#ff7 avalanche

I actually really love Cloud. Surprising I know, but I mean I love how his mental health struggles are actually depicted with empathy. I've had struggles with psychosis and c-ptsd for a very long time (luckily I'm not that impaired day to day but it's still a lot), and Cloud is one of the few times I can think of where a character with similar symptoms is treated well and as a hero in their narrative. Avalanche's responses to his hallucinations and delusions feels Real and human but in a way that doesn't make Cloud out to be a villain. Yes, there are times where Cloud scares them, where he may hurt them in the midst of an episode, and they may not understand what is going on or how to help him (which is rightfully frustrating); but, Cloud is never once abandoned.

He's given friendships and love over and over and over again, and he returns it with his own. Which rarely ever happens in any media I come across. Is he perfect? No. He can be a hard ass and when he's back in the throws of depression he draws away from those he loves; however, he is still not abandoned. I've actually always adored Tifa's speech in Advent Children because Cloud Needed to hear that. I'll be the first tell you that sometimes when you're dealing with severe mental health issues sometimes people you trust need to expressly call you on your shit. And Cloud listened to her. I feel so protective over the ending of Advent Children at times because Cloud absolutely deserves that chance to heal and his smile makes me cry every time because it's, again, one of the few examples I've ever seen of someone like me being allowed to heal. Being given that chance even if his struggles will be lifelong.

Gender Neutral!Tsundere!Reader

(Why are there no Barret x reader fics on Tumblr? TTwTT I LOVE THIS IDIOT MAN!)

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-How could Reader not fall for Barret? He's big, strong, and passionate, kind to kids, animals, and the planet alike. A giant teddy bear with a machine gun for an arm.

-This man has such a big, pure heart and good intentions, but he's constantly shooting himself in the foot with his loud mouth.

-He needs someone a little sharper, smarter to help him keep it together, especially during missions.

-Reader genuinely cares about Barret...but they show it by giving missions their utmost focus. If they see Barret's focus slipping, they realign his attention with a sharp word, a weak slap against his trunk of an arm, or even stomping on his foot to cut him off before he spills important beans.

-Reader drags him by the literal ear when he's shouting at a bunch of Shinra employees on the train.

-"Will you PLEASE get it together? This is supposed to be a COVERT operation that YOU planned! And you're blowing it by being so OBVIOUS" Reader would hiss while they drag him to a seat far away from everyone else.

-When they find out Barret scammed poor Cloud, Reader gives him an earful for playing about other peoples' money. "You got a lotta nerve giving Cloud such a hard time when you couldn't even pay him!!"

-If Reader drinks, they're always a touch sweeter to Barret after a drink or two, maybe they even flirt a lil, totally catching Barret off guard.

-"Y'know I give you a hard time, but you're really not such a bad guy *hic* you're kinda cute, to be honest..." Reader slurrs stroking Barret's face, their own face is flushed red with alcohol. Before Barret can reply, Reader playfully smacks his cheek. "Just kidding~"

-If they smoke, Reader likes to blow their smoke right in Barret's face, just to annoy him a little.

-Reader loves Barret's impassioned speeches about the environment. Though they usually respond cooly to it. Reader just folds their arms and sighs "Everyone in Avalanche already agrees with you, Barret. You're preaching to the choir."

-Reader is always softer with Barret when Marlene is watching, they don't want to scare the little girl.

-Plus, Barret is at his best in front of Marlene, which makes Reader soften naturally. Reader is reminded why they like him in the first place.

-All of his passion and fury shifts into something warm and protective and it makes Reader smile, heart fluttering as he swings Marlene around in his arm, a huge grin on his face.

-Barret shows his trust in Reader by asking them to look after Marlene. She is his most precious treasure, so the fact that Barret trusts her in Reader's care without question; it speaks volumes.

-For as loud and big as Barret's personality is, their intimacy with Reader is more subtle than one would expect: Silently placing himself between Reader and danger, helping them with small tasks around the slums, or playing their favorite song on the jukebox after a particularly rough day.

-If Reader isn't too grumpy, Barret will sing along, try to get them to dance with him. "Tsk...idiot. I'm not in the mood." Reader says dismissively on instinct. They sip their drink sourly as Barret starts to walts around behind them.

-But then Marlene pops up from behind the counter and asks "You don't wanna dance with Daddy?" with a sad lil pout.

-Reader can say no to Barret, but never to Marlene. So they surrender to being whisked around the Seventh Heaven bar, with Barret grinning ear-to-ear, and Marlene giggling happily. Inevitably, Reader ends up cracking a smile too, their stubborn surface melting away as Barret sways with them.

-Reader is very protective of Barret. Very "he may be an idiot but he's MY idiot, you don't get to call him that" energy. Basically no one gets to pick on him but Reader.

-Barret and Reader don't propose in the traditional sense. Its way more likely that they were drinking one night and Reader challenged Barret to pop the question. "Hurry up and marry me, ya coward!"

🎹Vinti piano duet🎄 A secret santa gift for @rosemochi 💗 Happy holidays everyone! Stay safe and warm out there also, as a bonus, here's the photos they have hanged on the wall! featuring cute moments from the AVALANCHE fam

So you know how, in Remake, the main branch of Avalanche shows up to raid Shinra? It is heavily implied (particularly after the release of the Yuffie DLC) that their presence there is a direct result of Rufus.

However.

In BC, Rufus and Avalanche have already cut ties. Years beforehand, in fact.

So, I have questions. Is BC being totally discarded for the purposes of Remake? Or are they doubling-down on the idea of factions, with there still being a subset that’s loyal to Rufus? Or something else entirely, like AU shenanigans?

Not sure this is what you were hoping for but...

PROMPT LIST READ ON AO3

Cloud never gave much of a hoot about soulmates.  He'd been born with eight meters.  Cloud was what people called a nexus.  A person who was the lodestone to a group— someone meant to bring and hold them together.  What it was was annoying.

They constantly felt like they were burning, not hot or painful but an awareness that made Cloud itch at them.  His Ma had taken to wrapping his arm in bandages when he was small to stop him making himself bleed. 

Everyone else he knew had one if any at all.  Tifa only had one, anyway, and Ma didn't have any.  It wasn't uncommon not to have one, in fact it was more rare to have any at all.  The folk in Nibelheim whispered alternately that it was a curse or a blessing.  Either way, they'd say, it meant you were going to have an interesting life.  Cloud just wished they'd make up their minds about which it was.

He first realized that one of them was Tifa when her mom died.  One of the little meters on his arm burned more than usual, making little hitches and jumps in growing color.  Then there was the bridge, the fall. The mark had been dulled until Tifa's injuries healed.

Her dad still tells him to stay away.  Maybe because of it.  Cloud's not sure.

But then he's leaving for Midgar and he fails to get into SOLDIER and everything just seems to keep on falling apart until all he knows is mako green and a kind voice.  Then there's Tifa again, the green is gone, and he's blowing things up and trying to get out of this nonsense.

Tifa tells him she's one of his soulmates and he believes her, because who else can he trust except Tifa.  Putting up with her friends is another matter entirely.

But one of the meters is growing in concert with the ratatatat of Barret's gun arm, and after that they come in constantly.  Aerith follows, then Red XIII.  There's Yuffie, Vincent and Cid.  The strangest one comes in the form of Cait Sithe, which is the first clue Cloud has that there's someone behind the thing.  The betrayal is still a surprise, a sting.

Then Aerith dies and Cloud's left wearing a mark that's gone stone cold and dark.  Frozen in place and never to inch higher again.  But there's little time to grieve when his world is falling to pieces alongside his mind.

They make it out somehow, Cloud pulls himself together, pulls them together.  It works.

EXTRA:

"What did you call them?" Tifa asks a little distracted.