"The Show Must Go On" ch 35 & Review responses for ch 34
It's been a long, long, long time...
Eiko - "I think it's pretty interesting how this chapter emphasizes a lot on forgiving and apologizing and how it has started with Eiko's childish (but wise) comment. It surprises me how children's simpler thinking can make adults think deeper in their decisions to move forward, and I find it cute how a character like Kuja can follow that."
Eiko was an unexpected bonus for me this chapter. I had always planned to have her in the scene, but just to scold Zidane a bit, and then that was it. My original plan for the voices heard here was predictable: Beatrix, Hilda, Mikoto/Mr. 288. But it ended up being Steiner, Eiko and Vivi getting to have their say too, which worked out for the better. As you noted the real advantage of having a child push the narrative is that she's a lot more straightforward in her approach, but for someone like Kuja who hasn't really thought about how these sorts of things work, she explained things in a very simplified, easy-to-digest way.
Breaking the cycle - "Vivi and Garnet, in the end, have very similar motivations, their accepting letting Kuja live as more to do with wanting an end to bloodshed than sympathy for Kuja. I liked that Garnet, who has so many reasons to hate Kuja, also sees sparing him as the only way to break the cycle of violence. Throughout this story she has shouldered her responsibilities so seriously and I think her honest commitment to her people really shines here."
As "nice" as it would be for everyone to be happily forgiving and wanting to spare Kuja because Zidane's their friend, it'd be too unbelievable given everything Kuja has done. But at the same time, things had to change, and many of the characters have already realized that. Perhaps achieving peace after many years of war is a bit of a reach too, but it was a goal that many of the characters (Garnet, the Black Mages) had already been striving towards.
Zidane being gay, Kuja's dominance, and Nil - "I also couldn’t ever see Zidane as ever being gay until I read this, and I also love the way you portray Kuja. Many people see him as being very dominant, but I see him as someone who is seeking someone worthy of caring for him, as you showed here with Zidane. With the town you created, I feel like I’ve explored it in the game due to the amount of detail and care put into it"
One of the first challenges I had to consider was how to take a male lead that's straight and twist the storyline enough to at least make a gay relationship plausible. Physical attraction was the easy part - creating an emotional connection was much harder. I didn't want Zidane to be magically gay (which is the usual "solution"). I wanted him to remain the dashing (but at times, clueless) hero, chasing after his princess and the promise of happily ever after, without ever questioning if that was what he truly wanted... and Kuja was the wrench thrown into his plans.
I agree with the depictions that show Kuja with a dominant or even aggressive personality, because he had to be strong and sure of himself in order to survive. I didn't want to kill that aspect of him off entirely, so I tried to show flashes of that in my story, like at the town festival, where he wanted to dance but wouldn't let anyone else take lead. But after his fall, I could imagine him sliding into a deep depression, in need of someone to help him to find his footing and give him a reason to live again.
I deliberately chose to create my own town as the setting for the second half of the story, due to the fact that 1) I wanted it to be obscure/hidden enough that it wasn't a place the other characters would immediately discover or think of checking and 2) I had already thought of a cast of characters to populate it with, so rather than overwrite any existing characters in the story, it was easier to give them their own town. The trickiest part was trying to place it somewhere on the existing map! If I had to map it, Nil would be somewhere west of Treno and south of South Gate/the Chocobo Forest.
Apologizing and forgiveness - "It's interesting to everyone's varied thoughts about the on-goings and their feelings for Kuja. If some like Vivi (such a good child) can't forgive Kuja, they at least understand! As for Kuja, everything is coming full-circle for his character growth and seeing him apologizing for his past sins makes me proud! :D"
It was really important for Kuja to apologize and admit to his wrongdoings, even though it was impossible to expect everyone to forgive him. But if he had any hope for moving on in the future (or even having a future) he had to face his past first.
Quina - "i wonder how quina would react to kuja not wanting to eat if they knew in person "
Re: Quina, I wasn't planning on including him/her beyond what we've already seen, as I honestly don't know what to do with the character lol. At least I mentioned him/her in passing (always in the kitchen, of course!)
* * *
And even MORE amazing fan art for my story - thank you! Check out all the details, from Kuja's embroidery, Silky on his lap, Zidane reading, and brushing Kuja's hair.
"So... I have done another art for the Z/K fic..."
https://twitter.com/TonyxsteveStony/status/1335270347831209987
* * *
New chapter:
- ffnet: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8057142/36/The-Show-Must-Go-On
- AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17712662/chapters/91130602
Eiko - "I think it's pretty interesting how this chapter emphasizes a lot on forgiving and apologizing and how it has started with Eiko's childish (but wise) comment. It surprises me how children's simpler thinking can make adults think deeper in their decisions to move forward, and I find it cute how a character like Kuja can follow that."
Eiko was an unexpected bonus for me this chapter. I had always planned to have her in the scene, but just to scold Zidane a bit, and then that was it. My original plan for the voices heard here was predictable: Beatrix, Hilda, Mikoto/Mr. 288. But it ended up being Steiner, Eiko and Vivi getting to have their say too, which worked out for the better. As you noted the real advantage of having a child push the narrative is that she's a lot more straightforward in her approach, but for someone like Kuja who hasn't really thought about how these sorts of things work, she explained things in a very simplified, easy-to-digest way.
Breaking the cycle - "Vivi and Garnet, in the end, have very similar motivations, their accepting letting Kuja live as more to do with wanting an end to bloodshed than sympathy for Kuja. I liked that Garnet, who has so many reasons to hate Kuja, also sees sparing him as the only way to break the cycle of violence. Throughout this story she has shouldered her responsibilities so seriously and I think her honest commitment to her people really shines here."
As "nice" as it would be for everyone to be happily forgiving and wanting to spare Kuja because Zidane's their friend, it'd be too unbelievable given everything Kuja has done. But at the same time, things had to change, and many of the characters have already realized that. Perhaps achieving peace after many years of war is a bit of a reach too, but it was a goal that many of the characters (Garnet, the Black Mages) had already been striving towards.
Zidane being gay, Kuja's dominance, and Nil - "I also couldn’t ever see Zidane as ever being gay until I read this, and I also love the way you portray Kuja. Many people see him as being very dominant, but I see him as someone who is seeking someone worthy of caring for him, as you showed here with Zidane. With the town you created, I feel like I’ve explored it in the game due to the amount of detail and care put into it"
One of the first challenges I had to consider was how to take a male lead that's straight and twist the storyline enough to at least make a gay relationship plausible. Physical attraction was the easy part - creating an emotional connection was much harder. I didn't want Zidane to be magically gay (which is the usual "solution"). I wanted him to remain the dashing (but at times, clueless) hero, chasing after his princess and the promise of happily ever after, without ever questioning if that was what he truly wanted... and Kuja was the wrench thrown into his plans.
I agree with the depictions that show Kuja with a dominant or even aggressive personality, because he had to be strong and sure of himself in order to survive. I didn't want to kill that aspect of him off entirely, so I tried to show flashes of that in my story, like at the town festival, where he wanted to dance but wouldn't let anyone else take lead. But after his fall, I could imagine him sliding into a deep depression, in need of someone to help him to find his footing and give him a reason to live again.
I deliberately chose to create my own town as the setting for the second half of the story, due to the fact that 1) I wanted it to be obscure/hidden enough that it wasn't a place the other characters would immediately discover or think of checking and 2) I had already thought of a cast of characters to populate it with, so rather than overwrite any existing characters in the story, it was easier to give them their own town. The trickiest part was trying to place it somewhere on the existing map! If I had to map it, Nil would be somewhere west of Treno and south of South Gate/the Chocobo Forest.
Apologizing and forgiveness - "It's interesting to everyone's varied thoughts about the on-goings and their feelings for Kuja. If some like Vivi (such a good child) can't forgive Kuja, they at least understand! As for Kuja, everything is coming full-circle for his character growth and seeing him apologizing for his past sins makes me proud! :D"
It was really important for Kuja to apologize and admit to his wrongdoings, even though it was impossible to expect everyone to forgive him. But if he had any hope for moving on in the future (or even having a future) he had to face his past first.
Quina - "i wonder how quina would react to kuja not wanting to eat if they knew in person "
Re: Quina, I wasn't planning on including him/her beyond what we've already seen, as I honestly don't know what to do with the character lol. At least I mentioned him/her in passing (always in the kitchen, of course!)
* * *
And even MORE amazing fan art for my story - thank you! Check out all the details, from Kuja's embroidery, Silky on his lap, Zidane reading, and brushing Kuja's hair.
"So... I have done another art for the Z/K fic..."
https://twitter.com/TonyxsteveStony/status/1335270347831209987
* * *
New chapter:
- ffnet: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8057142/36/The-Show-Must-Go-On
- AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17712662/chapters/91130602