Final Call for Ask the Star Ocean Character - Maria Traydor/Hair Color/Fanfic - Strong

[star_ocean_fan]

This is the final call for Ask the Star Ocean Character - Maria Traydor. You have until midnight Wednesday, April 11, 2012, to submit your inquiries. I'm now changing it to a limit of THREE questions per person. If you've already asked a question, you have two more you can ask. You can submit questions via reply or PM. As I've said before, if you wish to remain "anonymous" or have a specific name you'd like for me to use, please let me know, and I will accommodate you.

The next character lined up for Ask the Star Ocean Character is Meracle Chamlotte. Inquiries can be submitted as soon as the call for it is announced, which will be Thursday, April 12, 2012.

Also, an unrelated announcement: There will be a one-shot posted on Tuesday, April 24, 2012, specifically for Arumat P. Thanatos as it is his official birthday. :) I will accept one-shots and artwork to celebrate the fighting tank's birthday as well. For fanfiction, please use this format:
Title
Rating
Warnings (if applicable)
Summary
Disclaimer
Author's Notes (if applicable)

All artwork and fanfic can be emailed to me at luthersfayt@gmail.com

No, I will not be doing an impromptu segment of Ask the Star Ocean Character for Arumat that day nor will I be conducting his character study. That is reserved for a later date.

I have thought of doing this for some time, and I know I've missed the March birthdays for The Last Hope cast. I will make up for it. The next birthday coming up, I do believe, is Edge Maverick on July 30. (I'd like to be able to do this for all Star Ocean characters, but it appears as if The Last Hope cast members are the only ones available. Kind of a bummer. I'd love to know when Fayt's birthday is.) I have no idea what the strategy guides for First Departure and Second Evolution say for those characters so . . . As of right now, the only ones with birthdays, to my knowledge, are the ones from The Last Hope.

Yeah, that makes me sad.

* * * *

I really don't have much in mind for a writing/conversation topic today . . . I still am open to suggestions (please put Writing Topic in the reply subject so I know to write an entry for it, not just a reply back). I'm even open to suggestions for games 1 and 2, though I've yet to play them. Those I will save for a later date, like after I've played, but I am open to those suggestions! This blog isn't just about Till the End of Time and The Last Hope. It's for ALL Star Ocean games. I'm the one that's limited in what to talk about right now. That's all.

I am considering a bit of a short subject . . . namely the hair color for the heroes in each game and something that seems to be a bit of a pattern . . . Here's what I mean.

Now, I own all four of the major games. I'm still looking to get my paws on Blue Sphere, even though it'll only be in Japanese, unless Square Enix gets it translated and released for something like the DS or PSP (which they did with First Departure and Second Evolution). Here is what I'm noticing about hair color.

The hero for Game 1/First Departure, Roddick Farrence, has blue hair, albeit somewhat of a pale blue.
The hero for Second Story/Second Evolution, Claude C. Kenny, has blond hair.
The hero for Till the End of Time, Fayt Leingod (or Fate Linegod), has blue hair, which is a darker shade of blue.
The hero for The Last Hope, Edge Maverick, has blond hair.

See the pattern? ^_^

What I find interesting about these main characters is this: With the exception of Roddick, who is a lesser Fellpool/Feline Folk and a descendant of Elena Farrence and Crowe F. Almedio (whose human blood would be so miniscule, chances are it doesn't exist anymore), the rest of the heroes are human. Of those humans, Fayt is the only one who is a "blue-nette". This, naturally, comes from his mother, who is also a blue-nette. I am guessing that Ilia Silvestri is Claude's mom, hence his hair being blond, but no one knows about Edge or why his hair is blond. Perhaps both of his parents, who are deceased by the time the events of the game happen,were blonds. Anything is possible, right?

Even more interesting to me is this: With the exceptions of Fayt Leingod and Maria Traydor, any humans in the parties have natural hair colors. Ilia, Cliff, Peppita,and Mirage are blondes, Ronyx, Reimi, Ashton, and Sophia are brunettes, and Nel and Crowe are redheads. Albel, of course, is a little unusual with his two-tone hair, but even then it's a blond/brunette combination, not green or blue. Most of the alien races have different hair colors: Faize - light green, Arumat - silver, Meracle - blue, Myuria - pink, Celine - purple, Sarah - redhead . . . well, you get the idea. From pictures, I know Ashton is a brunette. Roger is as well . . . unfortunately, I don't know all of the cast members aside from what information is in my game manuals so if I've missed anyone, I do apologize.

Does this mean there is alien blood somewhere in the Leingod family line? Possibly. That bit of speculation I leave to my fellow fans.

But it still is interesting to see that pattern. Don't you think so?

* * * *

Title: Strong
World: Till the End of Time
Characters/Pairing: Luther Lansfeld, Fayt Leingod, Luther Lansfeld x Fayt Leingod
Rating: PG-ish
Warnings: Yaoi
Summary: He had always desired to be strong, but in his mind, he would always believe himself to be weak.
Disclaimer: I do not own Till the End of Time or the characters of Fayt Leingod and Luther Lanseld. They belong to Tri-Ace and Square Enix respectively.  I do not profit financially from writing this story (or this blog).

 

Strong.

He had always wanted to be strong, capable of tackling and handling any situation that could potentially come his way. There was much he had to prove, after all, to himself and to the world as he knew it. The only child of not just one but two famous parents, people expected him to be just like them, maybe even greater than they were. His parents had been pioneers in their field of study, and they had made dozens of groundbreaking discoveries. They had helped to improve the lives of so many others through their research alone. People wanted him . . . no . . . they did not want him to do the same great things as his parents. They expected him to be like his parents. Even his childhood friend wanted him, them, to be like his parents, the two of them working together always. She had often talked of how they could try and surpass the collected geniuses his parents had created.

A cool hand touched upon the center of his forehead, the fingertips having been dabbed into warm, scented oil, and Fayt leaned into the touch, never once bothering to open his eyes. The faint aroma of lavender invaded his senses, and Fayt inhaled deeply. It pleased him, for some reason, this bizarre ritual he now endured. Every day, the same person came to him and touched his forehead, the scent of lavender always in the air. Having the contact with this person soothed him, though he could no longer remember why.

So many truths had come to light, truths he found too overwhelming to bear. The strength he desired and believed he had always possessed evaporated like water in molten lava. In the face of an oncoming storm, a storm in which the fate of everything he knew rested on his shoulders, he wilted and crumbled on the inside, crying for his parents like a little, lost child. He was not strong, he had never been strong, but he had pretended to be strong. For the sake of his friends, Fayt lied about his abilities when all the time he felt scared, cast adrift, lost, and abandoned. No one understood. No one had bothered.

"You're remembering again," a silken voice murmured. "You should stop. It upsets you."

Fayt finally opened his eyes to find an azure gaze upon him and a halo of reddish gold light. The same hand on his forehead moved, traveling down the right side of his face.

"I was thinking," he said.

"Remembering," his companion corrected. A smirk started to grace his companion's god-like features. "I can tell by the way your eyes were closed. Who were you remembering, if you do not mind me asking."

"I don't mind," Fayt said. "And I was thinking of my parents, my friends . . ."

"How things were before . . ."

"Yes," Fayt confirmed. His gaze traveled to the ceiling and focused on nothing in particular. "How things were."

"You felt you were weak back then," his companion said.

"I still do," he admitted. "I still am weak. There's nothing else to it."

"There is strength in weakness."

"Funny hearing you, of all people, saying that."

The blue-eyed man laughed, a rather musical sound. Fayt rather liked it, and he often wished his companion would laugh more often.

"You did the impossible, did you not? You defeated the Creator and saved the world as you knew it. Such a phrase is easy to say when one considers all of your accomplishments."

"Do you really think so? Saying that, I mean."

Fayt remembered the battle with the Creator and vividly so. He had been the only one Luther Lansfeld had attacked, had truly attacked. Everyone else – Sophia, Maria, Cliff, even Albel – had been ignored. Whenever they had advanced towards him, Luther sent them flying. Then he finally had erected a barrier so no one except Fayt could reach him. Bloodied and bruised and battle-weary, Fayt had fought on even as fear and Luther's immense power washed over him. Eventually, he had collapsed, what little bit of strength he'd had spent. Fayt remembered no more after that, except for waking up on the Diplo, Sophia and Maria standing over him, their expressions filled with worry.

"There is strength in weakness, Fayt. If I did not believe, I would not have said it."

Fayt smiled at those words. Of course, his companion believed in what he said. He claimed Fayt had taught him as much, but the blue-haired young man remembered no such lesson. There were huge gaps in his memory, events that took place before and after the Creator's defeat he knew he should have recollections of but they were no longer there. Among those missing memories happened to be his companion's arrival. When and where they had met, Fayt could not say. It simply felt as if the blue-eyed man had been there all along. For all Fayt knew, his companion had always been with him and indulging him in this strange ritual.

"You're smiling."

"I am?" Fayt blinked.

"Yes."

"Oh."

"It was something I said?" his companion asked.

"Yeah . . . I guess so."

Carefully, Fayt pushed himself into a sitting position. He ignored the stabs of pain shooting through his legs and lower back as he did. His companion's arms automatically wrapped around his waist in assistance, and Fayt leaned against him, inhaling deeply. Along with the scent of lavender, he caught a faint hint of something other fragrance, something he could not identify just yet, but he knew he liked it.

"You should be resting, Fayt. You are not fully healed."

"I am resting," Fayt said. "I just want to sit up for a moment."

"This I can see. The question is why. You are still recovering."

"I'm tired of laying down." Fayt's breath hitched a little as he spoke, a different twinge of pain singing along with what he already felt. Tears stung his eyes, and he collapsed forward, his head resting on his companion's shoulder. The movement was too much, but, for the life of him, Fayt could not remember what had happened to him for his body and memory to be in shambles. Helplessness and despair washed over him, and he clung to the blue-eyed man desperately. His companion was the only one in whom he found comfort. He did not feel strong, not anymore, and the sensation alone was enough to break his heart.
 

* * *

Luther held the blue-haired man as Fayt cried himself to the point of exhaustion. Over and over again, Fayt berated himself for his failings, calling himself weak and worthless. Repeatedly, he questioned why Luther stayed with him. The blond-haired man let the emotions pour out of Fayt offering reassurances when and where needed until they no longer could come forth, and the embodiment of Destruction slept. Then Luther brushed back tear-dampened bangs and lowered the younger man back onto the bed, peace finally reigning over Fayt's body. Pain no longer wracked his body. It grieved him that he could not do anything more for the younger man. All of the medications they had tried had stopped working some time before. Now all that seemed to soothe Fayt were the daily rituals with the warmed lavender oil and the crying sessions.

"You're wrong, my love," he murmured. "You are not weak. You never have been and you never will be. You, Fayt Leingod, are strong, stronger than what you realize. I just wish there was more I could do for you."

He kissed the younger man's hand and forehead before stretching out alongside Fayt. They both needed the rest, the last several minutes the most draining yet the most productive.

Despite his earlier words, Luther wanted Fayt to remember the past. He needed for Fayt to recall the events that had led them to where they currently were. If Fayt did not remember in a timely fashion, the Eternal Sphere would be gone.

Forever.