#especially in advent children

[moldyycheese]

i already asked one but reno and rude if you feel like it ❤️🖤❤️🖤❤️🖤

Reno: Rude, move your big ass bald head

Rude: 😎

[one-winged-dreams]

Also I've been like, HELLA emotional and have been ugly sobbing over a sword on and off for like three days, so

[holyguardian]

Me, hand placed on a window, staring out until pay day because I lowkey want to have a new theme but my editing talent is abysmal. The graphics in the new games are beautiful.

That said I also have a new URL reserved because I feel an itch again but I don't know if I'm going to commit. I have almost picked up both Nanaki and Tifa several times in the past and playing Rebirth certainly doesn't help the gremlin urges.

[iris-vaders]

not to be a sappy shipper but fics where cloud and sephiroth become friends first and treat each other as equals are so cute

[frangiturastrum]

FF7 Compilation Verses Info - Kayden

Name: Kayden Undāre

Birthday & Age: October 18th, 1981. 21 (crisis core) / 28 (FF7) / 30 (AC) / 31 (DoC)

About:

Born in Junon Harbor to loving but busy parents, Kayden was no strange to the influence of Shinra, especially with her father working with the branch of Shinra in Junon. While her childhood was rather common, she grew up around many who wished to join the new SOLDIER program once it became known, and even was encouraged by her father to find a job with Shinra when she got older. Though, how she would eventually work for Shinra for a time would lead to her cutting off all contact with her parents, a tumultuous choice, but one she felt she had to do.

With many of her friends and classmates excited to work for Shinra, with the boys in particular wanting to join SOLDIER, she eventually felt similarly and decided that she would join the company. However, she wasn't interested in working for Shinra as a fighter initially. At 16, she joined Shinra to be an on field medic, wanting rather to help heal and keep others alive than take lives herself. Rather good at keeping up with infantry, once her training was (mostly) complete, she soon was deployed as a field medic during the War with Wutai. Any thoughts and feelings she had on Shinra would, over time, grow sour as she watched the destruction they caused, along with the mental turmoil and pain that those she called friends suffered due to being thrust into war so young.

On one mission through Wutai territory, she was sent along with the troops, including a few SOLDIER 3rds, as well as trio of researchers. The goal was, of course, to find mako rich territory that Shinra could possibly start using, even as the war continued. However, 3/4ths of the way through the trip to the first site, they stumbled into an ambush. The troops, particularly the SOLDIERS, made a formidable defense for Kayden and the researchers to hide behind, with Kayden casting Cures and Restores anytime someone suffered damaged. However, so focused on keeping her allies alive, she missed the bomb that was thrown their way, from behind, until the last moment.

As the SOLDIERS won the fight, the bomb from behind them destroyed Kaydens' legs with shrapnel embedding into her back and tearing open the skin when she collapsed. As the only dedicated medic in the group, the infantrymen held a perimeter while one of the SOLDIERS and the three researchers did what they could to keep her alive through materia use, a somewhat hastily done cauterization to one leg, emergency surgery and removal of shrapnel, one of the researchers eventually fell onto their last resort - mako injections. With the unit having worked together to keep her stable, multiple mako injections were given in quick succession before they were met up by another unit that took her back to the base camp. Not knowing if she would survive but not having the ability to return her to Shinra headquarters for nearly a week, the researcher continued to give her mako injections, which were supposed to be given to the SOLDIER 3rds as part of one of Hojo's many experiments, in an attempt to keep her alive.

When she was returned to Shinra headquarters, she was moved from Medical to Science, and joined, subtly, and without her knowledge, into a separate test. While she did not official join SOLDIER, Science continued to give her injections, enough to the point where she contained a similar concentration of mako to SOLDIER 2nds, but without the combat training. That wouldn't last long though, as, once her injuries were healed and two prosthetic legs were attached, she stayed in her role as field medic. This, too, changed rapidly, as a sudden order from the Turks removed her from her position and she, again without knowledge being shared to her initially, became something of a Turk. While she was not fully on theirs, she was also not SOLDIER, and tended to stay out of the light as a result.

During the events of SOLDIER 1st Class Genesis Rhapsodos' desertion, she took advantage of the focus remaining on his actions, and used that as her chance to escape from her own predicament. Disappearing into the wind, she left one last message with her family before dropping all contact with them and doing everything she could to try and stay away from Shinra. Whether it was through their resources becoming more strained as more things started to fall apart in SOLDIER, or whether it was luck, she managed to find a place for herself in the Sector 5 Slums while waiting for the storm to blow over.

Over time, she stayed in the slums, figuring that if the Turks didn't come looking for her, she was alright to stay hidden under the plate. Though she preferred to stay in the Sector 5, she found work in all of the sectors' slums, particularly with the neighborhood watch as she used the chance to fight monsters as a way to keep herself trained with the skills she learned while fighting for Shinra and with the Turks. That, and she was able to help the doctor in making medicines for the kids, which is how she became acquainted with Aerith. She also, on occasion, would take a gig or two for the Honey Bee Inn.

When Avalanche made itself known through the reactor bombings, she decided to try and find them, hoping to join their cause. Being a known fighter in the Sector 5 slums, she was able to get into contact with Cloud, Tifa, and Barrett after the Sector 7 plate dropped. Joining them on their search for Aerith, she joined Avalanche unofficially in the process and aligned her goals with theirs, including in their plan to defy destiny's course for them.

Years later, when Geostigma started to show, she went back to the Sector 5 slums in the hopes of finding some way to help the kids who were sick. Relying on her own medical knowledge could only get her so far of course, and so, when the Remnants showed and Avalanche once again pulled together she joined in their cause. However, she knew at the time that degradation was starting to take root in her body, and though she did all she could to help, she knew she couldn't fight like she used to, and thus lended more support through materia than before. When the waters from the church came forth, she was cured of her degradation, and then went back to work, both as a merc, and as medic.

[gowns]

Why Kids Aren't Falling in Love With Reading - It's Not Just Screens

A shrinking number of kids are reading widely and voraciously for fun.

The ubiquity and allure of screens surely play a large part in this—most American children have smartphones by the age of 11—as does learning loss during the pandemic. But this isn’t the whole story. A survey just before the pandemic by the National Assessment of Educational Progress showed that the percentages of 9- and 13-year-olds who said they read daily for fun had dropped by double digits since 1984. I recently spoke with educators and librarians about this trend, and they gave many explanations, but one of the most compelling—and depressing—is rooted in how our education system teaches kids to relate to books.

What I remember most about reading in childhood was falling in love with characters and stories; I adored Judy Blume’s Margaret and Beverly Cleary’s Ralph S. Mouse. In New York, where I was in public elementary school in the early ’80s, we did have state assessments that tested reading level and comprehension, but the focus was on reading as many books as possible and engaging emotionally with them as a way to develop the requisite skills. Now the focus on reading analytically seems to be squashing that organic enjoyment. Critical reading is an important skill, especially for a generation bombarded with information, much of it unreliable or deceptive. But this hyperfocus on analysis comes at a steep price: The love of books and storytelling is being lost.

This disregard for story starts as early as elementary school. Take this requirement from the third-grade English-language-arts Common Core standard, used widely across the U.S.: “Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.” There is a fun, easy way to introduce this concept: reading Peggy Parish’s classic, Amelia Bedelia, in which the eponymous maid follows commands such as “Draw the drapes when the sun comes in” by drawing a picture of the curtains. But here’s how one educator experienced in writing Common Core–aligned curricula proposes this be taught: First, teachers introduce the concepts of nonliteral and figurative language. Then, kids read a single paragraph from Amelia Bedelia and answer written questions.

For anyone who knows children, this is the opposite of engaging: The best way to present an abstract idea to kids is by hooking them on a story. “Nonliteral language” becomes a whole lot more interesting and comprehensible, especially to an 8-year-old, when they’ve gotten to laugh at Amelia’s antics first. The process of meeting a character and following them through a series of conflicts is the fun part of reading. Jumping into a paragraph in the middle of a book is about as appealing for most kids as cleaning their room.

But as several educators explained to me, the advent of accountability laws and policies, starting with No Child Left Behind in 2001, and accompanying high-stakes assessments based on standards, be they Common Core or similar state alternatives, has put enormous pressure on instructors to teach to these tests at the expense of best practices. Jennifer LaGarde, who has more than 20 years of experience as a public-school teacher and librarian, described how one such practice—the class read-aloud—invariably resulted in kids asking her for comparable titles. But read-alouds are now imperiled by the need to make sure that kids have mastered all the standards that await them in evaluation, an even more daunting task since the start of the pandemic. “There’s a whole generation of kids who associate reading with assessment now,” LaGarde said.

By middle school, not only is there even less time for activities such as class read-alouds, but instruction also continues to center heavily on passage analysis, said LaGarde, who taught that age group. A friend recently told me that her child’s middle-school teacher had introduced To Kill a Mockingbird to the class, explaining that they would read it over a number of months—and might not have time to finish it. “How can they not get to the end of To Kill a Mockingbird?” she wondered. I’m right there with her. You can’t teach kids to love reading if you don’t even prioritize making it to a book’s end. The reward comes from the emotional payoff of the story’s climax; kids miss out on this essential feeling if they don’t reach Atticus Finch’s powerful defense of Tom Robinson in the courtroom or never get to solve the mystery of Boo Radley.

... Young people should experience the intrinsic pleasure of taking a narrative journey, making an emotional connection with a character (including ones different from themselves), and wondering what will happen next—then finding out. This is the spell that reading casts. And, like with any magician’s trick, picking a story apart and learning how it’s done before you have experienced its wonder risks destroying the magic.

-- article by katherine marsh, the atlantic (12 foot link, no paywall)

[wuekka]

I read this...

and remembered an old argument of "Tifa didn't yell at Cloud you just hate her!", While ultimania discribes the scene as...

"She subconsciously raises her voice"

[supersoakerfullofblood]

Point of View: the Biggest Thing You're Missing!

Point of view is one of the most important elements of narrative fiction, especially in our modern writing climate, but you rarely hear it seriously discussed unless you go to school for writing; rarely do help blogs or channels hit on it, and when they do, it's never as in-depth as it should be. This is my intro to POV: what you're probably missing out on right now and why it matters. There are three essential parts of POV that we'll discuss.

Person: This is the easiest part to understand and the part you probably know already. You can write in first person (I/me), second (You), and third person (He/she/they). You might hear people talk about how first person brings the reader closer to the central character, and third person keeps them further away, but this isn't true (and will be talked about in the third part of this post!) You can keep the reader at an intimate or alien distance to a character regardless of which person you write in. The only difference--and this is arguable--is that first person necessitates this intimacy where third person doesn't, but you still can create this intimacy in third person just as easily. In general, third person was the dominant (and really the only) tense until the late 19th century, and first person grew in popularity with the advent of modernism, and nowadays, many children's/YA/NA books are written in first person (though this of course doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't write those genres in the third person). Second person is the bastard child. Don't touch it, even if you think you're clever, for anything the length of a novel. Shorter experimental pieces can use it well, but for anything long, its sounds more like a gimmick than a genuine stylistic choice.

Viewpoint Character: This is a simple idea that's difficult in practice. Ask yourself who is telling your story. This is typically the main character, but it needn't be. Books like The Book Thief, The Great Gatsby, Rebecca, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the Sherlock series are told from the perspective of a side character who isn't of chief importance to the narrative. Your viewpoint character is this side character, the character the reader is seeing the world through, so the main character has to be described through them. This isn't a super popular narrative choice because authors usually like to write from the perspective of their most interesting character, but if you think this choice could fit your story, go for it! You can also swap viewpoint characters throughout a story! A word of warning on that: only change your viewpoint character during a scene/chapter break. Switching mid-scene without alerting the reader (and even when you do alert the reader) will cause confusion. I guarantee it.

Means of Perception; or, the Camera: This part ties the first two together. If you've ever heard people talk about an omniscient, limited, etc. narrator, this is what they mean. This part also includes the level of intimacy the reader has with the viewpoint character: are we in their heads, reading their thoughts, or are we so far away that we can only see their actions? If your story is in a limited means of perception, you only have access to your character's head, eyes, and interpretations, where an omniscient narrator sees through all characters' heads at once. (This doesn't eliminate the viewpoint character--most of your writing will still be in that character's head, but you're allowed to reach into other characters' thoughts when needed. You could also be Virginia Woolf, who does fluidly move through everyone's perspectives without a solid viewpoint character, but I would advise against this unless you really are a master of the craft.) Older novels skew towards third person omniscient narration, where contemporary novels skew towards first person limited. You also have a spectrum of "distant" and "close." If omniscient and limited are a spectrum of where the camera can swivel to, distant and close is a spectrum of how much the camera can zoom in and out. Distant only has access to the physical realities of the world and can come off as cold, and close accesses your character's (or characters', if omniscient) thoughts. Notice how I said narration. Your means of perception dramatically effects how your story can be told! Here's a scene from one of my stories rewritten in third-person distant omniscient. The scene is a high school football game:

“Sometimes,” he said. “Not much anymore.” “It’s not better, then?” She shivered; the wind blew in. “A little.” His tone lifted. “I don’t know if it’ll ever be better, though.” She placed a hand on his arm, stuttered there, and slipped her arm around his waist. “Did it help to be on your own?” He raised an eyebrow. “You were there.” “Yes and no.” “And the guys, the leaders.” “Come on,” she heckled. “Okay, okay.” Carmen sighed. “Yeah, it helped. I don’t think—I don’t know—I’d be me if they’d fixed it all.” She grinned. “And who might you be?” “Oh, you know. Scared, lonely.” He fired them haphazardly, and a bout of laughter possessed him which Piper mirrored. “Impatient.” “And that’s a good thing?” “No.” He sat straight. “Gosh, no. But I don’t want to be like him, either.” He pointed to the field; Devon recovered a fumbled ball. “He’s never been hurt in his life.” She met his eyes, which he pulled away. “You don’t mean that," Piper said. “Maybe not. He’s too confident, though.” The cloth of Carmen's uniform caved and expanded under Piper's fingers.

With distant-omniscient, we only get the bare actions of the scene: the wind blows in, Piper shivers, the cloth rises and falls, Carmen points, etc. But you can tell there's some emotional and romantic tension in the scene, so let's highlight that with a first person limited close POV:

“Sometimes,” he said. “Not much anymore.” “It’s not better, then?” Frost spread up from her legs and filled her as if she were perforated rock, froze and expanded against herself so that any motion would disturb a world far greater than her, would drop needles through the mind’s fabric. A misplaced word would shatter her, shatter him. “A little.” His tone lifted. “I don’t know if it’ll ever be better, though.” She placed a hand on his arm, thought better, and slipped her arm around his waist. “Did it help to be on your own?” He raised an eyebrow. “You were there.” “Yes and no.” “And the guys, the leaders.” “Come on,” she heckled. “Okay, okay.” Carmen sighed. “Yeah, it helped. I don’t think—I don’t know—I’d be me if they’d fixed it all.” She grinned. “And who might you be?” “Oh, you know. Scared, lonely.” He fired them haphazardly, and a bout of laughter possessed him which Piper mirrored. “Impatient.” “And that’s a good thing?” “No.” He sat straight. “Gosh, no. But I don’t want to be like him, either.” He pointed to the field; Devon recovered a fumbled ball. “He’s never been hurt in his life.” “You don’t mean that.” She spoke like a jaded mother, spoke with some level of implied authority, and reminded herself again to stop. “Maybe not. He’s too confident, though.” Piper felt the cloth of his waist cave and expand under her fingers and thought: is this not confidence?

Here, we get into Piper's thoughts and physical sensations: how the frost rises up her, and how this sensation of cold is really her body expressing her nervous fears; how she "thought better" and put her arm around his waist; her thought "is this not confidence?"; and how she reminds herself not to talk like a mother. Since I was writing from the close, limited perspective of a nervous high schooler, I wrote like one. If I was writing from the same perspective but with a child or an older person, I would write like them. If you're writing from those perspectives in distant narration, however, you don't need to write with those tones but with the authorial tone of "the narrator."

This is a lot of info, so let's synthesize this into easy bullet points to remember.

Limited vs. Omniscient. Are you stuck to one character's perspective per scene or many?

Close vs. Distant. Can you read your characters' thoughts or only their external worlds? Remember: if you can read your character's thoughts, you also need to write like you are that character experiencing the story. If child, write like child; if teen, write like teen; etc.

Here's another way to look at it!

This is a confusing and complex topics, so if you have any questions, hit up my ask box, and I'll answer as best I can. The long and short of it is to understand which POV you're writing from and to ruthlessly stick to it. If you're writing in limited close, under no circumstances should you describe how a character other than your viewpoint character is feeling. Maintaining a solid POV is necessary to keeping the dream in the reader's head. Don't make them stumble by tripping up on POV!

[ariseur]

Hi! So, for the request, i was wondering if you could do sfw and nsfw (if u want, ofc) headcanons like you did for Vergil, but for Cloud Strife? It’d be super nice if you could, but no problem if u don’t like the request !!

cloud strife (n)sfw hc’s 𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪

┊ ˚��� notes ｡˚ 🎼

i haven’t recovered from crisis core, guys.

┊ ˚➶ warnings ｡˚ 🎼

spoilers and mentions of crisis core and advent children, mentions of the massage scene in ffvii remake 😭😭, nsfw will be labeled and put in a separate section of headcanons, intended lowercase, lmk if i missed anything, love 💕!!

. ˚◞♡ ⃗ *ೃ༄ . ˚◞♡ ⃗ *ೃ༄ . ˚◞♡ ⃗ *ೃ༄ . ˚◞♡ ⃗ *ೃ༄

❥ so!!

❥ let me just start by saying that when you start dating cloud, you must know what you’re getting into— and by that, i mean that he’s super emotionally constipated and is often frazzled with his memory (depending on which arc we’re in).

❥ i think you’d have more luck with a more receptive response if you met him during cc or somewhat before, for instance— being childhood friends with him like tifa was. i think after the events of cc / during ac is where it gets more difficult to get him to open up.

❥ for love language, in terms of giving, i think cloud performs acts of service to show his love. he absolutely sucks with words but small things he does are his subtle ways of showing you he loves you without being able to say it. like walking you home or making you coffee when he notices that you’ve stayed up the night before.

❥ clouds very observant, so while you were at your desk working on whatever you were doing, he came home a little late to see you slaving away at your desk. he didn’t say much, if anything maybe a, “you’re up?” before he goes to sleep. but that morning he makes sure to wake up extra early to make you some coffee.

❥ or maybe, when you guys are hanging out at seventh heaven or something, he’ll walk you home. his excuse is that it’s not safe in the slums to walk home by yourself.. and while that is true, he just really wants to make sure you’re safe. he’ll act like he’s bothered by your small talk, but will still continue to respond.

❥ another thing i might consider for cloud is gift giving. he’d probably bring you something back from the other sectors if hes on a mission or something.

❥ with receiving love languages, i think it’d take him some time to be open to it but words of affirmation always manages to tint his cheeks a little pink.

❥ he can’t help it?? he’s just like a old pitbull that craves pets every so once in awhile. he’s the dog that’ll lay at your feet with a big sigh as you gentle rub behind his ears, even though he’ll literally walk away five minutes later as if he wasn’t clinging onto you.

❥ due to hectic and erratic schedule of his job, he also cherishes the quality time that you two have while you can. even if this is before he’s a merc, maybe perhaps when he’s still a shinra infantryman, he still revels in the moments you two spend alone. anything could happen, and he’s grateful for every moment he spends with you, especially after the events of cc.

❥ he can be the wisest dude ever and then malfunction right afterwards. this is also stemmed from his interaction with jessie in ffvii remake where he says that survival is a matter of luck and skill, and you can’t rely on luck— to which jessie agrees. then he literally doesn’t know what to say afterwards. it’s like a.. 35/65 chance of these moments. just agree with him or compliment his thoughts and that’ll be enough to shut him up for a few minutes!!!

❥ as for dates!! i read @silverflqmes’s dating headcanons for agzsc (by the way??? amazing??? go follow them rn!1!1!1) and they mentioned how they could see cloud taking you out on his motorcycle to the outskirts and let me tell you I AGREE. cloud is obviously not a people person, so i also think he’d prefer to go to a small clearing or somewhere quiet where only the two of you would be seen. after all the chaos of his job, he likes a little quiet time.

❥ i don’t think cloud would like to have you involved in his work, and if you were, he’d at least spend a lot of time sparring with you or training with you to help teach you defense. he overthinks a lot, so he’s always thought about something happening while he’s away. “you need to be able to protect yourself when i’m not there.” he always says. cloud may not be a very.. responsive— teacher but you’ll definitely learn something nonetheless!!

❥ don’t let cloud’s bluntness fool you!! he may be dry but he does care for you!!! you may not realize it but you could ask for almost anything from him and he’d oblige for free, and we all know cloud, he’s just doin stuff for the pay. oh it’s 250 gil? nah keep it he’ll get it for you dwdw pookie.

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈ ｡ﾟ

NSFW BELOW ꨄ︎

❥ let me just get smth off my chest, okay???

❥ i am a firm rider on the virgin/inexperienced!cloud train.

❥ and no it’s not just because this is lowkey self indulgent, i just don’t really think cloud ever took much of an interest with pursuing sexual and romantic relationships like that.

❥ i can’t see cloud doing anything wild either? i think he’s pretty vanilla for the most part besides maybe a small praise kink or something like that. just you telling him how good he feels or how good he’s making you feel is like an instant uplifter for him.

❥ guys.. that deluxe massage scene.. stays rent free in my brain..

❥ yeah those noises in that scene also apply to the bedroom, too.

❥ pace definitely depends on his mood!! if you guys are both tired or just don’t feel like going super fast, then cloud will take more of a slow pace, maybe even occasionally teasing you. but if he’s perhaps a little jealous, albeit how much he tries to assure you that he doesn’t, then he will literally drill into you. good luck 😭.

❥ cloud doesn’t have a very high libido, but he still savors the moments when you guys do get intimate. that’s why he likes to go slow— so that you both can really cherish this moment. even if he’s super awkward and unsure of what to do with himself.

❥ cloud’s definitely pretty average in terms of girth, maybe a little bit more lengthier? he’s very sensitive though, so be careful!!!

❥ you def are gonna have to show cloud what makes you feel good and what to do in these moments considering his inexperience. cloud’s a quick learner though, so he should pick up on it pretty fast.

❥ he’s very observant, and on days when he’s focused on giving you pleasure, he makes sure to take notice of all your expressions and noises.

❥ i need to be contained holy crap

[opencommunion]

“Palestinian Prisoners’ Club:

With the advent of the holy month of Ramadan, more than 9,100 Palestinian prisoners in occupation prisons face a policy of starvation and deprivation from practicing religious rituals.

The Prisoners’ Club added in a statement that the starvation policy worsened in an unprecedented way after October 7th, as a result of a number of measures it imposed, including closing the so-called prisoners' cantina, confiscating the prisoners' remaining food supplies, and reducing meals; the food provided to them was poor in quantity and quality, which affected their fate, especially the sick, and contributed to the worsening of their health conditions. The throwing of thousands of detainees after October 7th into cells without providing food also contributed to the worsening of the starvation policy.

The starvation policy constituted the most dangerous policy imposed by the occupation after October 7th, in addition to torture and abuse, which affected all male and female prisoners, as well as detained children, and caused them health problems, specifically in the digestive system, in addition to the weight loss that all prisoners suffer from today.

The Prisoners’ Club continued that the issue of food appeared in the prisoners' testimonies as a prominent and fundamental issue over the past period. In addition to the poor quantity and quality of food provided by the prison administration, it deliberately brings food that is not cooked well, and in some detention centers and camps, specifically affiliated with the army administration, such as ‘Etzion,’ some expired canned food was provided to detainees.

Depriving prisoners of the practice of religious rituals.

In addition to the starvation policy, the prison administration deprived prisoners of the call to prayer, and of congregational prayer, even inside the cells. Prisoners were subjected to attacks many times after trying to perform prayer, or even read the Qur’an in a clear voice. Also, in many prisons, most notably the Naqab, the Qur’an was confiscated from prisoner’s in the first period after the aggression [on Gaza], the prisoners also face difficulty in performing ablution due to the reduction of water provided to them.

In light of the unprecedented state of collective isolation imposed on prisoners, stripping them of any means of communication with the outside world, including radios and the limited television stations that were available to them before October 7th, thousands of them have difficulty even knowing prayer times inside the cells.

How did poor food lead to the martyrdom of the detainee Mohammed Ahmed Al-Sabbar?

Martyr and administrative detainee Mohammed Ahmed Al-Sabbar’s case, was one of the most prominent cases linked to the policy of starvation and the poor quality of food provided to him. Since before his arrest, Mohammed had suffered from intestinal problems and needed special food in addition to health check-ups, and the entirety of his food being legumes caused major bloating in his intestines, which led to a worsening of his health condition and his martyrdom on February 8th, and to this day the occupation continues to detain his body.

The occupation practices humiliation and starvation against detainees.

It’s worth mentioning, in light of the occupation’s continued implementation of the crime of enforced kidnappings of Gaza detainees, there is not sufficient information available about the food provided to them as part of the conditions of their detention, but in light of the testimonies that came out of those who were released, they confirmed that they suffered from the policy of starvation, deliberately humiliating them to get food.

We also point out that among what was reported by prisoners released from prisons, is that the prison administration asks Gaza detainees to ‘bark’ when bringing meals.

The number of prisoners in the occupation prisons is more than 9,100, including 3,558 administrative detainees, about 200 children, and 61 female prisoners.”

RNN Prisoners, 12 March 24

[rottenpumpkin13]

How do you feel about a redemption arc for Sephiroth?

On one hand, Sephiroth's character development into a villain is a huge part of his allure. Even Kitase said at one point that there's nothing stronger than Sephiroth in his universe, and knowing his backstory makes his descent into madness even more satisfying. On the other hand, especially with what we know now from the FS lore, it would be nice to see them tackle something like a redemption arc for Sephiroth in the trilogy (and I say this with a completely biased opinion because I'm a sucker for sane Sephiroth) (even if the redeemed version of Sephiroth wouldn't be the same as him pre-Nibelheim).

With the multiverse plotline and the hint in Opera Omnia that Sephiroth's memories were tied to his humanity, I think there's a chance that if he got them back, his humanity might return too.

I don't know. With the confirmation that the trilogy will lead to Advent Children, it's very unlikely we'll see a full-on redemption for him, but at the same time, the series has been around since 1997, and it would be cool to see them take a completely different approach to Sephiroth this time since they're already adding new things. Though Sephiroth's story and end is already beautifully told albeit tragic as fuck.

Not every villain needs a redemption arc, but what qualifies one is whether there's still a chance for redemption. I think it's possible for Sephiroth, mainly because his story is so tragic. He had all the reasons to become a villain, but also all the reasons to take his anger in a completely different direction and not become a villain at all had circumstances been just a bit different (Jenova mind control theory aside).

[insipid-drivel]

Toxins, Venom, and Poisons in Historical Western Medicine: How Are We Not Extinct From Doing Some Of This To Ourselves?

This piece is an involuntary piece inspired by @writing-with-sophia's awesome post "Poison list", which is an accurate and succinct list of commonly known (and ancient!) poisons, venoms, and toxins that have been and were used for causing poisoning in ancient and recent history. I wanted to write this because what struck me by their post crossing my dash was, the sheer number of poisons listed that were - and even still are - used as mainstays for healthcare around the world throughout the ages!

OBLIGATORY DON'T BE A DUMBASS PSA: If you're planning on incorporating these poisons into your HISTORICAL-era writing, it's also important to remember that many of them were used for medicinal purposes at one time, too, and it's great you're interested in learning about the subject! And also, you shouldn't try ANY of these! I will not tell you how to do it at home if you DM me, so don't! You are not appropriately trained to do it! You will harm or kill yourself and possibly your loved ones if you fuck around with any of these and it will be 100% your fault and you absolutely should feel bad bout it! I've seen some of you idiots believe 4chan posts about making home-grown crystals using recipes for actual mustard gas and seen you being wheeled into the ER on the news! I will not feel bad if you get yourself hurt if you screw around with any of these plants, elements, or animals!

Resource blog plugs and PSA over, now for the Hilariously Poisonous Medicines:

If you're writing something that's meant to take place prior to the advent of our more modern understanding of poisons, venoms, and toxins, factoring in "this is toxic to me NOW, but what about 500 years ago?" can add a lot of opportunities for interesting plot elements to your story.

These can include someone accidentally poisoning themselves with a toxic drug or substance that wouldn't have killed them if they'd handled it properly - like tansy? Grows all over the place in Europe and England? That'll kill you if you harvest it too late in the season, but it's good for intestinal parasites when it's harvested early in the year and processed right.

Did the lady's maid really kill her mistress with belladonna? Or was she trying to secretly help her mistress get rid of an unwanted pregnancy?

The protagonist's children can't survive to make it to weaning age! Is the wetnurse a poisoner, or does the milkman hide that he sells sour milk by pouring Borax into it so no one could taste it and has no idea he's killing his clients' babies?

Nuance and cultural mores regarding historical views about poisons and toxins can make writing even more fun, dynamic, and interesting! Explore 'em!

Just... please don't try any of this crap yourself. You will poison yourself, it will hurt, you will die, and you will hurt the entire time you're dying. Using OP's master list alone, here's the flip side of these lethal beasts through the eyes of our distant ancestors who believed illness was caused by "vapors", "bad air", and "imbalanced humors":

Hemlock:

Used across multiple different cultures in history. When properly administered to treat a disease, poison hemlock was used to treat asthma, whooping cough, bronchitis, joint/bone pain, muscle cramps, and insomnia. Hemlock was most often used as a sedative and antispasmodic.

Arsenic:

Arsenic is a heavy metal, and so has been used in everything from making specialty dyes for wallpapers (Scheele's green is the most infamous arsenic-based paint; Queen Victoria once had a guestroom in her palace redone with Scheele's green wallpaper. The first dignitary to stay there had to be carried out and taken to emergency care after breathing astronomical amounts of arsenic dust from the wallpaper's paint), to medicine. Arsenic was especially commonly used in history to treat skin ailments ranging from acne, to psoriasis, to syphilis sores. It was also sometimes prescribed for menstrual cramps, upset stomachs, colic, and arthritis, among many, many other things.

Cyanide:

Uh... I have literally never found any evidence of cyanide in medicine, outside of its use in modern medicine as part of certain chemical lab tests for measuring urine ketone bodies that involve no contact with a patient whatsoever. Cyanide literally works in less than a few seconds to render your entire body incapable of absorbing OR using oxygen in your lungs or already existing in your blood. Cyanide is really only good at making things that breathe not breathe anymore.

Nightshade:

There are a lot of different "nightshades", so being specific is essential here. Potatoes are nightshades. Tomatoes are nightshades. Calling anything a "nightshade" does not inherently mean it's lethally toxic. Belladonna is probably the most notorious of the "deadly" nightshades, but to this day, is still used medicinally, and would actually be seen as a health and cosmetic mainstay in historical fiction, especially if your setting is in Italy!

Belladonna is an Italian portmanteau for "beautiful woman", because tinctures (water-based drops) of belladonna were commonly used by Italian women as eyedrops to dilate their eyes and appear more attractive, aroused, and desirable. Today, belladonna's eye-dilating effects are still used by optometrists to dilate the pupils! Belladonna has been, and still sometimes is used as an NSAID, general painkiller, motion sickness treatment, asthma medication, and even as a treatment for IBS.

Ricin:

As OP said, Ricin is derived from the toxin found in Castor Beans, and is surprisingly new as an official "the only reason this is made is to make someone dead" poison. Not only is ricin a popular "nobody would think to test for this!" choice in mystery/thriller writing, but it has been used for political assassinations in real life before. Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian anti-Communist dissenter and writer, was killed in 1978 with a 1.7mm diameter ricin-coated pellet shot into his thigh muscle by an unidentified assailant using a modified umbrella as a gun. He died 4 days later.

Historically, castor OIL has been used for medicinal purposes, especially for treating constipation, inducing labor in pregnancy, and as a topical skin moisturizer. If you've ever watched the opening scene in Disney's "Peter Pan", when the childrens' mother is trying to give them a spoonful of medicine each, she's actually giving them castor oil! Castor oil tastes really bad (so much so that flavorings like cinnamon were often added to try to muffle the taste), so the childrens' reluctance and disgust at their mom making them take their medicine is very realistic for the era the movie came out in!

Strychnine:

Another lethal poison that started life as a medicine/food additive. Strychnine is no longer used medicinally at all today, but historically, it was used to stimulate the heart, treat bladder and bowel incontinence, and limb palsy. Strychnine is a deadly-powerful muscle stimulant that, as a poison, causes horrifyingly painful full-body strictures (spasms) and destroys the cardiovascular system. (Fun fact: Strychnine and hydrochloric acid were historically mixed into cheap vodka to make knock-off gin, especially during the Georgian Era in England if the brewer didn't have or couldn't afford juniper berries!)

Snake Venom:

Seriously, do your research before you write an actual, real snake species using venom they don't produce! The Big 3 Forms Of Snake Venom are: Hemotoxic, Neurotoxic, and Cytotoxic. Specific snake species exclusively generate the same kind of venom (so a hemotoxic snake will ALWAYS produce baby snakes that also make hemotoxic venom). Aristotle himself wrote in 380 BC that certain snake venoms could be applied for treating fevers, smallpox, and leprosy, and there is even some evidence in the historical record prior to the 1800s that different cultures have experimented throughout the eons with using venom for converting into antivenom, but I've never found a source citing anyone making a successful form of antivenom until around the 1850s.

Digitalis:

OP really nailed the important thing about Digitalis, and that is it's cardiac benefits for certain people - particularly for treating congestive heart failure. Vincent van Gogh was actually prescribed epilepsy medication that likely contained Digitalis, aka Foxglove, and there are some prevailing theories about van Gogh's love of bright yellow paint as being either caused or exacerbated by the symptoms associated with digitalis use, which can cause an attraction to and increased visual sensitivity to the color yellow. In several portraits, including one of his own psychiatrist, van Gogh shows subjects presented alongside foxglove flowers. Digitalis is absolutely lethal if consumed or taken without expert guidance, however, because it's the mother ingredient of Digoxin. Digoxin isn't used as frequently as it used to be a few decades ago, but it's still used and prescribed today for certain forms of heart failure and heart disease. Digoxin was also, at one time, was also sometimes used to induce chemical abortions.

Lead:

Dear god, lead. Not only is it so slow to kill you that you'll think that the only way to manage your symptoms is with more lead, but lead poisoning can be a life-long crisis for a person who is regularly exposed to it. Humans have used lead for everything from plumbing, to paint, to our cutlery, to cosmetics, to medicine. While yes, it is very possible to ingest enough lead in a single sitting to die within hours or days, most sufferers of lead poisoning experience it for years or decades before the symptoms become obvious. Some archaeologists believe that the Romans used lead cutlery because lead has a unique reaction when we lick it: when you have lead coating your tongue, it makes EVERYTHING you eat suddenly taste 10x better. I learned this myself from going target-shooting with my mom at a gun rage as a teenager, inhaled gunsmoke (which contains lead), and went for lunch immediately after. Even though I was just eating a $5 meal from In-N-Out, my burger tasted so good I thought I was gonna have to change my pants. When I asked the rangemaster at the target place about it later, he literally said, "Oh yeah, lead makes the worst cooking taste like heaven."

The ancient Romans ate a lot of rotten, spoiled, and sour food, and so lead would've made it easier to eat it back then. But the neurological effects of lead poisoning are nightmarish. It's suspected that, in America, the #1 reason we had so many active serial killers in the country from the 1940s-2000s was because of leaded gasoline. Ever since leaded gasoline was banned? Serial and random violent crime rates have dramatically gone down, especially in metropolitan cities. Ancient Rome, too, gradually became an increasingly violent city as its population went up and its reliance on lead did. We're only just now starting to figure out how toxic lead actually is, so go nuts with using it as a plot element regarding subjects like "Why Are You Like This?"

Mercury:

Mercury is also known as quicksilver, because in spite of being a heavy metal, the temperature at which it melts into a liquid is very, very low compared to most other metals. The first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, was rumored to be so obsessed with the notion of immortality that he would send his doctors on doomed voyages around the world searching for a legendary substance that would, indeed, make him immortal. Legend has it that some doctors who were tasked with the job found out about the last guys, and produced mercury before Emperor Qin Shi Huang and cried, "Here it is! I got it!" so they wouldn't end up doomed to drown at sea. Qin Shi Huang became so obsessed with ingesting and medicating himself with mercury that, when his legendary tomb was being constructed, he had a small-yet-accurate-to-scale map of China+the known world about the size of a football field with every body of water full of fountains of running mercury in his burial chamber. His tomb was rediscovered in the last couple of decades after archaeologists found suspiciously high levels of mercury in the soil on top of a "hill" that had been sitting in the countryside untouched for thousands of years. It turned out to be Qin Shi Huang's long-lost tomb.

Since those days, mercury has closely been associated in early medicine as a sort of cure-all, since it literally kills anything it touches (including people). Captain Blackbeard himself, the most notorious pirate in Western history (Western specifically; google who Zheng Yi Sao was), was known or widely believed to be a syphilis sufferer, and desperately sought infusions of mercury from ships he'd capture (and the doctors onboard) to treat it, believing like everyone did that mercury could cure syphilis. It can't. They just didn't understand back then that syphilis starts off surface-level, and then eats your brain years after the initial infection.

Aconite:

Again, ridiculously toxic outside of specific medicinal applications that still aren't safe today! Aconite, or wolfsbane, has historically been used as a heart sedative (for slowing the heart), diuretic, painkiller, and even used to induce sweating. Evidence of wolfsbane being used for medicinal purposes has been spotted here and there over thousands of years throughout the Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Empires, but its original use came about in Ancient Greece for hunting and culling wolves by poisoning bait-food with it. That form of hunting died out long before the European Middle Ages, but the name "wolfsbane" stuck. Mostly because in the Middle Ages, a lot of people believed werewolves were a huge problem, and kept wolfsbane handy to deter said werewolves.

Thallium:

Today, thallium is mostly used in the production of camera and eyeglass lenses. Before its toxicity was known about, it wasn't strange to hear of thallium being used topically to treat fungal infections like ringworm. Thallium was also sporadically used in treating typhus and tuberculosis, along with a wide array of sexually transmitted diseases.

This list doesn't even touch the tip of the toxic iceberg when it comes to the sheer quantity of hilariously dangerous toxins people have, or still continue, to use for medicinal purposes! In a Victorian-era English London middle-class townhouse setting alone, there were dozens and dozens of ways to poison or otherwise harm yourself just by going about your daily life. So, if you've got a period piece you're working on, or are just bored, you can pick an exact date and time in our history and learn just how terrifyingly comfortable our ancestors were with upsettingly dangerous substances and home remedies. You can also watch a massive docuseries, called "Hidden Killers" and hosted by historian Suzannah Lipscomb, among other historians and archaeologists, which deep-dives into the hidden and unknown dangers of living in eras from Tudor-Era England, to the Post-WWII Reconstruction Age.

As a final note: I am NOT bashing Chinese or Eastern medicinal practices here, and in fact deliberately have gone out of my way to not include any references toward culturally-sanctioned medicinal practices in Eastern and Southeastern Asia. This post is specifically related to the history of WESTERN medicines and their associated history. I am not, nor have I ever been, a doctor of any traditional Eastern medicinal practices, and do not pretend to know better. Sinophobes are unwelcome in my blog space.

[ltwilliammowett]

A question: do you have any explanation as to why it was considered ill luck to have women on board a tall ship?

Hi, oh that's relatively simple. Women are the weaker sex they can't keep up with the hard labour and certainly not with the hard living conditions on the board itself. Besides, they would turn the poor men's heads and keep them from working and tempt them to sin. Especially as their job was to keep the house and farm when the man was away and bring up the children.

So much for all that talk, because the reality was quite different. Since ancient times, women have been at sea or even the owners of ships or on board as warriors (Vikings). In Japan, it was women who went fishing or fetched the mussels, just as in other European countries and elsewhere, it was perfectly normal to find women there. It was only later, mostly with the advent of monotheistic religions, that women were pushed into their submissive roles. Which is why many then sailed along secretly, as history has often shown us. But there were women who were officially on board, such as wives or other helpers, and even children were born on board.

There, the women often carried out auxiliary work or looked after the children, usually the boys and young midshipmen. It was not until the middle of the 19th century that women fought their way back into the centre of attention and travelled openly alongside their husbands or as sportswomen. From then on, it became normal to see women on ships of all kinds, even if they were rather few in number compared to today.

So that's just a short summary, the topic is actually quite complex and large so that you could actually hold whole seminars on it.

[demialwrites]

Former AVALANCHE/Turk Reader x ff7

HCs for when they find out you used to be the enemy.

Barret - Turk Reader

Pre AC (Advent Children)

You might think it's automatic breakup, but it depends on how long you've been together

It's especially favorable for you if you've been along for the hunt for Sephiroth for a while without betraying the group to Shinra

You and Vincent make a good team when it comes to espionage against the Turks and Shinra, especially since you'll have more up-to-date info than Vincent. It gives Barret great satisfaction to stick it to 'em

Sometimes he has doubts about you but he feels guilty and will probably admit to it and apologize during a moment of rest

If you helped drop the plate, it's over. Let the man cry. He's gonna carry on with the adventure

Post AC

Again, it depends on how long you've been together

Huge, huge bonus points if Marlene has taken to you. Because then it's a break from her, as well. He really wants stability for her

He'll have a really hard time justifying continuing the relationship if you were involved in dropping the plate, especially since that means you were hiding it until now

If he breaks up with you, his heart is just as broken as yours

Rufus Shinra - AVALANCHE Reader

Pre AC

It's likely that he'll break up with you unless you can prove you've got something useful for him

If you can help track AVALANCHE, minor brownie points

He's very slow to trust a romantic partner so dropping this truth on him will probably put him in a sour mood and he may lash out a bit. Or he may just go cold and shut you out

His presidency has not gone well and he doesn't want more stress and uncertainty

If he hasn't done that, and you have some of the necessary skills, perhaps he'll have you join the Turks. He can keep an eye on you better. You can slowly earn his trust back. If you get hurt this way, he'll get angry at himself

Post AC

It doesn't matter as much what you did before

It matters more that you're committed to helping him with his current projects

You should make an effort to get along with his Turks, though

Major bonus points if you were around while he was sick with geostigma

If he has any lingering doubts, be patient and he may eventually try to talk it out with you

Tseng - AVALANCHE Reader

Pre AC

When you tell him, it's clear he's feeling some kind of way: angry, sad, or conflicted. Maybe all three? But the silence stretches so long that it's uncomfortable and you wish you were arguing loudly instead

It's not that he wants to breakup with you but he doesn't feel like his life is his, so he leaves without confirming either way

It's a dick move and he knows it. However, he can't leave well enough alone. He keeps tabs on you from afar, hoping something changes and he can try to come back

Post AC

He is surprised you want to stay with him. After Shinra collapsed, there's much less for him to offer you (he definitely took a pay cut). And most of his time is spent helping Rufus

Give it time and these boys (and Elena) will probably realize there's more to life than living how things were before Meteorfall

If someone who used to be a part of an organization that opposed Shinra wants to be with him, perhaps it'll give him the courage to open up about why he's repressed most of his feelings for so long

There's clearly sadness and shame inside and if you're lucky, you can help him through it

Tifa - Turk Reader

Pre AC

She's more lenient than Barret but she also can't abandon her found family if they reject you, saying they don't trust you

She can recall all the good memories you've had together, squeeze your hands, and ask you to wait for her

It's a tearful farewell, with you wishing you could come along and help, even if just to support her. She's strong but she's also got a weak side that you want to protect

If you can convince them to let you tag along, she will eventually convince them to be friendly. After saving the world, they'll become your found family, too

Post AC

She may be distant for a while, busying herself with her bar

If her long-time friend, Cloud, refuses to have anything to do with you, she's torn but

She'll come around eventually if you prove that you don't have any bad intentions and intend to stick by her

If you want the same things as her in a relationship, you've found your best girl for life. Work with her at the bar until you retire

Reno - AVALANCHE Reader

Pre AC

Reno's response is most likely to continue the relationship mostly because "why the fuck not?" ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ He's already this deep

If he gets caught, he'll get in trouble, so he's extra careful when meeting up with you. He was already being discreet so he gets extra sneaky

He does tell Rude, reluctantly. Since Rude was taken advantage of by an active AVALANCHE member in Before Crisis, he's very skeptical that this is a good idea

Step a toe out of line, however, and it's over. Reno isn't going to go against his boss and his best friend

Fights extra recklessly for a while because the man is upset

Post AC

Honestly, who gives a fuck? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I think the most he'll feel is a little guilty. He knows what he's done over his lifetime

He'll be curious how you can reconcile having been part of AVALANCHE and then switch to dating a Turk

When you explain that AVALANCHE could sometimes be just as violent as the Turks, it eases his conscious but only a little

[esamastation]

Part thirty-four of Shizuroth, aka, the SOLDIER General's Self Saving Shizun.

Ao3 link.

Previous parts: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three

-

Sephiroth feels a little better after an evening of meditation and a full night of sleep. Things look a little better in the light of day, and though the question of what the fuck he'd going to do about the war is still there, it has been put off. In favour of monster hunting!

"You seem… excited?" Angeal comments as they prepare to go.

He is! "Mn," Sephiroth answers, and carefully doesn't bounce with eagerness.

Even if the monsters of Final Fantasy can't hold a candle to the convoluted, messy and lazily put together nature of the monsters in PIDW, they're still interesting! Especially since he isn't sure what they actually are and how they work. Advent Children and Crisis Core really make it so unclear, because, like, everything turned into energy sparkles when it died? And he thinks in the movie one of the Sephiroth copies - weird to think about them now - summoned some monsters with magic? And then there was Zack in Crisis Core. Who turned into sparkles when he died!

Not everything can just disappear into energy, right, you need living things dying and rotting and composting to make up soil and stuff! If plants just disappear when they die, what do people eat, what were all these buildings made from? Plus he distinctly remembers coal being a thing in this setting, there was a whole town that got shafted because of it and everything, so fossil fuels exist, therefore stuff must leave behind physical remains! Except when it doesn't?

So! Is death like instant ascending here? Or like it descending, since all energy returns to the Planet? Sephiroth is pretty sure that Aerith left behind a body, and there were definitely corpses in the original game - but again, in the prequel it was really unclear. Enemies in combat disappeared, but cutscene death left a body. Except when it didn't!

Ah, the limitations of technology.

Still, he's interested in seeing how the creatures would look and feel and compare them to those he knows from PIDW. Final Fantasy VII had some really weird monsters, and he has a bet going with himself about how much they resemble awakened beasts or yaoguai. 

Angeal looks at him and then smiles, hoisting the Buster Sword to his back. "Ready to go, then?"

"Ready," Sephiroth agrees.

"We're going to have to talk to the Colonel first, but don't worry - I'll handle the talking," Angeal says. "He's an… old-fashioned soldier." 

Sephiroth arches a brow. It sounds like a warning. "Which means…?"

"He doesn't like SOLDIER, he thinks we're stuck up and get our abilities handed to us, we don't deserve our reputation, the usual stuff," Angeal shrugs. "Just ignore it and let me handle it."

"... If you say so."

They head outside together, and Sephiroth takes a moment to look around and try to be an objective observer. This place isn't really anything like the towns back home, in PIDW - the aesthetics are mixed, and though they're more like home than Midgar was, it's as if the place was squeezed through a funhouse mirror. It's just a little off.

And of course, there are no locals anywhere to be seen for a full comparison - just Shinra troops, infantry men and SOLDIERs. Who, the moment they notice him and Angeal, stop to stare and point and whisper.

Has the… incident in Midgar already spread this far, or is this really what it's like being Sephiroth all the time?

Depressing.

"Here," Angeal says and leads him to another house, apparently being used by the Colonel. "Remember, let me do the talking. You just stand there and look imposing, okay?"

Sephiroth snorts. "I think I can manage that."

The Colonel didn't look happy to see them, but then, he doesn't look like a man that's ever really happy. He sizes Sephiroth up and then scoffs. "It's about time. I don't know what kind of discipline you SOLDIER Firsts enjoy in Midgar, but this is a war front, sir, there are rules here."

Does that mean Sephiroth isn't a General then? 

"Right, you're right, of course, sir," Angeal says placatingly. "Well, we're here now, and we already have missions lined up, so -"

The Colonel ignores him and comes around his desk and to Sephiroth's face. "You've been in and out of Wutai for most of this war, isn't that correct, SOLDIER?"

Sephiroth blinks at the man, slowly. "I suppose so." Behind the Colonel Angeal looks panicked.

"What was that?" The Colonel asks dangerously, narrowing his eyes. "You suppose so?"

Sephiroth narrows his eyes back.

The Colonel continues. "When talking to an officer of superior rank, you answer yes sir, or no sir. You do not suppose! Now, do you have experience in the war or not, SOLDIER?!"

Oh, someone is feeling very insecure in their boots, aren't they?

Now, Sephiroth could handle this with all the tact and delicacy of Shen Qingqiu… but even Shen Qingqiu wouldn't have swallowed that kind of spiel without biting. The original definitely wouldn't have! And Sephiroth is supposed to be a villain… well.

Sephiroth smiles - the Colonel recoils.

Last night he'd reread everything there was on his phone about Wutai, going through all his missions again, trying to get as much intelligence as he could. Funny, the things the tutorial left out. 

"I'm sorry," Sephiroth says sweetly. "Who are you?"

The Colonel goes a little red. "Excuse me, SOLDIER?"

"You're barking at me as though at a private, expecting me to go yes sir and no sir," Sephiroth says mockingly. "And yet I have no clue as to who you even are."

Behind the Colonel Angeal gapes and then lifts a pleading look to the ceiling.

The Colonel sputters. "You, you - How dare -"

Ah, you gotta love zero IQ bullies.

"I was given a whole slew of missions and orders," Sephiroth says softly. "All are very vital and high priority. I'm to slay monsters that have killed your men, I'm to hunt down spies you've clearly failed to find, I'm to clear a guard station you haven't been able to get near, I'm to weaken a fortress you cannot even touch, and ten other things besides. All my mission files are very clear. And you know what they all have in common?"

He leans a little closer to the Colonel - right in his purple face. "Not a single one of them mentions you."

Then, before the Colonel can recover, Sephiroth turns on his heel with an imaginary mike drop and saunters out, feeling a whole lot better about everything. The sun is shining, the troopers are scattering at the mere sight of him, and the air is fresh and sweet with natural Qi.

Already this day is looking up.

Angeal, clearly deciding that evasion was the better part of valour, hurries after him. "We're going to pay for that later, you know," he says, sounding defeated.

Of that Sephiroth doesn't have any doubts. What good is a one-time bully? There'd either be a horrifying scene of comeuppance to bring home the realities of war, or a heartfelt discovery and understanding about how they're not so different after all, or whatever else. 

"We'll burn that bridge when we get to it," Sephiroth says cheerfully. "Now. I was promised monsters."

Angeal sighs, glancing back at the house commandeered by the Colonel. "... I guess we better clear out anyway. Alright," he motions. "Right this way to the monsters."

Sephiroth grins at his bitchy tone, and together they head out.

-

SY can have a petty bully scene, as a treat.

[i-cant-sing]

I'm not trying to be rude or anything genuinely, but doesn't Islam support pedophilia and child marriage? As well as oppression of women? It's a beautiful religion, but when you sit and read these old laws that are still practiced today and never abolished....

*sigh* what laws? what proof do you have for all your claims?

I'm gonna assume about the child marriage and pd thing that you're referring to Prophet Muhammad's marriage to Aisha, and if u do a little google research you'll find many answers refuting the claim of him marrying him when she was a child, that she was married at this age and consummated the marriage at another, that she was actually a teen and the scribes just didnt write her age right or things got lost in translation, that a person is considered mature when they can be held responsible for their actions, or when women start menses, or that Aisha was actually a highly intelligent woman and she was far more mature for her age. The more you research, the more you'll find out about this claim. Its better in their words than mine, especially since youre not the first person in 1400 years to raise this accusation.

What I will say is that at the end of the day, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had MANY enemies, so if such claims were true, I think they would've used every opportunity they could bring him down. They would've used it against him. They could've used it when he passes away.

AND that medieval times and european countries did marry off their royal kids for years, even if the kids did not consent. But i feel like no one accuses them of pd and child marriages, no no- everything is bad when Islam is involved, hm?

You say that Islam oppresses women. I think no other religion is as protective and progressive as Islam when it comes to women, all u have to do is to not CONFUSE religion with culture.

Imma give you a few examples of just how Islam treats women, and feel free to tell me any other religion or culture that gives as many rights to women as Islam:

Considering the fact that before the advent of Islam the pagan Arabs used to bury their female children alive, make women dance naked in the vicinity of the Ka'ba during their annual fairs, and treat women as mere chattels and objects of sexual pleasure possessing no rights or position whatsoever, these teachings of the Noble Qur'an were revolutionary. Unlike other religions, which regarded women as being possessed of inherent sin and wickedness and men as being possessed of inherent virtue and nobility, Islam regards men and women as being of the same essence created from a single soul. The Qur'an declares:

O mankind! Reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single person, created, of like nature, his mate, and from this pair scattered (like seeds) countless men and women. Reverence Allah, through Whom you demand your mutual (rights), and reverence the wombs (that bore you); for Allah ever watches over you. (4:1)

"Women are considered inferior to men." No. This is so wrong. The Shari'ah regards women as the spiritual and intellectual equals of men. The main distinction it makes between them is in the physical realm based on the equitable principle of fair division of labor. It allots the more strenuous work to the man and makes him responsible for the maintenance of the family. It allots the work of managing the home and the upbringing and training of children to the woman, work which has the greatest importance in the task of building a healthy and prosperous society.

The pagan society of pre-Islamic Arabia had an irrational prejudice against their female children whom they used to bury alive. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was totally opposed to this practice. He showed them that supporting their female children would act as a screen for them against the fire of Hell:

It is narrated by the Prophet's wife, 'A'isha, that a woman entered her house with two of her daughters. She asked for charity but 'A'isha could not find anything except a date, which was given to her. The woman divided it between her two daughters and did not eat any herself. Then she got up and left. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) came to the house, 'A'isha told him about what had happened and he declared that when the woman was brought to account (on the Day of Judgment) about her two daughters they would act as a screen for her from the fires of Hell.

You know how in the west, there's like so many divorce stories about how the wife didnt change her surname to her husbands? YEah, Islam does not do that. It allows women to keep their name even after marriage.

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said this in his farewell pilgrimmage:

"Fear Allah regarding women. Verily you have married them with the trust of Allah, and made their bodies lawful with the word of Allah. You have got (rights) over them, and they have got (rights) over you in respect of their food and clothing according to your means."

Woman as mother commands great respect in Islam. The Noble Qur'an speaks of the rights of the mother in a number of verses. It enjoins Muslims to show respect to their mothers and serve them well even if they are still unbelievers. The Prophet states emphatically that the rights of the mother are paramount. Abu Hurairah reported that a man came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and asked: "O Messenger of Allah, who is the person who has the greatest right on me with regards to kindness and attention?" He replied, "Your mother." "Then who?" He replied, "Your mother." "Then who?" He replied, "Your mother." "Then who?" He replied, "Your father."

How many of you can say that my religion/culture says that "Paradise is under my mother's feet" (which means that as long as you serve your mom well, you could enter heaven). In another tradition, the Prophet advised a believer not to join the war against the Quraish in defense of Islam, but to look after his mother, saying that his service to his mother would be a cause of his salvation. Mu'awiyah, the son of Jahimah, reported that Jahimah came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said, " Messenger of Allah! I want to join the fighting (in the path of Allah) and I have come to seek your advice." He said, "Then remain in your mother's service, because Paradise is under her feet."

Some of you will claim that oooh women are oppressed because they have to wear hijab or cover up- girls, listen. If you've ever listened to locker room talk, if you ever KNEW just how most boys think about the female body, you would actually wish to wear an iron armour and hide away forever. I've seen men GAWK, and CATCALL women that were covered from head-to-toe... I used to think that you know, maybe its fine to have a niqaab that shows your eyes, surely no man could ever be into that. No. Nope. If you havent realised it yet, then you will experience it first hand one day that eyes are literally "the windows to the soul"- like you know how writers often mention getting lost in their lover's eyes, or how beautiful someones's eyes are- yeah... theres a reason for it.Look around you, look at your friends's or family memebers eyes and you'll know just how much the eyes talk, how much they convey.

When Islam was introduced, for the first time women could have share in their inheritance.

But Islam tells women to stay at homes- NO IT DOES NOT (please read any context)! 'A'isha reported that Saudah bint Zam'ah went out one night. 'Umar saw her and recognized her and said, "By God, O Saudah, why do you not hide yourself from us?" She went back to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and told him about it while he was having supper in her room, and he said, "It is permitted by Allah for you to go out for your needs." The predominant idea in the teachings of Islam with regard to men and women is that a husband and wife should be full-fledged partners in making their home a happy and prosperous place, that they should be loyal and faithful to one another, and genuinely interested in each other's welfare and the welfare of their children. A woman is expected to exercise a humanizing influence over her husband and to soften the sternness inherent in his nature. A man is enjoined to educate the women in his care so that they cultivate the qualities in which they, by their very nature, excel.

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has on many accounts, many times advised men to be gentle, to be kind to women. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has said: "The best of you are those who are best to their women."

These are just a few examples but I think that if you were to open your eyes and look at it with a broader mind, you'll see Islam is not what you were taught to believe. I dont believe in coincidences that much, so I think that the very fact that you sent me this ask may be a sign that something deeper inside you is telling you to do your own research, that even you dont believe that Islam is this "oppressive and backward" religion.

Hope this helped <3