!" And then he volunteers Roxas and Xion while he's at it for maximized amazingness.

And THEN we have Ven, Aqua, and Terra showing up, which is just all sorts of beautiful because of their previous relationship with Deep Space and all that went on there.  And the glorious reunion that gets to happen (as a couple of you have mentioned.)

Stitch's language was fun, because I actually went to Disney's website for Tantalog: http://stitchdatabase.wikia.com/wiki/Tantalog_language and got all of my information from there.  It was a bit interesting working on sentences with structure that had all the appropriate words in them.  But it was a fun experiment.

And mixed in with all of this is Tifa trying to figure out what's up with Zack and Aerith but also a great fight with Hades.  I love integrating Tifa's future plans, because now that Aerith's house is done, everyone gets to think of the next projects and I'm setting things up for the end here.  Also, small commitment apples are something that my Hapkido instructor called small apples (or pears) and I just had to use the phrase.

I really loved the image of Cloud and Tifa barreling through the Betwixt and Between trying to get rid of Hades' hounds.  I think I got the idea from rar... But anyway... I realized that I couldn't really do it justice because I couldn't think of a way to write it that wouldn't be boring.  So instead I just had Cloud blame it on being old and then impulsively go and fight Hades.  Granted, he ended up with the Hero's Medallion on his own.  I remember writing that sequence and Cloud's like, yup, got it from Zack and I'm like "WHEN?!? I didn't write that!!!"

But anyway, back to the Remnant trying to destroy Terra's life.  I wanted a Remnant to try and Nort Terra from the very beginning, just not AT the beginning.  Because I wanted it to be one of the stronger ones... I wanted Terra to be stronger and I wanted the Remnant to be stronger.  The Remnant was probably banking on Terra's being successful, so he didn't try initially.  Terra, meanwhile, had more time for his heart to grow and recuperate.  And so then we get the really epic conversation in Terra's heart where he's trying to banish Xehanort.

But the line "How many times have you reincarnated yourself?" is just so amazing, because it's followed by "Only the one boy.  If it had been more, rest assured you wouldn't be here right now." "You'd better not be lying!" "I assure you, if I had more practice, you would have remained a vessel."

Xehanort is just so dang cocky! But he's also matter-of-fact and that whole scene just gave me shivers.

And then we've got Kuin actually running into Xigbar.  Xigbar who, before this, has literally just been beach-hopping and staying under everyone's radar.  He managed because most people forgot that he didn't survive the battle of Castle Oblivion.  I loved putting Kuin up against him because we've got two gunners who are full of themselves in different ways clashing and it leads to beautiful things.

Then we've also got Mickey going up against Marlynort.  Because Mickey's been up to a lot of things, which is what this chapter was supposed to address from the beginning, but then I figured that Marlynort should also be up to something, so hey, why not make a few things line up.  So Mickey fights Marlynort and gets an idea of what everyone's up against.

And then Xion, Axel, and Roxas return just in time for Terra to finish off his inner Xehanort.  And he's rid of Xehanort for good.  And all is well for Terra.

I feel like I should have more to say and I know I've done more in the past, but that's all I've got for right now.  Prepare for a Larxene Sequence post in the next few days.  

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!

Beginning of the Hollow Bastion Arc (ch67)

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

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

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

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

by neoangelwink on dA

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

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

And then I throw Heartless at them.

Just wait until you see what’s coming next!

Muahahaha!

Teaser Quotes:

“Wanna help with a science experiment?”

“So what are we doing?”

“Interested in making some exploding green goop?”

“Oh, absolutely!”

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

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

“If you’re sure…”

“’Course I’m sure!”

“Kay, I’m really leaving this time.”

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

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

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

ANOTHER SHAMELESS CHRISTMAS POST!

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by LynxGriffin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Teaser Quotes!

“Then what?”

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

“I miss you already.”

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

“Were you expecting a letter?”

“Um, I suppose so…”

“I see you’ve met my Knight already.”

“Who’s powers did you inherit?”

“It’s a bit of a complicated story.”

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

SHAMELESSLY POSTING CHRISTMAS (Ch66)

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by jsheaisaninja on dA

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

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

Anywho, moving on.

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

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

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

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

Teaser Quotes:

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

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

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

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

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

And another Christmas Video!

Letters from the Girls (63)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Well, enough of me jabbering.

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

Teaser Quotes:

"Fire in the hole!"

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

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

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

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

AND A CHRISTMAS VIDEO!

Developments (62)

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by fortisisimo on dA

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

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

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

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


Anyway, review responses.

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

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

Teaser Quotes:

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

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

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

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

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

More Christmas Videos!

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

Chapter

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

What gives?

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

by MrsKaktus

THEY'RE JUST SO PICKING CUTE.

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

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

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

Teaser Quotes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Growing Family (ch58)

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

Chapter

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

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

by twin-cosplay on dA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Teaser Quotes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Not technically the mafia... (ch57)

by griffinkhan

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

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

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

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

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

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

Review Responses:

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

Teaser Quotes: (Because I enjoy them!)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yup, more letters (ch54)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Teaser quote time!

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

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

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

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

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

I LOVE this video.  Just... yes.

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

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

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

by yukimaria on dA

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

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

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

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

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

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

That was me sparing you.

Teaser quotes! (which are way more exciting!)

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

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

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

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

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

Nifty video!

Whoa, chapter 50 (Prequel)

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Not quite sure when this happened, but it just came up and I was like "let's do cutesey letters for that."  Except Rinoa's isn't as cute.  *frowns at Rinoa*  Oh well.

I remember very distinctly avoiding my homework as I wrote this chapter.  I was writing it as the Magical Mirari concert (Vocaloid) concert played in the background.  Yep.  What a good homework-doer I am.  Not.  I think it's 'cause my homework is never actually done until the end of the semester.  Sure, I only have class twice a week, but that means that I have to be responsible and really can't do everything the night before.  

But I digress.  

Honestly, I think Zack's letter is the most adorable out of the four.  Sure, he opens it with talking aboutfinding Cloud outside of CO, but the whole part where he makes the funny face and then hopes that Aerith laughs about it? Yeah.  That part still gets me.  

And then there's the part of Aerith's letter where she talks about the sky and pretends that Zack is there with her.  Yep.  Adorable.  Gosh, Zerith like... (I ship them so hard...)

Leon's is adorable because he's awkward.  "I just left but I miss you, and I want to write a letter... now I don't know how to end a letter..."

And Rinoa just lets him be awkward and thinks it's cute. Meanwhile, she's like detailing her life and I'm like... what happened to the cute? Oh well. 

But, I think it makes a happy chapter 50.  I considered for a bit trying to stall and have Leon's return to Traverse Town be chapter 50, but I didn't want to stall, so I didn't bother.  The letters ended up working out okay, though.

This is also sort of the next sort of "chapter" in the fic in the sense that it's where Aerith and Leon are in Traverse Town, missing their person, but Zack and Cloud are out in the Worlds and Cloud doesn't want to be around people. And Rinoa's off training.  So Leon and Aerith are just sitting in Traverse Town, dealing with Heartless and knowing exactly how the other is feeling.  

So, the letters that I'm throwing in here are of my own creation (clearly.)  Mostly done in paint with fun fonts (the fonts are the reason why I do it, honestly, I love picking out fonts for characters, but it's something that fanfic totally doesn't show, which is why I mess around with the bold and italics.)  But anyway, I wanted to do like a single 4x4 picture of all the letters, but it just wasn't working out and I lost patience, so yay individual letters!

Anyway, I think that's all I really have to say about the chapter itself, the cuteness mostly speaks for itself.  

Stay tuned, there's still a couple more chapters in the Crossover, and then I think rar's got a treat for all of you once that is over.  I think, possibly.

As soon as I'm done with this, I'm going to go flood the tumblr with some more spoilers of book 3.  I aim to do one a day and I keep forgetting.  *facepalm*

Nano's going well :)

Have some more teaser quotes though for the Prequel!



"Oh my, what happened?"
"Cannon backfired."
"How bad?"
"I can fix it."

"Yeh don' wanna give wha' we've got another shot? The lasers jus' need teh be calibrated."

"Hello, Yuffie.  What took you so long?"
"I...uh...was killing Heartless."
"Where were they?"
"First District."
"Hmm..."

"Yuffie hasn't been playing in the fountain, has she?"
"You don't think she's fallen in again?"
"Again?"
"Yes. Again."

"You can't be afraid that you're going to hurt people forever."

And... now have some Disney Feels... (at least it gives me feels)

Clever Title is Clever (Prequel ch47)

As in, I can't think of anything at the moment.

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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.

Saving Squall (Prequel ch45)

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.

Chapter

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....