I think I tend to agree, I think all players have a pretty strong stance about the LTD but a lot of them either don't want to admit or just don't want to put it out there because they don't want to argue with people.
Even those that say "it's optional" or "it's a very minor part" probably do still lean quite heavily in one direction. Whether they are leaning in that direction because preference or because there is evidence of canonicity matters little.
I think this is why a lot of them try to avoid the LTD. Because it consists of either grasping at straws in order to change the other side's mind or talking to a wall that will never change their mind out of sheer stubbornness, regardless of evidence.
I believe the "its not a romance game" people are just intimidated by the LTD, they want nothing to do with it so they convince themselves it doesn't matter. But I find this completely delusional and I think that without recognizing the LTD you really can't talk about the game in any meaningful way. I notice this when I watch stuff like Maximillian dood, night sky prince, Sleepezi, and others having a conversation about theories concerning Remake part 3.
It's all about mechanics and "what is happening" when that approach is completely impotent if you don't first address the underlying "why". What themes are being addressed here? What life lessons are being taught here, what human experience are they trying to have us experience?
Cloud is our main character, it is mainly through his journey that we learn whatever it is that the games story can teach us, and if you don't first recognize Clouds emotional state and how these events intersect with that then you have no basis for saying what will happen, because without the "why" there is no point, they are just events happening in order without a greater picture being sketched. So yeah, it's great that they're talking about how maybe Sephiroth will convince Cloud that he killed Aerith, but without the underlying understanding that Cloud has to accept loss and how that's related to Nibelheim and Tifa and failure and all those things then you can't tell if this take is in any way likely.
Because the themes dictate the events, because the events are happening in order to tell us a story, the events themselves aren't the story, Clouds experience is the story, and that's contingent on who he is and what he is feeling and why.
I really don’t understand it. I really don’t.
Tifa and Cloud are made to kiss, means nothing…
Aerith herself realizes she can’t say she likes Cloud, means nothing…
Cloud reciprocates nothing when she expresses her feelings, means nothing…
I don’t understand it.
I already know if UTH happens to full intensity, it will also mean nothing. It is just for us horny westerners.
I wanna make a timeline showing the period where Cleriths talked about the GS date like it was the most important thing ever, then the moment Tifa was kissed, and then the following period where SUDDENLY the golden saucer is a meaningless optional thing made for fan-service XD
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 don't get this. "I don't care" isn't an answer to "what do you think". I didn't ask you if you cared. I can still take a position even on things I don't care about. Anyway, WHICH ANIME!?
Always huh? I guess as a Clerith I have to hate Tifa by default then. No choice
I've got my eyes on you
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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.
The Cleriths actually think (or pretend to think) that rebirth is pushing Clerith more, I just don't get how anyone could look at the game and come away with that opinion.
Does anyone here think it could be both girls in the romantic sense
As in "both girls love him" or "he loves both girls"?
Based on Rebirth I genuinely no longer believe either tbh.
I've thought about what the best way to tell this story is, what would be best to maximize emotional impact as well as really impress the themes of the story, and I can imagine making a version of this story where Cloud GENUINELLY fell in love with Aerith. You'd still be able to make it so that Zacks influence was essential to that, and that Cloud when he restores himself is fully in love with Tifa, and Aerith with Zack, but this just wouldn't be the way to do it. If that was the plan then it would have been done with genuine passion. You could have Cloud kiss Aerith, you could have Tifa sad about romantically losing Cloud as well as mentally. But none of that stuff happened. Instead it's awkward as all hell as if to rub in the idea that "this isn't working, these two don't fit".
This is the entire problem with the vagueness of the LTD, It really is the worst of both worlds. I was watching a lets play of FFX today and I was just thinking about "Suteki da ne" and I thought: "you know what, there is no way to write a story with this sort of impact, and have it be ambiguous". You can only have this in 2 situations. ONE is one where both girls are explicitly romantic, but where the passion for Aerith and the pain of losing her is presented as viscerally as possible and where that adds weight to a sutaki da ne style scene where Tifa comforts Cloud and they come together as they bond over the past and their shared losses. And the other is one where there is an obvious reveal that it was always Tifa and they're each others true love, same with Zack and Aerith. The only way to tell "this" story and NOT have it be possible to be visceral, is if the emotions are supposed to be up for interpretation. Vagueness and ambiguity RUINS impact, and because of that I've decided that I absolutely HATE love triangles.
