#that I shouldn't let bother me

[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.

#clerith #cloti #ship and let ship #final fantasy vii #i tried to be as neutral as possible about this topic so i think it's only fair if fans of the other ship can see & chime in too #but please. PLEASE. literally the point of this is that i'm sick of arguing #hardcore fans of one of these ships WILL NOT be persuaded to the other side. don't even try. #i don't want to debate about this. i just want everyone to live in peace #final fantasy #edit: i've been informed this still isn't neutral enough. so i TRIED to make it more so. i don't think it's possible to go further #at least not without cutting out a lot of what i want to say. i'm not taking out what bits of interpretation are left from both sides here #since IMO that dilutes my point. the idea is this particular series CAN be interpreted so both sides legit think their ship is canon #i need at least one example of a sticking point between the sides for that #beyond that i just gave a singular example of ONE bad cloti fan stirring up shit in a clerith space #(and trust i have many more examples i kept to myself for the sake of trying to be neutral) #good fans who mind their own business shouldn't be bothered by me pointing that out since they're innocent. just saying. #anyway if this still isn't neutral enough for y'all i guess i'll remove the cloti tag. just let me know

[rkn001]

this one-hundred paged fixation has had an iron grip on my smooth brain for the past half-year

(on another note, here's a list of ways of how to express "shooting yourself in the foot" in various programming languages, although some are, arguably, not actual programming languages, and some are just references to certain operating systems)

#mega man #megaman #rockman #enker #pilot man #mega man oc #shipping #the rather seemingly-unnecessary remark about that list is just me expressing to myself that i am shooting myself in the foot and #i'll just have to accept that the bullet will be lodged in my foot two weeks later and that its a part of me. #also as a way to detract your attention from the gayness. or maybe provide more attention to it. dont think too hard about this #i'm going to try to learn how to let go of things that bother me but really shouldn't so. anyway #if any of this confuses you just remember this is my blog. not my obligation to reveal everything to you nor attune myself to ur desires. 😇

[sskk-manifesto]

Well, that is only if Fitzgerald has an endless stockpile of Q-specific dolls

#Look‚ Q's ability doesn't make ANY sense. Why would Dazai's ability work on the doll? It's an object. #The object supposedly can't be a vassal of the ability itself‚ only a person can. #Logically speaking Dazai's ability should only work directly on people. #But let's say the doll can be a vehicle for their person. Even then‚ how would that work? #Because the doll specifically gets torn every time Q's ability is used. #And you can't make a new one just like that‚ like‚ it needs to be /Q's doll/‚ the one that specifically uses as a vassal for their ability #Where are they taking all those dolls from? Or do they just sew the same one again? #(The last one sounds more unlikely‚ since then Dazai supposedly would have just took care of destroying it?) #(Unless there would be other consequences to it like perhaps hurting Q???) #Idk. I KNOW I'M A TERRIBLE WATCHER and this is all. Suspention of disbelief and I shouldn't be thinking about the logics too deeply #(because when you do. There's just no logic to it) #But this IS something that's bothered me since the first time I watched the anime #q #bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd s2 #bsdrewatch2023

[bonefall]

naruto as a whole is a fucking mess and i say thisas somebody whos read the entireseries 3 times over. “naruto is going to change the system! haha teehee never mind hes not doing anytning about the child soldiers and slave castes and the genocides.” “sasuke can be upset at his brother for committing a genocide but actually genocide against an oppressed bloodline is good if theyre getting uppity and its sanctioned by the government and also have a genetic predisposition to be evil so he should just get over it and be okay with it” “sakura needs to stop obsessing over a guy whos not even interested and become strong for her own sake. actually shes a housewife now”

kishimoto im going to blow you up with my mind

YOU GET IT

For real though I think what they did with Sasuke's arc was one of the most baffling fucking things I've ever seen. "Actually. Your brother who carried out a genocide loved you :( he only put you in the Torment Nexus for several days because uhhh he wanted you to hate him and not find out about the government who ordered it. Everything he ever did was actually to protect you. And Uchihas are actually kinda rotten anyway so it's good an entire GROUP OF PEOPLE died. Don't think about any babies or children who were also slaughtered btw uhh nope all of them were bad."

Sasuke: "Yes I understand. I will now rule the world through fear. Actually nvm Naruto won our fight so, my philosophy is gone now."

Thank goodness that Evil Sasuke killed the three Bad Government Officials before that point, though. We had this whole theme going about toxic structures, cycles of abuse, and how oppressive regimes can propagate themselves even when a leader is well-meaning... but, like, Naruto REALLY wants to be Hokage, so actually if you just kill these Three Bad Governors it's gonna be fine.

There is no need for systemic change. Slave castes and child soldiers are fine. It's ok as long as the president is blonde :)

#It also bothers me unreasonably. And HAS bothered me since I was like 15. That in the final-- #--scene where sasuke finally lets Naruto Into His Heart he goes off about how they were both just Lonely Children Looking for Love #Like... no!! No actually! Sasuke's WHOLE THING was that EVERYONE was praising him as a prodigy #But that he was pushing away everyone around him because his brother put him in the fucjing torment nexus #It would have been more appropriate to talk about how THEYVE BOTH BEEN MADE INTO WEAPONS #For Naruto to realize (now that he is Useful to his war-obsessed society) that Sasuke was also undergoing a sort of dehumanization #It should be through THEIR GROWTH AS PEOPLE that they finally have a deeper understanding of each other #THEY DID NOT HAVE A COMMON ORIGIN #THATS THE POINT. THEY BECAME FRIENDS IN SPITE OF IT #iM FLIPPING TABLES #They had the opposite problem as each other but through self-imposed ostracization and proving one's 'worth' *NOW* THEY GET IT #But we cant do that bc you'd have to admit that Sasuke hada fucking point and wasnt just wrong the whole time #And that this system is ROTTEN and that Naruto shouldn't become Hokage but DESTROY THE POSITION #because dictators choosing dictators IS BAD. #They should have changed the government to democracy and then Sakura wins the first free election #Because she's actually deeply connected with the people of the fire nation especially outside of the capital city #For like her humanitarian work during the timeskip #And for being the disciple of Tsunade who was a respected leader #And then have a cute moment where Naruto and her banter about it. That she fulfilled HIS dream lmaoo #And also let the three of them be friends im beggign OTL #She gets over her crush on him and theyre just friends #Animeposting #I shouldn't have mentioned sakura now im yelling about naruto on the cat blog

[petiolata]

Decided I'll just block people I see tag their art with "not ship art" "don't tag as ship" and the like.

It's not that I care whether it's ship art, or whether the artist intends it platonically or romantically.

It's that it shows a deep, fundamental misunderstanding of how art works. Art is not meant to be interpreted to the exact dictation of the artist. Art is meant to evoke thoughts and feelings *beyond* what the artist intends.

The audience, viewing, completes the experience by supplying interpretations based on their own unique experiences.

If someone doesn't get that, then they're too mentally shallow for me to waste time on their art. Why would I? There's nothing for me in it--I'm not permitted to have my own thoughts or feelings about the art after all.

Viewing art as complete, immutable product that the audience exists only to "consume" without thinking is the mentality that enables the hideous conversion of "artist" to "content creator".

Besides, the artist has admitted they can't clearly communicate ideas or scenes, since they feel the need to clarify something that should be obvious 99.9% of the time.

#fandom #artist problems #fandom discourse #discourse #death of the author #reader-response theory #op #personal #it always surprises me how ignorant many creatives are about their own supposedly beloved method of creation #“I love to make art! now I'm going to learn absolutely nothing about it 😃” #“I'm never going to bother thinking about the audience's role or art's purpose and what it gives humanity! 😃” #it's just a very complacent and shallow attitude #altho tbh it's a common failing generally. so many ppl never bother to think critically or analytically or have any curiosity about anythin #i know i probably shouldn't bother voicing these opinions but pseudo-intellectual rants are just part of my content-creator “brand” baby #along with my struggles with various household objects #if you can't be a little insane and pretentious on your own tumblog then where can you? #btw the art that prompted this wasn't even about a “problematic” ship which is what made seeing it so bizarre and jarring? like it wasn't #even an attempt at advertising the artists' values #just “You [the audience] are clearly all idiots so let me clarify this scene for you and spell everything out” #but even aside from that particular piece I've seen plenty of posts with similar tags. stop treating your audience like they're dipshits #also trying to forcibly control how your audience interprets your work is control freak BS

[fragmentedblade]

I love that you can pinpoint exactly the moment in which Jing Yuan steals that piece (and which one) from the board in his trailer

#I love him to bits #Watching the video made me wonder whether the bird imagery with Yanqing was to draw a parallelism with the birds following Jing Yuan around #They are adorable #I... I want this in my blog #Please tumblr let me organise things without bothering people #Is this enough? #Perhaps? #Maybe? #Almost ten tags already #The post shouldn't appear in the general tags anymore right? #Please? #Jing Yuan #Yanqing #I talk too much #By the way... His voice is beautiful in English but it doesn't get the character at all I feel #He sounds drastically different in any other language and all the others are more coherent with what we are supposed to believe of him‚ #with what we see and what he is revealed to be #The playfulness‚ the youthfulness‚ the apparent carelessness‚ truth and lessons like a magic trick to hide his true intentions #It's all there in Chinese‚ for instance. It's mostly lacking in the English voice #A lot of his depth lies there and I feel the English dub isn't appropriate #Goodness I love this character to pieces haha I could talk about him for hours I feel #I think about him all the time

[crowfromfoggyforest]

Hey, guys...

What if Alastor being portrayed with a "circus body" was linked to this quote from the pilot: "The world is a stage, and a stage is a world of entertainment"?

He sees the whole world as his stage and other people as the audience, like in a circus. He wants all eyes on him and control over everything. Also, his whole attitude and basically everything he does is a performance.

Can we please agree that's what it means?

#yes i'm desperately trying to get the “alastor is a circus” thing out of my head #you guys are really good at ruining the best scenes #first you ruin the best line of the finale with “haha his name is alastor altruist” and now this... #i know it shouldn't bother me but these things pop up in my head every time i watch these scenes now #so yeah #let's overshadow it with real theories #i'd love to hear your theories to help with this #hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #hazbin theory #hazbin hotel alastor #low effort #theory #might delete later #vent #i guess

[kyouka-supremacy]

—

#random rambles #Technically I'm done with this month's header since yesterday. #Practically I've been feeling so insecure about it I've been procrastinating looking for an icon or uploading it at all #Like it *was* natural to have a downgrade in themes I've said it myself a lot of times. After 24+ themes it's understandable I'd run out– #of inspiration (or even simply material) for the very cool stuff #That said. I did very much spend the whole entire day from when I woke up to when I (started studying at past 2am) went to sleep on it #That's what I get for working with the anime tbh. Bones artstyle is ugly there's little to be done about it #While making it I also came up with other two themes concepts. #One is probably going to replace September's plan and the other idk will probably slid to the next year #Idk looking at this year's planned themes lineup it all feels full of things I'm not skilled enough to make... #On top of everything this February's theme wasn't even what I had initially planned!! The one I had initially planned was a chapter 33 pane #Idk why I didn't follow up with it. Maybe I've just grown to think manga panels are too simple (terrible choice) (rip) #I think the thing that bugs me with both the initially picked image and the anime header I made yesterday– #is that there's no smooth transition with the blog. And I know it's not a big deal but pretty much all my themes do and it's bothering me.. #And it shouldn't. Like nearly everyone uses an header that is sharply separate from the blog and they make it work #Uhm.............. #Idk I should be studying besides. #I think I'll either go looking for an icon and see how the overall theme looks on the blog. Maybe I'll like it better then. #Or I'll just start over and see if I can use the ch 33 panel I had in mind and see if I'll like THAT better #It'd just be a shame if after all the time I've spent on it yesterday I'd just let it lie unused on my computer #There's also the fact that black and white of the manga doesn't feel very February-esque... (Don't ask) #Ugh. I hate looking for icons it's always the worst part 😭😭😭 #I was considering the last Beast Atsushi illustration (because ofc I was) but idk. Idk if I can make it work. #And part of me is also like “don't use beautiful Hoshikawa Beast Atsushi on an ugly theme” LOL #But I also suffer heavily from the lack of Beast in this year's lineup. #Okay rant over. Shutting up now #Edit: If this month's theme is ugly please be kind #Edit 2: Jk I've found like four icons. Maybe I'm just very dramatic

[ellanainthetardis]

The fact that I can still get hate on ITGN even so long after it's been finished XD

#don't go looking i deleted it #i'm an ableist people #yeah I dared mentionned Peeta's missing leg wasn't helping him in CF #sue me #and then you wonder why i don't want to go back to hayffie XD #whaaaaatever #this story is probably the one that got the most hate ever #but being called an ableist first thing in the morning is a new one #one that makes me angry #how many ff authors just skip over peeta's leg? #how many times did I include it in all my stories #including modern aus? #whatever #shouldn't let this get me so angry #I'm kind of tempted to freeze all comments on that fic #but then again i hate moderating #and i can't be bother

[alfhildr-the-word-weaver]

Okay, so. I finally downloaded a VPN so I could watch Doctor Who on the BBC site, but even with my location set to London, it's still not working. I clicked on the little troubleshooting link (of course I'm in the UK BBC, don't you see my IP address?), and one of the suggestions was to turn off any VPNs. Is this just in case a British person forgot their IP address was set to somewhere else, and maybe the VPN I got isn't very good, or is it not possible to watch on the BBC site with a VPN at all? Is anybody out there having any luck with this, and if so, what VPN are you using? Or does anybody have any... other suggestions for somewhere else I could maybe watch Doctor Who online?

#Doctor Who #VPNs #streaming advice #bbc iplayer #troubleshooting #see I did buy the 13th Doctor's first season on Amazon but it's soooo annoying to have to buy every season and special individually #and I see that the 60th special is available on Disney Plus now which is great! but I don't want to jump ahead in the new series! #I jump around in the classic stuff all the time but so far I've always watched NuWho in order. and for me that means Resolution is next #and like I know spoilers from later in 13's run sure but I just want to watch it in order still #and I thought I'd figured it out but this is still all very frustrating #also the VPN I got is called Super Unlimited Proxy. I was just looking for a free one that let me do England and that's the first I found #I'm putting Thirteen's DVD box collection on my Christmas list but all of this chatter about the 60th makes me want to catch up ASAP #it's actually the first time I've bothered to filter Doctor Who spoiler tags on my tumblr dash #but I know I can only hold them off for so long... #plus I'm just in a mood for binging #even in the tags I ramble #anyways thanks in advance for any advice! #but yeah it's funny when I came back to tumblr with my vpn on it asked me about cookies and I'm like why is tumblr asking about cookies #all of a sudden? oh it thinks I'm British. lol. shouldn't it be saying biscuits then? ;)

[featuresofinterest]

"should women take their husband's last names" is a complicated question but also every time i see someone i know has decided to change her last name to her new husband's i'm like. shit all of you are really doing that

#like i shouldn't let it bother me because i guess you basically have a man's name either way #but truly all of them are doing it and now i have all of these new names to remember shsjsvshsgsh

[fancycolours]

i literally told somebody that i hope they’re doing well and then they unfollowed me??? okay... 

#what did i do wrong???? #sorry but i'm a super emotional person #little things like that upset me #anyway i shouldn't let it bother me! #my true friends are still here <3 #but ouchie man. that's weird. #sorry. i gotta vent. #someone else unfollowed me because 'i post too much' lmao #people are strange i tell ya #i need a hug! :(

[cosmikazie]

hey, listen, i have an incredible idea. you can use it if you want of course, im not gonna beg for credit or anything

but listen. how about instead of making me make an account, do email confirmation for said account, try to sign me up for a newsletter, and then make me download a whole separate client so i can access the VST you advertised as free

you just have the fucking download link on your website and cut out all this useless middleman bullshit

awesome idea, right?

#can we let the age of needing an account to download things come to an end #i have like 30 different accounts on websites i used to download things ONCE #and they still clog up my inbox with useless news shit that i dont care about #i know someone's gonna say “well just use a burner email” #here's the thing though. i shouldn't have to #i shouldnt have to use a burner email to get the thing i want for FREE #i shouldnt need to have an account to do the simplest things on the internet #this is the world's shittiest marketing strategy too. like this is genuinely worse than trying to spring a paywall for something onto me #i dont WANT your lame ass advertisements #i dont WANT your newsletter #you are legitimately scaring customers away by doing this #let me fucking use a free thing and stop bothering me about it. okay? we good?

[undertheknightwing]

I loved their short-lived "I hate this fucking family" scenes

#they switched back to default 'nice' mode afterwards obviously #but still #both were allowed to be upset and yell about it imo #gar's always trying to help everyone but always ends up being the one hurt #not only that but when he's the one needing help the titans couldn't care any less and just give him a lame hug or shoulder pat #then never talk to him again about what's bothering him #they didn't even care when he disappeared #it was just *shrugs* 'well at least he's not dead he'll show up sometime i guess' #then jon's the only one in true danger and his family does not seem to understand he's being hunted down by jon-el #i'd be scared and pissed off too if my dad who's superman just let the guy who's deadset on kidnapping and merging with me go #the only reason jon-el even took lana was to get clark away from jon he doesn't care about her or anything else really #he just wants jon and will do anything to get him #so yeah i'd be scared as SHIT that he's on the loose and now even more that he stole my dad's friend to purposely lure him away #(also once jon said where jon-el was clark REALLY should have switched into his suit since he knew he'd be public #and probably would have had to use his powers to catch jon-el) #(lara or not clark shouldn't have been using his powers in front of a crowded diner anyway) #the titans didn't care because it was gar who was missing #and the kents didn't care because it was jon who was in danger #dick would've been ripping apart the multiverse once he could if someone else was missing #and if jordan was in danger clois would have hid him at the fortress with some x-k to protect himself just in case #titans #superman and lois #gar logan #jonathan kent

[blondiest]

the communications department of the lab i work for is so fucking lacking that when the first spacecraft i ever worked on launches, 95% or more of the general public won't even know that our lab worked on it at all, let alone that we built 80% of the structure, the radio, a ton of the electronics, and 3 of the instruments 🥲

#it shouldn't bother me but it DOES. #the lab that is finishing up the project is doing a ton -- a TON -- of cool promo for it #meanwhile our lab's Twitter account has made like 5 total posts about it fucking ever #despite the fact that we have footage of countless major milestones that we could have released if we bothered with communications #there was a big big project late last year that we built from start to finish basically #and legally i guess we have to let NASA tweet about the mission success first #but they sent out their tweet immediately and ours didn't get posted until like. 4 hours later. it was so fucking stupid #blondiepost

[stardust948]

Me after finding out about the plot of the Winnie the Pooh horror movie

I feel like the last bit of my childhood innocence died 🙃

#i really shouldn't let it bother me this much #memes #venting i guess #through memes of course #winnie the pooh