Stygian Solace Question & Answer
What does your folder
look like? How do you keep it organized? I want photos please!
1> http://afterthebattle.net/uzumaki/ssbday/sscap1.png This is where my SS folder is located in my KH fanfic folder~
2> http://afterthebattle.net/uzumaki/ssbday/sscap2.png This is what I see when I open the SS folder. I recently organized stuff, so things are pretty easy to find now. Chapters over a year old were put in the chapter folder, and I left out the stuff I needed to remember, etc. Down at the bottom you can see where I censored out the upcoming worlds and conflicts, hehehe.
3> http://afterthebattle.net/uzumaki/ssbday/sscap3.png This is inside the chapters folder. My numbering system is a little weird, but it's useful. For example, the 121-3 stands for Chapter 21 part 3, and the 1 stands for SS and not its sequel. (So chapter 2 of the sequel would be 202.) 118.5 would be SS chapter 18 and a half, and that half usually stands for a chapter add-on like a lemon or character focus. "int" stands for Intermission, and "ss" stands for side story.
4> http://afterthebattle.net/uzumaki/ssbday/sscap4.png This folder is most of the written concept work for SS. I blotted out the Organization numerals because I don't want to give away how many there might be (it's subject to change). Take note of the "infiltrator" jpg file there—it's a concept sketch for a new type of nobody, hehehe. You can also see my scrapped Neverland file. That'll probably migrate to the sequel some time...
5> http://afterthebattle.net/uzumaki/ssbday/sscap5.png This folder is located in my Inspiration stuff, so a lot of random things find their way in here. I also put a lot of concept art in here that sometimes doesn't make it up on the site until much, much later. Here you can see some new keyblades, only one of which is official right now. You can also see some art I found online that I stole for myself *cough*--that "Gavvy" file I use for Yami inspiration even though it's not him, and yes, that's Rinoa there too, but I don't have plans for her in SS.
6> http://afterthebattle.net/uzumaki/ssbday/sscap6.png This is the folder where I keep research pictures for the different worlds in SS. Atlantica, Atlantis, and Agrabah are most prominent, of course, with some coliseum tents tossed in.
7> http://afterthebattle.net/uzumaki/ssbday/sscap7.png
The Atlantica folder is actually the biggest world folder I have. I went screencap crazy with my DVD! I also went online and found
some basic pictures of characters I wanted to put into the chapter. There are also some KH concept art in there. The "fish_fins" folder actually contains several types of
fish I wanted to make merpeople out of.
8> http://afterthebattle.net/uzumaki/ssbday/sscap8.png This is the outfit folder where I put reference pictures for the different outfits or forms I want to incorporate or could incorporate in SS. Two of them are blotted out because I don't have plans for them yet.
That's basically it!
How have you retained
interest in this fic for FIVE YEARS?!
Honestly? I don't know! I think it might be a mix of things.
Like... I promised myself I'd finish the fic, and
since it's not done yet, I'm still going. Also, I have quite a few friends who
are still into the KH fandom, and that always helps.
I'm also a huge Disney fan, and my niece is always watching the movies, so I
get plenty of Disney influence as well. Most of all, I think it's because the
KH series is not done yet. If I knew there were no more KH games coming out, I
think my interest would start tapering off, and I'd eventually move on. I'm
actually terrified of that happening. I've been in many fandoms
before KH, but never this involved. I want KH to remain a part of me for years
to come. I've dabbled in other fandoms since, but
nothing has ever really touched me quite like KH. I want to keep that magical
feeling it gives me. Writing Stygian Solace really helps keep that feeling
alive. Plus, SS is such a challenge to write. If I can finish this monster of
an epic, I'll know I can do anything. The world settings and the variety of
characters in KH give me plenty of practice, which is always fantastic for an
aspiring writer.
Did you run into any
problems while writing this chapter (Chapter 21)?
Did I! Nothing but problems! A lot of it might have been personal issues of mine,
such as graduating college and dealing with real life affairs, but my writing
really went for a ride, too. I wasn't feeling confident at all about my writing
when I worked on the first two parts of Atlantica, and it showed. With this third Atlantica part, I wanted to work past my
writing issues, and I think I came out much stronger in the end. With every new
chapter, I face new problems. One of the biggest issues I had with this world
was finding different ways to describe the characters swimming. I also did tons of research about underwater plants,
creatures, ship terminology, and even sunsets. Really.
I spent like five hours researching about clams because I've never eaten them
before except in clam chowder. I even looked up videos on youtube
to see how clams moved around! I also took dozens of screencaps
of The Little Mermaid movie so I
could reference certain settings. I really have to give a huge thanks to my
friends for putting up with my completely random questions. I'd often send
someone a picture and demand what an object in the picture was called, or I'd
ask if arousal for a merboy would have any heat to
it—totally out of the blue questions for them, but they were all great support.
Another problem with this chapter is that it was actually supposed to end
somewhere else. It was going to be longer. Twice as long, in fact. But by
the time I got to the clam-eating scene, I knew I'd have to cut the chapter in
half and make a new part. That's why it ends on a cliffhanger!
Does Riku regain his
memory, and and and... will Sora ever forgive Riku and Will they EVER END UP
TOGETHER?!
Haha, you'll have to wait and see.
Are
Unfortunately, they won't. Donald and Goofy won't either.
You'll see~
What was your
inspiration for this fic?
A mix of things. The original KH
storyline definitely got me thinking. That, and my best friend Lane and I
couldn't help seeing the chemistry between Riku and Sora. I wanted to write a
KH fic and I wanted to base it somehow in the canon
universe. Riku was my favorite character, and since I was fascinated by his
story, I wanted to see what would happen if he had actually ended up in the
hero role. In Lane's words, "and that story had to be told."
When you began
writing it, did you ever expect it to become the huge project that it is now?
I knew it was going to be an epic story, and even Lane betted that I wouldn't ever finish it. Hehe. SS kind of just grew out of that. The original plans for the story were so, so, SO bad. I guess a part of me thought I'd never finish it either, so I was just throwing random stuff into it. But somewhere along the way... I got really, really serious about the story.
With a plot this complex, how long did it take you to think out?
I'm still thinking
the plot out. At the beginning, there was a list of certain things I knew for
sure I wanted to happen. I wanted Riku and Sora to share the paopu, I wanted
Riku to be the keyblade master, I wanted to see how Sora's character would
react in KH!Riku's shoes... and I wanted there to be
a huge turning point in which they got separated and began to fight on their
own grounds. I also knew what I wanted to do for the ending, roughly.
Everything else just got slowly added onto the plot over time. The trick was
making it all fit together and still maintain my original goal for the story.
It hasn't been easy. There will be times when I talk to Lane or someone else
who knows the story in depth and I will be discussing the plots to come, either
because I need help organizing something or filling in a certain plot hole, and
sometimes I will completely lose whoever I'm talking to. Often times, I lose
track of the story myself, and I have to stop myself and wrap my mind around it
again.
Where do you get your
inspiration from?
Most of the time, it's from KH or a Disney movie.
Occasionally, I'll get an idea from someone else, like a "you should do
this!" or when someone gets me into a pairing and I have room to slip it
into the story. A lot of times, though, I'm really not sure where I get
inspiration... Sometimes it just hits me when I'm not thinking about it.
How the hell did you
come up with all this complex shit?!
It didn't start off complex, honestly! It's just the product
of five years of a bunch of tiny plots all laced into each other!
Did you have
characters' names and their purposes already planned out? And if you had it
like this, wasn't it hard not to deviate from the original idea if more plot
bunnies got in your way?
To be perfectly honest, Yami was made up on a whim! It was one of those days when I was talking to Lane, she says something that sparks a "what if...?" idea, and I went with it. And I'm really glad I did. Id, however, was created because I wanted to give more backstory to the history behind the keyblades. Buuuut now that they're releasing KH: Birth By Sleep, which will go more in depth about the KH prestories, I'll have to incorporate Id into the new canon whenever the game comes out. Yami and Id's purposes weren't planned out in depth from the beginning. Their stories have developed along the way. Yami's story is almost set in stone now after many, many roadblocks (KH2 and new ideas for his fate), but Id's story is very up in the air and subject to plot bunnification.
I'm wondering, when
KHII came out, how did what was revealed affect your plans for the story, and are
there any elements in particular that you especially liked and/or worked in? How
hard was it to make everything you had already planned in your head fit with
the new material?
Xehanort. In KH2, when it was
revealed that Ansem was actually not Ansem but the heartless of someone named
Xehanort, and the real Ansem looked completely different, I was at a loss. I
had already told my friends that I wasn't going to make any major revisions to
SS's storyline if KH2 contradicted something I wrote—unless I could make it believable. I really wasn't going to touch
the Xehanort-Ansem thing, but... the ideas came to me, and I had to play with
it! So I worked Xehanort into the backstory. There's
also a scene in KH1: Final Mix where the "enigmatic unknown" (later
revealed as Xemnas) fights Sora in Hollow Bastion—that was a scene I really
wanted to incorporate into SS, and KH2 gave me reason to~ I'm looking forward
to playing with the Organization characters finally. Some of the new stuff has
been a headache to work into the
existing story, but it's actually filling in a lot of plotholes
I had, so it's working out nicely.
Are you planning on
changing anything once more info on the announced games gets released?
Hmm... not
sure. The only game that could make me change anything would be Birth By Sleep because
it has so much prestory potential, and I already know
I need to work Id into that timeline somehow.
Whatever happened to
Wakka, Selphie and Tidus? Will Tidus be back?
They became heartless along with everyone else on
Is Axel or Roxas going to be in this fic?
Axel has already been in the story. ;D He'll make more appearances in the sequel, but I'm not sure about SS. As for Roxas... In order for Roxas to exist in the SS-verse, don't forget that Sora needs to become a heartless first.
What about Mickey and
Ansem the Wise?
Mickey will make an appearance definitely. Ansem the Wise will probably be in the sequel some time~
Jack Sparrow?
Haha, I've had a few ideas for Jack Sparrow, admittedly. But if they show up, it'll be the sequel.
Will the organization
make an appearance later on? Will you call them Organization XIII or The XIII Order when they do show up? Which member's will
have a more influential role?
They've already made an appearance (briefly), and expect to see a tiny bit more of them in SS. They'll play a much heavier role in the sequel for sure, like they did in KH2. I'm thinking they'll probably be called the Organization. I'm not sure if I'll tag a number on there... yet. I have to figure out how many members there will be first! Hehe.
Are you planning to
incorporate characters/ideas from any other Final Fantasies over the course of
SS and its sequels (i.e. IV, VI, Unlimited, XII,
whatever else...?)
I used to be really anal about what FF characters I included
in my stories. Since Nomura tended to use only his own characters, not
characters designed by other artists, I tended to use only Nomura characters.
That is, until Nomura was asked to put Vivi and Setzer into KH2. Now I'm not sure! I guess I'll have to
love a character a lot if I decide to
put him or her in if he or she is from an earlier FF, FFXII. I probably won't
touch Unlimited since the only one I really liked in it was Kumo,
from what I remember. It's been years.
What other Disney
worlds will you be incorporating?
Atlantis is one I'm really looking forward to because, as underappreciated as the movie is, it has great potential
when mixed with the KH universe. Another one that will make an appearance very
soon is a Pixar film. I'm not saying which one
because I want it to be a surprise. Believe me, that one will be one of my
favorite worlds to play with.
What world so far has
been most fun to write, what has been the most difficult, and what one do you
wish to live in yourself??
The most fun has been Agrabah! I had so much fun studying
the details of the palace and mapping it out in my head. I loved how Riku and
Sora narrowly missed each other a few times and finally met again on the magic
carpet. I was so looking forward to writing that scene, and I'm really proud of
that part. Atlantica, hands down, has been the most difficult. Writing
characters interacting in an undersea climate is very, very challenging. I keep
having to remind myself things like "it's dark
down there! They won't be able to see each other!" and I keep catching
myself using the same movements/phrases over and over. It's annoying. At the
same time, it's really fun because I'm learning so much from it. Hmm... I wouldn't mind living in
Is Sora going to
follow the same path in terms of 'falling into darkness' as Riku did in the
original KH series or is it going to be slightly different?
Haha, I would never make it exactly the same as KH1 anyway. That is, if Sora even falls to darkness in the first place~
How much of the
story's plot have you already revealed to us? How many more chapters till then
'end'?
SS itself is about 75% done. The story's plot, however...
probably less than half! A
Is the ending already
planned?
Mostly. I know what I want to happen. I just don't know every detail up to that point yet.
Are we going to get a
happy ending?
Hehe, maybe.
There's going to be a
SEQUAL?! Do you have a title for it yet?
I'm planning on a sequel, but I'm not sure if that sequel will ever get done. I've spent five years on SS and I will definitely finish it eventually. But the sequel... I really don't know. I don't make money off fanfiction, and a lot of time goes into my writing—time I could be using to work on my own stories. So I can't make any promises about spending another five years on a sequel. I won't leave you guys hanging completely, though, so don't worry!!
How many of my
questions will remain unanswered until the sequel?
I think the only things that won't be completely explained
are Id's role and the Gemini theories. I have ideas for them, but as I've said
before, I can't set Id's past in stone until Birth By Sleep. I'm hoping I can tie
everything together nicely in the sequel so I won't have to do my own prequels.
Final
Mix?
Stygian Solace actually will have a Final Mix version. I'm
completely redoing the first 10-15 chapters of Stygian Solace. Characterization
will be tweaked a lot, a new world will be added, and Sora and Riku's paopu
scene will actually take place at a different place and time. I'm really
excited about it! But this won't happen until I finish SS completely the first
time.
Sequel... does the
plot for that stem directly off of this? Can you give us some information on
the plot to the sequel?
Expect the sequel to follow KH's timeline pretty closely. For instance, expect the Organization to show up and try to use the keyblade master to destroy heartless. Many KH2 plot elements will be used, but they will be altered accordingly for SS and made new. It won't be a novelization of the game, trust me.
Will Yami be in the
sequel? Will Yami have a main role IN the sequel?
Yami being in the sequel depends on whether or not he survives SS, now doesn't it? :D
WHO THE FUCK IS
YAMI!?
Eight of you asked this question! You'll find out in due time~
How did you come up
with the idea for Yami, and how did his character design/characterization
process go? Did Yami change significantly (other than the obvious, with KH2)
over the course of his design? Was Yami ever particularly difficult to write,
or has he been behaving himself as compared to the rest of the cast?
Yami... is an interesting character. He was created on a
whim, but he's become so vital to the plot that he's really, really grown on me
over the years. In a lot of ways, his character has grown along with me. He's
changed quite a bit since he first entered the story. He used to feel so
two-dimensional to me, but now he's so complex that it kind of scares me
sometimes! He's one of my all time favorite characters now. Once in a while,
he's been difficult to write... but only because of where he is in the plot
sometimes. You can tell he's not a complete bad guy, and sometimes you can tell
he wants to help Riku or Sora, but he has an obligation to a mission that won't
allow him to help them, for instance. That's when he's kind of hard to write.
He's very complex.
Do ID and Yami happen
to desire Sora at all?
Hmm... Not particularly. Id doesn't care much for Sora because Sora's the bright do-gooder. Yami is kinda fond of Sora, but not in a desirous way at all.
ANY
CHANCE OF A YAMI/RIKU/SORA THREESOME?!
This isn't the first time someone has asked this! I really don't get it! LOL, but maaaybe if enough people show an interest in it, I might be able to do a side story or alternate reality fic just to sate your curiosities. But this wouldn't be any time soon.
Do you have any
particular outfits/scenes/anything that you want me to illustrate?
Anything that doesn't exist in canon! Like Riku's SS outfit
and varying world forms and outfits. I also love seeing what scenes you artists
like the most... See, when I write SS, everything is so visual, and I try to
make my readers see what I see. So whenever a fanartist
wants to draw something for me, I want to know what you want to draw. I want to see what I made you see. If that makes sense. I have a few
favorite scenes, but I don't like pointing them out... (besides,
they're probably obvious because my writing tends to get really descriptive
then!). Buuut, I'm always happy with Yami art! And
Riku in his SS outfit. You can never go wrong with those~
