#Crisis Core and the new stuff and Dirge and such

[shotgunheart]

No yea, I totally agree that the naming of sucessive games is really dumb especially when they drop all subtitles and numbers so you get multiple games with the same name that are not the same game. Yup, that's frustrating and annoying.

I do not think this can really be applied in the same way to a series that does not carry the same setting or characters between installments tho. They can go wild and it doesn't mean anything really. It'd be nice to have a consistent style for actual sequels, but if actual sequels are really rare anyway does it really matter?

[crimsonxe]

I'm losing my mind cause of the new FF7Rebirth stuff (spoilers below the cut):

Vincent:

Fucking Cid (plz be less sexist):

FUCKING DYNE:

My girl Jessie (Clessie 4damnlife in Remake timeline) looking absolutely gorgeous (I'd know that ponytail anywhere xD):

They absolutely did this on purpose, give me my food (Aerti) SE:

I'm 100% in the fuck following the original timeline and let Aerith live camp, let Cloud take the hit. inb4 anyone tries to suggest anything: I'm a fan from probably around 2000's all the way to now that has gone through Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus (still own my ps2 copy even), FF7-OG, and watched (and loved) Advent Children. So don't even try to pull the "new fan" card towards me being in this camp.

[denble]

Shit post - How they decide to do FFVII Remake

Totally not happened at Square Enix headquarter.

Disclaimer: I'm sorry if this is offensive to some people. But yeah, gotta be honest with my mind.

I wrote this post after finished Remake but hasn't posted it until now. Probably will do another one for Rebirth.

---------

"So we will remake FFVII."

"The essentials of the plot stays the same. Because Advent Children happens. Crisis Core happens. Dirge of Cerberus happens? Ok whatever. You get the idea."

"But in order to keep players engaged, we will throw in detours, but all roads lead to Rome. Wedges won't die falling from the pillars. He gets to live... a bit longer... until he dies falling, from Shira Building, by the power of enigmatic beings."

"Yeah, that means Aerith still dies. She can't not to. She's written to die. If she is to live, might as well make it a new game. It's not FFVII anymore. The story will totally change."

"But to make fans happy, she will be around longer, in... some other worlds, in... some other forms."

"A conclusion to the LDT? What LDT? I mean, Aerith dies in the OG, doesn't she? And Cloud said he's been crushing Tifa since they were young."

"What do you mean that it's just a silly childhood crush and that doesn't carry to present day. I mean, we have the Highwind scene. We have them living together taking care of kids in Advent Children."

"Still not clear enough? He was a dick to her up until Lifestream scene? Fine. We'll make it CLEAR this time. And no, that's not a conclusion to the LDT. One, there was never a LTD to begin with. Two, Cloud and Tifa end up together, as shown in Advent Children."

"But you're right, we didn't show it clearly enough in the OG pre-Lifestream because we actually wanted to keep it ambiguous and misleading up until the end of Disc One. But yeah, thinking about it, there should be more clues here and there. The guy has been in love with Tifa for a long time. It's implausible that he neither remembers he loves her, nor unconsciously cares about her even when he's having his SOLDIER persona."

"So, we will add more scenes between Cloud and Tifa. A bit of touching here and there. And he will always look at her. Because that's what he always did when he was a child. And he always stand near her. Should be clear enough to players that he definitely has something for Tifa."

"And cut off any misleading scenes Cloud has with Aerith. Namely, the joke during rooftop traverse. And he won't touch Aerith. She can touch him, but not he touching her, not in the "questionable" way he always touches Tifa."

"Still not enough for Aertih fans? Fine, add some "special" moments, like have him catching her princess-style when she falls. But don't make it special. We don't want players to have the wrong idea. How? Ah, uh, let him do all the stuffs he does with her with others too. Yes, let him carry Jessie princess-style too. Twice. And let him already traverse by rooftop alone before. Also, let him walk Wedge him. And let Jessie try to fist-bump him. You get the idea."

"Still want more? How about making Aerith and Cloud doing High Ten, because that's totally what love birds do. No I'm kidding, that's cute, but have Aerith and Tifa doing High Ten as well. Because that's totally what love birds do. Again, just kidding."

[redsixwing]

Trick or Treat Letter

Hello, ToT author! Thank you for writing for me! <3

I hope you enjoy creating something for the challenge. I am certain I'll enjoy seeing it!

Overall Trick Preferences

I like scary and tragic scenarios, although I'd prefer a dash of comfort with the hurt. Body horror, gore, evidence of past trauma, all good stuff. I love themes of decay over time and regrowth in the ruins.

I'm a big fan of horror with some dignity to it. If we matched on Elden Ring, Dark Souls, FMA, or MoE, writing in a similar tone to those canons will make me a very happy camper.

Overall Treat Preferences

I enjoy nontraditional relationship structures, intimate friendships, and kind words from strangers every bit as much as romantic ships. Sexual scenes are welcome but never required.

I really REALLY like loyalty under pressure, depictions of faith (in another character? in a force beyond comprehension? it's up to you!) and intimacy in all its myriad forms.

If you're writing something on the sexual side, I quite enjoy a focus on what the participants are doing with their hands, as well as the emotional dynamics between the characters. I like monsterfucking, displays of passion, and enthusiasm between partners.

DNW

dubcon or noncon; scat/watersports/emeto; setting-change AUs (coffee shops, high schools, etc); y/n fic; a/b/o; pregnancy. Please see AO3 for fandom-specific DNWs, but that's 90% of it.

The following section collects all of the prompts written for all my fandom requests.

Fandom-specific Ideas

Elden Ring

For Tricks: I'd love to see Rennala's slow descent, or her knowledge of what's happened to her children vs what's going on in her cloistered academy with her sweetlings. Elden Ring has a LOT of horror in its DNA, and I'd love to play around with that some.

Anything Rykard and Tanith may blur the lines between trick and treat, and that's GREAT.

Who's under the crucible knight armor? How changed are they by exposure to their power of choice?

For Treats: Sweet scenes and kindness between Radagon and Rennala, or between Tanith and Rykard (or between Tanith and Rykard and the Knight? hoo hoo)

Likes: LGBTQ headcanons, genderbending Radagon, good mom Rennala. Rykard before or after Eiglay. BAMF Tanith. Cameos of other canon characters entirely welcome. Worldbuilding and details.

Dark Souls 1

Whether it's a Trick or a Treat is going to be all about focus, here, and DS1 being what it is, the lines may blur. I'm good for that.

I'd love to see some pre-canon scenarios, with or without the Chosen Undead (time being stagnant and convoluted, it seems possible they pay a visit!) Artorias before Oolacile; Ornstein and Gough vs the Dragons? Ciaran at her duties? Gwyndolin stepping up so that Anor Londo can endure past the loss of the Sun?

If you want to write during the canon timeline, how does the Chosen Undead react to meeting these heroes of old? How do they react to this upstart undead? How much do they remember of what they were?

Likes:

LGBTQ headcanons. Friendship among the Knights of Gwyn. Death, tombs, occult weirdness, time shenanigans, the creeping horror of the bonfires, the Dark, the curse... Characters of faith. Other canon characters entirely welcome.

Compilation of FFVII

I'm familiar with the original game, and a bit less familiar with Crisis Core and Dirge of Cerberus. If you pull in material from other parts of the Compilation, I'd love to know where it is from in a note :) I'd like fanwork about the Turks, or the Turks and Rufus, or the Turks and Sephiroth, or the Turks and the world around them...

For Tricks:

Show me your character(s) of choice at their skullduggery - is Reno finding a new way to aggravate someone? Is Tseng planning the abduction of a presumed Ancient? What if Sephiroth has an assignment that will require some subtle and quick-thinking backup? There's so many monsters in the world, and Shinra is making more all the time. Has it made monsters of them also?

Jenova transformations, weird science, terrible working conditions, and monsters all welcome.

For Treats:

How about the Turks on vacation? Characters supporting one another after an assignment gone wrong (or gone right?) Quiet moments in the Shinra building, or perched somewhere in Midgar's soaring heights - or in its depths?

Likes:

LGBTQ headcanons. Friendship amongst the Turks. OG Sephiroth, quiet and contemplative and not so human. Jenova-based weirdness. Bad people making bad systems better for their own reasons. Nobody taking President Shinra seriously (and nobody forgetting he is dangerous).

Spy x Family

For Tricks: Yor as the Briar Princess, showing her thorns. Loid up to spy shenanigans. (Perhaps they both have the same target? Someone's going to have a bad day.)

Exploration of their dreary, oppressive society is welcome, but I'd prefer the family to have a safe zone at home. Hurt/comfort VERY welcome.

For Treats: Are the Forgers doing anything fun for Halloween? Has Bond ever met a cat? What does he think of Halloween costumes? What if Bond saw a ghost, and only Anya knew?

Likes:

LGBTQ headcanons. Intimacy and good parenting from unlikely characters. Good people prevailing against bad systems. Bad people making bad systems better for their own reasons. Poking fun at terrible authorities.

Machineries of Empire

I'm very fond of Jedao, Yeren, and Ruo as a trio; of Jedao and Mikodez fencing wits with one another; of Cheris and Jedao being stuck in their get-along body; and of Istradez and Mikodez being awful together.

For Tricks: The hexarchate is a terrible place, full of terrible calendrical effects and horrifying remembrances. How do the characters react - internally, as showing an external disagreement is dangerous in the extreme? How do they hide their heresies?

Is Mikodez as awful as he thinks he is? Is Cheris as okay as she thinks she is? And what of the Immolation Fox?

The only thing worse may what lies outside its calendrical control.

For Treats: Sweetness (or spiciness!) with Jedao, Yeren, and Ruo! Istradez and Mikodez being good to one another, duplicates externally but so unalike inside. Cheris and Jedao at a truce, or collaborating.

Likes: LGBTQ headcanons. Games, be they board games, mind games, video games, or games of deceit. Body horror and examination of personhood. Monstrosity. Shuos being Shuos. Shuos being Kel. One lost Kel at the Shuos party. Explorations of hexarchate culture. Spaaaaaace! Mad science, bad science, extrapolation of your favorite weird science fact into hexarchate space.

FMA Brotherhood / Manga

I love Roy and Riza in pretty much every permutation - good friends, lovers, pining. So long as they have one another's backs, all's well in the world. I like Olivier, but she doesn't like Roy - she makes such an excellent foil for the other two.

Kimbley is a terrible, terrible person and he is SO MUCH FUN. Playing with the contrast between him and the Amestrians who are at least attempting not to be walking atrocities is a good time.

Greed has been one of my favorites for quite a while, be it his attitude of making everything better (because it's his by right) or his various attempts to get out of the role he was created to occupy.

For Tricks: FMA has a lot of horror in its DNA. Whether it's human transmutation, chimaera, or the horrors of war, there's lots of room for angst and scary stuff.

Solf J Kimbley is a warning in himself. So is Roy Mustang.

Oliver Armstrong is not far off, even though she may think she is.

If you write Ishval War fic, please also include an element of Riza and/or Roy determined to make a world where the things they do never have to happen again.

For Treats: Does Amestris have an All Souls' Night? How do the characters celebrate it? Or, someone gives a small sweet treat to your choice of the characters - what is it? How do they accept it, if they accept it at all?

Likes: LGBTQ headcanons. Alchemy, occult nonsense, weird science, bad science, your favorite science fact made into a plot point. Body horror and examination of personhood. Monstrosity. Good people prevailing against bad systems. Bad people making bad systems better for their own reasons. Poking fun at terrible authorities.

Thank you again!

[ultraericthered]

Beyond the initial cut of Advent Children and some stuff in Crisis Core, I.....still see no value in the Compilation in theory and in overall practice, sorry but not sorry. I can appreciate what it did for online FFVII fandom, but my first love is for FFVII the work of art, not FFVII the fan content generator or markettable, profitable IP for Squenix. When content is put out there that shows no heart or care for that original work at best, spits in the face of all that it did at worst, I just can't find it in me to respect or appreciate it very much. That's the case for me with Before Crisis, Dirge of Cerberus, Advent Children Complete, the worse parts of Crisis Core, and the lesser spinoffs like that Last Order OVA and the published fanfiction novels.

However, before you take this as me dismissing the notion of any value in the Compilation and shaming fans who enjoy it, I will admit that things have gotten better now that there exists a third option between "original FFVII only, no Compilation" and "Compilation of FFVII" - the FVIIR timeline continuity. Not only do the new games feel overall much closer in spirit and tone to the original classic, but with Ever Crisis, we're actually getting the gap between FFVII Classic, the Compilation continuity, and this newest continutiy bridged, and that's about the best approach to salvaging the old Compilation concepts and material they could've taken, so I do commend them for that.

Purists are constantly shitting on Compilation fans.

Meanwhile I'd argue that it's the Compilation fans who are currently keeping this franchise ALIVE. They're the only people producing new content and the constant gatekeeping and brow beating I've seen is honestly so hypocritical. Compilation fans are the ones who are producing fic, art, theories, etc. Like can we just share the same space??? Please??

For the record, OG is my favorite game. I love it so much I want to see MORE of this world and its characters. That shouldn't be controversial.

[legitimatesatanspawn]

Ever look at a series you adore but you also really really go crazy over because you hate the plot twists, retcons, and all the sheer nonsense going on?

I love Kingdom Hearts.  I love Final Fantasy 7.  I love Digimon.  Sonic’s a mess but I’m still excited for each game.

But man do they drive me up the wall.  At least with Digimon the worst stuff has to do with following the connections between different Yggdrasils (thanks Cyber Sleuth) and the whole mess that is the Adventure 01+02 series/Tamer series/Wonderswan games trifecta.  And the metaphysics that is the Digital World and the various hellscapes that are the kind-of-afterlives.

But give me a chance to rant and I’ll go apeshit over the following:

Kingdom Hearts

Everything to do with Master Xehanort, his plans, and the resulting mess that is Ansem Seeker of Darkness and Xemnas and their own individual plans and schemes.

The constant retcons on the metaphysics and what exactly is going on with the souls and world souls.

The endless stuff that Sora has to go through.  Also the sheer amount of people hiding out in his soul.

The Keyblade War and the utter disaster that was Chi.

Final Fantasy VII

Deepground and pretty much everything in Dirge of Cerberus including Lucrectia’s future-visions and angsting over Vincent’s dad.

Before Crisis having the Turks find Vincent and Vincent then going back into the coffin and Veld letting him.

Everything to do with Genesis and Angeal in Crisis Core, yes I said both of them they’re both disasters.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Every time Gerald Robotnik and the ARK comes up, some new plot retcon also gets involved.  Prime examples being the events of Shadow the Hedgehog and everything with Sonic Battle and also Dark Brotherhood.

I know why everyone can’t leave everything well enough alone.  Money.  It’s easy to retcon (poorly) previous events and add even more incredibly disastrous characters or twists that make the initial ones look like child’s play.  But geeze.

[blackroseraven]

I watched the Yuffie DLC and it looks really fun, but it also doesn’t seem like. FF7, at all. Also “Fort Condor” the game is the equivalent of something like Amazon or Google releasing a game where you destroy the National Butterfly Center or something. Like seriously.

Also seriously THAT’S where you decided to add Crazy Motorcycle Man?

And yes I did not like the other “Wutaian Ninja” Sono... whatever, and predicted exactly what was going to happen to him. I really thought the whole thing started pretty good but then it turned into a bad fanfic manga, where they try to cram as much cool stuff in around their Anime Self Insert as possible.

Also literally no one is going to know Deepground and the Tsviets and Weiss because they were from Dirge of Cerberus, the FF7 spinoff that basically everyone except my partner hated. Well, I didn’t hate it, and hilariously I think it did a better job of expanding the universe than a lot of the Remake stuff has, but I didn’t love it either, you know?

Anyway it’s just. Wild to see this stuff being thrown in willy-nilly to expand on everything. It has that feel to it where someone learns about something for the first time and they have to chuck it into everything.

The length of the DLC definitely contributes to the feeling of emotionally staggering all over the place, since it wants to be funny and a growing-up story and sad and infuriating all at once. There’s sort of this hint of post-World War II drama to it, but I really don’t think this was the time or place for it, nor was it handled very effectively. It sort of makes a mockery of what Wutai was supposed to have gone through at Shinra’s hands because they literally only bring it up sporadically during Sad Times, and then they’re back to joking and laughing.

It’s just wild to me they went with Weiss and the Tsviets for the end when there’s so much material closer to the core of the series they could have gone with. Deepground felt so deeply unnecessary, especially for Yuffie, since this was Vincent’s whole thing. You had no problem creating a whole new group of Avalanche people who sniff down their noses at Barrett’s “splinter cell” - also “gosh they’re causing so many problems for us!!!” doesn’t jive at all well with the appearance of “Main Avalanche” in game when they have gatling guns and heavy armor and they’re blowing up a Shinra depot and apparently working with Wutai ninjas - and your Ninja Dude, but making up a new bad guy is too much?

That and the feeling of colossal failure leaves the DLC so empty, ultimately. It started off so fun and looks like such a neat system! And then someone who watched too much Evangelion and Sad Naruto took a big literary dump on it while showing off their Big Brain Look How Much I Know About The Extended Universe.

“Gee you’re mean and so hard on them!” Yes because I wanted this to be GOOD. I really wanted them to succeed here, to tread that line between “cool new stuff” and “inglorious fanfic” and they decided to dive right into inglorious fanfic. And I know bad fanfic, I have written it myself.

Anyway.

The only possible thing I’m ever going to be excited for in this universe is Zack’s Big Adventure but I’m terrified they’d screw the whole thing up. It already sort of is screwed up because he has a random-ass Buster Sword on his back and in Crisis Core that was very specifically mentioned as something forged especially for Angeal so no production models exist, which means he should instead be using the standard SOLDIER sword. 

YES I KNOW WEIRD EXTENDED UNIVERSE TRIVIA TOO.

It would be great though. Just imagine it, when’s the last time we had a Final Fantasy with a funny goofy main character who deals with his sadness in healthy ways and isn’t actually an alien or something, and who ends up never actually being broken, no matter what circumstances he finds himself in?

Give me that. I just beat Minerva again in Crisis Core, I goddamn deserve that.

[buffaloborgine]

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

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

Part IVb: https://buffaloborgine.tumblr.com/post/657521891798614016/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.”

Also, as a new issue rising with this part, I emphasize this again READ THE OTHER PARTS. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, I put that phrase like two times in just this warning.

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, also, I don’t welcome character dissing or using fallacies in arguments, thank you.

_______________________________________

Summary of part IVa and IVb:

- Zack’s POV has a lot of misleading aspect, it makes you deliberately choose to look away from the bigger problem and focus on the smaller but more appealing problem to your eyes.

- Sephiroth, whether he really makes an astounding achievement in the Wutai War or not, is still used as a propaganda by Shinra to lure in new recruits for the war. This process was repeating over and over, and since Shinra treat SOLDIER members with inequality, there is not a single other SOLDIER gets the privilege to be hailed as “Hero” like Sephiroth.

- Genesis, Angeal, Sephiroth, Lazard, and of course the whole SOLDIER department along with President Shinra know about this unfair working ethic circling around. But they developed different reactions towards the situations, resulting in Genesis leading a large group of 2nd and 3rd to go rebelling against Shinra (with the secret help of Lazard) while the others stay loyal to Shinra (like Sephiroth), or eventually coming up to their own demises through paradoxical ideology (like Angeal).

So the final problem of this part is: Why are most of us feeling alright with all of these above?

Please take this into account when you think about this problem: Crisis Core was the last release of the Compilation, I mean, the team released three games (FFVII Original, Before Crisis and Dirge of Cerberus), one movie (Advent Children), two novels (On the Way to a Smile and The Children are Alright) ahead of Crisis Core. Even if you don’t have access to the novels and Before Crisis, you would have at least playing through OG/DoC or watched Advent Children, right? Then the team of writers/directors have established “Shinra is an evil company” in your head. This fact was repeated over and over throughout all the Compilation.

But then…

You came to Crisis Core.

And you became like a new player.

You suddenly, abruptly forgot that “Shinra is an evil company”.

Without you recognizing it, you felt that working for Shinra may be fine…

You have become Zack.

But, halt there for a second. If you have read all through this theory, and I thank you for doing so, you would be having two types of reaction:

- You feel like “Yeah, I did suspect that. I mean, it doesn’t feel right as I played through the game.”

- You feel like “Why didn’t I notice this before?”

And you would be surprised that the more you think you know about FFVII before you reach Crisis Core, you have higher chance to fall to the second option. New players, who only entered the fandom for a short while, or played Crisis Core as their very first game to get on with FFVII will fall for the first option.

This is a result of an effect called as “Dunning-Kruger effect”.

Dunning-Kruger effect is a hypothetical cognitive bias stating that people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. Notably, the bias results from an internal illusion in people of low ability and from an external misperception in people of high ability; that is, “the miscalibration of the incompetent stems from an error about the self, whereas the miscalibration of the highly competent stems from an error about others”.

With players who have had a lot of time with the franchise before Crisis Core, Dunning-Kruger effect happened when they spent time with other parts and thought that they have understood most of what are represented in FFVII, thus, they came to Crisis Core, thinking confidently that “Yeah, I know the basic set up of the story, I know this, I know that, so nothing can really surprised me.” This thinking eventually leading to them not paying enough attention at the details hidden in plain sight, like, yeah, you know Shinra is evil, and Zack was still thinking that working for Shinra is right, and then you think that whoever opposed Zack must be bad, while you didn’t recognize that you are also saying whoever opposing Shinra is bad. Just thinking like the writers/directors dug a very big hole right in front of your eyes with all stuff released before Crisis Core, you saw them doing so, but yet you still step into that hole.

With players who came to Crisis Core after they go through Remake, well, then they literally have very little knowledge about FFVII. They came to Crisis Core to gain more knowledge, but, problem is, they already have the bias from Remake. I mean, who really don’t get any info from the fandom? In example, with that “Sephiroth is just a victim, him burning down Nibelheim is just a tantrum” circling around the fandom, they easily get the prejudice that “Sephiroth was just a victim, he is not guilty of anything”, while in fact, Sephiroth burning down Nibelheim was because he thinks he is the last surviving Cetra, he was superior over humans and the he was destined to ruled over the Planet, and to be fair, you can’t say that “burning the whole town and murdering the people there just because of believing oneself to be superior than the others” is not guilty. The misconception echoing throughout the fandom, or fanon, usually got to the new players faster than the canon itself. Therefore, without a proper checking, these new players suffered the Dunning-Kruger effect, they tend to believe in what they read/hear from other people in the fandom with too much confidence that they don’t even check it for themselves, resulting in the misunderstanding of Crisis Core’s problem.

However, if you are an old fans or a recently new player who just played Remake and came to Crisis Core, and still feel that the narrative here is a bit weird, then congratulation, you have dodged the Dunning-Kruger effect. Yay!

After all, I can’t claim that my writing in this whole theory thing is right. It’s all just my speculation, and I won’t force you to accept my speculation. I wrote this all out is for discussion.

And yet, there are more to discuss about the narrative of Crisis Core, although, if you read up to this point of this theory, you have to admit that the writers/directors of Crisis Core played you like a fiddle. They know how you would look upon the game, and they actually wrote it in a way to fool you.

_______________________________________

Thanks for coming to my Ted-Talk. I will see you next time, with a different problem to discuss.

Part Va: https://buffaloborgine.tumblr.com/post/658885243477032960/of-zack-fair-genesis-rhapsodos-and-the-strange

[omegaweiss01]

So....Square Enix dropped some major FFVII-R content thursday. No Vincent or more Tsviet stuff, but there's going to be another game title announced at a later date (Probably Dirge of Cerberus). We finally got a remake/remaster of Crisis Core (I'm going to cry, but this time in 4k), some First Soldier stuff, Ever Crisis news AND the canonization of Short Haired Sephiroth ™️, but above all...

FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH WINTER OF 2023

Disappointed we didn't get Vincent tho. That would have been the icing on the cake.

[telvanni-nerevarine]

So I got to thinking about all the new people to the ffvii fandom that are probably brought in by the remake and thoughts I'd compile a list of content for y'all to get caught up. I recommend you play/watch in the order I list to avoid spoilers.

OG. It's almost always discounted on steam, and is ported to every iteration of PS, and still decent price. If you dont have the ability to buy it, then I'd personally recommend blacklightattack or eyesonfinalfantasy on youtube, both have very sound and thorough explanations of what's going on and are 100% type letsplays.

Crisis Core. Most of us dont have PSP I assume, I do not remember who I watched play it, but I know cryotic has a let's play. Cutscene movies exist but that's a lot of funny content cut out so I recommend a lp instead. You have plenty of time till episode 2 of remake is out and it's about to be summer break. Dont worry.

Optional:--You can watch last order now or wait till watching a let's play of before crisis. It's on both youtube and watchcartoononline, possibly kissanime as well.

Next is before crisis. There is a youtube lp with english translation that should show up with a search. I recommend it before the books and AC because it explains a lot of things without spoiling too much.

On the way to a smile. Thelifestream.net has both a translation of text and audio books of each chapter. You can also watch the animated Case of Denzel chapter, but that is optional. Most anime websites should have it. Also optional is The Kids are Alright, a book talking about Reno's childhood.

Advent Children. I recommend it after OTWTAS because it doesnt quite make sense otherwise. Please ensure you watch complete (extended) edition. Can also be found on most anime websites.

Maiden Who Traveled the Planet. Dubious canonicity, book during OG following Aerith. Only read after dealing with OG. Will spoil stuff. Is also on thelifestream webpage.

Dirge of Cerberus. 3rd person shooter where you play as Vincent. You probably dont know who he is at time of reading this if you're new, but will know by the time you've gotten here after doing the rest of the list. It's a but wonky but there are let's plays and cutscene movies galore. A+ on story, D- for controls. Last mandatory part of compilation of ffvii.

Recommended:

Maiden Who Traveled the Planet. Also on tls. Spoiler heavy, read after OG.

The ultimanias and reunion files. On tls. Essentially the books that explain stuff that you normally wouldn't otherwise catch.

Dissidia, and 012 and NT. Cutscene movie recommended. NT was a disappointment to fandom but is still canon.

FFX and FFX-2. Canonically same universe as seven. Humans in VII came from the world in X.

Theres a youtube animation series called The Death of Cloud. I dont recommend it personally, but it's got official square recognition. Not canon. Spoiler heavy.

FF Mobius Fatal Calling event. Cutscene movie is all over youtube. Event I believe is actually over. Spoilers but minor.

Brave Exvius, World of FF, and Record keeper have events and stuff. Also theres that music game.

Kingdom Hearts series has instances with FFVII characters. And notoriously hard Sephiroth hidden boss fights.

TLS has alternative translations of the games Japanese text archived, and revealed scenes that are still in the OG VII's code but not accessible by the player without mods. Like the speech Sephiroth was meant to give and more Honey Bee content, and removed character dialogue. Also has like, early concepts and art that are massively different than what came out. Just, explore thelifestream. It's a good site for all things ffvii. And has interesting forums and podcasts.

Also if you like sefikura, check me out on AO3 and FFN @ YanderePuppet. Best content recs I have for other authors and ffvii stuff would be asreoninfusion , RavenclawKohai, and waifujuju.

[silly-bean]

Gil tell me about 17 pls

Oooooooooo, you've landed on yet another of my many time travel aus. I haven't actually thought about this one in a while, but I have actual thoughts already written for it.

The doc title is Time Traveling Turk Cloud, and the first section of text reads:

Post AC Cloud time travels to before crisis core (arrives late 1999) and is utilizing every ounce of Turk training from Vincent to try and get himself an identity (sets his name as Claudius “Cloud” Strife) and interfere with ShinRa’s operations. A Turk picks up on it on pure luck, however, and he gets cornered by the Turks when he’s off killing monsters, and offered a job due to his skills (given a choice where he can get “disappeared” to science because he’s an unregistered enhanced OR he can join up with them) and he accepts.

This is basically me just wanting Cloud to be a mysterious bastard in ShinRa who may or may not be related to that one blond cadet who shows up eventually and also may be plotting to bring down the company 😂.

More details here:

Cloud is given the code-name "Fenrir" when on assignment and is mainly deployed for missions where having an enhanced operative is necessary. He hides his capabilities and is careful about keeping that particular identity secret when not on those special assignments, so he just goes by "Strife" and uses his main blade + the two side blades when going about his normal business.

He spends his off-time digging up secrets on the science department to eventually bring it down and befriending/infuriating SOLDIERs. At some point, he finds the papers on the CHOAS project, along with the files on Vincent and brings them to Veld, then gets permission to go collect the man from the mansion. This basically turns the Turks loyalty from ShinRa to just their department way early and gives Cloud the leeway to go around and prevent things.

The fic would be mostly from outsider-POV, aka everyone except the time traveled Cloud, mostly to allow for mystery as to how that Cloud got there and what he's really doing. Also, my fav type of time travel fic are ones told from outsider povs, so.

The Cloud is from a post-Dirge timeline (MY version of Dirge, of course) and is 27. He also has sprouted a white wing from his left shoulder after getting exposed to more Jenova stuff during the Deepground raid (he went down inside with a few other party members while the others lead the attack up top).

This new timeline also is slightly different than his one, in that there are small differences, like someone's lunch choice or what outfit they decided to wear a certain day.

I'm actually a real fan of this one, and can't wait until I get the time and muse to actually write this.

[iaintyourbro]

But isn't the one who forget about Zack the devs not us they were so bias toward Aerith all these years as someone who's a big fan of Zack I felt so disappointed and furious at them because Zack gave his life to Cloud and Aerith gave her life to save the planet but all I saw is his over the top guilt over Aerith heck even the op of AC had him bury her in the water where's Z ?? No where to be found it was only in the complete version , what IAM saying it not us who keep forgetting about Zack(1)

Not to mention all these years despite Tifa who ended up with him SE kept promoting A as the love interest while Tifa kept being negelating by SE so it not only Z but T too , that why I'm happy right now with their treatment to T after years of being so bias toward A and forgetting what Z done to C and T ,but I know I can't trust SE i know what they're going to do for next parts I do know one thing they are going to hype A to the last scene of her and leave T to the last as usual (2)

Hi anon.

I’ve never felt they were biased towards Aerith. Talking to Japanese fans, Tifa is by far more popular overall in Japan. Worldwide she’s had more cameo appearances. The only other FFVII character that has more than her is Cloud. When polls that are actually controlled (not bottable), Tifa is more popular. 

Google trends shows that Cloti has always been more popular - since 2004, which is the furthest back it’ll go. I don’t fully trust it since I don’t think it takes every area into account, but it is interesting to see the stark difference. 

There will always be fan service - and in the case of things like Airship Brigade (I think that’s what its called) you can have whatever couple you want. It’s for fun, but it’s not canon.

I think that’s where people can get mixed up. There’s fanon/fanservice and canon. Canon doesn’t show any type of romantic relationship between Cloud and Aerith. In fanon you can have this happen - but that’s because it’s fanon. I can also make Clack/Zakkura legit in fanon. It’s not canon. 

There’s actually more evidence for Clack/Zakkura and AerTi than there is for CA, but that’s not for this post.

I think unfortunately some antis spread a lot of false information online and they really do make it seem like its their life’s work to do this. New fans can get confused and discouraged and slowly learn what the truth is. Yesterday I saw a tweet that somebody just finally found out that Maiden Who Traveled the Planet and Dismantled weren’t actually canon resources, but had been told by people online that they were. 

Fans of C/A - especially Tifa haters - will make people think that Tifa is hated by SE and everyone else. It’s just not true. SE is going to go with where the money is in most cases. Nojima and the team want to make sure their story is clear now. OG, Advent Children, and Case of Tifa are usually very misunderstood. If you put ALL of the compilation together and actually look at it as it should be looked at, all of this makes sense. 

In the case of Zack, he’s a very popular character. I think timing can cause a problem here, and I just had this argument last night. 

Dirge of Cerberus came out in 2006. 

Crisis Core - 2007

Advent Children Complete - 2009

Revised Cases in OtWtaS - 2009

People will argue since in DoC it’s not explicitly stated that Cloud and Tifa are lovers/romantically involved, that it must not have ever worked out. The devs purposely put Crisis Core out. They purposely redid parts of Advent Children and their novels because they realized people had SEVERELY misunderstood things.

Zack isn’t mentioned in DoC because at the time he was only mentioned in OG briefly and shown briefly during the Lifestream and then if you go and find the hidden/optional scene from the Shinra Mansion basement. 

The reason Tifa is called a childhood friend in things like user guides is because the big reveal on what is actually going on with Cloud is the plot twist. Why would they freely advertise that? It’s a big reveal, it’s supposed to be a surprise. In the case of DoC’s guide, they get stuck on that and the “engraved in heart” which is actually “who he’ll never forget” in the English version - either way - why would he forget her? She was killed in front of him. He tried to kill her twice.

The other thing... people really forget how much guilt Tifa has. It’s just not heavily talked about and a LOT of people haven’t read Case of Tifa. I think it was one of the best things I did because it filled in some concerns I had over Advent Children. 

So Zack isn’t forgotten - but they do keep his stuff sealed because it’s part of the ending of Remake Part 1. Zack was WRITTEN in so much for the Famitsu poll, they had to censor his name because of spoilers. He wasn’t even an option and people still got him int he top 10 - that’s how well liked he is. 

A lot of people also will flat out deny Crisis Core. I saw this just as recently as yesterday as well. It’s hard to navigate at times. I think the only way I can keep myself sane is to ONLY refer and look at canon materials. To ONLY use non-optional scenes in arguments. 

Even spin-off games like Kingdom Hearts end up showing Cloti. People said he was looking for Aerith, but he was actually looking for Sephiroth. People say Aerith was his light, but Nomura confirmed that Tifa was his light.

These two here are good to go over the KH and some other stuff. 

The Love Triangle of FFVII - LS.net

Cloud and Tifa in Kingdom Hearts - by @danseru-kun

In conclusion, the devs love Tifa too much to be neglecting her. The internet is a den of monsters. It’s like SOLDIER. It’s messy, it’s brutal, and full of lies. You can think something is more popular just by reading a biased person’s blog or going to certain websites. They’re very good at swaying you. Look at official materials, what games have been released where Cloud and Tifa have cameos, and decide for yourself on it.

I think Mobius also has a whole One True Love thing where Cloud is trying to remember something and it’s heavily implied that it’s Tifa. The little fairy thing actually is the one trying to help him with this. @silver-wield may have some more info on this. 

Hey, Silver, I think I picked a good summoning gif for you. :)

[icharchivist]

hey icha! i’m looking to get into FF7 and, outside of the original game, have no idea where to start! so i turn to your expertise for help, if you’re willing. what game(s?) and films should i play/watch to best understand all the lore? and in what order? no pressure to answer of course and i hope you have a wonderful day either way!

omg hi nonny!! a pleasure to see you there! and so sweet to see you trust me with this DLKFJDLKFD

a friend asked some tips to get into ff7 a while back as well as a few links so i'm linking this to you as well hoping it may serve you!

If you want to be sure to get the lore in order of how everyone got it, you can watch it in release order, but, in my opinion without specifically entering into details, i would recommend in order:

-The Original Game (1997). This is where everything started. Every single other entry in the saga will spoil this game in some way or another. Even the remake is taking a lot of liberties (+ isn't covering everything anyway yet) and has been spoiling events that will happen further in game all over. So, OG it goes. (it exists in every plateform, from PS1 to ps4 remaster to Steam, if you want to play it the graphisms and translations will be best on latest versions. Watching it is a possibility as well but since the game is pretty old and not voiced it could get boring + some scenes can differ depending on who you have in your party and some of your choices and personally i'm never content with the playthrough i find DLKFJDF.)

-Crisis Core (2007). It is a prequel Game to the Original Game and a lot of the others entries have been incorporating the new elements from Crisis Core into it. A Must play/watch. (personally would recommend playing because the gameplay is good and is used to give you emotions and i think that's the best kind of gameplay- it's a PSP exclusive though but i think you can find it on Emulator online. Watching it works as well, just know a lot of lore are hiden in details in this game that often escapes cutscenes movies. + if you watch a cutscene movie you will not know who Kunsel is and that's criminal.)

-Advent Children Complete (2009). It's the direct sequel movie to the Original Game. The movie originally came out in 2005 (with an OAV called "Last Order" to sum up the events of Crisis Core - this OAV is now outdated and not canon due to the extension Crisis Core was, but it can still be an interesting watch for you (+ it's like 20mins long)) but got a remaster called "Advent Children Complete" in 2009 that included new scenes, some of which referred more to events from Crisis Core, which is why i recommend CC first. The 2009 version also came with an OAV called "Denzel Episode" which just explains a bit more about a character from AC that left people confused back in 2005. Complete expend on the character so it's not as confusing but you may want to check out Denzel Episode if you're curious! (but yeah check the Complete version not the normal 2005 one, Complete is superior in every single way and is leaving 2005 in the dust).

-Dirge of Cerberus (2006). It's a sequel game to Advent Children. this one has a bad rep in the fandom because the plot isn't executed at its best, but a lot of the lore developed in it has been important to the saga later. It came out before CC so its lore influenced CC, but not in a way where it has to be played before (in fact i think it's a bit more impactful with watching DOC afterward). The major lore developed in DOC has also been incorporated into the remake. It's worth checking out. (personally only watched a cutscene movie that was relatively short (4 hours long i think??). Can't say if there's more interest playing it but it's a 3rd person shooter and apparently the gameplay is really tedious. the game came out in PS2 and you can find it on emulator eventually).

-The Remake (2020). The remake has been remaking the beginning of the OG so far (it will come out in multiple parts) while incorporating the lore of all the others entries of the game and including a lot of original stuff into it. It's not a complete redux however and i would loath to spoil but the remake isn't actually exactly a remake in some ways, and works as a continuation to the saga. It makes sense if you played the game but i can't explain it too hard without entering too much spoilers territories. (you can easily watch it off youtube but yeah else it's fun to play i have no doubt and it's a clever reimagining of the OG while taking the rest of the plot into account)

Those are the major parts of the saga that are worth taking into account and to check.

I should also mention that a mobile game called Before Crisis came out near DOC at some point and is set during the CC period while covering lore elements revealed in DOC. This game however has only ever been released in Japan so a lot of what /we/ westerners know about it is from wikis and stuff like that. Mostly i don't know if it's NECESSARY to know about it, it's mostly that the game will connect the lore from CC and DOC in a more obvious way. Only read about it if you're really hardcore into FF7. (for the funfact, some of the characters from Before Crisis make an appearance in the OAV Last Order)

That would be all i would mention about it :3c it can seem like a lot so take your time and don't let it overwhelms you. Start with the OG, have fun with it, and then if you want to expand on it take it one step at a time. You can even disregard my order if it's easier for you to, say, watch the movie before CC or whatever- i gave you my spoiler-free reasoning as for why that order anyway, so it's up to you if you want to follow through.

i am so happy that you feel like getting into ff7 though!! i hope you enjoy the ride <3

Take it easy, and take care :3c

Wishing you a wonderful day!

[imaginative-spirit]

hii! i found your twitter acc when i was searching for sefikura meta/analysis, and i found your tweet! i wanted to ask if you know some blog posts (or any posts) of their relationship analysis, as i am quite new to the whole ffvii series and i am intrigued by their relationship. i wanted to ask through cc but i noticed you dont have curiouscat so i’m asking through tumblr, sorry ;;

I didn’t mean to put all of this under a readmore but tumblr is being an ass so that’s what we’re doing now, I guess...

Hello!! Unfortunately I can’t really come up with anything on the spot, because despite seeing posts like that around before, I’m very unorganized and bad at keeping track of posts... so I decided to write you one on the spot instead, lmao!! I’ve been planning to write a more coherent, longer analysis for a while but still haven’t gotten around to it, but I’ll share some of my condensed thoughts here. The sefikura relationship is what intrigues me most about FFVII after all, and I usually yell quite a lot about them on twitter!

You say you’re new to FFVII, which means that I should definitely give a spoiler warning here. I’m going to address spoilery stuff from the OG, Remake and also some of the compilation material, because it’s hard to talk about their relationship without doing so. (I’ll also assume you’re familiar enough with the world of FFVII to know what I mean when I talk about stuff like SOLDIER, Shinra, Jenova, the Lifestream and such... this would get too long if I explained all of that here, lol)

Okay, so. Cloud and Sephiroth are narrative foils, which means their stories and arcs parallel each other in many ways. The most central themes surrounding them are their loneliness, sadness and how they cope with trauma.

Sephiroth was most likely raised by Hojo in a Shinra lab, and if you know Hojo, you know that there’s no way Sephiroth was treated as anything but an experiment. He never knew his mother, and the only person he had any respect for - Professor Gast - vanished when he was young and this seems to have given him abandonment issues. Cloud, on the other hand, had a mother but not much else. He felt alienated by the other children growing up in Nibelheim and seems to have been generally disliked by the adults as well, due to them blaming him for the time Tifa got hurt. In other words, they were both very lonely as children.

Shinra sent Sephiroth to war when he was very young (people disagree quite a lot on how old Sephiroth actually is but it’s assumed that he was around 12), and as the years went by, Sephiroth became the poster child of SOLDIER. We know that Cloud grew to idolize Sephiroth for how strong and brave the media made him out to be (A.K.A. had a celebrity crush on him), and that was what inspired Cloud to leave town and try to join SOLDIER.

As we see in the prequel game Crisis Core, Sephiroth at this point is well-respected by his peers after his efforts in conquering Wutai. His two only friends are Genesis and Angeal, who are also SOLDIER 1st Class, but they end up leaving SOLDIER, which means Sephiroth gets left behind. Considering that he already had abandonment issues to begin with, being abandoned by his only friends must’ve hit hard. I’d say this sets the foundation for Sephiroth’s downward spiral. However, at this point, I would argue that Sephiroth is still a good person at heart, despite all the trauma he has endured. He persists, refusing to hunt down his deserter friends, and even begins a hesitant friendship with Zack, who was Angeal’s apprentice.

Cloud befriends Zack as well, but doesn’t make it into SOLDIER and instead remains in the ordinary Shinra infantry, which is a crushing loss for him because he can’t achieve his dream. It’s at this point I like to imagine that if Zack had introduced Sephiroth and Cloud to one another, things could’ve gone better. Sephiroth is older than Cloud and outranks him, but with how isolated Sephiroth has been for his entire life I think there’s potential for a meaningful friendship here. They’re both very lonely and neither of them is really a people-person, so I think they’d get along well once Cloud gets over his hero-worship and Sephiroth manages to open up a bit. I would say that sefikura, if Nibelheim didn’t happen, has the potential to be a healthy relationship.

But of course, that’s not how canon goes. The Nibelheim mission happens, Sephiroth finds out that he’s not human and finally snaps after years of mistreatment, burning the town to the ground. Cloud manages to kill Sephiroth, ends up spending several years as an experiment, gets injected with Jenova cells, goes into a coma, wakes up just in time to watch Zack die, and ends up so traumatized that he creates a false identity for himself as a former SOLDIER 1st Class.

We’ve now reached OG FFVII. At this point, Sephiroth, while technically dead and chilling in the Lifestream, uses Jenova as a vessel to move around and takes advantage of Cloud, using him as a puppet for his own gains. He constantly dehumanizes Cloud and generally doesn’t give a damn about him as a person, while Cloud resents Sephiroth but can’t resist his manipulations. In a lot of ways, I think Sephiroth projects his own trauma onto Cloud here, because if Sephiroth had to suffer as Shinra’s puppet for his entire life, then Cloud should suffer as Sephiroth’s puppet as well. As a victim of horrific abuse, Sephiroth has a lot of justified anger, but he takes it out on the wrong person entirely. It’s definitely a very unhealthy situation.

But of course, unlike Sephiroth, Cloud doesn’t let his trauma define him. He reaches his breaking point and falls apart completely, but he gets back up, because unlike Sephiroth, he has a support system of friends who stand by his side and work together with him to defeat Sephiroth at the end of the game. For most of his life, Cloud has been chasing Sephiroth. This is where he finally catches up and surpasses him.

And here, the tables turn. Cloud kills Sephiroth but that’s never stopped Sephiroth before. This is where Sephiroth first develops his Cloud-obsession. He fixates on Cloud so hard that his hatred keeps him from completely fading away into the Lifestream. Cloud is literally his lifeline. (Isn’t it romantic? lol) He returns in the sequel movie Advent Children, where he fights Cloud one-on-one and basically just taunts him for 10 minutes before Cloud kills him again.  It’s implied that Sephiroth can keep coming back as long as Cloud exists as well.

Canon beyond this has, for a long time, been unknown territory. There’s a sequel game called Dirge of Cerberus that the fandom at large pretends doesn’t exist because it’s... kinda weird to say the least, lol. And it doesn’t really have anything to do with sefikura anyway. People have written post-canon sefikura as something that continues to be toxic, but there’s also fic that offers redemption and forgiveness for Sephiroth, acknowledging that he was a victim too. It’s left very open-ended.

All of this basically explains how I see sefikura. They’re two people who were alike in many ways, who could have been friends before everything fell apart around them, if things had been different. But they never did meet, before it was too late. Instead, they keep chasing each other, full of hate even though they’re probably the only people in the world who could truly understand each other’s trauma. The only real difference is that Cloud had friends to back him up while Sephiroth was abandoned, and I really, truly wish they could get an opportunity to reach some sort of understanding. And that would basically be it...

...but then the Remake happened. Diving into speculation territory here. I firmly believe that the Sephiroth we see in the Remake is a time traveller, or is at least aware of the future to some degree, and that the remake is actually a sequel where Sephiroth is quite literally remaking OG ffvii. He’s completely obsessed with Cloud to a degree that he never was in the OG, and considering how loyal the developers stayed to the characterization of basically every other OG character this immediately stuck out to me like a sore thumb even though it took me until the end of the game to piece it together.

I’m not kidding here. Sephiroth is desperate for Cloud’s attention in the Remake. He's constantly trying to touch Cloud, everything he says to Cloud makes him sound like a pining ex-husband, and he generally doesn’t do anything to harm Cloud except scaring him shitless simply by showing up. He actually has quite a few moments when he’s very gentle with Cloud. At the end of the game he basically even proposes to Cloud by asking Cloud to join him and genuinely seems upset when Cloud rejects him. And even then, he claims he doesn’t want Cloud (nor himself) to die.

For the life of me, I can’t wrap my head around what Sephiroth’s goal is in the Remake and I have no idea what they’re planning to do with his character in future parts, but I’m very excited to find out. The sefikura content in the Remake was very delicious and at this point the only thing they could do to surpass it in the future would be to have them actually make out on screen, lmao.

I hope this is coherent enough to read, I basically just tried to condense everything I could into a neat little essay and there’s definitely things I didn’t mention here, lol. I’ll write a proper, more well-thought out analysis another time!

Also, if you want to ask me anything else or talk to me about sefikura in general, my DMs are always open, both here and on twitter ;D

[leathenorthernlight]

My experience with FFVII

My experience with FFVII is funny.

As I’ve stated before, 7 wasn’t the first FF I knew. 6 was the first one, it was the one I grew up with, the only one I’ve ever played, and I love it, I love it a lot. It’s my favorite FF for a lot of reasons. But, as I’ve said before as well, 7 is the one I’ve dedicated more time.

It might be because it has had a lot of content since the OG came out, so I’ve been more invested on the 7 world a lot more. Or maybe it’s because it’s the most popular one out there and I always end up finding something more about it. Or perhaps it’s because I really enjoy and like the themes and concepts that 7 handles. In any case, the fact is that FF7 is the one I’m more immersed in.

The first playthrough I ever watched was around six or seven years ago. I liked the story a lot. I had troubles loving the characters, but that’s normal since I was not the one playing them, but it’s also true that I just wanted to know the story rather than being attached to the characters. And man, the story did not disappointed.

I already knew that Aerith would die, and the gamer said so a few times over the playthrough, so when the moment came, it didn’t leave the impression that it should have. Even so, I still thought it was a very important and shocking scene. I think that whole scene is pretty well done. It didn’t matter that I knew what was coming, it still was powerful. And the fight with Jenova with Aerith’s theme on the background was a punch right to the feelings. A very well done scene.

However, what ended up exploding my mind was everything after that. Everything that happen in the North Crater was something I did not expect. It’s true that we had clues about something being wrong with Cloud, but that was too much. It was as if everything I knew up until now wasn’t real. Which is awesome because that’s 7 main theme: reality vs. illusion.

Cloud’s breakdown, how he literally became a traitor giving the Black Materia to Sephiroth, Weapon awaking. Ugh, everything was amazing. One of my favorites parts in the whole game, no doubts.

Then, the revelation that Meteor has been invoked. At that moment, despair hit you with all its might.

Then, the scene in the Lifestream came and it was beautiful and we finally got to know the real Cloud, with his memories fixed. What is more, learning about the real role he played in the Nibelheim event was amazing. It never cross my mind that he was actually just a grunt and not a SOLDIER. One of the biggest reveals, I think.

Then, the rest of the game kept me at the edge of my seat. I wanted to know how everything would end. I wanted to know if the team would defeat Sephiroth, if Holy would stop Meteor, if there would be a happy ending after so much hopelessness. And I really think that ending with the Lifestream helping Holy and that little glimpse of Aerith at the end was perfect.

I really liked OG, which led me to search more about it. Actually, that first playthrough I watched was pretty complete, so I watched the secret scene with Zack after Cloud gets his memories back and you go to Shinra mansion. The gamer said that everyone who had played Crisis Core would know exactly who Zack was, so I went and looked for CC playthroughs, and I liked it a lot. Never mind Genesis who is the worst character ever created, but in general, I loved this prequel.

Thanks to CC I loved Zack like a maniac, I liked Aerith more, I warmed up to Cloud, I understood a bit more about Sephiroth and overall, it helped me to get a better picture of the world and lore of FF7. I really enjoyed the new perspective we had as Shinra workers. I might write about my experience with this in another time. Point is I liked it.

Then, searching FF7 related stuff on Internet, I found out there was a movie, so I watched it. I watched both versions: Advent Children, and AC Complete. I liked the Complete version more, but I enjoyed them both. They helped me to see how our characters were doing after the end of game and how the ghosts of their past weren’t as buried as they thought.

I also watched The Last Order OVA and I know it’s not canon, but I liked it anyway because I love Zack and I wanted more content with him. I haven’t had the chance to read the canon novels aside from some fragments here and there, as well as the Ultimanias. I haven’t watch any gameplays of Before Crisis nor Dirge of Cerberus, but I plan to do it, eventually.

I’ll admit that the Remake is what made me remember how much I love this game. I’ve also liked what they did with it, for the most part. I have some doubts, worries and disagreements about what the devs have done or plan to do, which I might talk about another time, but I’ve loved it overall.

I’m excited to see the next part. I just hope they don’t drag this out. They cannot do more than five parts or it would be a pain having to wait one part every two or three years… Although, if I’m honest, I’ll probably forget my passion about the game and will move to another thing until the second part is here. That’s me, alright.

Well, that was my experience with FFVII. I’m planing on writing a series where I’ll talk about the characters, my opinion and experience with them, as well as my feelings about Zerith and Cloti.

[imagines-of-midgar]

Heya!

Hello, I’m Mod Aeris and this is my self-insert writing blog for a few things Final Fantasy! This isn't my first writing blog (my first being a fire emblem writing blog), so I do have enough experience. I’m not sure how popular self-inserts in the ff community is, but considering I haven't seen that many - compared to the fe community -, I decided to simply make a blog and go with the flow of the community! 

The rules for requesting are under the cut. You can already request something of course. I have a ton of writing motivation for final fantasy, so stuff should come out faster than on my fe writing blog. 

𝑹𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒔!

  ོI write in form of drabbles and headcanons! I personally prefer drabbles - since drabbles are usually with more detail -, but! I also like headcanons. No worries! If you want headcanons, then I accept 3 characters per request. The more characters you request, the shorter the headcanons will be but I'll make them lengthy enough dw!

  ོLGBTQ+ is totally respected and loved on this blog! So feel free to send fem!s/o x fem!character and the same with the males of course! If gender is not mentioned for the reader, then I usually stick with gender neutral - but also sometimes go with straight pairings depending on the request!

  ོI accept tooth-rooting fluff, the good ole angst and naughty nsfw! (I won't write nsfw DRABBLES though, that goes out of my comfort zone. Headcanons are fine!)

  ོI do not write AUs! I personally really like sticking to the original but depending on the AU, I might accept. Something I would accept is: “How about an AU of Genesis not defecting and seeking help from his s/o instead after the degradation started?” or something like along those lines. So, I’m not the biggest fan of things like modern AUs but I accept minor AUs as long as it still involves the general idea of the game!

  ོI will definitely step up my game on this blog and reblog the nsfw alphabet, the sfw alphabet, starter sentences etc etc. for you to request. On my other blog I stick to headcanons, drabbles and the sfw alphabet. Will also do matchmaking if this blog hopefully gets noticed. If you request some of the alphabets, then the max. is 5 alphabets!

  ོAlong AUs, I also do not write Yandere! Please for the love of god, don't request that. If you love Yandere, then that’s loved and respected, but this is the wrong place for this stuff. Yanderes make me severely uncomfortable. 

  ོno incest, pedophilia and r*pe should be obvious. If you request something like that, your request will simply be deleted. 

  ོwhile I do not mind (trigger warning!!) writing a suicidal reader, I will for sure tag that so people who feel uncomfortable seeing that stuff, can simply block the tag. I will definitely tell you the tag once I have one set. Trigger warnings will of course be added as well. While I am here, I definitely will not write anything too gore-like regarding stuff like this. 

  ོI also of course accept platonic stuff! Those are my weakness like omgomg. 

𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝑰 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓:

▻ Final Fantasy II

▻ Final Fantasy V

▻ Final Fantasy VI

▻ Final Fantasy VII compilation (Crisis Core, VII, Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus)

▻ Final Fantasy VIII

▻ Final Fantasy IX

▻ Final Fantasy X/X-2

▻ Final Fantasy XIII series

▻ Final Fantasy XV (including Kingsglaive characters)

These are the only games I'll write for for now. I also plan to play IX and XII along with watching a gameplay of Type-0, though that’s a plan for the distant future. I work and go to school once a week, so yeah you get the drill. 

I write for most of the characters, except for Hojo and Hollander. If you request something Sephiroth, then I'll always write Crisis Core! Seph. (I miss him so much ouch damn...) If you request something with ughhh romantic headcanons with Hope, then I’ll go with XIII-2 Hope. I don't write romance for 14-years-olds.

That should be it for now. I’ll update this list from time to time and if I change something drastically, I’ll let you know. Same goes with adding new games to the request list. If there are any questions, send an ask!