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Comparing Two Heroes

One of these titles is the most popular title in it's franchise, sold millions+ and is probably one of the most famous games in the gaming industry. The other is just a unknown fanfiction series based on one of the least popular titles in it's own franchise. So what's the point of this strange page, you ask?

Eight years ago (mid 2000) I decided to improve my incredibly crappy writing skills (haha no improvement so far ^_^) by writing my own series. I wanted to be an author, but I couldn't do my own original work right away without practise, fanfiction was the way to go. I wasn't content on just using someone elses characters, and added in my own.

The only video games I played back then were adventure/puzzle solving (Monkey Island), turn based strategy (Civilization), and the only RPG I knew about was Pokemon. I had never heard of Final Fantasy, yes this part is important. Back in 1997 I was mostly living under a rock, my current favourite band is from then but I didn't know about them at the time, my current favourite game was released then.. 2000/2001 I wasn't much better off.

After many years of writing said series, I got into a huge writers block.. something else was needed to entertain me. A year or so previously a friend had introduced me to Final Fantasy, Advent Children was my first glimpse (though I had no idea what was happening), then either XII or VII itself came next. I was hooked as soon I got my hands on VII for myself. After a good way through, probably through my second playthrough I was slowly realising something.

It may have been my subconscious trying to get me back to Fifth Voyager, I don't know.. I still don't, this is why I want to write this so, to get it out of my system. The realisation was this, Cloud reminded me so much of one of my main creations in FV, the character called James. It was at first just little things, but the obsession grew really. It did explain why I was so attached to his character, I love(d) James (not THAT way, lmao).. he was definitely one of my favourite creations.

Remember back to what I said earlier, I hadn't heard of Final Fantasy when I created James (which was back in 2001), I didn't know anything about VII until I saw Advent Children the week it was released here in the UK. Even then I didn't pay much attention to the plot, I was just in awe of the pretty graphics ^_^

* A/N - If you want more info about this character, please check this page out that's on the main site *

It weirded me out a little, here I thought James was quite the original character. A few basic traits to give you a general jist: very strong physically but emotionally weak, tragic past, pretty naive when it comes to women who like him, has twice lost the love of his life to a sharp weapon.. yes twice, same woman.. very unlucky woman, but this is fantasy people.. she came back. Plus I had imagined James as a blonde haired, bright blue eyed, harmless looking (god bad grammar alert), boyishly cute/handsome (whatever you wanna call him) warrior. He's not exactly in the tallest man ever category either. Hmm.. familiar no? Unfortunately finding an actor/celeb to match his looks was tough - I did this for all the characters for the site's graphics and whatnot. I ended up with this guy, lets compare:

Too bad the guy seems to have brown hair naturally so it looks, the roots scream unnatural blonde lol. Most of his pictures don't suit James' look AT ALL, it was always difficult to pick pictures for graphics. The guy who "plays him" is the opposite to James himself, most of the time he's pulling some kind of face at the camera or what have you. Pictures like the above suit him the most. Plus there's the whole "oh god it's H, lol" kind of comments. James isn't him, he was just all I could find in a short space of time. It's too late to change now. Cloud is how I imagined James, end of story. ^_^

Now the purpose of this whole thing is to either put the whole Cloud and James are very much alike thing to rest OR prove it to myself and maybe others. It would be harder to convince others as I obviously know more about James than I've written in the series, and you'd have to have an open mind (something I guess I don't have ^_^). I'm not saying James is Cloud, there are other differences I've spotted already before making this new version of the guide (the first one wasn't good enough). The similarities lie mostly in events that happened to both of them, and some personality wise. With that in mind, lets get on with it. There will be more pictures along the way, I've mainly done that to break up the huge amount of text along the way and to hopefully brighten up the page. People surely will be lured to reading a page which has Cloud glorifying it :p Kidding, or am I?

* A/N - This page is not fully completed, one section is just basically written out and is missing a few things, the rest of it is done *

The Basics

The Basics
Age Range in the Series: 14 - 24
Hair Colour: Blonde
Eye Colour: Blue (with a tint of green from Mako)
Height: 173cm / 5' 8''
Family: His mother solely raised him, father died very young. As he doesn't give any kind of information about him, he probably died when he was a baby. His mother seemed very concerned about his welfare, and wanted him to find a girlfriend to look after him. Days later she died in the destruction of Nibelheim when he was 16. Only child.

Friendships: Cloud's best friend and probably first friend he had was Zack when he worked for Shinra. During the game he befriends Aeris, Tifa, Barret, Red XIII.. I ain't putting Cait Sith in here, ahem, Cid, and if you recruited them: Yuffie and Vincent. Though (in my opinion) he only really gets a little close to Aeris, mainly cos he seems to come out of that cold selfish shell when he meets her.

Age Range in the Series: 21 - 33
Hair Colour: Blonde
Eye Colour: Blue
Height: 173cm / 5' 8''
Family: James' birth mother left him in the care of his father and his wife when he was only 2, who both deep down resented him for the mess of their marriage. His father died when he was 5, only a year after he was arrested for abusing him. His stepmother was murdered when he was 20, but he soon was reunited with his biological mother on Voyager.. though he wasn't aware that she was. He has a much older half sister who he adored and looked up to, but she died when he was 3. Now he has two little sisters. James now also has three of his own children with his childhood sweetheart, Jessie. (yeah rabid Tifa/Cloud fans, I'm NOT going to give you anything here.. so move along)

Friendships: James met Jessie when they were 4, and they've been friends ever since. She's his closest friend, he also a few less than close friends: Danny, Ian (who he met in his teens), Kes and Craig, however the two men fell out over James' sister. Typical boys huh ^_^

The love interests

Oh this section may get me eaten alive by shippers, but I have to get this point across. When I first played through VII, I was a sucker for the Cloud/Aeris relationship. Any TV show or whatever I get hooked on, there's always a couple that gets my interest:
Janeway/Chakotay in Voyager (J/C / JetC)
These two got me into Voyager fanfiction in the first place. Though they never really were canon, it's more of a friendship thing, well it was onesided love as well. Plus the writers decided to take crack in the last season, and pair him up with the big busted blonde bimbo he was always complaining about throughout the series, in the final episode. Don't take note Square Enix ^_^
Jessie/James in Pokémon (Rocketshipping)
Yes I created the pair we're talking about now in Fifth Voyager out of namesake. However very soon into doing so (second episode infact) I decided to make the characters very different, especially James. FV James is nothing like the Pokémon James.. that's for sure. Not really canon either, but it could happen if it wasn't.. well Pokémon lol.
Leela/Fry in Futurama (um.. dunno what it's called)
These two are probably the most canon out of the others so far. He's in love with her, she likes him .. she admits that she admires his boyish charms, but hates his childishness.. the first Futurama movie has her falling in love with his future self and almost marrying him. However the second movie the writers decided to take cra.. erm, I already wrote that. It felt like such a slap in the face that the writers only reference to the previous movie's revelations was Leela's quite jealous remark about Fry moving on, and his meh-ish like response.. Sigh.
Buffy/Soulful Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (again.. dunno)
At last, a pairing that doesn't get worse as the season progress.. Season Seven was amazing, end of. Too bad Angel's fifth season ruined it, ah well.

You get the point anyway, not saying these couples have anything in common with Cloud/Aeris.. I was just making a point. I'm a sucker for it all. The thing is this time, I was confused as heck, mainly because I'm Fifth Voyager obsessed. I saw the so called childhood friend and thought "ok.. that's not right, where's the bloody chemistry??" and "he's not going to end up with her now cos.." . James and Jessie are childhood pals, they fell in love in their teens, and after many years of trying to figure out their own personal demons and how they felt, they finally managed to get their happy ending, kinda ^_^ I thought if Tifa and Cloud are these childhood friends, then why is Cloud so cold towards her. I was very worried that the game would have them get together after Aeris was gone, then Mideel happened.

She ignored him, she was the popular girl who had a swarm of boys around her. Cloud was left alone, watching from the outside.. not allowed into the group. For what reason? I have no idea. There were only a few children in that town, and they chose to exclude him. It was cruel, and I don't think any kid deserves that treatment. You could say they just didn't like him, but from what Tifa said in that scene was that she never knew him at all. They formed their opinion on first impression no doubt, shy and awkward, and chose to ignore him. People argue that he, like the other boys in the town probably did, had a crush on Tifa. My thoughts are that it's possible, it's only natural really.. she is the only girl around, and of course the popular girl is always admired that way. The other conclusion to this was that he only wanted attention, she was the leader of this group.. it's just a coincidence that she's a girl.

In my head I see James and Jessie in this cute childhood friendship, which blossoms into a platonic teenaged friendship.. their feelings for each other blossoming. He's protective of her and fights anyone who dares to pick on her, she looks after him emotionally. They get separated in their mid teens, only to be re-united years later at the age of 17/18. They're at an age where those crushes can easily turn into more, there's a few "accidental" kisses here and there, they're separated again. In their early twenties they are forced to join Voyager, both are torn between their great friendship and their feelings for the other. I've tried to show this in flashbacks in the series as much as I can. The two have a great chemistry, their opposite qualities bounce off each other, their similarities keep them very close. I didn't see any of this with Cloud and Tifa, my fears were gone. Who did Cloud have a relationship/friendship even close to that with, hmm..

My fanfiction series is read by quite a lot considering it's quite a low key site, it's interesting to see what people think of your own work. It's very easy for anybody reading this to think "this person doesn't have a clue, her opinion doesn't have any merit", but think about these points for a second:

+ Everytime I've posted a poll onto my website/forum to find out who's the best couple in the Fifth Voyager series (baring in mind that these are Voyager fans, the original characters shippers are still in high quantity, and they are options in the polls) the results always go in favour of my characters, James and Jessie and/or Lena and Craig. What does this tell you exactly, I must be doing something right.

+ Several readers have talked about the two couples above the most. Lena and Craig are the most talked about pairing however. They are just as cute as the James/Jessie one, in fact more.. and a lot more tragic. One reader even commented that the (spoilers for FV coming beware) episode where Lena was killed has her in tears everytime she reads it, because of the fact Lena and Craig never really got together properly, and his reactions to it. What can you say to that? Other than, hello familiar. Again, Lena and Jessie's death scenes have all taken place before I knew what happened to Aeris, ok?

I did have more points, but I think these two are more relevant. The most talked about parts of my series are the whole Lena and Craig tragedy, where she's taken away from him leaving him an absolute mess, and James and Jessie's relationship as a whole. People have voted for either of these two over an actual Voyager couple, and one of the most talked about non-canon ones. I'm obviously doing something right. Yes I have no experience myself, but I do know how to write about it.. or so it would seem.

Moving back on to the whole Cloud and Tifa rubb.. er thing. Sometime during their childhood Tifa's mother died, and she went on a journey to the nearby mountains to find her. All of the boys followed her, all but Cloud chickened out. He kept going, probably in hopes that he could prove himself to her and the others. Instead there was an accident, he couldn't save her. He was lucky enough to only get a few scratches, she was left in a coma for several days. Her father blamed him for leading her there, he mustn't of had a clue who her friends really were as there's no way she'd of followed him anywhere. This only made him feel very guilty for what happened, and weak. He started to get into fights with anyone to prove he wasn't, when he was 14 he decided to join Soldier to be like the all powerful Sephiroth. Tifa was intrigued, she wanted someday to be the damsel in distress rescued by her knight. She made him promise to help her out when (she says if, ha what faith) he became famous, he grudgingly accepted (probably to shut her up lol).

I liked Tifa, I really did.. then this whole childhood part was explained/showed to us. I didn't like her anymore. I might of still liked her a little if she had grown out of all of this, but she really didn't. She wanted the Cloud she had imagined in her head, the typical stereotypical knight in shining armour. That's not what he is.

Back to Cloud himself, if he did have a crush on Tifa back then.. he definitely doesn't anymore. He's all "where's my money" this and "I don't care" that. Like I said earlier, I saw none of that chemistry that should be present.. nothing. You can't really go and say that Cloud and Tifa should get together by saying that she knows him better or longer than Aeris. It's not true in the slightest. Tifa only starts to interact with him really at the beginning of VII, Aeris is the same.

Also do not get me started on the whole Aeris only liked Cloud and vice versa because of Zack, that's the argument that annoys me the most. Cloud doesn't act much like Zack at all. Besides if you're going to claim this, then I may as well throw this question at you "If that's the case, then why doesn't Tifa who knows him SO damn well not notice this huge change in the love of her life". Sigh. It's all contradictory. True Aeris is intrigued that Cloud has the same gestures as Zack (I think he does the same jump to his feet thing that Zack does on their first meeting, for example) and that he's first class too, but she quickly grows to like him for himself, which Tifa never really does.

Now I have a lot to say about the Tifa and Cloud stuff, some I haven't bothered to spell out for anyone (at least not yet). When it comes to Aeris and Cloud, I could go on and on about what I think of them, but I remember what other fans have written and I feel I can't do any where near as good, or say anything really original. All I can do is compare them really, which is the whole point of this guide.

James and Jessie, despite how much crap they go through, still are a lot more luckier than Cloud and Aeris. They've had most of their lives together, and have had that time to develop into a romantic relationship. So where are these similarities? It all comes down to how they act around the other, how they feel, and a few events they have in common.

full wallpaper here

Lets start with the horrible spoilerific one. James finally plucks the courage to ask her to marry him, she's already pregnant with their second child, the problems with their first (I'll not get into that, not relevant) are over. They're becoming a happy family at last. Of course nothing stays perfect for long, especially in the world of fiction. Jessie is murdered, she turns around and is stabbed in the heart. The woman who did it, possessed by a spirit laughs away, she's amused because James and their one year old son witnessed this event from afar and couldn't stop it. Thanks to her actions the woman can now regenerate her own being. She abandons her host just as James goes to attack her, her original body which is dust regenerates back to life, Jessie's body is destroyed in the process. James is beyond furious, his sense of self is lost. The woman who has essentially replaced her remains around to torment him.

His condition which gives him the strength of probably twenty men, or more even.. makes the entire situation even more dire. His kind cannot handle grief unless they're trained (more on that later), he turns into a mindless killer, out for revenge. However as usual James is an exception to the rules. He goes in and out of this phase, he blames himself more than anything else. He even goes as far as trying to kill himself, or letting himself die anyway. His actions are purely selfish as his infant son is still alive. He does realise this eventually, and lives to protect him.

Some of this may be familiar to you. Cloud and Aeris had the date (optional yes, but is the easiest one to get), Cait Sith predicted a great future for them, but something happened, she was cruelly taken away from him. He blames himself and can't move on until he's forgiven.

James is luckier however, Jessie is resurrected the same way the woman who killed her was. A simple exchange, justice is served. However calling James lucky is taking things WAY too far. In the following season the pair fight to protect their children, and she is again stabbed. He witnesses it again, and the same happens again, only this time he has something to blame: the species of monsters that were attacking them, so his evil state sticks around. Twenty fourth century medical technology came to the rescue this time, they're safe for the moment.. but this couple will encounter tragedy again. James was chosen to fight monsters and protect people, he can't get away from this job that's been given to him against his will. He's too good of a person to ignore it, his kind do not live long lives, Jessie will very likely be widowed at a young age. The only reason he even gets to his thirties, which is miraculous for a warrior like him, is simply because he has Jessie.

James was born with incredible strength, instinct and vitality, only a few people get "gifted" with this out of the billions of people who populate their galaxy, or even universe. He didn't have a choice in the matter, monsters are drawn to him, he's a threat to them. He has a huge conscience that'll eat away at him if he doesn't fulfill his purpose. The people who train his kind advise against getting too close to anyone, even family, in case they get into danger and affect their judgment. Then of course there's the matter of the in grief killing spree they could go on, if something does happen. All of the warriors have that short life span of 18, 19 if they're lucky. James defies everything when he falls in love with Jessie, and it works for him. Jessie is unaware at first of her own power, she is apart of a powerful family of witches, she is gifted with a power to heal. Many times she's brought him back from the brink of death without even realising it: It's Your Duty, Disconnected to name a few.

Now I hope you're not thinking I'm making this up just to give the comparison something, or that I just copied these traits in the first place. I'm really not. This similarity only came to me recently, I never noticed until I had written a good way through the last guide. Jessie is really not the damsel in distress type either, she's got her weaknesses yes, but without her James would be an emotional wreck (well more so lol). Before Jessie came along James was a frightened four year old, living in fear of his violent father who constantly beat into him that he was worthless. Jessie was the only child that treat him like a human, all the other kids he met would taunt him, call him a freak.. try to imagine a small child who's a lot stronger than several grown men (he didn't gain his full strength until he was ten, but he was still incredibly powerful), who doesn't know how to handle himself yet. Jessie saw him for who he was, and loves him for him. His ego, or lack of it is extremely fragile. He'd always protect her from harm if he could, just like she'd always protect his heart from harm.

I've rambled on about this for too long, but I hope I've proved my point here. The only thing that James/Jessie and Cloud/Tifa have in common are the fact that Jessie can beat somebody twice her size with her fists and legs (she's only learned that from spending time with James anyway), and they lived in the same hometown as children. Oh yeah and she's got black hair with a similar fringe (picking a pic was damned hard ^_^ ), big whoop. As Jessie's creator, I see more of Aeris* in her personality: she's quirky, independent, cheerful most of the time, girly -though she would never wear a pink dress ^_^ - , powerful magic user, a healer, has a natural knack for dealing with awkward men like Cloud and James.. I could go on.

* something amused me while I was writing this list, Jessie's allergic to the pollen in some flowers... there you rabid Cloti's who think Jessie is more Tifa in this scenario, you can have that ^_^ *

All Kinds of Conflict

Ok I must warn you that my common writers block struck when I got to this point in the page, so if it appears badly written (well more so anyway) than the rest of the guide well.. it probably is. ¬_¬

Now as I've basically finished with the relationship side of my comparison, I'm going to move on to another important part of these two characters' personalities. You know what I mean if you saw the sub title, but I'm not just going to address big cool fight scenes .. I really can't compare full blown CGI fight scene to my crappy descriptions of a one. You'll see as I go..

(A/N - I still haven't finished this part of the guide because of the block.. see below..)

As I haven't been able to write this out that well, I've kept the table I was using as a memory guide as to what would go in this part, and edited it to make it easier to read. It'll get the point across a lot quicker anyways ^_^ I will write this out eventually, in fact while writing one point I was getting back into the swing of things.

The Differences

It's only fair that I do this part. You've probably seen a fair few through this page already, they'll be repeated here.. just basically. So in no particular order..

See for yourself

If you're intrigued or not entirely convinced (and obvious bored enough to still unknowingly humour me ^_^) feel free to check out some of James' episodes in the series. You can even go to the archive of the whole series and pick whatever you want, I can't stop you, but be aware that James and many other characters lacked any kind of serious development in the first main season (not the prequels/B4FV).

( Please Note - I have posted these in chronological order so it should make sense in that order, however after three seasons through the quality and quantity will decrease. The "fourth season" is in fact the first main season, the three before it were prequels I wrote later. I wrote the first season back when I was 15 and didn't give myself much time to finish any stories, literally no care went into them.. there isn't any in the recommended lot, I'm just warning you in case you pick the Episode Archive route)

Don't forget on the prequel ones (marked with B4) to skip past the recaps, by clicking Part 1 underneath the episode's title

B41.22  Outside of Time
Voyager becomes trapped in a starship graveyard, it's epicentre being one of their own ships that was lost decades ago.
-- Apart from the poorly written first scene (thought I'd warn you.. yikes) this episode is one of the best in my opinion of the first season, James shows more of his real self (instead of the grouchy one throughout the first) and his abilities. He isn't yet aware of who/what he is yet however, and he seems to have a nasty Cid like habit in this season as well ^_^. --

B42.09 Death Wish
Jessie is pursued by an immortal being that isn't all there, meanwhile James and his team encounter some very supernatural life on the planet they're investigating.
-- This is probably as much for Jessie as it is for James, but still.. Anyway this is here because it's the episode where James meets Frenit. --

B42.14 Up In Smoke
James and Jessie's relationship develops further, but other things are on James' mind as well. He's got a deadline, only a few hours before he's hunted by beings stronger than him.
-- This one has both great scenes with James and Jessie's relationship, and brings up a lot about James' true personality. It was one of the first stories where I just let loose and wrote the series how I wanted, instead of worrying about any of the content. I'm not saying it's full of brutal violence or something, I was just very self conscious about what I was writing. --

B42.20 No Matter What
An old enemy of Voyager starts to manipulate James from afar, deeply affecting his mental state.
-- I think this is a good episode to put here as James is messed with mentally, and it causes him to do something he normally wouldn't. This begins his journey in the third season. --

B43.02 It's Your Duty
Voyager comes to the aid of a planet in danger of having it's sunlight blocked out by a supernatural ritual.
-- Here because in Fifth Voyager standards, it's awesome. Seriously, there's a lot here .. I don't want to spoil it, but there is a love triangle subplot in there amongst everything else ^_^ --

B43.08 Deck Thirteen
Only a few hours after the recent murder mystery, another mystery is brought to life after a Security team go down to Deck Thirteen.
-- Oh boy if you wanted an episode that was a good comparison, this is it. James has barely survived from an encounter with his enemy (previous episode: Blood Oath), he's been loosely treated but it's opened up a new problem. His behaviour becomes erratic, he's having terrifying hallucinations.. the reason, good old crazy scientific experiments. --

B43.15 Facing Fears
The first of a five episode saga. A dangerous anomaly is forming on the thirteenth deck, it's tearing the ship apart. Something must be sacrificed to destroy it, but what is it?
-- One of the highlights of the third season (which means a lot, B4 Season Three is one of my favourites) is this five piece saga, I had been in writers block for ages, it got me out of it until the entire season was finished. Anyway just take my word for it, this and the next three links really tell you a lot about James and Jessie. The fifth one isn't linked mainly because a lot of it's inside James' head, you can click Next Episode after finishing End of the Day if you're interested --

B43.16 Phase In Time
Part 2 of the saga. The Voyager crew are still reeling from damage the anomaly has caused, they're pulled straight into action when they run into an outside temporal rift.
-- I wasn't sure wether to keep this one, as it strays away from the story a bit.. the beginning though has some cute flashbacks of James and Jessie (mainly her) as ickle ones, lol. --

B43.17 Fantastical
Part 3 of the saga. Despite the efforts to destroy the last anomaly, another one is forming and causing a lot more damage than before. This time in the form of loved ones spirits. What'll save them this time?
-- I had to be subtle with the synopsis, I don't want to give away too much. Oh well. --

B43.18 End of the Day
Part 4 of the saga. James is a physical and emotional wreck after the events of the last three episodes, while the rest of the crew are recovering from everything that happened the ship comes to the rescue of two different ships.
-- Again.. it's hard to be subtle.. this one's the hardest to write a synopsis for ^^ It's a LOT more interesting that the synopsis says. Remember if you're interested in an episode where James is mainly stuck in his own head, creating another life in there.. then click on Next Episode at the bottom of the End of the Day's second half. --

B43.22 Alternate Scorpion
The season finale for the prequel series, and one of the last completed episodes I've done. Voyager prepares to battle against the Federation's most dangerous enemy, but they discover that they have a much bigger threat than the Borg.
-- This is here but it's not as important to this section as the last lot have. It does have some good James scenes in them, and as I feel this episode deserves to be read (it's the only third season prequel that I think is excellent for my "skill" that hasn't been feedback'ed yet - oh wait Deck Thirteen has that problem too.. go read that as well :p )

2.04 Disconnected
After rescuing a lone survivor from a planetary massacre Voyager is haunted by a series of horrible murders. Their suspect? Their scapegoat from the events after the anomaly incident years ago, James.
-- Now we're into main season territory. This episode was written in 2001, whereas Alternate Scorpion was completed in 2007. Disconnected was where Fifth Voyager really started to take off, I didn't give a damn about the series before then.. it was just a small hobby. James' character was also starting to find his footing around about this time. When he was first created he was, well.. a mess, annoying to write. He really had no background apart from his father's beatings, and his character felt empty. I finally found him in this season, Disconnected was really where James was created I think. This one was picked for this as well because it's the first to show off his tragic past side of him, and the crew again (like the prequel ones earlier) treat him very suspiciously for no real reason. Also please note that Morgan changes her name to Lena in later episodes, it is important to mention here I guess --

2.05 Resistance
Voyager make the mistake of rescuing somebody else, this time a human. He grows fond of Jessie in a very short time, who befriends him just as easily, leaving her ex very jealous.
-- Here because the James and Jessie stuff is very good for back in 2001, I wasn't a romance writer in the slightest. It still made me uncomfortable writing it, I could read a lot of it just fine lol. This ep was another big step for me. James really shows off his feelings for Jess in this episode, even though it's not perfect (it still has the old Season One style of writing which puts me off reading older episodes) with it's slow beginning, it's still one of the few I read through from the old episodes. --

Special. The Resurrection
An awayteam's presence wakes up a deadly plague on an ancient world, the threat itself focuses it's main attention on the team first. What is it after?
-- Here because it has some cute-some James/Jessie moments, James in the mean seasons so far hasn't been in fight mode (but if u see Resistance and Disconnected, punching is not a problem ^_^) this one's the first and guess why he decides to fight again?

2.28 Man Out Of You
James' father mysteriously appears and joins the ship, chaos ensues
-- I have to admit, I'd love to rewrite this episode. Not because I did it badly or didn't live up to my expectations. But because I have so many things I wanted to add to it now that I never even thought up then, if I wrote it a year or so ago.. well it would of been my version of amazing. This episode's good cos it's got the hints about James' real mum, plus it's quite an emotional episode even for it's time. James is beyond adorable in this episode in my opinion, as well as his and Jessie's son (you'll see.. cuteness at it's highest). This is also a brilliant episode to show off how much Jessie does for him emotionally, she really is a rock for him. You can already see the difference between James and Duncan (the son), the two are so alike personally, but because he hasn't been brought up so far in fear and knows it's ok to be himself, unlike what James had, he's able to stand up to his horrible grandfather which his father can't do, not yet. It's really quite amazing. --

Special. Oasis of Abatua
Sequel to The Resurrection. The Borg Resistance resorts to extreme measures while attempting to resurrect the powerful warlock Iinan to aid them against the Borg. Voyager intervenes, ending in tragedy.
-- If I didn't put this one in this page it would be a crime, lets just say that. Read and you'll see why. The synopsis may give you a hint. It's also too much like the Mummy Returns. The Resurrection was my version of The Mummy, but it at least seemed different .. this one however blatantly steals lines and scenes from it. Not my best work in some places, the last part is the best. --

3.02 New Earth
A week after the events on Abatua, Voyager and the Enterprise finally make it to New Earth to repair Voyager. But the crew's problems aren't over as they are faced with a threat from within.
-- I only put this one here as it directly follows the above episode. I could of wrote this one a LOT better than I did. Never mind --

3.04 Death of the Night
&
3.05 Only In My Dreams
-- I put these two together cos they are here for the same reasons: to show how lost James is cos of the previous episodes ahem. The next one does, but is more important than these two. --

3.06 The Chain Reaction
Morale continues to fall among certain members of the crew, matters get worse when the Enterprise gets trapped next to a portal.
-- Ah I love some of my subtle episode synopsis, it tells you basically nothing but it's not lying either. I'm not saying much else about this episode, I love it.. it's whole point was to be secretive (why else would there be a subtle synopsis like that) until the very end. The only thing I don't like about this episode is the ritual in it is ripped off from Buffy, the rest is all mine. Also you'll see a lot of Tifa in Lena in this I swear.. she doesn't know how to handle James at all, lol. Luckily I don't have to worry about rabid shippers here, she's his sister ^_^

4.03 True Memories
An awayteam of five come back from a mission, all but one, with severe head injuries. Meanwhile the Voyager crew are put under trial for breaking the temporal prime directive.
-- We jump a season, but there's not much else that's new to contribute to this page in Season Three. Season Four however is a gold mine for James material. This is probably one of the weakest mainly because of that long scene explaining away the crapness of Season One, ahem.. but it still serves it's purpose. --

4.15 The Dark Page of the Book
James' past comes back to haunt him as he's put on trial for his first "evil" experience.
-- Quite a heartbreaking episode in some places, and cute in others. I haven't read it in a while, but I felt this one had to be here. --

4.20 Sundown
Not long after returning to England, James joins the other Chosens in what's left of the abandoned city of Manchester.
-- I'm running out of things to say in these parts.. this is here becomes it shows off a lot emotion and conflict revolving around his upbringing and current status. It's hard to explain briefly, it's best to check it out. --

Special. Happy Ever After
Tragedy strikes James and Jessie's relationship, Frenit meanwhile decides to make things a lot harder for his old enemy by kidnapping their children.
-- Frenit returns after.. er several seasons and years (but in writing terms it was a year after his debut) to torture James the only way he knows how, and at the wrong time too. Is years of training and experience enough for James to finally defeat his enemy? Only one way to find out. --

4.24 Closing of the Eyes
(My so called subtle synopsis for this episode is rubbish.. I'll let the below do the talking)
-- Years before I wrote End of the Day, Deck Thirteen or The Coming of Time, I wrote my most daring episode to date, this was it. Remember when I said that I was very self conscious about what I wrote, and I finally decided to just let loose and write what I wanted? Well if I hadn't this one wouldn't of existed at all, and the rest of Season Four and Season Five would never have gone anywhere near what it is now. It's heart breaking, that's all I can say.. if you can read this episode without being affected in any way (if you burst out laughing at it, unless it's at a joke that always creeps it's way into any FV episode, then you're morbid ^_^) let me know.. seriously I want to know. I'd even give my email address but I'd never notice any real emails amongst the hordes of spam I get. Hopefully after reading a few episodes out of this list you'll get a good feel of what James is like, and then this episode should just make you feel for him, even if none of the above have already. Why this episode is so daring for me? It's all about death, the title should be enough of a clue. From a series which started as a insane parody series, it's quite a shock to how it's turned out only four seasons later.. that's how I feel anyway. If you're going to read any of this lot, I recommend this one. --

4.25 Burnt out and Falling
James, Jessie and Lena journey to Egypt seeking out a legend that'll aid them in their fight against demons, not knowing it's purpose is to cleanse the planet completely. However most of the team are possessed by evil warriors who decide to do the legend themselves.
-- Something had to follow Closing of the Eyes, this episode not only follows it with ease, it even comes close to beating it. I hate possession episodes with a passion, I can't write them and most TV shows can't pull it off. This episode's possessions are bearable, but one in particular makes it work. This episode couldn't not be here, I'm not sure though if it'll convince you of much though. To be honest it just makes a different pairing more like Cloud and Aeris than anything else --

4.26 - 4.28 The Season Four Finale
The Final Millennium | Illegal Operation | Inside of Two Evils
Season Four was and currently is still the favourite season amongst the readers, with more feedback about it than Two or B4 One put together. The season ends very well, and just leaves you with a good idea of how the following season is going to go. Too bad writers block happened during writing of Five, which has gotten in the way since episode 7. Enough about that, synopsis: two of the Federations biggest enemies unite to declare war on humanity, starting with Earth.
-- Not much to say really I'm afraid.. I've worn out what I can say ^_^ --

5.04 Responsibility
When James is lumbered with wannabe fighters to train, his strength and other abilities are taken away from him, leaving him physically defenceless against his violent stepdad.
-- Not least but hopefully not last either is Responsibility. I'm hoping someday I'll add to this section when I get back into writing. Anyway this episode focuses on James losing his gift, and having to fend off his new stepdad who's, lets just say lost the plot at the end of the last season. This is probably my favourite of this season along with Outbreak (but that's a Jessie episode more than anything else), to be fair the season is only eight episodes long so far. Oh PS.. please read Meets the Eye, the last episode ever released and tell me if it's crap or not. I feel like that lone episode killed the series, it took me months to write and doesn't look right to me at all. ^_^ So much for last heh.