Uploaded June 2020 | Updated September 2026, 24 minutes ago

---

This is for Round 2 of Shuffle Wars. I've started... god knows how many versions of this with different songs or myths and ended up with this being the most coherent one. We all picked a couple themes, which were shuffled around and redistributed - my opponent for this round is Rai (youtube.com/channel/UCQYBTv5U0J1c7NISWl9CdBA) who is... like the SWEETEST most wonderful person I've ever talked to and she's a FANTASTIC editor who makes some brilliant shit and also runs Pokemon League, which got me back into editing??? Just. Wow. I love Rai.

My choice of themes was Greek Myth, Isolation, Fighting Fate and Found Family. I tried to incorporate all four and weave them together a bit but... idk how well that actually worked. Also, Hadestown continues to haunt me because I couldn't resist...

Greek Myth: This is a loose (gay) retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Aerith is Orpheus, who makes a deal with Hades (Caius) to bring her beloved Eurydice (Lightning) back from the underworld. They have to walk out of the underworld together, but Aerith can't look back at Lightning or she'll doom her to be trapped there forever. She can't handle the pressure and, convinced she isn't following her, turns around to check. The myth usually ends here (other than a miserable, gristly death for Orpheus afterwards) but in order to include the other themes I expanded it! After losing Lightning, Aerith is approached by Balthier (Hermes, a god of many things, including travel) who gives her a second chance, letting her travel into the past to try the trial again, and inviting her to spend time with his adopted daughters (Pan and Autolycus/Vanille and Tifa) so she has a support system. While they're happy there, Caius still comes to claim Lightning. Aerith agrees to make the deal again and descends into the underworld, but this time she succeeds, saving Lightning and leading her back to the world above.

So, in summary:
Aerith - Orpheus
Lightning - Eurydice
Caius - Hades (god of the underworld)
Balthier - Hermes (god of trade, wealth, luck, fertility, animal husbandry, sleep, language, thieves, and travel. jesus christ hermes my dude leave some for the rest of us)
Tifa - Autolycus (hermes' successor)
Vanille - Pan (god of nature and flocks)
(Pan and Autolycus are originally Hermes' biological kids, two among a CROWD of sons, god he gets around).

Isolation: The fear of being alone is what drives Aerith's resolve to break. Turning to look at Lightning causes her to lose the only person she really had to hold dear, and she winds up as isolated as she feared until Balthier comes along with the opportunity to start...

Fighting Fate: Aerith's deal with Caius was doomed to fail. With Balthier's help, she goes back to right the wrong and challenges the path the Fates picked for her, but only because of her...

Found Family: Both Aerith and Lightning find a connection and solace with Tifa and Vanille. Though they're not related by blood, the girls grow to care about each other and knowing that she won't be alone even if she fails gives Aerith the strength to keep walking without looking back. She saves Lightning because she has that support system in play, even though she still has to undertake the trial alone.

I think that's about all I have to cover!

Song: Amsterdam - Coldplay
Colouring: starstruckbromance (edited)

#fanvidfeed #shufflewars