yo Beat i only have a couple things to say since school is really taking its toll on my back these past few weeks, plus you must have a ton of people to reply to, so ill make this short.
I've heard all these counterarguments before...
The room lacks furnishing.
The bed doesn't look comfortable.
The bed lacks sheets.
All of the counterarguments are irrelevant because at the end of the day... IT. IS. A. PLACE. TO. SLEEP.
i think cloud is sane and smart enough to realize if something isnt comfortable or not, and we can both be sure that when he just had spent the entire day working his behind off on deliveries and whatnot and is now really tired, do you honestly think he'll have the lovely idea in his mind of meeting his head to the pillow of a terribly cold, small, barely-even-sit-worthy-bed?
but you are right, in a way. it is in a place to sleep.
but not a place for cloud to sleep.
just like how a flower is entirely edible, but would anyone want to chow down on a nice juicy suculant rose?
SE has shown us that Cloud has a place to sleep in a room that is his designed space. That's the point. There's no reason for SE to include this except to tell us that Cloud sleeps there. Alone.
i really, really doubt that nomura was directing AC/CC and was looking over the half second scene of tifa answering the phone and shouted, "WAIT! We need to show that Cloud sleeps alone. Add a bed in there" anymore than he would say, "WAIT! We need to show that Cloud sleeps in the same bed as Tifa. Put that in there."
its a room that has a bed (a very lonely, sad, unfit one at that for even Cloud's tastes) in it. in all honesty the room would look even more pathetic without it. what use would S/E have to show cloud's sleep nests? to take out the time to point a finger "SEE! He sleeps alone/with Tifa!".
they dont care about him that much :/
and here's a question that Fairheartstrife has asked.
We see Cloud's bed; we see the children's beds; but we don't see Tifa's. Considering we don't see Tifa's, does that mean she sleeps on him on that awful ugly bed?
well? does that make sense?
and as for cloud sleeping alone...this is officially NOT up for interpretation. now, im sure you have read this quote millions of times...but i dont think i have seen this argument so far on all the LTDs i've read on here.
After making certain that Cloud was asleep, she spoke to him.
“We’ll be all right, won’t we?”
Of course, there was no answer. I only heard the sound of him sleeping. I wondered if the fact that he was sleeping here meant that he was part of the family.
“Do you love me?”
Cloud woke up, a perplexed look on his face.
she could calulate exactly when he would fall asleep, and then she could hear him breathing. and it's not like you could argue "Oh well it could be snoring, and snoring can be heard from lots of feet away." it wouldnt make sense to receive that as snoring since that wouldnt be the appropriate word for it. snoring is snoring. yet that word isnt in the entire book (i think in like the entire book compilation). i even chucked out my collection version and it said she could hear him breathing
softly.
there is no way on Gaia she is hearing his breathing -
soft at that - unless she is very close to his body. there's just no way. iv'e even tried it out myself. i tried out my creepy stalker skillz on one of my siblings when they were sleeping, and i was just 5 feet away from them, yet i couldnt hear their breathing rate. then i got closer, 4 feet. 3 feet.
23 inches (measured myself) i almost had to be touching noses with them to hear their breathing. dont just think its a personal experience. go ahead a try it yourself. unless someone is snoring, you have to be really close to someone to hear what tifa heard.
also, cloud isnt reacting in anyway of a person who just found out a friend was in their bed - or very close to them. what happens - quite literally - in this scene is he wakes up, talks, then goes back to sleep. there is no "What- What're YOU doing here?!" reaction.
you know, ive read squall's argument a million times, but now i finally funny understand, and he's right - cloud
would be a huge jerk to just leave her hanging, indicating for her to leave the room, dismissing her like that. really buttheaded of him.
so like i have said, tifa is being able to hear his breathing, it is heavily implied that she has been doing this a long time because she could calculate when he would go into sleep (which would indicate closeness more than 23 inches near the body), him simply opening his eyes, replying, and going back to sleep. he doesnt even panic at her voice being in the room. if you say he sleeps alone, wouldnt he be a little surprised to hear her voice in his room suddenly? be yet hes talking to her like its normal. he just doesnt understand what she means by the question. he's bewildered. that's pretty much it.
wouldnt you think at how awkward cloud is all the time he would at least jump/fall out of bed (given the fact that tifa is close to him because of his sleeping being heard by her) if she was there?
yet there is nothing that even hints that.
FPS she can hear him breathing
softly. what more do we need?
Bottom line: according to SE, Cloud and Aerith developed a "special bond" and Cloud admits to thinking about Aerith "a lot" during disc 2. Cloud's desire to re-connect with Aerith at the end of Final Fantasy VII tells us their connection is a truly remarkable one.
i dont think anyone is denying or pushing away the fact (yes, the FACT) that cloud and aerith have a special (powerful even) bond. it's been said millions of times, cloud was attracted to her. she was a
love interest FPS. he was curious - or
interested - in her romantically. they are simply asking when and how has aerith moved past attraction to in loveness. thats what the LTD challenges.
to be fair, K Rowling said that harry and hermione shared something "extremely intense" and formed a "paticular bond" in book 7 - she even called their moments
charged. it was something, and it was growing. but it got stopped (not bringing spoilers in here). but that bond and special feelings are still there. they just didnt have time to work them out and realise what they were entirely. Rowling even said it was a bond and feelings ron couldnt - and wouldnt- get into; it was for for those two. so i understand - i really do - what you mean by special bond. tifa cannot, will not, and does not get into the feelings with cloud and aerith. she understands cloud will feel what he feels about aerith - and even he doesnt know what those feelings are.
but we're going to need more than special bond. really. it can be seen as romantic and there's nothing wrong, with that, but at best its ambiguous.
I agree. If Aerith had lived, I firmly believe the HA Highwind scene wouldn't have happened and Cloud would have most certainly ended up with Aerith.
FPS it did happen! its almost directly after the LS scene, one of the most important parts of cloud's life (not because he lurves tifa, but he gets his memories back, and his memories are in lurve with tifa
)
which brings me to the last of my post.
what do you think of cloud's heart of calling to tifa in the LS? aerith was in the LS at the point (i think) and yet he didnt call for her or both women. he called for tifa. what's your view on that? that's my honest N.O. question.
), and that's good enough for me.
