Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to the Cloti Forums. Please enjoy your stay.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. That means you can't see all the cool shit.


Register!


If you're already an existing member congrats on being awesome. Log yourself right in.

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Feelings on Clerith
Topic Started: 3 Jun 2014 - 02:32 (80 Views)
Enigma
Member Avatar
Elite Member
This is just so everyone who reads this is clear on where I stand on Clerith.

I am NOT anti-Clerith, and I am NOT anti-Aerith.

Yes I know this may shock some people based on how I talk.

When I talk, it's about the stupid hypocrisy I see in claims such as Splash's favorite word (Koibito. Sorry splash!)

You know, the one about how Aerith calls Cloud her koibito and it means they had a mutual romance vs Cloud and Tifa sharing mutual feelings and Tifa being described as a koibito not meaning anything, and then breaking down the word trying to make it mean something else but not doing the same thing in Aerith's case.

And interpretations like "Cloud only stayed because of Denzel" or "Cloud only cares because Aerith" all that troll logic. THAT'S what I'm reacting to, and it comes out no doubt that I am anti-Clerith.

Well, let me share my TRUE feelings on Clerith so everyone is aware.

Cloud was this socially awkward guy who didn't have friends, or atleast didn't have alot of them. All he wanted was to impress Tifa, and Cloud himself has experienced plenty of hardship. Even while under his false persona this hardship he's been through is 100% still in tact, even if he has a skewed perspective it is still there in his heart.

The world is dying, the atmosphere of the game is very dark and dreary, it's very industrial and cold looking. Very depressing.

Then, while Cloud is just going about his business, this girl dressed in pink walks up to him.

He remarks on how she has impressive eyes and how innocent they look, and how the innocence makes her look younger.

She's selling flowers, something that is rare in Midgar...hell rare in the world I'm almost 98% percent sure.

So this girl who is smiling in the midst of all this crap, who innocently offers him a flower and someone who is vibrantly dressed.

He leaves with a mysterious feeling. This feeling is because Aerith looks weird and out of place compared to the rest of the world, yet there she was plain as day. Then, he meets her again.

It's obvious to me Cloud had the wrong idea about Aerith. He thought she was innocent and weak, as seen how he tries to leave her behind and tries to talk her out of being involved with dangerous things and how he questions if she actually knows what kind of place Don's mansion is.

He doesn't understand why Aerith keeps willingly putting herself in danger, or why she even ran off alone to make sure Tifa (someone she hadn't met yet) would be safe.

The one thing Cloud did notice about Aerith was her compassion and kindness. I think Cloud thought Aerith was weird, but weird in a good way. Like, in a very unique way.

Aerith is by every definition a flower blooming in the slums. She is a rare thing to find in this world. I do believe that in time, Cloud developed a need to protect Aerith because of how rare and beautiful she was. I would even venture a guess that he started to be interested in her. I also think that Aerith represented calmness and confidence for him.

Aerith didn't know all the details of Cloud's past, and didn't have any prior history with him like Tifa did. To Aerith, Cloud COULD play the valiant hero protecting the girl. Tifa is more than capable of defending herself, and Cloud knows this. However, after the way Aerith acted in the church, he could play hero to the girl. Then, he learns she is the last of her kind. She IS a rare thing in the world, literally.

However, even despite her smiles, she has plenty of pain in her past. Cloud thought he was different from the other kids, he thought he was better than them. As a soldier, he acts arrogant and cocky like he is better than everyone and demands payment for things that he does.

Aerith doesn't. Then to find out, Aerith is different from other people. She's the last of an ancient race, she has the ability to communicate with the planet for god's sake. That's special, that's different, and she HATES it.

She is very reluctant about her cetra heritage, she didn't like being the last one and didn't like being different. Not only that, she was constantly sought after because of this.

Yet this girl smiled and showed other's kindness, she also didn't like to dwell on painful things. Aerith was very future oriented, and she did something that Cloud couldn't understand.

She killed herself. She sacrificed her life for the planet, for people she never even met. She willingly gave up her life for everyone on the planet. Cloud is deeply upset by this, because now this rare, beautiful flower is gone, taken out by corruption (Sephiroth)

And he thinks she willingly did it. She paid a high price to ensure the future of others. Cloud wouldn't even help his childhood friend without getting paid, and Aerith gave her life for the planet. He just doesn't understand why.

Then Tifa says that Aerith planned to come back, she never intended to give up her life at all. This makes it hurt more. Aerith had to know it would be dangerous, yet she still did it and it was for the planets sake. It was still a selfless act.

Cloud is in pain because he took Aerith for granted. In this world of pain and misfortune, this dark gloomy world, yet there was a flower sprouting up from it all. A rare, beautiful flower, that he thought would always be there, that he took for granted.

Yes he wanted to keep her out of danger, but I know he never could have guessed how it would have turned out. Aerith dying, the rare beautiful flower being trampled, for not everyone saw or appreciated the rare and beautiful thing.

Cloud feels as if he failed, he should have tried harder to preserve that beauty, that kindness, all of that. Yet he feels like, although he liked the cute flower, he just stood by while people walked on it (I'm using a metaphor for Sephiroth killing Aerith)

Aerith is robbed of the world she loved so much, and also, the world is robbed of her.

He blames himself for Aerith losing her life, and he finds out that even though she died, she was STILL able to succeed in summoning HOLY (haha fuck you Sephiroth)

Then, when all hope seems lost, the lifestream rises up and helps. Aerith also reaches out to Cloud and guides him back to Tifa. If Aerith handed done that, Cloud wouldn't have regained consciousness and would have fallen to his death.

Now, Aerith wanted to meet the real Cloud, but they never got the chance to. Aerith wants to meet him and get to know him so bad. He doesn't understand what she means at that point though.

Then, at the end of FF7 I believe Cloud realized that the idea he had about Aerith was wrong. She wasn't a dainty flower who was easily crushed. She showed true strength, and thus he expressed "The promised land...I think I can meet her there."

Cloud expresses that he wants to actually meet Aerith, the real Aerith, not just who he believed her to believe. Sadly, they never got the chance to do this. Their friendship was cut short, and any romance they may or may not have had in the future was taken as well.

Even though Aerith still loved Zack, she wanted to get to know Cloud and GENUINELY wanted to see who he was as a person, not who he pretended to be.

Even though Aerith died, Cloud realizes that she has not left. She still reveals herself in the world around them, and she doesn't blame him. He sees that she doesn't blame him, and at the end of the movie the two of them finally meet, in Cloud's promise land.

Yes I realize this is a CLOTI forum, and I AM a cloti shipper. But since we have Clerith members, and I have come across as being quite against Clerith, I wrote this which is honestly how I feel about Clerith--the ACTUAL pairing not certain people and certain interpretations to it.

Also, I apologize to ANY clerith's if I have made you feel negative in ANY way during my time on this forum.







Edited by Enigma, 3 Jun 2014 - 02:38.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Splash
Member Avatar
Elite Member
Wow this was amazing, thank you for sharing your take on Clerith with us.

I liked how you really delved into the metaphor for Aerith as a flower blooming in the slums. Like the creators said the fact that her death brought shock and sadness to the players meant she was effective as a character which certainly seems so :)

This perspective doesn't seem anti anything at all! I had the impression from many of your posts that you resented the misrepresenation of Clerith put forth by a few vocal shippers in the minority and the nastiness present in the internet fandom.

Haha it's okay, only I committed not to typing the k work out fully, I don't even do jap. But your'e right the hypocrisy is what put me off it. ;).

And its understandable that you are frustrated with the double standards and hypocrisy. It's bad logic and shows immaturity on part of shippers. And the same statements keep showing up again and again which may have given you the miscontrued anti cloti perspective of clerith as being the default.

BOTH sides of the fandom have done this and it ticks me off. So duh we know there are two pairings and people will favour the female character of their preferred couple. But engaging in double standards as the following is so old:

- K****** means lover for your fave pair but anything besides lover for your unfavourite pair. :vent:

-When your fave female character engages in morally questionable behaviour like telling people off, feeling jealousy, flirting and going for the guy she gets praised for her spunk...when its the other female she gets shamed as promiscuous, petty, bratty et...

-Both women have maternal feelings. When its your preferred its oh so romantic that she gets motherly feelings to her boyfriend but for the other female it shows that she has only a motherly dynamic and sees the bf as a son.... :vent:

-When your pairing gets official fanservice its canonballs. When its the other pairing its fanon, fake! Even if its the exact same company or game that released the material for your pairing. Its like some people just cannot take anything that pleases the other pairing at face value.

Overall its kind of why it's most logical to me to acknowledge at least a past romantic bond involving Aerith. Cloud and Tifa have 'constant' feelings for eachother growing larger through the years. In disc 1 Cloud wavered towards Aerith. Here this flowergirl beauty is literally arranging a date for him so he went along happily like any unattached guy should. No issues.

After her death, and after fixing his crumbled identity the distance between Cloud and Tifa shortens. This distance was created by terrible events, his crumbled mind and the short time he developed his world with Aerith. IMO Tifa was always the constant woman, so it's not like Cloud moved on to the 'second best' or shit like that. The now is that Cloud and Tifa have mutual feelings of desire for eachother, have favoured each other for years, and started a new 'normal' life together by each other's side in an intimate way they didn't before. In light of Cloti being the lasting pair it doesn't make Cloud's time with Aerith superficial, less genuine or less romantic. It makes it even cuter when he actually finally got to 'meet her' one first and last time before she farewelled him and exited into the lifestream . It was so happy but so sad. Aerith waited until Cloud was fully healed and surrounded in joy before finally meeting him and seeing him off at the same time. The feels of that scene man.

That's my perspective on Clerith and Cloti. :friend: no need for animosity towards any character :) :heart: :teef: :kuraudo: :aeri: :heart:
Edited by Splash, 3 Jun 2014 - 06:48.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Enigma
Member Avatar
Elite Member
Oh yeah, I don't want people to think that I look at Clerith and don't see ANYTHING. I know there's a few people who are so against the other pairing that they even deny there was a friendship.

I'm not one of those people. It may seem like it, but no, believe me. I would not have been able to write this essay if I was one of those people.

I'm glad you liked it :)

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Splash
Member Avatar
Elite Member
Indeed.

Hmmm I think then calling myself ExClerith isn't technically correct. Since I root for them in first disc, KH series - well I prefer the spiritual interpretation of Tifa as Cloud's light/guardian and Aerith being his human companion. In the end I hope Tifa's spirit will fade into him or something. Unlike you I think they had a bit more than friendship and I also like Clerith fanart... So that makes me a demi-multi shipper. LOL it's like discovering a new orientation!

I'm happy.

:wub: :fry:
Edited by Splash, 5 Jun 2014 - 07:57.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Create your own social network with a free forum.
Learn More · Sign-up for Free
« Previous Topic · Essays · Next Topic »
Add Reply