#so rest assured even tho they don’t want 2 be done harassing us the feds & the divine r working together 2 stopping them (they apparently

[fuzzyunicorn]

To continue the tag: that is our blessing from Him for our endurance thru sufferment without a single complaint or a cry of pain, for obeying him without question, showing up and showing out every day, and especially for our actions of refusing to harm them in return. He commanded me twice to retaliate & bc I never did we passed our tests and will be blessed to the maximum so ask away for anything you🖤 want my love you🖤 deserve it and will receive it. He said the only thing we did to them was make their true colors bleed out in the wash, so expose them for who they truly are. Vengeance is His says the Lord and a-fucking-men 2 that. God bless you 2 all the law enforcement (not the crooks) and a massive thank you

[clerithraven]

This is the first and the last time I will talk about this, so please hear me out.

A couple of days ago, a clerith shipper went Anonymous and submitted this ask to a blog that primarily caters to the c/loti ship (though the owner has said it is open to multi-shipping).

Here is what the CA anon said:

Hello! I'm a Clerith fan and I just have a short story to tell. ( I'm afraid of opening this up on the CA forum/twitter/tumblr because I might get bashed D: ) I've been a CA fan ever since I first played FF7, and I've actually been seeing a lot of Tifa hate in the CA fandom. I for one liked Tifa, and Zack for that matter (because a lot of CA fans hate him also), but it feels like if I want to get along with my fellow CA shippers, I have to hate those two. I feel alone in the fandom :(

astoryofalove has already made her statement about this, and I would like to add mine.

It is deeply saddening that a clerith would feel unsafe in turning to fellow cleriths about an issue like this. So I would like to address the statements this CA anon has said in defense of the whole clerith community.

1) I'm afraid of opening this up on the CA forum/twitter/tumblr because I might get bashed D:

As far as I know, we, the ones who are currently active, do not go after our fellow clerith shippers for an opinion that may differ from ours. We make it a point to be open to everything, no matter our personal preferences. I do not know which community this anon has been involved in to give him/her an idea like this. But I, for one, do not stand for this kind of treatment. I know I’ve already made a statement regarding my dislike of Tifa and Zack (for reasons I may or may not have already stated but will not put in here), but that doesn’t mean I will be mean toward someone who does just because. And a lot of other CA shippers share the same sentiment.

While we are at this subject, for the clerith shippers who are currently reading this, I implore you:

Talk to us. Open up. Share your opinions, even if it’s different. Don’t be afraid to speak out against something you consider to be hurtful for you that the fandom is involved in.

astoryofalove and I, among others, will surely be there to listen to you and support you. And if either of us goes too far with what we say, please don’t be afraid to tell us about it. Inform us of any clerith who misbehaves in any way (harassing or insulting others, being mean or hateful, etc), and we will deal with it as needed. Point us in the right direction, and we’ll be sure to do something about it.

We are not claiming leadership of the fandom. Nothing of the sort. It is only that we would like to be able to actually do something to help stop the negativity from the clerith side as we are active on the clerith fandom.

We do not want the clerith community to be viewed in a negative light. That is not what we stand for. As a fandom that represents Cloud and Aerith’s love, we do not condone any unwarranted negativity toward anyone, whatever the fandom they are in.

2) I for one liked Tifa, and Zack for that matter (because a lot of CA fans hate him also), but it feels like if I want to get along with my fellow CA shippers, I have to hate those two. I feel alone in the fandom :(

I said it in the reply I gave to his/her ask on my main blog, and I’ll say it again.

I can most definitely assure you that you are not alone in this regard. Which community gave you this notion?

I admit I don’t like Zack and Tifa, and I’m vocal about that over on twitter. I’m not the only one, as well. But there are CA shippers on twitter who like them both that join in on discussions, and they don’t suffer any negative treatment from me or any other CA shipper who don’t like Zack or Tifa. In fact, the whole contrast makes for a great discussion between CA shippers. So, do understand why we found that particular claim unbelievable as we are the ones who are active on the clerith fandom.

And let me add: the clerith shippers who do like Tifa and Zack do have tumblr accounts as well.

Also, the CA anon mentioned the CxA Forums. They have moderators who monitor the forums, and any sort of bashing is relegated to a specific bashing section so that it will not be prominent in any other. The only way someone would see hate there is if that person went into the bashing section itself.

Since we’re already on the topic:

What counts as “hate” for Tifa and Zack? What do fans deem as insulting to these characters?

I honestly can’t remember calling them names, or saying nasty things about them just for the sake of spreading hate for them. I may have been aggressive in some of my posts that can be viewed as anti, but it was never for the sake of just hating on them.

What I also remember is that I’ve been vocal of the reasons why I don’t like them, adding in known facts to support my own reasons for my personal dislike of the two. It was not done to garner hate toward them, but merely to express my own opinion. My fellow cleriths do not have to agree with everything I say, nor am I asking that of them. In fact, I would welcome their honest feedback or any discussion they would like to raise. Clerith fans have already done that on twitter.

With that said, if you do come across any of my posts, or any other cleriths’ as well that you deem is full of meaningless hate and animosity, bring it to my attention and I will try to address the issue as much as I can, with astoryofalove’s help as well.

And I’m sorry, but that CA anon followed-up and submitted another ask to the same blog that said this:

Hi! I'm the Clerith fan who confessed about the Tifa/Zack hate in the fandom. Thank you for being nice to me! I thought of telling my rants to someone who doesn't hate Tifa and Zack, that's why I wrote to you. I'm sorry you're getting hate because of me >< I can prove that I'm a true blue Clerith fan though, I just don't know how without getting bashed by these defensive Cleriths, so if you know any means please do tell! And I'm glad to have come across your blog! I see you aren't biased at all

This is after that blog commented on astoryofalove’s post containing her reaction to the CA anon’s confession.

My issues about it are these parts:

1)  I'm sorry you're getting hate because of me ><

Which is just untrue. I checked. Aside from my comment when I reblogged it with my response to the CA anon, Cali’s response, and a fellow clerith’s response to Cali’s post, all of which are in no way directing hate towards the blog’s owner, the rest are c/loti and clerith fans who agree with the owner and had only nice things to say for him/her and the CA anon.

So I have to ask, where did this anon get this idea? Because I most definitely did not see any proof of it.

2)  I can prove that I'm a true blue Clerith fan though, I just don't know how without getting bashed by these defensive Cleriths, so if you know any means please do tell!

Have we bashed this anon since he/she has made the confession? Any name-calling or nasty comments thrown his/her way? None. I admit I have doubted his/her credibility as a clerith fan, but I did say why: Because what he/she said he/she has experienced was not what I have seen in the active clerith community. Of course, this is only on the platforms that I am actively participating in. But as the sites that the CA anon has listed (CxA Forums/twitter/tumblr) are all places I am active in (tho I now rarely visit the CxA Forums due to network problems), I was highly doubtful of his/her claim.

And excuse us for being defensive. Years of hate and animosity towards us has made it so, especially for those of us who has been in this fandom almost all our lives. If that is taken against us, we can do nothing about that except to say that we have our own reasons for being so.

Moreover, why ask a c/loti blog how to prove one is a clerith? The answer is quite simple: Go off anon and send me, or anyone else, a message owning up to being this CA anon. You will not get any backlash, I assure you. Your approach to this whole issue would have made a world of difference.

And I would also like to take this opportunity to defend astoryofalove against the blog owner’s response to Cali’s post:

This is not about you and you shouldn’t make it about you. This is not about your history or your essays, but this is about the anon’s experience and about the people who got fed up by hatred towards Tifa and Zack that caused them to avoid the fandom. Nothing in my post argues against Clerith, criticizes Aerith or mocks any Clerith’s interpretation of canon.

astoryofalove had asked that the clerith tag be removed from the post containing the CA anon’s confession, and went on to give her reason for not believing in this confession which was based on her own experience.

astoryofalove has been the target of hate for years because she is the most vocal among us. And yes, her defenses may have been raised in response to what the owner of the c/loti blog said to the CA anon about ALL the essays for clerith being hateful toward Tifa or the relationship between Cloud and Tifa as the reason the owner turned away from the clerith ship. But do understand that it was because she was vocal about her dislike for Zack and Tifa, thus was of the belief that it was her whom the owner was pertaining to. After all, no one else posts essays for clerith anymore these days aside from astoryofalove, and lately me.

I also do not understand why the owner’s response said this:

Nothing in my post argues against Clerith, criticizes Aerith or mocks any Clerith’s interpretation of canon.

Because astoryofalove’s response never mentioned anything about it, nor did she even allude to it being a reason for her to ask the removal of the clerith tag and changing it in that post. The request was not done because it argued against clerith, criticized Aerith, or mocked any Clerith interpretation of canon. The request was done because the CA anon’s confession was unfounded in our eyes, and thus paints the clerith community in a negative light with no proof, which we do not need in the clerith tag.

Moving on to other matters...

astoryofalove had asked that this post be removed from the clerith tag. And I have asked the same of the owner of the blog, in private. The tag has since been removed, but the owner told me it was not done because we requested it so, but for the owner’s own reasons.

I have to admit, I was curious as to what these reasons were. And what I read further saddened me. And I want to address the owner’s reasons here:

I took out the tag because the message of my post is 1] automatically invalidated due to being published in a C/loti blog 2] Because Cleriths who agreed on my post are in risk of bearing wave of retaliation.

1)  the message of my post is 1] automatically invalidated due to being published in a C/loti blog

It was not “automatically invalidated” because it was published in a c/loti blog. Cleriths who read it from Cali’s post found it “ridiculous” or perhaps unbelievable simply because it was. This is due to the fact that, like I’ve said, there are CA shippers who like Tifa and Zack, maybe even more than those who dislike them. We are not in every site, every social media platform, so we may not be aware of the Tifa or Zack hate on these places, but in the sites where our presence is active or known, we do not see this unless it is of our own doing-which, I repeat, is only our own opinion and not done to foster hate among the fandom or single out those whose opinions differ from ours. And it’s not that often that we voice our dislike anyway.

2)  Because Cleriths who agreed on my post are in risk of bearing wave of retaliation

I checked. And no, not one of those who agreed to the owner’s post with the CA anon’s confession was given any indication or a hint of getting attacked or garnering any retaliation of any kind. And even after my and astoryofalove’s posts, nothing of the sort has happened. So I have to ask, why did this person make this claim? What was his/her basis of saying so? Where was his/her proof? I may never know the answer, but I will say this:

We speak up only when provoked. We do not start any sort of drama, and those who are proven to have been doing so will be dealt with as long as they are brought to our attention. That is how seriously we treat cases like this.

In addition, once the whole post regarding the reason why the clerith tag was removed from the original post is read, readers would see this:

What was disappointing is that there are real points that were ignored:

Massive hate on Zack and Tifa causing shippers to move away

Not treating Cloud and Aerith as individuals (even in the Zerith pair

And that Cleriths are diverse and can disagree with each other, and that they are can also be critical of their own fandom

The entire post is taken emotionally and stripped of its value of discussion. It has already reached an audience who expressed agreement, but it’s pointless to keep it there.

1) The point about “Massive hate on Zack and Tifa causing shippers to move away” was ignored

We did not ignore this. We just cannot believe it. I have yet to see this “massive hate on Zack and Tifa” that is implied to be widespread among the clerith community. Like I’ve said, astoryofalove and I have expressed our dislike of the two, and we’ve seen cleriths agree and disagree with us, all in a healthy environment with a positive discussion. No bashing, no criticism, no harassment has ever resulted from it.

We also addressed the CA anon’s concerns about feeling alone in the fandom. I would have wanted the chance to try and make it so he/she would feel secure in being part of the fandom—if only he/she had come to me. And I believe other clerith shippers would share the same sentiment. The CA anon had only needed to take her concern to us, and we would have gladly listened, no matter the difference in our preferences.

2) The point about “Not treating Cloud and Aerith as individuals” was ignored

This was never brought up by that CA anon. I don’t understand how this even came to be a point. Still, I will say something about it.

Please do not say that we do not treat Cloud and Aerith as individuals, as separate entities that can exist without the other. That is not what we do. Sure, most of our posts are us celebrating how Cloud and Aerith’s appearances in the OG and other games are somehow deeply connected to them being a pair, but that does not mean that we are stripping them of their individuality. It is just that we tend to focus on them as a pair most of the time as shippers. If cleriths want to discuss their individuality, one only needs to start the discussion, and the rest will surely follow.

Excuse us if we’re too excited about the clerith fluff we get that we do not talk about their individual characters as often, and instead fangirl over their portrayal as a pair. We’re called shippers for a reason. Doesn’t mean that we never talk about them as individual characters.

3) The point about “And that Cleriths are diverse and can disagree with each other, and that they are can also be critical of their own fandom” was ignored

I have already said that we are aware of cleriths who have differing opinions, and that contrast makes for a good discussion. This is something we are already aware of. And we also welcome any criticism that is directed at us by fellow shippers, as long as they approach us in a good way. We will not turn them away or rebuke them. In fact, I’d daresay that we’d welcome it instead.

4) The entire post is taken emotionally and stripped of its value of discussion. It has already reached an audience who expressed agreement, but it’s pointless to keep it there.

We did not strip it of its value of discussion. We did not discourage cleriths from speaking about voicing their experiences that relate to the original post about the CA anon’s confession. You, blog-owner, even said it already. It has “reached an audience who expressed their agreement”, and a discussion was actually starting. What came of that discussion, or what did not come of it, was not in any way our responsibility or doing.

In fact, astoryofalove and I have made our own posts with our own responses, trying to address the issue with fellow cleriths. And considering that astoryofalove has a number of Clerith followers, those who had anything to say had already done so, whether by simply liking the post of making a comment. It is not our fault that no one else wanted to chime in, for their own reasons.

Having said all of that... For my fellow clerith shippers:

If my or astoryofalove’s posts have too much hate on them for Tifa or Zack in the rare times we do give them our attention, you can always unfollow and block us. We will not hold it against you. It just means you do not want our content on your feed, and that’s fine with us.

We’re here to speak and advocate for Clerith, for the love between Cloud and Aerith. If you do see hate on our posts, frankly, most of it is really directed toward the rabids who invade our tag with their brand of negativity, and so we retaliate.

Cleriths have stood by and have been silent for years. But that is no longer the case. As new fans fall in love with the love story of Cloud and Aerith, and old fans are brought back into the fold, you may see more of us. But I assure you, it will not be about hating on Zack and Tifa.

We are “Cleriths”, not “Zack and Tifa haters”. Just because a number of us dislike these two doesn’t mean the whole fandom does. So try not to generalize, the same way we distinguish the rabids from the good ones.

Thank you for reading this very long post. Happy shipping to all of you!