#cuz why would you want him to send aerith into the serial killer dungeon

[iaintyourbro]

Is it true that in the Remake that Cloud decided to save Tifa from Don Corneo and dance because of Aerith? I saw people say that Aerith was the reason, and I don't want to believe it, but as soon as Aerith told Cloud to go help Tifa he changed his mind. And when Andrea told Cloud he had to dance, he's like "screw this" but when he looked at Aerith he changed his mind again and decided to dance. It looks like he did do it for Aerith but I'm not sure and I don't want to believe she's the reason.

Hi anon...

From my perspective, no. He danced because at that point it was the only option they had (according to Aerith). He wanted to go in blowing shit up, but Leslie told him to watch it because if he did, Tifa or somebody else could get punished for it. 

Cloud would have found a way to save Tifa, but he wasn’t going to send Aerith in there by herself. That’d be messed up, no? How would he look if he said, “Okay, go in there and get this girl you keep telling me is super important to me (and she is cuz Tender Memories™), cuz yes, I’m worried, but I’m not dressing up or dancing cuz eff that, but you go in to the serial killer, sex trafficking murder dungeon and go get her out for me.”

He’d look like a dick. He’s not a dick. 

Let’s back up a bit, though.

Cloud let’s Tifa go because she tells him she’s fine and can kick all the ass. He trusts that Tifa knows what she’s doing - he’s seen her kick all the ass. On top of it... Cloud has no idea who Don Corneo is. He’s not native to Midgar and he just “woke up” about 3 or 4 days ago (in Remake timeline, it seems). But whether he woke up a month ago or today, he doesn’t know anything about Wall Market. He tells Aerith this at the beginning of Chapter 9 when she asks. 

So he’s back to Aerith. He looks harsh here, but also worried. I think he’s trying to convince himself of what he’s telling Aerith.

Then Aerith is like nah bro... listen... Aerith’s Street Cred (More info on Aerith’s street cred here)

And his face starts to change as she says this. It’s concerning to him. 

He has his OH SHIT moment after Aerith tells him this. 

So they go to Wall Market.

So Cloud goes through a few emotions during the Chocobo Sam scene, which I have covered in a previous post: Cloud and Chocobo Sam

He’s aggressive at the point he says this. He does want to save her. 

Ultimately, they first try to do the standard let me bust through and just grab her out of here, and that doesn’t work. So they have to go on a journey to figure out a way to infiltrate his mansion and get Tifa out. Aerith is just as invested in this as Cloud. She’s not showing anything to say “Haha, if she’s captured he’s mine.”

Why? Because at this point, I don’t think Aerith is interested in Cloud romantically, she’s interested in information on Zack. It just so happens that Tifa is in trouble, or else Cloud would have just gone back to Sector 7 and been on his way. 

Let’s fast forward to the point where Cloud tells Aerith, “I don’t know if you should go in there. You don’t know what they’ll make you do.”

He just went on a quest chain (most likely you’d do the Chocobo Sam once since it’s the default one) to learn about Wall Market and he quickly sees how messed up the place is. He’s not going to send her in there, but he’s also not going to give up on Tifa.

Aerith interrupts him at this point to pretty much tell him oh I’m not going in by myself, I have a plan, don’t worry. 

This wasn’t him saying welp, sorry, Tifa. 

Now we get to the dance. And they always say “He saw Aerith and that’s what makes him want to dance.”

No, he tried to get away, tried to get away, oh shit she’s in here and I can’t get away now. He looks absolutely miserable during this part. He’s not enjoying it. If he wanted to dance for her to make her happy.... wouldn’t he be happier? 

He’s loving it, huh?

He does this to get Tifa AND prevent Aerith from going in by herself.

Ultimately - what was the goal of the Wall Market mission? It was to save Tifa.

Cloud dresses up like a woman to save Tifa. In OG, Cloud actually doesn’t want Aerith to go with him, but Aerith runs after Tifa.

In Remake, Cloud takes off after Tifa, but is told to go back to Seventh Heaven. Aerith then tells him like you have no idea what you’re dealing with buddy, let’s go. 

This isn’t a damn shipping thing. This is Cloud being told about a very dangerous situation that Tifa is now in and Aerith, how is also not a dick, wants to help out a fellow woman AND she knows this person is important to Cloud. 

Cloud dances to get his dress. In OG, Cloud has to get in the dress to go save Tifa and prevent Aerith from going in by herself.

It’s as simple as that: Cloud isn’t a douchebag. If you look at the entire Chapter, you can see this isn’t just him trying to impress or entertain Aerith... not even close. I really do hate that argument.