I have a lot of travel time with which to do little else besides think. Talking people down takes.. a certain skillset. I know it's taught to the military police, de-escalation is important when dealing with civilians but.. I don't think SOLDIER gets any such thing.
[How many people has Zack tried to convince not to do a murder?]
That sounds right. Even negotiating is supposed to be left to others. ... I suppose it can't be helped.
[not a skill he thinks he'll need much going forward but he did know there was a .. certain lack.]
Hopefully trying means some good. One way or another there's a lot to do and even if what to do about her is ambiguous, there's no such worries about the likes of Shinra's science department.
[Zack can't help sounding a little skeptical about it, though. No slight on Sephiroth, more like an uncertainty that anything Thirteen could teach would be effective against the singularly-minded destructiveness that he's heard about when it comes to Jenova. Could be that nothing anybody teaches would work.]
Trying's gotta be good, whatever happens. I mean. If we fail or fuck up, I'd feel better for trying than giving up.
['Ever' would be right. He knows what he was created to do, and genuine 'heroics', and making anyone proud of him wasn't part of that. Who takes pride in a weapon except the craftsman, and wasn't even that about the skill that made it?
But it's still ... good, in an unfamiliar kind of way. Vincent certainly cared, there was no doubt about that, but so much gets hidden behind that cloak's high collar and stoic demeanor. The futility of fate, the weight of sins.. they could commiserate over the pain of fate, but change it? He took great comfort in the man's presence, but it hadn't been an encouraging one. A place of safety to retreat to when the pain got too much. A place of no judgment when he failed.
But that wasn't hope.]
I.. think you're the only one who believes .. that I can do anything good at all. [Anything that could help change anything that happens, from Shinra to Jenova.] Even Vincent didn't really think that I'd..
[It's about what Zack had expected, though he wished it wasn't so. (Damn, Vincent, seriously? Couldn't give the kid an encouraging word? Well, that tracks with what Zack knows of his personality... anyway.)]
Well, we're all kinda idiots in different ways. But I was taught that the most important thing to have, if you wanna succeed, is hopes and dreams. Your world, and your future, has a chance. And a dream. But we gotta hope, to get there. So I'm gonna hope that you can do it.
[And if he can't? Well, he tried. And Zack's still proud of him for that.]
[That hopes were for fools and dreams moreso, rely on quantifiable fact. The science department occasionally had lessons that did seem to match up with life experience, and that one had held true.
It couldn't hurt to try something different, and this didn't require him pulling friends out of thin air that he'd then risk the lives of or outright kill himself.]
You were taught by a bunch of Shinra jerks. Time for new lessons.
[He's... ideally helping with that, if he can. Wherever he can. He thinks it'd make Angeal happy, if his legacy and mentality could carry forward (backward?) and help a younger version of his friend. It's the sort of thing that guy would appreciate.]
Yeah, we'll see. I'm looking forward to it. [To good things. (For once. He can hope.)]
Terrible people can still do things right sometimes. I'm sure they'll be less pleased with their instructions when it's used against them.
[Shinra wanted a weapon, that's what they'd get!
Maybe it wasn't something to be grateful for, but he was, albeit in a different way than how the thought felt that Zack was proud of him whether or not he was successful.]
If there's little else, I should finish some things before morning. Please stay safe.
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[How many people has Zack tried to convince not to do a murder?]
... If it helps, I haven't ever succeeded either.
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[Oh, buddy. So many. (Like, okay. At least three. But they were an important three!)]
At least you're trying. Or... trying to try.
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[not a skill he thinks he'll need much going forward but he did know there was a .. certain lack.]
Hopefully trying means some good. One way or another there's a lot to do and even if what to do about her is ambiguous, there's no such worries about the likes of Shinra's science department.
no subject
[Zack can't help sounding a little skeptical about it, though. No slight on Sephiroth, more like an uncertainty that anything Thirteen could teach would be effective against the singularly-minded destructiveness that he's heard about when it comes to Jenova. Could be that nothing anybody teaches would work.]
Trying's gotta be good, whatever happens. I mean. If we fail or fuck up, I'd feel better for trying than giving up.
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Either way, I'm not giving up. If I can keep even one person alive who's 'meant' to die it's worth it.
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[There's definitely a smile in his voice.]
Hey, you know? I'm proud of you.
[Kid surely doesn't hear that sort of thing enough. Or maybe, like. Ever.]
since i'm just lying here waiting for my surgeon.. so.. hungry..
But it's still ... good, in an unfamiliar kind of way. Vincent certainly cared, there was no doubt about that, but so much gets hidden behind that cloak's high collar and stoic demeanor. The futility of fate, the weight of sins.. they could commiserate over the pain of fate, but change it? He took great comfort in the man's presence, but it hadn't been an encouraging one. A place of safety to retreat to when the pain got too much. A place of no judgment when he failed.
But that wasn't hope.]
I.. think you're the only one who believes .. that I can do anything good at all. [Anything that could help change anything that happens, from Shinra to Jenova.] Even Vincent didn't really think that I'd..
... Thank you.
eat a whole surgeon
Well, we're all kinda idiots in different ways. But I was taught that the most important thing to have, if you wanna succeed, is hopes and dreams. Your world, and your future, has a chance. And a dream. But we gotta hope, to get there. So I'm gonna hope that you can do it.
[And if he can't? Well, he tried. And Zack's still proud of him for that.]
tastes like expensive indian takeout
[That hopes were for fools and dreams moreso, rely on quantifiable fact. The science department occasionally had lessons that did seem to match up with life experience, and that one had held true.
It couldn't hurt to try something different, and this didn't require him pulling friends out of thin air that he'd then risk the lives of or outright kill himself.]
I guess we'll see if it works.
spicy
[He's... ideally helping with that, if he can. Wherever he can. He thinks it'd make Angeal happy, if his legacy and mentality could carry forward (backward?) and help a younger version of his friend. It's the sort of thing that guy would appreciate.]
Yeah, we'll see. I'm looking forward to it. [To good things. (For once. He can hope.)]
no subject
[Shinra wanted a weapon, that's what they'd get!
Maybe it wasn't something to be grateful for, but he was, albeit in a different way than how the thought felt that Zack was proud of him whether or not he was successful.]
If there's little else, I should finish some things before morning. Please stay safe.
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You too, man. Talk to you later.
[Good talk?? Good talk. Surely the Jenova stuff won't come back to bite them!]