#squinoasource

Today's spotlight is for The Winter Rose!

This story is the first AU for FFVIII I ever started, and I swear I'm going to finish it sooner or later. It's a kind Beauty and the Beast + The Sleeping Beauty retelling in a FFVIII setting. Maybe a little too ambitious :D

Since it is going to be updated soon, here's the link if you want to read it, so you can refresh your memory: AO3 and FF.net

And here's the beautiful cover art that Ronin-ai made for me when I started it:

Rinoa Heartilly & Squall Leonhart | Final Fantasy VIII

@pscentral event 07: space | Rinoa and Squall

I love the part when Squall realizes he is in love with Rinoa, he does everything he can to be with her. Even jumping into outer space to save her. 🪐⭐

Happy Anniversary to FINAL FANTASY VIII (insp.)

And today's spotlight is on Dancing!

This is a short story I wrote last year for the FFVIII OTP Festival, specifically for the prompt "They've rented their first apartment together and it's moving day" by Nixxi.

It was fun to write it, and it's a short&fluffy self-indulgent piece, so beware of the cuteness overload.

At a loss for words, she simply nodded. He kept watching her, moving his fingers on her picture. “There’s nothing true in here. The light is made to flatter you. Colors are studied. There’s styling. Make-up is used to mask. This is crafted.” He followed the line of her face on her picture, lingering just above her eyes. A shudder crept along her back. “These are not.” [In which Squall, renowned black-and-white photographer, sees something raw and true he can't ignore in Rinoa's eyes.]

Characters: Rinoa Heartilly, Squall Leonheart

Pairings: Rinoa Heartilly/Squall Leonhart - barely mentioned Seifer Almasy/Quistis Trepe, and hinted Irvine Kinneas/Selphie Tilmitt

Additional tags: Slow Burn, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt, Artist/Muse Relationship, Mutual Pining, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Intimacy, Non-Explicit Sex, Alternate Universe, Photography, Music, Forbidden Attraction, Creative Process as Intimacy, unspoken feelings, Yearning

Chapter: V. Interlude: developing

Written for:

@ffviiiotpfestival - prompt Music makes sense now, by @angelosearch;

@julybreakbingoevent and @julybreakbingo, prompt being in love isn't something they're familiar with

@monthlywritingchallenges, Golden Hour event (July 2025), prompt a half-finished sentence.

This is a very nice milestone for me!

My mind got its first 750 hits on AO3!

This is a multichapter story I decided to write about Rinoa, spanning from pre-game to a post-game epilogue. It was written for her character week back when the event was still active, and I wrote it for an entire year. I am so happy it reached this milestone, because it's a story full of headcanons about FFVIII's lore and Rinoa's backstory, and I feared that sometimes it could go too far with it. But! It looks like it's working, at least for some readers, and I am happy to celebrate this milestone with you.

So thank you, everyone!

If you wanna read it too, it's on AO3 and FF.net, as usual.

It’s not like he doesn’t want her to have her fun; he knows that would be unfair, because she is a wonderful butterfly full of colors and laughter and all things sunshine, and he fell in love because she is like that.

Characters: Rinoa Heartilly, Squall Leonhart, Zone, Watts Pairing: Rinoa Heartilly/Squall Leonhart Written for: Mating March @monthlywritingchallenges for prompts instinct; territorial; jealousy; “come here”; scent; proximity; a warning growl; possessive; romance; public vs private; softening after; guarded; pulled closer; mine Additional tags: first love, established relationship, fluff&angst, happy ending, romance, learning to love, vulnerability