#( verse: ffvii. )

[cinnamelle]

don't ever let go of what's beloved

[illusioneery]

dec, 24th, 2022

happy holidays!

[holyguardian]

@soldier-lodbrok | convoluted raise my dottir AU

Their escape had been miraculous in more ways than one. The fact Professor Hojo's swarm of workers hadn't sniffed out Faz's escape plan, the fact Faz himself hadn't intercepted them in their desperate run from the Sector 4 container yard, the fact they skirted detection long enough to be welcomed into the home of Elmyra Gainsborough for a short respite.

Truthfully, much of that evening had been spent confiding her sorry tale to Elmyra. Without her painkillers there would have been little sleep regardless.

The following morning, Elmyra disappeared for a time. Nervous that she had decided to approach Shinra with information about the escapees in her home, Ifalna prepared for a discreet departure... only to meet Elmyra herself at the doorstep. She gifted them an adventure fund, she called it, when the reality was she had gifted them a future.

Elmyra went on to help them through to Sector 6, where a discreet crack in the wall acted as a funnel for thugs and other such ruffians to transport illicit goods into Midgar's metal dome. She asked if they were going to be alright on their own. Ifalna replied they had to be. Aerith promised to write to her every single day.

Part of their good luck stemmed from Shinra's own war. The ongoing conflict in Wutai meant most resources had been pulled from the undercity. What was once a densely guarded, or monitored population had been all but left to their own devices.

As with all good luck though, it was bound to run out. That was what Ifalna believed when she and her daughter came face to face with someone in Shinra attire on the other side of the wall. She froze upon seeing him — her fear plain to see as she gripped onto Aerith's shoulders and pulled her in close. This was tragically unfair.

"My darling..." she spoke quietly to Aerith. Her fingers tightened a little more, though her grip was weak. She was a frail husk of what she had once been, so much life had been robbed of her. The command lingered on her tongue, to make her daughter run back to the kindly woman.

[il-mostrc]

The crocodile-skinned notebook that bore his schedule for the day held the decorative and regal scripture handwriting of Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Vincent's (@phantomyre-vincent-valentine) name was especially satisfying to write. He dubbed his name romantic, as would anyone with the last name 'Valentine'.

It was his lack of a 'valentine' that sent a referral to Hannibal's door. While Hojo would never step forth in the Good Doctor's Study, he found Lucrecia's presence more and more (without Hojo's knowledge). This young man was proving to be something of a hot subject with her. The vestibule door opened, and Dr. Lecter, complete with wearing one of his finely tailored darker suits, welcomed the young man further into his house.

"Have a seat if you are so inclined," he speaks, his voice almost monotone, one he often gives when greeting newly appointed patients. Nervousness was not unusual; very few people were at ease with opening their lives to a complete stranger at first. Two chairs bask in the glow of a flickering fireplace.

The chairs were once closer together across from one another until a fatal flaw was performed. One of his patients touched his knee, and that was the end of it.

Hannibal is sure Vincent won't mind the distance. Unlatching the button from his jacket, he reclines in the plush leather seat, one leg over the other while balancing the notebook and fountain pen. "Shall we begin?"

[enokvirkow]

Sketch of Enok in his FF VII verse where he runs a small food stall selling Galahdan cuisine

[heartxandxhome]

From here.

"Just in passing, never mentioned any names and I got the impression he only knew of them. Definitely wasn't one." Sarah resisted the urge to remind Kaleb she was oh to aware what hunters looked like, dressed like, acted like, even smelled like.

At that she gave the air a sniff as he washed his hands. "- were you hunting malboros again?"

Moving to the table, she shrugged and started unloading what was left in the hunting kit Kaleb kept in his pack; it had been a long hunt this time. "I don't think unsure is the right word; he seems friendly and charming ... just a bit out of place I guess."

"Glenn something, and he's offering good gil for helping fix their copter ... I just don't want to bring trouble to the islands, not when we've managed to stay off Shinra radar for so long."

@galahdanblade

[corcnaiism]

give this a ♡ if you want a short starter !!

[therapardalis]

[Misc Action Meme from @escortingsecrets.]

🤚 - To offer a hand to dance. ------------

It was times like these that Thera almost wished she wasn't so good at her job. 'Almost' because she had a close to pathological habit of being careful what she actually wished for and 'not so good' because then she might not get invited to events like this. Or at least that was what she told herself was the reason; it was a little more palatable than the other possibility, that she was only there to look good.

Shinra was trying to get its feet back under it after the President's 'untimely' demise, and part of that was holding - being seen to hold - an executive soiree at one of Wall Market's classier halls. Directors, Under-Directors, upper management mingled with false smiles and the occasional kya-ha-ha, alongside local government guests and a fair selection of Honeybee's finest, being paid a lot of money to 'entertain'.

Thera pressed herself back toward a corner, doing her best voluntary wallflower impression as the band struck up a peppier tune and people began pairing off to dance.

Please don't ask me ... truth was she did like to dance, but not here, in this crowd. Please don't ask, please don't ... She inhaled as a hand was offered, eyes darting to the face beyond, and breathed out in relief. "Shivan!" Thank gods. Possibly the only person in the room she could trust!

"Yes, thank you." Fingers were gripped with just a tiny bit of desperation, "I'd be delighted!"

[madeofthreads]

@soldier-lodbrok | X

Lucia's eyes hardened when Glenn attempted to grin her concern away. It wasn't even a convincing grin which was an insult, if he was going to try and pull the wool over the eyes of the Marksqueen he at least should be putting in some effort, not this half-hearted act.

Truth was he had been off. It wasn't even just a one-day thing. Ever since they clocked back on, he wasn't normal Glenn. Didn't take a genius to figure out something was up with him but the fact he hadn't spilled his guts to her or Matt yet, coupled with the fact he hadn't shrugged whatever it was off from his shoulders already? Something big was going on.

"Glenn, my memory isn't as hopeless as yours, of course I remember." How could she not? Rhadore was pretty unforgettable, still a hot topic at her therapy sessions.

Then he mentioned Refu and her posture straightened. Alright, this went from something big to something very real. "Okay, but you have to bring him to me at Shake Shack." That was her compromise. Yes, she'd look after Refu, but they were taking this conversation where they could gossip and talk big or small.

[phoenixfiiire]

@sacredflorist

He heard the commotion before he heard the tell-tale click of the electronic lock, informing him that the door to his room was now open and that he could leave.

Which was... strange.

A lot of things happening today were strange. For one, he wasn't supposed to be in his room. He was supposed to be in the labs, completing the tests for the day, but he had been rather quickly and hurriedly rushed back to his room before any of them could be completed. It was strange, and he had tried not to think much of it - but deviations in his daily schedule never happened.

Or, when they did happen, it was because something bad was happening. Like when Dion had...

Leaving was... not allowed. Even though the door was open and the lock was broken, Joshua knew the expectation would be that he continued to sit here and wait until someone came by to tell him what was going on. But...

The lights flickered for a moment as Joshua padded over to the doorway. Hesitation still gripped him tightly until they went out, leaving him in the dark for a moment until he conjured a small bobbing orb of flame to illuminate him.

"Hello?" The sound of the commotion, shouting and yelling and was the gunfire? could still be heard. It was going against what would be considered common sense to head toward the source of the noise, but after hesitating for a moment Joshua started off.

[phoenix-flamed]

Wait have I ever actually talked about Elwin's family situation in my VII AU verse. Or, really much of anything about this verse at all. I ... genuinely do not remember. SO LET'S DO IT, FUCK IT. This is tentative, because I still don't know shit about fuck when it comes to most everything the new releases are throwing at our heads. Details can and probably will change as I learn more stuff because ????????????????????? yes.

Elwin's family isn't dead or anything, Anabella just took their boys and left him -- and Junon entirely. Originally, the family lived in Junon; to no one's surprise, Elwin had been part of the resistance forces trying to push Shinra out in favor of regaining its lost freedom from the war back in the day. Anabella didn't see the point of this; if Junon would just let go of the past and get with the times, they could work on getting in Shinra's good graces. But what she really wanted was for their family to leave Junon for Midgar, so that they could live comfortably on the Upper Plate.

But to do so meant abandoning everyone stuck living in the undercity of Junon; friends, partners-in-arms, etc. Elwin couldn't do that. He couldn't up and leave them behind, not while knowing that Shinra would never make good on any of its promises to them from when it dismantled the republic and instated its own authority over the area. He wouldn't do that.

So Anabella grew fed up and left him.

Assumedly she went to Midgar with Clive and Joshua, but Elwin has no actual idea where they are or what became of them after their silent and abrupt departure.

Elwin, after that, laid down his arms so to speak, and gave up. He opted to instead start trying to convince everyone else in Lower Junon to quietly accept Shinra's rule, a complete turnaround from how he had been before. The hope had been that maybe, just maybe he had been wrong -- and that Shinra just needed them to prove their loyalty to them in order to provide them with more than the lot they had been forced to take in life. Of course, no one else agreed with this sentiment --

And for good reason, because of course Elwin was very much wrong. He finally did leave for Midgar, joining Shinra not as a SOLDIER where one would expect him to go, but instead seeking to take a desk job within the company's headquarters. Meanwhile, he sought to foster better relations between Shinra and Junon, to no avail; his optimism of improving the quality of life and living conditions of his fellows back home was effectively crushed by Shinra itself. They wouldn't accept compromise, nor would they accept mimicry of fealty from a dead slum of a city that only existed now because of their "kindness". One that they could easily crush at any given moment, if they so pleased.

And so Elwin was stuck. He couldn't return home, because the people of Junon would never accept him back after his betrayal and abandonment, no matter how well intentioned it had been. Shinra, on the other hand, saw potential to exploit his skills in dealing and working with others. The end result was him becoming the head of a Department of Public Relations -- a role that, if Elwin was being entirely honest, felt more like mockery of him than anything else.

Deep down, there's always been a part of him that does hope that maybe, by some miracle, he will find Anabella and their children again in Midgar. So far, though, it hasn't happened.

[holyguardian]

@soldier-lodbrok | X

All Ifalna could do was shake her head with an endeared smile. Glenn really thought it was a normal thing to drag a child to the beachfront at nightfall when all the adults in the group were distracted. It screamed of their gap in maturity — even if a very small part of her was curious about the nightlife of a tropical resort town, her daughter would always come first.

And she was incredibly wiped out herself. Those quiet hours were a slice of heaven. Aerith didn't fuss at all, she bathed when she was told, had her dinner and very nearly fell asleep at the table. Ifalna even scooped her up to carry her cuddle bug to bed, easily settling her. No doubt she was going to spring awake early in the coming morning.

Perhaps Glenn would have to bunk in Matt and Lucia's room if he wanted some peace. His bed was in the same room as hers this time around, but Gaia knew Aerith wasn't going to tiptoe around like a mouse for the sake of an adult trying to sleep off a fun night.

Though rather than worry about this or that, Ifalna indulged herself a little, and simply relaxed in with a book. It was a rare luxury to be able to simply read. Her life was so often filled to the brim, being on the run was intense without planned breaks, so she took these 'me time' opportunities like the gifts that they were.

Some hours later, she heard what sounded like a group returning to the inn. It made her pause and listen out... sure enough, Green Matcha Tea had returned, surprisingly a lot sooner than she would have expected.

"Glenn?" Ifalna whisper spoke back to him, in a tone coloured by amusement. She was ready for some wild story, a retelling of his night or that Lucia might bunk in with the girls instead.

What she hadn't expected were the pleas for her to come out with him, or how he knelt and gently lowered her book out of focus. Her eyebrows leapt up closer to her hairline and her lips parted around a shocked little smile. It was all kinds of absurd, the words that spilled from him. A protector not doing his job, so one drink at his side, Matt and Lucia would be shoved into a room that wasn't their own to babysit.

No was her reflex answer. But she laughed a small breath as he held up his fingers, corrected it to just one, and suddenly bestowed her with flower necklaces from the mane he had been gathering. Her own lips spread in a wide grin and she dipped her head, a hand coming up to briefly cover her lips.

"You make a very good argument, mister Lodbrok." she conceded, then glanced to where his friends idled. Her gaze softened as though she wordlessly asked them if they were sure about this, and a small 'go on' gesture from Lucia prompted her to look Glenn in his eye.

"Oh." The reminder she promised to live was admittedly a weakness, one that fully tipped the scale. "Alright. One drink won't hurt. But only one." Ifalna shuffled forward and placed her book aside on a small table, her hand very gently placing into Glenn's for him to give her a hand up.

In the background, Matt sighed and handed some gil over to Lucia who was grinning ear to ear.

[il-mostrc]

Leaflets such as this were almost archaic in nature in the upper parts of Midgar and the bustling industry of Junon. They were usually deemed poor man's communication in an age where dinner parties and sessions were conducted by phone and other means directly linked to the leaps and bounds of technology. It was here that Dr. Lecter found himself accosted by the young man's (@enokvirkow) eagerness to share his wares.

Pointer and thumb gripped the paper at the base, noting the handwritten description photocopied by the numbers. The composition he held showed signs of mass production by faded ink, the stack already low by the time it reached his hands.

"Is that so?" Even if Hannibal was part of the top social elite in both Midgar and Junon, his curiosity in the culinary arts permitted him to cross the lines on what would dub the mastery of amateur. Some of the most sumptuous meals granted to him were from those who wouldn't grace his cocktail parties. Old recipes were brought from foreign lands, ones that remained in the memory of their ancestors, and not so much was written in culinary books to share.

"That is a tall order for someone as young as you." That's not to say he didn't believe him. Even in his youth, he was conquering the medical field by sketching the deceased for use in books with such intricate details that they admitted him to the field with a full ride. One could surely relay such skills, as he did, in the form of cuisine.

His jacket had been slung over his forearm, suit pressed with nary a flaw, as he switched his focus from the piece of paper to the young man. "Where do you cook these meals?" The lad didn't have the aroma of squalor; quite the opposite. Hannibal could detect spices that were otherwise rare in imports; they permeated off his clothing as well as the light musk of smoke—cookery smoke.

Often, his nose knows best. 

 Running a small foodstall came with the need of advertising. And while usually Enok did so by mouth-to-mouth, this time he had actually managed to throw together a flyer. Listing all the available meals from his home islands and promising an entirely new taste-experience with herbs from far away Galahd. That flyer was handed out to almost every poor person crossing the grinning youngster's path. Even in this aloof neighbourhood, he tried his luck. Holding out a flyer to an elegant man, of which he didn't know that he had a certain talent with cooking, too. Though their worlds and cuisines clashing here couldn't be any more different. Enok wasn't aware of any of that, of course. "Sir, I can guarantee you have never tasted anything like this before. Not even the fine restaurants around here can keep up with my specials! Would be happy to one day cook for you!"

[enokvirkow]

Colored the sketch of Enok in his FF VII verse!

Street cook of Wallmarket!

[drippingheart]

Suspicion kept children alive. Suspicion kept children isolated. Alone. Fushiguro Megumi, in truth, would have happily accepted a loving mother, adoring father, and siblings who brought smiles to his face, but smiling was an odd concept ( it hurt ), and he . . was accustomed to being utterly alone. It was a strange sacrifice — the desire to live and for what? The alternative, however, was not entirely appealing either even if a regal woman with a kind smile did not harbor any intentions of manipulating or killing him. He was just another kid in the world born without the knowledge of love.

He was no psychopath though for his soul was capable of feeling empathy for those suffering without just cause and . . he was smitten with anything living other than humans. Between a women dressed in some ridiculous bee outfit and a weed growing through the cracks of the ground, a more profound conversation would be had with the plant. Furthermore, he, too, would prefer the company of gaudy working women over children who did nothing but cry and shout, either attempting to get Megumi to play with them or starting rumours. Humans did as humans did be it at age forty or four.

The rumours and stares did not bother him any, and that was the truth. Emerald eyes jumped across the faces broken out in smiles, that of the regal woman @stingslikeabee, and the glassy, marble-like eyes of a stuffed animal in the shape of a wolf currently being handled by a chubby two year old. The little baby looked happy, and who was Megumi to have such a childish, useless, and . . cute toy anyway? He peeled his gaze from the toy and settled steely gaze on the approaching woman. Expression was not hostile despite him still harboring his suspicions, just guarded and cold.

Hands moved into the pocket of his hand down hoodie, and fingers fisted at the loose lint as though he were dreading an altercation; Megumi was confused over the attention the Melissa gave him. If she really wanted to get in his good graces, she would have brought him a bird or, better yet, a dog. Had he been given a dog, it surely would have been all the kids' dog. With the movement of her hands sneaking the discreet package from her clothing, his eyes jumped between the beans and the woman's face. Was that . . all for him? The close proximity, her knowing smile, and the kind gesture flustered Megumi.

The child tensed and relaxed his hands as they moved out from his pockets to take the gift. His gift. His mortification and confusion only multiplied by one hundred fold when a kiss landed on the unruly spikes of onyx hair. He shrunk into himself and moved his free hand atop his head. Why was Melissa so kind? He didn't get it. It had to be some trick.

── ❛ Why are you thanking me? Hugs are normal . . everyone got hugs. ❜

All the other children would hug her; a hug from Megumi would be nothing special. Hours later, days later — he would still remember her expression and the odd feeling of intimacy. Was that was it felt like having a loved one . . having a mother?

[corcnaiism]

❛  well  if  it  isn’t  the  big,  hot  shot  shinra  boy.  ❜

a  smug  grin  conquered  his  features  though  much  malicious  connotation  behind  the  smile  poisoned  the  intent.  noctis  stood  there  with  his  arms  crossed  over  his  chest  as  those  dark  ocean  blues  not  once  averted  from  the  other’s  face.  there  were  so  many  things  he  wanted  to  do  to  the  head  of  the  presidential  order,  but  he  decided  it  would  be  best  to  hold  back  his  tongue  and  refrain  from  any  unnecessary  conflict.

❛  fancy  meeting  you  here.  looking  as  pompous as  ever,  i  see.  ❜

@axnewxera