#192 – Return of the Max

Posted on October 9, 2011 by L.J.

Rufus: “Max was my son. Well, my adopted son. But then his family came and took him back.” *shakes head* “I think about him every day.”

Originally Published: 10/6/06 . 84 pages

Synopsis
Koudelka opens a daycare center when her own son is back in her care. She hires to Cid to work there and everything is going fine, until she finds out one of the children is being abused. Meanwhile, Elena gets some big news.

Ramble Milestones
-Max returns.
-Halley and Edward’s first appearance.
-Rufus and Elena get married.
-Cid starts talking normally.
-Cid and Koudelka get together.

In my opinion this ramble is the perfect match of everything: comedy, drama and romance. I knew for a long time I wanted Rufus to get Max back, and I was forced to tackle the not at all funny topic of child abuse. This ramble is chock full of changes as well – especially Cid actually talking normally. The title is based off this pop song from the late 90’s called Return of the Mac.

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#191 – The Taste of Success

Posted on October 9, 2011 by L.J.

Franswa: *straightens up* “You’re right. I am a Belmont. And if this was meant to be…then it’s meant to be.”

Originally Published: 9/29/06 . 60 pages

Synopsis
Rufus might finally give Franswa the money he needs to open a restaurant, but will Zell ruin everything?

Ramble Milestones
-The Disco-Center burns down.
-Zell and Franswa finally get together.

Franswa and Zell have to be the longest will they or won’t they ramble couple ever. It was very hard to drag this out, but it was worth the wait I hope. The couple that was never supposed to be became one of my favorite couples. I love this ramble. All of the menu items were stolen off real menus from Disney World signature restaurants. I don’t know anything about food so I could not come up with fancy dishes on my own.

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#190 – Love Conquers All

Posted on October 9, 2011 by L.J.

Cloud: “You. That’s what matters the most. You stuck by me. You kept your promise.”

Originally Published: 9/24/06 . 50 pages

Synopsis
Can Zack finally get through to Cloud and get him back to normal? Meanwhile, Barret and Cid are still on the search for Bugenhagen.

Ramble Milestones
-Cloud gets his memory back.

The last ten rambles were meticulously planned out. First order of business: getting Cloud’s brain back together once and for all. I can’t tell you how sick I was of him being out of it all the time. I also enjoy the subplots, especially the one with Lloyd and Hojo. The title comes from the Vanessa Williams song “Love Is”: Love conquers all/it changes everything.

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#189 – Tseng Works Hard for the Money

Posted on September 24, 2011 by L.J.

Reeve: “He’s turned into Rufus!”

Originally Published: 9/16/09 . 68 pages

Synopsis
Tseng buys the strip club but no one’s happy about how he’s doing it. Can the other strippers convince him to change his ways, or is this the end of it all?

Ramble Milestones
Nothing this time.

This Tseng drama was brewing for a long, long time and it finally gets wrapped up here. I like the whole ramble, but the part where Tseng comes to his senses didn’t turn out quite the way I wanted it to. The title of this one comes from the song “She Works Hard for the Money”.

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#188 – Too Legit to Strip

Posted on September 24, 2011 by L.J.

Irvine: “I didn’t give a lap dance to one single girl last night! And when you’re givin’ one to a guy sometimes you can feel the…you know! That just ain’t right!”

Originally Published: 9/8/06 . 90 pages

Synopsis
The strip club is expanding, and some of the ramble guys want to be a part of it! Can they keep the rest of the gang from finding out? Meanwhile, Reeve feels him and Tseng are drifting apart.

Ramble Milestones
Nothing this time.

Ah, the strip club rambles. I quite enjoy this pair of rambles, which I had been planning and setting up for quite some time. I think the only character who winds up working there that was kind of a surprise was Franswa. My favorite parts are Sephiroth’s failed lap dances and drunk Alucard. I had a really hard time coming up with a title. The one I ended up using was literally the only idea I couldn’t get out of my head.

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#187 – Behind the Music…Again

Posted on September 24, 2011 by L.J.

Rude: “I learned a lesson too. It’s called never work for Rufus. Aside from being a Turk I’ve lost every job he’s ever given me. I’ve either been fired, *it’s* been on fire, or it’s been closed completely.”

Originally Published: 9/1/06 . 55 pages

Synopsis
Rufus decides to have a reunion tour for Supa Ego, and this time Lark’s along for the ride. Will things end any differently this time? Or are they doomed to play the same sad tune?

Ramble Milestones
Nothing this time.

Maybe the band thing didn’t have to be revisited, but I enjoyed it and wanted to play with it again, especially since it would help move along some of the drama.

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#186 – Dear Diary

Posted on September 24, 2011 by L.J.

Sephiroth: “There! Now everybody will know the *truth*!”

Originally Published: 8/22/06 . 15 pages

Synopsis
Get a peek inside Sephiroth’s diary and see him describe his day…then see what really happened.

Ramble Milestones
Nothing this time.

I wish I remembered where this idea came from. I wish I had come up with it sooner so I could have done more like it. Many of the characters have a skewed point of view, but Sephiroth was obviously the #1 candidate. My favorite part is his interaction with Kefka. …And how he couldn’t bring himself to come back until 2 hours later.

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#185 – Family Fitness

Posted on September 24, 2011 by L.J.

Sephiroth: *annoyed sigh* “Do I have to explain it to everyone? It’s like the food chain but for sex! People who are good are at the top and people who suck are Zidane.”

Originally Published: 8/18/06 . 40 pages

Synopsis
Lark organizes a work out program for the ramble room. Meanwhile, Rufus, Scarlet and Nida go to meed Sunshine’s adopted family.

Ramble Milestones
-We meet Sunshine’s adopted family.

This is one is cute. I like the family dynamic with Sunshine, Rufus and Scarlet. And I’m the last person who should be writing about exercise, but I love the sexual food chain conversation. That was brought up before as a passing comment, and someone suggested I write more about the concept.

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#184 – Sailing For Adventure (part three)

Posted on September 24, 2011 by L.J.

Tseng: “So Rufus Shinra, you can just go #$%^ yourself! And you can kiss my gay ass because you’re not gettin’ my daughter!” *points into the crowd* “F#$% you, f$%^# you, you’re cool, and f$%^ you!”

Originally Published: 8/11/06 . 74 pages

Synopsis
The gang finishes up their vacation with plenty of drama. No one can find Tseng, Vincent and Auron are broken up, and there are stowaways on board!

Ramble Milestones
-We learn Spelling Kid’s name is Horace.

Tseng’s tirade is one of my favorite ramble scenes ever. I was planning that since before I even started writing the first part of this ramble. I also enjoy a lot of the small, throwaway moments in this ramble, like Seifer and the minibar. Also, I’m pretty sure this is Spelling Kid aka Horace’s, last appearance. I always liked him and his skanky mom. I guess she had other rambles to do. Here are all the anime characters who pop up in this trilogy: Edward and Alphonse Elric, Roy Mustang as well as Armstrong from Fullmetal Alchemist, Majic and Orphen from Orphen, Spike from Cowboy Bebop, Nuriko and Tomo from Fushigi Yugi, several Sailor Scouts from Sailor Moon, Dee and Ryo from Fake, Misato from Evangelion, Shido from Nightwalker, Ash, Brock and Misty from Pokemon, Kagetsuya and Chihaya from Earthian, the kids from Ghost Stories, and the cat from Trigun.

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#183 – Sailing For Adventure (part two)

Posted on September 24, 2011 by L.J.

Twilight: *slams quarters into the slot* “Let’s *dance*!”

Originally Published: 8/3/06 . 78 pages

Synopsis
Rufus and Elena are having problems with Tseng, Twilight is determined to defeat an old enemy, and Alucard runs into his brother. But everyone’s having a great vacation…right?

Ramble Milestones
-Vincent and Auron break-up.

Was anyone sad to see the demise of Auron and Vincent’s one sided relationship? Because I wasn’t. Many of the anime cameos appeared before in Sephiroth Land, but not all of them. The prominently featured Fullmetal Alchemist characters are new, and at the time when I wrote this I had not seen the whole series. But Roy Mustang was already my favorite.

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