#did kary bully me into writing it. MAYBE. said i wouldn't write it. SO I DID >:(((

[a-vctlan]

𝘍𝘍𝘝𝘐𝘐 𝘏𝘌𝘈𝘋𝘊𝘈𝘕𝘖𝘕 — SOLDIER program: enlistment OK to reblog.

PART I : PROPAGANDA EFFORTS

Shin-Ra's marketing efforts are a relentless success, a snowball effect that has since hit its peak, an avalanche that has overtaken and demonized all other possible militias. If you want to be an upstanding member of society, you join the Shin-Ra Security Division and are guaranteed respect and ample employee benefits (should you earn them).

But what about those that want to be more than yet another enforcer of petty laws and population control? What about those with greater ambitions, and a drive to prove themselves better than others? For that, you have the SOLDIER program, and Shin-Ra has spared no expenses at making sure that those susceptible to this message have heard it.

The desired demographic for voluntary SOLDIER sign-ups is 13-21, as the younger the subject in question is, the more likely are they to adapt favorably to the mako enhancements, still in their developmental phase.

And this bleeds into marketing: SOLDIER is primarily promoted through four different means, these being the news, sports sponsorships, school presence and media, set to target and groom the different stages of their preferred demographic.

NEWS: war glorification, consistent praise for SOLDIER Firsts, glamorization of Shin-Ra's conquests and scientific advancements.

SPORTS SPONSORSHIPS: SOLDIER branded sports equipment, potion themed energy drinks, team financing, big-game advertisement, SOLDIER-program training regimens .

SCHOOL PRESENCE: enlistment drives, Shin-Ra company presentations, school fairs and investments.

MEDIA: children's animation, television programming, movie financing, SOLDIER cameos in popular media.

The program is sold as an ideal way to achieve individuality and freedom, children allowed to sign up without parental intervention, and upon registration all underage SOLDIERs become children of the state, forfeiting their rights to bodily autonomy and leaving their families with no legal resources to turn to should they be against it.

There are recruitment locations on nearly every continent, with the main processing plants being in: Rocket Town, Costa Del Sol, Icicle Village, Junon and Midgar. By visiting any one of these locations, you are able to sign your life away - if you don't already happen to do it on impulse during a school fair presentation wherein active SOLDIER members sell you on how cool it is to have genuine enhanced capabilities and senses.

The process is entirely predatory, and it is only through Shin-Ra's control of the media that they are able to turn the horrifying implications of this into a feel-good story, mostly focusing on the social successes from the program, be it literal children being able to support their family financially due to Shin-Ra stipends, teens at risk turning their lives around due to the 'strict discipline' of the program, marketing efforts done to humanize the SOLDIERs in the program in an easily digestible way (they're quirky just like you!) or the average story of saving innocent civilians.

PART II : ENLISTMENT ORIGINS

A - voluntary sign-ups B - promotion from the security division C - turk scouting efforts, coercing people with notable skills, an example being promising the resolution of criminal charges in exchange for joining the program D - scouting done through the science department's access to all medical records stored in shin-ra licensed medical establishments

Points A and D are limited by a max age of 21, these SOLDIERs reserved by the science department for all future developments regarding the continued evolution of the program, and they are most likely to receive training in a controlled environment than to be sent out in cases that aren't an emergency - essentially, unless they prove themselves exemplar fighters, they are to be considered more lab rats than fighters.

However, points B and C are exempt from this limitation, and are expected be on the front lines no matter what, their pre-established skills having them be those most often sent out on hazardous missions. They are often those with the slowest mako adaptability rates due to most often being full adults by the time of their acceptance into the program, however, they do have a tendency to be promoted to Second Class faster, where in a majority will remain, with few exemplar individuals being promoted to First Class - and in turn being used for further propaganda efforts, because if they can do it, so can you.

As that's what the SOLDIER program propaganda is wrapped around in: meritocracy, where in only the best of the best make it into the program... but in truth a major part of it is purely arbitrary, dependent on any SOLDIER hopeful's adaptability to the mako process - you may be a great fighter, and still succumb to mako poisoning during the initial trials, just as you may faint at the sight of blood and still be a perfect subject.

Still, when it comes to branch changes from the Security Division to SOLDIER, when one such change does happen successfully, Shin-Ra is sure to sell the dream, taking whatever merits it can give to the SOLDIER in question and lavishing them with interviews and mentions in the internal company news cycle.

The knowledge questionnaires are in fact completely optional, but in order to select out better candidates Shin-Ra makes them seem mandatory — those willing to endure the study necessary are favored for their unquestioning loyalty and ability to follow orders only implied.

PART III : EXTRA NOTES

Due to the young age from which SOLDIERs can apply to the program, around 40% of new SOLIDER candidates have never entered battle, seen active combat or received proper training, and this brings to light the preferred use of swords and other bladed weapons per standard issue - as long as they can be taught to hit targets more or less reliably, their new gained enhanced strength would cut through the rest.

However, gaining skills beyond the most basic of training is placed entirely on the shoulders of every SOLDIER, the program is directly set up to be as competitive as possible in order to find notable specimens for the Science Department.

This leads to the presence of the leveling system, meant to compare new subjects to each other, and to keep track of the personal growth of every SOLDIER.

However… the high pressure of the field can have an adverse effect on those who were already uncertain about their position, found themselves coerced into it, or simply regretting their choice, feeling overwhelmed, be it by the violent nature of the job or the extent to which they feel their body mutating.

These SOLIDERs are most likely to avoid taking on extra missions, and are only seen when directly called to action - and for the most part, there are no repercussions for it... until there are. After a certain threshold of negatively received mission reports, there is a chance that the SOLDIER in question might disappear, often labeled either MIA or plainly KIA.

Most often than not, if they are repurposed by the Science Department, but there is a certain quota needed to fill of "successful" retirements in order to sell the image of the program being anything anywhere near humane. Those that are lucky enough to be allowed to retire from SOLDIER can expect a life of 24/7 surveillance without ANY of the resources granted by the Science Department. If they happen to develop signs of genetic instability and sudden onset mako-poisoning they are expected to rot and die - at which point the Turks will be expected to collect their corpses for the Science Department as their bodies are considered part of a highly classified science experiment.