I've always hated the R=U thing and felt it had no grounds at all, but I've realised that this is most likely my own stubbornness and childish hatred towards how it was presented whenever I saw it ("The story and/or romance in Final Fantasy VIII isn't good, this actually makes it good") so I may have hated/dismissed it because it was always presented with opinions I didn't agree with. I might actually have another look at the actual R=U theory in a more open minded way, just to see how it was realised (I know some of it is the look of the characters and that they are shown close together during the weird memories part of the ending), even if I don't believe it or want to. Basically, I'd be willing to approach it fairly rather than just "You're all haters!" this time.

In regards to this thread, it is beautifully written and an awesome spin on the R=U theory, and it actually makes sense to look at these characters as parallels rather than literally the same character - this is the most likely R=U theory to actually work as being true, and another example of how FFVIII gets more interesting every time another way of looking at it, or even something I hadn't noticed is revealed.