Sephiroth
is classier than a First Class SOLDIER

We're just going to be RP'ing together. We should get along. xD

We should be friends.

Oops, I meant Kitase, Nojima and Sakaguchi. Got my Nomura and Nojima confused.

Everything in the original game is canon - because that is the game. Anything added outside of the game is automatically "less" canon than the original story. There are multiple threads for that story, multiple stories if you like, and the game I played happened to play out the way it played out. That means, for me, that is Final Fantasy VII. There is nought more "accurate" than the original game itself. Technically, some people out there could say that Barret went on a date with Cloud in their story and maybe they see that as canon. So be it - it's in the original game they played and if that's how it played out, that's how it is for them.

That random unconfirmed unspecified SE employee saying most people don't understand FFVII is genuinely nothing worth noting whatsoever. I could get a job at SE and say the opposite, and suddenly I'd be "anonymous SE employee" stating something. It was even detailed as a rumour, and they don't even state what the hell they're referring to. I doubt it's the love story, either way. I think that was more about getting an HD remake given the context of the article.

You're the one saying we should stop, but you're carrying on.

I said "Sakaguchi, Kitase and Nojima" didn't I? xD Oh well, no worries.

Thousands upon thousands of fans (if not millions) can't suddenly all have misinterpreted that Tifa and Cloud were in love more than Aeris and Cloud. Love triangles exist to be debated, and in this case the company never made it clear in the story because different things could have happened. Apparently (and I can't state where this is from, it's just often quoted) Tifa and Cloud make their feelings known to each other and confirm that they match, and from there they sleep with each other. It was always implied that this happened. I think the most complete thing out there for such a discussion is here, and the conclusion is entirely accurate.

Nojima wrote Dismantled? That's peculiar, considering he has been the one to promote Tifa as a love interest more than pretty much anyone (I'm fairly certain he was the one that, when pressed about which love interest was the true one, said that it was up to the player.

Despite all that, even in Dismantled - despite it being very much pro-Aeris - there is still nothing from Cloud that outright says "I love Aeris more than Tifa." I thank SE for never stating this. Even if they stated that Tifa was the preferred option for Cloud, I would be gutted that they would announce something like that, because it would ruin the fact that it is the player who gets to truly decide which he loves the most.

Again, I'm still unsure as to what you feel I am denying.

I'm starting to wonder what it is that you think I'm denying.

The only thing I am stating on a categorical level is that VII when it was created was created as a single game, not as part of a wider compilation. The wider compilation was created by some of those involved, yes, and they have not announced anything to reject either relationship, in fact you can say they simply promote both of them. One writer might have a different opinion to another writer, too, and this does seem to have been the case from time to time in these interviews (particularly when they involve Nomura, who seems to have "picked up" VII and taken it as his own property on many occasions despite Sakaguchi, Kitase and Nojima all having far more control over things). But in the end, the Dismantled stories were penned by someone who was never involved in the story writing of the original game, and it is the original game that I will often refer to as the "master story".

Let's put it this way: I don't take most of the current Lord of the Rings film works as "canon", particularly the stuff involving Legolas - yet they have the rights to create such things because they were given the authority. However, I question who has the right to tell the story of FFVII on an acceptable, truly canon level. I would say that Kitase, Nomura and Sakaguchi are those who retain that right. Nomura licenced some random person in the company to write Dismantled, and while he had the right to, there is no reason that the fans of the original piece "have to accept it" as "truth". They can see it as officially canon, but they can also see that on an artistic level, this is not the story taken from the mind that produced, wrote and directed the original masterpiece.

Um, no. Square and Square Enix is the same company. A company is the people. Kazushige Nojima, Yoshinori Kitase, Tetsuya Nomura and Motomu Toriyama are and always were here to tell the story. I also don't know what "seems" for you, when I say it is only canonical when it is stated and that is simply a fact of law and intellectual property. Not to mention Aerith's line always appeared in canon and the thing you think - and was never used like you think - was not even written by the main writer. By now you should know I do know Japanese very well (though it would not be useful when I am one side of the conversation, I guess) and they never said it is up to us. I could give you a full summary of the official material including interviews were they show both Tifa and Aerith's side and those things just exist. Not to mention, to not say something about an Aerith line now, Tetsuya Nomura once said (can be proven) he doesn't know what happened with Cloud and Tifa relationship-wise after Final Fantasy VII ended and that On the Way to a Smile shows that they, no matter Aerith being alive or not, can't get along really well. For me personally I don't think so as I think they also would be happy someday but again, it is not up to me. You can't say there is no obvious answer when the official material shows it. This means you would be ignoring it and then you would ignore Final Fantasy VII itself making the story for you non-existent. The problem is that you think "truths" can actually be seen differently, but they can't. Not the very direct way I am talking about. No matter how we rate it, we are having this conversation. No matter how you call it and how fast it is, our world is spinning. It does not matter what words we use. The state of truth very well stays the same and when it is contradicting it can't be. You insist on saying "they never do, it is intended" but this is just by ignoring things that are intended. I have shown you in the forum multiple things from official stuff that always was and is intended and leaves the answers, such as Tetsuya Nomura once said (about the questions of Final Fantasy VII in general) and no matter how much has been written to that now, it will always be here. There is no "personally" for me, because I know that Cloud loves them both. The story shows it and the Ultimania says it. And when it comes to the extent, it is also shown how much. The story even shows that he doesn't fully realize his feelings for both of them which is the reason why the player himself has other textboxes or actions that while not saying "I love you" (which Cloud has had the chance to say because Tifa asked him in On the Way to a Smile and he couldn't answer still of course he does to an extent) directly give the needed information and while ton of material was released to pretty much decode every single line (not only of this part of the story but all important parts). I really would love to quote all of the material but I have the feeling it will be no good meaning you dismiss Final Fantasy VII as it is (something we cannot do, fanon is nothing to canon such as the car will always be there in my explanation, you could say I am a fan of our world but the canon is decided by nature or God or whatever you believe in, lets not really get religious here; Square Enix thankfully is not God but still the creators of their own world and legally and intellectually have the right to say what is and they did it enough), which has a certain meaning for the Promised Land, who the main character is, which world it is on, Cloud's identity, the love issues, Sephiroth and everything in itself.

But as it is now I just leave it how it is.

Seems pretty canonical that Tifa and Cloud got bizzay during my playthrough of FFVII. But dude, you telling me that I am wrong is nothing more than a Muslim telling a Christian he's wrong, or a Christian telling a Jew he's wrong - it is pointless. Square wrote FFVII and Square Enix wrote the rest. Two different companies, different producers, directors and writers worked on various pieces. Eventually it is no longer the work as it was intended when this kind of thing happens. If SE said that Sephy was canonically fat then it would be untrue because you can see in the images on your screen that he isn't - it would simply be SE contradicting themselves and at some point the "canon" becomes a load of crap. The original game is undoubtedly the best source of canon in the entire series for it is the only source that is as the creators designed it from the start, and the only source with no contradictions outside of those that were intended - ie, it was intended that you could go on dates with different people and it was intended that different things could happen beneath the Highwind. Regardless, though, I do not dismiss that Aeris loved Cloud nor that Cloud had feelings for Aeris - I simply dismiss those that say that "Aeris was the true love, the bigger love, etc." because that is 100% down to the player and how they perceive things, and people in SE have been asked directly which was loved more and the answer was a non-answer - they simply stated that it is up to the individual. I'd found this before but I can't find it online now... sadly finding good translations of Japanese material is a bit of a bitch on the internet because you always get interviews coming up about the stupidest things.

If SE had an obvious "correct" love then they would have stated it from the very beginning. They choose to not clarify because they choose to let us choose, they choose to not pick a side, they choose to allow the discussion to rage on because quite frankly it is in their best interest to not have a canonically correct choice. This is exactly why they don't clarify any further in AC. I mean, it wouldn't be hard for them to make one of the choices obviously correct, would it? They never do. It's intended. If they picked one side or another they would disappoint a load of fans regardless of which they opt for.

Personally, I feel that Cloud loved both, but Tifa more so. Aeris died, and when someone who you love dies, even if it's not your "true" love, then you will grieve endlessly and find love to be a tricky thing to get back into. Not to mention the buggered up head he had throughout the story. Joyfully, I can indeed see this as canon because while there will be some contradictions throughout the Compilation, there are contradictions for the other options, too, so in the end it's just personal interpretation - much like that of the various religious texts of the world!

I do believe you right about one thing - nobody is going to "win" such a debate and therefore there is no reason to continue it. We should accept that each of us sees the truths of FFVII differently and interpret the games, videos and text in different ways to each other and be done with it. The one thing I'm sure we can both agree on is that when asked, no group of SE employees has ever categorically stated which, if any, girl is the correct and one true love.

Still, don't use rep for this. It's not intended to be used in such a way.

You can stop giving rep to my posts that you disagree with. You may see Dismantled as canon, but I don't (and won't - simple as that). It is, as has been stated in interviews before, up to the individual and how their storyline played out as to what is true and what is not... SE have always insisted it remain open to interpretation, which is their intent and it's also why they haven't sided with one or the other - because they are happy for both to be possible. For me, Tifa was Cloud's love and Zack was Aerith's love. They also loved each other to some extent, but not to the same degree.

Dismantled (I've read little of it, but the translations out there are very poor so it's hard to bother... not to mention it's barely better than reading FanFiction) is an awful source for people to use considering how detached it was from the people who created Final Fantasy VII. In fact, they should really have just called it "Detached" xD

But more to the point: Please use rep as it is intended... to give people praise for their posts. It's always a bit of a letdown to get rep just to find it's just someone disagreeing with me and using the rep system to do so!

Whatever the case, if it hadn't been for you, my reputation would be ruined Thanks a lot.