#sephiroth corpses though

[beeftendergroin]

inspired by that depressed red jester painting but make it cloud strife with his 6'7" psychological baggage

[rottenpumpkin13]

Today is World Introvert Day, so... lets' leave our favorite FF7 introverts alone to spend the day by themselves.

Sephiroth: Spends his day happily holed up in his quarters. He allows himself an indulgence in the form of a piece of Banora White tart, paired with a perfect cup of black tea. He eats slowly, savoring each bite before settling into his armchair with a book in hand. It's something dense but rewarding, an obscure text on ancient myths Genesis gifted him. His margin notes are observational and witty, he writes them between chapters when he's not polishing Masamune. Later he retrieves an old sketchbook hidden away in his desk, the one he only uses when he tries to sketch his mother's face from memory. He never gets it right, it's never like her photo. He flips through earlier attempts, wondering if he'll ever capture her the way he imagines her—soft, kind, unreachable.

Cloud: He settles inside a small supply room he stumbled across that smells faintly of wood polish, and the way the sunlight filters through a dusty window reminds him of mornings back in Nibelheim. He's dragged in an office chair and sits there with his knees pulled up, a sketchpad balanced on them. He's doodling—mostly crude, messy sketches of Fenrir, the bike he dreams of owning someday, though there's a half-finished one of Zack grinning stupidly with an exaggeratedly spiky hedgehog haircut. Every once in a while he glances up at the door, worried someone might find his hideout. He even brought a sandwich to eat while he daydreams about home, making SOLDIER some day, and becoming someone worthy of being hailed a hero.

Vincent: As always, he's in his coffin in the basement. He's lying completely still, eyes half-shut, as if daring anyone to find him and mistake him for a corpse. It's not far from the truth. He spends most of the time replaying memories of Lucrecia and the countless what-ifs that plague him. What if he had run with her, left Shinra behind, and raised Sephiroth as their son? What if he had killed Hojo before anything could happen? Would Lucrecia still be alive? Would he even have the right to be happy? But no matter how many scenarios he conjures up, they all end the same way: none of it happened, and none of it ever will. With a sigh, he turns to the only distraction he allows himself—dragging his clawed fingers on the inside of a coffin lid, working on that drawing of Lucrecia no one will ever see.

[getvalentined]

Friendly reminder that the only reason Genesis is the antagonist of Crisis Core is because Zack is with Shinra. Literally.

Once he's on the run, once Genesis knows that Zack can't help him, he literally brings Hollander to Gongaga for Zack to kill—he tells Zack what Hollander is planning under the guise of it being a joint effort, but once Hollander runs off, Genesis then tells Zack what he intends to do. He talks to him about Loveless and the Lifestream, he shoves a Banora White into his hands when Zack charges at him, and then he leaves. Hollander is left behind—in Zack's hometown, his own turf, so there's nowhere to run and nowhere to hide—allowing Zack to enact poetic justice at last by striking down Angeal's birth father with the very sword that the man who actually raised Angeal died to earn, the sword that honorless Gillian said represented all the honor the Hewleys had left.

And then, finally realizing what's actually going on, Zack sets out to to Banora to save Genesis from dying.

There's no point after Modeoheim that Genesis outright attacks Zack until he's cured at the Light of Doom; there, he calls Zack First Class SOLDIER even though he's not anymore, because Genesis isn't trying to strike down Zack, he's trying to reclaim the right to the only title he's ever had that felt worth anything, and he's trying to take the burden of that title from Zack.

If he wins, Genesis takes the guilt of killing both Angeal and Sephiroth—because he doesn't know Cloud's role, he doesn't know that Zack wasn't the one to strike Sephiroth down, he doesn't even know Cloud's name. Conversely, if he loses, then it's confirmation that Zack is the hero of the story, truly and completely, and that's all right too. If that's how the story ends, that's how it ends. (Minerva intervenes, pulls Genesis from the duel, and he never gets to see the ending. The final act, as in his beloved ancient poem, remains a mystery.)

Genesis is the main antagonist of Crisis Core, but he's never been the bad guy. The entirety of Final Fantasy VII has a single monolith of villainy, and that's always been—and will always be—Shinra. Shinra made the Reactors and dug up Jenova. Shinra made Genesis, Sephiroth, Angeal, and DeepGround. Shinra burned Kalm, Banora, and (partially) Nibelheim. Shinra used any corpse they found or made as research fodder. Shinra killed the last fullblooded Cetra and drove her only daughter to a place where the only way to save the people she loved was through her death. Shinra is the bad guy.

Zack is with Shinra for the majority of the game, and thus the story behaves accordingly. Shinra's enemies are Zack's enemies, because that's the side he's on. Shinra sees Avalanche as enemies, too, but no one ever refers to Barret or Elfe as "irredeemably evil" the way they do Genesis. Barret dresses up his quest for revenge in the guise of saving the planet, but all that matters to him is that anyone even remotely connected to the company suffers the way he's suffered. Elfe allowed Fuhito to experiment on people, to take the corpses of SOLDIER and make undead weapons out of them, violating the sanctity of their final rest and denying them entry to the Lifestream altogether.

"Genesis experimented on his men!" It was a desertion, not an abduction. People who become Copies when they aren't properly enhanced don't get the same enhanced abilities as a First and they degrade very quickly, we see that in Hollander and Lazard—meaning that every single Genesis Copy was one of those SOLDIER Seconds or Thirds that defected with Genesis of their own free will in Wutai after he grew a wing and the world turned upside-down. Genesis' men loved him and they went along willingly.

When Genesis locks himself up in the Light of Doom, his last hope for a cure, he has one last Copy in there with him. When Zack unlocks the gate, he's attacked by one last Copy, even though Genesis has been waiting for him, he's not antagonistic toward him anymore, he hasn't been for a long time.

Genesis took that last Copy, a man with a horrible disease who is definitely too far gone to save, and brought him along to the Light of Doom in the hopes that maybe, maybe things could be set right. When Zack unlocks the gate, that man throws himself at him to protect Genesis, because this is his last chance and Genesis' men love him.

When Zack fights Genesis' Weapon avatar and is attacked by incomplete and twisted ghosts of Genesis Copies, magical inhuman wisps that hold him back while Genesis heals—they're in the Lifestream then, the Light of Doom pulled them both in. Those Copies are literally the ghosts of Genesis' men, unable to diffuse into the Lifestream because of their Jenova infection, fighting to protect him from beyond the grave. Genesis' men love him. They want to save him. They went with him willingly.

"Genesis killed his parents!" The parents who lied to him his entire life in order to keep getting a paycheck from Shinra? The parents that funded his fanclub as a form of marketing for a company that literally wouldn't exist without Genesis' world-changing contribution to food processing as a teenager? Those parents?

Genesis has a little shrine in the Banora Underground where he keeps all his awards and achievements—a little desk with a lantern in an unfinished stone tunnel. They survived the bombing of Banora because they weren't in the house; the chalkboard has sketches of what would clearly become the Banora brand logo, which was presumably made about a decade prior to the Nibelheim Incident, not long after Genesis figured out how to make Banora White juice shelf stable, not long before he left for Midgar to enlist.

Having all the proof of every good thing Genesis has ever done shoved into a tunnel under his hometown, hidden from the public, while his family raked in huge amounts of wealth based on those achievements, indicates quite clearly that Genesis' parents were the exact opposite of good and loving.

But he buried them anyway, didn't he?

Genesis may not be a particularly good person, but he's never been evil, he's never been the bad guy. Genesis was right—more than that, he was justified. His methods were not. He did terrible things. He hurt and killed a lot of people.

But he was only ever the enemy because Shinra said he was. Genesis doesn't need a redemption arc because he already had one, and Minerva herself said he could serve the planet forever to prove it.

[bardic-tales]

The Red Thread of Godhood, a FF 7 / FWC fic

Summary: Sephiroth tends to Bianca, stitching her wounds and binding their fates together as they prepare to escape a haunted forest toward an uncertain future.

Pairing: Bianca (f!OC) / Sephiroth

Other Characters: Chocobo (unwilling companion), implied Shinra scientists (not directly present but referenced), Hojo, Diana Ravenscroft (mentioned in memory), Unnamed stable boy (deceased)

Possible Trigger Warnings: Blood, body horror, child loss/miscarriage, gore, graphic injury, implied torture, manipulation, non-consensual experimentation, violence, death, necrosis, forced impregnation/harvesting, unsettling imagery, animal use (chocobo under magical control), trauma, abandonment, stalking/pursuit

Author’s Note: This piece contains major spoilers for the original Final Fantasy VII and associated extended canon (Advent Children, Crisis Core, etc.). If you're only familiar with the Remake series, please be advised of spoilers and read at your own risk if you’re avoiding deeper lore until future installments of the Remake.

The forest beyond the Nibel Mountains breathed with a silence so complete that it felt unnatural. Not the stillness that comes with sleep, but a deliberate hush of a hunted world. Trees loomed like skeletal watchmen. Their bare branches clawed at the violet sky, and the moon, bloated and jaundiced, glared down through a fog that reeked of stagnant magic.

Sephiroth walked through the frost-hardened grass. The chocobo’s pale feathers had taken on a ghostly hue in the moonlight, and it followed mutely behind, led by a frayed rope scavenged from the stable where he had slit a stable boy’s throat before absconding with the beast. Presently, the boy's corpse still lay crumpled in the stable's hay, cooling beneath the straw like a discarded piece of trash. The stable had been silent when he left it, save for the whisper of gurgling gasps and the scent of blood.

She lay limp across the chocobo’s padded back. She was no more than a dark smear wrapped in a woolen blanket he borrowed from the stables. Her black hair spilled in tangled ribbons, sticky with blood and dirt, trailing around her. The weight of her unconscious form pulled at the saddle unevenly, but the chocobo remained calm under his spell. Its instincts shackled beneath the suffocating pressure of his will.

He reached the clearing by instinct, not memory: a place beyond the reach of the Nibel Area. This place was deadened and forgotten. The ground was soft here, as black loam split by veins of iron and ancient roots. He tethered the chocobo to a branch. Its eyes vacant under both the calm and silence spell and turned back to saddle bag on its side and the crumpled figure on its back.

She slid easily into his arms. Her body was too light. Too cold. He laid her gently on the blanket again. The thick wool cushioned her broken body, and for a moment, he knelt beside her as if in prayer. His coat fanned out around him.

Her wings were ruined. Once glorious and white, the velvet-black limbs now clipped and seeping from the joints. He did not look at them long.

Her wound. Sephiroth had seen it in his mind long before his eyes confirmed it. A grotesque, stitched mockery of her divine form: carved from her side, across her belly, looping up to rest beneath the swells of her pale breasts. This vivisection was not meant for healing but for harvesting. They had cut into her to find divinity, to breed her, to bleed her, and to fill her veins with Mother.

Sephiroth did not mourn.

He opened his pack and withdrew the bone needle he had also stolen and, now, carried since his emergence from the Lifestream, and thread boiled in antiseptic that reeked of mako and copper. His hands were steady. Of course they were.

He began to stitch.

Each pass of the needle through her flesh was a sacrament. No, a rite. Her hot blood soaked his fingers, as he longed shed his gloves at this point, and though her body remained still, his own nerves lit with phantom agony. The soulbond did not dull over distance or death. It never had. Her pain became his pain and was multiplied fourfold across their cursed red tether.

The string of fate was not romantic. It was never romantic. It was a glorious, godless parasite woven from the marrow of forgotten titans. It allowed him access to her mind, her history, her anguish. It whispered her memories into him like lullabies soaked in ether.

Even now, flashes assailed him: the scent of burning antiseptic, Hojo’s gloved hand pressing into her abdomen, Diana Ravenscroft’s laughter echoing through sterile halls, needles, IV drips of monster blood, and the loss of their unborn children—a flutter of warm cells torn from her and swallowed into cold glass.

He did not look away. He drank it in. When the final stitch tightened, he sat back. Blood matted her skin, painting her navel like a ritual brand. Her eyes remained shut.

He whispered, “Not yet.”

From the Lifestream, he summoned Masamune. The blade did not scream when it appeared. It sighed. It shimmered into existence like a lover arriving late with its black and silver length curved and terrible, gleaming with the memory of the massacre.

He only extended the blade enough for what was needed. With a motion that betrayed neither hesitation nor the pomp of ceremony, he dragged the edge across his right palm. The skin split with ease. He turned his hand and allowed the blood to fall, slow and thick, onto her pale, plump lips.

Bianca stirred. Barely. A flicker of breath swept across his palm as he pressed it against her lips and the corner of her mouth twitched.

“Drink,” he said. It was not as command but decree.

She did not respond.

He tilted her head with his left hand hand, as his fingers slipping beneath her hair which was clumped with dried blood. Her fangs were slightly exposed. Those delicate, beautiful razor-sharp teeth designed to tear and consume glittered in the moonlight with his gore drizzled upon her teeth like thick caramel. He pressed his hand harder against her mouth.

The connection flared like wildfire across their bond. Her lips parted reflexively, and the moment she tasted him, her body jerked. A convulsion shook her body against the blanket.

His blood was power. His blood was memory.

Through the tether, he felt the flickering storm of her thoughts, as images bled into him in fractured flashes: her first breath under Shinra Manor’s labs, the giddy voice of Hojo naming her ‘specimen N01’, the walls etched with her own blood, the sound of her wings breaking and being bound, and the scent of his coat when she fell into his arms after her escape.

A god does not weep, but something inside him buckled. She was his.

Not in the crude, possessive sense of mortals, but as the final constant in an equation that spanned worlds and stars. She was the marrow in his spiral into divinity and the thorn that refused to be burned away. He had tried, once, in the Lifestream. He had tried to purge the memory of her body, of their last moments, and her name. But Bianca had remained. As if the universe itself conspired to keep her tethered to him. Even now, she anchored him.

He lowered her gently back to the coat, smoothing her hair behind a pointed ear. Her pulse fluttered beneath her throat. It was faint but there.

Above them, the trees creaked.

He did not sleep. Gods did not sleep. Instead, he sat in stillness, the weight of the shortened Masamune across his knees, and watched her breathe.

Night wore on like the dying moans of a planet that had long ceased to care. The wind moved strangely here like it carried voices just beneath the threshold of hearing, whispering things that remembered him from before but that was blocked from his own memories.

At dawn, a sickly grey light filtered through the canopy. He stood, wordless, and returned to the chocobo. The spell still held. The bird blinked slowly as he untied it and led it to her.

Lifting her again, he felt the full measure of her fragility. Her body, though marked by celestial lineage, had been dragged to the brink. Her weight was less than it should have been, and her skin too pale. He wrapped her tighter in the blanket and placed her across the saddle again. The chocobo made no sound. It’s ivory feathers now streaked with her blood.

They continued to move west. The broken mountains loomed behind them now, and ahead, Rocket Town waited: an obsolete town, a corpse pretending to breathe. Beyond that? The sea. And, then, the Northern Continent.

His body would be waiting there, reforming in the Northern Cave, as he fed upon hatred and was being rebuilt from Mother's cells, dreams, and vengeance. Bianca would be safe once they reached it. He would make it so.

And if the world burned like Nibelheim in the process of keeping Bianca safe, it would be a small price to pay for Sephiroth. After all, she had already paid a far more terrible price.

@themaradwrites @shepardstales @megandaisy9 @watermeezer

@prehistoric-creatures @creativechaosqueen @chickensarentcheap

@inkandimpressions @arrthurpendragon @projecthypocrisy @serenofroses

[secondarysefikura]

More AC Sephiroth and Cloud dolls! CC Zack finds Doll Cloud and adopts him to introduce him to Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth, and the latter reveals that she's haunted.

As for CC Cloud…his roommate is worried about him…the change since he got that Sephiroth doll…almost like he’s not conscious and his stalkers have turned up dead…

Zack: Guy! Look as this adorable doll I found!

Angeal: That probably belonged to a child, you know.

Genesis: It is rather cute though.

Sephiroth: Let me see.

Zack: *shows Sephiroth the Cloud doll*

Sephiroth: It's haunted.

Zack: What? No way!

Sephiroth: Look at it's murderous eyes, it's haunted.

Zack, looking at Cloud's cute little happy eyes: You sound kinda crazy right now.

Meanwhile in the cadet barracks, Cloud is acting strange. His movements are jerky, almost as if someone else is trying to figure out how to control a marionet for the first time. He laughs in a strange, evil sounding way as random moments. Worst of all, he didn't seem too worried when he saw the fresh corpse in one of the rooms. He didn't even flinch, just smiles before walking off to mutter that it was 'about time something dealt with that asshole.'

[icycoldninja]

Long dead memories (Sephiroth X Reader angst)

Tw: Death and sickness; DNI if you are not comfortable with these themes.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Geostigma. The most debilitating, terrifying, fear striking disease to have ever existed, it wracked the bodies of most of the survivors of Sephiroth's heinous scheme to destroy the planet with Meteor. It appeared to be most prevalent in those who were closest to him, therefore it was only natural for you to be one of the most heavily afflicted.

The disease had claimed your entire body, primarily concentrated in your legs, making them so weak it hurt just to move them, thereby rendering you bedridden. To make matters worse, the majority of your body, except for your genitalia, face, hands and neck, were covered in large, ooze-secreting sores that burned when exposed to air, covered in cloth, or touched in general. Your entire existence was that of misery and pain--this applied to both your mental and physical state.

Honestly, you were well aware your end was approaching. After all, no known cure for Geostigma existed, and no scientists were around to try and make one. Thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people had already succumbed to this terrible ailment; you would just be another corpse in the pile.

Such depressing thoughts were only natural of someone on their deathbed. As most people do when their lives are slowly slipping away from them, you began to recall some of your most beloved memories. Memories of your childhood, your happiest moments, your accomplishments, but more importantly, your memories of Sephiroth.

That beautiful, green-eyed, silver-haired angel had been the sun of your life; the atmosphere to your earth, the salt to your food. He was the most precious thing in the world to you, and just like that, he'd been ripped away. His death, combined with your contraction of Geostigma, sent you into a depressed spiral. There was only one thought that brought you comfort: He was in the Lifestream now, and therefore all around you, so technically you weren't dying alone; he was there too, silently watching over you. You wanted this fact to be true so badly, you forced yourself to believe it--not that there was anyone around to tell you otherwise.

Closing your eyes, you turned over in your bed, wincing when you felt sharp pains shoot throughout your legs and shoulders; your sores squelching under the weight of your decaying body. It hurt, so, so, much, the pain was enough to bring tears to your eyes, making you wanted Sephiroth by your side more than you ever did in your lifetime. He always knew what to do, what to say, or what not to say, and how to hold you so the pain would go away. You could picture it in your mind's eye, the way his would circle his arms around your torso; how he would press kisses to your forehead and shush you, reminding you of how much he loved you in just a few words. You could hear it even now, the timbre of his low, rumbly voice echoing in your ears.

"Do not be afraid. Sleep, for I am with you, and always will be."

Though he rarely used pet names in times like these, the gentle tone of his voice and soft caressing of his lips against your skin reminded you of how much he loved you in ways words never could.

You shivered, wrapping your blankets tightly around yourself, mentally cursing the coldness of your room. At the very least, you wanted to die in a nice, toasty room, perhaps by a blazing fire. As you tried to remember what comfort felt like, memories of Sephiroth cuddling you flitted into your mind. Snuggling with him always felt the best; his large frame constantly emitted warmth, much like a human heater; resting your head near his broad, warm chest was pure bliss. As you reminisced, you could have sworn you felt his presence surround you even now as you lay on a cold mattress in a freezing, heat-less room.

Small teardrops spilled forth from your eyes, the nostalgia of events long passed filling you with a profound sense of sadness you couldn't fully understand. You gripped your sheets tightly, screwing your eyes shut in an attempt to hold on to this soothing feeling that you hadn't felt in years.

You wished you could stay like this forever, wrapped safely in the arms of your dearest love. Your mind began to fog over; the burning pain of your Geostigma sores beginning to vanish as your mind slowly sank deeper and deeper into sleep. The further into the darkness you went, the calmer and more at peace you felt.

A small smile crept onto your face as you finally let go of your last threads of consciousness, glad to be able to depart in the tender embrace of some long dead memories.

[altocat]

THE FIRST SOLDIER: CHAPTER 6

It's time, folks! After five agonizing months of waiting, we FINALLY get a story update. And I'm here to recap for your convenience! So, spoilers below under the cut.

Story opens up ten days after Shinra reinforcements arrived on the island. They're building a reactor via a site dig. Glenn and crew have been watching Rosen's smoke for days now just in case.

Lucia remarks that Sephiroth did most of the heavy lifting in terms of prep. Glenn is getting ready to celebrate with their upcoming bonus. Sephiroth isn't interested in pay though according to him.

An engineer calls them over and tells them they need to go kill monsters in the area. When Glenn asks where Sephiroth is, the engineer tells him that he's out scavenging corpses and that it's kind of creepy.

Seph has apparently been going off on his own for a while. Lucia suggests they go look for him while they take care of the monsters.

Ugh. More filler monsters. And of course the level cap is trillions of numbers ahead that of the last chapter's. This fucking game smh.

The music on this section is nice. EC has a good soundtrack ngl. Better than it deserves, in my opinion.

After an incredibly tedious fight with a recolored ostrich monster, the gang comes across a shard of materia in the ground. This comes into play later.

They find Sephiroth digging around corpses at the old Rhadoran base. He clarifies that it might LOOK creepy but he's actually looking for the picture of his mother. Like most children with precious comfort items, he ended up dropping it somewhere and he's looking through the bodies to see if it's somehow under them.

So here's some clarification, the photograph is NOT a photograph so much as a locket/necklace that Sephiroth wears. So it's not in his front pocket, he's wearing it around his neck. Neat.

The gang offers to help him look for it, taking out filler monsters in between. Sephiroth mentions that he feels the need to protect the team as the leader. That's his job. There's some cute banter between Seph and the trio. Awww.

All the Rhadorans except Rosen are gone now. Matt keeps going on and on about their religion--Planetology. Lucia is unfamiliar with this concept and Matt explains the concept of mana and souls returning to the planet to Sephiroth.

Glenn feels REALLY guilty now about what they did to the Rhadorans, worried they'll just be forgotten since they're gone now. Kinda too late for that, bud. And now it's just Rosen left alone.

Hojo mention from Seph btw. Hojo told Sephiroth "No matter how logically you explain something, there will always be people who don't understand because they have a different view of the world."

When Glenn worries about the Rhadorans being forgotten, Sephiroth takes what he learned from Glenn earlier about compassion to heart, saying that the PLANET will remember them.

Glenn understands how important mana is now. It's life force, life energy. That's why the Rhadorans hated what Shinra was doing.

They can't seem to find the necklace anywhere. Sephiroth is glumly resigned to accept that it's gone for good.

Instead, thanks to Glenn's sudden moral dilemma, they decide to bury the Rhadorans as a means of "apologizing". Sephiroth eagerly offers to help.

While they're burying the bodies, the island starts shaking. The reactor dig is going to start soon. And THAT'S what will awaken the mana overflow Rosen mentioned earlier. They'll set off explosives that will start a chain reaction. Sephiroth says they're going to have to evacuate.

They're blocked by a bunch of branches. Seph finds the materia fragment from earlier and uses it to incinerate the area to make a path. Glenn gushes over how cool Seph is.

Seph cuts down a big tree to make a bridge too. Glenn thinks Seph is SUPER FUCKING RAD OKAY. Seph asks if he's impressed with his "cyborg powers" and Glenn says no, not wanting to hurt Seph's feelings again.

Seph says that he feels he can say anything to the group and that he doesn't want them to hold back. Glenn is in full support mode now and he and Seph seem very in sync with each other. It's very cute. They've gotten close during the gap.

They find another materia shard during a blocked path of rushing water. Sephiroth uses it to freeze the water to move across.

Seph is eager to get his team back to the chief engineer, but Glenn is worried about Rosen. He wants to see if there's a way to make sure Rosen's safe but Seph says there's no time. Glenn seems to be ready to ask Seph something but then drops it.

This section is called "Inseparable". They arrive at the helicopters. Glenn wants to delay the dig so he can warn Rosen in time. But they've already started.

Glenn gets agitated and then punches the engineer, who threatens to tell HQ. Glenn doesn't give a fuck. Matt and Lucia decide to support Glenn. Sephiroth doesn't stop them.

Lucia hijacks one of the choppers and kicks a soldier out after holding them at gunpoint. They're going to fly over to Rosen's Island with it.

A monster shows up just as shit starts to get crazy. It's Stamp the goblin-frog! He's huge and mutated because of the mako. Glenn wants to finish him off for good.

They take care of Stamp and the group is going to go rescue Rosen and Refu. The other chopper throws down a ladder for them for the evacuation but the trio is basically defecting.

Matt said Sephiroth isn't fired because the chief knows that it was the trio's idea, not his. But they're going to have to leave Seph behind so he isn't dragged into this.

Glenn tells Sephiroth to stay safe as the trio departs. Sephiroth is visibly hesitating on whether or not to accept the ladder or follow the group after they've left.

The trio gets ready to take off in their hijacked chopper. And Sephiroth. Is going. WITH them.

Holy fucking shit Sephiroth tried to defy Shinra asrdfghkjgfd just so he could stay with his friends. I'm gonna cry. Fuck, I already am. INSEPARABLE. AHHHHH.

Overall, a decent chapter. Much better than I was expecting. Babyroth is so endearing and it's clear he's now very attached to the trio. Even more than Shinra. Him just suddenly losing the picture/necklace is kind of bullshit but whatever. I guess he had to lose it somehow? Maybe it'll turn up again later.

Sephiroth's rebellion will obviously have consequences later.

[holly-fixation]

AU where every FF7 character was 10 years older when crisis core stuff happened. Does have a fully developed brain save anyone from bad decisions?

Short answer, not really.

Sephiroth wouldn't be a child SOLDIER. He'd be 20 by his first mission which is great but not perfect.

But he was still raised in Shinra. His first interaction with real soldiers happened right before he could legally drink.

Needless to say, Glenn got Sephiroth drunk their first night off duty on Rhadore.

Genesis begins to degrade at about 35. Still far too young for all the work he did to get this far- to still be number 2 behind Sephiroth. The resentment isn't combatted by their years together. In fact, its worsened because they never had their fun games like throwing swords through apples on their heads. They were adults and acted like it, but they were still friends once.

Angeal, thank god, does not kill his mom. Though he understands what she did ruined both his and Genesis's life, the extra years gave him the hope that his mother could be redeemed. He continued to fight with Genesis until learning Hollander was his father. With his mother still alive to protect, Angeal cannot allow himself to die by Zack's hand and stops him just before the killing blow. No one in SOLDIER sees Angeal again.

Zack...doesn't change. That puppy energy takes him all the way to Nibelheim.

Cloud's far more hopeless. He'd been a cadet for 12 years by the time a mission took him to his hometown. He had given up all hope of reaching SOLDIER and being strong enough to protect anyone. As for the incident itself, nothing changes. He still lost his mom. He still lost Tifa's dad and almost lost Tifa. He undergoes Hojo's experimentation, but due to his age, his healing factor had slowed. He nearly died of dehydration in the badlands outside Midgar. He wasn't thinking when he took the Buster Sword from Zack's corpse. He just wanted to do something right, even if it was tell Zack's girlfriend the truth.

By the time he gets to Midgar, the mako and his memories are too warped.

Like Cloud, Tifa takes the incident the same way. She saved more of her people, but her father still died attempting to reason with Sephiroth. She learned Zangan's training and began teaching it to AVALANCHE as a back up if they ever ran out of ammo.

Sephiroth, his memory clear despite losing the locket of his mother, sees the creature named Jenova with his mother's face and hair. He spent so long at Shinra. He suffered for so many years. She offered to take the suffering away. She offered how to destroy that suffering forever.

No matter his age, how could he ever say no?

[dykesferatu]

In the dream, still crystal clear in Cloud's mind despite the years in interim, he could feel her skin rending under the edges of his nails. The rage sliding along his nerves and veins turning his hands to claws as he tore at the delicate, translucent skin at her neck.

In the dream, Sephiroth was cold to the touch though she lacked the plasticine texture of every other chilled corpse Cloud had ever encountered, instead far softer and more tender than a monster of her stature had any business being. Her eyes then had held a bizarre, far-off spark too. The reflection of a reflection of light that, despite its distance, held a warmth.

"Please Cloud," she had begged as she pulled on his wrists, digging his nails deeper against her, "Harder. Make me feel it."

As though he needed her to ask him to tear her apart. As though the way his pulse pounded in his ears wasn't enough to make him wish he could dig all the way through to her bones, tear out her throat and split open her ribs. As though he didn't wish he could crawl behind her lungs and twist her spinal cord until she could tell him why it had to be him.

But the lines of red running over Sephiroth's bruised and bitten collarbone, disappearing in their trails between her breasts and under the lapel of her coat, had set Cloud's mouth watering.

He'd awoken gasping the first time and had steadfastly ignored then, and each time the dream had come since, the throb in his cunt.

This is, as one might expect, markedly harder in his current waking moment, the real flesh and blood of the woman who tore his life to bare studs trapped beneath him.

The thick hank of her silver hair wrapped twice and clenched tight in his fist is pulled taught. There are tears dripping from her sharp jaw. Cloud flexes his fingers once more around the scalpel in his right hand before pressing it in just through the translucent skin on Sephiroths ribcage to settle the blade firmly in the muscle stretched between her 6th and 7th rib.

She's shaking in a way Cloud might consider uncontrollable for anyone else, but Sephiroth is Sephiroth. She's special.

He moves the scalpel millimeters at a time, splitting the muscle fibers along the arc of her ribcage. They're in familiar territory, tearing each other apart with the intent to make something new of the parts. Sephiroth's deep voice is so ragged in her throat that Cloud can only make out his name for the familiarity of it.

Even more carefully than he cut, Cloud slips his finger behind the trailing edge of the scalpel. It's always something of a surprise to him, as a woman who has been run through by a sword more than once, how much resistance the body can put up to intrusion. He applies a little more force, just enough to bruise delicate membrane of the chest cavity. Just enough to draw one more cry, thin and pitched with ecstasy from Sephiroth as she slackens beneath him.

___________________________________

@gomacave

[put-me-out-of-my-destiny]

In my opinion, while I would like to see Nero unlock a Sin Devil Trigger in the future, I don't think he should ever have his own Devil Sword, or a devil arm of any kind for that matter.

In DMC4, the Devil Bringer allowed Nero to absorb demonic power from objects like the Evil Legacy, the Rusalka Corpse, the Sephirothic Fruit, and the Aegis Shield. And after he gets his powers back at the end of DMC5, he retains powers he gained from these objects, such as Snatch from the Legacy, and Hold from the Shield.

He also regains his Devil Trigger, one that comes with a proper transformation than that, even though he no longer has possession of Yamato. The presumption is that because Nero absorbed power from Yamato as well, he doesn't actually need it or any devil arm to activate a Devil Trigger. One could speculate about what other powers Nero shares with Yamato, but that's a whole other discussion.

I've speculated before that if Vergil gets a proper Sin Devil Trigger and Devil Sword, it should be the result of Yamato merging with the severed Devil Bringer (which it seems to have partially done already by the time of DMC5). It'd be funny if, just like with his Devil Trigger, Nero just figures out how to do that on his own. He has all the ingredients, the power is already inside him. His secret is character development.

[rottenpumpkin13]

It’s time to upgrade the vehicle choice to the company helicopters. AGSZC and the Turks + Rufus, who is the best, the worst, and the one who can fly it but can’t land it.

• Sephiroth is an excellent pilot, probably the most competent you'll find. He learned to fly helicopters when he was very young, has a knack for handling even the toughest situations, and his composure and precise maneuvers make him the go-to pilot in any crisis.

*Sephiroth is flying the helicopter*

Lazard: You're going a little too fast.

Sephiroth: Have you ever considered crashing a helicopter, faking your own death, and then living on a deserted island with stray cats until you can repurpose the helicopter’s parts to build a weapon for exacting revenge on your enemies?

Lazard: NO?

• Genesis boasts that he's the best pilot around and can indeed fly fairly well. But he requires intense focus and hates any distractions. He will snap at anyone who tries to talk to him while he's flying. ....scratch that, it depends on the topic.

*In the helicopter, Angeal sneezes*

Genesis: DON'T TALK TO ME! I WILL FLY US INTO THE FUCKING SUN I SWEAR TO THE GODDESS! THEY WILL BE FINDING VESTIGES OF OUR CORPSES FOR YEARS! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?

Angeal: I think you should scream less.

*Genesis abandons the control*

Genesis: Did you just say loveless? Because I was thinking about the beauty of 'world's end' in act one, and—

Angeal: WE'RE FALLING

• It's a mystery how Angeal passed the pilot test, and even he's baffled why they keep entrusting him with the helicopter. He wishes they'd stop assigning him flying duties.

*Angeal is flying the helicopter*

Angeal: Are you sure I should be flying this thing?

Sephiroth: Of course. You're the responsible one.

*Angeal is flying the helicopter in circles*

Sephiroth: I trust you to land this helicopter responsibly.

*Angeal misses the helipad completely and is now doing zig zags*

Sephiroth: I value your responsibility.

*They are literally upside down*

Sephiroth: Land the helicopter, Angeal.

Angeal: LaNd tHe HeLiCoPtEr AnGeAl—WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M TRYING TO DO?

*And now they're flying into the side of the building*

Sephiroth: Meet the goddess.

• Zack is completely bewildered as to why no one trusts him to fly a helicopter. Sure, he might have driven a car into a ditch once, and maybe he accidentally set a motorcycle on fire, but he's confident in his flying skills! He insists he's super competent and is always ready to prove it—just ask anyone (except Tseng. Tseng hears "Zack Fair" and "helicopter" in the same sentence and has a nervous breakdown).

*In the helicopter*

Zack: Thanks for coming with me. For some reason, the other guys are too scared to fly with me.

Cloud, wearing a helmet, extra padding, and holding a rosary: WHAT DO YOU MEAN? WE CRASHED! WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN!

Zack: Are you dead?

Cloud: No, but—

Zack: Success.

• Cloud's piloting skills are on par with Sephiroth's....though no one knew this until the first time he flew a helicopter.....Cloud doesn't have a license....people are confused and scared.

*Cloud is flying the helicopter*

Sephiroth: Strife, your piloting skills are excellent. Where did you learn to fly like this?

Cloud: Oh, I never learned.

Sephiroth: But you're flying the helicopter.

Cloud: Nothing gets past you, does it, sir?

Sephiroth:

• Rufus is adept at flying helicopters, but he rarely flies them because he has pilots and the turks to fly him anywhere he wants. He's also very stubborn.

Tseng: Sir, you might want to slow down a bit.

Rufus: I know what I'm doing, Tseng. I'll have you know that I fly better than most birds.

*Rufus doesn't avoid the incoming flock of birds and nearly crashes the helicopter into the building*

Rufus: ......

Tseng: They heard you.

[notimeliketoday]

Northern Crater Illusion (Tifa version)

I know people's been saying something about this part in like forever especially in the OG but I finally get the courage and spite to write my own take. That's what I get staying on twitter I guess.

(You best believe I will post this there but on concentrated amount - character limit is only the blue checkmark's friend on that island.)

Most specifically I want to have a closer look on how Sephiroth pulled his attack using this *truth* that he and Tifa share and how this translates to Tifa's own personal conflict with Sephiroth himself.

Yeah, got so tired in that Sephiroth hates Tifa because of her interference to his plans for Cloud and the only one who can fix him takes.

No, fam. That's what the Rebirth seem to imply to y'all but Sephiroth already hates Tifa in OG separate from Cloud. (Or does he?). Heck, him leaving his Masamune beside her father's corpse is a literal taunt daring her to go after him and use his weapon to inflict damage to his person. This is before Cloud made himself known by stabbing him due to his own grief by the way.

Even with all this, we see he doesn't really seem to care to remember the name of who killed him until Cloud had to point it out in Junon.

CLOUD had to point it out. His KILLER has to tell him his name just to make him remember.

Tifa though?

Getting talked to so intimately with faux kindness - the very same treatment he now shows Cloud in Rebirth, imagine that.

Now let's also remember that this is the OG and therefore any trappings of Rebirth's new plot doesn't exist here because this is the beginning of it all.

Anyway, I revisited this scene because of an itch urging me (it's the spite) and a thought suddenly occurred to me.

If we remove Cloud's side and trappings in that part of the illusion (basically all things Cloud) and look at this from Tifa's perspective as a standalone thing for her own character, it paints a very clear picture of Sephiroth attacking her.

People always miss this because Cloud once again overshadowed Tifa's own trauma and unresolved conflict with Sephiroth as the one more openly attacked in this scene.

Let's look at Sephiroth's lines:

The lie has been set. Obviously Tifa won't let this unanswered if she could help it. So this is her response:

With Sephiroth's response to this being the first images I posted above.

It's been made clear how extremely pressured Tifa was at this scene especially when Cloud reveals he hinges all his faith in her while suffering her own trauma again AND attacked by their enemy.

It wasn't just Cloud Sephiroth gaslighted in this scene.

That's what this part is trying to show us and regardless of who gets attacked here the outcome is the same: Cloud is just an illusion created by Jenova using memories of people, most especially Tifa.

Sephiroth doesn't hide his attacks to her at all and it astounds me how everyone who played this game back then believed only Cloud was dealt a great mental blow. (Most of y'all are kiddies I guess that also tracks.)

Tifa actually had it much worse!

She was so overwhelmed from it all she accidentally made the wrong move of answering Cloud in the negative:

When I said she's under tremendous pressure it isn't just because of reliving her trauma and carrying the burden of Cloud's mental state alongside her own increasingly damaged psych.

It is the fact that Cloud wasn't the only one relying on her affirmation - or lack thereof - to validate which one was speaking the "truth". Sephiroth was also using her to confirm his claims and he knew very well he's got the upper hand to the "truth" she has known, all the while gaslighting her that it IS the only truth. There's even a picture to prove it!

This is not the picture but this is also that picture.

Of course, Sephiroth made sure to include her into the story. She's not part of it simply because she was there but because according to his statement..... her memories are part of Jenova's knowledge used to make *Cloud* - the failed clone.

The Cloud who by Seph's own words is just a construct of Hojo after Nibelheim's burning. A clean slate born from collective memories thanks to Jenova.

The sheer implications behind these statements are our clue to the underlying conflict that exist between Tifa and Sephiroth outside of Cloud. That the hatred is not a one-sided thing, and just because it isn't readily understood why it exist doesn't mean it isn't present.

Sephiroth drives the knife further to twist the mental wounds even more. Tifa being the one to carry the most burden of all:

Now here's a pretty interesting thought: a girl who is just plain ordinary is important enough to have Jenova's effort in molding a clone after her own desires - her childhood friend. Sephiroth is basically admitting he's got one special clone just for her. (He even gave her one in Remake but that's a slightly different story).

Ignoring the fact that Cloud is not a construct it still makes you wonder: why use her for that lie? Why her in particular?

(We are using Tifa as our center focus for this so I'm going to exclude the "she's Cloud's childhood friend reasoning. This is not about him.)

Then it can be answered if you look at it as his own way of tormenting Tifa - using a clone imbued with her memories.

A mutual on twit said that maybe because she's the one who the group trusts the most, however more than half the party wasn't there yet when *Cloud* (who Sephiroth consistently claims is just his clone) appears in front of her on that bench.

AVALANCHE as it was at that point doesn't have anyone else with a connection to Cloud.

So it goes to show she is the target of said clone's manifestation.

That is, if we believe the lie Sephiroth weaved and take it as he said it at face value, which definitely is what his claim would be to Tifa who can't refute it, especially because apparently *Cloud* really did show signs of "clone behavior" when they first met but the tech limit back then doesn't show us how it should be like to its fullest extent.

(As someone points out here: https://www.google.com/amp/s/hartofhearts.tumblr.com/post/665525778591694848/the-implications-of-tifas-familiarity-with-marco/amp) My phone isn't cooperating 😭

How could she when his "truth" matches exactly everything she knew five years ago? How could she say he's wrong when Cloud's behavior was suspect when they met for the first time in years after Nibelheim (and for her part after he left for SOLDIER)?

She tried refuting but it's clear she has her own doubts about him as well, as she couldn't continuously defend Cloud from Sephiroth's persistent claim about his current identity.

By gaslighting Cloud he doesn't exist, he also gaslights Tifa into thinking her real childhood friend is gone and it's all just in her head now.

Sephiroth KNEW so well she wanted to see Cloud five years ago but didn't see him and use that to his own advantage. It's why this is so effective a gaslight to both.

As far as Tifa knew, the last time she saw Cloud was when he left to join Soldier. This Cloud's fate is unknown to her, maybe he died or maybe he forgot about her and all such insecurities Sephiroth could use with that solidify his claims that he was all " Aw, poor Tifa. Waiting for someone who never came. Here, Jenova's made you a clone with your memories of that boy to play with you."

That's what it looks like if we only see this scene through Tifa's eyes.

Again, taunting her in the same vein as when he first did leaving Masamune besides her father's body.

Why would he do so if Tifa didn't caught his attention in the first place?

Sephiroth is clearly playing around with her and toys with her emotions just as clearly as he attacked Cloud.

He just couldn't break her like he could him no matter how hard he tried because Tifa's mental fortitude is so strong.

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #53

I heard today that you lost your necklace. I heard that you spent a lot of time looking for it by yourself. I heard that the people nearby, who didn't understand, assumed that you were just being strange and creepy and "looting corpses".

I understand the thing that happens when I am trying to do something, and other people assume I'm crazy or just a creep of some kind. Seeing the Shinra workers at Rhadore speak about you that way reminded me of a time when I was younger, and I brought into school an artist's mannequin that I painted, to show my high school art teacher. The other children, already wary of me, didn't understand, and chattered maliciously about me, assuming that I was not quite right in the head. I have a lot more stories about this sort of thing - trying to do something wholesome, only to have others misunderstand and assume that I'm creepy and weird. The fact of the matter is that people can be insecure, and when insecure people don't understand something, their first instinct is usually to mock it. It doesn't have anything to do with the person being mocked; they're just collateral damage in the other person's war against themselves.

I'm sorry you were bullied as a boy. And I'm sorry that your upbringing was such that you didn't think to ask for help to look for your lost locket. It's hard when we don't quite fit in with other people; I and lots of other folks from my world understand that feeling very well. But I'm glad that Matt, Lucia, and Glenn helped you once they realized what you were trying to do (even if they, too, initially thought you were "looting corpses" when they saw you).

I heard that you didn't find your necklace, though. I know you said that "you can accept that it's gone", but I don't think that's true at all, given your body language and facial expression. And now, anyone who has paid attention to you understands very well why, when you're troubled, you instinctively reach for your chest even years after the loss of the necklace.

Sephiroth… I don't know what the locket you lost looked like. I wish I did. But all the same, we of my world have the capacity to reproduce the image you carry with you. And so I did. And I have the capacity to make jewelry. So today I went out and got the supplies to do that. Here:

...If you can come grab it up somehow, it's yours. Impossible, I know. But I'll keep it safe with me, anyway. Or perhaps I'll run into those very important people again - the same people to whom I gave my first letter to you and the Tree of Life materia I made for you. If I do, I'll ask them if they can send this along to you as well.

In the meantime, I can show you how I made it.

I started with a simple locket. I had several to choose from at the place I went to, but I am partial to trees (that might be obvious, since I like to weave them), and I wanted to give you something that would allow you to see the picture even when the locket is closed, so I selected this:

There's no glass there, though; it's just an open piece of metal. I know sometimes you are in the rain or in the mud, and I didn't want the picture inside to get damaged. So I cut out a small, transparent piece of thin, sturdy plastic to protect the image.

In order to do that with any precision, first I made an impression of the inside of the locket on a piece of paper, like so:

See the impression, there, on the lower part of the image, on the paper?

From there, you trace the impression on a piece of plastic, like this:

Then, you use a precision knife to cut it out. I'm dyspraxic, so using one of those is a bit dangerous for me, haha! So I took it very slowly:

I used the outline left behind to trim the photo, and put it into the locket:

From there, I cleaned up the outline of the plastic a little bit, trimmed it to fit, and stuck it over the picture. You can tell that the plastic is there because it reflects the light:

I tried to position it so that the trees would frame her face. The shadow makes it look kinda weird, but I promise you that it looks nice otherwise:

I selected this chain to go with it:

I cut a length of the chain that seemed reasonable, and put a tiny metal circle on one end, like this:

From there, I had to put the clasp on:

To put on a clasp, first you put another metal circle on the other end, and then you put the clasp around the metal circle, too.

Then you pinch it closed with a tool. And the rest is history:

I think it sits at a reasonable location on the chest, but you're taller than me, so... I dunno. You're not here (because obviously), so I can't exactly check to make sure the length works well for you.

In any case... you're left-handed. So I made sure to put the clasp on the left-hand side so that it'd be easier for you to use. And... don't worry; I wore it only for a moment, just to make sure the length of the chain is reasonable. It is yours, so although I'll carry it with me, it's meant for your neck, not mine.

I know that it doesn't replace the one you lost. But... I wished you didn't have to be sad. So here you go. I hope you like it.

I guess that just about wraps up today's letter. As part of my adventures today to get the supplies to make this, I also went and got pumpkin seeds without shells. It's time for me to make pumpkin soup. This, too, is for you.

Don't wander around thinking that you're not loved. Don't wander around thinking that you're not cared for. Don't wander around thinking that you're not seen and heard for exactly who you are. Because I'm right here. And my world is filled with others who are just like me, and they can understand you and care about you just as easily as I can. You're not alone. So stay safe out there and make good, kind, and loving choices.

Expect another letter tomorrow. It will be pumpkin-soup-flavored. Count on it.

Your friend, Lumine

[incorrectsmashbrosquotes]

Elden Ring: New Challengers

In silence, she waits

The Empyrean Malenia, the Blade of Miquella lay slumbering, lost in dreams of writhing red and unalloyed gold, twisting and fighting and tearing out each other's foundations. Her stricken skin, this crumbling bark, she waited.

Waited for Miquella.

Footsteps break the silence. Someone passes through the golden light. Somone comes to challenge her.

Malenia: I dreamt for so long...

*she rises from her rest, reaching for her prosthetics*

Malenia: My flesh was dull gold... and my blood rotted.

*she grabs her prosthetic arm*

Malenia: Corpse after corpse I left in my wake...

*she attaches the arm with a definite thunk*

Malenia: As I awaited... his return.

*Malenia rises and seizes her helmet, placing it upon her head.*

Malenia: ...Heed my words. I am Malenia. Blade of-

*she is cut off as the challenge rushes forward, sword drawn. He is so fast, Malenia barely has time to block his blow. The strike is so strong she can feel the reverberation up her bones.*

???: An empty title, shackled to a petulant child, playing at divinity.

*the challenger leaps away, alighting in the middle of the boss room, sword pointed at her*

???: It's time someone taught you what true power is. Now... heed MY warning.

*though her eyes are blind, Maelnia can hear the rustle of feathers, and feels the rising pressure of power*

Sephiroth: I am Sephiroth, the Angel of Death. And I am your Reckoning.

*silence falls for a long moment, before they flash forward, blades sparking with every strike. For the first time since Radahn, Malenia is challenged by a foe.*

*for the first time since Radahn, she is AFRAID*

[hollowingearth]

Yesterday was Rebirth's Ultimania release day! And... it was a lot calmer than I expected lol? I've never been active in the FF7 fandom before even though I got into it ever since Remake dropped so seeing everyone acting like it would be doomsday and complete hell on earth made me worried. Maybe I just curated all my feeds a lot to avoid the sort of person who incites those fights? I hate having to do that though because I genuinely like seeing different opinions/interpretations than mine but so much of it comes across as straight up petty in this particular fandom.

Generally, I dislike the penchant this fandom has to rely on Word of God for literally any interpretation for whatever is presented to us. It's a bit insane, actually, because Death of the Author seems to not exist at all and usually, when that's the case, it's because you can see the Hand™ moving the pieces purposefully and not allowing the characters to grow into their own but here it's more like the audience simply won't let it die, even if it's corpse is begging them to. Square Enix, of course, is willingly profiting off of it (tho I wonder just how much the ultis sell lol) .

I think that's why the RE Trilogy seems to be so interested on a metatextual discussion. This time around the Ultimania didn't really reveal anything that interesting and/or surprising overall (other than Elena being 18!!! like HUH????? wdym she's only 2 years older than Yuffie please be serious) BUT it did make me a lot more hopeful for Aerith's ending in Pt. 3 than the game itself haha. I've seen some thoughts floating around about how faitful it will be and I genuinely think they must end it on a different note than the original.

You see, I don't even think the original had a bad ending? It's bittersweet, yes, but that's sort of the point? People die but life prevails, you must go on and leave your past behind. The compilation, though, just retconned that, from my understanding. Now humanity is gone in 500 years after the ending, Geostigma happens and our protagonists become suicidal after the events of the game. Cloud's parting words "I think I can meet her... there" are cast upon a new light and it's not a hopeful one. Though, I think most allarming is Lifestream White and Lifestream Black, where we see both Aerith and Sephiroth condemned to an eternity of loneliness fighting and avoiding each other in the lifestream.

[altocat]

I'm new here and Sephiroth's mother complex is so interesting

I agree! I personally think it's one of his most interesting aspects as a character.

Really, it adds to the duality of his personality. On the surface, Sephiroth is seemingly all-powerful, all-confidence, and all-composure. Inwardly though? The guy's a mess. His emotional needs have been effectively stunted since infancy. He has power and fame and decade's worth of clout under Shinra. And what does he want even more than that? His mom. It's an aspect of his character that they're really starting to dive deeper into, whether that was through First Soldier or miscellaneous depictions of his downfall to madness. Sephiroth's mother complex is what helps him stand out from other villains to me. He is an incredibly dangerous force of nature but he is head over heels devoted to Jenova, desperately reaching for something he never really received as a child and yet, in an ironic twist of fate, not receiving the fulfillment he thinks he's getting. Jenova's consciousness has yet to be confirmed. For all we know, Sephiroth is merely imposing his desires onto a faceless corpse.

And he doesn't care. Because THIS is what he wanted. THIS is what he was craving. And he will do unspeakably vile things in Jenova's name just so he can take advantage of her legacy, wear the title of "son" like a badge of honor. It's creepy and twisted and incredibly messed up. But that's part of the mechanics that churns Sephiroth's story so neatly. It's all layered under the surface. But it's an important piece of who he is.