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

[LunarTarotGirl]

Ah, when I say "Cleriths" I mean those who are vocal about it being canon.

My bad

I'm half joking. Don't worry about it. But also it's frustating that this is definitely a common sentiment because of how Loud the vocal ones are. They drown everyone else out.

But in seriousness even my mutuals who still think CA is canon also don't hate Tifa. In fact some like her more than you would think. It's just we get labled as Not CAs when that happens so I can see how the impression came about. The most vocal are the ones that are associated the most with the fandom while the rest are just kind of in the corner. Some are just waiting and seeing how ReTrilogy turns out.

And as I mentioned I do definitely think the LTD from the inside looks much worse than it is, but from the outside the general audience just goes with whatever they see on screen. And CT and ZA have been a lot more pushed recently so more people do accept it. You also just have these outside audience go with whatever they see of the character so they generally like them and are not mischaractizing them.

And I think in general these people will eventually just outnumber the more stubborn vocal and extreme fans.

 

[Stiggie]

I actually responded to a very similar argument on Youtube under a Cloud and Tifa in AC video. It was the same argument. In 2020. I still remember it. I told them their take made no sense because Cloud cherishes everything so of course he cared about Tifa. Went on for quite a few replies. There was one other person a anti Tifa in the same thread telling them not to listen to me and accusing me of being a Cloti and I told them no "I just think it's stupid to say Cloud hates Tifa, not even sees her as a friend but hates? Where did this even come from?"
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Afterwards I butted heads with that specific Tifa anti again in other YTthreads. They were just kind of everywhere. And then they hopped on twitter "to warn other CAs about me" as clearly I was a Cloti in disguise and not someone with a different view or anything. Anyway I saw it because duh, I'm a CA and I made the mistake of confronting them about lying about me and got chainblocked by like half the CAfandom at that time because they accused me of stalking their account. Fun times lol. People STILL think I'm a Cloti because of that user who I don't even think is in the fandom anymore but thanks a lot lol.
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Anyway in the end I found out the person who started the YouTube thread saying Cloud hates Tifa was literally a 12 year old kid and they were quoting from anti Tifa blogs. They apologized to me and I apologized for getting heated at a child who until that point I thought was just another Tifa anti. I remember they said they liked my blog which I had linked with Ultimania quotes. And they apparently liked CT now and were thanking me for informing them Cloud doesn't hate Tifa and their sources were bad. Or so that was their last comment to me.
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I really wonder if this is the same one you saw or if they both were just reading the same source? I just had deja vu reading your post tho bc those YouTube comments were what convinced people I was a CT in disguise or something. And it was just very similar takes.

It's also what started it all in terms of me talking about AC on my blog after that whole thing basically lol.

Could be, I've run into a LOT of those

 

[LunarTarotGirl]

@Ryushikaze It could have been I guess. From what I remember their sources were very very old. Like they weren't even linking to tumblr posts but websites type of old. And surprisingly it wasn't anything I had seen before.

@Stiggie I actually only ever ran into this specific one. Which is why it stuck out in my memory I still see the video as a top search item too. Just there forever for me to accidentally stumble on it again.

@Gym Leader Devil Yeah the kid was actually very polite too even before that. That's why I found it so odd they were all "I'm sorry but it's just true Cloud hates Tifa". Even their hate was polite lol. But afterwards they were so happy Cloud didn't hate her lol. It was very cute.

 

[Sacky]

Well my friends that don't care really don't have a detailed opinion. They like one girl or the other but I don't think they care which is canon. And if you ask them they find the topic either silly or boring and wouldn't talk at length honestly.
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I just asked my husband and here is what I got:

He thinks it is ridiculous that there's any debates because the game to him is more about "ecoterrorism to save the Planet and fighting a villain than romance," and he says Tifa is obvious anyway as the childhood friend ending up with the hero as the romance story part.
But on the subject of romance in the plot he still doesn't see romance as the most important topic or even the driving force of the story overall, his words.

He didn't talk in too much detail beyond that other than:

what he likes about Tifa as a character and thinks she's good with Cloud. He also thinks Aerith and Zack are "made for eachother" and Aerith is dead anyway so there is no real reason to ship her with Cloud so why even debate that, his words. He plain doesn't see her as an option. He goes with what is there and what is canon, his words.

Then he got bored and we talked about an anime he really likes when I asked him what he thought about shipping in general.

And that's the longest I ever got him to entertain this topic like five minutes? lol. And he is way more interested in my thoughts on the anime he does like than LTD
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Edit: because according to him talking about the LTD stuff with the two girls is "too messy" and with too much will they won't they back and forth in terms of the romance. Both girls having feelings with Aerith liking Cloud but also cheering on CT and liking Zack reminds him of drama in shows he used to watch. He doesn't like that, he likes things more clear and straightforward. His words. End conversation.
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I tried lol. He is just not impressed with this topic.

So that's that on that.

I do think there really are people that genuinely don't care but as in they aren't interested or invested in the topic. Like my husband here. I had to ask multiple questions to get these answers.

That's what I mean about "don't care". They just aren't as "into it" I guess.

Edit: I went back and asked him to clarify because his first response was so brief.

I think what I mean is the people who are really big fans of the game and talk about it constantly always have a opinion to be fair though they might be undercover shippers XD

 

[Sacky]

Always huh? I guess as a Clerith I have to hate Tifa by default then. No choice.

In fact I hated Tifa so much I had a blog post on how Cloud's answer to Do you love Marlene is supposed to be his answer to Tifa's "Do you love me?" And the answer being yes but I just don't know how to act around her sometimes. Which was what kicked off my series of essays on ACC. I was kinda facinated by the writing style in COT.

What can I say. Nothing is stopping my fated rage towards her.

Hm. Though I have to say. I really like listening to people who have no idea about LTD stuff try to puzzle it out. My husband does like romance he just doesn't care for any debates about it. While I'm all for debates because I like arguing I guess.

It's funny how different outside perspectives can be. Also very insightful. And I really think the main people you need to convince are those outsiders and more casual fans to end the LTD not the people entrenched in the war for years. And I think ReTrilogy is on the way to do just that.

I think that's how the LTD ends cause people who have convinced themselves for 27 years that's hard to change opinion on out of pride. Part 3 though seeing the scenes expanded in OG with HD visuals and Voice acting I think it will be made very clear possibly from attitude changes afterwards. Then there's gonna be sidemissions and everything.

 

[frosty]

It was a lot of fun to hear more casual observers of the LTD share their thoughts on it, as while there’s certainly plenty of streamers sharing their views on this topic these days, I hadn’t heard the LTD discussed on what is a pretty premium podcast format before. If anyone else has heard the LTD pop up on other podcasts or discussions, I’d love to hear about it!

I didn't see it in podcasts because I don't follow gaming podcasts, but there were a slew of at least 5-10 articles from various media reviewing "best dates of FFVII rebirth" and I'm pretty sure Tifa came up tops in most of them.

Even if the reviewers don't see her as "best" or that Aerith's date more organically flowed into the ending, almost all undeniably say Tifa is being shoehorned as the canon love interest and it's tragic that a Cloud/Aerith romance never quite takes off.

I can't say if journos are "neutral", I'm sure they work for gaming companies because they love games but it was interesting that they chose specifically to write about it

I'll see if I can link them later

 

[ChaosandConfusion]

Does anyone here think it could be both girls in the romantic sense?

 

[Ryeleigh]

It's interesting that extreme fans of either ship hate the other girl and project that hate on Cloud.

Does anyone here think it could be both girls in the romantic sense?

I don't personally see it but I know that others here think it's both girls to various degrees.

 

[Eerie]

Does anyone here think it could be both girls in the romantic sense?

I personally don't think so.
Let me explain from a writing perspective. You have two girls, one has still feelings for her dead lover (her perfect match), saves the Planet, ends up with her dead lover (who also happens to be the MC best friend). The other has loved the MC for 7 years already, crushed on him before that, and saves him.

Now tell me, if your MC loves both, don't you feel that one girl gets screwed, that the MC himself gets screwed feeling awful since for a time his best friend's girl thought she had romantic feelings for him?

We are talking from a writing perspective, knowing Cloud and Tifa get together, why would Tifa have to accept that Cloud doesn't love her fully but that he also has feelings for Aerith? Why should she share when Aerith is perfectly fine with her perfect boyfriend? I'm sorry but as I said earlier, I don't think the devs want to ever hear again a woman telling them they feel sorry for Tifa. Because yes in this case the situation would be extra shitty for her and the developpers have more respect for these characters than this.

 

[Yoru]

Does anyone here think it could be both girls in the romantic sense?

Like my comrades above

I don't think that's the case. The OG was more ambiguous by design. Aerith was a red herring and designed as such. They wanted her death to be as shocking as possible. The emphasis on Cloud's mental state and its resolution in remembering his feelings for Tifa was the moment the game told me that Cloud only loved one woman and that if you thought he loved Aerith romantically, it wasn't real, because it wasn't really him talking. I know this will upset some people, but that's how I felt when I first played the game.

A feeling that the new projects have only reinforced. And for me, Rebirth is the one that definitely confirmed it. Cloud only has romantic feelings for one woman in his life.

 

[ChaosandConfusion]

I personally don't think so.
Let me explain from a writing perspective. You have two girls, one has still feelings for her dead lover (her perfect match), saves the Planet, ends up with her dead lover (who also happens to be the MC best friend). The other has loved the MC for 7 years already, crushed on him before that, and saves him.

Now tell me, if your MC loves both, don't you feel that one girl gets screwed, that the MC himself gets screwed feeling awful since for a time his best friend's girl thought she had romantic feelings for him?

We are talking from a writing perspective, knowing Cloud and Tifa get together, why would Tifa have to accept that Cloud doesn't love her fully but that he also has feelings for Aerith? Why should she share when Aerith is perfectly fine with her perfect boyfriend? I'm sorry but as I said earlier, I don't think the devs want to ever hear again a woman telling them they feel sorry for Tifa. Because yes in this case the situation would be extra shitty for her and the developpers have more respect for these characters than this.

I agree with you. I went on ff7 twt (BIG NO NO) and a lot of neutrals were saying both. But to add on to what you're saying, Tifa seems like the type of character if she knew there were feelings between both of them she would shut Cloud's pursuit of her down.

 

[LunarTarotGirl]

Does anyone here think it could be both girls in the romantic sense?

I used to. Until Remake's second half and now Rebirth.

I saw a shift in how they were developing him and Aerith's story and it's basically with Her not being sure she likes Him in that sense. And him completely oblivious to her feelings in the first place. Then him finding out about Zack being Aerith's boyfriend who in his eyes she still is head over heels for he needs to tell her what happened to him. This way the devs don't have to say anything about Cloud's feelings. He remains oblivious because he now has no reason to entertain Aerith having feelings for him.

I definitely think before Remake though you can make the case. Like in OG? We can argue both girls were people he was interested in. I don't believe in OG there was no romantic implications there. But because Aerith dies they never needed to be explored. Cloud is also canonically oblivious to her feelings there too. Their feelings toward eachother could just remain ambiguous and it didn't affect the story. I definitely saw it as non platonic and still don't think it's anything but non platonic. But things are now more defined.

And over time the developers had to chose a lane and made things less ambiguous especially with Crisis Core and Advent Children Complete pushed Zerith because they didn't want the audience to think Cloud was some jerk using Tifa and leaving her in AC.

Remake then has Aerith knowing the future of CT and cheering them on. She is very obviously not interested in pursuing Cloud as she was in OG. Then Rebirth has her lose those future memories and get conflicted with her feelings and kind of pursuing Cloud while he thinks the entire time she has feelings for Zack and he learns of Tifa's feelings early on and reciprocates.

While Aerith confesses she isn't sure what she feels. To me that's the devs completely closing any window of Cloud entertaining the thought of Aerith into him or him thinking he should be interested in her. Now why would they need to make their protagonist think about a romance he is A. Oblivious to. B. Not entertaining because he thinks she loves someone else. C. Not thinking about because He loves someone else D. SHE isn't even sure about now. What would be the point of putting romance between them in this scenario?

Since these are not the cases in OG I treat them separately and entertain the idea their could have been something there but with all this new context the Lifestream scene with Tifa especially this time around brings his feelings for Tifa up in a way that something with Aerith becomes pointless to explore. Especially with the final nail being Aerith herself unsure if he even likes him romantically. There is now zero reason to have these characters explore feelings for eachother from both their perspectives. It now does not matter if Cloud feels romantically toward her or not if Aerith herself now has no reason to entertain thoughts of future romance with Cloud. They basically made it so now neither character has reason to pursue the other from this point onward.

Then they are building up Zack and his feelings for Aerith and they're making Cloud basically have romance moments earlier on with Tifa showing him reciprocating etc and well almost kissing her in Gongaga even seperate from kissing her on the date.

So now that entire ambiguous idea of CA romance even if brought up as fanservice hints can now be completely ignored by the story in the end. To make him fall in love with in Aerith After all that?? I don't think they would. And now I'm convinced they won't.

Especially now that they have set all their story up to reunite with another person that isn't eachother. Could Pt3 prove me wrong? We will see. But I don't think so.
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And edit: And I'm a Clerith and I wish that the above was not my thoughts on this matter. If anyone thinks this is the way I had imagined or wanted things to go with Even Aerith being unsure of her feelings?? It's definitely not the case. I didn't ask for that. And I don't like it, no. I would have preferred OG scenario to remain untouched or even unrequited love with her accepting her own feelings honestly but knowing what she felt.

But I write this because that's honestly what I see them doing. And basically I see it as IF the endgame payoff is mutual romance for eachother it's pretty much the worst idea to put Aerith asking herself Edit the extent of her feelings right before her farewell as "knowing where they stand" and while having another guy she said she might still have feelings wait for her return even in another world. To me that's the way they got out of having to explore the issue of romance further honestly.

 

[Yoru]

To be honest, I've always found it very unhealthy to romanticize this relationship when we're talking about a character with complex mental problems. And I think that's not an interpretation. Cloud before Mideel is in pieces. He hears voices, has visions, has forgotten 5 years of his life. He speaks and behaves physically like a completely different person. I think the game easily shows that something is wrong with him.

Everyone is free to feel differently, and I'm not saying you are weirdos or anything. Not at all. But as far as I'm concerned, it's always been a drag to get used to the idea that Aerith and Cloud are something concrete from a romantic standpoint. He was incapable of showing any feeling at that point in his life anyway.

The Final Fantasy Remake project is supposed to be the "ultimate" vision of the universe. And I think they're pretty clear when they talk about the characters' feelings. And I think I prefer it that way. Aerith has managed to earn a special place in Cloud's heart. Someone he cares about and is willing to risk his own life for. You don't have to be in love to love someone.

FF7 was first and foremost a game for teenagers. Now they can afford to go much deeper into things and the characters' relationships. And for me, that's the best thing they've done with this project. I've never loved these characters as much as I do now. They no longer just have functions, but real motivations, internal conflicts and so on.

 

[Ryeleigh]

To elaborate on my own answer for a bit: I can see it in the OG since the game does give leeway to play it that Cloud/player is at least interested in Aerith. And then all the famous plot twists happen and everybody involved learns that Tifa lives in Cloud's heart and mind rent-free 24/7, lol.

But I can't see it in Re-Trilogy at all. Also, everything Eerie said, lol.

 

[Maidenofwar]

See ... to me it's not as big as a deal, to me it's more like I'm crushing on you, but could it be more than that, which to me is still romantic.

There's also entirely no point in "please don't fall in love with me even if you think you have it's not real/"don't I get a say in this" if he didn't/hasn't not even a little, that just makes Aerith's character look bad for no reason then.

 

[Eerie]

There's also entirely no point in "please don't fall in love with me even if you think you have it's just an illusion"/"don't I get a say in this" if he didn't/hasn't not even a little, that just makes Aerith's character look bad for no reason then.

I think we should not forget that when Nojima wrote that, they didn't know if they were going to push it beyond Midgar. So it's him explaining two things:

• if (you as the player) Cloud thinks he has romantic feelings for Aerith, he's wrong because they don't exist, they are just an illusion; so even if you interpret this as romance, she is telling you that it's not;
• she's talking to herself: these feelings she thinks she has for Cloud are an illusion too because it's Zack she sees in him: the church scene in Rebirth is a reminder of that.

Cloud's answer is not an affirmative that he has feelings for her, I mean he doesn't understand what she's talking about because she's talking about a "sometimes in the future"; what he says on the other hand is what he's affirmed a lot during Remake and Rebirth, which is "don't decide anything for me, I make my own decisions".

 

[Yoru]

"please don't fall in love with me even if you think you have it's not real/"don't I get a say in this"

We know with Ultimania, she's talking to herself, too... which fits pretty well with what we see in Rebirth with everything surrounding Zack and Aerith's conflicted feelings. So I don't think it makes her look bad. On the contrary, it shows just how much of a good head on her shoulders this Lifestream Aerith has. She knows very well that it's not Cloud she's talking to right now. Not really.

That's the whole point of the "it's not real" thing. It's a message meant for both of them. She's still looking for Zack in him. And Cloud is in no way capable of having real feelings at this point in the story. And I'd say the same for Tifa if she tried to confess to him. Cloud can't answer any of them right now. That would be taking advantage of someone sick. Literally.

Edit : And I'm not saying the girls can't act. It's us, the players, who really know what's happening to Cloud. What I am saying is that, at this stage of the story, Cloud is the most unreliable narrator there is, and we can't totally trust what he says or feels.

 

[LunarTarotGirl]

See ... to me it's not as big as a deal, to me it's more like I'm crushing on you, but could it be more than that, which to me is still romantic.

Yeah I am not saying I see Aerith's feelings as platonic or their relationship as entirely platonic. I see it as that way too as she has a crush which is romantic.

But then I feel they gave themselves an out here.

They now don't further Have to develop Aerith's feelings on this. Because Aerith who now has to focus on her Lifestream stuff anyway be way less inclined to explore these feelings from this point forward if she "know where they stand" and if she isn't sure it's more than that.

There is way less motivation for her to further explore these feelings.

So they now really could just leave it at that tie it up in a little bow and never address it again because of how they set this up. I can't say I like that but it's how I see it.

While I feel with OG Aerith's feelings they left it open but if you read the novel Lifestream White Aerith is sure with no hesitation that she loved Cloud in some way.

Here not so much. It feels like yeah "maybe it could be love but then maybe not, maybe it's just a crush, I wonder which." And I don't like that.

 

[Yoru]

Yeah I am not saying I see Aerith's feelings as platonic or their relationship as entirely platonic. I see it as that way too as she has a crush which is romantic.

But then I feel they gave themselves an out here.

They now don't further Have to develop Aerith's feelings on this. Because Aerith who now has to focus on her Lifestream stuff anyway be way less inclined to explore these feelings from this point forward if she "know where they stand" and if she isn't sure it's more than that.

There is way less motivation for her to further explore these feelings.

So they now really could just leave it at that tie it up in a little bow and never address it again because of how they set this up. I can't say I like that but it's how I see it.

While I feel with OG Aerith's feelings they left it open but if you read the novel Aerith is sure with no hesitation that she loved Cloud in some way.

Here not so much. It feels like yeah maybe it could be love but then maybe not, maybe it's just a crush. And I don't like that.

We're going round in circles and repeating ourselves, but it doesn't matter*. Again, I think the message in the church is pretty clear. Yes, she loves Cloud. She wants to spend time with him. She wants him in her life. But it's not carnal love. And that's what this final date, this last chance she's given herself to bring her feelings to light, has just proved to her.

People tend to forget that Aerith knows nothing about life. And that's exactly the point of her journey, her adventure. And that's what makes her death so sad, because she didn't have time to see it all.

The only intimate moments she knew were with her two mothers. And then Zack fell into her life (get it?) before disappearing without warning.

And just as she chooses to move on (last letter sent to Zack) a blond man appears in front of her. With the same sword as her first love. The same profession. And even certain ways of acting. Naturally, she's confused and tries to find out more.

The more time she spends with him, the more she begins to sense that there's someone different behind that heavy shell.

And it's at this point that she chooses to confront her feelings with this reality, and then this final date takes place.

So yes, in my opinion, things are pretty clear, and I don't think it's fair to imply that they've left things hanging.

She compared the two love she felt in her life and decided it was not the same. "There's liking and liking"



Edit *It's not a reproach, I'm just sorry to repeat what I've already written here

 

[nars305]

Ah, when I say "Cleriths" I mean those who are vocal about it being canon.

My bad

If I ever say “they” as in the other side I am only talking about the more toxic people. I know there’s toxicity on both sides, and I don’t know why the Cloti folks feel the need to be toxic when the remake is painting a good picture for them.

(I feel too new to all of this to call myself a Cloti, and feel like I’m just arguing the narrative…)

Does anyone here think it could be both girls in the romantic sense?

I used to before Rebirth. I’ve said a few times that Remake I was pretty indifferent about the romance. Rebirth is what made me see what is going on with Tifa and Cloud. Then you read the novels and it’s like oh, it’s not really a debate…

I can understand people coming to the Cloud and Aerith conclusion. It’s just that as far as I see, it is not in the narrative as far as the remake goes and the novels. I understand there may be a screenshot somewhere in some ultimania that puts a fire under the LTD, but there is just too much on the Cloud and Tifa side to make me think it was both girls.

Even now in the game I’m still seeing things that point me to the Cloud and Tifa direction. Things that they didn’t need to put in, but chose to in order to show where Cloud stands in both relationships.

 

[LunarTarotGirl]

We're going round in circles and repeating ourselves, but it doesn't matter. Again, I think the message in the church is pretty clear. Yes, she loves Cloud. She wants to spend time with him. She wants him in her life. But it's not carnal love. And that's what this final date, this last chance she's given herself to bring her feelings to light, has just proved to her.

People tend to forget that Aerith knows nothing about life. And that's exactly the point of her journey, her adventure. And that's what makes her death so sad, because she didn't have time to see it all.

The only intimate moments she knew were with her two mothers. And then Zack fell into her life (get it?) before disappearing without warning.

And just as she chooses to move on (last letter sent to Zack) a blond man appears in front of her. With the same sword as her first love. The same profession. And even certain ways of acting. Naturally, she's confused and tries to find out more.

The more time she spends with him, the more she begins to sense that there's someone different behind that heavy shell.

And it's at this point that she chooses to confront her feelings with this reality, and then this final date takes place.

So yes, in my opinion, things are pretty clear, and I don't think it's fair to imply that they've left things hanging.

She compared the two love she felt in her life and decided it was not the same. "There's liking and liking"

I didn't say it is unclear at all or left things hanging. She loves him that's clear but it's still a very indirect round about way (wishy washy even)of expressing her feelings because she says "I wonder what kind of like is this". This is not a confirmation that she is 100% sure her feelings are romantic nor platonic it's a confirmation that it's different from her feelings for Zack and beyond that there is feelings because she likes him but she is fine leaving it at that because there is a difference between liking (romantic love) and a crush and just enjoying someone's company. Then she accepts things as they are and they really can just leave it at that.

It just feels like less conviction than the novel straight out saying "for she had loved him and koibito does mean she saw him romantically. It wasn't any question about that. It had full conviction. Now we have "I wonder what kind of like this is" in JP and "there's a difference between liking and liking." Slightly better in EN but still feels wishy washy. It's not that it's unclear or left hanging as I basically said it closes the door for her to even go further.

Edit: But it definitely doesn't have the same amount of conviction and sounds like she still isn't sure she has a crush or more.

I would have been fine with just unrequited feelings she kept to herself or her straight up saying I love our friendship or something vs. "I wonder what kind of like this is". I am not saying it's somehow unclear I'm saying I really don't like it.

Edit: clarification on something I misunderstood different like is not between platonic and romantic but between two types of romantic love koi and re'nai.

 

[Yoru]

I would have been fine with just unrequited feelings she kept to herself or her straight up saying I love our friendship vs. "I wonder what kind of like this is". I am not saying it's somehow unclear I'm saying don't like it.

I just think it's for story telling reasons and when Zack is back in the picture for Part III, her decision and understandement will be clear for all the poeple involved.

We'll see.

 

[GamerSkull]

I think they are true in what they say when they claim they want Part 3 to end with without “unresolved feelings.”

To that end, as far as Aerith is concerned, they are planting the seeds for Zerith endgame. Ending with those two, while Aerith still feels unrequited love towards Cloud is not really fair to Zack… or even Aerith for that matter.

And considering she never met the real Cloud while she was alive and was only just starting to give him a chance right before she died, it stands to reason her love for Zack has still not been overtaken. Particularly because up until the Gondola, she was still very much attracted to the Zack in him.

 

[overheat28]

https://x.com/ShinraArch/status/1782061738323583290

I uh think this tweet from a few days ago is particularly relevant to the discussion of discrepancies within the Compilation regarding any conflicted feelings the characters have.

They are basically on a warpath and are putting everyone on notice. I'm here for it. Raze this blasted LTD to the ground.

 

[LunarTarotGirl]

I just think it's for story telling reasons and when Zack is back in the picture for Part III, her decision and understandement will be clear for all the poeple involved.

We'll see.

Yeah I think it will eventually make more sense. For the record I'm not like upset or saying this to bash the writing. I do see it as set up for the next game.

I am just not impressed with how wishy washy it comes across versus what they had already established as I said as Aerith is not round about she is very forthright. And nothing wrong with a person having unrequited romantic love that they are aware of and accepting that. I would have been all for it. But they as I said gave themselves an out with even her having doubts to the nature of her feelings.

And as MaidenofWar mentioned yeah I know it's not real is part of Cloud's identity crisis and her realizing his connection to Zack but then it doesn't actually feel necessary to have her figure that out for one whole arc. And to imply Cloud could have or she could have romantic feelings but the situation makes it not real because of his identity crisis.And she is telling herself not to fall in love to then go "I wonder what kind of like this is"it feels just so....lacking? What happened to warning yourself to not fall in love when now you're not even sure if it's a crush, girl. It does feel wishy washy. And It doesn't feel like it's worth it to make that an entire character arc either. So I do want to see how pt. 3 adresses that if they even address it.