#and cloud was there too i guess

[yuurivoice]

Tomorrow Has To Wait, a Cloud & Aerith One-Shot

A FFVII Rebirth Cloud & Aerith fic. Contains spoilers through Gongaga (and beyond tbh). Cloud slips away into the night to be alone with his thoughts. How can he protect the ones he cares for most if he cannot even trust himself?

Aerith Gainsborough brought me out of fic writing retirement. You ever been down so bad that you got in touch with your inner child, your first dreams and aspirations, and a craft you've long left on the shelf? I have, and it got about 2.8k words and a long afternoon outta me.

Be kind, it's been a long time for this old boy.

Read on AO3 here. Snippet beneath the read more.

Gongaga nights were humid, the dense kind of humidity that clings to however much exposed skin it can find, and sleeping in it was no easy task. However, up above the trees standing at the top of a mostly ruined observation tower, Cloud was breathing in the crisp breeze and gazing up at the stars.

“It’s not so different from Nibelheim.” He recalled kicking his feet off the edge of the water tower, looking through the window of the cute girl next door and then desperately trying to look anywhere but there to avoid being weird. That was so long ago, but nowadays he felt more in touch with the awkward, silent kid than a seasoned SOLDIER.

Even with Tifa’s forgiveness for what happened at the reactor, Cloud couldn’t find enough quiet in his mind to rest. He was anxious. How in the hell was anyone supposed to trust him if he couldn’t trust himself? Despite their party growing stronger and more determined than ever, the war waging on in his mind was one he had to fight alone. The migraines, the memories, the uneasy feeling lingering in his chest any time they encounter another one of the robed men. If he shared his concerns, those little moments where he lost himself, there was no chance they’d keep him around. Barret wouldn’t let anything put his mission to save the planet at risk, not when Marlene was back home waiting to live a long happy life on a planet that hasn’t been sucked dry of its essence.

There was a pounding in his chest, a part of him that shouted that his honor wouldn’t let him fail those he cared about the most. So why did it feel so right killing those Shinra bastards? Why did his blade flow so effortlessly as he danced through them like the evening breeze? 

Why did he love the warmth of their blood on his cheeks?

You know why, Cloud…

“Shut up.” Cloud lifted the Buster Sword from his back and held it upright before him, staring at the hilt as his hands gripped it tight. His knuckles cracked as the leatherbound hilt groaned in his palms. This blade was held in this position many times before to remind the wielder of his honor as a SOLDIER, but those days were long past.

You can’t deny it forever. They’ll understand. They already know. You don’t belong with them…

Tighter. Cloud’s muscles tensed as his eyes shut tight, begging for this creative imagination of his to let him see his hands wrapped around Sephiroth’s throat. 

You will fail them again…

Cloud’s chest heaved with raspy breaths, as if it were his own throat he was clutching. Squeezing. Tighter. Tighter goddammit. He wanted to feel the grip of the sword snap in two. He wanted something to break. Anything. Everything.  

Then, silence. 

Gentle hands rest on top of his, joining him in holding the sword, now wrapped in a warm embrace from behind. There was no breeze, no wildlife, and no voice in his head.

There was only Aerith.

[barghest-land]

drawings from paleo expedition to dagestan, done right on the trip. sometimes messy when it was cold and rainy, but i won't correct it. i think it's cool to leave it just the way it was done, and not retouch it after. there will be more drawings later, but those will be done from home

[hazycorvus]

Soaring ever skyward, with a heart unclouded

(Available as a print !)

[gomacave]

clinging to corpses

[mettywiththenotes]

Viktor didn't just break up with him. Months later, he then did the equivalent of texting his ex and asking if they could meet up again

[titenoute]

Meme redraw OG Rayman prefers to choose kindness whenever he can...

V.2 :

But sometimes, you gotta send a message.

[spearxwind]

i think every game that makes flying the focus (and theres veeery few of those) should have a map with a lot of verticality to it. Yes we all wanna fly a dragon over a vast landscape but when youre high up everything is indistinguishable, the sky is empty, and that gets boring real quick. A flying game should have verticality in a way that lets you explore heights that are really high and places on the map that are overlaid with each other would feel more alive and give you so much more space to work with. In a way, itd be like the inverse of the subnautica map. The original map was amazing because it made the ocean feel so huge. "What do you mean theres five biomes underneath the earth?? what do you mean theres just vast caves under here?" and everything felt super interconnected too. There should be more things in the sky than just you too. Enemies, prey, companions.... etc.

my fave flying game is called 'aer memories of old' and it doesnt really have that verticality but its a good flying game imo because its got a map thats so rewarding to explore, there is a PURPOSE to flying around just beyond what the game wants you to do. The lore of the world is out there for you to find and piece together, and the map is filled with life and details. And recently theres been an uptick in developers trying to make flying dragon games but none feel like flying has any purpose at all other than be really showy and yeah it looks awesome but without a purpose for flying its gonna get boring for the player!!

"This is the dragon game you've always wanted" and its another purposeless multiplayer mmorpg with an insanely huge completely empty map and they focus so much on the five fucking billion dragon cosmetics (and god forbid theyre all free btw) instead of making a game that is fun to play and just put the responsibility of having fun on the shoulders of the player. "omg u can make any dragon in this game the models look so cool!!" ok but what about the game. can you tell me if you game is fun? is there anything to do? oh, just material gathering shit and crafting? and an mmo where you have to play with others for there to be any semblance of life in the world? ok

idk im just sick of seeing games advertised as a dragon survival game where the only survival aspect is like. 'find food' 'find water' 'find a mate to have an egg' repeat. repeat. repeat. surely theres other things?? what about migration? territorial disputes? becoming the apex predator? being a local tyrant or a benevolent protector? there is so much that could be done with dragons but all every dev wants to dip their ass in is multiplayer nonsesne with the most basic hunger and thirst and a basic as fuck combat mechanic and call it survival so that people can choose to kill each other. its so lazy

[geopsych]

Graceful start to a hot day.

[oifaaa]

"I just think his [Jasons] motivations are a bit stupid, why get mad at Bruce about getting a new Robin when hes the second Robin, it doesn't make a lot of sense"

Yeah weird that it's almost like Jason was already mad at Bruce long before he found out about Tim and his overall motivations were 99% to do with Bruce and very little about Tim

[needlefail]

Some leafs 🍃🍂🍁

[caprart1]

Deathless death

[nabs-draws]

Forgive me Square Enix for may I have sinned....

I fell down a FF7 rabbithole and after the hugging scene and well....I guess my Hand slipped. I was too embarassed to finish this drawing but I am very proud of how the Sketch turned out...lol.

[alienglowgarden]

[Text Transcript: "Big brother, // yesterday I had a dream // that everything changed. // The sky was the color of blood, // and everywhere I looked, // I could not see a single sight // I recognized, // Including this body."]

[meru-chanowo]

Twitter is going wild with this one since like last night I think

Honestly I've never seen Aerith as really having this sister-like attitude but like sure

[rocketbirdie]

What are your Headcanons ideas what if Zack and Cloud are childhood friends? 🤔

UHHHHH i haven't thought about this one too much to be honest lmao

I think they would be enemies at first actually. Two kids with opposite personalities who can't stand each other's guts. Zack hates how quiet and funless Cloud is, and Cloud can't tolerate Zack's rowdy chatty nature. They get into petty fights over little things and are happy to never have to interact again after they grow up.

Many years later, they crash back into each other's lives somehow. Now that they're past their asshole teenager years, they learn to set their differences aside, and maybe even make up for their respective weaknesses...!

[planet4546b]

there’s literally no way that cloud strife does not have severe joint damage in every single joint in his body he swings around a probably 15 lb sword with minimal training do you know how much his dodge animation in rebirth stresses me OUT??? his ankles and wrists are ground to a fine powder his back is horribly fucked his knees??? his ELBOWS??? with the way he swings that thing???? god. get that boy like 15 braces NOW. wait i take it back. get that boy 15 braces and a cane and a wheelchair NOW!!!!!!