The voice of Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth protagonist Cloud Strife, Cody Christian, thinks that overly zealous fans could tone it down a bit. Players have had strong opinions on the Cloud and Aerith/Tifa love triangle ever since the release of the 1997 original. But with the prospect of another romantic outing at The Gold Saucer looming, the complex relationships underpinning the party are causing consternation for some.
Pointing to the practice of "shipping" as a contributing factor, Christian posted his take on Twitter; as anyone who frequents Final Fantasy fandoms will know, when passionate players gather to discuss their thoughts and feelings on matters as important as who Cloud should kiss, things can get heated pretty quickly.
But the mystery of a romantic subplot (which can even be read as platonic) is part of the game's magic, and the fixation some have on a specific outcome does the game a disservice. Christian said: "'Shippers' crumble under the idea that a character is allowed to have significant relationships with MULTIPLE characters. This provides overarching depth. The need to overtly sexualize every relationship can ruin great story development."
In Rebirth, we know that Zack will have an expanded role this time around, potentially turning this love triangle into a far trickier square situation (or potentially a less-stable rhombus). Do you feel like the fandom can get a little too carried away at times? Would you rather the writers spell things out instead? Be suave, self-assured, and your authentic self in the comments section below.
[source twitter.com, via gamesradar.com]
Comments 30
Yeah I am in full agreement with this. "Shipping" fandoms like this are weird. One of the reasons why I couldn't get into shows like MHA.
I kinda feel like he's missing the point a bit; shipping is just based on personal thoughts or feelings, a fun thing for fans to talk about. It's not meant to detract from the actual material. If I ship Cloud and Tifa it shouldn't affect the stories the creators tell because it's just a personal opinion and doesn't/shouldn't actually matter. People can definitely take things too far but that goes for any fandom, shippers or not.
I'm just hoping that Square Enix go the unexpected route by making Cloud and Cait Sith get together.
THE WORLD IS SQUARE
It is true that some folks take their fandom a bit too far. It's fine to like a character and it's even fine to engage in the whole "shipping" thing so long as it's all in good fun.
It's when a fan becomes volatile at others who don't agree with them or get hostile with devs about it that it becomes a problem. Just be cool and remember, Tifa, Aerith, Cloud and every other character is just that, a character. It's not something to get worked up about.
On the original game you could choose who to romance on the gold saucer.
I expect it will be the same.
I just want Tifa to break my limit.
How is this even an issue? It's not as if its become a "thing" recently or in the advent of video games. There are shed loads of these kind of ambiguous relationships going on with characters going back centuries. I'm not going to try and be a smart arse and list everything I can think of but here's a few
1)sherlock Holmes
2)skywalker,leia and solo (bit of incest there for a mo 🤢)
3)judge dredd and Anderson and maybe judge hershy too.
There are many,many more examples but I suppose it all boils down to how far fans take it. A lot of guffaw about nothing really.
People need to understand that we all have our own imaginations and are allowed to have our own interpretations of the relationships within the game.
The whole point of storytelling is to invite people into the story and feel like they are a part of it.
I add my own imagination and interpretation into lots of books, films and games I enjoy. There is no right or wrong, we are all allowed to feel our own emotions about things.
@Kienda I feel the same way, but I think @Korgon explained the issue perfectly.
@naruball yeah, I think he’s right.
It seems many fan writers turn into activists for a cause rather than just sharing their ideas and letting others have their own.
Most professional writers understand that people will interpret their work differently and there isn’t really a right or wrong to how an individual takes it. In fact, they often add far more meaning to parts of the story than the writers thought of. And many writers will admit that.
Shippers don't ruin anything because shippers are irrelevant. Learn to ignore them.
@Korgon well said dude.
Fandoms do and will always exist, and it really shouldn’t matter how fans engage creatively with their area of interest (as long as it’s legal).
But some fans can take it too far and turn nasty, but that’s the issue, not fanfic/fan art shipping fandoms.
Most of the time though, don’t Google R34 and you’re safe.
I mean I get where he's coming from, Shipping can be super toxic (I should know being a Sonic fan) but the problem is that the bad toxic people always stand out compered to the actual chill people of said fandom.
Cody sadly has most likely only seen fight after fight on twitter so I can't really blame him.
I'd normally agree but its a bit hypocritical for FF7. The game encourages shipping by having your choices effect who Cloud has scenes with and ends up on a date with at the Golden Saucer. Remake even more so than the original, as it has a moment where you literally choose between Tifa and Aerith as actual gameplay. You're forced to ship a pairing just by playing the game.
Well if Zack is in this game now everything fits into place...
N.i.c.e. i be down for that. Its going to be a love connection.haha😀.word up son
Hahaha he's not wrong. I've seen some really weird fan fiction out there. But then again that Touch of Grey started life as really weird Twilight fan fiction, so who knows 🤔
@LagunaX1 very true. I hope there is no trophy for dating Barret again. I'd like to share that moment with Aerith but if there is a Barret trophy then the platinum dictates and I'll acquiesce like a good little trophy hunter.
Too late, plenty of FF porn out there with everything imaginable under the sun. Fanfic has nothing on what’s already out there.
@starbuck2212 Haha now that you mention it, there probably will be. Him or Yuffie, whichever is hardest to get.
@Kienda yup. That's the beauty of literature!
@Gaia093 I'd argue they're not. Many boycott TV shows that end up getting cancelled (shows that we are already on the verge of being cancelled). They can also affect public perception making everyone feel like everyone shares that thought.
moot point as we all know cloud/zack is canon
(jk)
(but sort of not jk)
Well, if nothing else, now I know what "shipping" means in this scenario. LOL
Normies like this actor NEEDS to get to go away let people do what they want gatekepping needs to be a thing again honestly
@Nem It was actually based on arbitrary dialog choices during gameplay. It was possible to choose all the negative options towards Tifa and Aeris and go on a man date with Barret!
The dance sequence from the remake was horrible. Very over sexualised and simply didn't fit. One of the many reasons I've not played it since.
I'm sure some people enjoyed it but we a longtime fan, I did not. It had no place in the game and game awkward and weird.
@LagunaX1 it's hardly a "date" and Cloud was not interested in it at all.
@Everyone else, the golden saucer thing isn't a date or romance. Cloud doesn't romance anyone.
People really do take fandom too far. They become obsessive, many violent or they sexualize characters/objects that were not intended to be viewed in such a way. It one of the reasons companies have to be so vigilant over IP because people take things too far. And that’s before they get to attacking/obsessing over the creators or actors/models involved. Way too many people with no chill ruin the experience for everyone.
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