#Trigger warning: Hojo

[mariogirl369]

Hey guys, so... Since EPIC: The Musical is done (that ending was beautiful fr), I am now gonna reveal something I've been forming in my head for a while...

MY FF7 EPIC: THE MUSICAL AU!

That's right! I've been forming this AU for a while, and it's finally complete after it was initially formed, (I am open to people giving suggestions on adjustments for the roles), here are the characters and roles we have:

Vincent: Odysseus

Lucrecia: Penelope

Zack: Telemachus

Hojo: Antinous

Minerva: Athena

Angeal: Eurylochus

Ramirez (Infantryman, got the name from Machinabridged): Elpenor

Cloud: Perimedes

Genesis: Hermes

Yuffie: Aeolus

Ramuh: Zeus

Bugenhagen: Tiresias

Leviathan: Poseidon

Phoenix: Apollo

Shiva: Aphrodite

Ifrit: Ares

Aerith: Calypso

Scarlet: Circe

Jenova: Scylla

Reeve: Polities (stand-in for Cait Sith)

Hollander: Eurymachus (the Suitor that tries to convince Ody to spare them)

Dyne: Amphinous (the Suitor that finds the weapons room unlocked)

Elmyra: Odysseus's Mother (Anticlea)

Loz: Polyphemus (Kadaj and Yazoo can be Cyclopes as well)

Rufus: Prince Hector (never seen, but mentioned)

Sephiroth: Astynax (Because of a dark thought I had one day)

Heidegger: Hephaestus

Tifa: Hera (Debated between her, or Elena, if you think the latter fits more, then I'm willing to change it)

And finally, Weiss: Melanthius (the Suitor that tries to get the others to capture Telemachus)

All roles have been filled! (Charybdis is the same)

If anyone has any suggestions for the roles that could have a better selection for it, please feel free to comment or reblog your choice, and I'll see if it's a better fit, if it is, I'll update the post!

Btw, everyone who sees this post is free to make animatics, or illustrations for this AU, but please give credit to me for making this AU, and Jorge for making this amazing musical in the first place. (You can also make illustrations and animatics for your own version of the AU if you wish, but that's up to you lol)

[mariogirl369]

It's just a fun way to pass the time when you're bored, what do you mean?

adam back at it again with the banger memes

[altocat]

Trigger Warning.

Bouncing off of The Cube, has these ever been a time where Hojo had to physically stop Sephiroth from harming or even killing himself?

Ohhhh man. This one is DEFINITELY spoilered below the cut. Take care of yourselves, you guys.

TWs

It has happened a small handful of times, though never completely escalating to Sephiroth outright trying to attempt suicide. Mostly, It's been regulated to occasional self-harm behaviors that Sephiroth is more or less only semi-aware of. Scratching at himself, tearing into his skin with his nails during a fit of anxiety. Hitting himself in moments of frustration at not being able to perform to his utmost efficiency. One or two instances in which Sephiroth simply gave up in the middle of the fight and allowed his opponent to lay into him. Things like that.

There was ONE rather disconcerting episode in which Sephiroth spoke of not wanting to be alive, his back facing Hojo as he scrunched up into a tiny ball in his cell. It was little more than a mumble. Just a tiny whisper to the walls.

"I want to be dead. I want it to stop. I want to make it go away."

Hojo watches his son for a long, long time after that. And began prescribing a mild sedative for Sephiroth to take with his meals. Gradually, the boy seemed to calm somewhat, taking to his training in silence, accepting his failures. He didn't seem HAPPY, but he at least seemed more subdued. As a result, Hojo opts to prescribing Sephiroth the drug indefinitely, slipping it into his meals well into adulthood. It definitely seems to help, as Sephiroth is slowly molded into a cold and often emotionally cauterized adult. Less worrisome behaviors. Less visible strain. Works to his advantage. Hojo is pleased with the end result.

[the-music-maniac]

Why is the daddy dom characterization so common with pre-nibelheim Sephiroth in fanfics. Does that look like a man who knows how to fuck, to you?

If someone does anything sexy in front of him, he would give them the Seph equivalent of a frog blink. That man is tired.

Lol jokes aside, I suspect for someone who has had his bodily autonomy dictated by lab techs and Hojo for the entirety of his life, he wouldn't be raring to have one night stands with complete strangers in his free time. Sure you could argue that sexual intercourse would be a way to regain a little control of autonomy, but I don't think it's likely when it would be with strangers that - not only never sees Sephiroth as anything but the famed legend (an image he doesn't like btw) which is likely accompanied by unwanted expectations of what he's like in bed, but complete strangers that could've also been sent to like. Assassinate the most important asset that Shinra has?

My point being that I don't think Sephiroth really had any safe space to explore what he likes for something like sex - and since it isn't necessary for his duty as a soldier, and may even count as unwanted distraction and vulnerability - Sephiroth likely discarded any interest in it entirely. That is, if he had any interest at all in the first place. You could also assume he could explore it with people he IS close with (ex. Angeal, Genesis etc.) but in those scenarios he wouldn't exactly know off the bat what he likes, or be self assured in any sense.

Trigger Warning (implication of SA/dubious consent): Of course you could also explore the darker side of this, which is that Sephiroth has experience because he didn't have a say in it, bc the company used him/trained him as an asset in this aspect as well. Which is an entirely different discussion to be had, so I won't go into it any further here.

And I think despite the suggestive shit that post-nibelheim Seph says to Cloud, his mind is not on anything sexual in actuality. He's likely aware of the effect flirtation and innuendo can have on people - disgust or interest or whatever would distract an opponent. Or he's just entirely unaware of - or does not care how else his words can be taken. He's a drama queen, but his goals have been pretty clear post insanity, and they have nothing to do with something as mundane as sex. So his demeanour after Jenova isn't that applicable (also we know that square Enix was like heehee we figured you would like this dialogue, so there is also that).

Basically, while I understand Sephiroth is a cool character for exploring fantasies (valid, go ham) - in terms of if you're trying to be accurate to canon characterizations, fics where he's written as a suave dom/top gets a bit of a question mark from me??

I feel like what makes more sense for ships involving pre-nibelheim Seph (including those sefikura time travel fixits that I'm mildly obsessed with) would be uncertainty. Here is finally someone who he actually feels safe to explore this aspect with, and it's natural for exploration to involve stumbles. And I don't think Seph would rule out submission or bottoming as an option in regards to himself either. Or switching/versatility. As someone trained to be objective or logical when tackling anything really - he would probably go about it methodically. So why not try it all to gather data?

What his and his partners' eventual preferences are gonna be is author's choice of course lmao

Also a disclaimer before I end it here - this post is purely because I find discussion on this interesting. If you disagree, or just wanna write what you wanna see, definitely do that and disregard what I've said. Fanfic is supposed to be self indulgent, so who gives a shit what other people think.

[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.

[bardic-tales]

3.13.25 - Philosophy/Beliefs - Necessary Annihilation

Disclaimer: This interpretation of Final Fantasy VII's Sephiroth and Hojo is based on the Fantasy Worlds Collide (FWC) setting. FWC is a crossover between original world content and Fandom content. As a result, their actions and personalities may differ slightly from canon due to the unique narrative elements of this universe.

Marked by prophecy as the Harbinger of Destruction and Rebirth, Bianca spent centuries fighting against her destiny, only for betrayal, captivity, and loss to erode her resolve. Witnessing Sephiroth’s descent into madness and enduring Hojo’s experiments shattered her final resistance, leading her to see annihilation as necessary. This piece delves into her philosophy, the inevitability of her actions, and the reasoning behind her belief that only through destruction can true salvation be achieved.

Trigger Warning: abuse, body horror, captivity, experimentation, loss, mental breakdown, prophecy, psychological trauma, religious themes, suicide

Bianca's eyes glow gold when she is using her divine powers.

The prophecy that foretold Bianca Moore’s role in the destruction and rebirth of Creation was one she vehemently rejected for most of her existence. Marked as the Harbinger of Destruction and Rebirth, she endured relentless persecution from angels, demons, and humanity alike. None willing to see her as anything more than a tool or a threat. For years, she fought against this fate, believing that to fulfill it would mean succumbing to the very forces that had tormented her since childhood. However, as the weight of betrayal, torture, and loss consumed her, the very foundation of her defiance began to crumble.

Witnessing Sephiroth’s descent into madness, stripped of his origins he once believed to be true, and driven to a mental break and self-destruction planted the first seeds of doubt. Hojo’s relentless experiments upon her as Subject N01 — such as infusing her with alien matter, violating her body in the name of science, and subjecting her to endless suffering — shattered the last of her resolve that angels, demons, and humans could change. By the time she hallucinated Sephiroth’s presence within the containment tube in [ν] – εγλ 0003, there was no fight left in her. She no longer sought to defy the prophecy. Bianca sought to embrace it, but on her own terms.

Bianca justifies the destruction of Creation as both necessary and inevitable. In her eyes, the universe has proven itself irredeemable. It is filled with entities who exploit, manipulate, and discard those they fear or do not understand. Angels, the supposed enforcers of divine order, sought to erase her existence rather than allow her the chance to prove herself. Demons saw her as a pawn to be used for their own ambitions. Despite their rare fleeting moments of compassion, humanity betrayed her time and time again, treating her as a bridge to the divine only to turn against her when their prayers remained unanswered. Even Sephiroth, the only soul who understood her suffering, was driven to madness because of the secrets humanity kept from him. If there was no place for them in this world, then the world itself was not worth preserving. In Bianca’s mind, Creation was already rotting from within. She would not be its destroyer, but its savior.

To Bianca, the annihilation and rebirth of Creation is an act of mercy. A reality tainted by cruelty, betrayal, and suffering has no right to continue. If existence cannot be rewritten to be free from the corruption of divine and mortal failings, then it should be erased entirely. She envisions a world without angels who cast judgment, demons who seek to enslave, or humans who betray their own or beings different from them. In this, she believes she is offering an escape for herself and Sephiroth: an escape from pain, from suffering, and from the endless cycle of manipulation that shaped her life. It is not about power or revenge to a certain point. It is about ensuring no one else is forced to endure what she has.

In the end, Bianca does not see herself as only a destroyer. She is a necessary force of change, an unyielding storm that will wipe the slate clean so something purer can rise from the ashes true to her phoenix motif.

tagging some fellow mutuals: @themaradwrites @craftyhal

@megandaisy9 @watermeezer

@prehistoric-creatures @creativechaosqueen @chickensarentcheap @seastarblue

@inkandimpressions @arrthurpendragon

[sapphirothcrescent]

My Professor Sephiroth AU with Sapphire summary. This Sapphire is even MORE feral than the original!

TW: Hojo is a trigger warning all his own, human experimentation, medical torture, medical trauma, PTSD, non consensual medical treatment.

Sephiroth is not Hojo (he tells himself) so when he's in charge of Shinra's R&D (after Hojo suddenly and unexpectedly dies in an "accident") he decides to develop a much safer and more ethical working environment. All of the experiments and specimens need to be catalogued and either put out of their misery or taken care of. All of Hojo's research needs to be looked over. He's got a long road ahead of him.

In his initial tour of the facility, Sephiroth comes across a specimen cell with the label SA001. Inside is a very pale, malnourished human woman. The sight of Sephiroth, a man in medical attire and an air of authority about him, sets her off. Sephiroth is concerned on how hostile she is just at the mere sight of him. One of the senior researchers who reluctantly helps Sephiroth out of shame and fear tells him that SA001 was one of many Hojo experimented on with J Cells and who didn't die from the injections. She's labeled aggressive and dangerous. She also can't speak. The researcher doesn't know if she ever could speak before or has gone mute from being at the mercy of Hojo for whoever knows how long.

Sephiroth wants a thorough medical examination but SA001 does not make it easy for him. For a non SOLDIER, she's quite strong. She bites and scratches and kicks and manages to draw blood from him, impressing Sephiroth. At least Hojo wasn't experimenting on her with rabies. After finally realizing that none of the other researchers hae the strength to hold her down long enough for him to examine her, he calls in an old friend by the name of Zack.

Between the two of them, Sephiroth gets a standard exam and some blood work off her before finally giving her a sedative. She bites him one more time as he holds her waiting for the medicine to take effect then her eyes glaze over and she lies limply in his arms, then carries her to a larger, less dismal cell and wraps her up in a thick non medical issue blanket for comfort. Before he leaves he takes one last look at this poor "specimen" and tells her unconscious form that he promises to make her feel safe one day.

[prismaticpichu]

B, C, F!!

You got it!! 💕

~

Any of your stories inspired by personal experience? ~ Yes!!! One of my personal favorite fics, Lightning, has a huge focus on PTSD and the sense of confusion that comes with spontaneous triggers/episodes. For instance, (and without getting into too much detail) I myself have been able to handle being in a room full of drunk people just fine- while other times looking at a wine glass can cause my heart to pick up speed. Sephiroth in that fic is plagued by horrible memories of being electrocuted by Hojo as a child (triggered by a storm outside), yet is left confused and ashamed, claiming that he has been able to handle trekking through thunderstorms in the past without ever breaking a sweat. The point I was trying to get across there is that, sometimes- and as Zack puts it- PTSD episodes can be completely random, like “lightning having the chance to strike a tree.” Sometimes, we’re just hit by it when other times we’re not. And that’s okay <333 It’s absolutely okay.

What character do you identify with most? ~ ON A LIGHTER NOTE LOL I think I see a lot of parallels in myself to Zack!! It’s hard to always stay positive- especially when his world seems to be imploding- but the young First always tries his best to keep everyone’s spirits high!! I imagine he’s someone who genuinely finds catharsis in making others smile, even when he himself is having trouble doing so. He’s the exact kind of person I strive to be: kind, optimistic, and loyal until the very end!! <333

Care to share a favorite hurt/comfort fic? ~ Absolutely!!! How about I share a few?? <333 (and it doesn’t specify that they have to be MINE soooooo~)

• Warning: Flash Photography by @tardistype221b ~ absolutely ADORE this fic for its implementation of very realistic PTSD- with the flashbacks beautifully laced throughout!!- and Zack being there to comfort his best friend <333 ahhhhhh!!!

• A Haven of Hyacinths by @dyradoodles ~ Just PEAK catharsis wherein a Jenova-purified Seph is reunited with Zack in the Lifestream <333

• Footfalls by @altocat ~ another extremely cathartic ride, only it’s post-Nibelheim addition!! <333 Zack is essentially doing what he does best- carrying a delirious Sephiroth across the snowy mountains as they escape ShinRa’s clutches <333 All with the most beautiful writing you can imagine!!

• Poster Boy by copper_nights ~ Protective Angeal being the best friend on the face of Gaia <33333 Gahhhh I love this author sm!!! So many amazing fics in their arsenal!!

• When the Stars Shine Brightest by @lucky-ladybugs-lovelies (I believe this is the right blog??? Plz forgive me person I tag if it’s not!! 😂❤️) ~ anyway lol THIS FIC MADE ME CRY. LIKE… IT LEGITIMATELY DID. NO OTHER FIC HAS MADE ME CRY BEFORE OR SINCE. Fic follows an extremely shattered Sephiroth in the aftermath of Zack’s death- having been killed on a mission. That’s all I can say without spoiling the rest, bc it’s really worth going in blind <333 Do note that 1) this fic is on FF.Net and might need a little more digging to get to and 2) it is a sequel fic- but I promise you its predecessor, Shine Until Tomorrow, is worth the read itself <333 It’s really just an incredible story she tells, and i’ve always been such a HUGE fan of her worldbuilding <333 SOLDIER always feels so alive!!! As do the characters!!

(Side note- if you ever fsr wondered where my love for Zack & Seph came from, it started here 😂 With this wonderful author!!!)

[flowerwiththemachinegun]

why do you like hojo?

I could explain…but I won’t. Probably 30+ trigger warnings long that I’d rather the world never know.

[salternateunreality2]

AGSZC Wedding Highlights (crack)

from the @strayheartless archives <3

The ceremony will be quiet, sweet, intimate, possibly an elopement, and the after party/reception will be a literal zoo because Zack will invite every friend he's ever made, which of course includes animals. Naturally, Cloud's dragon aunt and cousin (Asil and Knarf) will also be invited.

Cloud biting Hojo and Sephiroth immediately urging him to let go… because of how gross Hojo is (that can't be healthy for Cloud), not because Hojo is screaming in pain.

Sephiroth and Cloud hiding under a table/in a closet is going to happen. No, not to make out (though that will happen), but to get away from ~the people~.

Sefikura do come out at regular intervals to show love for their partners by braving the humans. They emerge together, holding hands, and go greet family members or dance with AGZ for 30 minutes at a time, then they make eye contact from across the room and go rescue each other.

"Excuse me, Aunt Rachel, it was lovely meeting you, but it looks like my new husband needs a break" *scuttles off to rescue Cloud from a dance with Cousin Casey*

"Oh, my new husband looks like he needs me, thanks for the dance, bye" *skitter skitter skitter*

AGZ being so proud of them and grateful that they're pushing through AND taking care of themselves.

The Strifes defend the new husbands from obnoxious relatives (some lines borrowed from the illustrious @strayheartless)

Cloud: *materializes out of nowhere* Hello, Genevieve Rhapsodos. I heard you were saying this cake was triggering your asthma because of the gluten. You meant celiac disease. Which you don't have and didn't warn us about. Furthermore-

Sephiroth: Nope, back to the table *drags Cloud away, desperately grabbing his hands so he can't flip her off*

Zack: *laughing his ass off*

Gillian: You had that coming.

Angeal: *trying not to laugh and come up with an apology*

Genevieve: *sputtering indignantly* Are you going to let him talk to me like that?!

Genesis: *smirking* Yep.

Claudia: How's that for a country bumpkin, bitch? *shoves cake in her mouth*

Genevieve: Are you going to let HER talk to me like that?!

Genesis: I don't LET the Strifes do anything. They do what they want. If you want to fight her, go ahead and good luck, mother.

Claudia: If you need me, I'll be under the table with them having delicious, gluten-filled cake, mmmmm!

-----

(((For context, Asil is Claudia's dragon mom friend, as discussed here, and Knarf is Asil's dragon son)))

Hojo: *shows up, starts making a scene with security. Apparently being bitten wasn't warning enough.*

Claudia: I smell bitch. Be right back. ASIL!

Hojo: *suddenly gains the power of flight via dragon*

Knarf: *is raiding the buffet, his mom can handle this*

Hollander: *skedaddles with a pocket full of cake after seeing what happened to Hojo*

Knarf: *pops his head under the table to lick the boys then trots off because he smelled Scientist with CAKE*

Hollander: *is about to learn a valuable lesson about dragon tracking abilities*

Claudia: *adopts Sephiroth on the spot and pats his head because she's awkward and doesn't know what to do. It's the perfect thing to do.*

Genesis sneaks each of his boys away to dance in the night air at some point, just the two of them in a circle of fire he lit with his materia skills to show off.

Angeal makes sure everyone eats, especially Cloud, who was nervous before the ceremony, and Genesis and Zack, who simply forgot.

Sephiroth whisks each husband away to look at the stars together and fumbles through a few lines of the individualized love letters he wrote for them.

He knew he wanted to do something like this and wound up asking Cloud's friend Tifa, who walked him through romantic ideas, and encouraged him to write them each a letter if he was uncomfortable speaking it all out loud. Once he had a structure, the rest was easy. Each of them cherishes their letter to this day.

Zack worked really hard to smooth the way for everyone socially, and also gave each of his men a special, meaningful wrapped gift.

Cloud pulled each one into a random hallway, got on his tiptoes, and kissed them.

He's not the biggest on physical affection, so they were all thrilled that he agreed to marry him despite his hang-ups AND that he's initiating a lot. They're all out of their minds and over the moon over how incredibly cute he is.

He also told them each the same thing, trying to be romantic. And, well...

"I'd kill a god for you and rip out their innards with my teeth".

He...probably should have asked Tifa for help. They love it anyway.

After the party, they take their time on their honeymoon to chill in each other's company.

That suits Angeal just fine, because even neurotypicals get worn out by socializing, and he LOVES cuddling his boys.

Cloud gnaws on a lot of stuff in happiness.

Sephiroth is purring non-stop, and they all take turns laying on his chest.

Everyone passes Cloud around like a prize and he puts up with it because it's THEM.

Everyone simultaneously decides to dogpile Angeal and thank him for all he does for them while suffocating him to the happiest death ever.

Besides marital activities, cough cough, there will be a lot of...

Them play fighting in the long grass. Them getting ticks in the long grass. Them being treated by Angeal and told not to go back into the long grass. Them going back anyway because one of them (Zack) found the coolest bug ever. Genesis setting fire to the long grass because he hates bugs. All the ticks dying because he firagas the shit out of the long grass. Angeal sighing about the long grass. Sephiroth pulling out his textbook knowledge and saying it's fine, the grass will come back, but the ticks won't, and really, they did the world a service. (I KNOW THIS IS NOT SCIENTIFIC, LET A SALT DREAM)

Them all stargazing in the burnt field, Cloud falling asleep almost right away, sandwiched between two of his husbands. Zack asking to be carried home when it's time, then falling asleep in Sephiroth's arms. AGS putting the spiky ones to bed together and taking so many cute pictures as the pair automatically gravitates to each other.

They stumble across a Hojo lab and discover their new children: the Remnants and some Chadleys.

Zack: I love all our babies 🥰 we should have more! Video of Zack with his babies

Sephiroth: Alright, let's find another lab to raid.

Angeal: *reading documents* WHAT THE FUCK, HOJO?!

Cloud: ikr even after Asil ate him we're still finding his experiments. They're hella cute experiments, but still.

Genesis: *at the babies* STOP CHEWING ON YOUR BROTHER.

[connectionxterminated]

The Devil Doesn't Bargain.

Seeking Out Vengeance. — Lockette Hojo.

Trigger Warnings: Descriptions of Fire, Manipulation, Gaslighting, Suffocation from inhalation of smoke, Problematic father, Character death.

Tags: @gmanwhore , @the-main-characters , @ghostlyplacetobe , @ren-not-rennie , @miss-midnightt

The fire burned all around her, her wings extending to their full length, a burning look of hatred filling her eyes as she stares him down, clenching her fists until her knuckles turned white, the smoke filling the air as the mad scientist backs away in utter fear, stumbling back into his desk, trying to grip the desk to keep himself up, but unable to, he falls forwards from the smoke filling his lungs, coughing and hacking, tears pricking the corners of his eyes, squinting as he tries to focus his gaze on his daughter standing in front of him, but being unable to due to the smoke obscuring his vision.

Lock steps forwards, picking her father up by the collar of his lab coat, causing him to stand up in an instant, covering his mouth with the sleeve of his coat, glaring daggers into his daughter.

"What the Hell do you think you're doing?!"

He demanded an answer, but only received a mocking laugh in response by the girl who stood in front of him, seemingly unaffected by the smoke and the fire.

"Doing what I should have done a long, long time ago."

She held the match in her hand, lighting it up, the flame much smaller compared to the one surrounding them, and with that, she dropped it onto the floor, causing the already growing fire to grow bigger than it was beforehand.

"You should have realized how much pain you've inflicted on me years ago, and then maybe, just maybe, this would have never happened. This is your own fault."

Lock scowls, folding her wings away as she turns her back to him, hearing him fall to the ground from all the smoke he's inhaled, and for a moment, just for a moment, she feels pity and guilt.

And he reaches out to her, tears now rolling down his cheeks, his voice raspy and unsteady from the smoke filling his lungs, a small sad smile on his face as he laughs weakly, his head falling to the ground, his black hair falling out of its ponytail and in front of his face.

"My little Lockette.. You're just like your mother.. Strong.. Resilient and so very capable.."

Lock pauses, turning her head over her shoulder to stare him dead in the eyes with a look that could kill.

"You have no right to say such things. You abandoned her! You abandoned me! You never cared for me or mom! You only used her because you wanted to further your research! Don't pull that bullshit on me!"

She turned away again, taking a few steps away from her father with her fists clenched, she wipes her own tears, shaking her head firmly with another scoff.

"Do.. Do you remember..? When you were a little girl..? That pendant I gave you..? Do you.. Do you still have it..?"

Hojo asks with a weak smile, coughing roughly as he struggles to stand, wiping away his tears as Lock raises a brow, now gripping the pendant around her neck as she nods.

"Of course I do. I've had it ever since I was 3.. Before.. Before she.."

She trails off, a look of anguish and hurt crossing her features, feeling her fathers hand on her shoulder.

"Before she was killed. I know.. But.. But that.. That pendant was once your mothers.. I held onto it for her.. And then.."

He cuts himself off by falling to the ground as the flames grew higher and higher, coughing roughly and loudly as he wheezes, Lock narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

"And then what..? And then what?!"

Her father smiles up at her weakly, wheezing as he tried to speak once more.

"And then.. she asked me.. to give it to you.. when you were old.. enough.. My little Lockette.."

Lock scoffed, folding her arms over her chest as she rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, but that still doesn't make up for the fact that you killed mum, and you ruined me as a person! I could've had a normal life if you never did what you did!"

Lock snapped at him, earning a long sigh in response from Hojo.

"It was for the betterment of mankind."

Lock steps back, her eyes narrowing further if that was even possible at this point.

"The betterment of mankind?"

She repeated, anger evident in her tone.

"Shut the Hell up, you bastard! See?! I knew you would never change!"

Hojo sighs, letting out a long wheeze and collapsing to the ground, passing out from the lack of oxygen he was receiving.

In turn, Lock took off her pendant, walking over to her father's desk, picking up the old 'family' photo of her, her mother Starlight, and her father Hojo. She gently wipes her hand over her mother's face, revealing her, she frowned, putting her pendant down next to the photo, finally letting go of all that has happened as she exits the burning lab, shaking off the bit of flames upon her wings.

She turned back and looked over her shoulder towards her unconscious and barely visible father laying on the ground of the lab, fire surrounding him as she shakes her head softly, leaving the premises for good.

"The Devil Doesn't Bargain."

[altocat]

Sorry for the ick question but do you think Hojo and the labs has collected "stuff" from Sephiroth

This one is DEFINITELY getting censored below. Trigger Warnings.

Several times. Once Sephiroth reaches adulthood, he is occasionally called in to provide a "sample" for the lab. Just so that they can have it on file or if they just want to study its components. Sephiroth's overall fertility seems to weaken or fluctuate depending on how much Mako is in his system. But Hojo and the crew would be lying if they said they didn't have a few viable samples stored away. What will they do with them? Hojo has not yet elaborated on that. But the possibility of it excites him.

As for the actual collection process...Sephiroth does not like to think about it. It's deeply uncomfortable and incredibly violating. In a rare act of mercy, Hojo himself does not participate in the actual procedure, but rather gets a colleague or even a machine to get what he needs. Part of Sephiroth's discomfort and hesitation with his sexuality stems in part from the trauma he's suffered through these experiences. He never tells anyone about it and takes every opportunity to completely block it from his mind as much as he can.

[holly-fixation]

AU where Sephiroth and Aerith are half siblings

So there are multiple ways to do this. You might hate me for the one I picked. Trigger warning.

Sephiroth always admired Professor Gast. No matter how much training and education Hojo forced him through, he beamed when Professor Gast came into his room.

When Professor Gast stopped coming in, Sephiroth constantly asked where he was. At least until Hojo chose to lock him in simulated battles until he could barely remember his own name.

Professor Gast never returned, but Hojo disappeared for a few days. Sephiroth wished he could feel relief. He was terrified of missing a task Hojo desired and to be punished for the lack of accomplishment.

When Hojo returned, the scientist brought a woman with him. A woman with brown hair in a red dress.

A year passed, and Sephiroth was told he had a little sister.

He was more than confused. But the woman in red held a tiny baby he was supposed to be friendly with.

He didn't like the woman or the baby. If didn't help that she clearly didn't like him either.

As the babe grew into a child, they became close.

Aerith's presence gave him the freedom to try things he never dared in the lab. Sephiroth's presence protected her from almost all invasive appointments.

She gave him a stuffed chocobo. He taught her how to use combat knives.

The one thing Sephiroth couldn't protect was Ifalna.

That was okay. Because Ifalna couldn't save him either.

Aerith's smiles, Ifalna's presence, and Gasts kindness all vanished far too soon.

He was left only with Hojo until his first real mission began: a rescue of P0 classes and the extermination of Rhadore.

[catsvrsdogscatswin]

Higurashi Month 2024, Day 4: Depressed

Higurashi Month prompts archive: AO3

Trigger Warning: Depictions of the club members handling depressive episodes.

Depression fell over Keiichi only once, when he reached the top –and found apathy. Always pressure, always success, but less and less praise, less and less rewards.

His depression was redirected outwards. If he could not take joy in things, then he wouldn't give joy to other people, either. If his mom worked hard over breakfast, he wouldn't eat it, and serve her right. It didn't matter if his stomach felt hollow and achy for most of the day afterwards; he didn't care.

He could just say that he was busy, that he wanted to get to class earlier to study, and she wouldn't even be upset. That annoyed him. So he could starve himself and she wouldn't care, just for his stupid grades?

Huh. He'd… he'd show her, he'd do something she wouldn't like. Probably. Somehow. He'd find another way to rebel.

Keiichi treated his depression like a pebble in his shoes; a hard, persistent point of annoyance that shortened his temper and made him keen to spread the bad mood around.

~*~

Mion curled in on herself when the depression came. When she didn't feel like enough, when she felt like she could have saved Satoshi, when all of her dues and duties and performances and guilt came seeping in…

She went quiet. She withdrew.

She wasn't born the heir, but she'd been taught to be the heir, and the Sonozaki family taught that vulnerability must be hidden, that flagrant displays of emotion were to be kept behind closed doors.

So Mion closed her doors and buried her grey feelings deep, deep, deeper down, covering them with layer after layer of duty and obedience and friends and fun. She fought it like any other enemy; by studying, deconstructing, and then ruining them. Sadness was just another enemy to beat.

So –she took a step back. She severed the hurt before it could linger and purged her wounds before they could fester. She tossed her sorrow to the back of the closet and forced herself to look to the brighter days ahead; and if they weren't there already, she made them be. She dragged her friends into tempestuous games of glory and fun and wild, dizzy laughter until she forgot what she had to be sad about, much less that she was sad.

Even in times of deep, bitter hurt –when games weren't enough– she still withdrew quietly, locking her feelings away from all but a few; the friends she used to help cleanse the poison from a wound.

~*~

Shion shut down.

The birds didn't stop singing –a ridiculous poetic convention, she'd always felt– but now they just made noise, instead of their happy trills. The sun didn't stop shining, but it was always too bright or too grey; it made her eyes hurt. Food was too bland, too textured, too flavorful, and she gagged to think of forcing it down.

Everything became… too much.

All she ever wanted to do was drag herself, lead-weighted down to her bones, into the soft safety of a fluffy blanket, curl up, and weep the world away. She wanted the whole universe to whirl around and come to a halt with a reality-rocking crash, wanted to plunge anything and everything into a black, endless, silent abyss, just so it would stop.

It was always too much. It was all too much.

But since she couldn't destroy the world, she simply locked the world away, falling into a dim grey haze of routine that shied away from the slightest change, the slightest effort, the slightest intrusion of a honor anything into her bitter, despairing sorrow.

~*~

Satoshi probably used to react to depression differently, but now, well…

After years of being an outcast –unwelcome in every village activity, shunned at every facility– he neither tried to hide, nor expected to receive sympathy for, his moments of despair. Why bother? No one cared to help. No one cared to notice. He was a Hojo, and his family were vermin in the eyes of his neighbors.

It wasn't fair, of course, but he'd gotten used to things that weren't fair becoming the norm.

So he just… existed. He went about his day with the grey mantle of depression lying heavy on his shoulders, but he paid as much attention to it as dandruff.

Why bother caring? Why bother worrying? No one was going to help, and he had no way to help himself. There was no point in wasting his slender resources trying to fix it.

He couldn't do anything. He was helpless.

All he could do was wait for the few moments when things temporarily changed for the better.

~*~

Rena liked to think of her life as shining bubbles of wonderful, sparkling memories… but she knew that deep down underneath, all those dancing glints and sparkles just overlaid a sullen, remorseless, endless grey sea the color of dirty dishwater.

It was a stone around her neck, thick iron chains on her ankles, and she fought it, forcing herself to find something cute every day, to smile, to be happy, to leave those thoughts and that terrible persistent dragging weight behind. Some days she had more success than others.

It wasn't fair. She poured all this love, all this light and happiness and joy into her mind, ceaselessly and without relenting every day, and still the depression waited to pounce, lunging out whenever she let her guard down and sinking its poison fangs deep into her mind.

It truly wasn't fair. If she spent all her days playing with her friends, smiling, laughing, finding adorable things to take home or polishing her treasures, why didn't those loving memories, those joyful feelings, simply outnumber and crush that terrible weight beneath them? Math said they should –it simply wasn't fair.

But Rena was a fighter to the end, so she kept planting her feet in the dust, fixing a smile on her face, and going about her childhood days with her beloved friends.

~*~

Rika didn't know what it was to not feel depressed. It was like a set of sunglasses bound over her eyes, a tint that shadowed everything she saw.

She might be able to snatch a particle of release playing those delightfully wonderfully unpredictable games with Mion and her friends, but there was always the thought, the sorrow, gnawing at the back of her head, like forgotten homework or an upcoming appointment.

This will not last. This will end sooner than you wish.

How could anyone be happy, truly happy, in the face of that? Knowing everything that she knew?

She could smile and feign cheerfulness, but Rika was a swimmer with tied arms, desperately kicking her legs to keep her face above the water. The barest pause, the slightest rest, the most tiny slackening in her efforts, and she would go under and drown. She'd lost courts of the false starts to that she'd had already, the moment when the water had closed over her head and only a moment of frantic, soul-burning efforts had kept her from succumbing.

Her despair had been ground so deeply into her heart that the only thing that kept her thin spidersilk strand of hope from snapping was the thought that, someday, she might be free and it all might end.

~*~

Satoko isn't the type to get depressed. Her spirits naturally rocket to the sky like fireworks, and to crush and extinguish those flames means grinding her down so deeply that there is nothing but bare ash and embers. She doesn't get sad, she gets angry –or she simply stops.

A lot of animals have that reaction –a fawn's instinct, when threatened, is to freeze and hope it isn't spotted. Satoko does that. She goes still. Quiet. Limp.

If you are not a burden, you are not noticed. If you are not troubling, you are not seen. If you do not object, you will not be spoken to.

Deflect. Deflect. Deflect.

Defense mechanism or not, it works. If Satoko lets her mind retreat to a quiet blank place that only stirs to give her body whatever instructions it needs to complete a task, she does not have to think about what gives her sorrow. If she detaches her thoughts from what makes her sad, she can complete her tasks and not remember why it hurts.

If she doesn't think about it, it doesn't count.

Ignoring it until it goes away might be cheap, but that is how Satoko handles her depression, nonetheless.

~*~

Hanyuu… is not particularly built for melancholy. She had never learned the words and meanings that were currently thrown hither and yon to describe a person's mental state, and while yes, she grieved, and yes, she held onto her hurt, she did not particularly…

It was hard to describe.

Whatever else she was, Hanyuu was also primarily a spirit long gone, and her emotions did not sustain themselves when she did not think about them.

Of course, she sorrowed for Rika! And of course, her despair was black and deep, growing darker with each failure! But…

Grief was a constant companion, and had been since before her heart had given its last doomed beat and her former vessel sank into the ooze of the swamp. Rika knew joy and life and fun, but Hanyuu was nothing but an observer, an unseen pair of eyes, and had been for so agonizingly long that even her emotions seemed to come to her secondhand, like a tale told or a play being watched.

They struck sudden and bold, sometimes, that is true. She could still feel, with all the raging intensity of the living and the icy depths of divinity. But it was not often; she did not let it.

Hanyuu did not think her heart could handle such a breaking again.

[silver-wield]

I feel heartbroken for duoj. Look. I recently just found out about ria and her Bullshit pandering. She never deleted it. It certainly is 100% OOC right? But nobody gave her such rage. Yet duoj gets this kind of persecution. First of all, I don't condone the thing, I also don't care for the concept. But I will say this. I have encountered so many doujin and have seen these characters depicted in such ACTUAL GROSS DEPICTIONS. The way duoj delivered her work isn't even close to those. And do you know which scene reminded me of? Shinji scene with asuka in Evangelion. Cloud was depicted as someone who HATED what he did to tifa in this doujin. But people act like duoj is glorifying the thing, SHE'S NOT!

How can people act like social justice warriors while saying stuff like "break your hand" or "kys"? TO A REAL HUMAN BEING. Do they have the same energy given to sephikuras, being depicted as a two timer BS, being BS with other characters? THAT'S OOC RIGHT? SO WHY NOT ASK THEM TO DELETE AND GO DIE? If ria, billy etc DISGUSTING ARTISTS DON'T DELETE THEIR OOC WORKS, WHY SHOULD DUOJ DELETE HERS? She deleted it anyway, which is sad imo, but you'll Never hear these people who persecuted her to apologize.

I'm just pissed off at strawberry st because they think they ambassador of cloti fandom meanwhile they give out SHIT INTERPRETATIONS about mc depicting him as a two timer BS.

STFU ARE WE A CULT? NO WE'RE NOT.

These are all on the same subject so I'm just gonna combine them, talk about it this one time and move on because it's really not worth flogging over.

Being honest, I saw one frame of that comic and it wasn't the "bad" part. I think I caught it as it was all being uploaded, and I wasn't interested so I didn't bother checking out the rest.

Douj is an artist and can make whatever they want. I'm not supporting the content they made or how they chose to share it, but it is what it is.

You are consumers and have a choice to look or not at what they've made.

If you look and don't like it, that's your problem. You have no right to harass them over it or tell them what's morally right or wrong to share on social media.

I get that a lot of you are upset because you know those dumbass cleriths will spend years throwing this in our faces after we said how gross it is they want Cloud to rape Aerith and ship hojo's forced breeding plans. I get that. But, it's not Douj's fault those assholes are assholes.

And for those people who were triggered by the content, I get that too. I heard Douj didn't tag it correctly or warn anyone what the content was, so that's not okay of them, but they didn't do any of this to hurt anyone, so attacking them because of being unintentionally hurt isn't okay. Instead of retaliating over something they didn't do on purpose, talk to people you trust and work through your feelings so you can get back to a better place emotionally.

If you choose to mute/block them because of this that's your choice. You don't have to explain why you want to protect your mental health. You should also think about the mental health of the other person too. Douj is still a person.

[shizuokadivision]

Hypnosis Mic -D.R.B.- Rule the Stage (Silent Tragedy VS MAD TRIGGER CREW)

Synopsis:

The scene begins with Reika Aichi and Sakura Kito in the latter's office discussing how their first battle in the Division Rap Battles is coming soon. When they are told that MAD TRIGGER CREW’s Samatoki Aohitsugi is standing at the entrance of the Kito-gumi base and demands to have a meeting with Sakura. After being allowed entrance he immediately confronts Sakura asking what she has done with his men. Confused, she asks him what men, and as it turns out a group of men from the Katen had been near Shizuoka before they disappeared and never reported back to Yokohama. Samatoki doesn’t believe Sakura when she tells him that she had nothing to do with men. 

Meanwhile, Jyuto Iruma and Rio Mason Busujima have gone to investigate where the men are said to have disappeared. Unbeknownst to them they have wandered into Kanon Hojo's territory and she does not take kindly to them intruding. Confronting them, Kanon demands they leave or face the consequences. Not heeding her warning, Jyuto and Rio take their mics and attack. To their surprise Kanon quickly overpowers them and just as she is about to land the final blow, Samatoki arrives and stops her. It's then that Samatoki learns that his men had entered Kanon's territory and in return, they were used for her experiments. 

Swearing revenge Samatoki declares war on Silent Tragedy and challenges them to a fight. Finding his reaction amusing and secretly wanting to test the strength of a former Dirty Dawg member, Kanon accepts his challenge. Now a bloodbath is set to begin between Shizuoka and Yokohama. Has Kanon finally gone in over her head or will Samatoki realize that he's gone and declared war on one of the most dangerous women in the Division Rap Battles? One who has no issue with using MAD TRIGGER CREW in her twisted experiments. 

Cast:

Nana Komatsu as Kanon Hojo

Mei Angela as Reika Aichi

Asana Mamoru as Sakura Kito

Alan Abe as Samatoki Aohitsugi

Kenta Mizue as Jyuto Iruma

Yuuki Byrnes as Rio Mason Busujima

Staff:

Original Work: @shizuokadivision

Director: Lily Spade @lilyspade

Screenplay: Lily Spade @lilyspade

Music Director: Lily Spade @lilyspade

Theme Song: Shizuoka Division, Silent Tragedy @shizuokadivision, Yokohama Division, MAD TRIGGER CREW

Organized by: @shizuokadivision

Bonus! “In Character” Photos:

Silent Tragedy

MAD TRIGGER CREW

Hypnosis Mic - Division Rap Battle - Rule the Stage belongs to EVIL LINE RECORDS and all the photos are not mine

The mentioned actresses and actors belong to themselves