#ive also never played ff7

[smokeys-house]

I think cloud and sephiroth fishing next to each other would be really funny. same outfits, same attitudes, but they're wearing fishing hats and taunting one another

[bimbosanddolls]

Do you like any video games?

oh totally!!! im a huge gamer. i finished FF7 Rebirth recently and like, ive literally never cried so much playing a video game.

it’s so good!!!

also I adore Tifa and Aerith together

[thefreshprinceofjunes]

While im a Soriku fan I’m dubious of the idea of it being the endgame because

1. Disney is pretty fake with their progressivism as they care about their bottom line at the end of the day and wouldn’t do anything to risk their profits

2. The 2.8 Credits had a bunch of Sokai moments following the Disney couple section which tells me THAT ship is the endgame. https://youtube.com/watch?v=E9YpdXDrqz4&feature=share9

Your thoughts?

OKAY IM SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO RESPOND TO THIS

admittedly this is the biggest barrier to soriku endgame IMO (besides maybe japanese cultural norms), because disney is definitely Like That (passive progressive). however, they are getting better, slowly but surely, and lumity becoming canon in the owl house (with luz specifically being bi and amity specifically being a lesbian) gives me hope

i see a lot of people point to that credits montage as 'proof' s/k is canon, but there's three examples there that seem... out of place, if that really is what theyre going for

roxas and namine may have been teased in the kh2 era, but since then, the series seems to have WAY more heavily leaned into roxas and xion being far more likely as a couple (even tho i personally dont ship them)

ive never played ff7, but i think tifa is the canon relationship for cloud? or implied, anyway? so putting aerith and him together alongside canon disney couples is also kinda weird

and finally, wendy and peter seem like the biggest clue that something isnt right here.

wendy and peter are not a couple in the original source material at all.

wendy grows up and has children of her own.

when they reunite, peter is annoyed at first that wendys changed, even tho she insists she hasnt, at least at heart

remind you of anyone?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(@skibot99)

[achoshistor]

final fantasy 7

spoilers for everything idk (ff7, remake&dlc, crisis core but only till like chapter four because thats how far i made it)

bro ive been tweaking out for like three months now. i bought the ff7 remake bc it was 50% off a few months ago and I was like I'm never gonna find a deal like this ever again (only for it to go on 50% again lmfao) but ok whatever it was literally 35 for the game and the dlc which is one million times cheaper than what splatoon 2 and octo expansion were and its ok because i can never own it physical anyways but bro I didn't even want to buy this game in the first place i was gonna buy ffxv cause i saw a clip of notcis or whatever that guys name is putting his lettuce on a nother guy's plate and i was like "wtf is final fantasy even about" SPOILER ALERT: TERRORISM like ????

i feel like i can never every play another game after finishing the remake and the intermission i bought crisis core reunion and theres literally LESS fighting in that game so far but it was also cheaper and i got it physical (after scouring ebay for two months to find a us edition because i dont want to even risk seeing things spelled in the british way because last time when that happened when I played great ace attorney 1&2 i couldn't stop spelling things in british every time i'd write an essay and then i couldnt tell what was wrong "its just an extra letter" no bro its messing up my diction) but anyways please just let me beat things up with a sword i wish people still used swords to fight then the fights would be more fair and the world would be a better place. but man sephiroth is lowkey a nice guy and the crashout was 100% valid not the killing people part but i would also crash out if i found out my mom was actually some 2000 year thingy they found in the ground. today i saw some snowflakes fall (they were the big ones) and freaked out for a second because i thought they were white feathers (I NEED TO GO OUTSIDE)

i also "finished" (AKA gave up right before the final boss) the original ff7 because i didnt want to deal with spoilers cause the main plot points should be the same anyways but i don't have enough patience to play retro games (the last one i finished was kirby super star three years ago) and they are like ten times harder than modern games too like i think i only got 10 game overs max in the remake but like one hundred million in the original and i was like at this point i dont even care anymore like we just need to beat sephiroth right? speaking of i really did think we just had to beat sephiroth and that he was just evil for the love of the game because all i knew was from that smash bros trailer but really everything is hojos and lowkey lucrecia's fault bc theyre bums like are you jealous of vincent or something how do you get a girl who's literally just broken up with this guy pregnant like no time bro literal bum activity im glad vincent was able to beat up hojo at the end. he was also my strongest party member (and had the hardest spell post out of all of them).

i was lowkey tweaking when i saw genesis cause i thought something seemed awfully familiar lo and behold hes just evil gackt. i saw a picture of some genshin character's sword and i was like holy sigma is that genesis rhaspodos but nope it was some genshin twink this is off topic but i HATE how like half of the characters in genshin look like children/teenagers and the other half are either whitewashed (brighter than printer paper) or have the most awful color scheme like unpleasant gradient just showed up to your door. i kept thinking angeal was named angelo because ive only ever met people named angelo and not angeal but so far his story seems too similar to sonons. zack = onika angeal = burgers OH his name is angeal like angel LMFAo

I barely edit my tumblr posts for coherence sorry if youre not one of my like 4 followers but anyways episode intermission gave me a genuine crash out. I was like "who is yuffie" but then i found out. yuffie is my goat. i hate fort condor and i still hate fort condor but i didnt know there was a literal fort with a condor on it. i was out of it bro i have nobody here that may hear this and i will be ashamed i genuinely couldnt pay attention to the game cuz of sonon hes so fine bro too bad he DIED bro i even felt bad for nero cause they forcefully made him shut up with that muzzle thing but as per usual he was a bum but theres no second part to the dlc (yet) 40 dollar 32 gb ram stick please find me (my computer will blow up) before rebirth comes out (my computer will blow up regardless) like watch the requirements be some esoteric classified government only processor like the ryzen 56 or intel i5412 like u gotta play it on one of those government super computers so the game doesnt lag the minute you start walking.

ok im done ive exhausted myself thank u for coming to my ted talk see u later my little minions

[oh-cramity-its-amity]

Cramity! I loveeee Zelda. BOTW was like my entire personality when it dropped (I was like 13 I think?) I wanted to be link so bad. I might’ve had a crush on him too ahahaha. Everything about LOZ is just very enchanting to me. And the art! You reminded me that I love Zelda so I reblogged a bunch of art 👍

Ayoooo?????? WHAT. how have i never known this omg. i love zelda. ive only played a handful of them- still am playing through skyward sword on mah wii. :3

twilight princess is- by farrrrr my favorite one. not that ive played many, but i doooo have to get back to botw soon. i got it a long while back for my wii u so i HAVE it- i just got up to where you need to get electric arrows or something??? and i got lost or some other game caught my eye that i had- i think i started playing ff7's remake actually.

sidlink... hear me out... sidon... hear me out... HEAR ME OUT CAUSE MY FRIENDS THOUGHT I WAS INSANE BUT LIKE... gender envy or hes just hot idk but like not in a romantic way but like damn what.

also midna's final form from tp. i forget the ship name of her and zelda FUCK. but omg. midna's final formmmm WHY am i just... anyway. zelda is literally so slay.

anyway twilight princess my beloved. skyward sword is rly good too. i hate the 3ds port of oot bc i hate the 3ds' thumbstick feeling when controlling link 😔. and botw was cool- really immersive and fascinating. i gotta get back to it sometime BUT ZELDA ON THE DASH FROM YOU?????? incredible. i will gladly talk abt zelda whenever- and gaming stuff. im like a huge nerd but i dont talk abt it much here.

[tempural]

❄ Fannish Origin Story:

Crossposted from my mastodon/fediverse account.

🐣 The Beginning

The first "fannish" thing I can remember doing is live action roleplaying Final Fantasy IV characters with my neighbor. We were still playing SNES games when everyone else was on the ps2 and xbox grind… She was Rosa so she could date the main character Cecil. And I was Rydia, and I had to date Kain. Which I was fine with cuz Rydia's cute and Kain was cool cuz he had dark dragon armor and shared a name with Kane my favorite wrestler.

(Looking back, Rydia/Kain is kind of an insane age gap ship (she starts as 7 and time skips to a vague adult age later, while Kain is always an adult) that SOMEONE could do something with. I think in canon Rydia wants to eff Edge though (not to be confused with COPE))

I developed an interest in Final Fantasy, emulating some of the other 2D games, buying FF7 for my cousin's ps1 for ME to play, and playing FF8 at my mom's friend's daughter's place. I never finished FF8 cuz it crashed and wiped all the memory at the end of the first disc lmao. As a wee lad, I looked up pornographic doujin for FF7 specifically, on a site called SoDaSexy. I was looking for Vincent Valentine doujin. I wasn't that interested in Cloud x Sephiroth, and I didn't feel anything for Cid x Vincent or Sephiroth x Vincent, but I acknowledged that I was looking for yaoi. There was a monster x Vincent Valentine doujin that drew my attention though!

I think that's where my strange snake fujo ways come from - I have an uke fave, but not always a favorite ship with a specific character. Sometimes you just want to rotate your fave in the torture cube. Mob x Fave, Fave in Distress, and Fave Zerkin' It are often my favorite flavor of work to look at. But it's hard to explain in words to people who prefer a ships to faves.

I also remember reading a non explicit Yuffie x Vincent fic on ff.net that caught my attention. One of my original Gorl Scout x Squidward ships? Sounds funny nowadays to say that a het ship was more interesting to me than most of the yaoi LOL. Hey i dont see gender, they played into the Spongebob x Squidward onesided agegap annoying thing I always liked in the back of my mind.

🐓 The Growth

I hung around /co/ and tf2chan for my next fix of yaoi, not posting, just lurking for art, pretty much just going with the flow of whatever other people liked and not forming my own taste quite yet. So that meant shipping stuff that I forgot what J liked for their dynamics now, like Riddler/Scarecrow. I have a better memory of what I liked about ye olde TF2 ships like Sniper/Spy and Heavy/Medic. But I resolved never to become one of those annoying underage fans who latched onto Scout for his relatively twinkish appearance to turn him into a uke bishie yaoi boy!!! How the turns have tabled. Now I base my entire personality around Scoutsonas and Gorl Scouts.

At the same time, I got into boomer rock after one-too-many sleepless nights of VH1 classic. And it was inevitable when looking up photos of my favorite hair metal yaoi boyz, it would lead to tumblr blogs. So there's where I found the RPF army I desired. I started developing my own taste at this point because the pairings were MUCH rarer. Like trying to find Vince/Mick (crue) :P

I posted some art on Deviantart so I could do something with a high school friend. There was a little boomer rock RPF niche on there. It was pretty godlike when you found someone who drew them as bishie anime boyz and had their explicit art locked behind a personal site needing you to google translate Japanese for the password.

I made boomer rock OCs to use my autistic collection of 80s musician stories in my head for something. Pussywhip vs The Penetrators. The Penetrators came from a Rock Band (wii) name we used. Pussywhip was like.. damn I wish I came up with "Faster Pussycat" yknow? Jizzy (Doctor Love), Saucy (not Dave Mustaine, used as my maplestory avatar), and Johnny (played New Vegas around this time too smir were the first ones. I still draw Vicky and Angus a bit. And still add to this universe to this day :P y'all know about my ScoutSpy ACID PUSSY band au?!?

🍗 The End

I am still using Tumblr to this day LMAO. I draw comics and cartoons for a living cuz I still need to draw the strange niche yaoi I crave but can't find. I am married to my lovely manwife because we found each other through strange niche yaoi online. Fandom can be cool sometimes.

[cal-writes]

2024 in Review Part 1

from @ficwip im late with an iced matcha latte but let me get caught up

How many fics have you worked on since January?

around 18 i'd say probably more, i did a rough count of my wips on docs and ellipsus haha

2. What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year?

ive been leaning more into horror and like experimental styles. or formatting which plays with the narrative and stuff. also ive been writing more smut tho that was unintentional.

3. What piece of media inspired you the most? (This can be the fandom you wrote the most for, the one that spawned the most ideas, the one you thought about the most, etc.)

... i think we all know that one piece has me by the throat

4. How many fandoms did you write for this year?

three fandoms?`i think. maybe four. and some original stuff

5. What ships captured your heart?

zoro/law but since i got caught up on arcane jinx/sevika also really got to me so i might write some stuff for that, we'll see.

6. What characters captured your heart?

zoros still my muse, its a little insane. but ive also really gotten to enjoy usopps pov this year and again jinx and sevika. wonderful. i support womens wrongs

7. Did you write for any new fandoms or ships this year?

i did write a little bit of arcane fanfic! nothing big or really anything with a plot, just had an idea for a scene. i also wrote for the sims 2! i think that was this year? idek anymore lol

8. What fic meant the most to you to write?

Dig Site it was a delight to write in robins head and finally finish that one up. i love the world of laws eleven (oceans verse) and robin is such a different POV from law and zoro. and i love her friendship and dynamic with zoro.

also the thus unpublished haunted home au which deals a lot with grief and coming home after being gone for a long time

9. What fic made you feel the happiest to work on?

the hatchi/zoro smut story ngl. its a blast ;) hoping to finish that up next year we'll see.

10. What fic was the most satisfying to finish writing?

Panic Pixie Dream Boy oh my god how do romance writers do it. me doing a rom com??? bruh it was so long too!!! im really happy with it but i am also so so so happy to have it done.

11. What fic was the most difficult to write?

Salt of Midgar has unfortunately become that simply bc im not that hyperfocused on ff7 at the moment. i am still dedicated to finish it and i did work on the next chapter a little this year so hopefully next year i'll get it done. i had a bunch of sequels for that planned lol. rip.

12. What fic was the easiest to write?

was gonna say Best Laid Plans bc as soon as we got the go ahead to write i hacked that down in like an afternoon but i wrote that in 2023 so i dont think that counts neither does kyoto nights i think?? which was also much earlier written. this year has had a lot of long projects which are never "easy" in their entirety

13. What were your shortest and longest fics posted this year?

shortest is Kyoto Nights if we arent counting like tumblr asks which are generally shorter.

i was gonna say Panic Pixie Dream Boy wasn't posted completely in 2024 but apparently i did??? christ. so yeah that one then

14. What were your go-to writing songs?

basically my spotify wrapped lol i make playlists for just about every fic i work on more seriously but here are the highlights, most of them are from the immorcation au playlist which 👀 might be coming your way soon

[hrodvitnon]

Ozymandias, The King of Kings Headcanons (plus a Shamhat idea)

(Ok, last Ozzy-related post from me for a while- what with a new GxK trailer on the horizon and a FF7 Rebirth demo to eat up all my time (ive played it like 6 times… pure brainrot), I figure it’s probably time to move to colder pastures and even colder kaiju… Anyways- big headcanon Ozymandias post because he could always use more love)

General

Ozymandias is the oldest and largest of his clutch of eggs. Despite this- he didn’t really have much of a connection to his other brothers and sisters quite like his connection to his youngest brother.

Ozzy grew up in the shadow of Dagon- which had pros and cons.

Pros: No one would dare fuck with him or his brothers.

Cons: No one would dare even come near him or his brothers. Also Dagon- was not a very attentive father; he kinda just didn’t really care and better things to do. His mother was marginally better.

Ozzy and Goji’s mother showed a strong parental bias to the older and larger females of their clutch. Obviously, Goji would have to bear the brunt of this, being the smallest male, but Ozzy definitely didn’t get nearly as much attention as his sisters.

Fortunately, Ozzy didn’t grow up alone. When he was about 4 years old, he met a little orphaned Titan of snow-white scales and light blue eyes named Shimo.

(I know there was an older ask about Xenilla replacing Shimo in Abraxas- but I think it would be cool to have a very old and ancient Titan like Shimo that may have even been very close with Ozzy in the past, way before he met anyone like Tiamat or Mothra.)

(Also to quickly mention it because I’ve already described Shimo as female in a past ask- I’m calling her female here just because every leak is pointing towards that being the case. If they turn out to be male, I will happily eat my words (but only after I fantasize about what his dick looks like, of course). But even if she does turn out male, I will still stand by everything I have written here (even, and especially, the mate ones. Gay monsters are cool, dammit).)

Ozzy and Shimo were each other’s playmates and companions for their respective youths. Even Dagon grew to see his son playing with Shimo once or twice. Goji knew her as well- mostly from whenever Ozzy asked her to help him restrain his brother. She even froze him once or twice on Ozzy’s command.

Ozzy was Tiamat’s first mate; but I headcanon that Shimo was actually Ozzy’s first. Shimo was not nearly as much of a sex-freak that Tia was, but she was still able to keep pace with Ozzy and his nutso libido.

Not only were they best friends and mates in the later part of their relationship; they were steadfast comrades who’s very names were feared by the Gojirans’ enemies.

Ozymandias and Shimo were utterly unstoppable in every battle they fought by each other’s side. They would defeat legions of apes, devastate the MUTO population, and establish Gojiran dominance in both the Hollow Earth and the Surface.

They were so powerful together that Gigan had to wait centuries to put his plan of abducting Ozymandias into motion- as if he attacked while Shimo was still around, he was sure he’d be killed.

They were steadfast comrades, a mated pair, and best friends since they were hatchlings; so when Shimo vanished one day- Ozymandias had no real answer as to why. He has asked her to investigate a Hollow Earth portal- and she never returned. He scoured every inch of the Hollow Earth for her- and yet could find nothing. Of course- she was attacked, chained, and made into a war-mount by Skar- but Ozymandias would never know that or even see her again until he returned to Earth 2 million years later as Xenilla (or in an alternate scenario I’ll discuss later). In some timelines- he may have even died as Xenilla before ever getting to properly see her again…

Although Ozzy had Shimo and his brother for company… He was still pretty lonely. Being Dagon’s son forced him to inherit much of his father’s reputation of being a grumpy old asshole who picked fights for the fun of it. Not to mention, having a younger brother who did exactly that only worsened this problem. Ozzy was, however, nothing like his father in that respect.

Ozzy didn’t like fighting very much. Despite being 500 feet tall, having an extremely destructive purple atomic breath, and being the strongest of his clutch- he preferred diplomacy in any situation he could employ it. Unfortunately- the war with the Kongs was too far along for that to be possible, and there was no negotiating with the MUTOs. He preferred to talk, was very social and cordial, and had a very kind heart. He actually had more in common with Mothra than Goji (perhaps that’s one of the reasons that Goji eventually fell for Mothra).

He was, however, starved for company. Everyone knew him as the brilliant and untouchable champion of the lizards, and that he was capable of insane feats of strength and violence. Anytime anyone would see him, they would either turn tail and get the fuck out of dodge or be very frightened of him. He didn’t blame them for thinking like this, but he really hated his reputation- and somewhat resented his family for contributing to it.

Tiamat met him when she heard rumors of an god-like ‘King of Kings’ from her kin and other Titans. Curiosity spiked in her lust-addled young adult mind, and she sought him out. It was one of the only times someone had come up to Ozzy of their own accord- and he was rather shocked when the serpent rolled up and essentially said “wanna fuck the daylights out of me?”

Their relationship started as a physical one, but quickly grew emotional when Ozzy started to spend more time with her. Meeting and mating with Tiamat was exactly what Ozzy needed to shave off that reputation he hated so much.

Quick sidebit to talk about his title. He was named 'King of Kings’ by his kin, as the first King in a millennia to actually make progress in the war with the Kongs. The Kongs refused to use this title to refer to him, as it carried the assumption that he was King of anything- and to consider a lizard in a kingly manner was heresy to the Kongs. They dubbed him another name: Ultima.

The longer he stayed with Tiamat, the more his reputation came apart. Tiamat introduced him to her friends, which he became friends with in turn, and word of mouth began to spread that Ozzy really wasn’t that bad. He finally started getting around more, spending much of this part of his life traveling the globe and meeting as many of his Titan subjects as possible.

As many asks have established- he and Tia fucked. A lot. So damn much that it became a joke among their friends, and eventually their subjects, to call their cave system 'The Heat’. When he and Tia ran out of things to try in the bedroom with each other (in record fucking time, may I add?), they just started inviting others in to join them.

The logical conclusion of this was them hosting an event every year in the Spring where they opened up their cave for any heat-afflicted females or rut-sick males to have their respective problems solved. If there was one problem that Ozzy was not going to let his subjects deal with, it was a lack of intimacy or loneliness. He knew how that felt, and he didn’t want anyone else to deal with it on his watch.

As many who knew him would say- he had a way of making you feel like the most important person in the world. And unlike many other charismatic figures, he was actually genuine about it. He helped Tiamat see that a true intimate relationship was someone was more than sex, introduced Mothra to his younger brother, and generally was a very well loved king.

But all reigns need to end somewhere, and his would end so abruptly that it shocked the entire planet when word got around. He vanished one day. Tiamat simply heard a distressed roar echo across the waves- and when she rushed to her mate’s defense, he was gone. No bones, no remains, nothing. Panicked- she went straight to Mothra and Goji about this. Even then- Mothra could never find him. He was simply gone.

Of course, they wouldn’t discover the truth until millions of years later. Gigan lured him to an isolated island with the mimicked calls of a distressed kaiju. He rushed over to help, only to be jumped by at least 20 Infested Kaiju with highly potent tranquilizer weapons. He was knocked out, handed over to Gigan, and infested with the Cordyceps.

The fungus didn’t have total control, not at first. But it did have his mind, which it started to beat into submission with its indoctrination methods. It took the better half of twenty years for it to fully seize control of Ozzy’s body. Even then, Ozzy maintained a grip on his soul within the mind. He was still himself, and unlike millions of others, that was the one thing Xenilla could never take from him.

But it didn’t make things easy for Ozzy to hold onto his sense of self, not by a long shot. It actually probably made things worse for him- to remember who he was and what had been stolen from him. This was between the horrific bouts of torture, physical and mental, that Xenilla would utilize on him.

Xenilla loved killing, and it especially liked Ozzy’s reactions when he would use his body to torment, toy with, and kill his victims. Children especially would hurt Ozzy in such a deep way when Xenilla split their skulls open and let the parasites crawl into their brain-matter.

As soon as Xenilla discovered that Ozzy’s body could experience rut, it immediately became his favorite method of torment to use on him. Using drugs crafted by Gigan to artificially extend his periods of rut to be year-round made Ozzy desperately beg for any sort of relief, lest he go nuts from his screaming instincts.

Another one of Xenilla’s favorite methods of torture: sometimes Ozzy would drift off into sleep and begin to dream of home, of what he left behind. Any time this would happen- Xenilla would jolt him awake with a cold sensation against his spine once he had gotten about a minute into the dream. He would do this any time to break his concentration whenever he even began to think about Earth. Soon, he naturally forgot his brother and mates’ faces…

One day, the begging, choked sobs, the anger- it all vanished. Xenilla suspects that he simply pushed Ozzy too far and he just dissociated- because he stopped sensing a presence. He was still there, just, asleep. No matter what Xenilla did, he could not wake him up. It angered Xenilla to no end. Playing with Ozzy like this was one of his favorite things in life. It angered and actually depressed him so much that even his conquests became boring.

That was, until, 1 million years later… when he stumbles upon a tiny backwater world mostly made of water… Xenilla descends from the heavens, roars in challenge to the worlds’ greatest warriors, and up rolls Godzilla. It was his roar, the response to Xenilla’s challenge, that stirred Ozzy for the first time in a million years. As soon as he realized what was happening, where Xenilla was, and who was standing before him… He felt the most fear he had ever felt in his entire life. His awakening stirred Xenilla, too- and the feeling of having Ozzy screaming at him and pleading with every fiber of his being not to hurt Goji did something to him- it was the best feeling he had ever felt.

Of course- after a display like that- Xenilla was in no way going to leave Earth in peace, no… He was going to draw this out as much as possible- toy with Godzilla and the other Titans for as long as he could until they were as broken as Ozzy. He knew that this would likely be his last ride with Ozzy, his last chance to inflict torture upon him before he shuts down completely. He wanted to savor every last second of it. He could’ve destroyed Earth and the Titans in a heartbeat, but decided that Ozzy’s pain was more important to him than any divine instructions from the Hivemind or Gigan.

However, this was the only real mistake that Xenilla would make. Whether the Titans destroy him completely, killing Ozzy in the process, or actually manage to save Ozymandias- it was Xenilla’s inability to put aside his hunger for suffering that led to his death.

Abraxas - King of Kings Ending

(considering he traditionally dies in Genocide and Coexistence (at least the more widely accepted versions of them) I’m referring to the ending in which he survives as 'King of Kings’. This is just for simplicity’s sake, it doesn’t really need to be a third route, I’m just doing this for this post so I don’t have to deal with a bunch of confusing vocabulary. King of Kings is the ending to Xenilla’s story where Ozymandias is saved, that’s what I’m defining this section as: The Post-Xenilla Ozzy.)

The process to remove the parasite is an extremely complex series of surgeries done after Godzilla and crew beats Xenilla in combat- knocking him out and shipping him off to Apex to be sedated and the fungus painstakingly purged from his body.

He isn’t allowed to wake up for 2 months and 3 weeks. When he finally does, the first thing he sees are the magenta eyes of his brother leaning over his giant surgery table under Apex’s Hong Kong facility.

The day of his awakening is… emotional, to say the very least. Every Titan allowed to see him cries- a lot. Even the ones that didn’t really know him super well. The only one of Goji’s close allies that is not allowed to see him is Kong, for fear that Ozzy might react poorly to the presence of an ape.

In the order of which they were allowed to see Ozzy:

Godzilla is a fucking mess from the moment his brother opens his eyes to a literal week after, despite describing that week as 'the brightest time of my life’.

Shimo, while typically a calm and serious kaiju, couldn’t hold back her well of half-frozen tears from seeing her best friend again- refusing to stop apologizing for being taken by Skar even after being assured that it was never her fault and that no one could seriously blame her for it.

For what seems like the first time in her life, Tiamat is content simply to be with another person- no explicit activities involved. Simply being allowed to wrap lovingly around Ozzy and rest her head on his chest was enough.

Vivienne walked into his surgery room feeling- conflicted. Shockingly, none of it was about Ozzy. It was about Gigan, and about her final fight with him, what she saw onboard the Mothership. Getting to see all that, see Ghidorah’s legacy, see such stark reminders of the monster that ripped her life from her- it opened old wounds she thought were healed. She wanted to tell someone about it, speak to Mothra or maybe even Goji about it- but she would feel selfish doing that, making everything about her when they needed to focus on bringing Ozzy back. When she walked into the surgery room, saw Shimo, Godzilla, and Tiamat all with tears in their eyes and surrounding the titanic creature, when Goji introduced Abraxas as one of his best friends through stutters and choking sobs, when Ozymandias looked towards her and introduced himself with such a happy and joyful disposition despite what he had just been through- even memories of Ghidorah faded away for that moment. She’d talk to Mothra later, right now was the time to be happy.

Of course, the first thing Mothra had to do was comfort her King as he had been non-stop tearing up for about 30 minutes at this point. After he is somewhat stabilized from his rampant joyous sobbing and laughter, she climbs up on Ozzy’s bed, and just looks into his eyes, observing the beating life in them. To see them devoid of all color and whitened when he was possessed was the most terrifying thing about Xenilla to her, and it was something she had not been able to unsee in the months of their conflict with him. Now, she just tries her best to take in his rampant smile and lively purple eyes to replace Xenilla’s lifeless ones.

Dagon and Barb enter next. Ozzy’s confused at first as to who the machine is when Goji calls him Dagon. After a brief explanation, Dagon states how he’s happy to see Ozzy again and that if he could cry at that moment, he would. Ozzy gets up, walks over to him, and touches his arm;

“Can you feel this?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

Then Ozzy just full-body hugs him- despite how cold the metal is.

“I missed you, dad.”

Barb, Rodan, Behemoth, and all the other Titans and that wanted to meet him introduce themselves. When they all first walk in, Ozzy’s overwhelmed at first.

“These people- they’re all here for me?”

“They all helped save you, so yeah- they want to see if you’re doing ok, and also meet the famous 'King of Kings while they’re at it.”

Of course, Ozzy’s floored that all these Titans showed for him. Through quick handshakes, he promises each one that he’ll seek them out later to introduce himself properly.

Then, they allow all the humans to meet him. They let all of the Monarch and Apex staff that helped to save him say hi. Ozzy’s mind is actually malfunctioning at this point due to so many people actually wanting to talk with and meet him.

“These are just the ones that helped! These aren’t even the civilians that can’t wait to see the King of Kings in all his glory.” Rodan tells him.

“There are more of them?!?! How many more wish to meet me??”

“Jeez- uh, rough estimate? Most of the world.” Abraxas chimes in.

“They’re- not scared of me?”

“Maybe once, but humans fear that which they can’t understand. Now? The Titans have saved us all hundreds of times. You’re all Gods to us, Guardians, defenders. Now? People look to towering monsters with hope. Now? They’ll love you.” Maia tells him.

It’s enough to get the tear ducts welling up again.

When Goji finally takes him to meet Kong a little later, the first thing he has to say to the ape is an apology. He apologizes for what happened to the remaining apes, their banishment, and Kong’s orphaning. He says that it’s something he’d never have let happen if he was still around, and how he hopes that Kong could forgive him for his hand in destroying his people. It’s- honestly overwhelming to Kong that any kaiju would offer sympathy for the results of the war. Even the one he’d expect that from most, Mothra, never offered words like that. Suffice to say, Ozzy immediately goes on Kong’s list of 'people I actively respect’.

When Ozzy finally leaves the depths of Apex’s facility fully recovered, he actually recoils at the warmth of the sun and breeze of the wind. He stops moving for a second and Goji turns to find him stuck and looking up at the sun.

“Brother? Are you alright?”

“Yes. Please, go ahead. I’m- going to be here for a while.”

Goji leaves him for a second as Ozzy closes his eyes, breathes in, and exhales the fresh air. He returns to his brother later with fresh tears in his eyes.

“I had forgotten- how warm the Sun was…”

Shamhat

(ok- this parts gonna be a little out there, I know. It’s an extremely unlikely thing to happen and I’m not expecting it to- this is just kind of a What If that may even spark some additional ideas on how to introduce additional kaiju into Shamhat. I don’t think this contradicts anything said in Shamhat, I can’t remember Ozzy ever being mentioned in that story. This is kind of a workaround to introduce him into that timeline without having to have a war against Xenilla- although it does totally cut out that part of his character… Again, you can totally disregard this section; there’s probably lots of ways to bring Ozzy into that story that aren’t this one, this one just conveniently includes another kaiju who could also be a problematic addition to include; and also deals with some undefined lore parts of that timeline that I’ve actually been curious about whilst reading. Additionally, there are a few other headcanons here that just involve what Ozzy would do if he were in Shamhat.)

First off: the namesake of the story. We know that Mothra and Godzilla inspired the legend of Enkidu and Shamhat with their week-long time at an oasis, but there is still a major part of that myth this is undefined in this timeline- Gilgamesh. Who inspired that part of the Epic? Well, I actually think that Ozymandias is probably the best candidate here. But for him to actually establish a city and rule it like he would have Uruk, he needs to not be abducted back when humans were still evolving into Homo Sapiens (at least that’s when I picture him being abducted). So- he just doesn’t. Whether Gigan fails to kidnap him or he just never finds Earth at all, a very major change in the Shamhat timeline is that Ozzy stays on Earth and is never actually abducted. But- that doesn’t mean he can’t still vanish… and he still does, albeit for only around 2000 years this time, until the modern day. Why? Because he caught the whiff of a scent he hadn’t smelled for millions of years; Shimo. As soon as he catches the lightest whiff of his best friend from a nearby Hollow Earth Portal… he’s gone. Instantly, he rushes into the Hollow Earth with reckless abandon, portal shutting behind him, and vanishes from the surface world. Despite having his brother and mate on the surface, he knows he needs to do this- and he hopes they will understand if he doesn’t show his face for a little while. However, what he finds in the Hollow Earth is something he realizes he’ll need a little longer than 'a little while’ to handle- a fully rebuilt Kong Empire, right under his nose, and one with a scarred king at the helm, and Shimo as his personal pet. At this realization- the fury of Ozymandias knows no bounds- and he swears an oath, right there, that he is not to return home unless it is with Shimo by his side and the apes consigned to his nuclear flames. A little while turns into 2000 years of a one-man war with the Skar King- one that Ozymandias wins. Breaking Shimo’s chains, reunited for the first time in 2 million years, the two return to a fully changed surface world.

The two emerge from a Hollow Earth Portal on Skull Island, shrink down, and pretty quickly encounter a human-shifted Kong along with Andrews and Jia. Suffice to say, everyone is freaked out for their own reasons. Andrews (to her infinite credit) manages to defuse a potentially very violent encounter between the kaiju, and gets Ozzy to talk about who he is and where he’s come from. At this point- Godzilla’s sensed the insanely potent scent that Ozymandias exudes, and rushes to find Tiamat so they can investigate. Thus, the Infant Island gang takes a brief field trip to Skull Island. By this point, Ozzy’s gotten to talk to Kong a little and is relieved that there’s an ape around that doesn’t want his head on a mantle. He’s happy to introduce himself and Shimo to the Monarch folk and tries to establish a diplomatic relationship with both Kong and Monarch (through ahem whatever means he deems appropriate…). Goji and crew arrive later, absolutely over the moon to find Ozzy alive- but simultaneously a little ticked off that he up and vanished one random day without telling anyone. After a brief explanation and an introduction of Shimo (who’s introduction and explanation make Tiamat more than a little jealous…), Ozzy reassures everyone that he doesn’t intend to vanish off the face of the Earth again any time soon.

As soon as he catches wind of the Great Infant Island Mating Press- he wants in. He needs a vacation after all that shit went down in the Hollow Earth for 2000 years. Shimo probably needs one more, having not fucked anything in 2 million years. Ozzy’s so into the idea, in fact, he invites Kong and Andrews and basically insists that they join them. They end up convinced, and return to Infant just in time for Mothra’s heat to rear it’s pheromone-laced head again.

Ozzy immediately gets nostalgic for his and Tiamat’s 'Housewarming Events’ they used to hold. This is a policy he fully intends to revisit now that he’s home. Randomly in the middle of the Season, he’ll vanish for like 3 days and come back with another Titan to join them. He’ll literally do tours of the planet on like a weekly basis, running around with his rut blazing and acting like a sex ice cream truck- into the territories of other Titans yelling “COME GET YOUR HOLES FILLED AT INFANT ISLAND!! :D” Recognizing the old King of King’s scent- everyone immediately knows what’s on and the venue changes from Tiamat’s sex cave into Mothra’s sex island. There’s at least 20 new Titans in like 3 weeks…

Despite all the new guests- Ozzy is still fucking insatiable. 2000 years of no sex really did something to him. Nobody can outpace him- even Tiamat gets left in the dust. Once, Goji goes out for an 8 hour patrol, and returns to find his brother on the couch of the main building, left arm around Rodan, right arm around Tiamat, Vivienne passed out on his lap, Mothra and her priestess out cold on the carpet, San slouched up against the couch with Maia in his grip, Shimo catnapping on the dining table, Kong out cold against the sliding glass door with Andrews in his grasp, and the Skullcrawlers all passed out in various dubious positions.

“Oh, hello brother! How was your patrol?”

“What the- HOW?!”

“How… am I doing? I’m great, how are you?”

(wowsers that post got big. I guess I just had a lot of stuff about this guy to get off my chest, sorry for blasting this novel into your inbox, lol. Here’s to the big horndog King of Kings, right? Feel free to drop your own hcs you haven’t mentioned before if you want. Also I wrote this in an external program and tumblr may have fucked over my formatting soooo- that’s probably not completely my fault if it’s bad.)

---

Good lord that’s a lot of Ozzy!

I like the inclusion of Shimo (huh, what few leaks I’ve seen says male, though I personally prefer Shimo female because the monster roster is all sausage) and that she was mates with Ozzy before Tiamat. Makes sense that Ozzy being so lonesome by reputation would translate to an insane sex drive, physical affection must be like a drug to him.

[inun4ki]

TAG NINE PEOPLE YOU’D LIKE TO KNOW BETTER!

I. favourite colours: purple, black, mostly cooler shades ! teal's a pretty big one, it's what i usually dye my hair

II. favourite flavours: lychee, green apple, blue raspberry, white chocolate, banana, cookies & cream, pumpkin pie, um... i have a lot r.i.p.

III. favourite genres: dark fantasy, high fantasy, supernatural anything, and romance !

IV. favourite music: i listen to all kinds of music, but i'm very very big on metal, indie, hip hop, and trap ig. used to be just straight up indie rock and emo, but i've expanded my horizons quite a bit. if ever you wanna trade music, i'm game !

V. favourite movies: i have so many ! but i suppose the ones i like best are LOTR, Howl's Moving Castle, The Cat Returns, John Wick, The Devil's Candy, FF7:AC, Scream...etc. my favorite genre is horror though. huge horror buff.

VI. favourite series: MHA, JJK, Chainsaw Man, Inuyasha, Samurai Champloo, um... that i can think of right now, in terms of anime. games are a different story, but that list is too damn long; DMC, Dragon Age, Elder Scrolls, Final Fantasy, Star Ocean, The Witcher, Silent Hill, Fatal Frame - deadass there's too many i love to choose just one.

VII. last song: i can't read or type cyrillic, but this song by ghostemane

VIII. last series: mmm that i watched? The Boys

IX. last movie: some documentary i can't remember the name of tbh

X. currently reading: the guardians of the flame series for the thousandth time. came out in the 80s so a bit of a product of its time, but it's an excellent series. all the main characters are deeply, deeply flawed and there's some unfortunately realistic grit in there. the author also doesn't beat around the bush - very ' to the point ' style of writing. i think there's...8 books? in total. or 11. idk there's quite a few

XI. currently watching: my partner play Elden Ring

XII. currently working on: a very, very long wip that i'll never finish. it's at 140k+ words so far, but i think the characters got away from me a bit and i'm not sure how to reel them back in. it's very ambitious, lots of stuff going on there, lots of angst. but it's become unsatisfying to write as of late

Tagged: @ratiosalaryman & @circusmxnkeys tysm ! Tagging: whoever would like !

[redrobemerle]

hey what if i made an ffvii au based around a very niche musical i enjoy. woe dolls of ffvii be upon ye

the narrator : the Planet itself (tells the story, also tries to warn people about the consequences of their actions but cannot be heard by the rest of the cast) the gambler and the monk : JENOVA and a cetra (maybe ifalna, maybe just a random one. its not like theyre mentioned by name anyway) jasper : grimoire valentine (this is mainly bc annabel had to be lucrecia) annabel : lucrecia (she canonically sort of brought vincent back from the dead. sort of. she probably wouldve brought grimoire back if she could have. its also lowkey implied that she may have had a crush on grimoire?)

((now heres where the roles go off the rails in regards to what their original relationships were))

edgar : hojo fay : vincent (THATS RIGHT BAY BEE IF JASPER IS GRIMOIRE VINCENT HAS TO BE FAY. whos the guy vincent leaves hojo for when he realizes Oh This Guys Fucked Up Actually? probably cid or reeve. i dont really ship vincent with anyone so like. as long as its not one of the Kids. anyway also thinks about how grimoires last words in canon are "tell vincent im sorry". thinks about "i took the liberty of bringing your dear old dad back. you can talk to him again! but only if you come back and marry me". thinks) byron : sephiroth (let sephiroth be an anarchist lmao) amelia : angeal ("amelia"s shitty dad is hollander obvs) priscilla : aerith (the obvious choice, but also im always thinking about the similarities between aerith and vincent (vincents similarities with cloud are far more obvious, but listen to me. aerith and vincent have their parallels too). priscilla reminding jasper of fay (aerith reminding grimoire of vincent)) soldier 7285 : theres so many people it could be but im leaning towards zack or cloud? everyone else gets to be voodoopunks

BUT TUMBLR USER REDROBEMERLE NONE OF US IN THE FF7 FANDOM HAVE ANY CLUE WHAT DOLLS OF NEW ALBION IS! YOU ADMITTED IT'S NICHE AS HELL!

fear not, for i have typed up a summary of the musical under the cut! if you read the summary and get upset about the way ive fucked with the relationships from the game for the sake of this au, please refer to this post <3

CONTENT WARNINGS: offstage but explicitly mentioned suicide, also very brief but explicitly mentioned parental abuse, immolation mentions (sort of), execution by a militaristic police state (near the end)

The Dolls of New Albion: a Steampunk Opera is a folk opera by Paul Shapera

the opera is split up into four acts, each following a generation of a single family. each act has a narrator telling you about the world as time passes. while not all of it is directly relevant to the story at hand, it tells you something interesting about the world. however, there is a recurring motif of a gambler and a monk who played a never-ending card game. this is important later. the city of new albion was built around them by the people who came to watch them play. but more importantly, in the Now, annabel(/annabelle/annabella. the script cant decide how its spelled) mcalistair is raising up the dead

okay so basically. annabel had a big ol crush on a guy in school. they had never talked until one day they talked and kissed and they became friends for a little bit. but then annabel was expelled for stealing cadavers for her own research. and she became a shut-in and he got married then died young. and she's figured out how to call his soul down into a doll she has built!

the doll is very lifelike but cant really move and cannot talk but he can play the radio! isnt he great? look at annabels doll everyone! she can go anywhere now bc hes proof that shes brilliant! shes conquered life and death! but not everything you love loves you in return. and when she realizes that he cannot, will not ever love her back or speak to her, he doesnt want to be back, she destroys the doll. and throws all of her notes in an old trunk in the attic.

and so passes the first generation.

the narrator informs us that annabel gets married and has a son named edgar at some point. edgar grows up and falls in love, as people often do, with a woman named fay, and on the night he was planning to propose to her, she tells him that while she loves him and she really tried to make the relationship work, hes got Issues and so she leaves him for another man.

in his anger, when edgar goes through the old trunk in the attic and finds annabels notes on necromancy, he makes a business out of it! he summons back the souls of the dead for anyone who asks and pays, and when his business becomes successful enough he uses the money and influence he has to run the business of fays new partner into the ground.

he goes and finds fay and is like. "look. i have a very successful business. the man that you say you love is ruined and poor and I know you cant live like that. and whats more than that, you know your dead dad who you loved so dearly? yeah i brought him back for you, but the only way you can talk to him is if you come back and get married to me. :)" and fay does but shes also like "what the fuck. i actually loved you once why did you end up like this this is why i left you in the first place" also the person whose soul edgar brought back is jasper, the same man annabel brought back originally.

and so passes the second generation.

edgar and fay have a son named byron. now, byron becomes a voodoopunk. voodoopunk is one part religious movement, one part political party, one part punk subculture. yes i know voodoo is a closed practice i dont know that the person who wrote this does and yeah.

so basically his whole plan is to run jasper for mayor? and theres this girl named amelia whos also running with the voodoopunks. it is unclear how old she is, but she is referred to as "a girl" rather than "a woman", so it is likely she's either a teenager or a young adult.

but jasper has figured something out. jasper has figured out how to string together songs on the radio to finally speak for himself. and byron is like "here listen to our doll give you a speech and prove that the dead can run this country better than any of the vultures that are politicians in any part of the political spectrum!"

and jasper sings.

and he sings about how he did not want to be brought back. death was peaceful and he did not want to be here.

and amelia heard this. and she had no friends. and she lived only with her father who was abusive (presumably both verbally and physically? it is never elaborated upon but we do know its at least verbal.)

and she kills herself with only the words of the song jasper sang as her note.

at which point theres public outcry bc ALL the dolls have been singing this song. in the publics eyes, the dolls killed amelia. and so people start rounding up the dolls -- who there are more of than living people in new albion by now -- and burning them alive (for a given definition of alive? its really more of releasing their souls again but really violently) byron manages to "save" jasper though.

and so ends the third generation.

we revisit the card game. the gambler died of a heart attack during the final hand, and cursed with his dying breath that the game was not yet finished, promising the two would come back to finish it one day.

and so begins the fourth generation.

New Albion has become a military police state, killing anyone with any sort of memorabilia of the dead. we see priscilla, byrons daughter, hiding in a basement and playing a never-ending game of cards with jasper. (YEP THATS RIGHT ITS KINDA IMPLIED THAT JASPER AND PRISCILLA ARE THE REINCARNATIONS OF THE MONK AND THE GAMBLER, and even if theyre not, theyre still the ones continuing the game they started).

we also see soldier 7285 join the police.

priscilla loves her great grandfather jasper dearly -- and he loves her back. she reminds him of fay, when fay was younger and more innocent, and jasper lets slip during their card game that he still wants to die but he is willing to stay because he wants priscilla to live even more. because if theyre found, they both die.

priscilla is like what the fuck thats not? fair??? why should you have to sacrifice your death for my life??? and she thinks about it. and decides that a life of hiding isnt much of a life at all.

and she calls the cops on herself.

a firing squad happens, despite jasper doing all he can to prevent it because her life for his death isnt fair to her, either.

but soldier 7285 doesnt fire.

he is court martialled and stripped of his duties/rank for it. soldier 7285 thinks about how priscilla loved jasper so much she was willing to die if it meant his freedom, and goes. hey what the fuck sort of country do i serve that thinks caring about the people we loved past their deaths is punishable by death??? im going to tear this country down and rebuild it on the graves of the people who decided this, and if i die in the process, at least i can be a martyr and inspire people to finish what i started the way she inspired me.

and thats the dolls of new albion!

[coiled-dragon]

What inspired/lead you to become a fanfic writer?

Gosh... I dont really know entirely, but I think it was just... reading fanfic from a young age. Like, one of the first real ships I enjoyed was Sephiroth x Cloud and I found fanfic of them on personal websites and stuff. It was how I interacted with FF7 at all really, I didnt know where to read about it, never had the game myself to play, and it was before the age of YouTube Lets plays. So fanfic was just something I knew existed and how I interacted with a lot of media for a while.

I learned of more fanfics, and more places that hosted them like FFnet back in the day! And I just... started writing them as a pre-teen/early teen (for Beyblade btw) and then eventually posted some on FFnet when I was probably 17...

It was just so normal to come to a media, and wonder 'what if this happened?' and daydream about it, and write about it, and its so common in fandom places.

It just grew out of me! A seed planted by those early fanfics of 'what if', and fostered by a creative drive that ive had all my life.

Part of it would also just be.... being inspired to be a writer. I always thought of writing as something casual whereas illustration art was the Real Deal for me, but god! I roleplayed a lot in forum style RPs, and then I remember being SO SO inspired by Christopher Paolini who had written Eragon at, iirc, 16? I was like 'what!!! you can DO THAT???' LOL

I did used to want to publish a novel, and then focused more on my art, and then fell back in love with writing as I grew up and aaaAA

LONG answer but ultimately: FanFic has been something ive been around a lot, and ive always enjoyed writing in general, so it was natural that I ended up becoming more and more focused on writing fanfic <3

[worldend]

aerith's fans are awful because they reduce her character down to the relationship they want her to have with cloud and that is the one thing the devs arent giving them. never mind the depth and grace they brought to her. cloud doesn't seem interested in her so theyre burning down the house.

ive seen someone on twitter say 'ff7 fans arent fans of ff7 theyre just fans of the characters' and i kind of agree with that statement but that also just feels straight up not true for aeriths case. even the ppl who claim to be her fans only give a shit about shipping her with cloud and shitting on tifas character for having flaws as if cloud isnt fucking crazy also. the writers literally had the goal to make it obvious that her and tifa never were jealous of one another due to people thinking that after playing the og ff7 but despite their relationship ibeing written so well in the remake series these people literally only care about shipping. ignoring how obviously these characters love one another too without cloud being in the picture.

like i really dont understand using a scene where cloud attacks tifa becuz hes literally being mind controlled as some sort of gotcha as a way to say. cloti is abusive? as if thats not the same exact situation as when cloud hits aerith in the og game? like what is the goal of doing all of this?i feel like her somewhat manic pixie dream girl manerisms for a lack of a better term makes these ppl project themselves onto her and thats why they are so obsessed with aerith and aerith only being with cloud. becuz theyre obsessed with him but they dont want to directly admit it. i dont care about shipping enough to be able to comprehend this better.

[fearowkenya]

im so sorry for the person im going to become when ff7 rebirth comes out. actually im probably not going to be around much when it comes out in order to avoid spoilers. the plan was to play it right away, except i wanted to replay remake as a refresher but then i was like "i should play crisis core first" so i started doing that and im currently on chapter 4? i think?? so im less than halfway done . also ive never played the remake dlc so id like to do that before starting rebirth as well .

[angelicguy]

i love ranting about games folks i find them very interesting not just from a "is it fun" perspective but as products that result from artistic choices meeting business/fan/modern gameplay expectations. and ff7 remake is a good game, id argue a very good game- obviously its going for something very different than a straight perfect HD recreation of ff7's story (ive talked about how thats not the goal theyre going for, but also an impossible one to even try to meet) but it really does a great job, probably a better job than most modern AAA games, of feeling paced like a movie. the facial animations/models are good enough that theyre allowed to have almost all of the cutscenes be really, really tight shots of the characters just talking, which is something that we couldnt really have even 3 years ago. action looks tight.

i also think square enix has FINALLY found their niche in terms of making an "action-turn based" system. because if i just played cloud the entire game it would be kind of boring. he's like a twentieth of a devil may cry character. but because you have three characters to manage at once, you get to have that feeling that turn based games deliver (managing a parties stats, having specific characters meet certain roles, setting up for big damage by using all the characters abilities) but with an action-centric undertone (actually having to aim at enemies, ducking behind cover when a boss readies a big movie, dodging and positioning). its ALL of the fun of a turn based RPG w/ NONE of the annoying bits where you have to function on a grid and endure a shit ton of downtime when the enemy takes its turn. its a perfect solution. which makes it really confusing to me why there are EVER sections where you have to play as a single character. because it goes from fun party management to doing peanuts for damage and waiting for your abilities to come off cooldown, then using an item to restore your MP, then casting.. etc etc etc. just a lot of running around. the few times they pull it off are when its a cloud 1v1 boss battle where they clearly designed those challenges to force you to dodge and find openings more like a conventional action game. those are some of my favorite fights. in the sequel there should literally never be a situation where you play 1v1 unless its against these types of enemies. theres this one section where you play as barrett and its just torture... he does no dmg and is slow as fuck. had to turn him into a spellpig

only problem is that it's so god damn linear. which they had to do i understand. but truly none of the sidequests are particularly fun and feel like just checking the boxes. none of the gear feels particularly substantial either- the only fun items to get are the weapons that let you learn different abilities, but each character has like.. 5. idk. good game and im excited for the sequel, but i really hope it cleans up some of the rough spots in the pacing because the game was really a fucking roller coaster that never stops and lets me just breathe and enjoy the setting

[serinigalini]

FF7R: LOVELESS Aerith theory

Is LOVELESS about Aerith and the future of FF7R; a meta theory.

Spoilers Ahead.

First of all, developers have stated that "Aerith" is a near-anagram of "Earth". Gaia (the personification of Earth in greek mythology) was worshipped as the "giver of gifts", which directly parallels the LOVELESS poem. Gaia is also the Planet that FF7 takes place in.

People would sacrifice a black lamb for Gaia and a white one for Helios (personification of the Sun), for her gift. However, what is the gift that is so often talked about in LOVELESS?

This is just a suggestion, however, LOVELESS plays on the 25th of June, which is the 176th day of the year. According to number meanings, 176 is the number of adventure and freedom. According to Zack Fair, the price of freedom is steep.

Aerith is first seen in the LOVELESS street, in both the Original and the Remake selling flowers. 

In the ending of FF7R, when Aerith is asked what they will find on the other side of the portal, she replies freedom, like a never-ending sky. ACT I of the LOVELESS poem mentions the gift being taken to the sky.

I will reference my Healing Rain theory often here since it ties in with the LOVELESS Aerith theory. ACT I of the poem also talks about ripples being formed on the water's surface. Rain.

Aerith's final limit break is the Great Gospel, a healing rain. It was also used in Advent Children to cure people of Geostigma, a disease that infected the Lifestream with Jenova cells.

"The wandering soul knows no rest." (ACT I)

ACT III of LOVELESS talks about a friend flying away, and that all that awaits him is sadness, no matter what he does. That his desire is the bringer of life, the gift of the goddess. Freedom.

The stage play of LOVELESS is based on ACT II and III. The last quote of the play, according to Kunsel, is "Of course...I'll come back to you. Even if you don't promise to wait. I'll return knowing you'll be here."

So why it is mostly based on ACT II and III? That could be because ACT IV and V haven't happened in the main FF7 world yet. According to the Remake, the ending of LOVELESS has changed.

Additionally, ACT IV of LOVELESS talks about vengeance and the cruelness of fate. In the ending of FF7R, Aerith talks about changing fate.

This also ties in with my Healing Rain theory. Aerith, the person who values freedom most, says that all moments are like rain rolling off Sephiroth's back. Act IV talks about a soul, corrupted by vengeance finding salvation in the end of the journey, and the goddess’s eternal slumber.

So what will happen according to LOVELESS? A sacrifice at world's end. The spoken sacrifice could either be Aerith's death, Sephiroth letting his goal to attain Godhood go, perhaps even both.

The main reason why Sephiroth was unable to attain Godhood is essentially because he killed Aerith and through that, she became a divine being in control of the Lifestream. He likely wants to avoid her death this time around. (Refer to my Healing Rain theory for elaboration.)

ACT V of LOVELESS talks about a return, even if the future is not promising, as well as about dew that quenches the land; Rain. Rain is healing, it comes from the sky; Freedom. So simply said, freedom heals.

Referring back to Aerith valuing freedom, Sephiroth and Aerith are narrative foils. The reason why she turned out completely different despite having a similar past to him locked in labs is essentially because of freedom itself.

LOVELESS was quite important to Genesis Rhapsodos. His interpretation of the goddess referred in the poem is Minerva. Minerva is the goddess of wisdom, war, art, schools, and commerce. That could explain why he interpreted LOVELESS as such. He is a SOLDIER, afterall.

Some fun greek etymology, since I’m greek myself, Genesis comes from the word "γέννα" (yena) which means birth. Rhapsodos comes from the word "ραψοδία" (ράπτω+ωδή > to sew songs together). His existence is based on the poem, it's even in his name. Thus, his entire arc in CC is based on LOVELESS.

 In conclusion, LOVELESS is likely about Aerith. If so, that would mean that she can bestow the gift of freedom upon others, even if it means sacrificing herself. Will she make the ultimate sacrifice though? Only the poem can tell. 😉

Thank you for reading! 😄

[neopoint]

ok after playing a chapter of ff7 im HOWLING WHY IS CLOUD LIKE THAT... ALL THE FANS MADE IT SEEM LIKE HE WAS A PUPPY BOY BUT HE’S SO SASSY. TOUGH TALK FOR A 5′8 BLONDIE.

also the game is SO fun and gorgeous i’m glad there’s an easy mode too bc i’m more interested in the story!!! tho the playstation buttons r soooo hard to get used to they’re just... symbols.... and the A and B are switched its so weird i’m a nintendo kid ive never used a playstation controller before 😔