[gargleblasted application]
OOC:
Name: Raaj
Are you over 16?: Y
Personal LJ: kilraaj
Email: kilraaj@gmail.com
Timezone: CST
Other contact: kokiaru (aim)
Characters already in the game: Noooone
How did you find us?: …well I’d already known about the game for a while, but what made me look again was dear_mun?
IC:
Character name: Aerith Gainsborough
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Timeline: post-Advent Children, aka “soon after she heads into the light again”
Age: 22 years alive + 2 years dead! :D (She probably considers herself 22. She’s already dead, she doesn’t have to get older on top of it.)
~*Magical*~ abilities and strengths: Retaining her consciousness separate from the Planet after death. Talking to people’s minds. Kicking Meteor out of her atmosphere with Lifestream. Healing alien viruses with Cetra knowledge. During life, being able to communicate with the Planet and sense weird things about people, in general being a freaky child. Being able to grow flowers where flowers shouldn’t grow the fertilizer is the guys who fall in the flower bed and don’t wake up. Being able to heal, not just kissing booboos away but sending Cloud back from death because she wasn’t looking to adopt such a big kid and granting the party full (though temporary) immunity from harm (OBVIOUSLY someone did not think to do this while she was on her knees with her back wide open). The power to top.
How would they use their abilities?: To distract Cloud while he’s driving at high speeds Actually quite a few of those abilities are either nixed because she’s not on her planet or irrelevant because she’s alive. What’s still relevant is she’s keeping some of her own healing/protection skills, minus Great Gospel because …full healing and temporary invulnerability seems like it might be too much. IDK. So she’ll be using these skills to …heal and protect people. She’s not very discriminating about this.
Appearance: Right! So when not dead, Aerith’s a touch short at 5’3” and has a slender, feminine build. Feminine also describes her clothing very well-she usually wears pink dresses, a red bolero that wouldn’t actually keep her warm, bangles, a ribbon necklace, and a pink ribbon in her hair. But she does have a touch of practicality in the boots on her feet. She chooses clothes first for appearance, but comfort is also important and she wouldn’t sacrifice functionality completely. Besides clothing, she has fair skin, green eyes, and long brown hair that’s often braided back.
…Actually she looks the same when she’s dead too. Who knows.
Background/Personality: Aerith easily has the most screwed up youth of the party: because she was born an Ancient, she grew up in a lab run by THE WORST SCIENTIST IN THE WORLD until she was 7 and her mom died getting her out. (Her father had already been shot and killed when she was a baby because he thought verbal protests would actually stop Hojo. Haha, no.) Despite this, on the surface she seems just fine; her adoptive mother Elmyra describes her as a lively, talkative child, we see her do ditzy stuff like trip over her own feet, she’s coped with her birth mom’s death because she can still hear her and btw Elmyra your husband just died in a war halfway across the world but please don’t cry? …So she was fine besides being a freaky little girl.
Unfortunately, Tseng’s appearance in her life makes it clear things are NOT 100% hunky-dory with her. The Turk wants her to cooperate with Shinra because he believes she could help the people of the slums with her abilities, but the possibility of returning to the lab scares her so much that she denies being an Ancient and hearing voices and thereafter never mentions them or anything about her heritage again, even to Elmyra. This goes on until she’s 22 years old.
But we see her do other things before then! Namely, fall in love with Zack at age 15. This is both great and bad. This is great because Zack introduces the idea that hey, being weird can be good-he willingly underwent the SOLDIER process (which includes surgery and alien cells, really should’ve read that waiver) to become a hero! Aerith admires his pretty mako eyes. They’re both very upbeat and encouraging and generally good for each other, even if occasionally Aerith says things Zack doesn’t really get (the flowers want only her taking care of them, ohhhkaaaaaay). And Aerith helps Zack not do dumb things like get himself pickpocketed in the slums :|a Although she actually ends up helping the pickpocket too because she knows the kid’s circumstances and that’s just how she rolls. Also Zack started her on selling flowers, which apparently she’d never thought of before.
Now she doesn’t get on the “weird can be great!” train just yet. When they meet she tells Zack “normal is best”, and though they date for two years she never tells him about her being a Cetra or just why Tseng is a creeper around the church. It is notable though that she was willing to date a Shinra SOLDIER, so she’s not judgmental of people just because of who they work for. It just…might’ve played a part in why she never told him she was a Cetra.
Then somewhere in here, Before Crisis’s episode 11 happens but we’ll skim this because I don’t think it says much about Aerith except that Tseng still scares the bejeezus out of her. Basically Aerith takes off because the Planet Said So and gets kidnapped by the first AVALANCHE group, which like Shinra is also looking for the Promised Land. She is a Freaky Girl. The player Turk rescues her. She decides not to be Miss Adventure just yet.
Then TRAGEDY STRIKES: Zack leaves on a mission for Nibelheim and if you know the canon you’re already like “yah everything burns and two buddies are captured, undergo unethical experimentation for four years, execute the daring escape of the hedgehogpup and his chocoboveggie yadda yadda” WELL OKAY THEN. On Aerith’s end she only knows that her boyfriend just…totally up and left with no explanation, since Shinra is keeping what happened under tight wraps and conceals the incident completely. But she keeps hope and writes him for four years, 89 letters in total, handing all but one off to Tseng because…well, he works with Zack so he’s the best bet, right? Crisis Core being Zack’s story, we only see the very last one (which Tseng didn’t get, apparently the mutated wolf’s a better mailman than him) so we don’t know the contents of most of the letters and it’s hard to even tell if the last letter-friendly but not explicitly romantic, saying she won’t write anymore-is a break-up note, if she’d already considered them broken up but still friends, or if she still wanted to keep being his girlfriend but just figured the letters weren’t going to work after not hearing back for four years. I like to think that there was at least one “I’m dumping you” letter that got hastily written and handed off when she was really upset, and a letter just as hastily written afterward to apologize for everything in the first. But I digress. No matter how the last letter was intended or what status she thinks their relationship is in (besides emotional purgatory), Aerith keeps wearing pink dresses as she promised him she would once, as well as the ribbon he bought her, so obviously she still cares about him.
Then after a few more months, Zack dies. Remember five paragraphs ago about Aerith being a freaky little girl and telling Elmyra the husband Aerith had never even met had just died over in Wutai? Yeah. Even if she’d like to deny it, Aerith is still freaky as ever, and Zack’s death takes place close to Midgar. She knows he’s dead, but not how or why or what was going on for the past five years. It messes her up big time. She decides the solution is that he OBVIOUSLY had been shacking up with another girl and all they had was just a fun fling so it didn’t really matter and his disappearance hadn’t hurt her. This idea contains one part reality (Zack always was popular and flirtatious), one part wishful thinking (better for him if he’d disappeared of his own choice), and one part straight-up delusion (it was not a fling and she was hurt). Weeks pass. She still wears pink.
A REACTOR EXPLODES. Aerith is not fazed enough for Cloud to escape her notice, but that meeting is fairly uneventful. Then ANOTHER REACTOR EXPLODES and Cloud falls into her flower bed a la Zack. Aerith takes note of their first meeting and his actions, which are similar to Zack, and takes a very active interest in him. Turks come to capture her for Shinra-it’s serious now. She offers Cloud a date if he protects her. Cloud demonstrates bad business sense and agrees. How well he protects her depends on how good you are at guessing which barrel will fall where, but it doesn’t matter too much because Aerith’s gotten stronger since Zack left and can whack those soldiers and guard dogs into oblivion if she needs to. She bullshits that the Turks are after her because she’s SOLDIER material and tells Cloud he’s terrible when he points out the obvious lie. Both of them laugh. Then she takes Cloud back to her crib, but nothing sexy happens because 1) Aerith’s still living with Elmyra and 2) nothing sexy involving Cloud will ever actually be shown on-screen in the compilation because it’s just that unbelievable. Tell me I’m wrong. Anyway, Elmyra warns Cloud off Aerith and Cloud obediently tries to sneak out in the middle of the night. The game makes you do a mini-game…sort of thing and then springs Aerith on you anyway because guess what she has made up her mind Cloud is stuck with her.
Until they see Tifa go into Wall Market, at which point Aerith takes off without Cloud because Wall Market isn’t safe for girls and girls gotta stick together. Cloud catches up with her, they find out Tifa just went into a pimp’s mansion of all places and only girls can get in. Aerith’s first (and best) idea is to get Cloud in touch with his feminine side. Shenanigans ensue. Love triangles are started, a lucky lady (or dude-looks-like-a-lady) is chosen for the night, balls are threatened, plans to crush an entire sector of Midgar to stop the reactor explosions are discovered-holy crap that’s bad. Aerith rallies Tifa when she’s briefly in despair over the impending plate drop; they go to stop it. THEY FAIL. But Aerith does manage to save a little girl…getting herself captured by the Turks in the process.
Once more damsel-in-distress, she gets pimpsmacked by Tseng and threatens his balls off-screen, then taken to Hojo’s lab, the very place she’s been avoiding for most her life. But before she can get bred with a wild dog (Hojo:
), Cloud & Co. rescue her! And get themselves captured. Also it turns out the wild dog is sentient and talks. Aerith encourages Cloud and talks about dating in the jail cell because hey, she doesn’t have to worry about public execution, just horribly unethical experimentation and forced breeding. Jenova (looking like Sephiroth) pitches a fit in the building because she’s not getting 5-star service, everyone escapes in the chaos, Cloud has the inspiration for what the MASTER PLOT of the game is because he’s a puppet in it, Aerith follows because Cloud really acts like Zack. (There are other reasons too, like finding out more about Sephiroth, who is supposedly also an Ancient.)
Tons of teasing/flirting with Cloud and some main plot stuff (have you seen a man wearing a black cape?) later, the party gets to Cosmo Canyon with the ninja Yuffie and the not-suspicious-at-all Cait Sith tagging along. They learn about THE PLANET. Because this is Cloud’s story, you don’t really see what else Aerith’s doing here, but this is where she finds out that she’s the last Cetra and more about them as a people. She gets sad over being the only freaky person in the world and Cloud tries to reassure her that they’re all nutjobs there for her. She doesn’t seem to take that to heart, but she does get over it and start to accept being the last of her kind. They go through Nibelheim for a brief mindfuck (razed town is not razed, what) and then to Rocket Town. Aerith is vocally unimpressed by the communication in Shera and Cid’s relationship, as well as Vincent’s coping strategies, and stealing Shinra stuff is A-OK! If you go to Gongaga with her she reveals her somewhat messed up thoughts regarding Zack after his parents ask the party about him. (Given that Cloud has no memory of Zack at this point, he’s kinda…not able to help much.) When it’s mentioned that Rufus is looking for the Temple of Ancients, where Sephiroth is going, they stop Palmer from taking the Tiny Bronco but the plane is gonna take off anyway…so they climb in, take off, get shot at, land in the ocean, and gain one plane-turned-boat and its foul-mouthed pilot. They meander around the world looking for the Keystone to the Temple.
It’s in Gold Saucer. The tram just happens to break after they gain the Keystone, so they spend a night at the inn, which turns into a plot recap for confused players and a Very Special Night for Cloud, as one of four people will take him out on a date. If you get Aerith’s date, she once again reveals her somewhat messed up thoughts regarding Zack. She’s figured out Cloud and Zack are different! But this discussion involves baring some vulnerability which Aerith doesn’t like doing too much, so she makes it brief and unclear and leaves Mr. McSpikyHead confused.
Cait Sith is a jerk because sneaking undercover and thieving are only acceptable when AVALANCHE do them he takes the Keystone and hands it off to Tseng, though he gets caught by Cloud and (maybe) Aerith. Everyone heads off to the Temple the morning after to get the Black Materia before Sephiroth or Shinra do. Tseng flops like a fish after being stabbed by Sephiroth but he’s not actually going to die. Aerith still cries over him because despite their freaky relationship being built on the foundation of her being a freaky girl, he’s one of the people who really knows her best. Sephiroth does weird shit. Aerith has so many voices in her head that at times she’s a complete space case talking to the air. Cait sacrifices himself to get the Black Materia and in the five minutes it takes for him to come back, Sephiroth appears and talks more about using the Black Materia and Meteor for his future godhood, Aerith tells him she won’t let him decide the world’s future, Cloud flips out and gives Sephiroth the Black Materia, Aerith tells him it’s not his fault, Cloud is still flipped out and beats up Aerith, and the Third Party Member panics and stops Cloud the quick way: knockout!
Aerith decides she’s had enough. She is an ANCIENT, and she is the ONLY ONE who can stop Sephiroth, and THE PLANET is telling her what to do, so you just rest your little spiky head Cloud and she’ll take care of things. …Except she’s telling this (through a dream) to the person whose head can be hijacked by Sephiroth, so the villain twirls his Masamustache and cackles over them stopping her. Aerith prays for Holy, which will wipe out all threats to the Planet. Her knees get sore. HER PRAYER IS ANSWERED, and she looks up to see Cloud standing there and smiles because hey, bodyguard!!! and then gets stabbed through the back by Sephiroth, dying near instantaneously.
…Cue a very sad burial in a lake.
BUT THIS IS NOT THE END FOR AERITH. Because she’s a sparkle Sue Cetra, she can keep her collective memories together with her will in the Lifestream, which is basically the afterlife for Gaia. It’s a little more gooey and green than heaven, because it’s practically a river of souls and souls are green. She can also do things like convincing the Lifestream to punch Meteor in the face! (Because despite Cloud and co.’s best efforts to stop its summoning…well, Cloud is just crazycakes and handed the materia off a second time and all those disc 2 antics happened. Sephiroth held Holy back for too long, so it needed some extra assist from the Lifestream.)
Actually, things get more vague for Aerith post-death (Maiden Who Travels The Planet is not official canon), but what we do know from Case of Lifestream: Black/White/Here-on-the-doll-is-where-the-Lifestream-wants-to-touch-Cloud is that for the two years between the game and Advent Children, Aerith is actively working to help heal the spiritual damage suffered by victims of Geostigma after they pass away and figure out what’s behind this (hint: Sephiroth is a jerk). Apparently she considered making remnants of herself too, like Sephiroth did, which would have been golden for the collective brain break. But no, she wants to meet Cloud as herself. She may or may not have led Denzel to be in Cloud’s family; Cloud and Tifa speculate in Case of Tifa that she did since Cloud found the boy collapsed near the church Aerith grew flowers in.
Anyway, Advent Children rolls around; by this time Aerith’s become overwhelmed trying to keep the Lifestream unclogged by the bad mojo of those dead from Geostigma, even with help from others, so she’s trying to find a more direct approach to this problem. ALSO Sephiroth’s gone and infected Cloud so now Cloud’s being affected by the emo disease which is really, really not cool. (Seriously, Geostigma is supposed to darken people’s thoughts. A lot of affected people ended up just giving up in despair.) Aerith’s not going to stand for this, so cue pep talks while Cloud is driving at high speeds on a motorcycle. I would say this makes sense when you see it if it actually did. After some pep talks, messages on waterlogged cell phones, and encouraging lifts toward giant dragons in the sky, Aerith has figured out a solution to this Geostigma mess. Healing rain! There’s a little to heal Cloud’s geostigma first so he can beat Kadaj/Sephiroth, and then after she takes Kadaj into the Lifestream, she starts the big waterworks. …Then Cloud gets himself shot, exploded, and dead. Aerith sends him back on his way with a little teasing before Tifa has to start her big waterworks, because that would be such a downer ending. Somehow she calls all the kids on phones and tells them to skedaddle on down to the pool of water in her church where Cloud is floating; everyone gets healed and there is much happiness. She walks off into the bright light with Zack. Apparently sometime between death and Advent Children they got that pesky disappearance issue sorted out between them. Fans argue over who she’s having spirit sex in flower fields with I vote Barret.
Now it’s the end. Except for the recap on what this means Aerith is like as a person now. So!
The one thing Aerith is most remembered for is being a near-relentlessly cheerful person. Sometimes this involves trivializing matters or deluding herself. Notably when it comes to Zack’s disappearance and death or Cloud being a little crazy. And sometimes this can actually really piss people off, like how she ticks off Barret in the Gold Saucer because he’s just gotten the destruction of his hometown flung in his face again and she’s chatting to him about playing games. Still, most of the time this is just ordinary optimism and helps cheer up the group. She loves other people and wants to make sure they’re taken care of (children especially). Sometimes this has gotten her in big trouble. As much as Aerith wants to stay out of the labs, she doesn’t really see her safety as more important than others (also being in the Lifestream, she hasn’t had to worry about her personal safety for two years). She’ll willingly give herself up to ensure the well-being of a child. Also she’s impulsive and once she’s decided on something, it’s hard to dissuade her.
Post-death, there’s no more pretending to be normal for Aerith. She had come to accept being a Cetra shortly before death, and in death being one is actually pretty awesome because she can help people and stay as herself, “awake” in the Lifestream, rather than losing her conscious will shortly after death as most people do. She’s often seen as a maternal figure by those she helps (often actually mistaken for somebody’s mom, sigh). She’s vocal when she doesn’t like what someone’s doing, but she’s also quick to turn around and forgive them.
Have you read up on how the game works?: The guides operate on FlamingFerret! Aerith can make money by snitching it from others, batting her eyelashes at Cloud and other guys, or doing the honest thing and working missions.
1st person sample: [note: I am assuming for the purposes of the samples that she …well, got to hear the Planet deciding to dump everyone.]
Haaaa, what a mess. I never expected the end of life on the Planet as we know it to be like that. Such a temper tantrum! It really still is like a child. All those tries at talking to it, and it wouldn’t even hear me out. …maybe this is the start of those rocky teenage years. Mmf. I hope not.
But this could be a little like a vacation. I’ve never been to space before, and it’s been a while since I could walk around like this. I can’t just slack off though. They said with enough money our Planets can be…brought back…it might take a lot of effort but I’m sure it could be done over time! Everyone will be okay that way…right?
3rd person sample: After existing in the Lifestream for two years, being thrust back into the less-green-and-more-fleshy world nearly set Aerith’s head spinning. Especially given the circumstances of the thrusting, which had involved a spectacular argument with the entire Planet and being near-literally tossed out the door onto her tush, a door being the only thing missing.
So if, for the time being, she was taking a single-minded and childish delight in how just a slight press of the pen set black ink neatly rolling across the paper, it could probably be excused. Panicking wasn’t going to do any good, after all. They’d even given her a little guide with a back cover that said: DON’T PANIC. Aerith considered this good advice.
“Though setting a forest of paperwork in front of people isn’t calming,” she mused aloud, “not usually. Especially under the circumstances! They might need to be filled out eventually, but more important things should come first.” There was a grunt and a new pile of paperwork appeared: Filing For Alteration Of Filing Procedure. Aerith glanced at the top page’s questions, clucked her tongue, and pushed the pile back. “I told you most of that already! Think of all the trees being cut down just for a mess of paper. I hope they’re being replanted.” As she shook out her writing hand (she was getting muscle cramp! She hadn’t gotten that in forever), the pile was replaced, this time with not just Filing For Alteration Of Filing Procedure but Proof of Resurrection with Surviving Intelligence.
This time Aerith downright scowled, setting the pen down with a not-quite-satisfying smack. (Pens were too small to completely satisfy a fit of pique.) “That’s so rude, I’m not filling this out! Of course I’m intelligent! And no, I don’t have any cravings for brains.”
Questions?: Does she get to hear the Planet decide to pitch everyone off?
Did you put your characters name and fandom in the subject: YYYY.
Name: Raaj
Are you over 16?: Y
Personal LJ: kilraaj
Email: kilraaj@gmail.com
Timezone: CST
Other contact: kokiaru (aim)
Characters already in the game: Noooone
How did you find us?: …well I’d already known about the game for a while, but what made me look again was dear_mun?
IC:
Character name: Aerith Gainsborough
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Timeline: post-Advent Children, aka “soon after she heads into the light again”
Age: 22 years alive + 2 years dead! :D (She probably considers herself 22. She’s already dead, she doesn’t have to get older on top of it.)
~*Magical*~ abilities and strengths: Retaining her consciousness separate from the Planet after death. Talking to people’s minds. Kicking Meteor out of her atmosphere with Lifestream. Healing alien viruses with Cetra knowledge. During life, being able to communicate with the Planet and sense weird things about people, in general being a freaky child. Being able to grow flowers where flowers shouldn’t grow the fertilizer is the guys who fall in the flower bed and don’t wake up. Being able to heal, not just kissing booboos away but sending Cloud back from death because she wasn’t looking to adopt such a big kid and granting the party full (though temporary) immunity from harm (OBVIOUSLY someone did not think to do this while she was on her knees with her back wide open). The power to top.
How would they use their abilities?: To distract Cloud while he’s driving at high speeds Actually quite a few of those abilities are either nixed because she’s not on her planet or irrelevant because she’s alive. What’s still relevant is she’s keeping some of her own healing/protection skills, minus Great Gospel because …full healing and temporary invulnerability seems like it might be too much. IDK. So she’ll be using these skills to …heal and protect people. She’s not very discriminating about this.
Appearance: Right! So when not dead, Aerith’s a touch short at 5’3” and has a slender, feminine build. Feminine also describes her clothing very well-she usually wears pink dresses, a red bolero that wouldn’t actually keep her warm, bangles, a ribbon necklace, and a pink ribbon in her hair. But she does have a touch of practicality in the boots on her feet. She chooses clothes first for appearance, but comfort is also important and she wouldn’t sacrifice functionality completely. Besides clothing, she has fair skin, green eyes, and long brown hair that’s often braided back.
…Actually she looks the same when she’s dead too. Who knows.
Background/Personality: Aerith easily has the most screwed up youth of the party: because she was born an Ancient, she grew up in a lab run by THE WORST SCIENTIST IN THE WORLD until she was 7 and her mom died getting her out. (Her father had already been shot and killed when she was a baby because he thought verbal protests would actually stop Hojo. Haha, no.) Despite this, on the surface she seems just fine; her adoptive mother Elmyra describes her as a lively, talkative child, we see her do ditzy stuff like trip over her own feet, she’s coped with her birth mom’s death because she can still hear her and btw Elmyra your husband just died in a war halfway across the world but please don’t cry? …So she was fine besides being a freaky little girl.
Unfortunately, Tseng’s appearance in her life makes it clear things are NOT 100% hunky-dory with her. The Turk wants her to cooperate with Shinra because he believes she could help the people of the slums with her abilities, but the possibility of returning to the lab scares her so much that she denies being an Ancient and hearing voices and thereafter never mentions them or anything about her heritage again, even to Elmyra. This goes on until she’s 22 years old.
But we see her do other things before then! Namely, fall in love with Zack at age 15. This is both great and bad. This is great because Zack introduces the idea that hey, being weird can be good-he willingly underwent the SOLDIER process (which includes surgery and alien cells, really should’ve read that waiver) to become a hero! Aerith admires his pretty mako eyes. They’re both very upbeat and encouraging and generally good for each other, even if occasionally Aerith says things Zack doesn’t really get (the flowers want only her taking care of them, ohhhkaaaaaay). And Aerith helps Zack not do dumb things like get himself pickpocketed in the slums :|a Although she actually ends up helping the pickpocket too because she knows the kid’s circumstances and that’s just how she rolls. Also Zack started her on selling flowers, which apparently she’d never thought of before.
Now she doesn’t get on the “weird can be great!” train just yet. When they meet she tells Zack “normal is best”, and though they date for two years she never tells him about her being a Cetra or just why Tseng is a creeper around the church. It is notable though that she was willing to date a Shinra SOLDIER, so she’s not judgmental of people just because of who they work for. It just…might’ve played a part in why she never told him she was a Cetra.
Then somewhere in here, Before Crisis’s episode 11 happens but we’ll skim this because I don’t think it says much about Aerith except that Tseng still scares the bejeezus out of her. Basically Aerith takes off because the Planet Said So and gets kidnapped by the first AVALANCHE group, which like Shinra is also looking for the Promised Land. She is a Freaky Girl. The player Turk rescues her. She decides not to be Miss Adventure just yet.
Then TRAGEDY STRIKES: Zack leaves on a mission for Nibelheim and if you know the canon you’re already like “yah everything burns and two buddies are captured, undergo unethical experimentation for four years, execute the daring escape of the hedgehogpup and his chocoboveggie yadda yadda” WELL OKAY THEN. On Aerith’s end she only knows that her boyfriend just…totally up and left with no explanation, since Shinra is keeping what happened under tight wraps and conceals the incident completely. But she keeps hope and writes him for four years, 89 letters in total, handing all but one off to Tseng because…well, he works with Zack so he’s the best bet, right? Crisis Core being Zack’s story, we only see the very last one (which Tseng didn’t get, apparently the mutated wolf’s a better mailman than him) so we don’t know the contents of most of the letters and it’s hard to even tell if the last letter-friendly but not explicitly romantic, saying she won’t write anymore-is a break-up note, if she’d already considered them broken up but still friends, or if she still wanted to keep being his girlfriend but just figured the letters weren’t going to work after not hearing back for four years. I like to think that there was at least one “I’m dumping you” letter that got hastily written and handed off when she was really upset, and a letter just as hastily written afterward to apologize for everything in the first. But I digress. No matter how the last letter was intended or what status she thinks their relationship is in (besides emotional purgatory), Aerith keeps wearing pink dresses as she promised him she would once, as well as the ribbon he bought her, so obviously she still cares about him.
Then after a few more months, Zack dies. Remember five paragraphs ago about Aerith being a freaky little girl and telling Elmyra the husband Aerith had never even met had just died over in Wutai? Yeah. Even if she’d like to deny it, Aerith is still freaky as ever, and Zack’s death takes place close to Midgar. She knows he’s dead, but not how or why or what was going on for the past five years. It messes her up big time. She decides the solution is that he OBVIOUSLY had been shacking up with another girl and all they had was just a fun fling so it didn’t really matter and his disappearance hadn’t hurt her. This idea contains one part reality (Zack always was popular and flirtatious), one part wishful thinking (better for him if he’d disappeared of his own choice), and one part straight-up delusion (it was not a fling and she was hurt). Weeks pass. She still wears pink.
A REACTOR EXPLODES. Aerith is not fazed enough for Cloud to escape her notice, but that meeting is fairly uneventful. Then ANOTHER REACTOR EXPLODES and Cloud falls into her flower bed a la Zack. Aerith takes note of their first meeting and his actions, which are similar to Zack, and takes a very active interest in him. Turks come to capture her for Shinra-it’s serious now. She offers Cloud a date if he protects her. Cloud demonstrates bad business sense and agrees. How well he protects her depends on how good you are at guessing which barrel will fall where, but it doesn’t matter too much because Aerith’s gotten stronger since Zack left and can whack those soldiers and guard dogs into oblivion if she needs to. She bullshits that the Turks are after her because she’s SOLDIER material and tells Cloud he’s terrible when he points out the obvious lie. Both of them laugh. Then she takes Cloud back to her crib, but nothing sexy happens because 1) Aerith’s still living with Elmyra and 2) nothing sexy involving Cloud will ever actually be shown on-screen in the compilation because it’s just that unbelievable. Tell me I’m wrong. Anyway, Elmyra warns Cloud off Aerith and Cloud obediently tries to sneak out in the middle of the night. The game makes you do a mini-game…sort of thing and then springs Aerith on you anyway because guess what she has made up her mind Cloud is stuck with her.
Until they see Tifa go into Wall Market, at which point Aerith takes off without Cloud because Wall Market isn’t safe for girls and girls gotta stick together. Cloud catches up with her, they find out Tifa just went into a pimp’s mansion of all places and only girls can get in. Aerith’s first (and best) idea is to get Cloud in touch with his feminine side. Shenanigans ensue. Love triangles are started, a lucky lady (or dude-looks-like-a-lady) is chosen for the night, balls are threatened, plans to crush an entire sector of Midgar to stop the reactor explosions are discovered-holy crap that’s bad. Aerith rallies Tifa when she’s briefly in despair over the impending plate drop; they go to stop it. THEY FAIL. But Aerith does manage to save a little girl…getting herself captured by the Turks in the process.
Once more damsel-in-distress, she gets pimpsmacked by Tseng and threatens his balls off-screen, then taken to Hojo’s lab, the very place she’s been avoiding for most her life. But before she can get bred with a wild dog (Hojo:
), Cloud & Co. rescue her! And get themselves captured. Also it turns out the wild dog is sentient and talks. Aerith encourages Cloud and talks about dating in the jail cell because hey, she doesn’t have to worry about public execution, just horribly unethical experimentation and forced breeding. Jenova (looking like Sephiroth) pitches a fit in the building because she’s not getting 5-star service, everyone escapes in the chaos, Cloud has the inspiration for what the MASTER PLOT of the game is because he’s a puppet in it, Aerith follows because Cloud really acts like Zack. (There are other reasons too, like finding out more about Sephiroth, who is supposedly also an Ancient.)
Tons of teasing/flirting with Cloud and some main plot stuff (have you seen a man wearing a black cape?) later, the party gets to Cosmo Canyon with the ninja Yuffie and the not-suspicious-at-all Cait Sith tagging along. They learn about THE PLANET. Because this is Cloud’s story, you don’t really see what else Aerith’s doing here, but this is where she finds out that she’s the last Cetra and more about them as a people. She gets sad over being the only freaky person in the world and Cloud tries to reassure her that they’re all nutjobs there for her. She doesn’t seem to take that to heart, but she does get over it and start to accept being the last of her kind. They go through Nibelheim for a brief mindfuck (razed town is not razed, what) and then to Rocket Town. Aerith is vocally unimpressed by the communication in Shera and Cid’s relationship, as well as Vincent’s coping strategies, and stealing Shinra stuff is A-OK! If you go to Gongaga with her she reveals her somewhat messed up thoughts regarding Zack after his parents ask the party about him. (Given that Cloud has no memory of Zack at this point, he’s kinda…not able to help much.) When it’s mentioned that Rufus is looking for the Temple of Ancients, where Sephiroth is going, they stop Palmer from taking the Tiny Bronco but the plane is gonna take off anyway…so they climb in, take off, get shot at, land in the ocean, and gain one plane-turned-boat and its foul-mouthed pilot. They meander around the world looking for the Keystone to the Temple.
It’s in Gold Saucer. The tram just happens to break after they gain the Keystone, so they spend a night at the inn, which turns into a plot recap for confused players and a Very Special Night for Cloud, as one of four people will take him out on a date. If you get Aerith’s date, she once again reveals her somewhat messed up thoughts regarding Zack. She’s figured out Cloud and Zack are different! But this discussion involves baring some vulnerability which Aerith doesn’t like doing too much, so she makes it brief and unclear and leaves Mr. McSpikyHead confused.
Cait Sith is a jerk because sneaking undercover and thieving are only acceptable when AVALANCHE do them he takes the Keystone and hands it off to Tseng, though he gets caught by Cloud and (maybe) Aerith. Everyone heads off to the Temple the morning after to get the Black Materia before Sephiroth or Shinra do. Tseng flops like a fish after being stabbed by Sephiroth but he’s not actually going to die. Aerith still cries over him because despite their freaky relationship being built on the foundation of her being a freaky girl, he’s one of the people who really knows her best. Sephiroth does weird shit. Aerith has so many voices in her head that at times she’s a complete space case talking to the air. Cait sacrifices himself to get the Black Materia and in the five minutes it takes for him to come back, Sephiroth appears and talks more about using the Black Materia and Meteor for his future godhood, Aerith tells him she won’t let him decide the world’s future, Cloud flips out and gives Sephiroth the Black Materia, Aerith tells him it’s not his fault, Cloud is still flipped out and beats up Aerith, and the Third Party Member panics and stops Cloud the quick way: knockout!
Aerith decides she’s had enough. She is an ANCIENT, and she is the ONLY ONE who can stop Sephiroth, and THE PLANET is telling her what to do, so you just rest your little spiky head Cloud and she’ll take care of things. …Except she’s telling this (through a dream) to the person whose head can be hijacked by Sephiroth, so the villain twirls his Masamustache and cackles over them stopping her. Aerith prays for Holy, which will wipe out all threats to the Planet. Her knees get sore. HER PRAYER IS ANSWERED, and she looks up to see Cloud standing there and smiles because hey, bodyguard!!! and then gets stabbed through the back by Sephiroth, dying near instantaneously.
…Cue a very sad burial in a lake.
BUT THIS IS NOT THE END FOR AERITH. Because she’s a sparkle Sue Cetra, she can keep her collective memories together with her will in the Lifestream, which is basically the afterlife for Gaia. It’s a little more gooey and green than heaven, because it’s practically a river of souls and souls are green. She can also do things like convincing the Lifestream to punch Meteor in the face! (Because despite Cloud and co.’s best efforts to stop its summoning…well, Cloud is just crazycakes and handed the materia off a second time and all those disc 2 antics happened. Sephiroth held Holy back for too long, so it needed some extra assist from the Lifestream.)
Actually, things get more vague for Aerith post-death (Maiden Who Travels The Planet is not official canon), but what we do know from Case of Lifestream: Black/White/Here-on-the-doll-is-where-the-Lifestream-wants-to-touch-Cloud is that for the two years between the game and Advent Children, Aerith is actively working to help heal the spiritual damage suffered by victims of Geostigma after they pass away and figure out what’s behind this (hint: Sephiroth is a jerk). Apparently she considered making remnants of herself too, like Sephiroth did, which would have been golden for the collective brain break. But no, she wants to meet Cloud as herself. She may or may not have led Denzel to be in Cloud’s family; Cloud and Tifa speculate in Case of Tifa that she did since Cloud found the boy collapsed near the church Aerith grew flowers in.
Anyway, Advent Children rolls around; by this time Aerith’s become overwhelmed trying to keep the Lifestream unclogged by the bad mojo of those dead from Geostigma, even with help from others, so she’s trying to find a more direct approach to this problem. ALSO Sephiroth’s gone and infected Cloud so now Cloud’s being affected by the emo disease which is really, really not cool. (Seriously, Geostigma is supposed to darken people’s thoughts. A lot of affected people ended up just giving up in despair.) Aerith’s not going to stand for this, so cue pep talks while Cloud is driving at high speeds on a motorcycle. I would say this makes sense when you see it if it actually did. After some pep talks, messages on waterlogged cell phones, and encouraging lifts toward giant dragons in the sky, Aerith has figured out a solution to this Geostigma mess. Healing rain! There’s a little to heal Cloud’s geostigma first so he can beat Kadaj/Sephiroth, and then after she takes Kadaj into the Lifestream, she starts the big waterworks. …Then Cloud gets himself shot, exploded, and dead. Aerith sends him back on his way with a little teasing before Tifa has to start her big waterworks, because that would be such a downer ending. Somehow she calls all the kids on phones and tells them to skedaddle on down to the pool of water in her church where Cloud is floating; everyone gets healed and there is much happiness. She walks off into the bright light with Zack. Apparently sometime between death and Advent Children they got that pesky disappearance issue sorted out between them. Fans argue over who she’s having spirit sex in flower fields with I vote Barret.
Now it’s the end. Except for the recap on what this means Aerith is like as a person now. So!
The one thing Aerith is most remembered for is being a near-relentlessly cheerful person. Sometimes this involves trivializing matters or deluding herself. Notably when it comes to Zack’s disappearance and death or Cloud being a little crazy. And sometimes this can actually really piss people off, like how she ticks off Barret in the Gold Saucer because he’s just gotten the destruction of his hometown flung in his face again and she’s chatting to him about playing games. Still, most of the time this is just ordinary optimism and helps cheer up the group. She loves other people and wants to make sure they’re taken care of (children especially). Sometimes this has gotten her in big trouble. As much as Aerith wants to stay out of the labs, she doesn’t really see her safety as more important than others (also being in the Lifestream, she hasn’t had to worry about her personal safety for two years). She’ll willingly give herself up to ensure the well-being of a child. Also she’s impulsive and once she’s decided on something, it’s hard to dissuade her.
Post-death, there’s no more pretending to be normal for Aerith. She had come to accept being a Cetra shortly before death, and in death being one is actually pretty awesome because she can help people and stay as herself, “awake” in the Lifestream, rather than losing her conscious will shortly after death as most people do. She’s often seen as a maternal figure by those she helps (often actually mistaken for somebody’s mom, sigh). She’s vocal when she doesn’t like what someone’s doing, but she’s also quick to turn around and forgive them.
Have you read up on how the game works?: The guides operate on FlamingFerret! Aerith can make money by snitching it from others, batting her eyelashes at Cloud and other guys, or doing the honest thing and working missions.
1st person sample: [note: I am assuming for the purposes of the samples that she …well, got to hear the Planet deciding to dump everyone.]
Haaaa, what a mess. I never expected the end of life on the Planet as we know it to be like that. Such a temper tantrum! It really still is like a child. All those tries at talking to it, and it wouldn’t even hear me out. …maybe this is the start of those rocky teenage years. Mmf. I hope not.
But this could be a little like a vacation. I’ve never been to space before, and it’s been a while since I could walk around like this. I can’t just slack off though. They said with enough money our Planets can be…brought back…it might take a lot of effort but I’m sure it could be done over time! Everyone will be okay that way…right?
3rd person sample: After existing in the Lifestream for two years, being thrust back into the less-green-and-more-fleshy world nearly set Aerith’s head spinning. Especially given the circumstances of the thrusting, which had involved a spectacular argument with the entire Planet and being near-literally tossed out the door onto her tush, a door being the only thing missing.
So if, for the time being, she was taking a single-minded and childish delight in how just a slight press of the pen set black ink neatly rolling across the paper, it could probably be excused. Panicking wasn’t going to do any good, after all. They’d even given her a little guide with a back cover that said: DON’T PANIC. Aerith considered this good advice.
“Though setting a forest of paperwork in front of people isn’t calming,” she mused aloud, “not usually. Especially under the circumstances! They might need to be filled out eventually, but more important things should come first.” There was a grunt and a new pile of paperwork appeared: Filing For Alteration Of Filing Procedure. Aerith glanced at the top page’s questions, clucked her tongue, and pushed the pile back. “I told you most of that already! Think of all the trees being cut down just for a mess of paper. I hope they’re being replanted.” As she shook out her writing hand (she was getting muscle cramp! She hadn’t gotten that in forever), the pile was replaced, this time with not just Filing For Alteration Of Filing Procedure but Proof of Resurrection with Surviving Intelligence.
This time Aerith downright scowled, setting the pen down with a not-quite-satisfying smack. (Pens were too small to completely satisfy a fit of pique.) “That’s so rude, I’m not filling this out! Of course I’m intelligent! And no, I don’t have any cravings for brains.”
Questions?: Does she get to hear the Planet decide to pitch everyone off?
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