Title: Getting Rest
Fandom: FFX
Rating: R
Wordcount: ~2300
Pairings: Lulu/Rikku
Spoilers: Minor, for the first half of the game. Set right after Bikanel.
Notes: Written for first_seventhe, for the Out of the Comfort Zone meme. I think the fact that it took me a year and a half to get around to writing this serves as evidence of just how far femmeslash is outside my comfort zone. ;) But I would like to be at least as comfortable writing this as I am writing other sex scenes (which is still actually not very), so I'm glad I took it as an opportunity to do so. I've written other stories that allude to femmeslash pairings, but this is easily the most explicit. So I hope it works! Sorry it took me so very long to pull it together.

This officially fulfills all the requests on this meme, although there are plenty of other unwritten prompts there that I might get around to, someday.

( 'We ain't gonna find her today. Might as well head for the cabin, get some sleep.' )

Was chatting with renay about fandom stuff, and we got to wondering something that really requires the collective consciousness of fandom. So, have a poll.

( How many fandoms? )

Please spread this one far and wide; I want as broad a sampling as possible. Also, my standard disclaimer: I welcome open and honest discussion, but I request that you not flame FFX-2 in comments -- flawed or no, I happen to be quite fond of it, so if anyone comes out with the burning hatred, the conversation isn't going to get very far. Thanks.

I've done this before, and now I'm doing it again. This iteration is from auronlu.

Comment with the word "ICONS" and I'll select six of yours for you to talk about in your journal.

( Auronlu's choices and my explanations behind the cut. )

In other news, I have an amybang all week, so if I'm a little scarce the next few days, that would be why.

Title: Belonging
Fandom: FFX
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 2725
Characters: Auron, Braksa, Jecht
Spoilers: Auron's backstory
Notes: Eleventy billion years ago, muggy_mountain was looking to write some fic, and I offered to exchange stories with her. She produced my request within two days. My response took, uh, a little bit longer. I hope I am forgiven?

( The late morning sun blazed down on the Besaid docks as the gulls cried overhead. Auron paused on the wooden boards, shading his eyes with a hand to better see the birds gliding on the sea breeze. )

In the last FFEX round, I posted exactly one story: the regular gift I signed up for.

This time around, I'm now up to five, and I might not be done yet.

Presenting Elemental, a story about Lulu discovering her magic, filled with lots of tasty FFX magic meta. When I was about halfway through my first draft, it occurred to me that this may be the very first full-length story I've ever written featuring Lulu as the main character, which just seems wrong. Lulu is one of my favorite characters, how have I written so little about her? Perhaps I will continue to fix this oversight.

This story was originally a backup assignment; it turned out not to be needed, so I saved and polished and am now posting it as Chocobo Down instead. Looking for something to write? Plenty of great prompts on the Chocobo Down list, which is open to all comers. Check it out.

I sat down at my computer intending to work on other things, but in the process I opened this file, and realized that I'd forgotten that I already had this mostly written. So I finished and polished it up, and here it is.

Title: Braska at 23
Fandom: FFX
Rating: G
Characters: Braska, Braska's wife
Notes: Requested by not_cynical.

( Braska comes home. )

Title: Gifts
Fandom: FFX-2
Rating: G
Wordcount: 972
Characters: Maechen
Spoilers: For Maechen's backstory, and (really indirectly) the end of FFX.
Notes: Written for muggy_mountain's request in the Alphabet Fic meme (which still has lots of open slots, if anyone is interested). She gave me the pairing "Maechen/books" and two prompt words, "herbs" and "wonder", and I mashed them all together into two kinda-related ficbits. My interpretation may be somewhat more liberal than was intended; if so, I can only beg your indulgence. (Can you tell I've been writing Maechen?)

( It was a beautiful summer day in Zanarkand, and Maechen was, as usual, in the library. )

Here we are at last, the penultimate battle. It comes down to four. Poll closes on Monday at 11pm Pacific.

Who will reign supreme?

( Allez Cuisine! )

So after a hard-fought first round, we're down to eight.

( Are you ready to RUMBLE? )

Vote early, vote often, send your friends! Poll open until Thursday at 11pm.

The seeds have been set! Deathmatching commences: now. Poll closes on Sunday. Have at it!

Edited: Poll extended to Monday, April 13th. at 11pm PDT.

Edited again: Poll is now closed. Please vote in the next round! Thanks. :)

( Follow me to the poll )

Pick ten names. That's not ten names from each poll; that's ten names, total, across all three polls. No cheating. Ceiling cat knows where you live. Feel free to promote this like mad! The more the merrier.

The poll will stay open for three days (until 11pm, Pacific time, on Thursday, 4/9), at which time the deathmatch will commence!

FFX-2-only characters will get a separate match of their own later.

( Ticky boxes like whoa behind the cut. )

I've probably done this before, but not in awhile, and I'm feeling like a distraction. So...

Post one of my fandoms and the number of any of these questions (as many or few as you like) and I'll tell you the answer!

Note #1: "All" is absolutely an option.
Note #2: Fandom choice is wide open. If you pick something I really don't know well enough, I'll let you know and you can pick a fall-back.

1. The first character I fell in love with:
2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now:
3. The character everyone else loves that I don’t:
4. The character I love that everyone else hates:
5. The character I would shag anytime:
6. The character I'd want to be like:
7. The character I'd slap:
8. A pairing that I love:
9. A pairing that I despise:
10. Favorite character:
11. What are my five favorite things about the fandom.
12. What are my five least favorite things about the fandom.
13. Who are my five favorite characters.
14. Who are my five least favorite characters.
15. What are my five favorite pairings.
16. What are my five least favorite pairings.
17. Which character are you most like.
18. What is my deep, dark fandom secret.

Title: Taking Refuge
Fandom: FFX
Rating: PG
Wordcount: ~700
Pairings: Auron/Braska
Spoilers: Not really
Notes: Written for the current round of ff_kissbattle. Not in response to any particular prompt, but there was a lot of love for Auron/Braska/Jecht in the comments, and since I've already written Braska/Jecht and Auron/Jecht this round, I figured I'd might as well go for the trifecta.


The three men had made camp inside a convenient ruin at the edge of the Thunder Plains, only a few hours from the turn of the trail that would take them into Macalania.

Title: Search
Fandom: FFX
Rating: G
Wordcount: 670
Characters: Lucil, Elma
Pairings: Lucil/Elma undertones
Spoilers: Not for the game. Maybe very mild spoilers for FFX-2
Notes: Written for auronlu, who requested Lucil and Elma for the Out of the Comfort Zone meme. This story is set within the "Aftermath" universe, right after Chapter 3, but all you need to know from that story is this: Post FFX, Elma comes home to Kilika. A few months later, Lucil comes to visit in the hopes of convincing Elma and others to join her in the Seekers, a band of sphere hunters working for Lord Trema. The rest should be self-explanatory.

( The sounds of insects and dripping water echoed through the jungle. )

Two character sketches. These aren't proper "stories" really, more an opportunity to noodle around a little with the characters. This is in response to the character "sketch" meme I posted a few days back, and prompts are definitely still open, if anyone else would like to request!

Title: Kinoc at 25
Fandom: FFX
Rating: G
Characters: Kinoc
Notes: Requested by muggy_mountain.

( Wen Kinoc, age 25. )

Title: Auron at 34
Fandom: FFX
Rating: G
Characters: Auron
Notes: Requested by lucil_luzzu.

( Sir Auron, legendary guardian, age 34. )

Earlier today, I was walking down the hallway of my building when I heard some extremely familiar music coming from one of the classrooms. I stuck my head inside -- it was the room where new students are checking into housing -- and looked around, but I didn't see anyone playing any games. So I had to ask. "Is that the Final Fantasy X soundtrack?"

The students seemed very impressed that I recognized it. Either that, or afraid of my utter geekdom. Maybe a little bit of both.

Also, I have a FFIV question! ( 'Ware spoilers, I think I'm at or near the end of the game. )

Title: The Reason
Fandom: FFX-2
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 470
Pairings: Beclem/Yuna
Spoilers: For the end of FFX only.
Notes: In the spirit of finishing things up before the end of the year, I caught up on transferring everything I've written this summer and fall to my archive, including my three Trick or Treat 2008 stories. Usually, when I participate in a fic battle, I don't post the ficlets individually in my journal, but I've been meaning to make an exception for these, and this one in particular. The prompt was "Beclem/Yuna, murder", and I was so strongly put in mind of "Aftermath" that I couldn't help but write a metafic for it. Set post-game (and so post-"Aftermath" as well).

( 'I had to kill them, you know.' )

Title: Lessons
Fandom: FFX
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 895
Pairings: Yuna/Shiva. Kinda. If you turn your head sideways and squint really hard.
Spoilers: For FFX. Set during the Macalania sequence, but to be safe let's say spoilers through Bikanel.
Notes: Written for the "Out of the Comfort Zone" meme, to wildjoy's request of "Yuna/Shiva, innocence". She asked for crack but I'm not convinced this qualifies, unless the pure existence of the kinda, sorta pairing makes it crack by default. But it was the closest I could come.

( The stone door slid closed behind her, scraping the walls; the whole room shook when it dropped into place against the floor. )

The urge to do this strikes me about once a year, and it seems that the time has come around once again. (Check out the lists from 2006 and 2007!)

The FFX/X-2 Random Pairing List
Round 3

( Brain breakage behind the cut )

As before, if you are inspired to write, or just boggle, leave a link in comments. Have fun!

My long-planned fanfic archive is finally ready to unveil onto my unsuspecting public!

Writings of an Owlmoose

Not quite everything is up there yet -- I need to collect and post my drabbles, and the three long multi-chapter works, and a couple of other random things -- but I'm pretty proud of how easily this came together for the most part. There are a few things up there that haven't been widely and/or publicly available before, mostly commentfic and such; in particular, I pulled together all my offerings for the Trick or Treat Battle and Kissing Battle 2008 into two hopefully-tidy packages, for your consideration:

Trick or Treat
Kissing Battle '08

This is also my official announcement that I no longer intend to post new stories on FF.net, although I will post the remaining chapters of "Aftermath" there (assuming I ever finish writing the damn thing). Between the annoying way in which they present ads and the war on punctuation, I have been done with them for awhile, and I'm happy to finally have an alternative.

I do not, however, intend to stop posting on LiveJournal; short fics will be posted here as always, and I'll announce anything longer here as well as posting it on the archive.

Thanks to everyone who helped me put this together, especially bottle_of_shine for advice and encouragement! It is no exaggeration to say that I would never have done this without her.