#zack is fucking alive

[sweetchcolate]

I'm on mobile so I can't add a read more, sorry. MAJOR FF7 REBIRTH ENDGAME SPOILERS BELOW

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HOLY FUCKING SHIT. HOLY FUCK

fans have been clamoring for this for YEARS

not only are they reunited, but they've got each other's backs and are fighting side by side!! this is the ULTIMATE, FUCK EVERYTHING ELSE

[thewingedwolf]

this podcast is so anti anders (and helo 🤧) but i get it, sam anders is a character tailor made for the girls and the gays, two straight men were never gonna get it unfortunately but it’s fine

[nightfall-1409]

i did just go get my copy of ff7 rebirth so i do apologize for the person im about to become

[cosmobrain00]

never play crisis core if u care abt ur mental health btw

[ashorterurl]

maybe FF7 rebirth will finally give me closure. maybe one day I'll move on from this game that has being plaguing me since I was 10. if not rebirth maybe part 3. maybe they won't break down part 2 and 3 in another 3 parts each. maybe I'll get over the Pain™. maybe

[phoenixwithapencil]

Reblogging this again because I have angst thoughts

Cloud, half dead and barely functioning picking up Zack, cold and soaked (from the rain from the rain from the—)

Dragging him and the buster one painful step at a time to Midgar (Zack’s boots creating muddy trails where they scuff along the ground—)

Collapsing by the platform in sector 7, half buried under Zack and the buster and all but passing out himself (he comes to in 7th heaven and there is the buster beside the bed and there is something missing—)

(There’s nothing missing. Nothing at all.)

Holds you close as I die so I can feel your warmth one last time. (You are smearing your blood all over me.) Presses your head to my chest in a gesture of comfort. (I am forced to hear your heart beat for the last time.) Here, take my sword. (The thing that killed me. It's yours now.) You have to live. (I've lost the right to die.) You will be my living legacy. (If I die, you die all over again.)

[crayonverse]

i need to mkae. m y own gacha react video so i cant stop being so sick and evil abut ein because noone gets him right . ramble in tags ok ay byteee

[rottenpumpkin13]

I find it so hilarious that due to the shenanigans that happens in the tower, since mayor Domino has a security cameras everywhere, I can't imagine the things he sees and they're all funny as hell.

Out Of Context Things Mayor Domino Has Witnessed Through Security Cameras:

• Sephiroth, poised and disciplined, strolling through the SOLDIER floor calmly. Until he abruptly pivots into a broom closet, where the security feed catches a single, deafening "FUCK!" He then emerges, perfectly composed, like nothing happened.

• Reeve Tuesti, at 3 AM, roaming the halls in a full-body cat onesie, shaking two pill bottles like maracas.

• Zack sprinting full-speed down the hallway, screaming bloody murder. Moments later, Angeal appears in hot pursuit, wielding a buzzing electric toothbrush like a weapon, dental floss clutched in his other hand like he's about to lasso a runaway horse.

• Reno, walking at his usual lazy pace, cigarette in mouth, completely unbothered—until he spots a Sephiroth cardboard cutout in the hallway. He immediately looks left, looks right, then leans in and kisses it way too passionately before walking off like nothing happened.

• Genesis dramatically recounting gossip on the phone, gesturing wildly. Mayor Domino didn't catch the full story, but the part he did hear went "And then she slathered the honey on her breasts, which INFURIATED him, which is why he quit veganism. But that's unrelated to why he beat up his cousin with a block of salami."

• Rude, entering an elevator alone. No words, no hesitation. He reaches into his blazer pocket, pulls out a perfectly styled wig, and wears it for the entire elevator ride, staring straight ahead. The second the doors open, he removes it and pockets it again.

• Hours upon hours of footage of Lazard flipping off President Shinra every time he thinks no one's watching. Mayor Domino has seen so much of this footage that he printed out screenshots and made a mosaic collage of Lazard's middle fingers. It's framed in his office.

• Tseng caught on camera standing completely still in the break room, drinking coffee, when Reno enters and opens the fridge. Without breaking eye contact, Tseng casually says "That pudding is mine." Reno, unfazed, takes the pudding out. Tseng calmly draws a gun.

• Zack jumping from the ceiling vents, dusting himself off. Then he looks back up, spreads his arms wide, and coos "Come on, buddy, I got you! It's okay!" Mayor Domino expected a human. Maybe Cloud Strife. Instead, a giant rat leaped from the vents, lovingly into Zack's arms.

• Genesis, striding down the hallway, suddenly stopping. His gaze lands on a fire alarm. He stares at it. Long. Hard. The security feed shows him sighing deeply, pulling a religious book from his coat, and reading a verse about temptation aloud. Then, with a satisfied nod, he smooths his coat, flips his hair, and walks away. Exactly one minute later, he comes sprinting back, yanks the fire alarm, and flees the scene.

• Angeal, in the break room, just trying to enjoy some peace and quiet. The door swings open. Cait Sith waddles in cheerfully. "A good day tae be alive ain't it, lad? Ye know, in th' grand scheme o' things, assassinating President Shinra would be a real power move!" Angeal bursts into laughter—unhinged, exhausted laughter—like a man finally breaking under the weight of his reality. Still chuckling, he reaches into his pocket, pulls out a bottle of sleep meds, pops two like they're breath mints, and leans back against the chair.

• Angeal, Sephiroth, and Genesis standing before the training room doors. This was after Lazard banned them after their last "incident." The security feed shows them hijacking the access panel, bypassing the lock, and triumphantly striding inside. Exactly ten seconds later, the doors reopen. All three exit with their hands in the air. Escorting them out is Lazard, shotgun in hand.

• Zack and Cloud enter an elevator together, alone. The doors close. The security feed catches Zack saying: "Now that we're alone… you know what we can do, right?" Domino thinks he might need to avert his eyes. But then, without hesitation, Zack clambers into Cloud's arms like a toddler.

• Sephiroth and Hojo, approaching each other from opposite hallways. They're destined to meet at the corner. Until they don't. The footage clearly shows Sephiroth stopping mid-stride, eyes narrowing. He has sensed something. A disturbance. Evil. The next second, he yeets himself out a nearby window.

[jonahmagnus]

Guys, lean in. Come closer. "What a valuable excursion this had been! So that poor scamp was still—well, Devilora wouldn’t say ALIVE... but even then, how fortunate!" Is making me fucking crazy in the head. Elaborate on what that means, Zack. We have timeline warriors in group chats who are exploding in slow motion over this, Zack. You have to tell us. Zack. Zack. Zack.

Zack.

[secondarysefikura]

Imagine being Tifa since she would have inevitably asked Zack if he had ever heard of a Cloud Strife while he was in SOLIDER. Only for Zack to either tell he hadn’t or tell her the truth about what happened, about how Cloud was the infantryman who had accompanied them and Sephiroth to the reactor, how Cloud had managed to killed Sephiroth, and after that him and Zack were taken to be experimented on, and then one day Cloud was taken out of his pod and after that Zack never saw him about and believes that Cloud had died. Then after their able to save Aerith they find Cloud who is still alive but is in a complete daze, perhaps Tifa even tries to get Cloud to look at her but he’s so out of it that he won’t even acknowledge she’s there. Then after her and the others are able to reunite with Zack after he ran off they’re found by Sephiroth who murdered Tifa’s dad and burned her and Cloud’s village to the ground, and who’s meant to be dead. And to make matters worst Cloud is desperately trying to get to Sephiroth.

As tragic as it from Tifa’s perspective, I’d like to think about how confusing the situation is from Barret’s perspective.

He meets Tifa and finds out that her village was burned by Sephiroth but that someone, likely another soldier, killed him. She’s likely one of the only survivors, although she knows her childhood friend moved to Midgar before the fire so maybe she can connect with him and tell him what happened? But no matter how hard she tries, she can’t find this guy.

Well eventually you meet the soldier from the mission, who reveals Tifa’s childhood friend was also on the mission. And that this guy was unfortunately killed by Shinra while being experimented on. Poor kid, but it’s just another reason to hate Shinra.

Then you find the kid, and damn, poor guy. He’s soaked in mako and incredibly dazed. At least Tifa is happy to see him, even if the kid isn’t responding to her. The soldier guy is freaking out and killing everyone, but that’s fine.

And then, just as you think everything is settling down, fucking Sephiroth shows up and for some reason the guy you saved is freaking out, trying to get to him. He wants to be with Sephiroth, despite the fact Zack specifically told you that Cloud stabbed Sephiroth. Just moments before, he was hesitantly okay with being in your grasp, but now you’d think you’d been torturing him with how badly he wants OUT.

Eventually he does get out of your grasp and then proceeds to koala bear himself on the supposed-to-be dead general.

It’s just baffling. What the hell is the deal with this Cloud guy anyway????

[prismaticpichu]

I’ve always thought this about Sephiroth, really since my first Wikipedia dive into who the heck he was, but EC’s starting to accentuate it all again in my mind~

*puts on dollar store glasses, clears throat*

Sephiroth was thrust into war at the age when most people are just learning that there are three different categorizations of rocks in the world. Was sent to smell the stench of death before probably ever smelling a real birthday cake. Was sent to get blood on his hands, raze villages, and most likely take the reins as some kind of military commander before most people can get their hands on a learner’s permit. And that’s not even taking into account all the magma beneath that—all the training and preparation that most likely swallowed any semblance of a normal childhood. Yes, true, the idea of “Sephiroth growing up in a lab and being given biweekly Mako surgeries and being fed gelatinous enzyme sludge” is fanon, but we can still take away from Sephiroth’s vitriol and disgust towards Hojo that he wasn’t playing catch with the guy as a toddler. Either way, it doesn’t change the fact that, from a disgustingly young age, Sephiroth had to endure an experience more rattlingly tragic and red and horrific than anything most children could even fathom. Something that would take someone’s heart and twist it until it could hardly beat anymore.

And yet…..

Sephiroth is still kind. After everything.

In all seriousness, I genuinely think it’s an underrated part of his character—and my absolute favorite thing about it. Just the sheer fact that despite weathering through years of war, and all the terrors that come with it, and Sephiroth is still shown in CC to be an objectively good-hearted person. He flew in to save Zack from burning alive by Ifrit. He was patient, calm, and polite with him, even telling him tenderly to “take care” after one of their encounters—even permitting Zack to go back to the slums and protect Aerith. He happily allowed Cloud to go visit his family on their mission to Nibelheim. He stepped in without hesitation to donate his blood to Genesis. He wanted to protect his friends with everything he had—even if it would cost him the only life he had ever known. He never stopped being kind.

That is fucking STRENGTH.

It’s easy to let trauma be an excuse to treat others miserably, letting it all bleed out and not caring about the mess we make in the process. Sometimes, we just don’t know how to digest those things properly, and they get regurgitated the wrong way. And sometimes we forget how to treat people with kindness when we are so deluged with our own burdens. Heck…. It’s not always easy to be kind PERIOD.

The fact that Sephiroth was, in spite of the tumultuous cards he was dealt, in spite of how life treated him, is what gave him the title of hero.

And made it all the more tragic when he lost it.

[sephirthoughts]

New Tseng Headcanons!!

Tseng being a smug villain about blowing up the Sector 7 support pillar and dooming thousands to death, but also holding on to Aerith's letters for Zack because he can't bear to throw them away, which would be tantamount to admitting Zack is really gone. He's complicated.

Tseng can see the Whispers but is gaslighting Rufus about it to amuse himself

this is because Tseng is all ice-cold badass on the surface (like it's a matter of legend that he may have ever smiled once) but he's an absolute menace and he's secretly clowning everyone

it was him who stuck gum on the bottom of all of Reno's shoes

it was him who replaced Elena's bullets with blanks that one time so she thought she was a terrible shot for a whole day

it was him who anonymously circulated those embarrassing photos of Rude when he had his MC Hammer phase as a teen (Rude was not embarrassed in the least and maintains that he looked cool in parachute pants, with a flat-top fade)

it was him who threw a red scarf in with Rufus' laundry when they were in Junon and it was the only suit he brought, so he had to do a press conference in bright pink

it was him who taught Darkstar to bark wildly whenever Scarlet says the word "boring" or Hojo says the word "fascinating"

Tseng actually laughs really easily and has a very childish sense of humor. a lot of the times that he's being all silent and stoic and mysterious, it's because he literally has to bite his tongue to stop himself laughing at some stupid shit, and he can't talk while he's doing that

no one but Tseng's mother has ever actually heard him laugh (like really laugh not the villain laugh he does when he's making a theatrical scene about some evil shit he's up to)

Tseng smokes when he's stressed. no one in the fucking world knows about it and they never will. there is never even a molecule of lingering scent on him ever. the lengths he has to go to in order to accomplish this are….excessive, since no one would give a shit if they knew he smoked. he just doesn't like anyone knowing anything about him

on that note, no one knows where he actually lives. he keeps multiple dummy addresses on file with Shinra to throw the HR people off. the other Turks can't even figure it out because he always spots them when they try to tail him. like from 200 yards that asshole is supernatural or something

he considered Zack his best friend because they had several missions together and exchanged multiple sentences outside of work, due to their both caring for Aerith. it destroyed him that he failed to save Zack and he became even more cold, detached, and emotionally unavailable because of it. no one ever noticed any of this because he's a goddamn pro

he still has the letters

he's a huge dorky ridiculous Vincent Valentine fangirl and the secret president of the (admittedly very small) fan club

the fan club is called the TV Club, as in Turk Valentine, because that makes it sound like boring nerd shit that no one would be curious about if it happened to come up somehow

most of the TV Club members are retired Shinra employees who had crushes on Vincent back in the day, before he disappeared. the conspiracy theories regarding him being alive rival those of the famous Elvis truthers, and some of them get weirdly close to the real facts (those ones ironically are the most laughed at and least believed theories)

there is some very well written but anonymous reader-insert Rookie Turk x Agent Valentine fanfic on their message board, but no one can prove who wrote it

Veld is also in the fan club

so is Sephiroth for reasons currently unknown

people say Tseng's Turk Valentine cosplay is absolutely stunning (mostly because he's also beautiful, black-haired, and Wutaian) but they have no idea how how very much painstakingly historically accurate detail is in it. he had the suit custom tailored from a vintage midnight-blue worsted wool fabric that he had to hunt down because it's not in production anymore

he actually checked Vincent's old service sidearm out of the Shinra armory on supposed official Turk business to go with the costume even though everyone thought it was a replica, because real weapons are not allowed at the convention center. he knew. that was enough.

he wore the costume for the office halloween party, one year, but everyone at work just thought he got a new suit. Reno almost had a brain aneurysm over even that much, though, so it's probably for the best that they didn't notice.

however, the fact that they didn't notice the very obvious blood-red contact lenses made him deeply worried for the future of the Turks. everyone was required to attend remedial espionage training the next week, much to their bitching and moaning

@soundcrusher tagging you cause you said that you wanted to see this silliness. you brought it upon yourself! 🖤

[mooglemarauder]

Just In Time

Little writing experiment where the Turks find Zack and Cloud just in time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Between calls, they were tuned into the military line. The updates came in less and less. Distressed troopers calling in for backup that wouldn't come. On one hand, there was hope with the target still fighting back. On the other, it was horrifying getting update after update of the hits he was taking.

As the rain picked up, they thought of calling the whole things off. It was dangerous, and visibility was shit.

They all hear it when the final transmission came in.

Target eliminated. Returning to base.

Everything seemed to stop.

It took everything to keep her hands steady on the helicopters controller. The Whirring of the blade sounded more muffled against the pounding in her ears. There was no way she heard that right. They had to still have time. It must be the wrong radio line , or-

“Shit…” She heard Reno hiss on the radio, followed by what sounded like a fist slamming on the top of the control dashboard.“…FUCKING hell…”

So she did hear it correctly.

They failed.

“…Well…what do you want us to do now, director?” Rude asked as the next to manage to find their voice, though it sounded more shaky than his usual controlled demeanor.

It took even longer for Tseng to respond.

“Run cleanup. I want any equipment recovered.” Tseng finally ordered on the intercom. Clean and quick. Nothing extra.

Cissnei swallowed down the sting forming in her throat and responded “Got it” and went back to scanning the muddy ground.

It felt wrong. She had seen Shinra chew people up and spit them out countless times, but this time it felt wrong. Zack was so earnest. He fought so hard. He had cleaned up Shinra’s messes so many times, and for what? To get swept away himself? It all felt so wrong.

She breathed.

Emotions would have to wait until they were on the ground.

“Targets sighted…Heading down to recover equipment.” Rude communicated on the intercom.

“Heading to your coordinates now.” Cissnei replied and started heading in their direction.

Just on the edge of Midgar. She tried to rationalize it in her mind. Even if he managed to make it, even in the slums, Shinra would have found him eventually.

“Geeze, this place is a battlefield. If you wanted recovered equipment, there’s plenty of empty missile shells…” Reno mused over the intercom.

They had been listening in as wave after wave was sent to take Zack out. Seeing the numbers assigned was different than seeing the bodies lost on the battlefield.

“Hey…who the hell is that blond kid?” Reno asked on the intercom.”…I thought they said all targets eliminated?”

“Blond…The other escaped test subject?” Cissnei questioned but she may as well have been talking to herself. Someone left their radio on leading to footsteps and stray breaths and gasps being sent through to her headset.

“…There's no way…”Rude sounded breathless.

“…What's happening? Talk to me.” Cissnei requested while struggling to keep her focus in steering.

“What the- shit- SHIT! HE’S STILL ALIVE!!” Renos voice burst through the intercom, followed by noises of scrambled fumbling and hurried steps.

“Cissnei, we need backup. Now.” Rude spoke over Reno’s panicked voice in the background, telling someone to “hang in there”.

“I’m on my way!” She responded, and booked it.

The helicopter tilted forward as the tips of Midgar came into view. From the window, discarded equipment littered the ground. A sea of helmets, guns, and blood stretched on and on. Countless lives Shinra threw away to take their own.

And there they were.

Just on the edge of Midgar.

It would have been scenic, if it weren't for the corpses leading to the cliff.

Cissnei practically tripped on the way out of her chopper. Rude was applying pressure to wounds while Reno was using most of the potions and panacea’s they brought. Cloud sat next to them in a haze. He didn't have any strength to offer Rude, but his hand was held tightly around Zacks.

Cissnei reported the situation to Tseng. Orders were made to head to medical immediately, private rooms would be ready under fake names.

There wasn't any time to waste.

Cissnei and Rude prepped Zack onto a stretcher to be transported. He groaned and coughed when they lifted him, barely getting the blood in his lungs out.

His eyes flickered open and Cissnei met them. Zack struggled to focus on her face. She tried to shield his eyes from the rain.

“Ciss…how?…”He choked out between gasps.

“Zack, stay with us. You’re going to be ok.” She reassured him, and also herself.

A shaky hand found Cissnei’s where she held onto the stretcher handles.

“Keep him safe…keep Cloud safe…” Was weakly asked.

“We will Zack, and we’ll keep you safe too. Just hang in there!” Cissnei kept encouraging. That felt like the right thing to do.

Zack groaned again as they lifted up the stretcher to head for the chopper. Cloud stumbled forward as they moved, still holding onto Zacks hand. Or maybe, Zack was still holding onto Clouds?

“Zzz-…Zzzack…”The boy mumbled, unable to tear himself away.

Rude gave Reno a look, and the latter wordlessly circled around the group to steady Cloud as they walked through the rainy mud.

“We’ve got him, Blondie. Let's get you two out of here, yeah?” Reno said to Cloud who barely acknowledged him.

Cissnei landed close enough, but every step still felt too long. Every raindrop felt too heavy. Every strained breadth and stutter from Zack came too long in-between.

Eventually, somehow, they did thankfully make it.

Zack was carefully transferred inside, and with some maneuvering, Cloud was strapped in still holding onto Zacks bullet ridden body. They’d have to do scans to see the full extent of the damage at medical, but that would be for the doctors to decide what needed attention first.

Their job was just to get him there.

Reno and Rude apparently decided that Rude would drive Cissnei’s chopper while she kept an eye on the passengers, and Reno would follow them later after clean up. Rude gave Zack’s foot a pat before heading to the driver's seat. Reno pointed in the window with a sly “You’d better make sure I have someone to bring that heavy ass sword back to” before sliding the door closed.

Cissnei knocked on the cockpit door, and the helicopter lifted up for takeoff. Cloud made a few upset noises as he was jostled in his seat. Cissnei kept her hand on Zack's chest to feel his slow strained breadth. His eyes creaked open and found hers.

"You...found us..."Zack said weakly.

Just barely" Cissnei replied. "You gave us all a scare."

"Sorry....Didn't mean to..."Zack gasped out and closed his eyes again.

"Zack...are you still with me?" She asked, not wanting him to loose consciousness before they made it to Midgar.

"Mhmmm?..."He mumbled out. He deserved to sleep, more than anyone. But she had to get him there.

"Hey Zack, I need you to keep your eyes open until we get to Midgar, ok?" Cissnei requested, but only got a few tired gasps from him. She had to sweeten the deal.

"If you do...I'll tell you my real name."

That got his eyes open.

"Dang...you Turks...drive a hard bargain..." His words were shaky, but he managed to give her a half smile under the blood and grime smeared on his face.

Cissnei let herself sigh.

It would be a long ride to Midgar, but at least they made it just in time.

[rocketbirdie]

Dark Zakkura: it’s more like!! Instead of seeing each other as darling rays of sunshine that can do no harm, they see each other as darling rays of sunshine whose every action is completely excusable and maybe even perfectly valid and supportable no matter how much harm was caused……!!!! Obviously they would NEVER hurt each other, no that’s unthinkable. But others?

So what if Zack massacred a whole platoon of troopers, he did it for Cloud, to protect Cloud… so how could Cloud ever be upset about it? Zack just loves him, that’s all. No, the troopers’ deaths don’t matter, didn’t he already say that? They would have killed Zack and Cloud both if Zack had let any of them leave alive. Cloud is just grateful Zack loves him so much he’d exhaust himself like that taking care of him.

So what if Cloud breaks people’s hands and arms and occasionally kills a bar patron here and there? They were getting kinda handsy, frankly, and Cloudy knows Zack isn’t fond of strangers’ touch these days, no matter how friendly he acts. No, of course the fuckers don’t matter, they ignored Cloud’s warnings. Why should he care if they suffer the consequences of their actions? What? No, Cloud was perfectly clear… well if they can’t tell from a glare that sharp, then they wouldn’t have listened to words anyway, would they?

It’s like that I think… like they would find any possible minuscule reason to excuse each other’s actions, instead of believing each other incapable of bringing harm… they’re both really strong and incredibly dangerous, and only more so since they’re essentially wholly unpredictable now, so I think they would invent reasons where they can’t find any to excuse the harm they do <3 meanwhile everyone around them is going 😨 and slowly building notes on how to avoid getting absentmindedly murdered for some or other petty reason

THIS JUST IN: LOCAL ANON FOUND GUILTY OF READING MY FUCKING MIND OUAAAAAGHHHHH

[frownyalfred]

So I’ve seen your other posts about Snyderverse!Bruce, and they reminded me of an article I read recently. It mentioned that Zack Snyder‘s vision of Batman is one that suffers from trauma, and, as a result, is someone who looks for other ways to cope (I think we all understood this)

He appeared on Joe Rogan Podcast to discuss his films. At one point, he spoke at length with Rogan about Batman and he basically said this :

“It might be in the theatrical cut, but it’s definitely in the director’s cut. Where he wakes up and there’s some chick in the bed with him, from the night before,” said Snyder. “Because I always say, Batman f— to forget, for sure. Batman’s a drunk, for sure. Because he has huge trauma, and you wonder why he’s a playboy, and anybody…f—— to forget is a common, that’s a real thing. That’s a way to deal with trauma.”

So basically for Snyder, Bruce uses s*x as a drug in BvS.

I think this interpretation only fits Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne/Batman. I honestly enjoyed watching his performance, it was refreshing to see a new side of the character.

What’s your thoughts on this ? Do you agree with him ? And do you think he understood the character well ?

I've always loved that scene in BVS because, in the span of like 2.5 seconds you see 1) Bruce waking up after sex to some random girl 2) empty bottles of wine worth a small house next to the bed from the night before 3) Bruce taking a handful of mystery pills and washing it down with the aforementioned wine in one gross swallow.

I agree that it fits this particular flavor of Bruce, and not the canon typical version. He's coping using a variety of substances/escapes, from alcohol to sex to pills to violence. He's lost it in almost every way imaginable, including lashing out at Alfred (although this one doesn't leave, though I'm not sure it's because he approves or wants to stay so much as Alfred fears for Bruce's life if he leaves).

How does an addictive personality like that mesh with the hyperfocus and rigor of being Batman? It's an interesting question. We see Bruce, as Bruce Wayne, coping via every method available. As Batman, it's largely limited to violence, fear over national security, paranoia, etc, and rigorous training and intelligence gathering. Is the fear and paranoia a drug, in a way, too? Is it keeping Bruce alive the same way as the other things?

What I really like about the BVS era of Superbat fics is that the good ones really hammer home on that -- the Bruce who will fuck Clark, will take him home, and have it mean absolutely nothing. It's just another coping mechanism. It's not a pivotal reveal of intimacy and vulnerability like in other Superbat fics. You can fuck Bruce, can break his back, can drink with him and fight with him and still never know anything about him.

But that changes when Clark dies. The guilt claws at all of those coping mechanisms. Bruce could've left him in the Kansan dirt, but we see him becoming obsessed with Clark, even more so than before. And that guilt finds a link to the employees who he saw die, Robin he let die, all of it.

And all of a sudden, we see that energy being channeled into building a team. Building tech for the team. Rebuilding Wayne Manor, for the Justice League. It would be very interesting to see if Snyder intended to continue Bruce's issues with alcohol and grief through that period. Does having Clark back help? How does he recover from a period of what was essentially several addictions and massive trauma/grief?

[invinciblevalentine]

okay concept. gaia is FCUKED from the Everything that’s happened and all life is dying. cloud eventually dies and aerith+zack meet up with him, going “ya so. unfortunately,,,,, this is still an us problem. we’re time traveling and this is the pla—“

cloud, used to being the planets hammer for a very Calamity’s-son-shaped nail: kill sephiroth, on it

zack reaching into thin air: SPIKE WAIT SEPH WASN’T—

but it’s TOO LATE. through the power of shear hatred and a desire to be DONE with this bitch, cloud has hurled himself directly into the lifestream that’s in the middle of reversing its flow, sending himself back in time before they finished explaining the plan.

aerith intended to rewind to before the jenova project, possibly before shinra even started on the mako reactor grind. but thanks to cloud not letting her finish the process, cloud drops into reality somewhere after both angeal and genesis defected but before zack had to kill angeal.

he wakes up in a pool of mako, his sword in hand and still in his haggard, apocalypse wracked form. cloud doesn’t know the plan, because cloud doesn’t CARE. He marches his ass down to midgar to kill sephiroth or die trying, and gets all the way to sephiroth’s apartment undetected.

this is in part thanks to the fact his normally distinct SOLDIER eyes are dull enough to pass for a trick of the light, which in turn can be credited to the aforementioned apocalypse wracked body and general malnutrition. all his enhancements are currently dedicated to the losing effort of keeping cloud’s bitchass alive, an effort the man himself is completely unconcerned with.

anyways, sephiroth’s quarters. Cloud’s holed up there, waiting, when he hears sephiroth approach and has a second to prepare himself before the door gets kicked in.

while fighting and trashing the apartment, sephiroth probes for information, which cloud is obviously not giving, until sephiroth manages to sus out that clouds not just a random type of trained or enhanced— he’s SOLDIER enhanced. More than that, while Cloud’s fighting style is a mish mosh of a lot of factors, the most prominent style Sephiroth can identify is a weird form of Angeal’s own style. With that conclusion drawn, Sephiroth quickly draws several follow-up conclusions:

1. This stranger is injured or sick to the point where the mako in his system is completely occupied with keeping him alive

2. the stranger doesn’t care about dying

3. He isn’t part of SOLDIER, not any that Sephiroth’s ever seen.

4. He knew Angeal.

Sephiroth, right now, is fresh off losing his two best and only friends. Genesis defected rather loudly, convincing a good deal of SOLDIERS and scientists to follow him while he was at it. Angeal defected much more quietly, but defected all the same. Something was off about both of them before they left, and he’s still got hope he can bring them back.

The strange attacker that moves like Angeal HAS to be related to the issue, and that’s a resource Sephiroth can’t afford to lose. So he fucking hits the stranger with chair and Cloud goes DOWN.

- seph keeps cloud “prisoner” in his rooms as cloud heals from the concussion and apocalypses damage on him and cloud goes from belligerent to suspicious to getting the dawning feeling that zack might’ve been trying to tell him something important.

- sephiroth is just proving to be a wet and pathetic human experiment missing his friends and like all basic forms of socialization, and is desperately alone. like CLOUD is his only constant friend at this point. the guy he’s practically holding HOSTAGE.

- (btw zack comes back during this time and is frantically looking for cloud. zack’s younger self is sharing a body with zack, and there’s a period of time Zee (Little Zack) is convinced he’s like, possessed. which he is technically but only by His Future Self. it’s making zack’s life heinously difficult bc zee WILL NOT LET HIM DITCH SOLDIER TO HUNT DOWN A BLOND TWINK.)

- also at some point modeoheim happens and zee is sent there, angeal is like Kill Me and Zack shoves his way into control, casts the strongest sleepel he can and goes AWOL to grab aerith and waterboard his once-mentor into mental+physical stability. Zee is horrified by everything happening. btw every problem that comes with ANOTHER soldier first going AWOL and carrying around the unconscious body of ANOTHER defected soldier first and HIS FORMER MENTOR AT THAT, is happening rn. good luck babe.

- Aerith’s busy haunting genesis bc she’s incorporal and with her limited power/control, she can do BARE minimum life stream shit and ghost shit, which, out of all the enhanced people still kicking, only genesis is alone enough and uh fanciful enough to believe that he’s being communicated with by a divine being to listen to her in the first place.

- Aerith is trying her best to be understanding of Genesis’s circumstances but she draws the line at turning people into genesis clones and literally rains on genesis’s parade with her magic gaia girl rain which does cure genesis of degradation! However it has the unintended side of effect of genesis seeing Aerith’s ghost as, like, Gaia jesus which creates numerous problems on its own.

- all culminates in The Nibelheim Incident (SOLDIER Firsts No Longer Required) where cloud zack and aerith combine their incredible avoidance powers to result in… something really scuffed regarding jenova and sephs origins. i’ll figure it out Later.

- cloud and zack and aerith are in their Darkest Hour of personal development when sephiroth stumbles in and on his hands and knees begs them not to leave him. zack tries to be like, ehhhhh we don’t belong here or something and aeriths like look at what you still have, what you won’t lose anymore, you’ll be okay, and when sephiroth grasps the leg of clouds pants, cloud jerks away and is like you can’t force me to do anything w a whole tirade and sephiroth raises his head and cloud is taken aback to see sephiroth’s CRYING, as the general chokes out “i know”

- they do stay. aerith realizes she’s grown so distant from the world that she doesn’t recognize her own personal importance or impact on it and that, Zack realizes that it’s not selfish to want something more than what you’re given, and cloud realizes that circumstances can make you a monster as easily as choice can.