LicoriceAllsorts
Donator
Aerith might have passed knowledge of the future to Red XIII; I'm not insisting she didn't. I just haven't seen any concrete evidence that she did, and I don't see how it would benefit the plot in any way.
Trace of Two Pasts novel discussion
- Thread starter BioTeach
- Start date
BioTeach
Pro Adventurer
Seeing how this novel has taken the opportunity to elaborate on the "spirits" of Ifalna and Clay coming back to visit the people they loved most, I'm starting to really think the alive!Zack we see at the church is one of these Lifestream ghost come back to see Aerith (which also explains why the people there don't seem to see him despite his dramatic entrance).
(And please don't let this post derail the thread by starting a Zack/timeline debate. I just wanted to share my thoughts here.)
(And please don't let this post derail the thread by starting a Zack/timeline debate. I just wanted to share my thoughts here.)
Makoeyes987
Listen closely, there is meaning in my words.
- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
That's what the Ultimania Plus translations have clarified several times regarding Aerith. She has knowledge and memories passed to her from the future. Red XIII got some as well but due to his lifespan length it was too much for him to make out and understand.
He's been categorically stated as being alive and if he were just a "ghost" why is there a Cloud ghost with him?
LNK
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- Nate
Didn't all of the characters get knowledge/visions of the future passed to them though (ch 18)? I thought what Red got from Aerith (in ch 17) was knowledge of the past
This is what I've been saying
Makoeyes987
Listen closely, there is meaning in my words.
- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
Aerith's premonitions and memories from the future are specifically what makes her aware of and knowledgeable of things that she shouldn't know. Like... Knowing who Marlene is and where she lives so she could rescue her before Tifa even told her anything about the girl. The party only got those fleeting glimpses of the future thanks to defeating Whisper Harbinger. Aerith was carrying that knowledge even before that, and Cloud kept having future visions because of his proximity and exposure to Aerith.
LNK
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- Nate
Sorry, I know Aerith already had the knowledge. I meant to just put Red XIII. He only talks about getting past knowledge from Aerith in ch 17. He doesn't get a vision of the future until ch 18
villains23
Rookie Adventurer
- AKA
- v
Something I found interesting was that right before the Jenova fight, and while Sephiroth was showing the team a vision of meteor (ch18), Red said the same thing in both scenes. He says, "This is..."
Not saying that this confirms that Red had future knowledge of Jenova's alien form or of meteor's approach towards Midgar, but it sounded like he recognized what they were, possibly due to future knowledge? Dunno.
LicoriceAllsorts
Donator
Final installment of Episode Aerith has been released by Stan:
Elmyra is willing to shoot to kill if that's what it takes to protect Aerith.
She misses, but the black-suited dead shot in the shadows doesn't. Tseng?
I like the concept of Shinra declaring the Sector 5 main residential area and train station a 'special district'.
The battle of wills between Aerith is Elmyra is well-observed.
It's all so rich and interesting.
Elmyra is willing to shoot to kill if that's what it takes to protect Aerith.
She misses, but the black-suited dead shot in the shadows doesn't. Tseng?
I like the concept of Shinra declaring the Sector 5 main residential area and train station a 'special district'.
The battle of wills between Aerith is Elmyra is well-observed.
It's all so rich and interesting.
Tetsujin
he/they
- AKA
- Tets
Moms are tough
Wow, Elmyra is becoming my new favorite character. I hope they give her some screen time if/when Aerith dies. If the story sticks to the OG's, she hasn't seen her daughter since Aerith was taken by Shinra. Not even a "goodbye, I'm traveling with Cloud and friends!" I assume that was because it was unsafe for them to go back.
One thing that the novel doesn't quite answer for me is, why is Aerith allowed to roam around all these years but is suddenly taken back into the lab again in the game's time frame? Shinra having an upcoming meeting with shareholders and urgently needs to show potential revenue growth because existing reactors are drying out?
And damn, the miserly part of my brain is thinking, what was the cost of all that security they invested in Aerith's safety. How many Turks and how many shifts over how many years... Even with Elmyra negotiating to keep Aerith by her side, feels like Shinra could have saved some cost by just housing them in the upper plate, which I assume is safer and more accessible. I guess frugality isn't a part of the Shinra creed.
One thing that the novel doesn't quite answer for me is, why is Aerith allowed to roam around all these years but is suddenly taken back into the lab again in the game's time frame? Shinra having an upcoming meeting with shareholders and urgently needs to show potential revenue growth because existing reactors are drying out?
And damn, the miserly part of my brain is thinking, what was the cost of all that security they invested in Aerith's safety. How many Turks and how many shifts over how many years... Even with Elmyra negotiating to keep Aerith by her side, feels like Shinra could have saved some cost by just housing them in the upper plate, which I assume is safer and more accessible. I guess frugality isn't a part of the Shinra creed.
I wondered about this too. Why did they suddenly decide it was important to have her back at that very moment, whey they didn't care about her the last few years?
My answers were:
1. Was it getting urgent to "find the Promised Land" because all that reliance on Mako was getting unsustainable? (Based on Shinra's mid/long term projections lol)
2. Were they waiting for Aerith to reach maturity...to well, breed? Because that was what they were hoping to do in the OG right? And it's mentioned in Remake. But it kinda doesn't make sense, because scientifically, they could just invitro lol.
3. One of those plot things that SE will never really answer because they didn't really think about it
I've settled on 3 lol
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LicoriceAllsorts
Donator
I assume the decision to take her in was made when:
1. They realised she was associating with Avalanche, which would put her in danger
2. Tseng found her risking death during the attack on Sector 7
Up until then, they'd been able to keep their greatest asset safe in the community, by declaring it a 'special district'; but with the escalation in violence, and Aerith's decision to associate with known terrorists, they presumably decided they could only guarantee her safety by taking her into custody.
To me the decision to take her in seems like the obvious one to make. To have left her alone to continue running around with Avalanche would have been crazy.
1. They realised she was associating with Avalanche, which would put her in danger
2. Tseng found her risking death during the attack on Sector 7
Up until then, they'd been able to keep their greatest asset safe in the community, by declaring it a 'special district'; but with the escalation in violence, and Aerith's decision to associate with known terrorists, they presumably decided they could only guarantee her safety by taking her into custody.
To me the decision to take her in seems like the obvious one to make. To have left her alone to continue running around with Avalanche would have been crazy.
Eerie
Fire and Blood
Finished reading, weeeeee! For the TIfa part, I'm sorry but RL came and delayed @odekopeko so you'll have to wait more for the next part 
The convo about Zack is clearly delayed, and I think it's because it's so important that we'll get it in game (for those who don't keep up with the novels). I'm guessing Gongaga, since there was a deleted chat between Aerith and Tifa there about Zack!
The convo about Zack is clearly delayed, and I think it's because it's so important that we'll get it in game (for those who don't keep up with the novels). I'm guessing Gongaga, since there was a deleted chat between Aerith and Tifa there about Zack!
Hmm so Reno and Rude weren't there to kidnap her in Chapter 8? Just on bodyguard duty made irrelevant by Cloud? I guess that's possible, Cloud didn't let Reno finish his line afterall. Maybe he wanted to say "I was just gonna make sure she got home safely after a Mako reactor blew up above us".
Also, I'm not sure if we'll ever see Aerith telling Tifa about Zack. For Tifa, wouldn't it be like "So your first love by the name of Zack who is soldier first class went missing 5 years ago? That's awful... Wait a minute, there's nothing wrong with my memory. Hey Cloud! Wtf??" But then again, if the original scenes at Gongaga didn't trigger that, maybe this would have a similar but stronger effect of adding to Tifa's doubts and they can show us more of what's really going on in her head somehow.
This crossed my mind too. If it were the case they must've been really happy when Zack came along lol why did they allow him to leave for Nibelheim!
Also, I'm not sure if we'll ever see Aerith telling Tifa about Zack. For Tifa, wouldn't it be like "So your first love by the name of Zack who is soldier first class went missing 5 years ago? That's awful... Wait a minute, there's nothing wrong with my memory. Hey Cloud! Wtf??" But then again, if the original scenes at Gongaga didn't trigger that, maybe this would have a similar but stronger effect of adding to Tifa's doubts and they can show us more of what's really going on in her head somehow.
Eerie
Fire and Blood
By Gongaga both girls had already agreed (in deleted scenes) to not talk to Cloud about this. I think we'll have way more background than what we did in the OG at that point. The girls deciding to not tell Cloud anything may happen even way earlier, like in Kalm when it's clear that his memories and Tifa's conflict.
Torrie
astray ay-ay-ay
Oh my god, what's not to love about this novel. How much depth it has added to the story we know. I especially like the fact that Aerith is portrayed as someone who's "regretfully hurt people" due to many reasons, that she's not a holier-than-thou kind of person. And all her life is a sinewave from suffering to serenity to suffering again. It really makes the reader imagine the scale of what it takes to be "special" in a world like FF7.
The way Cloud is described at the end made me giggle. How accurate. I can't wait to see more of the cast's interactions in whatever is to follow.
The way Cloud is described at the end made me giggle. How accurate. I can't wait to see more of the cast's interactions in whatever is to follow.
I always thought, after the second explosion, Shinra recognized the tendency and figured it was putting her life in danger because she could have been potentially hurt, or exploited, or recruted by Avalanche. They couldn't let that happen.
Sounds plausible to me actually!
Obsidian Fire
Ahk Morn!
- AKA
- The Engineer
And then one of the guys (maybe) seen at the reactor bombing is now *with Aerith*. And the Turks know she has a history of people falling into her Church from the Plate up above... and the former Avalanche *did* want to kidnap Aerith for various reasons....
Really, the Turks showing up and not meaning anything *bad* by it has plenty of justification from their PoV given what has been going on in Midgar recently...
BioTeach
Pro Adventurer
My thoughts on the last part of the Aerith translation:
1. I wish we had gotten more interaction with the Turks since they are supposed to watching her after all. You'd think Tseng would at least drop in every once in a while on a courtesy call and to see if she wanted to come back.
2. Fuzz really gave me the creeps this time. I'd like to think his intentions were good (that he really did care about Aerith and wanted to take care of her) but that's not the impression I got this time. Maybe it was because Aerith seemed so uncomfortable around him too.
1. I wish we had gotten more interaction with the Turks since they are supposed to watching her after all. You'd think Tseng would at least drop in every once in a while on a courtesy call and to see if she wanted to come back.
2. Fuzz really gave me the creeps this time. I'd like to think his intentions were good (that he really did care about Aerith and wanted to take care of her) but that's not the impression I got this time. Maybe it was because Aerith seemed so uncomfortable around him too.
LicoriceAllsorts
Donator
I agree with you, Bioteach. I think he creeped on Ifalna, but he was her best chance at escape so she took it. Aerith still feels guilty about the way they used him, and now that she's a teen she understands it better. I think Tseng was the one who shot him. It is interesting that Aerith didn't say more about the Turks, but perhaps she doesn't want to stress that aspect of her life to Tifa.
Obsidian Fire
Ahk Morn!
- AKA
- The Engineer
I could see that. For Avalanche, the Turks are an uncomplicated subject. They work for Shinra and are against Avalanche and that's that. For Aerith, the Turks are much more complicated and are some of the few people who she has always know about/of.
So Aerith not wanting to rock the boat... just wouldn't bring them up to Tifa.
So Aerith not wanting to rock the boat... just wouldn't bring them up to Tifa.
Lol, well, if I were a mad scientist (or any scientist for that matter) backed by millions of funding, I really wouldn't wait patiently till my red list, extinct in-the-wild specimen happily finds a mate at her own timing...and gets pregnant naturally and which could put her out of commission for months on end, or possibly endanger her life at child birth. I'd obsessively start cryogenic freezing of eggs, then start on test tube developing specimenskathy202 said:
Which is why I tend not to look too deep or apply too much logic to my games.
Aerith needed to be in the Shinra tower cos...plot? Works for me!
Torrie
astray ay-ay-ay
Stanley looks incredibly dedicated.
@odekopeko, @Eerie, do you think you could join forces with him? Otherwise the amount of double work done would be insane...
@odekopeko, @Eerie, do you think you could join forces with him? Otherwise the amount of double work done would be insane...
Odysseus
Ninja Potato
- AKA
- Ody
I'm a bit surprised Reno and Rude never got a mention in this story. Aerith's line in chapter 8 about Rude not being a bad person had me expecting them to have some interaction here. I guess the primary focus was to detail Aerith and Elmyra's living situation though, and it's probably better to leave the door open for other stories.
Eerie
Fire and Blood
Probably not. First, my Twitter account is locked so I can only talk with Peko. Second, we are already on two opposite time zones, adding him would add a third one (often times I get a version when I go to sleep ^^'). I also do not know if Peko would be ok to work with a clerith, nor if a clerith would be ok to work with clotis. I'll say it bluntly, but the Tifa part does have clotis parts, so I literally do not trust a clerith to translate them truthfully because we *still* have so many problems with people mistranslating and twisting stuff. I'm sorry but if it wasn't the case maybe I'd agree to trust him, but I can't at this stage.