25 Years of Final Fantasy 7 Part 3 – Prequels to Sequels to Remake

Welcome back, readers!  This is the third and final part of a series of posts celebrating 25 years of Final Fantasy 7, and the impact it has had upon me throughout my life.

Click here to read Part 1.

Click here to read Part 2.

A Franchise is Born

I always wanted more Final Fantasy 7.  I played it so much throughout the years, especially every summer break, and it seemed like every time I played through the game, I made a new discovery.

But what happened after the game?  What happened to Midgar after Meteor nearly destroyed it?  Did the world finally stop using Mako energy?  Did Cloud and Tifa stay together?

At the time, I didn’t think I’d ever get to see more.  Despite some cameos here and there, the future (and past) of these characters and their world was relegated to fan fiction.  I also found myself disappointed by the next game, Final Fantasy 8.  I didn’t even try 9 or 10.

Then something strange happened.  In fact, two-fold.  First was when I heard the announcement that Final Fantasy X was about to get a direct sequel, Final Fantasy X-2.  What little I’d seen and read of X didn’t impress me, so my initial reaction was, “Why is that one getting a sequel???”

Then…Advent Children was announced.

A fully-rendered CGI movie that would act as a direct sequel to Final Fantasy 7!  I was in college when I first heard the announcement, and I was beyond excited!  At the time, I’d heard that there would be other content produced alongside of it, such as video games focusing on side characters (I think this is when Dirge of Cerberus was announced,) but nothing caught my attention like Advent Children did.  It would be two more years before it actually released, and I eagerly awaited every scrap of news about it.

When it finally came out, I had moved to a bigger city for college, where I’d met and befriended a fellow gaming enthusiast, Sean.  I honestly don’t remember where we bought it, maybe at Best Buy?  But we rushed to his house (each of us with our own copy in-hand,) snacks and soda at the ready, and plopped down with a couple other friends to watch it.

It did not disappoint.  Whereas Square’s original attempt at a CGI full-length movie was…okay (Spirits Within, I liked it better than most people seemed to,) this was something incredible and superior.  It hit all the notes, had fantastic pacing, was most definitely written to appeal to those who knew the game, and had a very satisfying ending.

In short, it was a worthy successor to the original game.  Superbly edited, perfectly voiced, and stunningly rendered (and at the time, one of my hobbies was 3D Graphic Design, so I was in awe of the technology behind it!)

It definitely didn’t end there.

Prequels and Sequels

Advent Children was part of a planned series of content additions to the Final Fantasy 7 story called Compilation of Final Fantasy 7.  At the time, however, the only one I cared about was Advent Children.

For starters, Crisis Core was on the Playstation Portable (PSP) only.  I had zero inclination to buy one (especially as a poor college student,) and it was a prequel featuring Zack, a character that is not heavily featured in 7 and whom, at the time, I didn’t really have any interest in.  Plus, the PSP had inferior graphics compared to the then-contemporary PS2, and I was a bit of a snob about graphics back then (and perhaps still am.)

Dirge of Cerberus was on the PS2, but was not an RPG and focused on Vincent.  When I watched Sean play a little bit of it, I found myself uninterested in the gameplay and story.

Fast forward several years, and my obsession over Final Fantasy 7 surged again.  After playing through the original game yet again, and watching Advent Children again, I wanted to learn more about Zack and his connection to Aerith and Cloud.  But I still was unwilling to buy a PSP.  So I turned to the internet, during a time when Youtube wasn’t clogged with commercials every few minutes.

I was able to watch every cutscene and major moment in Crisis Core, and found that I’d grossly misjudged it.  The story was intriguing, featured Sephiroth a lot more than I anticipated, and gave some back story to elements of 7 that really helped me understand and appreciate the characters and plot a lot more.

IE: it did what prequels were supposed to do (and a lot of prequels often fail to do.)

I was content never having played it – I considered emulators for the PSP to try it, but ended up not bothering.

I never did go back and give Dirge of Cerberus another chance.  Maybe in honor of the 25th anniversary, now is the time to try it.

Rumors of a Remake

For the most part, after Compilation of Final Fantasy 7 concluded, there was a dearth of FF7 content.  Mostly satisfied with the conclusion we saw in Advent Children, I was okay with that.  I felt like the story had been told, and the rest could live on in our imaginations.

Then Sony and Square/Enix did something unexpected.  As a technology demo for the Playstation 3, and to create buzz and excitement for the PS3, they released a tech demo of the opening sequence of Final Fantasy 7.  Those precious couple of minutes showing Aerith in front of a surging power conduit, the pull-out to show all of Midgar, the dramatic music, and then Cloud’s arrival by train at the Number 1 Mako Reactor.

I don’t know if they expected it or not, but the reaction across the internet spread faster than wildfire – were they remaking Final Fantasy 7 for the PS3?!??!?!?!

Fans wanted it.  Fans began to demand it.  Fans went crazy!  But I…was a bit skeptical.  I wanted it, though, and I hoped – a remake for an RPG into a modern-day platform, could you imagine just how beautiful the world of FF7 could be?!

But…it was not to be.  At least, at that time.  Based on everything I’ve read over the years, as much as the creators of FF7 wanted to refresh the game onto a modern platform, they felt that they could never do it justice.  It would be impossible to create the open world of 7 with the amount of detail expected from modern games.

I was sad.  But damn did that video stick with me.  Later when they refreshed Advent Children into Advent Children Complete, I wondered if that meant there was still hope for a 7 remaster or remake.

Still, rumors persisted.  Most often the rumors were false.  But then, one day…

Remake and Beyond

In 2015, Square/Enix made it official – they were going to remake Final Fantasy 7!  They had finally found a way.

What was the way?  Split it into multiple parts.  This announcement was met mostly with excitement, and some trepidation – this was on the heels of The Hobbit Trilogy, derided for dragging out a single novel’s worth of stories into a trilogy of movies, and including characters who shouldn’t have even been in it (personally I liked The Hobbit, but agree that it pales in comparison to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.)

Still, I was hopeful.  The way the announcement was presented gave me hope, and the fact that they were bringing back as much of the original development crew as they could excited me.  I knew they would treat the remake with the love and attention it deserved.

They did not disappoint.  When the demo of the first bombing mission was released (reminiscent of how the demo of the original game was the first bombing mission,) I immediately downloaded and played it.

The first thing that struck me was the music, oh god the music was just incredible!  I’ve always loved the music from the original, and the refresh it got for Advent Children was gorgeous, but they took it up another level or 10 in FF7R, and it never leaves my playlist now.

And playing through that first mission, with the new combat system, the new voices, and the incredible expansion of characters in just that little bit of time?  I was sold.

When FF7R was fully released, I started playing it immediately, and, well. let’s just say that whereas the original Final Fantasy 7 is still my all-time favorite game, Remake comes in at a close, close 2nd.  It made me love side characters even more (Biggs, Wedge and Jessie!!!!) and it expanded upon the world, made Midgar actually feel like a big city, and felt like it upped the stakes more than they already were in the original.

TL;DR, I’m a fan ;)

Most notable, they took existing content, and updated to be even more relevant and respectful to today’s society.  For instance, Cloud’s cross-dressing sequence, while important for representation in the original, felt a bit like a gag.  In Remake, it was treated with much more respect to the LGBT community.

Additionally, it feels like they deepened the backstory of the war between Shinra and Wutai (Yuffie’s home.)  It created more intrigue, and even helped fix some plot holes.  Characters that were previously inept or gag characters were turned into something much more interesting and worthwhile (Mayor Domino being the best example I can think of.)

The combat system and gameplay in general was updated as well, and it feels far less monotonous (which, since the original RPG-based combat system from 7 was ahead of its time and was interesting, that’s a big compliment!)

Oh and, I’ve never been one to ‘ship’ character pairings that didn’t exist in canon before, but thanks to FF7 Remake, I totally ‘ship’ Aerith and Tifa, especially after their friendship blossomed in the sewers and train yard of Sector 7 :)  They’d make a cute couple!  Sorry Cloud and Zack.

The Future is Bright

Most recently, in celebration of the 25th anniversary, Square/Enix released footage and the title of the next game in the Remake saga, titled Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and have confirmed that the entire remake saga will be a trilogy.  While I’m a bit…hesitant about the overall direction they are taking (namely, they appear to be changing the timeline,) I know how much the creators love this, and they know how much we love it.  I am mostly confident that the next two games will be as wonderfully and masterfully crafted as Remake was.

Better still, I’ll finally get my chance to play Crisis Core – they officially announced a remaster of Crisis Core, to be released on the PS4 and PS5!  (Thank goodness for the PS4 release, I still haven’t gotten my hands on a PS5!)

As it was when Compilation came out, there are a lot of other titles out there that I’m not so interested in.  The First Soldier is supposedly a battle-royale style game akin to Player Unknown Battleground, and is mobile-only, so I have zero interest in it.  But we’ll see what other titles come out.

Mostly, I’m excited for the Remake trilogy and Crisis Core.

Conclusion

First of all, if you’ve read this entire series, kudos to you!  This was originally supposed to be a single post, but then blossomed into something much too long to be contained in a single post.

That’s just how much this game has meant to me, and how much it continues to mean to me.  It has inspired me as a writer, it has captured my imagination, and I am so happy to be alive today to experience the resurgence of the Remake trilogy.

Thank you for reading!  I hope you’ve enjoyed this insight and this break from my usual writing-related posts.  Until next time!

-Jon Wasik

25 Years of Final Fantasy 7 Part 2 – Why It Matters So Much

Welcome back, readers!  This is part 2 of a series of posts celebrating 25 years of Final Fantasy 7, and the impact it has had upon me throughout my life.

Click here to read Part 1.

Why Does Final Fantasy 7 Mean So Much to So Many People?

I know I’m not alone in feeling such a close connection with 7. As a franchise (because let’s face it, FF7 has become a franchise in and of itself,) it remains to this day the most popular Final Fantasy iteration.  Its legacy endures.  The themes were relevant back in 1997, and have only become more relevant.

Big corpo killing our planet just to make a profit?  Yup, that’s bigger today than ever.

Governments carelessly throwing away citizens’ lives for their own benefit? Yup, we’ve seen that across the globe (PS: We stand with Ukraine!)

Even a mission to save Tifa that requires the protagonist, Cloud Strife, to cross-dress has become more relevant to today and the LGBT community.  Cloud isn’t trans, but for many reasons, not just that one mission, I have come to believe that he’s at least a little gender queer.  (This entire mission was handled even better in the Remake, but I’ll save that for the next post.)

The Overworld Map

And since the game takes place across the fictional world, we got to see a wide range of people of color and multiple cultures represented.  Despite the simplistic character designs, it wasn’t as white-washed as most games were of the time.

Plus with the diverse and sometimes unusual ensemble cast of characters, gamers can usually find at least one character they can relate to.  They were all written so well, so nuanced.  Even characters that weren’t necessary to ‘collect’ as part of the main mission left an impact (a friend of mine absolutely adores Yuffie, yet in the original game, you could beat the entire game without ever meeting her, let alone adding her to your party.)

For me, the characters are a big, big part of it.

Cloud in particular.

Searching For Identity

One of the biggest character and story elements in Final Fantasy 7 is the fact that Cloud’s identity comes into question.  Tifa and Aerith in particular suspect he’s not what or whom he claims to be, but most importantly is that Cloud questions his own identity throughout the game.

In fact, it might be safe to say that Final Fantasy 7‘s primary character-driven conflict revolves around questioning one’s identity.  In the flashback in Kalm, when Cloud tells the (partially true) story of how Sephiroth became a villain, even Sephiroth discovers that his own past was a lie.  This identity crisis breaks him.

Which is perhaps another place where Final Fantasy 7 has a strong story – both the protagonist and the antagonist parallel one another, and the choices they make, what they do when they find out they aren’t who they thought they are, is what defines them, what makes one the bad guy, and the other the good guy, so to speak.

In any case, Cloud’s struggle is nuanced and, in many ways, groundbreaking for its time.  He thinks he knows who he is, but even in the beginning, he gets flashes that things might not be what he thinks they are.  Subtle, layered, difficult to recognize what they are until you know the truth much later.

It felt like I knew his struggle.

Remember, Final Fantasy 7 came out when I was a young teenager.  So maybe it seems like a natural thing that a teenager would identify with such a struggle.  What teenager has never questioned who they are, what they believed, etc?

Plus, let’s face it, often times Cloud is socially awkward.  Compound that with the fact that dialogue in the original game was written, not acted out by voice actors, so I could put my own inflections into his voice, I could read his dialogue in my head in such a way that I identified with him even more.

Believe you me, there are awkward teenagers, and then were was me.  I mentioned it in the previous article, I’ve always had a hard time making friends.  I was always uncomfortable around people, didn’t know how to make a joke, and all of my passions were apparently ‘dumb’ or ‘too geeky’ or what have you.

I saw myself in Cloud.  I was awkward, but trying to figure out who I was.  And many times throughout my teen years, I had vivid memories of just…standing in my bedroom, looking around and realizing that I really didn’t know who I was.

Granted I never had a full-on meltdown like Cloud did.  But in a way…I grew into who I was while replaying FF7 over and over.  I found comfort in that game in a way that no other game has ever provided.

An Ensemble of Memorable Characters

Beyond Cloud are the other characters in your team, all of whom have a story of their own, nuanced and complete.  That in and of itself is cause for praise – how many games, how many stories have throw-away characters?  Ones created to serve a single purpose, then just sort of exist in the background.

Likewise, there are character moments that are easy to miss in the game, but if you seek out every moment, you learn more and more about the characters.

Barret isn’t just a hell-crazed maniac bent on revenge against Shinra.  But that certainly was the beginning of his journey.  Even then, his little daughter kept him grounded, and his primary goal by the end was to save the planet.

Tifa is the heart of Avalanche, of the Sector 7 Slums, and a fierce fighter and friend.  Her concern for her friends is central to her character, and she would do anything to protect them.  And she can make a helluva drink to boot.

And then there’s Aerith…  The soul, the healer.  The one destined to perish.  I felt a particularly strong attachment to her character in my youth, and because of how many times I had to restart the game in the beginning, I was able to spend more time with her than if I had a straight playthrough, so perhaps that partially strengthened my attachment to her, and made her death even more heart wrenching.  And yet, even when faced with death, she still did what she could to protect and heal the planet, and those she loved.

I always viewed those three as the core supporting characters, no doubt because we spent more time with them than any others.  But that is not to say that the others made any less of an impression.

Red XIII, Nanaki, whose mysterious past comes back to haunt him (almost literally,) and whose wisdom and intellect are quite unexpected, considering his animal form.

Cid Highwind.  Definitely an ass, especially to Shera, but his love of space and exploration was definitely something I connected with.

Yuffie’s unusual antics and childlike behavior seem annoying, but beneath the surface, she yearns only to provide for her home and prove herself to her family.

Vincent’s strange, Castlevania-esque appearance and mannerisms are symptoms of a deep pain, a difficult past, and a monster within that he struggles to control.

And…well, Cait Sith was definitely memorable ;)  Yet the man behind the controls is the insider within the enemy ranks, a man disenfranchised by those he served, and now wishes to make amends to the world.

I’ve barely scratched the surface on these characters.  I’ve probably not come close to doing them justice.  They are so unique, so memorable.  Compared to some of the later Final Fantasy games’ supporting characters, they all stand out, unique and interesting and, for most of them, loveable (really, Cid, do you have to be such an ass??)

Yet for all of their differences, these characters come together for a common cause, and together they save the world.

What’s not to love?

It is therefore unsurprising that so many people yearned to see more of them.  And in breaking with the usual Final Fantasy tradition, the creators delivered exactly that, and for the next twenty five years, we got to see more of these wonderful characters.  We got to learn more not just about what happened to them after Final Fantasy 7, but also what led them to be the persons they were in the game.

But that, dear readers, is best left for another time.  Come back next time for the conclusion to this series, in which I take a look at the franchise that has been built upon this incredible foundation.

Thanks for reading!
-Jon Wasik

25 Years of Final Fantasy 7 Part 1 – First Experiences

The video game Final Fantasy 7 has had an incredible and indelible impact upon the world in general, and upon gamers specifically and the industry built around them.  And much to my surprise, this year marks the 25th anniversary of a game that has touched my soul more than any other video game ever has.  That is no exaggeration, either – FF7 remains my favorite video game of all-time.

25 years.  Wow.  As Sony and Square/Enix (Squeenix!) continues to celebrate the anniversary throughout 2022, I thought I’d share my own journey – how I was introduced to FF7, the impact it had on me, and how I feel about it and the many spinoffs it has generated.  Come with me on this journey through time and space…

What is Final Fantasy 7?

On January 31st, 1997, the seventh in a long series of Japanese RPG’s came out.  The Final Fantasy series had a long and storied history even before 7 came out, with only 3 of the 6 originals making it to the United States, and the series defined the video game RPG genre for years to come.  Having said that, I’d never touched nor heard of the Final Fantasy series, despite how much I loved video games throughout my life, until early 1997.

Final Fantasy 7 was the first of the RPG’s to go 3D, or at least partially 3D, rather than characters made of low-detailed sprites.  It also was one of the first, if not the first, to have full-motion cinematics for important story moments.

Like its predecessors, combat in FF7 was largely turn-based, but utilized a mechanic introduced somewhere midway between games 1 and 7, and that is the Active Timed Battle, or ATB.  Perhaps most notable, however, was the materia system of magic, utilizing crystals (a common trope in Final Fantasy games) to allow characters to cast magic.

Most important to note is that while this was the seventh game in the series, none of the main numbered games connect to one another, they do not share universes.  Mostly the series is connected by themes and tropes.  That means that Final Fantasy 7 was not bound to continuity from previous games, and this allowed the makers to depart from the typical high fantasy setting, and make 7 a more technological, perhaps even steampunk-esque setting.

My introduction to Final Fantasy 7

Before I heard about Final Fantasy 7, most of the games I played were not exactly centered around any complex story or characters. Super Mario Brothers, Sonic the Hedgehog, Battletoads – basically platformers and such were the games I was most familiar with, along with early Atari games before that (Pacman, Galaga, etc.)

Back then, I lived in Wisconsin, but my family was getting ready to move out west, to the deserts of New Mexico. One of the last times I got to hang out with my best friend at the time, Devin, he showed me this new game on the Sony Playstation, a roleplaying game called Final Fantasy 7.

It seemed like a…weird concept. A video game that focused on character development and story, rather than something that was just a challenge to play.

The combat system seemed kinda cool, and I liked the characters in that first chapter, but that was all we played. My memory is a little fuzzy about that evening, and it may have only been the demo of the game, which allowed a complete playthrough of the Reactor 1 Bombing mission. It was neat, but I didn’t have a Playstation at home, and I doubted my parents would buy one for me at that time.  I never expected to see or play the game again.

When we moved, I said goodbye to everyone I knew in Wisconsin. I’d always had trouble making new friends, so I could only count maybe 4 people as friends. But since this was before the internet was ubiquitous, I had little hope of keeping in touch with them for any length of time.

And when we moved to New Mexico, well…there was a bit of a culture shock. And whatever troubles I had fitting in at Wisconsin schools, it was even worse in New Mexico. That first year of Junior High (for the younguns around here, that’s what we used to call Middle School) was a depressing time for me. I had made a few acquaintances, but at the end of the school year, I didn’t think I’d made any real friends (turns out I was wrong about that, and that summer, one acquaintance became my best friend for life, Nick.)

A scene in the preview that stuck with me and made me ever-more curious about FF7

But one day during our first year in New Mexico, we went to the movies, and the weirdest thing happened – during the previews, usually reserved for upcoming movies, there was a video game preview for Final Fantasy 7. I was in awe. The cinematics, the music, the graphics, it was incredible, and the creators spent money on getting a commercial for it into movie theaters?!? What????  Perhaps even more important was that I felt a connection to the scenes shown on-screen (little did I know it included the funeral of an important character…)  I felt an emotional connection.

Some weeks later, my parents, seeing how depressed and lonely I was, decided they would offer to buy a new console for the family (mostly for me, since my parents didn’t play video games as much by this point.) I immediately asked for a Playstation, and when we went into the tiny little town’s only Wal-mart, we asked the clerk if we could switch out which video game came with the console. The store clerk said yes, and I chose Final Fantasy 7 – I had to find out more about this game!

The only downside? The Playstation had no built-in storage for save games, and so my folks would have had to spend money on a memory card. But the store clerk also mentioned this intriguing little thing called a Gameshark, basically a way to cheat on video games. It was an add-on dongle you plugged into the back of the Playstation, which would allow you to enter cheat codes before launching a game. My parents gave me a choice – the Gameshark or a memory card. I don’t remember what I was thinking or why I chose it, but I chose the Gameshark. This became very important soon after.

The Beginning – Again and Again and Again

I had no idea just how long of a game Final Fantasy 7 was. I’d never played anything quite like it (the closest was the original Zelda, but I only ever got to see that game when I visited a friend’s house, so I didn’t know how long the game was.) So we got home that first night, I plugged in the Playstation, found that the Gameshark had some pre-coded FF7 codes in it that I activated (infinite Gil, or money, as well as super fast leveling up) and I started playing.

To say that I was in awe is…an understatement. I got through that first reactor bombing. I played on. Learned more about Barret and Tifa, saw some cool cinematics, learned more about the big city, Midgar, and why we had just attacked the reactor. Turns out the protagonists were eco terrorists, bent on saving the planet from being sucked dry of life by greedy corporations. (Hmmm, I wonder what that could be an allegory to….) Then there was Aerith…or Aeris, as it was mistranslated in the original version. Meeting her briefly, and then spending time with her after the second bombing mission was something I felt was rather magical. I liked her, a lot.

This was the moment I came to truly despise Shinra and its leaders

The game drew on. And on. And on.  I loved every moment of it, but I was wondering when it would end. And then…Shinra dropped one of Midgar’s plates, killing thousands. This was done in such a dramatic way that it left my jaw on the floor. I couldn’t believe they’d done that in a game. The emotions I felt, the hatred for Shinra and its president, the sympathy I felt for Barret and Tifa when they lost friends, including poor Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie.

That’s when I realized it, I think. This wasn’t a short game. This wasn’t a short story.

Not getting that memory card was a mistake.

And as much as I wanted to keep the Playstation turned on at all times so I didn’t lose my progress, I also didn’t want to overheat and kill the brand-new Playstation. So that night, cringing as I did so, I turned it off. Erasing all of my progress on the game.

But that was okay. I loved the game so much that the idea of going through that beginning again didn’t seem like a drawback to me. I gleefully powered it back up the next day, and spent more time exploring every location, every scene, trying to get every nuance out of every bit of the game.

“Into the Unknown” ;)

The more I played, the more I wanted to play. A guy I met on the school bus during the school year, Nick, came over out of the blue one day, and when I told him about the game, he wanted to see it too. I played more of the beginning, risked leaving the Playstation on overnight at least once, and got all the way to the part where the characters leave Midgar for the world…and the scope of this incredible, nuanced world just captured my imagination.

I had to see it all.

My First Full Playthrough

After a few weeks, I’d saved up enough allowance money to get a memory card myself.

Finally, I was no longer stuck in the first 6 to 12 hours of the game. And soon after…well, that was when I got to the first heart-breaking moment of the story – when a video game killed off a major character, and it was the one character I had fallen in love with. I was devastated. Heartbroken. Reviewers today often state that Final Fantasy 7 taught gamers how to cry, and it definitely had that affect on me.  Aerith’s death affected the rest of my playthrough, and every subsequent playthrough. To this day, when Aerith’s theme plays, on the radio, in a game, in a movie, I get a little choked up.  Every single time.

The One-Winged Angel

I think my first complete playthrough took me about 60 hours. I thought I’d explored every nook and cranny of the world of Final Fantasy 7.  Until I got to the end battle, and lost.  Despite the Gameshark cheats I used, Sephiroth defeated me.

Around this time, my parents got dial-up internet. I started finding online guides and info bits. I realized then that I’d barely scratched the surface, that there was still so much to uncover and explore. I hadn’t even bothered with Chocobo breeding, for starters, and that turned out to be a big, big mistake.

One of the Knights of the Round

So I played through the entire game again, looking for every secret, every easter egg, every last thread of character development and story development.  And I obsessed over chocobo breeding, so that I could get a fabled golden chocobo and find a secret island containing the most powerful summon materia of all – Knights of the Round.  My love of Arthurian mythology made me love that materia (not to mention it was what allowed me to finally beat Sephiroth.)

I found out that dialogue choices and how much time you spent with characters determined who would go with you on a ‘date’ at the Golden Saucer, and I was determined to see every single version of that date, so that meant multiple playthroughs.

And once, just once, I played through without the Gameshark to challenge myself and “do it right.” I didn’t feel like it changed my enjoyment of the game one way or another, because the story, oh the story and the characters were what drew me in, made me obsessed.

I have no real way of knowing for sure, but as of today, if I had to guess, I’d say I’ve completed at least twenty complete playthroughs of the original game, including once last year when the game was re-released on the PS4, so that my wife could see the original game (after we completed FF7 Remake.) Including all of the ‘false starts’ from my first experiences, I’d guess I’ve logged at least 1,500 hours of game play over the last 25 years.

Maybe I’m obsessed.

But no other video game has inspired me, touched me, or left an impression on my soul like this game has. Some have come close. The Elder Scrolls series, especially Skyrim, certainly has. And the recent FF7 Remake is right up there with it, but that’s for another post to discuss.

Speaking of which, this concludes part 1.  In part 2, I’ll discuss more of why FF7 had such a huge impact on me, and in part 3, I’ll talk more about the additional games that have featured characters from FF7, as well as the resurgence that has come in the shape of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake Trilogy.

If you have a story of your own first experience with Final Fantasy 7, or your favorite game, share with us in the comments section!  I’d love to read all of your stories :)

Thanks for reading!
-Jon Wasik

Can Side Characters Make It As Main Characters?

It might go without saying that characters can make or break a story.  In fact, for many of us, it’s why we read a book, watch a movie, or play a video game – the characters in it.

Surprisingly (or at this point, perhaps not surprisingly,) often it’s a side character or a villain who becomes a fan-favorite.  The Minions in Despicable Me, Puss-in-Boots in Shrek 2, or K2SO in Rogue One.  In my own Sword of Dragons series, Kailar was an instant fan-favorite!

In fact, there are plenty of cases out there where a side character ‘steals the show.’  But does that mean they should get their own standalone story?  Can supporting characters carry their own narrative?

Ultimately, the answer may be “It depends on the character,” or perhaps even, “It depends on the writer.”  But for the fun of it, let’s take a look at a couple of examples of both failures and successes.  Be warned – these are mostly subjective, and what I think of as success or failure might not be the same as what you do, and that’s okay.  Feel free to express your thoughts and opinions in the comments!

Those Who Fell Short

I’ll be the first to admit, when Shrek 2 came out and I first heard Antonio Banderas voicing Puss-in-Boots, I thought it was perfect!  I saw it with a friend, and we instantly turned to one another and at the same time said his name in his accent, and then cackled in the theater (which earned us a few curious looks from other patrons.)

Naturally, when it was announced that Puss was getting his own movie, I was excited!  And while I never saw it in theaters, I immediately bought the DVD, went home, watched it…and wished I’d rented it first.

I have no doubt there are many out there who are screaming, “Are you crazy??  That was a great movie!”  And the box office and Rotten Tomatoes score would agree with you.  But for me, it was…shallow.  Uninteresting.  The story was unengaging to me, and while the cliches that Puss played to in Shrek 2 worked for a side character, the writers did little to expand the character beyond cliches in the standalone.

Honestly I remember very little of the movie, mostly because of this.  I have only watched it once, and based on reviews and fan ratings, maybe it’s worthy of a re-watch (I mean, I own it, so why not?)  But for me, this is a side character who didn’t work on his own.

The Minions are another example of something that fell short, in my opinion.  While Box Office tickets say one thing, reviews tend towards agreeing with me (with a 55% on Rotten Tomatoes.)  These were hilarious characters, and for a while, I was honestly obsessed with them!  I thought they were the best part of the Despicable Me movies (not to say those movies were bad without them, I really enjoy them!) and, again, was excited for their standalone.

Thankfully, I didn’t buy this one, and ended up watching it on Netflix.  It suffered from a different syndrome – gag syndrome.  Not gag as in sick, but gag as in one innane joke after another.  And while those slapstick-esque jokes worked for side characters in Despicable Me….not so much in a movie that is nothing but that.

And for an honorable mention – Ghost Facers, of Supernatural fame.  Just…no.  Why anyone thought that would make a good show is beyond me…

Those That Worked

A slightly different source, Deadpool started as a villain in the Marvel comics, though he eventually grew to be a beloved antihero.  It was, therefore, a massive disappointment when his character was horribly written in the Wolverine Origins live-action movie (though let’s face it, out of all of the X-Men movies, that one was just all around bad.)

Thankfully, Ryan Reynolds believed there was something to be had for the Merc with a Mouth, and DP got his standalone debut.  Deadpool was such a popular movie that it inspired studios to try more rated R super hero movies (and thankfully, did Wolverine justice in Logan.)

Why did Deadpool work in a standalone?  Because he was more than just a cliche (though he certainly uses those to great effect.)  While the gags that DP employs are fantastic, and his breaking of the fourth wall is sometimes derided by viewers, the character himself has a deep and interesting backstory that takes everything beyond the apparent shallowness of the surface story.

There’s a slew of other Marvel-based IP recently where MCU side characters were given their own shows, and at least in my opinion, every single one of them has worked well so far.  I chalk that up to superior writing – those running the show of the MCU certainly know their stuff.  (Argue with me if you like, MCU has proven themselves through reviews and box office numbers.)

Another wildly popular spin-off is Torchwood, in which the side character Jack Harkness joins an ensemble cast ‘stuck’ on Earth in the same universe as Doctor Who.  The show certainly had its bad episodes, but overall I enjoyed it, and to this day, there are many loyal fans (just go to any Doctor Who or Sci-Fi convention to see!)

What Do You Think?

What are your thoughts, readers?  Do you agree or disagree?  Are there other examples of ones that worked or didn’t work you’d like to share?  I’ve no doubt I missed a lot!

And do you think Kailar from the Sword of Dragons should get her own story someday?  (Not that I’m planning one, but I am curious what you all think.)

Thanks for reading!
-Jon Wasik

Delayed Content, We Stand United

Hi everyone,

Last week, I had planned to release the back-of-book blurb for the Secrets of the Cronal novel, as part of a schedule I had set for marketing.  I did not post that information, as I thought that it would be inappropriate at this time, given everything that has been happening.

While I have been quite vocal on my private social media accounts, I’ve been uncertain in days past about what would be appropriate to say in my public social media.  However, I realize now that I need to say something publicly, I need to make my stance clear.

Black Lives Matter

Period.

For many, 2020 has been an insane and crazy year, with month after month of beyond-normal disasters, often affecting things on a global level.  It has torn people apart, divided them, brought about vehement discussions, insults, and more.  Many people have felt overly and abundantly stressed, and depression world-wide has skyrocketed.

Image Source – https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EZ2yRYlX0AE4s-J.jpg

Now imagine for a second that this is your life, every year, for your entire lifetime, and you still will not have reached the depth of what people of color have to endure.  I know that I cannot imagine it.  I can try, but I feel that everything I imagine falls short of the truth of it, the gravity and weight of it, suffocating.

Inevitably, there will be or have been counter-arguments to the movement, to the protests, many of which fall short of actual discussion-worthy arguments, numerous being derogatory and a further indication of the systemic nature of racism in the United States.  I’m not here to address those counter-arguments, that is not the point of my post.

The point of my post is to support the end of racism and the abuse of power.  No, I am not anti-cop.  I have had the privilege of knowing some truly incredible, wonderful police officers who truly wished to make a positive difference in all lives.  However, I have also had the displeasure of knowing less-than-reputable police.

Regardless, change is needed.  Change is required.  It must come.  This illness has existed within our nation since before its foundation, since its inception, so it will not be easy.  It will not be quick.  But it must happen now.  Because if not now, then when?

I do not know the breadth of my audience, but I realize that my statements today and my support of Black Lives Matter will inevitably mean losing fans and readers.  To that I say this: you were never my target audience to begin with.  Surely that is obvious from the first Sword of Dragons novel alone, but in case you misunderstood it, the world in Sword of Dragons places people of all skin colors and all genders on equal footing (while the concept of racism is explored more and more in each novel through the dividing line between Mages and non-Mages.)

I grew up watching Star Trek, and X-Men and Marvel Universe cartoons, and I read Superman comics.  Those helped make me who I am today, and I cannot and will not support or condone racism, bigotry, or sexism, nor do I accept or condone continued systemic violence or oppression against people of color, women, or the LGBTQ+ community.

I know I am only one voice among a chorus of millions, but my years and years singing in choir taught me something – every voice counts.  Every voice matters.

What will your voice sing?

Thank you for reading,
-Jon Wasik

When A Story Demands To Be Told

Hi everyone!

Have you ever had a story in your head that demanded to be told?  Not later, not eventually, but right now?

I’ve had some interesting experiences with characters making demands (such as Kailar in book 3 telling me “This isn’t me, I would never stand for being so passive”), but this is the first time I can recall when I’ve had a story come to mind and demand that its time is now.

Nine chapters into The Sword of Dragons book 3, and all of a sudden, another unrelated story won’t stop coming to the forefront of my imagination.

It was a story I actually first had an idea for back in 2015, and I’ve been slowly jotting down plot and character ideas ever since, knowing that it would be one I’d get to eventually.

Looks like eventually is now, whether I like it or not.  Every spare moment I have with my mind, I think of this story!  I’ve developed a large portion of the plot, and have begun to give characters names.

And these developments are happening fast, super fast!  Granted with buying a house and thus moving in the next few weeks, I won’t be able to develop and write this story nearly as quickly as I did the first draft of Chronicles of the Sentinels, but this could be something I finish quickly and can then go back to work on the Sword of Dragons books.

What would I do then?  Self publishing a book takes considerable time and effort for me, would I go that route?  To be honest, probably not at first.  I think this is one I might have a good chance at picking up an agent with.  It’s something special, or so my friends whom I’ve shared it with insist, and I feel as though it is too.

What is it, you ask?  That’s the kicker…I don’t know how much about this story I should share.  I’m even hesitant to share the genre, but I don’t think I could get away with sharing nothing with you all, lol.  It’s a book that, in the beginning, you might think is fantasy.  But early on, you realize that it isn’t.  It’s sci-fi.

Image Source – http://www.thenextweb.com/

And I’ve debated about that revelation for awhile.  Should I brand the story as sci-fi from the get go, or should I allow readers to be surprised?  Of course, the fear there is that if I brand it as fantasy, fantasy readers might pick it up, and then get mad when they realize it isn’t fantasy…and good luck getting sci-fi readers to pick it up if they think it is fantasy.

All of the lessons I’ve learned over the past few years of self-publishing tell me I should market it to a target audience, and I’m uncertain how big of  a readership out there is a fan of reading both genres.  Am I one of the few?

I guess if I manage to land an agent and eventually a publisher, they could help me with this decision, or possibly make it for me.  But then…that’s the other question.  What kind of agent do I look for?  An agent who represents mostly sci-fi, or fantasy?

In the long run, this would be the first book of a larger series, and the larger series would most definitely fall under the sci-fi category.  So perhaps that answers my question for me: this is a sci-fi story.

Artwork by Vuk Kostic

I’m also wondering what existing fans of my work think of me going off to write a sci-fi.  The Sword of Dragons are most definitely fantasy.  But I love both genres, and believe it or not, I started in sci-fi.  The Sword of Dragons books were my first pure fantasy stories.  So in a way, I’m more in my element with this.

For those who are curious, I don’t think I could ever consider myself a ‘hard sci-fi’ writer.  I love tech, I love learning how it works in the fictional universe.  I could even tell you how most of the technology in Star Trek works.  But when it comes down to it, story is more important to me.  Story and characters will always be my focus.

It’s what makes a story worth telling, in my opinion.

Thanks for reading!
-Jon Wasik

Mystery and History – Dragons in the Sword of Dragons Series

Hi everyone!

Artwork by Vuk Kostic

In the Sword of Dragons series, which is a series one might assume involves a lot of dragons, they seem to be largely absent at first.  They’re talked about in legends, and the titular Sword was constructed by them to end the greatest civil war that the Universe has ever seen.

Dragons are popular right now, or so I’ve been told and so my ads based on keyword searches has shown. Books about dragons are in demand. And I love dragons. So why did I write the first couple books of Sword of Dragons with so few dragons?

Honestly when I first started writing the series, that was not my intent, but as the story developed and I started from scratch in the late 2000’s, I knew exactly how I wanted to treat them.

They were to be mystical, legendary.  People whispered about them, revered them as the exemplars of good and just in the Universe.  There were once tens of thousands, and they roamed the worlds and realms, exploring, caring for others, and keeping the Universe in order.

And then a great cataclysm befell them, a cataclysm that started when one of their own fell to darkness…

Sound familiar?

Star Dragons and the Jedi Knights

The dragons once numbered in thousands, were powerful, and the epitome of good in the Universe. Perhaps the one and only people that were ‘pure good’ rather than gray. And then they were all but wiped out after one of their own fell and corrupted others, taking the extreme opposite of good. In a Universe where no object or power is actually inherently good or evil, dragons are the exception. And now they are a mystery. A legend. A whisper. Everyone holds them in awe.

Meeting the first one, Avall, Cardin has an almost religious experience. And then he meets more good ones.

Artist – treijim.deviantart.com

Then book 2 happens, and he meets the original bad guy. Like Luke facing Vader for the first time. And Cardin, like Luke when he learns that Vader is his father, is terrified to realize that he has the same power as this ultimate villain.

I didn’t realize it until this week, but I’ve come to realize how much my love of Star Wars and the Jedi has influenced the back story of the Sword of Dragons series.

Granted there are many, many differences.  In the Original Trilogy, we’re led to believe only two Jedi survived the great purge.  In canon stories, we learn that there are at least two others who are separated from the Rebellion prior to A New Hope, Ahsoka Tano (one of my all-time favorites!) and Ezra Bridger.  But still, that’s only four, and perhaps one or two others in official “Disney Canon.”

The Star Dragons, however, still number in the hundreds.

So part of why there are so few is the Star Wars influence, but there’s a little more to it than that.  And it really comes down to the fact that I love dragons, that they’ve captured my imagination all of my life.  But there are so many good dragon books out there…so I felt like the series had to earn their presence.  Justify their return to the struggle.  And make it to where they remained something special and weren’t just common or average.

When a dragon shows up in a scene, it is something special, something wondrous!

And as time goes on, their role increases.  Unlike Star Wars, it is only after books one and two that one of the “jedi” aka dragons comes to train Cardin. During this time period, in book 3, Cardin will go on a journey that will affect him spiritually, and will help prepare him for the devastating events to come.

Book 3 – Return of the…Dragons?

Throughout book 3, we’ll get to spend more time with the green dragon Endri, who sort of takes over the role that Dalin previously filled.  Which of course will mean that Dalin will need to find his place in the grand scheme of things.

Furthermore, early in book 3, we’ll get to see dozens of dragons, as they rally together to try to find Nuuldan and end the threat of the Dark Dragons once and for all.

This also means we’ll get  to learn more about the Star Dragons than ever before!  Including the fact that they have not spawned young dragons since before the defeat of the Dark Dragons, and thus their numbers continue to dwindle rather than grow.

Perhaps the most exciting scenes that I’m most looking forward to writing is when Cardin and his friends travel to the ancient Star Dragon home world, a place that seemingly none of the Star Dragons have visited in thousands upon thousands of years.

I’m eight chapters into book 3, and I can’t wait to share more about it with everyone!  :)

So what do you all think?  Are there more parallels between the Star Dragons and Jedi than I realize?  What do you think of the slow build up to more dragons in the series?  Are you looking forward to book 3?  Let me know in the comments section below :)

Thanks for reading!
-Jon Wasik

New Way To Tell Stories – Star Wars and The Void

Hey everyone!

With our honeymoon coming to a close, I wanted to tell you all about an incredible experience we had here in Orlando!  And that was Star Wars – Secrets of the Empire!

Haven’t heard of it?  Worry not, because I wanna tell you all about the state of the art in Virtual Reality Technology, and the new possibilities it opens for story telling!

Total Immersion – Holodeck-like Experience!

I know, I know, this is about Star Wars, but when I first heard about Secrets of the Empire, the first thing I thought about was Star Trek TNG’s holodecks.  If you’ve ever watched any of the Trek shows after the original series, you’ve probably seen this wondrous technology, where you step into a room, and whole other environments, complete with interactive people, suddenly appear!

Is that what Secrets was like?  Well, we’re not to that level of tech yet, but it certainly was the most immersive experience I’ve ever had.

After signing a waiver, my wife and I, along with another random couple we were paired up with, followed our guide into a room with a big screen, where we received an urgent message from Cassian Andor (from Star Wars Rogue One).  After that, each of us were able to choose the color of our Stormtrooper armor’s pauldron.  There were lots of colors to choose from, but it’s a good idea to coordinate your choice with the other members, because you can double up and this can make it confusing in game!

After that, we were led into the gear room, where an Oculus Rift headset and haptic-feedback suit awaited us.  After putting our gear on and getting them synced up with our wristbands, we were led into a square room, and lowered our visors.

And suddenly, we were stormtroopers.  All of us.  My wife, with her purple pauldron, stood next to me, and was rendered with her accurate height!  I think I even made the joke of ‘aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?’  The other couple was across from us, the tall guy with his black pauldron (I chose blue) and his significant other, who also had a purple pauldon but thankfully was a little taller than Beck so I didn’t lose track of who was who.

We were in a small compartment on a troop transport, and suddenly the door opens…and K2SO pops his head in to give us a mission update!

What was really incredible was that we were free to move around in the rendered environment.  When we moved into another compartment and were asked to sit in the rendered seats, we sat and there were chairs.  When asked to get onto a moving platform, we did and it felt like it moved.  When entering a lift and told to pull the lever, there was a lever we could actually pull, and it was rendered in real-time as we pulled it!

What’s more was the feel and smell.  I don’t want to give too much of the story away, but when we were in a place with fire, there was heat and I could smell burning wood!  When stormtroopers shot at us, I felt the impact and heat from when I was hit!  The designers and creators, The Void, did a really good job mixing a physical environment with virtual, creating an incredible experience!

It wasn’t perfect…to save money and time, there were no gloves, so your avatar’s hand movements were tracked with motion sensors.  This sometimes glitched, and when my hands were in my lap, I’d look over and it would look like I had my hand in my wife’s mouth.  And one of the four blasters kept malfunctioning and not showing up in the game, so they had to start us over two times before it worked properly.  Plus blaster bolts moved annoyingly slow (like Elder Scrolls 4 – Oblivion arrows) and that made the fights a little less intense than they should have been.

But all said, the experience was incredible and immersive, and is definitely the closest we have come to holodecks!

What Does This Mean for Storytelling?

I’m extremely excited about what this represents!  Right now, Secrets of the Empire is the only thing like this that I am aware of, but it opens the door for some unique storytelling!  As the technology improves, things will only get better.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Star Trek jumps on the bandwagon soon.  I mean, come on, who wouldn’t want to step onto the bridge of a Starship or fight through a Borg ship?

Or what about Harry Potter??  Some more tweaking of the tech, but as you wave your wand and speak the words, the system reads it and you see your spell unfold before you!

Unfortunately right now, I don’t see sword fights happening with our level of tech, but how long before they figure out a way to make that happen?

What stories could be told interactively?  Sure the settings are finite, but some amazing stories can be told in small spaces.  Such as the Star Trek bridge mentioned above.

Secrets of the Empire was pretty much scripted, but as we’ve seen with video games, stories can change depending on choices, and as long as those choices are planned ahead…there could be some pretty big facilities made for some impressive interactions in the future.

I think that this is just the beginning!!  Now if only The Void would open more locations…like one in Denver!

Go For It, Even If You Don’t Believe In Yourself

Hi everyone, I’m back!

Photo by Danielle Lirette

Our wedding was wonderfully geeky, and we were very fortunate to have some incredible people participate in it and help us out!  It turned out to be a perfect day, with weather better than predicted, and nothing major going wrong.

However, I want to tell the story with pictures, and our photographer is still working to get our photos to us (the preview pictures she has shown us are incredible!)  But what I wanted to talk about today crosses from my wedding day to writing, and why you should never give up on yourself…

I Thought I Would Always Be Alone

My best friend (and best man) reminded me of something during the reception: when I was younger, I had a dream of a woman who was perfect for me.  My definition of what that might entail evolved over the years as I grew and changed as a person, but I knew what I wanted…

Image source – google.com

And as time passed, and rejections from women grew in number, I started to despair.  I started to believe that I was unlovable.  This led me to some pretty bad relationships that only reinforced my belief that I was unworthy.

…but I kept trying anyway.  I kept searching, even though I didn’t think anyone would ever think I was worth loving.  As the years and years and years passed, no matter how much I was rejected or how many bad dates I went on, even surviving an emotionally abusive relationship, I kept trying.

Character design and model: Beck Stewart. Photo by WeNeals Photography.

And then she was there.  The one who would one day become my wife.  Of course I didn’t know it at the time, and I remember thinking, even when I asked if I could add her to my Facebook, “she won’t ever be interested in me.”

That led to friendship…which 4 months later led to dating, and six months later led to engagement, and a year and 3 months later, marriage.

After more than two decades of searching and dating and trying and failing and being rejected, I finally found what I had searched for.  Someone who loved me, who believed I was worth loving.  And when I realized this last week, I knew that I had to pass the message on to everyone else…

Keep Going.  Never Give Up.  Even If You Don’t Believe

The same goes for writing.  Hell, the same goes for everything in life, but since this is a writing blog, let’s focus on that.

Writers get rejections, from agents and editors.  But does that mean you’re unworthy, that your stories aren’t worthy, and you should stop trying?  If JK Rowling had stopped trying after her first couple of rejections, Harry Potter would not be the phenomenon that it is today.

Writers get bad reviews, on Amazon and everywhere else.  Does this mean that their novel is really horrible and not worth reading?  If you get a few bad reviews, should you take it to heart and stop writing?  Everyone gets bad reviews.  Every book.  Take a look at your favorite book on Amazon, no matter how good it is, and you’ll find one-star reviews.  Even Ready Player One, which is now a major motion picture making millions, got one-star reviews.

What if you get published, or are self-published, and your books aren’t selling well?  Should you just…stop?  No.  First, harkening back to a blog I wrote about an author who re-branded his books, his initial publication was getting him few sales.  When he learned from his mistakes and re-branded his book, he started selling thousands of copies.

If you don’t believe in yourself, but you’re still passionate, GO FOR IT!  Don’t stop!!!  Keep doing it, if for no other reason than your love of it, your passion, your desire to make it, your desire to write and get readers.

Keep.  Going.

Because even if it takes decades, one day, whether you believe in yourself or not, someone else might.  And then your books will sell.  And you’ll write more.  And more.  And more.  And before you know it, you’ve achieved your ultimate goals.

The other option is to give up.  But then you’ll be left wondering for the rest of your life, “What if?”

Photo by my new Mother-in-Law :)

If I gave up…I’d never have met my Starshine.  Never would have asked for her hand in marriage.  Never cried the happiest tears of my life when I watched her walk down the aisle towards me.

What might you risk never seeing if you give up?

What might you never get to experience if you don’t try?

“What if I fail?”  Rubbish question.  “What if I succeed?”  Now that is a question worth pondering…

Warmer in the Winter Concert – Lindsey Stirling

Hi everyone!

Last night, my fiancee and I had the exciting experience of attending Lindsey Stirling’s Warmer in the Winter concert!  This is the fourth Stirling concert I’ve been to, and as is always the case, I was not disappointed!

Image Source – https://twitter.com/lindseystirling/status/931781927937261568

But why am I talking about concerts on a blog about writing?  Because of Stirling’s history, where she was and how far she’s come, and how she’s gotten there.

Because there are days when I need a reminder…

I know I’ve talked about Lindsey Stirling before, in fact it was after the first concert I attended that I made the decision to self-publish.  Not only does her music speak to me, but the story of her rise to stardom has inspired me.

And last night’s concert reminded me why.  During one of the breaks between numbers, she spoke of how she gets to live her dream every day because of her fans, but before her rise, she would play anywhere and everywhere she could get a gig, even in school cafeterias.  She did anything she could to get her voice, or rather her violin, heard.

Image Source – speakola.com

She got her shot when she tried out on America’s Got Talent, but was shot down by the judges.  I can imagine how she must have felt, being told she wasn’t good enough.  And somehow that reminded me of Peter Dinklage’s speech that I wrote about several months ago, when he mentions how the world will keep telling you that you aren’t ready.

Now Lindsey is one of the most popular performers out there today, and her star shines brighter than ever.

How many times have people told me that I’ll never make it as a writer?  That it’s impossible?  That it’s a pipe dream?  There are days when I find myself wondering if those people are right.

But there was something else Stirling spoke about that struck a chord in my heart and helped me regain my composure.  It was when she spoke about her battle with depression, when she used to look in the mirror and wonder if she had anything worth contributing to the world.

Fast forward several years later, and the answer is yes, she did have something worthwhile to contribute.

These concerts, her story, they remind me that though I may run into roadblocks often, though I sometimes look in the mirror and wonder…I believe I do have something worthwhile to contribute.

And so I keep going.  I keep writing.  I keep publishing.  I may never have a rapid rise to stardom, but I know that if I keep going, if I keep working hard at it, then no matter what happens, I’ll have left something behind that is worthwhile.

Plus, I’m reminded often that there are people who like my stories.  I’ve sold hundreds of copies of the first Sword of Dragons novel through Kindle and print, and the Amazon reviews may not be numerous, but they are positive.

Not to mention the positive things people say to me when they meet me.  Or when they send me emails.  I recently received an email from a long-time reader of my fan fiction series, expressing his sadness that I’m shutting down my fan fiction website in the near future.  He was emailing me back in the early 2000’s when STDragon was still live!

So I just need to remember all of those facts.  Remember the fans, those who have read all of my work, who encourage me to write more, and just keep going.  Someday, I’ll get to write full time, even if it isn’t until I retire from I.T. work.  Until then, I’ll just keep going.

I’ll never give up.