#spends more time arguing with 12 year olds on twitter than actually writing his show

[plum-pitt]

not to talk my shit on main or anything but Miraculous Ladybug totally robbed its entire main villain concept and formula from Randy Cunningham 9th Grade Ninja and nobody talks about it.

[imaginative-spirit]

hii! i found your twitter acc when i was searching for sefikura meta/analysis, and i found your tweet! i wanted to ask if you know some blog posts (or any posts) of their relationship analysis, as i am quite new to the whole ffvii series and i am intrigued by their relationship. i wanted to ask through cc but i noticed you dont have curiouscat so i’m asking through tumblr, sorry ;;

I didn’t mean to put all of this under a readmore but tumblr is being an ass so that’s what we’re doing now, I guess...

Hello!! Unfortunately I can’t really come up with anything on the spot, because despite seeing posts like that around before, I’m very unorganized and bad at keeping track of posts... so I decided to write you one on the spot instead, lmao!! I’ve been planning to write a more coherent, longer analysis for a while but still haven’t gotten around to it, but I’ll share some of my condensed thoughts here. The sefikura relationship is what intrigues me most about FFVII after all, and I usually yell quite a lot about them on twitter!

You say you’re new to FFVII, which means that I should definitely give a spoiler warning here. I’m going to address spoilery stuff from the OG, Remake and also some of the compilation material, because it’s hard to talk about their relationship without doing so. (I’ll also assume you’re familiar enough with the world of FFVII to know what I mean when I talk about stuff like SOLDIER, Shinra, Jenova, the Lifestream and such... this would get too long if I explained all of that here, lol)

Okay, so. Cloud and Sephiroth are narrative foils, which means their stories and arcs parallel each other in many ways. The most central themes surrounding them are their loneliness, sadness and how they cope with trauma.

Sephiroth was most likely raised by Hojo in a Shinra lab, and if you know Hojo, you know that there’s no way Sephiroth was treated as anything but an experiment. He never knew his mother, and the only person he had any respect for - Professor Gast - vanished when he was young and this seems to have given him abandonment issues. Cloud, on the other hand, had a mother but not much else. He felt alienated by the other children growing up in Nibelheim and seems to have been generally disliked by the adults as well, due to them blaming him for the time Tifa got hurt. In other words, they were both very lonely as children.

Shinra sent Sephiroth to war when he was very young (people disagree quite a lot on how old Sephiroth actually is but it’s assumed that he was around 12), and as the years went by, Sephiroth became the poster child of SOLDIER. We know that Cloud grew to idolize Sephiroth for how strong and brave the media made him out to be (A.K.A. had a celebrity crush on him), and that was what inspired Cloud to leave town and try to join SOLDIER.

As we see in the prequel game Crisis Core, Sephiroth at this point is well-respected by his peers after his efforts in conquering Wutai. His two only friends are Genesis and Angeal, who are also SOLDIER 1st Class, but they end up leaving SOLDIER, which means Sephiroth gets left behind. Considering that he already had abandonment issues to begin with, being abandoned by his only friends must’ve hit hard. I’d say this sets the foundation for Sephiroth’s downward spiral. However, at this point, I would argue that Sephiroth is still a good person at heart, despite all the trauma he has endured. He persists, refusing to hunt down his deserter friends, and even begins a hesitant friendship with Zack, who was Angeal’s apprentice.

Cloud befriends Zack as well, but doesn’t make it into SOLDIER and instead remains in the ordinary Shinra infantry, which is a crushing loss for him because he can’t achieve his dream. It’s at this point I like to imagine that if Zack had introduced Sephiroth and Cloud to one another, things could’ve gone better. Sephiroth is older than Cloud and outranks him, but with how isolated Sephiroth has been for his entire life I think there’s potential for a meaningful friendship here. They’re both very lonely and neither of them is really a people-person, so I think they’d get along well once Cloud gets over his hero-worship and Sephiroth manages to open up a bit. I would say that sefikura, if Nibelheim didn’t happen, has the potential to be a healthy relationship.

But of course, that’s not how canon goes. The Nibelheim mission happens, Sephiroth finds out that he’s not human and finally snaps after years of mistreatment, burning the town to the ground. Cloud manages to kill Sephiroth, ends up spending several years as an experiment, gets injected with Jenova cells, goes into a coma, wakes up just in time to watch Zack die, and ends up so traumatized that he creates a false identity for himself as a former SOLDIER 1st Class.

We’ve now reached OG FFVII. At this point, Sephiroth, while technically dead and chilling in the Lifestream, uses Jenova as a vessel to move around and takes advantage of Cloud, using him as a puppet for his own gains. He constantly dehumanizes Cloud and generally doesn’t give a damn about him as a person, while Cloud resents Sephiroth but can’t resist his manipulations. In a lot of ways, I think Sephiroth projects his own trauma onto Cloud here, because if Sephiroth had to suffer as Shinra’s puppet for his entire life, then Cloud should suffer as Sephiroth’s puppet as well. As a victim of horrific abuse, Sephiroth has a lot of justified anger, but he takes it out on the wrong person entirely. It’s definitely a very unhealthy situation.

But of course, unlike Sephiroth, Cloud doesn’t let his trauma define him. He reaches his breaking point and falls apart completely, but he gets back up, because unlike Sephiroth, he has a support system of friends who stand by his side and work together with him to defeat Sephiroth at the end of the game. For most of his life, Cloud has been chasing Sephiroth. This is where he finally catches up and surpasses him.

And here, the tables turn. Cloud kills Sephiroth but that’s never stopped Sephiroth before. This is where Sephiroth first develops his Cloud-obsession. He fixates on Cloud so hard that his hatred keeps him from completely fading away into the Lifestream. Cloud is literally his lifeline. (Isn’t it romantic? lol) He returns in the sequel movie Advent Children, where he fights Cloud one-on-one and basically just taunts him for 10 minutes before Cloud kills him again.  It’s implied that Sephiroth can keep coming back as long as Cloud exists as well.

Canon beyond this has, for a long time, been unknown territory. There’s a sequel game called Dirge of Cerberus that the fandom at large pretends doesn’t exist because it’s... kinda weird to say the least, lol. And it doesn’t really have anything to do with sefikura anyway. People have written post-canon sefikura as something that continues to be toxic, but there’s also fic that offers redemption and forgiveness for Sephiroth, acknowledging that he was a victim too. It’s left very open-ended.

All of this basically explains how I see sefikura. They’re two people who were alike in many ways, who could have been friends before everything fell apart around them, if things had been different. But they never did meet, before it was too late. Instead, they keep chasing each other, full of hate even though they’re probably the only people in the world who could truly understand each other’s trauma. The only real difference is that Cloud had friends to back him up while Sephiroth was abandoned, and I really, truly wish they could get an opportunity to reach some sort of understanding. And that would basically be it...

...but then the Remake happened. Diving into speculation territory here. I firmly believe that the Sephiroth we see in the Remake is a time traveller, or is at least aware of the future to some degree, and that the remake is actually a sequel where Sephiroth is quite literally remaking OG ffvii. He’s completely obsessed with Cloud to a degree that he never was in the OG, and considering how loyal the developers stayed to the characterization of basically every other OG character this immediately stuck out to me like a sore thumb even though it took me until the end of the game to piece it together.

I’m not kidding here. Sephiroth is desperate for Cloud’s attention in the Remake. He's constantly trying to touch Cloud, everything he says to Cloud makes him sound like a pining ex-husband, and he generally doesn’t do anything to harm Cloud except scaring him shitless simply by showing up. He actually has quite a few moments when he’s very gentle with Cloud. At the end of the game he basically even proposes to Cloud by asking Cloud to join him and genuinely seems upset when Cloud rejects him. And even then, he claims he doesn’t want Cloud (nor himself) to die.

For the life of me, I can’t wrap my head around what Sephiroth’s goal is in the Remake and I have no idea what they’re planning to do with his character in future parts, but I’m very excited to find out. The sefikura content in the Remake was very delicious and at this point the only thing they could do to surpass it in the future would be to have them actually make out on screen, lmao.

I hope this is coherent enough to read, I basically just tried to condense everything I could into a neat little essay and there’s definitely things I didn’t mention here, lol. I’ll write a proper, more well-thought out analysis another time!

Also, if you want to ask me anything else or talk to me about sefikura in general, my DMs are always open, both here and on twitter ;D

[newsbiteswithjennysok]

Dec 6, 2019

1. Elon Musk has been found not liable in a defamation case involving a British cave explorer he called a 'pedo guy' on Twitter. Vernon Unsworth sued the Tesla co-founder for the slur following the July 2018 Thai cave rescue. On Friday, a federal court in California heard that Unsworth - one of the hero divers who rescued 12 boys and their soccer coach from a Thai cave in 2018 - was left feeling 'humiliated, ashamed, dirtied,' by the tweet from the billionaire. However , a jury sided with Musk, after his lawyers argued it was no more than a playground insult and did not represent an actual allegation of pedophilia.

Following news of the verdict, Musk told DailyMail.com: 'My faith in humanity is restored.'

2. Tamron Hall 'blew a gasket' after learning competitor Kelly Clarkson's talk show was renewed before hers, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal:

When Hall heard the news she screamed in a meeting: 'We would have gotten an early renewal too if you were all doing a better job,' a source at Disney said.

The insider added: 'She wasn't mad per se that Kelly's show got picked up for a second season, but she's apparently frustrated with the direction of her show and afraid of it becoming a failure after walking away from her job at NBC.'

The former Today co-anchor launched The Tamron Hall Show in September - premiering the same day as Clarkson's show with a solid 1.4 rating. But Hall's ratings slipped - down to a 1.0, amid reports she is too controlling.

The source said: 'She is very controlling in a way that doesn't foster a healthy environment for the people around her to do the jobs they've been hired to do.'

The former Today co-anchor launched the anticipated The Tamron Hall Show in September, premiering the same day as American Idol winner Clarkson's show with a solid 1.4 rating.

But the 49-year-old's ratings dropped down to 1.0 and stayed there for the past eight weeks, while Clarkson's NBC show has a strong 1.5 rating average, leading the network to announce it was renewing her show for a second season.

When Hall heard the news she exploded, a source told DailyMail.com, and she screamed in a staff meeting: 'We would have gotten an early renewal too if you were all doing a better job!'

The insider at ABC, which is owned by Disney, added: 'She wasn't mad per se that Kelly's show got picked up for a second season, but she's apparently frustrated with the direction of her show and afraid of it becoming a failure after walking away from her job at NBC and banking everything on this opportunity working.

'She's been on edge since the show launched, but each week she's become more and more difficult to work with.'

In a statement, Hall said to DailyMail.com: 'It's ironic that a few days after I said on my show that I've seen ''men storm out of rooms, puffing and huffing, and no one says anything' while 'women [who] speak up [are viewed] as difficult'' that someone would leak a false story about me being difficult.

'As I said live on my show while defending Gabrielle Union, women are perceived as 'difficult' when they speak up. I have never once complained about Kelly's renewal - I am so happy for my fellow Texan. I'm excited about my show and I can't wait for season 2!'

3. “Love & Hip Hop” star Ray J recently sat down with Complex News to promote his new “unbreakable” glasses that host Speedy was able to snap in two with ease. Ray J and Speedy go back-and-forth in the clip over the Raycon Global owner’s claim that the frames are indestructible, something the interviewer found hard to believe.

“I bet you I could break these,” Speedy tells the “One Wish” singer, to which he maintains, “They’re unbreakable.” “Don’t challenge me, Ray J,” replies Speedy before picking up the glasses and giving them a soft twist.  “Speedy, they can not break, it’s impossible,” Ray says moments before the host easily snaps one arm off of the frames. After seconds of awkward silence, the reality star nonchalantly replies, “I don’t care.” Social media had a field day with the viral moment, with one Twitter user writing, “Ray J is women when they know they’re wrong but still wanna argue.” Another fan added, “I need somebody that’s going to believe in me the way Ray J believed in these glasses.” Several other followers applauded the 38-year-old’s “unwavering confidence,” calling the singer a “legend,” and even comparing him to Tesla founder Elon Musk.

4. Snooki has announced her retirement from Jersey Shore. The star, who rocketed to fame when the series debuted 10 years ago, said she would rather be spending time with her children than engage in drama. Snooki said working on the show lately had become a 'nightmare', and that she and her children had been receiving death threats over some of the events that played out on the series.   

'So here comes my breaking news ... it's definitely a hard decision,' Snooki, 32, said on her podcast, It's Happening With Snooki and Joey. 'I'm gonna throw up. OK, you guys, I love you so much and don't hate me for my decision, but I have to do what's best for me at the moment, and I am retiring from Jersey Shore.'

'I hate being away from the kids, I don't like partying three days in a row, it's just not my life anymore and I wanna be home with the kids. It's just really hard on me to leave the kids and film the show. That's one reason.'

In addition to wanting to be with her family, Snooki said the drama had been taking a toll on her.  

'Our show, Jersey Shore, is about family and about making fun of each other and having a good time and laughing, and just knowing that it's all in good fun.  And lately, it's just like, everything is so serious, and when it comes to our show it's not about like, team this, team that, and then fans are against one another when it comes to a cast member. That's just not how the show works and that's how it's becoming,' she explained.

‘I don't want that and I'm not leaving my kids days on end to film this show when that's the result of it,' she said. 'I don't like the turnout of it and I don't like the person I'm being portrayed as and this is getting a little too much.

'32 years old with 3 kids and if I'm doing a reality show I want it to be fun and lighthearted and just lately it's not like that and the show is getting so dramatic and drama.'

5. Jason Derulo has slammed Instagram for taking down a raunchy shirtless photo he shared with fans in a clip posted to his account on Wednesday. The singer, 30, has been left angered over the social media platform's decision to remove the image - which saw him pose in a pair of clingy boxers - as it breached their 'nudity and sexual activity' guidelines.Whatcha Say hitmaker Jason branded the move 'discriminatory', before cheekily quipping: 'I can't help my size'. 

[brio-burton-blog]

Get To Know Me Tag

So I attempted to make a YouTube video doing this but it turns out that, as I predicted, I am much more confident behind the camera. I don’t tend to enjoy showing my face all that much. I thought that a pretty cool alternative was to write instead. So here we go I guess. 

1. What is your middle name? 

I happen to be a deprived child as I do not have a middle name. But I do get what seems to be a pretty complicated first name but I’m not sure that that’s much of a luxury. It makes things difficult in Starbuck’s haha. 

2. What is your favourite colour? 

My favourite colour is like a dark emerald/forest green. If I have fellow nerds reading this, then you will probably understand me when I say the best way for me to describe the colour is to call it ‘Slytherin green’. (FYI, I’m not a Slytherin, I just love that sort of dark green.) 

3. Who was your first best friend? 

Her name was Rachel. We went to the same childminder and when we were very very young we used to argue a lot. We grew out of that stage and we were best friends for many years. Unfortunately, I’m not in contact with her anymore.

4. How tall are you?

I literally just went to measure myself for this question. I’m exactly 5′4″. To be honest, I’m pretty proud of that as my family are all either short or average height, so to fall under average is a privilege with my genetics. 

5. Cats or dogs? 

Cats. 100%. Don’t get me wrong, I love dogs. They are pretty energetic though and cats are pretty chill and therefore much more on my wavelength. Not as much as tortoises are though. Those guys are awesome. 

6. Funniest moment throughout school? 

Okay so I presume this excludes College which is a shame because I’ve got some really awesome moments from College. So if we are talking high school and primary school, I’m kind of at a loss. I didn’t have a particularly happy childhood, but that’s a whole other story. If I had to pick, I’d probably go with my maths lessons. I was in set 1 so people assumed that our classes were boring and hard work, but actually, in year 9, we had the most awesome teacher. We’d basically spend the entire lesson gossiping and the teacher would tell us some funny stories about herself. The one I remember best was about her irrational fear of rice. (I don’t even know aha.) Also, when I got diagnosed with severe depression, she was super supportive. Turns out that she struggled with it herself, so she completely understood. What a legend, I hope she’s doing well. 

7. How many countries have you visited? 

Okay so I’ll have to count. I live in England and I’ve visited Wales, Ireland, France, Spain, Ibiza, Minorca, Majorca, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Zante, Crete, Italy, Germany, Japan and Switzerland. I think that’s it, although I have visited some of these places multiple times. So I think that’s 15 altogether. 

8. Are you in/have you been to College? 

Well I’m using the English definition of College which is generally further education for 16-18 y/olds. But this can differ depending on your educational background. So I’m starting College in September. I’ve just finished school which is an odd and kind of sad thing. But I’m doing a course in TV and Film production which is very exciting! 

9. What was your favourite/worst subject in high school?

This is a fun question. My favourite(s) were always Physics, Maths, Art, Music and Drama. I hated the acting part of drama but coming up with ideas for productions was always super fun and interesting for me. My worst subject(s) were always English and P.E. Thank the lord above that I don’t have to do those subjects anymore. I love writing and I love reading but I hate being told what to write/read. And I think if someone ever asks me to analyse text again I’ll run away to the north pole and live as an eskimo. We won’t even get on to the subject of P.E. I don’t want that pain to be brought to the surface. 

10. What is your favourite drink? 

Coffee. Yes! I love it more than I love myself. Soy lattes. Honestly so amazing. But I do like the odd smoothie, tea, and sparkling water. 

11. What is your favourite animal? 

Essentially all of them. But if I had to pick I’d probably go with Pigs. But I do love Cows, Goats, Degus, Bearded Dragons, Tortoises, and Cats. Ooh also Gorillas. I really want to hug a Gorilla. Probably one of my life goals. I clearly have high expectations of my life. 

12. What is your favourite perfume? 

I do love the Strawberry scented one from The Body Shop. And Si by Giorgio Armani smells lovely and reminds me of my mum which is nice. Also Eccentric from Victoria Secret smells heavenly. 

13. Tea or Coffee? 

Coffee would be my first choice most of the time but tea never fails to cheer me up when I’m down. So I want to say both. But I think I’d find it harder to live without coffee than tea. 

14. What would you name your children? 

I haven’t really thought about it. I’d maybe say Alistar, Belle, Luna, or Tom? I’m sure I’ll find more names that I like though in the future. 

15. What sports do you/have you played? 

I’m not a massive fan of sports to be honest but I enjoy swimming, diving, biking and badminton occasionally. I went through a very sporty stage where I was in the Basketball, Football, Netball and Badminton team. Ah the days when I had energy and was productive. How far ago they feel. I also LOVE dancing but I mainly do it when I’m home alone as I’m possibly the least coordinated person on Earth. I can’t even run without it looking like I’m on some form of recreational drug. 

16. What is your favourite book? 

Reasons To Stay Alive by Matt Haig. Matt is a brilliant writer and a lovely guy. I met him a few weeks back. It was a privilege. There are very few people that I feel comfortable around from the get go, but he was one of them. In this book he talks about mental heath. It’s incredibly moving and always makes me feel incredibly lucky to be alive, even though I don’t always feel that way. If you don’t know him, check his work out, follow him on twitter etc etc. (@matthaig1) He also writes novels and I’m currently reading his latest, ‘How to Stop Time’ It’s shaping up to be extraordinary. (Have I sold him enough yet?)      

17. Who are some of your favourite YouTubers? 

I have many, many, many of those. I shall reel off a list. Amy Ordman, The Bakeey, Chris Klemens, Alexis G. Zall, Rose Ellen Dix, TheRoxetera, WiseHufflepuff, Hannah Witton, emmablackery, BriaAndChrissy, Cammie Scott, LukeIsNotSexy, UnsolicitedProject, JaackMaate, Ash Hardell, Banana Warrior Princess, James Aspey, nowthisisliving, The Vegan Activist, doddleoddle, Stef Sanjati, TheRealAlexBertie, MissFenderr, MilesChronicles, Ally Hills, Kristina Schiano, Vegan Geezer, Evan Edinger, Tessa Netting, Rob Chapman, Mayin Bialik, MyHarto, Lucy Moon, Savannah Brown, Jake Edwards and Alien in a Box. 

Note: I am also subscribed to various BuzzFeed channels, various band accounts, Watch Mojo, TheEllenShow, The Graham Norton Show, Pottermore and other YouTubers that I’m not a fan of as such, their channels and topics just interest me. 

18. What is your favourite movie? 

Ahh. How am I supposed to choose?! I am such a movie nerd. Okay. My top 5 are Girl Interrupted, Fight Club, Sweeny Todd (the one with Johnny Depp), Pitch Perfect 2 and the live action Beauty and The Beast. (I would feel mean picking one and not all of the Harry Potter Movies.) I’m going to have to choose the live action Beauty and The Beast simply because it’s fun, uplifting and so beautifully made. (Also the soundtrack is heaven.)   

19. Are you single or taken? 

Single. 

20. What’s your idea of an ideal first date? 

Maybe coffee and a posh night out in London. Like a jazz bar and maybe a theatre performance. Honestly, I doubt that would ever happen, but I suppose a girl can dream. If I get to choose who the date is with could I opt for Anna Kendrick? Kind regards. 

21. How many boyfriends/girlfriends have you had? 

Excluding my primary school boyfriend, 4. There was someone I met in hospital, someone I met at school, someone I met online through a mutual friend, someone that lives round the corner from me. 

22. Favourite memory from childhood? 

Erm... I’m sure there’s something... Well I do always miss being young and innocent and waking up early and walking to school with my parents. The birds would tweet and the sun would shine and I’d have lovely chats with the teachers and my childminder. And my dad would pick me up and we’d bike home and I would watch 64 Zoo Lane and eat Ice Cream. Ah the good old days. Ooh and Christmases and trips to Cornwall. Not gonna lie I still enjoy all of this stuff. I guess childhood wasn’t too bad. Well, for the first 7 years at least.

23. Do you speak any other languages and how well? 

I don’t. I can do the odd phrase in Spanish, Italian, Greek, French, German and Japanese at a push. I won and award for my French around 5 years back. But I’ve slept a lot since then so I don’t remember all that much. Also I had a terrible French teacher a few years back who put me off the subject for life. Let’s just say she wasn’t my biggest fan. 

24. Do you have any siblings? 

I have a step sister. But that’s all. She’s pretty amazing though so. Also she’s currently living in Japan which means I get cool stuff because it turns out that Japan are way ahead the UK in creating top notch backpacks. 

25. How would you describe your fashion sense? 

Band merch/Harry Potter tees, jeans and hoodies, pretty much. I also own the odd flannel. Doc Martens, Converse and Vans are the footwear of choice. Beanies are pretty cool too. For colder days denim jackets and ‘leather’ jackets are my jam. So basically the casual lesbian look is my style. Way to fit the stereotype, Bri. 

26. What is your favourite restaurant? 

Okay, I have three. YoSushi, Handmade Burger Company and Bella Italia. All three have amazing vegan options. Also they all hold really happy memories for me. 

27. What are some of your favourite TV shows? 

Ooh, I like quite a few. My number one would have to be The Big Bang Theory. I also love Sherlock, Orange is The New Black, Miranda, 13 Reasons Why and Stranger Things. 

28. PC or Mac? 

Mac all the way. I have nothing against PC but I recently invested in a mac and it is my life. I find it easier to use and I much prefer the layout. 

29. What phone do you have? 

I have an Iphone 6S in rose gold. (With a really cute cat case, just saying.) 

30. What is one of your bad habits? 

Biting my nails. I’ve done it for my whole life and I can’t, nor do I have any intention to stop. 

That’s all for today, thanks so much for reading! I’m definitely going to try and post much more often from now on. 

Lots of love, Briony.