Watching people discuss the heavy topics and real world parallels and implications of the issues in their fics and I’m writing Sephiroth’s adventures in a scented candle store.

「わたし、知ってるのは……」

『セトラの民、星より生まれ星と語り、星を開く』

「えっと……それから……」

『セトラの民、約束の地へ帰る。至上の幸福、星が与えし定めの地』

English (original):

“All I know is…”
“The Cetra were born from the Planet,
speak with the Planet, and unlock the Planet.”
“And……then…”
“The Cetra will return to the Promised Land.

I never knew this before, but Aerith is quoting a poem or song or something here. When she says “ えっと……それから…… ( which is “And……then…” in the original game) ” she’s trying to remember the rest of the song/poem. The English is completely wrong. What a shame.

Anyway, I found this really really cool. The Cetra aspect of FFVII is one of the coolest things about the game and I’m really happy to have learned that there’s some kind of poem/song passed down from Cetra to Cetra.

Why are you one of the few Cloti fans that agrees Aerith’s love for Cloud isn’t based on Zack?? It seems Zerith is used by Cloti’s to discredit Clerith and that’s sad. They disrespect Aerith’s genuine feelings for Cloud. We also know that during disc 2 Cloud thinks of Aerith “a lot.” This shows us the real Cloud has feelings for Aerith that aren’t because of Zack. To me, the whole Zack factor is just used by Cloti fans to discredit Clerith and that’s depressing ;(

worldofcloti:

the-cryptographer:

worldofcloti:

I was thinking of the best way to answer this; but I just really think all three pairings are easily reconcilable. I don’t believe in soulmates for one thing and I don’t believe that romantic love is one-dimensional in a way that it’s destined at first sight to last forever. The ships have different mixes of curiosity, plain attraction, lust, affection, devotion, fun, empathy. I also think it’s perfectly realistic that a person will not fixate on a single potential partner at some point of his/her life.

In simpler terms, I tend to see them as good food. Pasta fills yours stomach, but it’s salty-sour, ice cream is sweet, roasted chicken is savory. I enjoy them all individually, but as a set I appreciate their differences and complimentary characteristics more. Other people don’t share the same views, they see the pairings as one-way corridors that do not intersect with others.

I really like this.

I mean, in terms of FF7, I realise things can get dicey depending on your feelings about the compilation, and Aeris’s characterisation, and Zack’s increased role in the pre/sequels.

But, in addition to liking it with regards to cleris/zeris/cloti, I really like it in general in terms of its conceptualisation. Not every relationship may lead to the same kind of happiness, but I think there’s something to be said that most of us are influenced by a variety of feelings and relationships and people in our lives. And I don’t think there’s any reason to view those relationships as being in opposition to each other, rather than as complementary experiences that, at different times, have offered us different things.

I really like your input in this. I have my preferences in ships and fandoms can definitely affect my attitude on other ships, but in case of FFVII the story opens up a lot of doors for Cloti especially post-AC. I don’t see the point of trying to kill every single possibility that Aerith caught Cloud’s interest and affections. Cloti has all the elements of a happily-ever-after story, and it was so well earned after everything Cloud and Tifa overcame together.

I feel the same way with Zerith, I love the ship so much but I don’t like to ship at the expense of character. Aerith loved Zack, but she’s also a person who looks to the future and loved herself. Cloud made her happy, made her heart flutter and she wanted more than friendship from him. A lot of Z/A and C/A shipping are amazingly anti-Aerith, keeping her fitted to a desired tragic romance trope rather than focusing on her feelings and decisions.

I started following a few ballet blogs to get a good look at the feet and the shoes and the lines of the limbs. I wanted to do ballet when I was very little but wasn’t allowed, too western for dad, I think, though I just wanted to put on the skirt and twirl, but no harm done in the long run, my feet and height and hips turned out all wrong for it and I did get to twirl, in heavy shining skirts, with bells on my ankles instead of my toes in a box. I never looked back, I never felt regret.

But Ella dances ballet and I’m out of my depth, because how to explain the shoes and the barre when I know I’m skimming and bullshitting and I can just recognize a pirouette from a fouette but like hell do I know what it feels like to do either, but it’s okay because Ella was once a kid who wanted to spin around in pretty ways forever and that I understand, and one day somebody shows her how to do it without the shoes, with bare feet that make their own music on the floor, a way it was done when her ancestors still thrived, it was a calling, the need to turn in circles forever, and she answered without knowing it, had been following that call her whole life.

I’m wary of having my head up my own ass about my fics, it’s a phase some of us have gone through, a phase some people remain in, thinking their work is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but at the same time, I love my story. It’s the fic I wanted to read but couldn’t find so I ended up writing it myself, tailor-made for my tastes and anyone inclined welcome along for the ride. Perfect? No, I’m no pro, nor actively seeking to be at this time, but at any point I can say, even if I grow enough to cringe at my earlier efforts, at the time it was my best.

On a side note, improving skill also means I can differentiate between real critique that notes shortcomings, plot holes and shoddy execution, and self-centered shitholery that adds up to nothing more than ‘Write what I like, not what you like.’ Usually comes from people who DO have their heads up their asses about their own writing.