Faith v. 3.0 (Cloti Club)

insanehobbit

Pro Adventurer
I actually see a slightly more confident Tifa after Cloud reassures her that it's not useless to cry. It was pointed out before how they seem closer the day after and even few chapters later, I still see this "closer connection" in subtle ways.

I think you're totally right. Tifa does reach out to Cloud quite a few times in the earlier parts of the game, but she always does it in such a roundabout way, as if to test the waters first to make sure she doesn't get rejected before she actually says what she wants to say (I'm thinking of Alone at Last, their chat in his room in Ch. 4, and her Ch. 14 resolution). In the two examples you mentioned, she just straight up asks him to join her/Barret, which really is such a big step for her. Also, as much as Cloud is still putting up his SOLDIER facade, deep down all he wants is to be included and loved. Even though he's still trying to play it cool, you can tell he appreciates it as well.

I had to rewatch the scenes just to be sure, but a really great parallel that shows the growth of Tifa's physical comfort with Cloud is when he has his attacks/visions in the Sector 5 Reactor and then later in Hojo's lab (Cloud actually has the same flashback to Tifa in the Nibelheim reactor in both). In the Sector 5 reactor, Tifa leans towards him in concern but she doesn't physically reach out to him, whereas in Hojo's lab, she immediately walks towards him and touches his arm even though she is quite a distance behind him before it happens.
 

Graymouse

Pro Adventurer
These two are so frustrating to watch sometimes. They both want the same thing, and yet they desperately seek each others approval. Many people seem to forget that the entire story of FF7 begins with Cloud wanting to be noticed by Tifa. There are no if's, and's or but's about it. There is no other way to explain it. Cloud set the pieces in motion by having a crush on the beautiful girl next door.
 

insanehobbit

Pro Adventurer
As I flounder towards a grand unifying theory of FF7R's cinematic treatment of Cloud/Tifa's relationship, in lieu of breaking down every single cutscene in the Remake, I thought I'd do a deep dive into a seemingly random moment that comes at the end of Ch. 4.

This comes right after Jessie is injured by the Whispers, and the rest of Avalanche (sans Biggs) decide that Cloud is going to take part in the Sector 5 Reactor mission after all. This is a scene with five different characters and various interpersonal interactions so it's quite illustrative of the game's unique treatment of Cloud's interactions with Tifa, even one that seems fairly mundane.

Again, I'll try not to get too technical, but I do want to go over a few things up front so that we're more or less on the same page.

With all these shot breakdowns I've been doing, I've essentially been analyzing the game's editing, the assembly of all these various shots into sequences/scenes. More specifically, I've been looking at the types of shots that are being used and when the game chooses to cut from one shot to the next.

Two of the main goals of editing are:
1) Coherence - you want to make sure that the story makes sense visually. This is making sure you establish the geographic proximity of characters and also cut the shots in such a way that you know who is talking to whom and what they are taking about.
2) Invisibility - good editing should not draw attention to itself. Unless you are a weirdo like me who has trained herself to look for these cuts, you shouldn't notice when the shot changes. This is why these cuts often happen on movement, and why you rarely see a cut from a close up to a wideshot. When something breaks these rules, it's quite jarring and takes the audience out of the experience by making them aware that they are watching something that someone else has assembled. Of course, sometimes this happens because the intent is to be jarring - think of a jump scare in a horror film.

(I would say rhythm/pacing is the third goal. The difference between good and bad editing is why some three hour films breeze by while some 90-minute films feel like they will never end, but this one isn't really relevant to what I'm doing here.)

All of that is to say that when I point out that a particular shot is simulating the perspective of one character or another, I am by no means trying to argue that the subject of the shot is who they're in love with. The vast majority of the time, it's just the game trying make clear who is talking to whom.

With that out of the way, I would also like divide the shots into three categories. Now, this isn't technical at all, but a way to approximate "closeness" you are meant to to feel towards the character whose perspective you are seeing.

[Objective] - These are the shots that couldn't be from the perspective from any of the characters in the scene. It's as if the camera is a character itself, and wandering around the room to get the best view of the action. We see what's going on, it's not meant to give us an particular insight into how another character is feeling about what's going on. In general, these are used to establish the spatial relationship between objects/characters, as well as to draw attention to specific objects and characters.

[Subjective] - These are the shots where we are more or less seeing what one particular character is seeing. These include the "over the shoulder shots" where we can see the back of the character whose perspective we are seeing, but I am also going to include close-ups where based on the preceding/following shot, we can tell it is more or less from the angle at which the perspective character would be standing. We're more or less seeing the scene from the perspective of a specific character, but there is still some distance there. These are used to show where/what a character is looking at, and very often in dialogue sequences so you know who the characters are talking to.

[First-person] - These are the POV shots, where you are literally seeing the world through a particular character's eyes. This as close as we can get to the POV character. We are seeing exactly what they are seeing and feeling exactly what they are feeling. These generally serve the same purpose as a [Subjective] shot, but with the added benefit of giving you a window into that character's psyche at that particular moment. These are used more sparingly. When you're looking at something, you are not applying the rule of thirds. The object of your focus is usually centered, thus audiences will notice something is a bit off, which will take them out of the scene.

Phew, now let's finally get into the scene itself:
the gaze analysis.png

(2) (3) (4) Barret gets Cloud to agree to go on the mission. These are all more or less approximate the angle of the person being spoken to. These are are all [subjective] shots from either Cloud or Barret's POV.

(5) is initially unclear - but with the cut to (6), we can tell it's a [subjective] shot from Jessie's POV. (6) itself is a [subjective] shot as well, but it splits the difference between Cloud and Barret's POV.

Similarly (7) is a [subjective] shot of Cloud from Jessie's POV as he agrees to raise some hell for her.

(8) (9) (10) Barret asks Wedge to stay back. They're not quite approximating Barret and Wedge's perspective, but it's close so I'll call these [subjective] as well

(11) Cloud nods as Wedge gives him a thumbs up. A [subjective] shot of Cloud from Wedge's POV.

(12) (13) (14) (15) (16) - Barret decides they're all agreed. Tifa nods. Barret crossed back to Cloud to pay him. These all feel like they're shot from someone standing in the middle of these characters so I would categorize all these as [objective]

(18) This is one I'm not 100% sure of. It's a shot of Cloud and Barret's chest after Cloud is paid.

This cuts to (19), where we see the back of Tifa's head. This one is clearly a [subjective] shot of Cloud and Barret from Tifa's POV. Based on the height difference between the Tifa and Barret and the distance between them, I'm inclined to say (18) is a [first-person] shot from Tifa's POV. (19) cuts at the moment Cloud and Tifa turn towards each other into:

(20) - where Tifa is looking directly at the camera. This is definitely a [first-person] of Tifa from Cloud's POV. (20b) makes this clear, as the camera follows Tifa's movement and Tifa is still looking at the camera. Cloud/the camera watches as Tifa leaves and we finally cut to (21), an [objective] shot as Cloud's head turns, which makes it even more clear that (20) was from Cloud's POV.

I hadn't paid much attention to this scene on all my various playthroughs, but this is a really lovely moment, and a nice bookend to the chapter as a whole. After being a jerk during the first mission and being left out of the Avalanche celebration earlier, Cloud is now part of the team. Another major subplot of this chapter is Cloud remembering his promise to Tifa and later verbalizing to her that he plans on keeping it. This moment allows him to reaffirm that verbal commitment with action.

While he has nice one-on-one moments with each of Barret, Jessie and Wedge, and the game takes the time to highlight each one, there is something about his interaction with Tifa that feels so much more intimate.

Note that the two of them don't exchange a single line of dialogue through the entire scene. Instead they just share a look. I wouldn't even say Tifa's look in (20) is particularly charged, but there is something about seeing her through Cloud's eyes that just made me go - woof, I too would leave everything behind and try to join SOLDIER for this girl. Also the fact that (20) stays on Tifa even after she's turned away leaves us with just a hint of longing. And in (21) we see that he still hasn't turned away. Words aren't the only way indeed.

Here's a horrendous quality gif that illustrates that effect in motion:
the turn.gif

The game could have easily used a [subjective] shot for (20) or turned any of the other various [subjective] shots of the other Avalanche members into a [first-person] shot from Cloud's POV without changing our understanding of the scene...unless, of course, the fact that Cloud's relationship with Tifa is special (and thus receives special treatment) is meant to be part of our understanding of the scene.

Now, not all of Cloud's POV shots in FF7R are of Tifa, nor are all of Tifa's of Cloud, but there are quite a lot of them. I've compiled a few examples below (though this is by no means an exhaustive list):
cloudgazetifagaze.png


What visual media is able to convey so effectively about love is the act of looking, where you choose to place your gaze. This is one of the things that FF7R has done so well in developing Cloud and Tifa's relationship and why so many people believe it. Outside of words and actions (and we have plenty of that as well), because we are seeing Tifa through Cloud's eyes, and Cloud through Tifa's eyes, we understand that they are falling in love even if we can't quite explain why.
 

Eerie

Fire and Blood
I do think that if you feel like it, @insanehobbit, maybe it would be good to share this outside the FC. It's fascinating stuff, and many more would certainly love to read about it. Share it in the LTD thread if you feel like it, or in a new thread in the Remake section ^^
 

insanehobbit

Pro Adventurer
Aww, thanks guys. I'm glad y'all are finding this interesting/informative. For my own sanity, I am going to limit my participation in this fandom to this FC (the exclusive home of my garbage!), but if you'd like to share any of these observations/arguments elsewhere, please feel free.

@Yumelinh not an essay, but if it's something you're interested in, one of my favorite films of the last decade, Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019, Sciamma), is an absolute masterclass in how love in cinema is all about the gaze.
 

Graymouse

Pro Adventurer
Haha, someone commented, exasperated, something like: The amount of times Cloud protected Tifa is countless! Well, she did return the favor near the end.

Yeah, I saw that tweet. Many fans seems to take this as an official recognition of these two.

Edited to add. I think that it has been a long time coming honestly now that Tifa gets some of the spotlight these past couple of years.
 
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Graymouse

Pro Adventurer
aww yeah. love to be pandered to

So kind of Playstation Japan to commemorate Cloud and Tifa's totally platonic relationship on this most platonic occasion

Today is Tanabata, this is where you write your wish on a strip of paper and you hang it up at the temple and hope that the wish will come true. This is really interesting that Playstation JP did this, actually. In more than one way.
 

verse1994

Lv. 25 Adventurer
AKA
verse
Ok guys but PlayStation Japan getting brave these days. Hopefully they don't delete the Cloti tweet due to those angry fans.

Thanks for sharing! This made my day. I have been sharing ultimania for countless times, but nothing can be comparable to this. Yeah, Cloti is advertised in such an influencing platform! How dare the SE not to make this time more clear for giving cloti justice? I hope some crazy fans won't be triggered and harass the twitter like last time. This time is definitely not cloti fault lol. Also I am interested in seeing if SE will retweet it.
 

iamhorde

Pro Adventurer
Ok guys but PlayStation Japan getting brave these days. Hopefully they don't delete the Cloti tweet due to those angry fans.


Wow, love this! Really cool and creative of PS Japan to do this. And correct me if I'm wrong but the story of Tanabata is about the reunion of inter-galactic lovers? One true love indeed.

Thanks for sharing! This made my day. I have been sharing ultimania for countless times, but nothing can be comparable to this. Yeah, Cloti is advertised in such an influencing platform! How dare the SE not to make this time more clear for giving cloti justice? I hope some crazy fans won't be triggered and harass the twitter like last time. This time is definitely not cloti fault lol. Also I am interested in seeing if SE will retweet it.

I hope they would. I've been quite disappointed with SE's marketing team to be honest. The marketing of FF7R, at least based on the materials I've seen, has always given more exposure to Cloud and Aerith. I wouldn't be surprised that those who did not play the game would think that Cloud and Aerith are the official couple when in reality we were given so many Cloti moments by the developers.
 
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verse1994

Lv. 25 Adventurer
AKA
verse
I hope they would. I've been quite disappointed at SE's marketing team to be honest. The marketing of FF7, at least based on the materials I've seen, has always given more exposure to Cloud and Aerith. I wouldn't be surprised that those who did not play the game would think that Cloud and Aerith are the official couple when in reality we were given so many Cloti moments by the developers.
Yeah, I am disappointed too. Sony tried their best to have one single tweet specifically for FF7R, but Square Enix didn't react at all. I would like to fire the market team if I am the boss. PS4 in twitter is such an influential platform, but the Square Enix looks like more towards to maintaining this LTD instead of taking advantage of this... Poor Sony I would like to say.
 

JT77fp

Lv. 25 Adventurer
Ok guys but PlayStation Japan getting brave these days. Hopefully they don't delete the Cloti tweet due to those angry fans.

Great find! The feast continues! :)
@odekopeko are you the same Peko on that Twitter thread who provided the translation of the text? If so, thanks. I didn't quite understand what was going on until I read that.

@insanehobbit Just chiming in to say that I really enjoyed reading your scene analysis. Almost feels like you're going to set us an assessment next like a teacher! :P

And correct me if I'm wrong but the story of Tanabata is about the reunion of inter-galactic lovers? One true love indeed.
Sure is. Separated across the Milky Way, reunited on this day. Stars, reunion... nothing Cloti here at all people, move along!

Edit: omg, it took me an extra minute to realise that it's 7/7 today. Me idiot! They should just make this international FF 7 day, (or Cloti day!). Like how star wars has claimed May 4th.
 
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frosty

Pro Adventurer
AKA
The Snowman
Ok guys but PlayStation Japan getting brave these days. Hopefully they don't delete the Cloti tweet due to those angry fans.

Awwhh so cute. Just that post alone has 3.8K retweets and 8.3K likes!

Don't think any soc. med page manager will delete something with engagement levels that far outstrips their normal numbers for angry fans -Comparing that to their other "popular" posts (1-4K likes) and "average" posts (200 - 700 likes)
 

minami758

Pro Adventurer
AKA
Miiwoo
Wow, I'm gone for a weekend and so much happens!

@insanehobbit Loved reading through those analyses, and also gotta plug Portrait of a Lady on Fire, that's such a wonderful film. And @odekopeko that Tanabata tweet is *chef's kiss*. First the "love" IG post and now an explicitly romantic holiday referencing the Promise? Someone on the PlayStation JP social media team is a Cloud/Tifa fan.:awesome:

For anyone who isn't familiar with the myth behind Tanabata, it's a Japanese festival (equivalent to the Chinese Qixi festival) that tells the story of two celestial lovers, Orihime and Hikoboshi, who were forcibly separated by Orihime's father, Tentei after they fell in love and neglected their celestial duties. However, moved by his daughter's grief, Tentei allows them to meet once a year on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month. Usually the festivals fall around July 7th or August 7th, depending on which calendar that particular festival decides to go by.

Now that I think about it, Tanabata fits so well with Cloud/Tifa. The two are forcibly separated by Tifa's father after the Mt. Nibel incident, and kept from admitting how they feel about each other for much of the FF7 story until the end. They're also affiliated with starry sky imagery (Tanabata is also sometimes called the "Star Festival.") Tifa's crescent moon earring, their apartment complex being called "Stargazer Heights," the Promise, "Seventh" Heaven. One of the remixes of Tifa's Theme on the Remake score is even called "The Star of Seventh Heaven."

Me right now:
 

iamhorde

Pro Adventurer
Edit: omg, it took me an extra minute to realise that it's 7/7 today. Me idiot! They should just make this international FF 7 day, (or Cloti day!). Like how star wars has claimed May 4th.
Should totally claim this as CloTi day. Cloud was reunited with Tifa at Sector 7 and he gave her the flower at 7th Heaven. I just can’t recall how Long they were apart, I know it’s a little beyond 5 years but was it as much as 7? Nevertheless, everything still points to CloTi. If only SE would stop being so ambiguous.
 

JT77fp

Lv. 25 Adventurer
It was 7 years since the promise (5 since the Nibelheim massacre but they weren't reunited then). Tifa also has a habit of falling into 7 day comas!!

And speaking of wishes, "A sealed up, secret wish... Tender memories... No one can ever know."

It's official. Today is international Cloti day. :headbang:
 

minami758

Pro Adventurer
AKA
Miiwoo
Also apparently(?) these are called "Tanabata stars," as in this celestial formation is usually seen around July/August. Not sure if it's entirely accurate but the Milky Way is definitely seen here.

https://www.nao.ac.jp/en/gallery/weekly/2014/20140707-summer-triangle.html

Beautiful-Milkey-Way.png


Pretty much matches the Promise stars perfectly!

EcTYQd6U4AAPXKj.jpeg
 

insanehobbit

Pro Adventurer
Wow, I was trying to be level-headed about this tweet, but man, it really is so fitting for them.

Also, while we are on the topic of LTD ambiguity --- I was initially quite happy with what we got in the Remake, but I was still a bit insecure with where it might end up given the whole history of the franchise. But after spending countless hours dissecting certain scenes frame by frame, I'm not worried at all. SE's marketing will do what it needs to do, but the game itself could not be more clear in regards to where its preferences lie.

I think we're so used to debating the topic by analyzing the character's words and actions in a vacuum. Due to the technological limitations of the OG, that's really all we had to go on, but the Remake is an entirely different animal. It's not like SE just inputted these characters' personalities and dialogue into a machine and let the AI spit out cutscenes at random. These scenes were painstakingly rendered and edited together.

Sure, if you, just describe the events of the Remake in words, you could fairly argue that Cloud doesn't show a preference between the two girls. However, if you look at how FF7R presents these events, short of it breaking the Fourth Wall to scream 'CLOUD IS IN LOVE WITH TIFA' (which, I think it honestly gets quite close to in the Ch. 4 and Ch. 8 Flashbacks), it really couldn't get more obvious.

(@JT77fp This is not an assessment, but now that I've given you the tools, I'm too lazy break this down shot by shot!)

Take for example, the two discovery events, "Alone at Last" and "Language of Flowers." On the surface, it looks like the LTD is balanced. Cloud gets a nice one-on-one scene with Tifa and a nice one-on-one with Aerith. Let's ignore the content of the two scenes altogether, and just look at how they were shot. "Alone at Last" is just so much more intimate. Half the scene, we are literally seeing Tifa through Cloud's eyes. We do get at least one first-person shot of Aerith in her discovery scene, but it is comparatively brief. He/the camera does not linger.

In her discovery scene, and I do think in general, we often see Aerith "objectively" so to speak, not primarily through Cloud's eyes (whether it's a subjective or first-person shot). I think that's why a lot of players are coming away from the Remake thinking that Aerith is best girl while simultaneously believing that Cloud likes Tifa. The game wants us to fall in love with Aerith as a character on her own, but it wants us to fall in love with Tifa through Cloud's eyes. (Which is not to say Tifa doesn't get her own moments that have nothing to do with Cloud, she definitely does. But, especially in the early Chapters, we're primarily seeing her through Cloud).

Another incredibly telling moment comes with the Sephiroth fight at the end. Check out 0:33 - 1:19. We see one version where Tifa joins the fight first, and followed by the other where Aerith joins first.


Again, let's ignore what the characters are saying and doing, and focus solely on how the game presents these scenes. Cloud and Tifa briefly share the frame to face Sephiroth before the player regains control. That is not case when Aerith joins. They never share a frame until the games returns control to the player.

You can check out the rest of the video for the other "options." They are pretty much shot the same way except the character is changed depending on the order they join. Again, if the game did not want to show a preference, there are dozens of other ways this scene could have been presented.

The importance of Cloud and Tifa's relationship is a part of the game's visual DNA. Far be it for me to tell you to take advice from a random stranger on the Internet with a cow avatar, but I really don't think we need to worry about where the series is going. The devs would have to completely reverse course in the next parts if they wanted another outcome, and if that's the case, then they would prove themselves to be cowards and totally incompetent storytellers, and thus not worth our time to even discuss, imo.
 

odekopeko

Pro Adventurer
AKA
Peko
@odekopeko are you the same Peko on that Twitter thread who provided the translation of the text? If so, thanks. I didn't quite understand what was going on until I read that.
Yeah, that's me. I have a really bad habit of using the same username everywhere I go on SNS, yikes. In return, I tied my "tanzaku" and wished for Tifa to be able to protect Cloud too. The tweet has hit 9.4K likes and 4.7K RTs last I checked. 7K RTs would be icing on the cake.

@minami758 I actually didn't know much about the festival myself. Just know what day it's on, and I've written a few wishes before. That was such an interesting read, especially when comparing it to Cloud and Tifa's relationship. This makes me so soft.

And I actually came back here to read insanehobbit's posts last night, but got a bit sidetracked from the tl exploding with cloti. I was just too happy. Now it's time for me to catch up!
 

Stiggie

Pro Adventurer
AKA
Stiggie
Wow, I was trying to be level-headed about this tweet, but man, it really is so fitting for them.

Also, while we are on the topic of LTD ambiguity --- I was initially quite happy with what we got in the Remake, but I was still a bit insecure with where it might end up given the whole history of the franchise. But after spending countless hours dissecting certain scenes frame by frame, I'm not worried at all. SE's marketing will do what it needs to do, but the game itself could not be more clear in regards to where its preferences lie.

I think we're so used to debating the topic by analyzing the character's words and actions in a vacuum. Due to the technological limitations of the OG, that's really all we had to go on, but the Remake is an entirely different animal. It's not like SE just inputted these characters' personalities and dialogue into a machine and let the AI spit out cutscenes at random. These scenes were painstakingly rendered and edited together.

Sure, if you, just describe the events of the Remake in words, you could fairly argue that Cloud doesn't show a preference between the two girls. However, if you look at how FF7R presents these events, short of it breaking the Fourth Wall to scream 'CLOUD IS IN LOVE WITH TIFA' (which, I think it honestly gets quite close to in the Ch. 4 and Ch. 8 Flashbacks), it really couldn't get more obvious.

(@JT77fp This is not an assessment, but now that I've given you the tools, I'm too lazy break this down shot by shot!)

Take for example, the two discovery events, "Alone at Last" and "Language of Flowers." On the surface, it looks like the LTD is balanced. Cloud gets a nice one-on-one scene with Tifa and a nice one-on-one with Aerith. Let's ignore the content of the two scenes altogether, and just look at how they were shot. "Alone at Last" is just so much more intimate. Half the scene, we are literally seeing Tifa through Cloud's eyes. We do get at least one first-person shot of Aerith in her discovery scene, but it is comparatively brief. He/the camera does not linger.

In her discovery scene, and I do think in general, we often see Aerith "objectively" so to speak, not primarily through Cloud's eyes (whether it's a subjective or first-person shot). I think that's why a lot of players are coming away from the Remake thinking that Aerith is best girl while simultaneously believing that Cloud likes Tifa. The game wants us to fall in love with Aerith as a character on her own, but it wants us to fall in love with Tifa through Cloud's eyes. (Which is not to say Tifa doesn't get her own moments that have nothing to do with Cloud, she definitely does. But, especially in the early Chapters, we're primarily seeing her through Cloud).

Another incredibly telling moment comes with the Sephiroth fight at the end. Check out 0:33 - 1:19. We see one version where Tifa joins the fight first, and followed by the other where Aerith joins first.


Again, let's ignore what the characters are saying and doing, and focus solely on how the game presents these scenes. Cloud and Tifa briefly share the frame to face Sephiroth before the player regains control. That is not case when Aerith joins. They never share a frame until the games returns control to the player.

You can check out the rest of the video for the other "options." They are pretty much shot the same way except the character is changed depending on the order they join. Again, if the game did not want to show a preference, there are dozens of other ways this scene could have been presented.

The importance of Cloud and Tifa's relationship is a part of the game's visual DNA. Far be it for me to tell you to take advice from a random stranger on the Internet with a cow avatar, but I really don't think we need to worry about where the series is going. The devs would have to completely reverse course in the next parts if they wanted another outcome, and if that's the case, then they would prove themselves to be cowards and totally incompetent storytellers, and thus not worth our time to even discuss, imo.

If we do look at the actual dialogue, I had noticed earlier that Cloud seems a lot more dismissive about Aerith than Tifa. "I don't know about need" implies that he does "want it", or at the very least appreciates it, it's inherently a bit playful. When Cloud replies to Aeriths "did you miss me" with "not really", it's downright dismissive, had he smiled or anything, it could be considered playful, but there was NOTHING about his expression or tone or body language that denoted that at all. This might be better in Japanese, I don't know.

And like you said, immediately after that, we get a team shot with Tifa.

The entire thing just feels like Cloud and Aerith are two individuals, while Tifa and Cloud are a "they".

In fact, the entire game CONSTANTLY seems to give that impression. They are always back to back, saving each other. Or saving Aerith together, or doing other things together, both physically and emotionally and visually they are seemingly constantly grouped together. When fighting the ghost boss, Aerith is talking to it, Tifa and Cloud are doing their own thing together, when Aerith is kidnapped, Cloud and Tifa save her together. When Aerith almost falls in the water in the sewer, we get a shot of Tifa and Cloud on one side, Cloud holding Tifa, Tifa catching Aerith.
Aerith can go save Marlene, Aerith and Cloud will go climb the pillar, Aerith and Barret can go fight 100 gunner, Cloud and Tifa will stay behind.
Aerith can run from the sahagin, Tifa and Cloud will stay behind back to back "suck it up, cause I'm not leaving".
Hell, even just during combar I always see Aerith somewhere in the back while Cloud and Tifa are dealing out duel attacks"

If we just look at the chapter 14 resolution, it's clear that the things they're talking about, the 7th heaven being destroyed, Nibleheim burning, it's something THEY are going though, it's their shared story.
In comparison, Aeriths resolution draws attention to the distance between them, that they're their own people with their own issues. The things Aerith talks about in that scene, and the issues that are brought up regarding Cloud, they're not the same issues. In fact, the issues Cloud is dealing with will eventually be fixed by Tifa. Everything just points to them being separate characters.

Hell, even Barrets comments when joining the party in those cutscenes. When it's Tifa and Cloud "Ain't you two having fun?" specifically putting them in the position of a pair having a joined experience. When it's Aerith and Cloud "better late than never", totally neutral.

This might seem like a nitpick, or a imagined pattern, but I do feel like it's more consistent than chance would allow.

In general the difference between Tifa and Aerith could be described as "WE should dress up and hit the town" vs "YOU and I should go on a date" (verbally paraphrasing the feeling I get).
I recognize that difference, because it's the difference I've noticed when I am with a girl I am serious with vs one I with which I am not.
"When are WE going to the party?" vs "when do are you going to the party".
There is an implied coupling that we've all seen happen with people where you know they come as a package deal. And Cloud and Tifa are already treated like that by the game.
 
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