dorkthenerd

[dorkthenerd]

As someone with depression as well, it’s insulting to think you can speak for everyone that’s depressed. Cloud might as well be the textbook case for depression, it has nothing to do with PTSD. He is fucking mentally ill.

“Cloud and Tifa do not get along. That is all there is to it.“

Nope, not true at all. Both misunderstood each other for years due to a lack of a close connectioned, Cloud had an unhealthy obsession with her, and Tifa was using him to fulfill her fantasies. This is never resolved, so it’s not until the VERY end of VII they can even can start to get along. Even then, during the memory sequence they opened up to each other more than they ever have to anyone else, and it showed they can completely be cordial, especially as shown in the Highwind scene.

“This is why Nojima said their strained friendship would be the same even *without* Geostigma and Sephiroth.” 

Not because they’re bad friends or Cloud is mentally ill, but because they have a fundamentally bad understanding of each other.

People misinterpret this quote so badly and conveniently ignore countless other Nojima quotes, like the one where he states he has had the most peace he has ever had while living with Tifa and Tifa is an important person to him and in Kingdom Hearts Tifa is quite literally his light.

As someone also with depression, it is an extreme impediment to relationships and I have never seen a fetishizing of it when it comes to Cloud and Tifa, the game might be the best example of overcoming depression and forming good relationships I have seen in gaming.

“Denzel was his strength, not anyone else–having a child and believing that this child was his and Aerith’s gave Cloud strength.”

Nope, his entire family, including Tifa and Marlene, caused this, proven in multiple quotes. The fact you have to slap this and the fact you have to force Aerith in there disgusts me.

Tifa also says he thinks he has it so damn hard because he has fallen in a rather self centered state of mind (a symptom of depression) and obviously doesn’t remember both other people went through the same thing he did as Aerith’s friends and people rely on him.

Cloud is unhealthily relying on Aerith’s death to fuel his guilt complex, and doesn’t remember how she was or how he should move on. He does at the end, he forgives himself and tries to do better, and tries to do better about himself, which will be a constant battle with himself. It’s not a magical cure potion or anything, and just because he has moved past his guilt doesn’t meant he’s good now.

Depression also never goes, and why he is as he is. So you know what disgusts me? People on high horses having to fundamentally misunderstand characters and their relationships to make it look bad in a dumbass post on tumblr.

"Cloud has a mental illness so that's why Cloud and Tifa don't get along"

People who have no idea what PTSD is, claiming cloud has it, infuriate me. Cloud does not have PTSD, despite what some fans believe. His mental ‘illness’ (in actuality it’s manipulation) was caused by medical experiments, by Jenova’s manipulation and Tifa’s compliance towards Cloud’s manipulation. All three were cured by the end of the game, and if you’re having trouble remembering that then go replay the game. 

But please stop trying to use mental illness as a way to make yourself feel better about your ship. Cloti does not improve in anyway because you’re using mental illnesses as a scapegoat for why Cloud and Tifa are not intimate/close friends and are fighting constantly.

Cloud and Tifa do not get along. That is all there is to it.

This is why Nojima said their strained friendship would be the same even *without* Geostigma and Sephiroth. 

If the negatives of Cloud & Tifa’s friendship existed only because Cloud had 'PTSD’ or was suffering from some 'deeper mental illness’, then Nojima would not have said that their fighting and inability to get along would exist even WITHOUT Sephiroth and Geostigma.

Do you understand that? Will you stop using mental illness as a scapegoat for a fictional couple? PLEASE?

As someone who suffers from depression ongoing, it 100% disgusts me to see people using mental illnesses as a means to further their ships. 

Cloud’s depression in AC was because he failed to protect the woman he loved, he felt it was HIS fault. This depression is only deepened when Denzel comes into Cloud’s life and becomes sick. At the time that Denzel arrived in Cloud’s life, Cloud was starting to feel the real affect of his depression over Aerith’s death, so when he met Denzel Cloud believed it was AERITH who brought the young boy into his life, and this gave Cloud a reason to fight through his depression and continue on. Denzel was his strength, not anyone else–having a child and believing that this child was his and Aerith’s gave Cloud strength. This is why suddenly in Case of Tifa Cloud starts taking time off from work and becoming more happy after Denzel comes into his life.

Because unlike before–when it was just himself, Marlene, and Tifa at Seventh Heaven–Cloud finally had someone to live for, someone to stick around for. After Denzel arrived, Cloud started to get better, or at the very least, better than before. But all of that changed when Denzel became sick; this only scared Cloud and pushed him back into the dark depths of his depression and fear of losing people he loves–he had finally gotten a reason to fight through his depression but then that reason was threatened and it only made his depression grow worse. 

However, Cloud’s depression is healed by the end of AC because not only does Aerith convince him that her death wasn’t his fault but because Denzel is healed. 

PTSD isn’t that easy to get rid of. PTSD sometimes lessens in severity, but it is never truly gone. As Nomura said, Cloud’s guilt is healed by the time AC ends. He might still fear losing people he loves, but everyone does. 

I mean, just think for a moment will you? Doesn’t that make Cloti’s supposed relationship worse? Cloud has PTSD and Tifa supposedly ’knows’ what’s going on with him because ’she’s the only one Cloud opened up to’ and yet she’s STILL taking her anger out on him? She’s still getting annoyed by his little actions? She’s actually fighting with a man who supposedly has PTSD and you think this BETTERS their nonexistent relationship somehow?

Are you serious? 

If Cloud has PTSD like SOME people think and Tifa supposedly knows this and she STILL says ’you think you have it so damn hard’ then my hatred for Tifa has only been STRENGTHENED and she is even more of a heartless monster than I originally thought. 

Bottom line, stop saying Cloud has PTSD just to explain why Tifa has to FORCE herself to talk to Cloud or why Cloud and Tifa 'don’t get along’.

It’s not only infuriating and insensitive to those of us who actually suffer from mental illness and depression, but it’s gonna get your ass whooped and it makes you look like an ass. 

[dorkthenerd]

Uh, I would continue playing the game before jumping on tumblr...

THEY’RE LESBIANS? I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS

[dorkthenerd]

Final Fantasy VII: Cloud Strife [INFP]

UNOFFICIAL TYPING  by dorkthenerd

Introverted Feeling (Fi): Cloud’s feelings mean a lot to him, and every decision is based on them. He is sick of being bullied and ignored, so he wants to become a SOLDIER. He’s tired of being only a friend of Tifa so he sets out to save Tifa when she’s hurt and apply to SOLDIER to impress her. None of these are to prove himself to his town or to gain friends; these are to satisfy his own dissatisfaction with himself and how he is as a person. He views himself as a loser and constantly puts himself down. After taking on Zack’s persona, the greatest issue Cloud faces when he realizes the truth is his sense of identity and failures. He is convinced he is not only a clone of Sephiroth but just a downright awful person as well. It takes a deep look into his memories and his feelings that he is not ready to admit outright to have him finally be comfortable in his own skin.

Extroverted Intuition (Ne): Easily Cloud’s most underused and unhealthy function. Most of Final Fantasy VII is spent with Cloud taking on Zack’s persona; an action oriented hero. However, in Crisis Core it’s revealed that Cloud is actually an excitable and curious recruit who loves discussing ideas with Zack, his idol. He juggles a lot of ideas simultaneously, and doesn’t want to become a SOLDIER because of the thrill but because of its ideological significance; if he is a SOLDIER, he is a hero and that means his town is likely to accept him. Plus, he’ll get the girl. Going along with his Fi, he has this constant delusion that he is a hero in a fantasy story, and his role is to prove himself and get the girl. It’s this constant naiveté that leads to some of his problems in VII.

Introverted Sensing (Si): Whether Cloud wants to admit it or not, his past haunts him, and part of his conflict is his unwillingness to accept it and move on. He dwells on issues that affect him and have affected him before and it causes him no great deal of stress. In Crisis Core he can never get over the fact that his town doesn’t like him and he has failed his promise to Tifa. In Final Fantasy VII, he can’t get over the fact that his memories are not real and his identity is a false construction; and worst of all, in Advent Children one of his main conflicts is his depression over his perceived failure to save Aerith. His past not only defines him but affects his decisions constantly.

Extraverted Thinking (Te): Cloud is hardly an assertive guy. He’s perfectly willing to go with the flow and be led by someone else, as long as he himself gets the job done. However, towards the end of Final Fantasy VII, where’s he at least slightly healthier, he shows a willingness to lead and bring the group together to face Sephiroth. He’s reasonably good at it as well, but he’s not perfect; the group constantly comments on his lack of charisma and strange phrases, such as ‘Let’s mosey.’

Note: Yes, I know almost immediately I’m going to get bombarded with claims he’s an ISTP. Honestly, he’s kind of screwed up in FF7. It doesn’t help that he has a bit of inconsistent characterization sometimes. I did the best I could with what I’ve been given. It’s important to remember it’s often easier to type with a lower function when a character is confusing. That’s what I did with Cloud. I asked myself, “Does he ever show a semblance of Ni?” The answer’s no. But he does show quite a bit of Si, especially in Advent Children.

[dorkthenerd]

For those curious, here’s the two original designs (Law Hero normal & second form - drawn by Kazuma Kaneko) then my redesign for comparison

[dorkthenerd]

You cannot be serious right now.

today’s autistic character of the day is: makoto yuki and minato arisato from persona 3

(submitted by autisticsouda !)

[dorkthenerd]

that moment when you come on tumblr to see news about fire emblem fates after not coming on here in months only to see a misinformed, downright offensive post about a bisexual woman. why do i do this to myself.

[dorkthenerd]

:^)

As a bisexual man, I feel “erased” by all this nonsense, tbh. No queer was erased except a bisexual woman who consenually fell for a man and says so herself (”I fell in love with the male you”) who tumblr decided to use for their next stepping stone complaint. Please, stop.

hey, stop reblogging this post It is literally transparently made by a gamergater who also made this post (and as you can see, it is tagged with “gamergate”)

Their plan is to literally transparently divert attention from all the awfulness of it by making the original poster of the whole mess seem uninformed and unreliable, and therefore, all criticism of the game as well. There are good arguments on either side whether Soleil is bisexual or lesbian, but here’s the thing: it doesn’t matter either way. It’s still about drugging a queer woman without her consent It’s still about a man “disguising himself as a woman” to attract a queer woman - she does say that she only starts to feel attracted to him when she was seeing him as a girl, which is another huge awful transmisogynist can of worms It’s still about a man controlling a queer woman’s sexuality Do not ignore the awful mess that this game is, do not give them a free pass because it doesn’t affect you or you’re willing to put up with the toxic bullshit that it has. I don’t care whether you buy this game or not, divorce yourself and your worth from whether the things you like are problematic or in what way or how much they are problematic, stop thinking that this is an attack towards your favorite franchise or your favorite company, start looking at it for what it is: a HUGE disservice to many other fans that you should be mad at the developers for making this game a much much worse experience to them, that they can’t enjoy it the way that you can. I want you to get mad and to yell so that the developers and publisher can hear you loud and clear, so that they and many other game companies can make their games better for everyone. Being overzealous about a company or a franchise that you are emotionally invested in doesn’t help anyone. Listen to queer women, listen to those who are mad about it, sending them hate, threats and perspectives that aren’t of queer women don’t do shit. It only wastes your time and theirs.

[dorkthenerd]

SPOILERS FOR BoO

Still salty the only resolution we go to percico was basically:

Nico: Yo Percy I liked you (not really a big deal of course)

Percy: Wait, wha

(Annabeth is smiling for some reason)

Nico: BUT NOT ANYMORE BECAUSE RIORDAN HAS SOMEONE ELSE TO SHIP ME WITH.

Percy: Wait, wha

Nico: So yeah bye ship sunk.

Percy: Wait, wha

[dorkthenerd]

Yep...this pretty much boils it down well, actually. You can do humor without just resorting to making fun of character's insecurities (ie I don't know PERSONA 2).

Seriously, it seems that the earlier games are more progressive than the new ones. If you want to deconstruct, then deconstruct. Don't fall into the same traps you examine. Luckily the Persona series seems to be on the right track, but here's hoping to Persona 5 being truly interesting and progressive in their examination of character roles. It sort of looks that way.

The recent Persona games, particularly Persona 4, are in such a weird place, where it seems like they want to discuss some deeper issues with their characters (the skeevy pop idol world with Rise, gender roles with Naoto and Kanji, etc.), while simultaneously exploiting those very characters.

And honestly, it rubs me the wrong fucking way.

You can’t have it both ways.

Being truly progressive means taking it all the way.  You can’t criticize the pop idol industry while also exploiting your teenaged pop idol character through sex appeal and her youth.  You can’t talk about the lack of respect women get in male dominated industries with a young female character while simultaneously making a joke about her discomfort with her gender and, again, exploiting her for sex appeal.

I really hope Persona 5 makes some big fuckin changes.

[dorkthenerd]

not sure she did- i think she just stuck to using one persona, and obviously arc sys was too lazy to animate multiple personas...

speaking of persona 4 how come in arena aigis lost the wild card?

[dorkthenerd]

reblog with your personality types bolded, for your own reference, or for your followers to get to know you better!

name: ethan

zodiac: aries, taurus, gemini, cancer, leo, virgo, libra, scorpio, sagittarius, capricorn, aquarius, pisces

myers-briggs: istj, isfj, infj, intj, istp, isfp, infp, intp, estp, esfp, enfp, enfj, esfj, estj, esfj, enfj, entj, entp

the four temperaments: melancholic, phlegmatic, choleric, sanguine

alignment: lawful good, neutral good, chaotic good, true neutral, lawful neutral, chaotic neutral, lawful evil, neutral evil, chaotic evil

personality types

[dorkthenerd]

Wait are you talking about Kanji and Noato? Because don't get me wrong, this post is awesome, but A) Naoto is clearly meant to be a girl. She's not trans (and I really don't think she was ever intended to be so don't know where this comes from?), she just expresses how frustrating it is being a female in a male dominated workplace, and thus feels the need to crossdress to be acknowledged. She very clearly states she's a female. B) It's never stated Kanji is gay. Yu Namba, project lead of Persona 4, very clearly stated that that's not the main issue of his character (and sadly what the fandom tends to focus on) and that is was up to interpretation.

Ask Nenilein. She knows MUCH more about this than I do.

An open letter to Atlus

Dear Atlus;

Please give me a well crafted female main character. 

Dear Atlus;

Please give me MANY female main characters.

Dear Atlus; 

Please stop making the female main characters seem like the deviation from a male default and please release them at the same time on initial release.

Dear Atlus;

Please give me a character who is gay and who isn’t constantly mocked for it or gets their sexuality ignored by even their closest friends.

Dear Atlus;

Please give me a character who is trans, or talks about transitioning and people accept it and learn about it and don’t constantly refer to that character by the gender they are trying to no longer identify as

Dear Atlus;

Please give me more social link options in regards to romance and stop assuming that just because the main character is male, they only want to romance women or if the main character is female that they only want to romance men.

Dear Atlus;

Stop it with the high cut armor already.

Dear Atlus;

I still freaking love you guys but seriously.

[dorkthenerd]

Read the novel the first SMT is based off of then, Video-Game scum. The novels are way better than that watered-down and changed game crap.

Posting again because people need reminders aparently.

[dorkthenerd]

i'm 15 and what is this

God bless pinkusugoivisor who throws money at me for excellent things

(“BUT RETRO, IF THIS WAS A TRUE OUTFIT SWAP WOULDN’T MITSURU BE—” Yes random tumblr user, I have you (un)covered)

[dorkthenerd]

Alright Persona fandom you get my assholeness beyond stupid posts because it's essay time. And by essay I mean rants about my love of the P3 protags and why I think they can be written well in future material. Click read more if you're stupid or bored!!! WARNING SPOILERS BUT COME ON IT'S AN OLD GAME

Come on you have two perfect deconstructions of 'wow no parents I can finally save the world' right in front of you. Luckily the characterization of Makoto and Yukari being quite unnerved by him, as well as his portrayal as a broken wannabe-nihilist to compare to Takaya are on the right track, but honestly, if they'd just use Minako more (especially with Minato), they have two great characters that show how people deal with trauma. Minako deals with the death and heartbreak around by putting on a smiling face and a extroverted exterior, with a great social life and many friends to dull pain and heartbreak, while Minato simply just withdraws, realizing that interacting with people only causes pain. However, no matter their choice, both are equally empty and broken inside because they simply never face their problems head on, instead choosing to ignore the problem (like you're not supposed to do as shown in Persona 2 and Persona 4 COME ON YOU HAVE TWO PERFECT SHADOWS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU). You can also easily explore how messed up in the head each protag must be to warp their personality to show people what they want to see and how they have like no idea what the fuck they really are inside because they're just scared they sociopathically manipulate people to get more powers.

First up friends then is good old emo 'I did harem before Yu did' himself. I think he's kinda neglected by the fanbase honestly and hated for taking up spotlight from Minako when he really hasn't had any meaningful character analysis, like what he went through and why he was so nihilistic and apathetic as well as why he never got serious with any girl if good old all social links are canon. They seriously can explore all that happened to make him into a broken shell and how disengaged to life he really is, and no matter how cool and stoic he thinks he is, he's really that same child that really never grew up, instead locking himself up for 10 years, and never experiencing anything, never growing and how his shadow can reveal to S.E.E.S. all the mental problems and instabilities that he has. They can also talk about, no matter how charismatic and magnetic he is, he really doesn't get relationships at all and just pushes people away because he's nervous at making real connections out of fear that someone will die and he'll break again. Anyways, I was on tv tropes and some people I feel were misunderstanding Makoto (as in movie Makoto)'s character, so I wrote this. This should wrap it up nicely.

"I think you're all missing the point of Makoto's character in Spring of Birth. It wasn't that he didn't care about anything, it was that he didn't care about HIMSELF. He was totally ready to die because he didn't care about his OWN life at all (which I think was supposed to show he was as bad as Takaya or the other people who called down Nyx). Yukari didn't like him because he has no self-preservation at all, and was generally apathetic and kind of a jerk, as well as aloof, which irked her, because she clearly DID care about her life, like how she couldn't use the evoker at first because it scared her. Remember, the reason he joined the fight against the Emperor and Empress shadows was because Pharos implied his teammates were about to die, therefore stirring him into action. An action he decided HIMSELF, which was the point of the decision in the first place. It's the defining action of his in the entire movie, deciding to put his own life at stake because he wanted to protect his friends, not because of a nihilist attitude or being told to. It's great foreshadowing to the reason he sacrifices himself to save the world. The next thing is that the team making the movie needed to keep him stoic while giving him character. He handles the trauma of losing his parents and experiencing the dark hour for so long by retreating into himself, as well as not caring about his life. It contrasts the female protagonist hiding it by putting on a bubbly personality and a smiling face, and that's what makes them great contrasts to each other. I really don't see how one portrayal is better than the other, because I think Makoto's trauma was handled rather well, in that the movie showed he was a nice person, like how he helped Fuuka; it just discussed how numb and broken a kid would be from experiencing all that Makoto had. Sorry for the ramble, that was just my thoughts on Makoto's character. I thought they handled him rather well, and it's why I love both Persona 3 protagonists equally. People just seem to overlook Makoto (or Minato) as some generic Emo, Stoic teen, when really, I think his character is much more than that. He's not a bad person or nihilistic at all, which is what differentiates him from Takaya. He just really is THAT broken."

And up next is Minako. I always got that she seemed rather upbeat, but only because she ignored all the problems around her and sort of hid not inside of herself like Minato, but by interacting with others (which is great at showing friends don't solve problems, facing them does). I think the game did a great job of slowly making her options darker as she realized that the world did kinda suck, and there really were assholey, unforgivable people out there that really wanted the world to end, and her shadow could show that she regretted sacrificing herself because she wanted to keep living with her friends. However, they can also discuss what she went through as a kid, and how she simply just toned it out and ignored it by being bubbly and kind and basically taking anything that came at her and throwing it back (but not comprehending it or examining it, important) and that while she has a better understanding of relationships, she's also kind of clingy and selfish about her love and she doesn't understand when to let go and give up because some people just don't change, and that's why she's so shocked when she opens up her eyes to the assholes in the world.

So yeah, rant over. PLEASE WRITE THE PROTAGS AS INTERESTING CHARACTERS. YOU WERE ON THE RIGHT TRACK WITH PERSONA 2 BUT PLEASE MAKE THEM PEOPLE BEYOND EMO TEEN AND BUBBLY GIRL. YOU HAVE SO MUCH MATERIAL TO WORK WITH. ESPECIALLY WITH PERSONA Q AND ULTIMAX IF YOU DECIDE TO ACTUALLY MENTION MINATO BEYOND VAGUE REFERENCES.

[dorkthenerd]

Nah man I ain't talking about good old bitches and whores I was talking about Izanami like what the fuck come on.

Sadly you have me on the Ikutsuki betrayal like come on I could write that.

Persona 4 is better than Persona 3 and that isn’t an opinion that’s a cold hard fact. I love P3 but p4 improved on literally everything

[dorkthenerd]

please replay junpei's character arc and tell me there's no meaningful character development like what???

[ I think 4 had a slightly more polished version of the art style in 3, although both of them are very much equal. Environment, maybe. But characters? Most of them are relatively static and replaceable. There's barely any character development, at least on the levels of Persona 3. Their troubles seem menial, more personalized, and having little to nothing to do with the overall plot, which in itself was only made interesting due to plot twists. ]

(The thing about P3 is that none of the characters are likeable, at all I find. Yeah, P4 might have static characters, but I found myself caring more for someone like Naoto then Shinjiro or anyone else because they didn’t seem so distant and arseholish.)