[Ficbit] Final Fantasy VIII // Good Seeds Grow Well

[spindizzy]

thebaconfat prompted me a while ago for Seifer/Zell and first aid, and I decided to type up the fic I wrote for her, so I had a text copy rather than a photo! In the process of which I went "Hey, I should rewrite this while I'm doing this!" which... Removed the Zell? And... Ugh. I'm not 100% happy with this, because I know I can do better, but I'm not sure how. *gets back to AGGRESSIVELY PRACTICING*

(*adds "Mission Fic: Seifer and Zell get assigned to explore that one excavation rig full of white dragons or whatever it is" to to-do list*)

Final Fantasy VIII // Good Seeds Grow Well
G | 200 words | Seifer | Second person | There's a difference between good SeeDs and bad SeeDs. This difference is mostly hit points.

Garden teaches that if you're a good SeeD - if you're prepared, if you've junctioned enough curatives, if you packed enough potions - you're going to complete your missions and walk away alive.

If that starts to look like it might not be true - if, say, you're miles underwater on an excavation rig; if every mile has been carved through fiends and monsters; if you used all of your potions an hour ago and every time you reach for a Cure or a Life you're making yourself weaker - well, you can't have been a very good SeeD.

Garden says that you were never going to be a good SeeD - no matter how well prepared you are, how many times you take the exam, how many times you grit your teeth and just follow orders, Seifer, for god's sake, you can't beat fate. That's why you're on this bullshit mission in the first place.

You shred your coat for bandage, scavenge what you can, and you keep going. It doesn't matter whether Garden thinks you're a good SeeD or not, because the proof is in whether you can complete your mission, and you are getting this job done.

Comments

[thebaconfat]

I really like the structure and flow of this, the repetition -- I get this great sense of Seifer staggering forward, one step at a time, one fight at a time.

if you used all of your potions an hour ago and every time you reach for a Cure or a Life you're making yourself weaker

This is still one of my favourite lines. yessssss using in-game mechanics.

And I love the third paragraph -- how much Seifer is hurt, frustrated, pissed off and really motivated by everybody's dismissal of him. It both makes me think about how fucked up it is that people don't trust him because he's always been a shit -- only no-one can remember how that all started, and now it's just this weird self-perpetuating cycle where all the orphanage kids can't really change because they have no past and can't remember their own mistakes. Everyone gets better and better at their skills without ever maturing very much emotionally.

I can't remember whether Cid ever admits anything about the memory loss issue, or if he's even aware of how severe it is -- all the kids still act like themselves, and still act on those memories, even if they don't have them.

Sorry, that was a big tangent. FFVIII has so many creepy and horrible implications.

And this! With the implied but sort-of-necessary victim-blaming of 'oh, that SeeD died? they must not have been a good SeeD then'. And how much of that comes from Seifer's distorted ideas about Garden and how much of it comes from Garden's need to reassure a school full of children that they totally won't die on their next deadly mission as long as they're prepared and good at their jobs.

Anyway, I went back to reread the paper version of this and I wish Twitter would let me favourite things multiple times. I miss the Zell in this version but I can see why you've reworked it this way. How are you so good at writing Seifer as a dick while also making him really sympathetic and heartbreaking? Especially the follow orders, Seifer, for god's sake. Perfect.

And you don't even know how badly I want to read that mission fic!! Or any mission fic by you!!

I just realized I've asked for a lot of 'first aid' prompts from you. I hope that's okay! I mean, it's a pretty versatile prompt! And you wrote this for it, which is fantastic!!