Tumgik
#i hate when the fixation fades and then i just become a casual fan or ambivalent towards that media :(
shinysteph · 2 months
Text
Girl what am I going to do with myself when my hero academia is done
2 notes · View notes
irisintheafterglow · 7 months
Text
...but I don't like a gold rush
summary: you're dynamight's publicist and, by some joke by fate, you fell in love with him. you're pissed about it.
wc: 1.3k
cw/tags: swearing, mutual pining, both kats and reader are emotionally constipated, happy ending
note: was listening to a taylor swift love songs playlist on spotify and this popped into my head. short and sweet, hope you like it all my bakugirlies <3 will be back to your regularly scheduled programming of jjk angst and jackals crack shortly
likes, reblogs, and replies are appreciated!
Tumblr media
"this is a disgusting feeling and i hate it. how do i get rid of it?"
"you're in love, babe. there is no 'getting rid of it' unless you find someone else to hyper-fixate on," your best friend reminds you and you groan out of frustration for the millionth time. "might i suggest deku? or maybe shoto? if you want a smoking hot pro, he's definitely not the only one around." her mouth quirks teasingly and you half-heartedly chuck a pillow in her direction.
"he's the only one i want, though, and that's the fucking problem," you lament, "it's so embarrassing."
"have you considered the possibility that he might be interested in you, too? you're already around him 24/7." you bark out a humorless laugh. what a joke. the words "bakugo katsuki" and "reciprocating feelings" did not belong in the same sentence.
"i'm his publicist. it's my job to be around him 24/7." she shrugs indifferently and gives you a skeptical look that makes your face heat up. "am i out of my mind? falling in love with a coworker?"
"considering that your coworker declined the 'sexiest hero alive' award three times now, it's not that far-fetched," she admits and it makes your stomach feel even more queasy. your unease must have finally gotten through to her as she sits up from her bed and determinedly meets your eyes through the reflection of the mirror. "look. any man worth talking to will pass out when he sees you in that," she states, gesturing at the modest but elegant dress covering your body. "if bakugo doesn't realize how much of a catch you are, then you shouldn't waste another breath in his direction."
the sentiment was easier said than done, unfortunately.
the only thought in your mind was him, from the moment the car picked you up from your friend's apartment to stepping onto the carpet of the awards show. crowds of eager fans cheer when you open the door, shouting your name and recognizing you as the brain behind their favorite hero's appearances. you flip a switch in your head, instantly becoming the professional that reassures the cameras and politely answers interviewers' questions. eventually, in what feels like no time at all, the unmarked limo carrying the man you were stupidly in love with pulls into the roundabout drop-off. you try your hardest to keep your composure as his friends exit the vehicle: mina in her sparkly pink gown, deku in his sleek green suit, kirishima in a sheer top that leaves no chiseled muscle uncovered. your breath catches in your throat when he's the last to appear and the frantic screams of the fans fade to nothing when his eyes search the chaos and zero in on you.
"you're late," you say quietly when he's within earshot and he huffs an incredulous laugh.
"and you're stunning," he replies without missing a beat. you don't miss the way his gaze rakes over your body and you despise the way he instantly can set your face on fire. his casual flirting infuriated you to no end, especially when he spoke in that low tone that should only be reserved for...private activities.
"if you think flattery will save you from a lecture, you're deeply mistaken," you force out and pray that he can't hear the waver in your voice. the butterflies in your gut feel like a flock of unruly pigeons. "but, that'll have to wait for after the show. you've got cameras just up ahead."
"this is fucking exhausting," he grunts and you can't help the chuckle that leaves your lips. bright red eyes flick over to you and you swear you can see a cocky glint in them.
"you just got here."
"and? i'm only here for as long as you want to be here," he says and it makes your legs gelatinous. "say the word and we're leaving. no questions asked."
"you're the one who's getting awards tonight," you point out, trying to ignore the way your body naturally gravitated toward his until you were nearly shoulder-to-shoulder in the crowd. at some point, his arm stations itself to float just above your waist, creating a larger bubble for you to breathe without making contact with your body. "you don't wanna stick around to receive them?"
"nah." he shakes his head and waves his other hand in carefree dismissal. "i know that anything i say will just get me in trouble later." his mouth becomes a smirk and you catch him winking at you before making his way toward the flashing lights and calls of his name. you wait patiently for him to finish posing for the insatiable paparazzi, occasionally walking out to fix his collar or brush a strand of hair from his forehead. the burn of his stare doesn't go unnoticed when you're right in front of him, fixing a button on his shirt.
"stop looking at me like that," you mutter and he flashes a sharp tooth in amusement. he knew what he was doing to you; it was impossible for him not to know from the way your hands shook on his collar.
"i wasn't kidding when i said you looked stunning, sweetheart," he murmurs and you have to blink a few times to fix the short circuit in your brain. "you ever gonna tell me how you feel or am i just gonna keep making advances to a brick wall?"
"you have absolutely no concept of-"
"publicist, get out of the way!" you both stiffen and you futilely shake your head the tiniest bit. he doesn't hesitate, and his hand gently pushes you out of the light so he can properly yell at whoever dares to tell you what to do. unlike most of his outbursts, though, his use of profanity and insults toward one's mother was kept to a minimum; it made the true attacks of undermining the reporter's professionalism even sweeter.
"and just for the record," he concludes, "i do whatever they tell me to do, so don't think you can disrespect them and get away with it, 'cause that's never gonna fucking happen. got it?" the shocked reporters nod meekly and bakugo unceremoniously exits the photo area, returning to your side like nothing happened. "i'm sorry about them."
"you shouldn't have done that."
"you're gonna lecture me for defending you?"
"no, not that. the thing you said before we got interrupted," you say, your voice barely a whisper that only he can hear. "about making advances toward a brick wall."
"you mad that i compared you to a brick wall? because it really does seem like that sometimes-"
"no, you idiot." you finally turn to face him and pull him into a quiet corner. "i'm upset because, if this is a joke, it's not funny." he gapes at you for a few seconds, as if he couldn't comprehend what you just said.
"you think," he says slowly, "that i'm joking about liking you." you nod in assent and he drags his hand down his face. you can already hear the protests of his makeup artist, but you don't really care right now. "alright, fine. maybe i'm the idiot in this situation."
"what do you mean?"
"i like you, stupid, and i'm not kidding." his words sounded like they were foreign on his tongue like it was hard for him to voice his feelings aloud. "you deal with my bullshit and you're so fucking pretty, i wanna pass out. get it?"
"mhmm," you hum dumbly, still processing what he was saying. some part of you still was saying that it was a sick joke, but the way his eyes soften when you finally look up at him confirms all that you need to know. bakugo katsuki was irrevocably, uncontrollably in love with you.
and it surprised him just as much as it did you.
Tumblr media
if you enjoy my writing and would like to support me, you can buy me a coffee on my ko-fi! you can also check out my full masterlist here :)
457 notes · View notes
hartofhearts · 3 years
Text
Why Tifa is the only person, living or dead, who can resolve Cloud’s crisis
Alternate title: “What really happened in the Lifestream”
Of course the Lifestream scene has been discussed to death within the fandom. While some consider it one of the greatest triumphs of the Cloud/Tifa relationship and the game in general, others are quick to diminish its events and Tifa’s role. “Oh, any other childhood friend character who knew Cloud could do the job.” “Oh, Cloud only needed Tifa as moral support, he could have figured everything out himself.” “Oh, Aerith (maybe +Zack) could have done it by accessing her Cetra/time machine/empath/Planet powers.”
The Lifestream sequence is extraordinarily dense with many subtle visual cues, so there’s a lot to untangle and interpret. But no matter how you slice it, any take which downplays or eliminates Tifa is fundamentally missing the point of this scene, both for the plot and for Cloud’s character arc.
Tumblr media
A lot of the confusion stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of what actually needs to happen in the Lifestream and why. Thus, using specific details from the sequence, I’d like to present my take on the following:
Part 1: What Cloud needs to accomplish in the Lifestream to advance the plot
Part 2: Why Tifa is the only person, living or dead, who can resolve Cloud’s crisis, where we will discuss fun things such as:
Why Tifa is the the focus of his greatest flaw
What Tifa’s presence in the Lifestream accomplishes
Part 3: Why those “Tifa-less” fan theories just can’t work
This is a very long ride so let’s get to it!
Part 1: What Cloud needs to accomplish in the Lifestream to advance the plot
Many fans think that all Cloud needs to accomplish in the Lifestream is prove to himself that he existed before the Nibelheim incident. This seems to make sense, as Cloud’s mental break at Northern Crater was due him losing faith that he was truly Cloud Strife of Nibelheim, right?
But that isn’t the only thing that needs to happen. Consider this: Ex-SOLDIER Cloud does believe that he is Cloud Strife of Nibelheim for almost the entirety of the game’s first half. However, Ex-SOLDIER Cloud couldn’t correctly remember the Nibelheim incident back at Kalm, and he occasionally exhibits alarming behavior (his headaches, his attempts on Aerith’s life). So the goal of the Lifestream sequence is not to restore Cloud to this previous flawed state, but... to accomplish something more. Accomplish something that will resolve the aforementioned issues by strengthening him against Jenova’s influence.
There are two ways to strengthen Cloud against the influence of the Jenova hivemind:
Rebuild Cloud’s sense of self by identifying and accepting his personal weakness -- without writing a whole other post, individuals injected with Jenova cells are susceptible to influence by the Jenova hivemind if they have a weak sense of self and weak will; thus, Cloud needs to fully understand and accept who he truly is, weaknesses and all, in order to withstand further Jenova tampering
Establish the truth of the Nibelheim incident -- until then, silver-tongued Sephiroth/Jenova will always be able to cast doubt on Cloud’s existence using the discrepancies between Cloud’s and Tifa’s memories
And wouldn’t you know it, but the Lifestream sequence does end up accomplishing all three of these things. It:
Proves that Cloud Strife of Nibelheim existed before the Nibelheim incident
Rebuilds Cloud’s sense of self by identifying and accepting his personal weakness
Establishes the truth of the Nibelheim incident
Something to note re: #3 - Establishes the truth of the Nibelheim incident: this is actually extremely challenging to do, as the truth lies solely within Cloud, but is blocked due to his own mental weakness. This is why the Lifestream sequence begins with Cloud trying and failing to correctly remember the Nibelheim incident: while he superficially does want to understand the truth of the incident, deep down he does not want to acknowledge his personal failings that are on full display in the true memory. It is only after Cloud accepts his personal weakness that he is able to face the full truth, failings and all.
So really, #2 - Rebuild Cloud’s sense of self by accepting his personal weakness is the most pivotal portion of the Lifestream sequence, as this empowers Cloud on a personal level and also allows him to remember the Nibelheim incident correctly. And as it happens, this is the portion that only Tifa can help with.
Part 2: Why Tifa is the only person, living or dead, who can resolve Cloud’s crisis
We’ve just discussed how rebuilding Cloud’s sense of self by helping him accept his personal weakness is one of the most important goals of the Lifestream sequence--and now I’d like to explain how this can only be accomplished with Tifa’s help and no one else’s.
>> Tifa is the focus of Cloud’s greatest weakness
I think that every fan, including non-shippers and anti-Tifa fans, will agree that Cloud is insecure and has a desperate need for acceptance. But because he needs to resolve and accept this greatest weakness, his shame, the real question is... when did it become pathological? What is it focused on, and what makes it his tragic flaw? The answers will give us a hint as to what Cloud needs to come to terms with his true self.
This is shown to us in the Mt. Nibel memory--the day Tifa’s mother died. And it is actually explicitly told to us by a very important entity...
Tumblr media
...A blacked out, silhouetted version of Cloud that casually climbs out of his slack adult form. This silhouetted version of Cloud represents the deep dark secrets about himself that Cloud has hidden away for so long, and it tells us what exactly is on its mind. 
Let’s review everything Deep Dark (DD) Cloud says:
Young Cloud: I began to think I was different... That I was different from those immature kids. That then... maybe... DD: Just maybe, they would invite me in. I thought that might happen, so I hung around...
...
DD: That night I called Tifa out to the well... I thought to myself Tifa would never come... that she hated me.
...
YC: This was the day... DD: Tifa's mother... T: The day Mom died...
...
DD: I don't remember the path I walked. Tifa missed her step. I ran to her... but didn't make it in time. Both of us fell off the cliff. Back then, I only scarred my knees but...
...
DD: Tifa was in a coma for seven days. We all thought she wouldn't make it. If only I could've saved her... I was so angry... Angry at myself for my weakness. Ever since then, I felt Tifa blamed me... I got out of control... I'd get into fights not even caring who it was.
(fade to black)
DD: That was the first time I heard about Sephiroth. If I got strong like Sephiroth, then everyone might...
(return to the nexus/Cloud’s mind)
DD: If I could just get stronger... Then even Tifa would have to notice me...
Many fans fixate on DD Cloud’s very first line (”just maybe, they would invite me in”), and I understand why--not only is the first satisfying eureka moment in the Lifestream, but it’s also deeply relatable. Who hasn’t felt like an outsider and wanted acceptance and approval? These same players then attribute all of Cloud’s motivations to this relatable feeling. “Cloud had a deep inferiority complex and wanted to prove himself to the world and that’s why he pretends to be the super coolest SOLDIER ever.”
But that interpretation completely ignores the other 90% of what DD Cloud says. The other 90% of Cloud’s shame is wrapped up in Tifa. “Tifa’s mom died... I tried to save Tifa, but I got off relatively unscathed while she suffered terrible injuries... Tifa must have hated me... I thought Tifa wouldn’t come to the well because she hated me... I wanted to be like Sephiroth so Tifa would notice me...” Even if a little bit of Cloud’s motivations are attributable to the contempt of the townspeople, the vast majority of it is focused on Tifa--would she always hate him? Would she ever notice him? Could he ever be worthy of her? DD Cloud’s dialogue reveals that Cloud’s shame and tragic flaw is completely centered on his need for Tifa’s approval. Perhaps only his pedestaled perception of Tifa, but Tifa all the same.
The "Cloud wants to impress all the kids” interpretation also ignores what the cinematography of this scene is telling us. The “big takeaway” of the Nibelheim memory and DD Cloud’s reveal is the single sentence that DD Cloud speaks after the memory is over and lights turn back on and they’re back at the nexus--the sentence that he “took away” from the previous scene. And look! It’s this one!
Tumblr media
DD: If I could just get stronger... Then even Tifa would have to notice me...
THIS. THIS IS IT. This is the root of Cloud’s shame and explains his pathological need to misremember himself as a SOLDIER and thus misremember the Nibelheim incident at all costs: he was ashamed at his inability to rescue Tifa and Mt. Nibel, so he swore to himself that he would get stronger to earn her notice. Cloud needs to be strong so Tifa will notice him; thus, Cloud creates an illusionary world where he misremembers his own identity and the Nibelheim incident in a way that makes him a strong man that is finally worthy of her. 
Tumblr media
This is the personal weakness that Cloud needs to resolve in the Lifestream with Tifa’s help: he needs to learn that it is okay to not be the strong man, because Tifa will accept him regardless.
(And, sidebar, Cloud’s need for Tifa’s approval is not just some fleeting childhood dream in the distant past--even in present day, Ex-SOLDIER Cloud can’t bear to remember how he failed to be a stronger man for Tifa, because even in the present day, Tifa’s opinion of him is all that counts.)
Tumblr media
>> What Tifa’s presence in the Lifestream accomplishes
While the above proves how Cloud’s personal weakness (his tragic flaw) revolves around Tifa and his feelings for her... we now need to answer, why does Cloud need Tifa to be in the Lifestream with him to work through these feelings? And this, I believe, comes down to two, very subtle, shown-not-told points:
Cloud’s honesty depends on Tifa’s presence, as Cloud’s need for Tifa to understand his feelings is greater than his need to hide his painful weaknesses from himself
Cloud draws strength from “his important person” (no matter how you want to define her: his main motivation, the person he’s been in love with forever...) accepting him and providing moral support
Let’s work through these in order.
REASON #1 -  Cloud’s honesty depends on Tifa’s presence, as Cloud’s need for Tifa to understand his feelings is greater than his need to hide his painful weaknesses from himself
This one is very easy to miss, but is illustrated in two key ways. First, did you know that DD Cloud speaks early on in the Lifestream, even before the Mt. Nibel memory? His two lines are:
T: Now that you mention it, why did you want to join SOLDIER in the first place? I always thought it was a sudden decision you made... DD: ...I was devastated. ...I wanted to be noticed. Adult Cloud: ...I was devastated. ...I wanted to be noticed. I thought if I got stronger I could get someone to notice... T: Someone to notice you...? ...who? DD: Who...? ...You know who! ...You, that's who. AC: You... T: ...Me? Why!? YC: Tifa... did you forget... about those days?
Those two lines are definitely DD Cloud’s; in the earlier photos, we see that DD Cloud’s speech bubbles don’t have a background box. These new two lines are similarly background box-less. Moreover, these lines cannot be attributed to Adult Cloud or Young Cloud. See the below comparison photos:
DD vs. Adult Cloud’s vs. Young Cloud’s speech bubbles:
Tumblr media
What’s very interesting is the tone of the second line (”Who...? ...You know who! ...You, that's who”); this is the only exclamation that Cloud uses in the entire sequence until all the revelations of the Nibelheim Incident re-memory. DD Cloud is startled into indignance that Tifa has no idea that he’s been trying to impress her all along. (DD Cloud is like, “Tifa, the past 12 years of my life were entirely motivated by you, are you telling me that literally none of this has gotten through to you!!?”) Even if DD Cloud were dormant and hidden this entire time, the ignominy of Tifa not understanding the effort he made for her for 12 years is just too much for him to suffer through silently. 
The significance of this moment is actually incredible: the Deep Dark Secret that Cloud has been hiding from this entire time, the Deep Dark Secret that Cloud would rather die/go comatose than acknowledge... this Deep Dark Secret indignantly reveals itself just because Tifa apparently doesn’t know about it! Cloud’s need for Tifa to understand his Deep Dark Secret is even greater than Cloud’s need to be honest with himself to prevent his clone coma. 
And this becomes a trend that continues up to the Mt. Nibel memory--Cloud is reluctant to revisit these memories, and only does so because he wants Tifa to understand his feelings. Almost every other line we see Cloud’s reluctance, his disbelief at Tifa’s cluelessness, and him forcing himself to open up so Tifa can know what he’s been obsessing over for 12 years. See the dialogue yourself (my notes in square brackets):
YC: Tifa...... did you forget...... about those days? [Cloud’s disbelief that Tifa doesn’t know]
...
YC:  It's important to me... I hate to say it but... It's a very important memory... [Cloud’s reluctance to revisit the memory]  Do you want to see it? Come on, hurry. [Cloud’s need for Tifa to see]
...
AC: ...a sealed up secret... wish... Tender memories... no one can ever know... [Cloud’s reluctance to revisit the memory]
YC: Do you know where this window goes to, Tifa? [Cloud’s disbelief that Tifa doesn’t know]  Fine... I'll go. [Cloud’s need for Tifa to see]
Again, this is a tremendous moment. Cloud is only motivated to honesty for Tifa’s benefit, and takes each reluctant step towards the truth because Tifa is right next to him with all her cluelessness. In his desire to be honest for Tifa, Cloud ends up being honest for himself as well... Tifa’s presence is the only reason why Cloud can be honest to himself in the Lifestream. If not for her, Cloud never would have broached those painful memories and never would have resolved his crisis.
Tumblr media
One last thing I want to highlight is that Cloud wouldn’t open up like this for anyone. Reread this line: “Tender memories... no one can ever know.”  If anyone else was in the Lifestream with Cloud--or if it was just Cloud by himself--DD Cloud would never have felt the need to express himself. He would have stayed hidden, preferring for Cloud and the others to forever perceive him as the super cool SOLDIER instead of a “weak man” who couldn’t even save the girl he loved back on Mt. Nibel or fulfill his promise to her.
REASON #2 - Cloud draws strength from Tifa (the object of his shame/his fellow Nibelheim survivor/the person he’s been trying to win the attention of forever/the person he’s loved for 12 years) accepting him and providing moral support
This one is the most subtle as it’s mostly shown and the dialogue is not explicit, but the scene simply does not work without it. It is thanks to Tifa’s support that Cloud is brave enough to correctly remember the Nibelheim incident. 
After DD Cloud says his final line in the nexus, he looks away from Tifa. 
Tumblr media
Can’t even make eye contact with her, even though he was able to back in the Mt. Nibel memory. He must think that now that all the cards are on the table, Tifa will reject him in some way. Maybe she will heap on the blame for failing to save her at Mt. Nibel, or be disgusted that he dared try to win her notice, but whatever it is, he expects some kind of rejection. But... that’s not what happens. Instead, Tifa implicitly absolves him of any guilt or shame by apologizing to him instead.
DD: If I could just get stronger... Then even Tifa would have to notice me...
T: So that was it... Sorry, Cloud. If I had only remembered more clearly what happened, I could have done something sooner...
...
So not only does Tifa fail to reject Cloud, but she also implies that Cloud is completely faultless, as she would have corrected the townspeople’s misconceptions about Cloud if she’d only known. Tifa plainly supports Cloud and does not blame him for Mt. Nibel.
Moreover, she continues to encourage Cloud after this moment. Soon after, Tifa exclaims:
T: Hang in there Cloud! Just a little longer! You've almost found the real you!
It’s only after Tifa’s words of encouragement that both Adult Cloud and DD Cloud merge into one another. This is a powerful moment; it shows that Adult Cloud hasn’t lost those deep, sealed away feelings, but has finally made peace with them. Cloud’s deep dark feelings are still a part of him but no longer hold him back; he no longer needs to misremember himself as a strong man for Tifa because Tifa accepts him as he is.
The game then explicitly shows Tifa and Cloud behaving with a togetherness that we haven’t seen the entire game--these two have finally overcome the distance between them and are able to tackle the world as a team. Cloud can finally be brave because he knows Tifa won’t leave his side.
And the game shows us this. First, Tifa, Adult Cloud, and DD Cloud all resolutely hold their fists up in unison (so ‘90s shounen anime, I love it):
Tumblr media
Then they run into the Nibelheim memory together, side by side, literally in lockstep--look how every foot step is in sync:
Tumblr media
This is different from previous memories, where one is always following the other or doing different things. What it shows us is that after Cloud comes clean about his shame and Tifa accepts him as he is, the two are closer together than ever before. Cloud feels brave enough to properly remember the Nibelheim incident when he has Tifa with him. 
And it’s telling that the very first moment Cloud tries to remember is...
Tumblr media
...the memory of Tifa being injured. Not the memories of him stabbing Sephiroth (or being stabbed by him), not the memories of Zack being injured, not the memory of Cloud putting on his helmet to hide his shame. If he were still afraid of Tifa’s disappointment, Cloud would not choose to relive this as his very first memory. Yet Cloud picks a painful moment that includes Tifa, trusting that they can work through it as a team. I know I keep on saying it, but it’s the truth: Cloud is empowered to fully face his deepest shame and weakness because he knows that the real Tifa accepts him as he is and will stay by his side.
Part 3: So what does this mean for those “alternate fan theories?”
Phew! That was a lot. Let’s recheck our notes on what the Lifestream scene needs to accomplish:
Prove that Cloud Strife of Nibelheim existed before the Nibelheim incident
Rebuild Cloud’s sense of self by identifying and accepting his personal weakness
Establish the truth of the Nibelheim incident
Given what we just discussed, any substitute for Tifa would accomplish some, but not all of the above three points.
So for those fans who say...
>> “Cloud could have done it all by himself” - did... did you miss the giant floating confused Cloud?? He was trying and failing to figure it out by himself because he couldn’t bear to be honest, even for his own sake. What ultimately turns the tide is Cloud’s need to express his true feelings to Tifa, and how it outweighs his need to hide his weakness from himself; thus, without Tifa’s presence, Cloud cannot be honest with himself and cannot resolve his identity crisis. 
And PS, when Tifa says, “Cloud found himself on his own,” she’s referring to Cloud’s choice to reveal his weakness to her, and Cloud’s bravery at confronting the Nibelheim incident afterwards. She’s not saying “oh I didn’t need to be there at all and Cloud really just needed a couple extra minutes and I was basically scenery lol.” She’s complimenting Cloud for the radical honesty/personal strength that allowed him to finally express his true thoughts to her and thus to himself. 
Verdict: Cloud gets half points for #2 (accept personal weakness) and #3 (remember Nibelheim) because ultimately he’s the one who decides to reveal the truth of those moments. Cloud gets 0 points for #1 (prove his existence) because he still needed to double-check with someone who knew him as a child.
>> “any childhood friend could have helped Cloud” - sure, that childhood friend could help accomplish #1 (prove his existence), but as we previously discussed, Cloud is only motivated to be honest with himself when he realizes that Tifa doesn’t know the extent of his feelings for her. If he never that Tifa was clueless, then Cloud would have kept the Mt. Nibel memory locked away from himself and everyone else. 
Verdict: A Nibelheim rando would be able to accomplish #1 (prove his existence) but would fail to accomplish #2 (accept personal weakness) or #3 (remember Nibelheim)--Tifa is needed for DD Cloud to come clean, and Tifa’s unique role allows her to support Cloud while he works to remember the truth of the Nibelheim incident.
>> “Aerith (+Zack) could have taken care of it” - sure, Aerith (+Zack) could have shown Cloud the truth of #1 (prove his existence) and #3 (remember Nibelheim), because they both could observe the truth of those events.
But how could they help Cloud with #2 (accept personal weakness), when Cloud has been trying to hide his weakness all along and would probably feel even worse in comparison to these two shining beacons of excellence? And there’s some proof to this line of thinking; in CC, Cloud explicitly does not want to share his feelings for Tifa with Zack; and in OG, Cloud arguably tries to preserve the hero fantasy of being the Coolest SOLDIER Ever for Aerith. I can’t imagine Cloud wanting to share these “tender feelings that no one can ever know”/his love-induced weakness with anyone except for the object of those tender feelings. So #2 is still allllll Tifa, baby.
Verdict: Aerith (+Zack) could take care of #1 and #3, but they could never get Cloud to open up about #2--and even if they did, they were not the “victims” of “Cloud’s failure,” so their forgiveness/acceptance would mean nothing to Cloud and would not help him accept his own weakness.
Final thoughts:
>> Fun theory, but Cloti isn’t essential for it... the sequence still works even if Cloud’s tragic flaw is a raging inferiority complex.
There’s a difference between something technically working vs. what the game actually shows us. Yes, it could work if Cloud has a generic inferiority complex that has nothing to do with Tifa... but the game’s explanation of Cloud’s psyche (DD Cloud’s dialogue) spends >90% of its wordcount on Tifa. This argument essentially works if you throw out >90% of what the game was trying to tell you. Cloud’s entire inner world revolves around Tifa and stuffing your fingers in your ears and loudly saying lalalala does not change that.
>> But didn’t Cloud choose to hide his face because he wanted to hide his failure from everyone in town, not just Tifa, which would prove it was just a generic inferiority complex?
Sure, Cloud says:
C: I... never made it as a member of SOLDIER. I even left my hometown telling everyone I was going to join, but... I was so embarrassed. I didn't want to see anyone.
Off that line alone, one would think that he is ashamed to show his face to anyone in his hometown.
But the game shows us that Cloud specifically decided to hide when he saw Tifa.
Tumblr media
Look how this baby is prepared to stroll into town with his Chocobo head free in that Nibelheim breeze. Not what you’d expect someone to do if they’re trying to hide from everyone, right?
But as soon as Cloud notices Tifa, he runs offscreen and puts his helmet back on while Zack can only shrug a “you do you” in reply.
Tumblr media
It’s Tifa that Cloud couldn’t bear to disappoint. Not the rest of the town.
>> That final “resolution” moment after the Mt. Nibel incident is a little weak, isn’t it? There’s nothing explicitly saying that Tifa accepted Cloud and that’s why he’s able to shake off his shame and remember the Nibelheim incident properly.
It’s true that so much of this is implicit (the absence of Tifa berating Cloud, Tifa wishing she could have helped Cloud more back then), or shown-not-told (Tifa and Cloud raising their fists in unison, Tifa and Cloud running in unison). The OG script also jumps right to Tifa’s exclamation that the Mt. Nibel memory proves Cloud is a real person, not really lingering on Tifa accepting Cloud or anything. To be honest, the biggest reason why I even put together this theory is because 1 + 1 ≠ 4, but somehow that’s what happens in the Lifestream if we remove this shame/acceptance aspect. Also... how unsatisfying and uncharacteristic is it for Cloud to just feel ashamed that he failed to save Tifa, then for that shame to be resolved during the Nibelheim incident re-memory with a “oh it’s not that bad, at least you saved her during the Nibelheim incident so that mitigates it”? Or for it to not be resolved at all?
If Cloud was so deeply ashamed that he’d prefer to become a potato instead of face these memories, then I can’t imagine that facing the memories with zero support from Tifa would help him feel confident enough to tackle the Nibelheim re-memory. I highly suspect that this scene will be expanded upon in the Remake to explicitly highlight Tifa’s acceptance, resulting in Cloud’s readiness to expose his true memories to Tifa and himself.
150 notes · View notes
a-dragons-journal · 4 years
Text
My Experiences of Nonhumanity
I get asked about “what makes you/people in general feel you’re/they’re otherkin” a lot, and while the answer is far from simple and my experiences are anything but universal, I figure it deserves a write-up once in a while. A friend asked about it a couple nights ago, so I wrote up a huge long message on Discord, and decided to rewrite it into a Tumblr post for posterity. This’ll be a long one, folks; hit J on desktop to skip.
It’s worth noting ahead of time: none of these things are required to be otherkin, and none of them automatically mean you’re otherkin. In fact, most of them are little more than mildly “weird” quirks when they occur in isolation, and only start to push outside the range of “normal human experiences” when many of them occur together. You can’t look at someone (including yourself) and say “they like collecting things, they must be dragonkin!” It’s not that simple. You have to take the individual as a whole even as you examine each specific experience in more detail - don’t lose the forest while you’re studying the trees. This is just a description of my personal experiences.
Shifts
- Phantom shifts/supernumerary phantom limbs: Probably the most obvious thing and the hardest to brush off, although I still managed to do so for years. Phantom shifts, aka supernumerary phantom limbs, are the experience of feeling limbs or body parts that do not and never have physically existed. In my case, the most common phantom limbs to show up are my wings and tail; other body parts, such as digitigrade legs, horns, snout, and paws/talons, also make appearances less frequently. While my phantom limbs almost never attempt to replicate tactile sensations/interactions with the physical world, they’re often defined by very vivid proprioception (ability to tell where your body is in space, mainly via muscle stretch receptors), and I can tell where each part of the limb is at any given time - it’s not just a shapeless sense of “weight,” or it wouldn’t be phantom limbs. I can also move them at will, typically. My phantom shifts are typically spontaneous and involuntary, but they’ve been induced artificially a couple different ways as well, though I can’t typically do it at will.
- Sensory shifts: Still not something I’m totally sure I experience, but there are definitely times my sense of smell becomes insanely strong compared to usual even for me, which fits the definition of a sensory shift.
- Astral shifts: While I’m far from an adept astral traveler, when visualizing “traveling” within my own mindscape, I shift form fluidly between human and dragon - although I almost always have wings at the very least.
- Cameo shifts: Mentioned only because it’s relevant to my phantom shifts. I realized at some point that the reason I get cameo shifts of canine/feline ears sometimes is because they usually show up when they’re pricking/flattening to express emotion, and the muscles that move to do that action are basically the same as the ones that do those actions with the crest that runs down my neck, and because of my obsession with cats/dogs/horses as a young child and because that’s not a particularly strong phantom shift for me usually, I connected the dots a little wrong and created a false association.
- Self-image: This isn’t technically a shift, but it’s going here anyway because it doesn’t really fit in any other section either. My body image/self-image is weird. I know, consciously, what I physically look like. However, my instinctive self-image is... hmm. What I “expect” to see doesn’t always match up with what’s actually there when I look in the mirror. Teeth are a huge point of fixation for me for some reason; I always expect them to be larger, sharper, stronger. I expect my neck to be longer, my face to be... different. I expect scales in places. I expect claws. Even knowing consciously that of course it won’t be there, it’s still strange sometimes that it’s not. There’s sometimes some mild disconnect when I see myself. (Sometimes not. But sometimes.)
Homesickness
(Or, the sense of missing something you’ve never had - not of “I want/want to be [x], and it makes me sad/upset that I don’t have/am not that,” but of “I should have/be [x], and it is fundamentally wrong that I do/am not.”)
- Flight: I have always wanted to fly, and for a long time I thought everyone ached for the sky the same way I did. Most people don’t, as it turns out. Yes, everyone’s fantasized about flying, but most people don’t feel bones-deep, crushing, physical pain in their chest thinking about it. Most people don’t lift up onto their toes instinctively straining for the sky. I’ve felt that aching longing for it for as long as I can remember.
- Connection to dragons: For as long as I can remember knowing about dragons, I loved the idea of them and even when I was very young, when I’d only really been exposed to media where they were the great evil for the hero to defeat and received no more character development than “evil, destructive, fire-breathing beast,” I was always on the dragon’s side and wanted to learn more about them. That hasn’t faded. I’ll watch an absolutely terrible movie or TV show that I otherwise loathe if it has good enough animation and sound design on the dragons. (Looking at you, Game of Thrones.*) I would commit arson to see one of those Isle-style dragon survival games actually go through and finish production. (Holding out hope for the Dragon Game Project on YouTube; go check them out if you haven’t already.) I’ve also used dragons to represent myself for pretty much as long as I’ve had an online presence - years before I ever heard of otherkin, I was calling myself Dragonheart.
- Dragon-like creatures: Snakes, crocodilians, and dinosaurs all fall into this category - all of them give me a similar heart-and-breathing-pick-up, aching familiarity to dragons. They’re not perfect, but in a snake’s scales and a crocodile’s bellows and a dinosaur’s spectacular reptilian size I see echoes of us and I have always loved them with a passion, even before I quite knew why.
- Dragon/”monster” noises: Sound generators, creature sound design, real animal noises, etc. that are meant to be monstrous and that most people find unsettling or even frightening, I find comforting and relaxing. Alligator bellows, “monster noise” soundscapes, etc. all apply here.
* No shade on anyone who likes Game of Thrones, I’m just not a fan. :P
Behaviors/Instincts/Urges
- Hoarding: I’m still not sure how much of the crystal thing is "monkey brain say Shiney Colorful," how much is a witch thing, and how much is a dragon thing, but some of it is a dragon thing.
- Territorial/possessive nature: I can get... extremely territorial over my stuff and my home. This can extend right into being ridiculously protective of my people too, although I do try to rein that in to a reasonable amount. This also extends into games like Capture the Flag, because put me on defending the border during middle and high school and I got frighteningly territorial. (Fun fact, this extends to spiritual protection stuff and it has almost gotten me in trouble a few times on that front.) The other main side effect is my brain trying to claim completely inappropriate things as “mine,” like every piano I have ever touched or, that one time, the entire city of Portland.
- Prey drive: Going on a walk in the woods with me will always be an exercise in stopping every twenty seconds because I heard a small animal move in the brush and froze instinctively to track it. Prey drive ranges from "okay I can indulge this enough to track-stalk-chase without actually intending to catch-kill-eat" to "this is entirely inappropriate and needs to Stop Right Now" depending on the day and the situation - sometimes it’s fairly low-key and innocent, but sometimes it's also being confronted with the sudden and completely serious/genuine thought of grabbing someone or something by the neck/around the body with your jaws and hunt-prey-kill-devour when it's completely inappropriate and kind of disturbing or even sickening. It’s one of the more annoying things, although it’s not like it’s severe enough that I’m an actual danger to anyone - it’s just a gut thought that gets filtered out at the conscious level without significant problems. This also bleeds into games (I get... maybe a little overenthusiastic during tag) and even watching TV shows or gaming videos - most of the time at least part of me is rooting for the hunter because I relate to them as a fellow predator, even if the audience is supposed to be rooting for the prey - I mean, protagonists.
- Basking/heat-seeking: Probably only partially a dragon thing, but despite the fact that I hate heat in general, radiant/sun heat and heat from a heated surface are both fantastic feelings provided the ambient air temperature isn't too high. I'm guessing this is at least partially a reptile brain thing.
- Height-seeking: Give me a chance to climb up on top of something - a rock, a cliff, a chair, a table, a bunk bed - and look out over everything else, and I'll take it in an instant. Getting to climb up on the roof is the best thing that's happened to me this entire quarantine.
- Flight instinct: Being mildly leery of cliffs not because I am afraid of falling, because I'm really not, but because there's always some part of my brain that goes "jump, fly, this is a perfect takeoff spot" and I have to squash that before I do something particularly stupid. This manifests in other ways, but that's the most dramatic (and annoying) one. This is also one of the things I noticed as definitively not normal long before my awakening. (The Grand Canyon was fun.)  Similarly to the prey drive thing, it's not like I'm actually in danger of throwing myself off cliffs, it’s just - there's a not-insignificant part of my brain that thinks "hey we should go run and jump off and take a quick flight," in the same way I might also casually think "hey I should stroll across to the corner store for a bag of chips" before I consciously decide whether or not to do that. It’s the exact same type of thought process, despite the fact that one of those things is something I might do on any given school day, and the other is, you know, physically impossible.
- Combat instincts: I get in a fight and my pure instinct is to bite or claw, not kick or punch or whatever it is humans do instinctively. I have those reflexes now courtesy of Krav, but I had to train them in - if you’d thrown me into a fight before, I absolutely would have resorted to claws/nails and teeth immediately (and I still will, when pressed into a corner). Sometimes, unfortunately, this goes off completely unwarranted, either in an anger situation that does not deserve a physical response, or for no apparent reason whatsoever. It's one of the more problematic things, but once again - it’s not like it’s a compulsion, just a gut-emotion thought that gets filtered out at the conscious level.
- Scent focus: Who knows how much of this is environmental influence and how much is instinctive, but I always have and still do focus on scent more than most humans seem to. I can identify people by scent, I seem to pay more attention to it than most people do. I also seem less bothered by natural body smells than most people do, but considering the responses when I asked around in the otherkin community once about that, unclear whether or not that's connected.
- Nonhuman noises: I make just a bunch of weird nonhuman noises, and always have. Growls, hisses, croons, hurrs, throat-clicks, chirps, etc. I've never met any human who does them instinctively like I do except my half-sister (whom I didn’t meet until a couple years ago), and she was just as surprised to hear me do it as I was surprised to hear her do it.
- Affection: Face-rubbing, light head-bonking against someone’s shoulder/body/head, and love nips/bites are all perfectly acceptable ways to show platonic affection, to dragon brain. Human society disagrees. The instinct to do these things is so strong that I definitely do give into the first two with people I’m close with, and I have physically had to catch and restrain myself when I was about to unthinkingly bite/nip someone’s skin because I wasn’t paying enough attention.
- Movement: Moving on all fours just feels better than moving on two legs, even though it’s objectively physically uncomfortable because humans aren’t built for that. I also have the instinctive want to be a lot more flexible than I’m capable of being, in ways I’m not capable of being - curling all the way around something or someone to squeeze them tight in the coil of my body, turning my head a hundred eighty degrees because my neck Should Be Longer.
- Expression: Baring one’s teeth when frustrated, irritated, or angry is not a particularly human instinct. I realize it’s something a lot of primates do do, but. *gestures at society* Humans ain’t one of them, at least not anymore. Even in Krav Maga, which is a self-defense style that focuses on being vicious and “dirty fighting” to survive a real street fight, every single time I have a new partner (and most times I have a partner I’ve worked with before) and I get tired enough to get snarly, they respond with some variation of “god that’s scary”. See also: gesturing at things with my nose because it should be long enough to make that a much more dramatic gesture than it ends up being.
- Den/lair/small spaces: I never feel safer than when curled up in a tiny alcove just big enough to comfortably fit my body curled up into it. The only position I’ll prioritize over it is getting up onto a high space.
Past Life Work
Unlike every other bullet point on this list, most of these didn’t apply until I started actively seeking them out, because, you know. Past life memories are like that.
- Past life regressions: I’ve got a tag for these, but tl;dr I take anything I learn from a past life regression or similar meditation/visualization with a whole spoonful of salt, forget “a grain,” because I know for a fact my brain is very good at making stuff up with these types of exercises. Unfortunately, they’re the only way to get information on certain things, like appearance.
- Tarot: Got a tag for that too. I use tarot to ask questions and confirm or reject suspicions.
- Spontaneous memories: I don’t have many, but they’re clear as day when they do appear. I don’t count something as a “true” memory unless it includes senses I can’t reproduce through imagination - smell and touch, mainly. Mostly these are quick flashbulbs, nothing cinematic or anything like that.
- Noemata: Again, I don’t have much in the way of noemata, but what I do have is persistent and consistent. I know things about my wing shape and flight style despite not having really experienced that in detail during past life regressions. That particular set of noemata has been confirmed to fit with real-world physics and bat wing shapes (the closest wing type to mine that exists or has existed on Earth).
118 notes · View notes
robinskalechip · 5 years
Text
ultimately - chapter four
masterlist
robin buckley fan fic
a/n: hi hi my dudes i’ve been receiving a good amount of comments on the first three chapters and thank you so much, please keep em coming it means a lot to me to get feedback on these things i work so hard on :)
warnings: smoking, language, mentions of violence
not my gif!
Tumblr media
chapter four - my only concern
it was officially friday and the end to the first week of school was finally upon robin and emily
robin thought about tomorrow night and how emily said she was serious about going out together. the two were walking together out of school as robin looked at the girl who was lighting her daily after school cigarette “so 6?”
“yeah, i’ll pick you up from the store”
robin hated when they had these short casual interactions because she felt an instinct to hug or kiss her as they parted ways but she knew she couldn’t
robin watched as the girl walked away. they hadn’t talked that much about the other night and robin wasn’t going to force her
robin and steve were both off that night so they decided to meet the kiddos and go out for pizza
dustin, lucas, mike, erica and max all piled up in the backseat of steve’s car. robin felt bad for nancy after johnathan left so she invited her too.
the evening was quite and content. the kids got hectic and heated at times but they all just told them how school was going and steve felt like a proud parent as he listened to his kids’ accomplishments and petty arguments with each other.
robin, namcy and steve were laughing at a story dustin was telling before steve stopped and looked behind robin before pointing and saying “hey twelve o clock”
robin turned around to see emily walking towards the kitchen doors, cigarettes still in her mouth as she paid no attention to the people around her, only a piece of paper in her hand
dustin paused his story once he saw this interaction “what’s she doing here”
robin shrugged her shoulders before they saw emily re-emerge from the doors, backing out as she took a shot of whiskey and walked towards a two person table where a woman sat. robin watched the entirety of the interaction.
they seemed to be talking but robin couldn’t read their lips, especially not from across the restaurant. at one point the woman tried to grab emily’s hand but she pulled away as soon as a singular contact was made. this made robin feel a hint of jealousy.
after about twelve minutes, emily got up and began walking out the door. as she pushed the door to, she turned her head to meet robin’s eyes but kept walking through the doorway.
steve, with a cheek full of pizza, looked at robin “what was that about”
robin kept her eyes glued to the door “i have no idea”
the next day robin went into work at 10 and felt herself counting down the hours before she would be in emily’s presence again and she could ask her about last night
around 5:45 she left steve to sneak into the supply closet that her and emily had been in only a few nights ago
she grabbed her bag she had brought with her and changed from her work clothes into casual clothes for their night out.
when she walked out of the closet she saw emily in the midst of talking to steve
steve had already said he was going to try and get with her. robin knew she didn’t stand a chance but another tally on her board was worth it.
emily’s eyes landed on robin as she scanned her body, making a chill radiate through robin’s body
once emily’s eyes met robin’s she uttered a small “hey” and a small smile accompanied it
robin walked towards her, telling steve goodbye and grabbing her keys
emily opened the door and let robin go through as she waved at steve, which he returned
robin was already getting into the car when emily turned around so she went straight to the driver’s side and got in, starting the car directly after “so where’s somewhere good to eat”
“oh i don’t know enzo’s is pretty good”
emily rolled her eyes as she began to drive “should have seen that coming”
robin felt a sudden sense of frustration take over her “let me review. you disappear from school, you show up at my job covered in blood while running from some strange man, and then i see you at some restaurant with some woman that most definitely was trying to get in your pants and once you see me, you completely ignore me”
emily took a deep breath “you done?”
robin didn’t answer, just leaned back in the seat
“just-, just give me some time rob. there’s a lot going on and i’m not currently in a position to give you the information you want”
robin felt her body begin to warm up at her gentle words but she was still angry. she hated being unaware of what was happening. she turned to look at her “are you safe?”
robin couldn’t tell if emily was just fixating on the road or avoiding eye contact “not yet”
emily felt her heart fall at how robin was feeling “talk to me”
robin felt a bit confused “about?”
“you”
“what do you want to know?”
“as much as you’ll tell me”
“ok..oh..uh..turn left up here and there’s a sandwich truck that’s good”
emily followed robin’s orders as she began to speak. emily listened and absorbed every word.
robin and emily got out of the car and walked to the truck and ordered their food and robin continued as they waited. emily would add in something about herself here and there which robin really liked because at least she was getting something out of her
for an hour or so they sat and ate and talked and robin felt like although she wasn’t hearing about emily’s history, she was learning about emily. she loved to read and said all of her books are beaten and tatted full of scribbles. she likes books that remind her of everything she is and isn’t and everything she wants to be. she likes books that remind her of the people and the things she loves and the books that make her feel something. she loves books that make her feel in love and books that reminded her of home.
once they got to the drive in movie emily got out of her car and opened the back seat door to get her denium jacket and put it over her grey hoodie. she had a pullover as well and offered it to robin to which robin accepted it.
she put the sweatshirt over her tee shirt and immediately felt warm in more ways than one. it smelled like emily and she felt like she could just melt into the scent and the feelings it made her feel.
there were food trucks set up by the entrance and emily began to make her way to the ice cream truck “really? it’s freezing and you’re getting ice cream?”
emily turned to look at robin, now with a smile on her face but that smile quickly fell as she looked behind robin. robin quickly turned and saw the woman from the other night on the phone, observing the area. before robin could say anything, emily was pulling her and guiding her towards the bathrooms “dont look back”
emily grabbed the hood from her hoodie and pulled it over her head “are the restrooms full of stalls?”
“no they’re the family ones”
once the reached the building, emily leaned her back against the building as they waiting for the restroom to become available
after about three minutes a woman walked out with her child and as emily watched them walk away she saw the woman approaching the building. she was obviously searching around her, trying to spot emily.
emily grabbed robin’s shoulders and switched places with her “screw it”
emily quickly moved her hands from robin’s shoulders to her cheeks as she leaned towards her and captured her lips between hers
in between kisses she pulled back slightly to quickly whisper “dont speak”
robin replied in the same fashion “dont worry”
in that moment, robin felt scared and excited all at once and she wasn’t quite sure if she should like it as much as she was
the intensity of the kiss became more and more apparent as emily focused on the noise around her as she heard the woman speaking in a quiet tone
“non la trovo da nessuna parte”
once she heard the footsteps slowly fade farther and farther away she backed away from robin, now panting as she tried to catch her breath
the two both heard the woman’s voice growing once again before emily hurriedly opened the restroom door “ah shit go go go”
they got in and locked the door of the already lit room. they were suddenly in the same situation that they were in only a few nights ago. both of their ears were now pressed to the door, trying to hear anything they could.
“sì signore, tornerò al negozio”
robin waited until she could no longer hear footsteps. “she said she was going back to a store”
emily looked at her with furred brows “you understood that?”
“yeah”
“hot” emily said, retracting herself from the door as she walked towards the sink and hopped on top of it, relaxing her body
robin walked towards her “emily, you gotta give me something. or else my mind is going to go in a thousand different directions”
emily looked up into robin’s eyes, her breathing getting harder and harder “robin-”
robin was angry at this point; angry that she was so out of control and was completely in the dark.
she got closer to emily, so close that their faces were practically inches apart “why not? and don’t give me that ‘it’s safer for you’ bullshit”
emily leaned forward and kissed robin once again. this time it wasn’t a heavy makeout that she was doing so she wouldn’t get caught. this one was gentle and like emily was trying to tell her something.
after they finally separated from each other, emily rested her forehead against robin’s, both of their eyes closed, trying to collect their thoughts.
emily was the first to speak. she did so in a whisper, as if she was scared someone might hear her “there’s some people after me and my family, like 1% type people. people who can do whatever they want without anyone knowing. im pretty sure they’re trying to find me and if they have already, they’re just waiting to see if i make a move”
“a move-“
“you can’t tell anyone this”
they were now looking into each other’s eyes
“you know that restaurant you saw me at?”
“yeah”
“we’re pretty sure they bought the place just so they could find us.”
“what about that woman?”
emily had tears in her eyes but she kept them from falling.
“she’s with them. she was the only one i ever got close to”
robin’s expression seemed to fall even more
“robin”
she looked up, still feeling angry and now somehow jealous. emily reached for her head and kissed her forehead before whispering “your safety is my only concern”
19 notes · View notes
gg-astrology · 5 years
Note
Hi! I seen your post for sun/moon placements but I couldn’t find mine which is Sagittarius sun/ Scorpio moon. Love your page!
Hey there! 💜💜💜 Ahh I’m SO sorry this is so late but I can finally get to it now! 💜 i hope this is good 💜
[Below Cut: Sagittarius Sun - Scorpio Moon 💥]
Thrill Seeker!!!! Adventurous spirit!!!!!!
I normally don’t say this for Sagittarius bc they’re also mellow people, likes being casual/joking about things, having a good laugh some quality time with people they love/care about. Doesn’t like being too uptight or stuffy--- that’s not their style.  
With Sagittarius/Scorpio combo-- they find themselves doing/getting into many different interests and hobbies. It’s important to mention how they sometimes drift, doing things for the passion of it. 
The feeling of fulfillment-- of diving into things and being able to grasps, achieve, do something with that interest. It might’ve started off as a casual interest like ‘oh that seems cool’--- but being able to Manifest it into something that shows their unique lifestyle, their inspiration and their self-expression drives them on. 
They’re self-determined people, would rather choose a path that’s ‘them’ than a clear cut, flower-filled path that’s given to them y know?
Rather than being addicted to challenges, it’s more like they’re addicted to finding ‘who’ they are. This is how they keep their youthful spirit (Sagittarius) and ties it with the determination of Scorpio. 
Not a follower by any means. When people expect them to do something, or assume they have to be a certain way -- they'd rather be the one telling others who they are, than have them challenge their own autonomy, freedom and life choices y know?
Wants a sense of achievement, has that look-- this is a cornerstone that they’ve overcome and gotten better at. A sense of accomplishment in doing something for themselves, that’s meaningful to them. That they’re being them and not-- being manipulated or pulled along by anyone else.  
They pour their energy into something/become good at it that its jus??? so impressive??? Their Scorpio narrows the idealistic side of Sagittarius down. It grounds them, makes the humble but also make them work hard to manifest their skills.
Not being acknowledged for how much they put their effort into it, for how hard they pour their soul into something makes them angry. It’s just--- they’re passionate about something and it shows. So they expect to be treated with some modicum of respect and not dismissed y know?
Gets hot-headed about prejudice, injustice around the world. Political opinion is also so so important?  
Like they’re casual about most stuff --- people can be educated/swayed in the right direction. But boy do they get fired up when others are just being unreasonable, irrational and prejudice on something. 
These people have to put their energy Somewhere, whether it’s frustration, emotions or jus self-expression. Scorpio is a pretty moody moon after all, there may be fluctuation in feelings of hurt, rejection, pain, misunderstanding. 
Sometimes it’s towards themselves like ‘why wasn’t it enough? why can’t I do more?’ sometimes it’s just stress and they have to vent it out rather than keeping it to themselves.
See, Sagittarius will always make them generous and casual. A little idealistic, they’re willing to give things/people a chance. Yet at the same time these people aren’t dumbos-- Scorpio makes them sharp, scrutinize things before they get into it. Calculate how much they can go into, whether they should or shouldn’t. 
So you have someone with pretty strong opinions (Sagittarius) and pretty strong feelings about something (Scorpio). But one of the things they’ll need to learn is that they can be bias and judgemental in their argument as well. Hot-headedness has never boded well for you, and you might realize that sometimes you do get cruel and unpredictable when your emotions run high.
It’s heightened by your fire sign, although you’re confident, modest about yourself and often well-prepared in your ‘prep work’ on topics/things. 
When you try to push others too much, to dominate or make them agree/see your point of view so much-- you get blindsided to their perspective, their point in their arguments. And thus-- you fume quietly to yourself until you’ve calmed down and then realize ‘oh shit i think I know what they mean’ when you’ve slowed down again.
Your indignant rage stops you from seeing the ‘entire picture’--- you refuse to step down, or back away because this is what you know and your passion stacks up higher and higher until you can’t control it yourself.
That’s the thing with fire/water combination, sometimes they just--- drown under a wave and let things out of control? Fire fans the flame of your knowledge, while water makes you step into the sea and then keep walking until you drown yourself.
It’s never a good thing to keep your emotions in, obviously. But it’s also not good when it drives you to extremity as well. With you it’s more to do with opinions, beliefs, values. Someone else refusing to budge makes you go into action (more and more each time) --- you’re egged on by your own frustration, your emotions can’t be kept inside it has to be vented out. And thus sometimes-- you lash them out in arguments that are getting heightened anyways.
Even when you shut yourself down, your doom and gloom lingers around you while you sulk away on your own. When you’d rather walk away from the situation with your dignity rather than letting your emotions get the better of you --- you still didn’t hear their thoughts/understand their opinion right?
You’re not solving anything whether you’re consumed or suppressing your emotions. The problem itself is that you don’t listen to others. Or rather listen and understand others completely (empathetically). Your empathy isn’t directed towards the person you’re arguing with. It’s towards others, redirected to the topic or casualties of your argument. 
You lack empathy for the person you’re talking to sometimes, self-preservation keeps you from opening yourself up to criticism as well. 
When you get constructive criticism, you detach your emotionality to listen/absorb right? Well that’s your defense mechanism and sometimes, it’s causing you more problem if you don’t notice how/when it’s working and when you should use it.  
Try to have an open-mind/open-heart or an understanding of their perspective when you’re talking to someone, try to give them your empathy, sometimes even telling them you don’t understand but ask if they can help you understand their perspective can help a lot. 
Consider being more flexible/adaptable and try to infuse communication skill --- not the serious heavy style or how personalized you are. But lighter, air signs like Aquarius/Libra/Gemini. 
The ability to learn and take in, to connect at a moment’s notice. You rely heavily on intuition to ‘connect’ to others-- how you feel/what you’re comfortable with. That sometimes you become fixated on ‘standing your ground’ or being ‘secure’. Thus you sacrifice relating to others and cause yourself this whole entire-- upheaval and trouble.   
Let’s end on a good note? Sagittarius/Scorpio have such good intuition! It comes from their willingness to learn, to study and educate themselves. 
They hate being ignorant or bias, so they always try to grasps the concept of things, the bigger picture. Scorpio shrewdness, ambitious and driven powerhouse concentration, penetrates and grasps to ‘core’ of the topics. 
Sagittarius expands it, applies it a larger vision/audience. You have this gift of just-- being able to self-study and learn, and then taking it out and sharing it with the world. Teach and apply it to people, backgrounds, situation. You contextualize small things into bigger areas. Able to explain it thoroughly, but also casually. People like you for how smart you are, even when you don’t show/bring attention to it. 
You aren’t pretentious at all, you’re self-assertive and use your voice for your own studies. Amplified through your own personality, your own unique style, it grabs attention just from being you.
You aren’t hive-mined, and half of the time you have a good grasps on where to humble yourself. Even if you’re popular, you know that’ll fade and become a thing you shouldn’t cling onto over time. You’re not superficial, no matter how gracious you take the blessings, admiration or praises other gives you. 
Sagittarius/Scorpio’s words are structured, well-educated without being elitist. They’re thoughtful and penetrating people. So they expect you to be just as exact as they are. 
If you say something then you mean it. So the wording or the implications that you use should also be something the other people should be careful of/think about before they talk to them. They did their research, so others should match theirs up with their own hypothesis, self-study or at least show them that they tried as well.
Alrighty! 💜 I hope this is good?? 💜💜💜 Sorry for the long wait aaah ;; I hope you get to see it! 💜
82 notes · View notes