Based on: Final Fantasy VII.
Genre: Canon / post-game speculative / adventure-romance.
Rated: PG for one mild swear word and some violence.
Status: Complete in 63 chapters.
Cast: All playable game characters and 2 original characters.
Overview: A triple-romance that includes fighting, philosophy, religion, and a truckload of angst. Main themes are love, self-discovery, and redemption.
Blurb by Justin Robar:
Numberical Score: 98.75
Subject~ 95/100 / Quality~ 100/100 / Quantity~ 100/100 / Readability~ 100/100
Final Thoughts:-Another score for Meriko. There was no way I couldn't give her 100 for her quality/quantity, because there's so much great stuff here. Not really revolving around any certain character for an extended time period, "An Affair Of The Heart And Soul" is a fanfiction for the ages. Somewhat similar, yet COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from her previous fic "A Labor Of Love", it chronicles another possibility of events after the Crater, Sephiroth and Meteor. And plus the addition of an original character makes this one even better. You could say that this one is a triple-romance story, which is quite original. With this fanfic still in progress, it can only get better with age. With a healthy mix of love, fighting, religion and philosophy, this fic has it all. Definitely a must-read, and is one of the year's best. It should be an automatic candidate for numerous awards. An amazing read.
Blurb by Kathy of The Page:
"A lovely story that touches the heart. Meriko truly has a gift for pouring her emotions into words. That talent shines through in this FF7 fanfiction that will make you laugh, cry, and keep you scrolling for more. Definitely a must-read!"
Blurb by Nanaki Lioness:
One of the best stories I have ever had the pleasure of reading! Meriko introduces us to Marion, another experiment of Hojo, who is 18 years old physically, but a newborn mentally. Vincent finds that he can love again when he meets her, and tries to help her adjust to everyday life. Meriko writes all this in a fantastic way, mixing romance, angst, battles and all other aspects of good fanfics into one fic. An Affair of the Heart and Soul is definatly worth the time of reading the 60+ chapters!"
Blurb by Zelda:
(I've go to sound like Siskel and Ebert plugging a Christmas movie, ne?) "If you're only going to read one fanfic this holiday season, make *this* the one! How does a man find life and love worthwhile after losing true love, saving the world, and unearthing a mysterious experiment by the evil scientist who'd scarred him? It's a wonderful life, rpg style!"
Chapter 1 - Buried Treasure
Chapter 2 - Nibelheim Interlude
Chapter 3 - Five Questions, One Answer
Chapter 4 - New Lives to Live
Chapter 5 - Impressions
Chapter 6 - Into the Sunlight
Chapter 7 - Fireside Chat
Chapter 8 - Midnight Moment
Chapter 9 - The First Morning
Chapter 10 - Saddle Up! Move Out!
Chapter 11 - Night Falls in Nibelheim
Chapter 12 - Nightcap
Chapter 13 - A Familiar Figure
Chapter 14 - In the Face of Fear
Chapter 15 - Word Games
Chapter 16 - Crash Course
Chapter 17 - What Cloud and Tifa's Chocobo Heard
Chapter 18 - What Vincent and Marion's Chocobo Heard
Chapter 19 - Reach Out and Touch Someone
Chapter 20 - On the Road Again
Chapter 21 - Wutai
Chapter 22 - By the Shore
Chapter 23 - Buy One Shocker, Get One Free
Chapter 24 - Introductions
Chapter 25 - Nighttime Decision
Chapter 26 - Fear and Reassurance
Chapter 27 - Anticipation
Chapter 28 - Conversations
Chapter 29 - A Parting
Chapter 30 - The Beta Project
Chapter 31 - The Only Two People on the Planet
Chapter 32 - The Alpha Project
Chapter 33 - Waiting
Chapter 34 - Marry Me
Chapter 35 - To Love, Honor, and Cherish
Chapter 36 - Stars
Chapter 37 - One Last Look
Chapter 38 - A Resurrection of Dreams
Chapter 39 - Hell Hath No Fury
Chapter 40 - Reeve Butts In
Chapter 41 - Letting Go of Her Past
Chapter 42 - And Embracing Her Future
Chapter 43 - Just Because
Chapter 44 - Current Events
Chapter 45 - The Long Way Around, and a Shortcut
Chapter 46 - Launches, Loves, and Leftovers
Chapter 47 - Liftoff
Chapter 48 - Twinkle, Twinkle
Chapter 49 - Interlude-The Calm Before the Storm
Chapter 50 - One Day in Time
Chapter 51 - Waking into the Nightmare
Chapter 52 - Facts and Knowledge
Chapter 53 - Purpose and Action
Chapter 54 - The Truth is Out There
Chapter 55 - Weapons of War and Peace
Chapter 56 - Missions of Mercy and Mayhem
Chapter 57 - Whispers in a Nightmare
Chapter 58 - Face to Face
Chapter 59 - The Living, the Dead, and One in Between
Chapter 60 - For the Sake of Love
Chapter 61 - Alone
Chapter 62 - Whispers in a Dream
Chapter 63 - The Blindness of Guilt and Grace
Author's Notes - WARNING: spoilers galore!!!
I had a dream one night about sitting on the railing of a balcony with Vincent. We were apparently at the Gold Saucer, and part of the dream entailed a blood vow. (and no, you may not ask me for more details) Anyway...the dream evolved into a story involving a girl who, a bit like Reeve, interacted with the world through the eyes and ears of a mechanical cat. Unlike Reeve, she was Hojo's biological daughter, would randomly transform into a hideous monster, and suffered from a split personality and was a bizarre little sociopath to boot. After writing 26 pages, I scrapped the entire idea and began again with the character of Marion instead. ^^;;; Less psychological research to do. I wish I'd kept the original script, though...it was pretty freaky stuff. Marion's story & character are absolutely My Little Pony fluffy compared to her predecessor.
Cloud and Tifa...again. My reasoning was that Aeris is DEAD, making it kind of hard for her to date, in addition to the fact that I didn't want to write yet another Aeris resurrection fanfic...although I've written three now. ^^;;; Personally, I find Tifa to have more depth to her personality, and the more kinks I can put into a character, the better. (Thus, my obsession with the emotionally crippled Vincent Valentine...)
Nanaki and Tenari. Well, they never got together, and in fact, if I ever write out Part III, (yeah right) I may just have Nanaki get together with one of the cubs who have yet to be born. What's a 60-year age difference to someone who lives for over five centuries? I'd actually written out a relationship for the two where Nanaki has to face insecurities about not living up to his heritage, but I was sick of writing up couples where the guy had some emotional issues, so I just left those chapters out. (Couldn't think of anything else realistic at the time.) Oh, and the names. I made up an easy naming convention for Ineki's clan. The male names begin with a soft sound and end with a hard constonant-vowel combination. Seto, Nanaki, Ineki, Makote, Araku. The female names are the opposite. They begin with a harsh constonant and end with a soft constonant-vowel combination. Tenari, Komi, Kokone. Side Story: Teri needed a name for one of the cubs that appears in the FFVII ending FMV for a vignette she's writing, and I made up "Anari" for her, which doesn't follow my naming convention, but is a nice name all the same. She later on called the cub "Inari" instead. Those of you who eat Japanese food will appreciate the mental image I had just then. *watches Nanaki and two round inari-sushi balls run up the cliff*
Lifestream. In my fanfic, lifestream is the spirit energy that animates you. It is an entirely separate thing from your consciousness, which is what makes you who you are. When you die, your lifestream is recycled into another life, as illustrated in the game in Bugenhagen's observatory, and your consciousness goes on to the Promised Land. (And your body becomes fertilizer...) The lifestream also contains the knowledge of the Ancients, as detailed in the game. In the game, you discover Knights of the Round knowledge crystallized in a cave, and walk off with a new red materia orb, which rounds out your collection. In my fanfic, I say that there's more knowledge out there in the lifestream than what you found in the game. It's logical. (chapter 43) What, you think DeBeers will someday mine every single diamond in existence?
Leading off of that theory, Marion's abilities. She's able to control wind, water, and earth as well as fire, ice, and lightning due to the fact that she's connected to ALL lifestream in the Planet, not just the materia orbs in the possession of the people around her. (I wonder if/how she'd be able to interact with a different planet...hmm...) I never bought the idea that Cloud just happens to own every single kind of materia in existence. This also explains her ability to call five Bahamuts instead of three, and to use Holy and Meteor, despite the fact that those two materia are lost to Cloud and Co. (chapter 34) Also, since she's harnessing the full power of the lifestream, not just what can be locked into one puny crystal, her spells are Planet-strength, not materia orb-strength. A mastered Bolt materia is like a potato gun compared to the lightning spells Marion can cast. (chapter 16-17)
And yes, I realize now that Marion never told Cloud where Sephiroth's lifestream had been reborn. I'll work the Sephiroth thing into Part II, I promise. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Vincent wears his wedding band on his right hand. I wasn't going to have him weld it onto his claw. And yes, I forgot to write in the scene where Tifa slips Marion's wedding band back on to her hand. And while we're on the subject of mistakes...in canon (strictly adhering to gameplay) materia can't be used unless equipped. I tried to write this fic entirely canon, however, in chapter 15 I have Cloud heal Marion just by holding the Restore materia in his hand. So far, no one has pointed this out to me yet. Two others that I've already corrected: I had Shera miraculously help Cid land the Highwind on Ineki's island when she was actually miles away in Rocket Town, and I also had Ineki in two places at once since originally, I had him stay on the island along with Komi, Makote, and the others, and then all of a sudden he's at Rocket Town. What is it with Rocket Town? ^^;;; Am I thinking that Cid has transporter technology?
The Alpha Project. This was awful. I couldn't identify worth beans with the wacko, and so he got very little air time. I should have developed him more, led deeper into his childish temper tantrums and simplistic mind, and given the audience a bit more, "Yeah, get him!" kind of satisfaction at the end. Someday, I need to go back and add to the fanfic.