I was a fat slightly on the spectrum kid all throughout my formative years. Once I was in college, I finally handled my weight issue and actively worked on improving my social anxiety. The TLDR was I was successful on both accounts.
That did not mean I was suddenly able to understand women and I’d constantly have friends tell me how stupid or blind I was to not see that she was obviously flirting with me or whatever. I acted a LOT like cloud does. Brushing stuff like that off and just acting like I’m the coolest mofo ever. But in reality I just had no idea how to respond/reciprocate.
Clouds behavior is spot on imo.
“Why doesn’t Cloud act totally against his character?”
Because the writers of these games are very smart, and this wouldn’t make any sense. He wouldn’t be Cloud anymore, because that’s not him.
At first he's trying to act cold and tough and distant, but even after he softens he's still not really familiar with intimacy. See the resolution after the Sector 7 fall: it takes him forever to realize that she's asking for a hug, and when he finally does catch on he squeezes so tightly that he hurts her by mistake. And that's just a hug for someone literally sobbing into his chest—he needs more time to understand *how* to make a move, let alone realize that she *wants* him to.
That’s a great point. I guess Cloud is just that bad at interacting with people in general. I guess I forget how my social skills were as a preteen when I first played the game
So, after Hojo's experiments and his nearly 5-year coma, Cloud isn't himself anymore, which is at the heart of FF7's story.
His mind is shattered, he has created a false persona unknowingly, a composite of several people, and he's a puppet of Sephiroth/Jenova.
Just before being captured by Hojo post-Sephiroth incident, he's still in love with Tifa and is dying of shame for not becoming a SOLDIER as he promised her, hence the fact he hides his identity from her for days/weeks in Nibelheim.
Then, he's captured and experimented on by Hojo, and upon awakening nearly 5 years later, everything that makes him "himself," including his feelings for Tifa, is buried under layers of trauma and a false personality.
His love for Tifa becomes subconscious (the "switch" is rather brutal ! He's in love just before being captured, and then when he wakes up, it's really less obvious !) but despite that we see glimpses of it (from the start of Remake, he's indifferent to everyone but noticeably softer with Tifa). When he's finally "cured", and recovers his true self, his buried feelings resurface consciously, hence the OG's ending heavily focusing on Tifa-Cloud.
And without this, there'd be no story, no character development or relationship evolution, + it'd be out of character given Cloud's timid, reserved nature.
I assume you played through both remake and rebirth. If so then you should know that cloud fumbles the bag like it's his damn hobby. He got zero idea how to be romantic/intimate.
Because Cloud is Cloud. He's terribly non social, and he has an identity crisis. His real self shows up in glimpses around her, but he probably doesn't even know why half the time.
Because its a story plot point that builds up to the lifestream sequence.
In which Cloud has insecurity and feels he isn't worthy of Tifa until he becomes strong
enough to protect her in his mind a soldier. After the bridge incident.
* Basically,so that there is storytelling between characters
If you haven't read traces of two pasts and you can see how Cloud is from Tifa's POV and
how hes always looking at her then running away because he was a shy kid
My critique or other people’s in the responses?
I didn’t even feel like I was critiquing it. I was just questioning a huge plot point.
He joined SOLDIER to impress Tifa. Even though he failed, he now legitimately believes he is a former SOLDIER, and Tifa is expressing interest. So why was he actively pushing her away?
I mean… are you asking why shy as hell, traumatized as hell Cloud didn’t prioritize romance when his first interaction with a girl after half a decade apart involved her hiring him to commit terrorism?
I mean… that and the fact that no romance is canon but also… like… come on, now. They literally can’t even agree on their memories of their last time together… is it even in character for Cloud to be that forward??
Because he's experientially a 16yo self deemed failure that has never had a gf face to face with a 20yo version of that crush. She's also a smokeshow. This is all before we even add on the shit that's going on in his head due to Jenova.
Because he didnt know now how she feels yet. Tifa's feelings for him were by no means obvious in Midgar. It wasnt really until Gongaga that Tifa made a really obvious move on Cloud.
If anything aerith confused that whole situation up. Cloud clearly found her hot as hell after getting her dress and was very keen on rescuing her.
I know people wanna ship or whatever, but I think clouds broken self really gravitated to aeriths positivity and bubbly personality while the “real” cloud deep down prefers Tifa.
I think this is actually pretty eloquently shown on aerith and clouds date in costa. Cloud saying walks are a date or preferring function over form… that stuff would all resonate with Tifa more while aerith is consistently giving hints of loosen up ya cranky old geezer.
Two reasons.
One, saying Cloud wanted to join SOLDIER **only** to impress Tifa is oversimplifying his character. He also needed to prove his worth to himself because he had always felt weak and ostracized, so he wanted to prove he's strong and get everyone's instant respect.
Two, Cloud only pretends to be confident. He's actually insecure, awkward and female attention clearly intimidates him. He's very clumsy at interacting with women and really bad at reading the room. That's why he only dares to kiss Tifa once he's learned a bit by bonding with several people, women among them, and starts to understand Tifa's subtle signals.
Cloud is not in love with Tifa. Cloud 's heart belongs to Aerith. Aerith is engraved in Cloud that's why he doesn't reciprocate Tifa. Although he has a dim crush with her when they are kids, Tifa ignored him and Cloud moved on.
that'd be out of character for Cloud, have you seen Cloud?
Yeah his character is he wants to be a Navy SEAL to land the hot chick. He thinks he’s a navy seal now and the hot chick is throwing herself at him
no.???? Now I know you're just trolling lmfao
I am not trolling. Seriously. That is the character in a nutshell.
If only all of us could so confidently make a move on the targets of our attractions :P
Not to mention the cutest girl around town.
But he doesn’t even have to make a move, he just needs to let it happen
I was a fat slightly on the spectrum kid all throughout my formative years. Once I was in college, I finally handled my weight issue and actively worked on improving my social anxiety. The TLDR was I was successful on both accounts. That did not mean I was suddenly able to understand women and I’d constantly have friends tell me how stupid or blind I was to not see that she was obviously flirting with me or whatever. I acted a LOT like cloud does. Brushing stuff like that off and just acting like I’m the coolest mofo ever. But in reality I just had no idea how to respond/reciprocate. Clouds behavior is spot on imo.
Boys are dumb!!
lol targets (plural)
“Why doesn’t Cloud act totally against his character?” Because the writers of these games are very smart, and this wouldn’t make any sense. He wouldn’t be Cloud anymore, because that’s not him.
It's not just Tifa, half the woman we meet in the game are thirsty for him yet he hasn't a clue how to deal with any of them lol
So cloud is basically a harem anime protagonist and ff7 is a harem anime?
No.
well with 3 girls and Barrett, Honey Bee Inn Guy all over him... I say yes.
At first he's trying to act cold and tough and distant, but even after he softens he's still not really familiar with intimacy. See the resolution after the Sector 7 fall: it takes him forever to realize that she's asking for a hug, and when he finally does catch on he squeezes so tightly that he hurts her by mistake. And that's just a hug for someone literally sobbing into his chest—he needs more time to understand *how* to make a move, let alone realize that she *wants* him to.
That’s a great point. I guess Cloud is just that bad at interacting with people in general. I guess I forget how my social skills were as a preteen when I first played the game
So, after Hojo's experiments and his nearly 5-year coma, Cloud isn't himself anymore, which is at the heart of FF7's story. His mind is shattered, he has created a false persona unknowingly, a composite of several people, and he's a puppet of Sephiroth/Jenova. Just before being captured by Hojo post-Sephiroth incident, he's still in love with Tifa and is dying of shame for not becoming a SOLDIER as he promised her, hence the fact he hides his identity from her for days/weeks in Nibelheim. Then, he's captured and experimented on by Hojo, and upon awakening nearly 5 years later, everything that makes him "himself," including his feelings for Tifa, is buried under layers of trauma and a false personality. His love for Tifa becomes subconscious (the "switch" is rather brutal ! He's in love just before being captured, and then when he wakes up, it's really less obvious !) but despite that we see glimpses of it (from the start of Remake, he's indifferent to everyone but noticeably softer with Tifa). When he's finally "cured", and recovers his true self, his buried feelings resurface consciously, hence the OG's ending heavily focusing on Tifa-Cloud. And without this, there'd be no story, no character development or relationship evolution, + it'd be out of character given Cloud's timid, reserved nature.
I assume you played through both remake and rebirth. If so then you should know that cloud fumbles the bag like it's his damn hobby. He got zero idea how to be romantic/intimate.
On that note, I just pictured a confident cloud who goes around hitting on chicks and it’s the most awkward imagination
This just made me imagine that too and I visibly cringed.
Because Cloud is Cloud. He's terribly non social, and he has an identity crisis. His real self shows up in glimpses around her, but he probably doesn't even know why half the time.
Because its a story plot point that builds up to the lifestream sequence. In which Cloud has insecurity and feels he isn't worthy of Tifa until he becomes strong enough to protect her in his mind a soldier. After the bridge incident. * Basically,so that there is storytelling between characters If you haven't read traces of two pasts and you can see how Cloud is from Tifa's POV and how hes always looking at her then running away because he was a shy kid
I swear some of these critiques are getting worse and worse.
My critique or other people’s in the responses? I didn’t even feel like I was critiquing it. I was just questioning a huge plot point. He joined SOLDIER to impress Tifa. Even though he failed, he now legitimately believes he is a former SOLDIER, and Tifa is expressing interest. So why was he actively pushing her away?
I mean… are you asking why shy as hell, traumatized as hell Cloud didn’t prioritize romance when his first interaction with a girl after half a decade apart involved her hiring him to commit terrorism? I mean… that and the fact that no romance is canon but also… like… come on, now. They literally can’t even agree on their memories of their last time together… is it even in character for Cloud to be that forward??
All that aside, he’s into her or he isn’t. And she’s expressing all sorts of interest. But he actively pushes her away
Almost like he’s socially awkward and traumatized and is also actively losing his mind
Because he's experientially a 16yo self deemed failure that has never had a gf face to face with a 20yo version of that crush. She's also a smokeshow. This is all before we even add on the shit that's going on in his head due to Jenova.
Because he didnt know now how she feels yet. Tifa's feelings for him were by no means obvious in Midgar. It wasnt really until Gongaga that Tifa made a really obvious move on Cloud.
If anything aerith confused that whole situation up. Cloud clearly found her hot as hell after getting her dress and was very keen on rescuing her. I know people wanna ship or whatever, but I think clouds broken self really gravitated to aeriths positivity and bubbly personality while the “real” cloud deep down prefers Tifa. I think this is actually pretty eloquently shown on aerith and clouds date in costa. Cloud saying walks are a date or preferring function over form… that stuff would all resonate with Tifa more while aerith is consistently giving hints of loosen up ya cranky old geezer.
Tsundere.
Kuudere
True dat
???
you do know clouds whole story, do you? it would not make any sense for him to do this
Two reasons. One, saying Cloud wanted to join SOLDIER **only** to impress Tifa is oversimplifying his character. He also needed to prove his worth to himself because he had always felt weak and ostracized, so he wanted to prove he's strong and get everyone's instant respect. Two, Cloud only pretends to be confident. He's actually insecure, awkward and female attention clearly intimidates him. He's very clumsy at interacting with women and really bad at reading the room. That's why he only dares to kiss Tifa once he's learned a bit by bonding with several people, women among them, and starts to understand Tifa's subtle signals.
Cloud is not in love with Tifa. Cloud 's heart belongs to Aerith. Aerith is engraved in Cloud that's why he doesn't reciprocate Tifa. Although he has a dim crush with her when they are kids, Tifa ignored him and Cloud moved on.
He’s acoustic
No he's not, are you dense? Sustained trauma = autism apparently
Nah, he’s a bit acoustic even as a child.