Hidden Light - Author Ackowledgments

When I began this fanfic, I knew almost nothing about Final Fantasy VII.  In fact, all that I did know came from watching the movie Advent Children sometime in late 2006.  The movie, while initially very confusing, sparked two images:  (1) a strange, childlike woman with black-and-white hair floating in a tank illuminated by moonlight and (2) this same woman being shot by a combat hologram of Vincent Valentine.  I yearned to write these two scenes.  The first was simple; it was the beginning after all, but the second just didn't have enough emotional impact on its own.  To give that image weight, I needed to craft a story.  Thus, “Hidden Light” was born.

I did some research before going too far into the story, namely watching “Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII,” which was a special feature on my Advent Children DVD, buying and playing the PS2 game Dirge of Cerberus, and downloading numerous pictures of Vincent Valentine.  (Yes, certified fangirl, right here.  I love Vincent's history, character, design, and most especially Steve Blum's voice.  Gives me shivers every time.)  I also downloaded a very basic map to orient myself in this still-unfamiliar world, since I didn't actually play Final Fantasy VII until 2010 or 2011.  I've accrued more knowledge about the franchise as I've written.

This fanfic was a big experiment for me.  Until this point, I'd only written a few others, most of which fell flat on their face after a chapter or two because I'd been too hasty in posting them.  I hadn't thought their stories through.  Or I wrote myself into a corner.  Or I ran out of inspiration.  I'd never finished writing anything on my own outside of poetry and a handful of (rather juvenile) short stories.  But this time I wanted to finish.  I really cared about the characters and I plotted out the rest of the events after Chapter 3, chapter by chapter.  I wanted to see if I could sustain and follow through with a complete story.  

Hikari herself was an experiment.  I'd never written a mad or mentally damaged character before.  But I had such a character named Marella planned for my fantasy novel Ravens and Roses.  Hikari and Marella shared a lot of similarities, and I wanted to see if I could write that kind of character convincingly.  I wanted people to be able to understand and relate to and sympathize with Marella, so I thought the best was to test that was by writing Hikari.  Both women live in vastly different worlds, suffer from different traumas, and evolve differently over the course of their stories, but they have a common root.

As many of my faithful followers know, I updated “Hidden Light” more or less regularly until 2009.  At that point college was at its worst for me.  I was going to school full time, working part time, and had just moved out of my parents' house.  The amount of stress I was under made it impossible for me to work on “Hidden Light,” especially when I felt guilty for neglecting my original fiction.  So “Hidden Light” sat.  And sat.  And sat.  But against the odds, so many of you kept coming back, kept leaving reviews urging me to continue.  And despite the lengthy hiatus, I never planned to abandon “Hidden Light” forever.  I didn't mean to leave it as long as I did.  But with the success of my “Okami Amaterasu” fanfic, I decided it was finally time to finish “Hidden Light.”  I hope that those of you who encouraged me to finish all those years ago have returned to finish reading the story.  I deeply regret making you wait for so long, and I am honored by both your patience and enthusiasm for my work.  I hope the result has not disappointed you.


Many thanks go out to the following people:

My onii-san, David Greenshell, for letting me borrow his copy of Final Fantasy VII, and who was not only willing to read the first nine chapters when I asked, but also gave me excellent feedback!  I hope I addressed some of the issues you pointed out in your review and that you enjoyed reading the rest of the story.  Thank you for believing in me.  (P.S. I still “have no idea how [I] managed to find inspiration for a sweet story like Hidden Light in the sensory overload of Advent Children.” ^_^;; )

Once again, to my Dad for teaching me to write and how to translate images from a screen into words, and to my Mom for teaching me all the other necessary skills that go along with writing (like persistence, consistency, and discipline.)  I know you guys probably won't read this, but I hope to show in other ways that your lessons are being put to good use.  

Prism Elf and Storm Elf, for showing me that fan fiction isn't “a place for people who can't write.”  I blame you for this particular addiction.

Square Co. Ltd./Square Enix for developing and releasing Final Fantasy VII and Dirge of Cerberus.  The latter remains one of my favorite games of all time.  Thank you also for releasing the movie Advent Children, which started me on this story in the first place.

Steve Blum, for lending his wonderful voice to Vincent Valentine in the English dubs.

All the folks who run and contribute to the Final Fantasy Wikia for your hard work at keeping up such a valuable resource!

RandomBlackGamer on YouTube for posting up the cut-scenes from Dirge, which I watched while writing some of these chapters.  That really helped me get Vincent back into character after such a long hiatus.

Special thanks to wishingbird2000 from DeviantART, vaporeon13204, Frankokomando, Desert Child, and Chaxra-san for all of the wonderful, often in-depth reviews on so many chapters!  I adore chapter-by-chapter reviews, and your words were very encouraging to me.  Reviews help keep me writing.  

Also, I want to give a special shout-out to Anemos, who left a long, lovely comment in February 2011 urging me to continue working on “Hidden Light.”  Anemos, since you posted anonymously, I have no idea if this message will ever reach you, but I truly appreciate your words and I'm sorry that Chapter 10 came three years later than you probably anticipated.  I hope you have returned to enjoy the rest.

My deepest thanks and appreciation goes out to everyone who has read, favorited, followed, reviewed, and/or shared at any point during this story.  I am indebted to all of your for your kinds words, your support, and, most especially, your patience.  I promise, I will make every effort to never make you wait so long for the conclusion of a story again.

I want to give a preemptive thank you to everyone who comes after the writing of these acknowledgments with favs and reviews.  I hope that you have enjoyed following Vincent and Hikari as much as I have, and that you will share their story with others.


Meanings of Names:

“hikari” means “light” in Japanese (source: freedict.com)

“nekura” means “dark-natured” in Japanese  (source: freedict.com)

“Eva” is a form of the name “Eve” which is from the Hebrew word for “to live” or “to breathe.”  (source: behindthename.com)


Soundtrack:

The song that Lucretia sings to Hikari is “Eva” by Nightwish.  It was also the inspiration for Hikari's birth name.

The song that I picture playing at the club while Yuffie and Hikari are dancing with Reno is “Pretty Rave Girl” by I Am X-Ray.

The song I picture when Hikari is at the ruins of the Forgotten City is the version of “Walking In The Air” performed by Celtic Woman.  (That's also roughly what Hikari's voice sounds like to me.)

The song that reminds of Hikari herself is “Small Blue Thing” by Suzanne Vega.

The song that makes me think of Vincent and Hikari together is “You Are Loved” by Josh Groban.