Dear @emotionalwarmth i hope you're enjoying your holidays. here's a gift from your secret santa, @prometheanastronaut. i hope you can feel my well-wishes through this little comic page ଘ(੭ˊ꒳ˋ)੭✧
Hi there. If in your last post u mean your crisis core comics - even if not that- I completely understand if you're done. I was wondering how u have the strength to work on something this detailed for so long. And something so emotionally taxing as well. I hope u don't dislike what uve done so far, but I understand wanting to be free from it. Please rest well and I hope that other creative stuff will give much joy. I loved seeing what u did. But first and foremost, take care. <3
Aw, hey there! <3 Thanks so much for this, it means a lot that you’ve enjoyed my stuff!
It’s not that I’m done with the Crisis Core comics - I have one that I’m very happy with and looking forward to getting back to asap (the Angeal centric ‘fake plastic trees’ one for ref) - it’s more I’ve fallen a bit out of love with specific character’s dynamics (together) and don’t really have the wherewithal to talk myself into persisting with them just because I think I should and because that’s what people associate my specific niche area of the fandom with. This, to be very clear, is not me complaining - I’ve loved meeting and interacting with people in this wonderful fandom who are so passionate about these characters. And I’ll still enjoy talking about them. Posting about them and reblogging stuff with them in it. I’ve just lost the desire to continue with my specific vision for them in the work that I do. (Which I know probably sounds really wanky and self important but believe me I don’t mean it too lol)
And of course this isn’t to say I’ll never go back to them. That I won’t be doing other iterations of them. I will be (and I am). But just for now, I’ll be stepping away from them as a specific pairing for a while lest I sour on everything completely lol ;) <3
Anyways this was a very long winded answer to your absolutely lovely message so thank you so much for indulging me - and thank you so much again, it was such a nice thing to find in my ask box <333333
Hello there. Based on the Genesis wingy thingy I was wondering if I could throw this question at you.
When/how/why do you think Sephiroth had his wing? (If we know this from canon and I just forgot cuz i'm a dummy, please disregard the question)
Hi hello there, @emotionalwarmth! :D
In the OG, as far as I recall, Sephiroth only starts sporting his black wing when he turns into his Safer Sephiroth form. And then in the FF7R series, it appears at will after the the main game's events have kicked off. So we really don't get any sort of idea of when it first happened or occurred.
Maybe we can assume he learned this about his body shortly after falling into the Lifestream in the Nibel reactor? He probably put 2 & 2 together after learning his origins and seeing Genesis and Angeal and figured it was something he was more than capable of as well.
Of course, the real fun happens when you get AUs creeping in and you can imagine it happening well before Seph's aware of his origins. There's loads of angst and feelings to be be had there for sure.
Safu’s blood grew cold as she realised her grave mistake.
She should not have been there. She should not… but how could she avoid it? And if not now, this would have happened sooner or later…
She instinctively fought back against her attackers, protesting, trying to shove away the hands that were getting a firm hold of her, with growing desperation. Some deep memory in her activated, back when she used to be a tiny girl, and she and her father fought like this, as a game.
This was no game. Though she was not told, she knew they wanted to take her to die…
The nameless, growing terror that had crawled around the edges of her consciousness for month – no, for years she had known something was not right, she had seen it in Shion’s unsaid words, his looks, some remnants of worry on her grandmother’s face when hearing the news, she had known something was not alright, even though she tried to deny it – how much she had trusted this world, she realised, when, after all, it was all too ready to betray her.
Step by step, she was dragged towards a car and in her mind she already saw what awaited her. A long ride of desperation, and then… and then…?
She could not cognitively grasp how much hope she would have to survive if she fought now. But she had no other choice. When scarcely she could free her limbs from the men’s grasps, she aimed for their week spots – she had long known where they were located on her body. While Shion had been a better expert at human anatomy, Safu was well-learnt as well.
Shion, her mind cried out, aching. Shion, help me… save me…
Her own strength was leaving her and she was only a few steps away from the car. One of the men was finally done with her kicking and moving around, and he lifted her up so that another could grab her legs and hold them together tight. He cursed at her when she managed to kick at his shoulder but it was no use. She was still in their grasp.
But despite her – however feeble – hopes it was not Shion who saved her.
Safu thought she heard a chittering sound – then one of the men, the one who was holding her legs started wriggling as if bitten by a bug, thus loosening his grip on Safu. Her legs fell to the ground with a thump, and her heart jumped – this was her chance.
She wriggled free from the other man’s grasp – the motion left a sharp pain in her ribs where the man tried to hold her – and then she turned around, heart frantically beating, planning to aim for a harsh kick at the other man’s groins, but then she gasped with shock.
The man staggered with a gurgling sound, falling to his knees, drops of blood appearing at his neck, trailing down… someone had cut his throat… so quick, she never even saw a thing…
With white fear numbing her movements, Safu stared as a shadow moved around her, and as she shifted her gaze to the other men, one by one they did the same: with a cut neck, they collapsed on the ground. Then the hooded figure ran to the other side of the car to finish off the driver as well, no doubt.
Should she run? Would this mysterious figure turn after her next? But then, why would they have saved her in the first place? Was this truly “saving” or another abduction? Would something even worse await her now?
Yet her heart pounded with hope. She was free of the initial danger. And so was her grandmother, her next thought followed.
Before she could think any further, an urging, young voice alerted her.
‘No time to waste, get in!’
After half a second, an annoyed ‘tsk’ followed and a hand reached for her to pull her inside, next to the driver seat. She heard herself cry out with shock, then grew red with embarrassment – although her face was already burning, probably.
The engine started before she could form a sentence, and the stranger next to her pushed some buttons frantically, perhaps to disable some surveillance systems built in the car? She could not grasp the process that well since the stranger’s hands were quick, and her mind still in a haze.
It had been murder… this person murdered all those people. While it meant her survival, a red alert still throbbed in her heart. She had not seen a lot of murder. Could it be connected to her later? Will she have problems about this?... Was it right that these thoughts appeared, already thinking of her own self instead of these dead people?
As her saviour started to drive, she glanced to the side. Was this even a man or a woman? She heard their voice but could not decide. It had an unquestionable sharpness to it, yet it was beautiful.
‘Where are we going?’, she asked, surprising herself by not immediately asking about the person’s identity. She gathered they would not tell right away anyhow.
‘Away’, the stranger noted, somewhat grimly, their voice strained by concentration. She could not see their face yet, only a few strands of dark hair creeping out from behind the hood of a sweater. There was an aura of trash and dirt, but also the smell of something pleasant, like a unique perfume. An odd mix.
And then, a tiny shape climbing out of the pocket of the sweater. A hamster?, Safu wondered, opening her eyes wide as she gazed at the black figure that settled itself on her new chauffeur’s shoulder.
Then her mind clicked.
Nezumi.
Her stomach seemed to turn to stone for a moment, breath catching in her throat as she remembered Shion’s face, lost somewhere else, not in this world, melting into the distance, his thoughts far away and seemingly forever out of her reach.
The sharp pain that had been buried deep every waking day of hers has now resurfaced. Taking a shape. The shape of this hooded figure with dark hair, and these mice.
For there were two more of them, a brown one and the white one as well.
‘These are not ordinary mice, are they?’, she noted, for now she remembered the chittering sound that was followed by one of the men crying out loudly, as if bitten by something. This one was the culprit, then.
‘Astute’, the stranger’s voice followed with mock appreciation, commenting no more.
Yes, she thought, his voice was indeed beautiful.
‘Are you Nezumi?’, she asked, surprised at her own voice sounding so calm now. Somehow, she knew she was safe. For Nezumi will surely take him to Shion, will he not? He must know where he is. Shion had certainly… wished to be with him, back then. Now he was lost, and now this mysterious stranger who turned out to be Nezumi saved Safu from being taken. It might mean the two of them are together somewhere.
What did you get into, Shion? Will I see you now? Are you safe?
‘I’m famous, aren’t I?’, the stranger said and tilted his head a bit so that Safu could finally see his profile from under his hood. His pale skin seemed to be perfect, dark locks of hair scattered about his forehead, some almost covering his sight, but that did not seem to bother him. And she needed to look – she could not help but look deep into those eyes of his, fixated on the road. Even in the darkness, they seemed to shine bright, like a unique gemstone. Their shape was also different from the people around here. He seemed very young, but also his featured held something almost ancient, she thought. His lips pressed together in focus.
He was indeed beautiful, she had to admit.
So this was the boy that took Shion’s heart all those years ago. This was the one he had yearned for, oblivious of anyone else, oblivious of even Safu being ready to be there for him whenever needed, to accept him sharing his world with her, his pain, his thoughts, his existence…
‘Come on, I know I am pretty but people should not start a habit of staring at me for minutes. It’s impolite, you know.’
She raised her eyebrows with surprise at the cocky remark. Then she asked:
‘Is Shion with you?’
Did she see it, the tiny twitch at the corner of his mouth?
‘You have an awful lot of questions.’
‘Do you know where he is? Is he safe?’, she tried to suppress the worry in her voice.
Nezumi tsked again, letting a half-smirk spread to his face.
‘You are a fool if you think any of us are safe or will be in the near future’, he said, his voice silky, infused with bitterness that cut deep. ‘But he is alive’, he added, and Safu closed her eyes with relief, her fingers reaching for each other in her lap, comforted by her own warmth.
He is alive.
For this moment, that was all that mattered.
And so was she… which she did not believe so certain a few minutes earlier.
She moved her eyes around the road to see if anyone had noticed them and would begin to chase them. Nezumi was driving faster than it was allowed, so fast that Safu’s stomach lurched not once. Was he driving towards…
The West Block?
Is that where they were living?
She would find out soon enough… for now, she had to be grateful for…
….and she realised she had not even thanked Nezumi properly yet.
‘Thank you for saving me.’ A smile appeared on her face, and another one on his – distant, proud, beautiful, the smile of a doll in a play. ‘Did Shion send you?’
Nezumi’s thin lips pressed into a line again.
‘Questions later. First, we need to get you as far from the city as possible.’
***
That alone should answer a few questions already, Nezumi thought, mentally sighing at the girl’s obnoxious interrogation.
His heart pounding, he navigated the car to the nearest slot it would fit next to the building. They should be quick – any dweller of the West Block would freeze with shock, seeing a vehicle such as this stop at their street - or they would try their luck and rob whatever they could, even if it meant they can potentially lose their lives. Most of them did not have much to lose anyway.
But I do, he thought, ordering Safu: ‘Get out of the car. We’re going in.’
She got out almost quickly enough, and he grabbed her hand to pull her faster towards the entrance.
‘Shion’, Safu breathed in a hopeful voice, and Nezumi rolled his eyes as they walked down the stairs.
He is the only thing in her mind. For how long has she been obsessed like this?
It was crazy to look at her like this. Still just a girl, a lost, little human, unaware of the machinations around her, fixated on a friend she loved who never returned her feelings, not in the way she wanted him to.
What would come of this later, he wondered?
Not that it mattered. In the bigger picture, it did not matter what Safu selt or what Shion felt or what Nezumi felt. They had a task to carry out. Feelings were just hindrances to that.
‘Nezumi?’, a hopeful, urgent voice called from below, and Nezumi’s mice chittered back, scattering down on his sweater and pants to the ground, running towards the white-haired boy who stood up from among the bookshelves.
Safu gasped, her hands covering her mouth and then she ran, calling out Shion’s name with ecstasy and putting her arms around him.
‘Shion, your hair… it’s…. different’, she breathed in a high voice, fingers trailing to touch the soft locks. Nezumi’s mind burned with hatred against the antagonism it made rise up in him. He could not be weak like this. It is ridiculous.
Shion said her name as well and hugged her back, holding her tight as the girl’s shoulders shook, no doubt with a fit of crying. Nezumi’s lips twitched with contempt, and… and…
…envy, he could not deny. His gaze rested on their warm embrace longer than it should have been allowed. He let the dark, disgusting, moist poison spread in his mind longer than he should have.
Shaking himself, he raised his voice as if talking to his audience, clapping his hands.
‘Ta ta, off we go, lest someone takes off with our ride out there.’
He started toward the stairs again, tsking twice in the inviting tone that let his mice know they should come and accompany him – and the little things ran down from Shion’s shoulders where they found a temporary home and climbed up to Nezumi’s pockets again.
He looked back over his shoulders to see Safu reluctantly release Shion from her embrace. Her hands remained on his shoulders though.
‘I am so happy to see you well. Are you all right? We were so worried about you… your mom…’
Pain rushed through Shion’s face, and Nezumi had enough of it.
‘Lovebirds… the car is waiting!’, he rolled his eyes at them again, immediately furious with himself.
It did not matter… it did not matter what he thought of his own self either.
He just needed to get the both of them out of here.
Nezumi started driving again, his heart pounding heavily.
Out of the city.
Towards his home.
Although that was not yet what it fully was. Maybe it could be again, once more… maybe, if… if they succeed…
***
‘So… are we going to leave No.6? To where?’, Safu inquired. Shion looked at Nezumi.
‘I think we should tell her’, he said, waiting for permission. Although he could still say what he willed – Nezumi could not stop him –, he wanted Nezumi to agree to it as well.
After all, Safu was going to find out anyway. The sooner they get over the initial shock of information – which was also heard to process for Shion – the sooner they can move on to discuss the operative details of their task.
‘Of course you do’, Nezumi said amiably, with a honeyed smile that – together with the tone of his voice – made Shion both shrink in shame and melt with pleasure. There was a bit of scorn in Nezumi’s voice but not true anger. ‘Go on – be the bard that tells about our tales.’
‘That would be more fitting for you’, Shion noted, with a pleased smile, thinking back to the songs Nezumi sang, how they made every worry drift away and leave nothing but a calming presence in their stead.
‘DIdn’t you just ask if you could tell her?’
‘True, I did.’ Shion smiled, turning toward Safu, surprised to see her also smile at them. He could not decide if he imagined the sadness there in her eyes – was this the same face he had seen when – in another world – he had seen Safu already strapped of her humanity, used, emptied, waiting to be completely drained of life; when she had watched Nezumi next to him with some regret, as well as love?... It did not matter. This was not the time to dwell on this, he told himself, just as Nezumi had told him many times before, when Shion voiced his concerns. ‘Yes, we are going to leave the city. Nezumi has… met a community there that can help us. I am telling you, this will probably surprise and shock you, so be ready. We… the ones you see now, before you… we are not totally the ones you knew. In the forest there is a people who live hidden, far from the eyes of No.6. Nezumi’s people. They know a way of communicating with nature that is beyond the sort of science we have studied. They had a way to… retrace the steps of reality so that what happened need not happen again. We… I guess you could say we come from the future.’
Safu’s eyes widened at him.
‘You could time travel!’
‘You can say so, yes.’
Safu’s eyes lit up with curiosity but she remained silent. Shion continued.
‘We tried… at first, before we travelled back, we tried to save you, and save the city, and in some way we did. But it was not enough. In this earlier version of reality, you… you were taken. You were used as an experiment, and were eventually gone.’
Safu gasped with the obvious shock of realising the tragedy that almost befell her mere hours ago.
‘You were fused with another entity. The city’s leaders gave Them a name – Elyurias – but the forest folk call Them the Forest God, and it’s just as well. No matter the name, we need Their help. But for now, They are not yet listening to us. So… that is why we are going to the Forest People. They have their ways to call to their God.’
‘Shion, you look…’ Safu examined him closely, listening, and then her fingers trailed towards his face. Shion had explained on the way how his hair became white and how the red scar appeared on his body. But now she was looking at something else: the changes on his face.
‘How much time passed after you… after you came back?’
‘Three years’, Shion admitted. He had looked in the mirror scarcely, but lately he had seen how his face had changed through the years. Exhaustion drew wrinkles around his eyes, and the bags underneath them were darkened, as well as his smiles were rarer – at least, until Nezumi had returned. With a sudden self-awareness Shion wondered whether there were any remnants of bite marks on his neck – then he remembered that lately he always buttoned his shirts high up. ‘I have been the chairman of an organisation that was formed after No.6 fell. The Restructural Committee, we called it.’ He waited a few seconds as Safu’s eyes widened again. ‘This… that is, the city being destroyed, might happen again, anyway. In fact, it seems to be the only solution. From what we have extrapolated, it does not seem like an avoidable outcome. But what happens after and how we rebuild – that we can change.’
For one, this time Nezumi will not leave. He has had enough time on his own.
How lucky they are indeed – to have the chance to redo their mistakes, to live more years than anyone received… It has only happened very few times in the course of history, it is said. It is not even confirmed when.
Safu had a lot of questions – and Shion was prepared to answer them. After months of speculation, hundreds of papers written full with memories, theories and historical events as well as scientific leads, he had in mind the answer to most of them.
Shion watched Safu with a fond smile as she breathed in at the sight of the forest for the first time.
He thought back to the time when they had walked through the park and he voiced his discontent about the whole regularity of it. Safu had not seen that as a problem then – but now, her thoughts were reframed about it.
She said, ‘It is indeed very beautiful. Odd, but beautiful.’
‘You haven’t seen the half of it’, Shion mused, and in his vision images of the giant coloumns of trees appeared, towering around the tiny humans on ground like those of some ancient temple.
Indeed it was the most ancient temple he had seen: a temple of life itself.
He breathed in deep.
He had gotten used to the sterile smell of disinfectants and clean surfaces everywhere – that was how he grew up. He had gotten used to the stench of death, decay and rot – he had to face that often in the West Block. This – the fresh, somewhat cold, earthy smell of the forest – was still new to him. Yet it was welcoming – like some old relative that one did not even knew the existence of, but one that welcomed them with open arms. Kindness.
Shion could only hope that when they met the Forest People again – or, for them, for the first time – they would greet them the same way. And that, when they talked with the God again – or for Them, for the first time –, They would heed their requests so.
Shion felt Nezumi’s gaze upon himself, as he watched Safu smile at the great trees, amazed. Shion reached out for Nezumi’s hand, who almost pulled back, sounds of surprise leaving his throat, uncontrolled.
’Wha- what are you-’
But he did not shake him off. First, his fingers hung stiff in Shion’s hold, then they folded around him as Nezumi shrugged. Shion then reached for his other hand for Safu, who looked back at him with almost the same surprise.
’Keep this up only until we reach their village though’, Nezumi muttered under his breath. ’Let alone they think we are a cult of love, or something.’
Safu giggled, and Shion saw Nezumi wrinkle his eyebrows at that, then roll his eyes as they started towards the entrance of the forest – unidentifiable, as there were no treks leading there, so they just walked towards the trees to somewhere cross between them. Nezumi would know the way, he would lead them. And perhaps himself, too, Shion thought, he would find it again, and since then he tried to identify marking points that seemed familiar to him.
Nezumi knew this place in a different way than Shion could orient himself in built environments. He was very good at that, but he did not resonate with the forest the same way Nezumi did.
He walked on with a certain warmth, holding both of their hands in his. Hopeful and happy. After all, he had back in his life two of the people he loved most.
A cult of love, he mused. Would that really be such a bad thing?
Hello!
Very important question of the day.
Do you think Angeal is a Soft Alpha or a Caring Beta according to a certain kind of categorisation? (Or something else, I am not familiar w all of them XD)
(Totally did not occur to me because of a post I saw today)
Hello! Thank you for this very important question!!!
Full disclosure, I am not very well versed in the omegaverse dynamics so I’m not sure if mine is the best opinion to go by here but I’ll try my best for funsies!
Answer under the cut because I know this isn’t for everyone 🖤
Okay so for our friend Hewley, I’m going to have to go Alpha all the way. In non omegaverse I absolutely see him as having an almost repressed dominant side. He tries very hard not to let it slip but it’s there and the one place I think it would come out more than anywhere else is the bedroom because let’s face it a) dude is stacked (everywhere, it’s canon) and b) he’s a people pleaser and his partner’s know it and more importantly they know it doesn’t take a lot to get him into that role. (He may be a bit of a dom when he lets loose but he’s still got the leanings of a repressed non practicing catholic* so I do think he requires some encouragement to get there - at least initially)
*this opinion brought to you by an actual repressed, non practicing catholic
The beauty of the omegaverse for Angeal though I think is the issues he has with showing his dominant side in the normal verse would be much less stressful for him because here it all comes down to simple biology and he can lean into this side of himself more because it comes naturally, because his partners are receptive to it and because it feels good and dammit, he’ll take it.
I do think he’d definitely be the caring, pampering type though. Whatever is required of him, he’ll do. Thankfully though I think his partners would take one look at him and be up for whatever he’s putting down (mainly their face in the pillow) and they can worry about aftercare later. (And he will. Because he’s a gentleman).
If anyone has any (nice lol) opinions on this kind of thing please do chime in in the comments as stated above, this isn’t exactly my wheelhouse (but I very much enjoyed answering so thank you for the ask!)
Hi, if you know Baldur's Gate 3 (idk if you do)
Or if you know anything about Astarion xD
What would happen if Genesis and Astarion met?
*steps back, grabs popcorn and watches chaotic fashion drama unfold*
Okay so full disclosure, I know *of* Baldur's Gate 3 and I definitely know Astarion well enough to immediately identify him (also he's a vampire so I can respect that LOL) but beyond the aesthetics I actually know zero things behind the character.
Given the perma smirk he seems to be wearing though I'm going to go out on a limb and say: this guy looks like he makes it his business to serve c*nt on a regular basis and thus, he's probably my kind of guy. As for what would happen if he and Genesis met?
Yeah. I can't write that here because I'd get banned from tumblr FOREVER ;)
🖤
(but I'm sure you can guess what I'm getting at XD)
Oy, I had to stop listening to Maps by Maroon 5 because I felt too much SephGenGeal angst and sadness so now I am torturing you too but I hope you don't mind :"D <3
Of course I don’t mind!!!! Please do torture me with song rec sadness, I love it so much 🖤
