#chadley's in here too

[boltlightning]

r.ebirth is a bad game except for when it's not trying to be a good game. when it's trying to be a good game it sucks and when it's bad it's bad. but when it's not trying to be good it's so good

[quartarcade]

messymusehub Cid vc: I can rebuild her…or at least give her some jet packs probably

"Ayo, JET PACKS?! Sign me up, pops!"

[rottenpumpkin13]

Sick of each other's crap, and due to a rather untimely squabble in the Materia room involving dangerous reality-warping magics, Sephiroth and Genesis go full mental-Freaky Friday and swap personalities for a day.

Angeal decides today's the day Zack's going to earn that First-class rank through the power of tactical pursuit and negotiation!

Freaky Friday

• Sephiroth and Genesis sit in a lab in the Research and Development Division. Sephiroth has both elbows propped on the steel table, resting his head in his hands. He periodically blows a stray lock of hair from his face.

• Genesis sits beside him doodling on the back of his Loveless copy. Yes, they're both extremely bored.

*Genesis groans*

Genesis: Chadley! Can you speed this up? I have a salon appointment in an hour!

• Chadley looks up from the curious contraption he's working on

Chadley: Oh, please wait! I'm almost done, and then my experiment will only take a few minutes.

Sephiroth: Take your time, Chadley. There's no rush.

*Genesis groans again*

Genesis: Remind me why I'm here again? Your presence alone should've sufficed. And besides, he's your brother.

Sephiroth: He's... something of the sort. And I'm not sure what you have to complain about. All you've done is sit there and let your DNA be collected. The only difference between this and what you were doing up in your office is that here you're being useful.

Genesis: Preposterous. I was working before you rudely dragged me down here with you.

Sephiroth: Genesis. You were playing Candy Crush on your phone.

Genesis:

Sephiroth: And you weren't even good. You were on level four.

Genesis: You have no proof of that whatsoever.

• Chadley crawls out from under the machine with a wrench in his hand. He wipes away the sweat from his brow and stands up.

Chadley: Okay! It's ready!

• The two of them walk over to the machine, a dome-like structure supported by a small open space at the bottom, presumably where one would stick their head as indicated by the padded slabs sticking out of it.

Chadley: You know what this is?

Genesis: A...giant nail dryer?

Sephiroth: Why would he build a giant nail dryer?

Genesis: To dry giant fucking nails, you idiot.

Chadley: Okay, well you're both wrong. I'm not sure what to call it yet, but this machine is able to transfer one party's genes into another party's and consequentially edit their DNA to match the other's.

Sephiroth: Fascinating. I assume the overall goal is to ameliorate the receiving party's combat performance?

Chadley: If this works, you and Genesis will receive the other's innate abilities and much more! Think of it like this: Sephiroth, you'll receive Genesis' stellar abilities with materia, and Genesis will receive your swordfighting prowess.

• Genesis tries to run but Sephiroth holds him in place.

Sephiroth: Good! We're ready.

Genesis: I hate you.

• Chadley instructs them to lay down on the padded slab with their heads inside the dome.

Genesis: How badly will this hurt?

Chadley: Oh, it won't hurt at all! You'll see! Just try to relax and imagine yourself about to receive a massage.

• Chadley pulls a lever. Immediately the machine flares up in colorful, blinking lights. The inside of the metal dome violently shakes as streaks of lightning spill out. Sephiroth and Genesis are screaming.

Chadley: I was wrong.

• Chadley quickly pushes the lever back up. The machine stops, smoke billows from the inside of the dome, and Sephiroth and Genesis' bodies lay concerningly still.

Chadley: ...

• Chadley pulls out his phone and starts too look up wether or not Cyborgs can go to prison. But he quickly snaps out of it and rushes to check on the bodies. Sephiroth's body is the first to twitch. Chadley kneels down beside him and checks his pulse.

Chadley: Oh, good! You're alive!

• Sephiroth's body slides out from under the dome and groans.

Sephiroth (??): By the goddess. That was singlehandedly the worst experience of my life.

Chadley: Sephiroth! Are you alright?

*Sephiroth (??) pulls a face*

Sephiroth (??): Sephiroth? Why are calling me—

• Genesis (in Sephiroth's body) notices the silver hair cascading onto his lap. His eyes widen in horror.

• Meanwhile Sephiroth (in Genesis' body) slides out from under the dome.

Sephiroth: That was rather enjoyable. I especially liked the tingling sensation in my brain when the third wave of lighting hit.

• Sephiroth (in Genesis' body) looks to the side and sees his own body staring back at him in horror.

• It takes a total of three agonizingly silent seconds for the both of them to scream.

• Chadley is desperately trying to fix the machine. Genesis is pacing back and forth around the lab. He's tied Sephiroth's hair up out of his face and can be heard mumbling incoherencies.

Genesis: When I was a child praying to the goddess to be more like Sephiroth, THIS ISN'T WHAT I MEANT!

Meanwhile Sephiroth is sitting on top of the lab table. Genesis's red coat is discarded beside him along with his knit sweater. He's fanning himself with the Loveless copy.

Sephiroth: Why is your body temperature so unnaturally high!? Have you seen a doctor about this?

• Genesis stops pacing.

Genesis: SEPHIROTH! MY HAIR IS FUCKING SILVER! I HAVE EYES LIKE A SNAKE AND I MISS MY OVERBEARING MOTHER FOR NO REASON! I HAVE BIGGER PROBLEMS RIGHT NOW!

• Sephiroth leans back and looks at Chadley over by the machine.

Sephiroth: Have you fixed it yet?

• Chadley slides out from under the dome and stands up.

Chadley: Unfortunately it's going to be a while. I'm afraid I won't be able to get it fixed until tomorrow.

Sephiroth & Genesis: TOMORROW?

Genesis: Chadley, we both have work to do. How are we supposed to go about our lives in each other's bodies!?

Chadley: Hm. I suppose you could always just pretend to be each other until I sort things out.

Sephiroth: This is a nightmare. I'm Genesis.

Genesis: Ugh! Fine. If it's the only way to hide this, what real choice do we have?

Sephiroth: I'm in your body. I'm Genesis.

Chadley: Not only that, but if Professor Hojo finds out, I'll definitely be punished. He doesn't know about the machine.

Sephiroth, smiling: I'm Genesis.

Genesis: Oh, I won't let that creep lay a finger on you. Don't worry, we'll keep a low profile.

Sephiroth, grinning like the Joker: I'm Genesis!

Genesis: Yes, Sephiroth. What's your point?

Sephiroth laughs, giddy with excitement as he plays with the dangling earrings on his right ear.

Sephiroth: I'm you! Do you know what that means? That I'm not expected to be Sephiroth. I'm free of all of Sephiroth's responsibilities! The spotlight binds me no more!

Genesis: Um, Sephiroth, don't you think we should talk—

• Sephiroth is running out the door before Genesis could lay down any sort of ground rules.

• Genesis grabs his coat and shirt and sprints after him.

Genesis: SEPHIROTH! GET BACK HERE WITH MY BODY! DON'T YOU DARE MODIFY ANYTHING ON MY PERSON! I'LL TATTOO A PENIS ON YOUR CHEST IF YOU DO! AND PUT MY SHIRT BACK ON! I HAVE AN APPEARANCE TO MAINTAIN!

• They disappear into the hallway, leaving Chadley alone.

• Chadley sighs, takes out his phone and resumes to look up wether or not Cyborgs can go to prison. Apparently they can.

• Chadley goes back to work immediately.

• Angeal is up bright and early, dutifully watering the lone office plant by the elevator. The doors swing open and out steps....

Angeal: SEPHIROTH?

Genesis: Yes, dear?

Angeal: ARE YOU COSPLAYING AS GENESIS?

• Genesis couldn't stand the feel of Sephiroth's uniform. Iconic as it was, he couldn't help but feel utterly indecent without a shirt. Plus, he couldn't not wear his red coat. It would be a sin.

• It is notable to mention that Genesis pinned Sephiroth's silver hair up in a claw clip. This will be important later on.

• Genesis looks down at his body.

Genesis: I...I am! I had an epiphany last night, you see. Though my chest area is impressive and delightful to stare at, it can get quite cold. So I borrowed Genesis's fabulous uniform. Have I ever mentioned how fashionable I find Genesis? He is the epitome of style and—

• Sephiroth in Genesis' body stumbles off the elevator wearing nothing but the uniform pants and eating a Banora White.

Sephiroth: You will not believe how quickly this body absorbs alcohol!

Angeal: Genesis please tell don't tell me you're drunk.

Sephiroth: Oh Genesis isn't drunk.

Angeal: What is up with you two? Today is not the day for this. We have a meeting with Lazard in ten minutes.

• Angeal walks off. Genesis panics, takes off his red coat and forcibly drapes it around Sephiroth.

Genesis: What is wrong with you!? Do you want to blow our cover!?

Sephiroth: I apologize. I just can't seem to control myself. Your body has a lot of chaotic energy that just makes me want to set things on fire.

Genesis: Ha-ha! I knew I wasn't crazy.

Sephiroth: Also, it is very fun being you. I can walk around the building quoting Loveless at the top of my lungs and throw apples at people. No one bats an eye.

Genesis: I'm glad someone's having fun. I tried to go get coffee this morning and almost shut down an entire street. And then I got a call from Professor Hojo who grilled me for an hour on the phone because I didn't show up last night for a blood collection. AND—

• Genesis tugs at the silver locks of hair framing his face.

Genesis: This THING is impossible to wash! I had to use an entire bottle of conditioner. How much money do you spend on conditioner!?

Sephiroth: Hm. Being Sephiroth isn't so fun, is it?

Genesis: It is not.

Sephiroth: Good. Let this be a lesson learned. By the way⏤*he reaches for the clip*⏤the claw clip might be hurting your skull as my hair is quite heavy.

• Genesis tries to back away, but it's too late.

Genesis: NO, DON'T⏤

• Sephiroth pulls the claw clip off. Instead of Sephiroth's long, luscious hair cascading down his back, shoulder-length hair falls around Genesis's face.

• The silence is loud.

Genesis: I can explain!

Sephiroth:

Genesis: I was trying to brush it out after I washed it last night, but it got too tangled and matted beyond saving and I didn't know what else to do!

Sephiroth:

Genesis: Your hair grows back quickly, right?

Sephiroth:

Genesis: Sephiroth please talk so I know you're not mad.

Sephiroth:

Genesis: Sephiroth you're scaring me.

Sephiroth:

Genesis, crying: SephiROTH.

Sephiroth: It took ten years to get my hair to that length.

Sephiroth: Ten years from now, they will still be finding your body parts.

• Genesis is disheveled, covered in scratches and holding a built-up ball of firaga in his hand. Sephiroth is after him.

Sephiroth: I'm going to kill you.

Genesis: HELP! HELP! HEL⏤

• Genesis just about dodges Sephiroth's sword slicing the air next to him. It appears Sephiroth is serious.

Genesis: OH YEAH? WELL I ALSO POSTED A BUNCH OF THIRST-TRAP PHOTOS ON YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA THIS MORNING!

• Sephiroth swings the sword again, this time it crashes into a glass window.

Sephiroth: REALLY? WELL I SHOPLIFTED A SCARF FROM THE GIFT SHOP LAST NIGHT. WHEN YOU'RE BACK IN THIS PATHETIC VESSEL, YOU'LL BE KNOWN AS A THIEF!

• Sephiroth dodges the ball of fire launched his way. It incinerates the plant Angeal had been keeping.

Genesis: OKAY! YOU'LL BE PLEASED TO KNOW THAT I FLIRTED WITH SCARLET! AND I GAVE HER YOUR PHONE NUMBER! HAVE FUN ON YOUR DATE NEXT WEDNESDAY!

• Sephiroth swings the sword in an arc, nipping Genesis in the shoulder.

Sephiroth: AND I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I SENT OUT A MASS E-MAIL TO RED LEATHER THIS VERY MORNING!

Genesis: YOU DIDN'T.

Sephiroth: I DID! I TOLD THEM THAT CARPET DOES NOT, IN FACT, MATCH THE DRAPES!

Genesis: YOU DIDN'T.

Sephiroth: I TOLD THEM YOUR HAIR IS NATURALLY BROWN.

• Genesis' response is a guttural scream as he tackles Sephiroth to the ground.

• Back in the conference room, Zack is slumped in his seat at the table. Lazard won't start the meeting without Sephiroth and Genesis and he's bored.

• Lazard sighs and checks his watch.

Lazard: Angeal, perhaps you should go out and look for them.

• A distant sound of an explosion is heard, followed by shattering glass, a wall breaking and what's clearly a muffled scream.

Angeal, sighing: Zack, why don't you do the honors?

Zack: Wha...For real!? Awesome! I've never broken up a Sephiroth and Genesis fight before!

Lazard: Well, today's your lucky day. *he checks his watch again* Please be quick.

Zack: On it!

*Zack shoots out of his seat and runs out the door*

Angeal: He's screwed.

Lazard: How so?

Angeal: Sephiroth and Genesis are inhabiting each other's bodies.

Lazard: What!? How is that possible? Did they tell you that?

Angeal: No.

Lazard: Then how did you figure it out?

Angeal: Because Sephiroth was wearing a shirt.

[ffviidirtyconfessions]

Rebirth has thoroughly drained my enjoyment of the remake trilogy. I no longer feel obligated to try and play the games anymore. I don't even want to play ever crisis. And honestly that's the one I was looking forward to the most, because that was supposed to have a game version of Advent children. But it doesn't seem like it's going to happen because of how shitty and terrible rebirth has been. I waited years for that game, just this whole remake in general, and now I just feel so drained. I, myself, only got 20 hours into the game. Just 20, and I pre-ordered the game. It is safe to say that I will no longer be playing a final fantasy game unless I see play through that I like of it.

I really, truly feel your pain here. After all's said and done, I honestly feel like the best thing Rebirth gave me was the chance to see Advent Children on the big screen. This is coming from a person who's been putting off buying a PS5 until I see a game that's worth it on it. This wasn't worth it. So I can't even imagine what it's like actually having bought it.

Even in those first 20 hours, I'm sure you already experienced so much of what I find weird, offensive at worst, and just off-putting about this game. It extends everything to such a strange point, the opening Nibel Mountain sequence being the first offender of all. Everything takes so much time to do and yet gains so little depth, oftentimes less than the original game, which had limited space. It's an insanely huge game that turns out to feel mostly empty. There's constant "upgradable collectables" around every corner, even serious story relevant corners, a required card game, chocobo racing everywhere I guess, and don't even get me started on the Chadley world intel thing that was literally for some reason just ripped out of Zelda Breath of the Wild (????). It wants to be 500 different other popular games and stops being a Final Fantasy game.

The story, too, is just as distracted. It has what I might call "interrupting cow" syndrome. Nothing is allowed to just sit. You have to see the next flashiest thing right away, even if it feels emotionally dissonant from whatever just happened. Oh yeah, let us not forget the random DEAD MOBILE GAME PULL that takes up SO MUCH TIME????? WHO THE FUCK IS GLENN LODBROK ACTUALLY OR AM I JUST A BAD FF7 FAN BECAUSE I DON'T THINK I AM- ahem. This general problem worries me most in the places that matter most to me- specifically in that they seem to want to erase Cloud's mental illness. His memory problems are suddenly credited to "degeneration" instead of what it is, which is trauma, what they always implied it to be in the first place. This escalates as the half-baked Zack alternate timeline whatever thing continues. I genuinely think they are really hurting the story by downplaying (if not removing) the emotional cores of loss and trauma in favor of... fighting fate?? The multiverse??? Something?????

All around it feels like it needed way more time in development. It feels rushed while being completely bloated with "content". It doesn't even look very good 90% of the time. I feel like they barely got used to the PS4's tools only to be stage-hooked by Sony over to the PS5.

The ending in particular (don't know whether or not you figured out what they did with it so I'll avoid spoilers) leaves me wholly unenthusiastic for the next installment. And yet I feel I can't completely look away from it. Something about train wrecks makes me need to look at them, but I completely respect your decision to step away, especially when it comes to your own hard earned money and time. If it's any consolation, you're not alone in disliking this.

Apologies for the length of this post. Unfortunately, I am an English major.

[gutsfics]

[MEIKER]

i mentioned once or twice that in my version of RCD, its actually Neel who plays Ragnar in Secrets of Ninradell instead of Chadley, & i think it kinda kicks off his acting career

so heres a poster for a dumbass hallmark movie hes in. he plays Sasha. idk who the other guy is, or what the name of the character he plays, but i love him already. feel free to send me ideas for names (for both him & the character he plays) & ideas for who he is as a person

i think Neel & this guy get along like a house on fire & neither of them are really taking this movie to seriously, but they have great chemistry & are clearly having a lot of fun with it

they ruined several takes of The Big Climactic Kiss At The End by making out way too sloppy hardcore. as a bit.

[dracoqueen22]

For Maia: Chadley/simulated!Cloud - Chadley programs a Cloud simulation to practice flirting with

Chadley has had approximately (exactly) forty (seven) conversations with Cloud Strife, but somehow, guiding the topic beyond their mutually beneficial research partnership has turned his tongue to knots. 

It’s unexpected, the way his heart flutters and his face warms, the very moment he spies his favorite speci– err, candidate. 

Cloud either does not notice or is kind enough not to comment. 

Chadley decides (hopes) it is the former over the latter. Cloud is kind in his own way, but Chadley would prefer to present a fully capable front. Unfortunately, he is too organic to simply reprogram the stutters out of his vocabulary, and while he’s read every instructional manual he was capable of downloading, none of them have presented a solution to solve this particular quandary. 

The simulator is MAI’s idea. 

“If it’s good enough for Cloud, it’s good enough for you,” she says. “And let’s face it, buddy, you need the practice.” 

“I do not,” Chadley grits out. 

(He definitely does.)

Virtual!Cloud is a near-perfect copy of the real Cloud. Chadley borrows data from the battle simulator and every recorded interaction, plus his own personal observations, to approximate a digital version of his favorite candidate. 

Theoretically, with enough practice in the virtual world, Chadley will behave with dignity in the natural world. No more hot cheeks. No more stammering thoughts. Nothing but a scientist who is cool, calm, and collected. 

“Just don’t get up to anything NSFM, alright? I’m watching, you know,” MAI says. 

Chadley does not recognize the acronym. “NSFM?” 

“Not safe for MAI!” She giggles and vanishes with a burst of glittery, virtual particles. 

Now it’s just Chadley and Virtual!Cloud in an empty, virtual space. 

“Hmm.” Chadley activates the holo panel and considers available settings. “It won’t do any good to practice in an obviously fabricated environment. I need more realistic parameters.” 

He considers his options and dismisses anything related to Midgar. The city holds too many unpleasant connotations. No, what they need is a fresh start. Somewhere bright and cheerful with fresh air and sunlight. 

Somewhere outside Kalm, perhaps. There are quite a few scenic spots that have been noted by local photographers, so Chadley picks one and builds it into the virtual space. There. A cliff overlooking the ocean with lots of grass and flowers underfoot. Perfect. 

The setting blooms to life around them and Chadley deactivates the holo panel. Now it’s just him and Virtual!Cloud on a cliff on a bright, sunny day. Perfect. 

Chadley stares at Virtual!Cloud and Virtual!Cloud… doesn’t stare back. His face is too blank for that. Empty. 

Unactivated. 

Oh!

Chadley taps the controls and Virtual!Cloud blinks. He looks around as if he’s confused, that little pinch between his brows. 

“Cloud!” Chadley waves to get his attention. “What a surprise to run into you here!” 

No, that’s inane. 

Virtual!Cloud looks back at him. “How did I get here?” he asks. He plants his hands on his hips, but he looks more bewildered than angry. 

Hmm. Perhaps a touch too realistic. 

Chadley pauses, rewrites a few lines of code, and tries again. 

“Cloud!” He smiles and waves. “It’s nice to see you again. I have worked hard on all of the data you’ve been collecting. I think you’re really going to like what I’ve created.” 

Wait. No. That’s just business. 

Chadley frowns. He’s doing this all wrong. Also, he didn’t re-activate Virtual!Cloud. Gods, Cloud makes him so flustered. Even a virtual one. 

He tries again. Minor adjustments uploaded. Virtual!Cloud activated. Chadley takes in a deep breath, exhales, and starts over. 

“Cloud! I’m glad to see you’re looking well,” he says, which is both true because Virtual!Cloud is a near copy of actual Cloud, and because Cloud gets into very dangerous situations, and Chadley often worries. Though he knows he shouldn’t. 

Cloud is more than capable of taking down anything. 

“... Thanks,” Virtual!Cloud says. “Uh, is that all?”

“Actually,” Chadley starts and stumbles. Even in practice this is difficult. “I was hoping you would be willing to assist me in a new venture.” 

Virtual!Cloud tilts his head, a cute pinch of confusion between his eyebrows. Programmed perfectly. “You want me to kill something?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” Chadley says, waving his arms. “It’s something of an, eh, personal nature…?” He trails off and gives Virtual!Cloud a look. 

People initiate dating protocols via lots of subtle words and gestures, Chadley’s read. He needs to master these if he has any chance of being successful. 

Virtual!Cloud squints. “Personal?” 

“Yes,” Chadley says with  more confidence than he feels. “I would be honored if you’d accompany me on a personal errand. I would be happy to include a meal and a beverage afterward.” 

Food and drink, both key factors of social interaction with interpersonal relationships. Also, sustenance is an important part of daily functioning. Cloud looks like he could use a few hearty meals and some relaxation, perhaps on a beach? 

Oh, no.

Cloud on a beach. He certainly couldn’t wear his usual uniform. He’d have to dress more comfortably. Show more… skin. Even more skin than when he was wearing that dress, with the make up and the hair and–

Oh, dear. 

“Your face is red,” Virtual!Cloud says, much more astute than the actual Cloud. 

Chadley spins around, hits pause on the simulation, and tries to get ahold of himself. He finger-combs his hair, takes a few deep breaths, waits for the heat to leave his cheeks. 

This is going to be a lot harder than he thought. 

Chadley’s going to need a heck of a lot more practice. 

***

[amidst-wonderland]

final fantasy: rebirth {a mess of emotions, not in chronological order}

this is more story-based, so heads-up spoilers below.

“question. does that make me a dumbass?”

not aerith asking about reno

chadley nearly outing cissnei and cloud getting real confrontational about it.

cloud is so much more conversational in this, i felt in remake he was bordering on joker level’s of player-character. he’s a lot more laidback, which is understandable since he didn’t really know anyone but tifa and midgar’s only like what a week long?

the game now feels like an ensemble piece rather an a cloud simulator.

cloud not realising he’s the one loner friend

americans aren’t the best swearers - put to much emphasis on the swear itself but cloud does it so well.

he’s a prickly, backchatting bitch in this game and i love every single second of it. he’s not mopey, stubborn and grumpy. he’s ‘i’m going to actively make myself your problem if you cross me, so don’t.’

barret immitating yuffie?! or, “oh, wow. tell us more.” it’s giving abridged.

yuffie’s little naruto run!

yuffie and cloud’s growing sibling dynamic is the cutest shit. like, he should be be pissed at her but immediately protected her from the captain.

all i hear is priscilla’s dad’s irish accent from abridged when ever someone says her name or, “mr dolphin, ye daft bastard.”

rufus shinra… the man that you are.

every rude and elena scene, just, yes. her with the ice-lolly, the corneo fight, rude’s pub club?! babysitting palmer. (also, they call it the clean-shaven club when rude literally has a beard).

i genuinely thought we were gonna at least get that iconic reno and rude scene outside of gongaga (and as a long-shot a reunion with cissnei - i stand by the fact tseng absolutely knows where she is.)

that final turks training facility was a bitch to find.

don’t get me wrong, yuffie, barret, tifa and red’s trials were sad but aerith’s absolutely wrecked me. like i’ve got a stuffy nose already and i literally couldn’t breathe with the tears.

same with dyne and barret, like what you mean you want me to fight palmer?! i’m sitting here ugly crying about two men who love their daughter and have been through hell and back.

i’d love to see cissnei and leslie get involved with the wutai turk team-up

as much as i love aerti’s ‘improved over og’ friendship. it’s not passing the bechdel test anytime soon.

fuck queen’s blood.

cloud saying “down boy” sir- THE WHIMPERING!

the kids locking yuffie in with the hooded men on the cruise.

nanaki walking in the cabin on two legs fucking kills me. i also caught barret admiring himself in the mirror.

the fact the name tag is, “???” when we can hear yuffie cheering on cloti.

did they kiss?!

so, we finally see loveless and it was everything i ever wanted. genesis, i’m sorry, you were right.

“death doesn’t suit a turk”

cloud jr is too cute and i love my chocobro protagonists

speaking of, i’m in two heads about ffxv. you can see a lot of the inspiration the team got from that game but i think they left out the one thing that made ffxv perfect, which was the constant chatter during traversal

cloud turning on tifa during the gongaga reactor mission is giving the ffxv: omen trailer

i need a tonberry robot for my desk

jessie’s poster! i really thought she’d be alive with biggs

cloud calling gus a prick is when it clicked for me, like cloud’s got bite

i need esther’s red boots

cid is played by j. michael tatum?! sebastian- france- kyouya-

elena stuck in the heat yelling at rude, omg this is the turk moments i love.

as someone who is scottish, i can’t believe i witnessed cait sith tell cissnei to “wheesht”.

not the biggest fan of cissnei’s new colour scheme. would’ve gone with browns, accented gold buckles and mustard yellow personally

wished they’d’ve put in an turk easter egg in her house.

cosmo canyon’s lantern scene is so pretty.

gold-fucking-saucer. woah

sitting at the water tower with aerith felt wrong, and i know that was intentional.

omfg vincent, why he kinda dressed like gyuvin in en garde?

jesus, roche.

still not keen on seph’s voice - mainly because i don’t like tyler and also zack is better but i’m still not keen

symbiote!peter to “OMG GUYSSS HAIIII” is like fucking whiplash. two minutes ago we were crying over harry, now hotels?!

i knew that’s what marlene saw! and now zack knows! i am not okay!

was low-key waiting on elena throwing the keystone to reno to catch for a grand intro but he kinda just appears, and i loved every second of it.

the way both tifa and aerith have had to stop cloud murdering a turk.

cloud with blood by his own hand on his face is such a chilling image. it’s like seeing someone like superman with it.

avalanche versus reno and rude’s fight was giving advent children, like specifically reno and rude’s fight with loz and kazoo. (which i rewatched recently. rude’s face when reno steps on his glasses is the funniest thing in that film, also i can’t unhear fred from scooby-doo when loz speaks even though i know it’s not frank welker - it’s the dude that plays corneo).

[dutchdread]

Update Rebirth 1

Since I just ran into my first gamebreaking bug in rebirth I thought this would be a good moment to share some thoughts. Right now I was trying to investigate my first Mako spring, Chadley contacted me telling me to scan it, I button pressed through his dialogue and then the game got stuck on me watching the backside of a chocobo. Tried to use cutscene skip but it's stuck on a black screen with loading animation.

Anyway, so far my take on the game is this "Good game, bad telling of FFVII". While I am enjoying my experience for the most part I've noticed that any iconic scene from the OG is generally handled better in the OG, especially when it comes to cinematography. Sephiroth walking through the fire was more effective when literally all you saw was him, the fire, and blackness behind it. When Sephiroth walks out of Shinra mansion the shot composition of the original along with the animation gave his stride a sense of purpose and unease. In general the atmosphere when the horror starts is simply better in the OG. This was a problem in Remake as well, especially in the shinra building. The main problem seems to be that SE has forgotten how to build suspense, and as a main example of that, lets look at the scene of Tifa telling Aerith that "as far as she knows, Cloud wasn't in Nibelheim". Why is this scene there? This is far too spoonfed for the mystery aspect of the OG. In the OG we don't know that there is anything strange about the Nibelheim story, the realization that something is wrong creeps up on the player. It results from small inconsistencies and strange behaviors like Tifas behavior, but it is never spelled out. When you are told "there is a mystery here", then there is a comfort in knowing that everything is going according to the wishes of the story, nothing feels "wrong" because you're supposed to not know. The trick in creating great suspense is uncertainty. Imagine if we changed nothing about the scene in kalm except for straight up removing Tifa telling Aerith about Cloud. We, the player, would be in the same situation as Cloud, we wouldn't know that Tifa and Aerith had talked. We would be in our rooms and Tifa knocking on our door would be a surprise. Then Tifa tells us she needs to ask us something but we interrupt, and the question is never asked. Because we're in Clouds shoes our suspicions would be on Tifa, but since we had the talk with Aerith now we instead suspect ourselves. The problem is that SE is approaching this as if we've already played FFVII, which is why I saw that while this is a good game, it's a bad telling of FFVII. So far, the things added to change it up have reduced the focus of the original narrative. I think this lack of focus is also present in the mechanics of the game itself, which have become far more cluttered, confusing, and needlessly convoluted. Still enjoying it though, will try to talk about some of the positives next time.

[officialtayley]

Speaking on Tayley awakening I saw someone mention on Twitter how a big Pmore Tumblr used to shit on Tayley and the shippers but now is a big Tayley shipper.

They shipped Chadley hard and stanned him too

Like I get most people on the fandom where like that . Hence why other twt accounts have said they were Tayley truthers but didn’t talk about it because people would gang on them.

But liking that man ? What was there to like ?

Dating someone who was barely legal when they got together? Cheating on his ex wife ? Making fun of Jword? Something that definitely didn’t help with the way the band was at the time.

there were quite a few big pmore blogs that would real pissy at tayley shippers and even just the concept of tayley being a thing.

one i remember vividly, because they blocked me, was fuckyeahhayleywilliams (not their username anymore). she was extremely against tayley as a couple, would swear until she was blue in the face that they'd never be a thing, aren't a thing, it would be weird, men & woman can be just friends fans are so gross, etc etc etc, but she also heavily shipped hayley and lindsey, she also made some assumptions that some of the halfnoise guys are into men (like excluding the obvious) and had been fooling around with each other, p sure she was one of the ppl who also assumed taylor is gay too, and iirc in 2019 or 2020 she had said smth like "hayley is clearly single right now" and whatever else added onto it when she absolutely wasn't. but yeah now they are all for tayley, i think they were a little before they confirmed it in that interview in 2022. i don't remember if they liked chad or not but they're just one example of a big acc that was like that. it was exhausting trying to be a tayley blog on here when big pmore blogs hated the mere idea that tayley could be a couple

[gcldfanged]

Cloud's boyfriend is here [REBIRTH SPOILERS]

Roche is SO LOUD, lmao... "HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP ME WAITIIIING~???" MY HONEY PIE, MY MACHO MAN-

Aerith is literally an afterthought to this guy, djsjsksa

SALMON!!!! GOOD PUPPERS. BOW WOW-WOW, BOW WOW-WOW~

Barrett: OH MARLENE, I WISH YOU COULD BE MY BABY GIRL 4EVER ; _ ; i love him

SALMON, STAY OUT OF THE WAY, OMG

'merc of junon' more like squatter of junon

These are great sidequests and all, but I want to see Rufus and the Turks, where are my babs

Okay, I have NO idea wtf happened with Ru and Glenn in EC so I'm completely lost.

God, Glenn- you look like shit.

Okay this is not Glenn, he is way too fucking dramatic. Like... I'm getting Sephiroth Clone vibes too, so?????

Rufie mad! SO, SO MAD. V. ANGY.

"My wife is completely obsessed with the new president" Girl, me too

There are pub sec EVERYWHERE and they are just letting these wanted fugitives run around?

"Hooah". *comes from a Jarhead family* not as iconic as OORAH but okay

"Cloud's biker buddy" tee hee

LOL why are the girls so excited.

NOOOO OMG, THIS ISN'T JUST A QTE, I'D FAIL-

Oh shit, Parade Captain?!

THIS SHIT IS TOO HARD...

OMG RUFUS CARDBOARD CUTOUT PRIZE GET! Okay but... do you think there's a body pillow?

BARRETT IN THE SAILOR OUTFIT YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS-

I think Cloud is enjoying bossing these troopers around a little too much.

CHADLEY, you are everywhere.

... omg... Rude's bald club.... He has an entire bar....

God, I'm so nervous and I'm not even playing this mini game

Tseng's ringtone is basically the equivalent of the fucking Empire's theme from Star Wars...

OMG Roche's unit won.

YAY, 7TH INFANTRY GETS THE COMMENDATION

[cinderella-gurei]

Continued from here with @calamitysshatteredson:

"Indeed!" Is the short reply of it, but of course he will not leave the other wanting for a broader reply. "There are so many things I've only truly known from monitors and books... I want to see things for myself." The older one had the right of it, Chadley had a burning desire to explore the world surrounding him. For that, he wanted new, better clothing and, probably, a bigger backpack.

"Are you sure? I think you are the best one suited for this!" Chadley replies, confidence oozing from the tone of his voice, one slightly higher than usual as his face tilts over, wide-eyed. There is excitement, a quiet joy written across his expression as he awaits for Sephiroth to find an ensemble for him.

It doesn't take long for the man to turn the tablet over to him and, what comes out of Chadley is a gasp of awe. He raises his hands high up to the sky and then turns over, nodding. "That is exactly what I desired! Something practical but pretty, it is simply perfect!" He has to stop himself from simply running over to the man for an embrace. Instead, his hands go to his own chest, a small squeal escaping him.

It was such a high emotional response, he had to close his eyes shut for a bit before returning to normalcy, raising his head towards Sephiroth. He clears his throat, hoping the previous display wasn't too unbecoming of him. "Can we afford it? Is it not troublesome for you?"

[cwarscars]

han what if i told you to write some positivity for a follower of your choice 👀 do it do it do it

Send me a url and I'll write some positivity for it.

id tell u this -

NOT BUT REALLY -

im gonna choose you because 1 - i am simple brained. literally have like one brain cell that is torn between food, sleeping and gaming. i am very stupid so LOGICALLY, its easy to choose ur URL cause ur here before me, presented like a beautiful turkey. NUmber 2 - I WANNA TALK ABOUT YOU, MOOGS SO I AM GOING TO. >:)

MOOGLE. another og of the remake fandom; another - as i like to say - 'legend'.

literally, your love, appreciation, passion, spirit and just fuckin general FEEL for roche has always, ALWAYS been something ive loved and admired. i feel that your passion for roche is similar to my weird obsession with heid - but it's so much more articulate / well-rounded / thought out. you have this way with roche, like, you adopted him back then as your bab (unloved by the fandom but adored by you) and i just love that so goddamn much. your analysis of his character and headcanons are something i absolutely cannot get enough of. when i saw him in game, i found myself thinking 'i wonder what moogle thinks of this choice, or that choice-' i saw certain things and desperately wanted to message you but didn't wanna spoil you so i laid of. HELL a part of me was close to grabbing shots of the keyring (you know the one lol) just to send you cause i saw it and literally said 'moogle would love that shit'.

it's just so heart-warming to me to see somebody have a passion for a character others 'don't like'. a lot of characters get an unfair rap from people, be they og fans w/no time for those characters or remake fans who just want to shit on any character they dont like (srsly the chadley hate actually makes me fuckin twitch). despite it, you power on. you love this character unapologetically, you're passion overrides any losers dislike for the character. that gets a big fuckin high five from me

AND in terms of writing - your writing is just so magical. you write professionally and a lot of the time when replying to you, i find myself taking a minute to take in what you've read and savour it - you know like homies do with a fine glass of wine? its like that. im huffing that writing and swirling it round my glass like, 'gosh DARN the good cush-'. you're so insanely talented, and your art, too! everytime i see it, im like snorting it up. you got that oldschool anime style that makes my brain vibrate inside of my SKULL.

moogle, i could honestly shout to the heavens about how rad you are as a person / writer / roleplayer. i adore your passion, adore your energy and i like that im moots with someone here who has the same wild-brained approach i do (lol), its nice to feel comfortable with another writer and always have your support / general presence on my dash cause your vibes so good ( your swag too strong, theyll kill u). just yeah, Ima stop writing now but for real - you're fuckin cool.

[starvingtongue]

ooc: finished rebirth yesterday and I'm not quite sure how I feel about still. disappointed might be the best way to describe it? I felt a little bit robbed of what I thought was going to happen and seeing everyone's reaction to it. I'm not particularly fond of the whole 'multiverse' thing going, Zack's sections felt a bit out of place, it felt like there were way too many minigames and not all of them good (Queens blood was amazing tho), Chadley and Mai could get very annoying at times and didn't need to pop up in half the places they did, Cid felt way less brash and abrasive then he should've been.

but I'm glad we got to spend some proper time with these characters and that it had some proper translations. the graphics looked amazing, most characters felt richer and deeper compared to the OG, Yuffie's date scene was especially cute (I got Aerith for anyone wondering).

I can't say if my activity will pick up from here on out but we'll see.

[rottenpumpkin13]

Your Freaky Friday was SO good, it made me laugh so hard. I needed that lol. Can I ask what happens if Zack and Angeal swap too?

Zack And Angeal Swap Bodies

[continued from this post]

• After Zack had to sleepel Sephiroth and Genesis to break up the fight, he and Angeal drag the two unconscious bodies down to the lab where Chadley's machine is so he can undo the whole process.

• After an hour of trial and error, Sephiroth and Genesis finally walk out of the lab in their own bodies. Sephiroth trudges off to see if it's possible to surgically reattach his chopped hair, Genesis plans on finding the scarf that Sephiroth stole and properly paying for it.

• Angeal and Zack stay back to help with the cleanup. Chadley gets an idea. He tells them that he's finally fixed the machine and got it to work the way it's supposed to, and asks them if they wouldn't mind being his test subjects.

• Angeal is reluctant. Zack, on the other hand, is already laying down with his head in the dome. "Getting Angeal's focus and skill? Sign me up!"

• Seeing how it'll be difficult to change Zack's mind, Angeal sighs and agrees. After all, he trusts Chadley. Sephiroth and Genesis probably had hand in the machine malfunctioning + Chadley fixed it right. What could possibly go wrong?

• Sephiroth and Genesis lay down spread-eagle on the floor in the SOLDIER rec room. Genesis has a cold towel on his head, Sephiroth has an eye mask on as he focuses on growing out his hair. Both are exhausted.

Genesis: You know...I'm really going to miss falling asleep in your body.

Sephiroth: Really?

Genesis: Yeah, the soothing, maternal voice that lulls you to sleep while telling you to murder everyone is very calming.

Sephiroth:

Sephiroth: The WHAT?

• Zack runs in the room, frantically looking around before locating the two men down on the ground.

Zack: Guys! Guys, have you seen Zack!?

• Sephiroth and Genesis sit up.

Genesis: What do you mean, Puppy? You're Zack.

Zack: NO THE FUCK I'M NOT. I'M—

Sephiroth & Genesis: Language!

Zack: Listen to me, you idiots! Chadley's machine—

Genesis: Idiots!? I beg your pardon?

Sephiroth: You can't speak to us like that, Zack. We may be your friends, but we're still your superiors and this is a work environment.

Zack: Superior!? In what world is Genesis superior to me!?

Genesis: HEY! Since when are you so prickly?

Sephiroth: Angeal wouldn't approve of insubordination, Fair.

• Zack grabs them both by their coat collars and pulls them in roughly.

Zack: I'M ANGEAL.

• At that moment, Angeal saunters in, casually whistling as he walks.

Angeal: Hello, men.

Zack: ZACK! Thank goddess. Tell them what happened! Tell them how the machine malfunctioned again!

Angeal: I have no idea what you're talking about, Zack. Chadley's machine is working perfectly fine.

Zack: ZACKARY FAIR. IF YOU DON'T CONFESS RIGHT NOW, I'M GOING TO—

Angeal: To what, Zack? To punish me? I'm your mentor, you're my student.

Zack: I'm gonna pass out.

Angeal: Actually, now that I think about it...Angeal, Sephiroth, would you mind doing me a favor? Take Zack here and have him deep clean every single item on this floor.

Zack: WHAT?

Sephiroth: Alright. That sounds just.

Genesis: Agreed. Come on, Puppy.

• Sephiroth and Genesis link their arms with Zacks and drag him away.

Zack: Wait! Guys! You have to believe me! I'm Angeal! No! No! Noooooooooo...... *they drag him out of the room*

• "Angeal" is alone now.

Angeal: Sweet! I'm a genius!

Angeal: ...

Angeal: ...

Angeal: I should go flirt with Director Lazard and freak him out!

[beebthatscreams]

Like a million years ago the wonderful @altocat was answering a lot of ask about aus where Sephiroth had a sibling or siblings. And I saw one that made my braincells actually work about how Sephiroth's life or behavior would have changed with a much more science minded sibling that worked more directly under Hojo almost like Chadley.

I ended up making like an entire OC who I have a lot more stuff on than what's here but I'm not sure if I wanna keep posting it cause canon changing OCs are such a hassle and I know most people aren't super fond of them.

But here’s basically the story up to CC:

In this au Sephiroth is one in a pair of fraternal twins. (because we all know there’s no way in hell an entire separate instance of baby is happening there. I don’t care about the Costa de la sol scene Hojo doesn’t get bitches.)

Sephiroth and his sister Eden are both very promising and performed mostly on par for a large part of their childhood. While going through testing has little if any enjoyable parts they often minded the least what the other hated the most.

Eden goes through mandatory classes and mental tests like a game and tends to dread most physical tests and training. While Sephiroth tends to mentally clock out for class whenever he can get away with it and can’t wait for chances to burn all the frustration from being cooped up in the lab.

Sephiroth picks up his habit of being of very few words very young and it often leads to Eden speaking for him when it comes to interacting with the scientist, especially Hojo, in order to get things across. The both of them often cover up or try to explain situations where the other would get in trouble. Results on successful cover up or getting out of punishment vary.

All in all they’re extremely close siblings and when they’re introduced to the public and soon after put on the field fighting in Wutai, it seems like nothing will be changing.

Sephiroth is always quick to divert press and questions to Eden. Eden is always quick to trade for missions that were recon or stealth orientated.

Things begin to split.

Eden, despite what she would ever admit, clearly wants any approval and validation from Hojo she can get ahold of. Especially with having much more interest in science and tech than the battlefield she was designed for. Monsters with oddities or mutations she often records or even snags a small sample off of to bring back to the science department like a cat with a dead bird. She’s a weasel, says exactly what needs to be heard to get what she wants. Praise, attention, recognition, she spends hours pouring over papers and journals, volunteers to help with anything she can get her hands on in that lab. She’s a little too comfortable with “playing the game” of science department politics and has the intention to win. It gets under Sephiroth's skin, that after all they’ve been through somehow she still is so enamored by anything that happens under the watch of that awful man.

Sephiroth quickly becomes the star of the war. His combat is efficient, and extremely destructive. But most of all it’s an escape, it’s a sign of his worth, his strength, that he is not the child in the lab cowering behind his sister. And he never will be again. The death doesn’t matter to him, the reason doesn’t matter to him. While in theory he understands that he is killing and this war, but he’s so divorced from comprehending what that really means. This is the closest to freedom he’ll ever get. No one is telling him what to do mid battle. He takes no pleasure in the violence but it’s his only purpose and only goal. It’s the only thing that gets him out of watchful eyes. The carelessness of it horrifies Eden, she can’t comprehend how he sees the war as anything but a loss of life no matter how much propaganda they were raised on. Life is fascinating and complicated and each one has vast connections and he doesn’t care.

Genesis and Angeal being added to the mix hurts and helps.

It softens up Sephiroth a little emotionally, instils a little empathy. It gives something positive for Eden to associate with SOLDIER work. They get jealous over each other in their own petty and quiet ways. Jealous of their new friends paying attention to the other, but also for the first time not being the only people in each other's lives. But in general it seems to be mending things.

Then a mission goes extremely wrong.

SOLDIER accelerated healing is a blessing and a curse. It keeps Eden from dying from an otherwise lethal injury even for a SOLDIER, but when your spine is shattered and it begins healing immediately around all those shards out of place, it creates irreversible damage.

Things can be done of course. With all the technology and magic that Shinra has available it’s surely fixable.

To an extent.

Eden is lucky to be able to walk at all even after all the surgeries and healing. They assure her her recovery will be quick because of her enhancements. They assure her she will be able to fight again and she’ll be moving around without pain and without aid in no time.

She doesn’t believe them.

Hojo trusts her under no one else’s watch but she can’t be useless while she recovers. He needs a lab assistant anyway, the last one chickened out. It will only be a few months.

A few months turns into a year.

And then two.

And Eden has only just now been able to make it through days without a cane but only when feeling at her best.

It hits everyone that the lab job is permanent.

Just like that they’ve had their first loss of a first class, and she’s still alive and well. Reviewing sim data and making sure what used to be her peers are in good health.

Sephiroth has a sneaking suspicion she’s happier this way. And he should be happy for her not having to be in the war. Not having to kill when it affected her so much. But he can’t, because all he can see in her is just the next Hojo. He’s holding his breath for the day she also crosses that line of ethics. That line of hubris. It isn’t hard to see her inch closer and closer.

[alj4890]

Day 5: Photograph

Choices Red Carpet Diaries Appreciation Week

(Victoria Fontaine x MC*Jessica Clarke x Chadley Fortnum) *platonic*

With the prompt: "What on earth are you wearing?" "What do you mean?" "That horrendous...thing must have been made by a blind person."

A/N I love how Victoria has so little patience and how incredibly stupid Chadley is. I wanted them to have scenes together in RCD ever since he was first introduced. In my head canon, these two are pushed together often because of their friendship with the MC and since Victoria was attempting to be nicer in Book 3, Chadley is just the one to test her sincerity 🤣

@choicesrcd2022 @hopelessromantic1352 @promptnonny @tessa-liam @twinkleallnight @trappedinfanfiction @flyawayboo @krsnlove

Rating PG for some language

Masterlist

An Ugly Time of Year

"Hey, where's your Christmas decorations?" Jessica asked.

"You're looking at them." Victoria replied.

Jessica's brow furrowed as she scanned the room.

"What am I looking at?" She asked.

Victoria rolled her eyes. "Those boxes over there."

"Oh!" Jessica eagerly went out to the sunroom to peek inside. "I can't wait to see your home decorated!"

"Since you talked about us needing a Christmas party, I realized my home would be the best place for it."

Jessica hid a smile over how easily Victoria fell in with her hints. Her beach side mansion was too beautiful not to show off.

"My mom went all out each year with decorations." Jessica continued, carefully lifting boxes listed fragile out of the crates.

"Let me guess." Victoria joined her with two cups of coffee. "You had Santa's, reindeer, and fat snowmen everywhere."

"Of course we did!" Jessica smiled at her. "It's the time of year to go all out with the lights and inflatable Christmas decorations. Our tree though was the focal point. Multicolored lights with ornaments both old and new. Some had glitter. Others were made of wood. Then the..."

Jessica trailed off when she opened the first set of ornaments. They were a muted cream color. The next box held some pale blue ones. Raising her eyes up, she took in the same color scheme throughout the downstairs part of Victoria's home.

"Oh good. You found them." Victoria dug into another crate. "And here's the lights and a few little trinkets we can set on the tables."

She dusted her hands off and motioned with her head for Jessica to follow.

"Wait!" Jessica exclaimed."Is that it?"

"Is what it?"

"Your decorations?"

"Yes." Victoria narrowed her eyes in silent warning. "Why?"

"No reason!"

For some reason Jessica felt the need to hold her hands up. She wasn't certain if it was in surrender or to ward off an attack.

"I just expected more...color."

Victoria rolled her eyes. "Look, I get that in Kansas you--"

"Iowa." Jessica corrected.

Victoria glared at her for interrupting.

"Whatever corn shucking place you came from. I get that you probably had a display so garish that it made people blink nonstop just to be able to take it all in."

She motioned around her luxurious home. "But I worked too hard to have my home cluttered with clashing colors and fat cartoon characters."

She sank down upon her blue couch. "I took the colors I not only look amazing in but also match my private beach to decorate my entire home. Naturally I'm going to keep it looking perfect for the holidays."

Jessica frowned at the thought. "Don't you enjoy Christmas?"

"Yeah, sure." Victoria flicked her hand, dismissing the sentimentality of the day.

"Well..." Jessica sat down across from her easily annoyed friend. "How did your family decorate when you were little?"

Victoria huffed, lip curled in a sneer.

"They threw everything they could find up, claiming it was beautiful."

Jessica perked up hearing that. "That sounds nice."

"Nice?!" Victoria rolled her eyes. "You Nebraska people and--"

"Iowa."

"--and your need to parade your junk from the attic every year."

"It isn't junk!" Jessica argued. "It's memories! You see something that makes you recall a special time." Her eyes narrowed. "It's what makes decorating for Christmas so special!"

Victoria snorted in response.

"What does that mean?" Jessica cried out.

"That snort means it's stupid." Victoria snapped.

"Ugh." Jessica threw her hands up in the air. "Fine. Let's just go get a tree and decorate."

"I already set one up." Victoria motioned toward a corner of her sunroom.

"Wait! That's your tree? In here?!"

"Geez Jess." Victoria huffed. "Don't have a stroke over this. I want all this out of my home. In here, at least, I don't have to see it unless I want to."

"Oh. My. God." Jessica ran her hands over her face. "I can't believe how Grinchy you are!"

Victoria ignored her, reaching over to drape her white tree in clear lights.

"Can we at least have some Christmas music on while we decorate?" Jessica pleaded.

"You are such a baby." Victoria muttered.

She flipped through her tablet until she found a station playing Christmas music.

"Happy now?"

"Thank you."

It wasn't long before Jessica got back into the happy Christmas spirit.

"You know, your tree really is beautiful like this."

"I know." Victoria replied. "I don't know why you got your panties in such a wad. I always know how to make things beautiful."

"Uh huh." Jessica shook her head. "Anyway, what kind of theme do you want this party to be?"

"Was it not clear by my decorations that it is a Christmas party?"

"Nevermind." Jessica muttered. "Don't forget about brunch Saturday."

"I'll be there."

"Good." Jessica paused on her way out. "And don't forget to dress festive."

"I'll dress appropriately." Victoria grumbled.

"Festive." Jessica repeated.

**************

Saturday...

"Victoria!"

The actress turned around, expecting to see a fan wanting her picture. She made certain her long blonde hair fell in a golden cascade over her left shoulder as her winter white dress flared out revealing long, tan legs.

Her picture perfect smile disappeared in a flash when she saw who had shouted her name.

It was that Chadley that Jessica was so crazy about. Granted the man was incredibly handsome and he even seemed to be talented.

But oh good lord. He was so stupid.

"Hey!" His smile over seeing her made Victoria feel a touch guilty for being irritated.

"...hey..." She mumbled.

There was something about his earnest, almost vulnerable innocence that caused her to try even harder to watch what she said around him. He took everything so seriously that most of her sarcasm was a wasted effort anyway.

Might as well be nice to the puppy-like creature.

Her eyes narrowed once she saw what type of shirt he had on.

""What on earth are you wearing?"

"What do you mean?" He asked. "It's clothes."

Victoria eyed the monstrosity that was half Hawaiian shirt mixed with some god awful old timey truck draped in lights hauling Christmas trees. She couldn't be certain but it looked like dancing reindeer around the collar.

"That horrendous...thing must have been made by a blind person."

Chadley looked down at his shirt. His happiness over seeing her again slowly turned to bewildered sadness.

"Jess said to wear something festive."

Victoria rolled her eyes. "There's festive and then there's whatever the hell that thing is."

She immediately regretted her comments. She'd sworn earlier in the year to be a better person. And here she was, acting like her old self and insulting someone to their face.

"My mom mailed me this shirt." He explained. "She said it would look great on me."

Victoria ran her fingers through her hair while scrambling for a way to not only apologize to Chadley but to also save face.

"Look, I uh, I guess it really is festive." She forced a smile as they got into the elevator together. "Great, er, job, Chadley."

She added a few pats on the back to hopefully send the message home.

He winced and moved away from her after the second pat.

"Crap." Victoria muttered. "I'm sor--"

Her eyes widened the moment the doors opened and he brushed past her. His long legged stride had him inside Jessica's penthouse apartment faster than Victoria could react.

Dropping her head forward, she counted only prime numbers in her head until she got her temper under control.

She was going to have to run him down and make him accept her apology.

The last thing she needed was to be reprimanded by everyone.

****************

"Looks like everyone's here." Jessica beamed at all of them as she handed out mimosas.

Addison looked around the room. "Where's the Professor?"

"Hunt said he was too busy to join us." Seth replied. "Wedding plans."

"What about Holly?" Teja asked.

"Ryan whisked her away for a romantic getaway at Big Bear." Matt told her.

Jessica poured herself some orange juice in a champagne glass.

"So..." Her smile grew as she slipped her hand in Seth's. "We've got some news to share."

"Matt and Addison already know." Seth added.

"And we've done a beautiful job of keeping it a secret." Matt winked at Addison.

"What's going on?" Teja asked.

"We're having a baby!" Jessica and Seth yelled out at the same time.

"For real? No way!" Teja swooped in to hug them both. "Congratulations!"

"What Teja said." Victoria hugged Jessica.

Chadley came up beside her and hugged the couple. He didn't make eye contact with Victoria nor did he remain close once he finished hugging Seth.

Jessica wiped at her tears, laughing when Seth claimed all the credit for the pregnancy.

"When's the baby due?" Addison asked as they all gathered around to look at the ultrasounds.

"June." Jessica settled back in Seth's arms.

"I'm so excited!" Addison began to go into great detail all the outfits she was going to make for Jessica and the baby.

"What about me?" Seth asked. "Doesn't the father get anything?"

"You already got the best wife." Teja teased. "You better hope the kid takes after her. Then you'll know you really won something."

As the rest of the group teased the expectant parents, Chadley and Victoria were unusually quiet.

And of course, Jessica picked up on it right away.

"Is everyone ready to eat?" She walked over and linked arms with Chadley. "I made your favorite."

He perked up some. "Egg whites no butter or oil with kale and turkey sausage?"

"Yep." She urged him to join the others.

She then cornered Victoria.

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

Jessica narrowed her eyes.

"Ugh, fine. I might have made a couple of comments on the way here about his shirt."

"Victoria!" Jessica harshly whispered. "You know how he takes everything we say to heart!"

"It just slipped out." Victoria mumbled. "I mean, look at that shirt!"

"Victoria." Jessica said with a hint of reproach.

"I tried to apologize!" Victoria snapped. "But he just won't let me."

"You have to make this up to him." Jessica argued. "He adores you."

"Bleh. I know." She sighed. "Fine. I'll think of something to make this better."

*************

The night of the Christmas party...

"Attention everyone!" Victoria tapped her glass with a knife.

The crowd turned towards her.

She stood on the fifth step of her stairs so she could see everyone.

"It's time for the Secret Santa exchange." She motioned towards her open sunroom. "Presents are under the tree."

Biting her bottom lip, she watched quietly as a very depressed Chadley was pulled along by Jessica and Seth.

It had been an uphill battle just to get him to come to the party. He wouldn't answer her texts or talk to her. He refused every invitation to dinner and lunch she gave.

Victoria knew she really hurt him when he asked Jessica to ask her to take his name off the guest list.

So, she did what any hard working woman in Hollywood would do. She begged Jessica for a favor in getting him to come to the party. She then found out who his Secret Santa was, demanded they trade with her, and set out to find the perfect gift that would make him accept her apology.

If this didn't work, she didn't know what would.

"Here's yours, Chadley" Matt handed him a present wrapped in blue paper with a white bow on top.

Jessica glanced at the present then at Victoria. She couldn't help but be proud that Victoria was actually putting in some effort to make up with him.

Chadley's brow furrowed as he slowly began to unwrap it.

Victoria couldn't take the wait.

"For the love of all that is holy!" She bit out. "Hurry up and open the damn present!"

Chadley blinked at her then did as she asked.

His eyes widened as he lifted the sweater out of the box. They then filled with tears.

"Oh what the..." Victoria dropped her head in her hands.

The last thing she intended to do tonight was to make a grown man cry.

Before she could react, she was lifted off the ground and swept into a tight hug with way too many muscles.

"This is the best sweater I've ever gotten!"

He set her down, beaming once more at her in that sickeningly adorable way of his.

Chadley ripped off the dress shirt he had on with little thought to all the people watching. He then pulled the sweater over his head, modeling it for everyone to see.

"Merry Liftmas?" Seth choked on his laughter after receiving Jessica's elbow in his stomach.

"Look!" Chadley eagerly went around pointing out all he loved about it. "No lifts, no gifts! That's how my trainer motivates me!" He turned toward Victoria. "How did you know?"

Victoria shrugged. "Lucky guess."

He shook his head. "No. It's because we're best friends. Best friends know everything about each other."

Victoria mentally groaned yet kept a smile plastered on her face.

He continued on, stopping everyone trying to look at their own gifts to admire his instead.

Jessica made her way over to Victoria.

"So?" She couldn't stop smiling. "You uh, went full on tacky festive with your gift, didn't you?"

Victoria rolled her eyes as she watched Chadley in utter disbelief.

"Tis the season to be ugly, Jess." She sighed over spending money on something like that. "So freaking ugly."