#ff7r thoughts

I was reading this amazing analysis of who EOC Seph is by pen-and-umbra and they said -

Players have observed stark contrast in Sephiroth at the Edge of Creation: his livelier expressions and defensive fighting style against Cloud, reminiscent of past battles with Angeal and Genesis in the VR simulator.

Why did Tifa wear the moon earring with her default dress? Why not stars like Aerith’s best dress?

Probably most of us fans know that Cloud and Tifa's promise is represented by the stars. Thus, we often associate Tifa with the stars. This time in FF7R at Wall Market, Tifa wears Moon and Aerith wears Stars. Thinking about it again, Tifa is only represented by the stars concerning her relationship with Cloud. By herself, probably not! So let’s find out how the moon connects with her character:

1. Supreme Beauty Symbol

The other day I came across the Crescent Moon explanation in the Dictionary of Symbol (Jean Chevalier & Alain Gheerbrant, Penguine). The moon is mentioned as “goddess of the night, glory of the stars”. Notice when Tifa wears her default dress, she barely has any makeup. Her hair in untied. Her dress is minimal showing most of her curves and body in general. That’s the true beauty of her features. It’s reconfirmed by how the game focus on Tifa’s beauty in the dialogues.

Next, look at how the game zooms in at the 2 girls accessories because they want us to notice them.

The stars brighten the night. “The best-remembered property of the star is its luminosity and the fact that it is a source of light.” However in our eyes, comparing the stars and the moon:

• The moon is bigger and brighter than the stars

• The moon is unique, stars are abundant

• The stars compliment the moon (Notice in Sailor Moon, the moon is the princess and the stars are like her guardians, too?). Actually, the dictionary also mentioned the moon as “glory of the stars”!

Aerith's best dress is heavier and more complicated so it covers more of her body like legs, thighs, and hip. Like her multilayered dress, her hair is also heavily done in curls and adorned with lots of flowers. She wears the most make-up with her best dress, too. Notice that her dress is red (warm tone) contrasting Tifa’s purple (cold tone). So, I think the game really tries to contrast her to Tifa and by that narratively portraying Tifa's standout beauty and sex appeal. It doesn’t mean Aerith is not beautiful, but Tifa is the real queen of the night.

By the way, I think the Stars of Aerith could fit in the theme of celebrity. Her potrayal with the best dress is like a super star!

2. Lover Symbol 

The moon also symbolizes feminine quality and the women while the Sun symbolizes masculinity and the men. In Chinese culture, the moon also represents Yin relative to the Sun’s Yang. Tifa’s dress is in cold color tone is also Yin (warm colors, Yang), which is why I think she doesn’t wear her normal signature red color here. Her depiction here is the moon against Cloud - the Sun. She is Yin while he is Yang. They are one pair.

3. True Love Symbol

The moon also indirectly represents romantic love in literature/art. Its changing phases symbolize passages of time. That quality used to emphasize on how true loves remains the same through changes of time. On this one, the devs have gone above and beyond to spell it out to us with the Cresent Moon Charm’s decsription. But even if they didn’t, naturally the moon still represents the loyalty of lovers to each other. The moon charm fits Tifa well because she is a very loyal and dedicated lover. Her love for Cloud is symbolized and witnessed by the moon. I think the devs really thought carefully about everything they planned on this game :) Stan the devs!

If you have enjoyed this, please check out my other analyses for FF7R:

WHAT DID CLOUD CALL BEAUTIFUL? [cinematic analysis]

FF7 LTD: CLOUD’S TRUTH REVEALED - Chapter 10 [scenario analysis]

After here goes nothing!

My impressions from the Chocobo carriage scene.

Hope some of you get where I'm coming from, in the end it is my interpretation of this scene by comparing his facial expressions with expressions I see/saw from people in my life and surroundings over the years. Learnig what they usually mean.

This game is a blessing for us fans. The effort the devs made to add Cloud's micro expressions just give me life! Those hint so strongly at his locked away emotions, spilling across the seams while he is with/when it's about Tifa--this is all just within seconds:

"Tifa?"

Ok, just look at him. His eyes are really so expressive. From the moment he spots the carriage.. then realising it's Tifa (Again How T FXXX does he do that?!?)...& running after it/her with visible determination.

Arriving. "BUT-!"

Pouty face I left out even though its iconic because one is only allowed 10pics in one post and I wanted to catch the angst in his shifting gaze after she says; "I'll be fine!" "You have seen how much ass I can kick."

After agreeing with her on being capable and awesome 🥰 ("wakatta") he just ... well you can see him looking at her so intensely:

Cloud is so talkative with his eyes (if he let's them!)... he looks at her..still a bit pouty, though lips loosened bit..but more wary now..

He is basically pleading with her to be careful with that intense stare! He is reading her, contemplating. Damn, Its burning!

He needs to make sure she really is careful. He probably debates within himself whether to tell her he is concerned. Wether to tell her he wants to go with. Even after she quickly shut his first attempt down

Yet he doesn't want her to think he lost his cool💪😎/or even worse : Her to get the impression he thinks she can't handle it herself!

__

Below- In the shot, just of the next millisecond , you can see that he reached a conclusion/got an answer reading her eyes.

You can see by his eyes getting narrow that he is not happy with the finds. His lips are pressed together. Not pouty anymore. Banter is over. This is even deeper now.

You can see how much it aches him to let go and do as she asked of him. Because that seems to be the conclusion seeing how the rest of the scene unfolds.

He probably feels bad not being needed as well, maybe even rejected. But I want to believe his concern for her is his primary focus:

He sees it's no point to argue with her anyhow if she asked him not to worry. Maybe feeling incapable of helping her, once again.

He even seems NOT to be focused on Tifa's face for a split second -his eyes are squinting unfocused, eyes even more downcast(sorry for the menu on the shot, was tough to time it right):

He then gets off the carriage

BUT THIS IS IMPORTANT while jumping he once more is lifting his gaze to Tifas eyes.

This is just a millisecond after he looked away. But our Boy is back at it.

This time a bit softer a bit angst even- this is to reassure himself one more time this is the only way and to make sure she really gets his intentions and he gets hers:

Look at him not happy that he has to let her go.

(Look at his furrowed brows, eyes focused on the carriage still):

This is yearning.

AT THIS POINT Tifa already sat back on the bench and her face is facing away, carriage turning around the corner.

He then turns away- still kinda *upset,concerned,annoyed by rejection,* but also determined now- to do what he was asked for.

***initiating Soldier/Cloud back on***:

Yeah, I love this scene. It is so rich. This is what I felt looking at the scene..and the stills.

So many sub layers in All the characters tbh.

I am happy Remake turned out this rich!

Tifa and Cloud are 💥 in this scene.

They are like ..she is his Polaris, his North Star. That he aims for. Orientation on her.

Aerith? Suddenly forgotten as soon as he spots Tifa.

Interesting.

Alrighty, so this is the third post for girl asking Cloud about other girl. 

This one is a bit difficult to do, because the translation is apparently very different from what the Japanese version is. 

So this will be based on the English version, but with notes about where there are apparent differences between Japanese and English - from what others have said. **Updated with more information on this**

So we fall in the sewers, it smells. Cloud gets up and notices both Tifa and Aerith are knocked out in front of him.

You have a choice - go to Tifa or go to Aerith first. This is also a callback to the OG when you fall in the sewers after Don Corneo, and they added the +1 to the “affection” rating on who’s resolution you’ll get, as they did in the OG for the Gold Saucer date. 

I’m skipping the initial wakeup and going right to the Aerith part.

So Tifa looks at Aerith first, which prompts Cloud to look over. I’m not sure what this look Cloud is giving is... 

“Aerith better not try to steal Tifa from me like everybody else. Except Barret, Barret doesn’t try to steal Tifa. Barret is cool.... don’t tell him I said that.”

Tifa, rightfully so, wants to know why this broad is following them around. Why would she just agree to help them with how dangerous everything they do is? What if she’s a spy for Shinra? 

Cloud doesn’t seem to shaken by this question. Recall his reaction to Jessie (especially - blush blush blush how dare you ask about my Tender Memories™.. that no one can ever know) and Aerith when questioned about Tifa. And Jessie literally just asked how close him and Tifa were. Or when Zack asked if he knew Tifa how he reacted in CC. JUST ASKED IF HE KNEW HER.

Now, Aerith did save Cloud. Probably at least twice. There’s no way Zack or Cloud should have survived the fall in to the church. There’s some magic there. She also probably saved Tifa since she told Cloud WHY they needed to go to Wall Market to get Tifa. So, in turn, saved Cloud again.

Her look here isn’t one I’d say is jealousy, but her tone can come off that way, though. This is where things get funny between the English and Japanese scripts. In English, it’s almost asking if “something” is going on between him and Aerith, and a LOT of people would take this romantically. 

In the Japanese version, Tifa asks him if they can trust Aerith. 

Those are two VERY different statements. Especially since this scene in particular was a point of fighting for the LTD.

CLARIFICATION:

Thank you @magicalchemist​ for explaining this part and the actual phrases used. I’m copying from the comments section, so you can read them there as well:

“I want to add in Japanese Aerith is not the subject of the sentence. Tifa says Isn't that glossing over? Saved you how? She's saying Cloud is the one not telling her everything. Because in Japanese what he said implies that he was in some sort of crisis but he doesn't go further into it

Gomakashite can also mean Isn't that decieving so people can say she's thinking Aerith can't be trusted. But based on the actual words she says: Gomakashite nai? Doushite tasukeru suru no? There's literally nothing there that says she means Aerith. She says "How is saving" could also be "Why is saving" because doushite but if she was asking that I think she would ask for what reason she'd save you or something along those lines

I don't think she's suspicious of Aerith. I think she wants to know what Cloud needed saving from

*Doushite tasukete kureru kana?*

So yeah Isn't that glossing over/Isn't that decieving/Why is saving/how is saving. But the focus is on Cloud. I think given the context that she feels bad that she dragged Aerith in this it wouldn't really match for her to think Aerith is a spy. It sounds a lot more curious than suspicious in Japanese especially with "ka na" at the end

Also tasukeru save implies being saved from something dangerous or a crisis Cloud never actually went into it so she'd need a lot more details it makes sense to ask him. But based on what he said I don't think it makes sense for her to jump and assume Aerith is suspicious nor jealous he literally didn't give her any information. This is a case where the Japanese is completely different.”

So Cloud almost looks shocked that she’d ask him that. “Are you seriously asking me this right now?”

So he looks down a bit, but does NOT turn from her. 

Updating this section too: Based on the above, these screenshots still make sense. Cloud doesn’t know how to react to what she’s asking him.

But let’s just say that the intent was to say “Sure there isn’t something else going on?”

Cloud is dense. He was dense in the OG and he’s dense in Remake. Hell, I’d say he’s pretty damn dense in everything he’s been in. It’s part of his dorky charm. He was completely oblivious to both girls’ feelings in OG - that has been confirmed over and over. He’s dense.

In Remake he’s not only dense, but also somewhat awkward. I’m not even sure he would understand exactly what she’s asking here. “What do you mean something else?”

If something WAS going on, I’d expect a similar reaction to what we saw with Aerith’s is Tifa your girlfriend question. He gets worked up and defensive. In this he’s just like “uh... no.... what?”

So, Cloud is STILL looking at Tifa during this. He does not turn from her. He somewhat diverts his eyes to do a side glance towards Aerith, which I’d expect, but at no point does he turn away from her to hide his face or body. 

I’d also like to point out, that Tifa doesn’t really look upset here. Worried, yes. She has her hands behind her back, though. She’s not closing herself off from him. 

Today is Tifa Tuesday so let’s celebrate Tifa with Cloud! :D

Have you heard of Gary Chapman’s 5 Languages of Love? Basically,  a person expresses their love for another person in five ways: Quality Time, Giving Gifts, Words of Affirmation, Physical Touch, and Acts of Service. Here is a short explanation of each language of love.

I find it quite cool that Cloud expresses all 5 languages of love to Tifa in the Remake although his main languages are probably Acts of Service and Physical Touch. There are just so many examples in the game, it’s hard for me to pick my favorite!

This post is meant for fun! Hope your Tuesday and the rest of the week are great! 

CHECK OUT MY OTHER POSTS FOR FF7R:

THE SYMBOLS AT THEIR FEET – FF7R RESOLUTION SCENES [symbolism analysis]

TIFA AND THE MOON SYMBOL – WALL MARKET [symbolism analysis]

WHAT DID CLOUD CALL BEAUTIFUL? [cinematic analysis]

Honestly, I was re-watching FF7R footage to get some illustrations for another analysis and came across this, so this is a totally accidental catch about the LTD of FF7. I didn’t ask myself questions this time.

ATTENTION:

If you do not care or cannot handle LTD, then please skip this post.

I acknowledge the scenarios are more than just LTD. They are also about character building and the friendship between Aerith & Tifa. I respect all characters and the devs. However, please understand this post is an analysis about the LTD element of the scenarios.

If you are cool with all that, please read on. Thank you!

In Chapter 10 of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, we have Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith as our team members and it is probably an amazing chance for the story to tell and develop the relationships between them. In the sewer, the game set up two bridge collapses and there are intentions behind those cutscenes just like probably any other cutscenes the devs put in this Remake and I am, as a fan, very grateful for their attention to detail. I also like to compare because sometimes you need to place one thing next to another to understand what it truly is. By comparing the scenarios of the two bridge collapses, I think I have found the truth about the LTD from Cloud, at least up until this point of the story (after all that happened between Cloud – Tifa and Cloud – Aerith from the beginning till Chapter 9).

With the first bridge collapse, you see Cloud crossing first and then Tifa. Both crossed the bridge successfully. Then, it was Aerith’s turn. Aerith had trouble. When she was in trouble, we saw the screen showed Tifa and Cloud. Cloud was at the back and Tifa at the front. Cloud was out of focus and Tifa was in focus. At its peak, the bridge started sinking. It was Tifa that immediately took action and reached for Aerith. Cloud, however, stayed out of the screen, implying he either didn’t take action or his action was not important enough to be displayed on the screen. Then, we heard Cloud telling Aerith what to do: “Jump!”. Aerith jumped and Tifa was ready to catch her. Cloud was back on the screen, holding onto Tifa while his eyes focusing on Aerith.

Because Cloud barely talked or expressed his feelings openly, we - fans -  have been watching his action carefully to find out what he really meant/felt/thought. So at this moment, who did he care about? My answer was Aerith definitely because she was the one he looked at and she was the one in trouble, even though he had that tendency to touch Tifa. But, let’s check the second bridge collapse.

The second collapse came shortly after the first one. It happened when both Aerith and Tifa crossing. However, if you looked closely, the one truly in trouble this time was Tifa. The screen shows only Tifa being in trouble, not Aerith. You also heard Tifa saying “Huh? No way!” which tells you how she was in trouble. Actually, Aerith was closer to the other side so she was in a safer position. Tifa was near the middle of the bridge and she probably thought she could not make it to the other side, so she turned around to run back. This time, Cloud was in focus. Even a close-up shot was used to tell the audience how he felt.

His face had a stunned and scared expression and it quickly turned into a determined one. Cloud didn’t just stand and told Tifa what to do. He instantly ran toward her. Aerith noticed Tifa was in danger and Tifa was wrong by turning back. So, Aerith took Tifa's hand and pulled her forward together. When Aerith took Tifa's hand, you would see Cloud was already in action in the back. As the two girls moving to the other side, Cloud continued rushing behind. I think the force of such action was too much for him to stop while it also seems he didn’t even want to stop (because he couldn’t feel assured enough if he wasn’t the one that rescues Tifa himself?). The bridge collapsed completely.

You can see him falling almost at the same place that Tifa was at the last shot before the trouble occurred. It’s safe to say that Cloud saw Tifa in trouble, and without thinking, he immediately rushed to rescue her; within such a fleeting moment, he was so determined and projected himself precisely to where she was. That’s how he got himself in trouble. Luckily, the girls rescued him. Then, Cloud turned to Aerith and said “Sorry ‘bout that” and she replied “No need to be”. Why did he apologize to Aerith? Because to him, she was a bystander in that circumstance. How was Aerith a bystander? Because Tifa was in danger and he was so reckless about saving Tifa, thus he bothered Aerith. When Tifa and Aerith went ahead, Cloud was caught looking down sighing. He caught himself. He was such a cocky and try-to-play-cool dude, that sigh was most likely not about his own danger. It’s more like a sigh of relief that the tension of Tifa being in danger was over or he was disappointed about himself for acting recklessly and thoughtlessly because he wanted to protect Tifa.

So we see here, in almost two identical situations, Cloud responded differently when each girl was endangered. It really shows how deeply Cloud cares about Tifa and how much she means to him compared to Aerith. Through his action, Cloud has involuntarily revealed who matters the most to him. However, I don’t think that the devs would go this far just to compare how Cloud cares for Tifa more than Aerith (at least true till this point of the story) just for the sake of the LTD. Remember in FF7AC, Cloud was the one that felt guilty about Aerith’s death more than any other team member? Remember in OG, he acted weirdly before Sephiroth appeared and killed Aerith?

I think there is a high chance the Remake will show in detail how Cloud’s role/Cloud’s failure played in Aerith’s death, which caused his deep guilt in AC. Had he been determined to protect Aerith as he could for Tifa, would have it been different?

After all, here I include the video with slow-motion so you can see it for yourself.

If you have enjoyed this, please check out my other analyses for FF7R:

TIFA AND THE MOON SYMBOL – WALL MARKET [symbolism analysis]

WHAT DID CLOUD CALL BEAUTIFUL? [cinematic analysis]

BONUS only for Cloti: Cloud lost his shit and rushed toward Tifa without thinking the same way.

Some said Tifa, some said Tifa's eyes, and some said the drink. What is it actually?

Let's examine the visual techniques used in this part to find an answer.

Firstly, the game showed a shot of Cloud saying "Beautiful". This shot signifies the next POV shot is Cloud's POV and briefly show us his expression.

Then, the next shot is a POV shot of Cloud.

★ Tifa in the CENTER of the frame shows Cloud's attention is full on her. Also, it points out that she is the subject of his compliment. (A character placed in the center of the frame is reserved only for special intention.)

★ The use of POV shot itself and Tifa up close in the frame shows the intimacy between 2 characters and also helps transfer that feeling to us. Hey, did you feel a little uneasy and 'hot' when you saw her that close for the first time?

★ The camera angle is slightly lowered here in this shot conveys Cloud's admiration for Tifa. (This camera angle is frequently used for heroes for example to show their importance and greatness, to make you admire them.)

▶ In conclusion, Cloud wasn't saying the drink nor only Tifa's eyes beautiful (her eyes were not in focus any time here). He was borrowing the drink to make a compliment on Tifa as a whole. He admires her as a whole. He thinks *Tifa as a whole* beautiful.

If you think otherwise, show me evidence!

Further comment:

On a side note, this girl does not need to wear make-up nor dress up to have his admiration. He admires her beauty in its most natural form. He couldn't contain his admiration that it slips out of his tongue. It's unusual of Cloud. Isn't it sweet?

If you have enjoyed this, please check out my other analyses for FF7R:

TIFA AND THE MOON SYMBOL – WALL MARKET [symbolism analysis]

In the resolution scenes, there are two similar shots of Tifa and Aerith’s feet. Since they both stood at Aerith’s garden, the backgrounds could have looked similar but they don’t. So, I think the devs intended to make 2 similar shots of Tifa and Aerith’s feet for us to notice the differences.

 TIFA’S FEET

This is the shot of Tifa’s feet. You see mostly here 3-leaf clovers instead of the lilies. It does not mean that the lilies – reunion flowers are therefore not associated with Cloud & Tifa in this scene. This is a directional choice because when Tifa mentioned that the lilies were reunion flowers, there was a close-up shot of the lilies. This is to make sure that your attention was fully focused on the lilies and what she said when the lilies were finally shown up-close in the scene.

It’s widely known that 4-leaf clovers represent good luck but the 3-leaf clovers’ meaning are not so popular. So I look up on the internet and find this on the Wikipedia page:

So basically, the 3-leaf clovers mean hope, faith, and love. The theme of “hope, faith, and love” seems to fit the overall love story of Cloud and Tifa in Final Fantasy VII perfectly. It also fits the resolution scene especially well because Tifa was talking about her hope for the lilies to stay alive, hope for 

happiness, and her lost beloved ones etc.

AERITH’S FEET

I’ve seen people trying to claim the lilies - reunion flowers are about Cloud and Aerith during the resolution scene because Tifa mentioned Aerith’s name when she started talking about the flowers and because you see the flowers at Aerith’s feet. In my opinion, it’s a misunderstanding for many reasons.

If the reunion flowers are associated with Cloud and Aerith, why wasn’t it mentioned directly on Aerith’s resolution scene via dialogue?

The reunion flowers were never shown in focus during Aerith’s resolution scene, either.

In this shot, you only see Aerith’s feet. If it’s meant to be the reunion of Cloud and Aerith, we should have seen both Cloud and Aerith feet.

Aerith’s feet are not surrounded by the reunion flowers in this shot. Technically, they are all surrounded by the reunion flowers (Cloud, Barret, Tifa, and Aerith during 3 resolution scenes), but the composition of this shot alone didn’t convey that image. You see Aerith’s feet at the foreground while the flowers are at the background.

Look at this example from Tifa’s resolution scene, you see the concept of Reunion completely here. Both Cloud and Tifa’s feet, because reunion are meant for at least two people, not one. You see the reunion flowers at the foreground, middleground, and background which simply mean the reunion flowers surrounded Cloud and Tifa. Even on this one, you see an abundant of 3-leaf clovers together with the reunion flowers? A Reunion for/because of Hope, Faith, and Love.

Then what is the meaning in Aerith’s shot? I notice that where Aerith stood, it is quite bare. I don’t know with better graphics how much detail we can see the texture but here you can definitely see a mixture in colors of the grass and the soil compared to the very green place where Tifa stood. A bare place with flowers? The concept immediately prompts the image of Zack’s grave in Final Fantasy VII Advent Children to me. Then here, Aerith told Cloud to not fall in love with her because it isn’t real. It doesn’t look like coincidence to me.

Check out my other analysis for FF7R:

TIFA AND THE MOON SYMBOL – WALL MARKET [symbolism analysis]

WHAT DID CLOUD CALL BEAUTIFUL? [cinematic analysis]

FF7 LTD: CLOUD’S TRUTH REVEALED - Chapter 10 [scenario analysis]