#out of ammo (ooc)

[axnewxera]

// I love looking at the differences between Rufus and his father.

President Shinra is a cowardly man, who sits in his office and sends other people out to do his dirty work. When threatened, he begs and pleads and cowers until he can find some sort of upper ground. He smokes cigars even in executive management meetings and has absolutely no fighting skill, just a tacky gold pistol.

Rufus is IMMEDIATELY introduced as a character willing to get his hands dirty and jump into the action. He schemes and thinks ahead for every situation and does plenty of behind the scenes work, but also is a formidable and skilled fighter in his own right. Even his fighting style is very centered on deception. He has several weapons - Darkstar, his shotgun that can split into two smaller guns, his coins that seem to have a variety of different uses, he uses his shotgun as a means of transportation around the field...

We learn in On the Way to a Smile that Rufus survived FF7 thanks to an emergency escape hatch that he himself suggested to his father when he was 5 years old. President Shinra mocked the literal child and marked the escape hatch with an "L" for "Loser".

With that in mind, I headcanon that the hidden gun drawer that President Shinra cowers his way toward in his final scene in the Remake was also a Rufus idea.

Rufus had a mind for strategy and backup plans, and apparently took it VERY seriously even as a child, and President Shinra looked down on that. Yet when his life was in danger.... Look who saved his life (for a second until Sephiroth happened lol whoops).

Have I mentioned I LOVE Rufus's glow-up in the Remakes??????

[pvremichigan]

…

What if I made an rp server where you can make your own representations? Even ones for made up worlds if you have your own lore?

Would anyone be interested? I need more meat and substance for my world, it could have plots with wars and such.

[themultiversemercs]

So someone in a Facebook comment reminded me that I still had old PFPs from when I used to use my FB account to RP as Arch.

Kill.

Me.

Now. 😭😭😭

[stillcominback]

really underestimated how much i missed rick grimes let me tell you

[thefaceofhorror]

((Would anyone like a short starter? It may take awhile bc I'm headed to work, but please don't be shy! I think I'll cap at 6, but all are welcome! Please specify muse if you're a multi.))

[orxna]

Sometimes I think about how Bran has a son about Hawke's age and Leandra apparently put An Amount of Thought into setting him up with a Fem Hawke and it's Just So Funny.

[trouvelafoi]

/Fyi, there's been a quick addition to my rules. I know it's rather blunt, but it's a boundary that needs to be established for future interactions, as I've fortunately not had any run-ins in regards to this issue directly.

[sheifflucashood]

//I'll get back to the RP soon im not feeling my best again im so sorry

[22calibers]

ALRIGHT LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED! LIKE FOR A STARTER!

[wanderingaroundwithmysoul]

I'll always love that Good Rain had a lil' pride sticker on her Prius

[barrysbaby]

Moira's flashlight is kinda OP tbh.

[axnewxera]

// I've been deep in thought the last few days about Rufus and his character. I just started this blog and I'm still fleshing out my muse in my head.

So. I'mma dump some of my headcanon on the character, and this WILL affect how I RP him and this WILL get long and ranty.

(I'm sorry if the format is wonky, I'm laying in bed on mobile. Also spoilers of pretty much all FF7 media ahoy)

In the original game (and arguably in different levels in other media since then), Rufus is definitely presented as a villain.

His big introduction in the original game has him giving off this big speech to the party about how his father was too soft on the world with propaganda and narrative control and intended to instead rule through fear and intimidation. He stages a public execution of our party members late in the game. He tries to take Cid's plane instead of reviving the space program. He sent Cait Sith to act as a Shinra spy on our party (or at least was aware of this, as the Turks actively follow Cait Sith's intel). He bankrolled Avalanche to essentially backstab his father! He's very manipulative and deceitful and you can never quite trust him!

But honestly..... Nothing he's actually done has me convinced that he was ever actually a bad guy.

Yes, he SAYS how bad he is when you first meet him in the original. He definitely seems to WANT to be the big villain of the series. But Sephiroth's greater threat to the planet aside... Rufus is just not that guy.

Is Shinra, Inc. evil? Oh hell yeah. Heidegger, Scarlet? Yup. Hojo? LOL

But almost IMMEDIATELY after becoming president, Rufus started suppressing Heidegger and (presumably) Scarlet. Heidegger seemed to be THE dude for President Shinra. The two were very much in alignment in their goals and methods. And Rufus lowers him by berating him and never taking him seriously. Not to mention the fact that he basically started an eco-terrorist group to get his heartless evil father gone.

Even though he starts off saying how little the common people mean to him, his goals from very early on are to protect the world from Sephiroth, and to spearhead the effort to find the Promised Land. Even his execution of Barrett and Tifa is an attempt to comfort the people (and, I suspect, to draw Cloud out of hiding) - but he never seems too upset that they escaped the attempt. Or that Cait Sith remains on the party after his usefulness as a spy was over.

He comes off as arrogant and tricky, he sure does some mean things... but his intentions are noble, and his known tendency to play both sides of any conflict - secretly funding Avalanche, secretly funding the World Regenesis Organization, whatever amazing shenanigans are going on in the remakes with Wutai and Viceroy Sarruf - has me doubting that the "evil" stuff like the execution were even intended to actually take place. He's pulling strings to get people where he wants them.

Rufus can't just SAY what he wants. Advent Children is a good example - his intentions are much more openly "good", but no one believes him and there's all this doubt and "What is he really up to?" that swirl around his character. When it counted, he seemed surprisingly honest, yet it just pushed Cloud away.

If he came out as the president of this huge evil corporation and laid out his noble intentions to the world, everyone would doubt him every step of the way and his plans would never get done. Not to mention the very likely possibility that Heidegger and Scarlet and whatever supporters President Shinra still had would stage some sort of coup against him in that event. He still has to be a Shinra. So he does it to play the game, give the world or sometimes our party a villain to unite against, and get things done.

I also think Rufus sees HIMSELF as a villain, even though his intentions are pure. He's a Shinra, after all, and was raised by his father to be this heartless embodiment of pride and corporation. All that lying and manipulating and double-dealing leaves a mark on the psyche. He is fully comfortable presenting himself as the villain because he believes that's who he is, but he disagrees with his father's goals and methods so much that he actively sabotages himself.

I'm not sure if any of this was the writers' actual intent or if it's just all my interpretation, buuuuuut that's the fun of RP right? Getting to dig deeper and assign your own spin on the character.

[pvremichigan]

I see a bunch of people doing shipping guides for their muses so here's one for Mich:

Good luck. <3

[themultiversemercs]

I am here.

Please excuse me while I push my eyeballs in with the back of a spoon, then I'll reply to everything!

[stillcominback]

entering my 35th era today 🎀💗🥳✨

[thefaceofhorror]

((I did an art! First two are related; it's a weird thing and I'll explain it later.

The second two are normal Clover and pre-Wilder Massacre Clover.))