Old Fanfiction Book Club: Trapped in the Game
A while back, I revisited and annotated my earliest fic, Rachel's Pokémon Journey, for a project I called Old Fanfiction Book Club.
None of my other early fics were quite as ambitious as Rachel's Pokémon Journey, but I've got a few other embarrassing works of youthful fanfiction under my belt. Here's a one-off Old Fanfiction Book Club for Trapped in the Game, the Final Fantasy X self-insert I started at the age of thirteen and got exactly three chapters into before I abandoned it.
I've lost the original author's notes for this, but I remember assuring the readers that I wasn't actually planning to make it a Tidus/Riona fic. I was aware of the concept of a 'Mary-Sue' and deeply afraid of falling into that trap. Apparently, my technique for not creating a Mary-Sue was making my self-insert make a prat of herself at every opportunity.
Introduction
“Game Over? No WAY!” she yelled, throwing the controller down. “Never trust to luck, Riona,” she advised herself - yet again. “Never. Trust. To. Luck. You switch Tidus in, use the Brotherhood’s Sensor to check the enemy’s HP and weaknesses, then you act appropriately. You DON’T whack it with Dragon Fang and expect it to just keel over and die! And you DON’T - you DON’T let anything Petrify your ENTIRE TEAM!”
I did indeed get a Game Over while playing Final Fantasy X because my whole team got petrified. It was in Macalania Forest and I was very unhappy about it.
Incidentally, this is not the end of the paragraph; it just keeps going. This note breaks it up, but the opening paragraph of this fic was a full two hundred words long.
The girl sat there fuming for a moment, then considered her options. She could just go back to her last save point and work from there - but a Game Over always killed off the urge to play for a while. Riona reached for the on/off switch, but then reconsidered. There was nothing stopping her from starting up a new FFX game - she might discover some new stuff, and there was plenty she wanted to do. Like perfect the Jecht Shot. Or win the Blitzball game against the Luca Goers. Or defeat that stupid Chocobo Eater without getting shoved off a cliff. She could always go back to her old game - but it made her feel a lot more secure to have a backup. Riona smiled. “Second save it is, then.”
Wow, all the things I failed to do on my first playthrough evidently really smarted. Yes, I failed the Jecht Shot minigame and the Blitzball game and the Chocobo Eater battle. I succeeded on later playthroughs, so I’ve managed to leave behind thirteen-year-old Riona’s frustration!
Immediately restarting the game from the beginning seems like a strange response to being annoyed by a Game Over.
She hit the ‘New Game’ button, and watched as the opening scene played out. She grinned to herself at the close-up of Tidus on the cliff. Wow, he was a bishounen.
I cannot handle the line ‘Wow, he was a bishounen.’ I can’t believe I wrote it. I can’t believe I have to read it two decades later with my own eyes.
“It’d be so cool if I could meet him...” she murmured to herself, starting to feel sleepy. As her eyes slowly closed, the room around her dissolved into a hazy blur of green and blue.
Chapter 1 - Riona's view.
This whole story seems crazy. I know it does. But it’s all true, I swear. Every word of it is true.
You don’t believe me? Fine. Listen to my story, then work it out for yourself.
Why was the introduction in third person if I was going to switch into first person immediately?
I’m delighted that I worked the phrase ‘Listen to my story’ into the opening of this Final Fantasy X fic. I bet I was really proud of myself.
“Uh... ughnaa?”
I opened my eyes, and slowly the world came back into focus. Directly above me - starry sky. I staggered to my feet and looked around, wondering - quite naturally - what the hell happened. To both sides were massive buildings, the wide path I was on seemingly suspended in mid-air. At the end of the path I could make out what appeared to be a large stadium. A chill gust of wind swept past, and I shivered. There was no doubt in my mind of where I was.
“Zanarkand.”
But how could I be here? And how could I get back home? If I’d been somehow sucked into the game - how on Earth could that have happened? - then it was probably at the start, when... I suddenly heard an announcer’s voice.
I feel I’d probably have a stronger reaction to finding myself in a videogame.
“...And the Jecht Memorial Cup is today, folks! We’re all DYING to see...”
That confirmed it. The Jecht Memorial Cup... there was something important that would happen - but all I remembered about the plot of the game was slowly draining out of my mind... what was it...
When Sin attacked.
I had to warn Tidus!
Again, I’m not sure warning the fictional characters about upcoming fictional events would be my first priority if I woke up in a videogame world.
How do you put someone who’s played Final Fantasy X into the game without completely derailing the game’s plot? Easy: just have her lose all her memories of the game for no reason.
Pushing my hair out of my eyes and casting frantically around, I caught sight of an excited knot of people a little way behind me. That could be it.
I charged.
“TIDUS!”
There he was, signing some kid’s Blitzball. I skidded to a halt in front of him. “Tidus! Zanarkand, it...”
“Huh?” he asked, handing the Blitzball back to the kid and turning to face me.
“I...” I paused, confused. “I can’t remember anything...”
He looked at me, concerned. “You okay?”
“Uh...” I mumbled, “I think so. I’m sure there was something important I had to tell you...”
Tidus grinned, and I almost melted. He was so cute... “Can’t have been more important than the Blitzball game, could it?”
I’m horrified by every reminder of my teenage crush on Tidus.
“No,” I admitted. “I guess not. Name’s Riona, and...” I paused. I had a dim feeling that I shouldn’t go telling people about my real-life. All I could remember about the game was Tidus’ name, the crush I had on him, and Blitzball. And the fact that everyone seemed to be able to breathe underwater.
Could I breathe underwater? Spotting a fountain, I ran to it and rammed my head under the water, forcing myself - though my mind resisted fiercely - to breathe in. It was fine - just like air, in fact. I smiled to myself and pulled my head out. Turning around, I saw Tidus looking like he was trying not to laugh.
“Riona, huh? Nice to meet ya.” I felt myself blushing - in the middle of speaking to my hero, I’d gone and shoved my head in a fountain. Not the smartest-looking thing to do. I started stuttering.
“Uh... sorry. I, erm, needed to cool down. Can I... erm...” I picked up a stray Blitzball. “Can I have your autograph?” I blurted.
Tidus took the ball and signed it, still shaking with silent laughter. He handed it back, then grinned at everyone there. “Okay, I’ve gotta go now. Cheer for me!” He began running down the path, and one firm idea popped spontaneously into my head: follow him.
What is this scene??? I don’t even have any commentary to offer here. I’m just baffled.
I raced down the path after him. Whoa, he could run! I was having a hard time keeping up with him - but I kept going, and seemed to be gaining on him. At last he reached the Blitzball stadium, where he was held up by a huge crowd. I plunged into it, following him, but was abruptly shunted to one side and was forced to grab the closest object to keep my balance. “Hey, let go of me!” Tidus yelled. Oops. I let go and hurled myself through the crowd before he could see who had grabbed his arm.
Tidus does indeed say ‘Hey, let go of me!’ while pushing through the crowd to the stadium, thus proving that I am canonically a character in Final Fantasy X.
Finally I got through to the front and hurtled to the nearest shelter - which happened to be the entrance to the stadium. I ran to the side and scrambled up onto the parapet, from there into an empty seat. As the match began, with a stunning opening, I felt sure that I would be able to play Blitzball. I could make my own team - it wouldn’t matter whether we won or lost, all I wanted to do was play it. To feel the complete freedom.
I am absolutely certain that I would be terrible at Blitzball.
And as I watched the game, as I leapt and cheered along with the crowd... suddenly getting back to my normal life really didn’t seem so important anymore.
I can’t believe I’ve been in this world for twenty minutes and I’ve already written off my entire existence on Earth. I’ve gazed longingly at Tidus, stuck my head in a fountain and watched half a game of sportsball, and apparently this beats anything my real life has to offer.
This is a very embarrassing experience. Let’s plough on!
How long did the game last? It could have been hours, for all I knew. I was completely caught up in the game’s excitement, its energy. So much so, in fact, that I almost forgot to dodge when Tidus tackled a rival player right OUT of the Blitzball sphere.
A game of Blitzball is ten minutes long when you’re actually playing it, although I suppose that’s not necessarily in-universe canon.
It’s weird to see Fic Me so enthusiastic about a sport! I’ve never been a sports person.
The Zanarkand Abes were one goal up, when Tidus slammed the ball straight up into the air and then shot out after it. As if in slow motion, he flipped over in mid air. The stands filled with excited voices.
“I think he’s trying the Jecht Shot!”
“No WAY!”
His eyes locked on the Blitzball, Tidus seemed to hang suspended.
Suddenly a blast rocked the stadium, and the entire Blitzball sphere exploded outwards.
~Tidus’ View~
Extremely elegant perspective transitions.
I don’t remember much of that doomed Blitzball game. All I know is that I leapt from the water in a crazy attempt to do my old man’s famous shot - and suddenly there wasn’t water anymore.
I grabbed onto a ledge, trying to keep myself from falling. I was swinging crazily, pain shooting up my arm. When I attempted to pull myself up onto the ledge, my hand slipped and I fell. All I remember then is blackness.
When I regained consciousness, the first thing I was aware of was a sharp pain on my cheek and someone yelling.
“-ke UP, wake UP, wake UP...”
I opened my eyes, and assumed that the fuzzy bluish thing slapping my face was a person.
I describe Riona as ‘bluish’ because, in my head, she’s wearing blue clothes. In fact, although I don't make this clear in the fic, I envisioned her wearing Rinoa's clothes from Final Fantasy VIII, just to be confusing.
I concentrated, and slowly everything came into focus. I staggered to my feet, wincing at the pain in my head, and looked at whatever had been slapping me. Would you believe it - it was a person. A girl, not looking much younger than myself. I suddenly recognised her. “Hey - you’re that weird girl!”
She looked offended - quite understandably, really. “I prefer ‘Riona’.”
I’ll give thirteen-year-old me some characterisation credit here; Tidus would absolutely put his foot in it by going ‘hey, you’re that weird girl!’
I smiled weakly. “Riona. Right. Hey-” I stared at a nearby person. “Auron! What’re you doing here?”
“I was waiting for you,” he replied, standing up.
“Friend of yours?” asked Riona.
I can’t believe my convenient memory loss let me remember Blitzball but obliterated Auron entirely.
“In a manner of speaking. What’re you talking about, Auron?”
“You’ll see, soon enough. Who’s the girl?”
“She’s called Riona.” I explained. Auron looked at me with a half-smile. “Whatever you’re thinking of, it’s not that.”
She slapped you awake when you were unconscious! Romance is clearly in the air.
“Maybe she should come, too...” Auron mused to himself, then spoke to Riona. “Can you fight?”
~Riona’s View~
“WHAT? Why?” Tidus and I demanded simultaneously.
“Just answer the question,” the man - Auron - said sternly. “You can worry why later.”
“Uh... I suppose so...” I said, confused. “I don’t have a weapon, though...”
You absolute liar; you can’t fight!
“Hey,” called Tidus. “How about this?” He indicated a tree. I came and saw what looked like a hilt of a sword sticking out of it.
“Wow. Convenient.” I reached for it, but then stopped. “Too convenient. It’s suspicious.” I examined the hilt closely. “Hmmm...”
I was about to comment on how convenient it was, but apparently I’m way ahead of me.
“Just take it!” snapped Auron.
“Okay, okay!” I grabbed the hilt and yanked the sword out of the tree. And gasped.
The blade was beautiful - flame-red, orange and yellow, the shimmering colours seeming to move and shift. It glowed and flickered like fire made solid. I stared at it, stunned.
And then the pain started.
Agony beyond anything I have ever felt! Pain blazed through my arms, through my legs, making every nerve in my body scream. In too much pain even to cry out, I tried to hurl the sword away from me and couldn’t - it stuck to my hand as if it had fused there.
Even as a kid, I was embarrassed by the line ‘Agony beyond anything I have ever felt!’ It was just too dramatic. It haunted me.
As abruptly as the pain had started, it stopped. I tried to drop the sword - there was obviously something strange about it - but it wouldn’t leave my hand. I passed it from my right hand to my left, and back again. It passed easily enough, but the only way I could get it out of my hands was to put it on my back, where it stuck as if to a magnet.
I’m not a Mary-Sue, I promise; I’m just an ordinary person who happens to have a RAD EVIL SWORD THAT I CAN’T PUT DOWN.
I also like ‘there was obviously something strange about it’; it’s just so understated. Hmm, this sword caused me hideous pain as soon as I touched it and fused to my hand; there’s obviously something strange about it.
I can’t remember if there was any particular reason for the sword to adhere magically to me, but I suspect it’s just that Riona didn’t have a scabbard and I didn’t want to make her carry the sword all the time, which meant I’d have to remember that her hand was occupied. Therefore, magical sword that sticks to her back. That’s weapon transportation sorted.
Tidus stared. “What... was THAT?”
“Painful,” I mumbled. I slipped the sword onto my back. “There’s something weird about this sword - it REALLY hurt, and now I can’t get rid of it!”
Auron stood calmly. “You have a weapon now. Let’s go.” He ran ahead. Tidus and I - after exchanging odd looks and shrugs - quickly followed. I had an odd feeling life was going to get even weirder soon.
I can believe Auron’s muted reactions to the weird shit going on. Riona’s ‘huh, weird’ reaction to waking up in a game doesn’t make much sense, but Auron watching me writhe in agony as a sword fuses itself to me, then going ‘you have a weapon now; let’s go’? I can buy it.
I was ahead of Tidus as we pursued Auron. Can you imagine how surprised I was when Tidus suddenly seemed to teleport about five paces in front of me?
“How’d you do that?” I demanded.
“Huh? Wha?”
“You were just running - and you suddenly teleported over there! What happened?”
“This weird kid... he was just here...” He swallowed. “Stopped time, or something... for everyone except me. I think...” He paused, checking himself. It sounded ridiculous - but I had somehow been thrown into my favourite game of all time, and so I was feeling fairly receptive to weird stuff.
Interesting that I call Final Fantasy X my favourite game of all time here! I hadn’t realised it held that place in my esteem at the time. Right now, if you asked me to name my favourite game of all time, I’d probably go for Final Fantasy VIII, which I actually played earlier. There are games I technically enjoy more than Final Fantasy VIII, but there’s nothing else I have quite the same soul-deep love for.
“You think...?” I prompted.
“I think...” It wasn’t particularly cold, but Tidus shivered. “I think it was me.”
The kid who stops time here is actually Bahamut’s Fayth. Before learning his identity, though, I was convinced he was Tidus as a kid. I stubbornly continued to headcanon this after learning the truth, and inserted my headcanon into this fic even though it would make no sense to readers.
My original author's note at the end of chapter two: 'Whaddya think? OK, so not much is happening. And it’s short. Um, I’ll try to change that. For now - review! Reviews are my inspiration.'
I did not change that.
And now to chapter three! By this point I would have been fourteen.
"Okay," I said slowly. "You saw some person stop time - for everyone except you - and... what DID he do?"
Tidus blinked, confused. "He... he told me not to cry."
"And he told you not to cry."
"Yeah."
"Are you INSANE?!" I demanded.
In fairness, Riona, you’ve been sucked into a videogame; I don’t think that’s any less weird!
"I'm really not sure anymore," he mumbled. He kicked a pebble, and it skittered across the path and over the edge into the water. He looked up. "Where'd Auron go?"
"Huh?" I asked, looking around. I pointed to a figure in the distance. "Would that be him?"
"He..." spluttered Tidus, "-he's going completely the wrong way! What's that guy ON?"
I offered a few possibilities, but by that time Tidus was already speeding in Auron's direction. I sighed and followed him.
‘I offered a few possibilities,’ fourteen-year-old Riona writes, desperately trying to pretend she knows anything at all about drugs.
~Tidus' View~
"Hey!" I panted out, reaching Auron. "Not this way!" I braced myself, my hands on my legs, breathing hard. That run had tired me out.
Suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning around, I saw Riona standing there.
"I've got a question-" she began.
"Fire away."
She wiped a hand across her forehead and continued. "How come you get tired out running a few metres here, but you go running for miles all over the rest of the game without so much as slowing your pace?"
I stared at her, extremely confused. "What the-"
I’m torn between ‘I can’t believe I included this’ and ‘it’s not a bad question, though’.
Auron interrupted. "There's no time for that now." I glanced quizzically at him, and he pointed to the sky. "Look."
Behind me, I heard Riona gasp. I looked up.
A shimmering sphere of water hung in the sky, almost like a Blitzball arena. There was a dark shadow in the middle of it.
Before I could figure out what the shape was, a tentacled thing shot out of the water and embedded itself in a wall. Scales flaked off it and struck the road everywhere. I stared at Auron, panicked.
Riona and I spoke at the same time.
"What's happe-"
"What IS that thing?!"
Auron didn't appear to hear our questions. He glanced briefly into the distance, then beckoned to us.
"Come on."
Dazed, I followed Auron, no longer caring that we were going towards the monster rather than away.
Why doesn’t Auron ever explain anything? This really struck me on my last Final Fantasy X replay. Why are you like this, Auron?
~Riona's View~
There are good days, and there are bad days.
And then there are days when you get sucked into one of your favourite videogames of all time, receive mild amnesia and find yourself locked in mortal combat with a massive insect before the day is out.
Care to guess which one I was having?
This is a point where I can see the influence of Animorphs on my writing style particularly clearly. The Animorphs series was very much the foundation of my writing; I genuinely can’t imagine what my style would look like if I hadn’t read those books.
Cursing my stupidity at dropping a hint of where I'd come from, I followed Tidus and Auron (why could the characters run so FAST?!). Suddenly a scale from the creature with tentacles landed in front of us, bringing the three of us up short. Swiftly the scale transformed into a giant bug.
"Riiiiiiiight," I muttered under my breath. "Can this day possibly get any weirder?" Out loud I asked Auron, "We're not going to fight this thing... right?"
"We have to," responded Auron.
"WHY?" I demanded. "It's not attacking us!"
"That's because it's not its turn yet," explained the man. "And we have to fight it because the Escape command isn't active."
Holy shit, I’d completely forgotten that the fighting in this fic was turn-based.
While I pondered this statement in confusion, he handed Tidus a sword. "A gift from Jecht."
"My... old ma-"
"THAT MAKES NO SENSE!" I yelled suddenly. The other two stared at me.
"Calm down," advised Tidus. "What doesn't make sense?"
"Auron says the bug's not attacking because it isn't its turn yet! You don't take turns, you just attack! Like this!" I pulled the sword off my back and tried to run at the insect. Nothing happened. I tried again. I didn't move.
Am I trying to be postmodern? What am I doing??
Confused, I turned to Tidus. He was doubled up, shaking with laughter. I scowled.
"It's Tidus' turn at the moment," said Auron. "He's faster than you, so you can't attack yet."
"He's faster than me? Greaaaaat..." I whispered to myself. A few seconds later it was my turn to laugh hysterically, as Tidus made a complete idiot of himself with his sword.
"I hope you know how to use it," Auron murmured, as Tidus drew back. This sent me further into my laughing fit, and I was only brought out of it by Tidus backhanding me across the face.
Did he have to use up a turn to hit me? I have so many questions.
"Oww." I muttered, wincing and rubbing my sore cheek. "What was that for?"
"I have my pride, ya know," Tidus retorted, leaping forwards and slashing the bug. It collapsed, dissolving into multicoloured trails. I noticed with surprise that suddenly he seemed pretty expert at using his sword. However I didn't have much time to consider that, as no sooner had the insect died than Auron shot forwards. Tidus and I exchanged shrugs and followed him.
~~~
"Not again." I groaned. The two insects in front of me scuttled around in a restless triangle. "Is it my turn yet?"
"You'll know when it is," called Auron over the sound of the chittering bugs. "Right now it's mine." He raced forwards, struck expertly at the left insect and watched with a slight smirk as it collapsed. "Now you."
Suddenly I felt a strength flow into me. I drew the sword off my back and rushed forwards. Now I would strike, a perfect hit... the two people behind me would be amazed at my skill with the firesword...
The blade missed it by metres and I stood there, face burning, feeling incredibly stupid. Tidus crowed with laughter, bounded past me and easily destroyed the creature. I followed numbly.
Sounds about right. I have no idea why I said I could fight when Auron asked me.
Auron glanced at me with a slightly apprehensive look, then muttered something to Tidus. Knowing they were probably talking about my 'amazing performance', I snapped at them in irritation.
"OKAY! So I'm crap at fighting! So you would've been better off with some other person coming along. Well, too bad! You're stuck with me! And that's final! Maybe I'll get better, maybe not, but you can't get rid of me! I've got nowhere to go! So SORRY!"
The guys stared at me, wide-eyed. "You need to control your temper," remarked Tidus finally. "We weren't talking about you anyway. Auron warned me that the monster with tentacles has come off the wall and is up in the road ahead."
I was a very paranoid teenager, and I’m surprised that they turned out to be talking about something else here, which suggests I actually had some degree of self-awareness about it. I would absolutely have convinced myself that Tidus and Auron were talking about me, although I’m not sure I’d have been bold enough to snap at them about it.
"We're probably going to have to fight it," explained Auron. "I don't think it can move, so it'll almost certainly use some sort of magical attack.
"Magic?" I gasped.
Auron glanced sharply at me, while Tidus grinned wickedly. "Yeah, it can't move. Maybe you'll find that easier to hit, Riona."
I like that the Tidus-and-Riona dynamic is just ‘being shits to each other’, rather than Riona gazing wistfully at him all the time.
"Shut up," I advised, pretending to hit him. "You weren't much better when you first used that." I pointed to the sword in his hand. It occurred to me that I was acting remarkably normally for someone trapped in a fictional universe. Two days ago, if you had asked me what I would do if I was in the FFX world, I would probably say anything but bickering with the canons, picking up cursed swords and making a complete idiot of myself.
Stop commenting on the fic, teenage Riona; that’s my job!
Now it was his turn to blush. "Yeah, well..."
"There!" called Auron, pointing ahead.
"Not AGAIN," I muttered, racing after the two.
And that's all that exists of Trapped in the Game! I sort of wish I'd written more; I'd love to know how I would have portrayed Yuna at that age.
None of my other early fics were quite as ambitious as Rachel's Pokémon Journey, but I've got a few other embarrassing works of youthful fanfiction under my belt. Here's a one-off Old Fanfiction Book Club for Trapped in the Game, the Final Fantasy X self-insert I started at the age of thirteen and got exactly three chapters into before I abandoned it.
I've lost the original author's notes for this, but I remember assuring the readers that I wasn't actually planning to make it a Tidus/Riona fic. I was aware of the concept of a 'Mary-Sue' and deeply afraid of falling into that trap. Apparently, my technique for not creating a Mary-Sue was making my self-insert make a prat of herself at every opportunity.
Introduction
“Game Over? No WAY!” she yelled, throwing the controller down. “Never trust to luck, Riona,” she advised herself - yet again. “Never. Trust. To. Luck. You switch Tidus in, use the Brotherhood’s Sensor to check the enemy’s HP and weaknesses, then you act appropriately. You DON’T whack it with Dragon Fang and expect it to just keel over and die! And you DON’T - you DON’T let anything Petrify your ENTIRE TEAM!”
I did indeed get a Game Over while playing Final Fantasy X because my whole team got petrified. It was in Macalania Forest and I was very unhappy about it.
Incidentally, this is not the end of the paragraph; it just keeps going. This note breaks it up, but the opening paragraph of this fic was a full two hundred words long.
The girl sat there fuming for a moment, then considered her options. She could just go back to her last save point and work from there - but a Game Over always killed off the urge to play for a while. Riona reached for the on/off switch, but then reconsidered. There was nothing stopping her from starting up a new FFX game - she might discover some new stuff, and there was plenty she wanted to do. Like perfect the Jecht Shot. Or win the Blitzball game against the Luca Goers. Or defeat that stupid Chocobo Eater without getting shoved off a cliff. She could always go back to her old game - but it made her feel a lot more secure to have a backup. Riona smiled. “Second save it is, then.”
Wow, all the things I failed to do on my first playthrough evidently really smarted. Yes, I failed the Jecht Shot minigame and the Blitzball game and the Chocobo Eater battle. I succeeded on later playthroughs, so I’ve managed to leave behind thirteen-year-old Riona’s frustration!
Immediately restarting the game from the beginning seems like a strange response to being annoyed by a Game Over.
She hit the ‘New Game’ button, and watched as the opening scene played out. She grinned to herself at the close-up of Tidus on the cliff. Wow, he was a bishounen.
I cannot handle the line ‘Wow, he was a bishounen.’ I can’t believe I wrote it. I can’t believe I have to read it two decades later with my own eyes.
“It’d be so cool if I could meet him...” she murmured to herself, starting to feel sleepy. As her eyes slowly closed, the room around her dissolved into a hazy blur of green and blue.
Chapter 1 - Riona's view.
This whole story seems crazy. I know it does. But it’s all true, I swear. Every word of it is true.
You don’t believe me? Fine. Listen to my story, then work it out for yourself.
Why was the introduction in third person if I was going to switch into first person immediately?
I’m delighted that I worked the phrase ‘Listen to my story’ into the opening of this Final Fantasy X fic. I bet I was really proud of myself.
“Uh... ughnaa?”
I opened my eyes, and slowly the world came back into focus. Directly above me - starry sky. I staggered to my feet and looked around, wondering - quite naturally - what the hell happened. To both sides were massive buildings, the wide path I was on seemingly suspended in mid-air. At the end of the path I could make out what appeared to be a large stadium. A chill gust of wind swept past, and I shivered. There was no doubt in my mind of where I was.
“Zanarkand.”
But how could I be here? And how could I get back home? If I’d been somehow sucked into the game - how on Earth could that have happened? - then it was probably at the start, when... I suddenly heard an announcer’s voice.
I feel I’d probably have a stronger reaction to finding myself in a videogame.
“...And the Jecht Memorial Cup is today, folks! We’re all DYING to see...”
That confirmed it. The Jecht Memorial Cup... there was something important that would happen - but all I remembered about the plot of the game was slowly draining out of my mind... what was it...
When Sin attacked.
I had to warn Tidus!
Again, I’m not sure warning the fictional characters about upcoming fictional events would be my first priority if I woke up in a videogame world.
How do you put someone who’s played Final Fantasy X into the game without completely derailing the game’s plot? Easy: just have her lose all her memories of the game for no reason.
Pushing my hair out of my eyes and casting frantically around, I caught sight of an excited knot of people a little way behind me. That could be it.
I charged.
“TIDUS!”
There he was, signing some kid’s Blitzball. I skidded to a halt in front of him. “Tidus! Zanarkand, it...”
“Huh?” he asked, handing the Blitzball back to the kid and turning to face me.
“I...” I paused, confused. “I can’t remember anything...”
He looked at me, concerned. “You okay?”
“Uh...” I mumbled, “I think so. I’m sure there was something important I had to tell you...”
Tidus grinned, and I almost melted. He was so cute... “Can’t have been more important than the Blitzball game, could it?”
I’m horrified by every reminder of my teenage crush on Tidus.
“No,” I admitted. “I guess not. Name’s Riona, and...” I paused. I had a dim feeling that I shouldn’t go telling people about my real-life. All I could remember about the game was Tidus’ name, the crush I had on him, and Blitzball. And the fact that everyone seemed to be able to breathe underwater.
Could I breathe underwater? Spotting a fountain, I ran to it and rammed my head under the water, forcing myself - though my mind resisted fiercely - to breathe in. It was fine - just like air, in fact. I smiled to myself and pulled my head out. Turning around, I saw Tidus looking like he was trying not to laugh.
“Riona, huh? Nice to meet ya.” I felt myself blushing - in the middle of speaking to my hero, I’d gone and shoved my head in a fountain. Not the smartest-looking thing to do. I started stuttering.
“Uh... sorry. I, erm, needed to cool down. Can I... erm...” I picked up a stray Blitzball. “Can I have your autograph?” I blurted.
Tidus took the ball and signed it, still shaking with silent laughter. He handed it back, then grinned at everyone there. “Okay, I’ve gotta go now. Cheer for me!” He began running down the path, and one firm idea popped spontaneously into my head: follow him.
What is this scene??? I don’t even have any commentary to offer here. I’m just baffled.
I raced down the path after him. Whoa, he could run! I was having a hard time keeping up with him - but I kept going, and seemed to be gaining on him. At last he reached the Blitzball stadium, where he was held up by a huge crowd. I plunged into it, following him, but was abruptly shunted to one side and was forced to grab the closest object to keep my balance. “Hey, let go of me!” Tidus yelled. Oops. I let go and hurled myself through the crowd before he could see who had grabbed his arm.
Tidus does indeed say ‘Hey, let go of me!’ while pushing through the crowd to the stadium, thus proving that I am canonically a character in Final Fantasy X.
Finally I got through to the front and hurtled to the nearest shelter - which happened to be the entrance to the stadium. I ran to the side and scrambled up onto the parapet, from there into an empty seat. As the match began, with a stunning opening, I felt sure that I would be able to play Blitzball. I could make my own team - it wouldn’t matter whether we won or lost, all I wanted to do was play it. To feel the complete freedom.
I am absolutely certain that I would be terrible at Blitzball.
And as I watched the game, as I leapt and cheered along with the crowd... suddenly getting back to my normal life really didn’t seem so important anymore.
I can’t believe I’ve been in this world for twenty minutes and I’ve already written off my entire existence on Earth. I’ve gazed longingly at Tidus, stuck my head in a fountain and watched half a game of sportsball, and apparently this beats anything my real life has to offer.
This is a very embarrassing experience. Let’s plough on!
How long did the game last? It could have been hours, for all I knew. I was completely caught up in the game’s excitement, its energy. So much so, in fact, that I almost forgot to dodge when Tidus tackled a rival player right OUT of the Blitzball sphere.
A game of Blitzball is ten minutes long when you’re actually playing it, although I suppose that’s not necessarily in-universe canon.
It’s weird to see Fic Me so enthusiastic about a sport! I’ve never been a sports person.
The Zanarkand Abes were one goal up, when Tidus slammed the ball straight up into the air and then shot out after it. As if in slow motion, he flipped over in mid air. The stands filled with excited voices.
“I think he’s trying the Jecht Shot!”
“No WAY!”
His eyes locked on the Blitzball, Tidus seemed to hang suspended.
Suddenly a blast rocked the stadium, and the entire Blitzball sphere exploded outwards.
~Tidus’ View~
Extremely elegant perspective transitions.
I don’t remember much of that doomed Blitzball game. All I know is that I leapt from the water in a crazy attempt to do my old man’s famous shot - and suddenly there wasn’t water anymore.
I grabbed onto a ledge, trying to keep myself from falling. I was swinging crazily, pain shooting up my arm. When I attempted to pull myself up onto the ledge, my hand slipped and I fell. All I remember then is blackness.
When I regained consciousness, the first thing I was aware of was a sharp pain on my cheek and someone yelling.
“-ke UP, wake UP, wake UP...”
I opened my eyes, and assumed that the fuzzy bluish thing slapping my face was a person.
I describe Riona as ‘bluish’ because, in my head, she’s wearing blue clothes. In fact, although I don't make this clear in the fic, I envisioned her wearing Rinoa's clothes from Final Fantasy VIII, just to be confusing.
I concentrated, and slowly everything came into focus. I staggered to my feet, wincing at the pain in my head, and looked at whatever had been slapping me. Would you believe it - it was a person. A girl, not looking much younger than myself. I suddenly recognised her. “Hey - you’re that weird girl!”
She looked offended - quite understandably, really. “I prefer ‘Riona’.”
I’ll give thirteen-year-old me some characterisation credit here; Tidus would absolutely put his foot in it by going ‘hey, you’re that weird girl!’
I smiled weakly. “Riona. Right. Hey-” I stared at a nearby person. “Auron! What’re you doing here?”
“I was waiting for you,” he replied, standing up.
“Friend of yours?” asked Riona.
I can’t believe my convenient memory loss let me remember Blitzball but obliterated Auron entirely.
“In a manner of speaking. What’re you talking about, Auron?”
“You’ll see, soon enough. Who’s the girl?”
“She’s called Riona.” I explained. Auron looked at me with a half-smile. “Whatever you’re thinking of, it’s not that.”
She slapped you awake when you were unconscious! Romance is clearly in the air.
“Maybe she should come, too...” Auron mused to himself, then spoke to Riona. “Can you fight?”
~Riona’s View~
“WHAT? Why?” Tidus and I demanded simultaneously.
“Just answer the question,” the man - Auron - said sternly. “You can worry why later.”
“Uh... I suppose so...” I said, confused. “I don’t have a weapon, though...”
You absolute liar; you can’t fight!
“Hey,” called Tidus. “How about this?” He indicated a tree. I came and saw what looked like a hilt of a sword sticking out of it.
“Wow. Convenient.” I reached for it, but then stopped. “Too convenient. It’s suspicious.” I examined the hilt closely. “Hmmm...”
I was about to comment on how convenient it was, but apparently I’m way ahead of me.
“Just take it!” snapped Auron.
“Okay, okay!” I grabbed the hilt and yanked the sword out of the tree. And gasped.
The blade was beautiful - flame-red, orange and yellow, the shimmering colours seeming to move and shift. It glowed and flickered like fire made solid. I stared at it, stunned.
And then the pain started.
Agony beyond anything I have ever felt! Pain blazed through my arms, through my legs, making every nerve in my body scream. In too much pain even to cry out, I tried to hurl the sword away from me and couldn’t - it stuck to my hand as if it had fused there.
Even as a kid, I was embarrassed by the line ‘Agony beyond anything I have ever felt!’ It was just too dramatic. It haunted me.
As abruptly as the pain had started, it stopped. I tried to drop the sword - there was obviously something strange about it - but it wouldn’t leave my hand. I passed it from my right hand to my left, and back again. It passed easily enough, but the only way I could get it out of my hands was to put it on my back, where it stuck as if to a magnet.
I’m not a Mary-Sue, I promise; I’m just an ordinary person who happens to have a RAD EVIL SWORD THAT I CAN’T PUT DOWN.
I also like ‘there was obviously something strange about it’; it’s just so understated. Hmm, this sword caused me hideous pain as soon as I touched it and fused to my hand; there’s obviously something strange about it.
I can’t remember if there was any particular reason for the sword to adhere magically to me, but I suspect it’s just that Riona didn’t have a scabbard and I didn’t want to make her carry the sword all the time, which meant I’d have to remember that her hand was occupied. Therefore, magical sword that sticks to her back. That’s weapon transportation sorted.
Tidus stared. “What... was THAT?”
“Painful,” I mumbled. I slipped the sword onto my back. “There’s something weird about this sword - it REALLY hurt, and now I can’t get rid of it!”
Auron stood calmly. “You have a weapon now. Let’s go.” He ran ahead. Tidus and I - after exchanging odd looks and shrugs - quickly followed. I had an odd feeling life was going to get even weirder soon.
I can believe Auron’s muted reactions to the weird shit going on. Riona’s ‘huh, weird’ reaction to waking up in a game doesn’t make much sense, but Auron watching me writhe in agony as a sword fuses itself to me, then going ‘you have a weapon now; let’s go’? I can buy it.
I was ahead of Tidus as we pursued Auron. Can you imagine how surprised I was when Tidus suddenly seemed to teleport about five paces in front of me?
“How’d you do that?” I demanded.
“Huh? Wha?”
“You were just running - and you suddenly teleported over there! What happened?”
“This weird kid... he was just here...” He swallowed. “Stopped time, or something... for everyone except me. I think...” He paused, checking himself. It sounded ridiculous - but I had somehow been thrown into my favourite game of all time, and so I was feeling fairly receptive to weird stuff.
Interesting that I call Final Fantasy X my favourite game of all time here! I hadn’t realised it held that place in my esteem at the time. Right now, if you asked me to name my favourite game of all time, I’d probably go for Final Fantasy VIII, which I actually played earlier. There are games I technically enjoy more than Final Fantasy VIII, but there’s nothing else I have quite the same soul-deep love for.
“You think...?” I prompted.
“I think...” It wasn’t particularly cold, but Tidus shivered. “I think it was me.”
The kid who stops time here is actually Bahamut’s Fayth. Before learning his identity, though, I was convinced he was Tidus as a kid. I stubbornly continued to headcanon this after learning the truth, and inserted my headcanon into this fic even though it would make no sense to readers.
My original author's note at the end of chapter two: 'Whaddya think? OK, so not much is happening. And it’s short. Um, I’ll try to change that. For now - review! Reviews are my inspiration.'
I did not change that.
And now to chapter three! By this point I would have been fourteen.
"Okay," I said slowly. "You saw some person stop time - for everyone except you - and... what DID he do?"
Tidus blinked, confused. "He... he told me not to cry."
"And he told you not to cry."
"Yeah."
"Are you INSANE?!" I demanded.
In fairness, Riona, you’ve been sucked into a videogame; I don’t think that’s any less weird!
"I'm really not sure anymore," he mumbled. He kicked a pebble, and it skittered across the path and over the edge into the water. He looked up. "Where'd Auron go?"
"Huh?" I asked, looking around. I pointed to a figure in the distance. "Would that be him?"
"He..." spluttered Tidus, "-he's going completely the wrong way! What's that guy ON?"
I offered a few possibilities, but by that time Tidus was already speeding in Auron's direction. I sighed and followed him.
‘I offered a few possibilities,’ fourteen-year-old Riona writes, desperately trying to pretend she knows anything at all about drugs.
~Tidus' View~
"Hey!" I panted out, reaching Auron. "Not this way!" I braced myself, my hands on my legs, breathing hard. That run had tired me out.
Suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning around, I saw Riona standing there.
"I've got a question-" she began.
"Fire away."
She wiped a hand across her forehead and continued. "How come you get tired out running a few metres here, but you go running for miles all over the rest of the game without so much as slowing your pace?"
I stared at her, extremely confused. "What the-"
I’m torn between ‘I can’t believe I included this’ and ‘it’s not a bad question, though’.
Auron interrupted. "There's no time for that now." I glanced quizzically at him, and he pointed to the sky. "Look."
Behind me, I heard Riona gasp. I looked up.
A shimmering sphere of water hung in the sky, almost like a Blitzball arena. There was a dark shadow in the middle of it.
Before I could figure out what the shape was, a tentacled thing shot out of the water and embedded itself in a wall. Scales flaked off it and struck the road everywhere. I stared at Auron, panicked.
Riona and I spoke at the same time.
"What's happe-"
"What IS that thing?!"
Auron didn't appear to hear our questions. He glanced briefly into the distance, then beckoned to us.
"Come on."
Dazed, I followed Auron, no longer caring that we were going towards the monster rather than away.
Why doesn’t Auron ever explain anything? This really struck me on my last Final Fantasy X replay. Why are you like this, Auron?
~Riona's View~
There are good days, and there are bad days.
And then there are days when you get sucked into one of your favourite videogames of all time, receive mild amnesia and find yourself locked in mortal combat with a massive insect before the day is out.
Care to guess which one I was having?
This is a point where I can see the influence of Animorphs on my writing style particularly clearly. The Animorphs series was very much the foundation of my writing; I genuinely can’t imagine what my style would look like if I hadn’t read those books.
Cursing my stupidity at dropping a hint of where I'd come from, I followed Tidus and Auron (why could the characters run so FAST?!). Suddenly a scale from the creature with tentacles landed in front of us, bringing the three of us up short. Swiftly the scale transformed into a giant bug.
"Riiiiiiiight," I muttered under my breath. "Can this day possibly get any weirder?" Out loud I asked Auron, "We're not going to fight this thing... right?"
"We have to," responded Auron.
"WHY?" I demanded. "It's not attacking us!"
"That's because it's not its turn yet," explained the man. "And we have to fight it because the Escape command isn't active."
Holy shit, I’d completely forgotten that the fighting in this fic was turn-based.
While I pondered this statement in confusion, he handed Tidus a sword. "A gift from Jecht."
"My... old ma-"
"THAT MAKES NO SENSE!" I yelled suddenly. The other two stared at me.
"Calm down," advised Tidus. "What doesn't make sense?"
"Auron says the bug's not attacking because it isn't its turn yet! You don't take turns, you just attack! Like this!" I pulled the sword off my back and tried to run at the insect. Nothing happened. I tried again. I didn't move.
Am I trying to be postmodern? What am I doing??
Confused, I turned to Tidus. He was doubled up, shaking with laughter. I scowled.
"It's Tidus' turn at the moment," said Auron. "He's faster than you, so you can't attack yet."
"He's faster than me? Greaaaaat..." I whispered to myself. A few seconds later it was my turn to laugh hysterically, as Tidus made a complete idiot of himself with his sword.
"I hope you know how to use it," Auron murmured, as Tidus drew back. This sent me further into my laughing fit, and I was only brought out of it by Tidus backhanding me across the face.
Did he have to use up a turn to hit me? I have so many questions.
"Oww." I muttered, wincing and rubbing my sore cheek. "What was that for?"
"I have my pride, ya know," Tidus retorted, leaping forwards and slashing the bug. It collapsed, dissolving into multicoloured trails. I noticed with surprise that suddenly he seemed pretty expert at using his sword. However I didn't have much time to consider that, as no sooner had the insect died than Auron shot forwards. Tidus and I exchanged shrugs and followed him.
~~~
"Not again." I groaned. The two insects in front of me scuttled around in a restless triangle. "Is it my turn yet?"
"You'll know when it is," called Auron over the sound of the chittering bugs. "Right now it's mine." He raced forwards, struck expertly at the left insect and watched with a slight smirk as it collapsed. "Now you."
Suddenly I felt a strength flow into me. I drew the sword off my back and rushed forwards. Now I would strike, a perfect hit... the two people behind me would be amazed at my skill with the firesword...
The blade missed it by metres and I stood there, face burning, feeling incredibly stupid. Tidus crowed with laughter, bounded past me and easily destroyed the creature. I followed numbly.
Sounds about right. I have no idea why I said I could fight when Auron asked me.
Auron glanced at me with a slightly apprehensive look, then muttered something to Tidus. Knowing they were probably talking about my 'amazing performance', I snapped at them in irritation.
"OKAY! So I'm crap at fighting! So you would've been better off with some other person coming along. Well, too bad! You're stuck with me! And that's final! Maybe I'll get better, maybe not, but you can't get rid of me! I've got nowhere to go! So SORRY!"
The guys stared at me, wide-eyed. "You need to control your temper," remarked Tidus finally. "We weren't talking about you anyway. Auron warned me that the monster with tentacles has come off the wall and is up in the road ahead."
I was a very paranoid teenager, and I’m surprised that they turned out to be talking about something else here, which suggests I actually had some degree of self-awareness about it. I would absolutely have convinced myself that Tidus and Auron were talking about me, although I’m not sure I’d have been bold enough to snap at them about it.
"We're probably going to have to fight it," explained Auron. "I don't think it can move, so it'll almost certainly use some sort of magical attack.
"Magic?" I gasped.
Auron glanced sharply at me, while Tidus grinned wickedly. "Yeah, it can't move. Maybe you'll find that easier to hit, Riona."
I like that the Tidus-and-Riona dynamic is just ‘being shits to each other’, rather than Riona gazing wistfully at him all the time.
"Shut up," I advised, pretending to hit him. "You weren't much better when you first used that." I pointed to the sword in his hand. It occurred to me that I was acting remarkably normally for someone trapped in a fictional universe. Two days ago, if you had asked me what I would do if I was in the FFX world, I would probably say anything but bickering with the canons, picking up cursed swords and making a complete idiot of myself.
Stop commenting on the fic, teenage Riona; that’s my job!
Now it was his turn to blush. "Yeah, well..."
"There!" called Auron, pointing ahead.
"Not AGAIN," I muttered, racing after the two.
And that's all that exists of Trapped in the Game! I sort of wish I'd written more; I'd love to know how I would have portrayed Yuna at that age.