#cloud's file hits lazard's desk just before modeoheim

[getvalentined]

I do wanna say that there is one (1) Cloud Shinra theory that I really like, and it's my kid sister's, and it's that Claudia is President Shinra's estranged younger sister who had serious ideological differences and fucked off at like 14 because the old man expected her to raise Rufus after his mom died and she was like "ABSOLUTELY NOT."

This would explain why Lazard came to Nibelheim after defecting (visiting Aunt Claudia because if she could disappear and not have the company chasing her down then surely she has advice for him) and also it's just super funny to imagine Claudia being so down to clown in poor folks' town because she just hates her family so much that eating raw potatoes that she grew herself and then tore out of the ground with her bare hands is the most liberating thing she's ever experienced.

It's not a headcanon I've ever used or incorporated into anything, but it's genuinely one of the best subversions of common fanon theories that I've ever had the honor of engaging with.