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Shard it or Keep it?
2015.05.18 02:56 bin2003 Shard it or Keep it?
ShardItKeepIt was founded on the principle of whether a weapon should be kept or sharded. We pride ourselves in knowing the weapons of Destiny and Destiny 2 and helping others find proper weapons for their play style and endgame activities.
2018.07.09 22:30 Tibbox Bon Appétit
Subreddit for the Bon Appetit Brand, Bon Appetit Personnel, current and former, News, and Fan Contributions.
2010.08.10 11:42 kmwhite Resident Evil
A community for fans of the Capcom series, Resident Evil, (aka Biohazard in Japan).
2024.05.16 17:27 Wild_Management8805 M30 farmer looking for new friendships
Hello all, my name is Lee I am 30 years old and work on our family farm of 3 generations with currently being in the process of taking it over and carrying on the legacy I am looking for new friends to chat with (ones that can hold a conversation) we are currently entering into calving season and having lots of little baby cows, I have many hobbies ranging from roping cows and steer wrestling in fairs to racing dirt track cars I love music of all taste and a comedy movie fanatic (hotrod) and would love to chat if any of this sounds like you would be interested send a message on over!
submitted by Wild_Management8805 to lookingforfriendship [link] [comments]
2024.05.16 17:26 ThebestBlanket A comparison of the web and app chat rooms
 | It's a bit messy, but this is what I've noticed in the term of differences between the apps chat room, and the websites chat room. In the app: things are quite round, giving off a more friendly and softer look to the whole interface. There is less buttons in your face, I also like how the chat bubbles act as their own buttons for edits, copying, and deleting. The chat bubbles take up a lot of space, but it makes up for that with bigger text, even when you have it set to small. Though, with the bigger chat bubbles, there is less space for a user to press when done with typing out a response. This leads to accidental presses on your own chat bubble when waiting for the Bot to reply (at least for me). When the app was still fairly new, this caused a few issues with the generation of the Bots response. Everything is pretty clearly labeled, buttons look like buttons, again, the only "hidden" buttons are the actual chat bubble, and the Bots profile picture. The whole interface is not cluttered or too in your face with the Galaxy theme, and honestly, I forget I have it on sometimes. The words pop enough to read in a bright room, and dull enough to not strain your eyes too much when reading at night. I love the fact that the chat bubbles follow the theme you the user set for it. submitted by ThebestBlanket to DoppleAI [link] [comments] For the website: The chat box where the user types in, is very sharp and goes all the way to the edge of the screen. The sharpness of the chat box sort of clashes with the continuation of rounded chat bubbles. Speaking of the chat bubbles, I noticed that the user has more space to press when done typing. Making the chat bubbles more compact, the interface almost feels as if it's farther away, giving the illusion of smaller letters. Along with the chat, we also get an extra button on the right side of the chat, a square box ment for bringing up the 4 options: edit, copy, delete, and cancel. This is very useful for computer users, though can be seen as clutter on the mobile website due to the smaller screen. Again, accidentally presses are sure to happen, and while it might not bug out the website, it can become quite taxing to get the same pop up every time you press it on accident. Buttons still look and act like buttons, this time the only hidden button being the Bots profile. On the app, once you respond to it the first time, the little stripe of text is gone, on the website, the text on the top stays in full veiw. Making the interface feel more cluttered. With that in mind, it makes a bit more sense on why the Bots don't have a check mark when chatting. The italics on the website are a Grey, not following the galaxy theme at all. And on the topic, I've noticed the theme is a bit duller, and the design of stars, planets, ships, and galaxies, are smaller. Overall: Each version of Dopple.AI has faults and perks, personally I like the haptic feedback the app provides. Others don't like it, and that's fine. The important thing is that we all understand that the Development team are not the robots that we talk to on the web and app. They are humans and shouldn't be rushed, talked down to, or overloaded with complaints that have been reported 100× within 2 minutes. People need breaks and positive criticism. (This took so long to write, have a fantastic day and an even better week >×<) |
2024.05.16 17:26 Wild_Management8805 M30 farmer looking for new friendships
Hello all, my name is Lee I am 30 years old and work on our family farm of 3 generations with currently being in the process of taking it over and carrying on the legacy I am looking for new friends to chat with (ones that can hold a conversation) we are currently entering into calving season and having lots of little baby cows, I have many hobbies ranging from roping cows and steer wrestling in fairs to racing dirt track cars I love music of all taste and a comedy movie fanatic (hotrod) and would love to chat if any of this sounds like you would be interested send a message on over!
submitted by Wild_Management8805 to bored [link] [comments]
2024.05.16 17:23 Ok-Independence-8823 GRE Dedicated TC and SE Season 3 Session 3 Question
Hi everyone! At the end of a GregMat video entitled, "GRE Dedicated TC and SE Season 3 Session 3," Greg shows a question on the screen but does not address it in this particular video (he may address it in another video; I just have not gotten to that video yet). The question is shown below. I followed the process and understood the two parts of the sentence after the em dash to be in support of one another. The "but" seems to serve as just a qualification of what type of learning through which the animals survive and not necessarily as a contrast. When I filled in the blanks with my guesses, I wrote down "embedded in" and "ingrained." I learned through another Reddit post that the correct answer is choice E) dictated by .. stereotyped. I was a bit surprised by this because, to me, there is minimal evidence to support the idea of the "instinctive behavior responses" as being stereotyped. If anything, I would've chosen C) before I chose E) because if the learning is complementary to their genetics then the behaviors will feel familiar or instinctual. Can someone explain?
https://preview.redd.it/yzs4uanu2t0d1.png?width=830&format=png&auto=webp&s=4d07a4b2e7905e891a853b3268eea8af289e06c9
submitted by Ok-Independence-8823 to GRE [link] [comments]
https://preview.redd.it/yzs4uanu2t0d1.png?width=830&format=png&auto=webp&s=4d07a4b2e7905e891a853b3268eea8af289e06c9
2024.05.16 17:22 haygurlhay123 “This Time, I Will Never Let You Go”: Cloud’s Mission and the Hidden Purpose of the Remake Trilogy - Literary and Musical Analysis of FFVII - Part 6
(continuation of part 5)
Post-OG Cloud ruminates on what he could have done to save Aerith. Had he not been so lost in his own mind —distracted by Sephiroth and Jenova, consumed by his need to fulfill the emptiness at the core of his identity—, would he have paid more attention to Aerith’s sadness and anticipated her plan to go to the Forgotten Capital alone? Could she have survived if not for his obsession with what tormented him at the time? Could he have figured it out and kept her by his side? He’s angry with himself in retrospect, drowning in guilt, just like in Advent Children.
Here are the choruses, which usually contain the thesis main message of a song:
VI. e) ii. “No Promises to Keep” Lyrics
This is quite obvious. Aerith is resigned to her fate, but still harbors hope that she will meet Cloud again in a permanent reunion:
The last point I want to hit on is the concept of reunion. In OG, this theme was pretty much dominated by the Jenova Reunion. To an OG fan back in 1997, “reunion” meant “Sephiroth and Jenova’s evil plan”. However, in the Remake trilogy, the theme is expanded into something more. The first time Cloud meets Aerith in Remake, she gives him a flower and tells him something she didn’t in OG:
In addition, we’ve already talked about how part 5 of “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” from the Remake OST tells the story of Cloud and Aerith’s reunion (see section “V. b) ii. 2)”).
Many moments exclusive to the Remake trilogy serve the same purpose: linking the theme of reunion to Aerith. This expansion of the theme is highly significant. Our theory is that the Remake trilogy exists to reunite Cloud and Aerith, so the fact that the trilogy would implement so many Clerith-centric references to reunion is great support for our theory.
VI. g) i. The Leslie-Cloud Parallel
Let’s consider another instance involving the reunion flower in Remake, more precisely, the chapter 14 subplot surrounding Leslie’s lost lover. In case you need a refresher, Leslie is one of Corneo’s lackeys, although he secretly plans to betray him. He once had a fiancée and things were looking up until she was selected as one of Corneo’s brides. The day before she disappeared (presumably taken by Corneo), his fiancée broke up with him with no explanation. It was confusing and left Leslie perplex. As she broke up with him, she returned a necklace to him, one with a flower pendant. Of course, that flower is the very same reunion flower Aerith gives Cloud in chapter 2.
Evidently, Leslie and Cloud are going through parallel situations. At this point in time, Aerith was just kidnapped by Shinra, and Cloud is on his way to get her back. Both their loved ones have been taken by tyrant rulers, one being slumlord Corneo and the other being the Shinra government. In fact, even Leslie and Cloud’s attitudes share similar disillusioned, cold and stoic qualities. Leslie’s fiancée would evidently be paralleled by Aerith.
The most obvious proof of the Leslie-Cloud parallel is written plainly on the list of Remake’s chapter 14 main scenario objectives. Objective 7, called “For the Reunion”, consists of receiving the grappling guns needed to reach topside and save Aerith. The description of the objective reads as follows:
The grappling guns are “For the Reunion”, because evidently, the loved one Cloud wants to reunite with is Aerith.
All this is simple and apparent enough. Just the fact that the theme of reunion is linked to Clerith in this way is proof enough, but there’s another layer to the Leslie-Cloud parallel. Not only does Leslie’s situation reinforce the concept of a Clerith reunion, it also mirrors the specifics of our theory: namely that Cloud will save Aerith from specifically Sephiroth (represented in Leslie’s scenario by Corneo) and that Cloud will take the initiative to accomplish this reunion. These two specific aspects of our theory are reflected by Leslie’s circumstances, meaning the Leslie-Cloud parallel not only pushes the theme of reunion, but also supports our specific theory.
VI. g) i. 1) The Separators: Corneo and Sephiroth
I’ll first prove that Leslie’s scenario is not meant to echo Cloud’s separation from Aerith at the hands of Shinra —or at least not exclusively—, but rather Cloud’s separation from Aerith at the hands of Sephiroth. Corneo would therefore be paralleled by Sephiroth rather than the tyrannical Shinra government.
The first piece of proof for the Corneo-Seohiroth parallel lies within the way in which Leslie’s fiancée broke things off: by lying. Aerith also lies to Cloud to create distance between them, but not pertaining to her kidnapping— rather, pertaining to her fated death. Since Sephiroth is Aerith’s killer and not Shinra, Corneo’s role in the Leslie-Cloud parallel is analogous to Sephiroth’s rather than Shinra’s.
There are two pieces of evidence that the Corneo-Sephiroth comparison makes more sense than the Corneo-Shinra one. The first lies in the fact that Leslie’s breakup resembles Cloud’s resolution scene: the topic of Cloud’s resolution scene is Aerith’s fate at the hands of Sephiroth rather than her kidnapping by Shinra, meaning Corneo and Sephiroth are the antagonists of both heartbreaks.
Let’s examine Leslie’s breakup. Here is how his fiancée broke things off, taken from the English script of Remake’s chapter 14, with tone indicators added by me in bold:
If you’re finding this familiar, then you might be ahead of me. Let’s take a look at what Aerith says to Cloud in his resolution scene, also in the English script of Remake’s chapter 14, with tone indicators added by me in bold:
Just like Leslie’s fiancée, Aerith is rejecting or denying Cloud’s love for her in order to spare him from the pain of not having been able to be with her before her death, as she believes it is inevitable. Just like the fiancée, Aerith also tells Cloud two things. One: their love is imaginary or isn’t real. Two: it’s morning, and she has to go (she says this right before Cloud wakes from the pseudo-dream).
In both cases, the women know something about their fate that the men don’t and are hiding this impending tragedy from them. Just like Leslie’s fiancée, Aerith uses well-intentioned deception to protect her loved one from the pain that will come from her fate— the lie, of course, is that their love isn’t real. Both women are hopeless, and both men are initially clueless. Aerith’s resolution can’t be about her kidnapping, because Aerith thinks her rescue is anything but hopeless— she’s sure Cloud will come save her from Shinra. She says so herself in OG’s disk 1 chapter 8:
What Aerith is so resigned about in Cloud’s resolution scene isn’t her kidnapping, but instead her fated death at the hands of Sephiroth. Nojima hints at this in FFVII Remake Ultimania:
Here is co-director Toriyama had to say on Aerith’s words:
These two quotes by the devs show that Aerith is trying to protect Cloud from her death. Therefore, the Corneo-Sephiroth parallel is far more apt than the Corneo-Shinra parallel.
The second piece of evidence supporting my belief that Corneo mirrors Sephiroth and not Shinra in the Leslie-Cloud parallel is the inclusion of the theme of revenge that crops up in the following piece of dialogue:
Leslie’s sentiment toward Corneo resembles Cloud’s feelings toward Sephiroth after Aerith’s death. Revenge links Cloud to Sephiroth, not to Shinra. Corneo and Sephiroth reflect each other in that, as a consequence of their actions toward a woman, the man who loves her desires revenge.
Additionally, it looks like Leslie’s obsession with revenge as a means to closure is the reason he didn’t bother trying to understand the message his fiancée left him with: he’s focused on his hate rather than his love, and it’s hindering him. He doesn’t succeed in killing Corneo either: his focus and energy are misplaced. Cloud’s desire for vengeance against Sephiroth is also depicted as an obstacle to accomplishing his goals (see how in section “III. c)” of my previous literary analysis). Once more, the Corneo-Sephiroth parallel fits far better than a Corneo-Shinra perspective.
VI. g) i. 2) The Reunion Seekers: Leslie and Cloud
The other aspect of the Leslie-Cloud parallel that supports our theory is that in both scenarios, they both take charge of the situation and decide to actively seek reunion with their respective lovers. The following dialogue excerpt, supplemented by the VA script notes, shows Leslie’s initiative:
Take note of Leslie’s final response and the determination with which he speaks: “Then I guess I’ll just have to find her first”. Remember that we’re searching for evidence that Cloud is going to be the one reaching out to Aerith in the Remake trilogy, and that it’s his turn to take his future into his hands. He must be more attentive, more active this time. And Leslie’s words of determination reflect this perfectly. Leslie must find his fiancée first, just like Cloud has to be the one to offer his hand to Aerith in the Remake trilogy and fight for her. This is exactly what our theory is all about.
VI. g) i. 3) Delayed Realizations
Interestingly, not only does Leslie’s determination mirror Cloud’s, but both men are depicted as realizing the truth too late. Just like Leslie only began searching for his fiancée six months after her disappearance, Cloud only realizes he loves Aerith in OG once she’s died. It took him this long to actually get somewhere in his mission to reunite with her— “somewhere” being the Remake trilogy.
Even Barret’s words highlight the lovers’ delay: “Can never be sure how much someone means to ya till they're gone”. Barret would know: he lost his wife Myrna, who he loved dearly. The devs have Barret comment on the situation as a man whose lover died, mirroring Cloud’s situation in OG. Just as Barret says, Cloud only truly realized the strength of how he felt for Aerith in OG once she was gone. The gunman’s words apply to both Leslie and Cloud’s tardy initiatives. Regardless of this delay, both men are now determined to see their respective reunions through.
The degree to which the Leslie-Cloud parallel fits our theory is a great sign of its validity: even the details are lining up!
VI. g) ii. Reunion in the Theme Songs
Too easy: in our analysis of the lyrics of the theme songs, we covered how both texts include the theme of reunion. “No Promises to Keep” is especially relevant (see section “VI. e) ii.”), as the entire song is Aerith hoping against fate for a reunion with Cloud (even if you believe the song is about all her companions, that still includes Cloud).
On top of these reunion-themed lyrics, during Aerith’s in-game performance of “No Promises to Keep” at the Gold Saucer production of Loveless, her yellow blossoms signifying reunion bloom all around her as Cloud watches her, captivated.
Another great sign for our theory: the highly significant theme songs are on our side!
VI. g) iii. Waking Up Reunited
The thing I want to juxtapose to our theory is a small yet special moment in chapter 2 of Rebirth that stuck out to me like a sore thumb and got me really excited about sharing it with you. This moment occurs after the battle against the Midgardsormr. We’ll be comparing it to two other clips, describing all three in chronological order, and making deductions based on their similarities.
The first clip I want to address occurs in chapter 8 of Remake (1:32-2:12). There are a couple of things I want to point out in this scene. First, Aerith wakes Cloud from unconsciousness with a cute call of “Hello~?”. Second, despite pretending that he doesn’t, he immediately recognizes her. The VA script notes prove it:
So: she wakes him with a cute call, and he recognizes her. Also note that these two elements also apply to the OG church reunion scene.
Now onto the Rebirth chapter 2 scene that stuck out to me. After Cloud is saved from the Midgardsormr by Sephiroth, Cloud wakes up from unconsciousness spell with Aerith calling for him (7:20-7:34).
Once more, Aerith wakes him with a cute call (this time, it’s “Wakey, wakey!”), and Cloud recognizes her. In this Midgardsormr clip, unlike their reunion in the church, Cloud verbalizes that he remembers her. This time, there’s more: next, Aerith tells Cloud “おかえり, クラウド”, or “okaeri, Cloud”, which translates to “welcome back, Cloud”. “Okaeri” is what you say in Japanese when someone has returned home. In the third clip we will analyze, Aerith says “okaeri” to Cloud once more. But first, let’s break down this second clip.
I don’t know about you, but this cutscene felt extremely weird to me when I first encountered it. That is, it would have been, if not for the theory I’d begun formulating at that time.
You see, the devs could have chosen for Aerith to ask Cloud if he remembers his own name or where they are, if he’s okay, or check if he responds to his own name. In fact, asking someone who’s been hit on the head to say their own name is a much more common a reaction to them finally waking up than asking them if they remember you. Even stranger is Cloud’s reaction: he could have answered “Yeah, you’re Aerith,” or “I remember everything, I’m fine”. Instead, he says her name with this airy and wonderstruck tone. He sounds like he’s opening his eyes to something mystic rather than his comrade leaning over him, like he’s seeing someone unexpectedly for the first time in a while… or rather like he’s waking from a trance of some kind— a trance in which he did not remember Aerith, and now he does. You may see where I’m going with this.
Let’s examine the third clip, wherein Aerith tells Cloud “okaeri” again. More specifically, in chapter 14, Aerith welcomes Cloud back when he snaps out of his zombified, Sephiroth-controlled state and runs toward her. Of course, it’s the sight of her and his memories of meeting her in chapter 2 of Remake that shake him awake (2:17:43-2:18:02).
For a third time, Aerith wakes Cloud. This time, she’s pulling him out of a trance and back to himself. And for a third time, Cloud remembers her. In fact, it’s remembering her that wakes him up. Cloud calls her name and Aerith says “okaeri” in both the post-Midgardsormr cutscene and this third clip. And in both scenes, not only does Cloud return to himself the way someone returns home (recall that “okaeri” is used to welcome someone back home), but he’s also returning to her, recognizing her as his home.
Now we’ve got three scenes lined up: the church reunion scene (both in OG and Remake), the Midgardsormr scene and the hand-reach scene. All three of these recognition scenes feature Cloud being woken up by Aerith and remembering who she is. The main difference is that, in the scenes among these three that are exclusive to Rebirth, Cloud’s return to Aerith is far more meaningful, as he already knows her name, and knows more about who she is to him. Evidently, in the OG church reunion scene, Cloud only remembers being sold a flower by this girl. In the Remake version, he remembers the same thing, plus the attack of the whispers. So there’s something much more weighty about the Rebirth recognition scenes: he remembers more, and he remembers deeper. These aren’t just recognition scenes, they’re also mini-reunions. Of course, as we’ve already analyzed pertaining to the hand-reaching scene, Cloud remembering Aerith is followed by him being the one to take action and run toward her, eager to save her, because she means the world to him. When you place the Midgardsormr scene between the church reunion scene and the hand-reach scene, an evolution of Cloud waking up and remembering Aerith is formed. Each mini-reunion scene adds a piece to the story: the church scene informs us that Cloud and Aerith are meeting again, the Midgardsormr scene tips us off that something mystic is going on from Cloud’s tone when he says Aerith’s name, and the hand reach scene tells us that as a consequence of remembering who Aerith is, Cloud saves her from falling to her death and saving her. “Meeting again”, “mystic”, and “saving Aerith”: these are the keywords of the mini-reunion scenes. They are also the keywords of our theory on Cloud’s mission to save Aerith. This time around Cloud knows more and is more conscious about how he feels for Aerith, just like he feels more when in the hand-reach scene in Rebirth compared to the church reunion scene in Remake. From the latter scene to the former, Cloud gradually wakes up and remembers his love for and loss of Aerith in the OG more and more. Each mini-reunion brings him closer to saving her when he blocks the masamune. This is why I am certain that in part 3, whether Cloud comes to his full senses or not, whether he remembers the events of OG or not, he will save Aerith this time. The Remake trilogy is centered around Aerith, after all. In fact, don’t take it from me, take it from Nojima:
I have full confidence in this fact: one way or another, these two will have a happy ending. This is Cloud’s second chance, and as he swore in “Hollow”, he is not losing her again. That is why I don’t think you should fret, and that our Clerith hearts will be very happy to see these two together again for good in part 3.
VI. h) Zooming In
In fact, this zooming-in method of directing players’ attention to important narrative beats is far from new.
VI. h) i. Changing Fate
Let’s divert our attention to Nanaki’s Skywheel date (2:28-3:30). The dialogue goes like this: Nanaki brings us the Whispers and suggests the party might eventually forget about their existence, and Cloud says that frankly, if it’s impossible for them to change fate either way, then it would be better for them to forget to Whispers altogether.
This is a very clear message from the devs: “there would be no point in including the Whispers in the Remaketrilogy if we did not make use of their defeat”. They’re telling us through Cloud’s dialogue that they know it would be foul play and bad writing to introduce the theme of defying fate if it didn’t eventually pay off.
As if it weren’t clear enough what the devs are referring to, Nanaki brings up Aerith’s death directly after Cloud delivers the devs’ message to us. He actually makes Cloud promise to save her. This is pretty on the nose. By promising Nanaki he will protect Aerith, the devs are promising us the same. I’m certain that part 3 will deliver on this promise.
If you still aren’t sold, I’d like to direct your attention to the framing of the shot where Cloud says “if we can’t change [fate]” (2:49-2:51). There’s a zoom-in on his mouth, which is a visual cue that translates to “what this character is saying right now is important to the plot”. It’s very indiscrete in theory: the camera literally hones in on the invisible words as though the script has them highlighted, italicized triple-underlined and in bold.
VI. h) ii. Aerith’s Knowledge
We’ve seen the Remake trilogy use this camera framing at least twice so far. The first time occurs in Remake’s chapter 8, before it becomes clear that Aerith knows things from the OG game that she wouldn’t normally know if this were just a remastered version of the same 1997 plot. I’ll let Remake Ultimania‘s description of this moment speak for itself:
Aerith’s “vague reply” is accentuated by a very deliberate zoom-in on her mouth (1:18:05-1:18:09), and therefore her words.
The framing of this shot indicates to us that what Aerith says provides an important hint as to the plot’s direction. Sure enough, with hindsight, it’s easy to see that’s true.
VI. h) iii. Tifa’s Question
Another time this framing is used is in chapter 1 of Rebirth, after Cloud recounts the Nibelheim incident. Tifa asks the group why Sephiroth is choosing to come back now, after five years (37:55-37:58).
Once more, we are being signaled that the reason Sephiroth chose to return at the moment he did is significant to the plot, but cannot be revealed explicitly yet. The reason why Sephiroth took five years to return is because that’s how long it took for Cloud to get back on his feet after the Nibelheim incident: Sephiroth wants and/or needs to manipulate Cloud in particular rather than all the other people with Jenova cells in them. It took five years for Cloud to not only go through Hojo’s experiments but also escape Shinra and make his way to Seventh Heaven, where Tifa nursed him back to health— therefore, it took five years until Sephiroth’s favorite pawn was available to be used. There are a few reasons why Cloud is the one Sephiroth wants to use, and all of them would be spoilers at this point in Rebirth to players who don’t know the OG plot. The devs can’t reveal any of them yet, but they do indicate via a close-up shot of Tifa’s mouth that her question is important.
VI. h) iv. The Takeaway
As you can see, this framing of characters’ mouths when they speak signals a plot-significant piece of dialogue. This means Cloud’s words on his gondola date with Nanaki can’t be brushed off as a red herring or an unimportant or throwaway line: it has narrative weight.
VII. The Devs
I think it’s important to remember the devs and their commitment to the world of FFVII. They know best for this story, and they’ve proven it to be true many times over. There are many things about the devs’ intentions that the fandom don’t seem to know that I think would give you confidence to find out.
VII. a) Shifting Themes
Good storytellers don’t introduce themes as a way to pull the rug from under audiences’ feet by later rendering them completely irrelevant to the plot.
In other words, the devs would not have introduced the notion of fate as an antagonistic force in Remake, nor allowed the players to defeat it in chapter 18, had they planned for these themes not to pay off at all. Think of how good FFVII OG and FF stories in general are, how strong the writing is from a narrative point of view. Nothing is included for no reason or for a cheap reaction— especially not a central theme of a story. Fate and defeating it is a huge point of Remake, and not for no reason.
I mean, think about a storyline all about defying fate ending with a shrug and a “Oh well, we tried.” It would be ridiculous! The devs are better than that.
VII. b) What the Devs Want
The devs are well-aware that fans of FFVII have been begging for Aerith’s resurrection since 1997. All those petitions, all those myths of a revival hack… SE knows about them all too well. They were even referenced by FF’s 30th anniversary expo, which partly promoted Remake:
Hamaguchi, codirector of the Remake project, commented on these rumors:
The devs are also aware of how beloved Clerith is to the FFVII fandom, especially in Japan— in fact, the only FFVII ship name that is an official iOS search term on the Japanese Apple Store is Clerith’s (“クラエア” or “kuraea” in Japanese). Aerith herself is a widely beloved character, particularly, once more, in Japan. For instance, Famitsu and NHK’s recent polls on the best FF heroine and on the best FF character in general both resulted in Aerith ranking number 3, beaten only in the latter poll by Cloud at number 1 and FFX’s Yuna at number 2.
The devs know how well-loved both Clerith and Aerith are. And in fact, they love Aerith at least as much as we do:
The devs care about Aerith, and they’re fully aware we do too.
I think a lot of people have it in their heads that the devs don’t want anything to change from the OG story, but there’s a lot of evidence that says otherwise. Codirector Toriyama spoke on this, stating the following about the production process of Remake:
Codirector Nomura said the following:
Clearly, the devs don’t want to be bogged down by the OG, and are making efforts to do things the way they want to rather than the way they were previously done. The newer generation of developers such as codirector Hamaguchi is also involved in these story changes:
Kitase, the producer of the Remake trilogy, even says that after working on this project for so long, and after spending almost 30 years on the FFVII project and getting to know the characters, he has realized that:
submitted by haygurlhay123 to cloudxaerith [link] [comments]
Post-OG Cloud ruminates on what he could have done to save Aerith. Had he not been so lost in his own mind —distracted by Sephiroth and Jenova, consumed by his need to fulfill the emptiness at the core of his identity—, would he have paid more attention to Aerith’s sadness and anticipated her plan to go to the Forgotten Capital alone? Could she have survived if not for his obsession with what tormented him at the time? Could he have figured it out and kept her by his side? He’s angry with himself in retrospect, drowning in guilt, just like in Advent Children.
Here are the choruses, which usually contain the thesis main message of a song:
“Shine bright once more&
Guide me to you
Smile bright once more
This time I will never let you go”
“Hear me once moreIn these choruses, Cloud asserts that he will get it right this time (“this time” referring to the second chance that is the Remake trilogy). He will make sure he saves Aerith and never lets her go. He knows she’s gone, but he will fight against time to get her back. He longs for her smile and her light again, and he cannot bear the guilt: so he doesn’t. Post-OG Cloud embarks on a new adventure: ”I want to go to a place where everything is new,” said Cloud to Wol and Echo in Eclipse Contact before facing his past and being launched into Remake. “Hollow” makes far more sense now, doesn’t it? It’s a song not only about Cloud’s loss, but also about his determination to save Aerith this time. Given that it’s the theme song of Remake, the fact that “Hollow” fits with our theory perfectly is a very good sign: a theme song is meant to reflect the main plot of a story, indicating as our theory states that Remake is principally, albeit secretly, about Cloud saving Aerith. Because of this hope being set up, I’m confident that they will be together in the end, reunited for good. My dear Clerith friends, this is the hidden purpose of the Remake trilogy. Cloud and Aerith will be reunited.
Show me your smile
This time for sure
I'll see the truth hidden inside your tears
But I, I know
That you're long gone
But I, I will
Go on, howling and hollow”
VI. e) ii. “No Promises to Keep” Lyrics
This is quite obvious. Aerith is resigned to her fate, but still harbors hope that she will meet Cloud again in a permanent reunion:
“Till the day that we meet againVI. f) The Theme of Reunion Explained?
Where or when?
I wish I could say
But believe, know that you'll find me
[…]
Till the day that we meet again
On our street, I want to believe
[…]
Till the day that we meet again
At our place, just let me believe
In the chance that you'll come
Take my hand and never let me go
Take my hand
And believe
We can be
Together evermore
[…]
Still I hope someday you'll come and find me
Still I know someday you'll come and find me”.
The last point I want to hit on is the concept of reunion. In OG, this theme was pretty much dominated by the Jenova Reunion. To an OG fan back in 1997, “reunion” meant “Sephiroth and Jenova’s evil plan”. However, in the Remake trilogy, the theme is expanded into something more. The first time Cloud meets Aerith in Remake, she gives him a flower and tells him something she didn’t in OG:
“Lovers used to give these when they were reunited...”
In addition, we’ve already talked about how part 5 of “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” from the Remake OST tells the story of Cloud and Aerith’s reunion (see section “V. b) ii. 2)”).
Many moments exclusive to the Remake trilogy serve the same purpose: linking the theme of reunion to Aerith. This expansion of the theme is highly significant. Our theory is that the Remake trilogy exists to reunite Cloud and Aerith, so the fact that the trilogy would implement so many Clerith-centric references to reunion is great support for our theory.
VI. g) i. The Leslie-Cloud Parallel
Let’s consider another instance involving the reunion flower in Remake, more precisely, the chapter 14 subplot surrounding Leslie’s lost lover. In case you need a refresher, Leslie is one of Corneo’s lackeys, although he secretly plans to betray him. He once had a fiancée and things were looking up until she was selected as one of Corneo’s brides. The day before she disappeared (presumably taken by Corneo), his fiancée broke up with him with no explanation. It was confusing and left Leslie perplex. As she broke up with him, she returned a necklace to him, one with a flower pendant. Of course, that flower is the very same reunion flower Aerith gives Cloud in chapter 2.
Evidently, Leslie and Cloud are going through parallel situations. At this point in time, Aerith was just kidnapped by Shinra, and Cloud is on his way to get her back. Both their loved ones have been taken by tyrant rulers, one being slumlord Corneo and the other being the Shinra government. In fact, even Leslie and Cloud’s attitudes share similar disillusioned, cold and stoic qualities. Leslie’s fiancée would evidently be paralleled by Aerith.
The most obvious proof of the Leslie-Cloud parallel is written plainly on the list of Remake’s chapter 14 main scenario objectives. Objective 7, called “For the Reunion”, consists of receiving the grappling guns needed to reach topside and save Aerith. The description of the objective reads as follows:
“Leslie gives them grappling guns, and they wish each other luck in reuniting with their respective loved ones. Leslie walks off, and the three prepare to climb the wall.”
The grappling guns are “For the Reunion”, because evidently, the loved one Cloud wants to reunite with is Aerith.
All this is simple and apparent enough. Just the fact that the theme of reunion is linked to Clerith in this way is proof enough, but there’s another layer to the Leslie-Cloud parallel. Not only does Leslie’s situation reinforce the concept of a Clerith reunion, it also mirrors the specifics of our theory: namely that Cloud will save Aerith from specifically Sephiroth (represented in Leslie’s scenario by Corneo) and that Cloud will take the initiative to accomplish this reunion. These two specific aspects of our theory are reflected by Leslie’s circumstances, meaning the Leslie-Cloud parallel not only pushes the theme of reunion, but also supports our specific theory.
VI. g) i. 1) The Separators: Corneo and Sephiroth
I’ll first prove that Leslie’s scenario is not meant to echo Cloud’s separation from Aerith at the hands of Shinra —or at least not exclusively—, but rather Cloud’s separation from Aerith at the hands of Sephiroth. Corneo would therefore be paralleled by Sephiroth rather than the tyrannical Shinra government.
The first piece of proof for the Corneo-Seohiroth parallel lies within the way in which Leslie’s fiancée broke things off: by lying. Aerith also lies to Cloud to create distance between them, but not pertaining to her kidnapping— rather, pertaining to her fated death. Since Sephiroth is Aerith’s killer and not Shinra, Corneo’s role in the Leslie-Cloud parallel is analogous to Sephiroth’s rather than Shinra’s.
There are two pieces of evidence that the Corneo-Sephiroth comparison makes more sense than the Corneo-Shinra one. The first lies in the fact that Leslie’s breakup resembles Cloud’s resolution scene: the topic of Cloud’s resolution scene is Aerith’s fate at the hands of Sephiroth rather than her kidnapping by Shinra, meaning Corneo and Sephiroth are the antagonists of both heartbreaks.
Let’s examine Leslie’s breakup. Here is how his fiancée broke things off, taken from the English script of Remake’s chapter 14, with tone indicators added by me in bold:
“Fiancée: It was all just a dream, wasn't it[?]Now, here is a more literal translation of this quote from the original Japanese (verified by me via DeepL), with tone indicators added by me in bold:
Fiancée: (Hopefully) But one day…
(She trails off, then shakes her head and stops herself.)
Fiancée: (Sadly, hopelessly) — no. Time to wake up. And forget.
(She walks away.)”
“Fiancée: It was only just a dream we had / We were only dreaming...Leslie’s fiancée is clearly breaking up with him to spare him the pain of blaming himself for not being able to protect her from Corneo, as she knows it’s too late for her to escape from the slumlord’s clutches. We know this because we understand that the pendant she gave back to him symbolizes a reunion (especially between lovers, as Aerith told Cloud in chapter 2). In fact, the Japanese version of the script reveals that the fiancée was about to reveal the meaning of the flower, perhaps in the hopes that they would find each other once more, but she lost her nerve at the last second. Notice that she tells Leslie two specific things. One: their love or their future together was only a dream, meaning that it wasn’t real. Two: he should forget about her, because the dream is over now and it’s time to wake up from it.
Fiancée: (Hopefully, as though as a hail Mary) In the language of the flowers...
(She trails off, then shakes her head and stops herself.)
Fiancée: (Sadly, hopelessly) — no. You should forget about me.
(She walks away.)”
If you’re finding this familiar, then you might be ahead of me. Let’s take a look at what Aerith says to Cloud in his resolution scene, also in the English script of Remake’s chapter 14, with tone indicators added by me in bold:
“Aerith: […] you can’t fall in love with me. [It]’s not real […]. (With a sigh, as though from sadness or difficulty, but resolutely) It’s almost morning. Time to go.”Now, here is a more literal translation of this quote from the original Japanese (verified by me via DeepL), with tone indicators added by me in bold:
“Aerith: You can’t let yourself fall in love with me. [It]’s only your imagination […]. (With a sigh, as though from sadness or difficulty, but resolutely) Looks like it’s already morning. Time for me to go.”
Just like Leslie’s fiancée, Aerith is rejecting or denying Cloud’s love for her in order to spare him from the pain of not having been able to be with her before her death, as she believes it is inevitable. Just like the fiancée, Aerith also tells Cloud two things. One: their love is imaginary or isn’t real. Two: it’s morning, and she has to go (she says this right before Cloud wakes from the pseudo-dream).
In both cases, the women know something about their fate that the men don’t and are hiding this impending tragedy from them. Just like Leslie’s fiancée, Aerith uses well-intentioned deception to protect her loved one from the pain that will come from her fate— the lie, of course, is that their love isn’t real. Both women are hopeless, and both men are initially clueless. Aerith’s resolution can’t be about her kidnapping, because Aerith thinks her rescue is anything but hopeless— she’s sure Cloud will come save her from Shinra. She says so herself in OG’s disk 1 chapter 8:
“Cloud: Aeris!? You safe?
Aeris: Yeah, I'm all right. I knew that [you] would come for me.”
What Aerith is so resigned about in Cloud’s resolution scene isn’t her kidnapping, but instead her fated death at the hands of Sephiroth. Nojima hints at this in FFVII Remake Ultimania:
“If you know Aerith’s fate, then this line would really pull at your heart strings […]” (section 08 “Secrets”, “Development Staff Interviews, Part 2: Tetsuya Nomura, Yoshinori Kitase, Yoshinori Kitase, Kazushige Nojima”, page 744).
Here is co-director Toriyama had to say on Aerith’s words:
“[While] these words are intended for Cloud, I think Aerith is partly speaking them to herself. The contents of her request may be at odds with how she truly feels inside” (FFVII Remake Material Ultimania Plus, VA Script Notes, “A Dream Shown by Aerith”, “Scenario Staff Q&A - Answered by Motomu Toriyama”).
These two quotes by the devs show that Aerith is trying to protect Cloud from her death. Therefore, the Corneo-Sephiroth parallel is far more apt than the Corneo-Shinra parallel.
The second piece of evidence supporting my belief that Corneo mirrors Sephiroth and not Shinra in the Leslie-Cloud parallel is the inclusion of the theme of revenge that crops up in the following piece of dialogue:
“Tifa: Why did you wanna come down here?
Leslie: Revenge. I know I need to let go, but I can't. I need closure, 'cause without it... I'll never be able to move on” (Remake, chapter 14).
Leslie’s sentiment toward Corneo resembles Cloud’s feelings toward Sephiroth after Aerith’s death. Revenge links Cloud to Sephiroth, not to Shinra. Corneo and Sephiroth reflect each other in that, as a consequence of their actions toward a woman, the man who loves her desires revenge.
Additionally, it looks like Leslie’s obsession with revenge as a means to closure is the reason he didn’t bother trying to understand the message his fiancée left him with: he’s focused on his hate rather than his love, and it’s hindering him. He doesn’t succeed in killing Corneo either: his focus and energy are misplaced. Cloud’s desire for vengeance against Sephiroth is also depicted as an obstacle to accomplishing his goals (see how in section “III. c)” of my previous literary analysis). Once more, the Corneo-Sephiroth parallel fits far better than a Corneo-Shinra perspective.
VI. g) i. 2) The Reunion Seekers: Leslie and Cloud
The other aspect of the Leslie-Cloud parallel that supports our theory is that in both scenarios, they both take charge of the situation and decide to actively seek reunion with their respective lovers. The following dialogue excerpt, supplemented by the VA script notes, shows Leslie’s initiative:
“Tifa: [Your fiancée] could still be out there.
Barret: Can never be sure how much someone means to ya till they're gone. Don't give up on her yet.
Leslie: (Looks at the flower pendant, [recalling his lover’s words) A message in the language of flowers… I wonder what she meant by it.
[…]
Tifa: Reunion.
Leslie: Huh?
Tifa: In the language of flowers, it means ‘reunion.’
(Leslie shifts his gaze from Tifa to the pendant and stares at it for some time. At last he understands the words his lover left him. With that, as if his mind has been made up, he clutches the pendant and hangs it around his neck.)
Leslie: Then I guess I’ll just have to find her first” (FFVII Remake Material Ultimania Plus, VA Script Notes, “Other Notable Stage Directions - Chapters 14-16”).
Take note of Leslie’s final response and the determination with which he speaks: “Then I guess I’ll just have to find her first”. Remember that we’re searching for evidence that Cloud is going to be the one reaching out to Aerith in the Remake trilogy, and that it’s his turn to take his future into his hands. He must be more attentive, more active this time. And Leslie’s words of determination reflect this perfectly. Leslie must find his fiancée first, just like Cloud has to be the one to offer his hand to Aerith in the Remake trilogy and fight for her. This is exactly what our theory is all about.
VI. g) i. 3) Delayed Realizations
Interestingly, not only does Leslie’s determination mirror Cloud’s, but both men are depicted as realizing the truth too late. Just like Leslie only began searching for his fiancée six months after her disappearance, Cloud only realizes he loves Aerith in OG once she’s died. It took him this long to actually get somewhere in his mission to reunite with her— “somewhere” being the Remake trilogy.
Even Barret’s words highlight the lovers’ delay: “Can never be sure how much someone means to ya till they're gone”. Barret would know: he lost his wife Myrna, who he loved dearly. The devs have Barret comment on the situation as a man whose lover died, mirroring Cloud’s situation in OG. Just as Barret says, Cloud only truly realized the strength of how he felt for Aerith in OG once she was gone. The gunman’s words apply to both Leslie and Cloud’s tardy initiatives. Regardless of this delay, both men are now determined to see their respective reunions through.
The degree to which the Leslie-Cloud parallel fits our theory is a great sign of its validity: even the details are lining up!
VI. g) ii. Reunion in the Theme Songs
Too easy: in our analysis of the lyrics of the theme songs, we covered how both texts include the theme of reunion. “No Promises to Keep” is especially relevant (see section “VI. e) ii.”), as the entire song is Aerith hoping against fate for a reunion with Cloud (even if you believe the song is about all her companions, that still includes Cloud).
On top of these reunion-themed lyrics, during Aerith’s in-game performance of “No Promises to Keep” at the Gold Saucer production of Loveless, her yellow blossoms signifying reunion bloom all around her as Cloud watches her, captivated.
Another great sign for our theory: the highly significant theme songs are on our side!
VI. g) iii. Waking Up Reunited
The thing I want to juxtapose to our theory is a small yet special moment in chapter 2 of Rebirth that stuck out to me like a sore thumb and got me really excited about sharing it with you. This moment occurs after the battle against the Midgardsormr. We’ll be comparing it to two other clips, describing all three in chronological order, and making deductions based on their similarities.
The first clip I want to address occurs in chapter 8 of Remake (1:32-2:12). There are a couple of things I want to point out in this scene. First, Aerith wakes Cloud from unconsciousness with a cute call of “Hello~?”. Second, despite pretending that he doesn’t, he immediately recognizes her. The VA script notes prove it:
“Aerith: Nice to meet you again.
Cloud actually remembers Aerith, but he pretends not to, perhaps wishing to make himself look cool.
Cloud: Again, huh?
Aerith: What? You don’t remember? How about…the flowers?
Cloud looks at the flowers at his feet and pretends as if he’s only just remembered.
Cloud: Oh, the flower seller” (FFVII Remake Material Ultimania Plus, VA script notes, “Reuniting with Aerith”).
So: she wakes him with a cute call, and he recognizes her. Also note that these two elements also apply to the OG church reunion scene.
Now onto the Rebirth chapter 2 scene that stuck out to me. After Cloud is saved from the Midgardsormr by Sephiroth, Cloud wakes up from unconsciousness spell with Aerith calling for him (7:20-7:34).
Once more, Aerith wakes him with a cute call (this time, it’s “Wakey, wakey!”), and Cloud recognizes her. In this Midgardsormr clip, unlike their reunion in the church, Cloud verbalizes that he remembers her. This time, there’s more: next, Aerith tells Cloud “おかえり, クラウド”, or “okaeri, Cloud”, which translates to “welcome back, Cloud”. “Okaeri” is what you say in Japanese when someone has returned home. In the third clip we will analyze, Aerith says “okaeri” to Cloud once more. But first, let’s break down this second clip.
I don’t know about you, but this cutscene felt extremely weird to me when I first encountered it. That is, it would have been, if not for the theory I’d begun formulating at that time.
You see, the devs could have chosen for Aerith to ask Cloud if he remembers his own name or where they are, if he’s okay, or check if he responds to his own name. In fact, asking someone who’s been hit on the head to say their own name is a much more common a reaction to them finally waking up than asking them if they remember you. Even stranger is Cloud’s reaction: he could have answered “Yeah, you’re Aerith,” or “I remember everything, I’m fine”. Instead, he says her name with this airy and wonderstruck tone. He sounds like he’s opening his eyes to something mystic rather than his comrade leaning over him, like he’s seeing someone unexpectedly for the first time in a while… or rather like he’s waking from a trance of some kind— a trance in which he did not remember Aerith, and now he does. You may see where I’m going with this.
Let’s examine the third clip, wherein Aerith tells Cloud “okaeri” again. More specifically, in chapter 14, Aerith welcomes Cloud back when he snaps out of his zombified, Sephiroth-controlled state and runs toward her. Of course, it’s the sight of her and his memories of meeting her in chapter 2 of Remake that shake him awake (2:17:43-2:18:02).
For a third time, Aerith wakes Cloud. This time, she’s pulling him out of a trance and back to himself. And for a third time, Cloud remembers her. In fact, it’s remembering her that wakes him up. Cloud calls her name and Aerith says “okaeri” in both the post-Midgardsormr cutscene and this third clip. And in both scenes, not only does Cloud return to himself the way someone returns home (recall that “okaeri” is used to welcome someone back home), but he’s also returning to her, recognizing her as his home.
Now we’ve got three scenes lined up: the church reunion scene (both in OG and Remake), the Midgardsormr scene and the hand-reach scene. All three of these recognition scenes feature Cloud being woken up by Aerith and remembering who she is. The main difference is that, in the scenes among these three that are exclusive to Rebirth, Cloud’s return to Aerith is far more meaningful, as he already knows her name, and knows more about who she is to him. Evidently, in the OG church reunion scene, Cloud only remembers being sold a flower by this girl. In the Remake version, he remembers the same thing, plus the attack of the whispers. So there’s something much more weighty about the Rebirth recognition scenes: he remembers more, and he remembers deeper. These aren’t just recognition scenes, they’re also mini-reunions. Of course, as we’ve already analyzed pertaining to the hand-reaching scene, Cloud remembering Aerith is followed by him being the one to take action and run toward her, eager to save her, because she means the world to him. When you place the Midgardsormr scene between the church reunion scene and the hand-reach scene, an evolution of Cloud waking up and remembering Aerith is formed. Each mini-reunion scene adds a piece to the story: the church scene informs us that Cloud and Aerith are meeting again, the Midgardsormr scene tips us off that something mystic is going on from Cloud’s tone when he says Aerith’s name, and the hand reach scene tells us that as a consequence of remembering who Aerith is, Cloud saves her from falling to her death and saving her. “Meeting again”, “mystic”, and “saving Aerith”: these are the keywords of the mini-reunion scenes. They are also the keywords of our theory on Cloud’s mission to save Aerith. This time around Cloud knows more and is more conscious about how he feels for Aerith, just like he feels more when in the hand-reach scene in Rebirth compared to the church reunion scene in Remake. From the latter scene to the former, Cloud gradually wakes up and remembers his love for and loss of Aerith in the OG more and more. Each mini-reunion brings him closer to saving her when he blocks the masamune. This is why I am certain that in part 3, whether Cloud comes to his full senses or not, whether he remembers the events of OG or not, he will save Aerith this time. The Remake trilogy is centered around Aerith, after all. In fact, don’t take it from me, take it from Nojima:
“Aerith's the most important character in the remake so we paid special attention to her lines” (FFVII Remake Ultimania, section 08 “Secrets”, “Development Staff Interviews, Part 2: Tetsuya Nomura, Yoshinori Kitase, Kazushige Nojima”, page 744).
I have full confidence in this fact: one way or another, these two will have a happy ending. This is Cloud’s second chance, and as he swore in “Hollow”, he is not losing her again. That is why I don’t think you should fret, and that our Clerith hearts will be very happy to see these two together again for good in part 3.
VI. h) Zooming In
In fact, this zooming-in method of directing players’ attention to important narrative beats is far from new.
VI. h) i. Changing Fate
Let’s divert our attention to Nanaki’s Skywheel date (2:28-3:30). The dialogue goes like this: Nanaki brings us the Whispers and suggests the party might eventually forget about their existence, and Cloud says that frankly, if it’s impossible for them to change fate either way, then it would be better for them to forget to Whispers altogether.
This is a very clear message from the devs: “there would be no point in including the Whispers in the Remaketrilogy if we did not make use of their defeat”. They’re telling us through Cloud’s dialogue that they know it would be foul play and bad writing to introduce the theme of defying fate if it didn’t eventually pay off.
As if it weren’t clear enough what the devs are referring to, Nanaki brings up Aerith’s death directly after Cloud delivers the devs’ message to us. He actually makes Cloud promise to save her. This is pretty on the nose. By promising Nanaki he will protect Aerith, the devs are promising us the same. I’m certain that part 3 will deliver on this promise.
If you still aren’t sold, I’d like to direct your attention to the framing of the shot where Cloud says “if we can’t change [fate]” (2:49-2:51). There’s a zoom-in on his mouth, which is a visual cue that translates to “what this character is saying right now is important to the plot”. It’s very indiscrete in theory: the camera literally hones in on the invisible words as though the script has them highlighted, italicized triple-underlined and in bold.
VI. h) ii. Aerith’s Knowledge
We’ve seen the Remake trilogy use this camera framing at least twice so far. The first time occurs in Remake’s chapter 8, before it becomes clear that Aerith knows things from the OG game that she wouldn’t normally know if this were just a remastered version of the same 1997 plot. I’ll let Remake Ultimania‘s description of this moment speak for itself:
“When Cloud and Aerith return the rescued children to Oates, the man in the tattered black cloak shows up again at the hideout. The moment the man grasps Cloud’s arm, he’s overcome by another violent headache and sees a vision of Sephiroth. Cloud wonders if this man who supposedly died five years ago could possibly still be alive. When he says as much to Aerith, she gives him a vague reply” (FFVII Remake Ultimania, section 04: “Scenario”, “Chapter 8 Main Story Digest”, page 256).
Aerith’s “vague reply” is accentuated by a very deliberate zoom-in on her mouth (1:18:05-1:18:09), and therefore her words.
The framing of this shot indicates to us that what Aerith says provides an important hint as to the plot’s direction. Sure enough, with hindsight, it’s easy to see that’s true.
VI. h) iii. Tifa’s Question
Another time this framing is used is in chapter 1 of Rebirth, after Cloud recounts the Nibelheim incident. Tifa asks the group why Sephiroth is choosing to come back now, after five years (37:55-37:58).
Once more, we are being signaled that the reason Sephiroth chose to return at the moment he did is significant to the plot, but cannot be revealed explicitly yet. The reason why Sephiroth took five years to return is because that’s how long it took for Cloud to get back on his feet after the Nibelheim incident: Sephiroth wants and/or needs to manipulate Cloud in particular rather than all the other people with Jenova cells in them. It took five years for Cloud to not only go through Hojo’s experiments but also escape Shinra and make his way to Seventh Heaven, where Tifa nursed him back to health— therefore, it took five years until Sephiroth’s favorite pawn was available to be used. There are a few reasons why Cloud is the one Sephiroth wants to use, and all of them would be spoilers at this point in Rebirth to players who don’t know the OG plot. The devs can’t reveal any of them yet, but they do indicate via a close-up shot of Tifa’s mouth that her question is important.
VI. h) iv. The Takeaway
As you can see, this framing of characters’ mouths when they speak signals a plot-significant piece of dialogue. This means Cloud’s words on his gondola date with Nanaki can’t be brushed off as a red herring or an unimportant or throwaway line: it has narrative weight.
VII. The Devs
I think it’s important to remember the devs and their commitment to the world of FFVII. They know best for this story, and they’ve proven it to be true many times over. There are many things about the devs’ intentions that the fandom don’t seem to know that I think would give you confidence to find out.
VII. a) Shifting Themes
Good storytellers don’t introduce themes as a way to pull the rug from under audiences’ feet by later rendering them completely irrelevant to the plot.
In other words, the devs would not have introduced the notion of fate as an antagonistic force in Remake, nor allowed the players to defeat it in chapter 18, had they planned for these themes not to pay off at all. Think of how good FFVII OG and FF stories in general are, how strong the writing is from a narrative point of view. Nothing is included for no reason or for a cheap reaction— especially not a central theme of a story. Fate and defeating it is a huge point of Remake, and not for no reason.
I mean, think about a storyline all about defying fate ending with a shrug and a “Oh well, we tried.” It would be ridiculous! The devs are better than that.
VII. b) What the Devs Want
The devs are well-aware that fans of FFVII have been begging for Aerith’s resurrection since 1997. All those petitions, all those myths of a revival hack… SE knows about them all too well. They were even referenced by FF’s 30th anniversary expo, which partly promoted Remake:
“No one expected [Aerith’s death] in the middle of the story. Rumors of a secret way to revive Aerith spread, and it was clear players were having a hard time saying goodbye to her too. Even now, twenty years later, it still feels like a shocking turn of events” (Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary Exposition Pamphlet, page 36).
Hamaguchi, codirector of the Remake project, commented on these rumors:
“Interviewer: Do you have a favorite fake rumor about the original FFVII?
Hamaguchi: I hear a lot about Aerith coming back to life and that's something that's very interesting to hear” (Hamaguchi interview: “129 Rapid-Fire Questions Answered About Final Fantasy VII Rebirth”, by Game Informer).
The devs are also aware of how beloved Clerith is to the FFVII fandom, especially in Japan— in fact, the only FFVII ship name that is an official iOS search term on the Japanese Apple Store is Clerith’s (“クラエア” or “kuraea” in Japanese). Aerith herself is a widely beloved character, particularly, once more, in Japan. For instance, Famitsu and NHK’s recent polls on the best FF heroine and on the best FF character in general both resulted in Aerith ranking number 3, beaten only in the latter poll by Cloud at number 1 and FFX’s Yuna at number 2.
The devs know how well-loved both Clerith and Aerith are. And in fact, they love Aerith at least as much as we do:
“Cloud's feelings [of guilt] cannot be resolved by anyone other than Aerith. I tried to convey [that Aerith is saying to Cloud] ‘I'm still here for you’” (FFVII Reunion Files, Nojima’s note on Aerith’s character file, page 58).&
“When I saw the finished product of [Aerith’s face in] CG, I thought, "Oh, isn’t she so cute?” (FFVII Reunion Files, Nomura’s note on Aerith’s character file, page 58).&
"The idea of having Aeris die during the story had a great impact on all the dev staff," Toriyama explained, "and personally I decided to dedicate my efforts to depicting Aeris in as appealing a way as possible, so that she would become an irreplaceable character to the player in preparation for that moment" (Toriyama interview “Final Fantasy anniversary interview: Toriyama speaks” by VG247).
The devs care about Aerith, and they’re fully aware we do too.
I think a lot of people have it in their heads that the devs don’t want anything to change from the OG story, but there’s a lot of evidence that says otherwise. Codirector Toriyama spoke on this, stating the following about the production process of Remake:
“[…] there were times the original version became a hindrance. Specifically, staff members with a strong attachment to Final Fantasy VII would often hold themselves back for fear of deviating too much from the original. When we created the original game, we obviously didn’t feel bound in that way. We were passionate about creating a brand new Final Fantasy title, and so we dove in and embraced whatever seemed most interesting to us. We wanted to take that approach this time as well, so we made a special effort to liberate ourselves whenever we held back, remembering that it was okay to do the things we wanted to do” (FFVII Remake Ultimania, section 08 “Secrets”, “Development Staff Interviews, Part 1: Motomu Toriyama, Naoki Hamaguchi, Teruki Endo”, page 737).
Codirector Nomura said the following:
“When I asked Nojima if he’d write the scenario, I was clear about my demands up front. I said, ‘If we're going to remake Final Fantasy VII, I want it to be done like this.’ At that point, I was intent on making something more than just a remake. [Similarly to how] the battle system this time incorporates elements of the original game’s ATB mechanics [while] also been reborn using a real-time approach […], I wanted to make a story that players would feel is fundamentally Final Fantasy VII but also something new” (FFVII Remake Ultimania, section 08 “Secrets”, “Development Staff Interviews, Part 2: Tetsuya Nomura, Yoshinori Kitase, Kazushige Nojima”, page 745).
Clearly, the devs don’t want to be bogged down by the OG, and are making efforts to do things the way they want to rather than the way they were previously done. The newer generation of developers such as codirector Hamaguchi is also involved in these story changes:
“Interviewer: There are also drastically more scenes with Sephiroth than there were in the original game.
Nojima: We weren't planning on having him appear so much at first— the idea was only to hint at his presence. But we changed our approach partway through and became more proactive with having him appear, after which the number of scenes he features in rapidly increased.
Nomura: Hamaguchi [codirector Naoki Hamaguchi] came up to me one day and said in a mysterious tone, ‘I'd like to talk to you about something.’ He asked me about having there be a battle with Sephiroth in Midgar. In the original game, Sephiroth’s true body is located elsewhere, so he didn’t think I'd give in to the idea so easily. think he even prepared materials to persuade me. But in the end I agreed readily [laughs]” (FFVII Remake Ultimania, section 08 “Secrets”, “Development Staff Interviews, Part 2: Tetsuya Nomura, Yoshinori Kitase, Kazushige Nojima”, page 746).
Kitase, the producer of the Remake trilogy, even says that after working on this project for so long, and after spending almost 30 years on the FFVII project and getting to know the characters, he has realized that:
“The more [he works] on it, the more [he wants] to make all these characters happy. [He wants] to give them a happy ending. The rest of the team’s opinions [obviously] also have to be taken into consideration, so it won't be all happiness and rainbows. But [he] just [wants] to make [the characters of FFVII] happy” (Kitase and Hamaguchi’s interview “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s Producer Just Wants 'the Characters to End Up Happy'”, by Vandal, translated by me).Kitase is indeed only one developer, but he’s the producer of this project: that’s the very top position. He oversees everything and nothing goes without his approval. That counts for something. Of course, Kitase is fair and values the input of all the devs, so of course it won’t be “all happiness and rainbows”— but I sincerely believe there’s a big chance that Cloud and Aerith are heading toward their happy ending. Even if this theory is completely bogus, I want to have faith that the devs would not sacrifice good storytelling for nostalgia and a conservative attitude toward preserving the OG story, as that would be cheap of them, and we have not known them to be cheap. This game truly matters to them, so I think they deserve our faith.
2024.05.16 17:18 ThrowRAgeeses I regret the name I chose for myself because it’s too unique.
I changed my name 2 years ago cause I hated my birth name. I chose the name Ezra. I honestly love the name that I chose for myself, but I also have a few regrets about it and I wish I had chosen something different.
(Btw, Yes I know the name Ezra isn’t uncommon anymore, but for my age range and generation it absolutely was rare. I am in my early 20’s)
The biggest regret that I have is that the name that I chose is not very common for my generation. I think it’s outside of the top 400 for my generation in my country (England). Since then it has risen and is now more common among younger boys, but a lot of people my age haven’t heard of the name before and/or haven’t met anyone with the name. When I chose the name, I was severely mentally ill and was also going through a non-binary phase which is why I was going for something unique because I wanted to stand out I guess. I now regret all of that and I stopped being enby over a year ago. I wish I had just chosen something in the top 100. There are loads of names that are more common, and probably better, than the one I chose.
So the thing is, the name being a bit stand out isn’t a problem by itself. The reason I think of it as a problem is that a lot of people already think of me as queer or neurodivergent in some way (even people I’ve met recently, way after my enby phase). I’ve had several people tell me this in the past few months. It’s completely unprovoked too - people just tell me this whenever the topic accidentally comes up. At first it shocked me because I don’t think of myself in this way, at least not anymore. My appearance isn’t very traditionally masculine, neither is my voice, and the way I dress is quite colourful, but it’s not too out there in my opinion. Probably something to do with my personality as well. The people who tell me that I seem queeneurodivergent never mean it maliciously, they just say it as an observation. But regardless of their intent, I kind of don’t like how many people think this way about me when I’m just trying to live my life normally without being labelled or “other’d” like this, even if the labels could be true.
So I just worry that when people hear my name and match it with my appearance, they automatically assume that I’m queeneurodivergent and that it’s not my actual name and that I’m just trying to be different. Honestly my biggest fear these days is people thinking that I’m just trying to be different. I’m not. I’m just trying to live my life authentically but I think a lot of the time that can accidentally come across as me trying to be different for the sake of it, which is the last thing I want.
I don’t know. I feel like the name I chose being uncommon for my age group is adding to this “accidental uniqueness” that I am now desparately trying to run away from because I don’t like people viewing me as an attention seeker. This all could’ve been avoided by just choosing a top 100 name, but I didn’t and so now I have to make peace with this because it’s too late to change it again, and I don’t want to change it, because I still love the name.
submitted by ThrowRAgeeses to namenerds [link] [comments]
(Btw, Yes I know the name Ezra isn’t uncommon anymore, but for my age range and generation it absolutely was rare. I am in my early 20’s)
The biggest regret that I have is that the name that I chose is not very common for my generation. I think it’s outside of the top 400 for my generation in my country (England). Since then it has risen and is now more common among younger boys, but a lot of people my age haven’t heard of the name before and/or haven’t met anyone with the name. When I chose the name, I was severely mentally ill and was also going through a non-binary phase which is why I was going for something unique because I wanted to stand out I guess. I now regret all of that and I stopped being enby over a year ago. I wish I had just chosen something in the top 100. There are loads of names that are more common, and probably better, than the one I chose.
So the thing is, the name being a bit stand out isn’t a problem by itself. The reason I think of it as a problem is that a lot of people already think of me as queer or neurodivergent in some way (even people I’ve met recently, way after my enby phase). I’ve had several people tell me this in the past few months. It’s completely unprovoked too - people just tell me this whenever the topic accidentally comes up. At first it shocked me because I don’t think of myself in this way, at least not anymore. My appearance isn’t very traditionally masculine, neither is my voice, and the way I dress is quite colourful, but it’s not too out there in my opinion. Probably something to do with my personality as well. The people who tell me that I seem queeneurodivergent never mean it maliciously, they just say it as an observation. But regardless of their intent, I kind of don’t like how many people think this way about me when I’m just trying to live my life normally without being labelled or “other’d” like this, even if the labels could be true.
So I just worry that when people hear my name and match it with my appearance, they automatically assume that I’m queeneurodivergent and that it’s not my actual name and that I’m just trying to be different. Honestly my biggest fear these days is people thinking that I’m just trying to be different. I’m not. I’m just trying to live my life authentically but I think a lot of the time that can accidentally come across as me trying to be different for the sake of it, which is the last thing I want.
I don’t know. I feel like the name I chose being uncommon for my age group is adding to this “accidental uniqueness” that I am now desparately trying to run away from because I don’t like people viewing me as an attention seeker. This all could’ve been avoided by just choosing a top 100 name, but I didn’t and so now I have to make peace with this because it’s too late to change it again, and I don’t want to change it, because I still love the name.
2024.05.16 17:09 TandrDregn And just like that, the first encounter of #IntoTheDepths comes to an end, the Inquisition patrol being defeated with an epic final showdown between Prince Craiven and Captain Hierlock (This is basically just a slightly edited copy+paste of the RP me and u/Sleep_eeSheep did)
Captain Hierlock eyed Craiven. As young as the prince was, he WAS an impressive leader.
Hierlock:”Shame you’re a traitor, kid. You could have been a lot of help to the kingdom. Instead, you caused Morrion to burn.”
He charged, hammer high. Craiven, seeing the Captain's charge, quickly swung his lantern to the side. Bracing himself, he narrowly managed to cast a shield spell.
Craiven:"The Andricari are the ones responsible, captain! We are only trying to help get as many people out of there as possible."
The captain roared.
Hierlock:”Nobody would have gone to Morrion if you hadn’t made camp near it in the first place! That is all you rebels do! Hide in cities and towns, hoping the civilians will serve as meat shields!”
Hierlock swung his hammer sideways, going for Craiven’s head. Just as Craiven manages to duck, the hammer narrowly missing his head frill by an inch, he keeps trying to reason with the captain.
Craiven:"That is not why we came here. We came here to free Morrion, not see it razed to the ground!"
The captain charged forward with his shield, the glowing blade protruding from it aimed at Craiven’s torso.
Hierlock:”Oh really, free it from who? Morrion was fine until you treacherous fucks came along!”
Dodging just an inch to the captain's right, the Prince used this chance to grab a shield from off the ground.
Craiven:"From Acidor! He is using you, just as he is using the royalists! Think of it, Captain! If we sought to harm the people of Morrion, why would we have come this way? Why would we have fought alongside your home's leader in Morrion's hour of need?"
Hierlock:”Acidor? Using us? He’s just not on the priority list yet.”
Curiously, the captain evaded the question of why would the rebels come to the Black Pit, as if he didn’t have an answer. For just a moment, he paused his onslaught to think.
Hierlock:”And yet you ask for my trust, when many of the rebels are just traitors. You, your father, and many others, all just bastards breaking their oaths!”
He swung again, a devastating overhead attack. Even as Craiven shielded himself with the discarded shield, this crushing blow still sent him crashing to the ground. His heart began thumping erratically, seeing the Captain standing over him. He only had a second to think, grasping onto his hand-crossbow.
Craiven:"B-Blinding flash!"
As he called out, as a streak of light shot out from the hand crossbow.
Hierlock:”Arg! Fuck!”
Hierlock rubbed his eyes with his gauntlet, careful not to stab them out with his hammer. Though his vision was blurry, he kept attacking, just with less accuracy, a mighty swing of his hammer followed by a slash using the blade on his shield. Hurriedly clambering to his feet, Craiven uses this opportunity to grab his faithful shield. He was able to bat aside the Captain's bladed shield, but as he raises the Coward's Yelp above his head....an ear-splitting sound of crunching metal signalled the end of his trusted shield's service. As the bifurcated shield landed on the ground, split in half by the hammer's might, Craiven's focus shifted from engaging the Captain at close range to grabbing the nearest polearm in the hopes that he could stall the giant's furious onslaught. Hierlock was ready and winding up for a blow that would hit Craiven so hard his ancestors from five generations ago would flinch in their graves, when doubts stopped him. Once again, his mind wandered back to the question. WHY would the rebels go all the way out here to hurt Morrion? Were they seeking some of the magic artifacts the late (but not missed) Inquisitor Skurtap was rumored to be hiding? Or were the traitor prince’s words true, and were the rebels really seeking to help Morrion. Either way, his thoughts stalled the captain. Steeling himself, Craiven readied the battle-damaged polearm gripped tightly in his hands. He could see that the Captain hesitated. Were he a mere soldier, he could have used this opportunity to exploit Hierlock's weakened state.
Craiven:"My word as Prince of this realm may not mean anything to you or your peers, Hierlock, but it is the truth! For the sake of our people, for Duke Zorrual, you must allow us passage."
Hierlock looked around. His troops were getting overwhelmed despite their numbers advantage. He growled.
Hierlock:”Enough!”
His hammer igniting with divine light, he swung it towards Craiven, cracking the ground with a destruction wave (that’s the correct name for that spell, right?). Between his frustration and doubts, he lashed out with his paladin might. Grasping the polearm, Craiven leapt backward. The moment he lands, he fumbles, tripping over a discarded helmet.
Craiven:"Oof!"
Shaking his head, he then held the discarded soldier's polearm ready. Raising himself into a kneeling position, he braces the polearm steady, grasping the haft with both hands as he lifts it above his head. As the captain was about to follow up on the powerful spell, he nearly charged head first into the raised polearm, almost stabbing his own eye out. Stopping just barely, he instead spun around, swinging his tail at Craiven. Craiven gruntsed as he wass knocked to the side by Hierlock's tail. He winced, before rolling to the side as his hand wrapped around the hilt of a discarded sword. Standing back to his feet, the Prince's eyes met the Captain's. His left shoulder felt like he had a boulder thrown at him. The captain glared at the prince, a mix of rage and doubts on his face.
Hierlock:”I gave you rebels a chance to surrender! You CHOSE to fight! As they did in Morrion!”
The captain, still full of rage and doubts, charged at Craiven, his head lowered as he went in for a charge not dissimilar to a bull or a rhino. Ducking out of the way, Craiven scarcely realised he had dropped his weapon until seconds after the Captain's charge.
Craiven:"And yet we chose to fight FOR Morrion's sake, against those who would see it burned to the ground!"
As the captain stormed past, he charged right into a tree. Dazed from the impact, he barely heard Craiven’s words. But even barely, he DID hear them. Still torn between doubts and fury, the Captain charged again, this time going in for a kick to the chest. Rolling again onto his side, Craiven grabbed the haft of his prior weapon. With only a second to aim, he used his good arm to throw the spear directly at the Captain's lower body.
Craiven:"RRRAAAGGH!"
Hierlock:”RAGH!!”
The captain roared as the spear hit him right below the knee. Dropping his hammer, he pulled it out and threw it at Craiven, though as he did his leg gave out, forcing him onto one knee. Hitting the dirt in front of him, Craiven could hear the spear whistle just inches from his head. When he looked up, he could see the injured Captain on one knee. Cautiously, the Prince walked over to Captain Hierlock. He glanced down at him, his hand curling up into a fist, before he breathed a laboured sigh.
Craiven:"Call off your men."
Hierlock looks around, seeing only one man still standing, a venator in the back.
Hierlock:”Grrrrr. I yield.”
The lone venator looked shocked at the captain as the captain put his hammer down, glaring at the prince with a mixture of hatred and confusion, as well as a sliver of respect for his combat prowess.
Hierlock:”Now what?”
Follow up comic soon for the first major decision
submitted by TandrDregn to TheDragonbornWar [link] [comments]
Hierlock:”Shame you’re a traitor, kid. You could have been a lot of help to the kingdom. Instead, you caused Morrion to burn.”
He charged, hammer high. Craiven, seeing the Captain's charge, quickly swung his lantern to the side. Bracing himself, he narrowly managed to cast a shield spell.
Craiven:"The Andricari are the ones responsible, captain! We are only trying to help get as many people out of there as possible."
The captain roared.
Hierlock:”Nobody would have gone to Morrion if you hadn’t made camp near it in the first place! That is all you rebels do! Hide in cities and towns, hoping the civilians will serve as meat shields!”
Hierlock swung his hammer sideways, going for Craiven’s head. Just as Craiven manages to duck, the hammer narrowly missing his head frill by an inch, he keeps trying to reason with the captain.
Craiven:"That is not why we came here. We came here to free Morrion, not see it razed to the ground!"
The captain charged forward with his shield, the glowing blade protruding from it aimed at Craiven’s torso.
Hierlock:”Oh really, free it from who? Morrion was fine until you treacherous fucks came along!”
Dodging just an inch to the captain's right, the Prince used this chance to grab a shield from off the ground.
Craiven:"From Acidor! He is using you, just as he is using the royalists! Think of it, Captain! If we sought to harm the people of Morrion, why would we have come this way? Why would we have fought alongside your home's leader in Morrion's hour of need?"
Hierlock:”Acidor? Using us? He’s just not on the priority list yet.”
Curiously, the captain evaded the question of why would the rebels come to the Black Pit, as if he didn’t have an answer. For just a moment, he paused his onslaught to think.
Hierlock:”And yet you ask for my trust, when many of the rebels are just traitors. You, your father, and many others, all just bastards breaking their oaths!”
He swung again, a devastating overhead attack. Even as Craiven shielded himself with the discarded shield, this crushing blow still sent him crashing to the ground. His heart began thumping erratically, seeing the Captain standing over him. He only had a second to think, grasping onto his hand-crossbow.
Craiven:"B-Blinding flash!"
As he called out, as a streak of light shot out from the hand crossbow.
Hierlock:”Arg! Fuck!”
Hierlock rubbed his eyes with his gauntlet, careful not to stab them out with his hammer. Though his vision was blurry, he kept attacking, just with less accuracy, a mighty swing of his hammer followed by a slash using the blade on his shield. Hurriedly clambering to his feet, Craiven uses this opportunity to grab his faithful shield. He was able to bat aside the Captain's bladed shield, but as he raises the Coward's Yelp above his head....an ear-splitting sound of crunching metal signalled the end of his trusted shield's service. As the bifurcated shield landed on the ground, split in half by the hammer's might, Craiven's focus shifted from engaging the Captain at close range to grabbing the nearest polearm in the hopes that he could stall the giant's furious onslaught. Hierlock was ready and winding up for a blow that would hit Craiven so hard his ancestors from five generations ago would flinch in their graves, when doubts stopped him. Once again, his mind wandered back to the question. WHY would the rebels go all the way out here to hurt Morrion? Were they seeking some of the magic artifacts the late (but not missed) Inquisitor Skurtap was rumored to be hiding? Or were the traitor prince’s words true, and were the rebels really seeking to help Morrion. Either way, his thoughts stalled the captain. Steeling himself, Craiven readied the battle-damaged polearm gripped tightly in his hands. He could see that the Captain hesitated. Were he a mere soldier, he could have used this opportunity to exploit Hierlock's weakened state.
Craiven:"My word as Prince of this realm may not mean anything to you or your peers, Hierlock, but it is the truth! For the sake of our people, for Duke Zorrual, you must allow us passage."
Hierlock looked around. His troops were getting overwhelmed despite their numbers advantage. He growled.
Hierlock:”Enough!”
His hammer igniting with divine light, he swung it towards Craiven, cracking the ground with a destruction wave (that’s the correct name for that spell, right?). Between his frustration and doubts, he lashed out with his paladin might. Grasping the polearm, Craiven leapt backward. The moment he lands, he fumbles, tripping over a discarded helmet.
Craiven:"Oof!"
Shaking his head, he then held the discarded soldier's polearm ready. Raising himself into a kneeling position, he braces the polearm steady, grasping the haft with both hands as he lifts it above his head. As the captain was about to follow up on the powerful spell, he nearly charged head first into the raised polearm, almost stabbing his own eye out. Stopping just barely, he instead spun around, swinging his tail at Craiven. Craiven gruntsed as he wass knocked to the side by Hierlock's tail. He winced, before rolling to the side as his hand wrapped around the hilt of a discarded sword. Standing back to his feet, the Prince's eyes met the Captain's. His left shoulder felt like he had a boulder thrown at him. The captain glared at the prince, a mix of rage and doubts on his face.
Hierlock:”I gave you rebels a chance to surrender! You CHOSE to fight! As they did in Morrion!”
The captain, still full of rage and doubts, charged at Craiven, his head lowered as he went in for a charge not dissimilar to a bull or a rhino. Ducking out of the way, Craiven scarcely realised he had dropped his weapon until seconds after the Captain's charge.
Craiven:"And yet we chose to fight FOR Morrion's sake, against those who would see it burned to the ground!"
As the captain stormed past, he charged right into a tree. Dazed from the impact, he barely heard Craiven’s words. But even barely, he DID hear them. Still torn between doubts and fury, the Captain charged again, this time going in for a kick to the chest. Rolling again onto his side, Craiven grabbed the haft of his prior weapon. With only a second to aim, he used his good arm to throw the spear directly at the Captain's lower body.
Craiven:"RRRAAAGGH!"
Hierlock:”RAGH!!”
The captain roared as the spear hit him right below the knee. Dropping his hammer, he pulled it out and threw it at Craiven, though as he did his leg gave out, forcing him onto one knee. Hitting the dirt in front of him, Craiven could hear the spear whistle just inches from his head. When he looked up, he could see the injured Captain on one knee. Cautiously, the Prince walked over to Captain Hierlock. He glanced down at him, his hand curling up into a fist, before he breathed a laboured sigh.
Craiven:"Call off your men."
Hierlock looks around, seeing only one man still standing, a venator in the back.
Hierlock:”Grrrrr. I yield.”
The lone venator looked shocked at the captain as the captain put his hammer down, glaring at the prince with a mixture of hatred and confusion, as well as a sliver of respect for his combat prowess.
Hierlock:”Now what?”
Follow up comic soon for the first major decision
2024.05.16 17:07 FinalPearRed How do I have Youtube screen videos with certain people off my homepage?
Hi, there are some people I really don't want to appear on my homepage. However, the channels with them on it often have other stuff that I like to see so I don't want to just block the channel. I assume the best way to do this is to have youtube screen the titles of videos for keywords and I can just put the person's name as the keyword.
Is this possible? Is there a better way to keep them off my home page? I heard about some chrome-extensions that might do this but I couldn't figure them out.
Thanks!
submitted by FinalPearRed to youtube [link] [comments]
Is this possible? Is there a better way to keep them off my home page? I heard about some chrome-extensions that might do this but I couldn't figure them out.
Thanks!
2024.05.16 17:06 zhiro90 Recover Corrupted Widgets Names?
 | I had this old (2020 ish), extremely tweaked kodi leia install, which i had to leave unused for a couple of years as i moved. Got that installation back recently and, as expected, everything is broken. Upgraded to nexus and it's slowly working again. submitted by zhiro90 to kodi [link] [comments] Only thing I'm missing for the moment are the widgets in my dashboard, they show up as blank as in the picture privoded. Are their names stored somewhere? as in an obscure config or xml file? It took me ages to set them up back then but most of the work was figuring what to use in the main screen. Thak you in advance https://preview.redd.it/z9vb2zw90t0d1.png?width=1866&format=png&auto=webp&s=55c6aae002ef961c2405a837ac732e8045e21a87 |
2024.05.16 17:05 TheBigPV [USA-VA] [H] Nintendo Switch Oled bundle - with pro controller, 11 games, accessories. Motorola Edge Plus 2022 512 gb - Factory Unlocked -5 cases [W] Paypal, local cash
Repost with updated pricing
Time stamps: https://imgur.com/a/Nn7rx56
Hello. I have for sale a Nintendo Switch Oled Model that has been lightly used. have not had to the time to play it since I got i, probably less than 100 hours on it total.
I have the original box, accessories, and docking station. Additionally I have the following accessories for the device: Nintendo Pro Controller Nintendo Zelda wired Controller Skull & co Grip Case Screen Protector 2 Gamecube Controller adapters - one is a bit finicky and temperamental, the other works fine 2 Joy Con Controller adapters
And the Following Physical Games (Have all of the game cases):
Mario Odessy Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild It Takes Two Starlink Battle for Atlas Mario Party Superstars Legend of Zelda Link's Awakening Dead Cells Toad Treasure Tracker Super Smash Bros Ultimate Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Game without Case Animal Crossing New Horizons - Time Stamp (https://imgur.com/a/OwhWhpr)
Looking for $445 $430 Shipped to Lower 48 for all of the switch stuff
Motorola Edge Plus 2022 Purchased by Me in Jan 2023, used for the last year until I upgraded last month Factory Unlocked Good Condition Pre Installed Zagg Screen Protector 5 Cases - 1 Spigin Thin Fit Pro- Tech 21 Case, 3 no name cases
512 GB, 8gb Ram, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, 144hz Refresh Rate
Looking for $175 $160 Shipped for all of phone items
Please comment before PM Please Reddit Msg and not Chat I also have 4 Gameboy Advanced SP's that I will be listing in a few days as well if anyone is interested in them- Need to get a charger to confirm they work
submitted by TheBigPV to hardwareswap [link] [comments]
Time stamps: https://imgur.com/a/Nn7rx56
Hello. I have for sale a Nintendo Switch Oled Model that has been lightly used. have not had to the time to play it since I got i, probably less than 100 hours on it total.
I have the original box, accessories, and docking station. Additionally I have the following accessories for the device: Nintendo Pro Controller Nintendo Zelda wired Controller Skull & co Grip Case Screen Protector 2 Gamecube Controller adapters - one is a bit finicky and temperamental, the other works fine 2 Joy Con Controller adapters
And the Following Physical Games (Have all of the game cases):
Mario Odessy Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild It Takes Two Starlink Battle for Atlas Mario Party Superstars Legend of Zelda Link's Awakening Dead Cells Toad Treasure Tracker Super Smash Bros Ultimate Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Game without Case Animal Crossing New Horizons - Time Stamp (https://imgur.com/a/OwhWhpr)
Looking for $
Motorola Edge Plus 2022 Purchased by Me in Jan 2023, used for the last year until I upgraded last month Factory Unlocked Good Condition Pre Installed Zagg Screen Protector 5 Cases - 1 Spigin Thin Fit Pro- Tech 21 Case, 3 no name cases
512 GB, 8gb Ram, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, 144hz Refresh Rate
Looking for $
Please comment before PM Please Reddit Msg and not Chat I also have 4 Gameboy Advanced SP's that I will be listing in a few days as well if anyone is interested in them- Need to get a charger to confirm they work
2024.05.16 17:04 Nokless Failed to push the data from screen to a modal when clicking on the image
Im new to react native and been stuck in this error for days , anyone can help plz ? here is my problem posted is stack overflow : https://stackoverflow.com/questions/78490720/failing-to-get-the-data-from-one-screen-to-another-expo-router
log msgs i get :
LOG Selected Item: {"image": 26, "instruction": "1.Clasp your hands in front of you and lower your head in line with your arms. 2.Press forward and hold for 10 to 30 seconds.", "name": "Forward Stretch"}
LOG Exercice: undefined
i need the log to be like this :
LOG Selected Item: {"image": 26, "instruction": "1.Clasp your hands in front of you and lower your head in line with your arms. 2.Press forward and hold for 10 to 30 seconds.", "name": "Forward Stretch"}
LOG Exercice: undefined
if you guys need anymore of the code let me know , plz help me i need this for my internship
submitted by Nokless to expo [link] [comments]
log msgs i get :
LOG Selected Item: {"image": 26, "instruction": "1.Clasp your hands in front of you and lower your head in line with your arms. 2.Press forward and hold for 10 to 30 seconds.", "name": "Forward Stretch"}
LOG Exercice: undefined
i need the log to be like this :
LOG Selected Item: {"image": 26, "instruction": "1.Clasp your hands in front of you and lower your head in line with your arms. 2.Press forward and hold for 10 to 30 seconds.", "name": "Forward Stretch"}
LOG Exercice: undefined
if you guys need anymore of the code let me know , plz help me i need this for my internship
2024.05.16 17:01 trad9r [Store] May 6 - BFK Emerald, Talon/Bayonet Sapphire, Clean Karambit Fade, Wild Lotus, Pandoras 0.18, Superconductors 0.09, Spearmint 0.18, Vice 0.16, Slingshot 0.11, St Fire Serpent, Glock Fade, M9 CW, Nocts & more
Not all of my skins are listed here, make sure to check my inventory for more!
Buyouts are in cash value but mostly looking for TRADES!
Some prices might be outdated.
Almost all of my prices is negotiable, feel free to send me offers / add me to negotiate prices!
Mostly looking for items offers, downgrades/upgrades!
Last Update May 6, 2024.
Trade Link - Steam Profile - InGame ScreenShots
KNIVES
| Name | Wear | Wear value | Additional info | Screenshots | B/O | Tradable After |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Butterfly Emerald | FN | 0.029 | - | ScreenShot | $15,250 | May 10 |
| Talon Sapphire | FN | 0.033 | - | ScreenShot | $4,175 | Tradable |
| Bayonet Sapphire | FN | 0.008 | - | ScreenShot | $3,775 | Tradable |
| Bayonet Sapphire | FN | 0.019 | - | ScreenShot | $3,700 | Tradable |
| Karambit Fade | FN | 0.008 | 96% fade clean corner | ScreenShot | $3,888 | Tradable |
| Karambit Marble Fade | FN | 0.028 | tricolor clean corner | ScreenShot | $1,625 | Tradable |
| M9 Crimson Web | MW | 0.126 | clean hole 2 webs PS | ScreenShot | $1,500 | Tradable |
| Karambit Tiger Tooth | FN | 0.007 | - | ScreenShot | $1,250 | Tradable |
GLOVES
| Name | Wear | Wear value | Additional info | Screenshots | B/O | Tradable After |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sport Gloves Pandora's Box | FT | 0.187 | - | ScreenShot | $6,500 | Tradable |
| Sport Gloves Superconductor | MW | 0.091 | - | ScreenShot | $5,885 | Tradable |
| Moto Gloves Spearmint | FT | 0.184 | - | ScreenShot | $3,185 | Tradable |
| Sport Gloves Slingshot | MW | 0.119 | - | ScreenShot | $2,595 | Tradable |
| Specialist Gloves Crimson Kimono | FT | 0.166 | left hand max red | ScreenShot | $2,370 | May 09 |
| Sport Gloves Vice | FT | 0.168 | - | ScreenShot | $2,340 | Tradable |
| Specialist Gloves Emerald Web | FT | 0.152 | - | ScreenShot | $1,200 | Tradable |
| Specialist Gloves Emerald Web | FT | 0.201 | - | ScreenShot | $965 | Tradable |
| Sport Gloves Arid | FT | 0.194 | - | ScreenShot | $685 | Tradable |
| Sport Gloves Omega | FT | 0.163 | - | ScreenShot | $695 | Tradable |
| Driver Gloves Crimson Weave | FT | 0.169 | - | ScreenShot | $505 | Tradable |
| Sport Gloves Omega | FT | 0.229 | - | ScreenShot | $499 | May 11 |
| Sport Gloves Nocts | FT | 0.165 | - | ScreenShot | $490 | May 11 |
| Sport Gloves Nocts | FT | 0.166 | - | ScreenShot | $490 | May 11 |
| Specialist Gloves Fade | FT | 0.223 | clean E | ScreenShot | $450 | May 12 |
WEAPONS
| Name | Wear | Wear value | Additional info | Screenshots | B/O | Tradable After |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AK Wild Lotus | WW | 0.400 | - | ScreenShot | $5,000 | Tradable |
| St AK Fire Serpent | FT | 0.277 | - | ScreenShot | $1,875 | Tradable |
| Glock Fade | FN | 0.026 | 98%+ fade | ScreenShot | $1,800 | Tradable |
| AK Fire Serpent | FT | 0.193 | - | ScreenShot | $888 | Tradable |
| AK Vulcan | FN | 0.037 | - | ScreenShot | $790 | Tradable |
| AK Vulcan | FN | 0.065 | - | ScreenShot | $740 | Tradable |
Trade Link - Steam Profile - InGame ScreenShots
2024.05.16 17:01 trad9r [Store] May 6 - BFK Emerald, Talon/Bayonet Sapphire, Clean Karambit Fade, Wild Lotus, Pandoras 0.18, Superconductors 0.09, Spearmint 0.18, Vice 0.16, Slingshot 0.11, St Fire Serpent, Glock Fade, M9 CW, Nocts & more
Not all of my skins are listed here, make sure to check my inventory for more!
Buyouts are in cash value but mostly looking for TRADES!
Some prices might be outdated.
Almost all of my prices is negotiable, feel free to send me offers / add me to negotiate prices!
Mostly looking for items offers, downgrades/upgrades!
Last Update May 6, 2024.
Trade Link - Steam Profile - InGame ScreenShots
KNIVES
| Name | Wear | Wear value | Additional info | Screenshots | B/O | Tradable After |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Butterfly Emerald | FN | 0.029 | - | ScreenShot | $15,250 | May 10 |
| Talon Sapphire | FN | 0.033 | - | ScreenShot | $4,175 | Tradable |
| Bayonet Sapphire | FN | 0.008 | - | ScreenShot | $3,775 | Tradable |
| Bayonet Sapphire | FN | 0.019 | - | ScreenShot | $3,700 | Tradable |
| Karambit Fade | FN | 0.008 | 96% fade clean corner | ScreenShot | $3,888 | Tradable |
| Karambit Marble Fade | FN | 0.028 | tricolor clean corner | ScreenShot | $1,625 | Tradable |
| M9 Crimson Web | MW | 0.126 | clean hole 2 webs PS | ScreenShot | $1,500 | Tradable |
| Karambit Tiger Tooth | FN | 0.007 | - | ScreenShot | $1,250 | Tradable |
GLOVES
| Name | Wear | Wear value | Additional info | Screenshots | B/O | Tradable After |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sport Gloves Pandora's Box | FT | 0.187 | - | ScreenShot | $6,500 | Tradable |
| Sport Gloves Superconductor | MW | 0.091 | - | ScreenShot | $5,885 | Tradable |
| Moto Gloves Spearmint | FT | 0.184 | - | ScreenShot | $3,185 | Tradable |
| Sport Gloves Slingshot | MW | 0.119 | - | ScreenShot | $2,595 | Tradable |
| Specialist Gloves Crimson Kimono | FT | 0.166 | left hand max red | ScreenShot | $2,370 | May 09 |
| Sport Gloves Vice | FT | 0.168 | - | ScreenShot | $2,340 | Tradable |
| Specialist Gloves Emerald Web | FT | 0.152 | - | ScreenShot | $1,200 | Tradable |
| Specialist Gloves Emerald Web | FT | 0.201 | - | ScreenShot | $965 | Tradable |
| Sport Gloves Arid | FT | 0.194 | - | ScreenShot | $685 | Tradable |
| Sport Gloves Omega | FT | 0.163 | - | ScreenShot | $695 | Tradable |
| Driver Gloves Crimson Weave | FT | 0.169 | - | ScreenShot | $505 | Tradable |
| Sport Gloves Omega | FT | 0.229 | - | ScreenShot | $499 | May 11 |
| Sport Gloves Nocts | FT | 0.165 | - | ScreenShot | $490 | May 11 |
| Sport Gloves Nocts | FT | 0.166 | - | ScreenShot | $490 | May 11 |
| Specialist Gloves Fade | FT | 0.223 | clean E | ScreenShot | $450 | May 12 |
WEAPONS
| Name | Wear | Wear value | Additional info | Screenshots | B/O | Tradable After |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AK Wild Lotus | WW | 0.400 | - | ScreenShot | $5,000 | Tradable |
| St AK Fire Serpent | FT | 0.277 | - | ScreenShot | $1,875 | Tradable |
| Glock Fade | FN | 0.026 | 98%+ fade | ScreenShot | $1,800 | Tradable |
| AK Fire Serpent | FT | 0.193 | - | ScreenShot | $888 | Tradable |
| AK Vulcan | FN | 0.037 | - | ScreenShot | $790 | Tradable |
| AK Vulcan | FN | 0.065 | - | ScreenShot | $740 | Tradable |
Trade Link - Steam Profile - InGame ScreenShots
2024.05.16 17:00 ZenStudios-McLovin Pinball FX - May 16 - 1.0.17 - Patch Notes
Hey Pinball Fans, look at this note. Look at this work of art. (If art is about length and long lists for you) Our team went all out this time and it is our pleasure to present this list of fixes for you.
Tables added:
Pacific Rim Pinball
Super League Football (Free download on consoles for 7 days, on PC for 30 days. Get it now and keep it forever)
Universal Classics: TV Pinball:
Xena: Warrior Princess Pinball
Knight Rider Pinball
Battlestar Galactica PinballNew Features on PlayStation, Xbox and PC:
UI overhaul and upgrades
XP system
Notification system
New optional Pinhall, New optional music
General fixes:
A Charlie Brown Christmas™ Pinball
submitted by ZenStudios-McLovin to PinballFX3 [link] [comments]
Tables added:
Pacific Rim Pinball
Super League Football (Free download on consoles for 7 days, on PC for 30 days. Get it now and keep it forever)
Universal Classics: TV Pinball:
Xena: Warrior Princess Pinball
Knight Rider Pinball
Battlestar Galactica PinballNew Features on PlayStation, Xbox and PC:
UI overhaul and upgrades
XP system
Notification system
New optional Pinhall, New optional music
General fixes:
- Fixed an issue where "An error has occurred while publishing your scores" could pop up frequently
- Fixed an issue where a start of a new season would unlock all rewards
- Nudge button hints are now displayed properly
- Williams Pinball: Volume 1 Questline - Mission 9 - Double Score powerup timer set from 5 seconds to 20
- Fixed an issue where camera controls were stuck to ‘C’ even after setting a different key
- Fixed an issue where the game crashed when players closed a 2-player-hotseat table in cabinet mode
- Fixed an issue in Cabinet Mode - where players had to Reload Configuration every time
A Charlie Brown Christmas™ Pinball
- Fixed an issue when the ball could stuck in the left kickback
- Reduced the time of the ball being held by the saucer during the Mystery Animation, added manual eject option as well
- The “Collect Bonus” award no longer resets the bonus multiplier
- Fixed the typo in the song credits
- Fixed the typo on the display
- Music for the Pigpen Snowman mode no longer replaces the main theme after the mode ends
- Fixed an issue, where the boss music can play alongside other tracks
- Fixed an issue, where the ball can leave the miniplayfield
- Fixed a typo on the bottom right of the playfield
- Adjusted the German translations at the ball launch
- Adjusted the ball kickout system in the bonus room
- Fixed an issue, where the Bomb lamp could stay lit after usage
- Fixed an issue where the ball could go ballistic after a weak plunge
- Added rollover switches above the bumpers
- Fixed an issue where the instructions overlapped on the display
- Fixed an issue where the Jackpot status didn’t reset
- The pop-up score at Super Skillshot will display the correct score
- Fixed an issue where the spin disk could drop the ball between the flippers
- The video display no longer freezes after the Return to Kharak mode
- Increased the speed of the research toy by 30% for a more dynamic gameplay
- Fixed an issue where the bonus screen could appear when the ball is in play
- Fixed an issue where the ball could get stuck in the bumpers
- The ball can no longer get stuck behind the green box
- Fixed an issue where the instructions overlapped on the display
- Fixed a soft lock occurrence at the end of the Cinderella tale
- Fixed the appearance of the transparent ball curse so it won't be invisible
- Crystal Multiball will no longer end after locking a ball at the Castle Gate
- Fixed the “Book of Tales” end of bonus description
- Fixed an error where the Magic Mirror award prevented further progress at the final battle
- Fixed an issue, when hitting the wolf last during the Wolf & Seven Goats followed by an immediate drain will prevent further completion of the mode
- Scoring a Jackpot during Crystal Multiball will release the balls from the Tower Locks to prevent any exploits
- Fixed an issue where the localized "More hits for your Multiball bumper" text had an overlapping issue
- Fixed an issue where the could stay on the volcano
- Adjusted the power of the kickback and sinkhole kickout
- Fixed an issue where the ball could get stuck in the perimeter fence
- Fixed an issue where the first left orbit shot phases through the diverter
- Fixed the position of the right outlane post
- Fixed the speech bubbles remaining in 0-degree orientation when the screen is rotated
- The table no longer awards extra balls in challenges
- Adjusted View 8 in portrait mode
- Fixed an issue where the ball could balance on the tip of the flipper
- Reduced the power of the auto-launch during challenges
- Fixed an issue when the table can softlock after draining the regular ball in the “He Certainly Has Courage” mode in challenges
- Fixed an issue when the screen turned black in the TIE Fighter Attack mode
- Fixed an issue where the HOLD BONUS X and EXTRABALL flashing lights were offset
- Fixed an issue where the ball locked without having to spell LOCK
- Fixed a view issue when a lock happened
- Fixed an R2-D2 magnet issue
- Fixed a malfunction on R2-D2 kickback
- Fixed an issue where the TIE Fighter could appear invisible
- Fixed an issue where the magnet wouldn’t work on one charge at R2-D2 Bumpers
- Adjusted combo timers on the table
- Adjusted mission goals on Scene 1, Part 2
- Fixed an issue where the ball could bounce out of the table from the middle of the playfield
- Fixed an issue with the Hyperspace multiball
- Fixed camera handling and planet alignment in Hyperspace mode
- Adjusted lighting on the AT-AT, Luke and Darth Vader
- Fixed an issue where the Super Skill Shot could be hit by simply holding up the left flipper
- Fixed an issue where the left kickback returned the ball to the right outlane
- Fixed an issue where the left target lead the ball to the left outlane
- Fixed an issue where the Solo Fighter mission (and achievement) was unwinnable
- Fixed an issue where if a ball drained with 1 lock (Partial Optical Link) activated, the optical sequence reset without considering how many balls are locked physically
- Fixed an issue with ball locking during Metamorphosis
- Fixed an issue where Levitation Save could fail to place the ball above the flippers.
- Fixed a Flips Challenge exploit: Ball could autoplunge directly into the bumpers.
- Fixed a physics issue with the ball travelling down towards the flippers
- This crumbling brick effect is now present in all instances where needed
- Davy Jones' Locker ramp texture is now moving with the rest of the ramp.
- Fixed an issue where the ball could get stuck on the elbows of the fighter during any match, Fisticuffs Multiball included.
- The music and VO will now not be cut off by the end of game menu
- Tokens will now properly save between games
- Fixed an issue where an upwards nudge could stop the time if the player had a locked ball
- Fixed an issue where repeatedly nudging resulted in the clock stopping
- Fixed an issue where Ball 1 lock on the table was showing as ball 3 locked
- Fixed a typo on the table
- Fixed an issue where the ball would be removed from the small flipper lane if 2 balls were stalled there
- Fixed an issue where the game could end with a ball stuck in Ted’s mouth in the 5 minute challenge
- Fixed black textures on Carousel
- Fixed an issue where the ball could hit a switch more than once
- Fixed autoplunger problems in challenges
- Plunger camera angle adjusted
- Fixed an issue where the upper flipper rubber is interfering with the wall
- Fixed a faulty effect on the backglass
- Fixed an issue where there weren’t any combos or ball saves in Arcade mode
- Backglass lighting will now be turned on properly
- Fixed an issue where the ball could fall under the right flipper after a drain and get stuck
- Left outlane adjusted
- Adjusted Skill Shot camera
- Fixed the Williams logo shadow on the flippers
- Fixed an issue where the ball could stay behind the goal during multiball
- Fixed an issue where zhe upkick near the goal did not properly kicked out the ball
- Fixed a display issue in the Table Guide
- Fixed an issue where the ball did not stay on the left ramp properly
- Fixed an issue where the ball could get stuck in the Loot sinkhole
- Fixed an issue where the ball could get stuck in the saucer during Flips Challenge
- Fixed an issue where the game could fail to exit out of the Skillshot phase
- Fixed an issue where the auto-plunge could hit the ball into the left outlane
- Fixed an issue where the ball could exit at the middle of the ramp
- Fixed an issue where locking a ball while Mystery was lit at the right upper orbit denied a chance at a Skillshot
- Fixed an issue where tilting during Herald of its Word could result in the ball skin being applied for the next ball
- Fixed an issue in 5 minute challenge - The mystery extra ball award value could be multiplied by 4
- Fixed an issue where if Maw and Cult of its Arrival multiballs are started on top of each other the lane lamps could flash incorrectly
- Fixed resetting issues with the Skillshot if Skillshot power-up is used
- Fixed an issue where if Maw and Herald of its Word multiballs conflicting resulted in 2 balls on the playfield without any multiballs running
- Fixed an issue during multiball, where the Herald could keep the ball, juggling it indefinitely
- Fixed an issue where the Herald could be beaten in one shot, instead of several shots
- Fixed an issue where the Madness counter did not reset when winning a mode with ballout
- Fixed a display issue around Bumper Bonus
- Fixed several localization issues in Italian
- Fixed an issue where pictures did not appear properly on the right notepad
- Fixed an issue where the ball could fall off the rails if shot with the right power
2024.05.16 17:00 Smie27 Sunny's Masterpiece
Sunny mentioned that he was gathering materials for crafting and weaving a masterpiece. But, as he has said himself, he doesn't need an armor, as that is covered by the mantle of the underworld, and he can even use it with shadow shell. He also doesn't need a weapon, as that is covered by the soul serpent. Which also help him generate soul/shadow essence.
Essentially, Sunny has his needs covered in all usual aspects.
But, loosing his true name has made learning further steps of shadow dance very dangerous, as he risk loosing his mind and identity whenever he tries to copy a new form.
Another thing Sunny is missing is full exploitation of his shadow avatars. Since he seems to be limited to using three avatars at a time.
To solve both these problems, I think Sunny will make a memory that copies the enchantments of the shroud of graceless dusk and the sin of solace.
Specifically the enchantment of the shroud of graceless dusk that enhances the users mind and multitasking ability. This was only of the transcendent level and only used one core. So Sunny can probably upgrade it to the supreme level and possibly use more then one core.
For the problem of shadow dance I think Sunny could make something like the sin of solace sword wraith. Which we learned in at the end of the third nightmare, was a separate mind with knowledge that slowly bled over. If he could make something similar, but instead of the external mind containing the mad prince, it would contain himself. Meaning, if he looses himself using shadow dance, he would regain his sanity when the external mind bleeds over.
This would be a perfect memory for Sunny, because it increases his strength by directly enhances his aspect.
submitted by Smie27 to ShadowSlave [link] [comments]
Essentially, Sunny has his needs covered in all usual aspects.
But, loosing his true name has made learning further steps of shadow dance very dangerous, as he risk loosing his mind and identity whenever he tries to copy a new form.
Another thing Sunny is missing is full exploitation of his shadow avatars. Since he seems to be limited to using three avatars at a time.
To solve both these problems, I think Sunny will make a memory that copies the enchantments of the shroud of graceless dusk and the sin of solace.
Specifically the enchantment of the shroud of graceless dusk that enhances the users mind and multitasking ability. This was only of the transcendent level and only used one core. So Sunny can probably upgrade it to the supreme level and possibly use more then one core.
For the problem of shadow dance I think Sunny could make something like the sin of solace sword wraith. Which we learned in at the end of the third nightmare, was a separate mind with knowledge that slowly bled over. If he could make something similar, but instead of the external mind containing the mad prince, it would contain himself. Meaning, if he looses himself using shadow dance, he would regain his sanity when the external mind bleeds over.
This would be a perfect memory for Sunny, because it increases his strength by directly enhances his aspect.
2024.05.16 16:58 haygurlhay123 “This Time, I Will Never Let You Go”: Cloud’s Mission and the Hidden Purpose of the Remake Trilogy - Literary and Musical Analysis of FFVII - Part 5
(continuation of part 4)
I already considered this piece the second greatest musical evidence for Clerith after the London Symphony Orchestra’s Final Fantasy VII Symphony’s second movement “Words Drowned by Fireworks” and its guide, but now that I know about the Clerith reunion that was baked into the ending, the gap between the two is narrower. Each time I hear Cloud begin to call out for Aerith in part 3 (3:04), I immediately start crying. It sounds so much to me like Cloud’s voice in the dark saying “Aerith…?”, meek and scared. If you’ve read everything so far, you know how long Cloud has been looking for Aerith, lost without her, searching relentlessly for decades in real-life time. Through FFT, DFF, Advent Children, MFF x FFVII… all of it spent looking for his Promised Land. In OG, Cloud was so tormented by Jenova’s manipulation and so consumed by the chase for Sephiroth that he could not realize what or how much he felt for her until she was taken away forever. The piece we’ve just analyzed tells the story of Cloud and Aerith intertwining and separating against their will, and you can truly feel Cloud’s anxiety as he struggles to wrench Aerith out of fate’s cruel grasp. Perhaps it is because of Aerith’s ultimately fatal responsibility, inherited from her mother, that this iteration of her theme is called “The Cetra”.
Though in part 5, Cloud and Aerith reunite… could this reunion symbolize their meeting again in Remake, or something more permanent? I think it’s meant to leave us wondering.
I’m very sensitive to music, and as I’m typing this, I’m crying a bit. I wanted to share my interpretation of “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” with you very badly, because it makes me feel so much and really enhances Clerith’s story. I’m overjoyed to have found out about the reunion at the very end. And it’s all because you guys showed love for my last analysis! You guys are giving me gifts every day.
V. b) i. 3) Combined Analysis
Please listen to and watch the scene of Cloud’s MOTF 6 (4:21-8:46) again, and consider section “V. b) i. 2)”. What is Uematsu telling us? Similarly to how main world theme of FFVII informs us that Jenova is sabotaging Cloud’s identity far before it becomes a plot point in OG, “Aerith’s theme - The Cetra” is telling us what not even Remake Cloud consciously knows at this point: he’s been searching desperately for her, and fears losing her once more.
As if that wasn’t proof enough, the timing of the shots and musical phrases is absolutely damning. Recall that part 3 of “Aerith’s theme - The Cetra” specifically symbolizes Cloud’s anxiety surrounding Aerith’s safety. It is this particular part of the piece that plays for the entirety of Aerith’s allusions to her murderers and her death (7:25-7:54), including the very moment where “Cloud feels his chest constrict tightly” (7:51-7:54). What’s more, part 5 the piece, which specifically Cloud freeing Aerith from the restraints of fate, coincides with the moment Tifa grabs Aerith’s hand and pulls her out from the circle of Whispers closing in on her (8:42-8:45). This moment leads me to believe that the reunion in part 5 of the piece indeed symbolizes Cloud succeeding (perhaps with Tifa’s help) in saving Aerith from her tragic fate and reuniting with her for good.
It’s heart-wrenching and brilliant. Our theory stands strong.
V. b) ii. Credits: Piece Inclusion
I find it very telling that the character themes included in the credits of Remake are Cloud’s “Hollow” (0:00-5:24), an orchestral arrangement of Aerith’s theme (5:24-9:24), and an orchestral arrangement of the main world theme, (9:24-14:27) which of course includes Cloud’s true theme. No other character themes appear during the rest of the credits (14:27-18:09). This is telling: the credits are communicating to us that Remake is about Cloud and Aerith. Our Mission Theory only gets stronger.
V. b) iii. Showing Relationships Through Music: Intermingling Character Themes
This doesn’t have to do with the Mission, but here’s a pretty good anti-Cloti argument while we’re here.
As shown in section “V. a) i.” where we explored the roles of Cloud, Jenova and Sephiroth’s themes within the FFVII world theme, the way character themes interact in a piece can tell you a lot about those characters’ relationships. This is certainly the case in “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” as well (see section “V. b. ii. 2)”).
I’d like to mention that in all of my listening to the Remake OST and rewatching playthroughs of Remake, I’ve never encountered a single piece that united Cloud and Tifa’s themes. Not once. Let alone a piece that depicts them as intimately or emotionally as “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” depicts Cloud and Aerith. Even the most Cloti cutscenes in Remake aren’t supported by pieces mixing or even juxtaposing Cloud and Tifa’s themes. I can’t find any of Cloud’s motifs anywhere during the orchestral arrangement of Tifa’s theme that plays during her resolution scene in chapter 14. I can’t find either of their motifs in the track the plays when Cloud calls Tifa beautiful at Seventh Heaven in chapter 3. A motif from Tifa’s theme does appear in the track that plays during the childhood promise scene in chapter 4, (0:00-0:25), but it never plays at the same time as or even near Cloud’s motifs (1:23-1:47 and 2:03-2:29). They’re distant or otherwise unaffiliated.
The only exception is that an altered version of Cloud’s theme’s section A phrase 1 appears in the background of Tifa’s theme (1:17-1:23). This symbolizes her connection to Cloud and how much of her attention and worry revolve around him— a reference to how she cares so much that it borders on dependency. Of course, it doesn’t go both ways: Tifa isn’t in Cloud’s theme at all. To me, this lack of reciprocity concerning the inclusion of Cloud’s motif in Tifa’s theme signifies that the only time Cloud and Tifa are together is in her head. She does think about him a lot, which we witness in her chapter of Trace of Two Pasts. Tifa loses sleep over him even two years after he left Nibelheim, despite the fact that she barely knew him at all:
V. c) The Rebirth OST
Unfortunately, the full Rebirth OST isn’t out and available where I can listen to it right now. However, based solely on the incomplete OST that’s available to me right now, I can tell you with certainty that the composers were told to incorporate Clerith into the musical storytelling: Cloud and Aerith’s themes intermingle in multiple pieces. I can’t imagine what else I’ll discover once I listen to the full OST. For now, I checked out what was available on YouTube and listened to cutscene audios. This section would be eternal if I included every time Cloud and Aerith’s motifs interact, especially in chapter 14. Trust me, I’d love to talk about every single one, but this thing is long enough already, so let’s just address what pertains to our Mission Theory specifically rather than stopping at every single Clerith reference in the OST.
V. c) i. Ending Cutscene Music
Ending cutscenes are often used to address the next step the characters will be taking as well as their emotional and mental state. They also open up new questions to make the player curious. Indeed, Rebirth’s ending cutscene (18:56-25:00) gives us an impression of how the party members feel by the end of the game: everyone misses Aerith. Barret looks upset and confused at the mention of her (19:35-19:45), the girls are crying and Nanaki is mourning (19:58-20:35). Additionally, we are shown the empty White Materia and Black Materia in Cloud’s possession (20:40-21:24), foreshadowing that they will come to be important in part 3. Cloud and Aerith share a warm goodbye, and exchange promises: Aerith will send smoke signals if something happens to her so a worried Cloud can remain updated on her well-being and she will stop Meteor, and Cloud will stop Sephiroth (23:00-25:00). The fact that this scene is animated in CGI is enough to tell us that the devs consider it narratively important, just like they do Bugenhagen’s observatory and the party’s advance into the Forgotten Capital CGI cutscenes. What did the composers decide to communicate with us about the end of Rebirth and the plot going forward?
Big surprise: Clerith.
During the entire cutscene, only two themes play: Cloud’s and Aerith’s. The cutscene’s music begins only when Cloud notices Aerith among the party members and begins watching her (19:21). She interacts with the rest of the party without their knowledge, different segments of her theme playing one after another. Her theme only stops when Cloud finally looks away from her and to the empty White Materia in his hand (20:45). The music focuses on the mystery and ominousness of these materia, only returning to Aerith once Cloud hears her voice and repeats her message to the party (21:30).
Cloud’s theme appears when he asserts that Barret needn’t worry about him (section A of Cloud’s true theme, 22:41), though soft and tentative, only swelling when Barret and Tifa climb aboard the Tiny Bronco and Cloud finds himself alone with Aerith again (22:57). As he asks Aerith if “[she’ll] be okay getting back” (23:08), the final phrase of section A of his theme plays, but without its concluding note, the tonic. He waits for her to answer him as his theme waits for hers to complete and answer it, that final note dragging long over the seconds (23:09-23:13). She answers with a teasing remark that references their unwillingness to part from each other back in Remake’s Evergreen Park:
What this shows us is that Cloud and Aerith’s relationship is fundamental to the plot of Rebirth and will also be fundamental to the plot of part 3: they are isolated one one-on-one in this cutscene, and the music depicts their warm, sweet interaction as well as the strength of Aerith’s character to contrast with Cloud’s somewhat meek personality. The composers are telling us that these two, specifically, together alone, are hugely important to the plot here. This was already true in OG, but no such emphasis was ever placed on their interactions and relationship in its music. Something is different, deeper, more intense now. The Mission Theory explains why. It also suits our theory that the composers are emphasizing the centrality of Clerith in the plot of the Remake trilogy. Cloud’s love for Aerith is the reason for the trilogy’s existence, and it will be the greatest motivator for Cloud in part 3. It’s a grand announcement.
Just like in Remake, I could not find a single instance of Cloud and Tifa’s themes interacting in Rebirth, apart from at the end of the intimate Skywheel date— but every girl receives this treatment in their intimate dates, so each of these instances can be crossed out. Additionally, the Tifa date is not the canon one, but I digress…
V. c) iii. Credits
V. c) iii. 2) “No Promises to Keep”
At the very end of this song written and performed by Aerith, we’re treated with a sweet little piano conclusion (10:46-11:10): it begins with a variation on Aerith’s theme’s section A (10:46-11:01), and concludes with two ascending arpeggios, each four notes long (11:01-11:10). Each of these ascending arpeggios is a variation of the phrase 1 of Cloud’s true theme’s section A. The differences are minimal. The phrase is usually five notes long rather than four, the first arpeggio ends on the tonic rather than Cloud’s iconic subtonic, and the second arpeggio starts on the subtonic rather than the tonic. The song Aerith wrote concludes with Cloud’s most famous motif. This is also the case in her Gold Saucer performance (3:31-3:41).
V. c) iii. 3) Arrangement of Aerith’s Theme
The final piece in the credits is an arrangement of Aerith’s theme (24:28-28:47) which has noticeably similar elements to the version of her theme that plays during the Jenova Lifeclinger battle in chapter 14 (0:12-3:36), such as the female choirs. Since these female choirs are only heard in the Forgotten City version of Aerith’s theme, and since the credits arrangement of her theme plays at the same time as clips from her chapter 14 pseudo-death roll across the screen, I estimate that this credits arrangement specifically reflects the event of Aerith’s pseudo-death. Recall that composers had access to the credits video as they composed, meaning this piece is specifically written for Aerith’s pseudo-death in Rebirth.
What I find fascinating is that, just like the arrangements of her theme that play during Aerith’s pseudo-death and the Jenova Lifeclinger battle, this credits arrangement contains the sound of Cloud’s pain, rage and protest. Phrase 1 and the first three notes of phrase 2 of Cloud’s true theme section A play on the strings and brass quite loudly and insistently, just as Cloud blocking masamune appears on the credits screen (25:11-25:21). Sephiroth’s dissonant, high and screechy violins appear just as his face comes onto the screen (26:33), and almost as a protective response, phrases 1 and 2 of Cloud’s true theme’s section A return (26:47-27:00). Finally, similarly to what we hear in part 5 of “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra”, a slightly modified section A phrase 1 of Cloud’s true theme play along with section C phrase 3 of Aerith’s theme (oh wow section A and C section Aerith for Cloud’s theme and section Cloud for Aerith’s theme I just realized that’s such a cute coincidence), though unfortunately they do not meet in the middle like last time since they start two octaves apart (28:20-28:25). I’ve recreated it for you once more here so you can really appreciate it. The fact that their motifs don’t truly reunite like in “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” is sad, but the very last thing you see onscreen is Aerith’s goodbye to the Tiny Bronco (27:10-27:42), so it makes sense that this piano conclusion implies that Cloud and Aerith aligned, but not yet reunited for good. That’s exactly what you get from the ending cutscene. It does seem to imply that they will be reunited in part 3, as both the ending cutscene and this piano conclusion read as a “till we see each other again” rather than a “farewell”.
VI. Textual Evidence
Now that the musical evidence is done, let’s compile some textual story evidence that supports our theory!
VI. a) Remake Trilogy (Thus Far) Handholding Explained?
As I’m sure you’ve noticed, handholding is a motif in Cloud and Aerith’s relationship— and an extremely symbolic one at that! When researching for info to validate my theory, I found that this Clerith motif was extremely helpful! Its inclusion in the Remake trilogy, and especially in Rebirth, is hugely significant in my eyes.
VI. a) i. Pre-Remake Trilogy: Aerith’s Initiative
Before examining the significance of Clerith handholding in Remake and Rebirth, we should establish the meaning of this motif in OG and Advent Children.
Cloud and Aerith have reached out to take each other’s hands many times since 1997. Aerith used to literally drag him by the hand a lot, shocking the cold and distant merc, before she left. After her death in OG, Cloud surely longed to be able to feel her hand take his again, cursing himself for not enjoying it while she was alive, and for never being the one to grasp her hand first: he never got to tell her how he feels about her, or to save her. It was always her reaching out for him, saving him.
This is why the scene in OG when Aerith reaches for him from the Lifestream after Cloud defeats Sephiroth in chapter 3 of disk 3 is so touching: Cloud sees her hand and reaches out to take it, so close to finally establishing that mutual connection, but she soon fades, and replaced by Tifa’s hand in the tangible world. He doesn’t get to hold Aerith’s hand again.
That is, not until Advent Children, where near the end of his battle with Bahamut Sin, he sees Aerith reach out to him once again (1:08-1:30). Cloud finally gets to hold her hand for the first time in two years when he lost her. This moment was given extra importance by the devs. In fact, Nojima told us the following:
As I’ve said before, if I’m right that Remake is all about Cloud stepping up to be more attentive and active in his relationship with Aerith in order to save her, there should be concrete evidence of this in the Remaketrilogy thus far. If OG Cloud’s memories of and love for Aerith exist somewhere within Remake Cloud’s subconsciousness, then Remake Cloud should be far more active in the Clerith dynamic than OG Cloud was— after all, he’s supposed to know better this time around. Thankfully, the motif of handholding can help us evaluate this. Since we know pre-Remake Cloud was quite passive when it comes to handholding, Cloud initiating handholding in the Remake trilogy would be a strong indication that our theory has validity. Keeping this in mind, let’s see what we can find thus far in the Remake trilogy in relation to handholding, and if Cloud is indeed more active than he was in OG.
VI. a) ii. 1) Hollow Hands
Remake’s theme song “Hollow” makes allusions to the handholding motif: “This time, I will never let you go” is pretty clear. And so is “No Promises to Keep”, wherein Aerith speaks of Cloud “[taking her] hand and never [letting her] go” multiple times. Interestingly, these theme song lyrics seem to suggest that Cloud will be much more active in the Remake trilogy than in OG. “Hollow” even promises that Cloud will come to his senses and take charge of the situation: “this time, [he] will” be the one to offer his hand to Aerith, unlike in OG and Advent Children. This makes a lot of sense with our theory: now that Cloud has lost Aerith once, “this time for sure, [he]’ll” be the one to reach for Aerith’s hand, take initiative and save her the way she saved him.
Even though theme songs are extremely telling of a game’s main themes and intentions, lyrics are still all talk and no proof. What about the game itself? Do Remake and Rebirth deliver on this promise? Let’s see!
VI. a) ii. 2) Resolution Hands
The only significant time Cloud initiates handholding in Remake is during Cloud’s resolution scene in chapter 14 (5:18-5:40), wherein he tries to grab Aerith’s hand but is unable to keep her with him. He fills with determination and tells her in no uncertain terms that he’s coming for her. Just as we predicted, Cloud is the active participant in this iteration of the Clerith handholding motif: he’s even explicitly insisting against Aerith’s wishes that he should “get a say in all this” and that he’s “coming for [her]”. Let’s not forget that Cloud’s resolution is meant to reflect not only Aerith’s kidnapping by Shinra, but also her fated death. Nojima implied this by commenting the following on Aerith’s “Even if you think you have, it’s not real” line:
Hoo boy. I was not disappointed.
VI. a) ii. 3) Golden Hands
Let’s begin with the obvious. In their high-affinity gondola date in chapter 12, Cloud bravely interlaces his fingers with Aerith’s: Cloud’s taken charge not only of handholding, but the most intimate kind of handholding. I’m sure you’ve encountered the phrase “こいびとつなぎ” or “koibito tsunagi by now (literally translates to “lovers’ tie” or “lovers’ connection”); this is the term used in Japanese to refer to the type of handholding Cloud initiates with Aerith on the Skywheel. It’s considered the most intimate form of handholding. In Japan, skinship is normally considered quite significant and indicative of the closeness between two people— you could say it’s a big deal. Cloud also offers Aerith his hand when they step off the Shywheel, once more making the first move. Though some might say that the Skywheel dates shouldn’t be counted as canon, I believe Aerith’s date is indeed canon (I have my reasons but this post is long enough). Even if we discount the Skywheel date however, Clerith's use of the koibito tsunagi returns in a non-optional scene we will touch on later.
For what it’s worth, Alfreid offers Rosa his hand in the Loveless play too. I can prove that Aerith is the canon Rosa too, but I’m going to save that for my next analysis! You can take my word for it now, or just wait for that analysis to drop. Take it or leave it!
VI. a) ii. 4) Meta Hands
However, the narrative weight of these Clerith handholding instances doesn’t even come close to my very favorite iteration of the handholding motif in Rebirth. I’m referring to what I consider a severely underrated Clerith moment in chapter 13. First, some context: Sephiroth manipulates Cloud into giving over the Black Materia. Cloud seems to be firmly under Sephiroth’s control. However, the sight of Aerith being swarmed by Black Whispers snaps Cloud back into the driver’s seat: he breaks out of Sephiroth’s grasp to run to her and save her. Aerith gets knocked off into a fatal free-fall by a Black Whisper before Cloud can reach her, but he won’t have it: he lunges forward, hand extended. What results is a beautiful shot of their outstretched hands (56:25-56:27).
Let’s analyze this great shot. Notice how the seconds where Cloud is reaching downwards to grasp Aerith’s hand are treated. This key moment is stretched longer by a slow-mo effect, building up the tension and drawing the audience’s focus to the distance between their hands before Cloud actually catches Aerith’s in his, fulfilling the promise he made in “Hollow”. Their hands take up the whole screen in a deliberate close-up shot. All the ambient noises of the scene go quiet: Aerith’s theme is all we hear as Cloud reaches desperately for her. These are blatant audiovisual cues, signalling to the audience that whatever is happening on screen is especially significant. We should therefore examine this specific instance of the Clerith handholding motif to see what the devs are trying to tell us, and maybe it will fit with our theory!
We should begin by comparing this Clerith hand-reach shot to previous ones. If you compare it to the Advent Children’s hand-reach that occurs during Cloud’s battle against Bahamut Sin, it’s evident that Cloud and Aerith’s roles are reversed: just as our theory states, Cloud gets out from inside his head and reaches for Aerith this time. She saved him and the world in OG, and now it’s his turn to save her. This change becomes especially evident when you juxtapose the two scenes and notice how their hands have switched places, reaching from above and below, from left and right. I think the Rebirth hand-reach was deliberately made to look like the Advent Children one —and even the OG one in disk 3, chapter 3—, just to highlight this role reversal.
This Rebirth hand-reach is my favorite out of all because it shows that Cloud is much more conscious and attentive toward Aerith in Rebirth than he was in OG. At this point in OG (disk 1, chapter 25), Cloud is meant to be beating Aerith up at Sephiroth’s command, to the horror of the rest of the party. In fact, a few minutes before Cloud rushes to save Aerith in Rebirth, he has absolutely no problem violently shoving Tifa to the ground when she gets in Sephiroth’s way (53:27-53:33). This shove and Cloud’s earlier attack on Tifa in Gongaga (Rebirth, chapter 9) proves that Sephiroth is just as capable of making Cloud hurt his party members as he was in OG… though Sephiroth can’t seem to make Cloud hurt Aerith. Why is this? Why is it that Cloud beats Aerith in OG, but doesn’t even lay a finger on her —and snaps out of Sephiroth’s control at the mere sight of her in trouble— in Rebirth?
Our theory provides the answer. In disk 1, chapter 25 of OG, Cloud had not yet realized he loved Aerith. Sephiroth was therefore able to make him hurt her. But things are different in Rebirth. The Cloud we see in the Remake trilogy has gone through the OG timeline and traveled back in time, kicking off Remake as his second try at the OG timeline— and he did this precisely because he loves Aerith. His love for her is clearer and stronger in the Remake trilogy than in OG because Remake Cloud is an amnesiac, post-OG, time-traveler Cloud. He’s been through the OG before, has fallen in love with Aerith and realized it before, so this time around, he can’t even lay a finger on her. This is made evident by how closely the moments where Cloud pushes Tifa and saves Aerith are juxtaposed, separated by mere seconds of gameplay. Merely seeing Aerith in trouble wrenched control from Sephiroth and put it in Cloud’s hands again— Sephiroth probably couldn’t have gotten Cloud to attack Aerith if he tried.
This isn’t the only time we get evidence of this though! As Cloud approaches Aerith’s praying form in the Forgotten City, Sephiroth’s Black Whispers swirl around the buster sword: Sephiroth is trying to kill Aerith with it, while Cloud’s struggle to wrench it away plays out visibly on his face. Interestingly, Cloud is not being controlled by Sephiroth here. We know this because we can quite literally see the Black Whispers trying to move his sword, but also because every time Cloud is being controlled by Sephiroth in Rebirth, he has an empty-eyed, zombie-Cloud look on his face. Either that or he laughs or smiles somewhat maniacally. There is never any resistance on his part. To see an example, simply pay attention to Cloud’s blank face as he attacks Tifa in Gongaga in chapter 9 (19:20-20:30). You’ll see the very same expression on his face if you watch this video of Cloud following Sephiroth’s orders in chapter 13 (53:36-54:15). Additionally, look at how strangely Cloud smiles (41:01) as he grasps the Black Materia. Cloud makes none of these faces as the Black Whispers try to take control of his sword: quite the opposite. Cloud looks like he’s trying his hardest to pull his weapon back down and away from Aerith, a horrified look on his face as he grunts from the effort. Once more, Sephiroth is unable to make Cloud hurt Aerith.
Back to my favorite handholding moment. Think about this devs intention for this shot for a minute. The devs have been teasing us as to whether or not Cloud will succeed in saving Aerith in the Remake trilogy since it was first announced, and this slow-mo shot of Cloud catching Aerith’s hand as she falls to her death is a reflection of this tension. The audience holds their breath during those slow-moed seconds, all that hope and fear hanging in the balance. This instance of the handholding motif is a meta way for the devs to reassure us that Cloud will indeed save Aerith. I firmly believe this.
VI. a) ii. 5) Self-Sacrificing Hands
Alright, alright, enough about my favorite! Let’s move to chapter 14 of Rebirth! There’s evidently a lot going on with Clerith in this chapter. Let’s address the Sector 5 date. The handholding is first initiated by Aerith as she tugs him toward the candy vendor and Cloud reacts with a quiet gasp (4:07-4:17). Soon, it becomes a reciprocal embrace: Cloud holds his hand out for Aerith’s and tightens his fingers around hers, smiling at her before they head to the photographer (7:07-7:17).
Then of course, when Aerith pushes Cloud into a portal in her church, you can see Cloud reach his hand up toward her desperately as he falls (17:38-17:58). What I find particularly emotional about this moment is that Aerith pushing Cloud away from her is kind of the opposite of reaching for his hand: it symbolizes Aerith accepting her fate and giving up on a life where she can be with him. This Aerith seems to be a post-OG Aerith who exists separately from the main world we experience in Rebirth, meaning she knows all too well that her fate is to die. In fact, it looks like she is the very same or a similar Aerith to the one who appeared to Cloud in his resolution scene in Remake. By literally pushing Cloud away, just like she figuratively did in Cloud’s resolution scene, she is sacrificing both herself and the happiness she could share with Cloud. She’s going against her heart’s wishes, just like she did in Cloud’s resolution scene when she would not let Cloud take her hand. Indeed, post-OG Aerith seems to be resigned to her fated death and completely devoid of hope: she only wants to ensure the planet’s survival, because she thinks she knows there is no way she can or should be with Cloud. In contrast, Cloud reaches his hand out toward Aerith as he falls into the portal, and even though he does not know that her push symbolizes her self-sacrifice, his outstretched hand represents his protest. So far, our theory is fitting beautifully.
VI. a) ii. 6) Grieving Hands
Later in chapter 14 of Rebirth, after Aerith’s death/non-death, there is more handholding. As Cloud cradles Aerith’s body close to him at the Forgotten Capital, Aerith places her hand on his cheek. Cloud covers it with his, curling his fingers around it (1:03:33-1:03:53). Before he leaves her lying down on her back to go fight Sephiroth, he squeezes her hand as he tells her “I got this”— or, per the Japanese version, “Wait for me”, meaning he’ll reunite with her once he’s done (1:04:56-1:05:10).
VI. a) ii. 7) Hero-Heroine Hands
Next, the koibito tsunagi returns as Cloud and Aerith interlace fingers back to back in a classic hero-heroine pose, right after their two-versus-one fight against Sephiroth. This time, they both reach for each other simultaneously (7:42-8:18), without even having to look down at their hands or talk to each other, as though perfectly in sync. As you can see, Aerith and Cloud are now on the same page. This is different from post-OG Aerith’s attitude in the Sector 5 church earlier in chapter 14, as well as in Cloud’s resolution scene in Remake— my interpretation of this mutual koibito tsunagi is that both of them are agreeing to hold onto each other now, with neither of them pulling back or being inattentive of the other: their priorities are now the same. It seems now they are aligned, and hopefully this means that Aerith will be working together with Cloud so they can reunite again in part 3. Even if she doesn’t prioritize her life and happiness though, we know for sure Cloud will.
VI. b) Blocking Masamune Explained?
Another piece of evidence that Cloud has been through the events of OG before is the fact that he is able to block masamune. Cloud looks up and sees Sephiroth descending with his blade poised to kill Aerith. Screaming, Cloud instantly rips the buster sword from the Black Whispers’ hold and successfully blocks masamune. Hatred and determination fill his eyes as he rallies his strength and successfully pushes Sephiroth away, saving Aerith’s life (6:00-7:26)— at least, in one reality.
Obviously, something about Cloud is different in Rebirth from in OG, otherwise, the events of Rebirth’s chapter 14 would be the same as the events of OG’s disk 1 chapter 28. In my opinion, what happened here is that upon seeing Sephiroth swoop down with masamune, Cloud remembered Aerith’s death in OG, and the post-OG Cloud’s determination to stop it came surging up from within him. This is frankly the very best proof there is that Cloud is far more ready, stable, determined, and clear-headed about Aerith in the Remake trilogy than in OG. Our theory explains why! In fact, this very moment is what our entire theory banks on: Cloud saves Aerith in one reality, as is shown by the rainbow effect produced by the event, and just like that, the promise made in “Hollow” has been fulfilled! However, now we face the question of how to make sure that Aerith is alive and by Cloud’s side when the multiverse converges again into one protected timeline. I’m sure it will be done; we will see how in part 3.
VI. c) Theme Song Lyrics
What the theme songs’ texts have to say about the trilogy so far is quite important, as they summarize the feelings of the characters they represent: Cloud and Aerith. We can glean a lot from their perspectives that could help support the Mission Theory.
VI. d) i. “Hollow” Lyrics
“Hollow”, Remake’s theme song, was written about Cloud’s feelings and rumination. Nojima confirmed that, when he was given directives for the lyric-writing, “Nomura just gave [Nojima] the keywords: ‘told from Cloud's point of view’ and ‘standing in the rain’. [Nojima] interpreted that as ‘a ballad for a man who lost something/someone important’” (Nojima and Uematsu interview “‘I wanted to put the word ‘empty’ in the theme song of Remake. That was how it started’ - Music-Related Interview Part 6: Kazunari Nojima”, by Famitsu). Our theory is about Cloud’s motivations and mission to save Aerith, so “Hollow” is especially relevant.
Let’s run through the lyrics and analyze, starting with the song’s first verse:
Next, here are the pre-choruses:
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I already considered this piece the second greatest musical evidence for Clerith after the London Symphony Orchestra’s Final Fantasy VII Symphony’s second movement “Words Drowned by Fireworks” and its guide, but now that I know about the Clerith reunion that was baked into the ending, the gap between the two is narrower. Each time I hear Cloud begin to call out for Aerith in part 3 (3:04), I immediately start crying. It sounds so much to me like Cloud’s voice in the dark saying “Aerith…?”, meek and scared. If you’ve read everything so far, you know how long Cloud has been looking for Aerith, lost without her, searching relentlessly for decades in real-life time. Through FFT, DFF, Advent Children, MFF x FFVII… all of it spent looking for his Promised Land. In OG, Cloud was so tormented by Jenova’s manipulation and so consumed by the chase for Sephiroth that he could not realize what or how much he felt for her until she was taken away forever. The piece we’ve just analyzed tells the story of Cloud and Aerith intertwining and separating against their will, and you can truly feel Cloud’s anxiety as he struggles to wrench Aerith out of fate’s cruel grasp. Perhaps it is because of Aerith’s ultimately fatal responsibility, inherited from her mother, that this iteration of her theme is called “The Cetra”.
Though in part 5, Cloud and Aerith reunite… could this reunion symbolize their meeting again in Remake, or something more permanent? I think it’s meant to leave us wondering.
I’m very sensitive to music, and as I’m typing this, I’m crying a bit. I wanted to share my interpretation of “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” with you very badly, because it makes me feel so much and really enhances Clerith’s story. I’m overjoyed to have found out about the reunion at the very end. And it’s all because you guys showed love for my last analysis! You guys are giving me gifts every day.
V. b) i. 3) Combined Analysis
Please listen to and watch the scene of Cloud’s MOTF 6 (4:21-8:46) again, and consider section “V. b) i. 2)”. What is Uematsu telling us? Similarly to how main world theme of FFVII informs us that Jenova is sabotaging Cloud’s identity far before it becomes a plot point in OG, “Aerith’s theme - The Cetra” is telling us what not even Remake Cloud consciously knows at this point: he’s been searching desperately for her, and fears losing her once more.
As if that wasn’t proof enough, the timing of the shots and musical phrases is absolutely damning. Recall that part 3 of “Aerith’s theme - The Cetra” specifically symbolizes Cloud’s anxiety surrounding Aerith’s safety. It is this particular part of the piece that plays for the entirety of Aerith’s allusions to her murderers and her death (7:25-7:54), including the very moment where “Cloud feels his chest constrict tightly” (7:51-7:54). What’s more, part 5 the piece, which specifically Cloud freeing Aerith from the restraints of fate, coincides with the moment Tifa grabs Aerith’s hand and pulls her out from the circle of Whispers closing in on her (8:42-8:45). This moment leads me to believe that the reunion in part 5 of the piece indeed symbolizes Cloud succeeding (perhaps with Tifa’s help) in saving Aerith from her tragic fate and reuniting with her for good.
It’s heart-wrenching and brilliant. Our theory stands strong.
V. b) ii. Credits: Piece Inclusion
I find it very telling that the character themes included in the credits of Remake are Cloud’s “Hollow” (0:00-5:24), an orchestral arrangement of Aerith’s theme (5:24-9:24), and an orchestral arrangement of the main world theme, (9:24-14:27) which of course includes Cloud’s true theme. No other character themes appear during the rest of the credits (14:27-18:09). This is telling: the credits are communicating to us that Remake is about Cloud and Aerith. Our Mission Theory only gets stronger.
V. b) iii. Showing Relationships Through Music: Intermingling Character Themes
This doesn’t have to do with the Mission, but here’s a pretty good anti-Cloti argument while we’re here.
As shown in section “V. a) i.” where we explored the roles of Cloud, Jenova and Sephiroth’s themes within the FFVII world theme, the way character themes interact in a piece can tell you a lot about those characters’ relationships. This is certainly the case in “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” as well (see section “V. b. ii. 2)”).
I’d like to mention that in all of my listening to the Remake OST and rewatching playthroughs of Remake, I’ve never encountered a single piece that united Cloud and Tifa’s themes. Not once. Let alone a piece that depicts them as intimately or emotionally as “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” depicts Cloud and Aerith. Even the most Cloti cutscenes in Remake aren’t supported by pieces mixing or even juxtaposing Cloud and Tifa’s themes. I can’t find any of Cloud’s motifs anywhere during the orchestral arrangement of Tifa’s theme that plays during her resolution scene in chapter 14. I can’t find either of their motifs in the track the plays when Cloud calls Tifa beautiful at Seventh Heaven in chapter 3. A motif from Tifa’s theme does appear in the track that plays during the childhood promise scene in chapter 4, (0:00-0:25), but it never plays at the same time as or even near Cloud’s motifs (1:23-1:47 and 2:03-2:29). They’re distant or otherwise unaffiliated.
The only exception is that an altered version of Cloud’s theme’s section A phrase 1 appears in the background of Tifa’s theme (1:17-1:23). This symbolizes her connection to Cloud and how much of her attention and worry revolve around him— a reference to how she cares so much that it borders on dependency. Of course, it doesn’t go both ways: Tifa isn’t in Cloud’s theme at all. To me, this lack of reciprocity concerning the inclusion of Cloud’s motif in Tifa’s theme signifies that the only time Cloud and Tifa are together is in her head. She does think about him a lot, which we witness in her chapter of Trace of Two Pasts. Tifa loses sleep over him even two years after he left Nibelheim, despite the fact that she barely knew him at all:
“The moment she heard the word “Soldier”, the few memories she had with Cloud Strife came flooding back. He never contacted her after they parted ways two years ago […]. She tossed and turned all night. When she counted them again, her memories with Cloud were so surprisingly few that others might find it hard to believe that they grew up as next-door neighbors” (Trace of Two Pasts, translated by pekotranslates on Tumblr).FFVII Remake Ultimania also comments on the superficial nature of Cloud and Tifa’s water tower promise, and how regardless of its naïveté, it became fundamental to Tifa:
“Though rooted in a jejune heroine fantasy of being rescued in a pinch by her hero, this promise is clearly etched in Tifa’s memory” (Tifa’s profile in section 01 of “Character & World”, “An Enduring Childhood Promise” in “Topics of Tifa” page 20).You could argue that “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” is only one song wherein Cloud and Aerith’s themes interweave, but you’d be proven wrong by the Rebirth OST…
V. c) The Rebirth OST
Unfortunately, the full Rebirth OST isn’t out and available where I can listen to it right now. However, based solely on the incomplete OST that’s available to me right now, I can tell you with certainty that the composers were told to incorporate Clerith into the musical storytelling: Cloud and Aerith’s themes intermingle in multiple pieces. I can’t imagine what else I’ll discover once I listen to the full OST. For now, I checked out what was available on YouTube and listened to cutscene audios. This section would be eternal if I included every time Cloud and Aerith’s motifs interact, especially in chapter 14. Trust me, I’d love to talk about every single one, but this thing is long enough already, so let’s just address what pertains to our Mission Theory specifically rather than stopping at every single Clerith reference in the OST.
V. c) i. Ending Cutscene Music
Ending cutscenes are often used to address the next step the characters will be taking as well as their emotional and mental state. They also open up new questions to make the player curious. Indeed, Rebirth’s ending cutscene (18:56-25:00) gives us an impression of how the party members feel by the end of the game: everyone misses Aerith. Barret looks upset and confused at the mention of her (19:35-19:45), the girls are crying and Nanaki is mourning (19:58-20:35). Additionally, we are shown the empty White Materia and Black Materia in Cloud’s possession (20:40-21:24), foreshadowing that they will come to be important in part 3. Cloud and Aerith share a warm goodbye, and exchange promises: Aerith will send smoke signals if something happens to her so a worried Cloud can remain updated on her well-being and she will stop Meteor, and Cloud will stop Sephiroth (23:00-25:00). The fact that this scene is animated in CGI is enough to tell us that the devs consider it narratively important, just like they do Bugenhagen’s observatory and the party’s advance into the Forgotten Capital CGI cutscenes. What did the composers decide to communicate with us about the end of Rebirth and the plot going forward?
Big surprise: Clerith.
During the entire cutscene, only two themes play: Cloud’s and Aerith’s. The cutscene’s music begins only when Cloud notices Aerith among the party members and begins watching her (19:21). She interacts with the rest of the party without their knowledge, different segments of her theme playing one after another. Her theme only stops when Cloud finally looks away from her and to the empty White Materia in his hand (20:45). The music focuses on the mystery and ominousness of these materia, only returning to Aerith once Cloud hears her voice and repeats her message to the party (21:30).
Cloud’s theme appears when he asserts that Barret needn’t worry about him (section A of Cloud’s true theme, 22:41), though soft and tentative, only swelling when Barret and Tifa climb aboard the Tiny Bronco and Cloud finds himself alone with Aerith again (22:57). As he asks Aerith if “[she’ll] be okay getting back” (23:08), the final phrase of section A of his theme plays, but without its concluding note, the tonic. He waits for her to answer him as his theme waits for hers to complete and answer it, that final note dragging long over the seconds (23:09-23:13). She answers with a teasing remark that references their unwillingness to part from each other back in Remake’s Evergreen Park:
“[Cloud has] a chat with Aerith, from whom he’s reluctant to part” (chapter 9 in section 04 “Scenario”, “Main Story Digest”, “4. Saying Goodbye”, page 275)”.As soon as Aerith answers Cloud’s question with this romantic callback, her theme answers his too: section C of Aerith’s theme begins with the key’s tonic, resolving Cloud’s incomplete phrase (23:13): she gives him resolution. He chuckles, getting her reference, and the music swells (23:16). The music ebbs and flows thusly, following the rhythms and underlying emotions of their conversation. Finally, the piece ends with phrase 2 of of section A of Cloud’s true theme, following a strong repetition of the first half of Aerith’s theme’s section A. The two make their promises to each other, and “No Promises to Keep” begins, leading us to the credits. This is most definitely a Clerith song, but more on that later.
What this shows us is that Cloud and Aerith’s relationship is fundamental to the plot of Rebirth and will also be fundamental to the plot of part 3: they are isolated one one-on-one in this cutscene, and the music depicts their warm, sweet interaction as well as the strength of Aerith’s character to contrast with Cloud’s somewhat meek personality. The composers are telling us that these two, specifically, together alone, are hugely important to the plot here. This was already true in OG, but no such emphasis was ever placed on their interactions and relationship in its music. Something is different, deeper, more intense now. The Mission Theory explains why. It also suits our theory that the composers are emphasizing the centrality of Clerith in the plot of the Remake trilogy. Cloud’s love for Aerith is the reason for the trilogy’s existence, and it will be the greatest motivator for Cloud in part 3. It’s a grand announcement.
Just like in Remake, I could not find a single instance of Cloud and Tifa’s themes interacting in Rebirth, apart from at the end of the intimate Skywheel date— but every girl receives this treatment in their intimate dates, so each of these instances can be crossed out. Additionally, the Tifa date is not the canon one, but I digress…
V. c) iii. Credits
- Piece Inclusion
V. c) iii. 2) “No Promises to Keep”
At the very end of this song written and performed by Aerith, we’re treated with a sweet little piano conclusion (10:46-11:10): it begins with a variation on Aerith’s theme’s section A (10:46-11:01), and concludes with two ascending arpeggios, each four notes long (11:01-11:10). Each of these ascending arpeggios is a variation of the phrase 1 of Cloud’s true theme’s section A. The differences are minimal. The phrase is usually five notes long rather than four, the first arpeggio ends on the tonic rather than Cloud’s iconic subtonic, and the second arpeggio starts on the subtonic rather than the tonic. The song Aerith wrote concludes with Cloud’s most famous motif. This is also the case in her Gold Saucer performance (3:31-3:41).
V. c) iii. 3) Arrangement of Aerith’s Theme
The final piece in the credits is an arrangement of Aerith’s theme (24:28-28:47) which has noticeably similar elements to the version of her theme that plays during the Jenova Lifeclinger battle in chapter 14 (0:12-3:36), such as the female choirs. Since these female choirs are only heard in the Forgotten City version of Aerith’s theme, and since the credits arrangement of her theme plays at the same time as clips from her chapter 14 pseudo-death roll across the screen, I estimate that this credits arrangement specifically reflects the event of Aerith’s pseudo-death. Recall that composers had access to the credits video as they composed, meaning this piece is specifically written for Aerith’s pseudo-death in Rebirth.
What I find fascinating is that, just like the arrangements of her theme that play during Aerith’s pseudo-death and the Jenova Lifeclinger battle, this credits arrangement contains the sound of Cloud’s pain, rage and protest. Phrase 1 and the first three notes of phrase 2 of Cloud’s true theme section A play on the strings and brass quite loudly and insistently, just as Cloud blocking masamune appears on the credits screen (25:11-25:21). Sephiroth’s dissonant, high and screechy violins appear just as his face comes onto the screen (26:33), and almost as a protective response, phrases 1 and 2 of Cloud’s true theme’s section A return (26:47-27:00). Finally, similarly to what we hear in part 5 of “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra”, a slightly modified section A phrase 1 of Cloud’s true theme play along with section C phrase 3 of Aerith’s theme (oh wow section A and C section Aerith for Cloud’s theme and section Cloud for Aerith’s theme I just realized that’s such a cute coincidence), though unfortunately they do not meet in the middle like last time since they start two octaves apart (28:20-28:25). I’ve recreated it for you once more here so you can really appreciate it. The fact that their motifs don’t truly reunite like in “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” is sad, but the very last thing you see onscreen is Aerith’s goodbye to the Tiny Bronco (27:10-27:42), so it makes sense that this piano conclusion implies that Cloud and Aerith aligned, but not yet reunited for good. That’s exactly what you get from the ending cutscene. It does seem to imply that they will be reunited in part 3, as both the ending cutscene and this piano conclusion read as a “till we see each other again” rather than a “farewell”.
VI. Textual Evidence
Now that the musical evidence is done, let’s compile some textual story evidence that supports our theory!
VI. a) Remake Trilogy (Thus Far) Handholding Explained?
As I’m sure you’ve noticed, handholding is a motif in Cloud and Aerith’s relationship— and an extremely symbolic one at that! When researching for info to validate my theory, I found that this Clerith motif was extremely helpful! Its inclusion in the Remake trilogy, and especially in Rebirth, is hugely significant in my eyes.
VI. a) i. Pre-Remake Trilogy: Aerith’s Initiative
Before examining the significance of Clerith handholding in Remake and Rebirth, we should establish the meaning of this motif in OG and Advent Children.
Cloud and Aerith have reached out to take each other’s hands many times since 1997. Aerith used to literally drag him by the hand a lot, shocking the cold and distant merc, before she left. After her death in OG, Cloud surely longed to be able to feel her hand take his again, cursing himself for not enjoying it while she was alive, and for never being the one to grasp her hand first: he never got to tell her how he feels about her, or to save her. It was always her reaching out for him, saving him.
This is why the scene in OG when Aerith reaches for him from the Lifestream after Cloud defeats Sephiroth in chapter 3 of disk 3 is so touching: Cloud sees her hand and reaches out to take it, so close to finally establishing that mutual connection, but she soon fades, and replaced by Tifa’s hand in the tangible world. He doesn’t get to hold Aerith’s hand again.
That is, not until Advent Children, where near the end of his battle with Bahamut Sin, he sees Aerith reach out to him once again (1:08-1:30). Cloud finally gets to hold her hand for the first time in two years when he lost her. This moment was given extra importance by the devs. In fact, Nojima told us the following:
“The ending scene of the battle with Bahamut, the scene where Aerith reaches out her hand, is an homage to the last scene from a previous production. It was [Nomura]'s idea” (FFVII Reunion Files, “Story Digest”, “Summoned Beast”, page 113).VI. a) ii. The Remake Trilogy (Thus Far): Cloud’s Initiative
As I’ve said before, if I’m right that Remake is all about Cloud stepping up to be more attentive and active in his relationship with Aerith in order to save her, there should be concrete evidence of this in the Remaketrilogy thus far. If OG Cloud’s memories of and love for Aerith exist somewhere within Remake Cloud’s subconsciousness, then Remake Cloud should be far more active in the Clerith dynamic than OG Cloud was— after all, he’s supposed to know better this time around. Thankfully, the motif of handholding can help us evaluate this. Since we know pre-Remake Cloud was quite passive when it comes to handholding, Cloud initiating handholding in the Remake trilogy would be a strong indication that our theory has validity. Keeping this in mind, let’s see what we can find thus far in the Remake trilogy in relation to handholding, and if Cloud is indeed more active than he was in OG.
VI. a) ii. 1) Hollow Hands
Remake’s theme song “Hollow” makes allusions to the handholding motif: “This time, I will never let you go” is pretty clear. And so is “No Promises to Keep”, wherein Aerith speaks of Cloud “[taking her] hand and never [letting her] go” multiple times. Interestingly, these theme song lyrics seem to suggest that Cloud will be much more active in the Remake trilogy than in OG. “Hollow” even promises that Cloud will come to his senses and take charge of the situation: “this time, [he] will” be the one to offer his hand to Aerith, unlike in OG and Advent Children. This makes a lot of sense with our theory: now that Cloud has lost Aerith once, “this time for sure, [he]’ll” be the one to reach for Aerith’s hand, take initiative and save her the way she saved him.
Even though theme songs are extremely telling of a game’s main themes and intentions, lyrics are still all talk and no proof. What about the game itself? Do Remake and Rebirth deliver on this promise? Let’s see!
VI. a) ii. 2) Resolution Hands
The only significant time Cloud initiates handholding in Remake is during Cloud’s resolution scene in chapter 14 (5:18-5:40), wherein he tries to grab Aerith’s hand but is unable to keep her with him. He fills with determination and tells her in no uncertain terms that he’s coming for her. Just as we predicted, Cloud is the active participant in this iteration of the Clerith handholding motif: he’s even explicitly insisting against Aerith’s wishes that he should “get a say in all this” and that he’s “coming for [her]”. Let’s not forget that Cloud’s resolution is meant to reflect not only Aerith’s kidnapping by Shinra, but also her fated death. Nojima implied this by commenting the following on Aerith’s “Even if you think you have, it’s not real” line:
“Those who know what befalls Aerith later on will find the line really heart-wrenching” (FFVII Remake Ultimania, section 08 “Secrets”, “Development Staff Interviews, Part 2: Tetsuya Nomura, Yoshinori Kitase, Kazushige Nojima”, page 744).Given this note by Nojima, it looks like we’re supposed to watch Cloud’s resolution scene with Aerith’s fated death in mind. Considering this, Cloud’s “I’m coming for you” line sure seems like an subconscious promise that he will save Aerith from her tragic fate. This subconscious promise could be the result of post-OG Cloud’s feelings and intentions rising to the surface. Nevertheless, he’s absolutely determined and he’s staying true to the promise he made in “Hollow”. I think it’s fair to say that this instance of the handholding Clerith motif does indeed fit perfectly with our theory. This is only one strong example though, and we need a pattern in order to pat ourselves on the back on this. So, let’s keep looking! There isn’t any handholding initiated by Cloud beyond that point in Remake. At this point in my research, I moved on to Rebirth to go digging for handholding there.
Hoo boy. I was not disappointed.
VI. a) ii. 3) Golden Hands
Let’s begin with the obvious. In their high-affinity gondola date in chapter 12, Cloud bravely interlaces his fingers with Aerith’s: Cloud’s taken charge not only of handholding, but the most intimate kind of handholding. I’m sure you’ve encountered the phrase “こいびとつなぎ” or “koibito tsunagi by now (literally translates to “lovers’ tie” or “lovers’ connection”); this is the term used in Japanese to refer to the type of handholding Cloud initiates with Aerith on the Skywheel. It’s considered the most intimate form of handholding. In Japan, skinship is normally considered quite significant and indicative of the closeness between two people— you could say it’s a big deal. Cloud also offers Aerith his hand when they step off the Shywheel, once more making the first move. Though some might say that the Skywheel dates shouldn’t be counted as canon, I believe Aerith’s date is indeed canon (I have my reasons but this post is long enough). Even if we discount the Skywheel date however, Clerith's use of the koibito tsunagi returns in a non-optional scene we will touch on later.
For what it’s worth, Alfreid offers Rosa his hand in the Loveless play too. I can prove that Aerith is the canon Rosa too, but I’m going to save that for my next analysis! You can take my word for it now, or just wait for that analysis to drop. Take it or leave it!
VI. a) ii. 4) Meta Hands
However, the narrative weight of these Clerith handholding instances doesn’t even come close to my very favorite iteration of the handholding motif in Rebirth. I’m referring to what I consider a severely underrated Clerith moment in chapter 13. First, some context: Sephiroth manipulates Cloud into giving over the Black Materia. Cloud seems to be firmly under Sephiroth’s control. However, the sight of Aerith being swarmed by Black Whispers snaps Cloud back into the driver’s seat: he breaks out of Sephiroth’s grasp to run to her and save her. Aerith gets knocked off into a fatal free-fall by a Black Whisper before Cloud can reach her, but he won’t have it: he lunges forward, hand extended. What results is a beautiful shot of their outstretched hands (56:25-56:27).
Let’s analyze this great shot. Notice how the seconds where Cloud is reaching downwards to grasp Aerith’s hand are treated. This key moment is stretched longer by a slow-mo effect, building up the tension and drawing the audience’s focus to the distance between their hands before Cloud actually catches Aerith’s in his, fulfilling the promise he made in “Hollow”. Their hands take up the whole screen in a deliberate close-up shot. All the ambient noises of the scene go quiet: Aerith’s theme is all we hear as Cloud reaches desperately for her. These are blatant audiovisual cues, signalling to the audience that whatever is happening on screen is especially significant. We should therefore examine this specific instance of the Clerith handholding motif to see what the devs are trying to tell us, and maybe it will fit with our theory!
We should begin by comparing this Clerith hand-reach shot to previous ones. If you compare it to the Advent Children’s hand-reach that occurs during Cloud’s battle against Bahamut Sin, it’s evident that Cloud and Aerith’s roles are reversed: just as our theory states, Cloud gets out from inside his head and reaches for Aerith this time. She saved him and the world in OG, and now it’s his turn to save her. This change becomes especially evident when you juxtapose the two scenes and notice how their hands have switched places, reaching from above and below, from left and right. I think the Rebirth hand-reach was deliberately made to look like the Advent Children one —and even the OG one in disk 3, chapter 3—, just to highlight this role reversal.
This Rebirth hand-reach is my favorite out of all because it shows that Cloud is much more conscious and attentive toward Aerith in Rebirth than he was in OG. At this point in OG (disk 1, chapter 25), Cloud is meant to be beating Aerith up at Sephiroth’s command, to the horror of the rest of the party. In fact, a few minutes before Cloud rushes to save Aerith in Rebirth, he has absolutely no problem violently shoving Tifa to the ground when she gets in Sephiroth’s way (53:27-53:33). This shove and Cloud’s earlier attack on Tifa in Gongaga (Rebirth, chapter 9) proves that Sephiroth is just as capable of making Cloud hurt his party members as he was in OG… though Sephiroth can’t seem to make Cloud hurt Aerith. Why is this? Why is it that Cloud beats Aerith in OG, but doesn’t even lay a finger on her —and snaps out of Sephiroth’s control at the mere sight of her in trouble— in Rebirth?
Our theory provides the answer. In disk 1, chapter 25 of OG, Cloud had not yet realized he loved Aerith. Sephiroth was therefore able to make him hurt her. But things are different in Rebirth. The Cloud we see in the Remake trilogy has gone through the OG timeline and traveled back in time, kicking off Remake as his second try at the OG timeline— and he did this precisely because he loves Aerith. His love for her is clearer and stronger in the Remake trilogy than in OG because Remake Cloud is an amnesiac, post-OG, time-traveler Cloud. He’s been through the OG before, has fallen in love with Aerith and realized it before, so this time around, he can’t even lay a finger on her. This is made evident by how closely the moments where Cloud pushes Tifa and saves Aerith are juxtaposed, separated by mere seconds of gameplay. Merely seeing Aerith in trouble wrenched control from Sephiroth and put it in Cloud’s hands again— Sephiroth probably couldn’t have gotten Cloud to attack Aerith if he tried.
This isn’t the only time we get evidence of this though! As Cloud approaches Aerith’s praying form in the Forgotten City, Sephiroth’s Black Whispers swirl around the buster sword: Sephiroth is trying to kill Aerith with it, while Cloud’s struggle to wrench it away plays out visibly on his face. Interestingly, Cloud is not being controlled by Sephiroth here. We know this because we can quite literally see the Black Whispers trying to move his sword, but also because every time Cloud is being controlled by Sephiroth in Rebirth, he has an empty-eyed, zombie-Cloud look on his face. Either that or he laughs or smiles somewhat maniacally. There is never any resistance on his part. To see an example, simply pay attention to Cloud’s blank face as he attacks Tifa in Gongaga in chapter 9 (19:20-20:30). You’ll see the very same expression on his face if you watch this video of Cloud following Sephiroth’s orders in chapter 13 (53:36-54:15). Additionally, look at how strangely Cloud smiles (41:01) as he grasps the Black Materia. Cloud makes none of these faces as the Black Whispers try to take control of his sword: quite the opposite. Cloud looks like he’s trying his hardest to pull his weapon back down and away from Aerith, a horrified look on his face as he grunts from the effort. Once more, Sephiroth is unable to make Cloud hurt Aerith.
Back to my favorite handholding moment. Think about this devs intention for this shot for a minute. The devs have been teasing us as to whether or not Cloud will succeed in saving Aerith in the Remake trilogy since it was first announced, and this slow-mo shot of Cloud catching Aerith’s hand as she falls to her death is a reflection of this tension. The audience holds their breath during those slow-moed seconds, all that hope and fear hanging in the balance. This instance of the handholding motif is a meta way for the devs to reassure us that Cloud will indeed save Aerith. I firmly believe this.
VI. a) ii. 5) Self-Sacrificing Hands
Alright, alright, enough about my favorite! Let’s move to chapter 14 of Rebirth! There’s evidently a lot going on with Clerith in this chapter. Let’s address the Sector 5 date. The handholding is first initiated by Aerith as she tugs him toward the candy vendor and Cloud reacts with a quiet gasp (4:07-4:17). Soon, it becomes a reciprocal embrace: Cloud holds his hand out for Aerith’s and tightens his fingers around hers, smiling at her before they head to the photographer (7:07-7:17).
Then of course, when Aerith pushes Cloud into a portal in her church, you can see Cloud reach his hand up toward her desperately as he falls (17:38-17:58). What I find particularly emotional about this moment is that Aerith pushing Cloud away from her is kind of the opposite of reaching for his hand: it symbolizes Aerith accepting her fate and giving up on a life where she can be with him. This Aerith seems to be a post-OG Aerith who exists separately from the main world we experience in Rebirth, meaning she knows all too well that her fate is to die. In fact, it looks like she is the very same or a similar Aerith to the one who appeared to Cloud in his resolution scene in Remake. By literally pushing Cloud away, just like she figuratively did in Cloud’s resolution scene, she is sacrificing both herself and the happiness she could share with Cloud. She’s going against her heart’s wishes, just like she did in Cloud’s resolution scene when she would not let Cloud take her hand. Indeed, post-OG Aerith seems to be resigned to her fated death and completely devoid of hope: she only wants to ensure the planet’s survival, because she thinks she knows there is no way she can or should be with Cloud. In contrast, Cloud reaches his hand out toward Aerith as he falls into the portal, and even though he does not know that her push symbolizes her self-sacrifice, his outstretched hand represents his protest. So far, our theory is fitting beautifully.
VI. a) ii. 6) Grieving Hands
Later in chapter 14 of Rebirth, after Aerith’s death/non-death, there is more handholding. As Cloud cradles Aerith’s body close to him at the Forgotten Capital, Aerith places her hand on his cheek. Cloud covers it with his, curling his fingers around it (1:03:33-1:03:53). Before he leaves her lying down on her back to go fight Sephiroth, he squeezes her hand as he tells her “I got this”— or, per the Japanese version, “Wait for me”, meaning he’ll reunite with her once he’s done (1:04:56-1:05:10).
VI. a) ii. 7) Hero-Heroine Hands
Next, the koibito tsunagi returns as Cloud and Aerith interlace fingers back to back in a classic hero-heroine pose, right after their two-versus-one fight against Sephiroth. This time, they both reach for each other simultaneously (7:42-8:18), without even having to look down at their hands or talk to each other, as though perfectly in sync. As you can see, Aerith and Cloud are now on the same page. This is different from post-OG Aerith’s attitude in the Sector 5 church earlier in chapter 14, as well as in Cloud’s resolution scene in Remake— my interpretation of this mutual koibito tsunagi is that both of them are agreeing to hold onto each other now, with neither of them pulling back or being inattentive of the other: their priorities are now the same. It seems now they are aligned, and hopefully this means that Aerith will be working together with Cloud so they can reunite again in part 3. Even if she doesn’t prioritize her life and happiness though, we know for sure Cloud will.
VI. b) Blocking Masamune Explained?
Another piece of evidence that Cloud has been through the events of OG before is the fact that he is able to block masamune. Cloud looks up and sees Sephiroth descending with his blade poised to kill Aerith. Screaming, Cloud instantly rips the buster sword from the Black Whispers’ hold and successfully blocks masamune. Hatred and determination fill his eyes as he rallies his strength and successfully pushes Sephiroth away, saving Aerith’s life (6:00-7:26)— at least, in one reality.
Obviously, something about Cloud is different in Rebirth from in OG, otherwise, the events of Rebirth’s chapter 14 would be the same as the events of OG’s disk 1 chapter 28. In my opinion, what happened here is that upon seeing Sephiroth swoop down with masamune, Cloud remembered Aerith’s death in OG, and the post-OG Cloud’s determination to stop it came surging up from within him. This is frankly the very best proof there is that Cloud is far more ready, stable, determined, and clear-headed about Aerith in the Remake trilogy than in OG. Our theory explains why! In fact, this very moment is what our entire theory banks on: Cloud saves Aerith in one reality, as is shown by the rainbow effect produced by the event, and just like that, the promise made in “Hollow” has been fulfilled! However, now we face the question of how to make sure that Aerith is alive and by Cloud’s side when the multiverse converges again into one protected timeline. I’m sure it will be done; we will see how in part 3.
VI. c) Theme Song Lyrics
What the theme songs’ texts have to say about the trilogy so far is quite important, as they summarize the feelings of the characters they represent: Cloud and Aerith. We can glean a lot from their perspectives that could help support the Mission Theory.
VI. d) i. “Hollow” Lyrics
“Hollow”, Remake’s theme song, was written about Cloud’s feelings and rumination. Nojima confirmed that, when he was given directives for the lyric-writing, “Nomura just gave [Nojima] the keywords: ‘told from Cloud's point of view’ and ‘standing in the rain’. [Nojima] interpreted that as ‘a ballad for a man who lost something/someone important’” (Nojima and Uematsu interview “‘I wanted to put the word ‘empty’ in the theme song of Remake. That was how it started’ - Music-Related Interview Part 6: Kazunari Nojima”, by Famitsu). Our theory is about Cloud’s motivations and mission to save Aerith, so “Hollow” is especially relevant.
Let’s run through the lyrics and analyze, starting with the song’s first verse:
“I would be lost, drifting alongMakes sense with our theory in mind, doesn’t it? This is post-OG Cloud remembering Aerith and what she means to him. “Hollow” seems to be told from the perspective of the post-OG Cloud hidden somewhere in Remake Cloud: a suppressed or eroded part of him that remembers Aerith clearly. Or maybe it’s told by Cloud after the events of the MFF x FFVII Remake collaboration and before the start of Remake, asserting his mission to save Aerith.
Floating up high, time after time
And there you'd be, shining brightly
Your smiling face to guide my way
Bloody and bruised, brought to my knees
When beaten down, when broken up
You would appear, reach out to me
Heal every wound and make me whole”
Next, here are the pre-choruses:
“Was it all, a dream? Will I never know?&
Foolish and blind to everything
Had I realized, had I thought it through
Would you be here in my embrace?”
“With your every smile, hiding something more(continued in
Dark mysteries lurking beneath
But I was consumed with this emptiness
This selfishness, this void to fill”
2024.05.16 16:56 Yeetaway1404 Warcraft Series MUST happen. Here's why:
I know I know... yet another Warcraft movie shill post, but hear me out:
Warcraft movies have long been a fan's daydream. As a long time fan and active player I'm no different. In fact I might have gone a bit overboard with fantasies about it, but I did some thinking and research and here's an outline of what I think can make the franchise a success and launch a potential WoW cinematic universe. I know most of this has already probably been said before, but I want to put it all in a single place where we can see if theres any way to push this to Blizzard/Microsoft and make it finally happen.
A three-part telling of the story of Arthas in streamable series format.
Part 1: The Fall of Lordaeron - We follow Arthas from his young Paladin days through the events of discovering the scourge and ending with the Purging of Stratholm. The ending with "This whole city must be purged" is an amazing finale foreshadowing the downfall of the main protagonist.
Part 2: Frostmourn Hungers - Arthas, now on a downwards spiral goes to Northrend and finds Frostmourn. This part would cover his Northrend campaign, slowly corrupting him into the Lich King's will. Includes the return to kill his father, the destruction of Quel'Thalas, resurrection of Kel'Thuzad and ultimately ends with Arthas putting on the Lich King armor and helm.
Part 3: The Lich King - Starting with the WotLK cinematic, it would follow the story of the WotLK expansion and shift focus slightly on the world banding together to defeat Arthas. The ending should be kept exactly the same - the champions of the Horde and Alliance together with Tirion defeat the Lich King exactly as it was told in the game.
Cast ideas:
It is important that the main cast and director crew are fans of WoW and its story, so they represent it well. I've picked a list of several casting choices that have either played WoW or would just fit too well with the character they portray in my opinion. The following list is more of a wish-list, but as with any production - known names bring audience.
Director - Sam Raimi. He is a WoW player and was allegedly "desperate" to direct the first Warcraft movie. Having a good director who is a fan of the lore and game is critical for the success of this (see Last of Us for example)
Arthas - Henry Cavill is the obvious, well-known, best choice. Apart from being so close to how Arthas looks, he would inevitably bring an enormous audience of non-WoW fans and almost guarantee success.
Jaina - Mila Kunis or Cameron Diaz. Both have played WoW and both can portray Jaina in a slightly different way but close to the depiction in the game. Even Ella Purnel (the Fallout role of Lucy) could do a great job here.
Tirion - Gary Oldman. He not only fits the visual representation of Tirion, but even his voice is similar. His previous roles have resemblance to the character arch of Tirion (e.g. Gordon in The Dark Knight)
Uther - Jeff Bridges. Requires no further explanation. He just is Uther.
Bolvar - Travis Fimmel. He did great as Lothar, but he would do even better as Bolvar in my opinion.
Kel'Thuzad - Ralph Fiennes. We dont have much to go off of for his visual depiction in his Human form, but Fiennes portrayal of Voldemort and Hades fits very well with this character.
Darion Mograine - Christian Bale. This is a an important character and Bale's representation of complex conflicting characters could be amazing for this.
Antonidas - Ian McKellen. Simple - nobody can portray an old wise archmage as good as him so far.
The list goes on and on and I wont try to be exhaustive here as the goal is to just give an idea of what it could look like with a star studded cast. Theres an infinite number of good choices, so theres no point in getting stuck on casting. Frankly the only choice that is non-negotiable is Cavill as Arthas in my opinion.
Main reasons why now is the time for it:
Creating a series, rather then movies, is quite crucial. If Last of Us showed us anything, it is that series allows you to tell peripheral stories really well in isolation, without distracting from the main narrative. I dont see a realistic way of telling all the different plots going into the Arthas story without butchering it. Things like The Wrathgate, The Ashbringer, Tirion's backstory, Illidan and his quest against Arthas, etc. would feel out of place in a movie, but quite natural in a series. There is no other way to tell WoW lore along the main story and open up the doors for cinematic universe of movies and series stemming from this main branch.
Streaming services have allowed series to evolve and tell stories in a way that movies never could. They have started a great trend of bringing games to the big screen. This trend seems to be getting stronger and stronger. Classic WoW showed that Warcraft fans are here and hungry for the epicness of the original games. The hype is there. WotLK just ended, so the nostalgia will start crippling in. We just defeated the Lich King, now its time to see the story told in its full potential.
Blizzard appears to be on a downward trend with WoW subs and are seemingly desperate for cash and ideas of bringing the playerbase back into the game in full swing. What better way then telling this story and potentially turning the whole world to fans who would at least want to try the game after watching a great series? Just think of Cavill as Arthas and the amount of wives/gfs who would suddenly find out that WoW might be cool :D
Microsoft taking ownership of Blizzard is another positive - Fallout is part of Microsoft and it is doing great as a series. This might suggest that Microsoft understands the potential of those franchises coming to the screen and being very successful on their own, while bringing lots of new players to the game, thus increasing profits in two separate streams.
If Last of Us, Witcher and Fallout are doing so well - think of the game that everyone and their mother knows. If there was ever a game that virtually everyone knows, has a story that is perfect to film and has great names in the industry passionate about - it is World of Warcraft. Jumping on this band wagon, WoW has a history of coming to the scene and becoming the king. It would be no different as series - the one that makes them all pale in comparison.
It is what WoW has been leading up to. It is what it was destined to become.
This wont be just a success. This would be a grand slam.
P.S. If you agree with me, help me get a petition or buzz going. I'm a noob at this, but classic wow happened with community effort. This can happen too if we will it into existance. If anyone knows how to do this - let me know.
submitted by Yeetaway1404 to wowcirclejerk [link] [comments]
Warcraft movies have long been a fan's daydream. As a long time fan and active player I'm no different. In fact I might have gone a bit overboard with fantasies about it, but I did some thinking and research and here's an outline of what I think can make the franchise a success and launch a potential WoW cinematic universe. I know most of this has already probably been said before, but I want to put it all in a single place where we can see if theres any way to push this to Blizzard/Microsoft and make it finally happen.
A three-part telling of the story of Arthas in streamable series format.
Part 1: The Fall of Lordaeron - We follow Arthas from his young Paladin days through the events of discovering the scourge and ending with the Purging of Stratholm. The ending with "This whole city must be purged" is an amazing finale foreshadowing the downfall of the main protagonist.
Part 2: Frostmourn Hungers - Arthas, now on a downwards spiral goes to Northrend and finds Frostmourn. This part would cover his Northrend campaign, slowly corrupting him into the Lich King's will. Includes the return to kill his father, the destruction of Quel'Thalas, resurrection of Kel'Thuzad and ultimately ends with Arthas putting on the Lich King armor and helm.
Part 3: The Lich King - Starting with the WotLK cinematic, it would follow the story of the WotLK expansion and shift focus slightly on the world banding together to defeat Arthas. The ending should be kept exactly the same - the champions of the Horde and Alliance together with Tirion defeat the Lich King exactly as it was told in the game.
Cast ideas:
It is important that the main cast and director crew are fans of WoW and its story, so they represent it well. I've picked a list of several casting choices that have either played WoW or would just fit too well with the character they portray in my opinion. The following list is more of a wish-list, but as with any production - known names bring audience.
Director - Sam Raimi. He is a WoW player and was allegedly "desperate" to direct the first Warcraft movie. Having a good director who is a fan of the lore and game is critical for the success of this (see Last of Us for example)
Arthas - Henry Cavill is the obvious, well-known, best choice. Apart from being so close to how Arthas looks, he would inevitably bring an enormous audience of non-WoW fans and almost guarantee success.
Jaina - Mila Kunis or Cameron Diaz. Both have played WoW and both can portray Jaina in a slightly different way but close to the depiction in the game. Even Ella Purnel (the Fallout role of Lucy) could do a great job here.
Tirion - Gary Oldman. He not only fits the visual representation of Tirion, but even his voice is similar. His previous roles have resemblance to the character arch of Tirion (e.g. Gordon in The Dark Knight)
Uther - Jeff Bridges. Requires no further explanation. He just is Uther.
Bolvar - Travis Fimmel. He did great as Lothar, but he would do even better as Bolvar in my opinion.
Kel'Thuzad - Ralph Fiennes. We dont have much to go off of for his visual depiction in his Human form, but Fiennes portrayal of Voldemort and Hades fits very well with this character.
Darion Mograine - Christian Bale. This is a an important character and Bale's representation of complex conflicting characters could be amazing for this.
Antonidas - Ian McKellen. Simple - nobody can portray an old wise archmage as good as him so far.
The list goes on and on and I wont try to be exhaustive here as the goal is to just give an idea of what it could look like with a star studded cast. Theres an infinite number of good choices, so theres no point in getting stuck on casting. Frankly the only choice that is non-negotiable is Cavill as Arthas in my opinion.
Main reasons why now is the time for it:
Creating a series, rather then movies, is quite crucial. If Last of Us showed us anything, it is that series allows you to tell peripheral stories really well in isolation, without distracting from the main narrative. I dont see a realistic way of telling all the different plots going into the Arthas story without butchering it. Things like The Wrathgate, The Ashbringer, Tirion's backstory, Illidan and his quest against Arthas, etc. would feel out of place in a movie, but quite natural in a series. There is no other way to tell WoW lore along the main story and open up the doors for cinematic universe of movies and series stemming from this main branch.
Streaming services have allowed series to evolve and tell stories in a way that movies never could. They have started a great trend of bringing games to the big screen. This trend seems to be getting stronger and stronger. Classic WoW showed that Warcraft fans are here and hungry for the epicness of the original games. The hype is there. WotLK just ended, so the nostalgia will start crippling in. We just defeated the Lich King, now its time to see the story told in its full potential.
Blizzard appears to be on a downward trend with WoW subs and are seemingly desperate for cash and ideas of bringing the playerbase back into the game in full swing. What better way then telling this story and potentially turning the whole world to fans who would at least want to try the game after watching a great series? Just think of Cavill as Arthas and the amount of wives/gfs who would suddenly find out that WoW might be cool :D
Microsoft taking ownership of Blizzard is another positive - Fallout is part of Microsoft and it is doing great as a series. This might suggest that Microsoft understands the potential of those franchises coming to the screen and being very successful on their own, while bringing lots of new players to the game, thus increasing profits in two separate streams.
If Last of Us, Witcher and Fallout are doing so well - think of the game that everyone and their mother knows. If there was ever a game that virtually everyone knows, has a story that is perfect to film and has great names in the industry passionate about - it is World of Warcraft. Jumping on this band wagon, WoW has a history of coming to the scene and becoming the king. It would be no different as series - the one that makes them all pale in comparison.
It is what WoW has been leading up to. It is what it was destined to become.
This wont be just a success. This would be a grand slam.
P.S. If you agree with me, help me get a petition or buzz going. I'm a noob at this, but classic wow happened with community effort. This can happen too if we will it into existance. If anyone knows how to do this - let me know.
2024.05.16 16:52 No_Direction4777 The Hermes Drama and Beyond - Perspective from a Greek Player
Good morning my witches and wizards.
I'd like to inject some very niche nuance into the discussion surrounding Supergiant's presentation of the Greek Gods in Hades 1 and 2. This will post will be a little long, but I believe context will be helpful when explaining my argument. If you need to get back to kicking [REDACTED]'s ass ASAP, there's a TLDR at the bottom.
I will preface this by saying Hades 2 may be my favorite game of all time, beating out the first by a wide margin (despite me logging over a hundred hours in the original). I've followed Supergiant since the original release of Bastion, played each of their games extensively, and I think I have a passable understanding of the studio's vision. As a result, I view their design choices in good faith.
That being said, I have a few very minor concerns. While they are nowhere near enough to sour the experience for me, I would like to express the thoughts that have been banging around in my head. Spoilers below.
Table of Contents
For example, a common theme in ancient Greek mythology is that of a god secretly traveling on earth, being offered hospitality by unsuspecting mortals, and then rewarding them for their generosity. This is represented in modern culture by the term "philoxenia" which represents our value of being friendly towards strangers. Relationships like these represent the fact that we still value our ancient culture, albeit through modern representation of its ideas. I see many moral, theological, and literary threads that connect the time of the pantheon with the time of modern christianity. As a result, I am passionate about how our ancient culture is represented. In many small ways, it is still a part of me.
However, despite the fact that the characters in Hades visually represent the variety of people who engaged with the pantheon, I sometimes feel that their traits and voices don't represent Greekness. To put it in other words, the gods are fantastic at giving off the aura of Greek mythology, but less so at giving off the aura of Greek culture.
Hephaestus in the sequel looks exactly like my immigrant uncle in real life. However, every time he speaks, I'm left wondering why he sounds Scottish. Judy Alice Lee did an amazing job voicing Melinoe, but when she speaks Greek (ie. Kataskion Aski) during her incantations, it sounds more like a British classics student practicing her Greek lines. Greek-speakers are a vast minority of the player base, and I get that this is something only someone in my position can notice and complain about. However, it feels like voices were chosen based on what Americans think sounds "regal and godly" as opposed to what characters would sound like in the context of the culture.
I don't think this was done intentionally, and there are definitely limitations when casting voices that don't come in common accents. However, I do think it is a missed opportunity to create a work of art that represents our culture far more deeply than other media has in the past.
Another small example is the use of Roman numerals when marking the doors in Tartatus and Chronos' clock attacks. In the context of the story, these symbols are being used a few centuries too early. Why not use Greek letters as the numerical system, counting down doors through ε, δ, γ, β ,α until the end? It may be confusing on the first run, but people learn quickly - they may even walk away understanding more about the Greek alphabet. I'm sure the creative minds at Supergiant could come up with other ways to represent "time" in a way that fits the cultural context.
Ν'αστε καλά. Θάνατοσ στο Χρόνοσ.
TLDR: The discourse around Supergiant's presentation of Hades characters has been bipolar - either "It's Perfect" or "It's Horrible". I think it is much closer to perfect than not, but as a Greek myself, I find myself begrudgingly accepting some very minor details (such as dubbing and pronunciation) that could have been executed a tad more thoughtfully. That being said, I think Supergiant did their best considering the resources available to them.
submitted by No_Direction4777 to HadesTheGame [link] [comments]
I'd like to inject some very niche nuance into the discussion surrounding Supergiant's presentation of the Greek Gods in Hades 1 and 2. This will post will be a little long, but I believe context will be helpful when explaining my argument. If you need to get back to kicking [REDACTED]'s ass ASAP, there's a TLDR at the bottom.
I will preface this by saying Hades 2 may be my favorite game of all time, beating out the first by a wide margin (despite me logging over a hundred hours in the original). I've followed Supergiant since the original release of Bastion, played each of their games extensively, and I think I have a passable understanding of the studio's vision. As a result, I view their design choices in good faith.
That being said, I have a few very minor concerns. While they are nowhere near enough to sour the experience for me, I would like to express the thoughts that have been banging around in my head. Spoilers below.
Table of Contents
- Why do you care?
- What's your problem?
- What does your smelly uncle have to do with this?
- Giving props for the small details.
1 - Why do you care?
For context, I am a Greek man who was the first generation born and raised in the United States. Greek was my first language, I was raised by a Greek community, and I've been heavily involved in our customs since birth. While many people think ancient culture is completely disconnected from modern Greek beliefs, this is inaccurate. No, I don't pray to a shrine of Poseidon when I go fishing. However, many of the stories, beliefs, and morals that were described by the ancient Greek pantheon remained key parts of our culture throughout the transition into modernity.For example, a common theme in ancient Greek mythology is that of a god secretly traveling on earth, being offered hospitality by unsuspecting mortals, and then rewarding them for their generosity. This is represented in modern culture by the term "philoxenia" which represents our value of being friendly towards strangers. Relationships like these represent the fact that we still value our ancient culture, albeit through modern representation of its ideas. I see many moral, theological, and literary threads that connect the time of the pantheon with the time of modern christianity. As a result, I am passionate about how our ancient culture is represented. In many small ways, it is still a part of me.
2 - Whats your problem?
I started thinking deeply after a recent post on the subreddit (rightfully) condemning racist remarks towards the characterization of Hermes. I think the general consensus of correct - the design of the gods are amazing, and they do a great job representing how many different cultures were involved in worshiping the Pantheon in ancient times. Ancient Greeks traded with others, spread their beliefs far and wide, and often praised the virtues of other cultures (such as Ethiopia) through art and literature. This is represented well by diverse design in-game.However, despite the fact that the characters in Hades visually represent the variety of people who engaged with the pantheon, I sometimes feel that their traits and voices don't represent Greekness. To put it in other words, the gods are fantastic at giving off the aura of Greek mythology, but less so at giving off the aura of Greek culture.
3 - What does you smelly uncle have to do with this?
My primary complaint is Supergiant's approach when choosing character voices. To preface - THE VOICE ACTING IS AMAZING! There's not a single character whose voice doesn't fit their design and personality. I'm still amazed that Darren Korb managed to nail both Skelly and Zag. However, what interferes with my immersion the most is the choice not to use Greek accents at all.Hephaestus in the sequel looks exactly like my immigrant uncle in real life. However, every time he speaks, I'm left wondering why he sounds Scottish. Judy Alice Lee did an amazing job voicing Melinoe, but when she speaks Greek (ie. Kataskion Aski) during her incantations, it sounds more like a British classics student practicing her Greek lines. Greek-speakers are a vast minority of the player base, and I get that this is something only someone in my position can notice and complain about. However, it feels like voices were chosen based on what Americans think sounds "regal and godly" as opposed to what characters would sound like in the context of the culture.
I don't think this was done intentionally, and there are definitely limitations when casting voices that don't come in common accents. However, I do think it is a missed opportunity to create a work of art that represents our culture far more deeply than other media has in the past.
Another small example is the use of Roman numerals when marking the doors in Tartatus and Chronos' clock attacks. In the context of the story, these symbols are being used a few centuries too early. Why not use Greek letters as the numerical system, counting down doors through ε, δ, γ, β ,α until the end? It may be confusing on the first run, but people learn quickly - they may even walk away understanding more about the Greek alphabet. I'm sure the creative minds at Supergiant could come up with other ways to represent "time" in a way that fits the cultural context.
4 - Props for the small details
I'd like to give props to some of the amazing tiny details that did make me feel represented in-game.- Frinos and Toula are incredible names for familiars - if I don't get a dog named Osto next, I'll riot.
- The music, as usual, is magically done. Darren's use of culturally relevant instruments alongside his own flair proves that he is among the most thoughtful and skilled in the entire industry.
- Polyphemus' design is so Greek. The chest hair, the evil eye, his desire to eat and sleep, all of it.
- While pronunciation and accents can be bizzare, including Greek phrases when Melinoe is doing her incantations is an incredible touch. I would love to see more spoken Greek included in future updates.
Ν'αστε καλά. Θάνατοσ στο Χρόνοσ.
TLDR: The discourse around Supergiant's presentation of Hades characters has been bipolar - either "It's Perfect" or "It's Horrible". I think it is much closer to perfect than not, but as a Greek myself, I find myself begrudgingly accepting some very minor details (such as dubbing and pronunciation) that could have been executed a tad more thoughtfully. That being said, I think Supergiant did their best considering the resources available to them.
2024.05.16 16:52 Extreme-General6680 Popcorn Comedy: a new standup comedy show at the historic Capitol Theater in downtown Arlington, MA!
Hello! I wanted to spread the good word about Popcorn Comedy: a new standup comedy show at the historic Capitol Theater in downtown Arlington, MA!
Here is a video with all the details: https://youtu.be/h2tRNjjddO0?si=m2zIpdKXSGuZ5T-3
This month's headliner is the hilarious Will Noonan. Named "Boston's Best Comedian" in 2018 by The Improper Bostonian magazine, Will has appeared on "Laughs" on FOX and Hulu, "Gotham Comedy Live" on AXS-TV, "This American Life" on NPR, and his comedy albums are played frequently on Sirius XM. He has performed at the Oddball Comedy Festival with Sarah Silverman, Louis CK, and Amy Schumer.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/popcorn-comedy-with-will-noonan-fox-hulu-tickets-892509779777
submitted by Extreme-General6680 to SomervilleMass [link] [comments]
Here is a video with all the details: https://youtu.be/h2tRNjjddO0?si=m2zIpdKXSGuZ5T-3
This month's headliner is the hilarious Will Noonan. Named "Boston's Best Comedian" in 2018 by The Improper Bostonian magazine, Will has appeared on "Laughs" on FOX and Hulu, "Gotham Comedy Live" on AXS-TV, "This American Life" on NPR, and his comedy albums are played frequently on Sirius XM. He has performed at the Oddball Comedy Festival with Sarah Silverman, Louis CK, and Amy Schumer.
- Doors open at 7:00pm and the show starts at 7:30pm.
- Come early to watch classic cartoons on the big screen.
- Grab candy, popcorn, and fountain drinks at the theater's snack bar or bring your own!
- Beer and wine are available in the lobby.
- Outside food and drink are allowed in the theater (aside from alcohol).
- Get delicious pizza at OTTO or bring ice cream from the Capitol Creamery next door.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/popcorn-comedy-with-will-noonan-fox-hulu-tickets-892509779777
2024.05.16 16:50 GarlicPure4701 Apple pencil Tips
Hi:) I have an IPad Pro 4th generation 11”, (2022) and a 2nd generation Apple Pencil. I have a paper like screen protector from ESR. I know that, these kind of protectors wear down the tip faster, but it feels like my tips only last a week to 2weeks at a time. And the writing feeling shifts a lot from the “Paperlike” feeling, to “no resistance” feeling after a few days of use of a new tip.
Is it normal for a tip to wear down this fast? Or is it the screen protector giving this inconsistency in the writing feeling? I’m usually writing 6-7 normal pages of notes a day, 5 times a week.
submitted by GarlicPure4701 to ipad [link] [comments]
Is it normal for a tip to wear down this fast? Or is it the screen protector giving this inconsistency in the writing feeling? I’m usually writing 6-7 normal pages of notes a day, 5 times a week.
2024.05.16 16:48 vladdgg NPC / Commoner Generator
If any D&D’ers are interested, I made an app that generates an NPC or commoner for your campaign!
It’s pretty bar bones right now, but generates name, race, gender, and some flavor attributes to give them their own individuality. Check out the details tab on the app for future plans (more races, custom filters, etc.) and other information about how the attributes are generated. Any feedback is appreciated as well, thanks!
Here you go: https://www.vladdgg.com/ttrpg
submitted by vladdgg to DnD [link] [comments]
It’s pretty bar bones right now, but generates name, race, gender, and some flavor attributes to give them their own individuality. Check out the details tab on the app for future plans (more races, custom filters, etc.) and other information about how the attributes are generated. Any feedback is appreciated as well, thanks!
Here you go: https://www.vladdgg.com/ttrpg
2024.05.16 16:46 ebonybubbles x509 Certificate error when deploying Elastic Agent in Kubernetes
I am trying to test some elastic agent funtionality in kubernetes. Right now, I am trying to deploy elastic agent in a Kubernetes pod. Bare in mind, the environment is all self managed on prem. I have security enabled and have generated certs for Fleet. I am running into an error where when deploying the elastic agent manifest, I receive "x509: certificate signed by unknown authority" error. I assumed this would be something handled by the "FLEET_ENROLLMENT_TOKEN", but it isn't working. I dont see an argument in the docs that show and environment variable where I can point to a CA fleet cert. Is there something I am missing here? I have copied and updated the fleet server cert to the Kubernetes node. Is there more I need to do for the pod to be able to see it?
It is just interesting that in Fleet UI, when adding an agent, it specifically details how to do this in Kube (if you have the policy preconfigured with the kubernetes integration).I would think it would detail this here with what env variables need to be listed. Especially if there were a cert specific variable.
It doesn't mention anywhere about referencing or mounting a CA certificate
Note:
small lab
I added the fleet server crt to the k8s node and ran "update-ca-certificates" and that still didn't solve anything.
Thanks in advance for any assistance!
submitted by ebonybubbles to elasticsearch [link] [comments]
It is just interesting that in Fleet UI, when adding an agent, it specifically details how to do this in Kube (if you have the policy preconfigured with the kubernetes integration).I would think it would detail this here with what env variables need to be listed. Especially if there were a cert specific variable.
- name: FLEET_INSECURE value: "false" # Fleet Server URL to enroll the Elastic Agent into # FLEET_URL can be found in Kibana, go to Management > Fleet > Settings - name: FLEET_URL value: "https://192.168.1.51:8220" # Elasticsearch API key used to enroll Elastic Agents in Fleet (https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/fleet/current/fleet-enrollment-tokens.html#fleet-enrollment-tokens) # If FLEET_ENROLLMENT_TOKEN is empty then KIBANA_HOST, KIBANA_FLEET_USERNAME, KIBANA_FLEET_PASSWORD are needed - name: FLEET_ENROLLMENT_TOKEN value: "https://preview.redd.it/rggvt1q2ws0d1.png?width=720&format=png&auto=webp&s=b02e07e8e8ad4b69d8ecf48881a5476d8947983b" - name: KIBANA_HOST value: "http://kibana:5601" # The basic authentication username used to connect to Kibana and retrieve a service_token to enable Fleet - name: KIBANA_FLEET_USERNAME value: "elastic" # The basic authentication password used to connect to Kibana and retrieve a service_token to enable Fleet - name: KIBANA_FLEET_PASSWORD value: " " - name: NODE_NAME valueFrom: fieldRef: fieldPath: spec.nodeName - name: POD_NAME valueFrom: fieldRef: fieldPath: metadata.name
It doesn't mention anywhere about referencing or mounting a CA certificate
Note:
small lab
- 1 ES container
- 1 Fleet Server container
- 1 KB container
- 1 microk8s node (This is where I am trying to deploy Elastic Agent)
I added the fleet server crt to the k8s node and ran "update-ca-certificates" and that still didn't solve anything.
Thanks in advance for any assistance!