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kristannafever · 2 years ago

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A Sky Full of Sun

Kristanna Modern AU Rated: M WC: 2032

~This is 1000% self-indulgent and all fluff

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Kristoff smiled at the sundog in the sky. It was only on the coldest, sunniest of mornings that you got to see such a neat phenomenon. He hastily fished his phone out of his jacket pocket to take a quick picture for his Ma. She enjoyed stuff like that. He did too. It was breathtaking, and she had always told him growing up that it was a good omen for his day.

“This fucking cold snap is something else.” Sven came up to him, dramatically rubbing his arms trying to warm up, his breath coming out in white vapour as he talked.

“It certainly sucks to work in.” Kristoff slipped his phone back into his Carhart jacket. In all honestly the cold wasn’t too big a deal to him. Being a construction framer, they worked in all kinds of weather and he was rarely bothered by it. Except when frigid temperatures brought nasty wind chills, then it was a nightmare and he would go home and have the hottest of showers and sit on the couch with his big blanket, thick wool socks on, and a blazing fire in the wood stove.

“So… about Mexico-”

“I don’t know, Sven. I’m not really a beach kind of guy.” They started off trudging trough the deep snow to where a lift sat waiting for them to haul materials onto and get to work. “I don’t like sand and I hate that it gets everywhere.”

“It’s not just the beach though! There are pools, and a bar, and fishing, and quads, and sunset cruises, and Ixtapa island, and of course Zihua has a lot to offer.”

“Zihua?”

“Zihuantanejo, you know what I mean. From Shawshank Redemption, like I said.”

“I know, Sven. I just wasn’t sure you were so familiar all of the sudden.”

Sven made at face at the smirk Kristoff was giving him and the proceeded to load wood onto the lift. His friend had been on it for days on end. He even went so far as to rent a four-bedroom condo for two weeks and now he was trying to find someone to help with the cost of the place.

“What about Ed, he’ll go with you.”

“Ed? Fuck you, Kris. Really.”

Kristoff laughed in his friends face as they loaded the plywood. Ed was nice and a good worker, but the guy was impossible to take in anything but small doses. Couple times he tagged a long for a beer after work and most of the guys at the table wanted to tape his mouth shut, he was so crass.

“It’ll be sunny and thirty-plus degrees every day down there! Come on, Man. You’re by BFF.”

Kristoff snorted. “I know I am, and that means you should know that beach vacations just aren’t my thing.”

Sven pouted at him. The man really pouted, and Kristoff decided he could throw him a bone. It had been a long time since he’d been anywhere besides camping for a vacation.

“Fine, fine. You’ve officially worn me down.” Sven grinned like an idiot and opened his mouth to comment, but Kristoff stuck a finger in his face. “But I’m bringing a bunch of books and I am doing my own thing, you got that? If I don’t want to go to the beach, you leave me alone. If I don’t feel like going out to any night clubs you’ve been talking about taking Liz to, you leave me alone.” Kristoff resumed loading wood, then added, “I don’t feel like being a third wheel the whole time anyway.”

There was a silence then and Kristoff’s stomach twisted. Damn Sven. Damn him, because Kristoff knew was about to come out of his friend’s mouth.

“Well, Liz invited a friend too because there are four bedrooms-”

“For fuck’s sake, Sven!”

“No, no, listen! It’s actually great because she initially asked this other couple we know, but between you, me and the outhouse, they are insufferable dickheads who always try and one-up ya, you know? But they dropped out due to some family drama bullshit or whatever so Liz has this new work friend who… you know... could use a friendly group of people-”

“People my ass!” Kristoff felt his cheeks getting hot. “Let me guess, she’s single.”

Sven hesitated. “Well, yes. But-”

“You’re seriously trying to set me up on my fucking vacation?”

Sven’s hands went up in surrender. “No, seriously dude! That’s not what this is. Not at all! We’re honestly just trying to get people to fill rooms, but we’re having a hard time finding takers to help with the cost. I don’t even think we’re going to be able to fill the fourth room. I mean we already paid for the whole thing after all.”

“I’ve never known you to over-commit on something.” Kristoff managed with a serious face.

It took Sven a half a second to recognize the joke and he burst into a huge smile. “You’re still in then?”

Kristoff looked back up to the sun dog in the frigid air, making his decision final despite his sudden reservations about a stranger joining them. “Yeah, yeah,” he said through a sigh. “I’m due for a vacation anyway.”

They jumped onto the lift and started to bring it up then Kristoff turned to Sven, and gave him a firm look.

“But I’m not going to play nice if you all try to gang up on me and make me do shit I don’t want to do.”

“Oh, I believe you, you grumpy asshole.”

Kristoff nodded, comment aside and they got to work.

Two Months Later

A ringing phone woke him up.

Kristoff rolled over to grab his cell of the nightstand, wondering who the hell was calling him at this hour, whatever hour it was, he had no idea. He went to bed at nine in the anticipation of getting up early to catch his plane to Mexico.

“Yeah?” he groaned, as he sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

All he heard was hacking on the other end. Kristoff pulled the phone away from his face to look at the screen and realized it was Sven.

“Sven? You okay?”

After the sound of a flushing toilet and some clearing of a clearly hoarse throat, he spoke. “I’m sorry Dude, I really am. I am a as sick as a dog. Gotta be food poisoning or something.”

Kristoff let his head fall between his shoulders. “You’re not making this plane, are you?”

“Unless I can stop puking and shitting myself, that would be a no.”

He felt for his friend, he really did, but that meant he now had to board a plane by himself, go to a condo he didn’t rent in his name, and supposedly meet someone who Liz had invited to stay with them. It was too much, he would have to cancel, money be dammed. It was too awkward.

“I told you that gas station sushi was a bad idea,” Kristoff huffed.

Sven groaned in response.

“I’m sorry, dude. It sucks you’re sick.”

“I’ll get my ass down there,” he mumbled. “It just won’t be tomorrow. Or today? What the fuck time is it?”

Kristoff pulled the phone from his face to look at the time. “Quarter after three.”

Sven wretched again and Kristoff hung up. That was something he didn’t want to listen to, so he texted his friend he hoped he felt better and to keep him posted on how he was doing and when he might be able to catch another flight down.

Sleep was impossible after that.

He had to be up at six anyway, it wasn’t anything to him to kill a couple of hours cleaning his small house for when he got back. He was a little anxious what it was going to be like without his friends there for a buffer, but he was trying his hardest to take things as they came lately, no matter how much they infringed on his comfort zone.

*******

Anna could not keep the smile from her face. She was so excited to head somewhere warm for two weeks with nothing on the agenda but rest and relaxation. Liz and Sven would have to join them later – poor Sven and his food poisoning – but at least she wouldn’t be alone. She was going to meet a new friend!

There was no way she figured she be able to pick him out in an airport full of people waiting to board planes, but there he was, right in front of her when she cleared security and walked into the terminal. Just as described, he was blond, tall, broad chested and ruggedly handsome, although she wasn’t sure why Liz had even added that last little tidbit since she assured Anna this was not a set up or anything like that. They just needed help paying for the Condo.

Anna felt a pull to go up and talk to him then, except he was eating breakfast and that was hardly the right time to introduce yourself to someone. Not only that, she needed to grab some food for herself. There wasn’t much open in the terminal so early and she had to admit that the sub he was eating looked pretty good. Anna got in line at Subway to get herself one and by the time she got it with a mind to maybe sit at his table, he was gone.

Not that it bothered her, she was looking forward to fun and sun and getting away from the frigid cold weather. Even if the guy was a jerk, all the rooms had their own bathrooms and she could put herself in her own space when she was in the condo and not be bothered by anyone. She was no stranger to doing things by herself.

Anna ate her sub and walked around the terminal a bit, stopping at the place to load up on snacks despite the highway robbery prices. Then she made her way to the gate and happened to see the blond guy again, arms crossed and leaning against a wall nearby, bag tucked between his feet, idly watching people pass by.

If there was ever a time to introduce oneself before a flight and vacation space they were to share together, now would be it, she figured. She also liked the idea that he was standing. Anna decided it would be good for her too to get as much standing in a possible too before being seated on a plane for five hours. It wasn’t such a big deal for her, she was small, but this guy clearly needed some leg room and would probably be itching to get off that plane by the time it landed.

Anna approached him and his gaze swung towards her direction then stopped when their eyes met. She wasn’t sure what to make of first impressions based on facial expressions but his lips parted slightly and his eyebrows twitched up as she approached him.

“Hey, are you Kristoff by any chance?”

“I am, yes.” His demeanor shifted towards being guarded rather than looking bewildered like a moment before.

“I’m, Anna! Liz’s friend. I guess we’re headed to the same place!” She stuck out her hand.

The tall blond looked down at her hand a moment before slowly reaching forward with his own and shook it. His hand was warm and… so big. How tall was he anyway? At least six-two. Maybe six-three.

“Nice to meet you,” he mumbled.

“You too! I’m looking forward to soaking up some sun. How about you?”

“Um…” His hand came up and rubbed the back of his neck. “Sure, yeah.”

Well at least he appeared friendly. If anything, Anna figured he was probably a quiet person, which suited her just fine. As long as he wasn’t a dickhead, she’d be able to enjoy herself.

“Well, it was nice to meet you! I’m not sure where you’re sitting on the plane but let’s meet up at the cab stand when we get there and split a ride, okay?”

He nodded, ghost of a smile on his lips. “Sure, sounds great.”

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#a sky full of sun #cee wrote this mess #kristanna #kristoff #anna #kristanna modern au #this is far from my best work but I wrote it for me #we had so much snow this winter that it still has a chokehold on the landscape even though the weather is nicer #hence a sunny vacation fic idea #it might be a little slow moving #but i kept the chapters short and the story is complete #i wrote all the scenes I wanted first which might be evident lmao #but anyway! Happy Friday!

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mejomonster · 7 months ago

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I finished final fantasy vii rebirth and. Some mixed opinions.

The main good points: as a Sequel to original FF7? Its good. The women are all written well (which was a concern considering Kairi and Lunafreya in past games), and everyone was in character just fleshed out more (with 2 slight exceptions). What the game did best was accomplish an open world game, world spanning adventure, stick fairly well to some main highlights from original ff7 (which is what people wanted for ages) and with new stuff thats fun if you like the world, very little wasting of player time (so much better than ff7 remake). It did open world well, pacing well, side quests and mini games well, characters well, combat well, and overall gave the feel of what square enix was maybe Hoping and Wishing to successfully accomplish in a mainline game for years but either hasnt been able to achieve on a technical level or fumbled in the past. (So no time wasting dungeons like ff7 remake, fleshed out open world with stuff you enjoy doing so more than ff15, open world so more than ff13, and combat that feels like things theyve learned and improved on well). How it feels to play? Great, fast paced, no dead time, all enjoyable game you came to play. (With the exception maybe of Cait Siths box mandatory mini game and the aerith in ancient temple magic platforms thing but they both werent too difficult to push through if you dont enjoy them).

The bad? Mostly... if you treat Rebirth as a SEQUEL to original ff7, these arent major issues. They just annoy me as a player of the original ff7 game. Because i know plenty of people will ONLY play ff7 Remake and Rebirth etc, and never know the original characterizations. So 2 characters were slightly unlike their original ff7 selves, and instead more like their Advent Children (and general non ff7 appearances) selves: aerith and sephiroth. Sephiroth's character being NOT like ff7 originals is more irritating personally. Because yeah... i get it. As a sequel to original ff7, this Remake/Rebirth Sephiroth might be from the future (so he is Advent Children esque version of himself), hes had time post losing his way to really get all mysterious and hyperfocus on cloud and be a looming vague pest. But the thing is... in the original ff7 the reason we learn hes used to be a SOLDIER war hero, is so the cast and you are confused why he kills Shinra people. Then you and the casy figure: well cloud remembers sephiroth finding out hes a monster cause of shinra, justifiable for sephiroth to hate shinra. Unflrtunately Sephiroth also decided to hate ALL HUMANS. Then you later find out maybe Jenovas controlling Sephiroth/one with him etc. But the key here is you find out at some point in original ff7 that sephiroths goal is mainly Destroy World because Hes not Human. Rebirth... does not clarify this very important and very BASIC point ever. Maybe it assumes its so basic that as a ff7 fan you should know.. but plenty of new players wont. Rebirth clarifies yes sephiroth may be Jenovas kid... but the whole MOM, im an ancient like Jenova! Oh Jenova isnt an ancient oh well fuck humans anyway! Either way fuck humans ill kill them all! None of those Very basic sephiroth motives are clarified much. I felt Rebirth did good explaining the Gi and the black materia. But to make Sephiroths motives so vague, why he wants to end the world SO VAGUE, why hes in clouds head (the black robes are everywhere but the game HINTS theure sephiroth clones but never actually spells it out eevn though its a BASIC KEY DETAIL). Now... because Rebirth is a sequel, it makes sense... if hes Advent Children Sephiroth he already knows he isnt an ancient, knows hes Jenovas kid, knows he wants to fuck with Cloud specifically now and the world generally but not necessarily so singlemindedly desperate to just kill all humans. So yes, Sephiroth is in character for his future self... but i feel like even with him less SINGLE MINDED and freshly with Jenova, clarifying some basics of his Original old timeline motives... would be helpful to new fans. So it annoyed me. I think the biggest Not Good writing decision in Rebirth was to never fucking clarify Sephiroths original basic goal: im not human like mom, hate humans, kill world. I suspect the writers either thought players KNEW so hinted instead of being on the nose (but to new players theyll just be CONFUSED), or they plan to explain those basic things in game 3. Which seems stupid to me and shouldve been explained earlier.

And Aerith. As a sequel? She remembered the other timeline which explained some moments she was calmer than original ff7. She forgot, then toward the end of Rebirth she seems to have remembered the other timeline again and that she needs to die and X happens etc. So her being calmer based on the plot they wrote for Rebirth? Makes sense. However... i deeply miss her Original FF7 personality where as an Ancient she freaks out a bit LIKE sephiroth, paralleling him, that shes not human, a freak, that it all rests on her as only one ancient left. Their overwhelm parallels each other. Aerith is more scared in original ff7 of being the only ancient, of what it means, of finding out more. That fear is slightly there in Rebirth but WAY LESS. its only a little in cosmo canyon and almost gone in the Ancient Temple. In ff7 expanded universe theyve changed her character over time to a calmer wiser goddess type like in Advent Children, and so yes in Rebirth when she remembers the alrernate timeline it makes sense she'd be calmer like her future self. However... i miss original ff7 aerith. I miss her initial shock, loneliness, fear of the weight on her shoulders, not being sure what to do. Her and Sephiroth, because of Rebirth writing them to know more, act more like their future selves and so. While it is in character and logical to the Rebirth plot. Its also sad to me that anyone who only plays Remake and Rebirth simply wont see what they were like WHEN these revelations were brand new shocks to them, forcing them to react and grow and fear. I dont think Aerith is written bad, i just think because this game is in reality is a Sequel im just personally mourning that it didnt have that as much of the original Aerith's personality who was afraid and discovering. Mostly her Rebirth personality is similar to original ff7s. But in some high tension moments shes way calmer and wiser than in the original. I miss getting to see some of that before to after character growth.

Oh and. The aerith dies scene. Does it make sense in context of Rebirth written as a sequel? Sure. Is it impactful? Not as much as the original. In Rebirth, theres a scene where Cloud is losing control and listening to Sephiroth and attacks Tifa, causing Tifa to fall into mako. That scene is high stakes and emotional and lands WELL. Later in Rebirth, when Aerith actually dies, Cloud has not lost control and isnt the one who killed her. Its fine, as a sequel to ff7 i get the choice to make him able to stop himself from hurting her. But it does make the scene less impactful: now cloud will NOT be blaming himself for her death, will not be struggling with the guilt and fear, and will not be as terrified of losing control again. Since he wasnt the one who attacked her. And since he saw her ghost/something post death, hes not even sad or grieving her. He thinks shes fine. These 2 things will result in a WILDLY DIFFERENT cloud moving forward than the original ff7 one who very much was distraught and horrified he did that. So like... as a sequel its fine these changes were made. But death wise... i wouldve prefered like, cloud drops her from up high qhile struggling with whispers, or doesnt get to her in time and sephiroth stabs her when shes too far away. The way Rebirth did it, cloud was near her, she gets stabbed anyway. It seemed to me almost like the writing was trying to vaguely or softly kill her, like somehow making it vague would make it hurt less. Yeah it did hurt less... but id rather if a character i love dies that its a Worthy Scene for them to die in. A strong meaningful scene that makes me cry, that felt like the loss it is. The Rebirth scene... couldve done its plot as intended and just make Cloud farther away or something and it wouldve been better to me. Maybe the writing point was Cloud thinks its fine, and its still not, and he cant even feel distaught because he cant tell if she died or if things are fine? Thats the only angle i can see where maybe the death scene did what the writers wanted? Anyway. Aeriths moms death made me sob, Aeriths death did not. It is what it is. I feel like Tifa, crying in my heart off screen, the game acting like Cloud like its fine and it looks fine to him but im confused like Tifa aa to why hes (the game) treating it that way. Lol.

Overall? Um 4/5. 8/10? Really solid square enix game, Amazing as far as final fantasy 7 SEQUELS go. It has one main weak spot in treating Sephiroth fully mysterious when a few clarifying details could help the game stand on its own Better (and make Sephiroth a stronger enemy character instead of a vaguer one). The other weak spots are more my personal preference and mourning the parts of ff7 original i miss and had wished were in this, but as this is a Sequel in a parallel timeline i dont feel the parts effect Rebirth on its own merit. It IS the best Square Enix game ive played in ages, at least since Final Fantasy X or XII. I thought it was better than FF13, FF15, definitely better than ff7 remake (i hate time wasting dungeons and bad pacing its a dealbreaker), and than kh3 (although kh3 was quite good for a kh sequel). I get to play FF16 next, which will hopefully be as good as Rebirth or better! Since its also on the PS5 and clearly from Rebirth, the square enix main team can do excellent combat, open world, level design, mini games, side quests, and good pacing now. So i'll just have to see if ff16's story is better. And i am guessing it hopefully will be, since Rebirth as an ff7 sequel has some weirdness to its plot quite typical of ff7 extended universe stories like Crisis Core and Dirge of Cerberus. Whereas ff16 is a brand new plot, so they have nothing preventing them from a tight excellent written story except themselves. I am curious how BIG ff16s world will be though. Because ff7 Rebirths world was MASSIVE and very full of stuff, tons of mini games, cool stuff to find or do or little character side quests. If ff16 also takes me 60 hours to beat the main story its gonna be thw longest final fantasy main title ive ever played.

Rebirth is very replayable if you enjoyed it. I will probably replay ff7 original soon.

#final fantasy vii rebirth #ff7r #lb #rant #oh and shipping discourse lol: if you ship tifa x aerith? GREAT TIME #tifa mourns aerith more than cloud does. tifa aerith ARE IN LOVE. great time for me as an aerti fan and ot4 fan #i do think in theory the writers had aerith x cloud scenes more in Rebirth since aerith dies at the end. and predict game 3 will have #more tifa x cloud scenes. so itll be even by the end. i think everything was in character tho tbh #(in my opinion anyway)#like. aerith x tifa x cloud x zack i ship and they clearly all CARE for each other. zack loves aerith but also saved cloud #when aerith likes cloud. zack is big enough to be happy for aerith and want her to have what SHE wants.#cloud loved zack and was so fucked emotionally when zack died he convinced himself he WAS zack. tifas his childhood crush. aerith likes him #and he gradually does like her back too. (clouds very not interested in crushes tho tbh. hed happilt be in ot3 with #tifa and aerith or ot4 with zack or ot3 with barret too if they just told him to be)#and tifa loves cloud but wisely isnt sure how he feels OR whats going on mentally with him. and is focusing on building trust #that cloud will communicate with her BEFORE getting romantic (shes wise we should all copy her). and she loves aerith. which is goof #cause cloud isnt giving aerith some care she Needs. but Tifa always does give aerith that support.#tifa knows aerith likes cloud. so tifa simply is likinv her 2 crushes (happy to be in an ot3 if aerith and cloud would start it)#but tifas shy and slow going ans values friends MORE so shes not making any major moves until she knows the other 2 aerith and cloud #are emotionally stable (and theyre lol not)#and now shes grieving aerith so :/. my point is: all the romance is written very in character #very similar to original ff7. and if ur a tifa AND aerith as characters fan like me?#its really NICE to have 2 main woman leads in a game (with romance even) who are full characters ON THEIR OWN #and really well written and with relationships outside of cloud. (again... after lunafreya and kairi #i was worried tifa or aerith as love interests might get written BAD or flat or destroyed writing wise #by some shitty square enix writer *cough* who tends to butcher woman characters if theyre love interests)#so im super glad i could just enjoy tifa and aerith #also as a Non romance lover. i enjoyed that Rebirth focused HEAVY on friends but had very little actual romance #flirting yeah sure. but aerith and tifa never even kissed cloud in my playthrough (yay for me)#their crushes are just side details they mention to be direct and communicate (wise of them) but the romance isnt the main point

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