I have a few responses to comments made in the questbook:
Well, congratualations, you are the first person ever to make me defacate with laughter.
I think that's the first time I've ever heard the words defacate and laughter in the same sentence.
Frank, since it appears as though many of your devoted fans are having a bit of a tough time waiting for an update, maybe you could sorta possibly...bring back the forums?
Sigh. It's not going to happen. For a while there I was trying to expand this page by adding various things (puzzles, quizes, forum, chat) but I've realized that this page is about writing and that's what I need to concentrate on. Anything else is a distraction. There's a distinct possibility I might close the artwork section too since I haven't updated that in months. People have sent me artwork and I haven't had a chance to post it and I feel bad about that. One other thing I'd like to mention is that no, the guestbook is not a forum. I stated in a previous update that I would like everyone to keep their comments related to how they felt about the website. I would appreciate if you could all limit yourselves to that.
WHY IN THE FLAMING SCORCHING HELL WOULD YOU WANT EMINEM"S REAL NAME AS A COVER FOR RENO!!!!!!!!!!!!
You know, I think this has caused more controversy than anything else I've ever done at this site. I got a lot of emails about this (not so many anymore, of course) and I think they were divided pretty evenly between those who loved it and those who hated it. Yeah, Eminem is a controversial figure but c'mon, what better name could I have chose to fit Reno's personality?
Another thing you Americans get wrong is the pronounciation of Emu's, you guys say ee-moos, its actually pronounced eem-yoos.
Thank you for that information and no, I'm not being sarcastic ^^. I've wanted to visit Australia since I was a little kid.
Okay, that's it for this time!
I've been bad with the story but even worse with my email. I haven't answered one email since February. In fact I neglected my Hotmail account for so long that they closed it. I have reactivated it but everything that was in it is gone. For some reason I just haven't been motivated to answer email at all. Not even sure why. So... if you do email me and don't get a reply, don't be too surprised.
All right, I've gotten over my funk. In spite of my saying I didn't want to be cheered up I'd like to thank everyone who sent supportive comments. I'll be checking my email again but I'm soooo far behind that I'd like to ask you all to hold off on sending anything new at least til next update so I can try to get caught up. Some of this stuff is months old and I feel really bad for not responding. I will try to answer everything that has been sent eventually, so if you get a response from an email that is months old, don't be surprised. I will also be trying to get up new chapters a bit faster than the last two.
One other small thing. Some of you seemed to be under the impression that the email comments I posted in the previous update were all one email. It was actually four different ones.
Here's some email I've gotten recently:
You write excellent stories. I think 'Astray' is my favorite, although the
series is great too. I've copied-and-pasted quite a few, so I could read them
without being on the Internet. But there is something that is really
bothering me...SPELLCHECK, DAMMIT! Christ Jesus, if you managed to pass college spelling like that, the least you could do is spellcheck it. I'm sorry if I'm flaming, but I'm a born editor, and it's annoying as fuck-all.
I just wanted to say that you havent updated anything anything in a month, i was just wondering if you were hit by a truck or something. iF YOU WANTED TO JUST STOP WRITING, YOU COULD OF AT LEAST TOLD US!!!! Theres no point in me to check back everyday to see if you updated. I wouldnt mind if you gave us a reason why you havent updated in so long. I woulldnt care if you said somthing like, ive been to busy at work for writing or somthing like, ive been playing video games and dont want to write or even just that you had given up on writing. Please Mail Me back if your not dead.
I know this style of writing. It belongs to a very dear friend of mine. I doubt that you had any part in writing this story at all. I think I know how you got hold of this story, through a site that my friend used to post his story. You have a lot of explaining to do. I only read the first chapter and I already figured out how they were going to beat the resurrected Sephiroth to rescue Aeris. You have a LOT of explaining to do. Just to let you know, I personally know the guy who wrote this story so I would like to hear your explanation on how you got hold of this story because I was the one who proofread it AND did the final edits. Like I said before, you have a LOT of explaining to do. I guess what it comes down to is this: Give my friend his credit or take the story down. We still want to hear your reasons for putting up something as audacious as this without giving the story its proper credits. I could care less about the credit to myself, but I know my friend spent HOURS on this project. Explain yourself, or I will ask to have you shut down by the sysadmin.
I hate you.
Well, at least the last guy was to the point. *sigh again* So, I break my butt for five long years writing, pretty much nonstop, and this is what I get. I really don't know why I even bother. I'm tired of being beat up, I'm tired of others constantly trying to take credit for my work, I'm tired of everything. So, for now, I'm not going to be accepting ANY email. I don't need anyone to insult me, I don't need anyone to cheer me up, I just want to be left ALONE. I'll update when I update and if you're not happy with that, too bad. If no one comes to the site anymore, well, I don't even care anymore. For those of you who are kind and patient, I'll try to get the next chapter out as quickly as I can but I'm not making any promises as to when.
I am soooooo far behind on my email it's not funny. I've been behind before but this time I believe I have taken procrastination to new heights. I apologize for that and promise I will get to it very soon!
The hit counter will probably hit one million late tonight or tomorrow. Yay!
Just a few quick comments from the Guestbook:
I need to ask frank a question can u put mine and dans website on ur links page? plz!!!!!!!!!! we need publicity. The website is www.griggsanddansff7site.com
Please email me this request (or any others like it) as I will never remember it if you put it in the Guestbook.
I have a feeling that Marlene isn't really Barret's daughter, I think that she might be Eleanor and Dyne's daughter.
Your feeling is correct.
And one thing more Frank, do you have a broadband or cable internet? Jus for this online RPG?
Still stuck with dial up, unfortunately, although the game seems to run pretty well on it. I've got all the characters from the Mandaria Chronicles playing now, though I had to slightly alter a few of the names!
Talk to you all soon!
ASTRAY: The next chapter is posted. Not much really happens. Sort of a boring chapter actually but necessary. Actually I had planned to have three events take place in this chapter. The first one was Reno calling up Tifa and inviting her out to lunch. They haven't seen each other since the events in chapter 23 and they need to kind of... readjust to each other, shall I say? So anyways, I figured I'd have them go to this restaurant and talk for a bit (though I had no idea what they were going to talk about) and then move on to the next thing, figuring this wouldn't take up space. Well, I got them going and before I knew it I had about ten pages written. Adding the other two events I had planned for his chapter would have made it humongous, plus I probably wouldn't have been done until next weekend (and I didn't really want to delay that long because it's already been quite a while since I posted a chapter of this story) so I figured it would be best to post this part as a chapter by itself. So... there you have it!
THE SERIES: Well, it's only been what, about a week since I said the next book in the internet series will be the last and already I'm starting to have second thoughts. I've been thinking about the plot a lot and things I could do and got some ideas and maybe, just maybe, I may end up with two more books to go. Protecters of the Planet will still be the last one but now I'm thinking I might slip something in between. I'm not CERTAIN of this yet, mind you. Its just a possibility. I'll have to think about it some more and see.
THE HIT COUNTER: I've been looking at the hit counter and it looks like I'll be reaching a million hits in about 10 days. (Maybe fewer if you people go bananas on me ^^) I have to admit I'm a bit excited about it. Not really sure why, its just a number after all. Still, it is kind of cool. I'll probably try to post on the day it hits a million. Just because I feel like!
DARK AGE OF CAMELOT: Totally non FF related topic here! Looks like I'm going to be getting this game sometime this week. I love RPG's (as if you couldn't guess) but I don't ordinarily play online ones because I know I'd get addicted and spend all my spare time playing these things and turning my brain to mush, but I've decided to give this one a shot. If any of you out there are playing this game and have any tips or hints you'd like to offer (or perhaps some cool items that you might have lying around and no use for ^^) to a hapless newbie I'd be greatly obliged. Not sure yet what realm or server or race or class I'm going to be. Feel free to email me with any suggestions or advice! And don't worry, I still intend to find time for writing!
As for now, time to get to work on Astray, which I can't believe I haven't had time to work on in so long. Now that Destiny is over, however, I can really concentrate on that story!
I have a few more responses to some of the comments in the Guestbook:
I gotta question, is it possible to finish the game w/out the PHS?
I don't know. I never tried that.
How did you get to be such a great writer?
Not sure. Lots of practice?
I absolutly love your work Frank, keep it up. If you don't, I shall kill you.
I know you mean that in a good way though, right?
Anyone here a Buffy fan?
Yes, although I don't watch the show as much as I used to. I think it's been going downhill for quite a while now. I especially don't like all the stupid things they've done to Spike. He was such a great bad guy and they just ruined him.
How do u get the white chocobo?
You can't.
Ya...... franks gone..... Where are you??? Astray is not finished so you better hurry up on destiny!!!! by the way.. your site rocks but you should keep POSTEING even if there are no chapters to post...
Hmm, this requires a multi part answer. First, I wasn't gone that long. Yes, the last update on the banner on my main page was from 2/16 but if you looked in the updates section you'd have seen that I updated the Mandaria Chronicles on the 27th, so it's only been about two weeks since my last post, which is pretty normal. I have to work on the Mandaria Chronicles every once in a while and when I do there's naturally going to be a bit more time between FF7 story posts. Plus I did also mention in the last update that I'd be a little longer with the next post since I was finishing off Cetra Destiny and would be posting two chapters at once. As for posting something when I don't have any chapters to post, what would I post? A note saying that yes, I'm alive? I appreciate everyone's concern, but I don't think something like that would be productive. ^^
Hey! Great as always! Sorry, been really busy, just moved (still DB, heh, DB, get it?
Hi Christina! Yes, I get it. ^^
How come you have had so much visitors on this page??(except your great stories and all)
I think you just answered your own question.
I think that you're an excellent writer but i'd really like to know what your age is. There's no way that a younger kid could have written these stories.
Let's see. I've graduated from college, have a job and live on my own, so obviously you're right, I'm not a kid. And that's probably the most details I've ever revealed about myself online!
Frank, (Can I call you Frank?)
I've been called worse.
Though you may not have heard of her, Catalina's "Sink to the BOTTOM with You", (Sorry, couldn't resist), is my second favorite FF7 fanfiction
Sink To The Bottom With You is listed in my links section as a recommended fic.
Well, with all the writing I've been doing (and other things) I have TOTALLY neglected my email for like a month now. Sorry! I'll try to get caught up with that in the next few days, and then it's time to get to Astray!
The next chapter of Cetra Destiny is posted. Ack, a cliffhanger. I'm evil, I know. I think there's only two or three chapters left now. Still long though. I seem to be getting more long winded as I go along. But maybe not. The Mind Slayers is still the longest fic on the site and I don't think anything is going to challenge it anytime soon, though Astray will almost certainly end up second by the time it's done.
I've been looking at the hit counter and it looks like the site will reach a million hits sometime late next month (or perhaps early April). It's strange though. I've had the counter for a few years now and I always thought that the hits would spike each time I announced on the mailing list that I was posting a new chapter, but it never seemed to happen. The hits were pretty consistant. Oh yeah, they've fluctuated some but there didn't seem to be any real pattern to it. Lately though, that's changed and I've noticed an increase in hits for the few days after I post a new chapter. Just seems strange that it's happening that way all of a sudden. Oh well, not even sure why I brought that up!
Til next time!
New Links and new pics posted! Bout time eh?
Ja ne!
Also, yes, I realize that there is a Star Wars reference in this chapter. And yes, it did occur to me that Final Fantasy takes place on another planet or another dimension or whatever and Star Wars may not exist there but I liked the reference and left it in there and if you don't like it... too bad! ^^
I'd like to thank everyone who sent me nice comments about The Eyre. Well, actually, I'd like to thank everyone who has ever sent me nice comments about any of my stories, but that one in particular because I wrote it just as a bit of fluff. Nothing earthshaking happens in it and as such I wasn't really expecting much in the way of commments. I have to say I was pleasently surprised.
Yes, I know I said I'd be adding links and pics this update but I just didn't have time. I promise to get to it soon!
A few more words on some of the comments in the Guestbook:
At one point I was so crazed about FF VII that I had the crazy idea of "living" the game by playing the game continuously from start to finish, sleeping when the characters sleep, and eating when the characters eat (if i find myself with a great deal of free time).
*Backs away slowly.*
Has anyone else noticed that Barret is left out of the love cycle. Sure he has a daughter but that doesn't mean he can't get a girlfriend. He is the mayor and he's in shape and he can cook, and he saved the world. Yet no woman wants him?
They complain when I match people up. They complain when I don't match people up. Arrgghhh! ^^
Keep up the good work! I would pay you for this if I could! *smile* Sadly, I've got enough problems making rent.
I know the feeling!
However, regarding the internet series... well... I hate to break this to you but you really should end it...
I'll be updating the Notes section once Cetra Destiny is done and I'll address this issue at that time.
This is "...quite possibly th greatest 'fanfic site' ever made."
It "Towers over the competition..."
Maybe I should hire you to write advertisments for me! ^^
Since I can't really marry any of the Final Fantasy VII characters(even I know they aren't real), I was thinking...I could marry Frank! So get ready Frank! By the way, you have no choice in this matter at all.
Umm...err...uhh...*gets all red faced*
One more comment about the rumor of a sequel to FF7. It's just a rumor. There is nothing definite that I know of and it could very well lead to nothing at all. Now, a remake (which I have also heard rumors about off and on for some time) on the other hand, I would love to see. That would spark renewed interest in FF7 and not clash with my stories at all so that would really be ideal, and it would be great to see FF7 again with spiffied up graphics. The only downside would be I still don't have a PS2 and would have to spend the money on one then!
Hopefully I'll be able to get some new links and pics up next update. See ya then!
A new short story titled The Eyre has been posted in the Humor Section. Not exactly a humor story per se. I looked at what I had been writing lately and it seems to be a bit on the gloomy side, so I wrote this story to lighten the mood, sort of as a spur of the moment thing. Head on over to the humor section and read the blurb about it for more info.
There are a number of subjects I'd like to address this update.
Plagiarism
I'd like to thank everyone, once again, who let me know about the person on Fanfiction.net who was 'appropriating' my stories. Usually I fire off an email to these people telling them just what I think of them, but you people are so efficient in spotting these things and letting them know yourselves that I didn't even have to this time. It's starting to happen so often it hardly even bothers me anymore, and in fact, I found some of your comments in their review section rather amusing. It is a serious matter, though, and a shame for those people who this happens to whose stories are less well known than mine. A few of you in your emails to me and reviews gave the person the benefit of the doubt and suggested it might be me under a different name. I'll make this clear, that will never happen. I have no plans on posting my stories on Fanfiction.net. My stories are posted on my site and a number of others, and as such I don't think it's necessary to post them on FF.net as well. I consider FF.net to be a place where you post your stories when you don't have your own site. And even if I did post them there, they would be under my name. So, if you do see them cropping up again under someone else's name, you can be sure it's not me, so feel free to let them know what you think of that.
FFVII Question
I was playing the game again (and as a result, was humming Aeris theme at work all day, which was driving me crazy!). Hadn't done that in a long time, I admit, but I wanted to read the character comments when they were running up the stairs in the Shinra building (if you go that way) when they go to rescue Aeris (you'll see why if you read The Eyre) Anyway, I have a question, and no, it has nothing to do with them running up the stairs, just playing the game again got me thinking. Anyways, when Tifa is in the gas chamber Barret and Cait leave the Shinra building and then run into Yuffie disguised as a reporter, photographer, whatever. Well, what happens there if you never got Yuffie? Do they substitute someone else or are you just stuck with two people. I've never played the game without getting Yuffie so I don't know. Anyway, if anyone knows send me an email, but of course, it's not particularly important.
Guestbook
The Guestbook tucked away in the Nostalgia section is there for you to introduce yourselves and say a few words about what you think of this place. I would greatly appreciate it if you could confine your entries to these topics. If you have any comments, suggestions or questions that do not relate to that, feel free to email them to me.
FFVII sequel
A number of people have mentioned to me the rumors of an FFVII sequel and asked me what I think about that. I don't think I will come as a surprise to anyone that I have mixed feelings about this. Since it is certain that Square's vision of a sequel will conflict with mine I admit I'm a bit anxious about it and what it will mean to this site. I don't think that a Square sequel will in any way negate what I have written. I think the stories stand on their own, regardless of what Square does, but it will have some kind of impact I'm sure. The most important question, I suppose, is where I will go with my writing if they do make a sequel. Maybe I'll just go on the way I have, or maybe I'll start writing sequels to their sequel, or maybe it'll finally be time to move on to something else entirely. The answer to that, of course, would depend largely on Square's sequel. Like I said, I do admit to a certain amount of trepidation about this idea and yet, I can't help but think that anything that refocuses attention on FFVII can't be a bad thing, no matter what happens here.
Jenova Cells vs Chadara Cells.
A few of you have pointed out to me that I have been referring to the cells inside of Vincent as Jenova Cells in the last few chapters of Desinty when I should actually be referring to them as Charada Cells. You are absolutely correct, of course, since Vincent was never exposed to any Jenova cells. People point out mistakes to me all the time and since they are usually minor, I don't really go back and correct them. Since this is a rather significant difference, in this case I have done so.
Hmm, I seem to be getting rather... verbose in my recent updates. I don't know, maybe after writing all this time I feel like I've gotten to know you all a little bit better, since I know a lot of you have been coming here for a long time. Then again, maybe after all this time I'm just turning into a doddering old fool who likes to listen to himself talk. You be the judge.
Okay, I'll shut up now.
Writers are a different breed. Or is it artists they say that about? Or someone else? I'm not sure but I'm certain it applies to me. My friends go out to bars, dancing, get together for parties to have fun. I sit in front of my computer trying to craft a sentence and spend several minutes (or longer) trying to find just the right word to use in said sentence. Not just any word will do, mind you. There's just one word out of the thousands (millions?) of words in the English language that will fit perfectly and I'm bound and determined to find it, and I draw great satisfaction from the succeessful completion of this task. This can not be normal.
Fifteen days betweens updates is a long time for me lately. I have to admit the Christmas season did interfere a bit yet still my mind insists on feeling guilty about this. To alleviate this a bit I'm happy to say there are not one but two new chapters posted on the site, one each for both Cetra Destiny and Astray. I think it's the first time I've posted two chapters of major stories at the same time so it's somewhat of a landmark I suppose. I usually prefer to give you small tibits more frequently than a whole meal at once. The problem with the whole meal, in my mind, is that you read it all at once and then you want more almost as quickly as if there were less. Does that make any sense? At any rate, there they are.
I've never put up an 'About Me' page though people have sometimes asked for one. Not so much lately though, probably because most of you are already aware of my reluctance to reveal personal information about myself. I have this to say about the matter. Read the stories. My stories are a reflection of myself. They reveal more about me than an About Me page ever could. An About Me page would give you a peek at who I am on the outside, my stories give you a peek into my soul.
The next chapter of Astray is posted. Yay!
Oh, and I finally updated the links section! Yay again!
Hmm, Reno seems to be getting a lot of face time in my fics lately. Strange because he's never really been one of my favorite characters. His personality, however, does lend itself to some interesting plot ideas.
Ugh, I HATE editing. I slave over a chapter, finally get it done, am anxious to post it and I have to waste all this time proofreading it first (or at least it seems like a waste of time. I know it's not, of course). Not that it helps much. After I post it and read it again I STILL find mistakes (as do a lot of other people ^^). I'm a writer, not an editor!
They say time flies but man, I cannot BELIEVE that I've been working on Astray for a year now! It seems like, well, only a few months ago that I started it. And it'll be a year in January for Cetra Destiny too. I remember when I used to finish a story in two or three months. Of course, that was when they were eight or nine chapters long and not full length novels in their own right. I can't believe how I can go on and on!
Oh yeah, added some new pics to the Artwork section.
Okay, yes, it took a long time to write this chapter, and I apologize, but it is a bit on the long side so maybe that makes up for that some. I also apologize for not answering any of my email during this time, and I especially apologize to the people reading the Mandaria Chronicles which I had planned on updating next but I'm a bit stuck on the chapter and decided to let it be for a while and come back to it later, hopefully with some fresh ideas. I wouldn't exactly call it writers block, since I do know what's going to happen in future chapters, it's just that the current one is a little slow and nothing is really happening and its hard to get through those kind of chatpers sometimes. Anyways, I'll try to get caught up on my email in the next few days and post those pics and new links that all you kind people have sent me and get back into the swing of things.
A number of people have emailed me asking why I hate Sephiroth so much, obviously because of the way I've been treating him in the humor section lately. Just for the record, I don't hate him. I thought I treated him pretty decently in the one serious story he did have more than just a cameo in, the Soldier and the Flower Girl. I'm just joking around with him. He's a big boy, he can take it! Yeah, I might have killed him once or twice, or rather, let a certain flower girl do it, but I always bring him back again in the next story, don't I? They're humorous stories, they're not supposed to be taken SERIOUSLY, so lighten up folks!
Oh yeah, and Chapter sixteen of Cetra Destiny is now posted. Go read. Hurry hurry!
Okay, the Artwork section, after being dead for AGES, is now back in business. It's been revamped and finally moved off the Geocities site and onto Powweb so no more not being able to access it. I've also added a few new pics so go take a look!
Til next time!
Well, I said last update that I'd try to get some links up, but because this update was so quick I didn't really get a chance, so hopefully it'll happen next time.
Ja ne!
Got a few new links that I'll try to get posted next update, so if you're waiting patiently to see your link appear, hopefully you won't have to wait too much longer.
Don't have much else to say!
The next chapter of Astray is posted!
Snowfields is back in the links section. Thanks to all of you who pointed out where it had moved to.
I went through all the email addresses on my Bravenet mailing list and culled out all the one's that are dead, so now there's a whole lot of room for new people to join the Bravenet mailling list if they wish to
Been doing some thinking about the website and it appears that two rather significant milestones will be coming up next year (if the sites around that long! ^^) In January the site will mark it's fifth anniversay on the internet. I'm working on adding a section to celebrate that fact and I was thinking on adding some fan comments about the site. If you're interested feel free to send me any commments or opinions you have about this web page and I'll post them up next January. Just make sure you put the word Comments in the subject line so I know you want it posted publically. Can't guarentee I'll post everything that comes in. I'm not sure what kind of response I'm going to get to this. I may get swamped with the things or I may just get a handful. Anyway, they won't be posted until January so take your time. The second event I was thinking of was, if I keep averaging the same number of hits I have been, this site should surpass one million hits sometime around mid year in 2003. I know some sites get that many hits in a day but considering the narrow scope of this site I think that's pretty decent. Don't know if I'm going to mark it in any way though. Maybe I should go out and buy myself a bottle of champagne or something... Anyone got any ideas?
That's all for now!
Got rid of about half my links that either were dead or did not fit my criteria. I know Snowfields moved since Dencity went belly up and I had found their new site but I didn't bookmark it and now it seems to be gone completely. Anyone know if it's still around? Would be sad to see that one go, it's been around as long as I can remember!
Not much else to report!
Not much else to report. A few people emailed me to say that someone had taken the Search for Aeris and posted it on fanfiction.net claiming it was their own. I sent the offender an email saying how 'displeased' I was and it has since been removed, but I'd just like to take the time to thank all those who are keeping an eye out for things like that. Man you guys are quick! I got an email about it the day it was posted. ^^ I'm getting so used to these things happening it hardly bothers me anymore, but I have to admit it still hurts to see someone else take credit for all that hard work. So... thanks to all who spoke up!
I did a little bit of renovating, although it might be more truthful to call is subtraction. (Okay, maybe not all subtraction, I did add a little signature animated gif thingy that I thought was kinda cool. But that's hardly a major addition.) I got rid of the Activities, Shopping, Voting Poll, and Movie Review sections. Since it became obvious to me I don't have time to maintain them (or in the case of the Movie Review section, had just grown old and stale) I figured it didn't make sense to keep them. Let's face it, I don't think anyone came here for those things anyway! This website is about writing, and that's what I'm going to concentrate on.
*sigh* There's just not enough time in the day to do all I want to. I was looking over my site and a lot of things are in need of an overhaul. The artwork is still on an old Geocities site. I wanted to put up new quizes and or word games and a new poll periodically and I haven't updated those things in AGES. I don't know, I don't want the site to get boring, but there's just not enough time to do all that and update the links and add new biographies and write another humorous story and work on Cetra Destiny, Astray and the Mandaria Chronicles. I've been concentrating on the stories because I figure that's what most people want, but I still feel kinda bad about not being able to keep the other stuff up to date. But oh well, what can I do. Working hard on finding that winning lottery ticket.
The next chapter of Astray is posted. Don't think I really have much else to say!
Oh yeah, and I added the links that I said I added last time but forgot to!
Some of you noticed in chapter two of Cetra Destiny Vincent mentioned the crystal materia was safe back in Cosmo Canyon. However in the Mind Slayers the crystal materia was destroyed by Ellengio. Oops! Me bad. Oh well, there's bound to be mistakes like that somewhere along the line when you write something this long, I guess. Anyway, it has been corrected.
Guess that's about it!
Anyway, enjoy!
A NUMBER of people emailed me to suggest that the children Red is with in the ending scene in FF7 might actually be his grandchildren and not his own kids. I'm embarrassed to say that thought hadn't even occured to me. I have to admit it seems to make a lot more sense that way.
I have this totally, I guess you would call it anal, urge to make all the chapters of my stories about the same length. Approximately ten pages. I have no idea where this urge came from or what's causing it. A chapter should be done when what I wanted to say is said and that should be that. For Cetra Destiny I'm going to try to resist that urge and just write what needs to be written. As a result, the first Chapter might seem a bit short.
Speaking of Cetra Destiny, I'd like to ramble a bit about Nanaki and Nipala. Since they are the last of their species, I would imagine the urge to begin a family would be rather imperative. However, as usual, trying to keep everything consistent with the game once more makes things complicated. The facts: We know Red is 48 in human years at the start of the game, which equates to about 16 in his years (which equates to 1 year for every 3 human years, which would mean that if a human has an average lifespan of about 100, Red should live to 300. However, we know Red lives a lot longer than that so it's got to be a little more complicated. But anyway, I digress). We also know from the sequence at the very end that (and I think it's safe to assume that that is indeed Red in that sequence and not one of his children) 500 years later (when Red would be about 550) he has at least two children, and both of them are obviously much younger than Red was at the start of the game. The first conclusion that we can come to from this is that, unless he reproduces by budding, he must have found a mate (hence; Nipala). As for the children, there are three possibilities. One, that Red and Nipala were capable of having children much earlier but held off for some reason. Two, that these are indeed the first children they had, or that three, the children you see with Red in that sequence are not his first. Of these, I find two the least likely. In Cetra Destiny (and I don't think I'm giving much away here) Red states he reaches sexual maturity after 200 years. If conclusion two were correct, then the actual number would be closer to 500. I found that just too unrealistic, even for a fantasy game! I thought 200 was pushing it myself. I also find conclusion one unlikely. Considering the fact that they are the last of their species, I would think that mating would be a priority as soon as it was possible. I don't think they would hold off in those circumstances. Therefore my conclusion is that Red already has kids other than those seen in the games ending sequence. And the reason I'm explaining all this *pant pant* is to let you know why I selected 200 years to sexual maturity for them. I didn't want people emailing me saying, 'Hey, how come you say Red can have kids at 200 when, according to the ending sequence in the game, he doesn't have them for 500 years? And now...I'm done!
I've added a poll about FFXI and it being an online game. Just curious as to how you all feel about this idea.
Posted a whole bunch of new links! I think I've got them all up to date now so if you emailed me to ask for a link and don't see your site there, email me again to remind me. I've reorganized them a bit as well, putting all the sites with recommended fics at the top and adding a few more of them.
The forum has been gone for a month now and I figure everyone who wants to look at old posts has done so by now so I've removed the link. For any of you who still want to look at it, it still exists. Just go here: http://pub51.ezboard.com/bff7forum94450
A new Shopping link has been added. Up to now I've resisted commercialization of the site, but this seems pretty unobtrusive. After all, you don't have to click on it if you don't want to
For the numberphiles (and if that isn't a word, it should be!) among you I'd say that 01/01/02 is a pretty cool date. Not as good as 01/01/01 of course, but close. Guess I'll have to try to update on the second of next month so I can use 02/02/02
The Soldier and the Flower Girl is finally finished! Yay! Which means of course that Cetra Destiny is next on the list. I know the first chapter will be done this month but I'm not exactly sure when yet. I'm not sure if I'm going to try to get another chapter of Astray done first.
Still didn't get a chance to add new links. I'll try really hard to get them posted next time.
From the email I've gotten, it appears I might have made myself sound a tad more depressed than I actually was in my last update. Sure, I get a bid down when a new FF game comes out, but I get over it! And I certainly didn't mean to imply that I'd be stopping writing for FFVII anytime soon!
Well, FFX is out and as with every new FF game, I have mixed feelings about it. Normally I snatch them up but since I don't have a PS2 and I don't see one appearing in the near future, looks like it'll be a while before I play this one, though it looks quite good from what I've seen. Which brings me to the mixed feelings part. Whenever a new FF game comes out, FF7 falls farther into the past. It reminds me that I won't be writing these stories forever. I mean, eventually people are bound to get bored of this. In fact, I'm kind of surprised you're all still here at all. I don't know, every new FF game just reminds me of how this will all have to end someday and that's kind of depressing to me.
Anyways, HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!
My new pay site is under construction. I should have the permanent URL pretty soon and then I can officially open it. Can't really wait. It seems to load a lot quicker than Crosswinds and of course there are no adds!
A few words about the Cetra Desitiny Pol. Bravenet is set to accept one vote per day per person. A few of the more enthusiastic of you have circumvented that and voted mulitple times in a single day. (I've been getting, oh, around twenty or thirty votes a day on the pol. When I get 150 for one set of characters in one day it's a LITTLE suspicious!) As a result, I've had to adjust both Reno/Yuffie and Vincent/Elena totals downward a few times since this is unfair to those of you who are not computer savy enough to get around this constraint (or are just too honest to do so). I'd like to ask those of you who are placing mulitple votes in one day to please stop. It's a waste of time for both you and me and you're not going to get away with it.
Got a bunch of new links to add but didn't get a chance this update. Hopefully I'll get them up next time!
As I'm sure you've all noticed, the Forum is closed. It just became too much of a hassle to keep an eye on. *sigh* Oh well, such is life. A few people left quite moving eulogies to it's demise. Thanks to everyone who participated and hope you had fun while it lasted.
The next chapter of the Soldier and the Flower Girl is posted. Jen and I are working on a new collboration fic called Astray that stars Reno and Tifa and you should be seeing the first chapter of that posted pretty soon. And of course, Cetra Destiny is coming up in January. Looks like I'm going to be busy!
Due to the assistance of a very special fan, this site will probably be moving to a pay web hosting service in the near future. I know, it will be a bummer changing that bookmark again but hopefully the site will be a lot more stable and best of all, no more ads! (Yay!)
Not at all thrilled with Crosswind, but I kind of expected that. Still exploring other possiblities but it's almost certain another move is in the cards for this site. Just not sure when or to where yet!
Did some major work on my links. Got rid of a ton of them because they no longer existed/hadn't been updated this year (I think if you don't update in 11 months your site is pretty much dead)/ or didn't meet the crieria on my links page. Gotta check them more often I think, one of the old links led to a porno site. Boy was that a surprise (and no, I'm not going to tell you which one!) As well as removing a lot of them, I also posted a few new ones. Since I lost all my mail to my non hotmail account (still hoping to retrieve it) I don't have any link requests from that account, so if you sent me one please resend it.
That's about it for this time
A number of people emailed me to say that quite a few of the links to the stories were broken, but again, I couldn't do anything about it because of the file manager problem. Hopefully, they all work now and if you still find some that don't by all means let me know.
On top of all this I had some problems with my computer hard drive and I've lost all the email to my FCVERDE@ix.netcom.com account. Sheesh. If I was the parnoid type I'd think it was some kind of conspiracy. Anyways, the next chapter of Soldier should be up very soon and I've also got another project starting up that should be appearing soon.
Had a big problem with my email. Stupid Netscape got all screwed up and I lost it all. Hopefully it's fixed now, but what I had is gone so if you sent me something and I haven't replied yet, you might want to resend it. This does not apply to my hotmail address. That one was not affected.
That about does it!
Added a bunch of new links!
Anyway, that now leaves the Soldier and the Flower Girl as the only story currently in progress, and that means that if I can get caught up on the Mandaria Chronicles, you might be seeing the first chapter of Cetra Destiny in the not too distant future. We'll just have to see.
Artwork and Links. Yes, I know I've fallen waaay behind with these two items, and I still haven't updated either one. However, I'm in the process of attempting to rememdy this situation. In order to create more room for my stories, the artwork is going to be moved to a seperate Geocities account, and my good friend Julie has agreed to help me with posting them. Hopefully, this will help get your artwork up faster, and also let me concentrate more on writing. So from now on, please send all your artwork submissions to this email address: tifasama@wanadoo.fr
Okay, that's about it for now!
And yes, I know I'm way behind posting new fan art and links. I'm working on something that should help remedy this situation. The artwork section will soon be on at's own website.
WARNINIG: If you're a fanatical Tifa fan, it might be better if you don't read chapter 11 of Second Chance. I know it's probably kind of useless to say that, since even if you are a fanatical Tifa fan, you'll probably read it just to see why I issued that warning. All I can say is, if you are and you read it and hate it, don't say I didn't warn you!
I also updated my links section. Gah, a lot of good FF7 pages are no longer around. I had to delete a whole bunch of dead links. Kinda sad, actually. But on the bright side, there seem to be just as many new one's cropping up. But does anyone know what's up with Rocket Town? When I go there it says 'To be continued'. Is it dead or what? Anyone know? I'd hate to see that one gone.
More new stuff! I added a Forum to the page. A number of fans have asked for it, but I've been reluctant to do so because, 1, most other sites have them and I don't like adding things that are covered elseswhere, and 2, a lot of forums I've been to are just a bunch of idiots insulting one another. Think of this as a sort of trial for it. If we get some intelligent conversation, I'll keep it. If not, it probably won't be around for long
K! That's about it for this time
Welcome to the real new millenium! Funny, I hardly heard anything from the doomsayers at all this year. I think they're all embarrassed about that Y2K thing last year. You know, I think I updated today just so I could put that date up there. Hee.. Anyway, the next chapter of Second Chance is posted!
Hope you all have a great holiday! I FINALLY completed another humor story, so head on over to the humor section and check out The Great Mousse Hunt!
Shadows of the Past is now complete! I guess the question on some of your minds now is, will there be another story in the internet series? The answer is yes. It seems very likely there will be at least two more. The wheels are turning in my little brain and I've already got some ideas for the next story, which is tentatively titled 'Cetra Destiny'. But before I get started on that, I'll be working on another dramatic story which you're likely to see the start of quite soon. Plus, I'm also trying to get some more humor up. So as you can see, there's still plenty going on! I've got more pics and links to add, but I didn't have time to get to them this update, so I'm afraid they'll have to wait for next time. All of you out there who asked me to link to you, please be patient, I'm working on it!
The deadline for the next chapter of Second Chance is nearing. Anyone who's thinking of submitting better get those fingers in gear!
NEW BIOGRAPHIES! There are new biographies up for Reno, Rude, Elena and Nipala. More to come eventually. Ack, and I haven't even corrected the errors it the OLD one's yet.
More pics posted. Some new links. The usual.
That about covers it for this time
Not much else to report!
Still working on trying to recover the email files from my computer, but I'm afraid it's starting to look a little bleak. So, anyone who sent me a pic or a link request before Sept. 30, please resend, cause it doesn't look like I'm going to be able to recover that data.
My new computer died! Stupid thing. Somehow some critical windows files got corrupted, and of course, reinstalling it didn't completely solve the problem. So now I'm back on my old computer until I get it straightened out. Of course, all my recent email is on the new one, so right now, I don't have access to any email that was sent to me before Sept. 30, including of course, pics and link requests. (Unless you sent it to my Hotmail account) Hopefully, I will eventually be able to recover the files. If you had anything urgent, you'll have to resend. It sucks, but what can you do? Sometimes I want to take my computer and smash it into very small pieces!
Next chapter of Shadows should be posted on Wednesday!
Til next time!
Anyways, the Biography quiz is now over, and I've posted the answers. Unless you sent it to me within the last few days, you should have gotten a grade already. That form seemed to cause a lot of problems, so I'm not sure I'll use it next time.
Also, the Quiz section has been changed to the Activities section and I've added a Crossword Puzzle. Just thought it might be an interesting project to undertake. You'll still be seeing more quizes, as well as other types of activities in the future.
Posted a fair number of new pics as well, so take a look over there for the latest, and yes, a few new links as well.
Well, better get back to work before I fall even farther behind!
Bravenet has broken one of the golden rules. You know, the one that says 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it!'. They keep messing around with my counter, even though it worked PERFECTLY well when they weren't screwing around with it. I guess that's the price you pay when you get something for nothing, and this is the price they pay when they mess with things. I got one from someone else.
Some new pics, some new links, you know, the usual.
Til next time!
One other thing, I STILL haven't gotten around to grading all the quizes yet, just so you know. Guess that'll be the next thing on the list. Damn list is getting awfully long, and where did I put that dratted thing anyway...
Not much to report this time. The next chapter of Balance of Power is posted. Major developments in that story! There's a couple of new pics in the artwork section. The quiz has been a major pain in the butt. The form isn't working for quite a few people, as I've mentioned on the mailing list. So, if it doesn't work for you, just send the answers like the old one, in a regular email. That's what I get for trying to make things easier. Not sure when I'll be posting the results. I'm going to leave extra time for people who didn't get it to work the first time.
The next chapter of Shadows of the Past is posted. Okay, I admit it, it's a a day late. Well, almost two actually. I could say that creating the new look for the page was the reason for that, but that's not exactly true. The truth is I got a new computer. Yay! I finally don't need to use that dinosaur that I used to have to contend with. So what's the first thing I do after I get it set up? Why, go out and by the PC version of FFVII, of course! (What can I say, I'm hopeless) Yes, my old one was too wimpy to run it. I told you it was a dinosaur. And I spent some time playing that. But I was a good boy today and finished the chapter. As usual I'm waaaay behind on my email, so please be patient, and I think I've also got a few links and pics to add, but I'm afraid that's going to have to wait til next time!
Besides the new look, there's also a new quiz. It's about the biographies. Strange choice, eh? Anyway, if you don't have anything better to do mosey on over there and...uh, I mean, MOVE OUT on over there and test your knowledge. Looks like it's going to become a regular feature.
One other thing. I've spent practically the entire week working on nothing else but this update. So as you may suspect, I've fallen behind on just about everything else. Especially my email. Hopefully, I'll be able to do a little catching up now that this is finally over. Whew, 97 new files to upload. What fun that was! Anyway, take a look around and I hope you approve of the change!
Oh yeah, one other thing. A lot of people are sending me reading material. This is fine, but it seems like almost everyone likes to send me Microsoft Word files. I don't have Microsoft Word. I can still view them using Wordpad, but the formatting is all screwed up, so it's not easy. So please, if you're sending me something to read, send it in plain text. Even if you're using Word, it's very easy to convert to .txt files. K?
Okay, now down to business. The next chapter of Balance of Power is posted. Looks like this story is nearing it's climax. Wonder what's gonna happen?
Also, added new links and pics. Oh yeah, there are two new pictures, one of Aeris praying and one of Odin, that I've lost track of who sent them to me. I told you brain isn't functioning! If the artists of those two pics would kinda email me, they'll get the credit they deserve. Guess that's about it for this time.
While you're looking around, you might want to go over to the biographies and look at the two new pics of Aeris and Yuffie that Annette and her sister Jean have drawn for me. They're going to be making a new pic for each character in the bios, so you'll be seeing more periodically. One of these days, I might even get around to adding a few more characters. But right now I've got enough to do. Don't know when the next chapter of BOP is going to appear, waiting for Jen right now on that one. All I can say is, we're workin' on it!
And I can't update without mentioning the poll. All I can say is the last few days have been...interesting. Obviously there's someone out there that REALLY wants to see some more humor on my page. So much so that he (or she) voted 386 times in a row for it! And I thought the person who was pumping up the bio's was overdoing it. This makes what she/he was doing look mild! Well, all I can say is, I admire your determination, but you know it wouldn't be fair to let one person dictate the results of the poll. You can all keep trying, but like I said in the last update, I will take multiple votes into consideration when I make the final tally
In the meantime, give it your best shot!
For those of you watching the poll, I guess it's no surprise that book 7 seems to be the selection of choice. I didn't tell anyone not to vote more than once, I kinda figured I'd be pounding my head against the wall to even suggest it. Besides, it's kinda fun actually to watch people trying to stuff the ballot box. There seems to be one person in particular who has taken it upon himself (or herself, as the case my be) to singlehandedly push the biography selection into the top spot (and you know who you are!). Interesting choice. All I can say is, good luck, you've got a long way to go! And oh yes, I will take mutliple votes into consideration when I make the final tally.
Oh yeah, added some links. I think I'm up to date now with the requests, so if you asked me to link to you and you don't see it there now, let me know!
That's all for now
And oh yes, since Shards is almost completed, I've been giving some thought to what I'm going to be working on next. But that's too much work, so I've decided to let you all decide. There is now a poll on the main page that lets you vote on what kind of story you'd like to see next. I was kinda reluctant to put that last choice in there. I've got a feeling it's going to make the whole thing a moot point, but we'll see.
That's the news for today!
Anyway, for those of you who are waiting, the next chapter of Shards is posted. I'm afraid this one is not pleasent either. Seems like Tifa is having a run of bad luck right now. Hopefully things will get better for her.
As you've probably already noticed, I revamped all the artwork on my main page. Just trying to keep things from getting boring!
Also added more artwork to the fanart section. Four new pics by Annette. And I went through all my recent emails (bout two months worth) looking for people who asked me to link to them who I might have forgotten about. I've added them all to the links section, so if you asked and don't see a link up there now, let me know cause I missed it. I've created a new folder in my email just for link requests, so I should be able to keep better track from now on.
And oh yeah, someone IS working on Second Chance. Speaking of which, since I seem to have a tendency to lose track of just about everything, I also made a folder in my email for people requesting to participate in this story. If you have asked to write a chapter for this story, and still wish to, it might be wise to remind me so I can make sure you're in this folder.
That's about it for this time!
Today this webpage celebrates it's two year anniversary! Can't believe it's been around that long, and still doing pretty well, I think.
Let's see, what else. Oh yeah, added a few links to the Links Section!
Seeya!
Happy new year, or new millienium, or whatever else else you may wish to call it.
Anyway, to get to the point, the next chapter of Shards is posted!
Anywaaaaaay, the next chapter of Balance of Power is FINALLY posted. And Shards should be coming soon!
Not only FF8 has slowed me down. Hurricane Irene just passed through and I didn't have any electricity all weekend. Not a pleasent experience. It has slowed down my work on Shards a bit, but I'm getting there. The next chapter will be posted this weekend, latest!
That's about it!
Enough babbling. The news you're been waiting for (well, maybe one of two of you). The second chapter of Shards is now posted. And guess what? I FINALLY got my spellchecker to work with Wordpad!!! No more lousy spelling. (Or at least less of it). Hallelujah!
Replaced the award by the Mind Slayers. Nanaki Lioness sent me a new one, and you can read this one! She kinda got tired of trying to figure it out too, I guess.
As for Balance of Power, Jen has sent it back to me, so now it's my turn. You can all start bugging me again. Not sure how far I'm going to get. Might have to send it back to her, and then back to me again, or maybe not. So I'm not sure yet when you'll be seeing the next chapter. I'll try to hurry things up.
As for Second Chance, don't even ask me! I'm starting to get depressed about that one.
Well, guess that's about it for now
Also, I've started preliminary work on another web page. This one will have an original fantasy story, not related to any game. I've been wanting to do this for some time now. Not sure exactly when you're going to see it yet. Let me know what you think of the idea.
Oh, and I put up a few more pictures!
Okay, what's new? Well, the next chapter of Balance of Power is now posted. It's a long one, so maybe that'll make up a bit for the wait. Hopefully, the chapters will be coming a bit more frequently now that Slayers is done. I've also started some tentative work on Indiana Strife and the Temple of the Ancients. Haven't really gotten too much yet since I'm still enjoying a little break here. I can't say when it'll be done, but it shouldn't take too long.
Well, guess that's about it for now
And oh yeah, I know I told some people that Reno was going to be Yuffie's partner in the wedding party, but the more I thought about the more I just couldn't picture it. Sorry about that.
Speaking of fan art, I've opened up the fan art section on my page. Only two pictures so far, but whatever I get, I get. I'll add the wedding pics to it when the last chapter of Slayers is done.
And I'd like to thank all you people who warned me about the Yahoo Geocites merger and their claim on website material. It looks like they've issued a retraction on that, but I'm still a little leery. I'm making preperations to move, just in case, although I don't know if I actaully will
Also, I got an award for the Mind Slayers. Oh boy, and it's not even done yet! It's from Nanaki Lioness, and for all of you who are straining your eyes trying to read it, it says: Best Original Idea - Fic Award. Thanks!
Also I'm sure you'll notice the new Sephiroth pic down at the bottom of the page. When I saw that I just couldn't resist posting it. After all, what self respecting FFVII site doesn't have at least one pic of Sephiroth on it?
And last but not least, chapter 30 of Slayers is posted! Quite a few surprises in this one, as you will find out. If you haven't checked it out, I suggest you do so before you read any farther in this update. A number of people over time have emailed me requesting I bring Sephiroth back, and as a good guy, no less. Well, I just couldn't get myself to do that. After all, part of his appeal is the dasterly villian persona. What happens in chapter 30 is as close as you're going to get, so all Sephy fans out there, I hope you enjoy it!
Til next time
Other than that, there's not much else that new right now. Most of the excitement was mentioned last update. The next chapter of Second Chance should be posted any day now. As for Balance of Power, well, Jen and I have been a little lazy lately. I think it's spring fever! We've got to get going on that. But with Slayers almost done, it's hard for me to concentrate on anything else.
As I'm sure you've noticed, I did a major reconstruction of the main page, again. What can I say, I guess I was bored. And yes, I know I could have spent the time working on my stories. Boy, you people sure are slave drivers!
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FOR ALL YOU FAN ARTISTS OUT THERE!
Near the end of the Mind Slayer (Spoiler alert!) there is going to be a wedding. Cloud and Tifa are going to tie the knot and I was wondering if any of you fan artists out there might be interesting in sending me some pictues for the wedding album, which will be posted along with the story. If you're interested, email me! There will be an announcement on the main page soon as well, since I'm pretty sure not too many people look at the updates.
That's all for now!
I took down the Interlude. I hadn't updated it in AGES. Sorry to anyone who was looking forward to seeing there email up there, but it's no longer needed. The decision has been made.
The little counter at the bottom of my page has registered 50,000 hits! Gee, whoda thunk it?
Chapter 20 of Slayers is posted. Damn, I'm cookin' now! Finally got around to explaining the name of the book. Bout time. And BTW, that picture of Roshnialu was NOT drawn by me. I have no talent whatsoever when it comes to art. It was drawn by Vengali
And more news! The next chapter of Balance of Power is posted too. I know it's been a while, but this should make up for it some, it's a monster chapter, so enjoy!
Went through my links and culled out all the one's that don't exist anymore. Boy, these websites just come and go all over the place. Hard to keep track. Oh well, mine's still here!
Balance of Power and Second Chance are both moving along rather slowly, but they're getting there. When you're writing with other people, there really isn't any way to keep to a schedule. I can't push too much or they'll all quit on me. I mean, it's not like they're getting paid or anything!
Oh yeah, and I added yet a few more links
As most of you have probably noticed, chapter 16 of Slayers is now posted, with no end in sight! The Mind Slayers is now officially the longest story of the internet series, and there's still a long way to go. In my December update I predicted Slayers would be done sometime in February. Ain't gonna happen. That's twice I've been off on my deadline on this one. So I'm not going to predict anymore. This one will be done when it's done!
Posted the next chapter of Balance of Power yesterday. I really like the way that story is going. And we're up to chapter 5 of Second Chance. That one finally seems to be moving along a little faster, So, things seem to be running smoothly at the moment, except for the Interlude. I haven't updated that in AGES. Oh well, can't have everything, I suppose.
Gee, this website will be around for a whole year on the 24th. Hard to believe.
Hmmm, so, let's see. What's new. Ummm...oh yeah, chapter 13 of Slayers is posted! What fun. And guess what else, the third chapter of Second Chance is up too! There should even be a new chapter of Balance of Power up very shortly as well. See, I haven't been goofing off after all. Wel, not entirely anyway!
Okay, Chapter 10 of Slayers is posted. I know, you had to wait a little longer for this one than usual, but hey, the fact that it's longer than my usual chapters makes up for that, doesn't it? And oh yeah, the next chapter of Balance of Power is posted as well! So, you see, I haven't been a lazy bum and spent all my time playing Xenogears after all, now have I?
Also, I originally said the end of December was the target date for finishing the Mind Slayers, but I see now that that was woefully optimistic. It's going to be MUCH later than that, and now I project some time in Februrary. But you can't blame me for that either because if this had been my normal length story it would in fact be almost done by now, but this one is going to be a lot longer, full novel length, it seems. Just finished chapter 10 and I'd say I'm a little more than one third done. Hoo boy!
I'm sure you've all noticed by now that Chapter 9 of Slayers it up. And I've added some more links
Okay, BIG news. The second chapter of Second Chance has finally arrived!!! Yes, I know, I can hardly believe it myself. And let me just say it's not the author's fault. There were a few people who dropped out in between. Let's hope the next chapter goes a little more smoothly.
Well, chapter 8 of Slayers is only up for two days and already I've started to recieve hate mail. And you thought I was just kidding about that third world country! Oh well, it's not over yet, folks!
Added a new story!!! Balance of Power, another collaboration (Yes, I know Second Chance doesn't seem to be doing too well, but this one is just Jen and I) with Cid and Tifa as the main characters.
Been very busy lately. What with writing Slayers, Balance of Power, working on Jen's IF, answering email, and looking around for an obscure third world country to hide in once Aeris had made her choice, I'm afraid I've fallen seroiusly behind on the Interlude, but I will update it one of these days, hopefully before Aeris makes up her mind. If I fall behind on my email, be patient, I'll try to answer everyone eventually, but Slayers is my priority. Should be another chapter up very soon
Got a lot of new stuff for the Interlude, and have been incredibly lazy about updating it. I suppose that should be my next project. As you may have noticed, having a bit of trouble getting the second chapter of Second Chance up. People keep dropping out due to various problems. All I can say is, be patient, it'll be up someday, hopefully before I retire.
Hopefully chapter 2 of Second Chance will soon be posted. That is, if all goes well. Had some people drop out on me due to excessive school work. Bummer.
Posted some new stuff for the Interlude on the 14th, in case you hadn't noticed. More to come
There are two thing I'm going to address in this update that people have been emailing me about. So now when they do that I can just say, go look at my updates!
1. WHAT THE HELL IS THAT A PICTURE OF AT THE TOP OF YOUR PAGE?
I can't believe how many people have asked me this! It's a picture of Tifa looking up at the stars. It's right from the game, one of the pictures they show in between disks. I just faded it a little so you could see the title. I guess I might have faded it a little too much. And hey, did anybody besides me notice that in every one of those pictures, the character is facing away from you?
2. EVER HEARD OF SPELLCHECK, YOU MORON?
All right, I'll be the first to admit that my spelling sucks, even before all you helpful people emailed me to tell me so (and believe me, there are plenty of you!). It's a long story why I don't use spellcheck but I don't care, I'm going to torture you with it anyway. First off, I have Wordperfect, and in fact wrote the Search for Aeris using it. The problem comes in when I converted it to HTML. First I had to convert the wordpertect file to a .txt file. But when I did that the margins were all screwed up and I had to go through every line of the story and correct it, and brother, what a pain that was! So now I write the stories using Worpad and save it directly as a text file, then when I'm done with each chapter I convert it to HTML and post it. But the downside of this, of course, is that Wordpad has no spell check. So I have to proof read each chapter and correct it myself, and I'm sure you are all aware of how successful I have been at that. Hey, what you want from me, I'm a writer, not an editor. So that's the story of why my spelling sucks, and hey, it wasn't that long after all! I'm afraid that until I come up with a better system you're all just going to have to live with my crummy spelling. Hope it doesn't screw up the stories too badly.
More Zack/Reeve fun added to the Interlude
Hey, I won an award! Okay, I admit it, it's not the first time. I don't have a place for awards (my awards page is a spoof, in case you hadn't noticed) so I don't usually post them, but this one was kind of cool and it went to a particular story, so I thought I'd put it up beside the story. And yes, I do think it's kind of odd that I've won an award for best fan fic of 1998 when there are still three months left to 1998, but hey, who am I to complain!
Been getting a lot of feedback on the Reeve/Zack thing since I put up the Interlude. I'll have to udate it once again soon. Seems like we're getting quite a lively debate!
Someone was kind enough to point out to me the new URL of Tamarine's page. Seems it hasn't fallen off the face of the earth after all. Link is now fully functional
Went through all my links and cleaned them up. Updated the new links to all the pages that moved and got rid of all the old ones that point to a page that's vanished, except for the one to Tamarine's page. I can't believe her's is gone. Somebody tell me it ain't so!
Jenova's Disciples is done! Sat down in front of the computer Monday, and after a marathon session of writing I actually completed it. I know, it's about time! Will be starting soon on The Mind Slayers. I predict completion sometime in December. I plan on it being a long one, probably the longest of them all. After that, well, we'll see. I think I'm kind of running dry of ideas. I was considering putting 'The stunning conclusion to the Final Fantasy VII internet series" at the end of the synopis for book six, but two things kept me from doing that.
1. It might not be all that stunning.
2, I could suddenly come up with a bright idea tomorrow and end up writing six more books.
So I guess we'll just have to see. But even if the series ends I'll still be working on some short stories and other projects, so they'll still be a lot going on, and I could always continue the series later on, or start a new one. We'll see
In regards to Second Chance there are two things I need to bring up. One, I already have authors lined up for all the currenly planned chapters. If you wish to participate, let me know and I can put you on a waiting list, but the odds are slim that you would actually get to do a chapter. The other thing is since other people are writing these chapters, there's no way I can predict when they will be completed, so you'll just have to be patient. You know how finicky these authors can be
Second. Jen is running a little interactive fiction story at her site that all you FFVII fan fic fans might be interested in taking a look at, and she's looking for a few good people to join in. The story takes place 60 years after FFVII and a whole new crop of heros and villians have appeared. It's open to one and all so go over there and join in, or at least take a look at the archive and check out the story. I play the humble part of STRANGER, by the way. It's called FFVII: A NEW GENERATION and here's the link: Jen's Final Fantasy VII page
Wow. a whole month since I've updated. Pretty pathetic. Oh well. I'll try to do better next time, but don't count on it. I guess it's pretty obvious by now that I missed by deadline with Jenova's Dsiciples. Please don't fire me!!! I promise to do better next time. Why don't you just give me a pay cut instead? But seriously folks, I'm working hard on it, and I fully expect it to be completed in about two weeks. So hang in there!
Added some more links. Seems like I say that everytime. Got some new ideas cooking, you may be seeing some other things cropping up on the page pretty soon. Stay tuned
The new pictures for the bio's are coming along. If you haven't seen them check out the bio's of Cloud, Tifa, Barret and Cid. More to come
Added a few more links (What a shock!)
I've been putting up each chapter as it's been completed lately. It seems to be working out well, so I'm going to keep it up.
Got someone collaborating on creating black and white fan art for my page. Already got his picture of Cloud up in the biographies section. I'm trying to replace all the game pictures on the site with black and white fan art, so you should be seeing more of it soon.
Yahoo is starting to annoy me. I've been trying for SEVEN MONTHS to get them to list my site. So far no response.
Of course, got a few more links to put up
Hojo's Legacy is done! I was really surprised how quickly it went. I originally thought it would take into June to complete. I'm going to stick with my three month prediction and say The Dark Shore will be done some time in August, but again, don't hold me to that.
I tried posting the chapters soon after I had finished them in Hojo's Legacy, instead of waiting until I was nearly done like the others. I was afraid that I would have to go back and make changes after the story had been posted but that didn't happen. I guess I'll keep dong that, so you shouldn't have to wait too long until you start to see some chapters of The Dark Shore
Updated the Links and added a few new ones.
Noticed some minor errors in the bios, and two glaring ones in Red's. (Actually one was pointed out to me, which I have since corrected.) Too lazy to change any of the others. Maybe some other time.
Actually, I've been busy playing Tactics. It's not bad, but let's face it, it's no Final Fantasy VII
Been cruising the web for good FFVII sites. Should be adding some new links soon.
Take a look at the NEW awards sections to see some rather unusual items!
Okay, it's up, but as you might notice, it's not quite complete. Working hard on the bio's, and they should all be up soon, except maybe Vincent. I missed some of his history the first time I played the game. But I'll have him up as soon as I can.
The Red Fist is slated for completion sometime in March (hopefully). I've got about 3 chapters completed. I can't decide whether to post the chapters as I finish or put it all up at once when I'm done.