SPOILERS LTD Remake — It's like New Coke except ... no, it's exactly like New Coke

[Yoru]

Someone missed the Aerith water tower talk and all the comments on the video are accusing her of hating Aerith. These people are actually freaks let a person play how they want. When you start seeing the same names on every FF7 video saying the same stuff its scary how obsessed these people are.

Are these the same people who skip Tifa's content or misinterpret anything she might say ?

 

[Sacky]

Are these the same people who skip Tifa's content or misinterpret anything she might say ?

recently they have been calling out streamers and youtubers on twitter then flooding their comments

 

[Stiggie]

Oh yeah, they're actually upset that most people go for Tifa since most people understand that that's what the story is hinting at. So they delusionally go "well, it's because they gets threats from THAT side of the fandom", or "man, media literacy is dead".

The lack of self-awareness is insane.

 

[Yoru]

Oh yeah, they're actually upset that most people go for Tifa since most people understand that that's what the story is hinting at. So they delusionally go "well, it's because they gets threats from THAT side of the fandom", or "man, media literacy is dead".

The lack of self-awareness is insane.

Reminds me of the japanese artist dude Square Enix and Sony are paying for the Rebirth commercials that's like "Well I go for Tifa because I know the story and what's gonna happen next"

And to be honest that's the whole point of it. I don't give a damn about ship. I love Tifa without Cloud around. I'm not fighting for it. What I'm fighting for is respecting the story.

Edit : The dude I was talking about

 

[Stiggie]

Someone missed the Aerith water tower talk and all the comments on the video are accusing her of hating Aerith. These people are actually freaks let a person play how they want. When you start seeing the same names on every FF7 video saying the same stuff its scary how obsessed these people are.

Kinda sad since the water tower scene is so explicitly Cloti that it shocked even me lol.

 

[Sacky]

Heres something really interesting. The differences in How Tifa and Cloud are framed compared to Aerith and Cloud. These have been decided to be shot and framed by the developers so differently, and I think you can come to your own conclusions from the visuals alone if you were to be asked which one was the couple.

 

[Yoru]

Heres something really interesting. The differences in How Tifa and Cloud are framed compared to Aerith and Cloud. These have been decided to be shot and framed by the developers so differently, and I think you can come to your own conclusions from the visuals alone if you were to be asked which one was the couple. View attachment 16012 View attachment 16011 View attachment 16013View attachment 16010

Honestly, the invitation alone is already telling it all.

Tifa is the only one where Cloud is actually "waiting for it" and kinda proactive about it.

 

[nars305]

On the topic of Cloud and Tifa having children, as much as I would love for it to happen, I very much doubt it would since the 7th heaven family is made up of people who were orphaned.

I don't know if that's actually relevant or something Square is hell bent on keeping, though.

Honestly, anything passed a kiss for UTH will be a shock to me. That includes marriage, a new kid, anything post DoC, etc.

 

[nars305]

Heres something really interesting. The differences in How Tifa and Cloud are framed compared to Aerith and Cloud. These have been decided to be shot and framed by the developers so differently, and I think you can come to your own conclusions from the visuals alone if you were to be asked which one was the couple. View attachment 16012 View attachment 16011 View attachment 16013View attachment 16010

I’ve recently learned they made a lot of distinctions between when it’s Cloud and Tifa, and Cloud and someone else in these dates.

It’s almost as if one couple was meant to always have a romantic air about them…

 

[Hix]

One of the most unusual behaviours with the LTD I've encountered is this propensity for fans of one ship to claim ownership of and, thereafter, gatekeep, one or both characters involved in said ship. I see this quite a bit on both sides, and it's not necessarily a bad thing per se, but I have to say I find it to be particularly egregious when it comes to Cleriths in relation to Aerith.

Now, to deal with the obvious context, there there are legitimate complaints about Aerith's characterisation in Rebirth. For instance, her seemingly overly-familiar, if not downright pushy, behaviour in relation to Cloud is oft cited, here and elsewhere, as being a chief source of frustration for many.

It's quite easy to dispel, however. Aerith may well be aware of Cloud's history with, and feelings for, Tifa - and almost certainly is aware of Tifa's affections for Cloud - but that doesn't mean Aerith is being insensitive to either of them.

It's made obvious time and again that Aerith's pursuit of Cloud is in many ways simply a manifested pursuit of Zack and the actions of a confused and ultimately lonely girl trying in desperation to search for and even recreate a lost love. That nuance is important not only because it's the catalyst for her thoughts and actions but also because it shows us Aerith fundamentally isn't a bad person at all. She is shown quite clearly as a character defined by self-sacrifice and heroism, so to say she was self-centred, uncaring and a bad friend in this way would contradict these themes.

Unfortunately, Cleriths struggle to see the nuance and even make matters worse for her character in general. They will rightly jump to Aerith's defence but, by fundamentally ignoring the complexity of her character, their rebuttal serves to only add fuel to the fire of the belief that she is either bad written or written to be bad.

Let's take a step back. Back in 1997 all we had was Final Fantasy VII. Aerith meets Cloud, travels with him and the others, her existence as the last remaining Cetra is revealed and expanded, she dies. The party momentarily grieve but ultimately move on, with Cloud himself infamously going snowboarding shortly thereafter. It's a flash in the pan, a blink of the eye between the party meeting Aerith and Aerith leaving them behind forever. It's fleeting, disc 1 of 3, but it's all we had.

The Compilation came along and blew the doors open on everything. Final Fantasy 7s erstwhile popularity guaranteed it expansion, exposition, greater development and prominence and the rising tide lifted all ships.

Unfortunately, because by then some of these ships had settled in preconceived notion about various things, a situation developed where some refused to accept the expounded characters and story as it had not done so in a way that conformed to their imaginations. This is especially so with Aerith.

Aerith's relationship with Zack, with their dates over 2 years, their warmth and love for each other and her continued and abiding devotion to him, right until the end, in particular were seen as a threat and unacceptable. The number of Cleriths who to this day have not played Crisis Core, despite it being re-released and heavily pushed, is staggering.

But therein is the issue. By failing to accept the events of Crisis Core, or relate to Aerith's depiction as being one of a girl waiting for her boyfriend to return, fans of CA fundamentally handwave away a central aspect of her character. Similarly, by denying the closure of Advent Children Complete - in which Zack and Aerith are depicted together in death, paralleling Cloud and Tifa in life - they double down. The novels and supplementary materials are the cherry on top.

What we're left with is the discourse on Aerith's 22 years of life being solely narrowed down to just two weeks and nothing else seemingly mattering. Said time is lifted up on a pedestal as being vastly more important, indeed as everything, than what it's intention was. It's here where the problems start to get graver.

The seismic importance of this fleeting-meeting between Cloud and Aerith comes to define the characters not just before, but thereafter too. Instead of a future in which both characters can seek to move on, their agency is stripped away and the doors to a happy future forever shut. Aerith is viewed as encouraging Cloud's romanticised depression and willingly allowing Zack to persist and suffer the torture of being forever second best. Such behaviour is far, far worse than anything that might have been levied against Aerith previously.

The issue is that Clerith is, by virtue of nuanced dynamic between the characters, a ship that hinges on everyone being the worst versions of themselves that one can imagine and none more so than Aerith herself.

As stated previously, while CT can sit back and is able to absorb the story as presented, CA relies on ignoring large swathes thereof and actively hoping for a scenario in which envy, betrayal, callousness and depression win out in the end. One side enjoys past, present and future, with each instalment providing a microcosmic look into the relationship of Cloud and Tifa. The other side has two weeks that must be elevated above all and everything must be beholden to it.

It is, as such, extremely inappropriate that Cleriths should gatekeep Aerith and who can be fans of Aerith. As a Zerith, there is not a single moment of her character that I can not enjoy and not a single moment that I can not appreciate. I don't need to ignore events that are uncomfortable, nor do I need to twist her character into being something it's not. Aerith is Aerith.

It's time those of us who appreciate ZA reclaim the character and change the discourse. This isn't merely someone who exists as a plot device for Clerith, but a nuanced, deep and - most importantly - narratively cohesive character that has a purpose in the story, but also her own development to see through.

 

[Sacky]

One of the most unusual behaviours with the LTD I've encountered is this propensity for fans of one ship to claim ownership of and, thereafter, gatekeep, one or both characters involved in said ship. I see this quite a bit on both sides, and it's not necessarily a bad thing per se, but I have to say I find it to be particularly egregious when it comes to Cleriths in relation to Aerith.

Now, to deal with the obvious context, there there are legitimate complaints about Aerith's characterisation in Rebirth. For instance, her seemingly overly-familiar, if not downright pushy, behaviour in relation to Cloud is oft cited, here and elsewhere, as being a chief source of frustration for many.

It's quite easy to dispel, however. Aerith may well be aware of Cloud's history with, and feelings for, Tifa - and almost certainly is aware of Tifa's affections for Cloud - but that doesn't mean Aerith is being insensitive to either of them.

It's made obvious time and again that Aerith's pursuit of Cloud is in many ways simply a manifested pursuit of Zack and the actions of a confused and ultimately lonely girl trying in desperation to search for and even recreate a lost love. That nuance is important not only because it's the catalyst for her thoughts and actions but also because it shows us Aerith fundamentally isn't a bad person at all. She is shown quite clearly as a character defined by self-sacrifice and heroism, so to say she was self-centred, uncaring and a bad friend in this way would contradict these themes.

Unfortunately, Cleriths struggle to see the nuance and even make matters worse for her character in general. They will rightly jump to Aerith's defence but, by fundamentally ignoring the complexity of her character, their rebuttal serves to only add fuel to the fire of the belief that she is either bad written or written to be bad.

Let's take a step back. Back in 1997 all we had was Final Fantasy VII. Aerith meets Cloud, travels with him and the others, her existence as the last remaining Cetra is revealed and expanded, she dies. The party momentarily grieve but ultimately move on, with Cloud himself infamously going snowboarding shortly thereafter. It's a flash in the pan, a blink of the eye between the party meeting Aerith and Aerith leaving them behind forever. It's fleeting, disc 1 of 3, but it's all we had.

The Compilation came along and blew the doors open on everything. Final Fantasy 7s erstwhile popularity guaranteed it expansion, exposition, greater development and prominence and the rising tide lifted all ships.

Unfortunately, because by then some of these ships had settled in preconceived notion about various things, a situation developed where some refused to accept the expounded characters and story as it had not done so in a way that conformed to their imaginations. This is especially so with Aerith.

Aerith's relationship with Zack, with their dates over 2 years, their warmth and love for each other and her continued and abiding devotion to him, right until the end, in particular were seen as a threat and unacceptable. The number of Cleriths who to this day have not played Crisis Core, despite it being re-released and heavily pushed, is staggering.

But therein is the issue. By failing to accept the events of Crisis Core, or relate to Aerith's depiction as being one of a girl waiting for her boyfriend to return, fans of CA fundamentally handwave away a central aspect of her character. Similarly, by denying the closure of Advent Children Complete - in which Zack and Aerith are depicted together in death, paralleling Cloud and Tifa in life - they double down. The novels and supplementary materials are the cherry on top.

What we're left with is the discourse on Aerith's 22 years of life being solely narrowed down to just two weeks and nothing else seemingly mattering. Said time is lifted up on a pedestal as being vastly more important, indeed as everything, than what it's intention was. It's here where the problems start to get graver.

The seismic importance of this fleeting-meeting between Cloud and Aerith comes to define the characters not just before, but thereafter too. Instead of a future in which both characters can seek to move on, their agency is stripped away and the doors to a happy future forever shut. Aerith is viewed as encouraging Cloud's romanticised depression and willingly allowing Zack to persist and suffer the torture of being forever second best. Such behaviour is far, far worse than anything that might have been levied against Aerith previously.

The issue is that Clerith is, by virtue of nuanced dynamic between the characters, a ship that hinges on everyone being the worst versions of themselves that one can imagine and none more so than Aerith herself.

As stated previously, while CT can sit back and is able to absorb the story as presented, CA relies on ignoring large swathes thereof and actively hoping for a scenario in which envy, betrayal, callousness and depression win out in the end. One side enjoys past, present and future, with each instalment providing a microcosmic look into the relationship of Cloud and Tifa. The other side has two weeks that must be elevated above all and everything must be beholden to it.

It is, as such, extremely inappropriate that Cleriths should gatekeep Aerith and who can be fans of Aerith. As a Zerith, there is not a single moment of her character that I can not enjoy and not a single moment that I can not appreciate. I don't need to ignore events that are uncomfortable, nor do I need to twist her character into being something it's not. Aerith is Aerith.

It's time those of us who appreciate ZA reclaim the character and change the discourse. This isn't merely someone who exists as a plot device for Clerith, but a nuanced, deep and - most importantly - narratively cohesive character that has a purpose in the story, but also her own development to see through.

The argument over optional scenes is something that shocks me aswell. They have so little respect for developers and writers to think that they would make any playthrough a player could experience incorrect and wrong. You can not like crisis core but you cant deny it as being a part of the story if the game constantly makes references to it and even has characters saying dialogue from it. If crisis core came after the story you can ignore it as something that doesn't fit your ending but since its a prequel and is heavily tied into this new trilogy you cant really ignore it. To think that the writers would write their characters that are meant to be hero's in any of these ways a problem both ship groups seem to do. Is one of the most stupidest things i have ever seen. They aren't going to make Aerith a hero character that Cloud despises and tolerates who betrays her friends. They also aren't going to make Tifa spend this much time caring for Cloud develop actual clearly non ambiguous romantic scenes between them for her to not have any payoff and end up abandoned and alone because Cloud wants to die or leave into an alternate world yes an actually theory about 7 seconds to the end sacrifice the rest of the world for Aerith this ain't life is strange. They certainly aren't going to make the main character the hero the protagonist give his childhood crush a pity kiss or take advantage of any persons feeling's out of jealousy??????? These people know nothing about storytelling apart from crappy highschool dramas though even they don't do stuff this bad. I wish these so called fans would leave other people alone who don't agree with them or don't see the soulmate bond that they say is clear as day and the incredible romantic chemistry. These people aren't fans of the story if they want it changed this much, they only seem to care which girl is wearing pink and which one isn't and if their favourite character gets the main character in the end.

 

[Yoru]

One of the most unusual behaviours with the LTD I've encountered is this propensity for fans of one ship to claim ownership of and, thereafter, gatekeep, one or both characters involved in said ship. I see this quite a bit on both sides, and it's not necessarily a bad thing per se, but I have to say I find it to be particularly egregious when it comes to Cleriths in relation to Aerith.

Now, to deal with the obvious context, there there are legitimate complaints about Aerith's characterisation in Rebirth. For instance, her seemingly overly-familiar, if not downright pushy, behaviour in relation to Cloud is oft cited, here and elsewhere, as being a chief source of frustration for many.

It's quite easy to dispel, however. Aerith may well be aware of Cloud's history with, and feelings for, Tifa - and almost certainly is aware of Tifa's affections for Cloud - but that doesn't mean Aerith is being insensitive to either of them.

It's made obvious time and again that Aerith's pursuit of Cloud is in many ways simply a manifested pursuit of Zack and the actions of a confused and ultimately lonely girl trying in desperation to search for and even recreate a lost love. That nuance is important not only because it's the catalyst for her thoughts and actions but also because it shows us Aerith fundamentally isn't a bad person at all. She is shown quite clearly as a character defined by self-sacrifice and heroism, so to say she was self-centred, uncaring and a bad friend in this way would contradict these themes.

Unfortunately, Cleriths struggle to see the nuance and even make matters worse for her character in general. They will rightly jump to Aerith's defence but, by fundamentally ignoring the complexity of her character, their rebuttal serves to only add fuel to the fire of the belief that she is either bad written or written to be bad.

Let's take a step back. Back in 1997 all we had was Final Fantasy VII. Aerith meets Cloud, travels with him and the others, her existence as the last remaining Cetra is revealed and expanded, she dies. The party momentarily grieve but ultimately move on, with Cloud himself infamously going snowboarding shortly thereafter. It's a flash in the pan, a blink of the eye between the party meeting Aerith and Aerith leaving them behind forever. It's fleeting, disc 1 of 3, but it's all we had.

The Compilation came along and blew the doors open on everything. Final Fantasy 7s erstwhile popularity guaranteed it expansion, exposition, greater development and prominence and the rising tide lifted all ships.

Unfortunately, because by then some of these ships had settled in preconceived notion about various things, a situation developed where some refused to accept the expounded characters and story as it had not done so in a way that conformed to their imaginations. This is especially so with Aerith.

Aerith's relationship with Zack, with their dates over 2 years, their warmth and love for each other and her continued and abiding devotion to him, right until the end, in particular were seen as a threat and unacceptable. The number of Cleriths who to this day have not played Crisis Core, despite it being re-released and heavily pushed, is staggering.

But therein is the issue. By failing to accept the events of Crisis Core, or relate to Aerith's depiction as being one of a girl waiting for her boyfriend to return, fans of CA fundamentally handwave away a central aspect of her character. Similarly, by denying the closure of Advent Children Complete - in which Zack and Aerith are depicted together in death, paralleling Cloud and Tifa in life - they double down. The novels and supplementary materials are the cherry on top.

What we're left with is the discourse on Aerith's 22 years of life being solely narrowed down to just two weeks and nothing else seemingly mattering. Said time is lifted up on a pedestal as being vastly more important, indeed as everything, than what it's intention was. It's here where the problems start to get graver.

The seismic importance of this fleeting-meeting between Cloud and Aerith comes to define the characters not just before, but thereafter too. Instead of a future in which both characters can seek to move on, their agency is stripped away and the doors to a happy future forever shut. Aerith is viewed as encouraging Cloud's romanticised depression and willingly allowing Zack to persist and suffer the torture of being forever second best. Such behaviour is far, far worse than anything that might have been levied against Aerith previously.

The issue is that Clerith is, by virtue of nuanced dynamic between the characters, a ship that hinges on everyone being the worst versions of themselves that one can imagine and none more so than Aerith herself.

As stated previously, while CT can sit back and is able to absorb the story as presented, CA relies on ignoring large swathes thereof and actively hoping for a scenario in which envy, betrayal, callousness and depression win out in the end. One side enjoys past, present and future, with each instalment providing a microcosmic look into the relationship of Cloud and Tifa. The other side has two weeks that must be elevated above all and everything must be beholden to it.

It is, as such, extremely inappropriate that Cleriths should gatekeep Aerith and who can be fans of Aerith. As a Zerith, there is not a single moment of her character that I can not enjoy and not a single moment that I can not appreciate. I don't need to ignore events that are uncomfortable, nor do I need to twist her character into being something it's not. Aerith is Aerith.

It's time those of us who appreciate ZA reclaim the character and change the discourse. This isn't merely someone who exists as a plot device for Clerith, but a nuanced, deep and - most importantly - narratively cohesive character that has a purpose in the story, but also her own development to see through.

Crisis core has played such a big part in my appreciation of her character that I find it criminal to ignore it. It adds so much depth to a character I'd previously seen as rather unbearable. It may not have done everything right, and it may have shoehorned in a few concepts, but it has done more good than harm.

 

[Hellenic]

Someone missed the Aerith water tower talk and all the comments on the video are accusing her of hating Aerith. These people are actually freaks let a person play how they want. When you start seeing the same names on every FF7 video saying the same stuff its scary how obsessed these people are.

Funny of you to say that. I happened to browse twitter couse i do have an account there and i saw some Cleriths clip a streamer seemingly skipping Aeriths Costa scene in the beach, couse said streamer wanted to keep Tifa above Aerith with the smiley. The Cleriths then went on about "it's such a shame people choose to skip scenes like this just for the sake of their ships", but as it turns out i had seen this streamer play this section and they did in fact talk to Aerith and had her scene just before where the clip starts.

So the Cleriths painted this person in a bad light with a conveniently clipped portion from the stream that makes it seem like they just skip Aerith parts in general in favor of Tifa. Like i'm sure people do skip parts just to make sure they get a specific date, in fact one of the Cleriths outright said they skipped Tifa parts in the replies, so what the fuck is this stupid double standard going on here? Trying to make it seem like people can't have preferences and trying to make it a shame thing if people choose to not see all Aerith scenes in the first place, but it's totally fine then to skip Tifa scenes anyway? Man i really hate these kinda people.

 

[Hellenic]

Oh yeah, they're actually upset that most people go for Tifa since most people understand that that's what the story is hinting at. So they delusionally go "well, it's because they gets threats from THAT side of the fandom", or "man, media literacy is dead".

The lack of self-awareness is insane.

Yeah they just can't deal with the fact that there are a lot of people who in fact do prefer Tifa over Aerith, or just see the story for how it actually is.

 

[Hellenic]

Honestly, anything passed a kiss for UTH will be a shock to me. That includes marriage, a new kid, anything post DoC, etc.

Well they did shock us with a very early kiss here soooo, here's to hoping .

 

[Rin]

Funny of you to say that. I happened to browse twitter couse i do have an account there and i saw some Cleriths clip a streamer seemingly skipping Aeriths Costa scene in the beach, couse said streamer wanted to keep Tifa above Aerith with the smiley. The Cleriths then went on about "it's such a shame people choose to skip scenes like this just for the sake of their ships", but as it turns out i had seen this streamer play this section and they did in fact talk to Aerith and had her scene just before where the clip starts.

So the Cleriths painted this person in a bad light with a conveniently clipped portion from the stream that makes it seem like they just skip Aerith parts in general in favor of Tifa. Like i'm sure people do skip parts just to make sure they get a specific date, in fact one of the Cleriths outright said they skipped Tifa parts in the replies, so what the fuck is this stupid double standard going on here? Trying to make it seem like people can't have preferences and trying to make it a shame thing if people choose to not see all Aerith scenes in the first place, but it's totally fine then to skip Tifa scenes anyway? Man i really hate these kinda people.

What's extra annoying about this is that this game has chapter select for this exact reason. You're encouraged to go back and talk to everyone, watch every scene, etc. Like? Why be so obtuse about someone's first playthrough run? They have the ability to go back and see these scenes later.

 

[Stiggie]

Funny of you to say that. I happened to browse twitter couse i do have an account there and i saw some Cleriths clip a streamer seemingly skipping Aeriths Costa scene in the beach, couse said streamer wanted to keep Tifa above Aerith with the smiley. The Cleriths then went on about "it's such a shame people choose to skip scenes like this just for the sake of their ships", but as it turns out i had seen this streamer play this section and they did in fact talk to Aerith and had her scene just before where the clip starts.

So the Cleriths painted this person in a bad light with a conveniently clipped portion from the stream that makes it seem like they just skip Aerith parts in general in favor of Tifa. Like i'm sure people do skip parts just to make sure they get a specific date, in fact one of the Cleriths outright said they skipped Tifa parts in the replies, so what the fuck is this stupid double standard going on here? Trying to make it seem like people can't have preferences and trying to make it a shame thing if people choose to not see all Aerith scenes in the first place, but it's totally fine then to skip Tifa scenes anyway? Man i really hate these kinda people.

Oh yeah, I saw that post as well, including the Clerith talking about how they skip Tifa scenes.



Question, but does anyone know if there is a lets play with Japanese subtitles out there? I sometimes want to go to the original japanese to check what is being said but something it's hard when it's just audio with english subtitles. This time I was looking for what Zack and Marlene say to each other in response to Marlene says Aerith likes Cloud. It sounds like "so it's an emergency", "yes, it's an emergency" but I can't check without subtitles and I don't feel like playing through everything whenever I want to check a sentence.

 

[Yoru]

What's extra annoying about this is that this game has chapter select for this exact reason. You're encouraged to go back and talk to everyone, watch every scene, etc. Like? Why be so obtuse about someone's first playthrough run? They have the ability to go back and see these scenes later.

"YoU ArE NoT pLaYiNg aS InTeNdEd, Aerith ScEnEs ArE CaNoNs"

 

[nepheneethedestroyer]

I agree with the overarching message of your post but I think this part below is sort of just a personal boundaries thing:

Now, to deal with the obvious context, there there are legitimate complaints about Aerith's characterisation in Rebirth. For instance, her seemingly overly-familiar, if not downright pushy, behaviour in relation to Cloud is oft cited, here and elsewhere, as being a chief source of frustration for many.

It's quite easy to dispel, however. Aerith may well be aware of Cloud's history with, and feelings for, Tifa - and almost certainly is aware of Tifa's affections for Cloud - but that doesn't mean Aerith is being insensitive to either of them.

It's made obvious time and again that Aerith's pursuit of Cloud is in many ways simply a manifested pursuit of Zack and the actions of a confused and ultimately lonely girl trying in desperation to search for and even recreate a lost love. That nuance is important not only because it's the catalyst for her thoughts and actions but also because it shows us Aerith fundamentally isn't a bad person at all. She is shown quite clearly as a character defined by self-sacrifice and heroism, so to say she was self-centred, uncaring and a bad friend in this way would contradict these themes.

Some people are probably just never going to be cool with a scenario where one woman, who is pretty aware that her two other friends have mutual feelings for each other (at the very least by the end of chapter 9), keeps "making moves" on the guy, even if her motivations are primarily about recreating her lost love. I don't think Aerith does stuff like openly grabbing Cloud's arm or calling her outings dates in front of Tifa is done to spite Tifa at all (I personally view it as a combination of her sheltered upbringing/lack of other female friends her age growing up), but ultimately monogamy is a zero-sum game so if it's between being honest about her romantic feelings and strictly about being as sensitive as she can be towards Tifa's feelings, well, one of those will win out. It's a real-life dynamic that plays out too, it's just a thorny situation to be in.

Like, Aerith's not a bad person for wanting to explore her feelings for Cloud--it's just inevitable that given that there are two women interested in one guy that someone's feelings will be hurt. That's just how it is. Does it mean she's putting a slightly higher premium on resolving her own romantic feelings compared to strictly making sure Tifa's feelings aren't hurt? Sure, but that's...ok?

(That being said, I do think that if the roles were switched, and Cloud/Aerith was more mutual and Tifa was the one on the outside looking in, I cannot imagine her thrusting something like the dream date on Cloud--but that has more to do with Tifa's personality and is not really a moralistic judgment on either)

 

[Hellenic]

What's extra annoying about this is that this game has chapter select for this exact reason. You're encouraged to go back and talk to everyone, watch every scene, etc. Like? Why be so obtuse about someone's first playthrough run? They have the ability to go back and see these scenes later.

The excuses to that were "well not all people have the time to see all scenes or do replays of the game", dude go watch them in youtube or something if you don't have the time or desire to watch all different outcomes in-game.

 

[Hellenic]

Question, but does anyone know if there is a lets play with Japanese subtitles out there? I sometimes want to go to the original japanese to check what is being said but something it's hard when it's just audio with english subtitles. This time I was looking for what Zack and Marlene say to each other in response to Marlene says Aerith likes Cloud. It sounds like "so it's an emergency", "yes, it's an emergency" but I can't check without subtitles and I don't feel like playing through everything whenever I want to check a sentence.

This is why i wish these games also had subtitles specific to each audio track like how the Yakuza series does it. You get different english translated subtitles depending on if you use the english or japanese voice over, which i think is neat and let's people who might not understand japanese still get the nuances and whatnot to an extent.

 

[Yoru]

Does it mean she's putting a slightly higher premium on resolving her own romantic feelings compared to strictly making sure Tifa's feelings aren't hurt? Sure, but that's...ok?

My only problem with this is that for all the times Cloud shows he's not really interested or shows some sensitivity towards Tifa, she doesn't want to get the message too much and continues to be quite enterprising. And I find that unpleasant. But yes, that's my very personal opinion.

Even with the OG, when she asks us who Tifa is and we tell her she's our girlfriend, she takes advantage of the break when we're in shinra prison to talk about the date she owes us in front of Tifa. Personally, at this point I was like "But WTF ? You're the one imposing it on me ! What is this super dishonest move" lmao

 

[Rin]

The excuses to that were "well not all people have the time to see all scenes or do replays of the game", dude go watch them in youtube or something if you don't have the time or desire to watch all different outcomes in-game.

That's such a weird argument because if you don't have the time... why play at all?
Most people who use that argument won't even buy and play the game lmao

 

[nars305]

I don’t know it’s strange to me to fight a narrative so hard like some people do. I like Tifa, I like Cloud, I like everyone. But just because I like Tifa doesn’t mean I want it to be forced she is with Cloud. I love *Yuffie and Cloud’s moments but I’m not going to twist it and say “she is the only one who makes him laugh, they are madly in love!!!”

I truly believe I am just following the story. I’m rooting for the relationships they are developing. I don’t really ship characters if I don’t feel like the story is already pushing them. Normally if I do find myself liking a pair of characters together, if the story doesn’t push it I don’t get invested lol.

 

[nars305]

My only problem with this is that for all the times Cloud shows he's not really interested or shows some sensitivity towards Tifa, she doesn't want to get the message too much and continues to be quite enterprising. And I find that unpleasant. But yes, that's my very personal opinion.

Even with the OG, when she asks us who Tifa is and we tell her she's our girlfriend, she takes advantage of the break when we're in shinra prison to talk about the date she owes us in front of Tifa. Personally, at this point I was like "But WTF ? You're the one imposing it on me ! What is this super dishonest move" lmao

This is probably my biggest gripe I’ve *said a couple of times. I don’t like how the ambiguity makes this underlying “conflict” with Tifa and Aerith. Not them directly, but every time I think they are close friends, I’m like oh yeah they seem to like the same dude.