“Move on” is such a vague term. Clearly there’s a difference between a series that moved Cloud to AC seeking closure with her fate and how the fandom sees things. Moving On was not about pretending she wasn’t important lol.
Just by the vague way you phrased it you sort of proved my point imo.
And the phrasing didn’t seem to parse that I’m talking about how a fanbase revised an event instead of what the event was actually trying to convey. I’m not saying she seems like a guest party member to me, I’m saying that’s what I’ve gleaned from the discourse. But that’s because I can actually remember the game in some detail. Most of the NPCs who play it cannot, so as a plot detail it’s not really working out since they’re the vast majority (and pandered to).
But you’re right it is about Moving On: IE not repeating things based on inertia alone.
So killing her, without a fresh angle, is uninspired at this point.
Its more so that I haven't touched FF7 in forever and it isn't my favorite game or anything like it is for some, so I don't fully recall everything in its fullest. I still believe Aerith's death is a core part of the story though based on my rough recollection of its plot and themes. I can't fully recount many plots in many games that I like, that's just a me thing.
Also "the fanbase" in everything revises a lot of scenes and characters whenever the collective internet brain trust decides to turn (or just ignore entirely) emotional moments into jokes to make memes. DMC is an example of this as many people due to memes boil Dante down to "wacky wahoo pizza man" and while he isn't the deepest or most depressing character in fiction by a long shot, the man still lost his parents and thought he lost his brother for the longest time. Nero is a man with a deadbeat dad who gets his arm ripped off by said dad because his dad is greedy, but no one cares about that because "LMAO DEADWEIGHT, FUCK YOU" meme. The same can also be said for Vergil who is just "I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING ON MY PLASTIC CHAIR" man now in the worst way, while ignoring how Vergil serves as a foil for Dante.
Yes DMC is not a major deep drama at all and is played pretty light hearted most the time, but their are people who have reduced the entire story into stupid jokes, memes, and only the comedy to the point where the original character is almost lost, especially to more casual fans. While I can chuckle at Vergil's stupid chair I still can acknowledge his actual character for what it is, same with Dante. Dante is not just wacky wahoo pizza man to me, unlike apparently 80% or so of the internet that knows him.
Raiden from MGS is forever bound to all the MGR memes, especially in recent times, that ignore all of what his actual story is in favor of whatever joke they want to use. Raiden's a pretty fucked up character given his history, but you wouldn't really know that because a lot of people just remember him wearing a sombrero in MGR as a quick gag and he loses his arm to a double jumping Brazilian who has the "THERE WILL BE BLOOD-SHED" theme, which is more like a joke then something actually impactful now.
Xenoblade Chronicles 1 has some pretty big emotional moments for some people and Shulk goes through a lot of stuff in that game, but most people just remember Shulk as "I'm really feeling it!" man because it became a meme due to Smash. NPC redditors and their ilk will boil down many characters in media to quotable memes and other random dumbshit, that is just the internet, that doesn't mean the actual story didn't happen and it doesn't count. People meme on everything, especially if its popular. Stories should not be decided and determined overall by what random people on social media think is important to care about, but on what is actually within the story by itself.
As for your very last point, I mean this I think can be part of the overarching question of if FF7R should even exist anyway the way they decided to remake it? Which I think has been discussed to death at this point. I suppose I can see your point if that's your argument, but I think within the context of original 7, Aerith death is sacred and important.
