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#tifa wants to protect cloud to protect the world aerith died to save
terraxcloud · 4 months
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Life
I'm sorry if I haven't been around/available/"there". This is probably the best time to actually "stay", but...at least I'm still around after so long. Outside of life and its ills, I was wondering about drawing an extremely dumb overly exaggerated comic starring Sherlotta getting Isekai'ed to the Desert Southwest. I just wanted to do it to make fun of Forspoken for fun. Don't think much of it right now.
You already know what I'm going to say about the FF7 Rebirth theme (spoiler) song...it's about Terra Branford and nobody will believe that, blah, blah, blah.
"No Promises to Keep" is a reference to the FF6 Opera's:
"Must I forget you? Our solemn promise? Will autumn take the place of spring? What shall I do? I'm lost without you. Speak to me once more!"
Why is Aerith singing a song about "promises"? Well, if Tifa sung the song, it would make a lot of sense (Midgar Blues doesn't fit Tifa in the same way)! Since Aerith sings the song, people will just become confused like always, but they'll inevitably think about the "End of Disk 1" moment and if Aerith will be "saved" despite 2 and 2 not coming together (to be fair though, Aerith doesn't really have promises, but why mention their existence if that's the case?). The only real notable promise that implies lasting longer than a scene (I think) is the one Aerith gives to Zack in Crisis Core where she wants to "sell flowers under the sky" with him (it hasn't happened yet, but why make the entirety of FF7 Rebirth have a theme song about that one thing?)
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People only have this idea that she is either "saved" or "not saved" and that's the only thing that can happen outside of...Tifa getting the latter instead. If Aerith survives then the story is clearly changed (which they promised not to do). If she is not saved then...what's the surprise they're cooking at the end? If Tifa dies then it's clearly surprising since her most important part comes later and now she's gone...but then again, they would need to change the story! If Zack appears in the OG timeline, well, that would be way too much of a change and I don't believe that has any purpose in happening (not that it can't, but it makes no sense right now).
Why is everyone so focused on Zack anyway? Is Square-Enix just going to change the entire story just to make Zack be in the game doing stuff? Everyone is latching onto Zack like he's the solution to everything, but it's clear that a lot of the background story of Remake is being ignored...and almost every other game in the FF7 compilation and the series.
It has to be a surprise that's bigger than Zack's appearance, and the only thing I can anticipate that can trump that which isn't just "100% not hinted" is Terra's appearance. We are already thinking about Aerith and Tifa dying, but that's the thing...we're thinking about it! We weren't thinking about Zack before he magically appeared for no apparent reason! It's likely they did this so that they can do it again. What in the world can happen in FF7's universe that would be as surprising as a character not from FF7 appearing in it? Someone dying? That's not surprising, that's expected.
I already see comments how the song reminds them of FF6 and "Eyes on Me", a song about Squall and Rinoa...who are designed after Cloud's FF6 prototype and Terra (and their Dissidia story hints at FF8 connections because the love story from FF6 is a real thing that keeps being reused in other games in small chunks). Y'know, protecting people, flowers, orphans, pets, someone leaving just to return, being brainwashed, shooting stars, guy who wants to be a hero, witches, childhood friend, some guy who thinks he's better than the main character, yep.
The original promise comes from FF6. My working theory is that Tifa and Aerith's Midgar stories were once for one character (Terra). The main character of FF6 (who was cut) promises he'll protect Terra AND he also ends up saving her (in contradiction to FF7's promising one character but obsessing about not being able to save the other).
A "saving" part still exists (with Locke I guess), but Terra's story lacks a lot that it would have had with the missing character (the same one who became the main character of FF7). Other characters in FF inherited parts of Terra's missing story elements (those characters have "Moogle Girl" bangs with Eiko [Terra's childhood] and Sherlotta [Terra's cat (Tifa's Traces of Two Pasts hints that)] being the biggest).
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This is the very beginning of Terra's story in the original Dissidia. The kid is "Onion Knight" from FF3 (NES) who is secretly representing Cloud as a child. Cloud ends up appearing to "save" Terra soon after in the center of the planet (basically where Cloud tells Tifa that "he'll meet her there" in the OG ending). Onion Knight is represented by "Oates" from FF7 Remake. Terra is looking at the stars when her story starts, which is another hint by Cloud...
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This star appears in the FF6 Opera and became a story element in Tifa's promise scene before it was removed in FF7 Remake (it appears in FF8 because it's origin is the FF6 Opera, not FF7). Cloud is talking about Firion's dream to fill the world with Wild Roses, but he's just mocking it since it sounds "childish". And yeah, Cloud would end up sharing that dream with Terra during her Dissidia story since "Filling the World with Flowers" is cut from FF6 and no other character in FF does such a thing to that degree...those random fields of flowers in FF8, FF15, etc. are a symbol of this cut "dream" from FF6. There's a reason why Terra's clothes are full of them, y'know. Aerith's concept art lacks flowers btw. The story element in Crisis Core where Zack and Aerith have a dream to fill Midgar with flowers is and always was connected to Cloud & Terra's Dissidia scene because these four characters are connected. Zack is designed after Cloud and Aerith is designed after Terra. These things aren't the way they are for no reason.
Zack <- Cloud -> Sephiroth Aerith <- Terra -> Jenova
Zack is Cloud's friend. Sephiroth is Cloud's antithesis by design. Aerith is Terra's friend. Jenova is Terra's antithesis by design.
I'm jumping pretty far by saying Aerith is Terra's friend (they're designed after each other), and I know that, but my entire profile involves lots of "jumping". Don't make me start talking about the Phoenix Tower in FF5 where enemies that look similar to Aerith, Terra, and Jenova appear (designed by Nomura none-the-less)...I dislike talking about that.
Well, enough of that. I don't want to bore you. Aerith hints at a "surprise" in Remake when Cloud decides to pick...grass...for the orphanage.
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"I gotta hand it to you, I never would've thought of that. It'll definitely take them by surprise."
The orphanage most notably represents Terra because how many characters have orphans in their story as much as she has? The white flower means loyalty, which is represented by a moogle...and Terra's represented by them a lot. The yellow one implies that Cloud will meet this person "some time in the future". You can't ignore that. At the point where the main theme of FF7 Rebirth is sung, Cloud has met every notable character in FF7 except Zack. The FF6 Opera and Loveless are about "meeting someone again after leaving/being left by them" and the "Midgar Blues" is about "leaving someone".
Does it make sense that it's Aerith? Aerith IS with Zack in his timeline and Aerith already did low-key reunite with Cloud when he fell from "heaven". How about Tifa? Perhaps in the beginning, but that's long gone now in her own words when she was talking to Cloud in Aerith's flower garden.
The Reunion is about Terra waiting for Cloud back in FF6 limbo as the song sung by Celes states. "Reunion" was originally a bad-guy story element with Sephiroth and Jenova, but Cloud and Terra represent the good side of it. "Hollow" states that instead of waiting, Terra herself will come to FF7R. That is the expectation and Zack's story allows this to happen as anything can happen there without ruining the OG story.
If there was a big change in the OG storyline then Zack's timeline didn't serve much, if any purpose! Why would they have made it then!?!
Yet, everyone's expecting some change to the OG storyline, so it's not surprising that they'll make it seem like that'll be a thing before or when the "surprise" happens. Let me just use the Aerith quote again:
"I gotta hand it to you, I never would've thought of that. It'll definitely take them by surprise."
I still feel that FFXIII-2 is the original rough-draft of Zack's storyline...we'll wait and see. Serah is clearly made after Terra and Lightning is made after Cloud, but was Noel made after Zack? He does come in a meteor and starts doing timeline changing stuff like it's his sworn duty, oddly enough.
I haven't tagged any posts recently...guess this will do.
There's something missing...oh yah.
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This is when Cloud goes to look for a person who'll show him "the reason why he fights". The "That's a promise" crumb trail goes like this in order:
Aerith & Zack promise to sell flowers under the sky together. Of course, Zack dies and gives his sword to Cloud, which is the main storyline of Cloud's in Dissidia. Zack gave Cloud his "honor" and "dreams" (filling Midgar with flowers) along with the sword, but in Dissidia, Cloud doesn't understand why he has it.
Cloud promising the other FF protags that he'll return with an answer as to the reason why he fights (which he talks about at the end of FF7 with his "A very personal memory that I have".) He tries to skip over Sephiroth and he gets his crystal "the white materia", but he just continues onward to find his answer.
Onion Knight telling Terra that he'll "always protect her". Cloud then meets Terra after OK disappears and they converse about the flower dream which is similar to Zack and Aerith's in Crisis core before that first "That's a promise".
Cloud's "Reason to Fight" is to protect a person, and this was originally for Terra as that was the original promise hinted by the FF6 Opera. This is his "very personal memory"...it's very personal because only he knows it. To see that it was hinted all the way back in OG FF7 is surprising, but it is what it is. Cloud knows something he's not supposed to.
Thank you for reading this perspective.
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eleamaya · 1 year
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SIMPLE MAN vs BADASS HERO
Cloud is never a badass hero picturing a big dream to be famous for saving the world to begin with, that’s not what he imagine when he left his hometown to be SOLDIER that big city life might’ve changed his motivation into money. Lifestream sequence reveals the real Cloud is a simple man whose action motivated by his childhood crush to Tifa, to impress her, to be noticed by her, to deserve her, to be strong for her, to be a hero just for her. Everything starts there, started even from earlier years when he failed to protect her in the mountain when they were 7-8 years old. Isn’t it the most romantic side from a man named Cloud Strife? 
But he ended up to be the said hero by the end of the journey; not when he’s even fake himself to act that way because he just copied Zack’s mannerism unconsciously.
Yep, Zack’s motivation to leave his hometown at the same age as Cloud and joined SOLDIER program is totally different. A very idealistic one: to be a hero. It drove him being a hard-worker, duty and career is number one, then fame, money, and wealth hopefully follows... every man's dream! But the road isn't easy, it's a brutal life, and he discovered more and more depressing truth. As he met Aerith time to time, while never giving up on his dream, it reflects how he wanted to be a simple man who will always be there for her, to spend his time with her no matter how cheesy it would be, he wanted to end his mission quicky just to be by her side. Isn’t it the most romantic side from a man named Zack Fair?   
And ultimately, he risked his life for that after reading her tiny wish and last letter; he died trying to get back to her.
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arizariia · 3 years
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Clerith And Vincrecia
My third eye has opened and now I'm enlightened.
I just realized just how similar Vincrecia and Clerith are in FFVII. I even want to be so bold as to claim that this parallel is going to be story important in Remake.
The first similarity about these ships is the similarities between Cloud and Vincent. Cloud is an "ex-member of SOLDIER". He was impaled by Sephiroth. He survived but was unfortunately found by Hojo. He was then subjected to Hojo's experiments. Vincent is an ex-Turk. He was shot by Hojo during an argument. He died, experimented on by Hojo, and was then resurrected by Lucrecia.
In terms of personality, Cloud and Vincent do share similar traits as well. Cloud made a persona where he's overconfident, arrogant, and headstrong. He also became emotionally withdrawn from others. His most memorable line is, "Not interested" and the man originally didn't care about saving the planet. The truth is he's socially awkward. He is bad at expressing himself and displays poor communicative skills. The people that Cloud is closest to recognize this. They know he's a soft, caring person.
Vincent is a cold man whose life has been severely devastated by Hojo. At one point in time, even Cloud thought that Vincent didn't care about the planet. He's a natural loner and doesn't speak much about his past at all. Even though he has a cold exterior he is a kind-hearted person.
The following part is how alike Aerith and Lucrecia are. In terms of physical appearance, the two women are remarkably similar. Both have pale skin, brunette hair, and have similar mannerisms. What's extremely interesting are their hairstyles. Aerith and Sephiroth were initially siblings. They were given similar bangs as a result of this. Even after the story was altered and the two were no longer siblings, their hair didn't change. Lucrecia initially didn't have the "Sephiroth bangs" but when it came time for her to appear in Dirge of Cerberus, she gained them. Hence, Lucrecia looks like Aerith because they both were designed to somewhat resemble Sephiroth.
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Personality-wise, Aerith is a lively person. She is compassionate, stubborn, and can even be smug at some points. She has even flirted with Cloud on many occasions. The most significant thing about her is her desire to want to her own decisions and defy fate. She wants to stop Shinra and Sephiroth from causing further harm to the planet.
Lucrecia, on the other hand, is also a kind person who was known to tease. She was also seemly fond of nature and even enjoyed a picnic with Vincent. Her primary goal as a scientist was to further her research on the study of Chaos and Omega. This was to find a way to prevent Omega from ending the world.
So how similar is the ship dynamic? Let's start with Clerith. Clerith doesn't begin until Cloud falls into Aerith's church in the Sector 5 slums. After Reno enters the building, Aerith asks Cloud to be her bodyguard. Their relationship hinges on this. Cloud is her bodyguard throughout the entire story of FFVII after this. He makes sure she gets home safely in chapter 5. He crossdresses so Aerith doesn't have to enter Don Corneo's mansion by herself in chapter 9. Cloud even sneaks into Shinra HQ to rescue her with the help of Tifa and Barret. This just from the beginning of the story. At this point, Cloud has, surprisingly, only known Aerith for around two days.
With Vincrecia, Vincent was assigned to be Lucrecia's bodyguard from the very beginning. He was tasked with making sure she was protected and being mindful of her wellbeing. When Hojo was neglecting Lucrecia, Vincent was the one to call him out on his behavior. When Vincent died, Lucrecia was the one who wanted to resurrect him. Even though Lucrecia placed an enormous burden on him, she was more concerned with him being alive again.
Now, it's time to discuss imagery. Since we have only seen Lucrecia in Dirge of Cerberus, there isn't much to work with. However, what is present is fascinating. The first piece of significant visual similarities is when Lucrecia wakes up Vincent after she discovered him sleeping outside. This can be compared to when Aerith wakes up Cloud after he falls into her church. Something to mention is that both men are sleeping around flowers.
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The following thing is something that I mentioned previously. Lucrecia and Aerith have similar body language. They both tend to lean forwards with their hands behind their backs.
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After that, we have when Cloud looks at Aerith when she's at the Forgotten City and when Vincent looks at Lucrecia in her crystal.
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Here we have Aerith reaching out to Cloud just like when Lucrecia reaches out to Vincent.
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So how does this relate to what I mentioned before? That I believe these elements are vital to FFVII Remake? Well, the story of Lucrecia and Vincent is a tragedy. Even though they loved each other, Lucrecia's guilt and Vincent's reluctance to admit his feelings are what drove the two apart. Their story was a love that could never be. But hold on a moment. That's how Cloud and Aerith's story is in the original game. Even though Cloud genuinely loved Aerith and her death shattered him, he never confessed his feelings for her. In Remake Aerith explicitly states in Cloud's resolution scene that he can't fall in love with her. She knows she will die if fate isn't defeated.
Aerith hints from the very beginning that she either has already lived through the initial events of FFVII, or she simply has knowledge of what is supposed to happen. When she first meets Cloud, she gives him a flower. She says, "Lovers used to give these when they were reunited." 
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When they reunite in the church, she says, "Bodyguard work's not too different from merc stuff right?", even though Cloud never told her his profession.
 You can argue that the reason why chapter 5 includes additional substance compared to the original game is that Aerith wants to spend more time with Cloud. Cloud didn't gather flowers and perform odd jobs around Sector 5 until Aerith made the suggestion. I'd argue that Aerith put a bunch of junk on the second floor of her house to make it harder for Cloud to sneak out. Aerith also hints she knows that Don Coreno wasn't joking about dropping the Sector 7 plate.
When the cast defies fate and defeats the whisper harbinger, this leads to a new timeline being created. I believe that this means that Aerith dying can either be avoided or that event may not happen at all.  After all, after Aerith died Cloud never truly moved on. Even in spinoff titles, Cloud is Aerith-focused.
In Kingdom Hearts, Cloud becomes more like Vincent. He grieves for Aerith just like how Vincent grieved for Lucrecia. 
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In Final Fantasy Tactics, Cloud is searching for Aerith. When he sees a flower girl that looks like Aerith, it furthers his resolve. In World of Final Fantasy, Terra calls out Cloud for hunting down Sephiroth instead of helping Lightning. This conversation speaks volumes.
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Even at the end of the original game, Cloud says "I think I'm beginning to understand. An answer from the planet... the Promised Land. I think I can meet her... there." The 2015 trailer for Remake talks about the reunion and we see Aerith's flower. When do we hear about any reunion in Remake? When Cloud and Aerith meet for the first time in Sector 8 and she gives him the flower.
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Cloud is going to defy fate and save Aerith's life. At least that's what I think. I think that the song Hollow supports this claim. I believe that Hollow is a Clerith song. It was said by Uematasu that the song describes Cloud's inner feelings. Not only does it play in the Sector 5 slums, Aerith's home, but the lyrics describe her as well.
Smile bright Once more This time I will never let you go
Need I say more? This is my conclusion. If the whole point of Remake is to defy fate then preventing this tragic loss is possible as well. The story is about not repeating the same mistakes as the previous generation to make way for a brighter future.
And before anyone says that Aerith only likes Cloud because he’s like Zack, here’s what she says after she’s done talking about Zack. 
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And Cloud’s response to Aerith telling him not to fall in love with her.
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I’m placing my bets now. Let’s see how right or wrong I am in a few years. If I’m wrong I will eat a bowl of peas. 
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aislingyngaio-games · 3 years
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The Tifareth Balance
I think this goes all the way back to the gnostic tree, and how everything has to be brought into balance to achieve Final Heaven.
Introduction: Where the Characters Begin in FF7
At the beginning of the story, Aerith was treated all her life as special by certain individuals - Turks, Shinra/Hojo, Elmyra, Zack. This gave her a very young Queen Victoria levels of self-importance and obstinence, very self-centered world view if you will, and that's why in OG she's always asking Cloud what he thinks about her etc (which actually implies she's rather confused that she isn't already the center of his world somehow) during dialogue options. This is also I believe partially why she seems to sense Ifalna, Elmyra’s husband, and Zack enter the Lifestream, yet seems inured when two reactors, a plate, and the related mass loss of life occurred. Surely she should have been overwhelmed by the sheer number of souls passing back into the Lifestream, yet she seems perfectly deaf to this mass upheaveal and more concerned about her own earthly affairs as she meets Cloud? Sounds oddly cold for a steward of the planet who could hear its cries, however faintly. There’s no Obiwan-Alderaan moment for her at all. Her starting point is that she misses the forest for the trees.
Meanwhile, we have Tifa, who though in her youth was the center of a circle of friends, we learn during the Lifestream that none of them actually understood her, esp obvious during her grief over her mother's death. For an introvert, this is actually a deeply socially draining experience, and since then, given how one by one her social circle deserted her and the village for job opportunities, she is left to believe she's simply a cog in the Grand Scheme. She's always had to suppress her own self and think of others before her. It doesn't matter that she probably wants to leave the village that's been emptied of her peers - she's the chief's daughter so she must stay. It doesn't matter that she disagreed over the reactor bombings, for the Greater Good Avalanche must do something to save the Planet, so she had to acquiesant against her own wishes. It was she who worried and grieved most for the two reactor bombings and the plate fall and its associated loss of life, even though she still had Cloud with her, and realistically couldn’t actually hear the cries of the Planet. Her starting point is that she misses the trees for the forest.
In other words, at the beginning of the story, Aerith is too selfish and Tifa is too selfless. And as author Rick Riordan once wrote, "The most dangerous flaws are those which are good in moderation. Evil is easy to fight. Lack of wisdom… that is very hard indeed." (Athena, The Titan's Curse)
Aerith’s Character Arc in FF7
Over the course of the story, we see Aerith, even while leveraging her position and her blood against Shinra's encroachment, was equally afraid of her own powers. She ignored and hid herself away from the problems of Gaia, hiding under the protection of Elmyra for as long as she could. She disregards opinions and feelings of others like when she totally misjudged how to handle Barret's raw emotions over Corel at the Gold Saucer. She was not at all oblivious to Tifa's feelings yet still attempted to monopolize Cloud's attentions in front of her. This behaviour can be traced back to her need to stand firm against the Turks’/Shinra’s persuasions, though when used on regular people like the team, it is very offputting, abrasive, thoughtless and likely was what actually alienated her peers from her growing up. Ultimately, she made the fatal mistake of believing she knows what's best for the group in merrily skipping off alone into the Forbidden City (I mean, sure, we all know Cloud was unstable from the Jenova manipulation but there were 7 other sane party members who could have been consulted and split up before she skipped off unprotected?), and ultimately her fatal flaw of arrogance and selfishness caused her death. Not because she meant to die, knowing it will protect the planet, because she'd always intended to return to the team ("She talked about the future more than the rest of us"), but she died anyway because her arrogance and selfishness were her fatal flaw.
I think it is only in death, though unaddressed explicitly by the game story itself (which of course remains on the living party members, and therefore is the story of life, and how life still moves on after death), that she truly grasped the littleness of who she is. That ultimately, back in the Lifestream with all the other Cetras, she was finally able to understand that in the end, she was just another Cetra in the great battle against Jenova. Sure, she was the Cetra who summoned Holy, but it was actually doing more harm than good by itself. It was only with the collective power and force of the Lifestream, of all who were born of the Planet and all who returned to the Planet, that Meteor was able to aid Aerith (Holy) in pushing back Meteor. In accepting her ordinariness among the Cetra is when Aerith truly becomes the mother of Gaia, even if nobody other than the FF7 team will ever remember her name. Her legacy lives on in Gaia, along with the legacy every other Cetra died to preserve.
Aerith's character arc is to temper her selfishnes with selflessness, to care for the welfare of all instead of the welfare of a few individuals, and to recognise that she is but a small part in the greater plan, that it is ok to not be special. Her special blood didn't stop her from dying, nor was she alone the only saviour of the Planet. In the end, I believe that Aerith's journey in FF7 is her journey to understand that no matter how special she seems to be, in the end, the Planet will still live on without her too, with Nanaki as the probable successor to her decimated race's role as the new steward of the Planet.
Tifa’s Character Arc in FF7
As for Tifa, her character arc is the complete opposite: to temper her selflessness with selfishness. How odd a concept for a protagonist! Except it goes right back to the balance necessary to achieve Final Heaven ("The most dangerous flaws are those which are good in moderation"). Tifa is shy, she is reserved, she always puts the needs and wants of others above her own, even if she disagrees. She didn't challenge Barret when she disagrees with his methods. She didn't challenge Aerith even when her own feelings were hurt, yet still she was kind in the face of such unkindness (intentional or not). She suppressed her own feelings for Cloud and tries only to behave like a friend to him even though she feels more. And most damning in her character arc, she didn't challenge Cloud over the knowledge that "I waited... but Cloud never came." It was the only piece of the Nibelheim incident she could recall clearly, but because she was too insecure in her own memories (though the rest of the Incident could be chalked up to the trauma caused by her almost dying by Masamune, Cloud's alleged absence at Nibelheim wasn't, because she had pinned her hopes on his arrival and her disappointment was palpable) she allowed what she knew to be false to stand in between them for the sake of Cloud's mental stability.
I have posited in another post that Tifa is not only the heroine of FF7 but the co-protagonist as well, or at the very least the deuteragonist. It is very telling that 10 minutes after Aerith's death, the team went snowboarding, whereas when Cloud and Tifa were both broken emotionally by Sephiroth and had their joint Heroic BSoD moment, the game experienced a timeskip. How odd that the permanent physical death of a valued party member didn't stop the game dead but the death of Cloud and Tifa's trusts in their own memories did? Yet it is important to mention as too many times already Tifa has simply been dismissed as unimportant, as simply the crutch, the guide to Cloud's story and nothing more. This could not be further from the truth. Tifa's story does not simply inform Cloud's. Tifa's story is ENTWINED with Cloud's. Even as their stories run parallel to each other's, crossing the same events, their arcs are both independent AND interdependent on each other's. Tifa is not simply a plot device or the narrator or whatever one calls Tifa in an attempt to dismiss her role in the bigger FF7 story. (And I mention this because even some Tifa fans forget this in their desire to whitewash Tifa's culpability in the Northern Crater affair, which is actually a key turning point in Tifa's hero's journey)
Someday perhaps I will write a full breakdown of Tifa’s hero’s journey (because it’s honestly frustrating to see claims – even from Tifa fans – of Tifa needing a character arc of her own when it’s always been in FF7 all along if only players will take off their protagonist/Cloud-tinted glasses) in greater detail, but for the sake of the discussion of her arc in the context of the gnostic tree and the role of balance within oneself, I will simply say this: that it is only in the death of her trust in herself, and in seeing the emotional death of the one she holds most dear (Cloud’s mental stability shattering at the Northern Crater), that she learns she cannot simply stand passively by even in the face of what she knows to be wrong, just to protect someone else’s feelings and wants. She learns that even inaction has consequences. That she has to be brave enough, assertive enough, just selfish enough to place her own needs and desires, her own thoughts and beliefs, on an equal importance to the rest of the party, even the Planet’s. That just because the world is ending, it doesn’t make her personal struggles any less important than the world’s problems, it doesn’t mean the problem can be ignored or that it will simply go away, or even that it’s unimportant in the grand scheme of things.
She erred, she fell, she “died”. And she learned, she grasped the second chance with both hands, and at Mideel, she stood firm and said, “This is where I want to be. Being with Cloud. Caring for him.” It wasn’t revenge she pursued any longer, or high-minded abstract ideals like saving the Planet. She still would help save the Planet if she could, but for once in her life, she put her foot down and make clear her own priorities – to be by the side of the one she love above all else. And she could make this decision without jeopardizing the Planet because of her ordinariness. She wasn’t imbued with special powers or special bloodlines or special keepsakes and her absence will most likely not affect the Planet’s safety or lack thereof. Even in her absence, we are sent on story missions that still ended in failure – heck, even after Cloud and Tifa rejoined, the Huge Materia space mission still failed anyway, because the point is... just because one wants to save the Planet doesn’t mean one can (after all, summoning Holy didn’t work either, at least not at first).
This is also paralleled with Tifa’s caring of Cloud: there was literally no guarantee that Cloud will ever recover from his Mako poisoning – he could be a vegetable forever, and yet this is still Tifa’s choice. This isn’t just about Cloud, but about Tifa asserting her desire to be with Cloud even in the face of both world destruction and his permanent vegetative state. This is who Tifa wants to be, who Tifa chooses to be. This isn’t something being pushed onto her as part of some “greater good” that she should ignore her own wants and needs for. (And to all those who deride Tifa as being weak for making her choices all for one man, remember that feminism isn’t about a “strong independent woman who need no man”, it’s about having the right to choose who we wish to be without being forced by any societal expectations of us. “Life doesn't make any sense without interdependence. We need each other, and the sooner we learn that, the better for us all." — Erik Erikson. If anything, Tifa choosing to stay by Cloud’s side is the very definition of feminism – it’s not about what we do, rather, that we have a right to choose without being shamed for what we choose to do)
Yet in the Lifestream is when she truly finds herself together with Cloud. She learns that, though she believed she is too ordinary to be special to anyone (remember, though she was the center of her group of friends in her youth, none of them really looked back when the time came for them, or at least she thought none did more than mere talk anyway), she was actually the reason for Cloud’s entire journey, that he reciprocated special feelings for her, that he always intended to return for her. She learned that, just as Cloud’s impetus was her reason for taking up martial arts (one of the few acts of “rebellion”/assertiveness in her youth where she was probably pressured to stay in the village either due to her father’s position or her gender), she was the reason for Cloud’s desire to be a hero too. Tifa was special in her ordinariness. She meant enough to someone who meant enough to her.
Tifa’s arc is to recognise that though she won’t ever be important to the Planet as an individual, she was important enough to the one that mattered most. It is not wrong or “selfish” to find individual love and prioritise it equal to the needs of the Planet. And in the end, it was this revelation and resolution of both her and Cloud’s mutual feelings for each other that gave Cloud the strength he’d previously only accessed from despair five years ago, the strength to defeat Sephiroth. And it was only with Sephiroth’s defeat that Holy was unleashed, and only when the Lifestream joined its chorus that the Planet was ultimately saved. In the end, it was the importance Tifa “selfishly” placed on her own wants and needs that saved Cloud, and by saving him, the Planet as well. If she’d been told that Cloud’s predicament, a single individual, was nothing in the face of the end of the world, if she hadn’t been just that little bit selfish in the face of her extreme selflessness, it might have simply brought them nothing but destruction.
Conclusion
In this sense, I believe that Aerith and Tifa were indeed developed to be two halves of the same whole. They started off as two extremes in terms of personality – Aerith was self-centered, assertive and intransigent, while Tifa was selfless, passive and insecure. Yet these are only negative traits when taken to extreme, and by meeting each other, by learning from each other, tempering and moderating each other’s behaviour, by Aerith learning to be more considerate, more humble and more persuadable (because my god, was Aerith utterly brattish and unbearable in Remake before she met Tifa), by Tifa learning to be more assertive, more confident, to take pride in herself, the two halves of a whole bring each other to balance and become better versions of themselves for it.
"The most dangerous flaws are those which are good in moderation. Evil is easy to fight. Lack of wisdom… that is very hard indeed."
P.S. tagging @enigmaphenomenon as it was your twitter thread that inspired this post. A lot of the thoughts in this impulsive post probably definitely needs a hell lot more refining by more critical minds but I hope this is a good starting point for discussion.
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beyondthelilies · 3 years
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Ya’ll mind if i go off...
I know that there are some people that view Cloud and Aerith as this impulsive whirlwind romance or whatever, but ......  I thought that it was pretty clear that the first time Cloud had feelings for someone it was his childhood crush Tifa; she was the popular girl who had a lot of male friends and he was the weird kid-- but it wasn’t a good thing for him or his self-esteem... especially when she took a tumble and he couldn���t stop it.  Especially when he was only *just* able to carry her to safety later.  Even though he saved her life multiple times he never thought it was enough for her; because it wasn’t. She continues to remind him later of the promise he made; like it’s this never-ending thing he always has to honor. Always save Tifa and he DOES...  I don’t view his promise to always come save her as romantic-- if anything, it’s an unfair expectation that furthered his “I’ll pretend I’m Zack because that’s what Tifa wants me, to be she wants me to be this great hero and I’m not how can I even face her,” bullshit; which is why Tifa had to be the one to really undo that later in the first game and go into his memories. Even if she didn’t intend to, didn’t mean to, she realizes she didn’t do him any favors and hurt him. That their dynamic wasn’t healthy and that’s probably why he was often so distant.  I thought it was pretty big character development that he sort of let go of that childhood weird idealization of Tifa (that evidently even his own mother thought was unhealthy); really let go of it, and found “the weird girl” and fell in love with her...  It’s also lame people think Aerith is only attached to Cloud because of Zack when she stated directly that she *knows* he isn’t Zack, and wanted to continue to get to know the real him. The REAL Cloud that didn’t make solider but is trying so damn hard to become someone who could have made the cut and then some -- Something apparently Tifa struggled with... Tifa always needed the hero and asked it of Cloud, but Aerith didn’t do that to him. She asked him to be a bodyguard; something she didn’t *really* need (the Turks* were already keeping her safe) but what she wanted at the time, and she asked him for help- but she always returned the favor and encouraged him in round-about ways-- but there were no deep, actual “promise you’ll always save me” made between Cloud and Aerith. Nothing like that.  Aerith never expected Cloud to save her; she knew he would try and that was good enough for her.  And then, she died.  It was only then, facing grief and Tifa having to unscramble his brain, that Cloud was able to become the hero that the world and Tifa needed him to be. That transformation started because he lost Aerith.  I don’t LIKE Cloud WITH Tifa; and no, I do not think they just ride off into a sunset and live happily ever after -- after what happens (that’s also directly stated; they have problems even after DoC). I don’t think it’s romantic for him to move on from Aerith. Sometimes people don’t move on and love the same way ever again and that’s okay. No one will ever replace Aerith, and he’s always going to carry the weight of needing to protect Tifa the way that he couldn’t protect Aerith. He’ll never be truly vulnerable with Tifa again in the same meaningful ways. That’s why he disappears on her. That’s why when he gets sick, he hides in Aerith’s church. And Tifa KNOWS it and it’s SAD and it SUCKS.  And the fact that people think Tifa is more canon, or more significant of a love interest, to Cloud is  ???????????????????? Going to be my Joker origin story. 
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outbythehighwind · 3 years
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The Misconceptions of FF7: A Cloud, Aerith & Tifa Analysis Part 3/5
Link to all parts: https://outbythehighwind.tumblr.com/post/640347336477966336/the-misconceptions-of-ff7-a-cloud-aerith-tifa
This post will examine the kind of love that Cloud has for Tifa.
I determined last post that his love for Aerith is that of a true and powerful friendship, but can, in interpretation of the narrative (which, unlike plot, is up for player interpretation), additionally be romantic. Regardless of the interpretation, it does not change the plot – that Cloud is romantically in love with Tifa. My emphasis from the prior post is that friendship, along with Eros (romantic love), is one of the highest forms of love, and its meaning & significance has sadly been lost in the world today. So I once again urge that people forsake this notion of ‘competition’ that one girl must win ‘all’ of Cloud’s affections (which is a betrayal to his character, for not all love need be Eros), and that at the expense of ‘winning’, his relationship with the other is belittled. With that in mind, let us proceed to part 3.
Cloud’s Eros love, in the plot sense of FF7, is Tifa.
“The event of falling in love is of such a nature that we are right to reject as intolerable the idea that it should be transitory. In one high bound it has overleaped the massive wall of our selfhood; it has made appetite itself altruistic, tossed personal happiness aside as a triviality and planted the interests of another in the centre of our being.” – C.S. Lewis (on Eros)
I have already established that Tifa is Cloud’s driving force. The weakness he attributes to himself resulted from his inability to save her at age 9 when they fell off Mt. Nibel’s bridge. His desire for strength came from his desire to be able to protect her, and coupled with his “sealed up secret wish” to win her acknowledgement, 14-year-old Cloud left to join SOLDIER.
The depth of Cloud’s feelings toward Tifa (whatever they may be at this stage) is emphasized in the circumstances: that they were not close and yet at 9 years old he had such strong desire to protect her; that over the next five years – despite their minimal interaction – he fervently held that conviction; and that the conviction grew to the point where, the moment he heard of Sephiroth’s strength (a way for him to act on it), he left to join SOLDIER.
A common misperception is that Cloud only wanted general acknowledgement – from Tifa and the other kids and villagers. He did want general acknowledgement, yes. But let us consider the Lifestream revelation summarized in the 12 screenshots below.
When Tifa asks Cloud why he joined SOLDIER, a dialogue occurs between the Cloud she is speaking to and his inner voice in the white text (his true self that they are presently trying to reach). Note that Cloud’s inner voice only ever speaks to Cloud; nobody else can hear it. Here, ‘real’ Cloud (the voice) says to “Ex-SOLDIER” Cloud – ie. Cloud from his inner subconscious says to himself – with both emphasis and exclusivity – “Who? You know who! …You, that’s who.”
“Ex-SOLDIER” Cloud then repeats aloud, “You…” to Tifa.
The context is of the singular person pronoun, in elaboration of Cloud’s statement “someone would notice.”
“You” is exclusively Tifa.
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When Tifa is surprised and exclaims why her, Cloud brings up a time in their childhood that she does not recall right away – which he will reveal to be the Mt Nibel bridge incident. Immediately before showing her that memory, ‘little’ Cloud appears (the other manifestation of Cloud’s true self, as I noted earlier). ‘Little’ Cloud invites Tifa into this memory when Tifa engages with “Ex-SOLDIER” Cloud again, who reveals a “A sealed up secret… wish… Tender memories no one can ever know.” This wish is his answer to Tifa’s “Me? Why!?”
Cloud still holding this desire at present is evidenced in that it is “Ex-SOLDIER” Cloud – rather than ‘little’ Cloud – who states this. ‘Little’ Cloud is able to engage with Tifa. Were it his sealed up secret wish alone – something Cloud had only once desired – then he (‘little’ Cloud), not “Ex-SOLDIER” Cloud, would have been the one to tell her.
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We are then taken to the specific memory of the day Tifa’s mother died and the accident on the Mt. Nibel bridge; the moment Cloud began his obsession with gaining strength in order for that sealed up secret wish to be realized (as he saw it).
I’ve already discussed his feelings of weakness and failure with regard to protecting Tifa. So I will just point out the last screenshot below in light of the sequence before it, where he says “Then even Tifa would have to notice me…”
Tifa being singled out as the “Who” he wanted to be noticed by has already been confirmed. This statement does not alter that exclusivity. Rather, it is Cloud’s affirmation to himself that his goal will be realized through the means of ‘strength’; if he becomes ‘strong’ then he will be acknowledged by others, he will be worthy – and surely then, even Tifa would have to notice him.
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Cloud promised to be Tifa’s personal “hero”. What he has already resolved to strive for becomes a binding, personal promise between them – having resulted from, to his surprise, Tifa’s suggestion. This promise is both the heart of the entire internal plot (saving Cloud) and what brings Cloud and Tifa into the external plot (saving the Planet).
“Hero” to Cloud is synonymous with “SOLDIER”. “Ex-SOLDIER” Cloud therefore feels enabled to keep the promise, and joins AVALANCHE (and the fight for the Planet) with the sole primary purpose, as it had always been, of protecting Tifa.
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Even while Cloud’s ‘real’ self is trapped in his subconscious and his memory is muddled, Tifa’s uniquely distinct importance to him is enforced throughout “Ex-SOLDIER’s” journey. Alongside this is the emphasis of his reliance on her – that Cloud, striving to be strong for Tifa, sees Tifa as his source of strength.
He hopes in himself because Tifa knew him.
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He trusts only Tifa in what is true pertaining to himself.
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It is when Sephiroth breaks through the trust between them that Cloud’s entire identity shatters (both “Ex-SOLDIER” Cloud and ‘real’ Cloud are lost). Sephiroth plays to Tifa’s confusion surrounding Cloud’s identity and her doubt in her own memories that do not align with Cloud’s. It is when she cannot give Cloud an answer that Sephiroth is able to convince Cloud of the lie that he is not the “Cloud of Nibelheim” she grew up with – synonymous with him not being Cloud the being at all.
Sephiroth, whilst successfully manipulating Cloud, is still threatened by their bond. He keeps an illusion over Cloud where Cloud cannot hear Tifa’s voice as she screams for him to not hand over the Black Materia. Later, Cloud will hear her voice above the cries of all souls within the Lifestream.
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In the Lifestream, Cloud and Tifa cry out to one another simultaneously and Cloud draws her into his subconscious. This is revealed in both versions of their night under the Highwind, and is thus an emphasized plot matter – the big difference being that in the low affection version (see the red textboxes below) Cloud is thinking out loud rather than speaking directly to Tifa.
The English translation is vague in the fourth screenshot (“I think I’ve heard about it too”) – the Japanese being 俺も、聞いたような気がするな (which literally translates to “I feel like I heard it too”). “It” is referring to Tifa’s voice outlaid the fifth screen – “At that time, it was Tifa’s voice…” (あの時、TIFAの声を). Cloud chooses to introspect rather than engage directly with Tifa.
In the high affection version, the same term is used: he says to her that it was her voice (TIFAの声が) calling him from “the sea of consciousness in the Lifestream” (ライフストリームの意識の海から). The English translates this as: “You were calling me back from the consciousness in the Lifestream”, which, in both high and low affection alternatives, refers to all souls within the Lifestream (for Tifa quotes that her and Cloud were “surrounded by all those screams of anguish” when they were separated in their fall).
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The point I wish to get across is this: that in both versions, Cloud’s subconscious cries out for Tifa and simultaneously hears her crying out for him amidst every scream from those returned to the Lifestream. We see this scene play out not as Cloud, but as Tifa, and the black void emphasizes their complete separation. Yet Cloud, in comatose state, unable to communicate physically at all, manages to draw her into his very subconscious.
Now here is the thing most players miss:
Aerith – as Cloud knows for certain – is also in the Lifestream, and having maintained her full consciousness rather than merging with the Lifestream like all these other souls crying out, would be capable of reaching both Cloud and Tifa more easily than they can reach each other.
Is she aware of their situation? Undoubtedly, she would have been watching over them throughout their entire journey since her passing. Does she somehow help behind the scenes? Quite possibly, and very likely. Aerith is already implied to be the reason Cloud survived the week before he washed up on the shores of Mideel (Cid is told by one of his finders, “That boy must have one powerful guardian angel watchin’ over him”).
So I like to think Aerith had a part in Cloud and Tifa’s survival too – but we’ll leave that one to theory. Just a thought.
Whatever transpired, only Tifa could reach the ‘real’ Cloud, and I have no doubt that Aerith knew this. So Cloud reaches Tifa and Tifa reaches Cloud, with all of their being each crying out for the other.
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Now, we come to the long debated ‘scene’ – did Cloud and Tifa make love under the Highwind?
I believe the answer to be, under the high affection version, yes. But that is irrelevant to this discussion of whether their love is romantic – for that experience is not a plot matter (occurring in one narrative alternative), and may operate without Eros or as part of Eros. Of course, in Cloud and Tifa’s case, it would have stemmed from their Eros (my point simply being that it is not a necessary ‘proof’ of their love).
But before considering the high affection alternative, let us turn to what we can find in the low affection scene. The scene also results in Cloud and Tifa sleeping against each other. After they board the airship the next morning, they find Barret, Cid and Red XIII and the following conversation ensues:
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Tifa then runs to the window and faces the other direction in an awkward stance, while Cloud turns away also and scratches the back of his neck. “Were you listening?” If nothing romantic was said at all, as the argument goes, what then is there to make of their embarrassed reactions?
In the high affection version, this conversation with Barret, Cid and Red XIII plays out the same up until the point where Tifa responds. Instead of saying, “Were you listening?” she asks “Were you watching?” and then falls to her knees in embarrassment.
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There is a reason there are two versions of this scene and it is not whether Cloud and Tifa ‘get together romantically’ at all. Rather, it is what transpires – according to the player’s agency (for their earlier decisions result in either narrative) – around Cloud and Tifa’s sealing of their romantic relationship (Cloud’s feelings having already been brought to light in the Lifestream):
        In the low affection version, they declare it with words (that their friends listen in on).
        In the high affection version, they declare it, like they have been declaring it the entire game, through actions (which their friends, to their dismay, end up watching).
Now, with Cloud’s love for Tifa having been openly revealed in the Lifestream, this night under the Highwind is centered on the revelation of her love for him, and upon that love being mutual, the sealing of their relationship. The version the player ends up with is therefore dependent on the affection points earned with Tifa throughout the game.
These points being ‘low’ simply means they do not make love as they do in the high affection alternative, despite high emotions with the impending doom of the Planet. Like Gold Saucer, the narrative can differ. Their love coming together, however, is part of the plot.
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Sephiroth’s manipulations through Tifa’s doubts – the catalyst that caused Cloud’s psyche to shatter – is paralleled in the Lifestream with the restoration of his psyche. After Cloud’s “sealed up secret… wish” is brought to light, Tifa is able to fully overcome her doubts over both Cloud and herself. And it is then that they return to the Nibelheim incident, where Cloud regains his true self. It is when Sephiroth broke Tifa that Cloud broke; it is when Tifa overcomes herself (“You weren’t created five years ago. My childhood memories weren’t all made up!”), that Cloud gains the strength to both recover and accept his true self.
They share a oneness and complete mutual reliance on one another in pertinence to their very personhood.
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So far runs Cloud’s love for Tifa that it is at the core of his identity. While he cannot recall who he is even within his own subconscious in the Lifestream, his inner voice (true self) recalls Tifa as the motivation at the core of his being.
There is no ‘you and me’ in pertinence to Tifa and Cloud. There is only ‘us’. And alongside this reciprocative Eros (which I will soon examine on Tifa’s part), exists a friendship that surpasses that which Cloud has with anyone else. They are wholly absorbed in each other, and they are side by side in vision. Tifa is his rock as much as he is hers, fighting beside him in every sense of the word; she is his best friend.
Let us now turn to Aerith and Tifa:
https://outbythehighwind.tumblr.com/post/640347336477966336/the-misconceptions-of-ff7-a-cloud-aerith-tifa
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Final Fantasy 7 prompts no. 24
1. AU where Genesis managed to kidnap Zack and Cloud when they were on the run and basically took care of them. Zack warmed up to him and Genesis came to actually care about them.
One day Cloud begins to mutter and both men are excited that Cloud might actually wake up soon.
When he opens his eyes the first thing he sees is the Crimson Commander.
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Genesis sat on the edge of the bed, focused on a certain comatose blond. He had begun to mutter strange incoherent things in his sleep, which the redhead took as a good sign.
His thoughts seemed to be confirmed when the younger man opened his beautiful blue eyes and stared directly at him, "Pretty..." Cloud muttered dazed.
The redhead snorted, "Well at least someone around here has taste."
The blond sat up and wrapped his arms around the man, squeezing the breath out of him before dragging him into the bed. "Mine."
2. The numbered ones start flocking to Cloud, trying to initiate REUNION with him, sometimes by force. Cloud is Not Okay.
3. Cloud hatches a large egg that was in the stalls with his very male chocobos.
It turned out to be a Nibel dragon egg and now Cloud is even more confused than he was before. The little one adores its blond human mother and Cloud quickly grew protective of it. His friends are trying to convince him to kill it but he refused and broke someone's arm when they tried to hurt his new baby.
4. Sephiroth creeps into Clouds new apartment and starts one of his dramatic monologs, but not even five words in he freezes and stares at Cloud holding a fresh baked apple pie and wearing a frilly blue apron and an angry pout.
"What." The blond snapped.
"...I..." the general stared, a bit of pink dusting his cheekbones, "...leaving. I'm leaving." And he literally flew out the door.
Cloud stared at the empty doorway for a minute, "Well that was even weirder than usual." He sat down his pie on a cooling rack and wiped his hands on his blue frilly apron, a gag gift from Aerith.
5. "Hey Tifa, can you turn the water-hose on?" She heard Cloud ask from outside the window.
"Why can't you turn it on yoursel-" she shut her mouth with a sharp click.
Outside stood Cloud and the kids, caked head to toe in mud, only the spaces around thier eyes were spared due to the goggles that now rested around thier necks.
She wanted to yell at them. Tell them that they were going to get an earful when they got inside, but Cloud was smiling. Cloud hadn't smiled in so long and she would do anything, anything in the world to keep it on his face.
6. Sephiroth becomes a god and travels around the multiverse collecting different versions of Cloud
7. Barret leaves for five minutes, FIVE, and returns to the entire group under the "Mini" status effect. They are all out of MP and remedies so Barret sighs and has everyone ride on his shoulders until the spell wears off.
8. Mini-Aerith making all the others in their mini-group pick flowers with her. The flowers are bigger than they are.
9. Sephiroth blackmails Cloud into letting him dress him up. Cloud begrudgingly allows it, expecting to be humiliated in dresses.
He did not expect all the cool outfits, many of which he liked, to be forced onto him, all while "Fashion" by Lady Gaga played in the background
10. Cloud finally runs out of fucks to give and goes Full Chaotic Dumbass and just has a ball with not giving a shit. Good for him. Zack might also be following him around as a ghost and encouraging him.
11. Cloud mentally snaps when he finds out he's been thrown back in time and has been left with nothing but his sword and bike. He buys a motorcycle helmet and full-body leather biker suit to disguise himself. Blondie also becomes a vigilante and routinely antagonizes Sephiroth, with each of thier fights ending with Cloud escaping in some way that makes people think he must have died, example: jumping off a cliff into the darkness below, and beginning with "The Phantom Swordsman" saying "I lived, bitch" and insulting him.
The silver general slowly comes to tolerate and eventualy look forward to the mysterious man's visits, even if they do end in battle. He has tried many times to find out the mans identity and is almost desperate to get even a glimpse of the face behind the mask.
Genesis is the first to discover that Sephiroth has fallen in love.
12. There's an emergency with another AVALANCHE cell that causes Barret and Tifa to quickly leave, yelling to Cloud that they'll be back soon. Both Biggs and Wedge run off with Jesse apon hearing that something had happened to her mom. Cloud was content to just wait for them to return, until Marlene walked in, having woke from her nap.
Barret rushes in, frantic apon learning that everyone had left his daughter home alone.
He runs to her bedroom to find Cloud sitting across from her in one of those tiny chairs at a tiny table, wearing a plastic tiara and dusted in a lethal amount of glitter, reading a book to her while she draws a picture of herself, her daddy, and her new scary big brother.
13. Clack fic where Cloud really likes using Zacks chest as a pillow. Zack thinks it's adorable, until he has to pee in the middle of the night and can't bring himself to wake Cloud.
14. Everyone knows about Sephiroth being possessive of Cloud, but what about Cloud being possessive of Sephiroth?
15. Time travel AU where Cloud leaves puzzles that give Sephiroth information about the truth of his past and the events of the future (including the correct lottery numbers and winners of chocobo races), but some of them are stuff calling out all the shady stuff shinra does or office gossip and the last 50% is just him fucking with Sephiroth. Full on encrypted messages that say : "Your secretary says she wants you to step on her" and "You should wear a bell". And he knows he can get away with it as long as he feeds him scraps of the truth every now and then, but he'll be damned if he doesn't at least get a little revenge while saving the world.
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silver-wield · 4 years
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body language analysis: tifa and cloud train scene!! go!
Oh, Nonny, you made my morning with this!! I mean, it's not like I haven't touched on Cloud and Tifa's body language in gif reblogs, but an actual post dedicated to one of the best moments of the game? YAY!!
Ok, spoiler warning for ppl who haven't played (I tag FF7R spoilers as final fantasy 7 remake spoilers) and it's gonna be a long one so prepare to scroll.
Also, this is one person's interpretation of the scene, so if you disagree that's cool and we'll agree to disagree.
You're also gonna have to excuse the janky quality on some of the screens, I'm grabbing them from Youtube and it's frustrating af trying to get the exact moment I want.
Other analyses if anyone's interested.
Shinra HQ vision scene (Cloti/plot analysis) 
Chapter 3 (Cloti reblog) 
Tifa character analysis 
Aerith Resolution (plot analysis) 
Train graveyard (not really an analysis, but I got some sweet screenshots of Cloti) 
Now, strap in and enjoy the ride.
So, the corkscrew tunnel scene – or clotiscrew tunnel as I've seen it called – begins with Avalanche caught by the sensors on the train. After a timed fight – which, yes, it's possible to lose, but it's also clear this is a “bad ending” where you've made Cloud look like an incompetent dick who can't even handle a few drones – we see Barret mustering his courage and leaping from the train (he's so damn cute sometimes, I'm gonna have to do a post about his development with Cloud at some point).
The action then cuts to Tifa, frozen in front of the door, too afraid to jump (you can hear her whimpering). Cloud calls her name, deals with the last drone and comes over. Now, in the OG, obviously they all jump one after the other because polygons and popeye arms would've just looked like a total mess and Square admitted they neglected Cloti to highlight all the relationship development between Clerith since she dies later.
Cut to 2020 and we get this. Damn, Square, if I didn't already love you for pretty much my entire life already I'd have fallen for you all over again. In fact, I think I probably did.
Ok, I'm done gushing. Kinda.
I think the first thing I have to point out is that Cloud, at no point, needed to do this. He could have verbally encouraged Tifa to jump without the need for physical support at all. After all, the train's slowing down and she was fine in the OG, so who's to say she wouldn't be fine now, too? By calling her name and fixing her attention on him he's actually stalling her jump.
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You'll notice that Tifa doesn't take her eyes off the tracks (before this screen obvs since I can see that’s her feet, work with me here), which is fitting since she's zeroed in on that fearful moment and actually can't move without help. Cloud's face in this is displaying typical tension you'd expect in a high energy scene. He's concerned for Tifa, but he's also focused on dealing with the mechs, which he does very quickly. Now, you could argue he did that to get on with the mission, or you could argue he did that because he saw Tifa needed him and his focus shifted to her. And watching the seconds following him turning to look at her, I'd say there's evidence towards the latter because he's actually lost focus on the last mech and it attacks him first causing him to block and parry.
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This is the first instance of touching in this scene, and until this point, Tifa hadn't moved or acknowledged Cloud. He needed to physically draw her from her thoughts and you'll hear a surprised exhale from her as she turns to look at him, showing she was lost within herself until he drew her out. Cloud is obviously looking at the tracks, judging his next move. He's already planning what he has to do to keep both of them safe, which is clear from his decisive nod, along with a reassuring, but grim, smile, before pulling Tifa out the door. Remember, I said he could’ve verbally got her attention. He didn’t. He chose touch.
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See what I mean about janky quality? Anyway, this is clear concern about Tifa's safety, but also, remember, Cloud is on the mission because Tifa said she felt trapped and he's related that back to their promise that she needs a hero. He's being her hero.
Okay, we're getting to the meat of things now.
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First, fucking ouch, he definitely looks pained, meaning that whole manoeuvre wasn't as smooth as he pretended. As they slow down, he puts a bracing hand against the ground to prevent him rolling onto Tifa (because he's a gent and also toting a sword that weighs more than Barret lol).
What's interesting is where his left hand is in this. Make a note: middle of her back. Tifa's head is tucked into Cloud's neck – safety move, so nothing big there. I've seen some people note Tifa's leg is between Cloud's, but I'm gonna discount that as the way they've locked together during the roll. It's unintentional.
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Oh, but this isn't! Cloud has absolutely no reason to put his hand back on Tifa. He could leave it lying flat on the ground. You could argue he needs both to help her get off him, but she's on top. She can do that herself. He has no further need past the initial save to have his hands on her, unless that's what he wants. Obviously we can't see his face in this because of Tifa's hair, but this, combined with the next screen tell a very definite story.
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He moved his hand! That left hand, he didn't need to move it up in such a caressing gesture. Coupled with the very intense gaze he gives her, I was swooning like a maiden wearing a too tight corset lol
Now, you could argue he's just concerned, it's a high tension situation. Well, I argue that every single trope using this kind of scene results in sexual tension/flustered characters and/or a kiss. Remember, right at this second, he has no reason to still be lying with her like this. In fact, him moving his hand further up her back is a bracing gesture that would keep her close, not release her. Tifa's fists are balled against his chest, which signifies she's protecting her hands – she's a hand-to-hand fighter remember -- but her face is relaxed. She's not feeling awkward or eager to escape.
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Eye contact!! Can I just leave it at that? No? Cloud isn't actually the type to keep prolonged eye contact. Oh, did you think I was about to say something else? Well, for literally anyone who hasn't paid attention to him, Cloud often looks away when he feels awkward, flustered, unsure, basically any negative emotion. The only time he looks anyone in the eye is when he's confronting them or at ease. Remember, even when Jessie teased him about smiling during chapter 4 he looked away, embarrassed. Cloud doesn't handle eye contact well. Which is why this is such a huge deal. He's keeping prolonged eye contact with Tifa. He doesn't look away from her eyes when he asks if she's ok. And that question – ah my heart! So soft and tender. You can hear the care and concern in his tone. It anchors the entire scene from start to finish. Everything he just did was because he cares about Tifa and wants to look after her. He wants to make sure she's ok, even if it means he suffers for it. Pretty sure some people will disagree with this, but the damn man wore a dress and went through a humiliating dance routine – humiliating for him, I fucking loved it – just to save her. His first words in Wall Market are he wants to save Tifa, but Aerith cuts him off before he can finish the sentence.
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These are the moments that I have to go back over a million times to catch. Check the tiny eye narrowing and uplift at the corner of his mouth. She said she's ok and he's happy about it. He's her hero – in not so many words. Tifa's shaky reply and pale face confirm her shock and fear, but also you can see an easing of the tension in her. There's a subtle softening of her muscle definition and facial expression that displays the trust and belief she has in Cloud that he'd look after her. This is a very mutually appreciative moment between them. Definitely not one sided.
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And then the moment is over, without any flustered blushing or stammering, and thank God there wasn't because that would be so ooc I just can't with it. Cloud, despite being an awkward af dork who doesn't know how to deal with women hitting on him, doesn't turn into a flustered 14 year old trying to tell his crush he's leaving Nibelheim whenever they have contact. We've already seen smooth!Cloud giving Tifa a flower and complimenting her like a cheeky bastard. He can handle being around her because he feels comfortable. He can compliment her because of that, too. He might be slightly separated from those childhood feelings, but they're in there and they're motivating him to be outgoing towards her. To show her the cool SOLDIER he became that's worthy of being beside her.
But, yeah, back to the point. The moment is over. Or is it? Because that is some very further prolonged eye contact between them when there doesn't have to be. Tifa moves back, Cloud moves forward, they're both getting up and yet, they're both looking at each other. I don't know about you, but I find it easier to look where I'm going when I've fallen on my ass and need to get up. I sure af don't stare longingly into someone's eyes like I can't bear not to.
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And now it really is over because right after this the mechs arrive. But before that, some more prolonged eye contact. There literally is no need for them to do this at this point. Tifa looks pensive, but I think that's her default tbf. Yet, at the same time, there's an intensity in her gaze like she wants to say something – maybe it's just a thank you, that would turn into a flirty conversation of some sort “you didn't need to do that,” “I wanted to” kind of deal – so it makes sense they're interrupted because Square said they didn’t want to overdo the amount of Cloti content they added and this is already a very charged scene.
Meanwhile, Cloud is looking at her like she's his entire world and he's just waiting for her to realise it. There's an aura of expectation in his pose and face. They're both crouching in mirrored poses, which as some of you may know is what you do when you're trying to build rapport with someone. It's basic body language building blocks. Toddlers do this. They're both on one knee, slightly leaning forward. Now, if there was no rapport between them, if they wanted to end the moment, one of them would stand up, breaking the mirrored pose and cutting off eye contact. This would put one above the other and show an imbalance in their relationship. This doesn't happen. They both turn at the same time, rise at the same time and fight pose at the same time.
Conclusion:
Seriously? After all that you can't draw your own?
Ok, I'll be fair to the other side. Let's take away Cloud's history with Tifa – since that's the biggest argument for them: the childhood crush trope.
If Cloud and Tifa weren't friends, just colleagues on a mission, this scene would still be hella charged with sexual tension and implication that Cloud has a thing for her. Even if it's just basic sexual attraction, that's still attraction and a marker on the pathway to a relationship.
But, they are friends, so moving on.
Tifa is the more reserved one in this dynamic. She's naturally shy – it's canon – but even with that, she's affected by Cloud. She holds that eye contact. Her voice is equally soft as his. She mirrors his pose. She doesn't try to get away the second they stop moving. Cloud is the one to move things along, without awkwardness because he's comfortable with Tifa. He's not out of sorts having her lying on top of him – which you can argue means he's not interested, but I literally just pointed out all the ways in which he is into her. Being comfortable in someone's company doesn't mean a person isn't attracted to them. If I had to stick a pin in Cloud's sexuality I'd say he's on the demi scale, meaning he needs to have a deep emotional connection to whoever he's with before he falls in love with them. He's not a love at first sight kind of guy.
This fits with the childhood crush trope. Cloud's known Tifa for years and developed an attraction to her that still lingers, making a reconnection between them easier. He's not slobbering over her because he's Cloud and very stoic – I know people say his true self isn't like this, but it is only with more insecurity and desire to prove himself. He's still a very reserved guy with a dry sense of humour. He's prone to melancholy and self doubt, which is why his friends bolster his confidence so much.
Point is, everything in this scene showcases a deep and meaningful relationship between the two of them at its best, while at its most shallow it shows Cloud is sexually attracted to Tifa, which is something that could develop into a more meaningful relationship later. Either way, it's a marked moment in their interactions that Cloud's non-optional choices led to it. There's no either/or within this. It happened.
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mimiplaysgames · 4 years
Text
A Powerful Enough Dream (Ch. 8)
Pairing: Terra/Aqua Rating: T Word Count: 4,177
Summary: Aqua traces Terra’s steps to what only seems like a nightmare, wedged into a dream for the future.
Read on AO3
A/N: I will be taking another break from this fic in order to work on my other WIPs, which are each incredibly time consuming, so I apologize! I hope everyone has been staying safe.
~*~*~*~*~
Stones, pt. 2
Seventh Heaven is a mosh pit of uneven stone, its renovated extensions made steady of wood, draped with drabby awnings of well-worn linen. It’s hard to tell if it always stood here and was damaged when Radiant Garden fell, or if it was built after the fact. Either way, it could tip over from one gust of wind. 
The front door whines as Aqua steps inside. Wooden chairs are flipped on top of wooden tables, and the booths are empty except for salt shakers. It’s part-restaurant, part-bar, with a space free of clutter for dancing.
“Is anyone here?” Aqua calls out. 
Footsteps hurry from the back, and a pretty woman in dark, long hair appears behind the bar. 
“We’re not open quite yet,” she says. “Come back in a couple of hours.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Aqua holds her hand to her chest. “I’m not a customer.”
The woman cocks her head. Her smile is pleasant, but her red eyes narrow. “Then, can I help you?” 
Aqua clears her throat. “I heard Terra stayed here with someone named Tifa.”
“I am Tifa.” She steps out from behind the bar, her stride confident and gracefully brisk. Her biceps are toned, and her fingers flex with the familiarity of someone who knows how to fight. “And who’s asking?”
Aqua braces herself - she’s not sure if she’s preparing for a punch to the face but it wouldn’t hurt to foresee it. Such protectiveness over Terra from someone he should barely know and yet is close to (and someone this curvy), sends a spike to her chest. 
“Aqua,” she says with a tremble to her voice. “I’m Aqua.”
Tifa gasps, her stride slamming into thin air. “He found you,” she whispers. Closing the gap between them, she takes Aqua into a firm embrace - not tight, not suffocating, but motherly: a gentle reassurance that everything in the world will be okay. Aqua can’t help but to be moved to tears. Hugs are something people do. She just forgot.
“Where are these things supposed to go, Teef?” a man’s voice calls out from the back. In his hands is a box of metal spouts with curved ridges meant for pouring liquor. His spiked hair is jet-black, and he has the most familiar bright blue eyes; he’s just taller now, more imposing, less scrawny, but he wears that same goofy smile. 
“Zack?”
He looks up and drops the box, steel clamoring and popping in sharp echoes. “Aqua?”
At first, silence thrums between them. 
“You haven’t aged a day, either,” he says, mostly to himself. “Something weird’s going on.” He scratches his head, arguing something over in his mind before shrugging it off and coming at her with that indestructible grin. “Whatever. It’s hugging time.”
He yanks her in. Aqua grunts; his hug is like being shoved into a brick wall. It’s his shoulder plates, his muscles, his childish fever of gripping his favorite toy that crushes her ribcage. Terra is just as hard and strong, if not moreso, but he never feels like this. He’s warm, too careful of what he’s holding. Terra is the unseizable fort that promises a quiet night away from the danger. Zack is the tank that rolls over the threat, whooping all the way. 
Aqua laughs. “It’s good to see you, too.”
Zack pokes her forehead. “Why did I have to wait twelve years before things got interesting again? I deserve good stories and better drinks.” He looks behind her, toward the entrance. “Where is the ol’ champ?”
Tifa nods. “A celebration is in order. I’ll make him the best steak he’s ever had.”
They’re so expectant, so ready to shower Terra with congrats, that Aqua can’t bring herself to give them the white lie of, He’ll be here soon.
“He’s…” she starts, not looking into their eyes, but in the spaces in between. 
The way her voice wavers is truth enough. Zack’s immortal smile dies, and Tifa stares at a lopsided picture on her wall. 
Aqua tells them what she can without confusing them: that he’s succumbed to shadow in rescuing her, in a parallel world where only the dark exists. So far, he’s still there. 
She tells them that the only reason why she was in that lonely world to begin with was because she lost a terrible fight that warped the fabric of existence. She leaves out any mention of Xehanort or Unversed. In a world of Heartless, these people don’t need to be scared of anything more. 
When they ask how quickly they can free him, Aqua says that it’s only a matter of time - it’s just difficult and very dangerous. But if he can do it, so can she. 
Zack has helped himself to a booth, leaning back on the tabletop. Tifa stays standing, her eyes hard as gems and her arms tightly crossed like she’s using them as a crutch. 
Tifa scoffs when Aqua finishes. “How many child soldiers have to sacrifice themselves before the worlds set themselves straight?” She heads back to the bar. 
“Tifa,” Zack calls.
“Terra is too young to suffer that much,” Tifa shoots back. “So is Aqua. So are all of them - you see how young these Keyblade wielders start. Would the same happen to Sora or Riku?” She picks up the box he dropped earlier, twisting spouts onto glass bottles and slamming them back in their place with a loud clunk.
Zack sighs, rubbing his neck. 
Aqua has never considered herself a soldier. A knight, certainly, someone gallant and faithful to a calling - not an ant that follows orders. But if she frames her calling as something akin to a general, or a king, then she could see what Tifa is getting at. 
“Terra would have done the same whether he was a soldier, a Keyblade wielder, or an ice cream server,” Zack says softly, tossing a weak smile to Aqua. 
Aqua sits across from him. She only nods in response.
Zack leans over, elbows on his knees. “I told Terra he looked like a hero. At the time, I couldn’t articulate why. He just seemed like the type.
“After hearing about this, I can say that’s the reason why. It’s not his seriousness or his determination… he just has balls. Even when he’s afraid - and I’m sure he must have been, saving you - he goes for it. No second thoughts. Staring the demon in the face even when he’s getting dragged all the way down.”
It’s not the most eloquent explanation, but Aqua smirks. 
“I wanted to be like him one day.” Zack stands up, squats once, and stretches his arms, heading on his way to join Tifa. “I’m going to have to up my game.”
Aqua follows. “You’re a hero now?”
Zack snaps on a huge grin from ear to ear, fists triumphantly on his hips. “Finished work in progress, I’m kicking Heartless to the curb and helping the Radiant Garden cause.” He sits at the bar, not minding how Tifa has ducked under the counter to connect a tube to a spout. “That reminds me.” He brings his hand to his chin, measuring Aqua with his eyes.
Oh. She had hoped he forgot. 
“How old are you?” he asks.
Thirty? Aqua sits alongside him. “Eighteen.”
“Then it’s fine.” He waves an arm dismissively. “Now that I’m bona fide… You remember our deal, yeah?”
Aqua tries her hardest not to laugh or blush. She’s relying on using Ven as an excuse this time. “Maybe?”
“One date for hero-hood.” He holds a finger up.
Tifa slams two glasses on the surface of the bar, studying Zack incredulously. “I’m not sure You-Know-Who, and,” she glances at Aqua, “You-Know-Who-Else would like that very much.” 
Thank goodness, she’s saved.
“Aerith would love to join us.” Zack shrugs. “I’m not sure on the Who-Else, though.”
Tifa smirks and rolls her eyes. “There’s still packages to be brought here, Hot Stuff.” She gives him keys. “You can try strutting your swag when she’s actually interested.”
“Heroes doing chores,” he protests, dangling the keys in his hand.
“You should have asked Cloud for more munny before he left,” Tifa reminds him. 
Zack groans, rolling his shoulders. Before leaving, he places a hand on Aqua’s shoulder. “I meant what I said. About Terra.” He’s serious, and it’s reassuring. “He’ll get through it. He’s made of the best stuff.” 
Aqua dams the tears. Coming from someone they’ve all known from a previous lifetime, it matters. “Thank you,” she whispers.
Tifa offers Aqua a warm smile when they’re alone. “That was a close one. You’re too prim for most people I know.”
“E-excuse me?” 
“You carry yourself a certain way.” She chuckles, nodding over to the way Aqua fumbles with her hands, properly layered over the other. “You know, Terra had dropped off something here.”
Aqua’s heart skips a beat. “My Keyblade?”
“Mmm, no.” Tifa eyes her curiously. “For you and Ventus. Some fruit from another world. I have it frozen in the back.”
“Oh.” She takes a moment to let the disappointment roll off, and focuses on the thoughtful gesture. “I’ll wait to have it - at least until Ven is with me.”
“Fair enough.” But as Tifa grabs a rag to start cleaning, she doesn’t follow through. Instead, she hangs her head and sniffs. “I only finished it yesterday.”
“Come again?”
“I had Terra on a rare potion to help him sleep. It kept him sane and in control.” She brings her head back up, wiping her eyes with her glove. “I didn’t have a second batch finished the last time he was here, so I told him to ration what he had left. I only finished it yesterday…”
“Did you know what was going on with him?”
“No,” Tifa says exasperatedly. “But I didn’t need an explanation. I saw it in his eyes. He was haunted by something very powerful.” She rests her head on the counter. “And I know someone who goes through the same. I wanted to help.”
Aqua traces at the grooves on the wood with her finger. “You kept him going. You helped him find me.” She doesn’t know if it’s true, but it’s a beautiful story for a person needing a prayer answered. 
Tifa inhales like she’s meditating, her tears silent and sparse. She wills a smile on her face, and Aqua has to admire that tenacity - she can’t do the same so smoothly. Leaning her elbows, Tifa studies Aqua, from the crown of her head to her chin. She’s looking for something beyond just her face, and while Aqua normally doesn’t feel discomfort in staring anyone down, she finds the emptiness of the bar stealing her glances. 
“I still have it,” Tifa says, “if you think it might be helpful.”
Does ‘Crazy Insomniac’ read well on the face? Aqua thinks grimly. “That won’t be necessary, but thank you.” 
Tifa nods, but she’s not approving. “Well, I’ll keep it safe just in case.” She settles her attention to a bar that needs to be wiped. “Terra stayed upstairs. It’s not the fanciest, but I try to make it comfortable. You’re welcome to stay as long as you need to.” 
She points to the back, beyond the kitchen, where a rickety staircase bends over the corner, just as narrow as it is steep. The railing wiggles as she leans on them, and the steps moan with every climb. The top is a dense wooden hallway only populated by two doors. The one closest to her to the right is a washroom, its tub cracked and tiny. 
The door farther from her is the bedroom, where every floorboard creaks. A small window twice the size of her head opens outward, looking over rooftops and watching dusk blend into night. The only table shelves three books, all with the titles worn out of their covers. Skimming through them, Aqua learns they’re romance novels. She lights the lantern by their side, burning it bright enough to ward away the shadows. 
The bed is short, even for Aqua - Terra’s legs would have dangled off of them, but knowing him, he wouldn’t have complained or even noticed. 
He had slept here. She only missed him by several days. 
Aqua breathes in the pillow, looking for him. It’s freshly cleaned and air-dried. 
“You’re not here,” she says out loud. She knows better than to expect different, but the words burn through her eyelids. 
She pulls both blue and orange Wayfinders out. 
Rolling Terra’s Wayfinder in her fingers, she layers it with hers, perfectly shaped and identical, except for the colors. Making them was supposed to tie a tether between them, a psychic link that lets him stay close. She focuses on that magic, praying for the sensation that he’s watching her, or a whiff of his scent, sandalwood and yeast, entering the room.
“Terra,” she calls. No one answers. She really failed with it.
Having bonds is supposed to brim a Keybearer’s heart with power. What if Xehanort’s beliefs are right? Aqua still has that bond to Terra, and all it’s doing right now is pinching her heart until it swells with an infection, crumbling it so that she has to scatter to keep it together. 
If bonds really do make the heart weaker rather than stronger, then Aqua doesn’t have a proper defense for her Master’s teachings. 
So Aqua stares at these Wayfinders until the busy noise of a crowd fills the room. Music plays downstairs. Some conversations are giddy and drunk, others are aggressive and drunk, but they blend into a chorus that performs without ever knowing she’s sitting a floor above them, thinking about all the existential magic that doesn’t make a difference in their lives. 
So Aqua watches the stars twinkle through the window, a gentle breeze coming in but not threatening enough to blow the lantern out. People dance - it reverberates on the walls. She considers going downstairs and joining the fun. She decides against it. With all the ruckus, Aqua can’t really say she’s alone.
And Aqua rejects Tifa when she knocks, offering a hot plate of food. Tifa leaves her with a small bowl of strawberries just in case, letting her know that Sora is looking for her. 
“I need rest,” Aqua says. “He’ll understand.”
Two hours after that, the night starts to quiet, its inhabitants straggling off for adventures. 
But there’s always a few left, chattering. Everyone needs someone to talk to.
“Terra,” she calls again. No answer. 
Maybe if she plays his music box, he’ll find a way to her. 
On his bed, she stares at the ceiling, the music box playing the song of the missing and the missed, the chatter downstairs peaceful, the lantern burning strong. 
Dozing off is like blinking, the hours nonexistent and the rest groggy and unfulfilled. 
It’s silent. The candle in the lantern is halfway through its life, the music box needs rewinding, and there’s not a voice or movement downstairs. Tifa doesn’t stay overnight, so Aqua is truly alone this time.
She rolls over, and contemplates reaching over for the music box. Both Wayfinders sit idly on the table, side by side.
Aqua inhales. She smells smoke.
The flame on the candle flickers black, suffocating all the light in the room. Aqua whimpers. 
Something grabs her from under, pulling her into the mattress as though a hole beneath her body is feeding.
“No!”
But there’s no one to hear her ripping the bedsheets or scratching the surface of the table as she fails to grip it. Eventually, her defiant cries are muffled by pillows and fabric, until she sinks, much like she’s done for years.
Aqua knows that to swim back up to the bed is futile. The Realm of Darkness must have waited for the right opportunity to bring her back to where she truly belongs... Or it was clever this entire time and really got her where it hurt the most. Being in the Realm of Light was too good to be true; it had to have been a dream, right? A Keyblade Master should have known better, should have anticipated the enemy’s movements.
She lands on nothingness. Her only choice is to choose a direction, but in a sea of black, it never matters.
No, something is different this time.
She whirls. Behind her is that girl in white, her blonde hair wrapped around her shoulder, smiling. Nothing smiles in the Realm of Darkness.
“Hello,” Aqua says. 
The girl nods in return, her glow intensifying. Then she disintegrates into a cluster of white, holy butterflies, fluttering away. 
“Wait!”
Through the nothing, Aqua chases the butterflies, and for a moment they’re too fast for her - if she loses sight of them, she’ll be stuck here forever again. She urges her legs to pick up speed no matter how it feels like she’s slogging through molasses; she’ll thank them for their service later with a real bath, as soon as she sees the Realm of Light again.
In the distance, the butterflies settle, illuminating a silhouette of a figure on the ground, one arm draped over one knee. 
Terra. He’s admiring the tiny wings across his arms and shoulders. There’s one nestled in his hair, but he doesn’t notice. Aqua’s footsteps don’t make noise, yet he looks up when she approaches.
His eyes are blue: A gorgeous, deep blue that Aqua used to say was like the river before she saw the ocean for the first time. She’s told him to try wearing the color. It would bring his eyes out more, but he’d scoff at her. 
“What are you doing here?” he asks. He stays still, not disturbing the butterflies. “Please tell me you’ve escaped.”
“Depends on where I am,” she says, sitting on her knees and giving him a smile. It widens without her permission, with every glance at his jawline, his brows, his nose, as though the darkness around them can’t hurt her anymore.
“This is…” He shrugs with his head. “My existence.”
This was his prison for twelve years? The Realm of Darkness at least gave her something to do. “There’s nothing here.”
“I suppose it suits me.”
She doesn’t like how defeated he sounds. “I did escape, Terra. Don’t worry.”
He smiles in the way a person does when they find their bed after a long, hard day. He doesn’t have breath: this vision of him is compensating with a sigh in the only way it could. “I’m glad,” he says, as though the relief is heavy on his shoulders. 
“And you? Are you safe?”
“As long as I sit here and do as I’m told, then sure. For the most part.” He has the gall to smirk. “He’s knocked out right now, actually.”
Aqua gapes. She never considered that Xehanort could sleep, or would even want to.
She should ask more pressing questions: something about Keyblade business, about the fate of the world, about Xehanort and Mickey, about Ven… But it’s the simple moments that she misses, that she wants to take back for a few seconds, to indulge in this dream before she has to play the Master. And it’s Terra, who always undoes her to a layer that no one else can see. He’s the only one who can. 
“Does he snore?” she whispers, the words slipping out naturally.
Terra lifts a brow. “The man who will destroy everything and everyone in the next Keyblade War does, in fact, snore.”
It’s like a usual night, when they’ve snuck together into a dark library past curfew. “That’s because it’s your body. You’re the one who snores.”
“Just a little.”
“Just enough.”
He smiles. The look of it punches Aqua in the gut, dragging her beating heart down along with it. It’s meant for her. It’s meant for his best friend, and dare she wish that it could mean something stronger and closer and more. She steals one precious, little moment to study the way it never stretches to his ears. Most who don’t know him would assume it’s because he’s shy, or too polite. But Terra’s just the type that prefers his smile to ignite his eyes. She’s daydreamed about it for many nights, but this is a tiny detail she’s forgotten, and the sight of it sends another crashing bolt.
He’s really here.
“Terra,” she croaks, “I’m so sorry.”
He falters. “What for?”
What for? She’s replayed all the words she threw at him in her mind, especially the last ones. Of course he’d take them to heart and never direct the blame back at her. Sweet Terra.
“For not believing you when you said you were going after the darkness. For accusing you of doing terrible things in other worlds.”
“Aqua.” He shakes his head, and the butterfly that dug itself into his hair flounces before it measures if it’s safe enough to land in the same spot. “I know what it’s like to be forced to choose between your best friend and your Master.”
“Still, I shouldn’t have told you - I shouldn’t have even insinuated that you would keep going astray and keep doing stupid things. It was cruel of me. It was senseless. Please forgive me.” 
He shakes his head again, and the butterfly opts to hover next to his ear this time. “I bet you counted on lecturing me all the way back home before we could go on as normal,” he says, brushing off any sign of hurt. “And I did do some stupid things. We couldn’t have known it would end that way, Aqua. There’s nothing to forgive. Everyone that’s important to me is now safe. I’ve made my peace.”
What is that supposed to mean? There’s no solace to be had if he’s not part of it. 
In a flash, Aqua reaches for him. He reciprocates with the same desperate attempt, all the butterflies now in an uproar, enveloping them. Their hands pass through each other, through air.
Aqua gasps. The only thing she’s grabbed is one solitary butterfly, fluttering its wings.
Terra stares at his hand in disbelief, a wave of self-willed reassurance passing over his face. “It’s okay.”
It’s not.
She’s about to say so when he whips his head to the left as though he’s hearing movement. She looks over: there’s nothing but empty, inky space.
“He’s waking up.” Terra scowls, his voice laced with the disgust of someone robbed, and the disappointment of someone faithless. “He’s very paranoid. He doesn’t like it if I talk or move too much.”
“Terra-”
“I don’t have much time.”
There’s a finality in his statement that Aqua chooses to ignore. “But Ven-”
He catches her gaze, his eyes urgent and commanding. “Ven is with Sora.”
Aqua snaps her eyes wide open at the wooden ceiling above her. The morning sun beams through the window. The lantern has been entirely spent. 
He never was here.
She jolts up, searching each corner for signs of him (though she knows better. She always knows better, and still she denies it). “No, Terra, please. I need my Keyblade.”
Silence. Tifa hasn’t arrived to start the day. Aqua’s Wayfinder sits alone at the table; Terra’s is on the floor. She must have knocked it over while she slept.
Throwing herself on her knees, Aqua holds his Wayfinder to her chest. She tries using it to feel for him, but even her heart won’t answer. “Come on, Terra, I still need to get to Ven.”
She won’t give in to despair. She won’t think about how she’ll never see him again; it’s just a reaction to the circumstances. She will continue to hold her chin high, continue to teach herself not to cry, continue to look forward. She knows better. Only when she’s sure she won’t fall apart does she relax, letting her head hang.
Something shines from the sunlight through the floorboards she’s sitting on. Aqua peers closer - it shines blue.
It’s desecration but she doesn’t care. Aqua nudges her fingers through the cracks, and it shifts. These floorboards aren’t well bolted, so it takes little effort to pull one out with a giant shriek. Then another. Then a third. Good thing she’s alone for now.
“Stormfall,” she gasps. Along with her armor, all kept together.
Her Keyblade is as familiar as an old friend who has waited for a visit for years, yet as alienating as clothes that no one believes used to fit. It’s much lighter than the Master’s Defender, much sleeker that it feels almost delicate, even though Aqua knows better. It’s sturdy, but groggy, as though it’s waking up from a decade-long slumber. It burns at the touch of her hand, slowly but surely recognizing who is holding it this time. It answers back; it’s home, and glad she’s returned.
She runs her hands down the blade, and traces the shapes of the key ridges at its end. At last, she hugs her Keyblade, and her heart remembers how beautifully the water glistens in the sunshine.
Within the hour, after she’s taken enough time for herself, Aqua will take one step forward onto solid ground.
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synnefo-nefeli · 4 years
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I’m a die hard Clerith shipper since 1997, you can’t change my mind but the one thing I won’t tolerate in FFVII aside from shipping wars, is anyone shitting on Tifa.
Don’t. You can like Clerith without hating Tifa. You can find other reasons to not to like Tifa as character, that isn’t “I don’t like her because she gets in the way of my ship”
Personally, Tifa isn’t one of my top tier FF characters, but I am not going to ignore how much of a badass and important person Tifa is to Cloud’s story.
People cite Aerith’s death and burial as the most important moment of FFVII, and yes it’s heartbreaking and an iconic scene. But you know what’s also an important scene?
Tifa in the lifestream with Cloud setting his memories straight. Tifa who up until this moment unbeknownst to the player, is aware that Cloud as he’s presented himself thus far *isnt* the Cloud he thinks he is. She’s been patiently going along with Cloud’s story trying to figure out *what happened* to him/ how he appeared in Midgar boasting of being a SOLDIER while clearly suffering from Mako poisoning/how will she ultimately break this story to him.
Think how hard it was for her to watch Cloud have ptsd episodes and not know how to ground him other than to say “it’s okay. Pull yourself together, let’s keep moving”, because she doesn’t know how or why Cloud is suffering.
But then they fall into the Lifestream together and Tifa helps Cloud sift through the memories warped and altered by the poisoning and Cloud’s severe PTSD.
Only Tifa could help Cloud here- she’s the only one on the Team who has known Cloud since they were young/understands Cloud’s motivations for wanting to become stronger in joining SOLDIER.
This part of the game is beautiful and emotional, and very ahead of it’s time in its portrayal and meta-discussion of PTSD; Cloud isn’t magically healed and back to normal, he never will be, be he’s reclaimed his identity enough that he can begin to heal. I’m replaying the original atm and the moment still holds and I’m hoping that the remake nails this moment. It’s as important and impactful to Cloud as a character as Aerith’s death.
Speaking of Aerith.  Aerith and Tifa become friends from the jump.  Aerith is so respectful of Tifa that twice she makes sure that she isn’t encroaching on Cloud and Tifa’s relationship. She asks Cloud if Tifa is his girlfriend, she reassures Tifa in Don Cornero’s Mansion that she’s not there to steal Cloud from her.  
And yeah, Aerith isn’t trying to steal Cloud or anything - she helped a cute buff guy recover from a fall, asked him for an escort because this time the Turks brought backup to capture her, and got swept up in the ensuing events.  
Hell, Aerith is ride or die for Tifa BEFORE THEY EVEN FORMALLY MEET EACH OTHER. Aerith sees Tifa being carted off to Wall Market and her “some bad shit’s about to happen to this woman if we don’t move NOW” senses go off.  
Cloud’s like “oh let me take you home first and I’ll get my teammates...” and Aerith’s like “YOU NAIVE FOOL? DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT HAPPENS TO CUTE GIRLS IN WALL MARKET? (tbh, considering how naive Cloud can be, I am going with ‘nope’.) WE GOTTA GO! QUICK GET INTO THIS SEXY DRESS BECAUSE MR. SOLDIER YOU’RE NOT COMING UP WITH A BETTER PLAN WE CAN WORK WITH!!” Aerith drives the entire plan to get into the Don’s mansion. She negotiates the dress, the wig, the makeup, EVERYTHING, to make sure that Cloud can pass as a women to come into the Mansion with her.  
Heck, Aerith was going to go into the mansion HERSELF to get Tifa when the guard was like “No dudes allowed.” The only reason they went looking for dresses in Cloud’s size, was because Cloud got all “No, I can’t let you go in there a lone if it’s as bad as you think it is”, (as if he hadn’t just spent the last day with this woman watching her completely kick ass in battle). So Aerith was like, “Fine, you wanna come with me? Get in the Silk Dress, Cloud” with the same energy as Shinji’s Dad.
And when Aerith gets captured, Tifa was like “WE GOTTA GO AND SAVE HER FROM SHINRA!” as well as protecting Aerith through the whole ShinRa office building mission when the groups had to split up.  So yeah, these two queens love and respect each other from the get-go, they put Cloud in his place, tease the shit out of him and Barret, probably had hair-braiding trains at camp, and support the hell out of each other . 
Also, as we see from the rest of FFVII and in AC, Tifa is devastated by her friend’s death and continues to grieve with Cloud.  Tifa is emotionally intelligent enough to see that Cloud’s grief and guilt over Aerith’s death is killing him, but also respects his need for space.  However, when she finds that he has Geostigma and has staying away from everyone so he can just waste away and die as some sort of penance for not being able to save Aerith and zack, she get’s PISSED at him. Tifa is instrumental in bringing Cloud back (again) to his senses.  Making him see, that he doesn’t only belong to himself, he belongs to their family, just as much as they belong to him. The love and fierce protection Cloud has for his family?  They have that for him and believe he’s more than worthy of that love. Tifa takes none of Cloud’s mopey and self-loathing bs, and sets him straight.
So if you think Tifa is only there for fan-service, an annoying bitch who is there to be jealous of Aerith, is there just to make a love triangle so SE can pander to fans on both sides, you clearly
a) didn’t play the games b) missed one of the best female relationships and examples of women supporting women in gaming c) missed how equally important both Aerith and Tifa are to Cloud in their own ways
IMO I see her and Cloud as platonic soulmates- kinda like Black Widow and Hawkeye- they have history, they have shared trauma from their childhoods and in the destruction of Nibelheim, they know what it’s like to grow up in a poor country town that’s been exploited by Shinra on so many levels from the natural resources to it’s culture of military indoctrination and idealization.
Yes, there was an innocent first love, but after certain events, to me- it’s moved beyond romantic attraction between them. They’re always going to be important to each other and in each other's lives.  
Their innocent first love to me, mirrors Zack and Aerith’s, but Aerith moved on and fell in love with Cloud. Yes, Cloud reminded her of Zack, she probably wanted to remain close to Cloud to get closure on what exactly happened to him. 
People often forget, Aerith *knows* Zack’s died and returned to the Lifestream in the way that she knew her adoptive mother’s husband had died before word reached them. When she has her awkward moment in Gongaga it’s not because she’s now realizing that he’s dead, she’s now realizing that these are Zack’s parents and they still don’t know what became of their son. Zack was scrambled into Cloud’s memories due to trauma and because Zack was someone Cloud looked up and was his ideal, combined with the fact that Zack was the only person talking to Cloud for 9 months as Zack carried his catatonic self back to Midgar. But Cloud didn’t *become* Zack, only Zack’s plans of becoming a mercenary and being a former SOLDIER were impressed upon him. If Cloud actually became Zack he would have been chipper, this energetic “I’m a hero!” all around good-guy hero Zack made himself out to be. The Cloud we first meet...isn’t- yes he thinks he’s a former SOLDIER turned merc, but he’s sardonic, arrogant, and too much of “tough guy/lone wolf”...he’s more like his child-like self who was made to feel like an outsider and wants to showoff how much cooler and stronger he’s become.  He didn’t find Aerith because Zack was some how possessing him.  Aerith and Cloud meeting was destiny, and their subsequent relationship is independent of their past histories with Zack. And if Aerith is interested in Cloud because she reminds him of Zack - well...the woman is allowed to have a type.
I digress.
Cloud was in love with Tifa in that - “hey! notice me! If I go off an become this awesome guy, I’ll be worthy of your attention” sort of way, that teens get.  He was a lonely kid, often bullied by the other children in the village (Tifa included), and probably didn’t know *why* he wanted Tifa’s attention- it was most likely Tifa had the most social capital among the kids. And despite her hot/cold treatment of him,Cloud who was desperate to prove himself, figured that if he somehow “won” Tifa’s attention, it would “show them”.  I am not saying that Cloud was using Tifa or didn’t care about her- he does love her. He blamed himself for not being strong enough to save her when she tried climb Mt. Nibel.  But you can’t ignore that his thirst to prove himself wasn’t wrapped up in his crush.  It’s your typical “become a hero, get the girl” idealization.  Cloud was 14 when he left Nibelheim for Shinra’s military. He was a child, just like Tifa, with a naive idea about how the world worked- and the world slapped them both in the face, HARD.  Relationships mature and change over time. Outside forces can and will shift your dynamics in how your relate to the people you love.  Sometimes your first crush, becomes one of your very best friends (happened to me personally so maybe this informs my take on Cloud and Tifa) because when you’re young you don’t understand that loving someone, outside of your nuclear family, isn’t only constrained to romance. This is what I believe happened to them. Cloud and Tifa had the quintessential school yard crush, and when they were reunited years later in Midgar, they still care deeply for each other in a different way than they did when they were 14 and 13.
But those are MY feelings, it’s how I play the game’s attraction mechanics; I am afforded to shape Cloud’s relationships as I, the gamer, see fit. I understand why Cloti shippers ship Cloud and Tifa, and they’re just as valid as Clerith, Zarith, Clack, etc.. but I’m a sucker for M/F platonic soulmates because there needs to be MORE of that in media. I rather Cloud and Tifa be platonic soul mates, co-parenting Marlene and Denzel with Barret, than Cloud “settling for Tifa because Aerith died”. which that explanation for Cloud x Tifa, often used by Clerith shippers, just undermines who Tifa is as a character and her’s and Cloud’s relationship.
But anyway, even though I don’t ship them and Tifa is not my #1 girl for VII, she is a vital character. She’s not there for fan-service.  She’s not there exclusively for a love triangle and to cause tension between Aerith and Cloud.  Tifa is VITAL to Cloud’s story, to the story of VII, to the planet of Gaia. You wouldn’t have VII’s core story without Tifa. And I will go to the mat for her just as hard as Aerith did when she saw Tifa in the cart bound for Wall Market.
So again: you may not ship her with Cloud, or she may not be your fave in VII, but in this house we forever respect the badass queen whose name is Tifa Lockhart
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terraxcloud · 3 years
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The “Promise” Scene
The “Promise” scene in the FF7 Remake is missing something, do you know what it was?
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There is NO shooting star in this version. Why did they do this? This is important since “The Midgar Blues”, the song sung in the bar at Wall Market mentions shooting stars while making it seem like it’s about Tifa.
However, this song states the phrase “I left my one true love behind”. Can you emphatically state with 100% confidence that Tifa is Cloud’s “one true love”? Why would it have taken over two decades!?
At the beginning of Terra Branford’s Dissidia story, there is a “Promise” tease that takes place under stars. The camera in this scene loves to pan up to show the stars. Onion Knight (FF3) states to Terra:
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Is there a character similar to Onion Knight in the FF7 Remake? Ever wonder why the orphan called Oates is named after food and always wants to do things without getting an adult’s help?
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During their first meeting Aerith compares him and Cloud as “Two peas in a pod”, a food pun. If Oates is symbolic of Onion Knight, then Cloud & Onion Knight are similar in some way, and they did work in tandem to protect Terra.
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Terra’s story in Dissidia IS Terra’s story from FF6, but it’s Terra’s CUT story. This cut childhood part of Terra’s (also called “Tina” in Japan)  story has served to become the backdrop of Tifa’s while Aerith got the adult part. This is why Terra/Tina became Aerith/Tifa - an earth-related name and a simple one-letter change. Tina is the “Eastern” name, Tifa is the “Eastern” protagonist. Terra is the “Western” name, Aerith is the “Western” protagonist (now you know why they didn’t keep “Aeris”, since it has nothing to do with “earth”).
The childhood part of Terra’s story was cut because the character she shared that scene with was also cut, which is the subject of the FF6 opera. Onion Knight in Terra’s Dissidia story appears to be playing the role of FF6′s cut main character’s childhood. This is why FF7 dwells heavily on Cloud’s childhood with Tifa even though it seems to have so little purpose at the end.
The FF6 Opera mentions stars and promises. The Japanese translation is the most notable~
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The beginning of FF7 starts with a lot of stars before Aerith appears, who’s design is rather similar to Celes’ as she was imitating Maria for the opera. Aerith then appears under the very obvious “LOVELESS” sign. Cloud then meets Aerith at Loveless Ave., since both have lost someone they loved.
“Aerith’s Theme” is very similar to Aria Di Mezzo Carattere, the theme of the FF6 Opera. Whenever you hear her theme (such as the ending) you’re hearing something very similar to the FF6 Opera. That doesn’t even touch Aerith’s well-known similarities to Terra!
Tell me...why is Cloud reminded about some old promise to save Tifa if the game focuses so much on Cloud saving Aerith? Would it not have worked better if Cloud promised to save/protect a person he doesn’t ignore? Aerith doesn’t seem to want that protection as much as a single date...and I don’t see how a martial artist needs protection as much as the mage who’s being chased by Shinra.
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So, who is the “real” Cloud (what type of story were they smoking)? In World of Final Fantasy, Cloud and Celes are forced to do an opera by Cid in the intervention “Operation Opera”. 
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Square-Enix themselves have hinted that Cloud is the hero in the opera, this is why the word “Hero” is repeated so often in relation to Cloud (& Zack & Snow [Snow & Lightning comes from Clouds, Squalls are made by Clouds] & Cloud w/ Hercules in Kingdom Hearts Coded/Re:Coded). It’s surprising that no one has noticed these things! 
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Do you see the rack of books on the table at the right of Cloud? That rack is a set of 6 plain Roman Numeral’ed books missing book “II” (it’s supposed to go from 1-7). We’ve found 5 places where these books are (including Jessie’s house, Aerith’s house, and the Shinra building). This is important detail, but you should look for them yourself first!
I believe the missing book “II” is hinting at the “Wild Rose” dream of Firion, since what else does Cloud have in common with FF2?
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But, really...
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“Oh my hero, so far away now, Will I ever see your smile?”
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“So gently, you touched my heart. I will be forever yours.”
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OH, but Jessie didn’t get the role of “Princess”! And look! The missing book “II” book rack is right in front of Cloud w/ a picture of a cat and the Sector 6 reactor! Those cat & reactor photos are also found in Aerith’s house by another book rack. Cloud sets Jessie’s note right there when he gets done with it.
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The real Princess is a mysterious one indeed~
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tsuburu · 5 years
Text
every clerith scene in the original ffvii
if i’m missing anything, let me know and i’ll add it
the initial meeting where cloud (canonically) buys a flower from aerith and it is stated later that he thought “she has impressive eyes” and that “if this smile only costs one gil, then it’s a good purchase.”
cloud falls through the sector five church and becomes aerith’s bodyguard (and agreeing to one date)
cloud saves aerith from reno & the turks
takes aerith (while flirting) BACK to her house, spends the night there, and tries leaving for 7th heaven (once again, cloud needs money to be paid, and considering they agreed for a date i highly doubt it’s because he holds affection towards tifa)
cloud has a dream in aerith’s house of his mother saying he “should have an older girlfriend, one that’ll take care of you [him].”
cloud & aerith go on a (canon) date in the park in the slums, but are interrupted by tifa (cloud seems extremely invested into knowing who aerith’s former boyfriend is, and this is common to see when you’re curious in potential partners)
cloud & aerith go to wallmarket and we have the cross-dressing cloud sequence (the fact that this is stressed even further in the remake with cloud’s reaction to seeing aerith in her dress is incredible)
cloud proceeds to disregard the fate of avalanche and its members to go rescue aerith in the shinra hq tower
marlene (canonically) states that “aerith was asking me a lot of questions! like what person cloud is! i think she likes you cloud!” to which the canon response given by cloud is “let’s hope so.”
barret remarks during an elevator ride that “there are times when even you will fight for others. i am impressed.” in reference to cloud rescuing aerith, putting others before himself which is something barret has never seen before.
cloud & aerith proceed to flirt IN FRONT OF TIFA through the walls of the shinra prison, seemingly “building their own world” before tifa’s eyes
cloud promises to aerith, who wants to take a ride in the highwind at least once, that he will take her.
during the first trip to gold saucer, during a fortune reading from cait sith, he states that “what you pursue will be yours, but you will lose something dear.” ie, cloud who is pursuing [aerith] romantically, will be “his” and will return great affection towards him. however, he will lose her [something dear] when she dies at the hands of sephiroth. this is excellent forshadowing and a great example of the “star-crossed loveds” trope clerith follows.
cloud & aerith have an interesting conversation in gongaga (though this is optional and only available if aerith is in your party, but this is when aerith is beginning to overcome her feelings for zack in exchange for cloud) in which aerith says “it’s all in the past now, it doesn’t matter.”
cloud tells aerith, who tells him she feels lonely as the last ancient, that “but I’m- I mean - we’re here for you right?” and has a classic romantic confession slip-up
cloud & aerith have a canon date at the gold saucer, in which aerith openly acknowledges cloud & zack are two separate people and will continue to love him despite the fact that he is different from zack. cloud also says that, after this, (though not in the og) that he knew aerith knew the real cloud before he himself did. their date is said to have ended “magically” in the “city of desire” (see this as you will)
cloud & aerith venture to the temple of the ancients where they receive one last fortune from cait sith, who gives them a wedding prediction, something that is non-optional and makes aerith’s fate “all the more tragic.” if tifa is in your party, she will be visibly upset by this.
cloud proceeds to lose himself in a mental breakdown, and aerith reassures and comforts him that “you did nothing wrong,” while holding him before he attacks her.
aerith appears to cloud in a dream in the sleeping forest and tells cloud “not to worry” about everything, saying she will take care of sephiroth so he can rest. she tells him she’ll be back when it’s all over, and cloud proceeds to try and run after her. this is the game-changing scene because as cloud has been protecting aerith as her bodyguard throughout the game, it is finally aerith’s turn to protect him. cloud is a symbol of “everything she [aerith] holds dear.”
cloud ventures to the city of the ancients to find aerith after being persuaded by the others because he is fearful he will have another breakdown. he wakes up in the middle of the night, saying that he can feel in his soul that aerith (and sephiroth) are there.
aerith is murdered by sephiroth, and cloud’s “heart shatters” and is in a fit of sadness and rage as he holds her on the alter. he says “the cycle of nature and your stupid plan don’t mean a thing, aerith is gone.” ie, nothing else matters to cloud at this point, including tifa, because aerith has died. he doesn’t know what to do about his pain. cloud is trembling and cries over her death.
cloud picks up aerith, and buries her in the lake outside the coral structure. he later says (though not in the og) that her death was “too sad” and he “couldn’t understand.”
in cosmo canyon after aerith’s death, bugenhagen says, “have you lost your way?” to cloud, and proceeds to say that “there is always something in the deepest reaches of our hearts” and asks him to think about “what he is searching for.” after a few moments, cloud says, “i remember aerith a lot.”
later, when they return to the city of the ancients to search for holy, cloud understands aerith’s sacrifice and apologizes to aerith for not understanding, telling her “i understand now. aerith...i’ll do the rest.” and the others around him have to correct it to “we”
when cloud falls into the lifestream, the old men remark that “he was very lucky” and that he [cloud] must have one powerful guardian angel watching over him.” this is interesting because in advent children, there is an angel statue cloud is seen looking at from the window at the new seventh heaven.
at the very end of the game, after defeating sephiroth, cloud proceeds to reach up towards a hand descending from the lifestream as aerith’s theme begins to play in the background. this is confirmed to be her [aerith] when SE stated that this scene was mimicked and done homage in advent children during the fight with bahamut.
as cloud understands that the promised land is a place full of supreme happiness, something he never believed in before he met aerith, he states that “an answer from the planet...the promised land...I think I can meet her there.” ie, cloud’s eternity is best served with aerith, his source of hope and happiness.
aerith’s importance as the main heroine and love interest of final fantasy vii is stressed thoroughly. aside from the secret ending with red xiii, she is the first and last thing you see in the game. she is the heroine with cloud that has gotten the amano artwork, the merchandise, the final fantasy 30th anniversary exhibit, and love from square enix since 1997. it is exceptionally stupid to say cloud merely had a romantic infatuation with aerith when she is “engraved into his heart for the rest of his life” and continues to state that his eternity is with her.
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Chapter Five of my dark Kairi story entitled “Swallow”.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/21456412/chapters/66099568
Falling
Sora's PoV:
"Come on, Yozora," Sora complained. as he grabbed onto his prison door and shook it with all his strength. "Don't lock me up, because you know I'm right in saying that… locking Stella in that box—no matter how she betrayed you is wrong—deep down, you know it's awful... because you're me."
And that must have meant something to Yozora, because he gave Sora something to eat then—to help stay conscious for once, in this awful place—and it was dropped at his feet.
It was a banana.
Kairi's PoV:
Kairi and Riku decided to go to Radiant Garden, to ask the Restoration Committee and Tron for help. But it left a bitter taste in Kairi's mouth to do so, because to her it was just pointing out to their friends that they hadn't found Sora yet, and that she had failed in another way.
So Kairi found herself leaving this to Riku—even if she would have loved to meet this non-corrupted version of a friend that Sora had loved so much: Tron—and took a moment to relax for the first time in ages.
As she did so, a kid named Ben—who she would learn the Restoration Committee had taken in—sat down and talked to her, as she dipped her toes in the fountain.
"…Kairi, I think that's your name… I'm sorry if I'm ruining your privacy, or whatever, but I'm Ben. And Radiant Garden's new leader, Leon, told me a little bit about your story with this 'Sora'… and how you now think he's in data world or something? …All I'm saying is don't bet on the wrong horse. I tried to recreate my mom, via this intelligent house that we had... and that was a disaster. Sometimes it's better to have a flawed reality, than to hold onto a scary dream."
If Kairi was being honest with herself here, she was spooked by this entire one-sided conversation. Though she did wonder if the gods of the different worlds had perhaps sent her this boy to her to give her advice...
She was about to ask him how a "mom" connected to an automated home—was that what she was getting here? could even exist to become a disaster, but Pip was having none of that.
"…Why would you tell Kairi that, to get her all scared and defeated?!" Pip demanded. And Kairi pet his fur in order to calm him down, as she contemplated and yet sent a small smile Ben's way.
And she was glad that Ben was holding his hands up defensively for Pip's anger. Because Kairi didn't want her new best friend to be mad at the child… even though she was sad he was kind of confronting her with her worst fears here.
"Hey, Miss. I just don't want anyone to say I didn't warn you. But it could work out. Like, even though we were fine without her… Pat's got her bugs worked out now, so sometimes she gives us chocolate chip pancakes!"
And that was all that a little kid would worry about, wasn't it? Kairi almost giggled at those words about pancakes… almost.
Instead, she decided to speak calmly to Ben and use some of his own terminology back at him. "Don't worry about it, 'Mister. 'Pip here is just a little protective of me, like he was with his mistress, Giselle, but I see that you only want to help me. Thank you."
Pip crossed his arms over his chest defensively here—because Kairi had bemoaned some of his efforts to coddle her heart?—but she knew he really didn't mean it, which she was glad for… because she still needed one friend in this world, after all.
Speaking of friends—or former friends—it was when Kairi was having these depressing thoughts and twiddling with her thumbs, that Riku finally returned.
"What did they all say?!" Kairi demanded, as she sprung to her feet and began assuming the worst. They're not mad we took some months off in looking for Sora, are they? …They really don't think I'd sacrifice him again so easily, do they?"
And Riku sent Kairi a small smile here, that was so much like their old bond, that Kairi could have cried. How she wished their connection was that strong again. And maybe they were getting somewhat close to it again, but…
"Relax, Kairi. Of course they're not upset with us… with you. And they're worried about the Master of Masters and his flunkies, but I told them we can handle it. They also told me what everyone else is doing, and I can tell ya if ya want. But most of all… Cid fixed our phones like we wanted him to... And I should have said this all when that kid wasn't here, huh?"
And this time, Kairi did have to laugh. It was a rare sight to see Riku flustered, but she definitely appreciated over the arrogant boy he had once been on the Islands. "This is Ben, Riku. He's cool. It sounds like he's in cahoots with the Restoration Committee. But on the subject of youth... did the Restoration Committee look any older to you? If so, we must have somehow traveled to the future when we were in the Caribbean. But if not… then we only moved ahead in time in that world, for some reason."
Overhead, a seagull was flying by… perhaps trying to see if there were some French fries nearby that it could eat. And for just a second, Kairi was taken back to Destiny Islands: the place where Sora had climbed a tree to get a seagull egg… and the place where many times—even though Kairi had enjoyed talking to Sora (she always would)—she didn't want to relish in his company if Riku wasn't with them. She missed those days…
"The Restoration Committee is the same age, Kairi. Don't worry." And again… Riku treated Kairi with such patience, that she hated him for it. She didn't deserve it…
But deciding that they probably should have these conversations away from Ben—just in case—Kairi and Riku bid their new friend goodbye and went back to Riku's gummi ship to discuss things more. Apparently, King Mickey had picked up Kairi's own ship from the Caribbean and had taken it back to Disney Castle. So, it seemed that she would be staying with Riku for a while…
Which was fine. More than fine, really. Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Cid, Cloud, and Tifa had missed seeing the guilt that she bore, and now she and Riku were safe to talk about Sora away from prying eyes.
"So, what are all of our other friends doing now, Riku? And don't spare me any gory details."
And Riku didn't, as he set the ship in auto-pilot and walked around to look at the stars. Kairi wondered if he imagined Sora in one of them like she did, but she thought he might also be picturing Naminé on one of them, too.
"Mickey, Donald, and Goofy are following Sora's lead and going to sleep… to try and find hints of him in their dreams, Terra, Ventus, and Aqua are taking on apprentices, thinking the next generation may hold the truth to finding him... Lea and Isa are looking for a friend that they lost, but think it might connect to Sora. And Roxas and Xion are apparently trying to going as high in the Ocean Between Worlds as they can, to see if they can see Sora from that vantage point… And Naminé's not doing anything… because she thinks you and Sora aren't together now because she tore you apart before."
Wow, her friends certainly had better ideas than she did. Kairi had no doubt that they'd find Sora before she could even dream of it—like usual—though she would still try… and her heart broke in hearing that the girl she thought of as a sister was blaming herself for something that wasn't her fault at all.
Kairi even thought about getting her gummi phone out, to demand that Naminé cut it out that instant… but she couldn't do it yet. No, the only pain she could think of at all anymore was her own. Because Sora, the light of their World, had died for her (again). And even if by miracle of miracle, they happened to save him… that would always be true, and she could never wash the blood off her hands.
Kairi could tell the question Riku was dying to ask her now, as he seemed to look at her with bated breath... what was it about him that now bothered her, that made her push him in a way that she never had before?
And Kairi would tell Riku one day, she promised herself now, and would attempt to make amends... just not now. Never now.
So instead, she changed this subject about their friends and feelings.
"Is your gummi phone picking up any data worlds now?" Kairi asked, being careful not to look at Riku, but rather at all of the parts of the gummi ship around her. The seats that Riku had in his own vessel here were jade, and Kairi loved that aesthetic choice, as they matched his eyes.
But somehow, even before he'd spoken Kairi knew that Riku would disappoint her. "...No. But I may be picking up something else."
Well, the "something else" was news to Kairi. She wasn't even sure they'd get that lucky. So she stood from her seat and peered at the gummi phone he held in his hand, as she took in what appeared to be some sort of jungle pictured there.
And Kairi grinned… she couldn't help it, even though these memories now hurt her. She recalled, after all, bits of when Sora had been in Deep Jungle. She thought he may have even fought about Donald on whether or not to go there… and in the end, Sora had made them crash so that he could look for her and Riku.
If they had to go to such a place to save him now—or at least get some kind of clue about him—Kairi thought that it was only fitting.
"Then full speed ahead, maestro!" Kairi encouraged Riku, whilst she pointed her Keyblade out towards the sky.
And for just a second, Kairi again felt like the girl who had built a raft with her friends, jumped off a balcony, and fought in a Keyblade War.
The first thing Kairi noticed when she and Riku eventually landed on the new world, was a strange fruit that she had never seen before.
And suddenly realizing just how ravenous she was, Kairi ate the yellow, C-shaped piece of food and even shared some of it with Pip.
"This is delicious!" Kairi sang, just as the flavors and textures really hit her taste buds for the first time.
But Riku seemed to be staying far away from it, though Kairi couldn't imagine why. He must have been as hungry as she was, if not hungrier since he was a growing guy.
"...Kairi, you know what that is. Right?" Riku asked, with some strange tone in his voice that she couldn't figure out for the life of her. "An aphrodisiac."
Truthfully, Kairi wasn't entirely sure what that was. She thought it had to do with romance and fruit together, somehow, but that was about all she knew. She may have been going to school some, while Sora and Riku had been out adventuring, but she hadn't always been paying attention in class… Not when she'd been worried sick about her missing friend and the boy she couldn't remember. "Aphrodisiac?" Kairi tested the word on her tongue. "Like the paopu fruit?"
"Err… You know what? Nevermind."
And here, Kairi couldn't help teasing Riku a little—as she felt some of her old self come to the surface again, just a tiny bit. "Riku, even if you're worried about falling in love or whatever—because you want to die an Old Maid, instead of getting married, I don't think this fruit is as strong as to make you propose to Naminé the next time you see her, or anything like that. So, c'mon! Give it a try!"
But, perhaps, Riku even did Kairi one better than that, when he saw a yellow coconut lying around that Kairi had missed and opened it and ate at the milk inside…
Right. Yellow coconuts… She had once ordered both Riku and Sora to find them for the raft. So were Riku and she finally becoming those fourteen-year-old kids together, then?
The two teens finished eating—eventually playing a game, where they told each other what they wished it was. Because they wanted meat right now more than anything—but then finished off and began walking again.
And before Kairi knew it, she and Riku were nearing a mountain that was very much shaped like an ape… Kairi probably would have told Riku something about it, if it that moment she hadn't seen something that caught her eye even more!
A lovely lady and an ape-like-man—not unlike Tarzan from Sora's time in Deep Jungle, that Kairi remembered from being particularly active in his heart there—were having dinner together, as a giant monkey (a gorilla? An ape?) talked to them and served them food!
There were even breathtaking twinkling lights around this treehouse… and even in the light of day, they took Kairi's breath away.
Everything about this scenario was just beautiful. To Kairi… as silly, and romance novel sounding as this thought in her head was becoming, it was like what her life could have been like with her mate, Sora, if things hadn't gone so horribly… As she knew that he had wanted to show her a magical world, too.
And so even though Kairi didn't know this couple at all, she couldn't help rooting for them… and she saw that Riku felt the same way, when he was quick to assure the woman that everything was fine, when she began to panic: "Oh, no! You're not with Lyle are you?! You don't think I've been taking hostage by a madman, who will try and steal my autonomy, will you?"
"Not to worry, ma'am... we're just here to see if this world—err, place—needs any help at all. And if it does, we're only too happy to aid it. I'm Riku, and this is Kairi."
Kairi was about to proudly tease Riku that he was acting like Sora again, as she smiled up at him, but just as she was about to, some other people entered the scene… At least one of which who looked like he might try and tear the lovers apart, if his look of outrage in seeing them together was anything to go by…
And then the one that Kairi had been worried about (and surely Riku, as well) was pulling a gun, and shooting at Ape-Man, just as the pretty girl cried, "Lyle, no!"
Guns… Kairi hated him. And she knew that Sora had come up with that same sentiment when he saw Clayton with one, and she could easily understand why.
Before it was too late, Kairi tried to jump in front of the lady's lover, but even with her warping ability she didn't make it in time!
And then there was a panic. Some of the dark-skinned men present were angrily pulling the shooter way, and insisting that he would have to go to prison for shooting another human… Meanwhile, the girl—and the ape who had been waiting on them—were worrying over the shooting victim. And Kairi and Riku were quickly there, too… Though they also wanted to give him some air.
Kairi thought about trying to use Curaga on the man, but she knew that wouldn't work. Cure spells always healed depleted energy more than anything else…
The woman was on her own phone, desperately trying to get service—whatever that was, Kairi thought—so people would come and give George (apparently that was the man's name) the medical treatment he so desperately needed… but the crying woman said that it would still take time, and George might not make it.
So, it was then that Kairi made a decision… because she'd seen too much like this in her lifetime, and had of course felt this way herself.
"We've already ruined the World Order in so many other worlds we've been in, Riku. What's one more? Let us help this man get the best medical treatment available."
Riku might have whispered something about the old Kairi being back then, but if he did she didn't completely hear it. No, she was too busy creating a Corridor of Light to get everyone where they needed to go faster.
But she didn't just leave it at that. Naturally, she walked up to her new friend and whispered gently in her ear, ""I know I'm probably just some crazy magical girl to you now, so who would believe me? …But if you walk through this path and think desperately of where you want to go as you do so, it'll take you there."
"Magic… after a talking monkey?" the woman with the slight accent—or was it lisp?—echoed back to Kairi, with a sort of unhinged quality in her voice. Kairi was about to question it. But, hey. Hadn't she been about the same when Sora had disappeared after using a Keyblade on his own heart, and Riku had seemed gone forever? "Why aren't I surprised? Thank you."
And so, the woman, Kairi, and Riku (who had stepped up to be the main one carrying George here) walked through the Light, and left everyone and everything else behind for the time being.
A pity, that, because looking back on it… Kairi thought she'd felt something of Sora when she'd bitten into that fruit.
But now was the time to be selfless again… to be the girl he surely loved: the Master of Masters had to be right.
Once they exited the path, Kairi found herself in an area that reminded her a lot of Giselle's world, oddly enough, which gave her the confidence to see this thing through… And she wondered if the two worlds of towering skyscrapers were once one, before the World had been split into parts.
Taking the brunt of George's weight herself now—as Riku seemed to be getting tired, and Kairi could hardly blame him—Kairi helped Ursula (introductions had been made on the three—four, counting George's—way here) get George into her apartment complex. And she thanked every god she could think of that they took the elevator to get to the penthouse, for even as a Keyblade wielder she didn't know if she could have carried George up all those flights of stairs.
Kairi laid George down on Ursula's bed, as the girl called for a doctor to stop by and see him… And it was as she did, that Kairi understood how rich Ursula was—even moreso than she had been as the mayor's daughter, because her family hadn't been able to afford to persuade doctors to make house calls—unless there were just different protocols here…
And it was at this point, that Riku seemed to get uncomfortable… as he seemed to shrink away from all the expensive things around him.
And Kairi wondered for the first time if her own wealth had used to make him uncomfortable… Even in their golden years, had they not been as close as she'd thought they'd been.
"Riku…"
But Kairi's best friend was interrupting her before she could finish her thought. "If you don't mind, I think I might go back to the place we just left and see how that Lyle's doing… There was something about him. I don't know."
Well, that made sense. If Riku thought there was something sinister about him, it made sense that Riku would want to investigate… even if Kairi herself felt called to stay here for whatever reason. "…Of course, Riku. But stay safe. We don't know what we might be up against in this world…"
Riku waved to Kairi as he was walking through his own Corridor of Light… though he didn't promise Kairi he'd be back soon, and she didn't tell him to come back as fast as she could. They weren't quite there yet, after all, and this knowledge made her impossibly sad.
Though Kairi tried to hide it, when she walked up to George and put a Cure spell onto him for good measure.
"Thank you," he told her—with a smile in his voice—as consciousness returned to him.
And Kairi couldn't help beaming herself—reminded, as always, of Sora—as she replied, "Of course."
Kairi then made a show of becoming the Invisible Girl, as doctors and Ursula worried over George. Though even in her solitude and loneliness at the moment, she couldn't help feeling grateful that Ursula had yet to ask what she was… or any other fair question like that.
Kairi wondered how she would even answer that. As the physicians performed their magic, Kairi went outside and did her own—fighting the tiny shoe-like Heartless that she could find if she looked hard enough, though it was clear that this world didn't have much darkness in it… yet—but the whole time she did, she couldn't help feeling like she was the real monster here.
'Sora… If you can somehow sense me, and sending me these alerts about your presence… does that mean you can see the new me and think I'm someone worth something? Or are you blinded by your love for the old me, and are blind as a bat?'
The last group of Heartless that Kairi fought, ganged up on her and tried to grab her by her leg and pull her away… And while Kairi would say she'd had to stab at her thigh to get rid of them all, the truth was that she had wanted to cut herself for some sort of relief.
And it was exactly for that reason, that she was able to return to Ursula acting sane… as ironic as that was.
"Thank you for helping him, for helping us!" Ursula exclaimed, the moment that she saw Kairi again—as she took her hands in hers, and Kairi was reminded of her friendships with Selphie, Olette, Naminé, Xion, Aqua, Giselle, and Carina… the friendship between girls. How she'd been missing it. And maybe it was exactly what she needed to get out of her funk… or so she hoped. "Gosh, I barely even know you, but you've been a truer friend to me than you had any right to be! Know that if you ever need anything—anything!—and if it's in my power to get it for you, I will… Though I'm afraid I have to ask you one more thing… do you think you could stay with George some? At least until he completely heals?"
"Of course!" Kairi readily agreed. But she wondered if it was not her voice speaking, but Sora's… for didn't she have better things to do—like finding Sora—if this world panned out to mean nothing?
But still… Kairi couldn't turn down someone who needed her, could she? What kind of Princess of Heart would she be, if she did? …If she was even still that at all.
"I'm sure you must have a job and stuff. And this city… must be culture shock to George. I'll keep an eye on him as best I can."
Ursula laid a hand on Kairi's shoulder then—in what she could only presume was thanks—and if things had been different… Kairi might have been happier than she'd ever been.
After that—while Kairi and Ursula both kept an eye on George for the time being—Ursula and Kairi ended up playing a game with apple cider (because Kairi still didn't quite drink, thank you very much), where they took a swig from their drink every time one of them said something awful the other had had to go through for being born into the world with certain advantages.
And though George didn't seem to be able to understand a lot of what they were talking about, as they talked (and Kairi feared that he might somehow be getting hammered on the cider), he seemed to be having as much fun as they were… which Kairi was glad for, because she was charmed by her new friend and wanted him to enjoy life. Yes, that was true.
But through their game, Kairi recalled just how many creepy guys had hit on her just for being the mayor's daughter… and how she had one had to defend her virginity with a hairbrush, when Sora and Riku had been away… She pondered if Sora and Riku (saviors of the galaxy) would be impressed by her achievement there or not.
Kairi knew that she herself wasn't. As always, she should have been better and stronger… and done more, so she'd never been in that situation to begin with. Or really incapacitated him in a form of revenge.
…But none of that mattered now. Happy game time was over, and it was now bedtime.
But as Kairi slept… she dreamed. Dreamed of things that she got the sense were supposed to happen in this world, in a few days' time, but that she was somehow seeing now.
She saw Ursula going to her own engagement party—oh. She'd been engaged to that Lyle guy?—and instead falling for George, as he ran with the horses… She witnessed George saving someone from falling from a ridiculous height… And Ursula realizing she loved George and admitting it to her mother…
And then… and then the softest waves all about her, and suddenly a Foreteller. Kairi ran towards that Foreteller, standing on a single stone in a roaring sea now… and then seemed to teleport there.
Before Kairi's very eyes, was a girl in gorgeous rose-colored robes, that the princess herself wished she had. And while Kairi wanted to attack her—because that was just the norm now in dealing with what might as well have been this new Organization XIII, wasn't it?—Kairi found her heart resisting that notion now, for whatever reason.
And instead, in the softest voice she'd ever used with one of her enemies, Kairi asked with a hand held under her chin, "What do you want? What does your Master want? Please tell me."
And thankfully, this woman-with a very sweet voice, Kairi would come to see—thought it appropriate to answer her, as she herself glided closer to Kairi. "It's good that you somewhat separated me from the Master with that question. Because my wants and his don't exactly line up. For a time, the only ally I had was myself... And I wish it could have stayed that way. But now, I find I'm reluctantly on his side again. Since, despite everything, he is still my father."
Of course… even though Kairi could try to sympathize with this lady here—and her heart was screaming at her to—this made her furious, because no matter what… right was still right.
But then again, maybe she only thought that because she'd never had to choose before. All the stars twinkling around Kairi now seemed to call her a liar. Because the truth was… if she had to choose between the World and her adopted father or her grandmother… would she choose as Sora did? Kairi honestly wasn't sure anymore.
Thankfully, the small Foreteller missed Kairi's moral dilemma here and carried on with what she had been saying… and Kairi was thrilled. It wouldn't do to let the enemy know they had a faltering Princess of Heart on their hands, after all.
"But as for what the Master wants... I won't say all of it—because I don't want to fully ruin his plans. Some of his ideas are good—but more than anything, he desires unity. Since he knows what being without it has caused."
Kairi wanted to argue that the history books from the Islands told her that when most people started wanting this kind of thing, it always led to bloodshed… but she didn't.
Instead, Kairi was focused on the pastel pink Keyblade that was now pointed at her chin. There was something about this Keyblade that reminded Kairi of her own, Destiny's Embrace, but she couldn't imagine why… because they weren't that similar.
She also couldn't understand why the girl was aiming her Keyblade at her now, when until now she'd mostly seemed the pacifist… unless she was trying to show her something now. But whatever that was, Kairi could only begin to imagine. So, she thought she might tell this stranger something instead.
"I think you had the right of it before… going against your dad if he's planning some evil things, is the right thing to do. It's like how I couldn't fully forgive my friend Riku for some of the awful things he did, even if it was for my sake."
And that was a truth she'd never admitted to anyone before. Barely even herself. So why was she saying such things now?
The woman smiled sadly at this. She then leaned in and kissed Kairi on the cheek, entirely shocking her. And Kairi felt Pip come out of her hood here—to try and defend her honor, perhaps—but the woman swiftly showed that she wasn't aiming for anything crooked here, as she whispered into Kairi's ear. "Time heals all wounds, don't you think? You should let that go, Kairi. Listen to Ava."
And Kairi woke up to see George standing before her, with bruises all over his body—clearly from exertion—and it seemed to her that he must have already saved the man she'd seen briefly in her dream.
At first, Kairi wanted to believe that she'd just somehow had psychic visions here—even though that would have been scary in its own right—but it was when Kairi started reliving some of the things that she'd dreamt about, that she realized that some sort of time travel was in effect here: because even Ursula would sometimes turn to her, as though she was having déjà vu.
Right now, Kairi was at Ursula's engagement party—something she was enjoying, because it felt good to take a break from the doom and gloom and having to worry about the World's safety again—and she was watching George run with white horses, alongside Ursula and her friends.
…George looked attractive while doing this. And if her heart didn't belong to Sora, she might have been moved by it. So, she certainly understood why everyone else was.
But Kairi soon found that it was George's kindness more than anything, that was moving Ursula—as he walked over to them and explained, "I just thought the horsies here might get bored, if no one played with them."
So, he hadn't been doing that to be manipulative and look powerful. Really, Kairi knew she should have supposed that that was the truth. But with how she'd been abused so much by men in the Organization—and now the Master of Masters—she sometimes forgot that there were decent ones out there.
"Someone named Yozora is also awful," Ursula said to Kairi then—as if she'd read Kairi's mind—whilst she ruffled George's hair. But she'd spoken that as if she'd been in a trance.
And Kairi was completely baffled by this, because she was starting to understand that this "New York" didn't have many sounding names like that, if any. So, who was this Yozora… and why had Ursula felt the need to speak of him?
Was that what she was supposed to find out here, that was connected to Sora? The name sounded like Sora's, that was for sure. And as she whispered it now… Kairi almost felt as though she was saying Sora's name, like sometimes she thought of herself when she heard "Naminé" now.
But this discussion of Yozora was swiftly forgotten about, when Ursula's mother—who seemed off to Kairi—came outside to have a private word with George.
And somehow, Kairi wasn't surprised at all when George was gone the next day, having left again for Bukuvu to save Ape.
"This just reeks of my mother! I know she did this!" Ursula fumed, as she paced back and forth in her bedroom.
And Kairi told her the honest truth, as she laid down on the bed and wished to sleep… She'd been wanting to sleep a lot since coming to this world. And while Kairi wanted to believe it was because of a spell that Ava was perhaps putting on her, she knew it was really because she was depressed. "…She probably did… As silly as it is to say this, I figure she did because this is the plot in so many books and movies. And you have everything here… I can understand why your parents would be leery of you throwing that away. Mine would probably behave the same way… though they may not have strong-armed someone like George so much."
Honestly, Kairi missed George—well, as much as her heart could miss anyone who wasn't Sora—since last night, she'd planned on trying to show George some slides of modern things, like Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jane had shown Tarzan… though she'd near instantly learned that George didn't need them. He'd been very thankful of her efforts, however.
"I'm going to go have a word with her!" Ursula bellowed. "And then you and I are going back to George's home, and are going to help him heal his surrogate father! …And if your friend really went back there for Lyle, we're going to help him get over his crush on him, too!"
"Wait… what?!" Kairi demanded. But Ursula didn't clarify what she meant by that. Instead, she was going to the room that her parents were staying at here after the engagement party had ended late.
Just a few rooms away, Kairi could hear Ursula's mother unintentionally making her daughter realize she was in love with George (just like in her dream), and the two of them arguing about it… but Kairi couldn't focus on that right now.
Did Ursula really think that Riku had somehow gained feelings for Lyle?! Now that she made herself think about it, perhaps Riku had had feelings for Sora for some time—man, did they ever need to talk, if that was true—so if Lyle somehow reminded him of Sora… then maybe.
But Lyle seemed like a vile person, so if Kairi had to save Riku's heart from being broken by him, she would!
Kairi was walking towards where Ursula and her mom were still yelling at each other—to insist that they leave now, if they could—when Kairi bumped into Ursula's dad: she'd met him the night before.
And he seemed to be much more level-headed about his daughter's feelings than her mother was. "I support whatever decision makes Ursula happy, of course," he started as he saw Kairi. "But do you really think this is the best decision for her to make?"
And Kairi grinned, somehow reminded of her decision to do everything she could for Naminé and to give her the chance to live to the best of her ability. "Just… love your daughter. Love is the reason we're here, after all."
Kairi then approached the room that Ursula was in, grabbed her arm—because it looked like she was ready to leave anyway—and whisked her away.
This time around, Kairi agreed to fly on Ursula's private jet to get to George and Riku. As this time, she didn't think they were in too much trouble. Ape seemed to be, but hopefully George was already taken good care of him.
But even if she didn't feel much like a Princess of Heart anymore, she had a duty to the worlds and the World Order, so it was probably best to not screw with it once more in this world.
She supposed she was also somewhat doing this to try and stick it to the Master of Masters some. Because if he wanted unity… maybe he wanted the worlds to know about each other again. In which case, she wasn't going to give the evil man what he wanted… how she hated him.
Pip thought that Kairi was being reckless, too. He came out and talked to her while they were flying back to the much more flora-filled part of this world. He had seen her cut herself, and since then he'd kept quiet to see what she would do next… and he wasn't impressed with some of the choices she'd been making.
And here, Kairi couldn't help but sigh and to try and hide behind her hair some. Great. Now even her knew best friend hated her.
At was at this point that Kairi escaped to fight some Shadows that were on the jet—thankfully, Ursula was completely missing them as she flew—and as she swung each one, she couldn't help being terrified that they were actually drawn to the darkness in her heart, if there was some there. A troubling thought, indeed.
As was the situation Kairi and Ursula walked into when they made it back to the tree house. Some poachers were trying to take Ape with them, in having learned that he could talk—clearly, they had never seen other anthropomorphic beings before—and George was trying to stop them, of course, and Riku, too… Something that made Kairi's heart sing, because it reminded her of Sora.
But then it all went into Hell in a handbasket, as it would have. "You have got to be kidding me!" Ursula was complaining now. "Lyle, they let you out of prison. Or did you escape?"
And before Kairi could blink, he had darted over and grabbed Ursula with a gun pointed to her cheek. "I am now certified to perform wedding ceremonies, Ursula. And we're going to get married. I have our vows right here."
"Ursula!" George called. And it was clear to see that he was torn between saving his father or the love of his life.
Kairi would have tried to rescue Ursula—and Riku too, she was sure—if at that second, the poachers hadn't sent their own bullets flying at everyone.
As time seemed to slow down to a crawl, Kairi did her best to deflect them all with her Keyblade. And Riku was doing the same thing ...which was enough for the poachers to give up and run away, as they witnessed the two's powers…
But while Kairi didn't think that the thieves were working with Lyle, what they had done was the perfect opportunity to take off with Ursula.
Riku pounded his fist on the ground angrily here. And as pathetic as it was to say, Kairi was completely at a loss on how to comfort him. Maybe because she wasn't entirely sure where his emotions were at here. "Dangit. I thought he was a little like me—and had gotten on the right track, but could be saved—…I was wrong."
"If your choice of action was to try and be someone's hero here, you couldn't have been wrong, friend. In fact, I know what I have to do now," George said, while he patted Riku on the shoulder before heading off in the direction that Lyle had taken Ursula, with Ape right behind him.
"Riku… we need to talk now," Kairi told her friend, as she helped him to his feet. The mulch he'd been sitting on had stained Riku's jeans a slight brown color, that wasn't completely unlike Sora's hair color. Kairi swallowed. "You love Sora, don't you? You seem to think I pushed you away… but you've done that to me, too. Is this why? And what? You wanted to help Lyle because he reminded you of him?"
Riku glared at Kairi. And for the first time she could remember, she found herself almost being afraid of him—and had to take a step back—but the look dissipated just like that, and instead a single tear fell from his eye. "Yeah, Kairi… I do love Sora. Or did. I don't know. I do have some feelings for Naminé now, as you've noticed. I also used to like you… And I wanted to help Lyle, partly because I thought he was like me. But there was a bit of Sora, too… Lyle exudes a gay energy. And I'm sorry… You know I think Sora's completely straight in his love for you, but you've got to admit that he's the same that way. But that failed. So I failed again. But oh well.
"But since we're talking about painful topics here… do you mind telling me what. I did to piss you off so much?"
Kairi did not want to answer this. But she supposed she had no choice, since she had just forced Riku to talk about such painful things.
She wanted to use the excuse that they needed to save Ursula, so she wouldn't have to talk about it… even though Kairi knew in her heart of hearts, that she would be fine. But she didn't, in knowing that she owed Riku and their old bond more than that.
"Riku… you were willing to kill for me. Pinocchio, for instance… You also didn't care what was going to happen to the worlds through Maleficent's plan—and your helping her—as long as it got you me… You also kidnapped Princesses of Heart. But I'm going to shut up now, because I swear I'm not here to read you all your sins. Especially since I probably have you beaten in that category these days. And while I appreciate that you were trying to do that to save me. I also hate that you would have made me an accessory to murder that way. At least I did… And maybe I was somewhat jealous of all the time that you got to spend with Sora lately, that I didn't. I don't know."
Kairi crossed her arms over her chest here, feeling very uncomfortable. She was even about to go hide in the treehouse, if she needed to. But Riku startled her just as Ava had, when he was suddenly before her and kissed her on the cheek—but almost on the lips, and maybe that had even been his intention—and somehow, she thought everything that had just happened between them was exactly what had needed to transpire to make them good with each other again.
"There, Kairi. Was us treating each other siblings again really that hard?"
Kairi laughed. Because even though she got where Riku was coming from—he had only kissed her cheek, after the two of them had spilled their hearts out about their romantic love for Sora, essentially—siblings didn't almost kiss each other on the lips… and not after they admitted they'd once had feelings for each other. And yes, Kairi had had feelings for Riku for a hot second, long ago. So this probably was the perfect closure that they'd needed.
"No, Riku. I guess it wasn't."
And feeling as though he was the wing beneath her wings, Kairi glided towards a waterfall nearby, where it looked like Lyle still had Ursula kept hostage. And she landed on the boat to free her from it… only to realize that George had Ursula in his arms on the cliff above them, and Lyle had just said his vows to Ape, who was now kissing him.
Her work here was done… Kairi let herself fall back into the water, and float away—feeling completely blissed out for the moment.
Things happened pretty fast after that. George and Ursula were getting married, of course… and they were doing so here.
Ursula's family—and maybe even her friends—were flying out to witness it. And Kairi and Riku decided to stay for it, after they were asked to.
And Kairi agreed pretty easily. She knew, not that long ago, she'd somewhat regretted staying in the Caribbean so long, when Sora needed them. And she'd even been afraid that the Restoration Committee would hate her for that choice. But now she realized just how self-absorbed that sentiment had been. This was all part of the journey to find Sora, after all. So, of course, she would stay for her new friends on their day. How often had Sora got distracted on his adventures?
So, a few days later, everyone was having a grand old time. Kairi was even nearly convincing Ursula's mother to give the pair a chance… though the alcohol she was encouraging the older woman to drink might have been a large part of that.
Speaking of, RIku—who said he was almost eighteen now—had decided to try some champagne, and had quickly fallen in love. He was even offering to sing a song for the married couple now, so Kairi knew he must have been a little tipsy.
But of course, when things would start to feel alright again… they would all fall to pieces.
Kairi saw the Master of Masters standing a ways away from her now—in a more secluded part of the forest—and Kairi found herself going to him, as if she were a puppet on a string.
"Have you again taken a break from looking for Sora? You disappoint me, Kairi."
Kairi summoned her Keyblade to hand, but it was different from Destiny's Embrace this time as she'd put a Keychain on it. A Keychain from this world, that turned the teeth into a groom and bride from a wedding cake: probably because there had been so much romance here.
"Yeah, well… I'm sorry to disappoint. Actually, I'm not. I will find Sora—though I don't know why you would want me to, since he's your enemy who will undo all your plans—but I'm not going to lose myself to do it. Not when you apparently want me to be angry for some reason."
"…Even though, more than once, he's completely lost himself for you."
And despite everything that Kairi had just promised herself, she found herself attacking the Master of Masters for this, as she screamed.
No doubt, she was inviting a lot of attention her way—on George and Ursula's happiest of days—but she hoped that no one would come after her… that the music would drown this out, because they all deserved to be happy. She would deal with this mess herself.
He summoned Xehanort's disgusting Keyblade, because of course he did, and sent an "X" bathed in fire her way, but Kairi was quick to jump over it.
She then sent her light Pearl attack—though actually created from real pearls: an impressive technique that she'd recently taught herself—at the Master's face, but he dodged by doing a backflip out of the way.
Once the man was on his feet again, he kicked at Kairi's legs and she was ashamed to admit that he actually knocked her down.
He had his Keyblade poised over her head then, but before he could decapitate her with it—or whatever he might have planned to do—Kairi grabbed his arm with all her strength, so he couldn't move it. Much like Xion had done to save Axel from Xemnas' ethereal blades.
"Why are you even here?!" Kairi growled. "You already sent your Ava after me here. I thought only one minion per world would bother me."
"…Because this isn't some perfect little story, Kairi. Haven't you figured that out yet?"
And before Kairi could react, the man slammed his Keyblade down on the pressure point of her neck so that she passed out… And when she woke up, she found he hadn't done anything to her. Hadn't kidnapped her, as a Princess of Heart, to further his goals or anything. And somehow… that was the biggest insult of all.
What? Had he beaten her in a fight just to humiliate her?
And as Kairi became furious at that notion, she expected her insanity to come back in full-swing… but it didn't. Kairi's mind felt sane. And that horrified her more than anything. Would her new strength be gone if her mind worked right again?
In her hoodie, Pip had laid his paws on Kairi's shoulder—clearly trying to keep her from going over the edge—but she didn't want him to be.
She wanted to fall… in this happy world, or no.
Author's Note: This chapter gave me fits, so that's why it took me so long to finish and post. I'm sorry about that:(
I always wanted this world in here. Partly because, so far, the worlds Kairi have gone to are somewhat similar to Sora's ones from KH1. Enchanted was two worlds (Andalasia and New York) like Wonderland is (Wonderland and England), the Pirates of the Caribbean movies are full of Greek mythology like Hercules is. And now George of the Jungle is clearly a lot like Deep Jungle/Tarzan.
But then when I decided that Kairi and Riku would believe that Sora is in a data world… I didn't know if this would fit, because would it still seem like filler? I thought about skipping this world altogether, but in the end I'm glad I didn't. And I hope you all feel the same way, too.
Another issue I had, is that this movie is mostly comedic and this story… is not. Hopefully I struck some sort of balance here, but IDK.
I almost feel like there should have been more dialogue and stuff from the George of the Jungle characters here—and more George—but whatever. This chapter is finally done, and I'm glad about it.
…I feel like there was a lot I wanted to say here, but now I kind of forget. If I remember, I might add on.
Ben is from the Disney Channel Original Movie "Smart House". Originally, I was going to have FFX-2!Yuna to somewhat beware Kairi of chasing dreams… but then I realized that that didn't work for obvious reasons, so Ben it became.
Oh. And since Re:Mind isn't canon to this story, I tried to have everyone looking for Sora in ways that they aren't in canon… though Mickey, Donald, and Goofy are doing what Kairi is in Melody of Memory. Haha.
And I'm sorry if there are a ton of mistakes here (though hopefully there aren't). I rewrote most of this… and am too lazy to go back and reread those sections. So, yeah.
Welp, see you all soon. I hope.
I hope everyone's having a great October thus far!
Edit: I'm also going with that Destiny Islands didn't have bananas here. So shh.
Edit 2: I swear there isn't going to be a lot of time travel in this, if any more at all. It was only "there" last time-though not even that-because I wanted Kairi and Riku to be in Dead Men Tell No Tales. And while it's sooooooooooooooooomewhat story important here, I mostly did it to try and spice up this comedic movie some. Yeah.
Edit 3: Kairi defending her virginity with a hairbrush is a reference to sunflowerb on fanfiction's amazing "Smile and Nod" story.
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legacyfragmented · 5 years
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The people hath spoken. Time for me to just wordspew, I suppose. Forgive the gob if I do go on.
                 I. ZACK FAIR
         This is where we start, because this man will always be one of the greatest friends and mentors to Cloud, that he has ever had. Keep in mind that these are my thoughts and interpretation. They may differ from your own, and that IS ok.
         Cloud had a dream when he entered ShinRa and sought the coveted position as a member of SOLDIER. It was more than any ‘ Sephiroth is so cool, I want to be like him ! ’ type deal. More than his promise to Tifa that he would become a hero and save her, if she ever needed it. It was based off the fact that he wanted to prove his worth, to himself and everyone else. That he could mean something, BE something.          Be something more than the angry kid with no dad, who got into tussles and kept to himself.          His lack of progress in entering SOLDIER after he set out to Midgar was. . . a blow. It was. && though he was determined to rise up, make a name, it was a difficult task to manage.
             && then he met Zack.
         Due to Cloud being ostracised by his peers, he had never truly had a friend before. Even though he cared deeply for Tifa ( whichever way you spin it, he cared about her and her opinion. ) they had never gotten the chance to be close as kids or teens. But Zack and Cloud instantly connected over their “ backwater ” backgrounds and from there, a friendship took root.          Zack who took up Angeal's role of the mentor, the heart and soul of SOLDIER's pride. Zack who took Cloud under his wing as Angeal had done him. He believed in him. && that was something he had never really had before, either. Sure, yes, his mother knew he was brilliant, but that's his mother. A woman who had only her son left once her husband died, who worried about Cloud going off to chase his dreams on a whole other continent.          Cloud admired Zack's attitude and spirit. As Zack saw the potential in him, HE saw the hero in HIM. && unlike Sephiroth, an unknowable and untouchable force, Zack was there, telling him to ' hang in there ' on his dreams of SOLDIER. Giving him a hope that he scarcely felt before, and being an encouraging presence overall. I mean, he picked Cloud out of a lineup of Infantrymen and everythin'. Zack was a bruhv.
         That's all without mentioning how fraggin' hard he fought to protect a Mako-Poisoned Cloud on their journey from the Nibelheim ShinRa Mansion to just outside Midgar. That could be a post of it's own, but I shall save the space.
         Instead, let's jump right on those last hour or two. In the back of that lorry, Zack laid out a grand plan for the two of them. Mercenaries, they would be. Boring stuff, dangerous stuff. . . as long as the pay was right ! Poor Cloud though. Addled, dazed. He soaked it all up, though. Every word, including the need for money, how the price need be right. He took all that, as the Buster Sword was passed into his hands and Zack began to drift into the lifestream, and his fragmented mind twisted it as it did his memories. It was unavoidable, as in that state he was susceptible, and Zack was the person he trusted most after all that happened. Of course he latched onto that          Zack's death, I feel, was the final straw for what stability he had. Such that when he regained his bearings, he would not recall him or their friendship.          When he did though, he wasn't given much time to grieve proper, as he should have had ( and as Aerith should have been able to as well !!! ) as there was still the Planet to save and Sephiroth to defeat. Afterward, when they were left with the pieces to pick up and a world ravaged by the tyrants that once held their lives in but a palm. . . Cloud attempted to finally make good on Zack's dying words. To be his living legacy and live for them both. To live with honour.          But that was difficult. He had almost half a decade of his life taken from him and lost himself for months after he finally regained his freedom. In a way. . . he didn't know how to live in a world where he wasn't fighting for his life. && that too is a whole other post I WILL BE MAKING.
         Left with a mountain of guilt on his shoulders and people who loved him, but who he could not relate to as they moved on and he didn't, it was easy for Geostigma to alienate him all the more. He was dying, how could he carry on his best friend's name?
         Now we get to the scene which inspired this particular post.
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         Listen when I say seeing Zack made me cry like mad. . . && still does.
         But to Cloud, it was most definitely so much more. Zack, who he had never been able to properly tell goodbye, to thank for all that he had done. For his friendship and unwavering faith. . . standing right behind him, as Aerith had hours before. Even in the afterlife, Zack had his back.          I'll address this in my post about her too ( look at me, planning ahead like a loon as if I won't take ages to do that. ) but Cloud didn't turn around for several reasons, but of course the two most important were that he was afraid––certain, even--that he would disappear like the spector of the past he was. &&. . . because he felt he failed to hold to their agreement. Sure, he became a mercenary and even, to some, a hero. . . but he didn't live or protect Aerith as was asked of him.          But it's undeniable that having Zack there to encourage him, as he always had, gave him the necessary boost to defeat Sephiroth's remnant once more. Not just that he could do it though, but that he knew that he could do it. Zack helped as much as the rest of AVALANCHE did when they boosted Cloud for the fight earlier against Bahamut SIN.          Then later, seeing Zack standing there ( looking all cool, the goof ) with Aerith. . . it helped too. To see him. And when they walked away, he felt like he finally had some sense of peace. They were alright. . . && they didn't blame him for things that he was now accepting were out of his hands. It was what he needed, really. A push only they could give, for him to forgive himself and truly start to live up to his promise.
         That. . . that is what my Cloud is doing. He's living for Zack, for Aerith. . . and even for himself. Maybe not as much as he should yet but, every step counts. Oh, he has his times. There's no way you come back from all that without having as many bad days as good, especially as you heal. && that. . . that too is something he's attempting. To heal. His mind is healed, Tifa say to that, but his heart and soul have yet to seal the cracks up and put up some plasters on the wounds he's been licking for years. But he knows he isn't alone now. He knows he needs to settle into something real, to put the sword down ( but always keep it within reach ) and find whatever happiness he can.          For Aerith and Zack, his mother, for everyone that died in Nibelheim, for the people that have died, the voiceless and nameless. . . he lives.          && more than anything. . . Cloud hopes he makes him proud. That he can be the person, the good one, Zack saw when he asked him ‘ We're friends. . . right Cloud ? ’
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kimmysfandomblog · 5 years
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FF7 crossover I’m never gonna write
-A Final Fantasy 7-type AU. I say “type” because it’s going to have to change a lot to fit the different personalities hahaha
A very long (and messy) post because the idea is in my head, but I don’t want to really write it in a more structured manner XD
In short:
Cloud- Hajime
Tifa- Nagito
Aerith- Chiaki
SHINRA- Togami
JENOVA- JUNKO
Sephiroth- Kamukura
Under the cut is the details, put there for length and FF7 spoilers?
Characters are matched not by personalities, but on their roles in the story. This means that some events in the story don’t happen the same way.
Hinata is the main character. His childhood neighbor, who is the child of the mayor and his crush, is Nagito Komaeda. Hinata goes from Nibelheim to Midgar in order to join SOLDIER, but ends up in infantry.
Enemies:
Sephiroth is of course replaced by Kamukura. Kamukura was actually a test tube baby instead of born, like Sephhiroth had been. Hajime’s mother was the donor, so he is actually Hajime’s older brother (It’s very tragic). Hajime hears of this hero who is only a few years older than him and strives to be just like Izuru Kamukura.
The big bad JENOVA is replaced by JUNKO, the alien who wishes to destroy the world.
The evil corporation is the Togami Corporation, with Rufus Shinra being replaced by Byakuya Togami, mostly just because they really match.
Dr. Hojo is replaced by Monokuma- but humanized? He is completely unrelated to Izuru, but his obsession with Junko remains. One of his rivals, and the one Izuru actually liked, is Taichi Fujisaki.
Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu is the head of the Turks, taking place of Tseng
the other Turks are just going to be Saionji, Mahiru, and Mikan
Palmer, Heideger, and Scarlet are replaced by Kaito, Shuichi, and Maki (Togami probably has blackmail on them or something?) Kaito has the space program (that never gets funding), Maki has the Weapons Department, and Shuichi is manager of the Turks and internal affairs. He is like a detective and is kept on mostly because he’s good at deducing who goes against the company. None of them like their jobs, but Maki is resigned to do it. Shuichi and Chihiro are actually working together in attempts to thwart Shinra. Kaito just wants funding for the Space Program because he truly believes the world can be saved that way and he’s a bit blind to the corruption since he was off in Rocket Town for most of his career.
To kind of balance it out, though, I’m adding Toko Fukawa as leader of the SOLDIER/Infantry Departments
The friends who join:
Multiple people technically take the role of Barret. The members of the terrorist group (Future Fighters as opposed to AVALANCHE) don’t all die. The ones who survive are Makoto Naegi, Kyoko Kirigiri, and Aoi Asahina. Nagito joined them after Nibelheim burned down. Sakura Oogami, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, and Mondo Oowada perish with the fall of the plate.
On a side note, Asahina is basically the Barret of this story. She loses her brother to the explosion at Corel, she and Sakura had escaped from there.
Chiaki Nanami takes the place of Aerith, but rather than just an Ancient, it was more like she has abilities that really affect technology. Her father was Taichi Fujisaki, and she’s totally unaware that her half brother was so close to her.
In the game, Nanaki/Red XIII is an intelligent animal trying to go back to their tribe... in this one his role will have to be taken by Kiibo instead, who tries to go back to his “grandpa” Dr. Idabashi.
Chihiro Fujisaki is going to take the place of Reeve with Usami being Cait Sith (no need for the mog)
The obvious choice for Cid is Kazuichi Souda, but he won’t be getting any addictions! His best friends, Gundam and Sonia, stop his rocket because it was too dangerous to fly. (and they all become a happy trio)
Now for the optional characters, Kokichi Ouma takes the place of Yuffie because he’s mischievous and would totally play pranks.
Peko Pekoyama would be the Vincent Valentine, but the twist is that she and Fuyuhiko used to be partners in the TURKS (instead of Vincent and Veld). She hides her real name by calling herself Sparkling Justice and hidin her face with a mask, but she mostly still fights the same, making Fuyuhiko especially mad when she’s around
Additional notes:
-Chiaki and Chihiro are going to be half-siblings, with Chihiro actually being older because I’m basing this mostly on Alter Ego. Taichi’s first wife dies in childbirth, and he falls in love with Chiaki’s (unnamed) mother. Chihiro and Chiaki are taken from him, with Chihiro being told that if he doesn’t cooperate, Chiaki and his stepmother would be killed. Chiaki is completely unaware she has a half-brother, however he’s always kept an eye on her through her plush toy. This is ultimately why he spies on the group, but he’s also the leader of Urban Development
-Kamukura does not see Junko as his mother. She promises him the excitement he can’t get anywhere else by causing Despair, and he becomes obsessed with the idea that destruction will relieve him from boredom. He loses his mind to Junko in this AU, but he’d been close to redemption at the end, knowing the truth of Junko’s corruption and how he’s actually related to Hajime.
-Makoto and Kirigiri grew up in the orphanage at Midgar under the plate. Makoto has a vision of a better world, and she joins him. This is especially so when she finds out she has a personal reason for going against Togamis. Her father lead a rebellion against the corporation and dies. Together, with other orphans who are affected by the Togami COrps, Mondo (brother dies because of Togamis) and Ishimaru (he was reluctant to start but the common people are suffering and he’s against the cruelty, plus his whole family was forced underground because of the Togami Corps) found a new group they called the Future Fighters. Aoi Asahina and Sakura Oogami join them shortly after. Nagito Komaeda is found and taken in by Makoto. Makoto is against the fighting, but he’s in agreement that Togami Corps need to be taken down. He mostly gets information, being a decent spy/detective. Kirigiri is the gunslinger, but she’s also the strategist. Asahina and Sakura are the “monk” types. Komaeda usually uses guns, but he is also the one who makes the bombs. Hajime, when he briefly joins, uses a sword.
-Chiaki is the healer/magic user, however her affinity with technology often acts up and can be used against enemies. Kiibo uses built-in guns and laser eyes (but h absolutely cant be in water or struck by lightning). Usami is a magic user, mostly using buff on the team or casting status effects. Kazuichi can still be the dragoon type since there’s no real reason Cid ended up with spears. Ouma is still gonna be a ninja. Pekoyama uses the sword rather than a gun. (and Gundham and Sonia are both magic users, both summoners, but Sonia is also really good at white magic while Gundham is reall good at Dark magic.
-instead of the Golden Saucer, there is Towa Park. Haiji is the Dio of this AU, and instead of Dyne, there are the Warriors of Hope (all of them only a little younger than Asahina). None of them die, but Monaka gets crippled through her own stubborness. She hates Asahina for the death of her mother and the fall of Corel. She was left with her abusive dad and stepbrother until she fakes crippled legs. Each of the other kids were stuck in homes of paid actors who forced them to call them parents and abused them.
-Chiaki has no “Zack” in the same sense Aerith did. Her “Zack” was Kamukura, who did not fall from the roof, but rather landed gracefully in front of her from the roof and protected her from monsters. He came down mostly because of the flowers being something he hasn’t seen before, at first, but he genuinely liked her eventually, up until he goes missing. Chiaki never really forgot him, but finds a boy who falls down from the roof that really reminds her of Kamukura, even if he doesn’t act a lot like him. (Does this mean he kills Chiaki? UHHHH)
-The one who saves Hajime before the events of the game, Hajime’s “Zack,” who was somewhat friends with Kamukura but not especially close, is First Class SOLDIER Nekumaru Nidai. the experiments on Nidai ended in him being mostly robot because they tried to use Junko’s cells on him, whereas Hajime seemed to barely have any influence from it. Nekomaru is trying to go back for his not-girlfriend (yet) Akane Owari, a martial arts teacher that travels the world, but has laely been based in Midgar (partly because of him, if she were honest). He doesn’t make it, and she never knows he’s dead. She eventually leaves Midgar when the plate drops, which is suspected to be because of the Togamis. She meets up with the main group in Gongaga, where Nidai had been from. Komaeda reacts to her and this village when she talks about him.
-Pekoyama was given a solo mission mostly because Mr. Togami (Byakuya’s brother) was suspicious of the Turks at that time. Kuzuryu and Peko are loyal members of the Turks at this point and there’s been rumors that ther leader, Jin Kirigiri, is thinking of defecting. spreading the Turks out and eliminating some of them in “accidents” seemed like a good way to go about things. Kuzuryu was able to earn the company’s loyalty, but he did it to find Peko, who had been successful in stopping a terrorist attack, but only through a cost of grievous wounds. Dr. Monokuma gets to her and experiments on her, and she ends up in Nibelheim labs, waking up a monster. She seals herself up to await her death.
-Nagito is the Nibelheim mayor’s only son, who’s had a crush on Hajime for a long time, but was never allowed to hang out with Hajime, specifically after Hajime is accused of endangering Nagito after he went off alone to Nibelheim Mountains to find his mother when she passed away. He begins to think it is better if people aren’t close to him, seeing as his mother died through an accident involving him and the town is starting to get superstitious about his family being cursed. So, while respected, he keeps his distance. Hajime does manage to convince him to meet, the night before he leaves for Midgar. A promise is made that Hajime would come back and tell him all about his adventures as SOLDIER. He jokingly says Hajime should save him from harm one day. When the catastrophe that is the day Kamukura burns down the village happens, Nagito is saved by luck. His personal tutor find him and takes him to Midgar, staying with him for a while. However, he ends up dying in terrorist bombings, and rumor has it that the Togamis are responsible for that, too. Komaeda decides he wants revenge and through some lucky finds in the black market, is able to teach himself to create bombs. Kirigiri, when the group finds him, is able to teach him to use guns as well.
-Hajime is found by Nagito at the train station. Although Hajime claims he is SOLDIER First Class, he also says that he was at Nibelheim when it burns. Nagito is concerned by this, but given Hajime’s clearly distressed state, doesn’t dispute it. He instead invites him to the terrorist group that goes against the Togami’s, mostly to be able to keep an eye on Hajime and eventually figure out how Hajime knows what happened at Nibelheim when Nagito knows the one who is supposed to be there is Nekomaru.
-The Turks, lead by Fuyuhiko, are only him, Hiyoko, Mahiru, and the newest member, Mikan. normally, the Turks are comic relief characters, and they still can be, but the jokes would have to be different for sure. Hiyoko’s the “dancer” who buffs the team and causes static effects, but she can truly pack a punch. Mahiru is the magic user, her element being lightning. She’s pretty good with close-range/mid-range weapons. Mikan is healer, but also great at magic in general. Fuyuhiko, of course, only uses guns, but he uses it really well (However you never fight Tseng in the games I guess, so you only see him use guns)
-Hajime can “date” one of these people, depending on the choices made by “players”: Nagito, Chiaki (they have the highest chances with him, just like Tifa and Aerith), Makoto, Asahina, Kokichi, Pekoyama, and Kiibo (the rest are the not-exactly-romantic and harder to achieve options, just like Barret, Nanaki, and Yuffie. While you can’t date Vincent Valentine.... I wish it were possible XD)
-All that date stuff said I’d honestly be down for Nagito, Hajime, and Chiaki together I mean they don’t have to fight. Aerith and Tifa never fought and actually could get along and AerTi is a ship that people like too so three doesn’t have to be a crowd
-There are a few things I am unsure of, like Chiaki’s reaction that Kamukura is evil? Does Kamukura recognize her and still kill her? What about that plot thread where she and Chihiro are related? What is up with Kuzuryu and Peko like why is she fighting against him and does he ever figure out it is her? And I want Kamukura redeemed but how?? I have way too many characters as well and Makoto and Kirigiri technically don’t have to be there but I just wanted them to be there XD And for whatever reason they are building bombs and detonating reactors... joy... And why are Kaito, Shuichi and Maki working for a guy they don’t like and doing evil things? (I mean I genuinely like them so what gives, Kimmy?)
I gave this AU a lot of thought, but it comes with so many plotholes and inconsistencies in story and/or characters XD
But listen... FF7 is a great game. And because of it I haven’t been able to sleep until I finished thinking about this AU XD
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manchasama · 6 years
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FF7/Pacific Rim
Jenova is the alien entity attacking the Planet, and ShinRa develops the giant mechanical fighting robots (WEAPONs) to protect Midgar.  Unlike canon, she is alive, and an active malevolent force here, sending pieces of herself to destroy the insects populating the world she wished to consume.
Sephiroth is the result of Hojo experimenting with monster remains, and he can pilot one of the suits himself.  Because his biology is fused with the Jenova cells, he has a particularly good sixth sense on where they are attacking, how many would show up (when multiple attacks start), and the like.  It's almost as if he can hear a call.  Except...after an attack where he finds out WHY he can, he becomes unstable.  He can't handle being born of the very monsters they are fighting, and falls out of sync with his WEAPON.  ShinRa is forced to try to find a drift compatible partner...and the only one is Cloud.
Cloud had a drift partner in Zack, but one fight Zack was KIA.  Part of Zack's personality stuck with Cloud, stronger than ever before seen, so much that it was as if he were still alive in Cloud's brain.  It comes to light mostly after Zack's death, when Aerith decided she wanted to fight as well.  Aerith tried to drift with Cloud, but the remnant of Zack was too much for her mind.  Melding with two minds in one, as it were.  She did get to say her goodbyes, for which she was grateful, but it did mean Cloud could no longer drift with anyone.
This puts Cloud in the "experiment" category of course, and the test they run to try to either get him to pilot solo (like Sephiroth used to), or to drift, is somewhat damaging for his mind.
ShinRa really didn't want to put Cloud anywhere near Sephiroth, but it ends up happening anyway.  And it works better than any drift before.  Cloud is forced to deal with the alien mind of Sephiroth, but with Zack as a balancing factor and protector, they manage it.  Sephiroth, whose mind is so vast, is able to adapt to the double mind drift eventually.
Because Cloud is the first ever to drift with Sephiroth, they only find out too late that the link carries into the real world as well, and they have to deal with that fall out as well.  Cloud learns how to pull Sephiroth away from the call, which restores some of Sephiroth's balance.
TURK WEAPONs are usually smaller, faster bots, while SOLDIER WEAPONs are the heavy hitter and defense line.  Sephiroth's mech is special, and is a mix of the two, being both faster and a heavier hitter than either group.  Which makes it a huge blow for their offense/defense when they have to take him out of the fight.  No one else can handle the WEAPON (who are we kidding of course it’s named Masamune).
Reeve has been developing a way to remotely control the WEAPONs in a fight, to prevent more death or harm to pilots.  The current program results in too many casualties, too many lost pilots.  He has a working model, but it's reaction is slower, less powerful than a human pair pilot, and it dies easily and has to be replaced a lot.  It's a work in progress, but he believes it can save lives.
Other pilots:
Genesis & Angeal
Reno & Rude
Cid & Shera
Aerith & Tifa - After her failure with Cloud, Aerith finds a compatible partner in Tifa.  They are the ones to perform the final blow on Jenova, Aerith channeling the Planet's power through their mech to seal off the breach she was reaching through.
Tseng & Vincent - Tseng would respect the hell out of the former Turk, and Vincent understands the way Tseng thinks.  They are particularly deadly when focused.
Rufus & Yuffie - Out of left field, these two come barreling in.  They are a surprise to everyone but themselves as literally no one expected it; Rufus is as poker faced as ever, and Yuffie's mischievous cheer is undaunted, yet the sparkle in both their eyes is matching amusement at everyone's bafflement.  They don't deploy often; Rufus still isn't one to put himself out if unnecessary, but as the war goes on, the need to step into the line of fire to get things done becomes more and more necessary.
They did sort of hate each other at first, but they are both ambitious as hell in their own way, and the protection of Midgar is their end goal.  Both are gray, but in opposite ways that end up complimenting each other.  It also helped the world come together against the threat, rather than divide itself, as it was also seen as a truce between Wutai and ShinRa.  (It's not.  Yuffie is always messing with ShinRa when Rufus isn't looking.)
Barrett is an old holdover from the program's start, and lost his partner Dyne.  He took in Dyne's daughter, and it's believed that when she's old enough they would make a strong drift pair.
Somewhat cracky:  Red XIII & Vincent...cause Vincent has to go beast form to pilot this crazy four legged, winged robot
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