tseng & zack’s friendship - a thread by me, megs aka tseng’s scrunchie; for self-care and sadness hehe

first of all, i would like to say that crisis core is easily one of my most favourite things, it has brought so many happy moments into my life, so doing an in-depth (?) look into two of my favourite characters is so important to me!

i am going to start by saying that, even when they first meet, tseng and zack form this, i wanna say immediate??? bond! for one, tseng teases zack about approaching sephiroth regarding a concern with being given more of his assignments

this playful side to tseng is seen as one of the reasons why tseng before the main events of og ff7 is seen as “immature” lmao he’s just happy to be around people he trusts, and this is highlighting a concept that zack brings out the best in pretty much EVERYONE

and i cannot forget this sweet little moment, look at his playful cute smile this is also the first time the player is introduced to tseng in this manner, so its very odd(?) compared to how he is in the og (though he can have his cheeky moments there also!!)

okay so, shortly after this we move onto the mission regarding an analysis into angeal and genesis’ past & their significance with each other, zack learns more about the harshness of the turk’s jobs and feels empathy and ofc we get this classic one-liner! love his banter sm!!

tseng clearly feels comfortable around zack, zack always makes people feel safe enough to be themselves bc of his calming personality and eagerness to co-operate with you, it must be a breath of fresh air to tseng who is somewhat a newbie to becoming director at this point(?)

anyways! heres where i began to notice tseng taking insight to zack’s moral compass; this discussion! it’s so important! tseng asks about reasoning with angeal and zack explains his understanding of it all and tseng says this its just so sweet i love this whole exchange.

what i love about it is tseng’s whole understanding and his sudden empathy towards the soldiers, something a turk probably shouldn’t do considering they have to do unjust things day in and day out. zack literally bringing in more humanity. it sounds so silly saying it like this

but i just love how much zack brings out a different side to him, its so sweet and i think he begins to realise this for himself too.

which is why the clip i used at the beginning of the thread means so much, at first he laughs off zack’s declaration of trust because he cant believe hes trusting a turk (probably)

but the look on his face when zack leaves him after he says he’ll take care of aerith..... knowing what eventually happens in years to come it hurts even more... the disbelief in his face its just. wheeew

tseng already knowing that he has business with aerith and shinra prior to him working with zack is probably a pain and a burden all on its own, but tseng only wants whats best for aerith therefore aerith only co-operates with shinra on her own terms because thats the only way

this is partially why tseng probably assumes he can take on the task of looking after aerith not only for himself but for zack too, someone else he’s grown to trust whilst working with them.

Another important issue is the fact that, not only he but Cissnei also, has developed a strong devotion and connection to Zack. And knowing that Zack had that affect on people only worried him even more. Which is why Tseng asking Cissnei to go against orders probably

hurt him to say, Even though Cissnei found Zack on a beach with Zack and pretended to lose her target moments prior to this anyways.

During the short episode/film last order, the entirety of it is seemingly narrated by Tseng and were informed of how the Turks observed the chase between Zack and Cloud and the rest of Shinra. Tseng assured Cissnei to bring them back alive. Reno and Rude helped out too.

Tseng never stopped analysing the chases. Day in and day out he was closely monitoring Zack. Making sure nothing would happen to him. Literally making it a top priority. Last order even shows Tseng speaking to Hojo after zack and cloud are taken

Which was so very interesting to me? I think i remember, even Hojo was shocked Tseng showed concern, esp with him just turning into an important member of the turks. Their leader.

Its important to remember that Tseng went against duty in before crisis too because he felt he always needed to do what was right and he would bury that burden moments later again.

Tsengs importance to Zack and Aerith means that he has on his person, probably, Aerith’s letters to Zack. And he probably still has them. He wanted to fulfil that one duty one last time. Just to make his friends happy. Because he knew how much they meant to each other

Thats why he tried so hard to save Zack. Not only for himself, but so Aerith could trust him too so he could carry out his own mission whilst simultaneously taking on his own extra burden because why should someone else do it if he can do it himself and not worry anyone else

tw zack’s death //

so zack’s passing hit Tseng like a tonne of bricks. Not only did he go against his orders again and fail, but he got too attached. Tseng losing Zack stopped him in his tracks. But, considering his job, all he could do was grin and bare it and do what

He needed to do which was make sure Aerith somehow comes around and willingly helps out Shinra. But how could he do that knowing Shinra took away the one thing Aerith cared about more than hee flowers?! You know?! Probably leads to Tseng’s irrational decisions in the og

Aerith probably realised all of this when Tseng is terribly injured to the point of almost dying in the temple of ancients. Thats probably why she weeps for him. Because Tseng wasn’t bad. He just had conflicting morals and couldnt put that before his duties as director.

In the remake, in the office of general affairs, Tseng even mentions that the turks had to drop the plate so no-one else had to do it; i discussed this parallel before hand here

i noticed the remake took a slight nod to tseng’s experiences with zack in crisis core https://twitter.com/tsengcore/status/1292044135441063936

this was so intriguing to me, considering the way the remake ended

the way tseng was relieved and reluctant to take in Aerith in the remake also made me see reflections of crisis core Tseng. We see an innocence and regret in his eyes when he realises he’s seeing her again. Almost like he can remember everything that occurred with Zack

thats why his smile is sort of like, idk its like cheeky but also he’s like reminiscing(?) but hes close to completing his own mission so i guess hes happy about that.

This is probably what leads him to tell reno and rude that they spared someone else of that burden. Because seeing Aerith reminded him of his times with Zack.

To conclude, Zack impacted Tseng a lot by (similarly to Veld but on a friendship level) showing him theres more to life than your duties on your job. There’s a life to have, people to meet and stories to tell etc.

Zack’s death is probably why Tseng feels the need to go on and complete tasks without thinking, ao he can prove to himself he can do his job without losing anyone else. That, and his attachment to Aerith. But in a different manner.

He DID promise Zack he’d look after her. This then leads me to think his side eyed smile is partial relief she’s back in his hands. Only, unfortunately, that means she’s in Shinra’s hands too. So he can’t win.

Okay ill end this thread here by saying that I think Zack showed Tseng a new side to him. And for that, Tseng questions himself and everyone else around him. He begins to understand why Rufus is so against his father etc. Zack was a healthy figure in his life.

Their friendship just warmed my heart and they cared so much for each other - ive probably repeated myself several times or my expression was poor but thread over! Im done, i love Zack and Tseng’s friendship so much