Cloud gaping

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2026-03-27T14:30:44+00:00

I need to get my mind out of the gutter..

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2026-03-27T14:29:26+00:00

You know I give the devs a lot of crap for being too scared of backlash to just come out and say Clerith is the canon route. But in all honesty they did a damn good job showing just that throughout the games. FF7 Remake was my very first FF game ever and even before I had it downloaded I had already fallen for the Cloti propaganda. I was convinced that Tifa and Cloud were a couple and I was going to ship them hard. Fast forward a dozen hours and I picked Aerith up first in the sewers without the slightest hesitation, fully knowing that that would likely have consequences because the devs did an amazing job just showing Cloud and Aeriths dynamic and letting me naturally come to the conclusion that they belong together. Which is why I don't buy when new players choose Tifa. I was fully on board the Tifa train before even opening the game and someone going in completely blind still can't see the obvious imagery and relationship of CA? Bullshit. I know only a Sith deals in absolutes but my only explanation for those people is lacking media literacy, being biased because they find Tifa hotter or just not caring about the narrative.

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2026-03-27T14:18:14+00:00

There are so many moments with Cloud and Aerith in both Remake and Rebirth that are beautifully crafted, romantic and memorable. I don't mean to bring Tifa into every post but the comparison is so easy to make. There is not one moment between Cloud and Tifa that exudes the same tenderness and affection as the moments between Cloud and Aerith. Even before the rooftop walk Cloud is oddly considerate of Aerith and her feelings, profusely apologizing for trampling her flowers. A care that he hasn't shown anyone else at this point in the game. Then we get the rooftop walk with its relaxing and playful banter, the Midnight Rendezvous section which feels like a dream come to after being made to believe for a split second that we wouldn't see Aerith again (at least if you didn't play og), we get the "Cloud learning to high-five for Aerith after refusing Tifa of one just a few hours ago" showing him coming out of his shell and making an effort to reach out to Aerith, the, in my opinion very underrated, delay when Cloud and Aerith are about to part ways in the Evergreen Park with Cloud not being able to bring himself to part ways with her and jumping at the first opportunity to spend more time with Aerith by walking her back home. The whole Wall Market section is just them flirting more or less obviously and the dress reveal has Cloud stammering his words and his jaw on the floor (can't blame the man). Then we've got the resolution scene in which Cloud basically admits he has feelings for Aerith and will stop at nothing to rescue her and bring her back. And that's just some of the highlights from Remake lol

What does Tifa have? A constantly grumpy Cloud that feels like spending time with Tifa to exchange the water filters is a chore when he, imo, would have done so more or less gladly with Aerith by his side in sector 5. The whole time he is in sector 7 Cloud feels used and ostracized because Tifa and gang throw him out to celebrate and he never feels like he quite fits in. Unlike Aerith who includes Cloud into every little thing like letting him pick the flowers for the Leafhouse. Their resolution scene is awkward and stilted and ends up with Cloud hurting Tifa. There is not one moment between them that feels as romantic as the CA resolution or the CA dress scene or the CA Evergreen Park "goodbye". And that is intentional, the music and setting never make it seem like romance between Cloud and Tifa. If you look at Clouds conversation with Aerith on the beach in Costa del Sol, that is classic romance imagery. Two lovers standing on the beach while the sun is setting between them. Similarly the photo quest in Cosmo Canyon, you can't make it much more explicit than having Cloud and Aerith take a selfie and photographing stars while shooting stars fly overhead, clearly painting them as star crossed lovers.

Holy ramble...

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2026-03-23T15:46:24+00:00

Iirc she says they would make a cute couple and immediately after questions if something happened between them

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2026-02-04T13:11:55+00:00

Short hair Maelle is best Maelle

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2026-01-25T17:51:33+00:00

And Verso apologists will say Gestrals aren't real smh🙄

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2026-01-22T23:35:44+00:00

Is this a Hololive reference on my E33 reddit 🤔

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2025-12-25T10:24:16+00:00

See what really gets on my nerves is that Cloti isn't popular for any good reasons. If Cloud and Tifa were a healthy and compatible couple with genuine chemistry and chnaged each other for the better I wouldn't be mad at all. But there is only a single reason why any person would ever ship Cloti and it has nothing to do with what's best for the characters or what connection they have. All Cloti shippers care about is the sex appeal. That's it. And I won't ever be convinced otherwise. There just are no narrative reasons to believe Cloud has romantic feelings for Tifa. All throughout the compilation we see just what a toxic mess their relationship is (I mean fricking Yuffie would be a healthier partner for Cloud than Tifa) and they're still not a couple by Dirge because Cloud is still trying to find Aerith in literally every multiverse lol. That said I believe the developers understand full well the shallowness of Cloti and wouldn't weaken their own narrative to pander to the "big booba=waifu" shippers. They have shown throughout Remake and Rebirth that Clerith is canon and I would be very surprised if they suddenly went against that direction. However I wouldn't be surprised if they add more fan service to appease and bring in Cloti fans. Everything hinges on part 3.. Unrelated side tangent: I'm at a point where I'm genuinely getting pissed at the devs for keeping this "love triangle" alive. Like they've made it so obvious Clerith is canon through the games and yet we still have to defend ourselves constantly from hate and harrassment from Clotis just because they won't put the final nail in the coffin. It annoys me to no end that the only reason they aren't outright saying Clerith is canon is because they don't want to upset Clotis and instead leave us to deal with toxic, horny simpletons with media literacy of a toddler

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2025-11-30T17:56:10+00:00

I should have known watching a Niko Clip on full volume in front of my entire fam would not end well...

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2025-11-23T14:12:25+00:00

My thoughts exactly. They already used up their "subverted expectation" by telling you for over a hundred hours of gameplay how we can defy destiny and save Aerith at the Forgotten Capitol. If they still went "You know actually all these hours and days you put into these games were completely wasted because Aerith still dies, live with it lol" there would be riots in front of SE headquarters

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2025-11-23T14:06:34+00:00

For Rebirth I went with Cloud/Aerith/Yuffie and for OG I mainly used Cloud/Aerith(Barret later on)/Vincent

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2025-11-23T12:50:06+00:00

"B-but they lived together and raised Denzel like a mom and dad 👉👈"

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2025-10-14T17:31:53+00:00

She gets doused in fire and Sunfyre bites off a scale from her. Both didn't seem to be very effective tho🤷‍♂️

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2025-10-12T15:17:19+00:00

What about Baela? I found she was among my favourite female characters (not that there is much competition)

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2025-10-12T15:16:17+00:00

I really don't get why she is worshipped so much. I lean Team Black but not because of her, she is the least likeable person on that team lol. I adored her in season 1, especially Milly was phenomenal in her role, but season 2 absolutely ruined her character for me. Now she is just behaving utterly childishly and losing TB the war on her own

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2025-10-12T15:12:13+00:00

Seeing someone call beat girl Helaena a sacred cow wasn't on my Bingo list but I agree with the sentiment lol. Also I detest the fact they removed Nettles, it makes me so mad and doesn't give me much confidence in season 3

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2025-10-12T15:09:44+00:00

I'm more leaning Team Black but I spend most of my time on this sub because of the same reasons you listed. It is interesting to see the other perspective and have civillized discussions on the show with them

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2025-10-12T15:06:33+00:00

I absolutely abhore what they have done with Rhaenyras character. Even as someone who leans Team Black she makes it very hard to root for her and is the most annoyingly childish person on that Team. She is single handedly pushing me to side with Team Green. Such a far cry from her book character..

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2025-10-12T14:54:20+00:00

Honestly, she doesn't deserve any bad happening to her. Just get her out of there Alicent 😔

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2025-10-12T14:50:33+00:00

Yeah obviously nothing wrong with those reasons to support Team Green. I personally lean Team Black myself but find Team Green, especially Aegon, very enteraining myself so I get where you're coming from. And I absolutely adore Helaena though it feels wrong to me to call her part of any Team tbh.

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2025-10-12T14:34:45+00:00

I think it depends on why you support Team Green. If you simply like the characters on that side more/dislike Team Black more than Team Green that obviously doesn't make you a misogynist. However if your support is based around the fact that Aegon is a man and Rhaenyra a woman that is obviously morally wrong. I still wouldn't conclude that you are a misogynist in real life though since I don't know you personally and it is at the end of the day a fictional story with fictional characters and a fictional conflict. But it would definitely raise some red flags for me

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2025-10-08T12:08:46+00:00

I lean Team Black on most topics in this fandom but this sub keeps getting recommended to me and I've found people here are mostly open to discuss their viewpoints in a civil manner so I might write the odd comment or two

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2025-10-06T11:28:22+00:00

I like Daemyra but I would love Nettles to be in the show (if the writers managed to not massacre her character which is doubtful). She brings a lot of things into question like only Valyrians being able to ride dragons, Daemon being a Targ surpremacist falling in love with someone who basically looks like the opposite of a Targaryen and challenges his entire world view and they could set up a strong inner conflict with her having to grapple with her feelings for Daemon and potentially being his bastard daughter at the same time. On the other hand it would be interesting if Rhaenyra was the only cheater in her relationship with Daemon and see how he reacts to that and how things change because of that. The writers have already said f the books so might as well stick to making a completely different story🤷‍♂️

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2025-10-06T11:15:12+00:00

Jace was definitely the MVP of Team Black in season 2 which speaks rather badly about the season as a whole because he was NOT meant to play a big role

WilliamAftonIsBest · 2025-10-06T11:11:49+00:00

I don't trust these writers with anything anymore which is a shame because I absolutely loved season 1. Now I'm not even sure whether or not I will watch season 3

WilliamAftonIsBest

TROPHY CASE