Author’s Notes and Thanks:

I have enjoyed writing this, believe it or not. Resurrection began in November of 2005 as a much different story. It was to be more about zombies and surviving in a world taken over by them than the twisted thing it has become. Also, Tessa was supposed to be more like Rinoa (minus the whole Sorceress thing), a strong woman without being forceful or obnoxious. Yeah. That worked out well.

This wasn’t supposed to be as laden down with OCs as it was, with only Tessa and Hunter taking centre stage in addition to the pre-existing FFVIII cast. I believe it was said before, but Adette was supposed to die in the sewers and Xu would be the comatose girl. The sharpshooter was just a soulless name. Never did I believe that she would take such an important role when I wrote her in that day that Tessa and Phelan went to Cid’s office.

As for Hunter, the self-styled playboy with a dislike of contractions (though I slipped a few times…) was supposed to be a love interest for Tessa. Now I see that that’ll never happen. However, his role in the sequel will be much more than someone around just to be yelled and screamed at by Tessa. The sequel, Redemption, will show him in a far different light with a much more hands on involvement with the plot. His role as a clone of Sephiroth will be a big deal, too. Not exactly Advent Children territory, but there will be some similar areas. His resemblances to Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo just simply cannot be overlooked.

What was probably the most controversial part of this fic was Tessa’s rape. Why the memory was implanted into Tessa’s brain hasn’t been explained yet (it will be, though), but it definitely went a long way in explaining her behaviour. The way she would act around any man, her problems with authority, and the need to be in control all the time is wrapped together in a messy, unresolved little package.

The other major controversy was probably my readiness and willingness to kill off the heroes. None of them really deserved to die (except maybe for Xu, the lucky bitch). One might argue Selphie did after her insane attack back in Chapter 2, but they did make up. Mainly, I did it because it’s not just a FFVIII fic it’s also a zombie fic. People die in zombie movies. That’s just the way things go. How I chose my victims was actually pretty random. The only ones that I had planned on keeping were Hunter and Quistis. Yeah, I was going to kill off Tessa, but there just seemed too many ways to torture her if I let her live.

The introduction of FFVII was only planned as far as Shinra was concerned. Elena was chosen to be the one sent after Tessa because she was always the most gung-ho about being a Turk. As for her history, I needed something to help make her obsession with Tessa make just a little more sense. Plus, the hero always needs an arch nemesis to do battle with.

One question that had to have been very prevalent in the minds of you, my readers, is probably “why?” Why did I make the decisions I did? A major one was probably the relationship between Tessa and Adette. Tessa had claimed many times that she hated men, but wasn’t a lesbian. So when she began to develop feelings, she would know how to act. Her clumsiness and reluctance to admit what was going on in her mind was just something to humanize her. Also, it wasn’t just something I pulled out of nowhere like I did with Irvine and Quistis. If one were to look back, they would see Tessa and Adette growing closer.

Quistis and Irvine, though, was definitely not planned. I had just writer’s block and began looking back at older chapters to see if there was anything that I could work with. Then, low and behold, I came across the whole Selphie jealousy thing and figured that it would make for great reading if I actually put a face to the Messenger Girl’s suspicions. I chose Quistis mainly because I felt ending up alone in a game where the theme was “love” ripped her off.

Tessa, though, she definitely did not end up where I had originally wanted her. Some writers may not have experienced this, but she just kind of evolved on her own. She snuck up on me. Of course, there was no way someone like Tessa could be a Mary Sue, though. She had to be broken inside, lonely. To cover it, she would boast and act like she didn’t need anyone or anything to complete her life. Her arrogance would also be her downfall. An anti-hero, I’m tempted to say. She would threaten to beat up anyone who so much as looked at her funny, but if you’ll notice, she lost every fight she was in. Elena beat her all four times, she knocked out in the fight between Nemesis and Vincent, and Scarlet definitely kicked her ass. All of that would add to her character and help shape how she would behave in the (unplanned) sequel.

Anyone who read the preview of Redemption knows that Tessa will end up pregnant, and they probably know that Nida’s the father from the drunken one night stand. (Don’t they all start off like that?) Some things that will arise as a result of that will be an increase in Tessa’s already obvious instability. She’ll do things that she didn’t do before, and things that she knows she shouldn’t do.

Religion didn’t play a major part in this fic, with the exceptions of Tessa spouting off about her disbelief in anything but herself and her need to call Hyne a bitch. The reason I’m mentioning it now is because it will play a much larger role in the next fic. The world will essentially be divided in two, the FFVII half and the FFVIII half. Those who come from the former will follow the teachings of Soa, and the latter the beliefs of Hyne. Everyone knows Hyne, I should hope. Soa might be a little different. Anyone who has played Legend of Dragoon should probably know the legend of Soa and the Tree of Life. That’s what I’ll be doing here, legends of dragoons and all. There will be a lot of tension between the two groups, with Tessa managing to piss off both in almost every way possible.

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I would like to thank the following reviewers who either stuck with me all the way through, joined me later in the fic, or gave me the boost I needed to finally get this done:

Gullwing Yunie you were my first ever reviewer. If it hadn’t been for you, I definitely would have given up.

Sorceress Eternity another one of the “odd” writers who has unusual plots. Your ability to see what I was going for astounds me.

DarklightZERO I loved your threats to send Stubbs after me, but you disappeared. Did this go in a direction you weren’t comfortable with? Oh well, thanks for reading what you did.

Rakunya a story tease who delivered each review with unabashed praise and fed my bloated ego with no remorse. This guy can really write. Check out his stuff.

Tabansi232 the rising star of the SI world, and the first person to follow both of my regular fics. I get onto my hands and knees and kiss your feet, for I am not worthy. I recommend everyone read her piece of genius known as Flipped-Up Reality.

Baron von Ludwig owner of the longest, and possibly best, review I ever got. I took your advice to heart, and am proud to admit that I did so. The improvements in my writing style owe a lot to you.

Thank you to anyone I may have left off, and to those who read but didn’t review. Please join me on Redemption, but until then, check out TCBT in the FFIX section. It’s a different genre, but the quality is still great.