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3%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
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6[[quoteright:295:[[http://willothewisp.deviantart.com/ https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eiko_gng_8080.png]]]]
7
8->''"For my birthday, when I was ten, Papa gave me hair ribbons and chocolate and a new set of spanners and the chance to pilot an airship without Erin at the co-pilot's wheel. For Vivi's birthday, when he was twelve, he got a houseful of dead children and left us a very gentle little note and went off and Stopped.\
9\
10Why?"''
11--> --'''Eiko'''
12
13Thirteen years have passed since the events of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'', and Eiko Carol Fabool has grown into an intelligent, self-possessed young woman and the heir to the regency of Lindblum. She is [[HappilyAdopted beloved by her parents]], keeps in touch with [[HappilyEverAfter her old adventuring buddies]], and is well on her way to becoming [[WrenchWench a talented airship engineer]].
14
15There are only two disappointments in her perfect world: her [[TheMagicGoesAway fading connection]] to her eidolons, and the lingering pain of losing her childhood friend, Vivi Ornitier, when she was ten. Otherwise, everything about her life seems almost too good to last.
16
17And then Lindblum is attacked without warning by a violent unknown aggressor, and in trying to stop him, Eiko finds herself whisked away to the ruins of the Desert Palace. Trapped at the mercy of a madman, and armed with only her own wits and some half-forgotten white magic, Eiko struggles to find a way to escape and return home...while at the same time piecing together clues about her mysterious captor. What exactly ''is'' Black Tango? What is his connection to Kuja, to the black mages, and to the dead world of Terra? And what part did he play in Vivi's death?
18
19''Fanfic/GoNotGently'' is quite possibly the best-known FFIX fanfiction on the internet, and certainly among the best. It tackles the darker side of many of the same questions about life, death, and survival that were raised by the original game, and provides some very interesting explorations of the inner workings of magic and summoning on Gaia. In the process, it paints vivid, well-painted portraits of all the familiar FFIX heroes thirteen years down the line, and adds a small but judicious handful of original characters to the mix.
20
21Oh, and there are Black Mages. [[{{Squee}} Lots and lots of Black Mages.]]
22
23If all this sounds good to you, go and [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/963803/1/Go_Not_Gently read the story]] before scrolling down. There are some extremely powerful [[TheReveal plot twists]] that are really best experienced fresh, and only the most major are spoiler tagged below. You have been warned.
24
25----
26!!This story provides examples of:
27* AbductionIsLove: Played with, because Tango [[spoiler:is barely conscious that what he's doing is trying desperately to grab on to his happy memories. He admits he probably would have killed her if he didn't already like her.]]
28* AbusiveParents: Tango, to the Black Mages. Played with, though in that [[spoiler:everything he does is to save their lives; his abusive behaviors come from his unstable personality, not lack of love for them.]]
29%%* ActionGirl
30%%* ApocalypseMaiden: [[spoiler:Eiko comes very close to becoming one.]]
31%%* ArrangedMarriage
32* AxCrazy: Tango ''really'' isn't all there. [[spoiler:Undergoing incredible BodyHorror and dangerous self-experimentation will do that to you.]]
33* BabiesEverAfter: Zidane and Garnet have two children, with a third on the way at the time of the story.
34* BattleButler: Black Mages are capable of turning the destructive forces of nature itself to their will. [[TheWoobie Rain]] prefers making sandwiches and keeping Eiko's rooms in order.
35%%* BattleCouple: Dagger and Zidane, Beatrix and Steiner, [[spoiler:Eiko and Tango]].
36* BeautifulAllAlong: [[spoiler:Played with; Tango looks very handsome under his hat - the problem is he looks like ''[[BigBad Kuja]]''.]]
37* BerserkButton: Don't tell Tango what to do. Also, don't hurt his "children". That goes for Eiko, too.
38-->"You do ''not'' blow up Eiko Carol's people in Eiko Carol's city!"
39%%* BewareTheNiceOnes
40%%* BirthDeathJuxtaposition
41* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Tango dies and Eiko is permanently scarred by the trauma of her abduction and losing him all over again (not to mention the cognitive dissonance of loving someone who was AxCrazy by his own view), but having [[DyingAsYourself regained his sanity and kindness]], and the black mages stabilize their biology thanks to his efforts, though it takes years to be reborn into new bodies; in addition, it turns out that he [[SomeoneToRememberHimBy left something]] with Eiko.]]
42%%* BlackCloak
43%%* ChildrenAreInnocent
44* CloudCuckooLander: Tango has a tendency to go off on weird, TalkativeLoon tangents, aggravated by his [[MoodSwinger shifting moods]]. [[spoiler:Alarmingly, Eiko's internal narration starts to have the tangents too, especially after she ends up siding with him.]]
45%%* BreakTheCutie: Both Eiko [[spoiler:and Tango/Vivi]].
46%%* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu
47%%* ChewToy: [[spoiler:Tango]], as it turns out.
48%%* CurbStompBattle: Tango vs. [[spoiler:Zidane]].
49* DamselInDistress: Subverted. Nobody is coming to save Eiko, but that hardly stops her.
50%%* DeadGuyJunior: Vivi and [[spoiler:Vita]].
51* DeathFic: The loss of poor Vivi still drives the plotline, even thirteen years later.
52%%* DrivenToVillainy
53* DynamicEntry: Freya and Amarant have ''no time'' for doorknobs, man! There's a battle on!
54** Doubles for BigDamnHeroes ''and'' [[DeadpanSnarker Deadpan Snark]].
55--->'''Freya:''' Dreadfully sorry I'm late. Amarant wanted us to stop and eat.
56%%* EldritchAbomination: A few of them!
57* EvenEvilHasStandards
58-->''"Oh, Gods, [[spoiler:Vivi, Vivi]] wouldn't kill ''Steiner'', would he?"''
59%%* EvilFormerFriend
60* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Eiko's hair grows out along with her despair.
61%%* TheFaceless: Tango and the black mages, although they are [[AvertedTrope far from]] being FacelessGoons.
62* FallenHero: [[spoiler:Black Tango is Vivi, after discovering the Black Mages were bound for extinction, his desperate attempts to survive turned him into a Black Waltz model black mage, and drove him insane with pain; he barely remembers the friendship he had with the party. Subverted due to LoveRedeems, causing him to regain his mind and realize the survival of the black mages doesn't require destroying the rest of the planet.]]
63* ForgottenChildhoodFriend: Played with. [[spoiler:Nobody forgot Vivi]], but over the years of loneliness and self-exile, [[spoiler:he's [[LeftForDead rewritten his own history]] a little in his head...]]
64%%* FreakinessShame
65%%* FromMyOwnPersonalGarden: Not just the food, but the [[spoiler:minions, too.]]
66%%* FuroScene [[ShowerOfAngst Of Angst]]
67* GetItOverWith: Subverted, painfully. It's amazing how fast you change your mind when the strangling actually starts...
68* GigglingVillain: Black Tango has a weird giggle he frequently goes into.
69%%* GladToBeAliveSex: Possibly the least joyful example(s), ever.
70* GoGoEnslavement: Eiko just cannot seem to find proper clothes in the Desert Palace. She makes do with [[{{Stripperiffic}} Kuja's leftovers]].
71%%* GratuitousPrincess: Eiko Carol, Garnet, and Cornelia all hold or held this status.
72* HairTriggerTemper: It's amazing how easy it is to set Tango off.
73%%* HappilyAdopted
74%%* [[SheCleansUpNicely He Cleans Up Nicely]]
75%%* HerHeartWillGoOn
76%%* HeroicSacrifice
77* TheHighQueen: Everybody in Alexandria loves Queen Garnet.
78%%* HurtComfortFic
79%%* IDidWhatIHadToDo
80* ImportantHaircut: [[spoiler:Tango]] begins to soften towards [[spoiler:Eiko]] after this, despite it verging on a TraumaticHaircut at the time.
81%%* JabbaTableManners: Don't eat lunch with Black Tango. Seriously.
82%%* LimaSyndrome
83%%* LineOfSightName: Eiko ends up giving these to a lot of the Black Mages. Rain, in particular, comes to mind.
84* LoveMakesYouCrazy: [[spoiler:Eiko is bitterly self-aware of this when discovering Tango is a corrupted Vivi causes all of her feelings for him to come rushing back. By the end of it, she's become just as much of a CloudCuckooLander as he is, willingly attempting to summon Necron to force it to extend black mage lifespan simply because she can't force herself to betray him in any way.]]
85%%* LoveHurts: And ''how''.
86%%* TheMourningAfter: Poor, poor Vivi.
87%%* MamaBear
88* MadScientist: Tango will never stop looking for [[spoiler:a way to save his "children"]].
89* ModestRoyalty: Zidane and Garnet have [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething more important things to do]].
90* MommasBoy: Rain loves his "mother" very, very much.
91%%* MoodSwinger
92%%* MoralityPet: All the Black Mages, to Tango.
93%%* MotiveRant: Several.
94%%* NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine
95%%* NotQuiteDead
96%%* OmnicidalManiac
97%%* OneWingedAngel
98* PapaWolf: Don't ever mess with Tango's "children". [[AbusiveParents Only he's]] [[HypocriticalHeartwarming allowed to]] [[MoodSwinger do that]].
99* PetTheDog / KickTheDog: Tango vacillates wildly between these, with regards to the Black Mages. [[MoodSwinger Sometimes in the same scene.]]
100%%* PimpedOutDress:
101%%* ThePollyanna: The Black Mages. My gosh, the Black Mages.
102* PsychoPrototype: There's a reason why Tango's name sounds so reminiscent of the Black Waltzes.
103* PsychopathicManchild: Tango's occasional lapses into childish tantrums and pouting only make him that much creepier. [[spoiler:And more tragic, when his backstory is revealed.]]
104* PurpleProse: Undeniable at times, but this fic [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools makes it look good]].
105* RaceAgainstTheClock: Black Mages have a limited lifespan, and [[spoiler:Tango and Eiko]] won't let them stop without a fight.
106%%* RageAgainstTheHeavens
107* TheReveal: Black Tango [[spoiler:is in fact Vivi Ornitier himself, driven mad by the grief of watching his own people die.]]
108%%* RoaringRampageOfRevenge
109%%* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething
110%%* SacredHospitality: Rain and the other Black Mages do their best to uphold this ideal, with varying results.
111%%* ScheherezadeGambit: Invoked/given the nod by Tango, early on.
112%%* SheIsAllGrownUp
113%%* SoWhatDoWeDoNow
114%%* SomeoneToRememberHimBy
115%%* StillGotIt
116%%* StockholmSyndrome
117%%* SuperWindowJump
118%%-->"You're all [[PrecisionFStrike fuckin']] idiots, you know."
119%%-->"Why's that?"
120%%-->"Because the [[ThisIsForEmphasisBitch bitch]] can ''fly!"''
121%%* SummonMagic
122%%* TakeAThirdOption: Eiko attempts this in her DealWithTheDevil.
123* TakeThat: Directed at Eiko's original costume design, by none other than Tango himself.
124-->''"Yellow,'' Carol? Yellow scoop-neck coveralls with the front cut out?"
125%%* TalkingInBed
126* TermsOfEndangerment: "Linden-bloom" is the most common one that Tango throws at Eiko, as a pun on her adopted hometown, but he generally showers her with these, to her unease and disgust.
127* ThereWasADoor: There are ''dozens'' of doors in Alexandria Castle, but Tango just ''has'' to [[DramaticShattering waste a perfectly good window]].
128%%* TomatoSurprise: [[spoiler:The identity of Black Tango.]]
129%%* {{Tomboy}}: Eiko.
130%%** Also Cornelia, to an extent.
131* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: The black mages, according to Tango. Not to mention Vivi himself. [[spoiler:...supposedly.]]
132* TorchesAndPitchforks: Zidane half-jokes about this at one point:
133-->(Dagger)'s called in the cavalry and all the fine horses and all the fine men, and last time I heard even Quina was sharpening all the forks in the kitchen and asking if this guy was good to eat.
134* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: Arguably, this all could have been avoided if Eiko had let the Lindblum air force take on Tango...although, then again, he might have just [[DownerEnding slaughtered them all and moved on to Alexandria]].
135* TragicVillain: All Tango wants is a world where his children can live. It's not ''his'' fault that [[spoiler: according to his calculations, everyone else has to die to facilitate this.]]
136%%* TranquilFury
137%%-->"Don't move. I don't like it when you move."
138* TheUnfettered: Tango ''will'' save the black mages. Period.
139%%* UnstoppableRage
140%%* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans
141%%* VillainousBreakdown
142%%* VillainousCrush
143* WhatTheHellHero: [[spoiler:The Eidolons to Eiko, upon realizing she intends to summon Necron. They all mutiny and refuse to help her.]]
144%%* WingedHumanoid: Black Tango, same as all the other Waltzes. Also, [[spoiler: Eiko in her Trance form]].
145%%* WrenchWench: Eiko, although it's more of an informed ability.

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