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partnersatfazbear · 3 years

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Sketchbook Pages 41, 42 (according to my notes)

Hope you guys are enjoying all these double uploads of art and fanfic =XD I’m just really wanting to leave yall with something to tide yourselves over!

To give some background info, I’ve been: drawing a lot of anatomy, especially legs; drawing a lot of non-FNAF fan art (because I’ve been playing old games as a comfort mechanism--I am absolutely miserable without my things and it sucks)

Page 41: I scribbled a lot of notes... Spoilers for RS Chapter... 17? Some fluff, some crazy!Will. I drew his face upside down and like... ya know without turning the paper, and it came out pretty creepy. I hate it XD I reread RS and I just really love William talking to the Spring Bonnie head. I’d probably watch an entire movie of him just crazy rambling, venting, and crying over this inanimate thing he loves. It’s really where you can tell William has gone off the deep end. Even though this was an idea I had originally, I’m glad that TSE’s actually reinforced the idea somewhat. Rewatching FNAF 6 again cuz why not... my wife and I always joke that Henry would encourage Mike to purposely fuck up the Scraptrap salvage mini-game. XD Drew a little comparison of my Mike and William, since they are very similar. The top drawings were done in a pen I prefer, but I misplaced it (like always) and had to switch to a more liquid pen and... well, my sketches get super sloppy with it since the heavier ink tends to dab and smear. I drew this spoiler sketch for Sammy and the AlmagAfton and was wondering where I got the inspiration from (pretty sure it was End of Evangelion. I’ve been biding my time waiting for my wife’s vacation to watch Evangelion 4.0 and it sucks waiting. End of Evangelion, which 4.0 is a recreation of, happens to be in like my top 3 anime films of all time, so...) ANYWAY, I decided to give CEO!Sammy a rabbit... he names it PJ... I very very much picture him like a Bond villain and that’s OK. =:) Oh, the random girl in the center is my personal OC. I wanted to draw her in the night guard uniform >>; She’s a cop in my universe, anyway...

Page 42: The top left has some scraps from other pages (you aren’t missing anything, I was doing non FNAF comic page planning underneath). These were done in pencil, hence the shade difference. Drawing faces and emotions is a huge comfort for me.Like I said before, I reread RS and it’s such a shame Elizabeth and Charlotte didn’t hang out more “on screen”, as I think Charlotte would be this quiet, mature type; Elizabeth is an impulsive and stubborn type (like their old men, I guess). So, like, Elizabeth could get Charlotte to open up more and Charlotte could teach Elizabeth some manners XD There’s a small sketch in the center of a (badly drawn) William for the scene when the Mangle prototype briefly comes to life due to the dog remnant. It’s a creepy scene in the story, even if the theory is universally hated now. It’s not something I believe, really, but I NEEDED it to happen so William could discover Remnant. There’s more angry William and a few more sketches of CEO!Sammy. I really have fun drawing him and I was refining the idea from the previous page. He’s one of many posessed by Glitchtrap, so I tried to show that... (Also, it bothers me that he looks like Rasputin from Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha 1, BUT its fine. I’ll deal with it.) Please ignore my Aerith sketches. Since my PS4 HDMI died and I can’t get it repaired and I can’t find/afford a PS5 and I haven’t experimented with remote play as a back up yet, I can’t replay FFVIIR, so I’m playing FFVII on my Switch again. Aerith is probably my favorite character of all time, so...

As you guys may have guessed I’m really revving up on inspiration to try and finish Truth Seeker... I think I will be posting more of it soon as the final two chapters of RS come out.

If you like my work, please reblog it, share it, or at least comment and let me know what you loved =:) I really wanna cater more to you guys, but I have no idea where to begin!

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freelanceexorcist · 3 years

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FFVIIR THEORY TIME!

I don’t usually do this because my fan theories are never very original, and these ones probably aren’t either, but here we go. Just so you know, I don’t take this stuff super seriously, so you probably shouldn’t either.

Full disclosure: I’ve been following the lore closely, but have not had a chance to play the games yet other than the OG. I was holding out until I could get a PS5 for the Remake, but we all know how well that’s going for everyone. That said, I think I have a pretty good grasp on what’s going on, but if I get anything wrong-especially something that totally Josses these theories-don’t be shy and let me know. To make it easier, I’ve put an asterisk by the ones that I’m not 100% sure about.

This post contains some pretty heavy spoilers for FFVII Remake and “that scene” in Intergrade/Intermission so consider yourself warned.

Seriously, don’t come crying to me if you read ahead and see something you don’t want to.

Still plenty of time to turn back, folks.

To start off, let’s talk about the Whispers. These guys are neither an enemy nor are they allies, neither good nor evil. If this was Dungeons and Dragons, their alignment would be True Neutral. Their singular purpose is to keep everything and everyone on a path that leads to a predetermined outcome. If someone survives who was supposed to die, the Whispers kill them later. If someone dies who was supposed to survive, the Whispers bring them back to life. If someone goes left when they were supposed to go right, the Whispers are there to make sure the latter happens as it was supposed to. It would also appear that one of their jobs is to keep the timeline from splitting and alternate universes from being created.*

Now, after Sephiroth is defeated, the Whispers go on to coalesce into the Whisper Harbinger, who the party ultimately defeats, which would suggest that the Whispers have been obliterated as well. There’s now nothing to prevent this person from living, that person from dying and the other person from turning left. There’s also nothing to prevent the creation of multiple timelines. Determinism has been obliterated and nothing is predestined now.

Update 12/15/22: Yeah, I got the boss battles in the wrong order and the Whisper kaijus got got first. I'm a dumbass. But there are still Whisperers floating around during the Sephiroth boss battle, so this ship ain't sunk yet.

THEORY 1: ZACK TO THE FUTURE (WELL, THE PAST)

The common theory I’ve seen regarding Zack’s survival is that he is in a different timeline, and this timeline was created due to the elimination of the Whispers/Harbingers. We know this because in the Remake’s timeline, Shinra’s mascot Stamp is a beagle. In the timeline where Zack survives and makes it to Midgar, Stamp is a terrier. For the sake of brevity, the Remake’s timeline and Zack’s timeline will be called the Beagleverse and Terrierverse, respectively.

But there are hints that not only are Zack and a version of Cloud in the Terrierverse now, they’ve been deposited a number of years into that timeline’s past. A few things stand out, but are just vague enough to keep everyone guessing and, because this is fandom we’re talking about, fighting about it.

· The church in the Beagleverse is weathered, run down, dirty and the floors are torn up in spots. It looks just like how you would expect a derelict building to look. In the Terrierverse, the church is bright, clean and well-kept, and the floors appear to be intact. It doesn’t look like a building that has been crumbling for 5+ years, suggesting that this is the church as it looked in the past. This could be chalked up to Intergrade/Intermission having better graphics than FFVIIR, but for the sake of argument, let’s say it’s not that.

· The church is full of injured and traumatized people, suggesting that these people took refuge there following the dropping of the Sector 7 plate. But at some point in the Remake, Aerith remarks that years before, a section of the Sector 5 plate broke loose and fell.* That’s a pretty big piece of information to just toss out as throwaway dialogue, so it’s got to mean something down the road. What if these refugees are survivors of the Sector 5 disaster and not the dropping of the Sector 7 plate, which would not have happened yet?

· Zack bursts through the door and is crestfallen upon seeing the refugees. But when the camera is back on his face, his mouth drops open in shock. The screen goes black and he quietly says Aerith’s name in a questioning tone. We don’t see what he’s reacting to, but why would he just say her name instead of calling it out like he was looking for her if she wasn’t there? And why would he have a look on his face like he was seeing something shocking? Could it be that the Aerith he sees hasn’t aged a day since he last saw her or may even be a bit younger? Now I could have this all wrong and what I see as shock could be awe instead and he’s reacting to seeing what a beautiful woman his age-appropriate long lost love has become after 5 years. But since I’m theorizing, I’ll go with my version.

So there are things that point to Zack not only existing in a new timeline but in that timeline’s past. How did he get there? Hard to say. Perhaps the destruction of the Whisper Harbinger caused a temporal glitch that allowed it to happen. Or perhaps the rules governing time and space in the FFVII universe don’t apply anymore without the Whispers there to enforce them. It would appear so, because the last scene in the Remake shows Terrierverse Zack and Cloud passing by Beagleverse Cloud and Aerith and none of them acknowledge each other because we’re actually viewing two timelines at once and one is not aware of the existence of the other. But. Buuuuuuut. Cloud’s arrival at Midgar actually happened several days/weeks before that moment in the Beagleverse. I’m going to go ahead and say that time is far, far less linear and more malleable in this new world.

So why has this happened to Zack? Even if it was an accident in-universe, the developers didn’t just do it for shits and giggles or because it seemed cool at the time. This is going to be a factor in future installments. For now we have to assume that Zack will be left to figure out what’s going on without any kind of cosmic guide to help him. If he’s far enough into the past with knowledge of what will happen in Nibelheim, there’s a good chance that he would try to get to Sephiroth before the trip to Nibelheim to tell him what will happen if he goes. He, Cloud and Sephiroth would be connected due to the S-cells in their systems, not to mention they would have something in common since all three were subject to Hojo’s abuse. Sephiroth wouldn’t be so alone in the world. The three of them would probably become pretty good friends because of that. This would be even more interesting if they went far enough back that they could try to prevent what happened to Genesis and Angeal.

THEORY 2: WIBBLY WOBBLY TIMEY WIMEY SEPH

Going back to what I said about the old rules of space/time not applying anymore, this might offer a little insight into the identity of the version of Sephiroth that appears at the Edge of Creation. The version of Sephiroth who tries to be helpful to Cloud and asks for his help in return. The version that could have easily ended Cloud right then and there and won but instead chose only to defend himself and fight to a draw. The version that uses “ore” as a pronoun in the Japanese version. The version who speaks as though he’s seen the beginning of time, the end and everything in between. The version who seems to be able to transport himself and others to some point outside time and space that he calls the Edge of Creation. That’s not the Sephiroth we know, so who is he?

Sephiroth is a very powerful man, both physically and magically, and can do things that no one else can even with materia. He was always this way, even before Jenova got a hold of him, and the stories about him actually downplay his strength. If anyone could figure out a way to travel through time, hop between timelines and pull it off like a boss, it’s him. And in this scenario, his descent into homicidal madness may not have happened in the Terrierverse.

As for what he’s doing and why he needs help doing it, that’s not clear. He knows to take Cloud by the wrist to snap him out of one of his fits/visions, implying he has done this before either for Cloud or for someone else in similar distress. He asks Cloud to lend him his strength, but since when does Sephiroth need anyone’s strength to supplement his? It seems like he has discovered a threat so massive that even he can’t handle it on his own. Perhaps the destruction or domination of the Lifestream in the Beagleverse would be cataclysmic to the Terrierverse.

PROBLEMS WITH THIS ONE: if Ore!Sephiroth is from the Terrierverse, why does he fight the party in the singularity? Why does he appear to be controlling the Whispers? It could be that he’s not controlling them, but that they’re controlling him. Aerith says that each time she’s touched by them she loses a bit of herself. What if the Whispers managed to ambush Sephiroth and displace enough of his will to force him to do their bidding, but not enough to have full control? This is touched on more thoroughly in the next theory.

THEORY 3:SANDBAGGIN’ SEPHIROTH

So the version of Sephiroth the party fights as a final boss and the one in the Edge of Creation are one in the same, but the version fought as a boss behaves similarly to the one seen throughout the rest of the Remake and Compilation. He uses “watashi” instead of “ore” in Japanese and appears to have the same motives as our usual boy. But the differences between Final Boss Sephiroth and Edge of Creation Sephiroth are pretty striking.

What does this mean? Well for starters, Final Boss Sephiroth wanted the party to defeat him in order to free himself from the Whispers.

What may have happened is that Sephiroth jumped from the Terrierverse to the Beagleverse at some point in the past to do…something. I’m not sure yet. Maybe he just wanted to see if he could. The Whispers would see it as being wildly out of place and would do whatever was necessary to contain this threat to the timeline and to destiny. Even Aerith notices this in the English version (“you’re wrong! Everything about you is wrong!”). Of course it’s wrong that he’s there, that version of him isn’t supposed to exist in that timeline.

So as many Whispers as it took to subdue Sephiroth and get him under control would be sent to literally go and live inside him. The best they can do, though, is to try to turn him into as close of a version of Beagleverse Sephiroth as they can get. You can see that with the wing and such. Terrierverse Sephiroth, however, is still somewhat in possession of his will because it’s too strong for even the Whispers to defeat. He manages little escapes, and allowing the party to defeat him is one of them. This defeat breaks the Whispers’ hold on him, and he’s free. Once the party defeats all of the Whispers, he is no longer in danger of being subdued again.

This is supported by his talk of following destiny before the boss fight but talking about how he needs Cloud’s help to defy it afterward.

Update 12/15/22: Yeah, I got the boss battles in the wrong order and I'm an idiot for that, but there's still Whispers milling around during the boss fight with Sephiroth, so this one may still hold water.

THEORY 4: MAMA’S GONNA MAKE ALL OF YOUR NIGHTMARES COME TRUE

So in Part I, there are four versions of Sephiroth according to Word of God. There’s Hallucination Sephiroth, who only Cloud can see. His appearance is preceded by Cloud having one of his seizures. There’s Flashback Sephiroth, who exists only in Cloud’s memory. There’s Black Cloak Sephiroth, which is one of the black-cloaked, tattooed men being hijacked and assuming Sephiroth’s appearance. Then, of course, there’s Ore Sephiroth, who is a wild card.

Let’s talk about Hallucination and Black Cloak. People mostly seem to be on the same page that this is Sephiroth manifesting, but what if it’s not? What if it’s Jenova herself?

In the original game, Jenova has the ability to scan people’s memories and morph into any person she sees in them. It’s how she managed to infiltrate the Cetra and nearly destroy them. Sephiroth can do this as well, as we see in OTWTAS. He abandoned all of his memories to the Lifestream and doesn’t remember what he looked like, so he has to dig into the memories of those who remember him.

If it’s Jenova who is warging into the black cloak guys and appearing to Cloud as a vision, and if it’s maximum psychological impact she’s after, she probably wouldn’t appear looking the way she did when Gast found her buried, because that wouldn’t have much of an impact on Cloud and Tifa. She’d be just another boss to fight. But imagine how devastating to them it would be if they were confronted and taunted by the man responsible for the worst tragedy in their lives. Imagine what it would do to Cloud to have his dead mother’s last words smugly repeated back to him. If it’s psychological warfare that Jenova is waging, these are some pretty good tactics to use.

The thing is, the fans that first played the OG when they were 13 are in their 30s now, for the most part, and are more likely to appreciate a well-crafted story with characters that have far more shades of gray than the types that would appeal to a kid. And in my observation, the older teens and twentysomethings that may be new to the FFVII-Verse are pretty on the ball, too (seriously, some of the more interesting theories I’ve seen have come from this demographic). Sephiroth the mysterious boogeyman was terrifying to a 13-year-old, but not necessarily to an adult, who might be more inclined to take his origin story into account and see him as a borderline sympathetic if not completely sympathetic character who was done wrong. The developers painted themselves into a corner when they showed what he was like pre-Nibelheim in Crisis Core, not gonna lie. But they also gave themselves an opportunity.

THEORY 5: SPEAKING OF NIGHTMARES…

In the original, Jenova is regarded as more of a dumb animal fulfilling basic instinct and isn’t sentient. I think the Remake is going to play around with that, because while she’s like that in the OG, in other mentions, her actions are carried out with purpose. She’s not just hunting out of hunger or attacking out of fear, she’s actively trying to wipe the planet she’s on of its dominant species. And she’s not just attacking, she’s manipulating. She’s infiltrating. Think of the Predator, but instead of her being an interstellar trophy hunter, she’s looking for a new planet to devour before moving on to the next one.

Ifalna talks of her impersonating the Cetra’s dead friends and relatives. One of the novellas talks of how she would generate paranoia and suspicion in an attempt to turn the Cetra against each other so they would wipe each other out. Those aren’t merely the instincts of a mindless animal trying to survive, those are the purposeful actions of a malevolent force. She would know exactly how to get into someone’s head like an alien Hannibal Lecter and turn them into a bloodthirsty willing accomplice before they even realized something was off, especially if her target was mentally vulnerable at the time.

Does that someone sound like someone we know? Sure it does.

Now I’m not on board with the notion that Jenova was literally controlling Sephiroth’s every move like he was a drone she was piloting. I do believe that he was heavily influenced by her, though. He was in a very vulnerable state even before he got to Nibelheim. He was grieving, he was disillusioned with his job and Shinra, which had defined his entire life up to that point, he was likely drowning in self-doubt and on top of all of that he was almost certainly suffering from untreated PTSD from the war. Entering the Shinra mansion’s library signaled what was probably the lowest point in his life. In real life, these are the kinds of lonely, angry and vulnerable young men who are targeted for recruitment into cults and terrorist organizations because the recruiter offers them a human connection and a way to punish those who have wronged them. It's how extremists are made, and post-Nibelheim Sephiroth is most certainly an extremist. On top of that, he believed she was his mother, who he thought had died in childbirth. Take the emotional impact of that and combine it with all the crap that traumatized him up to that point, and he didn’t stand a chance against her.

Jenova would pick and pick at his shattered psyche, manipulating him, angering him and molding him into what she wanted him to be until she had herself a live nuclear warhead to deploy at will. In his moment of extreme vulnerability, he allowed himself to be radicalized by her and probably didn’t even realize it.

And she would be able to do it. What the Shinra scientists call “reunion” is a property of Jenova’s cells to be drawn to the main body. If someone has a high concentration of Jenova’s cells in their body-as Sephiroth does-the pull toward her would be unbearable. We can also assume that these cells allow someone to communicate psychically with another person with the same cells, as suggested by Cloud’s hallucinations/visions of Sephiroth in the Remake (assuming that’s what’s happening here, and Cloud isn’t just losing his mind). Sephiroth has so much Jenova in him that he’s essentially a human/alien hybrid. She wouldn’t have a problem poisoning his mind, because he was halfway there from the start.

There are a few things that suggest that Sephiroth is carrying out Jenova’s agenda, perhaps even thinking it was his idea the whole time.

One example is his megalomania post-Nibelheim. In Crisis Core, he didn’t appear to be interested in fame or glory. Leadership was just his job, and he was more than happy to hand the mantle of Hero to Genesis. But post-Nibelheim his plan is to become a god? That’s quite a leap. And he plans to become a god by absorbing the Lifestream and gaining control over it. That’s Jenova’s gig, and she may have sold him on that.

In Advent Children, his famous line about sailing the cosmos until he finds a new planet to create a shining future on is basically also Jenova’s thing. She goes from planet to planet, devouring what’s there and moving on like a swarm of locusts. Sephiroth may think he’s writing off this planet as doomed and using it to find a better place, but he’s carrying out Jenova’s agenda.

Welp, that’s all I’ve got for now. I’m sure that when Part 2 comes out, the theory machine will start rumbling again. One of the things Square Enix excels at is keeping things just vague enough that fandom speculation can go on for years. Maybe by then I’ll have finally gotten my hands on the unicorn known as the PS5. Or I’ll die of old age. Whichever comes first.

#Sephiroth #Zack Fair #FFVII Remake theories #Epileptic Trees #I was drunk when I came up with these #Yeah let's go with that

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breezeinmonochromenight · 3 years

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Okay so I know that Dirge of Cerberus was poorly received and one of the reasons was because of Weiss. Do you have any idea why?

I’ve honestly never heard that criticism in my life. Like. Ever. Lol.

DoC is a mess because it’s not an RPG but also not a shooter and it ultimately satisfies no one. It plays a bit like Devil May Cry, but also lacks the refined combat that makes that series popular like Devil May Cry 2. The story itself just feels kind of all over the place and tries to cover a lot of ground to relate back to the original game, but it is also simultaneously really boring and feels like a total ass pull in different places.

The only criticism I can personally recall about Weiss (and the Tsviets tbh) specifically is that the game goes through allllll this trouble to set up Deepground + so much other shit, yet fails to really develop its highest ranking members (who serve as your bosses and ally) into memorable characters that are on par with the OG cast. So you spend the game waiting for a glimpse of literally anyone else from the OG game. Weiss is already far more interesting in FFVIIR than he ever was in DoC.

A good example of this kind of shit in action is Genesis’ appearance in this game in the secret ending. You keep finding the tiniest of breadcrumbs that eventually lead to unlocking the secret ending (the bit with Genesis waking up and picking up Weiss), which is obviously supposed to be taken as a Big Deal, but like... Crisis Core came out a year and some change after DoC. So with no real character development you’re just sitting there like ‘uh. okay. what the fuck was his deal?’ That kind of thing.

Also DoC got mixed reviews from critics (somewhere around 50-60% on your typical 100% scale) — not poor ones. That’s important to note because Square-Enix had pretty much been turning out (mostly) bangers in the series that scored like 90% with critics (or higher) until like the mid-late 2000’s. It sort of caused this mentality that any entry into the series that’s not a flawless masterpiece is worthless — it’s why you hear shit like ‘Final Fantasy X-2/XV/XIII/etc. are fucking garbage!!!11!!!’, and yet critically each of these these games sit at around ~85% positive reviews. So like, while DoC is by no means a great game, it’s not quite the pile of shit people (who more often than not were toddlers when the game came out) frequently exaggerate it to be.

#anonymous #if that even is your real name #misc. ff7 #weiss the immaculate #dirge of cerberus

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quartercirclejab · 3 years

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i'm laying in bed, waiting for muscle relaxers to kick in so i can sleep (still convalescing from a pinched sciatic nerve), and trying to formulate a coherent line of thought about FFVIIR, the odd relationship it has with the OG, and how it relates to modern fandom.

my own relationship with FF has shifted so dramatically over even just the last ten years. it's wild to look back on this blog and see what's changed. i guess i was once what you might have called a hardline traditionalist, and now i have a much more charitable way of viewing things.

the way i feel about FFVII hasn't changed much. it's still my favorite FF, for a number of reasons- objective critical analysis, nostalgic feelings, and deeply personal life experiences among them. i don't quite view it as a sacred cow, no FF game fits that description for me personally... but VII is probably the one that comes closest. it's not just a story that i hold dear, it's a story that i dearly wish to be properly experienced and understood. especially now- in 2021, there may be no FF story more relevant and vital than FFVII's.

i have so many problems with Remake. putting aside the fact that it's gutless in precisely the ways the OG was so biting, it fails on a conceptual level as a Remake... because it isn't one. it's ultimately a continuation, a self-congratulatory return to the Compilation of FFVII. prior knowledge is not an optional bonus, it is compulsory to understand the game's entire back half. "arrogant" doesn't even begin to describe it.

but- and this is where the charity comes in- i know so many people for whom VIIR is a special game. younger people, in some cases, who really only cut their Final Fantasy teeth on FFXV, but older ones, too, who never ventured into FF before now. i've heard the same story a few times: FFVIIR was their introduction to FFVII because the original game was too inaccessible, too difficult to play, or simply too intimidating. whatever their reason, for better or worse, VIIR was their introduction to the game. and their love for it was not diminished by the fact that they hadn't ever played the original.

i've been trying to reconcile that in my mind. it bothers me, naturally. to know that an entire generation is being introduced to this story i love so dearly, but as a bastardized, sanitized, overproduced Disneyland version of itself, is heartbreaking. it makes me want to shake them by the shoulders and shout. "the original game is still there! you can still play it! it's as beautiful and poignant and necessary and true as it was in 1997, and at times it may challenge you in ways you are not used to, but damn it, we need to be challenged sometimes!"

but lately, i think, what does this accomplish? what is gained, by telling new fans that they're not engaging with FFVII properly? who benefits from me insisting FFVIIR fans aren't doing fandom the right way, according to my own standards? nothing but my ego, i guess.

i still think it's important to view things with a critical eye and not be afraid to speak on what a piece of media does poorly. but it's hard line to walk- it's hard for me, personally, to disentangle my bias from my criticism, and to remove my personal feelings from the equation where fans are concerned.

that, and lately i think that the OG FFVII is not really the kind of game a person can engage with before they're ready. it can't be forced- and once they've started, the understanding can't be faked. they'll get it, or they won't. maybe the new fans who started with VIIR will come to the OG when they're ready. maybe they never will be, and VIIR will form a complete experience for them.

new fans have to find their own way. it may not be the same as mine. maybe that's for the best. it's not quite a case of "let people enjoy things", more like "some people aren't ready yet and a sermon is not likely to change their mind"

idk i think my muscle relaxers have kicked in and now im just rambling incoherently

#final fantasy #ff #ffvii #ffviir #my back hurts

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omnibraver · 3 years

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hi, i’m phoebe! or phob! literally call me whichever one you like! phob’s just a nickname but i tend to jump between them both myself. anyway, i decided to just start posting here way sooner than i planned bc i’m impatient ASDFGFDS please forgive me if this blog gets off to a slow start or things aren’t super organised right away, i just wanted to get right into things even if i don’t have the time to get the blog super polished just yet.

also, just to say this real quick, i’m not new to the final fantasy rp scene at all! i was actually very active here from late 2013-2018 and then i kind of officially left in early 2020. i had a few canon blogs here and there, although not for very long, but i was very active on my final fantasy viii oc blog for most of that time! (so uhh if you knew an ffviii oc writer called phob at any point, that IS me, i can pretty much guarantee that.) i’ve been playing through ffviir (at long last!) and it reminded me how much i really love cloud so i thought i’d finally take the plunge and actually write him after secretly wanting to for a VERY long time.

(please note that i have NOT finished playing through ffviir yet but i have played the og in its entirety, as well as crisis core, and i’ve probably watched advent children more times than i can count due to being very obsessed with it as a tween. this blog won’t be spoiler free for og stuff but please don’t intentionally spoil the remake for me! (if you post spoilers and i see them, that’s on me though))

#OOC //#i need to work out a tagging system SOON #also i don't have any icons yet so pls excuse me being iconless for a hot minute #i'll work on them next week -- i have an assignment due next thursday

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kyzveryown · 3 years

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Perspective — Zach’s Revival

It’s no secret that fans have very divisive opinions concerning FFVIIR’s story going forward. While I’m enjoying the story so far, I understand why certain fans aren’t too happy about it. From what I’ve seen over the past year, most people’s point of contention is with Zack having been revived after the Arbiters of Fate’s defeat. I despise when writers revive characters because it undoes whatever impact their death had on the story and the other characters. In FFVIIR’s case, the narrative decision to revive Zack majorly affects the story – but mostly for Cloud. Without their short-lived friendship and Zack’s death, Cloud wouldn’t have a story beyond Crisis Core. Cloud is who he is because of Zack. Bringing him back kind of invalidates what Cloud’s been through; the pain and loss he’s felt, and the deterioration/collapse of his mind.

The reason I say ‘kind of’ is because despite how Zack’s revival affects a fan’s perception/feelings, his death/friendship still had a profound impact on Cloud. Narrative decision aside, that’s not something you can take away. Cloud is still Cloud. However, a decision like that is bad because it makes Cloud’s story and his struggles feel like a waste of time to the fans/audience. It makes them feel like they’ve been betrayed/ignored. Why make a decision that could possibly risk that? In Zack’s case it’s simple – he’s a fan-favorite character. A wise business decision, not so great narratively.

The one thing you don’t want to do is waste your fans/audiences’ time or destroy their interest/investment in your characters and story. Narrative decisions like this are notorious for doing that. Although I can’t speak for everyone who doesn't like where things are headed, I can imagine this is why they feel the way they do. While Zack being revived doesn’t bother me, I do agree that he shouldn’t have been brought back. However, I’m curious about how things are going to play out now.

#thoughts #ff7r #zack fair #ffvii remake #ffvii #final fantasy

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iaintyourbro · 4 years

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Shipping Makes Me Question My Sanity

I learned about the FFVII waifu wars after playing the remake. I played the OG many moons ago, replayed it a few years ago, but really got interested in the character dynamics after playing FFVIIR.

I foolishly looked up “Is the remake pushing Cloud and Tifa more?” I found the shipping wars... That I never knew existed.

You see, I played the OG and it was pretty clear to me that the story went a certain way. In fact, I didn’t even associate FFVII to romance.

FFVII was a story about a villain who was pissed off that a grunt killed him, so he finds a way to come back from the dead through clones that his father made to fuck with said grunt and get revenge on all the humans that wronged his Mother.

(This is my explanation in as few words as possible, because we all know explaining FFVII would take multiple posts).

So why did I look up my question about Cloud and Tifa? Well, I was shocked at how they presented them. I didn’t remember this from the OG. Like I said, I didn’t associate FFVII to romance like I did with VIII, IX, and X. Those were clear. FFVII didn’t have this as a main theme. FFVIIR created extreme sexual tension between Cloud and Tifa.

I remember when you finally found out Cloud wasn’t a SOLDIER, that he actually DID kill Sephiroth 5 years ago, and that he did come to save Tifa - he fulfilled his promise. The part when the main theme plays and he takes his helmet off... chills. Even now, I love that part. Still, I associated this with us finally getting answers to some of the weird shit that happens earlier in the game. And I was way too young and dense to understand the Under the Highwind scene.

Needless to say, I wanted to see if others had the same impression. It seems they did, and those posts were then overpowered by the other side. “Yeah, I used to ship Cloti, but the remake made me see that it’s clearly Aerith.” What? What did I miss?

So I questioned my sanity a bit. I played every quest - I did both Tifa and Aerith’s discovery quests. Until the point we get back to Tifa in Wall Market, I still was kind of iffy on how they were presenting Aerith and Cloud. They removed a lot of stuff from the OG that was a bit more direct from Cloud’s end. They also removed a lot of the jealousy scenes between Tifa and Aerith. Seems they gave all the jealousy to Cloud in other scenes.

Cloud clearly is soft with Tifa. He remembers The Promise, he calls her beautiful, you have no choice but to give her the flower. No matter what choices you make with Aerith. He still gives her the flower. He gets jealous whenever he even thinks a guy is talking about her in a romantic/sexual way.

Then I see things like “Cloud was so emotionless and mean until Chapter 8″. HOW? And this goes beyond Tifa. Cloud had a ton of character growth during the first 3 chapters, and it continued on until Chapter 8. This was not something where he suddenly turned nice to Aerith. He had a ton of people help him out before.

Take Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie. Cloud was a dick to them. I mean, he really was. I was sad for Wedge, cuz I think he’s so nice, and Cloud was just mean to him. By the end of Chapter 4, he’s much nicer to them. He’s left out of their celebration, and I think maybe this was a reference to him as a child. He thought he was better than the other kids (except Tifa). He treated everybody like shit (except Tifa) in the first three chapters and Barret told him to gtfo.

Jessie made sure to let him know she wanted him there. Now, I’m not a fan of how thirsty Jessie is. I mean they REALLY slam it on you how bad she wants to get with Cloud. Cloud then says what I was thinking “Are you seriously that desperate?!” Yes, she is, and it’s obnoxious, but I think it’s a hilarious addition to the story. However, I think it was a light bulb moment that he would be included if he was a bit nicer to people.

Cloud and Barret start getting along more as time goes on as well. This is all before Chapter 8. So I actually have commented on these posts... “Did you play the first 7 chapters? Did you play the rest of the game?” There’s so many points during FFVIIR where Cloud clearly has character development outside of what Tifa and Aerith do.

They ignore this. That’s my issue. The ignore everything else in the story. They ignore reality, so that makes people like me question themselves.

It reminds me of a personal situation with my job. We had a really bad leader. Like, cruel, mean. And he got away with it for a long time. You can say, “just leave”, but I think anybody with a family knows that’s not as easy as it sounds. Not when you rely on your job for not only income, but benefits, retirement, and stability. Not when changing buildings causes months of legit mental breakdowns (imagine changing companies completely?). So, it wasn’t really an option.

The worst part during all of that was knowing and seeing the reality of what was going on and having people flat out try to tell me that what I was seeing wasn’t true. I had conversations with other co-workers who started to question their sanity. Is it us? Are we the problem? Are we wrong? What are we missing? And that’s tough, especially when it goes on for so long.

In the real life example, there was a resolution earlier this year, where finally the guy was fired. And a lot of people were fighting him. More than you’d think. But they were scared, so they had to be careful. This is real life, not a game, so the stakes were much higher. The truth all comes out after this type of thing, and it was actually worse than we thought. There was a lot we missed, and a lot we just weren’t aware of. We weren’t crazy - there was just a group of his followers trying to brainwash us in to thinking he was great.

The shipping wars give me the same feelings I had during that. I question my sanity and don’t get what I’m missing. This is beyond how you interpret the LTD. This is legit ignoring parts of the story as it’s presented. SE put these Cloti moments throughout the Remake to make a point. They have Aerith say things to make a point. They even have Aerith stop making moves on Cloud after Tifa comes back and she sees the obvious “thing” between them.

There are tons of analysis on multiple scenes and how Cloud reacts. Facial expressions tell a lot, so does voice acting. There are reasons they put these scenes in. There are reasons they are part of the main story and not part of side quests. There are reasons that the devs responded the way they did in interviews.

The Ultimania clearly talks about Cloud’s feelings. The OG talks about them.

So why do I still feel upset when I see these? Well, for one, the posters that say “I was a Cloti until..” in most cases are probably shipping the other side, but this is a great way to make people question themselves. It may make new fans not enjoy the story as much.

Then you have Twitter. And it’s a shame, because there’s some great fanart on Twitter. But, you can’t search for “tifa” without seeing some really bad posts. And it’s the same accounts over and over. There isn’t a large amount.

The entire goal of these posters is to fight people who don’t agree with them. They also start posting similar complaints about a week after the Cloti side makes them.

The most recent being that Cloti fans are going after Nojima and it’s not going to change anything. What? I saw a similar post about the C////erith side about a week or two ago. Why are Cloti’s going after Nojima? So I went through some of his posts. I found one where he posted about FF7R. The only Cloti posts I saw were thanking him. The C///erith ones were over the top trying to say how it was all C///erith and there was no Cloti in the remake. One even said that “millions of fans want Aerith to survive.” No, I’d say the majority of fans want the original plot points to stay.

Nojima himself liked a fanart of himself... where they called him the Cloti king.

So where are the Cloti’s going after Nojima? I only saw praise...

The next new one is that C///eriths aren’t racist and Cloti’s are. I’ve seen this argument in reverse as well. It seems they scope out some things and repost them in the opposite argument.

I just don’t understand the extreme nature. You can ship who you want, but you can’t erase parts of the story to make it work. Why even bother playing the game? The romance aspect is SO SMALL in the OG.

In the remake its a bit heavier, but it’s different times. Sex sells. Let’s add some spice to the game, and they did. I felt no sexual tension between Cloud and Aerith. Jessie tried HARD. The only mutual tension felt was between Cloud and Tifa. That deep, dear lord please do something to release this tension, feeling. Cloud and Aerith had cute little moments similar to a Disney movie or a kids movie. Tifa and Cloud had the moments you see in more mature things.

Some of these moments are optional - the resolution scene you can technically avoid every time you play if you choose to. The Clotiscrew tunnel roll is a bit harder unless you KNOW you can avoid it and/or are terrible at the game. You literally have to try hard to mess up to not get that scene.

The Clotiscrew tunnel scene is also hilarious to watch people react to. Cuz you do feel like you need to take a quick walk to cool off from that heat. Even my husband who doesn’t give a shit was like “wow, yeah, okay, that’s... intense.”

It didn’t have to be, it could have been a roll and release, but he holds her and says “You okay?” in that soft af voice THAT HE ONLY USES ON HER. Her response is equally sexy. Then they get up and stare. Once again, not necessary.

All the “unnecessary” touching that goes on is fun to point out. People are still finding moments, I think. During battles, in the background during other scenes. They’re making this a point. They make it a point to show shots of those two during other scenes in the game. They aren’t being subtle anymore.

So I don’t understand how you can erase all of that.

The other side has a small group that is completely shitting on Tifa to do it. I don’t see that as much on the Cloti side towards Aerith. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, I bet it does, but it’s not as easy to find. Almost EVERY shipping fight has something about Tifa’s boobs, Tifa not telling Cloud about his past, something. They make stuff up in some cases.

All of this is a way to recruit people to their side. To “convert” them. I feel bad for the streamers who like Tifa and you see a group come in to try and “correct” that thought. Why do they care so much?

Maximillian Dood doesn’t seem affected by those opinions - he’s a great supporter of Tifa as a character. He was very happy with the way they handled the remake, and that says a lot. He also has some great reactions to parts of the game. He also is a more experienced streamer, it seems.

My thoughts are... the Remake has blown expectations on how it was supposed to go. Probably a lot of fans assumed they’d make a point to build up Aerith as the love interest... but they didn’t. Tifa is in almost every chapter (2 is the exception). She is referenced multiple times in Wall Market - especially if you actually listen to the lyrics for Midgar Blues. Why place that song in during that part?

So we go to the attack mode of survival here. They’re going to change as many opinions as possible. They’re going to make people question themselves. Make people feel bad.

The reality is, there’s a clear cut story - they’re making it that way. There’s multiple hints that there isn’t going to be a love triangle. There’s multiple hints that Zack is going to be a thing in the Remake. They’ve definitely put it on more heavy that Aerith still loves Zack.

I can only hope that things are made clear. That this can stop. I still say people should ship who they want. Hell, I ship Vincent and Lucrecia (this was my only romantic love in the OG back then...). However, canon is that Hojo and Lucrecia married and had a child. I wanted Vincent to secretly be the father so bad, but he’s not. That doesn’t ruin the game for me, at all.

It would ruin the game for me, in a sense, if they completely pull a 180 in Part 2 and try to “remove” all of the stuff from Part 1 from a character dynamics perspective. It would feel wrong for Aerith to tell Cloud not to fall in love with her, tell him that everything isn’t real if he does, and also have her back off completely after Tifa is back, and then all of a sudden throw herself at him. It would erase all the friendship scenes between Tifa and Aerith.

And how could you just “turn off” Cloud’s attentive nature to Tifa? It wouldn’t make sense. It would ruin it for me because that is legit trying to erase parts of the story.

I don’t think that will happen. But I still get anxious when I see shit on the internet.

#cloti #clotif #ff7r #ff7r thoughts #shipping wars #cloud x tifa #tifa lockhart #ltd #final fantasy 7 remake #final fantasy 7 #cloud strife #ff7 spoilers #ff7r spoilers

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