#you will never be heidegger let it go

[ghostspies]

[rottenpumpkin13]

what advice(s) would Lazard if a newbie (not Zack, just some random dude) got into the First Rank SOLDIERs?

Lazard: Alright, welcome to First Class. Let me give you some survival tips so you don't end up in the infirmary, therapy, or in a coffin.

Lazard: Never mention family trees around Sephiroth. Or family. Or trees in general. He rarely sees them and feels personally offended when one is free to gaze upon a tree in public without being on an assignment.

Lazard: Never bring up hair care products when Genesis and Sephiroth are in the same room. Last time someone did, we lost three conference rooms, the annual budget, and half of Heidegger's mustache in the crossfire.

Lazard: Never ask Angeal why he doesn't use the Buster Sword. That will turn into a lecture. If you value your time, just assume it's sacred and move on. If you slip up, sit down. You're going to be there a while.

Lazard: If Sephiroth ever gets that look, do not ask what he's thinking. You will come out of it traumatized and therapy isn't covered by SOLDIER.

Lazard: If Genesis ever challenges you to a duel over 'a matter of pride,' just fake your death. Better yet, throw yourself down the stairs. He respects the drama and will let you go.

Lazard: If Sephiroth stares into the distance for more than ten seconds, gently nudge him. He's either lost in thought, planning the downfall of civilization, or contemplating adopting a cat again.

Lazard: If Zack comes to you and says 'I have a great idea!' do NOT listen. That's how the last squad ended up fighting robotic chocobos in the VR room. I had to explain that to the President.

Lazard: If you hear a loud explosion and nobody screams, it's just a Tuesday. If you hear a loud explosion AND screaming? Check if Genesis is on the premises first.

Lazard: If Sephiroth smiles, something is very wrong. Either he's pleased with something, which is unlikely, or you're in immediate danger, which is very likely.

[foreststarflaime]

Me and @stargazing-zani were bored so have this list of what partner pokemon the ff7 crew would have

The Banora boys get the Applin variants. Genesis gets a Flapple and Angeal has an Appletun

Genesis also tries to deflect attention onto his much flashier Ceruledge in public tho

Angeal was also given an Aegislash by his father which he nicknamed Buster. Buster has seen too much as it’s passed down to Zack and then Cloud in turn, watching its partners suffer but unable to form the words to comfort them

Hojo tries and tries to get Sephiroth something big, ultra-powerful and intimidating, but Seph is set on the adorable Mew which found him and refused to leave his side. Still a mythical so Hojo lets him keep it but is very miffed

Cloud was adopted by a Galarian Zapdos bc chocobo. I don’t make the rules. I do feel like the character arc the Sobble line goes through fits him really well tho

Zack has an unevolved Rockruff for quite a while. When it eventually does evolve, no matter what time of day it is, it will inevitably evolve into Midday Lycanroc because Zack’s sunny personality is overwhelming

Aerith has a Tinkaton. They’re perfect for each other

I don’t know how to explain it but Mudsdale gives me Tifa vibes, also it was a powerhouse when I had it on my team and I love it

Hojo created a Mewtwo bc all other pokemon rejected him, but it immediately turned on its creator and murders him violently, preventing all problems and fixing everything without the need for time travel

Insane Seph got a Deoxys bc creepy alien. Maybe it is Jenova in this universe and starts corrupting him as soon as he gets it driving him insane

Rufus gets a Houndoom bc that’s basically what Darkstar is anyways

Cait Sith is basically just Meowth already, I don’t need to do much here. Maybe Perrserker to be the version from the Scotland area Pokemon game

Alternatively for Reeve I feel like Duraludon works, bc urban development and it reminds me of the Neo Midgar concepts

Heidegger gets either a Skuntank or a Granbull, idk which but vibes

Hehehe Vincent has a Cofagrigus

I bestow upon Yuffie the honor of Thievul. Loved it on my team and they both have the little shit vibes. She would also be an evil team grunt stealing everyone else’s pokemon tho, and honestly good for her go crazy Yuffie

I know for Kunsel it’s always the hack-y technology vibes. But consider. Always hiding behind a mask, never see his face. Mimikyu

Barret? Absol. Avalanche, impending disaster, perfect

I feel like Rude would like Urshifu

It would be absolutely hilarious to me then if Reno just had an Emolga

Scarlet with a Metagross

Why is Tseng so hard. Inteleon perhaps for the spy-y stuff

For Veld maybe a Wishiwashi for the Turk’s whole stronger in numbers found family thing

Oh dear god while writing this I thought too much about the implications of SOLDIER still existing in a world where pokemon battles replaced normal fighting. Maybe it was an experiment to splice human dna with pokemon to get humans to be able to fight using pokemon moves too? So like you go up against a SOLDIER, faint all 6 of their pokemon and think yay I’ve won, and then the SOLDIER just starts going after your pokemon themselves. They are their own 7th pokemon

[demialwrites]

Exception to the Rule Chapter 7: Men & Walls

AO3 Link

Tw: incest

Again, a strong hand grabs your arm and this time it drags you out of the path of the fleeing people. You stumble along with it. It stops dragging when you're on the other side of the inn. You turn terrified eyes to find Tseng.

“Ma’am.”

With his perfect posture, perfect hair, and suit, he gives anyone who looks at him the impression that he has his life together and is someone to be looked to as an authority. ‘Don’t question, just obey.’ But his chin is dipped in deference because you're the president’s sister. He's scrutinizing you closely. He's probably just worried but it reminds you that you're going to be in trouble with Rufus when you return to his side. You can already see his face. Tseng gets you back to Rufus's Junon office quickly and efficiently, herded like an errant sheep. On the way, you pull out your phone to check if anyone contacted you. There's rows of missed calls from Rufus and a couple from Tseng. Tseng explains that someone attempted to assassinate Rufus already. Possibly AVALANCHE. Your resulting sigh is heavy with guilt as your gaze glues itself to the ground. Rufus himself is in one piece because Heidegger took the attack to his back and suffered a medium-sized cut. You will lose no sleep over that puffed-up man.

Tseng takes you to Rufus, who is standing in his Junon office, facing the ocean, wrists crossed behind him. The ocean is barely visible through the drawn curtains save for the reflection of the stars in the distance. The light pollution from Junon doesn't hide all of them and it's a pretty enough sight. Tseng leaves, with what you assume is a bow, but you're too busy also looking at the stars’ reflection to avoid looking at your brother.

You wait in silence.

Rufus treats you to the same frosty demeanor with which he treats everyone else. Normally, you barge right past this ice barrier. This time you're hesitant like everyone else. Your heart drifts sadly down to your stomach like a fallen leaf.

He glances at you, then back to the view. Though not intended as one, this small gesture is a nudge, a reminder that you're a Shinra, damnit. Shinras don't shy away, they move ambitiously forward. So you tell yourself. The reality is far more complicated but if you were constantly bogged down with the why’s, you'd never get anywhere or get anything done. Plus, you support Rufus taking the company in his own direction. Your father was a terrible person and therefore, terrible for the company.

You move to stand closer to him. Rufus uncrosses his wrists and reaches for you, hand stopping just short of your arm. His fingers twitch. After a few quiet moments, they slowly curl around your arm.

“I’m fine, Ruf.”

“You almost weren’t.”

“Tseng wouldn’t have let me get hurt.”

“You shouldn’t be seeing him at all. That means you’re in danger.”

You scoff but you can’t bring yourself to argue. Rufus shifts behind you to hold your other arm, as well.

“Fine. Are we going home soon?”

“Yes. You are.”

You don’t argue with that, either. His arms come around your chest to hold you tight to his. You allow yourself to wallow in guilt, while it swirls around inside you together with the comfort of being held by your only family. It swirls slowly and nauseatingly.

“Wait, where's D?” you ask suddenly. “Why didn't he protect you?”

“He couldn't have. The attack came from above. And he would have been with you but…”

You had disappeared. “Yeah, okay…”

The next morning, Rufus sends you home in a shiny, black Shinra helicopter with two Turks, Rude and Elena, to underscore his disapproval. You sulk in the back. Rufus may think of them as useful little minions and not as babysitters, but you did.

Elena groans in the cockpit, complaining of a hangover, getting your attention. It's a possible, welcome distraction from your guilt. You creep forward to fill the space behind the two seats.

“A hangover? That's not very professional,” you say.

Elena remains frozen until Rude says in that clear, deep voice of his, “She's teasing.”

“I'm bored, guys!” you whine.

Elena shoots Rude an unamused look, asking if this is normal. He nods. You notice their wordless exchange and take the hint, retreating back to your seat. Without anyone to tease, you only had your thoughts for company. And the fan club. You scroll through several posts made throughout the day of the parade. They went from excited anticipation to swooning because they saw Rufus in person to being panicked about his well-being. It makes you smile to see people say nice things about your brother. You add your own reply, saying that he’s probably fine.

The attempted assassination created work where there should have been a lull. The people need calming. You promised your department there would be less work after the parade. You decided to ask for volunteers to work on minimizing the fallout and calming the public. The rest you would try to cover yourself and clean out a bakery that Reeve recommends as a reward for the volunteers.

Rufus knew right away that something was wrong the next time you came into his office. It wasn’t like you to be subdued, not even a bit. And it couldn’t be the attempted assassination because that kind of thing doesn’t rattle you. Rufus places a hand on the base of Darkstar’s tentacle and gently squeezes. The enormous hound lifts a leg to scratch near it.

“What’s wrong?” Rufus asks.

“Nothing.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” you insist.

Rufus rises from the president's chair with a barely audible sigh. Darkstar follows him as he rounds the desk and comes all the way to stand behind you. He holds you again, this time around the waist. He places his chin on your shoulder and inhales. You smell enticing. He likes that you have the same good taste as he does. His lips are drawn to where he thinks the source of the scent is: just below the ear. He didn’t realize his lips were on your neck until your back goes rigid against his chest. He sighs inwardly and lets go, backing up a step. But at least you didn't push him off angrily.

Rufus is thinking about giving up and returning to the matter later when you volunteer an apology.

“I'm sorry.”

The confusion hits him hard. His expression could even be mistaken for offense.

“What have you done?” he asks.

Your mind stutters before comprehending. “I'm talking about the parade.”

He nods.

“I haven't done anything new.”

“Yet.” He wears an easy grin on the way back to his desk, Darkstar following.

“Ruf?” you ask, suddenly remembering something. “What happened with that tabloid?”

“The Turks.”

He doesn't elaborate further and you don't ask.

The latest board meeting is about some giant whale creatures with giant materia stuck inside them. Nothing your department needs to worry about. Maybe you need to drink more tea like Palmer to stay awake during meetings like these. You still have plenty of work to do. The mention of Wutai prevents you from nodding off. You can’t help the mild snarl on your face when Scarlet asks Heidegger for troops, presumably to try and claim these whales before Wutai does. Excitement starts building like another war was what these two were waiting for. Then the room’s atmosphere shifts when Reeve stands and asks about the business of Sector 7 and why your father gave that order. Your nails scrape along the wood of the table as your fist clenches. Asking why is valid but would he like the answer? That the previous president was just…like that? The way he treated his children informs your opinion. You focus your attention on Rufus, hoping he’ll give an interesting answer. It won’t be the truth.

“Great though he was…”

Rufus continues talking but you’re busy experiencing your skin sliding off and slithering away across the carpet. Rufus is exaggerating but it’s still awful to hear it. You aren’t about to call him out on it in front of the board, though. It isn’t wise and most of these people aren’t worth the truth or wouldn’t care. Rufus deflects by asking you, the executives, why you didn’t stop him. You loosely clasp your hands in front of you on the table, the only outward sign of how defensive you’re feeling. The ghost of how awful your father made you feel while growing up howls inside your chest.

You couldn’t do anything.

You couldn’t.

You have to hope this is theatrics and he doesn't actually place any share of the blame on you. Rufus dials up the drama by standing up, raising his arms, and voice, towards the ceiling. You have to admire his energy but he’s just using buzzwords. He mentions loyalty, signalling everyone to join the show and the executives all stand, including you, even though your loyalty is a given. Rufus marches out of the meeting first, looking satisfied at the show of loyalty. Your gaze follows him, a small part of you wishing he’d reassured you before leaving, even with just a glance. But that’s not how your relationship operates and you have work to get back to, anyway.

Director Reeve Tuesti is actually having fun with this. The playfulness of Cait Sith unconsciously takes ahold of him and he starts humming and swaying to music only he can hear. He's sabotaging Shinra's efforts to find AVALANCHE through his work computer. Little things that no one would notice. By the time anyone notices, it would be too late.

He's been doing this for weeks now. It’s taking action that eases the anxiety and guilt from working for Shinra and seeing the arm it does. He can let his mind wander while he does it. It drifts to the new dynamic the new president brought to the company. President Rufus is a loner. He sits in isolation at the top of the Shinra building. Reeve doesn't blame him for that; he also likes to stick to his own division and the little family of employees he's gathered here. The previous president also did this but Rufus is a little different from his father. Where his father was constantly pulling puppet strings within the company, Reeve can't see Rufus' movements. Perhaps there are no movements and he is content to just be the president for now.

The instincts built up from being in this company for so long sneers at this and calls it foolish. Easily brushing that judgement aside, Reeve considers how he will get through to this new president. The Sector 7 rebuild needs more funds and he knows they exist elsewhere in the company. There's also the matter of rebuilding the two reactors. He has a new plan ready to present to Rufus. A more efficient design that requires less mako. He's proud of his employees for their help with the design and he wouldn't have completed it this quickly without them.

Reeve thinks perhaps the way to get to the president is through you. You'd always been the ‘softest’ and most diplomatic of the three before the previous president died. You also kept a distance from others but seemed less aware of it. Both male Shinras were aware of the distance between them and the regular people and employees of Midgar and it was one of the tools the two used against them. You've displayed less cunning. What you do display, however, is a consistent ability to stay close to the cold, stiff Rufus Shinra. Not even Tseng has that, not to the same degree. Reeve is about to save the changes to the posters that will hopefully confuse Public Security employees when his finger pauses over the enter key and the humming stops. The air between you and Rufus has become weird recently. And he's not sure why. He should figure out how to navigate it soon before he misses a chance. After watching AVALANCHE going about Gaia and touching people's lives directly, shame is eating at Reeve. He feels nauseatingly useless. The last time that happened, the Sector 7 plate dropped. It's like his motivation to bring about change is tainted. That seems to be normal; Shinra tends to have that effect on everything it touches, from what he's seeing through Cait Sith’s eyes. These little things don't help enough.

The next meeting that quickly follows the last is regarding a sabre-rattling broadcast from Wutai. Heidegger and your father always insisted that Wutai was weak, so that plus the absence of their apparent leader, Viceroy Sarruf, makes it strange. The deliberate absence of this Sarruf seems to be some kind of message but you’re not sure what. If you don’t understand it, Rufus remains silent and the rest of the board is confused, who is the message for? You want to press Rufus on it, especially since war seems more likely, but you haven’t addressed Rufus’ strange behaviour towards you and your feelings regarding it. You’ve let them all pile up one on top of each other and it’s overwhelming. You just want to go back to your office and work. Reeve unintentionally comes to your rescue with a distraction by suggesting your brother go on SSN and calm the people. He’s annoyed at the perceived condescension but Reeve is right, so he has to agree. You leave the meeting early with Tseng to help craft a statement, a good excuse to stick your head in the sand and work.

Rufus heads to your department after the meeting to check on the progress you and Tseng are making. He wants to read the statement on SNN as soon as possible. Glenn is rubbing his time as the faceless viceroy of Wutai in his face in front of the world and he needs to take back some control of the situation. He runs his fingers through his hair as the only outward sign of his anxiety. He cannot stand when his plans go awry. Even worse, you could find out. He knows how much you hated the war with Wutai. Rufus had every intention of not resuming the war with Wutai as soon as he learned your father was dead. The issue of expanding into that territory could be revisited after he rearranged Shinra to his liking. It didn't have to involve war necessarily. The problem is, Glenn somehow got wind of Rufus’ manipulations as the viceroy. Those manipulations had the goal of pushing the previous president closer to resuming the war to split his attention, to force him to make worse decisions than he already was. Now there’s a danger it could happen to him. He just needs to take back some control of the situation. He can’t let you drift from him over something such as this.

Rufus arrives and finds Tseng has already left. He would have contacted Rufus if he was dropping off the statement so he must have left it with you. Instead, Rufus finds Director Tuesti there, talking to you. You two look quite comfortable. He wants to stride quickly up to you both and yank Reeve away from you. Instead, he stands there, silently fuming, until the director leaves. Just before the other director leaves, you give him an easy smile that throws ice-cold water on Rufus. He tells himself that it was a perfectly innocent smile but he has to shake off feeling threatened on the walk towards you. Is this his fault? Should he have done something different?

“What did the good director want?” He succeeds in concealing his anger by sounding like he’s in a hurry. He also wants a smile but he also knows it's not an occasion for one.

“Oh, he was making small talk. Maybe he wants to show me another bakery,” you tease.

That sounds too much like a potential date to Rufus. He covers the fact that he’s bristling inside by focusing his attention on the statement in your hands. “Is it ready?”

“Yeah.” You hand it over. Your expression says you saw through him to the anger. But you also give him the benefit of the doubt and say nothing. He doesn’t know you have something more important on your mind. You can’t casually say ‘no war, right?’ Situations that lead to war are more complicated than a few words that promise the opposite. You’re also aware of the limits of your power in this moment. It’s like arriving at a brick wall as wide as it is tall and not seeing any weak points you could take advantage of.

Rufus sees the anxiety on your face. Or at least, he sees that you’re not okay. He comes into your space and says lowly, “It’ll be okay. Alright?”

His tone is soft and comforting. You nod. When your brother tells you he’s going to do something, he does his best to do it. But you’re also annoyed. How can he give you those few words that promise the opposite when you know better? So much is riding on his decisions. Maybe you’re wrong. You hope so.

[altocat]

rank how much sephiroth likes each shinra director from most to least.

(In the order descending)

MOST TIER:

Lazard: Sephiroth genuinely liked and cared for Lazard. They weren't friends but there was genuine respect and fondness there. Sephiroth was quietly upset when it turned out that Lazard had betrayed them. He indisputably liked Lazard the most out of all of them.

Reeve: Sephiroth is indifferent to Reeve. Personally, he views Reeve as weak and ineffectual. Most of the time, he forgets Reeve even exists. But he also recognizes that Reeve is the only one besides Lazard with some sense of ethics and tact. So that gets him serious points.

Scarlet: Sephiroth DOES NOT like Scarlet. But he does respect her. He views her as the strongest candidate for leadership in the event things go south. While he loathes her personality, he can respect her ambition and drive.

EVERYONE ELSE (BOTTOM TIER)

Palmer: Sephiroth is indifferent to him the same way he's indifferent to Reeve. But the difference is that he finds Palmer creepy and possibly inbred. Don't ask him how he suspects this. He won't answer you.

President Shinra: Sephiroth recognizes on many levels that President Shinra is responsible for his life being a living hellscape. While he's resigned himself to that and has sworn his undying loyalty to the man, Sephiroth does not care for him personally. He can at least respect President Shinra for his dominance and resourcefulness as a businessman. But Sephiroth still doesn't like the fact that he's basically the personal attack dog for this massive douche.

Rufus Shinra: Same principles for President Shinra, except Sephiroth hates Rufus infinitely more. Rufus bullied Sephiroth as a child and Sephiroth never let go of that grudge. He'd be extremely loyal to Rufus if the other was president, but that doesn't change the fact that he hates Rufus' guts.

Heidegger: Sephiroth has no respect at all for Heidegger, and probably wouldn't listen to him under orders. Heidegger is a complete buffoon in his eyes. A waste of a man. Sephiroth would sooner cut him to pieces than obey him.

Hojo: No comment 💀

[warrmonger-archive]

headcanon | fight or flight / a life under scrutiny

this started as a somewhat small headcanon about heidegger being permanently in fight mode due to his experiences as a soldier / bodyguard / head of security for the most powerful family in the world and it turned into a big waffle about his whole entire life being under scrutiny and his disgustingly high standards. buckle in, this bad boy got waffly. i do apologise~

something i wanted to write a quick thing on recently is the idea of heidegger being in fight mode 24/7. i've always liked to make it so that he is a bit of a workaholic ( that doesn't mean he isn't lazy, he absolutely is! but he's in the office 24/7 ). the main reason i see him as being so dedicated to shinra / the military is because partially he's so indoctrinated by it but also because he never stopped living it.

there's that whole idea that a war never ends - like, a soldier can come out of battle but then he's fighting another ( inside himself ). and that's how i see heidegger as being, it's a large part of my characterisation for him and is usually the crux of why i write certain headcanons the way i do / why i write him the way i do.

the idea of him being always in fight mode is that he's always switched on / on edge. he's ready to lash out at even a mere look. it's part of the reason why he's such a bully, why he's so aggressive, in people's faces, takes everything so brashly. even relatively harmless people like palmer aren't even safe from his ire. he's so angry, so 'locked in' to his past and the things he's seen / done, that the battle is still ongoing.

now let me go all nerd emoji on you and show some reasons why i'm dying on this hill -

let's start w/remake baby. we get the scene of him with the soldiers in the control room - when he gets all wound up by their incompetence ( they're not, heid is immensely impatient because he has high expectations ). in this scene, he says -

" have you already forgotten the war with wutai ? "

that war ended 5 + years ago and his line here is spoken like a man who lived that shit. a man who is not over it. a man who is STILL there. and as said above, it all contributes to this fight or flight instinct he's in ( very much the /fight/ mode instinct ).

another example is the boardroom scene when palmer dares to get on heid's nerves for like .2 seconds;

palmer is legit just arguing that he's seen seph, which heid deems as nonsense - when palmer pushes it, heid slams his fist down and gets up and ALMOST in his face. i say ALMOST because he stops himself.

another reason is from rebirth - when rufus confronts cloud/tifa/aerith at junon; the moment heid realises, he's rushes forward on alert and is called off by rufus. to him, he's seen their enemy and all he wants to do is have them killed, he's immediate to want them dead.

i like the idea that heidegger is old enough to know better than to just go mad at people whenever he disagrees with them. he's got enough years and wisdom now that he can JUST ABOUT stop himself ( of course, i imagine he doesn't always abide by this and almost certainly breaks his own rules when pushed enough ).

but yeah, the main reason WHY he's like this is because of his fight / flight mode being permanent switched to on. as far as he's concerned, everybody is an enemy, everybody is a terrorist.

he might seem kind of lazy, reluctant, rude or dismissive, but look at this man the wrong way? give him a bit of attitude? question him?

oh, he is NOT gonna be happy.

as for a life under scrutiny, well -

think of it this way. in my headcanon, i always wrote about wars around midgar to do with shinra ( it turned out to be junon but i wasn't far off! ) and though my hc isn't super in line with the universe, i still retain my idea that heidegger's father ran a security firm akin to the diamond dogs that eventually became shinra's contracted service for security. i still retain my idea that heidegger ended up HAVING to take this over and was essentially forced into the role of bodyguard / elite soldier after being mentally ravaged by early civil wars.

we're talking about a man in his late 20s who was raised in a military family, a military school, a military career. who was pulled between brothers ( and i call them brothers because that's what his squads would have been to him ). this is a man who was told at the age of around 28 - your life is now DEDICATED to this family. you keep them safe, you live and you DIE for them. it is your JOB, your DUTY, your HONOUR. whatever you want to call it to make yourself feel better, this is your life now.

heidegger would scrutinise everything around him - every threat, every potential threat. every non-threat that looks SLIGHTLY like a threat. he checks not once, twice, three times but twenty+ times. he is suspicious of EVERYONE. i imagine many attempts were made on shinra's life - whose responsibility would it be to stop these, fix these, quell these, fight these? heidegger. nobody else.

man would live his life for someone else entirely - and it's one of the reasons why heid is such a bastard to his soldiers. i have spoken before about how and why he's so mean to the people around him. a mixture of anger, sadism, resentment etc. but high expectations is never one i really played with. but it most certainly is part of why he's so cruel to his soldiers.

he expects them to be the fucking best and anything less than that infuriates him. he doesn't see soldiers, he sees weaklings who couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag ( let alone a war ). now this might not be fair, it more than likely isn't - but it's because he's so incredibly critical of the details around him ( aside from himself, tee hee ). he's lived his whole life under scrutiny ( from those around him ) and has lived his whole life scrutinising the security surrounding him, too - it's partially why he's such an ass.

to further this point, as i know some people will argue 'but han, my man, heid fucks up several times and there are multiple breaches in security - he can't be that good!'

he aint that good homies

well, what if it told you - this ties in with another headcanon of mine. heid's whack-ass blood pressure / heart problems? man was ordered to calm the fuck down and let his soldiers / team work; part of the reasons for breaches in security are him taking his eye off of the ball. partially for his own health, partially while getting drunk on the job ( another hc, i've talked about this ).

basically, all in all, i am v v v v sad and heidegger has never left my brain lmao

[chewbokachoi]

Rough Landing, Holly

Cid's muscles burned but he kept going.

There were more monsters–he just knew there were more to fight. And this group needed him. They were in need of a pilot, a sailor–they needed somebody to look out for them. Sure they had Barret, but even he needed somebody to look out for him. It was better to have two experienced people with a bunch of kids–

"That's enough." A cold voice commanded.

Cid planted his spear into the ground and leaned against it, trying to look cool and hide he was panting. "You sure 'bout that? You didn't seem sure enough on how to help hold a wrench."

Vincent didn't let the jab get to him. It was hard to tell how set his jaw was with it hidden by that overly dramatic collar of the cape. "You're soaked. I don't know how much of it is blood or sweat. With how you're panting, I may assume it's mostly sweat."

Cid felt a muscle below his eye twitch. "Wanna try that again?"

"We're fine. The party is safe," Vincent said.

Cid turned and spat. Like anybody was ever going to be safe. Not when the likes of Shin-Ra were still around. Scarlet and her bloodlust. Heidegger and his desire for a never ending battle. Hojo…

Cid twisted the spear deeper into the dirt. "Fucking pieces of shit," he muttered.

"It's dead–"

"No it isn't," Cid snarled.

Written to "Rough Landing, Holly" by Yellowcard

[salternateunreality2]

Cloud’s Oral Fixation (PG version) (AGSZC)

From the @strayheartless archives. The idea of Zack being crafty comes from them, especially re: necklaces <3

—

Cloudy having an oral fixation and just quietly nibbling on his boyfriends. Head in neck? Nom nom nom. Near ear lobe? Mlem mlem mlem. Gnaws on gloved hands. Chews on hair. Just. Always. Licking.

Birds have to wear down their beaks, wolf puppies have to chew on things–Cloud just was never going to win. Bonus: he’s from Nibbleheim, hehehehehehehehehe ok ok I’ll see myself out.

—

Zack: *getting into it, licking him back*

Cloud: *shocked and disgusted pikachu*

AGS: BRUH.

—-

He had to cut his hair to stop chewing on it and now Genesis and Sephiroth have to watch him in case he goes after theirs. They like when he idly strokes and plays with everyone's hair, but if he's cozy and sleepy, it's only a matter of time before CHOMP.

Angeal always carrying gum for him.

When he's really sleepy, he'll slow-lick the nearest patch of skin, like a sleepy cat or dog. Mlemmm, mlemmm, mlemmm.

Zack makes him a necklace to chew on and it helps SO MUCH. He makes one with lots of sea glass, so there's always a piece that's dry and cool, which his lil Nibel heart loves.

—--

Most of the time Cloud’s shy enough that he keeps physical affection as a strictly private activity, but sometimes Spiteful Strife comes out and compels him to crawl on the nearest boyfriend and show off or glare at the world.

Angeal: Well, shall we- Cloud? What? 

Cloud, settling in his lap: That bitch Karen said gays were gross. Kiss me.

–

Y'all thought Seph was possessive. Boy, y'ain't met Strife yet, have you?

They hear the sound of camera shutters in the bushes. 

Cloud: Geal I'm going to bite them. 

Angeal: *holding him back* Baby, just ignore them.

Paparazzo: Sephiroth, how's your moth- 

Angeal: *releases the kraken*

Later... 

Paparazzo: Please let us go, haven't we suffered enough?!?! *Bloody, bruised, missing chunks* 

Turks: This was the little blond one's doing, wasn't it? 

Paparazzo: 😭 yes 😭

Turks: Then you deserved it. Now hand over the cameras.

—-

Sephiroth in a board meeting, Cloud in his lap, chewing on his necklace. 

Shinra: What is that trooper doing in here?!?! 

Hojo: Sephiroth, put that thing down right now! 

Cloud: *growls like a full blown Nibel wolf, drool spilling ominously from the corners of his mouth* 

Sephiroth: No. 

Genesis: For your own safety, I advise you to let this go. 

Angeal: Genesis is not exaggerating. 

Heidegger, who learned the hard way last week: *vigorous nodding*

—-

[talesfantastic]

Picking up the Pieces | Anya & Tseng

@reapersxfolly asked:

Happy Birthday! Also; Dealer's choice :]

You have no idea how much I've wanted to test Anya out with a fellow Turk, let alone such a solid Turk RPer. Thank you for the present, Mae. (You can find her here). HMU if I need to change anything. I read your stuff and this felt ok?

Veld was dead. It was hard to process that as real. She had a feeling he was going to get himself killed, a feeling that had settled in the back of her mind like the rumble of low thunder in the distance when Vincent had been declared MIA, then KIA. The rumbles had grown stronger, at times. After Kalm.

It had finally brought lightning when he found Elfe, and she had known he was lost to them. Her gaze turned to the one he had groomed to be his replacement one day, her loyalties -- always to the Turks -- followed. And when the dust began to settle, she did a little housekeeping of the academy, mindful that there was a chance they would tell her to stop training Turks, and that then she would have to initiate certain protocols that had long lain dormant. That was a problem for another day.

Instead, she composed a full and detailed report of Junon activities -- more complete than she'd have bothered Veld with, but she and Tseng did not have the same history; he needed to know she was firmly on his side -- and submitted it directly to Tseng through secure channels it would never dawn on Heidegger to check.

She didn't know if Tseng would be given the Director's chair or if they'd make the mistake of trying to keep them from rebuilding, but with Veld out of the picture, Tseng was her director now as far as it mattered. She had been around too long for anyone to honestly expect otherwise.

So she sent the reports, and then, in place of her usual signature, said,

When you call, I will answer Shiv

[snowbanshee]

How do you think Sephiroth realizes he has feelings for Lazard? And vice versa.

(Sorry if you've already talked about it on this blog)

Oh my goodness, please do not apologise for sending me an ask about my favourite topic, this made my (looks at the clock)... uh... week.

So I do have long and needlessly complicated headcanons about this specific topic and I have at least 3 variations of how that happened, some of them are so sad they would make Nomura cry.

But back to the topic.

There were many factors that added up. Sephiroth was the property of Research and Development. SOLDIER department was supposed to be founded (before that it was simply a program, not a department) and Sephiroth was supposed to answer to Heidegger, but after a lot of meetings, bickering and hurt egos, Lazard was promoted to that position. After returning from the war, Sephiroth was too depressed to even bother to get to know people. He knew Hojo, he knew Heidegger, he knew ShinRa, there was no reason to assume Lazard was any different.

First thing Sephiroth noticed was how different Lazard and Hojo were. Lazard was all about tailoring the missions to SOLDIERs strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes. He encouraged his men to talk about themselves and never used that information as ammunition against them. How naturally safe and comfortable it felt being vulnerable around him. How much he cared about physical and mental wellbeing of SOLDIERs and even went on missions to do as much for his men as possible. How easy it was for Lazard to admit that he doesn't know something, but is willing to learn. How effortlessly Lazard balanced the fine line between being their boss and being a gentle guardian, always pleasant, always accommodating. This was how Sephiroth realised he didn't need all those walls and masks as they were only getting in the way.

The second thing was Lazard's self-respect and healthy attitude. Despite being the youngest director and working with some of the Planet's most fucked up people, Lazard did not let others mistreat him and always spoke up. Sephiroth became fascinated with Lazard's self-love, ability to forgive himself if he miscalculated, his resilience and well... the lack of self-destructive habits. Everyone else Sephiroth knew was punishing themselves one way or another. Lazard treated himself with respect and encouraged others to do it. This realisation made Sephiroth interested in Lazard, not necessarily in a romantic way, but Sephiroth did go out of his way to spend time in Lazard's office. There Sephiroth noticed how talented, hard working, efficient smart and capable the new director was.

What made Sephiroth realise he really wanted Lazard in his life forever was Lazard's willingness to face Sephiroth's inner demons with no prejudice or fear. All those parts that Sephiroth decided were vile, shameful, inhuman and simply wrong were accepted, respected and loved.

Now, let's talk about Lazard. He did have a mother that loved him very much, but there were so many times he was beaten up or his things were taken away, because he wasn't strong enough to fight off other kids in the slums. Encouraged by his mother, Lazard pursued education as a way to escape the slums and never hoped to be physically strong enough to win fights. He saw Rufus on TV, never hungry, never beaten up, always near their father. There was some longing in Lazard's heart. At first he noticed other boys with their fathers. Later he noticed boys and girls with their boyfriends.

And while Lazard joined ShinRa only to make sure it fell apart, he knew being surrounded by SOLDIERs was going to be... distracting. Lazard knew about Sephiroth long before meeting him. He promised himself not to fall in love, despite Sephiroth being exactly his type. And he kept that promise for the entire 3 seconds of their first meeting. Then he fell for Sephiroth, hard, but didn't act upon it for years, because he had a position to secure and Sephiroth was drowning in trauma. Years later, when SOLDIER was a well established and respected department, when Sephiroth was much healthier and happier, Lazard sent Sephiroth on a rather boring mission to a remote and beautiful location and decided to join him.

[vinjaryou]

🧡🤍

from the 'ask game: unpopular opinion edition <3'

🧡: What is a popular (serious) theory you disagree with?

Vincent Valentine...

Sorry not sorry, Hojo fathered Sephiroth.

I don't care if Sephiroth and Vincent have similar facial meshes (that's done so often in games, that if you use this as a reason, then Tifa and Elena are sisters), I don't care if "BUT HOJO'S SO UGLY" (you inherit from BOTH parents; he got his looks from his mother[s], and personality from his father), I don't care if you subscribe to the belief that Vincent and Lucrecia slept together even once...

Sephiroth's parents are Hojo, Lucrecia Crescent, and if you want to include them, Jenova.

Vincent's part of it was being the bodyguard for the Jenova Project, falling in love with Lucrecia, being rejected by her, being murdered by Hojo, and then being resurrected by both Hojo and Lucrecia to be used as a test subject.

He feels guilt for Sephiroth being born because he feels he could've stopped it.

He feels guilt for telling Lucrecia her son is dead, knowing he is the harbinger of the potential end of the world (also lying about him being dead).

Nowhere in there is guilt for said harbinger being his son. He never even utters the possibility, and as for his own reaction when Hojo admits it? Most likely the fact that Hojo even uses such a term in reference to himself and Sephiroth, as Hojo is known for referring to others with more inhumane terms (i.e. 'specimen'). To hear him refer to Sephiroth as his SON implies that at one point, Hojo actually cared for him and saw him as more than just a means to further his theories.

So no, I do not subscribe to the VinDad theory. Never have, never will.

🤍: Which character is not as morally bad as everyone else seems to think?

Kyrie Canaan.

Yes, she is annoying. Yes, she pulls all sorts of shit on Cloud to get him to do her work for her while she takes the credit. Yes, she is a manipulative gossip and a thief.

She is also the product of Shinra fucking over the people of Midgar so much that she's turned to thievery and manipulation in order to get by. Even her grandmother Mirelle (the self-proclaimed 'Angel of the Slums') says that Kyrie is a child who needs guidance more than anything, while admitting to the error of her own ways in teaching her. Yuffie feels for her - as irritating as she says Kyrie is - and Cloud lets her go with a threat, but it's more implied to be a way for her to get her head on straight and figure herself out (scare the hell out of her to get her to realize what she's getting herself into).

She is irresponsible, yes. She is also still a teenager - barely older than Yuffie when we meet her - and as evidenced in 'The Kids Are All Right: A Turks' Side Story,' she does start to change her ways.

I can forgive Kyrie much more than I can forgive someone like Heidegger, Scarlet, or Hojo.

[rottenpumpkin13]

Angeal, Sephiroth and Genesis all start growing wings and becoming monsters, essentially defecting together to make it Shinra’s problem.

Who/what do they take with them?

No one could say precisely when it started. Sephiroth would claim it was the moment he first saw a wing on Genesis' back, and Angeal would argue it was when Genesis told them both he was leaving. Genesis, naturally, would blame Sephiroth for existing too perfectly and throwing the balance of the universe into disarray.

Regardless, the point was that one day, SOLDIER's elite began sprouting wings, and instead of doing the sane thing—seeing a doctor, maybe asking Hojo and Hollander what the hell was happening (not that they ever would)—they looked at each other, had one (1) conversation, and decided to make it Shinra's problem.

So they left. Defected. Just like that.

Except they weren't stupid, they were going to do something useful.

SOLDIER had been suspicious for a long time. Some of them were tired, some of them were sick and didn't know why, and some of them had spent too many years watching good men die, fighting Wutai, monsters and Shinra's own unchecked ambition. So when Sephiroth, Angeal, and Genesis stood before them, living proof that whatever was in their veins was changing them into something else, they listened.

And they followed. Not all, obviously. Angeal pulled Zack aside and told him, firmly, to stay put. Zack argued, because of course he did, but Angeal wouldn't budge. Zack wasn't ready to burn bridges. Not yet. Not ever, if Angeal had his way.

And so, the lines were drawn. (Sephiroth, for the record, had one hard rule: No clones, no copies, no Hojo-esque bullshit. If they were going to fight, it was going to be real).

At first, Shinra underestimated them. A few dozen SOLDIER defectors, even with Sephiroth, Angeal, and Genesis leading them, couldn't possibly stand against an entire mega corporation, right? Right? Wrong.

Shinra sent out waves of fighters and Turks. They cut through them. Shinra tried to use the media against them. Genesis countered with unsettlingly well-articulated emails to his unwavering fanclub.

Shinra tried to hunt them down. Sephiroth started hunting back.

They moved fast, striking at supply lines, freeing factory workers, taking down the worst of Scarlet's machines. But degradation still loomed. Genesis and Angeal were feeling it creeping in—the inevitable decay of their bodies, the slow disintegration into something inhuman.

Then Sephiroth, in a moment of absolutely reckless self-sacrifice (or devotion, Sephiroth would later argue), offered up his own cells. Unlike Hollander's garbage, they worked. No more degradation. No slow, agonizing descent into nothingness.

For the first time in a while, Genesis and Angeal were whole again. And so, freed from death's shadow, they settled down. Not permanently. Shinra was still trying to kill them, but they found a house. A quiet, tucked-away place in the country where they could breathe. The war wasn't over, but they could take breaks.

Until Zack showed up, SOLDIER First Class and all, to fight Shinra's battles.

Zack: You traitors won't get away with this! How could you abandon SOLDIER and everything we fight for!? Where's your honor? I'd never betray SOLDIER like this! You guys are evil!

*AGS are in the kitchen, cooking dinner, completely unfazed*

Angeal, wearing an apron: Yeah, yeah. Are you staying for dinner? I'm making extra lasagna, and for dessert, Genesis made apple pie.

Genesis: I'd love to hear more about your girlfriend, Aerith. Let me go grab some wine.

Sephiroth: If you want, you can help me set up this telescope so we can look at the stars after dinner.

Zack: Fuck SOLDIER, Fuck Shinra, Fuck President Shinra, fuck Rufus Shinra, fuck Heidegger, fuck Palmer, fuck Hojo, fuck the coffee machine in the breakroom that never works right, I quit. Pass me a plate.

[the-framed-maelstrom]

Saying is a letting-lie-together-before which gathers and is gathered. If such is the essence of speaking, then what is hearing? As λέγειν [legein], speaking is not characterized as a reverberation which expresses meaning. If saying is not characterized by vocalization, then neither can the hearing which corresponds to it occur as a reverberation meeting the ear and getting picked up, as sounds troubling the auditory sense and being transmitted. Were our hearing primarily and always only this picking up and transmitting of sounds, conjoined by several other processes, the result would be that the reverberation would go in one ear and out the other. That happens in fact when we are not gathered to what is addressed. But the addressed is itself that which lies before us, as gathered and laid before us. Hearing is actually this gathering of oneself which composes itself on hearing the pronouncement and its claim. Hearing is primarily gathered hearkening. What is heard comes to presence in hearkening. We hear when we are “all ears.” But “ear” does not here mean the acoustical sense apparatus. The anatomically and physiologically identifiable ears, as the tools of sensation, never bring about a hearing, not even if we take this solely as an apprehending of noises, sounds, and tones. Such apprehending can neither be anatomically established nor physiologically demonstrated, nor in any way grasped as a biological process at work within the organism—–although apprehension lives only so long as it is embodied. So long as we think of hearing along the lines of acoustical science, everything is made to stand on its head. We wrongly think that the activation of the body’s audio equipment is hearing proper. But then hearing in the sense of hearkening and heeding is supposed to be a transposition of hearing proper into the realm of the spiritual [das Geistige]. In the domain of scientific research one can establish many useful findings. One can demonstrate that periodic oscillations in air pressure of a certain frequency are experienced as tones. From such kinds of determinations concerning what is heard, an investigation can be launched which eventually only specialists in the physiology of the senses can conduct.

Martin Heidegger, Early Greek Thinking: The Dawn of Western Philosophy: Logos (Heraclitus, Fragment B.50)

οὐκ ἐμοῦ, ἀλλὰ τοῦ λόγου ἀκούσαντας ὁμολογεῖν σο­φόν ἐστιν ἓν πάντα εἶναί It is wise, listening not to me but to the report, to agree that all things are one. (Charles H. Kahn) οὐκ ἐμοῦ, ἀλλὰ τοῦ λόγου ἀκούσαντας. “When you have listened, not merely to me (the speaker), but rather when you maintain yourselves in hearkening attunement [Gehören], then there is proper hearing.” (Heidegger)

[lwlrence]

OBERLIN NEURO-PSYCHOTHERAPY AND PROFESSIONAL PI

VOGUE ISSUES OCCURING:

MAY 2004

NOVEMBER 1996

JULY 2017

ROGUE ISSUE:

GRAZIA FEBRUARY 2023

exorcism involvement: PI

Q: ARE SOULS IMMORTAL?

ANSWERS: LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN

DAMNATION:

MAIMONIDES: (God has no attributes) - 'No, i don't think i can think of a way to betray anything but a cost of that thought, move on'

KIERKEGAARD: (anxiety is the dizziness of freedom) - 'i am a little aroused at the thought of that feeling, like as if you never had sex, though (smiles) sex is through anything, *smiles*'

ANSELM: (just by thinking about God we can know he exists) - 'i can ask the same, (i'm sorry, my dear). that i have *shies*, in any intuition that i may be to offer that solemn advice that he *shifts at the back by intuition sabotage*, that is why i never chose to eat, sleep or choose faith for that wonder *fantasy over a woman*, like she can be anything, my lord *orgasms*, this is not my intention (look up 'bleeding' to see where the intuitive yonder ends)'

SOCRATES: (the life which is unexamined is not worth living) - 'this is how *laughs to hard*, that i refuse to see the witch who *laughs* ended the world with an orgasm is going to take refuge in a 25 year old body to 'make it up' to her forlorn husband, and he's right, no solemn witchcraft, *laughs raucously*'

EDMUND BURKE: (society is indeed a contract) - 'this is so *bleep* up. this is not even *goes into gen-z lingo*, like get a job, Natalie (blurred name)'

HEIDEGGER: (we are ourselves the entities to be analysed) - 'this is a great day to make sense even harder (laughs with the theosopher on the right), nah. cool story brah'

RICHARD RORTY: (there is nothing deep down inside us except what we have put there ourselves) - 'kinder emotions have a dream, those who beg. stay that way, next.'

ARENDT: (the banality of evil) - 'dis. bitch.'

JESPERS: (only as an individual can man become a philosopher) - 'i cannot even (long story). tell you how am i supposed to breathe within the masses of a hundred men and one woman fantasy, like i would let my wife do that if an uncanny moment with a young student gone to hell for dreaming, is the last of us. working in YOUR PLACE, CAN FIGHT YOUR WONDER. THERE IS NO PIGS CAN TRY AND MAKE YOU THAT YOU ARE HER, IN ANY SINGLE WAY THAT YOU WILL REPLICATE HER BREASTS THAT YOU STOLE, YOU ARE NO 'hoor' UL AI'NTTT. THAT YOU THINK YOU ARE, UNDERNEATH MY HANDS AND I WILL TRY AND KILL ALL OF YOU *points of loeg* TO IMMERSE IMMORTALITY IN THAT WOMAN THAT I WILL CHOOSE TO WED TO FORELOCK HER LIPS IN MY JUSTICE *goes rogue (the first man to be known as Rogue on DW)'

[sometimesrufus]

❤: Which character do you think is the most egregiously mischaracterized by the fandom? 🖤: Which character is not as morally good as everyone else seems to think?

❤: Which character do you think is the most egregiously mischaracterized by the fandom?

I think there are two reasons I see really canon-mischaracterized characters, and they're both kind of the same reason in the end.

The work was written before any of the additional content giving characters more story came out.

The author never engaged with the additional content.

And, okay; before I answer this--know that if you write this character, I 100% respect your take. I rp with people whose characterizations I enjoy, and enjoyment doesn't always correlate with imo-canon-accurate, though more often than not it does.

Elena.

I was going to say Reno. I've seen a lot of Renos that are all brutality and little heart. And you know who fits that better but I pretty much never see depicted that way? Elena.

Elena is more of a brat than Rufus and Reno combined. Elena is the most loose canon brutal of them all. If you don't believe me, read The Kids Are Alright. She's ruthless in a way that lacks the control of the others. I see a lot of interpretations where she is very doe-eyed, but I think she's actually more in line with a lot of the more psychotic depictions I've seen of Reno than Reno is. She may be a newbie, but she's out for blood in order to prove herself. The others know the line between far enough and too far. She hasn't developed that, plus she seems to like taking her frustrations out on people in a way the others have grown tired of.

Again, to emphasize, I don't dislike doe-eyed Elena or heartless Reno. I don't even necessarily see them as non-canon, depending on when in life they're being written and what universe, etc. But I do think writers are missing out on how absolutely batshit savage Elena can be. XD

🖤: Which character is not as morally good as everyone else seems to think?

Now now, this depends on how we define morals, doesn't it? (Oh no, I think Rufus has infected me. That sounds too much like how he would answer that XD) But also, truly, how moral a character is depends on the moral being evaluated, so take this one with a grain of salt.

Oo, this might be a spicy take, but Reeve.

Reeve has a heart of gold, and he obviously isn't happy with how the other Shinra execs are running things, but he's also sat by for a lot of years while the evil company did evil things, and presumably did nothing. Reeve obviously has morals, but it's not until after the temple of the ancients that he really acts on them. Imo, you can only claim so much moral good when you stick your head down and let the shady mego-corp steamroll you. Not that I blame him! He's one guy in a dangerous position. But he acts as an enabler just as much as Scarlet or Heidegger for a long time.

But that's what makes all the characters in FF7 so incredible, imo. None of them are 2-Dimensional. The "good" guys have killed innocent people. The "bad" guys try to stop Sephiroth, too. Nothing and no one are clear-cut evil, except Hojo. Fuck Hojo--he's the reason for everyone's suffering.

[warrmonger-archive]

🔥

Send me a “ 🔥 “ for an unpopular opinion.

i'ma shape this one around the final fantasy vii fandom and go off on my usual spiel ( or, old spiel? cause i haven't chatted it in a while lol ).

i honestly despise the lack of love that the side-characters get as a whole from the fandom. i really don't like what the remake did for the franchise ( i do love the remake, don't get me wrong, but i think it bought about some of the fandoms worst traits ), and i cannot stand the 'one rule for thee, another for me' mindset that fans have regarding characters.

let's start with numero uno - so, obviously i write heid. lol. he's not particularly liked & that's totally fine...but man. finding content for him is horrible. there's nothing. like, barely anything. the few fics that exist are either rape fics or are ( and i hate saying this ), sorely out of character. the art is few and far between and usually more bara-anime-oriented. overall, i feel like i'm drinking from a dried up well. actually, nah. there was no well in the first place.

i always understood that heid isn't exactly the character who would get much fanfare but it's so disheartening to shift through five million pics of 'x' character and find two of heid. i can't even draw ( or at least, im not at all confident in my art ) and yet i took to drawing heidegger all of the time because i had to start making content for him. and in doing so - my art gets no regonition and is totally ignored anywhere but here. i think if i drew a popular character, i'd maybe get more attention but...i can't bring myself to do so.

in general though; heid isn't the only one. even reeve is quite underrated and ignored by the fandom as a whole (or implied to be an owo cat boy which makes me cringe). even, dare i say, barret is often shoved aside in favour of the more 'popular' characters ( the whole tifa/cloud are now marlene's parents suggestion by some people enrages me, like, wtf? )

secondly, i don't like what the remake did for the fandom because i think it bought the worst out in the fans. it appealed to cloud/sephiroth shippers despite that ship making no sense. you could argue the sephiroth cloud sees is just an extension of himself. they're both essentially jenova. but the remake makes it overtly sexual / suggestive. even as i played, all i could think was 'yeah, this was done for fan service'. i don't even think sephiroth should have been seen in remake part 1. ( obviously that'd never happen ).

but whereas there are things i adore about the remake. i think that they dumbed down the story and by extension, made the worse aspects of fandom writers become apparent. like, by making AVALANCHE basically entirely innocent ( despite being literal terrorists ) - they make shinra ENTIRELY evil. in the og, shinra were weirdly nuanced. they were 'evil' sure, but then they were also genuinly trying to save the planet from sephiroth. as for AVALANCHE; yes, they were fighting on behalf of good. but they did murder people in their quest to shut down reactors. in the og, reeve even calls barret out on this. but...now we probably wont get that? like, way to go rid your main heroes of any nuance. god forbid a hero does something bad.

my final point cause goddamn is this getting long is - i despise the way that the fans talk about characters & the whole 'LOL i can ship this but if you ship that then lol stinky gross smelly ewww'.

i've always wanted to explore shinra/heid as a young men. like, really explore their relationship. potentially even one-sided ship them. i love the idea of it, it's interesting and i imagine their dynamic was similar to tseng/rufus. how many jokes have i seen about shipping them? tonnes. but it's not okay to diss any other ship. make a joke about tseng/rufus and ohhh noo, you fucked up, kiddo.

i've seen people imply heidegger is a pervert because he commented on sephiroth being good looking. literally suggesting he 'creeps' on sephiroth and people wholly agreeing like 'omG LoL YEs' - as if calling someone good looking is an alien thing to do or means immediately that you want to bang them (smh).

in general, i constantly see the fandom make jokes about certain characters & imply that if you ship them, like them etc - 'loool something wrong with uuu'. it's dumb as shit. don't be mean about other people's preferences when half of the fandom can't take being told that cloud shouldn't be shipped with whoever.