...won't mind if I respond with my thoughts, will ya Octo?
First of all, thank you very much for posting with consideration instead of resorting to flames and insults.
Who has flamed you exactly? I've seen insults, but not flames. The mods would have spoken up if anyone started flaming you. And are you still using the insults as an excuse not to respond to people's points? That is to say, are you still pretending that the presence of an insulting or flippant bit of wit in a response means that is all there was to it?
I will agree with you though, props to Octo for being patient enough to respond without those. You are a better person than I, my friend
No, I did not receive your post from Quex, so here goes.
I'm confused, does this mean you actually picked the post out from the thread the old fashioned way? Since it would seem unnecessary to point out you did not get it from Quex if Octo had PMed it to you this would only make sense. But that would mean you in fact CAN just view the thread successfully.
Perhaps it doesn't make any sense from your perspective, but it makes plenty of sense from my perspective. You're viewing "the narrative" from a certain interpretation of the Compilation where you think Cloud and Tifa love one another. I'm viewing the Compilation from an interpretation where Cloud and Aerith love one another. That gives us a different perspective.
Well, thank you for at least admitting you view the compilation from the perspective that Cloud loves Aerith. That is your problem, however. Try viewing the comp from a neutral perspective, without shipper goggles on. You just might see the total lack of evidence for the ship you've been arguing for all these years, and if you REALLY look from the neutral perspective you won't be blinded to the shit-ton of evidence backing Cloti.
It wouldn't be awkward at all if neither of you were interested in a romantic relationship, but you were both friends. Remember that neither Cloud or Tifa have anywhere else to go. In fact, they said that's why both of them stayed at the very beginning of the HW scene:
See the bit I underlined there? That's not how CloudXTifa plays out, so everything following that is nonsense. We know Tifa IS interested in a romantic relationship, and pre-twisting/ignoring the evidence shows Cloud loves her back and wants to start a new life with her. So everything after your hypothetical "if neither is interested" is crap.
(The scene fades in to show Cloud and Tifa alone on the bridge. Tifa is still watching the clouds go by.)
Cloud "What are you going to do, Tifa?"
(She turns to him)
Tifa "Did you forget?"
"I'm... all alone. I don't have anywhere to go."
....
Tifa "Everyone's gone..."
Cloud "Yeah, we don't have anywhere or anyone to go home to."
(She looks down.)
Tifa "You're right..."
And this is all well and good. Now add in the bit where Cloud proposes they start a new life together, and explains (while blushing) that he thinks he can succeed at this endeavor because he has Tifa in a way that is "kind of different" from how he's always had her. Explain that in terms of them not being interested in a relationship.
Like I said before, I have a male friend Shrouded on another forum. He and I have been very good friends for years, but we have no romantic interest in one another. If he needed a place to stay, and if I knew he was in my area, I'd invite him to stay at my house for as long as he wanted. There would be no awkwardness, because we're good friends.
And this scenario you outlined is not what Cloud and Tifa do. It's not a case of one of the two letting the other crash at their place out of necessity. It's a case of the two of them deciding to live together BEFORE THEY EVEN BUILD THE HOUSE/BAR.
Besides which, we are, again, already aware from a multitude of sources that Tifa does love and is interested in Cloud. So this is, again, crap.
In the first place, what I proposed was an IF one was sexually attracted to the other but knew better than to get involved. It's also possible that there's no sexual attraction on both sides of the equation.
And all the
IFs in the world will not change the facts. I suppose it IS technically possible that Cloud and Tifa are both asexual and are not interested in sex at all, despite being confirmed as romantically interested in one another. Its very unlikely, especially after the "words aren't the only way" bit in the HW scene, but it is possible. Even if such was fact, however, it would not change their confirmed love for one another one bit.
Of course, I really shouldn't bother arguing with this. Its just another attempt to validate the LA version of the HW scene, which is another waste of everyone's time given the HA versions canonical status.
However, let's say Tifa's attracted to Cloud sexually, but knows better than to get involved romantically because she knows damn well he loves Aerith. In that case, it fits what happens between them very well.
Objection, as Theo was kind enough to point out you are engaging in circular logic. Edit: Technically not circular logic, as Ryu pointed out, but still an incorrect form of reasoning. /edit You are using Cloud's totally hypothetical and unsupported love for Aerith as a reason why Tifa would not be interested in a relationship with him despite loving him. This is not cool of you to do, at all, and requires that you be called out on it.
For example, the scene where Tifa finds the delivery order from Elmyra to take flowers to Aerith's grave and offers to talk with Cloud about it. He shuns her and says he wants to drink alone. Tifa snaps and says to go drink in his room.
And this proves... what again? We've tried and tried, but you just will not hear us. Cloud's issues concerning the flower delivery are the same as his issues EVERY TIME Aerith comes up post OG. Guilt. He is guilty and ashamed and trying to drink it away. This is why he is drinking at all, Tifa points out at that part of the story that he rarely imbibes at all. And good for Tifa, she is not putting up with his crap in that scene and tells him that if he wants to drink for stupid reasons, he can do it somewhere that she doesn't have to watch, like his office.
IMO, that's a very good example of where Tifa's may be hoping that someday, Cloud will get interested in her. When she sees him reject her help and interest, then she gets mad and snaps at him. (Now please notice, I said MAY be hoping... I don't know for sure, but it's sure possible.)
See above, yes she snaps at him to go drink destructively where she doesn't have to be around his guilty ass. And yes, this is very likely because he is doing the stupid thing and rejecting her help and interest.
And no, it is not possible that she is HOPING he'll get interested. They have, as of the portion of the compilation's narrative you are referring to, already confirmed mutual romantic feelings. Do not tell me that that is optional, please. We've already pointed out how very untrue such a statement would be many times.
Well, I remember one time where I thought something Shrouded said online was terrific, and I burst out, "I LOVE you!!!" Later, I said to him... uhm... you know I didn't mean that romantically or anything, didn't you? *blush* He laughed and said yeah, he realized. The conversation was short and apathetic. Sometimes, things need to be clarified. It happens.
That... isn't apathetic. At the very least, you were worried he might interpret your intentions wrong and think you DID mean it romantically. The conversation might have been short, but it was NOT apathetic in this case. There were feelings and care involved. Unlike the LA HW scene, which we know WAS apathetic because we were TOLD as much.
I think Tifa's the type who would be hopeful and keep dreaming that Cloud may change IF she put herself in that situation. Both Nojima and Nomura even hinted at that in the Reunion Files:
Oh, so now Tifa is the type to just sit around hoping against hope that the dude she loves will come around and love her back? I thought she wasn't interested in a relationship because she KNOWS he loves Aerith? Seriously, pick a position would you? Oh well, bring on the quotes, they aren't gonna twist themselves.
Considering Tifa's background and all she's been through up to this point, she is carrying a huge burden herself. But in this film, you don't get a clear look of what's actually going on inside Tifa's head. ~Nojima, Reunion Files, page 21
Tifa is a strong woman. She doesn't like what Cloud is doing, but instead of lecturing him about every little thing, she's been waiting for him to realize for himself what his actions are doing. ~Nomura, Reunion Files, page 20
Ok, I wanna be flippantly dismissive here but I can't even do that because... wat? Really, just... wat? The first quote talks about all the shit Tifa has been through in her life, and says the film doesn't give you a look inside her head. That is definitely not a hint that she would hang around hoping Cloud comes to love her if he didn't. The second quote talks about how strong she is and how she is waiting for Cloud to realize his self-destructive bullshit is making things worse. And in classic Nomura quote style, its only even correct for part of the film! The moment she and Marlene find out Cloud has the stigma, she decides they DO owe him a little lecture after all. And what does she do when they're both awake at 7th Heaven? SHE LECTURES HIM. This is a classic case of Nomura not saying the whole truth right here, and nicely underscores what we've said about how you use his quotes (not even touching on your quote mining habits).
NEITHER of those quotes hint to anything that even RESEMBLES what you just claimed they did.
Now, you also have to remember that Cloud wouldn't be the one to be "denying himself" in the LA version, either, since his affection for Tifa is optional.
No. Not it bloody isn't. Cloud's emotions are not under player control. Tifa is the one with the affection values, not Cloud. And even if he HAD such a value that WAS under player control (which again, HE DOES NOT HAVE) it would only contribute to the deviation. Your play-through of the game is not canon, the scenes SE canonized are. Mutual romantic feelings WERE shared, we were TOLD this, and said statement did not touch on the deviation AT ALL. Cloud's affection for Tifa is not optional.
Cloud is never said to love Tifa currently except in an optional scene.
Cloud being said to confirm his mutual romantic feelings for Tifa is how we know the HA version is the one that happened. It was not an indication of optionality within the narrative as you for some reason still claim. Said claim of yours has been pointed out as wrong many times, and is now being considered an outright lie within this thread since you should bloody well know better by now, even if you did somehow misread what's on the page the first time.
The quote people here keep using about the Lifestream event isn't talking about Cloud's current feelings, and I don't think one-sided childhood crushes count - especially when Cloud and Tifa didn't know one another well.
First, who said it was one sided? Tifa took notice of Cloud and became interested when they were still kids, starting with the night they made The Promise(tm). Second, what makes you think the LS event isn't about CURRENT feelings? It has been pointed out, many many times, that the information given indicates that they ARE STILL HOLDING their feelings from childhood.
Also, no one cares if you don't THINK "one-sided" childhood crushes count. As you like to remind people, SE are the ones who decide what counts and what doesn't. They felt the need to stress the feelings present in the HW scene, so apparently it does count.
This was in answer to how Tifa could possibly have a "low affection" for Cloud when SE (supposedly) says that she loves him. In response to that, I said you can have a low interest in a relationship at the same time you have an attraction to somebody. What I'm talking about here is the possibility of Tifa being attracted, while knowing that Cloud is still in love with Aerith.
And if you could prove Cloud loved Aerith, that would ALMOST mean something. But A.) you can't actually do that, and B.) even if you could CloudXTifa are confirmed anyway.
If he has had no interest since FF7, then yeah he is stringing her along. But if we're strictly speaking CoT, then it's different. 
It's a frustrating aspect of their relationship, for sure. I mean, geez. COME ON NOW WHY SO MUCH DRAMA? D<
I wish I could be the same, but it'd be a bold faced lie to say I was. Nonetheless, I do appreciate your perspective and I can understand it a lot better now. Made me look at the HW scene a bit differently, that's for sure. 
