#nibelheim

[prismaticpichu]

Look Ma! Pichu made a whole bunch of outdated FF7 memes!!

Outdated FF7 Memes!~

[pen-and-umbra]

I particularly enjoy how they handled Sephiroth's arrival to Nibelheim, juxtaposing his inner state with the perception that the other characters and the public appear to have of him.

Spoilers, obviously.

Consider this scene for example. Sephiroth is visibly disturbed by both the familiarity of his surroundings and the fact that he cannot place the dejavu it created. But when Cloud/Zack asks whether he's okay, he immediately turns the conversation to the other party's well-being and readiness.

This demonstrates how much he embraced the idea that he has to endure and never show weakness or discomfort, that he *MUST* always be okay. It also shows that he's not used to being questioned if he's alright. Anyone who grew up with a narcissistic parent would recognize the internalized rule of not causing trouble for others, which includes not being physically or mentally unwell.

And a part of the general public did support that image, with some even dismissing the idea of a "living legend" being ill, claiming that a hypothetical "mako poisoning isn't going to hurt him".

In some ways, an idea like that stripped its intended target of human nature long before Sephiroth lost his marbles in the mansion’s basement.

Cloud/Zack follow a similar line of thought. It took Cloud/Zack nearly a week to go check on his colleague. A week without sleeping, eating, or drinking. It's kind of mind-boggling, until you remember that his "Sephiroth was in a different league" also meant that in Zack's/Cloud's perspective, human norms didn't apply to him, and the idea of physical and mental deterioration due to stress, starvation or lack of sleep never ever occurred to them.

It's sad really. Sephiroth's reputation fueled by ShinRA marketing rendered him “beyond human” long before Gast’s revelations in the project records did. Even people like Zack, who worked with him on and off for years seemingly couldn't imagine that he, too, had human limits.

[the-cinnaminion]

Hate to see you leave, but love watching you go.😏

[poopsiethedog]

the lords in black are back!!

made these just in time for the npmd release lol

[aroacenerd]

The most unrealistic part of Nerdy Prudes Must Die?

The fact that Steph, Pete, and Grace can pronounce the names of the Lords in Black correctly on their first try

[shokogast]

YOU SUMMON US ONCE, YOU SUMMON US TWICE, YOU GAMBLE IT ON THE ROLL OF THE DICE!

there we are! a full set of our lords in black! i was gonna use 'em as assets for a powerpoint but thought it would be fun to see what they would look like compiled together too

and here's singles of each lord! including wiggly again because its polite <3

[munster0us]

Wiggly and his fwendy-wends!

[finallyfantasy7]

Huh.

I always thought Cloud is anti-social because of all the mountain of trauma that piled up on him but I am reading Traces of Two Pasts and apparently... that's just his personality?

He was like that since he was a kid.

It breaks my heart to think that Zack was just so aggressively friendly and hyperactively cheerful that he broke through to him. Cloud didn't make any friends and then Zack comes along "You're from a small village? I'm from a small village. Best friends forever!"

And there's no stopping Zack. He invites Cloud out for dinner. While. Cloud. Is. Barfing. He made him elbow bump! He even figured out why Cloud is hiding under his helmet and told him Tifa is alright. He made him open up about wanting to be a SOLDIER within 5 minutes they met, something Cloud didn't even tell his mom.

I'm just internally screaming how close poor Cloud was to being pulled out of his shell. Zack would have done it. I bet Zack would have even convinced him to tell Tifa he was there. Instead it turned into one of the most traumatic experiences for Cloud (and us) and made him pull inward even more.

Where was I going with this? I had a point.

Right. I guess I just wanted to say I was surprised he had pretty much the same quiet friendless personality when he was a child before all of *motions to endless Compilation of Final Fantasy VII trauma* happened. And that he was so close to being happy.

[rosy-crow]

https://x.com/GuardianOT_/status/1755405394237686268?s=20

Ayoooo thanks for pointing that out Guardian! The flames get larger with his rise in emotional tension/rage. Bro can commit arson just by being upset 💀

GOOD DETAIL

[cloud-of-eden]

ok so i have a theory about the Lords in Black. I think that they all correlate to one of the 7 deadly sins

first up: wiggly! the little guy is clearly wrath. his full name is Wiggog Y'wrath which i mean literally has wrath in the name. also the lyric in the summoning “Wiggly wants his wrath”. he also very easily gets frustrated with his “fwendy-wends” for example telling steph to fuck off when she doesn’t decide quick enough for him

nibbly: another easy one. he is gluttony. “nibbly wants his sacrifice” depicted as hungry and wants to lick Jagerman’s soul

tinky: the last easy one. he is greed. wants the “full set” of spankoffskis. keeps his toys in his toy box where they can’t be stolen or escape

blinky: this is where it’s gets more difficult because blinky and pokey are less obvious. in my opinion blinky is lust. in watcher world the mascot makes an unwanted sexual comment towards alice. his influence is also what causes alice to be Convinced that deb is cheating on her.

pokey: credit goes to @east-polaris for this cause i couldn’t figure out a good one for him. pokey is pride. he doesn’t want any other voices but his, which means he wants to be on top. his pride is what causes this. again this one is a little iffy

for me this raises the questions of who is Sloth and who is Envy. i wanna know what y’all think

[getvalentined]

Memories of Project S ╪ FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH

Nibelheim's happiest couple, 1977.

—

[ screenshots free to use with credit ]

[prismaticpichu]

We have yet to see the Reactor scene in its purest form, but holy fucking hell I LOVE this subtle line change Cloud/Zack delivers. It is unbelievable how just more visceral and raw and HURT it comes across when put against the og “you’re not the Sephiroth I once knew” (which, by god, obliterated me in itself the first time Iheard it in CC).

“I believed in you…”

“No. Not you—whoever the hell you are!”

Unreservedly acknowledging that this is a different person than the one he was smiling with, bonding with, and fighting alongside with. That this is not just a different person, but some kind of twisted and demonic stranger. Whoever the hell you are…. he cries. That is not saying you don’t your recognize friend anymore, that they’ve become someone else; that is not saying they did something uncharacteristic and wrong. That is the address of someone who is unrecognizable from the core. Warped and erased from their humane, compassionate self.

A complete and utter monster.

And the pain is not disguised in those eyes.

[chippersweetbaby]

[strayheartless]

Thinking about Mountain kids Cloud who grew up with mountain kid street smarts, so when things go bump in the night... no they didn't.

Like, imagine AGSZC ends up in Nibelhiem during some time off (sans alien mother thing) and Cloud just falls right back into doing things like leaving protection charms outside their window; telling spirits to fuck the hell of when he comes back from the woods.

And he won't let City kid Sephiroth come hunting with them. He wont let quaint little villiage kids Angeal and Genesis come either, because theres shit out there that even First class soldiers shouldn't fuck with.

The trinity are mightily confused because he will let Zack come. Thats because Gongagans know about spooky shit that lurks in the tree's and he may not be mountain smart but he's jungle smart and its basically the same thing.

ASG waiting all day for them to come back to the Strife house and they can see that Claudia's getting agitated that they've been gone so long, when all of a sudden both of them fall through the door's and are like:

"sorry we had to take the long way because the fucking Nibelhiem creeper thought we were easy targets."

They then watch in slightly disturbed awe as Zack helps Claudia lock all the windows in the house and Cloud checks the shot gun for rounds. And their just like "what the fuck are you people on" but in reality its just that Mako monsters aren't shit next to whatever the hell is in the Niblehiem woods.

Its always been this was, the people in town all know. Cause remember kiddies! if you think you saw something in the woods, no you didn't!

[professional-sephiroth-scrungler]

Ok

It may be the song influencing how i feel. I don’t know what it is but there is something so sad in his eyes here in the rebirth (assuming) nibelheim incident shot. Im not saying he’s just sad. There is definitely pure rage in his expression but there is also sadness and betrayal. Which makes sense because of what leads up to this. But before i only ever got anger in his expression in this shot. There is a lot more in his expression here to me and i am so excited

Heres the two last close up nibelheim incident shots for comparison that i remember/could find

OG (cause its funny)

Crisis Core/CCR

We haven’t had a new shot of this scene in a long time omg lol

[aislingyngaio-games]

Junon and Nibelheim Tifa symbolism through Rebirth lore

This tumblr post is actually further expansion from this twitter thread I made on the relationship between Tifa and Junon that I've noticed. Now that Rebirth is out.... hoo boy idk if I'm overthinking this or if the devs are just this big-brained. Spoiler alert for Rebirth, OBVIOUSLY. You have been warned.

Part 1: Phoenix, Deity of Junon Region

So to begin with, I'd like to draw your attention to what actually first attracted my attention to the possibly deliberate symbolism of Junon: the combination of the regional deity (Phoenix) and the regional chocobo (Belle the mountain chocobo).

As is obvious to any Final Fantasy fan by now, Phoenix is the summon of fire and life/rebirth, two themes important to Cloud and Tifa, both of whose childhoods "died" in the Nibelheim fire and massacre five years ago and yet "reborn", or rather survived, from the ashes of their fallen hometown because of their promise and bond with each other. They are each other's proofs they are who they are: Cloud and Tifa from Nibelheim. As a sea-facing town with an underwater reactor (even Under Junon is named "Sea Dragon Square"), wouldn't it have been more thematically appropriate to have Junon worship either the Leviathan (admittedly Leviathan is the guardian deity of Wutai in FF7 lore, but Wutai was pushed to pt3, and it didn't stop Leviathan from being a Chadley-earned summon in Remake either) or Shiva deities (which is the summon you get in OG Junon from Priscilla) instead of Phoenix, unless the switch was a deliberate narrative choice? After all, as I've posted in my original Twitter thread, Junon is the first place Real Cloud truly tries hard to "awaken" SOLDIER Cloud into speaking with Tifa. This is translated in Rebirth into Cloud and Tifa's reconciliation after their falling out at Kalm, and Tifa's relationship wheel being the non-optional, story-mandated dialogue choice in this chapter. The Rebirth-themed summon in the Rebirth-named game being set in the Junon region over all other regions? HMMMMMMMM. (And nobody better forget that Mr Dolphin <-> Tifa's limit break Dolphin Blow parallel either ;) )

Also, OG callback: Phoenix summon was actually obtained from Fort Condor in OG, and guess what huge ass creature immediately appeared the moment the party exited the Junon-side entrance of Mythril Mines? Aye, the Giant Condor. The protorelic sidequest in Junon is also linked to the Fort Condor minigame (a variation of the boardgame from FF7 Remake Intermission) that specifically chose to magick both Cloud and Tifa (as well as Barret) in to do battle. And of course, the "Dreaming of Blue Skies" Tifa-related sidequest in Junon region involves baiting the Giant Condor with bovine meat to take a picture of (and while waiting, they sky-gazed together at the clouds).

(Side Crisis Core tangent: Phoenix's materia is obtained from - guess where - NIBELHEIM WATER TOWER, as the first part of the Seven Wonders of Nibelheim sidequest)

(Side simulation tangent: The Phoenix simulation Chadley makes for the Rebirth team to fight can summon Bombs, which is one of the two bracelet charms Tifa is prominently featured with in the Retrilogy, the other being Chocobo, which usually symbolizes Cloud)

(Side LOVELESS tangent: The summon that Rosa calls to defeat Varvados looks amazingly like the Phoenix summon, and the resultant ending motif - the fiery destruction of Guardia, the mutual protection of Alphreid and Rosa, and the unpromised promise of fidelity and reunion - most resembles the destruction of Nibelheim, the mutual protection between Cloud and Tifa - Cloud as Tifa's physical protector & Tifa [being Cloud's motivation] as Cloud's emotional protector, and the fulfilled yet voluntarily continual fulfillment of the promise at the water tower between them)

Part 2: Odin, Deity of Nibel Region

Now what of the actual place of Cloud and Tifa's births? Well the regional deity is, appropriately, Odin, Norse god of death, while the regional chocobo is Selena Shirena (in JP romaji), the blue ocean chocobo.

Odin in OG is also obtained from Nibelheim (specifically Shinra Mansion), and interestingly, when linked with "Added Effect" materia on an armour piece, can provide immunity to instant death on the wearer, while if the same pair of linked materia is equipped on a weapon, it can cause instant death. This is a most curious and most pertinent symbolism for the birthplace of not only the only two people in the FF7 party to have ever tasted Masamune blade first and survived (rip to the other Nibel villagers though) but also, thematically tragically, the birthplace of Sephiroth, whose destructive powers with said blade are legendary. Not forgetting of course, that central in the stories of Nibelheim is "the other side of the mountain" being a local reference to the mythical/thematic land of the dead (remember which two characters are pictured on the Mt Nibel side of the two Rebirth Nibelheim keyarts?).

Part 3: Junon/Nibel Connection via Regional Chocobo Abilities

From Junon region, we have Belle the grey mountain chocobo (which btw, is a requirement to reach the Phoenix summon crystals that will both weaken the simulation fight and strengthen the summon materia), and a clearer parallel cannot help being drawn to Cloud and Tifa hailing from the village of Nibelheim located at the base of MOUNT NIBEL, where both share memories being on that mountain (once when Tifa was 8 and Cloud 9, and again when Tifa was 15 and Cloud 16 - SEVEN years apart). Similarly, the Nibel region chocobo - required to access the Odin summon crystal - is Shirena the blue ocean chocobo, making both Junon and Nibel chocobo abilities the diametrically opposite elements of their region's most significant landscape/towns - Junon the ocean-facing city with the mountain chocobo, and Nibelheim the mountain-shadowed village with the ocean chocobo.

(Side Costa del Sol tangent: Cloud's blue shirt swimsuit is named "Ocean Chocobo" which makes for it being the Nibel region Chocobo ability seems accidentally on purpose appropriate, as well as being the more "real Cloud" of the two swimsuit options for him imo, while the Wild Surf option seems too... Zack minus the sunflower, so basically the SOLDIER Cloud option)

So, let's now look at the symbolism of Junon and Nibelheim together, as both mirrors and opposites, as parts of a whole.

Junon and Nibelheim

Phoenix and Odin

Life and death

Mountain and ocean

East continent and west continent

Taken together, the bond between Junon and Nibelheim almost looks like the endless cycle of death and life/rebirth, which is very symbolic of how the Lifestream works (those who are born from the Lifestream return to the Lifestream). Just as Phoenix is both life and destruction, just as Odin can be both death and protection, it is the complementary, symbiotic love of Cloud and Tifa, at once opposites yet similar, at once separate but a team, both strong yet each having their own weaknesses that the other balances, that ultimately is most emblematic of the lifecycle of the planet.

It is no wonder then, that Tifa is the one chosen by the planet and the WEAPONs, both in OG when Sapphire Weapon caused the distraction that allowed her to both embody yet subvert her role as the Andromeda of Greek legend by enabling her to save herself from her execution at Junon with the help of friends, and in Rebirth when the Gongaga WEAPON choose to show her the true struggle of the planet that she might reach Final Heaven, and be the heroine who will save and stay by the hero's side till the end.