Upon a recent interview, FF7 story writer Kazushige Nojima has stated “No Promises to Keep” was written for everyone Aerith cares about 😢 MY HEART. What an Angel. ALSO Everyone and their moms will fight with their own points till it’s 100% confirmed. The chemistry you see or DON’T see is just an opinion. Which is why I had to poke fun a little bit.

YESSS AERITH AND TIFA ARE MORE THAN SHIPPING WARS. Both are incredible well written characters and I love them both. I’d play a spinoff of just the girls doing a girls trip. Costa Del Sol was not enough 😭💕💕💕

I been CloTi since the OG and I was kid, that said I also believe the loves in our lives can have significant values. Of course not always the case, but I also think Cloud loved them both and needed them in his life when they were there. But the UNCONDITIONAL LOVE Tifa has for him no matter how messed up he is is why I'm CloTI. I do 100% think Cloud needs to work out those problems first. As for Barrett...he's gotta be with Rhonda, the mayor of Junon. Would that be team Brhonda? Barrett, Marlene, Rhonda, and Salmon.

I'm been cloti and I love aerith as character

Everyone knows that I'm of the view that he loves Tifa romantically, but that he cared for Aerith a great deal. Ultimately if they wanted to give a clear description of Cloud's feelings towards Aerith (especially after the lifestream sequence) to put them on equal romantic ground to Tifa's I think they would have, but it's always just been "friend" this, "friend" that in all of the Advent Children promotional material that came out. It's technically a spoiler for Rebirth if you think about it. The devs still wanted you to spend date time with your favorite yet the only one Cloud kisses is Tifa. If he also kissed Aerith I would have been shook, but.. damn. Well-made video though and peep the Wonder Girls reference at the end! Haha

Who should end up with cloud? This is honestly one of the most frustrating things about the shipping debates. The WOMEN are not objects for cloud to win. Aerith and tifa are not only great characters, but do believe they are the MVPS. Without them, cloud dosnt become a hero per se and the world dies. But if we seriously consider the debate as you did, what is the story trying to tell us? It’s telling us this, death happens. And there’s no fixing that. Don’t take things for granted and grieve for those you love. Did cloud love with romantically? We don’t know for sure. And it’s uncomfortable. “What if we had more time? What if I was more open? What if she loved?” It bothers cloud and tifa where they have these unresolved feelings. They know they’d give anything to see aerith, but they know that her being dead prob brought them together. Cloud and tifa are the ones who will end up together but it’s complicated. It’s kinda like the Mary Jane, Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker triangle. Gwen died, and it made mj and Peter seriously consider their adulthood and pushed them into a real relationship. But they always ponder “what if Gwen lived?” Tifa's and aerith prob knew that they loved cloud. But they never held it against each other . My fan-canon imagines if Tifa and aerith did develop feelings for each other (look at those chemistry), and this complicated what they feel for cloud and each other :)

Enjoyed the video

Okay I'm subscribing. I just saw you have introspective videos on Cloud and Zack on the side and I need to support my fellow Melanin princess. You make good, valid and well thought out points and your hair is friggin fantastic. Sold. I'm a fan. :D

nice video! i agree with most of what you said. i have my own preferences but i can admit there there is evidence for both sides. just wish people would stop fighting and enjoy what they like without diminishing the characters or spreading lies. anyway, have you read cloud’s new novel? 2,000 gil to a hero! it’s a really good read and gives a lot of background to what happened to cloud after he left nibelheim. i think you might enjoy it!

I totally agree with your last point, Cloud needs to stabalize himself before entering into a emotional romantic partnership. (Though he makes a great effort in Advent Children)

I just need my boy zack to get his happy ending 😭. Zerith to me is the star crossed tragic lovers and I do believe we will see them unite in the lifestream in part 3 bc we never saw it in AC. Just my thoughts on ships lol

You said it perfectly. Cloud is no way fit for these girls. Aerith acknowledges she doesn't know real him. Tifa thinks she does but in the lifestream Cloud sais something like - we grown up next to each other BUT we didn't know each other. This shocks Tifa who acknowledged she didn't also knew real Cloud. This makes all shipping redundant.

I always thought that the narrative and devs were pretty clear about Cloud's feelings even in the original. Tifa is the girl he always wanted but never felt confident enough to go after. Aerith is muddy because Cloud spends so much of the story pretending to be a confident, perfectly heroic badass soldier which is not his true personality. He is shy, awkward, and actually not confident in himself at all. Until he realizes that it's okay for him to be that way. But like I said I think the devs are pretty clear about Cloud's feelings and who they prefer for him. The original game was going to have a much more explicit (for 1997 anyway) intimate scene between Tifa and Cloud but they realized that kids would probably be playing the game so it was altered to be more subtle. The lifestream scene makes it pretty clear that Cloud always wanted Tifa to the point that he internalized failing to save her as his own personal weakness and only got over that when he was able to show Tifa his most important memory of her. It’s hilarious to me that they both liked each other but were too insecure about themselves to realize it. Tifa out here dressing up just for Cloud is adorable. People like to point to Advent Children to dismiss their relationship, but that’s ridiculous. We, the fans might want official confirmation of them being a couple. But I don’t think they need that kind of validation. They love each other, they would have to to be trying to raise kids together. Sometimes I think we get way too focused on details, especially when it comes to relationships in media. Maybe it’s different in other parts of the world but it sure does feel like only American culture needs explicit validation of relationships.

I Fully agree with you... CLOUD loves both of them... and the 2 women loves Cloud. And should this be a real situation, and with the grief and guilt Cloud would go through the future, He will really end up all alone. We saw this in Advent Children...

I've never seen the relationships as a triangle. I just saw it as a choice you as the player can make for a little flavor in the story. It's an RPG that has light dating sim mechanics that the original barely acknowledged. In that spirit, I think they'll still leave the shipping up to the players. But I do think Aerith's Gold Saucer date is meant to be the canon one because their conversation in the sky wheel is the most plot relevant. But that's just my reading. Not discrediting anyone's ship. And just because I think Aerith's date is canon doesn't mean I think he loves Tifa less. Like you said in the video, he loves them both. And a date is just that, a date. It's not indicative of any of them ending up together in the end. I think I agree with your conclusion that Cloud shouldn't be romantically involved with anyone right now because he's a mess and has to work on himself.

Cloud loves Aerith and Tifa. Tifa and Aerith love Cloud. It's as simple as that but a huge portion of the fanbase refuses to accept that. As for the "canon" romance option there will never be a single canon pairing. The developers have said multiple times throughout the years that it's whatever the player wants it to be. Even recently when the Ultimania dropped the developers were already talking about the gold saucer dates not making sense for the narrative at the time and wanted the fans to consider all the gold saucer dates as completely separate from the main story. Maximillian Dood said it best. It's all just fanservice for the fans and we absolutely ate it up haha. I think the only real fanbase that has a right to be upset are Zack fans. They got the short end of the stick. They wanted to make it clear that at this point in time Aerith had moved on from Zack (it had been almost 5 years) and now had feelings for Cloud. If there are multiple endings I'm positive they'd give Zack and Aerith fans a happy ending as well. They all deserve a happy ending.

I love Aerith as a character, I mean, how can you not like such sweet girl! But honeslty, in terms of emotional connection depth, if there is anyone who can heal him, it's Tifa. To me, Aerith is the heroin of FF7, but the heroin for Cloud is Tifa.

You're right reality, nobody is the best answer 🤣 But you gotta love them for trying. Aerith and Tifa are the most lovable characters in this series. I wonder if with Aerith in the lifestream now, and Tifa having been inside a Weapon, will Tifa gain abilities that allow her to talk to Cloud's mind like Aerith talks to the Planet. I might as well say I hope Cloud and Tifa are happy together in the future. I would hope that five or so years later that there might be a child with fluffy blonde hair and dark maroon eyes. A little brother or sister for Denzel and Marlene. If it were a girl, the name is obvious. But that being said, we are not there yet. Tifa is not yet the love of Cloud's life, and Aerith (as wonderful as she is) isn't either. During the events of FFVII, Cloud's true love is still Claudia Strife, the woman who single-handedly raised him into who he is. Although he doesn't realize it by age sixteen 🤣🤣 Cloud is a thoughtful young man full of love and ambition. He's a Jack of all trades who learned these skills from a Jill. Cloud is a young man who never for a second doubted his loving mother that his father loved him too. Claudia is a woman with high morals and standards with dreams who in turn passed these same ideas on to Cloud, inevitably leading him to have these standards for himself and for women. Hero's are more nurtured than they are made by nature. And you're way less likely to meet an incredible woman if you aren't raised by one. As a young woman of seventeen, Claudia would most likely be an Aerith or Tifa of her generation, and in turn find herself a selection to find someone pretty damn good. Certainly not someone who would runaway like many fans speculate. Symbolically, Claudia who stayed, is the opposite of Lucrecia who ran away. While Hojo is Sephiroth's parent biologically, Vincent was the would be father who never did a thing. Cloud's father is gone but would have done anything. Sephiroth's birth is bathed in Jenova, Cloud's in Lifestream. In short, Aerith and Tifa save Cloud in every way imaginable. Claudia made him the perfect man worth saving. Tifa and Aerith... I like those names a lot. But the story has moved on. We gotta put another name next to Tifa's. Let me think... Tifa and Cloud is nice, but it's still a little too soon. Tifa and Scarlet! That's the one!!!! Forget the slap fight! That's nothing now. If you want look at subtext, this woman might be the biggest killer in this story. With out a doubt she is the most outwardly violent character. She doesn't wear a single mask. 'You're scum. I'm going to kill you.' And now she's going to try and gas Tifa and the Princess of Wutai on a worldwide broad cast. That's not going to trigger a massive battle! What if the chamber is loaded with Poison and Ice materia. The cold makes it slow. Those moogles might be good energy to fuel up that Crimson Machine... Cissnei was insubordinate in Gongaga. When Scarlet kills her, she'll probably see Zack alive or in her mind, and die trying to tell him the name we never hear. Reality won't go her way as Shinra falls. So her connective brain tissue with reality... bye bye. She'll survive the Midgar Raid and bring terror to the slums in a final act of revenge. Her machine is destroyed, but killing the moogles has put some kind of curse on her. Now she loses the filters we thought she didn't have in the first place. Can't stop saying kupo either. After Hojo is dead, Scarlet sicks Nero on Yuffie. Vincent protects her. Chaos in the slums. Anything for a distraction. Scarlet takes Elmyra and Marlene hostage to lure Tifa into a fight to the death in Aerith's church. Marlene for some reason went to sleep earlier and won't wake up until later. There was someone Aerith didn't want her to meet. She uses more materia spells than we've dealt with so far. She moves like Aerith on purpose. She's hacked Cait Sith's cameras many times without Reeve's knowledge. She knows how you fight. She's been waiting for this. She imitates Aerith's battle lines in a mock voice. Her last words hurt Tifa severely but they might be a lie. How could she know that anyone who joined Soldier couldn't have kids after? Maybe having been inside that Weapon will make things okay. No more mercy: Tifa has Scarlet pinned in front of her. A quick precise punch to the brainstem. Lights out! Scarlet's irises do a sunset, rolling down, leaving only bloodshot whites. I think Scarlet would be a great nemesis for Tifa. The new human Weapon versus the Materia abuser. The perfect would be mother versus a child killer. In the end my heart does go to Tifa the Weapon. But Aerith is the yellow flower of the lifestream!

I think I agree with Max Dood in that this is written as a high-school-like love triangle (or square, if you add Zack). The difference though is that it's far more complex and the circumstances are more dire. I think Cloud loves both but in different ways and both amazing women bring out different aspects of him. Because of plot, well, we know who he winds up with ultimately, but without the help of both Tifa and Aerith, he wouldn't be able to find himself again. And I feel like with this remake, they gave Tifa even more importance due to her having to be the one to help put Cloud back together. The most important thing, like you indicated, over everything is that the trio all value one another as friends. A person can love more than one person, but that doesn't mean you can only see them as a love interest. I really think it's been wonderfully written and this was a great video.

Personally, I am a hardcore cloti, but i absolutely love Aerith as a character. I have a personal stance that her and Cloud have a spiritual type relationship. After playing Rebirth, i definitely feel that Aerith LOVES Cloud, but she is not head over heels for Cloud. This mostly has to due to her complicated feelings leftover from Zack and the fact that she has yet to meet Cloud's true self. During the church scene at the end she states "I really like you but like can mean many things" so its clear Aerith does not have 100% closure on her feelings for Cloud or Zack shes stripped away from the chance due to Sephiroth. Aerith will always be an important person in Cloud's life. that's just a part of the narrative. However, with Tifa, i feel like the feelings are more mutual on both sides, or rather, the feelings are clearer. Tifa falls for Cloud when she is around 13, and that night at the water tower, she realizes she's truly in love with him. (Traces of Two Pasts) Cloud dedicates going to Solider entierly to becoming a better man for Tifa and is stated explicitly his desires of wanting "to become a special existence to Tifa" (2000 gill to a hero novel) Cloud and Tifa's past and history and deep connection are a core part of the story. The scene in Gongaga is my favorite in rebirth, not because of the "near kiss," but because it's clear Cloud becomes more like his real self when Tifa is near. His way of speaking and his sincere tone and the vulnerability he only ever opens up to her. This is true for the entire compilation. It's heavily clear that without Tifa, Cloud would have remained a Hollow shell like he was by the railroad. Tifa is the only piece of memory that Cloud has that is pure and untainted by the Jenova cells in his body. She will always be there to remind him of who he is. Their relationship is just so special to me. But that is not to undermine Aerith’s importance to Cloud she will always be someone that he will remember to his core and its important that all of Cloud’s relationships are vital to his story and his character. That said I really hope SE decides to make it cannon in Part 3 so debates can be out to rest. (Ambiguity is what led to this in the first place afterall)

I’m not gon lie I would dig a cooking channel for some anime/FF recipes

*Spoiler* In Chapter 14 of Rebirth. I obviously Ship Cloud with Tifa But i do love the relationship between Cloud & Aerith just as much. I love that last date between Aerith & Cloud! We got a chance to see a little glimpse of "what could have been". Those last few moments before she pushes him into the life stream are so good! In my opinion, I felt like a I got closure between Aerith & Cloud and for that... I truly like it! It reminds me of how Ted Mosby in "How I met you mother" had that monologue, were he told his kids if he can go back in time, he would go back to meet their mother 45 days earlier...to have those extra 45 days with her. But Aerith got 1 last date with Cloud..beautiful...beautiful i tell you!

Girl I totally agree with you. I personally ship Cloud and Aerith but it just makes sense he ends up with Tifa at the end. Aerith dies and it's so wrong to expect Cloud to stay in this depressed state alone when he clearly also has feelings for Tifa. It's the same reason even if I adore Zack the ppl who seriously think Aerith can never love another man again and should save herself for a dead guy her whole life is insane and cruel. Both Tifa and Aerith are best girl and honestly should have left Cloud to live happily every after as AerTi haha

In conclusion, she wants... RED! Scooby Dooby DOO!!!!!!! I kid, I kid.

Interesting vid! I think this debate is also complicated more so by the fact that, we're facing a kind of East vs West when it comes to video game romances happening within FF7. While Japanese games may offer multiple romance options for the players to choose, the devs usually have a 'intended' romance. Western developers tend to be a bit more..........open ended? In their approach to make sure the player's choices feel validated by not committing to a set love interest. Japanese games, especially JRPG's will be more blatant with marketing, promotional material, and subsequent appearances in other media, on who they want/expect to be paired together. For a lot of us western gamers FF7 was our first experience with video game romance. Some may like/choose Cloud X Tifa but if you ask me, there is WAY more evidence/marketing/promotion material to support that Cloud X Aerith is the 'intended' romance and that I feel can cause friction between people. It adds a weird layer of 'legitimacy' that people may feel they need to validate, defend, or dispute. I like your take on Cloud and the fact that the dude clearly needs to sort stuff out before having a relationship

As for me, you might hate it. But i would just pick the one who is still alive. 😆

I think the Re-games have confirmed that Tierith(?) is the only viable option ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I jest a little, I always saw them both as equal; Aerith was the clear choice for the story, the "Moment" has a way bigger impact the more important she is to Cloud, but Tifa is obviously endgame, Aerith is literally gone, and after Cloud is himself again his feelings for her can fully blossom. That being said, I was somewhat online back in the late 90s, and the discourse abt "jiggle physics" and explicit s*x under the Highwind made sure I couldn’t take ppl seriously. I didn’t know there was real a shipping war going on until Remake was released, and even then idiots were back to complain abt Tifa's cup size, like ffs. I adore all these chrs, especially the girls, and the Re-games have done an amazing job fleshing them out. Also the best date scene was Yuffie, with Nanaki a close second.

One of my favorite aspects of Aerith is that she's able to seperate her longing for Zack from her feelings for Cloud and explain this clearly to him. No shyness or insecurity, she's honest about her feelings and how she wants to go forward with him. She's not using Cloud as a stand-in for Zack. She loves Cloud for who he is and wants to spend more time with him, but she also knows that he hides hinself behind a prickly mask to protect his sensitive heart. Cloud is willing to step out of his shell to be with her. In Remake, he struggled to give Tifa a high five. In Rebirth, he holds Aerith for the gondala ride and savors the moment. I think Cloud and Tifa have a mutual crush, but the Compilation is clear that their relationship (if it's even that-Nojima has expressed confusion at fans saying CT are a couple) has a lot of problems. C and T are terrible at expressing their feelings; they bottle up their problems until they overflow. Their relationship betwen OG and AC is dysfunctional: Marlene telks Barrett that they aren't getting along. Cloud lies to Tifa about his habit of sleeping/hanging out in Aerith's church between jobs and turns to alcohol to numb himself. Tifa doesn't call out Cloud's cold, self-destructive behavior until AC, 2 years after OG. They are able to make up, don't hold grudges over this, and i have no doubt that Cloud and Tifa love eachother enough to make it work. But it's clear that their communication and honesty is pretty bad and it strains their relationship. Contrast this to Aerith's beach and water tower scenes in Rebirth. She's able to articulate her complicated emotions without lashing out at Cloud or clamming up. She's clear about her needs and sets firm but gentle boundaries while processing her thoughts, and Cloud respects that. Aerith does in 5 minutes what Cloud and Tifa failed to do for 2 years.

I agree with you :) I think Cloud & Tifa are supposed to be together, & Zack & Aerith are supposed to be together ~ but I do really think he loves them both romantically 💛 Tifa is his soulmate/ rock IMO, but I do really think he has butterflies & stars for Aerith ☀️ ~ nothing gets under my skin more than people reading into Clouds facial expressions haha “Cloud looked disappointed after hugging Tifa because he wants to be with Aerith” , no he didn’t , he’s just awkward lol

I find Clerith the tragic love story like Romeo and Juliet, the love story with an accident waiting to happen. The love that was never meant to be. Which is what makes it all the more enticing and haunting to think about. There's always that question of what if- which they answered, in that non optional date at the end. And given the context of Zack and Aerith's loneliness, it makes it all the more gut wrenching but it happens a lot in real life, so its not all that taboo as people think it is... Just saying..

Why not both ? since Aerith and Tifa are bestie they propably can share 😊 I think people should understand that the devs love the ambiguity between these two relationship. They will never show us the clear answer even after Aerith is death. It's all up to how people interpret and relate themself with Aerith and Tifa. Now, the devs knew people like Tifa more than Aerith since the OG. So what they do ? They shoved more of Aerith non optional date scene, to even it out for new and old players. But it didn't work for me, i still prefer Tifa. The most grounded character in the game. I think it's interesting that what people choose reflect how they percieve relationship. If they choose Aerith, they like it hot and spicy like romeo and juliet, in the moment thing. If they choose Tifa they are in for a long ride, thick and thin.

Tifa and Aerith deserve better than Cloud, they deserve each other. Lowkey I could ship them in a polycule tho

I don't usually get into ships but Zack is my favorite video game character so I will always ship Zerith and Cloti

Aerith if she will be alive. If not, Tifa 😅

Guys and girls can be friends without it being romantic. Tifa and cloud best friends. The story was always pushing towards aerith. She was always the one

I really don't understand why so many people prefer this pairing (Cloud Tifa). I figured the reason for the more nonoptional scenes is due to Aerith's scenes having even a little more relevance to the story progression than Tifa and Cloud scenes. Cloud really doesn't seem to appreciate Tifa in the way she deserves. Even after the game it just feels like she's following him but he's always thinking about something else. Even if he doesnt love Aerith I really don't see any romance between he and Tifa except the optional kiss scene, which literally felt OOC to me. Other than that, it feels like two people with a shared trauma but not really shared? I feel like people want Tifa to be the one but the devs weren't originally expecting a lot of fans to go that direction so they're trying to make it more even and neutral in hindsight. Story wise it just seems like Cloud liked Tifa as a child although he barely knew her and she him, opened up more when he met Aerith, learned to care for others and had one person he "cherished the most" taken away, living with guilt and always trying to atone, Tifa tries to help him through this regardless of her own feelings and needs being met (through AC), Cloud heals with heavy help of friends (mostly Aerith) again and will hopefully come to love Tifa the way she deserves. But definitely not yet in this point in the story, I'm sorry. I used to ship Tifa and Cloud before I knew the story (saw AC first), became obsessed and played the others, read novels, plays the games etc. then leaned more Cloud Aerith and have now realized he may love both equally but as Aerith is dead, he needs to get it together and be the man Tifa needs if hes going to move on. Both women in the gane are literally starting off with Cloud on the same playing field. Tifa never really new Cloud prior, and both women get to learn about the real time over the game. He had a crush on Tifa, had a short brisk llove with Aerith, learns a longer sustained way to healthily love Tifa. Marlene is Barrets child that they babysit. Denzel was the child he believed Aerith brought to them and they adopted him together. Kids especillay those in need were a population Aerith was very passionate about. Theyre not sleeping in the same bed, Cloud literally leaves her a 'single parent' and runs to "their spot" in the church when he feels he cant save the kid he thiugh she brought to him. Tifa fits into places almost out of obligation for Cloud but i feel like hes reasoning behind some actions is not for the betterment of Tifa. The astrological signs enough show the potential or lack of compatibility as well.

all clerith and cloti shippers arguing, all while aerti solos :3