Disclaimer: The Final Fantasy games and all related characters and locations are owned by Squaresoft. This is a work of fanfiction, meaning that it is both created by a fan for no purpose other than entertainment, and it is fiction, meaning that all characters and events are purely fictonal and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

All right, last part, everyone. I hope you enjoyed this foray into the seamy behind-the-scenes underbelly of the production of Final Fantasy games, not to mention all the fanservice. Yay.

Blatant Fanservice

by flame mage

take 5: "Aww, can't we give him a discount?"

"Well," Gippal said over iced lattes in the Luca cafe a couple weeks later, "that didn't exactly work out the way I'd planned."

"Tell me about it," I muttered. "All that work, and we don't have a single stupid thing to show for it."

"I dunno." He picked his cup up and swished the coffee around. "We got a little in there. Those scenes at Djose-- the hints'll clue some people in. This time next year, the fic sites'll be swamped with RxG. And you made a couple of other comments, right?"

"Yeah, but you didn't really get that much extra screen time," I pointed out.

He sighed. "Easy come, easy go. These clothes look good on me anyway." No one said anything for a couple seconds, and then he said, "You know, I never thought I'd say this, but thanks. For a little brat, you actually pulled your own weight."

"Yeah, well, you weren't the worst costar I've ever had to work with," I sniffed.

"That might be the best compliment I'm ever gonna get from you." He stood up to shake my hand. "Well, it was a pleasure doing business with ya, kid. I guess I'll see you at the premiere."

"If ya haven't starved by then. See ya later."

"See ya."

He picked up his latte and walked out. I checked my watch, slipped on my shades, and headed off in the opposite direction. Gotta admit I sighed in relief, too. I was done being stuck with that talentless hack for good, the game project from hell was over, and I'd just gotten my paycheck in the mail. It was high time I treated myself to some new shoes!

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The End

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Ha! Man, you suckers almost fell for that one, huh? Nah, of course a couple of talented individuals like us weren't going to give up that easily. I don't blame you for being fooled, though; doing FFX-2 only honed my already razor-sharp acting skills, so of course that was a convincing performance. But I'll take pity on you and tell ya what really happened.
"Well," Gippal said over iced lattes in the Luca cafe a couple weeks later, "that didn't exactly work out the way I'd planned."

I shot a quick glance over at the sphere recorder to make sure it had turned on okay and then looked back at him. "Tell me about it," I muttered. "All that work, looking for you guys, taking Vegnagun apart, and we don't have a single stupid thing to show for it."

"I dunno." He picked his cup up and swished the coffee around. "Baralai and Nooj are back. Lenne and Shuyin finally found some kinda peace. And that former High Summoner of yours seems pretty happy."

"Yeah, Yunie and Tidus are totally off in their own world," I said.

He raised his eyebrows. "Was that a hint of jealousy I just heard?"

"Ooh, you think you know everything, don't you?!" I stomped my foot. "Fine! Maybe just a little. It's just--they're so happy together, you know?"

"Ah, so Cid's girl wants a boyfriend!" Gippal cracked up. "Who woulda thought it? Guardian and Gullwing extraordinaire brought to her knees by the gentler passions! I didn't think you had it in you."

"Ugh, you big jerk!" I stood up, grabbed my coffee, and stalked out, making sure to adjust the sphere recorder with my free hand so the camera couldn't see me doing it.

"Hey, wait!" He picked up the camera and ran after me. I pretended like I couldn't hear him and walked all the way out to the pier before he caught up with me.

"You know," he said casually when I finally stopped, "I think you're acting so mad about that boyfriend thing 'cause I hit the nail on the head. Am I right?"

I glared at him. "Maybe, maybe not!"

"Well," he continued, "if, by any chance, I am, and you're in the market for a man, I'd be happy to send in my application."

I tried to keep glaring at him, but he had his best you-can't-hate-me-I'm-cute smile on his face and I had to grin. "You got any skills?"

"I'm a great conversationalist, an all-around charming, witty, and damn attractive man, and I give killer back rubs."

"Prior work experience?"

"Never had a job offer this good before."

"What kind of salary are we talkin' here?"

Another winning smile. "You can pay me in kisses, gorgeous."

I laughed. "All right, all right. You're the only applicant. You're hired."

Angling the camera carefully, he came up behind me and put his arm around my waist. "So what's my first assignment, boss?"

I reached out so I could shut the recorder off at just the right moment and then looked up to smile at him. "I forgotto mention that I'd pay your first week's salary in advance." Lean in, and--recorder off.
And that's how it really happened, people.

And what happened to that sphere recording?

Well, how it happened is top secret, but I managed to sneak it into the game. It's a super-special Easter Egg that not even the guidebooks tell you about, and you can't get it with a Game Shark or anything else.

How do you see it? Well, every time you get a chance to talk to me and Gippal in the same scene, you have to make Yunie run up and talk to me, then him, then me again, then him again, until you've talked to both of us fifty times. Do that once for every scene in every chapter where it happens. Then beat the game. Start a New Game Plus and go back and do the same thing, until you've beaten the fiftieth New Game Plus. Then get all the money out of your bank account, dump it in an envelope along with all the change you can find under your sofa, and mail it to Rikku care of...

...nah, I'm just kidding again. One of those crazy people on the GameFaqs boards started that one. Really...well, it didn't happen quite the way I expected. Gippal only made a little extra cash on the deal, and the only major popularity boost I got was on But, hey, I got a boyfriend out of the deal.

And you got a pretty healthy dose of fanservice.

And in the end, that's what's important, right?