#chofitia does writing

[chofitia]

"He Followed Me Home... Do I HAVE TO Keep Him?"

Rating: General Audiences Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Category: Gen Fandoms: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020) Characters: Cloud Strife, Zack Fair, Aerith Gainsborough, Kunsel (Compilation of FFVII) Words: 1828 Additional Tags: Aerith is an herbalist now fight me, frog status, Midgar has Reddit now, Midgar has Twitter now, Social Media, Kunsel is the good kind of creepy, Aerith ex machina, Kunsel ex machina Language: English Collections: FF7 Fanworks Exchange '22

Summary: Cloud is taking care of a new pet! He doesn't know much about frogs, but surely Kunsel the internet can help.

[chofitia]

Does it count for @sefikuraweek​ if it’s just me reposting stuff I’ve already done?

Feh, they both fit the theme of Day One: Fairytale, so fuckit.

A Fractured Fairy Tale (1510 words) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Sephiroth/Cloud Strife Characters: Sephiroth, Genesis Rhapsodos, Angeal Hewley Additional Tags: 7remix Challenge, Fairy Tale Elements Summary:

For the 7remix Challenge, a remix of parts of Boomchick's Cadet Series. Sephiroth identifies with Rapunzel, but a tale should change to fit with circumstances.

The Traveling Companions (8911 words) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Relationships: Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough, Sephiroth/Cloud Strife Additional Tags: Temporary Character Death, baby's first battle scenes, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Fairy Tale Elements Summary:

All Cloud wanted to do was to go out into the world to make his fortune. The friends he meets along the way want to make sure he gets just a bit more than that. A retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Traveling Companion".

[chofitia]

Fandom: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Zack Fair/Sephiroth/Cloud Strife Additional Tags: chocobos, holiday fic, the time-honored trope of comparing Cloud to a chocobo, Sephiroth gets melancholy, Zack is an emotional support lackey, Cloud is Done Summary:

The centerpiece of Shinra's newest PR campaign is a mythical beast from the most ancient of lore: the Holiday Chocobo. Such a rare and fabulous creature would of course be partnered with the great Hero of Wutai. Neither of them are really interested in the spotlight.

A fic for @mistydeath as a part of @gaiasanta.

[chofitia]

Me: Wow, this fic is going to be so madcap and funny~!

Also me: (puts focus on Sephiroth's trauma in his POV bits)

[chofitia]

Last minute Gaia Santa application sent, because signing up is tradition.

[chofitia]

Fandom: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Relationships: Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough, Sephiroth/Cloud Strife Additional Tags: Temporary Character Death, baby's first battle scenes, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Fairy Tale Elements Words: 8911 Summary: All Cloud wanted to do was to go out into the world to make his fortune. The friends he meets along the way want to make sure he gets just a bit more than that. A retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Traveling Companion".

for @up-sideand-down for @gaiasanta 2020

[chofitia]

Fandom: Final Fantasy XV Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Prompto Argentum/Lunafreya Nox Fleuret/Noctis Lucis Caelum Additional Tags: Fluff, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence Words: 1495 Summary: "All Noctis wanted was a Yule like the ones that you’d see in the movies: decorations everywhere, a romantic dinner, cuddling up by a fire, and giving the perfect gift.

And not having to clear every damn thing he did with security would be nice, too."

A prince, a princess, and a knight prepare for a romantic holiday evening at home.

[chofitia]

Does it count as Six-Sentence Sunday if I’m writing about my fic, and not quoting directly from it?

Let’s talk about my Gaia Santa fic in a vague manner.

This year seems to be the year where I start getting comfortable with longer pieces again. The first draft is about 45% done and it’s at 3048 words. (If that rate is accurate, the fic will be 6774 words.) I’d estimated it’d be about 10K when I’d managed to get out about 2K while waiting for my car to get a tune-up. We’ll see. I’d made a goal of having the first draft done by this Friday, but I’m not sure if that’s going to happen.

There’s just something... bookend-ish about writing a POV character gushing over Sephiroth’s appearance and have it not be one of my OCs. (It’s Cloud, because I am nothing if not predictable.) So long as it’s not “ethereal silken strands” (I wrote that when I was fourteen, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget it), I think I’ll be fine.

It’s bookend-ish because I don’t intend this to be my final fic. 

[chofitia]

So, who thought it’d be a good idea to start rooting around old Livejournals until 2:00 AM last night? Me.

That said, I did get inspired for some OG OT3-ish fic? Pre-Crisis Core sensibilities with my 2020 abilities and Remake-ish canon. (Read: Zack’s goal in life is to corrupt Cloud’s fragile little mind while Sephiroth is the adult in the room who isn’t so above it all.) I’d rate this between Teen and Mature. Because if we’re talking about pre-Crisis Core Zack, sex and swearing will be involved.

(637 words)

(would also be appreciative if someone could help me with a title)

_________________________________

Cloud woke up on the eleventh and took a moment to focus on the number seventeen. Seventeen. Today he turned seventeen. If anyone asked him about his birthday--not that anyone would, not really--he’d be ready with the right answer.

It wasn’t a holiday or anything, so things went on like they normally would on a weekday.

At least until Soldier Fair--”Call me Zack! Stop being so formal!”--found Cloud in a hallway, grabbed him, and started ruffling his hair.

“What the hell, Zack!” Cloud began swatting away the Soldier’s hand on his head while trying to hook his ankle around the back of Zack’s leg. Zack’s other arm, currently around Cloud’s waist, was a problem for later. Why hadn’t Zack put him into a headlock? Cloud had just been trained in how to escape from headlocks. He couldn’t get out of whatever hold this was, which looked like Zack was about to lead him in a dance or something.

“You’ve been holding out on me, Cloudy.” Zack gave him another hair ruffling. “How was I supposed to know that you write your ones like weird sevens and that that weird one wasn’t a nine but actually a one? I had to move up all of my plans by a week because I got your birthday wrong.”

Zack patted the top of Cloud’s head. “Happy birthday, by the way.” He still had his arm around Cloud’s waist.

“Thanks,” Cloud said, trying to smooth out his hair into something close to order.

“All’s good zoom Goo-bert-stag. Is that right?”

It took Cloud a moment to readjust his mind to figure out what Zack was trying to say. “It’s close enough.

Zack beamed. “Nice. So, how old?”

“Seventeen,” Cloud replied smoothly, pleased that he’d given the right answer on his first try.

Zack clicked his tongue. “You know, I left Gongaga when I was thirteen, lied my ass off telling everyone I was sixteen, and the recruiters believed it. I guess I was tall for my age but I think it’s more that they were desperate. The war, you know.”

Cloud’s shoulders slumped and he huffed. Zack’s arm was still around his waist. “Fifteen,” he said.

Zack nodded. “Thought so. You’re a stick but you’re not a seventeen-year-old stick.”

Cloud began wondering if Zack would be leading him in a dance. “How’d you find out about my birthday, anyway?”

“Looked up your file, of course.”

“And how’d you do that?”

Zack shrugged. “I gave your materia training instructor a blowjob.”

Cloud’s face started burning. He moved to cover up Zack’s mouth like that would ram the words back in there and cause them to be unheard. “Don’t say shit like that!” The last thing Cloud needed was trouble. Being around a Soldier wasn’t supposed to land him into trouble!

Zack began licking his palm. Cloud weighed keeping Zack quiet versus Zack slobbering all over his hands. Having relatively clean hands won.

Zack took the opportunity to apologize while Cloud was wiping his hand on his uniform. “You know I didn’t really blow your materia training instructor, right?” Zack shrugged again. “I mean, if I’m going to be trading sexual favors to help out my backwater bro, I’d aim higher. Like Sephiroth.”

“Please stop talking about having sex with anyone,” Cloud said weakly. “It could be your birthday present to me.”

“That’d be a pretty shitty present.” Zack finally let go of Cloud’s waist. There was a tiny--microscopic--part of Cloud that was disappointed that Zack wasn’t leading him in a dance. “Besides, I got you a better one. It‘s waiting in my room.” Zack grinned. “Should we hold hands or can I trust you to follow me on your own?”

Cloud walked around Zack, put his arms on Zack’s forearms, and began to push Zack in the general direction of his room.

[chofitia]

Chapters: 6/6 (6609 words) Fandom: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Tifa Lockhart, Zack Fair, Sephiroth (Compilation of FFVII), Cloud Strife, Kyrie Canaan (Compilation of FFVII), Aerith Gainsborough, Mireille Dudley, background Mireille/Marle Additional Tags: Mercverse, Alternate Universe, Actually beta-read, somewhat stealth sequel, let's bring back a shared AU with beats from Remake Summary: A simple, no-fuss investigation welcomes Zack and Cloud Strife back to Midgar after their time away. A simple, no-fuss investigation into the Angel of the Slums. Icedark Elf's Mercverse AU with Remake sensibilities.

For @jukeboxhound for @ff7central‘s 2020 FF7 Fanworks Exchange.

[chofitia]

You know, for someone who fancies herself a writer, I’m doing absolutely no writing besides my fic for Aerith Zine. It’s a whole lot of “professional” envy of the “My things are better technically, why am I not getting attention?” and “Even if I spend the rest of the decade in a boot camp I’m not going to get to that level, so why bother trying?” sort. (TL;DR, my grammar’s fine, but I write the literary equivalent of a slightly burnt bag of microwave popcorn and no one goes out of their way to be enthusiastic about a bag of microwave popcorn.) I can identify that these are thinking mistakes, but try to get my brain to actually believe it. I can’t. That’s a problem.

Meanwhile, I’m a gif-set-making fool for Zerith Week, even though my stuff isn’t better technically than most people I see/follow and I don’t feel like I’m bettering my skill very much, if at all.

[chofitia]

I managed to get at least one thing done every month of this hell-year. June was when I was working on FF7 fic and being very emotional.

[chofitia]

Previously on Chofitia Does Writing:

Week One Week Two Week Three Week Four

I haven’t finished a single chapter yet. Everything is in bits and pieces and I’m ramming things together hoping they fit. My problem is that the ends to most of the chapters are still fragmented. What I do have only questionably fits the requests now. I’m angry at my writing, but I know I shouldn’t be, because I haven’t done this much in literal decades. I’ve never, and I mean never finished a multi-chapter work. (Even now the end of this thing has a fucking sequel hook now that will probably have free real estate in my brain.)

I’m tempted, so, so tempted, to give up, burn every bridge I’ve constructed, and wallow alone in my self-loathing. And I know that my mind is making me think this so that people can rush out and give me asspats I don’t deserve and I am so angry at myself for it.

I make fun of the girl-I-was who wrote 2000+ words of cringy OC-centric fic, but at least she had courage of conviction and just... went off writing with minimal fucks to give. So, what happened? I was a needy, toxic shit, chased away most of the friends I’d made writing, and just... stopped doing anything very creative for about four years afterwards.

[chofitia]

Previously on Chofitia Does Writing:

Week One Week Two Week Three

I caved and decided to do the multiple POVs version. (The original version was just alternating between Characters A and B. This one is going to be one new character for each chapter.) If it’s good enough for George R. R. Martin, it’s good enough for me. I just hope that each voice is distinctive and in-character. The most that I’ve done in one fic is four (for the Summer Memories zine).

My fic will be coming out a lot sooner than The Winds of Winter, though.

What else? Oh, I lied about chapter count. The thing looks like it’s going to be six chapters, rather than seven. It’s just a matter of getting them written to a point where I think the story can be understandable...

[chofitia]

FFVII Fanworks Exchange is on, and I get to work with the age-old conundrum of sneaking in references to my FF7 OC’s into my fic for my personal shits and giggles while not making it seem contrived. Unlike the rest of the fic, which is sounding contrived as hell in the outline stage...

[chofitia]

Previously, on Chofitia Does Writing...

Week One Week Two

So, yesterday and today were dedicated to moving what I’ve got of actual story into a “fair copy” file. (The files I had before were story mixed in with outline.) I managed a few more words of scenes here and there and another shift of chapters. (There are a series of two chapters that I’ve been moving back and forth as I’ve been considering the outline.)

I’ve got a semi-final chapter count of seven, and there’s 4000 + words so far.

This fic is nowhere near done. Chapter Five-used-to-be-Two is the longest and most fleshed out, and Chapter Six and Chapter Seven are both about two paragraphs long and need to be expanded. Chapter One’s Call to Adventure needs to be finalized. Chapter Two is re-centering a conflict that I’ll need to resolve along with the actual plot.

The theme’s also expanded and deepened a bit, which is... good, but it’s still in that weird “I don’t know how well I can execute this, and I actually think the person who’s getting this would blow this idea out of the water if they knew what I was trying to execute” place. I’ve been in that place before in previous years of this exchange, at least, (”What We Do Behind the Scenes”, NSFW) and the recipient (AsreonInfusion) liked what I did, so...

And I don’t even have titles for everything either, except for Chapter One. Bleh.