LTD, round 3: This time, we settle it with Jello Wrestling

[Loxetta]

http://media.animegalleries.net/alb...-core-final-fantasy-vii-20080307033144318.jpg

IS DAT SOME PINK I SEE?

Not saying she hated pink and only stomachs it because of Zack, but her fondness for the color was heavily influenced by him saying she should wear it more often.

Haha, no seriously I can see her wearing pink on occasion, for him, but I would think 7 years later she's wearing pink because she just likes it.

Also there's things like Kingdom Hearts where Zack (practically) doesn't exist, and she wears pink anyways. It's sort of her thing, at this point.

KH is an alternate universe where her appearance was decided basically for fanservice. Of course she'll be in pink, it's what fans remember.

also off topic: I WAS JUST RE READING CASE OF SHINRA AND I love Tseng x Aerith but I can never figure out how goddamn old he is within canon. It's so weird, he goes from being Aerith's age to having a hand in her mother's death, what?

He's at least in his early thirties in the original game, judging by Aerith's timeline. That's if he was a Turk when he was like 15/16. I hope I look that good when I get older.

No seriously this argument grates me so bad because Aerith has way, way more backbone than that. She would not stay obsessed with a man for 7 years. After all she's been through, losing Zack probably affected her a lot less than people think.

Seriously guys, this was not the turning point in her life or something.

to be honest I never got the feeling while playing FFVII that Zack meant a HUGE amount to her. Like, it hurt a little, but she was long since over it.

I feel like a lot of her YOUNG LOVE DEEP FEELINGS was some serious retconning on SE's part.

Possibly was, but it's canon. And nobody says she was obsessed, but look at their relationship and what he must have meant to her. It's hinted that she was rather lonely most of her life, and he was her first and probably only real boyfriend (possibly even only friend) she had. For him to disappear the way he did without warning must have cut her very deeply for her to be in denial that he died years later -- especially since she has a jack-up to the planet and felt he was dead.

 

[Winter]

This is taking a rather alarming turn towards Mary Sue territory.

Aerith does not let little things like her mother's death bother her for long.

Aerith is even nice to her enemies.

Aerith does not obsess over her dead boyfriend.

Aeith does not project her feleings for that EX unto an unsuspecting substitute.

Aerith is pure and Holy.

HAHA OH WOW.

Somehow her being kind to an old friend of hers and to a man who was subject to as much, if not more experimentation than her, is Mary Sue? Rather than just human compassion? Haha, okay.

FYI, most Mary Sues do obsess over their boyfriends and do stupid shit like try to kill themselves over it. A part of a Mary Sue is being some sort of dream woman or some shit. Go read Twilight for some examples pls.

That 's why I hate the idea of her obsessing over him; she's not some brainless Sue. How would it even make sense for her to suddenly fixate on a guy when she's lost so many people in her life? She knows what comes after death anyways.

i like how my argument that Aerith has been to the red light district somehow turns into "aerith is pure and holy"

Possibly was, but it's canon. And nobody says she was obsessed, but look at their relationship and what he must have meant to her. It's hinted that she was rather lonely most of her life, and he was her first and probably only real boyfriend (possibly even only friend) she had. For him to disappear the way he did without warning must have cut her very deeply for her to be in denial that he died years later -- especially since she has a jack-up to the planet and felt he was dead.

See, I don't think she's genuinely in denial. I really don't. I mean, if SE wants to write that into the story, whatever, their deal I guess. But when I first played that game that was NOT the vibe I got from her at all. Even now I suspect she was lying; why would she say "well actually I felt my boyfriend's soul die because I am a cetra btw dead people are chatting with me"

It makes a lot of sense for her just to tell Cloud "Yeah idk what happened to him." Besides, he went through a lot between the time she last saw him and when he died. He really DID go through a lot that she didn't know, and her saying "honestly I dunno what the hell happened there" is pretty true. Yeah, she knows he died. The details? Not so much.

But yes I really do agree that he did mean SOMETHING to her. She had indeed been lonely and his affection for her, judging by CC, was very genuine. Shit must have hurt pretty bad for her.

He's at least in his early thirties in the original game, judging by Aerith's timeline. That's if he was a Turk when he was like 15/16. I hope I look that good when I get older.

Oh man Tseng you are fine.

 

[Dashell]

Aerith does not let little things like her mother's death bother her for long.

Aerith is even nice to her enemies.

Aerith does not obsess over her dead boyfriend.

Aeith does not project her feleings for that EX unto an unsuspecting substitute.

Aerith is pure and Holy.

I like how no one said any of this

 

[Vendel]

I like how no one said any of this

Yes it was.

Well the last was implied by the rest.

 

[Winter]

Did you not READ my rant a few pages back? Aerith being pure and holy is the worst fandom interpretation of her ever, and I'm really loling that you think I'd imply that.

It's right up there in stupid levels with her being crazy obsessed with Zack.

 

[Fighter]

Yeah thanks to Retcon Co- I mean Crisis Core....

Honestly when you first played FFVII, did you REALLY think she was in denial or did you think she was serious when she said she was over him? I believed her.

No I did not believe her. Her entire reason for following Cloud was because he reminded her of Zack. And it took some time for her to see past that.

It doesn't mean she's obsessed with him. But there is definitely an unresolved pain there still.

Both Aerith and Tifa have had tragic pasts, but Aerith seems more... I don't know what the word is but just happier most of the time. Maybe she's just lying to herself but she seems to handle certain things better.

Now I'm NOT saying Tifa didn't have a right, but when Aerith's mother was killed, she didn't start hating Shinra, in fact she cried when Tseng was hurt. I think Aerith just isn't capable of hate the same way Tifa is. It's not a bad thing, it's something that makes them different. But I can see what Winter means when she says Aerith is stronger in that sense.

None of that justifies implying that Tifa is a weak dependent person compared to Aerith.

Aerith was much younger when her mother died and was immediately given to Elmyra who raised her in a relatively happy environment and she lives there still when you meet her.

Tifa hangs out with terrorists and owns a bar. As far as independence goes, hate or else, Tifa made choices that lead her to this life all on her own. Aerith just lived her life with her caring stepmother.

working on my full response but
AERITH WEARS PINK BECAUSE SHE GODDAMN LIKES IT. Other than Tactics she's worn pink in every game she's been in, even ones where Zack doesn't exist. She wore quite a bit of pink before they even met.

And because Zack likes it. You can't deny it's connected. These plot points aren't just made for giggles. Also other games "where Zack doesn't exist" are frankly irrelevant.

As for the love letters, I probably wrote my ex around that many. I was in love.

It's only been two years and I heartily do not care about her at this point. I would say that by the time Aerith was 18 she was long past over it.

You seem to be under the impression that I'm questioning Aerith's strength of character and I am not. Q said Aerith doesn't dwell on Zack and I responded to that.

 

[Winter]

Tifa hangs out with terrorists and owns a bar. As far as independence goes, hate or else, Tifa made choices that lead her to this life all on her own. Aerith just lived her life with her caring stepmother.

Unlike Tifa, Aerith was raised in extreme poverty. She did not have the money to move out on her own, she barely had the money to sustain herself and her ADOPTIVE mother, Elmyra was never married to Gast.

also, I believe Aerith was 8 when she watched her mom die, I thought Tifa was 10-ish...? I can't remember these exact ages, but somewhere around there.

I'm getting back to the whole Aerith/Tifa thing, probably tomorrow, that requires some digging and stuff.

Her entire reason for following Cloud was because he reminded her of Zack.

Actually, she followed him a) because she felt like it, b) he gave her shit for being a girl, and c) Shinra was more actively looking for her again, and she teasingly hired him as her bodyguard. Despite it not being a very serious request, it was a good idea for her to be around him; she was physically weak and knew her limits. Besides, I'd say they got along pretty well.

You seem to be under the impression that I'm questioning Aerith's strength of character and I am not.

Oh, okay. I'd misunderstood I guess, I don't want people saying she was somehow obsessive. Of course it hurt her, she's only human. But she wasn't overly fixated on it to the point of patheticness.

And because Zack likes it. You can't deny it's connected.

Yeah, when they were dating. Maybe for a year or two afterward. By the time seven years had passed, I am pretty damn sure she was wearing pink because she liked the color herself.

 

[Dashell]

None of that justifies implying that Tifa is a weak dependent person compared to Aerith.

And no one did this

 

[Fighter]

And no one did this

Like Vines did. And, yes, she did mean exactly that.

 

[Winter]

I said I do not see Tifa in certain respects of her life being as emotionally strong as Aerith.

I never said she was weak in comparison, that would be a very silly claim.

 

[Dashell]

Winter quit somehow saying stuff without saying it

 

[Fighter]

I never said she was weak in comparison, that would be a very silly claim.

Winter quit somehow saying stuff without saying it

If you say so.

Actually, she followed him a) because she felt like it, b) he gave her shit for being a girl, and c) Shinra was more actively looking for her again, and she teasingly hired him as her bodyguard. Despite it not being a very serious request, it was a good idea for her to be around him; she was physically weak and knew her limits. Besides, I'd say they got along pretty well.

I disagree. Almost everything about her meeting with Cloud is a copy of her meeting with Zack. Again, it's not at all random. The creators say in black and white she acts this way with Cloud because of Zack.

 

[Loxetta]

And no one did this

I kind of did, in a round about way.

Furthermore, I meant to. I think Aerith had more emotional strength than Tifa. Tifa's issues came later in her life than Aerith, who was dealing with pretty fucked up things all her life, and imo, Aerith dealt with them better and much more gracefully.

 

[Alessa Gillespie]

Did you not READ my rant a few pages back? Aerith being pure and holy is the worst fandom interpretation of her ever, and I'm really loling that you think I'd imply that.

It's right up there in stupid levels with her being crazy obsessed with Zack.

NO BECUZ U R PINK AND LEIK AERITH!!1 EVOL

Aerith/Tifa

whoa wait, what

I have a theory that Aerith went to Tifa's room after her date with Cloud, realized she liked Tifa better, and they had hawt lezbean secks. My proof for this is that it's hot.

 

[Shadowfox]

Yeah thanks to Retcon Co- I mean Crisis Core....

Honestly when you first played FFVII, did you REALLY think she was in denial or did you think she was serious when she said she was over him?

The first time she mentioned it, I was a bit puzzled as to why she'd feel the need to bring up the subject of her first love to the new guy she was very obviously interested in and it made me aware that there may be something deeper at work here. The other times she mentioned it only served to reinforce the idea that there was something more than she was letting on. On the date, her saying she'd been thinking a lot about how Cloud and her first love were so alike made it undeniable.

Aerith being drawn to Cloud because she saw her first love in him isn't recent. The 10th Anniversary Ultimania interview had a mention by Nojima that this concept of Aerith's character had been in place since before he'd joined the development team. I think CC putting in all those links to Zack (pink, ribbon, flowers, etc.) was the team's effort to emphasise to us just how deep they had envisioned Aerith's connection to her first love was.

I believed her. Both Aerith and Tifa have had tragic pasts, but Aerith seems more... I don't know what the word is but just happier most of the time. Maybe she's just lying to herself but she seems to handle certain things better.

Now I'm NOT saying Tifa didn't have a right, but when Aerith's mother was killed, she didn't start hating Shinra, in fact she cried when Tseng was hurt. I think Aerith just isn't capable of hate the same way Tifa is. It's not a bad thing, it's something that makes them different. But I can see what Winter means when she says Aerith is stronger in that sense.

Both Aerith and Tifa suffered deep loss caused by Shinra, but they're in different places (in terms of personal experience) by the time we first meet them in the game.

Aerith was very young when her mother died and she did have most of her life to learn to handle the consequences of that tragic event. Time does help to heal emotional hurts, after all. Plus, after her mother's death, she had an emotional shelter in her foster mother, and her following exposure to the villainous corporation was via a man she felt was a friend to her and then her first love was a member of Shinra's SOLDIER. All of that kind of personal contact may have been big influences in alleviating any anger or hatred she might have held towards Shinra the company.

As a contrast, Tifa was much older than Aerith when she lost her family, her friends, her acquaintances, her town, her way of life, not to mention that she'd also come close to losing her own life, and then she was pretty much left to fend for herself. To Tifa, the tragedy was much more recent and thus more in the forefront of her mind. And every exposure she had to Shinra after that may have only served to reinforce the perception that they were a faceless, greedy and power-hungry corporation that didn't care who they had to step on to get what they wanted.

 

[Madame Mayor]

Let me first say I approve of, even if it's very little, the Tseris and/or Tseng discussion going on. Please continue.

However, actual topic on hand, loving someone the way Aerith loves Zack does not make her weak, obsessed, or anything else that she's been accused of. Zack died trying to get back to her even though he knew the risks, but do we look at that as a negative for him?

You aren't suppose to play through the game completely understanding Aerith's denial. Some people might have been able to see through it, see it was denial or something was up, but it's meant to be something you look back on when you have all the pieces to truly understand it. Just like many other reveals in the story.

Crisis Core was the further explaination of Aerith and Zack's relationship. This is where you are suppose to actually understand what Aerith must have been going through. They made the decision to hit you over the head with "Aerith is still in love with Zack, here's almost everything we can think of from the original game to tie in this idea." You can choose not to like it because of retconning or whatnot, but it doesn't change the fact it's there.

They wouldn't have had the ribbon be from Zack, or have him ask her to wear pink if you aren't suppose to realize she does these things in FFVII because of him. Also, didn't we have a translation recently that talks about these things? Or was it just the ribbon?

They wouldn't have had Zack fall through the roof if you weren't suppose to realize that this would be very significant towards Aerith projecting Zack onto Cloud. And so on and so forth.

And then there's this:

The creators say in black and white she acts this way with Cloud because of Zack.

It's such a simple quote and I wish people would stop acting like it doesn't exist and it isn't one of the most straight forward quotes in this entire LTD. Aerith still had feelings for Zack, and it's these feelings that explain her actions. If she wasn't in denial, if she was completely honest, and if she truly loved Cloud for Cloud, her actions wouldn't have needed explaining or clarification.

 

[Ryushikaze]

Yeah thanks to Retcon Co- I mean Crisis Core....

Honestly when you first played FFVII, did you REALLY think she was in denial or did you think she was serious when she said she was over him? I believed her. Both Aerith and Tifa have had tragic pasts, but Aerith seems more... I don't know what the word is but just happier most of the time. Maybe she's just lying to herself but she seems to handle certain things better.

Yes, I did think she was lying to herself. Gongaga and the Zack's death flashback plus Elmyra's flashback of her talking to a dead man who came to visit Elmyra sealed the deal for me. As far as denial went, eveything else just added cherries onto that. Even her date is a 'I'm not going to lie to myself any more, I'm not going to just chase him again'

Now I'm NOT saying Tifa didn't have a right, but when Aerith's mother was killed, she didn't start hating Shinra, in fact she cried when Tseng was hurt. I think Aerith just isn't capable of hate the same way Tifa is. It's not a bad thing, it's something that makes them different. But I can see what Winter means when she says Aerith is stronger in that sense.

That's not stronger, that's just different reactions to trauma. Plus the difference between the levels of trauma and a different levels of development.

working on my full response but

AERITH WEARS PINK BECAUSE SHE GODDAMN LIKES IT. Other than Tactics she's worn pink in every game she's been in, even ones where Zack doesn't exist. She wore quite a bit of pink before they even met.

Actually, no. She hasn't been seen wearing 'pink' in continuity before their meeting.
AU games are AU and do not count as far as FFVII Aerith goes.
Tactics Aerith and KH Aerith ARE DIFFERENT PEOPLE. It's like Sliders.

As for the love letters, I probably wrote my ex around that many. I was in love.

It's only been two years and I heartily do not care about her at this point. I would say that by the time Aerith was 18 she was long past over it.

Except the last letter was only written recently after Zack escaped, four and a half years later.

She's been lonely all of her life. Why would she suddenly turn into someone who depends on or waits on others when she never has been in her entire life?

Someone who is lonely all their life is more likely to want a true companion than not. It's not 'dependancy' it's the natural human desire to find a 'group' If Aerith found someone she no longer felt lonely with in Zack, it only makes sense she'd want him to come back, dependency or not.

http://media.animegalleries.net/alb...-core-final-fantasy-vii-20080307033144318.jpg

IS DAT SOME PINK I SEE?

Actually, no, that appears to be red.

Haha, no seriously I can see her wearing pink on occasion, for him, but I would think 7 years later she's wearing pink because she just likes it.

Five, and narratively, that's a very sort of naff idea. In real world, it becoming mere habit makes sense, but coincidences are extremely rare in fiction.

Also there's things like Kingdom Hearts where Zack (practically) doesn't exist, and she wears pink anyways. It's sort of her thing, at this point.

You're confusing an external perspective with an internal one. Out of universe, yes, it's her thing because of iconic imagery. Just like externally, Cloud with the Buster Sword is an 'image' of FF7, but internally, he doesn't see it as his.

I also agree with both you and Q about Aerith. I think that, unlike Tifa, her hatred towards Shinra was something she grew out of. She was painfully stubborn, but never really emotionally swayed too easily. I recall reading somewhere (here I enter parts of the Compilation I am very unfamiliar with) that she turned down Elfe's offer to join AVALANCHE when she was a kid.

That was not 'when she was a kid', it was after Zack had gone to Nibleheim.

also off topic: I WAS JUST RE READING CASE OF SHINRA AND I love Tseng x Aerith but I can never figure out how goddamn old he is within canon. It's so weird, he goes from being Aerith's age to having a hand in her mother's death, what?

He's probably about six to eight years older.

 

[Tennyo]

@ Aerith dealing with things better than Tifa: Aerith was a little kid when a lot of things went down. Little kids tend to bounce back better and as they get older they learn to cope. But mostly, remember, after her mother died she visited Aerith in spirit a few times before dissolving into the Lifestream. Aerith says her mother talked to her, and even said not to worry because she was just returning to the planet like all people do. This probably helped to ease the pain and led her to cope.

Then Aerith grew up with Shinra always watching her. It was something that she was just used to. It's like how if people get divorced when their kids are toddlers their kids tend to not be that upset because they are just used to it. However, if a couple gets divorced when their kids are older, or teenagers, it hits them a lot harder.

Tifa didn't have this. She lost her mother with no explanation. Her father was killed and her village burnt down when she was fifteen, much much older than Aerith was when everything went down with her. She had a lot of time to be used to a nice calm life in Nibelheim, then had it snatched away in a brutal manner.

Both their ways of coping are different, but each makes sense given their set of circumstances. But I don't see how it makes one better than the other.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

not everyone is happy with 'post-game/book/comic/whatever' information. Same reason why not everyone was thrilled with the idea that Hannah Abbot now runs the Leaky Cauldron and is married to Neville Longbottom ...

I'M STILL NOT OKAY WITH THIS.

Actually, no, that appears to be red.

Oh, Lord, not this again.

Her shoes did have pink, though.

See, I don't think she's genuinely in denial. I really don't. I mean, if SE wants to write that into the story, whatever, their deal I guess. But when I first played that game that was NOT the vibe I got from her at all.

Honestly, it was for me. At least once I found out that Zack was dead.

"If she could sense the death of Elmyra's husband, why not her own boyfriend?" I asked myself. Her dismissive "He probably found someone else" line when asked about the matter made me think, "Okay, the chick was lying to herself."

And since Square has confirmed all that over the years ...


As for her wearing the ribbon and pink in general, that's definitely there for a narrative purpose. Stuff like that wouldn't be included in the story the way it was if she wears it simply because she likes it.

You don't have to take it as obsession maybe, but it's definitely related to Zack. No doubt about it.

Hell, the first time we see her wearing her iconic pink outfit in Crisis Core is at the end, when she's sensing Zack dying and knows he's not going to come back -- which is the reason she was supposed to wear the outfit: for him, when he returned.

So, yeah, the ribbon and the clothes are definitely there to connect her to Zack.

 

[Eerie]

WTF is this shit?

Unlike Tifa, Aerith was raised in extreme poverty.

Please. Elmyra has a tiny but neat house with a garden. I didn't even think once that Aerith was raised in extreme poverty, I thought she was raised decently. Sure it's not a palace, but it's not bad either. Come on. Just WTF.

Tifa was 7 when her mother died. And she didn't have Aerith's luxury to see her again to explain how things went and reassure her.

Aerith didn't see her father being killed, her hometown being burned, heck, wasn't half killed by Sephiroth [although he didn't miss her, may I say], while being an adolescent.

They're both strong in their own ways, but to say that Aerith is stronger mentally than Tifa... I'm sorry, but no. Not a lot of people would have the strength that Tifa displayed - even though it was pushed by revenge - not a lot would have joined a terrorist organisation and do everything that she did.

And Aerith wasn't obsessed, but I'm sorry, no one ever talks about her ex-bf while speaking to her new crush. Just no. I personally thought "WTF" when she did it in the park, it didn't leave me a strong impression of her. And when right after Elmyra mentions her being still hurt, I thought "oh, she was deeply hurt then, probably still moping about it". And I do think it's meant to leave that impression, that even now, Aerith wasn't truly over her ex-boyfriend, whoever it might have been. People can brush it off, but if they do then they don't truly understand who is Aerith at that point of the game. Because up until the date, she's still chasing after Zack's ghost - she says so HERSELF.

You can also suck it up but Aerith wears pink and her ribbon for Zack and Zack only; that's the way SE decided it and that's it. Author's intent >*, even if you think it sucks.

 

[Raquelborn]

Unless I've missed something, could someone please clear up the big differences in the way Aerith and Tifa have dealt with their misfortunes in life? They don't seem that different, especially since both keep their problems to themselves.

Although, the difference I can see is that Aerith seems to sweep her painful memories and thoughts under a huge carpet in her mind while Tifa grips at them at an arm length to try and keep them under control.

In fact since Aerith essentially refuses to acknowledge her painful realities, thoughts, and feelings while Tifa both acknowledges and drags herself through them, doesn't that make Tifa the slightly "stronger" one of the two?

 

[Alessa Gillespie]

I'M STILL NOT OKAY WITH THIS.

Especially since her most notable trait in canon is being an absolute moron (YES HANNAH SIRIUS BLACK IS A BUSH IN THE FOREST. EXCELLENT DEDUCTIVE SKILLS THERE). Is it too much for me to ask that my most favorite character get with someone who's at least a leeeeetle bit smart?

Aerith didn't see her father being killed, her hometown being burned, heck, wasn't half killed by Sephiroth [although he didn't miss her, may I say], while being an adolescent.

Actually, I do believe Gast was killed right in front of her by the Shinra army (though she was quite young). Though she was young, both characters lost their parents tragically.

Please. Elmyra has a tiny but neat house with a garden. I didn't even think once that Aerith was raised in extreme poverty, I thought she was raised decently. Sure it's not a palace, but it's not bad either. Come on. Just WTF.

I tend to assume that anyone under the plate=very poor. Thus the name 'the slums'. Even if Elmyra's house was nice, she lived in the slums, which is a shitty neighborhood in general.

 

[Eerie]

I thought Cloud had it rougher, when it comes to money. Seriously, Aerith's house had various rooms, including stairs and a garden. Cloud's house? No stair, everything at the same level. When I saw Cloud's home, I naturally assumed that his mother didn't have much money.

And yeah, kids tend to bounce back better than that, especially if they're treated well afterwards, with lots of love, which Elmyra has given to Aerith.

 

[Winter]

I thought Cloud had it rougher, when it comes to money. Seriously, Aerith's house had various rooms, including stairs and a garden. Cloud's house? No stair, everything at the same level. When I saw Cloud's home, I naturally assumed that his mother didn't have much money.

Narrative explicitly says that Aerith grew up in the dirty, poor slums. We've always known this. Just because her house looks nice in-game (it's a videogame; her house was the inn for the night) and doesn't reflect as much what the story says doesn't mean the story is wrong. Elmyra probably inherited that house, it's been stated in canon many times that she and Aerith did not have a lot of money.

Who cares if Cloud's house was smaller; he was in a lovely mountain town and Aerith was in the shithole of under-the-plate Midgar. Believe me, she was far worse off.

also, you guys:

[ μ ] – εуλ 1992
· Aerith escapes from the ShinRa building with her mother, but Ifalna dies at the Sector Seven train station. Elmyra takes her in and raises Aerith as her adopted daughter.


[ μ ] – εуλ 1995
· Grieving over her mother's death, Tifa climbs Mt. Nibel. In the process, she fell from a suspension bridge along with Cloud, who had been running after her. Suffering severe injuries, she was in a coma for 7 days. Cloud miraculously suffers only minor injuries.

Given that Aerith is two years older than Tifa, there was only a one year difference in their age when their mothers died. Can't we just agree that they coped with it differently and age had very little to do with it?

So, yeah, the ribbon and the clothes are definitely there to connect her to Zack.

Connect her, yes. A sign that she's still in love with him? No. That just... really contradicts the character she's been presented as being. I think the logical conclusion here is that after a while, she grew fond of the color herself.

And Aerith wasn't obsessed, but I'm sorry, no one ever talks about her ex-bf while speaking to her new crush. Just no.

Clearly we are different people.

"If she could sense the death of Elmyra's husband, why not her own boyfriend?" I asked myself. Her dismissive "He probably found someone else" line when asked about the matter made me think, "Okay, the chick was lying to herself."

Well, it was all words on a screen. There's no real inflection to go off of; I think she must have been lying.

Although, remember, like her epic love story with Zack, her sensing his death is retconning. She didn't, in the original game, sense EVERYONE'S death. Just certain people, and there was always the chance that she didn't know that he was dead.

this has all been retconned, of course. I really think CC is as sugary sweet as it is because SE wanted to market a love story, not because they ever truly intended for Aerith and Zack's story to take this direction.

 

[Ryushikaze]

Actually, I do believe Gast was killed right in front of her by the Shinra army (though she was quite young). Though she was young, both characters lost their parents tragically.

Aerith was days old at that point. Not nearly old enough to even remember that.

I tend to assume that anyone under the plate=very poor. Thus the name 'the slums'. Even if Elmyra's house was nice, she lived in the slums, which is a shitty neighborhood in general.

The house, though in the slums, was pretty good. She lived in the slums, but she wasn't destitute. Nibleheim and the slums are probably roughly equal in terms of economic status.