Hi, new reader here. I really loved this story. There are many element's in this story that I liked. I really appreciated the development of relationships between the different characters. All of them were to some extent quite complex since the feelings were often not mutual and sometimes not so strong. There was an interesting mix of strong emotional bonds and calculated professional relationships.

I thought that the relationship between Vincent, Chaos and Cloud was very intriguing and also on many occasion heartwarming. The Rufus and Yuffie combo was unexpected but very entertaining and hit off surprisingly well though it had very little romance involved despite their marriage, however still leaving plenty of space to grow into something more.

To conclude I think you did an excellent job in your rendition of relationships, managing to bring out many of the subtle elements that composes them. I've come to realise more clearly through this story what a limited vocabulary this language has to describe relationships. I suppose many stories are limited by this as there is a very limited categories that are used for templates and put their characters often in one box or the other. If I were to describe your characters relationship development I'd say you moved them very smoothly around an undefined spectrum. I think Zack, Sephiroth and eventually Clouds relationship depicts this very well as there relationship is so much more then friends but in many ways distinctly not romantic.

The discussion around romantic, sexual relationships and sexuality as a whole was quite enlightening. I really like your approach to it and thought you manage to bring worth a healthy outlook on the whole matter. So I really appreciate this element in this story. I must say I enjoyed Cloud's introduction to gay relationships and who he went looking at all the relationships with a "magnifying glass". Tifa's introduction was also very interesting and I think that Cloud handled it very well.

To say something on the plot. Cloud's death was a huge surprise, and very convincing even with Aries initial disbelief. If it hadn't been for the amount of chapters death and and Cloud's name being the only tag on this story effectively hinting that he is the protagonist I would have completely believed that he would have stayed dead. So well played on that part.

I think you did well on the time progression. Many writers seem to like to rush events, making the plot move along very fast both in chapters and in the stories time. Yours spans over many years though giving the plot a realistic amount of time to unfold. Good job on this front too.

To round of this review here. Your Story has many elements that are very realistic. Lifelike and dynamic relationships, realistic unfolding of events, heartwarming moments and likeable and distinct characters. The genre is well tagged as Drama with many exciting, sad and funny moments. You also discuss some very interesting topics leaving me as a reader with some food for thought. Not only have I received many hours of enjoyment from this story but I also feel that I have been enlightened by it to a certain extent.

Thank you for the time and effort you have put into this story. Thank you for sharing it with everyone on the internet. And thank you for seeing it to the end. And I'll end this review on that note. Thank you :)

Oh man, I blitzed through this whole fic because wow! It was thrilling, suspenseful, cheery and chilling. What a great job you guys did writing it!

Zack's last name is Fair, Sinclair belongs to Reno

I like the quality of writing-usually I can nitpick a bit, even if it's over something petty, like a misused comma, but I'm content.

Good character growth while still reasonably canon, and enjoyable exploration into might-have-been scenarios. Tifa as a turk?

Thank you for sharing your hard work.

Awesome story !

OKay for now beside Cloud beeing a shooing for the Turks I don't see what changed really...

Wow. This was a brilliant story. The relationships between characters were very interesting, and there were some pairings I don't think I've ever seen before: Aeris x Reeve? Yuffie (THAT YUFFIE) x Rufus? Really unique, which isn't a bad thing at all. To be honest, I wondered if you were going to have Tifa go for a female since we saw some hints of it, but she could end up well with Rude (as both types of partner). I loved that you had awkwardness and fighting in the relationships, both friendships and romance, since most fics seem to make the romance all sunshine, rainbows, and cuteness, or really shitty nearly rape/rape fics (where the victim falls for the criminal half the time).

The only real complaint I had about the story is how shitty all of Cloud's relationships went. I mean, he tried dating all sorts and the only ones interested in him are girls he didn't want (because they were after him for his SOLDIER status and not as a person) or guys that he didn't feel comfortable with (it took him a while to get used to the idea of homosexuality, lol. He was pretty innocent for a long time). I completely did expect him to just take up the offer of a one-night thing with one of his random dates at some point (especially considering the one time he did nearly that with his roommate).

Then the two girls he has interest in, Aeris and Tifa, completely obliterate his feelings by calling him a brother. Sorry, still a little bit pissed about Tifa saying that. She acknowledged they were dating, for weeks even, and went on actual dates with him. She should not have called him her brother even if that was how she really felt. You just don't say that about someone you're dating. With Aeris it was understandable because they hadn't really 'dated' per say. Tifa is a different story. Yeah, Cloud was an ass after she said that (which felt pretty OOC for the character you gave him), but he was understandably pissed. She basically lead him on and only admitted to it in front of his best friend (Zack), which is just an additional blow to his pride on top of not seeing him as a romantic interest. She probably would have continued to lead him on if Reno hadn't teased her about it. Tifa's thoughts of not wanting sex were pretty rational, but the way she went around about telling Cloud about it were wrong. I mean, the most he pushed her for was a kiss (which she barely allowed, on the cheek), I think he was more than willing to wait for her to be ready. Honestly, I would have liked to see her date a couple other guys just for comparison, because not all guys are as nice as Cloud. He was a perfect gentleman on their first date, did nothing more than hold her hand and try one goodnight kiss, I imagine most of their other dates were similar. Oh well, I'm just going to blame Zack for the whole debacle. If he hadn't suggested that Cloud give her a chance, he probably wouldn't have had to deal with that mess. He would have stayed friends with her and probably not considered her (or at least, not that fast) giving her more time to adjust to Midgar and lose some of her naivete, maybe date around a little. Then Cloud and Tifa might have been able to pursue a relationship together while being more mature, meaning she probably wouldn't have lead him on if she didn't have feelings for him. It's just a shame because I always saw Cloud x Tifa potential, but that was ruined by how horrible their short-term dating ended.

Anyway, Cloud continually rejecting others and being rejected, then people who are interested in him find someone else. His first real kiss was disappointing in many ways, it was just done to try it more than anything else with the potential to have physical release more than out of any romantic attraction and then it was interrupted and ended so suddenly. It's understandable because this is a life fic, but still, the other person could have been a little more considerate. I mean... who makes out with someone(and offers possible sex) right before a date with someone else?

I was honestly a little surprised there wasn't more ex-girl/boyfriend drama. Not that it's a bad thing, but considering all the other 'life' scenarios in the story, it would have fit. Not that most of the characters even HAD serious exes, besides Zack and Aeris. It also would have been nice for Cloud to have a semi-serious relationship with someone, if only to possibly bring jealousy (or not) to a different person. Like, if he had dated a girl and Tifa got Zack got jealous, it would show some feelings for Cloud, whereas NOT getting jealous would show they don't care about him that way. Even still, some people get jealous over losing the attention, even if they DON'T return the feelings of the one in question.

I had seen the hints of ZackXSephXCloud, so I wasn't surprised at that outcome (even if we didn't get a scene of it and it was only hinted), but I was a little disappointed there wasn't more Reno. It would have been nice for Reno to be after Cloud for a bit, if only because Reno is completely shameless and never learns lessons that he should.

Also, I liked the Vincent/Cloud father/son relationship. I was glad it didn't turn out romantic, though that would have been interesting too, especially with Chaos (there should have been more Chaos, btw).

The ending was good in many ways, it leaves it open to reader imagination whether things work out or not. I imagine they do because those three have strong bonds of blood/battle/as well as their uniqueness. Things would probably be hard from time to time, but Zack's too stubborn not to try to make things work, Seph is too calculating to let something he wants go, and Cloud is too forgiving to stay gone for long. Plus I just really want them to have a happy ending, considering all the shit they went through. Seph and Cloud especially can bond over their tortures from Hojo. Zack and Cloud by their being taken over by Jenova, and Seph and Zack because of how long they've spent together.

I spent this entire long ass review talking about the relationships... Ummm... the plot was good too. Anyway, thanks for a great read.

It's been a really long time since I've read a fic that I enjoyed this much. I really loved the whole thing, and I will most likely end up reading it again some time in the future. I'm kind of sad that it's over, but at the same time I'm grinning like an idiot over how much I love the ending. Thank you so much, the both of you, for writing and posting this fic. It's been a wonderful experience.

Vincent's a teetolar, isn't he? Otherwise, he'd realize that most of the chocobos are named after alcoholic beverages. Mako poisoned Cloud sounds a lot like Kadaj from Advent Children.

fantastic!

Cloud is such a sweet boy *coos* Why can't my cousins be that cute?! *roar* I'm surrounded by monkeys and sheep *growls* At least the sheep are fluffy, if idiotic...

I wonder if Cloud will end up using ballistic weapons or if he'll find his way to a sword. Looking forward to finding out!

This is amazing. Be proud.

I'm a little confused here. You said you'd be ignoring the compilation, yet you've got Veld in charge of the Turks, despite him being a Before Crisis character. Did you get sucked in regardless? ;)
Anyway, this is pretty amazing stuff. I'm surprised I never stumbled upon this before.

'Sinclair' somehow suits Zack more than 'Fair'. Just a bit. Can't quite explain why, it just seems a wee bit more Zack-y. If there's going to be a surname Zack's gonna be stuck with till the end of the story other than his canon one, 'Sinclair' imo is great ..just felt the need to praise the naming choices :)