#strifes

[blakcmagicx]

“allow yourself to heal

allow yourself some time alone

but healing doesn’t mean avoid emotions and situations

healing means face everything

even though is painful

your deepens will set you free

face it

but not with hate

sometimes we need to hug our strifes to let it go”

phil

[mallverse]

The aesthetics of the Strife bros and their partners, though. Cloud and Roxas the blonds with black-haired girlfriends, and then Sora over there as Mr. Opposite dating a silver-haired boy.

[mallverse]

So I was shuffling through my google docs to get myself in a Mallversey mood, when I came across this extensive list of descriptions for a lot of the main characters’ homes. I can’t think of a reason NOT to post it, so uh here you go?

Home headcanons home headcanons home headcanons!! Some old and oft repeated, some new. Just collectin’ ‘em all in one place.

The short, short version:

Strife: Cozy 3BR apartment

Crescent: Hugeass house

Waterford: Adorable townhouse

Finch: New apartment

Fair: Half-sunk house

Gainsborough: Condo above flowershop

Mun: Duplex with a lot of yard

Goodfellow: Idk but it’s very pleasant

Sinclair: Endearingly cramped dingbat

Isa: 2BR tenement apartment

Majesty: Cottage-style house

RGU Bros: Dinky rental house near campus

The long version:

The Strifes live in a cozy 3BR apartment on an upperish floor (like third or fourth). One bedroom is for Suzanne, one is for the twins, and the third is part Cloud’s, part office, and part guest room. The building itself nice enough; kind of budget, but well-maintained and has a very warm atmosphere. There’s an elevator but people are good about leaving it free for people who really need it. The neighbors are all pretty friendly; they notice who’s moving in and out, chat in the hallways, have a cute building newsletter, and stuff like that. Auron and sometimes Tidus live in the unit right next to the Strifes. Tidus’ window is directly next to the twins’, so sometimes they lean out to chat and pass each other stuff.

The Crescents have a huge house. Not the very biggest in town (that would be Marluxia), but in the same neighborhood. I’m still unsure exactly how many bedrooms and what the sharing situation was between brothers, but it’s definitely one of those spacious two-stories that has a fully finished basement (so it’s functionally three stories) and a three- or four-car garage. There’s a really nice sunken pool in the backyard, overlooked by a big deck just begging to be partied on. The basement includes a home gym (though it’s mostly just empty mat space for sparring, not workout machines), a bathroom, a hang-out room with couches, a hugeass tv, its own mini kitchen/bar type thing, and maybe a bedroom or two. Basically you could disappear to the basement for days and never be wanting for anything. Lucrecia and Hojo both have offices, probably on opposite sides of the house as symbolism for their emotional distance. Also their main sitting room is one of those overly tidy showroom-type places where you’re afraid to actually sit on anything. The whole place is just… big. Big, expensive, and oddly empty. The high ceilings and oversized furniture make you feel small and underdressed. Final note, they have cleaning and lawn services that come around now and then to help care for the house and grounds, but there’s still plenty for the boys to do.

[And now I’m laughing at the mental image of Sephiroth wielding a rake. Yazoo wearing a gardening apron and a giant hat and sunglasses . Kadaj chasing people with a weed whacker. Loz sneezing his poor face off. The twins taking turns holding a ladder for each other and shaking it when the older ones aren’t looking. You’re off-topic Dakt, get back on.]

The Waterfords live in an adorable townhouse. Two floors, but narrow. Adorable tiny front yard and little garden in the back with a short picket fence (just for aesthetics and to keep some animals out). It’s just. So cute. The cutest little townhouse with windowboxes and lacy curtains and white shutters. Kairi has a canopy bed with a fancy trunk at the foot of it that’s covered in stuffed animals and cutesy shit. She has a big vanity and an even bigger closet.

The Finches (though usually just Namine alone), also live in a 2BR apartment. It’s just kinda… There. It’s a very nice place, and relatively new (or newly renovated). So it doesn’t have much of a “lived in” feel yet. Everyone is really polite but kinda minds their own business. It’s a quiet place for quiet people. Not many children around. Basically the whole place feels like the waiting room of a newly-remodeled dentist’s office.

The Fairs have a standard sitcom-sized house. Idk why, but I kinda want to say it’s one of those half-sunk houses? Like it’s not quite clear if it’s a one-story with a finished basement, or a two-story. You walk in and immediately have to go either up or down half a staircase. Twilight Town IS full of hills. They’re neighbors with theeeee Ruskins? IIRC? Whoever Axel was living with first in Twilight Town. They have a nice yard for the kids and pets to run around in, and a really good climbing tree with a rope swing.

The Gainsboroughs live in a nice condo above their flower shop. 3BR, and Aerith still lives at home through most if not all of college (she commutes). It’s very tidy, but not coldly so. Just very Martha Stewart. With lots of houseplants, of course.

The Muns live in a duplex with pretty roomy front and back yards, and the other half of the house is actually their cousins’ so technically I guess you could say that the whole property is owned by the family. They definitely have a swingset, and maybe an above-ground pool too. Everything about the place is just very kid-friendly. Lots of brightly-colored and/or plastic dishware, stepstools all over the place (though that’s also just because they’re a very short family lmao), shelves full of boardgames and kids books, and no “real art” hanging on the walls - just family photos and things the kids have made. Pence’s room definitely has a lot of models in it. The really good ones are in a locked glass cabinet or wayyyy up high on shelves. The lower surfaces have cheaper ones and decoy toys for all his younger siblings and cousins to mess with.

The Goodfellows… man idek. Either a nice apartment/condo/townhouse or a little ranch-style house. Next-door neighbors to either the Gainsboroughs or the Muns, depending on which. Basically I’m just really amused by the idea that his family is perfectly suburban and sweet and he’s just trying too hard to find something to rebel against. Not that he’s always an ass to them or anything, I mean he’s a good kid really. He’s just your stereotypical teenager who dresses scruffy and listens to loud music because omg suburbia is the worst uuuuuhhhggg.

The Sinclairs of course have their endearingly hideous and cramped 2BR apartment. I have recently discovered and fallen in love with the concept (and name) of a dingbat apartment. It’s especially great because they definitely have a car. I feel like their unit is in a fairly small collection, like just six or eight roped together and managed by a sweet old landlord/lady who puts up with a lot of shit. Conditions aren’t great, but everyone pitches in. The Sinclairs in particular are often called on for changing lightbulbs and fixing things that are high up.

The Isas live in a 2BR apartment in a big building on a very upper floor (like fifth or something at least) that looks decent enough from the outside but is kinda ehhhh on the inside. The flaws in the Sinclairs’ building manage to be endearing; the flaws in the Isa’s building are just exasperating. It’s either a really old and outdated walk-up, or there is an elevator but it’s perpetually out of service. The landlord doesn’t really give a shit and will do anything to save a buck. Basically it’s one of those apartment buildings that’s on the cusp between lower middle class and kinda slummy. People generally ignore each other in the halls and there’s just sort of a “don’t ask don’t tell” air about the place. If the police were to ever turn up asking about the habits of a resident, everyone would be like “hey man I just live here, I keep to myself.” Most of the Isa’s unit is kinda trashed and has some kind of faint but lingering odor like cigarettes or booze or general dank (except on the day of Saix’s monthly cleaning rampage where he drenches everything in spray bleach). But Saïx’s bedroom is like… if you look closely at the moulding and stuff it’s a bit shitty and low quality and the closet door is permanently off its track and there are a couple slats missing from the blinds and his curtains are thumb-tacked to the wall and the comforter is threadbare, BUT everything is spit-spot tidy and hygienic. A mug of coffee/tea and a half-empty package of Fig Newtons on the nightstand are the only “dirty” things about it. His bookshelf is both alphabetized and dusted.

The Majestys have either an adorable cottage type house or an adorable townhouse like the Waterfords. It’s full of fascinating mementos from their surprisingly adventurous lives. No matter who you are, you immediately feel welcomed and comfortable. Like your favorite aunt & uncle’s house that you visit all the time. It’s magically nostalgic. But not “old fashioned.” It’s those new-style old-style Mickey Mouse shorts. 

And I actually already posted the portion for the House Bros, which is here.

[mallverse]

Whose more likely to make their mom a gift for Mother's Day or buy who? Who goes all out?

Sorry for the delay, but I suppose I was hoping I’d think of something more interesting to say. I feel like my answer to this is just a series of screamingly obvious things, but here we go anyway I guess.

Families with present and pleasant mothers (Strifes, Fairs, Gainsboroughs, Muns, etc.) all do standard Mother’s Day things with the standard mix of Hallmark trinkets, handmade gifts, brunch, and whatnot. Kairi and her Grandma do a rockstar-treatment spaday. Axel does something cheesy and annoying for Reno. Namine has a nice long Skype call with her mother and shows off a particularly spectacular painting she did for the occasion. And the Isas resent everything and each other most of all, so it probably just turns into a screaming match about who the most disappointing family member is. Saix ollies out to go spread his ire to unsuspecting coworkers at McMoogles.

As for the Crescents, I can’t see why Mothers’ Day in this world WOULDN’T be a Jenovan holiday. It's gotten watered-down and commercialized and really secular in recent history, which the orthodox Jenovan sector gets huffy about. All Jenovan churches hold some kind of organized event for Mothers’ Day. Reform groups take it as more of a cheerful May-Day type event and get together for a light service and community brunch orwhatever. Maybe it’s a bit like… uh well like how Purim was at my synagogue growing up, idk what other analogy to use here sorry. Minus the costumes. But lots of fun family-oriented events; Sunday school classes setting up little game booths and putting on a play, campfire-type bible songs and stories, circle dances, maybe a little craft table for making paper flowers and crowns to give your mom, etc. Orthodox groups on the other hand make you sit through a super long, preachy service and are much primmer about their garden-party festivities. Also they get snooty about the placement of the apostrophe on “Mothers’.” There’s your mother and there’s your Mother. That’s two mothers. Mothers’ Day. So yeah! Crescents go to church, woo-hoo. And go out for a really stuffy and egregiously expensive dinner in Radiant Garden that evening.

[mallverse]

I love how you draw Sora with a darker skin tone.

Well tbh I try to stick to canon models for that sort of thing more than I know some AU makers do, but in Mallverse the Destiny Islands are in a distinctly different biome than Twilight Town. And Sora continues to be an adventurous, outdoorsy fellow even after the move. Roxas and Cloud are more indoorsy and lose a bit of their glow, though depending on who they’re standing next to they’re still quite tan. Not that I ever remember to properly color it, or color at all really :B Though I was also thinking that the unseen former Mr. Strife was distinctly darker than Suzanne; Sora takes after him the most, whereas the two blonds favor their mothers’ genes.

One of these days I should probably figure out how far DI is from TT/RG in this AU. Honestly I was thinking pretty damn far. I mean, DI has essentially no seasons (just sunny and warm to hot all the time), whereas TT definitely has all four in all their extremes. So like… a New York to Florida type of distance. 1,000 miles or what-have-you.

[mallverse]

*SNORTS* And loopy Roxas seeing Sora and puffing up like an angry beta fish seeing a mirror like WHAT IS THIS WHO ARE YOU STRANGE DOPPLEGANGER THING FIGHT ME And loopy Sora is like noooooo Roxas is upset, don't be upset Roxassss and falls on top of him in a hug and they wrestle weakly for a few minutes but then fall asleep. And Suzanne just throws a blanket over them and goes to make dinner.

[mallverse]

I'm guessing that the college tuition in this AU is a lot cheaper than in America right? I mean, Reno is able to rent an apartment, look after his brother, work and still be in college. Cloud also lives on campus at least some point in this AU so that means room and bored must also be cheep seeing as the Strifes probably have limited fund from moving around and stuff.

Well Reno only goes to school part time at a tech so he's only paying for the odd class here and there, but yeah generally I'd say this is a conveniently idealistic world where college isn't SO ridiculous. It's still enough to cause some headaches, but no one's selling their kidney. RGU is a state school, not a super prestigious private college, but it's got a great enough reputation that being accepted is a pretty big high five. Cloud isn't exactly top of his class, but he managed to get in. So Suzanne kinda pushed for him to accept the opportunity and is pretty much footing the bill. He always worked so hard to help her raise the twins; she wants him get a chance to be a priority now. If that makes sense.