#Same for feedback and complaints: Don't worry about being mean. I need people to tell me why/how this sucks/works.

[emme-likes-words]

Chapter Six of No City For Heroes is out now! Read it, along with the rest of the book, right here:

NO CITY FOR HEROES

[peachymess]

I don't know about this, but I've noticed that Fanon Eremin is usually portrayed as Eren gushing about Armin's greatness. I love that so much and it's amazing. But, I just really want to see Armin gush about Eren in future fanworks in the Eremin Fandom. I mean, isn't Eremin about equality? (Also what are your opinions on this?)

Hello, anon! I really can’t answer for other people than myself, but I’ll tell you what I believe, since you are asking for my opinion. 

If I go by my own stance on this, and apply that logic to the (majority of) the rest of the eremin fandom, I think there’s a really easy explanation for this - however, like I said, this is not the “answer”, just my theory on the matter: the same way that people have favorite and secondary ships, they also have favorite and secondary headcanons for their ships. This is the case for eremin as well; the most popular eremin headcanon/dynamic, is that of dom!Eren/sub!Armin. And I call them that not in the seme/uke way, but rather in the personality dynamic sense. On the surface, you see, it’s not incorrect to say that Eren is the more self-assured of the two, while Armin appears to be insecure and in need of positive affirmations from outside sources. Of course, we can analyze the depth of their characters separately - as well was their bond - for ages (because we all know there’s more to them than this), but this is a generally accepted surface-value for these two and eremin. It’s not wrong, and it’s perfectly fine to enjoy this dynamic (although it’s enriching to explore them more, hence why you’d appreciate a shift in the default). However, it has raised concern that this is the sole perspective being represented; if you saw them portrayed at dom!Eren/Sub!Armin for the first time today, you wouldn’t react - but as soon as you notice a pattern, you might. - And you’re not alone in doing so! I’ve heard this complaint many, many times in the last year or so! And I definitely second the notion that different takes on eremin would be refreshing - however, I do not share the idea that an overrepresentation of D!E/S!A* is a sign of people not appreciating Eren or neglecting him in their minds. What I believe is instead the cause behind this symptom, is that people can only “art” so much; I’m using my self as example here: I produce perhaps seven pieces of art in a year. And ever piece costs me a lot of effort, time and stress. Not to mention I’m doing it for free. I think most fandoms’ artists consists mainly of young artists, insecure artists and other artists making fanart in their spare time for free. What I mean by bringing this up, is that for the majority of fandom artists, the situation is this: for every one piece they produce, there are at least five piece ideas they wish they could make but can’t (for one reason or another). In other words, only the tip of the ice berg ever gets made what art is concerned. And when people know that their quota is limited, they have to pick and choose which very, very few of the ideas they have, they’ll get to make. Bringing it back to me: when I know I can only make five pieces in a year, I want to spend those slots on my favorite dynamic (D!E/S!A). Not because I don’t like S!E/D!A, or that eremin is the only ship I want to draw for (oh, all the ships I want to draw for but never get the time to, sigh), but simply because it’s my favorite dynamic of my most OTP’d ship. There’s a reason there’s a lot more talk about wanting S!E/D!A art, than actual art of it; we all agree that it’s toptier (I’ve never ever seen anyone say they have anything against this dynamic, in fact), but many of us are not at a stage where art is easy to produce, and therefor we’re still working on our #1 dynamic for our #1 ship from our #1 series. While the fandom may be oversaturated with it, our individual art is not (I don’t feel like five pieces of D!E/S!A is an overbalance, for instance). Now, some admirable artists take it upon themselves to work on pieces that there is a demand for instead of what they’d perhaps personally prefer, but for most of us, I think there’s the idea that “I will definitely draw for that ship/dynamic/series/etc - I just have to get better/more practice/make this one idea first”. And that is perfectly ok! Nobody owes anyone any particular kind of art unless you’ve agreed to take payment for said art! And I actually think that while wanting more S!E/D!A is important, spreading the idea that the lack thereof is a symptom of lack of appreciation for Eren is toxic. It can make people feel awful for preferring it the other way around, or feel demotivating or anyone working on the “problematic dynamic”. 

My opinion of this is thus, simply put: I wholeheartedly agree that Eren is worth fawning over, and eremin is beautiful for its balanced dynamic, but I have a problem with the spreading consensus that the imbalance in representation means Eren is mistreated or not cared about. Because for most of us, I don’t believe that’s true at all. Because I doubt I’m the only one who’s sitting on a bunch of ideas they’ll never fulfill. And because I know it’s possible to care deeply about other things than just the #1 thing that you end up blogging about. 

That being said, I’d love to encourage people to explore the S!E/D!A dynamic more. Due to it being so unexplored (compared to the opposite), there’s a good chance any one of you could be the “first” what ideas is concerned. Make a list of popular AUs: more of them are untouched in connection to S!E/D!A than to D!E/S!A - in all departments (art/fic/other). So who knows, if you jump the chance, maybe you’ll even start a trend! And for anyone worried that the imbalance is a sign of uncaring fans: I’d like to encourage a more relaxed state of mind where you can entertain the possibility that what you see, is just face-value (like eremin), meaning there’s more to every blogger than what posts/art makes it onto their blog; there’s love for characters that aren’t mentioned as often, there are more hobbies than anime analysis, and there’s appreciation for more things than one.*In this case, D/S refers broadly to how much emotional support the character needs, with dominance meaning independency what others’ feedback is concerned, and submission meaning a dependancy on external support to remain assured.

[5hineesback]

I just worry because of his latest captions and then with fans getting mean in the comments of his new picture cause of the girls' boobs. I don't want him to be sad or feel his fans push him away from being happy.

as for the captions, i mean, of course everyone goes through unpleasant times and key is no different. there’s no telling he’s even going through a rough time at the moment, his captions could be quotes that he’s relating to some part of his life (including situations that are now over and in the past), or they could be quotes he likes, hell he could even be referring to a situation someone he knows is going through that doesn’t actually have much to do with him. it’s very easy for us to assume that he’s troubled because i think as humans we all tend to jump to a negative conclusion, especially since idols tend to have to hide their feelings more than western celebrities etc, but there are really a thousand and one things that could have prompted his captions over the last few days, and only a handful of those possibilities point to something negative.

and tbh i’m sure key knew his update today would unfortunately receive at least some negative feedback, i doubt it’s surprised him. but as a person key has always made a point of not caring what others think of him, he posts what he likes and i’m sure he knows there’s nothing wrong with that photo. he knows his fans love and support him and he’s a strong person - much like the rest of us i’m certain that for any complaints he sees, he’ll just write them off as immature, knowing that he has hundreds of thousands of fans who aren’t so... let’s be real, pathetic lol. 

like i said, key’s a strong person. he’s gone through a hell of a lot in his life (just from what we know about) and like everyone, he has his limits about what does and does not hurt him but he’s going to be 30 in a few years, and just as some people need to realise he’s old enough to post whatever the hell he wants, the rest of us need to also remember that he’s an adult and will most likely be able to overlook these ridiculous comments by teenagers. especially due to the fact that he knows he has over nine years worth of dedicated fans, fans who know him to be someone who is unapologetic about who he is and love him for that.

i totally understand your worries, i just think it’s important not to delve too deeply into it and assume the worst. like how people thought shinee were disbanding because of key’s caption on friday. key literally had to comment on his own post assuring everyone that things were okay because people took that caption and ran with it. and whether key’s going through something or not, he has a network of loved ones around him, and all we can do is support him and show him the same love we’ve been showing for the past nine years. if he’s troubled right now, that will give him strength, and if he isn’t, well, the strength will still be there for him when he needs it :)