#genposting

I kept groaning like, “Ugh Genesis, you gotta stop, man. You don’t GET IT, bro,” while simultaneously loving the stir-up he was causing. I live for friendship breakdown drama and he was making the story REALLY juicy lol.

But what I recall more is my first impression of him and Angeal in that training scene. I had already adopted Sephiroth into my very soul, but when I saw his friends, I literally yelled inside “OH GOD HE HAS FRIENDS. HE HAD TWO WHOLE FRIENDS JEDHDJ. AND ONE OF THEM IS A REDHEAD. THEY’RE SO COOL!! SEPHIROTH HAD FRIENDS!!!”

(I’m a sucker for a good friend trio. ALWAYS).

And Genesis being this prideful, fiery warrior….taking on Sephiroth with real fucking determination…

Like on one hand? It was love at first sight. I initially just needed to know who it was that Sephiroth would be friends with, but that devolved into: Who are these characters on their own?? Who is Genesis?

I think that feeling overpowered any frustration I had with Genesis. I started getting irritated at the Loveless quoting only because I wanted to hear more of Genesis’ actual thoughts and feelings. I started getting infuriated at the “reactor divorce” because of the tragic communication breakdown, not because Genesis was lashing out.

And when I saw gamerbros and Maxdood dissing him, I started getting really protective lol. Out of sheer spite, I analyzed Genesis’ scenes to understand why he goes on about Loveless, I really tried to determine if his appearance in the reactor took away from Sephiroth’s agency like people said, and I tried to understand his character’s layers. I dug into the “Dark Souls lore” of Crisis Core, analyzing it like a game where the answers weren’t spoonfed to you…and yeah, Genesis became way deeper to me. I really fucking love him.

He enriches the story, he enriches Sephiroth, he stands on his own as a unique character. Even his “rip-off Sephiroth” aspects that people think are cheap actually make SENSE for him and for how he relates to Sephiroth. It all makes sense in greater context, and yeah, CC’s execution is rough, but I get what they were going for.

Angeal has been a slow-burn. I love him now. But Genesis was a whole storm of feels from day one, and while I’ve calmed down in obsessing over his character and lore, I definitely hold him in high regard as a character. He’s in top favs status. His depth is all there, but it needs the same on-screen fleshing out that Angeal is getting. I want more people to understand and appreciate this redheaded spitfire so badly.

Genesis is BASED, actually.