Thanks for the Aerith/Tifa, FF7 Remake
Playing Cloud Strife and running around Midgar with a pack of wild lesbians has been one hell of an experience for the psyche. Currently, the ‘pack’ only refers to Aerith and Tifa, but don’t let that stop you, because the FF7 Remake has said Aerith/Tifa rights a thousand times over.
Gamers probably know that Tifa and Aerith have, unfortunately, been pushed by both fandom and the game itself to be Cloud’s love interests. This wouldn’t really be such a problem if it wasn’t so blatant in almost every conversation they have with him. You can, of course, choose to be with neither and set your loving gaze onto the ridiculously hot Barret Wallace, your fellow Avalanche member, but that’s an article for another time. The point is, Tifa and Aerith have often been pitted against one another for no real reason, even when the original game has never supported that narrative.
The FF7 Remake has also told this perspective to go screw itself, instead adding in more scenes so that Tifa and Aerith can get their own time together without necessarily having to talk about Cloud 24/7. Music to my gay ears.
While this game is still drowning in as much heteronormativity as physically possible, the chemistry of Aerith and Tifa’s friendship borders on homoerotic at times and while my eyes detect queer subtext everywhere, it does seem I’m not alone in noticing that Aerith and Tifa have a crazy amount of chemistry and are 100% here for it.
The first thing I’ve noticed is with this remake, it’s given Aerith and Tifa a whole lot of time to hold hands, hug and just generally touch one another an awful lot. It’s fine of course, casual contact between friends is really nice and neat, but also, I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t get a little bit of a gay vibe when Aerith told Tifa that they should go on a date with one another. Maybe it’s Aerith, who is just so cute that she just goes well with everyone? It could be that, but I also think that this game works at it’s best if you imagine that Cloud is the third wheel to these queer lady shenanigans. On the other hand, we are up for Cloud/Tifa/Aerith but only if Aerith is in the middle. It’s what that girl deserves and I won’t hear any different.
Fans of Aerith/Tifa have been around since the original, but the FF7 Remake has given the relationship a new, coating of queer subtext, so I can’t even begin to comprehend how the long-term fans are feeling right now. All I know is that the fanart has been on point.
We know that Square Enix would never be ballsy enough to have the two female leads end up together, but why bother complaining about it when fans are just happy that Tifa and Aerith are 1) super cute together and 2) are more than just their potential romance with Cloud?
Even so, let em kiss Square Enix. Do it for the lesbians.
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