I won’t deny CA has all the hallmarks of burgeoning romance and that something might have happened had Aerith lived but I’ve always taken it more as a red herring, as in “the obvious love interest isn’t actually the real one”. Although it would be awkward to square away a lot of Cloud’s motivations once they are revealed, if he still goes for Aerith despite that.
But to be honest, I have no problems with Clerith shippers. There’s is just enough there that it makes sense.
My issues really only happen when they mischaracterize Cloud or Tifa or they just deny certain events. Or make false comparisons.
Yeah completely.
I’ve got a fair few friends who love Final Fantasy VII as much as me, and about half I’d say ship Clerith, but none of them do so at the expense of mischaracterisation nor excising parts of the story they don’t like.
Because at the end of the day they love Cloud as a character and Aerith as a character, their relationship and dynamic, the richness their interactions add to the story, and the moments that are heartfelt and sincere, and yes romantic.
But they also recognise Cloud’s intimacy and love for Tifa. Doesn’t stop them from shipping Clerith.
Of course when I talk to them their perspective is grounded in that, while they know the likelihood of Cloud and Aerith being endgame is low due to them also being fans of the original, the compilation, and also being able to see the writing on the wall in regard to the direction the story of Rebirth is going in, they’re happy in the comfort of knowing that it’s more likely Aerith still gets a happy ending with Zack. I think only one of them also ships Aerith and Zack together but they all don’t mind the idea that Aerith and Zack could be endgame because they know that Aerith would be happy in the end, and isn’t that what anyone ultimately wants for their favourite characters?
Much in the same way some very extreme Cloti shippers who mischaracterise Aerith and make out she’s this duplicitous home wrecker give the rest of us who ship Cloud and Tifa a bad name in the wider fandom, so to do the Clerith’s who try to pretend Tifa, and Cloud’s feelings for her, don’t exist give Clerith’s a bad name.
To that end I’ll say that I’ve found discussing these things on Twitter to be akin to trying to have a calm conversation on the trading floor of a stock exchange.
Whereas here, delightfully, it’s like this charming cafe where we can all politely discuss and philosophise in a respectful manner