creators-club

[creators-club]

Mt. Nibel & Nibel Area (Gaia: FF 7)

Fantasy Worlds Collide: Expanded Canon Concept

Type of Setting: Mountain wilderness / industrial research site

📜 Disclaimer: This entry is part of a personal passion project expanding upon the lore and atmosphere of Final Fantasy VII that I have been working on for 28 years. It combines canonical material with creative extensions and original character integration and lore. These posts are intended for worldbuilding, thematic exploration, and narrative cohesion: not as a definitive reinterpretation of canon.

Characters living (lived) / working (worked) in this setting

Canon Characters

Brian Lockhart — He and Tifa transverse the mountain to seek shelter during the Nibelheim Incident.

Sephiroth — A legendary SOLDIER sent by Shinra to inspect the Nibel Reactor. His presence in Mt. Nibel defines its most infamous tragedy.

Cloud Strife — A Shinra infantryman from Nibelheim; his perspective anchors much of the flashback through this region.

Tifa Lockhart — Native of Nibelheim who guides Sephiroth and the Shinra party up the mountain.

Zack Fair — Later traverses the mountain in pursuit of Sephiroth after the incident escalates.

Hojo — While not physically stationed in the mountain, his research defines the corruption within Mt. Nibel’s reactor and labs.

OC Characters

Bianca Moore [OC] — A celestial-born (soulbond/OC) who follows in Zack’s path, crossing the same scarred terrain, adding a supernatural dimension to the mountain’s spiritual corruption. She transverses the mountain in pursuit of Sephiroth to save him and his soul.

Summary

Mt. Nibel rises jagged and hostile above the quiet village of Nibelheim. Its cliffs are shrouded in mist, and paths wind dangerously along its ridges. The Nibel Reactor is buried in its heart, a symbol of Shinra’s exploitation of the land. The mountain’s caverns are alive with monsters twisted by mako seepage.

The Nibel Area around the mountain is equally rugged: forests dense with shadows, a lake hiding ancient secrets, and scarred trails. The entire place feels cursed. This is a landscape where both nature and humanity have been warped by greed.

Basics

Building Type: Industrial reactor complex (buried within natural caverns); improvised Shinra-built bridges and pathways carved into mountainside, Mako Reactor on the mountain.

Levels:

Upper cliffs and suspension bridges

Reactor chamber carved into mountain’s core

Pipe and cavern systems beneath

City / Town: Nibelheim (nearest settlement)

Suburb / District: Nibel Area (mountains, forests, lake, and wilderness)

Street & Number: No formal address; accessed by trail from Nibelheim outskirts

Neighborhood

The neighborhood of Mt. Nibel is the Nibel Area itself: a remote, fog-wrapped wilderness. It is not a place of comfort or community. It is hostile terrain where monsters thrive. Villagers from Nibelheim view it with fear and superstition, passing down stories of people who vanished into the mist and reaching loved ones who passed beyond the mountain.

No one truly lives on the mountain. It is a place of trial, labor, or death. Shinra researchers and guides have come here on assignment, but none willingly settle. To the people of Nibelheim, it is both lifeblood with mountain resources and reactor jobs and curse monsters, accidents, and contamination.

Neighbours

The closest neighbors to the mountain are the villagers of Nibelheim. They are quiet, suspicious, and often fearful of outsiders. Many resent Shinra but are powerless to oppose them.

Monsters (native to Mt. Nibel that may be featured in Blood and Stardust):

Dragons (Blue/Green/Nibel Dragons): Enormous, territorial creatures that nest in the higher cliffs. Shinra expeditions frequently clash with them.

Bombs: Floating fire-elemental creatures, known to self-detonate when provoked, often drawn to mako exhaust vents.

Yin-Yang (undead abomination): Symbol of imbalance; lurks in the corrupted caves, seen as a warning of Shinra’s experiments.

Materia Keeper: A twisted mako-mutated beast guarding the natural mako spring.

Killer Bees: Swarms of oversized wasp-like creatures that make traversing the lower passes hazardous.

Ark Dragons (FFVII field monster): Lesser cousins of the greater Nibel dragons, sometimes ambushing travelers.

Grangalan (floating orb with smaller spheres): Drifting through caverns, they attack intruders in unpredictable bursts.

Cimeries & Twin Brains: Aberrations tied to mako seepage, suggesting Shinra’s corruption of local wildlife.

Setting Detail

Overall Feeling: Haunting. Foreboding. A place where the veil between the natural and unnatural is thin. The mountain radiates unease, as if it remembers every secret, every experiment, and every scream lost in its caverns.

Sights:

Jagged black cliffs swallowed by rolling fog.

Shinra’s steel bridges clashing against raw stone.

Caverns glowing faintly with mako veins, pulsing like wounds.

Rusted ladders and pipes dangling into abyssal caves.

The reactor, humming faintly, like the heart of some slumbering beast.

Sounds:

Howling wind through canyons, echoing like voices.

Groans of old bridges swaying in the mist.

The unnatural hiss of mako vents.

Monster roars reverberating in the distance.

Silence — heavy and oppressive — broken only by footsteps.

Smells:

Sulfur and metal from the reactor exhaust.

Sharp ozone from raw mako in the caves.

Pine and wet stone from the mountain forest edge.

Ash on the wind, after the Nibelheim fire spreads its scent even into the mountain.

Miscellaneous Notes

Traversal Times from Nibelheim to the Reactor (via Mt. Nibel):

Sephiroth (canon): ~45–60 minutes. His superhuman speed allows him to cross dangerous terrain quickly, dispatching monsters effortlessly.

Zack Fair (canon): ~50–70 minutes. As SOLDIER 1st Class, he is fast, though slightly slower than Sephiroth. He follows behind on a mostly cleared path.

Bianca Moore (OC): ~55–75 minutes. Enhanced endurance and bursts of flight let her move as quickly as Zack, occasionally faster across broken terrain.

Cloud Strife (canon): ~60–80 minutes. As infantry, he is slower, relying on the cleared path but struggling more with the terrain.

Other Notes:

Symbolism: Mt. Nibel represents a crucible where human ambition, natural danger, and divine/celestial forces collide. It is both battlefield and proving ground.

Canon Tie: The site of Sephiroth’s first public break from Shinra and his descent into madness. As children, Cloud and Tifa went up the mountain. Tifa thought that she could reach her deceased mother by crossing the dangerous passage through Mt. Nibel. Cloud accompanied her, hoping he could keep her safe. He didn’t.

The Nibel Reactor sits deep within the mountain, directly tied to Shinra’s industrial scarring of the region.

The mountain has long been considered cursed by locals; Shinra’s intrusion only deepened that belief.

The region is geologically unstable, riddled with caves and mako vents.

OC Tie (Bianca): For Bianca, the mountain resonates as a scarred spiritual place. She can feel the weight of corrupted energy, making it a battlefield not only of swords but of souls.

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[creators-club]

One of So Little Faith

for this week's @flashfictionfridayofficial prompt!

word count: 881

this may very well end up being a scene in A Healing for the Birds (though not from the same character's perspective!), so spoilers abound!

—

Cerigo stood upon the rocks, pebbled by water lapping near his feet. Leaves rustled behind him, while sprites danced and traipsed over the lake in front, scattering from a stone he did not cast.

To his left emerged a lady who strode from the forest itself, bedecked in a vibrant, deep green dress and leaf-adorned slippers whose hues illuminated the matching sheen of her eyes. "You're here."

He coughed, glancing into her eyes before casting another stone. "Well, did you tell her?"

Eshani smiled, reaching to cast her own. "It went about as well as you'd expect."

"So I heard." The next one made a little dunk, ripples stemming from it the way Cerigo's thoughts stilled. "I just can't believe you actually went and did it."

"You didn't think I was going to keep her in the dark forever, did you?" He watched as Eshani sifted a pebble through her long fingers, fluid and seamless in a stride so smooth it lacked effort. “I'm not some monster, I hope."

He coughed a single laugh, giving her a distinct look he hoped that distracted her from the reddish tone on his face. "Well, you did listen to me, so that's a first."

Eshani's smile did him less favours, her brief laughter a blessing. "Should I take that as a compliment?" Her next stone went further than her last, a point he surpassed by a bit. "If your stone passes mine, that is."

A flick of her eyebrows and the pebble in her hand said it all.

The two of them skimmed their stones in turn, neither of their performances consistent nor predictable. At some point he lost track, if there even was one.

Eshani swayed into his shoulder after her next one, a brush of jasmine-scented warmth to stir his thoughts further.

He focused on picking up his next stone, a larger rock, watching it splash near the reeds. Who needed Eshani for heat when he had his own? What was he thinking? It was almost as if— He shook the thought from his head.

Pebbles clashed beneath Eshani's feet as she walked away from him. Cerigo tilted his head, his question falling to the wind.

She knelt at a boulder, joints popping as she shifted back to her accursed height and picked it up as if a rock like the rest.

Cerigo craned his neck to gaze up at her face, agape as she glanced down with a smile sharp enough to end him. "Want to bet I can skim this?"

He crossed his arms in a hurry, pushing his features to look serious. "It's going to sink."

"You of so little faith." She winked at him, taking a step into position. "We'll see who's right."

He took a step back, then another, and a third for good measure. No amount of steps would allow him to view her in full, for his mind said one thing, his heart another.

Eshani, in standing tall enough to blot the moon from his eyes, transcended all that, for better or worse.

Cerigo's heart leapt as she took her few steps and cast the boulder out, both of them descending into laughter as it splashed in the lake with a straight dunk.

"Told you so." A smug look decorated his face. his arms crossed in jest. He didn't move as she sat down, her movements bearing her usual grace and a regal poise.

The lake rippled with small waves rushing against the stones, fading as their laughter did. He turned his attention from the water back to her.

Eshani sat there, unmoving, a smile written on her carved face. Her right hand beside her, palm down on the ground nearest him, her fingers smooth and elegant.

Cerigo breathed, and breathed again. He knew she wouldn't lay a hand on him, his instincts screamed caution. His mind warned him of her status, his heart said it was her.

He stepped forward. Once, twice, and a step more.

At his feet were her fingers, long enough to astonish him. He blushed deeper, hoping she wasn't looking at him. What was going through her mind? What was going through his mind?

What was he thinking? He stood before a High Councillor, the difference between them so disparate. A risk so great, his throat seized and swallowed.

Cerigo gave his amour a cheeky glance. She wasn't looking, or so he hoped, her face adorned with a cascade of golden curls and a stunning smile no painting could truly capture.

Monsters had their visages, hers not one of them. Memories flashed in his mind, and boiled his blood. If he ever got his hands on that crow lady—

He reached out, smoothing his hand over hers, resting it on one of her knuckles. Heat rose into him. about as warm as he remembered. Akin to a crackling hearth, her green attire a distraction from her inclination to wildfire.

Her fingers retracted a slight, his gaze darting up. Eshani glanced away, her cheeks flushed and eyes widened, her left hand over her mouth.

Laughter shared between them, stars written in his eyes.

The pair worked towards a day of Eshani's healing. He yearned for it, to hold her in his arms. For now Cerigo could learn to appreciate the process.

—

Tagging the General and A Healing for the Birds taglists for this: (ask/comment/reblog, etc if you'd like to be added or subtracted): @mr-orion @the-ellia-west @thereadingfoz @glassstardust22124 @honeybewrites @ashirisu @drowsy-quill @oliolioxenfreewrites @seastarblue @gioia-writes-and-others @rae-butter @corinneglass @oros-ash3s @rainbowsnowflake @fourwingedwriter @oddcryptidwrites @ark-inkweaving @bardic-tales @agirlandherquill @wyked-rebellion @oc-writing-corner @kingragnarok-writes

[creators-club]

Nibelheim (Gaia: FF 7)

Fantasy Worlds Collide: Expanded Canon Concept

Type of setting: Mountain village / Shinra-controlled settlement

📜 Disclaimer: This entry is part of a personal passion project expanding upon the lore and atmosphere of Final Fantasy VII that I have been working on for 28 years. It combines canonical material with creative extensions and original character integration and lore. These posts are intended for worldbuilding, thematic exploration, and narrative cohesion: not as a definitive reinterpretation of canon.

Characters living (lived) / working (worked) in this setting

Canon Characters

Cloud Strife – (infantryman during the incident, hometown native)

Unnamed Infantry Man (infantryman before the incident, visiting with Sephiroth)

Tifa Lockhart – (hometown native, guide to Mt. Nibel)

Zack Fair – (SOLDIER 1st Class, visiting with Sephiroth)

Sephiroth – (SOLDIER 1st Class, loses sanity here after uncovering his origins)

Zangan – (martial arts master, Tifa’s mentor, rescues her during the incident)

Professor Hojo – (Shinra scientist, orchestrates Jenova experiments, later covers up the incident)

Lucrecia Crescent - (Shinra scientist, participated in Jenova experiments)

Vincent Valentine – (Turk, sleeping in the Shinra Manor basement, indirectly tied to Nibelheim’s legacy)

OC Characters

Bianca – (protagonist, celestial exile, entangled with Sephiroth via a soulbond; witness and unwilling participant in the Nibelheim Incident)

Summary

Nibelheim is a secluded village at the base of Mt. Nibel, scarred by Shinra’s unchecked exploitation of mako energy and its secret experiments. Though outwardly a quiet, timber-framed mountain town, its fate is bound to Shinra Manor and the mako reactor in the mountains above. The village becomes infamous as the site of the Nibelheim Incident: the moment Sephiroth descends into madness, slaughtering villagers and burning the town to ash after discovering his origins in Hojo’s research.

For Cloud, Tifa, and Zack, it is a personal tragedy. For Sephiroth, it is a rebirth into monstrosity. For Bianca, it is the crucible where her soulbond with Sephiroth is tested and corrupted, as she struggles between her compassion for him, wanting to save him, and the catastrophic violence he unleashes.

Basics

Building type: Timber-framed houses, Shinra-built reactor, Shinra Manor (mansion + underground research facility).

Levels: Primarily one- and two-story homes; Shinra Manor is multi-leveled with hidden basements.

City / Town: Nibelheim.

Suburb / District: Remote mountain settlement.

Street & Number: Not formally designated; village paths radiate from central well.

Neighbourhood

Nibelheim is remote, cut off from Gaia’s urban centers. Life is simple but overshadowed by Shinra’s reactor and the looming Shinra Manor. Though outwardly quaint, the town feels haunted, as though the mountain itself resents Shinra’s intrusion. After the incident, Shinra rebuilds the town as a façade, employing actors to impersonate villagers and hide the truth. Beneath the cobblestones runs an underground sewer system linking the reactor and the manor.

Neighbours The neighbors are insular and subdued, conditioned by Shinra’s dominance. Before the incident, they were ordinary ranchers, guides, and craftsmen. After Shinra’s cover-up, they are little more than actors in a fabricated lie, strangers wearing the faces of community. Trust is fragile. Everything feels like a stage set.

Setting Detail

Overall feeling: A place of innocence corrupted. Its wooden beams and cobbled streets hide shadows of corporate exploitation, scientific atrocities, and personal tragedy. The Nibelheim Incident transforms the village from a quiet town into a scar of fire and memory.

Sights:

Timbered homes circling the central wooden well.

The looming silhouette of Shinra Manor at the village edge.

Smoke from chimneys by day, turning into black plumes of fire during the incident.

At the peak of the incident: Sephiroth striding through burning streets, Masamune glinting.

The Wooden Church: a simple, weathered structure on the outskirts. It is here Bianca confronts Sephiroth, refusing his plea to join him, which furthers Jenova’s corruption of their soulbond.

Sounds:

Before the incident: the wind rushing down Mt. Nibel, chocobo calls, hammering from craftsmen, the splash of the well.

During the incident: villagers screaming, buildings collapsing, fire crackling, Sephiroth’s footsteps unnervingly calm amidst chaos. chocobos screaming

In the aftermath: silence broken only by creaking wood and the hiss of lingering embers.

Smells:

Pine and mountain air.

The metallic tang of mako drifting from Mt. Nibel.

During the incident: acrid smoke, burning wood, charred flesh, tangy scent of blood.

Miscellaneous Notes:

Canon: The Nibelheim Incident is the narrative crucible where Sephiroth discovers his origins, descends into madness, and burns the village. Cloud, Tifa, and Zack all attempt to resist him at the reactor. After a brutal bisection and fight with Cloud , Sephiroth leaps into the lifestream (as per Last Order: Final Fantasy 7). Shinra later covers up the massacre, rebuilding the town with hired actors.

OC (Bianca’s role): Bianca’s soulbond with Sephiroth is tested here. In the Wooden Church, Sephiroth asks her to follow him into his new, destructive purpose. Her refusal wounds him further. Jenova exploits this rejection to deepen her corruption of their link and upon him. Bianca attempts to save villagers with her magic, quelling fires with ice and healing survivors, but she cannot stop Sephiroth’s rampage. Following him as she is determined to save him. At the reactor, she nearly follows him into the lifestream in desperation, but Zack and Cloud intervene.

The Wooden Church serves as a symbolic mirror of their bond: a sacred place defiled by Sephiroth’s fall, and Bianca’s refusal to betray her own moral compass or give up upon him.

The sewer system beneath the town and reactor is a lore expansion, emphasizing Shinra’s sprawling infrastructure and its literal corruption of the land beneath Nibelheim.

Nibelheim is not just a setting. It is a wound that shapes the destinies of Cloud, Tifa, Sephiroth, Zack, and Bianca alike.

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[creators-club]

Quick And Bitter, Slow And Sweet - Chapter 24!

And I begin to drag Tony through the 5 Stages of Grief.

Stage One - Denial.

There was an unusual softness to their workday hum - Tony was always more lenient with chatter during report writing than Gibbs had ever been - but no one took advantage of that today. No one was walking on eggshells. But no one was poking either. It wasn’t how they worked. He knew them well now; they were a little too smart, a little too observant, and had been in the field just long enough to know when something had shifted. They also weren’t close enough to outright ask, as McGee might have done years earlier.  Not that there was anything to talk about, anyway. They hadn’t even known he’d had a date. Never mind who it had been with. He hadn’t said Ziva’s name in front of any of them since the night they’d met her. 

Read it on AO3

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[creators-club]

ABCs of OCs

Bianca Moore | Question 2

A: Aptitude

In massive crossover projects like Fantasy Worlds Collide, the depth of an original character’s design determines whether they hold their own against established canon figures. Bianca Amara Moore, positioned as a partner to Sephiroth, was never written as an ordinary “insert” into Final Fantasy VII’s mythos. Her role as a divine hybrid protagonist demands precision in how her powers are cataloged, especially in arcs where corruption reshapes every facet of her existence.

This article examines Bianca Moore’s natural abilities—those awakened after her near-death at the hands of Asmodeus during the Pandemonix arc—within the confines of the FFVII, Kilonova, and Godling arcs. By focusing only on what emerged as inherent gifts, this analysis strips away layers of training and discipline to highlight what was embedded in her bloodline from the start.

Possible Trigger Warnings: graphic violence, body horror, torture (flaying), religious/mythic imagery, corruption, demonic influence, loss of bodily autonomy, death/rebirth themes, pregnancy reference, unsettling transformation, emotional manipulation, environmental destruction.

Bianca’s natural abilities did not manifest until she was twenty years old, when Asmodeus’s brutal act of flaying her alive awakened her celestial heritage. Until that moment, she lived under the assumption that she was human with birth defects, devoid of any distinguishing powers. The awakening revealed a foundation of innate traits tied to both her maternal and paternal bloodlines, which then became corrupted through the fusion of Jenova cells and S-cells.

These abilities, unlike her trained skills, represented the raw baseline of her existence: functions she could not suppress or unlearn, no matter the effort.

The first category of these abilities was physical, rooted in her hybrid physiology. Wings capable of silent flight granted her natural aerial superiority, while her agility in the skies was not the product of training but a reflection of her celestial inheritance. Even in corruption, her wings did not simply offer mobility but projected an aura that drained vitality from those around her.

Alongside this aerial grace came enhanced senses and spatial perception, allowing her to navigate environments and opponents with precision. She once boasted to Sephiroth that she could smell him when he manifested on the Planet up to 100 miles away. These traits operated passively, existing as extensions of her body rather than conscious techniques.

The second category centered on perception and influence. Bianca’s empathic connection allowed her to sense the emotional currents of others, an ability that became corrupted by shadow yet remained instinctual rather than studied. Similarly, her dimensional awareness—her ability to detect rifts, shifts, and instability in existence—manifested as an immediate perception rather than as knowledge earned through research.

Both of the above powers exposed her to manipulation by external forces, underscoring that her nature was as much a vulnerability as it was a weapon.

Her resilience was equally embedded in her bloodline. Inherited from her maternal line, she is her immune to feeling extreme cold, while her demonic regeneration ensured rapid recovery from mortal wounds. These regenerative functions required no invocation or ritual. They activated instinctively whenever her body was damaged.

Her emotions did not remain confined within her own body. When pressed to the edge, the air itself seemed to bend and fracture in response. Landscapes shift in uncanny resonance with her inner turmoil. This was not something she willed or learned, but rather an instinctive consequence of her volatile nature: a living reminder that her presence alone could unravel the world around her.

More profound still was the cycle that defined her existence. In moments of utter destruction, her body gave way to fire and ash only to rise again in a form both draconic and luminous from a cocoon like a moth or butterfly, embodying the paradox of ruin and renewal.

Death did not end her. It transformed her, binding her to a rhythm of collapse and resurgence that blurred the line between mortality, reincarnation, and, ultimately, myth.

Even her role as a mother carried echoes of this same instinctual force. The protection she can extend to her unborn child is not strategy or sorcery, but a reflex woven into her very being, folding time itself around fragile life. Combined with the natural auras of allure and dread that surrounded her, these instincts positioned Bianca less as a mere individual and more as a living archetype: a force that reshaped everything in her orbit, regardless of intent.

ADHD friendly: Bianca thought she was just a human with health issues until, at age twenty, being flayed alive awakened her celestial bloodline. This unlocked a set of natural, uncontrollable powers: wings, super senses, immunity to cold, fast regeneration, emotional outbursts that warp reality, and the ability to sense both emotions and cosmic instability. Her body can burn to ash and resurrect in a draconic-phoenix form, making death more of a reset than an end. Even pregnancy activates protective instincts that bend time. Altogether, she isn’t just powerful. She’s a mythic force of destruction and renewal, reshaping everything around her whether she wants to or not.

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[creators-club]

Hojo's Study (Hidden Basement)

Fantasy Worlds Collide: Expanded Canon Concept

Type of Setting: Secret study chamber / abandoned research space

Characters living (lived) / working (worked) in this setting

Professor Hojo (past)(canon) – Once worked here, leaving behind his records and residue of his experiments.

Lucrecia Crescent (past)(canon) - Once worked here.

Zack Fair - Tries to figure out what is happening with Sephiroth.

Sephiroth – Reads through Hojo’s abandoned research here and begins unraveling the truth of his origins.

Bianca Moore – Reads through Hojo’s abandoned research here and helps to unraveling the truth of Sephiroth's origins. In Blood and Stardust, she blames herself for his eventual descent.

Summary:

Hojo’s Study (also called the Hidden Basement) is a cramped, hidden research chamber beneath Shinra Manor, serving as both a laboratory adjunct and private archive. It is a room steeped in obsession, filled with bookcases, loose scientific reports, and ledgers on the Jenova Project. Dust, rot, and the faint residue of arcane (from Bianca's portal) and mako energy cling to its surfaces, imbuing it with a heavy, suffocating atmosphere.

The study functions as a narrative fulcrum. It is here that Sephiroth (with Bianca's help in the FWC canon) pores over Shinra’s research, uncovers the circumstances of his creation, and declares his vendetta against humanity. The room bridges the past atrocities of Shinra science with the present choices of those who discover its secrets, symbolizing the weight of forbidden knowledge.

Basics

Building type: Subterranean study chamber, connected to Shinra Manor’s hidden research complex

Levels: One, directly beneath the manor, linked to deeper passages leading to the archive and laboratory and other rooms, such as a massive mako research facility complex powered by an Ai using Hojo's interface.

City / Town: Nibelheim

Suburb / District: Outskirts of Nibelheim (Shinra Manor grounds)

Street & Number: N/A (abandoned manor)

Neighbourhood

The study is buried beneath Shinra Manor, far from the bustle of the Nibelheim village. The manor itself is avoided by townsfolk, regarded as haunted or cursed. Adults warn children to stay away from it. Its presence marks the periphery of the town as foreboding and unsafe, where the lingering shadow of Shinra’s exploitation of mako and human life permeates the very soil.

Neighbours: No immediate neighbours. Only the remnants of Shinra’s past experiments within the manor's walls and underground. Villagers keep their distance, ensuring the manor and its hidden basement remain undisturbed.

Setting Detail

Overall feeling: Oppressive, suffocating, and laced with corruption. It feels like stepping into the residue of someone else’s madness.

Sights: Dust-covered bookshelves, open tomes, scattered notes across desks and floors. Some volumes lie open, half-read, suggesting Sephiroth’s obsessive study. A false bookshelf conceals the passage to the Archive Chamber, its hinges faintly rusted. Shadows cling to corners where candles have long since gone out.

Sounds: The faint groan of wood overhead, the shuffle of paper disturbed by drafts. Silence presses heavily, occasionally broken by the echo of footsteps from someone exploring the chamber. When Sephiroth and Bianca reads here, the scratch of turning pages echoes unnaturally in the stillness. Sephiroth reading out loud at times.

Smells: Old parchment, dust, ink long dried, and the faint stench of chemicals absorbed into the wood and stone. The air is stagnant, carrying the sour tang of a library abandoned to rot.

Miscellaneous Notes:

The bookshelf passage connects the study to the Archive Chamber, reinforcing the idea of layered secrets buried beneath the manor.

The laboratory and extended research facility wrap around both the study and the archive, creating a network of corridors, chambers, and concealed cells. This architectural entanglement symbolizes the way Hojo’s work intruded into every corner of the manor’s underbelly.

According to later Shinra records, a massive mako research facility was constructed beneath the manor, including:

A VR combat simulator powered by an AI system modeled on Hojo’s interface, designed to test subjects’ combat capabilities in controlled yet brutal conditions.

Trapdoor prison cells, accessible from the basement, which served dual purposes: defending against intruders and providing a ready supply of “volunteers” for Hojo’s experiments.

This facility connects directly to the laboratory, with its structure touching parts of the study, making the study both gateway and boundary: a liminal threshold between knowledge and atrocity.

The design also explains the scale of the basement complex, making it far more than a few rooms as seen in the original game. The network of archives, laboratories, simulators, and cells echoes Shinra’s obsession with compartmentalization, secrecy, and control.

This is the exact location where Sephiroth uncovers his origins through fragmented documents, triggering his descent. The spatial disorientation of the passages mirrors his psychological unraveling.

Bianca’s presence here reinforces the chamber’s duality: it is both a place of discovery and corruption, echoing her inner conflict with Jenova’s influence on Sephiroth without knowing the reason her celestial aura keeps misfiring.

Disclaimer (Lore Expansion): For narrative and atmospheric purposes, the passages of bookshelves have been extended so the laboratory and research facility aren’t directly adjacent to the study, but instead wrap around and connect to it. This creates a more immersive sense of hidden depth and emphasizes the labyrinthine quality of Shinra Manor’s basement.

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[creators-club]

From the Redemption AU, here’s a quiet moment I wrote today that I just love: one of those rare, domestic interludes that slip in before everything fractures. Before Bianca and Sephiroth left Shinra’s shadow, they built small comfort out of ordinary routines like putting away groceries together. It was in these unremarkable moments that something tender surfaced, grounding them in the kind of life they were never meant to have. The POV is alternating as I was free writing.

In this scene, the conversation drifts toward pumpkin soup. SRC is Shinra Cable.

She started to get groceries out of the bag: lining up the carton of eggs and a bundle of grapes on the counter. It was strange how quickly they settled into a routine once the engagement was announced and they were moved into the same home.

"If it comes to discussing condiments with Zack, go with a stripe of mustard, a spoonful of chili, and sprinkling of cheese. Classic."

Sephiroth chuckled, finding amusement in her practical advice. He watched her arrange the groceries with a kind of quiet contentment, feeling a strange flutter of something in his chest. Something foreign and unsettling. He pushed the feeling away. "Mustard, chili, and cheese. Sounds like a recipe for heartburn more than anything.

"Did you get everything on the list?" He moved to stand beside her, helping to unpack the bag.

She laughed and teased him harmlessly. "I forgot. You can't handle a little bit of spice."

Bianca took the eggs and placed them on the top shelf of the small refrigerator. She didn't understand the feelings that warmed her and turned her ribbon a softer shade of pink.

She stretched to reach up to the shelf. Her ribbon streamed down her black and indigo hair, as the locks curled around her shoulders, cascaded down her back, and gently swayed against her waist.

"I did," she said. "Even ingredients for the pumpkin soup I'm making later this week. Perfect time since it's supposed to cool down this week. It's amazing what you can learn on that cooking channel on the SRC."

Sephiroth's breath hitched imperceptibly at the mention of pumpkin soup. His fingers froze mid-reach for a can of beans. The ribbon around his wrist flickered with muted emotion: a deep, unspoken longing he'd never admit aloud, nor would he confess to.

"You," he paused. " You remembered." His voice was softer now, almost vulnerable in its lack of practiced detachment.

He turned away abruptly to hide the faint warmth rising in his cheeks, busying himself with stacking cans in their small pantry.

"I'll peel the squash If you're making it this week." He set the beans on the middle shelf next to a can of spaghetti sauce. Then in the next breath, he whispered, "Thank you."

[creators-club]

Welcome to our first event - Jurassic Character Bingo!

Jurassic Character Bingo is an open, ongoing event.

To participate, simply create something for a character on the card - fic, moodboard, art, etc - and tag @jurassic-oc-hub in the post!

Every submission must include an OC or Reader to keep with the theme of the blog.

Your post must also follow the rules of the blog in the pinned post.

If you have any questions, feel free to send in an ask here or in our Discord server!

-Cece, Mara, Stella

[creators-club]

The Archive Chamber

Fantasy Worlds Collide: Expanded Canon Concept

Type of setting: Hidden archive / private research chamber / confinement refuge

Characters living (lived) / working (worked) in this setting

Sephiroth – Uses the chamber as his private research space while investigating his origins.

Bianca Moore – Briefly confined here after she feel from a cosmic rift into his literal arms; her celestial aura is triggered by Jenova’s influence in Sephiroth.

Professor Hojo (past) – Originally hid research records here.

Professor Gast (past) – His notes are also preserved in this archive.

Summary:

The Archive Chamber is a concealed room beneath the abandoned Shinra Manor in Nibelheim, hidden behind a bookshelf passage in Hojo’s study. It contains records of Gast and Hojo’s research on the Jenova Project and the Makonoids, as well as other Shinra R&D documents.

Though not the laboratory itself, the chamber functions as Sephiroth’s personal research space, where he uncovers truths about his origins from the main study, and where Bianca is later confined.

The chamber symbolizes secrecy, obsession, and entrapment. Its oppressive air underscoring both Sephiroth’s descent into fixation and Bianca’s isolation.

Basics

Building type: Secret archive room within Shinra Manor

Levels: One level, underground, accessible from Hojo’s study

City / Town: Nibelheim

Suburb / District: Outskirts of Nibelheim (Shinra Manor grounds)

Street & Number: N/A (abandoned manor, no official address)

Neighbourhood

Shinra Manor lies on the edge of Nibelheim, apart from the main cluster of homes. The area feels abandoned, with an air of neglect and foreboding. Villagers generally avoid the manor, believing it cursed or haunted, so the archive is effectively hidden from the outside world.

Neighbours: None in the direct vicinity. Villagers of Nibelheim know of the manor but keep their distance. Anyone entering the building would likely be Shinra personnel, SOLDIER operatives, or those investigating the manor’s secrets.

Setting Detail

Overall feeling: Oppressive, secretive, and foreboding. It is both a refuge and a prison, heavy with the weight of forbidden knowledge.

Sights: Stacks of old tomes, loose papers scattered across tables, dust swirling in the dim candlelight. Stone walls slick with dampness. A worn couch, where Sephiroth lays Bianca when she is wounded and later used for their sex scene.

Sounds: Creaking wood overhead, faint rustling of old papers, Sephiroth muttering to himself

Smells: The must of parchment and ink, dust, mildew, faint metallic tang from forgotten research instruments.

Miscellaneous Notes:

Houses research records from Gast and Hojo, including documents on the Jenova Project and Makonoids.

Serves as Sephiroth’s private study, where he wrestles with the truth of his origins.

The chamber is not the laboratory, but an attached archive used for storage and study.

The place where Bianca is briefly confined; her celestial aura is triggered by Jenova’s influence seeping through Sephiroth.

The chamber acts as a narrative crucible. It is the first place where Jenova’s influence is introduced to the reader through Sephiroth’s perspective.

Symbolism: Represents secrecy, obsession, isolation, and the collision of human fragility with cosmic forces.

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[creators-club]

31 days of FF 7 Headcanons: Day 31: Alternate Universe

When considering alternate-universe interpretations of Diana Ravenscroft in Fantasy Worlds Collide, the question is not whether she would still pursue genetic transcendence, but how her alignment and access to resources would have shaped the outcome. Diana’s obsession with the divine, fueled by her experiments on Bianca Moore, anchored her arc in the Final Fantasy VII arc. Her story could have unfolded in markedly different ways: either as an independent researcher forging uneasy alliances or as a calculating power within Shinra’s upper echelons.

By examining these “what if” scenarios in this final installment of the 31 days of ff 7 Headcanons about Diana Ravenscroft, we gain insight into the structural forces that defined Diana’s choices and the extent to which her ambition could have reshaped the world of Gaia under different circumstances.

Possible Trigger Warnings: unethical science, body horror (referenced mutilation), coercion vs. consent, dehumanization, genetic experimentation, war crimes, corporate corruption, propaganda/manipulation, moral ambiguity

In an alternate version of Final Fantasy VII's Gaia, Diana Ravenscroft’s trajectory would have diverged sharply depending on her alignment with Shinra. In the canonical timeline of Fantasy Worlds Collide, she advanced through Shinra’s hierarchy as one of Hojo’s closest researchers, placing her squarely within the corporation’s unethical framework.

In an alternate universe, however, her scientific expertise could have been redirected toward a more independent path, outside Shinra’s direct control. The central shift would have been whether her ambition to achieve post-human transcendence remained tethered to corporate interests or became an entirely personal pursuit.

Had Diana rejected Hojo’s mentorship early, her arc might have placed her in alignment with groups such as AVALANCHE. Her clinical detachment and obsession with genetic control would not have disappeared, but the scale of harm could have been reduced without Shinra’s resources.

Instead of mutilating Bianca Moore as a captive subject, Diana may have sought her out as a collaborator, attempting to study celestial-demonic biology through negotiation rather than coercion and force. This scenario would have reframed her as a morally gray figure operating outside the corporate machine, still dangerous in her ambition but less enmeshed in Shinra’s war crimes.

Alternatively, Diana could have advanced further within Shinra’s power structure, adopting a role closer to a corporate strategist than a pure scientist. In this path, she would have aligned more tightly with Rufus Shinra, supplying scientific rhetoric to legitimize propaganda about genetic superiority and planetary dominance.

While Hojo’s methods were chaotic and obsessive, Diana’s disciplined personality and utilitarian logic would have made her a stabilizing influence in Shinra’s upper ranks. This alternate trajectory would not redeem her, but it would have made her a different kind of antagonist: a bureaucratic scientist-turned-executive who masked atrocity behind structured systems of research and control.

The central point of divergence in either universe would have been her relationship with Bianca Moore. In canon, Diana’s fixation on Bianca’s hybrid biology drove her deepest ethical compromises and served as the catalyst for her eventual crisis of faith.

In an alternate universe, where coercion was replaced with cooperation, Diana might have formed a symbiotic relationship with Bianca: less torturer and more opportunistic ally. This dynamic would have profoundly altered her arc, turning her research into a form of partnership that blurred the line between exploitation and mutual advancement. While still ethically dubious, this version of Diana would not have been defined solely by cruelty, but by calculated negotiation.

Ultimately, the alternate-universe scenarios highlight the structural role Shinra played in shaping Diana’s character arc. Within Shinra, her brilliance was funneled into destructive applications, magnified by access to subjects like Bianca and resources like Jenova cells. Outside Shinra, she could have remained dangerous but less catastrophic, her obsession tempered by limited access to power.

Both paths underline her defining qualities, while showing how context and alignment determined whether those traits resulted in atrocity on a global scale or remained confined to smaller, morally gray endeavors.

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[creators-club]

Seeing as I'm writing about those days after they first met, a little something to feed the muse.

She certainly was a cutie patootie when they crossed paths.

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[creators-club]

Question 10 | Bianca Moore | Question 12

When examining Bianca Moore, one cannot separate her choices from the fractured lessons she inherited from her parents. As a character shaped by both human nurture and supernatural lineage, Bianca stands at the crossroads of contradictory teachings: compassion, survivalism, ambition, and sacrifice. Her story is not only about her role as Sephiroth’s partner in destruction and rebirth but also about how parental influence created the foundation for her obsessive devotion and inner conflict.

This analysis explores what Bianca learned from her parents and how those lessons reverberated throughout her journey, for better and for worse.

Possible Trigger Warnings: parental death, childhood trauma, emotional neglect, religious themes, supernatural/demonic themes, corruption/manipulation, obsessive devotion, identity conflict, violence (implied), loss/grief

What was something their parents taught them?

Bianca Moore’s trajectory as a character was profoundly shaped by the lessons she absorbed from her parents: both explicit and implicit. Born of celestials yet raised by human surrogates, Bianca inherited a fragmented but deeply formative set of values.

Each parental figure, biological and adoptive alike, impressed upon her distinct worldviews, leaving her to reconcile contradictory teachings. In this sense, her story was not just one of survival but also of navigating conflicting identities imposed by those who claimed her as their own.

Her adoptive parents, David and Sarah Moore, offered her the grounding of humanity. Sarah embodied nurturing compassion, modeling safety, gentleness, and unconditional love in Bianca’s early years. These lessons instilled in Bianca an understanding of what family stability could mean, even if the experience was short-lived.

David, by contrast, provided a hardened, survivalist perspective after Sarah’s death. His protection was absolute, but his emotional distance forced Bianca into independence, teaching her resilience and mistrust in equal measure. Together, their teachings provided both a blueprint for loyalty and a framework of caution that shaped Bianca’s worldview.

The lessons of her biological parents complicated matters further. From Seraphine, the archangel, Bianca inherited the principles of balance, justice, and sacrificial love. While present within her mind as an 'imaginary friend', Seraphine’s influence manifested in Bianca’s longing for meaning and transcendence.

Asmodeus, her infernal father, provided a sharp counterpoint: power, control, and the inevitability of corruption. From him, she learned both fear and ambition: fear of domination and ambition to wield strength on her own terms. These opposing legacies wove into Bianca’s personality as both destructive tendencies and the capacity for devotion.

Ultimately, the convergence of these parental teachings forged Bianca’s obsessive devotion, her fatal flaw. Her loyalty to Sephiroth reflected the nurturing devotion she once received from Sarah, while her destructive tendencies mirrored the lessons of Asmodeus. David’s survivalist ethos explained her adaptability in trauma, and Seraphine’s self-sacrificial values informed her willingness to give everything to a chosen cause. Each parent, willingly or not, equipped her with traits that became both assets and liabilities as her story unfolded.

What Bianca’s parents taught her was not a singular moral but a fractured curriculum of survival, devotion, and ambition. The tension between these influences created the foundation for her duality: a harbinger of destruction and rebirth driven by profound loyalty.

Her parents’ teachings, whether through love, absence, or violence, ensured that Bianca’s life could never be neutral. Instead, her character arc became a study in how inherited lessons shape destiny, magnifying both potential and downfall.

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[creators-club]

There are 5 days left in Thor-gust!

To celebrate, send us your recommendations for Thor fics featuring an OC (or Reader)!

We'll add them to our recs list in the pinned post.

[creators-club]

Quick And Bitter, Slow And Sweet - Chapter 23!

Now twice weekly by popular demand! But... I did warn you that not everything would be forward progress for them...

Most of all, they talked, really talked. Long conversations that stretched as late as they could with work the next day, curled up in opposite corners of the couch or leaning against the counter with a glass of wine. They caught up on all the missing years: the people, the places, the cases. The ways they'd both changed. There was understanding, laughter, explanations, and moments of absolute absurdity. There were apologies, too, some long overdue, some quiet, some reluctant, but all of them honest. It was a slow, thorough relearning of each other, one minute at a time.  Not to mention the kissing.  They did a lot of that. 

Read it on AO3

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[creators-club]

31 days of FF 7 Headcanons: Day 30: Influence of the Nibelheim Incident

When viewed across the full arc of Fantasy Worlds Collide, Diana Ravenscroft’s trajectory in the Final Fantasy VII era was defined not by battlefield heroics but by the laboratory horrors she helped design. Her story demonstrates how scientific obsession, corporate loyalty, and personal ambition intersected to create one of Shinra’s most disturbing legacies.

By examining her work on Project N and her entanglement with Bianca Moore, it becomes clear that Diana’s arc is not only about the pursuit of knowledge but also about the corrosive impact of unchecked ambition on identity and morality.

Possible Trigger Warnings: body horror, coercive experimentation, dehumanization, genetic manipulation, medical abuse, psychological trauma, torture, unethical science, war crimes, forced reproduction (Project N: Replicants), cosmic horror

Diana Ravenscroft’s position within Shinra’s Research and Development Division during the Final Fantasy VII arc of Fantasy Worlds Collide reflected her rise as one of Hojo’s most trusted associates. She was not directly involved in the Nibelheim Incident itself, but her arrival in its aftermath placed her at the center of Project N, an extension of the Jenova Project.

Unlike Shinra executives who measured progress in terms of profit or military output, Diana measured success in terms of scientific discovery, particularly the potential to transcend the limitations of humanity. This perspective shaped her role as both scientist and ideologue within Shinra’s most dangerous experiments.

Her work on Project N defined her contributions to Shinra during this era. Where Hojo exploited Bianca Moore’s regenerative and demonic traits as a resource for stabilizing Jenova-cell degradation, Diana interpreted Bianca as a gateway to divinity.

Her leadership in the day-to-day operations of Project N demonstrated her cold efficiency: repeated vivisections, infusions, and specimen management were carried out without hesitation. Unlike Hojo, who treated the project primarily as a tool for producing stronger SOLDIERs, Diana framed it as a means of unlocking immortality and reshaping the very definition of humanity.

The ethical collapse that underpinned her arc became visible through her treatment of Bianca. Diana’s ability to rationalize suffering as “data” highlighted her utilitarian worldview, where progress justified every cruelty. Her obsession with the “post-human ideal” blinded her to the personal cost of her work, even as she became complicit in Bianca’s physical mutilation and psychological trauma. This dynamic revealed Diana’s growing detachment from human empathy, marking her as more than a subordinate to Hojo. She was an independent agent of scientific ruthlessness.

Externally, Diana’s professional legitimacy was tested during key events such as the Raid on Junon and the Meteor Crisis. In both cases, her role was not military but analytical: recording data, cataloging biological effects, and interpreting planetary-scale phenomena.

These encounters forced her to confront the limits of her science. The Planet’s Weapons, and later the Meteor calamity, underscored forces beyond her control. For the first time, Diana’s belief in humanity’s potential to achieve divinity through science began to fracture, producing a crisis of faith in her methods and ideals.

By the end of the Final Fantasy VII arc, Diana stood as a figure defined by contradiction. She was indispensable to Shinra for her intellect, yet increasingly isolated by her obsession with transcendence. Her professional successes came at the cost of her moral and psychological stability. Bianca Moore’s suffering served as both the foundation of her achievements and the catalyst for her crisis, while her reflections on Hojo revealed the uncomfortable truth that she had become what she once condemned.

In this way, Diana’s arc illustrated not triumph, but corrosion. It is the slow collapse of certainty under the weight of ambition and consequence.

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[creators-club]

Little sneak peek :)

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***

“You aren’t the first person to underestimate me, and you definitely won’t be the last.  I’m used to it.”

“Yeah? And how many of those other people have said ‘sorry’ for doing it?”

“None.”

“Well…”  Shrugging, he tosses the towel in the basket by the bathroom door, then drags a hand through his damp hair.  “....I’m not like them.”

“Don’t I know it.”

“Look, I may be an asshole, but I’m not that big of one. I’m saying I’m sorry.”

“And I appreciate you saying it. So, apology accepted.”

[creators-club]

What they each would have looked like when they first met in the series (Extraction 1 timeline) compared to what they look like five years later in Lost and Found,

So 35 and 29, and 40 and 34.

(I'm bored lol)

Fandom: Extraction

Pairing: Tyler Rake and Esme Drummond/Rake

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