#ffs i was in star wars during the prequels AND the sequels

[transholmes]

.

[eleamaya]

Zerith and Cloti Lines & Quotes Parallels

FFVII Original Game, Advent Children (sequel), and Crisis Core (prequel) are written by Kazushige Nojima.... so it’s not surprised to see how he wrote both pairings in similar way as I found these parallels:

Parallel #1: KOIBITO ( 恋人 )

Zack and Aerith

The two characters deeply involved with Aerith were Zack, who would become her lover (koibito), and Tseng, her guardian.  (CC: FFVII Complete Guide)

One day, Zack is suddenly landed in a church in the slum. His cheerfulness and dependability capture Aerith’s heart and they’re being in a (koibito) lovers-like relationship. Although they can only see each other periodically, their thoughts keep them close in spirit. (Aerith’s profile, CC: FFVII Ultimania, pg. 22)

Aerith gently embraced Zack, who came back sad. The atmosphere makes them feel like lovers (koibito).   (Aerith’s profile, FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania)

Cloud and Tifa

“Is Tifa your girlfriend (koibito)?” (Aerith asking Cloud, FFVII Remake Chapter 8)

There are many dimensions to Tifa’s character. She’s like a mother, also a sweetheart (koibito), and a close ally in battle (Advent Children Reunion Files book, pg. 19~ Nomura’s interview)

Parallel #2: SWEET YOUNG LOVE, WHAT SHE LIKES ABOUT HIM 

Aerith about 16 years old Zack: 

“He’s strong, kinda funny, and there’s something special about him.”  (Crisis Core Chapter 5 - First Date) 

Tifa about 14 years old Cloud: 

“You were so small then … and cute.”  (Original Game scene 116 - Cloud Dark Past) 

Parallel #3: THE GIRLS’ DESIRE TO BE WITH HIM, JUST THE TWO OF THEM

Aerith, before Zack went to Nibelheim

Thinking that he would at least be of help to Aerith now, Zack began to make the flower-selling wagon as he had promised to make before. The two struggle to get use to the unfamiliar task, but they relish the happiness of spending time together. When Zack is called for duty, Aerith writes down 23 tiny wishes on a piece of paper and gives it to him. The note was filled with her earnest desire to be with Zack.

(FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania, Crisis Core Story Playback)

Tifa, before Cloud went to Midgar

"It was just an idea, but from the moment it was made, it became an irreplaceable promise. And that night, when Tifa realized that the Cloud she admired was just an ordinary boy, she fell in love with him. The kind of "love" that made her want to be with him, just the two of them. "

(Traces of Two Pasts, a novella written by Kazushige Nojima)

Parallel #4: SHE DRESSES UP FOR THE PROMISE THEY MADE

Zack and Aerith

For when they meet again on their next date, Zack’s specific suggestion was Aerith wearing pink. Aerith–who continued to wait for Zack’s return–starts to wear pink after making this promise (CC: FFVII Complete Guide--Keyword Collection)

Cloud and Tifa

Believing in Cloud’s promise, Tifa’s waiting to see Cloud become a SOLDIER like Sephiroth. Tifa dresses herself in a pretty and sexy look. Does she do that to spirit up herself in preparing for a touching reunion? (Tifa Lockhart Character Profile from CC: FFVII Ultimania)

Parallel #5: SHE ASKED IF HE KNEW A CERTAIN SOLDIER

Zerith: Aerith asked Cloud about Zack in SOLDIER in the Playground (FF7 Remake)

“Did you have any SOLDIER friends? Any war buddies? So Cloud, you were SOLDIER 1st Class, right? Weird. Just that you were in the same rank with the first guy I ever loved.”

Cloti: Tifa asked Zack about Cloud in SOLDIER via mails (Crisis Core)

“Are there any blond guys in SOLDIER?  Well, it's just a dream... Any girl would love to have a blond SOLDIER guy protect her when she's in a pinch. I almost forgot. Please don't tell anyone in SOLDIER that I asked about the blond guy. Okay?” 

Parallel #6: THEY THINK OF EACH OTHER UNDER THE SKY

Zack and Aerith -- the cloudy & azure sky

Zack think of Aerith:  “I wish I could show this sky to…” (Crisis Core DMW Cloud Scene #4: Cloudy Sky)

Aerith think of Zack: “He was like a cloud drifting through the skies. As we peered skyward through the rafters of a heavenless Midgar, we made a promise. And that was the last time we spoke.” (Crisis Core 1st Official Trailer)

Cloud and Tifa -- the starry & night sky

Cloud think of Tifa: “I was just thinking about the past.”  (Crisis Core DMW Cloud Scene #3: Starry Night At The Well)

Tifa think of Cloud: “Like the sky that night, the heavens were filled with stars. Did you imagine the sky? The stars were gorgeous. It was just Cloud and I. We talked at the well.”  (Original Game scene 116 - Cloud’s Dark Past)

Parallel #7: PROMISE AT THE NIBELHEIM WELL/WATER TOWER

Zack and Aerith --  CC Chapter 013: I Promise

Aerith: Hello… (calling by phone) Zack: Aerith! Aerith: Finally, got through to you! Zack: Ah, sorry about this but I’m in the middle of something right now. I’ll  give you a call a little later . Aerith: No. it’s okay. You don’t have to. Zack: I understand. I’ll come visit. Aerith: I’ll be waiting. Zack: I’Il see you. It’s a promise.

Cloud and Tifa --  OG scene 6: A Childhood Promise

Tifa: You said you wanna tell me something. Cloud: This summer… I wanna leave this town to Midgar. I wanna join SOLDIER… like Sephiroth. Tifa: Is it tough being SOLDIER, isn’t it? Cloud: Yeah, I probably could not go back to this town for a while. Tifa: Hey, why don’t we make a promise? Mmm… if you really get famous and I’m ever in a bind, you’ll come save me, alright? Whenever  I’m in a trouble, my hero will come rescue me. Cloud: Alright, I promise.

Parallel #8: SHE WON’T BE AFRAID WITH HIM, HE PROMISED

Zack and Aerith -- CC Chapter 8: 23 Little Luxuries

Aerith: “When you come back from your assignment, let’s go sell flowers under the sky together. I won’t be afraid if you’re with me.”

Zack: “Yeah, I’ll go with you. That’s a promise.”

Cloud and Tifa -- OG Scene 136: Understanding

Tifa: “But, it’s alright even if no one comes back. As long as I’m with you… As long as you’re by my side… I won’t give up even if I’m scared.”

Cloud: “Afterall, I promised. That if anything were to ever happen to you, I would come to help.”

Parallel #9: MUTUAL AFFECTIONS/RECIPROCAL FEELINGS

Zack and Aerith

Zack and Aerith meet by chance in a church in the Slums. They become intimate with each other. (FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania Compilation Timeline)

From the boy’s profile

Having fallen into the sector 5 slum church during a mission, Zack has a fateful meeting with Aerith, a young girl who was tending to flowers in the church. They share a “puratonikku koi” / chaste romantic love, satisfied just to be together. Those joyous days seemed like they would last forever… (Zack’s Profile, CC: FFVII Ultimania, pg. 13)

From the girl’s profile

CC shows her meeting and relationship with Zack, and the budding love between them. However, fate would tear the couple apart. (Aerith’s Dengeki Profile)

At that chosen day, she accidentally met Zack, SOLDIER 1st Class, and they were attracted to each other. (Aerith’s Profile, FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania)

The destined encounter with Zack makes them becomes the irreplaceable existence to each other.  (Aerith’s profile, CC: FFVII Ultimania)

His cheerfulness and dependability capture Aerith’s heart and they’re being in a lovers-like relationship. (Aerith’s profile, CC: FFVII Ultimania)

Cloud and Tifa

When their companions disperse to the places where people important to them await, Cloud and Tifa, who remain, reveal their feelings for each other together. (FFVII Ultimania Omega, pg. 198; story summary)

When Cloud and Tifa remain behind alone, in their final hours, together they disclose their feelings for each other. (FF 20th Anniversary Ultimania File 2: Scenario guide, FFVII Story Summary, pg. 232)  

From the boy’s profile

Declares that the team should dissolve in the final hours before the final battle, and communicates his feelings together with Tifa, who remains behind at the airship with him. (Cloud’s Profile, FFVII Ultimania Omega, pg. 15)

From the girl’s profile 

She ventured into Lifestream together with Cloud. Amidst the course of him trying to ascertain his memories, they became aware of the thoughts/feelings which each other was holding. (Tifa’s Profile, FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania. pg. 42-47)

In FF7, Tifa is the only one who knows Cloud’s childhood, and furthermore, she holds the key to people involved in the story of Nibelheim’s burning down, which is also depicted in CC. She and Cloud came to realize their feelings for each other in the end of the story, and live together in AC and DC.(CC:FFVII Ultimania, Tifa Lockhart Profile)

For many years, Cloud and Tifa have been holding favor for one another. At last facing the impending final battle with Sephiroth, they confirm together their feelings of desire toward partnership. (Tifa’s Profile, FF 25th Memorial Ultimania)

Parallel #10: THEY GO BACK TO WHERE THEY BELONG

Zack and Aerith -- Afterlife

Zack Profile in FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania: In order to help Cloud recover, he assured him from the Lifestream together with Aerith.

Aerith Profile in ACC Dengeki: She joined the Lifestream, but even then she carries on watching over the planet and Cloud. At all times, her first love Zack is always by her side.

Both are mentioned: ...She starts to leave, together with the friend who had given his life to Cloud. Cloud no longer has to suffer in loneliness. And so they too go back to where they belong. Back to the current of life flowing around the planet. (FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania--Revised Edition, ACC Playback)

Cloud and Tifa -- Living World

Cloud Profile in FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania: With the help of his friends, he defeated Bahamut SHIN, which Kadaj’s gang had summoned. He defeated Sephiroth after his Advent, and returned to Tifa and the children.

Tifa Profile in ACC Dengeki: At the end of a long struggle, she gently welcomes back Cloud on his return home after settling things with himself.

Both are mentioned: “Inside, I felt one thing was for sure: Cloud and Tifa would be together. Everybody would be living back home where they belonged.” (Kazushige Nojima-the scriptwriter, Advent Children Reunion Files book)

Parallel #11: DESCRIBED AS A SINGULAR ITEM / A PAIR

Zack and Aerith described in ACC

For Cloud, they were people whom he can never forget. The two irreplaceable people; Zack, “who was sent to death because protecting me” and Aerith, “who met a tragic fate as I couldn’t protect her” became “the unforgivable sins” in his heart.

(Advent Children Complete Post Card Book)

Cloud and Tifa described in CC

Cloud and Tifa are childhood friends, both born in Nibelheim. When Cloud leaves the village, he calls Tifa out to the water tower and promises that he will become a SOLDIER. At the same time, he is also made by Tifa to promise that he will come to rescue her if she is ever in trouble.

Following this, the pair experience many hardships, such as the Nibelheim incident which also appears in CC, and the Jenova War in FFVII, and through these the distance between them shortens. And in AC they live together, with Barret’s daughter Marlene, and a boy named Denzel. Though there was also a period later where Cloud lived away from them after having contracted Geostigma, they finally reach a commune with each over and return to living together once again. In DC, they rush together to Vincent’s aid, in his battle against Deep Ground SOLDIER.

(CC:FFVII Complete Guide Book)

Parallel #12: NOBUO UEMATSU COMPOSE A MUSIC SCORE BASED ON THEM IN THE SCRIPT

Zack and Aerith - “Aerith’s Theme”

I really like “One Winged Angel”. I guess, I also like “Aerith Theme.” I’m happy that it’s always well received when it’s played at concerts. Honestly, when I made it, I didn’t think it would be popular. In the scenario, there was the line “Aerith waited. Every single day, she waited and waited.” So I made the song to match that scene which means, it wasn’t made for the scene in Forgotten City. The scene where Aerith waits for Zack at the station was first. It’s a song about “a poor girl who waits for someone who doesn’t come.”

(Nobuo Uematsu’s interview from Game Symphony Japan FF7 2014 concert pamphlet)

Cloud and Tifa - “Cloud’s Smile”

One of the staff’s favorite scenes was where Cloud smiles in embarrassing way towards Tifa. Nomura liked it as there was almost no dialogue and the expression of Cloud’s face communicated his expression to the viewers. Composer Nobuo Uematsu commented, “It sounds cool!”, considering the fact that gamers who have finished FFVII (OG) would find it hard to imagine how Cloud smiles. Upon reading that scene in the script, Uematsu was inspired to write the score

(FFVII Advent Children Distance: The Making of Advent Children)

[sunandrainfic]

@stormears: (I don’t care if you answer this publicly, it might be interesting to other users anyway, so go ahead)

Since you seem knowledgeable about FF7 and even Crisis Core, I thought I would try out a Crisis Core question on you. One kinda silly aesthetic thing and one about a CC character in the fandom.

I have NOT played Crisis Core, or the OG game, but I am open to spoilers. I feel like no matter what I learn, if Remake Part 2 is anything like Remake Part 1, there will be fun and surprises even if I know the story front to back.  

So, I have NOT played Crisis Core and was wondering a few things about it. I saw a YT vid summarizing it a while back. It probably has no significance, but is there a reason or even a point in time when Sephiroth and Genesis started wearing their unique black and red coats instead of soldier uniforms? I’ve seen fanart of them and Angeal all wearing SOLDIER uniforms and hanging out as friends. From what I remember in the video, it’s not clear/I just don’t remember, if the three are actual FRIENDS or just friendly coworkers so to speak, who hang around each other because they are so far beyond the abilities and influence of other military men around them that they don’t relate to or interact with them.

But anyway, all three wearing the uniform may just be a fun fanon thing and perhaps Genesis and Sephiroth were never portrayed wearing it in canon, ever. The answer could simply be that the black coat is how Sephiroth was designed in the mid 90s so that’s all he ever wore, and the red coat is what they designed Genesis with in the mid 00’s so that’s all HE ever wore, and that’s that! But I’d be interested to know if my assumption is wrong, and they canonically were dismissing the standard uniform, and got away with wearing what they wanted because no one around them had the authority or balls to tell them what clothes to wear. 

Next, if you played CC around the time it was new, do you think you can describe the fandom perception of Genesis? Because I first found a vague description of who he was, saw some cool fanart of him, and THEN came across YT comments about his poetry-reading and how he was a copy-paste design of a celebrity at the time who PAID to have his freaking face in an FF game and like…I get the impression people are annoyed by him or hate him or find him cringe-worthy and am afraid to dig deeper. Yes I will form my own opinion but I definitely feel some secondhand embarrassment for liking this guy okay and then getting this vibe that he’s hated on. 

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my lengthy, non-shallow questions of “did Sephiroth wear a tanktop” and “do people besides me like the hot, poetry-spewing fire wizard” :) 

Goodness, what a question! Hmm… It’s been a while for me with Crisis Core, but I believe in the actual game, all we know for sure is that Angeal and Genesis grew up in the same town. So we can assume they’re fairly close, but whether or not the two are actually friends with Sephiroth or just friendly co-workers I think is up for interpretation. With the focus so firmly on Zack’s POV, we don’t really see too much of their dynamic in-game.

Re: the costumes: There’s never a point where we see Sephiroth wearing the SOLDIER-issue tanktop and shoulder pauldrons (though his coat has pauldrons) but you can probably assume he wore one once upon a time, since he still wears the harness under the coat. I always headcanoned that the coat became his uniform as the General/war hero during the Wutai war, and the leather was so hot he took off the tanktop and never bothered to put it back on. (Definitely the actual reason is because Nomura designed his costume way back in 1997, and it’s become so iconic they didn’t want to change it for the prequel.) 

I’m not sure if there’s a canon story behind Genesis’ coat. Since he’s got a rivalry with Sephiroth, it wouldn’t surprise me if he was designed with it to hint at that rivalry between them. Under the coat, though, he’s wearing a typical SOLDIER First’s uniform without the pauldrons. The cross-strapped harness and higher boots seem to be an alternate provided option for the SOLDIER First uniform; both he and Sephiroth wear the same.

As for the fandom perception of Genesis: Genesis first showed up as a cameo in a secret ending in Dirge of Cerberus, presumably to either tease a sequel game or be a cute in-joke between folks who knew Gackt had composed Dirge of Cerberus’ ending song. They used Gackt’s likeness for the in-joke. One of the producers really liked the character design, though, so when they decided to make Crisis Core instead of a Before Crisis port for the PSP, they asked Gackt if he’d be up for acting out Genesis in the prequel story. Gackt was all about it, and contributed a lot of creative ideas to the character.

A lot of FF fans dislike Genesis for the same reason any new prequel character gets hate: he’s not who they want to see. It’s like if you made a prequel series to Star Wars, introduced Anakin Skywalker, and then spent most of the story talking about a trade war until the last five minutes where suddenly Darth Vader happens. Genesis’ story copies a lot from Sephiroth’s, and the focus the game puts on him means we don’t get more time on things we really want to see: like Sephiroth’s descent into madness, or Zack and Cloud’s friendship both before and after Hojo. And he shows up during *scary music* Nibelheim, which is just blasphemy. We know how Nibelheim goes, and no poetry-spouting dramatic french man was at that party. ;) (People were pissed about Last Order changing things up, and that anime didn’t even have any new characters.)

(And yeah, some folks don’t like the poetry.)

Genesis has definitely got his share of fans, though. There are plenty of folks out there who find him just as hot and likable as you do – and you should never be embarrassed about what you like! Feel free to squee and gush over him as much as you want. You’ve got plenty of company!

[avoutput]

Final Fantasy VII Legacy || Prequel Crisis

This is the 4th of 3 articles. Find the third here.

There comes a time when the creator realizes they unduly limited themselves by arbitrarily declaring their story is complete. I decided to break my short silence to achieve something closer to my original intent, to scratch an itch that was bothering me. Prequels are always unnecessary (and by the same logic sequels). Even the great Star Wars had to shoehorn episode numbers in later. (To Lucas’ credit, it was added almost 20 years before he would actually make prequels, but still.) But just because something is unnecessary doesn’t mean it can’t be good. It just usually isn’t. Prequels hold even more weight than a sequel because they are narratively bound by their inevitable conclusion, that moment where they meet their origin point, and it would be unsatisfying if it didn’t meet that obligation. Normally, all prequels end where the original begins. But this is Nomura we are talking about. My last article, chronologically, became more of a dumping ground for my feelings on the creator of much of the expanded Final Fantasy VII universe, Tetsuya Nomura. This time we are diving into a game that he technically only worked on from afar, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. This game alters one of the most integral moments of FF7 so profoundly that I am surprised it hasn’t become a greater point of contention. Let me talk to you about the time Zack met Aerith.

There are two ways I imagine they handled Zack and Aerith’s first meeting during the story writing process. Either they were deciding to do it as an homage to the original, wherein Cloud falls through the church roof right onto the flowers Aerith tends to. Or, they wanted to unearth the very foundation of the will-they-won’t-they love story Cloud and Aerith were seemingly meant to be. First, let's examine the nexus point in both games, Aerith. In the original she could be described as mature, sure-footed, and down to earth. In CC, she is much less of all of those things. She's a little more timid, scared of leaving her sector, and way less sure of herself in general. Honestly, this is a good narrative start, we get to see her arc into the person she will become when Cloud meets her, but there was something more sinister at work here. Something they may have even done unknowingly, depending on your point of view. Put a pin in that for the moment because now we can introduce the cause of contention. Now we get to Zack.

To talk about Zack we actually have to investigate the construction of the entire FF7 world. First, Zack is a man of boundless optimism who brightens anyone’s day. Not coincidentally, he and Cloud have a very similar background, both growing up in “the sticks”, the middle of nowhere. And here is where we find a whole new layer to the FFVII universe. The original game has you focused on the pursuit of your goal, which is exactly how all FF’s were built prior to it, but with the sixth entry, world building started to become more important. The character’s lives are always intertwined with the very fabric of their world. This is why Midgar becomes so important to the original because it tells you everything you need to know about the universe in the first hours of the game. CC expanded this idea by sourcing the game in the very same place and having you travel out to jobs, collect information, and return to homebase. In fact, you learn much less about Midgar than you do the rest of the world. In this way, Zack becomes the explorer that Cloud never had the time to be. But in tying both of them to similar origins, Zack also ends up telling you about Cloud’s life. Zack and Cloud are big dreamers from small towns who move to the big city that ends up taking advantage of both of them in the exact same way. They both become pincushions and test dummies. They both fall for the same girl. But the key difference between them is that Zack met Aerith first. Zack had a life changing effect on Aerith that Cloud never really understands. And now, we are at the heart of the problem.

Let me frame my perception of the original Aerith meeting. First of all, Cloud meets Aerith as a flower girl in the aftermath of his very first eco-mission with Avalanche. It was quite the little meet-cute. Boy meets girl, helps girl up, buys girl’s flower, she teases him, they part ways. This is actually important to remember for later, follow me though. On his second eco-mission, an accident sends him flying from the upper-deck, luckily falling on the very bed of flowers Aerith tends to. At this point, she makes sure he has a pulse, then carries on with her work while he gets his stuff together. Cloud puffs his chest and they have a cute little back and forth, cultivating in becoming her bodyguard and escorting her home. During this time, he gets to know her a little better, and she seems playful, insightful, and a little wistful. After some time, she confides in Cloud that she had a boyfriend, he was also in SOLDIER, but he died. This scenario had me believing that Aerith was a girl, somewhat experienced in love, and was building the courage to move on. You get the sense that Aerith can’t help but recognize some minor similarities, though she may have some reservations about Cloud because he is also in SOLDIER, she can’t help but see how helpless he is without her. For a long time in the game, her ex-boyfriend was nameless. Zack was just an idea. But Crisis Core made Zack the progenitor of almost everything that would come to pass in FF7 (seriously, EVERYTHING), and in doing so, it also fundamentally changed the perception of the Tifa-Aerith-Cloud love triangle.

Now let’s rewind all the way back to Zack meeting Aerith in Crisis Core. In a mission at the same reactor Cloud would one day have his fateful accident, Zack meets a similar fate. Everything about the scenarios with Aerith between either Zack or Cloud is alarmingly similar. And it's the similarity that is the problem. Before CC, Cloud and Aerith’s meeting was original and unique. But having Zack meet her in the same exact way before Cloud makes it seem a little cheap. Remember how Cloud’s initial meeting with Aerith results in him buying a flower? This also was hijacked by CC, because it is Zack who gives Aerith the idea to sell flowers to begin with. In CC, Aerith loves her flowers, and she wishes Midgar had more, so Zack tells her to sell them and even rushes off to build her a cart to sell them with. Now Zack not only hijacked one of the most iconic story moments in FF7, he also is the whole reason that it worked to begin with. Without his idea to sell flowers, she never would have met Cloud before the moment he fell through the church to begin with. 

CC pushes our conception of the original narrative even further by having Aerith’s story arc involve her becoming the playful, assertive version of herself. She is confronted with Zach’s boundless optimism and is forever changed by it. We always knew Aerith had a dead boyfriend who was part of SOLDIER, but we never get a good sense of the depth of their relationship or a good idea of what it means to be a part of this company sponsored military. CC lays the groundwork for all of this, but most importantly it lays down a timeline. Aerith and Zack meet, spend somewhere between a couple weeks and 6 months getting to know one another. One day, Zack says he has to go on a mission, an important one, and he doesn’t know when he will be coming back. Aerith asks if it's alright to call him (cellphones) or write to him (email and snail mail?), and she does, but after a while Zack is unable to answer. This is because he would spend the next 2 years in the lab underneath the Nibelheim’s mansion with Cloud, undergoing experiments mastermind by Hojo.

So how did they get there? We have to take a quick walk through the narrative of the other main characters. Throughout the game, the highest members of SOLDIER begin slowly going rogue. I won’t go into explaining much about these characters, but suffice it to say, there are 4 including Zack. First, there was Genesis, a red leather-clad mini-sephiroth, who begins the game MIA, and is later announced dead, despite actually having gone rogue. Shinra knows this, but puts out bulletins through their sponsored media saying he was KIA. At the heart of all this, it should be remembered that Shinra is both a company AND a government. The original hints at the obvious collusion, but leaves it very matter-of-fact. Next, Zack’s mentor Angeal (that is his name), is MIA and then KIA, leaving him the very unique buster sword that Cloud will carry throughout FF7. It turns out Angeal’s family had that sword specially made for him when he joined SOLDIER. It almost bankrupted them. And then, finally, the great Sephiroth follows in turn, MIA turned KIA.

The story jumps ahead a few weeks or months, and now Zack is the most elite member of SOLDIER, carrying Angeal’s buster sword as his own. All this time, he has been running small missions and returning home to spend time with Aerith, a little less optimistic than before, but Aerith tries to help him through it. Then, because of his close ties to the former members of SOLDIER, Shinra sends him away to deal with his former senior members, previously reported as KIA. In the back of Zack’s mind, he has a feeling that this is going to be a sucide mission, that he will deal with his old friends, and Shinra will in turn deal with him. But he longs to know more about why any of this is happening, and follows orders. In a flashback in FF7, we see the moment Cloud confronts Sephiroth for the first time. He is just a regular Shinra grunt, but seeing his childhood friend Tifa laid out in the Nibelheim reactor next to her dead father, Cloud picks up Sephiroth’s discarded blade and goes in for an attack. It turns out that the “real” story was that, before all of this, Zack does battle with Sephiroth, and narrowly loses the fight. The weakened Sephiroth ambles toward his “mother” Jenova in her test tube, crosses over Zack’s beaten body, and knocks away Tifa. Now enters Cloud. Zack tells Cloud to pick up his buster sword and take a shot. Zack and Sephiroth are Mako infused super soldiers, so the battle is stacked against Cloud. Still, regular human Cloud gathers his courage and lunges at Sephiroth, misses, and in turn gets impaled by Sephiroth’s blade. The impaled Cloud finds some inner strength, pushes himself further down the blade, lifts up the stunned and weekend Sephiroth, turns, and sends him falling deep into the reactor, presumably to his death. 

Cloud and Tifa have now passed out, but Zack is still holding on. He is unable to move and just as he is about to pass out, Hojo and a team of scientists show up. Hojo had been watching the whole time, waiting for a conclusion. Hojo expected good work from Zack, but he never expected the SOLDIER reject Cloud to be the one to make the final blow. He decides that Cloud is worth experimenting on and puts both Cloud and Zack into a Mako Reactor tube that makes men into SOLDIER members. It never directly states it, but I believe the purpose of the project was to transfer all of Zack’s abilities into Cloud, and some residual memories of Zack’s life came with it. It turns out, being infused with Mako significantly shortens your lifespan, so taking your best and most loyal SOLDIER’s abilities and passing them on to a new host would be a boon. No need to train them. They would end up spending two years in stasis, all the while Aerith continues to write and call, despite surely hearing in the local news that Zack has been KIA. In that time, the village that Sephiroth burned down has been completely restored and the memories of everyone in town have been erased. The only one who got away before this memory wipe is Tifa. To be clear, I don’t recall if it states that they wiped their memory, but it tracks a little better than the alternative, wherein the townspeople just act like it didn’t happen because they are scared of Shinra.

Now we can begin to compile this. The incredible thing about Zack, despite everything he knows, he remains a company loyalist until the very end. It may be because being on the inside is better than the outside, but it seems that he believes that the only way to be a hero, his dream, is to work for Shinra, making the world “a better place”. We never see him directly betray the company until it directly betrays him. After waking up, he takes a comatose Cloud out of the facility and makes a mad dash back to Midgar. His new mission is to see Aerith and to confront Shinra. But Shinra can not let that happen because it goes directly against their narrative. The game ends with the famous Zack standoff just outside of Midgar. While Cloud is hidden, Zack is killed by a barrage of bullets at the hands of Shinra. Cloud, finally somewhat coming out of his dream state, finds Zack's bullet ridden body, hears his final words, and heads for Midgar. Now, how much time passes between Zack’s death and when Cloud meets Aerith is a bit of a mystery, but it has to be less than a month. So we can imagine that, based on CC, two things are true. Two things that drastically change the perspective one has when playing FF7. First, even up to the moment that Aerith runs into Cloud after the first bombing, it's likely she was still leaving messages for Zack. And the second thing, the most damning of all, is the moment she met Cloud for the very first time was the moment she realized her boyfriend was dead. Why? Because Cloud is carrying the very same, very unique buster sword Zack carried with him everywhere.

Knowing this, it is reasonable to believe that Aerith isn’t drawn to Cloud out of love, but instead curiosity. She wants to know why he has that sword. And when she finds out that Cloud doesn’t even seem to be aware, it must make him that much more intriguing. In FF7, she never does come out and say this, and she also doesn’t in FF7 Remake, but if CC is going to become cannon, it would mean that she would be very aware of this. But that also means that in reality, there was never a love triangle; Cloud never really stood a chance and Tifa never needed to feel jealous. Now, this whole side story is arguably ignorable. It mostly only exists to suck the life out of FF7 in order to breathe life into its own story. There are lots of tangents to this as well. It's possible that Tseng of the Turks, now remodeled to be much more caring of Aerith than in the original, told her that Zack was indeed killed. Not that Aerith has much reason to believe someone who works so closely with Shinra, but even in FF7, she isn’t so much afraid of the Turks, as she is about being put into confinement at Shinra. She is aware she is always being watched. We always knew Aerith knew too much and said too little. She never really ends up trusting the team enough to divulge what she does know. Or maybe she isn’t sure they will understand. In hindsight, she was probably originally created this way because it made her seem more mysterious. But now, with all this information, it just makes her seem… careless.

The day Zack met Aerith is the day the Final Fantasy 7 universe began to bear too much weight. It can’t handle the pressure of all this information, all these connections, because it was built to look cool, not be functional. It was never meant to be a building block for something more. It would be a lie to say I am not excited to see what is going to happen to them in FF7 Remake 2: The Remakening, but I can’t help but feel that their decision to tie all of the various universe additions into one cannon ultimately hurts the original. If a newcomer were to enter the universe at its origin point, which is what most people do when coming to a new series, by the end, they wouldn’t understand where they started from. Compared to Star Wars, a universe where you can enter during any of its starting points 1, 4, or 7 and complete a circle, the FF7 universe is more of a spiral, never connecting to its origin point. In turn, the more you learn about the FF7 universe, the emptier you feel, because it never completes the circle. It isn’t that it's not interesting or even fun, but it's interesting like a twinkie is cake. It's technically true, it is cake, but it's certainly not satisfying. Let us have our cake Nomura. A real cake. A real end. A complete circle.

P.S. I felt I should mention that this is just my take on the story. I did my best to keep the details straight, but admittedly, I may have missed some of the finer details or misremembered them. I also did a fair amount of reading between the lines when it came to my perception of the characters emotions and motives. But the broad strokes are all there. Zack does become the focal point for everything that comes to pass in FF7. There is also way more information about who and what Sephiroth is in comparison to Genesis, Angeal, Zack, and even Cloud. Still, Zack meets Aerith first and sets both her and Cloud on their paths. Zack is the reason Aerith is always laughing at Cloud, not in jest, but in irony. 

[ivalice-tifalucis]

My ramblings on FFVII Remake

The irony never lost on me that after so many years on tumblr, I finally act on my username, actually post things related to FF.

So I finally finished FFVII Remake this Wednesday although stupidly I quitted the game before the credits finished rolling so I had to replay the last part again on Saturday. Thank goodness I already knew what to do so I only needed an hour to finish the last part. Took me 2,5 weeks and close to 50 hours of gameplay to finished as I also have real life obligation to do and couldn’t just play video game for whole day. And oh my god what an experience. As non OG fan who got introduced FFVII and FF in general because in 2006 her school best friend couldn’t stop yelling about Advent Children, who have watched Advent Children for god knows how many times even though she could barely understand the context, who felt weird at Dirge of Cerberus, and who cried stupid at Crisis Core ending, this game is beyond my expectation.

In 2015, when they announced the release, I was like ‘ oh great, finally they’re gonna make this after all’. I have waited for the remake for almost a decade at that time yet I felt empty because I was no longer care so much about FF anymore. I still haven’t even played FFXV yet I waited that for so long since the first FFVersusXIII trailer. So finally Square Enix got their shits together, great for them.

And then FFVII Remake was released. Y’know what, I didn’t even see the trailer. I didn’t care. But then covid-19 happened and I was bored. My brother kept suggesting me to buy FFVII Remake, said that the game got great reviews and I’ve waited for so long. I was like ‘ok, let’s see what the fuss is about.’ I never actually play the PS one game because 1) Never got the chance to, and when I could have the resource to play it, 2) I lost interest in FF. So it’s a good way to play a game you only read about it all this time. Then I read some of the review and bits of spoilers, because I’m that kind of person, that the game is not exactly a remake, that it’s only first few hours of original game, which quite dissapointing at first because you thought you’re gonna play like the real ans whole reimagined FFVII. And people talk about Zack. That’s what pique my interest more. I thought it’s only flashback because Zack did appear as flashback in OG but then spoilers said he’s alive??!! What??? Ok gotta have this game.

And so begin my geeky nostalgic journey. I haven’t heard The Prelude for so long and it was so beautiful hearing it on the menu. I stopped to listen to the song. Then the intro, beautiful, exactly what I always dreamed about if FFVII got a remake. Then the first bombing mission is done and Cloud met Aerith for the first time in Loveless street. And holy maholy, ‘wait, is that- omg The Promised Land from Advent Children!!!!’ Yep that sold me. No getting away from this.

By the release of this game, it brought me to realization that not every FFVII fans are keen of Compilation of FFVII which is too bad because I love Compilations with all its ups and downs. I wouldn’t like FFVII if it’s not of the Compilations. What makes FFVII far more interesting than other FF series is the mystery and big world building. Midgar is only tiny piece of Gaia compare to what we would explore in later Remake chapter. Every characters, good or bad have their own story and mystery. And while many of the backstory is explained in the OG, some of them got fleshed out in sequels and prequels. Listening to The Promised Land brought me to realize that FFVII Remake is not merely a remake but more like another chapter or maybe the first chapters that could conclude FFVII for good. Because I would love to see at least the definitive end of FFVII, where at least all the mysteries are answered. 

The introduction of the Whispers or Arbiters of Fate during first encounter with Aerith made me realized immediately that this is what people meant when they said FFVII Remake defied from OG. I think if used well Whispers could give deeper impact to Remake. It adds more mysteries but it could also answer mysteries. Yes, including Zack’s fate. It depends on how Kazushige Nojima and Tetsuya Nomura used it. Of course I’m also a bit anxious. I don’t remember what but something Nomura did and said in the past is actually what made me driven even further from FF and honestly I’m afraid. I never played Kingdom Hearts but I heard people talk about how it becomes bumbling jumbo which I agree since that’s the reason why I never play KH because I had no clue what it is even about. Even reading the plot made my head hurts. And in the last two years I have been let down by my favorite franchises that are Game of Thrones and Star Wars sequels. However I’m optimistic because I don’t think Tetsuya Nomura would want to destroy his own legacy. FFVII is what makes him the top tier guy in Square Enix in the first place. It’s his precious baby and he has complete control over it. 

In other topic, the game is absolutely beautiful. I had doubts when my brother told me they used Unreal while FFXV used Luminous Engine which based on what I saw on youtube made FFXV so beautiful and immersive (I hope someone could explain to me why). FFVII Remake is also beautiful game within its capacity. Of course because the engine limitation there are few downs on the graphic and render. I couldn’t get over that door in Sector 7 slums looks so unrendered I thought the game had rendering delay. But overall the game has reimagined Midgar perfectly. Other than objects that you could way too easily kick, there is so little bug. Other than Crisis Core, which was only PSP game and couldn’t do much, this is the only time we see Midgar before disaster other than the OG game. And Midgar is amazing. The upper plate, the cities look modern and well planned while the slums look so lively and dense. The Wall Market is festive and crazy, the mission is also crazy. I had a great laugh and snicker all the way during this part. Exactly what I would imagine Wall Market would be when I read about it all this time. The puzzles are great. The gameplay is also great. It’s not repetitive and makes you feel accomplished. Each enemies require different approach. I sometime had to look into walkthrough so I could find a good suggestion on how to defeat certain boss, after I failed so many times. There is a need for strategy so I have to prepare what kind of materia and accessories I would use on certain character which sadly lacked in the last FF game that I played almost a decade ago, which was FFXIII. 

The music, damn I haven’t stop listening to Hollow since I finished the game. You notice that the previous posts had me got mind blown by it. Nobuo Uematsu has done it again. He touches my heart with his music, and he has done it again. The rest of the soundtrack is also great. Did I mention that I stop for a while to listen to The Prelude? Also got nostalgic and humming along with Main Theme, Aerith’s Theme, Tifa’s Theme, Shinra’s theme, Those Who Fight.

All in all, the fact that I couldn’t stop talking about this game, to me, is indicator that this game is amazing. 9/10 (because I don’t like that they used Unreal).

[stopthatmyhandsaredirty]

Last Jedi first reactions

So I saw The Last Jedi. I have to write down some thoughts in order to process so that I’ll even be able to fall asleep tonight! MAJOR GIANT HUGE SPOILERS BELOW

You guys, I’m not sure I liked it. And I really thought I was going to like it. I was expecting to be blown away, which I try not to do because nothing is worse than high expectations that aren’t met. In some ways, this effects how I see The Force Awakens too. I liked TFA a lot, but I’ll admit some of my affection was reliant on the fact that the pay off would be exceptional, at least in the second installment. 

To me, the Sequel Trilogy has had some missed opportunities in world building. For some reason, I don’t buy that it’s the same Star Wars galaxy we saw in the Original and even the Prequel Trilogies. It’s been driving me crazy trying to pinpoint why that is. 

Ok I’m rambling. 

Things I LOVED:

MARK HAMILL’S PERFORMANCE

Ben and Rey teaming up against the Praetorian guards was the best action scene in the movie hands down.

Also the Finn and Phasma fight (and Phasma in general) but it was way too short

Felt great to see Leia holding a blaster again! 

I loved a lot of the Luke and Rey scenes. 

Thank Christ Luke and Leia had a scene together. That’s the only time a got choked up.

Snoke looked great I thought

I’m sorry but it was great to see Yoda and I did not expect that

Space Ellie Sattler (RIP wtf)

Kylo/Leia Force connection during the battle gave me chills. Goddamn right he didn’t pull the trigger

LIGHTWHIP IS CANON

I kinda dug the Rey/Kylo Force bond which I didn’t think I would

Yes Billie Lourd was ALL OVER that movie! 

Poe in general

Crait looked amazing

Carrie would have been amazing in IX. I’m so, so sad we won’t get to see that.

Things I LIKED:

Poe and Rey met! Would’ve loved for more than a few words between them. Same with her and Finn. Great reunion but I would’ve loved another scene with them.

I found Kylo Ren 10x more interesting in this movie

Porgs were porgs. Any more of them and I think I would have gotten annoyed I think

Crystal foxes were dope

Intrigued by the Jedi Academy stuff. Looking forward to the inevitable novel/animated series

Things I TOOK ISSUE WITH

I can see why Mark Hamill fundamentally disagreed with where Rian took the character of Luke. Leia and Han have been spot on. I rarely saw of glimpse of Luke in that character. I’m sure that’s intentional, I just would not have made that choice. And FUCK THIS MOVIE FOR KILLING LUKE SKYWALKER

FUCK THIS MOVIE FOR KILLING ADMIRAL ACKBAR

ALSO- Phasma is officially the new Boba Fett/Darth Maul. She looks so fucking cool, gets one goddam badass moment and then instantly dies. I can’t believe they killed her AND Snoke. You have 4 villains, movie. You killed half of them. I’d much rather see Phasma as Kylo’s 2nd in command than Hux. I’m so annoyed by her being killed. And she was introduced 2 hours into the movie ffs. Idk maybe JJ will resurrect her.

Leia’s space adventure....there would have been a multitude of much cooler, more realistic, effective ways for Leia to use the Force to survive that explosion. I’m not sure space flight was the right choice. 

I didn’t feel like Rose and Finn’s kiss was earned. Actually most of their whole thing didn’t work for me. Wasn’t super crazy about Canto Bight either

ALSO you put a CASINO PLANET in your movie and you STILL don’t write Lando Calrissian into it????

DJ was awful. Not a fan of DJ

Deus Ex BB-8

There were almost too many creatures? It felt like Fantastic Beasts sometimes

I wanted more of Kylo and Rey working together. That should have taken us into the final act only for something to happen that causes him to break away again. Rey hardly does anything in the back end of the movie (other than save everyone of course)

IF REY’S PARENTS ARE NOBODY JUNK TRADERS THAN WHY IS IT A MYSTERY IN THE FIRST PLACE...so many hours of listening to theories and that’s it lolol

Same with Snoke everyone thought he’d be some big baddie and he’s dead in a second like what were all the theories for 

Liked Amilyn Holdo quite a bit  actually. Was sad she died but it was in the most boss ass way possible

Sorry I need more First Order backstory where’ve they been hiding all of these GIANT WEAPONS. Every action scene they had a giant new weapon. Not to mention that planet they turned into a giant Death Star 

Loved the badass walkers, too bad they didn’t do anything

More Chewie plz

More R2-D2 please 

Ok I have to go to bed. Maybe I’m being too hard on it. If you liked it, please tell me why. I want to like it so badly.