Yeah, I actually submitted Sephiroth fanfics to satisfy writing assignments in high school; got me through seventh, eighth, and ninth grade English class. I was pissed when Square Enix revealed Zack's last name and it wasn't the one I made up for him. Drat!
Kebrel, I found a shortcut for solving the determinant of square matrices with three rows and three columns, by just doing three diagonals and three cross diagonals almost like you would with a two-by-two matrix, but I haven't found any way to make four-by-four matrices easier to work with. Have you or anyone found anything that makes these easier, during your own math escapades? The teacher I have for mathematical methods is thankfully sparing us from four-by-fours or higher, but if I ever have to actually touch one, I think I'll take Edward Cullen instead.