#also she hates Shinra

[beastenraged]

Seraphim (that six winged thing)

(@hallowed-nebulae, first bit of the chapter I'm working on!!!)

I flex my hands. My bones, my knuckles, feel ready to pop out of place.

Weird, because what I did in that fight against the other 'me' earlier wasn't anything too energy intensive. Physically or magically.

Maybe it's just a response to this...place. This Mirage Arena that somehow feels different from the one I fought in before. It's as crazy and as full as that one, but different.

Someone else rules here. I don't know how I know that, only that I do. That something rumbles in my chest in response to that knowing.

"What'd you think?" I whisper to Xehanort.

He blinks slowly, like a cat. He is so much like a cat, it's never not funny.

"You fought well."

Okay, not what I meant. But I'll take it. I wave Xion over, and try for Kairi too.

"Hey, wanna come over?"

The two shake their heads. "After we're done talking," Xion clarifies.

Oh, they're talking? I wonder about what.

But more importantly, Ven is throwing himself at a tall man with long silver hair. A man that I remember as cameoing in so many games past his original source. Like Smash. So much Smash.

(I liked playing Cloud more. In Smash.)

Sephiroth.

It's...interesting. That Ven knows a Sephiroth. I don't know know personally, but I...

I watch him, carefully. Seeing those green eyes that have wild animal slits. I know all too well what he very often represents. It's not really about the world-destroying stuff, here.

Because if this Sephiroth was a Jenova-crazy, he wouldn't be here. Interacting peacefully with Ven, treating them like a child of his. Being kind to this world's Xehanort in turn as well.

No, but he's like me, isn't he? Made to be a soldier.

(Made to kill.)

But unlike me, he's a lot better at it. He has to be, to be full-grown here, looking like he does, having that super human strength to carry two very different individuals.

I lick at my back of my teeth. They're buzzing. Everything about me is buzzing.

I don't...like him. Hm. I don't like him, I decide. There's something off about him, alongside the really good at murdering bit.

(Maybe it's because you can't eat him?)

(Look at him! That green he carries is poison to you!)

Shut up, weird thoughts. Shut up, shut up, shut up.

"-is going on?"

Oh. My hands are over my ears.

"Just...noisy. Here." I explain. Gesture to the area.

Xehanort nods. He gets it.

Why is it that my enemy seems to understand me better than everyone else?

(I miss Namine.)

[lecliss]

I hate when Vincent asks Lucrecia if she's sure about proceeding with the experiment and she's all yelling "if it only concerns me then yes I'm sure!" And like BITCH IT DOES NOT JUST CONCERN YOU!!!! THATS FUCKING SEPHIROTH!!! HES GONNA HAVE A SHIT CHILDHOOD AND HAVE A MENTAL BREAKDOWN AND TRY TO KILL EVERYONE!!!! THAT IS LIKE THE FARTHEST FROM JUST CONCERNING YOU!!!!!

[michanvalentine]

Things about Vincent Valentine that I read around and piss me off.

"Vincent should have done more!"

It is one of the most common observations. And I hate it! What he was supposed to do exactly? Ok, let's take a step back and pretend we're in the real world and not in a fantasy action video game. Vincent was a highly trained Turk and an excellent marksman. That's not enough to say that he was definitely also a cold piece of shit ready to do any job. In fact, I believe that Vincent was the exact opposite of this and that he was not cut out to be a Turk at all. Which is why he got into trouble. "Stern and upright" is how Square Enix describes him, so we're talking about a person who has great morals and a high sense of duty. And these two things don't always go together. To this we must add the naivety he had as a young man (evident in DoC) and his great empathy towards others (which FF VII Rebirth is highlighting a lot). So when Lucrecia decided to use the fetus as an experiment, Vincent found himself in an impossible situation, where morality and duty were at odds. Human experimentation disgusted him, but his role was as a bodyguard, nothing more. His duty was to watch and let the scientists do their work. Furthermore, at that moment no one could imagine what the result of such experiments would be and what Sephiroth would do in the future. So we're talking about a man torn by his own principles, full of doubts and, lest you forget, heartbroken. It is not easy to act in a situation like this. But he couldn't ignore his own morals, so despite his role he tried to reason with Lucrecia first and then he confronted Hojo, with the consequences we know. Did he have to kidnap Lucrecia? Did he have to kill Hojo? Did he have to burn the Shinra Mansion to the ground? Let's be honest, normal people don't act this way. And Vincent Valentine was the sanest one in the middle, so he paid for it. But even if Vincent had freaked out and gone down the path of violence, there would have been consequences and it would probably have ended the same way.

But let's go back to Lucrecia for a moment. Vincent's naivety and empathy did not allow him to notice the red flags. He only saw the best and deepest part of her, the fragile, kind and brilliant one. When she pushed him away, he still behaved as correctly as possible. He stepped aside, hoping that she would be happy. There is no selfishness, there is no possessiveness. This is called unconditional love, and it is very rare. Should he have claimed Lucrecia for himself even if she didn't want it? Fight the other man to get the woman back? Continue to chase her proclaiming his love like a crazy? These are some traits of toxic masculinity. Vincent left her absolute freedom, he respected her choices as a woman, as an adult and as a scientist, even if his sensitivity allowed him to understand some things before she could notice them herself. And that's why Vincent's question "are you sure this is what you really want" hurts so much. He knew it. He knew she would love that child.

The fact that Vincent feels like a failure who was unable to protect the woman he loved and her child is understandable. But this is only his feeling, his perception of himself in a situation way bigger than him. So no one will ever be able to get it out of my head: Vincent Valentine did everything a good man with his hands tied behind his back could have done. He went out of line for Lucrecia and Sephiroth, and was killed for it.

[justauthoring]

the harsh truth [2].

because the truth was, it just wasn't possible. even if you and reno desperately wished it was.

a/n: this didn't start as a continuation of my other reno fic but it ended up being one :) you also don't need to read part one, but it's recommended!

pairing: reno sinclair x f!reader

tw: potential rebirth spoilers? just be cautious if you haven't played

part one.

This was so wrong.

Unbelievably, without a doubt, to the point your friends would hate you if they knew, wrong.

And yet, you couldn’t help yourself.

He was everything you stood against. The perfect embodiment of everything you fought against. He worked for Shinra… and not just a businessman or a foot soldier, but a Turk. He’d spent the entirety of his career trying to convince your friend Aerith to help Shinra, and while he’d never physically harmed her nor did she seem particularly afraid of him, it still stood to point that his and the rest of the Turks intentions weren’t all that innocent. 

Cloud had fought against them many times. Yes, more times than not, Cloud had come out on the winning side, it didn’t erase the fact that they’d been at each other’s throats more times than you could count.

He was the enemy.

He was Shinra.

Sure, you didn’t inherently think he was a bad person. In fact, you thought he had the capabilities to do great things, that deep in his heart he was a good person but he still did bad things.

He’d actively participated in the Sector Seven plate falling. There was no doubt, no way to change the story in small tweaks that made him seem just a little better. You’d been there. Sector Seven was your home just as much as it was Tifa’s or Barrets, Jessie, Wedge and Biggs had been your friends just as much as anyone else's… You’d seen him that day, in that helicopter, had nearly been barrelled by his own bullets.

Of course, he hadn’t known you were there. Not at first.

But still, it didn’t change anything.

It terrifies you though. Scares you to the core. Watching as Cloud pulls back his sword and aims it directly for Reno’s head. He’s going to kill him, you realize, going to hit him without a second thought. And sure, the others looked just as horrified; particularly Tifa, because killing was never something any of you had ever done.

Hurt, maim, beat… sure. All of those. But never killing. 

It’s different, though, for you. Means something else.

The striking, paralyzing realization that despite all of it, the thought of Reno dying makes you feel sick. It hurts in a way you can’t directly explain and there’s a desperation that’s bleeding through you to save him without a second thought. It’s why your feet move before you can stop them, it’s why it feels like you blink and then suddenly you’re in front of Reno, holding onto him tightly, on your knees, turning up to look at Cloud’s terrifying gaze and pleading with him.

“Please,” you cry, hoping there’s a shred of some care in Cloud for you that he’ll hear you and that he’ll stop. “Please don’t hurt him!”

And the words are intimate. More intimate than you mean. You’re not begging Cloud to stop for him, nor are you doing it because the act in itself is wrong… you’re begging him because you don’t want it to be Reno on the other end. You don’t want Reno to die. You’re doing it because you can’t stomach the thought of losing him. 

There’s a moment of hesitation, Cloud stops and his fingers twitch on the handle of his buster sword but then, he’s leaning forward, shifting with the intention of following through and your heart sinks. But you refuse to move. You’d rather be hit then Reno.

Reno shifts when he realizes Cloud isn’t going to stop, and there’s a paralyzing fear as your name leaves his lips in a shrieking cry and he moves with the intention to shove you aside but then Tifa’s arms are wrapping around Cloud and she’s pulling back, screaming his name.

You watch for a moment more, heart pounding against your chest, eyes drifting across everyone else who stares in a mix of shock and confusion, particularly aimed at you. But then your eyes fall on Aerith, and oddly enough she’s smiling; there’s a hint of worry behind her gaze as she shuffles to Cloud but she winks at you and despite it all, you flush.

Pushing yourself to your knees, you turn, knowing that Tifa has Cloud and let your eyes drift across Reno. You avoid his gaze even as he stares deeply back at your own, letting your eyes drift across his entire body. He’s got a few bruises here and there, and there’s a cut across his arm that’s bleeding but–but he’s okay.

When you finally meet his eyes, Reno is staring back at you, lips parted in disbelief. 

There’s a moment where the two of you just stare at each other, no words spoken, and then Reno leans towards you; “Y-Y/N–”

“We need to get going.”

Cloud’s sharp tone pulls you from Reno, eyes turning only to find him staring back at you, gaze harsh. Your heart plummets to the pit of your stomach, the realization of what you’d just done catching up to you; they probably all hated you. Tifa, Aerith, Barett… all of them were probably looking at you with a similar look because of what you’d done and it was you standing with Reno, on the opposite side of them.

With the man who had indirectly or directly hurt them in some way.

“We don’t have time to waste,” Cloud continues, and you flinch at his tone.

Eyes falling to your feet, you can’t bear to look at the others. “I…–”

“It’s okay, Y/N,” Aerith cuts in and your eyes snap to her at her soft, warm tone. “We understand.”

She’s smiling, just like before. A gentle, comforting smile as she steps forward and nods at you.

Your lips part, shock flooding you.

When your eyes drift across the rest, they all wear similar expressions. Tifa, though clearly worried about Cloud, is smiling at you too and Yuffie’s grin mischievously down at you, wiggling her brows. Barrett looks somewhat confused, but he doesn’t look mad and Red and Cait’s expressions are just as eased.

None of them are mad.

“We’ll keep going,” Aerith nods at Cloud who has since turned his back to you. “You should get Reno somewhere safe,” she explains, sending you a thumbs up, stepping until she’s right in front of you.

You blink, body easing as her words settle.

Then, she leans down, lowering her voice; “and don’t worry about Cloud.”

She pulls back before you can say anything else, grabbing Cloud by the arm and tugging him with her as Tifa and Barrett both send you nods and then they’re all turning, walking off.

And just as Aerith turns the corner, she smiles back at you; “try to catch up you can, kay?”

You nod, still in shock, numb somewhat, until a minute passes and it’s just you and Reno.

Turning to the man, your chest tightens when you realize you’re faced with a whole new reality and that is Reno who no doubt will say something.

“Where’s Rude?” You find yourself asking, shifting to grab him so you can help him up. “Can you walk? If not, I can–”

Reno stops your movements, grabbing onto your arm with a tight hold before tugging you back down to sit with him. You stumble slightly, falling against him, your hands falling on his shoulders to catch yourself as you meet his gaze, faces inches apart from one another.

“Reno–”

“That was insane,” Reno breathes, shaking his head at you. “He would’ve killed you.”

Frowning, you swallow thickly; “it’s Sephiroth, I think… Cloud–well, I don’t think he’d try to hurt me–”

“Y/N,” Reno cuts in, “that’s not what I’m talking about.”

Lips parting, your shoulders fall. “My feet just moved.”

“You could’ve been killed!”

“You too,” you find yourself crying, eyes widening in exasperation as you meet his eyes. “And I couldn’t… let that happen, okay? Not to you… I was so scared and then my feet were moving and I just… fuck, are you okay?”

Reno stares back at you in disbelief.

“I thought you hated me,” he whispers, finally letting go of your arm.

“I tried to,” you mumble, glancing at your lap. “But I can’t. I… I love you.”

Reno sighs. “I’m a Turk.”

“I know,” you echo, biting your lip. “And I'm a part of Avalanche.”

His hand twitches by his side and he leans closer; “we could never work out.”

“I know,” you repeat, finally raising your head to meet his gaze once more. This time, you hold it, refusing to look away. He’s inches away, you can feel his breath ghost across your skin and feel his warmth radiate off of him. It’s the closest you’ve been to him since before the plate fell and you’ve missed him so much. “I couldn’t let you die though.”

Reaching forward, Reno cups your cheek and instantly, you lean into his touch. His eyes are sad, and there’s a deep frown across his lips. “I know,” he mimics, having nothing else to say. “I love you too, you know.”

Eyes falling shut, you let out a shaky breath. Normally, someone telling you they loved you as well would be happy but it pulls an ache from you that you can’t rightly explain.

“Can you walk?” You decide to ask after a moment.

“Yeah,” he grunts, pulling his hand away as you shuffle back, grabbing him by the arm and helping him to his feet. He lets out a groan as he does, and you frown up at him, watching as he uses his free hand to hold his stomach.

“Here,” you mumble, wrapping your arm around his waist and letting him lean his weight against you. “I’ll get you to Rude, okay?”

He hums lightly; “okay.”

“Then… then I have to go after them… you know that, right?”

“Yeah,” he sighs, “yeah, I know.”

He says it with a heavy heart and you feel it all the same. Because you loved him, and he loved you, but he was Shinra and you were Avalanche and despite it all, you both knew the reality of your situations.

Even if it hurts.

So damn much.

[ff7-has-taken-me-over]

I’m surprised it took me this long to do one of these for these two but here we are! A list of head canons and random thoughts I’ve had of them, with maybe a couple on other characters sprinkled throughout.

- Surprisingly enough, Cloud’s the more emotionally intelligent one between him and Zack. His social awkwardness just gets in the way and he struggles to show it to anyone other than Zack

- Zack and Cloud both know how to cook. Cloud having grown up with just his mother learned to help her out and Zack’s mother refused to let her son go off to Midgar without at least basic knowledge in cooking

- Despite Zack being the chronically flirty one, Cloud gets hit on more when they go to clubs and bars

- Zack hogs all the blankets like his life depends on it the second the temperature drops more than 10 degrees

- Cloud sleeps in boxers and nothing else. Unless it’s winter then you’ll catch him in a shirt as well

- Zack fucking hates doing the dishes. He will quite literally bribe Cloud to do them when it’s his night cause of how much he hates them 😂

- Kids absolutely adore Cloud and the blond never understands why despite going all soft on them and playing along with their dumb games when asked

- Zack once tried to convince Cloud it was a fantastic idea to get a dog for their tiny ass apartment but got shut down cause he got so excited over the idea he broke their dining table

- Zack came out of the closet after Cloud only because Aerith dragged him out by the ear and shoved him onto the blond

- Aerith and Tifa had an argument (not really it was more playful and halfhearted) over who would get Cloud as a best man/bride of honour cause they both wanted to put him in a dress

- Cloud wore a suit to Aerith’s and Tifa’s wedding and Zack was but hurt that neither of them wanted to see him in a dress

- Zack drinks his coffee black and Cloud puts enough sugar and milk in it your teeth would itch at the sight

- Cloud consumes salt like Zack does spice and neither of them can handle the others preference for them. Zack’s face screws up like he swallowed sea water and Cloud starts sweating at the mere whiff of spice

- Zack was so thrown off guard about all those people in sector 5, 6 and 7 knowing Cloud that he thought it was some massive, elaborate joke that everyone was in on

- Tifa was in mad denial about her feelings for Aerith but the second Cloud tried to ease her into the idea she caved pretty quick (she couldn’t stand the idea of Mr. Discovered Narnia himself giving her that talk)

- In Shinra days Zack most definitely used Kunsel to sabotage one of Cloud’s dates, only to discover the blond had never even gone on the date cause he thought it was a joke from his squad mate

- The only time Cloud ever showed an ounce of curiosity at gossip was when Vince had casually kissed Cid on the cheek before leaving and the latter had done nothing more than smile fondly after him

- Zack definitely mourns not having his mentor at his and Cloud’s wedding

- Cloud and Zack hung out so much in Shinra days that not only did Cloud get a fan club of his own, but a sub fan club that shipped the two of them together was created (and people lost their fucking minds when they spotted the two of them years down the track holding hands out in public)

- Genesis would have taken a liking to Cloud purely because he wanted to have a little protege like Angeal and the blond had enough of a spine to sass back and glare when Genesis had threatened him

- If Sephiroth hadn’t lost his mind to Jenova and all he would have been all too ready to go against Shinra and help take them down. Not because of his own feelings on any of the matters but because his friends had turned and he cared about them more

- Zack definitely got mildly jealous when he found out Cloud had been an avid member of Sephiroth’s fan club but had absolutely preened for weeks on end when he found out that he’d also been in Zack’s fan club

- Aerith proposed to Tifa and enlisted the help of Cloud cause he knew Tifa better and Zack unfortunately couldn’t keep a secret to save his life. But Zack did help keep Tifa distracted while Aerith made her preparations

- Barret is the unwilling dad of the group, Cid and Vince are the tired uncles that don’t actually know how they got there in the first place and literally everyone else are the chaotic children that only pull it together for eco terrorism and organised crime

- When Cloud gets sick he basically hibernates for like a week and only eats and drinks just enough so he doesn’t die. Zack freaked the fuck out the first time it happened and took him to the hospital after the first 24 hours of near constant sleep

- Zack becomes a big, whiny, clingy, cuddly mess when he’s sick and always tries to insist he’s all better the second he feels anything more than on the brink of death. Cloud almost spiked his food with sleeping pills so he’d just lie down and finally go to sleep and allow himself to heal somewhat

[holly-fixation]

Spoilers for the demo of FF7 Rebirth:

During the scene in the library, where Sephiroth goes through the discovery of Jenova, they SHOW her body being recovered.

I noticed some things. One, Jenova is NOT found the way we're used to seeing her. She's a monstrous/humanoid corpse. In fact, they may have found something way closer to Dreamweaver than the body in the reactor.

2: If you look hard enough at the screenshot above, you can see the eye in her skull. You can also see that the teeth are off. The cheek bones are off. It's just off.

3: As we get closer to the present day, she begins to look human. Shinra R&D doesn't have the power to resurrect Her. But clearly she started to become human.

Those you hate. Those you fear. Those you love.

God I love this detail.

[silvergreenseraphim]

I am still reading through Ultimania translations like a certain someone in the data room…

Here are some curious notes on our Jenova Project scientists, Vincent, and Sephiroth that I know you will all appreciate.

That note about Hojo envying Gast and his genius—please keep this in mind. It will come into play for these next translations.

The research on Omega and the Kalm experiments were also in the Shinra manor. It makes you wonder if Sephiroth read any of that and further saw how cruel Shinra was.

The Jenova cell flashes in Sephiroth’s mind that we saw in the Rebirth demo can be seen in this image from the Crisis Core guide.

This is where everything becomes more interesting. Something not fully explained in DOC is Lucrecia’s own deterioration. It would appear that Vincent confronted Hojo over this after Sephiroth was born and taken away (or did he?). Lucrecia was falling to pieces it seems. (We will come back to this).

(Small note, but it looks like Vincent actually did propose to Lucrecia).

The next pile of notes are from the older Ultimania Omega from 2005, and some debate the validity of the text and whether it still holds true to current canon. However, if we are willing to consider Crisis Core from 2007 as canon, then I see no issue with this Ultimania unless something is directly changed.

For our Jenova project scientists, there is just more detail not spoken in the game. Some of it is fascinating and helpful.

I take this information as extra insight that the original game did not give us and mostly canon as well. Reading it felt like a stab to the chest even if I knew most of it.

We know from DOC that Lucrecia did love Vincent in the end, but during their time together she pushed him away because of the guilt with his father and gave into her love for Hojo instead.

It is….strange but that line from the CC guide about Hojo’s envy of Gast was apparently a concept here too. It supposedly was so strong that it brought out a maternal love in Lucrecia. Very likely this was before Hojo was completely mad and murderous.

I also wonder if Lucrecia’s affection was only that overall. A feeling that didn’t last when she realized Hojo’s complex was destructive and not “cute.”

These are the details some debate and I believe it has been for shipping reasons in the past…but as a non-shipper, I can see this happening with such a complex group of people.

The next bit about Lucrecia’s deterioration is also odd because it almost sounds as though Lucrecia disappeared only because of her body’s collapse. DOC once again changed the order of these events to where Lucrecia left after failing to save Vincent and losing her son.

It also looks like Vincent confronted Hojo much earlier. We are now left to interpretation maybe since DOC’s own timeline is hard to follow. There are plenty of people who have these events better thought through than me.

But if we combine all of these details together and ignore the timeline, we have more reasons for Lucrecia’s breakdown in general. Vincent’s bodily corruption, the loss of Sephiroth, and Lucrecia’s own degradation. We may not know the very order of every event until Rebirth or the third game, which is okay. These are still good details.

This hurts so much and I do not even need to explain why, ahaha. Hojo is so, so cruel to his own family.

I have recently pulled a translation from this section which some of you may recognize. All of the small details make me emotional 🥲

And this is the last one I wanted to share. I cannot stop thinking about Hojo’s inferiority complex with Gast because we know Sephiroth looked up to and admired Gast from a young age. How bitter Hojo must have been that his own son adored a man he hated. The implications of how complicated this could have made their relationship are endless. No wonder Hojo murdered Gast without hesitation. A walking mass of complexes indeed.

I think this is so emotional for me because of The First Soldier and Rebirth now. These details matter for enrichment.

Edit: I should once again clarify what I think about the 2005 Ultimania because there are fans that dismiss it thanks to its questionable text in spots. I believe that if a note from this book does not directly contradict currently established canon, then it may be safe to take in as context enrichment.

For example, all of the information about Sephiroth here is still accurate to the most recent depictions of his character, but there are small details added about why he believed he was different.

I do not see any reason to fully dismiss this because it does no harm to canon and does not go against what we have seen even in recent media like Ever Crisis.

On the other hand, the information about Lucrecia and when she left and why is much more fragile because Dirge of Cerberus added a new take on her motives. For this reason, I will only cherry-pick. I would say the detail about deterioration is accurate because that was hinted at in DOC but it’s no longer the only reason she left.

But everyone should make up their own minds on how to approach this Ultimania.

[platinumrosetail]

New idea I hope I'm not annoying you so can you please do a romantic Apollo, Poseidon x fem shinra reader (separately) so basically the reader is a female version of shinra she has all his ability and power's shinra is from fire force if your wondering here's a bit more information shinra can make fire come out of his feet and that allows him to fly he can also kick so hard that he sent the moon back to space Shira is also really fast he can easily break the sound barrier and that not mentioning his shinrabanshōman form he basically rewrote the laws of reality to save everyone also when shinra is nervous he tends to smile so yeah the reader is a female version of shinra and is op and not matter what she will always be on humanity side

Oh yea I remember seeing some things about him and fire force in the past, sure I think I can do this though it might turn out short seeing as I never really watched fire force yet (it’s in my watchlist but like many others I haven’t gotten around to watching it plus I have many things to watch so yea lol 😅), also you’re not annoying me don’t worry just as long as you don’t keep requesting for record of ragnarok as I don’t want to get burned out and close the ror request 😅.

Warning: noob author, female reader, ooc?, and others.

Characters: Apollo, Poseidon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apollo:

You two met by you accidentally bumping into him when you were exploring Valhalla as you recently had died on earth and was considered a warrior so you ended up in Valhalla, you nervously smiled out of habit as you hoped you didn’t die again as you heard that some gods and goddesses don’t take too kindly to humans so you hope that he wasn’t one of those gods that hate humans.

He was a bit freaked out about your smile as he was expecting you to grovel and plead for your life to be spared for bumping into a god but you had only smiled and apologized. He questioned why you were smiling and you toppled him of your habit when you get nervous before you took your cue and quickly left.

He was curios about you and wanted to know more about you, he wonders multiple times if you’re to his standard of beauty or not and he hopes that you are as you’re very interesting to human surprisingly more than he thought yo’d be.

You were thankful to not have died on the spot in front by apollo killing you as you wanted to explore more of Valhalla and you couldn’t do that if you were dead.

You can’t help but think that he was very attractive but you stopped quickly after that thought entered your head as Apollo might be more powerful than you which mans if he should ever have the desire to kill you he might so just in case you begin thinking of a plan to protect yourself and any possible passerby should it ever happen that he wants to kill you.

Apparently he didn’t want to kill you you found out later after he surprised ambushed you as you were avoiding him just in case, in fact you apparently was to his approval of beauty which you were surprised to hear about. You two later go together which shocked many and made many god/goddesses and nymphs mad and jealous but you two ignored them. You two like to spare together, he was shocked to see how strong you were, but what he didn’t know was that you were holding back immensely so as to not destroy anything or anybody.

When ragnarok happened you sided with humanity which wasn’t really shocking but Apollo tried getting you on the gods side but that proved to be useless as you didn’t think it was fair how the gods were just destroying humanity even though it was their jobs as gods to guide humanity and that if Apollo loved you then he would do what was right as you will fight for humanity; you knew that you’d most likely win considering you’re half god and half human and a very powerful one at that, but Apollo didn’t so he decided to fight for humanity as well so in case you both win you two can celebrate like couples and if not and you both die you two could be together for eternity.

Poseidon:

He kept on seeing you wherever he went and naturally thought you were following him which annoyed him as he didn’t want what he calls; you in his eyes at the moment, filth following, you of course was just exploring Valhalla and wasn’t trying to follow Poseidon around but Poseidon definitely thought you were.

He decided to confront you about it, you were nervous as you heard from many that Poseidon is a very dangerous person that you shouldn’t annoy or anger and how he sees humans as filth as he would dice you with his trident, so you nervously smiled out of habit and explained that you werewn’t following him on purpose but it’s because you were exploring Valhalla as you’re new here, thankfully he didn’t notice your nervous smiling habit, at least you thought he didn’t but he was able to see your nervous smile in his peripheral vision even though he was looking at the floor away from you like he’d always do when in the presence of those he deemed filth.

Your nervous smiling habit stayed in his mind later after that no matter what he was doing or whatever it was he was thinking, even if it didn’t involved you he still thought about your nervous smile that he couldn’t get out of his head no matter how much hew tried to get you out.

He later started searching for you as he wanted to see if this wasn’t part of your power as he can feel himself getting comfortable thinking about you even though he doesn’t want to, at least that’s what he keeps telling himself, his brothers on the other hands sees it differently, it’s mostly Zeus who tease Poseidon about it which he almost gets screwed each time by Poseidon if it weren’t for their older brother; hades, who stopped them before one of them gets killed by the other.

You were defiantly in for a shock when you found yourself in front of Poseidon again once more, at first you thought you are now going to be dead for accidentally unintentionally following him again but he surprised you by asking you what ‘spell’ did you cast on him to think about you so much no matter how many times he tried to get you out of his heads.

He left soon after you told him that you didn’t put a ‘spell’ on him or anything of the sorts, you knew you were powerful but you didn’t know that you could make such a stoic and cold man like him think about you all the time. You found him attractive but knew that he very well might kill you when your paths cross again. You were shocked to find out that he did not kill you the next time you two cross p[aths in fact he wanted to get to know you. Soon after you two became a couple after getting to know each other and after some courting which flabbergasted every one sept for those that knew well enough.

When ragnarok started you knew he would side with the gods so you left a note explaining that your would be siding with the humans as you thought it was unfair how the gods treated the humans even though the gods were mostly at fault for not doing their jobs to guide the humans to a right path and you would happily die trying if it meant getting your point across and set the gods on doing their jobs finally, he wasn’t happy at the thought of your death and he knew you were right so as a god he decided to join the humans side which very much shocked the other gods as usually he would think of humans as filth but it seemed that your got through to him and so now he sides with the humans survival.

(A/n: hope y’all like it!!! I tried my best to keep the two in character so I’m sorry if it turns out that they were more ooc than I thought they would be 😅 same with the reader seeing as how she’s based off of shinra from fire force, also the requester said that the reader was half god and half human; demigod, and a very large powerful at that so I tried incorporating that into it the best I can so I hope I did ok on it, and sorry if I didn’t 😅, like I said before just make sure to not overdue it on requesting for record of ragnarok as I don’t want to have to close it like I did with the others because I was burned out of it alright? Thank you. Anyway I believe that’s it and hope y’all have a wonderful day/evening/night!!)

[strayheartless]

Here have a couple of sort of sad headcanons about Cloud Strife!:

Cloud doesn't like to be percieved. doesn't matter whether its at a company function, the infantry shared Kitchen or seventh heaven. If you draw attention to him he will shut down.

If Cloud had to definitivly give an answer to the 'who's your best friend?' question, he would say him mom. Once he meets Zack he'd say his Mom... and Zack. He doesn’t really care when admitting that, nobody ever cared to be his friend so why should he be ashamed of the people who did. When he finally gets to have a relationship with Tifa it’s difficult to reconcile the fact that she kind of represents both the people he loved and lost, but also she is her own completely different and special person whom he adores.

Cloud was mute as a kid. He was never officially 'diagnosed' with selective mutism, because his mother couldn't affort do take him to a doctor, but that didn't change the fact that for a very long time Cloud lived in such a high state of anxiety that he just didn't dare speak. And when he did it was barely above a whisper and only ever to Claudia.

He had days during his time at shinra where he convinced himself that Zack was getting bored of him and he activly avoided his company until he eventually Zack pushed Cloud to tell them whats wrong.

He doesn't cry. More specifically, he feels as though he can't cry or shouldn't. His friends have only seen him cry maybe once, and at the time he was high as fuck on pain meds. it distressed everyone involved.

If Cloud is dissapointed or Sad he shuts down completely and won't let people touch him.

He doesn't often get Mad mad, but when he does he could level a small town with one look. The only person that has ever seriously been on the wrong side of that stare is Vincent and he never wants to see it again. Its not an 'I'll kill you later' look its a 'I am so viserally angry at you that I cannot actually vocalise how I feel, so instead I am going to look at you like if i stare hard enough you will realise that I am a single step away from hating you. choose your next words carefully' look.

His nail beds are ruined.

There was a period just between the events of FFVII and AC where Clouds Brain -still in the throws of sorting out its mako muddled identity- regressed after nightmares. Nights when Tifa and Barret have had to coax him out of corners. Nights when Marlene has offered her stuffed bunny and climbed into his lap; shocking everyone when Cloud took the bunny and didn’t cry, but he started shaking really badly.

After AC the gang look into getting Cloud a therapy dog. They look for a calm breed but in the end Cloud picks the wiggliest most excitable ball of energy that he can and lets it smother him with love. The dog is just called ‘puppy’ and Cloud refuses to elaborate on why.

Ah look, sadness and sorrow. Why do I torture him so? I will never know

[pen-and-umbra]

What do you think is the deal with Rufus and Glen? do you think Sephiroth is pissed at his death and wants revenge on Rufus for shooting his buddy?

(Compilation spoilers ahead)

In theory, Glenn's story could connect with a plotline from Before Crisis, an older, previously released mobile game. One little-known fact about Rufus is that, according to BC, he was the chief informant and financier of the Avalanche headquarters, and secretly plotted against his father quite some time before the events of FFVII.

As a matter of fact, the subplot involving President ShinRA's deposition did make it into the Remake, with Rufus hurriedly summoning Turks prior to a "fortuitous" attack on ShinRA HQ by Avalanche forces. Before Crisis established that Rufus ended up identified to be the traitor, but avoided execution and public humiliation by receiving house detention under the guise of a "long-term overseas mission". It's possible that within Remake continuity a long-term overseas mission will no longer be a guise, but an actual assignment imposed on Rufus to prove his loyalties to his father and the company. Incidentally, Glenn Lodbrok's description of Rufus as a "pig-headed, daddy-hating child" suggests a link to the BC narrative.

As such, “daddy-hating" implies awareness of Rufus' long-standing desire to take over his father. Glenn could know about it only if he had been privy to the incident involving Rufus' plot, which culminated in a capture/arrest. Similarly, describing Rufus as "pig-headed" implies that he persists in something (which is deemed stupid); and we know that Rufus persisted in his plan to depose his father until the very first part of the Remake trilogy, when he essentially got what he wanted.

Keeping this plotline in mind, Glenn's gang may wind up mixed in — with certain details changing from the BC line, naturally. Perhaps Glenn's group joins the Turks in capturing Rufus, and they become disposable witnesses to be silenced. Or, if Glenn is working for Rufus, the latter devises a plan to pin the blame on the squad, thus formally evading culpability by bringing justice to a bunch of scapegoats. Essentially, it could be that Glenn's squad is forced to take the fall for Rufus, possibly under the false pretenses of harboring grudges towards their former employer and working to undermine ShinRA. In other words, they become the sacrificial lambs.

Jenovaroth impersonating Glenn also opens up a few questions interlinked with Rufus. Was Sephiroth — human Sephiroth, prior to physically dying in the course of Nibelheim events — in the know of the coup Rufus attempted to orchestrate? Was he in the know of Rufus killing Glenn — which means, was he there to witness? Or is it something Jenova/Jenovaroth learned from the Lifestream or Glenn's memories? Is this actually the missing time that disturbs Tifa as she wonders what Sephiroth has been up to for the past 5 years — planning to resume the open hostilities by posing as Glenn and infiltrating Wutai's top brass?

I don't think there are personal motives at work here as much as something more sinister. Presuming that murder of Glenn is Rufus’ dirty secret, his miraculous “resurrection” is damn good leverage to use, as Rufus is not just any individual, but the head of ShinRA as an organization. Manipulating ShinRA means manipulating the entirety of their resources, including its military might.

Violence and bloodshed breeds resentment and contributes to the emergence of angry spirits. According to the Lifestream Black & White novels, Jenovaroth might be using them to destabilize Lifestream. And, as we saw in the Rebirth, there is indeed infighting within the Planet with Whispers literally appearing as white and black entities, combating each other. This is why Jenovaroth might be manipulating two nations: in order to overpower the Planet. A shrewd plan, if so, but totally in line with what we have glimpsed in Rebirth.

Additionally, the battle for Magnus Materia seemingly refers to hunting and defeating Weapons (in order to extract those humongous orbs). While on the surface it caters to both ShinRA's and Wutai's arms race, it actually serves to advance Jenovaroth's plans to weaken the Planet by removing its defenses.

@pen-and-umbra

[wawawawawawawawawawawawawa]

honestly, looking at izaya's life from a third person pov, it's just... sad? like.

here's this guy who touts himself as something akin to a god and a master manipulator and someone to be feared, and he IS very good at what he does, except... when you take a look at the rest of his life, you see a mid-20s man who has no friends, nobody who really likes him- his clients fear him, his secretary isn't fond of him, and the one friend he DOES have is honestly kind of a garbage friend. and when people draw attention to this, izaya goes on this spiel about how this friendship is so intricrate it can't possibly be understood by an outsider, but what's REALLY happening is that shinra routinely doesn't care for izaya on a personal level via ignoring and ostracizing him, and izaya kind of just. takes it up the ass

he sees everyone around him as an object and the sad thing is everyone, in turn, sees HIM as an object- less an actual living being and more an abstract concept, or at least something that only exists for others to gain something from. it's this vicious cycle of izaya keeping everyone at arm's length and denying his own humanity, which in turn leads to people also denying his humanity, unknowingly feeding into this fucked up cycle of self depracation that most likely started when he was a child- his parents didnt see him as a person, just a mouth to feed and later, a way to have the life they wanted while still appearing respectable- they had kids, just like society said they should, but theyre not obligated to care for them.

and the one person who DOES notice there is something unhealthy going on can't be assed to do anything about it- in volume 9, shinra explicitly says that he doubts izaya expects to live long enough to die of old age- celty actually agrees with him! celty not being assed about it i'd expect, she already hates izaya and doesn't actually know all that much about him, but shinra at least should realize that there's something off about the whole situation. wether thats out of apathy or he just genuinley doesnt believe izaya is being unhealthy, i don't know.

but as it stands, here's a man who insists he can't be manipulated and that he's in control, who's... routinely mistreated by his only friend whom he still talks to and expects some sort of closeness from, and who ultimatley not only loses control, but loses it so spectacularly that he ends up disabled, possibly permanently. i KNOW the spinoff novels said he couldve walked if he went to physical therapy, but "ability to walk" does NOT equal "not disabled anymore."

like... it's just. a sad life! it's a horribly sad existence of a perpetual misery cycle that izaya not only doesn't pull himself out from but actively perpetuates via constantly giving in to his worst impulses and keeping everyone away from him via said impulses, ensuring nobody will notice anything wrong, and that people who DO notice and DO realize its unhealthy, won't give enough of a shit about him to help

[dark-elf-writes]

Hojo half-sibling au but cloud already been fucking gen before seph know he have a brother. Just for the lol.

It all started so simply — which, looking back at it, should have been Cloud’s first and largest red flag. Nothing in his life was ever anything other than complicated. He was “that Strife boy”, Nibelheim’s town bastard, almost an entire town’s dirty little secret.

(Not his mom’s though. Never his mom’s. She would always press a kiss to his crown of spikes that was so much like her own and tell him that he was her wonder. A gift from the gods themselves.)

But it all started so simply…

It started with a mandatory paternity test as a part of joining the SOLDIER program.

Getting to SOLDIER hadn’t been so simple. That had begun with an unlikely friendship between Zack Fair and some poor trooper with unfortunate amounts of motion sickness. Zack, upon hearing about Cloud’s dream to be in the program and his numerous failures at doing so, had thrown himself into helping Cloud train for the next exam.

“That’s what friends do, spikey!”

Hand to hand, sword work, physical conditioning, even materia… or, well, Zack had tried to teach Cloud Materia to… some success which had in turn led to the second complication.

Genesis had stumbled upon their training one day just in time to see Cloud blast Zack back with a spell that shouldn’t be able to do that yet again and had all but claimed Cloud as his own.

“Artificial materia has a different concentration of mako, dearest,” He had said, running the back of gloved fingers over Cloud’s cheek. “And your exposure to mako from living in a place so dense with it has changed you too. Try this instead.” He had slotted a new orb of materia, naturally formed and from his own collection no less, into Cloud’s borrowed bracer like he was sealing a wedding vow.

(And knowing Genesis as well as he did now, that was probably not far off the mark. The dramatic bastard had claimed to have fallen in love from the moment he first saw Cloud “knock the puppy on his ass even with those terribly mis matched materia”, and Genesis Rhapsodos was nothing if not determined when it came to getting what he wanted.

Still, Cloud couldn’t deny that it was nice to be wanted for once… just like he couldn’t deny that Genesis was a skilled teacher both on the mats and in his bedroom where he had Cloud seeing the goddess herself when he did that thing with his fingers.)

But a paternity test made sense, in a way. Cloud had said he never knew his father, and since he was now officially a SOLDIER third, he would start getting attention. Considering how much he looked like his mother, it wouldn’t be a leap to assume people might start coming out of the woodwork to make claims, and such a scandal would look bad for Shinra in the long run. It… probably also didn’t help that Cloud looked enough like Rufus and Lazard that rumors had already begun to spread of another Shirna bastard.

But the results had not been the simple answer.

Nor had they been the slightly more complicated one that, while annoying, would have made a strange sort of sense considering how he looked and proximity to the Shinra manor.

No, Cloud’s results were so complicated that the poor tech that had been running the tests had so so three times to be sure.

And then Cloud was angry. Angry that his mother had been left alone with no money to support her. Angry he had grown up hated by an entire village because some bastard couldn’t be bothered to stick around. Angry that the truth had been under his nose the whole time and he had never seen it.

He had snatched the results from the poor tech and stomped his way to the private lab in the center of the Science Department hardly noting the flustered scientists and techs trying to stop him through the red haze in his mind. The locked door didn’t stand a chance against the mastered fire materia Genesis had gifted him for making it through his training, melting straight through the lock so Cloud could kick the door inwards.

He didn’t notice the second person in the room as he hurled the file of results at a rather unimpressed face. Didn’t care.

“Nice to meet you, dad,” Cloud all but spit between clenched teeth.

Hojo didn’t do much as blink. If anything he shrugged. “Ah. The control group.”

Cloud didn’t remember trashing the lab. Didn’t remember the too familiar face at his side that helped him do it. He did however remember the aftermath with his head in his hands and the Silver General himself awkwardly patting his back as he had a complete mental breakdown.

“It’s what brothers are supposed to do… isn’t it?” Sephiroth had said like to made all the sense in the world. Like any of this made fucking sense.

Cloud Strife had gone from no father to one that saw him as an experiment in all of twenty minutes and now his childhood idol who was actually his half brother was trying to comfort him. It was too much. He needed a drink. He needed a fucking cigarette. He needed —

“Genesis,” He murmured, all but scrambling for his PHS to send off a message. If anyone could make it all make sense it was Gen, or at least, Gen would stand beside him as he burned the world to the ground. Either way, all Cloud wanted at that moment was something that made sense.

Unfortunately, that single word had made Sephiroth recognize exactly who Cloud was other than “some new recruit” or perhaps “Zack’s friend” and his green eyes narrowed as this hands that had been awkwardly patting him tightened possessively.

“You’re the trooper that is dating Genesis.” It wasn’t a question. Sephiroth didn’t wait for an answer. “Genesis slept with my brother.”

And then Cloud Strife’s life became very complicated all at once.

[crisiscutie]

Heyyya! How are you doing and I hope you are feeling better since the post from days ago ❤️

I wanted to ask you if you ever wrote down the most submissive darlings to Sephiroth.. “My lord” “My master” type of woman, who would enjoy begging and pleading for his affection and adore him torturing her both way ;) I just couldn’t help but think about how amused Sephiroth mufht be.. and how bad he would toy wirh her, the thought of it makes me tingle 😣 what do you think that dynamic would be like?

Thanks! I am feeling better thanks to the support I've been getting! And wow, what a great question! I thought about this a lot in the past, but now it's time to share my thoughts. I just want to start off by saying what's so amazing about Sephiroth: This man is so baby and daddy, he encompasses the entire spectrum. When your brainrot for him gets so bad, you can't decide if you want to be owned by him or make him your submissive and breedable wife. 🤭

Content Warning: NSFW. Yandere Sephiroth. Various kinks. DDDNE. Long ramble below.

But in the case of being submissive to Sephiroth: He would LOVE that! A darling that is so mind broken and helplessly in love with him she would do anything and everything for him... But, it comes with a significant stipulation: he wants to work for it. A darling throwing herself at him so quickly and easily wouldn't be interesting to him, even though it's what he would expect because of his arrogance. He finds true satisfaction in gradually breaking her.

You guys know of the "I love you because I can't control you" trope? That's definitely how he would feel initially. Darling giving him so much difficulty will only make him more fervent. And just when he managed to physically best her, that's one part of the battle done.

I think he'd celebrate as if he had already won the war and adopt a mockingly affectionate attitude towards her. This is because he's starting to train his "good girl" to become the best pet she can be. He's so thoughtful, even going as far as getting her a cute collar that perfectly suits her personality and conjuring a magical leash that attaches it to one of his bracelets. Sometimes, he may tighten her leash and give it an extra yank just because he can when they walk together. And you know he's playing Materia fetch with her. 🤣

This is all necessary for her training. For example, if his good girl wants to sit down, she knows the rules. She may only sit on her knees or in his lap. If darling misbehaves? She will be punished. He might even spank her ass hard enough to leave bruises, but then affectionately stroke it afterwards to make it sting more. Later, he'd sweetly ask his good girl what's troubling her as she sits in his lap while they watch the stars. (You fucking know what's wrong, you asshole) And eventually, poor Darling would grow to love it all, even if she hated it at first. She will come to beg for his affection and crave for his touch. He is her everything. And she is his.

Also, she would rarely be called by her name anymore. Instead, "pet" or "good girl" would be the proper ways to address her in Sephiroth's mind.

So here's a mini-analysis of some submissive darlings from my AUs because why not?

Little Sister Darling: Most submissive because of the connection she built with Sephiroth when she was younger. She came from a Midgar orphanage that was often scouted by Shinra for potential SOLDIER recruits, so she had no parents or any known family. Outside of her peer Zack, she didn't have too many friends as she rose through the ranks. But through her mentorship from Sephiroth, they bonded, especially over the similarity of not having any family, so they had each other to fulfil their need for that connection. Even after the Nibelheim Incident, she just wanted nothing more than to be with him. He was pretty much her world. Sephiroth will subject her to psychological torture, believing it will strengthen her. So he'd tell her he's no longer her loving, brotherly mentor. He became strong and so must she if he were to endure. This darling will still hate what he has done, but I can see her giving in quicker. It is fun to imagine this darling as a twistedly happy villainess, torn between wanting to please him and prove herself to him and mother JENOVA.

Nee-San Darling: Second most submissive. Like Little Sis Darling, her connection with Sephiroth came from their childhood. And honestly, regardless of if he is an enemy of the planet, that man is still her sweet little brother in the end. She joins Cloud and the party in their mission to stop him, but inside her, a fierce battle wages. Sephiroth would constantly taunt her by asking if she wants to hurt her sweet little brother or if she'll let others do it. He'd even question why she doesn't tell Cloud that he wasn't in Nibelheim. Why she allows Cloud to keep lying to everyone...

But oddly, I think the psychological torment he inflicts on her will only strengthen his bond (and obsession) with her. Ever since she was injected with his cells, he re-experienced their memories together from her perspective, now fully understanding the extent of her feelings and affection towards him. However, he also harbors hatred towards her. She has always been a puppet, starting with Shinra, and she is the daughter of the scientists who experimented and exploited him and his mother. Lastly, her seemingly affectionate relationship with Rufus only further complicates Sephiroth's feelings towards her. It's a complex mix of emotions that goes beyond simple hate and love. But rest assured, when he breaks her, he will be ecstatic to finally have her in his hold as his big sister and wife.

Daughter Darling: She is an interesting middle ground. She only submits to her father because she wants to. She doesn't like to disappoint him and she especially hates to make her dear father upset. But let this be clear: Daughter Darling IS his equal in most aspects. But Sephiroth holds advantages over her because of his knowledge and experience with his powers, but he can't control her directly, so he can ONLY use psychological manipulation. While he genuinely loves her, he also uses her for his own conquests. So it's only a matter of time before she discovers the protomateria within her body, that suppressed the feral JENOVA beast from awakening. Then, I think once Daughter Darling knows, she'd be anything but submissive towards him.

[getvalentined]

I do wanna say that there is one (1) Cloud Shinra theory that I really like, and it's my kid sister's, and it's that Claudia is President Shinra's estranged younger sister who had serious ideological differences and fucked off at like 14 because the old man expected her to raise Rufus after his mom died and she was like "ABSOLUTELY NOT."

This would explain why Lazard came to Nibelheim after defecting (visiting Aunt Claudia because if she could disappear and not have the company chasing her down then surely she has advice for him) and also it's just super funny to imagine Claudia being so down to clown in poor folks' town because she just hates her family so much that eating raw potatoes that she grew herself and then tore out of the ground with her bare hands is the most liberating thing she's ever experienced.

It's not a headcanon I've ever used or incorporated into anything, but it's genuinely one of the best subversions of common fanon theories that I've ever had the honor of engaging with.

[silver-wield]

So, according to Audrey's (ugh) translation of the new Ultimania, scripting for the story is complete and they're already moving on to recording with the cast members. Nomura also mentions that there'll be a "very important" scene that wasn't in the original game. Do you have any opinions on what it could be?

I said a coupla months ago the script was finished, and there's been a few sus tweets from Shibai about mocapping that seem to fit part three, so I wouldn't be surprised if they've been working on it for a while.

Voices are one of the last things they do, so the fact Nomura says they're almost ready to start means they're definitely aiming for that 2027 release date window to coincide with the 30th anniversary of OG.

If they nail the date exactly then it's 1023 days until part three 🤣

I think we've all been wondering what Kitase is up to and what new scene he wants. He gave us the Shinra rooftop scene between Cloud and Tifa and he said he'd been thinking about that for years. Nomura has already said he's thinking about how they can include the suggestion, so it's obviously good enough and in line with canon to make a part of the game.

I have a couple of ideas:

Scenario at modeoheim - real Cloud went there with Zack and since we start up north they could include it as a new location event

Tifa Vs Sephiroth in the lifestream - when she and Cloud originally fall in she's alone in the dark hearing voices accuse her of things. We saw Sephiroth manifest in Gongaga to attack her, so maybe they'll have a proper battle that she can't win because ykno he's Sephiroth and only Cloud can beat him, and that leads into Cloud appearing to save her and take her into his subconscious for the start of the lifestream scene.

New scenes between Cloud and Zack as part of his revelation or even just showing their escape - they could even tie in parts of last order to expand how they got away and how much time passed.

What happened to Cloud after Zack died - I still wanna know where he got that busted uniform from.

A fancy event scene in Wutai - wall market had a series of bouts and a show, GS did too, so Wutai could have Yuffie's tower trial and a traditional Wutaian show.

Vincent and Lucrecia - as much as I hate her I know Kitase loves Vincent so I'd expect something more detailed included for his history with that bitch.

Cloud and Tifa reunion date - they've been teasing it since Remake and we've seen what the devs for XVI did for Clive and Jill so they know what kinda thing we'd like to see.

Extended HW scene - the game is T rated but that doesn't mean they can't push that limit and make something new from it 🤭

New epilogue scene - the original epilogue the devs kinda forgot to add smoke in the background to show people lived in Midgar still, although maybe it's just me but I thought there was smoke and they just didn't notice it, but a fuller epilogue of a sweep down through the streets kinda like how AC opens and then ending at a familiar bar being run by Cloud and Tifa's descendants would be the kind of sad wholesome closing shot I'd expect from SE.

[risingoflights]

Hmm, you don't feel comfortable talking about it unless someone asks your opinions? Then this is your official ask!

I've never played the critically acclaimed- er, you know. And I have no idea what the Ilsabard Region is or what its story and tone are.

So! What is it, and how does it compare to what you've experienced of Rebirth so far? What do you get from one that's missing in the other? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each narrative, and which do you feel, at this point, will have the most replay value?

(Plus anything else that's crossed your mind!)

ah friend, you should know better than to ask, but thank you for asking <3

leaving xiv out of this for a moment, i can tell you exactly why chapter 7 specifically of rebirth is the one to have caused me to openly gripe.

and, as you might expect, it's to do with hojo.

i was always going to judge the entirety of this game by its handling of hojo, and so far i've been sorely disappointed. standing by what i said in my previous post about nostalgia and fandom goggles, i still believe there was more written into hojo in og than, say, scarlet and heideggar. and since remake did a decent job rounding out president shinra, i was hoping hojo would get similar treatment. so far though, it seems like they've gone the opposite way.

i try not to make too many comparisons to og because many characters are pointedly deviating away from their og characterisations (rufus seems a standout so far), but this point in og was importantly where hojo started shaping up to be more than the trope he began as. it was crucial that as soon as sephiroth reappeared, hojo abandoned shinra. in fact if memory serves, someone (heideggar or rufus?) even points this out in og - hojo's 'disappeared'. then when you see him in costa and cloud asks why he's there, hojo admits 'the same reason as you'. cloud was chasing sephiroth, so was hojo. and he was doing it without shinra because finding sephiroth wasn't on shinra's agenda - at least not at that point.

i was actually so hopeful and happy at the end of remake where the camera pans across the executives lined up in front of rufus, and hojo is decidedly missing - off laughing to himself...! excellent! that defiance seems to have led nowhere in rebirth!

you could argue that in rebirth, hojo decided to continue using shinra resources to go after sephiroth and he's still playing his own long game. doesn't change the fact that rufus was openly out to kill sephiroth now - so what did he tell hojo to make him stay, if hojo had wanted to leave? i mean, you could argue a lot of things to make things make things deeper. and maybe things will get deeper - i'm only halfway through rebirth after all - but rebirth hojo was still on the beach to capture the robes and study them. that single-minded drive and obsession with sephiroth just isn't present. it felt like the icing off the original cake. the bikini girls fawning on him, really fun! him throwing off-handed remarks about recruiting them for his sephiroth breeding program, noooooot... as fun! the whole shinra bigwig come to town, johnny being made to carry his briefcase and push crowds on the beach out of his way? ish! sort of a... dazzling superficial picking of what that scene originally was? did i laugh? yes! was i let down? also yes!

the other thing that really grated on me was the optional aerith dialogue, but that's no surprise - the whole aerith situation has been one big headache for me so far and promises to continue to be so. talk to aerith on the beach and she says a bunch of things about hojo culminating in 'i hate him'. oh. oh, like we really needed this explicitly said? you know, what i really loved about og here is twofold - 1. hojo doesn't appear to even remember aerith's name, which is such a good demonstrating of him not registering her as worthy of ifalna, compared to rebirth where hojo literally yells this at her during battle. this was one of the neat little consistent touches about og hojo - he didn't give a shit, but passively and dismissively - like, it's not so much he deliberately chose to harm others as he just didn't even register harming others as a concept, which made the few people and times he did choose to be sadistic stand out more. and 2. og aerith, instead of... any of the ugly things she could've said to and about hojo, asks him about her lineage and connection to sephiroth instead. how loaded does that make their relationship? that no matter what he did to her and her mother, she still registers him as a source of knowledge and felt pressed to ask him despite the subject being a particular sore point for her?

og aerith probably also hated hojo - i mean, that just makes sense. but the way that scene played out really sets precedent for more questions... what more? what else? which. i guess summarises a lot of the issues i have with rebirth so far. that whole sense of wonder is just not there. the game likes to hand you everything, tell you exactly what to think. this is often done at its detriment, because real complexity simply cannot be spoonfed! BUT - i have to keep reiterating - nostalgia and fandom goggles. they're grafted to my face and i can't take them off.

....so after all that, would you still like to hear about ilsabard? i realise i've just completely failed to answer all your questions but, thank you for allowing me to vent a little!