#I'm so sorry seph

[getvalentined]

Thinking about Sephiroth's motivations in Rebirth and getting super emotional because fuck, man, I get it. I get it. It doesn't excuse anything, but I get it in a way I can't even describe.

The Gi establish that those who aren't native to Gaia can't join the Lifestream basically at all, they're held separate entirely; the Gi have never been in it directly, their ghosts wander in a little liminal space they crafted for themselves. This is because they're entirely foreign—the Gi appear to be interdimensional travelers that were somehow marooned on Gaia at some point in ancient history, where they died and were left as ghosts, lingering forever unable to move on.

Sephiroth is slightly different in that he was born on Gaia and he does have human parents as well as Jenova, so he can force his way into the Lifestream as we saw in Lifestream Black and Advent Children, but he can't disseminate into it. He's still conscious and cognizant in some capacity even as the Lifestream fights to strip away the parts of him that belong on the planet, the parts of him that were human. This is, presumably, why his memory is all fucked up postcanon, whether we're talking novels or spinoffs; the Lifestream has been trying to take him but it can't, because there's too much Jenova in him, so the parts of him that have survived are just the parts that are the son of Jenova. He hasn't been fully worn down by the time the Crisis rolls around, likely because his body is still partially intact in the Northern Crater. (Again, see Lifestream Black, as well as the OG.)

And here's where everything starts to hurt.

He's alone. No matter what Sephiroth does, he's entirely, completely alone. There is nothing in the world like him, the planet won't accept him—it's not death, it's a homecoming, and Sephiroth has nowhere to go home to.

And he's done this before, this is a repeating timeline, he's been through this before over and over and over. And he's always alone in the end. He's always there at the edge of creation, the end of all things, the kindling of a new universe, and he's still there. All alone.

So this time he's calling for the ultimate Reunion. He's not just calling his Clones home, he's pulling all of time and space together into a single planet, bolstered with the lingering Lifestream of hundreds, thousands of others, timelines where things fell apart and Gaia sat on the precipice of death before Sephiroth found her and tore the Lifestream loose to feed the timeline he's chosen as the most likely to survive.

Three friends go into battle. One is captured (Genesis, in Deepground), one flies away (Angeal, who chose his own death), and the one who remains becomes a hero.

Heroes save the world.

But it doesn't matter, does it? Because he's going to be alone. Zack asks how he could turn his back on everything, and he says "Easily." Aerith asks how he could possibly want an eternity alone—because she doesn't understand, that's what Sephiroth has waiting for him anyway. That's all he's ever had waiting for him.

Sephiroth is going to save a world that will never accept him, because that's what heroes do, and then he's going to be alone forever. But this time, for the first time in every timeline he's experienced, he's going to do it on his own terms. He knows what he is, he knows how this ends, he has no questions of that. But for once in his existence—and it's a long existence, unending, eternal in a way that neither human nor Cetra could never even comprehend—he's going to control exactly how that happens.

Sephiroth knows he can't control whether or not he ends up alone, but he can choose how it happens. He can do things right this time. Maybe if he saves the world it will be different. Maybe the planet will accept him. Maybe he won't be alone.

And if he is (and he knows he will be), at least it was on his own terms.

At least, for once in the whole of creation, Sephiroth had a single flicker of control over his own existence. For once in the entirety of existence, Sephiroth made a decision for himself.

He'll have to live with that decision, alone, for eternity—but it was his.

[cloudgainsborough]

FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH — the trial of cloud good, cloud, very good. fill your hollow heart with rage.

[huntershowl-moving]

danse macabre. — 'sorry, was this yours?' i may have just spent the last 3 hours on this without moving and woken up as if from a stupor afterward. anyway remember when i mentioned ken.ja.ku absorbing cursed spirit seph... i couldn't stop thinking about it and then my hand slipped i guess. this is what happens when you make a pact that turns you into a curse to protect someone you love — you might wind up losing everything in the process <3 or as i put it earlier, you might get hit with the kirby swallow (sidenote i truly. TRULY could not be assed to draw his robes so they're wearing the same outfits as the ref. refreshing change of pace anyway)

[seeminglyseph]

having now read the manga one of the funniest things to me now is watching people talk about Sugishita's hair when watching the anime and assuming he's like. a raggedy man with split ends who doesn't do shit with his hair or whatever. And the reality is the man gets hair treatments once a month???? he just hates tying it up.

This is not a raggedy man with untamed hair, this is a vain motherfucker with long luscious locks of hair he refuses to tie up, cut or hide.

That long hair is a risk in a fight and a sign of cockiness and indulgence because he still loves that long hair enough to keep it and maintain it.

That's the opposite of the raggedy neglectful long hair trope. this delinquent has long hair because of hard work and effort. That hair's probably healthier than I am.

[icycoldninja]

Hey sorry to bother you again but if you're still not too busy could you make a fluff story with Sephiroth? (And ik I always ask of him but I'd really appreciate this specific request) not gonna go into too much detail but here recently I've been feeling really sick and weak and on top of it I've been losing weight (I'm not for sure ofc but i see myself in the mirror thinning out) and i just want a small story doesn't need to be big or anything just something to kinda make me feel better for a moment please and thank you and if not i understand completely :)

Oh, I'm sorry. My prayers are with you and I'm wishing you a speedy recovery. In the meantime enjoy this, hopefully it will lift your spirits.

My poor baby (Sephiroth x Sick!Reader)

Sephiroth knew you were sick the moment he awoke and found your forehead to be much, much hotter than he was used to. He pressed his palms against your head one more time, confirming his suspicions. You were sick, probably with a cold. The only question was, how did you fall ill? Had he not taken precautions to prevent this?

Then he remembered you telling him one day in the height of his overprotective delirium that not every issue can be prevented, you were all bound to have something happen someday, one way or another, the only thing you could do was ensure it wouldn't be serious. Today seemed to be that day, though thankfully, a cold is not serious.

Sephiroth carefully pried himself out of your grip, his body reluctant to leave your cage of warmth. He knew, however, that taking care of you was more important than his own needs right now, so he endured the chilly, fresh morning air, and made his way to the bathroom to hunt down medicine.

He found some, but discovered upon his return that in the brief time it took to locate this medicine, you'd woken up and were now coughing your head off in bed, wondering why you felt so hot and sticky, and why your nose was clogged up.

"Seph," You whined helplessly, as he entered your room. "I feel awful. I think I'm sick."

"I had that same notion," He responded, opening the bottle of medicine and measuring a dose. "I've taken the liberty of getting some medicine from the bathroom; it's not expired, don't worry."

"Ok," You sighed, sitting upright so you could drink the bitter liquid without spilling it everywhere.

"And some water," Sephiroth insisted, handing you a bottle of water he pulled out of literally nowhere.

"Thank you," You rasped, barely gulping down the water before a coughing and sneezing fit overtook you.

"You wait there," Sephiroth said, surveying your situation. "I will get you some tissues and other necessities.

Before you could reply, he had already left the room, off to find supplies for you. He returned a moment later, carrying a small garbage can, a roll of garbage bags, a package of cough drops, and more water. He laid all these items out on your nightstand, arranging them so they're easily accessed by groping, shaky hands like yours, and kissed you on the forehead before telling you to get some rest.

"Seph?" You began, "Don't go...stay..." To a normal person, this would mean potentially catching whatever you had, but since Sephiroth was not a normal person, he had nothing to fear. He was immune to most sicknesses, so naturally, he agreed.

"Very well then," He mumbled, without a hint of reluctance as he pulled back the covers and slid into bed with you. "Come here, let me hold you."

Sniffling because of your blocked nose, you scooted closer to him and rested your head on his firm chest, the elevation doing wonders to drain your stuffy nose. You were still really uncomfortable, what with your itchy and sore throat, annoying fever and those occasional chills, but lying in Sephiroth's arms made it all the more bearable.

"My poor baby," You caught him whisper, after watching you shake under another bout of cold shivers. "I wish you did not have to suffer this much."

"It's fine," You replied, coughing. "I've been sick before."

"Still, you do not deserve to go through this pain. It is wrong and unnecessary."

"I love you too."

Sephiroth responded to that with a little "humph", patting your head gently.

"Get some rest now, Y/N. You will need it if you wish to make a speedy recovery."

[altocat]

i'm sorry I need more of that time travel au of cloud meeting sane sephiroth

HEHEHE

Sephiroth mostly spends all his time doing mundane paperwork in his office while Cloud spies on him in the vents. He gets really excited when he sees that Sephiroth is scribbling down something sus at the corner of one of the documents..........it's just a doodle of a cat.

SEPHIROTH BURNING DOWN THE ENTIRE BATTLEFIELD...and then immediately putting out the flames because he doesn't want his men getting burned. Fire safety is important!

Cloud bristles when Sephiroth starts hanging around Zack. Oh gods is he going to threaten to KILL him? Turns out Seph and Zack just went to engage in a casual training spar, complete with Zack telling Sephiroth about the history of cheese or some shit.

Cloud asks Sephiroth what the word "Jenova" means to him. Sephiroth perks up at once and shows Cloud the irl composite sketch he made based on his memory of his locket. He looks unbelievably proud of himself.

Cloud asks Sephiroth what he WANTS.

"Oh um...I would request that Lazard raise the AC a bit in the main office. It gets a bit drafty in the evening."

Cloud stalks Sephiroth in the kitchen. Sephiroth is just sitting there eating cup noodles.

SMUG SEPHIROTH SMIRK?!?!?! Oh it's because he "accidentally" spilled ketchup on the take-home medical form Hojo assigned him.

Sephiroth is sitting motionless on the couch, no doubt having a mental breakdown and plotting some sort of revenge!

....He's just looking at a scrapbook of memories Angeal made for him. The one in the middle featuring the First Trio dramatically pointing at a suggestively-shaped cactus formation in the middle of the fucking desert.

Cloud being so fucking pissed, so fucking DONE, so ready to find ANYTHING on this guy.

Sephiroth in the background asking Zack if knitting would improve his dexterity.

[rottenpumpkin13]

Can we hear about the day Lazard snapped from the firsts shenanigans?

The Day Lazard Finally Snapped

• It all starts when Angeal and Sephiroth are passing through the Skyview Hall when they spot Reeve with a baby in a holder strapped to his chest.

Angeal: Hey Reeve! I didn't know you had a child.

Reeve: I don't. This is my assistant's baby. I allow her to bring him in on occasion since childcare is hard to find. She asked me to watch him while she's in a meeting, but⏤

Sephiroth: What kind of mother abandons her child?

Reeve: ⏤but I have to meet with the editor of Architecture Weekly in ten minutes.

Sephiroth: What kind of mother abandons her child with a strange man who works for Shinra?

Angeal: I'm sorry to hear that, director.

Reeve: Wait, could you two watch him? It'll only be for an hour.

Angeal: I don't think⏤

*Reeve hands the child to Angeal, who is now sweating bullets*

Reeve: Great, thanks! By the way, I'm supposed to be locating some materia that went missing from the inventory this morning. Do you mind finding them for me? Here's the list.

*Reeve hands Angeal the list, Angeal hands the baby to Sephiroth, who holds it like a bomb with his arms outstretched*

Angeal: Reeve, I really don't think we⏤

Reeve: Great! See 'ya!

• Reeve literally sprints away. Angeal looks back at Sephiroth, who has now strapped the baby to the carrier on his chest. Angeal looks down at the list.

Angeal: Three Ifrit summons, sixteen fire materia, nine ice materia, thirty chocobo lures, four petrify materia, and seventeen lightning materia.

Sephiroth: The baby is crying because it wants its mother. I feel a strange kinship with this child.

Angeal: Why would someone need thirty chocobo lures??

Sephiroth: There, there. Don't cry because your mother abandoned you, rejoice because your father isn't Professor Hojo.

*Angeal grows exasperated and turns to Sephiroth*

Angeal: Seph, it's hungry. We need to feed it.

Sephiroth: Where will we find someone with functioning mammary glands on such short notice?

Angeal: FORMULA. GET THE FORMULA IN THE BABY BAG.

*The baby cries more, Sephiroth holds it closer to him*

Sephiroth: You're upsetting our child.

Angeal: IT'S NOT OUR⏤*Angeal takes a deep breath*⏤It's not our child, give it the baby formula, and let's go. We still need to find the culprit behind the stolen materia.

Sephiroth: Do you mind if we stop by Professor Hojo's lab first? I want to show him what competent fathership looks like.

Angeal: No. And you're acting insane. Here, give me the baby.

Sephiroth: I have only had this child for three minutes, but if anyone tries to hurt it or take it away I will kill everyone here.

Angeal: When this is all over, I'm signing you up for art therapy and getting you a cat.

• Lazard is away on a business trip and has left Genesis in charge. He's supposed to be getting work done, but instead he's sitting in Lazard's office with his feet up, reading a romance novel.

Genesis: I don't understand why Lazard complains all the time. This is the easiest position in this company.

•There's a violent crash right outside the office, followed by Zack's voice going "Wow! I didn't know the ceiling was that easy to break."

*Genesis gets up at the speed of light. He runs out and sees Zack and Cloud with tennis rackets*

Genesis: What are you doing? I thought I sent you far away on a mission to Cosmo Canyon.

Zack: We got back early! And since Angeal's busy there's no point in training. Plus, my mission report can wait until Lazard's back.

Genesis: And what's Strife doing here? Last I recall this is the SOLDIER floor, not the Infantrymen Who Look Like Baby Chocobos floor.

Cloud: Could've fooled me. I saw you and thought this was the Sephiroth Is Better Than Me So I Take It Out On Bad Poetry floor.

Genesis: Listen here⏤

*Zack jumps between them*

Zack: We were just playing some tennis! Where's the harm in that?

Genesis:

Genesis: Zack where's the ceiling

*They look up and six ceiling panels are missing*

Zack: We're playing pro tennis.

Genesis: Goddess.

Cloud: But we lost all of our balls and now we can't play anymore.

Genesis: Hm. Have you tried substituting them with something else?

Cloud: Like what?

Genesis: Materia are round and large enough to work.

Zack: Good idea, but we don't have any to spare.

Genesis: I have some.

*Genesis pulls a key out of his pocket, walks across the hall, and unlocks a supply closet where he pulls out a crate full of materia*

Zack: Woah! How many do you have in there?

Genesis: Three Ifrit summons, sixteen fire materia, nine ice materia, thirty chocobo lures, four petrify materia, and seventeen lightning materia.

Cloud: Why does the box say Property Of Shinra Electric Power Company? Wait, did you steal this??

Genesis: There is no such thing as stealing if your victim stole it from the planet.

Zack: Why thirty chocobo lures??

Genesis: Do not presume to question my actions.

• Sephiroth and Angeal have no leads on the missing materia, so they decide to go ask the turks for any information they have. They walk into a conference room where Tseng and Rufus are talking.

Tseng: WHY do you have a baby??

Sephiroth: Two men cannot raise a child without being criticized.

Angeal: We're babysitting.

Rufus: How may we help you?

Angeal: A crate of materia went missing from the inventory. Reeve asked us to locate it. Any chance you have an idea where it went?

Rufus: We were just going over the security footage, actually. A stunning, beautiful woman was seen entering and leaving with the stolen materia.

Tseng: Come take a look.

*They walk over and watch the security footage*

Sephiroth:

Angeal:

Angeal: That's GENESIS.

Tseng: Impossible. I had no idea Rhapsodos was a master of disguise.

Sephiroth: He's not even in disguise. He wore that dress to a Loveless performance yesterday. *said while he rocks the baby to sleep*

Rufus: Sephiroth, would you mind accompanying me to meet my father? I'd like to show him what adequate fathership looks like.

Sephiroth: Gladly.

Angeal: *exasperated* We'll get the materia back from Genesis, don't worry. There's no need to get involved, and we'll make him promise not to do it again.

Tseng: Actually, the issue is much more annoying. You see, the crate he stole contained faulty materia. We're not sure they even work, but if they do there might be some...explosive consequences.

Angeal: Don't worry, knowing Genesis, he's hording the materia somewhere until the search dies down and hasn't actually used it yet.

*The baby hasn't fallen asleep and is wide awake*

Sephiroth: Of course, how could I be so foolish? The baby needs to be tired out through playtime and proper enrichment first.

*Rufus takes a box of ammunition from his coat pocket and uses it as a rattle. The baby laughs*

Tseng: Sir, I don't think that's an appropriate toy for a baby.

Sephiroth: Nonsense. I had that toy when I was younger and I turned out fine.

Angeal: No the fuck you did not.

• Zack and Cloud's tennis match with materia is going smoothly. Genesis has made himself the umpire and is officiating the match. They're in Lazard's office so no one catches them slacking off.

*Cloud hurles a fire materia toward Zack at top speed. Zack shrieks and ducks*

Genesis: Five love.

Zack: No fair! He's just aiming it right at me!

Cloud: Because you're my opponent. That's how tennis works.

*Cloud sends another chocobo lure Zack's way that hits him right in the face*

Genesis: Six love.

Zack: WE GET IT, YOU'RE OBSESSED WITH LOVELESS. SHUT UP.

Genesis: ......

Cloud: I really need to get back and start getting ready for patrol tonight.

Zack: Nooo, come on! Just one more try! I'll beat you, you just watch.

• Cloud sighs and readies himself. Zack grabs a lightning materia and serves. Cloud hits the materia when it reaches him. Except this time it fuses with the tennis racket and starts hissing and billowing smoke. Cloud panics and lets the tennis racket drop. It starts glowing and vibrating.

• All of the littered materia on the office floor start emitting the same low whistle and vibrating, all at once.

• Genesis senses the incoming explosion. He grabs Zack and Cloud and dives under the desk.

• Lazard comes back from his business trip early. He's in the elevator thinking about the decision to leave Genesis in charge. He had initially meant to bequeath Sephiroth the responsibility, but felt for Genesis. They're always placing him second next to Sephiroth, constantly berating and expecting the worst from him.

• He thinks it's unfair. Genesis is one of the most competent SOLDIERs in the program. He's hardworking, responsible and authoritive. There's no doubt in Lazard's mind that everything is running smoothly in his absence.

*Lazard opens his office door*

• The three Ifrit summons went off and are raging, smashing the walls and ceilin. The fire materia also went off and now everything is on fire. It's shooting fire balls and one of them burned the office door clean off, shattering the glass. The ice materia has caused a raging blizzard inside the office and everything that isn't on fire is freezing over. The lightning materia is causing firework-like explosions to go off.

• Lazard stands there for a good five minutes, petrified (literally) (the petrify materia hit him)

• Once the last blast of lightning goes off and things seem to have quieted down, Genesis, Zack and Cloud poke their heads up from under the desk.

Zack: Hey, director! We didn't expect you back so early!

Cloud: How was the business trip? Have fun?

Genesis: My, my, director, that suit makes you look dashing. Have you done something to your hair?

• It's a poor choice of words because half of Lazard's hair is on fire.

*Angeal runs in*

Angeal: Genesis, you crook. Did you use Lazard's access card to steal all that materia?? Do you know how mad he's going to be when he finds out? He's already in trouble with upper management because he left you in charge.

*Zack points to Lazard in the corner, Angeal turns around*

Angeal: Oh. Oh no.

• And then the chocobo lures go off. Thirty grown chocobos come speeding into the office, two of them knocking Lazard to the ground.

• And then, as if things couldn't possibly get any worse, Sephiroth runs in with the baby.

Sephiroth: Angeal, how dare you abandon me and our child??

Angeal: Oh my god.

• The Firsts and Zack are sitting in the briefing room when Tseng walks in.

Tseng: Good morning. As you all know, Lazard has taken a medical leave. I'll be taking his place while he's away.

Genesis: How is he? I tried to visit him in the hospital yesterday, but apparently the mere mention of my name sent him into another cardiac arrest.

Tseng: He's sedated and fine. Don't feel discouraged. Two Seconds went in to visit him this morning, but all it took was one look at a SOLDIER uniform and he started screaming.

Angeal: If he quits, it's on Zack, Gen and Strife. Sephiroth and I were busy hunting materia and babysitting.

Sephiroth: No. You were looking for the materia. I was taking adequate care of the baby and giving it the attention its mother denied it.

Tseng:

Tseng: Sephiroth

Tseng: Sephiroth why do you still have the baby?

*They look over and sure enough, Sephiroth has the baby in a carrier strapped to his chest*

Sephiroth:

Sephiroth: I'm the most competent adult in its life.

[pink-nubes]

do you have gender/pronoun and sexuality headcanons for the three? I love your au

Aaaa thank you for the ask!

So sorry to everyone that hasn't gotten a response yet! I'm super busy lately and I want to make some art for each one so I'm sorry if I take long 🥺

But yeah! These are my hcs and also how I imagine them in my au

Particularly I feel like Sephiroth never really had time to figure himself out, mostly on the gender aspect, but slowly things are coming together with his identity in my au :) I like to mostly show it through the clothes he wears.

I have around a seven-year timeline since the beginning of the au (Seph and Angeal coming back) and the way Seph dresses develops as he figures himself out through the years.

[gomacave]

What is your most niche reunion instinct idea? Or actually just tell me all of the ideas im genuinely intrigued

MY GOD I HAVE SO MANY. REUBUON IS LIKE MY FAV THING TO EXPLORE I LOVE IT SO MUCHHH.

this post is going to be kinda long also cw for nudity? perhaps?

1) I have this sfkr eva style fusing au where post-nibel seph seeks out cloud to try and become one w him and its like similar to black materia arc ish. but basically in this au seph is motivated by being betrayed by people again and again and watching them die and shes unwilling to try again and believe in humanity and do human relationships the way normal people do. so she basically convinces herself that cloud will Fix Her as the only person who could ever understand her (s and j cell connection plus having killed her once is a bonus) and this manifests in her tempting cloud like in black materia arc to give into his worst instincts etc.

on cloud's end the same ish thing is happening where he's also very sealed off and unwilling to believe in himself or others again + the allure of being praised, needed, and whole w your idol AND SO instead of giving the black materia and having it pass thru the crystal OGstyle she convinces him thru the arc to like, basically merge w her end of evangelion style human instrumentality style etc. and this complete dissolution of boundaries is essentially equivalent to death (loss of self) in that cloud is giving up on facing himself and facing the world as himself and giving in to the comfort of becoming one w seph to become god and float across the universe forever across timelines or whatever alone and forever immortal.

ANYWAYS. he sinks into her chest slowly and it feels really good and sephiroth lets his hands melt into her and finally finally almost feels him touch her heart directly. anyways. after this either 1) avalanche shows up and has to fight a seph thats merged w cloud to wake him back up and give him a second chance at making the decision to Give Up or not OR 2) cloud decides last second that no, this is not any way to live and that this is just an elaborate way to die. and he pulls away and seph feels the warmth leave her and is like NO! YOURE MINE I OWN YOU DONT GO etc etc. but cloud is like. i'm sorry. and they last boss fight<3.

^ my vision.....

wait also btw if avalanche fights seph post fusing or mid fusing w cloud cloud is like embedded in her chest that she will guard and its her weakness that u target in order to do dmg to her

wearing a shirt that says i 💘 violent painful yearning desire to be whole to consume and be consumed to become one to become conjoined etc

[getvalentined]

🤍 🖤 💔

[ Unpopular Opinion Ask Game ]

🤍· Which character is not as morally bad as everyone else seems to think?

Already answered previously, but I can go off on another one: Sephiroth.

I mean what he did is reprehensible, obviously, but the intent, the motivation, even the catalyst for Reunion—Sephiroth's story is a tragedy in every respect.

One big thing a lot of people seem to miss is that, from Sephiroth's perspective, he didn't burn down Cloud's hometown. He'd only known Cloud for a couple days, that didn't matter. Instead, Sephiroth destroyed the place he was created. He burned down the place he was born, the place he drove away his closest friend because he'd chosen to believe Shinra's pretty lies over Genesis' harsh truth, the place everything started. He destroyed ground zero of the horror of his own existence.

Did the townsfolk deserve it? Absolutely not. But Banora was subsidized by Shinra, everyone there was on company payroll to some capacity because it's where Project G was carried out—who's to say he didn't assume the same of Nibelheim because of Project S? Who's to say Sephiroth didn't sincerely believe that everyone in Nibelheim wasn't just a usurper of his throne as heir to the planet—even though he wasn't, because he still unwittingly held to Shinra's lies until after his death—but also paid agents of the company that made him to be something more than human and then treated him like something less for his entire life?

With all that in mind, what should he have done? What else could he have done?

What would you have done in his place?

🖤 · Which character is not as morally good as everyone else seems to think?

Also answered previously, but I'll go off on another one here: Gast.

Professor Gast is horrible person in every discernible way, fandom only thinks otherwise because Sephiroth spoke of him fondly before the Nibelheim Incident, and because he's Aerith's father and apparently that's supposed to impart some of her goodness onto him or something.

The actual facts are that Gast had to have known what Hojo did to Vincent because it happened in Gast's own lab and never said or did anything about it, he's the one that didn't allow Lucrecia to have any say over Sephiroth after he was born, he's the one that fostered Sephiroth's obsession with a mother that didn't exist (starting during a period of time when his real mother was still working for the fucking company), abandoned him to Hojo's abuse when he turned out to be something other than what he wanted, and ran off to go make a real Ancient with someone half his fucking age. The fact that Ifalna forgets to call him "dear" instead of "professor" in the recordings found in Icicle has some pretty chilling implications about the truth of their relationship, but he was killed when Aerith was only two days old so we'll never know. Regardless of whether or not that was entirely consensual, there is literally nothing in canon to indicate he's anything but a genuinely reprehensible person.

💔 · If you had to remove one major character from the series, who would you choose?

Also answered previously, and I don't really have another answer for this one other than "nobody" because everyone is integral to make the series I love exist as it is.

[salternateunreality2]

Bodyguard AU, but it's Tifa for Cloud

Cloud is a quiet, grumpy, lanky organist with great talent and a deep obsession/love for his instrument.

Sephiroth is a former prodigy at the same instrument who went coocoo for Coco puffs due to his father/coach, the hooj, and has started to send Cloud creepy letters and flowers. He claims he was born from an organ (pun fully intended) named Jenova. Guy is cracked.

Cloud's good friend (and crush) Zack begs him to hire a bodyguard, and he digs his heels until Zack brings Tifa to meet him. She's a professional bodyguard with her girlfriend Aerith, and he reluctantly agrees because he knows her and she knows him and pushes all the right buttons to get him to agree.

Cloud: I'm just an organist, I don't need a bodyguard.

Tifa: the police have been helpful with your stalker?

Cloud: ...no, but-

Tifa: And the stalker would never escalate, I'm sure.

Cloud: ...

Zack: He started sending chocolates recently.

Tifa: So you and the people you love are gonna be totally fine, right?

Cloud: *squirm*

Tifa: And the walk from the church to your home is all on busy streets at the time you go?

Cloud: *SQUIRM*

Tifa: Maybe I can come over like just a sleepover. Catch up and be bros for a while, yeah? Or you can stay with me and Aerith for a bit, until this cools down. I'm sure Claudia would like that.

Cloud: ....Kay. But Zack needs protection too.

Tifa: Can do.

BEE-FA, BEE-FA, BEE-FA!

Buff Tifa.

Cloud is still stubborn and dumb, and finds himself rejecting her help one night and saying he's fine, then storming off to his apartment down some back alleys. Then he hears footsteps.

Cloud: *dials*

Tifa: Hello? Cloud?

Cloud, strained: Hey, uh, I, um, might have been wrong earlier. Sorry.

Tifa: Something's wrong. Can you talk?

Cloud: A little.

Tifa: I'm coming, are you about at Main and 5th?

Cloud: Close, yeah.

Tifa guides him over the phone to a well-lit area with cameras while she catches up, making a lot of noise to scare off Sephiroth. It works and she gets to Cloud.

Cloud, high-pitched: Hey!

Tifa: He's gone, I scared him off. It was him, he dropped a paper swan without a note on it. You ok? *Checks him over*

Cloud: Not hurt. Sorry. Sorry for yelling. I was wrong. Sorry.

Tifa: Shh, Cloud, you're in a bit of shock, you're shaking. Come on, let's get home. I texted the group, he'll be there, ok? Here, you left your jacket, put it on. You're ok, I'm ok, deep breaths.

Cloud shakily obeys and lets her take his arm, leaning on her a little and shaking while she makes it look like they're just walking normally.

The police (Turks?) finally take it seriously when one of the paper swan notes burns Cloud's hand before a big recital. Cloud performs anyway, but in agony, and Zack is so worried and is waiting in the wings to catch him when he stumbles, which he does.

Tifa's not amused by Cloud, but she respects his choices and hauls his butt to medical with Zack.

Eventually, they run into Angeal and Genesis, who are looking for their friend who they lost touch with when Genesis got cancer while Sephiroth was going through some shit. This escalates Seph again, and he breaks into Cloud's apartment while he's not there, leaving scary messages.

Next

[huntershowl-moving]

"What if they kissed?" 👀

Send "What if they kissed?" and I'll write a scene where our muses kiss, even if they aren't shipped together. it is it's own thing and doesn't have to lead to an official ship. a "what if scenario" ACCEPTING.

WHEN PERSEPHONE AND MIDORIYA FIRST MET, she laid out a boundary. i won't do social infiltration undercover work. more than once, she's snarled at the idea of being put in a dress at any time, for any reason. then again, that first meeting had gone rather terribly for her. it quickly became clear that they would do what the shie-hassaikai required of them, or they would be sent back to fletch missing something more important than their arms.

to his credit, it took quite a while for midoriya to test this limit. but time and experience has proven that their best work is done in proximity to each other — alone, their quirks are powerful. together, they are unbeatable.

so here she is. at a gala. in a suit, at least, and with hair in a braid down her back whose length and weight keep her grounded. it's... something. still, it takes everything in her not to wear a constant scowl and jump at shadows, and as soon as she & midoriya are able to slip past the crowds into the back staircase, the tension in their shoulders eases a bit.

❝ stay on your toes, ❞ seph murmurs in warning as they step in front of him, quietly pushing the door open so that they can scout. the office is just at the other end of the hall. if they can just get to that safe —

but before she can call clear, the din of voices begins to float around the corner of the hallway. shit — either the guards are on break, or the patrol information was outdated. it doesn't matter. she closes the door, but it's not fast enough and it's not quiet enough, and a look of utter, full-body exasperation washes over them as the footsteps pick up speed. hey — who's there? fuuuuck. fuck fuck fuck. ❝ okay. ❞ seph steps back down onto the first landing, staring up at the door, flexing and clenching a leather-gloved fist. ❝ i can probably choke them out before they — ❞

the door opens. before seph can do anything stupid, like ruin the entire mission by resorting to violence like they always do, midoriya takes her face in his hands and yanks her down to kiss her.

or that.

the reaction is instant: a bolt of panic, a closed throat, lungs struggling to breathe, hands. hands, sickening, nauseating grip —

but somehow, this time, they're able to ground themself before they slip into flashback delirium. they focus on the scent, or rather the lack thereof; no ozone. no petrichor. no thousand-dollar cologne. to add, their head is tilted downwards, not upwards; like a computer processing a line of code, it all runs through her head lightning-fast and comes up with an acceptable result; so they relax into it, even as an arm snakes around their waist and pulls them closer. it's — not bad. it's fine. it's okay. they are in immediate peril, which means they're as safe as they can be.

just a couple of twenty-somethings sneaking away to make out. the guard heaves an exhausted ( and relieved ) sigh and bangs his baton on the metal railing of the stairs. "hey, you two! you can't be up here. you wanna make out, go outside."

seph manifests a little squeak of surprise and giggles, hand over their mouth, face completely red. it is a shocking reversal of her normal attitude, her refusal to lie or put on an act — indeed, they're quite a bit better at it than they had midoriya believe. ❝ sorry! s-sorry, sir. we'll go. ❞

it isn't until they've started to bolt back down the stairs, and the door at the top of the stairwell closes, that persephone's strange, overfeminine mask drops. they round on midoriya with an absolutely murderous glare. ❝ what the fuck was that? ❞

[seeminglyseph]

I did not bring Wyll to the burning building because I am playing the game mostly blind. so it is kinda funny in my head to be like.

"I thought we refused looking for the Duke?"

"We refused when some random noble lady asked and I figured like. 'Why the fuck are you asking me? I just showed up here, you don't even know who I am. I don't know who *you* are. Fuck off. If I don't commit, I don't get in trouble if I don't figure it out.' But then I found out it was Wyll's dad. And I like Wyll, and so I'm willing to put in effort to go find Wyll's dad. The difference is who asks for help, honestly."

which is a conversation Astarion and Lake had for literally no reason, but that I can't help but have little scenarios in my head. In this scenario Astarion learns that Lake is basically Chaotic Neutral. "May save your life, may steal your car." This may canonically not work for someone who is supposed to be a Selûnite Cleric but like. fuckin'. whatever. It was a fun goddess to be a cleric of and I admit I did not do a lot of research into her alignment and I suck at alignments and almost always play some form of Neutral. That's My Ninja Way, Bitch.

I should probably spend some time on the Forgotten Realms Wiki to figure out the lore I don't know for a bit. I am a fake DnD fan who knows more about Tal'Dorei than Faerûn. fuckin' oops. I'm sorry to everyone who knows me for every time I make a critrole reference especially since I care way more about the Mighty Nein than Vox Machina and Bell's Hells. which makes me like. The least relatable fan right now. Campaign 2 was my introduction to DnD and that's gonna hurt a lot of people's brain's and I'm real sorry 'bout that. One day they're animated series is gonna come out and it'll be easier to explain that. It was really good but there's just too much content to expect anyone right now to actually go watch and understand it...

[icycoldninja]

Promised (Sephiroth x Reader angst)

You, a youthful, yet extraordinarily sad teenager, were perched atop a cliff, feeling lonlier than ever. Your boyfriend, the young SOLDIER prodigy, Sephiroth, had been sent away to war and you had no idea when he would be back. If he would be back. Every day you traveled up to this precipice, where you two often met in the past. You found yourself curled up on the grass under the tree where you and he had carved your names into the bark.

Sephiroth x Y/N, forever.

Bringing your knees up to your chest and burying you face into them, you began to sob, worry and fear overwhelming you again, as it tended to do so every day.

"Y/N! Hey!" You turned and peered at the source of the voice with teary eyes, surprised to see a familiar, short teenage boy running towards you.

"Seph?" You sprung to your feet, dashing towards him and wrapping him in a tight hug. "You're back! I...I missed you so much." The young boy pulled away from you, standing on his tiptoes so he could plant a kiss on your forehead, all while smiling that sweet, calm smile he always did. You chuckled, remembering how you always teased him for being shorter than you.

"I'm back, you giant," He chuckled, gazing up at you fondly. Hope rising in your chest, you asked if he would be staying long, as there were so many new developments in your hometown; so many things you wanted to show and talk to him about. The look he gave you in response was answer enough; the way his eyes temporarily lost their shine and his mouth curved into the tiniest of frowns told you that the answer was negative.

"I'm...sorry, Y/N," He mumbled, fidgeting with his fingers. "I must go back next week. They're sending me to Rhadoran next." You nodded, crestfallen, though you tried to keep up a cheerful front.

Unfortunately, there was no fooling Sephiroth. His watchful, neon green eyes saw everything.

"I know it's tough," He whispered, taking you by the shoulders and pulling you close. "But you have to hang in there. I promise, when I get back, everything will be different. Just trust me."

You nodded, knowing that this wasn't easy for him either. You had to stay strong, like he was, and take comfort in the fact that soon, the war will be over, and then you could spend more time with your beloved.

"Don't worry," Sephiroth assured you, wrapping his arms around you and resting his head against your chest. "I'll never forget you." You nodded, biting down hard on your lip to keep yourself from bursting into tears. Sephiroth rubbed circles into your lower back; his touch cold because of the leather gloves he was wearing.

"I love you, Seph." You murmured, tightening your hold around him. "I always will. Forever." A faint smile tugged at the corners of Sephiroth's mouth. He pulled away again before fishing in his pocket, soon producing a tiny black case.

"I know we can't officially get married cause we're both still legally children, but..." He opened the case, revealing two simple, yet beautiful silver rings. "I got these from a jeweler who lived in a town we happened to pass through. They're promise rings, kinda like engagement rings, but for kids."

"They're beautiful," You whispered, causing a light dusting of pink to appear on the boy's pale cheeks.

"Really? You really like them?" He sounded uncertain and neverous, yet giddy at the same time. You nodded excitedly as he took one of the rings from the box and slipped it onto your finger.

"I love them, Seph--I love anything you give me." Sephiroth smiled, handing you the box so you could slide the other ring onto his finger.

"We're officially engaged now," He stated, once you were finished. You couldn't help but giggle at how matter-of-factly he'd said it.

"We are!" You cheered, hugging him tightly. Sephiroth let out a quiet sigh as he stood there, trapped in your hold, and silently wished that this moment could last forever.

Unfortunately, nothing ever did. After just one day of relaxing with you, he was once again shipped off to Rhadoran to fight in the front lines. Watching him leave was painful; the joy that had recently filled your heart quickly evaporated into despairing emptiness. He'd only just left and you missed him already. When would he be back?

You asked every soldier that came to your town, "When will Sephiroth be back?" Every time, they never gave you a straight answer. It seemed that they didn't know either.

You soon gave up inquiring and simply observed the passengers of each truck that arrived. Every time one arrived, Sephiroth was nowhere to be seen, and you lost more and more hope; the only thing you had to remind you of him was the promise ring he'd given you, which you wore every day without fail. You would treasure that ring; it was a symbol of your love and dedication, one of the few things that comforted you during these depressing times.

Several years later, you were perched atop that very same cliff once again, curled up under that tree where you and Sephiroth had carved your names, though the words had long since faded from view as bark, moss and flowers had grown over them. The only thing you had left of Sephiroth now was the ring, which still resided on your finger. Just looking at that simple silver band filled you with despair; you were soon sobbing into your arms, the many years of loneliness, worry, and sadness finally taking it's toll.

"Y/N?" A deep voice unfamiliar to you called, followed by the sound of jingling metal and heavy footsteps.

"Go away!" You shouted, thinking it was one of the village folks come to comfort you or persuade you to give up on Sephiroth and date someone else, as they frequently attenpted to do nowadays. The person sat down next to you; a sudden fruity scent filling your nostrils. A cold, gloved hand made its way down to yours, raising it up so that your ring shone in the sunlight.

"I see you still wear my ring." Your head snapped up; eyes widening in shock.

Beside you sat a familiar young man with silver hair and neon green eyes, though he was no longer the short, cute little boy you once knew. He was a tall wall of muscle, with a waterfall of gleaming silver hair; an imposing, threatening aura surrounding him unlike anything you'd ever seen. Was this really the boy you'd exchanged promise rings with all those years ago?

"Miss me?" He inquired, smiling that familiar, quiet smile. He chuckled after you failed to respond, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Do you not recognize me? I'll admit, I have grown," He pulled off one of his gloves to reveal a silver ring identical to yours sitting neatly on his finger. "But I have never forgotten."

Something clicked inside you, prompting you to throw yourself into his arms and pepper his face with kisses, all while tears of joy and relief streamed down your face

"I missed you so, so, so much!" You declared, squeezing him with all your strength. Sephiroth chuckled, pulling you into his lap and kissing your cheek.

"I know, I missed you too. But now, I am home, and now, we can get married. Just as I promised."

[sephirthoughts]

First Soldier

it's a double entendre i'm hilarious shut up

this is a glennseph one-shot i've been threatening to post for a while but didn't get around to. it's extremely explicit and sephiroth is a teenager so obligatory disclaimer ahoy:

ALL CHARACTERS HAVE REACHED SEXUAL MATURITY AND ARE ABOVE THE LEGAL AGE OF CONSENT IN THEIR COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN

fucking fight me you little puritan fucks

SUMMARY: big dumb puppy glenn pets the hissy little kitty but instead of getting clawed, the hissy little kitty rubs against him and purrs NOTE: did everyone know glenn is only 23 during first soldier? twenty-fucking-three!!! he must have the cid highwind premature weathered old man gene cause damn TAGS: sephiroth x glenn lodbrok, sephglenn, cute smut, fluffy smut, no plot, pwp, etc. WARNINGS: dead dove, don't like don't read, grown-folks content, no minors allowed, minors DNI, etc.

“Out here, the only way to survive is to kill them before they kill you,” he said, forcing back the tears that were burning in his eyes. 

Glenn advanced on him. Towering and almost menacing, it seemed, to the teenaged boy. Sephiroth steeled himself. He didn’t want to hurt Glenn, but he was at his breaking point, and if the man wanted to make this physical, he’d regret—

All of a sudden, Glenn’s arms encircled him, and he found himself being squeezed tightly, with his face buried in a big, broad chest.

His senses were flooded by Glenn’s earthy, masculine scent and the firm pressure of his arms, holding Sephiroth against the sturdy, solid warmth of his body.

Sephiroth crashed to desktop, like one of those old computer programs, in the SOLDIER testing center.

He wasn’t that ignorant. He’d seen people hug one another, before. It was just that no one had ever done it to him. No one would have dared to invade the little monster’s personal space, except Professor Hojo. And Hojo only touched him to test his pain thresholds.

On the heels of his initial bewilderment, his indignation flared up, white-hot. Physical touch was a method of pacifying infants and children, who were too young to respond to reason.

Did Glenn think of him as a brainless infant, that needed that kind of soothing? Was this another demonstration of disrespect, because of his age and inexperience?

The man’s next words thoroughly defused the boy’s rising anger, though. 

“You’re right,” Glenn said. His deep voice vibrated in his chest, and tickled Sephiroth’s ear. “Out here it’s life or death.”

When the man released him, he was in a daze, hardly able to process what had happened. All he wanted to do was to grab hold of him and bury himself in his warmth and his scent and never, ever let go.

No. That was something a baby would do. Sephiroth had been very clearly instructed that he was to conduct himself with the dignity incumbent upon him as a man, a SOLDIER, and Shinra’s representative in the field.

“But Sephiroth, you don’t have anything to prove,” Glenn continued. “We know how strong you are. Maybe you could show some compassion. I know you’ve got it in you.”

He clenched his teeth and fought it as hard as he could, but a tear escaped down his cheek. It was unseen by the others, however, because Glenn was standing between them, like a shield.

“I’m not a cyborg.”

Those arms enfolded him again, a gently crushing pressure on his tense-up body. Glenn’s voice was hoarse, with uncharacteristic emotion. “I know. I’m really sorry I said that.”

“I…I never wanted to be…” he mumbled, into Glenn’s coat, trailing off before finishing his sentence, because he was still trying not to cry.

“I know. I know,” Glenn said, then gave a strangled sounding grunt, as the boy’s arms constricted around him, like steel pythons. “Seph could you—hngh. Can’t…breathe.”

“Oh. S—sorry,” Sephiroth said, hastily letting go. “I forgot how fragile you are.”

He’d meant that in complete earnest, but Matt and Lucia burst out laughing, like it was the best joke of all time. Their laughter made Sephiroth feel warm and pleased, and he laughed as well. Glenn snarled and scowled and stomped around a little, but he wasn’t really angry, and no one was afraid of him, anyway. 

The team was in better spirits, when they sat by the campfire, that evening. Sephiroth had his jacket off, so Lucia could patch up his gunshot wound. He didn’t want to tell her it was unnecessary and he’d be good as new before he went to bed, so he just politely accepted her help.

Meanwhile, his sleeveless, black thermal left little of his leanly muscled torso to the imagination, and both Glenn and Matt commented admiringly on his physique.

“When I was your age, I was a scrawny little fucker,” Glenn reminisced. “Had a growth spurt around seventeen. Shot up like a tree. What about you, Matt? You have your growth spurt, yet?”

“Oh, you’re so funny,” Matt returned, tossing a bit of biscuit at him. “I’d rather have brains than brawn, anyway.”

“I never met a problem I can’t punch my way out of, professor smartass,” Glenn said, puffing his chest out.

Sephiroth was eyeing the large man enviously. “The professor says I’ll grow very quickly, in the next several years. I wonder if I’ll ever be as tall as you.”

“Even if you’re not, there’s nothin’ wrong with that. I’m a pretty big dude.”

“Mm-hm, with a mouth to match,” Lucia interjected, at which Matt laughed. “Alright, I did my best,” she said, closing the med kit. “Not pretty, but your healing factor is so fast. You’ll probably be good as new by morning.”

“Thank you, Ms. Lucia,” Sephiroth replied, earning a ruffle of his hair from the young woman.

“Anything for a handsome gentleman, like you,” Lucia smiled. “I’m gonna turn in. Don’t keep the commander up all night, Glenn.”

“Yeah, yeah, I won’t,” Glenn said waving her away.

“Goodnight, Ms. Lucia,” Sephiroth said politely.

“Night fellas.” 

When she’d gone off to her tent, Glenn bumped Sephiroth with his shoulder and gave him a knowing wink, and Matt chuckled over the rim of his canteen. Glenn looking at him like that made Sephiroth’s cheeks flush, which just made the two older men laugh even harder. 

This was the third or fourth time something like this had occurred. He wasn’t actually sure what their raillery meant, but he knew it had to do with Lucia, and that he was supposed to understand, somehow.

He didn’t want to be called a cyborg, again, so he usually kept his mouth shut and just let them have their joke (well, Glenn’s joke. Matt only ever laughed along). But Glenn hugging him, earlier, and apologizing for the cyborg comment emboldened him, this time. 

“Why do you two laugh and look at me that way, when I talk to Ms. Lucia?” he asked. 

Glenn squinted an eye. “What, you really don’t know? Young man your age?”

“Don’t know what?” Sephiroth asked, looking back and forth between them.

“That’s my cue to turn in,” Matt said, getting up from his spot, across the fire. “You two have a nice talk.”

“Well, Seph, my friend, it’s like this,” Glenn said sagely, throwing an arm around the boy’s shoulders, as Matt retreated. “There’s birds, you know? And bees. And those all have…something to do with spring. Spring is the time for, uh. Well, when two people—”

“I know about sexual reproduction, Glenn,” Sephiroth said flatly. “My education has been very thorough. What does that have to do with you teasing me about Ms. Lucia?”

Glenn withdrew his arm and scratched his head, awkwardly. “Ah, well. You’re a healthy young man, ya know? And she’s a very pretty girl.”

“Is she?”

“Sure. You don’t think she’s pretty?”

“It would be inappropriate for me to judge my teammates, based on appearance.”

“Yeah, of course. But for real, though. Don’t you like her?”

Sephiroth considered this gravely. “Ms. Lucia is a strong and competent person, and she goes out of her way to be kind to me. I suppose I like her, yes.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Glenn said, shaking his head. “I mean like…the kind of ‘like’ where you want her to hold your hand.”

Sephiroth looked down at his hands, then up at Glenn, perplexed. “Hold my hand? For what reason?”

“Just…hold it. Like, the way people do, when they like each other. You know?”

“I don’t know.”

“Uh. Wow. How the hell do I explain this.”

“Why don’t you just show me what you mean,” Sephiroth suggested.

“W—well, I…ok. Just to show ya.” Glenn crossed his wrist over Sephiroth’s on the smooth log, between them, and pressed his palm to his, then laced their fingers together. “See? Like that. Nothin’ to it.”

Sephiroth found himself unable to reply. His mouth had gone suddenly dry, and he could judge how pink his face probably was by how hot his cheeks felt. He kept his head down and nodded faintly.

When he felt Glenn’s grip begin to loosen, he unconsciously tightened his own. Glenn stiffened. But he didn’t pull his hand away. Neither did Sephiroth. Several long beats passed. 

By then, it was far too late to pretend it was an accident. They were both too embarrassed to look at one another, though, so they just sat silently like that, hand in hand, staring at the low-burning embers of the fire. 

Sephiroth’s body was outwardly calm, but his mind was racing, frantically attempting to explain this sensation to himself. It was a completely new and alien feeling, this holding hands. It seemed like a pointless gesture, but there were all sorts of unexpected physiological reactions attached to it. Mostly turbid and confusing emotions, along with a heavy dose of shame, at reacting so strongly to something so trivial. He didn’t hate it, though. 

After a while, he dared a sidelong glance at Glenn. “What else do people do, when they like each other?”

Even in profile, by firelight, he could see the color in Glenn’s cheeks. “Well, they, uh. They hug and uh…k—kiss. Things like that.”

Sephiroth looked down at their interlaced fingers, and seemed to have realized something. His blue-green eyes widened. “You hugged me. And you’re holding my hand.” 

“Uh—ahem. Mm-hm.”

“Do you want to kiss me?”

“Do you…want me to?”’

“I don’t know.” Sephiroth frowned thoughtfully. “I liked when you hugged me, and I like holding hands. I think…yes. I’d like for you to kiss me.”

Glenn glanced down at Sephiroth then quickly away. 

“Fuck,” he muttered, passing a hand over his forehead. “Fuck it. I’m already goin’ to hell, why not punch an express ticket.”

Releasing Sephiroth’s hand, he coiled his arm about his waist and leaned close, tilted his head slightly, then ever so gently pressed his smooth, firm lips to Sephiroth’s. 

Sephiroth’s heart lurched and ran ragged. Reflexively, he reached out and grabbed Glenn’s collar. He didn’t know what else to do 

“Open your mouth a little,” Glenn whispered, breath warm against his lips. His low, rough voice sent goosebumps up the back of Sephiroth’s neck. “Just follow my lead. Try to do what I do.”

Sephiroth let his jaw slacken and Glenn’s lips pushed his apart. When Glenn’s tongue slid forward into his mouth, he was too stunned to respond, for a full ten seconds, then he recalled Glenn saying he should follow his lead.

Sephiroth pushed his tongue forward and tried to mimic Glenn’s actions. It was clumsy and awkward, but when his tongue crossed the barrier of his teeth, and touched Glenn’s, he couldn’t help giving a soft little groan. Glenn hummed in his throat and pulled him closer. 

Sephiroth’s ears were burning hot and his stomach was doing dizzy flip-flops, like he was coming down with a fever and an inner-ear infection, and yet…this was the best thing he had ever felt. The best thing he’d ever imagined feeling. He wanted to do this and nothing else, from now on. 

He learned extremely quickly, and before long, his tongue went from tentative and uncertain, to hungry and demanding, pushing forward and chasing Glenn’s. 

“Whoa, slow down there, cowboy,” Glenn said breathlessly, pulling back to look at him. “Anything past this, and I’m in serious shit. Actually, if you decide to tell anyone, I’m in serious shit, anyway.”

The boy’s catlike pupils were blown wide and round, in his blue-green irises. “Why would I tell anyone? Come back, I want to kiss more.”

“Probably ain’t a good idea to do this out here, in the open.” 

“Where?”

Glenn glanced around and then stood up, jerking his head toward the little clearing, where he had his tent, a dozen meters away. Sephiroth nodded and followed. 

Inside the tent, they took off their boots and coats, and Glenn spread out his sleeping bag, so they could both lie on it. Sephiroth hardly gave him time to lie down before he was pulling and tugging at his clothes.

“Hang on,” Glenn said. “Couple things. I got more experience than you, but that doesn’t mean I know everything. You gotta tell me to stop, the minute you don’t like something, ok? I won’t be mad or anything, you just gotta say it.”

“I promise,” Sephiroth replied solemnly. “I’ll tell you as soon as I don’t like it.”

Then Glenn took the boy in his arms, tangling their bodies together, while their tongues caressed, sloppy and urgent, till they were both flushed hot and panting. Glenn peeled off his thermal undershirt, then helped Sephiroth pull his off, over his head. 

When he compared his smooth, slender, milk-white chest to Glenn’s—hairy, suntanned, and heavily muscled—he wanted to reach out and touch it. 

As if he’d read his mind, Glenn grabbed Sephiroth’s hand and put it on his chest. “Go ahead and touch me. I don’t bite.”

Sephiroth hesitated, then gave free rein to his curiosity, playing with Glenn’s curly, golden-blonde chest hair, cupping his big pectoral muscles, and sliding his hands up and down his solid torso. He liked the ridges of his abdominal muscles, and the trail of hair leading down from his navel into his waistband.

When he noticed the big, oblong bulge of Glenn’s penis, through his trousers, he blushed crimson and looked quickly away, which made Glenn chuckle. Not liking to be laughed at, Sephiroth set his jaw defiantly and put his hand on the bulge, squeezing it through the fabric.

Glenn laid his hand overtop of Sephiroth's and slid it up and down the thick shaft. To his astonishment, his own responded, beginning to swell and thicken inside his tight underwear.

Sephiroth had never had a reaction to any person’s body, male or female. He’d only ever felt something happening down there, when he was required to give semen samples, in the lab. 

The device used to collect the samples induced erection and stimulated him to ejaculation, without his participation. This was the first time he’d become erect on his own, aside from the normal, autonomic erections, when he’d first wake in the morning.

Those didn’t feel like this. Those he ignored and they went away, usually before he’d finished brushing his teeth. This was like an itch but deeper and more maddening. His penis was rigid and aching, and he could feel a wet spot forming in his underwear. He had to force back the urge to push it against Glenn, while they laid together, kissing and groping each other’s bodies. 

Glenn saved him the trouble, when he grabbed his ass and rocked his pelvis, grinding his much bigger shaft against Sephiroth’s. 

“Hm—ah,” Sephiroth panted. “I want…I want…”

Glenn’s breath was hot and wet on his ear. “Tell me what you want.” 

“I don’t know how to say it.”

“You want to fuck?”

Sephiroth’s body tensed with mild panic. “W—what? What do you—how can we…we’re both men.”  

“Sorry, that wasn’t nice of me,” Glenn said, grinning sheepishly. “I was just messing around. I kind of wanted to see your reaction.”

Silver eyebrows lowered and pouting lips were pursed. “No, you wanted to gauge my reaction, without committing to anything. Now, tell me what you mean. Can two men really…do that, together?”

So deftly hoisted by his own petard, Glenn was at a loss, and became embarrassed. “Uh…um. Well, yeah.”

“How?”

“There’s a lot of ways. You can use your hands or your mouths, or—” 

“Mouths?” Sephiroth said, incredulous.

“Yep. You can even put it in the, uh. The back.”

“In the…” Sephiroth’s eyes went wide. “But why?”

“Because sex feels good? Why else?”

Sephiroth was thunderstruck. He’d only been taught about copulation between a male and female, so far as it related to reproduction. He’d never imagined that men would want to do this, with one another, when it served no biological purpose. No. He couldn’t see it. Glenn must be messing with him again. 

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Are you suggesting that it feels good, to have an erect penis inserted into your anus?”

“If it didn’t, millions of guys wouldn’t do it.”

“But it’s so small,” Sephiroth argued. “How does it…go in?”

“Lube and patience,” Glenn said flippantly, then cleared his throat. “It’s not that complicated. It’s very…stretchy, down there. You use a lot of lubrication and you put your fingers inside, first, to loosen it up. Once it’s stretched out and slippery, you can…you know. Go in.”

“And that feels good?” 

“I mean, it hurts, if you’re not careful. Especially the first time. But yeah.”

“How?”

“There’s a shitload of nerves back there. Plus, the um. The guy’s dick rubs against your prostate, inside. It feels good, and you can even come that way.”

“Come?”

“E—ejaculate.”

This was an overload of information, for Sephiroth. The whole thing was too bizarre to imagine. Except that he suddenly did imagine it. Glenn on top of him, pushing his big, hard penis—wait, Glenn said dick, so he should say it that way—pushing his big, hard dick into him.

His head got hot suddenly, and his own dick throbbed with desire. He laid both hands on his cheeks, to cool off his overheated face, while he processed all of this. 

After a few minutes, Glenn nudged him. “Seph? You ok?”

“Hm?”

“You ok? You zoned out.”

“I—I’m ok. This is a lot to think about.”

“I didn’t mean to freak you out. I had no idea you didn’t know this stuff. You said you’d had sex-ed, before.”

“I did, as related to biological reproduction. No one ever told me the…other things.”

Glenn looked awkward. “Ah.”

“Have you done it?”

“Huh? Done which?”

“Have you had sex with another man?”

“Well, yeah. I’m gay, so…”

“Gay?”

“Homosexual. That means I only have those feelings for men, and I don’t like women that way.”

“Oh.” Sephiroth frowned thoughtfully.

“What’s that look? What are you thinking about, now?”

“I think I’m also gay.” 

“Oh yeah?” Glenn smirked.

Sephiroth nodded. “I tried to imagine doing the things I’ve done with you, tonight, with a woman, and the idea was repulsive. But I liked doing them with you. So, I must be gay.”

“I guess…I can’t argue with your logic. It just, uh. It seems a little quick for you to make such a big decision.”

“No, I’m sure,” Sephiroth said firmly. “I’m gay. I want to have sex with other men, and not women.”

“Well, um. Congratulations on your self-discovery.”

“Glenn, I want to have sex with you. The way you said. I want you to put your dick in—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on. You just went from virgin who’s never even heard of being gay, to full-on put your dick in me mode, in ten seconds, flat. That’s way too fast, Seph.”

“How long did you wait, to have sex? After you realized you were gay?” Sephiroth challenged.

Glenn’s face went a little pink. “I’m not a good example. I was a rebellious kid and I lost my virginity pretty young.”

“How old were you?”

“Fourteen.”

“I’m fifteen. Why can you decide what you want, at fourteen, but I can’t at fifteen?”

“It’s not that, it’s…there’s more to sex than just the mechanics. It’s complicated.”

“Oh. I see.” Sephiroth lowered his head dejectedly. “It’s that you don’t want to do it with me.”

“No, no—don’t get all sad like that. You’re…fuck. You’re so gorgeous I can hardly believe you’re real. But you’re still just a kid. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Sephiroth lifted his chin, haughtily. “You couldn’t hurt me, even if you did want to. I’m many times stronger than you.”

“Yeah, I know you are,” Glenn chuckled.

“So?”

“So…what?”

“So do it, with me.”

Glenn wavered, but he knew he was already a lost cause. Here was the most beautiful creature he'd ever laid eyes on in all his twenty-three years, basically begging him for it. He was in no way equipped to handle this kind of temptation.

After some admittedly muddle-headed self justification, he grabbed the med kit and dug out a tube of surgical lubricant.

“Ok. Ok. I'm ready. Let's do it.”

“Shouldn't we take off the rest of our clothes, first?” Sephiroth pointed out.

“...”

The process of two people undressing in a one-person tent was awkward and unsexy, and the less said about it, the better. One way or another, they managed to get naked together.

Glenn felt like he was drunk or dreaming, mind sluggish and hazy with lust, kissing his way down this silky, seraphic body, pushing apart a pair of slender thighs.

“Hold your legs up, for me.”

Sephiroth pulled his knees up, making a face. “I feel stupid, in this position.”

“You don’t look stupid,” Glenn murmured, as he slicked his fingers with the surgical lube. “You look amazing. You’re so fucking beautiful.”

Sephiroth grimaced and shifted uncomfortably, as Glenn’s finger pushed slowly in, through the resistant ring of muscle. It didn’t hurt, per se, but it didn’t feel very good, either. Glenn took his dick in his other hand. Sephiroth gasped and jolted, as his hot mouth closed around the head. 

“G—Glenn!” he sputtered. “What are you…ha...ah!”

His protests unraveled into incoherent jumble, as Glenn took him all the way to the back of his throat. His big, calloused finger was still sliding in and out, and when it started pressing on something inside, Sephiroth had to bite into his forearm, to stifle his moans. It was like hot bolts of aching lightning, pulsing through his gut, into his balls, whenever Glenn’s finger prodded him there.

Glenn pulled off to look up at him, but he kept stroking it with his hand. His dick was leaking so much clear fluid, that it ran down Glenns knuckles. When he pushed a second finger inside, sephiroth choked and went quiet, but Glenn felt his insides clamping down tightly on his fingers.

“That’s it, baby, give it to me,” he breathed, watching the boy’s face, with heavy lidded eyes. “Good boy.”

“Hngh—ungh! Glenn! F—fuck!” Sephiroth’s first curse word came tumbling out of his mouth, as the aching tension wound to a peak and snapped. His narrow hips jerked and his dick convulsed, spurting viscous, milky-white, all over Glenn’s hand, as well as Sephiroth’s stomach and chest. His insides squeezed and contracted on Glenn’s fingers, as he massaged him through the spasms, milking out every drop. 

Glenn was so hard by now, the head of his dick looked swollen and purple, and ropy veins stood out all over the thick shaft. His balls were heavy and tight, high up against the base, aching for release. He squeezed out some more lubricant slicked it, generously. 

“Seph, I’m gonna put it in, now. Ok?”

“Mn…mm-hm.” Sephiroth nodded. 

With one hand on the back of the boy’s thigh, Glenn guided his dick with the other, to press the big, blunt head to the tautly puckered, pale-pink hole. Goddess, even lubed and stretched, the kid was as tight as a drum. Glenn pushed harder against the resistance and the head suddenly popped through. 

“Ah! It h—it hurts!” Sephiroth sputtered, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. 

“I know. I’m sorry, baby,” Glenn hummed. “Just breathe and focus on relaxing. If you stay tensed up, it’ll hurt more.”

“O—ok,” the boy sniffled.

He was looking up at him with those big, beautiful eyes, half-lidded and pink around the rims, his lips wet and parted, and tears trickling down his temples. It took all of Glenn’s self-control not to plunge in even more vigorously.

With heroic resolve, he breathed slowly and forced himself to be patient. Easing in just a little at a time, paying attention to the boy’s whimpers and groans, watching his face screw up with pain, and relax again. His pale chest heaving, with his ragged breaths. The divine, velvety heat inside him, slowly, ever so gradually accepting his cock. 

“That’s it,” he said hoarsely. “I’m all the way inside. You took it all.”

Sephiroth craned his neck to look at where their bodies were joined. Where Glenn's big, ruddy tree-trunk was stuck into his slender, white ass. His cheeks and chest were flushed pink and his body was trembling, perspiration beading on his forehead. 

“D—don’t move yet,” he stammered. “I’m not ready.”

“I won’t. Just breathe, baby.”

Glenn laid over him, kissing his lips and smoothing his hair back. Sephiroth’s muscles began to slacken, as his body acclimated to penetration, and his breathing became more normal. Keeping his pelvis flush against his ass, Glenn began to rock his hips gently, letting the boy get used to feeling a dick inside him, without the stress of him thrusting.

Glenn withdrew a little and pushed back in. “That feel ok?”

“Mm…ah. More. Give me more,” the boy slurred out, arching his spine.

Looking him steadily in the eye, Glenn began to slide out and rock back in, at a slow, gentle pace, pushing his achingly hard dick into the most divine body he’d ever touched. The boy’s velvety-hot hole resisted tightly as he pushed in, and sucked deliciously when he pulled out, till he was dizzy and euphoric, drunk on the absolute exquisite pleasure of fucking this angelic boy. 

A bizarre, aggressive instinct surged suddenly, inside him. He wanted to nail Sephiroth down, split him open, fuck him so hard he’d cry and beg for mercy. He wanted to pump him full of his seed, till it swelled his belly and came out of his mouth and nose. He’d never felt such a violent urge to dominate and possess any other partner.

He heard sephiroth whimpering and realized he’d been fucking him harder than he intended to. But even after he was aware of it, he found he couldn’t do anything about it. It was like he was possessed, by some beast in rut. 

“Sorry, Seph,” he rasped. “I c—I can’t stop.” 

He pushed his knees up to his armpits and laid into him, with ruthless energy. Sephiroth’s wet-kitten mewls only made Glenn’s burning desire blaze up even hotter. He held him down and kept thrusting, harder and harder, digging into him with his furiously hard cock, like he was trying to kill them both. 

His heart was thudding like a jackhammer and his muscles were on fire, sweat pouring down his chest and dripping from his chin, but he couldn’t come. He felt his dick swelling, getting harder and hotter, and his balls ached, so full and tight they felt like overripe melons, as they slapped heavily against the boy’s ass, but something was denying him release, holding him on the bleeding edge of orgasm.

He groaned, as the tension wound and twisted to impossible tautness in his gut. “I need to—I need to come! Please! Let me come!!”

He didn’t know who he was pleading to. The boy wasn’t stopping him, he was the one being brutally hammered by a maniac. 

“Do it,” Sephiroth panted. “C—come inside me.”

The pressure exploded like a bomb. 

“Haaa! Fuck! Ffffuuuck!” Glenn bit hard into Sephiroth’s neck, to muffle his hoarse cries, as his balls unloaded the longest, most excruciating, soul-drainingly intense orgasm of his life. He came so hard, he saw stars, feeling each individual spasm, as his dick forcefully expelled long, aching bursts of slippery-hot seed, filling the boy up and spilling out, around his shaft. Still, he kept thrusting convulsively, fucking every last drop into this perfect hole.

Half out of his senses, shaking and drenched with sweat, he collapsed on top of Sephiroth and immediately blacked out. 

—

“Glenn…” a voice said, from somewhere far above his head. 

“Hm?” he grunted, without opening his eyes. 

“Glenn,” it called again, clearer and louder. “Glenn!”

Oh, shit, it was Lucia’s voice! Lucia was going to find him and Sephiroth!

Glenn sat bolt-upright, in a panic, disoriented and temporarily blinded by the sunlight pouring in through the putty-colored canvas of his tent.

Wait…huh? He blinked blearily around, as his eyes adjusted. He was alone, in his sleeping bag, and Sephiroth was nowhere to be seen.

“Glenn!” Lucia shouted. “Wake up, asshole!”

“I’m up, I’m up,” he called back, in his gravelly, sleep-rough voice. “Quit yelling, will ya?”

“If you answered the first ten times, I wouldn’t have to,” she retorted, giving the canvas a slap. “Hurry up and get dressed. Sephiroth caught some fish for breakfast.”

“Sephiroth can fish?”

She didn’t hear him, or more likely, didn’t care to deal with him anymore, and her footsteps went crunching away. Meanwhile, Glenn was searching his tent and person for evidence of nighttime activities, but there was none to be found. He was fully clothed, and his boots were neatly placed just inside the tent flap. His underwear, however, were soaked. 

He got up and wriggled out of his pants, then peeled off the sticky undergarment. Holy shit. He never came this much, even when he was conscious. He was almost impressed. 

That confirmed it, then. It was all a dream. He hadn’t  lost his goddamn mind and fucked his teenaged commander till he passed out, last night.

Relief so potent he nearly teared up washed over him. At the same time, there was a tiny pinprick of bitterness, in it. A faint feeling of loss, he couldn’t quite quantify. He ignored it and shook himself back to reality.

How fucking wild was that? He’d never had such an intense and vivid dream, in his life, sexual or otherwise. He could still taste the boy on his tongue and smell his warm, musky scent. He could still hear his whimpering moans, when he—oops, shit.

He stopped thinking about that immediately, and used some pre-packaged bathing cloths, to clean himself up, before hastily getting dressed and heading over to the campfire. 

Matt and Lucia were seated on the driftwood logs, drinking coffee from tin mugs, and Sephiroth was tending to some fat, juicy fish, he’d skewered on sticks, and was cooking over the fire.

“Morning, Glenn,” the boy greeted cheerfully. “Hungry?”

“Hell yeah. Smells delicious,” Glenn said, rubbing his hands together eagerly. “You caught all these?”

“Mn,” Sephiroth nodded. “I was up early, so I thought I’d take care of breakfast.”

“Well now, that’s downright decent of you. Hey, can I get some of that coffee?”

“Kettle’s right there,” Matt said. “It’s just instant packets, from the MREs.”

“How early did you get up, anyway, Sephiroth?” Lucia asked, offhandedly, as she passed Glenn a mug. “I was out at sunrise, to report in, but I didn’t see you, anywhere.”

Glenn felt an ominous prickle on the back of his neck, but Sephiroth answered naturally, without a hint of anything off, in his manner.

“I went out before that. Fishing is easiest just before dawn and just after sunset,” he explained, turning the sizzling skewers over the coals. “Fish have poor eyesight, but strong shadows can scare them away. Plus, most of the insects they prey upon are crepuscular.”

“Well, that explains why I never catch anything,” Lucia grumbled. “Who wants to be out fishing at the crack of dawn?”

“You’ll never be a pro-angler, with that attitude,” Glenn chided. 

“There goes your fallback career,” Matt put in.

When the fish were done, Sephiroth handed them out, as-is, since the skewers obviated the need for plates or flatware. Then he took his own and sat beside Glenn on the log.

Glenn couldn’t help leaning back a little and surreptitiously inspecting the boy’s neck. In the dream, he had bit the kid hard enough that there’d be bruises for weeks, but it was smooth and white, and there was no hint of a mark.

“What are you looking at?” Sephiroth frowned (guess he hadn’t been as subtle as he thought). “Is there an insect on me?”

“Hm? Oh—uh. I thought there was but…it was nothing,” Glenn said awkwardly. “Thanks for the fish. Really, really good.”

“I wanted to do something, to thank you all for being so patient with me. Breakfast is the least I could do.”

Matt and Lucia chimed in with their accolades, and Sephiroth practically beamed, unable to conceal how pleased all the praise made him.

“Oh, and Glenn, I wanted to especially thank you, for last night.”

Glenn choked on his bite of fish. “W—uh. For—for last…for what?”

“Our conversation. It was very educational, so thank you.”

“R—right. No problem,” Glenn said miserably.

When breakfast was over, the group dispersed, to pack up their gear. Glenn was relieved to have a minute alone, to get himself together. He was so worked up, his head was spinning. He really had to stop eating whatever weird fruit he happened to find, on this island. These intense dreams were not good for his stress levels. 

He was rolling up his sleeping bag, when he froze, and his face drained of color. There, on his pillow, was a single, long, silver hair.

THE AUTHOR HAS SOMETHING TO SAY

was it a dream or not?? you tell me!

[rottenpumpkin13]

Zack gets AGSZC to play DND. What happens? Do they miraculously finish the campaign or does it go down in flames?

The DnD Game That Ended In Flames

Zack: Picture this—you’re all sent to survey a rundown reactor in the sleepy village of Nibelheim, and—

*Sephiroth raises his hand*

Zack: Yes, Sephiroth.

Sephiroth: Why would Shinra send three SOLDIERs and one infantryman to survey a rundown reactor?

Zack: …Uh… I don’t know. And you’re not SOLDIERs. You’re a fighter, Genesis is a wizard, Angeal is a Paladin, and Cloud is a Rogue.

Cloud: What are you supposed to be?

Zack: I’m the Dungeon Master. Anyway, so you have to hike up the mountain to—

Cloud: People have been known to go missing and die when they trek up Mt. Nibel. I wouldn't really recommend it.

Zack, ignoring him: As you begin your trek, you encounter a fork in the path. One trail looks—

*Sephiroth raises his hand*

Zack: What is it, Seph?

Sephiroth: Cloud doesn't recommend it.

Zack:

Sephiroth:

Zack, ignoring him: As you begin your trek, you encounter a fork in the path. One trail looks—

Sephiroth: What if we die—

Zack: PEOPLE DIE, SEPHIROTH.

Sephiroth:

Zack: One path leads through a dark forest while the other is a bit more dangerous, but climbs steeply up the mountain. What do you do?

Angeal: Obviously the path that climbs up the mountain.

*Everyone agrees*

Zack: Alright. As you climb up, the trail becomes treacherous! Rocks start to loosen beneath your feet—

Cloud: I told you so.

Zack: I'm going to yell at you and you won't like it.

Sephiroth: May I use my perception to scout ahead for dangerous spots?

Zack, rolling the dice: You spot a loose section of the trail and warn the others. But the path is still unstable!

Genesis: I cast a spell to help stabilize the rocks. You'll see, I'll save us all with my talent and sheer skill.

*Zack rolls the dice*

Zack: The spell causes the unstable rocks cause a landslide. You’re hit by a falling boulder.

Genesis: WHAT?

Angeal: How bad is it?

Zack, rolling the dice: The boulder hits Angeal with a fatal blow. He is now dead.

Angeal: HOW?

Sephiroth: Genesis killed him.

Zack: Yeahh…your path to the reactor just got a lot harder. You continue up the mountain, saddened after Angeal's death. Then you spot a Nibel dragon perched on the rocks. Its hungry eyes gleam as it notices you! Cloud, you’re up first!

Cloud: I’ll use my sneak attack and aim for the dragon’s weak spot.

Zack, rolling the dice: You deal significant damage. Sephiroth, your turn.

Sephiroth: I cast a fireball at the dragon.

Zack, rolling the dice: The fireball engulfs the dragon, hurting it. Genesis, you’re up.

Genesis: I taunt the dragon.

Angeal: HA! Like that'll help. Looks like you'll be joining me in death.

Zack, rolling the dice: The dragon is enraged and charges at you. Angeal, you die.

Angeal: I'M ALREADY DEAD.

Zack: Oops, sorry about that! *Zack rolls the dice* Genesis, the dragon is defeated and you live!

Genesis: Success.

Angeal: AKSJDGSJSKS

Zack: You finally reach the reactor. It looms before you, its structure old and decrepit—

Sephiroth: It’s typical of Shinra. Their greed causes them to neglect everything hidden from the public eye. What the public can't see, they do not care about.

Zack: A-ha! See? See why you need to survey the reactor? How do you proceed?

Sephiroth: We leave immediately and do not engage with the danger.

Zack:

Sephiroth:

Zack, ignoring him: You advance inside and notice something strange. On one of the doors near the core of the reactor, you see a name engraved: Jenova. Sephiroth's mother’s name!

Genesis: The plot thickens.

Sephiroth: What is this? Why would her name be here?

Cloud: What happens if we investigate the surrounding area?

Zack: The room is filled with strange machinery and pods containing…creatures. What do you do?

Sephiroth: I investigate the machinery and the pods. I need answers now.

Cloud: I’ll keep watch for any signs of danger.

Genesis: I'll sit quietly and eat an apple.

Zack: Angeal, what will you do?

Angeal:

Zack: Oh yeah, you're dead.

Zack: Anyway, as you investigate the pods, you discover grotesque, half-formed creatures floating in the mako. Suddenly Sephiroth finds a data log that reveals the horrifying truth: Jenova is not his mother, but an alien entity.

Sephiroth: I shall love her either way.

Genesis: That is the saddest thing I've ever heard you say.

Zack: Genesis, you have a choice here. You can either comfort Sephiroth in this moment of shock or make fun of him. What do you do?

Genesis: I choose to make fun of him.

Zack: Really? Damn.

Genesis: Well, well, Sephiroth. It appears mommy dearest is an alien. I can't say I'm surprised. After all, the apple does not fall far from the tree.

Zack, rolling the dice: This angers Sephiroth greatly. Genesis, you are now in mortal peril.

Genesis: WHY DIDN'T YOU MENTION THAT BEFORE?

Sephiroth: I choose to murder Genesis.

Genesis: HUH?

Zack, rolling the dice: Yeah, you're dead man, sorry.

Cloud: This is why we don't make fun of people's mothers.

Genesis: She isn't even his mother! She's an alien!

Sephiroth: The more you insult my mother, the more I feel inclined to recreate our fictional game in real life.

Zack: The creatures in the pods start to twitch. It seems your discovery has triggered something. What do you do?

Cloud: We leave the reactor and head back to the inn.

Sephiroth: A sound choice. After all, it's only the two of us now.

Zack: You head back to the inn, but in the middle of the night, Sephiroth slips out and heads to the manor library, searching for answers.

*Sephiroth raises his hand*

Zack: Yes, Sephiroth?

Sephiroth: I’d never do that. I adhere strictly to protocol and my rank. I would not abandon my men.

Zack: You have no men. Only Cloud.

Sephiroth, turning to Cloud: He's insulting your masculinity.

Cloud: Not cool, man.

Zack: Hang on! You have the choice to either follow Sephiroth or stay put at the inn.

Cloud: He might need my help. I should follow him.

Zack: You go after Sephiroth at the manor. You reach the library door. But you feel as if once you go inside, you will never be the same again.

Cloud: Just let me go in.

Zack, rolling the dice: Angeal dies.

*Angeal flies at him, but Sephiroth holds him back*

Zack, unbothered: As you step inside, you see Sephiroth at a desk, reading over a thick book. He looks up as you approach, his eyes filled with a strange intensity, bags under his eyes spinning tales about his lack of sleep. He looks depressed, sullen, confused.

Genesis: That's just what you see when you open his office door on any regular day.

Zack: Sephiroth shows you the book, which contains detailed records of experiments involving Jenova. The more you read, the more you realize the horrifying truth about her origins and the experiments conducted by Shinra.

Sephiroth: This changes everything.

Zack: Sephiroth, you have a choice: you can either take out your anger on your surroundings in a fit of rage, or return to the inn with Cloud. What do you do?

Cloud: Well that's a fucking no-brainer. Clearly he comes back to the inn with me. Why would you even include that as an option?

Sephiroth: I choose to burn Nibelheim to the ground in a fit of rage.

Cloud: WHAT?

Sephiroth: Gaia needs to pay for the sins committed by her children.

Cloud: WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?

Zack: Sephiroth begins to channel his rage, summoning flames that spread quickly through the village! Nibelheim is engulfed in fire as villagers scream and flee!

Cloud: I have to stop him!

Sephiroth: You are too weak to save anyone.

Cloud: !?

Cloud: Zack, how do I stop the fire and save the people??

Zack: Hm, you can try.

*Zack rolls the dice*

Zack: In a shocking turn of events, the fire is contained and all but one person survives the fire.

Cloud: Who? Is it my mom?? Is it Tifa?? WHO DIED?

Zack: Angeal dies in the fire.

Angeal: I ALREADY FUCKING DIED YOU IDIOT