#soldier Aerith

[my-plot-thots]

Alternate universe Au, where when the world ends, cloud is sent to a different timeline. In this one, Cloud wakes up on the wooden bench of the old church in the slums, with dirt under his nails and flowers that seem to turn towards him if he is still for too long and seek his radiance in the place of sunlight. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Cloud (who since waking up only has memories and then some of his world and the very overwhelming voice in his head of the planet that he needs to adjust to) Aerith is a small town spitfire determined to become the first woman first class soldier who Zack has taken a shine to during a mission.

Cloud needs to fix things in this world before everything goes wrong. And nurture his powers to be able to purify the soldiers of Jenova cells before too much of her influence enters the planet’s livestream and poisons it. And the only way he knows how to do that is to sneak away from the watchful gaze of the Turks and into a tower that is secured by more than just the Turks, and into a room near the top of the building where the most powerful soldier of all lives and try to use magic to bless him and hope that the man doesn’t run him through with his blade if he even manages to get that far. And then try to do the same thing to the other two firsts. Seems like the perfect plan. How could it possibly go wrong?

[moment-live]

Unreliable narrator

[altocat]

Things that happened in tonight's EC Seasonal Event Update:

Aerith directly compared Kefka to Hojo. Sephiroth agreed.

The group split up to take down enemies together.

Aerith and Angeal got chummy. Aerith thanked Angeal for the events of CC. Angeal doesn't remember because he hasn't experienced it yet.

Tifa and Cloud are confused AF at what a courteous sweetheart Miniroth is. Miniroth wants to fight alongside them in the future. Cloud and Tifa are sad.

[chrollc]

[rosy-crow]

FINALLY FS CHARACTERS IN AN EVENT STORY!!! It’s a FFVI crossover thing.

Miniroth and Smolgeal get to meet the squad!! They’re going against Kefka, I guess. I hope it’s a legit story omg.

I know very little about FFVI aside from Kefka, Terra, and Locke, but this is Miniroth’s costume. He has a lil ponytail 🥺

CUTE.

Update: Okay the character garbs for Angeal and Seph are Cyan and Edgar. A samurai and a royal figure. Makes sense, hehe.

[foreststarflaime]

Wait so. If that’s Sephiroth’s room…and Aerith and Ifalna’s looks quite like it…and both rooms are probably located fairly near each other in the labs…that means higher chance that Seph and Aerith have met let’s GOOOO we win these lab siblings truthers

(I am coping from the horrors that were just revealed. He lives in a box. A FUCKING BOX)

[rottenpumpkin13]

What was Zack's most elaborate and oddly complex prank he somehow managed to pull on the Firsts?

The Pregnancy Prank

[Zack and Cissnei are at Zack's apartment. Cissnei is calling Angeal from her phone because he doesn't have her number saved and he won't recognize her voice]

[The phone is ringing. Zack is silently laughing]

[Angeal picks up]

Angeal: Hello?

Cissnei: Good afternoon. Am I speaking to Zackary Fair?

Angeal: ....No?

Cissnei: This is the number I was given under the name Zackary Fair.

[There's a pause. Cissnei signaling for Zack to stop laughing]

Angeal: Who am I speaking to?

Cissnei: This is Bethany Waters from Midgar Parental Planning. Miss Aerith Gainsborough had her ultrasound this afternoon and asked us to call you about the results.

[There's an even bigger pause. Heavy breathing is heard on the other line. This time Cissnei has to cover her mouth to keep herself from laughing. Zack is silently losing it]

Angeal: Is this—what did he—I mean, what is this about? Genesis, take this I'm about to throw up.

[There's shuffling from the other end. Zack and Cissnei are both dying]

Genesis: Hello? Who is—Angeal are you having a panic attack!? Hi, who is this?

Cissnei: Good afternoon. I'm Bethany Waters from Midgar Parental Planning. Am I speaking to Zackary Fair?

Genesis: By the goddess you're kidding me. Oh shit. Oh shit. Fuck me. You're kidding.

[Cissnei miraculously keeps a poker face. Zack is on the floor clutching his stomach. There's a third voice on the other end that sounds like Sephiroth. He's asking what's going on]

Cissnei: Sir? Sir, who am I speaking to?

Genesis: Shit! Uh...uh... I'm Zack's uncle. I'll relay the message to him. What does this pertain—Sephiroth, Angeal has turned blue—what does this pertain to?

Cissnei: Aerith Gainsborough's ultrasound results.

Genesis: HE KNOCKED HER UP

[Cissnei once again slaps her hand over her mouth. Zack is red in the face from trying to keep himself quiet. Genesis is still screaming on the other end while a garbled commotion is heard]

Genesis: SHE'S PREGNANT. HE'S A KID. SHE'S A KID. WE'RE ALL GONNA GET SUED TO BY THE COMPANY—ANGEAL! SEPHIROTH, HE PASSED OUT—*shuffling sounds*—I'M GOING TO SET HIS ASS ON FIRE—*shuffling sounds*—IRRESPONSIBLE—*shuffling and the sound of Angeal crying*—I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!

[Zack is crying with laughter. Cissnei is taking several deep breaths to keep herself calm. There's more shuffling and then someone else picks up the phone]

Sephiroth: Hello? This is Zackary Fair speaking.

Cissnei: Great! I'm calling to give you Miss Gainsborough's ultrasound results.

Sephiroth: Alright. What's the diagnosis?

[Genesis's voice is heard in the background: "IT'S A BABY NOT A DISEASE YOU DIMWIT! PUT IT ON SPEAKER!"]

Cissnei: She found out she's having triplets.

Sephiroth: Alright.

Genesis: HOW DID HE MANAGE THAT!??

Angeal: *crying noises*

Cissnei: It'll be three boys.

Sephiroth: Alright.

Genesis: SEPHIROTH HE PASSED OUT AGAIN.

Cissnei: Congratulations!

Sephiroth: Alright.

Cissnei: She's also asked us to relay a message regarding the baby's names.

Sephiroth: Alright.

Cissnei: It reads here she's thinking of naming them Angeal, Sephiroth and Genesis.

Sephiroth: Alright. One moment please.

[There's another huge pause. Then the sound of something heavy falling is heard, Genesis screaming, followed by the phone falling on the ground. Genesis's muffled voice comes on]

Genesis: Hello? Hi, Bethany, dear? I have to go. Two grown men are passed out on my kitchen floor and I still have a teenager to find and maim. Do you mind calling back later? Thanks.

[The line goes dead]

[bethanyannfanart]

I couldn't resist 😈

[wowa-bublord]

I can imagine Zack like the dudes from that TikTok where he begs to get he period so his friend doesn't have to but with Cloud

this is him

[soldiersocialmedia]

Genesis and Aerith are buying cake for everyone!

[emblazons]

i’m about a month late to the ffvii rebirth fanfare but i saw your study/shot comparison for the ending while scrolling through some tags and was really curious to see if you had come up with any more conclusions since then! i just finished it a couple days ago and still reeling from it and have been enjoying hearing people’s thoughts about what the heck they think is going on. obvs cloud is not ok, but i’m still trying to decide just how much of what we’re seeing is due to his sanity going out the window and how much of it (if any) is aerith actually speaking to him and/or sephiroth messing with him. the way he tells the rest of the party to not look up at the sky though and none of them see what he sees, just clues them all in to the fact that he isn’t entirely all there anymore. a collective very concerned side-eye lol. somebody help him pls.

!!! oh friend, you're in a TON of luck: I actually started a few different commentaries on how I saw the ending on this weeks back, but didn't post them because I got distracted by other fandoms? I'm more than happy to share them though—not as developed as they could be, but some congealing of where my mind went upon finishing the game and rewatching the gameplay.

forewarning: FFVII ending spoilers + a long af post lmao

So I wrote this on my twitter (where I go to see things only on twt lol) the other day because of a bunch of concepts were clarified by the Ultimania + translators, which kinda sums up where my thoughts are:

Which...yeah. As I see it: as of the ending, Aerith is in fact dead in our current world (the one of the player narrative). How I see it, she's died in our primary timeline—though likely "alive" in the same way Zack is in some other timeline, in addition to her connection to every "universe" through the power of her connection to the planet as the last Cetra.

The white whispers (which represent Aerith/the will of the planet) as well as the “confluence of world” colors we see with Sephiroth are all around when Cloud supposedly “sees her alive" during the classic death scene—

—an indicator that the event itself was the "confluence" Sephiroth was trying to achieve, with Cloud experiencing several versions of it due to his own connection to Sephiroth/the lifestream/his fragmented mind. We see this both in what Sephiroth says around the event itself....and also the contrasting experiences of our party with what Cloud sees in the moment (+ through end of the game).

As I see it, Cloud’s consciousness by the end of FFVII:R-II is fully fractured; throughout both Remake & Rebirth he is already seeing visions affected by Sephiroth’s influence on the planet (the black whispers, the way hooded men and thin air turn into Sephiroth before his eyes)—and now, during the “confluence of emotions / worlds / reunion” mentioned (Aerith's death), Cloud’s already broken mind is slipping further into seeing “the middle space” of the worlds joined and prepared for destruction by Sephiroth in real time, rather than following the timeline of events in the world we play—a la the post that inspired your ask. :)

All that said: the reason he’s seeing Aerith (not just sensing her the way Red does in his own Lifestream connection) is because she’s a Cetra, and now (in death) the embodiment of the positive!Will of Gaia across worlds—so because of Cloud's connection to that "middle space" / ability to traverse different versions of reality because of his connection to Sephiroth, Cloud is interacting with her presence…despite it not being there for anyone else.

It’s also why he can see the sky split no one else can.

ADDITIONALLY:

The Aerith we see fight alongside Cloud in the final battle and the one we see walking around everyone as Cid fixes the plane…that’s the spirit of her person (think the Aerith of Advent Children). Aerith didn’t live this game—her spirit can communicate because of Sephiroth's successful confluence, though she’s ALSO "alive" in the same way Zack and Biggs are to us: aka she died in the world she was in but still exists in others, which Sephiroth confirms/explains both when Aerith pulls Cloud into another “doomed” world—

when he’s trying to manipulate Cloud in the Lifestream—

and when you’re fighting Sephiroth alongside Aerith in the void during the final battle (after she’s died).

Even so, Aerith “living on” as the last Cetra/the spirit of the planet + someone with access to multiple worlds through the "reunion" means she’s now as able to infiltrate Cloud's ongoing visions as Sephiroth is...and is likely trying to keep him even somewhat present despite his clearly fractured mind.

I think that’s implied repeatedly by through the hollow Holy Materia (implying both Aerith is no longer “there,” but still present + that cloud himself is now hollow)—

—and why/how the Black Materia (Sephiroth) is still manipulating him and very much driving his fractured thoughts, visions and actions.

As for the rest of the party: it's because no one but his “vessel-connected-to-Sephiroth” self (+ now dead-but-living-on-in-the-Lifestream Aerith) has any idea what he learned about worlds in the Lifestream that what’s happening to Cloud is lost on everyone (and why they look painfully concerned), and also why spirit!Aerith repeatedly gives him reminders to 1) not listen to Sephiroth and 2) focus on finding himself again.

All that said: because Cloud’s actual self is already slipping away from our present game TL by the second half of the game, it will have to be retrieved and rearranged—which we know will happen in game 3 (assuming you know the original FF7 plot where Tifa rearranges him in the Lifesteam) but that has to be changed from “Cloud finds out about Zack and finally cracks" because Cloud already knows about Zack in some capacity by the middle of Rebirth.

I personally think this sets us up for a really interesting resolution in that Tifa is going to probably have spirit!Aerith’s help putting Cloud back together in the Lifestream in game 3—and that she will likely play a bigger part in helping Cloud “find himself” in his own world again because it’s been made more apparent that she’s a full consciousness in the Lifestream/able to affect multiple worlds now because of Sephiroth completing the first step in his plan. That's more just hopeful on my part going into the next game than something rooted in analysis though.

But yes! those are my thoughts! I hope this gives you (more than a little) something. Feel free to ask if something isn’t clear though lol this was like 4 different half-done drafts combined 😂 Regardless, ty so much for the ask / giving me a reason to post them!

[8km-2]

wtf did hojo clone lucrecia...???

[altocat]

Rare Aerith and Sephiroth team up because fuck Kefka AND Hojo lol

Lab kids ftw

[confusedpandabear]

I think the cloti first time under the Highwind would be gentle and sweet with inexperienced lovers. My headcanon is zerith have been intimate before as a couple so it's not a new thing to them. But they're all over each after 5 years of waiting would feel like the first time all over again and they go multiple rounds to make up for lost time.

Oh, I love this idea - and if I were Aerith, multiple rounds with Zack would not even be enough after five years apart 😆

[browniefox]

said this before but god do I miss gem aus and especially fusions

[saintcarlyon]

I imagine I'm not the only one who ever wondered this, but did Aerith and Ifalna ever meet Sephiroth while held hostage by Hojo?

With what has been shown with Ever Crisis so far and the teaser for the next chapter, I believe yes.

Not only that, but I also think Ever Crisis will flesh out even further the story of how Ifalna and Aerith escaped beyond the novel, Trace of Two Pasts.

Spoilers and supporting arguments under the cut.

Since Sephiroth's personality and mental state vary on his media appearances I'll use these nicknames for specific examples or which persona displays certain traits:

Miniroth: Ever Crisis' teenaged Sephiroth

Sephiroth: Crisis Core through Nibelheim.

Jenovaroth: During the Nibelheim massacre and after.

Ore-roth: The personality seen in Remake and Rebirth.

Consider what the pre-Nibelheim stories and now Ever Crisis tell us about Sephiroth's personality and relationships.

Infamous for his mother complex*! He was always longing for his mother, "Jenova", the only piece of information he had on his existence beyond ShinRa.

For several years asked everyone if they ever met the woman in the only photograph he had of his mother.

This photo was placed in a locket that he cherished. He's distraught when he loses it and desperately stumbles after it when it resurfaces.

Not explicitly stated, but Ever Crisis has tied Sephiroth's original motion of placing his hand near his heart to his locket. Fans noticed that when Miniroth is emotionally troubled he could be holding it or makes the motion out of habit.

Resents and is uncomfortable with his fame as ShinRa's Hero.

Openly, but quietly, states in Ever Crisis, "I just want to live a normal life" when asked what he wants.

Has a complex relationship with Hojo. Mini- and Sephiroth tend to use a lot of Hojo's mannerisms which serve to underline their biological relationship and indicate how influential Hojo was on him.

In Ever Crisis Miniroth doesn't openly state his fear or anger at Hojo. However, in the Halloween side story Miniroth has an intrusive thought (if not residual pain) from Hojo abusing him through "training" or "enhancements."

It's heavily implied in the trailer for Chapter 2 of First Soldier that Miniroth is actually afraid of Hojo.

We know that Sephiroth holds Hojo in contempt. He's unconcerned with Hojo's wellbeing in Crisis Core and openly insults him in front of Zack and a grunt in OG FVII.

Miniroth initially tells Glenn, Lucia, and Matt that he never wanted to be a Hero and doesn't consider himself one. By the end of Chapter 1 of First Soldier he's determined to live up to the title and save everyone he can.

That said, Mini- and Sephiroth tries to be compassionate after being with Glenn.

Glenn has also introduced Mini- and Sephiroth to insubordination.

Mini- and Sephiroth is also motivated by his inability to save both Rosen and Glenn; to the point where he risks his wellbeing in attempts to save everyone as an adult.

Sephiroth's age is contested but when FFVII originally released he was estimated (at time of death) to be 25 years old compared to 16-year old Cloud. With Remake and Rebirth his age at time of death is closer to 30 but it is unclear to me whether that's his age post Nibelheim.

Regardless, he's about 10+ years older than Aerith.

Aerith fled ShinRa when she was about 7 years old.

Rebirth specifically mentions Faz Hicks while Tifa and Aerith unwind.

Which leads me to this conclusion:

First Solider is going to culminate in Miniroth playing a role in Ifalna and Aerith's escape. I suspect he'll encounter the three while responding to the monster breach. It's a slight retcon, but Square's done it before**!

It'll likely be a brief moment, but Miniroth will be reminded of his own isolation, his desire for a normal life, and worried for both about what Hojo will do to them. Since Miniroth is determined to save everyone, especially from Hojo, he'll either mislead security or perhaps covertly escort the escapees. For bonus characterization, I'm hoping they'll have Miniroth not rely on his katanas but non-violent methods. I imagine he would take a special pride in that.

*for years players and fans mocked Sephiroth for his obsession with his mother, but I think Ever Crisis does a good job demonstrating why he has this complex. If his life with Hojo and ShinRa was oppressive, abusive, and demanding, then as a youth he probably hoped she would rescue him and give him a better life.

** Genesis at Nibelheim.