Crowie zowie

Fanart by @crowdaze for my time travel lesbian sefikura fic, Perfectly Misaligned!

Opera from Mairishimashita! Iruma-kun

Sephiroth is not a leader. At all. Quite the contrary. His actual personality is rather docile. He thrives when being given directives. And he always defers to close friends whenever he's trying to figure out how to deal with certain conflicts. He was SUPPOSED to be Team Glenn's leader...only to defer to them after making himself vulnerable to them. He keeps their mission on track for a time, but then does nothing to stop Glenn from enacting treason to save Rosen. Sephiroth's failure to lead his group is entirely why Angeal is put in charge for the Robio mission. And then when Sephiroth DOES step in to lead the group himself, there's negative consequences because he's being too moon-eyed over Alissa to listen to reason. After that? He's pretty subdued around Angeal and Genesis. Never talks over them. Lets them have their say. Never challenges them when he's being antagonized. Very, very passive. Around Zack? He directs the flow of the mission, yeah. But he also lets Zack challenge him, even snap at him. He never asserts his authority. Or seems to particularly enjoy it.

Which is why I never really understood the logic of Sephiroth being this charismatic leader in fandom. He grew up in a tiny cell and wasn't allowed to go outside. There is no part of his brain that hasn't been systematically conditioned to be submissive and obey orders. Sephiroth's only autonomy comes from his personal feelings about his loved ones. Which is a fragile, hidden part of him that he has a hard time expressing. His friends motivate him to act. And concern for his men motivates him to take charge, as he does when he saves the troopers. But he isn't a leader. Like...at all. He's a natural follower.

But what about Post Nibelheim?? After all, Sephiroth takes on a more dominant persona around that time. You know, after he's gone completely insane. Well, sorry. Still not a leader. Not a follower anymore. But not a leader. If anything, he's really a rogue solitary figure who no longer connects with anyone. He doesn't give a shit about his Black Robes and mostly just uses and abuses them when it's convenient. He only really cares about Jenova and Cloud. And those relationships, while somewhat symbiotic in Jenova's case, are solely to meet HIS needs. But it's not like he's this divine cult leader. Sephiroth has severed himself from humanity and, as such, operates alone.

Hell, Sephiroth can't even get along with OTHER Final Fantasy villains in Dissidia. By the time Opera Omnia rolls around, everyone is absolutely done with his shit. Weiss immediately wanted to murder him the second Sephiroth showed up with his Mommy Issues Squad proposing a temporary alliance. And then Sephiroth got clowned for the billionth time by Cloud.

So yeah. More holes in the Daddy Dom fandom facade. Sephiroth is sad. Everything about him is sad and kind of pathetic. Not a leader. No longer a follower. Just sorta...alone.