Chapter Text
CHAPTER 0
—FORWORD—
Okay, guys, first things first. I just want to clarify a few things, before we hop into this self-indulgent piece of fanfiction.
First, mind the tags! First and foremost the relationship tags. I love both of our precious boys to the end of the universe and back, I also enjoy reading them as a pairing, so I’m on board with everyone that ships them. But in my little mind, especially in this fanfiction, my headcannon was, is and always will be pairing them platonically. For me, they love each other as non-romantically as humanly possible, so please keep that in mind during this fanfiction. Whoever squints real hard and wants to read this as a romantic relationship will find it nonetheless.
Aaand, there will be no steemy stuff. Not the slightest. And I know that probably a whole bunch of people won‘t like my story just because of this. I know fanfiction is famous and often visited solely for its kink and steeminess and smut, and that‘s fine and everybody‘s right. Yet it‘s really nothing I‘m madly crazy about reading myself and therefore I won‘t have it in my story. So if you‘re looking for jerk-off-material you‘re absolutely wrong here.
Second, mind the tags again! This initially was supposed to be a prequel to my first ff ‘Upholding the legacy’ inwhich OG canon-compliance is a key feature. As a result this fic is canon-compliant (in terms of OG, I guess, but… who even knows at this point - Yes, I’m looking at you, Remake!) as well. So if you’re not up to getting your heart broken and shattered all over again, I advise you to turn around and leave this fanfiction be, because it’s not for you then. If you want to stick around before the feelings hit you too hard, you’re welcome to it :-) And it’s probably gonna be a 100+k word long journey before it happens.
Third, this story evolved from the idea of being a little and small prequel to my first ever fanfiction (‘Upholding the Legacy‘), featuring some of the flashbacks mentioned there from Zack‘s POV, into a 100+k monstrosity. I‘m seriously not done writing it, but I gave myself a 70k headstart of already finished chapters and taking into account what else I‘ve got planned for the story, 100+k seems to be a good estimation for where this thing is going. As a result of everything, I‘ve decided to do kind of a rewrite of ‘UtL‘ due to little changes I want and sometimes have to do. So if you want to approach this story unspoiled, please keep away from ‘UtL‘ (pretty much everything that happens there will be told in this new fanfiction), because there are a few minor spoilers for the events that will happen in ‘Brothers by Choice‘. But I don‘t want to take ‘UtL‘ down since it really was my first piece of writing I‘ve ever uploaded anywhere.
Fourth, english is my second language, so please keep that in mind if you come upon any spelling mistakes, incorrect usage of words or tenses that seem all over the place. I really am good at understanding english, I’m know that. But I lack the ability of getting some things right if I have to get them written down. I‘ve tried my best to avoid mistakes as best as I can by re-reading this thing-y for a quadrillion times but… this here is as good as I can get, since I do not have a beta reader.
Fifth, this is a deep dive in terms of character and friendship. I‘ve always wished for more scenes making the relationship of Zack and Cloud centre of attention. Square only ever stated ‘Yeah, they‘re besties‘, but why couldn‘t they show us more of why they are, damnit?! Since I didn‘t get what I wished for for eternity, you have to bare with a lot of my headcanon that clutterd up my brain since puberty. Don‘t worry, I filtered a lot over the years, not everything stood the test of time. Nevertheless, you have to know I like to write a lot of inner monologue, thoughts, ideas and so on. Just to bust it with paragraphs of dialogue. I love to write my action scenes every now and then, but this won‘t be a fanfiction where an epic fight takes place every chapter. That‘s just the kind of story I like to read so I will do exactly that.
Sixth, Zack. I know a lot of people just see him as the ‘puppy‘ and an hyperactive eyecandy (the latter he undoubtedly is, I‘m not blind, guys), that shrugs just every hardship off like he doesn‘t care. But let‘s be honest, that‘s not how a person works and acts like! Yeah, he has a higher resilience and tends to look on the bright side of life. In my headcannon he is more like the kind of guy that wears his heart on his sleeve for the most part, and a snarky one for that (Just go to youtube and watch the ‘Zack Fair is DONE with the bullshit!‘-video). But I vehemently stand against the look on him as solely happy and naive, totally unfocused, no attention span and somehow… dumb (which I think is not backed up by the source material at all!).
These trades were maybe a part of him in the beginning of CC, but only one part. Hells, he‘s already a SOLDIER 2nd class as we enter the game. A rank most people couldn‘t dream of achieving. So he has to be resourceful, strategic and logical. You get only that far with brute force and dedication. And I believe he has a pretty high EQ, because whoever can make friends with basically anyone must have an ability to understand the respective other, be emphathetic and read the connotations and inflexions well. I see that he doesn‘t make always the smartest decisions, there are plenty of examples in my story, yet he can‘t be a complete bumpkin. So I think I took a different approach in writing Zack with still staying true to his character and I liked how it turned out.
Seventh, this is the story of Cloud and Zack. Every now and then an occasional POV-change will happen, but mostly this plays in the head of the two gorgeous boys. The story will be told from their perspective and the plot will be focused mainly on their friendship. Whenever necessary I will adress their thoughts on other plotpoints happening during canon events or their feelings towards other characters, but mainly we‘ll stay with them and everything considering them and one another.
Lastly, I put a lot of effort to this story. I know, everybody does. Still, I‘ve got the feeling some readers forget how much love, dedication and heart and soul goes to a story, so please see this as a friendly reminder. I don‘t even want to know how much time I‘ve spent making sense of this friggin timeline. I assure you, I grew gray hair over this, especially the part when Zack and Cloud are on the run - I mean, seriously Square, do you even brain? The whole of it makes no sense, so I had to really wreck my brain how it could work out. And I know, not many even care about timeline and order of events, but I do. Because I wanted, that this fic could actually happen in canon, wanted it to fit in. Because OG is so dear to my heart in so many ways imaginable and I don‘t want to mess with it. Square gave us this masterpiece of a game (and compilation) and I wanted my story to be a testament to it. To the OG that hit all of us so hard in the feels, not altering any of the perfection, just sprinkling it with more life. With ‘What happened to them between the events we‘ve seen‘, ‘How did they change‘, ‘How did Zack evolve from zero-attention-span-puppy to leading member and heart of SOLDIER, all grown up‘ but also ‘What took them to Shinra in the first place?‘, ‘Why does Zack want to become a hero that badly?‘ (Which is not adressed in detail if not not at all in CC). And yes, I see OG as perfection, even if things happen I more than once bawled my eyes out about. But for my understanding that‘s exactly why everyone is still that invested in the game, why people jumped off their seats as FF7:R had been announced. Because it felt like life. How it really is. Yeah, people we care about and we love and would wish nothing more for them as to be happy get the short end of the stick, get the raw deal and just get the most unfair ending of all time. How the characters deal with these events on a super personal level, how they influence their behaviour, their mindset, their whole mind. Overcoming grief and finding happiness in life even after the biggest losses imaginable.
That‘s what gets everybody invested, me included. I started rambling again without even noticing. And believe me, I could go on and on and on, writing whole dissertations about why I love the story, the characters and why they symbolize so much to me. I just stop it here, before I cry over this again 🥹
TL;DR: Mind the tags, all of them are there for a reason and if they‘re not there, that has a reason as well. I‘m not a native speaker but I‘m doing my best to avoid any mistakes and I like writing my story with actual characters and looking into their respective feelings and motivations. P.S.: I‘m in love with this compilation.
Sooo, if you‘re up for an overlong fanfiction where you know where the journey ends, buckle up and enjoy the ride :-)
Mood songs for the writing process:
Soldier of love by POESY (seriously, that song was SUCH an inspiration)
Creep by Radiohead
WHY by Ayaka