#104 – Splash From the Past (part one)

Posted on June 26, 2011 by L.J.
Noelle: “He’s yours over my dead body, bitch.”

Originally Published: 10/22/01 . 22 pages

Synopsis
When Reno’s ex-girlfriend shows up, Noelle starts to worry she may never get him back. Plus, Algus comes to the ramble room.

Ramble Milestones
-The pool has it’s grand opening.
-Algus arrives.

Well, here’s the pool that Hojo promised, which isn’t used very much. The important thing about this ramble is that Algus finally appears! Final Fantasy Tactics is an amazing game, but to me Algus was the only character who really stood out. And not only was he a fantastic addition to the rambles, but he actually gave Zidane a purpose. Before Algus he didn’t really have much to do. It’s pretty ironic that he’s the one who opens the door for Algus, who immediately mistakes him for a servant. There are a lot of cute, funny moments in this ramble, and also the randomness of Angel Sanctuary being watched. God, I forgot how much I hated that show until I read this! As for Mandy, she was a character from a friend’s fanfic. In it, Reno falls for her at a bar, buys her a shot, and they sleep together. In the morning she’s gone but she leaves a note saying she owes him two-fifty.

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#103 – The Amazing Nap

Posted on June 26, 2011 by L.J.
Hojo: “But we’ll score points with the viewers, with the clapping and the laughing and the cheering and the crying and so on and so forth.”

Originally Published: 10/18/01 . 32 pages

Synopsis
Reeve has a dream and he’s on the Amazing Race! Who will win?

Ramble Milestones
Nothing this time.

I used to love The Amazing Race. I still appreciate the show, but I always get sick of reality shows after a few seasons. There is so much to love in this ramble. If I had to pick favorites I’d have to say the Eiffel tower strip club, Barret using poor Red as a coat, and Shell calling everyone Rude. I also must confess that David Schwimmer was always my favorite on Friends, and he kind of reminds me of Reeve himself.

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#102 – Who Wants To Marry A Prostitute?

Posted on June 18, 2011 by L.J.
Scarlet: *rolls eyes* “Yeah, Nida. Out of the cross dresser, the pedophile and the big, ugly fat guy, I chose you. What a tough decision.”

Originally Published: 10/9/01 . 44 pages

Synopsis
Oh no! The cops are on to Scarlet! To throw them off, she tells them she’s getting married – to Nida! Can they pull a fake wedding off in time?

Ramble Milestones
-Scarlet’s family shows up.
-Trent Varsity’s first appearance.

This is one of my favorites. There is just so much funny stuff going on in this ramble, from Nida being so excited for his phony wedding, to Red having to take the garter off Tseng with his teeth and Heidegger repeatedly accidentially admitting to the cops that the wedding is a sham. The rich and handsome Trent Varsity also shows up in this ramble for the first time. That’s always been a character I really liked. As I mentioned in the original opening note, Shell and I had recently been to a wedding where we thought of a bunch ideas for this one, many of which I promptly forgot, of course. That’s why I write things down now.

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#101 – Yuri-in For a Big Surprise

Posted on June 18, 2011 by L.J.
Seifer: “…Can we at least have a threesome?”

Originally Published: 9/21/01 . 24 pages

Synopsis
The girls are mad when the guys get tickets to a Madonna concert and go without them. They come up with a plan to really make them suffer…

Ramble Milestones
-Cait Sith dies for the first time.

Would you believe me if I told you this idea was born while us girls were working at a Bible camp? I’m not religious in the least, but my friend’s mom ran one, so my friends and I volunteered there a few weeks every summer in high school and college putting on little skits for the kids that had moral lessons. It was actually super fun. This ramble is still pretty funny, especially the beginning and ending. In the middle the stuff with Zell chasing after Rufus is always amusing, and Rude has some great lines. Aside for feeling bad for Red at the end, you also have to feel bad for Laguna. He got punished even though he did nothing!

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#100 – Behind The Music: Part Three

Posted on June 18, 2011 by L.J.
Reeve: “I *hate* this! What happened to us?”

Originally Published: 9/20/01 . 60 pages

Synopsis
Rufus and Lizzie are thrilled about the bands doing a tour together, but no one else seems too excited. Before the end of the last song, can everyone make things right again?

Ramble Milestones
Nothing this time.

This was the original note at the end of this ramble: Holy crap! 100 rambles! *blink blink* I have NO life. Geez. I still can’t believe I made it this far. Thanks to everyone who supported me! I’m far from done!! I’ll be back. And with more humor no less! I’m far from done with playing with this gang. *laughs evilly* Also there was this original note before the ramble where I basically thanked everybody I knew for contributing to the rambles in some way. Honestly, I was surprised I had done so many. This was just supposed to be a little thing I was doing for fun at first…then it kind of took on a life of it’s own. Now I can’t believe I wrote so many in so little time. I used to have a lot of time for writing. Not so much anymore unfortunately. Anyway, the drama finally ends here for awhile. Rufus and Zell share a tender moment over his death threat (that sentence seems weird), and there are plenty of song lyrics that took me forever to clean up when doing the editing this time around. Each of the songs was chosen because I liked it, obviously (except for the J. Lo one.), but also because it fit in with what was going on. The Police song, “I’ll Be Watching You” is about a stalker, of course, and “Angel” involves drug use. And I must admit that even though I have a good voice there’s no way I could fully pull off the Mariah Carey song I gave myself in this one.

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#99 – Behind the Music: Part Two

Posted on June 18, 2011 by L.J.
Tseng: *whispers back his voice choked up* “I hate that song.”

Originally Published: 9/11/01 . 23 pages

Synopsis
The bands may be doing well, but are the members holding up? Noelle dates a string of men, Tseng pines for Reeve, and Reno is bitter that Irvine is in the band. Then they get some big news. Will this make everything better?

Ramble Milestones
-First montage.

This one is classic ramble soap opera at it’s finest. And it’s the first time we get a montage! Everybody loves a good montage. Anyway, can we comment first on the 2 Ashleys? Everyone who has been reading the rambles for years knows that Ashley’s original name was not Ashley. A few years ago I decided I wasn’t comfortable using people’s real names on these characters, so I went back and changed every one that had been real. I tried to choose names that sounded vaguely similar, and that’s how Ashley ended up being Ashley. I was not thinking about these few rambles where Ashley Riot from Vagrant Story shows up as her bodyguard. It makes things a little awkward. Especially since you keep waiting for a joke that never comes. Moving on – let’s talk montage. The song used is “Again” by Lenny Kravitz, a song I was obsessed with at the time. I still like it, but not nearly as much, probably because I played it to death. But I also chose it because the lyrics seem to fit in well with the ramble as a whole. Finally, I need to comment on the fact that Irvine goes to what I can only assume is a high end music industry party, and people are smoking crack?! What?! That goes to show you how I knew nothing about drugs and society at the time. They should be snorting cocaine, past me! Come on! On a serious note, it’s impossible not to notice that this ramble was put up on the morning of 9/11, before I knew anything about what was going on. Had I known, I would not have been updating my website.

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#98 – Behind the Music: Part One

Posted on June 18, 2011 by L.J.
Lark: “Don’t you think perfection is expecting a little too much of us?”

Originally Published: 8/??/01 . 16 pages

Synopsis
Rufus thinks it would be a great idea to start a boy band, so he gets Tseng, Sephiroth, Irvine and Zell to join him. Then Lizzie starts a group with the ramble girls! Will they all be singing a happy tune as they embark on their music careers?

Ramble Milestones
Nothing this time.

This series got it’s title based on the VH1 show of the same title. I had been planning this whole music series months ahead of time, and this was where all the over the top drama from the previous rambles had been heading. Of course the whole girl/boy band craze was still going strong at the time. Now I find it hilarious that pretty much none of the bands cited in this ramble exist anymore – at least not in their original form. (I’m looking at you, Kevin-less Backstreet Boys.) In fact, I had forgotten some of them existed. Probably because I never listened to them at all. At least I used a pretty timeless song that I still enjoy at the beginning. Can’t say the same for a song mentioned later in the ramble – “The Hardest Thing” by 98 Degrees. I don’t remember that song at all. And I’m fine with that. I’m also scratching my head wondering why I don’t have the exact date this ramble went up.

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#97 – Tseng Gets Fired

Posted on June 11, 2011 by L.J.
Rufus: *sweat drops* “Uh…hey, I…uh…had nothing to do with what happened to him. And now I gotta go.” *runs out*

Originally Published: 7/29/01 . 18 pages

Synopsis
After Rufus’ stupid order almost leads to Reeve losing his life, Tseng takes his revenge. Is Tseng really fired for good this time?

Ramble Milestones
Nothing this time.

I think I used to like this ramble better than I do now. Still, it’s always nice to see Rufus have some compassion.

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#96 – Ye Old Crappiest Vacation Ever! (part three)

Posted on June 11, 2011 by L.J.
Zell: *holds his head with tears in his eyes* “This is the ye olde worst vacation ever!” *runs off in tears*

Originally Published: 7/23/01 . 20 pages

Synopsis
The losers are having a great time on their vacation, but the ramble gang is falling apart at the seams! Rufus and Tseng are fighting, and Sephiroth and Lark are not getting along at all. Will they leave Williamsburg as friends or enemies?

Ramble Milestones
Nothing this time.

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, this was all written after I had just come home from a vacation to Williamsburg. Shell and I came up with most of this stuff while we were there. In this one Lark gets stung by a bee on her finger, which really happened to me, although on a trip previous to the one I had taken before writing this ramble. It was the first time I had ever been stung, and I thought I was just going to flick some fly off me. But I felt pain in my finger, and brought my hand back around to find a yellow jacket crawling on it. Yikes! Anyway, Lark and Sephiroth, after all that build up, break up in this ramble already. That didn’t last long, huh?

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#95 – Ye Crappiest Vacation Ever! (part two)

Posted on June 11, 2011 by L.J.

Barret: “Yo! Dat what I be sayin’, Yo!” *dramatic pause as he turns around* “….Dis here war still be goin’ on!”

Originally Published: 7/21/01 . 28 pages

Synopsis
No one is having much fun in Williamsburg. Most of the gang is so bored they take up smoking! Was this just a huge mistake? Meanwhile, at the cabin, Heidegger finds a friend!

Ramble Milestones
Nothing this time.

There were some people not too thrilled with the smoking in this ramble, but it was part of the story! I don’t actually endorse smoking at all. Anyway, more stuff based on reality here. Carter’s Grove is a real place near Williamsburg that is super boring and full of everything mentioned in this ramble. It was so boring I legit got super excited over a gopher. And the benches in the museum were also a haven for me. And Reeve addressing one of the reanactor’s as Captain…my dad may or may not have actually done that. Two of my favorite things from this one are Barret and Cid really believing that the Revolutionary War is still going on (they’re not quarterin’ any British in their ramble room!) and also Twilight’s totally unauthorized tour, where he claims a bunch of extremely untrue facts and runs into his nemesis, the spelling kid.

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