Yeah, it'd be comical to watch Squall with either Balthier or Zidane, maybe I can switch Balthier for Ashe and get Zidane and Squall, I'm not really sure yet. I think a perky female like Selphie would make for a very good companion to Yuna and Rydia. Although I get the feeling Yuna and Ashe would be very good friends. A question, if I choose Balthier, or any FF12 character for that matter, is it mandatory that I write them with their initial weapon on the game? I'm asking this because when I played FF12, I would usually just go with Balthier, Ashe and Basch as my main fighters, and all of them carrying swords, so I don't really saw Balthier as a gunner that much.
I think with how upbeat yuna was after becoming a gunner, Selphie would be a great partner and friend for her. Probably remind her a little of Rikku (With less of kicking Brother if he shows up in the Celsius later.) Ashe would probably get along better with Summoner Yuna with how serious and devoted to her duty and people as she was, but they could probably still connect even with Gunner Yuna. For people like Balthier and Fran, they can swap out their weapons as they go. For people like Tifa, I want to try and stay true to what they would have used in the game/movie. You can start Balthier off with whatever you want, I just went bow for Fran to start with since she did in the game. I'm not going to get bent out of shape over it lol. (I always went Basch with a heavy sword, Ashe with sword and shield, and Vaan with a sword and possibly a shielf. Balthier I kept as a gunner for my ranged character and Fran with whatever I needed at the time. Penello normally was just tossed whatever was left over since I didn't like her that much or use her often. I normally tossed her in to help keep up combos for special moves or if I was running out of good characters to swap in or needed to let someone swap out to regain MP.)
Well, I guess that's it, then: Yuna, Balthier, Selphie, Zidane and Rydia. I'll think about it for a few more days to see if I want to change anything, and then start writing something. I don't have a clue as to which villains I'd choose yet, lol.
lol ok that sounds like a good team to me. You have a ranged fighter, two close range fighters, mid range (Selphie), and a magic/summoner. I think the upbeat girls and the rogues guys will make a good combination for story. For this particular team.... I would almost suggest Kuja to fill the wildcard role. It ties him to Zidane and he would probably treat Yuna and Rydia similar to how he did Garnet, with the way he kept referring to her as the "Canary" and such. With only one real mage in the group (Remember Materia is available) an enemy like Exdeath with a lot of magical power would be a strong enemy. Or possibly a strong physical fighter like Garland from the original FF. Though with more thought on the wildcard: Shuyin from X-2 could work to screw with Yuna (In more ways than one possibly). Another possible character tie in if you don't use him would be Ba'Gamnan to terrorize Balthier. Especially if he is the leader of the group. Not sure he could be a wildcard. Probably the Warrior for the villains. Or you could call in Golbez to mess with Rydia. Or the Maenad from After Years that looks almost exactly like Rydia but with slightly different hair color. Lol sorry, I see a lot of potential for this group so I'm throwing out a lot of ideas.
All good ideas, I'll have quite a bit of work to tie in everything together, lol. I guess I'll make Yuna the leader of this team, she seems to be the more level-headed of them; I was thinking, if Materia is available, Yuna can very well be a gunner and a summoner at the same time later, maybe meet her beloved aeons again. A quick question, you already said we can pull the locations from any point in the timeline. Do the same apply to the characters? I kind of want to pull Zidane from before he meets Garnet and Yuna from a timeline where FFX-2 good ending didn't happen and Tidus didn't come back to life. Another thing I was thinking, maybe I can start by putting the team in a place (forest, cave or something like that) from a world that none of them lives in (the reader would know the place, but not the characters), and then have them fight their way out of there and arrive at a city pulled from another game. What do you think?
The Aeons/Eidolons wont give their Materia up until after they are found and possibly beaten. Maybe Valfor would give himself/herself (Valfor looks female to me...) To Yuna without a fight, but the others would probably still test her and Rydia both. Since we are using materia for that, only one person could use that summon at a time. Yeah that works. I went with the ending results for my characters (Except Ace) to have them already set up as Heroes. Just added the Calm Lands, to the west of Midgar, the Viera forest from 12 is to the east, that frozen cave from 9 to the north, and an unknown stretch of ocean to the south of Midgar. I have the ocean in mind, it is from 4.... So a bit of the land has been revealed, but the characters don't know much more than "There is a frozen cave her, a weird forest here where Shinra scouts went missing, an unknown body of water here, and a valley like place over here." Lol ok. I suggest that Cosmos was sending them to Midgar, but Choas or one of the villains intercepted her power and had them land somewhere else.
Alright, got a little more rolling with the story. Setting up some Tifa/Cecil stuff, though where that goes will still be up in the air. Materia has been introduced! I didn't want to go too heavy in Materia that much for now, so I just put in basic stuff. Still deciding who will get what, but I've got a few hurdles for them to jump through first before everyone can get their share.... First fight scene coming up as well!
As I said on the comments' section, the fight scene was really good! I'm curious as to what will come up between Cecil and Tifa, since you used a version of these characters where they are already attached to someone else (Rosa and Cloud). That was the reason I asked if I could pull Zidane and Yuna from different times, that way I can have them get involved with each other or with one of the others without the guilt of cheating on someone else.
I'm not going to rush any sex scenes for what I'm planning when it comes to the actual Hero party. Other outside forces might cause some to happen, but when it comes Cecil, Tifa and the others, I'm going to just let it progress through friendship and playful flirting. I tried to play Tifa as I saw her in Advent Children: Bored and Lonely. Even if things got better for them AFTER Advent Children, I still have trouble seeing Cloud as someone that could just stay home and be with the family. So while things between him and Tifa might be better, it still isn't quite what she needs. So then in comes Cecil (Who would probably be in his fourties or early fifties now since he has a son that is about 18 now...) who is literally a knight in shining armor.... Out of any in the group, I see Tifa being more likely to want him than Ace. Quistis might go for Ace.... Part of what I'm wanting to play with in this story is how Cecil and Tifa both have walls to go through with their other relationships before something can happen. Fran as well I think, but she will probably be easier on that then the others. Ace and Quistis are both free of romantic partners so that transition will more be over time than getting pasted the idea of them cheating. I'm glad you liked the fight scene. None of the group expected Tifa to be strong since she isn't muscular and she didn't have a weapon. Cecil is the first to see what she can do. I think she is the least affected by the downshift in their strengths. Probably Fran next, with Quistis just a little over Ace and Cecil. I'm really looking forward to what you come up with. I'm planning on getting a few more posts rolling out tonight, but my dad had surgery today, so I can't promise anything.
Yeah, since she doesn't use any weapon, Tifa is closer to what she'd be at full power. Cecil would have to rely on his sword skills and Fran on her aim with the bow. I plan on making a more light-hearted journey with the group I pick, some funny ones, a few serious ones, and some others with different personalities to make a group that works well together, be it on battles or in scenes.
I'm really looking forward to what you come up with. After I get this group farther, I might make a second group, but I want to push this one a little first. Thinking for the second group of Heroes: Yuffie, Squall, Paine, Faris, and Vaan. Thinking Faris will be pulling her "I'm a boy" routine and the only one that sees through it will be Paine. Yuffie will hit on her, and Vaan will try to buddy up to her, and then the big reveal.... Oh my! If I don't go with Vaan, I might use Either Fang or Lightning from 13. Or possibly get rid of Yuffie for Vanille, but I'm thinking Vanille in a different group. Still not sure which enemies for that group though. Thinking Rosso the Crimson for Warrior in the group, but not sure who else. For the fights I have planned, Cecil is going to rely heavily on block and counter techniques until he starts getting his healing spells back. It hasn't occurred to the group yet that they have lost most of their power. The first sign will be when Cecil tries to use that fire magic and feels a strong drain on his magic. Fran's weapon will change sooner or later. Probably upgrade her to an assault rifle at one point since they are plentiful with Shinra troops. The levels of technology will vary from place to place though. Was trying to think of more cities to add in. Think I'll throw in either Troia from 4 or Alexandria from 9 for a place that is mostly ruled by women. Treno from 9 is going to show up, and I'm thinking Beatrix will have ended up there.
Faris disguising herself as a boy in a group with Vaan and Yuffie could be fun, and I'm imagining Squall doing his facepalm when he learns of it, lol. As for villains, I'm struggling to choose three for my group as well. The only one I'm more or less inclined to add is Kuja, because of Zidane. But since I'm gonna pull a Zidane from before the game, Kuja will just be another guy with a tail to him, which will create an entirely new relationship between them, I guess. I'm going to use Treno as well, I love that town. To be fair, I like almost everything about FF9, though. Your group doesn't have anyone from FF9, so your Alexandria can have Garnet in it; on my thread, she'd have to be missing, and the city would be in quite a mess, with the Queen wanting to find her daughter.
Lol Squall would definately do a facepalm to Faris. I'm thinking Vaan will have basically the same reaction Bartz had "Oh my god you are a girl? No wonder I thought you were cute!" Yuffie on the other hand "Oh my god, you aren't a guy? But you are so hot!" Possible threesome? That could be a fun thing to play with. I'm thinking Paine having seen through Faris the whole time will make for a funny scene when the group finds out. How about Shuyin? That would tie in for Yuna. But if you really want Kuja, think of Kuja from the timeline having met Zidane, even though Zidane hasn't met him yet. He'll be shocked that Kuja comes after him so hard and heavy. Hell, you could put in both Shuyin (Trying to tear apart the group through Yuna's uncertain feelings for him) and Kuja going after Zidane. From there, you could have one of the Judges from 12, or someone else. Kuja is more of a magic user than anything, so I'd suggest a warrior. Especially if you don't go with Shuyin. Garnet would be missing even in my timeline. She is a Hero and couldn't be pulled through since Chaos stopped all the Heroes except the chosen group Cosmos sent from being in his world. Treno is a great town. Constantly night time, the auction house and lots of nobility, but an undercurrent of criminal activity that is as much in motion as the nobles. I think I'll have had the opera house from 4 added into Treno as well.
A threesome between Vaan, Faris and Yuffie? An excellent idea! Maybe even a foursome with Paine while Squall broods outside. Shuyin could be a good villain, depending on how the story is written. I guess I only see him going along with it if Chaos promises to reunite him with Lenne. One of the judges might be good, perhaps even Vayne Solidor after all. I see, I thought only the heroes associated with the chosen group were banned from appearing. I don't remember much about the towns from FF4, but there's somewhat of an opera house on FF6 as well, Celes sings there once.
Vaan would be a very lucky man to get that group of babes into bed. I don't know about adding Paine. I was thinking about her and Squall getting together, but maybe she could use Vaan to try and push Squall into getting his act together? Shuyin could be the wildcard in your group. He could start off trusting Chaos but more and more see him as the liar and source of evil he is. Then perhaps change sides once he sees this. No, Chaos stopped all the Heroes so that there would be no one to stop him, but Cosmos was able to send that small group. The Heroes who could have potential fought in the last battle of every game/movie would have potentially been able to stop him, so he left them behind while creating his new world. Shoot, I have 4 on the brain right now, the Opera house is from 6. I know very little about the towns in 1,2, and 3. I played all three but it has been a long time and I hated 3. I've been looking up maps for various games trying to decide which towns and places to put in. That was when I remembered Troia lol.
Squall and Paine, now there's an interesting pairing. Maybe the other three can try to push them together, creating a few funny scenes. Yeah, maybe, as you said, Chaos can try to use Shuyin in a more disruptive role, to try to break Yuna. He can fool Shuyin into somehow think that Yuna is Lenne or has Lenne inside her. In that case it'd probably be for the best that my Yuna comes from just before the events of X-2.
Squall and Paine have similar personalities. I can see them both being broody and not wanting to admit their attraction. I don't think Faris would join in on the pushing them together, but I can definately see Vaan and Yuffie trying. That could be very funny. I think Faris will be standoffish until her true gender is discovered so maybe after that she would join in, but not before. A thought I had for that is that Shuyin actually gets Yuna in bed. He pretends to join the group at first and lets Yuna think he is Tidus. It is later that she finds out he is a fake and when he comes back to truly join the group, she doesn't want to trust him. I agree, she would need to be pre X-2. Probably having just joined the Gullwings and still getting used to her guns? So her search for Tidus would have just started and then "OMG is that Tidus?" Another scene up! Moving the story along after another round of combat!
It'd be interesting to see that interaction between Yuna and Shuyin, she'd be pissed for being fooled!
Lol oh I'm sure! Probably heart broken as well if she is so certain that he is Tidus. I'm really looking forward to your branch!
It's next on my list of things to write, I just have to finish a tricky scene for my story first and then I'll tackle the first couple threads for my branch here. I was thinking, since the story is already up and running, isn't it best if this topic gets moved to the Story Feedback section? Maybe it can attract a few more readers or contributors.
