#hardcore still live

[meaningless-mayhem]

Being asexual and possibly aromantic but also being a huge shipper and hopeless romantic is such a wild experience ngl. I'm always freaking out about my favorite ships and giggling internally reading ship fics, getting invested in characters finally kissing or reading about their pining and their love and I think "I want what they have!!"

But then sometimes you have a slamming realization that your sweet shipping scenarios you imagine in your head look totally different irl and that you are extremely aspec.

One time I went down a YouTube rabbit hole and stumbled across Vsauce's "Why Do We Kiss?" video and let me tell you. When I saw that stock video footage of two people kissing each other I was a little flabbergasted lmaooo

[sergle]

has anon ever considered if more people gave you money you would have less need of advertisement and more time to do art

oh oh the image

this one. this is me

[landoffreaksandfrogs]

some concept stuff for bloodswap gamzee (bonus: olive karkat)

[my-current-obsession]

Something I both love AND hate about FF7 (the original game and everything after, including the Remake trilogy) is that it is just ambiguous and/or player-driven enough that no matter which side of the love triangle you fall on (assuming you do in fact ship Cloud with one of the girls), the majority of fans for that ship are 100% CONVINCED it's the correct/canon option.

Like, certain scenes are definitely up to interpretation, and people are going to thus have varying reads on those scenes and the characters/relationships the scenes are about. It doesn't help that several scenes change depending on the player's choices, which acts as a confirmation bias as you naturally get more time and romantic moments with the girl of your preference. It really seems to me that MOST people who ship Cloud and Aerith have one solid interpretation (with a plethora of supporting evidence) of the series and the romance, while most people who ship Cloud and Tifa have their own solid interpretation with plenty of evidence that is VASTLY DIFFERENT from the Clerith reading of the game.

This is not a case of "one ship is clearly, explicitly canon and fans of the opposition just like their pick better and/or think it made more sense narratively and WISH it was canon" - for an example of that, look to the Avatar the Last Airbender shipping wars. This is a case where both sides literally interpret the story just differently enough that they come to entirely different conclusions about which girl is Cloud's true love. And if either side reaches out to try and explain their viewpoint to the other, they're just met with "uh, no. You're wrong." Try and explain what Cloud might be thinking in a given scene with one of the girls, why he acts a certain way... "That's not it at all, where are you getting this? Are you delusional?"

Like, I am a Clerith shipper. I have played all the games in the compilation and watched Advent Children. I tried to be as completionist as possible, even. And I came out on the other side of really digging into the story of this game loving Cloud and Aerith's dynamic and pretty firmly convinced they were canon. Or as canon as possible in the timeline where she died.

As any Clerith fan who participates in the fandom would know, if you try and explain your interpretation of these characters and the romance to a diehard Cloti supporter... you're met with a lot of "you're misinterpreting! Cloud and Aerith were just friends! She loved Zack to the end and Cloud loved Tifa since childhood and never stopped! Also Aerith is actually BAD for Cloud because she's too pushy/abrasive. She's not helping him open up, she's just forcing him to go along with her and making him uncomfortable!"

All of this is of course infuriating, but I'd like to think I'm self-aware enough to know we are kind of guilty of the same thing. The majority of Tifa fans are SO happy about the kiss in Rebirth, while we're over here dismissing it because, one it's optional, and two Cloud is "obviously" using Tifa as a rebound or settling for her since Aerith is seemingly unavailable. But that's not how Cloti fans see it at all.

We can talk until we're blue in the face about how TIFA deserves better than Cloud because she shouldn't be the second choice - the one he settles for. But I think most people who really love Cloti genuinely don't see it that way. In their eyes, she's NOT second-best. Cloud loved her all along and this kiss is finally confirming that. And nothing we say will dissuade them, just as nothing they say will actually change OUR minds about Clerith.

It is honestly really difficult for me to try and see the story and romance the way Cloti fans do, but I know the reverse is also true. Both groups of fans interpret the characters and relationships differently. The compilation ALLOWS us to interpret them differently. And this is why the ship war for a game from 1997 is still raging on.

Because both camps are certain they're right, they defend their position viciously. Sometimes that means invading the "other side" to tell them how wrong they are. This discussion/rant was prompted by a Cloti fan on a Clerith vid who wanted to debate MY comment about how wonderful the ship was and how good they were for each other. He was "confused" and "concerned" because Clerith fans were reading the story wrong or warping it to suit our ship.

I wanted to tell him, "buddy that's what YOU'RE doing". I wanted to write a goddamn essay explaining why Clerith is canon actually. But considering in my INITIAL comment that he first responded to I'd already brought up why I thought Clerith was great, and he was IGNORING that... I knew it would be pointless. There is nothing I could possibly say that would change his mind. There is nothing he could possibly say that would change my mind.

As long as both sides of this war are fully convinced they're right, this war is going to be endless and brutal. And that's why my absolute biggest fear for part 3 is an open, ambiguous ending regarding the ships. Maybe it will canonize nothing. Maybe it will canonize BOTH by having the actual ending change depending on which girl the player favors.

Either route will offer no relief to this eternal battle. I would honestly prefer for Cloti to explicitly and unambiguously win than an ending where neither girl does. Because I can accept a loss. I can accept being told that actually I WAS interpreting the story wrong, but I'll only accept it from the text itself. If anything, a Cloti ending might encourage me to go through the entire compilation again trying to view it with that canon couple in mind. I'm sure I'd see things differently, even if I'd always have a place in my heart for Clerith. And I sincerely hope that if Clerith were to win that Cloti fans could do the same.

All I know is that I'm sick and tired of this ship war. I personally have never gone after Cloti fans or engaged in Cloti content with the intent to debate or hate on the ship. But I don't speak for all Cleriths. I'm sure at least a few fans of my ship are guilty too. I have seen many obnoxious Cloti fans invading our spaces to disparage us - mostly on YouTube and Twitch, less here on Tumblr - but I KNOW there are plenty of kind Cloti fans who just happily enjoy their ship and leave us to ours as well.

At the end of the day, regardless of how part 3 ends things, I just wish we could live in peace. Please enjoy your ship. Your interpretation of the text and romance is valid. But so is mine. If neither side can agree, then the best thing to do is leave each other alone.

[blue-jos10]

day 2381364 of thanking nora that aftg isn't set in fucking highschool

[sonknuxadow]

ive joked about it before but man i really am the only person on earth who remembers the gun commander is a character that exists arent i . because the other day when the shadow panel was happening and the voice actors were talking about their characters and how they were eachothers only friend and maria was completely isolated from other people i was like What about the gun commander . and i havent seen anyone else point the contradiction out . lmao

[submariini]

discounting helsinki my joker out experience has just been: get barrier somehow, get noticed by nace w my dumb sign, meet nace post gig, kinda meet jan, buy merch. and i still am not listening to them ever.

[ssreeder]

“He didn't want to think about the ramifications of the Fire Nation successfully flying one of those war-balloons over the Lower Ring… The only protection available for those poor people would fall squarely on the shoulders of those new recruits, and they would have to be ready to carry that responsibility. This situation was already a mess and they were still in the planning stages.”

Can’t believe I ignored this last chapter. Good thing Zuko isn’t in one of these meetings or there’d be a fight. Interested to see if this is a redemption for Iroh though to think of the little people or if everyone is just completely fine with the lower ring being burnt to a crisp. Bato clearly has his mind on other things so someone else needs to step up. Jeez

Bato isn’t the only one concerned about this, Suki is also pretty fired up about it in the next chapter… the tension of the upcoming battle gets heavier as we go along.

Unfortunately, there really isn’t much they CAN do to keep the Lower Ring from experiencing casualties…. but how many citizens survive & how bad the destruction is will depend on how many resources they send down there and what their plan of action will be to save lives. (If they even care about saving those lives… many of them being refugees and ‘lower class citizens’)

I am also curious to see if Iroh shows any interest in trying to help the citizens in Lower Ring or if he keeps his focus strictly on keeping the forces from reaching the Upper Ring (where his precious Zuko is)… chaos in the Lower Ring can keep troops from advancing, and there is limited space to flee depending on how Azula advances upon the city… idk. I can’t see it going well, and even Iroh, as powerful as he is doesn’t hold much authority over what the generals do with BSS… He is a tentatively welcomed guest after all. Haha.

we’ll see I guess!! Haha thanks for the ask!!

[intertexts]

my awesome goth ceramics prof liked my influences presentation :]

[mrknifes]

i was wondering why the fuck fallout seemed so popular back in 2017-2018 compared to now in 2024. til i fucking remembered that fallout 4 dropped in november 2015, very close to 2016. so when i started writing for the fandom it was only a couple years since fo4 dropped. jesus fucking christ time FLIES. that was over 6 years ago. HELP.

[swagging-back-to]

im actually floored by how well the girls are getting along. they're all running on the wheel together and just napping. they are literally so chill together rn it's insane

[quotidian-oblivion]

Oh God, we're reading a book in english and my teacher said that the author had written and published a whole novel in just a year.

I was trying so hard not to say anything seeing as I've written two novel-length fics with a bunch of other stories in the span on just eight months.

Ma'am, the bar you say the author has set is too low for me.

[autism-corner]

i love seeing trans people in public its so awesome to get joy from knowing the fact that we exist <3

[hardcorecook]

Insted - Tell Me

[jellogram]

Can't believe people have forgotten about Thug Story. If you were in the trenches of late 00s Swiftdom you had to deal with a Taylor Swift x T-Pain crossover song and you HAD to memorize all the words to prove your loyalty.

[fagdykebassboy]

i need to learn how to drive sooooo bad but also i wish it didnt require learning how to drive :(