#THANKS A LOT DIRGE

[majorasnightmare]

not sure if you've already explained it or gotten this question before, but does "Dirge" mean anything? or is it just a play on "Durge"?

did Dirge just shorten "The Dark Urge" because it was too weird/concerning or was he always called that? did he ever have a different name beforehand?

IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS QUESTION FOR SOOOOOOOO LONG U DONT EVEN KNOW

its hands down one of my FAVORITE trivia pieces for him!!!

Out of character, I rly struggle with naming player characters, so i wanted to make a durge named dirge because thats funny. but now its a whole THING

So! When Dirge was a freshly sculpted gore baby, he gets adopted by a refugee drow couple who had fled Menzoberranzan. They do give him a name, but seeing as how he killed them when he was VERY young (think 6-8), hes long since forgotten that name. And ever since entering the temple of Bhaal, he almost exclusively was referred to by a series of titles, or familial nicknames like bloodkin, slaughterkin, etc. He never renamed himself, and upon taking leadership of the cult, purposefully chose not to so as to better subsume himself into his role as living vessel of Bhaal's will made flesh.

HOWEVER! Despite attempting to completely deperson himself, he still had a few identifying habits. Gortash was the only person Dirge had regular interaction with outside the cult interested in viewing the man beneath the titles, and made a point of trying to uncover that individual as often as possible. In part it was because it gave Gortash a personal little thrill, to have that kind of power over Bhaal's Chosen by Knowing Him, and because he sensed a core truth Dirge himself refused to acknowledge: like is attracted to like, and Gortash knows an angry powerless traumatized child hungry for the world when he sees one.

So Gortash ended up being privy to a LOT of Dirge's private moments, and shamelessly encouraged them, and always strove to try and pull Dirge-the-Person out from the shell of The Religious Idol. Which meant that he was actually the only person before Dirge's lobotomy to notice a particular quirk he has: when Dirge is by himself, and comfortable, when his mind is at rest and calm, and when his attention is occupied by something engaging, he sings. Quietly, and to himself, but he sings nonetheless. (hes a tenor btw)

Gortash just so happened to be present when Dirge was thus engaged, cleaning up after a particularly satisfying kill, and affectionately joked that the man was "his personal funeral dirge", which of course IMMEDIATELY made Dirge stop and threaten to slaughter Gortash right then and there.

A lifetime later, on the beach waking up Shadowheart, when she properly introduces herself to him and asks for his name in turn, there is absolutely nothing in his skull that serves to identify him, to himself or to others, he catches a single fragment of an interaction, the barest fraction of a memory, of someone calling him Dirge. So that's how he introduces himself, and it sticks.

[whetstonefires]

eyyyyyyyy it's a podfic of my fic! it's really good too.

[sufficientlylargen]

Corrections

We here at Sufficiently Large Ndustries pride ourselves on our unwavering commitment to factual accuracy in all things.

Recently, it has come to our attention that certain details of this post, hereinafter referred to as the "Fuck Yeah Stick-Elf" post, or FYSE, seem to contradict the canon established by internationally-known author Jonald Ronald Rolkien Tolkien (h/t @elodieunderglass for explaining his full name).

Because of our unwavering commitment to factual accuracy in all things, we cannot possibly have made any mistakes, so we wish to issue several corrections to your understanding to demonstrate that we were correct all along:

Question: Don't the Gondorians call him Mithrandir?

Answer: Not all Gondorians.

Canonically, Tolkien notes that the people of Gondor use the Sindarin name Mithrandir (from mith "grey" and randir "random", hence "some random grey guy") for Olórin. However, Tolkien's references to this are always about Gondorian nobility or royalty, who did indeed call Stick-Elf Mithrandir. This is because they were kind of pretentious, like native English speakers who insist on correcting anyone who doesn't pronounce "Paris" as "pair-REE".

When six-year-old Faramir had nightmares and ran to his father calling out "I'm scared!", Denethor would correct him, saying "No, you feel echais", because he was a dick. Part of the reason why Gondor lost a lot of its ancient glory is because it had centuries of leaders who were like this.

The average Joeromir Schmoeromir on the streets of Gondor, however, just called him Stick-Elf.

Question: If this is set in the past and Éodan is from Rohan, how could Gondor have a king?

Answer: It's not that king.

Suzannethor (the Archivist) mentions that Stick-Elf brought fireworks for the king's birthday, but Gondor's last king, King Eänur, died in T.A. 2050, almost five centuries before Rohan was founded in T.A. 2510 (special thanks to @thinkinginquenya for pointing out this discrepancy).

The answer is that FYSE is set in T.A. 2703, well after Rohan's founding; When the characters refer to "the king", they're not referring to royalty, but rather to the famous Númenórean musician Aarondil Préslion, often called "The King of Chant and Lyre" or just "The King" for short.

At this point there weren't many Men with enough Númenórean blood to have the sort of longevity that Aarondil had, leading to rumors that he was secretly an elf, hence his stage name, Elvish Présli.

Some of his most famous songs, like "Jailhouse Dirge" and "You Ain't Nothin' But a Warg Dog" are still popular today. Olórin was particularly fond of "Blue Steel Shoes", a lively jig about plate mail maintenance, and this is why he brought fireworks to Présli's 90th birthday party.

Question: Why does Elrond say "here in the North" in Gondor?

Answer: Elrond is a very sleepy boi.

In FYSE, Elrond says "Here in the North", even though generally most surviving texts of Middle-Earth are Gondo-centric and use "The North" to refer to lands north of Gondor, like Arnor/Eriador or the Forodwaith.

However, Jenniforomir just woke Elrond up from a nap (she didn't realize this because elves sleep with their eyes open), and he's still slightly disoriented. He says "Here in the North" because he was dreaming about a pub he visited once in Annúminas (and he is slightly shaken because in the dream he had forgotten to wear clothes, he had an exam coming up that he hadn't known about, and very tiny orcs were juggling silmarils all over the place).

Question: Why would Elrond out Olórin as a Maiar?

Answer: He was already out.

Tolkien didn't mention this in the books, but Olórin travels around on horse with several Maiar Pride bumper stickers, including a plain Maiar pride flag, one that reads "Maiar tested, Valar approved", and one that reads "Maiarn't there a lot of us!". Elrond knows this, and so has no compunction telling random Gondorians that Olórin is a Maiar.

We hope that these clarifications will reassure you that we here at Sufficiently Large Ndustries have never said anything false, ever, in all directions and at all times.

[neil-gaiman]

I was so moved when I realised the Lyke Wake Dirge was used in Neverwhere. It was played at my Granddads funeral and I think about it whenever a decent person passes away.

Shoes and socks, gold, silver, food and drink are the things that enable the soul to move through purgatory in the song, if they provided such for others in life.

Certainly you have provided spiritual nourishment and resilience and comfort through your work.

I get great enjoyment and meaning from it all the time. We don't thank artists enough for their contribution to our lives so let me thank you now.

Thanks Neil.

That means a lot. Thank you.

[weirdlookingsnakewithlegs]

Go on give us a headcanon for each seeker. Not all of them of course just 99 of them :3

Bet >:3 we going in wiki order bc I forget names </3

Starscream - Starscream has a sweet tooth, aggressively so. Thundercracker and Skywarp have to hold him back from adding as much gold flakes to his energon as he can.

Thundercracker - He startles easy, very jumpy and flinchy. Not for any reason mind you, he’s just like that.

Skywarp - He mixes up things a lot but he knows his geology and chemistry, he surprisingly loves chemistry. It’s why he was so excited to go to Iacon with Starscream.

Dirge - If you need a mech with completely useless knowledge on literally anything, he’s your mech.

Thrust - He got into a fight with a chicken once, lost.

Ramjet - Once his aft is asleep he is NOT waking up, unless Thrust gets too close.

Bitstream - He is constantly on edge, very uncomfortable being in the war. Shrieks like a child.

Nacelle - Nacelle is basically just a mom to his trinemates, if you see Nacelle scowling it means Hotlink and Bitstream are in trouble.

Hotlink - Constantly figuring out new gadgets, none of which survive for more than ten minutes thanks to Bitstream

Blackout - Surprisingly chill for a seeker and abhorrently friendly at times, he’s basically down to do whatever as long as it sounds fun for him.

Slipstream - The reason seekers started eating grounders, she also has a thing against sad animal movies because and quote “I’m an air captain, I’m not crying over a stupid earth movie” after watching Homeward Bound and clinging to her Turbofox.

Acidstorm - Goes out of his way to annoy other seekers at times, acts like he didn’t do a thing and waits for Novastorm to step in.

Novastorm - Had a conjunx and two sparklings before the war, his loss is what encouraged him to take in Sunstorm, Chemtrail, and Blazewake

Ionstorm - A cunt, fucks with people on purpose and is a manipulative bastard at times at the smallest inconvenience. Made him drop his energon cube? Congrats you got the gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss package.

Sunstorm - Extremely religious, definitely ended up reading into human religions out of curiosity as well.

Cloudcover - Cloudcover is a cliquemate of Sandstorm’s, the two lost the rest of their clique during the bombing. Their close relationship may be the reason Blazewake is alive… but he isn’t exactly aware of that.

Sandstorm - Putting it out, Blazewake is Sandstorm’s brat, Sandstorm taught Blazewake as much as he could and loved his sparkling dearly. Before his death, his last thought was if he was doing Blazewake right by staying in the war.

Avia - Avia is a tiny seeker, on par with Slipstream but just a smidge taller. Unlike most seekers she has a love for squeezing into small places. Places she definitely shouldn’t be in. One of Chemtrail’s not-so siblings.

Chemtrail - Chemtrail is a young seeker that never got to know her sire and creator as they died in the bombing. She was taken in by Wheezingarrow and then was taken in by Novastorm when he passed.

Blast - A rebellious little dipshit, he likes to steal things from Autobots to inconvenience them rather than snuff sparks. One of his favorite moves is flying low and snatching blasters from their opposing faction. He also likes throwing the mechs themselves so maybe he does like snuffing sparks.

Redwing - While he may be a seeker medic, he is not kind. Sympathetic to those injured, he will still bark at you for getting injured in the first place. Has a heavy soft side for sparklings after the bombing.

Blazewake - After Sandstorm’s death, Blazewake became increasingly stubborn and apathetic towards others almost to the point he refused to trine. However, he did, after much nudging from Chemtrail and Blast, they’re best friends.

Wheezingarrow - Before his passing, he had a nack for finding sparklings in need. He raised and cared for as many as he could. Because of this, Chemtrail has a few not-so siblings.

[mrrwsoup]

a bit of an intro post for my ocs, been meaning to do one for awhile

Most of them are all interconnected in some way and involved either directly or indirectly with two different fronts for organized crime (circus which is run by my ocs, and importing company which is run by my bf's) but there's a few that are outliers and belong to different time/setting.

i also have more ocs lol but these are the ones that are most involved with my bf and I's headworld. There's more i could say about each of them but since theres so many i'll keep it short LOL.

Heres my toyhouse for more.

And the intro post i did for my bfs ocs.

Dirge

graverobber. non-employed misanthrope, prefers the company of the dead.

involved with Mamba

Micajah

chainsmoking magician and animal handler, with a lot on his hands.

involved with Jackson

Rueben

trickshooting necrosadist who's charming in front of an audience, and insufferable one-on-one.

involved with Elias

Kryl

circus ringmistress. takes discipline seriously. likes cards, roses, big fur coats, and weather that allows for them.

involved with Westley

Jules

acrodancer. flexible in multiple regards. always on the lookout for a good time, especially one he can sink his claws into.

involved with Ruckus

Nova

trad goth knife thrower's assistant, getting blades thrown at him in the ring while secretly inclined to wield them outside of it.

involved with Zero

Trinity

dirty crook, and mama's boy. bashing skulls in the alley but still escorting his mom to church on sunday.

involved with Morrigan

Midas

gunrunner. disfigured from a malfunction in an altered firearm. recreationally lovesick.

involved with Rowdy

Meyer

up and coming trick rider

involved with Blythe

Feliks

circus manager. working hard behind the scenes chugging coffee and pulling out feathers over paperwork. just wants peace and order (rarely obtained).

Jaime

former competitive martial artist, hired as "security" at the circus but acts more as general assistant. patron of dive bars.

Rama

circus promoter. incessant gambler, not above leaning the odds in his favour by any means.

involved with Saul

Saul

runs a sideshow oddity cart. once involved with black market sales but is completely law abiding now, for sure. absolutely…

involved with Rama

Wolf

back-alley doctor. dwelling within his family's dilapidated estate, tirelessly working to procure the bride of his dreams.

involved with Doll

Seth

swagless aspiring hacker. tfw no gf

involved with Ryker

Grimm

sullen black dog cemetery groundskeeper

involved with Cadence

Sinclair

identity document forger for hire, family shame. evading penalization thanks to his lawyer older brother

Silas

a higher demon, posted to the mortal world and hellbent on sowing seeds of corruption.

alternatively in modern au, struggling black metal artist and occultist, performing rituals to capture an angel and bring himself fortune

involved with Valentine

Cyril

victorian player, flexing his position as he moves up the ranks of society.

involved with Julian

Kaan

under the influence of an inherent instinct to put wolves in their place.

involved with Hutch

[deathofacupid]

mystery | clay jensen

a/n: why is the 13rw fandom so small... it's literally killing me. this takes place during the riot at liberty in season 4.

summary: you've always needed an excuse to talk to him, the riot came up, and there was your chance.

warnings: mentions of riots, fighting, and violence. cursing

pairing: fem!reader x s4!clay jensen

word count: 1.4k+ words

you can hear the faint squeaking of the swings as you close the door and lock your car. it's not winter quite yet, but there's a bristle of leaves floating in the air.

it's getting colder and darker; a dried up leaf sways down into your hair, and you pick it out, admiring the curl of the corners and the brown tint of the edges.

there's a chill in the soft breeze, and clouds appear when you breathe out. the trees blaze with autumn; red, gold and auburn leaves littered the ground like a many-hued carpet that crackled and rustled as you hike along. though, it's rather comparable to a graveyard - bugs lying on their backs' motionless.

there's a certain smell in the fall air, you're sure.

melancholy, you think. it smells melancholy. while you tread along the willow-lined path, you couldn't fully enjoy the warm colors that were gifted alongside, but rather saddened by the end of life.

the soft wind in summer, how it wrapped around someone, hugging their body, now a harsh, cold shove - tearing leaves off their branches.

their swirling waltz, a desperate, autumnal finale, mocks the fleeting glory of their once vibrant life. the shimmering gold, a cruel adornment, a gilded cage before their inevitable demise.

the leaves' shimmering gold is a bittersweet farewell, a prelude to their return to the earth from whence they came.

the song of birds in the air - not so much a song as a cry - at the lack of food for the winter.

autumn's beauty is a human illusion, a veil cast upon its raw truth. beneath the veneer of vibrant hues lies a season steeped in melancholy, a mournful dirge for life's retreat.

now knowing this, how could anyone be expected to enjoy a "beauty" of what's only death?

you follow the trail to the childern's playground, and you aren't thinking, not really. more of following a trail you've subconsciously set out for yourself, in hopes of escaping a round of life.

you're only half aware as you're walking there, the sound of the crunch on mulch, or the soft humming. based on the vocal noises, it's safe to assume that it's a man. boy?

you guess you'll find out.

when you near the swingset, you do see that it's a boy, maybe your age. squinting in the darkness, you realize that you know this boy.

after everything that's happened in the past few years, it'd be hard to not.

clay jensen, well-known senior, not for the reasons you think. famous for the the right things, or at least, you don't think they're the right things.

if you think back, you'd say it started from hannah. when you think of clay, the first thing that comes to mind is the butterfly effect.

one small lie, a simple rumor, triggering a whole chain reaction. someone (multiple people, actually) hurt hannah, hannah hurt herself, which in turn, hurt others.

you'd say clay was one of those people.

you remember freshman year, you had some classes with him, you liked clay, in a more than friends way. you left hints, but he never picked up on them, but you didn't give up.

he was quiet, shy, and nerdy - everything you wanted in a guy.

but when hannah entered the frame, and you saw how he looked at her, you realized he'd never look at you the same.

so you let them be.

last you heard, he was with the new girl. well, she wasn't that new anymore. ani... whatever her same was. you don't pay much attention.

you're not sure if they're together. he's still pretty cute, but he's kind of a lot.

you see him slowly swinging back and forth on the swing, and you take a seat beside him. his head snaps towards you, and he opens his mouth to say something, but you beat him to it.

"you have serious balls, jensen."

"um, thanks? sorry, uh, do i know you?"

you're gonna pretend like that didn't sting. "freshman year, we had so many classes together."

clay furrows his brows at you, before they hit the top of his head. "oh! yeah. y/n. right?"

"yep."

"sorry. i swear i know you, i just- there's a lot going on right now, you know?"

"i imagine."

"setting that car on fire was a risky move, though."

clay blinks, "w-what?"

"that was you right?"

"why? did you see?"

"so it was, then."

he presses his lips together, it's so much harder to get a laugh out've him. you swear it used to be so easy.

you try and amend your words, "no, i didn't see anything. i just... assumed. it seemed like something you'd do."

"uh-?"

"not in a bad way or anything. you've just kinda been like that," you're aware you're being rather vague, and you might've accidently offended him.

oh, well. if there's a hole, might as well dig it deeper, right? there's no where to go... but down?

that's probably not the best method of thinking.

"i don't- what do you mean?"

"well, like, you haven't flown under the radar with this stuff. again, not in a bad way. it's admirable, for the most part, how up-and-front you are with what you believe in and your causes or whatever."

"for the most part?"

you give him a look, "from everything i said, that's what you got?"

he chuckles, and you feel your heart warm. making him happy, it felt like a prize to be won. sure, it wasn't a laugh (yet), but it was something.

"did you... were you there the whole time?" clay asks.

"more or less. i, uh, saw the... i saw diego and justin in the hall."

"oh, shit. did you-"

"no, i didn't. say anything, i mean."

you're not stupid. sure, you aren't a genius, but you've got the ability to put two and two together. it's clear diego wanted justice for monty, and justin had to be part of that.

sure, what was going on between the two could've been only about jessica, but that didn't sound right. jess with diego? no way.

you'd seen her and justin together. that love doesn't come around often, and it'd be stupid to let it pass.

if jessica and justin were "affiliated" before, and now diego was in the picture, was jess trying to stand in his way? convince him of something else?

also, seeing jessica and justin making out kind of gave it away.

that would lead you to your next point, these kids.

alex, zach, clay, jess, justin, ani, charlie...

none of them fit together, and you couldn't see what they'd have in common. unless, it was something else keeping them tied.

almost all of them were mentioned on hannah's tapes, which also included bryce. monty and bryce were best friends, and nothing would've seperated them. monty would do practically anything for bryce.

instantly, it should be obvious that it wasn't monty who killed him.

these kids cared for their late friend, giving them much reason to hurt bryce. however, was it possible all of them ganged up on him? or just a few?

if it were just a few, what were keeping the others from telling?

more secrets, maybe?

if you knew, which you don't, you wouldn't tell.

"why?" he asks.

you look him in the eye, "something told me that wouldn't work out well for some people."

you see him still, clearly figuring out what to say. "what people?"

"i know more than you think i do," you shrug.

clay narrows his brows at you, "you don't know shit."

"oops, did i hit a nerve?" you wince. "sorry. we can drop it."

he stares into the darkness, licking his lips, contemplating his next move. "what do you know?" clay sighs.

"well, i know you know. i also you it wasn't you."

"how?"

"you've always had a hero complex, jensen." he remains quiet, so you continue. "it's not a bad thing, but it's not great either. it's gets you into tough situations, doesn't it? but you'd do anything for your friends. you're loyal. that's what makes you... you."

"i don't know what you think you know, but it's not true."

"okay," you shrug.

"o-okay?"

"it's not my shit to deal with. i don't need nor want to meddle."

clay play with his fingers, slowly nodding. "hero complex, huh?"

again, you shrug. "i call it as i see it."

"yeah, okay," his gaze flickers to you, then back to the floor.

"i'm, uh, sorry. for," you pause, vaguely gesturing around, "everything." when he stays silent, you go on. "i mean, hannah and bryce and monty and the whole trial. it's a lot for one person to deal with. especially a kid."

he pauses, clearing thinking of what to say, "i- i guess? it's never been... like, sure it's not normal, but i wouldn't take back anything i've done."

you open your mouth to say something, "not that i've done anything," clay adds quickly.

"um, okay."

he inhales, "yeah."

"yeah."

clay clears his throat, "well, uh, i should... get going. but... maybe we can do this again?"

"i'm up for interrogating you at midnight anytime."

"cool."

"bye, clay," you smile warmly.

"bye."

you watch him as he walks off into the distance, listening to the crunch of gravel underneath his tires.

clay seems like such a mystery.

and you love mysteries.

[hello-galad]

For your favourite FFVII character

1. Canon you outright reject

2. A canon or headcanon hill you will die on

50. A memory they’ve blocked out

HIIII! Thank you so much for the ask!

Ohi have so many favorites but my obvious top 1 is Vincent Valentine so here we go:

Canon you outright reject.

I have picked Dirge of Cerberus apart so many times because there's so many things I disagree with, specifically I think Vincent's crush on Lucretia derived from a promise he made to his dad about protecting her before Grimoire died. Lucretia never reciprocated but had a certain obsession with Vincent because he reminded him so much of Grimoire and in her head, she was responsible for Grimoire's death.

On that note, let Lucretia be unhinged. I refuse to accept she was this submissive, shy woman. She was one of the lead scientists of the Genova project! Let her be brilliant and have a fucked up sense of morality! Let her revive Vincent out of guilt but also because she wanted to see if the research Grimoire and her spend so much time on worked, and it did! Let her experiment on Vincent for the sake of science and her need to prove Grimoire's death was not in vain. Let Vincent's fucked up mind create a strange and not quite right version of her in his head that he faces and has to admit was wrong when he decides to let go. Let Lucretia be a human with objectives and goals that made her do things by herself beyond what the men in her life told her to! AHHHHHH!

Also I hc Vincent never slept with Lucretia, but there's a chance Sephiroth, Weiss and even Nero are his biological kids because Hojo (non-consensually) took his genetic material and threw it around like confetti because Vincent was the first experiment to be successful in 1) processing Jenova cells correctly and 2) Not dying. Although he could never figure out exactly what Lucretia did to achieve that (*cough* Chaos and company *cough*).

2. A canon or headcanon hill you will die on.

Chaos doesn't return to the planet after the events of DoC, but this time they have a better relationship with their host. Same goes with the others. Maybe Vincent is immortal and stays 27 forever and maybe he can or not decide when to die...

50. A memory they’ve blocked out

I think there's a lot of fucked up shit Hojo did to Vincent that his brain blocked out to preserve his psyche. I think Hojo treated him as an object, a test subject, that was his property before he was Shinra's, specially after Lucretia's "death".

For a while he blocked a lot of the things that Lucretia did to him as a test subject, too.

Do I think he remembers those things at some point with AVALANCHE? Yes, and its terrible for him so he sorts of puts it in the "not opening this now or ever" box in the back of his brain for a while but he eventually has to face it when recovering.

I think Cid helps him a lot with that. Sometimes Vincent can't even say out loud what happened to him in that basement but Cid makes sure to reassure him nothing Hojo did to him will make Cid leave or categorize Vincent as less than a human being deserving of happiness and respect.

I think that while Vincent has an almost Eidetic memory, there's a lot of things from his past when he was just Grimoire's son and then when he was Vincent of the Turks that he forgot about because of what he went through. But then one day AVALANCHE finds an antiques shop and Vincent sees a console phonograph and he remembers his mother (I hc she was a geologist) playing her favorite song and picking Vincent up to dance around the living room.

One day Cid gifts Vincent a polaroid camera and Vincent remembers when he would use Shinra equipment to take silly pictures of the other Turks instead of using them for surveillance.

Another day, when visiting the 7th Heaven for a reunion party, he walks to the old piano no-one knows how to play but Tifa used to dream about learning to play and just...starts playing. He plays the equivalent of Beethoven's Moonlight sonata's 3rd movement out of nowhere, claw and all, because he had forgotten besides learning how to shoot, his father was adamant Vincent had to learn to play an instrument perfectly to help his memory and coordination.

How about that time Vincent suddenly remembers his family was kinda nobility and super loaded and he's like "uh I think we used to have a mansion in Junon maybe we can find weapons and amunition in there?". And that is how Vincent finds Cerberus.

[majorasnightmare]

as a tragic doomed siblings enjoyer what are your headcannons about dirge/orin's relationship pre-betrayal? care to elaborate on what was going on with them based on what we know? when do u think the resentment from orin rly started peculating?

this is an EXCELLENT excuse to have somethin i can quickly refer to for autosarcophagy thank you 💜💜💜

so a LOT of it is speculation and headcanons with most of our canon sources being close to the end of their pre game interactions with each other. We know Orin resented Durge for taking what she felt was her spot, we know Durge demeaned her ritual murders and scoffed at the idea of fighting her for the role of Chosen, we know Sarevok essentially led Orin on by acting like she was ever anything more than a sacrifice, and we know that the cult of Bhaal isn't entirely pleased with the change in leadership. It's a fairly straightforward tale of resentment and betrayal and an unworthy upstart claiming what shouldn't be theirs out of jealousy, but I like to throw wrenches in the works and add fun complicating emotions in like genuine admiration and sibling affection

a core aspect to Dirge is that, much like real world wolves, he is deeply family oriented. upon arriving at the temple of Bhaal, he has killed his only family, and only has Sceleritas as company, who at this point is more cagey than comforting for him. hes lonely, and scared, and vulnerable, and is coming off a profoundly miserable experience roughing it in Baldur's Gate. the temple delivers on the one form of connection Dirge craves more than anything: not only is there family, there are siblings.

Dirge technically has four siblings waiting for him at the temple. Haflidi, who at this point would be either an older teenager or a young adult, an angry spiteful vindictive barbarian goliath. Ornaryn, a drow vengeance paladin, who IS invested in trying to make sure the Temple's newest additions aren't horrifically traumatized (and near immediately removed from influence and forced to travel to the other side of the continent). Zherimon, the eldest, a tiefling paladin serving as the current head of the cult (begrudgingly). And Orin. Not only is Orin close to his age, she's also the only one who's as happy to see him as he is to see her. His other siblings are all emotionally unavailable for one reason or another, but Orin is here and Orin is excited and now he finally doesn't have to be alone anymore. He latches onto her very quickly, and throughout his entire time with the cult, she's the only one he was ever close to.

Orin is canonically the youngest in the cult to ever achieve the rank of Unholy Assassin, which, given that shes close to Dirge's age, would mean she achieved that lofty goal BEFORE him, and I like to think this is another example of Orin's latent natural talents and skills that eventually contribute to her feeling ignored and overshadowed. Because for at least half of their lives together, it would've been the other way around. Dirge and his prodigy sister, who had already served as Bhaal's mouthpiece once before in the ritualistic killing of her mother. Ironically its a relationship they were both happy with. Dirge arrives at the temple emotionally distraught, but now Orin finally has a playmate her own age, AND hes going to join the temple, same as her! Finally someone she can practice murder with that isn't grandpa Sarevok!

Dirge is a crybaby as a kid, and hes quiet and deferential. This is a new place, with lots of new people (and he's never been fond of new people), and he still feels sick about his parents, but he hits it off with Orin immediately. Orin has a strong mischief streak, emboldened by her shapeshifting, and she ADORES having someone to teach and be superior to. Dirge in turn is happy to have someone who delights in teaching him, because a lot of whats going on is confusing and unintuitive and upsetting. Orin softens his early years of indoctrination into something that could even be construed as pleasant. She excels and pulls ahead, and she bullies her brother for being a crybaby, but she still reaches out behind her to help pull him back up. Orin very much takes on the role of "big sister" even though its a negligble distinction given their circumstances. She teaches him how to delight in torture, makes the doctrine of nihilism make sense, emphasizes that the two of them are special and chosen and important, that they dont have to care what other people think, because theyre stupid and wrong anyways. She diminishes the pain he feels from killing his parents by affirming what SHES been taught, that it was a good and holy and rightous thing and he deserved to be rewarded for it, just like she was (though maybe not the SAME reward because SHES going to lead the temple one day!). Sarevok and Zherimon have already decided on grooming Dirge for the role instead, knowing EXACTLY the difference between them, but both Dirge and Orin are children, whats more important is making sure Dirge is properly indoctrinated, and Orin is very useful for that.

Theyre thick as thieves for most of their childhoods, Dirge perfectly content to trail behind Orin wherever she goes, and to follow her progress right on her heels. Orin definitely has the most energy of the two, and she delights in playing leader, deciding exactly what games the two of them will be playing and where, while Dirge pads along behind her. She gets into the habit of shapeshifting into him for one of her favorite games, that being "find ways to bully and harass the other initiates in the barracks and avoid trouble by making sure no one can tell who's who". As Orins changeling nature is well known, you can never really tell if your looking at Dirge or looking at Orin, who will tell you whichever is more confusing at the moment. As changelings and dopplegangers have empathetic abilities, this also means that Orin is extremely keyed in to Dirge's emotional state. She typically uses this to lightly bully him, but also typically follows that up with attempts at genuine comfort, because a good leader has subordinates happy to follow them, and makes sure theyre taken care of well enough to serve. Theyre siblings, and theyre best friends, and theyre little hellions, and Orin knows every crack and crevice in the temple and where exactly there are spots too small for the grownups to follow them that the two of them can still crawl through. The cult is slowly but inevitably carving away their empathy for the world outside, bringing them into a miserable ideology of death dealing and slaughter, and isolating them from anyone who could ever break them free, but right now they are small and close and she is showing Dirge exactly where to stab in a rats belly to make all the guts come out, and when he scrunches his tiny face in disgust she'll call him all sorts of names, but take his tiny hand in her own and hold the knife together nonetheless

Dirge doesnt resent Orin when she makes rank before him. He doesnt resent Orin when she excels, when she grasps the knifework faster, memorizes the doctrine quicker. He doesnt resent her when she gets assignments first, or when they work together and she takes the lead. Thats the goal hes chasing, after all. To be as good as his sister. To eventually pull ahead. To play chase like they always do. But when he DOES pull ahead, when the lead he has grows but never shrinks, its equal parts pride and confusion. Proud to finally surpass her, confusion that he KEEPS surpassing her. Shes slower to catch up, angrier about it. It isnt resentment, not yet, just frustration. Theres something hes stumbled into that she hasnt gotten yet. More reasons to train together, after all, put their heads together and work it out. But when the cult finally passes down the mantle of leadership, it doesnt pass into Orin's hands, youngest Assassin, pre chosen vessel of Bhaal. For reasons neither of them understand, it goes to Dirge instead. Purest bhaalspawn, severed hand of their God let loose, the one true prophet of armageddon. It doesnt make sense, but hes trained so hard and come so far, he wont dissapoint their Father now. its a bitter pill orin doesnt swallow easily. its there the resentment starts

The gap wont ever close now, not really. Dirge is too neurotic, too anxious and obsessed. He leaves no breathing room for anyone to pick up the slack, because he leaves none, will not ever give the slightest hints of being unworthy. Its suffocating. Diminished, demeaned, forgotten, Orin falls to the wayside, swallowed within an ever lengthening shadow, and he never turns to her, never reaches back. Pushing himself to the breaking point, and then far past it, and now HIS word is law, is doctrine, when it should have been HER, she who spoke with Bhaal's voice when all he has is fleeting visions. The resentment grows, made all the more acrid by the sweet memories of yesteryear. Its like everything shes worked for means nothing, and now he wont even cast a glance her way. Seeing him less and less, and then never as himself, always acting as Leader, Prophet, Idol, everything the cult needed and more, and now when habit rears up and she takes his face to talk to him, he scowls at what he sees. Like the bastard ever had a leg to stand on, she knows what he is, pathetic weak crybaby bloodkin trailing in her wake, acting big and strong now that hes special. Now that hes chosen. Like he knows something she doesnt. Like he could ever know something she doesnt. Grandfather calls him proud, arrogant, and theres no other explanation for the cold she feels from him, inside his skin, its cold arrogant bastard pride for finally besting her at the only game that mattered.

It falls apart slowly over the years. Sarevok, and then Zherimon, instilled in Dirge the need for perfection, to serve as Bhaal's will on earth, and the need for it burrowed deep into Dirge's psyche and consumed everything else around it. He loves his sister. He misses her. But this life is hell and Bhaal's expectations for his chosen spawn are cruel and exacting. All Orin needs to do is what shes always been good at, thats enough. He'll take on everything else so she isnt choked or constrained, so she has room to flourish. He's pulling further and further away from her and it hurts but theres nothing to be done for it, because its Father's will (HIS father, not that he could ever stand to tell Orin, and take from her yet something else, another pillar she stands lofty upon). Shes more than a sacrifice, thats obvious by the way she holds a blade, and Dirge refuses to waste her potential in a single sacrifice to Bhaal, when together they could bring so much more glory to Him at each others sides. He won't take the duel. If she wants for them to kill each other, she must promise a death so glorious as to make this single murder worth more than all the slaughter they could achieve together. The idea is laughable. Somewhere in the back of his mind behind a door that wont stay locked is a treasured sentimental sin, two tiny bodies pressed together in a crevice only barely big enough for them both, outside a man about to be flogged for his failure calls out a name neither of them respond to, and all else is quiet save for the hushed giggles swallowed by the stone. No, she isn't worthy. She isn't worthy by far.

Its a mix of Dirge taking on as much responsibility as he can while leading the cult to give Orin more freedom, and Orin having next to nothing to do with all that extra time and lack of duties beyond ruminating on the discrepancy between them. It feels like she isnt trusted or considered good enough anymore, when she clearly remembers the opposite, and the more he pulls away the more she hates him for it. The resentment is tempered by religious duty and childhood memories, but even though Dirge makes attempts to try and bridge the gap, the circumstances are that there really isnt anything he can do. I like to headcanon that Dirge helped Orin make her skin suit, because he has a noted habit of taxidermy and human leatherworking, as a way to try to reach out to her, but the inertia has built up too much to stop whats going to happen. It was doomed to fall apart at the start, driven by forces neither of them could have even hoped to work against.

The love was always there, but it just made it hurt.

[sephirthoughts]

📖: If you had to remove one installment from the entire Compilation of FFVII, which would you choose?

(And if you don’t mind, I’m gonna put a bit of a limit on this and say it has to be an installment you’ve directly played/watched/read or at least know a good bit about the content. i.e., if you haven’t read On the Way to a Smile you can’t throw it out based on that alone. Hope that’s acceptable!)

(from this ask game)

AAAAH this is hard cause i have only played the remake, crisis core, some dirge, and ever crisis.

with those criteria, i'd get rid of ever crisis, no question. yeah, there's a lot of juicy sephiroth backstory, but the plain fact is, it's a mobile gacha game with all the attendant problems, eking out kind of half-assed story content like an IV drip, with the goal of keeping people spending money on it. all the sephiroth stuff would have been far better served by a proper game. not that i don't appreciate it. it is 100% possible to fully enjoy the content without spending a single penny, which i have not. plus, i'd rather have the IV drip than nothing at all 😭

thank you for the ask also i will have vengeance!!! 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

[floofyfungi]

I know its a few months late but-

in Miracle when Novastorm takes Alexis Starscream nearly melts off one of her limbs however when Dirge Thrust and Ramjet nearly kill her intentionally they are just given half rations and are told to work forges, instruct flight drills, and shield duty.

This felt kinda lenient and more merciful considering it seemed like they committed a much more heinous act. Is there something to this that was more severe than I realized or are they useful enough Starscream didn't want to cripple them? Something else?

This is a really good question! Thanks for the ask <3

Essentially, the reason why Dirge got off light was because Starscream primarily blamed Skywarp. It was Skywarp who kidnapped Alexis, Skywarp who put her in mortal danger. Skywarp's blatant disregard for Alexis' well-being signalled to the other seekers that she was fair game. She must be if Starscream's own trine was treating her as expendable.

Comparing these incidents digs into decepticon culture in the Miracle AU. Novastorm's plan to keep Alexis as a pet enraged Starscream far more than Dirge just trying to kill her. Dirge is a decepticon, of course he tried to kill the organic Skywarp dropped on his back. To Starscream's mind Dirge was just being a decepticon. In contrast, Novastorm found a little organic wandering around the base and, instead of informing her superiors, decided to keep it for herself. That is a level of disrespect Starscream can't tolerate.

Ramjet and Thrust were following their trine-leader. Their goal was to defend Dirge from the Rainmaker trine, Alexis was never their target (even if they did indirectly put her in danger). Out of everyone Starscream is the least angry with them.

Another factor is Alexis actually got hurt during the Novastorm incident. Novastorm left her covered in bruises and in considerable pain. Whereas with Dirge, Alexis got a few scrapes but nothing so dramatic (Starscream is unaware Laserbeak had to catch her). Though Starscream did still send a blast of fire at Dirge that only missed because he dodged.

Half rations is a serious deal for a seeker class dragon. Their frames require a lot of energon. The Coneheads are essentially going to be starving while doing some of the least desired jobs in the fortress. Tasks far below their station and ones Starscream specifically selected based on how much Dirge, Thrust, and Ramjet would hate them. This punishment is an example of prolonged humiliation and torture. If they break and try to sneak some extra energon, Starscream will stop being so 'nice'.

This punishment is a warning to the Coneheads. And the final reason why it is so lenient is because Starscream needs the Coneheads. They are the highest ranked of the trines after the Elite trine. Dirge, Thrust, and Ramjet are senior officers critical for maintaining order over the larger seeker armada.

In addition, crippling the entire trine could have caused lower ranked trines to make a power grab against the Coneheads. In the Decepticons might makes right, and considerable infighting could have been sparked by the power vacuum. Starscream has seen it before. So soon after Slipstream’s betrayal, Starscream can't afford to wait for the infighting to settle down. This guy has schemes he needs to get back on track, Megatron isn't going to die without some help. He'd also prefer to keep the Coneheads, as they are loyal to him before Megatron.

Hope this helped explain Starscream's differing reactions. If Dirge had actually maimed Alexis or, god forbid, kill her, the results would have been very different.

[basilone]

A blurred photograph + complexion for a MOTA character of your choice! Juno xx

Three months later and I'm finally getting 'round to filling this one. 🫣The time was apparently very, very right for this! Thank you for sending it. 💙

tug of war

“Fuck this. I’m fucking out. Some fucking bullsh–!”

Max winces as the door slams shut behind Lottie, effectively muffling the pilot’s tirade enough to no longer be understandable. One-Eye, furthest away from the door, casts a dark-eyed glare over Bucky’s shoulder toward the window. Undoubtedly Lottie has already stormed outside, not yet close enough to curfew to warrant trouble, and is making a case for herself being someone else’s problem. Max doesn’t track her any further than that, though One-Eye keeps peering over Bucky’s shoulder like it still matters what the hell Lottie gets up to these days.

“Draw straws?” asks Nora, casting a glance at everyone left in the room.

“Not it,” snaps Max, in tandem with Push’s coughed rejection.

“She’d put me in a headlock,” snorts Brady. His expression turns sour. “Again.”

“I’ll do it.”

“John,” says Major Cleven, sounding too tired to be surprised at Bucky’s volunteering. “Let Ace do the talking”– and Max is not imagining the collective wince that shudders through the room at Major Cleven saying Ace instead of Lot –“don’t push her too hard.”

“I’m a friendly face,” says Bucky, smiling so brightly that everyone can tell he’s lying. “She left her jacket. Gonna bring her that, before we have to ask the Ruskies how to defrost a pilot.”

Major Cleven’s hand folds around the letter Lottie left on the table. “You do that.”

Max swallows as conversations around the room begin to pick back up as soon as Bucky moves to leave. Nora and Crank certainly make a concerted effort to loudly discuss the camp’s insane music program with Brady and the rest, which Max leans back from solely because she's already told Brady anything but a funeral dirge is a waste to play these days. She doesn’t want to see their expressions shutter at the reminder of death again. She’d been too vocal about it, just like Bucky had, just like George back in England would not shy away from discussing it on the tarmac.

She watches Major Cleven’s eyebrow rise before he folds Lottie’s letter in a too-neat, too-precise manner. Sees that same letter go up in a flutter of flame – fed to the candle so decisively that it’s gone in the blink of an eye – and turn into a pile of ash in Major Cleven’s food bowl. There’s something hard in his expression. Chips of ice in his eyes and the flicker of deep-set fury around his lips. Max studies her kneecaps, knobbly in this too-big uniform, as soon as his gaze comes to rest on her bunk.

None of this is normal, but almost everyone pretends it is.

“Mama sent a letter,” offers Benny, next to her, voice remarkably steady for someone who’s just met the full brunt of Major Cleven’s silent communication. A DeMarco family letter is maybe the closest tether to sanity Max has got. “Papa included instructions on how to stitch the bedding. They’re both asking about you.”

“Yeah?” she says, leaning back against the wall, coming shoulder to shoulder with him. “What’d they want?”

“Ask how you are, if you’re getting through that cough from a few weeks back okay,” he says, nudging her slightly as if to underscore the ridicule of the mail’s slowness. “Mama’s asking if she can write to you, or if you’re expecting letters from anybody.”

Max frowns. “The hell would anyone be writing me for? Unless you count Val and George,” she amends, seeing Benny’s deepening frown out of the corner of her eye. “They’ve been writing to One-Eye and me, but George is also writing to Bucky and Val’s real busy and all.”

“That’s your crew family.”

“Only one I got, dumbass,” she shoots back, rolling her eyes for emphasis as she turns to face Benny. “I haven’t got a big family. Or any family. All I’ve got is some blurry photograph of a man who might be my daddy, might be a total stranger. Can’t write to what you don’t have, yeah?”

“I’ll tell mama.” His eyes crinkle with his smile. “She’s already adopted Frosty. She’s got room for one more.”

“Yeah, but you and Frosty are, uh, you’re all Italian and all,” says Max lamely, waving her hand as if she can shoo Benny’s stupid idea out the door again. “This complexion of mine? Pretty sure this”– she motions, rolling one sleeve up for emphasis –“is too damn dark to be Italian. First goddamn thing Huglin asked me when he clapped eyes on me is if I was one of those Tuskegee airmen. So much for being white-passing, huh.”

“You’re just very tan,” he says levelly, which she snorts at only because she’s used that excuse a million times before. “Doesn’t change the fact that my mama wants to write to you.”

Her eyes sting, then, and she has to cast her gaze to the top of her bunk until she’s certain she won’t do something stupid like cry about it. “That’s not fair,” she whispers, barely loud enough to be heard over the din of the music discussion. “I-If you… If you knew how many times…” How many times I wished someone would see me and take me in like that. She swallows the wish back down. Settles on the truth. “Folks don’t give a shit about orphans like me.”

Benny shrugs. “It’s just letters, Max.”

Max stares. “It’s never just letters with your family, Benny.”

“Yeah, so, maybe it’s not,” he says, setting his mama’s letter down. It covers the pages full of neat, looping script Max recognizes as Darlene’s – Darlene’s done all the lettering on their planes, she’d know it blind – as well as a shorter scrap of paper with the same script that’s not addressed to Benny at all. “But I’m getting real tired of updating my folks about you girls all the time, barely have enough space left to tell them how I’m doing,” he chuckles, “so be a peach and write to my mama for me sometime? You can do it with One-Eye and Push if you want, saves me even more space.”

“Right, because you’re such a poor little victim baby.”

“Cry myself to sleep about it,” he grins.

“Benny,” says Max, admiring, “sometimes you can be a real cunt.”

“All in an honest day’s work.”

“Honest, says the man who’s hoarding a letter to Lottie,” she says archly, nodding at the scrap of paper that’s still sticking out. “You gonna give her that?”

“Later.”

“Never.”

“Jesus, Maxine, I said later.”

“When? Because I’ll bunk with the fucking Ruskies on the day you hand her that,” she says, shuddering to herself. “Captain Petrov said he’ll find us a place with their bomber girls. I might even learn more Russian.”

“Captain Petrov needs to stop adopting everyone who reminds him of his little sister,” grumbles Benny back, expertly dodging Max’s question about the letter. “Hey, Buck”– and it’s a done discussion, apparently, which Max folds her arms and scowls about –“did you know Petrov put an offer in to adopt the girls?”

Max’s scowl almost breaks when Major Cleven’s confused which girls, Benny? mingles with Benny’s exasperated sigh and gesture at the room at large. And she’s gone and said it now – something else for them to focus on, something for Brady to mutter furiously about – and Benny’s already slipping off her bunk and conferring with the Major in low-voiced tones before Max can say she doesn’t think Captain Petrov would whisk them away without permission.

Her hand hovers over Benny’s letter a moment before she snatches it off the bed.

Dear Bernardo, she reads, settling in a huddle against the wall, eyes roving over the page until… She stops. Give little Maxine our love, it says, and she’s not…

She’s not ready for a thing like that.

She’s not at all prepared for something like that. And Benny won’t get that – not with his family like it is, not with Darlene writing to him like that – and Major Cleven will get it a little too well – she’s seen the way he holds his fork, all quick meal on the go – and she doesn’t want to talk to One-Eye about it because One-Eye still believes people can be good without wanting something from you.

There’s only one other person in this damn camp who’ll know something about what it means to be loved in spite of your own efforts to reject it.

“I’m going for a walk,” she announces, slipping Darlene's letter to Lottie into her large sleeve.

[crossdressingdeath]

Kyvir: Think upon your heritage - is there truth hidden there? Narrator: *The magma of Hell's knowledge sometimes bubbles up in your brain's crater, but never reaches a true fire. It must have been a very long time since you were among your kind. When you try to think of a home your mind twists itself back to indulge in the delights of the day.* [...] Kyvir: Contemplate your craft - why do you have the skills you do? Narrator: *The call to song is a hollow joy. You are more suited to death's dirge. The lingering traces of your battle-intuitions are there. But the sly Urge within calls you to use them for harm.*

Thank you, this tells me very little! But it is interesting. Obviously Durge doesn't remember their home since they don't remember anything, but that sense of disconnect from what they appear to be is fun. Sure, it could just be because they've got amnesia and presumably hadn't been around their people for a while before that, but I've finished the game and so I know that that's not it.

Also a dirge is still music. I get what they're going for but that's very much still music. Quibbling aside though, I love this wording. Bard Durge is called to music and performance! It's just that the need to kill is much stronger, and the joy they get from music is hollow in comparison. And because bards are a specific sort of extremely combat-ready performer, it's easy for the Urge to warp that call to song and use it to hurt people. I'd be very curious to see what this dialogue option says for other classes; I'm kind of tempted to go through and see all of them, but that would take a while (seeing as I'd either have to go through the nautiloid every time or go get Withers and do a lot of reclassing).

[twodiamondhoes]

👀👀

:D (For the End of Year WIP Meme)

Have an excerpt from the first chapter of the Dirges Sequel!

Jimmy wanted to swear, too. He wanted to shove John Bender off the road and order him to draw. Wanted to put a slug in him for everyone who had died—Durango citizen or otherwise—thanks to his callousness and the target he’d put on the town.

Instead, he drew back and raised an eyebrow.

“I wouldn’t,” he said, his voice as cool as he could manage when it wanted to come out red-hot. The words were clipped, as prim and proper as Grian had taught him to be in an argument outside of the family.

“Wouldn’t what?” Bender said, his hand still wavering in the air between them.

“Thank me.” Jimmy said simply, “I didn’t do it for you. I did it for Flint, and for Bill, and for every man and woman who got caught in the crossfire that night.”

Bender dropped his hand, his brows coming down low over his empty eyes.

“And frankly, Mr. Bender,” Jimmy said, the words getting away from him, “I think it would be best for everyone involved if you cleared out of Durango. You’ve got more than enough time to take your business with the Goldstone gang elsewhere.”

The words hung in the air for a moment before Jimmy realized what he had done. He didn’t let the sudden self-recrimination show on his face, but internally he swore at himself. It was more likely than not that the people of Durango would be the ones to suffer for Jimmy’s words, if Bender took offense.

A cold smile replaced the affability from a moment before, and Bender spat again, this time closer. Jimmy didn’t dare flinch as the projectile landed somewhere between his feet. As close to a threat as the man could get without drawing his weapon.

“That tin star’s giving you airs, Englishman.” Bender said, his voice low, dangerous.

The man who had spoken earlier—Jimmy figured he had to be Bender’s second-in-command—shifted his stance. His hands didn’t go to his holster, but one landed on his belt, while the other came up to scratch at his ragged beard thoughtfully.

“Y’know, John, I hear they plate ‘em in silver up north, on account of they’re swimming in the stuff.”

Jimmy realized, a beat too late, that they knew a lot more about him than he was entirely comfortable with. The words ex-lawman and up north echoed cavernously in his head.

“That so?” Bender said, sounding for all the world like he was pretending to be surprised. “Well, in that case, maybe we ought to pay your old haunt a visit. See what about it makes you think you’re so high and mighty.”

Perhaps it was the exhaustion, perhaps it was the image that popped into his head of John Bender trying to threaten Grian or Scar, but in a moment, the bubble of fear in him burst, and all that was left was laughter.

He walked up to John Bender, hearing men fumbling for their holsters behind him, and clapped the man on the shoulder.

He slid a grin towards the outlaw, half threat, half promise, and spoke with all the amusement he could muster, “I’d like to see you try.”

[getvalentined]

HI THERE!! A fellow FFVII pleb here 🙌🏼🙌🏼

But I have not played Ever Crisis, and your art is

💥mega💥 from it.

May you infodump at your will where these outfits are from in the game, if you have any reference pics, and what the game covers?

If not, that is fine too 🌷

Thanks!

Thank you for the nice comment about my art! I've been in a slump recently on account of the world being on fire and having chronic pain in my hands, so I'm glad people are still enjoying what I have put out there.

Most of the EC outfits are only really "in-game" as related to non-canon seasonal "Portal" events, referred to as such due to their existence being explained via the existence of a spell of the same name, originally developed by Shinra before being ruled useless and put on a shelf. The materia for the spell was apparently stolen at some point in the early '90s, and it periodically crops up due to fiends, Cetra, or other nonhuman entities creating an excuse for the cast to get into alternate universe hijinks. The lore indicates that the Portal materia may have been stolen by the A.I. that ran the simulator originally used to train P-0 Class SOLDIERs during the course of the First SOLDIER Battle Royale, which eventually developed a form of sentience and literally ran away. This seems to be what caused that training program to shut down in-universe. (IRL the game was shut down because of real world financial fraud perpetrated by one of the co-creators of Sonic the Hedgehog, because we live in the weirdest timeline. Getting some closure on it in-game was super interesting, though.)

The game itself is intended to be a sort of abridged version of the entire Compilation of Final Fantasy VII (not the funny youtube haha kind of "abridged") told in short sections with frequent breaks, allowing it to be played basically anywhere.

There are currently three active titles:

Final Fantasy VII: The OG, but make it bite-sized. The pacing here is pretty poor, but mostly because the devs seem intent on pushing it as the flagship title of Ever Crisis even though it is not the one that they use in advertisement. (Current chapter: recruiting Vincent in Nibelheim.)

Crisis Core: Everyone's favorite gay tragedy. The pacing on this one is about the same as it is in the original, although there are a couple new little bits. The translation is still ass due to "no homo," and recently they seem to be working very hard to retcon Angeal being a self-righteous trashbag for some reason, which is kind of ruining the whole storyline, but we'll see if they fix that. (Current chapter: Genesis' siege on Shinra HQ.)

The First SOLDIER: Not to be confused with the battle royale title of the same name mentioned above, this game starts with three unenhanced P-0 Class SOLDIER randos (they're relevant to Rebirth) and segues into the backstory of Sephiroth starting around age 13-14. This is what they used in advertisement, and then delayed updates on so many times that the ending was spoiled by Tseng during a board meeting in Rebirth. I am not joking. (Current chapter: Act I end.)

The game is intended to eventually also include Dirge of Cerberus and even Before Crisis (which has never been released outside Japan and hasn't been playable even in Japan for over a decade), but not until after the OG and CC's storylines finish. There is roughly one chapter update to a single active title every 4-8 weeks, so it's going to take a while.

All that said, there are currently around 80 alternate outfits spread over 13 playable characters (some are more favored than others, Aerith has about a dozen while Barret has three), and I don't actually even have half of them altogether. I do have a lot, though, so I'll put details under the cut of what I have and if there are any specific ones you'd like to see I can get screenshots for reference purposes.

— Cloud [5/9] Murasame, Bandaged Coat aka Death Gigas cosplay, Festive Garb, Saber Style, and Bahamut Garb. Missing Battlefield Garb, Maritime Sailor, Zidane, and Glavenus Armor.

— Barret [2/3] Fiery Cape and Electroarmor. Missing Scrap Armor.

— Tifa [2/10] Metalfoot and Fairy of the Holy Flame. Missing Lifeguard, Amarant, Guide Uniform, Bunny Bustier, Feather Style, Kirin Suit, Passion Mermaid, and the upcoming Bahamut gear that I will not be pulling for.

— Aerith [2/11] Rosy Battle Suit aka postcanon Genesis cosplay and Chocobo Suit. Missing Sunny Robe, Prism Dress, Garnet, Fairy of Snowfall, Floral Gown, Classic Coney, Kamura Dress, Citric Dress, and Bahamut Robe.

— Nanaki [2/4] Seaside Aloha and Canyon Duds. Missing Rubber Harness and The Hellhound aka the Sonic OC recolor skin.

— Yuffie [1/5] Puckish Lion. Missing Winter Moogle, Sparkling Skater, Shinobi Hawk, Summer Moogle, and Bahamut Mantle.

(No image because I hit the limit and it's a disaster tbh.)

— Cait Sith [2/3] Marching Jacket and Felyne Kamura. Missing Party Jacket.

— Vincent [3/3] Bouncer Suit, Stray Dog, and Formal Attire.

— Zack [4/8] Tropical Beach, Guardian Style, Glacier Armor, and Zinogre Armor. Missing Valiant Suit, Black Hound, Holiday Suit, and Shinra Full Dress Uniform.

— Sephiroth [8/9] Aeroglider, Edged Wings, Dark Harbinger aka the half-Galian Beast cosplay, Kuja, Celebratory Garb, Lethal Style, Shinra Formal Uniform, and Natant Jacket. Missing Dark Attire because it was running the same time as one of Vincent's outfits and I didn't have the crystals for both. (sob)

— Glenn/Matt/Lucia [1/who cares] I only have 1 proper alternate outfit for each of them and only because the game gave them to me, plus Lucia's Vivi, which is just a recolor of the first alternate outfit with a hat on top.

No images because I hit the limit and I don't care for any of these people.

[mobiusstripper]

For Lucrecia FFVII

7- What do you like most about this character?

8- Do you think this character is underrated or overrated?

9- What’s your favourite headcanon(s) for this character?

Ooh thank you!

What do you like most about this character?

She's completely integral to the story! And she gets totally sidelined! Who is she?! Why did she do the things she did?! I want to know! I need to know! Why don't more people want to know?

Do you think this character is underrated or overrated?

Totally underrated. Most people either don't care about her at all or just straight-up hate her with zero curiosity about her character or motives. Also, when they hate on her, they tend to be really misogynistic about it.

What’s your favourite headcanon(s) for this character?

Of the few fandom folks who really like to deep dive into Lucrecia, I think I might be the one who gives the most credence to Dirge of Cerberus. It's not that I don't agree with the assessment that it's a shit game - but it planted certain headcanon seed in my brain during my teenage years that have endured to this day. The linchpin of my headcanon for the dynamics between the parties involved in the Jenova Project is and always will be Grimoire Valentine. In my version of the story, he was a surrogate father figure to Lucrecia, and she was a surrogate child to him. He put a lot of energy into mentoring her and looking out for her on a personal level to cope with his guilt over emotionally abandoning Vincent (from whom he was estranged for the last ten years of his life). Lucrecia gradually comes to realize this and harbors a deep jealousy toward Vincent before she ever meets him. I love this because it adds some heavy layers of "fucked up" to Lucrecia's relationship with Vincent.