First, if you want to quote properly, you have to highlight what you want to quote, hit the quote and then "Insert quote" in your message. Repeat ad nauseam. Also, it's good to have another clerith because we have very few of you. I'm sorry it seems us cloti are so numerous :x
Second, Ultimania quote:
Ultimania said:
—In particular, during the nighttime flower field scene in Chapter 14, Aerith tells Cloud “You can’t fall in love with me. Even if you do, it’s not real.” For those who are familiar with the original story, this line carries a lot of meaning.
Nojima: To be honest, some staff actually told me that this line made it seem like Aerith was looking down on Cloud, so it got rejected a few times. If you know Aerith’s fate, then this line would really pull at your heart strings, but if you did not know what happens to Aerith, then you might interpret the scene in a completely different way. I thought the gap between the two interpretations was very interesting. On another note, in Tifa’s scene in the flower field, I wanted Cloud to not look cool in this scene. Even though Cloud and Tifa are close in age, he has a 5 year blank slate, and he doesn’t have enough life experience to consider himself an adult. Even though most of the characters are around 20 years old, there’s one guy, Cloud, who has the mentality of a 16 year old, and that person tries to be like an adult. I really wanted to write that into the story. After the Sector 7 plate fell, Barret comforted Tifa with the temperament of an adult, and Cloud saw that and wanted to do the same for her [in the flower scene], but it didn’t go as planned. I wanted to try writing him as being awkward.
Nomura: On that same note, when recording Cloud’s voice, we had his voice actor perform his lines slightly differently depending on who he was talking to. For example, when Cloud speaks with Aerith, he stands up and tries to act cool, with Tifa he loosens up a bit, with Jessie he sounds confused. When Cloud speaks with Aerith, he’s too self-conscious and gives weird replies.
The source is
Audrey as she has translated all the important and juicy stuff.
Cloud is more like himself around Tifa, but he also is... a 16 years old, emotionally, and in his lack of general experience. That explains a lot of things when you look at Remake with this kind of mindset. He tries to play it cool with Aerith because it's more his Zack side that gets out. BTW read my entire post before replying, because I'll be back to his fake persona in a bit lol.
But when you read Nojima, then yeah, you see true Cloud that emerges with Tifa (which is also why he's got some of his locked memories showing with her). When he looks at his hand in ch4 right after the promise flashback, that's already a prelude to him thinking he must help Tifa. This is also why Cloud is extremely puppy-like around Tifa, because it's his true self that surfaces (very different from his SOLDIER persona).
I bring up that particular portion of Tifa’s resolution scene as pushing Clerith because:
- Why is Tifa unhappy that Cloud got the flower from Aerith unless she saw it as some indication of romantic feelings between the two?
- If Cloud originally getting the flower from Aerith was insignificant, then why didn’t Cloud just confirm that yes, he got the flower from Aerith? Instead, he is silent and averts his eyes.
- Why does Tifa laugh unhappily after Cloud’s silence to her initial statement about the flower? What do you think she means when she says, “I knew there was something weird going on. You, buying flowers.” Is she not unhappy about the effect Aerith has on Cloud?
- Why is Cloud silent, again, instead of saying something to effect of, “It’s not like that.”?
- Why is the source of the flower being brought up at all? Why bring it up in Tifa’s resolution scene?
The flower is a motif that they used throughout Remake to connect Aerith, Cloud and Tifa. It's not limited to Cloud and Aerith, as I've seen people arguing - you can see the flower's motif on Tifa's rug in her room when she is there with Cloud for example. It's a nice addition, but through this flower, Cloud hurts both girls by lying to them - Tifa he doesn't explain, mainly I think because he wants to look cool while giving her the flower, Aerith by lying and saying he doesn't remember. Why does he lie to Aerith? IMHO, it's because he doesn't want to talk about Tifa. Not especially to Aerith, but simply because his relationship with Tifa is still blurry to him. She is important, special as Aerith stresses twice (in sector 5, but also when she presses Cloud to run after Tifa in front of the Wall Market, the fact that they erased it in English is spooky, but it exists in both JP and French so...). But Cloud is unable to pinpoint why she is important to him, and he even physically can't or he'd break down on the spot ala Northern Crater style (just like Zack's memories are locked to him, most of his own memories are locked out).
On your point 2 and 4, Cloud is 16, emotionally speaking. What does a teen do when he's caught red handed? Either he lies, either he shuts up and bathes in his own shame. Cloud's the second kind lol. He also doesn't really know how to express himself, plus he's obviously hurt her when he vowed to protect her. That has to sting.
For the 3rd part, it's simply because she would have loved it if Cloud would bring her flowers ON HIS OWN, if it was his own idea, not because he got flowers somewhere random and gave them to her as an afterthought. I think this hits Cloud right in the feels lol, because he understands perfectly her reaction.
The source of the flower is mentioned because they are standing in those same flowers' bed, and that's what made Tifa realise where the flower came from. Yet they still comfort each other and "reunite" in this very same bed of flowers, with a big allusion to the Highwind scene (I only talk about the HA version since it's the canon one). I've even seen people arguing that the water running by, and the long pan out to it was a reference to the Lifestream scene too, which is possible, but not 100% sure about it.
Either way, I disagree that Cloud’s muddled memories have any effect on his feelings or his ability to make genuine, lasting bonds with people.
I agree, he has feelings for Aerith. His bonds are important to him, but the thing is, right now, during the ch14 resolution, you have to take into account that he's known Aerith for a grand TWO days. I don't think it's romantic yet, just like I don't think Cloud understands his feelings for Tifa (they're locked away for again a good part of Remake). So he wavers between the two because the connections are being made, but he's inexperienced, and doesn't understand his own self yet.
The thing is, Aerith knows he's not his true self, as referenced in her resolution scene. And she also has her own love for Zack, whom she is clearly not over yet, even though she's finally trying to move on from, at this point of the story. What Zack being alive in an AU timeline is yet to remain being understood, I guess we'll just have to wait.
In the scene with Leslie, Cloud is thinking about Aerith. Leslie says “Was it a message? What was she trying to tell me?” then the camera pans to Cloud’s surprised, then pensive expression. Cloud is clearly wondering what Aerith was trying to tell him with the flower and then Tifa, being empathetic, chimes in about it meaning “we’ll meet again” giving hope to both Leslie and Cloud that they will be reunited with their respective missing persons.
I think that's a little bit a stretch? We don't know what he's thinking at that moment, but the significance of the flower finally hits him. The reunion between Cloud and Aerith has been lackluster, so to me, I think that he just finally understood the symbol of hope the 3 (! with Leslie's fiancée) put on this flower. I don't know if I can venture in more territory, based on what we saw, because we know it's important to him to go save Aerith.
Why in the world did they place the camera angle in front, but Aerith is looking at Cloud who is to the far right of the frame instead? Am I just imagining things?
She looks SO SAD in this frame. So so sad. She knows it's not the real him, that she doesn't know the real him, and that those feelings he's beginning to nurture don't have a solid foundation enough. That pains her, but when he says that he's going to come and save her, that makes her happier. There's a lot of sadness in Aerith's resolution, IMHO, more than romance.
