Now. This Cum Drenched Mako Slut thing?

Thought you'd never ask.

Where some people enjoy the idea of sweet, good-but-rough-around-the-edges Cloud, I enjoy his inverted spectre: the Easily Manipulated, Easily Taken Advantage Of Cloud.

I played the game when I was eight, and couldn't help but notice that there was something terribly sexual about the Reunion scene: it's discovered that Cloud ran the group on a wild goose-chase to find Sephiroth and save the world, but he ended up acting as his agent several times; in fact, you learn that it wasn't of his own free will that drew him to the Northern Crater, but his connection to Sephiroth: Jenova cells. In this particular scene, Cloud hands the black materia over to a naked Sephiroth in a crystal.

... Okay, you faggots might be all like "Uh. That doesn't mean anything," but think outside of the box. I'm not saying it was gay and I'm not jumping up and down pointing at the FMV going "YAOI YAOI YAOI OOH OOH." But there is something extremely sexual about Sephiroth's hold over Cloud, and to me, it materialized in that scene.

If you've ever read Kiki/Beni Fujiwara circle's FFVII doujinshi, you'll understand more what I'm talking about. Kiki's doujin likes to emphasize that role that Sephiroth plays in Cloud's mind--the ever present fear of being controlled, the metaphor of Cloud and Sephiroth face to face at the end of the game, and Cloud casting Sephiroth out of his mind forever. Now, the scene in the game was supposed to symbolize that Sephiroth could no longer control Cloud, but Square wanted to re-open that fucking can of worms, so the gloves are off. Most of Kiki's doujin takes place during AC, in which Cloud, weakened by Geostigma, constantly has to combat (both sexually and physically) some kind of "residue" of Sephiroth--whether it's a physical manifestation or his head playing games with him varies per story, but it's all pretty much the same idea: Sephiroth has control of Cloud's mind and body, and there's nothing he can do about it.

You might think I'm strange or something, but I happen to think that Cloud is extremely hot as a vulnerable, weak little shit. Sure he saved the world, but he can't seem to really save him from himself, can he? Cloud, if you realize during the game, really is pathetic--up until his last stance of bravery to face Sephiroth. He was too shy to really approach Tifa, he couldn't make it into SOLDIER, Zack took care of him when he was out of commission--which seems to happen a lot--and later, so did Tifa. Twice. My idea of Cloud is really the guy who has no idea who he is or where he's at, and is going through the tormenting process of trying to find out--which most definately results in people taking advantage of him.

Going off on this whole vulnerable Cloud thing is the idea that he enjoys being controlled. Like he's ever really known anything else, right? I usually don't care for fake non-consensual stuff where the person getting raped is like "Oh no... no... yes... yes!" But Cloud is quite different, I might say. Once again, think of the confusion Cloud has about who he is and why--did Sephiroth's mind control impact him in more than one way? What kind of effect would it have on someone to have their thoughts and body controlled by someone else? Mmhmm.