KJ

Yes, indeed, we are doing a second round of Mega Flare this year, and signups open today! Check out all the details at megaflare_ff. Whee!

As long as I'm here, I might as well finish up the 30 days meme. I've noticed that pretty much no one has managed to draw this out over 30 days, and I see why; most of the questions are too short-answer to really justify a whole entry, and neither do they really invite discussion or debate. But I hate leaving projects undone, so here we go!

Day 21 – Favourite Final Fantasy pairing/ship.

If you have to ask, then you haven't known me very long. The answer is Paine/Nooj. First, last, and always.

More recently, I have also gotten really into Ashe/Balthier and Ashe/Al-Cid, the latter of which is sadly underrepresented in the fandom.

Day 22 – Favourite Final Fantasy summon.

Bahamut in Final Fantasy X. Not only does he kick ass in battle, he's integrated into the story in a way I haven't found another summon to equal. Also, I think his design is beautiful, especially his fayth statue.

Day 23 – Least Favourite Final Fantasy mini game.

The aforementioned butterflies are way up there. Also, monkey matchmaking. Really, Squeenix? Really? I also never got anywhere with the Calm Lands publicity game.

Day 24 – Best Final Fantasy quote.

"This is your world now."

Day 25 – Final Fantasy game you plan on playing (old or new).

Top of my list is Final Fantasy VI. I started it last year, set it aside because I got stuck on a boss battle, then got distracted and never picked it back up. I really want to finish it, though. I'm also looking forward to Versus, if it ever gets finished.

Day 26 – OMG WTF? Final Fantasy moment.

In Final Fantasy VIII, when you learn about their past in the orphanage. That bit of backstory stretches my credulity and breaks my brain. I don't know why that particular thing, of all the ridiculous coincidences that happen in every Final Fantasy game, strikes me so, but it always has. Particularly Irvine's reasons for not 'fessing up. I mean, what?

Day 27 – Best Final Fantasy storyline.

FFX, hands down. I love the story and the way the game tells it.

Day 28 – First Final Fantasy game obsession.

I think I have to give FFX-2 the nod over FFX, if only because that was the game that pulled me into being active in fandom.

Day 29 – Current Final Fantasy game obsession.

Dragon Age Final Fantasy XII. The more I read and write, the more drawn I am into the characters and the universe. So much possibility for interesting futures.

Day 30 – Saddest Final Fantasy character death.

And once again on getting drummed out of the fandom, but my answer to this question has to be Tidus. That ending scene, where Yuna tries to catch him and falls on the deck? Ouch. The way he faces the end of his existence with such calm and grace, never complaining, never angsting about it. He does what needs to be done, and then he says goodbye. I get misty, every time.

Day 12 – Final Fantasy game you’ve played more than 5 times.

I'm not sure whether I've actually played FFX or FFX-2 more than five times beginning to end, but it's certainly possible. Especially with X-2 -- I know I've played that one at least four times in its entirety. But sometimes when I replay I don't start at the top, so that makes it harder to keep track.

I haven't replayed FFX in at least five years. Perhaps this is something to rectify.

Day 13 – Your favourite version of Cid.

Can I pick Al-Cid? Please, pretty please?

FFXII is interesting in this respect, I think, because instead of having one definitive Cid, we have sort-of Cids: Al-Cid, Dr. Cid, and Balthier, who is a Cid in all but name. Now, Balthier is my favorite character in FFXII (yeah, I know, get in line), but I think it would be really stretching the point to use him as my answer to this question. And so we return to Al-Cid, and yes, okay, we never see him so much as set foot on an airship, but... no?

Okay, fine. If we're being strict in terms of our definition of who counts as a Cid, I choose Cid Raines from Final Fantasy XIII. I find his whole backstory and character arc quite compelling. ( because spoilers ) I want to know more. And someday, I may finally be compelled to write it for myself.

( The rest of the questions. )

Moving to a schedule of multiple questions every few days, for now. Maybe two, maybe three, depending on which questions go best together.

Day 03 – Your favourite Final Fantasy theme/song.

This is a hard call because there is so much FF music I love. "Zanarkand" has always haunted me, from the very first moment of FFX. The Guadosalam theme, as well, and "Moment of Truth", which is the music that plays before Operation Mi'ihen. Then there's "Terra's Theme", and the music from time compression in FFVIII, and the Great Crystal theme in FFXII.

But then I crack open my iTunes and remember: oh yes, FFIX. From the opening theme to "Vamo' alla Flamenco" (which I loved so much that, when I was watching T play the first time, I would beg him to play Chocobo Hot & Cold, and then when I finally played on my own, I probably ran through the Zidane and Blank swordfight twenty times just so I could keep hearing it), from the frog hunting music to "Roses of May" to "Not Alone"... It is my favorite FF soundtrack, hands down, and if I had to pick a single favorite track it would probably be "Vamo' alla Flamenco" -- but I don't know, ask me tomorrow, I might say something else.



Day 04 – Your favourite Final Fantasy party from your favourite game.

FFX: the entire team. I was obsessive about switching people in and out of battle so that everyone could get all the XP, and I also liked the tactics I could employ as a result: letting each character play to their strength, and shield the weak sides of the others.

Day 05 – Your favourite Final Fantasy City/Town.

I don't know that I have one, really; I tend to think more in terms of worlds and universes than individual locations. This might be colored by the fact that my first game was FFX, which was less about each town and city and more about the journeys between them -- you're not wandering around on a faceless world map, you're actually experiencing the pathways and the trails and the rivers and the mountains along the way. So maybe my answer is Spira, which continues to be my favorite videogame world of all time.

( The rest of the questions. )

Author's Note: The following entry is a discussion of Final Fantasy X-2 from a feminist perspective. Although I've attempted to make it accessible to general audiences, it does contain spoilers for FFX-2 as well as Final Fantasy X, and assumes a passing familiarity with both games. Open and honest discussion is more than welcome, including criticism of the games and of my analysis. But I do request that you avoid flaming the game in comments -- like many others in the community, I approach FFX-2 as an adoring fan, so if anyone comes out with the burning hatred, our conversation isn't going to get very far. Thanks.

( Many moons ago, back in 2005, my gateway into fandom and fanfiction was Final Fantasy X-2. )

Pick a character I write, and I will give you the top five ideas/concepts/other I keep in mind while writing that character that I believe are essential to depicting them accurately.

This is an interesting batch of characters for me to consider in this light: three different canons (sort of -- one of the X/X-2 characters appears only in FFX and the other only in FFX-2), all men, all secondary characters, all with few specifics from canon, all characters I have written more about, I think, than most writers in the fandom. In each case, I've had to take the tidbits canon gives us and run with them (although we know somewhat more about Nooj than the other two). Fortunately, that's one of my favorite things to do with a character. Writing minor characters is fun, for just this reason.

With all that in mind, and in alphabetical order (and with spoilers for all three games):

( Al-Cid (FFXII) )

( Kinoc (FFX) )

( Nooj (FFX-2) )

Original meme post here (DW) and here (LJ). More requests are definitely welcome.

Title: Once a Guardian
Fandom: Crossover, FFIV and FFX
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 3625
Characters: Auron, Rydia, Leviathan
Spoilers: Yes, for both games
Notes: Written for the Alphabet Fic Meme, to first_seventhe's prompt "Children/Childhood - FFIV cast". In her original request, Sev gave me an option: I could write about any FFIV character(s), or I could write about Auron. One day, as I was turning ideas over in my head (while taking a shower; I tend to get my best/wackiest inspirations in the shower), it occurred to me: what if, instead, I wrote about an FFIV character and Auron? Thus was the concept of this story born. Thanks to justira for beta help! This is my first time ever writing in FFIV canon, so feedback on that aspect is especially welcome.

( Auron had never seen this part of the Farplane before. )

justira asked me about the Final Fantasy characters and 'ships that I love, compared and contrasted with Final Fantasy characters and 'ships I do not love.

Let's start by listing the characters and pairings I love and do not love, and then I can start pulling out commonalities. Some of these canons could have much longer "love" lists; in those cases, I've limited myself to four of each.

( List is behind the cut )

Looking over this list, some themes in the non-loved 'ships emerge right away. Incest is a big one, as are pairings that feature a distinct age difference and/or power differential. If by this, you came to the conclusion that Larsa/Vayne is my squickiest pairing in the history of ever, you would be correct! This extends to relationships between characters who seem, to me, to have more of a familial dynamic (Lighting/Hope, Snow/Hope, Wakka/Lulu) or friends/partners (Baralai/Paine, Balthier/Fran) than a romantic connection. I'm also not usually a fan of rival ships, particularly between the protagonist and their enemy.

The ships I do like? The first thing I usually need is some text. Interaction in canon. (With one obvious glaring exception -- Raines/Rosch -- which breaks a lot of other patterns, too. I'm really not sure where that one came from) Subtext alone almost never does it for me, although sometimes just a smidgeon of text is enough for me to open up to seeing subtextual cues as well. Because of this, and also because many of my favorite characters are female, I tend to gravitate towards het rather than slash.

As for characters, it's pretty clear here that I gravitate toward heroic characters rather than villains, but at least in the context of the Final Fantasy games, rarely is the protagonist my favorite character. My very favorites are usually just a step below the main hero: the support staff. Another type of character I like is one with a mystery. A character who has something hidden, just below the surface, but close enough that I can see that something is there, something worth discovering. One-note villains and "good" characters who don't show enough emotion for me to connect with them are typically the ones I don't care for.

The one exception in the character realm is the least-favorite FFX-2 characters, and that's all about the character development. I really liked the way Yuna's character developed and grew, showing more independence and while staing the same caring person beneath the perkier exterior. It felt very natural to me, the specific ways in which she changed and did not change. On the other hand, I didn't like the development on Rikku and Brother at all; it didn't feel true, or natural, and especially in the case of Rikku it was too bad, because I rather liked her in FFX.

30 Days of... Project! Complete list of questions / Ask a question on LJ or on DW.

As requested by 3_2_1, here are my top five canon moments for:

( Auron )

( Nooj )

( Paine )

The Auron list is pretty solid, but the other two could be more variable, depending on my mood. And whether I'm thinking about "Paine" scenes and "Nooj" scenes, or "Paine/Nooj" scenes. Given my strong feelings about my OTP, I can have a hard time separating those out! Still, these are, at the very least, all moments I like a lot, even though it's also really easy to think of good stuff I had to leave out.

18. Favorite antagonist and why!

I had thought at first that this would be a hard call, but actually it didn't take much thought to come up with an answer: Kinoc. Partly because I haven't written about many of the other canonical antagonists in my fiction -- Seymour makes a couple of appearances, as does Shuyin, and I wrote a short about Dr. Cid once, and I supposed Cid Raines counts as an antagonist, but in the latter cases, the stories were from the antagonist's point of view, so I wasn't really writing them as antagonists, if you see what I mean. But I have written Kinoc both as the hero of his own story and as the villain of Auron's, and I am fascinated every time.

Kinoc is a character who has always interested me. His first appearance in the game instantly raises questions about his past, about Auron's past, about the workings of Yevon. I wondered about him and Auron, especially: what kind of history lays between them, that Auron seems so contemptuous, to the point that he states flat-out that Kinoc would be willing to execute a friend... and yet he can still be moved to avenge Kinoc's death? As much as anything, it was my need to work out the answer to this puzzle that drove me to write A Guardian's Legacy.

I suppose what I like about Kinoc is that, in some senses, he's just so ordinary. Evil as middle management. He has no super powers, no secret headquarters staffed by minions, no mad schemes to destroy the world. All he has is ambition and the will do to what it takes to satisfy it, regardless of whom he might step on in the process. I find it very easy to, if not sympathize with him, at least to get a feel for where he's coming from, to write through his eyes, much more so than, say, a Seymour. kunstarniki once speculated that I might not be able to write a "thorough-going villain", and I agree, beyond a certain point. After all, most villains see themselves as the hero of their own stories; who, in the real world, wakes up and says "I think I'm going to do some evil today"? They have their ideals and their reasons, too. I may not agree with or sympathize with them, but especially when writing fiction I have to at least have some understanding of them.

30 Days of Writing: Complete list of questions

Remember when I was going to write two stories for FFEX?

Here's the other one.

Title: Far Across the Sand and the Sea
Fandom: FFX
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 18,040 (...yeah)
Characters: Braska, Yuna's mother, Cid
Pairings: Braska/Yuna's mother
Spoilers: Minor, for Braska and Yuna's backstories
Notes: Inspired, as mentioned, by one of my prompts for the 2010 round of FFEX, although it ended up taking another direction entirely. The prompt was: "Anything on Braska and his unnamed wife, maybe the bit of family life they got to have before everything went to hell." I started on it, but it quickly became clear that what I really wanted to write was the epic story of Braska meeting and falling in love with his wife, rather than the domestic life that came later. So, here it is. Posted on AO3. (Did you know that you don't need an account to comment on AO3? It's true! OpenID is your friend. You know, just in case you wanted to know that.) Many thanks to muggy_mountain for betaing!


A priest of Yevon travels to the Al Bhed homeland on a mission to make peace, but he finds something else entirely. The story of Braska's journey to Bikanel.