¤ general info ¤ misbegotten faq ¤ about me ¤

Q: You really like Sephiroth, don't you?
A: Is it... really that obvious? *blush*

Q: Aw, come on... fess up! You're obsessed with him!
A: Well... to be honest, not as much as I used to be. My attention's spread way too thin lately to be obsessed with anything or anyone. But still, I love Seph, he's an incredibly fascinating and attractive person. It doesn't matter he's fictional. It doesn't matter he might be gay. Heck, it doesn't even matter that he [did that evil thing at end of Disc One], even though I really like [certain character he did evil thing to]!

Q: ....He might be gay? What are you talking about?
A: I'm not going to get into that. But it has been debated on many a message board...

Q: How come you haven't answered any questions about the site yet?
A: Because "You really like Sephiroth, don't you?" is the Question that I am most Frequently Asked. ^_^ Now I'll get on with it.

Q: Can I put a link to your site on mine?
A: Sure. Please do. If you want banners, go here to pick one up.

Q: Can I use/link to your stories/art/weird crap?
A: Well, I don't mind as long as you email me first and let me know what you want it for. I like to keep track of where my various stuff might be found, so I can make sure it's not just getting ripped off. For instance... Who the [Cid] ripped off my sword from the old design and started distributing it?! Listen - if you want to use my graphics for something, all you have to do is ask. I'm not a tyrant, and as long as you're not claiming it as your own work, it's no big deal. But there's this thing called courtesy, which apparently some people haven't heard of, and it would be very greatly appreciated if people asked before distributing my graphics to anyone who happens to have an email address or ICQ account. Understand?

Q: Can I use/link to the stories/art/weird crap that other people have sent you?
A: Not unless you get their permission. Anytime someone sends me something that I post, I put their email address up so you can ask them directly.

Q: Here is my site. Link it.
A: ...No. That's very rude.

Q: Hi there, I have a site I just started up. Would you mind taking a look at it, and maybe adding it to your links if you like it?
A: Gladly. Thanks for asking nicely rather than making demands. ^_^

Q: Will you do some graphics for my site?
A: Ehmm.. depends what kind of graphics. I wish I could just sit and make graphics all day, but I'm trying to find a way to get income. However, if you want to pay me to make graphics for your site, I'd make as many as you want as soon as possible. That sounds really cheap, but considering I'm basically out of money to buy food or pay the rent and can't find a job anywhere, I'll do just about anything to get some. But if you're willing to wait around, I might regardless... like I said, depends what kind of graphics: how many I'd need to make, how complex they are, and so on. I don't really want to be caught up in any more huge web projects that will take up all my time but get me no income, but an animated link banner or some transparent text or whatever is no problem. Just ask, I guess.

Q: When are you going to finish X? (X = anything unfinished on the site)
A: Whenever I get to it. I'm not paid for this, you know. ^_^ I sort of have a life now... But if you really really really want me to work on something, let me know, cause there is no better motivator than to have someone write me and tell me they really like "X" and would like to see more. Cause otherwise I might just get discouraged.

Q: You, discouraged? But you seem so with it!
A: Would I have a web page enshrining a madman who aspires to become a deity if I was "with it"?

Q: What's up with Cid's disembodied head by the guestbook?
A: Very, very inside joke. There's a joke much like it in an issue of Lethargic Comics, and even though it came up a couple years ago, I still laugh every time I think about it. "Guy-With-A-Gun's disembodied head, dressed as Gambit" ... Ahahahahaaaa! Greg Hyland, I love you!

Q: ...Greg Hyland?
A: Visit above link. All will be made clear.

Q: Your link to X doesn't work. (X = some part in which the link doesn't work.)
A: ... Yes it does.

Q: No it doesn't!
A: Oh! You're right, sorry. I'll try to fix it. (The moral of this was...) If something on my site's not working, please let me know, and if I can't figure out what's wrong with it right away, try to clarify the nature of the problem (whether it's sending you to the wrong page, or telling you the page doesn't exist, or whatever). I really do care about making this site all work properly.

Q: Where do you see the Northern Crater headed in the future?
A:Well, to be honest, I'm not sure. As this is a fan site, as my interests change, the site will change to reflect that. With this new design comes a focus less on just Sephiroth and FFVII, and more on the FF series as a whole. Of course, it's called the Northern Crater, so obviously I'll be keeping a lot of Sephiroth stuff around. Ideally, I want to differentiate TNC from other FF fan sites by offering things that can't be found anywhere else... and since I'm rather anal about continuity in fanfics, the Information section is my contribution to the authors out there who might also be interested in knowing "the real stories" thoroughly before expanding on them. And since I got into making desktop graphics, I started a section for those too. Pretty much anything I get interested in, I'll add.

Q: If this is a FFVII site, how come there's all this FFVIII stuff all of a sudden?
A: Let me say it one more time - TNC is NOT a FFVII site! It's a site about the FF series as a whole. The reason it's called The Northern Crater is simply because I was playing through FFVII when I happened to make it. I've played the series and loved it since good ol' FFI. If I'd made it several years ago, I probably would have called it Gurgu Volcano, or Mysidia, or something like that. And it would still be exactly the same (although with a different title graphic, I suppose). It's like Fritz Fraundorf's Cosmo Canyon... just because the name was taken from FFVII doesn't mean it's just a FFVII site. *sigh*

Q: Why don't you have a freetalk section?
A: Because I have a personal page which contains all my non-FF ranting. If you really want to see me babbling on about nothing much, check out EarMouse.

Q: What FF character are you most like?
A: I'd have to go with either Cait Sith or Kain. I change my mind a lot. ^_^ It depends on my mood which particular turncoat I'm more like.

Q: Did you base Kit on yourself?
A: Nope. Actually I'm not much like her at all, except for being short, rather stoic, and not being real good at relationships.

Q: So you claim you're not just writing yourself into a romance with him?
A: Really, I'm not. Although I tend to write best by putting myself into a character's shoes, and I'd be lying if I said I don't enjoy writing certain parts of the story... ^_~

Q: What's with Barret and Cid swearing so much?
A: ...? Haven't you played the game? ^_^;; Anyway, don't ask me. Ask the people at Square who wrote the game dialogue. I'm just trying to stay true to character, even though I never use dirty words in real life. I'm dead serious, I really hate unnecessary profanity.

Q: Holy [Cid Highwind]!! How many chapters is this thing gonna have?
A: Obviously, now that it's finished, I can say for certainty that it has 50 chapters. But up until just a few days before I finished it, I wasn't sure. ;) I didn't even really intend it to be this long, when I first started... I just kept getting more ideas.

Q: When's the next chapter going to be up?
A: This question is no longer valid, since the fic is finished. But since I got this question approximately once a week, I'll give it an honorary position here.

Q: Hmm, I noticed a little error in the part where [something minor, ie: the item shop is to the left of the inn in some town instead of the right].
A: Does this really make any difference? It made [scene] more interesting and logical.

Q: Uh oh, I noticed a big error in the part where [something major, ie: a supporting character dies before the scene where they give so-and-so a hint]!
A: Oh, really? Oops. Thanks for telling me, I didn't know that. I'll try to fix it. I started writing this story before I finished the game the first time, and that time I never even got Vincent, so I'm by no means an expert on every iota of the plotline. If you see something horribly inaccurate, let me know.

Q: What inspires you to write?
A: The simple answer? Listening to good music, and reading good books/fics. The more complicated answer... there's a lot of CDs I have that seem to go well with this story. Right now, the CDs that I listen to while writing are Pink Floyd's Momentary Lapse of Reason, Suzanne Vega's Nine Objects of Desire, Radiohead's OK Computer, Kate Bush's The Whole Story (thanks to a recommendation, you know who you are ^_^), and Richard Shindell's Sparrow's Point. For the sequel, I'd throw in... uhm... Barenaked Ladies's Maybe You Should Drive and early Beatles. I know it sounds weird, but it works. And as for books that influence me... I'm working on a section on my homepage about my muses. ^_^ I'll put a link to that when it goes up. For now I'll just say - read anything and everything by Marion Zimmer Bradley. And my links page goes to most of the sites whose fics I really like...

Q: Does Sephiroth really love Kit? I thought he was too evil to love someone.
A: Maybe he is. But my personal opinion is that he's insane, not evil.

Q: That doesn't answer the question.
A: No it doesn't. But if I did answer the question, would you keep reading the story? ^_~ Part of the fun is making up your own mind.

Q: Forget evil vs. insane - I thought Sephiroth was gay...
A: *sigh* Nothing has been proven. For the purposes of this story, he's straight.

Q: Hey, wait a sec! You had Cloud be nice to AERIS??!?! He loves Tifa! Tifa's the girl for him! They're a perfect couple! He doesn't love Aeris!
A: Whoa! Calm down! If you wanna read my little thesis on the Cloud/Aeris/Tifa love triangle, and why it was so perfect, click here.

Q: Tifa's the perfect girl for Cloud? No way! She's a whore!
A: *sigh* I didn't know Chris Polvi came here... Shut up, Chris.

Q: In the "General" section, you mentioned a sequel?
A: Yep. Now I'm trying to decide if posting it would be cool, or if it would just mess with perfection. Oh wait, I'd have to have perfection to mess with perfection, and my writing sucks. Well, there's one reason not to worry about posting it.

Q: What's it about?
A: If I told you that, it would ruin the ending of the first story! ^_^ But I will tell you this... one of the subplots is a love triangle, and one of the three people is someone I bet you'd never have expected to see as a romantic interest...

Q: Argh! You're baiting me! How am I supposed to wait to find out who you're referring to?
A: You'll just have to, cause I'm not telling! *evil, Kefka-ish laugh*