Healers' Retreat (The Glow)

Artist Commentary by Alli "Skirtzzz" White (from the original DeviantArt post on October 5th, 2015)

So, first of all – HUGE thanks to SantosPhillipCarlo for commissioning something off my wish list – I've been wanting to do this for probably three years or so, I just never had the time to dedicate to it. It's a crossover that really, really meant a lot to me and with work getting busier than ever – my window for "fun stuff" is quickly shrinking. I spent WAY more time on this than I probably should have, but it's one of those thiiiings!

Rapunzel and Aerith (or Aeris) are easily two of my all time favorite fantasy gals – and they have so much in common! I always wanted to draw them together hanging out :') We'll just pretend this is an alternate universe where NO SAD THINGS HAPPENED IN 7...ok? *sniffle*
The two of them are spending some time in the Sector 5 Church where Aerith likes to garden. Rapunzel was so inspired by Aerith's amazing stories about her big adventure, that she painted a few things on the wall to brighten the dusty, debris-littered church.

Fun similarities:
–They're both healers
–They both have an affinity for colorful flowers
–They were both voiced by Mandy Moore (KH1 for Aerith – wish they had kept her on for KH2 and Advent Children *pouts*)
–They both have stunning green eyes
I'm sure I could think of more, but you get where I'm going with this! :'P

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Opening Author's Notes

Five years ago, I did indeed commission the great Skirtzzz, an amazing artist whose major loves include Disney and Final Fantasy, to produce that from her wish list. The reason we both wanted to realize that is that not only are we fans of both Rapunzel and Aerith/Aeris and Tangled and Final Fantasy VII by extension, but they have all those similarities that Alli (Skirtzzz) touched on. With the FFVII Remake now out, I was inspired to revisit it and write a story based on it and we hope you enjoy it – and early this morning, I was thrilled to see Skirtzzz saying that she loved it! It meant a lot because I definitely wanted to do her work justice and had dedicated the story to her.

I thus wanted to share it here too and I'm certain I speak for us both too when I say I hope it brightens things up even during the Coronavirus pandemic. Also, as far as voices go, while both Alli and I are partial to Mandy Moore since she is both Rapunzel's English animated voice and also Aerith's voice in Kingdom Hearts I, we both agree that Briana White has done a great job as Aerith in the remake. If you haven't already, check out her Twitch and YouTube as The Strange Rebel and Strange Rebel Gaming respectively and especially the moment where she plays through Aerith and Cloud's first meeting and tears up! (More on that in the closing notes.) On another note, this is the first time I've written about Disney on this site even though it's such a big part of my life, so that's another reason I wanted to get this right.

Disclaimer / Notice – Neither I nor Skirtzzz (Alli) own any trademarks related to Disney or Square Enix. Also be aware that this includes spoilers from the FFVII remake as well as the original.

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It had started when Rapunzel had been experimenting with a spell that could transport the caster long distances and even into different worlds. Even though she knew it might take her far, she didn't expect to be in a church that certainly didn't look like it was in Corona – or anywhere close, for that matter.

It was rundown, but it still seemed more peaceful than the average church, with a possible reason being the large pile of colorful flowers at the front. While there were cracks and holes including in the roof, the way it let light in seemed to add to things more than make it look less respectable.