The Paradox of Cloud

[Spooniest]

Cloud is fighting with AVALANCHE to stop the Shinra Electric Power Company from destroying the world by siphoning off all its Mako Energy.

However, to do this, he steals a motorcycle, drives it through a window, and cuts down like a whole mess of Shinra Military Police, and beats it with his cadre.

They are gonna shoot to kill every single time they see this spiky haired piece of gutter trash who flunked SOLDIER Training and is going round with some other dude's sword (which he also probably stole) casting that devil magic everywhere.

He is a total hypocrite. He made motorcycles seem cool. They run on Mako Energy. Like, a lot of it. Now everyone wants a motorcycle. The Mako Energy consumption is gonna go through the roof cuz of him.

[Pete]

I don't even know why I'm bothering with this.

Motorcycles are actually supremely efficient in terms of gas consumption. Having people switch to them from cars would actually be a great benefit to the planet, provided they are driven safely and responsibly. Plus, if you're presumably in a city like Midgar, your transit system should be so good that you don't need a vehicle.

I went as far as looking up motorcycle mpg ratings from 1998, because why not. The average rating fell in at around 50 mpg, which is pretty solid. Combine this with the obviously smaller fuel tanks when compared to cars, and it's virtually a win win situation. You consume less fuel while going further on your tank.

You can also make the argument that blowing up a reactor causes more harm than good. How many hospitals lost power? How many businesses like restaurants went tits up because the fridges failed and they lost their entire stock?
Don't forget about the entire plate that was dropped to try to stop avalanche. That's more innocent life lost.

I'm not saying avalanche (if you still consider your party to be that) wasn't ultimately successful. I think you really have to look at things with the idea of Cloud never meeting Aeris. What do they actually accomplish if they never meet Aeris and the Shinra crew?

[Alpha]

Actually that's kind of the interesting thing about FFVII. We see life below the plate in the slums. We see some life in the upper region (corporate types). But to my recollection we don't see anyone in-between. To lots of the middle class I bet Avalanche is just a huge pain in the ass.

[Spooniest]

I don't even know why I'm bothering with this.

Why does everyone in this fandom have to be rude to me alone? Are the other targets you worked on before just not as much fun? I have feelings man. Stop saying rude things.

What do they actually accomplish if they never meet Aeris and the Shinra crew?

Cloud has no flower to give Tifa or Marlene, for starters. He never falls off the bridge of the Sector 5 reactor, and the Turks kidnap Aeris right away. She never opens the Temple of the Ancients, and ends up stuck in the Shinra building being used as a Cetra breeding machine*. Sephiroth eventually gets his hands on the Keystone, sends in one of his clones to solve the puzzle and get the Black Materia, has one of them bring it to his carcass at the Great Glacier, summons Meteor, and Cloud probably dies of Mako Poisoning right as Meteor wipes out Midgar and Planet Gaia. Sephiroth uses Planet Gaia's carcass to go find a new Planet to eat, possibly Ur.

*If you are horny from this, then you need to go apologize to your Hippie Parents now. You are every last bit as carnal as them.

[nix]

Why does everyone in this fandom have to be rude to me alone?

I know this one! Because you're annoying and the majority of your posts are gibberish.

This kind of post also doesn't belong in this forum, it is far from intellectual.

[Pete]

Dude, nobody is targeting you. The only reason I said that was because no matter what, any response anyone writes would be viewed through your lens of being attacked. You have the fragile ego of a high school girl who thought everyone was judging her for eating a cookie, when in reality, nobody noticed or cared. Nix isn't wrong. Your posts are kind of strange, and it's not the easiest thing to reply to them thoughtfully while trying not to offend you with any perceived slights you feel, no matter how innocuous. Not every post here is some direct or indirect comment about you.

If anyone was attacking you, you would know it. People are just trying to have some fun and if someone says something weird, somebody is probably going to say something in jest. It's how all of the internet has worked since the beginning of time.

Now, to further expand on my thoughts. If Cloud never meets Aeris, I don't think he actually does much more with his life. He might settle down with Tifa, might go on a couple more Avalanche raids, perhaps until the money dries up or Barrett gets sick of his shitty attitude. By meeting Aeris, he finds a purpose, and a real reason to fight for the planet.

Before meeting Aeris, he was essentially the equivalent of a guy going vegan to impress a girl. His heart wasn't in it, and he'd stay as long as the checks cleared.

[Polk]

final fantasy 7 is a bad video game

[Spooniest]

Dude, nobody is targeting you. The only reason I said that was because no matter what, any response anyone writes would be viewed through your lens of being attacked. You have the fragile ego of a high school girl who thought everyone was judging her for eating a cookie, when in reality, nobody noticed or cared. Nix isn't wrong. Your posts are kind of strange, and it's not the easiest thing to reply to them thoughtfully while trying not to offend you with any perceived slights you feel, no matter how innocuous. Not every post here is some direct or indirect comment about you.

If anyone was attacking you, you would know it. People are just trying to have some fun and if someone says something weird, somebody is probably going to say something in jest. It's how all of the internet has worked since the beginning of time.

Now, to further expand on my thoughts. If Cloud never meets Aeris, I don't think he actually does much more with his life. He might settle down with Tifa, might go on a couple more Avalanche raids, perhaps until the money dries up or Barrett gets sick of his shitty attitude. By meeting Aeris, he finds a purpose, and a real reason to fight for the planet.

Before meeting Aeris, he was essentially the equivalent of a guy going vegan to impress a girl. His heart wasn't in it, and he'd stay as long as the checks cleared.

Aeris is a liar

She has one other materia besides Holy materia

...

Float.

ninjit - i never read prince genji because I don't want to see you naked

~ AUTO-MERGED POSTS ~

I know this one! Because you're annoying and the majority of your posts are gibberish.

This kind of post also doesn't belong in this forum, it is far from intellectual.

shut up kefka

[Rowan]

I was excited to see more activity and even more eager to see people talking about FF7...

but what even is this thread?

[nix]

Who knows Rowan me boyo.. WHO KNOWS!

[Heartless Angel]

Cloud's a merc. He didn't give a shit about the planet. First he was fighting for money, then he was fighting for sex, and then he was fighting for revenge. At no point did he give even the faintest glimmer of a fuck about the planet.

[Taco-Calamitous]

final fantasy 7 is a bad video game

Polk is a heretic.

I think the question of this thread is whether Cloud was actually all that heroic or not? Stuff that has been covered is all the ShinRa soldiers Cloud cut down, how much damage blowing up the Mako reactor did, etc. I kinda got lost a little bit after that point, though I think HA brought up a good point in saying that Cloud didn't really give a shit for the beginning portion of the game.

I would say that Cloud is an anti-hero, which were rather popular in the 80s and 90s, and probably still today. It seems like today's sensibilities have us going back and looking at heroes of past pop culture, like 80s and 90s action stars, and deciding that we shouldn't like them anymore. Like, they're propaganda for violence, or something. They might be. I dunno. That might be thinking about it more than their creators intended, however.

I dunno if that's what the thread was intended to be about, however.

As for whether people are picking on ya, Spooniest, I don't know that they are. Maybe nix is, but nix will just tell you his opinion of you, that's how he is, lol. I don't think Pete is. I think Pete is joking around and trying to bring activity to the site. I think an issue is that the majority of the people who still post here have done so for many years. You could argue that some of us grew up together. We've been through shit together, we have dynamics with each other that you don't. Also, I I don't mean this as an attack, so please don't take it that way, but I just think you're kinda trying too hard, sometimes. Like, your attempts at humor are a lot more complex and thought out than anyone else's who posts around here, it seems like. You probably shouldn't do that, heh...

EDIT: And also, you shouldn't worry too much about what we think anyway, lol. There's like 5 or 6 of us. You're not gonna gain much by impressing us, or whatever.

[loaf]

FF7 is a pretty bad game can confirm. It's not even remade yet LOLOLOL

[Spooniest]

[...]I just think you're kinda trying too hard, sometimes. Like, your attempts at humor are a lot more complex and thought out than anyone else's who posts around here, it seems like. You probably shouldn't do that, heh...

I was made fun of, called a queer, a lazy layabout, a leech, a freeloader, and a mama's boy for liking this game as much as I do. Nobuo Uematsu's score brings enough peace to my soul for me to not want to check out off the Cumberland Bridge, and my dad has this thing about me dying...it's not his wish, I guess? Also, copying him has taught me a lot more about classical music than my dad (a classical music major from Augustana) had time to keep doing after a point. Working man's blues and all that.

EDIT: And also, you shouldn't worry too much about what we think anyway, lol. There's like 5 or 6 of us. You're not gonna gain much by impressing us, or whatever.

... I'm still interested in the game. :| There's 6 or 7 of you Taco.

[Polk]

EDIT: And also, you shouldn't worry too much about what we think anyway, lol. There's like 5 or 6 of us. You're not gonna gain much by impressing us, or whatever.

And it's not like the 5 or 6 of us who do post are nice. The only people who still post here are the biggest assholes on the forum.

[Taco-Calamitous]

And it's not like the 5 or 6 of us who do post are nice. The only people who still post here are the biggest assholes on the forum.

It's true. Being nice is for bitches.

[Pete]

I thought stitches were for bitches. Or was that snitches?

[Heartless Angel]

Stitches for everyone!

[Spooniest]

So you're saying I'm a stitch eh

Who wants to hear some Eyyyyulvis