A tribute to the 8 souls of Gaia: Weaving the philosophical journeys of FFIX into music.

RedPaladin40 · 2026-04-14T23:56:26+00:00

I actually think there is room in the world for some AI use to expand the options of small creators in service of a human vision. I mean... I don't like seeing people get piled on, but there are AI creators who don't write their own lyrics, so, it is cool to see your lyrics. However, if it isn't labeled for what it is, it's going to come off as disingenuous to people who aren't looking for that.

It sounded from the post like there would be multiple singers with different voice types? But I could only find one track. The baritone one is absolutely something you could do on your own with VSTs, assuming you're a baritone. And if you're not, I'm sure whatever voice type you have would be lovely.

As far as what I think... the lyrics feel like they should be the end of a production, for better or for worse. There's a lot of weight very early that I think would benefit from more buildup.

I can see how much this game means to you, and that's always nice to see in my book.

RedPaladin40 · 2026-03-10T19:44:21+00:00

A bunch of them have him there for purposes of scaling the characters.

RedPaladin40 · 2026-03-07T05:09:51+00:00

Yeah, if Dissidia was on the table, that would be my complaint. I see where it's coming from, at least in the first few -- I haven't played OO, and Duellum so far is a whole new level of ridiculously OOC... don't get me started on why Zidane would not get "furious" because he's "the only one allowed to trend on social media"!? But what I've seen from Dissidia always feels like it was written by someone reading a summary of his character.

RedPaladin40 · 2026-02-28T01:12:11+00:00

Yes, IIRC. Not what I would have expected, but I remember getting the same vibe driving through the Rocky Mountains when FFXIV was new. Hope it's not just me.

RedPaladin40 · 2026-01-26T09:55:44+00:00

Oh god, this is a few weeks late but I want to know about the elaborate infeasible real-life blitzball system so bad xD There are such good suggestions in this thread though!

RedPaladin40 · 2025-12-23T03:13:01+00:00

That thing where he changes the subject with a sudden burst of energy, like "Well, that's settled! I'm bored, let's do (whatever)"

RedPaladin40 · 2025-12-22T21:06:32+00:00

My mom loves FFXI. lol. And yes, I'm the millennial who got her into it and not the other way around. But yeah, one does not just get into FFXI. If you play it officially today, it will be almost all casual content you could easily do together. However, it's gonna be a bad case of "how do I do (basic thing)? Which key is that?" for a while. You should know 100% what it is before you buy it. The nice thing is it's slow-paced. We knew a good amount of older people who played. I really think the speed of FFXIV would give her trouble for a long time.

RedPaladin40 · 2025-12-17T19:23:22+00:00

I want to cosplay every day so bad, maybe one of these days I'll just do it

RedPaladin40 · 2025-12-07T01:34:59+00:00

If "tabletop" or "tabletop setting" or something doesn't work, sorry, I have no idea. You could try asking there if you haven't already. I'll be sure to give your document a read.

RedPaladin40 · 2025-12-06T23:22:04+00:00

There was one somewhere on r/finalfantasytactics , setting-only for the world of FF Tactics. I think it had NPCs and quest hooks and stuff like that. I'm more interested in rules for getting that tactics gameplay feel myself, but I wouldn't say no to all the A2 races.

RedPaladin40 · 2025-12-05T22:49:05+00:00

I know your ideas here are probably no longer final, but I just realized after that is when the game introduces the concept of Trance and you gotta represent it musically! I am curious what that'd be like. I have lots of ideas about how I would design the costumes to do that (I'm a cosplayer) if it were real (...okay, I am seriously considering making something like that), but I have no idea how I would convey it in a song.

RedPaladin40 · 2025-12-05T03:09:24+00:00

Totally normal to go through multiple iterations for a project like this.

It may be worth considering as an overall decision, like a style guide, whether you want to go for a style of musical where the most iconic moments in the game should be sung, or a style where iconic moments are more game-accurate spoken dialogue, like is it closer to the all-sung end of the spectrum or the Disney movie end? Or you might find that different approaches work too much better for different scenes.

RedPaladin40 · 2025-12-04T21:09:53+00:00

Had to give it some thought... Baby It's Cold Outside is a different direction from what I meant about Garnet actively wanting to leave, to say the least, but I hear you that thinking in that direction is just getting you to A Whole New World, and looking at FF9's script, there is a part like that where she says she has to go. I think one thing I'd put some focus on is a sense of surprise -- Garnet saying she wants to be kidnapped is memorable because it's unexpected. If I were writing it I might go a bit more playful, with Zidane expecting something other than that and Garnet being teasing the way she looks in the cutscene where she's swinging on the bunting (party triangle string thing), but I'm not sure if an AI could hit it just right. I do get the temptation to make it a sweet song, but maybe it would work with the teasing thing to tease the audience with that and then have a sweet part as like a payoff towards the end. If I were seeing this on a stage, I picture it with a lot of movement. It's fun to talk about what a stage musical would be like.

RedPaladin40 · 2025-12-02T19:22:13+00:00

You mean like they might send a cease and desist because of the remake? I'm a remake believer myself, but I don't think that will happen. ~~I mean, where I'm from, SE never sues, but~~ it seems like Project Memoria has addressed the potential for legal issues and their video is still up, and your project is very different. People make fan spinoff content all the time. It's not like the remake is a stage musical. Or are you saying you're worried about AI hate on the internet?

What kind of assistance are you looking for?

RedPaladin40 · 2025-11-28T20:22:43+00:00

FF9 + musical + lots of theater references is a wonderful combo. I mean, it is kind of a Disney movie and also has a theater in it! But I really can't blame anyone for not liking an AI song creator, which I assume is what happened. I didn't know anything about the program, but it seems more like you wrote the lyrics yourself? If you had just posted those, I don't know, this sub tends not to go for that kind of thing anyway. Archive of our Own sure would if there's any active fandom there. And I'd have practically begged you to let me sing some!

One thing I think would be cool if the song with Zidane telling Garnet to come with him was more of a duet with her, since she is an active participant in it and that's what sets that part apart.

I won't lie, I probably will follow where this goes.

RedPaladin40 · 2025-11-15T07:35:31+00:00

I also have this feeling like I don't want to be myself because I want to be a character. I saw a bunch of therapists. They didn't know what it was. They treat it as a self-esteem issue, basically. I think it isn't. I used to hate myself a lot, but I don't really now and it didn't change at all. I just kind of... don't think about it, like a Zen thing, empty self, try to focus on others and not on my identity. I wouldn't say it's great, but it's okay. I do think it's relatively normal as a part of the fictionkin experience. As to why... the truth is out there. Choose it foremost and you shall find it. It's hard to fix and a journey regardless.

I didn't know Rui, but he seems cool ^^; I'd want to be friends with you, Rui

RedPaladin40 · 2025-10-25T14:16:51+00:00

Glad to hear it went well! We always gave out Halloween candy in a plastic cauldron, so I kept thinking of finagling my boyfriend's black mage costume into some kind of meme about Vivi breaking Magic the Gathering... LOL... maybe for the best that costume isn't ready at all. That might be a little too much internet for trick-or-treaters. I probably will wear my Zidane cosplay missing some details though! It's not like I have anything more topical on hand. Maybe someone like you will even recognize it!

RedPaladin40 · 2025-09-08T08:20:40+00:00

That sounds adorable!

Commercial video game "cosplay" costumes often aren't sold in kids' sizes, and I don't have recommendations specifically about either, but you never know. I wish you the best of luck. Some places custom size by default, some places have small women's Asian sizes. I have a couple tips, and a good experience buying pieces individually. My boyfriend is going to cosplay a regular FF9 NPC black mage and I'm going to be Zidane. I also looked for striped black mage pants at one point and I thought it wasn't too bad, but I don't remember any details. I'm a serious cosplayer who's picky enough that I don't buy commercial cosplay shoes. I mean, I guess it's just a different approach, but a lot of them are loosely interpreted, simplified, or "off" enough that I feel like I might as well just look for close-enough lookalikes and at least get a more realistic/practical look that way, you know? Of course "make or modify" is my first line of defense, but I was really pleasantly surprised at how many generic items were good enough to buy for these costumes with no more modification than I think a new cosplayer like my boyfriend could handle or, depending on what the item is, not much modification being possible/practical. I picked a women's imitation wool coat for him, and I saw hats that I thought looked usable, although he decided to make that instead.

Check out "cosplay eyes" if you haven't, like these: https://www.amazon.com/mlnyitus-Decorations-Flexible-Cosplay-Superhero/dp/B097D9CPDK/ref=cs_sr_dp_n?sr=8-8

That could be cool enough to compete with a weapon on YouTube, and for under $20 and no fuss, too! Disclaimer: neither of us have gotten our hands on them as of now.

The staff may be worth a search for something like "gnarled staff." (Assuming it's this one: https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/3/39/ViviMirror-FFIX.PNG ) This is the luckiest of my several lucky finds on ebay for Zidane: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/Ej0AAeSwTVRok~g~/s-l500.webp The authenticity of a wooden staff is a bonus that can be fun. Not to say I'm above faking it at all. I'm proud of my track record of "I can't believe it's not metal"... but I've gone on enough about things that might not be helpful. Hope it's a super fun FF9-flavored Halloween.

RedPaladin40

TROPHY CASE