Valkyris is an alternate universe (au) project created by hobbyist artist @sweetmimi500. It is centered around Mithra Valkyris, a young woman living in the steampunk-esque city of Midgar and her time as a thief in the slums as well as her transition into and time spent as a SOLDIER for Shinra.
The majority of Valkyris takes place while Mithra is serving as a 2nd Class SOLDIER. She befriends fellow members Cloud, Zack, Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth, the last of whom she develops feelings for and forms a romantic relationship with. Valkyris also features a well-rounded cast of people from many gender identities, sexual orientations, and backstories, with Mithra herself identifying as bisexual.
Because Valkyris is an AU, events will not happen the same way in which they did throughout the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. Similarly, the fates of many characters will change dramatically, as Valkyris’ storyline does not involve significant events such as the Genesis War, Metorfall, or the Geostigma plague. Their personalities will mostly remain loyal to the source material with a few exceptions based on fan interpretations and headcanons.
A final note: many of the characters in Valkyris go through multiple traumatic events, and there may be content which some viewers could find disturbing. You have been cautioned. All fanfictions are inherently PG-13.
On another note, walking around has been helpful in visualizing what Midgar and other places look like in Valkyris. However, I do wish that the game offered more freedom to explore places such as in the Shinra building.
Mithra’s earliest memory is waking up on the hard, cold ground in the Midgar slums. She has no memory of her parents or hometown. The only thing she can do at the time is find some kind of work in the slums so she can pay for food and clothing.
Before she joins SOLDIER, Mithra has no last name. Valkyris is a name she thinks of on the spot as Lazard, the director of SOLDIER, asks for her name. She spends her teenage years working as a thief in a gang based in Wall Market yet undiscovered by the public.
Even though she’s in a difficult and unpredictable situation, Mithra’s resilience and determination are unmatched. It will not be long before she finds herself in the heart of Midgar and meets the most important people in her life.
“Myriad of Mithra” Rebranding into “Valkyris: Final Fantasy VII”
After a long time of not posting, I have decided to rebrand this blog. Instead of snippets from Mithra Valkyris’ life with her fellow SOLDIER friends, the blog will serve as a gallery of both artwork and literature revolving around the AU. Artwork will be the most prevalent, but occasional textpost-style content may consist of character wiki pages or fanfiction. There will also be several changes to the fanon itself, as a lot of time has been spent revising and reworking the story.
Since there are many instances where Mithra and Sephiroth are just hanging out in their home, I decided to make some headcanons about the more general aspects of their living together. I may make more in the future as I come up with new ones.
Moving In
- Sephiroth moves in with Mithra only a few weeks after they start dating. It’s not as big of a deal as normal couples because they live relatively close to each other, so moving things around is fairly simple.
- After they spend their first night together, Sephiroth already makes plans to ask if he can live with Mithra full-time. Because of his high position both as an officer and a First, he’s met with little questioning when he makes the proposition. The Shinra execs allow him to abandon his 1st Class quarters and live with his girlfriend instead.
- Sephiroth is called away on a mission shortly after he makes the decision to live with Mithra, so she is put in charge of moving all of his personal belongings to her home. She recruits Zack, Cloud, and Kunsel to help her, and the hallways are full of chaos during the time they spend traveling back and forth between the two apartments.
- Mithra has way too much fun using the flatbed carts as skateboards while she’s on her way back to Sephiroth’s to load more things onto it. She almost runs Cloud over twice.
- Sephiroth’s old apartment is converted into a guest room, the same purpose Mithra’s apartment had before she enlisted in SOLDIER.
- Sephiroth was actually the only SOLDIER living on the executive floor, which is located two floors above the 1st and 2nd Class apartment floor, where Mithra lives. The 3rds live a floor below that along with the troopers.
- Even though Sephiroth’s old apartment is very luxurious, it’s very lonely. Mithra visits him a couple of times before he starts living with her, but she doesn’t feel comfortable there because it’s so opulent.
General Life
- The two take turns with chores. Chores include cleaning the bathroom, wiping down the kitchen, vacuuming, changing sheets, etc.
- The apartment has one writing desk, and that’s where Mithra keeps all her drawing supplies. Sephiroth does his work on the kitchen island, and the bar stools are actually pretty comfortable.
- Both partners are fine with guests coming over, as long as they clean up any messes. This is especially notable because they’ll both have friends over when the other is away for company.
- Mithra’s definitely the better cook, but she takes time to teach Sephiroth so he can make himself food when she’s not around. Angeal often comes over to use Mithra’s kitchen because it’s the most spacious out of all the apartments.
- Mithra’s favorite food is spicy ramen or curry, and Sephiroth loves spaghetti bolognese. Mithra does not drink alcohol, and her favorite drink is either fruit punch or chocolate milk. Sephiroth’s favorite alcohol is Merlot, and his favorite non-alcoholic drink is strawberry lemonade.
- The bathroom has a very interesting layout, and it sports very nice amenities that not even the luxurious executive suites have. There’s a common area with double sinks as well as a large mirror. The lighting mimics natural daylight. Mithra keeps her beauty and skincare products in a small vanity in here as well. Three doors separate into a toilet room that has noise-cancelling walls, a private shower room with a separate changing area, and a onsen-style tub room that emits steam. Mithra almost never uses the hot tub, but she has fallen asleep in it before.
- The living room area is the group’s party hangout, and the widescreen television sports a high-quality display where the friends often play video games and watch movies together.
- Video game time consists of a lot of screaming, Angeal getting a headache, and Sephiroth winning by doing almost nothing.
- There’s a weapon rack by the entryway for Kuroyumi and Masamune. Mithra always has a plentiful supply of arrows as well.
- Mithra and Sephiroth will talk together while cleaning/polishing their weapons. Mithra will sit on the couch running her bowstring through a block of wax while Seph kneels on the floor and polishes Masamune until it’s reflective.
- Both before and after Sephiroth moves into Mithra’s home, Zack and Cloud regularly hang out in her apartment. They enjoy using Mithra’s TV to play games when they’re off duty, and she appreciates their company when Sephiroth is away. Mithra even made Zack a jar of snacks, labeling it “Puppy Food”.
- The couch has a pullout mattress for any guests. The most notable instance where it was put to use occurred after Zack took Cloud to a bar for his 21st birthday, and Mithra found the two of them spooning on the bed the next morning.
- Mithra and Sephiroth always look forward to the other’s return home from missions. If either of them are at home when the other comes back, there’s always hugs and kisses to follow.
Self-Care and Hygiene
- Both Mithra and Sephiroth practice good hygiene and clean up after themselves. There aren’t many instances where they’ll tolerate a mess unless they’re too tired to care.
- Mithra always showers first because she can get in and out much quicker. Sephiroth takes at least 10 minutes to wash his hair alone, and Mithra often uses this time to do her skincare regimen.
- For as much hair as he has, Sephiroth’s hair actually dries within a reasonable amount of time due to how fine it is. He just has to wring it out well and it air dries pretty quickly.
- Mithra forbids Sephiroth from walking around the bathroom with dripping hair after she slips in one of the puddles he makes. Thankfully, he catches her.
- After he gets out of the shower, Sephiroth combs his hair out. He sometimes lets Mithra do it because he knows how much she loves his hair. He also lets her braid it, and he actually likes the feeling of his hair being pulled out of his face.
- Unlike her boyfriend, Mithra doesn’t really do anything to her hair besides shampooing and brushing. She deems any length past her shoulders as “too long” and cuts it. She doesn’t get tangles often, but when she does, Sephiroth usually helps her comb them out.
- Both of them have skincare routines. Sephiroth washes his face every morning and night, and he also moisturizes to keep his skin soft. Mithra does pretty much everything: cleansing, toning, moisturizing, exfoliating, the whole nine yards. They both like doing masks together, but Sephiroth is somewhat afraid of peeling masks. Mithra has an entire album on her phone dedicated to bathroom selfies.
- As for hair removal shenanigans, Mithra tries her best to keep her legs and armpits clean-shaven, but her hair grows somewhat quickly. She often forgets to shave and just allows herself to have hairy legs and pits, but she honestly doesn’t care about it that much. This doesn’t stop her from grooming when she remembers, though, as she loves the feeling of smooth, shaved legs.
- Sephiroth does not have any facial hair besides his eyebrows and lashes. He wears long pants most of the time, so he has no reason to deal with leg hair. His armpit hair is nearly undetectable because it’s very fine and light-colored. His chest and stomach are completely hairless, leaving the skin silky smooth, which Mithra enjoys very much.
- For their hair, er, “down there”, both Mithra and Sephiroth keep themselves fairly well groomed by shaving and trimming respectively.
- Mithra has a special cabinet in the toilet room for all her feminine hygiene products, and Sephiroth never bothered to ask her about them until she got her period for the first time after he moved in.
- Speaking of periods, Sephiroth had never learned about them in his youth, mainly because he was never around women. Zack had to teach him everything after Seph’s failed attempt to treat Mithra’s “injury”.
- Mithra’s significantly more impatient and emotional during her periods, so Sephiroth is sure to give her an extra wide berth. He also stocks up on toilet paper during these times.
Sleeping
- The bed is a king size with a deep red comforter. The sheets and pillowcases are usually a shade of red, as that’s the only color that Mithra likes.
- The far side of the room leads to a walk-in closet. Sharing the closet isn’t much of a problem because Mithra’s clothes aren’t bulky, leaving plenty of room for Sephiroth’s armor and such.
- The floor-to-ceiling window opposite the bed allows plenty of natural light into the room, but the mako reactors give the room a greenish glow at night. Red curtains provide privacy.
- For sleeping arrangements: from the perspective of the foot of the bed, Mithra sleeps on the left side, and Sephiroth on the right.
- Each side of the bed has a nightstand, but Mithra’s is the only one with a lamp, a salt lamp at that. Mithra confirms that it’s indeed made of salt because she licked it once out of curiosity.
- Mithra’s nightstand also has lip balm, hand lotion, eye drops, and she always keeps a cup of water on her bedside before she goes to sleep.
- Sephiroth doesn’t really have much on his nightstand besides his phone, with alarms set at dawn. Mithra also has alarms, but Sephiroth usually wakes up first on regular workdays, and he wakes her up.
- They are pretty good at sharing the covers, but Mithra does get colder easily, so she’s definitely more likely to unconsciously steal the blankets. However, her solution is normally just snuggling closer to her lover.
- For sleepwear, Mithra doesn’t wear much because she likes the feeling of the smooth sheets against her skin. She usually just wears a sports bra and pajama shorts, sometimes she’ll add a cropped tank top if she has friends sleeping over.
- Sephiroth never sleeps with a shirt on. For Gaia’s sake, he doesn’t wear a shirt under his coat, so why on the Planet would he be any different in the privacy of his home? He sports dark-colored sweats or pajama pants on his lower half, and the waistband usually rides low on his hips, leaving the entire upper half of his body exposed.
- Unsurprisingly, Mithra does not mind her boyfriend’s choice of sleepwear at all. She’s fully guilty of staring at his toned body when he’s asleep, and she can sometimes get away with caressing him without waking him up.
- Likewise, Sephiroth loves Mithra’s physical beauty just as much as he loves her personality. He’ll place kisses on her exposed skin, respectfully of course, and he’ll sometimes tickle her to get a laugh out of her. His soft touches are enough to make butterflies erupt in Mithra’s stomach.
- An example is whenever Mithra wears a top with looser straps to bed. If the strap slides off her shoulder, Sephiroth will press a loving kiss to her shoulder blade before pushing the strap back into its place. She’ll practically melt in his arms.
- Mithra enjoys doodling in bed, normally when she waits for Sephiroth to come in. Seph will often come sit next to her on the bed and peek at her artwork.
- Sephiroth is just a big fan of holding Mithra, no matter the occasion, but he’s the most free to do it in the privacy of their bedroom. He’ll wrap his arms around her waist and gently rub his fingers on her stomach, sometimes tickling her because he knows that she’s ticklish there. He’ll continue to caress her waist when they lie down together.
- Mithra can hug Sephiroth from behind, but if she wants to drape her arms around his shoulders, she has to kneel on the bed. If she sits regularly, her arms only come up to right underneath his pecs.
- When both of them are ready to sleep, Sephiroth usually pulls Mithra down with him and holds her close to him. Her favorite sleeping position is with her head laying on his bare chest, as the thumping of his heart relaxes her and lulls her to sleep. Seph wraps his arm around her snugly and their legs are tangled together.
- Sometimes, the two will spoon, and Seph is usually the big spoon because he can wrap his arms around her much more easily. If they fall asleep that way, he’s sure to press a sweet kiss to her cheek or jawline.
- Most of these points just prove how touch-starved he is and how much he’s needed a girlfriend.
