aquariusshadow

[aquariusshadow]

sleepy cloti cuz they desperately need a rest 🥲

insta link here

#cloti #cloud strife #tifa lockhart #final fantasy vii #ff7 #ff7 rebirth #ff7 remake #advent children #cloud x tifa #tifa x cloud #my art #final fantasy 7 #cloud #tifa

[aquariusshadow]

Hi Dutch. Since you have answered many questions about Cloti, what is your thought about Zerith in Rebirth? I saw many people disappointed or having no hope for them but others said the devs are creating angst. Do you agree?

Hi, thanks for the question. Yeah, I understand being disappointed with the Zerith content in Rebirth. The developers spent a lot of time hyping up Zacks importance, not just with Remake but also with developer interviews and such. To have such a build-up and then have him relegated to just a few playable intermissions, to not get a Zack Aerith reunion, and depending on who you listen to to have him being brushed aside in favor of Cloud in regards to Aeriths affections, can understandably feel disheartening.

But really this is just a lack of understanding concerning story structure, to put it simply, Rebirth is EXTREMELY Zerith.

When reading Harry Potter I always knew that Snape was most likely going to end up a good guy, despite the seeming back and forths. And do you know which moment to me proved that he was a good guy? When he killed Dumbledore at the end of book 6. I knew then without a doubt that he was a good guy, because there was still one book to go, and it was obvious that that book would have the final ultimate reversal.

Rebirth didn't have a lot of Zerith pay-off, but if anything that's a good thing. If it did I would be worried about what would happen in part 3 to flip that pay-off on its head. Instead Zerith has gotten a lot of build-up that is now screaming to receive pay-off in part 3.

We have shots of Zack desperately trying to come back to Aerith. We have Aerith admitting she still has feelings for Zack. We have Aerith desperately trying to recreate her time with Zack. We have Tifa and Aerith talking about Zack. We have Aerith sensing Zacks touch in the cave of the GI. We have Aerith singing songs about meeting again. We have Aerith admitting to seeing Zack again in Cloud. We have Aerith instantly going to Zacks parents. We have Cloud talking about how Zack is head over heels for Aerith. We have Zack in Nibelheim talking to Cloud about their respective girlfriends

And the question you need to ask for all these things is "why?" Why would they include all these scenes if it's not getting a pay-off? Why show scenes of Aerith trying and failing to recreate her days with Zack interspersed with scenes of Zack trying to get back to her if that ultimately isn't of importance? Why show Zack positively contrasted with a negatively presented Cloud if the message you're trying to convey is that Zack has been replaced? Why show Zack to be an amazing guy if you want to end his arc with people being ok with him being rejected? Why make a themesong with the desire for meeting again at its core and have Zacks entire story in the game being about trying to reunite with Aerith if the point of that reunion is heartbreak?

The answer is that a writer wouldn't do those things, they make no sense. If you want your love story to feel positive then you need to disassemble the alternatives first. You need to show how the other pairings don't work, minimize their importance, or in some other way make it clear to the audience that the "main couple" coming together is the desirable outcome.

If you want to show that Aerith is getting over Zack you don't spend your limited screentime showing Aerith pining over Zack, you instead show how she's no longer occupying his mind as much. If you want to show Aerith getting over Zack you don't have her talking about still loving him, you instead have her talking about how she DID once, but that that was a long time ago. You don't end her arc with a date that remind the viewer of the existence of Zack, but one that is fully between Cloud and Aerith. If you want to show the compatibility of Cloud and Aerith then you don't make it so that everything goes wrong, you make it so that the dream date goes "DREAMY"!. And if you want to sell the idea that Aerith is over Zack and has come to the conclusion that she truly romantically loves Cloud then you DON'T place that confession right after said horrible date, with Zack scenes left right and center, a Cloud thats talking about you being "nakama", and Aerith dialogue that at best says she's not sure about what she feels, and at worst is a straight up friendzoning. If you want to replace a very positively portrayed romance then you will need the end all be all of chemistry and certainty in the new one, and talks about "well, I like you, but there is liking and then there's liking" is NOT a recipe for that.

In short, if you want to sell the idea that Cloud has truly replaced Zack in Aeriths heart and more importantly IN THE NARRATIVE, then you don't put emphasis on the existence of Aeriths feelings for Zack, and you don't put emphasis on Zacks feelings for Aerith. Those things all serve to maximize the connection between Aerith and Zack when what you need to do if you want to sell Clerith is minimize it. The reason being that this romance is in narrative conflict with the supposed Aerith Cloud romance, and the stronger the Aerith Zack connection is presented, the more extravagant the bond between Cloud and Aerith needs to be written for the story to make sense.

And that won't happen when you have Cloud deriding Aerith for the way she tries turning everything into a date the one moment, and then a scene showing Zack taking care of Aerith while in a coma the next. It doesn't happen when you show a scene of Cloud bonding with Tifa in one scene and almost kissing her, and then show Zack bonding with Aeriths mother in the next. It doesn't happen when you show Aerith failing to recreate her date with Zack and asking Cloud to find her in "her place", and then show Zack waiting for Aerith in "her place" the next.

All these things signal the same thing "Zack good for Aerith, Cloud bad".

You can extrapolate this idea beyond Rebirth of course. If Zack and Aerith isn't getting a pay-off what is the point of re-releasing Crisis Core before Rebirth? If the point is to show that Zack is no longer in the picture what is the point of showing off an entire game all about how important he and Aerith are to each other and about how desperate he is to get back to her? What is the point of showing that the bow Aerith is always wearing was gift from him. What is the point of her always wearing the clothes that she said she'd wear in anticipation of seeing him again. What is the point in bringing up the fact that she wrote Zack 89 letters and has been waiting for him for 5 years if Zack is replaceable in 2 weeks? What is the point of writing that Aeriths one wish is to spend more time with Zack if her literally spending time with a Zack stand-in isn't relevant? What is the point of writing it that Aerith didn't just see Zack in Cloud because they're similar...but because he's LITERALLY putting on a fake persona based on Zack, if Zacks presence in Clouds persona is irrelevant to Aeriths feelings regarding him?

If you want us to believe that Aerith likes Cloud for Cloud then these are all very questionable writing choices, especially when you also keep harping on about her wanting to get to know the real Cloud, which implies that she doesn't know him YET. It's not that you can't still have it so that Aerith does actually prefer Cloud despite all this, but if that's the case then you've failed as a writer because this would be VERY incoherent storytelling. If the writers want you to believe that Aerith has moved on from Zack, then they shouldn't and wouldn't have spend so much time showing Aerith not having moved on from Zack. Ultimately the question is one of focus, a story about Aerith falling in love with Cloud, and a story about moving on from Zack might look superficially similar, and entail the same basic events. But the difference is the focus. Is that focus on Cloud and what he means to Aerith? Or is the focus on Zack? In rebirth there is a heavy focus, not on the developing bond between Cloud and Aerith, those are limited almost exclusively to Tifa, but there is a heavy focus on Aeriths feelings in regards to Zack. There is no storytelling purpose to Aerith telling Cloud she still loves Zack 3/4ths of the way through her story if the focus of the story isn't Aeriths feelings for Zack, but her feelings for Cloud. If the writers wanted you to think Zack doesn't matter they wouldn't spend so much time hammering in the idea that Zack matters. These moments are all in service to Aerith and Zack, not Aerith and Cloud.

Even things like Zack discovering that Aerith has started developing feelings for Cloud only makes sense to include if the pay-off for that is them reuniting and him showing Aerith what love really is. So if we saw in Rebirth wasn't a "lack of Zerith", then what DID we see? Well, to reiterate what I said earlier:

If you want your love story to feel positive then you need to disassemble the alternatives first.

This is what we saw in Rebirth, Cloud and Aerith being disassembled, so that part 3 can get us to the pay-off. We see Cloud and Aerith bonding, yes, but it's ALWAYS contrasted with Tifa and Zack. If we have a scene where Aerith tries to engage Cloud in talks concerning food he will be shown to engage with the same discouraging passivity of the average woman on tinder, then that scene will invariably be followed by a similar scene with Tifa where he is enthusiastically trying to keep the conversation flowing. If we see a scene where Aerith is trying to get a certain energy from Cloud and failing, it won't be long till we see a scene of Zack having that same desired energy naturally.

In short, Rebirth was filled with scenes that "serve a purpose in the overall narrative". But the only way those scenes WOULD serve a purpose in the overall narrative, is if the overall narrative is: "Aerith is trying to get over Zack and is trying to move on through Cloud. But by doing so she discovers that it's just not the same. While Cloud helps Aerith move on and accept the past, he can never replace Zack". If the overall narrative is: "Aerith used to be pining over Zack, but now she has truly replaced Zack in her heart with Cloud and Zack is a relic of the past" then none of these scenes would make sense to include. You can also look at it like this, why didn't Rebirth have a Zerith Reunion scene? Because apparently that's too important of a scene to quickly tack on to the end of part 2. Nomura has already hinted at something very important to include in part 3 that wasn't in part 2, something that he thinks will make people very happy if done right. And I am pretty freaking confident that what he's talking about is the long-awaited Aerith - Zack reunion. And that is why this game is extremely favorable to Zerith, so be excited for part 3.

#pretty much yeah #the way rebirth surprised me with how...clear..it is regarding the ships #in pure canon non missable non affection point centered scenes too #ffvii rebirth #spoilers #ff7 rebirth spoilers #cloti #zerith #reblogging for future reference #ff7 spoilers #rebirth spoilers #oh my god theres spoilers here plz just look away #this game is also one where context really does matter

[aquariusshadow]

i have missed them ❤️️⚔️💙

#THEM #beautiful #fantastic #look at the sketchy sketch #breesel #bree matthews #selwyn kane #legendborn #beautiful art #love the art style

[aquariusshadow]

More Zutara art? More Zutara art 😎

Insta link here

#zutara #zuko #katara #my art #zutara fanart #zutara fandom #zuko x katara #katara x zuko #digital art #artists on tumblr #avatar #avatar the last airbender

[aquariusshadow]

SPOILERS IN VIDEO (It's been years but I'm covering my bases)

Girlies I did it I'm done take it HAPPY 22ND ANNIVERSARY TO KINGDOM HEARTS

#ok this was really neat #kingdom hearts #animatic #reblogging for future reference

[aquariusshadow]

No way…

Christine Boylan, The writer of the ✨Scarf Scene✨, is the new showrunner of NATLA.

#im sorry WHAT #this cant be real #yall be gettin my hopes up #BUT LIKE #ZUTARA NATION LETS GO THERES HOPE #*gets clown makeup ready just incase..* #so basically we're gonna get scarfgate 2.0 in the future #zutara #natla

[aquariusshadow]

Happy RokuNami Day! 🥳💕

A big thank you to the amazing @mageofspace924for this stunning graphic and artwork of Roxas and Naminé on their own adventure 📷 ✨

#cuuuuuuute #rokunami #roxas #namine #rokunamiday2024 #kingdom hearts #beautiful art #love the art style

[aquariusshadow]

Cloti commission for @ nitezintodreamz ! “A hope for Rebirth”

#ahhhh i love this so much #beautiful art #love the art style #hits so much more after rebirth skhfdskjhfsdf #cloti #cloud strife #tifa lockhart #final fantasy vii #ff7 remake #ff7 rebirth

[aquariusshadow]

imagine katara reading through the journal and seeing all the doodles zuko did of aang and the past avatars and is like "oh shit this...this is really good" then she finds the page of the one he drew of "the avatar's waterbender companion" (courtesy of that one zutara fanart i saw and thats now my hc) and theres the infamous ... oh 😳

bonus points when she realizes that he knows her name

live action zutara crumb of the day is that at the end of ep 7 katara never gives zuko’s dream journal notebook back to aang, so i’m just gonna assume she still has it to this day

#katara #zutara #zuko #natla #atla la #you cant tell me she wouldnt be like #'wait this is how he sees me?' #'im kinda badass' #'no wait i AM a badass' #behold more katara waterbending confidence all cuz of a simple doodle in zuko's journal #the hc's just keep comin jhaslkjdfhasdf

[aquariusshadow]

I'VE RISEN FROM MY GRAVE

omg thank you atla live action for giving me the scarf scene

The scarf looked SO PRETTY on katara I was sad that she took it off the next scene 😔

So I had to draw a scene of zuko later in the series gifting her a new scarf mumbling sth like "it suits you better than what that jet guy gave you"

#THEYRE BACK #OH MY GOD #MORE ART #scarfgate #zutara #beautiful art #love the art style

[aquariusshadow]

THEM 🧡💚

#YESSSSSSSS #I LOVE IT #taang #toph #aang #beautiful art #love the art style

[aquariusshadow]

Live-Action Showrunner Interview: Future Romance

Anyone claiming this interview with the live-action Showrunner “confirms Kataang” in the future should probably actually read his answer to the question and be concerned he refers to the relationship as an “issue.”

*Everything I quote from the article has been copied as written in the original source. Including bolded words and passages.

[INTERVIEWER:] I have to ask this question, because I have wondered this myself, and also because I saw some of your interviews. But talking about the direction of Katara, who I think a lot of fans have interpreted in the original series as a little bit motherly - it's probably too motherly of a role for the character. And I'm glad that I'm getting the sense that she's not leaning so much in that direction for the live-action show. But speaking on that, her romance with Aang is something that is reflective of that mothering dynamic. Are there any plans to change that up? I know some fans enjoy Katara and Zuko, I'm just going to put that out there...

KIM: [Laughs]

[INTERVIEWER:] ...but I'm curious if you have any insight on that.

KIM: I will say, hopefully, I'm smart enough not to get involved in that debate, because I know how passionate both sets of fans are. And I was fortunate in that it wasn't a big issue in the first season for us. Because, you know, practically speaking, there are certain things you can do with animated characters that you can't with live action ones when it comes to something like that.

It's not something that we hit very much head on in the first season there. If you look carefully, there are little hints, especially in the final episode of what Katara is saying about Aang. So, we are obviously aware of where it goes in the original series, but it's more of a future issue and a future storyline to be dealt with. So I was, even for myself, I was very relieved to put a pin in it, so I wouldn't have to deal with it in the first season. But yeah, it'll be interesting to tackle that one.

I also find it interesting he makes sure to differentiate the original animated series from the current adaptation. Am I reading too much into things? Maybe. But, maybe not.

Regardless, I wasn’t really holding my breath for Zutara in the live-action- I’m just happy with any crumbs because it seems like writers can’t help themselves but add more Zutara content in the show, whether intentional or not. But, after reading this, I actually have hope.

#uhuh #exactly #anti kataang #antikataang #zutara

[aquariusshadow]

I’m sorry, but the Netflix showrunner referring to Kataang as an “issue to tackle” in the future is some of the funniest shit I’ve ever read/heard.

#THATS LITERALLY WHAT IM SAYING ALKSJDHFAKSJFHKASDFHSDF #anti kataang #antikataang #this is hilarious like #this is NOT A WIN IF YOU LIKE KATAANG PPL

[aquariusshadow]

ok ik the LA showrunners did say they added "hints" with k*taang but.............is it just me or did that entire post come off like "yes we know thats how the og went but frankly im just happy we didnt mess with that shit rn" ??? like of course they know what the og did and of course they were probably gonna do k*taang down the line otherwise the fandom would probably do some really crazy boycotting bs like nowhere in that post did it seem like the showrunners were excited to adapt k*taang or excited to come across a better time to properly handle it??? especially since they went OUT OF THEIR WAY TO REMOVE EVERY SINGLE CANONICAL OG K*TAANG SCENE in the live action oh uh the post in question

i also noticed the slight contradiction of "we did little hints in this season, especially at the end" and "I was very relieved to put a pin in it so i wouldn't have to deal with it in the first season" ehehehe i understand liking any bits of confirmation but truthfully, nothing about this makes me super confident that the showrunners have any desire to do k*taang properly? or that they even want to do it

#anti kataang #antikataang #if yall see my blog you know what i personally ship #honestly my desire for natla is for there to be no canon ship at the end of the series but thats just me #anywho i do find these specific comments on this topic rather interesting #and indicative of priorities #also not albert kim calling the k*taang relationship a “future issue” #that #hoo boy lmao

[aquariusshadow]

So...back when this BTS photo first launched, someone wanted people to draw it as Zutara. I'm a bit late but HERE IT IS THE BABIES!!!! I am so ready for the C R U M B S

#zutara #zuko #katara #zutara fanart #kiawentiio #dallas liu #netflix avatar #atla live action #my art

[aquariusshadow]

Miku!

#awwww this is so cute #i love it #hatsune miku #miku #vocaloid #beautiful art #love the art style

[aquariusshadow]

My gift for @mageofspace924 !!! Happy Valentines Day girl, I love you!!!! <3

Guess who's back it again with canon embellishment + canon divergence :DDDD

#rokunami #roxas #namine #kingdom hearts #my writing #kingdom hearts 2 #gift exchange #namixas