Final Fantasy 7’s Tifa-vs.-Aerith war is unwinnable

polygon.com:

Many people who play Final Fantasy7 become obsessed with a version of the game that does not really exist.

[Ed. note: This story contains full spoilers for Final Fantasy 7.]

The game itself is a story about an arrogant and talented mercenary named Cloud who journeys through a fantasy world to stop Sephiroth, his former teen idol. Along the way, Cloud encounters two heroines: his childhood friend, Tifa, who unravels the truth behind Cloud’s identity and mysterious episodes, and the flower-seller Aeris, who actually stops Sephiroth from winning in the end. Even if you haven’t played Final Fantasy 7, you might know that, before that happens, Aeris dies.

You might also know that Aeris was supposed to be called “Aerith,” the ambiguous last katakana of her Japanese name EARISU, and just another fumble of Final Fantasy 7’s blurred, decontextualized translation. Or maybe you know that Aerith is Cloud’s true love? Or maybe you know, with equal certainty, that she is not, because that’s Tifa, and you can prove it. And this isn’t your personal preference — it’s about canon. Canon, here, is a weapon to load up and shoot. It’s fan-translated passages from tie-in novels (the official translations were done by biased liars), scanned screenshots from Ultimania guidebooks of these characters’ Kingdom Heartscameos, and tweets from official Square Enix accounts promoting their new range of Final Fantasy 7-themed café food. In the end, what appears to be least canon of all is the text of Final Fantasy 7 itself.

These narratives have been competing for over 20 years; Aerith vs. Tifa, “Cloti vs Clerith.” Both sides paint the other side as uniquely toxic and deluded. I have strong memories of visiting an Aerith hate site covered in American