Something to note, however, is that Aerith carries a weapon with her. So despite no official combat training, I do believe Aerith would have attempted to fight off the Turks with her metal rod. Would she have been successful? Probably not. But that was the entire point of incorporating Cloud. SE wanted to use a common literary device by showing the protagonist (Cloud Strife) saving their love interest (Aerith Gainsborough) from danger. This is the same scenario we see mirrored in Final Fantasy Tactics. That's very significant.
Man, that paragraph is full of so many assumptions and so much question begging. It's also hilarious because you kinda forget that Aerith gets attacked and rescued several times by several people, including Zack, AVALANCHE, the Turks themselves, and yeah, Cloud.
And yes, heros rescuing potential love interests is a common trope. But it's not the only one, and Aerith is far from the only potential love interest Cloud saves. The climax of the game results in Cloud saving Tifa, twice, and it happens again in FF7AC.
You avoided my point. Hero’s are commonly and routinely shown saving their love interests from the bad guys in films, TV, literature, etc. In both FFVII and FFT, SE decided to have the hero (Cloud Strife) protect his love interest (Aerith Gainsborough). Whether it was Cloud protecting Aerith in FFVII or FFT, the hero is shown protecting his love interest. You see this happen frequently in all forms of literature such as Spiderman (Mary Jane), Superman (Lois lane), Cloud Strife (Aerith Gainsborough), etc.
No, I did not miss your point in the slightest, but you have apparently missed mine. Because my point is that yes, the hero IS shown to protect his love interest. But so too is the hero shown to protect people other than their love interest (Sorry, random New Yorker, Spiderman can't save you, he doesn't want to date you), in addition to the fact that the hero typically saves their love interest.
You bring up Spider Man, and bizarre retcons and various interpretations aside, there's an interesting relevance to FF7 here, in that Pete was also part of a love triangle. In the comics from back in the day- and in more recent spinoff materials such as Spiderman 3 and the Garfield movie, there is/was a character named Gwen Stacy, who competed with MJ for Pete, and, in contrast to the FFVII scenario, Pete actually knew she was interested in him and he actually explicitly expressed a love for Gwen. The interesting- if morbid- relevance here is that Gwen stacy was also killed by Pete's Nemesis, and Pete actually seriously mourned Gwen's passing, but he still got together with MJ. Even after Gwen Stacy came back to life because this is comic books and that just keeps happening, he stayed with MJ.
And what is the relevance of Tifa in this discussion? When did I say Cloud didn’t try to save Tifa, too? Cloud loves both Aerith and Tifa, which is why SE portrays Cloud saving both of them. It’s a pretty crazy coincidence, I know.
The relevance of Tifa is that Tifa is ALSO a potential love interest and should be considered when proposing any hypothesis, regardless of it is based off of pyschology, narrative structure, or otherwise. You, on the other hand, only seem to consider her with reluctance, and by your own words, question her relevance, which really doesn't do much to lend credibility to you actually thinking he loves both women.
The way you provided the script makes it seem as though Cloud was complaining about his head immediately before saying he lost something important. However, Cloud is shown protecting Aerith in-between complaining about his head and saying he lost something important. IMO, SE is providing evidence that supports both of our conclusions.
Um, no, Cloud is shown defending himself, and badly, from a group of thugs fighting him. He tells Aerith to run the fuck away, and she does, and shortly after Cloud starts fighting, THEN he complains of his head pain.
Razma’s response to Cloud’s pain is to tell Cloud there is someone waiting for him back home. Why would Razma say there is someone waiting for Cloud in direct response to Cloud describing his pain? Because the someone waiting for Cloud can relieve Cloud of his pain.
Oh, whoa, no. Ramza's telling Cloud there's something for him at home because Cloud is a stranger in a strange land with nothing to hold onto. Once again, Ramza is not prescient, he is simply being kind and optimistic. And also again, even if he IS, the person waiting for Cloud who could relieve him of his pain could again be Tifa, as she is the one to do just that by helping him sort out his identity issues in FF7.
Now, you say it’s Tifa waiting for Cloud because she is the key to unlocking Cloud’s memories. But right after Razma tells Cloud there is someone waiting for him, Cloud talks about finding the Promised Land. Therefore, when Razma tells Cloud there is someone waiting for him, it triggers Cloud into thinking about the Promised Land. Why does Razma’s line trigger Cloud into thinking about finding the Promised Land? Because Cloud knows Aerith is the person waiting for him in the Promised Land. See how all the ideas built off of each other and the dots connect?
No, because you're adding dots that are not there, and also giving Cloud AND Ramza knowledge they do not have. You rely on these two men knowing things they do not and cannot know.
If Tifa is the person waiting for Cloud at home, why is Cloud’s immediate response about finding the Promised Land? Obviously Cloud jumps to finding the Promised Land in response to being told there is someone waiting for him because he knows Aerith is waiting for him in the Promised Land.
This is not possible, because if Cloud still believes himself an EX-SOLDIER, he does not know that Aerith's consciousness is in the lifestream.
The “koibito” quote mentions Cloud being Aerith’s friend, yet we don’t assume it was a one-sided friendship, do we? So why would we assume it was a one-sided romance?
Because there are two ways that Koibito can be used, and Cloud and Aerith were never actually a couple, so if she means it in that sense, she is wrong. If she means it in the sense that Cloud is her beloved, then she is correct, without her and Cloud ever having had to do things which they did not do.
While we're on the subject of Koibito, though, would you insist that Tifa must also be in a two-sided romance when she is called a Koibito?
If Cloud wavers to Aerith, wouldn’t it make sense that he considers Aerith a koibito?
No. Not at all. It means he considers her attractive. Egads, man, there are states between 'Not interested' and 'MY BELOVED!'
Cloud hoping Aerith likes him isn’t just about being a horny man because they develop a “special bond” that goes beyond physical attraction.
Why are you sarcasm quoting special bond? I know it's technically done like that in the quote, and it looks weird there, even if I know why it's done, but you're not quoting.
And I'm not saying it's about Cloud being a horny idiot either. What I am saying in my admittedly crude idiom is that Cloud being interested in multiple women is normal, and even in the world of a narrative, isn't special evidence in and of itself that he is madly in love with one.
By Cloud going on two dates, he is showing romantic interest in Aerith. Dates are inherently romantic. And just because Cloud doesn’t know Aerith likes him doesn’t mean he can’t hold romantic feelings for her. I have been romantically interested in lots of people that I had no clue were also romantically interested in me.
For a date to be romantic, the party involved must A: Agree with you that dates are inherently romantic (Since Play dates are a thing, this is not wholly true) and B: realize that what they are on is a date. Cloud doesn't seem to realize ANY of the five possible dates he can go on are such. Even when Yuffie kisses him.
Furthermore, Aerith’s date is on the FTOIL page – a page discussing protagonists and their *LOVE*. Therefore, Aerith’s date is evidence of a protagonists *LOVE* according to the FTOIL page. Not only is Aerith’s date shown on the FTOIL page, but we know it is the canon date from other sources (SE says a *PROMISED* date takes place // SE says Aerith’s date is the *NORMAL* outcome // Aerith *REMEMBERS* her date with Cloud)
And even if you don’t think Aerith’s date is being specifically represented on the FTOIL page (despite it being canon and despite it being pictured); the date on the FTOIL page can only be referring to Aerith or Tifa's date because the love triangle, according to Aerith’s profile, is between herself, Cloud, and Tifa. Therefore, only Aerith and Tifa’s dates can be seen as love between the protagonist and his love interest.
In other words, even if you think Tifa’s date is also represented on the FTOIL page, it just means the date can be used as evidence of love between Cloud x Aerith *AND* Cloud x Tifa. However, Aerith’s date is canon and Aerith’s date is pictured.
Bottom line: the mere fact that the date is on the FTOIL page means it can be used as evidence of a protagonists love. Therefore, Cloud and Aerith’s date is evidence of Cloud’s love for Aerith by being represented on the FTOIL page.
Aerith is a protagonist.
The FTOIL page is for confessions of love to or by protagonists
Aerith, a protagonist, confesses her love- after a fashion- on her date. So does Tifa, and even so does Yuffie.
Cloud and Tifa, meanwhile, display their love for each other underneath the stars.
So, yes, it IS evidence of a protagonist's love. Aerith's. Just Aerith's.
Cloud and Tifa's entry is, meanwhile, about the both of them.
The argument about Cait Sith’s prediction should not revolve around how reliable he is. The argument should revolved around SE’s intent for including this wedding prediction in the game.
How reliable Cait Sith is IS RELEVANT to what meaning his prediction has and its use in the narrative.
SE could have had Aerith ask Cait Sith about her future and Cait Sith could have said, “You will have a bright future full of many happy times!” — this would have set the player up to get their heart broken when she was killed by Sephiroth. Instead, they specifically decided to include a prediction about Aerith’s romantic future with Cloud. It was a romantic prediction about her future with Cloud, not just a generic prediction about her future. So given the context of the game and how things were progressing between Cloud and Aerith, it is obvious why SE included this wedding prediction — so the gamer would have the idea in their head that Cloud and Aerith had the possibility of sharing a romantic future together, which would then be destroyed by the hands of the evil Sephiroth. A generic prediction about Aerith’s future would not have been nearly as meaningful or impactful to the gamer, which is why they specifically included a prediction about Aerith’s romantic future with Cloud.
The romance that was clearly developing between Cloud and Aerith, in addition to a prediction about a their romantic future together, makes her death all the more sad. SE killed off a romantic love interest to Cloud because it would be more impactful to the gamer. If SE had killed Barret, I can guarantee you that it would not have been as memorable or as impactful to the gamer. One of the biggest reasons Aerith’s death is so sad is because she wasn’t just a friend to Cloud. Aerith had a possible romantic future with Cloud, which is exactly what SE wanted us to think, so that when they killed her, it was that much more painful and heartbreaking for those of us playing the game.
That was a whole hell of a lot of words to say not much at all. Aerith's death is tragic even if Cloud can't motherfucking stand her because she gets told, correctly or incorrectly, that she'll get the man she's angling towards, mere days before she is brutally murdered. Hell, bring certain external materials into it, even SHE knows it's wrong, because even she expects she might die soon.
It seems your entire argument says that you MUST find C/A to be true to find a false prediction of Aerith getting married to Cloud as adding tragedy to what is already an amazingly tragic sequence. This is not true.
Luckily, Cloud and Aerith’s love transcends traditional barriers and continues in the spiritual world. Furthermore, SE refers to this prediction as a wedding prediction. Why would they refer to it as a wedding prediction if it was not meant to highlight the romantic connection Cloud and Aerith have in the game?
Because Cait Sith predicted a wedding.
And gag me, but Spirit Sex has made a comeback.
The only way for SE to say that this prediction became “more painful” after Aerith’s death is if they had the possibility, based on mutual romance, to get married. If they didn’t have the possibility to get married, why would a marriage prediction become more painful after her death? Obviously Cloud and Aerith had the mutual feelings required for a marriage otherwise this prediction wouldn’t become more painful after her death. In other words, if a marriage wasn’t possible while Aerith was alive, there’s no way for a marriage prediction to become more painful after she dies.
The only way? "She had no chance for any of this good shit to happen because she died suddenly, and what's worse, the man who she was predicted to marry was more interested in another woman anyways."
That doesn't make it more painful?
Cloud says her eyes were impressive and that her smile was a good purchase. Cloud thinks Aerith is physically attractive.
You go from impressive eyes and appreciating a smile to "physically attractive" and yet you say that 'blushing is not much of a sign of a romance,' Oh pull the other one. Look, I'm not saying you're automatically wrong, but holy crap man do you make so many goddamn assumptions that you treat as fact, and you get all hot and bothered when other people make informed conjecture.
You provided a reason for Tifa’s jealously in FFVII. But why is she jealous in AC? Remember, Tifa's complicated feelings toward Aerith as a woman (who had built up a “special bond” with Cloud that was different than her bond with Cloud) *CONTINUES* in AC. Why is Tifa jealous of a dead woman?
Okay, I'll say it again, and please try and remember it this time. Tifa's complicated feelings in FF7 are not jealousy. They are complicated because her best friend, the person whom she thinks of very fondly, is causing the man she loves to self destruct over his guilt to protect her and other people important to him. She likes Aerith, but hates that Aerith's memory is causing Cloud to essentially destroy himself with guilt.
BECAUSE NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT THE LTD.
You don't know of this quote? I'll try to locate it for you.
I want the quote because you have a less than stellar track record for accurately representing them.
Why would SE market Cloud and Aerith as a romantic couple if they didn’t believe there was evidence of them being a romantic couple?
MARKETING! No, seriously, don't trust Marketing. Marketing and the story are at best strange bedfellows.
What do you mean they don’t have anything in common with Cloud and Aerith?
The Flower Girl says Knight VII isn’t exactly Mr. Personality. That’s a direct reference to Cloud in FFVII.
SE says Aerith is, “Young, *beautiful* and somewhat mysterious...” – in FFIX, Knight VII says the Flower Girl is *beautiful*.
What are you talking about!?!?!?
Wait, wait, wait... You're saying that these characters are similar because the woman described as Beautiful and so is Aerith?
I'm just going to have to laugh at you because yes Aerith's beautfiul. So are Tifa, Rosa, Adult Rydia, Sarah, Maria, Sarah (Not repeating myself here), Rinoa, Quistis, Selphie, Edea, Julia, Dagger, Beatrix, and practically every other good female character to date.
Your entire "they totally have stuff in common" is based on an insult and a physical trait every goddamn female character shares.
Meanwhile, the reason I say they have nothing in common is because VII really isn't much like Cloud personality wise at all, and the flower girl isn't even a character. She's a put-down joke delivery vehicle. I'm not even sure she's a persistent NPC.
That’s your assumption.
It's my assumption that Ramza is not a mere plot servitor robot? Or do you mean that it's my assumption that sometimes, characters react like human beings and not just in furtherance of a story?
Because if that's what you're accusing me of assuming, let me please say pot, meet kettle, because your view of this scene, and hell, most of FF7 and beyond is nothing but extraordinary assumptions with no evidence to support them.
Where is your proof that Tifa is the one waiting for Cloud?
How about the fact that Tifa actually was waiting for Cloud both times he took a dip into the lifestream? Waiting by his side even when he was in a coma.
Seriously, it's shit like "PROVE TIFA WAS WAITING FOR CLOUD!" that mean I can't take you seriously. You're just... you're almost a cartoon of yourself at this point.
You're here insisting that Ramza and Cloud have magical foreknowledge of things completely unrelated to Ramza's story, and that Aerith is literally waiting for Cloud in his Literal home in a Literal Promised land (Nevermind that those things are contradictory), and you nitpick me for saying "Or it could be Tifa waiting" as one of several possible other and more parsimonious interpretations of the line.
Cloud says he is trying to find the Promised Land, and the only person he has associated with being directly in the Promised Land is Aerith. Therefore, Aerith is the one waiting for Cloud back home in the Promised Land. Just connecting the dots.
At this point, I HAVE to come to the conclusion that you don't actually read my posts. Because this is like the third time I've said "The phrase is not always literal" and yet you insist on applying it in a very specific literal fashion, while insisting that the word 'home' is not, because in no sense of the word is the lifestream home for Cloud.
If they have knowledge of FFVII, then they obviously know Cloud would be seeking to fight Sephiroth in the Northern Crater (not the Promised Land), and they also know Cloud only associates one person with being in the Promised Land (Aerith).
The Northern Crater, which was at several points called the promised land. And hell, even the one time Cloud DOES reference the promised land, he's literally just popped out of the Northern Crater. So, yeah, it's very likely they'd associate the Northern Crater and the promised land, like happened repeatedly in FF7.
I think they were just trying to show as many memorable things as possible: Cloud having memory/identity issues, Cloud’s hatred for Sephiroth, Cloud losing Aerith, etc. You know, the most memorable things about Cloud in FFVII. I don’t think they were concerned with, “Cloud is from this SPECIFIC moment in FFVII, so we MUST make sure all of his lines are in sync with the EXACT moment we are taking Cloud from”
If Cloud is not from any given moment in FF7, then what even is the point of trying to associate his cameo with FF7? He is not Cloud then. He is a Cloud standee. He cannot be related to a development in Cloud's story.
This would be like having a cameo where the 1st Doctor talks about battling Davros, or for a more FF comparison, where Cecil talks about fighting Golbez, but has no clue who Rydia is.
Seems far more likely they are just incorporating numerous memorable aspects of Cloud – his memory issues, Sephiroth, Aerith, etc.
Again, it's not Cloud from FF7 then. It's a pastiche of Cloud, who cannot be reconciled with Cloud's own narrative.
This is all your assumption. You are simply trying to write off my point by assuming the creators wouldn’t want to, “spoil the ending of FFVII”.
Your ENTIRE ARGUMENT is based off of assumptions.
And seriously, you think it's a major assumption that one creator wouldn't want to be a dick and spoil the ending of their co-worker's work?
I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt here and assume you are a troll. It's more flattering than the alternative.
What’s funny is that in your previous post you said the creators probably didn’t know about the ending of FFVII (ie: when Cloud said he could find Aerith in the Promised Land). And now you’re spouting off another unverifiable belief that they probably wouldn’t want to ruin the ending of FFVII.
You do realize that both statements are not inherently contradictory, yes? "They likely didn't know, and if they did, they wouldn't want to spoil it?"
Hell, we're both spouting conjecture, here. At least I have the common decency to admit that's what I'm doing.
How many unverifiable scenarios are you going to come up with until you just address my point? The only person Cloud associates *IN* the Promised Land is Aerith. Cloud thinks Sephiroth is *SEARCHING* for the Promised Land, but he believes Aerith is *IN* the Promised land.
So he associates Sephiroth with the Promised land. Thank you.
Besides, if we're talking about unverifiable scenarios, you need to remove that plank from your own eye first, Blankityboppityboo.
Plus, Cloud never considers the Northern Crater the Promised Land. Therefore, Cloud wouldn’t be searching for the Promised Land to fight Sephiroth, he would be searching for to the Northern Crater to fight Sephiroth.
Cloud doesn't consider anything to be the promised land until the very final moments of the game, far after his identity issues have been resolved. Identity issues he would not be suffering from. Which again, means that if your idea of FFT Cloud is just a composite sketch of Cloud, it's not really him and not really relevant to the story of FF7.
Hell, if it's a Cloud from all of FF7, then why is Aerith dead, anyways? It's not we're paying attention to a causal narrative in your version of the Cameo anyways, so why apply that to Aerith but not Cloud?
He said, pretending that wasn't the sum total of what he was offering.
And do you really think those working on FFT didn’t collaborate/talk to those who created FFVII?
About the ending of their games? Again, entirely possible.
What is the point of saying Cloud doesn’t specifically say Aerith when we all know he’s talking about Aerith?
Because I am making a deeper point about the nature of what is said, what is unsaid, what is implied and what is infered, and also, what we are explicitly told, which you seem to ingore a lot of the time in favor of what you would prefer, no matter how unlikely or ludicrous.
I don’t think Cloud and Tifa thought they were going to die until it seemed Holy wouldn’t be able to stop meteor. They were on the airship when they realized that. Therefore, hope wasn’t lost when Cloud and Tifa were talking about meeting Aerith. Hope was lost on the airship.
When Cloud said that to Tifa, the Cave itself was physically crumbling with no apparent way of escape. Death was a very distinct possibility.
"It is your opinion that “we” is the better pronoun to use. The two official translations back up my opinion up."
Then the official translations ALSO back up that PEOPLE are waiting for Cloud. The official translations say that Cloud THINKS Aerith can be met, and that Tifa WANTS to meet her. Heck, the official translations of FF7ACC back up that all Cloud wants from Aerith is forgiveness.
And keep in mind that so much of the relevant material has no official translation because, shock of shocks, FF7 was a Japanese game made for Japanese people with a foreign market as an afterthought.
And, as Tres and Hito keep reminding us, even official translators are not perfect.
Anyway –
We know that everyone returns to the lifestream, but not everyone returns to specific Promised Land's. A Promised Land is a feeling, not a place. This is why Cloud wasn’t including or excluding Tifa -- she will return to the lifestream, but she won't be returning to Cloud and Aerith’s Promised Land that is *WITHIN* the lifestream.
Then you have contradicted yourself here with regards to what you have said about Cloud's promised land in FF7ACC. There you said it was the church, now you say it's a feeling.
And no, Cloud was VERY MUCH including Tifa when he TOLD HER about the promised land.
Cloud never calls the Northern Crater the Promised Land. Sephiroth does but Cloud doesn’t. The only person Cloud associates with being *IN* the Promised Land is Aerith.
And Tifa, and Denzel, and Marlene, and Barret, and Vincent, and Cid, and Yuffie, and Cait Sith, and Red, and Zack. All the people who get mentioned as being part of his promised land. The one that's actually his.
I thought you said Tifa was waiting for Cloud, though? Now you’re saying it’s an idiom that doesn’t require a deliberate act of waiting?
My goodness, Blankbeat, if you aren't going to read my posts, just skip them.
First off, YES, TIFA IS WAITING FOR CLOUD. She is. Just look at FF7. Any time in which Cloud could be going headtrippy, Tifa's waiting for him to come back.
That's irrelevant to the point that even if NOBODY was expecting Cloud's return, if they thought he was out and out dead, Ramza could still use that idiom.
It is your assumption that they wouldn’t put something about the ending of a newly released game in a game released the same year. FFT was released after FFVII, so I don’t think they gave a rats ass about incorporating the ending of FFVII in FFT.
And you would think wrong, then. It's bad form to spoil the ending of a video game just as it's bad form to spoil the ending of a movie when they are newly released.
Regardless, your argument is completely unverifiable and is only being made to avoid my point: the only person Cloud associates being *IN* the Promised Land is Aerith. So when Cloud says he is searching for the Promsied Land, he is obviously trying to find the someone who is waiting for him back home (Aerith).
No, I'm not avoiding your point, I'm calling your point stupid and also unverifiable and absurdly literalist on one hand while needing to be figurative on the other.
Cloud believes Sephiroth is searching for the Promsied Land, but he doesn’t ever believe Sephiroth is *IN* the Promised Land. Cloud only ever believes one person is in the Promised Land – Aerith.
Not true. Cloud's promised land contains many people, Tifa and his family foremost among them. "The" promised land contains all the souls of the dead, but these are two ENTIRELY different concepts of a promised land. Cloud obviously does not subscribe to the latter, as his promised land is a different idea entirely.
OK – so Aerith is waiting for Cloud in the Promised Land and Cloud’s friends are waiting for him on...the Highwind?
Everyone waits for him wherever they are, whether they know they wait or not. You're giving way way too much credence to a literalist reading of an idiom, dude.
I’ve already explained this...
-Copy pasted shit cut out-
Seriously, dude, stop that shit. It's irritating.
If Tifa is the person waiting for Cloud at home, why is Cloud’s immediate response about finding the Promised Land? Obviously Cloud jumps to finding the Promised Land in response to being told there is someone waiting for him because he knows Aerith is waiting for him in the Promised Land – the important thing Cloud lost.
And again, this requires a Cloud divorced from narrative, so what's even the point anyways?
I’ve already responded to this...
That particular passage is about how Cloud isn't meat to join Aerith and Zack in the lifestream yet. Both Zack and Aerith *SPECIFICALLY* and *DIRECTLY* tell Cloud he isn't meant to join them in the lifestream yet. Therefore, Cloud realizes he is meant to live with his “family and friends” *UNTIL* he is meant to return to the lifestream. That is what the passage says.
How you read that passage and not realize that Cloud's promised land includes all of his friends and family is beyond me. It doesn't even mention Zack or Aerith until well after it describes everyone around Cloud. It is telling us that Cloud is happy, is in his promised land, BECAUSE he's surrounded by the people he loves, and watched over, albeit from a considerable distance, by the people he's lost.
Once Cloud finally belongs in the lifestream, he will reunite with Aerith in the Promised Land Aerith refers to in MoT and the Promised Land Cloud refers to at the end of FFVII. In the meantime, however, Cloud can find Aerith in her Church, which is also stated to be his Promised Land.
Assumptions. Nothing but assumptions. And again, in your version of FF7, EVERYTHING IS AERITH.
Remember...according to Aerith, ones Promised Land is a *FEELING* one gets. When Cloud saw Aerith reaching down to him at the end of FFVII, Cloud *FELT* his Promised Land. He says so. Then, in AC, Cloud can also find Aerith in her Church. Her Church is another place where Cloud has *FELT* his Promised Land.
So then why didn't Cloud *FEEL* the promised land when he met Aerith beforehand? Because she's NOT the vital component.
You're also making the assumption that Cloud thought that Aerith's hand meant his promised land, rather than Aerith calling where she was 'the promised land' when she gave Cloud the answer from the planet.
To determine what causes Cloud to *FEEL* his Promised Land, his statement at the end of FFVII and SE’s statement about Cloud’s Promised Land can’t contradict each other. What is the one similarity between Cloud’s statement at the end of FFVII and SE’s statement about Cloud’s Promised Land in AC? Finding Aerith.
Only one of those has actually been called Cloud's promised land, however. Your continued equivocation to this fact changes nothing. Your entire argument here is based on deception.
Whether it's Aerith's Church or the lifestream, it is wherever Cloud can find Aerith that is stated to be Cloud’s Promised Land. Both Cloud and SE say this.
They do not, and you continue to distort statements to read into them what you wish.
Cloud’s Promised Land obviously can’t be his friends and family because Cloud has already stated he has a Promised Land in the lifestream with Aerith. Once Cloud is done living with his friends and family, and is finally meant to join the lifestream, he will return the Promised Land Aerith speaks of in MoT and Cloud speaks of at the end of FFVII. In other words, both times Cloud got the feeling that is required for a Promised Land have been in Aerith’s presence. SHE is the common denominator. SHE is the only way both statements regarding Cloud’s Promised Land don’t contradict each other.
There has only ever been one statement as to Cloud's personal conception of a promised land.
Aerith is in Cloud's Promised Land by his own admission. Thus, being with Aerith is (at least part) of Cloud's Promised Land.
This is true. But BARRET is part of Cloud's promised land. Cloud's promised land is about BEING TOGETHER WITH HIS FRIENDS AND FAMILY. That's what we're told it is in ACC. Hell, it even jives with what he tells Tifa about in FF7.
Then why do you say Tifa is waiting for Cloud if waiting doesn’t actually mean someone is waiting?
Because both statements are true! That's the thing about this position of mine. I can say true things because they are true, not because I need to say things because they serve a goal I wish to arrive it.
According to SE we are both right. I’m simply explaining my position.
No. That shit doth fly not. I've been around the block long enough to see that "I am just explaining my position" is mealy mouth for "But I'm right anyways"
Same as "I'm just asking questions" is doublespeak for "I'm making accusations backhandedly."
Loving two people doesn’t mean you love them equally.
And thus, it comes out. Seriously, drop the faux neutrality. We ALL know your position is that Cloud super duper loves Aerith and apparently barely tolerates Tifa.
god damn it....dont you know there both stone cold blanks of wood? they never smile (unless tifa is getting all touchy feely 
might beat u (also had a grandma make it to 101 so you know, i will take your bet and raise you a cookie! 
