-> ST> For one; If Red was around then we can be sure that everyone else
-> ST> probably survived too.
->      Well, how do you know that?  All the humans could have been
-> destroyed and Red XIII survived because he wasn't human.
        The same way as "how do you know that all humans were
destroyed". You're basing your beliefs entirely on the sight of Midgar.
I base my beliefs on everything that happened in the game, as well as
seeing Red's decendants running through the valley - which even that is
an anomaly considering that Red was supposedly the last of his race
and was male.
->      True, if meteor did hit, Midgar wouldn't be there.  I think you
-> miss-understood me.  I think that Meteor didn't hit and that Holy got
-> rid of it.  Holy also took out the human race because they did more
-> against the planet than for.  Only animals survived and Midgar was...
-> Well, You saw it.
        Aerith would not have conjured Holy knowing that it would have
destroyed all of humanity. She did it as a way to *save* humanity.
->      And why is it that they never showed any human 500 years later?
-> They
-> showed Red's race and some seagulls.  The children's laughter was an
-> echo from the past.  Or it could be their spirits floating in the
-> life stream.
->      All the above is what I believed happened.  I'm not really
-> arguing.
-> Let's keep the dispute up.  I want to know what really happened.
-> You're the only one I know who has a different opinion about the end.
        Actually you are the only one that I know of that believes the
human race was totally wiped out.
        To put things simply, there is not a seperate "good" or "bad"
ending. There is only one ending. To believe as you do means that the
whole reason for playing the game is worthless since no matter what you
do everyone dies. I choose to believe that Cloud, Aerith's sacrifice,
and the others *did* make a difference. Otherwise what was the use of
even playing it if you are to lose no matter what you do?
        I choose to believe that "we" (since this is a roleplaying game
and we assume the persona of the characters that we control) did make a
difference. That against all odds and personal tragedy that we did prove
that despite our faults, despite our weaknesses, we can overcome them
and prove ourselves both to our planet and take our place as its
guardian. That we aren't parasites. That we're not something to be given
up on and discarded. That we can make a difference. That humanity is
more than just a word; it's a concept of what we should strive to be
worthy of.
        You may believe that we are worthless and deserve to eradicated
like parasites. That there is no way to redeem or prove ourselves. I
personally don't share that belief. I choose to believe that by playing
the game and seeing it through to the end that we proved ourselves
worthy of redemption. And redemption is what FF7 is all about. Every
character in FF7 faced it in their own lives as well as to the planet.
        Did they succeed? Maybe not in your game, but they did in
mine...
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