Stand and Watch Them Fall
is an on-going Final Fantasy Tactics Quest written by Kei and has quickly grown in popularity since July, 2013. The quest stars Ramza Beoulve, and takes place shortly after the events of Fort Ziekden in the original game. Readers vote on what action Ramza takes, majority rule promotes the decision, and the votes are given narrative life that moves along the story. Kei also borrows a bit from Fate/stay night concerning stats and parameters, which may or may not help in rudimentary actions or battles.
The quest makes use of the Updated Re-release script, written and read naturally well. Following Ramza, readers/voters are encouraged to make the best choices available to their now current status as knight commander of the Southern Sky, with a growing number of successes piling under our belts. But conspiracies lurk at every corner, and not just the Church and Lucavi.
Tropes associated to this quest
- Action Survivor: Arabella. She's one of the stronger knights of the Lionsguard, but is rather ordinary compared to the likes of Ramza, Symond and Agrias. She manages to survive the ambush in Orbonne, as well as the battle against Maetus, who effortlessly killed two Monks assisting her and Ramza.
- Badass Bookworm: Symond is the only other character (besides Ramza) to have the Academics skill, and is one of the most trusted advisers of the Eighth Order. His literacy is a big deal because most commoners like Gauwyn and Aran don't even get a chance of an education. Avelyn is one as well, but not to Symond's extent.
- Badass Crew: The Eighth Order, formed by Orran and led by Ramza. Each member is quite skilled and readily prove their expertise in the missions they're assigned on, such as Gauwyn's stealth, Aran's keen eye, Sylphie's white magic and Dyana's disguises.
- Bare-Fisted Monk: Ramza has some training in the Monk class, while Justina is an experienced one herself and can go toe-to-toe with another Monk. One of the newer Eights, Voyce, is one as well.
- Bash Brothers: Barbaneth and Orlandeau during the Fifty Year War. Though the latter tends to be exasperated by the former's... behavior.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Siege of Lesalia was successful, but at the cost of Dyana's life.
- Blunt "No": This is occasionally Justina's reaction to Ramza's requests.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Slyphie. Oh boy, where do we even begin? Let's see: She came to study at Gariland Magick Akademy, believing it was a church in Mullond where she could learn more about using white magic. She names her axes affectionately and cheerfully gives nicknames to everyone she knows, and sometimes uses words that tends to confuse others. It took Ramza and his former squad-mates quite a while to get used to her... uniqueness, and even so, he can still get surprised by the things she says. Though there are some hints that Slyphie is actually more on the ball than everyone likes to think, despite her seeming airheadedness.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Avelyn and Voyce, the Eighth Order's newest recruits following the successful Siege of Lesalia. They (mostly a cheerful Avelyn) make it a point to Ramza to not ask about what they used to do, and it's heavily implied that they both used to be assassins-for-hire.
- Delayed Reaction: Symond tends to take everything in stride, from learning of Ramza's true last name to getting a Nat-20 critical find on a mission, but once it actually settles in what just happened, he WILL flip out (and comically too, usually).
- Fire-Forged Friends: Nearly all the passengers en-route to Zeltennia were forced to band together when attacked by the cursed Nelveska Island. After surviving Construct 7, Ramza eventually proves himself before getting his own knight order, consisting of everyone from that battle.
- Flat "What": Agrias' reaction when she was told that Queen Louveria got transformed into a Lucavi by the Pisces Zodiac Stone.
- Gambit Pileup: The canon events were already a pile-up. Now that Ramza's not running around flipping the metaphorical table, the War of the Lions has been postponed if not cancelled, and Delita's up to something new.
- I Call Her "Vera": Slyphie has a... close friendship towards her axes that she affectionately treats as sisters. It's one of the main reasons the question of whether or not she was dropped on her head as a baby is asked both in and out of universe.
- Important Haircut: In Kei's expanded lore, cutting one's hair is a big deal, and usually a sign for boys who mature to men once they cut their ponytail. Ramza decides to cut his as both a sign of maturity and to better blend in when operating a sting on Lesalia. Agrias also cuts her hair in the two and a half months time she was on the run from her pursuers.
- Interface Spoiler: Character sheets show when Order members have hidden abilities that are not known to Ramza in-character.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Some of the more jaw-dropping reveals promotes this reaction to Ramza's superiors. As reader BlackoutSampler has put it, he is officially "Ivalice's Number One Reason to Become an Alcoholic".
- Jack of All Trades: Depending on how you look at it, Ramza's wide repertoire of class and personal skills may be a good thing or a bad thing.
- Killed Off for Real: As the story diverges from canon, expect to see a lot of deaths when there weren't any before, such as Alicia, Lavian and Dyana.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": Readers tend to do these when big situations go down, such as Ramza's abrupt discovery of the Gemini Zodiac Stone followed by it's curious effects on Symond. One of the most evident situations was when Ramza, Arabella and two Monks were about to face Maetus the Corrupt Emperor.
- Master of All: Barbaneth's and Ramza's unique ability. The former's Knight Gallant wasn't a class, it was a title. Barbaneth used whatever class abilities he felt like during battle, ignoring the usual 2-class limit, as does Ramza.
- Magic Knight: Ramza balances between the two extremes when the situation calls for it.
- Meido: Isamy, following her rescue from Count Grafton, becomes the Eighth Order's maid as well as the one who looks after their chocobos.
- Mêlée à Trois: The Orbonne Monastery. Just as Ramza's group is cornered by assassins, a knight force arrives and demands for the Monastery to surrender Ovelia, not knowing what is going on. The leading knight is killed shortly afterwards, and all hell breaks loose as the rest of the force charge in, covered by archers. The assassins are forced to disengage and fight back while Ramza's group take this chance to escape in the chaos.
- Never Found the Body: One of the only things that points hope to Agrias Oaks' survival. The same is said about Queen Louveria, except she transformed into, and died as, a Lucavi. As of the Siege of Lesalia Arc, Agrias indeed survived but it wasn't a happy reunion, though it did eventually get resolved.
- No-Sell: For unknown reasons, Ramza can shrug off Agrias's Zodiac Stone-powered hypnosis effect.
- Noodle Incident: Orlandeau knows Barbaneth well enough that he usually causes trouble repeatedly. But he's shocked to not only see Marianne blow up a church with Meteor, but of the implication that she has done so before (understandable in that it was their first meeting at the time).
- Whatever it was that happened which caused Alicia and Lavian to beat up Symond in their first meeting, he refuses to reveal, and grumbles whenever it's brought up.
- Number Two: Symond and Sighard to Ramza.
- Phantom Thief: A low-key example, but Gauwyn stole bread while avoiding the authorities for a whole year, embarrassing the Zeltennian Guard. He was only caught because spymaster Justina personally brought him in herself, but Orran saw his potential as reason enough to have him fight for the Southern Sky. The readers agreed.
- The Quiet One: Voyce. He tends not to talk too much, preferring to nod or shake his head whenever possible. He does speak up at length when questioned, however.
- Really Gets Around: In Kei's personal head canon, Barbaneth was a womanizer.
- Refuge in Audacity: Symond, on a whim during the Siege of Lesalia Arc, decided to casually walk into the heavily guarded personal office of Viscount Olyver Wilfrid, the head of the city's Northern Sky garrison, to copy and steal papers directly from the man's desk while he was out. He succeeded.
- Even better, he also acted like he belonged there while avoiding the local knight patrols, and got away with questioning a few of the Viscount's servants who he inadvertently fooled into believing he wasn't an intruder. Way to go, Symond!
Symond: Holy bloody Ajora, I can't believe I just did that. - Reasonable Authority Figure: Count Cidolfus Orlandeau and Orran.
- Riches to Rags: Inverted in Ramza's early years, as he and Alma were raised by their commoner mother before Barbaneth raised them after her death. Guinevere, on the other hand, is this.
- The Spymaster: Justina Eilonwy, who currently serves as one to House Orlandeau and the Southern Sky.
- Josian Valentyne, who used to be one for House Orlandeau.
- Two Scenes, One Dialogue: During the Eighth Order's adventure in Sinjal Shrine, a humorous series of dialogues is shared between the various groups of Eights, all of whom are unknowingly, coincidentally and simultaneously talking about Ramza.
- Video Game Stealing: Gauwyn is skilled enough to do this, while not being in a video game. He can literally steal enemy equipment mid-battle.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: A whole arc was devoted to Ramza disguised as a barmaid as part of a spy group.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Aran is one of the more innocent members of the Eighth Order. This is important because he was very much against the plans made for the Lesalia invasion, and was implied to be ready to quit after seeing the harsh realities of war via Dyana's death.
- Unholy Holy Sword: The Zodiac Stones. Maybe. Agrias used one repeatedly without turning into a Lucavi or turning evil.
