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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

by *jameson9101322 on dA

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

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

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

So, review responses!

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

Frankly, I just love Zerith.

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

Aerith versus a Falling Zack (ch12)

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

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

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

by ~TheFresco on dA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rinoa versus the Growing Darkness (ch11)

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

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

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

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

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

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

by ~Jessami on dA

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

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

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

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

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

Tifa versus Cloud's pipe-dream (ch10)

Hello everyone again!

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

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

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

by ~TheDutchesse on dA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

by ~YunaB-Rabbit on dA

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

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

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

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

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

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

And this is super awesome....

The Fall of Radiant Garden (Prequel Ch8)

And the feels begin.

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

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

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

by *jameson9101322

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

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

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

by ~Rinny09

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Zack Feels (Prequel Ch7)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So, Review Responses:

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

And, as usual, have a video :)

Because I love the Piano Guys :)

The Unwanted Mission (Prequel Ch6)

Convenient link to the chapter: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/6/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before


I don't think I had originally anticipated sending Rinoa off on a mission to spy on her father, it just sort of happened.  I think I decided it would be an ironic situation and I went with it.

I hope that I accurately reflected Rinoa's initial panic on being told to go spy on her father, and then her maturity when she realizes that, despite all that, she's actually the best one for the mission and she's not going to let the Timber Owls down.

I had planned that Rinoa would start losing her magical abilities.  You'll see why later.  I can't say why now because spoilers.  I knew that she'd be living in Timber, making her way in life without revealing herself as a Sorceress, which admittedly gets easier when she has less magic to draw on.

I actually don't have too much to say about this chapter, honestly.

I remember having trouble writing it.  I actually started both this chapter and the chapter after it simultaneously and got stuck on both.  Not fun.  But, I finally got the inspiration for this chapter and finished it!

Picture on the right by *procerdecrepusculum on DeviantArt.  He does a lot of good art, you should go check it out.

Review Responses:

Just the one from KKBeckett: I'm really glad you liked the development of both Rinoa and the world!

Video:

I have a newfound obsession with this song.  It's the cellist in me. You should check out the Piano Guys altogether, however, because they're awesome.

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!

Introducing Zack Fair (Prequel Ch4)

More or less :P

Link to chapter!: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/1/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

So, again, all I knew when I started Zack's story was that he had been travelling around for about a year.  As I said in the author's note of the fic itself, this takes up right at the end of Birth By Sleep's secret ending.  And that is probably the most definitive time line-up you'll ever get for this fic, considering the time between BBS and KH1 is all wishy-washy and timey-whimey.  (Like the connection between my universe and rar's universe... heh)

by chibipasta

Then I went into a little bit of Zack's backstory, trying to explain why he was out and about and also a bit on how he was out an about.  (The how will continue to get explained in a future chapter with Zack).  Then the interesting parallelism between Hercules and Zack and how they're both striving to become something in order to be welcomed back home.  (Spoiler alert, neither of them actually gets what they're going for, but instead finds something better.) (Not that I'm following Herc's story, but if you pay attention to the Disney version, you'll see what I'm getting at.)

Meg getting a cameo was a given.  I went off of some of her lines from the original Disney movie.  Granted, instead of some weird horse-dude, she was trapped by an Unversed, but whatever.  It was amusing.

I'm not sure what made me decide to give Aladdin a cameo.  I'm not even sure why I decided Agrabah.  I might have done the thing where I click "random page" on the wiki and take the first applicable world.  It happens sometimes.  (A lot of times.)  But yeah, Aladdin got a cameo.

Timeline-wise, we're getting to the end of the Unversed being around.  Vanitas has been destroyed by this point, so the Unversed will stop appearing.  Heartless, however, will begin to appear.  Muahahaha!

But yeah.

Review Responses:

Chapter 1:
WritersProse: I'm glad you liked it! And thank you for your kind words about characterization! I really do try! (And I say that in a very non-facetious manner).  I suppose that is a bit of an odd chapter ending.  I'll take that into account for the future.

Chapter 4:
KKBeckett: That was totally Meg.  As for the feathers, spoilers! Wait till the next chapter or two with Zack.  You'll see :)

Video time! (excuse me while I scroll through my YouTube history for a bit, I've been listening to FFVII and FFVIII soundtracks.)

Excuse me while I get that all in your heads.  Muahahaha. KH is surprisingly lacking of obnoxious ice worlds now that I think of it.  Interesting.  (My DnD game is ENTIRELY an obnoxious ice world.  Oi.)

Quiet Story (Prequel Ch3)

It's been quiet as far as reviews go, I hope I haven't offended anyone... If I have, PM me and let me know.... *nervous glance*

Well, here's a convenient link to the chapter anyway: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/3/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

Well, I've sent out two queries since last week.  No responses yet, but this stuff can take up to two months anyway.  Probably going to send out another one this weekend.  But you guys probably aren't here for that.  (Or, well, maybe you are, I know I've got three readers of my fanfics who also read my book, so.)  But anyway, this is about the latest chapter.

Quistis isn't my favorite character in the world (heh, almost said Worlds), but I really do like her.  I must, considering she made a cameo at the end of AtP and continued on through BB and now I'm writing about her in the prequel.  I think my love of Quistis has grown since that very first time playing FFVIII.  I love her even more after this chapter.  She kept giving me feels, as I mentioned to rar.

When starting this, all I knew was that Quistis was a SeeD at Balamb Garden with Zell.  I then had to do a ton of reading on the ffwiki to remember everything about her because it's been a while since I've played the game and I'm not particularly in a position to pick it up and play it.  (My copy isn't with me.  Though, random fact, my roommate has one.  However, I basically re-read the entire plot of FFVIII anyway, and I don't have the time devotion to play again, honestly.  Before I even wrote this chapter I plotted out how FFVIII happened in my canon, you'll get to see how some of that plays out.)

cosplay by TLM123

I had already established that Quistis was the one sent to recruit Rinoa.  It wasn't much of a stretch to figure out that she wasn't going to put up with Rinoa's dad's bull crap.  Sure, this is vastly different from the original game, but I've already breached into my own canon by accepting that Squall is in Hollow Bastion and not in Balamb Garden.

Also, apparently Quistis and Zell are fairly okay friends.  I think the biggest thing in between their friendship is rank.  Quistis is unsure of how to treat Zell because she's SeeD and he's still only a cadet, but.  Yeah.  (Also, if my SeeD terminology is confusing or wrong, I apologize, I'm confused by it, to be completely honest, so I'm trying to be specific and consistent.)

Anyway, not much else to say about it that isn't just rehashing the entire chapter.  Everything else I want to say is spoilers.  Next round of chapters.

Excellent cosplay up there, by the way.  Moving on.

Review Responses:

KKBeckett: To your first question, spoilers.  However, Cid is acting nervous because Edea is a Sorceress.  Last time Cid checked, the only way new Sorceresses started popping up is if a previous Sorceress died.  He has to hope that it's not Edea that died and he hadn't gotten news yet.  Honestly, that's why he's nervous.  It has nothing to do with scary Sorceresses.

So, yeah, that's all for now.

Video!

I am in love with this song right now.  Particularly this cover.  Anyway.

Ciao!

New Chapter! (Prequel ch2)

Hey! I posted a new chapter, just in case you missed it! (I only have one review so far, so...)

Convenient link! http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/2/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

Crazy stuff, writing this will working on query letters for my book.  I'll have a post on my other blog about that in the next couple days.  (Hopefully after my query letter's DONE being written.)  Anywho...

I love Rinoa.  I know she doesn't actually appear in the KH verse and is really only referenced, but I ship Squinoa so hard that I HAD to include her.  Plus, I included her at the end of AtP, so... of course she can make an appearance in my prequel.

art by RinoaWolfheart

At first, when I plotted out for Rinoa to appear in my timeline, all I knew was that she was on her own World, growing up.  Literally, that's all I wrote.  That, and her age.

Somewhere along the lines, I came up with the idea that her dad was trying to send her to a girls' school.  That idea happened so long ago, I don't quite remember where it's even based. (I've been thinking about doing this since I was at Disney, for reference.  That was basically a year ago.)  I know from playing FFVIII that Rinoa and her dad did not get along and that he had unrealistic expectations for her.  So, I figured, why wouldn't he want to send her to an all-girls' school to further his military career?

Meanwhile, all Rinoa wants to do is become SeeD.

But then she uses magic and figures she must be a Sorceress.  Sorceresses are bad in the FFVIII world, after the Sorceress War destroyed so much.  So she freaks out, and runs away.  Plus, she's freaking out because she used magic on her father.  (Whoops! Almost typed magik there.)

On an interesting note, Rinoa's World is a World that has a concept that there are other Worlds out there.  I'll go more into depth on that later.  Rinoa's World also has more interconnected cities than the average KH world.  Her world is set up more like it is in the FF side of Squeenix.  There's a giant world map that features many cities.

Review replies:

I only have one so far, so I guess I'll probably backtrack in my next post.

KKBeckett: Yes, magic does work like that.  Raw magic is something that only Sorceresses can use and Sorceresses are feared BECAUSE they can use such raw magic with little drawbacks.  Everyone else uses para-magic through Junctioning and their Guardian Force (straight out of FFVIII).  But even then, only some people can use para-magic.  (Part of me wants to say it's only SeeD's, but I could be wrong.  And I can't find the page I'm looking for in the ff wiki, so...)

But yes, Quistis is absolutely lovely! Just wait until the next chapter!

I think that's all for now...

Have a video!

Hyruno's amazing.

Ciao!

New Story! (Prequel ch1)

Hello everyone! Likely you're hardly paying attention to this blog anymore, since I've been dark since January.  (However, I seem to have a lot of pageviews over the past couple of days, so maybe you all have been watching it.)  Anyway, I have a new story! It's a prequel for everything, tracing the Final Fantasy charries through... well, snippets of their lives.  (Ugh, I use the word tracing like an English major--I mean, I am an English major, but it sounds super like language for my thesis.  Meh.  University killed my darlings...) ANYWAY!

Convenient link to the chapter: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/1/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

So, I started off this whole thing with Leon, because I adore him.  I appreciate his character immensely.

As I was initially writing the plans for all this up (which was initially just a huge timeline that I was gonna post on the blog, but then I did a poll and most of you wanted to see it in story form, so here we are) it wasn't that hard for me to determine that Squall, Aerith, Yuffie, Lea, Isa, and Kairi would have all been in Radiant Garden all at the same time.  I figured that people had probably seen others at school, honestly.  Thus the setting for this first snippet was born.

Then, I connected Squall to Cid, which I greatly love what happened with their relationship.  The interactions between the two of them now COMPLETELY set up how Leon can be "Gosh Cid, why don't you just..." one second and "DARNIT CID" the next.  Which brings me to this image:

Art by GaarasGirl86.  The description is lovely.  Check it out: http://gaarasgirl86.deviantart.com/art/Cid-going-to-work-again-67963380

Squall and Cid have a HISTORY now.  And it makes so much more sense for their characters, honestly.

Yes, I am aware that Cid's age doesn't fit into anything.  I've decided he's timey-whimey like Donald's nephews.

General comment, to new readers who find my stories and find plot points/character names/etc that conflict with things brought up in KH3D, keep in mind that I started AtP before KH3D was announced, so many things that were introduced simply do not line up with what I'm writing.  Hence, my canon.  (I say this mostly because of the large amount of reviews I still get saying I should have used names like "Lea", "Isa," and "Braig," instead of "Axel," "Saix," and "Xigbar."

Review Replies:

From ravyncl:  I can definitely say that there will be some pairings going on.  Just you wait and see.

Exodin: I can't say too much about who is going to be interacting with whom.  Spoilers!

Cookie: How long do I think this'll be? Well, hopefully not longer than AtP, and if it DOES get to be the length of BB, then hopefully not as draggy.  (Bleh, kinda embarrassed for that one.)  It will go through Radiant Garden's plunge into darkness, my plan is to take it right up to KH1.  So, ten years to cover.  Ish.  And... um... Ansem's title.  Well shoot, I don't know.  Whatever his title is.  It's such a small detail in my opinion for this story.  *shrug*

In general, I'm glad you guys are enjoying this so far and are waiting to see what comes next! Should have more up soon.

Also, I have a video to share here (I think I'm turning into rar) .  I have an obsession with the song below.  I even can sing it.  (Well, as well as I can hit all the notes that Len sings.  It's disturbing when he can sing higher than me.  I mean, I know why he can, but still!)

And, I think that's all I have for you.

Ciao!

So! I'm not dead!

I'm not! I swear!  I've just been.... flying under most radars for the past couple of weeks.  (On here, it might honestly be longer.)  

I basically went from spending November and December in a frantic spree to rewrite my novel for publishing to spending the first half of January getting it peer-reviewed... and realizing that I'm going to have to do ANOTHER rewrite. 

It's not NEARLY as massive... but... I've got some plot things that I'd like to change, and some character development that I think I can flesh out some more.  (I'm trying not to put spoilers up here, because I've sent the thing to four of you :P).  Cookie and KKBeckett both know some of the things that I *really* want to work on.  Flightfoot knows there's work to be done as well.

So... where does that leave my fanfics.

As rar knows... I split my novel in-half.  (Not exactly halfway through, but... I split it in-two, nonetheless.  (Honestly, this is where some of the plot-arc problems stem from... but... I'm aware of this...) She wanted to know if I was going to write the second half (now book 2) as soon as I finished with putting all the touches on Book 1.  

I told her I probably would.  But, honestly, it really depends on how I feel.  The current stage I'm in for editing Book 1 (title undecided at this point) is something that I'm hopefully going to wrap up by mid-February.  I'll probably start the rewrites of THAT shortly after.  That could take anywhere between one month... and three.  (Probably not more than three.  Honestly, probably not more than two.)  That puts me somewhere in April after all those rewrites are through.  Then goes another round of editing.  Then, I need to determine if I need ANOTHER major overhaul, or if I can just tidy things up and put it up for publishing.  That's something I don't know yet.

The one thing I do know, is that I want to get this thing published within this year.  It will pain me greatly if I don't.  

So... where does that leave my fanfics? (since I didn't actually answer this question the last time I wrote it up there...)

I don't know.  I want to get back to them.  But my priorities are falling alongside my novel.  However, there will probably come a time in the next month or so where I need a break from that writing project and I'll start working on another.  (I already took a small break in order to write my story for my Creative Writing Workshop class, but THAT has nothing to do with my fanfics.  I couldn't write fanfiction for CW anyway.)  

Regardless, my next fanfic project is going to be a prequel of sorts.  I may have already told some of you this.  I may have already posted it and I'm just having a stupid and can't remember if I did or not.  

But, it's going to detail the events of our favorite FF characters as they grow up and meet each other.  (And it gives me an excuse to write ZackxAerith fluff.)  I may write some stuff with TAV as well, but I'm not sure at the present moment.  *shrug*

But yeah... when I start writing fanfic again, that's where I'm picking up.

And... now I'm going to end this terribly long post.  Thanks for reading! And keeping up with me.  (If you all still do that.) 

~magik

Thank You Blog

This is much needed.  And possibly much overdue.

This is the blog where I thank all of you for being wonderful, wonderful readers and reviewers!

If there's some who I must mention above the rest, it's these people right here: archsage, Flightfoot, KKBeckett, Cookie, Peach and Xianit.  Because you review nearly every chance you can get on just about every chapter and you give really good feedback!  I love you all!

A notable mention must also go out to the anonymous/guest reviews that were quite awesome to read!

Other people who left helpful or happy-making reviews are:
4elementsfan4621
Blader 25
Burai Stelar
The Trio of Twilight
TheDarkNinjaPanda17
Bearybeary
Witch of Tragedies
Giratina
Exodin
Draconic
Sonicballzx
Half-Dragon Hero
Yonet
XantheXV
psychicshipping
Scruff the Rat
Rexness613
Darkened Dusk
LittleKing9512
Knightmare Flame Razgriz
K.O.D. Lazarus
Taliax

A lot of you got angry at me for making you like Namiku (jokingly, of course.) Sorry guys!

And some of you only left a few reviews, stopping after several chapters... to which I'm sorry I lost you along the ride.  Things happen. I strive to be better in the future!  It's probably because Betwixt and Between stretched out longer than a healing-type story should have. Alas... nothing I can do for it now!

I also must apologize to chickendip14.  You were supposed to be my beta... but I kept forgetting to send you the chapters before I posted them.  I suck at life sometimes.  My sincerest apologies!!! *wishes I could make it up to you*

The biggest thanks though, has to go out to rar.  If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here.  I'd tell you all to go check her out, but I think all of you who are reading this already follow her on ff anyway.  If, however, you're interested, just leave a note in the comments, and I'll get you the links to her ff profile and her blog.  She'd love to have you!

That's it for thank-yous.  Now I actually have some reviews to reply to!  (Most of them are from Cookie, don't sweat it though!)

I know there were a couple of issues with the fic not showing up as complete for a bit.  The first time it was because I actually forgot to change it... then fanfic was honestly having issues, I swear!

I mentioned in the last post on here (which was forever ago) that the guy in the last chapter/epilogue thing was, in fact, Xigbar.  Flightfoot mentioned the possibility of it being an OC, but alas, I'm not good enough to pull in anymore OC's at the moment.  It's just Xiggy.

Peach, I'm glad you loved the last story arc! I loved it too!

Cookie! Merry late Christmas! Also, thank you for the tip about scars itching! I shall remember that!  The Donald comment about "Habit" was an intentional jab at Donald's actually healing habits--or lack thereof.  I didn't intend for that one line of Axel's to come across as snappy.  He said it rather nonchalantly in my head. *shrug* I almost wanted to bring Kuin back for him in that scene, but I decided I'd just have it be the characters from the game, not my OCs.  It was just a personal choice.  You'll see more of her in the next fic I would imagine.

*smiles*

I appreciate you all greatly.

magik~