#chase and zack still have flashes

[cementcornfield]

such a shame

[rottenpumpkin13]

Whats happens when the boys™️ go camping on the beach?

Things That Happen At The Beach, A List

• The seagulls see Cloud as an easy target and attack him for his food. Zack rushes in to defend his buddy and ends up fist fighting a seagull. Zack loses.

• Sephiroth tries to relax in the sand and read a book, but Angeal's continuous use of a metal detector to "hunt for goods" nearby is giving him anxiety.

• Genesis is going on a drink run and is offering to get everyone else something too.

Genesis: Would you like a sex on the beach?

Sephiroth, not knowing it's a drink: I thought you'd never ask.

• Zack has gripped a seagull by the neck and is refusing to let go. The other seagulls are getting increasingly more agitated. Cloud pleads with Zack to let it go. Zack claims that the only way to deal with the seagulls is to "assert dominance"

• Genesis ia trying to take aesthetic pictures of himself for social media and doesn't notice that in half of them, Sephiroth is in the background losing a battle with a melting ice cream cone.

• Angeal is looking for the guitar he brought to sing campfire songs. Genesis burned it to build a fire. Angeal retaliates by burning Genesis' books in that very bonfire. The last anyone saw Angeal and Genesis they were trying to drown each other in the ocean.

• Sephiroth brings a book that aids in identifying crab species and a camera to catalogue them. Sephiroth finds a crab. He takes a photo of the crab with the flash on. This bothers the crab. The crab attacks him. Sephiroth flings the crab into the ocean. Sephiroth feels guilty and goes into the ocean to retrieve the crab.

• Sephiroth and Genesis try playing with a frisbee for fun. Sephiroth underestimated his own strength and ended up knocking Genesis out with the frisbee. When Angeal finds them, Genesis is still knocked out and Sephiroth is digging a Genesis-sized hole in the sand.

Angeal: ......

Sephiroth: I panicked.

Angeal: Oh my god.

• The seagulls are encircling Zack and Cloud. Cloud lights a beach towel on fire to try to ward them off.

• AGS go on a banana boat for fun. The boat driver warns them that if they don't hang on, they'll fall off. Genesis is the first to claim "Ha! We're SOLDIER. As if we can be bested by an inflatable water sled." On the first wave all three of them are violently thrown into the ocean. Genesis was the first to go and knocked Angeal and Sephiroth like bowling pins.

• Angeal finally intervenes and chases the seagulls away. He gives Genesis, Sephiroth and Cloud the task of fishing for their cookout while Zack helps him prepare.

Angeal: You guys know how to fish, right?

Sephiroth: Definitely. (Liar)

Cloud: Absolutely. (Liar)

Genesis: Of course (embellisher of the truth)

• 1 hour later they come back with Cloud tangled in a fishing line, Genesis with a small fish, and Sephiroth with a big fish. Genesis is fuming because he claims Sephiroth "invaded his fishing space and caught the fish that Genesis was meant to catch."

• Genesis and Sephiroth go paddle boarding for fun but end up having a makeshift sword duels with their paddles in the middle of the ocean. Genesis hits Sephiroth in the knees. This Angers Sephiroth. Genesis now has a total of 2 minutes to make it to shore before Sephiroth catches up to him and drowns him.

• Angeal wants to take some nice group photos to remember this day forever. They're in the middle of a nice group pose when the horde of seagulls come back for revenge.

[altocat]

Ok, part two of Angeal and Sephiroth Dissidia Angst Chapter, haha.

After Angeal begs Sephiroth to talk to him and explain…Sephiroth remarks that he threw all his unnecessary memories into the Lifestream, and that Angeal is just “noise” to him. He has no memory of what Angeal is referring to—their friendship and all.

Angeal is too wounded to fight anymore, so Sephiroth battles the other characters for a moment and gets his power crystal. He is still upset though, even if he doesn’t realize why and just nopes out of there with his muhaha evil power.

There is a cute Zack and Angeal reunion right after, where Zack notes that Angeal is injured because he protected everyone like usual. Angeal warmly reaffirms Zack, but at once he goes straight back to talking about Sephiroth. He says he needs to follow him because he has so many questions to ask.

The others are worried about Angeal’s wound, but Zack only asks that if he does chase Sephiroth down, Angeal has to bring him along because he doesn’t want to be left behind. Aw.

Cloud interjects though and asks if he can talk to Angeal about the “present Sephiroth.”

We flash forward to a group meeting, and Angeal is STILL saying he needs to find Sephiroth. The others demand he take a moment to rest and heal, and that he shouldn’t take such a huge responsibility on his own shoulders, but Angeal is not having it.

Suddenly, Rufus of all people comments that he thinks he knows what Angeal is thinking about—that he wants to see if “The present Sephiroth is the real Sephiroth and not Jenova.”

Rufus brings up the Reuinion theory and all that, but Angeal actually says that,

“No, that’s Sephiroth…I know it. Someone with a will as strong as his couldn’t fully lose himself, even if he has changed. All his cruelty…it was his will…”

Angeal says this with a very downcast and heartbroken demeanor, like it seriously hurts for him to say that. Somebody asks, “Wait, you know Sephiroth?” and he says,

“He is my best friend. Always has been.”

OUCH.

Vincent actually asks,

“If he had someone like you…why did he end up the way he did?”

Angeal doesn’t reply and I can’t imagine he was feeling anything but guilt in that moment for obvious reasons. Then Cloud remarks,

“Well, Sephiroth did seem upset by Angeal’s question/questions. It’s worth a shot to find him”

So, they all agree to go hunt our silver boi down.

Finally, to close off the angst fest—we have a small scene where Sephiroth is alone with his crystal and is seemingly okay until bam, he gets a wave of memory come over him that causes him to stumble for a minute. He freaks out and that’s where the “Angeal? Genesis??” scene happens. He can’t believe it and starts trying to suppress everything, talking to himself through out.

He says,

“No…what is this memory?? Angeal? Genesis?? Did Angeal bring these back? I thought I threw them into the Lifestream. No, I need to get rid of them. They get in the way of “me.”

“….that’s right…get rid of what you don’t need. We can cut out this one too….that man’s entire existence…yes…”

It really sounds like he does have a fractured consciousness and is talking to different parts of himself/maybe Jenova, but damn…he also is fully being affronted now with his past and it’s obviously messing him up. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Thank you for this, Translation-Anon. Thank you so, so much.

I'm in actual agony right now.

[silly-bean]

twas struck with a shower thought that turned into me writing 1k for a scene in the middle of a fic that hasn't been written yet... so yeah, have some Zack and Cloud angst.

~~~~~~

"You expect me to believe that? That Sephiroth was the 'tragic villain' and that I died to save you: the 'big hero'?" Zack sneers down at him, his eyes flaring in his anger. "You do realize how that sounds to me, right? Like you're just spouting off your greatest fantasy where Sephiroth falls from grace and you're just conveniently there to save everyone by putting him down. Why don't-"

"I'm not a hero, Zack," Cloud says, voice small.

"Really?" Zack rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. "You're gonna pull that shit now? What, digging for a compliment or something? Want me to pat you on the back and tell you you did a 'good job ridding your world of the big bad man'? I can't believe I'm still in here listening to this shit. We should have-"

"I'm not a fucking hero, Zack," Cloud snarls, feeling his own eyes starting to flare. "I didn't even make SOLDIER. I was a nobody who returned home a failure and was only able to kill Sephiroth the first time through pure adrenaline and the lucky fact that I didn't register as a threat to him."

He's standing now, his presence spilling out of his usual tight control and filling the room. "I spent the next five years being so utterly useless that you had to break me out of the lab and drag me across the planet and then die for me."

"So, what? Are you expecting a repeat performance? Want me to take the bullet for you again so you can 'honor my sacrifice' and save another world?"

"I LOVED YOU!"

Zack froze, his eyes wide and mouth parted. Cloud looks away, down at the table separating them and swallows.

"I loved you, Zack.” His voice is quiet again, thick with grief and guilt that he still hasn’t completely shed even after all these years. “But you were taken, dating Aerith, so I kept quiet, carried a torch until I sat beside you in the rain and mud, barely coherent and fighting mako poisoning as you passed your sword on to me and told me to live for you. And then I forgot you existed.”

He risks a glance up at the other man. Zack has closed his mouth, pressed it into a thin line, and his eyes shine with an emotion that he can’t begin to name. Cloud looks down again and clenches his fists, taking a deep breath before continuing.

“I left you there in the mud and dragged myself to Midgar and then succumbed to the mako again and the only reason I remembered my name was because someone I knew found me and told me what it was. She assumed I was a SOLDIER and I accepted that fact, took the stories you’d told me, and turned them into memories since mine was so full of holes.”

Cloud’s struggling to get the words out, a lump in his throat choking him up as tears spring to his eyes. The image of the Zack in front of him is flickering, flashes of his Zack smiling up at him covered in mud overlapping with the other’s horrified expression. He squeezes his eyes shut and tries to pull air into his lungs.

“I was with you in your last moments and couldn’t remember in time to let your girlfriend know what happened to you before she died. It took my best friend literally going into my head and fixing it for me to remember you existed at all, let alone how you died and what you’d done for me.” He swallows, clenching his jaw, and opens his eyes again. He looks up, nervous.

Zack stares down at him, hands loose and open at his sides. He looks away, clenching and unclenching his fists, before he lets out a heavy breath and flops back down into his chair. He scoots it forward and rests his elbow on the metal table, pressing his clasped hands into his lips.

“I’m not a hero because I decided to chase Sephiroth for revenge,” Cloud continues. “And, when it mattered, I couldn’t save anyone. I couldn’t save Aerith even though I was right there. I couldn’t save you, him, whatever. Sephiroth wanted to fight me because I got lucky one time and then was unlucky enough to attract Hojo’s attention. The only reason I ended up helping save the planet from Meteor was that I had friends who weren’t gonna tolerate me sitting around regretting everything I’d ever done.”

They sit in silence for a while, deep in thought. Cloud suddenly regrets his outburst; this Zack isn’t his Zack, he doesn’t need to deal with all his shit on top of everything else he’s dealing with. He takes a moment to reexamine his mental bonds, making sure they haven’t come unblocked in his burst of emotion and mollified by the fact that he probably wasn’t beaming his self-loathing directly into the other’s head.

“Then why did you come?” Zack asks, his eyes darting up to meet his. “You said you had a choice, didn’t you? You chose to come here, to help us. If you’re not a hero, then why?”

That was the crux of the matter, wasn’t it? Why was he here? Why did he decide to jump headfirst into another dimension and help them solve their problems?

“It’s nothing big, really. Even after everything, with the healing I’ve done and the forgiveness I’ve received, I still feel guilty. I feel like there’s still more I could have done. This is my way of atoning for it, I guess.”

Cloud shrugs, breaking eye contact and looking back down at his hands. He feels Zack’s eyes on him, scanning, evaluating his honesty. Trying to understand, to know why someone who looks like his greatest enemy would want to help them. Eventually, he must reach some kind of conclusion and sighs heavily. He stands, Cloud looking up to watch the movement. Zack stares down at him, face a mask of indifference once more.

“Thank you for your time. Someone will be down to escort you back to your cell in a bit while we discuss what we’ll do with you.”

He turns, pushing the chair back into place and walking to the door. It buzzes open and he turns to give one last long look at Cloud before stepping out. The door slams shut behind him, leaving Cloud alone with his thoughts once more.

[sparring-hyena]

Can you write a Becca x mc fanfic about Becca having a amnesia after the accident and not remembering falling in love with mc ? And it would be interesting to see Becca still trying to flirt with Chris among other guys and MC getting all jealous and trying to make Becca fall in love with her again 🤣 you can also turn it into a series I think it might be long if you chose to write it

hi, anon! i love all the angst in this idea, so thanks for sending it my way. also, i don’t know if what i wrote is exactly what you wanted. it does check a lot of the boxes, but i think it might be a bit angstier than you were asking for, so i hope that’s okay. it kinda just happened.

-

-

Alex has found coping with the last four months easier when she doesn’t think too much about it. she thinks about the events that happened, acknowledges their existence, but refuses to go any deeper than that. it’s easier that way.

“have you talked to someone about it?” Abbie asks as they’re walking to the library. one afternoon “a therapist, maybe?”

“my parents suggested it. but, i dunno, it just feels weird,” Alex says.

“that’s fine, but just make sure you aren’t keeping everything bottled up. even writing stuff down might help.”

Alex smiles, though it doesn’t reach her eyes. “i’ll give it a go.” she won’t. “thanks.”

they step into the library and find an empty table along one of the walls.

“how is she?” Abbie asks once they’re both settled in.

Alex feels the question pierce her in the heart. “don’t know,” she says quick and empty, making an effort to keep her gaze fixed on the work in front of her.

“she hasn’t reached out to you?”

“no.”

“Alex...” Abbie’s voice is sympathetic as she reaches across the table to place her hand on Alex’s.

Alex pulls away. “it’s fine, Abbie. can we just-- i’d really appreciate it if we didn’t talk about that.”

“of course.”

and Abbie, true to her word, doesn’t bring it up again. they work in a steady silence for most of the afternoon, only parting when the call for food becomes too great.

“are you sure you don’t want to come over for dinner. i know Kaitlyn’s free tonight; we could have a girls’ night.”

“it’s fine. i’d rather try get an early night. thanks though.”

“anytime.”

Alex dreads the idea of being in her apartment alone, but she also knows that she wouldn’t be able to have a girls’ night and pretend that everything’s fine.

she steps onto her floor and doesn’t notice the person standing by her door until she’s only six or seven feet away. her stomach twists itself into knots and her heart thumps dangerously against her ribcage.

“good, you’re home. i was just about to text you,” Becca says.

Alex feels a slither of hope creep into her heart. hope that Becca remembers. hope that they can go back to what they used to be. hope that they can continue to build their life together.

“i found some stuff while i was moving that i think is yours.” Becca picks up a box Alex had completely missed. “Chris mentioned that you don’t have classes this afternoon, so i figured i’d drop them off.”

“oh. that’s um, that’s really nice of you.” Alex takes the box from Becca’s hands. “how are you?”

“fine. the pain’s gone now, so my doctor cleared me to return to normal activity.”

Alex nods and fishes her keys from her pocket. “so you don’t, like, remember anything then?” she tries to be nonchalant as she speaks, though she can tell from the way Becca pauses and looks at her, that any attempt at nonchalance fails.

“the doctor said i might not,” Becca says a moment later, her voice distant. “it’ll be easier if we can both accept that sooner rather than later.”

“i know,” Alex says, turning the key in the lock. “i’ll see you ‘round?”

“maybe not. it might be better if we stayed apart.”

“oh.”

“yeah.” Becca shifts her weight between her feet and looks around the bland and empty hallway they’re standing in. “goodbye, Alex.” she turns on her heels and leaves.

Alex listens to Becca’s footfalls fade as she gets further and further away. an i love you dies on her tongue.

-

it’s five months later when Alex sees Becca again. okay, that’s not totally true. Alex has seen glimpses of Beeca around campus in that time—apparently, her and Chris are close again. Alex decides not to think about what that means. but it’s five months after that conversation in front of Alex’s apartment that they’re in close proximity again.

she’s at a club. Kaitlyn and Abbie had dragged her out.

“just for some fun,” Kaitlyn had said.

“you’ve been cooped up in your apartment every night for months. getting out might do you some good,” Abbie had explained.

and Alex hadn’t had the energy to fight them. so now she’s here. in some club with sticky floors, flashing lights, and music that makes her bones shake. they snagged a booth along the back wall, and it was all going fine. they were talking, laughing, having a fun night, and then Alex had glanced to her right and caught a glimpse of Becca and Chris dancing.

“i’m getting a drink,” Alex says, getting up from the booth without waiting for some kind of answer. she pushes her way through the thick crowd and makes her way to the bar, returning to the booth a few minutes later with five shots of tequila on a tray.

“i dunno if i wanna do shots tonight,” Kaitlyn says as she eyes the tray Alex places on the table.

“good, because these are for me.” and then Alex downs each of the shots.

“maybe ease up a bit,” Abbie says. “it’s still early.”

Alex shrugs and disappears to the dance floor. Kaitlyn and Abbie share a concerned look before following after their friend.

Alex tries to forget about Becca. she really does. but it’s hard to do that when she keeps catching glimpses of Becca dancing with Chris. it’s when she sees Becca lean in close to whisper something in a Chris’ ear that Alex turns back to Kaitlyn and Abbie, and says, “i can’t do this,” and then runs out of the club.

she runs and runs and can hear Kaitlyn and Abbie chasing after her, calling for her to stop. she finally does when she’s a few blocks away from the club.

“what happened in there?” Kaitlyn says, placing a hand on Alex’s shoulder.

“i saw her. she’s in there dancing with Chris. Chris. and i know i don’t have any right to be pissed or upset, because we aren’t together, and as far as she can remember, we never were together. but i am pissed and i really just want...” Alex trails off and very nearly collapses on the ground.

“want what?” Abbie says.

“her,” Alex says, voice broken and tears in her eyes. “this was a mistake. i shouldn’t have come out tonight.”

when Alex gets home, she crashes into bed and falls into a restless sleep.

-

Alex closes herself off after that night at the club. she still calls her parents every week. tells them that she’s fine and she’s getting out regularly. she tells her friends that she’s fine, just a lot of assignments to get done. another lie, and a blatant one at that.

it’s a Wednesday night when another change comes. there’s a knock at her door and Alex glances to the clock on the oven. wonders who the hell is at her door at eight o’clock at night. she checks the peep hole and sighs when she sees that each of her friends are standing out in the hall. James and Zig, Kaitlyn and Zack, and Tyler and Abbie. everyone except Becca.

“we know you’re in there, Alex,” James says, not angry or disappointed, just careful and understanding.

“we got you some food,” Kaitlyn this time says, and she even holds up a takeout bag of chinese. she can also see Zig and Zack holding two bags of groceries each.

she lets them. Zig and Zack deposit the groceries in the kitchen and begin putting the food away, and everyone else crowds into the livingroom.

they talk for an hour. they all get up and say their piece, never accusing Alex of doing something wrong. and by the time nine o’clock rolls around, the chinese has been eaten and her friends have convinced Alex to go to dinner at Tyler and Abbie’s on Saturday night.

“Chris, can you hang back for a sec?” Alex says just as everyone is filing out.

Chris smiles and nods. the others leave and then it’s just them left standing in Alex’s too small livingroom. she has no idea what her plan is now that she’s alone with Chris. there’s stuff she wants to say, but she knows she has no real right to. that doesn’t stop her from asking one thing. “please don’t date her. i know you two dated and then i started dating her, so i really have no right to ask that of you. but please... don’t date her.”

Chris smiles, warm and sincere. “i wasn’t going to,” he says, and then he opens his arms for a hug.

Alex easily steps into the embrace and is so glad they stayed friends. they’re so much better as friends.

“we’re only friends,” he says. “she’s just confused about everything and needs someone to talk to. believe me, she’s hurting just as much as you, she’s just doesn’t know it.”

Alex pulls away from the hug and offers Chris a genuine smile as she wipes away the tears she didn’t realise were pooling around her eyes.

“she’s your girl, Alex.”

“no she’s not.” that nearly kills Alex to say, but it’s the truth. the sooner she accepts that, the better. “but thanks anyway.”

-

Alex doesn’t know why she’s surprised to see Becca at dinner on Saturday night. she’s their friend. it’s good that she came, and it makes Alex smile knowing that Becca hasn’t been totally alone through all of this.

it’s awkward at first. they wind up in the kitchen together, alone, when Abbie ducks out quickly to use the bathroom. they just make small talk until Abbie comes back, and Alex hates that this is what their relationship has been reduced to.

they don’t sit together for dinner though, and Alex counts that as both a blessing and a curse. because she knows that had things been different, they’d have sat beside each other, Alex’s arm thrown over the back of Becca’s chair, and Becca’s hand resting on Alex’s thigh.

and then the night just sort of ends. people leave in pairs or groups of threes, and perhaps by some strange bout of luck, Alex and Becca leave together. it’s completely unintentional, and from the looks Tyler and Abbie are giving her, Alex knows that all she’d have to do is ask, and one of them would walk out with them.

but she doesn’t ask. she doesn’t need to. she’s an adult. she and Becca can ride the elevator to the ground floor and walk out of the building together.

neither of them say a single word for the whole elevator ride. it’s only when they’re standing out on the street, about to go their separate ways, that Becca says something. “kiss me.”

and Alex had absolutely not been expecting that. she stammers out a response: “what?”

“i know you heard me.”

“yeah, but, why?”

“because you love me. and i may not know why you do or how that even happened, but the point is that you do. so show me that you love me, and kiss me.”

Alex can’t really help herself, because Becca looks nothing short of stunning standing in the glow of the street light. and Becca’s asking her to. so she has permission. she’s allowed to kiss her. so she does.

it’s the same but it’s not the same. she tastes the same, smells the same, even kisses the same. but it’s not the same. it’s not the same because they don’t share those important memories--that first time in the sorority, the spring fling, their dates at Uskea, all the nights in each other’s rooms, the whole of last year. they don’t share any of that.

Alex breaks the kiss. “i’m sorry, i can’t. this— it wouldn’t be fair. for you or for me.” she turns away, ready to leave and salvage whatever she can of herself when she gets home.

and then Becca grabs her hand, pulls her back, and kisses her again. and it’s exactly the same as the kiss they just shared, and yet it’s so damn different. Becca’s kissing her like she's desperate, like she’s making up for lost time. then Becca slides her hands down Alex’s back and into the back pockets of her jeans to pull her a little bit closer.

Alex pulls away in surprise, because this is her Becca. the Becca who calls her a dork and a cheeseball, the Becca who slow dances with Alex in the kitchen, and the Becca who slides her hands into Alex’s back pockets when they kiss.

“why’d you pull away?” Becca says, like she’s oblivious to what just happened. but the smile on her face tells Alex that she knows.

“you remember.”

“of course, i remember. how could i not remember after a kiss like that?”

Alex launches herself at Becca and pulls her into a hug. “i love you so much.”

“i love you too.” Becca squeezes back just as tight.

“we have to tell the others,” Alex says, pulling away to look at Becca again. “they’ll be so happy that you remember.”

“i have a better idea. let’s have one last night where this” —Becca gestures to herself and Alex— “is just ours. no pressure or expectations from everyone else. it’s just you and me. what’d you say, for old times’ sake?”

Alex grabs Becca’s hand with a smile and leads her away.

[weclassybouquetfun]

It’s here! It’s here! The SnyderCut is here!

Now can people stop talking about it?

Minor thoughts on ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE. 

*Spoilers*.

I had forgotten nearly everything about JUSTICE LEAGUE so I watched key parts to see how it differs from Snyder’s realized vision.  Remember, Snyder was largely finished with the film so reportedly only 15 to 20% of what ended up in the initial release was directed by Whedon, then he took the hatchet to a lot of Snyder’s footage. The SnyderCut is a mix of piecing back discarded footage and a few new scenes. 

I am curious how long Snyder’s theatrical release would have been because there is no way WB would have let him leave it at 4 hours and 2 minutes film (with 3 hours and 53 minutes of it actually being film and the rest end credits - no tag at the end.). The new footage - or what I discern to be new - only amounts to perhaps 10 minutes. 

What changes did I notice?

- Thank Rao they fixed (for the most part) Henry Cavill’s face due to mustache-gate.

Then

Now

- The Wonder Woman rescue scene in the beginning was much longer in the SnyderCut. Whedon cut out her talk with the little girl (which granted is a bit too on the nose), and instead added a scene at the end with Diana and kids showing how inspirational she is.  Whedon’s version also left out Snyder Cut’s implication that Diana killed the bad guy. 

- In the Whedon version Diana is wearing a red dress as she, Bruce and Alfred tours the eventual Hall of Justice (but felt more like the Justice Society headquarters). In the SnyderCut they changed her dress to black or a deep, dark purple.

- The re-institution of Barry’s rescue of Iris. It’s a nice introduction to Barry and Iris as Kiersey Clemons reprises her role in The Flash standalone. 

-Gone is Whedon’s comic-y bit where Barry draws on an agro dude’s face when he goes to visit his father. I don’t miss the scene, but I appreciated it because the Clerk who handles sign ins is Marc McClure who played Jimmy Olsen in the Christopher Reeves Superman films.  Though, on re-watch it appears McClure was brought back as the cop who pulls his gun out when Superman returns.

-The SnyderCut Bruce and Arthur scene is a smidge longer. Whedon’s version tried to cut to the chase about the Mother Boxes so there’s a mural that Bruce wants Arthur to explain, whereas the SnyderCut it’s just Bruce slyly letting Arthur know he knows his secret and recruit him.

Also - gone is the, “I heard you talk to fishes.” line.

- I feel we get more of Connie Nielsen’s Queen Hippolyta in this than in “Wonder Woman” and “Wonder Woman 1984″ combined. 

I’d bow before her anytime. 

-Extended scene between Barry and his dad when Barry tells him about getting a gig at a crime lab. It’s abbreviated in Whedon’s cut so I’m glad Snyder restored it because it is a sweet scene and really displays why Barry is fighting so hard for his dad. It makes it even more of a shame that Billy Crudup will not be in The Flash standalone as there’s a filming conflict. I would really like to see more of them together. 

- Maybe I missed it in the original release, but the introduction of Ryan Choi!!

- Much more Cyborg! I really loved the scenes focused on he and his mother and his relationship with Cyrus, as well as Cyborg’s wall of exposition that creatively places him in the locations he’s talking about. 

-Explanation of this tagline. 

MARTIAN MANHUNTER! I wasn’t surprised because Harry Lennix has discussed his MAN OF STEEL character General Swanwick being Martin Manhunter, but seeing how it was executed was really nice. Especially the scene with Martian Manhunter as Martha Kent. It touched me because my favorite Martian Manhunter story is a short set in the Golden Age about MM, in his human form, watching over Superboy. He introduces himself to the Kents and they quickly deduce he’s an alien and asks him if he’s come to take Clark from them. It was a story about the care Kal-El had on two fronts. So I really responded to this scene where MM is still caring for Clark by way of making sure Lois deals with her grief. 

- Knocked up Lois. I wasn’t even sure if she was actually pregnant or not but at the end when Bruce and Clark are walking to the Kent Farm Bruce tells him “Congratulations” whereas in the Whedon release they’re jabbering about something else. 

-Additional scenes of the dystopic future in the aftermath of Superman going rogue. Jared Leto’s brief scene makes up for how much he was cut out of THE SUCIDE SQUAD.  And it’s a continuance of the dance Batman and The Joker has done in the comics and in THE DARK KNIGHT. Two people who just can’t quit each other. 

- Snyder showing actors what directors think of their ideas. Jared Leto conviced Sndyer to let him improvise the “We live in a society” line that every went mad over on Twitter, but it’s not in the final cut. 

- I loved Snyder’s Nolan-esque end montage. Gone is the Lois Lane narration, replaced by Joe Morton’s Cyrus Stone in a message to Victor. This works better because five of six of our heroes have parental issues : Victor and his dad, Clark and Jor-El and an overprotective Jonathan, Bruce’s dead parents, Aquaman’s absent mother and Barry’s dead mom and jailed father. So ending it with some peace for Victor and Arthur leaving Mera and Vulko but at least now he has a connection to the Atlantean world and new beginnings for the rest was a better choice.

[peachyunjinnie]

❝all you have to do is beg ❞ ksm ― m.

― summary: seungmin introduced you into BDSM. you are not the type to beg nor to submit to anyone. seungmin has a unique way of getting you to do as he says.

seungmin/reader | harddom!seungmin | suggestive | 939  ↬ content warnings: torture, edging, overstimulation and cameras.

a/n : this idea came into my mind in the last couple of days and the thirst just exploded, please enjoy.

→ blogs masterlist

“You will not get out of here without begging me to stop.” I heard Seungmin say, his voice as soft as velvet.

Despite the current situation in which I am chained to my arms and legs in bed and any resistance is futile. He had me in his iron grip and all sorts of movement, causing the handcuffs to dig deeper into my flesh.

His hand stroked my bare body and my breath became faster and trampled as he approached my abdomen. My heartbeat increased and my hands trembled. He stopped quickly when my breath became too quick and uncontrolled.

I cried out and tried my best to move my legs with no success. He just stood there and looked at my condition, like an antelope that was caught by a lion and must now face the consequences. I now had to keep a cool head and not give in, I have already volunteered to be tied up, which is not a very good idea now.

“You know what you have to say. Babygirl, just say it and I will please you as much as you need.” His face was marked with a smile again and he let his hand slide over my thigh again. I shrugged my whole body and became more restless. Strings of whispered curses leaving my mouth after his fingers caressed my forceful parented legs. He played with my dripping folds and took his fingers to his mouth. A long stare of nothing but lust in his brown eyes.

He walked off to his drawer and pulled out his magic wand and the reason why I was already shaking from anticipation. He plugged the device in and as he connected the tip to my clit, I jumped a little from the cold and relieving pressure on where I needed it the most. 

He put it on the lowest level of 1 and a nearly not audible ‘buzz’ could be heard and the circle actions he was putting it on, was slow and unbelievably horrible torture. He was playing with the pressure and put on just enough to make me feel it. He leaned over to get a better view of my face and he touched my face and fondled my trembling cheeks. 

“All you have to do is beg. I can continue for hours and the whole night, doll. Just beg..” His hand still on my cheek, his slender finger traveled to my split lips. His hand added some pressure to the device and my whine only got louder and more desperate. 

“You want to cum? Is that what you want? Hm?” I didn’t answer at all, way too concentrated to chase my own high nonetheless of the little to no relief of this torture device. I damn well knew that not answering if Seungmin asked me something that I have to reply and that is the only thing he insisted on in our relationship,

With my eyebrows scrunched into a mess and my eyes tightly closed together. The maximum level of the vibrator was on and my now, instantaneously. My shut closed eyes opened abruptly and my mouth was hung open. My whole body shaking and convulsed. 

“Now, again. Do you want to cum?” He asked with his voice low and soft. As if he was having a small conversation in the library. Such a calm and relaxed manner. 

I kept my mouth sealed and did not let any word out. He laughed as he was shaking his head, his hair messily falling onto his slightly sweat covered forehead. He was sitting at the edge of the bed and his other free hand grabbed my face and he admired the tears of frustration leaving my weak eyes.

“You really want to get a good amount of discipline...” the compulsion was unbearable and his rapid Zick-zack movements were now getting me insane. My eyes did not manage to keep open at this moment and all of the pleasure that was now coming at the sudden was too much for me.

I felt a hard wave of bliss hitting my body and he, of course, saw that with me being silent suddenly. He smirked and let his brown eyes speak more than his mouth ever could. I shook hard and twitched uncontrollably, he kept the vibrator hard on my clit with it still being on maximum. My eyes watered once again and my mouth left out mumbled cries. 

After a while of my yelped swear words, he still was not letting me have a break and just continued to press this horror gadget on my throbbing and pulsating clit. It was impossible to keep sanity and stay awake, and not just collapse. Now it was the 5th orgasm and my body was constantly quaking. 

“I can keep going and keep you tied up. Beg me to stop and I will.” He was still having a smile on his face and adored my heavily twitching bare body.

I couldn’t keep this going, I was way too tired to keep on being as stubborn as I was before. I wanted him to stop, I needed him to stop and that now. 

“Please, stop.” I winced quietly. My voice breaking.

He stopped the vibrator but my body was still trembling wildly. My eyes closed and I finally could relaxed for a second. But then Seungmin was again searching something in his drawer and took out a camera. With a flash, my eyes were open again and he took down the camera slowly and stared into my tired and exhausted eyes.

“I had to, you look so fucked out.”

[gdwessel]

Road to Wrestle Grand Slam Night 3 - 5/25/2021; Now Taichi, Jay White, David Finlay Revealed As Positive For COVID-19; Ren Narita + Rocky Romero on AEW Dark: Elevation 5/24/2021 With RPG Vice Reunion!; Some Words On Ospreay And Other Rumors

Days Of Thunder + Strong Style History Present: Collision In Korea

The tour continued today, with a show you can see now on NJPWWorld. - 5/25/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Chase Owens [Bullet Club] d. Yota Tsuji (Package Driver, 8:34)

Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI [SZKG] v. Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] (Sabre > Yujiro, Barry From Eastenders, 9:44)

Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club] d. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Master Wato (Tonga > Wato, Magic Killer, 12:44)

Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] d. Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Ryusuke Taguchi (Takagi > Taguchi, Made In Japan, 17:11)

Kota Ibushi & Hiroshi Tanahashi d. Jeff Cobb & Great O-Khan [United Empire] (Ibushi > O-Khan, Kamigoye, 15:53)

Ibushi restated he wants a singles match against Cobb. Dominion seems likely. Naito and Ishii got into it once more. ZSJ has YET ANOTHER finisher with a wacky name.

In the wake of Kazuchika Okada’s revelation that he tested positive for COVID-19, Tokyo Sports ran a piece that now Taichi (Taichiro Maki) has confirmed he too was positive for the coronavirus, coming down with fever after wrestling in Fukuoka. Taichi said in the piece that he spent his time playing PS5 but is now back in training. Taichi appeared on commentary at yesterday’s show which, erm, that’s kind of a brave move, hope it works out for them.

It’s also been revealed that Jay White and David Finlay Jr. both tested positive, however that came from a statement by Finlay’s father, former WCW/WWE wrestler and trainer David “Fit’ Finlay in an appearance on the Stories With Briscoe And Bradshaw podcast. According to Fit, White and Finlay were both on their way out when their positive tests came back, and were told to quarantine at the New Japan Dojo, rather than at a government sponsored hotel. If this is the root of some of the dissatisfaction by the non-Japanese wrestlers, I can pretty well see that. If I was told I can go home, and then I couldn’t when I was already travelling, either because of a positive COVID-19 test, or because NJPW decided last second to runs shows in May, I’d be seriously pissed off too. However, this is hearsay, even if it is from one of the people involved’s father. Whatever the case, we hope everyone involved will be OK. Taichi certainly seemed to be yesterday.

Last night on AEW's Monday-night YouTube show Dark: Elevation (which is very pre-taped), we got two matches at the top of the card featuring NJPW talents via the so-called "Forbidden Door." In the semi-main, Ren Narita defeated Royce Isaacs in a back-and-forth affair with Narita getting the win with Narita Special #4. In the main event, Rocky Romero beat the much bigger JD Drake of the Wingmen with a flash La Magistral cradle. Afterwards, the rest of the Wingmen attempted a beatdown of Romero, but was saved by Chuck Taylor, Kris Statlander, Orange Cassidy and TRENT BARETTA. A magic moment was had as Rocky and Trent reunited, the old Roppongi Vice theme playing whilst doing the jumping high five shtick for the first time in... a long time. Rocky was then part of the Best Friends group hug, because, as they say, you got to give the people what they want. There is still a lot of chatter about Will Ospreay, the reasons why he left Japan to go back to the UK, the legitimacy of his injuries, and the unrest among the non-Japanese talents in NJPW right now. What's really infuriating is hiding a lot of this behind paywalls and paid podcasts in the name of Sk00pz! Quite a bit of this is speculation on both Ospreay's mental health and personal life at the moment (i.e. the OsCutter to Bea Priestley was the in-ring way of writing her out as they have split as a couple now). None of which is, frankly, any of our concern, no matter what other shitty things Ospreay has done or said. Regardless of what we all collectively think of William Ospreay, and the situation with vacating the IWGP World Heavyweight title, he doesn't even rank in the Top 5 (Bottom 5?) All-Time Worst IWGP Heavyweight Title Reigns, and is not even the worst one of the last five years. Recency bias is a thing, sure, and things are not great creatively (although? These last two shows? Not bad!). 

There are rumblings of a mass exodus of non-Japanese wrestlers in January, either until quarantine procedures end, or just going elsewhere. But then, there always is. Not four months ago the internet was convinced Jay White was heading to AEW or NXT. Minoru Suzuki was a lock to start with Pro Wrestling NOAH in January 2020. Kenny Omega was going to be a surprise entrant into the Royal Rumble 2017. None of these things ever happened. We're not even in June; let's worry about January closer to the date eh? The last of the three Korakuen Hall shows is tomorrow. - 5/26/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Yota Tsuji v. Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Master Wato v. Yujiro Takahashi, Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI [SZKG] v. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club]

Kota Ibushi & Tomoaki Honma v. Jeff Cobb & Great O-Khan [United Empire]

Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Tetsuya Naito & SANADA [Los Ingobernables]

Days Of Thunder + Strong Style History Present: Collision In Korea

[moviewarfare]

A Review of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - Ultimate Edition (2016)″

In anticipation of Zack Snyder's Justice League, I decided to rewatch Zack's previous two DCEU entries. I watched BvS in theatres in 2016 and remember feeling immeasurable disappointment. Now that 5 years have passed and I have watched many movies, I was wondering if my opinions on this movie would change. Additionally, I would be would watching the Ultimate edition which contains 31 minutes of additional footage. This is my first time watching the Ultimate edition so it was also a sort of new experience in a way. "It's been nearly two years since Superman's (Henry Cavill) colossal battle with Zod (Michael Shannon) devastated the city of Metropolis. The loss of life and collateral damage left many feeling angry and helpless, including crime-fighting billionaire Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck). Convinced that Superman is now a threat to humanity, Batman embarks on a personal vendetta to end his reign on Earth, while the conniving Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) launches his crusade against the Man of Steel". So is this a misunderstood gem or still a massive disappointment?

Firstly, Ben Affleck is still an excellent Batman. I find him incredibly charming as Bruce Wayne while also portraying the jaded and the rage-filled Batman perfectly. Gal Gadot is introduced as Wonder Woman in this movie and is honestly still one of the best parts. She is very elegant and mysterious as Diana but then an absolute badass as Wonder Woman. Jeremy Irons is snarky and wise as the beloved Alfred as well. Henry Cavill returns as Superman and Amy Adams returns as Lois Lane with both still doing a great job in their respective roles. There are some other supporting actors new and returning who all do fine jobs as well.

The cinematography by Larry Fong is really good and visually there are still some great shots. Hans Zimmer returns to score but is now collaborating with Junkie XL and it is an absolute phenomenal score. The Batman theme is amazing, the Wonder Woman theme is exciting and the Lex Luthor theme is unsettling. There is more oomph in the score thanks to Junkie XL which makes the action scene feel more thrilling.

On that note, the action scenes concerning Batman are exceptional. The Metropolis destruction but from Bruce Wayne perspective is one of the most exciting intros in a superhero movie ever. It also perfectly captures the destruction from a bystander view and also illustrates exactly why Batman hates Superman. The Batmobile chase sequence is also quite a stand-out with how awesome it is. Just seeing the Batmobile destroy everything in its path is fun to watch. The Batman warehouse fight scene is the best to have ever graced the screen. It is choreographed amazingly and shot in such a way that it is easy to see what is going on while still feeling every punch.

However, the same can't be said with the Batman vs Superman fight. Rewatching it again makes me see how underwhelming this fight is. The first thing to note that is only one fight between these two characters in a 3-hour movie which already sucks but the fight itself is visually boring. It's choreographed in a way that feels like it is from a slapstick comedy. Superman launches him through some walls, Batman gases him and then punches him in the face for a bit, repeat and that's the fight. Superman acts dumb in the fight and Batman just moves slowly due to the armour which leads to a really silly fight to watch. I think people tear into it a lot but the fight resolution of Martha is still quite silly. I think the idea behind it is fine with Batman realizing Superman's humanity. It's just that the scene doesn't convey this very well and put too much emphasis on the "Martha" name instead of the human aspect. It's also executed very clunkily which leads to an ironically hilarious scene when it shouldn't be. The fight against Doomsday at the end is just a big CGI-fest against some dark grey looking thing at night. It's hideous to look at with its abundant of grey and black colours with overly flashy lights that just makes it seem dull.

The story has 4 perspectives with the Batman one being the best. His hatred for Superman is understandable and trying to get the Kryptonite to fight him is the most easily enjoyable parts. On the other hand, Superman's perspective is so boring and forgettable. The people treating him like a hero or a god while some detesting him is fine. It's just he is so mopey in every scene which makes every scene involving him just not fun to watch. There is also a weird part in his arc where he goes into a snow mountain and hallucinates his dad which was just so dumb. I do find Superman dislike for Batman a mixed bag as he is criticizing him for his vigilantism and being above the law but that is exactly what Superman does too. The Ultimate edition adds more Clark Kent investigation which adds more to it and shows that he dislikes the brutality of his method and the fear he causes which is more understandable. Lois Lane is also another perspective with her trying to figure out who is producing this mysterious bullet. It's a very pointless perspective and quite a waste of time considering it amounts to something that the audience already knows, Lex Luthor was the one who did it! Lex is also the last perspective with him dealing with senators who obstruct him and him building a monster just because I guess? His perspective is fine for the plot but it's not enjoyable to watch because of the actor.

Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor is one of the worst casting choices I have ever seen. While every other actor feels grounded and serious, Jesse Eisenburg feels very cartoony and over the top. It's made worst as a majority of his lines are dumb. There are some great lines from Lex but they are poorly executed because of Jesse's terrible performance. His character's motivation is understandable but his whole plan is borderline ridiculous and convoluted. It makes genuinely no sense apart from the fact that the movie just needed a mastermind. The Granny's peach tea thing is oddly hilarious but a dumb moment too. There are also some random dream sequences in this movie that adds nothing to the main narrative. The noted Knightmare sequence just happens midway through the movie without any setup or any reference later. Likewise for the future flash sequence which you think Batman would make a note of later but doesn't. There is also the famous Wonder Woman checks her email sequence that is just so unnecessary. It baffles me that Zack didn't just have it at the end of the movie as these scenes are so distracting and unconnected to the main story.

Overall, the Ultimate edition makes the plot feel more coherent but BvS is still a massive disappointment. There are some great moments but the writing is just so atrociously bad that it is very difficult for these moments to shine through. However, it is a unique vision and doesn't completely feel like most Superhero movies. I can see why people kept campaigning for Zack's version of Justice League because even if it is bad, it's going to be unique. In the end, it's not the worst Superhero movie as some, including me originally, would make it out to be but it's not a hidden masterpiece as some others would too.

[aion-rsa]

Does Ben Affleck’s Batman Have the Best Movie Batcycle?

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

We finally got our first look at Ben Affleck’s Batman in The Flash movie, thanks to photos taken the film’s Glasgow, Scotland set, where the Dark Knight could be seen zooming through George Square and the surrounding streets on a brand new set of wheels. The scene in question, which actually featured stunt double Rick English in the new Batsuit and not Affleck, seemed to be a daytime chase through the streets of Gotham City, with a humvee shooting back at Batfleck’s heavily armored ride.

English, who was also a stunt double for Robert Pattinson in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, can be seen riding the new Batcycle (the official name of the vehicle hasn’t been announced yet) in the set photo below:

New close-up shot of Ben Affleck's #Batman stunt double riding the Batcycle on the set of #TheFlash pic.twitter.com/t5f4HosX7G

— Big Screen Leaks (@bigscreenleaks) July 26, 2021

In short, the new Batcycle is an absolute stunner, a bit more tank-like than past live-action versions of Batbikes, as seems to be the overall DCEU aesthetic since the Zack Snyder days, but still sleek and modern. It also boasts forward shields that lift up when Batman is being shot at (as another series of set photos show) and what look like machine gun cannons on either side — presumably armed with non-lethal rounds…

Despite the bulkier design, the bike seems built for speed and maneuverability, not just battle, as it cuts tight corners through the streets of Gotham/Glasgow. Why the Caped Crusader has chosen his Batcycle over his much more heavily equipped Batmobile, a staple of Affleck’s tenure, is a mystery. Perhaps the Batcycle is just the faster pursuit vehicle…or since The Flash is a multiverse-spanning adventure, maybe he just doesn’t have access to his trademark car at the moment because he’s in the Burtonverse’s version of Gotham (I’m just speculating here).

Interestingly enough, Warner Bros. has been trying to introduce a new Batcycle (likely for toy reasons) since Justice League. In an interview with Film Sketchr, concept artist Ed Natividad revealed that he’d designed a new Batcycle for Affleck’s Batman to use in the superhero team-up movie but Snyder chose the massive Knightcrawler in its place.

“The Batcycle was proposed as a new form of transport for Batman,” Natividad said. “However it was superseded in favor of the Knightcrawler. Zack Snyder felt the cycle did not reflect the ‘team’ dynamic and needed something that would carry at least three of the members.”

It sounds like WB finally has its new Batcycle, but it’s only the latest in a long series of bikes introduced in Batman movies. In fact, Batfleck’s chopper isn’t even the only Batcycle being introduced in an upcoming DC movie.

The Batman: Robert Pattinson's Stunt Double Rides the Bat Bike in New Photo pic.twitter.com/kM9diNfJK2

— AG MEDIA NEWS (@AGMEDIANEWS) October 15, 2020

First spotted while The Batman was filming last year, the more pared down Batcycle ridden by Pattinson very much matches the aesthetic Reeves is going for with his take on the Bat mythos. Unlike Affleck or Bale, Pattinson doesn’t seem to own any vehicles or equipment he didn’t modify or design in-house, all while looking super unhappy. His suit looks very DIY, with its shoulder pads and heavily stiched and dented cowl, as does his minimalist take on a Batbike — a simple number with bat ears over the headlight.

Pattison’s Dark Knight seems like a bit of a grease monkey who’s less concerned looks than performance and efficiency. Even the movie’s Batmobile looks like a cool muscle car Battinson bought and modified with an insane engine he found on the black market and a matte paint job. The custom body work also makes the car look more Bat-like.

He clearly took the same approach with the bike, and it’s nice to see a Batman who prefers “simpler” and more “sensible” vehicles over the massive tanks driven by Affleck and Bale before him. Pattinson’s rides are much closer to reality than what’s usually on tap in a Batman movie. And unlike the things driven by most of his predecessors, his bike doesn’t seem to have any guns on it.

Meanwhile, the Batpod screams “billionare superhero who owns his own R&D division.” Wayne Enterprises has military contracts to develop tech the U.S. Department of Defense never adopted on the battlefield, and Bale’s Batman gets to reap all the rewards.

Despite being part of a much larger whole, having been jettisoned from the totaled Tumbler before it self-destructed in The Dark Knight, the Batpod has its own identity. It’s kind of ugly and doesn’t look very practical, but it becomes Batman’s main mode of transportation for much of the back half of the trilogy until Lucius Fox gifts him the Bat in The Dark Knight Rises. It also has the best maneuverability of all the bikes on this list due to the sideways rotating wheels that allows it to turn tight corners without skidding off the road. Lateral movement comes in very handy when in a high-speed chase, and it seems only Christopher Nolan figured that out.

The Batpod’s biggest crime is looking kind of like those tumbling RC cars you played with when you were a kid. This is all by design, of course, since these movies are all made so WB can sell toys and bedroom sets to children. At least this one has cannons Batman (and later Catwoman) can use to remove obstacles from his path. And if you’re someone walking through that mall Batman zooms through while chasing the Joker, you would be intimidated. But if your favorite kind of bike is the bulky kind, you’re better off with the Batfleck cycle.

Finally, we come to the Batblade, the bike George Clooney just happened to have sitting in his Batcave in case of an icy situation. Apparently designed to speed through Gotham City streets that are frozen solid, it’s best not to try to decipher the logic behind wheels with such excellent traction. This is Batman & Robin, and we don’t do logic there.

Driven by Alicia Silverstone’s underrated Batgirl, the Batblade pretty much looks like a normal bike except for the Bat symbol and LED lighting that adorn the front. Its big feature is that it is equipped with “Ice Armor,” so even Mr. Freeze’s ice beams can’t slow it down. Which is pretty cool. And the bike totally fits within Joel Schumacher’s vision of a neon-drenched Gotham.

It’s hard to believe that almost 25 years after the release of Batman & Robin, a movie that at the time seemed to be the final nail in the Dark Knight’s coffin, we’re still talking about big-screen Batmen and their cool toys. As far as the latter goes, the newest addition to the Caped Crusader’s toybox delivers plenty of style.

I can’t wait to see the new Batcycle in action when The Flash opens in theaters on Nov. 4, 2022.

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The post Does Ben Affleck’s Batman Have the Best Movie Batcycle? appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3xi0jK1

[sharkbaitsekki]

Cloud was sick and tired of one thing after the next coming to bite him in the ass. He was supposed to be having a good day today, taking a long ride on his motorcycle in the wasteland outside Edge, letting the wind whip through his hair, not thinking at all about everything that had happened with the Geostigma only last week. Not thinking at all about Sephiroth, about Aerith, about-

“Shit!” His train of internal bitching was interrupted by the sharp grating sound of a blade locking with his, pushing down against him. Cloud didn’t have time to analyze his mysterious assailant, focusing on pushing him off and putting some distance between them. The cobblestone clicked under his heel as he jumped back a few steps, and Cloud was suddenly grateful that he had been in a more isolated part of the city when he was attacked. At any rate, any citizen passing by would turn right around and run if they saw the Cloud Strife with his weapon drawn against someone. 

That meant that Cloud wouldn’t need to hold back. His opponent, masked and covered from head to toe in foreign-looking dark armour, widened his stance in preparation for another attack, and Cloud quickly analyzed him, ready to retaliate. He seemed to be very well trained in the military arts, almost superhuman in strength and agility, not unlike some of the SOLDIERs that Cloud had fought during his adventure two years prior. He hadn’t said a word yet, which was odd, because everyone who randomly attacked Cloud nowadays always seemed to have some sort of lofty monologue to share with him. 

But not him. This time, the man struck, only expressing his intentions through the sheer strength with which he clashed against Cloud. 

Their blades screeched as they met once again, and Cloud immediately detached the smaller blade on his fusion sword to try and catch the other fighter in the stomach. Seeing it coming, the dark-haired man lifted his knee, hitting the blade away with his shin guard and then kicking Cloud in the stomach. Cloud fell back and broke the fusion sword into two, this time jumping in with dual wield to catch his opponent off guard. 

He was evenly matched, though, and he hated to admit it. It felt eerily similar to fighting Sephiroth, fresh in his mind from just last week. His mind began to consider the options on hand- was this another manifestation of Sephiroth’s will? Or perhaps another one of the Remnants? Kadaj and his brothers hadn’t been this well-balanced as fighters, however, and Cloud’s current opponent felt like a step above them in technique. On top of it, his appearance didn’t betray any allegiances; he bore no symbols, his armour was nondescript, and his tied-up hair was long, black and spiky, nothing like Sephiroth’s telltale silver. 

“Don’t you know it’s rude to attack people without telling them who you are, first?” he called out in a taunt as he jumped at him, blades swinging at the speed of light but still being met by the other fighter’s weapon, a large, thick broadsword reminiscent of the buster sword. “What do you want from me?”

“You must die,” the figure finally said, his voice much younger than Cloud expected. It was warped by the black mask over his face, but still sounded familiar somehow. Cloud wracked his brains for enemies he’d met in his lifetime who could match the description. 

“Like I haven’t heard that one before,” he scoffed, fusing his sword together to bring a heavy swing down over his opponent’s head. “Why are you here? This got something to do with Jenova again?”

“Jenova...?” the figure repeated slowly, and suddenly, his elbows buckled under Cloud’s assault. “Urgh!” Struck by something invisible, the figure lost his balance, stumbling slightly and seemingly trying not to clutch at his head. Cloud was surprised at the unexpected falter, but didn’t skip a beat, swinging one more time. Caught off guard, the masked figure parried sloppily until finally, one of Cloud’s strikes hit home, gouging a deep mark through the mask and sending it to the floor. 

It clattered on the cobblestone noisily in the vacuum of silence that had been left behind. As he finally got a good look at his opponent’s now-uncovered face, Cloud felt his heart drop, heavier than a stone. His voice caught in his throat and his arms suddenly felt weak, his will to fight even weaker. In the blindingly bright teal of his opponent’s mako eyes, Cloud saw himself from years ago, when he had been in the same position, in the arms of the very same man. 

The very same man who looked at him without an ounce of recognition in his eyes, Cloud’s horizontal slash over his nose now dripping blood down his young face, his trademark smile nowhere to be seen. The man swiped a hand across his face to wipe some blood, and instead smeared it all over the cross-shaped scar on his cheek. Cloud knew it, knew him, intimately and unchangeably, never having forgotten him since the very last time he’d held onto his dying body. 

“Zack,” he said, and his voice shook terribly in the wake of desperate anguish washing over him. 

Across from him, Zack Fair simply frowned, and shifted his grip on his weapon. 

“Who the hell is Zack?” he answered flatly, and then jumped back in towards Cloud with his sword raised. 

Cloud couldn’t fight him anymore, his brain timing out as it processed the return of his long-dead friend, mentor, lifeline. Barely parrying some of the strikes, he lost some ground, Zack pushing him back mercilessly and without remorse. Cloud saw it in his expression- an absolute intent to kill. There was no trace of his iconic innocence and kind-heartedness left in his expression and it hurt. 

“Stop it!” he cried out, losing heart in the face of his biggest regret. “Zack, stop fighting!”

“I don’t know who that is!” Zack roared, bringing his sword down on Cloud in a devastating blow that reverberated in all of Cloud’s bones. He gritted his teeth against the assault and pushed back, finding an opening to attack but finding himself unable to raise his blade against the man who had been his very first in everything. 

“Don’t you remember me?” Cloud asked perhaps a little too desperately. A strike, dodge, counter with a growl of frustration, met by the expert swing of a blade. “It’s Cloud. Cloud Strife! And you... you’re...” There were no words to express exactly what Zack meant to him, even after all his time. He was a dream and a nightmare, a desire and a regret, lost but never forgotten. He was the world to a boy who had suffered to save it. “You’re my friend, Zack,” was what he elected to say, and it was met with another strike of the sword. 

“And you’re my mission,” Zack flatly replied, not swayed. His face was still blank, and it broke Cloud’s heart to see it so devoid of his usual brightness. Just when he thought nothing could hurt him anymore, his ghosts had to return to haunt him. It was ironic, and cruel.

“No I’m not!” Pushing Zack away once more with a screech of his blade, Cloud put everything he had, all of his pain and all of his sorrow into his words, hoping that Zack would understand. “I’m your living legacy! Zack!” 

That seemed to shake the dark-haired boy at least. His eyes snapped wide open in shock and he didn’t retaliate immediately, Cloud’s throat tightening as a flash of recognition ran across his expression. 

“You were the one who said it to me,” he continued, hoping, praying for the first time in his life for his words to hit true. “Your sword... you gave it to me and with it, entrusted me with your honour and your dreams!”

“My honour... my dreams...” Zack repeated almost mechanically, grunting when his expression twisted into one of pain. “They’re... yours...”

“All of the fights I’ve fought, all of the people I’ve helped,” Cloud kept going, unwilling to let up. “They were all because of you. Because of the life you gave me!”

“You are...” Zack grunted again, letting out a small gasp of pain as he clutched at his head, grasping strands of dark hair tightly in his fist. “My living...”

“Legacy,” they both said in unison, both breathless. 

The world halted around them. Cloud was only aware of the heavy beating of his heart at that moment, watching Zack war within himself, fighting whatever it was that had locked his memories away. Ultimately, however, whatever his brain forgot, his heart remembered. Just like how Cloud’s heart had never forgotten. 

“Zack-” he called out again, hoping for something to break through, but he was cut off by a harsh sweep of Zack’s arm. 

“Shut up!” he cried out, looking like he was in pain. “Don’t call me that!”

“That’s your name,” Cloud replied, affronted. “That’s who you are. Come on, Zack!”

“Stop it!” 

Letting out another cry of pain and some frustration, Zack jumped back. He took a few powerful leaps backwards and then leapt to land with a flip into a nearby lamppost. Cloud finally realized that he was trying to run. 

“Wait!” he called, rushing forward. “Zack, don’t go!” Not again, not again. 

“Cloud...” Zack simply murmured, something sad in his eyes as he glanced down at the blond for a moment longer. 

And then, without another word, he was gone, jumping onto the nearest rooftop and disappearing. 

“Zack!” Cloud cried again, shell-shocked. Too late, he gave chase, but by the time he’d leapt onto the rooftop, his long-lost friend was gone. 

He was left panting with exertion and emotion, standing still as life in Edge continued to go on around him, unaware of his suffering. Zack was gone once again, and the exhaustion in Cloud’s bones was the only reminder that the skeletons in his closet had finally crawled out for retribution. 

[altocat]

So remember that kitten I asked you to have Seph find? What happened after that? Did he take it back to Angeal? Did Zack INSTANTLY fall in love with it??

In unrelated news I pulled a kitten out of a storm drain this morning and I am EMOTIONAL (He’s going to be okay, just have to find him a home!).

Hhhh thank you for saving the kitten! Trufax I saved a tiny kitten last October after some dogs chased him. Brought him to my folks and now he lives with them! I see him all the time since I live nearby. His name's "Big Steve" or "Stevie" for short and he's a big fat happy spoiled baby now ❤️

ANYWAY...

-Sephiroth initially plans on dumping the kitten off with Angeal. After all, what would he do with it? Hojo had never allowed pets and it's not like he's the most...gentlest person in the world to take care of it.

-Angeal helps him get it fed. It's still very small and needs milk so Angeal has Seph feed it a formula since it only seems to want to eat while he's holding it. The sight of Seph with a tiny, wobbly kitten in his arms is uncharacteristically adorable. And there's the unspoken push for Seph to be the one to keep it, even if no one says anything.

-Years pass. Sephiroth named his cat Shiro ("Samurai")! He grew into a huge, elegant boi with beautiful glossy fur. And is Sephiroth's personal spoiled brat. Seph will be his usual gruff and grumpy self around literally everyone and will still come to fuss and pamper his precious baby.

-Yes, this includes degrading, incoherent streams of mushiness. Sephiroth will hold Shiro in his arms like a baby and smoosh his little face. The cat is probably the only thing he shows genuine open affection for without reservation. He likes rubbing his face in the fur. So soft. Shiro just purrs louder when he does it.

-When Shiro hunts a rat or a spider, you'd think it was a weeklong jubilee with how much Seph praises him! Such a cunning hunter!

-The cat loves to sit and stretch out on Seph's pauldrons so he sometimes stays with him during informal hours, just perching there. He's a great comfort when Sephiroth is doing reports. Sephiroth always has one free hand nearby so he cat pet the cat whenever he's stressed out.

-They mutually are both pissy at the red light that Genesis occasionally flashes for them on the ceiling. Genesis is honestly kind of startled to see their pupils reacting in the exact same way. And that they both...purr? Seph, what were they injecting you with back in the lab?

-The cat is otherwise fond of Angeal but doesn't care much for Gen. They have something of an offhand rivalry where Shiro hisses when Gen comes by or Genesis just kind of casually pushes the cat off the table. That said, whenever Seph is gone on solo missions, it's Genesis that comes to feed and take care of the little beast. He surprisingly follows Sephiroth's instructions flawlessly.

-Shiro also grows rather fond of Zack. Zack, in turn, has a silly habit of taking cute pictures of Sephiroth doting on his cat. They're not for social media or anything. He just gets a natural joy at seeing this murderous man-mountain kissing and fussing over the little furball just like we all would.

-Sephiroth often has bad dreams so Shiro will stretch out on his stomach or curl up close to his head and knead and purr really loud to soothe him.

-I'm not even kidding, if you touch his cat he will make sure they never find your body 😊

[magos-dominus]

Deja Vu

The change in the art direction of the Promise flashback to have the night sky be the same blue/green as Cloud’s eyes is a neat detail, but has anyone else been thinking about how there’s a direct emotional continuity between Cloud and Tifa separating in Nibelheim and then reuniting again in Sector 7?

Because I think about it a lot.

+++ Open Spoilers for FFVII (1997) and FFVII: REMAKE +++

When he leaves, he’s a loner and Tifa’s prickly, standoffish neighbor, Tifa is his only friend, she’s the local darling with a circle of three friends he loosely associates with but isn’t really a part of, and their friendship is a bit strained due to the fact that Tifa’s father hates his guts, thinks he’s bad news, and doesn’t want him around.

When they properly reconnect by the end of Chapter 3, he’s a loner and Tifa’s prickly, standoffish neighbor, Tifa is his only friend, she’s the local darling who’s part of an organization with her three friends that he works for but isn’t really a part of, and their friendship is a bit strained due to the fact that Barret, the organization’s leader, hates his guts, thinks his bad news, and doesn’t want him around.

Tifa’s back to being the local guide.

It’s a resonance that’s on-the-nose enough to feel deliberate and is reinforced by Cloud’s flashbacks to Tifa and her Nibelheim friends in both Reactor 1 and Sector 5, the incredibly not-subtle name of Stargazer Heights, the returning Promise flashback itself, and the fact that in the Japanese script he refers to the AVALANCHE crew as ‘Tifa-tachi,’ or ‘Tifa’s group’ in a direct translation. Which continues to draw those parallels to NIbelheim, as that’s also, basically, the way he refers to the other Nibelheim kids in the Lifestream Sequence during the OG.

But this phantom after-image of his hometown doesn’t last for long, and he gets a fresh start to move forward from those dynamics. With Tifa’s help, his personality warms over the course of the game and goes from Tifa’s one asshole friend to being respected in-town and having his worth appreciated over the course of Chapter 3, he connects with and bonds with Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie, starting to make real connections with Tifa’s friends and is slowly folded into their group in Chapter 4, and he and Barret eventually get over their antagonism and come to respect each other and become friends by Chapter 7.

When he runs into Aerith in Chapter 8, Cloud even ends up making a friend on his own. Its only because their bad coping mechanisms cancel each other out, but its progress.

I should explain that.

So, both Cloud and Aerith are deeply lonely people whose abandonment issues hang around their necks like albatross, but they have polar opposite strategies for dealing with that.

For Cloud, he acts prickly, standoffish, and is generally a dismissive asshole so he never gets close enough to people that it hurts when they leave, Tifa being the obvious exception. He’s stuck thinking he’s not good enough to be friends with people, and that they’ll leave him when they figure that out. So he consciously or subconsciously pushes all of them away until he proves himself right and doesn’t have to grapple with that disappointment.

Aerith on the other hand, copes with her loneliness by finding friend-targets and aggressively including herself in their business, to the point of steam-rolling them and dismissing their opinions. Cloud sticks around in Sector 8 to help her because, on the inside, he’s still a marshmallow who likes to help people, but his strategy to get her to leave on her own fails to function as it usually does.

The unstoppable force meats the immovable object. Cloud is a dog being chased by a car and he has no frame of reference or script to deal with it.

Cloud’s issues remain obvious throughout the game, but Aerith’s are most on display in Wall Market during Chapter 9. In both the OG and REMAKE, Aerith is the one who takes the lead and has Cloud trailing behind her to follow her infiltration plan and it’s Aerith who gets her and Cloud as the other two girls at Corneo’s audition to fill the holes in Tifa’s plan. She’s pushy, alarmingly friendly from the word GO, and takes charge in situations she has no stake in because, if everyone is following her, she can’t be the one left behind this time. Anxieties that come to the fore in Chapter 11 when she’s separated from Cloud and Tifa in the Train Graveyard. Alone and cornered by ghosts, those childhood feelings of abandonment from the loss of her mother and loneliness from her time in the Shin-Ra building, Aerith emotionally flashes back to being a small girl abandoned on the playground and left alone by the kids she wanted to be friends with.

It’s an all-consuming emotional state that is only diffused when Cloud and Tifa find her again, breaking her out of her own head and setting her at ease by coming back for her.

Its a shame that Cloud doesn’t get the same comfort for his latent issues. The phantom Nibelheim he had in Sector 7 suffers the same fate as the real deal did, and that old wound gets torn open again just as it started to heal.

He failed Tifa again. He couldn’t protect his home again. His entire life burns down around him and he couldn’t do anything about it again.

Our boy had a real chance at healing from, and reconciling with, his crappy childhood while living in Sector 7. I’m sad he didn’t get it.

(PS. Yes, I’m aware that Cloud was friends with Zack before he became friends with Aerith, but given that Zack is a SOLDIER-shaped hole in his memory at this point, I don’t feel like it counts.)

[secret-engima]

Okay, now I'm imagining one of the 'verses that Zack-Noctis, Aerith-Luna, and Cloud-Prompto (+Ignis and Gladio) trip into, is an /FF7/ verse. When Cloud was just a cadet and Zack was /even more/ of a hyperactive puppy.

hgfdhgf TOTAL CHAOS.

Adorable Chaos.

Gonna just yet the ff7 timeline into the stratosphere because I Do What I Want for this. But basically this is a Happy Ending AU were Stuff Happened so that Gen never degraded/defected, Angeal never defected, Seph is mentally stable, and while Shinra is still a thing to be dealt with at least nobody is calling down meteors on anything else. Cloud is a little Cadet person who accidentally caught Genesis’s eye and so is not the Poet’s apprentice, and Zack is as hyper as ever.

...

-The five of them trip into the FF7 verse and we’ll make them teenagers and stuff for this, Noctis (15), Luna (19), and Prompto (15) all insta-recognize it and freak. Ignis (17) and Gladio (18) take their cue from the freaking and are very cautious. They don’t ask why the three know so much about this strange place or are so agitated but Ignis is Fussing and Gladio is ready to hit something. Luna softly says hey’ll just- have to avoid “everyone important” and the Astrals will undo this as soon as they can.

-Their luck being what it is, they are somewhere in the slums of Midgar and while killing monsters for gil to stay somewhere that isn’t an alley for the night (WHY DO THE MONSTER BODIES DISAPPEAR Ignis hisses the first time the monster he was inspecting for potential recipe material disappeared into thin air, leaving coins and junk behind), they hear someone else fighting monsters and having Trouble.

-Reacting on their Good Guy instincts, they race around the corner and find a Whopping Freaking Behemoth growling it’s way through a street way too small for it, chasing two someones that Noctis doesn’t really pay attention too in his haste to fling a fireball in the Behemoth’s face to slow it down. The beast slows and Cloud rockets by, his sword a flash of silver light as he hops up the dingy wall and somehow (Nif experimentation strength, adrenaline, and magic) beheads the thing in one massive strike (Gladiolus, watching from the entrance of the street where he’s guarding Ignis, Luna, and the people that Behemoth was chasing, quickly acknowledges his jealousy and lets it go, because Prompto is just Like That).

-Prompto lands on the dead body of the Behemoth and flicks the blood off his blade as he looks around (escaped experiment from the labs he’s betting, and the thought of it makes his blood feel very cold). Noctis nods grimly at him, coming to the same conclusion and reminder.

-Then, from the head of the alley, someone breathes, “That, was ... SO COOL.”

-Prompto, looking over Noctis’s head from his perch, goes dead white. Noctis knows what he’s going to see the moment he turns around but somehow can’t stop himself from looking anyway.

-Bright-faced and energetic, innocent in a way Noctis has never been able to fully pull off, is one SOLDIER Second Class Zack Fair, staring at the two of them with hero worship in his eyes as he dusts himself off and bounds past a startled Gladio to all but vibrate in front of Noctis and Prompto, “How’d you do that? You just- WHOOSH and SHING and it was DEAD. I didn’t think anyone but a SOLDIER First could do that!”

-While Noctis tries to wrap his head around himself (had he really been that hyper? No wonder Angeal called him Puppy), Prompto blinks past Zack (ghost ghost bloody-tired-ghost-rain-blood-steel-you-are-my-living-legacy-) he sees the second person standing there being fussed at by Ignis and almost loses his grip on his Fusion Sword.

-Cadet Cloud Strife is watching Ignis with a touch of hero worship in his own eyes as the older teen expertly applies a potion to the scratches and cuts, never letting on that he’s spotted the eerie similarities between Prompto, Noctis and these two strangers.

-Their attention is dragged back to Zack by his waving arms as he chatters a mile a minute, then rapidly snagged by the sound of approaching footsteps from the far end of the street, the direction the Behemoth had come from.

-Noctis already knows who is running around that corner. His nerve breaks and he BOLTS. Zack yips a protest as Noctis rushes by, Prompto on his heels, trying to escape before HE can come around the corner and see them. Gladio sees the look on his prince’s face and starts herding Iggy and Luna away-.

-Genesis rounds the bend in front of them the exact moment Angeal rounds the corner behind. Both of them having rushed to the scene to try to save their apprentices.

-Noctis can only hear static. It’s ... it’s different from seeing Angeal in his new body, his reborn self. This- this is a ghost of the man he adored and looked up to as a father, this is a perfect memory of the man he was forced to KILL. This is- this is ANGEAL. Noctis cannot deal.

-Ignis ends up doing all the talking on the group’s behalf while Zack makes things ... worse unintentionally by excitedly recounting the story of how Prompto one-shot the Behemoth.

-Genesis confirms it with Cloud.

-Both men, honorable in their own way, insist on paying for a Proper Hotel for the group as thanks, which means taking them above plate. Ignis makes up a story of how they are Hunters (which ... they are technically, just not in this world) and were just visiting the city when they heard the sounds of fighting.

-They get dropped off at the hotel and Noctis and Prompto spend a good hour sobbing in the bathroom over their respective ghosts while Luna hesitantly tries to explain why to Ignis and Gladio without ... SAYING why. After that, the group put their heads together to make a plan, because Noctis and Prompto are SURE that SHINRA will come sniffing around soon.

-By morning, Noctis and Prompto have composed themselves and gotten ... sorta enough sleep.

-Prompto is not surprised how, the moment the clock turns to “reasonable hour of the morning” there is a knock on the door. He is less surprised when he opens it to find a Turk on the other side.

-He promptly shuts the door again.

-He makes a rude gesture at Ignis’s back when the older teen sighs at his bad manners and opens the door to let the devil man in with a murmured apology and vague excuse that Prompto doesn’t handle mornings well. The Turk is Tseng, because of course it is, and he’s come to formally thank them for their assistance the other day in saving the lives of two of their employees (Read: here to investigate how a group of unknown teens showed up out of literal nowhere, how one of them used a fireball spell without seeming to have any materia on his person and how the twig-blond one-shot a Behemoth like a SOLDIER First).

-Ignis and Luna handle all the talking because Noctis is oddly quiet (afraid of being too like Zack), Prompto has gone straight non-verbal, and Gladiolus is a bit busy trying to keep his two friends on a sane keel.

-Tseng notices all of the interplay, but isn’t sure what to make of it. He notices the way the black haired one seems agitated in his presence and how the blond has flickering mako shine in his eyes as he folds in on himself and shuts down at the sight of Tseng’s suit. He notices he way Ignis and Gladio are neutral to him like true strangers would, but the gentle girl named Luna watches him with an old, eerie sort of knowing fondness.

-They are not what they seem, he thinks to himself.

-But what are they?

-Anyway long ficlet made slightly shorter, Tseng talks them into coming to the tower to receive a thank you gift from SHINRA and maybe give a demonstration to some of the cadets while they were at it, as a ... show and tell from an outsider perspective. They don’t have any choice but to agree, and Noctis shakes off his uneasiness to be a more muted version of energetic to help Prompto cope.

-The SOLDIER Firsts and their apprentices are there too, because of course they are, and Noctis slides into his element showing off for the cadets with Gladio’s help while Prompto spaces out at the nearest wall. Angeal comes over to talk to Noctis and thank him and stuff and Zack is already trying to acquire another blond buddy (Prompto slides back into non-verbal blank looks and is ... dimly surprised by Cloud coming to his defense with an innocent, “Take it easy, Zack, he’s shy.” before smiling. Prompto doesn’t remember smiling as Cloud. Not like that. Easy and friendly and innocent.)

-SOMEHOW. Genesis ends up picking a fight with Noctis. Because Genesis. Prompto, eager to burn off some tension, intercedes on Noctis’s behalf and ends up flattening Genesis in three moves.

-...Oops.

-Genesis gets up with a manic look in his eye and Sephiroth is staring like a cat that just spotted a bird. Angeal’s eyebrows are up to his hairline and Zack is “ooo”ing in awe.

-Genesis tries again, Prompto flattens him in five moves this time.

-Ignis steps in before a real fight can happen and politely excuses the group because they have places to be.

-Prompto has never been more grateful for Gentiana’s timing than the moment they step out of Shinra’s office and slide into the crowd. In between one heartbeat and the next, one shifting of the large, busy crowd and another, she arrives and whisks them home.

-The Turks have no idea how they lost the group of teens, but they never find them again.

[silly-bean]

Whumptober Day 5: Broken Nose

I've realized I forgot to post this to tumblr (along with the one other one I've managed to do since then)... oops 😅. Day 5 of Whumptober uses the prompt "broken nose" and also takes place in the "Round and Round" universe.

<- 4 | 5 | 6 ->

Read on AO3

Warnings: Blood, minor violence

~~~~~

Cloud is tired.

He’s been tired for so long that he doesn’t know what it’s like to not be tired, to not have eyelids like lead, and to think through sludge. If it was as simple as insomnia, he could manage it, having dealt with that particular problem before. No, his problem isn’t being able to fall asleep; it’s staying asleep. Every time he closes his eyes his dreams are wrought with his mistakes -his failures - and the specter of the demon holding his strings and he jerks awake with burning eyes and acid on his tongue.

The lethargy seeps into his every move, making him feel like he’s experiencing the world through a layer of syrup: sounds slightly muffled, his limbs not responding as quickly as they should be, words getting trapped in his throat before they can be heard. No amount of his stubborn will can pull him out of it, either. He’s tried, throwing himself into fights or training or battle to see if getting his blood pumping will chase away the fog, but whatever relief he gets is fleeting at best.

And then there’s Zack.

He’s been particularly persistent this loop, constantly finding Cloud during off-hours and refusing to take “no” for an answer. Cloud can’t dodge him, can’t hide away from him or drive him away. He’s tried insulting, being cold and unresponsive, raging, even screaming at the teen, but it seems like Zack’s decided that no, Cloud isn’t just a terrible person who doesn’t want to be friends, but someone both in need of and worthy of help.

It’s becoming increasingly hard to deny himself the comfort of Zack’s friendship, to not lean into the one-armed hugs, to not fall into the easy banter. His very being aches for a reprieve from the constant writhing bundle of anxiety and self-loathing that knots his chest and makes it hard to breathe. His physical tiredness only exacerbates the desire; his body knowing that it might find the rest it so needs if he would just give in. Which makes it all the more important for him to push Zack away.

“Oi! Cloud! There you are! I was wondering if I’d managed to miss you again!”

Zack’s broad form shoves its way through the crowd of infantry in the cafeteria hallway. Cloud ducks his head and changes directions, slipping around a corner. If he’s quick - and lucky - enough, he can loop around and lose Zack in the maze of corridors that make up the infantry floors of the tower.

He’s not.

Zack lays a heavy hand down on his shoulder, spinning him around. “There you are! Man, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were trying to avoid me, Cloudy!”

His smile is slightly strained when Cloud glances up to look. “I was.” Cloud scowls and tries to turn away, only to be stopped by the hand that’s still gripping his shoulder. “Leave me alone, Zack. I don’t want to talk to you.”

The words drag a little, his lethargy making each one an effort to force out. Zack flinches, and Cloud ignores the flash of guilt that runs through him.

“Come on, Cloudy! Don’t be like that! I know just the thing to cheer you up!” Zack starts fishing through his pockets for something with his free hand.

“Let go of me, Zack. You’re annoying and I don’t want to hang out with you.”

“That’s what they all say!”

He evidently finds what he’s looking for and pulls it out with a triumphant exclamation. It’s a piece of paper, looking like it might have once been nicely folded but is not a crumpled mess. Cloud reaches up and grips Zack’s wrist and tries to pry it off his shoulder. Zack releases his grip but just switches it to circle his arm. He finally opens the paper and waves it in front of Cloud’s face. It’s an advertisement for a new all-you-can-eat buffet opening in Sector 4.

“I don’t want to go out to eat with you, Zack.” Cloud deadpans, his anxiety starting to rear its head. The fog he’s been living through begins to lift and he feels the presence lurking at the back of his head perk up a bit at the sudden activity. He does his best to shove it back into the space it’s carved out for itself.

“Of course you do! With what they feed you guys? I know I was always looking for ways to eat anywhere but the mess when I was a cadet.”

“I’m perfectly fine, Zack. Stop trying to drag me places I clearly don’t want to go.”

“Come oooon, Cloudy!” Zack whined, waving the flyer around.

Cloud could feel the frayed threads of his self-control snapping and he bared his teeth in a snarl. “Fuck. Off. Zack.”

Zack jerked back a bit, eyes wide in shock, and Cloud took advantage of the distraction to tear his arm free of the SOLDIER’s grip. He spun around and started walking away at a decent clip. His anger boiled in his veins, spurred on by the demon’s satisfaction leaking into his mind.

“Wait! Cloud!” Zack calls, and he hears him start to give chase.

Cloud picks up his pace, stalking forward and hoping he’s done enough (tries to shove down the small part of him that rejoices in being so wanted). The fog is back, but it’s of a different sort than before, making him hyper-aware of his body and narrowing down his perception to what’s in front of him and the approaching footsteps behind him.

Closer. Closer. Then, a touch on his arm.

Something snaps in his head. Before he’s even aware of his own reaction, he’s spinning around and throwing a right hook that would make Tifa proud. His fist connects squarely with Zack’s nose. The SOLDIER stumbles back with the hit, a hand coming up to cover the hurt area. Cloud stands there, breathing hard for a moment before he lowers his own arm. Feeling detached and strung out, he examines his fist, not surprised to see he’s managed to split a couple of knuckles.

A breath.

Cloud looks up at Zack, taking in the blood dripping off his chin and onto his uniform, the pain twisting his face, the hurt in his eyes. The full realization of what he’s done finally settles and he finds himself drowning in guilt and self-loathing. He whips around and runs, ignoring Zack’s slightly nasal calls to come back. Tears stream down his face and blur his vision.

All the while, the demon in his head laughs and laughs, and laughs.

[slothgiirl]

shadowplay part 14

You’re going to miss LA. You think to yourself as you hoist your bag out the uber, considerably heavier than when you arrived a little under a week ago.

“I’ve got it love,” Alex grins, not waiting for your response, before taking the bag right out of your hands, clad in a jacket like the sun wasn’t shining high in the sky.

“I had it.”

“Yeah well,” he smiles, taking a moment to plant a kiss against your lips, “I’ve got it.”

You roll your eyes, leading the way into the airport, but can’t help the smile that grows on your lips. The warmth in your chest has nothing todo with the california sun, leaving you bubbly as fuck, the same way you’ve felt this whole week with Alex.

Even rock stars have to wait their turn to grab their tickets before having to go through the very unsexy security.  

Standing in line, the airports ac cranked up like crazy, you’re glad to be wearing one of Alex’s jackets. “ feel like a glorified coat hanger,” you tell him, “just here to keep your jacket from being ruined during the flight.”

Alex chuckles, “but you're much better company.”

“True,” you giggle, “can’t say the same for you though. It’s no fun getting tipsy while you're holding your own like a proper james bond.” Thinking back on the many drinking games you'd taken part of during the last week. Zack had been a surprising lightweight.

“Well-,”

Whatever he was about to say is lost. The sound of cameras clicking, a flash temporarily blinding your eyes. As a man urgently says, “Alex is this your new girlfriend!”

A camera clicks again.

“Alex! Look over here,” the man cries out.

You wish you had Alex's sunglass wearing habit, as you blink rapidly, trying to recover from the blinding flashes suddenly assaulting you.

One man becomes two becomes three. All jockeying for his attention. “Alex are you working on the new album!”

“Sweetheart, look over here!”

“Is she your new girlfriend!”

“When's the new album out!”

The people around you, who moments ago hadn't cared, look over, whispering under their breath. You don't know how celebrities like Kim Kardashian can deal with the media circus that surrounds their lives constantly you think as you try and ignore the flashes continuing to go off. Ignoring them like you would the pointed looks of your profs as you struggled to stay awake during seven in the morning lectures.

Alex, sensing your unease, slips his hand into yours, squeezing your hand in his tightly as he pulls you along up to the self check-ins.

It's easier to block them out when you're busy concentrating on printing your tickets.

“I swear my passport was just here,” you mutter. Your purse wasn't even that big. How could it have gotten lost.

Alex smirks, unable to help himself as he teases you, “should've given your passport to me love.”

You snort. “My passport picture should be kept between me and this unfortunate machine.” You had tried to bleach your hair blonde, but had only achieved a horrid orange color that you'd dyed back to black the next day.

You pull out the elusive passport, but Alex nabs it from your hands before you can scan it into the machine.

He looks down with a ridiculously sappy smile, “you look beautiful as ever.”

“Oh you're so full of shit,” you snipe back.

Alex chuckles, the machine finally printing your tickets, before leaning in and kissing you again, taking you bottom lip between his lips, for just a moment too long for such a public place.

You flush crimson, but can't make yourself look away from Alex; the man you've grown so fond of.

He'd never been this open and at ease of PDA back when you had been faking a relationship for his benefit. It makes you really wonder how his friends had bought it.

A crease forms between his brows, “don't mind the paps love. ‘s better if you just ignore ‘em.” There's a certain stiffness to his shoulders that hadn't been there moments ago too.

The paps bother him too. You're surprised he isn't used to it. Then again, he hadn't even spared them so much as a glance.

Understanding dawns on you, he was worried about how you'd react now that you'd both just decided to start dating. Alex doesn't want them to put you off.

You shake your head as you both make your way to TSA, Alex still holding your hand, keeping you close to him. “I was just thinking how I'd be a terrible paparazzi. They'd send me out to chase Britney Spears and I'd be like but what if she doesn't want to be bothered right now.”

He laughs as you step on the escalator up and leave the paps behind.

**

You're in the cab back from the airport as your phone buzzes, finally off from airplane mode. Ten different texts from your mum asking if you landed okay. All the work emails you put off in the states. And Sam sent you a million screenshots of you and Alex in the airport earlier with the text: i'm now celebrity adjacent and i WILL name drop.

You laugh, having expected nothing less from her.

“What,” Alex asks lazily, cigarette in hand, both the cabs windows down.

“Just Sam being Sam.” You reply.

He nods, becoming incredibly serious, too serious to be sincere, “she's your Matthew.”

“Well you're not wrong.” Sam was that close to you. “We're going house hunting tomorrow...later today. I hate jet lag.”

Alex grins. “Why don't you just move in with me,” he says simply, as though it's not a loaded question. As though it's really that easy.

Sending you through eighty five degrees of: you haven't told your parents, they're going to freak, you just started dating, too fast, you're parents were going to absolutely murder him because everyone in your family had been convinced you were going to die an old spinster by now.

“We just started dating,” you say instead.

Alex shoots you a puzzled look. “Technically it's been six months.”

“Stick to being clever in writing Alex,” you reply. “this has been on my to do list for a year now.” You have been saving up money and building credit for ages now.

“Okay so maybe it's been a week,” he shrugs, flicking the cigarette ash into the street, “but it feels like forever.”

You snort, your cheeks heating up all over again. You hadn't felt this happy with a man in ages. “Nice try but the answer’s still no.”

“Can I at least come with,” he pouts.

“No,” you laugh, “Sams going to want all the gossip as soon as I see her. Who else is going to tell her that Breanna really thinks rice crackers and peanut butter are a snack!”

“Don't be so hard on her.”

“You didn't have any either,” you counter. “I can understand someone eating healthy, I dunno if I've ever made a dress larger than a size 6, but I draw the line at trying to pretend kale chips taste good.”

“I hate peanut butter,” he answers, the laugh clear in his voice. “sticks to the roof of my mouth.”

“She also told me about this app that fakes plastic surgery for editing,” you add, “made me feel like an old woman. Only just discovered filters.” You really didn't use instagram for much more than following some writers and designers you admire.

“She hogged you all week,” Alex groans at the memory. Breanna telling you where to squat so her legs would look longer, her camera in your hands.

“It was fun. She's a hell of a hiker,” you admit. She'd been able to walk and talk easily, lugging around her camera with her, while the boys jammed out back at the cabin.

“Miles won't walk more than a block before whining. Ya sure I can’t go with you and Sam? I've gotten very used to having you around all the time”

“You can help me move in,” you tease.

“Oi!”

You lean in close to his ear, “promise I'll make it worth your time,” you practically purr, barely managing to keep from laughing.

Alex's cigarette falls out of his hand.

He turns to you fully, his hand cupping your cheek, a glint in his eye as the sun sets over London, “I'll hold you too it.”

You beat Alex to the bags, having learned by now that he wasn't about to let you pay. Which was for the best. But you could at the very least carry your own bag up the stairs to your flat.

“I've got it,” you shut him down, keeping a hand outstretched, so he doesn't just take the bag from your hand.

“Alright alright,” Alex laughs, following you up to your flat.

You were glad that he was staying. You had also gotten used to waking up to him every morning. To making out in bed first thing. Or lounging around on your phone as Alex tuned his guitar.  

It had been that way for a while if you were being honest with yourself.

Alex had carved out a place in your life long before he'd kissed you and told you he loved you.

Saying you had only been dating for a week meant nothing when you were already sure of the depth of your feelings for him.

“ ‘s it alright if I stay over,” Alex asks softly, leaning against the door while you search for your keys, looking just as hopeful and earnest as he had so long ago when drunk, when he'd tried to kiss you then.

You stick the key in the door, before turning to meet the warmth of his brown eyes, and kissing him for all the times you'd wanted to before: kissing him just because you can. You can't imagine ever being sick of the feel of his lips against yours. “Stay as long as you like.”

The door clicks open.

“All that's good,” Alex smiles, “I already ordered breakfast… ‘fink it's closer to lunch by now.”

“Oh thank god,” you reply, abandoning your bag next to the door and sinking into your sofa, stretching out all the kinks in your neck from having sat on a plane for the last nine hours. “I was just thinking how I was going to have to run to the grocery store.”

“We can go after.” Alex says, kicking off his shoes, and laying down next to you.

You giggle, scooting over as much as you can do there's room. Both of you are slight, so it's not hard to curl up on the sofa without feeling squished together. You relax against Alex, happy to waste your last hours of vacation with him.