Name: Benji Powell
Age: 27
Hobbies: Writing, martial arts, video games/computer games.
Favorite Artists/Composers: Nobuo Uematsu, Yoko Shimomura, Motoi Sakuraba, Riyu Kosaka/BeForU, Utada Hikaru, Evanescence, Linkin Park.
Favorite Foods: Pizza, so very much so. Any kind of steak is a close second.
Favorite Video Games: Dance Dance Revolution, Final Fantasy series, Metal Gear Solid, Halo 3, Pokemon (Any), Xenosaga series, Kingdom Hearts 2, Armored Core series, Mass Effect series.
Favorite Computer Games: Counter-Strike: Source, Diablo series, Starcraft series, Warcraft series, Sins of a Solar Empire.

(UPDATE: 1/22/15)

The Clouded Horizons series now has a TV Tropes page! Check it out at http:///pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/CloudedHorizons for...well, tropes!

First, before I go into any detail about myself, some information about my stories themselves.

Clouded Horizons

The Clouded Horizons series, as it's come to be known to me, started out very simply with one of the first stories I posted here on - FFX: Destiny's Call. I didn't expect the story to garner nearly as much interest as it did, and it truly surprised me when it broke 200 reviews and 10,000 hits. I had been thinking about continuing it and writing a sequel based on the sequel to Final Fantasy X itself, but that convinced me beyond all else. FFX-2: Eternal Requiem came out shortly after Destiny's Call finished, and while not as successful, still had plenty of backing from people who had read the previous story. I figured that I was done with the series at that point, but it turns out that I was wrong.

Around the time I began writing Destiny's Call, I had acquainted myself with two other authors on the site - Iron Reaver and Daniel Wesley Rydell. Over time, ideas began to form for an original story set in the world of Final Fantasy VIII that we began to carry out. Initially, I had no plans to ever write a story based on it, leaving it as sort of an unofficial sequel, but the more I thought about it, the more I convinced myself that it was a good idea. Enter Final Fantasy VIII: Dimensional Legend. The third story in the series, it'll definitely be the longest in the series if it is indeed the last (I haven't definitively decided if it will be yet), and will also be the longest story I've ever written.

Now, after a few years of work on the Clouded Horizons project, myself and my co-authors have expanded it to incorporate both a wiki page for a more complete repository of information about the series, as well as a set of forums that are currently still under development.

The wiki can be found at http:/// and the forums at http:///forum/ if anyone would like more information.

Also, one of my co-authors, Daniel Wesley Rydell, has written several stories which are canon to the Clouded Horizons series:

- The Runic Legacy (http://www.fanfiction.ws/s/2792227/1/The_Runic_Legacy)
- Foreshadow of Memory (http://www.fanfiction.ws/s/2302422/1/Foreshadow_of_Memory)
- Subtleties of Honor (http://www.fanfiction.ws/s/2331068/1/Subtleties_of_Honor)
- Family Rites (http://www.fanfiction.ws/s/3203761/1/Family_Rites)
- A Question of Honor (http://www.fanfiction.ws/s/5044784/1/A_Question_of_Honor)
- Affinity (http://www.fanfiction.ws/s/5871197/1/Affinity)
- Negotiations (http://www.fanfiction.ws/s/5871202/1/Negotiations)

A Question of Honor may contain some spoilers, as it happens during Dimensional Legend's storyline at a point soon after what is written in-story so far. You can see all of his stories at http://www.fanfiction.ws/u/83244/.

Stories Within Clouded Horizons

FFX: Destiny's Call

Destiny's Call is a self-insertion/novelization-esque story set in the world of Final Fantasy X, detailing the events that occur when my character is given the opportunity to go inside the game world itself. While not the first story I wrote for , it was easily the most popular of the ones I have written before and also the longest, just over twice as big as the one before it. The story wound up being much more than a story to me - it not only boosted my confidence as I continued writing, but it helped my overall writing skill as well. At the moment, it has over fifty thousand hits and four hundred reviews, something that I greatly thank all my readers for.

FFX: Destiny's Call - Chronicles Of The Chosen

This story is simply a rewrite of Destiny's Call itself. After re-reading the story, I made the decision to rewrite it in order to try and make it better because of my now-greater experience with writing.

FFX-2: Eternal Requiem

Similar to the above, Eternal Requiem is also a self-insertion/novelization of Final Fantasy X-2, following much the same idea as the previous story. The story directly followed Destiny's Call, and while being flawed in my own personal opinion, still had a large amount of positive backing. By the time I was writing this story, I had settled down into what I felt was my own personal writing style, something for which I found myself thankful.

Final Fantasy VIII: Dimensional Legend

The third story in the series, Dimensional Legend is a bit different than the other two. Created out of whole cloth, so to speak, by myself, Iron Reaver, and Daniel Wesley Rydell, the story itself is much longer than the previous two and will have influences and ideas from many different anime and video game series. It has now surpassed Destiny's Call in length and has a fair amount of backing at the moment, with over eleven thousand hits and just under two hundred reviews.

Guardian

The first canon one-shot story in the Clouded Horizons series, the inspiration for Guardian just came to me one day out of the blue. I've written a few more one-shots since then that are canon also, and will be posted when the storyline reaches that point.

Other Stories and Ideas

Clouded Horizons: Origins

A story I'm currently working on in spurts; it will eventually go a bit more in-depth into the events leading up to the major war in the Ethereal Plane several centuries before Dimensional Legend begins, including Freya's decision to integrate Malakh entities into the Gilead Order and the social and political strife that resulted from the decision.

Crystalline Heights

My first and to-date only attempt at a Pokémon-based story, the story is fairly short at the moment. It somewhat follows the remakes of the original two games for Game Boy, Fire Red and Leaf Green, but I've made very few real decisions about the plot of the story as of yet.

FFX-2: Eternal Requiem: Silent Symphony

The name is tentative at the moment, but this will be a rewrite of Eternal Requiem when I decide to get around to it. It likely won't be undertaken until I finish Chronicles Of The Chosen.

I'm, as you likely saw above, a 27 year old male from South Carolina. I got into writing a few years back as something to divert my attention away from other projects every so often. As it stands right now, writing is not my primary interest, compared to my other activities, but it is quite the hobby for me now. When I first posted Destiny's Call on , I didn't expect anything near the amount of response that the story actually received. For that, I thank my readers, and the people who gave me ideas, inspiration, and confidence to finish the story. The same goes for Eternal Requiem, as well, and the in-progress Dimensional Legend.

The homepage link above in my profile will direct you to the Clouded Horizons wiki page, as stated above, which is created and maintained by myself, Iron Reaver, and Daniel Wesley Rydell - my co-developers for Dimensional Legend. On it, you'll find information about all three of the stories currently in the series, as well as other information pertaining to the series and characters therein.

If anyone who reads my stories wants to get in contact with me, you can reach me on Skype at nightfire731, or through e-mail at nightfire05@ - those are the things I check most often.

Anyway, now that you know a bit about me, go read my stuff! Go on, shoo!