Cosmic King

Part 1

I know it's been a while... but I've been going down a rabbit hole with @starlight-samurai regarding time loops, Jenova, Minerva, and more fun. So I figured I'd try to put it into one post to get the insanity out of my head. Everything in here is based on things we've found by either going through more obscure Ultimanias, learning more about Dirge of Cerberus and trying to decipher what the hell Jenova is by putting together various sources - including other Square Enix games - and how they handled freakishly similar scenarios.

Did you know there is a companion mobile game for it that was out on the good old flip phones? Did you know there was an online mode in Dirge of Cerberus only available in Japan, but had story elements that were not in the main game?

The sad part is, there's still so much to go through...

(I've also had various discussions with @ourfinalheaven, Manu, who doesn't have Tumblr, so here is her Twitter. and Somebody's Nightmare (here is her Twitter). So I wanted to tag them here, as it's much more fun to discuss these ideas as a group, since it'll only help you build on and strengthen your own ideas.)

Please be aware, there will be Spoilers for FFVII - Almost all Compilation titles, Xenogears, and NieR Automata throughout this.

So let's go on a journey where we explore what actually already exists in the compilation - including the idea of the whispers and timeloops - how Minerva may play into everything, and what exactly Jenova is capable of doing.

I asked Sesi if he'd ever played any of the NieR games, because he'd said something that made me wonder if they were going to take a similar approach. As a very, very quick high level summary: NieR Automata deals with a time loop type of idea. The androids will be rebooted and repeat the same things over and over again. This is broken when 2B is killed by A2 because she becomes infected with a virus. That being said, you have the option after Ending E to either erase all of your data and end the cycle OR you can try again. The Pods have a discussion, and one asks, "But won't they just do the same thing again?" and the other replies with "Maybe. But it could also be different this time."

Here's Sesi's message back to me when I asked him about this (cleaned up a bit since we were having a casual conversation over Discord):

Maybe I could just guess based comparatively on the Dirge storyline, because that was sort of SE's first flirtation with “robots and androids” since they’re all programmed and locked behind like task managers and shit that can shut them down. The story of the online mode for DoC that came out in Japan, we never got to see it, you’re basically an Android OC and you have to get to “the end of the level” and then essentially die, and a new one takes its place. This keeps happening until Weiss is essentially freed from being able to be task managed by the guys who are suppose to be able to control them and I know from tons of years with Square games that they’re verrrrry bad at differentiating their narratives they tend to just keep “ripping themselves off” so is it anything close to that?

Cuz if so I think I kinda know what you’re saying and yeah, I agree, I think with CC bringing in its poetic symbolism and LOVELESS, and DoC bringing back the cyclic nature of the lore, whispers, premonitions and future visions, proto-Materia and the perversion of this next cycle since the planet can no longer cleanse and protect itself and its will is weakening lesser and lesser to the point where it’s fate is “in a true sense of jeopardy This time essentially it’s all tied in together and sort of played as though it's a fated track; a cycle of events and something has hitched it, thus the whispers manifesting and Sephiroth's higher implied control over his destiny. Of course, even all that is just their new red herring game, but it’s definitely a part of the lore they want to play with, in order to go back and reMAKE the OG with the comp inserted from inception. Also gut punch a lot.

Time Loops

I was somewhat surprised to find out that this concept is NOT new to FFVII's universe. It's discussed in Dirge of Cerberus... probably one of the least played and least understood of the compilation. (Trying to sell a third person shooter with terrible controls to a market of mostly people used to turn-based combat wasn't going to go well.)

On top of it, we didn't even get all of it, since online mode was never released outside of Japan, and the Dirge of Cerberus Lost Episode was on Amp'd Mobile and Verizon flip phones back in 2006. Were you around for the cell phones in 2006? I had the ones on the list, and how somebody could play a game on those blows my mind.

Square has a tendency to reuse themes from their other titles. Probably one of the most blatant is the similarities between Xenogears and Final Fantasy VII. They were both being developed at the same time and a lot of ideas that didn't make it into FFVII ended up in Xenogears.

NieR

So how does this work? In NieR (both Replicant and Automata), you play the same path multiple times. Each time, it's slightly different depending on what side quests you did your first and second playthrough, but there's also other subtle differences throughout the story. In Automata, you get to play as 2B your first playthrough and 9S for your second. They follow the same path, but you get it from his perspective the second time and it reveals a bit more of what is going on. However, even with some slight differences, the main plot points stay the same and the ending result it also the same.

Then on your third playthrough, you wake up in the Bunker, and you're getting ready to go on a new mission. This time, though, 2B is killed and shit hits the fan. Things get crazy, you play as a new character: A2. In the end, pretty much everyone "dies", but you can choose to "reboot" and try again. You also can say you are done and let them all rest and delete your save data (the game gives you the option for both Automata and Replicant, and with Replicant, it actually leads to a new ending).

The striking thing for me is... There are certain events that will always happen, no matter what.

Fixed Points in Time

It's been years since I've watched Doctor Who, but there was something that stuck with me, and that was the fixed points in time. You can read about all of them here, but here's the basics:

Now, of course Doctor Who goes into this with much more detail and it's a recurring theme. However, as you read through that page, you'll probably find many aspects that have been used in various JRPGs that you've played. And Doctor Who most likely pulled some of the idea from classic Science Fiction novels. Each story puts its own spin on it.

How does this relate to FFVII Remake? Well, when they say that the major plot points will stay the same, it reminds me of this. No matter what, Cloud must fall into the Sector 5 Church, the Sector 7 Plate must be dropped, Aerith and Zack both must die, and Meteor has to be summoned, to name a few. So, with a time loop, those things would still have to take place in order to prevent a complete collapse of reality (at least in how Doctor Who uses it).

Therefore, the Whispers are ensuring that the Will of the Planet is followed.

One of the major themes in FFVII is that of loss. People die and they do not come back. Yes, other FF games do allow this to happen (FFX, FFXIII, FFXV), but VII is not those games. It was written with that idea in mind, that once a person dies, they, just like in real life, are dead and cannot be brought back.

I've previously written that I think they'll make us believe we are able to change fate, but we will eventually be slammed with the reality that we can't. That is because the planet has determined that certain events are fixed points.

Xenogears

Xenogears takes a bit of a different approach to the loop idea. Instead of repeating the same time period over and over, it has the characters reincarnated, and the same outcome happens each time: Elly dies. However, each time it's different. After all, they're in various time periods, in some cases thousands of years apart.

In all of the lives of Fei (who will have a different name in each time period) and Elly (who is always Elly/Elhaym), Elly will end up dying trying to protect Fei and the others. In one life, she is a religious figure at a totally not Catholic church, in another she's the wife of a scientist who was working to create children from nanomachines due to mass infertility issues. But she is ALWAYS with Fei, even if his name changes.

In her Mother Elhaym time, this is when Lacan (Fei) finally snaps. Though he's not fully aware of his past lives, he becomes aware, the anger consumes him, and he becomes Grahf. Fei is then reborn into the time period you play the game in.

There's a lot to unpack with this, so I won't go into it. Grahf wants to destroy God (Deus) because he thinks if he does, then it'll stop the suffering (his suffering).

If you do want to read more about Grahf, you can do so here, but it probably won't make much sense unless you've played Xenogears up to that point... Since it's much later in the game that this is all explained.

Lacan's desire was to stop the cycle of Elly always sacrificing herself for his sake. Though Grahf is not a perfect existence - he's not fully "The Contact", he sacrifices himself in order to let Fei move forward, and hopefully stop the cycle, by destroying the Deus system. (Elly also tries to sacrifice herself here, but Fei goes after her and stops her.)

Now, some people may think I'm saying that Cloud or somebody is going to do this in order to save Aerith or Zack (or his village or mom), but in FFVII if they do the loop method, I don't think Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and the others are aware of it. Most likely, it's only 'Sephiroth' and Aerith who are aware of it.

How this Could Be used for Final Fantasy VII

I'm stressing could because there's so many different possibilities on how they use this (if they are using this), so please, don't take this as fact. This is based on speculation based on what we know.

A time loop is a great way to explain away the differences in the story that we've seen: Biggs being alive, Wedge living for longer than he should have, etc. Since these are not major plot changes, they can simply say that this time it'll be slightly different... but your fixed points (major plot points) will remain the same.

It's a way to pull in some of the more obscure themes from Dirge of Cerberus and also play with the LOVELESS lore.

It could all simply be a big red herring and it's really just a remake of OG, but with the compilation tied together nicely... since it works much better when it's combined and not in 50 different games, books, movies, etc.

I don't think it's a "sequel" per say, not in the way I generally perceive a sequel. It's more of a loop of the same thing. The question is, when is the loop started and what will cause it to end? When will the planet (if it even is the planet) determine that it's good enough to begin moving forward?

JENOVA, Sephiroth, Genesis, and Minerva - Oh My!

Let's be real... Genesis isn't exactly the most popular character in the FFVII Compilation... but what if they make him one of the most important to the story? //Ducks as various fruits and vegetable are thrown in my direction//

I think what Genesis is probably most known for is his love of LOVELESS. He has the entire thing memorized and randomly says lines from it throughout Crisis Core. LOVELESS lore is still something I'm trying to grasp, so I am not going to comment much on it. Once I understand it more, I'll update this.

...And then this happens. The secret ending for Dirge of Cerberus, where Genesis picks up Weiss. Weiss, who has now been introduced along with Nero in FFVII INTERmission and is an optional ridiculously hard boss in the Shinra battle simulator in chapter 17 of the main story. There is some lore associated with the battle sim - so if you don't plan on beating it or you just can't, you can look up the pre-battle and post-battle cut scenes on YouTube. They're very short, but interesting. (I beat this asshole last night - it's a hell of a fight.)

We all want what they HAVE. It is criminal how long it’s been since I’ve done any malink art so here we are.

You’re at the beach and Malon gives you this look... WYD?

This is the ending of Crisis Core. Where Zack dies. The opening of the remake starts in this wasteland with the same landscape shot as the ending.  In it, we see a bird flying towards Midgar.

Zack loved the sky. The blue sky symbolizes Zack at his best self, Zack wanted wings, he wanted freedom. The bird symbolizes Zack, finally having wings and flying freely through the sky.  As we follow this bird to Midgar, we are lead to the playground where Zack and Aerith dated, and where they sold flowers together. 

Across the street from the playground is a wilted yellow lily. This lily symbolizes “reunion” specifically, it’s what lovers gave each other upon reuniting. It’s wilted, symbolizing that Zack is dead and will not be reuniting with Aerith. 

We see the playground where the kids play, Zack and Aerith’s place, the children’s attention are drawn to a reactor, leading us to the next scene, leading us to Aerith. 

Was Zack’s spirit searching for Aerith? As she sits there, Aerith gets spooked by something. 

She stares at it but them runs away. Was it Zack’s spirit she saw? Is she running to deny the fact that he’s actually dead? When she runs to an area where people are, one of her flowers gets stepped on. 

Aerith cradles the flower in her hands as she gazes up at the sky. 

Barret Month - Week 5: Ships

Save the Planet AND smooch Barret? It’s a win/win. (And you know she’s coming back again later when the other AVALANCHE members are on duty.)

Hahaha nice usage of “real talk” and I guess when talking about FFVII’s ltd we are getting down to the juicy bits.

Everyone has vibrant opinions and “perspectives” as they put it. I have no idea what side of the fence (the overlapping dimensional fence) you’re coming from but I- for the first time on tumblr publicly, will give you my 100% honest and critical reasons as to why I prefer Cloti as a ship.

First off, I think that C/A is a ship that only works on a skin deep level. I’m sorry. It’s what I see as true. People give Tifa flak for expecting a lot of Cloud but Aerith expected so much more. She hounded him about a date he did not want to go on, that he went out of his way to forget about. She expected him to be her Zack replacement soldier hero far after Tifa had put her childlike “my hero” fantasies to bed (it is a reason she got into martial arts, to be her own hero if need be) and Aerith’s personality is draining and pushy for someone of Cloud’s fragility.

If Aerith were in Tifa’s position in ACC, the conversations would be heated and aggressive. She wouldn’t give him space, she wouldn’t gently guide Cloud to the right conclusions. Tifa is just a better match as far as being together, meshing together, working through trouble together. Tifa is patient and sympathetic to Cloud’s similar guilt and losses. Tifa never told Cloud to “choose between her and Aerith” she told him to choose between miserably waiting for death because the past was SUFFOCATING him and letting the kids die without ever even trying or… Trying! Just try! Even if something really FUCKED UP happened and Cloud came home alone… Just try for them, and her. Just try. Tifa is so gentle even when she comes down hard and… Aerith can be completely insensitive without even meaning to be. It’s not what Cloud needs ever in his fragile state.

Aside from being incompatible in a true blue fully formed romantic relationship, even their ‘could have been’ appeal has it’s flaws. As insecure as Tifa was, she never tried to change herself for Cloud and I respect that so fucking much. If he didnt want the full package he could GET packing- basically.

Aerith tried so hard for… Non-reactions and moments that came across as painfully one-sided or awkward. He never once reacted to the date besides ignoring her offer completely and guarding her for free. Every time it is brought up he either has forgotten or lacks a reaction completely. The date itself is apathetic on Cloud’s part and filled with negatives (unlike Tifa’s date which has more dialogue between her and Cloud and actual interest shown on his part… Along with a cute romantic track named after THEIR date) He never reacted to fake sith the fortunetellers “perfect” prediction.

And literally everything else between them falls into platonic waters. Cloud worries for Aerith? Okay? He does that for Tifa. He does that for Barret. Cloud cares and worries for his friends. He’ll act cool sometimes, but he’s there for them. He worries. A lot. About all of them, so acting like Aerith got special treatment is kind of silly and well… Wrong? She didnt.

I feel like any romance actually explored between them would have been short lived. A very Seifer/Rinoa dynamic as far as that goes.

It’s unfortunately, a more attractive ship in ‘could have been’ stages. Because there is potential to fill the cracks with gold… Or vinegar. Double edged sword. The ambiguity and uncertainty keeps it from being looked at too critically, because what’s there is already more platonic (and much much better as platonic) than it is romantic so… Why even change a thing? They are fine as they are, as friends. As a comrade. As a mysterious woman he only knew for a short time whom he failed and whom he associates with failure.

My biggest reason- Cloud hardly knew Aerith and that isn’t a dig at “their amount of time together” because neither of them could have controlled that, I mean. Cloud did not know Aerith. His impressions of her are wrong. His thoughts of her are skewed. Cloud didn’t understand Aerith. The last thing she said to him, you know what that was?

“I’ll come back when it’s all over.”

He was right there, and yet… Cloud said she sacrificed herself and MEANT to die. It’s more than time together, it’s lack of attention, detail, understanding. He took this friend for granted and lost her before he hardly knew her, as a person.

Tifa wasn’t even there for Aerith’s final words and she knew exactly what Aerith intended to do. She knew Aerith wanted to come back to them all and always intended to. Cloud can’t even keep the last thing she said in mind as he remembers her…BUT he cherished her, she was his friend. She needed to be protected and loved by ALL of them, not just Cloud. THAT is MORE IMPORTANT anyway.

Platonic C/A is honestly such a precious thing, important and undervalued. Romance breaks this ship apart and polarizing lifestyles and mentalities would consume them with problems, I don’t feel like either character is “good” for the other considering all that.

I hope my answer was informative and not completely offensive as I know this LTD stuff is sensitive and criticizing either ship gets… Explosive results so. I fully expect hate for this but… I just like this ship as fanon/platonic/could-have-been. It’s both preference and how I understand the canon materials. Anything further is… Well, I just feel Cloti does that better and beautifully so. (not that they are without flaw completely and I’ve criticised cloti/my fandom as well so. You know. No one say I don’t.)

Sure, this is all personal preference/personal interpretation. But I’m not sure I’ve ever seen any essays or fics on the wondrous nature of the CA platonic relationship (except for the ones I wrote).

If they exist I would be very interested to see them, because by and large, people will only champion a platonic relationship over a romantic one when they are fully invested in shutting that ship down.

Last I checked I was prompted to spill how I honestly felt (and usually I don’t do that because every minor detail someone doesn’t like about their faves gets called hate ESPECIALLY if there’s truth to it I’m starting to notice) and the topic was shipping so naturally my answer had to do with shipping. Sorry there wasn’t enough mainline ff plot discussion in a question about how I feel about Cloud x Aerith but then again I don’t seem to have the same problem with reading comprehension that you seem to have so- that checks out.

You weren’t obligated to read my opinion nor is my opinion on the subjective matter of how CA would hypothetically hash out exactly something up for (or worth the time of) “criticising” in the manner you’ve chosen to do so. In fact, you’re pretty weird, I’d say. Why randomly insert your own shipping gush just to bitch about it in your tags?

Hahaha nice usage of “real talk” and I guess when talking about FFVII’s ltd we are getting down to the juicy bits.

Everyone has vibrant opinions and “perspectives” as they put it. I have no idea what side of the fence (the overlapping dimensional fence) you’re coming from but I- for the first time on tumblr publicly, will give you my 100% honest and critical reasons as to why I prefer Cloti as a ship.

First off, I think that C/A is a ship that only works on a skin deep level. I’m sorry. It’s what I see as true. People give Tifa flak for expecting a lot of Cloud but Aerith expected so much more. She hounded him about a date he did not want to go on, that he went out of his way to forget about. She expected him to be her Zack replacement soldier hero far after Tifa had put her childlike “my hero” fantasies to bed (it is a reason she got into martial arts, to be her own hero if need be) and Aerith’s personality is draining and pushy for someone of Cloud’s fragility.

If Aerith were in Tifa’s position in ACC, the conversations would be heated and aggressive. She wouldn’t give him space, she wouldn’t gently guide Cloud to the right conclusions. Tifa is just a better match as far as being together, meshing together, working through trouble together. Tifa is patient and sympathetic to Cloud’s similar guilt and losses. Tifa never told Cloud to “choose between her and Aerith” she told him to choose between miserably waiting for death because the past was SUFFOCATING him and letting the kids die without ever even trying or… Trying! Just try! Even if something really FUCKED UP happened and Cloud came home alone… Just try for them, and her. Just try. Tifa is so gentle even when she comes down hard and… Aerith can be completely insensitive without even meaning to be. It’s not what Cloud needs ever in his fragile state.

Aside from being incompatible in a true blue fully formed romantic relationship, even their ‘could have been’ appeal has it’s flaws. As insecure as Tifa was, she never tried to change herself for Cloud and I respect that so fucking much. If he didnt want the full package he could GET packing- basically.

Aerith tried so hard for… Non-reactions and moments that came across as painfully one-sided or awkward. He never once reacted to the date besides ignoring her offer completely and guarding her for free. Every time it is brought up he either has forgotten or lacks a reaction completely. The date itself is apathetic on Cloud’s part and filled with negatives (unlike Tifa’s date which has more dialogue between her and Cloud and actual interest shown on his part… Along with a cute romantic track named after THEIR date) He never reacted to fake sith the fortunetellers “perfect” prediction.

And literally everything else between them falls into platonic waters. Cloud worries for Aerith? Okay? He does that for Tifa. He does that for Barret. Cloud cares and worries for his friends. He’ll act cool sometimes, but he’s there for them. He worries. A lot. About all of them, so acting like Aerith got special treatment is kind of silly and well… Wrong? She didnt.

I feel like any romance actually explored between them would have been short lived. A very Seifer/Rinoa dynamic as far as that goes.

It’s unfortunately, a more attractive ship in ‘could have been’ stages. Because there is potential to fill the cracks with gold… Or vinegar. Double edged sword. The ambiguity and uncertainty keeps it from being looked at too critically, because what’s there is already more platonic (and much much better as platonic) than it is romantic so… Why even change a thing? They are fine as they are, as friends. As a comrade. As a mysterious woman he only knew for a short time whom he failed and whom he associates with failure.

My biggest reason- Cloud hardly knew Aerith and that isn’t a dig at “their amount of time together” because neither of them could have controlled that, I mean. Cloud did not know Aerith. His impressions of her are wrong. His thoughts of her are skewed. Cloud didn’t understand Aerith. The last thing she said to him, you know what that was?

“I’ll come back when it’s all over.”

He was right there, and yet… Cloud said she sacrificed herself and MEANT to die. It’s more than time together, it’s lack of attention, detail, understanding. He took this friend for granted and lost her before he hardly knew her, as a person.

Tifa wasn’t even there for Aerith’s final words and she knew exactly what Aerith intended to do. She knew Aerith wanted to come back to them all and always intended to. Cloud can’t even keep the last thing she said in mind as he remembers her…BUT he cherished her, she was his friend. She needed to be protected and loved by ALL of them, not just Cloud. THAT is MORE IMPORTANT anyway.

Platonic C/A is honestly such a precious thing, important and undervalued. Romance breaks this ship apart and polarizing lifestyles and mentalities would consume them with problems, I don’t feel like either character is “good” for the other considering all that.

I hope my answer was informative and not completely offensive as I know this LTD stuff is sensitive and criticizing either ship gets… Explosive results so. I fully expect hate for this but… I just like this ship as fanon/platonic/could-have-been. It’s both preference and how I understand the canon materials. Anything further is… Well, I just feel Cloti does that better and beautifully so. (not that they are without flaw completely and I’ve criticised cloti/my fandom as well so. You know. No one say I don’t.)

Sure, this is all personal preference/personal interpretation. But I’m not sure I’ve ever seen any essays or fics on the wondrous nature of the CA platonic relationship (except for the ones I wrote).

If they exist I would be very interested to see them, because by and large, people will only champion a platonic relationship over a romantic one when they are fully invested in shutting that ship down.

Last I checked I was prompted to spill how I honestly felt (and usually I don’t do that because every minor detail someone doesn’t like about their faves gets called hate ESPECIALLY if there’s truth to it I’m starting to notice) and the topic was shipping so naturally my answer had to do with shipping. Sorry there wasn’t enough mainline ff plot discussion in a question about how I feel about Cloud x Aerith but then again I don’t seem to have the same problem with reading comprehension that you seem to have so- that checks out.

You weren’t obligated to read my opinion nor is my opinion on the subjective matter of how CA would hypothetically hash out exactly something up for (or worth the time of) “criticising” in the manner you’ve chosen to do so. In fact, you’re pretty weird, I’d say. Why randomly insert your own shipping gush just to bitch about it in your tags?

“Maria!” Firion drew Maria to him, cradling her gently against his chest as if she were a small animal. She was so overcome with joy that the only thing Maria could do was sob out Firion’s name as he held her against him. Guy looked over the two of them, choking back on his own emotions as he bore witness to the gesture of genuine affection between two of his best friends. Hilda and Minwu allowed the three of them to regain their composure before debriefing them on their current circumstances.

This is the ending of Crisis Core. Where Zack dies. The opening of the remake starts in this wasteland with the same landscape shot as the ending.  In it, we see a bird flying towards Midgar.

Zack loved the sky. The blue sky symbolizes Zack at his best self, Zack wanted wings, he wanted freedom. The bird symbolizes Zack, finally having wings and flying freely through the sky.  As we follow this bird to Midgar, we are lead to the playground where Zack and Aerith dated, and where they sold flowers together. 

Across the street from the playground is a wilted yellow lily. This lily symbolizes “reunion” specifically, it’s what lovers gave each other upon reuniting. It’s wilted, symbolizing that Zack is dead and will not be reuniting with Aerith. 

We see the playground where the kids play, Zack and Aerith’s place, the children’s attention are drawn to a reactor, leading us to the next scene, leading us to Aerith. 

Was Zack’s spirit searching for Aerith? As she sits there, Aerith gets spooked by something. 

She stares at it but them runs away. Was it Zack’s spirit she saw? Is she running to deny the fact that he’s actually dead? When she runs to an area where people are, one of her flowers gets stepped on. 

Aerith cradles the flower in her hands as she gazes up at the sky.