#adventchildren

My DIM Kadaj Minimee, a few very repetitive photos of his, all dressed borrowing my Mano's body. He would probably look okay on this body, if I had widened the neck opening. However, I didn't do that. I did widen it a bit but not enough for him to sit well on the neck. It's a 12.5cm neck, and while this head sculpt is on the smaller side of DIM Minimee heads, he is still quite large. Kadaj is not a tall character however, he is at around 5' 7-9" depending on how tall Square Enix thought Cloud was in Advent Children. They made everyone taller in Remake, so that Cloud wasn't as short (or so I believe. Just theoretically speaking, but they did change the heights of all to be much taller, now Sephy is like 6' 6", when he was originally 6' 1" in the OG FFVII game). However, Kadaj is a very young person in AC, at around fifteen or sixteen. Which is weird, because from what I understand, most tall people are the height they are going to grow to be in their teens, but I guess it's Japan trying to romanticize height, for some weird reason. My tallest nephew is 6' 4", he was that height since he turned 14... just saying.

I am super happy with him, I never had plans for him to have a body, he is not well proportioned on this body. However, I was able to take fully-clothed, full-body shots before. Now, my Mano's elastic is all loose. He doesn't stand, nor sit, nor pose well anymore. I don't trust him without a stand, so I have him sitting down while taking photos for all my photos so far. It is a pain in the gut hole, but I don't know when I'll be getting new elastic for him. I have restrung my BJD many times, as I used to redo their body shading a lot when I first got them a million years ago. However, I never purchased new elastic for any. I believe my SoulDoll Paris came with a replacement piece (I haven't checked, as I want to get through the dolls/heads I want to redo in some way, first). None of my others have any, so I'll have to invest some time and effort to purchase new elastic for all -- I don't want to purchase the wrong kinds, only for it to go to waste.

If you've spend any time looking into the LTD you'll probably have heard the claim that Nojima said that Cloud and Tifa were incompatible and that their problems have nothing to do with Sephiroth. This belief comes from a misunderstanding of the following quote.

“‘Episode Tifa’ … first off, there’s the premise that things won’t go well between Tifa and Cloud, and that even without Geostigma or Sephiroth this might be the same. I don’t really intend to go on about my views on love or marriage or family (laughs). After ACC, I guess Denzel and Marlene could help them work it out. Maybe things would have gone well with Aerith, but I think there is a great burden from Aerith."

~ Nojima

The meaning they're trying to take from the quote is that when Nojima says "without Sephiroth or Geostigma", that this refers to a scenario where Sephiroth had never existed. The implication being that the issues Tifa and Cloud are going through are internal, not external, and potentially even inherent to their natures. But what the actual "internal" problems they're facing are is never brought up, which is weird since this is rather important. What they want you to think is that the internal problems are either somehow inherent to them as a couple, aka, they're just not a good fit. Or else that the internal problem is "Cloud is in love with Aerith".

But the problem is that they don't provide evidence of any of this, and worse yet, we KNOW what the actual issues are. This quote isn't a mystery, we KNOW exactly what Nojima is referring to. This quote isn't a refutation to the Cloti telling of the story, like all pieces of evidence it supports Cloti perfectly but is simply unintentionally misunderstood or intentionally misrepresented. Before we go into the problems themselves though it's important to take a minute to notice something. Namely that inherent in the argument that "things aren't working out for Tifa and Cloud", is the idea that their relationship is one where 'working things out' is applicable as a concept. Much like getting a divorce is proof of marriage, using the fact that Cloud and Tifas relationship is going through a rough patch as evidence that they're not in a romantic relationship is....misguided. The next part of the quote makes this even more concrete: "I don’t really intend to go on about my views on love or marriage or family". So whenever people bring up Tifa and Clouds relationship troubles as evidence against Tifa and Cloud, please thank them for conceding that they're in a relationship.

So based on that, lets clearly lay out what is being asserted here in its most general form. The claim essentially has two parts. 1: "Cloud and Tifa are in a relationship, but it is troubled"

2: "The reason for these troubles is related to Aerith being the real love interest of the story"

Note that if they can't prove point 2, then this quote hard cements Cloti. The argument stands or falls on Clotis inability to address point 2.

So let's address it.

First lets address the "without Sephiroth or Geostigma" part. The interpretation that this is meant to be read as "if sephiroth was never born" is patently absurd. This is an interview about a very specific point in time in Cloud and Tifas life, which specifically points at a thing that happens in THAT point in time, namely Geostigma. He doesn't say something generic like "if Cloud and Tifa had never ran into hardships in their life they'd still be incompatible", no, he points at two specific things, Sephiroth and Geostigma. Geostigma we know is only a problem during the time of advent children, it's not a disease going back right through to Clouds childhood. Sephiroth is but he's also very specifically attacking Cloud DURING advent children, he returns DURING advent children. Clearly this quote is addressing the current events of Sephiroth and geostigma, aka, the movie, not the more generic impact that Sephiroth has had on Cloud and Tifas life since childhood. If that was meant to be the case he'd have said "sephiroth, jenova, and Shinra" or something else more chronically substantial. And what are the troubles they're going through? Well, luckily we don't have to guess, since that's been reiterated again and again and again and again. It's mentioned in games, it's mentioned in books, and it's mentioned in interviews.

"As long as Cloud blames himself for Aerith’s death, he won’t be able to move on with his life. One of the first ideas we had for Advent Children was to have Cloud overcome and resolve that immense feeling of guilt. For Cloud, no one other than Aerith can solve that problem for him." ~ pg. 58 of Reunion files.

Failing to protect people important to him is his sin… Convincing himself of this, Cloud shuts himself off. What does his meeting with Aerith bring him? ~ Cloud Strife profile 10th AU

Two years after returning to the planet, Aerith still lives on in the hearts of her friends who saved the planet. And in particular to Cloud, as a symbol of his failure to having being unable protect those dear to him, ~ Aerith Gainsborough 10th AU profile.

Cloud feels an incredible sense of guilt for not being able to save her, but sometimes he can still hear her voice in a soft whisper. ~ (Reunion Files, Aerith’s profile)

Zack&Aerith For Cloud, they were people whom he can never forget. The two irreplaceable people, Zack, “who was sent to death because of him”, and Aerith, “who met a tragic fate as he couldn’t protect her” became “the unforgivable sin” in his heart. ~ ACC POST CARD BOOK.

“I’m going to live. I think that’s the only way I can be forgiven. All sorts of things… happened.” ~ Cloud in case of Tifa

"Cloud is scared that the peace he has now might shatter, so he is living on his own." ~ Nomura

Deep down, Cloud knew that he shouldn’t be so hard on himself, but at the same time he couldn’t let go of those feelings of guilt for what happened to Aerith and Zack, or the thought that he could never forgive himself for it. But then his companions made him feel better by telling him to let go. - Takahiro Sakurai (Cloud’s voice actor) pg. 15 reunion files.

"She knew that Cloud was in great pain because he couldn’t protect Aerith. Cloud was trying to overcome that and live on" ~ Case of Tifa.

The happier he is now, The more Cloud is tormented by painful “memories” of the past. ~ Cloud’s 10th AU profile.

The more he realizes how happy he is living with Tifa and the children, the more the fear of losing that and regrets toward the past trouble Cloud… ~ Cloud’s 10th AU profile

"when Cloud contracts Geostigma he disappears. Behind these actions lies feelings of guilt towards his past failure to protect people who were important to him, but through his battle with Kadaj’s gang, the legacy of Jenova, he regains the courage to face reality." ~ FF7 10th Anniversary Ultimania Cloud Strife Profile

"Cloud continued to regret the deaths of his best friend and comrade, who were dear to him, in FFVII. In AC, he says “I want to be forgiven.” ~ Dissidia Cloud’s profile

"Cloud’s heart continued to be tormented by a deep sense of regret and blame towards himself." ~ Cloud’s Dengeki profile

Aerith still lives on in the hearts of her friends who saved the planet. And in particular to Cloud, as a symbol of his failure to having being unable protect those dear to him, she was a major factor in causing him to close himself off." ~ Aerith’s 10th anniversary profile.

“I want to be forgiven. Mm. More than anything.”-Cloud “By who?” ~ Aerith

“Isn’t it time you did the forgiving?” ~ Aerith to Cloud.

“But… I let you die…” ~ Cloud to Aerith

“I never blamed you. Not once, you came for me, that’s all that matter.” ~ Aerith to Cloud

“Are sins ever forgiven…?” ~ Cloud to Vincent

“I’m not fit to help anyone. Not my family. Not my friends. Nobody.” ~ Cloud to Tifa in ACC

You're too weak to save anyone, not even yourself ~ Sephiroth to Cloud in remake

"You've failed again I see" ~ Sephiroth to Cloud in remake

"It's just like, when I failed you" ~ Cloud in remake

Man, they sure love to go on and on about Cloud feeling guilty and wanting to be forgiven, about failing and feeling like he's not strong enough, that he can't protect anyone and that he'll fail again in the future....it's ALMOST as if Cloud has other things on his mind that don't have anything to do with his compatibility with Tifa and/or Aerith, it's ALMOST as if these things are central to his character arc. You could even say that these are troubles that have been with him for all his life and have been exasperated by the death of Zack and Aerith and his resulting fake persona. One could even say, that perhaps, just perhaps, CLOUD WOULD STILL HAVE STUFF TO DEAL WITH EVEN IF GEOSTIGMA AND SEPHIROTH HADN'T SHOWN UP IN ADVENT CHILDREN AND THIS IS NOT A GOD DAMN TEENAGE LOVE DRAMA! For the love of all that is holy, if you've ever used this quote to discredit Tifa and Cloud, STOP. Stop making this sorry excuse of a "point", stop linking this quote and thinking it supports Clerith, it doesn't, this is insanity, you are demented. So based on everything I've said, here Is Nojimas quote again, paraphrased by me to steelman its meaning. "Cloud is going through an internal arc, his problems are not just finding a cure for his disease and stopping the remnants and Sephiroth, his real fight is internal, he has to forgive himself".

Day 8 | COUGHING UP A LUNG | exotic illness, “Definitely just a cold”

“Sir, why didn’t you tell m-“

“It’s nothing, Tseng. It’s just a cold.”

@tizzie-lizzie and I did some Tsengru and geostigma angst for your Friday.

Big swords aren't just for Omnislashes and fighting baddies, it's for protecting those you love. Right, Cloud? Now go on and kiss the girl!

My SO is looking for a particular box (images included).  If anyone is willing to part with it?  Please DM me, & you'll get their Feedback & how to get in touch with them.  

"Don't worry...I was in SOLDIER"

Were you though? Were you really? Everyone knows the answer. So why talk about it? Because we live in two worlds. Reality and well...not reality. Let's call it Dreamland. It sounds more pleasant.

For a long time, Cloud Strife, one of the most popular characters in Final Fantasy and gaming as a whole, thought he was someone he isn't. Building up that image for so long it can become real easy to forget who you are. Who you really are. Without a label. I mean...in Cloud's case it is literally the entirety of his character. The missions he went on. The memories he had. It wasn't just about a title for him. It was the entirety of who he was. This is why Advent Children was so great...err...tolerable for fans. 

In Advent Children, you get to actually see Cloud embrace who he is without the illusion. He's still kinda standoffish and a dick at times but he's got a heart. He takes in orphans with Tifa and they run a damn courier service. That's amazing. True potential. Cloud also tends to be stubborn however because he tries to do things on his own from time to time. How I get that. However, only with the help of his friends, he becomes able to take out Bahamut SIN. 

We all want to do something in this life. Hopefully leave a legacy behind of sorts. We all try our best to hopefully...never...be a memory.

...y'all though this was over didn't you?

Can we seperate a man from his art? Is it possible that a man has to write or sing about something and do those same things in real life? Maybe they need to be the same in order to get respect. Or maybe we just shouldn't care. As a solider, you can take on whatever comes your way. You fight for honor. Sometimes you get so lost in the job and become a merciless killing machine that your forget who you were before you took the label or being a soldier. We've come back around to identity haven't we?