A collection of fanish things

October Daye and other things

[vaguely-concerned]

it only took them exactly 80 chapters, but qifrey and olruggio did finally manage to have the kind of conversation over tea they probably should have had back in chapter 9, so they could have talked things through in private and presented a united front for the kids lol. qifrey literally putting coco between them and using her as a human shield a bit is still one of his quietly worst moments to me interpersonally (affectionate). 'being as mad at me as you should rightfully be allowed to be about this unhinged situation I've dropped in your lap is scaring an innocent child olly please lower your voice 🥺' well why is that innocent child here to hear this unavoidably fraught conversation qifrey fhsadkj. we're all looking for whoever did this. his emotional blackmail game is simply on another level

I think that's why olruggio underlines his role as watchful eye so bitterly in his first scene, aside from the necessary exposition it provides at that point in the story -- qifrey certainly isn't treating him like a friend, nevermind a partner, someone he's chosen to live and raise children with. it's only with jujy's little speech about friendship in chapter 39 that olly really goes '...you know what fuck it he IS still my friend no matter how he's acting and I get to have that matter, he isn't getting rid of me that easy' and unleashes his full sky's kindest most radiant star form in chapter 40. to tragic results as usual but I think it was good for him to get to have that moment anyway; it seemed like he'd maybe been building to a bit of a crisis point of frustration and distress about the state of their relationship and qifrey keeping him at an increasing distance even before qifrey came home with a new kid and a forbidden magic jumpscare. (on qifrey's side there's of course the building horror and desperation of his deteriorating sight and being unable to find any leads on the brimhats, both for his own and his immediate family's sake, and the absolute bullshit he knows they're cooking up out there. and knowing, always knowing, that he's hurting olruggio seemingly no matter what he does. if he involves him more he'll have to carry out the violation of the mindwipe more regularly, in keeping him at a distance he's safer from that but the sense of loss and 'what happened, what did I do, where did you go?' ache with no recourse grows ever deeper. I'd have trouble staying connected in that relationship no matter the love that's always beneath too)

and then of course by chapter 89 the conversation is fully in mutual 'hey babe do you think we should we renew our vows...? <3' territory haha. I do think chapter 40 was a bit of a wakeup call for qifrey as to the state of his marriage as it were lol he does seem to actively work to get it together more after that and get fairer to olruggio in how he does things, even given the terrible framework he has to operate within. the two scenes are like... chapter 9 is 'one' with johnny cash, chapter 89 is 'it's all coming back to me' (either version I guess but I've got a weak spot for the meatloaf and marion ravn one). do you see what I mean.

(olly being placed right in front of the fireplace on the left there tho, almost like it's springing from his head -- that despite the tension he's brought into the story he's also immediately identified with the warming comfort of the fire after the rain... the manga is already quietly like 'no biggie but this guy is literally the hearth the house is built around. I just thought you should know' and I think that's neat)

it's noteable that while olruggio is presented quite threateningly in the chapter 9 scene itself, as indeed he must seem through poor coco's eyes in this moment, his portrait from the 'what are the watchful eyes?' PSA illustration is very sweet and softboi and your first sign that's not really what's going on here

and on olruggio's side of redressing the 'not his finest hour, interpersonally' situation: how he acts on his worry in a more good faith, less reactive way, takes time to think things through before jumping to the worst conclusions and gives qifrey some benefit of the doubt. there's still a sense that there's something qifrey isn't telling him, something serious that's moving under the surface, but he's no longer at that crisis point and can take a less despairing approach to it. (also presumably not quite as horrifically sleep deprived as when he stumbled in from work.) importantly he can appeal to their closeness and qifrey actually responds and reciprocates as far as he's able -- that might be the big difference. I think to olruggio that's such a foundation of his life, when that's unsteady beneath him everything else wobbles too. we've seen how troubled life with qifrey can be for him, but his life without qifrey would be infinitely worse, I feel. olruggio emotional stability is stored almost entirely in the qifrey fr fr. it's a mutual heartbreaking 'this is where my heart is, this is where I want to be' situation.

the theme is: memory, the presence and absence of which, and how it binds us together and keeps us apart. also there are so many layers at work here and so many hidden but one sided conversations (because of the aforesaid presence and absence of memory) here that I get dizzy contemplating it. qifrey is pulling an aggressive 'offering my memories as a sacrifice for someone else's sake' move on the guy who INVENTED that fucking move!!!!! for HIM for HIS sake so HE wouldn't have to lose his memories!!!!! and there's so much in that and I feel very 'now we don't have time to unpack all of that --' about it right now. some other day

and then once he lets there be nothing between them but the fire, when he lets the closeness exist even in this most restrained and yearning form... qifrey has to go off to have a cold bath about it :') he leaves first, this time

[vaguely-concerned]

I’ve been thinking a lot about Olruggio and masks. Especially after Shirahama helpfully gave us the image of him quite literally putting on a mask to go to work and perform his public self, in case we were having trouble picking up what she was putting down lol, BUT I think to a certain extent and with no malicious intent, even the Olly of the atelier — Qifrey's Olly as he functions day to day in the now — is a little bit of a mask as well. Behind even that there's a watchful eye (if you'll pardon me the word choice) that's looking out and taking care not to be watched too closely in return. After reading the whole manga, I think this Olruggio might be closest to the core of who he is of all we’ve gotten to see so far: 

The kindness, the warmth, the goofiness, the flash and brilliance, the bursts of perhaps worrying intensity bordering on desperation ala ‘y’know I know what I said but I think it’s time to just burn this whole fucking forest down’ or ‘you’re okay I’m okay (I can still be a witch I can save people I have to save everyone)’; those are all also true. But I think this is at the heart, and it shines through to where we can see so rarely. He’s been at this for a long time: he had hiding it down to an art already at the tender age of like eleven. If you’re anything like me, he’ll have you as a reader bought into it for the longest time, even when you’re really paying attention and love this kind of character. I don’t think it’s coincidental that the chapter 77 cover is for a part of the story where his ability to present himself, play a certain role (the one of a witch, of a competent adult, the person who can come in and help and not need help themselves) is compromised by a broken, traumatized part of his mind getting triggered and roaring to the surface on him, and it makes him stare into nothing, lose focus. Something frozen and watchful lives under the surface.   

A thing about Olruggio is that he knows who he is, I think -- indeed, his whole plan for keeping Qifrey TreeFree TM is predicated on self-knowledge, his understanding of how he himself will think and feel and behave. (See also that one cover that’s Olruggio in the middle of changing frames while staying completely constant himself etc.) And as a child he chose a very different path to get to keep his self than Richeh did, for example: where she stubbornly, bravely, held on to herself in the face of everything that wanted to dismantle her, in active defiant opposition, Olruggio hid his real self where no one could find it or suspect it even existed, that what they were getting from him wasn’t it. It’s somewhere in there behind the smile. He will slip away like so much smoke if you try to get too close. But there is one person in the world he wants to be seen by and to see completely. 

That's a layer of tragedy with the whole Olufrey situation that gets me so badly — not only Qifrey, who wanted so badly to never have to lie again to Olly specifically, but also that Olruggio can never be completely honest even with the person he loves the most because Qifrey can't receive it or reciprocate as things stand right now. (because. of the fucking tree. we always return. to the fucking tree. the tree is the metaphor for trauma and how it can put down roots and linger in us lest we forget but also. a fucking tree.) He is who he is these days partially because it’s who Qifrey needs him to be, it’s what (it seems like) Qifrey can handle from him. Olruggio of the Torch is his public persona, Olly is his private persona... and there *is* something else and more under that too. Something which I don't think anyone but maybe Qifrey at the end of it all would be allowed to see or know, but that nevertheless aches to be Beheld and safe in that beholding.

which is not to say that I think Atelier Olly is like a fake thing he puts on or anything -- it's certainly much closer to the truth than Mr. of the Torch haha. Far nearer the heart of the onion as it were. But. There's a little bit of a lie only a friend would tell to it. Which like… not even a bad, manipulative, always undesirable or entirely unhealthy thing necessarily! There are parts of yourself that have no place in your relationship with your children for example. You don't want to expose them to the rawness of your trauma — that's not their responsibility or within their capacity to hold. As he himself says, there are lessons he’s in no hurry to teach them. It's not inherently an act of deception or sign of ill health in itself to exist in many layers; that’s just being a person. (hey. guess who olly is the main foil for btw. lmao. mr frames within frames of himself logging on to the containing multitudes contest and finding only one credible opponent: his best friend and other half of his soul. Unstoppable force marries immovable object and make a perpetual motion machine of misery out of it to use as life support news at 11.)

But I do think the longing to be known fully and wholly by someone and know them in return, and the grief of not finding a way there is so fundamental to the Qifrey and Olruggio relationship, and to what grieves them individually and together. Cue that trusty old The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo quote about intimacy, right. ‘People think that intimacy is about sex. But intimacy is about truth. When you realize you can tell someone your truth, when you can show yourself to them, when you stand in front of them bare and their response is 'you're safe with me'- that's intimacy.’ And Olruggio knows this! At like twelve years old, he already knew this completely!!!! He knew to want to be that to someone, to have that with someone, he already knew that’s what he wanted to be with Qifrey. And Qifrey wants that back, so much that it’s driving him slightly mad, and yet. And still. The Tree. and necessary masks over skinless truths. 

[joshuallyman]

there are so many inconsistencies with the memory spell we see olruggio use in ch. 93. this is a ramble about the inconsistencies we see with the seal, the ink, and effects it has.

i've made a few posts about how i think olruggio still knows qifrey is a silvertree host. you can find that here if you're interested. i think the memory spell was a stop gap until olruggio can cure qifrey fully of the silvertree. and i talked a bit about how his seal is different from the knights moralis seal here. this is kind of a continuation of the knights moralis post.

i can't stop thinking about how many inconsistencies there are with this spell.

so the way olruggio explains it. you gather tears cried over a bitter memory to create a special mixture for the seal.

and just like that you can wipe a person's mind of the memory behind the tears.

of the memory behind the tears.

the tears are important here. the tears determine what memories are wiped away. with olly's explanation, qifrey's tears are the reason the spell would take away his memories of this specific silvertree event.

because olly captured qifrey's tears over the event, olly can use those tears to create the seal that will wipe olly's memory of the same event.

fast forward to chapter 40, qifrey doesn't even mention the silvertree. he mentions that they went to the tower of tomes. olruggio (who is sweating as if he's lying btw) says yeah only you made it inside. then qifrey explains how he learned about the brimcaps plot from what he found inside the tower.

this is apparently all new information. qifrey doesn't mention any of this to olly when they're kids and the silvertree incident happens.

my point here is that qifrey's spell isn't operating like olruggio's did. if qifrey wanted to wipe olly's mind of the brimcaps plan, he would have needed the special mixture for the ink. he would have needed a tear from him (or olly) in that moment to create a special ink to draw the seal with. and just like that you can wipe a person's mind of the memory behind the tears. THE MEMORY BEHIND THE TEARS. the tears specify what memory is erased.

and qifrey does not collect tears, draw a seal, and then use it on olruggio. qifrey uses a seal that has been pre-drawn, he keeps it in his cap. he simply completes the circle. who knows what kind of ink he's using, but he's using the exact seal olly did when they were kids.

so if qifrey's using the same seal, how is he creating the ink? he would need different ink for different memories. and sure, qifrey could continually use his own tears over the silvertree incident to keep wiping olruggio's mind of that memory, but what is happening during all the other wipes after qifrey offers different information.

unless qifrey is collecting tears each time, redrawing the seal, and THEN using is on olly, it doesn't work like olly explains.

something that drives me crazy about ch. 40 is the seal itself changes. at first the spikes on the left arrow point down. and then the next time we see it, the spikes point up.

is it just a continuity issue?? seems likely, but that's such a big detail to miss! that feels like it would change how the spell works. really not sure about this, i don't have enough context to say it's anything other than a continuity issue.

anyway we see another instance of someone trying to wipe memories from a specific moment.

easthies wants to wipe everyone's memory of the night the leach attacked the city. the seal we see doesn't seem to have the arrows that olly+qifrey's does. easthies definitely isn't using tears to draw a special seal.

meaning you can wipe someone's memory of a specific event without the use of a special mixture. so why would olly use the special mixture instead of the one easthies uses? he's in the tower of tomes. surely he could have found both spells if it's what his heart desired. why does he need the special ink if a way to wipe specific memories already exists. why would he pick the harder way.

there are just so many ways olly can circumvent the circumstances during the initial silvertree incident. he could have a counter seal tucked away somewhere qifrey can't see, he could write something down in his palm quire to remind himself later, something about the seal itself might not be what he said it would be. and why does he use the tears. what do the tears actually do?

OLRUGGIO STILL HAS HIS MEMORIES I TELL YOU!!!

and don't forget we see qifrey describe olly like this:

[joshuallyman]

witch hat atelier theory about memory wipe spells, comparing the memory wipe spell we see the knights moralis use compared to the one we see olruggio use.

i keep finding more evidence that maybe olly never forgot the silvertree incident... more on that here if you're interested + speculation on how things could manifest in the future here.

but i realized that the story shows us what a memory wipe spell that only wipes a period of time away looks like. the story explains the memory wipe spells that the silverwhite pennant can use.

and that seal is not the same on that olly uses. it's similar, but definitely different.

his has more dots up top and more rings around that one focal point... and the arrows! olly's are flipped upside down! the arrow spikes on his point down while the arrow spikes on the pennant point up.

the left side of the seal on the silverwhite pennant is deliberately covered up. what if it's because on the silverwhite pennant seal we'd see both arrows pointing to the left.

olly's seal has one pointed left and one pointed right. maybe it's like an uno reverse card? he loses his memory, but only temporarily.

so olruggio's seal is different. his spell would not work the exact same way the one the knights moralis' does. so we don't truly know the extent of what olly's seal can do. why would it be tweaked if his goal was the same as the knights moralis - to wipe a specific period of time from his memory? maybe that wasn't his full plan. his full plan hasn't been revealed to us yet.

[joshuallyman]

witch hat atelier theory regarding qifrey + olruggio + silvertree + memory wipes

edit: i've added onto this theory here by comparing olly's seal to the knights moralis one + what could happen as this unravels here

re-reading the chapters that show the flashback of qifrey and olly as kids i can't help but think there's more to olly's idea of having his memory wiped to save quifrey...

there's an ever present theme of olly and lying throughout the series.

one of the first things olly teaches qifrey is how to smile to sell a lie

and one of the first things that stood out to me when olly was presenting his idea about the memory wipe to qirey was how much olly is smiling...

olly giving qifrey thee same smile qifrey gives him later...

maybe he's smiling so hard to make qifrey feel better, but maybe he's smiling so hard cause he needs qifrey to believe his half-truth.

"just think of it as telling lies only a friend would make" can work both ways. and "you told me i wouldn't have to lie to anymore" well, maybe qifrey's lie was never really a lie in the first place. not really. it was apart of the plan.

we never see olly go into the tower, we never see what he found in there. he goes in there with the knowledge that the memory wipes are what has fixed this before. he's going in for a way to help qifrey that doesn't involve wiping qifrey's memory.

also, olly's trip to the tower is timed. he needs to get there, find a solution, and get back before the tree fully takes over qifrey. he doesn't have a lot of time to figure this all out in. the circumstances couldn't be more stressful.

so what if his memory wipe solution is just a stop gap. he finds bits and pieces about the silvertreee in the tower that could help him, but he doesn't have the time to fully put it together or figure out a spell to get rid of the silvertree. so instead, he comes up with the memory wipe idea to buy himself time.

and maybe the plan is partially true, maybe he does lose his memory, but maybe not permanently. maybe there's something about his seal that means at the end of the day, he does remember about the silvertree.

and in the meantime, his plan works. it turns qifrey back. qifrey's guilty conscious keeps the tree at bay.

you cut to the scene with olly waking up after the memory wipe.... who wakes up with one eye open 🤔 and the "peep" is so suspicious. he's peeping to make sure it's a good time to pretend to wake up. qifrey's away from him so he can sell the lie better.

and the story shows us what a lil lying scamp he is. no problem lying to the teachers to sneak out.

+ the way we get his perspective on lying...

sometimes in life you just have to lie!

he'll stop lying when qifrey is safe.

olly knows how much qifrey wants to keep him safe. he knows qifrey wouldn't allow him to spend all his time trying to get rid of the silvertree completely. better yet, knowing olly was trying to figure this out, knowing that olly knows about the silvertree and still has hope to fix it, would only make qifrey feel safe. olly had to lie to him so qifrey doesn't take any comfort from the situation.

and it keeps happening right? olly will "figure it out" and they repeat the process. he reacts the exact same every time... almost like he's following a script. and we've established he's a good ass liar so he knows he can sell it.

like of course he forgives you ever time. he's lying to you worse. and maybe olly can tell when the tree is getting bad, he can tell when qifrey is bad. so olly's revelations always come when qifrey need a reset with the tree.

the spell qifrey uses to wipe olly's memory is the spell olly himself created.

maybe there's something hidden in that sigil that qifrey can't see.

i think it's notable that olly's spell looks different to the other mind wipe spells we see.

or maybe, the spell olly first created had an element that the one qifrey replicated didn't. maybe the subsequent memory wipes are real, but the first one isn't and so olly remembers what he needs to.

throughout the story we're reminded that olly is brilliant. he's an inventor. who else would be able to invent a spell or a cure for the silvertree if not him?

and fast forward to when they're adults. olly never sleeps and drinks too much. bc he's stressed about building contraptions on a deadline, which i'm sure plays into it, but what if he's also never sleeping bc he's also trying to research the silvertree. he's trying to handle his responsibilities as a witch while researching what is probably forbidden magic or maybe researching something that hasn't been done before.

and he drinks too much bc the guilt of his lie is killing him too. qifrey feels miserable about lying to olly but olly's lie is even bigger. he's running himself into the ground with researching the silvertree and attending to his other responsibilities. and he drinks bc it's taking so long for him to figure out. he's angry with himself for not having a solution yet. but i don't think it's ever been done before. it'll take time. maybe there's a component he needs that he can't find.

there's this line utowin says to olly about how he would never lie, right? bc he lied about where euini is, but again maybe there's an overarching theme here. olly is a liar. he is qifrey's watchful eye but does he ever tell the truth in the way he's supposed to? does he report on everything he should be reporting on in his atelier? hmm no.

and at one point qifrey even says "i thought you'd be good at lying". well! maybe olly is good at lying! he taught you how to lie after all, but again this theme of olly + lying is discussed.

"the only books it lets you find and leave with... are the ones your heart is looking for." he left with books in his pocket that give him some of the information he needs, but olly himself has to be the one to find the solution, but his heart would have been looking for a way to fix qifrey.

i just find it hard to believe that "the kindest, most radiant star" would settle on a solution that keeps qifrey miserable for the rest of his life. that's no solution. he makes qifrey promise to stay alive so olly will have the time to figure it out. the kindest, most radiant star would do anything to make qifrey feel safe.

[moonaft]

Last Sunday was Father's Day in the US.

Klaus still has the opportunity to pull off the funniest 'Dad of the Year' award by utterly annihilating Lucrezia for hurting his kids.

[timkontheunsure]

Well done Bang and Zeetha

Lucriaza appears to trained the Geisterdamen specifically to fight the Skifander warriors.

And Zeetha and Bangladesh worked out counter attacks to Lucriaza's special moves.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

I know people have already talked about the chapter 89 hug but it gets me because it's such a fantastically devastating visual microcosm of their relationship.

The interesting thing about this hug is that while it's a gesture out of relief (since they don't even know each other yet) it's very indicative of the kind of future closeness they'll eventually develop.

And yet, because they are hugging, they cannot see each other's faces in this scene.

I've seen quite a lot of discussion on the way Qifrey reacts to this hug, which is understandable, because it's devastating - he practically melts into a total stranger because he was "saved". He seems to be actually quite amenable and starved for gentle touch, it's the stupid tree that's the problem. But I haven't seen much discussion on Olly's face here. Dear god this poor kid looks almost manic. Look at him scrunch his face into Qifrey's shoulder. He’s okay! He’s okay because Qifrey’s okay! :(

Yet, when Qifrey yanks himself back out of the hug, neither of them are making anything close to these expressions.

All Olruggio sees is Qifrey's brief panic and then him throwing up walls again. All Qifrey sees is Olruggio's bright smile. And this colours the way they think of each other. Due to the repeated loss of his memories, Olruggio is under the impression that Qifrey will always pull away from him, that he is forever chasing his past. Olruggio has no context for why Qifrey does this, and he is forced to find roundabout ways to support him. Qifrey, meanwhile, thinks of Olruggio as the kindest person he knows - and yes, he is very kind! But Qifrey, too, is missing important context here as to Olruggio's safety-oriented and conscientious mindset. Qifrey is forever questioning Olruggio's steadfastness towards him and never getting a clear answer.

Slipping into slight theory time: due to the nature of Olruggio's backstory being shown thus far only through a vague nightmare sequence and not one, but two other character's backstories, it is my current belief that he never actually did talk about what happened in Noz to Qifrey, or anyone really, in any direct way. I find it hard to believe that Qifrey wouldn't at least know of the incident, but Olruggio's attitude, both as a child and adult, strikes me as someone who decided "well, it's in the past, so why bring it up?" mostly because he just really doesn't want to think about it, and would rather work on never "failing" people ever again. [In this way, it would be interesting if this was confirmed because Qifrey is insistent on laying his past to rest to allow himself to move forwards, whereas Olruggio is just like. Okay. I'm just gonna tuck that into a dark corner somewhere. I am a fine and normal witch.]

The thing is, it's not like either of them are entirely unaware of these hidden sides of each other. They're too close, too observant, and they care about each other too much not to. We know Olruggio watches Qifrey carefully, tries to help him in the ways that he can. He knows when something's up, he just doesn't know what he's allowed to do, or what he's allowed to ask. This is made clear as early as the snugstone introduction - he doesn't know why Qifrey isn't resting well, but he sure does notice that he isn't. Olruggio has become increasingly indirect as they age in his attempts to provide support.

But even young Qifrey, who had to relearn social interaction basically from the ground up, pauses and stares when Olruggio has these non-sequiturs like "it's really easy to die out there" or "there are lots of things that can kill you", etc. Now, Qifrey also had very little context on what's normal and what isn't, but all the same, he clearly noticed that some of the things his new friend said were a little odd. It's very likely that he just, again, didn't know what he should or shouldn't ask, and when he finally does try to ask why Olruggio is helping him, he never actually gets much in the way of elaboration (perhaps Olruggio believes it should be obvious? perhaps he sees nothing special about what he does for him - that it's just what he ought to do for a friend. perhaps there's more to it we've yet to understand ourselves as readers.). As an adult, Qifrey continues to question why Olruggio goes so far for him; downplays the net positive effect he's had on Olruggio's life because he's so wrapped up in his own guilt and perceived selfishness.

Neither of them would want to overstep after all. They just want to keep holding onto each other - but the nature of the curse necessitates secrets between them. It's because they're close, because they love each other, that they cannot see each other clearly.

And so Olruggio knows Qifrey appreciates him, but he does not see the full extent of how at ease he makes Qifrey feel. Qifrey knows Olruggio cares deeply about him, but he does not see the full extent of how much Olruggio's well-being is wrapped up in his own.

[myuminji]

brushbuddy fashion week

mandatory report to the watchful eye

[callmearcturus]

okay i know some of you sew

hey look its my only inheritance from my late aunt

by which i mean no she didn't leave me anything BUT she did leave behind a store credit on a merchandise card that was enough to pay for a refurbished sewing machine so that's ALMOST like an inheritance right

anyway i have a question

how would you buy this much fabric. i have a selection of places that sell clearance fabric and its all 'by the yard' but how does that figure into enough fabric to make a simple skirt?

ETA: HOLY SHIT WHERE DID I GET 950CM? LIKE FR WHERE. 380cm. not..... what i wrote. what.

like, a basic circle skirt is two pieces of long fabric that's taken in at the top. (this and pockets are the only things I've ever sewn)

would you buy 10 yards of fabric or would you buy 5 yards bc you don't need a lot of height (length? i guess? from waist to hem) and you'll be able to get two long sections out of 5 yards

[moonaft]

Fabric width is also a concern - normally bolts of fabric are around 56" width, so if the bias (the diagonal) is 50" (with extra for sewing allowance and hems) you should be able to get your pieces in fine, but check the bolt of fabric. 190 cm is over two yards across, which is a lot for a skirt that's basically knee length, which may do interesting things to the drape - but 4.5 yards of fabric total, not 10.

[moonaft]

I have so many questions about Cait Sith in Rebirth.

How long has he been at the Gold Saucer? Did he show up for work two days before the party, or has he been working there for a while? He's relatively high up in command at the Gold Saucer - how did Dio (aligned with Shinra, willing to fight the Turks to let the party escape) react to having a robot cat forced upon him as an employee? Does Cait Sith handle their account books in addition to MC-ing?

Is there merchandise for Cait Sith? Are they selling Cait Sith plushies to the general public? Do visitors to Reeve's office think he's a fan of the mascot at the Gold Saucer?

Do people who know of the Gold Saucer think it's weird the Saucer's mascot is running around with a group of terrorists?

Who in Shinra knows about Cait Sith specifically? The Turks know from Crisis Core, Rufus probably knows the specifics - but Scarlet? Heidegger? Is the rest of the Board aware there is some sort of spying unit in Avalanche? Do they know it's Reeve's work?

I cannot wait for Revelations, in which none of these questions will be answered except maybe the Board one.

[evil-robot-cat]

You know what I want to see in fic/art/etc? Avalanche's thoughts regarding Cait Sith's existence post-Meteor.

He claims to be a robotic mascot being controlled from an office. The rest of the cast seem to both accept and not accept that as an explanation. And they're more or less okay with whatever he is. But after Meteorfall, it raises two serious questions:

If Cait Sith is a robot, is he being powered by mako? In a world where mako can't be used even to save human lives?

If Cait Sith isn't being powered by mako... what the hell is Cait Sith?

Outside the game, we the players know it's magic. BUT THE CHARACTERS DO NOT KNOW THAT.

And that.

Ohhhh, I want to see some of that.

[moonaft]

I love how this implies they haven't met Reeve and didn't figure out who is behind Cait Sith even after stopping Sephiroth. Or is it that they don't want to ask Cait Sith or Reeve about it?

[holidaygirlelly]

Remake actually adding scenes from Reeve's perspective bit by bit across the game makes him so much more endearing as a character since it adds the layers around his desire to take down Shinra but also why he's scared of fully betraying them instantly.

[moonaft]

Playing through FVII Remake Chapter 8 and - what? Cait Sith's Theme? Cait Sith isn't in Remake besides a few seconds in a cutscene with no dialogue. We haven't even met Reeve yet.

Knowing the original FFVII is truly essential to understanding FFVII Remake.

[wolfythewitch]

Ryland Grace you are so dear to me

[lazywitchling]

[adulthoodisokay]

oh thank goodness, i was hoping this would make the rounds again

[erkauberscream]

"So which one fuckin' is it??" "All of the above, Mr Highwind :3c"

My Cait & Reeve relationship hot take is: no matter your personal headcanon, you should be making it weirder and more complicated. No one should understand it in full, not even them. An eternal game of "yes, and". Put more situation in the situationship, if you will.

[erkauberscream]

YOU. You get it!!!!

[erkauberscream]

he's also a menace.

(thank you for the tags, @whispy-witch @feropariente and @browniefox, they were very inspiring <3)