Spring Break

The more I'm stressed out about my real life, the more I find myself looking for an escape. My Secondlife is and has been that, for me. Some people have therapy or prescription medications for anxiety and depression, but all I have is my carefree virtual existence.

My investment in this second reality isn't just for that though. In do firmly believe that I'm investing in my afterlife, much like the Ancient Egyptians did. Life was hard and still is, so they prepared for death throughout, to make the transmigration a smooth one.

Even so, in real-time, we don't know when graduation day will come, so I'm always looking for any excuse to have a date, just to be together despite the dimensional distance.

It's finally starting to warm up, which makes it a great time for a picnic. I put on my springtime frilly outfit and we had a beach picnic.

Oh, You noticed Cloud, have you? Say "Hi", Strife.

I first met him back in August when I first moved to a new Lich, which is like a cul-de-sac neighborhood in between universes. He's quite massive, as he pulled up riding in Andromeda like it was a Cadillac.

He saw that I needed help with the blondes... A very distant relative of his through the Asgardian-Hyrulian lineage, so he stepped out of his vehicle and took a look at the infected spot on my terrestrial ball, where they were.

He didn't look like himself, he was covered in grease, like a car mechanic and wearing blue overalls with the legs rolled up to his knees. I didn't know it was him, it looked like him in the face, sure, but his hair wasn't as....I dunno, spiky?

Anyway, he took a look under a microscope at the infected part where the blondes were, and I told him about the one I was going to make into Ayudhapurusha (a weapon with a soul attached, like Soul Calibur) and he picked him up and looked at him with a sneer, saying:

"This one is too corrupted to salvage."

I said I had to try. SO he shrugged and made copies by bumping him. He made five or six grayed out, ghost-like carbon copies and told me they were backups in case we needed them and put him back in the infected spot where he found him.

I was sad. So he stuck around, Andromeda, spinning close by like an RV that pulled up to help change my flat tire in the middle of the desert.

I was thankful for his presence, but he finally left after a few days and I was on my way home, in real- time.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. The new Final Fantasy remake came out. I want to play it so bad, but I wanna play it on my PC, because I don't want to invest in a PS4 just for this.

I only ever played a demo of the original FF7 in my youth, but I couldn't get past the turn-based fighting. I hated that. But I mean, from the beginning, I think everybody can agree Cloud was a fucking snack.

I saw Advent Children when CG was finally starting to get serious, and I always felt as a protagonist, he was somewhat mysterious.

When people started posting videos to YouTube of the FF7 remake, I was there for it. Of course, not all of it, because I don't want to spoil the game for myself, but I started watching people playing specifically with the intent of wanting to know Cloud's personality better.

He's a funny guy. Seemingly quiet and stoic, he has an issue with his personal space being violated. He does not like being touched. He can't stand that girls are always giddy and overtly moe when they like him. He's not a mean person, but he's quick to irritation and distant because it's the only way people take him seriously. The blonde hair and blue eyes have always been a factor in why people treat him like he's not manly enough. He often looks lost deeply in thought, which is sometimes the case, but most of the time, he just spares his words, so that when he finally does speak, people actually quiet down to listen. He's used to people disrespecting him at a glance for being a pretty boy, and he has little to no interest in aggressively flirtatious girls or becoming attached in general.

Because, deep down, he's kinda sad and a little oblivious. He isn't' STUPID, but he has VERY blond moments, which is why he tends to stay quiet a lot of the time, for fear of sounding stupid. He's also a bit socially awkward, but because he's a decently good guy, he tolerates a lot of folly and uncomfortable situations from being claimed by aggressive girls to being dressed up in drag. He carries around Zack's gigantic buster sword to intimidate people into leaving him the hell alone, and it only works half the time.

It's cute, really, especially when you see a gleam of uncertainty in his reaction time in certain situations. It's endearing, but I mean, overall, what he seems to want above all is respect.

The Final Fantasy world is beautiful and full of beautiful people, but always in hopelessly desperate dire crises, and for our young, beautiful blond protagonist, it's all he can do to keep caring enough to face these egregious risks over and over again. How many times did he kill Sephiroth? Three? Not to mention he looked up to him as his hero BEFORE he lost two friends to the dude.

Cloud was dead on his feet by the time he was 22.

I won't get into his life after the world was saved, but let's say, he lived and died. So when he came to visit, a couple weeks after the Elric brothers, I was delighted to see him but a little wary, because of personal relationship reasons. To my surprise, he very much wanted to stay in my little sanctuary. I had a lot to think about, because I didn't want to throw off the balance, and peace. I  also said to him, that I didn't really know him that well, to which he then reminded me about the first time we met.

But he understood, and left to give me time to think about letting him stay. After some consideration, he bounced back on his bike and awaited my decision, with full confidence that I would say yes. And... I did. But there were some wrinkles to smooth out. So now he sleeps in Sasuke's old room that he used to sleep in when he'd visit, and Sasuke is currently salty about this, but yeah... I'm hoping that works itself out soon.

Welcome home, Cloud!