Short Summary: cloud has definitely had an easier time adapting to this place simply by virtue of convincing himself that there's nothing to be afraid of (which is very stupid). he's definitely entered his "mercenary mode" in terms of taking odd jobs and notice board commissions for the sake of trying to earn currency, and given that he typically hears voices in his head sometimes anyway, he routinely avoids facing his shadow at all.

however, interacting with other people has definitely softened his outer core a little, and he's cautiously speaking to others and opening up, even just a little, to be able to at least joke around with them. he took to the soulidarity app with more of a purpose of finding more jobs, so to speak, and received some interesting propositions, such as becoming one's guard and joining one's adventure guild.

for the (mod) event, he lost his head a little with the lantern and definitely went into rage mode, finally encouraged by his own twisted memories and his shadow mocking him, and wanted to kill puck. he went to the festival and played harvest hunt, where he made pretty good prey, despite wanting to be the predator. finally, he also tried to help with the clean up after the horseman, ensuring that wounded people at the very least got some treatment, though obviously not really by his hand.

overall while he's opening himself up slightly to others, he's still pretty guarded at this point. he doesn't really want to share things, especially since he's confused about himself, confused about his shadow, and instead is focusing on what he considers more "tangible" like work and income.

(the same ooc note: the latter half of the month really spiraled out of control for me irl, so i'm only able to come back now and get back to my threads, now that things are better under control! however, i completely understand if that constitutes a warning for this month. )