FIFTEEN MAIN CAST MEMBERS = ACK!

[auronlu]

I just added up all my main characters, trying to make sure I didn't forget anyone. And I am BOGGLED. How did this happen? When I first wrote the drabble-that-turned-into-a-oneshot that was the seed-idea for this saga, it was a cast of FOUR, with one more right at the end. Now?

Love Her and Despair CAST: (scale of 1-10 for minor to major character): 

1. Auron   --  10
2. Lulu      -- 6-10
3. Isaaru   -- 7-9
4. Pacce   -- 5
5. Rikku    -- 6-8
6. Wakka   -- 4-6
7. Yuna Jr. -- 4-8
8. Elma   -- 5-7
9. Cid    -- 4-5
10. Lucil   -- 4-6
11. Baralai   -- 4-6
12. Paine    -- 3-5
13. Nooj     -- 3-5
14. Gippal   -- 3-5
15. Maroda    -5-7
16. Zuke   -- 3-6
17. Vidina   -- 2-3
18. Shinra    -- 2-3
19. Brother -- 1
20. Mbela -- 1
21. Etta   -- 1-2
22. Shelinda -- 1
23. Buddy   -- 1 
24. Anima, Bahamut   -- 2 
25. Luzzu -- 2-3
26. (Dona, Barthello, Maechen, Kiyuri, Wedge -- 0.5 -- yes, Maechen already had a cameo, but it was "teeny-weenie")

Some characters are minor walk-ons and cameos (16-25). However, that's 15 characters with character development and plot arcs that I need to wrap up. Which would be fine, except that most are interconnected. I wrote out a rough "character arc chart" a few years ago treating the first 15 as individual timelines, but I never attempted a flowchart dealing with all the relationships which need to be resolved in tandem. (Cid seems to be determined to be mixed up with everybody's business, even though he doesn't develop/evolve at all. Well, it's a Final Fantasy story...there Has To Be a Cid. *punts Cid*) 

So, when I tried to start wrapping up and jettisoning nonessential personnel befor the Scouring of the Shire / Last Battle chunk of the story, I got stuck, like hitting two handfuls of typewriter keys and jamming them against the ribbon. That's no excuse for posting only two chapters in the last year, but the moral of the story is: keep your main cast to 7 or less, or be prepared to juggle a LOT OF BALLS.

Okay. I can now cross off Cid, Brother, Buddy, and...dangit, Zuke, why did you have to walk back into the story?! Go away! 

In other news, I just updated LHAD's Sticky Post / Table of Contents for my Dreamwidth account so that the navigation is functional, which it wasn't before. You can now navigate from chapter to chapter on DW, instead of having to go to LJ for easy reading.  

Also, I lost a year, so it's not as bad as I thought. I looked back and see I started it on December 14, 2007, not 2006. Think I'll finish in five years? Just in time for Final Fantasy X (HD) to come out. No, I don't have selfish reasons for being happy about that release...nope nope. ;)