#a shinra spectacle

[kharits]

A Christmas Carol AU?

(Idea Ive been rotating in my head as a comic I might draw since its the holiday season)

Im dubbing this “A Shinra Spectacle”!

And yes, Sephiroth is Tiny Tim

#final fantasy vii #final fantasy 7 #ffvii #ff7 #angeal hewley #genesis rhapsodos #zack fair #cloud strife #a shinra spectacle

[altocat]

Not having a great day today. Can I ask for cute, soft sephgen hc, pretty please

Hope you're feeling better, Anon!

Sephiroth and Genesis are best friends when they're not competing. And this naturally involves the two of them simply enjoying each other's company from time to time.

Every now and then, Genesis simply invites himself into Sephiroth's apartment. Not for any particular nefarious reason. Simply to hang out. Genesis and Angeal are the only ones permitted to enter Sephiroth's place of dwelling, so even if Sephiroth is away, Genesis has free reign over the place. Sephiroth will come back to Genesis lounging on his furniture, reading his books, maybe even playing with his tiny collection of trophies and medals. Sephiroth always grunts, unimpressed, ignoring Gen's smug smile as he pretends to be busy with other things. Genesis doesn't mind, lounging about, sharing the sofa with him as they casually sit together and pretend to be interested in anything OTHER than each other's presences.

Genesis will put the TV on for them while Sephiroth does the daily SOLDIER crossword. Sephiroth will complain that the volume is too high and that if they're going to watch anything, he would rather it NOT be one of Genesis' insufferable soap operas. Genesis pointedly replies that they're not watching the news, if that's what he's requesting--Sephiroth IS the news. So they sit like that for a bit, Genesis gradually getting more invested, shaking Sephiroth's shoulder whenever something particularly dramatic happens. Sephiroth will pretend not to be interested, but will make offhand comments as he peers over his magazine from time to time.

Eventually, it gets later in the evening. Rather than address the elephant in the room that typically goes hand in hand with two closely bonded men being uncomfortably domestic with each other in one's private apartment, Genesis will coax Sephiroth out for a bit of drinking. Sephiroth huffs and puffs and makes a big show about how they have early drills tomorrow, but Genesis just laughs and tugs him along anyway. They get completely sloshed and end up breaking into Rufus Shinra's private rooftop pool, spending the next several hours paddling challengingly around each other, always close to fighting but never quite close to saying how they feel. They end up overlooking the city together from the railing of the poolside, staring down at the bright lights below, at the Upper Plate's brightly reflected spectacle against the moonlight.

Genesis glances at Sephiroth only once, regarding him thoughtfully. He feels the uncomfortable swirl of conflict in his chest. His hands move hesitantly before relenting, falling back at his side. Sephiroth's green eyes are luminous in the dark. He looks like a walking constellation, pale skin glowing like starlight. He senses Gen's eyes but says nothing, his gaze fixed forward, jaw clenching. They just stand in silence for a while. Just long enough before the night guards catch them and they have to clumsily make a run for it.

#asks #ff7 #ffvii #final fantasy 7 #crisis core #sephcanons #sephiroth #genesis rhapsodos #sephgen #genseph #sephesis

[gcldfanged]

@sometimesrufus

Photos enhanced to high quality perfection spanned each wall of the annexation remembrance display, SOLDIERs and infantry men alike caught in candid shots holding rescued children or helping the injured to a healer's tent. To Ji-ho, these were memories that did not reflect their home at all- They may have been born during the armistice between Hanuel and Shinra's military forces to oust Wutai's hostile occupation, but their grandfather had little love for foreigners.

Had they stayed behind and not been trafficked, they doubted they'd be anything but the last of a dying breed- A die-hard loyalist who stubbornly clung to belief of their own nation's might, trying to preserve what little dignity they thought they had left.

A well-dressed secretary arched an eyebrow at the state of them, but Ji-ho had no money for fine clothes, much less a formal silk blouse and skirt set that probably cost as much as a four-door car. Yet they wore the few scraps of fabric that composed their obvious 'street walker' ensemble with an easy confidence, refusing to be cowed into humiliation by a nine-to-five pencil pusher. The stiletto heels of their knee-high boots clicked ominously as they strode over to the elevator, disgruntled chaperone in tow.

It was a long ride up countless floors, until the elevator finally came to a smooth stop.

They’re not sure what to expect. The night before still felt almost like some strange fever dream brought on by malnutrition and one too many fists to the jaw, perhaps the contact high from the smoke. Rufus Shinra looked like what ‘good people’ in movies were- Blonde and pretty, clean and pale-skinned, wearing the purest white like some kind of sartorial oxymoron drifting weightlessly through the blueish gloom of Wall Market’s nightlife. Like an angel from on high, except an agent of God wouldn’t have packed blue steel heat like he did, wouldn’t have the cold and calculating poise with which he unraveled Masa’s born-bully psyche like a threadbare bathroom rug by simply pulling the most obvious string.

They had been the ‘shield’ afterall, a crude bargaining chip seized in the moment (which would have been hilarious if they all hadn’t seen it coming a mile away), as if the Wutaian gangster actually valued Ji-ho’s life in the slightest beyond being one more layer between himself and a hail of bullets. What had they looked like, they wondered- Probably tired. By the situation, the banter, the spectacle. Rufus could have shot Ji-ho through the heart and they would have thanked him, by that point. Shinra Junior had disarmed Masanori in one confident pull of the trigger, said his piece, then ended the ‘discussion’ with a second shot to the forehead. They’d merely wiped the blood from the side of their face and spit on his corpse in response.

That had made the corner of the blonde’s lips quirk into a crooked smile, like he was actually impressed by the display of obvious disdain. He’d given them a business card and offered an opportunity to ‘discuss employment’, whatever that meant. Honestly, they weren’t expecting anything so revolutionary, they couldn’t already guess what their ‘job’ might entail. Still, maybe some tiny part of their mind was holding out for a miracle, maybe something unexpected that could lead them to a better lot in life.

Even if such hopes were mere childish fantasies and they’d be re-learning the hardest lesson all over again, they would have regretted not showing up to the Shinra building at all. 

After being lead to the conference room, Ji-ho remained standing, almost prepared to walk right back out if they didn’t like what the other had to say.

#sometimesrufus #◈ rp threads #Ji-ho is absolutely not going to mention their fear of heights nope no sir #but they're also not gonna get close to those big ass windows #if I need to change anything let me know!

[cwarscars]

"did it hurt-?" he scoffs, a boastful smirk laced around his lips, a press of lids and a performance - only out to flatter "of course not!" his words are coiled around the theatre of a man used to spectacle; a man who holds the seriousness of the situation close and the drama of it, before the crowd "i've taken worse wounds crossing paths with scarlet."

the turn of his lip sees him sneering; the director may boast, but the wound across his back really does ache something terrible.

another scar, he'd sigh whilst home alone, another declaration of his life for shinra.

after all - what else was there but loyalty?

#(openrp) #(open) #HOLA everyone! #im gonna focus on writing tonight :) might hit up disco if im like manage to write a bit #work made me so upset but its the weekend now so aside from some ot we good

[bitterarcs]

Smirk which had prematurely blossomed across the Turk’s lips upon approval of his proposal for drinks was permanently fixed —  large and mischievous. When it boiled down to it, it had not taken much arm twisting to pull the huge lug of a guy into a bar, and both Reno and the other customers were getting an eyeful of something highly entertaining. Cute, too . . in a dumb big cock kind of way. Reno could have and would have personally funded Loz’s entire career of drinking just to see the brute of a man stumbling on his words and donning the intoxicated gleam of world conqueror. If Reno had put any money on the matter, he would have sorely lost.

Who would have guessed that a spawn of Sephiroth, a man stacked like the ShinRa headquarters would not be able to handle his alcohol; even at the age of twelve, Reno was able to hold his drink better. Chin rested on open-faced palm and elbow pressed on the counter of the bar. The redhead almost looked like a lover admiring his partner. Almost. Perhaps more akin to a bad influence watching someone he corrupted. The man had terrorized people and nearly killed him and Rude once. After too much oogling however, Reno sat up and threw down another shot of bourbon. Tongue ran around the rim of the glass to lick the tasty fluid away before he moved the glass away for a refill, chuckling as he did so.

                            (  ❛ Sure, sure. I’ll buy ya’ another . . since I’m feeling so generous. ❜ ) 

The redhead got up to his feet and gave Loz’s shoulder a playful and reassuring smack. He was not drunk. He wanted to stay sober for the spectacle, but Reno was a little tipsy; it couldn’t be helped. The Turk looked like a frat boy encouraging his bro.

                              (  ❛   Look at ya’ man. Lookin’ like you can bench press allll of Gaia. You better be able to get home though. Don’t think I can haul your ass, even if I am strong and everything. ❜  ) 

[ HIC! ] oh vey. " This is. . mmf . . nothin'. " It's only been three drinks. Dude looks absolutely hammered.  He's got his fists up and everything! Loz still egging on the guy pouring his drinks, encouraged by the red head, told only tough guys can handle their sake. This shit was 90% alcohol, he can feel a hole getting burned into his side, its gotta' be.     @hollowsparda​     (   is this a love confession, loz ??  )  

#[ ⁰⁰⁵ ; READING YOUR CONFESSIONS LIVE ON AIR ] #hollowsparda

[serafim]

@breathofthearth

Ugly fears, old fears that he has held closely to his chest. He has spent many an evening wondering. There are truths, even inconvenient ones, that are not enough to move the world. Not even to save itself. Yet when they arrived at Cosmo Canyon, were granted succor by the wise sages and their kindly glittering eyes behind wiry spectacles and learned enough to discern the truth, Aerith did not recoil from it. The dusty research journals he pored over in the Shinra manor basement were right about one thing: his mother had not been human. Aerith did not gaze upon him and see someone, something different. She held his hands in hers and they spent the rest of their evening under the open sky and its endless expanse of starlight and dust. 

After all that he had borne witness to: Aerith’s stubbornness, her little indulgences, her unfaltering kindness, her growing knowledge of her people and her place in the world, on this Planet and all the responsibilities she bore out of her heritage, Sephiroth knows he should have better anticipated her next course of action– to strike directly at the heart of HQ and address the rumors they had been hearing about Science’s most precious specimen recovered out of the ashes of Nibelheim. 

Shinra has had its fair share of issues with security leaks. People talk. 

If there still existed any chance that Jenova could seek the ruin of the Planet once more, then they needed to stop the creature that had caused the near-extinction of the Cetra hundreds of years before.

What did that mean for unnatural atrocities like him and every SOLDIER that also shared her cells? He never did ask her, and he couldn't shake this particular feeling the more the question weighed on his mind. The same feeling he felt back in Nibelheim. Like someone important was waiting for him to wake up. Someone who he never properly met, but has known him his whole life. An eerie, cold, and unwelcome feeling.

Someone.

Something.

His mother. The Calamity. 

“You’re sure about this?” he asks one last time as they prepare to disembark. The rusting seams of the rattling can truck they have stowed away on seem to groan in response as it shuttles them down the crowded expressway. 

Not too late to turn back, to let humanity find someone, anyone else willing to play hero. 

Despite having been the one to ask, Sephiroth also knows what Aerith’s answer will inevitably be. He steadies her with a light hand on her waist as he releases the lock bolt and the loading door rolls up towards the freight ceiling with a clattering thump. 

The open door gives them a direct line of sight to the Tower. Ground spotlights criss-cross hazy beams of light that illuminate the heavy concrete and steel walls of Shinra HQ through the many layers of mako smog that hug Midgar’s highest peak. Landing beacons blink faintly at the top. Every floor has its fair share of silhouettes, backlit.

Employees, bustling to and fro across the halls. Security officers, Turks, SOLDIERs, salarymen, interns, techs, researchers. Monsters lurk there, too. Some human-shaped, some not. Elevators ceaselessly moving along their pulleys. Up and down. Top to bottom, bottom to top. Mako lines, glowing, pulsating as they course along the underside of Science’s playground in the upper floors. The engine and the drum. 

Would that he could, nothing would be more satisfying than to reduce the entire structure to slag. Sephiroth can only think of one person who truly possessed enough mana to do so. 

“Hang on tight. We’re going to jump.” 

#breathofthearth #c: aerith #queued.

[boltlightning]

some salty thoughts about the ff7 expanded universe below the cut, as we approach the crisis core re-release date. (contains spoilers through the original ff7!!!)

i played ff7 in 2014, at the impressionable age of 17, on the original ps1 discs. my nostalgia for it comes from my youth, but not necessarily my young childhood. i was so damn excited for the remake when it was announced that year — like, finally! the ff7 at the fidelity i always imagined in my playthroughs would come to life!

and now it’s 2022, and i’m a crotchety 25-year-old, and we live in a world where final fantasy vii remake is a thing that exists and you can play. and i loved remake. it’s great. it’s not the game as i remember it, but something different, and that’s a much more interesting direction than a one-for-one remake. i acknowledge that. i also think remake highlights everything that’s made me hate the ff7 franchise since.

i’m putting on my pretentious gamer hat for this next section, please bear with me: i think part of why i loved my experience with the original ps1 version is that it is so...up for interpretation. there is so much that is left vague because of either technical limitations or poor conception, and that’s great. it is a flawed, broken game, but i genuinely believe that its ugly 42-polygon characters and the weird script are what made it so successful. yes, the cutscenes are kinda cringey now, but they still make you feel the emotions. you see barret shaking his fists at the collapsed rubble of sector 7 and you can still feel his anguish. it’s good. it lets you imagine things the way you want it to. the necessary stylization lets you stay one step removed from the genuinely horrific implications of the world of ff7.

there is so much spectacle in remake. it is so beautiful, so carefully rendered, that nothing is left to the imagination.

and i think what really gets my goat the most about the sequels, the prequels, the interquels, is that...they answer every question. they don’t leave ANYTHING vague. perhaps my hottest take, but i don’t particularly care for crisis core specifically because i don’t think zack needed to be anything more than a few lines of text in ff7.

in the original ff7, you meet his parents in the backwater town of gongaga. you see him die in one flashback at the very end of the game. he’s more or less cloud’s coworker who is implied to be a bit of an ass, but ultimately good at heart. he saves cloud because it’s the right thing to do, and he dies so cloud can survive because it’s the right thing to do. cloud, quite literally, imagines him as more. he sees zack as an incredible paragon because to him, that’s what zack is! but in reality, he was just some guy. just a coworker. just a guy who saved his life and died in obscurity. people may forget zack, but cloud never will.

he was aerith’s first boyfriend, and she remembers him fondly, but they hadn’t talked for a while before zack was sent to nibelheim. news of his death comes as a shock to her, but it’s not a defining moment in her life because it’s implied that they were pretty casual anyway. narratively, their relationship serves to show that aerith 1) has a connection to shinra, 2) knows how SOLDIER works, and 3) is tough as nails.

to me, zack serves as an important criticism of sacrifice. yes, of course him dying to save cloud is an incredibly selfless, good act. but by raising him up as a hero, someone who embodies everything good in the world, cloud is ultimately erasing everything that made him real. cloud doesn’t remember zack as he was; cloud remembers zack as what he needs zack to be. aerith remembers zack as he was, but part of the tragedy of her death is that we never get to hear more about her time with zack.

and if you interpreted these characters differently, that’s great! this is exactly what i mean! being able to interpret the characters in different ways because of the text is good. this is what i meant! that flexibility is exactly what i’m talking about. this read is what i took away from the text, and it makes the story more interesting to me. if i want to believe that zack was just some guy, and his relationship with aerith is a neat connection to shinra rather than a personality point, then i am allowed to do that.

crisis core removes that in a major way, and in a way that particularly grinds my gear. zack doesn’t get to be a normal guy who was kind of a jerk but ultimately good at heart. he has to be a hero, a cheerful kid who can do no wrong, with tragedy and a complicated backstory. he has to be aerith’s true love, and we all know that you’re only allowed to love one person, ever, if you’re a character in a video game. their relationship is world-changingly important. it doesn’t get to be a normal, awkward first relationship for a girl whose life is defined by her abnormality. and it drives me up the fucking wall.

i just like. i didn’t need to know. i didn’t need to know about all of zack’s weird dramatic coworkers. i didn’t need to know about how he and aerith met and what they did on their first date; i didn’t need her flower cart to have special significance. i didn’t need to know about the wars in wutai. i didn’t need to know about any of this stuff, because it’s set dressing. it’s inconsequential, and they try to make it consequential when it doesn’t need to be. nothing is allowed to be mundane.

the obvious answer to my concerns here is to just ignore all the supplemental materials. but i can’t do that, can i? i can’t play the remake without having to try and figure out who someone named weist is. i can’t talk about the game online without having to couch it in “oh, i didn’t know that, i’ve only played the original”. the original cannot exist in a vacuum anymore.

AND SO we finally come to the heart of the matter. reader, i’m sorry: it’s capitalism.

ultimately, by expanding on these things, by taking any excuse to return to the world of final fantasy vii — square enix is making this game a franchise within a franchise, banking off of the original’s popularity. and square enix sucks. the company is absolutely trash. it resembles shinra electric company more and more every day.

there is something so, so bitter about playing a game as beautifully rendered as the remake, and enjoying it, and wondering how much crunch was needed to make it happen. there is so much spectacle to this game that is all about how corporate greed is destroying the earth without a sliver of self-awareness.

square has made it clear that ff7 is a franchise that is never going away, and they are going to milk this story that criticizes their very business habits until it isn’t profitable anymore. and THAT, THAT!!!!! is what really drives me fucking crazy about the expanded universe of final fantasy vii.

and please don’t misunderstand — i don’t say all of this to say that crisis core shouldn’t exist, or that remake shouldn’t exist, or that you’re a bad capitalist shill for playing any of the expanded universe games. i absolutely understand wanting more solid, concrete information about this world and spending more time in it, especially at a higher fidelity. i don’t begrudge these feelings at all. i’m a hypocrite and i platinumed remake! i’m going to platinum rebirth! i’m probably going to platinum the third remake game too!

i’m just...so jaded. i can’t get excited about ff7 news anymore and it makes me so sad.  i love the OG game so much and i cannot stand what has happened to it since.

#this started as a normal post and devolved into 1k words of Pain i'm sorry lol #bolt plays ff7 #0 days since last essay about ff7

[stagnantmako]

❛ this feels a bit fucking stupid now to be honest. ❜

7th Heaven is lively tonight, the teams first victory over Shinra demanded drinks, song, and more noise than Nero could stomach. There is a hell of a celebration happening below their feet.

Nero had excused himself relatively early on, but It doesn’t surprise him that the former SOLDIER can’t stomach it either. Enhanced senses do not get along well with flashing lights and raucous, off key singing.

The party does feel stupid.

It feels stupid because it wasn’t earned.

Absently, the Sable tugs down his face mask to take a sip of his wine. His eyes glow dimly in the gloom of the bar, downcast as he mulls it over.

Nero is not a field agent like the rest of them. He is intel, assassination. Just as he was as a boy in Shinra’s service - and would have remained, had Weiss jot forc d him to escape all those years ago. The best he could do now was ally himself with the hopeless dregs the surface had to offer. Hoping against hope that they would be enough to tell Shinra and liberate his sibling from their clutches.

If he was even still alive. Ten years is a long time in hell.

Mako reactors make him physically ill and so he had waited at the bar with the girl while they went in and planted the bomb, disturbed at the size of the explosion. At most they had hoped to destroy the siphons, not decimate the building.

If it were that easy to blow up a reactor, to completely decimate it, then escaping deepground would not have been a struggle. He raises the drink to his lips and takes a melancholy sip, gaze drifting out the window and up, up, up to where he knows the tower to be.

“This does not bode well,” he says. “They will allow this to simmer for a few days and then make a public spectacle of the slaughter… so yes. Fucking stupid feels apt.”

[replay2002]

throughout crisis core, the buster sword is kept shiny and its slots are always empty (for obvious reasons, given angeal’s refusal to use it) but in fviiremake, around chapter 11, there’s a moment where everything is dark and you can only see cloud bcs of the glowing materia on his back.

the buster sword glows in the dark in cloud’s possession bcs it’s given use, it’s employed to protect others and fight for a cause. it’s rusty and worn but the elements that aid its use give it light, not the shine that stems from its inertia. honor, which is what the buster sword symbolizes in its conception, is understood as a performative signal of restraint, a display of reverence, a flaunt of grandiosity. not stealing from a wealthy land’s tree and preserving a costly sword don’t amount to action, but they’re proof of honor. the idea of honor that dominates these characters’ motivations is defined by the ruling class: the money that goes into the buster sword but then must be recovered, the wealth that is said to enrich the apples. stay in your place and observe these from afar and you will have preserved honor. but honor is a standard you’re expected to maintain and will never be allowed to seize. cloud counts on the honor of having been a soldier, of having worked for shinra, looks back on the fabricated memory of it. but none of it is his and he disregards it to fight for the disadvantaged people of midgar and for the planet, which simultaneously enables him to find himself again among the rubble of all he lost. the spectacle of restraining and being complacent isn’t honorable; the dismissal of this illusion and the realization of change is, in angeal’s words, more important than that.

#then there’s the meaning the buster sword comes to embody by the time the base game starts #as cloud keeps it to honor zack’s legacy and by extension angeal’s #so he honors them by acting in opposition to this idea of honor #all this is from the first hour of a 4 hour playthrough mind you. making people question my sanity here #💬 #final fantasy

[wingsdreamt-m]

@strywoven -- ❛  02 .   a  kiss  for  the  first  time .  || zack/verona, perhaps? (@valhyr) 

Fireworks at the penthouse. Up on the top floor, the floor-to-ceiling glass windows are truly put to the test. He hopes Verona got her gil’s worth. Up close, the shower of lights is almost blinding. Needle-point pupils, constricting as long shadows are cast into the room behind them and explosive thunder rocks the room. He can see the way the light burns the air. Metal salts lending their color in the resulting chemical light show that leaves brightly colored spots in his vision as they fade away. Close, blinding, like Zack need only reach out with one hand to touch the tendrils of light as they carve their path through the dark.

It’s beautiful in the same way Verona’s golden hair reflects the myriad of colors in the night sky. She’s probably seen spectacles like this countless times before. Echelons above everyone else, above the Shinra middle-managers in their cookie cutter houses, above the scavengers prowling the slums for their next mark. Worlds away from a backwater boy like him, seeing fireworks for the first time.

Zack realizes, belatedly, that Verona has not been looking at the fireworks display this whole time, but at him. He sees her out of the corner of his eye, appraising with all the intent of a silversmith and their finest handiwork.

Granted mysterious boldness by this observation, Zack turns towards her, holds the gaze of those silver, glimmering gold eyes for a moment-- a silent question, a bid for permission, before leaning forward and pressing their lips together.

#valhyr #answered. #queued.

[altocat]

I’m craving angst so badly so can I request a scenario hc where maybe it’s during the Wutai War and Genesis is genuinely cut down by an ambush and too seriously injured to get himself out of the situation, but nobody can really get to him. The situation is bad enough that they all need to retreat and leave him behind, but Seph risks everything, defying orders and all to save that bastard. I need this lol.

Genesis likely creates a spectacle by trying to take out the commander all by himself. But he's still too young and inexperienced and foolhardy to really know what he's doing and nearly gets sliced in half as a result.

Sephiroth is still miles away across the battlefield and it's nearly an hour before someone informs him of the fact that not only are they retreating to a better vantage point, but his friend is currently stuck in a muddy ditch bleeding out. Sephiroth is ordered to escape to the rear where he'll be safe--Shinra isn't ready to lose their most valuable weapon. They're only minutes away from releasing the machines to bomb the area. Sephiroth knows exactly what this means. Certain death for Genesis, if not sooner.

This is the first time he defies orders, the first time in which he refuses a command without so much as a single bit of hesitation. He remembers before, remembers the mistake that preceded his entering of Wutai to begin with. Three faces in the fog, three shadows. That billowing warmth he felt he would never obtain again. That feeling of home. That feeling of purpose, companionship, unity.

And now that feeling permeates around Genesis. And he will not see history repeat itself.

Making a hazardous beeline directly in the line of fire, Sephiroth's reflexes are like lightning, tearing through the barrage of bullets and arrows to reach Genesis' side. It is he that carries Genesis off the field himself, cradling him in his arms, dumping all manner of Curaga magic into him until the medic can get to work.

Sephiroth is relieved. Genesis is safe. He will live to fight another day. He will remain at his side, alive and whole. The past is left behind. Sephiroth can forsake it, forsake the guilt and loss. He can move forward.

...What he doesn't know is that Genesis was fully prepared to die a hero's death on that field. And that Sephiroth took that glory away from him.

And this is where the first seeds of his jealousy truly begin.

#asks #ff7 #ffvii #final fantasy 7 #crisis core #sephcanons #sephiroth #genesis rhapsodos #ffvii ever crisis #ever crisis #first soldier #ffvii first soldier

[gcldfanged]

@unforestalledreturn

Scaevola Tanne: Third Class. 

Like so many other Thirds, he seemed to have peaked shortly after surviving mako treatment. Unremarkable in stats- Strength and endurance above average. No magical affinity nor aptitude. Mental fortitude, acuity, and resourcefulness so-so. Main skills (if any) seemed to be observation and adaptation, mainly situational improvisation. Had a decent enough appearance that he could manage to be seductive, slightly above average.

All in all, ‘slightly above average’ was the club he wielded over even weaker recruits. He was a bully and a coward, an opportunist. Yet his unremarkable qualities were what made him so dangerous- He was virtually indistinguishable from any other ‘normal’ person working for Shinra, aside from being part of the SOLDIER program.

By far, he was the easiest to pin down in terms of habits, schedule, and pattern. Approaching Tanne during on-duty hours wouldn’t be impossible, but Jae-hyo wanted to deal with the Third alone, without his entourage of sycophants.

He wasn’t sure how long the abuse had been going on, but it was safe to say that Scaevola was a repeat offender. He liked being in control for all the wrong reasons, used his physical strength and imposing figure to lord over others and quash any hopes of retaliation. The type to apologize and gaslight in the same breath, truly and utterly without remorse or self-awareness.

There wasn’t a type based off of appearances alone, but he did target those who appeared the most vulnerable. Shy singles alone at the bar, pretty faces built on artifice masking non-existent self-confidence. Binge drinkers especially were Scaevola’s favorite flavor, swooping in to play the concerned bystander, the Nice Guy. Luring barely conscious young clubbers into taxis or down barely used alleys to get his ‘reward’ for his apparent chivalry.

All it took was some hair spray, heavier make up, and a change in wardrobe to become more appealing to his prey, but the performance had to be flawless.

Paying off the bar keep ahead of time, Jae nursed a handful of watered down cocktails as the night progressed- making sure that the number of emptied glasses were clearly visible. He made sure his body language was more confident, if loose-limbed and clumsy, flirting and dancing with a bevy of strangers. All it took was an ‘accidental’ trip into Tanne’s arms and the trap was set.

The Turk leaned heavily against the Third’s side, affectionate and uncoordinated. Scaevola wasted very little time taking him back to his apartment, pouring yet another drink to ply his inhibitions. Straddling the larger man’s lap, letting Tanne slobber all over him like a dog was a small price to pay for what he had planned as the payoff.

He jams a syringe into the side of Tanne’s neck and shoves the plunger down before he’s shoved off, as the Turk already at a disadvantage against a mako-roided SOLDIER who could probably take a hit from an oncoming train. After that, it was simply evade an enraged Third Class until his little cocktail of drugs kicked in.

“What’s wrong, I thought you liked slapping pretty boys around-” Jae purrs, driving his elbow into the blonde’s gut, before slamming his heel straight up into his lower jaw. 

He picks up a marble ashtray off of the coffee table, quite enjoying it’s heft as he swings it and connects with the side of Scaevola’s forehead. Head injuries bled a hell of a lot, which was enough of a spectacle to make the larger man begin to question if he wanted to fight back.

Lowering himself, Scaevola attempts to shoulder tackle Jae-hyo down, only to receive a swift knee to the groin. That makes him fall over and hurl up a mixture of beer and bar food across the hardwood floors, hands between his legs in abject pain.

Jae lifts a leg and slams all of his weight down against one of Tanne’s kneecaps, relishing in the crunching sound it makes.

“How fast do Thirds heal again? Missing some teeth, fingers, and toes you’d be able to survive, but...” he trails off, pulling a chef’s knife out of a wooden block in the man’s kitchen.

“Unless you’ve got some Cleansing materia on hand, I doubt you’ll be surviving the night. That’s a pretty potent neurotoxin I just shot you up with, but it does take a few hours to really run it’s entire course through your system. You should be feeling a kind of buzzing sensation in your fingers and toes, spreading through your arms and legs. Like effervescent tablets in a glass of water, nice and bubbly.”

He squats down on his heels next to Scaevola and slaps him in the face a few times, looking only slightly annoyed by how easily he’s giving up. 

“Guys like you are all the same-You’re all about power. Granted, it makes sense, but as soon as someone stronger than you shows up, you just fucking fold. You didn’t fear me when you thought I was some weak-ass little twink, but now you respect me... because I’m a threat.”

Tap-tap-tapping the flat of the blade against a burly shoulder, he yawns in a tired fashion. 

“This isn’t how I expected things to go. I’m really just kind of disappointed.”

#unforestalledreturn #◈ RP THREADS #◈ GIVE ME A KISS THAT MELTS AWAY THIS FIRST DEATH IS FOR YOU [UNFORESTALLEDRETURN] #torture cw #vomiting cw #alcohol mention cw

[up-sideand-down]

are you still doing AU prompts asks(?)

if it is still open, could you do mermaid cloud HCs?

1. Merpeople were mostly legends. You could catch a flash of them here and there. The real ones were pretty bloodthirsty. Carnivorous sort of creatures that ate when they could, kind of like sharks. The ShinRa labs had one once and she ate everything they put in with her. She talked some about the other creatures of the sea, it's fellow merpeople. They cared little for what the land creatures did. Mako was hard to harvest from the deep and it dissipated pretty quickly from where it bubbled up from. It was useless to them, as were the land people. Stringy and hard to digest. The mermaid was mostly annoyed to be here.

But she did speak fearfully of one merperson. It lived in a cave. It had some sort of magic. It could grant wishes, whatever you wanted...but it's price was heavy. Heavier than you wanted to pay. If you asked for riches you would lose all you cared for and be left with your money. If you asked for endless mako it would pour from your own body first. If you wished for beauty you would cause wars. Stuff like that. It was best to stay clear.

"Cloud isn't like the rest of us," she said, "Cloud knows too much."

ShinRa brushed off "Cloud" as some sort of legend...but one Soldier heard of Cloud...and couldn't stop thinking.

2. Genesis Rhapsodos was interested in legends. But Cloud, his wishes, the fact he could grant anything at all...it was irresistible. He searched and followed, trying to ask any other merpeople if they knew of "Cloud". Most fled at the sound of his name, but one mermaiden did listen.

"If the thought of Cloud is too far in your mind, then who am I to stop you," she said. She told him where his cave was. That she once sought him out, but he discouraged her and had her go. It was hard to get into at any tide. Rip currents were common and the waves easy to get rough. But it wasn't impossible. Genesis found the cave and managed to slip in.

He wasn't ready for what he saw.

3. Cloud was very handsome...the human half at least. He looked to be a human male. Strong, but wiry if a little short. Then he realized...Cloud was massive. His tail wrapped all around the cave, in and out of the water. Cloud's eyes looked bright and wise beyond any reckoning.

"What is it you want, walker?" Cloud said, "no one comes here on accident."

"I-I wanted a wish," Genesis said.

"You still certain about that?" Cloud asked. Genesis could only nod as Cloud's tail slithered around him, tightening like a noose.

"Are you prepared to pay?" Cloud hissed. Genesis nodded again.

"Then name yours and I'll name mine," Cloud said.

"I want everyone I love to be happy," Genesis said. Cloud blinked at that. Genesis thought of it constantly. Sephiroth wanting to know who he was, who he could be. Angeal wanting to prove he was a good man. Zack wanting to be a hero. They all deserved to know. Cloud slithered down into his pool. It seemed bottomless.

When he returned, he laid a ring in Genesis's hand.

"Wear this and it will come true," Cloud said, "but...betray my price and it will all be undone."

"What's the price?" Genesis asked.

"You said nothing of your own happiness," Cloud said, "so when your friends are satisfied you have to spend the rest of your life here. With me."

4. The magic worked. Almost immediately it worked.

Sephiroth found Vincent Valentine, an ex-Turk in a secret lab...and Vincent told Sephiroth all he needed to know about himself. Sephiroth left ShinRa then and there...and truly smiled for the first time when Genesis saw him next.

Angeal protected Sephiroth. ShinRa tried to have Sephiroth killed off, but Angeal protected him, nearly losing his life in the process. But he did it selflessly, unafraid, almost sacrificing himself.

Zack proved himself a hero. He jumped in to save both Sephiroth and Angeal. The whole thing ended as a spectacle of heroism that ShinRa really couldn't overpower. ShinRa let them go rather than admit defeat. Genesis smiled at his friends embracing each other. He didn't imagine they'd miss him too much.

Cloud was waiting for him. It was exactly 1 month after his wish.

"Satisfied?" Cloud asked. Genesis just nodded.

"Just thought I'd uphold my wedding vows," Genesis said holding up his ring.

5. Cloud's home was dreary and dark. It stayed mostly dry at high tide, though the floor did get soaked. A lot of rubbish washed it, but so did a lot of treasure. Genesis found he did enjoy sorting through it. Even getting a decent wardrobe from a sealed crate once. Cloud was never vicious towards him, he ate from something down in his hole...but he was a carnivore if his teeth said anything.

But Cloud himself wasn't cruel. He was very smart, and admitted he was very old. He was trapped here though. He could not swim back out, he was trapped in this hole. He didn't even remember how he got trapped in it. He could recite poetry from the greats, even Loveless and had a biting humor that Genesis was growing to like. But Genesis did miss the world.

He missed his friends.

"Why was this my price," Genesis asked one day.

"You were the first wish I had that wasn't for yourself," Cloud said, "I thought you would do it." That was fair enough. Cloud admitted he missed things too. He missed the sun, the moon, the reefs, the open sea stretching forever. They were just vague memories now. Just a dream.

Then one day there was a visitor to the cave. Three to be more precise. Angeal, Sephiroth, and Zack appeared in the cave. They did miss him, they had tracked him for months now. There was sadness in their eyes. They asked him to come with them.

Genesis looked back at Cloud now, Cloud with just his eyes peering out of his hole.

"Do you want to see the sun?" Genesis asked.

6. All 4 had to carry him. He was a massive weight, but Cloud could be carried. Genesis took the lead holding Cloud's torso in his arms.

"Does this technically hold the bargain?" he asked.

"Yes," Cloud said, "though...I didn't imagine this happening.

"Your tail is beautiful!" Zack exclaimed, as the other three slipped and slid trying to hold it, "It's got so many colors." Cloud never knew. He hadn't seen it all laid out in so long.

It was the hardest challenge of their lives, but they all did it. Sephiroth, Angeal, and Zack out of a debt of gratitude to Cloud and love for their friend. Genesis out of a love for Cloud.

It was worth it when Cloud gasped at the mouth of his cave. He wasn't looking out at the sea though, he was looking at Genesis.

"You're beautiful," Cloud said, touching him gently as if Cloud could really see him for the first time.

#headcanon. #cloud strife #mermaid!AU #genesis rhapdosos #sephrioth #genesis rhapsodos #zack fair #asz for sure #ff7 #eventual asgzc maybe

[bitterarcs]

The Turks are your family now. Your loyalty is to them and to ShinRa, but remember — the mission comes first. Reno had only heard it once, yet Verdot’s words were a clear thing inside his psyche. The leader of the Turks set their moral guide upon taking the elite role. Life and loyalty were signed in blood. He always figured he would die young, so why not die with gil in his pocket, stories filling mind, and going out in a spectacle of explosions and bravery. Regardless, it was a strange bargain . . to live beside a stranger and gradually come to know them better than a lover or a brother.

Being in bed with the Turks involved a trust unlike any other. The only person Reno had ever trusted in his life was Reno, and while he did not doubt his own ability to protect his companions, there was doubt they would actually protect him with their lives. Who was selfless enough to sacrifice themself for another person especially when the mission was to be their first priority?  The mission reached great rates of success because in the first eight months of being on the job it had been ShinRa or the lowlife scum and gun runners.

Ten times out of ten, ruthlessness dominated — torturing and killing for the sake of ShinRa’s secrets was a no brainer. However when loyalties came under the line of fire, Reno suddenly found his moral arrow without a clear target. He knew not where the pain emanated from and where it ended; he felt a coiled bundle of nerves being burned and ripped apart. Heels of boots scraped against the filthy, glass and rat shit littered ground. A sadist taking pleasure in destroying another sadist. The blood drummed inside his ears, yet he still heard the goon’s stalking movements . . the heavy breath of Rude from ten metres away.

Blood accumulated between his bottom teeth and lip, and a single heavy drop hung from outside his lip. The man behind him fell silent, but the Turk did not have the reflexes nor the strength to tense for the incoming abuse. A strike with handle of a hunting knife against the back of his skull released the blood from within his mouth, and he never before saw stars as clearly in Midgar as those shinning in his head. Rattled with pain, he perceived not the approach of the enemy’s face, yet words managed to drill through his mind. Why did you come back?

Precious ShinRa weaponry had been in hand. The mission accomplished. All Reno had to do was return to HQ and all would be perfect. Perfect except Rude had been captured by the arms dealers. The mission comes first. Verdot’s words echoed like the lessons of ghost. The mission. The mission. Who was Rude beside his work companion? Rude was nothing compared to doing right by the President and by Verdot’s lessons. Rude was . . more than the mission suddenly, and the redhead returned reckless and hellbent. Why did you come back? Now ShinRa will have two less dogs.

Reno, with the last fibre of his energy, craned his head in order to look at the face of their enemy. Vision was obscured by blood and injury, but he imagined the opposing man to be something vile and monstrous. An attempt at a snarky grin was attempted, and whether the action was accomplished or not would remain a mystery to him.

                                  (  ❛  Keep the weapons and kill me. Let my partner go. Kill me instead.  ❜  )

Loyalty and love were odd concepts to him . . a man who had never loved nor trusted anyone in his life. It suddenly had not been about dying heroically ( if such a concept were possible for employees of ShinRa ), it was about loving someone enough to die for them. No better time to reach a point of enlightenment then on the doorstep of death. The smooth side of the knife teasingly pressed against Reno’s neck, and lids shut over eyes, presumably for the last time.

                          040. — confession in a desperate situation   @soreticent​                                                              (   is this a love confession, rude ??  )  

#[ ⁰⁰⁵ ; READING YOUR CONFESSIONS LIVE ON AIR ] #soreticent

[holyguardian]

🥪 our muses have a snack. snacks for the snaccs.

MEME → random act prompts.

The au courant fashion show was stunning, glittering and glamorous nestled in the théâtre national de Chaillot overlooking the famous Eiffel Tower. There was little to complain about in such a romantic setting — though, ever the trouble-maker, Aerith found the perfumed elite mingling in the grand foyer lacking considering the type of company the AVALANCHE band member usually kept.

"No one knows how to eat." she complained, returning to Rufus Shinra as promised. The American actor had a certain charm that she warmed to. He spoke freely and she didn't fear he withheld his opinions to spare anyone's feelings. Rather, he had already insulted her a couple of times in their few brief meetings.

"We're probably going to be kicked out." Aerith warned, passing him a pair of cheap chopsticks as she popped open the cardboard container piled with vegetarian sushi. The coveted food was an offensive item in such a place of prestige, like eating an American cheeseburger on the red carpet. "I don't know about you, but I only remained this long to get my black market food delivery."

Her grin was wide as she stole up a piece of the avocado nigiri, tapping her chopsticks briefly with his as though they were toasting to their incredibly bad behaviour. "To good food and questionable company!" she laughed, a hand raising to cover over her mouth as she ate as though they weren't being a blatant spectacle tucked away behind one of the dark pillars of the room.

#feareign #verse; modern world (AVALANCHE) #I couldn't imagine Ru at a charity event.. my first thought was him look clothes wow

[chiripepe]

I finally made it to the Shinra Building. Naturally the entire trek up the broken wall was beautifully reimagined. Mid day transitions into a gorgeous afternoon painting the devastation below and around the destroyed sector 7 in a sad orange color. The spinning gun mech from the Shines Building does an early entrance and exit as the boss of the area lol.

Again, the remake takes a tedious part of the original and makes it better. The rise was symbolic and all but the little timing puzzles and treasure hunting weren't fun bro, the whole put the battery on the thing succqued. I prefer this.

I keep getting hit with this feeling of like just hownincrwdibky basic the original game was. I mean for its time Final Fantasy VII was an absolute graphics spectacle and nothing can take that away from that game. It sold a million PlayStation s for a reason and in 1997 I felt like I was playing the baddest most futuristic shit ever like I was haccquing the Gibson henty but now I'm just like wow... This is how you tell this story. This is how you do it.

From now on its all Climax and I can't wait for the big Jenova reveal. She at no point gets mentioned thus far in the OG or the remake and the hype factor is building up to see what she looks like now and how Cloud and Tifa react.

Of course I wanna see Rufus too. Whip that hair king yassss make your speech!! Fuck your dead father lol you're CEO now!!

Also, omg the music. The way they're doing music now is amazing. First hint of this was with Nier 2 but this melding of like the stage music into fast paced battle music is so on point!!

Is... did a few suits die at Squaresoft? Are they back baik? What's really going on?? It feels like... this game feels like Golden Age Squaresoft again like?? TO COPE??? 😩😩 BITCH I HAD GIVEN UP OM THIS MORE THAN A DECADE AGO AMD IM GAGGING!! IM GAGGING!! What's next an ivalice game??? Do it squaresoft, take my fucking wig, I give you my follicles. Bring it BACK.