#From Seifer with hate

[gardengalwrites]

Seiftis Forever Festival 2024

The Seiftis Forever Discord Community invites you to create fanworks celebrating Seifer x Quistis! 1) Your work must feature the Seiftis pairing. 2) Your work must be previously unpublished. Other than that, there are no content restrictions. All genres and ratings are welcome, as well as alternate universes and crossovers. Anything goes, as long as Seiftis is the focal point of your work! Posting runs from September 1, 2024 - December 31, 2024 on AO3. Simply add your work(s) to the collection here.

Prompts:

• Happy Birthday • Holiday Cheer • Vacation • Incognito • Secret Relationship • Return to Balamb Garden • Reinstatement of Instructor's License • My Wingman Irvine • My Best Friend Xu • The List • The Orphanage • Troubled Past • Second Chance • The Trepies • Tried for War Crimes • Resignation from SeeD • Nightmares • Oblivious to Love • Amnesia • Critically Wounded • Mission Partners • Bad Habits • Redemptive Love

Bonus Prompts (Reverse Tropes):

♥ Hate at First Sight ♥ Too Many Beds ♥ Instead of Fake Dating, everyone is convinced that they are NOT Actually Dating

FAQ:

Do I have to be a member of the Discord Community to participate? This event is open to everyone but we would LOVE for you to join us. Can't wait to connect with you there!

Do I have to use the prompts? The prompts are completely optional. If you do use any, please mention them in your notes.

Does my submission have to be a fic? What if I don't have an account on AO3? You may submit art, crafts, cosplay, and any other type of fanmedia! Submissions will be accepted outside of AO3. Just make sure to send your link to Garden_Gal so that she can include your fanwork on the Master List (to be released at the close of the Festival).

What if I don't finish in time for the posting period? That's okay! While the goal is to submit your work(s) to this collection from September through December, we will happily accept late submissions in the New Year. We know you're busy so we appreciate you participating in this event.

Can I submit more than one work? Yes, absolutely. Feel free to submit as many works as you would like to!

Can I cross-post to another event? Cross-posting is acceptable, as long as the other event allows this too.

[crystalelemental]

A while back, there was a Tumblr poll making the rounds asking gamers a simple question about which is worse, good gameplay/bad story, or bad gameplay/good story. At one point in time, I would've said obviously bad story is worse, because I was a pretentious little shit. As an adult, the answer seems a lot more obvious. If the gameplay is bad, it doesn't matter how good a story is, the full product is intolerable.

Anyway, completely unrelated, but I finished Final Fantasy 8.

FF8 is funny. I remember hating it in the day, and have long considered it the worst in the series, putting it below even FF2. Part of this was, as many in the current climate can identify, a matter of the big internet names of the time dunking on it, and teenagers are ever primed to recite opinions of people they look up to regardless of whether they understand it or not. So my main issue was "Story bad, bad game."

Having replayed it...yeah, no, FF8's story's actually really good. As someone who often considers themselves a character-centric person, FF8 is particularly nice because it really feels like a character-centric narrative.

Squall is great. Possibly my favorite protagonist right now? The story is primarily about connection and expression, centered on Squall's inability to just talk about what he's thinking and feeling with others. He's a fascinating protagonist because, despite all the edgelord accusations, Squall is deeply compassionate from minute one. His problem is not about caring or empathy. He cares greatly, and understands people pretty well. His problem is about opening up to others.

I think how the game presents it is my favorite part. This game involves a lot of internal monologuing from Squall, and his words often betray those thoughts. A good scene example is talking to Cid about protecting Balamb. When asked about his reasons, internally Squall has a laundry list of explanations - not wanting people to get hurt, caring about the people here, etc - but all he outwardly says is something to the effect of "It's my job." This complete disconnect really hits hard when we're switching between seeing his thoughts and seeing what he says.

Squall's reservations largely stem from the trauma of losing others; his parents first, then big sis Ellone. Squall doesn't want to make connections to people who could leave him. He's fearful of being hurt, and so makes himself lonely by refusing to open up to anyone. This is where his foil, Seifer, becomes more interesting.

Seifer is similarly lonely, but while Squall's is self-imposed, Seifer's is externally enforced. Squall is, for all his faults, well liked by his classmates and staff. He's not much for chatting, but his actions generally provide the appearance of a clever, polite, and caring young man. Seifer, comparatively, is an asshole and a moron. He demands to be seen by others and recognized, but everyone he engages with considers him intolerable. He approaches connection to others through authority and control, immediately taunting Zell and making threats about adding people to "the list." Seifer is alone because no one wants to deal with him.

What's interesting to me is that Seifer, much like Squall, cannot articulate himself either. He talks a lot, but he's not exactly honest. He keeps the truth of what he wants as his romantic secret, and when it comes to bear, it turns out his goal is...becoming the sorceress' knight. Now obviously, this isn't his goal. It's just what he has propped up in the moment. What he wanted is connection. Fujin and Raijin care about him, but he only reciprocates as far as his ability to boss them around. Ultimecia gives him a sense of connection, a sense of belonging and purpose, by carrying out her needs. He wants to belong just like Squall, and his reticence and lack of connection through peers puts him in a position he can be manipulated by someone.

Critically, Seifer mirror's Squall's "I don't want friends who will leave me" with this attitude. Fujin and Raijin aren't really important enough to be his friends. His sense of connection has to be bigger, more significant than these meaningless, small-time connections. We get to see this from Squall actively when Seifer is assumed dead. Squall freaks out, horrified at the prospect of people just talking about him loosely in past tense, and fearing what legacy he leaves behind. Squall wants friends, he's not opposed to connection. But he's convinced himself that this only counts if it's guaranteed forever; if it's something special and transcendent.

But...that's not most connections. Most connections are mundane and everyday. Most connections aren't guaranteed to be forever. And coming to terms with the fact that he does deeply care and doesn't want to lose them is his entire journey, and what makes the orphanage scene pop.

Okay, yes, it's a little goofy that all of them are from the same orphanage and no one remembers. It's a little silly to have the GFs be what removes memory. But I think that what it lacks in direct weight it makes up for thematically in spades. Squall doesn't remember these people from his past, in part due to this belief that his connections are more serious, but just as much because of trauma. He held a deep connection to Ellone, but even forgot about her, because the fear of losing others caused him to block out the specifics of those memories. Rinoa calls him on it later; he tries to brush off lack of recollection of something as a side-effect of the GFs, and is told "That's just an excuse, isn't it?" Squall hides away from these memories because they're hard to bear, and willingly severs his own connections for personal safety, symbolized by the Guardian Forces. It's why the ultimate GF summoned by Ultimecia is the one on his ring: Griever. Literally one who is grieving. That safety manifests as grief, a deep sorrow and loneliness for what is lost, unable to look ahead to what can still be. Time Compression, drawing everything to a single point, is collapsing that lived experience to that moment of trauma.

The other cast members don't get nearly the same development. This is very much Squall's personal journey. But I like Rinoa pretty well, as another who is deeply significant to the story. She's just got a fun personality. I could take or leave the rest. Irvine especially doesn't feel like he adds much. They're fine.

It really was staggering to come back to this game, feeling certain that my complaints were with the story being crap, and going...no, actually, this is really well done. That said, it may still be my least favorite in the series, because all the narrative significance in the world will not fix the gameplay.

I'm going to avoid specifics. You probably already know. But the big question that was raised for me here was...what is the intended first playthrough experience here?

The biggest draw, the thing that, as a player, you're going to go for, is GF skills. They require skill points obtained after battle, and you'll want a bunch of different ones, since they augment stats. So more than likely, you might stop and grind some out. Which results in EXP yields, which increases your level, which makes encounters harder before you have spells to Junction, etc. Playing this game like you would any other is immediately and severely punished, with no indication of why or how to avoid it. How are you to know that Card avoids EXP? How are you to know enemies scale to your level? How do you figure any of this out? It feels like a game that requires external knowledge. I've been watching someone play FF5, and they talked about FF8, saying "if you just beat the enemy then they're dead and you continue playing," but man I tried that when I first picked it up. It resulted in a softlock where I could not beat anything I came up against because I didn't understand Junctioning or level scaling. You kinda have to engage with these shitty systems. The remastered version is playable, but only because it has 3x speed and the ability to turn off all random encounters, which is the only reason I made it past Esther, which was about to drive me insane.

I feel like I at least somewhat understand the general vision at certain points in the game. Tutorial bosses all having Cure is a clever way to teach players to use the spells obtained from enemies to manage, and this kind of tutorial continues through the fake president having Esuna to draw while spamming status. There's a late-game boss in Ultimecia's Castle that is basically immune to damage, except for Demi, which can be drawn from it, and another boss that mentions "fearing elements it doesn't use," and it has Tornado and casts lightning, so you hit it with Fire or Ice (or others). Those are neat systems! I kinda like those! But scaled levels and junctioning magic to stats and having limited casts that if you use them the stat boost for junctioning goes down...it's doing too much. It's overly ambitious, and the system starts to break down very early, around the time you find out there are like 50 spells and only 32 slots, and oops some of that stuff you drew is basically useless now.

That's not to say combat is the only thing that drives me nuts. Junctioning also results in several situations where the party changes, but doesn't offer the "swap junction" option, so you have to do that shit manually. Looking at you, Laguna sections. Battle of the Gardens was the worst, because there are like four goddamn party transitions that result in needing to swap junctions, and none of those sections involve fights, but you wouldn't know that unless you'd done it already. It just eats so much time. And all of this is around constant random encounters you can't kill because level scaling, and hard to navigate PS1 maps where I can't tell what is and isn't traversible half the damned time.

FF8 feels like a more extreme FF7. I came away from that game feeling like the story was much better than I recalled, but I considered it the game I'd least like to replay. FF8 is the same but even moreso in both directions. I really enjoyed this story, it's one of my favorites, but I think I'd rather saw my arms off than play it again. So it is...very hard to consider this anything but my bottom of the barrel. It can be a beautifully presented narrative all it wants, but as a wise man once said: "It's a video game! I play the game to play the game!"

[kingdomkeykitsune]

KHOC WEEK 2024 DAY 7: Future

The last day of @khoc-week is always such a bittersweet day, but we'll be back next year I know. So for now, have a look into C.E.'s not-too-distant future, when things have calmed down a bit, there's less need to worry about protecting the town, and her next big challenge is just facing down growing up.

(Also, I'm rescheduling Seifer, Rai, and Fuu's "Hero's Journey" to be sometimes post-KH3, for plot convenience. Because it's my story and I get to choose the timeline 😜)

I never want to leave this sunset town

But one day the time may come

And I'll take you at your word

And carry on

I'll hate the goodbye

But I won't forget the good times

I won't forget the good times

- Good Times, by All Time Low

-☆-

C.E. stood on the platform in the central station with a duffle bag by her feet and her phone clutched loosely in one hand as she waited for her train to arrive. She could hardly believe this was happening, she’d never thought she'd find herself leaving this town… It was her home, the only one she’d ever known... She knew every nook, cranny, and back alley, she’d explored every inch of the tunnels in the old underground network. She could find her way anywhere blindfolded if she had to. 

And now she found herself leaving it behind.

She closed her stinging eyes and swallowed against the lump growing in her throat, silently reassuring herself that it was only temporary. She’d be moving back as soon as she finished school, and she’d be back to visit before then. It wouldn’t be that long, she could do this. Taking a deep breath, she tried to steady herself when, suddenly, a familiar voice spoke from behind her.

“Hey.” She blinked and turned to see Seifer standing behind her, a large backpack slung over one shoulder. 

"Hey…" She said quietly in return, not sure what he wanted. He looked her over, eyes landing on the bag next to her.

"...Heading down to the beach?" He asked.

"Sort of… There's a town near it with a really good photography school… Classes start Monday and since the train doesn't run close to campus I'll be staying in the dorms…" She said, twisting a lock of hair around her finger. He frowned.

"So… You're leaving town all together." He stated, and she nodded. Then she gestured at his bag.

"What about you, where are you headed with that big ol' bag?" She asked. He looked at his bag and shrugged.

"Rai, Fuu, and me decided to take a trip. They'll be here soon. Surprised your misfit entourage isn't here to see you off." C.E. frowned at him.

"Luka has a shift and Nao's babysitting, not that it's your business. So all three of you are leaving town too?" Seifer nodded.

"Yeah. Taking the other line down the mountain." He said, gesturing to the other outbound track and C.E. nodded, fidgeting with her phone. An awkward silence fell between them for a long moment. Suddenly Seifer shoved his phone at her, screen open to a fresh contacts entry.

"Gimme your new contact info, maybe I'll write you or something." He said, refusing to look her in the eye. She blinked several times before letting out a hushed chuckle.

"Okay, yeah, sure, but you gotta give me yours too. I don't wanna have to wait on you to make the first move, we'll never talk again." She grinned, handing her own phone over. He huffed a laugh and rolled his eyes as he took the device. 

"Yeah, fine, whatever. Just hurry up, I don't have all day."

"Yeah, yeah, keep your pants on." She snorted, plugging her information into his phone. They traded back just as Rai and Fuu walked up.

"Yo! Our train's at the next platform man!" Rai called and Seifer rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I know, just gimme a sec!" he called back, waving him off. Rai grumbled but followed Fuu to their platform. C.E. chuckled.

"You should go, you've got a train to catch." She said. He turned his attention back to her, seemingly mulling something over.

"Yeah, there's just one thing I need to do first." He said and she raised a brow.

"And what's that?"

"This." He smirked and hooked a hand behind her neck. Before she could ask any more questions his lips crashed against hers, catching her in a bruising kiss. Her eyes widened for a moment before her knees went weak and they slid closed as she whimpered softly. His other arm slipped around her waist, pulling her close as one of her hands tangled in his coat. The kiss felt like it lasted forever, and yet it still wasn't long enough before he pulled back. He chuckled at her dazed expression and made sure she'd be steady on her feet before letting her go.

"There you go, a little something to remember me by, until you see me again. See ya later, dorkface." He grinned and strolled off towards where Rai and Fuu were waiting. C.E. shook off her shock and squeaked indignantly.

"H-Hey! Wait! What was that about!? Seifer? SEIFER!" She yelled after him but only got a loud laugh and a wave in return. She wanted to chase after him but had to stop herself as an announcement saying her train would be arriving momentarily crackled over the station's old intercom system. She scowled and yelled after him.

"Don't think this is over! You'll have to answer me eventually!"

-☆-

Later, when she went to sit down in her seat on the train, she found his beanie hanging out of her back pocket.

[nihil-ism]

𝟐𝟎 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐂 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒.

1. How many works do you have on AO3? Nine and counting! I do have the occasional scraps of WIPs stashed in various places, including my singular brain cell, but I usually only start publishing once they are fleshed out enough.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 110,204 words.

3. What fandoms do you write for? Resident Evil and Final Fantasy for the most part. I am working on a draft for a Dune fic as well, but due to my shifted writing time, which is sadly not much presently, I put it on hold in favor of continuing my re fic.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Unquiet Grave (Resident Evil) | @virologikal

The Darker the Weather, The Better The Man (Final Fantasy VIII)

Fallacy (Final Fantasy VIII)

Day 1 - A White Lie (Final Fantasy XV)

Obsession (Final Fantasy VIII)

5. Do you respond to comments? Absolutely! I try to do so in a timely fashion, sometimes it does take me a while though, especially when I'm busy doing other things and not checking in on my AO3. I am deeply humbled whenever someone takes some time out of their day to leave some words (or even compliments!) on my fics and it means a lot to me.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? ...is this a bad time to menion I haven't really finished a fic before? x'D I mean, aside from my one shots of course. I have a penchant for working on massive ideas that take forever to write, so yeah. Anyroad though, the answer currently would be a hard tie between either The Price of Perfection (Resident Evil) or Love me whole (Final Fantasy VIII). The first is a glimpse at Wesker's life from birth to death, the second is a songfic based off of Missio's Love me whole, and focuses on a toxic interpretation of Squall and Seifer's ... "relationship".

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Day 2 - Festivities (Final Fantasy XV), easily. It was part of a series for an event or somesuch a couple years ago and focused on more casual themes (which I admittedly usually don't tackle).

8. Do you get hate on fics? Thankfully no.

9. Do you write smut? Big yes to that. I actually love writing intricate smut, which I did for Final Fantasy VIII without much story or context. I should get back on that for Resident Evil and Dune at some point (not everything has to be a novel Nihil, gdi.....) But admittedly, I enjoy when there is some set up around the actual smut just as much. It can be an amazing vehicle to convey character development, power dynamics, show trust or the loss thereof... I am a fan hahah.

10. Do you write crossovers? I did write crossovers in rp, so I think technically I could. But in fanfic, I personally don't really see the need to as I prefer to take the canon lore and expand on it, see how many headcanons I can make work with the actual lore so it fits seamlessly as if it was intended to be there. I do enjoy reading the occasional crossover though!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Not yet, no. I am comfortable writing in English, despite German being my mother language, and honestly I don't think I could properly translate certain things into German without it sounding weird/cringe.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Nope! I could imagine doing that if I ever get my time schedule sorted. And I actually had plans to do a co-written fic with a friend ( looking at you, Bee :p ) but alas, time. I do sometimes help people brainstorm some fic ideas though if that counts^^

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship? Almahart (Squall Leonhart & Seifer Almasy), and of course Chrisker (Chris Redfield & Albert Wesker). Something about the blond bad guys and the brunet heroes ig °^^ With Almahart it's the tragedy binding the two together, the fact that Squall became everything Seifer wanted to be (without Squall even really trying/wanting it!), the resentment and rivalry that only barely manages to conceil the real feelings. I like them both as a ship that solves their hardships eventually, and as a toxic ship with Seifer never redeeming himself and not wanting to, either. As for Chrisker, it's a similar streak but darker, more violent, with a lot of psychological warfare included. The hardest thing is to convey Wesker's machinations and how he views the world (according to my interpretation) because I write him as extremely closed off, keeping to himself even with his facial expressions. It's a challenge to portray him correctly and I like it a lot. I love the tangle the both of them are in, how Chris wants to hate Wes so much for all he has done, while simultaneously being unable to let go, even decades later. There is desperation, hatred, blood, passion, everything I love in a ship.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I am absolutely convinced I will finish both my Resident Evil project (which will consist of multiple one shots, The Unquiet Grave, as well as a sidestory to it focusing on HUNK), as well as The Darker the Weather, The Better the Man. What I will say though is that I am also certain it will take a long ass while. Both are huge and complex stories, so building them up and telling them correctly is time consuming, and oftentimes real life gets in the way, sadly. I hope the people who were excited about The Darker the Weather will have patience with me.

16. What are your writing strengths? I want to say my high standards when it comes to fleshing out characters, finding their voice and writing their perspective. It's at least something I get a lot of compliments for, so I seem to be doing something right ^^ Also, I am very thorough when it comes to canon. I try to keep everything in mind and weave my story into the existing lore and world as seamlessly as possible. For The Unquiet Grave I took a whole day to collect all possible information about the entire Resident Evil Timeline (it spans from 1909 to 2037), which I regularly consult while I am writing to make sure I have events lined up properly.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I definitely question myself too much. As in, if the quality I am providing is good enough; if the characters are OOC, things like that. It's my perfectionism getting in the way of things. Generally I have a bad habit on putting too much unneccessary pressure on myself (publish within a certain time, write a certain amount of words, etc.) - silly, really.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? Ohhh yeah I love that! I don't use this enough and definitely should. (needless to say but it should not be too much untranslated content of course, and made available for the readers in some way so they know what is being said)

19. First fandom you wrote for? I believe my very first fic was Ville Valo x Lauri Ylönen, don't hit me for writing smut about real life people please xD I was young! Aside from that, Final Fantasy VIII or Angel Sanctuary, not sure anymore (I am rather certain it was FFVIII though because I have always been obsessed with it)

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?  Urgh this is hard.... Given how much my writing has improved and how I learned to apply certain tools (like drafting properly etc), I'd have to say The Unquiet Grave. Since I am not writing in my first language, the time I practised between this and The Darker the Weather definitely had a positive impact.

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐘: @judasiskariot (thanks again!) 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐆: @sauron-kraut . @no-bee (if you like ofc) - any everyone who would like to do this, feel free to steal!

[tsunael]

Yotsuyu!

describe your OC's feelings/relationship to an NPC.

Ohhh man Yotsuyu.

So, if I may go off on one before I actually answer the question... Yotsuyu was my favorite character before I played XIV. I remember seeing her illustration and went 'HER. I WANT HER.'

If you couldn't tell-- I have a type... lmao. Tsuna and her ended up looking really similar but ONLY because I based Tsuna on Yuko xxxHolic... and then they ended up having similar backstories, too but it wasn't intentional 😭 Even their names... Tsuyu... Tsuna... fuck.

SO ANYWAY it just kind of evolved into them being two sides of the same coin. Stormblood was a expansion for thematic foils for sure, but Yotsuyu is 100% Tsuna's.

Tsuna is an Au Ra with hang-ups regarding Hyur and Garlean alike. She was also a child who got sold into indentured servitude-- her saving grace was that it was to an okiya and not a brothel. She's a Raen! She's the sun! She embraces love!

Tsuna also condemns the Garleans for subjugating her people, and wants revenge for her family. Yotsuyu would work with the enemy to get back at her family. Listen, it just works. I didn't design it that way.

I mentioned before that the two of them are perfect foils and that's why.

What is their relationship, though? I will definitely have more on this when I get to Stormblood on my ng+ run, but for now I'll say it's in the same vein as my answer for Fordola. The only difference being is Tsuna sees herself in Yotsuyu, and that scares her more than anything Zenos could do.

Yotsuyu, however, sees her as nothing but an obstacle, and maybe there's potential for her to exhibit jealousy as well. After all, they were cut from the same cloth so why did Tsuna become what she did, while Yotsuyu was forced to crawl through the mud. 'What makes you so special' kind of thing. The answer is love, I suppose.

No matter what Yotsuyu did, I don't think Tsuna could forgive her for willingly siding with the Garleans. She displaced thousands of innocents for her own personal vendetta. Tsuna considers the people of Yanxia to be her people.

I still have yet to decide if they would have met previously in the story considering they would have both lived in the pleasure districts for most of their youth. It's undetermined where Yotsuyu's brothel was located but I'm assuming it would have been Yanxia before she razed it.

I also want a little bit of ho yay for them if I'm to be perfectly, unabashedly honest. They should be rivals. The Seifer to Tsuna's Squall. I just think Yotsuyu should tilt her chin up and blow smoke in her face. You know. You feel me? You get me?

That scene with Gosetsu in Namai... [clenches fist] it should have been Tsuna...

ANYWAY UM. THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS THAT THEY HATE EACH OTHER.

[thefreelanceangel]

Okay we had the 'nice' question with Anna, if anything about Anna is nice. On to less nice things.

Third question! Anna obviously kidnaps people for more then just the eating. People are useful for certain magics. I assume once you end up there you are dead regardless of how long that takes. So the question. Does Anna have a compulsion to kill? Or is it just pragmatic disinterest in general morality that the lets her kill? Does she have a preferred method of killing? For that matter, Seifer obviously brings her people, but does she have a preferred method for getting new people/bodies?

By and large, Anna's murderous actions are driven by "necessity" and not desire, precisely. She can't just use someone for alchemical experimentation and then let them go. And so she disposes of them, usually for consumption if it's safe to do so.

When she's in her lab, Anna doesn't waste aether or effort on disposal. A slit throat, a broken neck, a hard stab through the heart--whatever is going to kill efficiently is what she'll go for.

After all, killing holds no secrets for her. Anna's spent all of her time in Eorzea learning as many different ways of killing someone as she possibly can. She can use melee weapons, she just chooses not to the majority of the time. (And yes, she's competent with ranged weapons, but why would she bother with a weak-ass bow when she could just blast a fireball instead?) Ending someone's life isn't difficult; she doesn't derive pleasure from that specifically.

However, Anna... has a temper. And when that temper rises, she takes it out on everything around her. With enough survival instinct to know you don't destroy your own havens, Anna will travel away from the d'Latu properties and just... blow up half of the desert, turning sand to glass by slinging fire and ice, laughing manically whenever something dies, feeding her more aether and fueling her fits of rage.

During those little excursions that she pencils into her schedule--yes, she does abide by a self-imposed schedule and hates having it interrupted--Anna will exert that magical proficiency she's spent so much time building. She does enjoy that and makes no secret of it. If she's in a particularly nasty mood, she'll use that same proficiency to torture someone (usually a woman who looked at Seifer or existed in his proximity longer than Anna likes) by tearing aether out of them, twisting the healing magics she knows to cause the maximum amount of pain.

And that is how Anna finds the majority of her "pointless" kills. As insanely possessive as she is, Anna either has Tsukiko follow Seifer or pays C'allie to keep an eye on him when the yurei needs to remain at home to replenish herself. They report back to her on women who've been too close to encroaching on Anna's territory, and then Anna goes out to fetch herself new toys.

For alchemical experimentation, she seeks out very specific living creatures that fit the bill for whatever she needs. When crafting a fantasia, Anna needs at least five living members of whatever race she's crafting it for. When C'allie asked her for a potion to let her half-sister slough the scales she'd taken on for her ex, the Kyho assassin knew well enough to bring the five Seeker women that Anna needed to craft the fantasia. Every specific potion involves a list of ingredients, and Anna will either simply overpower who she needs or send C'allie or Seifer out to do it for her.

If she needs to lure in a quick meal, well...

She's beautiful. And confident. And quite a few people mistake the air of lethality for sensuality. When Anna's on the hunt, she's capable of being quite seductive, all the easier to bring prey back to an isolated location where she can eat her fill.

For those kills, she uses her claws and teeth.

[reveromantique]

spotify wrapped meme | anonymous asked:

🎁 ~I'm honestly just curious what Sei would have for songs.

He dreams of a desolate nowhere.

(This is why he hates to sleep, why he lives in cat-naps and disrupted REM cycles.)

Gray rocky nothing, an endless path to the end, except that the end is just more of the same, more nothing, more starless dark.

(He thinks, at one point, that he hears Leonhart's voice, calling for help-- wouldn't that be some kind of irony, the hero and the villain caught in the same hell?)

Seifer's boots leave no prints, Hyperion's tip scratches no scars into the ground.

Hello! Someone! Anyone!

His words come back empty to his own ears, a slap in the face that doesn't land.

--

He dreams of a red room, of a black chandelier turned nearly bone by its dripping wax.

(He doesn't want to be here.)

The chandelier is eclipsed, blocked from view; dark feathers and a snarling sneer fill his gaze instead, her body mutated-grotesque, her claws at his chin, her claws digging into the space over his heart.

(He rarely leaves this room not covered in his own blood.)

Her hips rise and fall-- he cannot help but follow, chasing what he understands (he doesn't understand this, doesn't understand why.)

Mine, she whispers like a lover against his mouth, mine, she breathes into his lungs.

Mine, she carves into his back, talons spread wide, burning her nails into his flesh.

--

He dreams of nothing and nowhere and missiles arcing across the sky, and wishes he didn't dream of anything at all.

[wingsyouburn]

Tagged by @accidentallylita - thank you! :D

How many works do you have on AO3? 93

What's your total AO3 word count? 296,837

What fandoms do you write for? Final Fantasy (usually VI, VII, VIII, X), The Mummy, Power Rangers, some MCU in the past, random Yuletide stuff

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Angel of Mine (MCU, Steve/Bucky/OC, Angels AU)

My Little Dorito (MCU, Steve/Darcy)

Arabian Nights (The Mummy, Rick/Evy/Ardeth)

Beyond the Stars and Stripes (MCU, Steve/Darcy)

With These Hungry Eyes (MCU, Steve/OC)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Yes, but sometimes it takes me a while because I see it come in and I'm like !!!!! yes let's answer our friend in our computer and then I forget, I'm sorry!!!

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Probably House In The Trees; you'll find I'm not your angst writer.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Most of them, take your pick lol Let's go with You Reflect Me (I Love That About You).

Do you get hate on fics? I have in the past. Y'all, just hit the back button and shut the fuck up.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yup. :D The kind that might make you blush if you read it in front of other people.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? If the thought strikes, so not often. I have my FFIV/FFX crossover series that starts with Left Your Mark On Me, that's probably the craziest.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Thankfully no.

Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? No, but I was co-writing a novel with a friend for a while.

What's your all-time favorite ship? For what fandom? Please be specific.

What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Angel of Mine is on permanent hiatus, which sucks because I probably have another 30k written that won't get posted.

What are your writing strengths? Dialogue and character.

What are your writing weaknesses? Descriptions. I come from a journalism background and I'm always trying to expand on things, because my natural style is to be short and sweet.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? Generally speaking, I would put those words in italics rather than actually write in another language that I don't personally speak. And since my Spanish is pretty fucking terrible, I'll stick with a few common phrases, thanks.

First fandom you wrote for? Posted? Highlander: The Series. Before that, it was Dark Shadows (the original 1960s gothic soap opera).

Favorite fic you've ever written? This answer will probably change over the years but currently it's Upon My End Shall I Begin, the Seifer redemption fic I always wanted to write.

[nialltlynch]

kk fic master list (august 2023 edition)

the raven cycle / the dreamer trilogy

4000mg of ibuprofen | adam/declan, m - so tropey. but fun!

a thing with a name | adam/gansey, e - gonna be real fellas i wrote and posted this drunk and never looked at it again lmao.

ambilevous | handcat&matthew, handcat/declan, handcat/adam, m - secret night time encounters with a certain dream make certain people come to the most interesting conclusions.

be careful how you touch me | declan/ashley, m - outsider pov on declan. spoiler alert: he kinda sucks.

exhume our idols | declan-centric, t - moments and conversations about a certain absentee father all loosely woven together. (excised from a larger work that i may or may not ever finish so hopefully that explains why this is Like That.)

i am no excuse for your legacy | declan&mór, t - my first stab at writing mór. it's about her but really it's about declan.

i got more tongues than just this one | jh hennessy/mór, e - deadbeat milf sex. need i say more.

it's a gift to be simple, it's a gift to be free | aurora-centric, m - aurora is so normal. so normal. the high writing this fic gave me. oooough. good shit.

it's the sweetest in the middle | blue/declan, e - blue disrespects declan's time. by fucking him. at an event.

nothing in the shadows but the shadow hands | kavinsky-centric, m - rip kavinsky you would've loved the dreamer trilogy.

on concupiscence and other lesser forms of being | niall/reader, e - YOU'RE WELCOME

once upon a dream | gangsey but adam-centric, t - what if adam had a sword? also: im SO SORRY this isn't finished yet but im awful at writing gansey. i have the whole thing plotted out it's just. skill issue.

remembered | gangsey, g - the gang being besties.

smoke alarms, smoke alarms | declan-centric, t - a very declan childhood.

solipsism falsified | ronan-centric via jordeclan, t - ronan gets so horny he almost breaks out of the sweetmetal sea.

some things are best left repressed | declan-centric, g - a very declan childhood THE SEQUEL.

we're all falling into a deep oblivion | gansey/blue/declan, e - blue and gansey disrespect declan's time. by fucking him. at work.

without a me there is no you | mór/aurora, e - milfy clone fucking. need i say more.

final fantasy

in the garden sleeps a messenger (viii) | seifer&edea, t - i think seifer and edea had a weirdo fucked up thing going on and it was never properly explored. if there's one fic i could expand on it would be this one. i just don't have the voicing quite right. anyway. this one is dear to me.

bullet big enough to fucking kill the sun (xv) | prompto/ardyn, m - prompto didn't spend enough time in the anger phase of his grief and i was like. what if he did? just a little bit. as a treat.

piteous (xv) | gladio/prompto/ignis, e - i was so distressed by pitioss ruins i could only placate myself by imagining the guys fucking nasty in their endless boredom. hence.

the atlas series

head games | callum/parisa, e - a snipey not quite hate sex competition for fun and profit.

[syciaralynx]

20 questions for fanfic writers!

Was tagged by my beloved @hot-flippin-mess!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

23! not a whole lot-

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?

360,386, imma wordy bitch 😎

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Zukka, AFTG, TRC, and i have in the past written for FF7/8 and Gundam Seed

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Replay: Not surprising! One of my oldest/longest fics 🥰

Blood in the Wine: Also not surprising, this one is a DOOZY

Cast Your Heart In Bronze: I didn't think this one would be so high, but I aint mad about it.

Lucky Stars: For a pairing that only has 1100 works!!?!?! Y'ALL ARE STARVING FOR THEM HUH.

It's a Wonderful Night (to get dicked down double time): FUCKIN LMAO YOU HORNY LITTLE FUCKS (ily so mcuh)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yep, always!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't really write angsty endings??? I suppose Cinder is probably my most... brittle one. Also C'mon Baby Go and Set Me Ablaze, but that still has a happy ending.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

THEY ALL HAVE HAPPY ENDINGS. Idk probably the dragon verse? or arkterra? Or my current Softka works.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not so much hate as some ODD comments and bookmark tags, but nothing terrible.

9. Do you write smut?

What is a pebis

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

No, not my speed.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I believe Lucky is currently getting translated into Russian?

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not really, but i love chatting in discord servers and throwing some spaghetti at the wall to get the juices flowing. Collaborative help.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

WE DONT HAVE TIME FOR IT ALL. Zukka. Jerejean. Andreil. SnowBaz. Pynch. Destiel. Sterek. SPIRK. I could go on.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Ohhh Card Trick. I really want to go back to it and rewrite the current chapters before continuing and it is just a LOT of work.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Hmm. I think im good at describing emotions, character reactions to situations. I also think I'm pretty funny.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I don't think I write very good villains/anti-forces for my big fics. [though I've gotten better for BITW i think]

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I do it from time to time! I do speak a couple, or i take a gamble in google lmao

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Omg either Gundam Seed or FF8. I think it was a Squall/Seifer

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

I LOVE THEM ALL.

Blood in the Wine I think is the best writing I've ever done, but I have a REAL soft spot for Arkterra.

I taaaaag: WHOEVER WANTS TO!! Most of my mutuals have been tagged already, but feel free to grab it and do it if you want!

[bunnimew]

Which of your OTPs would go watch the Barbie movie and enjoy it? I'm watching it tonight, so just wanted to pop in and ask.

Hey, Anon!

Short answer: All Of Them.

Obviously Pitch and Jack would be into it. For different reasons, but that hardly matters.

Seifer would either secretly like it or very loudly like it depending on the day and what point he's trying to make. Squall is, in the general sense, up for anything.

Goku would be all about it. Sanzo would tolerate it, all the while pretending he doesn't care.

Suzaku would be 10000% invested in all of the emotional moments. Lelouch would hate watch it because it's branding and a massive corporation, but then end up invested, too.

Peter and Wade are into damn near everything, and there's no reason Barbie would be excluded.

Frank likes soft things. He's never tried to hide it. He'll die defending every little girl's right to be whatever she wants to be. Stephen would be less dramatic about it, but he enjoys a good story.

Steve is the most supportive, best babysitter ever and would watch it in solidarity. He wouldn't be afraid to say he liked it, either. Eddie might wait for it to come out on VHS (Haha, the 80's version of wait for cable) but he's not the kinda person to shy away from liking whatever he likes.

Kylo would pretend he hated it but only because he has to pretend to hate everything or his emo score goes down. Hux wouldn't know about it until someone played it when he was in the room, and he'd try to ignore it, but get invested, and then have to pretend he doesn't care because if he cares someone can use it against him.

Zagreus would be excited to see it. Thanatos would wonder if Zag really wants to use the two hours he has for him to watch a movie, but okay, they can watch a movie. Than would be open to it, whatever.

...Kamui and Fuuma would just be happy to have a date night. They might even be more excited to see Barbie, since it's unlikely to have anything in it that might be a Problem for either of them.

Merlin would be thrilled, Arthur would pretend he wasn't. Kentarou would be thrilled, Takeshi would pretend he wasn't. Gideon would be game, Harrow would pretend she wasn't. etc etc etc

Barbie is for everyone ❤

Thank you, Anon! I hope you enjoy the movie tonight! We have been waiting for theaters to empty out before going to see anything (Only just watched Spiderverse this week 😂) but I'm sure we'll watch it eventually.

Have fun!!!!

[gardengalwrites]

20 Fic Questions

Thanks for tagging me, @angelosearch! This was a lot of fun and I tag everyone else who wants to play. :)

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 20.

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 230,251.

3. What fandoms do you write for? Just FFVIII.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Dinner.

Interzone.

Body Poetry.

Gorgeous Cohesion.

It's a tie between And Death Shall Be No More and Sunset Cadet (She's A Class Act).

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I always respond to comments, not only out of gratitude, but also because I love getting to engage with people in the fandom!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I'm emotionally incapable of writing angsty endings, so I don't have any fics in this category. 🥰

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? ...All of them. 😂

8. Do you get hate on fics? Thankfully, no. I've met some truly amazing people through this community.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? So far, I've written a three-part mini-series that contains smut. My primary tags for these ficlets are Forbidden Love and Mutual Pining. I would describe the style as emotional and poetic.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? I've never written a crossover. I'm not sure that I could, mainly because I don't feel that I know another universe (besides FFVIII) well enough to pull it off.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I've discovered.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? No translations.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? No, but I always thought that would be cool.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship? Since I was a little girl, Seifer x Quistis (Seiftis) has been my OTP!

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? None, as I personally restrict the number of WIPs to prevent this exact scenario.

16. What are your writing strengths? Based on readers' feedback: excellent characterizations, imaginative storylines, and magical use of language.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I always have this nagging thought that I need to write more, though I don't want to base "success" on a word count. However, it's true that I could fill my chapters with plenty more descriptions.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I encourage this when the context requires it! Just be sure to do your research properly. Until I was asked this question, I didn't realize that I do this all the time when I'm translating dialogue from Korean to English (as you may have noticed, I am inspired by many K-Dramas). 😉

19. First fandom you wrote for? FFVIII.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written? It is impossible to choose. They are all my favorite, each for a special reason. 🩷

[thereallionofbalamb]

"I broke my rules for you." -corditeheart

@corditeheart | Broken |

He couldn't help it, the asshole in him hadn't had a real outlet in years.

On the run from everything Garden related, the Galbadian Army, and his own guilt. He'd hidden from his closets friends as well as anyone who might see him as an enemy. He'd been uncommonly nice to people when he interacted with them, and frankly, he just WASN'T a nice person. He could do nice things, and he wasn't a complete asshole, he had hard lines he wouldn't cross... some had been crossed while under Ultimecia's control and he couldn't forgive himself for that. That was a whole other issue though.

"Your rules? Or the ones trained into you?" He scoffed, they'd tried... HE'D tried to be what someone would need in a partner. When Raijin and Fujin had found him finally, he thought he'd been ready. And for the most part, nothing terrible had happened. Most were willing to forgive him the things he'd done under Ultimecia's control.

Xu hadn't, she'd run him ragged proving he wasn't that person. And he'd fallen for her. And now, now he was just fucking it up again. He was a veterinarian in a small town east of Winhill, and he'd refused to go back to Garden for any reason. He wouldn't even visit to see the people he'd grown up with. He wasn't ever their friend, and Raijin and Fujin came to see him, so he didn't see why it mattered.

Sure, he'd thought about it a few times, going there with flowers for Michele, just to see the looks on everyone else's faces because - yes, he's actually capable of CARING about someone.

Seifer hadn't expected her to be so upset over the fact that he wouldn't do it though. He couldn't make himself go back to Balamb. Every memory there was bitter and he hated himself more just thinking about it. He knew he was an asshole, he'd been one since he was born - he was sure Quistis would back him up with it, she'd known him the longest after all. And wasn't it just the kicker that he'd fallen in love with her best friend. She probably felt like he was trying to take more away from her again.

He winced as he shrugged a shoulder, leaning back against the tree in his backyard. "Besides, rules are meant to be broken. I won't make you stay with me if it's not something you want."

He'd probably be broken over it for the rest of his life if she walked out on him. But, he'd also probably deserve it.

[skaylanphear]

Final Fantasy VIII: Reclamation

Summary: Squall Leonhart has known only one thing all his life—that he was born and raised to be a SeeD. But being an elite mercenary is no easy task. Having grown up sheltered beneath Balamb Garden’s ring, he soon finds himself scrambling to stay alive after his first real mission thrusts him and his teammates onto the political stage in a bad way. Forced to head out into the dangerous, unforgiving wilds or face execution, they find themselves unraveling the ancient mysteries of their world, all while another sorceress war looms on the horizon. Haunted by strange, unexplainable dreams about a man he doesn’t know, and bound to the might of the crystals by abilities he can’t explain, Squall finds himself walking blindly into an uncertain future, even as he’s assured that “fate” guides his every step.

Yet, as circumstances grow murkier, Squall can’t help feeling that everyone else knows more about everything—including himself—than he does, and that he’s nothing more than a pawn in a game he doesn’t know how to play.

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The four hour trip from Balamb City to Dollet was long, uncomfortable, and left Squall stewing. Which he hated. He kept to an active, busy lifestyle for a reason, but there was nothing for it when he was stuck in a cramped sea vessel with no active preoccupations.

Loaded into the boats first, two squads of cadets sat at the back—squad B8 lining one side and squad B7 lining the other. Their seats were barely wide enough to accommodate them, and they were required to remain strapped in unless ordered otherwise. The SeeDs—Squall observed there was somewhere between fifteen and twenty of them in each vessel—sat along either side of the dimly lit vessel up to the front exit. Most of them remained belted and unmoving, sleeping the four hours away. A number of the cadets had followed suit, despite any nerves.

Squall had tried and failed.

So, he sat in silence, listening to Zell's soft snoring on his left and Nida's fluttering breaths to his right.

He also had a cramp in his leg that no amount of stretching would rectify.

Worse than that, however, was the constant circling of his thoughts. Part of him was, perhaps, apprehensive about the upcoming operation, but most of his silent contemplations fell to the subject of his skillset when compared to the rest of his peers.

Why had the headmaster allowed his participation in the exam? Though he didn't want to agree with the notion that he was a liability, he wasn't wholly unaccepting of Coyles' previous point. He had no idea how to utilize his "CF" (if the thing was a CF at all) or whatever para-magic it might grant him. Seifer had blasted him with emerald-colored fire two days prior, and he'd seen demonstrations of para-magic despite having had no real understanding of the source, but though he now had a crystal of his own, he remained ignorant as to where the para-magic came from or how to harness it. And given how explosive para-magic could be, he sympathized with Coyles' concerns, while also feeling rebellious to the implication that he might be a detriment to his team.

If that were the case—if his inexperience was likely to do him or others harm—why allow him to take the current exam at all? On one hand, he was grateful to have been granted the chance at his long-standing goal, but if he didn't have the tools to pass, it'd be pointless. He'd end up a failure, like Seifer, and have to retake it.

That was the last thing he wanted, but he also didn't have much interest in staying back out of the way any more than cadets were already expected to.

He shouldn't have been allowed on the operation at all. What was the point?

Read More

[hyperionswrath-a]

𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐬

@onepartbrave​​ | |  *Squall Leonhart

“ revenge won’t bring peace for you. ”

Despite it having been weeks since it all came to an end, he couldn’t properly shake the tenseness in his body, clinging to it as if expecting to be tossed into the maelstrom of war, death, her voice in his head and the many, countless, endless nights he had to go without sleep again at any given moment. He still couldn’t rest and had not slept through one night after he initially passed out from the wound inflicted during the fight inside the Lunatic Pandora. Nightmares haunted him, and working through what he experienced seemed hardly to be an option, not with everything slowly resurfacing. Part of him was thankful for Fu and Rai to take him in, nurse him back to relative health, and showing patience with his bouts of aggression, panic, and other signs of the scars he had brought back home. Another part privately hated them for the same, humiliated and ashamed, guilt weighing heavy on his mind and heart alongside it all. Being stuck in Balamb Town certainly didn’t help. Not with the way people looked at him, not with those who he once tried to kill being so close. Garden students, his former enemies, and townspeople that had seen him during the occupation of Balamb. It was hard to leave the hotel room his friends had rented for him most of the days. And of course, there was him. The ever-present figure during all of it, like a shadow, like a mocking mirror image of could-have-beens. Squall, who had become everything Seifer wanted to be. Squall, who had been handed all Seifer had dreamed about all his life. Commander, Knight, Hero. Someone people looked up to and relied upon, not out of fear but because they trusted and admired him. Never in his life would the blond have ever expected the other one to live up to such great titles and responsibilities. Naturally, as he was clad in such a role, Leonhart would eventually come to see him. It had taken weeks, if not more than a month (for telling time apart had become somewhat of a challenge, being without any task to follow and with his sleep meddled as it was), but Seifer was not surprised - after all, the last time they faced each other, they had been fighting for their very lives, and not just to test their strengths as it once were. Standing in front of the window leading out to a small balcony, the tall blond remained after he had opened the door to his hotel room, momentarily stunned by the sight of the brunet looking up at him with features unreadable as ever. Instincts told him not to turn his back on the other man, but he knew there was no backstabbing attack to be feared. It wasn’t Leonhart’s style to fight dirty, after all, and aside from all that, the war was over, done. Despite the window being opened, leaving white curtains to gently sway in the ocean breeze, the telling smell of alcohol hang in the air, clinging to the sheets and the tall blond’s clothes alike, same as the stench of cigarettes, the ashtray betraying just how much he smoked nowadays. Clad in black pants and a simple, red shirt, Seifer did not resemble anything of what he looked like during the months he had traveled the world in her name. He was paler, his hair a little longer and while still slicked back, single strands fell into his face ever so often, bright stubble on his cheeks and jaw, while the deep shadows under his eyes betrayed the lack of sleep. ”Revenge won’t bring peace for you.” Catching himself as he had not really listened to what Leonhart was saying, the last part had him stiffen all over again as his mind caught on to the words spoken in his direction, shoulders sliding up just so. He could not recall what the brunet had been on about before, but it didn’t really matter. Exhaling a sharp huff through his nose, scoffing in nature almost, Seifer glanced back over his shoulder, emerald eyes avoiding the corner of the room in which Fujin had hung up his trenchcoat, torn, dirty, and blood-stained. “You think I still want revenge, is that it?” There was a sharp edge to his voice, but it was a far cry from what he used to sound like back in the days of Garden, when he would taunt the other to get a reaction, any reaction out of him. “Why are you here, Leonhart? What do you want? …aside from preaching to me…”

[miyukihoshizora]

So! FFVIII! Finished it yesterday, loved most of the last stretch! And it totally comes appart the second you think about it too hard!

First what I liked:

Squall and Rinoa, obviously. Their dynamic and respective growths mirroring each other. One who shuts off the world and one who forces herself to seem like this dizzy social butterfly, both because they are terrified of being hated. Their friendship very organically evolve into a romance and the best scenes in the game like the space rescue are always between these two.

Quistis was also the teammate I felt got to do the most. Started off as a mentor, before realizing the mantle of leader was not for her and learning to put her full trust into something other than her instincts. She also had the emotional intelligence to dodge a love triangle when she felt that shit arrive lmao.

The game is also full of really cool setpieces in general. The space rescue, the Gardens themselves, the Lunatic Pandora... And of course, Ultimecia's castle! I absolutely loved the whole dream sequence at the end, how it communicated without words on all of Squall's fears and how Rinoa became the reason he learned to enjoy his life. How he clung to her image like a lifeline even if the time distortion + GF poisoning tried to take it away from him (as it did with Ultimecia if you subscribe to the U=R theory). Like god damn, this was strong stuff.

Speaking of! I'm actually shocked Ultimecia being Rinoa is just a fan theory Square went out of their way to debunk because it seemed so obvious to me from the get go and I wasn't even aware of the theory until I looked into it. I find it weird they decided to just say no to the whole thing instead of keeping it ambiguous, as the game does, because thematically, this makes it a really powerful story, and Ultimecia a much more sympathetic baddie. Like damn, you can do so much with Griever being all she has left of her knight, while her refusal to let go of it twisting her memories to the point she can no longer recognize him when he comes to her from the past, as she wanted. Respectfully gonna kill the author on this one.

Now for the less good stuff... The orphanage plot twist, obviously. Doctor Odine's whole deal. The Norg stuff. I imagine the fact this plot is held together by duct tape is like, the popular opinion at this point. The best parts of this game kind of mostly work in a vacuum.

Also, well... Zell, Irvine and Selphie don't really have any arc to speak of as far as I can tell. Which is a bit disappointing, compared to VII, I wish they all got to do a lot more. They are still my babies but I really didn't care for them as much as I did the other three, and that Is a problem in a seried that lives or die by how much you engage with its characters.

Oh and bro, Seifer. I jokingly compared him to Draco Malfoy and just like Draco they totally half assed his part in the plot. He had strong momentum as a rival character in Disc 1, but the fact Rinoa stops having feeling for him the second he does his heel turn, and that he just wanted to be Ultimecia's knight, regardless of whether it was Edea or Rinoa, TWO WOMEN HE LOVED, is completely ridiculous. He also got a total anticlimax with the most heavy-handed Gilgamesh cameo, and then Fujin and Raijin (the best part of this stupid plot thread) just redeem him off screen where he goes back to Balamb and never gets any comeuppance for actively trying to destroy the world, like, what the hell even was that.

Oh yeah also the gameplay system is jank and I only started having fun with it when I broke it.

That about sums up my thoughts. I'm really happy of my experience with this game, and to finally be done with the Playstation era!~

My X replay is next, and then I'll probably hop straight onto XV.