the trick is to keep breathing

Heyyyooo, so let's talk about fic stuff. Today's post is a small-fandom extravaganza. We'll start with DOINK! 2013!

I got a really awesome gift this year:

Seeing The Bright (1875 words) by Estirose
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy III
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Princess Hilda, Gordon (Final Fantasy II), Leila (Final Fantasy II), Arc (Final Fantasy III)
Summary:

At camp, Hilda gets ready to retake Fynn. But there's a little time before that to rest, talk to her friends, and decide what to make of Leila.

Not only is this a crossover fic (!!!!!!!) that not only includes some of my favorite FFII characters but managed to work in Arc (and Arc/Alus!!!) – points for that alone, ladies and gentlemen; ways to make your Sev happy: surprise crossover references – but it's a beautiful look at Hilda's mindset in the game before they retake Fynn, the way she thinks of her people (not just the people of Fynn she needs to care for, but the people around her she chooses to trust) and her situation. It's gorgeous.

I also received an awesome piece of Chocobo Down:

Don't Talk to Mountains (They Talk Back) (2755 words) by flonnebonne
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Edge Geraldine/Rydia
Characters: Edge Geraldine, Kain Highwind, Rydia, Cecil Harvey, Rosa Joanna Farrell, Ceodore Harvey
Additional Tags: how can anyone spend seventeen years on a mountain, meta disguised as fic, ffiv: the after years makes no sense, edge is silly
Summary:

Edge tries to talk Kain off the mountain and gets an earful of nonsense. After which the story stops even trying to make sense.

I started giggling at the summary, then the first paragraph made me lose it, and I was hooting by the end. This is legitimately one of the funniest fics I've ever read.

I wrote two things for DOINK! this year. My gift was:

Sight (3461 words) by seventhe
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Final Fantasy II
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Minwu, Hilda (Final Fantasy II)
Additional Tags: Hilda/Minwu (implied), gratuitous use of imagery, Backstory
Summary:

Minwu sees things; when he looks at one thing, he sees another, and he has his whole life. But when he looks at Fynn Castle, he sees only its stones; when he looks at Princess Hilda, he doesn't know what he sees.

The story of how Minwu came to serve Hilda, and how they came to trust one another.

I ended up really enjoying this prompt, and really enjoyed writing this fic. There's a lot to be said about the bond between Hilda and Minwu, and I really only approached Minwu's side here, but after moogle_university I apparently had a lot to say, up to and including a lot of crossover meta fun to throw in there and play with. It is full of references to other FFs! It is a fun game: gotta catch 'em all! I am awful. However, I think I now ship Hilda/Minwu. I'm not sure I'm sorry.

I also wrote a piece of Chocobo Down:

a dancing game (1840 words) by seventhe
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Final Fantasy XII
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Vaan (Ivalice Alliance), Penelo
Additional Tags: Sky Pirates, Treasure Hunting, effective (if quirky) friendships
Summary:

Penelo and Vaan find yet another trap in search of treasure. Lucky for them, they still dance a mean game.

…which reminded me how much I enjoyed FFXII's battle system, and I am looking forward to getting there in our replay.

And finally, unrelated to DOINK! at all, I also finished and posted another giant thing, for which I will somehow manage to blame lassarina (for moogle_university), auronlu (for encouraging me), my friend Phil (for beating FFIII while visiting), and myself (for being a horrible, incorrigible person who likes terrible ships):

Architecture (12208 words) by seventhe
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Final Fantasy III
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Alus/Arc
Characters: Arc (Final Fantasy III), Alus Restor
Additional Tags: Period-Typical Underage, Aged-Up Character(s), aged up from canon, precocious boy-kings, shy trusted advisors, clumsy boy makeouts, Kissing
Series: Part 2 of precocious boy-kings and their shy trusted advisors
Summary:

(+5 years from the game; sequel to Calligraphy.) Arc finds new direction in Saronia, new understanding of himself, and new everything with Alus. (In which Arc builds a bridge, Alus hires an advisor, and Luneth, Refia, and Ingus write letters.)

…because I cannot stop writing Arc/Alus and I never will and I am not sorry, so here are 12000 words of it, that and FFIII worldbuilding and continued Refia/airships and Luneth/pranks and Ingus/Sara (who actually have the best sense of humor of all of them) and Arc and Alus and trust and friendship and horrible budget committee meetings and clandestine meetings in the library (except not) and falling asleep on couches, and I will never stop having things to say about shy, awkward, kids; about clever, brilliant precocious young boys who are strong in ways that aren't traditional; and the ways they can find confidence and belonging and also make out a lot. It is like my thing for Larsa only much much worse. /DEFRIENDED

It's a direct sequel to Calligraphy, but it seemed to need to stand on its own; I'm so happy with a lot of what I wrote this month, but I'm so so very happy about this one.

I ALSO have finally found the actual Rosa fic that I have been meaning to finish and edit and post - the third part of my polyamorous trifecta, Momentum / Content With This Winter / [All The Ghosts] - and so even though I haven't really had time yet to make educated comments on sathari's Rosa entry I am jazzed beyond belief that I didn't lose the fic entirely like I thought.

I GUESS I HAVE BROKEN THROUGH WRITER'S BLOCK, GUYS?