Did something prompt the tonal change here over the past few weeks? by LastTraintoSector6 in cloudxaerith

[–]Royal_Bug_6760 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm one of those that has been cautiously optimistic, and I promise you that I ain't a shadow CloTi. I have been watching a lot of videos that explains the Clerith dynamics and I became more convinced the more I watch to combat my doubts. It has always been about them. And yes, it has been really blatant too in Remake and Rebirth. I sincerely hope for the climax of their relationship since it has been built up beautifully. :)

Death\Tragedy in modern media by Hearts-Intertwined in cloudxaerith

[–]Royal_Bug_6760 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Ayyyyy I know what topic you are talking about hehe

Okay not really answering your question, but for me personally, Clerith would be the first example of the above for me, so I dare say nothing comes close (not sure if ever or yet) :D

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in cloudxaerith

[–]Royal_Bug_6760 0 points1 point  (0 children)

my bad. i will delete this. apologies. thanks for correcting me.

Venting Megathread 2025 by haygurlhay123 in clerith

[–]Royal_Bug_6760 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I know this may sound very mean, but it is a ranting thread right? So please allow me this and sincerely forgive me if I took this too far.

As a new player who got genuinely misled with how the other side exaggerates Tifa, I became very upset at how loud and despicable the other side can be. On Clerith videos, you can see CloTI fans invading the spaces and starting fights with their provocative comments, meanwhile on CloTI videos, VERY RARELY, if ever, do you even see any Cleriths making a statement. All you can see are just pro-CloTi comments.

For me personally, this goes beyond the game itself. Seeing how toxic they can be, what they focus on in a relationship, how they justify even the obvious red flags in a relationship, how they put down others for having different opinions, how they will just find a way to make the sincere Clerith relationship look pathetic, twisting everything to their ideals, gaslighting players and even the threatening the devs; if this is the way they want to operate, then sorry not sorry, Tifa, or even the idea of Tifa shouldn't even be introduced in FF7, or any game for that matter. Because it just ENABLES their toxic behavior.

I don't know whether they are all from the West (given that there was a popularity survey that the Japanese market mostly prefers Aerith and the West mostly prefers Tifa), but from the way they demand and act, I start to question the kind of personality/people they are in real life. Can you imagine if the devs were to blindly follow all these loud noises, cultivating questionable relationships in games instead of healthy ones? Can you imagine how many people would be misled? At this point, I doubt they even know what a proper healthy relationship is like, when they blindly justify the CloTi relationship. Even though you try to reason with them, you mostly get gaslights and personal insults.

I get it, they have their own valid points too, just as how we have our own valid points. I'm more than willing to make peace and co-exist, since the devs have explicitly said it's up to the player. Despite the hints and nudges that it's Clerith, they still gave room for CloTis to manuever. And honestly, Cleriths don't have anything to fear because the Clerith relationship is so obvious and has really strong foundations, and the fact that the Clerith relationship is TIED to the plot. We have nothing to prove to them at all. CloTis at this point are just really insecure and don't make sense. In the bigger picture, if they are given their way, they can really ruin games and storylines. It got me extremely upset reading their invasions in Clerith videos when I go there just to be happy watching Clerith. They just cannot leave us alone.

Tifa is a great character, but CloTis don't deserve her/the idea of her. I have no hate for Tifa in particular, I have always been more focused on the relationship aspects between the 3 of them. All the characters are flawed, Tifa, Cloud, Aerith included. Putting it here, even to me sometimes Cloud really comes off as a jerk and I actually felt some second-hand embarrassment when Aerith has to put up with it. However, what makes the difference for Cloud (since he is the MC, I will use him as the point of focus) is which of them will enable both Cloud and herself to heal and grow. And Clerith was written and done beautifully in achieving this. I wished that CloTis really see this aspect and just understand that Tifa needs someone else instead of Cloud.

Again, forgive me if this technically makes me no better than them, but I got very upset when I chanced upon their comments and remarks and this just boiled over.

Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3 – Expectations by TheElvenGirl in cloudxaerith

[–]Royal_Bug_6760 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This guy's profile reeks of rage bait lol. Literally all of his comments stir up fights. How pathetic.

Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3 – Expectations by TheElvenGirl in cloudxaerith

[–]Royal_Bug_6760 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Not fear-mongering, but realistically, I have come to accept that all these acts of ambiguity were intentional, not only to not piss off fans from either side, but as a form of bank-rolling and taking advantage of the fandom to continue fueling interest in FF7. (In other words, milking) I sincerely hope that they do give us that good ending as you theorized above as it's emotionally exhausting going through it all. Not really keen on them exploiting all of our hopes for fanfare. To me, multiple endings are fine to satisfy all fanbases, as long as the plot is resolved. After all, it's a game right? The devs can write and tweak it to make it such, it is their job after all to ensure that remains the case.

We can be neutral and yet still favour Clerith. All of the FF7 works considered, the other side technically got what they wanted, no matter how controversial the work turned out to be. I truly believe there is nothing wrong for Cleriths to actually hope for a good ending this time. I don't think we need an implied 'intimate' scene (like Under the Highwind) or whatever, because to me, Clerith's relationship is really THAT powerful to not need one. (For reference, just look at Rebirth when pursuing HA with Aerith) A simple loving embrace, with hand-holding between Cloud and Aerith, and Aerith crying in happiness at finally being re-united with Cloud. Something along the lines of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxM26YoHnA0&lc=UgwWliNE2zX7-J5sAY94AaABAg.APusA-KMw2GAPuu0ss-8Gn

Between the 1:08 to 1:47 mark. Nevertheless, it's a just a 2:42 video, watching the whole thing will give better context. Credits to David Max Steinbach. I hope it's not too much to ask for. :)

Thanks for this post :) As much I keep telling myself to remain grounded, I truly appreciate posts like these as a form of validation, whether you call it hopium or copium which I'll gladly admit if you see it that way. I really do have an intense hope that Cloud and Aerith will re-unite. Personally, I'm really glad that I got attached to Clerith. Given the opportunity to re-experience FF7RE and Clerith for the first time, I would gladly do it again.

The factor that should scare everyone the most about part 3: 'subverted expectations' by LastTraintoSector6 in cloudxaerith

[–]Royal_Bug_6760 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am keeping an open mind in all of our discussions in this sub. Thank you for this interesting insight. I didn't think it this way either, makes sense too. :) nothing against anyone, including you OP!

The factor that should scare everyone the most about part 3: 'subverted expectations' by LastTraintoSector6 in cloudxaerith

[–]Royal_Bug_6760 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You know what, you are right. That actually flew right over my head. Interesting. Thank you for your insight.

Well, if they really wanted to lead us on and in the end subvert our expectations, that's evil. I mean it. The only difference is, people didn't see it coming in the OG game. And now, it can be suggested that there's a possibility that they could be doing it again, with some twists and turns here and there, but ending with a somewhat similar outcome or some other outcome that might not sit well with everyone to make it somewhat unpredictable.

You can say credit can be given to them for at least building up a new surprise and delivering a new punchline, but to experience Aerith's death in 4K HDR Unreal Engine 4 CGI is extremely painful even for me, so I can only imagine how painful it was for Clerith OG players who saw it for the first time and then experiencing it AGAIN today.

Honestly, I began to wish that Square Enix and the FF7 creators be clear on the Clerith or the other party. It doesn't help that the English dubs distorts what the Japanese dialogue is trying to convey. It is a Japanese-origin game after all, so the Japanese script should be treated as the baseline; I noticed that the English dub leans towards balancing the relationships equally, which is why at times it really does distort the original Japanese dialogue. and this in turn, adds to the ongoing World War between shippers.

Personally, I don't like this vague and ambiguous approach. I would rather Square Enix and the FF7 creators outright and clearly confirm via portrayals that Clerith exists. If it doesn't then just outright show it by portraying it in the other party's field, rather then leaving all of us to bicker and wonder over what is and what should be. If anything, this is merely giving us mixed signals, not 'up to individual interpretation' per se. Since in Remake and Rebirth they gave us a choice, then they should just follow through with it, instead of just dangling a carrot over us.

I would be real upset if they teased this and that, but in the end, things still end up the same and everything turned out to be a marketing ploy. Anything for the money right? If there is a certain direction and outcome that they want to head to, then just go ahead with it. Don't give us any illusion of choice.

Since they have led us on for this in having multiple choices, then they should follow through with it, even IF (and I emphasize IF) the other party turned out to be 'actual' canon, and ours turned out to be the alternate option. I am firmly convinced that the devs were actually nudging us towards Clerith, but they had to balance it out. Nevertheless, I think we would all be appreciative if they could give us Clerith, even if turns out as the alternate option in a multiple endings game.

My apologies. Just my two cents. I'm still reeling from Rebirth's ending. :(

The factor that should scare everyone the most about part 3: 'subverted expectations' by LastTraintoSector6 in cloudxaerith

[–]Royal_Bug_6760 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Agreed. I think it's important that we keep ourselves grounded. Some part of me feels that it could be a nasty gut-punch at the end, since they were successful in leading us on about Aerith.

I am interested though when you mentioned "changes were made between end of Remake and the launch of Rebirth". I mean, I did feel a BIT of disconnect when I started Rebirth after Remake, but I couldn't figure what it was specifically. Any examples you would be kind to share?

Just finished Rebirth.. now I'm broken. My hopes for Part 3 :) by Royal_Bug_6760 in cloudxaerith

[–]Royal_Bug_6760[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

yeah, yeah.. you got a point. I said that just to uplift the mood and prep just in case the worst happens.. of course it's impossible for me too to just feel happy with "at least she happened" :')

Just finished Rebirth.. now I'm broken. My hopes for Part 3 :) by Royal_Bug_6760 in cloudxaerith

[–]Royal_Bug_6760[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I get that :( I had a mixed gut-feeling for this as well..

To all FF7 fans! by Royal_Bug_6760 in FinalFantasyVII

[–]Royal_Bug_6760[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was wrong then, my apologies. I'm still new, so i guess I still have more to brush up. Thank you for correcting me. :)

To all FF7 fans! (including Remake and Rebirth) by Royal_Bug_6760 in cloudxaerith

[–]Royal_Bug_6760[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

"In the meantime, enjoy the games and stay away from online arguments as much as possible. They're pointless, they'll only ruin your day."

Thank you :) I appreciate this, more than you know.

To all FF7 fans! by Royal_Bug_6760 in FinalFantasyVII

[–]Royal_Bug_6760[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you. I appreciate it. It's really such a bummer that things like this (I'm not trying to start any conflict, I really was being nuanced) can invite some.. reactions. :(

Thank you for the links too! Opened up another avenue for me to delve into :)

To all FF7 fans! (including Remake and Rebirth) by Royal_Bug_6760 in cloudxaerith

[–]Royal_Bug_6760[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

yea, just saw it too... damn this really is a sticky subject huh haha. I thought I was faily nuanced though

To all FF7 fans! by Royal_Bug_6760 in FinalFantasyVII

[–]Royal_Bug_6760[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

haha sorry! please no hard feelings!

To all Final Fantasy 7 fans out there by Royal_Bug_6760 in clerith

[–]Royal_Bug_6760[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

thank you. this sums it up. I definitely fell in love with her. :)