#fflove190

[waifujuju]

Rachel would definitely find a book to counter Isaac's claim about scythes and he could have none of it (I hope it isn't a library book just sayin)

Zack’s in trouble now

[up-sideand-down]

AU Idea: Cloud becomes Rufus's or Lazard's personal assistant and is committed to being 100% perfect at his job. Even with the whole abetting terrorists thing.

Rufus didn’t really want a PA, per se. It just kind of got handed to him. He did one thing a little bit late and his father threw a hissy fit and gave him extra help, “since it seems you need it.” To be fair, Cloud didn’t want to be there either. Failing the SOLDIER qualifications was mortifying enough. Getting out of infantry by becoming a secretary? Positively humiliating. The only benefit was the pay. Ma told Cloud to just suck it up and keep the job until he had enough saved up to get the fuck out. 

All it took was one tiny criticism for Cloud to go all out. Rufus doesn’t even remember what he said, but Cloud does. Cloud had dropped his fancy PA tablet and cracked it and Rufus made a joke about how he didn’t need clumsy assistants. Cloud’s motivation then switched from the need for money, to pure spite. He was going to be the best goddamn assistant Rufus ever had. Rufus would weep the day Cloud quit. Cloud would make damn sure of that. Ma told Cloud to give them hell. 

After Cloud’s vow of spite, it took one month for the Turks to earn a healthy fear of Cloud. Rufus had plenty of access to a lot of things in ShinRa. As his assistant Cloud had almost the same amount. He learned everything about everyone he could. Even the Turks. Not that Cloud actually used much of that info, but he knows that the Turks know that he knows. It would be a terrible place to be...if Rufus wasn’t above him that is. And the only man who who over-rule Rufus...doesn’t give two shits. The Turks keep out of Cloud’s way. Ma told Cloud that he was kind of becoming a monster, but it was too funny to stop. 

Rufus was planning to aid AVALANCHE on his own, but Cloud found them, and dragged their high ranking members to Rufus himself. All without him asking. Rufus was terrified, but Cloud had the AVALANCHE guys scared shitless. Rufus decided it would be easier not to ask. He just wanted to make his father’s life miserable...or end altogether. Rufus finally realized why people were terrified of Cloud when Cloud informed him, very sternly and calmly, that those terrorists he was paying were killing many innocent people and were probably going to destroy the world. And it was all Rufus’s fault and everyone would know it because Cloud would tell them after Rufus was dead. Ma cackled when Cloud told her how Rufus quickly got the Turks to put an end to it, pretty please because Cloud told me to. 

The Turkified-Rufusized version of AVALANCHE was a bit better. It still caused havoc, but in the right places and at the right times. With Cloud’s careful, spine-tingling instruction Rufus was replacing his father within a year. The day he took over Cloud tossed his letter of resignation on Rufus’s desk. Rufus blinked at it, not sure if he should agree, but did sign it because he was kind of afraid of what Cloud would do. Cloud relaxed the moment the ink was dry. “What are you going to do Cloud?” Rufus asked. Cloud leveled him with one last icy stare. “No offense Rufus, but that is none of your goddamn business.” His Ma was proud of him. 

[modeoheim]

AU Idea: in a science experiment gone wrong (?), Angeal's brain-mouth filter disappears.

^This is Angeal grimacing because he’s in for embarrassment, and telling you to defend yourself because he’s probably gonna say some weird shit

1) The experiment was something along the lines of improving reaction times and making the synapses between neurons in the brain be zappier - some techno mumbo-jumbo that Zack doesn’t understand.  All he knows is, he swings by Angeal’s apartment after Angeal has some sort of test that day, to check on him, you know, he cares - and Angeal is lying on his couch and lifts up his head just enough to peer up at him and say, “Oh, he’s wearing that sweater again, he looks so damn nice in it.” 

2) At first Zack (and then Genesis, who calls Angeal while Zack still happens to be over) thinks that Angeal is just drunk or something.  He’s certainly acting weird - clapping a hand to his mouth and going bright red - and Angeal wasn’t really a blusher.  Zack laughs it off in his classic Zack Fair way and strikes a pose, flexing and plucking at the collar of his sweater, saying, “Yeah, it’s pretty nice, isn’t it?” Angeal answers with, “You’re lucky you’re so cute, because you’re awfully cheeky sometimes, Zack,” and that makes Zack pout and makes Angeal realize that something is very very wrong. 

3) Angeal tries to lock himself in his bedroom but Zack talks to him through the door - and he ends up saying really embarrassing stuff like “secretly I want you to force yourself inside here and stay with me even though I’m telling you to leave” and Zack kinda quickly catches on that Angeal just cannot help himself.  So he texts Genesis to hurry up (he’s already on his way) and tells Sephiroth to come too.  Miserably, Angeal tells them through his bedroom door that he loves them all dearly and really appreciates them trying to help him, and that he really really wishes they would go away, because he is really, really mortified.

4)  It takes 3 days until they can persuade (bribe) Hollander enough to fix whatever the fuck he did to Angeal.  In that time, Angeal: Makes really uncomfortable statements about Lazard’s fashion choice; Tells a rep from his fanclub that showed up out of nowhere in Sector 8 that he tries to ignore it but sometimes gets insecure about how his fanclub is smaller than Red Leather and the Silver Elite, causing the Keepers to rally and do all these fan projects in Midgar to show their love for him; Tells Cloud Strife that every time he looks at him he gets vivid flashbacks to this one weird sex dream he had where Cloud got fucked in turn by their three mutual friends; and finally tells Genesis and Sephiroth how their rivalry really hurts him sometimes, and how it’s hard on him, always trying to not pick sides, and that he wishes they would be a bit more considerate of him. 

5) Angeal doesn’t leave his apartment for a day or two once he’s all fixed up, and Lazard (still smarting over the comments about his pinstripes) doesn’t really want to see him either, so lets him take the leave.  

Angeal has a lot of bottled up feelings ok

[leonawriter]

60!

60. If you got the chance to work at Square Enix making Final Fantasy games, at any job, regardless of your skill set (they offer you paid training), what would you most like to work on or do?

I’m instantly gonna say ‘story and worldbuilding support’. Because I’d want to work alongside the people who’re creating these storylines and worlds, but... they often need a bit of something extra.

By which I mean, ‘look, guys, this is great and all, but it can be improved on.’

So... yeah. I guess I’d be an editor? Of some kind? Proofreading for impact, and continuity.

[lets-mosey]

How do you feel about Legend of Zelda series?

I like it! 

Below, I’ll go into the games I’ve played so far. This is long, so I’m including a cut.

One of the games I put many, many hours into as a kid was Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, and I absolutely loved it. I was also very, very bad at it, and never finished the game. It took me a year to figure out how to beat the boss of the 1st or 2nd dungeon I’m pretty sure. A year being on the shorter end of the estimation. I was also like 8 or something, but still. I restarted that game so many times because I just loved it, even though I couldn’t beat it. Eventually I came back to it when I was 13 or so and finally old enough to realize how to beat the boss. I got pretty far, to the 6th dungeon, but stopped playing for some reason. I came back to it a year later and realized I had no idea how to proceed. Oracle of Ages involves time travel, and the dungeon I was in needed stuff to be done in both the past and the present, and I couldn’t remember what I had and hadn’t done so I was pretty lost. I haven’t gone back and finished it yet even though it’s been years, since restarting again and losing the progress is a little demotivating. I will soon though. That game was great. I also played Oracle of Seasons on the virtual console to the end and had a great time.

I’m someone who loves walkthroughs/let’s plays on youtube, so a majority of my Zelda games I’ve gotten through that. Usually I’ll watch a walkthrough and then buy the game to play myself, so I’ve bought a few games because of that. Namely Skyward Sword and Majora’s Mask. And Oracle of Seasons, I think? It’s been a while. I’ve seen part of a playthrough of Ocarina of Time too, but haven’t finished it. Someday. Oh, and the original Legend of Zelda. First watched a playthrough, then bought the game and played through it myself. It’s interesting enough. 

I own Wind Waker HD and am halfway through that, but I haven’t touched it in a year or so so I need to get on that. I’ve never seen a playthrough, so I’m not sure how it ends, but am looking forward to it. I also own Phantom Hour Glass, but I was never able to beat the final boss. I was stuck for months if not longer on that guy, and then finally lost my cartridge. My brother gave me his several years ago, but like with Oracle of Ages starting all over is really demotivating/demoralizing and I haven’t gotten around to it.

I saw a full playthrough of Link’s Awakening, and that game was fantastic. It’s another one I’m looking to buy when I can afford it. 

I own A Link Between Worlds, but I’ve only played up until the first dungeon or so. I didn’t really like it so I haven’t played it since it first came out. It has some good reviews though, and probably gets better as I go along, so I’ll pick it up someday. Probably not until after I play a Link to the Past though. That one tops people’s lists, so I’m going to play it when I have the time. Or watch a walkthrough, in all likelihood.

Breath of the Wild I watched probably 4 or 5 hours of a playthrough of, and wasn’t super impressed. It’s okay so far. It also got amazing ratings and reviews, so I know it has to get better, but it wasn’t super compelling. The idea is sort of interesting though. It just didn’t have as interesting start as some of my favorites, so I haven’t gone to finish it yet.

So overall, I’ve experienced a bunch of Zelda games, and have really liked them. Link’s cool, the adventures are fun, and the plots for the most part have interested me. I’d say Majora’s Mask or Oracle of Ages is my favorite. Even though I haven’t finished the latter. It makes me think of being a kid, and that boosts my love for it a ton.

The Legend of Zelda series isn’t super ultra intense or overly violent, and has enough quirky things here and there to make me smile. I’m someone who loves repeated concepts/characters like the Links, Zeldas, Ganon(dorf)s, cucoos, etc. (like Chocobos for FF), so that’s another thing I like about the series. 

So yeah. LoZ is pretty great.

[ladykittenfair]

19 :)

19) when it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

Ha, this is a question that I definitely am qualified to answer, given To Be Human meant keeping track of 230K+ words worth of plotlines, subplots and character arcs - way more than I’d originally planned.

The answer, in short, is:

organized folders

lots of specific, detailed documents

These days, I actually use Scrivener (bought it for 50% off when I won my first NaNo!) to organize everything. It allows me to have multiple folders and as many documents/pictures/misc files as I may need nested within them. So I have all my research, timelines, character notes, location notes, etc all ultimately in one file that I can access in a splitscreen to view two at any given time.

For those interested, I’ll give a quick screen cap of what my side menu of folders looked like - mind you, it was completely customized for my story. All the arrows beside folders mean you could open them further, but I’ve only opened the Plotline folder for this example.

But for those who don’t have Scrivener, what I did before then was:

Make a project folder (either somewhere on your computer, an external drive, or in Google Drive)

Make your files for those topics, like your plotline(s), character notes, locations, whatever. Be sure to title them in a way that makes it super easy to tell what it is. And those can be more than just documents - add in picture references, maps, lists of helpful website links, whatever you need to write your story

If it’s a super big project, you may need category subfolders like I’ve got up there in Scrivener to sort things into so you can find them easier

Of course, then there’s the story itself - if it’s going to be longer than 100K words, I’d suggest splitting it into chapters or sections instead of one giant document but that’s your call. It also depends on what your computer/internet connection can handle.

Despite the relatively simple steps, it’s quite a process and the ability to have all of those parts in a single Scrivener file is what sold me on the software. But yeah, that’s how I keep track of everything.

Get to know your author!

[fishonthetree]

Athena, Kronos, Zues!

Athena: What is/was your best school subject?

Biology, still is. I was a literature type kid in middle school until we started to learn human physiology which was finally my jam :D

Kronos: What's the stupidest thing you've ever eaten?

A glass marble xD Nearly suffocated on it. But it was so nice playing with that in my mouth - before accidentally swallowing it xD

Getting food poisoning from stale bread happened too because that was the first time I smelt it and while it was unpleasant, I didn’t know it was a bad sign. Also getting food poisoning from too old eggs while pregnant bc I was too lazy to cook it properly. Hmm maybe I haven’t matured that much from when I was 12.

Zeus: What do you think about thunderstorms?

I love them so much, but hoo boy they can give me anxiety attacks at the same time! 

[coin-trick]

would you ever write a ff7 fix-it starring reno?

I mean i...i guess i could rewrite Apricity from his point of view???? that was def originally the fix-it-fic that launched a nonesense ship (passengers: me?) but ive no real desire to do that. I could write something actually attempting to deal with and explore the long term emotional and psychologcal fallout of having dropped the plate. It used to bother me that what to me seemed like a sort of character defining event got sort of brushed aside in a lot of fanworks. But ive since seen people tackle it so theres no need for me to, and thats probably a little heavier than i care to handle at the moment anyway