#ff7 ramble

[umbralstars]

I have an illness

[accala]

Zack Fair had:

A girl who spent 4 years pining after him to the point she chased an afterimage of him (Aerith)

A girl who looked after his parents and his hometown due to sheer guilt and devotion (Cissnei)

A boy who spent 4 years trying to find him after he went missing (Kunsel)

And a boy who adopted his entire being and became his legacy after his death (Cloud)

Zack Fair was NOT playing.

[theghostavocadoe]

*SHAKING GENESIS WRITERS BY THE SHOULDERS* JUST BECAUSE GENESIS DOESN'T LIKE THE COUNTRYSIDE DOESN'T MEAN HE'S INEXPERIENCED WITH IT

this is the guy who nerded out about apples so hard that he INVENTED CANNED APPLE JUICE at the age of TWELVE stop acting like he wouldn't know how to drive a tractor or something

give me more Genesis who can sprint through gravel barefoot because he grew up doing so. give me more Genesis who is an absolute NERD about agriculture and it's sciences. give me more Genesis who hears a blood curdling scream in the woods and just goes "oh it's the foxes." GIVE ME MORE COUNTRY BOY GENESIS

he can still be a country boy at heart while living his dreams as a city boy

[foreststarflaime]

Yes hello I just wanted to say as a massive sword nerd ily square for making Genesis actually use Rapier like a rapier—you do tend to do a lot of stabbing with rapiers because they’re so long (although you can cut with them too, but he doesn’t really have great rapier cutting form with Rapier so can’t win em all ig, video game limitations) and they actually draw attention to it in this little cutscene. Rapier is also quite a notably long and thin(er) weapon, like an actual rapier. Awesome little details that made me very happy!

Also, I think it’s perfect that they chose a specifically one-handed weapon for him, since as the resident swordmage it leaves his other hand always free to cast spells when needed without dropping his sword’s defense. And I don’t know how to describe it really but he really has a rapier person personality (fondly, ily my more rapier focused friends lmao)

[sleepsentry]

You have managed to find the Perfect cloud Shape in that last post. The little spikey doodle guy. I'm obsessed

Thank you! ^^ I've been drawing him like that since the beginning but I can't remember if I've posted it before.

I find it fun to boil the characters down to their essentials.

I also have bad eyesight, so my sense of detail is lacking. It's actually why some modern cloud and the gang outfits don't appeal to me as much because they're more reliant on subtler details, rather than the colours and blocky readable shapes of the 90s (especially cloud it's alot of greys and belts)

There are exceptions, but I'm pretty neutral on stuff like advent children, for example

[getvalentined]

I mentioned this elsewhere but I can get into more detail about it here: one of my favorite things to do when writing fic for a series that isn't placed on some AU version of Earth is to use legitimate but archaic or obsolete terms for things: "dioxidane" instead of hydrogen peroxide, "bhanga" instead of marijuana, "shellshock" instead of PTSD, and so on. I think it gives the work a more realistic air while also solidifying the setting as being somewhere else, and still being something that a reader can look up if necessary.

Also a huge fan of repurposing common idioms for the fictional setting in question. I play in FF7, and these are a few of my favorites:

In for a penny, in for a pound → In for a gil, in for a grand

Rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic → Washing windows in Midgar at Meteorfall

A bull in a china shop → A grandhorn in a glass boutique

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth → Don't look a gift bird in the beak

Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime, that's why I [verb] on company time → Boss makes a fortune, I make a gil, that's why I [verb] while I'm paying the bills

Cold as a witch's tit → Chilly as Shiva's armpit

Hung like a horse → Built like a behemoth

If wishes were horses beggars would ride → If wishes were chocobos beggars would fly

Idioms catch on because there's a particular flow and rhythm to them, so you can't always just swap out a word and expect it to work—you can't just plug in "chocobo" everywhere common turns of phrase use "horse," for instance, because the extra syllables throw off the flow and make the phrase awkward to say. You gotta figure out the pattern in the idiom, where the emphasis hits, etc., and then rework that to work in-universe.

Stuff like this is very silly, but it really makes a difference to me with regard to readability and suspension of disbelief, so I really enjoy doing it in my own work, and it's always fun to see it in someone else's!

[ilminnestrone]

Guys, I hate to be that person, but Genesis and Angeal being older than Sephiroth is not a theory: it's the literal narrative of Crisis Core.

Genesis is an academic with a perfect use of language for dramatic purposes, and he told the story of the Jenova Project in perfect order: first Project G, then Project S, using the failures of the former to ensure a good success of the latter.

The progress is clear: Failure (Genesis) < still not there (Angeal) < success (Sephiroth)

Sephiroth being the youngest is not speculation, but intentional storytelling. They could always retcon this, but there was no doubt in the original script, at least the fact that Project G came first.

There could still make Genesis the middle child because their order of birth has not being stated, but there's no doubt about Sephiroth being the youngest, since Genesis stated it in Nibelheim.

Yeah, it would be awkward having a character called "The Origin" not being the first born, but in meta he would still be the origin of the crisis, so it could work. I don't like this option -logically the biggest "error" should be on the first try- but that's the only non-canon thing they could change without retconning.

I could go on telling you that basically Genesis also told us that Sephiroth is genetically sterile. Which makes perfect sense: Hojo could have just made another S by reproduction if it was possible.

I have a bunch of theories about the genetics of AGS, but they could sum up in "Genesis and Angeal are chimeras, Sephiroth is an hybrid" (and most hybrids, expecially males, are indeed sterile due to extra chromosomes).

[flshmans]

what do you think he wears casually

[dangoulains-devotion]

you mustn't blame yourself

[altocat]

Just while I'm feeling obnoxiously chatty, I will say that one of my biggest let downs in Rebirth (and there are a few, I really like to game but I'm not going to pretend that it's perfect), was them omitting the scene where Cloud physically assaults Aerith.

Like yeah, okay. I get that the game is rated T and we can't show a woman getting beaten up onscreen or whatever. But it DOES take the punch out of Aerith's decision. When I first played the OG, Cloud losing control via Sephiroth's mind control and attacking Aerith was one of those "holy shit wtf things just got REALLY DARK" sort of moments. It felt like a turning point in the plot, a way of showing that Cloud isn't merely a hindrance to the group, he's actively DANGEROUS. As long as Sephiroth has control over him, he could hurt the people closest to him, regardless of how earnestly he loves or cares about them. And that is FUCKED. UP.

Which makes Aerith instantly forgiving him and deciding to sacrifice herself all the MORE tragic. She's not just doing this for the planet, she's doing this for her friend. She's doing this to save him, both from Sephiroth and from himself.

Rebirth knocks a lot of moments out of the park. It's an amazing game. This was one of the more missed opportunities in my book. Just a personal preference.

[crisiscutie]

I saw this golden edit on twitter and I couldn't think of any better analogy of how some folks feel about the awards and nominees selected at TGA.

[umbralstars]

On this episode of "Things in Rebirth than make me insane" Mt. Nibel is genuinely gorgeous. Like full stop one of the best examples of how alien Gaia is and how the Lifestream shapes the environment. I took some photos to yap about :)

So first of all we can see how thick the mako within the mountain is. Nearly every cave has a haze of green and embers of the Lifestream hanging in the air. Materia grows freely in the pools of mako within the caves (we can see crystals jutted from the rock walls and between the roots of trees), and the Lifestream here is so potent that trees and plants can grow underground with barely any sunlight. Sinkholes and cavern entrances are also carved by the mako, yet the trees continue to live and thrive despite growing in awkward positions.

We can even spot how Mt. Nibel was formed in the first place!

Here, and in the background of the first image, we can see exactly why the Nibel Mountains have the strange shapes they do. Mako crystals here have started to turn into the dull grey stone of the mountain with age, and erosion would change the shape of the rock over time. Mt Nibel was forged by the lifestream itself; grown from the very pools within its cave systems or the landscape was changed by an upswell of the Lifestream (similar to how Cosmo Canyon was described being created in the World Intel). There are plants in Nibel that are either partial crystallized or seem to be bioluminecent because of how rich the Lifestream is here.

I really do wonder what Nibel would look like if it wasn't suffering from the environmental degradation of its reactor and all the mako research. Or what other areas of the region we don't see may look like.

There's another cool detail you can hear in the sound design when the music quiets before the mako spring cutscene.

The mako in this cave is so thick that you can hear what almost sounds like a "song" or what is probably meant to be voices we can't decipher. I really don't think it's wind ambience because the other caves don't seem to have sound design like this. Mt Nibel is probably is so associated with death and the afterlife because within these caves you can hear the voices of the Lifestream even without being a Cetra. No wonder people of this region associate the mountain as being a way into the underworld. In many ways, it truly is.

[soundcrusher]

Just came across a player in Ever Crisis twice that was named Lucrecia and had first Vincent and then Sephiroth as their player characters.

You guys can't imagine the sound I let out at seeing that. XD

Playing this game is amazing.

[theghostavocadoe]

I think Zack and Genesis would've been friends in different circumstances.

I can picture Genesis teasing Zack in the training room and laughing when Zack fumes and pouts angrily at him, knowing that trying to quip back would be pointless.

I can picture Zack putting music on the radio - ABBA probably - and Genesis quickly turns around and gasps because he loves it too. They bond over their taste in music within seconds.

I can imagine Zack fumbling the lines to Loveless, which Genesis quickly corrects him on, but internally he's touched that Zack would even make an attempt. Every time Zack is corrected, he gives a cheerful "Oh, yeah!" instead of chastising him for being obsessed with a book.

I can imagine them both sprawled out on couches, rambling to each other about their interests. Zack is completely captivated by how Genesis talks, and despite himself, Genesis is actually intrigued by what Zack has to say about his life.

I can picture Zack one day confessing a rather embarrassing memory of how he used to idolize Genesis when he was a Third. Genesis finds it endearing, and it inflates his ego tenfold.

I can imagine Zack sitting at the cafeteria table and going "man that secretary on the first floor is annoying" and Genesis slams his hands on the table going "I KNOW, right?!" and the two immediately ramble off into gossip about the worst people in the company.

I can picture Genesis taking one look at Zack, shaking his head, and firmly declaring that they're going shopping to get him some better clothes. He knows everything that looks best on Zack and the two honestly consider getting Zack a bigger wardrobe. Zack even insists on paying for some clothes that Genesis was eyeing for himself while shopping.

idk. I just think they're neat :)

[foreststarflaime]

Genesis Rhapsodos

[prismaticpichu]

For as much as I love Zack & Seph sharing Angeal as a mutual friend, there is a lot of tasty angst in Zack only learning about Genesis via Sephiroth’s friendship with him. Zack doesn’t know the guy. He doesn’t know who he was before his degradation; he doesn’t know if he was kind, caring, funny. He only knows of the jealous soul who had turned against SOLDIER, who had suffered but had turned that suffering into a weapon.

Imagine, then, during a quiet conversation, Sephiroth confides in Zack about the Genesis he knew before the degradation was catalyzed. Tells him about the games they played together, the spars, the laughs. Tells him so much that Zack begins to understand why Seph is so mournful of the man, why he risked everything to defy orders and protect him. Tells him enough for Zack to want to genuinely save the man in the end, for him to be free, given a second chance…

And he does.