B R O K E N P R I S M

Same As It Never Was

Fandom: FFVIII
Cast: Rinoa, Squall, Quistis, Laguna, Ellone (starring with Kiros, Watts, Zone, Ward, and Angelo)
Ships: Rinoa/Squall, Kiros/Laguna, Laguna/Squall, Quistis/Rinoa, Quistis/Squall, Quistis/Rinoa/Squall.
Rating: R (individual chapters PG-13 to R)
Warnings: Well, PLEASE reference the list of pairings for all relevant warnings!

Other Relevant Tags: oh shit it's a long final fantasy fic get in the car!, the fandom hell bus has arrived honk, no I am not going that way, sqwhale, incest, no seriously this fic is freaking long we are not kidding, meta, magic meta, suddenly bechdel, we ship everyone/kiros

Notes: Co-Written with justira, this is the fic that blossomed from our innocent desire to write some incest into one of the most epic and awesome projects I have ever worked on; it will likely be around 200K and 2011 by the time we're done with it.

Thanks: to renay, katmillia, and safety_caesars for beta, critique, comments, and cheering. ♥


Summary: Rinoa's gone public as a Sorceress and is campaigning for Timber's independence, Laguna's steering Esthar's re-emergence, Galbadia won't give up, Squall's dealing with the political fallout as Garden Commander -- and in case no one has enough on their plates, something's wrong with the Sorceress-Knight Bond. When terrorists attack Timber in the middle of Squall and Rinoa's argument over where the new Garden should go -- Timber or Esthar? -- they decide to take a break, hoping that if they can sort out the politics in their separate spheres, they can come back and sort through the quietly desperate mess of their private lives and repair their Bond.

Sorceresses still make the world nervous and Galbadia won't let Timber go; Esthar needs to come out of hiding and Garden needs to decide its place in the world. Four lives are unraveling -- but maybe, between them, they can find the answers...

Same As It Never Was
on AO3 || on ff.net

Reading Guide

This guide, like the story itself, contains massive spoilers for FFVIII.





( The Incest-Free Guide to Same As It Never Was )

Read the Squall-flavoured summaries if you really really really want to avoid any hint of squick, don't mind being spoiled for plot-relevancy, and don't mind missing out on the character development.

Read the Laguna summaries if you want to avoid being spoiled for the story's plot, want to see the character development, and generally want to get as close as possible to reading the story without the Laguna/Squall.

So, let's go folks!

---

Chapter 1
Free and clear!

Chapter 2
Free and clear!

Chapter 3
Free and clear!

Chapter 4
Free and clear!

Chapter 5
Free and clear!

Chapter 6
Action: Commence being wary. Most of the chapter is all right, just bonding stuff. The very last scene is NOT all right. If you're curious, feel free to read up until the late scene with Ellone on the train. If you are not sure, skip, and read one of the following summaries to stay caught up!

( Squall's Summary, Chapter 6 )

( Laguna's Summary, Chapter 6 )

Keeping It Secret

Fandom: FFVIII
Characters/Pairings: Quistis/Irvine
Rating: PG ffffffff I am really bad at following through on my makeouts this week, sorry XD

For: The Alphabet Meme, astrangerenters, for S: "Keeping it Secret", Quistis/Irvine

Summary: "Mister Kinneas," she said slowly, enunciating the title. "I believe you have an assignment to complete."

( Keeping It Secret )

Contact

Fandom: FFVIII
Pairing: Seifer/Quistis
Rating: PG-13

for irish_ais, for her birthday
for shanaqui, who requested it


( Contact )

The Odds Are In, Chapter 4

Fandom: FFVIII
Characters: Quistis, Irvine, Laguna, Kiros
Rating: PG-13 as a whole (this? PG)

Summary: Squall sends Quistis and Irvine on a mission to Esthar, in the midst of political (and familial) unrest. Will they end up facing down the terrorists they suspect are behind Esthar's current political uprisings? Or is Laguna paying millions of gil for two very skilled Triple Triad partners?

Notes: This is a total piece of comfort-writing, after the hellish fuckjob that March has been. Somewhat inspired by the shenanigans at lunaticdiscord, but also simply somewhat an excuse for me to write some fun characters that come easily to catch up almost 10,000 words on getyourwordsout.

The Odds Are In will be a series of connected ficlets / scenes / vignettes / pieces. Some will have plot, some will just be scenes. This month's goal: WORDS. The tag for this series is here.

( The Odds Are In [4] )

The Odds Are In, Chapter 2

Fandom: FFVIII
Characters: Quistis, Irvine
Rating: PG-13 as a whole (this? PG)

Summary: Squall sends Quistis and Irvine on a mission to Esthar, in the midst of political (and familial) unrest. Will they end up facing down the terrorists they suspect are behind Esthar's current political uprisings? Or is Laguna paying millions of gil for two very skilled Triple Triad partners?

Notes: This is a total piece of comfort-writing, after the hellish fuckjob (okay, PG) that March has been. Somewhat inspired by the shenanigans at lunaticdiscord, but also simply somewhat an excuse for me to write some fun characters that come easily to catch up almost 10,000 words on getyourwordsout.

The Odds Are In will be a series of connected ficlets / scenes / vignettes / pieces. Some will have plot, some will just be scenes. This month's goal: WORDS. The tag for this series is here.

( The Odds Are In [2] )

Teaching

Fandom: FFVIII
Pairing: Quistis/Rinoa
Rating: PG

Notes: for churched's prompt on ff_kissbattle. It became much too long! This always happens!
Also for fated_children, Q/R claim.

Summary: A sleepless night in Balamb; Rinoa looks to understand, and Quistis can't really explain.

( Teaching )

NOTE: Moved from the original post for archiving purposes. ff_press, please ignore. Original post is here for anyone who wants to read the original comments. Sorry for the confusion.


Guardian of Respite

Fandom: FFVIII/FFX
Pairing: Quistis/Auron
Rating: PG-13

Prompt: 1 (Auron), 2 (Quistis), "rash"

( Guardian of Respite )

How Not to Date Blondes, Ch 18: In Which Quistis Loses Her Composure
Authors: first_seventhe and rosencrantz
Fandom: FFVIII
Characters/Pairings: Quistis/Zell
Rating: NC-17

ff.net for censored version || enkida also contains uncensored version || or see below

( Part II )

Seifer Attempts To Woo His Trenchcoat

By mrsteninch and first_seventhe
Fandom: FFVIII
Characters: Seifer, Quistis, Coat
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: absolute crack

From here.

( Seifer and the Trenchcoat )

Feel free to continue in comments. I am definitely on crack.

From the Mouths of Monsters (2)
Canon: FFIV / FFVIII Crossover
Rating: PG-13, for now
Characters: Quistis, Rydia, Kadowaki
Notes: This is complete crack. Take with grain of salt and sense of humor.

"What do you want me to do?" Squall asked finally, sliding the top piece of paper towards Quistis. "I have to sign off on whether or not I believe this woman could be a threat to Garden. And all I've got to go on so far are the two of you spouting things about how her magic feels."

( From the Mouths of Monsters )