This account began: Dec 7, 2008.

This is my double life.

Hi! This profile is my first-established and most informative one, frequently updated and re-worded better. Major subject categories are separated by line break.

First Thing You Should Know: If Final Fantasy 7, or the characters Cloud & Zack from that story is not your thing, this profile may not interest you; that's what this is mostly about. If you have no idea what Final Fantasy 7 is, or who Cloud & Zack are, then proceed and read out of curiosity. It's not been very long since I had no idea either, and now I'm obsessed! Basically, to those who do not know: Final Fantasy is a series of video games with many characters and adventures. Look it up on Wikipedia or Google for more detail. People who know the characters and stories of the game very well, often write their own stories based on the characters. These are writers of "fan fiction." Therefore, WARNING: If your life is busy enough, with no time to get obsessed with something, click away now! More about obsession to follow. So, to those of you still reading ...

About Me:

Also find me at: (Only the most basic info is on other profiles listed below).

(This is a previous, different pen name that I cannot figure out how to change).

Gender: female

Age: Over 18, under 40

Occupation: Artist

About My Art: Icon of Zack drawn by me, soon after my discovery of the genre in Sept 2008; now I see little asymmetries in the face, but I'm not changing it now; let's just call it "character." I will update as to where my art can elsewhere be found. Not to seem possessive or mean, but just so you know: I do not mind if you copy my image to your computer just to look at, if you like it. Just remember the original artist. Please do not use my images as your Userpic ID, because it's my main identity. If you have a collection of favorite images from other users (like Live Journal has an area for such), that's OK, just link the image to me. Using images that are from a well-known anime or story which are sort of public domain at this point is one thing, but to use an image from an unknown / emerging artist (either uncredited, as your own, or without asking) is a copyright no-no, unless the creator is OK with it. If you wish to display my art in some way, just ask, I will probably say yes!

General interests: Humor, creativity, staying positive. All things cute & ideally romantic. Exploring emotions, psychology, & how people interact. Although I'm always bewildered about why some people just can't be nice, I still believe in Universal Peace & Diplomacy. I guess everyone has their issues, even if it's the extreme of power, control and domination; maybe Hitler would have gotten nowhere with his agenda if everyone just ignored him. So, I try to ignore anything negative or violent unless it directly effects me, or if I could diplomatically prevent or reverse it for the good of all concerned in any given situation.

Contacting me: The Yahoo email I give here is not my main "real life" account. I created it for my fan fiction interests only, under the alter-ego pen name. I check it maybe once every couple months or less. So if you send a message, please be patient for a reply.

About Me & Final Fantasy 7: I began this account to read and submit reviews of fan fiction and to eventually write my own stories, but also seek anonymous kinship with fellow fans who may direct me to the best places to research more about it. I'm a relatively NEW fan of Final Fantasy 7, having discovered its existence in September 2008. This is my current obsession which is analyzed in excruciating detail below. I can't believe I'm still fascinated, still researching, finding new stories and new discussion forums on this "mere" fiction! If I did not need to work and maintain daily life responsibilities, I could make this my life.

My first exposure to it was this YouTube video, after I searched "animation" (I hope it's still available to see): Hallelujah Advent Children and FF7 -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfWxxf-Pjyk. (Copy & paste the whole title into the YouTube search). I thought the title "Hallelujah Advent Children" seemed like a children's choir singing Hallelujah, and wondered why it was in the animation category, so I curiously watched. If you watch it, imagine your mind as a blank slate like mine was: intrigued by the realistic animation, beautiful characters, emotional music ("Hallelujah," Lyrics by Leonard Cohen, sung by Jeff Buckley on his album Grace), and trying to figure out what the heck is going on, story-wise! I was beyond curious.

One unique (I guess) perception I had in early viewing of You Tube fan-music-video-tribute clips to Final Fantasy, is the scene where Zack faces the army in his final battle. I didn't know the story yet, so when it showed the closeup of his boots in the dust facing the army, holding the sword to his forehead in reverence, I thought he was about to lead this army and fight with them against something - not that he was fighting against all of them! When the army took aim with their guns, I didn't get it that they were all aiming at Zack; I thought that they were showing him that they were ready to do whatever he commanded them to do. Imagine my horror when I learned what was really going on!

To Other Authors:

Thank you for keeping your stories accessible for years after they are completed! Remember, they are NEW to those of us just discovering them!! (Ah, remember that newly-fascinated feeling when you discovered all this)? I'm not aware of all the fan / author / messaging etiquette and site functions here. But if you see your story on my favorites list, and/or if I have signed up to your story update alerts, but you have no reviews from me, it's probably because I have not finished reading your story, but listed it to remember it's there. Or I want to read it again and really contemplate an intelligent response or question before reviewing. I'm bookmarking many stories that look good, but have yet to read them in order to add to my favorites list.

I like reading author notes, as long as they are really about the story & characters, or about the author figuring out the story. (See the converse of this in "pet peeves" below).

One of my many goals: To print my favorite stories on paper and make a big notebook, to re-read them in comfort, to always have them as hard copy in case something goes universally wrong in cyber-world, everything gets wiped out, and / or we no longer have computers. Hey, it could happen. Somehow. Ya never know.

I have found a big percentage of my favorite stories from browsing other fans' & authors' favorites lists.

Fan Fiction Pet Peeves:

Lack of closure! I love reading a good story, but hate finding it unfinished, with no updates for a long time. A couple months OK, but a year or more? Frustrating! I know life is busy and a masterpiece cannot be rushed, but at least have an idea of the conclusion before posting it. If it must be discontinued, give a brief summary, minimal dialog. It's the not knowing one way or the other what happens in the story that is excruciating. Kind of makes me want to write my own ending, and most authors would not like that.

Incorrect grammar ... Aaaarrg!! (Is that a grammatically proper word)? I've read many stories where the plot, emotions, and dialog are pretty good, but it contains too much of the following: faulty grammar, bad spelling, lack of capitalization, mis-punctuation (usually mis-use of apostrophes for the possessive or plural), over-use of the same adjectives or cliches, and just awkward wording (or often, over-wording: repeating the same idea with different words). All this makes the reading and flow of an otherwise well-plotted story become a brain-strain. I keep wishing it to be correct, becoming less focused on the story itself. I'm more sympathetic to authors whose first language is not English, but still, get a proofreading friend to help! Speaking of other languages, I just made myself realize that there are lots of stories out there in other languages that I can never read because I only know English. Oh well.

Disappearing stories. How disappointing when a story I have bookmarked to finish reading (whether it's complete or not) disappears, no longer found when searched.

Irate / unreasonable fans. How disturbing when readers comment negatively - even viciously - on a story, or get very upset that one character should not romantically be with another character. I don't mean constructive criticism; that is a good thing intended to help, not attack, the writer. Remember, this is fiction; it's not really happening. That's the great thing about fiction: it can be whatever you want! The author's summaries, pairings, and warnings are there for a reason; many of the summaries end with "If you don't like it, don't read it." For the disagreeing readers, there are many other stories out there to their liking, enough to keep them occupied a long time. They should go find those stories, or write their own.

Too many characters and /or sub-plots. When one cares for only a few characters, inclusion of many others and of tangent storylines is confusing and bogs down one's reading, even if the main story is good. When I see this happening, I try to scan the stuff I don't care about, but always wonder if I miss something important.

Irrelevant Author Notes. It's a little annoying when the author notes just over-apologize for long-awaited updates, or if author notes are unrelated to the story, like about how busy their real life is. Yes, we know. It happens to the best of us.

My main interest in Final Fantasy 7: Trying to understand the whole canon story! I've read some Wikipedia, and parts of a few Final Fantasy websites, but currently, my mind contains more segments of fan fiction than of canon (sometimes I forget what scenes are in what storylines, I get them mixed up -- oh no, fan fiction overdose!). But it's mainly through fan fictions that I'm fitting together parts of the original story. Besides, reading fan fiction is a lot more fun than documentary research. Part of the reason the chronology of the story is still confusing to me, is that it's my understanding that you cannot experience some of the story any other way than through playing the video games, or watching someone else do it. One cannot watch an entire game simply as if it's a movie, it's just not available that way. You need to have the game-playing devices and the game itself. Am I correct? I am not familiar with any role-playing games, but have only seen a few clips of them on YouTube as well as hundreds of few-minute video tributes compiled from clips of the video games, films, and fan art slide shows. Therefore, I'm missing many parts of the story. I don't know yet the full history of all the characters. I don't know about the various magic usages - materia, spells, potions, why the monsters exist. It's also confusing because the story is told partly in flashbacks, and the inner motivations, feelings, multiple betrayals of characters and the reasons for such, are not all clear. I have the Advent Children movie, have seen Last Order and most of Crisis Core online, but can anyone direct me to a source to read the entire canon epic story, including the gaming segments, in written novel form, the events in chronological order, including all dialog? Does this exist? Maybe with illustrations, such as the evolution of main characters from the crudest earliest video game graphics to the most recent, photo-realistic animations? I would even prefer a written version of canon which includes in-depth analysis by the creators and by fans, including the apparent continuity errors: confusing loopholes, gaps in time and logic, and how they were resolved, if at all (or so I've read ... there are many points of debate among fans). And yet, it's these unaccounted for gaps of time and logic in canon that beg to be filled by fan fiction. It's almost like they do it on purpose. Keeps us kids off the streets.

I'm also fascinated by the Spiritual / Metaphysical / Afterlife / Planet-Energy-Lifestream / Healing / Prophetic aspects of the story. I hope (and kind of believe) this is real in our existence too, however you choose to interpret it. I'm curious how the creators of the original story first started coming up with it. Perhaps, since the authors are Japanese, some of the concepts in canon are based on Asian history & culture of the writers, like the "honor & pride" theme that runs throughout.

My OTHER main interest in Final Fantasy 7: I love The Cloud & Zack pairing! THEY ARE THE CUTEST TOGETHER! Coincidentally being the same gender is irrelevant to their bond, obviously in friendship, but also in romance. Not since Mulder & Scully from The X Files (lots of fan fiction exists about them too, but I digress), have I had such adoration for a fictional couple and a strong willing for them to be happy. As far as I can tell, given my short-term knowledge of the story, Cloud & Zack, much like Mulder & Scully, have been through more long-term combined friendship and danger together than any other canon characters. Why is it that two loyal friends or partners who do the right thing, seek truth and justice, go through incredible trauma together, evade the bad guys, and almost lose each other many times, make the best couples? Why? Because: It's Draah-maah! And after being through hell together, they deserve to be happy, at peace, safe, and perhaps to ultimately be in love, happily ever after. Isn't this what we all want? I do, not just for myself, but for everybody; an ideal to aspire to. This is why there are so many Cloud & Zack fans and "Zack Survival" fans, and Cloud & Zack "Alternative Universe" fictions, where they are nothing but happy (no military career, no fighting, or they are students, etc). Oh yeah, and also because they are excruciatingly cute. I mean, the character designers, artists and animators are just askin' for it! By making the characters so physically attractive and with intriguing personalities and situations, fans cannot help but want some of them to be romantically involved. Aww, perpetuate the love, man! Then apply it to your real life. The Beatles had it right: "All You Need Is Love." Therefore, I cannot read too many more angst, loss & death stories. If I do, it's only because my favorite characters are involved, but then I need to find a happy story about them to feel better. A minor new-fan discovery: I guess the first-listed name of a pairing means the first one is the dominant character in the relationship, the other submissive. Huh. OK, whatever, but I always think of ideal relationships as being of equal status and respect, not dominant and submissive. (Well, whatever works for you...). And I always listed Cloud first because C is first alphabetically, and he was the character I was pretty much first aware of, before Zack.

My opinion of other fictions, other animations, other Final Fantasy worlds besides 7, and other pairings NOT involving Cloud & Zack: Mostly indifference. I see some beautiful-looking characters in other animations, and I appreciate the artistry, but can't get involved with their stories. Because I have a life! Not to worry, I am in Reality too, not total Fantasy.

Most of you reading this already know, but this is for the benefit of other new fans like me: I've gathered from reading general fandom writings, that most fans of male-only pairings are straight females, and I figure the basic psychology is: We cannot have these cute guys for ourselves for two big reasons. #1: They are fictional animated characters, not real people! #2: Even if they were real, they are still way too cute to be paired with the average real people like us. So, conclusion: If we cannot have them, at least they can have each other and be happy. Somewhere, I saw another fan's icon depicting two male characters (probably Z&C - if I find it again I will credit it here), and the text said, "If we can't have them, they must be gay." Same universal concept, cute and funny. Many fans are also same-gender partner supporters in real life. Yay, whatever makes you happy.

And, can you imagine, if these cute characters WERE real, how many stalkers they would have, how stressed they would be? Those poor people! In a way, thank GOD they are imaginary! As fictions, they can remain as ideal representations in our minds, something we can look for and hope for in a real life partner and / or friend. Any outrageous fiction written about them is not effecting a real-person actor, even if they play a fictional character. And yet, I also wonder: the animators might have started with a real person as a model for the characters, then gradually idealized and digitally altered them until they ended up with the final renditions. I wonder who these real models might be. But I draw people without a model, from imagination, so maybe the Final Fantasy creators did the same. Does anyone know?

My opinion of Cloud & Zack paired with other characters: Makes me feel weird and sad, as if they are cheating on each other. I'm a Cloud/Zack purist, preferring their monogomous devotion only to each other. No other pairings thrill me like them. Nothing against the creativity of other pairings and their stories ... whatever makes you happy; I just won't read it. Not my preference. Indifferent. Neutral. Don't wanna know. (Hands over ears, "La la la, I can't heeear you!"). I might tentatively read about other characters paired with either of them in the past ('cuz I guess who can blame them for what happened or how they felt before they met?), but will only read it for the Cloud/Zack content, in hopes that they will get together eventually, out of curiosity for character development, and for clues to the canon story. I understand why fans will pair Zack/Angeal and Cloud/Sephiroth, seeing as how in canon the younger one admires the elder one, but it's still too weird for me, too much of a child-molesting age difference dynamic. And I understand the logic of pairing Cloud/Tifa and Zack/Aerith, since they are implied in canon, though we don't know how far the relationships really went, off-camera. I'm sympathetic to early fans who favor Cloud/Tifa or Cloud/Aerith pairings, before the prequel-history story of Zack in Crisis Core was released. So, understandably, who knew? Once I knew the Cloud/Zack history together, I could not even think of myself with either one of them anymore, as I did when first discovering them (and again, because of the "not real" and the "they have each other" and the "remain ideal" concepts stated earlier).

I have questions! My knowledge of canon is moderate, at best. Here is my ongoing & changing list of things I do not yet fully know or understand about Final Fantasy 7. I know nothing of role-playing games, the technology one needs to play, or how to even get started. I welcome any messages of insight & knowledge from other fans. I need more research, but still have not found explanation & logic for:

In Crisis Core, why the 2 kinds of animation, one obviously computer-drawn & shaded, the other very photo-realistic? (I have also seen the realistic animation style termed as "cinematic"). I'm kind of guessing the realistic animation is either flashback, dreams, or intensely emotional scenes (like the ending scene - Zack's death apparently is NOT flashback or dream, but sure is intense sad emotion).

That scene in Crisis Core, when Angeal has stared to transform, thinks he is a monster, Zack will not defend himself, but then he falls through the floor, directly through the roof of Aerith's church and meets her ... I don't understand that gap in space and logic. How did he get from one place to the other? How far did he fall? How is that supposed to make sense - physically, spacially? (oh no, how do you spell "Spay-shall-ee" ?). How can he not be hurt? Am I missing some part of the story? Is this a part of the game-playing function that you don't see when viewing non-playing scenes? I don't get it. (Ok, update Feb 2012 - I think he falls from a tall building down into the church, but how come other floors of the building do not break his fall?).

What does canon tell us about Cloud & Zack's time imprisoned in the lab? Are they conscious of it? Apparently Zack is, but Cloud less so, being barely conscious upon escape. So far, I've found no canon description or online scenes of it, only fan fiction interpretations that fill in scenes not depicted in canon, such as Cloud & Zack occupying one cell when they are not being tested upon, or before they are in the individual mako tanks, fully clothed.

What does canon say of Cloud's absent father, mother, and of Zack's parents? (names, ages, occupations? Part of my fan fiction story idea involves them).

What does canon say of how Cloud becomes physically strong after a year of being comotose? Is it simply because it took that long for the Mako toxin to leave his system?

What happened to Hojo? I have read only 1 or 2 mentionings in fan fictions that Cloud eventually killed Hojo, but I do not know enough if this happened in canon, or the circumstances of how.

According to a few fan fictions I've read, Cloud has one wing? I have not yet seen that in canon; when and how does it happen?

In canon, Cloud's birthday is given as August 9 (or 11 or 19? I forgot). He's a Leo, anyway. Are canon birthdays given for other characters? I know for sure that Zack's birth date is never specified, only that he is about 2 years older than Cloud. If Zack's birth date was given (or those of other characters), there would be all kinds of fan-fiction speculations about whom he is astrologically compatible with. I might just need to invent a Zack birth date in my story (working on it!) to work well with Cloud's.

In the Advent Children movie, when Kadaj collects the geostigma kids, promising a cure, what he intends (we find out later), is to kind of put them under his control and form a little army. Why? If the 3 "brothers" are so evil and powerful, what do they need the kids for? But, this happens when the kids drink the water. And what happened with the water to make the kids into zombies? Or is that just a lie he tells them that it will cure them?This happens at the Forgotten Capital, which is FAR AWAY on another continent! How did they get so many kids there in one vehicle, across the ocean? And how do the Turks know they went there, which is what Reno tells Cloud, after they rescue passed-out Cloud and Tifa from the church (which we don't even see happen)? THEN, Cloud takes off to the Forgotten Capital on his motorcycle to confront Kadaj and apparently rescue the kids - like 100 of them, again, an ocean and continent away. Cloud tells Kadaj, "I'm just here for the kids." Then they fight, then Vincent shows up, then next we see, Vincent and Cloud are talking, alone. Kadaj, Loz, Yazoo and all the kids are gone. How? Why? Where did they go? Did they get back to Edge? Are the kids still under their control back in the city? There is no mention of this, apparently.

... But on to deeper psychological & moral bewilderments with canon:

How, in this particular story-world, do males of a mere 14 years voluntarily join the military? That's way too young! What about school, and being a kid? How can parents let them go? What makes Shinra / military service apparently so appealing?

Why do good, integrity-keeping, perfect-looking characters get victimized and / or die?

Why do evil, greedy, controlling characters continue to live?

Why do some deceased characters stay in the afterlife, while others return? (Or their death/disappearance is unclear/unknown)?

What does canon tell us about the reasoning (or lack thereof) for Hojo taking the injured Cloud & Zack as his possessions to experiment on? I'm guessing because ... Just because he can? Because he has no sense of humanity & compassion, everything in the name of science? Shouldn't they be rescued & healed instead of what did happen? What the heck kind of power & politics is going on there between Tseng & Hojo & when he takes them away?

Are Cloud & Zack falsely accused of murdering Sephiroth? Did someone witness the reactor scene besides the three of them, in order to twist the story? I'm missing something.

What does canon tell us about the reasoning (or lack thereof) for Shinra Army chasing Cloud & Zack after they escape? Who gave orders to capture them? How did they present the "facts" so that Cloud & Zack are depicted as escaped prisoners / experiment-monsters, as if they did anything wrong in the first place? What were they thinking? To cover up that they let it happen in the first place?

What does canon tell us about how Shinra explains the disappearance of Cloud, Zack & Sephiroth after Nibelhem? They are simply "lost during mission"? Yet, no bodies recovered, to public knowledge.

As to Sephiroth's insanity on the Nibelheim mission, how bewildering that canon does not show other characters investigating or sympathizing that it's not his fault. Zack sort of sees the changes, but never really has the chance to tell anyone before he must fight his possessed friend, is injured, and taken to the lab.

This "Jenova" alien entity that arrived on the scene centuries ago with intent to rule the planet - why does it (or, is it -- a she?? -- referred to as "Mother" by future characters), wish to rule and dominate in the first place? Is this psychology ever explained? Why do the writers demonize a female entity as the cause of all the planet's problems?

The ancient people whom Jenova nearly destroyed, why did they not entirely destroy it? How was enough of the creature preserved to be discovered by the manipulative, controlling characters in the present-day story?

The general answer to all this ? ... Maybe, one could say: "Because, without these elements, without the struggle of light & dark, good & evil, yin & yang, there's not much of a dramatic story, is there?" My response: Well, yeah. But there is more trauma, conflict and death for the good guys than there is happiness and triumph for them. And that's too much sadness for me. Way too many times, the bad guys get away with their agenda. It kind of sends the message: "Crime pays." "Evil wins." "You will loose the quest for justice and freedom, and pay with your life."

... I hate when that happens.

Musings on me & writing about this subject: If there is any positive thing to come from the loss of Zack and other good characters, it's that it has inspired so many fan stories of reviving them, and if not to revive, to follow them in the afterlife and explore the psychology of how it effects other characters. I never really considered myself as a writer, although I like writing short essays such as humorous opinions, pet peeves, and justified disgust with stupid society. I never thought I would write something fictional, but these characters are inspirational! I have a story idea of Zack Survival, then he & Cloud eventually save the planet, but not by fighting. It contains some angst which they deal with together, but it's mostly them being cute and happy. It's different than other stories I've read of how Zack survives, all of which are done so well, why should I rewrite it? I almost hesitate to read more stories, not wanting to know if someone already has a similar plot; I've read some fictions that do have similar elements with other stories, and with mine. With thousands of writers coming up with ways for Zack & Cloud to be cute & happy, some elements are bound to be universal, and thus, similar. More musings on this concept, and coming to terms with it, in my author notes later. It will be awhile until I make the time to write and illustrate my story, and the courage to post it. No title yet, but I have many handwritten notes and preliminary illustrations. I may offer a free, illustrated paper copy of my story to whomever requests it, or a pdf you can access and print yourself. But my story is far from done, so patience!

While I confess a twinge of jealousy over other fictions for their quality, in-depth psychology, intriguing plots, erotica, humorous / romantic / realistic dialog, and wonder if I will be able to write my story on that level, what I feel the most is admiration and inspiration. Maybe kind of like what Cloud Feels for Zack: a little jealous of his abilities and popularity, but admiring and inspired at the same time. Meanwhile, I will get some of my fan art out there, either on this account or on other venues that feature visuals as well as writing. (Deviant Art, assorted Zack & Cloud fan clubs ... I'm still investigating). Anyone have other recommendations?

Musings on this Obsession: Why do we love these stories, these characters so much? I neglect sleep and daily adult responsibilities reading about it, thinking of it! I sometimes dream of it, but rarely remember visuals or senario; I often awake only with a very strong emotion that the Final Fantasy characters were there. It's like I almost need addiction counseling. In reading other profiles, many fans are involved with lots more fictions and characters than I am. How do you have time for it??

Musical Inspirations: I like music that is dramatic, romantic, pretty; usually instrumental. I recommend a CD by Nobuo Uematsu (main composer for Final Fantasy) entitled "Potion: Relaxin' with Final Fantasy." I found it on Amazon, and listen to it often. I wish Uematsu would compose a romantic theme tune for Cloud & Zack. Lacking knowledge that there actually IS a theme for them, I sort of assigned in my mind the piece "Living Legacy," on the Crisis Core soundtrack, as their theme. And it's over 8 minutes long! Even when I listen to semi-mainstream music on the radio, with overly-devotional "been-through-hell-together" romantic lyrics, when I envision and apply the lyrics to the Cloud & Zack story, somehow it doesn't seem as sappy. Eventually I will post a list of specific favorite music here. Sometimes when I hear a cool, dramatic-lyric song with male vocals, one can imagine either Zack or Cloud singing it, or they are characters in the music video. "21 Guns," by Green Day, comes to mind.

I feel the need for: Some big database of Final Fantasy art images, identifying the original artist, identifying if it illustrates a written story, or if the image is a stand-alone character portrait or scene. Of the hundreds of Final Fantasy art images I have seen, I can pretty much tell which ones are from the original story creators, be it from the video games, animations or movies. But there is a vast amount of fan art and fan icons that are not always identified or given artist credit. Some are intriguing and I want to know where it's from, especially the self-published comics, or "doujinshi" which often are not yet translated to English. Does anyone know if a database like this of art, artists, and stories exists? Can we start one? I'm starting a story database with a Mac program called FileMaker Pro. You can design any kind of endless list, and organize, sort, and search for elements in any way you want. I recommend it for any extensive list and / or database.

About my Favorites Stories list: My list consists only of all Zack, all Cloud. All Zack & Cloud. All the time. (Other characters are incidental). Mostly happy / adventure / erotica stories, although some angst is necessary to get to the happy. If this is your interest - welcome to my list, enjoy! A few stories are all angst & sad, but so emotionally well-done, that I still like them. I could not possibly put them in order by most-loved (because I love so many). As stated earlier in the "To Other Authors" heading, but worth re-stating here: I have found a big percentage of my favorite stories from browsing other fans' reviews and favorites lists. You can also find all the stories you want on the FanFicton index page; search by character name or genre. Newly posted stories listed first.

Behold, a SEPARATE Favorite Stories List! Not on my Favorites list below for fanfiction.net because I have not found them on fanfiction.net (Yet!). Still working on this list! So much time and micro-managing research is required. If you see your story on this separate list, I encourage you to post it here on fanfiction.net so it can be added to my favorites list. Post your stories on as many forums and fan sites as you can keep track of - you will get more readers.

Format of this list to be developed: Story title (in bold, underlined), by author. Find it at: (website / or story ID). Summary (by author, not me).

Homecoming, by Cephalanthus. Find it at:

Summary: Zack/Cloud, post-AC. For those of us who needed a happier-ever-after.

Other stories to be listed as I find them. Many stories are at:

www.ficwad.com

www.livejournal.com

www.deviantart.com (This is mainly for visual art, but also literary. Search the site for literature and / or fan fiction, and / or character name).

Fandom community forums. List of these sites to come, as I find them.

Individual writer's websites, sometimes not affiliated with any community /network. List of these sites to come, as I find them.

More info and updated musings in the future. I hope my writing style is both clear and amusing ... if anyone is reading this. Send a message if you can direct me to good sources of research, or if you feel kindred enough to answer my questions directly. Thanks for reading!

Tilare (Not my real name, of course. Not even close)!