Streets are filled with --

Cardinal Rules (1888 words) by karanguni
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Tseng/Rufus
Characters: Tseng, Rufus
Series: Part 3 of A Few Good Men
Summary:

'I get the feeling,' he said to Tseng, 'that you don't normally go around telling upstart heirs to the Shinra empire exactly how its internal affairs work.' Rufus eyes flicked around the room. 'I also have a funny sense that the cameras here are going to be looping unremarkable footage of me puttering around.'

One morning I woke up and realised I could make Rufus terrifying. My life has not been the same since. Many thanks to pere_chan and dnatio_memoriae for flailing through betajobs, and much has changed since - though, since it's me, not necessarily for the better... With these boys I think "worse" is always a better option.

If Talking Were Effective, Yelling Would Be Academic (1/?)

Fandom: FFVII/FFXII nasdack AU
Characters: Rufus, Balthier, Tseng; Cast of Office Gawkers: Reno, Rude, Elena
Rating: PG13
Summary: Rufus, Enfant Terrifying. Since it would be bad advice to tell any of them to talk things out, Rufus opts for alternatives.

3275 words of ?!?!

'Draw,' Rufus saysore slowly, rolling up the cuffs of his pristinely pressed white shirt with his ringed fingers, 'the shutters.'

The Business of Fear

Fandom: Final Fantasy VII (OGC)/Highlander (/Baccano!)
Characters: Rufus, Methos; cameos by Tseng and Luck
Rating: Soft R
Summary: Rufus needs men who are know something of the business of fear.

Notes: Runs in the same line as New Men (Baccano!/Final Fantasy VII), but you don't need to read it to read this! Written for the no_true_pair prompt: Rufus is bound and blinded -- does Methos try to help, or take advantage of the situation?

4952 words and Rufus doing some recruiting!

( Hide and seek is something Methos has come to be good at over the years, but he has absolutely no illusions about playing against the Shinra Company. )

Caveat lector: I played around a bit with this piece, because I took a look at what I'd written for Tseng thus far and asked myself if I could honestly, honestly answer the question of why he seems - for the most part, with no truly contradictory evidence - to be at the very least amoral, and at the very worst outright evil, during the course of the original game canon. I wanted to find an answer that had him unashamed, and unrelenting, and true to the badassery of evil just being evil, and not caring if evil is a true enough name or not. And then, uh, Rufus-the-megalomaniac. Way to go, no explanation there either.

WELL, I TRIED. BUT I'M NOT THAT PROFOUND, SO YOU GET THIS PIECE OF WEIRD FIC. 8D NOW I GO HIDE, USING THE EXCUSE THAT IT'S FRIDAY THE 13TH, THEREFORE I AM ALLOWED TO USE ALL SORTS OF WEIRD ELEMENTS IN THIS FIC.

In intervening years

Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Characters: Tseng, Rufus
Rating: PG
Summary: Sector Seven burns below. Then Tseng is paid his due rights: for loyalty, and trust, and the practice of looking for some small freedom.

Every day I examine my character in three aspects:
I am disloyal in my designs for others;
I am untrustworthy in my dealings with friends;
I have failed to practice what have been passed on to me.

(taken, and warped, from another Tseng - this one a Zen master.)
Warnings: Some Before Crisis and Crisis Core knowledge would be superbly helpful, but it's not essential, and a little note is attached under the cut at the end of the fic to try and compensate.

1512 words and an extremely, extremely experimental style here: this is not your normal Tseng speaking! Also, I apologise to several Roman emperors for stealing their cool.

( This is how loyalty is rewarded, as Tseng has seen out through to the latter days )

So, who's the crazy person who has decided to give as many people on the flist a present as she can? I AM! *BEAMS* In the spirit of the new year and attempting to kick my ass back into action. I've taken what prompts you guys have given me over the last however-many-times-I-decided-to-click-previous-entries, and have spun what I can. Happy new year! ♥ from this side of the universe.

dnatio_memoriae generously donated her art skillz for a couple of these, and may be contributing more in the morning! IS THE WORLD NOT A BEAUTIFUL PLACE. OH YES, IT IS. ♥

( numinicious - Lucifer (Lucifer, postcard) )

( dnatio_memoriae: Baccano! (Luck, Claire, writing on the wall) )

( white_jenna: Final Fantasy VII (Tseng, cocktail napkin) )

( muse_lightning: nasdack FFVII AU (Tseng, Elena, post-its) )

( knightlineninja: Cowboy Bebop (Spike, short letter) )

( voksen: Baccano! (Czes, longhand letter) )

( logistika_nyx: nasdack AU (Elena/Tseng: he's full of wishful thinking) )

( misura: nasdack AU (Dark Nation, Rufus) )

If you feel you have been deprived a present, feel free to dump a prompt of any sort on me! After all, Chinese New Year (ha! coming from me, least traditional of people!) lasts a good long while, technically! :D Right now I am going to lean back in my seat and let my eyes explode for a while. ♥

Restorations, Interlude II

Rating: PG
Characters: Tseng, Rufus, Veld.
Summary: By the end of the world, there were more scars on Tseng than there was skin.
Warnings: Foruth part in the Restorations Arc. Post-Advent Children, with references to Before Crisis.

Part I Interlude I Part II

2197 words, and more Tseng backstory than I really should ever shake a stick at.

( Dying, to Tseng, was a job best done neatly.  )

V. tired. Exams in less than 30 hours. Going to go sleep and wake up to study like mad. May not be extremely responsive for the next fortnight. ♥ to everyone. Sleeeep.

Non-disclosure

Fandom: FFXII/FFVII (Stockmarket AU)
Characters: implied Tseng/Rufus, Balthier/Tseng
Rating: PG13
Summary: Balthier wants to know more than Tseng wants to tell. Post-original canon.

Functional explanation: I need to stop torturing the other guys with Tseng, yes I do. Shortfic!

1339 words and me copping out in exchange for staying sane. \o

( 'I'd say that anyone who tries to guard you must be insane,' Balthier replies. )

The dirty deed is done, my friends. The stockmarket AU is done - rewritten in some parts, and with... a lot of words added on. It's worth your while to read it from beginning up even if you followed the original! :D :D Very worth it.

Fandom: Final Fantasy VII/Final Fantasy XII/The Stockmarket
Characters: Balthier/Tseng, Rufus/Tseng
Rating: Hard R overall
Summary: Tseng's in New York, Balthier's in London, and Rufus is in the sky as the world burns around them. Hedging on futures can be such tricky things.
Functional explanation: The stock markets exploded. Balthier, Rufus and Tseng are hot. More excuses here.
Inflicted upon the world by: logistika_nyx and karanguni

Part 1: Is that a trust fund in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

Part 2: Some Things You Can't Buy, For Everything Else There's The Theoretical Joint Bunansa-Shinra Empire

Part 3: Or, How Tseng Teaches Us To Stop Worrying And Love The Platinum Credit Card

2558 words on the first, 6907 words on the second, 8988 words on the third and more of... everything all around! \o\

Do follow nasdack for immediate futures (okay, stopping with the financial puns now) and great profits. :D THE AU DOES NOT END HERE.

IT'S GROWING INTO SOME BIZARRE KIND OF MONSTER. I warn you. I wrote this under the influence of a green tea latte and Britney Spears. Your sanity is not insured, no more than your financial instruments are.

Some Things You Can't Buy, For Everything Else There's The Theoretical Joint Bunansa-Shinra Empire

Fandom: Final Fantasy VII/Final Fantasy XII/The Stockmarket
Characters: Balthier/Tseng, Rufus/Tseng
Rating: Soft R
Summary: Tseng's in New York, Balthier's in London, and Rufus is in the sky as the world burns around them. Hedging on futures can be such tricky things.
Functional explanation: The stock markets exploded. Balthier, Rufus and Tseng are hot. This comment thread happened.
Inflicted upon the world by: logistika_nyx and karanguni

Previous episodes:

Part the first
Part the second

You don't really have to read them in any order. I don't even know if we have an order.

2636 words and ho'shit, five thousand backstories! \o\

( 'Good boy,' Tseng says with a smile. )

[edit] Now with additional Deleted Scenes and sex in the comments! Hooray! \o\

Another one for the memetypes, this time around it's whitefirebird's request for Turks, though I'm pretty sure the choice of the Other Turk will perk ununoriginal's interest, too. *g*

Dark City Lights

Fandom: Final Fantasy VII (OGC)
Characters: Tseng/Reno, hinted Tseng/Rufus
Rating: R
Summary: Sometimes you just want the world to burn as much as you burn inside; sometimes you want all hell to break loose so that you don't feel too alone, or too frenetic.

1111 words and one of those pairings I'd never thought I'd write.

( And he's too close to home to feel jaded. )