deemoyza | Entries tagged with 24 things of advent

Oops, I accidentally skipped number 19 in the last batch! 🤪 I'll include it here. I know how to count, I swear!

19. A thing that took you a long time to make

"Curious as a Cat" (FF8, Quistis/OMC). It was my first multi-chapter fic, my first fic to break 50k words, and my most ambitious fic project at the time. If I recall correctly, it took me several months to write, and then another few months to scrap the original ending and write one that I feels tied up the story a bit better.

(And that's of the things I've actually written. I do have original fic ideas bouncing around in my brain from over a decade ago, and I still don't trust myself to have the skill to pull them off!)

23. The fluffiest/cheesiest/cringiest thing you made

"Still the One" (Transistor, Red/Blue). What can I say? This pairing turns my brain to mush. ♥ ♥ ♥

24. A thing you made specifically for your own tastes

Most of what I write, to be honest. I will put my own personal tastes aside, to an extent, when writing for somebody else, but even then, I invest some joy and/or curiosity in the story. If I don't like what I'm writing, I stop writing it, because it definitely won't turn out well.

Buuut... for the sake of playing along with this prompt, I'll say "Curious as a Cat" again. This is pure headcanonery and absolute wish-fulfillment fic. I just wanted to see Quistis happy for once, and have her find that there is so much more to life than Garden. A total self-indulgent fic, I don't regret writing it, and fondly reread it every now and again. :)

20. The thing where you feel like you leveled up

"We Are Cinders From a Fire Burning Long Ago" (FF6, Celes/Terra). I'm not exactly sure what it was about this story, but I feel that I really unlocked a new level of characterization skill here. Now, whether I've continued to operate at that level is debatable. ;)

21. A thing that matches well with a warm drink

"Keep Reading" (The Blue Castle, Barney/Valancy). Reading by the fireplace, getting mildly frisky, and then cuddling with a kittycat sounds comfy as a cup of cocoa (or whatever your preferred drink).

22. The thing that you will never ever do again

Hmm ... some things I've done have been challenging, but creativity-wise, I don't think there's anything I wouldn't try again. ;)

16. A thing your childhood self would have loved/needed

Seeing my writing in printed, bound book! Last year, I published a few fics for myself via Lulu (technically, you're not supposed to publish fanfic through them, but because it's only for my own enjoyment and not for sale, I think it's okay). I had fun designing the covers and it's really neat to see them sitting on my bookshelf.

For the record, I did this for "Easy Silence," a collection of The Blue Castle fics, and my original fic, "Home is Where You Hold Me."

17. A thing that would have made your childhood self blush

Anything involving so much as a kiss. I was a weird, straight-laced, prudish child. XD But for the sake of this question, I'll go ahead and say "Easy Silence" (FFX, Auron/Lulu), my first E-rated fic.

18. A thing made for your own healing/comfort

I can't think of anything off the top of my head. I generally don't turn to my creativity for comfort; it's more of an entertainment thing for me. That said, some fics have been cathartic, and I have cried while writing them, but I think that's more to do with being in the character's headspace than anything to do with my own personal wounds.

13. An AU thing

Special Order! It's an FF8 bakery AU featuring Quistis as the owner of a boutique bakery in downtown Dollet whose business is in danger of being siphoned off by the coastal megaresort owned by Seifer. The arrival of Selphie, the heiress to a munitions manufacturing company, could turn things around for Quistis, if an unfortunate mishap doesn't sink the bakery first!

Also featuring:

Zell and Library Girl as Quistis' employees
Rinoa as a bookstore owner
Zone and Watts as Rinoa's employees
Fujin and Raijin as Seifer's employees
Squall and Nida as Dollet police officers
Xu as the police chief
and Irvine as a competitive shooter and one of Selphie's best friends

14. Another AU thing

Evening Edition, an FF8 newsroom AU. Quistis has worked the anchor desk at BalambNine News for five years, and takes her job very seriously. But the arrival of a brash new co-anchor changes the dynamic of the newsroom and pushes her further from the kind of work she aspires to do. She weathers her frustration as best as she can, until international developments offer her a chance to do the job she loves, and reclaim her well-earned position in the process.

Featuring:

Quistis and Seifer as anchors on BalambNine Evening News
Rinoa as the meteorologist
Squall as a station technician
Zell as the sportscaster
Selphie as a roving reporter
Irvine as a cameraman
Xu as the director
and Cid as the station manager

15. A thing that involved intensive researching/practice

"Special Order," definitely. I tend to get irritated when I read stories where characters are supposedly business owners, but the story doesn't show them doing any of the actual work, and I wanted to try to avoid that as best as I could. I also wanted the orders that Quistis took on to be challenging, but not impossible. I researched baking techniques, bakery working hours, cake sizes/yields for crowds, and cake and cupcake recipes and flavor combinations, and I hope I was able to evoke at least a little bit of the work and dedication that goes in to running a small business, and the precision and planning that go in to making gorgeous and tasty desserts. I also had a ton of fun with it, so that was definitely a bonus! :D

10. A thing that you could never ever show in a family reunion

I'm sure most smutty things would apply here, but for this question I'm going to say my orphaned fic, Caught Up in a Chain Reaction of a World Gone Wild. Written for Yuletide, it's based on a cheesy '80s B-movie called Vicious Lips and features mild dubcon, aphrodisiacs, a F/F/F/F foursome, and a couple of mummified dicks. Fun times! >:}

11. A thing outside of your comfort zone

While I like to doodle every now and again, my main creative strength is writing, so any form of visual art is already toeing the line of my comfort zone. I will say that I crossed over that line and far away from my comfort zone with Heartbreaker (Transistor, Red). I had a very specific image in mind, and that necessitated an active pose and different angle than I'm used to working in, but I'm really happy with how this came out.

12. A thing you made for the holiday season

None of my fanworks are specifically holiday-themed, but I did write The Flowers of the Afternoon (Transistor, Red/Blue, rated G) for the Supergiant Secret Santa event back in 2020.

7. A thing you made in a frenzy.

I can't recall having made anything in an actual frenzy, but I know that I do tend to draft short, smutty pieces more quickly than I do other stories, simply because overthinking that kind of subject matter ultimately does it no favors. In that respect, I think Good (Transistor, Red/Blue, rated E) tumbled out fairly quickly, just flowing on from the opening line to what I felt was the scene's natural end.

8. A thing you're currently still making

Ha. Hahahahahaha. TOO MANY WIPS! But in the spirit of this event, I'll pick one: "Crystal Mind and Magenta Feelings." (Sorry, no chick-a cherry cola.)

Some backstory: Years ago, I tried writing a story about Selphie's pre-Balamb Garden days, titled "Mercy." In it, I intended to introduce the GF that Selphie offhandedly mentions finding during a training mission in Trabia, and explore Selphie's relationship to that GF. I had named that GF Eir (Old Norse for "mercy"), and envisioned it as a Mesmerize with a significant glow-up.

( Now a quick summary of CM & MF )

9. A thing that you always look back to

"Dusty Boots," a little "article" I wrote for Timblr Maniacs, a blog that reimagined what kind of content one might have found in the old Timber Maniacs magazines from FF8. This blog collected in-universe articles, advertisements, and features of the FF8 world, and was an absolute blast to read and write for! Other than this piece, I have several others over there, and everybody's contributions were so wonderful and fun! It's a shame it didn't really take off with the FF8 fandom; I would love to see a project like this start up again, maybe even in an actual zine format.

4. Four lines/excerpts/detail shots of an old thing

From "Time," in which Laguna meets Squall for the first time:

Beneath strands of unruly brown hair, Raine's face looked back at him. It was a little younger, a little more angular along the jaw, more masculine, but the eyes were the same. Right now, they looked on him in disbelief, and maybe a bit of fear. Laguna felt his throat tighten, but he quickly blinked away his tears and forced a smile.

5. A thing inspired by a song/movie/book/fanwork, etc.

Well, since I write primarily fanfic, that could be any of them! XD Nitpicking aside, here's a fic based on a commercial, filtered through the sci-fi request of my exchange recipient: A Common Domestic Animal of Earth, NW Quadrant.

And to refresh your memory, or to introduce him if you've never seen him before, Walter the Chevy Cat:

Watch on YouTube

He had a winter one, too!:

Watch on YouTube

6. A thing you made for an event/zine

A few years ago, I wrote a tanka poem based on the Flute Boy from a Link to the Past for the zine, The Legend of Haiku, organized, edited, and published by

rynling:

In a wooded grove
Traces of a sprightly tune
Animals gather
Spellbound by its loveliness
And hope for the boy's return

1. The thing that started it all

I've been writing practically since I physically could, so I'll go ahead and list the first fanfic I wrote instead. It's no longer on any fic archive, but there's a copy here. I didn't quite trust myself to write about the major characters yet, so this was a ficlet about post-canon FF8 Biggs and Wedge, just to get my feet wet. :)

2. A thing you made for/with a friend

I haven't really done a coordinated collaborative project, with planning and delegated tasks and all that, but I do consider this picture to be a collaboration. I did the lineart, and

iffylogic graciously offered to color it for me, and it came out looking amazing! Thanks, Iffy! 💕

3. Reshare the latest thing you posted

"Flowers on the Sill," an FF8 fic about Caraway and Rinoa trying to navigate their relationship post-canon. I wrote it for