got any fun crisis core headcanons you wanna share? well... "fun" maybe not being the best word but u get me!
Hell yes. A few, actually! (I cry think about CC far too much tbh.)
Sorry this took so long to reply to! I actually had this written out and then realized it was kind of a bullet-point guideline for one specific scenario (how Angeal and Genesis met Sephiroth) and I wanted to try and include (at least) Zack and Cloud, as well. I kind of started on these and I couldn’t stop, and then life happened, and then uh…yeah. I hope the length makes up for the wait! (:
Note: I’ve intentionally messed with ages/the timeline/canon a bit, but not too heavily.
Edit: Tags updated since the ‘read more’ line apparently isn’t working. Sigh.
Contrary to popular belief, Sephiroth does not entirely lack a sense of humor — it’s just incredibly subtle. He finds Reno to be far too crass, but actually enjoys Tseng’s dry humor very much. Additionally, and funnily enough, he actually enjoys Genesis’ sarcasm, once he was around it for long enough to pick up on it.
This type of humor actually has led to an extremely subtle ‘prank war’ of sorts — office items moved slightly to the right, items being glued down, the general and commander’s office door name plates being replaced with ‘restroom’ and ‘janitorial’ plates, respectively. The two have a silent but mutual, unspoken understanding that there is no ceasefire unless Angeal intervenes.
Angeal, however, is incredibly observant —much more so than he’s given credit for. He picked up on what Seph and Gen were doing by day two into their ‘war’, but was too entertained to stop either of them. Unless swords or materia got broken out, then he had no plans on saying anything. It gives him more time to sort through all the files of 2nd class mentee hopefuls and water his plants, anyway.
However, he does put a stop to things, finally, when the very tiny, banged up choco— cadet (there is no way that kid was old enough, did ShinRa lower the enlistment age again? He’d have to look into it..) sent to him for punishment duty opened the wrong door looking for cleaning supplies, expressing audible shock at the sight of the other First Class commander lazing on his office couch like a particularly red Cuahl, LOVELESS in hand. The poor kid is almost flambéed in the doorway for startling Genesis out of his nap.
Zack ran away from home to chase his dreams of being a hero. Despite his young (unbeknownst to everyone else) age, he is a rising star within the program, even with his lack of an attention span and hyperactivity. Angeal knows who he wants as his mentee, 3rd class and excess energy be damned. The moment he hears Zack talking about his dream of being a hero while helping the little blonde cadet — once again on punishment duty and even more bruised up than before — put away his cleaning supplies, Angeal knew his search was over. While 3rds, as a general unspoken rule, were usually not seriously considered for mentorships meant for 2nds, the commander was just about ready to fight tooth and nail to be allowed to make the offer this kid.
(Also, speaking of the cadet — Angeal needed to remember that kid’s name. Cadet Chocobo was quickly becoming a familar face to the raven-haired Commander from all the punishment duty, and the amount of bruises on him along with his small stature didn’t strike him as fitting someone being labeled as an ‘instigator’ by his instructors. The entire situation sat poorly with Angeal.)
The deal was sealed when Zack is assigned to Angeal as backup for a standard monster clearing mission in the slums. While the mission itself is unremarkable, the pair find themselves walking back through the Wall Market together, in no rush to get back to the tower. Zack sees a young girl, slightly short on gil, trying to haggle with a vendor over the price of some weird, bluish-purple fruit (…apple?) that he’s never seen before, and ends up trotting over and paying for the fruit for her. Angeal is touched by the gesture, seeing a young version of himself in the girl.
When asked why he did that, Zack merely shrugs it off. “I don’t think being a hero is always about swinging a sword,” the teen says casually. He pauses, searching for the the right words and looks at Angeal, sheepishly, who’s staring back at him intensely. “I think it’s about helping the people who need help, no matter what.”
Gaining Angeal as a mentor is one of the best days of Zack’s life, if you were to ask him. However, it’s not without its drawbacks — all of which Zack is adamant about keeping from Angeal. He likes to think the best of people, even if it makes him appear gullible. However, whispers of nepotism (they really do look related, dont they?) still begin to float around. Angeal has his suspicions, but doesn’t want to hurt his new mentee’s pride and simply asks Zack to tell him if something is happening. Zack doesn’t, and endures the rumors and hazing, but it all boils to a head one particularly disastrous night in which he is knocked into the slums and goes missing for two days. This is where he meets Aerith, the girl who watched over him while he was unconscious. Some hard truths are revealed upon his return to headquarters. This is how Zack ends up living with Angeal.
While Genesis is highly skeptical of Zack as Angeal’s mentee and brutal in his criticisms, he does soften towards the 3rd. Angeal’s puppy, in an effort to befriend Genesis, actually read LOVELESS. And although he retained very little, Gen couldn’t find it in himself to say anything. He’d never show it, though.
Unfortunately, Angeal and his, quite frankly, freakish powers of observance absolutely notices the slight softening in Gen’s expression around his eyes when the puppy would try (and often fail) to make a LOVELESS reference when speaking to him — Gen’s catty-yet-heatless remarks when Zack would butcher a quote couldn’t hide that. It didn’t help that the battered copy of the book Zack had returned with after a trip below the plate often ended up resting on top of his face when he’d fall asleep — Angeal often plucked it off his face and would bookmark the page when he’d check on his mentee at night. It was a habit he’d picked up when dealing with a nightmare-prone Gen as children, and one that had returned when he and Gen had met a much younger Sephiroth.
(Yes, he was aware the he was essentially tucking his mentee in for bed, but Zack was just a kid and deserved some of the comforts of being treated like a kid, sometimes.)
Zack is both incredibly thoughtful and completely clueless. Sometimes both, at once. He enjoys bringing back little gifts for friends from his missions — particularly Angeal and a ‘Spiky’ that Angeal assumes he has yet to meet. He tends to bring back wild flowers and plants for Angeal that, more often than not, the 1st has enjoyed adding to his office, balcony, and various locations around the SOLDIER floor.
However, the find Zack is most proud of is a large flowering plant with long vines — so much so that he proudly trots into Angeal’s office to present it to his mentor, covered head-to-toe in grime and muck (to the point that Genesis and Sephiroth peer out of their offices in an attempt to locate the offensive smell). Angeal pales a little on sight of the extremely obvious young Marlboro his protégé has potted and is currently ‘gifting’ to him. He tries to play it down, but makes a mental note to pass it off the ‘gift’ Genesis to take down to the labs when he heads that way, later.
…It should be no surprise that Genesis ‘re-gifted’ the Marlboro to Sephiroth instead of getting rid of it. Surely the general of SOLDIER could fend off a little Marlboro, right? Ripples form on the water’s surface..
The entire ordeal is mostly forgotten, and Angeal, feeling immense sympathy for the blonde cadet yet again on punishment duty (this time with an impressive black eye), simply asks him to water all of his plants along with the ones he sees on their floor. The cadet seems taken aback by the leniency, but is grateful for the break. He carries out his task, but is shocked silent when Sephiroth himself catches him and asks him if he could include the plant in his office.
This is how Cloud officially meets his hero. He is speechless at first, and a little unnerved at how the general is curiously staring at his eye, but one look behind Sephiroth at the poor, sad wilting plant in the general’s office makes Cloud agree. It was likely one of Commander Hewley’s, anyway.
The interaction leads to Sephiroth becoming familiar enough with “Cadet Strife” to actually greet the blond when he knocks to enter the general’s office. The cadet is clearly starstruck, but incredibly polite and quiet, and Sephiroth respects that.
Even less surprisingly, due to Cloud’s attention to the plant (Sephiroth is not perfect, and is certainly not adept at horticulture), the growing Marlboro escapes one day, leaving only a confused cadet (and later, a confused general), an empty planter, and a small dirt trail behind.
Even less surprising than before: the rogue Marlboro, while ferocious, is still pretty small (as far as Marlboro’s go, anyway). So, it’s no shocker that it goes after the smallest target it sees— in this case, it’s the undersized, chocobo-haired cadet who is on punishment duty for the umpteenth time this month.
Angeal hears a commotion in the hall, punctuated by a yell of ‘SPIKY! Hold on!!’ from what could only be his student. He slowly rises from his desk at the sound of yelling, but the cut off cry of ‘WHAT THE FUCK IS A MARLBORO DOING H-‘ has him nearly turning over his desk to get out the door.
Contrary to popular belief, Angeal Hewley’s agility is nothing to snuff at. He tears down the hallways after the sounds of commotion at a speed that would stun even Genesis.
Unfortunately Angeal, in his rush, did not bring a weapon to the ‘party’, and focuses on the saving his student that the Marlboro was currently trying to strangle and the cadet it was chomping on the hair of, trying to eat.
Genesis, luckily, steps off the elevator moments later. Firaga always on hand, he is able to quickly reduce the thing to mulch without harming the choco-cadet or Angeal’s puppy (well, aside from some minor, intentional hair-singing).
Sephiroth is late to party entirely, with Masamune in hand (and almost entirely impractical in such a narrow hallway) and cannot help but feel a deep sense of loss that his would-be attacker was not finished off by his hand. He cannot help but think of what a thoughtful gift Genesis has given him. A wonderful idea for a training exercise.
Cloud decided to thank Genesis for saving him, because he knew the crimson 1st didn’t care for cadets. At all. And with all the classes he’d missed due to punishment detail for hazing bullshit he was on the receiving end of, he figured he didn’t have much time left at ShinRa, anyway. He should probably try and sell the one materia he had stashed away for gil in order to survive until he had a better plan (or any plan, really), but his ma always told him it was important to show gratitude — especially since Strifes were not often shown kindness. Plus, Genesis was the materia master, he would be happier knowing it was put to good use, even if it meant a couple of missed meals.
Cloud is relieved, when he knocks on the crimson commander’s office, that he’s told to come in and isn’t greeted with any kind of fire to the face. However, his gift is brushed off when Genesis waves off his thank you and tells him to leave the materia on the shelf without so much as glancing up from his paperwork.
Genesis is thoroughly surprised when he spares a glance at the materia later, and doubly so to discover it’s Odin — one of the few summons he’s been missing. How on Gaia did that little chocobo get ahold of a summon like this?
Genesis cannot help the guilt bubbling up in his chest as he rolls the Odin summon over in his un-gloved hand. He realizes he can’t keep it if he wants to ever sleep at night — it was clear the cadet didn’t have much to his name, and, if he couldn’t bear to take anything from Angeal when they were both children, he can’t take something like this from a cadet in a similar situation as an adult.
He gets Angeal to give him the cadets barracks number — unsurprised that Angeal had already pulled the kid’s file. “You may want to go soon,” the dark haired first said, chewing his bottom lip in clear disappointment and frustration, “because I’m positive they’re going to cut him in the next few days.” When Genesis raised an elegant eyebrow at the obviously unfinished thought, Angeal continues. “He caught a bad break.. more than a few, really. But none of us have control over which cadets gets cut.”
Genesis decides to head to the barracks after speaking with Angeal. Might as well get it over with. He finds the cadet nursing a newly split lip and reading, much to his surprise and utter delight, LOVELESS. Genesis instantly begins hounding the cadet about the poem, and, while under-educated, the cadet — no, Cloud — knew it like back of his hand and enjoyed it. Could discuss it. It used to be one of his mother’s favorites to read to him and was one of the few books from the Eastern Continent translated into Old Nibel.
Genesis is impressed to learn that he has been using the poem to teach himself the Common language of the Eastern Continent, and is genuinely intrigued when the cadet also agrees to show the red commander his copy that was in his native tongue. However, he notices the cadet wincing as he moves. This leads to a conversation that results in Genesis practically moving Cloud out of his barracks and into his apartment that night.
He doesn’t even wait until the morning, and bursts into Angeal’s apartment after midnight to ask what paperwork was needed to take on a student, scaring the shit out of his childhood friend and said friend’s puppy. The commotion is so loud Sephiroth even ends up investigating, appearing so silently that he scares the shit out Genesis and makes Angeal and Zack jump for a second time.
It’s true that none of the 1sts had control over which cadets get cut, but they had near full control over who they could take on as an apprentice. And while Genesis taking on a cadet, in an unprecedented move, would in theory take quite a bit of arguing… well. No one wants to argue against Genesis Rhapsodos.
Sephiroth made it a point to pop into Gen’s office while Angeal is in there a few days later to thank him for the ‘gift’, calling it the ultimate preparedness training exercise. The general found it absolutely thrilling to be so completely unaware of an enemy being that close to potentially attacking and attempting to kill him in his own office. He finds it incredibly thoughtful and thanks Gen again as he leaves, while Gen simply blank stares the silverette’s back. .
“Infinite in mystery…” Genesis mumbles to himself, refusing to meet the absolutely scathing look he could feel Angeal giving him now that all of the puzzle pieces have fallen into place.
Finally (Bonus): While it’s commonly believed that the Department of Administrative Research houses the best spies and information gatherers ShinRa has to offer, the real ‘spy of spies’ and threat to all of the company’s dirty little secrets is SOLDIER 2nd Kunsel. At any given moment, Kunsel is just a hair’s breadth from discovering everything. In a much, much happier version of the timeline, he does (that’ll teach the Turks for rejecting him).
Bonus #2 (because idk what ‘finally’ means apparently): Aerith accidentally mistakes another black-haired SOLDIER for her new (kind-of) friend, Zack, one day. She calls out Zack’s name and approaches him from behind only to be greeted (and startled) by a similarly handsome face (albeit with much sharper features than her friend’s). Her first instinct is to turn and run, but the man asks her if she was looking for Zack Fair. She nods slowly, cautiously, and the man smiles and introduces himself as Angeal Hewley, Zack’s mentor.
Aerith recognizes the name (Zack talks about him a lot, after all), and the two hit it off, especially when she mentions gardening and how Zack is trying to learn a few things to impress his mentor — and to be able to recognize harmless plants to being back from missions as gifts (Angeal found himself suppressing a snort and an eyeroll at the flower girl recounted Zack’s… slightly embellished… version of the Marlboro disaster).
The commander can feel a new layer of fondness forming for his student… well, at least until Aerith asks when his mentee is free so that he can fix the roof her church that he fell through and bring her copy of LOVELESS back.
Angeal can instantly feel himself fucking graying just a little more, wondering just when and how Zack managed to fall from the upper plate into the slums. The 2nd is nearly always with him, and he surely didn’t hadn’t done something as dishonorable as knocking Zack off the plate at any point.
Meanwhile, somewhere above the plate, Zack Fair couldn’t stop sneezing.
Bonus #3 (jfc I’m sorry): Cloud does eventually tell Genesis about how half a monster is still potentially wandering around the old ShinRa manner in his hometown (he’d defeated half of it by summoning Odin, even if it knocked him out for nearly two days afterward — this potential was what cemetented Genesis’ decision to take on a student). All three 1sts find this statement about half a monster in ShinRa territory concerning, and it prompts the trio to make an emergency (off-the-records) trip to the old manor. Upon entering the front door, though, they’re not greeted by any monster — just a man in a red cape and cowl perched on the stairs in the main hall. He looks them over while approaching, the look in his eyes full of something far older.
“You look just like your mother.”
