#I have had Cloud Strife for only a short time; but if anything happened to my chocobo-boy; I would kill Sephiroth and then myself

[soundcrusher]

I have a new obsession.

And I found out how to get my PS5 screenshots onto my labtop.

[12pt-times-new-roman]

c3e62

The party heads off through the wilderness toward Hevestro's place of residence. The first day's travel goes by without issue.

Ashton asks Orym to guide them through a meditation. "I've decided it's time to start thinking aobut my situation... how I got here, what it means, what happened to me. The Hishari shit, the helmet... yesterday kind of threw me, a couple of days ago kind of threw me, and I'm trying to recenter." Both of them are starting to wonder what fixing looks like, what it might mean, and both are doubting whether anything can be fixed at all.

"I think the best we can do right now is, if you see me go down, pick me back up, and I'll do the same for you."

Knowing that they deal with pain, Orym starts to slowly massage the palm of Ashton's hand, in that pressure point that relieves migraines (I think?).

Prism inscribes a couple runes onto Bordor's crossbow. Runes are just the containers and foci for magic instilled within them, so she puts a 4th level dragon's breath into it; when Denise fires it, it gives off a gout of flame, but the magic is expended. Because of the solstice, the runes can hold a spell for a short time and expend that spell when fired, but after a time the magic will dissipate.

"So you studied for years and never cast a spell, and Bordor, you only kept sheep and had never cast a spell, so really you're on the same playing field?" Orym calling out both Prism and Bordor in the same sentence in the nicest way possible is the most on-brand thing--

Prism has the sacred flame cantrip. She could only have gotten this from a magical item or from the magic initiate feat.

Bordor casts calm emotions on Ashton, and that ever-present anxiety and bubbling anger that exists in the back of their mind just fades away. They have a similar reaction as Imogen when she put the circlet on.

During the next day of travel, they come upon a lush, crater-like formation in the landscape, and in the middle they find a petrified skeleton that's embedded in the stone. By extracting the skeleton, they deduce that this was a githzerai who was placed here intentionally and then impacted by a meteorite as a form of punishment. They also find a ring made of an unfamiliar (likely meteoric) metal; identify reveals it as a ring of volcanic flesh, which gives the wearer +1 AC. It also has 3 charges; when the wearer is dealt fire damage, they can expend a charge to reduce the damage, and when the wearer is hits with an attack they can expend a charge to add both fire damage and knockback to the attack.

Prism also determines that the impact likely happened for hundreds of years -- long enough for the undergrowth to equalize.

Talisein "what the fuck is up with that?" Jaffe has gotten ahold of a pipe that re-enacts the smoker's greatest achievement in smoke clouds. Prism's is a memory of her essentially showing off to a mage and impressing them so much they offer to bring her back to the Cobalt Soul, and thereby escaping the gloom of the Shadowfell.

On the second night's watch, Orym sees dozens of little spirits floating around them that seem oddly, unnaturally comforting. He wakes up Prism, who identifies them as local spirits of the woods who are growing more comfortable with the party's presence as they spend more time in the forest. As Orym runs through the Zeph'erahtam, the spirits gather and swirl around him, almost like a cloud of fireflies.

"There is something about the nature, the energy here that is both ancient and playful." Orym thinks about how, even in the most terrible times, moments of levity and happiness still exist, and must be appreciated all the more when they are bookended by hardship and strife.

"Are your friends as powerful as you are?" (Ashton, Orym, and Laudna all:) "More."

Matt just straight-up gave Prism a 1,000gp mirror that she can use as the material component for scrying.

Prism casts it for the first time on Bordor's brother. She finds herself in an empty cabin with furniture. Dark, shaded, vacant. Nearby, there are some leatherworking tools and hand hides; she sees no signs of a "sick person" being there, and Bordor notes that this cabin is where his brother stays but the way he says it implies that this house is separate from Bordor's own.

At the end of this day of travel, Prism attempts to scry on Ludinus. As expected, her consciousness gets stuck in the grey expanse of clouds, like it hit a wall -- he's warded against divination, presumably similarly to the rest of the Assembly, their annexes, and the Volstrucker.

"You think the six of you are strong enough to stop a god-killer?" "I don't think of it that way... I would feel pleased if we slapped [Ludinus], or at least got some people who shouldn't be there out [of there]."

Laudna thinks they've become numb to killing after having killed a few dozen people. Can someone give me a count on how many sapient humanoids Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein had killed by episode 62? It's gotta be more than that.

Bordor asks the question of the night. "Are you trying to kill a god-eater, or are you trying to stop a man who people believe in? Are you trying to stop them believing in him, or are you trying to stop the god-killer?" Prism notes that oftentimes, wizards predicate beliefs on things they don't know for sure, and asks whether Ludinus is in the same boat, whether anyone knows for sure whether there's a god-eater in the moon.

Ashton thinks the teleportation was an accident.

Denise asks another excellent question. "He's been planning this for centuries, so what makes us think he's any closer now than he was before?"

"I think, as time goes on, maybe we need to except that Exandria is going to change, and maybe it's just about not making a change for the better, but not making it change for the worst." They are definitively against Ludinus being the one to fill the power vacuum killing the gods would create, but are not necessarily against the formation of the vacuum itself.

Denise is tired of fighting. Ashton is caught in the sunk cost fallacy. Orym just wants to get his friends back. Bordor doesn't want to die because of the Bells Hells. ("You have people you love, and you know where they are. That's more than most.") Prism is infected by youthful optimism and the prospect of being important. Prism doesn't want to put the knife in Ludinus' back, but Bordor volunteers, if they can get him behind his back. But regardless, though they all have different opinions of the deities, they all agree that Ludinus is a bad person, that he needs to go away -- and in the end I think that's what really matters.

I think, for multiple meta reasons, that the gods are going to change, if not outright disappear or be replaced. (The pantheon is the most difficult hurdle in the way of Critical Role as a company distancing itself from Wizards of the Coast's intellectual property.) And the issue I've been having with this narrative so far is the idea that the gods being changed has to correspond to Ludinus rising to power. So if the Bells Hells can separate the changing of the gods, Ludinus rising to power, and the dismantling of theocratic oppression, then I'm happy.

Bor'dor smokes from Ashton's pipe. Specifically, it "re-enacts your most impressive and heroic achievements." For Bordor, this is him standing in front of the Bells Hells, standing in front of the dummy they made earlier as Bordor casts firebolt for the first time. Then, they see him lifting his arms and feeling for the first time like he belongs.

Ashton smokes from it too, but it only works once a night so it doesn't display anything for them. Still, in regards to Bordor, they get the feeling that it's "all up hill from here."

In the dead of night, Orym plants Seedling in the ground and whispers a prayer. "I don't know if you can hear me. I don't know if you can hear any of us anymore. I hope you can. I've heard too many stories first-hand, too many tales to discount the good that you, many of you have done in this world. I don't know if you have anything left in you, but... I'm praying. We could really use a little help down here. I know you will too -- we'll do our best, but any miracle you can spare."

Two notes during the break: first of all, I'm starting to piece something together. Maybe the Bells Hells read as NPCs not because they are the background characters of someone else's story, but because they are the antagonists of Ludinus' story. Secondly, another layer of nuance suddenly makes sense: the Bells Hells don't care about the gods, they have no reason to. Whether the gods are killed or changed or replaced, it doesn't matter to them -- so long as Ludinus is not the one who fills that vacuum. To them, the gods dying is not the primary issue at hand, it's the power vacuum that their deaths would create; they want to prevent Ludinus from filling it at any cost, so they don't care whether they stop that by saving the gods, replacing them first, stopping Ludinus, or whatever else. That layer of characterization, I think, is what's been missing from a lot of fandom discourse surrounding this issue.

*Denise and Prism making secret slight of hand rolls complete with secret whispers* Liam: "Orym is in the back doing pushups with a 31 passive perception"

During the next day of travel, they come upon a crevasse with a river cutting through the middle. Though it's a sheer drop, the eidolon cougar who's been leading them walks down the cliff and sits at the base, looking at them expectantly.

"You could use that disc--" "It actually can't do altitudinal changes,,,," ah, the hardships of the wizard. (at least you get to choose your magic source and discipline, you entitled hubristic motherfucker /lh)

However, they identify this canyon as the one they're looking for, and note that they're on the lookout for blueish flora on the north side of it.

With double natural ones, Orym -- because he's a fucking halfling and the halfling racial trait is worded very strangely -- rolls a 30 on his check to use Mother as a hang-glider and survey the canyon. Around a mile from where they stand, there's a glimmer of blue.

(Unless I'm missing a weirdly specific rule, if a halfling has advantage or disadvantage on an attack, check, or save and manages to roll a nat1 on both dice, they can reroll both of those dice due to the lucky racial trait. This is because of the way the ability is worded in relation to the wording of rolling multiple dice at the same time.)

They come upon a stretch of land with blueish plants leading to a hill. Traveling along it, they come to a beautiful grotto with a stream and a little pond; Prism determines that there is nothing illusory about her immediate surroundings, but something about the hill itself feels off and shimmers slightly.

Pate goes to investigate and finds that, on the side of the hill, there is a carved opening to a cavern that leads into the side of the canyon. There are small grooves, like writing, intentionally written into the sides of it; Laudna recognizes it as Primordial (which, btw, she can technically read because she has eyes of the runekeeper).

As she approaches, Denise's whip is "warm on her hip," indicating potential danger as they, with pass without trace, hear a steady, rhythmic breath -- the hill itself appears to be breathing.

Beyond it, the blue flora encompasses the entirety of the rock and ground, and bits of prismatic crystal protrude from cracks in the canyon. With a nat20, Bordor pries a piece out with his dagger -- it's a beautiful, opalescent, refractory crystal. Prism immediately wonders what would happen if she were to cast a spell through it.

Ashton gets close enough to read the Primordial. "Within the verdant tomb, we keep her spirit enduring."

Prism casts ray of frost through the crystal Bordor picked up, just to see whether it's some kind of "elemental refractor." The spell gathers within the crystal and refracts out, almost like the force of it has been separated into "nine separate rays that scatter at different angles," causing everyone (within 60ft, the range of the spell) to roll against the cantrip. Everyone dodges it, but it still split it nine ways; each ray is not as strong as the individual cantrip, but the crystal did disperse the effect more widely.

The spirit enters the cavern, turns back to the party, bows its head, then -- having completed its task -- dissipates into the wind.

Orym definitely gets the sense that the "hill" is one massive illusion concealing something.

As they enter it, the cavern appears to be a structure in multiple parts designed to support a community of people. (I think Matt took inspiration from Derinkuyu for this setting! Which is awesome to see, as an archeology nerd.) (As a note, this also feels very much like the stone giants' fortress that the Mighty Nein visited in C2E5 9-61.)

With a 22 investigation, they note that the people who have traversed through this area are both barefoot, and also elven or half-elf. (Prism has a foot fetish, confirmed. /j)

In elvish, Bordor says, "hello, I'm here with my friends, we mean you no harm. Have a good day."

Bordor's brother's name is Jesper. Also, a detail that may or may not be important later: there are pine trees in the Cyrios Mountains.

There are flower boxes with fresh soil and vibrant blue plants in these tunnels, and within them, bands of vibrant metal as part of the décor.

Eventually, they find what can only be described as an interior living space, where the ceiling levels out and there is a majestic chamber where mineral and rock cascade over eons beneath a multitude of crystals. Water runs along and between them, forming a small pool in the center. In the middle is a 12-foot monolithic obelisk that gives off a dull green glow, obscured toward the center, smooth. Markings on the walls resemble recently-set ritual markings, drawings recognized as glyphs used to channel magical energies. The chamber is a shrine, as well as something prepared for a magical moment, a major event.

There's no language, only runes and magical inscription. With an arcana check, everything here gives Ashton a similar vibe to residuum -- everything here looks very much like residuum. However, this crystal looks like natural, not processed or refined, residuum.

1:40:00, the emerald tree, residuum is emerald

Orym sees the same ritual markings, the melted candles, the herbs and natural offerings -- but no people, no person, no living being. The central crystal almost looks like a space where a body would be -- among the crystals, he almost sees a smile.

"We must keep her spirit enduring..." and both Laudna and Ashton see that this shrine is a battery, a setup.

[prcspero]

Having children wasn't something that he had ever really wished for himself. Not before the Arches at least. Before then, he had thought he'd be some bachelor for the rest of his life causing his father strife with the many partners he would bring home. His brother would've given him several compliments on his prowess and he would've lived a happy life not being tied down by anything. That was the life he had wanted for himself a long time ago because that was all he really knew. The only sign of love he'd ever seen was his parents and, even then, his mother hadn't exited the Arches. Those damn things were cursed and had ruined his life twice over. Without those Arches, maybe he wouldn't have wanted a spouse or children.

But here he was now with a tightness in his chest that he would've said he couldn't explain, but now he could. It was clear to him that he would crumble to pieces if anything happened to Alrik or Alessia. He couldn't help but wonder where he would be right now if he hadn't found them, if he hadn't come to Iskaldrik at all. Where would any of them be? Prospero would've probably still been gallivanting across Lysara drinking away his sorrows. At least the former wasn't still true. The latter was still something he was working on, but he had some sort of hope that he could get over that, too. Maybe. There was that looming presence of the Dark One over his shoulder that really kept that flask as a vice.

Nothing a compliment wouldn't be able to fix though. Thankfully, Alrik was still willing to give him one. Of course it was short-lived though. "The hat always comes with me. Magicked it myself. If I turn into water or a cloud or fire, it'll remain perfectly intact. Do you know how devastated I would've been if it just fell through?" He dramatically held a hand to his chest. "It hurts just thinking about it."

Prospero smelled like worn leather and something comforting that Alrik couldn't quite place. That was the thought that was running through his head when the druid's arms wrapped around him. It was true that Alrik could treat others unfairly - he was quick to judge and placed too much emphasis on his view of pride and honor. Iskaran stubbornness made him argumentative, unmalleable, and a harsh judge of character. He hadn't wanted to let Prospero in, in fact, there was a part of him that felt resentful at first that the druid had intercepted the Harts' path at all.

Yet here he stood, melted against the old man's frame as if he was a kid again, waiting for his father to tell him it was alright. That they were safe. It had been so long since he'd known the feeling that Alrik had forgotten what it felt like to come home and stand in the portal of somewhere safe. For a moment he wasn't looking over his shoulder, or wondering what that person in the corner might have been thinking, he was just a boy, grateful to an old man.

Alrik wiped his eyes and withdrew before he looked up at Prospero to smile, "Your hat looks cool as fuck." He had a question about that though, "Did it turn into a cloud with you when you transformed during that fight, or did it just kind of stay resting on top?"

[of-stars-and-pens]

“You’re Beautiful”

Pairing: Cloud x Reader

Fandom: Final Fantasy VII

Inspiration/Request: “Oh, okay. Can I change my previous request to a Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII) x Ancient! Reader oneshot, where Reader has a sparring practice with Cloud and she confesses her feelings to him?” - Anon; Studio Ghibli

Warnings: None that I can think of.

A/N: I am so sorry it’s short 😭 I haven’t wrote anything this short in so long… And I’m sorry it isn’t exactly what you asked for.

“If you’re going to be with us, you need to know how to fight.”

“I know how to fight,” you snapped, readying your

“Prove it,” Cloud said as he readied his sword.

You readied your chakrams and adjusted your stance.

He waited for you to attack, and you waited for an opening, for his stance to falter. When that finally happened, you attacked, using your flexibility to gain advantage, using one chakram to hit his sword and the other for balance.

The fight was intense, and it didn’t help that you were at a disadvantage. His buster sword helped him keep his distance from you and your blades. His disadvantage was his slowness. You weren’t flying around, but he wasn’t shifting his stance fast enough to keep himself grounded.

There was a brief moment when he lost his balance and you went in for the “kill,” only to be blocked with the flat of the sword. Your feet landed on it, and used it to flip backwards. You looked at him, frowning.

By your calculations, his feet went undefended. His feet were his weakness, and if you followed your intuition you could fake him out. You’d charge like normal, dodging underneath his sword at the last minute, using the non-bladed hook to pull out his feet. The momentum would knock him onto his back.

You charged, barely dodging the sword, failed to hook around his ankle in time, but the momentum of your body against his caused him to fall back anyways.

You held the blade of your chakram against his throat, panting as you looked down at him, straddling his lower abdomen.

He looked up at you in sheer awe.

“You’re beautiful—,” he started to say softly, a slight flush to his cheeks.

You stared at him a moment, stunned, before getting off of him and stumbling back. Thanks to your surprise, he had the opportunity to put his sword to your throat.

“But never let down your guard.”

You scowled at him, knocking his blade away with one of your chakram.

“You’re an asshole,” you huffed, turning and walking away.

Cloud blinked before following you. “Wait—!”

“No!” You shouted at him, turning around and jabbing his chest with your finger. “You don’t get to act like a scolded puppy after that bullshit.”

“What—“

“Calling someone beautiful just to get an advantage in a fight is an asshole move, Cloud,” you scolded before turning and walking away.

“I didn’t,” he quickly assured. “It just gave an opening for me to take!” He grabbed your arm. “Please! I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You don’t get it, Cloud! I love you!” You shouted at him.

His hand fell, staring at you in shock.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—“

“It doesn’t matter what you meant!”

“No, that’s not—“

“Cloud! I don’t care! I love you. I didn’t mean to say it but I did and now I’m going to leave for a while.”

“Stop it!” He scolded. “I care about you, too,” he somehow managed to get out. It clearly was a difficult thing for him, and him looking away, almost ashamed, only served as evidence for it. “I… don’t feel comfortable calling it ‘love’ yet, but I do have feelings, and I meant it when I called you beautiful.”

You stared at him in awe.

On instinct, he put his arm around your waist and pulled you to him, looking into your eyes before his lips met yours.

[randomfandomimagine]

Can I ask for some head canons of cloud strife x fem s/o where his s/o is playing with his sword after he told them not too, and then accidentally get hurt. Also love your page so glad I found it >_<.

Thank you so much, I’m so happy that you like my blog! Here’s your headcanons, they turned out a bit angsty, but I hope you still enjoy!

WARNING: MENTIONS OF BLOOD AND INJURY!

CLOUD’S S/O GETTING HURT WITH HIS SWORD

Cloud knew how much you liked his sword

You had always been interested in learning how to fight

And he had taught you some things, but never with his sword

He was secretly terrified that you would get hurt with it

It was heavy, it was a powerful weapon and very dangerous

So he constantly told you not to touch his sword, only he could

He was strong and once a SOLDIER, and he knew how to use it

You had never wielded it, and he reminded you of that

You just said that he should teach you how, but he refused

Rather than to admit he was scared, he just became harsh

“I said no, Y/N” Was all he would always reply

One day while he was distracted, you picked up his sword

It was very heavy indeed, but you lifted it up anyway

Even if it took a lot of effort and strength. Cloud made it look so easy...

You began to twirl the sword, loving how cool it was

You were fascinated by it and felt really cool yourself

It was about then when Cloud turned to you again, a little too late

In the middle of your movement, you lost the grip of the sword

As you fumbled with it, it slashed you and you screamed

Cloud wasn’t one to become paralyzed, but his world stopped

He had been running to stop you, but he was too late

When he heard you scream and saw you bleed, his heart skipped a beat

Cloud called your name, running to you and holding you in his arms

Praying to everything and everyone that you were okay

You were shaking, crying and complaining about the pain

His own eyes were watery as he cradled you, hating himself

He should have been more careful, should have paid more attention

He should have taken more precautions to avoid this happening

Hidden the sword, done anything at all other than just warn you

This was his fault, he told himself, only his fault

Shaking from head to toe, he rushed to treat you

Luckily, your wound wasn’t too deep and he could easily treat it

You had only grazed the skin, nothing too grave, fortunately

There was a lot of blood, but it really looked worse than it actually was

It would still leave a scar, though, a painful reminder of that moment

Once you recovered from the pain and the scare, you would apologize

Cloud wasn’t angry (a little at first), he was just... sad... heartbroken

He refused to use his sword for a long time, knowing it had hurt you

For a few days, he also didn’t want to get close to you

He was afraid that if he did, you would somehow get hurt again

Then he wouldn’t leave your side, caring for you, being a little overbearing

Constantly asking if you needed anything, insisting that you should rest

Your recovery was short and easy, since you had been lucky

But Cloud still couldn’t let you do anything for yourself

You told him that it had been your fault and your fault alone

He had warned you countless times, but you hadn’t listened

But he still blamed himself and always would, he became cold and distant

Because he could have done something more to avoid that happening

And there was no comfort for him, no matter what

He was always hard on himself and winced whenever he saw your scar

Because it was his fault that you had gotten hurt

And it was his fault, he thought, that you would carry that scar forever

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[fullmetalscullyy]

i will come for you

summary: “Stay where you are. I will come for you. Do you understand me? I will come for you.” Riza spoke once more without thinking but knew in her gut that this was always going to be her decision if the opportunity presented itself. There was no way she couldn’t go to him to help. 

an: after watching the day after tomorrow five days in a row last month i decided to fill a niche au for myself ✨ something short that isn't meant to be taken too seriously lmao i just really wanted to use the quote "i will come for you. do you understand me? i will come for you” for royai :)))))

rated: t | words: | tags: au, the day after tomorrow au, rescue mission, sniper bros havoc and hawkeye on a rescue mission

read on: ao3 | ffnet

“Riza?”

Her head turned tiredly towards her co-worker and oldest friend, wondering what new challenge was coming over the horizon for them now. However, one look at Jean Havoc’s face told Riza Hawkeye this wasn’t related to the global catastrophe happening right now – one she and her team were trying to predict the trajectory of. This was something completely different. There was hope in his eyes – something they’d been severely lacking recently.

“Roy is on the phone. Line two.”

Riza hesitated for a second as she tried to process what Jean had told her. Then, emotion surged within her body and lifted her out of the chair. With an encouraging look, Jean pressed the transfer call button so Roy would come through her phone. Riza quickly accepted and put him on speakerphone. She took a deep breath before speaking.

It had been days since disaster first struck. Days of wondering if he was still alive or not. Being in what was essentially “base camp” for the worldwide operation meant she’d heard the news. She was well aware of what was happening around the world. Riza and her team were the ones tasked with forecasting it all. She’d heard of the tsunami that ravaged New York, where Roy had been at the time of the event. It had been devastating, killing hundreds of thousands in a city where that should never have even happened. Under normal circumstances, that is. Riza had lain awake at night, praying he wasn’t one of the dead. With no way to reach him, she’d never known for sure. When it became too much, she smothered her tears and pushed it down, shelving it for later. She and her team had a duty to the whole world’s population to try and figure this crazy shit out – and how to save as many as she could. Riza couldn’t afford to think of only one person – something Roy would have told her too – and yet, her heart refused to let him go, refused to banish him from her mind. He’d been her best friend. Her partner. How could she simply forget about him?

And now, he was here. Finally.

“Roy?” Her voice was strong as she spoke, but that control was already wavering as hope started to build inside her chest. Riza hunched over her desk, placing both palms flat atop it as she hung over the phone. Jean was right by her side, listening intently.

“Riza! Riza, oh thank God.” Relief clouded his tone but there was something else to it. He sounded off –

“Roy? Where are you?”

“New York Public Library. Riza, what is happening out there?”

Riza swallowed and prepared to break the news. “It’s a superstorm. There’s multiple, all forming over the northern hemisphere.”

“Where we are right now. Typical,” he scoffed lightly. Even in times of strife, he managed to quip a joke. Riza’s heart clenched inside her chest.

“Listen to me, Roy.” Riza leaned in closer to the phone. “You need to stay inside the library. Burn anything you can to keep warm and wait the storm out. Do not go outside. Don’t leave, okay –?”

He gasped and there was a gurgling sound.

Riza froze. What just happened?

Jean looked as alarmed and helpless as she felt.

“Roy? Roy?” Riza and Jean’s commands for him to answer were met with silence.

Suddenly, Roy gasped again, but this was different – like someone gulping down air after being starved of it. He spluttered loudly over the line, coughing roughly.

“Roy!”

“I’m okay,” he reassured shakily. “I’m all right.” There was the sound of him gagging and breathing heavily.

Riza’s muscles shook as her head bowed, thankful he was back on the line.

“Don’t do that to me,” she scolded without thinking, pouring as much of her relief and upset into that one statement.

“Sorry.” He sounded cold. His teeth chattered together violently. The sound was clear over the phone. “You know how I like t – to keep you on your t – toes.”

Riza could picture his grin and she felt tears prick in the corner of her eyes while Jean barked out a relived laugh beside her. His hand came to rest on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze while Riza let out a heavy sigh.

“Are you okay? What happened?”

“I s – slipped. The area is filling up with w – water.” He exhaled violently, his teeth still chattering with cold.

“Roy, get out of there. Now.” Alarm bells were going off inside Riza’s head.

“I will. In a second.”

“Roy –”

“I’ve got time.”

“That water will be freezing. Get out because it will only get colder. You need to get somewhere warm and dry.”

“Stay warm. Burn things. Stay inside. Got it.”

“Burn anything you can and don’t let the fire go out, all right?”

“All right,” he replied quietly. “I’ve got it.” There was a beat of silence and she started to fear he’d disappeared again. “I’ll be fine, Riza.” Roy’s reassurance was gentle. She could picture his face as he said it – a smile that reached right up to his eyes, making them crinkle at the edges, his expression holding a softness and affection that he showed only to her.

Moments between them flashed in her mind. The way he was the only person who’d ever made her truly happy, but her dedication to the job kept them both apart. He’d promised he’d wait for her, but Riza could never ask him to do that. A relationship couldn’t exist when she was in the Arctic or in Antarctica for six months – or more – of the year. And yet, every time she returned, he met her with an easy smile and picked up where they’d left off, no questions asked. Her work sent Riza to some of the coldest places on Earth, but when she returned, Roy welcomed her with open arms, and his touch warmed her more than any heat source would ever be able to.

Now the tables were turned, and she would get him out of there.

“Stay where you are. I will come for you. Do you understand me? I will come for you.” Riza spoke once more without thinking but knew in her gut that this was always going to be her decision if the opportunity presented itself. There was no way she couldn’t go to him to help. Riza had the gear and had walked that far before on expeditions. She hadn’t walked it during weather conditions befitting a new ice age, but it could be done. She was sure of it, and she’d do it for him.

“Riza, no –”

“I’ll be there.”

There was a silence on the other end and Riza feared momentarily that she’d lost him. Again.

“See you s – soon, then?”

“I promise,” she vowed.

There was heavy breathing, followed by a loud gasp before the line went dead. Her head snapped up to look at the phone, seeing the screen blink back at her to indicate the call had ended. Riza’s heart rate picked up as her gaze roved over the piece of technology, silently begging it to bring him back.

“Roy?” Jean called to him, a hint of fear in his voice.

Riza straightened her spine slowly but her eyes never left the screen of the phone.

Give him back, she begged it.

Jean placed his hands gently upon her shoulders, turning her in place. Upon contact Riza inhaled sharply as her body started to shake.

“Come here.”

Her exhale was muffled against Jean’s chest as he held her tightly. His hands rubbed her back in comfort, which she was extremely thankful for. She needed it. They were quiet for a few moments as Riza tried to compose herself and banish the images of Roy dying in this storm from her mind.

“Are you sure about going?”

“I can’t leave him,” she whispered into Jean’s chest.

“Riza…”

“I’m going.” Her tone was stronger, and she pulled back slightly, looking up at Jean’s face. His long, blonde fringe fell over sympathetic eyes that were filled with sorrow. “And you can’t stop me.”

Jean shook his head. Riza opened her mouth and geared up for an argument, however that wasn’t his intention.

“I just have one question for you.”

“What?”

Jean’s arms left her shoulders, falling down to her elbows. “When do we leave?”

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

The walls of the library were frozen solid. In all of her expeditions, Riza had never seen anywhere look so frigid before. Frost covered every surface, several inches thick. Nothing had been saved from it. Her stomach clenched as she prayed she wouldn’t find what she feared.

“Riza,” Jean called to her. He had continued walking ahead as she searched everywhere in hallway for signs of life. Jean stopped where the hallway split off into a new one. His torch was pointing towards something and, with her heart in her throat, Riza approached to see what it was.

There, ahead of them both, was a faint orange glow coming out from underneath a closed doorway.

Riza’s movements felt slow and jerky as she walked towards the door, however she didn’t even remember her approach. All of her focus was on the orange light instead. Jean nodded to her in encouragement as they shared a look. With a deep breath, she forced the stiff, frozen handle downwards and pushed it open.

There were people inside asleep before a roaring fire.

The muscles of Riza’s neck trembled as she searched the faces. Desperation made her grip her torch even tighter. She made her way slowly around everyone, starting from left to right. A small dog poked its head up as the light hit them. It was a black and white Shiba, nestled comfortably in their owner’s arms. The dog whined loudly, sitting up straighter and attracting the attention of their owner. However, Riza couldn’t pay attention to them. There was only one face left to search –

There. Beside the fire.

Roy grimaced at the sudden light shining in his face. He grunted and lifted a hand to shield his eyes, managing to crack one of them open. Riza knew she should lower it to remove his discomfort, but she was frozen in place like everything else inside the room.

He was alive.

“Who’s that?”

Riza didn’t recognise the voice that spoke and couldn’t tear her eyes away from Roy long enough to look at their face again. All her worries and fears about what she would find in this library were banished immediately. One look at him squinting into the bright light made her legs tremble and a shaky breath pass over her lips.

Her torch lowered to point at the floor.

Roy stood. His expression was one of wonder as he hurriedly walked around the piles of books and furniture. Jean had stepped forward to see to the other survivors, clapping Roy on the back with a grin and a quick hello. But he didn’t manage to tear Roy’s attention away from her.

They were a step apart when Roy stopped. He hesitated for a second, probably waiting for her to say something, however Riza quickly closed that distance between them. She was overwhelmed by the sight of him and the definitive knowledge that he was okay and unharmed. Her arms wrapped around his torso to squeeze him tightly. Roy did the same and it was difficult with all their layers, but they managed. She pressed her face into his shoulder and squeezed her eyes closed to try and stave off her tears. It was a struggle, as every emotion was surging to the surface and threatening to bubble over.

She was so happy he was okay.

“You came for me,” Roy breathed by her ear. He pulled away and lifted his gloved hands to cup her face. He gazed upon her in awe. “I can’t believe you did it,” he chuckled in disbelief. His exhale warmed the skin of her face beautifully in the frozen room. Just like it had done years prior after returning from a long expedition.

“Of course,” Riza replied simply with her own smile. “I promised you that I would.”

“You… You are amazing.” He leaned forward to press a fierce kiss upon her forehead before bundling her into his arms once more. His cheek rested against hers and Roy lifted a hand to the back of her head to hold her in place.

“And I’m never letting you out of my sight again,” she warned lightly, giving his torso a squeeze.

A laugh rumbled inside Roy’s chest and he nodded. “I can live with that,” he replied softly. “I would be more than happy with that, Riza.”

[secret-engima]

Yknow how the Cloud-Prom thing is a thing? Yeah well I was thinking of it in reverse. Prompto reborn as Cloud.

FINALLY FOUND THIS ASK.

It’s been buried so long I thought I’d never find it again.

BUCKLE UP NEW AU RAMBLE TIME AND IT’S A LOONNNNGG ONE.

Also before we begin *yeets canon FF7 timeline because it MAKES NO SENSE*.

There.

...

-Prompto wakes up when he’s 4 and he falls into a stream tainted with a LOT of mako while fleeing from bullies.

-Well technically he wakes up two weeks after that little mishap because mako poisoning plus sudden memory reboot is an Ouch and took a while for his tiny body to acclimate too. His mom (he has an actual non-adoptive mom now, that’s weird) is so relieved he’s okay and Prompto feels ... really bad that now he doesn’t entirely feel like her kid.

-He IS her kid and he knows it, but he remembers a time when he wasn’t, when he was an escaped science project and a Prince’s friend and a Crownsguard who saw the world end and then pick itself back up afterward. It’s impossible to go back to being ... well ... who he was before he Remembered.

-His mother accepts his new personality changes and “quirks” and Prompto loves her all over again for it.

-Cloud Strife is now a strange mix of too old and mature for his age and a bubbly, cheerful sunshine child. The residents look down on him because he “has no father”, but Prompto has suffered worse than their petty scorn and refuses to let it bother him.

-The local bullies learn to leave him alone pretty fast too, because Cloud may be small, but he has all of Prompto’s memories to back up his techniques, and bullies dislike pain. His mother just scoffs at the angry parents who complain about twisted wrists and black eyes and says maybe if they controlled their own children, hers wouldn’t have to resort to violence to defend themselves. It makes them no friends in Nibelheim, but there are a few neighbors who don’t buy into the town’s cliquish nature and they keep trouble away from the Strife home.

-Cloud is 7 when his mother finally stops letting him just handle her unloaded rifle with constant supervision and actually teaches him to shoot it. It feels young to Prompto, but Prompto had grown up in the sheltered city of Insomnia. This is Nibelheim, and Nibelheim’s wildlife don’t care how young he is or that they aren’t “supposed” to enter the town when they are young and dumb and hungry. Nibelheim also doesn’t have much in the way of a grocery store, and if the table needs food, someone is going to have to go shoot it.

-This at least, is familiar. Even in a world where he is no longer Prompto, and he’s pretty sure the world has been taken over by an evil Niflheim empire knockoff pretending to be a power company, he’d long gotten used to having to defend a settlement from things with teeth and go hunting to provide food.

-But back to the Evil Empire Pretending to Be A Power Company that he’s pretty sure has taken over most of the world- yeah. That was a nasty shock to figure out when he was 6. It’s nothing overt ... sorta. Just- you know- the way the elders grumble over how they were always small, but they were never ABANDONED until the reactor came and everyone started to work there rather than learn the old trades. The ivory carving and fur-tanning, the jewelry made of bones and fangs and shed dragon scales and the parkas made from wolf fur and rabbit hide that were second to none in quality. It hadn’t been the most thriving trade perhaps, but it had been something. Now all there was was the reactor, and that ... sat wrong with Prompto. There was also the rampant propaganda that was always pro Shinra, the news that this power company had just started a war (???) using their super soldiers (??????) and honestly why no one saw anything wrong with that was a mystery to him.

-Cloud is honestly glad that he’s living in such a backwater town. The farther away he is from That Nonsense the better. At least until he’s old enough to be able to properly fight and wield dual pistols like he used to.

-His mother buys him his own pistol when he’s 10. He’s responsible enough for it, and Nibelheim doesn’t really care about things like age laws that city folk do. Every child here knows how to safely use a firearm of some kind out of sheer necessity, even if most of them are not allowed to have their own until they’re closer to 12 or 13. He still primarily uses the family hunting rifle, since hunting for supper with a pistol is stupid, but he carries the pistol everywhere he goes in case something decides to try to make a meal out of him. It’s a battered old revolver, but Prompto spent ten years keeping equipment functional with minimal supplies, and soon his little Quicksilver is as fast and reliable as any “new” model.

-His mother doesn’t ask how he already knew how to disassemble and clean the pistol. She never asks when he knows things he has no right to, and he’s glad for that.

-Cloud is 11 when the abandoned Shinra Mansion stops being abandoned and those instincts that kept Prompto alive through the Long Night start screaming. It could be something innocuous, but those military trucks pulling around to the back of the mansion don't look like they’re only carrying supplies, and he’s not the only townsperson who thought they heard pained sobbing and smelled burnt flesh from inside some of those vehicles. Cloud thinks about keeping his nose out of it, he’s physically only a child after all, but the rest of him knows that if something goes wrong with ... whatever this is, then his entire town could be at risk of “disappearing” if Shinra is as bad as he thinks they are.

-The townsfolk aren’t supposed to go in there, too many monsters and it being private Shinra property after all, but the kids like their dares and their scary stories, and all of them know the secret ways to get inside and out again that bigger monsters can’t fit through and adults don’t notice. Cloud creeps around cautiously, pistol loaded just in case, and he can’t get INSIDE the actual building without being spotted, but he sees enough.

-This mansion isn’t a mansion. It’s a LAB. Those trucks were carrying lab equipment and supplies.

-And human victims.

-Cloud rushes home and throws up in the back yard and all he can think about is how two weeks ago the news mentioned a “radar malfunction” or something that led to an entire town being bombed out of existence and oh wouldn’t that explain the smell of burned skin?

-Cloud tries to stay out of it, but he CAN’T. He can’t in good conscience, so he keeps sneaking around, avoiding the guards and wondering what, exactly, to DO.

-He finds the ... disposal area and Regrets™, but every time he sees someone being thrown down there, he creeps over to check for a pulse. Just in case. Just in case.

-He’s thinking of stopping for his own sanity, because all of this is bringing up every trauma and nightmare he tried to forget from Prompto’s life, when he-

-Finds a little girl. Bloody and injured, with something imbedded in one frail hand that looks like shards of materia, and he expects her to be dead like all the others except she’s not and Prompto breathlessly carries her away on his back to hide in one of the tiny mountain caves he’s turned into a hideout over the years. He keeps a lot of stuff in there that his mother would never allow if she knew, things like a restore materia he won off a drifter in poker (and oh the man’s face at being outmatched by a 6 year old), and a surgical kit he ... found out in the wilds (it wasn’t like the man would need it anymore, the wolves had seen to that).

-He uses the restore materia five times before he’s sure the girl is as stable as she’s going to get on such short notice, then he stuffs a rag in her mouth and ties down her arm, because he may not know a lot about this world, but he knows shards of materia in her hand CAN’T be good for her health, long term or short. Materia absorbs magic from people on skin contact, so even in shards, there’s a high chance it will absorb her magic until there’s none left and then start going after her life force.

-Two hours later, he uses one last restore to seal shut the hand he just extracted the last bits of materia out of, throws the materia shards into the nearby mako spring that has been providing his light out of sheer spite to whoever imbedded the things in the first place, then passes out because he’s an 11 year old who just used six restore spells and performed field surgery on someone’s hand using his own tools and the bottle of alcohol he smuggled up here a long time ago as disinfectant.

-He wakes up a long time later, and by the time he gets back down the mountain to find his mom, the town is looking for him. He tells no one what really happened, but he needs SOME cover story because he’s kinda covered in blood from that whole- rescued a child out of a death pit and then did surgery on her hand thing. He makes up a story of a hunt gone wrong and hiding in a small cave until the wolf pack left and is grateful no one asks to see if his pistol is out of ammo or not. They just buy his story and move on to talking about hunting down this supposed wolf pack.

-When his mother takes him home, he tells her the truth. It’s the first time she’s doubted him since he was 4 years old. Shinra has already left again as suddenly as they’d come so it’s safe to take the bigger of the hidden entrances into the mansion grounds. He shows her how to get in, and while the death pit is a pile of smoking ash now, the signs (the bones) are still there and she is horrified. She is more horrified when he lets her into his secret cave and shows her the little girl, huddled up in his secret hideout’s fur blankets, still unconscious and deathly pale but at least not actively dying anymore.

-She agrees that this must remain a secret, for when Shinra eventually came back.

-They keep her hidden up there for three months with only a handful of other people in the know (all folk who Claudia has trusted with her life before and who she knows won’t go blab to the mayor). They feed her and care for her and discover she’s lost all her memories. They know about Kalm, it’s not hard to guess that her parents are likely dead and burned by now.

-Claudia names her Storm and says she will take care of Storm now, and Cloud hugs the stunned girl close and whispers that he’s always wanted a little sister.

-Six months after Kalm’s burning and Shinra Mansion’s return to empty haunted building status, Claudia lets the rumors spread that her cousin has died and left a child to be sent to Nibelheim to live with her. Since Claudia has always been closed mouthed about her family, this rumor is believed wholesale, and when one of those other folk in the know sneaks Storm down to the next town over a few hours before Claudia arrives in her battered old truck to “pick her up”, their alibi is as complete as it’s gonna get.

-They estimate that Storm is 9 years to Cloud’s 11, and she takes to being his cousin/sibling with a desperate sort of fervor. Cloud throws himself into being an older brother with equal devotion, even as he trains harder with his guns and survival skills and passes them on to Storm too.

-Cloud is 14 and maybe going a little stir crazy in his small town life (he’s grateful to be away from most of Shinra’s nonsense, but it does get REALLY BORING out here, especially with everyone his age leaving to go work for the Evil Empire In Disguise) when Storm tentatively asks what happened to her in the mansion. Cloud doesn’t know. But he’s got two pistols now and he’s not afraid of the local monsters, so he kisses her forehead and treks off to the mansion to find out.

-He fights his way into the mansion and finds all the creepy science papers and learns ... a lot.

-Apparently Evil Empire was playing god with things they knew little about, surprise surprise.

-Cloud tucks away Storm’s file (Felicia was her old name, interesting), and keeps digging. It takes a couple days of repeated visits (in between which he updates Storm and his increasingly alarmed mother of what he’s learned), but eventually he finds the files on Shinra’s golden boy Sephiroth and learns he’s had his DNA combined with a dead “ancient” (and if that’s really an ancient cetra and not some kind of horrible alien Prompto will eat his own shoes because there’s a picture of Jenova in the file and yeah, NOTHING HUMAN IS THAT SHADE OF BLUE kthanks). He digs even more through the mad ramblings, used to it after having to decipher ancient texts and Besithia’s mad rants with Ignis during the Long Night, and finds...

-Oh.

-That could be useful.

-Prompto treks down to the basement, then further down to a room filled with coffins. He wanders around until he finds the right one, flips it open, waits until the guy with Intense Vampire Vibes starts to wake up and ask who has disturbed his slumber, then interrupts with a cheerful, “I’m Cloud Strife. I’m going to steal everything in here I think is useful and then burn the rest to the ground. Do you wanna leave now or leave later when your cape is all crispy?”

-The man stares at him, “...What?”

-Cloud grins a little too wide and knows he looks very insane and ghoulish with the monster blood on his clothes, the dust and cobwebs in his hair, and the fire materia he’s juggling in his hands as he perches fearlessly on the edge of the coffin and simplifies, “Mansion go fwoof soon. You staying or leaving?”

-The man doesn’t seem to believe him, or even believe that he isn’t some kind of bad dream, so he just nudges Cloud off the coffin edge and shuts the top again. Cloud shrugs mentally, too frazzled and angry to care right now about Vampiric Drama Queens.

-He removes the relevant files that he’s found as well as any materia and weapons (and the diary of this one lady named Lucrecia who is apparently Sephiroth’s REAL mom and Mister Vampire’s former lover), then “borrows” a gas can from his mom’s shed and ensures that the dry, rotten floorboards of the mansion are thoroughly soaked in the stuff before wandering outside the back way, getting to a safe-ish distance and throwing a fireball through the broken window.

-The mansion does indeed make a loud and eager “fwoof” sound as it goes up in flames. Cloud watches the inferno with possibly too much maniacal laughter (hey he’s STRESSED okay? He’s getting the impression that HE’S the one the lifestream has decided to make it’s errand boy to save the world and he DOESN’T LIKE IT so just let him VENT), then laughs harder when a wall breaks open and out storms a slightly crispy and very unimpressed Vampire Drama Queen. Did Cloud maybe take too much glee in ensuring the gas had gotten into the basement too to make sure ALL  of the mansion went up? Probably. Did he regret it?

-No. Not in the slightest.

-One very unimpressed Vampire stare down that became genuine alarm when Cloud’s laughing fit turned into childish bawling later (stupid child stress hormones turning everything to tears when he least expected it, then again he’d always been a crybaby as Prompto in his own eyes) and Cloud leads Vampire Man home because he isn’t sure what else to do. He also makes Vampire Man (Vincent Valentine, the man sighs after the seventh time being called a Vampire) carry the diary and the most relevant papers down to his house. The other ones he hides in his cave for now, just in case.

-His mom breaks out the strong stuff halfway through Cloud’s story and shares sympathetic looks with Vincent over Cloud’s pyromania. Then he explains what he’s found and thinks about “Jenova” and while Vincent is skeptical, his mom has seen too much of Cloud’s weirdness not to believe him at this point. Cloud mentions that there are hints that at least some of the thing is up in the reactor. Storm cuddles up to her brother and solemnly asks if he’s going to go set the blue alien on fire too.

-Cloud says yes, Claudia sighs, and Vincent looks like he has a headache.

-Two weeks of preparations (and waiting out Shinra’s investigation of the fire, which they SOMEHOW deem an accident), a long hike, and some angry swearing from Claudia as she shorts out the security cameras (since when could his mom do that) later, and they have indeed found part of the blue alien woman. Their plan is interrupted when Vincent unexpectedly transforms into some kind of mini- dragon- monster- THING and aggressively fills the entire glass tank Jenova is in with blood red fire, but after THAT little episode is done, the Thing in Vincent’s skin eyes Cloud, starts laughing, calls him “the Chosen’s Little Argentum”, and cedes control back to one very dizzy Vincent.

-They all decide to call it a week after that.

...

Gonna wrap this up soon because ow my hands but some other thoughts on this is-

-Cloud and Storm start traveling to get answers and also to stay under Shinra’s radar, Vincent goes with because for some reason Chaos finds Cloud amusing and is willing to be quiet around the boy and also because this child CLEARLY needs a keeper and his pseudo-sister is his old partner’s DAUGHTER who was experimented on by Hojo and saved by Cloud so he can’t just leave now can he? Also the Lucrecia diary enlightens him to some things, like how Sephiroth is still alive and kicking (and currently sane!).

-Also Claudia comes with because she is a Good Mom and not about to let her 13 year old, her 11 year old, and a quasi-immortal Turk galavant around the countryside without adult supervision.

-Claudia and Vincent bicker like an old married couple and honestly Cloud is content to ship them so long as Vincent treats his mom right, and the ex-Turk would be amused by the Shovel Talk he gets early on if not for the sneaking suspicion (read: Chaos’s cackling) that this tiny blond menace guising as sunshine could actually pull it off, science immortality or no.

-Storm takes to swords like a duck to water and Cloud teaches her what he remembers, which is around the time Vincent asks about why Cloud Is The Way He Is and Claudia tells him that her son is a reincarnation. Honestly Cloud is just as flabbergasted as Vincent because since when did his mom know that?

-”Since you started talking in ancient forgotten languages during your hyper moments when you were four,” is the placid answer.

-They eventually wander into Midgar because What Is Self-Preservation and find Aerith. Aerith gloms onto Cloud and smiles a teary smile and calls him “Prompto” and that’s when he learns that Aerith is LUNA.

-They meet Zack outside of Midgar where Zack is playing Hunter rather than joining Soldier. Cloud and Zack stare at each other for like- twenty seconds before hugging for dear life and crying all over each other because it’s NOCTIS and THEY MISSED EACH OTHER SO MUCH.

-Zack still has armiger magic and gives it to everyone involved save Vincent, who looks like he might actually have an aneurysm if anymore Weirdness gets attached to his soul. He already has two (now three and one absentee sort of fourth) crazy children to look after, please keep the ancient magic away from his already battered soul.

-Not sure who/if Iggy and Gladio are reborn as, I’ll think about it.

-Fixit shenanigans ensue. The Turks get converted to the cause because 1. Veld’s old partner is back and 2. his supposedly dead daughter shyly turns up decidedly NOT dead and with proof that Hojo experimented on her (he nearly flips a table and the scars on her hand from Prompto’s field surgery hurt Veld’s SOUL).

-Claudia is Team Mom of the Turks now, she’s not sure how.

-Zack and Cloud put their heads together and decide the PERFECT way to infiltrate and ruin Shinra’s hold on Sephiroth is to-

-Have one of them become his secretary/assistant. Cloud loses the coin toss, so now Sephiroth has a personal ray of sunshine and good morals following him everywhere like a stray kitten. It’s working WAY more than it has any right to.

-Someone (read: the newly converted to the cause Turks and a gleeful Vincent) start slipping Reeve data on what the mako reactors are really doing to the planet. Also Hojo ends up dead. So does Rupert.

-Also also Claudia is Rupert’s sister, so Rufus gets an aunt figure to imprint proper morals into his skull through love, sarcasm, and good food.

-There I’m out of thoughts on this AU for now.

[aimeelouart]

Cloud ending up in post 7C9S world and sees that big statue of him standing in the middle of midgar

Oh I like you, anon, you know what I’m about!

The Honored Dead - 585 words, crossover between Seventh Circle, Ninth Sphere (canon ending) and Cursed to Strife

--

Cloud found himself staring at a grand golden statue of…himself. He tilted his head a little. No, of his younger self⁠—statue-Cloud’s cheeks were still rounded with the youthful softness he hadn’t lost until Hojo’s labs. Something very different must have happened in this world. The younger Cloud was dressed in a full First Class uniform, but had a sword similar to First Tsurugi in his hand.

Too curious to help himself, Cloud stepped up onto the edge of the fountain that surrounded the statue. His doppelganger’s expression was somewhere between serene and grim, and his free hand was outstretched, as if offering aid. He noticed a small plaque on the statue’s base, nearly lost in the dimness of twilight. Crouching to get a closer look, he read the engraving.

Cloud Strife SOLDIER First Class Brother, Leader, Hero 1986 - 2002

Cloud felt a pang of sadness for this lost counterpart of his, and for whoever had loved him enough to make this monument. Poor kid. He’d only been sixteen.

“...Cloud?”

Reflexively, he turned to the voice. Zack was standing just a few feet away from where Cloud was crouched on the edge of the fountain. He looked like the Zack who had died for Cloud on the cliffs, though he lacked the distinctive scar on his jaw. His eyes were wide with disbelief and growing hope, darting between Tsurugi on his back and the sword in the statue’s hands.

Quickly, Cloud shook his head and stepped down, unwilling to hurt Zack with false hope. “Not your Cloud. Sorry.”

Zack’s brows came together. “Not...my Cloud?” He peered closer, confusion twisting at his lips as he took in the long messy blond hair and the mature cut of his jaw. Cloud looked quite a bit different from the statue, given that he had a decade of wear and tear on the kid.

“Not that one, no,” he said, gesturing to the statue. “I came from another world entirely.”

Zack was silent for a long time, watching him and occasionally glancing at the statue. He had a little bouquet of flowers⁠—Aerith’s flowers⁠—in his hands, apparently forgotten. “Okay,” he said at last, softly. “What are you doing here, then?”

Leave it to Zack to adapt to the absurd so quickly. Cloud couldn’t quite suppress a fond smile. “Short story, I’m cursed to bounce around dimensions. I’ll be gone in a few hours.”

He processed that for a moment. “So, you wouldn’t have anything better to do than come back to the Tower with me?”

Cloud sighed. Of course he would ask for that. “Why?”

Zack laughed a little, rubbing at the back of his head and glancing away. “Well, I...honestly, I don’t think I could stand to let any version of you out of my sight right now.”

He was setting himself up to be hurt, if that was the case. “Zack, I’m just going to vanish into the next dimension. That’s not really going to be much better than just letting me go now.”

His expression was painful to look at. “Please.”

Dammit. Cloud shut his eyes, trying to find the will to refuse the man whose friendship spanned realities. He couldn’t. “Alright.”

Zack huffed a relieved laugh, crossing the distance between them in three long strides. Cloud wasn’t surprised when he was pulled into a very tight hug. “Thank you,” the other man murmured into his hair.

Cloud rolled his eyes a little where Zack couldn’t see, but it was fond. “Yeah, yeah, anything for you, Zack.”

[final-fantasy-imagines]

hey! still loving all the content on your blog! do you think you could do love languages head canons for cloud, reno, and leslie? if you don’t know love languages are just the way you like to show love and the way you want to receive it

Hi! Thank you very much for your kind words. :) Also, I’m terribly sorry for the long wait but I have never heard something about love languages before, so I decided to do some research before writing your request which is why it took me so long. Anyway, I hope you’re still interested in this and enjoy the HCs!

love language HCs

Cloud Strife

Basically, Cloud just likes to spend time with you alone, without having tons of other people around, because it’s a great opportunity to discuss important stuff or just chat about things that are going on in your lives. Since he’s pretty busy with Avalanche and missions, he really appreciates every minute he can spend with you.

He loves quality time with you; hours in which he doesn’t need to focus on something else except you. Whenever you start to ramble about something that’s on your mind in moments like this you have his undivided attention – which is something he expects from you too. It just makes him feel validated and relevant when you listen to him without doing other stuff, maybe focusing on your phone or something like that.

Also, he’s not really a person who says “I love you” quite often. Cloud much prefers to express his feelings via actions, even though he isn’t overly affectionate the majority of the time. To him, a kiss or even just squeezing his hand when he’s feeling uncomfortable says much more than those famous thee words. That doesn’t mean that he’d never say them to you – it’s just that he prefers actions to prove his feelings to you.

He really loves that you don’t need many words to communicate with each other (though he also likes having conversations with you). Sometimes, a short glance is enough to understand what the other is thinking, and just the fact that you know each other well enough to make this work never fails to make him loved and appreciated.

Reno

Reno never misses an opportunity to surprise you with small gifts, mostly because he loves to see how your eyes light up when he gives you something but also because he wants to prove how important you are to him. This doesn’t mean that he’s trying to buy or love though; he just likes to make you happy in every way possible. Sometimes he brings you materia he found during a mission if you’re interested in stuff like that because it’s a nice way to show you that you’re on his mind, even when he can’t be with you right now.

In general, it’s not about the tangible value (also not when it’s about your gifts for him) but more about the thoughts that went into the presents. You often gift each other stuff the other person has wanted for quite some time now. It just shows that you listen to each other and notice the other person’s wishes without having to ask two or three times.

Another thing that Reno does quite frequently is complimenting you. It’s often about small details, perhaps a new shirt you’re wearing or when you styled your hair differently than you do usually. He never fails to make you smile with his comments, even when you had a bad day and don’t feel great at all. To Reno, it’s the best way to prove his respect and appreciation to you, especially if you’re not particularly self-confident.

He usually doesn’t restrict himself to compliment your appearance only though. He also reassures you that he’s proud of you and your achievements in general, even if it’s just about small things like finishing some paper work or an essay.

Leslie Kyle

Leslie is someone who wants you to know that you can count on him, no matter what happens. If you need his help with something he won’t hesitate to do anything in his power to support you. Most of the time, you don’t even need to ask for help because he already figured out that you might need him.

He reassures you that he’s there for you at any time, even in the middle of the night. To him, it’s really not a big deal; it’s just how he likes to show you that you’re important to him. He would never leave you high and dry if you need him, and it doesn’t matter if it’s about something really important or if you just don’t want to be alone and need him around.

By implication, this means that Leslie is incredibly happy if he has a partner who’s supportive and considerate. He’s not really that kind of guy who likes to ask for help but an occasional “If you need something I’m here for you” is enough to make him realize what he means to you and that he can always count on you. In his opinion, it’s an important part of a relationship to support each other, especially when things get a bit crazy and chaotic.

That being said, he’s also there for you if you need someone to talk. He’s not particularly great at giving advice but he doesn’t mind to listen to your rambling about stuff that upset you or something like that. It’s a different kind of support, but important nevertheless, and he wants you to know that you can talk to him about anything, no matter how complicated or maybe even meaningless your problem or topic might be.

[kamiboothblog]

Befores, Afters and Always

On this day 20 years ago I dropped my seven-month-old son off at daycare and a short while later pulled my car into a parking space at the high school where I worked. Then the world exploded. 

Terrorists were attacking the World Trade Center in New York, the news reported. The Pentagon too.

Chaos. Confusion. Disbelief. Fear.

My first instinct was to turn around and make the 20-minute drive back to pick up my child. As a new mother, I immediately felt guilty for bringing him into this now-unsafe world. Would this be our new norm, a life of bombs and plane crashes and threats from people who simply hated you for being you?

Deciding to wait to take action until I learned more, I walked into the choir room where I served as the piano accompanist and was met by singing. The classroom of teenagers, too young to know much of war but old enough to understand this was now a day their grandchildren would ask about decades later, was raising its voice in patriotic song. The wise choir director had decided that music was the only answer these kids needed at this time when too many questions were being asked, too few answers were being given, and when nothing made sense. Music: something familiar, something tangible, something that can never be destroyed. An always. 

As the days and months and years rolled by, we learned the rest of the story of that fateful Sept. 11th, and we adapted to the changes it brought in how we lived and worked. We mourned and we continue to mourn. We never suspected that on the 20th anniversary of the terror, we would be under another attack - this time not from humans but from covid-19, a virus that has taken the lives of more than 4.6 million people.

Similarly to 9/11, the pandemic is marked by an excruciatingly painful awareness of the before and after. Life before quarantine and face masks and Zoom calls held an innocence we didn’t even realize we had until it was taken. 

“I miss sitting next to you in a crowded gym and breathing each other’s air,” I half-heartedly joked nine months ago to a group of fellow high school danceline moms as we longed for the return of in-person dance competitions.

What was once normal daily life now seems like a privilege just out of reach. Even as vaccines have made it easier to return to some of our pre-pandemic ways, a cloud of uncertainty about the future remains.

So how do we live like this? How do we face every day watching the death toll rise again, putting masks back on that we had hoped we could discard for good just months ago, distancing once again from loved ones, and listening to the non-stop, often vicious chatter from groups that are making this pandemic political? How do we keep from sinking into deep despair at the thought that life as we knew it is gone and may never return?

Before these trying times, I always thought the answer was in hope. Hope is defined as “a feeling of expectation and a desire for a certain thing to happen.” Being hopeful is positivity and positivity is good. We can hope that through vaccination, herd immunity and medical advancements covid will die out just like other diseases of the past. 

But these days hope feels….passive - a little too soft, a little too future-focused.

Cue faith. Faith is “confidence or trust in a person or thing or belief not based on proof.” Faith deals in the now, not the someday. Yes, it is important and arguably calming, inspiring and motivating to dream, to wish for a brighter tomorrow. However, the optimistic attitude that hope can birth is fruitless without a solid foundation on which to build it. We need faith to first plant the seeds to grown our garden of hope.  

If you are a Christian, your faith is in God. But I believe that you do not have to be religious to have faith; you simply must have conviction. You must hold deeply to your truth.

In his 2014 book Keeping the Faith Without a Religion, bestselling author Roger Housden writes, “Faith implies a basic trust in the way life weaves its patterns - an awareness that is not passive or fatalistic, but actively engaged with and accepting of all of life’s twists and turns.”

So keep the faith. This is not a saying to be taken lightly but an earnest call to action, a conscious and committed decision that must be recognized and renewed daily. At times, faith may appear intangible, but I believe it can actually be felt deep within your body, if you are willing to practice being attuned to it. Faith is a solid and steady knowing in your gut that gives you courage in the midst of fear, strength in times of weakness and confidence when uncertain. If you don’t know where to start, why not try believing in something - anything - that gives you even the tiniest sense of peace, comfort, or motivation to keep moving forward. Therein lies what I believe to be the secret to navigating the unknown. 

“Life’s twists and turns” has brought me to a place where my seven-month-old son whom I feared for and yearned to apologize to on Sept. 11, 2001 is now 20 years old, a junior in college. He is happy, confident and grounded. He has a younger sister in her last year of high school who is doing equally well, a compassionate and brave soul who encountered her own unexpected hardship a few years ago but chose to walk in faith through it. My children have successfully and (mostly) happily grown up in a world that is just as safe and just as unsafe, just as kind and just as unkind, as we view it to be. If I allow my fears and imagination to run, I could picture our future to be strewn with with more terrorism, more pandemics, more racial and political division, more strife. But I do not. I walk tall and deliberately with purpose, wearing my belief as armor. Whether those obstacles arise or not is of no matter because I will carry my faith with me - always, of course, singing the entire way. 

[lowritesthings]

Resonance

Part One of ?? Next >>

Notes: Takes place in the days immediately before the opening of the Remake.

The bar is still mostly empty. When the evening train arrives it will fill up quick enough, but for now it’s just you and a very serious man around your age that Tifa has just informed you is Cloud Strife. You’d told him your name and he’d accepted a handshake, but that had pretty much been the end of the conversation. He seems quite content to sit at his end of the bar and brood over his drink. You don’t mind if he doesn’t want to talk, but when you catch Tifa’s eyes she mouths, “sorry!” at you before she fixes you something deliciously cold to drink.

“Have you seen Jessie?” she asks you as she passes your drink over. You shake your head and she purses her lips. “I hope there’s no trouble.”

You hear the extra note of concern in her voice and lower your own. “So it’ll be soon then?”

“Yes.” Her expression is unhappy but she doesn’t say anything more. It’s too dangerous. There are still plenty of people even in the slums that are believers in Shinra, and a lot of the locals suspect that Tifa is at least sheltering Avalanche if she isn’t one of them. They’re right, of course, but as long as they keep their suspicions to themselves it isn’t a problem.

“I’ll make sure my kit is ready,” you say. You’re not a card-carrying member of the cell, but you help patch the team up if the injuries aren’t too serious, and assist the doctor if they are. Your day job is at the Leaf House, which is how you got involved in the first place: Biggs had been forced to retreat to his former work place once after a run-in with a bunch of Shinra’s goons, and when you’d seen the bullet hole he couldn’t pretend he’d just fallen off a ladder or something equally pedestrian.

“I’m sorry I can’t tell you more,” she tells you, and you can tell she means it. “But…”

You laugh softly. “Barret would have your ass? It’s okay, I understand. Hopefully no one will need me and I’ll find out what happened when the rest of Midgar does.”

“Thanks. I know we all really appreciate you.” Tifa reaches out and gives your hand a squeeze, and you feel the warmth of acceptance. Even if you’re not part of the team, it’s nice to feel useful and appreciated.

You’ve moved on to talking about Marlene and her newfound passion for dancing when the door bursts open and Biggs rushes in. Your heart clenches the same way it always does at the sight of him, and that familiar colony of butterflies takes wing in your stomach--which drops as soon as you recognize the tightness around his eyes.

“Tifa,” he says in an urgent but controlled voice. She nods and disappears into the back room, perhaps disabling the lift to the hideout beneath your feet. Cloud looks up for the first time but he doesn’t move or ask questions. Still, you can see that he’s paying close attention even as his fingers curl around the glass in front of him.

Tifa pops back into the room and Biggs asks, “Barret?” When she shakes her head, he lets out a short sigh and says, “Well, that’s probably for the best. This the guy?” He indicates Cloud with a jerk of his thumb.

“Yeah. What’s going on, Biggs?”

“Shinra raid,” he replies. His eyes fall on you. “What are you--? Nevermind. There’s no time.” He takes your elbow and when you’re on your feet, tugs you gently into a corner. His arms come up to frame your head and he leans in close, but it isn’t sweet nothings he whispers in your ear. Instead, as the door slams open again, he leans down and murmurs, “Try to keep your face hidden. Put your hand on my waist. I’m enough of a risk to the Leaf House, but if they can trace you back there…”

You nod as the Shinra soldiers fan out through the bar, hands on weapons. You follow Bigg’s orders, only instead of putting your arm around his waist, you let them both dangle over his shoulders and you idly play with the hair at the back of his neck. You can see the little shiver it gives him and feel one of your own dance down your spine.

Then he smirks at you. “Oh, and don’t forget to pretend I’m very distracting and funny.”

“Mmm…not sure if I can pull that off.” But you let out a flirtatious little giggle anyway, because you do have an audience and you’re hoping they won’t be interested in an amorous couple.

Behind Biggs, you can see Cloud’s eyes cut toward you both before he looks over to Tifa, and then back down to his drink. His shoulders relax and his expression turns glacial as the leader of the Shinra squad marches up to the bar.

“You in charge?” he snaps to Tifa.

“Y-yes…” she replies slowly. “Is there some sort of problem?”

“There are rumors that Avalanche is hiding here, so you just sit your pretty ass down and stay out of our way.”

He makes a gesture and the men he’s brought with him begin methodically--and forcefully--searching the bar. They flip chairs and shove tables around, pull decor off of the walls and shove at the jukebox.

“Now, wait--you can search all you want, but don’t break the--” Tifa starts, but the squad leader shoves her back. You feel Biggs’ shoulders tense under your arms, torn between helping her and protecting you, but there’s no need for him to make a tough decision: Cloud’s head comes up once more.

“Touch her again and I’ll stick my sword up your ass, lieutenant,” he says in the same bored voice he’d used when you’d been introduced. It’s so clearly a threat that he intends to take out, but he says it like he’s observing the weather. The squad leader spins to face him, spots his sword and uniform, and swallows whatever smarmy comment he’d been about to make. Biggs chuckles in your ear and you shoot him a curious look.

“I can’t believe it,” he says under his breath, sounding impressed in spite of himself. “That cocky son of a bitch is pulling rank!”

“You’re a...a SOLDIER? What are you doing here?” the squad leader asks, sounding much less confident than he had thirty seconds ago. Cloud waves a lazy hand.

“Whatever I want.” Then he glances around at the men the Shinra lieutenant brought with him. “What’s going on?”

“We have reason to believe she’s sheltering terrorists,” he replies, with a sneering look at Tifa.

Suddenly, one of the soldiers grabs Biggs’ arm and tries to jerk him away from you. Remembering your orders, you keep your face turned away from him. Biggs’ other arm drops from the wall to your waist and he pulls you tight against his body.

“You mind?” he snaps at the soldier. “The lady and I are a little busy.”

“I need to see your ID,” the soldier tells him. His eyes fall on you, but your hair is down and thankfully obscuring your face further. “Both of you.”

If Cloud notices your dilemma, he gives no indication of it. He just keeps staring at the squad leader like he’s a semi-fascinating bug. “You think I’d drink at a bar full of terrorists?”

The squad leader falters. “W-well…”

A flicker of disdainful amusement crosses the ex-SOLDIER’s face. “If I find any planet-huggers, I’ll send them right to you.” His tone is so patronizing that you almost feel bad for the poor lieutenant...well, not really. But almost. “Unless you prefer me to deal with them myself? Probably not worth my time. Who’s your battalion commander?”

The squad leader makes a choking noise. Then he signals to his men again. “Search completed, let’s go.”

You can see the soldiers glance at each other, but they’ve been too well trained to question an order, so they begin filing out--including the one harrassing you and Biggs.

“Wait.” Cloud’s eyes have fallen back on his drink, but at the sound of his voice the room freezes again. “Not very good manners, trashing a place and leaving it that way.”

Immediately, the men begin setting the room to rights. It’s almost funny how fast they move to clean things up. Chairs and tables get shoved back into place, decor is put back on the walls, and one man even begins sweeping up the shards of a glass he’d broken while smashing his way through the search. While they’re distracted, Biggs turns back toward you and you tuck your face into his shoulder as his other arm joins the first around your waist.

“Almost,” he murmurs against your ear. “You’re doing good.”

“Tough assignment,” you whisper back, threading your fingers into his hair just in case anyone is still paying attention to you. “Standing here and trying not to let them see me.”

“Well, and pretending I’m the most interesting man you’ve ever met, even with SOLDIER-boy sitting at the bar over there,” he replies, sounding amused at your nonchalance.

“Broody hero types are popular,” you admit with a dramatic sigh, “but we met five minutes ago and I bet he has no idea what my name is.”

“Broke your heart already, did he? What a bastard,” Biggs chuckles, and you grin against his shoulder.

“Dispicable,” you agree, and he gives you a squeeze. When the last of the Shinra soldiers disappear out of the door, he lets you go and steps away. The urge to drag him back into your arms is almost painful, it’s so strong, but you force yourself to settle for heading back toward your waiting drink.

“What was that about?” Tifa asks, sounding a little shaken. Biggs takes the stool next to yours and steals your drink, taking a sip before his expression settles into something a little grim.

“They know something’s coming. They must be trying to stop us before we can pull the job off,” he says. Cloud makes a noise and all three of you look over to him. He looks up, realizes that three pairs of eyes are watching while you all wait for him to speak, and falters for a second. Then he says,

“They’re not really trying, they just have to make it look like they are. But the PR is much better if they swoop in and clean up after a terrorist attack than if they prevent it. People will forget if they stop it before it happens. They won’t forget who helped them in the aftermath. Makes them look like heroes, which is exactly what they want.”

“So what do we do?” Biggs asks him.

He shrugs. “This is your op. I’m just the hired help. Ask your fearless leader...if you can find him.”

Biggs snorts and takes another gulp of your drink before you snatch it back.

“We can’t stop now,” Tifa says, though she sounds unhappy about it. “We’ve worked too hard and...people have been…”

“I know,” Biggs replies in a tight voice. “Guess I’m just wondering if our timing sucks.”

“It’s never going to be the perfect time, no matter what you’re planning. But the planet can’t wait forever, right?” you ask. He glances toward you and nods and you give him a supportive smile. He smiles back--and then steals your drink for a second time. He finishes it off while you lunge forward to take it back, then slaps some gil on the counter to pay for a new one for you before you can complain too much.

“I better find Barret and give him an update,” he says. “See you guys later.”

“Later,” you and Tifa chorus. Cloud lifts a hand in goodbye without even looking over. You want to say something else, make some joke about being tucked into a corner together, but you can’t think of anything. Instead, you watch him stride back out of the bar and let your shoulders slump in disappointment. Tifa gives your hand a comforting pat.

“Don’t give up,” she tells you, and you give her a wry smile.

“It’s okay. He’s got bigger things to worry about. Besides, it’s just a crush, right? It’ll disappear on its own with time.”

“Maybe…” she agrees, but she sounds doubtful and you follow her gaze to Cloud. Then you both let out unhappy sighs. Love, you decide, thoroughly sucks.

[ravenwolfie97]

2020 Art Summary

Yep, it’s 2021 already. 2020 is finally over. It felt like it lasted forever, and it felt like the end would never come, but here we are. Crazy how the time flew by.

I felt like I didn’t get much art done this year because of Current World Event, but I made a lot more than I thought I did. Even some of my new favorite pieces came out of this year, so I think that’s worth celebrating and looking back upon!

I was insanely productive during the first month of 2020, and looking back I was surprised at all the stuff I did, but then I remembered that that winter season was actually one of the best times of my life! I started being more socially involved, and I think my newfound drive at the time translated into all the art I pumped out this month. This is just a small fraction of what I made in January, but I only have so much space. Quite a few complex pieces in both style exploration and polishing my own style.

Apparently February was a rather intimate month. Things began to slow down in terms of my own art here, with me spending more time in social settings and school work ramping up, I didn’t have as much time to coop up in my room to draw. I did wanna do something for a friend’s Valentine’s Day OC art challenge, so I drew my lovey-dovey couple from Dance of 1000 Words havin’ a dance. Nothing actually came of that challenge, but it was fun to do regardless.

One of the things I was most proud of in the winter season was making more friends, and one of the closest friends I made was completely coincidental. I met a person named Kiri on the bus one night I decided to volunteer somewhere by myself, and we ended up chatting and getting along. They quickly told me their tumblr username, and I shot them a message immediately after they left. A couple days later, we met up for brunch, and we started becoming really close friends and creative partners!

Not much else happened in March cuz that’s when Current World Event started becoming an issue, but Kiri and I still kept in close touch and we randomly started developing a concept for a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Galar Edition. These are a handful of characters we thought up, with Skipper the Scorbunny and Dross the Dreepy as the main characters, Morgrem as the main antagonist, and some shopkeepers such as those of the Greedent Bank and the Indeedee General Store. This was also my first time drawing all of these Galar Pokemon (except Scorbunny, but I also made Skipper a bit more unique than a regular Scorbunny).

Lots of events happened this month. First of all, Steven Universe Future ended, one of my favorite and most influential shows was no longer continuing. I had to do something as tribute, both as a send-off to one of the greatest cartoons in the world and as a cathartic release for my feelings towards it.

A while later, I got the opportunity to start playing an MMO in beta called Fer.al, by the same people who made Animal Jam, which coincidentally I had also beta tested for back in the day. I ended up getting really attached to my first character, a Senri I named Sasha, and though I’ve made more characters than them since, they’re still my absolute favorite. Though I haven’t touched the game in a few months, I was really engrossed for a long time and enjoyed playing through the beta and early access phases.

At the end of the month, some friends of mine invited to a roleplay group with some mutuals, and we all played characters in a crime syndicate. Just a bunch of ragtag thieves and criminals who ended up together in order to protect an artifact called the Crown of Thieves, which was essentially a flag to be taken by other groups to prove that they are the best thieves in the land. My character was based heavily on my sona (if it wasn’t obvious) and was also influenced by Cloud Strife, since the FFVII Remake had just come out and I was super into watching the cutscenes at the time. My character’s (code)name is Valkyrie, and they are a mercenary, going between multiple different employers to carry out whatever duties they need to do. They have a more complicated backstory, but presently they were recently hired by recommendation of their friend Shark (played by @shmoots-universe​ who is also My friend now ily maya) who works with a group called the Court Cards who are currently in possession of the Crown of Thieves. Valk never really had a place to call home, but staying with this group of people had to be the closest they could get to that feeling. They still sleep with a knife under their pillow because of trust issue but that’s okay.

Okay, so technically these examples started in April, but I continued making content with them in May, and the month was just pretty void of art in general, so here I am addressing them.

There were two main things I worked on this month: a Steven Universe AU of my own and the whole #sixfanarts thing that kicked off around then. Let’s start with the fanart bits. I did two and a half of them (six in April and nine in May), and it was so much fun to be able to draw stuff I don’t normally do! My personal favorites are shown here: Blake Belladonna from RWBY, Roll from Megaman, Yuki Konno from Sword Art Online, and Link from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. The other thing I’d been planning for a while was a Steven Universe AU, probably to cope with the show being over but also because I was inspired by a lot of those SU AU artists I started following at the time. I won’t share the details here because it’s gonna have its own blog at some point, but the example I’ve shown here is of a comic I made loosely in order to introduce a divergence in the plot of the story as well as introduce a character unique to my AU. It was a lot of fun figuring out how to draw the characters and get a feel for the style.

As the year progressed, my amount of art I made per month began to dwindle, this time mostly because school was kicking my ass especially hard with finals. However, I took what time I had to get some backburner pieces finished, like the Tigerlily picture which I sketched out a couple months back, and the Gunvolt picture which I started working on SIX YEARS AGO. I don’t quite know why I got the urge to work on it again after so long, but it was nice to finally realize. The other drawing for DOTS was done in the dead of night but I was really happy with how it came out.

Despite only having two summer classes left of school, this month was really rough because they demanded a lot of my time and attention. I did not have the gumption to do anything digital, so I stuck to my sketchbook to get out what I felt like getting out.

My friends and I did a stream of the game Helltaker, and I really enjoyed the concept, so in following my friends I made my own Helltaker demon OC named Raksha the Ravenous Demon (it’s a pun but also got mythical insp). I also got super into Hazbin Hotel at this point, mostly because the Addict music video dropped and I couldn’t get enough of it, so I doodled Angel Dust cuz I felt like it. The other drawing I did was actually a free commission I gave a friend of mine as a prize for a trivia game show I ran back in June. He along with a couple other friends got some free drawings from me for getting the top three scores, and this one in particular was fun because of how interesting it was. He wanted me to draw a video game reviewer called the Irate Gamer from a specific moment, and I decided to go ham and just make it as dramatic as possible.

University classes finally wrapped up and right after that I was in the process of moving out of my apartment and getting adjusted to living with my parents again. I did a couple of agg.io drawing sessions with my friends from the Court Cards group as well as a new Dungeons and Dragons homebrew group I had joined. I drew some more of Valkyrie and came up with a design for my DND character Qakuqtuq (or Kai for short). He is monkey grandpa and I love him.

My main focus was on finishing a polished piece for my friend Cake, whose birthday was in the upcoming month. I wanted it to be as amazing as possible, so I put a lot of time into getting more detailed and making them look good. In addition to that, I did a few TOME doodles just for fun. The creature on the bottom was for this month’s art challenge on my Discord server where we made original TOMERPG monsters, and I created Hundylow, a Crystal-element monster based on the Grindylow from English folklore.

This month was a lot more productive than the past few had been. I tried to do a 31-day art challenge called Creatober but failed to get past the third prompt because I was still swamped with other work. I’m still happy with what little I did, including the piece with my characters Kyle and Guarudan from DSWD.

I don’t remember how, but I also suddenly rediscovered an old Flipnote Hatena series called Tales of LostClan, a Warriors fan series that I would say was the most obscure thing I’ve ever been super invested in. It was what got me into the actual Warriors books, and I liked it so much I redrew the animations into a comic... twice. Didn’t get nearly as far the second time but clearly my love for this little fanfiction had not waned after nearly a decade. I felt like drawing a book cover/movie poster for the series, just to get it out there and see how much I’ve improved over all that time.

Also I felt like making a vampiresona just before Halloween because I never dress up for Halloween in art (or real life anymore, for that matter), and I wanted to do something like that for once. It was short-lived but I really liked the design!

The focus of this month was definitely on Pokemon stuff. As per usual I contributed to the current Gotta Draw ‘Em All collab, and I was tasked to draw Regieleki. It was really fun to figure out how to make it stand out and look like it was made of electricity.

I also committed a lot of my spare time to my Fakemon Gym Leaders, as I had been working on bringing them to life in the past year or so now. As of this post, I’ve finished rendering their full body poses and gym badges, but I’m still working on completing all eight VS portraits, the first half of which are shown here.

I... didn’t draw anything this month, actually. What I’m showing here was worked on in the last few days but has actually been in progress for a couple of months, and I just finished it earlier today, in 2021. But I needed to show something off, and it’s also about time I mentioned it.

Back in October, I kept seeing people rave about this game called Genshin Impact, and I was interested but not so much as to start playing it... until my friends started playing and I was like “fuck it, let’s download it”. Since that day, I have been super immersed and in love with this game, to the point I came up with my own canon based on my gameplay experiences. This also included the creation of an original player character: Astra, the non-binary Traveller. And now, I’ve finally drawn them and brought them to life.

It has been one hell of a year. I had some of the highest highs and lowest lows in 2020, lots of changes, and I have now officially moved onto the next chapter of my life now that my time at university is finally over. I’m very excited for what 2021 has to offer, and I’m going to go forward with great ambition.

[scottymcgeesterwrites]

Final Fantasy VIII Review

(A serious review this time, without spoilers.)

Year: 1999

Original Platform: PlayStation One

Also available on: PC, PlayStation Store

Version I Played: PlayStation One

Synopsis:

Squall Leonhart is a new recruit of SeeD, a mercenary team protecting the world. Rinoa is a resistance fighter against the Republic of Galbadia, led by the Sorceress Edea who is suddenly hellbent on conquering the neighboring nations. Squall and his team attempt to assassinate Edea, but the mission goes awry.

Gameplay:

Final Fantasy VIII throws nearly every previous battle system out of the window. It’s nearly as radical as Final Fantasy II’s battle system. Enemies around the world map average their levels according to your average level among your characters. You only need 1,000 EXP (experience points) to rise to each level, unlike the other games where the EXP needed rises after each level. But that doesn’t mean your character levels up all their stats – that all depends on the summons, known in this game as Guardian Forces.

 Unlike other games, summons are crucial to the gameplay, despite not being crucial to the story itself. The Junction System has you “junction” each character with a GF, allowing you to assign different battle commands (Item, Draw, Magic, GF, etc). If you don’t assign a character a GF, all they can do in battle is “Attack.”

That gets super annoying when you’re moving around GFs between characters a lot but you forget to assign that one character a summon right before a major boss battle, so then they can’t do shit.

The drawing system is my favorite aspect of Final Fantasy VIII’s gameplay. Instead of harnessing magic by a points system (such as MP), you draw magic from enemies. Magic is only limited by the number of spells. For example, you fight an enemy and draw 5 Curas from them. You now have 5 Cura spells. You can hold up to 99 of any spell. You don’t have to worry about ethers or running out of MP. I guess it’s an incentive to battle enemies, as they are resources for magic.

But the way the GFs work annoy me the most. You to call upon GFs at any time in any battle for an infinite number of times. This doesn’t give you any incentive to even try battling. If something annoyed me, I just said, “Fuck it” and spammed GFs. Not only that, but you have to sit through the short cinematic sequence of your summon every time you call them. I must have viewed Shiva’s summoning sequence ten-thousand fucking times before finishing the game. This makes battling feel repetitive, tedious, and unenjoyable. Battling was a chore.

The Junction System overall is so complicated that you have to go through a tutorial within the first twenty minutes of the game. It’s aggravating enough already to sit through Quistis going, “Blah, blah. blah” but it’s actually super important because if you don’t pay attention then this game will be tedious.

The final battle though? That shit was epic. Hard. But epic. One of the best final battles.

Graphics:

This game took a different route in giving realistic proportions to its characters. While that’s a cool idea on paper, the overall effect is. . .boring? Almost every other Final Fantasy game has a cast of very distinct characters, like various species, age groups, or wildly different clothing. To suddenly play a Final Fantasy game with what looks like real people – like Bob, Joe and Jill – seems drab. Selphie by far has been the least interesting character to me. When your characters look and feel like NPCs, it’s hard to become invested in them.

I wasn’t a fan of many of the backdrops because for whatever reason I had trouble discerning some doors. I couldn’t tell what I was looking at in the background sometimes, like if there was a switch or button that I had to press.

The cinematics are great though – some of the best in the series. It has the most memorable opening sequence of any game – the duel between Squall and his rival Seifer. The cinematics were a MAJOR step up from Final Fantasy VII.

Story:

Oh hey, so here’s a serious, non-spoiler, non-inflammatory review of Final Fantasy VIII.

Put this story side-by-side with Final Fantasy VII and you can see how they carried on the inspirations. Once again, the story is set in a more modern setting with cars, trains, etc. Squall is Cloud. Rinoa is Aerith. Etc., etc.

Squall Leonhart is the epitome of angst. You will spend the entire game rolling your eyes at Squall’s angsty introspective thoughts about the situations he’s in and people around him. Squall is essentially a bad version of Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII. Take Cloud but only take his cool design and angsty responses. That’s Squall Leonhart. Squall literally has no interesting qualities about him other than his physical design. He can rock that jacket and that scar on his face. Squall’s “romance” with Rinoa Heartilly is also a cardboard copy of Cloud and Aerith’s romance. Squall meets Rinoa by a chance meeting at a military ball. She serves as the optimistic, lively counterweight to Squall’s stoicism. But there’s hardly any depth other than Squall finding her pretty and Rinoa thinking he’s cute and handsome.

The cast of characters is bland, to say the least. They are composed of other students (Quistis being an instructor though) at Balamb Garden (except Irvine, who is a student of another Garden). They look boring. Their introductions are boring. Balamb Garden sounds like a cool idea – a mercenary school – except it plays off more like a poorly written high school anime drama, which is lame. At one point, Squall’s friends – Zell, Selphie, Irvine and Quistis – all try to conspire to get him to talk to Rinoa. You actually have to play through that of the plot and watch it unfold. But Squall tries to understand Rinoa’s upbeat attitude with lots of question marks in his thought bubbles and mumbling, “Whatever”. It’s jarring to sit through four discs of this over and over.

The plot is a butchered mess. After Disc 1 is when the plot gets strange like a fever dream. Plot twists happen left and right after Disc 1 without any rhyme or reason. Very little is explained and many twists are too convenient. Seifer is introduced as Squall’s rival and Rinoa’s original love interest, but then he inexplicably turns evil. In no dialogue or plot points do we ever learn why Seifer switches sides. None at all.

There’s a particular interesting fan theory that actually makes infinitely more sense than the story that Square gave us. Here’s a hot tip – when fan theories start making perfect sense, you probably didn’t write a good story.

The best part of Final Fantasy VIII is actually Laguna Loire. Throughout the story, Squall and his friends pass out for mysterious reasons and you are introduced to Laguna Loire and his two buddies, Ward and Kiros (who are reminiscent of Biggs and Wedge from Final Fantasy VII). They partake in events set in the past. Laguna Loire hearkens back to the pre-Final Fantasy VII heroes – heroes like Bartz and Locke. He’s funny and charming. I wish the game was about him and his friends instead of angsty Squall and his cardboard friends.

 So, for four discs you play through these parallel plots and then they merge by the end. The payoff isn’t so amazing. I expected something better. Time travel is involved, albeit in a way that doesn’t make sense. Time compression! The ability to compress time into a singularity because . . . because why again? I guess you don’t have to wait for the next season of Game of Thrones anymore. Is that what that means?  

Other notes I want to mention – Balamb Garden is an awful, clunky airship and the world map is the least interesting world map in the entire series. The only remotely interesting place is Fisherman’s Horizon.

 Final Fantasy VIII’s story is the second most radical departure from the series, the first being Final Fantasy X, which I will get to later. However, Final Fantasy VII lacks any meaningful depth or existential crisis for its main character to explore. There’s no grand critique on the meaning or life or anything like that. There’s one slight existential question that Rinoa faces near the end but it’s practically nothing. I admire what they tried to do but it fell flat on its face. It’s dull and insipid with its characters and the plot doesn’t steer in a clear direction.

Overall, I admire what they were trying to do by adding time travel to the story. But it became such a warbled mess that it failed to deliver. They took all the cool parts of Final Fantasy VII but didn’t bother to give them depth.

Music:

The music is the biggest highlight of Final Fantasy VIII. Laguna Loire’s battle theme is sexy as hell. It made me so sad to return to Squall’s timeline, because I wouldn’t get to hear that music again for a while. The world map theme irritated me. It has a jingle that didn’t jive well with wandering around. It probably also didn’t help that the world map is dull to run around in.

The game’s theme, Liberi Fatali, is damn epic. Liberi Fatali does have actual lyrics but the famous lines “Fithos lusec wecos vinosec” is actually nonsense. Maybe that nonsense reflects the nonsense that is the actual story. It would have been nice if they had actually incorporated those words into the story somehow, like some magic spell like “abracadabra”.

The love theme is Eyes on Me, performed by Faye Wong. It’s the first time that Uematsu composed a pop song for a Final Fantasy game. Its lyrics are nice and of course fitting for the love story. I like hearing it.

There are no other character themes in this score. The focus was all on Squall and Rinoa having their silly angsty romance.

The final boss theme is actually one of my favorites. It starts out eerie with the chorus singing “Fithos lusec wecos vinosec” but in this drawn out, ghost-like manner. Then the music picks up sounding like a typical Final Fantasy battle theme, then goes crazy from there on out.

Notable Score:

Liberi Fatali.

 Verdict:

My least favorite Final Fantasy game. I would place it right at the bottom tier. The story is absolute gibberish. The gameplay could be fun once you wrap your head around it, which I didn’t and so it was a pain in the ass for me. Finding all the Guardian Forces can be fun. Laguna Loire is the best part of the story, and that’s really it. At the end of the day, probably put this one off until you play the better, more important Final Fantasy games. You are not missing anything if you never play this game.

Direct Sequel?

No.

Keep it that way.

[azure-steel]

@oflockhearted​ said: "I'd totally fuck you" // you knew this would happen [tbh, I’d have been a little heartbroken if it DIDN’T happen ;u;] Send "I'd totally fuck you" for my muse's reaction to yours saying this to them - ACCEPTING!!

Cloud was having a Bad Day™. 

The first instance of the legendary Bad Day™  was a stupid o’clock phone call about a delivery he hadn’t yet made and being chewed out over the receiver for not keeping to a time constraint he’d never agreed to. Keeping his tone at a level where he was at least amicable was a difficult task when he's stood there freezing his nuts off in the office wearing little more than his boxer shorts, while picking the sleep out of his eyes. He’d placed the device back in its base a little harder than he’d originally intended after that call ended rather abruptly. 

Who needed a lie in on their day off anyway? Asshole... 

Sometimes this job could be more trouble than Cloud felt it was worth. But only sometimes; awkward clients came with the territory, but that didn’t mean he didn’t sit and seethe about it at the breakfast table sporting an expression that looked like he was having a hard time chewing a few hornets. If Cloud Strife was an expert at anything at all, then sulking was definitely it. 

Tifa had enough sense about her at the time not to ask what his problem was and so Cloud was able to sit and smoulder in peace for most of the morning.

The second instance of the legendary Bad Day™ occurs in the workshop; commissioned for a general service on what had to be the oldest motorcycle in the whole of Gaia. The thing was a fossil of a machine, held together with strange makeshift frames (Which looked as though they’d been welded together by a blind man... while he was on fire) and ratty shreds of duct tape, so old the glue was beginning to degrade and causing the strip to slide away from the original point of contact. Not that this was the actual issue here. 

It took a while to find the outlet feed for the lubricative oil these machines needed to keep all the inner workings running smoothly, and the damn thing just so happened to be directly beneath the main body of the bike. Not really a problem if the tank could be lifted, though it seemed in this case - because this was just Cloud’s dumb luck today - the unit was fixed via the oddly welded frame (Done by a blind man... while he was on fire) so he’s now left with little choice but to get down on his back against the cold concrete floor and shimmy beneath the vehicle body. He wrenches a little at the valve, a pull one way, a jiggle the other.

Damn, this thing was jammed on tight! But he perseveres, with the hopes that he can loosen the cap just enough to get the pan beneath the thing and drain the oil. Of course, it simply doesn’t happen the way he’d planned it. The cap cracks under the pressure of of Cloud’s wrench. 

“Oh no... please... no...” a panicked murmur just as the cap all but disintegrated and all of that lovely, ancient, crusty oil is dumped right out of the tank in one fell swoop. Luckily enough for Cloud - in this instance at least - he’d had his eyes closed but a good measure of it ended up in his mouth and Cloud is already spluttering, retching and cursing the entire day before he’s managed to scrabble his way from beneath the motorcycle. If this day could possibly get any worse, this pseudo-mechanic certainly couldn’t see how. If he could just punt this damn bike into the street and get away with it right at that moment it he certainly would have done. 

After a hot five minutes or so of spitting out gritty lumps of rancid oil and violently wiping his eyes with his already filthy tank, he blindly makes his way into the bar where Tifa - his beautiful wife, the only good thing in his life right at this moment in time - is gearing up for the afternoon rush. 

“Gods, Cloud, what happened?!” she asks, her voice shrill but not without that irritating hue of amusement dancing in her tone. Cloud barges through the bar gate with a haughty and rather gruff “Don’t!” thrown Tifa’s way and takes his place over the sink, water running before furiously attempting to wash the revolting taste of motor oil out of his mouth. He’s aware that she’s watching, possibly laughing behind those big round eyes of hers but he’s paying her no mind at the moment while he just desperately attempts to keep that mornings breakfast down. He must look an absolute mess. What a joke today’s been. 

But then she says something that makes him pause mid-flow, in that low sultry voice she uses either when she wants something, or she’s taking the piss. 

“Ugh... you know, Cloud, I’d totally fuck you right now~”

Did he hear that right? Surely not!

Slowly, he turns his head to face her, his expression the very picture of abject annoyance and he responds in the most pleasant tone he can muster - all things considered;

“As you can see, my darling, I have already been royally F U C K E D today.”

Needless to say... he wasn’t in the mood. 

[whetstonefires]

Sephiroth, 1, 2, 5, 9, 12, 16, 20. I find your take on him so interesting! (And kind of sad too...)

Oh gosh this is so many! Haha okay, here goes.

1.Their physical weak spots

Huh. He’s programmed to be literally impossible to damage in the one actual fight in the Nibel flashback, the dragon. I theorize this might have been his first-level Limit? But of course you can’t use a Limit unless you’ve been injured first. (Apparently they reversed this in the Remake which is a major thematic change and I don’t like it? Anyway tho.)

So on one level his physical untouchability is part of his trademark and there’s a temptation to say ‘none’ and be done with it.

Normal human weak spots, I imagine, he’s not as alien as all that. The throat is the throat, I mean. His disinclination for wearing shirts may suggest an indifference to thoracic damage, but between his tendency to not get hit at all and the existence of healing magic that doesn’t necessarily mean much.

The vertical pupils which can dilate much further than normal would make him particularly vulnerable to flashbangs used in a dark or even dim environment. I assume Wutaian ninjas exploited the heck out of that. :D

2. Their emotional/moral weak spots

Abandonment issues was a big one, I think, and all the huge gaping vulnerabilities created by being a child with no one to love, or who loved you.

Thinking outside of Shinra’s standard pathways is a matter of some anxiety to him, in Crisis Core–his idea of resistance is ‘find my friend first and then oops fail to kill him they can’t prove it was on purpose’ and then later ‘turn down the assignment to find my friend and kill him.’ There’s just, a lot of emotional dependence on a toxic structure indicated by his behavior patterns.

I’m sure that was deliberately instilled, but it’s not that hard. His superpowers aren’t Superman scale self-sufficient until after he ‘dies’ once, and capitalism does what it does. He’s not much less dependent on the Company for survival than the average worker, and more so for identity.

Morally he was disadvantaged by being a corporate supersoldier with Hojo as his parent–the details of his upbringing have never been clarified but they sure didn’t put him anywhere outside Shinra enough for him to form external attachments, or even powerful internal personal ones prior to the rather shaky ones he managed with two peers sometime in adolescence, which leaves fairly few possibilities really.

Anyway morally he’s nothing but weaknesses, even before he got tangled up with The Thing From The Northern Crater and decided he was God and should consume all life. ^^;

5. Guilty pleasures 

You know, I don’t think even pre-evil Sephiroth did guilt much? Waste of energy, and (see above) he wasn’t socialized for it, it’s counterproductive in a soldier. The ‘guilt’ in guilty pleasure is really a species of shame though, and anyone with that much pride is vulnerable to the opposite, even if they weren’t exposed to someone like Hojo growing up….

You know, it was probably novels? He was a reader, and one of the most personal things we know about him from the OG is the deep impression left by Hojo’s furious rant about how inappropriate it was to use poetic expressions about magic. Even ‘magic’ was too sentimental for this domineering science twit.

So, every so often growing Sephiroth would get his hands on a piece of fiction, and the quality wasn’t necessarily great because it was whatever he could pick up in the break room or wherever, but he’d hole up out of sight and scarf it down. Even once he had his own living space and salary and could buy whatever books he wanted and store them, he’d pick up novels on the sly and get rid of them once he was done, like someone was going to catch him. One of the things he used to pick out of the ruins in Wutai during the looting was books.

He always felt a confusing mess of jealousy and scorn about Genesis’ Loveless thing. That he could just like it like that, constantly, right out in the open, where anyone could laugh at him. That nobody had ever taken it away.

Less tragically, I think sometimes he’d go home and watch bad TV. Whatever Midgar’s stupidest soap opera was. Sephiroth caught enough of the reruns to know most of the main plots. He had an opinion about who the father of Jaqueline’s baby should have turned out to be. He would never admit this.

9. Humiliating memories

Okay, as touched on above repeatedly, he grew up with Hojo, who loves breaking people down and laughing at them, so he’s probably got a lot of these.

The worst one is one time when he had a weak moment or an optimistic one, and asked out loud in words for something he really, really wanted, and Hojo said yes, and gave Sephiroth just enough time to get desperately excited and express gratitude before laughing at him and saying of course he was lying. Don’t be stupid.

That isn’t something important enough to bother with.

12. Grudges and vendettas 

‘Burning inside with violent anger’ isn’t there for no reason. From Nibelheim on these define him, and according to bonus materials of middling canon status he eventually sheds almost all identity elements but his grudges.

I think, based on the shape of his breakdown? That for most of his life he told himself that holding onto anger and pursuing grudges was a waste of time and energy. But that didn’t actually help him let any of it go, he just internalized and ignored things. Because he wasn’t actually not holding grudges, he was just reacting like someone who didn’t have any choices, and marinating in spite.

Spite against Hojo surfaces on the way up to the reactor in a way that says to me it’s a habit, almost a reflex. But it manifests in profound pettiness, and I think that’s the only way he normally felt he was permitted to act out against the people who really bothered him, though I’m also sure he channeled a lot of anger into unrelated killing. Natural thing to do when you’re a frustrated teenager who’s supposed to be killing people anyway.

By the time he did it in Nibelheim, it was an old habit.

The fact that he bothered to personally kill the Shinra President as his big debut says to me he was holding a grudge about his entire life against the person who commissioned him and declared the war and shaped the floating Midgar-world that defined his life. I think there were probably a lot of personal insults in there too, just because of the way Shinra Sr. seems to have conducted himself generally.

He’s a Donald Trump expy wouldn’t you.

Sephiroth is written as a much softer person in Crisis Core, almost absurdly so, but even there you can see him resenting Genesis and Angeal more than a little for abandoning him. It probably brought back his whole mess of feelings about Gast, who really did abandon him quite unforgivably but Sephiroth never knew the full circumstances, just that he was gone and later dead. There are signs he blamed Hojo, who doesn’t seem to have gloated openly about the murder even if he did make sure to inform the boy his favorite person was dead now.

And of course later on there’s Cloud, which doesn’t actually make that much sense until you loop in the retcon about Cloud throwing him into the reactor and cutting short his initial rampage. There’s the grudges he seems to have inherited from Jenova, against the Cetra.

It’s not out of the question that he killed Aerith the way he did in part because she was the thing Gast abandoned him for, as well as all the other less personal reasons. I sort of like to think so.

16. Dark secrets/’skeletons in the closet’

Of his own, as opposed to ‘about him’ that he found out about, I don’t think he really had many? He wasn’t much accustomed to privacy.

I think most of the worst things he did, as a human being rather than a transhuman monstrosity, were pretty unavoidably public; they were war crimes, and happened in front of some fraction of the rest of the army. He was praised for them.

There probably were a lot of dark things he never talked to anyone about, that weren’t really known, but except for outright humiliating childhood incidents like above he wasn’t particularly hiding them. He was just never in a position where it would have made any sense to him to bring them up.

Genesis wasn’t ever someone it was safe to be vulnerable around, and Angeal was uncomfortable with too much emotion, and besides they were fellow soldiers and it wasn’t like the things he didn’t talk about from the war were anything special, and he wasn’t going to complain about his childhood to them. And who else was there?

Dude needed so much therapy.

20. What-ifs/Alternate Timelines 

I go absolutely nuts with alternate timelines for Sephiroth. He’s so much fun to work with that way.

Lucretia and Vincent stole the baby and went on the run: Firo grew up kinda isolated in the woods with his parents but runs away at thirteen to fight Shinra because he’s so mad they had to leave Wutai because of the invasion. Parzival AU.

Ifalna recruited Sephiroth to her escape scheme and he wound up raising Aerith on the run, under the names Rith and Roth. Beloved Dust AU, that one’s actually online as you may very well know lol.

Vincent blew up the Nibelheim reactor with Hojo and Jenova in it when Sephiroth was six, and then later Midgar blew up as well and the Shinra world order collapsed, and the recently married Mrs. Strife adopted the weird lab kid. Later on Cloud pressures his big brother into starting an anti-bandit militia. Time Of General Strife AU.

Cute three-way blood brothers ceremony contaminates Genesis’ body with Sephiroth’s DNA and sets off his degeneration several years early, when they’re all teenagers and not nearly as famous, powerful, or fucked in the head. Brother and Brother AU.

And so on. ;}

[mrstifastrife]

The Seventh Heaven Children Need More Love!

I have like no following, but I have a lot of opinions so whoever is willing to listen is going to get my ramblings. 

Anyway, I’m not saying in any way that the Seventh Heaven family doesn’t get any love at all, but in the midst of all the shipping wars, it often gets muddled and the children are thrown around like chess pieces for the sake of preserving ships. 

Denzel and Marlene are amazing characters all on their own. This post does not include Tifa, Cloud, and Barrett (if it wasn’t evident from the title) because their characters are obviously shown throughout all of FF7. Marlene and Denzel are of course shown quite a lot in Advent Children, but I wanted to bring attention to On the Way to a Smile, in Denzel’s case, since his backstory isn’t really mentioned in ACC

Disclaimer: What I will be saying is my personal opinion and my interpretations, so if anything I say is incorrect, I am willing to be educated in a humanely fashion. Also this post will contain spoilers from FF7 OG as well. STRAP IN because this is going to be a LONG post. 

Let’s talk about Marlene first, shall we? 

In Advent Children, Marlene is about six-years-old. She’s really mature for her age and is very used to handling situations on her own. Not only that, but she grew up to be loving, thoughtful, and caring. Traits that both Aerith and Tifa share. (And I refuse to take slander on either character because they are both strong, wonderful women to be proud of.)

It’s important to remember that she has gone through a lot in her life, and yet, she still grows up to be such an amazing and profound child. Her biological parents died when Corel was destroyed by Shinra troops, and her family has almost always consisted of people that she never had any blood relation to. 

In ACC, even though she’s fairly young, she’s shown as a reliable, forthright, and dependable child. 

She deserves more credit than to be written off as a prop for ship wars. 

Let’s not forget that she played a hand in putting Cloud Strife in his place as well.

Her conversation with Cloud in Advent Children can be compared to that of Tifa’s conversation as well. This is not in any way to connect to any ships. I know it seems biased, but let’s not forget that in Advent Children, she and Tifa had a conversation about how they would go home after giving a lecture to Cloud. 

Starting off the conversation to discuss him having Geostigma:

Tifa to Cloud: “You have Geostigma, don’t you?”

Marlene to Cloud after touching his arm: “Does it hurt? 

Telling Cloud that he shouldn’t just keep thinking about himself: 

Tifa: “Stop running! I know. Even if you find the kids, you might not be able to help them. Maybe something will happen that can never un-happen. That scares you, doesn’t it? But you need to think about now. Really take it in. Look at you! You think you’ve got it so damn hard. Well, you hate being alone, so let people in! Sure, you might not answer the phone, but I don’t see you throwing it away either.” [Also I love this scene because you can see Rude and Reno trying to figure out what to do while Tifa is yelling at him lol]

Marlene imitating Barret: “How you supposed to look after your own family if you can’t even look after yourself?"

Trying to tell Cloud not to give up:

Tifa: “Don’t run. Let’s fight it together. We can help each other, I know we can. [No response] I guess that only works for real families.”

Marlene: “How you supposed to look after your own family if you can’t even look after yourself? At least, that’s what Daddy says. Cloud, don’t give up.”

I just like pointing out that even though Marlene looks up to Aerith as a role model, it does not discredit how much she looks up to Tifa as well. Many are forgetting that she literally lives with Tifa every single day and is taken care of her, so it’s not unnatural for her to adopt Tifa’s mannerisms. 

Unrelated to Tifa, can we talk about how Marlene is incredibly observant too? 

Marlene: “Does it hurt?” Cloud: “A bit. But not as bad as Denzel’s.” Marlene: “Is there a cure?” Cloud: “I don’t know.” Marlene: “After all you did, you’ve been trying so hard to find a cure for Denzel.” Cloud: “You knew about that? Marlene: “Cloud! You should clean off your desk once in a while.” Cloud: “Maybe I should.” Marlene: “So is that why? Is that the reason why you had to leave, Cloud? Because you couldn’t fix Denzel? Or because you have the sickness too?” Cloud: “I just thought I couldn’t care for myself. Let alone anyone else.”

I really loved this scene, especially since the way that they talk to each other is so natural, while the way that they look at each other is just so soft. Even though Barrett is her father, Cloud is obviously still a parental figure to her.

Marlene is really just an important character in Cloud’s development. Throughout Advent Children, he’s stuck in a struggle between guilt and himself. You see that in the beginning, he’s very quick to shut people out and disregard them. However, Marlene is the first person that he’s showing a change in character to. Yes, I said in my previous post that Tifa was the first to get him to open up and realize that he has to confront his struggles and live in the present, but he doesn’t actually start actively changing until he has a conversation with both Marlene and Vincent.

Cloud: “Marlene!” Marlene: “Cloud! Denzel, and Tifa!” Cloud: “Tifa is alright.” Marlene: “I wanna talk to her!” [Cloud and Marlene realize his phone is gone; Marlene turns to Vincent] “May I?” [Vincent shows that he doesn’t have a phone.] “You don’t have a phone?” Cloud: “Vincent, will you bring Marlene to Tifa? I’m gonna go see Shinra and get a few answers.” Vincent: “I can’t do that.” Cloud: “But I -” Marlene: “Forget it, Cloud! Why don’t you ever pay attention to us?” Cloud: “Marlene, please give me some time. There’s a battle to be fought, but it’s not as simple as just fighting it. Understand?” Marlene: “No, I don’t!” Vincent: “Cloud, are you sure this is about fighting?”

I really think that this was a true turning point for him. It’s not only a flashback of Tifa or a conversation with Aerith that changes his perspective, it’s also Marlene confronting him and showing him that his actions continue to have consequences on the people that he cares about. Hence, the conversation they have later where he actually starts to change from his stubborn indifference. 

Last but not least, let’s remember that even though it’s not ideal, she fills in for everyone else when they fall short. Besides being the narrator in the beginning, the first scene she’s shown in is of her taking care of Denzel. 

Narration: “But it looks like the planet is a lot madder than we thought. They call it geostigma.” Denzel: “Well, Marlene, how does it look?” [Marlene does not reply; She goes to place a gauze over the geostigma mark] Marlene, as a voiceover: “Please. Please don’t take Denzel away.”

This scene, despite how small it is, is so powerful. She’s a young girl living in a world where the people around her are directly affected by Geostigma and the aftermath of the planet. She knows there’s nothing she can do other than hope. That’s why Marlene shouldn’t just be used as a pawn to advocate for a ship. She’s her own character with her own convictions, thoughts, and actions. What is she not? A character only used to vouch for a ship. Let’s give Marlene the respect and love she deserves please!

Who’s next? Our lovely Denzel, of course. I’ve seen a lot of people say that he looks like Cloud and Aerith’s love child and then justify it by saying Aerith brought him to Cloud at her church.

First of all, Denzel is an orphaned child, who is just as affected as everyone else by the plate falling and the Meteorfall. He is not just a token child for a ship, so please do not simplify him as that, especially if you disregard everything about him in favor of your ship. Perhaps Aerith did lead Denzel toward Cloud, but remember that while Cloud’s away, Tifa is the one who is taking care of him. If we see it as love children, Denzel might as well be Tifa’s and Aerith’s.

Anyway, I digress. Denzel’s story is so much more impactful than to be written off as a love child or like in Marlene’s case, a pawn to justify a ship. He’s put in Advent Children as an example of a character that suffered from the worst of the Meteorfall and is an “outside” example to be more specific. He had no ties to Avalanche, Sephiroth, Shinra, etc. He was just a boy who lost his family from the plate falling, and not only that, he is suffering from geostigma as well. 

Please don’t just write him off as another piece of “evidence” for a ship. He has feelings too, and he started off being raised by a different set of people unlike Marlene, who had been raised by the same people her whole life. 

Let’s not forget that Denzel and Marlene were just as affected by Cloud leaving. While he’s laying in bed, he asks, “Cloud, where are you?” 

So please, for the love of all things holy, don’t classify Tifa as a hopeless, lonely bar owner. Denzel and Marlene needed him too. 

Throughout most of Advent Children, Denzel has his own story arc. There’s flashbacks of him and how he became a part of the Seventh Heaven family, along with his continued arc following the Moogle girl. 

I find it unfair that Denzel is only used as justification for ships because he has a really heartbreaking storyline. In Advent Children, he appears in bed suffering with geostigma. While he’s laying in bed, he’s wondering where Cloud is. Then, as he’s looking at a picture of him, Cloud, and Marlene, along with a picture of him with his parents, he says:

“Guess I was the last straw.”

Could you imagine being ten years old (I’m not entirely sure if this is 100% confirmed but he is a young age) and saying this? Within his years of living, his parents, Ruby, and Gaskin died. Now Cloud, someone he really looks up to, left him as well. 

A significant amount of his life was spent alone, hopping from home to home to the streets until he was able to find a place where he was loved.

From “On the Way to a Smile: Case of Denzel”: 

Alone again, like he had been so many times before, Denzel took a stick he had sharpened at one end looking for rats. He planned on catching and eating one. Dad, he thought. The people in the Slums don’t eat rats after all. But I will. Because I’ve got no money or a job, and this place is lower than the Slums. I’m a Sector Seven kid from the upper world. I can’t grow up in a place like this.

The isolation sapped Denzel’s will to live. It was the same situation as when Sector 7 was destroyed, but this time, his parents, Arkham, Levy [Ruby], Gaskin, the Search Team, hell, all the people he’d ever met who had supported him were gone now. Forever.

He felt that he couldn’t smile anymore. What did his mother say? “There’s no point in living if you don’t smile.” That’s right, mom, he thought. A filthy rat covered in horrible germs should save me. 

I think this passage alone speaks more volumes than I can. I should put a disclaimer that this was his thought process right before he ended up at the church. A little bonus of him telling Reeve and Johnny, “Hey, I USED to think like that back then, but I was wrong. That’s why I’m here now. Because I met the best person you ever could.” 

That’s just an insight into Denzel’s backstory, and even though he’s in a better living situation right now, it always breaks my heart thinking of what he had gone through to get where he is now. I don’t know if I should spoil too much of Case of Denzel, but I just want to say that he has such an amazing growth that’s show not only in Advent Children but in Case of Denzel as well. 

“I’m alive thanks to a lot of people. My parents, Mrs. Levy, Mr. Gaskin, everyone from the Search Team. People who are still around today, people who aren’t. Tifa, Cloud, Marlene, and...”

Reeve nodded.

“I want to be a person like that for someone. Next time, it’s my turn to protect people.”

Flash forward to Denzel talking with Johnny:

“It’s not that I want to be admired or anything,” Denzel answered. There were so many people who had supported him. Men and women, adults and children. All of them inspirations in their own way. “I guess I want to...repay my debt to all of them.”

I know, I know, most of my evidence for Denzel is taken from On the Way to a Smile, but I think that most of Advent Children’s story arc for him is more prominent and out in the open, so long as you decide to or have already watched it. That’s why I’m bringing more attention to Case of Denzel because it has a lot more insight into Denzel’s character and why he looks up to Cloud, along with his own motivations, not brought upon by anyone other than his experiences. 

There’s so much more that I could use for Denzel because he’s such a complex and amazing character. It’s why I find it aggravating that he’s only brought up for the sake of a ship war rather than to commend him as a person. So, as I said for Marlene, he deserves more recognition than to be a poster child for a ship. He didn’t lose so many people and decide to become a protector just because he was a “love child.” Please give him the love and appreciation he deserves as well. The creators of FF7 did not write him in to be the trophy of a winning ship. 

Anyway, if you read this far, thank you so much! I could go on and on about how Marlene and Denzel deserve to be praised to the heavens for how amazing they are. I hate seeing them only be used as justification for ships and then tossed to the side when they’re not being referenced anymore.

I know they’re just characters in a video game franchise, but they’re children. They’re people just as much as Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barrett, and everyone else. Put some respect to their names please! 

Feel free to come into my ask box or replies and talk to me. 

This is by no means meant to bash any ship. I know it may seem that way at some points of my rambling, but I promise that I’m trying to keep the peace and keep it as ambiguous as possible. 

Let’s spread love and positivity!