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dipperdogrpg · 3 years

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Cloud and Aerith theories/facts and not canon pairing essay

Ended up writing way more then intended lol and thought to share what’s happening in the FF7 story between Cloud and Aerith. This is a response text I did on my youtube channel where I do commentary as a Cloti supporter. Instead I decided to move it here.

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Wahh lol I got carried away! I enjoyed but also felt bad for Cloud having to dance at the Honey Bee thanks to Aerith and her plans. Gosh darn it though Cloud dancing was great and I squealed along with Aerith, but a tinge of guilt hits when I see his troubled face haha. The thing people confuses here is that Cloud pushes himself to do it for Tifa because he was ready to walk away. Instead of busting through the mansion he sucked it up to ensure Tifa’s safety and chose to sneak inside as a woman.

Yes, I’m also very curious how Sephiroth's schemes will develop and how Aerith will try to stop him in Remake. She's much more focused on Sephiroth and stopping him compared in OG. In the other game Aerith originally joined to understand her Cetra abilities, but it feels pretty evident she has new mysterious powers as a Cetra in Remake and her relationship with Sephiroth is more personal. Also, I think Sephiroth and Aerith’s ancestry will have a bigger role and focus on Jenova and the Cetra's relationship/History. I plan to do an Aerith Theory and a character analysis in the future because she is, as the developers describe her, mysterious.

It's obvious Sephiroth is harassing Cloud mentally then later physically through his clones. He is scheming something big and I look forward how Aerith will try to counter it because she is probably the only one capable to do it as a Cetra. One of the big schemes was removing the Arbiters of fate, but I think they both wanted that. Both Sephiroth and Aerith want to change something that doesn’t fit with the planet’s “destined” agenda.

In Max's commentary he mentioned Sephiroth was intentional with stalling Cloud running into Aerith, which caused a butterfly effect to ruin the events the planet has planned. While it tries to fix itself, the party are becoming aware of the Arbiters of Fate existence and sees it as a problem. At the end the team removes it when Sephiroth had some control in manipulating it. Its been mentioned the three figures you fight are a representation of the three sephiroth remnants from AC, Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo. So maybe we are getting hints of Sephiroth's abilities with the clones and the lifestream which could lead to some complicated trouble. We also get evidence Aerith is already more powerful than her Og counterpart by creating the portal to fight the Arbitors. When the heck did she learn that?

My theory about removing the arbitors of fate are so the creators can have wiggle room for slight variation in scenes they've considered fixing in the past to improve a more consistent story and of course a new way for Sephiroth to exercise his goal along with Aerith because definitely getting hints those two know more then they should. My theory, they are from the future and traveled to the past using the Life stream and I’m using the OTWTS Novel as evidence when Aerith and Sephiroth talk about their time in the Life Stream. In there they gained new powers. Evidence- Sephiroth talks about it at the temple of ancients and that he gained new knowledge from there, so why not Aerith too. Either way the party will stop him at the end with Aerith's help because her role in the story is to save the world while Tifa's role is to save Cloud. That is a canon statement by one of the developers btw. Aerith and Tifa have their roles to play in FF7 that lead to its success.

Fun fact, but Cloud is not himself with Aerith. The developers did say Cloud truly is himself with Tifa. Why? because love. Now, the cool thing in Remake we are witnessing is Cloud learning how to make friends. A poor social skill set that may have contributed with his insecurity when he was a child. Wanting to join tifa and her friends but instead stayed away. To make himself feel better he makes up a story that he chose not to play with the other kids because he is special. In FF7 we get to witness Cloud learning these relationship skills, which helps develop his character to grow up until we get to the Lifestream sequence. It's after that he can stop pretending to be what he think is the ideal cool grown up version of himself and instead work on his real self with the new bonds of friendship he made who stuck around Cloud regardless of him pretending to act as someone else during their adventure. Cloud is still Cloud. Even with the messed up memories he had. He is not Zack. He is like a little boy picking up traits he likes from other people and mimic them. Very confused why people think he is Zack. He’s not. He is Cloud trying to be cool and does it poorly. That’s a canon thing.

Soldier Cloud is a facade, an illusion of himself he truly believed in until he sorted out his memories and realized "oh I'm not being myself and just mimicking what would Zack do. A friend I look up to" It's been pointed out Cloud isn't actually grown up mentally and is still a child with insecurity about himself along with 5 years of trauma thanks to Hojo. Poor BABY! This whole copy/mimic theme gets reflected with the kids in sector 8 that mimic Cloud in remake over time during the side quests. Cloud is doing the same thing with Zack. Even Biggs hints that Cloud and the kids have a lot in common. I'm not crazy about Sector 8 but it shows best what Biggs told Cloud before the plate falls. And one more thing I want to add lol. When Cloud gets his red drink from Tifa there's a pause of him looking up and down at the drink and Tifa, before he says beautiful. That moment of pause he thinks to himself what he should do here and then came up with what he believes a confident person/Zack would do. Zack doesn't hesitate when giving a compliment. Confident people don't normally hesitate when they talk. It's why we get moments of Cloud saying some awkward lines when he doesn't give himself time to think and its one of the best moments to watch lol cuz I think that's when real cloud slips out trying to act cool or is at a lost for words. It's canon by the developers that Cloud isn't cool but tries to act it.

Another Fun fact. Most party members and NPCs in Remake mention and hint in game they see past the facade Cloud puts up. Tifa, Barret, Wedge, Biggs, Marle, Jessie and Aerith are some of the characters that see past it and either go along with it, poke fun at his attempt or tell him to his face they know he's pretending to be someone he's not. Basically seeing past the character he pretends to be and can see he has a good heart over the course they spend time with him. Even though Cloud tries to convince others and himself he could care less about them and is only in it for the money.

Now OG is really awkward with the romance honestly from my playthroughs so far. (Follow me on Youtube Dipperdog15 if you want to catch my FF7 commentary when I go live playing OG and Intergrade.) But with Remake it's very clear they are building up Aerith's love story with Zack so we can cry hard later. All of Zack scenes so far is related to Aerith. In Remake and OG Aerith display some of Zack's mannerisms too because people copy/mimic what they do to feel closer to them when in love. She continues to wear the bow Zack gave her and the pink dress in memory of Zack. She's said "gotta move forward not back" in remake and/or that Zack probably moved on with another girl in Og but what if what she said is a lie. We have Cloud as the unreliable narrator so why can't it also happen with Aerith who is likely lying to convince herself to move on to protect her heart. In fact a lot of characters in FF7 lie to themselves and we get character development when they stop and face the truth. It's one of the many themes in FF7 which I think I’ll deep dive into on my podcast channel in the future.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Zack is risking it all to make it to Midgar to see Aerith while risking Cloud's life on this mission, because he promised her. Promise is a big important theme in FF7. Cloud and Tifa are the canon couple and Zack and Aerith are the canon couple in FF7 because these pairings promised each other. I won't disagree about Cloud not caring about Aerith, but he cares for all his friends as said in AC. Also why make it possible the idea to bring Zack back? To create a love square? No. It’s have us the players focus instead the reunion of Aerith and Zack. That’s more attention grabbing because we never got to see it before and I’ll cry when they cry finally getting to be together. If they don’t I’ll cry some more. The developers are pushing for Zerith and their development in Remake/Intergrade.

Another thing to notice, there are a lot of similarities between Jessie and Aerith's relationship when they are around Cloud. This directive choice, I believe, isn't a coincidence in order to water down scenes that are suppose to be special. It is instead not a “one of kind’ scene. They both get carried bridal style. They both tell cloud My Hero. They both invited Cloud over for dinner. They both ask about who Tifa is. They both got a pikachu face from Cloud when jessie optionally kissed Cloud on the cheek and Aerith wearing the optional red dress. They both have strong personalities that overwhelms Cloud and that is a developer canon statement. They both worked hard to befriend Cloud so he can open up and be nicer to them. Cloud treats them both the same.

Aerith’s relationship with Cloud in Remake is directing us to friendship. In the novel it mentioned she loves Cloud, in what way we don’t know. But we can say for a fact Cloud was living a lie in OG and his real self loves Tifa. In fact his other self loved Tifa too, you just have to catch the moment. Example, Barret teasing Cloud if he is eager to see his baby when you first see Tifa in OG. It happens when you run to the bar, but only if you catch Tifa on the porch before she goes inside. That’s means in both remake and OG, Barret knew something was up with those two. Another moment is the interest Cloud has with what Tifa almost said in the gondola. It was obviously sounding like some kind of confession from Tifa at Gold Saucer. When you get this date the story is more fluid when you arrive at the northern crater and Cloud says “only your opinion matters” to Tifa. Huge RED FLAG Cloud considers Tifa important to him. Meanwhile Aerith and Cloud’s relationship was open for interpretation that it may have been love in OG, but the scenes that helped implied it were removed in Remake. The point system was just for fun because it was a popular thing in the 90s. Plus the points for Tifa, Aerith, Barret and Yuffie’s are their feelings for Cloud not Cloud’s feelings towards them. Then you get rewarded learning a little about the character, but that’s it. FF7 remake/intergrade is not an otome game. Cloud ends with Tifa no matter what. Even if Aerith was to stay alive the Life Stream sequence will always be Cloud and Tifa’s moment to learn about their feelings for each other. The developers have said it is one of their favorite scenes, so they won’t change it. ok now back to Remake.

Aerith in her resolution tells him not to love her and it’s not real. A deliberate choice of words I think she picked to shoo away the thought they could be a thing for both their sakes and us the players lol. Doing that made it weird now because Cloud doesn’t want to ruin what ever progress he has with Tifa in Remake. Plus Cloud only known her for a few days and if his actions are making her think there’s this growing romance between them he’s not going to encourage it. Those lines raised his awareness to watch himself I bet, so Tifa doesn’t get the wrong idea and you can see the distance he put between himself and Aerith later in game. Meanwhile in Intermission we see Cloud continues to make quick glances at Tifa whenever he can. We get it Cloud. You can’t keep your eyes off her. Ok getting off track. So Cloud and Aerith are instead just friends. Doing this allows Tifa to pick up the role to be there for Aerith. Which will help develop their friendship to be stronger as the two girls encourage each other. because I didn’t pick up on the two being best friends in OG but in Remake it’s very clear. He already looked uncomfortable when Aerith grabbed his arm back at the ghost station in front of Tifa. To include Cloud with this idea of him falling in love with another woman in front of Tifa would leave a poor taste in our mouths after spending several hours watching him develop several intimate moments with Tifa. That freaking hug scene and train roll you guys screamed sexual tension and love. Cloud is not that kind of guy who easily falls in love. His whole hero’s journey is because of Tifa and he makes sure to be nice to her while trying to get her attention. With anyone else he is quite hostile with new people and slowly learns to tolerate them before liking them. Cloud treats Tifa differently in a special way. He’s been pinning for Tifa since they were kids and even imagined scenarios of Tifa noticing him. That’s right, not all of Cloud’s visions may be accurate. We may see more scenes of kid Cloud imagining moments with Tifa to confuse our perspective they are childhood friends. Again, Cloud is the unreliable narrator thanks to Jenova and 5 years of trauma. Now back to Aerith. Their relationship definitely felt different when Cloud, Tifa and Barret rescued Aerith. In fact Aerith’s relationship with everyone is different in a better way. The relationship between Tifa and Barret are better fleshed out compared to OG Aerith and I’m for it. Very happy they removed the jail scene. It was upsetting watching Aerith flirt with Cloud while Tifa was stuck in the cell forced to listen and Aerith owing Cloud a date. Which changed also in Remake. Taking Aerith home and spending time her was the date as mentioned in game by Aerith herself.

When I play through Chapter 8 and 9 I get this feeling Meta Aerith looks uncomfortable sticking to the OG lines of herself but does it anyways so the Arbiters of fate won’t come for her because she wants to hold on to her memories. Something she believes can help her friends I’m guessing. This is if my theory is right lol. What we have now is an Aerith that’s more mysterious than she was in OG. If this is OG Aerith making a return in Remake then I believe she was acting a lot, but then we see hiccups of her mentioning Cloud being a mercenary when he never mentioned it or acting like she knows Tifa for like forever before she actually met her in Remake. And then there was her knowing the plate would fall in sector 7. I’m betting the burden of knowing it was so hard to hide that Tifa picked up that she might be hiding something.

We are near the end!

Aerith’s resolution explored further. The resolution helps proves my theory this is OG Aerith that travel back to the past using the Lifestream to help her comrades in the fight against Sephiroth in Remake who also returned to the past. What’s also interesting about her resolution are the things she said are something you want to tell someone before you disappear. It was so sudden in OG that it sounds like Aerith wants to make up for it and also doesn’t want Cloud to suffer in guilt as he did in AC. Cherish the moment. Every one dies.

Aerith knows the truth with Cloud and Tifa’s relationship hence her stopping herself interfering. Now maybe Aerith did fall in love with Cloud, and maybe while Cloud pretended to be someone else was loving the idea, which is a stretch cuz there are plenty debunking the idea which I can go over later. They both may have been using each other to fill the hurt in their heart not having their true loves instead. Zack and Tifa. In her resolution, Aerith has declared she will not pursue Cloud as she did in OG and we have evidence of that when they rescue her. there were so many opportunities for Cloud to be Aerith’s hero. Instead those moments were replaced with Tifa consoling her and rescuing her.

The Arbitors of Fate are gone, so I believe Aerith’s normal clips of her flirting with Cloud will get removed or changed as many have already. This allows the directors to remove lines that painted Aerith poorly some moments and better her relationship with the team too. Aerith will still have flaws like everyone does. No one is perfect and I’m perfectly fine with that.

Crap if I keep going this will turn into a podcast in writing I think lol. Anywho, yes the arbiters of fate were eliminated, who knows if it's permanent, but as the developers have repeated, FF7 story will remain the same at heart. Iconic moments will remain. If it is not then that's a risky move to say to fans. Aerith will die to protect her loved ones and the planet and will reunite at the church in spirit with Zack perhaps. She can’t escape her role as the last living Cetra. That is her truth which she denied when she was little as shown in a flashback with kid Aerith. The other theme in FF7 is trying to move forward after a loss. Which extends to Advent Children which some of the team members has to deal with survival guilt. Some fans are getting their hopes up that Aerith will live. The developers are using Biggs and Jessie’s possible surviving scenes to prove lives lost can live in Remake. I think they may die later though if that is their fate, but we never actually saw them die in OG either. It was just implied. This is a set up so Aerith’s death scene can be impactful again in Remake, so we can cry again.

This was a lot and little bit everywhere, but I hope you enjoyed it. You can follow me on youtube in the link below where I invite other FF7 fans to talk about the story and Cloud and Tifa’s relationship Or me doing my own Cloud and Tifa commentary and Remake talk while I play the game. Thanks for reading! Hope you check out my channel and sub to check out my videos when convenient for you. Thank you!

https://www.youtube.com/c/Dipperdog15/featured

#cloti #FF7 Remake #ff7 #cloud strife #final fantasy vii #Final Fantasy 7

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im-totally-not-an-alien · 3 years

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Final Fantasy 7 prompts no 61

1. Hojo screwed up.

A light engulfed the Shinra tower, turning everyone inside into the opposite gender.

Genesis immediately bought different make up and had a few copies of his uniform altered because there is no way he isn't going to look his absolute best in any situation.

Sephiroth locked himself in his quarters because his outfit doesn't exactly support the existence of boobs. He's still doing paperwork. The poor bastard.

Angeal got advice from some rather flustered secretaries. He's more bothered by the situation than he's willing to admit

Zack and Kunsel took this opportunity to see what the girls bathroom was like.

2. Someone referred to Sephiroth as "Clouds big tiddied goth boyfriend"

3. Cloud can summon those wierd eldrich hellhounds from AC. He does this by saying the word "Havoc" as an attack command.

AVALANCHE soon found out that if anyone/ says that word, they'll spring up from Clouds shadow. If he isn't being actively threatened or attacked they will attack the thing that poses the greatest threat to Cloud, which usually winds up being poor Vincent.

4. Genesis finds out Shelua and Shelke are his little sisters and immediately tries to shove himself into the family dynamic

5. Ghost Aerith cutting off Sephiroths dramatic monologs with an air horn

6. Au where everything is the same but its from Ghost Zacks perspective

7. Time traveler cloud was caught on the security cameras planting something underneath the Generals office chair. Reno was dispatched, expecting to defuse a bomb.

What he found instead was an airhorn trap. The redhead left it and went back to the security room to watch the chaos unfold, only to see the very blond he had been hunting for months watching the monitor. His hand immediately went to his rod, but the blond waved him off. "We can fight later. Sit down, the firsts just entered."

Reno grinned as he watched Shinras holy trinity jump a meter and a half inter the air and he actually considered proposing to blondie right here and now. This feeling only increased when the stranger began making copies of the footage and placing them of flash drives, all the while, Genesis was talking a mile a minute, (likely cursing and threatening to roast whoever had done this alive) and Angeal inspected the trap, thinking that a certain puppy was about to get a lecture.

They fought, or course. And of course, blondie got away again. On the plus side, Reno got to keep one of the flash drives.

He likes to hack into computers near wherever Rhapsodos is and back the video appear on screen.

8. CC Cloud gets bitten by a werewolf. Hes more concerned with not being dragged off by the Turks or a scientist than the actual "being a werewolf" thing

9. Denzel and Marlene choose to race in those little toddler jeeps after Reno bought them a pair.

They were kinda miffed until they pressed down on the "gas" petal and the tiny little things rocketed off with them inside.

Cloud, Barret, and Tifa all stood there frozen before Barret took of running after his daughter.

Reno rubbed the back of his head, "Eheh. I guess I suped 'em up a little too much, huh."

Tifa cracked her knuckles, "You have five seconds to run."

10. Sephiroth returns again, descending from the sky like some kinda majestic bastard. "Cloud, I- What are you doing?"

Cloud and Genesis glared at him from the toddler jeeps they were racing. "Mind your business catboy!"

11. Time travel fuckery where Genesis uses Holy to save the world after Aerith was kidnapped.

12. Sephiroth was running out of time. His consciousness was beginning to fade and disperse through the lifestream. In one final desperate act, he tried to force Reunion by pulling out the small part of Cloud who had wanted to help Sephiroth. The part that was made to be his puppet.

It worked, but had the unfortunate side effect of shattering the blonds soul into several pieces and by extention, creating Clouds own remnants. Even worse. There's more than three.

(This is a blatant excuse to have all the different fanon versions of Cloud in the same story)

13. The Cetra Cloud au, but with a twist. He was a Cetra infected by Jenova, but didn't die. Instead he defeated her and helped his ancient kin seal her away.

Fearing that he might be a danger to the world, he asked the planet to seal him away too, keeping him on stand-by in case the world ever needed him again.

Two thousand years into the future, he is awoken by the desperate cries of the planet. The humans have found Jenova and are using pieces of her body to create super soldiers. Whats worse is that they are draining the planets lifeblood and burning it as fuel. They called it "mako"

The planet was afraid that if it awoke its weapons they might be destroyed. They were made for one powerful opponent, not thousands of adversaries. So she awoke him to destroy the humans "leach machines" and dispose of Jenova, before she can properly awaken.

14. Au were Cloud is a calamity, much like Jenova.

He crash landed in Wutai near the beginning of the Wutai war and proceeded to kill/consume anyone who challenged him. Fortunately the shape-shifting virus was still young and was rather new to his powers.

Unfortunately, he was actively hunting Jenova and Sephiroth in an attempt to kill them and claim this planet as his own territory.

The planet is hysterical, prompting Aerith to run to Tseng and tell him what she knew of the Calamity From The Skies. Tseng relays this information to the directors and the firsts, portraying it as a serious threat. The problem is that the planet doesn't know what the new viruses intentions are.

The firsts simply see this as a chance to play hero and greatly underestimate the blond only to get brutally crushed, with Sephiroth nearly dying before Genesis saved him via his limit break.

(Cloud is super evil in this btw)

Featuring: Cloud eating people, existential horror, gore, Cloud tormenting one Soldier by saying his brothers last words in said brothers voice, Cloud shapeshifting into other people and evading security problems like that, Cloud shape-shifting into Genesis and impaling Sephiroth from behind, ect.

15. "You cannot forget me Cloud. No more than you can forget Aerith or Zack, for you love me as much as you love them."

"I hate you!" The blond spat out.

The silverette shook his head, smiling as though his reaction simply amused him, "Hatred is just another form of love."

"Then I will love you as I always have." He replied as he readied his sword.

(The phase I originally came up with was "Then I will love you as I always have, with a dagger and a sneer" but it didn't fit)

#cloud strife #sephiroth #final fantasy 7 story prompts #final fantasy 7 prompts #final fantasy prompts #ff7 #genesis rhapsodos #zack fair #jenova #angeal hewley #final fantasy vii #final fantasy 7

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moodysnowflake · 4 years

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Hello there!

Warning guys, nasty SPOILERS ahead, both of FFVII (+ Remake) and FFVII Crisis Core.

The severity of spoilers is arguable, it depends on the level of involvement you have or you got in the series, so please be aware that what you're stepping onto might be a wildflower lawn as much as a war minefield.

I saw, read and heard a lot of people complaining about Cloud's dancing scene/minigame, grumbling about how:

1. Stupid it was;

2. Degrading it has been;

3. Zack would have been disappointed.

Let's take it in strides, shall we?

1. Stupid? I'd rather say silly, more than stupid. Stupid means doing something that you've no idea how/why you're doing. FFVII never made that a mystery: there was a goofy vibe in the original too, and that was on purpose. You couldn't handle the story otherwise, it would just have been a mess of violence, death, tears and blood. Light moods are needed for you to recuperate, recharge batteries and balance. Otherwise, we all would've ended up like Sephiroth.

Character perspective wise, Cloud might not have understood from the beginning (as much as I love him to the bottom of my essence, he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer - that's also why Sephiroth can do what the fluff he wants) what the hell Aerith roped him into, but when he gets the idea he accepts it (in his very Cloud way) and faces it with one of the most determined look he has ever sported. He's willing to let himself be dragged on and about the stage by Andrea, because he knows this is for Tifa, so it doesn't matter if he has to shake is ass in front of a bunch of strangers. He never really cared about his reputation since Crisis Core; he doesn't care about what people think, he's doing it for the woman he loves (shut your trap, he loves her as much as she loves him, he just needs time to untangle himself from his nightmares - and someone smacking him on the head really hard).

Secondly, player perspective wise, is it really such a stupid section? How many did manage to get a perfect score on the very first try? Camera speed, moves and angles pulled some interesting stunts, didn't they? Tricking your depth perception, together with the lights going bananas. Even if they weren't; everything has been coordinated and perfectly synced with the music. If you'd refrained for two seconds from blabbering insults you would have noticed that you could've actually used lights as another cue to help you sync, with the music and Cloud's movements. It's called peripheral vision, you need to expand your focus as much as you can and split it both on the background and the forefront. That gives your brain the capacity to better throw information at you so you can react faster, 'cause you're actively trying to remain perceptive of your surroundings too. Just like in battles.

If that shooting dynamic would have been present during battle, nobody would have survived, not even a doomrat.

2. Talking about degrading. Did Cloud strip naked? Did he have to put on a honeybee outfit? As much as he was very uncomfortable, Andrea (a.k.a. the game) pushed him only up to the limit that still felt secure enough and over which it could have been really perceived as abusive. Andrea could have done that and Cloud would still have obliged (because Tifa) but his objective was not humiliating him. He wanted to play with the dangerous SOLDIER, over which he, paradoxically, even for a tiny bit, had the power and control. Still, he didn't overdo nor overuse it (that is some good representation of a BDSM Dom, btw).

Moreover... I mean... Did you really look at him? Those were not exactly noobs moves, he nailed that too (but that's something I'll talk about next).

About the dresses: are you seriously complaining about them? I admit that the black/white one is not exactly the best (but it's your fault for ditching all Wall Market's quest... you had it coming), and I prefer the blue corset one over the lilac/black silk.

Point is: you have to sneak a guy who's built like a fucking BRICK WALL into Corneo's audition. How in the ever-loving hell are you supposed to do it? The only things playing in Cloud's favor are his facial features and his height: he's the smoothest skin I've ever seen, light jaws and is compact enough not to stand out too much among average-height girls, but that's it. He has shoulders and muscles for days. You have to cover him as much as you can, and how would you do that, if not with a broad gown, puff-sleeves, and a corset? If you're wondering about the chocker/high neck+thick necklace: it covers the Adam's apple, genius... And all the frilly, shiny laces of the lilac dress and the extensions are needed to divert the attention from his neck, clavicles and forearms, otherwise, you'll notice the buff.

That's why he had to look like a Victorian maiden.

Putting him in a catsuit, with latex or leather stretching over every inch of skin, or a sundress, with arms and legs on display... That would have been a bad idea.

Andrea is talking about not being afraid, and that's an awesome message: if you feel comfortable and beautiful, why not doing it? If you're happy, do it. It's not your problem if other people are insecure about themselves and try to pick on you because they're afraid and, most of all, jealous of your confidence, identity, and fortitude. They're just disrespectful and sad, and you should avoid them like the plague.

And again, Cloud doesn't seem that much fazed about it. I think he's more annoyed than anything; having to move in that huge-ass skirt, squeezed in a corset which is not letting you breathe and turn around would make everyone who's not used to it lose their shit. Women or men, regardless, it's a pain either way, especially if you're a fighter and need to move freely. Also, if you notice, the heels he's put in are not that much higher than his combat boots... Sure, they're thinner, but that's why he's not wobbling like a newborn calf. Did you see him swaying through the streets? That was some awesome heel-walking.

What ended me was how he was moving after he woke up. Have you seen how completely ungraceful he is, and at the same time fluidly stands to check on Aerith and doesn't trip over his own feet? In a dress like that, being that agile is shamefully amazing. Then, he swings like he's in the SOLDIER uniform, spine blocked because of the corset, moving his center of gravity too much because of too broad steps, awkwardly bobbing, switching too much weight from feet to feet, getting his stance rigid. That's precious. And hilarious af.

He has to held still as much as he can to try and convey the feeling of being scared, but we know he's just trying really hard not to wreak havoc in the audition room and slaughter everyone.

(Despise lighting, which being warm oriented would have mingled with the blue of his irises and shift them to green, I still believe that in that scene his eyes were going mako. In some millisecond-split moments, they seem to really flash out. That's hella relatable: you're using all your self-control not to cut open the scumbag who's lusting and sniffing and drooling and being awful to your friends. Plus, you're being groped and talked down too? The only thing you can do is look, and boy does he Glare™

(Cloud is not afraid/disgusted of other men touching him, but people seem to forget it. He just doesn't want Corneo to touch him. He doesn't move when Andrea touches his lips nor react when he swings him around in the dress, he doesn't move when Biggs pats him on the head on the pillar (I bet he would give everything to have Zack do that again, just one more time...dammit [I know what happens in the final cutscene of the Remake, but the post below this one explains why I think this]), he doesn't pull away when he grabs his hands, and not only he grabs it back, but grasps with the other one too. [Captain Levi vibes, anyone?])

He didn't have control over his eyes and I firmly think he didn't even intend to; he let them glow on purpose, just because that was the only thing he could unleash and nobody would have noticed.)

Cloud dancing is not stupid, nor offensive. Cloud is a loyal, caring friend, who doesn't have prejudices and is comfortable (as much as he can be) with his sexuality and identity that he's not questioning it nor getting scared (and violent) at the situation.

Do I have to dance and dress like a woman to help my girl? If it's the best way, so be it. She needs my help, I'm not gonna let her down. Gonna be a pain in the ass to fight, but I'll manage. I'm not that insecure of myself that a dress is going to make me have an existential crisis.

If you're a man or a male, and your friend/lover/person you cherish would ever be in a life-threatening situation (and this is, 'cause if they were on their own, they would have died), and the only option would be for you to dance and put on a dress to save them, but you refuse because you have to dance and it's a dress... Just a fucking dress... Well... You're not that decent of a friend, nor human being...

3. So. About Zack. If you think he would've been disappointed/disgusted... Are we talking about the same character? 'Cause I think we're not.

Zack Fair, SOLDIER 1st class (previously 2nd), 6 foot and a ladder, black hair, blue eyes, scar on his left jaw. Droll af?

Just because he's a legend, a powerful, passionate and strong-willed person, doesn't mean he couldn't be a quirky dumbass.

The first line said to him in Crisis Core is "Get serious" by Angeal... Angeal who described him to his mother as a PUPPY.

The same guy who jostled his mentor, a fucking SOLDIER 1st class, in front of their boss, when he knew he recommended him.

The same guy who tried to get Aerith on a date after 5 minutes.

The one who grabs a parasol to fight troopers without breaking a sweat.

The one who faked defeat by sixth-grade-Yuffie in Wutai.

The one who dances with the Cactua he summons?

When Angeal discusses the plan and tells him to charge the front gate of Wutai on the first game mission, he's jumping like an over-excited dog.

And, most importantly, the only living being who actually managed to:

- Make Sephiroth care (after Hollander with implanted Jenova cells escapes, he tells Zack Genesis’ copies had been seen in the slums... And with that frigging Knowing™ look, and a smirk, he tells him "Permission to return... Granted", Seph's gentlemanly way to say 'I know you have a girlfriend down there, you should go check on her':

Then Sephiroth says goodbye first

And fucking smiles (Zack wasn’t able to see it ‘cause he was already walking away)

- Yell at him over the phone and live;

- Pull a GENUINE laugh out of him. When they're trying to locate Angeal and Genesis, Sephiroth calls him. The conversation goes as:

S:"You and I are gonna find them [Gen & Angie] before they [Shinra] do, and..."

Z:'And WHAT?!?!' *angry bark, to which Sephirot pulls the phone away*

S:"...Fail to eliminate them"

Z:'For real?!'

S:"[AMUSED HUFF] Yes, for real" *playful mocking of Zack's words*

Okay, that was a huff, BUT STILL... Not even Sephiroth (when he was still a human being...because yes, he was, and a pretty decent one too) was immune to his Puppy Dog Energy. Look. At. That. Smile.

So this is what I think.

The only thing Zack would be disappointed about would've been Cloud not dancing enough.

Heck, he would've jumped on the stage as soon as given the signal and dragged Cloud along, yelling in his face to be heard over the music "This is gonna be great! Let's show them what a SOLDIER can do! We're gonna put all these cute bees to shame!" ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ

Then again... If Zack would've been there...if we think about it, a part of Zack was there.

During his childhood and infantry training, I seriously doubt Cloud had any occasion to dance or learn how to do it.

Plus, he couldn't have done it during his 4-years mako-comatose state.

This doesn't leave that many options.

It is very likely that, like his fighting ability, his dancing moves were coming from Zack's memories too.

In a way, we can say that Zack, in the end, was there on stage with him.

Gosh, I'm gonna cry so much... ಥ_ಥ

#ffvii remake #ffvii theories #cloud strife #honeybee inn #cloud dancer #zack fair #me gongaga #ffvii crisis core #ffvii compilation

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iaintyourbro · 4 years

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What I consider a bad writing when it comes to the devs is Aerith fell in love with Cloud??? What did she fell in love with in a short period of time exactly!! Cloud wasn't himself ?? And he wasn't in a position to play at romance with her .Like just because Cloud is the protagonist she fell for him ?? I just don't get it she loved Zack deeply and a guy who she knows nothing about in just a short time she fell for him 🙄 like wow this is what a call a bad writing THIS and the LTD ugh

Hey Anon.

I don’t think it was bad writing on the devs part. Also a lot of things that show up online are players saying it, not the devs. The Aerith not loving Zack and loving Cloud thing is one of those things that gets spread around the internet. There are non-canon sources that are used for a lot of these things too.

I think they purposely made things vague. I don’t think Aerith fell madly in love with Cloud, either, but I think she developed feelings for him initially because he reminded her of Zack and then as they journeyed she realized he wasn’t “him” and wanted to get to know him since she started to like him. Love is a word thrown around that I think is too strong here. Interest, attraction, infatuation may be more appropriate.

And in Aerith’s case, she was in denial about Zack. So that’s why she acts like she does in the OG park scene. Like oh well, it wasn’t serious, haha I totally don’t miss him and worry he may have died or something. It’s easier to think he ran off with another woman than he’s dead. Which is permanent.. And then it’s option to find out later that she actually was in love with him. They just get that out right away in Remake and it’s not optional to find out.

In game, Aerith never comes out and says she’s in love with Cloud. She says she wants to get to know the real him (in a vague way). There are other post-game materials that make it seem like she loved Cloud, but I believe when she’s thinking of it, Zack actually materializes and she realizes that she actually does love Zack, and her thought of loving Cloud was because he was acting like Zack. Most of the lines and things she does during Chapter 8 are call backs to Crisis Core and things Zack said. She’s messing with him - and it’s hilarious at times.

The whole love triangle was there to push the illusion aspect of the first part of the game where Cloud is assuming a false persona. They wanted the player to also get attached to Aerith, so they tried to get this to work. Personally I never saw a romantic connection between Cloud and Aerith, but I know many did, so that’s fine. It doesn’t really change the story much either way, since it ends the same either way.

It wasn’t meant to be obvious - they wanted the player to think about it. Okay, so we have a guy who we find out isn’t himself, they want you to think back about everything that happened before he gets his true self back and wonder what implications that has. How do people deal with death? Also the fact that death is permanent. You can’t revive people (like really dead people, not KO’d people).

Except most of the people who played FFVII when it first came out were young teens... who had no real good concept of life in general (though we all thought we did, because that’s what 13 year olds do). So we got stuck on certain concepts and assumed we were still supposed to make the choices.

You notice that there’s a lot of player choice early on while Cloud isn’t really Cloud. Then it stops when he’s back. Part of the illusion - you are SOLDIER Cloud. You are the one making decisions for him. Once you go through the Lifestream (and even before that, really) that’s done. You no longer can make choices for him that are story impacting. Choices on who to bring in battle don’t count for this... So who goes where in the final dungeon isn’t Cloud choosing who he’s in love with.

Cloud tells us who he’s in love with. If you think about it, the writing is actually genius, especially if it works that you think you love Aerith. They completely shatters the illusion on you and it starts in the Northern Crater before Cloud gives Sephiroth the Black Materia.

And you start going down the WTF IS GOING ON RIGHT NOW! path. I know I did. Not because of romance, but because you’re playing as a guy who you think is just a little goofy and has weird flashbacks, but he’s the protagonist so cool, but then they’re like “Yeah, he’s not really him btw, oh and he’s gonna cause Meteor to be summoned.”

THE MAIN CHARACTER! THE HERO! THE PROTAGONIST! is the one being controlled to help ruin the world.

Then you think he’s dead. And you’re left in a daze, much like Tifa is when she first wakes up. You find out more about what happened when Tifa ran in to him in Sector 7 at first. You find out she has a hard time dealing with confrontation and dealing with how to handle many situations. She wakes up after a few days and you’re faced with execution and you’re still like W T F IS GOING ON!?

THEN the Lifestream happens. It’s a wild ride. You’re like okay, so he is actually in love with the girl he made the promise to. If you’re not familiar with the childhood friend romance trope (I wasn’t), then this may or may not surprise you.

I think the best reveal in the game is when you find out Cloud was the Shinra grunt that was with you during the flashback. That blew my mind the first time and I think I went back in to my daze of WTF IS GOING ON again. I still get chills when he takes his helmet off and the Main Theme plays. Ugh. So good.

So I think it’s genius. However, I think the audience was too young and not used to this type of story where they make you believe it’s up to you, but TWIST it’s not. They never get over the first part. They miss the point of her death, they miss the point of the persona illusion shattering. And by not used to, I mainly speak for western audiences.

I do think that things early on feel forced with trying to get you the like Aerith - but they don’t have much time. Also, many things are left out in these games, especially around this time. Xenogears suffered majorly for this in the second part of the game. They removed a lot of playable time and instead you read story. I enjoyed it - it really does make the story feel more filled out BUT it’s a video game, not a book, so a lot of people were mad about it.

They cut, change, and do things to get these games released on time or to fix ratings problems. The localization of FFVII was awful - it’s one of the big topic on how badly the game was translated and there are ones that directly helped to start the LTD. I don’t think that’s a thing anymore as much as it was back then. They took their time on FFVII Remake and it shows. They really fleshed things out for me, especially with Avalanche, Tifa and Aerith’s friendship, and how Cloud really is with Tifa - something that was very hard to convey in the OG since most of his stuff is shown through facial expressions and how he says things (voice acting).

Like the above screenshot is probably what made most people start going down the Horny Jail - Cloti Wing path. That scene was intense. They would have never been able to get that across in OG.

Unless they had a text box pop up that said “Cloud and Tifa roll off the train together and look at each other longingly for a moment and you totally could show this picture to somebody who’s never played this game and they’d think they about to get down.”

#ff7 #final fantasy 7 #cloti #cloud strife #ff7 story #the illusion of cloud strife #ff7r #final fantasy 7 spoilers #ff7 spoilers #ff7r spoilers

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frogadir · 3 years

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ffvii for the thing. lets all go thru it today

YES... Honestly was hoping for this

❤ Favorite Male: CLOUD... He is just completely my type of guy I was in love from the beginning he’s everything. Even before i started playing my friend was like lol I wonder how long it’ll take for you to kin him. If that doesn’t speak volumes about how I feel about him then I truly do not know what does

❤ Favorite Female: TIFA!!! Another character who I saw and was immediately obsessed with lmao. I love everyone but she and Cloud are my two favorites because for me their friendship is one of the most compelling parts of the game. Btw they are both gay<3

❤ Favorite Pairing: This isn’t going to be a very interesting answer because there’s so much going on in this game that ships are not at the forefront of my thoughts about it. But I need aerti to be girl best friends. And of course... the classic clack.

❤ Least Favorite Character: I don’t actively dislike any of the characters it’s more a question of how neutral I feel about them lol. Actually I’ll say Rufus

❤ who’s most like me: Aerith but I don’t relate to her the most. Does that make sense

❤ most attractive: Tifa if you’re free on tuesday i am as well so if you want to hang out i would be happy to do so. My phone number is

❤ three more characters that I like: I love Barret I think his character is really interesting like more than people give him credit for. Girlboss Aerith who said sorry to a guy before pushing him down the stairs. Sephiroth but only because it’s so much fun to make fun of him

#Why is the text so small

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atopearth · 4 years

Text

Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 1 - Avalanche, Flower Girl & Childhood Friend (CH 1-8)

The long awaited remake!! Jessie is sooo pretty btw, I love it! I’ve always liked Jessie since the original because of how nice she was to Cloud, so it’s nice to see that they put so much effort into her looks. Biggs looks pretty cool too, but he’s such a silly guy haha. Most of the first chapter was pretty much like the demo so nothing much to say about it besides that I like the Japanese dub much more than the English haha. Btw, I’m playing on normal mode~ Barret is so aggressive and a bit annoying now that you can hear him though LOL. I have to say though, the camera is soo annoying in this game lol, it frustrates me so much. And the boss in the reactor has so much life, it was a tiring battle lol. Otherwise, great nostalgia! I still remember so well in the original when Jessie gets her leg stuck and you have to free her~ In the original, you kinda had to go to her to yourself, whereas in this remake, they force you into the scene of freeing her which is good!! Because lmao, I legit didn’t realise she was stuck in the original game and totally ignored her and went back up the elevator, and what happened?! I was stuck and couldn’t get out of the reactor without her, and I couldn’t go back to save her because it didn’t let me backtrack!! So yes, nice memories, I felt so bad though, I legit left her there to die LOL. Anyway, despite Heidegger and them contributing to the destruction of the sector, it is true that it was because of Avalanche’s actions that made all these people die or get injured, since Heidegger probably wants to pin on them how much of a terrorist they are to the masses.

Sephiroth appearing is so awkward btw, but I think what irks me is that the menacing part of him isn’t shown very well. Doesn’t help that Those Chosen By the Planet (what I think to be Sephiroth’s theme) doesn’t have the same threatening feel to it imo. Aww I felt like the train scene with Barret shooing off the Shinra people was done more seriously than the original, and I feel like it also shows how rash and sometimes naive the Avalanche group is. I felt like the scene was funnier in the original because Barret was being aggressive and scared them away lol. Anyway, not sure what those things flying around Aerith are (dementorssss!), but nice flower lol. I found it sooo cuteee how Cloud so naturally gave the flower to Tifa though, like dang, my heart swooned! Tifa is so beautiful btw~ Interesting that she rented a room for Cloud, guess it was unnecessary in the original since you’re running around everywhere already, whereas in the remake, Cloud is going to be earning money joining the neighbourhood watch (killing monsters) and doing odd jobs haha. Honestly though, seeing Barret dote on Marlene was so sweet, I always found it heartwarming how much he loved and cherished her. Lmao when she ran away from Cloud since he was a “stranger” lol. Nice to see all these different materia though, looks like it’ll be fun to try them!

Okay, the side quests were pretty useless but I guess it helped to gain experience and get me used to the combat system a bit more. Honestly though, playing as Tifa is much more fun than Cloud haha. Doesn’t help that Tifa is such a cute beauty~ Am I the only weirdo taking non-stop screenshots of her because she looks so good in every angle? LOL. When Tifa asked what kind of clothing suits her best, I wasn’t really sure, but I guess I would like to see something mature haha. I can see why Tifa would have doubts about what Avalanche is doing though. I mean, sure she agrees with their ideals and goals, but the way they’re doing it isn’t exactly the “best” way to do it since it involves a lot of casualties. So, I’m kinda glad that Cloud kinda advised her in his own way that she should really follow her heart and to not do it if she isn’t able to. Oh and that darts game at Seventh Heaven? Yeah, I sucked at it LOL. Anyway! Jessie feeling bad about the bomb she made causing such unprecedented destruction on the city is understandable, so going to grab a weaker reagent is something she’d do. Nice that she got Cloud to come along with her, but it was also pretty cute that Biggs and Wedge kinda knew what she was up to. Didn’t think about the idea of the Avalanche members having families, so knowing that Jessie seems to have a warm family that would turn on the light every night waiting for her to come home is kinda sweet yet saddening. On the other hand, that motorcycle chase lmao, I was so terrible at it, I legit nearly died hahaaha. Roche was a crazy guy man, it felt so difficult to catch up to him and deal some damage lol. Like how does he do all these crazy stuff with the motorcycle?! Honestly, it makes me think of a motorcycle version of SSX (that snowboarding game where you do tricks) because, I’m surprised he and his bike are intact lol. Although, in a sense, it did seem easier than the original game though, I mean, I used to legit miss the targets reallyyyyyy badly in the original hahahah. But yeah, it was nice to have that mini game I guess, I just didn’t expect it right now lol. BUT, the highlight of the motorcycle chase here was definitely Jessie hugging Cloud from behind on the motorcycle and feeling so comfortable and safe with him around. I honestly felt it, but then again, who wouldn’t feel safe with Cloud?! He’s so reliable and cool!

Honestly, I never would have thought Jessie would be an actress at the Gold Saucer! That’s an interesting back story. Kinda saddening though, that when she finally got a starring role, her dad collapsed in a Mako storage (since he was a maintenance supervisor for Shinra) for half a day and got Mako poisoning, so now he’s in a comatose state. I guess it’s understandable how one thing led to another for Jessie to join Avalanche, but I feel devastated for the mother. It’s a tough life but there’s still the hope and happiness of seeing Jessie return home when she can, but…that’s not going to happen forever.. Well, well, that diversion Cloud had to do alongside Biggs and Wedge was not fun! But it was cool to see Ifrit haha. Honestly think the highlight was seeing Cloud warm up to Biggs and Wedge after this little mission, not only did he get to see that Wedge is willing to put his life on the line for Cloud even though they just hired him for these missions, he also got to see how passionate they are about their reasons for being in Avalanche. They really should count themselves lucky that another sub group of Avalanche was there to bail them out though! Anyway, Cloud smiling was so cute. Lmao when Wedge called Cloud “aniki” after the mission hahahah, it’s so adorable. I love how Cloud tells Wedge not to call him that every time he does it hahaha. And it was so cuteee when Cloud quietly said he hopes Jessie’s dad will get better soon, he cares!! It’s so sweet!

Oh, btw LOL at the random grandma that noticed all the commotion from Cloud/Avalanche and thought it was Wutai attacking Shinra again, so she said she’d join in since she used to fight against them when she was young loll, chill grandma!! It’s quite cute how Biggs and Wedge can tell that Jessie is interested in Cloud, so sweet how they look out for Cloud instead and say she’s not serious though hahaha. Omggg, Jessie giving him a hug as extra payment for helping out on the mission was so cuteeee, I love her. She’s so forward and honest, but so cuteee. I loved how she said she’d make pizza for him. Biggs overthinking was really adorable, but Cloud telling him to prioritise resting up for tomorrow was nice to see. He has such a soft spot for them all now, it’s so heartwarming. It was so considerate and kind of Cloud to offer to listen to Tifa’s worries, I loved how casually he said it.

No idea what those spectres are, but OMG!! CLOUD PRINCESS CARRYING JESSIE?! Yes, my heart squealed🥺🥺🥺 That Shinra Middle Manager guy on the train is so passionate and loyal to them, it’s pretty admirable tbh. He’s obviously scared of Barret but he’s unafraid to voice his opinions and views to him, Shinra sure has passionate workers. I loved the jumping out of the train part!! Cloud held Tifa close and protected her🥰 On the other hand, I really didn’t need the corny part where the Shinra Middle Manager was shocked that Barret and them would protect the others on the train though, I think if we just see him being impressed and kinda acknowledging them, it would have been fine lol. Anyway, is it just me or are the normal monsters harder than the bosses?! Like seriously lol! Or maybe I’m just too reckless tbh because I legit just roll around and attack hahahah. Yes, that’s how I roll. Oh btw, I forgot to say, but I’m kinda sad that we never got to go downstairs at Seventh Heaven!! That’s like my favourite part! I loved the interactions between everyone at Avalanche there, oh well I guess… We kinda got the interactions through Jessie’s story instead I guess.

Going through Sector 5 was legit tedious lol, but it was cool to see holograms of the President and Heidegger, and the boss!! I’m not sure if I really weakened the boss by taking away the right stuff, but I just kinda took all the big bombs and some programming cores and it was relatively easy. Btw cowboy Tifa is adorableee! Aerith and Cloud reuniting at the church and squashing his flowers wasn’t as magical as it felt in the original imo (even though it was HD T_T). And I also feel like Aerith was more cooler in the original in my memory haha. Reno definitely looks better as a bunch of pixels than in HD LOL, I’m sorry Reno, you’re my favourite boy ever in FFVII but I hate his close up look here hahaha. Although I think it’s mainly because his open shirt look is very...ugly LOL. Make him cool not tacky! The Turks theme wasn’t as clicky sounding(?) as well so I think it kinda lost how cool the soundtrack was imo, but oh well~ And dang, I legit found the battle so difficult with him hahahah, I probably should have used more magic etc to deal with him but far out, his lightning attacks lol. I’m kinda sad they kicked out rolling the barrels to save Aerith from the Shinra soldiers though, I used to just let Aerith fight them, and I think it would have been cool if they let Aerith fight them, since it kinda showed that even though Aerith is physically weak, she’s still got a lot of guts and resolve to fight against people stronger than her imo. Instead, we get that stupid chandelier thing and the hand bars that had superrr clunky controls, it wasn’t fun at all!

Cloud and Aerith talking and bonding throughout their little trip on the rooftops to escape was cute, I love how she answered that the Turks might have been after her because she would be a great SOLDIER candidate (since the work Turks does includes scouting for SOLDIER) hahaha. The princess carry Cloud did to catch Aerith when she fell was cute, but it was done so purposefully that I couldn’t like it as much as I wanted, Jessie’s one was much more natural and sweet. But it’s Aerith so I’ll take it, because dang is it beautiful~~ I wish they showed how Aerith was trying really hard to catch up to Cloud and was like out of breath by the time they got to the sector lol, I found that cute in the original. Anyway, I also miss Aerith using her staff to smack monsters, the sound was so iconic lmao. I guess it’s understandable that they changed her skillset to be shooting magic out of her staff but still🥺 Rude on the other hand looks pretty cool! I wonder if they’ll mention how he likes Tifa and they’ll add it into the battles so that he won’t attack her hahaha. Oh yeah, forgot to mention it, but did Cloud see Aerith die in those visions he had? Not sure if I’m into how it’s all going right now, but hmm kinda weird.

Elmyra doesn’t look as gentle as she did in the original, kinda sad~~ But I still think it’s hilarious how pushy Aerith is and how much she does things at her own pace lol. I hope we get to do the tiptoe thing at night like in the original where Cloud tries to run off in the middle of the night when she forces him to stay at her house for the night haahha. Shiva was pretty easy! I’m proud of myself hehe! Legit just Fira her to death until I could summon etc hahaha. Not sure how I feel about that intern being able to make summon materia though, I always felt like summons were spirits of nature that you kinda make a contract with, so artificially creating them feels weird. I honestly feel like more effort was put into Tifa than Aerith when it comes to the expressions and their faces imo. I always imagined Aerith to look very energetic, happy and kind, but in a lot of the scenes, her face looks very stern and you can’t see the kindness in her eyes, whereas with Tifa, there’s lots of details in every expression she makes. Sigh, it’s pretty saddening since Aerith is my favourite girl… Btw lmao at the Leaf House drawings of the cactuar, tonberry, chocobo and moogle hahaha, so cute but ugly lmaoo. Hahahaha there’s such a thing as fat Chocobo candy🤣🤣🤣 Moggie is weirdddd looking lol, did not expect that. Whack-a-box was a pretty boring game tbh, Gunners Gauntlet in FFX-2 is way better imo. Maybe there might be more stages later? I do appreciate how easy it was to get 30,000 points though haha, I’m still salty over the jump rope in FFIX lmao, no way could I ever do more than 50 of those jumps hahaha. Okay, don’t judge me, but I farmed moogle medals with the game by leaving it on while I played other games on my phone lmao. Man, those side quests were difficult to do with Aerith, I really hate her skillset right now lolll. I guess that’s normal though? Since, in the original, I found this part really difficult at times because she was so weak lmaoo. The fight with Rude was much easier than with Reno though! Maybe it’s because Aerith was there just to heal me hahaha. Anyway, I really like how careful and protective Rude and Reno are with Aerith. I feel like you can feel that a lot of it is related to their work as the Turks, but at the same time, they honestly feel that Aerith should take care of herself better by not running around so much lol. Btw lmao at Cloud carrying that flower basket hahaha. When Aerith was talking to the flowers and saying that they don’t respond to her no matter how much she talks to them, I found it really cute that before they left, Cloud asked to the flowers to respond to her some time since she’s so sincere haha. Cloud is such a big softie, it’s adorable. Just saying, but Aerith running up the stairs to clean the guest room for Cloud was so cute, I’m dying. Cloud’s mum looks pretty! Lmao, the tiptoeing out of the house is actually hilarious. I just took one step and hit a bucket and it made the loudest noise ever hahahaah, of course Aerith could hear! Lmao, I failed twice and they removed the buckets so you don’t need to dodge anything hahahha. I’m sorry I suck okay?! Although I always found it hilarious in the original that you can actually see Aerith jump out of bed and run super fast to push you back into your room hahaha. I’ve always loved how Aerith pops out and surprises Cloud that she noticed him leaving without her. Does Cloud’s tears mean subconsciously he remembers her death? Is this FFVII 2.0? A sequel? Are we reliving FFVII alternate universe so we can save Aerith this time?

Overall, the remake has been relatively fun so far. The camera is rather clunky at times but it’s okay I guess. The story is pretty linear and won’t let me walk around and explore unless it wants me to though, I swear that warning sign is so obnoxious I want to punch it! So yeah, it can be rather frustrating when I’m looking for treasure chests, like I’m constantly being called out for going to the wrong way hahaha. Let me live my life, guys! Everything looks great and I really enjoyed the extra bits with Jessie tbh, I think that was my highlight for these 8 chapters haha. I hope everything will continue to be as beautiful and interesting. I’m not a fan of the soundtrack though, it feels a little too electric? Techno? I don’t know how to describe it but it feels weird haha. Also weird to see/hear different theme songs and stuff at vending machines, because it just..doesn’t suit the atmosphere lol, anyway I’m just picky, it’s still cool. I really like Jessie’s Theme though!

But yeah, I really loved that the remake added the part where they go to back to Jessie’s home etc. I found it really sweet and comforting to see that Jessie had a family, and that Biggs and Wedge got along with her mother so well. I think the extra bonding and interactions between Avalanche and Cloud will really make the lost of them that more painful and dramatic. I think some people think Jessie seems too “thirsty”, but I think she’s great because of how forward she is, and how subtle but also honest she is about her feelings. She’s never completely direct about it, but she’s obviously attracted to Cloud and I think it’s really cute, mainly because she can see how cold he may be on the surface, but also how soft he is on the inside. I think my favourite moment with her was when she hugged Cloud on the motorbike so comfortably, it honestly felt like (from her perspective) that she found someone she could really rely on and believe in when she’s in trouble and I thought that was really heartwarming. Otherwise, wow, the shipping with Cloud and the girls is SO STRONG, I’m starting to think it’s a visual novel where I can pick the girl I like lmao. Honestly though, you can tell how much it’s catering to older fans who love the girls. The fanservice is blatant! But it makes for great screenshots so yay~! But seriously, the dementors and Sephiroth appear too much, it’s frustrating, especially the ghosts/spectres.

#final fantasy vii remake #ffvii remake #ffvii

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astoryofalove · 7 years

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You recall all the major events this year Square did hold? Among them at least one would hint at clo/ti right? Either I missed it or what they showed was obvious that no other person belongs beside C than the one they included. Can't believe they payed massive ¥ to rent the Tokyo Tower, build a freaking snow sculpture, various videos to display and yet his "light" is missing representation on the Anniversary. Cherry on top? They chose Sakamoto [C] & Sakurai [A] to narrate FF30th video.

I’m glad others have been thinking the same. It’s getting to the point where things are becoming blatantly clear. From here on out, it can go one of two ways…

Since the remake was announced, this is the timeline of LTD related events…

June 15 2015:

FF7R trailer premiers, Aerith’s lily is shown. Trailer depicts a “future” where the Cetra “shell house” Aerith is buried at is replicated as a children’s slide, and children play with Cloud’s Fusion Sword, conveying that the world views Cloud and Aerith as their “heroes”.

Official FF moogle twitter account tweets Cloud’s “My fingers are tingling, my mouth is dry” quote with the caption “At last, the Promised Land reunion has arrived”

Day of the E3 trailer, Nojima releases image of Cloud and Aerith’s figurines next to each other on his shelf and he captioned the image “here we go!”

FF Explorers artbook released, Cloud and Aerith included but NOT Tifa.

Cloud and Aerith trended on twitter day of remake announcement.

July 2015:

Official merchandise is released, one of which is Cloud’s buster sword with Lifestream wrapping around it.

Official tote bag shows Cloud and Aerith’s CGI artwork together, center stage, Tifa is literally buried under other images and barely visible.

August 2015:

Amano art exhibit has new artwork including Cloud and Aerith, also sold one of the clerith arts as merchandise

September 2015:

Nomura sketch art of Cloud on motorcycle is displayed at ARTNIA, Aerith’s face can be seen as erased lines.

November 2015:

Cloud released as Super Smash Bros character, trailer references Cloud and Aerith’s church meet-cute with Cloud and Zelda kneeling with pikmin around them.

December 2015:

FF7R gameplay footage trailer shown at PSExp

PS4 port for FFVII released with a unique theme; FF7R Cloud is the wallpaper and Aerith’s theme song plays in the background.

December 10th, pictlogica released image of Cloud and Aerith’s meetcute

(Dec 4) Cloud is added in World of Warcraft as “Koraud” acting as “Aerith Primrose” bodyguard

FF Mobius x FF7R collab announced, depicts Cloud and Aerith Promised Land reunion. Calls Aerith the “eternal heroine”, Aerith DLC costume released, Aerith’s theme song is included in cutscene with Cloud.

KHUX Clerith card released

Rampage Land Rankers FF7R DLC of Cloud/Tifa costumes announced.

January 2016:

FFRk AC Cloud event, quote says Cloud lost someone in a big way (aka aerith) that caused him to close himself off from his FRIENDS

February 2016:

FFRK Valentine event released, a medley of songs was created specially for the event, which Aerith’s song takes up the MOST time played.

FF Brigade Clerith event “Existence to Protect” released for FFVIIR hype

March 2016:

Clerith shown alongside Squall/Rinoa and Tidus/Yuna in FFRK promotional image

April 30th 2016:

Japanese FFRK Clerith event released.

Music show in Japan includes clerith alongside squall/rinoa and tidus/yuna in montage video

“clerith” is a keyword/search term that directs you to the FF7 iOS port in the Appstore

June 2016:

Rampage Land Rankers is CANCELLED a mere SIX months later.

June 8th: Official SQEN EU products page uploads image of Cloud’s figure standing in white flowers

July 2016:

Android port shows Cloud’s wallpaper then Aerith’s after

Final Symphony official twitter tweets image of Cloud/Aerith/Tifa about the LTD

FF Brigade clerith summer event, Cloud and Aerith released together, Cloud is wearing Aerith’s white materia as a necklace

August 2016:

FF portal held a poll for Cloud’s birthday, one clerith and one CT quote was provided as a choice, in Japanese, clerith quote placed 3rd (no CT quote ranked) and in English the clerith quote came in 2nd whereas the CT quote came in 3rd

Clerith alongside TiYu for TFFAC

September 2016:

English clerith event releases in English

FFRK commercial narrated by Takahiro Sakurai focuses on Aerith.

FFRK event has clerith quotes

October 2016:

CT FFRK event

WoFF confirms clerith

Noctluna parallels clerith in trailer

November 2016:

Jpns WoFF confirms clerith, too.

Tifa added in Puzzles x FF

December 2016:

FFRK “Awakening Cloud” event includes medley of Cloud and Aerith’s theme song

January 2017:

Polygon publishes “Oral history of FFVII with interviews from creators. Aerith identified as THE heroine. Amano clerith art is the header image

KH 2.8 released; clerith confirmed in romance portion of credits

FF30th special video included clerith alongside squall/rinoa, zidane/garnet, tidus/yuna, and snow/serah

January 31st: during the FF30th and FF720th event, FF7R new image was released, as well as Aerith’s announcement in DFFOO.

February 2017:

English FF Mobius x FF7 collab finally released in the West… on Aerith’s birthday.

February 7th: FF720th snow festival tribute video released, entirely clerith!

Aerith trends in Japan

Aerith is day 1 of FFRK valentine’s day event, clerith scene included

Second half of FF mobius event is released on valentine’s day, again, entirely clerith

March 2017:

Cloud references clerith bodyguard promise in DFFOO

Clerith used as relic banner in FFRK

FF Mobius second-half is concluded, cloud goes to the promised land to meet aerith

official FF30th commercial shows clerith with every other major ff couple

in FFRK, for white day and valentine’s day clerith matches (x)

clerith ffrk event references the highwind promise and cloud’s grief over aerith and speaks of having to go to a place

April 2017:

WoW uses clerith to advertise “april showers bring may flowers”

more clerith with major ff couples at ff30th tokyo tower celebration

FFRk holds celebration for FF30th, aerith theme song included

April 29th: clerith narrated FFRK commercial

May 2017:

Clerith on gameinformer cover

ffrk clerith w/ other ff couples

FF brigade clerith wedding

June 2017:

clerith brigade wedding continues with a proposal scene, cloud is obtainable only with aerith

tifa has a wedding dress added later on, no cutscene w/ cloud, tifa does not reward players with groom cloud, either

E3 showed FF30th commercial with clerith + other ff ships

new ff mobius card released, shows Wol in Cloud’s outfit and aerith’s lilies are spotted in the background

July 2017:

Sakaguchi retweeted clerith cosplay

aerith released in dffoo

September 2017:

IGN publishes clerith piece

We have TGS to go through and then Playstation Experience in December. Now, SQEN could continue with this clerith drive OR they could very well start to “level” it out with Tifa and Aerith appearing at the same time. If they keep releasing marketing that’s biased for clerith/aerith up until the release date of FF7R’s first half, then clerith IMO is on the smooth track to becoming “reconfirmed”. If Tifa starts getting fan service like clerith has, then i think it’s a 50/50 toss up.

all i can tell you is that from other shipping fandoms i’ve witnessed, the girl that takes over marketing campaigns directly leading up to a major event (in this case FF7R) ends up being the love interest of the main guy.

and currently, since the remake was announced it’s been nothing but clerith/aerith drives. until this changes, i see nothing to worry about. let’s just all pray that square enix keeps on with the clerith love an NO ct fanservice.

so yeah, you said it best anon.

(sorry it got sloppy btw, there was a lot to write down)

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audriel · 7 years

Text

Audriel’s FF Ouvre

As this tumblr is intended to be focused on writing, I think it’ll be fitting to list my favorites of all I’ve written so far and the reasons why they are my favorites.

Title: Ayame (FFnet) Fandom: Naruto Pairing: Gen, OCs feat. Uchiha Itachi Summary: Ayame, a beautiful flower that means happiness for those who believe. Hikari Ayame was supposed to be an ordinary girl until a fateful event took her to Konoha where her fate entwined with unexpected people that will affect the future of Konoha. Thoughts: My first published fanfic. Like every first in our lives, they have a special place in our hearts. When I published this fic, I’ve just truly started writing fanfic for a year or so, the kind of fic that is not just bits of pieces of dialogues or descriptions. Naruto was the most popular fandom back then, at least for anime/manga (was it Harry Potter? I feel old...) with a huge cast that is not dissimilar of Haikyuu!! so naturally it’s a perfect place to stretch writing muscles. Even back then I was content in exploring in the current universe/world, picking at the blanks and filling them up with my own ideas without straying far from canon, and those ideas are often my own characters.

Hikari Ayame is my OC, who was the daughter of the Yondaime (who was still a mystery back then) and teammate of Uchiha Itachi. Through Ayame I explored the world of Naruto, from its jutsu to its history. Looking back, I’m pretty surprised that I hit the nail in the head on Itachi being the good guy all along. It doesn’t have many reviews, but I had a blast writing it. Unfortunately, I didn’t end up completing the fic. By then I’ve figured out I’m muse-based writer, if my muse is shot, then there’s nothing, which holds true until now. Plus I was rather (if not very) faithful to canon, so once my ideas didn’t fit, I didn’t force them to fit, or take AU route.

Title: Promises (FFnet) Fandom: Final Fantasy VII Pairing: Cloud x Tifa, CloTi Summary: Tifa's thoughts about a certain man... a certain ring... and a certain promise.... [Advent Children Spoilers] Thoughts: I wrote this after watching FFVII: Advent Children. Without prior knowledge of the games (I am and was not a gamer), I was intrigued by the ambiguous relationship between Cloud and Tifa. I remember pretty obsessed with the Advent Children, scouring the internet for screencaps, and backstory, then ofc, fanfics. Tifa’s ring was one of the things that caught my interest, particularly how it bore resemblance to Fenrir, Cloud’s Fenrir. So there went my muse and the result was my first one-shot and my first experience in having more than five reviews for my story. I remember how happy I was when I had such positive feedback, and back then FFnet did not have reply feature, so I just basked in them (or I PMed them? I’m not sure, but I did remember always trying to respond to the kind words).

Title: What Are We? (FFnet) Fandom: Naruto Pairing: Sasuke x Hinata, SasuHina Summary: What happens when two of the most unlikely people are united in the holy matrimony? Especially when there is no love between them to start with. [Sasuke x Hinata] Thoughts: My most popular fanfic in FFnet with 13 chapters, 465 reviews, 323 favorites and 278 followers. I’m pretty sure it’s my highest achievement in terms of popularity. Even back in my Naruto days, I have strong preference towards rare pairings, and SasuHina was the rarepair, back then, not unlike KuroDai, the writers and the readers are often the same people and formed a close and tight-knit community. However, if I am to compare it with current pairing, SasuHina is more like OiKuro, neither have truly interacted in canon, but their personalities made them an interesting match to explore. (I like OiKuro, btw) And as I was wont to do, I have fun in exploring their potential. I used the common trope of arranged marriage because considering their families, it had the highest possibility for them and I was inspired by another SasuHina fic and author who used the same premise. I wanted to do my own spin on it, even though my only experience in relationships is through books and literature XDD

This story suffers the same fate with Ayame. The muse is shot, thanks to canon. Sasuke gets on my nerves. Until the very end, (honesty I cannot believe I managed to get myself finish Naruto, I gave up on Bleach at the same time) he is insufferable. He’s not worthy of Hinata. And don’t start me on Hinata and her characterization. Kishimoto sucks at making strong female characters. Hinata and Sakura are reduced to a love interest and damsel in distress, despite their potential. I was and am still mad at the injustice that I don’t even bother correcting them in fanfic. So unfortunately, this fic is discontinued. I’m not even sure whether I want to continue even if I still remember what I intend to do with the story. There’s still a possibility, if only to give the story a proper ending. Who knows?

Title: Shades of Grey (FFnet) Fandom: Vampire Knight Pairing: Zero x OC Summary: A series of what ifs leads to a series of questions. This is the story that explores the question: What would be left for Zero if he let Yuuki go? A character study of Zero and an exploration of Vampire Knight world. Thoughts: My longest running fanfiction, with 20 chapters and 159K words and my first M-rated fic. The least popular of my fics but my personal favorite. I consider this story my pride and joy, because this story showcases my strength and growth best as a writer. By now I’m more flexible with canon, willing to play with canon divergence and alternate universe. So when I’m dissatisfied with canon/current storyline, I goes to fanfic to correct it. I really, really hate love triangle problems in shoujo/romance stories, because it often feels like it’s just thrown in there just to make relationship problems between main pairing and the third person usually ends up underdeveloped as a character, and there are times when the main character has more chemistry/potential with the third person than the person he/she’s meant to be with, which is what happens in Vampire Knight. Yuuki is meant to be with Kaname, but I just cannot like Kaname, or see him with Yuuki. And poor Zero gets the short end of the stick. It doesn’t help that Yuuki keeps him hanging. So frustrated I was that I stopped reading the manga and threw myself into writing my own version and gives Zero a love interest.

So it can be said that this is the most selfish work of mine. What I like most from OCs is that through them I can push the boundaries of canon without stepping outside of them. I use the opportunity to develop Zero as a character alongside with mine and explore the world of VK, which is not delved deeply in canon. While VK seems to take place in a distant world unlike ours, I make it as though it is our world’s alternate universe where we have vampires in our midst. So compared to my previous works, with the exception of Ayame, this story requires and demands the most research for the world building, which naturally pushes me out of my comfort zone of thinking and writing only of the characters and their relationships. I also delve into darker and more mature themes whereas before I did more gen or PG pieces. It ends up pretty angsty, it looks like I like to have my characters suffer ^^; Poor Zero and Misaki (my OC).

The story is currently on hiatus, due to writer’s block. Unlike Ayame and What Are We?, I actually have a rough draft of the whole story and even have the ending written. It’s only the problem of getting there.

Title: The Gentle Princess (AO3) Fandom: Princess (manhwa) Pairing: Yapha of Skarde x Theodora of Anatoria Summary: What if Theodora was married sooner to Yapha and became his third wife, right after Haisha? How would this change the fate of the three kingdoms of ASR? Thoughts: This is my first taste of joining a Big Bang Challenge, to be precise Het Big/Little Challenge 2011 by het_bigbang in LJ (ooh, the LJ days, I’m lookin’ pretty ancient, aren’t I?). Wait, wasn’t it stated 2012 in AO3? Well, I didn’t manage to meet the deadline, so I submitted the completed work for next year’s challenge. This story has the most impressive word count (71,126 words), and I am damned proud of it, especially because it’s completed. OMG, it makes me really happy that I have completed multi-chapter work.

The only downside is the fanfic from a relatively unknown fandom and characters, which leaves not many readers and reviewers, but I’m still happy and proud of this work of mine, because now I can read this and pretend that this is how it goes in canon for this favorite, but minor pairing in Princess. (I’m pretty sure my fanfic is the only one in the fandom in AO3 XDD) Princess is a Korean manga, known as manhwa, which story revolves around the princesses of three kingdoms (and three generations, I think) of ASR. So it’s a epic story, which naturally makes the fic, an epic fanfic. However, unlike VK I have easier time in worldbuilding since the manhwa is quite thorough, the problem is in the political undertones and intrigue throughout the story. I am guilty of using the non con sex and unexpected pregnancy as plot device again in this story as in Shades of Grey. While I like how it affects the plot and development, I hope I do not offend or worse trigger anyone :( Otherwise, I love the development in Yapha and Theodora, and between them as they grow from strangers to friends and to potential lovers.

Title: Perspective (AO3) Fandom: Daiya no Ace, Diamond no Ace Pairing: Gen, Kuramochi Youichi, Shirasu Kenjirou, Miyuki Kazuya Summary: An unfortunate circumstance puts things into perspective. Alternatively, Kuramochi and Miyuki from Shirasu's perspective. Thoughts: My return to fanfiction scene after a year without publishing anything that is not a incoherent mess of ideas, of disjointed dialogues and descriptions. As I look back, I’ve come to realize that my muse works best when I start with a premise, then build on it. The premise is simple: what if Kuramochi gets sick? Injury does have the most potential, but I've got enough of that in Act I and now we have another in Act II, sighs. Then I explored the 5W+1H based on what I know (and hope) about Kuramochi and the others around him. And voila, 16K fic! Shirasu provides an interesting perspective, he does not have the all-knowing eyes like we did as readers, but I feel like he knows more than most of Seidou (esp he gets help from Miyuki-specialist, Kuramochi). The fic ends up into a pretty interesting character study, and most importantly relationship study between Kuramochi and Miyuki.

I was afraid that I was getting rusty but the response is surprisingly positive with 7 comments and 33 kudos, considering it is a rare gen fic among mostly slash fics in the fandom. Admittedly it can be considered as pre-slash, with my KuraMiyu goggles, they look like one :D I hope I’ll come around to write a proper KuraMiyu one day. Regardless I’m very happy and satisfied with this piece, because not only it’s completed, but it also achieved what I want to achieve, a further look into KuraMiyu and Kuramochi being treated as precious friend/teammate/brother as he should be.

Title: Until Next Time (AO3) Fandom: Haikyuu!! Pairing: Kuroo x Daichi, KuroDai Summary: Kurodai Week 2017 Day 1: First Meeting / Next Time Pacific Rim AU. Thoughts: Not exactly my first dip into Haikyuu, but it’s my first non-gen fic after my long break from writing and my first try in portraying my fave pair (and rarepair), Kurodai. I have a lot of reservation in writing in Haikyuu fandom. Despite having followed the anime and manga closely, I am not certain in my grasp of the wonderful characters, more so in my favorite characters and pairing. However, I’ve read the whole fics with Kurodai tag, to the front and back, and front and back again. Then, thanks to @spring-emerald who reblogged kurodaiweek, putting the prompts front and center in my dashboard, I was stoked to join, especially when I was sort-of successful with hqbrofest (though satisfied it’s another matter, neither fics from the challenge are listed).

It is also a mean to challenge myself, because for once, the theme is already decided and it’s up to me to make something out of it. Somehow it’s gotten to my head that I want all the fics for the kurodaiweek to be AUs. I have no idea why I wanted to do that, when my grasp on the characters were weak and tenuous at best, and now I had to put them in different situation/universe while keeping them in character. WTF BRAIN??????

My initial take of the theme/prompt is hello and goodbye and my mind goes to dark and depressing Hunger Games AU where KuroDai are from different districts who both in their own ways try to defy the Capitol and end up teaming up together to protect Hinata, the youngest and most innocent tribute. Despite death looming over them, they build a pocket of peace and happiness between the three of them where they become a makeshift family and KuroDai quietly falls for one another even they know it is not meant to be, but it strengthens their resolve to get Hinata home, and they do. In their final moments, they promise to meet each other in the next life and build a life together that they are robbed of in this life.

asd;akjfadkjfslkldkjdfladksl, I’m only writing the idea and I’m crying. Not a very good way to start Kurodai Week isn’t it? So I scrapped the idea and look for other possible AU I can do (I have a list of AUs, believe it or not), and I end up choosing Pacific Rim AU. Unlike the HG AU, I have no clear idea in mind, except using the iconic Kurodai phrase of until next time. I spent half of the time researching and fitting all the characters into PacRim universe, and before I knew it, I’ve got 10K story. While I feel like the story is solid, I have my doubts whether it’s good enough, and it seems so with how few and sparse the hits and comments at the beginning, but then slowly it gains readers and reviews...and up until now I’m still flabbergasted at the reception. Right now it’s my highest rated and reviewed fic in AO3. I’m just glad that I finally write my own KuroDai, my first and hopefully not my last. Cheers!

9 notes · View notes

dutchdread · 3 years

Note

No offense bro, but why are you always so protective of Cloud? No disrespect to you or anything but I've heard quite a bit of different opinions and theories on Cloud myself and I do agree with the people who say that he takes Tifa for granted. Going through trauma in the past is not really an excuse for his behavior. He also does act like he's the only one who has suffered in his life. Do you have other reason to defend him other than the fact that you "relate" to him? Just wondering.

Sorry for the late reply, my life has basically left no room for hobbies these past months. Your question is hard to reply to because I am not sure what you mean when you say I am protective of him. I guess you mean I defend his actions? Specifically in ACC? Firstly let me state that there is a difference between being a good character and being a nice character, there is also a difference between agreeing with someones actions, or just understanding them. Personally, I never really liked Cloud, especially not when I was younger. A lot of my defense of Cloud doesn't come from me personally liking him, but from me thinking he's a good character. I also think Snape is a good character, but I don't like his actions, and I don't defend them, although I still understand them to a certain degree. I should also say that as I started to understand Clouds character more, I also started liking HIM a bit more, although I still don't like the things he did, and would very likely not be friends with him. But I do understand why he did what he did and cannot be too critical of him because of that. You've probably heard that before you judge someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That's great advice, if you want to judge someone, you should imagine what it would be like to be them, however, I've noticed that too often when people try to walk a mile in someone elses shoes, they refuse to take their own shoes off first. They don't think "what would it be like to be him", they think "what would I do in that position". But Cloud is not you, and you cannot judge him by how you would act, you've not gone through the same things he has, your thought patterns aren't the same etc. This matters because too often I see people judging Clouds actions in ACC, and establishing his motivations by saying things that boil down to "If I were in his position, I would only do those actions if I loved Aerith/didn't love Tifa/whatever". But they're not Cloud, and they're not understanding how Cloud thinks, and that it's different from how THEY think. But like you said, I do see some recognizable elements of myself in Cloud, which is why I do understand his actions, and why I feel relatively certain in defending them, because I see them coming from a good place. It's common for me to react to things in a way that others find counter-intuitive. Let me give you an example, my brother once was mad at me because I had not told him my girlfriend of several years and I had broken up while I did tell a random stranger at the pub. He said that he felt like he wasn't important to me if I told a random stranger but not him. The truth was the exact opposite, I love my brother, and could not bear to face him for some reason, as I told him: "if not caring enough was the problem, then I wouldn't have told a random stranger". I see people exhibit that same lack of understanding when discussing Clouds actions, where they feel like his actions must be the sign of him just being a bad person, or not caring. But ask yourself what is more likely, that Square-enix wants their hero to be a bad person, or that you simply are misunderstanding the character? I understand why people don't get Cloud, Cloud suffers from obvious mental health issues, and mental health issues simply are not something that the general public understands, even today. Not only that, but Cloud went through the most insane series of traumatic events anyone could ever imagine. He had an alien parasite in him, saw his entire town murdered before his eyes, then saw Zack murdered in front of his eyes, then saw Aerith murdered in front of his eyes, and just when he started living a peaceful life he is forced to watch his child succumb to sickness in front of his eyes, and then he finds he himself is dying. All this on the psyche of a man who had had a fear of failure ever since he was a child, spent most of his life essentially in war, and had a severe identity crisis as well. Do you think you can honestly judge him by going "that's not what I would have done"? Would that not be incredibly

presumptuous? Have you suffered from depression as a result of severe post-war PTSD and a lifelong feeling of inadequacy combined with a fear of failure and the belief that many of your loved ones died because you failed and were inadequate? Because that's the context in which you have to view Cloud when watching Advent Children. Saying "Going through trauma in the past is not really an excuse for his behavior" is just incredibly short-sighted, your behavior is determined by who you are, and who you are is determined by what you go through in the past. You can't expect a broken child to become a well-adjusted adult when being a well-adjusted adult is the result of having a normal childhood.

I also don't want to cause offense, but this really is a mindset you should change, because this mindset is one of the most pervasive and damaging ones in our society, it's the one that probably bothers me most when I hear it because it makes zero sense. It's like breaking a robots self-repair unit, and then being angry at it on the grounds that the self-repair unit should have fixed it. It's also very insensitive in general, it's the equivalent of saying "why are you depressed, just stop being depressed", people don't choose to be depressed, people don't choose to have a fear of failure. People don't choose their emotions, they're just there. They can be influenced by behavior over time, sure, but behavior is equally influenced by who you are and your emotions, which, as mentioned before, is determined for a large part by your past. People don't just "snap out of it". They fight and fight and fight, and sometimes they win and break out of the spiral, and sometimes they lose and it breaks them.

FFVII, and especially Advent children, is all about that struggle, and during those struggles you will have high-points, and low-points. FFVII shows all of those. It shows Cloud trying, it shows Cloud wanting, it shows Cloud failing, but it also, ultimately, shows Cloud prevailing. Judging Cloud for not breaking out of the spiral by the time of Advent children, when he was mentally only barely 18 years old, and when he started at the worst place anyone could ever imagine, is just not reasonable. It's the modern day equivalent of "let them eat cake", something that can only be said from the place of privilege of not knowing what the struggles of the people you're critiquing are actually like. So having that out of the way, lets look at Clouds actions from the perspective of Cloud. Cloud is a young boy, and he's in love with the girl next door, he wants to get her to notice him. One day said girl walks up a mountain and he follows, she falls off a bridge and ends in a coma. Cloud followed her because he's in love with her, and he gets the blame from the adults. Cloud internalizes this, and its important to imagine what this must be like for a child, to have the adults all tell him it's his fault that the person he loves ended up hurt. "your fault", "your fault". Afterwards Cloud starts thinking Tifa hates him and starts acting out. I think this is a good moment to point out btw that this child has no father figure. This is the start of his feelings of failure and inadequacy, he blames himself for not being able to protect Tifa, failure number 1, he thinks that if he were strong, he'd be able to protect her, he thinks that if he were like Sephiroth, then even Tifa would have to notice him. Now until this time Cloud is not an asshole, he's a bit of a rebellious kid yes, but notice that he's not a bad kid as much as he's a kid who wants to protect someone, has no direction, and is acting out. So Cloud thinks he's not good enough, but he leaves town confident that he'll become good enough, and even makes a promise to Tifa. All this follows logically from what we know about Cloud, and tells us a lot about how deeply seated these feelings are. Becoming Soldier wasn't a small thing, not some small passion project that he just came up with one day, it's the result of the things that happened in his childhood and he left everything behind make it so. He told the girl he loved, he promised, he boasted. And then he failed. Failure number 2. He comes back to Nibleheim and can't bear to look Tifa in the eye and admit that he couldn't do it, that he's a failure. His entire life so far has revolved around this and he wasn't good enough. So here we have Cloud, not in a great mindset, thinking he's a failure, and what happens? His entire town is murdered by the person he admired, someone he worked with. His Mother is killed, and Tifa, the girl he PROMISED to protect, gets slashed open so badly that apparently she needed to have her ribcage reinforced with metal. I think we can all agree that this by itself would be enough to potentially scar a person for life. (Cloud, not Tifa XD) So what's next for the boy who left town in order to become a hero? Well, he gets captured and experimented on for 4 years, during which his mind and sense of identity is bombarded with memories and knowledge of the lifestream in the form of mako, muddying up his thoughts. Cloud already had a weak sense of self as a result of his childhood, it's why he failed to enter Soldier and now this distaste for who he is makes him extra susceptible to Jenovas influence. The next thing Cloud sees, (he didn't consciously experience the 4 years of mind-fuckery) is his best friend getting killed trying to protect him, because Cloud wasn't strong enough. Failure #3. At this point, in Clouds mind the list of people dead because he could not protect them, because he's a failure, include his mother, his entire town, his best friend, and as far as he knows, the girl he loves. This is his life. His mind is broken, he hates himself, he doesn't want to be himself,

he has a mind-altering parasite inside of him trying to adjust his identity and Clouds just goes "I reject this reality and constitute my own". And why wouldn't he? Why wouldn't he want to live in a fantasy world where he wasn't a failure, where he made it into soldier, where he was cool and successful and not a disappointing failure? Zack tells him to be his living legacy and Cloud goes with it, then he runs into Tifa, Jenova adjusts Cloud further based on Tifas memories of them and rejoined with the girl for whom he joined Soldier Cloud is unconsciously all too willing to play the part. FFVII starts and it doesn't take long for the cracks in his fake persona to show, he meets Aerith, and becomes her bodyguard. He gets to be the hero he always wanted to be. But then, even as "Cloud strife, soldier first class", Cloud is still a failure, the plate still drops, killing thousands, he gives Sephiroth the black materia, he beats up Aerith, and ultimately, fails to save her as well. Tifa was the First Failure, and Aerith was the Final Failure. Even as a soldier, Cloud still couldn't save anyone, he loses even more faith in himself, he doesn't know who he is, he doesn't trust himself, and then when he also loses Tifas trust in who he is, he just breaks and gives over to Jenova/Sephiroth. Even Hojo calls him a failure. Cloud feels like a nobody. Now mentally weakened, under the influence of jenova cells, he gives Sephiroth the black materia AGAIN, and meteor is summoned. Another entry on the long list of moments Cloud can look back on in shame later on in life. He falls into the lifestream and again his psyche is under attack. We know what happens afterwards, Tifa finds him, cares for him, and saves him through his feelings for her. Cloud realizes who he is, realizes he's weak, and goes after Sephiroth without lying to himself. In the end he defeats Sephiroth mentally and is supposedly rid of his direct influence.

But that doesn't mean that this mentally 17 year old is now fine, we should remember these events when analyzing ACC. Cloud has been in constant fighting/war/peril ever since he left home as a child, and is now a traumatized 17 year old in a 21 year olds body. Novels and other materials give us an insight into how Cloud thinks during these times, and how he thinks about himself. We hear him say that he's going to live because that's the only way he can atone for his sins. He talks about wanting to change, and about believing he can change because he now has Tifa. He's a man (boy) who just exited war, and wants to be positive, but is still clearly blaming himself. We see that this initially goes well, we are told that Cloud experiences peace and happiness that he's never experienced before. We're also told about the things that make it go badly, when he has to deliver flowers to the ancient city for instance. While Cloud regained the sense of who he was the belief that he wasn't good enough, that he was a failure, was never solved, if anything it was put on hold until he got his memories back, and now he is forced to deal with it.

While he is no longer directly manipulated by Sephiroth he's still suffering from PTSD and, most notably, survivors guilt. He blames himself for the deaths of Zack and Aerith in particular, and starts visiting the church. Now most people might think it's natural to avoid places that make you feel bad about yourself, but that's not how a depressed person thinks, Cloud thinks he deserves to feel badly he WANTS to punish himself, he WANTS to feel bad. He's ashamed of the moments where he's carefree and laughing with Tifa. Why should he get to be happy when Aerith and Zack are dead because of him? He shouldn't be happy, he should be in pain, he should remember them, not doing so would be an insult to their memories, he must never forget how he failed them! That's how Cloud is thinking. We know of course that this is non-sense, Aerith and Zack wouldn't want this, if anything it's this mindset that is tarnishing the memories of Aerith and Zack, but that's not how a mentally unwell person thinks. Cloud wants to atone, and thinks he finds salvation in Denzel, whom he finds at Aeriths church. He thinks that by saving this life, he can, in some way, make up for all the death he caused. Tifa has a similar belief when she finds out Denzels parents died in the plate crash. And when Denzel joins the family, and Cloud has path towards redemption in his mind, things start getting better again. Because this is the cause of the problems Cloud is having in ACC. When Nojima says:

first off, there’s the premise that things won’t go well between Tifa and Cloud, and that even without Geostigma or Sephiroth this might be the same

This is the conflict he's talking about, he's not saying "Tifa and Cloud are incompatible, it has nothing to do with Sephiroth", he's saying "if Sephiroth didn't show up during Advent children, Cloud and Tifa would still be having problems because Cloud is going through survivors guilt."

But the good times don't last, Denzel has Geostigma and Cloud cannot find a cure, Denzel....is going to die. Cloud, has failed again. Not only that, but Cloud catches Geostigma....Cloud is going to die. And THIS is why Cloud leaves in Advent children. And you have to look at this as Cloud. Cloud said he was going to live to atone for his sins, but instead he's going to die. He won't atone for his sins, even worse, he's going to leave Tifa and Marlene behind. He failed again. He couldn't protect Denzel, he potentially brought an infectious disease into their house as well. Literally all Cloud can think about is that literally everything he's ever tried has ended in failure, everyone he's ever tried to protect, he's failed at. Do you understand how easy it would be for a person like this to fall into the trap of thinking "I deserve to die", "I don't want Tifa and Marlene to see me die", "Tifa and Marlene are better off without me anyway", "they'd be happier if I weren't here". Etc. Now we know this is nonsense, but come on, how many instances have you heard of depressed people genuinely believing that their loved ones would be happier and better off if they just didn't exist? However, throughout the movie, Zack, Tifa, and Aerith, all confront Cloud, and urge him to not give up. Cloud eventually does try again, and ultimately finds redemption not by being stuck in the past, but by letting the past rest and be beautiful (a lesson Cleriths unfortunately never learned). "I never blamed you you know, not once" "I want to be forgiven. By who?" "Isn't it about time you did the forgiving?" In the end, Cloud moves on, and therefore, so do Zack and Aerith. Aerith and Zack walk into the light, Cloud plants flowers on Zacks grave, and lets Zacks buster sword rest in Aeriths church, now no longer rusting, but shining. Instead of the past being a negative reminder, Cloud lets the past be beautiful. Cloud was doing Aerith and Zack a disservice by remembering them the way he did, because it was ruining his life, it wasn't a good thing, but it did come from a good place, from a good man whose ashamed of not being good enough. Yes, it harmed Tifa, people going through these things often do hurt those around them, but it's not because they're bad people, or even weak, but because people are imperfect and Cloud has gone through hell, both internally, and externally. Are his actions really that weird or deplorable? "He didn't even go save the kids!" Yes, he's hesitant about saving the kids, why shouldn't he be? Everyone Cloud tried to protect or save, ended up maimed or worse, or as Cloud puts it: "I can't even save myself". "He left Tifa alone!" Yes, he thinks he's going to waste away and die, can you blame him for not wanting to put Tifa through that and for thinking she'd be better off without him? "He drinks!" Wouldn't you?! Who wouldn't want to forget that stuff? But in the end, He's only gone for about a week, he never intended to harm Tifa, he never physically harmed Tifa or cheated on her, his entire life revolved around wanting to be better for Tifa and blaming himself when he wasn't good enough, how is it reasonable to say this man takes Tifa for granted when the fact that he thinks he has to BE BETTER in order to be worthy of being with her has been a constant throughout his entire life and story? He DOESN'T take Tifa for granted, that's why he's beating himself up, that's why he leaves, not because he thinks he's better than her, or that he'll always have her, or that she'll follow him like a dog, or something like that. But because of the opposite, because he thinks HE is not good enough, that SHE would be better of without him. Saying Cloud takes Tifa for granted, is honestly, simply, wrong. It's 180 degrees the opposite of what is happening in FFVII, the biggest constant in Clouds life, is that he doesn't take Tifa for granted, and I don't understand how anyone could argue otherwise.

#cloti #FFVII #ffvii crisis core #ffvii advent children #ffvii remake

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silver-wield · 4 years

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I dont understand why aerith only abused cloud and not the other characters, whats her motive? have you ever been abused or at least know someone who was? can you also tell me more about aerith’s character? she’s the one i know the least so i would appreciate the enlightenment

Following on from this

Did I say Aerith was abusive or that her actions were? Because Aerith's not an abusive character, but she does things that harm others because of certain reasons. Also, some of my earlier comments about chapter 8 and Aerith's behaviour are before I learned more about her pov motivation, so it's only taken from Cloud's pov. Which I have no regrets about. I prefer Cloud over Aerith.

Cloud just got the brunt of things because he spent longer with her. The way Aerith assumes she knows everyone and that her way is best does harm others because it shows she doesn't respect their opinions or value them as individuals who behave differently to how she expects. She doesn't really know everyone, she just thinks she does because she knows info she shouldn't. But, vague information from the lifestream or wherever she got it doesn't form a complete picture. It also doesn't replace actual relationship development. She's trying to run before she can crawl.

From Aerith's pov, she's doing good. She's not intentionally abusive to people. She's poorly socialised, bossy and been treated as special since she was a child. She's got no frame of reference in how to have healthy relationships with people. She had no friends as a kid and none later. Kyrie was a bad influence on her and not a true friend. She's never had a true friend and only Zack loved her besides her moms. Her dad died when she was a baby, so she doesn't remember him. She's basically a spoiled child expecting to get what she wants and then can't accept the truth when it doesn't match her expectations.

From the others povs she's withholding vital information, treating them like they can't do things without her input and acting like she's the leader, despite just meeting everyone. Since what she's asking them to help with is saving the planet and Avalanche are self proclaimed protectors, and Cloud and Tifa are Sephiroth's enemies they won't refuse. Red agrees because his race are more attuned to the planet anyway. It's part of who he is to help protect it.

It's a matter of emotional maturity. Tifa has the most of the younger characters and currently, Aerith wavers between her OG immaturity and her meta knowledge which gives her unearned wisdom, but she doesn't know how to apply that wisdom, so just comes off bossy.

Cloud doesn't know how to deal with conflict except to beat it senseless and doesn't know how to deal with women, except to be a passive dummy when most of them manhandle him. He also doesn't want anything to do with any woman romantically except Tifa, which is why he's always touching her and flirting.

Cloud knows that Tifa reacts badly when people she cares about are in danger, so he's trying to keep her calm. Since Aerith interrupts immediately after this we don't know what the conclusion of this would be if Cloud was allowed to continue speaking. Most likely, he'd suggest getting back to sector 7, too, because he already agreed with her they need to go when he woke her up before the Abzu battle. Tifa respects Cloud's opinion and military background, so that's why she's asking his advice.

By jumping in and alarming Tifa, Aerith has actually caused harm because it's put her in an anxious state, which we see escalating throughout the sewers.

Cloud kept Tifa calm and focused. Aerith has done the opposite. Because she thinks she knows best.

Having put Tifa in a more anxious state than she was earlier, Aerith now withholds information, which breaks trust between them.

This harms Tifa. She now has to worry about Aerith's true motives as well as sector 7. Tifa avoids confronting her suspicions because she's non-confrontational by nature. And Aerith could be innocent and Tifa's imagining everything.

It's not a healthy state of mind Aerith's encouraged.

Aerith has observed how Tifa is with Cloud and deliberately baits her, which causes harm to Tifa.

Aerith's motives aren't the focus here and I've explained from her pov she's helping, but from Tifa's pov, this girl she just met is trying to take the guy she's liked since she was 13.

The look on Aerith's face is playful, but Tifa's isn't. She looks unhappy. With Aerith. She thought they were becoming friends and then Aerith does this.

And as I said, it's worth noting this is different to the JP scene where Tifa is just worried and Aerith's teasing her to try and improve her mood. So, this scene was deliberately played up to highlight a negative behaviour from Aerith and provoke Tifa.

Aerith never explains why Barret can't do things. She just orders everyone around and expects them to listen, but she doesn't listen to them.

Even when asked, she doesn't say anything, and this is harming the entire party. Just because we know the plot doesn't make what she's doing okay. She knows about Sephiroth and doesn't warn anyone beforehand. So, later when Cloud and Tifa see him in the drum, they're not prepared.

This adds to everyone's suspicion about Aerith.

Suspicious Aerith

Suspicious Aerith 2

See, the thing is, if someone is suspicious then you can't trust them. And trust is a big factor in relationships. By making herself untrustworthy by lying and acting in a suspicious way, Aerith isn't fulfilling one of the basic cornerstones of a good relationship.

Four cornerstones of a strong relationship: Tifa

Four cornerstones of a strong relationship: Cloud

Respect

Aerith shows she doesn't respect Tifa's opinion about Cloud and dismisses her valid concerns. She redirects to ask about her instead, which Tifa brushes off. The girls don't have a lot of conversation in the drum, which shows they're not that close or that Tifa doesn't trust her enough to chat after the sewers. Tifa has chosen to remain focused.

From Aerith's pov, ignoring Cloud shows she's not interested in him, but Tifa is and is worried and wanted reassurance, which Aerith didn't provide.

Honesty

During their first interaction, Aerith lies to Cloud several times, and keeps lying throughout the game, either by omission or outright lying.

Aerith lies about knowing the Turks, while knowing how dangerous they are.

A person who lies isn't someone who can be trusted. This is why Cloud and Tifa are suspicious of Aerith, even up to the end battle where Sephiroth speaks from behind Aerith and Cloud gives her a suspicious look. Because Aerith's own behaviour combines with Sephiroth's motives. If Aerith hadn't made herself suspicious then Sephiroth wouldn't be as effective here.

Trust

Cloud shakes his head here. He knows Aerith doesn't trust them because she keeps lying. See how things connect? Aerith lies, it makes her untrustworthy and affects people's relationships with her in a negative way.

Cloud agrees to go fetch Aerith because he knows what Shinra are like, isn't an asshole, feels obligated and Elmyra literally orders him to "bring her back to me" after he gets permission to go. Which is why it's listed as operation: save Aerith in the story summary.

Friendship

And as for friendship, well both Barret and Tifa call Aerith "our friend" but Cloud says "a friend" to mayor Domino and then later when he says "our friend" to the guy outside the battle sim, all of them are framed. But, when he said "a friend" to mayor Domino only Cloud was framed. This suggests that to Cloud Aerith isn't a friend.

So, Aerith fails to satisfy the basic cornerstones of a good relationship with others. That's not saying she's a bad person or has bad motives, but currently she's not in good standing.

As for her behaviour in sector 5 with Cloud, from her pov, her actions weren't bad either.

The protagonist Cloud, who played the hero like Zack, is the unforgettable protagonist of FFVII. The beginning of the story, he seems cool, but in reality he is not good with communication and feels less than he is. “I wanted to be in SOLIDER, but I couldn’t.” Because he wanted to hide himself (because of Zack's death and the Nibelheim incident), the Jenova cells that were planted in him in Nibelheim formed a personality that were based on Zack’s memories. In CC, Cloud was weak but he was influenced by Zack. In the beginning of the story, Cloud takes on the title of “Zack”. Aerith was shocked when she meets Cloud due to him mirroring Zack in behavior.

That's a rough translation, but the fact is Aerith saw Zack in Cloud from their first meeting and that's why she chased after him in chapter 2. This is the CC ultimania, BTW, and it's getting a reprint, so the info in it is canon to Remake because the devs advised players to read more compilation materials. This is one of them.

Her motives aren't bad, but we can't only see things from her pov. Other people matter too. Cloud wasn't happy with her throughout chapter 8 because of her behaviour. Her motives don't factor into his feelings because she never reveals why she's doing it. Even if she did explain, it doesn't excuse her ignoring how Cloud feels.

Because Aerith is using Cloud as a prop for Zack it does harm her relationship with him and others. In the chapter 9 Corneo's dungeon conversation we can see Tifa notices Cloud isn't happy with Aerith suggesting they stay and get info out of Corneo. His reaction colors her opinion of Aerith later when he wakes her in the sewers. That's why she asks how he knows her because he doesn't seem to be acting like they're friends as Aerith claimed.

And Aerith isn't treating Cloud like he's Cloud through a lot of chapter 8 and 9 and only pulls back when they meet up with Tifa.

So much zerith

And by deluding herself, Aerith gets to be with Zack again, which she alludes to in her resolution when she says she's grateful to Cloud and he made her more happy than he knows. Because she got to pretend she spent one more day with Zack. But, then she shatters her own delusion by telling Cloud that any potential feelings he might have in the future are fake. Because Cloud's persona is fake. He's not Zack.

In the OG, Aerith's GS date alludes to Cloud's fake persona too, but she says she wants to meet the real him. She doesn't say that here. She ignores Cloud again, and by doing so answers his question in that he doesn't get a say because she's not listening to him. Because she doesn't care.

And when the party reaches her in chapter 16, it's even more clear that Aerith has set aside her delusions in favour of building better relationships with the other characters. She's more invested in Red, Tifa and Barret than she is Cloud.

However, it's an uphill struggle with Tifa because of the previous behaviour she exhibited.

See how things circle back? Aerith made herself suspicious, Tifa loses trust in her and that affects their relationship later so that Tifa is less likely to confide in her. She's being Tifa Lockhart. And we know Tifa can open up with those she really trusts because she does with Cloud. Because they have a strong set of cornerstones to their relationship.

So, from Aerith's pov, it's not abuse because she has some very good reasons for treating Cloud and others the way she does. She's aware of some future events and knows about Sephiroth and she also deluded herself into thinking Cloud was Zack.

But, because they don't know her motives it does actually harm the relationships between her and them. Even Red seems to mistrust her because he knows some of what she was up to with the whispers, as stated during the opening of chapter 17 where he explains the whispers purpose and looks right at Aerith when he mentions people tampering with fate.

But, this is what character development is for. Aerith needs to grow as a person and not just in power. So, I expect a lot of her more childish traits like being overly bossy and not having any listening skills will be addressed in future parts.

#final fantasy 7 remake #ff7r #ffviir #final fantasy 7r #final fantasy viir #Character analysis #Aerith Gainsborough

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atopearth · 4 years

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Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3 - The “Death” of Avalanche (Ch 12-14)

Seeing an extended version of the Avalanche members’ dying is going to be terrible. I think the fact that Wedge calls Cloud “aniki” is so cute, so it’ll be sad that this is the last time we’ll hear it. My heart kinda broke for Biggs tbh. Seeing him entrust the future to Cloud, and for him to think about the Leaf House orphanage kids even during his dying moments was saddening. I remember being so surprised at Ms Folia (the orphanage teacher + Honeybee dancer) saying that the one who taught her everything and inspired her to be who she is was Biggs. I knew he had a big heart and cared for everyone, but it was nice that they added in all these other little things about him. I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle Jessie’s death tbh. It’s going to be heartbreaking!!

Aerith going to save Marlene is something I looked forward to seeing, and I think it showed really well how gentle of a heart Aerith has, and how self sacrificing she is. Especially when she encouraged Wedge to not give up and allow himself to have regrets for not doing more. I like that the Shinra soldier Wedge passionately convinced into opening the gates to leave Sector 7 for everyone to escape was the newbie soldier that was kinda in training and couldn’t be mean to anyone (when you talked to him before this). It’s understandable that he would be the one to go against orders. Nice to see Tseng! He looks pretty good. On the other hand, Rude interfering with Reno so that his gun would miss Tifa was hilarious. I love that they kept the idea that Rude likes Tifa, I guess they’ll be keeping the idea that Tseng likes Aerith too then! Elena liking Tseng is something expected though since it’s a big part of her character imo haha. Btw, I’m glad that Reno recognised how tasteless it was to have to do the pretend act that this whole destroying Sector 7 thing was done by Avalanche. Anyway, Aerith convincing Marlene to come out and leave with her was adorable~

It was hard to see Jessie go again, especially when she talked about how she kinda “deserved” it considering the amount of people she killed with her bombs, which was something that always stuck with me in the dialogue of the original. Despite Jessie’s hopes for the future and everything, she knew what what she was doing involved the deaths of a lot of people, innocent and guilty alike, she always felt terrible about it, but she wasn’t as soft as Tifa to think about giving up on it. She took those burdens with her to achieve what she needed to, so it’s heartbreaking that she had to die thinking that. It was saddening yet cute when Cloud said Jessie owed him a pizza, so she can’t die haha. It’s too bad that it’ll never happen. Sometimes I wonder if the reason they all like pizza is because of how Barret refers to the plates above them as a “pizza”, so they like to eat them up hahahaha, nah just kidding, pizza is good, everyone loves pizza.Seeing Reno and Rude tag team fight was so cool! I loved how Reno still had that skill that puts you into the triangle barrier to kinda immobilise you. Otherwise, Reno is so difficult for me to handle lolll, I suck fighting against him. And Rude hits Tifa when you control her!! Although he kinda just does a light chop to her, not sure if it’s specific to her but it was kinda cute lol because it honestly seemed like he was taking it easy against her compared to other battles when we faced him. Seriously though, I think it’s so annoying how those “ghosts” always interfere at crucial moments, it’s like, it wasn’t in the original game and it’s honestly unneeded here. The truth is that Cloud and them were unable to stop the plate from falling regardless of whether those ghosts were there or not, it’s annoying to make it seem like they could have stopped Rude if they weren’t there, when in reality, it shows (in the original) a much crueller way of looking at things when you try your best but you’re still too late. We don’t need no supernatural phenomenon to make it seem like it’s at fault and that’s why Cloud and them failed! Yes, I rolled my eyes when they appeared because at this point, I’ll admit that I’m sick of them. It’s like how they ruined Aerith and Cloud’s first meeting with them! I only wanted sweetness and curiosity towards a flower girl, not mystery with these supernatural things I don’t care about! Sigh!

Anyway, seeing Tifa and Barret broken over not being able to save their home and its people was saddening. Maybe it’s nostalgia or whatever, but I think it hit me harder in the original though. Btw, it’s kinda funny but understandable that instead of Tseng flying near the explosion to kinda show that they’ve captured Aerith etc, Tseng tells them through the screen haha. Gotta protect the Ancient! Oh, and Sephiroth honestly appears way too much, I honestly don’t remember him being so apparent, I know they’re really just the numbered black robe guys, but I feel like back then it was mostly just Cloud feeling the effects of something, but not being very clear on what it is. Now we’re just stuck with an overbearing Sephiroth zzz, yes there’s such a thing as too much Sephiroth. I guess it’s nice that it kinda explicitly tells you through them that Sephiroth thinks/believes/insists he’s got Ancients’ blood running through him, so he’s the rightful ruler of the planet though. Really though, with the plate falling, you can really understand the helplessness and fear of the people under the plates (through the NPCs talking in the background), it’s like, wow, they can actually fall and destroy everyone?! It kinda shows that regardless of how great Shinra is in giving people “better lives”, Shinra is also essentially in control of their lives. Oh yeah!! And Cait Sith!! Did not expect to see him! It felt weird without his white doll (since I used to think the white doll was him until I realised there was a cat on top lmao), but it was nice to see how *spoilers* Reeve tried to do something about Sector 7 in both forms. Seeing Cait Sith devastated at the sight was pretty saddening. But I have to admit, imagining Reeve controlling it and making it fall to the ground is funny yet interesting loll.

Omg, how old is Tseng?! Aerith is like this little kid and he’s an adult already?! I never realised there was such a big age difference.. Anyway, kid Aerith is adorable. Elmyra’s story is always saddening to hear, but I think the original showed it a bit better, mainly the train station part. I remember in the original, you could really feel the sadness of Elmyra through the contrasted happiness of the people beside her at the train station who were overjoyed at seeing the people they were waiting for come home to them. And it slowly shows how nearly everyone who was waiting there was able to reunite with their loved ones, everyone except her who waited every day there. I feel like she even asked the train station attendant if there were any more trains or people too. Her taking in Aerith healed her and herself, so honestly, I’ve always been happy that they both had each other to lean on for so many years. But yeah, otherwise, seeing Ifalna (HD) and everything was nice. It’s interesting that Aerith needs to be willing to go to them in order to help with their quest in finding the Promised Land, because how exactly do you make her willing?? Hahaha. I mean, she just did it for Marlene so she’s not exactly “willing”. It’s so weird that they didn’t bother adding the line where Barret asks Elmyra to take care of Marlene for him. It’s like, you can’t make him a “caring dad” and not even say something like that before he leaves lol! It’s important!

Okay, I’m glad Wedge is alive, but at the same time, I have mixed feelings towards it haha. It’s nice though, gives Cloud and them more hope I guess. We should all thank cats, they save lives apparently~ On the other hand, Aerith appearing in Cloud’s dream was…very interesting. Like, it was nice, but at the same time weird loll. Especially when she told him that if they seemed like they were attracted to each other romantically, it probably wasn’t real. I honestly didn’t need that, especially when I feel like the Tifa fanservice coupling is everywhere and more apparent than with Aerith imo. I felt like the romance with Tifa was more vague in the beginning for the original. Anyway, Cloud was right, Aerith can’t just one-sidedly say all that and just leave, he should have his say too, especially since these are his feelings! And tbh, although Tifa and Cloud are super comfortable with each other and rely on each other, I feel like a lot of the times, they feel like trustworthy friends more in the remake imo. I think what solidifies (for me) how much Cloud cherishes Aerith was when he said he’d take her home again (lmao) after she showed him the way to Sector 7, enough concern over her safety with Don Corneo that he would cross dress, and his reaction when Aerith shows up with the extravagant red dress. He was so stunned at how beautiful she was! To be fair though, I was pretty stunned too, until I realised I better take screenshots lmao. Overall though, Cloud is constantly saving and taking care of all the girls, it’s kinda crazy. Like, I know he may be Prince Charming but c'mon! Only Tifa gets to be cool whereas the other girls get saved wayyyy too much whether it be from random falls or whatever. I also feel like Elmyra stopping them from going to save Aerith felt more like an unnecessary plot delay to squish in the Wedge part, but oh well lol, time for Shinra building time! Can’t wait to see Red XIII!

Or not, I’m stuck doing side quests lmao. Those pull ups were more annoying than squats zzzz, but they were okay I guess. Didn’t take that long to win the pro. The most annoying thing was that letting the pull up timer go on (when I obviously failed) was faster than the stupid loading screen when I press give up lol. Mireille being the Angel of the Slums was expected I guess, although I was never curious anyway haha. Kyrie is kinda cute but annoying lol. Kinda sad that I don’t actually get to ride on a Chocobo though….like I found all those lost chocobo and yet I don’t actually get to ride them? T_T Wow, I can’t believe the behemoth horn was used for medicine!! What kind of medicine are they making??! It was a hassle to kill that guy! Lmao tonberry is as cute and deadly as it usually is! Kept stabbing me lol! I know I could have probably thrown magic at it, but I thought it was hilarious to see it stab me lmao. The Colosseum battles were pretty easy, I was kinda worried but all good! Whack-a-box was super easy for the hard mode btw! I was like ohh noo when I saw hard mode thinking it’ll take me a while like the pull ups but dang, third time was the charm! Smashed it!🥰 Hmm, pedometer materia was interesting…lol, super easy to get the 5000 steps since I had to look for those annoying chocobos, but yeah I guess it was worth it! AP Up would be useful. I’m glad the side quests didn’t take too long because I really started considering just dropping them lol.

I’m glad they delved more into Leslie’s backstory, but I guess it was expected since he was the only pretty boy out of all the lackeys lmao. I found Leslie really endearing though, mainly because of his looks and how kind he was to keep warning Cloud and Aerith that they shouldn’t go to the audition haha. It’s saddening that his fiancee was chosen by Corneo and now she has disappeared. I kinda liked how his story interlinked with Cloud and Aerith though. Tifa told Leslie that the flower pendant his fiancee gave back to him before she left meant “we’ll meet again” in flower language, and that’s the flower Aerith gave Cloud, so it’s nice to see how Cloud linked that, and sorta renewed his resolve into finding her asap. It’s nice to know that rather than focusing on finding Corneo to exact his revenge, Leslie is now instead looking for the girl. Good that he’s got his priorities straight. She’s much more important than revenge! Hope we get to see him actually find her in the later parts or something~

Overall, not much to say about these few chapters. I think the running up the stairs/pillar part to save Sector 7 + Wedge, Biggs and Jessie were pretty faithfully done, and it was done pretty nicely too. It felt just as annoying with the monsters/soldiers, whilst being just as saddening with seeing the death of the Avalanche members lol. My only gripe with it was the Whispers popping up ruining the whole mood of the event, it really made it seem like Cloud and them could have changed the outcome that ended up happening but was stopped for “reasons” beyond their control, so they shouldn’t feel too bad about it kinda thing, it just changes the whole “feel” of it. Anyway, the changes with Wedge being alive and the “dream” with Aerith are things I have mixed feelings about. Wedge being alive really, as I kinda said before with the pillar, it changes the mood and atmosphere of everything. Like, it’s not terrible, but what solidified a lot of my feelings towards Avalanche and the dropping of the plate in the original was done with the impact of the deaths of our Avalanche members because they’re the main people we’re familiar with. Anyway, gotta love how (aside from Biggs and Jessie) a lot of the people we’ve seen are alive and well, and lol even the item shop etc people have good stock! Kinda miss the days in the original or in other older JRPGs where shops would follow the story and be lacking in supplies or whatever during times of disaster etc. Anyway, that’s just me being picky as usual lol. And yes, I’m starting to see how A LOT of the scenes involve Cloud and the others saving each other, mainly Cloud saving all the girls, and it’s nice but honestly overdone considering the amount of scenes where it happens. This time around, the changes (from the original) are half half to me, not better, but not exactly terrible I guess. Anyway, now that I’m going through this and reading my thoughts again, this was probably the point when I started thinking about whether I liked the remake for what it is or was I really just banking in on the hype and nostalgia of a favourite game? Honestly, it’s mainly the latter (sadly).

#final fantasy vii remake #ffvii remake #ffvii

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