#dissidia opera omnia

I finally get to upload my piece for the Zack Fair zine I did a while ago now! I’m still really happy with the colors and the rendering of their outfits. Thank you again to everyone who purchased a copy! It was fun getting to work on the zine and It was nice seeing all of the work everyone did for it.

One of my sketch pages I did will be below, it’s based off of one of my favorite moments from Dissidia Opera Omnia:

One of my fav Dissidia Opera Omnia moments is when Rufus tries to tell the crazy nihilist clown god of destruction that he’s wrong because there is always business strategy and good PR and Kefka is legitimately like “what the fuck are you talking about”

Oh and, this too

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.

idk what this is. I just wanted to draw Zack in a bunny suit. I feel like I should apologize for making this.

This is a good translation of Angeal’s words here, but I wanted to explain something very painful that we learn from the Japanese.

Dissidia:

ところがひどく心配させたようでな

やつれた顔を見たときは悪いことをしたと思った

However, it seems it caused him to be extremely worried.

When I saw his haggard face, I thought I had done something wrong.

Crisis Core:

セフィロス やつれたか?

Sephiroth, are you haggard?

Angeal uses the same word to describe Sephiroth’s condition in Dissidia that he did in Crisis Core.

やつれた

“yatsureta”

I found a good definition of it for English-speakers:

Angeal noticed that Sephiroth was gaunt, exhausted, and worried. Unhappy. We can see this exact state of Sephiroth in Crisis Core. Many of us describe him as depressed and worn. I think that is a fair assessment, because it was evidently so noticeable that Angeal saw it immediately.

In Dissidia, it’s a key point of regret. Angeal remembers how Sephiroth looked and realized it was because of his and Genesis’ disappearances. When he tries to speak to Sephiroth in Dissidia, he also realizes that Sephiroth was alone when he discovered his origins.

“Sephiroth…did you come to know of your birth? I had Genesis at that time…but you…”

Angeal regrets. He wishes he was there and communicated better to his dear friend. He did not understand at the time, just how far Sephiroth would fall after, from his perspective, being left behind.

Zack: “You all had a really good relationship.”

Sephiroth: “Hmph, I wonder…”