Project: Story
Title: The Broken Rose Genre: Paranormal Romance Type: Fanfiction Fandom: Final Fantasy VII Length: Novel Current Word Count: 251,992 Prior Word Count: 252,140 Word Difference: -148 Status: Editing Progress: Posted Chapter 23
Well shit…I made an oopsie. I was so set on posting the chapter last night due to being encouraged by correspondence with my illustrator friend I made an embarrassing error. I don’t repeat chapter pictures, or I didn’t before yesterday; however…
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII, its characters, and settings are all property of Square Enix so I can take no credit nor claim any ownership of that. I do take some credit for the story’s plot.
Banner Artwork Disclaimer: The featured artwork for the banner is entitled White rose I and was created by the very talented Deviant Artist RemusSirion who was gracious enough to grant me permission to use it here. The picture has been slightly altered from the original. All rights belong to the artist, and links are included for both the artist page and the work.
Chapter artwork disclaimer: the featured artwork for this chapter is by Miss N (TWITTER)/nvalkyrja (PIXIV). The links go to her respective pages; there is no direct link to the artwork. THE PICTURE HAS BEEN SLIGHTLY ALTERED IN APPEARANCE AND TO INCLUDE THE CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THE ARTISTs.
*******MAJOR CONTENT WARNING*******
Consistent and sustained graphic descriptions and mentions of rape/ sexual assault, sexual slavery/bondage, slavery, human trafficking, physical abuse, graphic descriptions of violence, mental abuse, emotional abuse, psychological abuse, body shaming, starvation, torture, forced pregnancy, forced childbirth, miscarriage, forced miscarriage, abortion, and other potential disturbing and triggering topics.
Author’s Note: I’m sorry for this chapter’s length. I usually try to keep them around 15-20 pages, but there was just no good place to cut this. Hopefully, it flows well, and you don’t feel overwhelmed. Thanks ♥
Sephiroth’s lies finally catch up to him for he cannot hide from an Ancient’s dreams.
A fan art of Sephiroth and Aeris/Aerith. Sephiroth is kneeling in front of her with his arm around her waist and his head right below her breast. His face is buried in her stomach and his eyes are closed. Aeris has her hand on the top of his head, and she’s looking down at him with a compassionate expression and slight smile, while his one black wing stretches off into the top left and out of frame. The words “Chapter 23 Written in Her Skin” sit in the top middle. They are pink.
It was another dark eve when the snows fell hard, burying the shore in white. Their veranda and stairs were wholly covered, and the Whispers slept in the weft of cold tears. But inside the Gate was cozy and warm as ever and always it’d be. The little Cetra slumbered in peace upon her protector’s lap. Up in his office where snow brightened darkness, but emerald eyes cut through it more. His screen dually dulled as he did mundane work, and he smiled as he rubbed tiny fingers.
In the midst of strange dreams, she’d squeeze his great hands and his heart hurt to his murmured name. She wore a white dress. It was her preferred color, the general had come to know. This one’s bow was in the front, starting beneath her breast. It fell just above where the skirt did end, and the straps were as thin as her fingers. Sheer over silk and whiter than winter to complement smooth, rosy skin. Sephiroth thought it more than fitting. She was purity eternal. Aeris might bite her lip to deny, but he would hear none of it.
“What happened to you was never your fault. It changes no ounce of your innocence. There is no act you could perform to sully that perfect state, and such filth cannot taint you. What one does to another reflects on the actor…never the victim, my rose.” The general bowed his head afterwards, but Aeris kissed him with tears in her eyes.
I was beyond lucky to be able to take part in this blog collaboration over at Normal Happenings. It was a labor of love, and I have much appreciation that they were so forgiving with my, ahem, issues with the deadline. I’m glad I was able to make my contribution, sad sack though it might be :p
We’re pairing 8-bit music thematically, rather than based entirely on series. You can find this track and more Tater-Tot Tunes on YouTube! Stop by and jam to some great tunes.
Normal Happenings is proud to present The Characters That Define Us, a year long collaboration of 52+ incredible bloggers!
Today we’re joined by a very special blogger, The Shameful Narcissist herself! Don’t let the name fool you, she’s one of the kindest bloggers in the community. Plus, each of her posts are contemplative and academic. That might be why this is the only Characters That Define Us piece with footnotes.
If you’re not following her, definitely go and bookmark her blog. While this is her first NH collab appearance, she’s always been incredibly supportive of Normal Happenings.
Enjoy this wildly creative look at one of video games’ most iconic villains.
Editor’s note: This article deals with alcohol and…
Update: There is new art at the end of the chapter. I’ll be updating all the chapters with this as a beyond generous digital artist has decided to do fan art for my story.
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII, its characters, and settings are all property of Square Enix so I can take no credit nor claim any ownership of that. I do take some credit for the story’s plot.
Banner Artwork Disclaimer: The featured artwork for the banner is entitled White rose I and was created by the very talented Deviant Artist RemusSirion who was gracious enough to grant me permission to use it here. The picture has been slightly altered from the original. All rights belong to the artist, and links are included for both the artist page and the work.
Chapter Artwork Disclaimer: The featured artwork for this chapter is entitled Rose in Blood and was created by yet another very talented Deviant Artist Kawaielli. The picture has been slightly altered in appearance and to include the chapter number and title. All rights belong to the artist, and the image is used here with their permission. Links are included for both the artist’s page and the work.
*******MAJOR CONTENT WARNING*******
Consistent and sustained graphic descriptions and mentions of rape/ sexual assault, sexual slavery/bondage, slavery, human trafficking, physical abuse, graphic descriptions of violence, mental abuse, emotional abuse, psychological abuse, body shaming, starvation, torture, forced pregnancy, forced childbirth, miscarriage, forced miscarriage, abortion, and other potential disturbing and triggering topics.
The arrival of her murderer to what was once her church casts a deeper shadow over the horror of Aeris’s life.
A white rose lays on its side in the middle of the picture with the stem going off to the right. The inner petals are covered in blood and some of this blood has speckled the white background. “Chapter 1 Desecration” in black is to the left of the rose. A good portion of the upper left hand corner is faded to black, and a lesser portion of the lower left hand corner is, too.
“I’ll bind your wounds and comfort you, ‘Cause I know who you are.” -Mary Fahl “Gravity”
“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” -John Bunyan
The instant he saw her he wanted her. The Cetra was going to be his. She was naked of course, as all the slaves were, slumped by a broken pew. They were shackled together, but she was alone, fragile limbs within thick cuffs. Around her raw throat was an iron collar, and huge chains held her to the floor. Her bangs, oddly bright, were high on her head, and a coiled braid pooled by her side.
Title: The Paper Magician Series: The Paper Magician Author: Charlie N. Holmberg Date Added: June 17, 2016 Date Started: August 9, 2018 Date DNF: August 9, 2018 Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
Ceony Twill arrives at the cottage of Magician Emery Thane with a broken heart. Having graduated at the top of her class from the Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined, Ceony is assigned an apprenticeship in paper magic despite her dreams of bespelling metal. And once she’s bonded to paper, that will be her only magic… forever.
Yet the spells Ceony learns under the strange yet kind Thane turn out to be more marvelous than she could have ever imagined — animating paper creatures, bringing stories to life via ghostly images, even reading fortunes. But as she discovers these wonders, Ceony also learns of the extraordinary dangers of forbidden magic.
An Excisioner — a practitioner of dark, flesh magic — invades the cottage and rips Thane’s heart from his chest. To save her teacher’s life, Ceony must face the evil magician and embark on an unbelievable adventure that will take her into the chambers of Thane’s still-beating heart—and reveal the very soul of the man.
I wished I’d just passed on this based on sample, but I don’t think I read enough to make the correct call. The beginning is intriguing enough to draw you in, but as I went along the first chapter, I didn’t get much from the MC Ceony except that she’s a good student who wanted to work with metal instead of the paper craft foisted upon her. Usually students can choose their material, but because Folding is dying out, she was assigned to that. It’s a pretty common set up for a narrative, and while I did wonder how Holmberg might bend this ubiquitous motif in a unique way, it just didn’t hold my interest, and after rereading the blurb, I felt less of a draw to find out.
A weekly post updated every other Thursday detailing my current gaming projects. I have an account at Grouvee, which is a site you can use to keep track of your backlog, so please feel free to friend me there!
What I Purchased
Picross S4 – $9.99 @ Nintendo eShop
Just Dance 2020 – $39.99 @ Nintendo eShop
Picross S – $7.99 @ Nintendo eShop
Picross S3 – $9.99 @ Nintendo eShop
The House of da Vinci – $4.99 @ Amazon
So many Picross games. I love Pic-a-Pix and this is pretty much the game Pic-a-Pix is based on so it was an easy sell. I think I actually like it a little better than Pic-a-Pix, and I especially love the color puzzles. I’ve gotten used to the Mega Picross puzzles after a fashion. I’m just hoping they have DLCs for this, too, since eventually I’m going to run out of them. The House of da Vinci 2 is similar to The Room, so if you like that, you’ll more than likely enjoy this.
A biweekly post updated every other Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list. Title links go to Goodreads, and if you have an account there feel free to friend me! I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.
Yeah, I spent a lot of money on research materials over the past month. I actually should’ve included the top two last week, but I guess I forgot? The film studies book has been on my radar ever since I heard about it in a video I watched a few months ago. That literally screams FFVII at me, and I knew I’d need it for critical analysis of that. It’s not an uncommon paradigm, and I guess I’m just surprised I haven’t really seen anyone else talking about since it’s such a major influence in that narrative, but video games are a bastard medium *shrug*. The Jung alchemy book was a must buy after watching Reinstall Paul’s Silent Hill analysis, because (of course) I thought about FFVII and the alchemical influences in that. I only have/had a passing knowledge of alchemy e.g. lead into gold, but had no clue it was so universally prominent. Now that I know a little more, I’m picking it up everywhere, so I need to learn more about it.
Title: Dolor and Shadow Series Title: Tales of the Drui Author: Angela B. Chrysler Date Added: June 16, 2016 Date Started: July 4, 2018 Date Finished: August 8, 2018 Reading Duration: 35 Days Genre: Fantasy, Mythology
As the elven city burns, Princess Kallan is taken to Alfheim while a great power begins to awaken within her. Desperate to keep the child hidden, her abilities are suppressed and her memory erased. But the gods have powers as well, and it is only a matter of time before they find the child again.
When Kallan, the elven witch, Queen of Lorlenalin, fails to save her dying father, she inherits her father’s war and vows revenge on the one man she believes is responsible: Rune, King of Gunir. But nothing is as it seems, and the gods are relentless.
A twist of fate puts Kallan into the protection of the man she has sworn to kill, and Rune into possession of power he does not understand. From Alfheim, to Jotunheim, and then lost in the world of Men, these two must form an alliance to make their way home, and try to solve the lies of the past and of the Shadow that hunts them all.
I had started reading this before and Initially thought it was boring or the characters irritated me for some reason, but as I’d barely finished the prologue, I figured I’d give it another chance. The beginning quote is directly from The Poetic Edda, which I’d recently finished, and the novel itself if rife with Norse Mythology.
The prologue introduces two characters, a grandmother and her granddaughter who are elves or Alfar (as the story calls them) living on Midgard, and there are mentions of Alfenheim and Jotunheim, which are other locales on Yggdrasil, the World Tree. Gudrun, the elder, is telling the young Kallan about a war between the Aesir and Vanar with the latter on the losing end. I’m always down for Norse Mythology, so my hopes were high, but they had been as soon as I saw the title had “dolor” in it, which not only means “sorrow” in Latin, but is also used in the Advent Children version of “One Winged Angel,” which has been stuck in my head since I started writing this review.
“Saevam iram Iram et dolorum…”
The title translates to “Sorrow and Shadow” so I was pretty stoked.
A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.
Finished Projects: 0
Project: Story
Title: The Broken Rose Genre: Paranormal Romance Type: Fanfiction Fandom: Final Fantasy VII Length: Novel Current Word Count: 252,140 Prior Word Count: 252,353 Word Difference: -213 Status: Editing Progress: Second edit of Chapter 23
I’ve used this picture before, but there is an excellent reason and method to my madness. I discovered one of the readers/commenters on AO3 was none other than the artist of the glorious piece above BethanyAnnie who is both on Deviant Art, and ArtStation. She is a freelance illustrator and concept artist from the UK per her ArtStation account, and I’m seriously thinking about commissioning her for artwork (if I can) if I decide to go the self-publishing route with any of my stories, BUT there’s more. She’s on Archive of Our Own as OrtumnAllbones with a story called Parenthood’z Nightmare that I’ve bookmarked, which I found out during our conversations where she OFFERED TO DO ARTWORK FOR THE BROKEN ROSE. Um ♥♥♥ So we’ve been in correspondence once I finally figured out what image I want. She says she doesn’t charge for fanworks, but I’m honestly hoping she’ll allow me to pay SOMETHING because artists should be paid for their work. She also has a society6 account. Visual art is one of the most important mediums we have. There would literally be no movies, no cartoons, no fashion, no anything without it. The least I can do is spread the word when someone shows me such generosity ♥
A weekly post updated every other Thursday detailing my current gaming projects. I have an account at Grouvee, which is a site you can use to keep track of your backlog, so please feel free to friend me there!
What I Finished
Title: Final Fantasy VII Remake Series Title: Final Fantasy, Compilation of Final Fantasy VII System: PlayStation 4
Date Started: 4/10/20 Date Finished: 4/27/20
I don’t think I’ve ever finished a game so quickly, though I’m still not technically done. I finished it, but didn’t complete it. I still need to do the Chapter Select to pick up what I missed. I never got Bahamut probably because I still have two Chadley missions to complete.
I’m sure people want to hear my opinion about the ending. Well, initially, I was pretty pissed off, because yes, it’s different, and it’s pretty obvious Squeenix is cashing in on fandom power to make some things happen. I was also annoyed because at first it seemed like a middle finger to the old school fans, but after talking to EWE I’ve calmed down a bit. One, the original still exists; two, there seems to be some Twitter talk from SE themselves that they’re not changing the story of VII, which is…confusing given the end of this game, but whatever, and three (and probably most importantly), they don’t owe the fans anything. Many of us often fall into this trap of thinking creators owe us either the story we expect and/or want, and they don’t. Now, this in no way means we can’t say what we want and/or criticize what we get (have you heard what I’ve said about Game of Thrones?), but at the end of the day, it’s the creators’ story to tell how they see fit. There is definitely a give and take interplay. They can choose to do what they want, and we in turn can absolutely say what we like/don’t like; we can be disappointed, or even choose not to engage, but fans often get to the point where they think creators owe them something, and to be honest, I still struggle with this, but it’s more along the lines that both sides have both freedom and rules. Best way I can explain this would be to have you all just to listen to this wonderful song.
So this is why I’m going to hold off on any major critiques until the entire series/story is out. What I do need to do is watch a Let’s Play of the game now, and luckily Olizandri has one (more on that later), while I replay the original or rather a port of the original on my Switch. I also need to replay Crisis Core, though I really wish they’d just re-release that for Switch or something to make my life easier. I think this might be the Year of Final Fantasy VII where I finally finish the OG myself, write my review, and maybe a few essays. I still have so much more research to do, but I also don’t want to wait on writing things because I don’t feel like I’m good enough to do so, you know? I can always go back and update when I find more information and/or have more revelations. Idk. Maybe I’ll try to amp up my researching of core texts/works.
If you’re played or finished FFVIIR let me know what you thought of it. I honestly felt like it was a (near) perfect game, and it was just…fun. Not only was it fun in and of itself, but you could tell the devs had a fucking BLAST making it. The part where they parachute back to the slums was just proof of that. The voice acting is ace (omg Brianna White ♥), and the game is just BEAUTIFUL. Alright, I’m done gushing about it…for now 😉
What I’m Playing
Title: Final Fantasy VIII (Remastered) Series Title: Final Fantasy System: Nintendo Switch
Date Started: 3/31/20
I’m just about to head to Esthar for the first time. I did some leveling near Cactuar Island so my current GFs know all of the important skills.
Title: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice Series Title: Ace Attorney System: Nintendo 3DS
Date Started: 3/13/20
Currently playing one of the theater cases. I finished up the full length DLC about the time traveling bride. That was fun. The case I’m on now features Pearly so I’m not unhappy about that. I love her so hard.
What I Played
Pic-a-Pix Deluxe
Let’s Plays
Oliz finished up his FFVIII Remastered Let’s Play, and I’m not ashamed to admit I shed a few tears at the ending. It always leaves me with chills, and I have to say it really is one of the best if not the best final boss sequences in the entire series. Then today he did the fight with the Omega Weapon in Ultimecia’s Castle, something I’ve never done. I don’t even know if I knew about it lol. I also don’t know if I’m going to do it since it seems needlessly hard for very little reward outside of bragging rights. I have plenty to brag about so….
I’m also still watching his Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door Let’s Play, but I should be finished that soon, since he’s through the fore mentioned. Next I want to start watching his FFVIIR LP. I’m…not entirely sure why I’ve waited this long to start it. I think I needed some breathing room from FFVII after I finished it myself to think about what I saw and how I feel. My husband has also been playing it, so there’s that, too.
I guess i can consider Andromeda and Death Stranding on hold, but I will come back to them eventually.
I wonder if I should just change my day for this post to Friday, but eventually the world will start spinning again; my husband will go back to bowling, and I’ll need the free Fridays for recording. Until then it’s nice to have the wiggle room when I don’t feel like doing it on Thursday, and of course there’s always Saturday, too. Eh, I’ll keep it Thursday.
What has been your quarantine go to game? Have you played the new Animal Crossing?
Editor’s note: This article deals with alcohol and…
The Shameful Narcissist Speaks 
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