Pathways Of Foreboding Author's Afterthoughts
By Paul Nathans
Welcome to the Author's Afterthoughts.
This is the section of this 'Hopefully-Excellent' Fanfiction where I get to talk, ramble, and explain the makings and more-obscure portions of this Fanfiction.
First of all, let me say this is no ripoff. Maybe an idea that I kinda' got from Keith Adams, but probably would've thought of by myself. Basically, he had a whole section devoted to reasons for things in CHRONO TRIGGER: THE SHADOWS, and explanations. Then Jeremy made one, but as a separate piece. Then Brian Work. Then Michael Hahn over at THE PHANTASY STAR PAGES, I'm giving the title for you people who don't know that probably the greatest Video Game Series that exists right now has a Fanfiction Page.
Notice how I say Series, *NOT* Game, just because one Series may have the Best Game its not the best Series. For those interested in how I rank my Favorite Games, at least, the RPGs, I very rarely play any others, and I've played tons, well, here's the Rankings with First meaning best and Fifth meaning Worst, although Worst of the Favorites still means Great.
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Note: The three games in First Place are still engaged in a struggle in my mind as to whether any will drop to Second Place and perhaps knock things down a place or will make a Grand Place. But unless it moves-up to Grand Place, FINAL FANTASY TACTICS is *NOT* leaving the First Place Section unless something really remarkable is released, and FFVIII is *NOT* gonna' do that.
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Note Two: Right to Left and Left to Right is NOT how they're viewed in that section, I just choose to list them that way.
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First Place: FINAL FANTASY TACTICS, WILD ARMS, and BREATH OF FIRE III
Second Place: CHRONO TRIGGER, THE LUNAR SERIES, BREATH OF FIRE I, BREATH OF FIRE II, PALADIN'S QUEST, SUIKODEN, and ARCANA
Third Place: THE PHANTASY STAR SERIES and FINAL FANTASY ADVENTURE
Fourth Place: SAGA FRONTIER
Fifth Place: FINAL FANTASY VII
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The ones in Third Place and Second Place are thousands of times better than the ones in Fourth Place and Fifth Place, and the ones in First Place are tens of thousands of times better than the ones in Fourth Place and Fifth Place. Then rankings for Third Place and Second Place are VERY close, but not as close as Second Place and First Place, which may become closer if anything moves.
The ones in Third Place and Second Place are thousands of times better than the ones in Fourth Place and Fifth Place, and the ones in First Place are tens of thousands of times better than the ones in Fourth Place and Fifth Place. Then rankings for Third Place and Second Place are VERY close, but not as close as Second Place and First Place, which may become closer if anything moves.
FFVII barely makes Fifth Place, its only better than the rest of the Series, excluding the two games elsewhere on the chart, thanks to its tragedies and emotions. I love things about vengeance and sorrow and how its wrong, things like the tragedy that is Sephiroth.
THE LUNAR SERIES is listed as a Series but is not my favorite Series, I just listed the two games in one place instead of two. The same for THE PHANTASY STAR SERIES, that's where it ranks on the list of my Favorite Games.
There is no such thing as best Graphics, Music, or Gameplay, they must reflect the Plotline and Atmosphere or the game is no good. Most games do, the only ones I know of that don't I don't like, and they kinda' do in a way, anyways.
All right, I've digressed far-enough.
Oh, yeah, the Document Title is also not a rip-off of Brian Work, I just don't want to use the overused Author's Notes whether this file is simply bigger than Author's Notes, and the first idea for the Title for this Document, the thing you're reading, not the Winword File, Duh!, which was Explanations, sounded dumb. So does Afterthoughts, well, like Author's Notes, afterthoughts is not dumb, I guess, like Explanations, which really isn't dumb, it really doesn't fit this Fanfic. I chose Author's Afterthoughts, and again, I probably would've thought of it anyways.
Also, I hope you've read the Story, this file is assuming that you did, if not, there are major spoilers below, so don't read-on!
So, here are the explanations.
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Phew! That should be enough to separate the remaineder of this Document from above, and hopefully people looking for potential Spoilers might've changed their minds while scrolling through all that. (Yes, Keith Adams did something similar and I'm not too sure I would've thought that up, well, don't be nitpicky.)
Here we go!
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The Reason For The Story's Title:
I'm not talking about the main title, I'm talking-about why this is NOT strictly an FFVII Fanfiction. In other words, why I gave the title of the whole Video Game Series to this piece of writing. Basically, because I don't consider it a sequel to FFVII. It is, No Duh!, because FFVII happens to take-place farthest in the future from the First Game. I consider it a Finale to the whole FINAL FANTASY SERIES. Yes, there will be an FFVIII, that's been confirmed, possibly an FFIX, but before you decide to type-up that lovely little rumor, like the 'confirmed' plotlines of FFVIII and how it is 'confirmed' that FFVIII takes-place four months or a year, I forget which, after FFVII, about an FFIX that I'm sure you've probably heard of, like the folks at The UnOfficial Sqauresoft Homepage/Square.Net/RPGamer say, its probably just 'wishful' thinking and is most-likely not in development now. And if you think I know so much about that stuff, don't ask me for details of the Plotline, because other than scanning for things about Jenova I'm not looking for spoilers, its very lucky I missed the spoiler about what happens to Aeris (and I won't spoil it in case you're idiotic to read this paragraph and haven't beaten the game yet, in which case, go back further and if you haven't touched to story don't read it until beating the game, and for that matter, all the games in the series and getting everything hidden and all the hidden plotpoints) since after I wondered what the online people had to say about Aeris' fate after seeing it, when I checked, I found LOTS about it, some posted even before the game had been put-out, and, as I expected, lies about how to undo that fate. Come on, they're obviously lies! One I did attempt even thoug I knew it wouldn't work just to laugh at the moron who made it up, though, upon failing!
Okay, I digressed again. So sue me. The Jenova Link and Kefka's reference in FFVI "I've tapped into the ultimate power! You are like insects to me!" are really the only solid links we have between games, but they're there. And I don't know if Squaresoft has their own way of following-up on this link or whether the Jenova portion ended there, and if there are any other links between past games, but if none come-up that contradict this, and I did leave any links between FFVII and future games in the Series open mainly because I don't know what's in the future of the Series, well, guess what! This Fanfiction will be canon! At least, fitting-in between the games, but then again, most Fanfictions do, and I say most even ignoring the 'Alterate Reality Fanfictions' for various RPGs, some of which are based-on games in the FINAL FANTASY SERIES.
Since Squaresoft probably WILL NOT follow-up on that link, and I had a story, or the beginnings of one in my mind, FINAL FANTASY: PATHWAYS OF FOREBODING was born.
(Lovely bunch of ramblings here, I did *NOT*, yieee, four of those words exactly like that, expect to spend this much on that section, but as it gave me the option to cover some other things in my mind, I did so. Remember, I get to ramble here, and I've darn well earned the right to do so!)
As for the rest of the Title, that's explained later.
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Aisha and Ceile:
They were in from the beginning. The very first line, in fact. I'd shaped them, formed their personalities and everything but their origin, I left that shady with the Dark Star as I wasn't sure where to go with it yet, nor what it would be called yet. I wasn't aware they would also become Celia and Lede, Celia being Ceile, and Lede being Aisha, until I got to that point in FINAL FANTASY TACTICS looooooong after this story had been started, you may have noticed a major break period between CHAPTER XIII and CHAPTER XIV, I was playing FINAL FANTASY TACTICS then. However, as I progressed through the game after they'd made their appearance, and through Limberry, it struck me how their lives were exactly the same way as my views of what Aisha and Ceile would be in human form, and they acted like they would have at that point, too. Notice Lede's tendancy towards violence more than Ceile, too, and you'll see how well that fit. So I decided to merge the characters.
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The Dark Star:
Basically, it was in my mind as who the real 'antagonist' would be until I got to CHAPTER XI and formed its personality and history out of shards and mists into something that existed. I'd never really wanted a real 'villian' but when I reached that point I realized the Dark Star just wouldn't fit. Yeah, 'his' replacement, in a way, was the same, but it felt right to have someone else, and at that point the idea of having a 'living' Universe popped into my mind and the rest of the story's basics congealed into the fluent 'Hoped Masterpiece' you see now.
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Other Fanfictions with a Dark Star:
We'll address my supposed 'cliches' here too, since both things are related.
First of all, when I started this piece of Fanfiction it was very early November, I beat FFVII the first Sunday or second Sunday of November and immediately after sat down to begin this story, not even sure where it will go, but we'll get to that later. Not even cliche ole' FORGOTTEN MESSIAH was out. And I say cliche there because in one section of the last Chapter the Author did something that suddenly dropped the Fanfic level from 'Great' almost down to 'Normal.' Basically, ignoring the fact that the characters suddenly happened to find their way through a labyrinth, find the Materia that was needed, and make it back to cure Tifa of her wounds at a very quick pace, hinting she might've perished from them if not for that. Give me a break, will ya'!
The only FFVII Fanfictions out there were dorky ole' 'Humor' Fanfictions, like junk in A Very (Very) Pathetic Webpage, which really is pathetic, at least we have a modest Author here folks, who at least tries, though, and doesn't brag. Anyone who likes this page, well, um, I dunno', I won't insult you since I know of quite a few people who seem to be quite sane and do, but I think it is pathetic, and its my opinion, so there! Anyways, I was saying, all there were were dumb old Fanfictions, none even serious, I believe. I don't know if any serious ones were even in the making then. I don't know if Elik/Odessa/Tamerine had any out then, but if so, sorry, if you had any out then then you're the sole exception I know of.
The reason cliches are in this section is simply because I don't want anyone to even think that I ripped-off THE LOST DRAGOON (Shouldn't it be Dragon Here?) OR LUNAR, and/or FINAL FANTASY: THE COMING OF THE DARK STAR. Neither did they rip-off me, there's only two people I'm suspecting have ripped me off, one of whom is posted on this very page, but I'm not pointing fingers. If you really are ripping me off, you know who you are, both of you, I suggest you stop RIGHT NOW!!!!! And no, don't look for any of the rip-offs until you're at MadamHydra, and I'll tell you its *NOT* (there's that word again) Frank Verderosa (forget where his stories rank) or MadamHydra.
I started rather early and had no idea how many people would do things parallel to what I did, so I haven't ripped-off anyone.
The Dark Star is mine and mine alone.
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Lucavi and the Zodiac Beasts:
Rather simple, actually. I just had to keep-on placing ideas in the pool until one of the them fit right, just as I did when I constructed a Timeline for the FINAL FANTASY SERIES, something that was one of the 'lesser-scale' main inspirations for this book. I een managed to get in one of them in CHAPTER XXIII, thanks to knowing which stones had *NOT* (Aieeeeeeee!!!!!) been used. Even then I had to guess, and skim Henry LaPierre's Translations to find-out exactly who and what Zodiac Monsters were where, I figured he'd have something on those beasties I had heard about. A big risk, as according to one of Matthew Schuele's Notes about how if he read the translation of some part right he'd do such and such, thankfully after I'd already beaten the game, well, if I'd happened upon any spoilers I would've been annoyed. As it was, I did notice a large section and the name Germonique as its Author, a mistranslation on his/her part, same as how his/her translation kept saying 'Ramuza' instead of 'Ramza.' It turned-out I got the Guide and that correct Translation before it was too late, Germonik Scriptures, the title of some Item in the game, seemed akin to Germonique, heck, I believe Henry LaPierre title that large section the Germonique Scriptures. Anyways, just seeing his name mentioned a lot told me that this must've been some philosopher or something, and I acted upon it. Thankfully, as with the guesses as to what they did, also off the 'Translation' skimming, and how they 'possessed' turned-out right, too.
Yeah, I also discovered the existence of something named Lucavi at the head of them. The possessions and other factors I looked-into as much as I could without getting very many spoilers, their hosts I completely ignored, as well as anything but the fact that they seemed to be a last-resort.
And no, I obviously did not figure-out as to how they fit-in until finishing the game and resumed the story. I knew shortly afterwards, the pieces just 'settled' themselves in my mind. Since it was rather obvious the stones would've been used for something evil, I would've expected jerks like Queklain upon seeing the stones for the first time, anyways, so don't tell me I would've spoiled the game. And I knew they existed, the Zodiac Brave Legend that was circuited online and seemed to be what would end-up in the Instruction Booklet. Apparently not, but finding-out a bit more, more-specifically, how they offered the 'possessions,' couldn't hurt. I was checking and found-out I was wrong in one thing. Thankfully, I didn't do too much as to have to edit the Chapter, as my guess as to why there were things like that went completely awry. I also deliberately held back speculations until I was sure I hadn't misread the Translations and there really were Zodiac Stones in exactly that manner. After Queklain, I started speculating as I normally would in cases like this. Wiegraf/Velius confirmed they did indeed possess, and that was that.
No spoilers, plus you've gotten an inside look at that section of CHAPTER XIII. And I've also explained the rest, I obviously had beaten the game by CHAPTER XIV.
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The Hosts of Each Respective Stone:
That took some work. Well, actually only on three of them. Okay, four, Aquarius.
Attune, Joe, that particular 'Elevator Operator' in Junon, and Jessie. The rest were well-explained.
Basically, no one could've said they weren't some type of members in Ralyon's Eagles. Jessie, obviously, was Elteresel from the start, she perished in the destruction of the Midgar Sector 7 Slums. Attune and Joe were just chosen because of the dedication to their tasks, and their abilities, respectively. Attune had already merged with the Stone, being kind-of a seeker of knowledge, and both hadsuch strong minds that they kinda' formed betrayal, in a way. The 'Elevator Operator' could've darn-well been serving in Ralyon's Eagles. She didn't have much in life, probably was satisfied, and thought she could be satisfied with her new role. Then she finds the stone's powers and uses them, and is twisted. Joe kinda' had the role of someone who wasn't too pushy in life, and was definately comfortable with what he did. As you'd have probably noticed, he wasn't comfortable with his new assignment. But he's the type that would probably think that if he followed his orders everything would turn-out all right.
Unfortunately, for him, they didn't.
Only when I realized that the Stones would lead to a kind of betrayal on Attune/Sentoriotor's part did I realize exactly how Crysales would perish.
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The Scene With Elidibs and Lucavi:
Purely to give you readers out there a sort-of early jump-kick as to my interpretations of the Elidibs/Lucavi thing, as well as what happens to 'Stone Hosts.' For your information, its a kind of merging of minds. They need to fit each other or the merging will probably lead to errors and/or chaotic minds. They also merge, but amplify a lot of 'not-so-nice' traits. Its not really 'possession,' its a metamorphosis of sorts. The Zodiac Demons didn't know too much about caring, so everything fit.
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Ajora's Fate:
You tell me how someone who loves peace will turn-out to be a spy and then a Zodiac Demon? He must've been tricked somewhere along the line, people like him can darn well be naive. It wasn't too hard to settle. And as for Germonik being Ajora's brother, I believe that was mentioned somewhere in the game. If not, well, it definately fits so there's no sense removing it.
Poor guy.
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The Universe:
Basically a type of being which has seen something like eternal pain and agony. CHAPTER XXV, despite the mystical feeling and obscure portions I tried to give it, points that one out quite well. It couldn't stand the pain, and when it found a way it could stop it and help others, it could do so.
Actually, there was really only one obscure portion there, in my mind. The smiles the being was rewarded with upon understanding. I couldn't list why, itd ruin the moment. Basically, they were smiles of encouraging the being it was doing the right thing, and a mixture of relief as well.
As to whether or not that was the 'Universe's Essence' in the Epilogue, well, it might have been the being, living as a human and having something set-up so upon perishing it would return to its normal form and have memory of its human life(s), even though it had no memory of its life before. That's what it meant, but as to whether or not that boy was the being...
...I'm not telling.
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The Story in General:
Believe it or not, it probably won't demand as long an explanation as some of the upper passages. I started with a few things. A Timeline, at least two Links between the games, and a desire to right. So I sat-down and picked-up right where the game ended, starting with Aisha and Ceile. I didn't know where I'd be going until somewhere around CHAPTER III, and like I said, the Dark Star got removed from its 'first position' in CHAPTER XI. Various pieces also changed and flowed-along as the characters wrote themselves out in the story, telling me what they'd do. As Matthew Schuele says, "Sometimes the characters just jump off the page at you and tell you: 'I wouldn't do this, or, this wouldn't happen to me like that!!'" Or something like that.
The Title, PATHWAYS OF FOREBODING, has a double meaning.
Excluding the fact that in my opinion it was a dramatic title, of course.
First of all, seeing as how Jenova seemed to be a root cause, and the Planet of Artesta had just passed its biggest crisis yet (I'm not telling you how I came-up with all the names because saying so will be saying that I just used ones that fit, which I guess I am telling you I did, and I did do so), there wasn't much knowledge as to what lay in the future.
The second meaning is simply related to how sometimes we're forced to take pathways we don't want, tread them with dread, fear, and perhaps a mixture of awe and foreboding, yet we can't really look back. If we did, we'd doom ourselves. Its been stated in the Fanfiction itself, but I'll state it here again: In cases like this, looking back and speculating over all things can lead to ruin.
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Other Random Names, Portions, and Obscurities:
Yeesh! This is getting as long as, if not longer than, one of Marron's 'FREETALKS.' Ugh!
Well, I'm not speeding up, there's still quite a bit left to cover.
There's not really much more to say about any of those. There's one more 'obscurity' I'll cover later. The name and sections I just edited and re-edited until they fit. The only exception to the 'smaller' portions would be the Odin/Raiden thing. A simple explanation to what Odin possessed the capabilties to transform.
Because it could. If it could transform, maybe it alone had survived.
Oh, yeah, and there's the 'Hosts.'
Simple explanation as to different types of beings as well as to show how many cencillions of lives really exist in that particular Universe. The 'Summoned Monsters' were given their explanation to there, simply because they'd fit in and I definately thought I could cover their 'origin' there.
Finally, I presume some of you might be wondering what happened to the 'Lifestream Goddess.' 'She' simply escaped. She had more than enough power to escape from the 'vacuum' Ralyon had sucked her in to, so she did.
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The Windy Battles:
An obvious way of hampering your opponent. I kept it up because a lot of beings would probably jump to the same conclusion that fighting winds and very dangerous adversaries and/or terrain could be rather difficult. And if something works, why stop using it?
That doesn't mean I didn't stop using Knights of the Round in FFVII. That Materia was only good for Emerald Weapon and Ruby Weapon and making-sure that I got all three Turks in the final battle with them, after stealing from them all. I didn't want any escaping, I needed the AP. Other than trying the thing out to see if it was any good after first getting it, and those three occasions, I haven't used it for anything but a quick finish to some enemies, but never on Bosses. As you might have noticed though, I made it a point to scrap Final Attack, the Mastered and the new one, I had two, at the earliest convenience. I did want to use it at least once, though.
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Other Battle Tidbits:
Sapphire Weapon would probably have had 50,000 HP if fought in the game. I gave it some very good resistance, though. Since you can't do HP in a Fanfiction, or any story, for that matter, nor MP, EXP, or other such, the logical explanation is it had good defensive abilities. That also explains how that Imp was able to nail Meliadoul, a fatal blow is a fatal blow, no matter who the opponent is.
You might have noticed the three dots in most of the battles. I put those in in the battles where I thought it would add to the enjoyment of kinda' feeling like you were swirling into a battle from the game. Not that that really happened, but that was the intention. That's why games do those things with battles, I'm guessing, to flow perfectly yet kinda' provide a small break in the Gameplay/Story.
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Sephiroth:
I pitied him. I didn't cry for him, when his life was ruined in Nibelheim was sad, to be sure, but not as much as people like Miluda, Teta, Delita, and Ramza, as well as a lot of the others, in FINAL FANTASY TACTICS.
I never hated Sephiroth, when he slew Aeris I only pitied him more. It was obvious he was as much a puppet as Cloud, the only other one to realize this is someone who I forget the name of, and who I discovered existed, as well as a nifty piece of writing, which also has its bad points, around the time of CHAPTER XXII. Didn't do more than tell me what I already knew though, but still its pretty cool.
Just to know you're not the only one who can understand all parts of the game.
Anyone notice the two times Sephiroth started thinking Jenova might not be Cetra, and/or not his mother, in the game? He was then white-flashed, but since we didn't know the significance of those flashes we couldn't know that yet.
I'll make a contest. The first person to successfully tell me those two places gets an Honorable Mention at the end of my next Fanfiction. No, wait, I think its already listed in the Fanfiction, so maybe not. Feel free to send me your guesses though.
He'd suffered too much. I'd think people like this the Cetra would take pity on. Hence we reach the other obscure passage in the Epilogue. He ended-up in the Promised Land, along with Lucrecia. I didn't need to mention Lucrecia, actually, couldn't, or it would ruin the Ending. But he was so broken and yet still tried to hold onto his life. How could anyone feel nothing but pity for him?
There's more on the Ending later, so I'll get to that later.
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The Casualty Toll:
Simply because there was no way they could get out of all of those situations, all alive and perhaps not even the worse for wear. I started with Vincent, but decided that was too much like a sacrifice, so I looked for an opportunity to slay someone else. I eventually decided on Barret, but changed my mind four times.
Here's the real contest, if you win both of the contests and I decide the Sephiroth Contest is legitimate, then you'll get a 'star' by your Honorable Recognition, if not there will be two different winners. I'm probably scrapping the first contest though. So, whoever can list the four places I'd decided to slay Barret but then changed my mind, and guesses all three on the first try, will get an Honorable Recognition at the end of my next Fanfiction.
Tifa and Yuffie were random picks. I needed someone else to perish, and since I'd already been tossing the idea of Cid perishing in CHAPTER XXIII around in my mind, he was ruled-out. Anyone could recieve the pick, but it landed on Tifa. That kinda' made that Chapter a bit more complex, as anyone who's heard me grumbling about how hard that Chapter was to do while typing it will probably attest. Then I decided to pick another person and see if I could pull that off. I landed-on Yuffie.
Cid's fate had been decided by then. The Turks were in question ever since their unwelcome landing in the molten 'pit' in one of the Chapters, I eventually decided to let them live. For Cid, he perished because I realized what he would do he couldn't survive unless he was incredibly lucky. Don't tell me anyone could survive what he did! Even reinforced metal like that couldn't survive so many hard deep-space collisions to the point where he'd make it to the atmosphere.
By then, his fate was sealed.
As for Cloud.
Well, why he perished is tied-in with the Ending, so I'll get to that later too.
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The Shinobi and Nanaki's Race:
Explanations for their powers. The same as the Limit Breaks and all those various other tidbits that clicked into place and were tossed-around, that are important but not important-enough to make it onto this Document.
I think I made it clear in a later Chapter that Red XIII/Nanaki is not related biologically to Bugenhagen. If not, here you have it. Either way, though, both of the races living in Cosmo Canyon were descended from the grouping I mentioned. If I left that out, well, you just heard it here.
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Other Various Tidbits:
Like I stated above in two sections, and in the one above this, they're just things like the Limit Breaks, how the party carried its weapons and Items and/or other belongings, how Tents worked, the Materia, and the WEAPONs that clicked into place during the course of the story, and were brought-up where necessary. They had to click into place, as, in a way, they provided intricate portions of the plot. Some of them, and in the case of those three, most of them, aren't in the real basics of the plot. But seeing as how they're part of the plot, they're important parts of it.
If something I didn't have an explanation for popped-up, which was the case with a few portions of the Limit Break explanations, as in, some of the points where I was figuring-out how they were enhanced abilities, I'd have to fiddle with them until I found a plausible way for the puzzle piece to work with the rest. The Limit Breaks and the Materias were one such case.
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The Other Materias:
Just filling-in the things that could've been placed in the game but weren't. Things like HP/MP Switch had to be reshaped, as did the whole 'Materia-Energy' System, to actually make sense. HP became Health Protection, MP Materia Power, if I were to use that Materia a Health Protection Plus would need to be activated, and its energies, instead of performing whatever tasks I had ready for them in the Fanfiction, if they were needed, would provide extra Materia Power. While we're on that, Health Protection is something that wasn't used in this Fanfiction. It was there, and even mentioned, but to work, you'd have had to know the exact place a wound was coming and then activate it, and if there was enough time left, you'd get somewhat of a second, invisible layer of skin that could only be felt by the attack that you wished to protect against. In the same manner, Gil Plus produces precious material from lifeless bodies, and that's the only time it would've happened. Experience Plus, if there had been one, would have been close to useless as well, just enhancing things like Health Protection Plus to learn from experience. Ability Power still relates to Materia, that is not a Video-Game-Type thing.
Knowing this, here are the Materias Yuffie won in Gold Saucer:
| Support Materia | Command Materia | Independent Materia |
| Attack Turbo | Magic-All | AP Up |
| Added Magic | Doubled Supporter | Ability Plus |
| Added Command | Double All-Slash | XP/Gil Switch |
| Added Summon | Double Final Attack |
XP/AP Switch |
| Quadra Command | White-Attack | Quadra Summon |
| Summon Counter | White-Limit | |
| Doubled Plus | White-Commandment | |
| Doubled Up | White-Action |
And there you have it.
All 103 Materia.
But before I explain the more-obscure Materias, and, obvious though they may seem, there are a few that need explaining, I'll give an example of differed abbreviations.
HP Absorb is Health Provision Absorb, draining a fraction of harm, converted to healing energies, back to the user. MP Absorb is still Materia Power Absrob, draining a fraction of harm, converted to Ether-Like Energies, back to the user. And so on.
Obviously, XP/Gil Switch would not work in the story without Gil Plus. Quadra Summon is in the Independent Section, because it obviously doesn't work too well. If an attached White-Magic doesn't work on a Knights of the Round Materia, neither, most-likely, would an attached White-Summon. There would need to be something that could concentrate more energies. As for White-Action, that gives you two turns in the game, so two times the speed in the story, 'White' in this case means 'Double,' while we're on that subject. And White-Supporter, it enhances the ability of all Materias save Final Attack and Command Counter to twice their amount.
Why were these ignored?
Because with the exception of a few select Materias in this grouping, they do nothing but make the body perform the exact maneuver over again, except in the case of the White-Action, but if you've already made the mistake you can't go back and correct it thanks to that. The Double Final Attack is useless without the real thing. While the 'new' support Materias are useless, again, its just the same mistake over and over again, they really wouldn't have made much of a difference. The power is the skill, and while those three types of Materias can help, only the basics really make a difference, not combos you probably wouldn't have had time to perfect in real life.
Maybe some of those Materias were used by Barret with his Break Combos in CHAPTER XXIV. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, some had to have been.
Also, I think I might've stated 123 Materia in the story somewhere. If so, the number should've been 103.
Anyways, that's that for that explanation.
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An Extra Name Tidbit:
While we're on the subject of 'Errors', I thought I should mention this.
I wonder how many of you caught the 'Alaslam' Error. Remember, the person who said that didn't know the name well, so when I found-out for the correct name for the historian fellow that it states is the Author of the Zodiac Brave Story, and believe me, I knew there was an Author so no spoliers there when I happened to glimpse it in Henry LaPierre's Translation, was Alazlam, I didn't bother to change it.
Just being clever there.
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An Extra 'Fact' Tidbit:
Who noticed that part of Midgar seemed to meet the ocean in the final section of the Ending. While in the Zack/Cloud flashback that section could've just been mists, or I just didn't see it right, there was definately ocean in there. So whe I noticed exactly where Onyx Weapon's aim had veered to and hit, I decided to add the part in about how it cut a channel there.
In 500-499 Years, I forget exactly whether the years had changed then or not, well, that'd be enough for the waters to settle.
Again, just being clever.
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A Sequel:
No. This was meant to be a FINAL FANTASY Finale.
I may, however, at some point, write a FINAL FANTASY TACTICS story, but that's my decision, and no amount of requests, cash donations, beggings, and/or annoyed mails, are going to get me to make that decision in any way but my own. Whether that will take place in a different 'Faniverse' than this one of pick-up anywhere from right after to somewhere after this one left-off is unknown. If I ever do write a FINAL FANTASY TACTCS Fanfiction, though, it will probably be in a different 'Faniverse' from this one.
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Inspirations For Writing This Fanfiction:
I've already listed the reasons for writing this Fanfiction above, there's also one I'll get to next, but because it wasn't so much a reason as something also completely different, its not listed above. Here are the inspirations.
If there was such a thing as a true inspiration, I'd have to place it on She'an and Elik/Odessa/Tamerine. Even though I'd barely met them at that point, their stories, She'an's epic FFVI Novel, and Elik's incredible stories, although not many, save just a few tiny assorted ones, her absolutely incredible WILD ARMS Stories provided an inspiration too. In a way, it was She'an's story that rekindled the old interest in putting together a Timeline for the FINAl FANTASY SERIES, and I'm not sure I would've acted upon that if not for her. As for Elik, her writing was the second, She'an's the first, glimpse I had of truly excellent writing. I may have had a lot of the inspiration then, but not the type of peace I gained by reading those works of hers. An extra special thanks to both of you for this!
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The Meaning of FINAL FANTASY:
I wonder how many of you noticed that line in CHAPTER XXV that says 'final fantasy' in it somewhere with more than the same notice you give other lines, perhaps more than the attention you give great lines.
Yes, it is intentional.
I felt it was about time someone gave an explanation for the name of the Series. For those of you who don't get the name yet, despite the tons of hints I've dropped in your faces for those who don't know yet, allow me to explain.
Each FINAL FANTASY game, in some way, has consisted of some type of delusion, or crazed fantasy, that more often than not, ends-up slaying someone. Maybe, maybe not, but in as broad an RPG Series as this one, the creators needed a name that could be expanded to cover all themes. Perhaps its simply the fact that the choics seem final, that your fate seems unchangeable. Perhaps its the fact that we don't truly know, or perhaps its the fact that existence itself, in a way, is like a final fantasy, a neverending dream...
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The Ending:
At last we come to the explanation of the Ending.
I wrote what I felt fit. So please, no criticisms about the Ending.
I'll give the explanations to the question I'm sure you're all asking:
Why Cloud?
He fit.
Well, to tell the truth, I didn't have the Ending settled in my mind until CHAPTER XXIII, when I just saw a glimpse of those five standing in the mists in my mind. I knew either way the Ending turned-out, because there's no way they could've defeated the Universe if it hadn't agreed with them, and I knew that scene could still be there if the Universe hadn't understood what the humans, the Android, one beast of unknown species, and one Byblos were trying to tell it. It could've been Nanaki there just as easily, the growth over Midgar a way to make a beautiful forest of greenery. The Ending might not have been the same, would've been a lot different, but would've been soothing and bittersweet just as the final version was. Their spirits could've been there, it wouldn't have wiped them from the Path of Spirits since it recognized they were reaching out to it. Nanaki might've lived, too, and found one of the 'replacements.' It'd probably have just wiped the life off of that Planet and replaced it with new since some of its denizens had tried to reach out to it. Hence that setting.
I was prepared.
When it became obvious who'd emerged the 'victor' in that debate, and then there was really no victor as it wasn't a battle, they were trying to help a lost being, well, I had to get rid of the Criyorti somehow, and I already knew that it wouldn't feel right if the Universe removed it from existence, and the White Materia idea clicked into place. I'd known itd be necessary for something, but towards the end I thought it would've just remained a desperation maneuver. Cloud couldn't stay alive or the Ending's setting, which by then had clicked into place, wouldn't fit. And I didn't want him fading out of the picture so easily, nothing to do with characters since I have no favorites in FFVII, they're all great characters, it was the fact his inner conflicts were representative of most of the outer.
And since it was obvious whatever needed to be done was a one-way task.
Well, the rest of the pieces clicked and from there it was smooth sailing until the end of the story.
What were Sephiroth, Zack, Aeris, Tifa, and Cloud doing together in spiritual form? And were they in the Promised Land?
Yes.
The Promised Land is the Planet itself, kinda' the Core of the Planet, the very epicenter of the Path of Spirits. That's what the Plane could be considered. It is the Planet inside and out, yet on a completely different Plane than the 'Reality Plane' and the 'Spirit Plane.' That's digressing, but I thought I'd ought to add my interpretation of the Promised Land here.
Either way, they were there, along with Lucrecia.
They'd suffered enough, I'd think that the Cetra would take pity on them and allow them to 'live.' I think of the Promised Land as giving more of 'a second life' than the Path of Spirits. But that's beside the point. Its mainly because they deserve to live somewhere free of torment and harm.
Sephiroth and Lucrecia are there, in a way together with the other four.
And if you're wondering who Cloud ends-up with, that's irrelevant. I prefer to leave it up to chance, 50/50 for each, but if Aeris ever said anything that interrupted his and Tifa's love she'd probably back-out like she seems to do in the game.
That's irrelevant.
They're together, and that's all that matters.
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That's that for all of the Author's Afterthoughts.
I hoped that's helped give you an 'insider's look' into the making of this Fanfiction as well as answering some of the more-common questions I get and probably will get.
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