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magical-xirl-4 · 2 years

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My Top 20 Clerith Moments (in order of events)

More than half of these are from Remake BECAUSE THERE’S SO MANY GOOD ONES. Also a lot of these are just lines I love because they have such good dialogue about each other and to each other 🤧

Original Game

when they laugh on the rooftops

This is such a simple but profound moment. Cloud has been a stone-cold, arrogant person so far in the game, only showing very brief instances of a weaker persona. Then, he lets out a laugh that makes him throw his head back, because of Aerith. The only time he’s shown visibly happy (after Crisis Core) is here, and most notably at the end of Advent Children. Even though he’s still under the effects under Jenova, he lets out a genuine laugh.

when they reunite in shinra tower

This part is so cheesy but damn cute!!! They’re being so dramatic and Aerith is freaking swooning over Cloud saving her. It’s personal and made private even though the other members of the group are there, and still adorable, though a bit cliché.

"i want to meet... you"

Aerith’s confession to Cloud during the gondola ride is so... heartwarming, sincere, and sad. She wants him to reconnect with himself, and wants him to know that she loves him for who he is, not who he pretends to be. She can see past his façade and wants him to know that.

“cloud... it isn't your fault" forgotten temple

She’s still comforting him even though he badly hurt her, and she understands that this isn’t what he wanted and that he’s not in control. Despite all that, she wants to protect him and take care of him, and that’s another aspect that makes this scene so hard to watch 😭

"i remember aerith well" (the deepest depth of your heart)

Bugenhagen asks the group to remember something at the inner most part of yourself, and then eventually Cloud recalls Aerith. She’s part of a very core aspect him, and that theme trickles all the way down to the end of the game and into Advent Children and even Dirge of Cerberus, as Aerith is part of his consciousness and is “engraved in his heart”.

unfreezing aerith's smile "come planet, show us your answer!"

This is one of my favourite aspects of Disc 3 Clerith. Cloud wants to honour Aerith; her memory, her wishes, and her love for the planet. Unfreezing her smile means he want Aerith’s desires to be let out into the world and succeed, he doesn’t want her death to be in vain. The answer he seeks, if it’s willing to hear what he wants deep down and what Aerith wanted, is to reunite with her.

reach out scene "i think i can meet her there"

When Cloud reaches out to Aerith at the very end of the game, and he then says “The Promised Land... I think I can meet her there”, shows how he oh so badly wants to reunite with her, and when they reach for each other, it’s incredibly bittersweet. He follows it up with an understanding of the answer he received from the planet. Because he’s intertwined with it now through Aerith, he knows where to find her.

Advent Children

reach out scene in AC

I love every Clerith moment in Advent Children, but one of them that sticks out to me the most is the scene where they grab each other’s hand, calling back to the original game. The way that everything turns white as he sees Aerith, as he gasps and his eyes widen. She asks if he’s ready, and he is. It’s such a magical and sweet moment.

”see? everything’s... alright” “you’re right. i’m not alone, not anymore”

THIS SCENE MAKES ME BAWL. He’s finally accepted her death and is able to move on. She helped him understand that he has friends and family that love him and are there for him, and that her death and Zack’s wasn’t his fault. She’s the only one who can help him with this. And the way that he stares at her as she’s leaving in total awe, the way that he smiles at the end 😭 this movie is good idc.

Remake

THE ROOFTOP SCENE

This is the moment I truly fell in love with them (and Aerith lmao). This part is so tender, you can feel the budding romance between the two of them the more they talk and as the music swells. I love the rendition of Flowers Blooming in the Church here, and it was stated that this piece was made to sound romantic and “as if what you have today, might be gone tomorrow, so you need to treasure every moment”.

when cloud basically accepts the date as payment "huh? ... oh..."

This is such a small, minuscule moment BUT I FELT LIKE PUTTING IT IN BECAUSE IT’S FUNNY. Their banter is hilarious and charming, and especially at this moment when he understands that he’s essentially on a date with Aerith. He doesn’t object!!

when she holds clouds hand for comfort

Is there literally anything more tender and wholesome than her softly grabbing Cloud’s hand and they just stay that way? He just experienced something frightening and her first instinct is to help him relax and let him know that everything’s okay. He just lets her hold her hand for a good minute. The INTIMACY.

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS

BAAH I CAN’T TAKE THIS SCENE. The soft music, the dialogue: “tell me anyway/learn to talk to her/well today’s special!/uh, what so special about it?” The description for this scene says that they express their true feelings over the flowers, concluding that although the day was long and hard, it was satisfying and nice 🥺 AND the Ultimania plus confirms that Cloud feels that Aerith has been nothing but kind to him!

THE FLASHBACK TO THE SLEEPING FOREST

Holy moly if this isn’t one of the most emotionally gut wrenching parts in the whole game... How DARE they put this in. Calling back to a moment that’s so ahead in the future and at a moment that I don’t think a lot of people remember. Not only is that moment from the original bittersweet and heart breaking if you know that’s coming (it’s their last legitimate conversation, and she assures Cloud that they will both be okay and puts matters into her own hands to not only protect herself, but protect him from his mind breaking), but the actual scene itself in Remake has the audacity to make Cloud cry from it. Okay, thanks Remake, and fuck you too /j ALSO the Ultimania plus says something extremely sweet about this moment here. They say that “spending time with Aerith is fun, although the unstable future teeters back and forth upon them” how poetic, how vindicating it feels to know that every moment is precious and enjoyable with them and that the future so heavily relies on them. (also playing Midnight Rendezvous after this moment is just the cherry on top, I LOVE THAT SONG ITS SO THEM, not to mention it was created specifically to have romantic vibes!!)

when cloud tries to give high five

Their entire high five arc is actually glorious. It builds and builds in the cutest of ways, and the way that Cloud wants to make her happy and goes in to do that but fails in the most adorable way adfkdsjfh. He actually smiles at her as he goes to do it, and I can’t help but think that the whole time he was walking toward her and climbing up that ladder, he was thinking about how he was going to do it and make her happy, basically hyping himself up, like practicing in the mirror before a date kind of thing. They’re so cute and he’s so awkward.

"so..." HE DOESNT WANT TO LEAVE HER

Their scene at Evergreen Park is wholesome in of itself, but the climax of it when they need to leave each other... once again, the music... the trope of speaking at the same time... the tension is so THICK you could cut it with a knife istg.

high five at the colosseum

I think this actually makes my top 5. It’s the true culmination of their high five arc, signifying their work as a team and how that they’re now totally in sync. It’s a celebration. The way that the camera pans across them, the crowd cheering them on and the lights in the background as they fit their hands together. Absolutely beautiful.

THE DREAM SEQUENCE

Wow this whole 3 minute scene is actually poetic cinema 🥲 It’s such a good resolution for Cloud’s character so far, and I can’t help but adore the dialogue. Aerith tries to assure him that she’s fine but he can see through her words. Aerith teases him about him worrying over her, and confirms that he’s completely serious and concerned about her safety. “Everyone dies eventually/I suppose” (SHUT THE FUC-) And her whole speech about treasuring the present and what you have now, wanting to live the life that you want, it’s such a good representation of her character 😥 add then Cloud reassures her again and says “I’ll remember that”. And it would have been so hard for Aerith to continue on getting to the point, wanting to admit the truth, to give him a warning. But she knows, she knooows he loves her and can’t help but love her. He comes to his own conclusion and finishes for her, when she can’t bring herself to say it “You need to embrace this moment, right?” And then she says to him that she values him and their time together so much “You’ve made me more happy than you know, and I’ll always cherish what you’ve given me” (he’s so important to her okay 😭), and she wants to make this as easy as possible for the both of them. His face as she says “you can’t fall in love with me”, is so vulnerable and hurt, he’s been CAUGHT, and she NOTICES THIS. So she tries to push back even further, trying to invalidate his feelings by saying they’re not real and in his imagination. And what does he do? He tries to grab her, and tries to insist on if it’s his choice whether he gets to love her or not. Damn this tragically romantic fucking scene. And to top it all off, “I’m coming for you” - the dedication, the determination and RESOLVE in his voice. It represents another beautiful aspect of Clerith and that is his complete devotion towards her and how he will always come for her 😌 not to mention the Japanese dub as he says “Mukae ni iku“, a line VERY COMMONLY USED IN SHOUJO ROMANCE STORIES. It’s all about them I swear.

WHEN THEY STARE AT EACH OTHER IN CHAP 18

I ranted on and on about the dream sequence but anyway here’s a short one. In wonderful CGI they just stare at each other and practically ignore everyone else. Just in complete awe at each other in this beautiful space, like it’s their own private moment (every moment between the two of them is private), and it highlights them as the main duo in this game. A lot of moments really do point out that she is essentially the deuteragonist to his protagonist, but this one sells it the most.

"gonna be okay?" intergrade

SDJKFH IM SO SOFT FOR THIS PART OKAY. How can you not include this little bit we got in Intergrade. It’s a very short but sweet moment where he understands she is scared and wants to comfort and reassure her, and his voice is SO. FREAKING. SOFT it just breaks me. Her façade breaks away for a moment as she admits she’s anxious and is visibly afraid, reaching out to Cloud with her eyes to signal her fear, but the two don’t have time as their little world is interrupted. They need more alone time together like holy shit 😳

#clerith #cloud x aerith #aerith x cloud #cloud x aeris #aeris x cloud #aerikura #final fantasy #final fantasy vii #final fantasy vii remake #please no one clown on this post omg i'm trying to write a list of things i love about my favourite pairing

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