cactikook
Recent bookmarks
-
Tags
Summary
Locked in a room with no windows or doors, Cloud searches for a way out.
What he discovers sounds perfectly simple: if he reveals his deepest, darkest secret, he will be free.
But Cloud would rather face endless hordes of monsters than share his secret aloud.
Bookmarked by cactikook
09 Feb 2026
-
Tipped Scales by ivyelevast
Fandoms: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
27 Jan 2021
Tags
Summary
If this were a different story, Zack thinks, he would be using his last moments to remember kind, green eyes and a sweet smile. He would be staring out into the raining sky, life running out of him, while making peace with the fact that he would never see his first love again. If this were a different story, Zack would not be left empty-handed, crying out as his friend stumbles away into the remnants of a battlefield. He would not be praying for that blond head to turn, aching to capture the final sight of a cherished face before locking it behind two lids.
No, this does not feel like a fitting end to this story at all―and Zack overflows with the one childish thought that this is unbearably unfair. In the rare moments that he, as any soldier must, contemplated his death, he never imagined that he would die alone.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 157,026
- Chapters:
- 9/9
- Comments:
- 378
- Kudos:
- 1,113
- Bookmarks:
- 438
- Hits:
- 40,306
Bookmarked by cactikook
03 Feb 2026
-
Tags
Summary
There are tapestries on the walls—in the light, they would show a bright and peaceful forest, teeming with wild beasts, clear springs, and gentle flowers. In the dark, the embroidered trees and animals only appear oppressive and foreboding.
Cloud's dark attire has him blend in seamlessly with those surroundings, and has the subordinates following after him appear as though they're moving shadows.
At the end of the hallway, the stone doors—carved from heavy red marble—slowly open to permit them entry to the throne room beyond.
Or rather, what was the throne room once and is now little more than a gilded prison.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 2,487
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 7
- Kudos:
- 35
- Bookmarks:
- 11
- Hits:
- 400
Bookmarked by cactikook
01 Feb 2026
-
World of the Wolf by deadtimestories
Fandoms: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth (Video Games 2020-2024), Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
25 Jan 2026
Tags
Summary
In each timeline split, one goes well and one goes badly. Statistically speaking, there has to be a timeline where everything goes wrong and everything is lost. But those timelines need to be pruned, sheared off the stronger branches where life still thrives. Cloud Strife is the only reason his current timeline exists. After giving Sephiroth the Black Materia to destroy the world, he's left to wander the barren landscape alone for all eternity. Unable to die because of his own link to Sephiroth, he's keeping this fading timeline open simply by existing. But Gaia needs this timeline gone, so there's only one option: Remove Cloud from it entirely, and hand him over to another.
But this new world is very different from the one he originally comes from. On Gaia's World of the Tree, the most important bond people have is with the planet, while in Odin's World of the Wolf, that honor belongs to the bonds between people. Lifemates and packs, to be precise, so this is going to be interesting.
-----
A.K.A. Cloud Strife is having none of this shit, and you can't make him.
Chapter 1's beginning spints off my fic On Bound and Broken Wings. That's the only OBABW reference though, the rest is standalone.
Series
- Part 1 of The Helianverse
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 198,432
- Chapters:
- 36/36
- Comments:
- 446
- Kudos:
- 664
- Bookmarks:
- 206
- Hits:
- 25,872
Bookmarked by cactikook
30 Jan 2026
-
Tags
Summary
A winter vacation leads Cloud into unexpected closeness with someone he never imagined. This encounter changes everything he thought he knew about trust, connection, and the warmth of being held.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 11,166
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 12
- Kudos:
- 38
- Bookmarks:
- 6
- Hits:
- 231
Bookmarked by cactikook
28 Jan 2026