#i even spent the free 4 star card on a second copy of him to give him more stats. i already have so many other 4 stars so i figured why not

[rubys-domain]

god i'm actually so worried that my f2p career in enstars is gonna end with love letter yuta

[sirthisisa-wendys]

The General (part 4): Geto Suguru x Fem!Reader

synopsis: escape sounds good. but is it better than staying?

wc: 2.6k

tw: sexual assault and death

a/n: please don’t kill me. This is plot. No smut to be found quite yet. I’m really trying to save up my smut cards for something really big lol

masterlist

 Everything is on fire. Everyone is running around you, because for some reason, you’re walking toward the flames. Screams echo in your ears and the feeling of something tugging you into the burning building that looked like your home is too strong to ignore. When you push the door to your house open, your mother is hovering over your father, who is bleeding out as you watch in horror. When your mother looks up at you, she’s crying fat tears of sorrow, then she whispers:

“You did this, y/n. You let that monster into our town, and now look at what you’ve done.” 

A hand smooths over your face as you twist and turn, but you don’t realize it’s the General until you open your eyes, the light from the moon blocked by his body. “You’re okay. Don’t worry; no one’s going to hurt you here,” he whispers, despite having hurt you before. You push his hand away and sit up, clutching your knees to your chest as you catch your breath. “Nightmare?” he asks, and for a second, you’re wondering if he’s saying that he had a nightmare. But then you feel the sweat around the nape of your neck and on your chest, and remember the feeling of helplessness you just emerged from. You nod, looking around the tent at the table, papers, the ink, the discarded haori near the seat…

“You’re up late,” you mention - trying to change the subject - and the General huffs a laugh, pushing back his hair like he always did before he launched into an explanation. Why didn’t he just tie it up? 

“I do my best work right before the midnight hours. You’d be surprised at the formations I can create with just a hint of alertness left in my body.” He turns back to you, touching your foot with a broad hand. “Do you want to talk about your dream?”

“No,” you answer quickly, hoping he would drop the subject. 

“Then let me have Kaori fetch you some water for a bath. I would hate for you to remain as sweaty as you are.” You slide off the bed, walking around to the little desk area that held stacks of papers and diagrams and sliding one free from the stack. 

“You draw maps?” 

“Cartographers are not cheap, little one. I’ve canvassed a massive effort to make a map of every place I’ve been to… Nanami is very helpful with this, as well. He’s so attentive to details that I might have missed, so I rely on his help more often than not.” 

“And Haibara?” 

“Yu? He’s pretty easy to get along with as well. He’s my mentee, if you really consider it. If I have no children, he will inherit the throne after me.” 

“What about Gojo?” you question, sliding a map of the surrounding area forward and examining it carefully. As he drones on about the blue eyed man, you make sure your eyes cover every inch of the map and memorize the routes in and out of the camp. If you could just find a way to get over to the edge of the camp, you could easily hitch a ride back to your hometown and tell everyone about the General’s whereabouts. And expose Yuko for the traitor he is. 

“But do you enjoy your time with Kaori? I purposefully made her the head of maids so she would tend to you and you alone.” 

“Ah,” you push the map away and smile up at Geto, having finally found your escape route. “She’s lovely.” 

And Kaori would be even more lovely once she helped you with your plan to run away. 

_______________________________________________________________________

“How do you feel today?” Kaori wonders as you dress in your standard blue kimono.

“Quite well,” you answer, smiling back at her. She raises a brow, a grin forming on her lips. 

“Might this have anything to do with Master Geto?” 

You look back at the maid, and give her your best fake grin. “Maybe.” Kaori hums in surprise, then gathers her things up before leaving you alone again. “Oh, I almost forgot,” you begin, tying the kimono closed. “Could you bring me an extra pear or two with lunch today? I have a craving for them right now.” Kaori nods and bows slightly before walking out of the tent. 

Map? Check.

Clothes? Check.

Extra food? Check. 

The entire morning is spent pouring over the map, tracking your path in and out of the compound. You would have to walk a considerable distance, but it was perfectly fine. If you could manage to secure a horse, you’d probably get halfway home before anyone noticed you were missing, and that was a considerable head start. 

Your plan went into effect as soon as they announced dinner, and you wait patiently for Geto to come fetch you for the evening meal, laying in his bed with a pained expression. When he comes inside, he sees you clutching your stomach and hanging over the side of the bed a little. 

“Are you unwell?” he asks immediately, stooping by the bedside and smoothing your hair away from your face. You shake your head slowly, all of it an act, and he grumbles something about ‘knowing the food was undercooked at lunch’. Little did he know that you had stowed it away, along with a spare kimono of his and rudimentary copy of the map. 

You fake a cough for emphasis, and his hands fly to your face, patting the tender flesh of your cheeks and forehead. “You’re warm. I’ll have Kaori come and attend to-” 

“I don’t want her to catch what I have,” you moan, rolling over on your left side. 

“You shouldn’t be alone like this,” Geto urges, eyes frantically looking around the tent space for something. “I’ll… I’ll eat dinner here, then. I’ll stay with you.” You shake your head weakly, ignoring his panicked expression. 

“I can’t bear the smell of food right now… I just need some rest.” 

“And you shall have it,” Geto whispers, placing a tender kiss on your left hand. “I’ll be back within the hour to check on you.” And with that, he leaves you in the tent. When you suspect that he - and as a result, his friends - are all gone to eat, you slide out of the bed and retrieve your sack of things hidden underneath it. 

It isn’t escaping the camp that’s hard.

It’s running through the dead of night with only a sliver of moon to guide you that is most difficult. 

Without the daylight, you could easily mistake a patch of trees for a forest and river for a ravine. But it doesn’t matter. Your father had taught you how to tell the North from the South and the East from the West, and you relied on those skills now to guide you out of the camp. First, you have to locate the brightest star in the sky and just follow it to get on the right path. If it is directly overhead, you’d be on your way to determining which way to go. The makeshift map you have is telling you that you should wander northeast to get out of the confines of the camp, and you would be well on your way to your hometown. 

Except… 

You look back at the lights dotted around the camp behind you. 

What if you stayed? What if you stayed and made friends with the General? What if you stayed, made friends with the General, and then lured him in with a false sense of security? You adjust the sack on your back and think for a moment more.

He had let you remain in the tent by yourself. Not only was it a sign that he was finally beginning to trust you while you were alone, but also while you had all of the opportunity to escape, like you were now. Either that, or he’s more than confident that he would be able to find you and drag you back so he could execute his plan properly. 

The only thing that would come from you attempting to run away would be a chase, and you would more than likely be caught without a horse. Then, Geto would not hesitate to discipline you and make you submit to his will, and possibly never trust you again. 

“Flattery is the best persuader of people,” your father used to murmur, but you didn’t believe it back then; rolling your eyes at his old sayings. But now… perhaps you could work this to your advantage by staying. 

You trek back with the pack, dumping everything except the kimono nearby to avoid any suspicion. The kimono is placed back where it had been before, and you slump onto the bed - facing away from the tent opening - groaning with exhaustion and anxiety. 

The General returns what feels like a few minutes later and runs a hand down your back with care, humming in the darkness. He’s unsteady on his feet, it sounds like, and he anchors himself on the bed with one knee, leaning over you to brush a lock of hair away from your face. 

“If there’s one thing I know about Yuko,” he breathes, words tumbling out of his mouth like a bucket of apples. “He didn’t lie about beauty or character.” Geto slides in next you, wrapping an arm around your waist protectively and nestling his face into the crook of your neck. He places a kiss below your earlobe, then almost instantly afterward, he’s asleep. 

And although you want to squirm out of his arms and give him what-for, you don’t. The resolve in your new plan has set you on a path of compromise, and you would see this through until the end.

_______________________________________________________________________

Lips. They’re everywhere. On your face, trailing down your neck and accompanied by touches that stoke the flames of a fire you didn’t realize you had burning inside of you. 

When your eyes flutter open, it’s still night, but the General has let the wine go to his head. You let out an involuntary moan at the feeling of his fingers gripping the skin underneath your kimono before you snatch yourself out of his grasp, tumbling to the floor below and remembering how much you hated him. 

“Y/n… are you..” he hiccups a little. “Are you alright?” You push off of the ground in a fury, dusting yourself off and facing away from him as you yell:

“How dare you go back on your promise to not defile me, you filthy swine! Touching me in my sleep is low for even you, Your Majesty!” You spit the last two words at him, then stomp towards the flaps of the tent, which open with a flutter before you can get to them. 

Geto steps inside, his eyes meeting yours in a confused stare. 

“I heard you yelling and I--” He looks over your shoulder and frowns, squinting his eyes at the figure in the bed. “Get up.” When the man stumbles to the floor, Geto pulls you in behind him, shielding you from who really occupied the bed. 

“M-Master Geto, I can expla--” 

“Silence.” The deep bass of the General’s voice is unmatched, deadly, and practically telling of the punishment to come. Haibara and Gojo walk past you into the tent behind Geto, making lanterns glow and illuminate the tent space. “Do you know this man?” Geto roars, pointing an accusing finger at the offender as he turns to you, throwing daggers with his eyes. You look at the soon-to-be dead man, nostrils flaring. But you don’t recognize his face, nor his body. Nothing about this person is familiar.

“No, sir,” you state, and Geto starts a little at the sound of the formality falling from your lips. 

“Has he touched you in any way?” Your skin is crawling with what feels like a thousand little bugs, and you clutch your elbows instinctively. In one smooth motion, Geto turns to Gojo, who nods his head once and grabs the man’s hair, dragging him past you and Haibara as his screams of pain echo into the night. You feel two hands resting on your shoulders as you stare at the tent flaps, the fluttering of them barely revealing the man’s fate. It’s only when the screaming stops that you turn to Geto. “Are you hurt?” he asks, dipping his head a little to look into your eyes with his piercing black ones. 

“No, I’m fine.” 

“Where did he touch you?” You look over to Haibara, and Geto does as well, before waving the youth off. “Make sure Gojo takes care of…” 

“Of course,” Haibara replies, and with a sad smile thrown your way, he departs. Geto turns his attention back to you, taking your wrists in his hands. 

“Show me.” You move a hand across your chest and down your right thigh, grazing the spot where the man had grabbed you roughly. Then you swipe at your neck and face. “My gods,” he breathes before pulling you close. Tears threaten to leak out of your eyes, but you hold them at bay, trying to maintain the hysterics for later when you were alone. “I should have stayed.” 

“I should have let you.” 

_______________________________________________________________________

You awake enveloped in Geto’s warmth, unsure of when you fell asleep for the second time, but thankful for the body heat that wards off the night-time chill. When you move away from him, he does not awaken, but does stir a little. 

And that’s when you see it. The dragon on his arm is moving it’s head back and forth, eyes blinking lazily. At first you think you’re hallucinating, but when you rub your eyes and peer closer, it’s still moving; the entirety of its body doing a little dance side to side. 

“You should see it after a battle,” Geto murmurs sleepily, eyes trained on your astonished face. “Dancing is just how it wakes itself up.” You stare at the mythical being in silence, unsure of whether the true beast was the man before you or the tattoo on his arm. “How are you feeling?” Geto finally breaks the silence, sitting up and pushing himself out of the bed. 

“I feel alright.” He takes your hand, lifting it up to his lips and pressing a soft kiss to the back. You pause, unsure of how to respond to such a gesture, but Geto keeps moving around the tent, adjusting the sheets and running his hands through his hair. 

“Have you ever thought about braiding it?” you wonder, and Geto looks over at you with an amused look. 

“I have; but no one here is skilled enough to braid - not even Kaori.” 

Wordlessly, you trek over to him and thread the locks of hair through your fingers. 

“How do you keep it so clean when you’re on the battlefield?” you wonder aloud, and Geto chuckles. 

“Water is a resource that I take full advantage of, little one.” He instinctively stops his movements and angles his head back so you can work the strands one over the other, finally ending the long braid with a simple strip of fabric from the edge of your kimono. 

“There.” Geto pulls the braid over his shoulder and examines it carefully, humming at the sight of your handiwork. 

“This is interesting, to say the least.” 

“It will keep things from getting caught in your hair, and I’m sure it feels much less ‘all over the place’.” 

“Indeed, it does,” he breathes, then reaches a hand out to touch your cheek affectionately. Without thinking, you lean into his touch, and after taking half a step forward, Geto places a kiss on your forehead. After this signal of affection, he leaves, making you wonder what was wrong with your face and if you actually had a fever - because your cheeks felt hotter than they had ever felt before. 

[mai-nonsense]

Basics: 2, 6. Appearance: 4. Personality: 3, 8,9. Background: 1, 5. Relationships: 1, 3, 4, 7. Fun facts: 1, 7, 10.

*claps hands together* Alright! I'm going to do the answers for my Shepards, otherwise I'll be here all week.

2. What does their name mean? Why are they named that?

Jane: The original reason she's named that is because I was too lazy to think of a name so I just went with the default (she was my first ever Shepard), now I Headcannon that she went by Shepard until she joined up with the alliance, so she chose the name Jane because it's the only one that came to mind

Cassidy: I don't really pay attention to what names actually mean when I name characters, but I named her that b/c it's pretty and she just kinda looked like Cassidy

Henri: Henry is a family name on both sides of my family, but I wanted to use it as for a femshep b/c I like androgynous names (partly because I have one, but also because I think there should be more of them in circulation)

Damien: His name was originally Darren but I changed it b/c my sister and mum pointed out that Darren's a bit bogan. And instead of owning it I covered it up like a coward. I renamed him Damien because my favorite Robin is Damian Wayne and litteraly no other reason

Vance: named after the singer Vance Joy, b/c his songs have a lot of emotional significance to me and I like the name

Ryan: he's my only actual Canadian Shepard and my mum and I have a running joke about all Canadians being named Ryan (b/c of Ryan Reynolds, Ryan Gosling etc.) So he's Ryan.

6. What's their star sign, birthstone etc? Does it hold any special significance for them?

All of them besides Vance have Shepard's canon birthday and none of them besides Cassidy have any belief in that kind of thing. Cassidy is a quietly spiritual kind of woman so she likes the whole star sign/ birthstone kind of thing, but she'd never admit out loud.

4. Appearance- How do they carry themselves? What is their default expression?

Jane has resting bitch face. She walks around like she's going to go beat someone up, probably because she usually is.

Cassidy has a very casual, approachable demeanor about her. Her go-to expression is either concern or pouting.

Henri carries herself shoulders back, chin up and head held high. Her usual expression is a mix of serious and thoughtful

Damien carries himself like a serious soldier but with a hint of sadness, he has resting sad face

Vance also walks around like he's looking for a fight and he's usually scowling

Ryan has a cocky swagger and usually has a sideways smile on his face

Personality 3. What are their hobbies and interests?

Jane: Is gun-modding a hobby? Because if so then that's one of them. She genuinely enjoys the combat part of being a soldier and enjoys training herself to be a deadly weapon, a side effect of growing up in the reds most likely. She doesn't really have many interests outside of being a solider, and doesn't really eat anything outside of protein bars and ready-meals.

Cassidy: she likes to mod games in her spare time, and practices her hacking skills a lot in order to keep herself sharp. She has a fondness for Turian and Salarian pop-culture, video games especially.

Henri: Henri likes hard copy books, with old-fashioned dust jackets and everything. Even with new release publications, she'll always go out of her way to find a hard copy if she really wants to read it. She usually reads non-fiction but she's a sucker for a good romance novel.

Damien: Also throws himself into his work so much that he barely has any free time. On the rare occasion that he does, he likes to build things, usually model ships or card towers (which he knocks down immediately after)

Vance: Vance actually really enjoys cooking, it's something he used to do with his mum when he was little so it's his way of keeping her alive in spirit

Ryan: Ryan has a penchant for old earth comic books and music from the 20/21st century, he likes to draw and regularly carries a sketchbook

8. What are their manners like? Any habits?

Jane's manners are atrocious. She's straightforward, tactless and blunt, which gets her in trouble quite a bit. She's not a fan of sparing feelings, if you're doing something that's pissing her off, she'll let you know

Cassidy is also pretty blunt, but has a lot more tact and isn't as crass as Jane. She's nice whenever possible but she doesn't skirt around issues

Henri is anxious people-pleaser that always looks for the best in everyone at heart, but has a polite but proffesional exterior.

Damien varies depending on his mood, Mass Effect 1 Damien is polite and proffesional but that drops as time goes by. By the time ME:3 rolls around he is 1000% done and doesn't have time to put up with anyone's shit and reacts to social situations accordingly

Vance goes in the opposite direction to Damien, starts off rude and aggressive but gradually softens as time goes by.

Ryan has decent manners, but can often be inappropriate in social situations

9. What are they most afraid of?

Jane: before falling for Kaidan, it's falling for Kaidan, because she hates having intense emotions about people that she can't control. After falling for Kaidan, it's anything bad happening to Kaidan. She doesn't really care for her own well-being but she constantly worries about and will protect her friends and loved ones at all costs.

Cassidy: Dying. Specifically, dying again and Garrus continuing down the dark path she found him on after her resurrection. She'd hate for him to completely lose hope like that again.

Henri: dissapointing those around her.

Damien: Also letting everyone down.

Vance: Everyone he cares about dying painfully.

Ryan: spiders.

Background, 1. Where were they born, what was their childhood like?

Jane was born in Brisbane, believe it or not, she gets carted off to one of her aunts in America at age 4. After that it's foster home to home for her until she ditches them for the reds at 10. Needless to say, her childhood was rough.

Both Vance and Henri were born and raised on Mindoir. They both had good childhoods until Batarians killed their families.

Damien was born in Chicago. He spent his childhood being bandied about from alliance ship to alliance ship. He spent a lot of his childhood alone.

Cassidy was born in New York, but has the spacer background. Her mother had a much more caring presence then Damien's however, so she grew up well.

Ryan was born in Montreal, spent his childhood in and out of foster homes until he was 14, when he joined the reds for protection. Despite this, he views his childhood in a positive light, as he knows he's come a long way since those days.

5. Where do they currently live? What's their place like?

I'm going to skip this one because I don't have a good answer for any of them at the moment lol.

Relationships, 1. Do they have any friends? Who would they consider their best friend?

Jane has more friends/people who care about her then she thinks she does. She considers her best friend to be either Miranda or Liara.

Cassidy gives off chill older sister vibes and treats her crew as family, so a lot of people come to her for support or just for an ear. She loves talking tech with Tali and considers her to be her best friend, with Ashley coming in as a close second.

Henri initially has more colleagues then friends, but she learns to loosen up and to have a more relaxed approach to the people she cares about. She considers her best friends to be Kaidan and Joker (though her feelings for Joker develop into something more ever time)

Damien has the ruthless background, so he's more feared then loved. He's also quite socially awkward so it's hard for him to make friends to begin with. Despite this, the people who do call him friend do so wholeheartedly. He considers his best friend to be Garrus.

Vance, despite being an asshole, actually has a lot of friends. Because he's a loveable asshole. His best friend is either Liara or Jack.

Ryan is very likeable, and is often the life of the party. But people more look up to him then actually consider him a friend. He considers Kaidan his best friend. (who he's also secretly in love with, but shhhhhhh we'll get to that)

3. What's their love life like? Do they have any kids?

I'm currently using Jane as my "Kaidan as subject zero AU" Shepard, because I think she fits so well with subject0!Kaidan, as I love writing stories about two hardened badasses who just want to be loved, falling in love. Non-au Jane also ends up with Kaidan, and have a daughter named Astra

Cassidy is one of my two Shakarian Sheps, who gets the more 'traditional' happy ending out of the two. That is, she retires somewhere nice with Garrus and they adopt a bunch of orphans together.

Henri is my one and only Joker-mancer, one of these days I will write their story (once I finish planning it out lol) but I currently have other projects at the forefront. As for kids, neither Henri or Joker want them because there would be to many medical factors/lifestyle changes they'd have to consider and they couldn't put that burden on a kid.

Damien's life motto is: no kids, only dogs and he manages to stick by that pretty well. When Vance (his half-brother) has kids he settles into the role of cool uncle though. Though Damien thought he wasn't one for romance at all, he somehow fell in love with Kaidan without realizing it and they eventually end up together.

Vance and Ashley fall hard for each other, and after many hardships and triumphs, they eventually marry and have three kids together

Ryan sleeps around a bit but spends the duration of ME:1 and 2 pining for Kaidan but never saying anything b/c he doesn't want to make it awkward™. Naturally they end up together but it takes a while. Am currently undecided on whether they have kids together or not.

4. Who do they look up to? Who do they trust?

Jane: Anderson. He took her under his wing and believed in her when nobody else did. She comes to trust her inner circle in time. That consisting primarly of Kaidan, Miranda, Jack, Liara, Garrus and Wrex.

Cassidy: Her mother, as she managed to give her a good childhood while in the military as a single mum. She trusts Garrus and Tali with her life.

Henri: Anderson and Hackett both, as they've always pushed her to do her best. She trusts in her crew, as, in her eyes, they've never let her down.

Damien: Hackett, as he gave him a second chance after Torfan and promised him that he wouldn't let him down. People don't trust him on impulse so the people whose trust he earns always have his in return.

Vance, Anderson and Samara. Anderson because he helped him after he lost his family on Mindoir and Samara because she's a powerful biotic with a commanding presence and he learns a lot about discipline from her. Vance eventually learns to trust Damien after not wanting him anywhere near his life for a long time.

Ryan: He tries to find a way to learn at least something from everyone he encounters, good or bad. He doesn't really trust anyone for a very long time but gradually comes to trust in his ME:3 crew

7. Are they good with kids? Animals?

Jane: Surprisingly, yes. Though it can depend on the kid or animal in question *cough star child cough*. She strives to protect those who can't defend themselves and improve lives for future generations.

Cassidy: Very good with both.

Henri: She grew up a farm girl, so she's pretty great with animals. She's good with kids until they start screeching and then she promptly nopes out.

Damien: Good with animals, dogs in particular. Is okay with kids, but doesn't really like interacting with them unless he has a good reason (like them being his niece and nephews).

Vance: Despite growing up a farm boy, he's not too big an animal lover. He loves his own kids, but isn't too big on them in general.

Ryan: Used to hang out with stray cats as a teen. Decent kid-wrangler™.

Fun facts, 1. Which tropes do they fit? which archetypes?

Jane fits the "does bad things for a good goal" trope and potentially fits the stereotypical "bad girl" archetype as well

Cassidy fits with the "protective matriarch/sister" archetype/trope

Henri gives me "girl next door", but with a gun, vibes

Damien fits the "everyone thinks he's evil, but he's really just misunderstood" trope

Vance is def an "asshole with a heart of gold"

Ryan's a himbo

7. What languages do they speak?

Vance knows a tiny bit of Mandarin, and Ryan speaks okay Canadian French, everyone else speaks English and only English for now, though that may change as I find out more about them.

10. What songs remind you of them?

Jane: Missile, Dorothy

Cassidy: Dead Weight, PVRIS

Henri: CHAMPION, Bishop Brigs

Damien: The Phoenix, Fall Out Boy

Vance: What's Up Danger, Blackway ft. Black Caviar

Ryan: You're Gonna Go Far Kid, The Offspring

WOW. I just did a big old-fashioned info dump right there. Sorry about that.

Thanks for the ask!!!

[booksbeyondimagining]

Hey everyone!

Sorry I’ve not been very active on here lately (glances at personal goals for the year guiltily), but I spent the last couple of months working on shows and prepping for BookCon.  This year was a success, I think, in terms of achieving my goal to meet as many of my favorite authors – and potential favorites – as possible.

Saturday I started the day trying to get a ticket for a Leigh Bardugo signing at the TopatoCo booth, however their organization skills were downright awful and the line quickly became a messy blob and so of course this shorty in the back didn’t get one.  I told myself to get over it (and for the most part I did.  I was bitter still, but I was over it.  Gotta focus on the authors I did get to meet right?  The only annoyance was having to carry around my hardcover of SoC all day cause it costs $ to get back into coat check (wtf)).

So after that disaster I went to the signing for Brigid Kemmerer, who was lovely to talk to, followed by Susan Dennard (who got so excited about the poster I brought of the cover for The Executioner’s Three, her story on Wattpad).  I then went to the Jordandene booth to get an As Travars shirt – sadly they were out, but I got a Geekerella one instead – and while I was there I turned around and effing V. E. Schwab was right behind me.  This was the second time in 2 years that I’ve seen her on the floor, and this time I finally got a picture with her, lol.  I swear she is my lucky charm there – I wasn’t even actively seeking her out this year since I’ve already met her twice and yet there she was anyway.

I then went a stood for two hours(!) in a line for the Coco Ma/Jill Criswell signing for their ARCs of Shadow Frost/Beasts of the Frozen Sun (respectively).  I went to the booth to ask when the line was going to start forming and the guy was like “this is the line” indicating the one I thought was for the event prior to theirs.  So yeah, got to wait for a while there.  The line moved slowly because they were both talking with people, which was nice, but I was also mildly panicking because Amanda Foody had a signing I wanted to get to as well.  But I had a nice conversation with both (Coco was wearing Gryffindor robes so we had a fun HP conversation) and I got to the HarperCollins booth just in time to see Amanda and have her sign my copy of Ace of Shades.  

I think after that I wandered the floor for a bit, before making my way over to the Eoin Colfer signing.  I loved the Artemis Fowl series growing up, so I was ecstatic when I got the ticket to his signing.  The best part was we ended up talking theatre while he signed my books because he asked me what I did and I told him I do lighting design for theatre and he started talking about preferring the backstage atmosphere whenever someone puts on a play he’s written (I had no idea he wrote plays omg I’m such a fake fan lol).  And like the idiot I was I forgot to give him my business card.

After that I kinda stalked Katy Rose Pool.  She’s the author of There Will Come a Darkness which comes out in the fall and which I am currently reading (thank you Edelweiss).  It’s.  So.  Good.  And my friend had already met her during the day and told her about me and she remembered and was so nice and sweet and signed a blank bookmark I brought.  I also saw Amanda Foody there (I love how they have this group of writer friends it’s the cutest thing ever) and got the picture with her that I forgot to get earlier lol.  I then did some more shopping (got a Stardust candle that smells like stormy woods and blackberry and had little stars on top) and walked the floor until it closed.

And omg I went to the FierceReads booth to ask about the TWCAD ARC giveaway they were doing on Sunday (because yeah okay I am reading the egalley but I want it physically too of course) and while they were explaining it KATY ROSE POOL showed up again and I got so worried she thought I was an asshole for wanting the physical ARC as well instead of letting someone else get a chance to read it.  I’M SORRY I JUST WANTED ALL THE VERSIONS.  (Actually I’m over it now.  I got the ticket for the ARC game on Sunday and it was a chance-to-win game.  Basically you had your Tarot Cards read (the tarot cards are based on the characters in TWCAD) in a past-present-future spread and the present card determined which ARC you got.  I ended up getting The Last Word by Samantha Hastings oh well, but man the girl who did my reading was really good and it was scarily accurate.  But hey that gives me hope for my future cause it sounded just like what I needed.  Anyway, while I was there I watched two people who I knew had been first in both the ticket drop and the actual event line get the TWCAD ARC and I got really happy for them cause damn they deserved that.  PLUS I ended up getting an ARC of The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring for being tenth in line how cool was that!!)

Anyway, that was Saturday.

On Sunday, after getting the tickets at FierceReads (you got two for their giveaways, and beside the Tarot Card game I got a Grisha passport one which I gave to my friend cause I wasn’t interested in it), I wandered the floor for a bit before heading over to QuirkBooks to get ready for the Ashley Poston signing.  We were told we could buy the books before the signing even started so we did, and then they had a game where you turn one of those candy/prize machines you see outside of supermarkets and you got a piece of paper that indicated a prize.  My friend got a Charmed pin which she gave to me since I love the show, and I got a coupon for a free book so I got to return the copy of The Princess and the Fangirl I had just bought there and get it for free instead.  How cool is that?  And while we were in line for the game my friend saw Ashley Poston and she came over and talked with us and again while we were waiting for the signing to start.  She was so sweet and nice to talk with.

I then made the stupid attempt to try to get a ticket for the Melissa de la Cruz signing but since Penguin refuses to start lines before a certain time and just lets people stand in a blob, I again didn’t get one.  I wasn’t too angry though because I haven’t actually read any of her books, but the one she was signing for – The Queen’s Assassin – sounded interesting.  I was just more annoyed that all my other just-in-case-I-don’t-get-that-one events were already capped as well so I wandered the floor.  I finally found an event at the FaeCrate line for a die toss game but only got a chapstick lol.  Then I went to Simon & Schuster for their lollipop wall and ended up with a contemporary YA called She’s the Worst by Lauren Spieller.

I then went to the Meg Cabot signing where she signed my copy of Shadowland, because I love love love The Mediator series by her.  After that was the Tarot Card game as described above, and then the signing for Holly Black.  She seemed really nice from the line, but sadly by the time I got to her it was 4:30 and the publishers were making her speed things up to move the line along so I only got a candid picture and didn’t get much time to talk to her.  Oh well.

After that I went and got a shirt at Out of Print because they were putting them on sale by then – I got an Elephant & Piggie shirt and I LOVE it.  And then Hoopla was doing a wheel spin still but the woman said it was closed.  I waited around though because they had sunglasses and from what I could see, plenty of them (I don’t know what it is about my sunglasses but they will last like a year and then will just randomly break when I like take them off or something.  I don’t get it.)  They reopened it and when I spun and got a popsocket I asked and they just switched it for the sunglasses.  Lol score.

And that was the end of BookCon 2019!!

Here are all the books I received/bought/brought to get signed:

And here is all the swag I got (well the Susan Dennard poster I brought with me for her to sign, and the V. E. Schwab poster my friend actually got for me lol)

Also my friend and I stayed in this hotel that looked so old fashioned we kept calling it the Tower of Terror and saying we were gonna get visited by a ghost or something.  It was awesome.

Overall I was happy because I got to most of what I wanted, saw most of the authors I wanted to see, and bought some really fun merch too.  Can’t wait for next year and to see who I might get to meet then!

BookCon 2019 |A Review Hey everyone! Sorry I've not been very active on here lately (glances at personal goals for the year guiltily), but I spent the last couple of months working on shows and prepping for BookCon. 

[catalinda04]

Carried Away Chapter 12: Movie Sets and Airplane Seats

Masterlist

The following morning Marianne left with a huge smile on her face and Lucy’s number in her phone. Henry drove them to the studio and grabbed Lucy’s hand while she gawked. “Is that Hugh Grant?” Lucy whispered.

“Yes, I’ll introduce you later.” he replied with a smirk.

She sat with him while the makeup and hair team made him into a 1950’s spy. After make-up they went to the wardrobe department. Henry’s first ensemble for the day was a bespoke suit. When he came out of the dressing room, Lucy’s jaw dropped.

“Well, what do you think?” He asked in that American accent peculiar to 50’s movies.

“Damn you.” She said when he got close. “You come in here, looking like that, and I’m not allowed to touch. You are a sick, sadistic man. I will make you pay for it later.”

“Yes, well until then, why don’t we go out to set. They’ll give you a chair, just remember not to talk when the filming is happening.” He continued to speak with the American accent, it made her belly clench. This was going to be a long day.

Lucy was right. It was a long day, but a fascinating enjoyable day. Henry had 2 more costume changes during the day. Each one made her head swim. He was such a handsome man.

He introduced her to his co-stars, and sat with her when he wasn’t needed on set. Lucy couldn’t help but imagine him spending a day with her at work: watching her in the classroom, interacting with students. Her girls would spend most of the class hour drooling over him, though she wasn’t 100% sure that she wouldn’t do the same thing.

When filming wrapped for the day, Henry and Lucy were invited out for drinks with a couple of the other actors. Not wanting to be rude, they agreed to go out for one drink. One drink turned to two, which became dinner. Henry enjoyed how easily Lucy slipped into his life. He couldn’t help wondering if she would ever be willing to make the change permanently.

The following morning Lucy insisted that she didn’t want Henry to bring her to the airport. “I want the cab ride out to the airport to compose myself before I have to be in public.” She rose on her toes and pressed her lips to his. She poured all of her love and longing into her kiss. Henry carried her suitcase out to the cab, paid the driver, much to Lucy’s consternation, and extracted a promise for her to call him when she landed, no matter the time. They had made plans for Lucy to fly to London for her Christmas holiday break. Lucy wasn’t sure how she was going to afford that, but she knew, even if she had to take out a loan, nothing could keep her from reuniting with him.

Lucy managed to hold in her tears until after the cab pulled away from the curb. “How long will it take to get to Heathrow?” She asked the driver her voice thick with tears. “About 25 minutes mum, unless we run into traffic.” Lucy sobbed for the first half of the ride, giving in to the grief she felt about leaving London, and Henry behind. Then she pulled herself together. She had to, she realized, she couldn’t spend the foreseeable future weeping.

By the time the cab pulled-up in front of the departures area, she was mostly back to normal. The driver helped her with her bag and shrugged off her tip. “It’ll be ok love. Love always finds a way, believe me, me missus and me have ‘ave been together going on 43 years this September.” She thanked him and walked toward the check-in desk.

Lucy stood in line for what seemed an eternity, but was actually closer to 10 minutes. She handed the agent her passport, who scanned it and frowned. “Oh dear I’m sorry mum, but you’re in the wrong line.” Dread filled Lucy’s stomach. Had something gone wrong with her rescheduling her tickets? Lucy was so busy worrying she almost missed what the agent said next. “Your tickets are for First Class, this is an economy line. I’m sorry you queued when you didn’t have to. If you just go to the next counter over, my associate can help you there.”

First class, Lucy wondered to herself. Had she accidentally booked a first class ticket? She couldn’t afford that. The ticket change fee had completely maxed out her credit card as it was. She handed her passport to the new agent who smiled warmly. “Can you please tell me, how did I get a first class ticket? I’m almost positive I booked an economy ticket.”

“Let me just look here.” She tapped a few keys “It says the ticket was upgraded yesterday morning.”

“Does it say how the ticket was paid for? It wasn’t charged to the original card was it?”

“No mum, it was a card ending in 6742.”

“Was there a name on the card?”

She tapped a few more keys. “It was an H. Cavill. Are you ok?” She asked noticing Lucy start to tear up.

“I’m fine. It’s just I’m very touched by what my...friend did for me. Thank you.”

Lucy worked to control her emotions all through check-in, security and the walk to her gate. She wanted to call Henry. It was then that she realized that first class passengers had a lounge. After a bit of searching she found the lounge with it’s ubiquitous free wi-fi, and found a quiet corner to herself. She called Henry. He answered on the sixth ring, just when she was sure he wouldn’t anymore.

“Lucy, what’s wrong? Was your flight canceled?” He asked hope coloring his voice.

“No, my flight is right on time. But it turns out my seat has been moved. Somehow, I’m in first class on my way home. You really shouldn’t have done that.”

“Why shouldn’t I? I knew, or at least hoped you would, be miserable, and it’s easier to feel horrible in first class. And before you say it’s too expensive, it’s not. I bought the ticket because I care about you, let me at least know you’ll make it home comfortably.” He said in a tone he knew she wouldn’t argue with. “Now, have a drink in that lounge, and enjoy your flight, and don’t forget to call me when you’ve landed. I love you.”

“I love you too.” she said in a watery whisper.

Lucy perused one of the many newsstands in the terminal, looking for a book or magazine to get her through the flight. A small picture on the front cover of one of the tabloids caught her attention. It was a picture of her, and Henry, having dinner 2 nights previously. She was feeding him the soufflé they shared for dessert. “Superman’s romantic dinner” The headline read. Lucy purchased the magazine along with a copy of people, a new paperback bestseller, and a chocolate bar. Inside the magazine were more pictures from that night, them arriving at the restaurant, and leaving. There were also pictures from the week they spent earlier in her trip. Lucy was unsettled, but not as much as the first time. There was no mention of her name, and the worst adjectives they used were plain, and overweight.

Even through her misery Lucy was determined not to miss a second of “living the high life” as she called it. She peeked into coach as she boarded the plane, and smiled about not having to squeeze in next to 4 other people for the almost 9 hour flight back to Minneapolis. She tried not to gape at the amount of leg room she had, or how wide her seat was. Her eyes did get a little wide when the flight attendant asked if she wanted anything to drink before boarding had even finished.

When mealtime came, Lucy was surprised to actually enjoy her meal, an entirely new experience for her on a flight. Her enjoyment was hampered of course whenever she thought about why she was sitting in first class. Henry, with his adorable smile, funny dual colored eye, and big heart, every minute that she flew, she got further and further away from him.

It didn’t help that Man of Steel was one of her options for on demand entertainment. Having never seen it, she immediately chose it as her first option. The first time she saw his handsome face on her screen she started crying. How was she going to manage the next 5 months, until Christmas came?

Chapter 11             Chapter 13

[skyppai]

Mobius FF “It’s been 2 years! Everyone assemble! Mobius Final Fantasy 2nd anniversary live broadcast” 28th edition

Host Sanshi, who's in charge of the international release of the game, producer Kitase and project leader Hamaguchi.

The presentation was broadcast from the Theater Cafe & Dining STORIA before a live audience.

22nd large update: What's new in May

1. Update info

2. About Chapter 8

3. New contents

4. Jobs and spirits

5. Announcement

Update on May 30th

Deck copy paste feature, to easily fill other character slots with cards you prefer to use.

Check other weapons even while all slots have stat upgrades in process. Sort features added. Higher stat cap (each raised by two), lower stamina consumption when shortening the upgrade time.

Notification icon when a new summon gacha has become available

Requirement for card augments are lowered. Having the necessary materials is now enough (like in the Western version). Expand skills will unlock even faster.

New options for auto battle. Choose not use the rental card, choose conditions if and when ultimate should be used.

Retired cards are added to the revival store (similar now to the Western ability card store)

Hamaguchi explains his new role at the FFVII remake team and how it will affect his role in Mobius. He will stay with Mobius but wants to support FFVII Remake with the same effort he put into Mobius for the last three years. Since there is a limit to how hard one can work he will focus his energy on FFVII. He asks for the fans' understanding.

They're showing concept art for chapter 8, due in mid of June.

Also how they adapted it to 3d, paying attention to the details.

And a very early sneak peek of a cutscene that is still work in progress: https://youtu.be/ZqyXu0SKpcM?t=26m51s

For the 2nd anniversary, there will be special cards commemorating scenes from the first two years. They showed 6 cards from the first batch, which mostly show scenes from side stories.

Kitase asks Sanshi which is her favorite. Since she heads the international release the Alien invasion is still fairly recent for her and since it also was the first event that's the one she fondly remembers.

Sexy cards for both Wol and Echo.

On the week end of June 3rd/4th, there will be the chance to draw one free great summon, with a guaranteed 5 star card.

And a campaign with daily login bonuses. Lots of free magicite, 14 summon tickets and 2 grow stars.

And a free one card summon for 30 days all throughout June.

The new job quests for June cover the Dissidia Legend jobs. Job quests are maps where you have to use a certain job to clear dungeons with certain conditions. If you can clear them, you get ability panels that can greatly enhance that job and bring it up to speed with the current jobs, statwise.

Like last year, they will also have gachas for previous legend jobs during the anniversary period, so people that didn't get them the first time can try again.

There will be a collaboration with FFXIV:

Ultima Weapon can be fought in multiplayer.

Its drop items can be exchanged for powerful equipment:

The Ultima Edge for ranger jobs.

Ultima Mace for mages.

Ultima Wing for Meia.

Hamaguchi battles Ultima Weapon: https://youtu.be/ZqyXu0SKpcM?t=48m30s

The new jobs in June are FFXIV themed:

Knight of Eorzea.

Ya Shtra will be the first mage ultimate hero job.

Ultimate hero jobs are different from legend jobs. Legend jobs have Wol and Meia basically cosplay Tidus, Aerith, Squall and so on. Whereas the ultimate hero jobs really give them the appearance of Cloud or Sephiroth (warrior jobs), Lightning (ranger job) and now Ya Shtra (mage job).

This will make a job look and sound like those characters and also change their ultimate. Stats and elements are those of a different job that has to be chosen together with the ultimate hero one.

For Ya Shtra, both Wol mage jobs and Meia can be combined. But since Meia's weapons don't fit Ya Shtra's design, she will use her default weapon in that case.

Hamaguchi demonstrates the new jobs in action, including their ultimates: https://youtu.be/ZqyXu0SKpcM?t=1h23s

New spirits for June:

Hamaguchi shows them in game: https://youtu.be/ZqyXu0SKpcM?t=1h8m39s

Composer Mitsuto Suzuki announces the release of the second OST:

It releases on August 2nd, available on the Squenix eStore and other official shops. 3200 yen plus tax, covers chapters 4 to 8. Pre-orders open on May 27th.

Wol's voice actor Nobunaga Shimazaki is the first special guest.

It's his second time on the broadcast since the very first one 2 years ago. Kitase suggests that they use a more familiar way of addressing each other, maybe using nicknames. He asks Shimazaki if he has any.

Shimazaki says some of his friends used to call him Lord (because of the historical Oda Nobunaga) and when the manga A Chef of Nobunaga became popular, some even called him Chef. But most people call him Nobu, which is short for Nobunaga. So they settle for Nobu. Shimazaki says he's fine with anything, Lord, Chef, or even Devil, whatever the setting requires.

Now Nobu wants to know everyone else's nickname. Hamaguchi is an obvious case, his should revolve around the Hama part of his name. Hamaguchi confirms that's what his nicknames usually come from. Nobu comes up with an alternative: Animal. He can be like the mascot character.

Sanshi says that's her real name when read in Japanese (she's from Taiwan). But she'd like a nickname. To suit her radiant personality Nobu suggests Sunshine. She says she'll try to live up to the name.

Nobu heard stories about Kitase, being a Warunori rather than his actual name Yoshinori (yoshi can mean good, waru means bad). Apparently Kitase is a bit of a prankster in office. So today Kitase will be a character of darkness, like Voice (Vox in English).

Now that everyone has a nickname, Sunshine moves on to the next topic. The STORIA cafe prepared some Mobius themed meals and beverages just for this occasion:

Echo's fickle blueberry frozen yoghurt

Meia's azure tonic water

Mog's kupo kupo strawberry milk (the only hot beverage of the menu)

The meal comes as a set and is "really something like an onion".

The drinks have nice details like the wings for the Echo's yoghurt and the cherry on the spoon of the strawbery milk. Sunshine guesses the cherry is supposed to be the crystal over Mog's head. She assures everyone that no moogle was killed to prepare the drink.

Kitase has Nobu read a piece of paper out loud, in his Wol voice. He announces the next TVCM campaign:

They show one of the new commercials: https://youtu.be/ZqyXu0SKpcM?t=1h30m6s

In the commercial the Ultima Weapon (FFXIV collaboration) is mentioned, as well as the Warrior of Light part of the story nearing its climax.

Hamaguchi reads a letter from Mogy-Announce* to Shimazaki out loud (*Mogy-Announce is a handle used on the Mobius twitter to tweet news in Mogy's moogle speech pattern):

"Dear Master*, kupo! Your performance at the commercial recording was flawless and left no room for criticism. We recorded a few more takes just to be sure but they were all high quality and demonstrated your skills as a professional, kupo. The staff from the recording studio also said that Shimazaki-san is so amazing. The recording didn't even take 20 minutes and was over much sooner than anticipated. Thanks to that I could take some free time at a cafe before returning to office. The Caramel Latte Macchiato I had that day was the most delicious thing ever. All thanks to you, kupo. Yours, Mogy-Announce." (*onjin-san/life-savior in Japanese, as the moogles call Wol)

Nobu is amused and says it's not part of his job to enable Mogy-Announce to drink Latte Macchiato. But he had a good time himself recording the commercial.

Kitase asks Shimazaki about the two years he has been acting Wol. Shimazaki explains that contrary to the work for anime he usually does, which only requires around three months per project, he has had steady recordings for Mobius almost on a monthly basis. So that makes it rare among his work.

When he started out, he didn't want to give Wol too much individuality, him being the protagonist of a social game. He kept him neutral so anyone could identify. But over time Wol became more defined and Shimazaki very attached to the character, even developing a liking for Echo. He also identified more and more with Wol, reacting to characters in the story, like getting angry when Vox would make an appearance. The relationship with Echo is somewhat nasty but without being spiteful. He didn't trust Meia at all at first, then getting closer only to be shocked sometimes but understanding it was Palamicia that must have made her like that.

He had a lot of fun developing Wol's character. Now he hasn't read the script for the final chapter yet, he says, correcting himself, for the next chapter. So he's hanging on the cliff with which chapter 7 ended. But the recording for the next chapter should be soon.

Kitase asks him about what scenes impressed him the most. Shimazaki reiterates how much he likes Echo and raises a scene in chapter 5, when Echo gets scared. He felt Wol was very kind to her in that. A major plot point is that Palamicia as a system cannot be trusted. He mentions a spoiler for chapter 7. Echo seems to be also of this very system but Shimazaki really wants to believe that the Echo that traveled with Wol, his very own Echo among the many that exist, is better than that. But he suspects the next chapter will prove him wrong.

Of course he also mentions Mog. He constantly made him aware of the whole prophecy business and he still doesn't know what the purpose of Mog's part in the prophecy was. But same as Echo, even though there might be many Mogs, the time they spent together, both the warmth and the suffering, made Mog the one Mog for him. That might have been the salvation offered by Mog's fate. Also when he gets angry at Vox, Mog is like an anchor that enables Wol to calm himself.

Kitase and Hamaguchi suggest that the scenario writer might change the story according to what Shimazaki might want. Shimazaki says it's probably already written. But he really doesn't want Echo to turn out bad.

Sanshi asks about the process of the recordings. Do the actors get to record the scenes together? Shimazaki confirms what Mao told them at TGS 2016, as opposed to anime recordings they do their takes separately. But he listened to their lines so it almost feels like he had spoken to them.

Next they have a game of guessing missing lines of famous cutscenes, Hamaguchi versus Shimazaki. Depending on who will win, the players get different prizes:

An elixir if Hamaguchi wins, or 10 Expalights and 3 summon tickets if Shimazaki wins. Both remembering the correct line and interpreting it in the voice of the character factor into scoring.

If you completed the first two chapters and the third ranking tower, it's safe to watch this: https://youtu.be/ZqyXu0SKpcM?t=1h46m33s

Shimazaki wins, so unfortunately no elixir for the players, Kitase jokes.

Next up is drawing contest:

They all have one minute to draw Mog. The drawings will be given as a present to fans afterwards.

Kitase's Mog.

Sanshi's Mog.

Hamaguchi's Mog.

Shimazaki's Mog. He's quite embarrassed by his lack of drawing skills.

When they show what Mog is supposed to look like, Shimazaki says he couldn't draw him even he were looking at this sample.

To have a shot at winning one of the drawings, fans need to tweet one of their favorite memories from Mobius FF, using the hashtag #mebiusFF_2shuunen.

This concludes Shimazaki's segment.

They then take a ten minute break before the last segment featuring the other two guests, director Motomu Toriyama and scenario writer Kazushige Nojima.

The last segment is moderated by Kitase.

Nojima's slide lists that he's from Hokkaido, that he likes Heavy Metal (Iron Maiden etc., dreams of being a guitar hero) and a selection of games he worked on:

Jake Hunter series, script (1988~)

Bahamut Lagoon, director (1996)

FFVII, story, event planner (1997)

FFVIII, scenario (1999)

Kingdom hearts, scenario (2002)

Super Smash Bros. Brawl, part of the scenario (2008)

When Kitase asks Nojima to introduce himself, he comments the slide as follows: During the bubble economy he managed to slip into Data East and wrote the lines for a caddie in a golf game. People liked his work on that game and entrusted him with writing for the Jake Hunter series. And that's basically the pattern that continued throughout his career. Around 10 years later he aplied for a job at Square and then after another 10 years at Square he quit and has since then written for different games among them Smash Bros. He enjoys being free lance now.

Toriyama's slide lists that he's from Shizuoka and a huge fan of the Otoko wa tsurai yo movie series. His selection of games list:

Bahamut Lagoon, story event planner (1996)

FFVII, event planner (1997)

FFX, event director (2001)*

FFX-2, director (2003)

FFXII Revenant Wings, director (2007)

FFXIII, director (2009)*

[*Some years are wrong on the original slide. I corrected them.]

He explains that he first got a job at Square and started out working with Nojima on Bahamut Lagoon. Then he worked with Kitase and Nojima on FF starting with VII. With X, he started doing directing work. On DS he directed Revenant Wings and then FFXIII. He's been directing Mobius alongside Hamaguchi from the start.

Kitase points out that including the year they spent developing and preparing before they launched that is three years they have been working on Mobius. He then asks about Toriyama being a fan of Otoko wa tsurai yo. He says when he applied at Square, he told Sakaguchi that he wants to turn FF into a series that has over 40 installments like that movie series.

Kitase keeps asking about him being a fan of that series. Apparently, during his college days Toriyama participated on a quiz show on TV where fans can win by being knowledgable about their fandom. Toriyama aced the show.

Since the two of them are the core of development of Mobius, Kitase wants to do a Q&A.

Q: How did the story of Mobius FF come into being? (What process and ideas lead to its development?)

Toriyama says that around the time they started working on Mobius, smartphone games were becoming increasingly popular. Toriyama wanted to do a proper FF on smartphones, with the same quality as on consoles. That's when he started consulting Nojima about the story, roughly 3 years ago.

Nojima says it originally was supposed to be a small scale story. But when he wrote a plot of collecting items to become the warrior of light, Toriyama said, are you kidding me? So it gradually went up in scale and Nojima was wondering how far Toriyama would take it. And to his surprise, they really did go through with the project.

Kitase nods saying that at the time it certainly was their goal to go big with a smartphone game, and they communicated it like that to the press but of course it was still up in the air how it would materialize in the end.

Nojima adds that when the project started he and Toriyama hadn't met in like 10 years. Toriyama nods, saying they probably hadn't met since they originally started working on the story for XIII.

Q: What meaning does the term möbius encompass for the game?

Toriyama says it literally refers to the game being endless. The numbered installments he had worked on were establishing a connection to the player each time a new one released but this one should be an ongoing story, with monthly, never ceasing updates. For that reason, they called it Mobius.

Nojima says he still is used to writing stories with a proper ending. The first sequel he wrote was probably X-2 and Mobius is the first time since then he worked on a series. So he was nervous if he could actually turn the story into a proper möbius string.

Kitase takes him up on that saying so it might not turn out like the title. Shimazaki also felt anxious about what might happen to Wol. Toriyama nods, saying that the final chapter of the warrior of light story arc is coming up.

Q: What is the process you create the story for Mobius FF?

Toriyama says he delivers his ideas of what the story should be like to Nojima. He never writes it the way it was originally intended but what he comes up with is always interesting.

Nojima says at the time there were plenty of RPGs for smartphones and when he saw the ads for them on TV, they all said they were grand epics. His reaction was, what are they even talking about? He wanted to do something different.

Toriyama elaborates that they went for something more mature. People in their 30ies or 40ies, if they game they usually do it on smart devices. So they went for that adult audience. But then they wondered, what would be a suitable story for those adult players.

Nojima says, he feels they strayed far from the original question. As Kitase insists, he explains he wanted to pass the ball into other directions. He and Toriyama meet, like once every two weeks. And he made multiple suggestions on those occasions. Toriyama nods saying that he and Daisuke Watanabe, a scenario writer at Squenix, met with Nojima every two weeks.

Kitase wants to know about those changes Nojima suggested. What was something he wanted to get rid of? Nojima contemplates the question, then says he didn't like that their weren't any female characters.

Toriyama admits in the beginning there was only Wol, before they came up with Echo and Meia. About Echo's first appearance, they used the scene as Nojima had written it and it was Kitase who asked, will we be okay with female character like that?

Hamaguchi chimes in and says, they did show the game to target groups before release and those also felt there was a lack of female characters, back when they only had Wol.

Q: Why are Echo's hands always hidden?

Toriyama says there wasn't any special reason for that from their side. It was the character designer Itahana who wanted to give Echo some mysterious feature. Echo tends to wear pretty revealing outfits but her hands, they never show. Itahana insisted on that but Toriyama tends to forget about it. In fact, for one of the anniversary cards they showed earlier on the broadcast, the illustrator did originally draw her hands. When they noticed, they had to ask him to change it.

Q: What kind of life does Wol lead on his journey? (Does he sleep outside? Does he eat with Echo? Does Echo even eat?)

Nojima says, they did consider showing Wol eat. But then there would have been other things they'd need to show as well. They didn't want to open that can of worms.

Toriyama says, although the graphics look so real, there still is a lot left to players' imagination. If you tap a location, Wol automatically starts walking there. So he wanted to come up with interesting location names that would draw up feelings, like "this place sounds scary". He thought the details would be best left to the player's imagination as well.

Kitase interprets that so in between locations at some time Wol is eating. Hamaguchi jokes, he could be gobbling up some food in between battles.

Q: Are there any episodes they ended up not using?

Toriyama says it might be surprising but there actually aren't any. He says that that's due to them having to release new content every month so they couldn't afford not to use some of what they came up with. They really felt the pressure and had to use all ideas they had.

Kitase comments that it's certainly different from their other projects. Even if you stock up on ideas, you run out of that stock quite fast. Hamaguchi nods, saying they spent half a year of preparing content, intending to add more on the way but they ran out of stock much too soon.

Nojima says, once everyone finished their drafts, those all came to his place for rewrites and he had to spend more and more time on Mobius to keep up. For that reason he also didn't have to change any lines that usually would be subject to editing, if he didn't want to change them.

Hamaguchi says, before launch many voices on the team wanted to delay the launch to have more time for preparation.

Q: For collaborations like the FFVII one, characters like Cloud make appearances. When you write stories that are entangled in past work, what do you pay special attention to?

Nojima says that during the collaboration Cloud really overused his signature line "not interested". It was his job to cut down on the number of times of him saying that. He feels such a line should be used just once, for best effect.

Toriyama says that since their team consists of some of the same staff that also worked on VII and XIII, they could write those as side story extensions of their previous work. As for Cloud, they wanted him to be the Cloud from early in the game when they were blowing up Mako reactors, as opposed to the Cloud from after the end of FFVII that appeared in the sequels.

He adds that they wanted to ensure that the new stories would be faithful to the originals as not to betray the expectations of the fans.

Kitase comments that the FFVII collaboration went on for quite a while. Hamaguchi explains that it was because VII is so popular. Toriyama says they had to do ending staff roll for the VII collaboration or it might never have ended.

A: Mushroom Hills or Bamboo Villages, which do you like better?

Kitase explains that they asked Meia's actress Mao this very same question during the TGS2016 special broadcast.

Nojima says since he doesn't like snacks he doesn't have any preference. He probably hasn't even eaten either of them. If he has he probably didn't pay attention to what shape they had.

Toriyama says he also doesn't have a strong preference for either of those two. But he mentions a different kind of snack called Curl that will be discontinued soon. He quite liked those as they were popular among his generation. He'd like to do a collaboration with them before they're discontinued.

Q: Why did you want to work in the games industry?

Toriyama says he wanted to do a long running series like Otoko wa tsurai yo as a story game format. Square was a big game company specializing in RPGs at the time so he applied for a job there.

Nojima was told by his parents to go find a job. It was the days of the bubble economy and you could easily make 10000 yen a day by doing a part time job. There were a lot of part time jobs for boys at the time. He had a lot of fun doing part time but his parents nagged him to get a job already and a friend of his had just started a job at Data East. So he tried out for a job there.

Kitase asks, and then you just kept with it? Nojima says he's surprised himself that he kept with games so long. Upon question, Nojima says one of the part time jobs he liked was at a Namco arcade.

Kitase also asks Hamaguchi the same question. He says he was really impressed by FFVI back in the day, how you could tell a touching story within the game medium. That made him want to enter the game industry. And he's glad he could work alongside Kitase who directed FFVI.

Then Nojima asks Kitase. Kitase says after he quit the job he had before Square because it was too stressful he hadn't really done anything for half a year until he saw an application ad by Square in Famitsu while browsing it in a book store. His previous work wasn't game related but he did want to work in games for the story telling aspect. When he entered Square Final Fantasy still was at its 3rd installment.

Q: In your years creating FF, what memories and anecdotes of stressful periods come to mind?

Nojima asks if it's okay to not hold back on this one. Kitase says to feel free to criticize him, if he wants to. Nojima says he has no reason to do that. But during the many years working on FF there was really a lot of stress involved. For example, you'd never know when you should come in for work. He worked flextime and would show up at 1 p.m. but no one else would be there yet. Toriyama says it's different now. Nojima says as he comes to think of it, there were too many bad episodes to count. Like when the commercials started airing but the game still wasn't finished yet. The production style was different then, not as properly organized as it is today.

For Toriyama, waiting is the hardest. He had to wait 2~3 hours for this broadcast as well but one time he had to fly to the US for a Microsoft presentation, to show off FFXIII. There was a Beatles themed game so Yoko Ono and Paul McCartney were there as well. The Japanese devs and the Western ones all had to attend from early in the morning and were shut in a small room for hours, like half a day. That was the worst time for him.

Q: As the Warrior of Light story arc of Mobius FF approaches its climax, can you tell us about what will happen after? (Within what you can tell currently.)

Nojima comments it's not easy to judge what can and what cannot be said at this point.

Toriyama says the final chapter was finished at last and they started recording the dialog this week. The chapter will conclude the first section of the overall story, which dealt with the warrior of light. Of course the story will continue and they already started work on the second section.

Kitase notes, so even though te warrior of light part is concluded, that doesn't mean the story ends. He asks what Toriyama can tell them about what will happen in the next section.

Toriyama says that the warrior of light section will be followed by... he pauses and looks at Nojima. He continues: followed by the warrior of ruin, the warrior of destruction? He looks at Nojima for confirmation. Then he says that Nojima and he have worked out the plot for the next section together.

Nojima comments he managed to pass the ball into quite a different direction with this one.

Toriyama continues and says Warrior of Ruin will be the subtitle of this next section. He expresses embarrassment about how to communicate this to players. So far you were the warriors of light (he covers his mouth as if to conceal the following words) but starting next year you will be the warriors of ruin.

Kitase mentions new characters for the new chapter. Toriyama presents artworks for two new characters.

All Nojima can say at this point is that he is strong. Toriyama points out that his name is written on this artwork as well. He's called Graf. The name has a certain meaning but they won't reveal it at this point.

They have one more:

It's the new female protagonist Sofi. Wol will still be in this one but Sofi is another playable character. Kitase comments she looks like an active/lively character. Nojima says she somehow turned out like that. He adds that he suggested this character right when they started with the new section and was very detemermined to include her.

Kitase asks when the new section will start. Toriyama says the 8th chapter will finish in June or July. They will then need some more time to prepare the next section. It should be fall or winter until it releases. There might be more collaboration(s) in the meantime.

Sanshi returns and thanks the guests for their time. They have the usual after broadcast login present:

Former project assistant and host Asuna is back to congratulate them on their 2 year anniversary. She brought a flower arranged Mog made by her older brother: