#MASAMUNE IS HAVING A CRISIS]

[rottenpumpkin13]

AGSZC get sent to our world. Welcome to Earth, boys! How do they react? Who gets arrested for carrying a sharp weapon in public first? Who gets stopped for having "such a cool cosplay omg can I get a picture with you!!!"? Does anyone believe them when they return home?

Sephiroth: Arrested within ten minutes of arrival for openly carrying Masamune. He says nothing the entire time, just lets them cuff him, because he assumes this is Earth's version of Shinra security and he's about to be debriefed. When an officer demands he "drop the weapon," he makes it disappear into thin air. They let him go immediately because (1) they have no evidence, (2) he's suspiciously attractive, and (3) they assume he's just an insanely good wizard LARPer. He walks out of the station completely unbothered, only to get distracted by a glowing sign that says "Taco Bell—Open Late!" and spends the next two hours trying every single menu item. He discovers Baja Blast. He ascends.

Genesis: Figures out within seconds that nobody here knows what Loveless is. This is an injustice he cannot abide. By the end of the first day, he's reciting entire acts in the middle of Times Square. By the end of the week, he has a full-blown cult. People are quoting it, debating interpretations, asking when the sequel is coming out. Someone starts printing T-shirts. An influencer with ten million followers makes a video captioned "Genesis Rhapsodos ended Shakespeare in under 24 hours." He is unstoppable. He is thriving.

Angeal: Mesmerized by the sheer amount of plants. Earth is just covered in greenery, and he spends hours just touching leaves and murmuring about "the purity of natural growth." At one point, he kneels in a park and just presses his palm into the grass, as if absorbing its wisdom. He barely notices the group of children who gather around him, marveling at the "cool swordsman" until one of them asks for a picture with his Buster Sword. He obliges, of course, but by the end of the day, there are hundreds of kids lining up, and someone has started calling him "Excalibur Dad."

Zack: Having the time of his life. He adapts immediately, taking selfies with everyone, somehow gets himself invited to three different house parties within the first few hours. Starts a TikTok, gets famous within hours just for being himself.

Cloud: Absolutely miserable. Every time someone asks if he's in cosplay, he visibly wilts. The others find him hours later, just sitting at a bus stop, staring into the void like he's having a crisis.

[rosy-crow]

When we wonder why Miniroth is not yet 100% like the “kind-hearted, close to leaving Shinra and finally becoming a real hero” character that Nomura calls “good Sephiroth,” it’s because he’s in the process of reaching that stage and currently wavering between his post and pre Nibelheim personalities all together. He’s “immature” and finding himself.

He’s at war with his identity and will win the battle for now, becoming the compassionate person we saw in the final part of FS episode 1 and Crisis Core.

Young Sephiroth is at the perfect age because he is representative of the only period where we get to see him really struggle with who he is.

Masamune is a plot device for that development, in my opinion. On either side of the sword’s legacy, we have who I believe is Jenova, and across from her, Angeal. The inhumanity and humanity of Sephiroth, going head to head. That’s why I believe Angeal was chosen as a key player specifically for this episode.

In fact, it’s quite a bit like the Sephiroth - Cloud - Tifa dynamic in Rebirth and in the OG Mideel sequence. A devil and an angel on Cloud’s shoulders, warring over his identity. Is he human or a puppet?

Is young Sephiroth an inhuman, cosmic being that can never be like others, or is he just a human boy with unique powers? Jenova and Angeal are trying to pull him in opposite directions, and I think Sephiroth will likely accept his humanity, despite all the trials that await him, and he’ll win control over the sword by doing so.

Sephiroth might even have his own “Mideel” sequence and confront the pain of what happened with Team Glenn, the horror of his childhood growing up with Hojo, and the most agonizing battle of all — the void left by his mother’s “death” and absence. But Angeal will be Sephiroth’s saving grace. His anchor. He’ll help him defeat the trials inside his head and pull him out of the sinking abyss. Sephiroth will walk away sure of who he is and ready to heal, with a new friend (and eventually Genesis!) by his side.

But when everything falls apart again in the future and Angeal is dead, Sephiroth will not be able to find himself and his humanity a second time. Jenova’s lie will win over Angeal’s truth. That’s when we lose Sephiroth for good.

[altocat]

Ok, midway predictions-

-Sephiroth is in despair mode next chapter

-He rejects Angeal once again but this time it’s because he thinks they can’t relate thanks to their childhoods and the clash of humanity + inhumanity

-Alissa is smirking because she knows shit’s about to get real

-Sephiroth goes back over his time with Team Glenn and their departure.

-He concludes that they cared about Rosen more or somehow couldn’t accept him/weren’t really his friends or something. (“Hmph, I wonder” vibes)

-Angeal starts getting sus concerns about Alissa

-Sephiroth goes through the trial

-Bad feels. Maybe stuff about Glenn and Rosen and Shinra and Hojo. Much despair.

-Alissa saves him and gives him strength

-Alissa fully becomes “Jenova” to Sephiroth and helps him “let go” of all that trauma stuff because momma’s here :)

-Alissa leads Sephiroth away and they prepare to “Take back the Masamune together”

-Angeal freaks the hell out and realizes PURPLE SUS IS THE PROBLEM FJDJD

-Angeal vs Sephiroth + mini Nibelheim (hence Seph in the flames)

-Sephiroth is heading for the Masamune and protecting Alissa

-Angeal somehow saves the day and destroys the illusions or helps Sephiroth wake up

-“Wake up Sephiroth!!”

-Sephiroth has to “kill” Alissa and accept that his mother is dead :(

-Sephgeal hug and tears and feels and power of friendship

-Sephiroth can control the Masamune without being influenced

-REAL FOURTH SOLDIER REVEAL AND ITS GENESIS LOL

-Bachmann died in the fucking fire and got turned into a black robe ahahaa loser (jk, i have no idea about this part tbh)

-Hopefully some cool AGS epilogue or Angeal’s death

-Nojima said Hollander would show up? YEAH BECAUSE THERE’S AN EPISODE 3 SET BACK IN CRISIS CORE ERA BABY

-Now watch none of this happen :D

AT LEAST SOME OF THOSE WILL HAPPEN QUICK SOMEONE MAKE A BINGO CARD GAJGJSAJADKN

[phantomyre]

It is time... to obsessively hyper analyze Vincent. Come on. You knew it was coming.

So first off, while there isn't a lot to glean per se, there are a few interesting design choices that I'd like to go over. One thing that I was surprised about is the complete lack of round shapes/edges. Vincent looks overall a lot more 'sharp', 'edgy', whatever you want to term it. Take his buckles for example. The round edges have been replaced by sharp edges. Artistically speaking, these design choices are meant to depict the character's personality. For example, if you have a soft character, you use soft colors, soft edges, round shapes, etc. If you want a more harsh character, you give them dark or vivid colors, lots of squares, triangles, etc. In Vincent's case, they've virtually removed all of the round/soft edges he always used to have. We will delve further into this as we scan down his body *cough*. Edit: Forgot to point out that he has double the spokes on his buckles, so instead of 4 prominent spokes, he now has 8, which is the symbol of Chaos.

Anyways.... speaking of Chaos.

Continuing to analyze his upper body, the most obvious are his eyes (or single eye). It's hard to tell, but judging by the few clips we've seen along with the still images, it looks as though only his left eye is glowing. Nevertheless, he does have the Chaos inner-glow. While he's always had a touch of yellow/orange in his eyes, it looked more like natural eye reflection rather than an actual glow. This is likely the change the dev team hinted at during an earlier interview. His pupils are also notably very small compared to all of the other characters with the exception of Sephiroth's cat-eye slits. Overall, they've made it a point to give Vincent predatory eye(s) this time around, leaning more heavily into the fact that he is no longer fully human. The material that makes up Vincent's cape and headband seem to be of slightly different material, and the colors are even slightly different. His headband looks to be made of a very thin cloth of fine thread. His cloak, though also seemingly thin and light, is only slightly thicker. His cloak looks to be made of either felt or very fine linen which looks to be heavily worn out (of course). Also, Vincent seems to have snake-skin on his gun-wielding arm which I've only seen the Turks and Sephiroth wear. In general, this luxury material seems to only be worn by those connected to Shinra. Thus, it is likely this is meant to coincide with Vincent's past as a Turk. But in terms of his role as Turk, I will get to that a little later.

I think we can all agree that the weapon he is currently wielding is Quicksilver. It would make sense that he would start off with the same weapon he has in OG, though I and many others were surprised he wasn't wielding his most iconic weapon, Cerberus. While it isn't confirmed, and with the inclusion of many DoC elements, this makes me think that we could get an origins story for how Vincent obtained Cerberus in the first place. We are getting an origins story for Sephiroth's Masamune in Ever Crisis, and we already know the Bustersword's origins, so it's not out of the question. (And there are a lot of parallels to be drawn between Cloud, Sephiroth, and Vincent). Side note: I didn't write this in the graph but you can also see Vincent's left eye glowing through his bangs yet again even from such a distance. Natural white room bounce-light wouldn't have this affect on normal eyes. Rebirth Vincent seems to be sporting his OG button-top which is a design that we haven't seen since OG. It too has a little bit of snake-skin accents. A few other not so important changes are the alterations of his buckles, and the fact that it looks to be more obvious that he is wearing a two-piece set instead of a single piece jumper. Makes it much easier to remove, am I right?

Going down to those luscious DoC hips, some belts are shifted around or missing, but then we have the thigh guard which was responsible for giving Vincent that unusually thick hip appearance. However, he is still sporting that gorgeous slutty tiny waist we all love from DoC. Thank you, Squeenix. The armor on his side is an odd choice, though more than likely it is meant to protect those birthing hips from that extra dangerous looking set of claws--- which I would like to remind is also lacking in round edges. Yet again, all of the round shapes/edges have been replaced by sharp ones. Take the knuckles for example. I will miss his AC/DoC claw. It was less of a bitch to draw. The gauntlet looks to serve not only for offense but for defense as well. It is heavily armored for impact, and as we will see going down the rest of his body, heavy protection and sharp edges continue to be a theme for his new Rebirth look.

Once again, we can see how thin and light the material is on his cloak. It is in contrast to his very elaborate and possibly expensive gear/suit. His cloak and headband seem to be the only things that clashes with the rest of his gear in terms of quality and practicality. While there are signs of use on his armor, it pales in comparison to the possible age and wear of his cloak. As a matter of fact, it almost looks like it is about to fall apart... like it was hand-made years ago. Very different from the heavy material we see in AC and DoC. And then of course there are the sabatons/greaves. While I cannot pin-point it, his armor design seems reminiscent of the Ancients/Minerva for some reason. That aside, the heavily layered armor makes it seem like he will be doing a lot more damage with his claw and legs going forward, on top of being heavily protected. The design on his shin reminded me of an army symbol, but that's neither here nor there. ....And I'm so happy they kept his tiny ankles. In general, Vincent's Rebirth design seems to lean into a Vincent that is much more guarded, 'edgy', and ultimately a lot more reserved, albeit self-reliant. We've seen as much in his room where it doesn't appear that he has only been moping in a coffin all these years. What's more---

--He points a gun at Cloud and threatens the group. This did not happen in OG. Vincent appears to be even more distrusting and hostile this time around. This yet again is depicted in how he is dressed in the heavy armor and ample sharp edges.

And what's with a vending machine and protorelic(?) dispenser in his mancave? Vincent boss fight, maybe? Please? Sure seems like Vincent hasn't been lacking anything... But back to Vincent being a lot more distrusting this time.

Unless this is merely for the audience and new FF7 fans who know nothing of his character, this implies that Vincent doesn't divulge his connection to the Turks and instead calls himself "Security" guard. And not only that, it's spoken as if it's current tense. Not past tense. So yet again, if Vincent is indeed avoiding the term Turk and doesn't even tell Cloud and Co that he used to work for Shinra, this adds to the idea that his level of distrust is much higher than before. At this point, it wouldn't surprise me if joins the party much later, even after learning who Cloud's foe is. And since his connection to Sephiroth aka Lucrecia/Hojo is the mystery factor, he may not even divulge this to Cloud and Co when they first meet until much later. Either way, Vincent might actually prove to be a much tougher egg to crack this time around, along with more layers to uncover. (take that last phrase however you'd like)

[vinjaryou]

As I said earlier, I feel like Tifa relates to Fenrir for the Odin-themed anniversary event currently running in Ever Crisis. I have heard say that she could be a representation of Freya; I've also heard "lol, she's just a slutty cat-girl," to which I ask "why do you hate strong women?"

Tifa is Fenrir for this, as she is ultimately the one Odin would fear most - Fenrir is the one who kills Odin during Ragnarök, after all.

Fenrir is one of Loki's children, and one the gods raised themselves in order to keep him under control lest he wreak havoc around the Nine Realms... but he ended up growing far too large and powerful for them and he was eventually chained up. Relating this back to Tifa, her father raised her as a single parent when her mother passed, with the young girl growing up faster than Brian would've cared for, ultimately running off to try and find her mother in Mt. Nibel. Once she awoke from the fall, Brian tried to keep her close to home, and the boys in town wanted to protect her (despite her being capable enough already of defending herself), up until she met Zangan, training under him and ending up one of his best and strongest students.

Ultimately breaking the chains was when Tifa willingly guided the ill-fated Nibleheim SOLDIERs and grunts through the mountains and to the mako reactor nestled within Mt. Nibel. Biting the hand off Tÿr* could be symbolized (in a sense) of her taking Sephiroth's discarded Masamune to confront him once she found Brian's body - only to be cut down by Sephiroth and mortally wounded.

Fenrir's chains were then bound to stone, a sword placed between the wolf's jaws, where he was fated to stay until the oncoming of Ragnarök.

Tifa was brought to Midgar to be tended to after Nibelheim burned down, and then was bound to the infirmary via her unpaid debts, forced to work them off while knowing the ones who destroyed her hometown still reigned free over her. It was only when she met Jessie, then Barret, Marlene, and Marle, that she gained the strength to break free of her bounds, find her new path,and ultimately be set on the road to Midgar's own Ragnarök in a sense - Sephiroth, the destruction of Shinra, and Meteor as a whole.

Rufus attempted to have her killed to make her an "example" to anyone who stood in his way; she broke free, ran to meet up with the rest of AVALANCHE, and ends up knocking Scarlett off the Sister Ray before leaping to her freedom once more, continuing the fight.

And then we have Doomsday ~24 hours remaining~ - aka, Ragnarök. Meteor is closing in. During the Supernova attack, we watch as Sephiroth destroys the solar system.

In Ragnarök, Loki's children, among others, begin their attack against Odin and the gods. The moon and sun are swallowed up, the stars vanish from the sky (aka Supernova), the earth shakes, and Fenrir's binds are broken.

AVALANCHE is fighting back.

Fenrir goes right for Odin, swallowing him whole and killing him.

Tifa and AVALANCHE kill Safer Sephiroth, while Cloud finishes him off in the final, internal attack.

If we continue on with it, Fenrir is then killed by Odin's son Vidar - one could see this interpreted as the collision of Meteor into the Lifestream sending Tifa plummeting to certain death... until Cloud saves her.

Tifa is given the Gauntlet/Claw of the Worthy, an embodiment of bloody wolf's claws. Granted, her outfit is rather scant in terms of actual armor - part of this is due to the fact that Ever Crisis is a gacha, Tifa prints money, and she is considered a sex symbol. But to discount it as nothing more than a "lol slutty cat outfit" is to discount her strength of character, and the utter fear Odin would have of her to separate her from the others.

Alone? She is strong, but she is also unsure, as shown when she was initially thrown off by the fiends before the bridge to Mt. Nibel. She fought them off, found strength in the memory of her fallen friends (Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie), and went to a place she knew would bring her safety - the mako spring of Mt. Nibel...

...where she is about to meet the others (in Norse mythology, her "siblings" Hel and Jörmungandr, aka Vincent and Sephiroth), and ultimately take down Odin for their own Ragnarök, so that they can all return to their friends and reality.

*Also, a little fun fact - the one Tÿr ultimately falls to during the events of Ragnarök? Hel's hound, Garm~

[getvalentined]

I've never done a full breakdown of everything that happened to my version of Vincent while he was under the knife (although there is a partial breakdown from like 12 years ago on Ask Vincent Valentine), but @spinejackel tagged my recent Vincent doodle gushing about autopsy scar (Vincent Has a Y-Incision headcanon supremacy!) so I figured it was probably a good time. This is also probably the best method, since I can apply the right tags and trigger warnings to hopefully keep it from hitting the people who would be disturbed.

For anyone who doesn't know, figuring out the fucked up physiology of victims of science is like my entire jam. I think this is what happens when you let a chronically ill child watch Akira and the original Bubblegum Crisis OVA and most of the works of Masamune Shirow. All that before FF7 even existed. This means that the explanation under the cut may seem excessive, and this post is very long. I've been building it over over a quarter century, I don't think there's any avoiding it at this point.

Warnings for body horror, nonconsensual body modification, medical horror and torture. Basically, if there's anything you can think of related to becoming a victim of science under the rule of an unethical sci-fantasy oligarchy, it's probably in here to some degree. It's explained plainly and simply, in clinical but not visceral detail.

My headcanons for what Hojo did to Vincent are pretty specific, albeit not precisely comprehensive; 27 years later I still don't really have a particularly solid concept for how he turned Vincent into a shapeshifter, although at least we know it's not something entirely specific to Vincent—Hojo repeated that facet of the experiment in Azul, but not in any other SOLDIER operative even in DeepGround, implying that it's only possible if very specific physiological conditions are met. The minimal concept I do have involves a twisted application of the concept of incarnate summoning as it appears in FFXIII-2, but it's very vague and also not the topic of this post. Maybe later.

Regarding the Y-incision/autopsy scar, my headcanon is that once Hojo tweaked Vincent into being able to regenerate from any injury—an enhancement that is confirmed to be entirely Hojo's work in Dirge—the professor of course felt it necessary to run various tests quantify the usefulness of his handiwork. He did this first by inflicting various surface injuries, then by causing more extreme bodily trauma, which eventually culminated in Hojo removing the majority of Vincent's internal organs in order to measure how long it took them to grow back and, assuming they did grow back, how the new ones compared to Vincent's original parts.

To be able to observe this as closely as possible, Hojo kept Vincent's torso open for the entire process—which he repeated twice more in order to check the weight, size and structure of the newly-grown organs in comparison to the originals. This study proved that most of them did grow back, but the majority of them stopped developing much earlier than was appropriate for Vincent's age and size. The difference was consistent, Hojo just never figured out why most of them grew back smaller and less-developed.

The reason this happened is based the fact that most of the organs in the human trunk are used in digestion and other related processes, and Vincent's regeneration means he doesn't need to eat or drink anymore. His body only expended as much energy as was completely necessary to develop those organs to the point of being functional rather than normal, because they're not really necessary. Vincent is glad he still has them, though, because he does still occasionally eat (usually in social situations) and also he'd be really sad if he couldn't even have coffee.

Vincent's brain activity remained normal during the entire process, although that may have something to do with Hojo driving a bunch of fluid lines into his head and flooding the inside of his skull with mako to keep him awake the whole time even while deprived of oxygen. (Rebirth spoilers, but seeing the bit in the Nibelheim Protorelic questline where Hojo does something super similar to this, after this has been my headcanon for decades, was a trip.)

Two organs didn't grow back at all: Vincent's appendix and one kidney. This was also the result of efficient energy expenditure, as the human appendix isn't necessary for survival, and only one kidney is really required. (Each time Hojo removed the new kidney, the one that grew back would be on the opposite side, which bothered Hojo to no end.)

His lungs grew back a little larger, possibly because his skeletal structure never quite recovered after his first transformation into Galian—his arms and legs are noticeably too long for his body, although not to the point of looking impossible, and likewise his ribcage settled to breadth that would allow for larger lungs. He doesn't really need these anymore either, related to his brain being exposed to so much mako during the process that it can now operate without oxygen if necessary, but switching himself over from aerobic to anaerobic respiration is really unpleasant and Vincent tries to avoid it when he can.

His heart was pretty normal by the time Hojo was done with him, although his heartrate had dropped to like 20bpm even when elevated. Again, if respiration isn't necessary, there's not much reason for the system to be active. (By the time Lucrecia was done this had dropped to around 5bpm on average, although it's completely arrhythmic and jumps all over the place when he's not either particularly active or on the verge of a transformation.)

This was the experiment that left Vincent susceptible to degradation, which Hojo didn't realize until after finally closing him back up. Upon realizing that Vincent's body wasn't responding properly to a different test (a repetition of an earlier experiment related to the regeneration of external tissues and features), Hojo just kinda threw him in a tube to be disposed of at a later date, kinda like that scene in Arrested Development where there's that dead dove in a bag in the fridge. The incision healed at some point during the period that Lucrecia was working on him, but early enough in her work that the tissue couldn't flawlessly regenerate (like it does in the present), leaving him with one more gnarly scar on top of all the rest.

Vincent is self-conscious about all the physiological changes brought on by what was done to him, often to the point of loathing. His left arm is the worst—it rotted off while he was in the throes of degradation and grew back as something that he hesitates to call his arm—but Vincent hates that Y-incision scar almost as much. Some days they tie.

(It has come up in appropriately horrified conversation with Shalua that, considering how his regeneration works, Vincent could probably get rid of all the scars on his chest if he somehow peeled the skin off his torso in a single swath. He will not be doing that. Besides, it might grow back the wrong color/texture/etc, like his left arm. Not worth the risk, much less the suffering.)

Also I gotta finish off this entry with the extremely stupid headcanon reveal that Vincent's (honestly fairly impressive) dick was cut off during the first round of bodily trauma regeneration tests—and Hojo has never felt the sort of rage he experienced upon discovering that it grew back bigger than before. This occurred early enough in the experiments that Vincent was not awake for it, and thus has no idea how the fuck this happened, and does not want to talk about it ever thank you very much. I've never mentioned it in public anywhere because it is extremely stupid, but I hope someone out there finds it as funny a concept as I do.

[freelanceexorcist]

OK. I watched the first chapter of Ever Crisis First Soldier episode 2 and of course I have thoughts.

Cut for spoilers and length.

Sephiroth has officially become a sympathetic character. I mean, he always was, but there's no doubt about it being official now.

The way he's acting toward people, pushing them away? He's not being arrogant or sullen or a dick. He's a sad, traumatized kid with crappy self-esteem. He's in pain and grieving the loss of Glenn, Matt and Lucia's friendship. He's trying to convince himself that he's a soulless machine because machines don't have to feel what he's feeling. He's pushing everyone away because he doesn't want to make the choice he had to make between saving Rosen and saving himself and his friends. If you're cold, calculating and ruthless, such choices are a lot easier.

Except he's not any of those things or he wouldn't be acting the way he is. He wouldn't care, but he obviously does here. If you push everyone away and keep them at arms length, it doesn't hurt so much when they inevitably leave.

Except Angeal ain't havin' none of that. He's gonna make Sephiroth his bro if it kills both of them. The dynamic between these two so far is

And you know it works, too, and at least they get ten good years as friends after that.

So yes, the Sephiroth from Episode 1 is still there, but he's depressed and traumatized. If he returned to Midgar between episodes, he probably got a good dressing down from the top brass at Shinra and suffered who knows what at Hojo's hands. He's hurting and I think on some level Angeal knows that, which is why he's trying so hard to break through.

Now let's talk about Sephiroth's dream. I hope that was just a regular dream and not Jenova fucking with him because that would be a real kick in the nuts. I'm going to say it was an actual dream triggered by seeing Alissa "Definitely Not Jenova" Goldie and her uncanny resemblance to Lucrecia. And he was handed an empty bowl and told it was pumpkin soup because he doesn't know what pumpkin soup looks like. He just knows it would be good and that his mama would make him some if she could.

And speaking of Definitely Not Jenova. Nope, definitely not Jenova or Hojo mindfucking him. Not at all.

But since I'm a glass half full kinda gal when it comes to these things, I'm considering another angle. Yeah, purple and purplish pink are colors associated with Jenova, but those lights swirling around Alissa remind me of will o' the wisps or spook lights. Depending on which culture's folklore you're looking at, these can represent elemental spirits, the fae or demons (demons as in "spirit that never walked the earth in physical form" and not the Biblical nasties).

What if a forest spirit or similar entity took an interest in Sephiroth and wanted to get a closer look to see what makes him tick? Such an entity wouldn't really understand humans, so throwing Hojo in his face wouldn't strike it as being cruel or malicious. It was just curious to see how he would react.

Yeah, it's probably Jenova. "Those you hate, those you fear, those you love" after all. The other idea is worth considering, though.

Some odds and ends:

*i'm glad that the existence of female SOLDIER operatives has been confirmed. Not sure how I feel about them having to wear coochie cutters while the guys get real pants, though.

*I wonder how Sephiroth will get Masamune from its namesake. I'm going to be optimistic and say Mr. Epic Eyebrows will deem him worthy of receiving it, because that's how that seems to be shaping up at first glance. My prediction is that Masamune will pop up at times throughout the story to observe Sephiroth and test his mettle. He already knows Sephiroth is worthy, and these interactions will serve to verify that.

*Bachman's kind of a pain in the ass, isn't he? Sephiroth isn't your show pony, dude. He didn't even know you'd be tagging along.

*EC is really playing up how innocent and good these kids were back in the day. Angeal certainly had it helped along by his upbringing, but it took work for Sephiroth to maintain his goodness. He's the way he is despite his childhood, not because of it.

*I know I sound like a broken record but bog standard villains just don't get that kind of development. We're not supposed to see them sympathetically. At least not the ones for whom a redemption arc isn't in the works. We're supposed to cheer when they get what they have coming in a movie or on a show. We're supposed to feel accomplished when we beat them as the final boss in the game. We're not supposed to see their inevitable defeat as the heartbreaking last act of a tragic life.

*EC took pains to make the connection between the purehearted pre-Nibelheim Sephiroth and the Sephiroth at the Edge of Creation. It's looking more and more to me like EoC Sephiroth and the Sephiroth menacing the party are two different people. Or, more accurately, two versions of the same person from two different universes/timelines and one of them isn't answering to Jenova anymore (if he ever did in the first place).

*I mean come on. The symbolism. The white feathers (which pop up all over Rebirth, too). This:

*That's not there by accident or because it looks cool. It's a single white wing to contrast with Jenovaroth's single black wing and highlight the differences between the two. The battle theme that plays during the behemoth fight is called White Winged Angel, fercryin' out loud! I will die on this hill.

That's all for now. Thanks for sticking around to the end of this if you did.

[crisiscutie]

I read some of your yan!Sephiroth posts along with the fem! Sephiroth ones and umm 😳😳 it's safe to say or unsafe *looks at the twin crisis cuties* that I'm down bad for all of them.. can I possibly have headcanons for the HoS sephies plus fem!Sephiroth with the darling admitting she loves them? Also love the work you do 🤗

Even though Darling loves all the Sephiroths equally, it would be interesting to imagine how the winner of the Darlingbowl would react in a non-canon scenario... Sorry for the wait. This was sitting in my drafts for a short while. Enjoy the fluffy yanderes!

OG Sephiroth: He'd have his traditional smirk on his face, pulling the darling close to him by her hip. His JENOVA tentacles happily stroke her face and dance around her in celebration. Though it was difficult, he just knew he had to play the game of Sephiroths patiently to win the darling's love. He'd suggest that they consummate their love and finally become one with each other.

Dissidia Sephiroth: He's honestly surprised. He expected to play the very long version of their waiting game, just like how they did back in the World of Light/Darkness. He caressed her cheek, his thumb tracing gentle circles as he kissed her. Moving his thumb downwards, he revealed that her choker had once belonged to her counterpart. Urging her to embrace her old self, he invited her to complete the "Reunion" with him, so they could return to their paradise together.

7R Sephiroth: Excuse him, but he couldn't help but play his cryptic games with the darling.

"Are you certain that it's ME you love?" 😈

"...How do you know it's ME you're talking to and not my 'twin'?" 🤔

At first, these games would frustrate the darling, but then she realized it was his way of deflecting his uncertainty and worries about whether she truly loved him. The darling playfully booped his nose, expressing her love for him again. As his smirk vanished, he rested his head on her chest. "You still haven't changed..."

AC Sephiroth: For a brief moment, relaxation and relief graced his weary eyes, all but telling her that his desire was simply for her to love him, and him alone this entire time. Despite the several obstacles that threatened to prevent their reunion, he finally fulfilled his wish. He held her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, assuring her they will find a path back home together. You could say that he finally learned true peace in this scenario.

Female Sephiroth: She goes into full "deredere" mode, almost practically glomping the darling. It's almost out of character for her, but she just couldn't contain her excitement. She's like a little girl who finally got her princess doll for Christmas. However, her yanderness resurfaces as she softly whispered her sweet, dark declaration of protection into the darling's ears. She will not lose her as she did in their previous world, by any means.

C.C. Sephiroth: He didn't process the darling's words at first. He only continued to stare at her with his weary, lovesick eyes until they finally sunk in: she loved him. The foolish Sephiroth. The youngest Sephiroth. The weakest Sephiroth. His head drooped low as tears streamed down his face. Whether it was relief or happiness, only he knew… This time, it was she who took the lead and wrapped her arms around him, confessing that her heart had been set on him from the very beginning, regardless of his shortcomings. Once he calmed down from repeatedly whispering "mother," he would loudly proclaim himself as the winner of the Darlingbowl, not just as her chosen son but also as her chosen mate. 🤭

(Bonus Sephy) KH Sephiroth: He lowered his Masamune, brushing a lock of his hair out of his face as he slowly approached the darling. Her heart skipped a beat as she worried about his lack of reaction. But then he gave her a soothing head pat, praising the strength she had developed during their sparring sessions. Sporting a cool smile on his face, he would boldly assert that it is only fitting for him to assume the role of her personal champion, given that her love for him has transcended the boundaries of memories and realms.

[aragusuku]

AERITH GAINSBOROUGH — portrayal notes.

gender: my iteration of aerith is a trans woman. she transitioned not long after elmyra took her in, and has gotten both breast augmentation and full genital reconstructive surgery. the largest role her gender plays in her character is her own concerns about becoming her true self, and how that affects her ability to listen to the planet and the voices of her ancestors. this self-doubt is part of why it becomes difficult to attune to gaia, and realizing that she's in control of her body and fate are what grant her the confidence to fulfill her role.

timeline: i prefer the remake series over the original compilation in most cases. i have full knowledge of all main entries and the version of aerith in the remake trilogy is the one i base my portrayal on almost entirely, with additional details from crisis core.

accordingly, my aerith survives sephiroth's attack. she is a distinct version and entity from the original aerith, per remake's timeline shenanigans. being aware of her "inevitable demise", and in line with remake's ending where they change fate, my aerith goes to the city of the ancients, alone but prepared to fight. she believes the final showdown is her right, and the right of all other aeriths who didn't survive. she bears a scar on her chest and back from masamune, but the white materia allowed her to heal and fight alongside cloud. the white materia is lost in the battle and never found.

sexuality and romantic interests: aerith is bisexual. she still loves zack, but moved on prior to the story. i don't particularly care for zerith or clerith as concrete relationships, but am happy to explore romantic feelings, unrequited or not acted upon. aerti is the ideal endgame for her.

[rottenpumpkin13]

Odd thought and my brain can’t stop with those tonight.

Imagine how much weirder it would have been if Zack trained under Sephiroth instead of Angeal. Instead of facing off against his mentor and his mentor’s childhood friend… it would have been more like… facing off against the two people his mentor thought were his friends but had abandoned him. Zack, the mentor/Sephiroth one man protection squad.

I love this. In my mind, Zack is fiercely, almost unhingedly, protective of the people he loves, which means the sheer chaos potential here is off the charts. Just imagine: Zack completely unleashing his anger on Genesis and Angeal, not just because he despises traitors, but because they hurt the man who taught him everything.

Zack forcing Sephiroth out of his shell during his depression, shoving food into his hands so he'll eat, pleading with him, "they're not worth it, you are." And yet despite that, he still tries to reason with Genesis and Angeal—for Sephiroth's sake alone. His respect for Sephiroth is untouchable, unshakable. He wants Sephiroth's well-being above all else, but every time he lays eyes on Genesis and Angeal, it's uncontrollable rage. That would make Crisis Core even more devastating. Because no matter how it plays out, Angeal still dies at Zack's hands. And it still breaks Sephiroth.

And then Zack, trying to justify it—"I did what I had to do." Clinging to Sephiroth through the grief, desperate to help him, to save him. And then Nibelheim.

His fury at Genesis is all-consuming, and this time he doesn't just stand there while Genesis spews cryptic taunts at Sephiroth. They fight at the reactor, because Zack won't let him twist the knife deeper. But then the Shinra mansion. Zack pleading, bringing Sephiroth food, begging him to come out, refusing to leave his side. He insists on staying, watching over him, caring for him just like Sephiroth once did for him. But Sephiroth pushes him away.

And then Nibelheim burns, and the bitterness is deeper than anything before, because this isn't just a mentor, a hero, this is his friend, the man he respected, the one who shaped him into who he is.

I don't know how it would play out, but imagine the weight of it if Sephiroth dies there, leaving Masamune behind. Zack takes it. And later, when the time comes, he bequeaths it to Cloud.

Sephiroth returns. He wants the Reunion. He wants Cloud.

And Cloud is still lost in the haze of fragmented memories. He has no idea why the sword in his hands keeps whispering to him.

[rosy-crow]

More Jenova evidence in First Soldier….possibly.

So, aside from the general sus Alissa stuff, the purple energy, the illusions….and the Nibelheim references….there are also smaller musical/auditory themes connecting Nibelheim/Jenova and what’s happening in FS2.

In this post above, I pointed out how the (Remake) Jenova Dreamweaver theme is used in old trailers for Sephiroth’s story in EC. The rest of the post points out the similarities between Jenova’s dreamweaving ability and what’s going on in FS2 so far with the illusions and dream stuff.

There’s also the note about “Marcato Morse,” whose name is an auditory/musical reference to rhythmic patterns that resemble a heartbeat. The heartbeat connection is an old one, used even in OG when Sephiroth leaves the library. It’s the main beat in his theme, “Those Chosen By The Planet.”

That heartbeat is referenced in Jenova Dreamweaver’s Japanese name and is specifically a PRENATAL heartbeat. That’s interesting enough.

BUT YOU KNOW WHAT OTHER AUDITORY REFERENCE IS BEING MADE?

The fucking BELL

I compiled it here. A bell is clearly used in Sephiroth’s theme in Nibelheim in the OG. It’s one of the most famous parts. It’s also referenced repeatedly in the Remake music during his fire scene, and it specifically plays RIGHT after he speaks to Jenova and starts walking towards her in the reactor like he’s in some kinda trance.

The part in FS2 has a bell “calling” to them from the temple….THIS temple…..

Yeah, yeah totally not a place where a piece of an ancient monster could be sealed away. Nahhh. What do you MEAN a monster could be sealed in a mountain that overlooks a small village where some dude with a sword went wacko and killed everyone and the villagers lost it? Nahhh. Not familiar at all.

Girl you know EXACTLY what you are doing smh.

In front of the temple, Alissa says straight up that she feels like someone is calling, “them.” Bachmann and Angeal are confused as hell, but the one acting weird and possessed and saying shit like, “I sense a powerful will” is Sephiroth.

It’s part of Jenova, I swear. It’s likely the part of her that can cast all the illusions, which IS the Dreamweaver. That would fully explain whatever this is:

And why Angeal and Sephiroth are getting those dreams. Why Robio has that bizarre Nibelheim-esque history with Masamune. Why Alissa is a thing.

Everything to me suggests that this will be a mini Nibelheim for Sephiroth. The pieces line up…and an odd hint we have is actually in that trailer where the Dreamweaver theme is used?

(I’m about to go off the rails here)

This is the OFFICIAL trailer for Ever Crisis, and when it focuses on story in the climax, it doesn’t bother to zero in on iconic parts of the OG or CC. It focuses entirely on Sephiroth, and is structured distinctly.

We start with Nibelheim burning. There is a unique animation of Sephiroth in the flames.

Then the setting of Nibelheim and how it was an investigation mission.

Cut to Genesis and his desertion. His missing status.

Sephiroth’s parental issues….

Genesis copies….

Sephiroth’s identity crisis

The Jenova issues

Masamune…

And finally, it all ends with the Dreamweaver theme going strong while flashes and static warp around Sephiroth and young Sephiroth in the flames.

Miniroth has blood on his face

And it ends with a suspiciously camera/film type static

Let’s just consider this:

Here we have key themes shown in this trailer that match with what we’ve seen in FS2 so far.

An investigation mission for a mysterious location with a hidden past, Sephiroth’s mommy issues, a Masamune namedrop, Sephiroth’s identity crisis, and the flame imagery with a morph between young and adult Sephiroth + camera static.

The one theme I haven’t listed here is Genesis’ absence, because I want to focus on that for a second. They specifically show the scene where he’s mentioned as having gone missing during a mission in Wutai, and then they show his copies.

Why do they bother to show this? Could it be showing more of Sephiroth’s circumstances when he arrived in Nibelheim, how he had been left behind by a friend, paralleling his current situation in Robio? Maybe….but what if that’s a hint? Genesis going missing on a mission in Wutai….identical copies as a concept….

LOOK I’M JUST SAYING—

Anyway, I don’t know.

But back to the main point. This stuff all being relevant is based on the presumption that this trailer is a series of hints. I suspect it might be, because instead of showing scenes from First Soldier, they focus on key points that make up Sephiroth’s story in Nibelheim…and it’s complimented by the Jenova Dreamweaver theme.

So far in the Robio mission in FS2, we have several Nibelheim parallels. We have hints about Jenova. This trailer was about Nibelheim and Jenova.

Additionally, BOTH Ever Crisis story events that take place in Nibelheim so far (the Halloween event and the recent Odin event), there are monsters that take human form. Most recently, the human form of loved ones.

So if they are putting Robio up against Nibelheim, mirroring them….what does that say about Alissa taking Lucrecia’s form? What does that say about Robio? All of these potential hints….monsters in plain sight…JENOVA IN PLAIN SIGHT.

Idk man.

[altocat]

I need more Glenn adopting Miniroth au

Sephiroth "Seph" Lodbrok, adopted younger brother of Glenn Lodbrok, currently working as a rogue mercenary alongside his former Shinra squad.

He keeps his Miniroth hairstyle in this AU, even as an adult.

Seph grows up excitable, occasionally sassy, eager to please, and unfailingly devoted to his new found family.

He's also picked up a LOT of Glenn's traits and mannerisms during their time together on the run. He can be very hotheaded, hyperactive, and kind of an impulsive moron when dealing with a crisis.

But he also picked up on Glenn's compassionate nature, having a very strong sense of justice and developing a very protective personality, especially towards children and families.

His time spent with Team Glenn has given him free range to express his emotions a lot more openly, gradually undoing a lot of the damage from Hojo's lab. Honestly, Shinra just feels like a bad dream for him.

He is fiercely loyal to Glenn and will become absolutely FURIOUS if someone insults or tries to hurt him.

He's still keen on finding his mother someday, and Glenn helps him look everywhere for her.

Sephiroth never acquires the Masamune, but still favors long katanas and even some heavier two-handed weapons similar to Glenn's.

He can still occasionally be cautious and grumpy. But it's mostly out of wanting to keep his family out of danger. He's not leader anymore (he happily relinquished that title to Glenn), but he still recognizes his abnormal abilities and uses them to keep his loved ones safe.

Glenn has a friendly habit of ruffling his hair even when he's a grown adult.

Seph is genuinely happy with his team, always getting into dumbass adventures with his big bro, glad he stuck with them after all this time.

He can't imagine life without them. He's never going back to Shinra. Not now, not ever.

[roseprincessarts]

Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis The First Soldier Episode 2 Theory and Prediction Discussion

Good evening Final Fantasy VII peepsters!

Welp, it's November. Today we are going to be discussing what's been in my head while playing FFVII Ever Crisis. Before we get started, this is probably my first theory and prediction to ever discuss. I've probably seen other theories that relates to the episode 2 of First Soldier, so I decided to do this in my own thoughts and my own words, and could agree what other theories could be true or not true. It all takes some patience to find out what will happen in the future in First Soldier! So the topic tonight is going to be about Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis: The First Soldier Episode 2 Theory! (also made a presentation art for future discussions :) )

I was going to do this before and after Halloween, but hadn't got the chance to finish up so I feel like this will be rushed lol. I had a blast yesterday for Halloween, though!

Oh! Before I forget, I must warn to each and every one of the FFVII fans that have never played Ever Crisis, and/or did but hadn't gotten into the second episode of First Soldier, Crisis Core, FFVII, etc., just to warn y'all that this will contain spoilers! Read this at your own risk! Or have an experience on EP 2! So beware of ghosts of spoilers! Ooooooooooo~ 👻

*clears throat* Well, with no further ado, let's get on with the discussion!

Episode 2 of Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier

I have indeed finished The First Soldier episode 1 just before starting the second one. It was just before Halloween started. I really enjoyed the first episode! Really shows the past of Sephiroth! Young Sephiroth looks handsome as when he was a grown handsome man as well hehehehe <3. I really liked how they did Sephiroth as some sort of a 14-year-old hero before his fall into a psycho villain. It also shows who he was before the Nibelheim mission, what he really thought of his friends, which would be Glenn, Matt and Lucia, and what he had wanted other than a hero, but a normal ordinary life as other kids unlike him had. This also shows how he ended up being Shinra's golden SOLDIER (why I called that because he was the first one to even have incredible powers). However, we get to see more as we dive into more of Sephiroth's past. Let's begin!

Sephiroth and Angeal First Meeting

In episode 2 of First Soldier, we see how Sephiroth and Angeal met.

Angeal Hewley was introduced in Crisis Core as a SOLDIER with honor, pride and the most respected member, gifted with the iconic Buster Sword in the FFVII series before the real thing as a symbol of his family's honor. He is also the mentor of another character that was also important to the series is Zack Fair, another SOLDIER member that dreams of becoming a hero like Sephiroth.

Until learning about who he really is, Angeal dreamed of becoming human due to the fact that Dr. Hollander was responsible for the Jenova Project, or rather Project G to make him a perfect monster, as Genesis was a failure at this point, as well as Angeal claiming he has created his very own suffering.

Now, in ep 2 of The First Soldier, a young Angeal plans to leave to Midgar to join SOLDIER to honor his family before his stepfather’s death. He was to dispatch to Robio in Wutai, and boom! Angeal meets Sephiroth for the first time. Sephiroth appears to be pissy, and Angeal tries to cheer him up and lighten him up. Angeal looked handsome as a young fella ^^.

I think Sephiroth and Angeal would be going separate ways. However, what I think would happen is that they would bond later on. Plus, they were friends along with Genesis in Crisis Core.

Masamune Origins

Wondering how Sephiroth got the most iconic sword in FFVII history, and how it became a main thing? Wondered how he got the Masamune? Look no further! As most of the players were playing through all the sections, we now see a new character in the game named Masamune, based on a sword of its namesake.

Now, Masamune appears to be swordsmith of Robio, and he had the katana by his name. What my prediction or theory may be is there could be the possibility of Sephiroth obtaining the iconic Masamune in future chapters. Plus, Sephiroth's Nameless being sliced in half, I would how the aftermath might be ^^;

Well, this is going to be interesting and I'm actually looking forward to how Sephiroth obtains the Masamune from… well, Masamune (character) is going to go. Dark, climaxing, we won't know until future chapters!

Now, about the character Masamune of what I first saw him, he almost reminds me of the actor Christopher Lee lol. Also, I wondered how Sephiroth and Masamune would communicate or how they would have a bond, friendship, or even become enemies. We'll have to see on that one. This will become interesting to see!

Bachman

Bachman, or is another character that appears as a journalist for Shinra as he records Sephiroth and Angeal in action to have a detailed report.

I'd say he could be a documentary guy or something like that!

Well, to be honest, I am not sure if I have an interest about Bachman, but I'll have to see for myself what he could possibly do in future chapters. I thought he was just a minor character, but he could be important. We'll just have to sit back for more of his development as well.

Alissa Goldie

Hey, look! Another female character! Another feminine SOLDIER! Wow! Interesting!

*coughs*

Whoops. Gotten carried away there, am I not? Ahem… where was I? Ah, yes! Alissa Goldie, indeed!

Next subject to discuss in this FFVII theory is Alissa Goldie (it's a pretty name for her btw ^^).

Alissa Goldie is another female 2nd class SOLDIER appearing in this episode of First Soldier. She appeared as another missing SOLDIER I believe until found before Sephiroth and Angela's encounter with Masamune as some sort of upbeat kind of person, until she sassed Sephiroth for staring at her after meeting or seeing her.

Now, some people may be in shock when they see Alissa at first. Her character development intends to look identical to Sephiroth's birth mother Lucrecia.

Oh boy! This is going to be nerve wrecking, but here are the list of predictions of what I think will be happening with Alissa and Sephiroth.

Prediction 1: Prediction number 1 of what I am about to say is later on, I believe that what will happen in this episode 2 if that Alissa Goldie will turn out to be either an antagonist, maybe villain and/or a Jenova clone that will trigger Sephiroth’s mental disturbance. Well, we probably have seen clones in the FFVII original story. We'll probably find about this kind of prediction for Alissa’s character development

Prediction 2: This option of the prediction will indicate what I might also think if Alissa will be Lucrecia in disguise. Lucrecia is Sephiroth’s birth mother, as Hojo gives him the photo of her in episode 1 of TFS and claims her name is Jenova, who is actually a calamity from space that tried to destroy the planet but was pulled out of the 2000-year-old rock layer and experimented and was kept enclosed in the Nibel Reactor. We all have seen the Nibelheim Incident, presenting Sephiroth’s descent to madness and his death after his massacre in the village, when Cloud starts to be a real deal for the FFVII series, and Zack as well. In this prediction for First Soldier, I believe Alissa could be Lucrecia in actual see her son in person after what Hojo had done to him, and her. He does dream about his mother after couple of chapters, which warms my heart to see the moment is real mother and son ❤️

Prediction 3: This is probably the weirdest, obscure or awkward prediction, but could be shocking. This would have the Sephiroth fans to freak out over this, but in the third prediction, Alissa could be whether just an ordinary girl and/or to be (here I go) Sephiroth's love interest. Yes, awkward. However, Sephiroth is flustered by Alissa's facial identity to look like his mother. She also tells Angeal the world will change if Sephiroth continues to use his sword. This is the prediction I doubt that would happen. I could be wrong, but this has been in my head that I LITERALLY had been bragging to myself about. Spehiroth’s canon love interest? This would freak the Sephiroth fans out. Even me. Now, my apologies if it does freak you out, but it would be doubtful if Alissa could be a canon Sephiroth's love interest. I was hoping for prediction 2, but we'll sure better get some really good sleep with patience for future chapters to hope if either of the theories are true. This isn't to intend to freak those fans out on purpose. Just to explain which prediction could be true or not.

And that's it for tonight. Well, I hope you enjoy my theory, and this is my first time, so my apologies for the messy typo or not much ha ha ha!

Let's sit back and wait for future chapters to witness more of the story of Sephiroth, and Angeal as well! This could give me some ideas how my CC fanfic is going to go. Better get started (to myself) with it! I can do another discussion that relates to this if there's a new chapter coming. Plus, I'm getting better with catching up with Ever Crisis now! I do plan to do as much as possible so I can catch up to the stories! I was going to add more, but I might do another theory since I don't have time now. Plus, don't want it to make it too long anyway lol. I'll do more theory details later on!

And it's getting late so I hope you enjoy and have a good night! And now I need some sleep before turning into a zombie!

Have a wonderful day, my lovely rose petals!

RosePrincessArts, signing off! Good night!

Art ©RosePrincessArts (Used from Sketchbook app from iPad)

Final Fantasy VII, Ever Crisis, Crisis Core, The First Soldier and Characters belongs to Tetsuya Nomura and SQUARE ENIX

[megashadowdragon]

volume 0 of jjk is more important then you think

because the idea that a burdensome level of strength is nothing but a curse, is literalised with Yuta. Rika is literally a curse that's formed out of love. this same plight is not as apparent with Gojo Satoru and Kashimo Hajime. with these two, their mannerisms say far more.

what's noteworthy is that the resolution of Gojo's own crisis is 100% opposite of how Yuta's was resolved, and it looks to be the same for Kashimo as well. Yuta forgoes his overwhelming strength by dispelling the curse on Orimoto Rika, and prioritizes his bonds with his people.

after all, that's the central theme of volume 0. as such, the most interesting thing about the shift between the prequel and the main series is just how COMPLETELY the main series contradicts the themes of the prequel.

the main series, so far, has severely punished anyone that prioritizes their bonds over a robust sense of self + selfish pursuit of power. the special grades are the best example of this. Tsukumo Yuki worked with Tengen and Choso; she didn't fight with her own domain.

only in death could he stand on an equal footing with his comrades. the framing of these demises in the main series is so deliberately opposed to how the thematic framework of JJK 0 functions. and the reason is none other than the King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna.

Sendai, the City of Trees. established in the year 1600 by the daimyō Date Masamune. Date Masamune was a descendant of the Fujiwara. any JJK reader knows the significance of the Fujiwara clan in the series

the emphasis JJK gives to the Fujiwara cannot be understated. lemme run through some key examples rq. the turning point of the series, the Shibuya incident, happens in the vicinity of the Meiji Jinguu, a shrine dedicated to Empress Shōken, a deified member of the Fujiwara clan.

the revival of the Heian era, which saw the supremacy of the Fujiwara clan in the political scene, also plays a part in this. Onmyōdō, or sorcery, was at its peak in the Heian era. Ashiya Dōman, one of the most prominent sorcerers in history, was a hiree of the Fujiwara.

and this specific fact is called back to in the New Shadow Style: Simple Domain, developed by Ashiya Sadatsuna, being utilised widely in the series. the relevance of all this to the topic at hand is that Yuta is a descendant of the Sugawara clan.

symbolically, literally and meta-textually, Yuta is removed from a position of importance, and a guy from a Fujiwara-established city replaces him.

all of this is why some wouldn't feel confident about Yuta continuing to be in good health for the rest of the series 💀🚩

all the special grades in the series have been murked, except Yuta. you can clearly see why people would think he's next. BUT NOT ME! and here's why: in the Sendai colony, i.e. in the same city established by the Fujiwara, he beats Uro Takako, a hiree of the Fujiwara.

he cyclicality that JJK is obsessed with plays out on various levels, but Yuta is the only exception. and I mean the ONLY exception. not even Gojo was exempt. Yuta, a Sugawara, beats someone that was associated with the Fujiwara. it plays out the opposite of how it's meant to.

in conclusion, i think we should put our stocks in Yuta. someone that won't be the next Gojo Satoru sounds about desirable rn. Vol-0 is a treasure trove of hints when we reread with new context. i hope i gave you new insight, or at least a fun read.

"

I can’t wait for Yuta vs Sukuna, the themes of strength, loneliness, love and modernity vs history finna clash like crazy

The Queen of Curses vs The King of Curses 😤😤😤

Furthermore Yuta as the previous MC whose succeeded despite contradictory themes with Sukuna…

"

[selenacosmic]

Oda forces and an mc who brings her friend with her, but the friend is from stranger things? Fights demogorgons and stuff?

This idea is pretty cool! Thank you for the request.

MC’s friend from stranger things.

Oda forces.

Nobunaga Oda.

Different from MC, the friend was fearless when it came to war, or at least for the most part, which wouldn’t be a surprise if not for the fact that you both came from the future.

Creatures that invade from another world? That sounds absurd… and yet he feels intrigued and more curious by it, so he would want to learn more about this friend’s experience with this… demogorgon creature.

Hideyoshi Toyotomi.

To Hideyoshi, there was a clear distinction between MC and her friend, for instances the friend seemed to treat war and the battles they faced as if she had experienced bigger ones, her reactions to dangerous situations, as if she had faced worse, was alarming to the point of worrying him.

If the friend were to ever reveal her experience with the upside down world and the demogorgon, he would understand her reactions even more, and would feel even more overprotective of her considering her experiences.

Masamune Date.

Now that’s a fierce lass! From day one, Masamune would pester MC’s friend to know from where she got that fearless attitude, hoping to know more about her as well. It would naturally take a while for her to reveal it considering how insane it may sound, specially to someone from the past.

Once she talks about her experiences, specially the scary ones, masamune gets pretty excited to hear everything. While it sounds insane, it gets his blood bumping with energy just hearing everything.

Mitsuhide Akechi.

Mitsuhide was already on to know how MC’s friend knows how to fight and seems to react better to battle when MC herself seems to be the opposite. His suspicion grows even stronger when, upon investigation, he finds out that both are from the future.

He would slowly pressure MC’s friend with questions to understand more about her past, and what he learns… is nothing of what he was expecting. A creature that comes from another world? And the fact that she fought it? Truly, an impressive little mouse.

Mitsunari Ishida.

Mitsunari had noticed the clear difference between them, but he never really bothered digging deeper for it, mostly because he wouldn’t want to impose on MC’s friend. It was easier to assume that her friend likely experienced war far too many times.

If she ever feels comfortable telling him about her experiences involving the upside down world and the creatures she had faced, Mitsunari would very much like to study about this other dimension, although he would need to also study the concept of dimension, and how it would work being an upside down version of their own.

Ieyasu Tokugawa.

Ieyasu didn’t really bother to know much about both MC and her friend, since he thought that he would get close to neither of that, which proves to be wrong. He notices that MC’s friend knows how to fight better and has more experience in it, as well as a better understanding on what to do in crisis situations.

He probably wouldn’t believe at first when she talks about the demogorgon and all the other creatures you had faced, but it became difficult to deny that it was all true, despite it sounding crazy.

Ranmaru Mori.

Ranmaru had naturally noticed the difference between MC and her friend, but he didn’t give it much thought, as he became close with both of them. Despite him thinking that MC was kinder at first, he noticed that her friend was more protective, which reminded him of his master a lot.

If she tells him about her experiences with the demogorgon, he would likely get scared but also be filled with admiration since she fought it.

Keiji.

Keiji doesn’t pay that much attention to it at first, he had seen people of all genders and ages having that same fierce gaze when faced with battle, he himself was like that, despite not showing much of that side of his.

All of that changes mostly because of the reason why MC’s friend is so fearless when it comes to battle, her experience involving a creature sounds crazy, he couldn’t help but think that she might have gone mad when she talked about it. He might be a very big and strong man, few people would want to face him in battle. But even he had to admit that the idea of a creature like demogorgon made him feel uneasy.

[getvalentined]

For the ask meme: Aerith Gainsborough!

💭 How I feel about this character

Aerith. What can I say about Aerith? I'm in love with Aerith, but everyone is a little bit in love with Aerith. That's my girl, my sister, my daughter, my everything. She's wonderful, she's perfect, she'd never hurt me, she breaks my heart. I think about how much I want her to have a long, happy life, and I literally cry because she never will.

I'll always love the end of Rebirth because finally, over a quarter of a century after losing her the first time, I got to say goodbye. I didn't have to wonder if she knew that she would be missed. I know that she knew she was loved.

Aerith, my girl, I'm so sorry.

💞 All the people I ship romantically with this character

My favorite ship for Aerith is an OT3 with Zack and Cissnei, although I ship her with both individually as well. Zack is canonically indicated to be in a relationship with both of them at the same time in CC (adding his parents recognizing Aerith from letters alone in Rebirth really drives this home, since they also met with Cissnei several months prior and seemingly encouraged her to marry Zack), and the way Cissnei talks about Aerith is so...I dunno, there's a sort of reverence there that you don't hear from her regarding anyone else. They're all good for each other, and they're best for each other all together.

I don't actually personally ship her with Tifa (to everyone's surprise, I assume, given what a raging lesbian I am), but I really appreciate the concept and am in full support regardless of whether I personally feel like they have romantic chemistry.

🤝 My non-romantic OTP for this character

Tifa is a big one—I wish they'd gotten their shopping date with Cloud playing pack chocobo—but my favorite platonic relationship for Aerith is Tseng. Jailer and savior, protector and manipulator, everything she'd ever need and never want all at once, the relationship between Tseng and Aerith is complicated to say the least. There's no doubt that they love each other, but the ways they express love are very different, the roles into which they were both forcibly cast are very different, so it's hard to say if either of them ever really knew how the other felt before it was too late.

I hope they did, though.

🚫 My unpopular opinion about this character

I feel like any Aerith opinion is gonna be massively unpopular somewhere in the fandom, but I guess my most unpopular opinion is that she can't be saved any more than Sephiroth can. If Aerith survives, she isn't in the Lifestream to petition Gaia for aid, Holy never activates, Meteor flattens the planet. Rocks fall and everyone dies. Literally. She and Sephiroth are the scales of power during the Crisis, and they balance one another perfectly without Cloud to tip the situation one way or the other. They cancel one another out, and that means neither of them can be saved—not without the other, anyway.

If Aerith were to survive in the City of the Ancients, Sephiroth would win. Just like if Sephiroth were to have survived in Nibelheim, Aerith would have won—or, more accurately, she never would have had to join the fray in the first place. If one of them makes it through their destined death, they both do. If one of them dies, they both have to die. I could go into the parallels in detail (Cloud having an opportunity and the impetus to strike Aerith down even though he loved her, but not taking it, Genesis having an opportunity and the impetus to strike Sephiroth down even though he loved him, but not taking it; Sephiroth dying on one side of the Masamune in the place where his progenitor was imprisoned, Aerith dying on the other side of the Masamune in the place where her progenitors once thrived) but this is long enough already.

Aerith had to die, and she understood that. The hard part is that nobody else does.

🌟 One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon

I want to see little Aerith and Babyroth interacting in Shinra's labs. I don't know if this ever happened, but there was plenty of overlap during which it could have, so I like to think it did. I don't think we'll ever see it, but it would be so good...

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