TIFA, AERITH AND BARRET IN-GAME SCHOOL UNIFORM SKINS

This is perhaps a controversial question, but what is your stance on Tetsuya Nomura's writing? There are people who claim he is a bad writer, yet either don't provide concrete evidence or give feedback fueled mostly by ad hominem attacks. All stories need critique, but in terms of a largr audience, people seem to resort to insulting Nomura's work more often than actually provide constructive criticism, going so far as saying he's trying to destroy his own work than save it--a very bold statement. Unfortunately, this stigma's carried over to the Final Fantasy 7 fanbase, and people are blaming Nomura and perpetuating the narrative that he's changing the story. Yet these people seem to ignore not only their interviews, but also who the main writer of the Final Fantasy 7 Compilation actually is. Anyway, sorry if this is a controversial ask, but I'd love to hear your thoughts since you have a sharp perspective on things like this!

Not a problem at all, it’s definitely something that people bring up often in both the FF and Kingdom Hearts circles.

As you said, a story will always have some criticism launched its way, but the commentary here goes beyond that. It’s people trying to assess authorial intent by dismissing the facts. Both FF7 and KH are written by more people than Nomura himself—these are projects that take multiple inputs and creative minds to create when it comes to the more story-beat parts of the game, certain interviews even point out who influenced/created certain decisions. It’s always a group effort, even if the designated people have a final say in approval. It doesn’t detract from the creative endeavors of all other individuals involved.

But, him being the Director, people want to blame someone, if not blaming the entirety of the company. This is what people are doing with their issues founded on localization as well—they’re either venting all their frustrations towards one person (Sabin), or the company as a whole. It never means that actual critique is unfounded, but people need to do it in a way that actually makes sense and is  rational—that’s what makes it “constructive”. The visions for these games go beyond just one person, and if we want to look at them critically, we need to do so that goes beyond that as well.

I wouldn’t classify my issues with the writing of either series as “Nomura’s problem”, I’d just be more specific about what issue it is for me in the series and concentrate on it as itself. Because I know mine don’t come down to be “his issue” so specifically. The only reason I’d ever go beyond that is if there was some evidence that my specific issue DID come from him or a specific person, then I’d talk about it in addition to the problem itself. I know there are people fully blaming Nomura for the changes in FF7R, literally ignoring the interviews that talk about both Nomura and Hamaguchi being limiters to the numerous potential ideas proposed for the game, especially from Kitase who wanted big changes. And even then, Hamaguchi was the one who wanted the players to fight Sephiroth at the end of Midgar, something else fans often complain about.

There’s a reason that in all these interviews they all speak on decisions as “we”. It’s a collective. Whatever is allowed [green-lit] by Directors or Co-Directors shows there’s a common mindset and acceptance amongst a team working together. Though, I don’t feel it ever should be the equivalent of this single person blame game that doesn’t really hit at what the problem actually is.

FFVII Remake Easter eggs and compilation continuity - Part 2: CRISIS CORE

     RUDE BEING...RUDE

When Cloud and Aerith meet Rude in Sector 5 he unceremoniously asks if he’s “her new boy toy”, referring to Zack. Crisis Core established that the Turks knew Zack and were aware of his relationship with Aerith.

    THE PUPPY

Stamp is a new element introduced in the Remake, which makes a mysterious appearance at the end of the game when Zack seemingly subverts his destiny. In Crisis Core Angeal used to refer to Zack as “puppy”. 

“Are you Zack the puppy? My son wrote to me once about you, zero attention span, restless as a little puppy.”

    BANORA WHITE

There are lots of billboards and flyers of “Banora White apple juice” around Midgar. Both Banora and its apples were introduced for the first time in Crisis Core and linked to Genesis.

     ORPHANS

This may be not intentional but it’s still odd to be just a coincidence: one set of Crisis Core side missions involved some orphans who escaped from a Shinra “care facility”. In the Remake, the Leaf House is an orphanage and, according to the novel “Traces of two pasts”, it is under Shinra’s influence.

      DATING

Just like in the OG, Aerith asks Cloud to be her bodyguard in exchange of one date. Her gesture is exactly the same of Zack’s when he asked her for one date.

    SELLING FLOWERS

When Aerith and Cloud arrive in Evergreen Park, she mentions the time she used to sell flowers there, which happened 5 years before with Zack.

“You know, a long time ago, I used to sell flowers here.”

    YOUR EYES

In Chapter 9 Aerith comments about Cloud’s beautiful mako eyes the same way she did with Zack. In the Japanese version, Cloud and Zack answer her with the same sentence:

Aerith: きれい (...) 瞳 [Beautiful (...) Eyes]

Zack/Cloud: 魔晄を浴びた者の瞳　ソルジャーの証だ [Eyes of those exposed to Mako, the mark of SOLDIER]

    PINK DRESSES

In Crisis Core Zack asked Aerith to wear something pink when they'd meet again. Even though Aerith’s dress has always been pink since the OG, her new optional Wall Market dresses are pink as well.

“From now on, why don’t we make a promise every time we meet? (...) For example, when we meet, you always have to dress in pink.”

    TRAINING ROOM

In Shinra HQ there’s a battle simulator where Zack and the other SOLDIERs used to train in CC.  

    SOLDIER PROJECT

During the meeting with the President and the Shinra executives in Chapter 16, Hojo mentions SOLDIER types G and S. He war referring to the two main projects behind the SOLDIER program - Hollander’s Project G and Hojo’s project S.

CC: “Jenova project G gave birth to Angeal and monsters like myself [Genesis]. Jenova project S used the remains of countless failed experiments to create a perfect monster [Sephiroth].” 

7R: “We could have the Ancient reproduce. (...) I would start with candidates from SOLDIER. These would of course include S and G types.” 

    CELLULAR DEGRADATION

In Chapter 7 President Shinra points out that SOLDIERs usually die prematurely due to cellular degradation. Genesis, after being wounded in the battle simulator, started suffering of severe and irreversible cellular degradation.

“Once a SOLDIER, always a SOLDIER. Though not, alas, for very long. Accelerated cellular degradation being the most common cause of death by far.”

    FALLEN ANGELS

While Sephiroth’s black wing was shown for the first time in Andvent Children some visual elements of the Remake recall elements from Crisis Core related to Genesis and Angeal.

    KUNSEL

In Shinra HQ some troopers recognize Cloud and mention Kunsel, a SOLDIER and close friend of Zack’s.

“Cloud? You’re Cloud right? (...) We went through training together. (...) Hey, sit tight man - I’mma go get Kunsel.

    BARRET’S LAST STAND

“Worst route ever. Gimme a suicidal last stand. At least - At least - at least that’d have an end!”

Barret says this when he reaches the 49th floor of Shinra HQ backstairs - SOLDIERs floor. It’s a reference to Zack’s last stand.  

    THE LIFESTREAM 

After the defeat of Whisper Harbinger the protagonists end up in a place full of light and walk on a watery surface. The same happened in Crisis Core during Zack’s dream that foreshadowed his death, a representation of the Lifestream. 

    FREEDOM

Before entering the sincularity in Chapter 18, Aerith says that beyond the portal there’s “Freedom. Boundless, terrifying freedom. Like a great, never-ending sky.” These words are a callback to Zack’s iconic “The price of freedom is steep”.

    THE SKY

In Crisis Core Aerith told Zack that she felt safe under the plate because the real sky frightened her. She reiterates this concept at the end of the Remake when she said “I miss it, the steel sky” (aka the plate), in Japanese "The sky, I hate it”.

    ZACK’S LAST STAND

This scene is repeated shot-for-shot in Chapter 18.

For the other parts refer to the masterpost

Talk about a coincidence!

A possible connection between Aerith and Stamp (as a reference of Zack)

---

BEFORE READING: This post is based on theories more than actual facts, since the true nature of Stamp hasn’t been revealed yet. I’ll provide some elements that could hint its connection with Zack but all this has to be considered as a personal opinion. If this will turn out to be all wrong, I apologize in advance.

(Link for the previous post here)

---

Stamp is a new character introduced in FFVIIR. It is:

“A sweet little canine character beloved by the citizens of Midgar. A regular fixture in cartoons and movies, his face is on every corner of the city either in toy or poster form. Originally used as propaganda material during wartime.”

Most of the fans assume that this dog is a metaphor to represent Zack. The main proof for this theory is the fact that, in Crisis Core, Angeal used to compare Zack to a puppy:

“Are you Zack, the puppy? My son wrote to me once about you, zero attention span, restless as a little puppy.” - [Angeal’s mother to Zack].

This description links up very well with Stamp’s song lyrics (here).  

The biggest mistery around this character is its double design: it is shown to be a beagle during the whole game, but in the end we can see it as a terrier. 

My personal opinion is that this is a metaphor about Cloud’s fake persona. We, players, mostly play as Cloud, so we see the elements of the game through his eyes (and we never see Stamp when we are not Cloud).Cloud thinks to be a former SOLDIER because he’s overlapped his image on Zack’s. 

“Real-Stamp” (Zack) is the terrier, but we see it as a beagle (Cloud) because we see the world through his alter ego. 

At the end of the game, when Zack defeats his destiny, we can see terrier-Stamp because Cloud has no altered personality (or, at least, not yet).

So, my take is that Stamp represents Zack in both forms. 

Of course, I could be totally wrong.

---

I’ll provide some comparisons to support this theory. Around Midgar we can find some posters with Stamp, and most of them can be related to actions that Zack did:

Zack encourages Cloud to work hard to become a SOLDIER.

Zack saves Mako poisoned Cloud, carrying him from Nibelheim -represented by the flames- to Midgar.

Zack took part to a mission in Icicle Inn with the Turks against Avalanche. During the mission they had to go through a cave with falling icicles. There he lost two SOLDIER friends (mabe this will have something to do with the Intergrade?). 

There’s a Stamp magazine on Tseng’s desk. The only other times we’ve ever seen his desk was to show Aerith’s letters (Crisis Core) and the dossier about Nibelheim incident, (Last Order) when the Turks were trying to save Zack from the army.

---

That said, assuming I got this subject at least partly right, let’s talk about the elements that link Aerith to Stamp-Zack.

In Aerith’s childhood room, in Shinra HQ, there’s a book with Stamp and a letter in the background. I tried to translate what’s written on the cover but the picture is very blurred, so there could be mistakes, especially because I don’t speak Japanese (in bold the parts I’m rather sure to be right):

スタンプからの招待状

さえスタンプファンクラブ 「スタンププリーダー」      

Invitation from Stamp 

 Only Stamp fan club “Stamp breeder”

Definitely a strange translation. 

Anyway, the odd fact is that this book appears in Aerith’s room, of all the places of the game, and nowhere else, so I’m wondering if it is maybe meant to metaphorically hint the 89 letters Aerith wrote to Zack.

(Picture taken from Reddit)

---

There’s another detail that could link Stamp-Zack with Aerith: the stars.

In both designs Stamp wears a hat/helmet decorated with stars. Stars have been often used as a military symbol around the world, and so seems to do Shinra.

All characters’ outfits have been redesigned for the Remake. On the shoulders of Aerith’s jacket we can see some decorative stars. And not common stars but military stars, normally used in army uniforms or medals. Quite an uncommon choice for the clothes of a girl strictly related with life, peace and nature (a link to an older design of her jacket without stars, meaning they were introduced purposely for the Remake). 

As a side note, her gray bracelet has the same design of the guard of the Buster sword. 

Talking about stars, also in her canon outfit to see Don Corneo she wears some accessories with star pendants (earrings, necklace, bracelets and sandals). At first it seemed to me a strange choice, as stars in FFVII are commonly related to the promise (and there were no stars in her OG red dress), but in the light of a possible connection with Stamp-Zack it really makes more sense.

---

In short, I’m convinced the devs are hinting once more Aerith’s bond with Zack, even in these subtile details. I was unsure if I had to created this post, given the uncertainaties around the subject. Anyway..

..even if I’m wrong, I have to admit it is a good number of coincidences!

EDIT:

All this recalls me something...

"Aerith’s star and Cloud’s star! They show a great future!” [Cait Sith, Temple of Ancients]

...and now it turns out the stars could be related to Zack? And consequently related to Cloud because of his alter ego? What a coincidence...

I can't grasp the reason why on this website there's this sort of unwritten rule that doesn't allow you to use the Clerith (or Cloti, I guess?) tag unless you're going to celebrate that one ship (does it work this way for every argument or is it just a FF7 LTD related thing?). Otherwise some self-proclaimed tags-controllers will order you to change your writing, in spite of basic common sense and freedom of expression.

As if this sort of cultic anon intimidations could actually scare anybody.

It's tremendously silly, why can't someone tag clerith if the enterity of their article is going to be about clerith and the tone, despite their opinion, is being polite and unagressive? If someone doesn't agree and really can't live with it, there's a useful, easy tool called "block button".

In a way it's hilarious, if the anon was reacting to OP's recent post, they missed the chance to say something productive and give an alternative answer to his last ask, explaining how and why clerith is the end-game pairing.

But, weird, it didn't happen.

All flash, no substance.

Bruh, we don't want to hear about your negative views about cleriths. Cloud loves Aerith and he always has. He lives in her church because he loves her. He thought of Aerith a lot in OG , On the Way to A Smile, and AC. He went to live in her church. Why tf would he go live in her church if it wasn't for Aerith? There are millions of places he could've gone but he chose the church. You don't have to believe our way of thinking if you don't want to, but don't tag clerith in your posts.

Thanks for your question. I think it's important to have these conversations so we can clear up these misunderstandings. Clouds motivations have been well documented so it's unfortunate that large swaths of the fandom seemingly are still in the dark about something that has been known for quite a long time, and I blame lack of communication. Before I answer your question though I'd like to address the style of it, since I find it amusing that in response to my article concerning productive conversation styles you not only used one of the styles I described, but even the same exact argument. This is a nice confirmation for me that I am right on the money. In my article, I said that the "dishonest inquiry" is the Clerith conversation style of choice. The example I gave was as follows:

The dishonest inquiry: “Why don’t you admit that Clouds actions in AC show that he doesn’t love Tifa?”

You mirrored this approach by saying "Why tf would he go live in her church if it wasn't for Aerith?". The defining characteristic of the dishonest inquiry is that the question isn't asked with the goal of seeking clarification, but as an offensive tactic meant to attack the others position, you're not trying to evaluate your position, you're trying to get others to re-evaluate their position under the guise of a question. If we look at the rest of your post we can see the indicators I described for someone who has reached the last stage of the debate style. "Cloud loves Aerith and he always has. He lives in her church because he loves her". As I noted in my article:

If assertions are backed up, they are backed up with other assertions designed to dissuade rebuttals, rather than investigating veracity.

This "argument" had no actual arguments, it was a meaningless assertion. Stating that you are correct in an attempt to avoid having to actual show that you're correct. "Cloud loves Aerith and he always has. He lives in her church because he loves her": This is what you're trying to prove, you can't state what you're trying to prove as your starting premise.

If you're honestly interested in learning more about FFVII then leave out the baseless assertions, they literally just waste peoples time and makes them less willing to engage with you.

If I had to rephrase your question in a way that's more inviting for a productive discussion it would be something like this:

"Why do you believe Cloud chose Aeriths Church as his hiding place in AC? He thinks about Aerith a lot, what do you think the reason is for that if it's not love?".

The answer to this is pretty simple of course, it's been restated several times, this is not something that is some grand mystery, it's not even an aspect of FFVII that's particularly ambiguous. The reason he stays in Aeriths church is the same reason he's seen lingering at Zacks "grave", it's guilt. As stated in the 10th anniversary ultimania, and several other times:

when Cloud contracts Geostigma he disappears. Behind these actions lies feelings of guilt towards his past failure to protect people who were important to him

While this is an element of the story that has been explicitly confirmed through ultimanias and quotes, this is not an element of the story that was ever in any way unclear, its a direct continuation of Clouds character arc in FFVII. Infact, Clouds mental health issues are the central part of the fake persona storyarc, and is arguably the core of the story. The rough order of events shown in FFVII, on the way to a smile, and Advent children (and also CC) concerning Clouds mental health is as follows. 1: Cloud as a boy want to protect Tifa. 2: Cloud fails to protect Tifa. 3: Cloud and townspeople blame Cloud for Tifas injuries. 4: Cloud internalizes this and beats himself up over his failure to protect Tifa. He develops a fear of failure. 5: Cloud starts acting up, starts wanting to prove himself, and decides to join Soldier to impress Tifa. 6: Cloud fails to get into Soldier, develops an inferiority complex. 7: Cloud is too ashamed of his failure to face Tifa. 8: Cloud fails to save his mother. 9: Cloud fails to save Nibleheim. 10: Cloud fails to save Tifa, again. 11: Cloud fails to save Zack. 12: Cloud develops a soldier alter ego that is everything that he isn't, as a defense mechanism. He hides from his own weakness. 13: Even as a soldier, Cloud fails to save Aerith. 14: Cloud regains his memories in the lifestream, and discovers he did fulfill his promise to come save Tifa. Here we basically end FFVII, and go into on the way to a smile. At this point Cloud has overcome the alien parasite messing with his mind by establishing a stronger sense of who he is. However, now that he's lost his fake soldier defense mechanism he's forced to deal with the past. His past failures haven't been fixed, he doesn't suddenly think he's a great person now, he simply can no longer use his fake persona to hide from his own weakness, and is forced to confront it. 15: Cloud still blames his own weakness for the deaths of Aerith and Zack, he thinks that he needs to atone for his sins, and thinks that the only way to do this is through living* 16: Cloud starts living with Tifa and experiences happiness and peace for the first time in his adult life.** 17: Cloud develops cherophobia and survivors guilt. He feels ashamed for being alive and happy while Aerith and Zack are dead because of him.*** 18: Clouds mental health deteriorates because of these feelings.**** 19: Cloud finds Denzel and sees him as a way to atone, having found a pathway to redemption, Clouds situation improves.***** 20: Cloud is unable to save Denzel from geostigma, and contracts it himself. 21: Clouds mental health worsens again, he failed again, he is unable to save Denzel, he is even unable to save himself, he won't be able to atone for his sins through living. He potentially brought an infectious disease into the house and as a result of his actions Tifa and Marlene will now lose him. 22: Depressed and ashamed, Cloud runs away. He thinks Tifa and Marlene are better off without him, he doesn't want them to see him waste away and die, he feels like he doesn't deserve to be happy and should instead die alone, Etc. Classic depression. (Some quotes concerning the *** are at the bottom of the article)

As for why he thinks about Aerith and Zack a lot, and hangs around the places that are connected with them, what else do you expect? Of course he's thinking about them, they're the people he failed, they're DEAD because of him. Cloud is a caring man, he beats himself up over it, of course he'd be thinking about them. And where else would a man wallowing in guilt and self-pity go than to those places? But the important thing to remember is that none of this is supposed to be seen as romantic. It's supposed to be viewed as sad and negative. Every internal character arc has something to overcome and this is what Cloud has to overcome in Advent children.****** Tifa to Cloud: "have we lost to our memories?" Cloud to Sephiroth: "Stay where you belong, in my memories" A well written story has internal and external obstacles to overcome, and ties the two together. In the case of advent children, the return of Sephiroth is the physical representation of Clouds internal character arc, which is that he should stop living in the past, and should move on. The past here isn't a positive thing he wants to get back to, Clouds past has always been a thing he's ran away from, but then is forced to accept. The past in Clouds case is a bad thing, his failures, and is something he should stop dwelling on. If you've ever seen the lion king, this resembles the scene where Rafiki hits Simba with a stick. "What does it matter, it's in the past", "yeah but it still hurts", "Oh Yes, the past can hurt, but the way I see it you can either run from it, or learn from it".

When Cloud returned to his normal self, he stopped running from the past, but as a result, he started dwelling in it. That's what he's doing in Aeriths church; dwelling in misery.

If we juxtapose Aeriths church with the 7th heaven, we can start to see where peoples misunderstandings are taking place. When some people look at the events of ACC they think that 7th heaven is a place of sadness, which Cloud leaves to be happy at Aeriths church, the place of happiness. The "have we lost to our memories" is then seen as a confirmation of this and that the memory, which they think corresponds to Aerith, is better than life with Tifa. This character arc then concludes with Cloud being happy by finally leaving Tifa behind, and riding off in the sun-set in search of Aerith at the end of the movie. But this interpretation falls apart as soon as you apply context to it, both narratively, and factually, it doesn't fit with with developer quotes, as well as the fundamental story themes of FFVII. 1: If 7th Heaven/Tifa is a place of sadness, then why has Cloud been consistently quoted to experience happiness there? 2: If 7th Heaven/Tifa is a place of sadness, and Cloud leaves at the end of the movie, then why has it been stated to be his promised land, aka, his land of supreme happiness (the reason it's literally called 7th heaven), and why is he stated to return there? ******* 3: If Clouds "memories" are positive, why is the plotarc resolved by Cloud telling the villain to "stay there"? 4: If Cloud is happy at the church, why is he living in self-deprecating squalor? 5: If Cloud loved Aerith and thought Denzel was sent to him by her, why did he abandon him? 6: Do you really think SE would write a story about a "hero" whose main emotional hurdle concerning the past comes down to. "I am sick of the girl I am with, I prefer the one that is dead, so I will get over the past by letting go of the girl I am with, as well as my adoptive children, to go chase the dead girl"? 7: Don't you think this would do Tifas character a tremendous disservice and do you think SE would be that preferential in their treatment? I could go on, but I think the point is clear. While the "Aeriths church is a happy place" interpretation is semi-coherent when looked at in isolation, it becomes exceedingly bizarre as soon as you place it in context. As I am fond of saying, this is not a matter of personal interpretation, it's a matter of lying to yourself vs not lying to yourself. I also suspect that this is the reason why SE changed the ending to advent Children, because people were misinterpreting it in this bizarre way, so they made it more in your face. In context, the following interpretation is much more fitting. Aeriths church is a place of sadness that Cloud runs to because of his guilt and depression. The "memories" line refers to Cloud dwelling on his past mistakes, as evidenced by his constant quotes about needing forgiveness. The character arc of moving on from the past is then resolved when he forgives himself, and as a result, defeats sephiroth, the metaphorical demon of his past. This allows him to return to his place of joy, his promised land, the 7th heaven, with a more positive outlook on the past. Instead of tarnishing Aerith and Zacks memories by wallowing in the past he instead moves on from it, thereby allowing it to become beautiful, which is represented by him planting Aeriths flowers on Zacks grave, and placing Zacks sword in the church. Instead of Zacks grave being the place where Zack died, it is now the place where a hero was born. Cloud has moved on, he has let his mistakes go, and has learned to come to terms with himself. I think it's hard to argue that this version of events is much less shallow, and much more meaningful than the story of a lovesick guy who abandons his partner and adoptive kids to go chase after a dead girl, but that's just me, what's more important is that it's the only version of events that's corroborated by the evidence. Thanks for the question. __________________________________________________

Corroborating quotes (not comprehensive)

* from case of Tifa: "“I’m going to live. I think that’s the only way I can be forgiven. All sorts of things…"

** Nojima in AC prologue: "“Cloud never had a candid personality to begin with, and although he started living with Tifa and even started working, he obtained a peaceful livinghe’s never experienced before, and this conversely made him anxious. And in the midst of this he contracts Geostigma himself, and rather than being able to protect the people dear to him, he instead was forced to face his own death, and so ran away.” (among other quotes)

*** 10th anniversary ultimania: "when Cloud contracts Geostigma he disappears. Behind these actions lies feelings of guilt towards his past failure to protect people who were important to him"

Aeriths 10th anniversary profile : Aerith still lives on in the hearts of her friends who saved the planet. And in particular to Cloud, as a symbol of his failure to having being unable protect those dear to him, she was a major factor in causing him to close himself off. -Aerith’s 10th anniversay profile.

And more, really this is reiterated constantly.

**** From case of Tifa: "During that time, it was Marlene who noticed a change in Cloud. She told Tifa how Cloud would sometimes space out and not listen to her.

Transporting mail around the world meant he was traveling around his past too. She knew that Cloud was in great pain because he couldn’t protect Aerith. Cloud was trying to overcome that and live on. But, going back to the place where he parted from Aerith might mean that his sorrow and regret was going to tear his heart again.

It was night, and they had closed the bar. Cloud was drinking alcohol even though he rarely did. He drained his glass. Tifa thought about it before going over and filling his glass.

***** From case of Tifa: "Tifa wondered if they became a real family after Denzel appeared. Cloud was clearly taking less jobs. At night, he would always make sure he had time to spend with the children. The silly little conversations he had with Tifa were also back."

****** Reunion files, page 58: "As long as Cloud blames himself for Aerith’s death, he won’t be able to move on with his life. One of the first ideas we had for Advent Children was to have Cloud overcome and resolve that immense feeling of guilt. For Cloud, no one other than Aerith can solve that problem for him."

- Takahiro Sakurai pg. 15 reunion files: After Cloud was told, “Which is it? A memory or us?: by Tifa, he tells Sephiroth, “Stay where you belong. In my memories,” just before he defeats him. I think Cloud finally becomes free at this moment. Deep down, Cloud knew that he shouldn’t be so hard on himself, but at the same time he couldn’t let go of those feelings of guilt for what happened to Aerith and Zack, or the thought that he could never forgive himself for it. But then his companions made him feel better by telling him to let go. ******* "The place where he awakens—- That is Cloud’s Promised Land As he sleeps, Cloud hears two voices. The voices of two people very dear to him, who are no longer with him. Playfully and kindly, they give him a message: he doesn’t belong here yet. When he awakes, there was his friends. There were the children, freed from their fatal illness. Tifa and Marlene, and Denzel asking for Cloud to heal his Geostigma— his family were waiting. Engulfed in celebration, he realizes where he is meant to live."

"Aerith lends her power to the people suffering from Geostigma in Edge, and personally provides for Cloud’s recovery. Geostigma is cured. Cloud returns to Tifa and the children."

-  FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania Complete Timeline

Talk about a coincidence!

(Previous post here)

Aerith and Tifa parallel 

Eyes are the window to the soul

Cloud has the so-called Mako-Eyes, due to Mako infusion treatment. This is normally a distinctive mark of SOLDIERS and during the game many characters notice them: President Shinra, Reno, Rude, Elmyra...

Aerith

Aerith commenting about Cloud’s eyes was an important plot point of the OG as it was the first hint about her connection with Zack.

This dialogue takes place when they escape from the church across the rooftops of Sector 5 slums.

The devs decided to change this scene for the Remake and replace it with one that recreates step by step a romantic moment between Aerith and Zack from Crisis Core (for those who don’t know what I’m talking about, 0:13).

When Cloud and Aerith arrive in Evergreen Park, a place that's special for her, she starts talking about Zack and her cheerfulness fades away for the first time.

Zack’s name causes Cloud one of his migraine attacks. When he opens his eyes again she comments about their beauty and when he points out that’s because of the Mako she just sais “...I know”.

Tifa

In Chapter 3 Johnny is arrested by Shinra Public Security and Cloud and Tifa have to intervene to make sure he doesn’t talk about Avalanche. Cloud seems to have no hesitation to kill Johnny but Tifa stops him. 

This is the first time during the game where she openly states how much he’s changed and, coincidentally, she does it commenting about his eyes. Of course she’s not talking about their color. Here too he answers in a similar way, saying it's because of the Mako, to which she replies “I remember...”.

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To sum up

Aerith:

likes SOLDIER eyes

because they remind her of Zack, the guy she loved.

She gets sad because she misses Zack.

In Crisis Core Mako eyes were described as “color of the sky - but not scary at all”.

Tifa: 

doesn’t like SOLDIER eyes

because they are different from those of the guy she had a crush on.

She gets sad because she misses the Cloud of 7 years ago.

The camera focuses on his eyes while she says that he’s scaring her.

...

WAIT! 

The devs can’t be saying that SOLDIER-Cloud is NOT real-Cloud, that Aerith likes his Zack-side and that real-Cloud doesn’t use to cut civilians in half with a massive sword...

... Right?!

What an unexpected & unexplainable coincidence!

https://youtu.be/TbZCGCd1nK8

Now I can officially say my birthday falls on Final Fantasy VII day 🥳

Photo mode allows the player to restore the true colors of Elmyra's flashback.

As it turns out, when Elmyra adopts Aerith the ribbon is green.

(image source)

Aerith's ribbon: is it still a gift from Zack?

It has been rumored by some fans that the Crisis Core scene where Zack gave Aerith the pink ribbon is no more canon, because kid Aerith has a pink ribbon too.

I don't mean to sound pretentious but...they're evidently different. Kid Aerith's ribbon has four ends, adult Aerith's ribbon has just two.

Since the original FFVII kid Aerith's had two outfits. She wore the blue outfit in the first part of Elmyra's flashback and the orange one when Tseng tried to convince her to return to Shinra.

In the Remake she wears the orange outfit only in the train graveyard vision and the blue one in all of Elmyra's flashback, from the moment she found her at the station up to when Tseng showed up. It's definitely not very evident because of the sepia tone filter, but we can compare her dress to the concept art and to the orange dress: she has no ribbon on the chest but wears a pinafore dress and a light shirt with bell sleeves.

This means that in the sepia toned scene she was wearing the green ribbon, as we can see from the concept art.

The scene at the train graveyard bears many similarities with the situation described in Picturing the Past, so she was wearing the orange outfit before escaping Shinra HQ.

When Elmyra found her and brought her in Sector 5 she had the green ribbon, not the pink one.

Someone tried to say Aerith stated the ribbon was a gift from her mother when she met Cloud at the church...

Nice try, but she was talking about White Materia. (Leaving a couple of links in case anybody wanted to check: OG, Remake)

So, not only there's no evidence that the pink ribbon is no more Zack's gift but that scene influenced also an important moment of the Remake: Aerith and Cloud's first encounter.

And in both cases the gift was made in order to thank the other for their help

CC: To show you my gratitude for that "hello" that woke me up.

Remake: You know, for scaring those things away.

Ehhh...can I say what a coincidence again?

Matchy-matchy 👑🥲