No one said Aeris is psycho and sees a black-haired dude in front of her where Cloud stands. Ok?
Uhhhhhhh, no, not OK? If you think Aerith is living out her romance for her dead boyfriend - who she fully understands is
dead - through another man, you're saying she's a few ice cubes short of an igloo. Let's not mince words.
I do not deny that by the date she wants to get to know the real Cloud. But that’s it: she wants to GET TO KNOW HIM because she doesn’t. Why else would she say “I want to meet YOU Cloud” if she already knows Cloud?
Tifa was in love with fake Cloud too and didn't really know him beforehand either. Love is blind, cookies crumbles, so on and so forth, etc.
No. Unreliable characters talking at a point where they don’t have all the pieces or are in denial exist. That’s Aeris.
So we can disregard pretty much everything Cloud has ever said. Dude is a basketcase who lost several years of his life in a vat along with being brainfucked by a demigod. Still has deep seated emotional issues years after the episode. That's Cloud. Way to open that can of worms.
But they are. If she developed feelings for Cloud without the constant mentions of her ex then fine. I don’t care. She can love him all she wants. But both Aeris and SE link those feelings back to Zack. Maybe, just maybe, there’s something there. Maybe it’s not just meaningless babble.
Maybe it's not just meaningless babble when they decided to reinforce her feelings for Cloud in one of the most recent compilation entries. "Hey guys, we're writing a story for Aerith parallel to the main plot. Make sure we reinforce her having an insane post-mortem coping mechanism to deal with the loss of her old boyfriend. That way everyone understands to disregard what we wrote her to say about moving on earlier. Aerith being in denial is crucial to the plot of CoLW and to FF7."
Saying she realizes what she’s done and wants to MOVE AWAY from that is not her moving on.
Cloud realizing he wants to have a new life with Tifa forever is not Cloud actually wanting to have - or having - a new life with Tifa forever.
And saying she sees Cloud is fucked and that she’s been superimposing him and her ex together does in no way mean she is over said ex. Only that she’s been going about shit the wrong way and now wants to love Cloud for Cloud.
Ok. Cloud saying he understands he's fucked and now he's ready to move on with Tifa does in no way mean he is unfucked and ready to move on with Tifa. Only that he's ready to try, but that hasn't happened successfully yet in the compilation.
Worms, cans. Apply your standard to everything Cloud says and we can't say anything for sure about what the man wants.
Arcs and development of character do no cease to exist simply because I decide to situate my characters in a world where Clark Kent can hide using only his glasses or Sephiroth may jump 800 feet in the air.
Why, because you say so? It's fantasy. The author can have whatever dumb shit he/she decides to happen, happen. Explain to me why I should suspend disbelief for magic, talking dogs, and Godzilla-like creatures roaming the earth, but not a character suddenly moving on from her dead boyfriend.