In Response to "Replies and short essays regarding mythical links between VII and VIII along with various other items"

by David Johnston 

In the time of our grandfathers, there was only negligible difference in the arrangement of landmasses on the Earth. Continental drift takes millions upon millions of years to produce any appreciable change÷time such that it is unlikely that humans as they are in Final Fantasy VII and VIII would have evolved or been in the process of evolving into something else.

Admittedly, the proportions of characters in FFVII are a far cry from those in FFVIII. But we can attribute that to the hazardous and radioactive chemicals that Midgar was exposing everyone too. Ever seen people born in the Chernobyl area? Same deal.

If the world of FFVIII is indeed that of FFVII at some different, and, we shall suppose, earlier time, then my best guess would involve some cataclysmic reshaping of the planet (a la The Breaking of the World, for those familiar with the Wheel of Time). And the only such disasters presenting themselves revolve around Meteor.

Let us suppose that before Lifestream could take full effect, and, as the ending to FFVII suggests, repel Meteor and Holy before the reaction between those two destroyed the planet, Meteor and Holy did do something more to the planet than devastate a city on its surface. No one knows what really happened in the brilliant flash of light before Cloud sees Aeris' face. But I don't remember there being a cliff overlooking Midgar, as there is when we see Nanaki and his cubs several hundred years later.

Now, imagine that Meteor was not in fact destroyed÷rather repelled, but left intact. I'm not sure, but I don't remember there being a moon in the sky of Final Fantasy VII. In VIII, of course, the moon is quite prominent, more so than our own moon, and far more so than any in the sky of VII. Meteor could, in short, could have been put into orbit around the planet (which would also help explain the moon's negative connotation in VIII, what with the Lunar Cry and such).

Maybe someone will be kind enough to figure out how the Deep Sea excavation center and Ultima Weapon tie into all this...