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#i just legit think its so funny how different both fandoms are
finnickyy · 7 months
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I went on a rant on my IG story a few weeks ago and just wanted to share it here cuz i went in depth and got a bit too passionate
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transcript after cut
i fucking love mha
like its honestly my favorite show right now
is it perfect? fuck no
you have to be dumb as shit to think this show is perfect
there are so many things wrong with it omfg
but thats not what i wanna get into
what i wanna get into is the fandom and it portrayal of erasermic
EraserMic is probably one of the best things to come out of the show
Its literally the story of the two characters grieving the loss of a close friend and never really healing from it. BUT FUCKING NO
THATS NOT WHAT THE FUCKING FANDOM WANT TO FOCUS ON
THEY WANNA FOCUS ON FUCKINH "dadzawa and mamamic"
FUCKING SHUT UP
THEY REDUCE THESE COMPLEX AND INTERESTING CHARACTERS INTO CARICATURES AND OVER EXAGGERATIONS OF ONE ASPECT OF THEYRE PERSONALITY
AIZAWA
bros legit a dude that would sacrifice everything for the sake of other people
his self destructive behaviors are stated multiple time in the show and in vigilantes
he does not view himself as something that is important
he views himself as simply a tool for the betterment of other people
thats why hes a teacher
he literally doesnt own any personal items
all he has in his fucking apartment is his sleeping bag
he doesn't allow himself to get sentimental
after oboros death he became closed off and didn't allow himself to work though what happened
the only thing he focused was training
even to the point of ignoring his physical needs
he doesn't let himself get attached
he doesn't even open when mic tries to reach out to him
BUT FUCKING NOO ALL THE FANDOM WANTS TO FOCUS IN IS FUCKING DADZAWA
LIKE LET IT GO
YES DUDES A GOOD TEACHER
BUT HES NOT JUST THERE TO BE TIRED BITCH
WHY DO THEY FIXATE SO MUCH THE FUCKING TIREDNESS???
LIKE I GET "hahahaha funny trait" GET NEW MATERIAL OMFG
MIC
mic is so interesting to me cuz if the fact that "Present Mic" is simply just a persona
Mic is this outgoing loud person
Hes bombastic and enthusiastic
hes the fun guy
hes the guy that people go to when they want to chill and have a laugh
Yamada Hizashi is quiet and observant
He was the first person to suggest that there was a traitor in UA
He is the one that takes care of aizawa when hes drunk (i love the fact thats literally canon omfg)
Hes the one people see but dont notice
Present Mic is literally a Caricature of what he wants to be for people - easy and outgoing
THEY ALWAYS MAKE HIM THE PAPAMIC SHIT THAT I SEE OVER AND FUCKING OVER AGAIN
IT PISSES ME OFF SO FUCKIG. MUCH OMFG
One thing i saw someone point out is how you can tell when he is hizashi and when he is mic
When hes Hizashi - his eyes are visible
When hes Mic - all you can see are his glasses
Hizashi doesn't cope with the death of Oboro either. He never focuses on himself
He is always focused on what Aizawa feels. Which is why this shit is favorite
Its the fucking dysfunctionality of it
Hizashi never deal with his shit he just states whats happened.(ex. when midnight died - he just simply stated the obvious without actually confronting the subject at hand)
He is always focused on the others
(Hence, why he never told aizawa that they were actually going for his quirk instead of Oboro)
This is why they both work so well and dont at the same time.
They both use the same ideaology (putting other infront of you no matter what)
but using different methods
for aizawa its focusing on bettering himself to use himself as a tool to improve others
for mic its not focusing on yourself at all and putting all his attention onto others
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Someone DM me insisting that Belos is a Hate Sink unlike Lord Voldemort because "their fantasy crimes are too unrealistic to be hated" unlike Belos who "is a human planning to murder all the witches, who are highly similar to humans." And I'm like, did you even read Harry Potter (I mean, there are legit reasons not to)?
"This fantasy wizard who is planning witch genocide is too unrealistic unlike that other fantasy wizard who is also planning witch genocide!!"
No seriously, it's funny because Belos and Voldemort have a lot of similarities and to say that one is more realistic than the other is absurd: Both are former humans who perverted and destroyed their bodies through the misuse of magic, both see their group as superior to another group that is just minding its own business, both seek to destroy said group because of that preconceived sense of superiority. Both even brand their followers with magical tattoos to signify that difference! The causes of their motivation are different but they are functionally the same.
Back when Harry Potter was the biggest fandom in the world, a lot of people made comparisons to Voldemort's Death Eaters to the Nazis; both are obsessed with blood purity and seek to rid the world of those they consider impure and to have their supreme leader rule everyone.
Like, it's really obvious.
The fantasy genre as a whole has an escapist element and a common plot that pops up a lot is the "diverse group of heroes set out to destroy the Big Evil trying to take over the world as Supreme Dictator For Life." It's an easy Good vs. Bad plot and if you add in how the Big Bad oppresses people based on physical traits, beliefs, etc. then you can easily read a political angle as well.
And honestly, really good and memorable villains will have that real world element to make the threat more believable and engaging for the audience: Voldemort is basically Wizard Hitler, Darth Vader is an authoritarian, etc. So the idea that a villain is so hated because their "fantasy crimes are too realistic" is laughable.
(Also, as a side note, it's really funny that that person said that TOH witches are really similar to humans while HP witches and wizards are literally just humans without any pointy ears to physically distinguish them from Muggles.)
I honestly think the reason why Belos is so hated is because of Hunter--full stop. If he wasn't abusive toward Hunter and people didn't project their own feelings onto Hunter and see how relatable his situation is, then I doubt Belos would get this much vitriolic hate. (We're also in this very strange time where some younger fans seem to think that liking a villain means you support their actions.)
I think that's the element of realism that triggers people the most; compare Voldemort to Umbridge, people can like Voldemort and not get flamed for it but EVERYONE in the HP fandom hates Dolores Umbridge. While Voldemort is more of a typically fantasy villain, Umbridge feels like a person you could meet in real life. She's a bureaucrat who takes over the school and enforces her oppressive and nonsensical laws with an iron fist. Power wise, she doesn't stand out from the other wizards but she has institutional power, which makes her terrifying as a villain. It's easier to defeat the one Big Bad and save the day but it's damn near impossible to destroy the System that makes little Umbridges every day.
Again, I think that what triggers people about Belos is how he treats Hunter not the whole witch genocide thing or "colonization" because the show spends more time showing us how much Hunter suffers than the whole Boiling Isles.
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faorism · 1 year
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thinking about @bisexual-enby-jellyfish talking about the lack of time travel fic in the fandom, and got me thinking that since canon is satisfying, instead of fix its, we gotta have break its.
BITTERSWEET CANON COMPLIANT PONDERINGS AHEAD
canon lev:red era and pardison is out on a mission for alecs non-leverage side hustle, and they are going to a specific town which they remember distantly eliot talking about it, from years back, how that was a moment of decision for him early in his military career. it was there—eliot admitted when he was feeling especially vulnerable, with a smile that was supposed to be funny but really wasnt—it was there that put him on the path that lost his soul. that comment has a lot more weight now, after eliot saying he has lonely he has been for years (which still haunts parker), and how apparently he told sophie he cannot be redeemed (which is now haunting hardison), and because of all the hitting eliots body is starting to betray him (which scares them both). maybe before they left, they had a tense argument. eliot wanted to go with them, but pardison was like?? you legit told us this is #trauma for you, no. and eliots shrug of a response to what it would put him through sat ill with them.
the memories of eliots unhappiness gives pardison the willies but they try to move on, but something feels... off? anyway MAGIC the resonances of eliot's soul-ache draw the two in to a long abandoned military coup base and they get sent back to around 20/21ish eliot (with alec around 35, the age difference between them but reverse in of s1).
they dont meet right the second they land, but its close: eliot finds pardison in the active base, and he rescues them because he thinks hardison and parker are his retrieval targets. (parker... was under the impression eliot wasn't able to get in time to save the real target in his timeline?? hardison just grumbles uhh.... multiple universes are a headfck irl.)
eliot is on an extended mission, one of his first serious solo ones, one that is clearly testing him out for recruitment for special ops. so hardison and parker can't be whisked away and has to stick around eliot For Reasons with an assumed identity. pardison realizes that eliot's mission can be better resolved (aka little/no bloodshed) with a con, and they convince eliot to go along. they aren't there long per se, but there is a lot of thrills and suspense and tension and idk plot stuff, i hate plot stuff so imagine that's happening in the background.
throughout it all, hardison and parker treat eliot like they normally would... which is utterly familiar and intimate, which throws young eliot. and by throws i mean seduces accidentally. eliot gets all heart-eyed, which hardison and parker don't notice right away because they miss their home time, but also eliot just always kinda acts like that. eliot is falling so hard but he tries to be respectful because obviously pardison is together, but a man can dream...
hardison and parker have Talks about how important it is to not change the past, as much as their presence undoubtedly has changed something. but as much as hardison is genre aware, it's harder for him. the rawness of eliot's confession—that he doesn't think he can ever be redeemed—sits heavily on hardison. and he also is like... why are we here, why were brought back? maybe we are supposed to heal a hurt, right a wrong, maybe... parker just wants to go home.
but she is the one who breaks. eliot is shot at and hurt while protecting them, and the screams from parker and hardison are just... gut wrenching. and as hardison is patching eliot's shoulder up and parker is wiping down eliot's dirt and sweat-drenched face, eliot is like... something aint right with you two. hardison tries to deflect with a joke, but eliot is like, no. you... know me. you care about me. please—he interrupts, when hardison is about to deny harder—the truth. and hardison and parker look at each other. she nods so hardison tells him. some of it, but enough. he tells eliot that they know him from the future. they work together, but it's more than that. parker and hardison arent sure how they came back, but they know some of the why. maybe. they are gonna help eliot, and maybe they get back to their time. maybe not. but they aren't gonna abandon eliot here if they can help it.
eliot gets quiet and is like... do you... are we... and hardison furrows his brows. eliot decides to be brave, braver than he may have ever felt before (and thats saying something) and he asks, are we together? and parker is like, yeah he just told you, we are a team, have been for years, we're family and eliot is like no not... hardison and parker are like what?? and eliot just shakes his head and is like, when you say family, you mean...?
hardison pauses from his stitching to say, you two have a permanent kill switch for my computers in case i go evil mad scientist. and parker says only you and alec can look over my harnesses before i jump. i don't double check your work anymore. hardison says you... and what can he say that would make sense to this eliot? what would have the weight? you let us take care of you.
eliot's eyes go wide, hardison's observation landing just right, and here is where parker meets her limit. dont enlist, she says
and eliot, stunned, tries to make a joke to cut the tension choking him: he looks over his gear and is like, little late for that, darlin'.
and parker is like, don't join black ops. go to aimee back as soon as you can.
parker breaks because... parker sees this eliot, this softer version of himself and parker loves eliot, her eliot, but also this one. she didnt know what eliot had lost but now she knows. she knows and she has the power to do something. she can't hoard eliot away when things can. be. better. for. him. she knows what make us us, but...... us is a lonely eliot. us is an eliot that feels damned. us is an eliot who deserves so much more, everything, anything. they can promise him robot bodies, but there's something else they can give him. a life beyond what he... what he had to make with them. a life with whatever eliot calls a soul.
hardison gasps parker but doesn't disagree with her, and if eliot had doubts they were from the future or had some special knowledge about him, this was proof enough.
and what'll happen if i dont?
parker hugs herself tight: you can have a good life, el. the one you want.
what do you know what i want? and god, he sounds so much like their eliot but also so much his twenty/twenty-one years.
it's what you've told us, hardison says.
and what about what we got? parker and hardison don't say anything. i don't think its enough? i ever say that? exactly that?
parker and hardison want to say yes, but they can't. they also cant quite say no. both hurt. the lack of clarity burns.
as parker and hardison try to find the words to convince him, eliot just sighs. in your time, did i even tell you i love y'all two?
and parker... okay, look there's a lot going on and she is very very sad and she is always very very shocked. so she responds, you don't love us.
eliot gets that... that fucking martyr smile of his: the way you treat me? respect me? and... you two are gorgeous. funny. smart. there's no way i aint in love.
and parker is like. you can't know that.
eliot is like, i can because im halfway there myself. more than halfway, if im honest.
and parker and hardison are... floored. no, you can't love us, hardison repeats. he is sure of this. he has to be.
eliot: future me or now?
hardison: either. both. eliot, you can't love us. eliot can't. that... that doesn't make sense. no. god, what have they been doing for fifteen years if... no. god no. if eliot loved them, he would have said something. they would be together. no. this eliot is so green and young and unbroken and... this eliot doesn't know their eliot. he's wrong. he... has to be.
eliot frowns. so i trust you with everything i am but i aint in love, you aren't enough, and... and you want me to take a different path. away from y'all
hardison: it sounds awful when you say it like that.
eliot: it doesn't sound like a good situation, from where im sitting
parker: we just want you happy, eliot. even if it means we cant have you.
eliot sobers. nods. i won't promise you i will. but... i will consider it.
and that's what parker and hardison want but they are just… spooked. but so is eliot. he withdraws and says he has it from here. hardison and parker try to insist they need to help, but eliot gives them a stare down until they take the out.
after that... things are heavy. but the con is rolling along fine, and above all else, they are professionals. as the con is wrapping up, parker is planning out the last details about the gloat and she's like, we won't be there but you should... and they are like oh. yes. that.... that's gonna happen. that will be when they leave.
the con goes well until inevitably they hit a snag, so when they are gonna break up for separate parts of the con, the departure is on a much more sudden time frame than they expected. they three look at each other because they know they won't see each other again, not like this. maybe not ever again.
as parker and hardison try to find the words to leave eliot behind, eliot just sighs. i told you i would consider leaving the army but you gotta answer me and don't lie.
parker: anything
eliot: is there a time you are alive now because i was there? not... not any hitter. specifically me.
oh. tear well up in parker's eyes. not fair.
because parker thinks about a sunken cavern of ice. that one shouldn't even count, any other hitter would probably have just told her to leave the body from the beginning. parker does not care. eliot saved her in more ways than just convincing her to climb out of the cave in the end.
and hardison thinks of that second day, technically the first twenty-four hours.... thinks of eliot pulling hardison up before the warehouse blows up. maybe the choreography of the day would have meant hardison didn't fall, or maybe he did live but was injured, or maybe a million things. eliot steadied hardison, was his friend, his confidante, the one who held him first when hardison came up from the ground.
so the answer yes then?
parker: it's not that simple
eliot: why can't it be?
parker makes an unhappy sound. the time is running out. they need to get to position. now. but...
hardison holds eliot by the neck, as eliot once did him, and says. you once told me all i had to do was to show you the way and you would save the world for us. we want to show you the way to save your soul, whatever it takes, whatever happens to us, because... that's what love can look like, too. we just want what's best for you, whatever that looks like. just think about it. okay?
eliot looks like he wants to resist, but hardison squeezes desperately, trembling.
okay. i'll think about it.
hardison draws eliot close, into a hug. thank you.
eliot clutches him back. goddammit, he whispers, no explanation.
parker is there when hardison pulls back an inch. eliot hugs her too, and says into her ear, make sure he doesnt get into too much trouble without me, alright?
parker does not say anything at first. says, goodbye, eliot, with their cheeks squeezed together, that's how hard she's hugging him.
bye, park.
and so.
they part.
they finish the con, and parker and hardison are so incredibly anxious about what the repercussions are gonna be (they are willing to take them, for eliot) and also are already like, mourning eliots place in their lives because they love him
they finish out the con and they feel the tug and they get back to the present. its done. they did it.
parker and hardison are shaking and things seem similar enough, that means eliot had to have chosen them.... no, no, they can't get their hopes up.
......they had to have found a way without him. they had to, because that's what eliot would have wanted from them in exchange for his soul.
but just as they get their bearings, there's a sound just a little away. they stiffen; parker gets ready to fight. but it's...
oh.
eliot holds them close and he's like, god, it's been weeks i've been checking every day
you can't be here, hardison says
you promised you would consider it, parker says, distressed
and eliot... doesnt respond with confusion, i... knew it had to be around now if it really was you but i was never sure it was real before
parker, face tucked squarely into eliot's neck: you remember us?
i didn't or... i didn't include you in my mission report. there was no proof yall existed and then the next deployment, the very next one, they... they got me. held me for months. i was convinced yall were a fantasy to give me hope. over the years, i thought maybe, maybe it was... but no, it couldnt be. but since y'all vanished, it's been coming back. eliot's fingers dig into them where he's holding them. its been coming back, ive been remembering, and ive been here, waiting
hardison, tears flowing: we told you to go home. we warned you. you could have been okay.
eliot pulls back to meet hardison's eyes: when you left, i imagined my life if i went back. it... wouldve been nice. married to aimee, likely, but that would've never lasted. not forever. too the same, all passion and no patience. mightve gone to work for my dad. itd be comfortable. a decent life.
parker: it would have been good. safe. you would have been happy.
eliot shakes his head: i chose the army first, before you showed up. it was always gonna be what i did. i was stubborn, then, and i didnt understand the scope but i was following it to its ends.
hardison: so it was all for nothing.
eliot: no, fuck. no. you showed me a way to keep my soul, but whatever happened to it, a way i couldnt take, but i at least knew, somewhere deep inside... eliot stops, tries to untangle them.
hardison: what did you know?
eliot: i'm here that's what matters
parker: please
eliot: even then, i knew at least... my soul might be lost but i would always know where my heart was
parker: oh. you love us
of course, darlin'. eliot swallows.
you never told us
you never told me
hardison: we didnt want you to leave
eliot: i never wanted to give you a reason to push me away
parker: we're so stupid.
hardison puts his forehead to eliots. like really really stupid. you said you liked us because we are smart, but we're so dumb, man
theres so much to resolve. so much doubt, so many feelings to untangle, too many misunderstandings to air... but for now, when eliot laughs and says at least youre still pretty, and hardison huffs offended before trying to tickle eliot saying oh did you say petty? i heard petty did you hear petty parker? and parker is like, oh i think i did and they overpower eliot with tickles and ninja attacks that lead to cuddles and kisses.
and the soul-pain will always linger for eliot, that won't ever go away. not quite. but in the warmth of their silliness on a spot that once hurt so bad, there... their laughter brings something that has been there longer than eliot knew to look: a heartsong of devotion, of care, of love... and that? that wont ever go away
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rozunderpressure · 5 months
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Seeing the mention of it, the ML subreddit is. Horrible. Like the people on Reddit will scream about how Adrien was mistreated 24/7 then suddenly go "Ugh, this again?!" when Chloé is brought up and downvote you to hell for saying you like her?? The subreddit is VERY canon loving but when you try to bring up how good/competent Chloé actually was IN canon, they call you delusional and tell you to get over it?? Ok get over Adrien not being in the finale, Alya believing Lila etc then. I'm not salting on Adrien or Alya btw but like. Why is one dead horse okay to beat but the other gets you attacked lol. Also it's full of people who think Felix is the greatest fiction character ever and that people who hate him are just stupid?
Its kinda funny to how the legit personality reasons to dislike both Chloé and Félix are the same... They are both arrogant, assholish, rich kids who, tho for different reasons, in their core, basically believe they are better than everybody, but Chloé used to be a hero and is usually being manipulated through her emotions and has expressed regret a few times, while Félix did a genocide among other horrible shit and literally never expressed any remorse, but his gf say he is nice now and we like her right? So yeah, lets just believe that...
Like, here is the interesting thing about contrasting those two: It clearly shows the writers only think of physical abuse as abuse, the fact Chloé was emotionally neglected is not abuse in their eyes, and also denotes a certain deep form of misogyny that shows in BOTH the fandom and writers (because its one that is an undercurrent in our society to be fair); Chloé is very feminine in the most demonized way by nerds (kinda dumb, trendy, a rich bitch and snobbish) and Félix is very masculine in the most desirable way for nerds (quick thinking, skillful, intelligent in way that makes him smarter than everybody else around him without much caring about the feelings of others, east Asian gfOKJK on that one), so that is that...
I don't hate Felix... I don't care for his character, he does nothing for me personally, I find the kind of character he is incredibly bland and boring, (and I don't hate the MLB Reddit community either-- mostly I don't KNOW the MLB reddit community--) but I don't hate him because I blame the writers for everything wrong with this show.
I have more to say about Alya and characters being plot devices and not characters (which is why she fell for Lila's bullshit, she wasn't being Alya at the time, no salt on her, its the writing that sucks) and how Adrien is treated like a trophy and frail creature who must be protectec from the truth itself and his treatment illustrates why just GENDERBENDING the shitty traditional story structure so the damsel in distress is now a guy without an IOTA of investigating WHY those stories suck IN THE FIRST PLACE doesn't work but-- I fear I already wrote too much, this is quite the long rant XD
So yeah, I don't know anything about the reddit community... XD
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sup-its-cat · 2 years
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In regards to that specific posts about asking questions, dca fandom (it took me until now to figure out that meant 'day care attendant/s' fandom gdgdfjkgb), etc.
5, 10, 11, 15, 16, 18, and I think 19? if I remember correctly (either that or I would've asked 1 through 20 XD but um just these will do!)
Have a good rest of your day ^^ or night!
First of all thanks :D you too havr a good rest of your day/night!
5. if you make content, what's your favourite piece you've contributed?
It gotta be these 2 drawings!
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Sadley not a lot of attention has fallen it when I posted but it's okay :')
I just really like the pose and the shadows I did! Tho I don't like how I did the eyes in the first drawing-
10. What keeps you in this fandom despite the very small amount of canon content the dca had?
I.LOVE.JESTERS !!!!!
Okay but for real I love these characters so much cause of how much personality pours out from just the little moments we have!
I love the daycare and I love how it's just so different!
I mean think about it!
Every single animatronic except for the puppet is based around an animal!
But these guys are diffent and I think that's one of the reasons why I got attached to them
Also
Jesters
Legit if you make a character that has jester/clown aesthetic and is a bit unhinged I'll be obssesed with them (jevil for example)
11. Be honest; if you had to pick only one, sun or moon?
God I'm so sorry moon but I have to say sun-
Trust me I adore moon! Love him with all of its creepy stuff, very good for angst too!
But sun! Ohhhh boy when I first laid my eyes on them I immediately knew; I'll be obssesed with them
Also! I love writing sun angst in my head- I'm sorry I do-
I just love all the possibilities that could happen with a seemingly a very happy and optimistic character
I just love characters who try to act as if everything is completely fine and trying so hard to lach to whatever normalicy is still there for dear life!
15. Do you interpet sun and moon as two sides of the same person, or truly two separate beings in one body? does it matter?
I see them as 2 seperate beings in one body :D
I just can't see them being the same person they have very diffrent roles and desings (not shape ofc but they are literal opposites with the sun and the moon)
I like to think that they used to in separate bodies before something happened that made them in one body
I already drew stuff like that!
Also I don't think it really matters, you can headcanon whatever you want as long as it's not illegal or gross :D
16. what's something in the fandom you'd like to see more of?
More sun x moon-
FOR CONTEXT I DON'T SEE THEM AS SIBLINGS, AND I NEVER DID AND NEVER WILL BE IF YOU SHIP THEM BUT SEE THEM AS SIBLINGS GET OUT OF MY BLOG
Honestly I don't really like x reader stories, no reson tbh just not really into them, I prefer sitting in the background and making 2 characters kiss like dolls :)
Anyway yeah! I just really like the ship like when I first got into the game and saw both of them my immediate reaction was "omg new ship!? AND THEY HAVE LITERALLY THE SUN AND MOON DYNAMIC!?" lmao
18. anything you are looking forward to?
Based on canon? No not really I don't trust them
On fanon? Oh boy are there some fanfics/ fan comics am I excited for to update
There is this one sun x moon fic made by @stressed24seven (I follow them on insta) whish is a priest au with moon as the demon and sun as the priest and I live sun's characterisation it's so relatable and funny as hell
AND I'M WAITING SO HARD FOR CHAPTER 3 TO COME OUT
I should make fanart of it
19. do you think you'd actually get along with the dca if you met them irl?
For sun, yes absloute 100% i would love to hang out with them and be my friend
They would probably sometimes be too much for me but nothing really bad
For moon.. well if we are talking about infected-moon then I'll be terrified imagine this 6 foot tall humanoid animatronic running at you in full speed with all fours while ALSO in the dark
That shit is scary-
But for pre-virus moon, i believe I'll get along with him :)
I see him as this very quiet but can be kinda sarcastic person who you can chill around
And I'm also a quiet person believe or not so we would get along :D
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williamwheeler · 3 years
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It's so weird being in the Gotham fandom and the Stranger Things fandom at the same time, like:
ST fandom: "After carefully analizing the subtext in the show, I'm now going to write a theory about why I think this character might be gay"
Gotham fandom: *points at literally anyone* "these bitches gay. good for them, good for them"
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lizacstuff · 3 years
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Liza that 3rd fragman 👀 "if I was born a 100 times I'd fall in love with you everytime" Eda saying this is their last obstacle and nothing can separate them, serkan's "I'll be right back, close your eyes I'm here" If this isn't all a red flag for shits about to hit the fan then I don't know what is LOL (but also how cute to Edser look and them telling each other they love each other very much 😭😭😭)
That fragman is both the SWEETEST and the MOST OMINOUS thing I’ve ever seen. ALL AT ONCE.  
Friends... we’re gonna go through some things.  That being said, everything is going to be great. These writers have been solid so far, and I have faith they have come up with something really interesting to increase the longevity of this show. And I don’t know about you, but I’m prepared to go through some things if it means keeping Eda and Serkan for longer.  (I heart them)
This show is about Eda and Serkan and their love story, at it’s core it’s a comedy, it will all lead to happy things, but... yeah, buckle up! 
I have a lot of asks both about the fragman and last ep, so I’m going to answer a bunch under the cut. 
Anonymous said: The fandom theories about episode 28 have gotten so wild that I literally think the most shocking thing would be if they actually got married and were not separated (emotionally or physically). What if the earlier painful episodes were to make us believe that things couldn't possibly go right in 28 and it's a reverse psychology trick?
You could be right!  I like your thinking. I checked on twitter and I had to back away slowly. The juvenile temper tantrums were too much for me today.  
Look, I think it’s clear something big is coming. It has to, there has to be something that shakes up the show. Some of the theories are more upsetting and catastrophic than others, but the writers won’t do anything that dings either character or their love for one another.  Whatever happens will showcase the connection between these two and the chemistry between the actors, that’s the point of everything, and anything that does those things is gonna be a-okay with me. 
@jan31​ Hi Liza. Do you think we are going to see the wedding in 28 or they will leave it on a cliffhanger for next week. Lots of theories going round mainly cos of Neslihan saying new dimensions coming in episode 29, which could just mean married life etc. I have seen suggestions of memory loss, it's all a dream since episode one. I would personally love Eda to wake up like in episode one but for it to be a total turn around and she is the boss and Serkan the employee. Eda being robot yildiz appeals to me!!! I know it will never happen but leave me here with my dreams!!
I started the day at 90% sure they’ll be married in 28/29, but now I’m down to like 30% that they’ll get married in these episodes. I really, really want them to get married before whatever happens happens, because every scenario I can think of for this reset or starting again, seems like it would be better if they were married.  
However, the shooting spoilers from today, make me question that. Namely the videos where Hande appears to still be wearing the ring on her right hand. We shall see, that could be for many reasons. 
Honestly, though, I wouldn’t hate a memory loss storyline. Seeing one of them (and Serkan’s line in the trailer makes it seem like it might be him) lose their memory and have to fall in love all over again? There are worse fates for a shipper than getting to experience that all again but in a different way.  
Anonymous said: Your response to the fandom drama anon was so good, it's exactly how I feel. While I don't know what the old posts that were like are (that's shady as fuck) I did see all the other drama go down and wow. The actresses def need to stay in their lane and some of the fans, hoooo boy, it's obvious they're young based off their reactions alone. Had to unfollow some people once I realized what they were like. Also some of the IRL shipping reminded me of col*fer stuff, reading into everything and blowing it out of proportion (which then gets picked up by paps....). But you're right in that at least the show related drama is tame compared to OUAT. But still, people being too careless even while they know the paps see everything and harass Kerem and hande (omg did you see the video of hande the other day stopped in the van and she looked so overwhelmed 😔)
You’re referencing this post here about yesterday’s drama. 
Today Neslihan made it worse by addressing everything and claiming she didn’t like all those Hande-bashing posts because... wait for it... she was HACKED. Oy. Hackers got in and went back two years to like gross posts about Hande? Sure, Jan. While I don’t believe that for a second, I guess that at least gives her cover with Hande so they can all pretend it’s true and move on so it’s not awkward on set.  But, yikes, she needs to consult a publicist, she took a narrative that was circulating in certain circles in fandom and made sure all her followers were aware. Not very savvy. 
As for the paps coming after Hande, yes I did see her in the car, she did look overwhelmed. Back off vultures!!! That’s why I think Kerem sometimes throws himself to the wolves so that doesn’t happen. She always handles them like a pro, but you can tell she’d rather be anywhere else on earth than talking to them. 
The pap stuff is worse than I’ve seen before, they’re like vultures circling for any conjecture (sometimes made up out of thin air) they can turn into a question and blame fans. OUAT actors dealt with nothing like this. Also I can’t believe they never ask about the show. Like after last week? They could legit ask about the sex scene which probably would have given them some angle on the actors that they wanted, (especially since it was too hot for Turkish TV) but they let that pass them by, and instead asked the same questions about being together that they never answer. Dumbasses. They are not only awful people, they are awful at their jobs. 
In Van, the paps pay off crew members for info, they always know more than fans. Also I don’t remember stars of my shows getting this level of tabloid attention before. Except for on Riverdale, Lili and Cole generated that level of interest, and while I didn’t pay terribly close attention to them, I feel like they rarely talked to the paps, were just photographed. Also I don’t suspected the CW of calling the paps on them, but I suspect either the network or production company of sometimes calling them on Hande and Kerem. 
Anonymous said: Do you think it’s weird that they didn’t touch the kidnapping at all in either trailer? They might not have filmed it in time for the 1st one but certainly the 2nd. And I’m definitely not complaining about the ones we got because its like a fairytale but the kidnapping was the cliffhanger...? 🧐 I think they should’ve just left the princes storyline at “he went back to his country” but then they didn’t so......
If they’d left his story at just going back to his country, then the Prince really wouldn’t have served his purpose. He was brought on to cause some sort of trouble, so they probably need him to cause the trouble before he goes, lets hope it ends with this kidnapping!
And to answer your question, yes, I do think it’s weird that neither trailer touched on it. On any other show I’d think it was a huge red flag, but on this show maybe not as much because  a) there’s obviously a lot of romance in this episode, it’s not crazy that they are focusing on that to draw people in with the promos  b) this show likes to do cliffhangers that end up being no big deal, that happens a lot.  
Who knows it could turn out to be a big deal that shapes the rest of the episode in some unexpected way (Eda’s captured the whole episode and she’s dreaming about wedding prep, or... who knows) but I think it’s more likely that they resolve in the first 5-10 minutes and then move on.  Since we know from the summary (not that I trust those) that Serkan goes on the bachelor weekend, it feels like the Prince is taken care of prior to that. I don’t think he’d leave her alone for a second if there was a chance the Prince was still a threat. Perhaps Babaanne is pissed he tried to kidnap Eda and tells them she’ll handle it herself???
Anonymous said: Semiha not being in the promo is highkey suspicious. The actress is promoting the episode lol. She's about to Evil Queen this wedding ceremony but you know what, I'm fine with whatever she has planned if they end up married at the end of the day. What's funny is that since a lot of fans these days will assume that there will be shocking negative plot twists, not actually having one here would be a plot twist so I hope the writers keep them together for whatever's next haha
You’re not wrong, at this point, having this wedding take place would be a shocking twist for all of us!  As for Semiha... hmmm... it will be interesting to see what her reaction is to Eda being kidnapped by her pick of suitor. Serkan Bolat might be the son of the man indirectly responsible for her parents death, but he would never hurt her. Take note, Grandbag!  
Anonymous said: Do you mind sharing your speculative scenarios?
After the trailer today, I don’t know if I can even remember some of them. 
Memory loss
Grandma forces Serkan to choose between Eda and his company/wealth,  he chooses Eda and they start over from scratch with nothing
Time jump
AU starting over, showing a different path they might have taken together
Dream
These actors playing different characters in a new story
I don’t think the last three are likely, but they did spring to mind after some of Neslihan’s teases. 
Anonymous said: So this show doesn't get like fantastic ratings (it actually seems to be on the lower end compared to all other dizis airing) but the social media engagement is off the charts. Why is that?!? Is the show just extraordinarily popular internationally? or that this is a "shipping" show? I'm floored by the numbers - its like no other show/fandom is even trying
The ratings were terrific during the summer. But to your point, it has a huge fandom both in Turkey and internationally, but it’s worth noting that most of those charts you see where it beats every other show in every imaginable social metric is just for Turkey.  
It’s one of those lightning in a bottle situations where you get the right property and the right actors together at the right time and magic happens.  And, for sure, the number one reason is the shipping. Shipping drives fandom engagement, and a fantastic ship with a juicy, fun, tropey love story is what this show offers. It also offers up two extremely attractive, talented, likeable leads with off-the-charts chemistry (plus the added speculation about an off-camera relationship that has intrigued more than a few fans, tabloids and gossip sites and fueled interest) who have done a good job of building the fanbase through their social media engagement. Plus the timing is part of it as well. I don’t know about you, but this show hit the spot during this pandemic and the horror of 2020. We all needed this escape. 
Anonymous said:Do you think something happened in the writers room after the backlash of 25 and fan disappointment after Ayse's announcement? I feel like a switch flipped and now we're in fanficland with how much good content we've gotten in these last two episodes. Like I thought maybe they should wrap up the series soon before the characters got completely off the tracks but they may be finding their groove now and I'm interested to see what their next twist is after they can write out Balca/Seymen.
I don’t know about a switch flip, this show has been fanfic land since the first episode!  The tropes! That is how I described it to multiple people when I first started watching: an AU fanfic come to life.
As for the writing changes, no, I don’t think backlash after 25 affected 26 or 27, because 26 was already 90% shot, and 27 already written. However, I assume they themselves could tell that 25 got just too dark and had strayed pretty far from the DNA of the series. While I didn’t think it was bad, it was not fun to watch and this show ought to be fun to watch. 
Let’s hope, however, that the backlash affects future episodes in that they know what works... and what doesn’t.  The last two episodes definitely felt reminiscent of the first batch of episodes. Light, funny, romantic. If they can keep that tone... I’ll be thrilled.
Anonymous said: i didn't realize how much i missed "together" edser until watching 27.. it's been so long since they were "officially" together and we also had such few episodes of it.. ppl have been comparing it to 12 and while in some ways i agree, edser are always so different here than they were there. 12 was them navigating their new relationship.. they were more shy and finding their footing.. here they are very much established, as they should be after knowing their love for so long in comparison to 12!
Yes, it was lovely. You know I’ve preached a lot about how even though Eda and Serkan were broken up, they’ve still been together all this time. And it’s true, but there is something about them truly being together that is magical. We never got enough of that the first time around (a writing mistake in my opinion) and they’re so good together it’s lovely to watch. 
Anonymous said: Serkan not asking for help from Balca when asking his team for help with the marriage gifts preparations and refusing her offer of help when she asked made me so happy. Good job Serkan! He's learning! She's not trustworthy!
Yes, that was a good moment. And he was eyeing her very warily when she offered. The thing I don’t understand is how has no one caught on that she’s working with Babaanne? That entire office is filled with nosy people, has no one remarked on the number of times Balca has gone up to the office or they’ve disappeared for lunch at the same time? Come on Leyla! Come on Melo! Notice these things!  
Anonymous said: Fingers crossed that we finally make progress towards getting rid of Seiman & Balca now that all the girls were drugged and Eda was put in the car in the last episode. Unless Seiman has a change of heart and takes Eda back inside before anyone wakes & the guys get there then the show has to address it. Although I do not think Balca is going to back down unless Serkan straight up tells her he has zero interest in her and never will. Totally fine if that happens in the next episode.
Will Balca backdown even if she’s humiliated like that? She’s so delusional I’m not sure. What I am sure is that she’s dangerous. This came in before we saw the other two fragmans that have no mention of the kidnapping. Hard to picture how that is so easily resolved. Unless she frees herself (which seems unlikely in her groggy state) or maybe Melo’s future boyfriend is able to stop it before they get far?  Or I don’t know. I just know that I want to see Serkan lose his mind and all the other characters see Serkan lose his mind and then I want it to be over. LOL.
Anonymous said: As much as I am loving everything Edser, I cannot wait for Seiman, Balca and Grandma to be gone. And I am even more annoyed to think that the show might try to redeem all 3 characters. All 3 of them are truly awful people and no need to waste air time trying to make the audience think any different. Just my opinion...🤷🏻‍♀️. Show please finally expose those 3 for the psychos they are and get rid of them.
Bye bitches!  I don’t think there’s any redemption for Balca and Seiman. They both have poisoned/dosed people, hard to come back from that.  And there is no need to redeem them because neither is compelling enough to be a long-term character. But maybe Granny, we probably will see a redemption arc for her. 
Anonymous said: i know you were worried a few weeks ago that with ayse leaving as writer, we probably wouldn't have the same sort of comedy as previous episodes... but istg the whole kiz isteme scene, especially with chef alex, had me almost crying with laughter. especially when serkan off the cuff just goes "well if that's an option..." to everyone misunderstanding alex "wanting" ayfer for 2 nights and then eda ready to beat him with the flowers he bought her... comedic gold lmao.
SO GOOD! I was thrilled to see that sort of comedy, the sort of comedy we’d come to expect, from these writers. I think it bodes very well indeed!  
That scene was amazing. I know Neslihan said that much of it was improvised. Probably that line from Serkan (since Serkan is SO out-of-his-mind in love I’m not sure he could even joke about having Eda only two nights a week! LOL) was improv from Kerem, and Aydan asking about the other nights, and Seyfi bringing up the weekend. And Eda’s very Hande-esque “Ser-KAN.” 
I just love rewatching that scene and checking out everyone who is breaking character and just losing it. Cagri most of all. He’s blurred aback there but you can see Ferit spends the whole time laughing or trying to stifle a laugh. Reminds me of Cagri in the scene in 18 when they’re watching the security footage he was losing it in that scene as well. 
Anonymous said: i'm scared - I think they are really about to give us all of these happy EdSer scenes only to have something happen RIGHT before the wedding ceremony due to Babaanne. Based on the last episode, I don't think there's any chance of a breakup (knock on wood) but what if Serkan gets arrested, goes to jail for 2 years, and we get a time jump?
This was sent before the last two teasers, so yes I think something is gonna happen. We shall see!  I don’t really think Serkan going to jail for 2 years is in the cards, at least I hope not!  Besides if Babaanne did that she would have no hopes of ever reconciling with Eda, so that seems unlikely she’d follow through and leave him there for so long a time. 
Anonymous said: With the last week's sex scene, they did a lot of fade outs but the scene was basically still there so it wasn't much wasted effort for the actors. But for what they're teasing in episode 28 - idk how they can get away with showing them in the shower at all if Serkan lifting Eda with her clothes on had required blurring? Is Eda dropping her robe even pushing it? It's intriguing indeed.
Great questions. We’re 36 hours from finding out (well I'm longer than that because I wait for the English subs, hee hee) All I know is I want to see these scenes.. one way or another! 
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iaintyourbro · 4 years
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What’s your take on Cloud’s depression during AC? People on twitter are suddenly talking about this, again. This matter was brought up by those antis saying that we Clotis should accept the fact that Tifa wasn’t the one who “healed” Cloud and that she was also being mean and not considerate whatsoever. The funny thing is that, they also accused us of denying his depression and not understanding it. TF. Let’s be real, Tifa played a major part, in fact she gave him morale thx to her “scolding” lol
Hey anon.. 
Yeah, Twitter has me depressed today. I think it started last night. I was enjoying it for a bit, but the last week or two have been so bad over there with bullshit that I’m about to just take a break from the entire fandom. 
My Take on AC Cloud:
I watched AC when it first came out, and I barely remember it. I remember I didn’t like what they did. Why was Cloud so depressed and brooding? Oh Aerith is in this? Interesting. I felt like it was disjointed and removed a lot of the great progress Cloud made in OG. They kept this depressed, brooding guy in KH as well... It just didn’t seem right to me. I was young, too. 
At this point we also didn’t have On the Way to a Smile, Crisis Core, or anything else, really.. None of the Ultimanias were in English at this point. I also was not interested enough in going online. It was a weird time when I was playing other things and was meh on FF7 for a while. I was always a FF8 fangirl, so was jealous of FF7 at times hahaha. It got so much more attention and love. 
It took me a long time to watch it again. I remember my husband watching it before Remake came out and I felt mad or sad. It was like an emotion from memory, and I didn’t know why. I can’t describe it. I saw it on the TV and was like why is this on here... 
After playing Remake, I bit the bullet and ordered AC Complete, which had things tweaked and added. I also am now in my 30′s and have a lot more life experience.
Antis like to say Cloud is depressed solely because Aerith is dead and he wants to be with her. This may be one of the reasons I didn’t like AC, because when I did happen to come across some FF7 thing online, I’d see this shit and be like whatever, that makes no sense. 
I enjoyed ACC. My heart was actually pounding and I was nervous/intrigued by what was going on even though I knew the story. I haven’t read all of CoT yet, but I’ve seen the excerpts online, so I know the general gist of things.
Based strictly on ACC:
Cloud is really upset that Denzel is sick. He’s obsessively looking up medical stuff to figure out how to cure it - this is shown with everything all over his desk. He’s closed in on himself to do this. I did the same shit when my dad had cancer. I did it for three fucking years while he was alive - from the time he got diagnosed to the day he was dying. Every damn day I looked up articles, research, and theories. It’s not healthy. It’s depressing and I closed myself off from the world half the time and didn’t realize it. Thank God my husband is a patient saint. 
Cloud does care a lot about Tifa. His reaction alone at seeing her knocked out in the church is heart wrenching. When they’re brought back to Seventh Heaven, Cloud pops right up when he sees Tifa there. He then stays with her until she wakes up. This is a pretty good amount of time. The sun is up when he’s looking over her, and when she wakes up, it’s dark outside. He could have slipped out again without her noticing if he really wanted to. I’m sure he may have contemplated it. 
She calls his ass out on how he’s acting. She knows he’s sick at this point. This was huge for Tifa who’s not confrontational. He clearly doesn’t want to completely disconnect, or he would have gotten rid of his cell phone voluntarily. He doesn’t. They actually show him checking his messages. 
Ultimately Cloud leaves because he ends up with Geostigma. That’s the last straw. He can’t face the fact that he’s going to die and what it’ll do to his family, so he leaves. Listen, I think the only reason my dad didn’t try to leave when he was diagnosed was because he had nowhere to go and by time he started verbalizing wanting to leave, he was physically unable to. Yes, I remember him being angry because he was hospitalized again and he told my mom he was going to get an apartment by himself so she didn’t know when he was getting bad. It’s very hurtful to even think it, and even worse when you know they don’t actually mean it... They do it because they don’t want to see their family hurt. 
The setup he has at the church as his “living” area is super depressing. It looks like something a homeless person sets up. He legit was going to wait to die. He had a lot of knowledge about this, so he figured there was nothing he could do. 
Marlene calls Cloud out on his bullshit too. Cloud admits to her he doesn’t think he can take care of anybody. Marlene Barrret quotes him and it’s cute. I think Cloud appreciated it and I think it made him think.
In ACC, Cloud has a short conversation with Aerith. Aerith seems almost annoyed with him like “wtf is your deal, dude” kind of attitude. Zack shows up when he’s bloody and half dead fighting Sephiroth to encourage him. There are scenes with him talking at Zack’s grave and saying he couldn’t keep his promise to him. He flat out tells Aerith he wants to be forgiven. He doesn’t say I miss you, I want to be with you, none of that happens. In fact, it’s mainly her telling him HE needs to start doing some forgiving - ultimately to himself. 
When Cloud is in limbo - between living and dying - Cloud says “Mom.” Very romantic, I know. Then Zack and Aerith have a conversation very similar to a couple that’s going to adopt a child and they tell Cloud he’s too big for them. This is the “I see the light” and the person on the other side is like “nah bro go back, not your time yet.”
He wakes up, Tifa and crew is there, he smiles at Tifa... and it’s a happy ending. He sees both Zack AND Aerith at the end, and they walk off in to the light together all cute and shit.
Adding in Things from the Novels/Interviews/Thoughts:
The devs have said Cloud was happy with his family and that scared him. The happier he got, the more scared he got. We know he cherishes everything. He especially cherishes the family he has.
Cloud’s depression spiral started from the high anxiety of having a happy life and Elmyra asking him to deliver flowers to Aerith’s grave. Now, I have my feelings about this, but when I look at it logically, I don’t think Elmyra ultimately does this out of spite. I actually don’t think Elmyra thinks Cloud and Aerith were a thing - so it wasn’t that either. I think she knew Cloud was friends with her and maybe he’d want to deliver some flowers - to give him some business. 
This flower delivery reminds Cloud of what he thinks is his failure to protect somebody else. At this point he has his memories of what happened to Nibelheim, his mother, Tifa, and Zack. The Sector 7 plate drop and Aerith are the most recent “failures”. So this brings up Aerith.
Then Denzel comes along and he’s an orphan because his parents were... yeah... killed during the Sector 7 plate collapse. Double ouch. But Cloud and Tifa are going to take care of him.
Tifa herself has a lot of guilt because of the same reasons, she just deals with it very differently. Tifa tells Cloud to bring Denzel right home. She can make amends by adopting him in to her family and caring for him. Cloud thinks Aerith brought Denzel to him (Tifa corrects him). This is a Cloud thing, it’s not romantic. Cloud doesn’t know the guilt Tifa feels. He legit thinks all of this is his fault. Tifa’s guilt stems from the fact that Shinra drops the plate because Avalanche was in Sector 7 - she was in Avalanche. She feels guilty about Aerith because she thinks its her fault Aerith followed them to Don Corneo’s mansion. The thing is, Aerith doesn’t blame EITHER of them - I just wish they’d cover a Tifa/Aerith conversation about this as well... 
Cloud and Tifa do have fights in the novels from what I understand, but it’s because he’s acting weird. He feels bad hiding the fact that he’s been going to the church a lot, and I think that does turn in to a whole LTD debate. So you can take this as Tifa is jealous that he’s going to the church all the time or she’s upset that he is hiding from her. 
In the novels, Tifa has a breakdown when they go see the church after they defeat Sephiroth. This is where you get to see how badly Aerith’s death impacted her. So my thought is... Cloud thinks bringing her to the church hurts her because of her feelings, not because she’s jealous. I think Cloud is oblivious to the jealousy thing, honestly. Don’t think it’s a thought in his mind. 
I honestly don’t know the real reason why he goes to the church to hide. I think this is another point of fight with both sides. My personal take is there was nowhere else he could go and be alone. Most of the stuff had been destroyed. It was still close by, so he could still do his work and keep an eye on things/be nearby.
There is a quote that is taken to be literal, but I think it’s just a way to say it wouldn’t have mattered who Cloud was “with.” Yes, Tifa and Cloud have issues, and I believe the quote goes “Perhaps it would have gone better with Aerith, but I think her responsibility is too great. Maybe the children will help them with their issues.” This isn’t exact, but it’s the jist of what they said. The children do help them - that’s the point of the scenes with Marlene, to slap him silly with reality. 
“Oh but he sees Aerith when the building is falling.” Yes, you know why? Because he thinks that’s going to happen to Tifa. This is a “NO I’M NOT LETTING THIS HAPPEN.” moment. On top of it, I don’t think anybody would be right again if they saw this happen. If my neighbor was impaled by a large sword in their back, I’d be messed up from it. I don’t really know my neighbors. He’s not replaying this death scene in his head cuz he misses Aerith, he’s playing it in his head because it’s traumatic and he doesn't want to see this happen to Tifa. Especially Tifa. 
It’s been put in Ultimanias time and time again that Cloud’s feelings are for Tifa. I went through my Ultimania - which only covers OG - and it doesn’t say anything about Cloud’s side of the CA argument. It does say how he feels about Tifa in the Lifestream, though. 
The “He wants to die for her, see, that’s why he’s going to the church and waiting.” No, he doesn’t want to die or else he wouldn’t be so depressed. Just thinking this is fucked up on so many levels. If he really wanted to die and be with her, he’d be happy he got an incurable illness, I’d think... Cloud leaves Tifa and them because he doesn’t want to hurt him with him dying and not being able to stop it. 
The other thing that would be... weird... Zack is in the Lifestream with Aerith. They walk off together for a reason. I don’t think she’s going to just drop Zack for Cloud since the whole reason she was initially interested in Cloud was because of the similarities to Zack. He had the same sword, the same clothes, and in OG had some of the same mannerisms. I noticed the dropped the squatting in Remake - the random squatting.
The ending of ACC implies that now that Geostigma is cured and Sephiroth is (hopefully) gone for good, Cloud can be happy. I’m not saying that his smile fixes everything. I’m sure that him and Tifa had to work on things, but you can see in DoC that things seem to be much better - he’s more upbeat and happy. He’s more dorky, like he should be. 
Sorry this is long. I have a lot of feelings about all this stuff today. I’ve been seeing the fights over on Twitter about it and.. yeah. Cloud is depressed because of the fact he’s dying, his kid is dying, and he can’t seem to do anything right in his mind.
Thanks for the ask. 
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revengerevisited · 3 years
Text
i found this vanqua fic the other day, it’s only a couple chapters but i like it so far. :3 it does have a ‘creator chose not to add warnings’ label though, so please be cautious. also baby-xemnas aka kotbysleep (nsfw) aka nekokat42 (also nsfw) is a much better vanqua artist than me so please check him out. X’D (heads-up those twitter threads are way longer than you think so make sure you see eeeverything~).
anyway, more wip art below the cut, plus my endless rambling (i talk about 18+ topics, just a warning)—
i’m still working on venqua week and i’ve got 2 more prompts to go, one i haven’t started yet and one i’m halfway done with—
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~aaand yeah i’m re-using it for a vanqua pic too... X’D am i lazy, or just resourceful? you decide. ;P
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but yeah, both of these pics will have an 18+ version as well. i admit i’m super anxious about posting it next week, as i’ve seen just how absolutely toxic fandom is on twitter. like, you thought tumblr was bad? i’ve spent the last few days preemptively blocking literally hundreds if not thousands of antis just so i can feel a little safer posting my content without some asshat calling me a pedo or telling me to kill myself over cartoons. XU i somewhat worry that i’ve accidentally blocked some people who were just joking around and weren’t actually harassing anyone, but it’s just so hard to tell sometimes. if i’ve accidentally blocked anybody here, just let me know so i can unblock you. :3 (idk why that sentence came out so sinister sounding but i’m legit being sincere X’D).
but seriously, idk when fandom suddenly got such a stick up its ass (around 2016-17 from my guesstimate) and decided aging-up a fictional character by a year or two is such a crime, but i guess that’s just the state of things. :T i could draw vanitas as a centaur or make him blond or whatever and no one cares, but aging him by one year? suddenly big problem! yeah, right. XP like, i know i said every character in kh is 17+ as of khmom (ignoring any weird timeline retcons of course), but heck i could make an honest case for the wayfinder family all being adults. hear me out—
it’s been 13 years since bbs, right? and for 12 of those years, aqua was in the realm of darkness, terra had some awareness while being possessed by xehanort, ven experienced some of sora’s life when he was in a coma, and vanitas was almost certainly in ven/sora’s heart as well, so all four of them could be said to be 31, 33, and 29 respectively. it’s not like their character models were any different when they were young teens as opposed to older teens, so can we really be sure they’re not all 30~ by now? heck, since ven is from the age of fairytales i could say he’s 1000 years old if i wanted too! (psst, it’s almost as if these are all fictional characters living in a fantasy world with time travel and whatnot and their ages are completely arbitrary numbers nomura made up on the spot, numbers which he has retconned before! :P).
now i don’t actually think they’re that old, but if people are gonna hassle me over a goddamn 2-year age difference, i might as well say fuck it and have fun with it, right? ;P it’s not like antis even know what the canon character ages even actually are, like when they try to say that skuld is underage when (assuming she’s subject x) she’d be around 28~ by now, or axel and saïx’s age. (maybe i’ll draw some saïx x skuld art and watch the antis lose their minds. ;P it wouldn’t even have to be nsfw to rile them up).
anyway, i do admit i’m feeling a little burned out on art recently. XP i’ve been trying to get one art piece out per week plus venqua week, and yeah it’s kinda taken its toll. i know this really isn’t anything anyone wants to hear, but i’ve been kinda thinking of moving away from fandom projects to work on my own original work. now, i’m not saying i’m abandoning a heart and a half nor anything as drastic as that! but i have spent like 2 years of my life on it just to get to the halfway mark, and i’m not sure i can spend 2 more doing only that.
i’ve got an original story idea that i’ve been working on-and-off on for the past 7 years or so, and i’m thinking of going back to it again (it does need a pretty big re-write). its main pairing is actually pretty vanqua-ish, now that i think about it. like, imagine the realm of darkness but instead of the heartless it’s infested with demons, and the main characters are the demon-slaying duo of a serious yet kindhearted half-angel and a feral, snarky half-demon. i even aged them up from 14 to 18 so none of my potential fans have to suffer the same anti bullshit that i have. XP
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what else can i ramble about... oh, i got these super cute pins for christmas! :D the heartless is by xkirakira, and vanitas and aqua are by maxxmerch. they’re just so cute! X3 i hope everyone had a merry christmas and a happy holiday! i’ll see you guys later. ^3^ 
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*looks around sheepishly* ó3ò alright... confession time. spoilers for a heart and a half for the rest of this post—
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sooo~ i’ve kinda hinted at this before, but yeah i’ve always planned on adding a sex scene to a heart and a half; when i started writing back in 2018 i hadn’t realized how hostile fandom had become compared to only a few years ago, and it worries me that some readers might drop the fic because of it, or be angry with me over the underage aspect. :(
idk, i could go on about how i just wanted to explore every aspect of a romantic relationship, or how other disney/square enix characters married or had kids young (ariel, sarah hawkins, héctor, claudia strife, possibly jasmine), or how attempting to apply real-world rules to a videogame fantasy setting is inherently silly and pointless, but really it’s just ‘cause i love vanitas and aqua to bits and i just wanted to write a cute and funny mild sex scene between them (this fic is rated mature, not explicit, so much less graphic than confection affection), and at the end of the day they are just fictional characters, after all.
i guess all i can hope for is that i’m a skilled enough writer to pull it off in a believable way, and that my audience won’t be too put off by it. >_> i know vanitas and aqua have technically only known each other for about 2 months so it might not be ‘realistic’ for them to go so far into a relationship so soon, but i think it’s important to remember that ultimately this is a romantic fairytale, and other canon disney couples haven’t seen nearly as deeply into each other’s hearts as vanitas and aqua have (and this video also helped me feel better about it).
i also wanted to finish that nsfw venqua fic i started a few months back, it’s set just before the mark of mastery so yes ven would be 16. i suppose it’s a way of testing the waters to see what kind of reception i’d get (hopefully positive) before i get to that part of a heart and a half. i was also thinking of including some of the uh, ‘keyblades as erogenous zones’ aspect from this terraquaven fic as well... w-why are you looking at me like that?! it’s funny! *sweats nervously* o3o’
in all honesty, i’m probably just overthinking all this (which, knowing me, is almost a guarantee >_<) and i should just *ahem* let my heart be my guiding key, and just write what i want to write without worrying about it all the time. i just get so anxious so easily... buuut that’s not really news to anyone, now is it? ;P well, i think that’s the end of my endless ramble, thanks for reading if you got this far. X’D and i really hope i didn’t actually upset anybody about a heart and a half. ;_; i just felt like i needed to vent a little, but don’t worry about me, i’m doing fine. anyway, i really should stop typing and get back to work on venqua week, sooo... bye! X3
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diyeoracha · 4 years
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IwaOi Master Fic Rec List (50+ Fics)
Hello! In celebration accumulating over 190+ bookmarks on my AO3 account featuring IwaOi and Iwaizumi coming back into the manga (and for his (almost) birthday), I decided to create a masterlist of all of my favorite fanfictions in order to keep myself organized as well as contributing to more traffic on those works! I decided to split the works up by my own self-imposed genres, such as angst, coming-of-age (or the childhood-friends-to-lovers trope that we all love which depicts how their relationship changes as they grow up and will mostly be canon-compliant), and alternate universe. With the revival of Iwaizumi in the manga, alternate universes will be broken down into adulting AU where he and Oikawa’s diverge differs from in canon and actual, legit AU where there’s basically no volleyball.
I’ll include the title, link, word count, fic summary, and my own commentary (mostly for my own personal entertainment). While the AO3 fandom has been going strong since 2014, I personally have only been reading IwaOi fics for about 3 months, so I will most likely be recommending some cult-favorites, especially since I’ve been reading my fics by sorting through the tag with the most kudos.
My absolute favorites (or the ones where I personally push onto my IRL haikyuu friends) will be denoted with ♡ in increments of 1-3 with 3 ♡ being an absolute must-read. Fics marked with a * indicate that Iwaizumi or Oikawa or both are professional athletes because that’s honestly my Favorite Trope. This is incomplete as I got distracted while re-reading a lot of these and have only gone through half of my bookmarks, but feel free to check my own page here for the rest of them! This took me about 9 days to compile (aka this was in my drafts for about 9 days) but I do hope you guys enjoy reading these and leave comments and kudos!
Adulting AU 
*♡♡Thirty Years and Change (the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad)
Word count: 19k
Summary: It’s July 10th, 2024, and Oikawa Tooru is an Olympian. His smiling face airs on an NHK promo every 45 seconds. He’s captain of the national men’s volleyball team, reigning star of the professional leagues, and he hasn't spoken to Iwaizumi Hajime in two years.
Thoughts: THIS IS IT. THIS FIC IS GOD TIER. They’ve been separated but now are falling back into old habits and there’s a confession on the line? Akaashi is in here and he’s pretty funny. I reread this all the time.
*♡♡♡the courtship ritual of the hercules beetle
Word count: 66k
Summary: Tooru is pretty sure he could manage the mating habits of a mosquito. It’s the mating habits of people he can’t seem to get right.
Thoughts: Absolutely the best IwaOi fic I’ve ever read. I’ve reread this about 4x and I always pay attention to a new sentence or detail that leaves me breathless. The characterization is pretty spot on, and I have to admit that this fic made me appreciate IwaOi a little more. I’ve cried countless times too. A cult-favorite but it doesn’t have nearly as many hits as it deserves.
♡days fall away
Word count: 17k
Summary: Except now he’s back home, so close to his old haunts and to Oikawa himself, and it's—weird.
Thoughts: They’ve separated for a bit but now they’re back in the same city and learning to be around each other again. Cue teasing from the biological and Seijoh family
it's been so long (nobody knows me the way you do)
Word count: 8k
Summary: Tooru hums, only half-listening. Somewhere along the way, Hajime’s palm has settled itself over the curve of Tooru’s cheek, thumb tracing over the line of his jaw.
Thoughts: They’re living together post-college feat. snapshots from their lives before getting together and their Seijoh team! It’s really soft but it manages a humorous tone as well.
Time
Word count: 5k
Summary: When they're twenty-three, their story only begins.
Thoughts: A piecewise fic told from Oikawa’s point of view. The tone is almost chatty but it really fits the pacing of the work as you get snippets and sentences of their relationship throughout the years
♡Almost a Stranger
Word count: 16k
Summary: Iwa-chan's leaving Japan. Tooru's not sure he can forgive him, but he's not going to admit his long-held feelings, either. A trip to Miyajima complicates everything.
Thoughts: They go on vacation right before Iwaizumi leaves Oikawa for a year. Oikawa ponders their relationship.
where fireflies never die
Word count: 4k
Summary: >>Oikawa: Hey Iwa-chan >>Oikawa: Did I ruin it?
Thoughts: Oikawa is a mangaka and basically writes his best selling series based off of him and Iwaizumi. This was pretty angsty ngl with a lot of introspection and second-guessing.
In the Business of Love
Word count: 22k
Summary: Meet Oikawa Tooru: He's a best-selling shoujo manga artist, a hardcore romantic and you won't believe where he's getting his lovey dovey fodder from...Enter Iwaizumi Hajime: He's Oikawa's best friend, a realist who also happens to be a wedding magazine writer despite not believing in romance...
Thoughts: Mangaka Oikawa but this is basically a rom-com lmao
Alternate Universe
Even Heroes (have the right to dream) 
Word count: 20k 
Summary: Oikawa Tooru, ace reporter of the superhero beat of Asahi Shimbun, hates superheroes. Or maybe he just hasn’t met the knight one yet. 
Thoughts: Superhero-hiding-his-identity-Iwaizumi and begrudging Oikawa? Sign me up. This fic spent a little more time on worldbuilding than eventual romance, but it is still absolutely unique and entertaining
The secret omega
Word count: 17k
Summary: Iwaizumi’s annoying as fuck best friend. Who absolutely, definitely, no matter what, cannot find out that Iwaizumi is an omega.
Thoughts: A/B/O dynamics where Iwa is the omega and Oikawa is the alpha. 90% plot building which is pretty nice.
Conquering the Great King
Word count: 105k
Summary: Oikawa's lips twitched into a smirk and he brought them hovering just over Iwaizumi's, "One time thing, Two time thing, what's it matter as long as it's not a Relationship thing?"
Thoughts: Malicious and flirtatious Oikawa meet immovable object Iwaizumi. They’re businessmen trying to navigate friends-with-benefits and love all at the same time. A+ sex scenes tbh. 
♡Infinite Risks
Word count: 8k
Summary: “It’s my fate,” Oikawa responds slowly. He’s crying.“It’s too lonely,” Iwaizumi’s heart sounded broken. “And I’m not there with you. Not really.”
Thoughts: Edge of Tomorrow AU!!!!! Please watch Edge of Tomorrow first because it’s truly a brilliant movie that I wholly enjoyed and this fic reflects that. This also made me really sad so Beware
*♡Something Like Us
Word count: 28k
Summary: Friends since childhood, Oikawa and Iwaizumi now live together, both playing for the National Team. It's no secret that athletes who are bonded perform better. So if the two of them happen to bond...It'd be for the good of the team, right?
Thoughts: ABO dynamics (and somewhat canon-compliant) as they’re roommates, on the national team, and try to navigate being “fake” mated while harboring feelings
And All the Prince’s Men
Word count: 65k
Summary: “Father only loves that which he owns, and I am the one thing that can never truly be his.”
Thoughts: Royal bastard son Oikawa and his servant Iwaizumi. An enthralling read and universe. The romance takes a secondary seat here as it focuses more on plot and world-building. 
♡long nights, no peace
Word count: 18k
Summary: It's the steady knowledge that Iwaizumi Hajime will always be someone that he can rely on, that no matter what the world throws at the two of them, they share in a piece of each other's soul.
Thoughts: Pacific Rim! AU. Otherwise known as my favorite types of AUs because they’re basically soulmates (platonic or not,, but they’re not platonic here)
♡(sing with me) A Song of Conquest and Fate
Word count: 26k
Summary: When Seijou receives a missive from Aobajousai to discuss a potential peace, its emperor Oikawa Tooru could not have foreseen the series of events that would follow.
Thoughts: Warring states/historical fantasy AU. The world building is amazing and this author has great control over her language use
Cotton Breathing
Word count: 13k
Summary: 
Thoughts: Long-distance and summer only but childhood friends Iwaoi!!! A dreamy summer piece and reading it almost makes me feel like I’m in a Studio Ghibli movie because of the mood it puts me in
Similar Creatures
Word count: 53k
Summary: "What's your name?" "Whatever you want it to be."(Or, Oikawa gets directions from an attractive stranger on a street corner.)
Thoughts: Iwaizumi is an escort and Oikawa needs a fancy date
Space
Word count: 44k
Summary: Tries not to think of his rooftop garden, or the apartment he used to inhabit, or Hajime’s broken expression on the night they whispered their goodbyes before Tooru’s launch, attempting to push it all to the back of his mind behind visions of this alien world terraformed
Thoughts: Oikawa’s in outerspace. They’re separated. This left me feeling pretty empty ngl.
♡here comes your man 
Word count: 8k
Summary: Iwa-chan, it reads, Have a good day today! Good luck! <3 <3 <3Suga chokes. It’s hard to imagine anyone calling the scowling and fierce Doctor Iwaizumi “Iwa-chan.” But marriage probably comes with all sorts of liberties.
Thoughts: Doctor AU where Iwaizumi and Oikawa’s relationship is pondered by Suga
In the Telling
Word count: 6k
Summary: Muggleborn Iwaizumi could not be less impressed with pureblood Oikawa Tooru.
Thoughts: Harry Potter AU where they’re in the same year and aren’t really friends but are also friends
♡♡The Loyalty of A Traitor
Word count: 76k
Summary: Iwaizumi Hajime was an undercover officer with a single objective: Infiltrate the Seijoh Syndicate of the Yakuza and tear them down from the inside out. His primary target was the boss, Oikawa Tooru. The job itself was simple enough, until Iwaizumi got in too deep and absconded not only from the mission, but from the city itself.
Thoughts: Oh fuck this was Good. Yakuza boss Oikawa???? Disgraced Iwaizumi??? Do they fall in love (again)?
and suddenly, we were traitors
Word count: 17k
Summary: "sorry, it's just... you’ve been amazingly kind to me these past few days. ...but i'm still not sure who you are.”
Thoughts: The amnesia fic this fandom needed
Trial by Fire
Word count: 78k
Summary: (lawyer!AU - in which Iwaizumi loves his objections, Oikawa is beautiful, and they have more chemistry than two opposing attorneys probably should.)
Thoughts: Hot
dear diary, i met a boy
Word count: 15k
Summary: Iwaizumi's first impression of his upstairs neighbor involves getting woken up at two in the morning to the sound of Oikawa singing along to trashy pop music. He'd thought it would get better, but it all just goes downhill from there.
Thoughts: Model Oikawa and salaryman Iwaizumi meet and try to make it work
on shipwreck shore
Word count: 8k
Summary: “I’m going to murder you in cold blood and feed you to the basilisks,” Iwaizumi says conversationally.“You can’t do that, I’m your boss,” Oikawa sings, positively sparkling. “Also we’re partners, which means,” he points at Iwaizumi and leans in, “you’re stuck with me.”
Thoughts: Detectives but they’re actually funny
♡Lockdown
Word count: 72k
Summary: Within the first few months of his stay, Oikawa gets caught up in a war between cellblocks, becomes a prime target, and must decide just how far he's willing to go to protect Iwaizumi Hajime.
Thoughts: Orange is the New Black AU!!! Im a sl*t for tatted Iwaizumi
an allegory of all the things we could’ve been
Word count: 16k
Summary: “I don’t know anything about some red string,” Iwaizumi murmurs into the cracks of Oikawa’s skin, “or even about lifetimes or fate. But no matter where you are, I’ll find you. Gods or otherwise.”
Thoughts: Reincarnation AU throughout the timelines. A good soft read that leaves you sort of empty
Angst
Timeless (We Have 30 Days)
Word count: 12k
Summary: Or AU where you're branded 50 days before you die. But Oikawa doesn't tell anyone so now there's only 30 days left.
Thoughts: Ahhhhhhhhh tears
the weight of water
Word count: 6k
Summary: “Again,” he says, the smallest tremor in his voice, and Oikawa blinks at him a moment before smiling, soft and sweet. “Iwa-chan,” he replies, and Iwaizumi closes his eyes. “Again.” “Iwa-chan.”
Thoughts: Death fic 
open when
Word count: 1k
Summary: Iwaizumi knew it was coming, but it still hurt. It still hurt when he opens one letter and drowns it in the tears he cannot keep at bay.
Thoughts: It takes only 1.6k words to make me cry
Canon Compliant/Coming-Of-Age
♡♡i sing the body electric
Word count: 8k
Summary: It was never part of the plan, falling in love with his best friend, but then again, most things in Iwaizumi’s life that involve Oikawa rarely unfold the way he thinks they will.
Thoughts: A beautifully introspective piece told from Iwaizumi’s point of view. It’s wholly intimate and it toes along the lines of pining and soft angst. It’s told in snippets from their lives growing up together. 
♡we can do better than that
Word count: 16k
Summary: Oikawa and Iwaizumi go on a road trip during the summer after their high school graduation. It doesn't go as expected, but maybe that's not such a bad thing after all.
Thoughts: There’s a lot of character analysis and it takes a step away from the casual banter they’re always portrayed to have and focuses on the intricacies of their relationship. The tone is almost a little more melancholy. (also they have to share a bed! trope)
♡when it starts to rain, they go inside
Word count: 33k
Summary: “Where?” starts Iwaizumi.“My parent’s old lakehouse, silly, didn’t you hear me the first time?”OR: Oikawa takes Iwaizumi to his lakehouse for two weeks, post-graduation.
Thoughts: Oh This Is It IwaOi stans. This fic really solidified my own headcanon for Oikawa (spoiler alert, OP isn’t too fond of Oikawa but she fleshes out his character and his idiosyncrasies so well that you can’t help but be drawn into all of his imperfection) and this fic respects Iwaizumi as well. It has absolutely great characterization and the fic ends on an ambiguous note. 
to be first, to be best
Word count: 26k
Summary: Hajime is apparently something of a masochist, and as he stares down at the tie-dyed AREA51 T-shirt in his hands, he thinks “I’m totally in love with this asshole, aren't I?”
Thoughts: College roommates trying to navigate having feelings for each other while also dating others and not realizing that they’re jealous? A cult favorite.
♡things that change, things that stay the same
Word count: 8k
Summary: Oikawa realizes he's in love with his best friend; it sucks for a while. (But only a while.)
Thoughts: Ahh a slow burn featuring daily moments between Oikawa and Iwaizumi, and Oikawa starts to notice the little things. This was a cute read because Oikawa just comes off as wonderfully earnest. My first Iwaoi fic! And a great one because it really set the standard to how I interpreted their relationship.
it’s better than words
Word count: 3k
Summary: [ or : oikawa makes iwaizumi participate in three bonding activities for new friends, and iwaizumi just wants to know why oikawa's being so weird about this]
Thoughts: Soft pining, fluff, banter, and whispered confessions. This fic really nailed the banter of high school students really well.
♡shiver
Word count: 16k
Summary: Oikawa was always the brave one. Hajime just followed two paces behind.
Thoughts: Oikawa falls first and but Iwaizumi realizes his feelings later on! So soft, so slow burn, so much pining. We get to see their relationship through Iwaizumi’s eyes and actually read him analyze his own feelings.
♡we shine like diamonds
Word count: 26k
Summary: "You know Abe-kun from class?" they snicker, hands cupped around their mouths like they're passing along a filthy secret. "I hear his older brother is... gay."
Thoughts: Character analysis, homophobia, and coming of age makes a good and angsty iwaoi fic
terrarium
Word count: 11k
Summary: At this point, is he really happy with just staying best friends forever? Will he be writing journals and collecting rocks forever (he will, he knows, but that is aside from the point)?
Thoughts: Oikawa has a terrarium and names all of the rocks he puts in (that Iwaizumi gave him) “Iwa-chan #_”
Chasing Paper Suns
Word count: 10k
Summary: Post-high school, Oikawa makes it to the national volleyball team but Iwaizumi doesn't. The next three years become an exercise in growing up without growing apart.
Thoughts: This was pretty sad tbh. Of what it means to grow up together and then suddenly having to adjust to living without each other’s presence.
with every second that you could give
Word count: 9k
Summary: The journey of Iwaizumi and Oikawa going for gold.
Thoughts: Of growing up together, making decisions for each other, and wanting to be together
Only the jellyfish know
Word count: 6k
Summary: Their third and final year at Aoba Jousai has come to an end, and the guys decide to go to the beach the day after graduation.That day, the ocean water is salty, the watermelon is sweet, and the people are sweeter.
Thoughts: Established relationship
Smut
strange.
Word count: 1k
Summary: "god, i fucking hate you."oikawa smiles, cause he knows it's not true. he knows iwaizumi loves him, knows iwaizumi adores him. but he plays along."i hate you too,"
Thoughts: It’s hot
Say My Name 
Word count: 2k
Summary: “Hey, have you ever tried saying my first name?” Iwaizumi blurts, and the thought jumps out of his subconscious only after he's posed the question.
Thoughts:
No Touching Allowed
Word count: 10k
Summary: “You’ve got one rule,” Iwaizumi winks at him.
Thoughts: ExoticDancer!Iwaizumi and stressed out/repressed businessman Oikawa also an AU.
Honorable Mentions
things wikipedia doesn’t tell you
pillow
Phone Home
Share my life, it’s yours to keep
in progress to you
no sleep in the city
The PDA jar
Kissmarked
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There's a lot of things about Borderlands 3 that makes it kinda a garbage game. And all of those things are valid and true but a aspect of bl3 that deeply bothers me isn't something I've really seen people talk about?? Maybe they have but I missed it but I want to say my interpretation. (Also like, spoiler warning throughout all of this post)
To start off with: hi, I'm a autistic afab nonbinary person and this is relevant for this little rant I'm bout to go on.
I want to begin by stating why I love this franchise so much.
Borderlands, whether you like it or not, is INCREDIBLY queer. And not in a coded kind of way, it's just flat out gay as fuck. And that means so fucking much to me. Borderlands 2 was one of the first times I ever felt fully represented in a game. Zer0 being this dumbass making Yugioh references and generally being a fun garbage boy and also being nonbinary meant a lot to me and I adore him to this day (nonbinary people can use gendered pronouns fuc off). And getting more and more into this series and finding out that basically every character was on some level queer was really cool to me. Maya being asexual and most of the characters being attracted to multiple genders so honestly and off handily was so refreshing and amazing to get to play through. The casual mentions of a woman's wife or some man's husband in the echo's you find or Moxxi talking about her ex girlfriends was one of the reasons I loved this so much.
Another thing I loved particularly about Borderlands 2 was how feminist it was. I can not tell you how quickly I lost my shit at Mr. Torgue talking about the friend zone being misogynistic(it is btw). And the repeated jokes about fully murdering men for being rude to women was some of the highlights of my first playthrough. Punching a guy till he explodes because he disrespected a sex worker?? Fucking immaculate.
SPEAKING OF SEX WORK.
Mad Moxxi is a icon. She is a mother of MULTIPLE children, a survivor of rape and assault and a fucking bad bitch who runs a now intergalactic titty bar. Getting to have not only a sex worker be respected in a narrative, Moxxi is fun and a genuinely complex character who isn't defined by her job or her appearance. She is emotional and strong and funny and flawed but amazing person.
And then there's the way the male characters a represented and treated. I'll be honest here, I haven't really played Borderlands 1, mostly because have been spoiled by auto pick up and also I just didn't feel like it. So my idea of most of the men are based entirely off of Bl2, the pre-sequel and Tales. Anyway, Mordecai in particular is a character I really liked upfront. I love how a lot of his motivation and character is driven by his love of animals and Bloodwing. He's kind and though troubled knows when to get his shit together and be there when he needs to be. His casual "are you okay?" After the latter falls in the Arid Nexus was such a nice moment and the way he genuinely tries to be there emotionally for all of the people around him who he cares for is so fucking rare to see in a male character. And his arc of giving up alcohol to focus on being a better bird dad and you getting to help Brick make Mordecai a special gift to celebrate his sobriety is so amazing and I'm so proud of him.
Mr. Torgue is my dad and I love him. As mentioned, he is normal and believes that the friend zone is absolute garbage talk is ICONIC™ and the best scene in that game fight me. Torgue is a crybaby. He is an emotional person who is not afraid to express his pain and hurt when people are mean to him. He respects women and loves unicorns. The fact that is physical appearance is a big muscle guy who screams but is the literal opposite of toxic masculinity will forever make him the best male character of all time and I love him and he is my dad.
Roland was a character that I was never in particularly attached to but I still respect him and did enjoy his presence. I really appreciated his leadership style being primarily based on empathy and logic as opposed to him being a big meanie man with a HUGE dick who yells at people. I always really resonated with the echo from Tannis talking about how she came to Sanctuary. Roland going out of his way to bring Tannis to safety while completely respecting her autism and struggle with socializing really made his death hit harder when Tannis was very obviously distraught by losing him. It really seems that Roland was the only one who didn't treat her differently. And as someone who's autistic, finding people who legit 100% understand and respect you and just let you live the way you want/need to is kinda hard and those are the qualities I'd personally want in a leader.
Angel is also a big spot of affection for me. Handsome Jack being a irrefutably horrible person who Angel flat out says gaslights people and killed her means a lot to me considering 99% of Bad Parent stories end with "I forgive u" getting to see an abusive victim take that narrative and say fuck you was powerful and meant a lot to me coming from my own abusive home life.
There's a lot of other things I love about Borderlands but if I keep going I won't stop lol so let's get into why Borderlands 3 makes me so uncomfortable.
One of the main things that bothered me was the sexism. Its nothing too horrifying but given how feminist bl2 was it was really shocking and a bit hurtful the number of times women are called bitches or made to seem crazy. If you recall I brought up how you punch a man to death for calling a woman a bitch? Yea no, in this game we mock women for having boundaries and opinions because lol she's just a CRAZY BITCH who just needs to stop acting so hysterical am I right guys?
Yea the whole mission with that stupid bear thing and his ex robot girlfriend made me insanely uncomfortable and upset. I kept waiting for the gotcha moment where it says actually this bear guy is a dick and he shouldn't use language like that but no we just,,,,,, are supposed to laugh along. I hate it.
Even though Borderlands 3 is still very much queer, this game introducing 2 new trans characters as well as a whole DLC about a gay marriage and one of the playable characters being a lesbian there was this some shit that bothered me.
The mission where you crash and ruin a lesbian wedding.
That mission made so upset and uncomfortable. I hated how traumatized and hurt Tumorhead was as I murdered her family and wife. I hated how unfulfilling the mission was where PLOT TWIST the lady was actually a spy or whatever. I hate how there's a mission about ruining some poor psycho ladies wedding. I would've much more preferred a mission where Idk Bloodshine asks you to help her kill a spy who's causing problems and then fucking go around Promethea collecting wedding decorations or something. OR MAYBE JUST NOT A MISSION WHERE YOU KILL LESBIANS FOR NO FUCKING REASON.
I'm mad, anyway.
I also hated how Tannis was treated in this game. Under absolutely no circumstance would Doctor Patricia Tannis ever willingly take up a position of leadership. She is a severely autistic woman who gets nose bleeds from talking to people she wouldn't just be like "I'm in charge now pls talk to me!!!" Fuck off. And the joke about her dating a minecart isn't funny. The whole thing with the chairs, though funny in its absurdities was still a very important and powerful moment of character exploration. Tannis is insane. She is traumatized and hurt and in a moment of severe torture, she humanized some inanimate objects to cope. Tannis crying over the echo over Phillip is a heartbreaking moment of true vulnerability. It is also funny, because that's how good dark comedy works. It can be both hysterical and emotionally ruining at the same time. So what exactly does Tannis divorcing a minecart mean? What is this saying about her character? Why is it funny? Because lol lol reference??? Again, fuck off.
I hate how the Calypso twins childhood is handled. Troy implies it was horribly abusive and traumatic. But when we met Typhon whatever, he acts like it wasn't that bad??? He acts like he just didn't buy his kids the latest iPhone and oh no whoopsie now they're evil, my bad guys. It feels super weird and I don't like it.
Speaking of abusive parents. THEY DID MY GIRL ANGEL DIRTY SO BAD. This was literally when I decided I hated this game. Angel being the one who killed her mother and not Jack was fucking horrible. Especially after the literal foreshadowing in borderlands 2 implying he did. The fact that Jack is treated like a fearful man making what he thought was the right decision was insulting. I get that MattPat manipulated the fandom into thing Jack is a uwu bean but fuck you, you're the writers and you should fucking know better. Handsome Jack saw his daughter had power and turned her into a living battery for him to use as he saw fit. He was not scared and he was NOT right. Fuck you and fuck you for framing child abuse as chill and ok if your spooked enough like that. And the mission directly contradicts the echo's in Get To Know Jack. If Angel killed her mom why does she ask Jack where her mommy is when he's putting her in her chambers?? Why is it in the echo Jack is aggressive and forcibly and hurtfully makes her go into her chambers but in the memory, he's quiet and passive about it?? That's literally just flat out bad writing. Also fuck you.
Anyway,
I think that's really all I wanted to say about this topic. Obviously, there are also things that suck about bl3 but I'll try to chill and not make this too long.
I mostly wanted to make this to see if people cared/are bothered by the same things I am. I've seen how some of the fandom treats the more emotional and gay aspects of this franchise(the people throwing a fit over Amara, the friend zone line, not respecting trans peoples pronouns, sexualizing and being gross about Moxxi)
Anyway that's it byeeeeeeeeeeeee
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snkpolls · 4 years
Text
SnK Chapter 125 Poll Results
The chapter 125 poll closed with 1,469 responses. Thank you for your support! This month’s poll results were compiled by /u/alooulla,  /u/_Puppet_, @shifter-lines​ and @momtaku​.
RATE THE CHAPTER 1,387 RESPONSES
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While still overwhelmingly positive, and slightly improved over Chapter 124, the “wow” factor still wasn’t there for many. Those selecting a perfect five was less than half of respondents (49.3%).
Transitions were unbelievably good, hardly noticed we were at 5 different scenes this chapter.
Not really hype like some chapters have been, but it was wonderful to see all the character and story development.
Created a number of different plot threads, but was not as satisfying as recent chapters
Everyone in this chapter (except Flock) deserves love
Good chapter, juggles lots of POVs excellently and opens up multiple opportunities for where the story may go. I love how desperate everything is.
Beats gonna drop soon
Jean honey if you push Floch out the hole in the wall everyone will swear it was an accident
  WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT? 1,421 RESPONSES
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They only appeared on two pages, but “Levi and Hange are back” was the top pick out of a long list of options with nearly one-third (27.7%) selecting them. “Armin and Mikasa’s argument” secured second (14.3%) and “Annie and Hitch together” (12.6%) round out the top three.
LEVI AND HANGE ARE BACK! OMG!!!
I loved Annie's backstory, the conversation between Floch and Jean, the talk between AM, Shadis, mr Leonhart, literally everything.
I loved hearing Annie and Hitch talk, and the Levi and Hange situation finally got addressed :)
I'm so happy to see Levi and Hange, and so happy that they've run into Pieck and Magath. I hope they can reach some kind of truce and work together.
Floch is the Queen of Paradis confirmed.
Shadis once again made this chapter for me. What a great, deep speech. He is a true hero.♡
WHO WAS THIS CHAPTER'S MVP? 1,416 RESPONSES
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While denied the favorite moment, Annie was the favorite for chapter MVP with more than one-quarter of respondent (26.6%). Hitch, the other half of the girl power duo, made a strong showing (19.6%) for number two. Most shocking perhaps is that Hange (13.6%) squeaked out a narrow victory over Floch (12.6%) for third.
Annie is the best girl
Floch did nothing wrong
Hitch nipping at Historia's best girl-crown
HAAAAAAAAANGE
ANNIEEEEE A AAAAA AA A AA A A A A A A MY GIRL
Floch is such a crazy piece of shit, I love him, he's a great villain and I'm glad that Isayama added a character like that to the story. Also, funny with how he represents the rabid Eren stans, parroting the bs they keep saying ("we're free now reeeeeee").
S H A D I S  T H E  C H A D I S
Hange my queen how the hell did you save Levi, I wanna know!!
Hitch yeeting Annie made me scream, I love them together so much.
My babes Shadis and Magath are BACK!! 😍
So happy to see Hitch back. She is such a fun character and so underrated!
  THE CHAPTER OPENS WITH RESIDENTS OF STOHESS REACTING BOTH POSITIVELY AND NEGATIVELY TO EREN’S ACTIONS. WHICH EXPRESSION OF THE CROWD ARE YOU MOST SYMPATHETIC TOWARDS? 1,416 RESPONSES
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The citizens of the walls are as divided as the fanbase over Eren’s actions.  36.7% are on the side that says the Eldians on the island would all be dead without Eren, while 34% respond with the fact that he’s responsible for many of their deaths himself.  25.1% don’t want to side with either faction.
“You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs”
Both are right and wrong at the same time…
Both sides are ignorant as to what is actually happening so it is difficult to gauge who actually feels what they do considering their limited knowledge but I'm edging towards the justification of it.
Eren has planned this all along, he knows there will be no true peace by doing the rumbling and has some kind of third goal
Even if the first expression is true (and no one can say if it is or not for sure) it doesn't make the belligerents right, or mean that Eren shouldn't be held accountable for his actions
Both sides are justified. Both sides reacted according to their personal views in response to an outside force they had no control of.  
I sympathize with both. One on hand, it seems as though the wall titans were the only effective retaliation the island had left, but on the other hand, Eren did kill many of his own people and aiming to wipe out the rest of the world is definitely pretty extreme for even Eren. That's why I think there's still a HUGE part of his plan that we haven't been made aware of yet.
There's no real right answer here. Obviously genocide is bad and no one can deny the fact that Eren killed his own people but, what other options were available in the limited time they had?
Whatever your thoughts on The Rumbling, Eren is being extremely reckless and it's going to backfire like crazy. Member when Erwin pulled off an almost-bloodless coup? I have a feeling Ereh is too preoccupied with thoughts of PATHS and FREEDOM to really consider the consequences of stuff like civilian casualties or letting a fascist cult take over the government.  
What the tic tac patty wack snick snack quarterback big mac heart attack race track double back guy named jack did he just do?
Sasageyo
  ANNIE BACKSTORY! WHAT DID YOU THINK? 1,420 RESPONSES
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Annie’s finally back!  And she sure got a lot of page time, finally getting her chance to speak her story.  The majority thought seems to be that it was okay, at 60.3%, whereas 33.2% absolutely loved it, and 6.5% thought it was a waste of time.
Develops her character a bit but otherwise not too important
we got an entire Annie backstory and it answered NONE of my questions about the crystal. If its purpose was just to protect her like the Warhammer's crystal, and she was semi-conscious -- why couldn't she escape it on her own?  Is there something unique about the Female Titan? Was it a chrysalis? Has she undergone a metamorphosis?
I'm just glad Annie's back
I really liked it and especially the Annie focus although I expected more from her justifications.
Don't care for her this late in the story tbh it's just a waste of pages
this chapter confirmed that Annie is the best character of SNK !
It was pretty much exactly what I expected, fairly boring and didn’t change my perception of her character at all
This puts so much context on the murders she committed back in the female titan arc and her personality in general. This is so great! Waited forever for this
I especially liked learning Annie's entire backstory, and her interactions with Hitch in this chapter were great.
Lil' Orphan Annie deserves more spinoffs. We need one about her awkward preteen years trying to fit in with the popular girls while continuously kicking them in half by accident.
MY GIRL ANNIE DESERVES MORE.
  AFTER CONSIDERING HER STORY, WHICH THOUGHT MOST CLOSELY MATCHES YOUR OWN? 1,410 RESPONSES
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There sure was a lot to consider in all Annie said, and the two primary thoughts seem to be a feeling of tragedy that she never felt that anything mattered, and a hope that she’ll see her father again, at 23.7% and 22.6% respectively.  
Can't forget what she has caused, but glad she found meaning in life.
I hope she can find peace
I understand her reasoning, but her saying she'd do it all again hurt a lot.
Interesting plot point, but was it really necessary? Kinda felt like forced drama to add this "adoptive child" thing.
Is it wrong to wish for her happiness?
It may mirror Eren's motives. To her, nothing else matters except returning to her father, not even other people's lives. If Eren is intent on protecting his friends, then other lives wouldnt even matter.
It's interesting how seems similar she is to Reiner but how different they actually are. Annie is nihilistic and realistic because the lack of love, Reiner is idealistic and longing for love in a tragic way because he fantasize the love which doesn't exist
Annie has always been, in my opinion at least, one of the most honest characters, and I'm glad we can see that her core hasn't changed (but I’m so happy we can hear her talk and that we are finally getting some character development). Unlike Reiner and Bertolt, Annie never pretended to be friends with the Shinganshina trio, she never acted more nicely than she felt she should. She kept to herself and did what she knew she had to do. But this does not make Annie cold or resilient to atrocities; when she was manipulated by Reiner to take off Marco’s 3D maneuver gear, we can see she doesn’t do it easily and she does show remorse, in spite of everything. All of the SnK characters are tragic, some more than others, and for me, Annie is probably one of the most tragic ones. Adopted, trained to become a killing machine, completely alone with no one to really rely on once she joined the army, Annie goes towards her goal, stripping every bit of romanticism from the notions of peace, good vs bad governments, Marley, Eldia, humanity, etc. Annie does not fight, or pretend to fight, for the greater good; as perceptive as always, she sees the situation for what it is, just like she sees people for who they really are. I hope this brave young woman gets a happy ending with her dad.
  DO YOU FIND IT REASONABLE THAT ANNIE HAS BEEN SEMI-CONSCIOUS IN THE CRYSTAL ALL THIS TIME 1,411 RESPONSES
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Hitch sure was surprised that Annie had actually been listening to her all that time, but the fandom wasn’t.  86.3% found it reasonable, but 10.7% still aren’t convinced it makes sense.
Considering we had Ms. Tyber being aware of her surroundings in her own crystal, looking back on that it's like "oh yeah that seems legit". Granted I'm sure Ms. Tyber had practiced the technic to use it in battle proficiently. But it doesn't seem too out there for Annie to be at least semi-conscious 
Honestly no. But this story has people transforming into giant monsters so I can't really complain.
I find hard to believe she is not crazy. Being unable to move in darkness for 4 years with only voices to keep her company is pretty brutal.
I'm wondering how her body condition is near to normal.
It reminds me of ymir being a mindless titan for 60 years
Wall titans also seemed to be semi conscious if I remember the original scene with eye movement and fear of light energizing them.
P A T H S
  ANNIE WAS COVERED WITH SOME SORT OF FLUID THAT DOESN’T SEEM TO BE EVAPORATING. WHAT DO YOU THINK IT IS? 1,408 RESPONSES
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We ended last chapter on Annie in a pool of this liquid, and this time we see Hitch follow it to where Annie is.  But… what is it?  66.2% think it has something to do with the crystal’s hardening, 15.2% DO NOT want that knowledge, and 11.6% think it’s a human bodily fluid.
A fluid to keep her alive (something like the lcl in evangelion)
Amniotic fluid is the warm, fluid cushion that protects and supports your baby as they grow in the womb.
a liquid that makes her body hibernate so she can stay alive
I think it's a weakened form of the hardening. Perhaps it was also this fluid around the creature in the well from Ymir's backstory.
If I recall correctly, some crystals do have water in the form of “hydrates” so in theory, the fluid in Annie’s crystal is what kept her alive by supplying nutrients and and water to her body. Because of this, the fluid may have possibly come from Annie’s Titan as it formed the crystal around her.
amniotic fluid - some unique property of the Female Titan
Tears of readers who waited too fucking long for Annie to break through
Armin juice
  WHERE DO YOU THINK HITCH AND ANNIE ARE HEADING? 1,408 RESPONSES
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So many groups in so many places!  Where is this one going to end up?  A little over half, at 55.9% think they’ll run into another group before they get to a specific destination, about a quarter at 23.4% think Shiganshina, and 19.2% think the port.
Following the Colossal Titans
Honestly it was very reckless of hitch to let Annie go. If she causes more trouble for Paradis then what will she do
Based on them leaving Stohess in the same direction as the colossal titans it is likely they will pass through Trost. They will continue south towards Shiganshina and maybe the port but on the way they will likely run into Hange, Levi, Pieck and Magath, or Connie, Falco, Armin and Gabi.
Kiyomi's plane
Marley, to Annie’s father
To Historia
  WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE STATE OF THE ELDIANS IN LIBERIO? 1,399 RESPONSES
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We jump across the ocean, only to find Mr. Leonhart starting a rebellion in Liberio!  About half feel there’s going to be an absolute bloodbath, 32% are glad they’re finally rising up, 11% are focused on Mr. Leonhart being a badass, and 6.1% are scratching their heads as to how this is relevant.
I feel it's setting up for eldians in all internment zones rising up, although i don't know what significance that would hold if they're gonna be flattened like pancakes anyway
I'm actually glad because while I have still and always despised the Warriors, Annie's dad felt relatable to me, good to see non-powered, regular citizens rise up against the enemy
Isayama stop trying to be clever with names is there a single part of this series you haven't put thought into?
It is rather unsettling to see since it all seems to head towards a massacre although the reactions of the Eldians are understandable and sound.
It makes sense why they'd rise up: they know what's coming, and they just want to get to safety. After all, they should be spared from the Rumbling because of their race. As expected of the Marleyans though, they won't listen to the Liberio Eldians' current plea, and it will surely cost them (the Marleyans).
The Marleyans are comically dumb it's not even funny; I mean why would they orchestrate a revolt now
This was Eren's plan all along, he wants Eldians everywhere to rebel under the threat of the wall titans.
Why should we care about what happens to anyone outside the Walls? This scene was totally unnecessary.
Worldwide Eldian Rebellion I am excited
I'm worried about them! :(
  WILL MR. LEONHART SURVIVED THE SCUFFLE WITH THE GATE GUARD? 1,408 RESPONSES
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A somewhat interesting split here; though most responders think there’s more to come with Annie’s father and being killed by the gate guard wouldn’t be the right way for him to go, especially with unfinished business with his daughter. The next highest response was ‘I am not sure’ followed by ‘No he won’t survive’ with a still respectable 24.7% of the vote. One to keep an eye on, here.
Weird that she wants to return home so much just because her dad was nice to her for a few minutes (he's been torturing her all her life).
It had some very much needed character development for A LOT of characters. I can't wait to see how certain plot points like Connie's mom and Annie's wish to see her dad will be resolved.
I saw some parallels between Mr. Leonhard vs. the guards and volunteers vs. Floch. Anarchy reigns; power struggles everywhere, yay! I want to see Mr. Leonhart leading a rebellion. I want to see Eldians all over the globe rising up and busting out of internment zones. Also - we got an entire Annie backstory and it answered NONE of my questions about the crystal. If its purpose was just to protect her like the Warhammer's crystal, and she was semi-conscious -- why couldn't she escape it on her own?  Is there something unique about the Female Titan? Was it a chrysalis? Has she undergone a metamorphosis? Will it even matter if Ymir is freed from her sand slavery and refuses to transform any more titans? Still -- it's interesting that Annie was adopted, and I have to wonder if her lineage is important.  Final thought: I'm growing tired of Isayama sidelining people by having them unconscious/uncommunicative. I get why he may want to render some characters unable to affect the plot at certain points but 'unconscious' is his go-to and I'm losing patience with it. Okay, Historia got stuck with 'pregnant' but I lost patience with that ages ago. Wake up already, Reiner. Say something, Levi. At least Falco's awake again. And Annie, for the love of Eldia, please explain your crystal.
Speaking of Mr. Leonhart, he may be crippled and defeseless against the Marleyan guards, but at least he wasn't swayed by fatalism against his current government unlike Jean/Armin.
  WHAT DID YOU THINK OF KEITH’S ADVICE TO THE TRAINING CORPS MEMBERS? 1,394 RESPONSES
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Instructor Shadis is still instructing, and 46.1% of you are still chanting SHADIS THE CHADIS.  23.5% loved his advice, 16.5% enjoyed the callback to being a bystander, and 12.1% wish he’d encouraged them to rise up.
Foreshadowing that they‘ll overthrow Eren and Floche.
He gives up too easily. I don't like this.
I'm glad he told them not to fight the Yeagerists but for the wrong reasons
Shadis doesn't want them to risk their lives, understandable, but giving Floch&Co time to gain even more power is not a good idea.
He's being smart and cautious because they've had enough losses for now
By far the best piece of advice he could have given them. Not is it only the most reasonable thing to do in the current situation, but it also goes to show how much Shadis values life and how well, thanks to his experience, he can see what the future might bring. When he thought fighting was a viable option, he wanted the trainees and soldiers alike to dedicate their hearts (and he dedicated his own as well), but now when he sees that they’re clearly getting overpowered and that any form of resistance would inevitably lead to death, he advises them to stay put, but not lose sight of themselves. That’s what a good leader/ elder/ parent does. Despite the fact that he failed as commander and that he was usually the only one to come back from his missions outside the walls, he shows that he has learned a lot and can strategize and draw the right moves. And it even reminded me of Levi, this desire to not waste lives. And Shadis is special, I just wish he’d realize that along with many others. Unfortunately, a very underrated character.
I am hyped to see these characters actually amount to something because of chadis!
A giant death flag.
  WAS ARMIN IN THE RIGHT TO RAISE HIS VOICE AT MIKASA? 1,402 RESPONSES
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Armin has returned to being shell-shocked like he was in Shiganshina, and he took it out on Mikasa, but was he justified?  Just over half don’t think he was justified, but don’t blame him for snapping.  23.9% believe it was the right choice to try to make her more independent.  The last two options are tied at 10.3%, saying he was completely in the wrong, and the other saying he was justified in that Mikasa needs to focus on more than Eren.
Armin has been the one others rely for guidance, however at this point he seems stressed and probably over thinking (when he refers back to Erwin).
Armin just reached his breaking point. So much has happened in one day, and he needed to rant.
Asking ANYONE to stop thinking about Eren right now is pointless, let alone Mikasa. He was wrong, but stressed out.
Both. She needs to be encouraged to make her own decisions, but he didn't need to be mean about it. She has always been nice to him.
Feel like many are misunderstanding mikasa's comment about eren. He is the biggest concern so why shouldn't she mention him? Personally I don't think she was still in eren obsessed mode.
That's a complex question. Everyone is stressed right now, especially Armin, feeling guilty for being brought back and feels so much weight on his shoulder to be a leader so to say. So it reasonable for him to yell and it might spark something in Mikasa as well.
Armin needs a nap, a warm bath, and a foot rub.
  WILL MIKASA START ‘THINKING FOR HERSELF’ NOW, AS ARMIN SUGGESTED? 1,395 RESPONSES
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Mikasa’s character development is being pushed to its tipping point now, will Armin’s words make her start thinking for herself?  The majority, at 56.3% think that leadership isn’t her style, but she’ll step up and support what she feels is right.  18.6% feel that she’s already made the step into thinking for herself, and the last two options are split at 11.3% between a full ‘yes she’ll finally step up’, and a full ‘she’s always thought for herself.’
Armin: think for yourself! Mikasa: Where is my scarf?
Hopefully, I want to see more independence. Assertive and confident in her actions.
I don't know if she'll able to think for herself. maybe she will do something, but I guess whatever she will do on her own, I don't want to expect much from her. Anyway I have the feeling that Mikasa's own decision could be that she accepts Kiyomi's offer and leaves Paradis because the whole situation is obviously killing her.
I hope Isayama has something special planned for Mikasa's development
Mikasa has always thought for herself. She’s never been a leader, but she’s always followed her own hearts desires. Nobody knows what to do and for once it was actually reasonable for her to ask about eren, given what he’s about to do to the world.
Mikasa isn't wrong to look to Armin for leadership, but when she brings up the elephant in the room, he flies off the handle at her. But ultimately, I think that Armin is right. She'll have to make decisions based off her own judgement and I'm excited for it.
I kinda doubt that. She went to Jean, because Armin told her so and I don't think that she would do anything in the situation between Jean, Floch and the Volunteers. If she would be able someday to make her own decision, I'll think that could be to do with Kiyomi's offer to go on one of her ships, but we will see.
I think she will be an impromptu leader, similarly to what she did at Trost after eren got eaten by the santa titan
Mikasa did nothing wrong, she tried to take advice instead to run somewhere else like Connie or give up like Jean.
Yes she’ll become more independent. I think itll lead to “see u later eren”
  AT THIS POINT, ARMIN STILL THINKS ERWIN WAS A BETTER CHOICE TO REVIVE. DO YOU? 1,391 RESPONSES
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The question of whether Armin or Erwin should have been revived in Shiganshina proves to be one of the most contentious issues in the series, nearly on par with when we asked you guys what you think of Eren’s (stated) plan. 52.2% of you are Team Erwin, and 47.8% are Team Armin. Regrettably, I can’t make a good joke out of either of those numbers.
I've said it before, but I think Armin was the best person to revive from a story telling point of view. Erwin was the better leader, no doubts there, but it is the lack of him that has pushed all these other characters to develop more. I believe the relationships between characters and the characters themselves would've remained more static if he had still been there. So therefore, Armin was the right choice
Erwin wouldn't have let any of this happen
  WHO TOOK THE SCARF? 1,403 RESPONSES
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There could only ever be one winner of this question; given the girls fandom of Eren in general and Mikasa in particular, 72.5% of you picked Louise as the scarf thief, particularly since she knew it was there and gave it a look after Mikasa left. The next highest answer was Eren having sent someone to retrieve it, at 13.8%, followed by ‘someone else at 9.1%, with Floch and Jean respectively taking up other minor answers. I look forward to the questions in the future of why the scarf was taken, and how will it affect the story?
Oh, and Louise definitely has the scarf. I think there will be a confrontation over it and Mikasa will Realise Things, so that's cool.
Louise totally stole that scarf.
  WHICH NAME IS BETTER? 1,395 RESPONSES
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808 of 1,395 of you came out to represent Gabi Gang, while the remaining 587 of you like Mia better. Mia Myriad? Eh. Mia Myriad’s weird. I like Gabi Gang better.
  WHAT'S UP WITH JEAN WHEN FLOCH IS TALKING TO HIM? 1,399 RESPONSES
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Floch tells Jean he can finally have the life he always wanted, what was Jean feeling at that moment?  40.5% think he was just totally shell-shocked, 30.4% think he;s faking weakness for a plan, 16.4% think he had an epiphany about Eren based on what Floch said, and 10.7% believe him to be considering what Floch has to say.
Definitely debating whether or not to kick his head in-- once he's decided I think he'll pounce
he has been asking over and over for how long they would have to keep fighting. So Floch telling him is over has a great effect on him. Although he will chose to keep fighting.
He is bothered that the Yeagerists consider him a “hero”
He is in disbelief over how AWFUL Floch is and once his brain processes it he will snap and punch the bastard in the face
He's both in shell shock and trying to fake weakness.
I think he's coming up with some sort of plan to finally rid the world of Floch.
Jean looks so tired in these panels, as in physically tired and mentally. He probably wants this all to be over, and Floch is giving him a way out. But Jean has come too far to give up, I think, so I hope he turns his brain back on.
  ARE THE ROCKS THAT GO MISSING WHEN FLOCH TURNS HIS HEAD AN ARTISTIC OVERSIGHT OR DOES IT HAVE FUTURE SIGNIFICANCE? 1,406 RESPONSES
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THE ROCKS ARE GONE.  About half of the fandom, at 46.2% are pretty sure Jean pocketed them to use as a weapon.  29.7% did not notice the disappearance, and 24.2% think it’s just Isayama overlooking an inconsistency.
Bitch boutta throw some rocks
I hope Jean can something do too otherwise the Volunteers would get forced to fight for Eren and to help him destroying their own motherlands (oof) or get killed. I hope the theory about the pocket rocks get relevant and true in the next chapters
Floch be a bitch with a nest boutta get moulded by rocks
Getting ready to bash floch
there was a gun next to him and then it was gone. The boy boutta blooooow
  FLOCH CLAIMS THAT EREN TOLD HIM THE ENTIRE PLAN. IS HE TELLING THE TRUTH? 1,399 RESPONSES
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Eren doesn’t seem to have confided his plan in anyone, but Floch says otherwise.  60% confess Eren likely told him a fair bit, but not everything, 32.9% think Floch’s just BSing his way through things to look better, and 5.6% truly believe Eren told Floch everything.
Eren is the only one who knows his true plan, anyone that claims to know what Eren is doing was just a pawn that Eren used.
Eren probably forgot who Floch even is
Considering how Eren is acting now, I fear he did tell him everything after seeing his extremism.
Floch believes Eren told him everything, but he probably didn't.
floch is an arrogant bitch who thinks eren and him are best buds
I mean, the plan so far seems to be 'let's retrieve Zeke, overthrow the government and unleash the Rumbling', so why won't he tell Floch all of it? He seems to be fully on board. If there is more to the plan, then Floch doesn't know it.
I'm still not sure how much of Eren's betrayal of Zeke he was in on, but I'm damn sure Eren didn't task him with any 'removing internal resentment' job.
Jean knows he has more of Eren's trust than Floch does. From this, Jean figured out either Floch is lying for his own gains, or is being used by Eren.
Floch is just a dumbass and Eren is using him to get the necessary pieces into place without him doing it all himself
Something tells me Floch actually just overheard Yelena talking with Eren about Zeke's plan during the railway opening ceremony. I could've sworn that in the chapter Floch mentioned that he "heard" Eren's plan, and the way he uses that word gives me the impression he only listened to parts of what Yelena told Eren without knowing what Eren's ulterior motive was when learning Zeke's plan.
That’s certainly what he *thinks*
Eren is manipulating Floch's ass six ways to sunday and I'm here for it
  WHO DO YOU THINK WILL BE THE ONE TO TAKE DOWN FLOCH? 1,398 RESPONSES
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From previous polls, Floch seems like a popular choice to die next, but who would do it?  Nearly ¾ of that fandom believe Jean will end him, though 6.5% don’t believe Floch’s dying anytime soon.  Eren, Mikasa, Shadis, and Yelena were other popular options.
Could be anyone at this point, really. Would be cool if it was just some random volunteer and the death would be meaningless.
Better not be anyone, Floch is making way more sense than Armin
Armin
I hope no one does, he's the most entertaining character at the moment
I really hope all of the above and I hope it'll be a gruesome death.
King Floch is the father and will outlive the rest of the 104th.
Let him be squashed under a Titan foot, pls
Me
Nobody, Floch will be the only survivor of the rumbling
HISTORIA! QUEEN!!!! How is the rightful ruler of Eldia not a choice here?!
I hope he doesn't die at least next chapter, because him dying is too predictable. But if he does it should be Jean.
I HOPE IT'S EITHER LEVI OR HANGE. But I think it's probably going to be Jean.
I think floch is going to have an utterlessly meaningless death. Just to show the irony that surviving that day didn't change shit.
I think since he survived on pure luck and destiny up until now, I could imagine his death will be more by accident or by unfortunate circumstance then someone else succeeding to kill him
SHADIS THE CHADIS no but actually probably Yelena or Mikasa.
The 109th Recruits
Onyankopon, Jean and Mikasa, I hope.
Who knows. Hope he dies.
ZEKE JAEGER
Isayama
It'll be a team effort
  CONNIE AND FALCO ARE EN ROUTE TO RAGAKO. WHAT DO YOU THINK THE OUTCOME WILL BE? 1,398 RESPONSES
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Bets for the Return to Ragako arc are placed, and the majority (~43%) of you think that the overwhelming scent of cinnamon wafting from Falco will entice Connie to spare him. Not far behind, with 30.5% of the votes, is the prediction that Armin and Gabi will swoop in and save the day. The next most popular option was Falco feeling the sudden urge to die for Reiner, causing him to transform and escape. Following that was Falco realizing his predicament without getting his memories back, and after that, a very small amount of you guys (18), think Falco’s gonna get chomped.
Connie finna die
I can't think of how bringing back Connies mom will save Reiners life, so it won't happen.
Is it weird that I think Connie's mom has already turned back to human?
  WHICH UNLIKELY TEAM-UP IS THE MOST EXCITING? 1,391 RESPONSES
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An overwhelming majority of you guys are most excited to see the Magath/Pieck/Hange/Levi squad team up, while the distant runner-up is Hitch/Annie, followed by Armin/Gabi, and then Connie/Falco. I can’t imagine why Connie/Falco got the least votes here.
  WHICH TEAM, IF ANY, DO YOU THINK WILL MEET WITH HISTORIA? 1,384 RESPONSES
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With a 31.6% majority, the… quad...duo… quaduo? That’s definitely not a word but it should be, technical definition pending. What I’m trying to say is that Team Magath/Pieck/Hange/Levi got the most votes for “Who’s going to meet up with Historia?” Following that was… uh, nobody. As in the next most common answer is “nobody”. You guys are not making this write-up easy for me. After that was Team Hitch/Annie, followed by Armin/Gabi, and then Connie/Falco. The graph is proportional enough that you can see all the percentages, so that’s cool.
Historia is the key to ending this story and getting all the context we need. Which means we probably won’t see her again for awhile.
  SLEEPING THROUGH THE APOCALYPSE. WHO DID IT BETTER? 1,399 RESPONSES
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We didn’t ask for a reason behind this selection, but Reiner’s rather ill-timed cozy cottage snooze (58.5%) trounced Levi’s “return of the mummy” slumber (41.5%). Maybe it was the appeal of the fruit and snacks?
  DO YOU THINK LEVI WILL BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE UPCOMING BATTLE? 1,400 RESPONSES
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Nearly 60% of you think Levi will recover enough to encourage the others to fight, 20% think he’ll recover enough to fight, and 15.3% think he’ll be unconscious for awhile. The white space on the graph is what happens when there are too many single-voter responses, but we can read them behind the scenes, and one of them suggested that we’re about to learn how titan serum affects Ackermans, and I just want to say that I appreciate your devotion to Titan Science™, anon.
TITAN LEVI INC
Crack theory: he‘ll eat Zeke after Zeke offers himself up because he lost his will to live. So yes, he‘ll be fully healed and badass again.
He is going to become a shifter by eating Zeke with the cooperation of Pieck/Magath, fulfilling his promise to Erwin.
He won't be recovering but he'll fight all the same, with his teeth if necessary
He'll recover enough to make one last heroic action before dying
I don't really know. I hope he can still fight. I think Isayama-sensei didn't let Levi live to be a useless soldier.
i don’t want him to participate. i just want him alive
I think that Levi will not be able to fight, but he'll be awake, and I'd like to him take on a mentorship role. I would love to see him make a full recovery by the time the manga concludes.
Some unforeseen magic will happen
  HAS THIS CHAPTER AFFECTED YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT THE RUMBLING? 1,385 RESPONSES
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The destruction on the ground, Floch’s reign of terror, and the 104th’s horror at what’s unfolding seems to have shaken some in the fandom with one quarter of respondents indicating that their support has lessened somewhat (20.6%) or significantly (5.7%). The remaining 75% are staying the course with close to 40% completely opposed to the rumbling and 35% in full support of it.
  HAS THIS CHAPTER AFFECTED YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT EREN? 1,387 RESPONSES
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The responses here are about what we might expect; a fairly even split between those who support Eren fully (or at least think he’s got some mysterious ace up his sleeve) and those that do not support him/are losing faith in him. Interestingly, the smallest response was from those who have lost a significant amount of faith in Eren, indicating the battle lines are still drawn at this point.
Eren did nothing wrong
Eren Yeager is GOD! Bow Down!
We're left in the dark of what Eren is really planning and so I can't judge this consequence too much. It is very extreme and I'm skeptical of it all.
Another aspect of the continual violence and really justifies Eren's position.
The inner fighting among themselves is going to get worse and they all will turn on Eren.
They should support eren, and the yeagerists, not plan to overthrow them
I DONT GET WHAT IS EREN TRYING TO DO? How is he gonna claim he wants to protect his people then end up killing him ??
I hope that among his friends there are on the eren side, eren's decision was correct, although it was too cruel, but it was all for the people he loved. why his friends no one sided eren , I'm sad to think about it.
I love eren but :(
  AT THIS POINT, AROUND WHICH CHAPTER DO YOU EXPECT THE MANGA WILL CONCLUDE? 1,406 RESPONSES
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As much as I hate to think about the end of the manga, and the subsequent never-ending feud over the serum bowl and the Rumbling, we’re bound to become the next NGE at some point. It can’t be stopped. The majority, at 45.7%, think we have until around Chapter 134, which gives us about nine more months. Following that, 30.2%, think we have until Chapter 138, which gives us more than a year. A lesser but still significant quantity of votes say we have until Chapter 142+, and I feel a little bit like the Vince McMahon meme typing this. You know the one. Lastly, 8.7% of you think there are only 5 chapters left. Why anyone would even entertain such an idea is beyond me.
  WHAT ARE YOU MOST HOPING TO SEE NEXT CHAPTER? 1,409 RESPONSES
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Wow! A huge split of opinion here regarding hopes for next chapter, as might be expected; but out in front with 27.8% of the vote is a wish to see more Hange, Levi, Pieck and Magath; no doubt because we haven’t seen them for a while. Coming up in second place is Jean and Mikasa, with a number of fans hoping they will fight back against Floch. And of course, third place is the everpresent wish to see Historia once more. What on Earth is she up to???
Historia hopefully
A solid chapter with a lot of great character development. Who wants to bet that Connie and Falco are going to run into Historia at Ragako?
Give me Historia
Jean has an epiphany about himself and Eren's actions (since Floch is Eren's fanboy, like Jean was to a certain degree))
Jean and Floch will fight!
If Floch doesn't make Jean react, I don't know who else will. Their relationship has always been complex, so it would be beautiful to see Jean killing him. But as long as it's not a Jaeger, I'll be fine.
I can’t help but feel that there was something odd about the way Hange spoke about Levi to Magath and Pieck. “Rest assured, he’s just a harmless man who failed to die”. Harmless? Levi? Really? And Hange doesn’t speak like that, so to me this looks like strategizing and covering something up. I don’t think Levi is 100% okay, far from, but I don’t think he’s on the verge of death. And even if Levi will physically be unable to fight, he still isn’t harmless. He wasn’t dubbed Humanity’s Strongest only for his physical strength; Levi is smart, he’s an excellent leader, he’s compassionate and experienced. So, even if we don’t see him engage in fights as a soldier, I believe we will get to see him devise plans and strategies, negotiate, etc. After all, we still don’t know what the Ackermans are capable of. We know they have superhuman strength, so I believe we’re all in for a surprise (or not so much of a surprise) when it comes to Levi. He’s played an enormous part in the story already, but his story isn’t over. Best boi love him yes.
I hope he can still fight. I think Isayama-sensei didn't let Levi live to be a useless soldier.
All aboard the ship! Ms. HanjiXMagath is setting sail! (???)
HISTORIA BACKSTORY, OR I WILL END THIS WORLD
  WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 1,328 RESPONSES
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Reddit continues to dominate the responses to this question, and this month there were literally more people who don’t discuss the series than people who discuss it on Tumblr. A direct consequence of banning Titan-presenting nipples, surely. Lastly, something ominous is going on in the Snapchat cult, because there were only two of you this month, down from five last month. That’s still enough to reproduce though and it makes me uneasy. Regardless of where or whether you discuss the series though, we appreciate all of you guys’ participation in the poll. We literally couldn’t do it without you!
  ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE CHAPTER?
hE dID nOtHing wrOnG
I mean it's not like Eren could be like "wait while you're breaking out of the wall, can ya be clean about it?" but also....yeahhhhh umm I'm not positive that Eren cares for the majority of Paradisians
Petra's death still burns... Yet I can't really hate Annie.
[Annie’s] story kinda looks like a copypasta of Zeke's but I'm glad it's established she doesn't care for her grand goal and would sacrifice everything to achieve hers if it needs to be brought again
I feel for the wall Titans, they've been conscious for the last century, just chilling there.
Isayama couldn't have made the parallel between Annie and Eren any more blatant if he tried.
I don't know why people are so surprised with Eren being in cahoots with Floch. He is already killing billions to secure peace for Paradis, installing an authoritarian government for the same reason is not unlike him. He already said, he is going to take the freedom from people if they threaten his even innocents.
0/10 no Reiner. jk, the chapter may not have "action" per se, but i love the focus on how the rumbling affects all the characters, including the eldians in the camps. also, all the pairings are really interesting. i hope the HLMP combo leads to good things for the future. i wonder if Armin & Gabi'll talk, and whether she'll learn that he is the Colossus titan, or if she'll catch onto Reiner's great familiarity with these people…
another average chapter in SNK standards (awesome in manga standards)
Another set-up chapter - would be good to see some major events occur to keep the momentum going. Also want Eren/Zeke POVs
After 10 months of wondering where Levi was and if he was alive, i fully sympathise with Annie stans, who had to wait the better part of a decade. But I'm glad to know Levi's alive for now.
Seeing almost everyone other than the Jeager brothers was so damn fresh. Now everyone's gotta work together to stop the total downer ending.
Felt like this a needed chapter to see where all the characters’ directions are headed. Whether we see more compromise or more tension between characters. It creates more anticipation and excitement for what’s to become of Eren and his plan.
Isayama been sleepin on some important characters 💤
Very interesting seeing so many different perspectives, if only we could get Historia some day
Great chapter. But if hange teams up with Pieck and Magath I am going to be very disappointed. They have no reason to rely on the the people who have been trying to exterminate them for years. I get they need to stop eren but they cant let forget the atrocities Marley has done to them. Regroup with the rest and figure out another goddman way.
A very interesting chapter. I fully expect an emotional outburst from Mikasa any time now. Maybe directed at Eren himself.
aaahh I just want Zeke
Give me Eren
Give me Historia
How the hell will Isayama cover all these separated smol groups in only 12 chapters??? Can he rly end the manga this year cos I have doubts!
All pieces are on the move, time to wrap things up, Isayama-sensei! Though I don't see any way to stop Eren, unless they maybe use Historia and her royal blood? Can't wait to see how Isayama will solve all of this.
I love the setting of the rumbling as a slow moving mass of dust and meat that we’re all powerless to stop. I love how we’ve seen it from the perspective of people on the receiving end of the destruction, from people that support it and most of all, people who would never support it but are still benefiting from it. Regardless, none of them could stop even if they wanted too. It makes the issue seem so much more real.
Annie is pretty much like Eren right now, knowingly doing terrible things for the people they care about, both have accepted the cruelty of the world and acted accordingly and is not like the world has given them reasons to think otherwise. But this mentality has only brought pain and suffering around them and to themselves, I hope in the end she changes her outlook in life and finally goes against the "current"  of the way things are as she described and do the right thing.
Annie needs to get Armins head out of his ass. Floch was executing people next to his friends and he just runs off wtf
I DONT GET WHAT IS EREN TRYING TO DO? How is he gonna claim he wants to protect his people then end up killing him ??
Armin did nothing wrong. I've seen people complaining about he "yelling with waifu" and even comparing with Eren, even tho what Eren did was totally intentional, while Armin wasn't he didn't mean to hurt her, he snapped under stress, but when he saw he hurt her he regretted so much that even brought Erwin to the picture. But apparently his feeling and emotions are nothing compared with Mikasa's...
Armin made the right choice to go after Falco. His strategy is to ally with the Warriors and Marley. His tactic is to use Falco as barter. It is the best move he can make with the situation as it is. If he succeeds he gains Connie back in the fold, Falco, Gabi, Reiner, Pieck, and Magath. This type of quality help will raise morale and lessen the pressure that everyone feels. Hopefully they work as a team and communicate with each other. Don’t be like Eren who has no fog of war because he knows how it ends and, yet, doesn’t tell anybody about it.
As long as the rest of the world is unwilling to negotiate peacefully I’m not sure what other options were on the table. Obviously eren’s actions are irredeemable, but I feel that he’ll have the same sentiment Annie expressed: if this is the only way his friends make it out alive then he’d choose this path every time. I don’t think all of the blame is on eren(though he is still responsible for his own actions). Every side played a role in this and it should have never come to this to begin with.
I really appreciated the scenes with Armin, Mikasa, and Jean. The rumbling is a world-changing/ reality altering event and Armin said as much, but I'm really hoping these three can manage to salvage some peace for themselves despite the chaos.I think Eren has already accepted his own mortality re: the Curse of Ymir and has fully resigned himself to doing whatever he deems necessary for Paradis, I'm interested to see his end. I also enjoyed seeing Levi and Hange, I never doubted their survival; it also might be a further indication that Floch is BS'ing his way with his power grab when he said that they were killed...This series is excellent.
Wake up already, Reiner. Say something, Levi. At least Falco's awake again. And Annie, for the love of Eldia, please explain your crystal.
Can't wait to see Jean snap at Floch
It was great but isayama please let us see eren...
I just really hope Connie doesn't die but I'm not feeling too optimistic... I can't believe Annie's back and I'm really looking forward to whatever her and Hitch do next.
The reaction to the Armin and Mikasa scene initially drove me up the wall, because people's readings of Mikasa are just so fucking bad--she's literally right??? LMAO. Mikasa and the 104th have always followed Armin's guidance, so she isn't even wrong when she asks how to make herself useful. But the reaction to her question about Eren is just...
Levi surviving the thunderspear was bullshit. Hopefully he stays permanently injured and not overpowered again. Isayama give us Historia please. I hope we get to see my baby Reiner wake up next chapter. I wish that Reiner and Annie meet again please
I got emotional when Falco was starting to "remember" Connie. While Sasha's scenes after her death could have been written better, every time I see a Ymir reference, something interesting happens. We need to remember best girl, and finally we get to see that Connie was an important comrade of hers.
I hope Connie makes the right choices, my boy has suffered enough!
It somehow gave positive vibes despite the apocalyptic setting, and I was extremely happy we got to see almost everyone again.
I want to see more about what happened to Ymir Fritz after she gained her freedom.
I'm glad Levi is ok but i gotta know: how is he able to breathe when HIS ENTIRE FACE HAS BEEN BANDAGED UP
It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fiiiiiiiiiine
Lame ass chapter, everything feels pointless and forced and the ambiguity and moral grayness of the story is gone.
Levi has to give meaning to those deaths. It's what will give peace to his heart. He deserves to fight one last time.
mikasa let me hug you and protect you
Can we agree Keith is badass? He advised trainees to not lose themselves despite the government. It's such a stark contrast with Floch in this chapter. He was so traumatized by his first mission as a SC, losing his comrades, watching them die meaningless deaths and seeing the SC fighting over who should be lived other than the commander. As he shot that voluteer he made it clear he casted his values aside for survival. In the end he learned they were just as meaningless as Marlowe's death.
More Yelena pls
This chapter was a lot of scenes I had been waiting for put together. We had Annie and Hitch interaction, an update on Connie and Falco, Gabi and Armin now heading their way, and Levi and Hange are finally back. Now all we need is Historia. The wait for her stopped being funny a LONG time ago...Actually scratch that, it wasn't funny to begin with. 😒
Levi is alive bitches
Really glad it's not all wrapping up with Eren activating the rumbling. Seeing how everyone is handling the chaos has been incredible. I was telling my friends that I honestly don't think the final battle will be against Eren. It's just everyone versus the pure chaos of the situation. I don't see Eren getting beat
The EMA trio was never my favorite, but it still kinda hurt to see them all split up.
The Erwin references were amazing!! Both in the manga and the end text!!
With all these relatively slow-paced, character-driven chapters recently, it seems as if the ending will be very rushed. I have faith in Isayama’s writing skills, but I just hope he will be able to pull off an ending that will do justice to all these wonderful characters he has built up, while rounding out the plot in a satisfying way. This story, in my opinion, is a masterpiece so far - and an ending could either make or break it at this point. Either way, I look forward to seeing the coming chapters very much.
Where is Kiyomi ? (2nd edition)
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franeridart · 5 years
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Anon said: YOU DREW SERVAMP AS WELL??? JUST IN HOW MANY OF MY FANDOMS ARE YOU OH MY GOD I FEEL SO BLESSED I COULD CRY
Aw man, sort of, yeah!! I can’t say I’m actively into the fandom anymore, since I’ve lost track of the translations for the manga and I’m definitely behind at least a dozen chapters, but !!!!!!!!!! yeah man I love servamp it’s such a good manga TT^TT
Anon said: Ok since you like fire force *slides $20 bill* can you draw some Shinra x Arthur?
Whoops, sorry but I don’t ship it just yet! (might happen? might not?? we’ll have to wait and see what Okubo has planned for my poor heart this time around) but! hold that thought and the $20 cause I might actually open up commissions soon enough if my money situation doesn’t change, so!! >:3c
Anon said: do you think kirishima would be taller and bigger than bakugou in the future?
My ideal adult!KrBk are the ones I posted a few days ago, so!! Not really, I prefer them remaining more or less the same size as each other, just different body types - exactly as they are right now in the manga, just !!!! adult!!!!!!!!
Anon said: I Just want to say: I totaly love your content! Your Art is amazing and full of life 🥰 You are my fav. KiriBaku artist on hole Tumblr. My fav. part is your Fantasy AU art. I fucking love dragon Kiri and his king. But i really like your full content. Pls keep going!
Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!! (TT^TT)<3<3<3 I’m glad you like my stuff this much!!!!!!!!! 
Anon said: Just wondering, do you like any femslash ships in BHNA? If so, which ones!!
I do!!!!! MomoJirou and MinaJirou are def favs of mine, and I dunno the ship name but Kendou and Yui got my heart beating really fast, ngl <3<3 there’s something in the aesthetic of it, it just gets to me! Also Nejire and Yuyu, such a good ship (oTT^TT)9
Anon said: Heya, sorry for this stranger call. I just wanna ask if i could use your Kiribaku Comics for comic-dubbing. If i post it on social Websites i will give credits to you of course. I'll wait for a answer. I couldn't ask you that per dm so I need to doing it here
I’d prefer it if you didn’t, sorry!
Anon said: Reading your essay about bakugo finally things into place!! Thank you!!! I guess I just didn't fully grasp the whole "he expects you to just get it". He IS a character that requires more than a cursory glance to figure out and i love that about him! And i love the endearing things he does like you said, especially his unexpectedly great fashion sense. Personally another thing that gets overlooked about him is how smart he actually is. He doesn't just go BOOM BOOM all the time. He a smart boi.
I find like the whole “he says one thing and expects people to understand another” is made pretty clear in the arc right after the overhaul one, even if I think it was present enough before then too - but in that arc he says one thing, and then another character says a thing that has nearly nothing to do with what he said, and he goes “that’s what I said!” and when he explains what he meant with the first thing he said it makes it clear that he just, has a terrible, horrible way of expressing himself that’s way more aggressive than what he actually means? He’s been doing this since the start, going around yelling die and I’ll blow you up at things and people and then when he goes to act on it his actions turn out to be way milder than what he said ????
but yeah!!! it’s made more clear the further we go in the story and that’s one thing I really really love about him hahaha
Anon said: It's not that you put Baku's ring on the wrong hand, is that Baku is too much of a rebel to use the ring in the traditional hand! :D
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’ll take it!!!! 
Anon said: I seriously just come back to your blog sometimes to go through your art and it's like straight up drinking happy positive energy I'm in LOVE with the way you portray both Bakugo and Kirishima and their relationship and the rest of the boys and it's such a blessing and a delight and I feel like I will never be able to be thankful enough. Thank you for sharing your beautiful art with us, thank you for sharing your throughts, thank you for sharing your love for these two boys. Thank you 💕
You are!!!! Too kind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (TTATT) thank you for being so genuinely wonderful to me!!! and thank you for liking my stuff this much, it means the world to me!!!! <3<3
Anon said: I just read your Bakugo answer to that anon and honestly, there's so much love in it to be fair it obviously shows throught your art as well but reading that made me tear up a little. What an amazing character. What an amazing BOY I love him too thank you for sharing your thoughts and your amazing art you are one of my favorite artists in the fandom and I'm so glad you love him as much as you do and I hope it makes you as happy as it makes me when I look at your art 💕💕
GOSH thank YOU for loving him as much as he deserves, honestly!!! He’s such a wonderful character and has been making me happy for so long now!!!!! (TT^TT)<3<3
Anon said: I legit don't understand why people are taking things out of proportions I can assure you nothing outside of the usual squabble is going on in bnha fandom.There are some assholes on both sides but I think that since most of us haven't actually 'seen' it and just 'heard' of it means it's not exactly as prominent as they're making it out to be, probably just the assholes being assholes to each other exclusively, so please don't worry about it,they're messing up their own enjoyment of fandom really
I don’t really know what brought this ask on, to be honest!! But as things stand I have withnessed people being very, very horrible to others lately inside the bnha fandom (and obviously, specifically between ships) so! there’s that! then again it’s also true that the bigger a fandom gets the more easily rude people will find their way in it, so I guess it’s just something you learn to live with if you want to stay in the fandom - personally, I’m just doing my best to stay in my corner and draw my sappy comics without bothering anyone hahaha
Anon said: Just here to say that your art is like, my life at this point because I would be like big depression if I hadn’t found your blog. Not to rant but my week has been an absolute hell and your art makes me feel so much better and just please keep drawing because this means the absolute world to me ok thanks bye.
THANK YOU!!!! SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m so SO glad I can help your mood even just a bit, that’s really all I try to do with my doodles T^T fix my own mood, and maybe if I’m lucky help someone else along the way <3
Anon said: this may be all over the place, but I have the need to thank you? I was feeling very bad and down tonight, full on anxiety but I turned some music on and started going through your account and it calmed me down. I cant even count how many times I've gone through probably your whole account and just... thank you. your posts are so unique and funny and pretty and just sososo beautiful. I love how you built up bakugou and kirishima's characters and their relationship. just sososo beautiful.
Gods, you guys are going to make me cry for real (TTATT) you’re!!!! too nice!!!! again, I’m so happy to hear my doodles can help you feel better!!! I hope your days have been better <3<3<3
Anon said: So I keep rereading your latest kiribaku comic and its so fucking soft and I'm cry. It's so perfect and I just, it makes me so soft and happy every time I see it. It's honestly goals. I love ALL of your comics tbh, like, they're literally all perfect. Please continue to be your wonderful self!!!!
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!! thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! asks like this one are the reason why I keep sharing what I draw!!!!! <3<3<3<3
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theyearoftheking · 4 years
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Book Thirty-One: Four Past Midnight
You know you’re in for a good time when you crack open a collection of novellas, and the introduction discusses the 1989 Milwaukee Brewers, and specifically Robin Yount. 
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I am not really a baseball fan. I will admit to going to games just to tailgate, get snacks and drink an overpriced beer. I own some cute Milwaukee Brewers merch, and love a brat with stadium sauce. That’s the extent of my fandom. You’ll never find me being a baseball bandwagon junkie.
But.
Every late 30-40 something raised in Milwaukee has really fond memories of County Stadium (our old, humble stadium) before Miller Park took over (Sorry, refuse to call it Am-Fam Field, or whatever the hell its new name is). And we have fond memories of Robin Yount, Paul Moliter- the OG Brew Crew. Warm and fuzzies all around. 
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Steve drops one hell of a Wisconsin reference when he talks about watching a Brewers/Red Sox game (Brewers won, btw), and the announcers are talking about how old Robin Yount is. Steve almost flies out of his recliner when he realizes Robin started playing baseball the same year he published his first novel. They’re the same age!! Robin Yount can’t be old, because if he’s old, ergo, Steve is old. 
Time is a funny thing. I write this as I’m a week away from turning forty. Ugh. It hurts so bad. 
Four Past Midnight was another home run (ha!) collection of novellas. I told another constant reader this past week that the novella is really where Steve shines. It’s long enough to create some magic, but short enough to keep the editing tight. I didn’t love this collection as much as Different Seasons, but The Sun Dog might be my new favorite story ever... and it set the scene for Needful Things, which I’m now one hundred pages into. The flow from one story to the other is masterful. 
The collection kicks off with The Langoliers, which I mostly remember because it was a campy television miniseries in 1995.
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Basically, a bunch of people are on a red-eye flight, and Dinah Bellman, a little blind girl wakes up to find most of the people on the plane (including her caretaker Aunt) have disappeared. All their jewelry and belongings have been left behind, but it’s like they’ve been body-snatched out of thin air. Oh, the pilot was langolier-ed too. Thankfully, one of the other passengers on the plane, Brian Engle, just so happens to be a pilot, and attempts to land the plane. But, there are no lights, he’s not getting any response from any major airports... so landing at Boston Logan isn’t going to be a thing. He (of course) needs to re-route to Bangor. 
At this point, Craig Toomer is losing his shit. He NEEDS to be in Boston to meet with a bank about some shady shit with some bonds. He’s not having this Bangor thing. So, he sits in his seat and sulks, ripping pieces of paper into thin strips (legit serial killer behavior), and remembering horror stories his dad used to tell him about monsters called the Langoliers. 
Aaaand that’s where the title comes from. 
The plane lands in Bangor, the airport is empty, the food has no taste and the beers have no carbonation. Noises are both muffled and amplified, and planes won’t go. So, Brian fuels up the original plane they were on, loads everyone inside; and takes off again. The passengers realize they need to be asleep to fly through the time/space continuum, so Brian lowers the cabin pressure, they all go to sleep (except for the dashing Nick Hopewell who bravely offers to fly the plane through the rip), and they make it safely to the other side, where life slowly starts back up again. 
The end.
Then, there’s Secret Window, Secret Garden; which I also remember because of the Johnny Depp movie, which I had forgotten most of until my husband thought he’d summarize the plot of The Dark Half for me. He got it totally wrong, and ended up describing SWSG instead; thus ruining the surprise I forgot I already knew about. Welcome to marriage, kids. Lesson learned: if you haven’t seen The Secret Window, just wait and read the novella instead. 
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Best-selling author Morton Rainey answers his door one afternoon, and finds a Faulkner-esque gentleman in a wide-brimmed hat, accusing him of plagiarism. “You stole my story!” John Shooter tells him. Mort is supes confused, and has no idea what Shooter is talking about. He’s even able to prove he wrote and published the story a few years before Shooter wrote it. 
“Prove it,” Shooter taunts him. 
And then the story takes a left turn into Crazyville, when Shooter starts killing people, starting Mort’s ex-wife’s house on fire, and trying to kill Mort. 
But here’s the twist.
Ready?
Shooter is Mort. 
Mort is Shooter. 
God damn, I wish my husband hadn’t reminded me of this spoiler, it would have been more epic to discover on my own. But it’s an excellent slight-of-hand on Steve’s part. Well done. 
And then we get to The Library Policeman... which I really loved until I got to the part about the policeman anally raping small children who don’t turn their books in on time. That jumped the shark just a little bit. But prior to that cringefest, the idea of Library Policeman was fun. And in my world of enforcing rental policies, and returning books in beautiful, unblemished condition; I’m all for some library police. Maybe just ones with better social distancing, though... 
And then we arrive to Sun Dog, the real winner of the collection. Steve starts the story with a brief introduction that covers the strange history of Castle Rock. This is a great refresher if you’re new to the universe, or haven’t read thirty-one Steve books in five months. No judgement.
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 Kevin Delevan receives a Sun 660 Polaroid camera for this fifteenth birthday. He takes a family picture, and notices a dog in the snapshot. A dog his family doesn’t own, and doesn’t know. Thinking it’s a fluke, he takes a few more pictures, and the dog keeps showing up, but is moving in each picture. 
A few days later, Kevin takes the camera over to Reginald “Pop” Merrill at the Emporium Galorium. Pop fixes cameras and clocks, and also acts as the local loan shark, and seller of odd things. Pop inspects the camera, and sees nothing wrong with it. But he knows darkness when he sees it, and after a quick swap; he ends up with the Sun Dog camera, and sends Kevin home with another one. 
Pop tries selling the camera to collectors of the dark and odd, but no one wants it. He’s starting to stress, because he knows it’s only a matter of time before the camera unleashes its true dark potential. 
Kevin wakes up from a nightmare and realized Pop pulled a fast one on him. He gets to the Emporium Galorium just as the dog is trying to emerge from the film, and Kevin is able to kill it, and the shop starts on fire. But, it’s not the last strange thing to happen in Castle Rock...
I’m not going to lie, I finished Sun Dog at about 8pm last night, and promptly dived into Needful Things. Y’all... it might be my favorite Steve book ever. Too soon to say for sure, but damn it’s dark and twisty. Stay tuned. 
In addition to the Brewers reference, there was one Dark Tower reference in The Library Police, “...lookin’ as fierce as a gunslinger in an old Western movie...” 
Total Wisconsin Mentions: 25
Total Dark Tower References: 23
Book Grade: A+
Rebecca’s Definitive Ranking of Stephen King Books
The Talisman: A+
Misery: A+
Different Seasons: A+
It: A+
Four Past Midnight: A+
The Shining: A-
The Stand: A-
The Drawing of the Three: A-
Nightmares in the Sky: B+
The Dark Half: B+
Skeleton Crew: B+
The Dead Zone: B+
‘Salem’s Lot: B+
Carrie: B+
Creepshow: B+
Cycle of the Werewolf: B-
Danse Macabre: B-
The Running Man: C+
Thinner: C+
Dark Visions: C+
The Eyes of the Dragon: C+
The Long Walk: C+
The Gunslinger: C+
Pet Sematary: C+
Firestarter: C+
Rage: C
Cujo: C-
Nightshift: C-
Roadwork: D
Christine: D
The Tommyknockers: D-
I hope everyone is continuing to social distance and quarantine well. I’m headed back to work in another week... kinda hoping it doesn’t cut into my reading time. But reality is a cruel thing sometimes... 
Long Days and Pleasant Nights, Rebecca
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sometimesrosy · 5 years
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This isn’t an anti question in any way & doesn’t even have to do w/The 100 but tv writing in general. I’m not an expert so when I hear people saying “the writing is bad” on a show like let’s say GOT. What exactly are they talking about? Dialogue, scenes, story, character arcs, all of it? Like sometimes people will say an ep has bad writing but there are really good character moments or emotional scenes & I just get confused what people mean. I’m not talking about antis but like legit opinions.
Most of the time, when I see people saying “this is bad writing,” I think what they’re really saying is “I do not like this.”
That’s not what bad writing is. 
I’ve started to not listen to that criticism. Half the time, what it sounds like to me is either, “i didn’t get it,” “this is not what I would have done,” or “i don’t like it.”
That’s not about skill or storytelling, that is about understanding, refusal to listen to someone else’s story, and taste. The first two are failures of audience. The last one is no one’s fault. Just not their thing. I see that a lot when I see people wanting a romance and getting a tragic sf/fantasy epic adventure. Mismatch of expectation to genre.
Not liking an endgame? That’s taste, and maybe refusal to pay attention to the story. It doesn’t mean that the endgame is bad writing or a betrayal of the story. Sometimes the writers are not interested in that ship or romance at all, and despite some of the audience PREFERRING the ship/romance, it is not a requirement of the story or of storytelling or of logic or of genre. 
We have a tendency, in fandom, to equate “I do not like that” with “that is bad writing.” And those two things are not the same thing.  Loving a character doesn’t mean they are good and hating them doesn’t mean they are bad. Loving a storyline or ship doesn’t mean it is well written or just. Hating one doesn’t mean it is poorly written or evil. We can dislike a story or character or ship and it can STILL be well written. 
Maybe we need to spend more time looking at what the opposite of badly written means. What does it mean to tell a good story? To have a story or show be WELL written? It is engaging. The characters are well rounded and deep enough that they feel real. There is an internal logic to the universe that respects the audience and makes sense. The important questions and narrative threads are tied up and don’t leave the reader hanging. It is consistent with character and story and does not contradict itself. When it DOES contradict itself, as when a character transforms from one extreme to another, the story explains that or takes us on a journey. The story stands on its own and does not require extra-narrative explanations from the author to tell us something that was not included in the story. We want to keep watching and it pulls us in to the story, with a pacing that fully engages our emotions and thoughts.
See, now this all does not have anything to do with genre and allows many different types of story and storytelling to be good. It can include award winning serious films dealing with important real life matters that enlighten us about humanity as well as side splitting funny stuff that comforts us and makes us feel good and even tropey genre stories that follow all the rules of movie making block busters and STILL manage to make us cheer for the good guys and cry on cue and leave the theater happy.
Because stories serve different purposes and it’s up to us to find the stories that feed our needs. I personally steer away from the serious stuff lately and towards the fantastical. And I refuse the many judgments that call genre stories inferior or unworthy or trash. 
What happened with GOT was beyond just a ship not happening though. They had the audience. They had the story. We were drawn in, invested in the characters and the world and the epic battle… not for the fighting and special effects but for tension and the struggle, because we’d been watching those characters face their demons and their enemies and we wanted them to win against the evil, both human and not. 
The final season took the stories that were building and just discarded them. Character arcs that were NOT shown. Prophecies that built the story up were ignored. Societies whose driving force was inevitable just went, “eh” and walked away. 
 One of the things that bothered me was that they didn’t seem to understand some very basic GENRE requirements– like with the magic, spirituality and prophecy of this world. It felt disrespectful to me as a life long fantasy fan. You can’t just IGNORE the prophecy. That’s one of the things that is suppose to tell us what this story is about. Genre stories follow certain rules. Science fiction explores what ifs based on technology and science. Fantasy has mystical and magical rationales that are as REAL in their universe as science is in ours. Romance REQUIRES a happy ever after– or you betray your readers. In fantasy, if you put forth a prophecy, you have to deal with the prophecy. If there’s a character ascending into a mystical higher being, you can’t just reduce them to “weird.” If dragons are what brings the magic back, you need those dragons, or you need to end your magic. If the lone wolf dies but the pack survives, you can’t just separate the pack into lone wolves, send them to different corners of the world and then call that a satisfying ending. You COULD do it and either debunk the saying, or you could doom them to death as the saying predicted, leaving it a grimdark ending. But the way they framed it, the separated the Starks, and framed each of their lone wolf undertakings as a success. Which contradicts quite a few story and character arcs. 
The thing that upset me most about the ending though, which might very well be about taste, not about bad writing, is that the show seems to be making the statement that the little guy–the dispossessed, the bastard, the slave, the exile, the abused, the tortured, the oppressed–will never find justice or freedom or happiness or power. The world that oppressed them is the way the world should be. It takes all the torture and rape and pain that the show gave us, and never overcomes it, never gives us a reason for it beyond causing pain, If all those characters could have overcome their terrible beginnings and risen to set the world on a better path, we’d have a story that uplifts the audience and a very genre-appropriate story that we can see in the root of the genre, LOTR. 
Instead we have a story that rewards men for being clever and all knowing and superior, and the women who accept that as the way it should be. The end of the series returned power to the same unequal system, which discarded the oppressed. And did NOT break the wheel. It destroyed the throne and then continued on without the chair, doing the same thing. YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BREAK THE WHEEL.
On one hand, I can recognize that the writers wanted a story that said something I didn’t like. That does not necessarily mean it was bad writing. On the other hand, the story they were telling seemed to be saying SOMETHING ELSE, and instead of following the story they were telling, they switched it up, did not develop the switch, and called it a “surprise twist.” THAT is bad writing. 
You can’t just turn the heroine crazy without showing us her descent. It places a POV character into the role of “The Other,” whose motivations we can NOT know, despite following her path for years. We’re supposed to be watching part of the story from her perspective and be able to see her choices and why she makes them. 
It IS possible to turn a female pov character crazy in a way that is believable. The 100 showed Octavia Blake’s descent. We SAW her break. We saw what made her break. We saw her irrational choices. She wasn’t a goodguy-goodguy-goodguy-BURNEVERYONEDOWN character. They took us on the steps from good guy to broken person to violence as the answer to trying to be better to untenable situation to tyrant to burn everyone down. And then, frankly, although they didn’t need to do it, they brought her back to good guy and we saw that too. Having Dany go crazy is a narrative choice that I don’t like and is a matter of taste. Having her go crazy without showing us why or how and then TELLING us later that the good guy choices, like ending slavery, were a sign of her going crazy??? Disrespectful to the audience and disrespectful to the story and disrespectful to the character they developed. THAT is the bad writing part.
ENDING SLAVERY IS PROOF OF HER MADNESS???? what the? 
I have to say that this is not a sign of bad writing. You could write a story this way and it could be written well, (they didn’t, but you could.) This is a sign of a BAD PERSON. D&D are bad people. They root for slavers. Bad people can definitely be good writers. D&D are both bad people and bad writers. 
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How Did gen:LOCK Survive The Hype™?
(Spoiler-Free!)
I...am very ticked off at how much hate this show got even in the final hours before it premiered. Like, people were finding reasons to hate this show without knowing a single thing about it or having seen more than 3 minutes of actual footage from an episode. No matter what RT said about it, people found some reason it was gonna suck: mech anime fanatics moaned that the designs were nothing special and that Gray had terrible taste in anime (seriously, dudes?), RWBY fans complained that it was gonna steal resources from their show (a valid concern, but worth noting they spent a lot more time developing it), RT fans complained that they weren’t getting information about the show and that the company seemed reliant on advertising the big name talents over giving them any information. Some jackass even put out a Forbes article saying in the title “It Looks Terrible” without having seen a single episode but obviously publishing it at an opportune moment that people would be looking for reviews and it would be the first article that popped up when you googled the show. Almost universally there was the complaint that the show was overhyped and that it would fail.
Of course, it premiered today, and judging by how busy this tag is, I think there’s a fairly universal agreement it lived up to the hype.
Still, the idea that it could be overhyped was a valid concern. When the original announcement came out a year and a half ago everyone thought “Oh, okay cool, new RT show” and then there wasn’t much about it. Then Michael B. Jordan got cast and all of a sudden gen:LOCK was all RT would talk about. They’d put out teasers in front of videos, they kept on bringing in celeb voice actors, hell this month all the RT sub-channels put up the trailer while hosts raved about how good it was. If this was all a marketing effort for a meh show, they’d be in serious shit if it wasn’t well received.
So...how did gen:LOCK against all odds survive the hype?
1. It’s A Legit Good Show
Okay, I’m biased saying this because I’m a self-proclaimed fan, but seriously: every review I’ve found (by people who’ve actually bothered to watch it) has unanimously stated that it’s a very well done production. The animation is praised, the fights are praised, the dialogue is praised, the voice performances are praised, the sound design is praised. It’s not a perfect show by any means, and more than a few reviews comment that there’s something of a lack of storytelling focus, but it ticks all the marks for what can gain a show a pretty sizeable fandom. It’s action-packed, it’s funny, it’s got good characters...it’s got all the strengths of a Rooster Teeth show, and fewer weaknesses.
2. The Celebrity Castings Were Never A Sign Of Hiding The Show’s Quality
If anything, it was a sign it was good.
People still wonder, “How the hell did they get this cast?” Hell, I’m wondering it myself and I know the answer. I see the question in comments on the videos from people who still somehow hadn’t heard it starred Michael B. Jordan, Dakota Fanning, Maisie Williams, and David Tennant. A good number of people spent the months leading up to the premiere saying “A celebrity cast doth not a good show make.”
Perhaps not. But a bad show doth not make a cast member of Michael B. Jordan.
If you’re not aware, Michael B. Jordan is the whole reason this show suddenly elevated from a fun passion project by Gray Haddock to one of RT’s most ambitious projects. During production, prior to any formal casting, the production team had the idea to reach out to Michael B. Jordan with some animation and scripts and the like and ask if he’d be interested in voicing Julian Chase. Obviously Michael B. Jordan is a busy guy, but he’d been looking for an animated project to work on after spending so much time on live action projects. Come time for him to check out this animation package that had been dropped on his desk, he was impressed by what he saw. And mind you, what he saw was coming from an independent animation studio in Austin, Texas. What he saw impressed him so much that not only did he sign on to voice Julian Chase, but he also joined as an executive producer and had his own company Outlier Studios co-produce the show. The news of Michael B. Jordan’s casting meant a couple things: one, the show was now a SAG-AFTRA production, which meant they could hire union actors, and it just so happens quite a few celebrity actors are in the union (actually pretty much all of them, they have to be); two, having a big name like Michael B. Jordan attached to this production meant they could get a higher calibre of actors they could reach out to and expect them to accept the offer to be on the show.
And it seems obvious, but it needs to be said: a guy like Michael B. Jordan would not have signed on to both act and produce this show if what he saw didn’t impress him.
3. The Marketing Made No Promises Beyond The Core Concept
This is the most crucial thing.
What did we collectively know about gen:LOCK until 9AM (really 9:30, that’s when it finally showed up on the app for me) CST today? And no, I don’t mean anything about casting. What was the concept they were showing off? It was a mecha anime-style show, there’s a culture war going on, there are a couple main characters, the framerate is a little divisive. That is basically it.
People thought gen:LOCK not telling us anything about the show itself was a bad sign. But it actually really helped the show: no one really had any expectations for what it would deliver beyond the concept of it being a mech show. Yes the show was hyped, but it wasn’t hyped because of anything we’d seen, just from its all-star cast and the trailers having some cool designs.
Remember the RWBY trailers? I’ve encountered more than a few people who are of the opinion that the prime time to be a fan of RWBY was in the aftermath of the trailers. The trailers were action-packed, cool, pretty, and kind of different from what we actually got in Volume 1. Okay, maybe I’m being a little harsh, but if you only watched the RWBY trailers you’d think the show had a lot more fighting than it actually does, even in the volumes Monty was the director. The overall hype that came about from the RWBY trailers promised something of a different show from what we got, and even if it still ended up being pretty cool you can’t help but think “I kind of wanted the show the trailers made me expect.”
There was a post in the gen:LOCK tag a couple days ago saying gen:LOCK was gonna fail because it didn’t have a pre-release fandom. The poster’s point of comparison, I assume, was RWBY, and there’s a valid parallel: much like RWBY, gen:LOCK premiered pre-release “character teasers” featuring footage exclusive to them that introduced the world and some of the basic ideas. But that was it: nothing about the plot, nor what the characters had done to get to the point they’d be in the show. There wasn’t even information on what “gen:lock” as a story device actually was. And that’s the thing: unlike RWBY, prior to release people weren’t really speculating/coming up with elaborate theories on gen:LOCK was gonna be about, because we weren’t given a lot to work with. It wasn’t like the Red Trailer that made such an impression that it potentially overshadows the show it was advertising. We legit had nothing to overhype ourselves for gen:LOCK.
No expectations? Then as long as the product was good, we were fine.
tl;dr gen:LOCK survived the hype because a) it was already a good show and got the hype RT felt it needed for people to know about it and find out, b) it got the celeb cast that built the hype because of the quality it already had, and c) it didn’t set any expectations that could leave people disappointed so long as it delivered on the core concept.
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