Fair enough!
Of course, I wouldn't argue that a handhold is more romantic than a kiss, because that's just silly, but I didn't question it when people said the Aerith date had romantic elements because of my own experience.
I actually think the GS date is quite emblematic of the entire "LTD" as a whole.
On the one hand, you have a relationship that has little room for misinterpretation. A kiss is unquestionably, undeniably romantic/passionate and it can't even be said to be "heat of the moment" because Cloud/Tifa nearly kiss on several occasions prior, it's built up to.
On the other hand, you have a relationship that requires endless explanation and discussion to work. Hand holding can be interpreted as a friendly, family or "nakama" gesture, particularly if it's coming from someone who has shown isn't too shy to kiss someone he seriously fancies.
This is the LTD in a microcosm. Sit around and do nothing and Cloti wins by virtue of Aerith dying and Cloud ending up living with Tifa as a family. It's simplistically overt. Meanwhile, to make Clerith work you need to ignore vast swathes of lore, reinterpret scenes in a different light, bring external sources as proofs and, most importantly, deconstruct Tifa's entire character and her relationship with Cloud. I don't buy the "inferiority complex" accusation leveled towards that ship, I genuinely think that it's believers are continually on the attack because they need to be, the ship sinks without it.
The GS date gives something to both girls and their fans, but it's clear the direction the devs are taking things. I don't see why so many fans of Cloud/Tifa panic at the drop of a hat - maybe because I'm just a salty Zerith - because if you ignore fluffy ship teasing you'll see SE have already, a long time ago, picked a lane.
Granted, it has been lessening nowadays, but I certainly grew up around the notion that if you see two people around the same age holding hands, they're either a couple or are siblings. Definitely a couple if their fingers are intertwined.
