Author's Notes and Chapter Commentary

Well, welcome to the special edition limited release DVD extras of Blood of the Chimera!

This fic's been about seven months in the writing and several years in the making. I first developed the basic ideas way back before I first wrote Gunblade, in a huge epic work I had entitled Foreshadow. Too bad I had no idea what I was digging into, and Foreshadow flopped badly while I was writing it because it was too complex for me at the time. I was the young student trying to learn the master's deadliest techniques, so to speak :P/ Finally, after finishing Gunblade, I felt I had the skills to write this truly epic work I had been percolating in my mind for over three years.

Its seen a lot of changes and revisions, and a few twists even I wasn't expecting when I first started it, but now its edging to completion, and I'm very happy with how its progressed. I would be shocked that I wrote something this complex (and oftentimes, I do look back at my work and stare, amazed that someone like me could have written this stuff) except I've written Gunblade already.

Not to mention that you readers keep inflating my ego like its nobody's business :P

Perhaps the best way to comment on this saga is to go chapter by chapter, eh?

-Prologue: As I said before, I used the character profiles from Guilty Gear XX as my primary inspiration for Crell's reviewing of the various characters. This was a deliberate effort to add a new spin on the annoyingly over-used idea of "character profiles' in many bad fics I've encountered. I wanted to show how one can integrate character profiles directly into the story one is writing, rather than simply write out profiles.

Also, not surprisingly, but no one noticed how I more or less used the tavern talk in Pirates of the Caribbean as the starting point for writing Ramuh and Alucard's meeting :P

-Guardians: The first couple of chapters in many good stories serve to set up and establish the world one works within. That was the primary objective of Guardians, which was designed to establish Alucard's character, set up the world situation, and prepare us for what would become the roller-coaster of action over the next dozen and more chapters.

-Impend: Impend was tremendously heavy on the action, which served to show off the exact nature of the enemy the heroes were up against, while at the same time shadowing their true intent. I had a lot of fun with this chapter. Anyone who's read the Halo novels might note a reference in one of the crew members….

-Duress: This chapter was where the plot began to pick up. I'm sure many people were all "Oh shit!" when Illarra threatened Squall like she did. And of course, there was the part where Selphie and Irvine began their mission, and ended up smack in the middle of Resident Evil 4 in the middle of winter. I tried a bit of a stab at psychological and paranormal horror with the destroyed cabin and the terrified note written by the dead hunter, and the image of the ghostly Serra in the distance.

-Betrayal: I think it was right about here that I decided to go ahead and write all my chapter titles with one word. Unfortunately, that got to be problematic in the later chapters, finding one word to describe each chapter correctly.

This chapter was where the first and second seasons of 24 really started to show in how I was beginning this story. Squall was very similar to Jack Bauer in how he responded to and was ultimately forced to work with someone intent of ruining his life. Furthermore, at this point, you really did get to see the depth to which the conspiracy was spreading, in the seemingly friendly Estharian soldiers suddenly turning out to be the enemy . . . .

-Treachery: On Squall's side, there was more turmoil, while on Selphie and Irvine's side, there was more running for their lives. It was in this chapter and the next few ones that I wanted the tension to keep steadily growing as I'd alternate between each character's plotline.

I was very interested in introducing Serra. Information on her real story was kept tightly controlled by me, because I wanted people to be uncertain as to who and what she was. The subsequent speculation that I got on who she was turned out to be very rewarding to hear. I loved listening to people's theories.

Ultimately, the pinnacle of this chapter was the moment where Squall was about to kill Cid. I wanted to keep using the words "Forgive me" as kind of a repeating phrase throughout the story, a theme Squall would continuously say. The fact that Nash says it later was a subtle attempt at nudging that he really was Squall.

-Ensnared: The intrigue grows and the intensity continued in this chapter as Squall has to realize he's been ordered to escape Garden to do even more nefarious deeds for his enemies. In this chapter, and upcoming ones, I knew that I was going to have to synchronize the events of Zell's storyline with Squall's, as Zell would be the one to rescue Ellone and stop Squall from assassinating the world leaders. I had to be very delicate with the storyline progression in the next few chapters….

-Contained: I did want to establish the enmity between Malachi and Simmons here. While they had butted heads in previous chapters, here it became almost violent, which really helped to set off the mood of conflicting interests within the conspiracy.

I had also been watching Die Hard while writing this chapter, so that one particular quote stuck out to me.

And then, at the end, we have Seifer's awesome introduction as the Governor. I was really looking forward to writing that bit, especially showing how savage Seifer could be in that state.

-Stillness: Squall vs. Garden! Whoo! I lived doing this chapter, simply because it was Squall, all alone, with no backup, against his own Garden, and even against his own will. Squall going against Garden was something I wanted to dabble in, and writing him on his own was interesting, especially when he had to fight to escape from his own allies.

And of course, this chapter had a few Die Hard references that were fun to put in as well.

The lead-up to the assassination attempt came to me while I was writing this chapter, and I imagined it cinematically as very similar to 24's split-screen events depicting action.

Malachi and Zell's duel, both in this chapter and the next, was heavily inspired by Resident Evil 4. And I think I fooled everyone with Lex's "death". Come on, you really thought I'd kill someone that cool? Oh, wait, I killed Squall. That's right. Nevermind.

-Motion: This chapter had been preplanned before the story had even begun, designed as the climax of the events that in that day, where Squall lead up to the final charge and faced off against Randolph. I really wanted it to be one of those wrenching moments, where Squall is horribly torn between duty and his personal wishes.

-Sandman: Ah, and finally, a slaughter in the making over nearly ten chapters! Squall was pissed here, and I wanted to really show how he was so far above the mooks he was mercilessly slaughtering. And of course, we also got the see Alucard really fight, and then get the first real face-to-face encounter with Illarra, which asked as many questions as it answered.

-Audience: This chapter saw the introduction of a brand-new villain, with sinister designs. I definitely wanted this chapter to tie up the chase through the Trabian woods and solidly put the heroes into Iceblood prison, and of course define Serra as a friendly character and solidify the enemy's purpose and aims.

This also saw the introduction of one plot line I hated that I couldn't follow up on, which was Zell and Ellone. That relationship was heavily relegated to the background, unfortunately.

-Declaration: Declaration was a chapter very heavy on dialogue and less on violent action. Its was definitely made to develop characters and advance plot. One of the most important parts was at the beginning, where Squall and Rinoa mention, in passing, their stillborn daughter. Oh, the connotations of that statement, heh.

This chapter also saw the furthering of the relationship between Quistis and Alucard, as well as mentioned some of the background regarding Unbound Guardian Forces. This chapter was heavy on the use of the interrogation rooms, a s it was what was intended to develop conflicts between Squall and Illarra and confirm critical information, such as the importance of Iceblood and precisely who the traitor was.

And then there was the big cheer when Martine was revealed as Garden's traitor. I loved writing that moment, myself.

And following this was the essential scene where Crell made his real move, and started up a new world war.

-Iceblood: Iceblood saw the critical introduction of Iceblood Prison, which would become the central site of several critical events later on. I liked writing the Warden, as well as introducing our mysterious new scientist badass, Nash. Irvine suffered some of the same Metal Gear treatment Squall had in earlier chapters, and Selphie…..well, we know what happened to her.

Not to mention we had another look into the Governor's mind, and his prophetic dreams about Serra. And we also saw the introduction of a very small but very troublesome vial of Guardian Force essence . . . .

-Lines: This chapter title came from the fact that it drew the lines between the heroes and the villains. First Balamb Garden rallying behind Squall, then Galbadia Garden turning to their side, followed by Galbadia and Dollet joining forces to fend off the pursuing Estharians. Not to mention that this chapter also included a very pissed off Squall choking the hell out of Martine:P

And poor Irvine, suffering first through torture and interrogation, then more Solid Snake-style prolonged plot exposition and backstory. Even when he's just listening, the poor guy never gets a break.

-Directional: And Irvine's still getting smacked in the head by more plot exposition. Poor fellow. A lot of stuff had to be covered here, regarding the Elemental Project's basis, founding, Nash's involvement, and the ultimate objective, the Requiem armor. Heh. Bet ya'll forgot about that thing, didn't you?

Aside from that, this chapter also required redirecting the heroes toward other avenues, including moving SeeDs and Galbadian and Dollet forces to defend Trabia Garden, as well as determine the exceptionally necessary bit where Squall goes into Iceblood by himself.

-Government: This chapter saw a critical and extremely badass revelation regarding Nash. I loved covering that moment, when Nash went from just a scientist who looked oddly like Squall to a total badass wielding pure flame as his main weapon.

Aside from that revelation, however, the real purpose behind this was to get everyone where they needed to before the next critical parts of the plot, as well as finally reveal Seifer for what he was: the Governor of the Undercity.

-Assault: This chapter had the essential purpose of finally having a whole lot of ass-kicking after a lot of non-ass-kicking chapters. Well, that and it revealed our little creepy girl as none other than Hyne herself. But that wasn't really all that important, compared with the copious amounts of ass-kicking.

And uhh, Squall lost an eyes and got his ass kicked by Illarra, too. I forgot about that.

-Awakened: In case anyone was wondering, the voice at the beginning of this chapter was Diablos, and he was very pissed off.

Aside from Diablos' escape, there wasn't a whole lot of action this chapter, just a breather leading up to the critical battle against the advancing Estharian army, as well as introducing Hyne as a true villain, and establishing Griever as a not-nice person.

And, y'know, that whole "Squall injecting himself with Griever" thing.

-Killzone: Killzone saw the battle really begin in earnest, as Quistis and Alucard fought Hades and Hyne, Squall battled Illarra, Selphie and Irvine and Nash and Seifer tackled Iceblood and Diablos, and Rinoa and Zell kicked a lot of ass up and down the battlefield.

There was a surprising amount of exposition this chapter. The fight between Squall and Illarra was a lot like Liquid and Solid's final battle in MGS, where the two would battle for a bit, there would be exposition, more fighting, more exposition, etc.

And then, at the end, Griever makes himself heard, and hurts Squall all bad-like. Big meany.

-Zanshin: Seifer reveals his nifty arm, Squall kicks Illarra's ass, Rinoa owns Veronica, and Zell homeruns Malachi with a Warthog. This chapter simply kicked ass. Nothing more to say.

-Reunion: I wanted to really show Rinoa's full power as a Sorceress, and here was where it was shown. Rinoa owning the two Flying Fortresses rocked to write. Aside from that, we had some nice exposition, including Seifer and Serra. I really wanted to establish his protectiveness over her, as it would come out later on in the scene where she saved everyone with her magic and in the fight against Alucard.

-Assertion: A nice, dialogue heavy chapter after all the battles and war and death. I liked handling this chapter, as there were several essential scenes that needed to be handled, not the least among them was the final reunion between all of the main FFVIII cast. It may have not occurred to anyone, but this chapter is the first time the entire crew was gathered together again in the story.

Nash's bit with Alucard was a fun piece to write, as it generated some questions that had a lot of people confused, specially that bit about being a SeeD.

And more brain-killing plot exposition. It never ends.

Illarra's bit of insanity was something I enjoyed handling. I always like it when a villain flies off the deep end in a laughing slew of raging insanity.

And Griever shows he's an asshole, and his words foreshadow the ending to this story. That moment was essential, as it showed Squall what Griever was really capable of and not only willing, but gleefully wanting, to do to him.

And then, at the end, we have the somewhat shocker where Serra's lineage is revealed! Though anyone paying attention would have noted the subtle clues I had left lying about.

-Briefing: I had a hell of a time trying to determine the order in which this chapter would progress, with the briefing going somewhere in the middle. But then I decided to set up the briefing so that, with each part of Squall's explanation, it would cut to the relevant characters and whatever was happening before or after the briefing itself.

-Legion: The first half of this chapter was lead-up, as it generally is with many of my war chapters. I had to establish how everyone was preparing for combat, as well as prepare each character's position and show how the Garden forces were readying for battle as well.

This chapter was also essential to show that Rinoa's use of her power had its limits, and that she couldn't just stand back and blast the enemy to pieces at will. Too much use of that power would knock her unconscious or even kill her.

The charge at Galbadia Garden was something I very much enjoyed depicting. The horrific carnage in that attack was intense, visceral, and enjoyable. Like what would have happened at helm's Deep if the elves and men had machineguns instead of bows :P

Crell's surprising trap was something I had planned out a few chapters back, in the middle of Iceblood. I suddenly had the image of him pulling a Palpatine, and I loved the thought.

-Hellfire: This chapter saw further havoc and chaos. Zell went berserk, Rinoa nearly killed herself, Selphie blew things up, and Nash confronted Hyne, with the massive, shocking revelation that not only had he come from an alternate timeline, but that he was actually Squall from that alternate timeline. Crazy, huh?

Oh, and Illarra turned into a dragon. Didn't matter much though.

-Noontide: This chapter was named after a song off the Guilty Gear soundtrack, specifically, the one for when Ky and Sol fight. It just sounds really epic and appropriate.

The part of this chapter I most loved writing was Squall telling Griever to shut up, followed by Squall punking Illarra's dragon form and crashing into the upper levels of Balamb Garden.

Another element I enjoyed was Serra's full release of all her power, utterly annihilating the attacking Estharians, and then Laguna revealing to every one of the attacking soldiers that they had been completely deceived by a mad dictator. "Owned bitch!" was one of the best moments in writing the entire story, I would say.

And then, just when you thought it was over, Alucard steps in with his own calculated bit of animosity.

-Griever: Though this chapter only really covered three real battles, it was massive and took forever to write. I was literally improvising off the top of my head as I wrote some parts, with the only set and certain points being that Illarra was going to die, Griever was going to rise up, and the entire FFVIII cast was going to rush in to stop Alucard.

They say that for the audience to feel emotion in a work, the author has to feel emotion while writing. I think this happened here in this chapter, for I truly did feel both sorry and glad when I finally laid Illarra down to rest, and when Squall said goodbye to Rinoa and Seifer and was speaking with Griever about his upcoming death, I was moved to tears even as I typed.

In order to capture the sorrow of Squall's death, I recalled the ending to Armageddon, where Stamper was speaking with his daughter right before he prepared to blow the nukes and save the world, taking his own life in the process. I cried (yes, not ashamed to admit it!) when that scene came on, and I recreated that scene with Squall and Rinoa in my head as I wrote their goodbyes.

And at the end, Squall told Rinoa he would be waiting, just as he had in the flower field. I felt that tied it all up very nicely.

Toward the end of the fic, Kaiser, now a good online friend of mine, got in touch with me. He had an idea for interviewing me, like a reporter or TV show host, asking questions about the story I was writing. We had done something similar after Gunblade saga, though that interview was unfortunately lost. The good news is, this one hasn't been lost, and we finished it! So, since this would help show more insight into the story, and because Kaiser won't stop bugging me until I post it, here it goes in with the commentary.

Two Madman Talk

"Hi there, and welcome to this hall of knowledge, passion, love, friendship, a and courage! Whatever! My name is Kaiser, and with me is the man responsible for making us injure our necks for containing our breath too long! He is also guilty of our orthopedic diseases for sitting in the edge of our seats too long! Stand forth and speak, O Peptuck!"

Peptuck: What up niggas?

"First than everything, Peptuck. How did you feel when you completed The Gunblade Saga, and how did those feelings transformed in the first ideas for Blood of the Chimera?"

Peptuck: Gunblade was...well, it was an amazing feeling to finish that. An incredible sense of accomplishment. I imagine finishing that was what it was like for George Lucas to finish the first Star Wars trilogy, so to speak. I was almost overwhelmed when I finished writing that saga. but I've already said my piece on that in Gunblade.

When I finished Gunblade, I felt like I needed to continue on. The characters I designed for Gunblade, I felt, would work very nicely if further explored and developed in another saga. I had recently finished reading "The Omega" by Daz Shier, and his massive work inspired me to write an epic of my own. I had already started fleshing out ideas for what would become Chimera while writing Gunblade, so when the first story ended, I almost had a basic storyline framework set-up for the new story. It didn't take long from the end of Gunblade to the beginning of Chimera.

"It looked like an evolutive writing. Your style improved clearly from the beginning of one to the other. What inspired you to such development?"

Peptuck: Mostly my own personal growth from within. I matured a lot from the beginning of Gunblade to the end of it, and that may have been reflected in how the quality of writing improved. Similarly, Chimera saw me getting better and better as I advanced.

"And do tell something.. did you plan the brilliant plot from the beginning, or did you work it from a general idea?"

Peptuck: A general core idea, for the most part. I had wanted to create an amalgamation of different cool ideas; the genetic conspiracies of Metal Gear, the intense spy games or 24, the high-powered fighting and imaginative storyline of Guilty Gear, the biological weapons of Resident Evil, etc. I combined that with the concept of epic-level action like there was in The Omega. These concepts ultimately came together to form the core of Chimera's storyline.

Certain elements were preplanned; Hyne being a villain was one of them, and Illarra's background was another. The character of Nash was already present, but I tweaked him as time went by to make him into a Squall from an alternate timeline. The war was planned out in advance, although in the original draft it was going to be a Return Of the King-style siege and invasion of Dollet. Crell's trap was nonexistent in the original draft; the same held true for Hades and Malachi; whom I added into the plot as time went past. Squall being blinded wasn't even considered for some time, but then I had the idea of Zanshin and integrated that as well. Griever as a villain wasn't really an idea for a while, either.

That said, the core of the storyline still hasn't been completely touched yet. The Requiem armor, and Serra's true purpose, as well as certain other elements (such as the real reason Nash wears that bandana) will be revealed in the sequel.

"Soo.. what was the general ideas and expectations about Blood of the Chimera?"

Peptuck: I wanted to make a fun, action-filled, intense epic with a lot of surprises, twists, and turns. Several ideas I had turned clichéd concepts in fanfiction on their heads, especially Hyne and Griever, and Nash's backstory. Originally I expected it to be about twenty chapters in length, but the plot kind of got away from me for a while there! (laughs) That said, I did work in some classic clichés into the saga. Whether these too will be turned on their heads is something I leave the reader to find out in the upcoming chapters.

"Nooow.. we all know a good story can be reduced to crap without a good development of the characters. Let's talk a little about the epic cast of this epic story."

Peptuck: Sure thing.

"Aye, let's begin with Squall. It was noticeable the change between the Squall at the beginning of Chimera from the Squall at the Beginning of Gunblade. He looked not only stronger, but also more confident and mature, and most important, more relaxed and easy-going.. only a little!"

Peptuck: Well, kicking the crap out of a Sorceress from beyond time tends to do that for a man. He has grown up a lot from when he was in Gunblade; remember, its been three years since the end of Gunblade. He's got Rinoa, he's experienced the rigors of command, he's fought through and persevered over some very traumatic experiences. He's even had to deal with the grief of his daughter's death. Overall, he's a much stronger person, a much more solid individual who I wanted as my main character.

"Rinoa also changed. Apart from her new enormous powers, she looked far more confident and powerful than before. It was kinda... frightening to imagine such power coming from a cute little girl like her."

Peptuck: Rinoa definitely has a tremendous degree of magical power that kept scaling up and up as the saga progressed. However, as you can see, it had a detrimental effect on her, almost killing her. She, too as a lot more confident as a person; she's been through the same stuff as Squall and has grown up a few years into a woman, no longer just a bratty teenager.

"It was.. well, I was going to say odd, but I guess it's natural to look at Selphie in amazement. Such a small girlie is capable of being such a wrecking ball of frigid destruction.. what made you decide she would fit better with Shiva.. apart from the hilarious tongue scene with Irvine?"

Peptuck: I wanted to use characters based on the basic elements, and since Selphie not only came from Trabia but also is a magic specialist, and I always viewed Shiva as being an appropriate fit for her, I gave her the Shiva Elemental. it simply seemed fitting in my eyes. Of the three starting characters in FFVIII, Squall, Zell, and Selphie, Squall fits with Queztocotl, Zell with Ifrit, and Selphie with Shiva.

"Irvine himself.. it's strange how one can be capable of taking on an entire enemy base with lots of guns, and has trouble reuniting the courage to tell a girl he likes her."

Peptuck: There's different kinds of bravery! (laughs) Irvine shows this most clearly. A man can be willing to lay down his life against impossible odds, but still not be able to bare his soul to one he loves. I've experienced this myself, and I wanted to express that in Irvine to develop the Irvine/Selphie relationship.

"And Quistis.. it looks like her character has also grown stronger, but she still seems to be fighting with her inner demons."

Peptuck: I will say that Quistis is the hardest character for me to write, both in terms of personality and fighting style. She does have a degree of inner demons and problems to kill, but she is the most stable of the cast, I believe. Much of her development in Chimera was centered around her dynamic with Alucard, which I'm surprised no one caught on to for a long time.

"NOW! Something I really wanted to ask about. Zell. Zell and Ellone. Zell and Malachi. But most of all, Zell. He… hasn't changed much, has he? Still the same devastation thunderbolt as before?"

Peptuck: Zell's a very straightforward character who doesn't need a lot of development. I love the guy. He's easy to write and easy to handle. Zell and Ellone came about because I was considering a way to develop his character, and I then realized that, in the plot, he's the one who saves Ellone. That seemed a natural jumping point for a relationship.

"My favorite moment in Chimera is, by far, Zell's almost pre-destined duel with Malachi on the Ellone rescue. It was just extraordinarily timed, and unpredictable. It's only when they're face to face when you see they're just the perfect opponents. I listened to the "Motorcycle Chase" theme from Final Fantasy VII while reading it, and it fit the scene perfectly."

Peptuck: I sincerely enjoyed writing that. The battle was heavily inspired by the catwalk fight between Leon and Krauser in Resident Evil 4. It was a very tense duel, one where I believe the reader finally began to grasp the enormity of the plot against Garden.

"Now, a very pleasant surprise is to see that Seifer is still alive and kickin'.. specially if he's in the good guys' side. How much has he changed since his fall in Gunblade?"

Peptuck: He had to battle a lot of inner demons and deal with his guilt. I made a bit of a joke about that in "Briefing" where Seifer comments he went through a lot of shit the lazy author didn't want to write about :P

As it is, he's developed into a better person. Still an asshole at times, but as you can clearly see with the way he acted around Irvine, Selphie, and Serra, that he's definitely become a better person.

"As for Laguna.. it was both surprising and expected when he executed Simmons in the spot. Don't mess with him, huh?"

Peptuck: No. Laguna may come off as a goofy person, but when its time to get serious, he gets very, very serious.

"How did you felt about the secondary characters?.. Ellone, Raijin, Fujin, Xu, Cid..?"

Peptuck: I wish I could have developed them better. They weren't important except for certain parts (padding the numbers in the running base battle, providing another commander for Garden, stopping Squall from killing Cid, etc.) and they aren't well-developed in the game. Plus with all the heroes and the villains and the random events going on, I had a hard time juggling so many characters without handling the minor ones! XD

"What happened to Angelo this time?"

Peptuck: Damn aliens. They kidnapped her again.

"Geez."

Peptuck: Well, Angelo is just a dog. A very badass dog, but a dog. She's not a fighter, and in the high-intensity scenes of Chimera, she likely wouldn't have survived very long. So, I left her out.

"And now, it's time to talk about the new people, beginning with the 'OMG IS A SHE-SQUALL'. What're your comments about the rampaging' loony, Illarra?"

Peptuck: She was a central character from the start. I always had the idea of one of the main bad guys being a sworn enemy of Squall, a very Liquid Snake-styled character who, quite simply, hates Squall through and through for what they perceived were wrongs done to them. The character concept evolved until I settled on a female character who had entered such a state of hate-filled psychosis that she deliberately modeled herself after Squall to mock him. Eventually, as the plot was refined and the Chimera genes background became more clear, she became directly related to him as a second cousin.

Her personality always remained the same, at the core: insane, psychotic, wildly shifting mood swings, and getting almost sexually aroused by watching Squall kill and by watching him suffer. She's sickeningly obsessed with hurting him, although as the story progressed, her attitude changed to a general hatred of all of humanity. Her actions are irrational and erratic, and at times almost random. (Incidentally, this makes for a great plot device. Need something weird to happen? Illarra did it. Why? She's bonkers, she doesn't need a reason! )

Ultimately, the two characters that I most heavily modeled her after are Liquid Snake from Metal Gear and Justice from Guilty Gear. Both are obsessed, insane, psychotic, and in Justice's case, bent on total genocide.

"And from her goes the rest of the family.. Nash DID resulted as a big, bad surprise. I mean, it's not everyday you see a badass human hado-ken revealing to be a badass.. eh.. 'OMG HE IS ANOTHER SQUALL'. How was this character born?"

Peptuck: I'm not entirely at liberty to say at the moment, because not everything about Nash has been revealed! Going into his core concept would be a big spoiler, I think. But suffice it to say, his character has been around since I first started working on this storyline. Of course, back then he was a lot different, kinda ninja-like with straight swords and kusuri-gama as his weapons as opposed to his bare fists and a tooled-up Revolver. However, as time passed, I incorporated him into the Elemental Project as an Ifrit Elemental, and from that point I started to heavily base him off another Guilty Gear character, Sol Badguy. The two are very similar, down to the long hair, bandana, basic outfit, and powerful control over fire, plus they have similar personalities, especially when Nash confronts Hyne. His reaction to Hyne is much like Sol's reaction to That Man in Guilty Gear, who plays a very similar role.

I'm afraid I can't go much more in-depth about Nash; he's still not been fully revealed, and there are some surprising revelations about him to be seen, including a few that you wouldn't expect!

"And Crell sure looked like the Star Wars Emperor, tough thankfully you didn't made him the strongest guy around, blah blah blah cliche cliché."

Peptuck: Crell is a mad dictator, not a fighter. You never even see him fight in Blood of the Chimera, though that may change in the future. Even so, he's just a Chimera descendant, not an Elemental. For the most part he's the evil genius behind everything. The Doctor Wily of this saga, so to speak; a powerful mastermind who doesn't like to get his hands dirty, using trickery and deceit to get what he wants.

"Below this guys pure evilness, Malachi and Simmons were two sides of the same coin. Both were badass, but one was a honorable bastard, while the other was a meany bastard. Care to shed some lights over this bishops in the war chess game?"

Peptuck: Simmons I needed to be an evil bastard to be plain evil. he's the type of guy who everyone hates; he's sadistic, vicious, petty, and a pervert. The guy that makes everyone cheer when he dies. I know I did! I mainly developed him as a disposable villain who would offer an immediate threat to Ellone's safety and intensify the plot. When you know he's evil enough to not even obey his orders and attempt to go after Ellone then and there, you know Squall's story has become that much more of an intense race against time.

Malachi, on the other hand, is a more complex character whose loyalties may be tested later on. He's a loyal soldier, honorable while at the same time vicious and ruthless. He's based off Krauser from Resident Evil 4, who fills a similar (but less treacherous) role in Lord Saddler's organization in that game, as the go-to soldier type who mixes it up with the heroes. At the core, Malachi is a simple archetype: the honorable henchman of the main bad guy who acts as his emissary and front-line commander.

"Now, for Veronica.. from the first moment, we all knew she was going to be pwned. Severely. "

Peptuck: Of course! She's a Sorceress. She, too, was a disposable villain. I needed someone to command the White Robes who went after Irvine and Selphie and round out the evil conspiracy. That and we needed someone Rinoa could tackle to prove how powerful she was.

"And now.. over the strongest lot. I must admit it, Alucard looked a little clichéd to me when I first saw him, but thankfully he became badass enough to annihilate that thought. He appeared like a black-suited guardian angel for the good team."

Peptuck: indeed. Alucard was another character I based off an equivalent Guilty Gear character: the vampire Slayer. Both are mysterious noblemen who make it their jobs to interfere with the paths of the heroes and help them in their ways. Alucard was definitely a plot-device character as well; he went where I needed him to go to do what I needed him to do. Of course, while he was often an effective Guardian angel (lol pun)he also served the role of expanding the plotline and bringing Hyne and Hades into the story. I'll say it quite clearly: Alucard made this story work.

And as an aside, I'm shocked no one saw the Alucard/Quistis thing earlier! I mean, I only had them interacting heavily with one another throughout the entire story, right from the first chapter...

"If it was weird to see Hades himself, with that big scythe and attitude, helping out the li'l bitch, Hyne. Darn it, she oughta be the creepiest little girl I've seen, and believe me, I have seen many, I'm a teacher."

Peptuck: Ah, Hyne and Hades. My villainous pair. Quite the pair they make, in my opinion. Hades, as you can tell, forms the comedic henchman of the duo, while Hyne...well, Hyne is the major villain, the Sephiroth/Kefka/Ultimecia of this story.

Hyne came about as a deliberate attempt to step away from the norms. Hyne is always projected (especially in The Omega) as a powerful, beautiful, benevolent deity. I wanted to go a complete 180 on that; she became a small creepy child with visions of nothing short of destroying the entire universe, and for the simplest of reasons: because. There's something fundamentally frightening and simple about that kind of motivation; she doesn't do it because of any gain or plan or desire for revenge or whatever. She does it simply because she exists to unmake things. She is the end. She is the void. She is nothing personified, and her desire to spread that nothing across everything is in her core essence.

In this sense, I think of Hyne as the purest villain of them all. She wants it all to end simply because. Is there any cause more basic? More powerful? More frightening?

"And Serra.. the lost girl finds her path.. and a family in the process, it seems."

Peptuck: Serra was originally not Squall's daughter in the initial draft. I even entertained the notion of her being Seifer and Rinoa's child at first! But as time progressed, I saw better possibilities with het being Squall and Rinoa's child. Like several other original characters, I used a basic template from Guilty Gear as a design, this time with Dizzy, who fills a very, very similar role, right down to the nature of her defense systems. Serra has Phoenix and Diablos, and Dizzy has Undine and Necro. Both are relatively innocent children who grew up far too quickly (Dizzy being a Gear and growing up in three years, and Serra being an Elemental in the same time) have little experience and are suddenly thrust into a world where it seems that suddenly, they are the core around which everything revolves. Not to mention that both are ridiculously powerful (In GG's Story Mode, AI-controlled Dizzy has a technique called Wings of Light, which at the core is the same move Serra used to annihilate Esthar's army in Noontide. Its an instant-killing move that you almost can't avoid.)

Serra (and Dizzy) represent a primal innocence that I think is something rarely shown; a growing person who is purely innocent, with a wide-eyed wonder as they look at a new world which is both beautiful and terrifying at the same time. I really want to touch on this in the follow-up to Chimera.

"There was a comment from Crell that got me thinking. In chapter 24 (coincidence), "Legion", he said Garden, along with the best of Galbadia and Dollet's militaries, are going to be annihilated in a single blazing fury of destruction on this glorious day of conquest. Does this means that the original plan of the story featured the entire storyline in one single day?"

Peptuck: No, actually. Crell was simply referring to kicking Garden's ass and more or less winning the war instantly in a single day with his devious trap.

"Well, one thing that was funny as hell was to see the little things that got lost in Gunblade due to space and story needs, getting its shining moment in Chimera, like the appearance of Diablos and Phoenix, the return of Elain and Jofey, and the importance of Randolph."

Peptuck: Since Chimera is a sort-of sequel to Gunblade (using the same world I designed for Gunblade in the first place) I felt I could introduce some elements that were missing and reintroduce characters from Gunblade back into the plot.

"In chapter "Noontide", when Randolph evacuates the command center, was the original plan to make him die heroically defending or destroying it? It gives that impression.."

Peptuck: No. Originally he was just going to shoot the enemy down and retreat, but I added in the explosion of the command deck for emphasis.

"Will Irvine ever junction?"

Peptuck: Irvine doesn't do junctions. It would take something along the level of what's happened to Squall to make him take that step.

"Alright, every interview needs to have a few relax silly questions, so brace yourself, Peptocko."

Peptuck: Whoo.

"Beast or West?"

Peptuck: Beast is blue and has a cool VA. the West has neither of those.

"What are Selphie's measurements?"

Peptuck: Wouldn't you like to know?

"How does Lunatic Pandora floats in the air?"

Peptuck: An engine powered by plot holes.

"If Angelo barks in the outer space, and no one hears her bark.. has she barked?"

Peptuck: Well, she barked, so...yeah.

"What was first, the feather or the Phoenix?"

Peptuck: Gnomes.

"What's Zell's weakness?"

Peptuck: When he swings his shield, there's an opening in his armor that is visible for a second. A single shot from the pistol in that orange fleshy part will bring him down.

"What would be a good metaphor for our 'silly' segment?"

Peptuck: The part of the interview where Kaiser was on crack and I was popping acid?

"Yeah, but it's still enjoyable, huh? Alright, now you WILL have to tell us what's coming next. More action? More romance? More Wackowski moves? In essence, another work is coming?"

Peptuck: Yep. In fact, I'm actually changing the title of the story to fit the new direction it'll be heading.

I also have another work in the wings, but I'm not going to reveal anything about it yet.

"What's going to happen with Squall's soul?"

Peptuck: Wouldn't you like to know?

"Are Zell and Ellone really pairing up?"

Peptuck: I don't think Zell invited her into his room for some coffee...unless its Hot Coffee. :P

"Will Selphie and Irvine finally get things clear?"

Peptuck: Well, they're already together, but there might be a problem or two in their relationship...

"What can we expect from Hyne, Hades, Crell, Nash, and all other characters who survived Chimera?"

Peptuck: -BAD THINGS-. In all caps, bolded, and surrounded by pretentious dashes.

"..finally.. just how big are things coming next?"

Peptuck: Think Advent Children. Minus the silver hair and OMG CLOUD-ANGST.

"We'll be waiting."

Peptuck: And that's half the reason I write this stuff!

And there you have it.

Until next story….