#stick side series

[franticvampirereads]

Merry Christmas! Today has been really nice. I got some lovely bookish shirts (that moose is sitting on), a cute bulbasaur pop, and my sister made me a really cute bookish ornament (2nd slide) with some of my favorite books from this year! And we can’t forget the book haul for this Christmas:

Chef’s Kiss (not pictured)

Victor & Nora: a Gotham Love Story (not pictured)

Blackwater (not pictured)

Captive Prince

Gearbreakers

Legends & Lattes

A physical copy of On The Ice!!

I Can Hear The Sunspot: Theory Of Happiness

Fangs vol. 2

I hope you had a lovely holiday weekend!

[sketch-twentytwo]

This man has a PhD.

————

I honestly love how unhinged this man is in the movie. He casually strolls into Jerome Horwitz Elementary, gets a job, immediately clocks Melvin as a suck up teacher's pet, then reveals his evil motive to a classroom of children. He carries around a portable cage in his pocket. He refused the Nobel prize because he was slighted (fair tbh). His first thought when seeing a man-shaped hole in the principle's office was that he'd found the right batshit insane place to use as cover.

What an iconic little maniac. He deserves a spin-off.

[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.

[mariocki]

New Scotland Yard: Point of Impact (1.1, LWT, 1972)

"I thought they'd lumber you with it."

"Did you, why?"

"It's a touchy one, isn't it?"

"There's a policeman involved."

"Yeah, unpleasant."

"Always."

"You were bound to get it."

"Thank you."

"Would've never happened at all if it hadn't been for that blasted Law and Order Brigade turning up on the scene, bloody reactionaries."

"Look, spare me the catchphrases, will you? I don't understand what half of them mean, I don't suppose the people who bandy them about do either."

"Well, I happen to know what a reactionary is."

"Good. You must explain it to me in great detail. Some other time."

[omgtheregoesthefuckidontgive]

A cross over I never thought I'd see

Now why is boun is university student get up... What are they up to 🤔🤔🤔

[afterthegreatunknown]

hector never held fernald as fully responsible for the anwhistle aquatic fire + gregor's death. hector understands that as a child (teenager by fernald's insistence), fernald was manipulated into being an accomplice of being the way into anwhistle aquatic, and his role got out of control very quickly due to the failures of the adults (his stepfather, his mother) who were suppose to keep fernald out of it.

but the fact remains by the present itself, fernald is not the kid who was manipulated into being an accessory to crime. fernald is a former criminal feared due to his sharp hooks who took pride in his 'work', like kidnapping and murder and arson. fernald willingly ruined and made lives miserable. lives like the baudelaires and the quagmires.

while fernald is now retired from being a criminal, wanting to start anew with his sister (and stepfather, but that's a touchy thing fernald denies due to the complications of their relationship) by double-crossing the firestarters and olaf...

it doesn't forgive fernald's past crimes. his crimes aren't forgotten, nor forgiven, and the quagmires make that very clear, especially duncan and isadora. the three 'accepted' that while fernald is their travel companion (as well as his sister and his stepfather), they are also under no obligation to be polite and civil to him. they don't even call fernald by his name; just the name they know him by.

the quagmires are all passive-aggressive to fernald; quigley is more passive than aggressive, being 'cold' and willing to ignore fernald, but does attempt small talk when fiona and widdershins are around. duncan and isadora are more aggressive than passive; they glare at him at random, tells fernald to shut up if he's trying to take part in a conversation with any of them, as well as occasionally poking him up with sticks they found (which is an improvement compare to beating him up with sticks).

hector knows he should get the quagmires, especially duncan and isadora, to stop. to prevent an escalation that would likely have fiona and widdershins upset and angry and worry for fernald. to keep the tensions of the group at low as possible, hector needs to get the quagmires to tame their rightful dislike for fernald.

but hector knows that he can't. if hector tries hard enough, he can recall the boy that watches hector and widdershins (even before the man was fernald's stepfather) and others in their activities, making comments that occasionally get on their nerves or a laugh. hector can recall the boy who would curse and look embarrass, before getting told he's free to curse as long as his mother or little kids aren't present. hector can faintly recall fond memories of fernald the boy.

and that's why hector can't stop the quagmires. hector can only recall, and not even completely. fernald the boy is a distant memory to hector. fernald the boy in a way, no longer exist.

the fernald who hector knows now is just the hook-handed man.

[owtenen]

i think about traffic!tango a normal amount i promise

[franticvampirereads]

September was a super busy month, so I didn’t get to everything that I wanted to read. But! I did read some really great books. Here’s what I read in September:

Moonstruck 4.5 ⭐️ {review}

Moonstruck bonus epilogue 5⭐️

Spoiler Alert 5 ⭐️ {review}

Dinosaur Sanctuary 4⭐️ {review}

Star Of The Game 5⭐️ {review}

Chef’s Kiss 5⭐️ {review}

Gearbreakers -started, but on hold until November

My favorite books for September were Star Of The Game and Chef’s Kiss!

[maintitle]

As someone who didn't enjoy the DA2 dialogue wheel, the DA:Ve dialogue wheel is sometimes giving me something akin to war flashbacks. That said, it really doesn't seem too different than Inquisition and does seem to switch up where the choices are stationed and what their symbols are a bit so I think I'll get used to it.

[dailykallura]

conversations are more intimate in the silence of the hangar.

[izzyizumi]

Official Digimon Twitters: DigimonCon 2024 will stream March 10th!!! ME: OK SO its MAR10 Day but March 9th for U.S., got it, thats at least a LITTLE more manageable...

[kindlythevoid]

So anyway I did a thing today.

[kingofanemptyworld]

finally read 261. more terrified of what happens to yuuta after the five minutes are up than anything else, if I’m being honest. but holy shit gege when does this end

[wotb-blog-2024]

WIP Great Chain drawing

[bidokja]

uncanny charm finished last week and im just laying here like....please....side chapters...i miss them sjdhgf

[galaxysharks]

Manifesting for the Halloween episode:

K so this is base of of that tik tok/ short that Sofia posted with the cast in Halloween attire and Saylor dressed like a sexy lumberjack.

If you don't know it you can find it by going to YouTube shorts and looking for on tilted ' Look at Saylor! '

But like Maddox enters the party significantly more risque than normal and makes all the little lesbian/bi/suddenly confused hearts go aflutter.

Que Confused!/Jealous!Ashlyn whose both annoyed a other girls flirting with Maddox and also aware that she really has no stake in this matter. Que EJ/Gina/Jet teasing her about it.

Also sexy or not she's still Maddox, so awkward and vaguely insulting conversations are abound. Also getting a bit overwhelmed at the number of people attempting to flirt with her. Que Ricky/Carlos/Jet teasing her for not expecting the consequences of her choices in attire.

Thus Que obligatory escape from party via root beer run. Ash and Maddie instead spend part of the night talking about costumes in the kitchen.