The Final Fantasy VII LTD Thread (Round 4)

[Celes Chere]

She denied being an Ancient when she was 14

Tseng: Do you hear voices in your head?

Aerith: NO I DON'T!!11!

Moar denial. Crazy bitch! xD

 

[Winter]

But...but...Cloud wasn't even mentioned that whole time

But I, at least, don't think Aeris is obsessed with Zack, but having your first love just up and vanish and never talk to you again can't feel great. Even if she COULD sense his death, that was 5 years later, she should be pissed at him

Yeah.

And don't get me wrong, I think Aerith was hurt. For a while. And being in her dead ex-boyfriends' parents house probably made it all come back to her, although I think for the most part Aerith was long past over everything with Zack by the time FFVII came around.

although now that you guys brought it up, the fact that she never told Zack's parents that he was dead is just the product of shitty writing on SE's part.

Tseng: Do you hear voices in your head?

Aerith: NO I DON'T!!11!

Moar denial. Crazy bitch! xD

:|

IT'S A GOOD THING I LIKE YOU CELES

 

[Makoeyes987]

yeah, what splintered said.

debating the minuscule details of Aerith's conversations with people in the game really won't get us anywhere, considering it's already canon that she loves Cloud and we've done this A BILLION TIMES

Hey no one said she didn't love Cloud.

...She just loves Zack more.

 

[Winter]

Hey no one said she didn't love Cloud.

...She just loves Zack more.

.... you know what?

I can deal with that.

agreeing to disagree

 

[null]

agreeing to disagree

You are dead to me. DEAD.

 

[Raidou]

I never understood the vehement disagreement of fellow Cloud/Tifa fans that Aerith never really loved Cloud. It says so right in Case of Lifestream, she loved him unconditionally despite how odd things were when it started out. It doesn't cheapen in any sort of way, Aerith's love for Zack either. Or their relationship.

And tbh, I'm not sure how much I buy the "if Yuffie died things would be the same" thing either. I'm not saying Cloud would be entirely distraught, but there was always a relationship there, romantic of otherwise, that continued throughout the compilation. And there's a definite narrative element and the whole idea of fate, right down to the end of the CC where Zack tells Cloud to take care of Aerith. Plus a whole slew of comments about Cloud and Aerith that give light to how strong that relationship is.

To me, it's like people are so tired of everything special about the relationship being painted as romantic that they overcompensate to the point that people pretend that there's nothing special at the relationship at all.

So now when people go, "OMG, Cloud is in a field of flowers, twoo luv*~*~" the other side is going, "Meh. They weren't that close anyways." These are both purposeful exaggerations. You don't combat analytic dishonesty with even more analytic dishonesty.

Herp

I like your post but disagree with some things
For me it's very clear that Aerith has feelings for both.
And I think that Cloud was attracted to her but not that was in eternal love.

 

[ForceStealer]

But we were talking about Aerith and Zack dammit! I wasn't discussing it in relation to how she feels about Cloud, I was discussing them!

But fine, you jerks. I'll talk LTD. Canon that Aerith loves Cloud, because of Case of Lifestream I take it? Does she not love everyone in the party? Does not everyone in the party love her? English needs moar words for kinds of love, like Greek or something.

Why does everything have to be romantic? EVERYTHING, it's not just with Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith. How come no one can be friends? Why does FF7 get so much more focus on thsi stuff when it wasn't even a love story such as 4, 8, 10, and 9 to an extent?

 

[Winter]

You are dead to me. DEAD.

HATERS HATIN'

 

[null]

Canon that Aerith loves Cloud, because of Case of Lifestream I take it? Does she not love everyone in the party? Does not everyone in the party love her? English needs moar words for kinds of love, like Greek or something.

Except they used the Japanese word for lover, d00d.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Hey, I just wanna know.

If Aerith is so over Zack, why is she still waiting for a dead man? She knows Zack is dead.

...Yet she's still wearing pink, a color she hates, for when they meet again? Still wearing his ribbon? Wrote his ass 89 letters over 4 years?

And unable to even talk about his death, to even his parents?

That doesn't sound like the actions of a woman over a dead lover at all.

 

[looneymoon]

Aeris took on aspects of Zack's personality.

Cloud was attracted to the Zack in Aeris.

CANON.

 

[Ryushikaze]

Actually, I like the 'I've been lying to myself' angle because it makes good narrative, has a thematic mirror in Cloud, and fits with her other narrative of refusing and then accepting her role as a protector of the planet.
And even WITHOUT CC, Winter, it would not make sense for Aerith to not know that Zack had died only a few miles away from her. It doesn't make much sense to know when someone she knows has just died, someone she sees again in Cloud immediately when she could sense someone she'd never met who died have a world away.

So yes. Aerith could be lying to other people. I think that would assassinate her character far more than lying to herself would.

Narratively, Z/A's been wielded with about as much subtlety as a sledgehammer. It even influences, quite literally, Aerith's feelings for Cloud. We can't even discuss her feelings for Cloud without discussing her feelings for Zack because AS AERITH HERSELF ADMITS, she was seeing Zack again in Cloud.

This isn't to say she didn't love Chocobutt. She did. However well she knew Cloud, she loved his ass. (I presume the rest of him is included too, of course). But that love IS tinged with her leftover emotions for Zack, so much so that she has to stop herself, realize what she's doing, and make a promise to vow to meet Cloud properly so she'll stop doing it.

 

[null]

Hey, I just wanna know.

If Aerith is so over Zack, why is she still waiting for a dead man? She knows Zack is dead.

...Yet she's still wearing pink, a color she hates, for when they meet again? Still wearing his ribbon? Wrote his ass 89 letters over 4 years?

And unable to even talk about his death, to even his parents?

That doesn't sound like the actions of a woman over a dead lover at all.

Does she have to be over him to have feelings for someone else that aren't just projection?

 

[Madame Mayor]

Or how her feelings for Zack affect how she acts around Cloud?

 

[Makoeyes987]

Does she have to be over him to have feelings for someone else that aren't just projection?

I'm not arguing she didn't have feelings for Cloud and all that. Good for her.

But I wanna know how this equates to her moving on from Zack, and being ready for Cloud when Zack is still very much alive in her heart. Actions speak louder than words here. She's waiting for Zack in the most obvious way imaginable.

 

[Winter]

Hey, I just wanna know.

If Aerith is so over Zack, why is she still waiting for a dead man? She knows Zack is dead.

...Yet she's still wearing pink, a color she hates, for when they meet again? Still wearing his ribbon? Wrote his ass 89 letters over 4 years?

And unable to even talk about his death, to even his parents?

That doesn't sound like the actions of a woman over a dead lover at all.

wtf she never hated pink, that bitch wears pink in every game. I didn't play CC because a) PSPs are expensive and I need to eat and shit and b) it looked retarded, so I could have just missed this memo, but PLEASE tell me where Aerith said "I hate pink".

she looks pretty sexy in pink, have you considered that's why she wears it

 

[Makoeyes987]

Zack's DMW cutscene with Aerith has Zack asking Aerith to wear pink for her, and she says flat out she doesn't like pink. That it's not her color.

 

[ForceStealer]

Except they used the Japanese word for lover, d00d.

Japanese is an even less reliable language than English.

Spoiler

Whoops, racist Force is at it again.

There's so much inflection and context crap its crazy.

 

[Winter]

Actually, I like the 'I've been lying to myself' angle because it makes good narrative, has a thematic mirror in Cloud, and fits with her other narrative of refusing and then accepting her role as a protector of the planet.
And even WITHOUT CC, Winter, it would not make sense for Aerith to not know that Zack had died only a few miles away from her. It doesn't make much sense to know when someone she knows has just died, someone she sees again in Cloud immediately when she could sense someone she'd never met who died have a world away.

So yes. Aerith could be lying to other people. I think that would assassinate her character far more than lying to herself would.

Actually, as I recall FFVII talks about her losing her ability to connect with the planet and lifestream as she gets older. She can still hear the planet and the souls, but not nearly as clearly. Which is why I always found it a little weird that she like, instantaneously knew Zack died in CC. At that point she was 21 and was losing that super close connection to the planet unless she was in places like the Temple of the Ancients.

I always percieved Aerith to be a very lonely person, and perhaps a little secretive. I don't think her lying to the outside world would be an assassination of her character. She's pretty open and honest, but in matters of the heart she's extremely distant.

I don't think she ever "refused" her role so much as she wanted to live a normal life while she could. Christ, she lived in a laboratory for 7 years give or take, she didn't want to go back to that. It doesn't mean she didn't want to be a Cetra, she just knew that Midgar was dangerous territory.

Zack's DMW cutscene with Aerith has Zack asking Aerith to wear pink for her, and she says flat out she doesn't like pink. That it's not her color.

link to this (not because I don't believe you or anything, haha, I just want to see it)

lol CC has shit writing

Regardless, Aerith's pretty independent. I doubt she would wear pink for some dude that never wrote her a letter back. One would think that maybe, just maybe, after a while she grew to like it.

either that or SE is genuinely implying she still isn't over Zack, which clashes with her character and is crap writing and they can suck my dick

 

[Ryushikaze]

She also promised Zack she'd be wearing Pink the next time they met.

Chronologically prior to CC, we don't see her in Pink. Yellow, Green, and Brown, IIRC, plus her Blue and White CC dress.

But yes, loving Cloud doesn't mean she's moved on or even technically ready to move on from Zack. Just that she's ready to try. And being ready to try is different from being properly ready.
I believe she's ready to try. I just don't know if she's actually ready.

 

[null]

I'm not arguing she didn't have feelings for Cloud and all that. Good for her.

But I wanna know how this equates to her moving on from Zack, and being ready for Cloud when Zack is still very much alive in her heart. Actions speak louder than words here. She's waiting for Zack in the most obvious way imaginable.

How the hell is she waiting for Zack if she knows he's dead???

 

[ForceStealer]

She says she can hear the voices in the church though, Asukawinter. ...Which I know counters my own belief that she simply felt "something" but wasn't exactly sure what.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Yeah, she doesn't wear pink in every game. The only game she wears pink is FFVII.

She only started wearing pink after Zack left for Nibelheim.

I have no clue why.

How the hell is she waiting for Zack if she knows he's dead???

I DUNNO, MAN! IT'S CRAZY!

 

[Winter]

How the hell is she waiting for Zack if she knows he's dead???

TOP NOTCH WRITING

 

[null]

I DUNNO, MAN! IT'S CRAZY!

YOU'RE CRAZY MUTHAFUCKA!!!