strifentineweek

[strifentineweek]

⚰️ Strifentine Week 2025 is over! ☁️

Thank you all for taking part in this first annual Strifentine event, whether through creation or engagement!

Next year's event will take place July 7th thru 13th! We don't want to step on the toes of other similar events (in particular, FF7 Rarepair Week also takes place in mid-February, and we really don't want to pull anyone away from that one) so we're moving forward and will do it all again starting on Tanabata.

Prompts for Strifentine Week 2026 will be revealed May 30th, 2026—see you then!

GUIDELINES · FAQ · DIRECTORY

@ffviifandomcalendar

[strifentineweek]

i'm so late (thank you executive dysfunction), but i'm finally starting to put up the fic i wrote inspired by the @strifentineweek prompts!

you can find it here (E rating for eventual smut) <3

[strifentineweek]

strifentine day 5: shelter

i missed a day but maybe i simply want to see someone lovingly wrapped in their lover's horns huh what about that

[strifentineweek]

Chapters: 7/7 Fandom: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: strifentine, vinkura Characters: Cloud Strife, Vincent Valentine, following characters are involved but only for key points, Galian Beast, Hell Masker, Death Gigas, following characters are only involved for one chapter or brief background reference, Tifa Lockhart, Yuffie Kisaragi, Marlene Wallace, Denzel (Compilation of FFVII), Lucrecia Crescent, Hojo, Grimoire Valentine, Chaos (Compilation of FFVII) Additional Tags: Hurt and comfort, Tough Love, Kindred Spirits, chaos vessel headcanon heavy, vincent headcanons, cloud headcanons, silent pining/yearning, Mutual Pining, but they don’t know until the last second, chaos vessel void power shenanigans, Memory Journey, vincent head mates headcanons, occasional and mild body horror mentions, (flashes of memory but never in great detail), mental distress, pent up emotions, loss of sense of self —

Day 7: Monster

[strifentineweek]

Chapters: 6/7 Fandom: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: strifentine, vinkura Characters: Cloud Strife, Vincent Valentine, following characters are involved but only for key points, Galian Beast, Hell Masker, Death Gigas, following characters are only involved for one chapter or brief background reference, Tifa Lockhart, Yuffie Kisaragi, Marlene Wallace, Denzel (Compilation of FFVII), Lucrecia Crescent, Hojo, Grimoire Valentine, Chaos (Compilation of FFVII) Additional Tags: Hurt and comfort, Tough Love, Kindred Spirits, chaos vessel headcanon heavy, vincent headcanons, cloud headcanons, silent pining/yearning, Mutual Pining, but they don’t know until the last second, chaos vessel void power shenanigans, Memory Journey, vincent head mates headcanons, occasional and mild body horror mentions, (flashes of memory but never in great detail), mental distress, pent up emotions, loss of sense of self —

Day 6: Endearment / Admission / “beginning to understand”

[strifentineweek]

strifentine week day 7. monster / proclivity / "that's just how I am"

-

Cloud wakes to something shaking at his body—insistent, yet inexplicably gentle. Unfortunately, it still jostles what feels like every bone in his body, and he groans.

"Cloud?" The gravelly voice itself is familiar, but Cloud has never heard it so— "Cloud."

—so panicked.

"V'ncent?" he mumbles. His throat feels parched, his tongue too thick and clumsy in his mouth, and he coughs once, twice. "Wha…."

"That's what I should be asking. I thought you were…." Pale and stricken, Vincent's face finally comes into view as Cloud blinks his eyes open. "What happened? What did you do?"

Something about Vincent's appearance seems different, and it takes another long moment for Cloud to realize that the constant compulsion to look away is gone. He may have thought that it had already been fading, but the difference is like night and day—like a haze has been lifted from his eyes. Now, being able to truly focus on Vincent's features….

Cloud realizes abruptly that he's staring.

Snapping himself out of it, he struggles to push himself up from his sprawled-out position. A strong arm winds itself around his back, propping him up easily, and Cloud leans heavily into Vincent's support as he scans their surroundings.

It's hard to tell exactly how much damage he'd caused when this part of the library had already been destroyed to some extent, but now a fine dust coats every visible surface, gold and glittering. The pedestal lies in splinters, and the strange, broken orb that had rested on top—

Round and whole, it clinks as it slips from Cloud's slackened hand, rolling innocently to a stop by his thigh. Its flawless surface is reminiscent of a soap bubble, glossy and iridescent, lit from the inside with a haunting blue-green glow.

Vincent's breath catches. Cloud glances up just in time to catch the way Vincent stares down at it, eyes wide with an emotion too large and complex to name.

"What did you do?" Vincent repeats, this time as an awed whisper.

"Honestly… I'm not sure," Cloud admits. Scooping the orb back up, he tilts it back and forth between his fingers, inspecting the way the dim lighting glints off its surface. But no matter how long he studies it, it doesn't make things any clearer, and he gives up with a sigh, rising on shaky legs.

Vincent jerks to attention, scrambling to help him up, but Cloud halts him with a single hand extended in offering. "I think this is yours."

This time, Vincent stares up at Cloud, that same unnameable emotion flickering in his eyes. Then, quietly, he says, "You could keep it. I would not stop you."

Cloud looks down at the orb in his hands. He thinks about the way it had sat on the pedestal, cracked open like a nutshell. He thinks about the rift, ripped open like a bleeding wound in the fabric of the universe. He thinks about Vincent, trapped like a ghost in the manor that holds the worst memories of his life.

He never wants Vincent to be trapped again.

"It's yours," he says firmly, and he pushes it into Vincent's hands. When it makes contact with Vincent's skin, its gentle glow pulses, the blue-green lighting up in sharp contrast with his dark fingertips.

Vincent's claws curl hesitantly around it, a tiny marble in his hands, and his throat bobs as he swallows hard. "Cloud, whatever you're trying to accomplish, it will not—as you can see, I'm still… like this."

"Like what?" Cloud raises his chin in challenge.

"A monster." It bursts from Vincent's chest as if it were a terrible admission. "Cloud. Keep it. I have no other way to repay what you've done for me. Gods help me, if I could go back to the man I once was, if I could be what you deserved—"

"Vincent." Cloud grabs Vincent's hand, holding it safely closed. "I don't need any of that. I just want…."

Cloud pauses, because—to say he wants nothing from Vincent would be a lie, but he'd fallen in love with Vincent as he is now, not as he once was. Why would Cloud ever need him to go back in order to continue loving him?

In the end, all he can do is repeat what he'd told the being in the rift. "I just want you to be happy. Whatever that means for you."

Vincent is silent for a long moment. "And if that happiness is incredibly selfish?"

Cloud huffs, more breath than laughter. "I think you could stand to be a little more selfish sometimes."

"Ah. That's where you're mistaken." Vincent reaches up and ever-so-carefully cups Cloud's face in his large palm, the soft pad of his thumb running over his cheek. "I've always been selfish. That's just how I am."

"Well, I've always been into monsters." Cloud leans into Vincent's touch, eyes slipping shut. "I guess that's just how I am, too."

-

previous day

[strifentineweek]

Monster/Proclivity ⚰️☁️⚰️ @strifentineweek Day 7

Contrary to his own assumptions—based mostly on extreme body dysphoria and self-loathing—Vincent's "condition" gives him a lot to offer to the right partner. Cloud has some unique interests that happen to make him a perfect option in that regard.

I don't think any Strifentine event is complete without a little monsterfucking, so here we are! Nothing visible because I couldn't get a pose that worked, but honestly I'm really happy with this.

[strifentineweek]

When they say, “you & what army?” I guess they’re talking about you & me Nobody will love you, nobody will love you like I do (I guess that’s half true)

Happy Valenstrife week! This is late, but it’s for the first prompt, “hidden.” It’s been ages ... I played the original FF7, but now I need to catch up with the rest of it.

[ @strifentineweek | Dark Meridian: otzipai-art dA | Vincent: whitemagesunny dA | Cloud: sab64 dA ]

[strifentineweek]

strifentine week day 6. endearment / admission / "beginning to understand"

-

Unfortunately, in a region like Nibelheim, warmer weather never lasts long, and summer soon gives way to autumn chill, followed shortly by the first snow. While they still spend indulgent days outside, those come few and far in between the heavier storms, and Cloud sets out to use his spare time to continue his more important investigations.

Thankfully, if there's anything he has plenty of right now, it's time.

Magical or not, a seal implies that it can be broken. There must be something hidden away in the manor that ties Vincent here. Cloud isn't arrogant enough to think he would be able to do anything about it that Vincent couldn't, but…

Penance, Vincent had called it. Somehow, Cloud doesn't get the feeling that Vincent has even tried.

Oddly enough, Vincent himself never pries into what Cloud may or may not be doing. Certainly he must be aware of Cloud's explorations; sometimes it seems like he's aware of everything that happens on the manor's grounds. But maybe he thinks Cloud is finally settling in, branching out from his initial hesitation to leave the spaces between his designated bedroom and the library.

That… isn't entirely untrue, anyways. Vincent doesn't seem to stray from a few specific areas of the manor, either, and Cloud had never found reason to linger anywhere else even after he'd explored it. Without Vincent's presence, the vast spaces seem far more imposing. Hostile.

That's the only word that Cloud can think of to describe the basement that he finds hidden away behind a fake wall and down a long, spiraling staircase. Cold and dark and hostile, with a stale air that invades his lungs, leaving him oddly short of breath as he descends.

Without a doubt, this is what he's looking for. The fact that it was hidden is proof enough.

At first, it seems like just another library. The books are damp and mildewed, the pages crumbling underneath his fingers when he opens one to leaf through it. With a start, Cloud realizes that they aren't just regular books; the text inside is handwritten and spidery, the ink stained and blurred with age. Although the old script is difficult to decipher, he pieces together enough it turns his blood cold.

They're journals. Documentation of what had happened, laid bare in dispassionate detail, and Cloud slams it shut, sneezing as a puff of dust rises into the air. Even with that brief glance, it feels like he's just committed a massive invasion of Vincent's privacy.

But—is that something he'll have to do in order to achieve his mission? Is that a boundary he's willing to overstep?

Would Vincent stop him?

Cloud looks back at the shelves full of books lined up one after another, each page carrying the weight of what was done to Vincent. His heart sinks in his chest. Still, he forges on.

At the very back of the room, Cloud finds it: a charred, cratered space, shelves toppled and burnt, scorch marks decorating the walls. In the very center lies a pedestal, deceptively intact; atop the pedestal, a glowing, glassy orb, about fist-sized, shattered in two. From the orb emerges a swirling rift, ink-black yet iridescent. When Cloud stares at it too long, he catches a flicker of a chasm of void and stars inside, leaving him dizzy and breathless.

A shimmering gold array surrounds the pedestal, forming a translucent barrier. Inside, golden chains lashed to the walls bind the rift in place, and as Cloud watches, it twists and pulses. Its edges shrink in on themselves before catching as the chains pull taught, as if—

Trapped.

The chains don't keep the rift in, they keep it from going away. As if even long after their deaths, the researchers had wanted to leave it open for their work to be continued.

The ice in Cloud's veins turns white-hot with a blinding rage. Unthinking of any consequences, he storms forward, the barrier rippling as it parts with no resistance. It settles back shut behind him like a curtain, and—

Everything goes silent.

The attention of whatever lies inside the rift isn't dissimilar to the weight of Vincent's, but it seems magnified a thousandfold, pressing in on all sides until even the air vanishes from Cloud's lungs. Although he can't tell if it's truly sentient or not, it certainly seems aware, watching Cloud and… waiting.

Expectant.

Think. Cloud has to think, and quickly—because his impulsivity has once more gotten him into a situation where he is in way over his head. In his mind's eye, clear as day, his ma shakes her head with a sigh, more fond than truly disappointed, because he's always been like this, hasn't he?

His ma. Her story. Vincent's story. Based on what Vincent had said, his power to grant wishes is tied to the being that the researchers had summoned. A demon, or something like it, and the power to make deals—but at the cost of something else.

Always at a cost.

Cloud can't fuck this one up. This time, he doesn't have Vincent—Vincent, who tries to hold himself aloof but still cares far too much. Vincent, who had not only come up with a loophole to keep both Cloud and his ma alive, but had also taken his ma's happiness into account as well.

A loophole….

Cloud wets his dry lips and takes a step forward. "I want to close the rift. I want Vincent to be free."

The heavy attention sharpens, no longer a dull bludgeon on all sides, but a knife's blade. Gasping in pain, Cloud can't help but double over, but he grits his teeth and continues.

"Vincent will lose his powers. That's payment," he argues. "It's good for you, too, isn't it? You get to go back to wherever you came from. Isn't that enough?"

This time, a distinct and baffling sense of amusement radiates from the being, and something reaches out and touches Cloud's mind, dragging forward a memory—

("You can read minds?"

"Not quite. Only in relation to fulfilling our… as you called it, deal.")

That upwards curl of Vincent's lip during their first meeting… It's been over a year now. And over that year, Cloud has seen it aimed at him many times—that very same sense of fond amusement.

He'd forgotten such an important aspect of Vincent's power: that he had read Cloud's true desire. He'd seen a snapshot of Cloud's heart from the very beginning.

The knifelike attention ebbs. For the first time, Cloud can truly breathe, but something else heavy sticks in his throat instead.

He knows what it wants.

"I… love Vincent," he admits hoarsely, painfully. Then, again, "I love him. I wish I could be with him, but I—I just want him to be happy. Whatever that means to him."

A beat of silence, then the golden chains shatter. As the shards rain down around him, Cloud thinks he catches a hint of wild, raucous laughter, echoing everywhere and nowhere around him.

Then the world goes dark.

-

previous day | next day

[strifentineweek]

Endearment/Admission ⚰️☁️⚰️ @strifentineweek Day 6

While Vincent is less likely to initiate, I like to think he's much more aggressive than most people assume based on his general demeanor. (Cloud certainly wasn't expecting it, but he's not complaining.)

[strifentineweek]

⚰️☁️ Strifentine Week 2025 is Done! ☁️⚰️

Work will continue to be reblogged to the event account and the Archive Collection will remain open for submissions for one week, so don't worry if you're running behind! Just make sure to get all your work up by February 27th, when the grace period ends and the event is over until next year.

Friendly reminder to either ping the event account @strifentineweek or use the tag #strifentine week 2025 in order to get your post(s) reblogged to the event account.

More information on next year's event will be released at the close of this year's, so keep an eye out for details!

GUIDELINES · FAQ · DIRECTORY

[strifentineweek]

Monster/Proclivity ⚰️☁️⚰️ @strifentineweek Day 7

Contrary to his own assumptions—based mostly on extreme body dysphoria and self-loathing—Vincent's "condition" gives him a lot to offer to the right partner. Cloud has some unique interests that happen to make him a perfect option in that regard.

I don't think any Strifentine event is complete without a little monsterfucking, so here we are! Nothing visible because I couldn't get a pose that worked, but honestly I'm really happy with this.

[strifentineweek]

@strifentineweek day 7: monster

they should’ve kissed in that one advent children scene

[strifentineweek]

Strifentine Week 2025 ➤ Day 7

Short Prompts:

Monster and/or Proclivity

Long Prompt:

"that's just how I am" — Vincent Valentine, Final Fantasy VII

Remember to tag your work #strifentine week 2025 or ping @strifentineweek to get your work reblogged!

PROMPTS · GUIDELINES · FAQ · DIRECTORY

[strifentineweek]

Shelter/Trust/“if you're willing to lead”⚰️☁️⚰️ @strifentineweek Day 5

I've illustrated this concept with Vincent multiple times before, but it never gets old. Vincent is quite tall, and that cloak has so much utility! It's normal. There is no reason for anyone to be blushing over this. He does this for everyone. (He does not.)

[strifentineweek]

@strifentineweek day 5: shelter

this is based off a fic i read a while back, but i cannot for the Life of me find it again. i’ll update this as soon as i find the person who wrote it !!

[strifentineweek]

Endearment/Admission ⚰️☁️⚰️ @strifentineweek Day 6

While Vincent is less likely to initiate, I like to think he's much more aggressive than most people assume based on his general demeanor. (Cloud certainly wasn't expecting it, but he's not complaining.)