Tag: Final Fantasy VII Remake

Essay about Barret Wallace on Unwinnable

~ Kathryn ~ Leave a comment

Just in time for the Final Fantasy VII Revelation announcement, my essay “Barret Wallace Was Not Wrong” was published on Unwinnable (here)! This essay is about the joy of blowing up data centers Mako reactors, and I had a lot of fun writing it.

The truth is that I’ve been thinking about the relationship between precarity and stochastic violence a lot these days, and I really can’t blame anyone for fantasizing about it. If I’m being totally honest, I have to admit that I’ve had some daydreams about it myself. My pet fantasy at the moment involves planting poison ivy all around the building that’s rumored to be the de facto [redacted] field office in Philadelphia, and I’ve also indulged in more than a few vivid daydreams about the Waymo cars and Uber Eats delivery robots I sometimes see around town.

As satisfying as setting community hazards on fire might feel in the moment, though, I’m not convinced that individual acts of violence ultimately serve any greater purpose. But then what? Are we supposed to just make angry posts online without actually doing anything?

We have plenty of stories about fictional teenagers and superheroes saving the world from archvillains to use as models of action, but they’re not obviously not grounded in reality. We also have stories about real-life wealthy philanthropists using their resources to make a difference, but that’s not really useful to the vast majority of us either. Then I started thinking about Barret Wallace in Final Fantasy VII, who is dead broke and disabled in his mid-thirties but decides to take on a giant corporation anyway. And you know what? That’s a model of heroism that resonates with me.

Here’s an excerpt from my essay:

At the end of the game, Barret Wallace does end up saving the world, but not through terrorism. Instead, he becomes a key figure in a loosely federated community of people committed to practical action that transcends individual acts of violence. This community includes Shinra’s victims as well as its former and current employees, from veterans of its space program to disgruntled middle managers. Barret wasn’t wrong when he took action against Shinra; he just didn’t yet see how powerful a global resistance movement could be.

You can read the full essay on Unwinnable here:
https://unwinnable.com/2026/06/08/barret-wallace-was-not-wrong

Essay about Final Fantasy VII’s Anti-Capitalist Critique

~ Kathryn ~ Leave a comment

I’m excited to say that my essay “Final Fantasy VII Confronts Capitalism: Tifa Lockhart vs. Medical Debt” is now on Sidequest (here)! 👊🌟

I recently read the official Final Fantasy VII Remake prequel novel, Traces of Two Pasts. I was fascinated by Tifa’s backstory, especially how she was driven to the starting point of the game by medical debt. I hadn’t come across a serious discussion of this book in fandom or elsewhere, so I wanted to write a short but accurate summary with substantial analysis. My goal was to situate the book’s anti-capitalist themes in the context of the game’s story, Japan’s economic recession in the 1990s, and our current hellworld.

Here’s an excerpt from my article…

Tifa is twenty years old at the beginning of Final Fantasy VII. Despite her youth, she’s calm and level-headed, yet Tifa willingly becomes a member of Avalanche, an armed militia that conducts terrorist attacks on Midgar’s power grid. Though she questions the use of violence, Tifa understands that aggressive action is necessary.

The juxtaposition between Tifa’s personality and her involvement in an active terrorist organization begs the question of how such a kind and gentle woman could become so politically radicalized. The question Kazushige Nojima asks in Traces of Two Pasts is much sharper: under the circumstances, how could she not? If you had to walk in Tifa’s shoes, wouldn’t you become radicalized too?

You can read the full piece on Sidequest here:
https://sidequest.zone/2025/06/02/final-fantasy-vii-confronts-capitalism/

Urban Gardening with Aerith Gainsborough

~ Kathryn ~ Leave a comment

I’m excited to share a short story titled “Urban Gardening with Aerith Gainsborough,” which is based on the Final Fantasy VII Remake prequel novel, Traces of Two Pasts. This story is about Aerith’s relationship with the planet, especially how it manifests through her love of plants and flowers.

Despite the nurturing elements of her personality, something I love about Aerith is that she’s always kind but never fails to speak her mind. There’s an edge to her personality that I can’t help but admire, especially when she’s being passive-aggressive. It’s always fun to write characters who have this sort of complexity.  

You can read my story on AO3 here:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/65035672

On a personal note, I live in South Philadelphia, which is about as close as you can get to the Sector 5 slums in real life. I played FFVII Remake for the first time last October, and I fell so head-over-heels in love with Aerith that I was inspired to begin planting flowers in my neighborhood. I know it sounds trite to say “Aerith is an inspiration,” but she really is.

The illustration of Aerith showing off the small garden at the Leaf House orphanage was created by the bright and shining Artofpipeur, who posts colorful character portraits on Instagram (here).