#But how can you tell a wutai story

[bronzewool]

The marketing surrounding Ever Crisis is starting to concern me.

"We still don't know Sephiroth"

Good. Despite what remake thinks, I don't need to know every tiny detail about these characters.

That was my main complaint with Traces of Two Pasts. It was just a cheap cash grab to sell a book about Tifa and Aerith's backstories, where there was nothing in the pages that changed our perspective of the two as characters or altered our experience playing the game on a second playthrough.

The fact that game begins after the Wutai War was a deliberate move by the creators. As a kid Cloud fantasies about becoming a hero just like Sephiroth but by the time he's old enough to join Shinra, the war is already over and the world doesn't need heroes right now. We never see the war through flashbacks but we hear enough from second-hand accounts and how history is already being written by the winners.

Shinra now controls all corners of Gaia and is presented as a force of good towards the stubborn Wutai who couldn't see reason by just giving up their land so they could make more mako reactors and free clean energy for everyone :D

The planet is dying and Wutai was the final sprint to ensure Shinra's monopoly on a now desolate planet where flowers can't grow.

Wutai is so scarred by this loss it becomes a tourist attraction and gets it's own sideplot in the form of Yuffie who joins Cloud's party in hopes of returning her homeland to it's former glory.

There is so much left unsaid about the Wutai War but the aftermath is felt throughout the game, which is why I'm not interested in a prequel where Sephirith feels sad for conquering said territory and murdering its people, or possibly changing the circumstances in order to rid him of any responsibility.

Because the original game did an amazing job highlighting Sephirith's best and worst qualities. He is a powerful warrior and skilled tactician who can lead his troops to victory but does not question the destruction he brings in his wake. He was even given the name "The Demon of Wutai" for his role in single handling conquering it and had his face plastered on every poster to sell this false image of him to further Shinra's own agenda (which worked because Cloud, Zack, Genesis and Angeal all recruited to become just like Sephiroth).

We know very little about Sephiroth but he is complex enough to get the point across. He cares for his men and puts the wellbeing of others first, but he is still a tool of Shinra and if ordered to do something then he will do it most efficiently with the least amount of bloodshed.

I don't want this to be a Crisis Core situation, where we take all these well-established scenes and ruin them by shoving more characters who don't need to be there, or pull an Anakin Skywalker where we muddy Sephiroth's character by over-explaining everything to the point it destroys the reputation of the original source material.

[esamastation]

Part fifty-one of Shizuroth, aka, the SOLDIER General's Self Saving Shizun.

Ao3 link.

Previous parts: forty, forty-one, forty-two, forty-three, forty-four, forty-five, forty-six, forty-seven forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty

-

"Angeal Hewley speaking."

"Well, you sound chipper tonight. Is Wutai not treating you right?"

"Oh. Hello, Genesis. How are things in Midgar?"

"Things are… they are such as they are. The work of a hero never ends. And so forth."

"That good, huh?"

"Mmm. Now do tell me why you sound like someone gone trampling all over your honour."

"Heh, nothing so bad, I promise. Just, you know. Sephiroth."

"More of his glowing Alignment practice?"

"..."

"Oh, so it's something new now? Do tell! All of us in Midgar are dying to know how things are developing. How is the Healer of Worlds doing?"

"... I guess the Turks have already reported it. Well. For one, he's learned how to fly."

"... Come again?"

"Sephiroth learned to fly. Or, I guess, it's more like weightlessness? He can make himself feather-light and just jump on tree tops and glide around."

"... Angeal, my dear friend, this isn't time for jokes."

"Oh, I'm not joking, Genesis, I'm really not. He can fly now. It's really something. He didn't so much explain as he insinuated, but I think it's some kind of gravity or mass manipulation that he can now do. Because of his Alignment practice. Apparently it's bearing fruit."

"... Wonderful. Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess. We seek it thus, and take to the sky. Some of us literally."

"Suppose that's one interpretation of it."

"Tch. And I suppose by now the Good Professor has been informed, and we will be hearing of these developments from him directly."

"Probably, yeah."

"Tch. Well, I suppose it would be nice to know how to fly. How many of us will end up with our wings clipped before such heights are achieved, forever…"

"Genesis…"

"They still don't admit that there have been deaths. Janson was supposedly killed in action, but he wasn't even on a mission at the time. The others have been cadets, but it's only a matter of time."

"I'm sorry. I wish I was there."

"No you don't. Be glad you aren't - though, as G type SOLDIERs, you and I aren't compatible with these new methods anyway. Such fortune we have, such graces we have been granted."

"We all signed up for this. We all volunteered, in order to enter the program."

"Yes, and not a single one of us knew what that meant. Well, except perhaps for Sephiroth. Not that he ever truly signed up. You know, I have been looking into his history, I've dug out his medical records, trying to figure out what they are after -"

"Genesis, that's a breach of trust -"

"The lives of my men matter to me more than Sephiroth's secrets and pride. Not that the files were any help - the story they paint is more a horror story than anything. Whatever Hojo is trying to recreate, if it takes as many experiments as Sephiroth has gone through…"

"I thought they already nailed down the cause. The overdose, right?"

"That's the prevalent theory, yes. But after the first few cases of Mako Poisoning and death, they rather gave up on recreating that particular experiment at least."

"They gave up? But, aren't they still calling SOLDIERs in for extra doses?"

"They are, but there's not as much Mako in it. They're injecting something else, now - more of the carrier agent, supposedly - though Goddess alone knows how many had to be resuscitated for them to get the point."

"... What's the current total of casualties?"

"Four deaths including Janson and seven in coma, two of them SOLDIER. Oh, and one confirmed brain death, which is just lovely."

"A SOLDIER?"

"No… a cadet. What they're keeping him alive for I don't know, but… there we have it."

"... Shit."

"Angeal Hewley, is that cursing I hear?! What a day to be alive."

"Very funny. How do you know about what's going on in the labs? I thought they'd pretty much banned you from them?"

"They did, but I have my ways."

"... Right. Do your ways explain why Lazard isn't doing anything about this?"

"Not much he can do. Hojo will do what he wants, and he'd promised Heidegger a new, higher class of SOLDIER after this, so you can imagine his reaction. And of course the President is all for it!"

"Ah, I… see."

"Indeed. You know what they're saying in the labs now? They're saying that SOLDIERs were created to be the second coming of the Ancients. That we were supposed to be able to, among other things, cast spells without the need of Materia."

"I… heard something like that too, a long time ago, but I didn't put much stock in it. It sounded a bit too fantastical for me."

"Well, supposedly, that's exactly what they wanted. They gave up on it, because, well, it didn't work, and because the side effects were even more useful. Superhuman soldiers! Much better than Ancient myths, when you have a war to be fought. Only now the war is almost over, and Sephiroth has apparently figured out how to fly."

"Ah."

"I can only imagine the consequences this will have."

"Yes, um. There's something else."

"Something else? Angeal, please don't tell me you're been holding out for me."

"Well, not really, but, um. Did you know Sephiroth can speak and read the Wutai language?"

"... I didn't, but I'm not surprised. Among SOLDIERs he's spent the most time over there."

"Well, I didn't know. The Turks didn't know. I don't think it's in his file either."

"Another thing he's been keeping to himself and can no longer remember why?"

"Maybe, but, Genesis, there's… another thing. There was a group of Wutai warriors that we intercepted, and Sephiroth had a one-in-one duel with their captain - and then he spoke with him. In their language. Now, I can't understand written Wutai at all, but I can sort of follow the conversations…"

"I am duly impressed, my friend. Though more with the idea of Sephiroth having a conversation with a Wutai soldier - after having a duel with them. What, did he raise their spirit somehow?"

"Very funny, but no, he didn't kill the man. That's not the point - Genesis, the Wutai Captain called Sephiroth's accent ancient."

"... Angeal, you're kidding me."

"Not like Ancient ancient. I'm pretty sure the moniker they use for Ancients is different. Ancestor, maybe? Something like that. Anyway, Deng Yuto called Sephiroth's accent ancient, meaning really old."

"... Huh. So to recap, Sephiroth gets a massive dose of Mako, flatlines, comes back, forgets almost everything about himself, develops some new habits, has a bunch of strange questions about the way Materia, Mako, EXP and MP work… and now he's developing new magical abilities, and speaking a language like someone from a long time ago."

"That's about the size of it."

"Damn."

"... Yeah."

"... Hey, Angeal?"

"Yes, Genesis?"

"I think I have a theory of what's going on."

"I thought you might."

-

Lmao I have no idea where this is going 👀🍿

[ryin-silverfish]

Chapter 39: The Mystery of the Blue Feline

"Is it the same lion, or a different lion?"

Hmmm…a mystery for the ages.

Context: Manjusri/Wenshu's Azure Lion appears twice in JTTW, first here, then in the more well-known Lion Camel Ridge arc, both of which ended with Wenshu showing up and dragging his steed back to Mt. Wutai.

On the former occasion he was actually a good king, despite pushing the actual king into a well and taking his place, as stated by Wenshu himself—a stark contrast to his later apperance, where he had gone full demon-king and started eating people, and the Azure Lion of LCR shows no sign of having recognized SWK from before.

This naturally rise some questions. Are these two the same lion? If not, is Wenshu basically the Big Cat Dad of Bodhisattvas, who adopted a whole pride of lion cubs as his steeds /j

Well…the best theory I can come up with is that JTTW novel is a compilation of Journey tales over the years, and two stories happened to involve Manjusri's lion and the final author-compiler just put both in, without much thoughts about making them logically consistent.

Like, JTTW in folk storytelling and opera format had a lot of "episodes" that could be told in different places and time, out of sequence, with only the barest knowledge of context needed.

And unlike novel written by one author from the beginning and exists first and foremost in book format, if you are a Ming Precious Scroll preacher or opera play writer, you can tell Lion Story A in one place and Lion Story B in another place and the two group of audiences would never overlap.

Or, you could tell both to a single group of audiences, but bc so much time have passed between the two performances, they had already forgotten about the previous one.

The "Wuji Kingdom Lion" story certainly appears first in the evolution of the JTTW story cycle, though: in the folk opera collection 礼节传簿, there was an excerpt of a play's act names called "Tripitaka Seeks the Scripture in the West" (唐僧西天取经), which already included the "Wenshu Subdues the Lion at Wuji Kingdom" story.

Also, there was an entire Zaju play about Wenshu subduing the lion by the Ming prince Zhu Youdun that I could not find any digital version of, only summaries, and Nezha and his embroidered ball was somehow involved.

Sidenote, we also see how SWK's golden vision has limits here. When the lion transforms into Tripitaka, SWK had trouble telling them apart, and stated outright that it was because "his Qi and body are the same" (气体相同). This supports the theory that SWK's golden vision doesn't actually see through demonic glamor and perceive their true forms, but merely the aura they are radiating.

On a more annoying note: popular modern reading of JTTW tends to see Wenshu as this petty asshole in the Wuji Kingdom chapter. "Sure, the king might have dunked a disguised Bodhisattva into the palace canal for three days, but you insulted him first, and besides, that's no reason to make your pet murder him and leave his body at the bottom of a well for three years!"

Which…is a lot of presentism, and people just not getting the saying that "Each peck, each drink, is predetermined" (一饮一啄，莫非前定). It is very much going by the popular understanding of karmic retribution, where every consequences have a cause.

But I do have a HC about this. In the text, the King of Wuji was known as a generous and pious ruler, who greatly venerated Buddhism and priests, and it was because of this that the Buddha sent Wenshu to evaluate him for potential Arhat-hood.

Wenshu, in the disguise of a poor priest, met the king, got dunked into a canal for cheek, yadda yadda yadda. Fast-forward, a great drought had descended upon Wuji kingdom, and no amount of prayers seemed to help, until Azure Lion showed up in the disguise of a Daoist sage, summoned a much-needed storm, and became the king's sworn brother.

But what if Wenshu had come to the kingdom with another goal in mind?

As the wisest Bodhisattva, he knew a drought was imminent, and if the king was virtuous and faithful enough to be a potential candidate for Arhat-hood, he would certainly use this knowledge well. Yet, upon a closer observation, cracks began to show.

Sure, the king loved Buddhism, but his way of showing it was building all these lavish temples and golden statues and spoiling the clergy, with no regards for the burden placed on commoners and the corruption he fostered. As such, his kingdom would be woefully unprepared for a natural disaster.

Which was exactly what Wenshu told him; just like how Vows are but empty promises without Practice, Practice without Wisdom and Mercy, without the awareness of causes and consequences and what people truly need, is a receipt for disaster. If you spent half the money you used to construct these temples on irrigation projects and new granaries, you'd have done more good than all the prayers of your monks combined.

Annnd the king didn't take it well, bc how dare this lowly monk bit the hand that fed him, and, egged on by some equally pissed-off monks, ordered the fateful three-day-long dunking. If the monk was a regular monk he wouldn't have survived that, and in true karmatic fashion, the attempted murder was going to come back to him.

That tangent aside: when Wenshu defended his steed by saying it had not committed any crimes as a king after the murder-replace thing, SWK was like "But he sleeps with the queen while disguised, right, how's that for 'No crimes committed'?" And Wenshu responded with "Oh no worries, my pet is neutered", and Bajie actually checked by trying to grab its nonexistent balls…

Funny. As. Hell.

@journeythroughjourneytothewest

[okarawrites]

Hey! I see that FF7 request are open! Could I get any person(s) of your choosing with a s/o that has the same powers as Noctis Lucis Caelum and Lunafreya Nox Fleuret from FF15? S/o can summon weapons of old, teleport to a thrown weapon and can summon like Shiva, Ifrit etc without the need of using Materia. They are also a pureblood Cetra so they are being hunted but no one can catch them bc they're too powerful. Just the person(s) of your choosing (whoever would fit in this scenario) meeting them. Thank you! Have a great day or night!

Hey! Thanks for the request. I couldn't help but match this with Rude. Thought it qould be interesting to have that conflict with him being a Turk. Also have done this as a little blurb, and I'm a bit rusty but I hope you enjoy! (It's a bit angsty)

Goodbye my love.

Rude first heard about you when your file was brought into to Turks office. Of course Shinra were more than keen to get a hold of you to progress their mission to access the promised land.

Rude was assigned a mission to follow a lead on your whereabouts and whilst usually partnered up for missions, Tseng had thought a different more covert approach may be needed, so he was sent alone. Following information that a mysterious woman had been spotted in Wutai appearing to be able to summon Shiva without materia, Rude began his travels.

He had first met you in a small Inn about 20 miles south of Wutai. Not know what you looked like, Rude knew he had to take a more conversational approach to get more information.

He would say that the reason he approaches you was because you were say alone, but in truth, Rude is just a sucker for a pretty face.

You were taken aback by how easy it was for you to fall into easy conversation, that it felt entirely natural when he asked if you had heard anything about the mysterious woman.

You knew that you had messed up by showcasing your talents out in public, and deep down knew that all conversation around the subject should be avoided. However, you felt that as your vague response of hearing about it, but not knowing much was enough to end that conversation,, you couldn't help but indulge in his company for a bit longer.

He had told you he was traveling to Wutai on business, giving details on how the bank he worked for back in Midgar was having some issues with their partnership in Wutai.

He stayed in the area for about a week and you ended up spending every evening together. It was all a bit of a whirlwind romance.

The two of you stayed in touch and he eventually asked you to visit him in the city. It was here that it all came crumbling down.

You were on high alert being so close to Shinra HQ and that extra vigilance allowed you to see the cracks in Rudes story.

When the day finally came that you finally confronted him, it was hard for you both. Rude stood in silence as you showed him all of your collated information that proved who he really was and who he worked for.

Getting close to anyone was always a risk in his line of work, but what he wasn't expecting was for you to trust him to tell him who you really were. However, he knew that even if he wanted to try and bring you in, he was not match for your power.

After everything had been said you stood for a moment in silence. You could see a tear threatening to fall down his cheek. You both knew that although you had fallen for one another, this could never be.

You kissed him, tears now flowing before you took a step back. "Goodbye my love" was the last thing you said to him before leaving, never to be seen by him again.

[case-of-traxits]

Character for the meme: Rufus.

For the Opinion Meme || Still accepting!

Sexuality Headcanon: Bisexual with a strong leaning toward gay. I usually see Rufus as shading pretty heavy on the aromantic spectrum as well, but mostly because he sees literally everything in terms of:

President Shinra's people

Rufus' people

Liabilities/unknowns

And he will go to war for people who fall in that second group, which would be an absolute requirement for anyone in a romantic relationship with him. Now, if they're very good, they might manage to carve out a group of people of their own, which would mean Rufus would see them as being an equal on the playing field instead of a token in need protection or a liability that can be used against him.

Gender Headcanon: I am super boring and HC most of the FF7 characters as cis, but I will say, I can absolutely see the case for Rufus as a trans man. Now, I don't write him that way, so for me, I'd have to say cis male.

A ship I have with said character: Ohhhhh boy. Oh boy. ... I realize it says a ship, but here.

Witness my marina.

Rufus/Reeve - Rufus sees Reeve as, and this is going to sound more pretentious and poetic than I mean it to, but he sees Reeve as the literal builder of dreams and fantasies. Reeve has taken the absolute impossible-- a floating city-- and manifested it. And not just manifested it, but manages her day-to-day running and the reactors that are the lifeblood of the company, and Reeve is the one person that Rufus can't get an outright declaration of loyalty from because they both know that their first loyalty will always be to Midgar.

Rufus/Tseng - So my general take on their relationship is that Tseng meets Rufus when Rufus is about 12 and Tseng is 17, and Tseng realizes that for all his running from his destiny in Wutai, he's effectively come to Midgar to bend a knee to who will be the new world emperor instead. And barring any story-specific ships (like Tseng/Sephiroth) happening, my "standard" HC is that Rufus probably decides they're sleeping together once he's 16/17, and Tseng can't exactly tell him no, which is the beginning of Tseng's transition from 'mentor' to 'right hand.' Now, that completely disregards BC canon.

Rufus/Reno - This is a surprisingly fun one, but really it's mostly because Reno and Rufus are the same age in my HCs and Reno is capable of showing Rufus the side of Midgar that no one will ever let him see. Reeve built Midgar and Rufus will rule her one day, but Reno absolutely pulses with Midgar's beating heart, and if Midgar was a person... well, Rufus is pretty sure she'd be an awful lot like Reno.

Rufus/Tifa - Ahh, the dethroned king and the barmaid. No, but seriously, if I have a post-canon ship, it's Rufus/Tifa and Rufus/Tseng/Tifa. Which is unsurprising to literally everyone. I can ship Tifa with nearly anyone. In this particular case, I think she's really good for Rufus, although to be fair, they probably need to work out the whole, "You tried to have me executed," thing.

Rufus/Tseng/Tifa - This is my usual "endgame" ship for Rufus and Tseng both. Post OG, post AC, post Dirge... when everything has fallen as it will and they're left picking up the pieces, I see Tseng and Rufus relying a lot on Tifa, and Tifa being surprised at just how much she enjoys seeing them when they stop in. And eventually, something develops there. Also though, I'm firmly of the opinion that Tifa just ends up in bed with all of the Shinra crew that's left. Reno/Rude? Yep. Elena? Absolutely. Tseng/Rufus? Well now. She's not sure how it happened, but she's fairly sure the five of them set out to seduce her and have thoroughly emotionally tangled her up with them.

A BROTP I have with said character: I think Rufus and Elena get on like a house on fire and Tseng has no idea what to do with it. Elena does things like lets her temper get the better of her and Tseng is all, "I'm going to have to talk Rufus about this," and when he does, Rufus just sighs and looks at her and is like, "Please don't do that again."

And Tseng side-eyes both of them. Because somehow, Rufus using that soft steady voice actually does seem to chasten her?!

In terms of during the height of Shinra's power (i.e., the era I usually write in), I can also absolutely see a literal broship happening between Rufus and Lazard if the two of them can manage to get some time alone together to put aside their masks.

A NOTP I have with said character: Hm... A NOTP for Rufus... I don't know that I have one, but to be fair, I don't have very many of these for anyone.

A random headcanon: @ladykf-writes has a wonderful OC named Drew Morrison, and just... He has slotted in so nicely to my Rufus characterization. I've always had the HC that before Tseng arrived (sometime between when Rufus was 8 and 12, depending on story needs), Rufus' training and general security was handled by SOLDIER. Which meant he more or less had a personal SOLDIER guard. I pretty much exclusively use Drew for this role now, mostly because he gives Rufus a little of the affection/acknowledgement that he's so clearly starved for.

General Opinion over said character: I love Rufus Shinra. Is he an absolute ass? Probably. Do I love him anyway? Hell, I love him because he is.

BONUS! A song I associate with the character:

You play girls like a man, but your eyes are like a child Your face is cool and calm, but your hair is wrecked and wild You hide behind your metaphors and pray that no one sees The fare behind your poker face: your dark and twisted needs The girls all think you love them, but they make you feel sick You smile and whisper in their ear but drop them just as quick The bottles 'round the back all contain the hearts of lovers Lipstick stains on the pillow and lies under the covers Let me in, wear me out [x4] Your fragile heart and your paper skin Such a beautiful boy filled with so much sin Your reflection is your very worst enemy Behind the glass is an angel, but the devil's beneath

-- Maniac, by Phoebe Green

[silver-wield]

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Review Chapter 6 & 7

Okay, this collection of posts will be filled with spoilers, including clips and screenshots, so if you don't wanna see things, then don't look. Some of the things I'm gonna highlight will include references to Remake and other sources to link with the overarching plot. This is a straight path playthrough with no sidequests or extra content.

Time to hit the beach!

But first we run into some friends. Johnny's been scammed into running a hovel of a hotel but he gives us rooms for free.

The whole Johnny bit was kinda much, but it could've been worse.

Literally can't go to the beach unless it's in the right clothes, so Cloud does a few fun activities to earn tickets and then joins sailor Barret. Boi gets in his feels over soldiers degrading and then it's time for a pov change.

As fun as all the other possible scenes are, I think this is the most plot relevant. Aerith and Red talk about the white materia, the whispers and what was stolen from her.

And then it's right back to the fun doing stuff to earn swimwear! Tifa gets to play her theme in a concert at one of the hotels and we hear how the original person ran off with their lover. You can find them both at the Cosmo Canyon hotel.

After everyone's changed, Cloud indirectly calls Tifa hot and there's some mild flustered flirting.

And then Hojo shows up. Honestly this still seems so freaking random having him lie on a lounger while girls fawn over his wrinkled skanky ass.

Eventually we hit a boss fight, and weirdly enough it's Yuffie and Johnny to the rescue!

After that comes some conversation where Tifa speaks the line in her profile.

After a night's sleep we meet Yuffie again and you can choose how to answer her a bit like her OG recruitment, but no matter what she's coming with.

And it's a trek up the mountain. Literally.

Aerith is the slowest. Literally.

The party splits into two. Yuffie, Barret and Tifa go first. Yuffie leaves drawings on the cliffs to direct us and tell us a lil story.

Yuffie winds up Barret, who yells at her and makes her cry. Tifa tells Barret off and makes him cry. They all make up and become good friends.

Anyway, while we're climbing we get a moment with Rufus, who tells off the board for letting Midgar get ruined and not stopping his crazy father from dropping the plate. The weapons are talked about briefly, but overall, Rufus has different priorities than his dad.

Then we get another interlude with Zack. Elmyra comes to take Aerith home, and Zack comes along with Cloud.

Then it's back to Mt Corel and Yuffie explains the interim government in Wutai and we see more hints about Glenn and his team.

They find a weapon in the reactor, then head to the bridge, which needs lowering. Cloud has a funny turn so it's left up to Yuffie, Tifa and Barret to do the thing.

Yuffie's level is mostly swinging and throwing her star at stuff, and culminates in a boss battle to protect three baby chocobos. There's a super cute part after where Tifa says the baby bird looks like Cloud but cute 🤭

We take a trip on a minecart with more throwing star and shooting things and reunite with the group at the bridge.

And in Corel, Barret finds a less than warm welcome.

Cloud has another funny turn. Sephiroth can't have Cloud feeling confident about Tifa having a scar, so distracts him when Tifa finds doc Sherain, who saved her life after Sephiroth's attack. He says someone from Shinra helped too, so maybe we'll find out in part three.

Barret gives us a brief history of Corel and the reactor and his part in it. We're heading into the start of one of the most emotional character arcs of the game.

If you don't cry over Barret's story you have no soul!

Honestly, Costa del Sol has always been filler material. And I seem to be saying that about a lot of chapters so far. Tbf Corel and the prison give us true meaty storytelling and Barret's arc has always been one of my faves and remains one of my faves. John nailed every line ❤️😭

[evcryopeneye]

@blackfenrir asked: “ you can talk to me about anything. you know that, right? “

People said such things but….Yuffie wasn’t sure if she bought it. Raising an eyebrow, she paused just for a moment before smirking to herself. A small laugh escaped her, “is that so?” While Yuffie didn’t mean for it to sound dismissive, it only occurred to her afterwards that might just be how it was construed. Instead of addressing it, she just let it hang there, fingers picking up the small cup of Wutain wine before knocking it back. 

“People say it but they don’t mean it, they just want to be polite.” A bold statement, but one she believed in. People said that they wanted to know that you could talk about anything with them, but all you were doing was making them sad. Yuffie had this sneaking suspicion her answer probably wouldn’t make him happy, but she was trying her best to be honest. If asked in the morning she’d blame the wine.

It occurred to her that she should abandon pouring herself tiny glass after tiny glass of wine and just drink it from the bottle but that was rude, her ancestors would have had a fit so large she was sure she’d hear it in the real world. 

There’s a long silence as her mind drifted, eyes focused not on him, but on the table, or rather through it. She was, unbelievably, contemplating actually telling him what was on her mind. Weighing up the pros and cons in her own mind, trying to calculate how much of the story she could tell while still preserving some level of deniability. “Just before I met you all…I was in Midgar…” trailing off, she chose her words carefully, “when the plate was dropped.” It didn’t fall. It wasn’t an accident. The word was chosen with the intention to remember that…also with the hope it would make people skip over asking why in the hell the Wutai agent had been there in the first place. 

“You know what still gets me? The silence.” It was haunting, still. “When there’s a disaster you expect…noise. There was just silence, there was no one left alive to cry for help.” She had never felt helplessness like it, to stand there and all you could do was scream into the void, there was no one left to fight, no one left to save. “When Wutai was bombed, there were always people yelling after. it was loud.” There had been people left to dig out of the wreckage. Not in Midgar. “Not that time around.” 

[risingoflights]

The old blood

(Cleaning my comp and found this fic outline from years ago. Won’t ever finish it so putting it up in its current form.)

"This single materia,” Aerith says to Yuffie, “is more important than all the mastered ones you stole combined."

"Is it that powerful?"

"Goodness no. It's completely useless."

"I don't think that's true,” Yuffie muses. “When I was up on the Da Chao... I felt it humming. I never knew materia could hum."

That's why she kept this one on her person when all the others were stashed safely with her horde of cats.

"Humming."

"Like it was... happy? That sounds really dumb, but it's true."

"Hmm. On the Da Chao, was it? Can you take me up there?"

---

Off the trails from the shrines available to tourists is a small waterfall and lake - the deepest point of which rises only to the chest. It's beautiful, and Aerith is enthralled.

Off to one side stands a worn statue of Leviathan atop a stone set with a plaque.

"What does it say?" Aerith runs her fingers into the grooves and traces the words.

Yuffie hesitates. "Clear tranquil." And rethinks. "The literal translation is something like - tranquil as still water. or, tranquil enough to still water. something like that."

Yuffie adds - "You could say this is a sacred place, though the idea of sacred is different in Wutai than the religions in the east. When we say sacred, we mean... more connected to the earth, to the past, to the unknown life forces of nature and the spirits that affect our daily lives."

"A land abundant in spirit energy…" Aerith is lost in thought.

"This is a shrine dedicated to one of my ancestors - the great Lady Kisaragi of like two thousand years ago. The legend goes that a great plague swept through the nation and a large portion of the population became sick. The Lady Kisaragi meditated at this spot for many days and nights... then waded into the water to call upon Leviathan for guidance. Heeding her call, Leviathan rose from the lake and into the heavens, bringing a gentle rain across the continent, which healed all the people it touched."

"Interesting..."

"They're just stories." Yuffie rocks back on her heels. "Dad says that, for generations, our family had a special connection with Leviathan and could summon him without materia. But if that were still the case, we wouldn't have lost the war so badly..."

"Yuffie," Aerith looks serious. "Have you ever tried it?"

"Tried what?"

"Summoning Leviathan without materia."

"...No."

"Then give it a go now."

---

Yuffie, standing waist-deep in the still water, makes herself feel better by reminding herself that Aerith once talked Cloud into crossdressing.

"This is dumb."

Aerith had taken off her materia ribbon, and is standing thoughtfully with it from the shore.

"You're right," she says. "Oh, not about this being dumb. About the materia humming. That's funny - it hardly ever does that."

"What's the deal with that thing anyway? I've never seen materia like it."

"Not now. Now, you concentrate on summoning Leviathan."

"How the heck am I supposed to do that?"

"I don't know. Close your eyes. Feel the energy around you. This place is sacred, right? Tap into the spirit world."

Yuffie closes her eyes and tries not to feel the cool water soaking into her shorts.

"It's not working," she moans after a while. "Aerith, I'm cold and this is stupid."

Aerith thinks for a bit and wades into the lake with Yuffie.

"Stop complaining. Come on. Just try a little harder." She takes both of Yuffie's hands, and the materia buzzes under their fingers. "Come on. Tranquil as still water. Listen - this place is trying to tell you something. Can't you hear it?"

Yuffie can't hear a thing. But Aerith is the most convincing person she's ever met. So Yuffie closes her eyes, feeling Aerith's hands, and tries again to talk to Leviathan.

The surface of the lake ripples outwards with the cascading waterfall. The sound of water fills Yuffie's ears. There's laughter in there, and sadness. There's a song, and loneliness. Yuffie feels like her soul is rising from her body.

And then, the surface of the lake swirls. She feels something brush against her thighs and almost falls over. Aerith laughs, still holding onto her hands. Yuffie opens her eyes, looks down, and finds the two of them standing in the middle of a whirlpool of small colourful fish all circling in the same direction, scales catching in the sun.

"What the heck?" Yuffie's laughing too, she can't believe her eyes. "They're not Leviathan!"

"No, they're not," Aerith is almost breathless with giggles. "But this is even better."

"How is this better? Have you ever heard of a great warlord winning by throwing an army of fish at the enemy?"

"Alright, not practical for war. But they obviously heard your call."

"This is amazing," Yuffie has to admit. "I never knew... I mean, yeah, the cats follow me around town but I just figured I must smell like fish or something. I mean I will definitely smell like fish now but. What exactly is happening here?"

"I think," Aerith says, "you've got some of the old blood in you."

The fish start losing interest and slipping away.

"Old blood?"

"Cetran blood." Aerith looks lonely. "In your ancestry. Have you ever thought about it?"

---

"This materia belonged to my mom. It's supposed to be very important, but I haven't figured out why, or how to use it."

They're sitting on the shore, surrounded by grass, drying out. Aerith has the materia in her hand, and holds it up to the light.

"So why do you keep it around?"

"It reminds me of mom. There's this old story... that the longer a person holds on to something, the more of that person that object holds. And since mom held on to this for more than two thousand years, it really makes me feel close to her still."

"Two thousand years?!"

"That's how old mom was. At least. She lost count herself by the end."

A pause.

"So your mom... was definitely a Cetra."

"The last one, so she said. Shinra wanted to use her as a divining rod for mako reserves, among other things... but I think they were a bit disappointed by her lack of ability. Or maybe her lack of interest. Personally I think she was busy using all her energy on something more important... but she never shared what."

Aerith looks a bit sad again. Yuffie decides to change the subject.

"So the Cetran powers... have you got them too?"

"A bit. Nothing dramatic." Aerith shrugs. "If I listen... I can sometimes hear a chorus of voices. But I can only decipher their tone, not their meaning. It's like... a whole group of people desperately trying to tell you something in a language you never learned. It's can feel pretty frustrating a lot of the time. Like this materia... I know mom gave it to me for a purpose, but I don't know what. It's like a jigsaw... except I've only got one piece, and the rest of the puzzle is missing."

Yuffie can't imagine what that's like

"But there are perks," Aerith says. "Little bits of magic, like you with the fish and the cats. Plants and flowers grow better when I'm around. I can make them grow faster, too... but that wears them out, so I don't do it."

"Wow. Too bad we can't beat Sephiroth with 'little bits of magic', like animals or flowers."

"If somebody had shown Sephiroth more insignificant magic when he was younger... maybe we wouldn't need to worry about beating him now."

---

The afternoon light is golden when they start descending the Da Chao. They pauses to admire the view.

"Hey, is your materia still... humming?"

"Yep" Aerith answers cheerfully. "But it was most vocal at the shrine, and it's getting quieter the further we go. I wish I knew what it meant."

"Maybe it's trying to say something." Yuffie suggests. "Maybe you just need to find a way to talk back."

"Talk back..." Aerith ponders. "With the materia..." She frowns lightly. "That sounds almost familiar. I wish I'd paid more attention to mom... or mom paid more attention to me. I feel completely useless."

"Don't beat yourself up. For the last of your species, you're doing pretty well."

"Thanks. But I feel less alone today than I have for a long time. Thank you, Yuffie."

"Aw, shucks."

"No matter what though, I think we can safely agree that this place is special. No matter what the reason is, the materia responded to the shine. It's a beautiful, special place. When this is all over, can we come back?"

"Of course. Maybe by then I could actually summon Leviathan instead of a bunch of fish."

Aerith laughs. Yuffie is getting really attached to the sound.

---

"I think I figured it out."

Standing at the edge of the crater, Aerith looks so, so small. Yuffie supposes she must look the same.

The airship floats above them, and the dusk is settling into the dust.

"What?"

"The materia. It's like... a PHS."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Except most places have really bad reception, or too many people try to use the line at the same time and you get a jammed line and no effective communication."

"Huh."

"But certain areas on the planet allow the phone to work properly. That's where the materia hums. It's just a matter of learning how to pick up, and what to say afterward."

"So... should we go back to Wutai?"

"No... I think there's one more place that might work better."

"Where?"

Aerith shakes her head. "Who knows?"

"You're making no sense, Aer."

"Really? I thought my PHS analogy was quite clever, actually."

"Aer... are you alright?"

Silence. Aerith sits down, and sighs into the gaping hole in the ground.

"Not really. So much has happened. Sephiroth... Tseng... and Cloud. It feels like everything's spiraling out of control, and somebody is trying to send me a very clear message on how to save everybody, but I just can't decipher it. You know those magic eye pictures? This feels like that. If I could just... see everything for what it is..."

"Hey, it's not all on your shoulders. I'm part Cetra too, right? I can help. You're not alone in this."

Another long silence.

"Thanks Yuffie. I mean it."

Yuffie smiles tiredly

Eventually, Aerith continues - "There's a church in Midgar, where I spent most of my time. The soil's all wrong and half the time it rains weak acid, but the flowers thrive there. The contrast is quite beautiful, actually. I'd love to show you one day."

"I'm not a big fan of Midgar." Yuffie scrunches her nose. "But I suppose I could tolerate it with you around. Only after we visit Wutai again, though. There are more places like the shrine I think you'd really like."

"It's a deal."

And when Yuffie wakes up the next morning, Aerith is gone.

[foxingpeculiar]

FF7 R&R:

Okay, so I'm at the point in Remake where the plate has just come down. Which is about the end of act 2 (act 1 goes through Mako Reactor 5, I'd say).

How did Aerith get out of her house before I did? She must know a shortcut.

I like that we get little glimpses into the history of Midgar as Aerith and Cloud make their way back toward Sector 7. But I have a lot of questions. Why, for example, would they build the support pillar so that there's an option to destroy it? Was Shinra (since it was Shinra who built the city) planning on maybe having to do this? Was the Sector 6 plate dropped intentionally also?

Okay, so Wall Market is definitely the horniest section of this game, and is somehow even hornier in this version than it was in the original, despite the sequence playing out very differently (no ambiguous encounters in a bathhouse, for example). Instead, we get a dance battle, which is pretty hilarious. As are some of the encounters in this area: the teacher from the Leaf House as a HoneyGirl, Johnny... just kind of in general. The Materia Guy saying "Stop saying 'The Sauce.'" Johnny telling Cloud to "Grab it and whip it out" at the vending machine. Etc.

Chocobo Sam has kind of a Sam Elliott vibe to him, and I like the dynamic between him and Madame M. This game is good at that, those small interactions with characters who don't really play a HUGE role in the plot, but add color to the world.

It's fun that they worked in Hell House, which is definitely one of the weirder enemies in the original game, and remains so here. And yet, there it is. They never really explain... what its deal is, but that's fine. It's a "just go with it" kind of moment.

So the scene where Cloud first sees Aerith after Madame M makes her all up. Literal fireworks (my man is cuntstruck, right there, you can see it on his face). But they're really playing up the weird polycule angle here with Cloud/Aerith/Tifa. Cos it's Aerith who's the one that wants to go after Tifa in the first place, they have a couple of sexy rescues with each other, make that shopping date in the sewers. If it weren't for the... y'know, terrorism and ancient magic and stuff, they could be a fun little throuple.

I love the reactions to Cloud being basically forcefemmed for this sequence, too. Like how at first Tifa doesn't recognize him and when she does, he's just like "I nailed it, I know. Moving on." (Also, in Corneo's mansion: Aerith from the corner with a steel chair!) Am curious how the later scene with Corneo in Wutai will play out (cos he's a really good sleaze in this version).

Once they realize the pillar is coming down, Aerith tells Tifa "the future isn't set in stone," which feels like a really important line for this version especially because of the whole Whispers thing. They're actively working to keep the story on track--they intervene to kill Jessie and Biggs (or have them killed), prevent the team from stopping the pillar collapse, etc. Again, I'm really curious how they're going to follow through with that idea across the trilogy.

So, Rude is an interesting character. He specifically saves Tifa from Reno, but then he's the one who actually presses the button to drop the plate. I remember Aerith saying he's "not a bad guy," so it feels like an intentional choice to have him be the one to do it--complicating him as a person (as opposed to Reno, who's just an asshole: "two birds with a shitload of bullets" and all).

Also forgot Cait Sith shows up in this scene. Like he doesn't say or do anything, but he's there. And we already saw Reeve (and maybe it's the name, or the beard, but he does have some Keanu vibes), so they're seeding that.

I love/hate that Wedge died trying to save some cats.

But okay. On to Shinra HQ. Eventually.

[asoulofatlantis]

We are back with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. I would rather play Stardew Valley to be honest, but I've decided to dedicate at least 2 hours per day off to this game. So... yeah, that is the plan for now.

We ended the game after Tifa told Aerith that to her knowledge Cloud was not in Nibelheim back then and then Tifa went to speak with Cloud. Lets see what she has to say.

On the way to whatever place Tifa thinks she can talk to him properly Cloud has another of his "I see Sephirot" - Moments (As in "I see dead people" as in he was't really there - I think ^^')

Ah... yes. We saw that in the Trailer. Sephirot is trying to make Cloud think Tifa is an imposter or something. (Not sure if this is the real Sephirot tho or if it is something that Clouds mind made up or that part of Sephirot that might or might not be lingering inside Cloud or whatever...)

She got that first. Why expecting the worst first? If I would not have know about Sephirots mindgames, I would have expected that he just wanted to know HOW she survived and not immedeatly jump to the conclusion that he things she is an imposter. I mean... she IS right. But... at least a little benefit of the doubt for your dear Cloud, Tifa? ^^'

I can not tell you how unrealistic that is. Because Tifa was wounded in a critical place, surely had internal bleeding from the fall down the freaking stairs after she was pushed like that and then she survived, even with that goddamn bloodloss although just one sole man had to carry her all the way down the river into a burning town, which likely took quite a while even with the fact that she was smaller then. I would not blame Cloud if he didn't believe her.

I know this isn't technically his fault... but that turned out really badly. Even if her story sounds very unlikely, shouldn't he have still apologized to her for hurting her with his doubts? Saying something like he is a bit wary from the journey and telling the Sephirot-Story and didn't mean it? Even if it is just for the sake of their relationship. I mean even if he has doubts, he could still be wrong. Shouldn't he by trying harder to not hurt his friend?

Now that chapter 2 has started, we have to be a bit more careful, if we want to max out Aeriths Intimacy-Level. Because not every situation that can rais that thing is in your face obvious or triggers on its own.

NO! Moving on!

That for an example, is an optional event. Make sure to give her the perfect answer - in this case it will be "Sure, lets" and we have collected 3 points with the Lady of our choice. (There is a time tho, so be quick. Like, REALLY quick. And propably check I guide beforehand ^^')

The next one will be in chapter 4 tho, so we can breath easy for now XD

Oh! Finally! That is convinient.

She is such a "body-contact" - kind of person XD

Sneaky. To invite him on a "date" to ask about that argument.

It IS only fair that Aerith gets the Tifa-treatmeant for once, since in Remake whenever you had an optional scene with Tifa, she always talked about Aerith, but its still odd to go to the clocktower together, raise your intimatcy level with Aerith through that, just for her to tell you to be greatful for having her as a friend. I mean, I get it, she put her in the friendzone and she also IS friends with her, so she wants things to work out (propably also for some other reasons...) in a way that Cloud and Tifa aren't unhappy. But this was kind of a weird "date" if you get me and she could have said that anywhere else in the city too ^^'

We are walking over the roofs with a plane of the enemy right above us and no one notices us from up in the air? ^^'

I do not fully get why the Inn-Keeper helps us. I guess he belongs to Wutai or something, but it still seems weird that he supports us. I mean yes, the rumors say we work with Wutai but... he has no confirmation whatsoever that we do... so why risk his life and bussiness for us?

Cloud asked the same question and the man said he and the town have a history with Shinra. Not much of an answer, but whatever...

She always has to do this XD (At least she added the "Kind of" to it, given how unromantic it was ^^'

Poor Cloud. Tifa was not happy about the date thing (Aerith, for gods sake, think before you speak! XD) and now poor Cloud looks upset.

Will she ever let go of him? ^^'

This is kind of hilarious tho XD He did try to free his arm, but he is obviously gentle with Aerith, so it didn't work and now he looks at Tifa and it seemed like really complicadet to explain that it was not really an actual date, as long as Aerith is still holding on to his arm ^^'

Poor guy. But it feels like Aerith does this on full out purpose.

Uh... I do not think that is what he meant when he said they needed a place to "hunker down" ^^'

Cloud is absolutly powerless against those girls XD

(Tho I think it odd that he hasn't officially made up with Tifa yet...)

[doomboogie]

Got through Ch 1 and Ch 2. Trying to even out my thoughts with gripes and praise but uhh so far mostly complaints. It feels very FFXV in a lot of ways that I don’t think are great! Nothing super coherent or clear yet in the critique department

My concerns were immediately founded . I hope this game can make me at least tolerate Zack since he’s obviously gonna be a major part of it and I’ve never been a fan. Remake made me change some of my reception to other characters so it’s certainly possible!

Repeating NPC dialogue still sucks, but that’s not unique to FF. Still annoying.

Zangan is interesting and I’m really wanting more of him! I like his design a lot.

Don’t like the addition of Aerith chiming in on “You asshole!” when Cloud goes through Tifa’s room, I liked when it was just Tifa in the demo.

😞 they removed the sheet music from Tifa’s piano.

The audio mixing is still bad. The music is way too loud, even when manually adjusting in the options settings. Voices get drowned out

The acoustic guitar rendition of Tifa’s theme is really cute

I don’t mind the yellow shelf paint, because the game is already so visually busy it really needs to paint to stand out

As one half of my favorite YT video gamers, ChipCheezum, said: there is a level of nuance given to Sephiroth here that he usually isn’t given, and it is very refreshing to see

Pacing is a bit slow while crawling in the village. By a bit slow I mean way too slow

Cutting the camera away from Tifa showing her scar just made the scene funny, idk why they did that

Literally laughed out loud at the weather warfare conspiracy. I get that magic exists in this world but lmfao, yeah, Wutai controls the weather. Great cover story Shinra

I see a mysterious freak with a kind disposition and dying cough and I latch on, so Broden’s inevitable doom will break my heart.

I usually like remake Aerith fine but Christ she is very aggressive in her flirting and there’s no option to tell her no. I don’t care about the love triangle and never have so it’s just exhausting.

I spent all of Ch 2 with Red and Barret as my party because I got so tired of the romance shit with the girls in the opening scenes. Doesn’t seem to matter tho because party members never really say anything unless there’s a side quest they care about.

Red’s fun to play, I like his spins a lot! He still does the standing up roaring animation on battle end which is cute, and he rides a chocobo like a human shaped person which is also cute.

Animations are slow and overbearing. Not quite rdr2 levels but still enough to be annoying.

There’s a few seconds after moving from something or getting up from a bench when you cannot enter the start menu or save menu and it trips me up every time.

MAI. Is certainly a character. I turned her voice off (and by extension Chadley) because the one introduction was too much. Chadley is fine, Chadley is good. I did not need a worse version of him chittering in my ear during combat. It’s like they saw how (some) people like Purah and wanted to make their own.

There’s a lot going on mechanics wise and I think maybe there’s too much. Crafting, synergy moves, weapon abilities, folios, equipment leveling, materia, all on top of the combat system. I do not think this game needed crafting, tbh.

Fuck queen’s blood and fuck the side quest chain for it. Sorry Tifa, I’m not helping out this bartender because i don’t like this card game and your favored side quest requires me to play it.

The field and combat versions of Hollow are great, really liked those.

Fuck those moogles, man.

I hate the overfilled open world! Society has progressed past the need for open world in everything! What took 10 minutes in the original is now 10 hours - I don’t see how people can consider that a good thing when most of that time is wandering around doing fetch quests and gathering crafting materials. Unfortunately the only way to find out which quests are actually interesting is by playing them through. A burst pipe leading to a fast approaching energy crisis? Sounds interesting, too bad fucking Kyrie ruins it. A farmer’s cows are harassed by a monster? Sounds boring as fuck, but it leads to a questline shedding light on Junon’s history and Broden’s past, both of which are interesting and relevant to the story!

[atopearth]

Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 5 - Episode INTERmission (DLC)

I finally got a PS5! Well, I was trying to stop myself but I ended up caving in because apparently my love for Final Fantasy trumps all and I have to play Crisis Core and Part 2 of the Remake asap lol. Anyway, time to play the Yuffie DLC first! It's easy to make a story for Yuffie since her goal has always been to find good materia to protect and fortify Wutai or whatever so she'll go anywhere and everywhere stealing it haha. Her appearance is definitely super childish with the moogle hoodie lol. Kinda cute how you get to see Jessie, Biggs and Wedge in the background. Anyway, I completely forgot how the battle system works so I'm kindaaa mashing buttons and I kindaaa died LOL. Am I too old for this?🥲 As for Fort Condor...very amusing. Honestly, it's not my thing, I vastly prefer the original mainly because I liked the limited units you had to choose from and I enjoyed getting to control stuff like my medic healing soldiers etc, whereas I feel like for this one, I'm just spamming units out until I win lol. As for the Happy Turtle flyers which I assume are like the original Turtle Paradise flyers, it was very weird to have a dancing turtle guy tell me to find these posters lolll. I kinda liked the subtleness of the original because it felt like a fun little game on the side with no pressure. Anyway, the turtle flyers were easier to find than expected, I didn't even try🥲 As for the Fort Condor game, personally, I didn't find it very fun, it wasn't very challenging either tbh but I guess it’s not hard mode haha. But I guess that is kinda how it was in the original lol. Even though I remember the game, it's not like I really liked it that much haha. To be fair though, I didn't like most of the mini games in FFVII aside from Chocobo racing. I never thought I could hate motorcycle racing more but the Remake was able to do it, so I won't be surprised if snowboarding and the submarine game will be the thing of nightmares🥲

Sonon looks pretty cute! Dangg, killing Ramuh was annoying, had to try a couple of times zzz. Carbuncle definitely helped with the clinch heal, and as usual, limit breaks deal good damage🥲 Personally, I'm not that fond of Yuffie, and she has very exaggerated movements which annoy me for some reason when she's talking hahaha, I'm sorry, I know she's just a kid but still. It's nice to see little fanservice moments such as what Tifa felt when Cloud was gone, but they're pretty minor so yeah. I have no idea how Yuffie can slide up a pole and do it that fast other than some kind of game logic but okay lol, it does look cool I'll admit. I was so happy when Yuffie took off her silly moogle hoodie😅 Anyway, Sonon protecting Yuffie from getting squashed on the train was cute, and I liked how they kept how she gets motion sickness haha, how nostalgic. Poor Sonon lost his sister because of Shinra's weapons that were made by Scarlet. Is it proof that I'm old when I think Reeve is hot? LOL Anyway, I was sick of the breaking boxes game so I gave up after a few tries lol😅 Honestly, I'm sad that we're stuck in the Shinra building again because it's such a boring place loll. Aside from that, apparently Nero and Weiss are from Dirge of Cerberus? They look pretty cool but otherwise, nothing else is appealing about them. Funnily, their boss battle is easier than when I fought Ramuh lol, and I never even ended up using Ramuh for anything! Personally, I am quite fond of Yuffie's skillset though, I love not needing to walk alot, it's so nice to throw her weapon and then kinda "teleport" to the enemy haha, kinda reminds me of the warping in FFXV?

Sonon dying was expected, but I kinda didn't want it to happen because it was sooo obvious lol. I think it would have been perfectly fine to have him alive because there's so many reasons for Yuffie to be alone. She's such a free spirit and does things at her own pace, of course she would run around by herself lol, but I guess it is what it is. I mean, it's not like I'm particularly fond of Sonon anyway, but that's also because I'm not that fond of Yuffie either lol, but I think they were cute, and it would have been sweet for Yuffie to have a boyfriend in Wutai haha! I mean, the fact that Yuffie was an optional character in the original FFVII gave the writers a lot of freedom to write her story, especially since her main goal is to look for materia, so she can literally do whatever she wants without affecting the story. Anyway, I didn't cry. Seeing Zack was interesting, since it seems to be some sort of alternate timeline, they're definitely intent on pushing the Aerith and Zack pairing, which is expected considering all the marketing and everything but yeah... Personally, the thing I'm most excited to see in Part 2 is Kalm! I honestly don't care about anything else, I just want to see my favourite town LOL. I love the track Ahead On Our Way and it just makes me feel so nostalgic and calm whenever I think of the music and Kalm. I would also really like to play the flashback again because playing as Sephiroth is always cool but we'll see.

Overall, INTERmission was pretty much what I expected. Was it worth $30? Personally, it wasn't worth it for me because it added no substance to the story or the characters for me but I guess that’s how DLCs are. Sure, it was nice to see Fort Condor and the turtle posters, but if you ask if I enjoyed them? Not really. It's nice to see another Avalanche group, but since Yuffie and Sonon don't really do much with them, it was basically lost potential. Personally, I think the biggest mistake for the DLC was to make it set in Midgar again, and not only Midgar but it's literally the same places. Like yeah, it's kinda cute to think how Yuffie was in the same place as Cloud and them, but at the same time, I'm sick of this place lol. Especially Shinra Building, such a boring place. Anyway, considering Yuffie is a ninja and she was in the open world when you found her in the original, I would have preferred to see more of an "adventure" than this DLC that tries to bait you with some Dirge of Cerberus fanservice at the end alongside a pretty basic plot in which nothing happened. I'm actually pretty disappointed because Yuffie from this DLC feels like a legit kid and sometimes I can't stand her haha! I can't tell if it's because I'm old now or if she's just too childish for me now, or if the characters just translated better as blocks lolll. The best thing about this DLC was Yuffie's skillset, I love playing with her skills!

Otherwise, if you're curious about whether you "need" to play this DLC or not, you definitely don't. I'd say Crisis Core Reunion which will be coming out in December would probably be more crucial considering how much the Remake wants to sell Zack and his story. The fact that they're remaking/remastering Crisis Core right before Part 2 comes out goes to show that they intend on Crisis Core being important enough to know about for the future. Whether that's a good thing or not, I don't really know because I've never cared for Zack either. Considering my grievances, you might think why does she even bother with the Remake lol, but despite my whining, I can't not play something that is FFVII related, I mean I still need to see my favourite Reno and Rufus again lolll, all I want to do is march as a soldierrrr!😍

[buffaloborgine]

Of Zack Fair, Genesis Rhapsodos and the strange narrative POV of FFVII-Crisis Core (Part IVa)

Part I: https://buffaloborgine.tumblr.com/post/650462647672766464/of-zack-fair-genesis-rhapsodos-and-the-strange 

Part IV preface: https://buffaloborgine.tumblr.com/post/656609254197936128/of-zack-fair-genesis-rhapsodos-and-the-strange  ___________________________________ 

Warning: As always, I copy paste this warning over and over just in case you ignore it and keep reading down.  “This series is very controversial, it may not fit with what you know or remember about Crisis Core. So please, read the former parts (I did put the link to Part I in case you are new reader) before putting your foot further down below.” P/s: I welcome all kind of discussion. I love discussion. But this subject is an OBJECTIVE subject, please make sure to keep your bias and prejudice out of discussion. Thank you.  ___________________________________

A 1st class SOLDIER deserted, taking a handful of 2nd and 3rd class SOLDIERs with him, the mass desertion was so devastating that it crippled the SOLDIER department. But... 

A young man strives forwards with all he can, hoping one day he would be recognized as the “Hero” only to realize that... 

An ambiguous email from the leader of the department, talking with encrypted words... 

The “Hero” who has the privilege to veto orders... 

When everything falls apart, just comfortably throws the blame on someone you has prejudices about, no matter if that is right or wrong. 

What you see may just be the tip of the iceberg.  The question is...  Who is the one that should take the blame? 

1. Zack sees life through rose colored glasses 

Zack’s POV in the beginning of the game gives you an important perspective to examine. It’s his naivete.  Shinra is good.  Sephiroth is his hero.  Angeal is his honorable mentor, who can do no wrong.  Genesis is... an asshole deserter who took a bunch of 2nds and 3rds with him, crippling the department, in other word, Genesis is a traitor in Zack’s eyes.  At the start, to Zack, the world is just white and black, the good and the bad. He has no concept of the in between, the grey zone. 

When Zack first started to join SOLDIER, his goal is to become the “Hero” as he was inspired by the heroic figure, Sephiroth. At the end of Crisis Core, before you fought Genesis in Banora Underground, you also realized that Genesis used to be like Zack, inspired by the “heroic Sephiroth”.

Then what about the other SOLDIERs in the department? How many of them are like that? Inspired by this one “heroic” Sephiroth to join in SOLDIER?

Do you start to feel like this is is similar to fishing with a bait? 

And I know you guys reading up to this point may think that “Yeah, we all know Shinra is evil, what’s the problem with them using Sephiroth as a bait to lure in young men to join SOLDIER?”  Well, congratulation, you hit the right spot. That’s exactly what I want to speak about.  Why do you feel comfortable with that information? 

While you think you are not under the effect of Zack’s POV, the sad news is, you are. Because, you didn’t realize that you too, are being comfortable with just knowing about it but doing nothing.  You see Zack at the protagonist of the story, he is on the right side, which in this case, is on Shinra’s side. So then anything that opposes Zack, or opposes Shinra, must be wrong, no?  No matter how you deny it, saying that you know Shinra is evil, when you start playing Crisis Core, you subconsciously adapt to Zack’s POV, thus, you start brushing off minor, complex and ambiguous details that could rival your belief.

This leads to the next problem that we have to discuss. 

2. Unfairness and Inequality in SOLDIER

So according to Genesis’s diary in Crisis Core and Tifa’s memory in Trace of Two Past, we get the information about Sephiroth has been famous as the “Hero” since he was very young. 

We don’t know the exact date in the diary that Genesis wrote that line “the hero Sephiroth” but we know for sure that he and Angeal joined SOLDIER from when they are still in their teenage years, because Crisis Core began in [ μ ] - εγλ 0000, at that point, Genesis, Angeal and Sephiroth are just 20 years old. So they have to be working in SOLDIER for years before that, for Angeal and Genesis to reach 1st class rank. Therefore we can assume that Genesis and Angeal must have joined SOLDIER in their teenage years.  

The Trace of Two Pasts novel gives us the info that when Tifa was 6 or 7 years old, her mother compared Cloud to Sephiroth, saying that Cloud could be even more beautiful than Sephiroth. Tifa is born in  [ μ ] - εγλ 1987 and Sephiroth is born in  [ μ ] - εγλ 1980, according to the FFVII Timeline on the wikia (if you found any source stating differently from this, please let me know), so we can tell that Sephiroth was just 13-14 years old when he was already hailed as the “hero”, for he was well-known amongst people not in Midgar. 

Even if Sephiroth is truly strong that he can solo defeat many Wutai soldiers at once, but since war is never a solo effort, if Sephiroth fought in one battlefield, there has to be other SOLDIER group fighting on different battlefields during Wutai War, right? 

Then, where are they?  You can say that Sephiroth is a “hero” of one battlefield, but you can’t say that he is the “hero” of a whole war. Even in a possibly mythical war like the Trojan war, there can’t just be one hero. 

We know for sure that it’s not “Sephiroth soloing the whole Wutaian army” because in Dirge of Cerberus online section, we know that Shinra has like 13 SOLDIER Units working during the Wutai war, with the exception of 14th SOLDIER Unit, the Lost Force.   So... if Sephiroth can really solo the whole battle out on his own, according to Shinra hailing him as he only “Hero”, then why do Shinra have to enlist more SOLDIER participants? 13 Units is not a small number of people.  And if they all work together in Wutai War, where are they? Why don’t they get recoginition for their work? 

And then we witness ourselves that Zack works on his own, with Angeal’s guidance, to subdue Fort Tamblin, Sephiroth did nothing there. Still, Sephiroth got the glory of winning Fort Tamblin, Zack’s name was never once mentioned. 

And when Zack got frustrated...

... all Kunsel told him is 

The way Kunsel speaks this sentence shows that this situation has been repeated over and over, it has become a normal custom.  The company’s media decide who will be “hero”, that’s just how it is. 

If we can see this with our own eyes, then what else flowing below the surface can’t we see?  If just like we see Zack being lured in joining SOLDIER by the “heroic figure” of Sephiroth and then Zack himself realizing that he would never become the “hero” because the company “chooses” heroes, then, isn’t it the same case for all the other SOLDIERs in the department, those that stayed/accepted (like Angeal) and those that deserted/refused (like Genesis) alike, and the only exception is Sephiroth, because he is the chosen “hero”?

Isn’t “Heroic figure Sephiroth” just a imaginary title crafted by the propaganda of an evil company?  _________________________________ 

That’s the end for part IVa, thanks for coming to my Ted-Talk.  We will continue this problem in the next part. 

Part IVb: https://buffaloborgine.tumblr.com/post/657521891798614016/of-zack-fair-genesis-rhapsodos-and-the-strange

[enigmaphenomenon]

Cloud and Tifa - The Buildup pt. 1

Part 1 of the remake released finally and it covers Midgar. Let’s take a look at the scenes between Cloud and Tifa, and the scenes to come later in future installments. Let’s get started. Been a while since I last wrote an essay, it’s time. 

The first time she’s mentioned:

Those of us who know the story, we know who Tifa is and what her connection with Cloud is. But, without knowing the story this question sets up other questions. “Who is Tifa?” “What is her relationship with Cloud?” “There must be something if Jessie, who is flirting hard with Cloud, is asking so she can understand if she’s flirting with a taken man or not.”  Tifa is mentioned as early as chapter 1, both her importance to Cloud and the core mystery of Cloud’s identity are foreshadowed and setup.  Jessie’s question makes Cloud search his memories, are he and Tifa close? This is where we get more information.  We see through Cloud’s eyes as we get our first look at Nibelheim, and our first look at Tifa, as Anxious Heart plays in the background. 

Cloud looks up at the water tower and lingers on it as he’s walking. We know the iconic water tower and what it means, but this shot is setting up the importance of this water tower. Even more foreshadowing about Tifa and Cloud’s bond. 

As cool as this flashback is, it didn’t really answer the question. We see Tifa attempting to reach out to Cloud, but he seemingly ignores her. We never see what happens next as the flashback ends.

We don’t get our answer in the flashback, nor do we get our answer from Cloud. We know Cloud and Tifa knew each other as kids as well as in adulthood. We know that Jessie is curious about their relationship but other than that we didn’t get an answer. Only a question was posed. A question that will continue to be answered in small pieces before it is fully revealed.  At this moment, Tifa, her relationship to Cloud, and their promise at the water tower are all foreshadowed.  The second time she’s mentioned:

First we have Jessie asking Cloud if he’s close with Tifa, and now we have Barret giving us another piece of the puzzle. We know that Cloud and Tifa share history, but Barret is the leader of an anti-Shinra group and doesn’t trust Cloud at all. However, with this line by Barret we learn that he trusts Tifa and gave Cloud a chance based on Tifa’s words.  Tifa is the one who got Cloud the job, and spoke so highly of him that Barret begrudgingly hires a “Shinra dog.” it demonstrates that Tifa’s trust in Cloud is the deciding factor in Cloud’s role for Avalanche. The three members warm up to him quickly, leaving only Barret who continues to distrust him yet reluctantly works with. This would show that all the members, for the most part, trust Tifa’s opinion. It is Tifa’s trust in Cloud that influences the Avalanche members.  Another piece to the puzzle:

We already saw the water tower in an earlier flashback when Jessie asks him about Tifa. It served a purpose besides setting up the promise scene. As Cloud makes his way back to Sector 7 he has another flashback. The water tower appears once again as Cloud stands in the midst of flames. 

As the scene plays out, we see the water tower completely engulfed in flames before revealing the iconic shot of Sephiroth. 

We’ll dive into what this scene symbolizes and foreshadows in more depth in later parts of this essay. For now, it is another reference to his bond with Tifa that we don’t know the significance to just yet.  All it tells us is Cloud and Tifa’s hometown went up in flames, and that the water tower holds more significance than being a mere landmark.  The reunion flower: 

And here is our first real answer on what Tifa is to Cloud. When Cloud meets Aerith, a flower peddler peddling her wares, and she offers him a flower. Now, in OG the flower cost 1 gil and you had the choice to buy it or decline it. Your choice did actually impact the game in a small way as if you declined the flower you would walk away with no flower.  In the remake, however, even if you decline the flower it will still end up in Cloud’s possession. The flower no longer costs 1 gil it is completely free. The game does not let you walk away with no flower.  We are given some added information about the yellow lily. In FF7′s universe this flower means “reunion” and Aerith adds on a romantic connotation stating lovers would give them when they were reunited. There is a second romantic connotation here, as if you decline the flower, Aerith will state it will make Cloud’s “girlfriend” happy. Upon hearing this, he asks her “how much?”  Now who could this girl who Cloud holds romantic feelings for? Who was he thinking about when Aerith mentioned a girlfriend? With the flower in his suspender he reunites with Barret and the others where we get our third Tifa mention. 

Cloud is initially confused when Barret says he’ll see Cloud soon at 7th Heaven, taking the time to mention Tifa once again and stating it is where she works. Barret also urges Cloud not to keep Tifa waiting.  It is chapter 3, and Tifa has been foreshadowed since chapter 1, and now we’ll finally get to see her.  In OG, if Cloud bought the flower an additional choice was unlocked. Once he makes it to 7th Heaven, Tifa notices the flower and the player is given the option to give it to Tifa or to Marlene. In the remake this is removed. The story removes the option to walk away without a flower, and removes the option of who to give it to.  Again, who has been foreshadowed as having a bond with Cloud where a super flirty girl is interested in what exactly is going on between the two, who had such faith in Cloud it got him hired by someone extremely paranoid and hateful of Shinra, the girl he thought of when “a gift for [his] girlfriend” came up, the girl who receives the flower that lovers would give when reunited? 

5 years:

Through this interaction, we get out next clue. What’s been 5 years? Obviously, fans of the original already know, but let’s pretend like we don’t.  It’s been 5 years. We have a timeline now, and Chapter 3 keeps on providing us with more information.  After delivering the water filter to Marle, who is their landlady, Tifa tells Cloud that Marle helped her back in the day. Tifa reveals she’s been in Midgar for about 5 years. 

The puzzle pieces are forming together yet they are not completing the picture yet. After doing a few jobs for connections, Tifa brings up their home village. 

This makes it seem that 5 years ago, Cloud left the village as did Tifa. We heard Sephiroth say “Your hometown that burns so bright” but we don’t have a timeline on that in this part of the story.  We can assume Tifa left her village 5 years ago shortly after Cloud left. We know that Cloud returned to his home to witness it burning, and we know Tifa was confused when Cloud said it’s been 5 years, and we know Tifa has been living in Midgar for about 5 years. The picture is coming together but it’s still not clear. Cloud is reluctant to talk about it, but in a later scene we get more information.  Alone At Last:  And now we get Cloud’s answer. He finally talks about what happened when he left their village. 

We get some backstory on how they were on the news everyday when Cloud and Tifa were kids, and that back then everyone wanted to be a Soldier. This was when the war with Wutai was going on, and Sephiroth was hailed as a great war hero, it was also around this time that Elmyra lost her husband and met Ifalna and Aerith.  When Cloud first heard of Sephiroth, he would’ve been 9 years old or so. He talks about when he left the village the war was over and they didn’t needs heroes, and his job was just working for Shinra, nothing glorious like he had dreamt of. 

The conversation goes quiet as Cloud reflects on his time with Shinra, prompting Tifa to change the subject. Before she does however, we get an awkward silence hanging in the air as the camera shows the rug they are standing at. @silver-wield​ pointed out this is a flower design, and could be the reunion flower. 

This is apt as it’s shown right before Tifa brings up their reunion in Midgar. 

Here’s what we know so far, Cloud left the village to join Soldier, it has been 5 years since he last saw Tifa, and he learned recently Tifa has been living in Midgar for about 5 years.  She remarks on the odds of them going their separate ways what seems like 5 years ago and randomly bumping into each other in a city as massive as Midgar.  The Promise:  Finally, finally, FINALLY we get to the promise scene and I can talk about the significance of the water tower as more than just a landmark!  When we first see the water tower in Chapter 1 is when we first see Tifa, we see the water tower again in Chapter 2 being engulfed in flames, and now in Chapter 4 we get another flashback that shows the significance of the water tower and how it’s linked to Tifa in Cloud’s memories. 

It was at this water tower that Cloud told Tifa about wanting to join Soldier, that he will be the best of the best, just like Sephiroth.  This is also where Cloud and Tifa make their promise, and the soundtrack that plays here is called “A Tower, A Promise.” 

This memory was sparked when he was with Avalanche and was triggered by a rather random thing. A fan. Tifa was not mentioned, nor part of this mission, and yet a spinning fan is what brought memories of Tifa to the forefront. Seriously. A random fan triggered a memory of Tifa. 

The first time he had a flashback of Tifa it was prompted by Jessie asking what their relationship was. Tifa was directly mentioned. However, as the game goes on the memories Cloud has of Tifa are randomly triggered as his true self tries to resurface.  After Cloud remembers the promise he made to her, he remembers what she said back at the bar and the emotional turmoil she’s in. 

Cloud’s face says it all right here. He feels like he came close to failing her. This is the moment more of his true self is brought forward by his memories of Tifa. It was after this scene we see him truly get closer to Wedge, Jessie and Biggs and finally includes himself with them, even smiling and laughing with the group.  Now prior to this scene, we met Marle in Chapter 3 who had a lot to say to Cloud regarding Tifa. 

Marle’s words actively foreshadow a scene that takes place after Cloud remembers the promise. At the moment Marle grills Cloud, he hasn’t remembered the promise and when Marle asks him if he’s actually thinking about Tifa and her feelings, his face says it all. Cloud goes to answer, but is at a loss for words...He looks mad and when he goes to presumably tell Marle off, he stops and his face changes to one of guilt and puzzlement. 

Is he being a real friend to her? Is he really listening to her and thinking about her feelings? Or is he just going through the motions and pretending? Playing out a false persona...perhaps? Not acting like his real self maybe...? After the mission with Jessie is done and Cloud retires to his room, we get to see what Marle’s words foreshadowed and the change in Cloud’s demeanor after he remembered the promise. 

“She needs a friend--a real friend.” 

“So when she talks, are you really listening?” 

In Chapter 1, Cloud insists him assisting Avalanche is a one-time gig, and once he gets his money he’s out of there. He refuses to acknowledge he’s part of the group as he tells Barret he’s not one of them and he’s simply a sword-for-hire.

When Chapter 4 rolls around Barret kicks Cloud out of 7th Heaven, throwing his words back in his face about it being a one-time thing, and Cloud himself stating that those shady guys looking for Barret isn’t his business and has nothing to do with him. Cloud had only one reason to stay in Midgar: Tifa. Prior to him remembering their promise, he had no reason, but Marle’s words and his memory of the water tower form his reason for staying. After all, he said he’d be there for Tifa and he decides to stay of his own volition--honoring the promise of his own free will and remembering it on his own. 

We also see another flashback in Chapter 6 showing a distraught Tifa crying over her father’s body before taking Masamune and walking into the reactor. 

This memory will be triggered again by Tifa repeating what she said all those years ago, with Cloud thinking that he had failed his promise to her. 

This alludes to the promise he made to Tifa, and how he believes he failed her in Nibelheim. There is also another allusion to Nibelheim in Chapter 1. Reactor 5 has the same layout as Reactor 1, and while at Reactor 1 in the first chapter Cloud not only has a memory of Tifa and the water tower, but he also hallucinates a black feather as he sets the bomb. 

We finally see the significance of the water tower shown/foreshadowed in Chapter 1, but the full significance will not be revealed until the later parts of the Remake. The water tower - continued in part 2

Part 2 coming soon

[im-totally-not-an-alien]

1. Cloud claws his way to the surface, breaching the soil hand first and emerging like a demon who had just been summoned from hell.

It turns out that is rather appropriate, considering he now has slit pupils.

And is wearing a modified, all black, SOLDIER uniform.

With a giant sword.

In Wutai.

During the Wutai war.

...surrounded by Wutai troops. He hears the cry of "Demon!" In Wutainese and his first thought is, 'oh no'

It turns out alright cause Godo is almost giddy for Wutai to have a demon of thier very own to combat Shinras army

2. RM Tifa dragging Cloud out on that date

3. Barret finding out that Cloud taught Marlene how to ride a motorcycle.

....which is why he's currently dodging bullets

4. Everything is the same except some part of Sephiroth is still sane and doesn't want to do this

5. Genesis, Cloud, Sephiroth, Angeal, and Zack all wake up in the woods. Everyone is rejoicing about being alive and all, but Cloud has no idea who Genesis and Angeal even are. So how do they know him?

He knows who Zack is, obviously. But why on Gaias green planet is Sephiroth apologizing so desperately? Shouldn't he hate him?

Aka AGSZC was a thing but Cloud remembers none of it and is confused.

Also the thought that Sephiroth would drop to his knees and beg for Clouds forgiveness makes me cackle with glee

6. Sephiroth dragged his puppet into a blank dimension where technically nothing exists.

Sephiroth immediately turned to taunt his favorite toy. "You can't hurt me here, Cloud."

"I can damn sure try." He responded darkly.

7. Cloud gets one wish, but before he can make the forementioned wish, Aerith butted in and made the wish for him so that he couldn't revive her.

8. Time travel au where Sephiroth captures him, and upon feeling the connection from the J and S cells, demands to know who he is.

9. Time travel / cat eye au (at this point I have to give it a name) where Cloud is almost immediately captured and saved by the silver general who believes that "Strife" is of the same "species" as him, and Cloud sticks to that story like glue.

At the very least it keeps him away from the science department...until Sephiroth himself drags him down there to "Save thier species from the brink of extinction"

His first thought is, But im not ready to be a father!

Then, Oh gods, I'm going to be cloned.

At least, he hopes it's cloning.

10. OK. So I was practically raised on kid friendly A/B/O fanfics. Hand written by kids at school where we silently swapped notebooks and did. Not. Speak.

It was awesome. Need more of that.

Kid friendly A/B/O

11. Piggybacking off of 10.

Cloud landed in another new dimention thanks to his uncooprotive wing. At this point he knew the drill, proform basic recon in the new world and lay low until rescue.

This becomes difficult when everyone can smell you. Honestly, what the hell. Why does everyone he meet tell him he shouldn't be carrying a sword but instead, act like the perfect housewife. He knows he's somewhat feminine looking, but it's not that bad!

There's too many scents, too many people either glaring at him for the heinous crime of weilding a sword, or trying to flirt with him until they notice his muscle and scoff, usually spouting some variation of, "Who would want a buff Omega?!" before walking away.

That was fine with him. If they started flirting with him, he'd just subtly show some muscle and they'd leave.

Until he wound up fighting against Sephiroth in a successful bombing mission at a reactor and was able to go toe to toe with him and escape. Sephiroth shows interest in "the strong Omega" making the fan bases and news outlets go wild.

Then Omegas with muscle weren't only ok, but highly sought after.

Oh no.

12. The remnants being betrayed by Jenova and them freaking out like, "Mother has betrayed us! Mother does not love us! Jail for mother! Jail for a thousand years!"

Alternatively, they do this to Cloud and he just pulls the covers over his head.

13. Yuffie walked in to see Cloud frazzled and wearing semi-formal Wutainese clothing, and while he did look pretty good in white, she couldn't help the loud laugh that erupted from her gut.

After taking a few moments to come back to them, she asked if Cloud even knew what was going on.

When he shook his head she clarified, "this is a marriage meeting."

Cloud, to his credit, looked shocked, "You're getting married? To who?"

Yuffie giggled, "We're the only ones wearing white!"

She almost laughed again from the look on his face. Oh this was great.

"Why?!" He suddenly blurted out, loud enough for the other occupants of the room to look at least a little ashamed of trying to trick him.

"You're the Slayer of Sephiroth "she rolled her eyes, "of course they think highly of you."

"But we all-"

Yuffie stopped him, "We talked about this. Besides, don't we have a more immediate problem at hand?"

Aka Wutai tries to trick Cloud into marrying Yuffie after she comes of age

14. Wutai refuring to Cloud as "The demon slayer"

15. Clouds friends finding him and rescuing him from a secret lab.

[acedesigns]

Wrong Number [FF7: Sephiroth Oneshot]

A/n: Not too much of a reader-insert as this is in third-person.

Word Count: 2626

--

His phone vibrated. With a sigh, thinking it was Lazard or someone needing something, he pulled it out. It was a text from an unknown number. It read, “what the fuck is he doing?” Sephiroth raised an eyebrow and went to text back, saying the person had the wrong number. Then, a picture popped up before he could.

There was a ferret laying on a plate eating some food. The ferret wasn’t just sprawled out across the plate. No, he was laying around the outer edge and eating from the middle of the plate. It was weird looking, if not a bit silly.

Now, Sephiroth wanted to know more about the ferret, but most definitely did not want to let some random person know who he was. If his fan club got his phone number, it’d be a huge headache. He’d be able to change his number, but it’d still be an annoyance.

I don’t know. What is he doing? Sephiroth replied, putting his phone away.

Being a huge fucking dork! now brat is hissing because i took away a milk jug. whhhhhyyyyyy?

Sephiroth let a smirk form on his face out of amusement. He rested his cheek on his hand and texted back with one hand. How many ferrets do you have?

Sephiroth watched as the dots appeared before stopping. He placed his phone on his desk and continued to work on the paperwork he was in the middle of. Then, his phone vibrated again. He glanced over, debating on if he should just ignore his phone or actually work. He glanced at the clock, seeing that it was really past when he should be done working. The paperwork could wait until morning.

I have the wrong number, don’t i?

Yes. But you didn’t answer my question.

4. Baby Brat, Baby Bear, Baby Boy, and Saki. Baby Bear was laying on the plate.

Sephiroth’s eyes widened at the number. He didn’t realize that people had more than one ferret. Then again, he didn’t actually know anyone that had a ferret. Still, his curiosity was peaked. The one eating on the plate was rather cute – not that he’d let anyone know he thought that.

Then, you must have pictures of all of them.

One by one, pictures were sent. It was as if the person was excited to show off their ferrets. With each picture, they’d send the names. It was just a picture of the ferret and whatever they were playing with or sleeping in. None of them had any hint as to what this mysterious person looked like.

Sorry about texting you, btw

Don’t worry about it. It’s definitely not the worst wrong number I’ve received. Most pictures I get by mistake are more explicit.

Ewwww

Precisely. Sephiroth paused. He did actually enjoy this wrong number. Now, as an apology, I expect to receive ferret pictures or anything similar every day.

Seriously?

Yes.

Ok!

Sephiroth put his phone away and stood from his desk before making his way back towards his quarters within the building.

--

At about ten that morning, Sephiroth’s phone vibrated. He glanced around to make sure no one was looking before he hurriedly took it out. He opened a text message with an image attached.

Good morning! I hope I’m not waking you up. Here’s Baby Boy.

There was a ferret asleep. Though, his tongue was sticking out far more than anything Sephiroth had ever seen. He shot one of his gloved hands up to cover a snort that escaped his nose. The side of his eyes crinkled while he grinned at the photo.

Most graceful, he replied and put his phone away. He couldn’t risk anyone else seeing his smile when he worked hard to build his reputation.

--

A couple of weeks past. Each day there was at least one picture. Sometimes, more than one image was sent. Whenever there was an additional image, it was when Sephiroth needed it most. He almost questioned how the person knew, but played it off as it just being a coincidence.

When it was day sixteen, Sephiroth found himself exceedingly stressed out. There was a recent attack on a mako plant and tensions between Shinra and Wutai were starting to get out of hand. He was about to explode at Hedeigger’s ignorance when his phone vibrated.

“Excuse me, I need to take this,” Sephiroth hissed and left the room. He leaned against a wall in the hallway and pulled out his phone.

THERE’S A SNAKE IN MY BOOT! There was a ferret’s butt, tail, and hind feet sticking out of a boot. Sephiroth took a deep breath and allowed himself to stare at the picture and let his stress flow out of him. He scrolled up at previous pictures. With each picture, more and more of his stress was going away.

You are heaven-sent. Today has not been a pleasant one and this has helped. Thank you. It was the most he replied to any of the pictures. Most of the time it was just a couple of words or a thumbs up.

Is everything okay?

Work.

Ah, yeah. Too bad you don’t own your own business.

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes, not exactly sure where they were going with it. ????

A group of ferrets is called a business.

Sephiroth formed a small O with his mouth. I should look into it. But then again, I have you. He narrowed his eyes at the text message he sent. That could sound a bit weird going to someone he never really spoke to nor had any idea as to what their name was.

Dawww, I’m flattered. I am super awesome, huh?

I suppose so. He sighed a breath of relief that they played it off so well.

Just suppose? I’ll have to make sure my awesomeness is more apparent then. Since you’re having such a bad day at work, you have earned yourself more ferret pictures. Do you like cats or dogs? I can get those, too.

You have them?

No. But whenever I go on a walk they usually come up to me.

Either will be fine. I do prefer cats.

Gotcha! Just give me a second, but here are some ferrets!

A stream of ferret pictures and some gifs were immediately sent. They must have them on hand whenever they need them. Sephiroth stayed out, scrolling through all of the pictures. His shoulders were no longer tense. And a small smile formed on his lips.

“Sephiroth?” Sephiroth jolted at the sound of his name and hid his phone. He glanced over and saw Angeal look at him with a raised eyebrow. “What are you grinning on about?”

“It’s nothing,” Sephiroth cleared his throat. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. His hand itched to look at what the person was sending him, but he refused to look when someone else was nearby.

“You sure?” Angeal stepped forward. “You dating someone or something?”

“No,” Sephiroth sighed. He turned towards the room where Heidegger was. Without another room, he entered to doom himself to listen to more of the idiot’s bombastic plans. His stress was coming back. He glanced around and saw Angeal was paying attention to Heidegger. If Heidegger noticed Sephiroth looking at his phone, he wouldn’t say anything. Just be annoyed.

Slowly, Sephiroth slipped his phone out. He felt like a child again, doing something he shouldn’t be. But the temptation was all too real. He held in a laugh at a picture of several cats looking up at the camera. Below it was a single caption.

These aren’t my cats.

--

From that day, pictures of other animals would appear. All of them captioned with them not belonging to this mystery person. Some of them were normal, like dogs and cats. Then, there was an occasional chocobo. The person wore a gloved hand while petting the chocobo, so Sephiroth could tell that it was up close. Then, there were outright ridiculous pictures. Pictures of animals that the person had no business being up close to. Wild animals.

Why are you getting within such close proximity? Sephiroth finally broke down and asked when he was taking a break.

No, no, no. They get close to me. I try to keep my distance, but they don’t! It’s been like that since I was a kid!

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow with some speculation. Then again, the pictures were there as some sort of proof. He shook his head, deciding it was easier to just accept it as the truth than any other possibility.

Just be careful. He quickly texted.

Awwwwwwww, are you starting to like me?

Something about that made Sephiroth’s heart flutter. He shook his head of a blush that was threatening to surface. He hardly knew this person. No, the person was still a stranger. He couldn’t possibly like them. If anything, he just found amusement in the pictures that they sent or the stories that they would tell or the fact that they were always making sure he was okay.

Hey, do you know if there are animals in Midgar? The person texted again before Sephiroth could reply.

Some, but not many. Why?

I have to go there on a business trip soon. I was wanting to see if I needed to keep a stock of pictures to send you or if I could get away with getting pictures there.

Sephiroth hesitated at the thought of this person coming to the city he was stationed at. This would be a perfect opportunity to meet face-to-face. But that would get rid of the anonymity between them. His thumb hovered over his screen, trying to decide if he should even tell them that he lived in Midgar.

“So, they’re going to actually be here, huh?” Angeal sounded from over Sephiroth’s shoulder.

Sephiroth swung around to look up at Angeal with wide eyes. He pressed his phone against his chest to hide the screen. “What are you talking about?”

Angeal sighed and took a seat next to his friend. “You’re not being as discrete as you think you’re being. Plus, I’ve seen your lock screen has changed from just the standard picture it comes with. You’ve never done that. Now, it’s changed multiple times to different pictures of ferrets. You, Sephiroth, don’t have ferrets.”

Sephiroth glanced at his phone and sighed. “Fine.”

“So, what’s their name?”

“I don’t know,” Sephiroth admitted, feeling a tinge of embarrassment.

“You don’t know?”

“They texted the wrong number. We’ve never introduced ourselves.”

Angeal raised his eyebrows in shock and leaned back in his chair. “Well, that’s something that doesn’t always happen. Aren’t you worried that they could be some horrible person?”

“They’re not,” Sephiroth responded immediately. “They couldn’t be.”

Angeal sighed. “How can you be so sure? Maybe meeting with them would be a good thing. You can make sure they’re a somewhat decent person.”

“Maybe.” Though, Sephiroth wasn’t wanting to confirm that they were a good person. No, he was wanting to know more about who they were.

He unlocked his phone past a picture of one of the person’s ferrets and started to text.

Seeing as I live in Midgar, maybe keep a stock of pictures. He hit send before pondering how to respond.

You do?! Oh! I know of a fun game we could play! If you’re up for it, that is.

What did you have in mind?

This is just if we want to try meeting up. I totally understand if you don’t want to, no pressure! I’ll send you pictures of things depending on where I’m at. You can, too. But I have no idea where anything in Midgar is. Anyways, we try to find each other just based on the pictures. It could be like a scavenger hunt or something.

Sephiroth felt himself smiling at the idea, something that did not go unnoticed by Angeal. However, Angeal had grown used to seeing that soft smile of Sephiroth’s. It was why he refrained from saying anything to his friend. He didn’t want Sephiroth to feel like he had to give something up that made him so happy.

Sounds like a plan.

--

Sephiroth had cleared his day of any meetings and informed the appropriate people that he was not to be bothered that day. Though he didn’t want to be disturbed, the moment he woke up, he turned his phone’s volume up from its typical vibrate. That day, he had a person to find in the huge city of Midgar.

A ding went off. Sephiroth immediately pulled out his phone and opened the attached photo. It was an image of a sculpture of red tubes intertwining with one another. He felt his heart skip a beat. He knew where those sculptures were located. They were right outside of Shinra Tower. He stood from his desk and quickly maneuvered to the window. He peered down the dozens of stories to the streets, trying to see if he could make out any of the people. From where he was standing, they all looked like ants.

Sephiroth ran out of the office and towards the elevators. In a rush, he almost forgot his keycard. Almost. With a swipe, the elevator started its slow ascent to his floor. He tapped his foot impatiently. It was too slow in a time where he wanted to rush so he wouldn’t miss the person.

Finally, with a ding, the elevator’s doors opened. He stepped inside, swiped his card, and waited as the elevator descended. He turned to look out to see if there were people still looking at the statues. No one was there and a frown took a hold of his face.

Once the elevator opened, he glanced around the front lobby to see if anyone looked like they may be taking pictures. No one was there besides the normal workers. He wanted to see if anyone checked in with security, but he wasn’t sure if that would be cheating.

The man ignored the stares of the employees before he stepped out the front door. With great disappointment to him, no one was loitering around.

Then, his phone buzzed.

He opened it and saw the giant tree growing within the relaxation area. He exhaled sharply and pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing he had just missed them. Walking back inside, he went straight to the elevator and up to the sixty-first floor.

Chattering died the moment he stepped into the relaxation area. People were openly gawking at the man of legend. Though, like ferrets, their attentions were soon diverted elsewhere. He walked around, looking for anyone that could possibly look like they would own a ferret. Then again, he wasn’t even sure what that even meant.

His phone vibrated and he opened it. He stilled when he saw it was a picture of himself.

This might be a dead giveaway as to where I am, but holy shit!

Sephiroth looked up from his phone and around him. Then, he felt his heart race when his eyes landed on the most breathtaking person he’s ever seen. They were just putting their phone away. His eyes trailed along their body. There was a ferret necklace, hanging delicately from their neck.

Sephiroth found himself slowly walking towards the person as if he were in a trance. The person looked up at him with some slight alarm – probably thinking they were in trouble for taking a picture of him.

Before the person could say anything, Sephiroth took out his phone and showed them his lock screen. “Is this one of your ferrets?”

“You’re the wrong number,” the person said with a light laugh, but then they grew deadly serious. “Oh man, I just sent you a picture of yourself.”