Summary: Our trip through Cloud’s memories continues to time he spent with Tifa as a kid. This is great.
Cloud’s Brain – Starry Night
-Can’t overstate how beautiful I find the transitions from Cloud’s general subconscious “lobby” to the memories themselves.
-Back on the night of their promises.
-Ok. So is this a memory? Tifa says he was cute then, so it might be partially true.
-Another great small touch: Current!Tifa and Kid!Tifa mirror each other’s actions. When one turns her head, so does the other. When one swings her legs, so does the other.
-She asks if he imagined the sky. He says no – he remembers it.
TIFA: “That’s why I kept thinking you were the real Cloud.”
-So she thinks he was real, if only he’ll believe in himself…
---
Cloud’s Brain
TIFA: “What about your other memories? …No. Not memories. A memory is something that is consciously recalled. That’s why sometimes it can be mistaken or wrong. It’s different from a memory locked deep within your heart.”
Methinks we’re getting to Feelings!Cloud next.
-Her strategy is interesting. If Tifa says a memory, Cloud might just imprint off of it. But if Cloud says a memory and Tifa remembers it too, then they know it’s real.
-She asks why he joined SOLDIER in the first place. He was devastated (by what?), and wanted to be noticed (by who?).
-BY TIFA
-This is really interesting. So he remembers something about her that she was… well, it seems like she was unaware of it, not that it didn’t happen. Whatever the Thing is.
---
Cloud’s Brain –Through the Window
-Tifa looks into a window with Kid!Cloud…
-And they’re suddenly transported into Tifa’s house. Her room.
-They lived next to each other, but didn’t know each other well. This is not looking to be a happy memory for Tifa. Cloud runs up to the house, but she’s sitting on the floor, head on her knees, with three dudes standing around her. Siblings?
-I read it wrong. It seems like they were just chilling out, friends. Cloud snuck in because he was jealous, and wanted to be part of their reindeer games.
-He finally asked her out to the well, and they did sit together. It was sudden for her since she didn’t know much about him, but after he left she missed him.
-Wait… it seems like Cloud still hasn’t told her the full memory of that day when he came upon her.
-Oh. Lovely. The memory is the day Tifa’s mom died.
-Tifa, in her grief(-a), went with her friends to Mt. Nibel. Wondering what was beyond there. Wondering if maybe her mom passed through there.
-She bravely marches on. Two of her little friends follow, one falls back. Cloud pursues.
-When Tifa crosses the rickety bridge, the remaining two friends go back. Cloud does not. He follows her. She was unaware.
-They both fell off the cliff. Cloud was blamed for “bringing her there.” He just got his knees scraped from the fall, but she was seriously injured. She was in a coma for a week.
So many Clouds and Tifas!
-Cloud, the self-martyring doofus that he was, blamed himself for her fall. He picked fights to vent, and decided he wanted to be strong. Like Sephiroth. Only then would he be able to keep Tifa from danger!
-Oh. I called that a little early. Only if he were strong like Sephiroth would Tifa even notice him, he thought.
-Wait. Wait wait wait. How are these true memories if Cloud was made only as a clone like five years ago by Hojo?
-THANK YOU TIFA. She addresses this, and seems to understand something. Says he’s almost found the real Cloud.
-Time to head back to Cloud’s vision of Nibelheim.
---
Next time: We finish the journey through Cloud’s mind.
Cloud’s Brain – Starry Night
-Can’t overstate how beautiful I find the transitions from Cloud’s general subconscious “lobby” to the memories themselves.
-Back on the night of their promises.
-Ok. So is this a memory? Tifa says he was cute then, so it might be partially true.
-Another great small touch: Current!Tifa and Kid!Tifa mirror each other’s actions. When one turns her head, so does the other. When one swings her legs, so does the other.
-She asks if he imagined the sky. He says no – he remembers it.
TIFA: “That’s why I kept thinking you were the real Cloud.”
-So she thinks he was real, if only he’ll believe in himself…
---
Cloud’s Brain
TIFA: “What about your other memories? …No. Not memories. A memory is something that is consciously recalled. That’s why sometimes it can be mistaken or wrong. It’s different from a memory locked deep within your heart.”
Methinks we’re getting to Feelings!Cloud next.
-Her strategy is interesting. If Tifa says a memory, Cloud might just imprint off of it. But if Cloud says a memory and Tifa remembers it too, then they know it’s real.
-She asks why he joined SOLDIER in the first place. He was devastated (by what?), and wanted to be noticed (by who?).
-BY TIFA
-This is really interesting. So he remembers something about her that she was… well, it seems like she was unaware of it, not that it didn’t happen. Whatever the Thing is.
---
Cloud’s Brain –Through the Window
-Tifa looks into a window with Kid!Cloud…
-And they’re suddenly transported into Tifa’s house. Her room.
-They lived next to each other, but didn’t know each other well. This is not looking to be a happy memory for Tifa. Cloud runs up to the house, but she’s sitting on the floor, head on her knees, with three dudes standing around her. Siblings?
-I read it wrong. It seems like they were just chilling out, friends. Cloud snuck in because he was jealous, and wanted to be part of their reindeer games.
-He finally asked her out to the well, and they did sit together. It was sudden for her since she didn’t know much about him, but after he left she missed him.
-Wait… it seems like Cloud still hasn’t told her the full memory of that day when he came upon her.
-Oh. Lovely. The memory is the day Tifa’s mom died.
-Tifa, in her grief(-a), went with her friends to Mt. Nibel. Wondering what was beyond there. Wondering if maybe her mom passed through there.
-She bravely marches on. Two of her little friends follow, one falls back. Cloud pursues.
-When Tifa crosses the rickety bridge, the remaining two friends go back. Cloud does not. He follows her. She was unaware.
-They both fell off the cliff. Cloud was blamed for “bringing her there.” He just got his knees scraped from the fall, but she was seriously injured. She was in a coma for a week.
So many Clouds and Tifas!
-Cloud, the self-martyring doofus that he was, blamed himself for her fall. He picked fights to vent, and decided he wanted to be strong. Like Sephiroth. Only then would he be able to keep Tifa from danger!
-Oh. I called that a little early. Only if he were strong like Sephiroth would Tifa even notice him, he thought.
-Wait. Wait wait wait. How are these true memories if Cloud was made only as a clone like five years ago by Hojo?
-THANK YOU TIFA. She addresses this, and seems to understand something. Says he’s almost found the real Cloud.
-Time to head back to Cloud’s vision of Nibelheim.
---
Next time: We finish the journey through Cloud’s mind.
