A Rant about FFVII Fanon

[koorii]

This is a rant that's been building for a long time. In fact I've gone off about it to several people. However, I am now going to write it here in a vague attempt to gather my thoughts on it in one place.



Dear FFVII Fandom & a particular subset of Time Travel Fic writers in particular,

Cloud Strife isn't, never was, and never will be a cadet. I have no idea where this particular bit of fanon started, but I want to poke whomever it was in eye for it.

The fact of the matter is, is the way you are using the ranking/term of cadet is wrong. A cadet is someone who is training to become a military officer. Guess, what? Cloud ain't that. Cloud Strife attempted to join SOLDIER, failed, and was shuffled into ShinRa's army as an average grunt: A private. He is as follows: A trooper, an infantryman, a grunt, a regular every day soldier in ShinRa's military. Later, he tried and failed to join SOLDIER.

He. Is not. A. cadet.

You know who you might say is a cadet? Elena. She attends/attended ShinRa Military Academy and is therefor possible to be labeled as a "cadet". Had Cloud attended a military academy he would have been a cadet, and when he entered the army he would have been given an officer rank. Not necessarily SOLDIER, or a Turk, but something like Captain, or Lieutenant. He would not have been a regular Private!

I'm going to be vaguely generous and wonder if the cadet fanon was because someone played FFVIII and Garden is crawling with SeeD cadets and didn't realize what the term meant. In that world the term is applicable: Garden is essentially a military academy training mercenaries to act as leaders--as officers.

Cloud most likely failed whatever tests it was that SOLDIER wannabes take and was shuffled off to basic and then into the army. ETA: Or went through Basic and then tried and failed SOLDIER. /End ETA He was never a cadet. He never attended a military academy. He was a nobody from a tiny, podunk little town that's only saving noticeable grace was being home to ShinRa's oldest reactor.

I realize that this fanon is deeply entrenched in the fandom, it pains me to see it and I get a little overly reactionary over it as you can see. I doubt people will ever stop using it, because they seem to think its correct. It still pains me greatly. I hate that word anymore. Grargh. It would just be nice, so very nice, to see fics where they refer to Cloud by what he is. It would be even nicer to see fics that don't fall into the fanon trope that there's a special pre-SOLDIER training program or something. Maybe there is, maybe not. But I still doubt that they would refer to the applicants as cadets. It just isn't the proper terminology.

That being said, I could be horrendously wrong here but.... Anyway, that's my thoughts on the matter as concisely as I can put it and now I feel a little less full of flailing rage.

Sincerely,
A very Disgruntled White Mage

Comments

[kitty11chan.livejournal.com]

I believe it started initially before all the prequel games came out.

[croix-souillees.livejournal.com]

*ponders* this is true. Though I wonder about one bit.

Cloud Strife attempted to join SOLDIER, failed, and was shuffled into ShinRa's army as an average grunt: A private. He is as follows: A trooper, an infantryman, a grunt, a regular every day soldier in ShinRa's military.

Crisis Core timeline, it seems like at the time he met Zack, he had yet to try out for SOLDIER. It seems like it was only later, after Zack's new hairdo/Before Crisis events, that it seemed like he had failed.

But that might just be me...

[clackme.livejournal.com]

Hah!
Finally, someone else has noticed the fanon fail.

(Friends you. <3)