#cloud 'doesn't go into the twenties' strife

[rocketbirdie]

YOU. You are correct about Cloud Strife. Everything you say about him is CORRECT

Hi I'm going to use your ask as an opportunity to go on an unhinged tangent about him below the cut.

I believe that EVERYTHING about Cloud Strife as a character makes total sense once you realize: it's autism.

Here's a character whose entire arc revolves around the erosion of his identity and his desperate attempts to adhere to an ideal image, at the expense of his own wellbeing; and how self acceptance is the thing that brings him back from the edge of despair.

Youtube theorycrafters waste hours of their lives trying to piece together Cloud's psyche, when the answer is just... autism. It really is that simple. I will die on this goddamn hill.

In Trace of Two Pasts, we learn that even as a toddler, Cloud really was just... like that. Unemotive and awkward. And the entire lifestream sequence in the OG shows us a young Cloud who behaves in baffling ways. Tifa and her friends invited Cloud into their group, but he rejected their friendship while simultaneously harboring a seething jealousy. How the heck does that work, huh?

Viewing this through the Autism Lens™️, his approach make way more sense. Fearing his own inability to read and reciprocate their intentions, he pushes them away, and the resulting loneliness crushes him. He mistakes that loneliness for anger. He turns that anger outwards and gets into fights. Because the other kids don't understand him, Cloud sees them as stupid and immature. It's the perfect recipe for disastrous distrust. The tragic result is that, when Tifa gets into her accident, Cloud is immediately blamed by kids AND adults. He's seen as inherently dangerous and unpredictable, even though he did nothing wrong. It's like they were already looking for the perfect excuse to hate him.

The worst part is, because he struggles to articulate his own thoughts and feelings, he starts to just... accept what other people say about him. He's a pain in the ass. He's a selfish brat. He could try being a bit nicer. Any attempt that he makes to argue, backfires and proves their points even more. He's being childish. He needs to get his shit together. Nothing's ever good enough for him. He stops fighting it and lets people drag him around and violate his boundaries, because no matter how loud he yells or how intelligently he argues, nothing he says ever reaches their ears. He trims away more and more of himself to try and appease others and nurse the constant emotional pain. (And that's not even addressing the entire traumatic *waves hands* everything that he's gone through by the time he reaches Midgar! That would have to be its own tangent lol.)

It's hard to watch as a player; the secondhand embarrassment of Cloud's social blunders is immense. Some people don't like Cloud as a video game protagonist, which is perfectly valid. But a lot of times, they justify their opinion by perpetuating the same damaging language. He's an asshole, he's a weirdo, he hates people. The irony would be hilarious if it wasn't so frustrating. I know Cloud is just a fictional character, he doesn't need to be defended from harsh criticisms. But I can't help but wonder what these players think about the "weird people-hating assholes" that they meet in real life.

It also makes me wonder if they were even paying attention. I think the games make it pretty damn obvious what's going on. He's an asshole because other characters treat him like one before they even get to know him. He hates people because he doesn't understand them, and they don't even try to understand him. He's a weirdo because he has a strange way of showing how deeply he loves and cares, and he's afraid that his love will be misinterpreted like every other emotion he's ever dared to show.

The autism is everywhere. It permeates his entire being. It's in his silly responses when he takes things too literally. It's in his painfully practical way with words. It's in the stiff expressionless look and the flat tone of voice. It's in him constantly adjusting his gloves, shifting his weight, looking down at his feet. It's in his questionable idea of what you're supposed to do with your body at a yoga session. It's in the half a dozen flustered high fives, it's in the motion sickness. It's in the contagious eagerness with his special interests in SOLDIER and materia and chocobos.

It's in the moments where the facade crumbles and we get to see the real Cloud, the one that Aerith knew was in there— the one that Tifa finds in the lifestream— the one that Zack gave his life for— the Cloud that cherishes the whole world. He's got so much of everything inside of his heart, and he doesn't know how to get it out. You'd be a weird asshole about it, too.

[logicaldelta]

Prince is Just a Title

This is a silly story that I've been writing over on AO3 and I decided to share it here despite how mortifying that idea is to me (/lh).

Description:

Cloud Strife is the prince of the kingdom of Nibelheim, however he was a fragile child, and grew up very sheltered by his mother. All he's ever wanted was to accompany her when she left for her political meetings, finding the castle cold and lonely when it was just him. At the age of twenty, his wish finally comes true, and he's invited to accompany her to a trade alliance meeting in the nearby kingdom of Gongaga.

Sephiroth is a beloved knight in the kingdom of Gongaga, often accompanying the royal family wherever they went as their main guard. As such, he's in the room the day that Cloud arrives. He finds the young prince amusing, especially when Prince Zack seems to take a liking to him and strives to befriend him.

Cloud doesn't understand why Zack's lead knight keeps giving him that look.

Sephiroth can't get over how amusing it is to see the prince go red.

This is the story of their time together.

Chapter 1: The Beginning

The kingdom of Nibelheim was a small but valuable kingdom. Founded upon some land in the mountains, it was built atop a large natural source of gems and minerals that neighbouring kingdoms paid a lot to have exported. Their royal family didn't have many members, but the two it did have were loved by the people and viewed as fair rulers.

Queen Claudia had been in a ruling position ever since she married the now-deceased king of Nibelheim, nearly three decades ago. She was a princess from a different kingdom and retained her title of queen ever after her husband passed from an illness.

The only other remaining member of the royal family was Prince Cloud, the son of the King and Queen and the next in line for the throne.

However, Cloud wasn't well. He had been born weaker than most children, and an incident where he had been injured in a fall as a young child had only made it worse. He didn't often leave the grounds of the castle, and when he did it was under close supervision from Sir Angeal, a knight employed by his mother to keep him safe.

Normally this wouldn't pose any sort of problem. But as Cloud grew older, the responsibilities he was meant to have in the world were growing harder to push back.

Claudia sighed, resting her head on her hand as she gazed down at the letter she had received from an allied kingdom -- the kingdom of Gongaga -- requesting her and Cloud's presence for an upcoming meeting of their alliances. Nibelheim and Gongaga were both part of a decently sized group of allied kingdoms, grouped together by a trade and export alliance, and it appeared that with her son having turned twenty they were no longer taking his medical problems as a reason for his absence.

Though it was a source of dread for her, she'd always known that this day would come. She knew what being a prince brought with it, and she'd tried her best to shield her son from it for as long as she could. But the time had come for him to step into the view of the public, for him to become more present in their political affairs.

She'd never admit it to anyone, but she wished she'd never been born into royalty. She could handle it. But she was worried that Cloud couldn't. He was a gentle kid, always had been, and being secluded for so long had made him somewhat naive about the world.

But Gongaga was one of their closest allies, so she sighed, wrote back a letter accepting their invitation on behalf of herself and Cloud, and tried to stomach her anxiety.

Cloud never thought the day would come where his mother actually allowed him to travel with her. She was out of the castle on political journeys often, sometimes for weeks at a time, and he had longed to accompany her and see their allied kingdoms in person.

His heart was racing as he burst into the castle kitchen, startling the staff there, in his search for a particular cook. He spotted her towards the back of the kitchen, raising his hand to get her attention.

"Tifa! I have something to tell you!" She smiled and waved at him, saying something to Wedge – a kitchen hand that Cloud knew she was friends with – before approaching.

"Hey, Cloud! What's so important that it couldn't wait until later?" Her tone was playful as she gestured for him to follow her out of the kitchen. He obliged, knowing that she just didn't want the others overhearing their conversation.

"Mother called me into the council room earlier to discuss something with me. I worried that I was in trouble, but she informed me I'd be accompanying her on her annual trade alliance meeting!" His tone was full of excitement, and Tifa clapped at the news.

"That's amazing!" 

"Right? I've already begun packing for the trip. I believe we'll be gone for around a week? I can't really remember how long her other alliance trips were."

Tifa's brow furrowed, though her smile remained. "Cloud, those meetings sometimes last a month. You could be gone for a while."

"Oh." Cloud looked away from her, one of his hands brushing back his hair. "I may need to pack more stuff."

Tifa laughed, shaking her head. "Just don't take your entire room, okay?"

"I make no guarantees."

Despite his excitement, Cloud wasn't feeling very well the morning they were to depart for Gongaga. Though it made him grimace, he chose to drink one of the concoctions left for him by their royal doctor. While they tasted foul, he knew they'd help with his condition.

It was unknown what exactly affected him. Just that he was born frailer than most, with a weakened immune system. After the fall he had, he'd sometimes experience random pains that he knew made no sense. The doctor said it wasn't likely to go away, that it was a lasting condition caused by the trauma it caused his body.

He knew it was no one's fault but his own, so he tried his best to just push through it. Normally, he'd get rest time when it flared up, but he didn't want to be removed from the trip because of it. His mother had a tendency to overreact where matters of his health were involved.

So, he threw on an extra shirt to compress it more, as most of the pain happened in his torso, and stepped out of his room with a mind full of determination to not get kicked out of the trip before it even began.

Within seconds of leaving his room, head tilted downwards to look at his feet out of habit more than anything, he almost collided with someone, who stepped quickly out of his way as he froze in place, trying to give the person an apologetic smile.

Before his brain caught up with his body, and he realised that the person he had almost crashed into was Angeal Hewley, his mother's personal guard. His eyes widened, and an apology spilled from his lips as he looked away. As far as palace hierarchy went, Cloud was not obligated to apologise to the man. But Angeal had always been kind to him, and Cloud felt bad that his own distracted nature could've caused harm to him.

But Angeal simply smiled, clapping a hand onto Cloud's shoulder. "There's no need to apologise, highness. I suppose you're excited about our departure?" Cloud's eyes lit up, and he grinned, nodding. "Well, I've been sent to collect you! The carriage is prepared, and your mother is waiting."

Hearing that news, a new wave of excitement bubbled up within him. It was such a dream come true that he worried he was actually asleep as he made his way out of the palace with Angeal at his side, waving enthusiastically to Tifa as he passed her, and finally exiting the doors of the palace for what felt like the first time ever.

A carriage was waiting for them, and he could barely contain himself as he speed walked up to it, finding his mother waiting within it for him. He climbed up into it, ignoring the almost burning pain in his chest because it was finally happening. Everything he'd ever wanted waited for him within that carriage, and he didn't want to wait any longer for it to begin.

[frasier-crane-style]

I.S.S. struck me as a misfire from the trailers, with its incredibly contrived and unbelievable premise of a nuclear war on Earth being waged in orbit too. The movie itself offers a little more context--the MacGuffin is a cure for radiation sickness that sure would be handy to either side of a nuclear war--but still goes to show that an high-concept logline does not automatically a good movie make.

Three American astronauts and three Russian cosmonauts co-exist on the International Space Station at a time of nonspecific political strife. One day, they see mushroom clouds spring up all across the Earth's surface; a nuclear war has been waged between America and Russia. Before losing communications, both sides receive orders to take control of the station. For good measure, the station will crash in twenty-four hours unless repaired.

Here's a good time to remember that everyone onboard is a highly trained, professional astronaut--and wouldn't they also be idealistic scientists to boot? Don't you think most rational adults... let alone badass NASA dudes... would here say "screw our orders, we need to focus on staying alive"?

Luckily for the plot, everyone here is such a suicidal simpleton that they make the cast of your average Friday the 13th movie look like Rhodes Scholars. Sure, everyone's worried about their kids, but it still seems contrived that two characters (one on each side, natch) grab the villain ball and go full Shining on their crewmates.

Would either side really be in any state to continue a war AFTER a full-blown nuclear exchange? It's hard for me to imagine that, the day after World War 3, anyone but a full-blown Greg Stillson would still be thinking of getting the upper hand. What would there be left to even fight for?

Since the MacGuffin in question is medicine, rather than any kind of weapon, couldn't the astronauts simply come to an agreement to share the cure with both sides, which will surely save countless innocent people? Would any of these nerdtastic scientists really be so jingoistic that they'd want innumerable civilians to die of radiation sickness, just because they're on the other side?

I know the movie is trying to do a George Romero thing about humanity being petty and short-sighted, but it doesn't really work when you have a cast of characters that should by all rights be as mature and considerate as humanly possible. This might've passed as prescient satire during the Reagan Administration, but now it just seems clunky and wrongheaded, with a lazy and thoughtless ending to boot.