The Event Horizon - Personal Notes
For those who are interested, those were my personal notes as I was working on the story. For readers' comfort, I arranged them for categories.
Themes
1. Discrimination: That one was pretty obvious and is a recurring theme in my stories. I generally don't like stories where everyone is immediately accepting of everything. Stuff like bullying and discrimination do exist, so to ignore those would be like making the stories unrealistic.
2. Social pressure: Another recurring theme in pretty much all of my stories, but in here I chose to strongly focus on it when I realized how strictly connected it was with discrimination. Personally, I loved my years in High School, but I have to admit that, sometimes, I was a little bit of a 'Roxas'. And a 'Sora' too, I guess.
3. Friendship: Yeah, I know, pretty ordinary as a theme, but it's always fun to explore the different façades of this powerful feeling.
4. Family acceptance: I seriously had fun with this: having the possibilities to show how different the impact of a parent can be on their sons was really interesting and something that I'd never done before. I'd say the contrast between Riku's parents - caring but invasive-, Sora's -caring but absent- and Roxas' -caring but harmful- it's pretty clear.
Characters
For every character, I had a couple of lines to help me remember how they are supposed to act in certain situations.
Main
Sora (16 yo): Energic and spontaneous. In truth, his actions are far more calculated than he lets on, but he is driven by good intentions. Has a checkered past.
Riku (17 yo): Once popular and outgoing, after being outed has become peevish and isolated. He finds difficult trusting others. Kairi's ex-boyfriend. Was on the swimming team with Axel and Saïx.
Roxas (16 yo): Shy boy, was Riku's best friend and was secretly in love with him. After a disastrous coming out with his parents, has decided to never show again his true self to people, playing the role of the average "cool" student. He deeply fears being left behind like Riku.
First-Tier
Kairi (17 yo): Riku's ex-girlfriend. Beautiful young girl, if a little vain. She's not mean at heart, but tends to not consider other people's feelings. Extremely vengeful.
Seifer (17 yo): Arrogant bully, has always had an inferiority complex that exploded when Kairi chose Riku over him. Since then, he is bent on humiliating Riku. Will start to progressively despise Sora for stealing the spotlight from him and from being another target of Kairi's attentions.
Hayner (16 yo): An insecure boy who admires Seifer unconditionally, to the point that someone even suspects he has a crush on him. He is the favorite target of Larxene's pranks.
Larxene (17 yo): Her tongue is as sharp as they come. Likes to speak her mind and detest hypocrites. She's quite individualistic and doesn't care too much about what happens to other people, though she has started to feel some remorse for never standing for Riku.
Axel (17 yo): The Red Oni. Passionate, wild and defiant. Never dared to stand up for Riku, but wants to help Roxas patch their friendship. A good friend of Larxene.
Saïx (17 yo): The Blue Oni. Calm, observant and of few words. A stoic, able to predict precisely the consequence of someone's actions. For this reason, he thinks that Roxas would be better avoiding been seen with Riku, even though he feels bad for how he acted towards him. Also a good friend of Larxene.
Second-Tier
Xemnas: The principal of the school. Strict and authoritarian, doesn't like people that try to defy his authority and, for this reason, doesn't appreciate Sora's arrival in his school due to his past of troublemaker. He is not above bending his own rules to get things done his way.
Auron: The Struggle coach. A harsh, rude man who is quite abrasive in his interactions, but who is fair and doesn't hold any kind of prejudice.
Tidus, Selphie, Olette, Pence (16 yo): The arcade people. All of them kind of geeks, they couldn't care less about stuff like "reputation" at school. Tidus, hyperactive and without filters, is a videogame-addict, Selphie, Tidus' girlfriend, has a vivid passion for tv-series, Pence, quiet and nerdy, is a big otaku and Olette, calm and collected, is a Disney fan. They all despise "normies".
Naminé (16 yo): Has a passion for drawings and is the more "normal" of the group. Acts like a big sister to them all and, later, for Riku too.
Cid: The owner of the arcade and barman of the little bar in there. Grumpy, but good-hearted.
Riku's parents: They love their son unconditionally. His mom (Rei) is enthusiastic at the idea of Riku finding someone who loves him, no matter his gender. His father, even though has some difficulties understanding how 'same-sex relationship works', is more than willing to learn about it to sustain Riku.
Roxas' parents: Conservative people, they believe that the fact that their son is attracted by other boys is an abomination that needs to be corrected or, at very least, hidden. Despite their beliefs, they do love their son.
Cloud (22 yo): Roxas' brother, a short-tempered guy who tends to get easily into arguments. Despite this, he tries to act as a pacifier to find some middle ground between his younger brother and their parents, but that puts him sometimes at odds with the former. Has a girlfriend, Aerith (Roxas sees her as a big sister).
Sora's mom: Sora rarely sees her because of her work, which is part of the reason Sora got into a gang while still in Radiant Garden. Well-intentioned, but not much of a parent. His father left when Sora was little.
Cameos and Nitpicks
And here's a list of all the little nods to the various games.
- Magnet Spiral: Chapter 2's title. Inspired by the Magnet Spiral's Command in BBS.
- Struggle: This one was easy: the popular sport of the school originates from KH2.
- Alley to Between and Avenue to Dreams: Respectively, where Riku and Sora/Roxas live. The names are taken directly from The World that Never Was, respectively from KH2 and KH3D.
- Rinoa's: The clothes shop that Kairi wants to visit in Chapter 2. It's named after the homonymous character from FFVIII.
- No Name: The new club that Sora and friends visit during the story. Takes his name from the Master of the Master's Keyblade.
- Setzer: A random guy on the swimming team that punched Riku a year before the events of the story. A FFVI character who also cameoed in KH2.
- Vaan, Balthier, Isaaru,Nooj, Shuyin, Gippal: Participants in the Struggle Tryouts. The first twos are from FFXII, Isaaru is from FFX and the others are from FFX-2.
- Lexaeus, Zexion and Xigbar: The principal of Radiant High and the literature and math professors of Twilight High (where the story takes place).
- Rising Tension: Chapter 14's title. A nod to "Tension Rising", boss theme of KH2.
- Leon: Sora's old friend from Radiant Garden. Main protagonist of FFVIII, regular character in the KH series.
- Zell and Irvine: Other friends from Radiant Garden, Zell was name-dropped by Sora in Chapter 25 (and properly introduced in chapter 39). Playable characters in FFVIII.
- Yuffie: Had a story with Sora for a while. Recurring character in KH from FFVII.
- Noel: Sora's gay friend in Radiant Garden. Co-protagonist of FFXIII-2.
- Joshua: Barman at the No Name. Appeared in KH3D and originates from TWEWY.
- Rai and Fuu: Bullies from Riku's past. Originate from FFVIII and appeared in KH2.
- Daybreak Town: The town where Kairi grew up. First appeared in KHX.
- Ventus: Roxas' cousin, name-dropped in Chapter 24. One of the BBS trio.
- Xion: The girl 'met' by Sora during Larxene's party.
- Magic Hour: Chapter 37's title, focusing on Roxas. Is a nod to his homonymous Limit Break in Days.
Struggle Tryouts Results
Yep, I had actually thought how many points each one of the participants scored at the Struggle tryouts, just to be sure that the results were actually believable. Here's the details, notice how Seifer would've probably been first, had it not been so harshly penalized in the Speed trial. Also, notice how Sora still scored slightly better than him in the Competition trial.
Sora (2nd place): Speed 8/8 - Strength 5/8 - Endurance 6/8 - Competition 15/16 - Total 34/40
Riku (3rd place): Speed 8/8 - Strength 7/8 - Endurance 6/8 - Competition 12/16 - Total 33/40
Seifer (10th place): Speed 0/8 - Strength 8/8 - Endurance 7/8 - Competition 14/16 - Total 29/40
Axel (9th place): Speed 6/8 - Strength 6/8 - Endurance 7/8 - Competition 11/16 - Total 30/40
Saïx (3rd place): Speed 5/8 - Strength 7/8 - Endurance 7/8 - Competition 14/16 - Total 33/40
Chapters
I had to rearrange them sometimes, mainly because a few chapters were too long or too short. But whole sections disappeared when I realized it would've been too dispersive to delve into too many themes: as an example, Ansem the Wise was initially in the story and was supposed to be the school counselor for Sora; the only trace of that is the discussion with Xemnas in one of the first chapters. Also, Tidus, Selphie, Pence and Naminé were reeeeally close to be completely removed from the story.
Finally, even if the story may seem longer, everything happens in 3 mere weeks. Here's the layout.
Week 1 - Monday
- Chapter 1: Blue is the Warmest Color [2'400 words]
- Chapter 2: Magnet Spiral [2'900 words]
- Chapter 3: A Game of Trust [2'000 words]
Tuesday
- Chapter 4: Antithetic Duo [1'800 words]
- Chapter 5: Burning Sparks [2'000 words]
- Chapter 6: Time and Again [2'300 words]
- Chapter 7: Sky of the Beginning [2'200 words]
Wednesday
- Chapter 8: Echoes of the Past [2'000 words]
- Chapter 9: Just Friends [2'000 words]
- Chapter 10: Tryouts - Part 1 [2'600 words]
- Chapter 11: Tryouts - Part 2 [2'600 words]
- Chapter 12: Family Matters [1'800 words]
- Chapter 13: A Lonely Boy's Story [2'800 words]
Thursday
- Chapter 14: Rising Tension [4'000 words]
- Extra Chapter 1: Truths and Lies - FUSED WITH CHAPTER 14
- Chapter 15: Wild Dreamers [2'600 words]
- Chapter 16: Heart to Heart [1'400 words]
Friday
- Chapter 17: Plans [2'300 words]
- Chapter 18: The Calm Before the Storm [2'000 words]
- Chapter 19: No Name - Part 1 [2'600 words]
- Chapter 20: No Name - Part 2 [3'200 words]
Saturday
- Chapter 21: Confrontation [2'500 words]
- Chapter 22: An Outcast Boy's Story [2'700 words]
- Chapter 23: Scarred Hearts [3'100 words]
Sunday
- Chapter 24: The Light at the End of the Tunnel [1'900 words]
Week 2 - Monday
- Extra Chapter 2: Unbound - REMOVED
- Chapter 25: Rough Souls [2'200 words]
- Chapter 26: All or Nothing [2'200 words]
Tuesday
- Chapter 27: The Day Sora met my Family [2'900 words]
Wednesday
- Chapter 28: The Beginning of the End [2'000 words]
Thursday
- Chapter 29: Red and Blue [1'800 words]
Friday
- Chapter 30: Confessions [1'900 words]
- Chapter 31: The Party - Part 1 [2'200 words]
- Chapter 32: The Party - Part 2 [3'000 words]
- Chapter 33: The Party - Part 3 [2'700 words]
- Chapter 34: The Party - Part 4 [3'500 words]
Saturday / Week 3 - Wednesday
- Chapter 35: Shattered [1'800 words]
Thursday
- Chapter 36: Brand New World [2'400 words]
- Chapter 37: Magic Hour [1'700 words]
Saturday
- Chapter 38: Anima Archetype [1'900 words]
- Chapter 39: A Troublemaker Boy's Story - Part 1 [3'000 words]
- Chapter 40: A Troublemaker Boy's Story - Part 2 [2'800 words]
6 Months Later
- Chapter 41: The Roads We Take [3'000 words]
Resume
Chapter 1: Sora meets Riku.
Chapter 2: Sora discovers Riku is gay. Sora leave Kairi to spend time with Riku.
Chapter 3: Sora and Riku at the Arcade. Sora gives Riku his phone number.
Chapter 4: Sora and Roxas go to school with Cloud. Sora and Riku have breakfast together: he discovers that Riku hates Roxas, Roxas not really.
Chapter 5: Everyone looks at the Struggle match. Axel goes to talk with Riku. Sora wins the match.
Chapter 6: Riku Flashback (may, 1 year prior) of bullying and stop Axel and Saïx. In the present, Sora reaches Riku at the arcade and they start drinking.
Chapter 7: Sora and Riku go home drunk, Riku admit he went out with Kairi. They sleep at Sora's.
Chapter 8: Riku wakes up at Sora's, discover his father left when little. They go school with Roxas and Cloud. Riku makes a truce with Roxas.
Chapter 9: Sora, Riku and Roxas have breakfast together. Roxas realizes Riku likes Sora. Sora and Seifer start to clash.
Chapter 10-11: Struggle Tryouts
Chapter 12: Riku and his family. Roxas and his family. Discussion with Cloud.
Chapter 13: Roxas' backstory.
Chapter 14: Riku's mom start telling him to bring Sora for dinner. Roxas suspect Sora is more cunning than he thought. Discussion about Riku on Seifer's table, tension rising. Saïx start to discuss with Roxas about not seeing Riku, discuss with Axel. Plan to go to the No Name.
Chapter 15: Riku goes to the Arcade on his own and meet Tidus, Selphie, Olette, Pence and Naminé (again). Sora goes see Xemnas (REMOVED: and is forced to see the counselor/psychologist).
Chapter 16: Sora and Riku phone call: discussion about social norms and getting closer. Invitation to the No Name.
Chapter 17: Struggle results. Riku starts talking to Axel who invites himself to his table. Frictions between Seifer's gang. Little approach from Larxene.
Chapter 18: Riku get dressed with his mom. Roxas got dressed with Cloud (they make peace). Sora got dressed. The three of them meet on the bus.
Chapter 19-20: No Name. Sora kiss Roxas.
Chapter 21: Sora invites Riku for dinner, Roxas is there. Discussion at dinner with Roxas about the kiss.
Chapter 22: Riku's backstory.
Chapter 23: Discussion + space brownies.
Chapter 24: The three of them wake up. Sora and Riku go to the arcade and they meet Rei who invites Sora on dinner.
Chapter 25: Struggle match: Sora punches Seifer.
Chapter 26: Sora threaten Seifer. Roxas took a stand and convince Axel and Saïx to do the same.
Chapter 27: Sora's dinner with Riku's family.
Chapter 28: Larxene joins Riku's table. Seifer's group continues to break: Kairi insult Seifer, Saïx antagonizes him.
Chapter 29: Riku, Axel and Saïx help Larxene prepare the house for the party. He makes peace with them.
Chapter 30: Sora tries to confess the bet to Riku and fail. He confesses it to Roxas instead who gets angry. The three of them get ready.
Chapter 31-32-33-34: The party.
Chapter 35: Riku's crisis. Naminé helps him.
Chapter 36: Riku goes back to school. He punches Seifer and Roxas helps him. Xemnas ask some dirt on Sora, but he doesn't get it. Roxas is scared his parents will receive a letter from the principal.
Chapter 37: Riku and Roxas confess each other's feelings and make up on the roof.
Chapter 38: Riku visits and talks to Sora.
Chapter 39-40: Sora's backstory.
Chapter 41: Ending.
Initial Draft
Finally, I wanted to share how the idea for this story started: at the beginning I was planning to do a cooperation project with a fellow writer and we brainstormed some ideas. In the end, she retreated and I ended working alone on the story. Anyway, here's a few messages that we exchanged while planning the story. Note how Sora's character was reworked from the ground up (also, originally he was meant to be gay).
- Sora, one of the "cool kids" starts hanging out with Riku and Riku slowly start falling in love with him, only it's discovered later that it was all because of a bet between Sora and Seifer (another guy from his gang) to manage to lure Riku to a party where they could make fun of him. Of course there will be all of the part where Sora starts feeling conflicted and starts to feel bad for what it's doing and so on.
- Riku's outing: I don't know what the whole story is... it could involve Terra maybe? (to define how Riku got outed)
- Sora and Seifer are friends and teammates; they make a bet about Riku. Sora thinks Riku is kind of pathetic, because he's so resigned to being an outcast, until he starts opening up to him and he gets to see his cocky and sincere sides. Sora may be kind of frustrated at the way Riku doesn't feel like fighting anymore could be the first thing that would make him start to "genuinely" care about him (meaning wanting him to react).
- Sora's never really had the kind of friendship in which he feels genuinely cared for until he befriends Riku. There will have to be some foreshadowing so it doesn't come out of left field. (I think it should be made quite clear before and showing Sora even considers going back on the bet but not having the guts to do it, until Seifer tells him that Riku's only nice to him to get into his pants or like, Seifer suggesting that Sora has a thing for Riku and Sora reacting vividly by confirming that the bet is still on and Sora hasn't come to terms with being gay yet so he goes through with it. trying to figure out where the reveal of the bet will go (suggestion: at the party).
- And as for the reveal, I have a few ideas, but mainly, I figure something like Seifer, frustrated to have lost the bet, will tell to Sora, in front of Riku: "Right, you have won our bet!", at which Riku could react badly, with Sora trying to justify that, yeah, at the beginning it was that, but then he realized that he cared for him, yadda-yadda. Or, other approach, Riku could even not really caring, like knowing that it was a bet (it depends on which side we would want to go from there), but going with it because of reasons.
- I like the idea of having Sora and Seifer on a sports team together. I'm leaning towards Twilight town as a location and they can be Struggle players. If we want Sora to be a bit oblivious to Riku's outing, we could have him move there from Destiny islands recently. Hence why he has no really close friends. I agree that Sora should be aware of his sexuality but I feel like the way Riku was outed was kinda traumatic and Sora isn't aware of the whole story. That way Sora going for the bet is cruel but it's actually way more cruel than he realized because of the circumstance of Riku being outed. So Sora feels like he's partaking in cruel but mostly harmless fun (maybe there's even a history of this). Like Sora and Seifer make bets all the time to mess with people and, yeah, they're kind of jerks but they don't actually hurt anyone) when in reality he's going to end up hurting Riku far more than he imagined.