SS7

Listen, when I was in high school/much younger, I "shipped" Sephiroth with Aerith. I didn't know it was called shipping back then but that's what it was. Obviously, I knew this was not canonical (didn't use that word either back then). I knew it did not fit within the bounds of the story for obvious reasons. But that did not stop me from enjoying fanfics and fanart of the dynamic. At this stage in my life, I really don't care for such a pairing but I understand why people might ship it, or other "fanon" pairings within FFVII or any other media. I have absolutely no problem with people shipping any characters for that kind of fun and enjoyment. If there is a fanon ship that bothers me for whatever reason, I simply mute anything to do with it. Before social media, I would just avoid that pairing on the internet. The problem that I have is how many of you are just here to lie and twist the story to fit what you seem to have deluded yourselves into believing it to be. You might have gotten away with some level of that behavior in decades past because of large gaps in understanding, lack of availabilty of English reference materials, and room for ambiguity (low tech, storybook text formats, interpretive statements, lack of clearly defined physical intimacy or direct statements typical in western usages) but in the last 15 years and especially the last 5-10, things in FFVII related media have become incredibly clear and direct. This includes very deliberate efforts by the developers to address certain misconceptions in a clearly targeted way. And instead of simply adjusting your understanding while also accepting that it's okay to ship a pairing that is not canonical to the source material, you have resorted to lying, fabricating, harassing, and just being cancerous cells within the FFVII community. If there are any Clerith shippers out there who genuinely want to ship that pairing for fun, creativity, or personal enjoyment, I truly have no issue with that. Fan spaces have always thrived on imagination. What I will not respect, however, is the deliberate distortion of the source material, the fabrication of quotes or “translations,” and the harassment of others simply because they acknowledge what the story itself actually shows. At some point, that side of the fandom needs to get its house in order. The majority of your engagement thrives on disrespecting the source material and vilifying the people who actually enjoy the story as it is written. That behavior poisons all of the discourse and drags the entire community down with it. Shipping is fandom. Canon is what is written in the text, source material, or official media. Those two things can coexist perfectly well as long as people are honest about which one they’re engaging in and how they are treating others concerning it. Let me be clear that the wider FFVII fandom – Clotis, Zeriths, non-shippers, other fanon shippers, casuals, ANYONE who engages with FFVII at any level – is not obligated to tolerate lies, bad-faith arguments, fabricated “evidence,” or harassment simply because some people refuse to separate their headcanon from the actual text of the story. If you really love FFVII you can accept the true story while still enjoying your headcanons and fanon fantasies. But if you cannot reconcile the difference without resorting to self-delusion, gaslighting, and vitriol, you need to move on.