Perseverance (Jessie/Clessie Club)
- Thread starter Jairus
- Start date
LNK
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- Nate
So cool! I like the piano better
Jairus
Author of FFVII: Lifestream & FFVII: Reflections
Oh yeah, that's a lot better, Ody! Looks great! I like the red background. And since we're sharing our work, here's something I think you'll like. I just finished writing (or rewriting) one of your favorite scenes - Jessie explaining to Cloud about the train route - and this time I included the cut content from that scene as well (it wasn't in the original version of Lifestream) along with my own additions. It's in Chapter 13, and this is just part of the chapter (which I'm actually still working on).
“Cloud!” Jessie called, waving to me. “Over here!”
I went over to join her, glad for the distraction. “What’s up?”
She pointed to the monitor on the wall next to her. “Care to take a look? It’s a map of the Midgar Rail System. I bet you’ll love watching it with me! And don’t worry, I’ll talk you through it. So what do you say? Up for a little date at the plate?”
“Sure,” I nodded. “I don’t know much about Midgar.”
Jessie laughed. “Then I’ll be your tour guide! I really love this stuff, you know. Bombs and monitors, flash and boom and bang. But I don’t need to tell you that. You’ve seen it yourself.”
I had, more than once. “Yeah. Lots of times.”
“Sure have!” she agreed. “Anyway, let’s get started.”
We turned to look at the monitor together as she flipped it on. The screen hummed to life, and a bright green diagram of the city emerged, spinning slowly on a black background. It showed the circular shape of the plate along with the eight reactors lining the outer wall like spokes on a wheel. And in the middle of the city, towering above it all, was the Shinra Building. Jessie’s eyes hardened as she looked at it and began to narrate. I didn’t blame her.
“What we’ve got here is a wireframe model of the city of Midgar at a 1/10000 scale. The plate sits three hundred meters above the ground. Supporting it in the middle is the huge central pillar, and eight smaller ones hold it up as well. They’re also called mechanized towers, one for every sector of the city.”
Jessie glanced around for a moment before lowering her voice to a whisper. “That reactor we destroyed? There are eight in all, from 1 to 8, and they supply Midgar with electricity. Each sector had a name once, a long time ago, but nobody remembers what they are anymore. So we just use numbers instead. It’s kinda sad, you know? But that’s how it all went down. And the sort of place this is.”
I nodded. “Seems complicated. I think I get it, though.”
“I suppose it is,” she agreed. “But we’ve gotta know it all by heart to be in Avalanche. It’s all for a good cause, though. You’ll see if you stick with us. The stuff Barret tells us, it can be a little hard to take in. What mako is, for example. So sometimes I just blurt it out without thinking. Sorry if that bothers you, Cloud.”
“It’s fine,” I told her.
Jessie flashed me a smile. “Thanks! You know, I really hate to say it, but Shinra’s technology is actually pretty impressive when you stop and think about it. I’d keep that just between us if I were you, though. It can be our little secret, okay?”
“Sure,” I answered. “So what can you tell me about Shinra?”
She blinked. “Don’t you know already?”
I shook my head. “Not really. It was a long time ago. Never worked at headquarters, Jessie. So educate me.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” she winked. “You ready?”
“Yeah. Let’s get to it.”
Jessie folded her arms in front of her. “Okay, then. I’ll fill you in on what I know. Shinra’s our sworn enemy, of course. Biggest company in the world. They’ve sunk their claws into everything, Cloud. This train, the reactors, the whole city. It’s all under their control, from our money to the government itself. President Shinra runs the company, of course. He founded it, had the mako reactors built, and made Midgar what it is today. We’re fighting a losing battle here, Cloud. I don’t like to admit it, but it’s true. Do we… do we really have a shot at this?”
“Jessie…” I wished I knew what to say. I’d never seen her show any doubt about what she was doing before.
Her gloved hand clenched into a fist as she frowned at the monitor. “No! I can’t think that way! We… we will beat them. We have to. We’ve got no other choice.”
I glanced at her. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” she said, lowering her arms. “Thanks. So anyway, there you go. For those of us living in the slums, the train’s the only way to reach the plate. It moves a lot of things, both freight and passengers, between the slums and the plate. But you know, when you’re riding this train, it makes you realize something. Those aren’t the only things that the city up there takes away from us.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Jessie kept gazing at the screen, not really seeing it now. “Kindness, warmth, hope… they’re all disappearing, Cloud. One by one, bit by bit. But I won’t let it keep happening. That’s why I’m here. This may sound a bit corny, but… I want to put smiles back on people’s faces again, give them a brighter future to look forward to.”
I nodded. “Makes sense.”
“Sorry for talking your ear off, by the way,” she apologized, looking back at me. “Just wanted you to know why I’m in this fight. Didn’t want you thinking I was just some weird, bomb-crazy girl. Because that’s not me. You… you don’t think that, do you?”
“No,” I answered. “I can see how important this is to you.”
Jessie smiled, gazed down at the flower I’d given her, then lifted her eyes back to me. “Thank you. That means a lot to me, Cloud. You sure do know how to make this girl happy!”
“I, uh…” I just stared at her, not quite sure what to say.
“Now, check out what’s next!” she pointed to the screen and traced her finger along a line of white dots curving all around the main pillar. “The train follows this route here, through the Corkscrew Tunnel built into the central pillar. It spirals all the way around it, hence the name. I think we’re about halfway home now. Shinra’s got security checkpoints all along the route as well. Each one has an ID sensor device that scans every passenger’s identification and background and verifies it with the central database inside the Shinra building.”
Jessie leaned close to me and whispered in my ear, the soft touch of her breath making my skin tingle with warmth and my stomach flutter. “We do stand out a bit, so that’s why we’ve got fake ID’s. Impeccable, of course. Thanks to yours truly.”
Just then, the lights started flashing red as some kind of sensor net swept right over us. I turned to watch as it went down the length of the car. “What the hell…?”
“ID scan,” Jessie explained, moving up next to me. “That’s what the red lights are for. Never know who’ll come out to play when they go off like that. It’ll be over soon enough, though.”
Sure enough, the lights switched back to normal a moment later as the sensor net disappeared. Jessie smirked. “What’d I tell ya, Cloud? It’s nothing to worry about. Anyway, we’re almost there now, back to good old Sector 7. I’ll be glad to be home again.”
I went over to join her, glad for the distraction. “What’s up?”
She pointed to the monitor on the wall next to her. “Care to take a look? It’s a map of the Midgar Rail System. I bet you’ll love watching it with me! And don’t worry, I’ll talk you through it. So what do you say? Up for a little date at the plate?”
“Sure,” I nodded. “I don’t know much about Midgar.”
Jessie laughed. “Then I’ll be your tour guide! I really love this stuff, you know. Bombs and monitors, flash and boom and bang. But I don’t need to tell you that. You’ve seen it yourself.”
I had, more than once. “Yeah. Lots of times.”
“Sure have!” she agreed. “Anyway, let’s get started.”
We turned to look at the monitor together as she flipped it on. The screen hummed to life, and a bright green diagram of the city emerged, spinning slowly on a black background. It showed the circular shape of the plate along with the eight reactors lining the outer wall like spokes on a wheel. And in the middle of the city, towering above it all, was the Shinra Building. Jessie’s eyes hardened as she looked at it and began to narrate. I didn’t blame her.
“What we’ve got here is a wireframe model of the city of Midgar at a 1/10000 scale. The plate sits three hundred meters above the ground. Supporting it in the middle is the huge central pillar, and eight smaller ones hold it up as well. They’re also called mechanized towers, one for every sector of the city.”
Jessie glanced around for a moment before lowering her voice to a whisper. “That reactor we destroyed? There are eight in all, from 1 to 8, and they supply Midgar with electricity. Each sector had a name once, a long time ago, but nobody remembers what they are anymore. So we just use numbers instead. It’s kinda sad, you know? But that’s how it all went down. And the sort of place this is.”
I nodded. “Seems complicated. I think I get it, though.”
“I suppose it is,” she agreed. “But we’ve gotta know it all by heart to be in Avalanche. It’s all for a good cause, though. You’ll see if you stick with us. The stuff Barret tells us, it can be a little hard to take in. What mako is, for example. So sometimes I just blurt it out without thinking. Sorry if that bothers you, Cloud.”
“It’s fine,” I told her.
Jessie flashed me a smile. “Thanks! You know, I really hate to say it, but Shinra’s technology is actually pretty impressive when you stop and think about it. I’d keep that just between us if I were you, though. It can be our little secret, okay?”
“Sure,” I answered. “So what can you tell me about Shinra?”
She blinked. “Don’t you know already?”
I shook my head. “Not really. It was a long time ago. Never worked at headquarters, Jessie. So educate me.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” she winked. “You ready?”
“Yeah. Let’s get to it.”
Jessie folded her arms in front of her. “Okay, then. I’ll fill you in on what I know. Shinra’s our sworn enemy, of course. Biggest company in the world. They’ve sunk their claws into everything, Cloud. This train, the reactors, the whole city. It’s all under their control, from our money to the government itself. President Shinra runs the company, of course. He founded it, had the mako reactors built, and made Midgar what it is today. We’re fighting a losing battle here, Cloud. I don’t like to admit it, but it’s true. Do we… do we really have a shot at this?”
“Jessie…” I wished I knew what to say. I’d never seen her show any doubt about what she was doing before.
Her gloved hand clenched into a fist as she frowned at the monitor. “No! I can’t think that way! We… we will beat them. We have to. We’ve got no other choice.”
I glanced at her. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” she said, lowering her arms. “Thanks. So anyway, there you go. For those of us living in the slums, the train’s the only way to reach the plate. It moves a lot of things, both freight and passengers, between the slums and the plate. But you know, when you’re riding this train, it makes you realize something. Those aren’t the only things that the city up there takes away from us.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Jessie kept gazing at the screen, not really seeing it now. “Kindness, warmth, hope… they’re all disappearing, Cloud. One by one, bit by bit. But I won’t let it keep happening. That’s why I’m here. This may sound a bit corny, but… I want to put smiles back on people’s faces again, give them a brighter future to look forward to.”
I nodded. “Makes sense.”
“Sorry for talking your ear off, by the way,” she apologized, looking back at me. “Just wanted you to know why I’m in this fight. Didn’t want you thinking I was just some weird, bomb-crazy girl. Because that’s not me. You… you don’t think that, do you?”
“No,” I answered. “I can see how important this is to you.”
Jessie smiled, gazed down at the flower I’d given her, then lifted her eyes back to me. “Thank you. That means a lot to me, Cloud. You sure do know how to make this girl happy!”
“I, uh…” I just stared at her, not quite sure what to say.
“Now, check out what’s next!” she pointed to the screen and traced her finger along a line of white dots curving all around the main pillar. “The train follows this route here, through the Corkscrew Tunnel built into the central pillar. It spirals all the way around it, hence the name. I think we’re about halfway home now. Shinra’s got security checkpoints all along the route as well. Each one has an ID sensor device that scans every passenger’s identification and background and verifies it with the central database inside the Shinra building.”
Jessie leaned close to me and whispered in my ear, the soft touch of her breath making my skin tingle with warmth and my stomach flutter. “We do stand out a bit, so that’s why we’ve got fake ID’s. Impeccable, of course. Thanks to yours truly.”
Just then, the lights started flashing red as some kind of sensor net swept right over us. I turned to watch as it went down the length of the car. “What the hell…?”
“ID scan,” Jessie explained, moving up next to me. “That’s what the red lights are for. Never know who’ll come out to play when they go off like that. It’ll be over soon enough, though.”
Sure enough, the lights switched back to normal a moment later as the sensor net disappeared. Jessie smirked. “What’d I tell ya, Cloud? It’s nothing to worry about. Anyway, we’re almost there now, back to good old Sector 7. I’ll be glad to be home again.”
Last edited:
chewbaka
Just hold on tight, okay?
Odysseus
Ninja Potato
- AKA
- Ody
Oh you added that after I replied originally. I see you incorporated a lot of the text from the unused version! That's the stuff that made me like her originally, so I'm happy to see it here. Noticed you had her look at the flower... lol.
Thanks. I still feel like its a little lazy, but if you guys like it...
Also, how's my spiffy new signature looking?
Jairus
Author of FFVII: Lifestream & FFVII: Reflections
Yep! Thought you'd like it. And yes, I had Cloud give Jessie the flower in the previous chapter when they were alone in the cargo car. I vastly expanded that scene to include not only the flower, but much more as well, including them sitting together while she tells him a bit about her background - he asked about it because of a certain large theater poster he saw on the way to the train, a poster of her in the role she became famous for. She's obviously not in the play anymore, but the LOVELESS theater company doesn't print a new line of posters and repaint that huge mural above the entrance every time they get a new girl in the role because it's so expensive - they only do it for the best, and when she got the part, they liked her performance so much they made a new line of posters featuring her.
You've also probably noticed, but I made her flirtier this time to better fit her remake persona, though as I think I mentioned before, she also has moments of shyness and vulnerability as well, like her OG self. I hope she turned out okay.
And your sig's good! Jessie-approved, lol. Psych!
You've also probably noticed, but I made her flirtier this time to better fit her remake persona, though as I think I mentioned before, she also has moments of shyness and vulnerability as well, like her OG self. I hope she turned out okay.
And your sig's good! Jessie-approved, lol. Psych!
Jairus
Author of FFVII: Lifestream & FFVII: Reflections
Odysseus
Ninja Potato
- AKA
- Ody
Jairus
Author of FFVII: Lifestream & FFVII: Reflections
Seems we're not the only ones who think Jessie could still be alive:
https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/04/23/final-fantasy-vii-remake-is-jessie-alive-or-dead/
Nothing really new there, but it's nice to know a lot of others believe she could return. Let's hope SE hears us and grants our wish!
https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/04/23/final-fantasy-vii-remake-is-jessie-alive-or-dead/
Nothing really new there, but it's nice to know a lot of others believe she could return. Let's hope SE hears us and grants our wish!
chewbaka
Just hold on tight, okay?
Rydeen
In-KWEH-dible
Me too. I was hoping they'd play up her reserved nerdier side.
Odysseus
Ninja Potato
- AKA
- Ody
I was thinking about it after I wrote that, and really Biggs and Jessie were more or less rebuilt from the ground up for the remake. In the original, Biggs was a sort of full of himself hot-head who would butt heads with Barret and told Cloud not to look down on him just because he used to be in SOLDIER. Now in the remake he's the calm, collected annalist type who's defining trait if being overcautious. Jessie was a little shy, a big nerd, and her crush on Cloud was more implied than shown. Now she's a theatrical thrill seeker who's a big ol flirt. Her reserved and hesitant side is more subtly implied than shown, by contrast. Wedge I think they actually kept practically the same, he's a nice guy with big dreams who's basically the heart of the group, and is still the butt of fat jokes.
If all three of them are somehow still alive, I'd like to see these other sides of their characters explored more. Surely Biggs and Jessie would have been changed by their near death experiences. Jessie's parents are presumably dead, so I imagine if she isn't then that would have an impact on her.
Jairus
Author of FFVII: Lifestream & FFVII: Reflections
Her parents' fate is one of the reasons why I've said she has motivation to make a journey outside Midgar. Bringing Shinra to justice for what happened to them - or, if they're still alive (there were topside plate survivors, as Chapter 15 showed us), then it would be to find a way to save her dad. Cloud's recovery from his own mako poisoning in Mideel could play right into that, as she might learn something from what happened that could help her dad come back. Especially if she was allowed to play some part in Cloud's recovery - not necessarily going into the Lifestream with him, since that's his and Tifa's big moment, but maybe Jessie's the one who figures out he's in Mideel in the first place, that they would never have found him at all if not for her or at least, not in time to bring him back.
Jessie has the reasons (her parents, plus redemption/atonement for the reactor bombings), connections (to Avalanche command and the Gold Saucer), and popularity to be allowed to join Cloud and the others at some point during their journey as a new playable character and thus, add a new angle to the familiar lineup. This would allow growth, scenes, and character development and interactions that were never possible before. Imagine how she and Aerith would get along, for example. I think they'd both have fun razzing on Cloud a lot, especially at the same time. I hope SE gives Jessie this chance now that she has a solid foundation to actually have it.
Jessie has the reasons (her parents, plus redemption/atonement for the reactor bombings), connections (to Avalanche command and the Gold Saucer), and popularity to be allowed to join Cloud and the others at some point during their journey as a new playable character and thus, add a new angle to the familiar lineup. This would allow growth, scenes, and character development and interactions that were never possible before. Imagine how she and Aerith would get along, for example. I think they'd both have fun razzing on Cloud a lot, especially at the same time. I hope SE gives Jessie this chance now that she has a solid foundation to actually have it.
Odysseus
Ninja Potato
- AKA
- Ody
I did another one of these:
Original: https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/5103812
My coloring:
I had to do this one because of how comically prophetic it was. Who woulda guessed 11 years later Jessie would randomly be linked to Gold Saucer?
Look at all the fun those two idiots are having! Maybe I'll draw my own picture of them on stage some time, less goofy than this obviously.
Original: https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/5103812
My coloring:
I had to do this one because of how comically prophetic it was. Who woulda guessed 11 years later Jessie would randomly be linked to Gold Saucer?
Look at all the fun those two idiots are having! Maybe I'll draw my own picture of them on stage some time, less goofy than this obviously.
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Jairus
Author of FFVII: Lifestream & FFVII: Reflections
Looks great, Ody! And if we're lucky, we'll get to see the two of them together on stage in the remake. And yeah, you should totally draw them on stage yourself. Maybe put Jessie in a nice, fancy dress for her performance. She is the princess, after all. 
Odysseus
Ninja Potato
- AKA
- Ody
Yeah that's what I was thinking, and have Cloud in some gaudy prince outfit. Maybe some time in the future, I'm drawing Sephiroth next.Looks great, Ody! And if we're lucky, we'll get to see the two of them together on stage in the remake. And yeah, you should totally draw them on stage yourself. Maybe put Jessie in a nice, fancy dress for her performance. She is the princess, after all.
Odysseus
Ninja Potato
- AKA
- Ody
Oh I might have misled you a bit. I didn't draw that, I just colored it. The low quality 2009 jpeg there is the original pencils. I found that artist on Pixiv when I was looking for Jessie fan art, and the fact that somebody was doing art of her in 2009 kinda blew my mind so I took a crack at coloring some of them. My own arts not so cute unfortunately!
Here's the other two I did of that artist's work:
