#ff7 meta

he never knew bodily autonomy his entire life and then he is killed, and the horror still doesn't stop but now he welcomes it because that's all he knows. his body was never his to begin with, and he loves Jenova, so he's ready to give her anything she wants or needs. and so Jenova uses his likeness and the two become fused to a point where it's near impossible to say where he ends and she begins. and then he is killed again and ends up not being able to remember what his body even looked like anymore. to reconstruct it, he needs other people's memories of his body. and even then, it's Jenova's will that briefly brings him back into a body despite the fact that without a full reunion with all three remnants, he wouldn't be at full strength. and then he is killed a third time and loses that body as well.

his body was an experiment to create, a machine to use, an image to project on, an offering to his "mother", and then finally nothing but someone else's memory.

it wasn't his before life, in life, or after life. he never knew any other way to be, and now he never will. and because of that he's unable to even realize what it is that has been taken from him and what he's wilfully given away.

Notice how all of Avalanche and the important side-characters/antagonists have their own themes? Notice how Cloud doesn't have one dedicated theme and one could argue has multiple associated with him? His theme is the main theme of FF7 because It's His Story (and Hollow + all Hollow Skies variations but I feel like that still serves my point because one of his themes being Remake's ending credits/theme song with lyrics all about Cloud's grief, wanting things to be different, yet being unable to change a past he feels responsible for underpins the whole thematic narrative of the Remake Project).

Angeal's Buster Sword being meant for the hands of an honorable hero, representing the hopes and dreams of not only its wielder but of those they protect, is not something they just did for flavor text. Angeal himself was unable to use the sword for what it was meant for because he did not want it to succumb to wear and tear--he could never have been the hero meant to wield it even though it was made for him. Zack put the first bit of wear into it, but his life was cut short before he could have maybe used the Buster Sword for what it was meant to do.

He passed that sword and its meanings onto Cloud Strife. Was Cloud the destined hero? Was he this perfect champion? Fuck no. He's a backwater kid who never got into SOLDIER, got exceptionally lucky in killing Sephiroth the first time, he's rude and an asshole, and he woke up and decided he didn't give a fuck about anything unless he got paid to care.

But the point of Cloud Strife is that he eventually, slowly, chooses to care not only about Avalanche but all of Gaia and the people who live there. He cares about others constantly and consciously. He's not a man without severe mental health issues--he still gave the villain the "End the World" button, but he's also the only person who could actually defeat Sephiroth. Cloud not being a lone wolf, needing people at his side to get the job done, overcoming his traumas and worst aspects of his person to build a brighter future is the whole point of FF7. A wolf is a social animal and lives a worse life if it is alone. So are people.

In that, Cloud is a perfect representation of Gaia itself--full of weird people who don't always make the correct decisions, can be selfish, fall for propaganda, are operating on limited information, and might be deluding themselves about reality. But, ultimately are people who can choose to care, who want to protect their families, friends, and homes, and will do what they can to protect what they cherish. Not all of them, but enough of them.

Back when I first played Final Fantasy 7 sometime in the mid to late 2000s, something I noticed in the Nibelheim flashback was that Sephiroth was actually pretty kind and thoughtful. However, the kind of guys who'd go on to become gamergaters in a few years were very active on the Internet, and if you thought Sephiroth was anything more than a cold, heartless monster, they'd derogatorily call you a yaoi fangirl. Unfortunately, I internalized what they'd said, and for years I distrusted my own senses.

But given that subsequent games in the FF7 franchise have made it abundantly clear that Sephiroth had been a decent person before his breakdown, I'm going to go back and look at the evidence that my younger self spotted, and the evidence that my older self can see more clearly.

First, Cloud says that "After working with Sephiroth on several missions, we became friends." He describes himself and Sephiroth as "war buddies" and says that they "trusted each other." But he also notes that Sephiroth "hardly ever talked about himself."

From this, we know that Sephiroth didn't talk about his problems to either Zack or Cloud. This is appropriate behavior; both of them were subordinate to him, and Cloud was a teenage boy. I think it's also a fair guess that Sephiroth never gave Cloud a reason to feel unsafe or unwanted, because Cloud clearly internalized Zack's stories of being friends with Sephiroth without too much trouble.

It's also been noted that Sephiroth didn't have to ride in the back of the truck with Zack and Cloud. If he was really so detached from everyone that he never cared about anyone else at all, he probably could have gotten a comfier ride. And that's what I'd have Sephiroth do if I was a writer and wanted to establish that he was detached thought himself above everyone else. But instead, we see Sephiroth riding with Shinra's Silliest SOLDIER and Shinra's Snarliest Infantryman.

In the truck, Zack bounces around excitedly. Sephiroth tells him to "settle down," and says that his behavior is "just like a kid." Because the game is pure written dialog with no tags, it's difficult to be 100% sure of Sephiroth's intended tone. Sephiroth might be trying to gently tell Zack that his behavior is inappropriate, or he might find it endearing.

If Sephiroth finds Zack's behavior endearing, that's settles it on Sephiroth caring about other people. If he meant it as criticism, then it's very soft-spoken criticism.

Then, Sephiroth tells Zack "This isn't a typical mission" and Zack responds with "Good!" Sephiroth asks him, "Why do you say that?" He's showing curiosity about Zack's opinions and feelings. If I was a writer and wanted to show that Sephiroth didn't care about anyone, I'd have put far more dismissive and belittling words in his mouth.

Sephiroth doesn't really show a lot of emotion throughout the rest of the conversation, but he is very soft-spoken in a way that's extremely appropriate for someone trying to keep people calm and focused.

When Cloud pipes up and notes that he's from Nibelheim, Sephiroth comments on it ("Hmm... hometown.") The first thing Sephiroth does when they actually walk into Nibelheim is ask Cloud, "How does it feel? It's your first time back to your hometown in a long time, right? So how does it feel? I wouldn't know because I don't have a hometown."

This is almost certainly not a purely innocent question asked out of pure care for Cloud's feelings. Sephiroth is probably letting himself be a bit selfish here. But if it's a selfish question, it only shows that Sephiroth craves human connection and life outside of Shinra. He wishes he had a hometown to go back to.

Cloud asks about Sephiroth's parents, and Sephiroth responds, "My mother is Jenova. She died right after she gave birth to me. My father..." *laughs* "What does it matter? All right, let's go."

In town, Sephiroth says, "We leave for the reactor at dawn. Make sure you get to sleep early. All we need is one lookout. So you others, get some rest. Oh, and... you may visit your family and friends."

So while Sephiroth is definitely messed up by the fact that he doesn't have a hometown or parents to go home to, he makes a point of telling Cloud that he can go see his mom. In other words, Sephiroth is encouraging Cloud to find happiness in something Sephiroth does not and (to the best of his knowledge) cannot have.

At the Nibelheim inn, Sephiroth reminds Zack that they have an early start tomorrow, and says that he should get some sleep soon. The inn is also one bed short. It appears that Sephiroth stayed up all night so Cloud and Zack could sleep well.

When the bridge falls and one Shinra infantryman goes missing, Tifa points this out. Sephiroth responds "It may sound cruel, but we've no time to search for him. We can't go back, so we must go on. We'll travel together from here."

Now, this here does seem a little cold, but given Sephiroth's prior insistence that everybody else get some sleep, it seems Shinra had given him a schedule that he feels he can't break from. He's clearly aware of how this looks, though, and he tries to reassure Tifa.

During their travels through Mount Nibel, we see that Sephiroth seems to enjoy explaining things to people. Either Cloud or Zack ask what's up with the mysteriously colored cave, and Sephiroth responds, "It must be the Mako energy. This mountain is especially abundant in it. That's why the Mako reactor was built here."

When Cloud asks about the Mako fountain, Sephiroth responds, "A Mako fountain. It's a miracle of nature." Then he explains materia to Tifa: "Materia. When you condense Mako energy, Materia is produced. It's very rare to see Materia in its natural state.

Zack asks, "By the way... Why is it that when you use Materia you can also use magic too?" Sephiroth responds, "You were in SOLDIER and didn't even know that? The knowledge and and wisdom of the Ancients is held in the Materia. Anyone with this knowledge can freely use the powers of the land and the Planet. That knowledge interacts between ourselves and the Planet... calling up magic... or so they say."

Either Cloud or Zack refers to magic as "a mysterious power." Sephiroth laughs and says, "A man once told me never to use unscientific terms like 'mysterious power'! It shouldn't even be called 'magic'! I still remember how angry he was."

Cloud or Zack asks, "Who was that?" and Sephiroth responds, "Hojo of Shinra, Inc... An inexperienced man assigned to take over the work of a great scientist. He was a walking mass of complexes."

I want to note here that Sephiroth grew up around Hojo, and he easily could have internalized Hojo's arrogance. But instead, we see that he recognizes that Hojo is a horrible person who isn't half as smart as he wants everyone to believe, and chooses to answer questions without being a condescending asshole. He does show a little incredulity when Zack asks how materia works, but in fairness, one typically would expect a SOLDIER to know that.

When Zack and Cloud go into the reactor, Sephiroth continues explaining things to Zack. Now keep in mind, he literally just saw the name "Jenova," and this is probably rattling him more than a little. However, he holds it together, and he actually makes an effort to reinforce the information he told him about materia earlier. Sephiroth says, "This is a system that condenses and freezes the Mako energy... that is, when it's working correctly. Now, what does Mako energy become when it's further condensed?" When Zack correctly answers that it becomes materia, Sephiroth stays in educator mode and says, "Right, normally. But Hojo put something else in there. Take a look." So basically, Sephiroth doesn't just tell Zack things and expect him to take his word for it. He encourages him to investigate things himself.

That's nurturing behavior.

When Zack's confused by what he sees, Sephiroth explains "Normal members of SOLDIER are humans that have been showered with Mako. You're different from the others, but still human. But, what are they? They've been exposed to a far higher degree of mako than you." Zack asks, "Is this some kind of monster?", to which Sephiroth responds "Exactly. And it's Hojo of Shinra that produced these monsters. Mutated living organisms produced by Mako energy. That's what these monsters really are."

Zack asks, "Normal members of SOLDIER? You mean you're different?" And that's where Sephiroth starts losing his cool as he spirals into panic over the possibility of being something other than human.

And then as we all know, Sephiroth spends the next several days in deep research. He refuses to talk to Zack as he desperately seeks answers, and by the end he's literally calling Zack a traitor because he's descended from the humans who split off from the Cetra and began living in permanent settlements. And then he goes and burns Nibelheim before going up to the reactor again to retrieve Jenova's head, and you know the rest.

— Rebirth + OG FF7 spoilers

how Rebirth tackled puppet Cloud is so unique and so so good, and I just needed to talk about it. first things first, let’s talk about what Sephiroth means by ‘puppet.’

Hello, my anon friend. It is always incredibly revealing when people decide that a mother’s lived experience has no bearing on understanding a story about, well. . .a mother’s trauma.

But to answer your question. Apparently, we know a whole lot more than the corners of the fandom that look at Lucrecia and see a flat, two-dimensional villain.

I can’t speak for Synth, but I can speak from my own soul. Before I became a mom, I already deeply sympathized with Lucrecia when I played the games. But after having my own child? After surviving multiple losses, fighting through secondary infertility, and enduring the terrifying isolation of preeclampsia, forced bedrest, and ultimately being induced early because my body was in a state of medical crisis? Her cries in the game don't just make me sad anymore. They absolutely gut me.

People who haven't experienced the hormonal, psychological, and physical reality of pregnancy and postpartum don't understand that it completely rewires you. When you undergo a high-risk pregnancy and a forced medical intervention like an early induction, your sense of agency is completely stripped away. You are entirely vulnerable, relying on the hope that you and your baby will survive the ordeal, and that survival instinct morphs into a fierce, protective necessity the moment they are born.

When my daughter was a baby, I held her constantly. So much so that family members commented on it. If my husband took her downstairs just to visit my mother-in-law in our same building, I would wake up crying from the sheer, primal panic of her not being right next to me or in the bassinet beside our bed.

Now, take those overwhelming, vulnerable, terrifying instincts and look at Lucrecia:

She was trapped in a subterranean lab with an abusive, narcissistic monster.

She was experimented on while pregnant, her body treated not as a living person but as a biological incubator for a corporate asset.

Her delivery was entirely on Hojo's clinical timeline, a medicalized nightmare devoid of safety or comfort.

Her baby was stolen from her arms the second he was born. She never held him, never nursed him, never got to comfort him.

To look at a woman in those exact circumstances and shrug her off as a "monster" or "just like Hojo" isn't just a lack of empathy. It is a massive failure of basic media literacy.

From my experience, certain corners of the Final Fantasy VII fandom has always had a chronic problem with flattening complex characters. People do it to Lucrecia by stripping her of her tragedy, and they do it to Sephiroth by reducing him to a surface-level, shonen-style anime villain whose only purpose is to fight Cloud. They completely miss the multi-generational, psychological horror story that Square Enix actually wrote. Sephiroth isn't just a boss fight at the end of a highway or in a Crater. He is the product of severe, generational trauma, raised by the literal monster who destroyed his mother and treated him like a weapon from his very first breath.

I wanted to formulate these thoughts and queue this up before I head offline for a week-long hiatus to process some very difficult family news and grieve with my loved ones. I took the time to write this out because, honestly, this isn't just about Final Fantasy VII or Lucrecia anymore. It is about how some people in society view mothers as a whole.

Mothers are human beings. We are not perfect. We can fail, we can make catastrophic mistakes, and we can spend the rest of our lives desperately trying to atone for them. Lucrecia is a beautifully written, tragic figure who paid for her mistakes with a fate worse than death.

(Link: https://anfhiliocht.lofter.com/post/446593_2b5cb7d21)

Why, from the perspective of narratology, was Zack doomed to die? Why couldn't Zack walk out of the wilderness to Midgar in Crisis Core? Both coming from rural villages and making their way to Shinra, how do we compare Zack and Cloud?

“Crisis Core was a game that deconstructed hero, and this deconstruction lay in Zack using the word hero at a completely different lexical level than the other characters. To the others, hero was power and discourse; To Zack, it was just a dream.” (unauthorized translation! sorry…I feel the need of quoting real bad! )