#fandom i knew you would choose both on the poll

[technically-human]

Mandatory handjob joke

[the-way-astray]

what is going on

let me take you back to half a week ago, when this first started.

it all starts with a simple notification. i click on it, thinking it's an innocent ask, or perhaps an anon wanting to pick a fight with me. i am a notorious keefe hater in this fandom, after all. let's see what the anons have to throw at me this time. if only that small, innocent, little me from four days ago had known. the notification was nothing short of a snake, hiding in the grass, waiting to strike.

it was alayda. she'd dared me to write something *horrified gasp* positive about keefe. she thought me, a notorious keefe hater, couldn't possibly have anything nice to say about my least favorite guy? well, i'd show her. i typed out a truly magnificent pro keefe essay, if i do say so myself. tumblr fought me the entire time, trying to delete half of it, but i persevered, and eventually posted it.

i had no idea what was coming for me. over the next few hours, i began to get truly heinous asks, questioning my commitment to my keefe hatred, and generally slandering my reputation. at the time, i'd thought this was as bad as it could get. but, oh. oh, no, no, no. as edaline ruewen said, "hindsight is a dangerous game". now i know that it could get worse than i could possibly even begin to imagine. and it did.

that same day, i got the ask. the one that changed everything. i responded in horrified horror, terrified terror, because i knew everything was about to change. and the next day, it appeared that other anons had followed in the first anon's footsteps. it was decided that me and keefe would be an enemies-to-lovers romance. our ship name was to be strieefe. an anon went to the official poll blog, @/do-you-ship-this-book-couple. i changed my ask box title to "KEEFE WOULD NOT LIKE ME" and got an anon about it. they started going to katie's ask box.

the debate ramped up. more people became aware. people, both anon and not, began to choose sides. i began offering badly drawn sketches to people who sided against this atrocious excuse for a ship. i should probably be making those instead of typing this out. whoopsie. i fought the anons that disagreed with me with a desperation akin to a rat caught in a trap, but my thrashing appeared to only attract more unhinged anons.

i then got my first anon that made a genuine attempt to explain why this horrible ship could theoretically work. they were wrong, of course, but i appreciate the effort. as i've explained countless times, the real relationship me and keefe would have if he were real would be one-sided hatred. i would hate him with a passion that can't be adequately described by the english language, and he'd be entirely unaware of my existence.

then! a miracle! an anon sent an ask to quil about strieefe, and i can only assume they wanted quil to analyze why we'd be good together. but quil, i never should've doubted quil. the response was a fantastically constructed analysis on why i was right about how i'd have one-sided rage toward keefe. but my delight dimmed significantly when i saw that fin, someone whom i'd previously trusted, had thrown his support behind this awful ship and even drawn fanart of me and keefe. i swiftly demoted him from the spot he had previously shared with max: "favorite fintanposter".

the anons got more unhinged. i began to be shipped with non-keefe main cast characters, sometimes monogamously, sometimes not. i bravely faced the assault, tearing the anons' arguments to shreds with my logical explanations as to why i would not be a good fit for any of them. this led to me posting a poll at the insistence of one anon, which is still open.

just as the waters were looking significantly less treacherous, just as it seemed i may make it to shore without drowning, a new development occurred. i got an ask from alayda, who as you may remember, is the one that started all this. this is entirely her fault. i'd expected maybe a heartfelt apology, perhaps a plea for forgiveness. but no. her ask was but an ominous warning, one i could not make sense of. i pondered the meaning as i stared at it. and then. horror upon horrors, it appeared in my inbox. i read through it in horrified horror, and my rickety little boat was once more swept out to sea.

it was a fanfic. a terribly written, horribly wattpad-ified, y/n-ish fanfic. i tore it to shreds thoroughly, taking pleasure as the scraps of the work of the one who had brought all this sorrow upon me fell in loose tatters all around me. i dusted off my hands and left it at that.

but it continued. even as i type this out, there is a part two to that horrific fanfic sitting in my inbox, which alayda is pestering me to post. there's also a part one to another anon fanfic, which is written relatively well, which arguably makes it even worse than alayda's. then there's yet another poem written about me and keefe by emelin, which also sits in my inbox, gathering dust as i attempt to piece the broken shards of my sanity back together.

all this to say, join the correct side of this debate. we have badly drawn sketches and braincells. be on the right side of history.

[themoonlitquill]

Team Black vs. Team Green.

I recently have gotten a LOT of asks about my position on TB vs. TG due to me making a poll about a fanfic I'm in the process of writing about Aegon II Targaryen and an OC of mine. There have been many that have said something along the lines of 'did you watch the show? look at all the SA he did and how EVIL he is towards Rhaenyra' and 'how can you support decisions of TG when they are the ones usurping' etc., etc., and it's EXTREMELY frustrating to me and here's why.

First of all, it is a FANFIC, a work of FICTION created by FANS, which means that 90% of it is NOT canon (whether it be show, movie, or book) and that means a lot of the ORIGINAL story/plot could be changed, along with the direction of the characters and their development. Which MEANS, that while I understand some of the stipulation behind it, that isn't going to change my mind or sway me away from diving into how utterly fascinating I find Aegon and the Greens to be.

Secondly, I have indeed watched the show, both seasons, more times than I can count. When I say that I am a House of the Dragon nut, I mean it. And when I say that I am a Targaryen, I mean it. I have been completely obsessed with their house and their lore and their history and EVERYTHING to do with them since I first seen Emilia Clarke show up on my screen like the ethereal goddess that she is. I know A LOT (both show AND book canon), which is why I have no qualms when I say that if I were to write about ANY in the fandom, it would be the Greens, regardless of the fact that I am TECHNICALLY for Rhaenyra and the Blacks.

In my opinion, there is a lot that was missed when it came to the Greens and their situation. Where was the turmoil that Alicent went through giving birth to her first son when she was a child, the product of a marriage that she was thrust into by her father? And before any of you stans come at me and say 'she should've told Rhaenyra, that's where the betrayal started' when in reality all the problems started with Viserys and his innate desire for a son that ended up killing Aemma. And ALSO his decision to NOT betroth Rhaenyra and Daemon YEARS BEFORE when he knew damn well that it would've stopped a lot of the issues, but ya'll ain't ready for that yet apparently.

And coming back to Aegon and the whole 'usurpur' angle. Did he or didn't he? When you break it down, it's both a yes and a no. He is the FIRST BORN SON of the King and has a very good claim to the Throne. It isn't like in GoT with Robert's Rebellion and Kingslaying for Baratheons and Lannisters to take it; this is a TARGARYEN PRINCE. Viserys named Rhaenyra his Heir and all the Lords of the Seven Kingdoms swore an oath, BUT Otto (ugh, sorry can't stand him, but Rhys SLAYED his portrayal) was smart enough to know that when it came down to it, if Aegon were to be put on the Throne instead, it would still be accepted to a point DESPITE those oaths because Aegon is male AND is BLOOD RELATED TO THE KING. So really? Why is everyone reaching so hard? This is the entire POINT of the show and the whole ASOIAF universe. There are LAYERS to EVERYTHING, but there are so many that refuse to see the grey areas and instead resort to making it all black and white, which just doesn't make sense to me.

So in conclusion, don't flood my ask and messages with comments about a FANFIC when there is so much to consider when you get down to the nitty gritty of it all. What I choose to create isn't affecting anything and if you think that it does, well, I'm sorry to hear that and I hope you take the time to actually research things before being rude.

[ghostflowerhotpotch]

Growing pains

Summary: How did Jeff and Rio feel knowing Miles was sneaking out with a girl?

Jeff's rant became background noise as she lifted the sweater in confusion.

It wasn't Miles, not just because it wasn't his size (she had needed to buy so many new clothes with his growth spur that she would know) but it was...feminine, she could even smell faintly some perfume.

Whoever left it was using it recently.

"-Babe are you backing me up in this one or what?" 

Rio snapped back to reality as she felt her husband's hand on her shoulder, he looked at her still kind of upset yet more curious as to why she hasn't moved from that spot.

"Jeff, where is this from?" She asks immediately, not paying attention to whatever he has been insisting on her.

Arching an eyebrow, he didn't look too much into the item before shrugging with disinterest "I don't know, I normally let him choose whatever he wants as long as the price is okay; a better question is why his room is such a mess, maybe we should ground him an extra month for that-"

"Jeff" She called him again, trying to distract him from his authoritative-dad ideas "This isn't his, it has to belong to a girl."

The moment the word 'girl' came out of her mouth he seemed even more puzzled. Giving an actual look at the item from his wife's hands, he was trying to remember if he has seen it before "Does it belong to one of your nieces maybe?"

"I didn't remember seeing any of them using this, why it would be here anyways? We let the guest put their coats in the entrance, and I don't think either Ana or Camila would just leave this in Miles's bed for no reason."

As they both realized they couldn't recall anyone who could have this sweater, finally the other possible explanation popped into their minds. Not because it wasn't obvious, but more like-

"Is this happening now? It isn't too soon?"

"No, no no no, no way that boy brought a girl to our house, to his room, all while he is grounded." Just as quickly, Jeff was getting worked out again about this outrage.

Miles comes late (again,) with cakes that are falling apart, refuses to talk to them, and now he is hearing how he left his room to be with a girl?

Rio couldn't believe it either.

"This can't be right- He is too young to think of that!" She replied in disbelief.

She felt her husband's gaze rest on her as she stopped looking at the item (who could belong to? Maybe one of Miles's old friends from the neighborhood? As far she knew he stopped hanging out with everyone around here,) and saw the face Jeff always puts when he isn't sure how to tell her something.

"What?"

And her snappier response didn't seem to make him more confident about saying it.

"I mean- Look, don't get me wrong, we are both on the same side here" He prefaces, he needed to reserve all his energy to think how to get to that boy's skull that he couldn't do whatever he wanted, not to mention that when Rio got angry even he got scared. "But, he is fifteen honey."

"Yeah! A baby!"

"Well, not so baby, I mean at his age I was-"

The pointed look of Rio was all the information he needed to know he SHOULDN'T end that sentence.

"What I am trying to say, is that he is getting to a certain age mi amor, we cannot stop that."

Rio's shoulders fell, realizing how tense she was getting and this wasn't even going into how disobedient her son has been getting lately. As she looked towards the room (which was indeed a mess,) she saw the toys laying around, notebooks of old drawings pilled over the new ones that show his progress, she could almost see him as a toddler running around with a cape.

That felt like it was yesterday.

And now she had the sweater of a girl she doesn't know in her hands, in Miles' room.

Where did her little boy go?

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Since the Wip poll won, I decided to post this little thing that was actually, my first fic for this fandom.

I never got to publish it because it was missing two other scenes, but I decided to scrap it since the third one felt a bit too crazy, so I would do that idea for another thing.

So now while this is technically not a wip, I decided to publish it since I don't have any works in progress I can give sneak peaks for now.

Thanks for reading!

[edandstede]

i found ofmd not long after i’d come out as a gay trans man. i came out after years of knowing i was and deliberately repressing it, refusing to poke it or acknowledge it, terrified of it. i didn’t want to see it. couldn’t be me, if i ignored it it would go away. like stede, i would cry when i thought nobody could hear me. it was so lonely, shutting that part of myself off, and coming out just to my own close circle (not family at this point) was the scariest thing i’ve ever done.

this show… fucking hell, this show. it held me gently but firmly and told me in no uncertain terms that everything i knew about being a man was wrong, that i could be who i wanted to be and it was never too late to grab it with both hands. it helped me work through things in my head, consider myself in new ways, forced me to reflect. yes, i could be authentic, i could be flamboyant, i could wear what i want, i could be tough, vulnerable, effeminate, silly, a bit of a loser even. i could cry, i could try and fail and try again. i could be messy and human and deserve happiness and love. i could shape my life into something that truly makes me happy, and i could do it all with a family of my own choosing. i could be free.

it took this new and fragile existence for me, something i was still bricking it about, and reminded me of the utter joy of being queer and stepping into yourself properly. of community, belonging, expression, self-actualisation. i didn’t even realise how much i needed ofmd until i had it, and i could scarcely believe it was real! this brilliant gem, full of eccentricity and poignancy and just brimming with love, so much love, from every single direction. it was a breath of fresh air, just like it was for so many others. there’s never been anything quite like it and any future queer media like it has big shoes to fill.

i just turned 28, i’m finally out to my family as trans, i’m ready to send off my deed poll to change my name, i’m crowdfunding for top surgery and i’m in the process of being referred to a GIC. this show’s kindness, its unwavering love towards people like me, it bolstered my courage and bravery SO MUCH and i’ve taken steps towards getting the life i truly want that i never dared i’d take. i want to be myself, i want to stop holding myself back, i want to do things i’ve never been brave enough to chase before. isn’t that amazing? my life is finally an adventure i can’t wait for. and i’ve received so much love and support from all of you too - you’ve donated to my surgery fund, you’ve sent kind messages, you’ve connected with me about being trans. for all the negative stuff i’ve come across in this fandom, there’s double the amount of love and i’ve felt it first-hand.

i truly am not the same person i was before ofmd and that is so fucking brilliant, i couldn’t be more grateful. i’m heartbroken that, as of now, ofmd won’t be returning to us. but it has touched my life in such a special way, written on me in permanent ink, you might say. and i just think it’s a really lovely thing nobody can take away, this lasting impression. i’ll always carry ed and stede and the crew in my heart, even when the revenge is nothing more than scrap wood and old fabric.

:•) 🏴‍☠️❤️

[davekat-sucks]

I voted for Bro in the “who is the worst poll” because I assumed it is who is the worst “person” not who is the worst character or who is the character we hate the most (I can’t stand Cronus or Calliope. If you would have put Ult. calliope I would have jumped on that shit.) I voted Bro because of things Dave said throughout the story. One being Dave seems too into incest.

And there was something Dave said during Act 6 to Dirk directly. One of them being the “he shouldn’t have been around children” line. Then they added to the epilogue that Dave had respect that Dirk choose to end his life because Dave saw it as Dirk not wanting to be the person Dave warned him he could become and John undoing that choice would deny Dirk “his personal autonomy.” Even though I mostly ignore what the epilogue chose to do, I still think it had some relation to the original story. There’s even more things in the story that make me think Dirk is a predator too but I don’t want to draw this out any more. I still think it’s a strong possibility (I’m like 80-90% sure of this) that part of the story is that Bro diddled Dave before he turned 13.

Interesting. People had always thought of Bro to be a pedo. There's even an implication he had used Dave in smut filming with his puppets. Nobody ever thinks Dirk would have much predator traits. Probably because he is the same age as Jake and the others. At best, his actions at best seem more destructive (fitting for the Prince of Heart) than predatory. Some may think Lil HAL fits more in line with the predatory nature since the AI was also there to help execute and orchestrate the plans, even behind Dirk's own back. Would have love to put in Calliope or Ultimate Calliope, but I doubt she would get any decent amount of high votes considering the fanbase still believes she reps the "good fandom". Some even don't mind Ult Calliope taking over Jade's body. That's how much they hate Jade in general too. So then, may I ask this question. Why did Bro slice the meteor in half to save Dave when he needed to enter the game? Was it really just a moment in the flash to make him look cool? To save himself? Would Dave have entered the game after the egg breaks when the meteor struck?

Secondly, how did Davesprite escaped from Jack Noir after Bec got prototyped? Bro got killed by Jack after said prototype. Davesprite got wounded, but managed to escape. How? The likely answer was that Bro was able to protect him, even if Davesprite had sustained injuries. Which follows up on this.... Why? Why did he save Davesprite? What reason did he have to if he's not technically his brother from this timeline? And if one says that Davesprite ran away after getting hurt to leave Bro behind, why isn't cowardice or something like vengeance mentioned from Davesprite in the narrative by the time he joins with John and Dave in the ship? There nothing that hints of this even with Davepetasprite^2. Remember. Everything from Act 1 to Act 5 pre-Cascade, happened all the same. From John not getting the other present in Dad's car, Vriska creating the inevitable Jack Noir, Dad and Mom still dying, Murderstuck... everything still happened the same in both pre and Post Retcon. So Bro doing stuff like slicing the meteor and fighting Jack happened regardless of Retcon. Some also see Dave being a bit unfair towards Dirk when they meet during that speech. Dave is basically telling Dirk that it is likely every version of his Bro would become a bad person no matter what. That even if he and Bro are offshoots from each other, a version of Dirk will become that monster. He does not know what life Dirk had trying to grow up alone and trying to base Alpha Bros' actions and personality through the ironic movies. We barely even know if Alpha Bro himself was a good person too. Alpha Bro knew about The Condesce's plans and actions to take over the world. But all that guy did was make movies with subliminal messages saying how bad Betty Crocker, made money off it, and then when shit really hit the fan, he finally decided to join with Alpha Rose Mom to kill ICP and then dying To Condesce. Doesn't it question on why didn't Alpha Dave Bro kill The Condesce sooner since people on Earth had already adored him for his movies? Was there reasons for him not being able to approach Sea Hitler as she is, even with his own training to be as stealthy and fast like how Bro was? It's not like The Condesce can mind control humans. It has been shown and stated that even something like Vriska's powers, she can't control humans. Was part of him making so much money was to secure Dirk a good living condition since he would be rich? That can't be because the world has gone to shit and Dirk had to defend himself from The Condesce's army. Maybe it's because I am on the side that doesn't think Bro was that much of an abuser and that anything within Act 6, especially by Post Retcon, is shit that I cannot take seriously. But it still makes me wonder about Bro's last appearance in the timeline as well as what Alpha Dave was like past his achievements and demise. And if Dave really need to go on like that to Dirk.

[seriouslysam8]

If I a) knew how to make a poll and b) could post a poll on your page somehow, I would be curious about any possible correlation between Sirigan vs. Blackinnon shippers and those decades old (damn, I feel old) discussions about Edward vs. Jacob when Twilight first came out. I wonder if the Sirigan shippers identify with Jacob proponents and Blackinnon shippers identify with the Edward fans, or vice versa, or if there’s no correlation at all. (I, myself, was very much an Edward proponent back in the day but am 100% team Tegan here.)

Regardless, this feels like a much healthier, but just as intense, inner fandom debate and I am HERE FOR IT! All the discussions, insights, and theories are glorious.

P.S. both Tegan and Marlene are wonderful and whichever direction you choose will be exquisite.

I REMEMBER THOSE DEBATES!!

I am HERE for it as well. Though it seems heavily Blackinnon skewed. They’re even getting people converted. 😂😂😂😂

[cammiluna]

Unless you're one of those people who insist a person's first love is their forever love, Kamek is probably old enough for every ship to be possible in his life time- pending headcanon, of course. I've seen a poll go around recently where some people write off kamek and kammy as lovers and some write them as siblings, but you get the idea! Someone comes up with a kamek/gadd or kamek/toadsworth crack ship and I'm like, "yeah, he's probably dated both at some point and they probably still have tea while thinking back on it"

I think I was a Naval/Kamek shipper for maybe 20 years. started out as a joke with friends and sometimes i still make gag comics on that while also making it a part of immortal fool. I think people associating that ship with me just encouraged me even more- like that's my most notable contribution to the Mario fandom. Many times when my friends play Tetris Attack with me and I pick Naval as my main, my friends would choose Kamek, almost instinctively.

But never will I insist that's the only ship I like or attempt to gatekeep any shipping. I think I was originally afraid to officially ship them in the comic so I wrote them off as being obnoxiously attached to one another but neither made any attempts to ask the other out in the decades they knew each other. That was essentially my HC for the games as well and normally i keep normal HCs and iFool canons seperate.

I have so much to say about his ships in my comic, but... another day.

[destinyc1020]

Hmm people were not there since the very beginning. The tomdaya fandom was built by Z stans first and foremost, that's a fact. She's the the most famous of the two, and she already has some pattern with her previous rs so her stans knew her yea and knew Tom was her bf and they supported that.

When they split a lot of them, especially on Twitter, stopped talking about Tom even tho the Cherry era fed us a lot of content behind the scenes etc. They took her side.

And overall people love the two but are more Z stans that Tom stans, I don't know who is anon following but it's def not the big Tomdaya blog out here. The large majority of the fandom are women,and it's easier to look up to Z and enjoy her content because she has other business next to acting in fashion, and is more present, so is more enjoyable to follow her than him who is way more quiet nowadays. I have nothing against people who are more Z stan, as look as they're respectful towards Tom too.

But the truth is that people like Z more and that's fine, Im convinced you could make a poll asking them "if you had to give up one person to unfollow from everywhere and not consume any content from them forever, which one would you choose" and I'm convinced most people in the fandom would choose her🤷‍♀️

Hmm..... I'm not sure what your last paragraph meant. 🤔

But anyway, grab a comfy chair, cuz this is gonna be long lol. 😂

Tbh? I'm really kind of feeling that some fans got divided after the breakup actually, coz what I saw during 2019 is that SOME fans took Tom's side, and SOME fans took Zendaya's side.

I almost got the impression with some Tomdaya fans/accounts that they didn't really care too much about Z's career or whereabouts unless it pertained to Tom or possibly them maybe getting back together after the whole Olivia fiasco.... but BEFORE the JE popping up in Greece with Z episode. 👀

I think after Greece, most Tomdaya fans lost hope that Tom and Zendaya were "getting back together" (at least, not THAT year lol 😆), and the focus on Z was less. It got even MORE less when Z and JE were spotted kissing in NYC, and some in the Tomdaya fandom really started to hate Zendaya after that cuz here she was out kissing JE who she had only dated for 6 months, and with Tom she was soooo secretive. (That right there should have been a sign that maybe she was rebounding lol? 😆)

Now that's just what I personally saw, but again, my life is busy, so I don't always see everything. 🤷🏾‍♀️

I do recall a LOT of Zendaya's fans being really cruel towards Tom however when Z and JE started dating. The height jokes were just crazy. They felt JE was a better option. All of it was just optics and how they physically looked together. I mean, the man is like 6'5 lol, so he's gonna be taller than MOST women AND most men put together lol 😆

I think some of her fans turned on Tom coz he was spotted with a blonde white girl while wearing her keyhole neck chain 👀, and that was like the ULTIMATE disrespect in their eyes (woc know what I mean), cuz fans felt he had cheated on Z. So then, all bets were off I guess. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned rofl 🤣 Y'all know we as women can be ruthless if we feel a man has done us wrong lol. You KNOW it's true lol 😏

I think some fans were just angry on Z's account, but Z wasn't putting her business out there. If anything, she was trying to give off signs that she and Tom were cool. It's kinda hard when you denied for years that you two were nothing but friends to do damage control lol 😆

Anyway, I don't really like rehashing the past or talking about this time period honestly. 😔

I'll just say that it kind is seemed to me that BOTH sides of the fandom kind of took sides, and if one side prefers one or the other, then that's okay I guess? 🤷🏾‍♀️

I personally like them BOTH. When they broke up I just felt bad for them and just hoped that they would at least TRY again with each other since I didn't feel like their 1.0 rlshp was really all that conducive to a healthy, long-term rlshp. I didn't hate on either of them though, and I just felt like whatever happened in the rlshp was just their business. I don't like taking sides during a breakup when idk all the facts tbh. It's not my life or my rlshp. And unless someone puts out a tell-all book, idk the facts. And even then, that's only that ONE person's side of the story tbh.🤷🏾‍♀️

I obviously relate more to Z cuz I'm also a woman and a woc, but I really do like both of them, and I've said from the beginning that I don't like comparing them. 🥴

[dmc-questions-anon]

Asking for DMC Fandom Week Prompts Approval

So I made this poll a few days ago: Poll and the common consensus seems to be interest and as soon as I posted that poll I knew deep down that if Interested! got the most votes I would do this. I'm honestly still not 100% sure I know how to do this properly, but I think I got it and if I don't I'll just learn as I go.

On that poll I said I was going to make the week revolve around a certain character or dynamic, on that I pretty quickly changed my mind and just decided to do a general fandom week because it allows more creative liberty + it's easier to think of seven prompts for that than it is for a specific character/character dynamic.

Anyways, here are my prompt ideas that I want approval for: (On some days there are options where you can choose which one to do or both if you want. Nobody needs to feel pressured to do something every day or at all.)

Day 1: Bonding-Characters bond with one another, how is up to you.

Day 2: Hurt/Comfort or Hurt/No Comfort-Hurt/Comfort is where one character is hurting and another character comforts them. Hurt/No comfort is where a character is hurting and they don't get comforted.

Day 3: Underappreciated Character-You do something with a character we haven't seen much in canon. Some examples would be: Lucia, Kyrie, Patty, Morrison, any novel only or anime only character, etc. You get the gist, just a character we don't see much of.

Day 4: Time Travel or AU-Time Travel is where a character/characters time travel. AU is just do something with an au idea, character/characters winds up in an alternate reality or just it's about an alternate universe you want to make something with without having any characters having traveled there.

Day 5: Bring a Sad Headcanon to Life or Character Study- Bring a Sad Headcanon to Life is you bring your saddest/one of your saddest headcanons to life. Character Study is where you take a moment in one of the games (a part that isn't covered in a novel), or the anime, and sort of study a character in that moment by sharing their thoughts and emotions.

Day 6: A Commune With the Dead or Before We Meet Them-A Commune With the Dead is where an alive character finds themselves having a conversation with a dead one. Before We Meet Them is where you make something about a character that's set before we chronologically meet them. Some examples would be: Dante before the DMC 1 novel (not counting what we saw when he was 8 in Visions of V as his first chronological appearance in this), Vergil before the DMC 3 Manga (not counting what we saw when he was 8 in Visions of V as his first chronological appearance in this), Lady before the DMC 3 Manga, Trish before DMC 1, Lucia before DMC 2, Nero and Kyrie before DMC 4, Nico before Before the Nightmare, these are just examples there are other characters here to use as well.

Day 7: Rescue-A character/characters need rescuing and another character/characters rescue them.

Also, this is how it works, right? I assign a prompt or prompt options for each day and people create something based off of it?

If you find yourself confused by any of my explanations, please let me know!

Opinion on the prompts presented? Are they good or should I change something?

[lemuelthelemmy]

You guys are able to choose what FNAF project i should work on.

(This is a copypaste from a post i made on freddit, so if some things doesnt make sense is because i talk about it)

A few days ago i made a post introducing my 4 FNAF main projects in comments i said that in future i would make a poll to let people choose wich one i should give priority, so the moment has begun, i decided to make this post to introduce the projects, talk about the development, show some material, and welp, put below the link to the form so you could vote wich project you think i should make.

It also has a optional section when you can write thing, but i also would appreciate comments here to tell me wich interest you the most.

I made this due to two reasons.

1- Some recent incident made me want to leave FNAF a bit far of my life (it's not a reddit matter and it's related to another sector of the fandom, so i will not bother with it)

2- Have 4 FNAF projects is a mess because work with the 4 at the same time will avoid me to work on non FNAF projects i already left apart, so i want to focus in just one while i make other things for my team.

So, with all of this let's began.

FNAF LAST GUARD

Last guard is a FNAF RPG Maker survival horror game i've been working since 2020 but i left apart due to other things.

This is actually a remake of an old RPG maker game i made re-using Five nights at F***boys sprites in the time of FNAF 3.

when i came back to FNAF during 2020 and after reading some books i decided to make an actual remake about it, adding new Lore.

The plan is to make the whole think of 0, the sprites, the maps, and a unique survival system for the game giving animatronics mechanics and make it feel like an actual FNAF fangame.

for now i wanna prioritize the game system as im struggling with the art style the sprites are gonna have, so i think how the game works is more important that this.

The plot is basically the same of the original game Lemuel gets a work as a nightguard and has to survive 5 nights and help a misteryous man named Vincent to destroy the animatronics after the place has closed)

I also decided to add new characters who may be familiars to us

This game forms part of the Lemuelverse that is one of my personal projects, but also works as an standalone game.

Plan is to make it both english and spanish so everyone can enjoy.

I want to warn that this is a reimagination, so this game is not my interpretation of the FNAF timeline and rather just an AU for Lemuelverse.

INTO THE PIT: The Graphic Novel

I announced this project in 2020 too, this is a complete reimagination of Into the Pit i planned way before we even had Twisted Ones graphic novel, i love Into the Pit and i wanted to make of it a full Graphic novel.

I'm still on an early stage (Oswald is still on school but soon)

Even if this is a Graphic novel of Into the Pit, i knew eventually we would got an official one, so it's not a 100% accurate adaptation of the story and rather a whole reimagination of into the pit, having some minor changes and added a few scenes.

Also, because of that, the book will be full of cameos and references to other books and games wich i think it's a fun adding that will make people try to find every piece of it.

I truly love into the Pit and i hope to give a worth adaptation to this story.

FAZBEAR HIGH

Fazbear High is an AU i made long ago were Henry and William made an school instead of a pizzeria.

It's basically a High school AU but instead of Animatronics i use the FNAF Human characters and it's full of stereotypes, let's say this is a parody rather than something serious.

Long ago i tried to make a comic with this, but then the lack of views kinda made me want to drop it, but i got interested again and i decided to build a team for this project and see if i can make an animated series (kinda like FNAFHS, yeah i know people hates it but this is for enjoyement and i am not going to commercialize this, it's just fun) or another team comic like many others

I think this story may be funny and entertaining as it has characters we already know and they are twisted in a funny and exagerated version that can make you Laugh: Sammy is shy because he barely appears in the franchise, Elizabeth is the mean girl of the school, Mike the popular guy, Bite victim just cries, all of that and more.

Let's see if this time, with more people, the AU survives a bit longer.

Afton

And the final project on the list, Afton, wich born as an idea: "What could be the story of William Afton? Why is he like that?" and made me want to imagine his Childhood.

All of this evolved on the idea of make my own interpretation of the FNAF timeline adding some of my belief + some creative decisions to give sense to the things we never saw.

With this the idea is to start on William Afton cruel childhood, then his College years, the born of his company, how he met Henry, and continue until welp... the end of William Afton.

Making this a webcomic that it's making an story and at the same time, showing how i think the FNAF timeline works.

I know for the premise and the pics, it looks like any other William Afton story AU: "William was a good man until something goes wrong like the death of his kid or how an evil entity corrupts him and then he starts to kill"

But no, this is not that, William is a bad person, he's evil, charismatic to people but hiding darkest secrets, he had a bad life, the world has mistreated him several times, and he wants to overpower everyone.

Many people may think that Eleanor ghost kinda makes him a victim of a greater evil, but actually that's not the case, as Eleanor Ghost is just a manifestation of his own evil, she will work more as a guide to us so we could see what William is truly thinking, and to show the origin of Eleanor as well.

TLDR. No, William is not truly a victim here.

And... those are the 4 project i introduce to you

Here's is the poll were you can choose the project i should prioritize,

The other 3 projects will be just left in hold until the others are finished or get a pretty advanced status, but they are no way in hell cancelled, so don't worry, even if another one wins, eventually the others will come.

[makeste]

but I just feel too tired to be fighting

this is a follow-up post to what I said in my recap the other day about this arc being the Deku Angst arc, as opposed to the Villain Hunt arc or the Deku SIXQUIRKS Exhibition arc. I feel like the fandom discussion tends to focus on the flashier parts of the chapters -- the sexy villains and the new quirk reveals and the Shindous -- each week, and so the quieter emotional beats sometimes get overlooked, especially since the character arc here is playing out in little bits and pieces over time rather than all at once.

this has always been a very reactionary fandom, and there’s a tendency to judge the chapters week to week without ever going back to look at how they all fit into the big picture. so I figured I would try to attempt that, and basically go chapter by chapter here to look at what exactly Horikoshi is setting up and how it all fits together.

so let’s start with the end of chapter 306, which is when the arc officially kicks off. specifically with the very last page:

this is imo one of the best pages Horikoshi has ever drawn. I got the sense that this was a scene he’d had in his mind’s eye for quite a long time, and that he was excited to finally get to this part of the story. it’s extremely effective as both a chapter-ender, and an arc-opener. like, look at this:

it establishes the initial premise of the new arc -- the world is in chaos, and Deku is now seemingly on his own

it leaves the readers with a number of questions. why did Deku leave U.A.?? is he really on his own now?? why does he look so beat-up and exhausted?? what is he up to?? what is the world like now that all these villains have been unleashed and the heroes have been decimated?? and most importantly of all, what the fuck is going to happen next??

it pays homage to some of Horikoshi’s comic book influences -- Batman in particular

it dramatically hits us with that “THE FINAL ACT BEGINS” and lets us know that shit is getting real now

that’s some good shit. so much so that I think people tended to overlook the other notable thing about this page amidst all of the initial excitement and discussion and speculation about where the series was headed. and that is the fact that the final panel in this chapter is NOT the panel of Deku standing above the city. the very last panel, the one that this chapter actually ends on, is instead the close-up of Deku’s face. his face, which is covered in shadow; and his eyes, which have dark circles under them and are prominently missing the usual flecks of light that give him his signature “sunny optimistic shounen protagonist” look.

not to mention this last line here, which is a call back to the very first time we saw the 14-year-old Deku way back in chapter one.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Horikoshi chose to throw this reference in. nor is it a coincidence that THIS is the scene he actually chose to end the chapter on. what this does is show us the drastic shift in Deku’s emotional state of mind, and his attitude towards being a hero. he’s gone from being thrilled and excited to being jaded and exhausted. he’s matured, but at a great cost. it’s always been his dream to be a hero, but “be careful what you wish for” is a popular adage for a reason. and right now he looks the furthest thing from happy.

and this is the emotional beat that Horikoshi chooses to end the chapter on. this is the panel that closes out the War arc, and begins the final act. to me the message could not be clearer -- this arc will be about the exploration of Deku’s character, and his struggle as he tries to live up to the expectations that have been placed on him as the Last Holder of OFA and quite possibly the World’s Only Hope.

it’s a character arc that builds on a lot of the things we’ve already learned about Deku over the course of the series, such as the fact that he is reckless, and that he focuses on others often at the expense of himself. but more importantly, it’s an arc that finally expands on the dark side of what has up until now been a net positive for Deku -- the power of OFA. up until this point, despite its ups and downs, it’s been a boon for Deku overall and has allowed him to pursue his dream. but now we’re finally reaching the point where the monkey’s paw part of the OFA blessing/curse finally starts to come into play. OFA gives Deku more power than he could have ever dreamed of, but it also comes with a built-in destiny that he can’t opt out of whether he likes it or not. AFO is on the loose and out there trying to destroy the world. and now everyone has pinned their hopes on this sixteen-year-old kid, and the question of whether or not the sixteen-year-old kid is ready is apparently not one that anyone feels inclined to ask (possibly because they’re afraid that the answer might be “no”).

he doesn’t have a choice in the matter. he has to do it, because there’s no one else who can. that’s the kind of pressure that is on Deku now.

and on that note, we begin the Deku Angst arc.

chapter 307

this in hindsight was mostly just a set-up chapter to better establish the current state of the BnHA world at large (spoilers: it’s not good), while also providing an answer for one of the big initial questions of the arc -- namely, “what happened to all of those villains that AFO released from Tartarus?” these are important things to touch on, but the pacing could definitely have been better, and the bulk of the chapter was dedicated to providing fanservice to all of the Shindou fans who spammed the most recent popularity poll (which, whatever lol). anyway, so this was the sole chapter thus far with absolutely no Deku development. thankfully the arc picks up from there.

chapter 308

on to the next one! this was the one and only chapter thus far which I think actually qualifies as an “exhibition fight.” this was definitely all about showing off Deku’s current powerset, as well as introducing us to another of the SIXQUIRKS. however, there was Deku development here as well, most notably in this scene:

this is the scene that got a lot of people speculating that this arc was going to focus on Deku hunting down all of the old villains. but I think people got so caught up in that speculation that they overlooked what this scene tells us about Deku’s mindset. and yes, there is new information being revealed here, and it’s not just a rehash of the stuff we already knew. like yes, we know that Deku was shaken up by the recent encounters with Dabi and Tomura, and we know that made him start questioning why villains become villains in the first place, and all that good stuff, and that’s great. however, there are two additional important things that this scene helps establish for us.

the upcoming battle with TomurAFO is weighing heavily on Deku’s mind. this is something that will become a recurring theme in this arc. Deku is thinking about this constantly. the question of what to do when he finally encounters TomurAFO again is knocking incessantly at the back of his mind, and this won’t be the last time it comes up.

Deku is using these villain encounters as test runs. can Tomura be redeemed?? is he just being stupid and naïve?? or is this really something worth attempting?? the interesting thing about this is that Deku’s resolve to save people is usually so strong and unwavering that it’s more than enough to overcome any doubts that he might have. but this time it seems like the repeated objections posed by the Vestiges and Gran Torino have really gotten to him. it’s possible I’m just reading way too much into things, but to me it really feels like Deku’s recent attempts at Talk no Jutsu were meant to do more than just show his growing awareness that the line between heroes and villains is thinner than he once imagined. they’re also serving as trial runs for the real test, when it finally comes. if he can “save” even a villain like Muscular, there’s hope for him being able to save Tomura as well. and so that moment when Muscular rejects him out of hand is all the more disappointing to him, even if it wasn’t really unexpected. basically it wasn’t the answer that he had been hoping for.

aside from those little notes though, like I said, this was unquestionably an exhibition fight first and foremost. which is fine; we needed to establish where Deku is currently in terms of strength, and it was also just fun to see him kick some ass, ngl. in terms of story purpose this chapter was similar to 219, which showed us how Shouto and Katsuki had powered up after getting their provisional licenses. people who don’t care about those characters might argue that these fights weren’t necessary, but as someone who stans all three characters hard, I would disagree! but anyways, moving on.

chapter 309

in contrast to the previous chapter, this chapter focuses more on establishing Deku’s current mental state, as opposed to his physical state. and this is what we learn:

(1) Deku is ~technically~ being shadowed/accompanied by All Might and the Hawksquad (but in practice he’s avoiding them).

(2) it was Deku’s own decision to leave U.A., and he did it because he didn’t want anyone else getting hurt in order to protect him.

and finally, (3) Deku’s game plan is to stop Tomura and All for One before they reach full power.

this last part is very important, because it means there’s a countdown in effect. as far as Deku is concerned, there’s only a finite amount of time before TomurAFO becomes unstoppable. which means that he’s not only under “gotta get stronger” pressure, but time pressure as well. he doesn’t have the luxury of taking his time and training in safety. he’s being rushed now; this is do-or-die.

this chapter is also the first in this arc in which we get to see Deku’s expressions without the hood covering up his face, and what we see is very telling. as previously stated, the light is gone from Deku’s eyes. he keeps his expressions very neutral, and the only time we even see a hint of a smile is when he hugs his mom in the flashback, and it’s clear from the dialogue (“it’s okay, I’ll come home to you”) that he’s doing it for her sake in order to comfort her.

but aside from that, this is very much not the Deku we’ve grown accustomed to. this is the chapter that really establishes his current mental state imo. above all else, he’s afraid that more people will get hurt because of him, and so he’s distancing himself from everyone around him. and he’s also morbidly preoccupied with the inevitability of having to face TomurAFO again, and soon. the chapter ends on the flashback of Gran giving him his cape, and telling Deku that “killing can be another way to save someone.” there’s a lot on this kid’s mind, to say the least.

chapter 310

this chapter opens with a gang of civilians who are trying to open fire on a nice fox lady whose only crime was walking around in the rain at night. Deku intervenes to save her, and it’s the first time in this arc that we see anything close to the “old” Deku, who just wanted to save people with a smile.

but it’s bittersweet, because all the lady can talk about is how scared she was, and how horrible everything is right now. and so Deku, who feels responsible in a lot of ways for everything that’s happened, just feels that much more pressure to somehow make things right again.

there’s also this extra throwaway line which is especially heartbreaking:

“I can’t afford to be around anyone.” fucking ouch. just reinforcing once more how incredibly isolated Deku is right now -- not by choice, but because he feels like it’s not safe to let anyone else get close to him. and so he’s out here running around this dystopian cityscape in the middle of the night in the pouring rain all on his own, and neglecting himself to the point where All Might practically has to force a bento on him.

but does he complain? of course not. because his focus is never on himself. instead, when he settles down to eat, his thoughts immediately drift back to, guess who...

it’s that time pressure once again. “unless I draw out One for All’s full power, I can’t stop any of this.” it’s just nonstop, I have to get stronger, I’m running out of time, I have to do better, and constantly thinking about that inevitable confrontation.

Deku is a thinker, you guys. and when left to his own devices he will overthink, every time. his mind will run in endless loops while he mentally works his way through all of the possibilities. and that’s one of his greatest strengths, don’t get me wrong, but at a time like this it’s also one of his greatest weaknesses. it’s just so fucking easy for him to get stuck in his own head, in his endless rambling thoughts and analyses. and without anyone else there to help distract him, or help him focus, he’s become fixated on his mission, and it’s slowly consuming him.

this, incidentally, is also the chapter in which we finally see Two and Three’s faces, and learn why Two in particular is so reluctant to lend his power to Deku. he appears to be the lone holdout at this point, so stay tuned on that, because I don’t doubt this will wind up being crucial to Deku’s future development, however it winds up playing out.

chapter 311

this chapter flips back to the Hawksquad for the first half, so we get a brief respite from the ongoing Dekuangst. right before we switch back though, we do get confirmation of something we had pretty much already guessed:

like, that much was already apparent based on what we’d seen (the bags under his eyes; the fact that he refused to sit still in any one place for very long even at night), but it’s always nice to get the official confirmation so that people can’t dispute it lol. so yeah, Deku isn’t sleeping much. and not eating much either, if all he’s getting is the occasional bento from Dadmight. so basically not taking care of himself at all, huge shocker there. but this is something that’s important enough to the story that Horikoshi took the time to point it out in the dialogue, in addition to all of the visual clues we’d already gotten.

and just in case we needed to drive that point in any further, this chapter ends with the appearance of Lady Nagant! like yeah, no shit Deku isn’t getting much sleep, what with him having to fend off racist civilians and hired assassins every five fucking minutes. smdh. can he live??

chapter 312

so this is the chapter that properly introduces Lady Nagant, who maaaay or may not be one of the primary antagonists of this arc?? like, it’s really unclear right now tbh, but she gets hyped up by Hawks and AFO, and has a flashback and a mysterious past and a weird trump card (where did you go, Overhaul) and all that good shit, so yeah? one can hope at any rate.

but anyway. so to his credit, Deku’s first thought is to retreat, but he quickly abandons that plan once he figures out Nagant’s location. this is played off like a logical strategic decision at first, but the subsequent chapter quickly makes it clear that Deku’s decision to take the fight to Nagant is less rational than he might have you think.

chapter 313

so yeah. last but not least, the most recent chapter, in which Deku’s real reason for targeting Lady soon becomes apparent:

what’s more, it quickly becomes clear that he miscalculated and probably would have been better off following Hawks’s advice, seeing as he promptly gets himself shot, and subsequently realizes that AFO gave Nagant an extra quirk, something he hadn’t taken into account. but instead of cutting his losses and running at this point, he doubles down instead and not only breaks out Smokescreen, but also the Third’s quirk which he has never even used before.

it’s worth noting that both En and the Third start telling him to chill at this point, and warn him that what he’s attempting is too dangerous. but tbh if they were expecting him to listen, they haven’t been reading the same arc I’ve been reading. once again, Horikoshi makes it clear that Deku has one thing and one thing only on his mind right now.

of course. once again it all comes back to this. hunt down AFO. it doesn’t matter that he’s exhausted. it doesn’t matter that he’s just been shot twice. it doesn’t matter that Hawks, despite knowing what Deku was capable of with his OFA abilities, specifically warned him away from this one person only. it doesn’t matter that even the Vestiges are trying to tell him you’re going too fast and you’re trying to do too much and it’s too dangerous.

he just doesn’t care. long story short, the only thing that matters to Deku right now is tracking down and defeating TomurAFO. and as the person who knows him best once so aptly put it, “he doesn’t take himself into account.” and therein lies the major challenge of this arc.

and so this is where we’re currently at now. and this has been a very long post, but if nothing else, I hope I was able to get this one point across: there is absolutely no way that Deku will be able to defeat TomurAFO as he is now. not a chance in hell. somehow he’s managed the uncommon feat of waging a war of attrition against himself, which is really quite an accomplishment. he’s not taking care of himself, and he’s refusing to listen to sound advice from the people surrounding him, and is trying to skip ahead to the final boss battle before he’s ready, because the guilt and pressure from feeling responsible for the current situation are eating him up. the only way that the world can go back to normal is if he can defeat AFO; therefore he has to do it as soon as possible, because time is running out and everyone is counting on him. this is who Deku is. and this is what inevitably happens when his saving mentality is taken to extremes, and left unchecked.

anyway so to wrap up this post now, I do think this arc is a lot more cohesive than it’s gotten credit for thus far, and Deku is the glue holding it all together. I for one am loving the exploration of his character and all the subtle little angsty touches as we build up to the big moment, whenever it finally comes. just keep in mind though that if his decisions right now seem reckless and short-sighted, it’s because they’re supposed to seem that way, because Deku is not in a good mental state right now. the cracks are finally showing in our perfect protagonist, just like everyone has been wanting this whole time. he is just a kid. he is doing his best. he is trying far too hard to do his best, and it is hurting him so badly, but he doesn’t even realize. this arc is not an endorsement of the Angsty Nomad Hero lifestyle, lol. it’s the exact fucking opposite, and I think it’s being wildly misinterpreted with all of the emphasis on “oh look at that, he mastered another quirk with no effort”, as opposed to “oh look at that, he is shutting down emotionally and is a few more missed nights of sleep away from a complete and total breakdown.”

tl;dr the overarching storyline of this arc is all about Deku slowly falling apart due to his trauma from Jakku, and the subsequent pressure that was put on him by the Vestiges with their whole “GUESS WHAT, YOU’RE THE LAST USER OF OFA, THAT’S RIGHT, IT’S ALL ON YOU BUDDY” pep talk. and mark my words, things are not going to go according to plan. something is going to go terribly wrong here. whether it’s something happening to All Might, or AFO setting up a trap for him, either way Deku is being set up to fail in a major way. unless of course, someone (or a group of someones) manages to intervene first, and possibly stage an intervention or something. it’s what he needs right now, but idk if Horikoshi is going to make it that easy.

anyway, but in other words, the point of this arc is not to show how much stronger Deku has gotten and how he doesn’t even need his friends anymore. it’s the exact opposite -- the point of this arc is to show that Deku needs his friends now more than ever. that in spite of OFA and all of its mystical trappings and fancy SIXQUIRKS, Deku can’t do this alone. he needs his friends. that’s the core message. and right now, we are at the “I can get by on my own” part of the story. and the part we are all waiting for, but which is coming -- I guarantee it is coming, you guys -- is “the thing is, you don’t have to.”

and that shit is going to slap hard you guys. and I for one can’t wait. but until then, enjoy the angst.

[snkpolls]

SnK Episode 69 Poll Results (for Anime Only Watchers)

The poll closed with 85 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Manga Readers’ poll, click here.

Anime only watchers, beware of spoilers if you venture over to the manga readers’ poll results.

--

RATE THE EPISODE 81 responses

Another episode with no negative ratings from respondents. MAPPA seems to be doing a fantastic job!

Loved it! 

epic

WHICH MOMENT FROM THE PRESENT TIME WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 83 responses

It was relatively close for the top 2 choices that respondents picked, but the scene that caught the most eyes was Eren quickly escalating the conversation with Hange (30.1% of the vote). Right behind that scene was the conversation between the 104th about Eren and what to do about him moving forward. Distant favorites were Hange questioning Eren (14.5%), seeing Historia (9.6%) and the small Levi and Zeke crumb at the end of the episode. 

Adult Eren was the best thing.

WHICH MOMENT FROM THE KIYOMI FLASHBACK WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 83 responses

The largest piece of the pie that was chosen (36.15) for the Kiyomi flashback was the moment where Historia agreed to inherit the Beast Titan only for Eren to passionately reject that plan. 24.1% of viewers most enjoyed the moment between Historia and Mikasa. At a tie, 15.7% either enjoyed Hange agonizing over sacrificing Historia, or Mikasa revealing the clan symbol tattooed to her wrist. A small handful most enjoyed seeing Kiyomi and Zeke meet in secret. 

Pixis gigantic head. What was that all about?? Lol

WHICH MOMENT FROM THE RAILROAD FLASHBACK WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 83 responses

Nearly 40% of respondents were most thrilled with the moment where Eren confesses to his friends how important they are to him and the subsequent blushing. 22.9% enjoyed the moment prior to that where the 104th were debating on who’s best suited to inherit Eren’s titan. 21.7% enjoyed seeing Levi being visibly irritated about everyone’s height, and 10.8% enjoyed the background moment where Armin was chasing after Sasha. 

I loved the train scene so so much!

MIKASA REVEALS THE AZUMABITO CLAN SYMBOL AS A TATTOO ON THE TOP OF HER WRIST. THIS IS A RETCON FROM SEASON 1 WHEN WIT REPLACED THE BRANDING WITH EMBROIDERY INSTEAD. THOUGH THE TATTOO IS WHAT’S FAITHFUL TO THE MANGA (MIKASA’S MANGA COUNTERPART HAS ALWAYS HAD THIS), WAS THIS A GOOD DECISION ON MAPPA’S PART? 81 responses

28.4% of respondents felt that the retcon wasn’t really a big deal, considering that the family symbol had already been alluded to previously in the series. 21.% didn’t care about this detail at all. 19.8% believe it’s a bit of a “yes and no” situation as both faithfulness to the source material and continuity are equally important to them. 12.3% supported the retcon in the name of faithfulness to the source material, and another 9.9% were supportive because they felt the embroidery was “lame and forgettable” anyway. 

it was something useless that turned out to be important

We might get to know more about ackerman

HYPOTHETICALLY, IF ONE OF THE 104TH WERE TO INHERIT EREN’S TITAN POWER, WHO DO YOU THINK WOULD BE THE BEST OPTION? 82 responses

More than half of viewers feel that Jean is most suited to inherit the titan power from Eren. Trailing behind him, 22% feel that Mikasa would be the best candidate. 11% feel that Armin would be ideal (possibly due to him already having titan powers) and 8.5% felt that Sasha would have been the best candidate. Only a handful feel Connie is suited to the role.

WHICH “SHIPPY” MOMENT FROM THE EPISODE WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 81 responses

This episode had a lot to give in terms of endearing moments between the characters, so we asked which ones stood out most to you! 24.7% didn’t want to pick just one, and felt that all the “shippy” moments were equally good. 13.6% were swooning at the blushy glance between Eren and Mikasa. 9.9% most enjoyed Sasha and Connie’s increasingly awkward conversation about who’s the bigger idiot. 8.6% enjoyed the sweet moment between Historia and Mikasa, and another 8.6% enjoyed Jean heckling Eren over getting his hand-me-down, only to blush later at Eren’s confession. Relatively even amounts enjoyed all the other moments listed. 

Let the shipping wars commence!!!

WHICH REVEAL WERE YOU MOST SHOCKED BY? 81 responses

The largest amount of respondents (38.3%) were most shocked by the revelation that Historia is now pregnant in the present time. 17.3% felt that Mikasa being the descendant of a shogun was the most shocking reveal. 14.8% had already been spoiled on all of these topics, and 8.6% found that Kiyomi’s alliance with Paradis was the most shocking revelation.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE REVEAL OF MIKASA’S ASIAN HERITAGE? 80 responses

The reveal of Mikasa’s asian roots comes with mixed opinions. 22.5% are enamored at the idea of “princess Mikasa.” 18.8% just feel happy that Mikasa is getting some importance and focus. 16.2% didn’t really think much about Mikasa’s asian heritage, but think the detail is kinda neat. 12.5% wish the series had done a better job of reminding the audience of the family symbol beforehand, and another 11.3% felt the opposite, stating that they knew this old plot point would be revisited again someday. 10% didn’t care about it at all.

IS EREN BEING TOO HARSH ON HANGE? 82 responses

Overall, the vast majority of respondents feel that Eren was much too harsh on Hange when they went to visit him in his cell. Though, 20.7% felt that he was justified in his anger toward them. 

He could have talked nicely also

well yes as she came to have a friendly chat but he was technically in prison for wanting to protect his friends

Yea he did way to much

Yes and No...he was being a lil extra, but I don't know why Hange came to his prison cell heckling him like that

HANGE SEEMS TO THINK ERWIN CHOOSING THEM AS COMMANDER WAS A MISTAKE. DO YOU? 82 responses

The fandom shows almost unanimous support for Hange as the 14th Commander of the Survey Corps, with 91.5% stating that Erwin didn’t make a mistake in choosing them as his successor. A small handful feel that Hange wasn’t the best fit for the role. 

I don't think there was a better option for Commander at the time of Erwin's death, but Hange isn't suited to the role (doesn't mean they won't try their best!)

Hange is definitely capable of leading, but I doubt that's a position they want to be in

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON HISTORIA’S PREGNANCY? 80 responses

Historia’s pregnancy came as a huge shock to the fandom. It seems as though it’s hard to feel positively about it with the information we’ve been given so far. 30% solidify that thought by stating they feel just as miserable as Historia seems to look. 20% responded more light-heartedly and stated they just hope this was Ymir’s “big dick ghost energy” at work. 13.8% are certain there’s more to the pregnancy than meets the eye, wanting to wait for more information. 13.7% feel that regardless of the situation, Historia would inevitably have to produce an heir anyway, so it is what it is. 

The harshest violence in this manga : putting a lesbian in a non wanted pregnancy. 

My heart breaks for Historia. She looks absolutely miserable. Seeing her so happy in the flashback and then seeing her now makes me so sad. Girl deserves so much better :(

DO YOU THINK SHE’S IN LOVE WITH THE FARM BOY? 80 responses

A rather uniform opinion arrives here, with 87.5% stating that they believe Historia does not love the farm boy, in contrast to the 12.5% who do. Happy belated Valentine’s Day!

NILE STOOD UP FOR HISTORIA WHEN THE OTHER MP WAS DISPARAGING HER. THOUGHTS? 80 responses

Nile has consistently been portrayed positively throughout the series and him standing up for Historia is just another aspect of Nile’s portrayal. About a third of respondents stated that their respect for Nile increased substantially because of this. Another third noted that they thought it was a nice detail, but it didn’t really make them care more about him. Finally, another third or so said that they always liked him and appreciated more reasons to do so. A few were indifferent.

WHAT DO YOU THINK, IS THE WINE SUS? 81 responses

Aside from those who were already spoiled about future happenings, the vast majority of anime viewers think that there is definitely something off about the wine that Nicolo offered. 9.9% aren’t sure, and small handfuls either think it’s just a red herring or wish we would not have used the term “sus.”

DO YOU THINK HIZURU TRULY WANTS TO HELP PARADIS, OR ARE THEY JUST USING THEM FOR THEIR RESOURCES? 80 responses

55% of respondents feel that Hizuru is not being honest about wanting to help Paradis get out of their dire situation, instead only wanting to use them as a resource for their unique iceburst stones. 31.3% think that it’s half-and-half, they want to help, but also want something in return for that help. Absolutely no one felt that Hizuru’s primary motivation for coming to Paradis has to do with wanting to aid them.

CONNIE IS FURIOUS WITH EREN FOR HIS REACTION ON SASHA’S DEATH, AS WELL AS THE FACT THAT EREN DRAGGED THEM INTO THAT DANGEROUS SITUATION IN THE FIRST PLACE. DO YOU THINK HE WILL HOLD THIS GRUDGE FOREVER, OR EVENTUALLY FORGIVE EREN? 80 responses

Connie suffered a near breakdown in this episode, courtesy of Eren and Sasha’s death. As such, one wonders what’ll happen to their relationship afterwards. A plurality (43.8%) think that it’s really just up in the air and also depends on what Eren does moving forward. 22.5% believe that he won’t be able to forgive Eren, but will move past it in some sense. Finally, 20% simply think that this’ll forever remain something embedded in Connie’s view of Eren. A select few did state that they believe Connie will forgive Eren in time, however. A couple more were also spoiled about this development’s future. 

When Hannes died, Eren laughed as well. This is probably just how Eren is. 

Connie is right and he should say it. As far as forgiveness goes, i dont think Eren has passed the point of no return yet, but he's pretty damn close

CONNIE ALSO STATES, “THAT WASN’T EREN.” DO YOU THINK THAT THERE IS SOMETHING WEIRD GOING ON WITH EREN? 80 responses

Eren does not exactly appear to be as he was in his prior appearances and Connie states so. The respondents were rather split when attempting to figure out Eren. Just a little over a third thought this simply was the real Eren, but one who gave into his dark side. 27.5% weren’t sure, but did note that Eren was truly acting differently than usual. 15% thought that he might have been influenced by previous Titan shifters, while 10% believed that Zeke might have taken some control of him. A select few were either spoiled or simply had no clue. 

Eren is finally standing up for himself and fighting 

The pressure of trying to make the world a better place is driving him mad I guess

I go back and forth on this, because on one hand, yeah, this seems like a really drastic shift. But on the other hand, rewatching previous seasons and seening some of the impulsive/extreme shit he's done and said, his current behavior doesn't seem TOO out of the realm of possibility

MIKASA ARGUES THAT EREN’S ACTIONS WERE FOR THEIR SAKE AND THAT HE ONLY DRAGGED THEM INTO THE ATTACK ON LIBERIO BECAUSE HE TRUSTED THEM TO SURVIVE. JEAN, ON THE OTHER HAND, ARGUES THAT EREN IS NO LONGER THE PERSON THAT THEY KNEW AND DIDN’T CARE ABOUT THE RISK TO THEIR LIVES. WHO DO YOU AGREE WITH MORE? 80 responses

It would appear that the majority (65%) sides with Jean, thinking that Eren doesn’t really care about the lives of his friends any longer, in contrast to the 35% who believe that he still does and he was simply trusting them to survive the Liberio raid.

JEAN STATES THAT EREN IS “SUDDENLY ON BOARD WITH ZEKE’S PLAN,” AND THAT WHATEVER THEY TALKED ABOUT IS “SOMETHING ONLY THEY KNOW.” DO YOU THINK THAT EREN AND ZEKE HAVE THE SAME GOAL? 79 responses

There appears to be next to no consensus on what exactly is going on between Eren and Zeke and why they appear to be working together. 24.1%, the largest chunk of the pie, feel that Eren still doesn’t agree with Zeke’s plan, but is rather using him for his own goal. 4 more options came in at a tie. Aside from the 13.9% that have been spoiled, the others feel it’s either a mix of some of the options presented, or that the Yeagerbros have come up with a plan together that they intend to keep a secret, or aren’t sure how to answer and simply put “I don’t know.” 11.4% believe that Eren, left with no other options, has fully agreed to Zeke’s plan - but that Zeke’s true motives are still yet to be seen. 

I’m excited to see all the reasons behind Eren’s sudden change and his true motives.

We need to find why eren acting like this and am i the only one who saw trouble coming because of him

IF EREN HAS ACTUALLY TURNED HIS BACK ON HIS FRIENDS, WILL MIKASA CONTINUE TO DEFEND HIS ACTIONS AND PROTECT HIM? 80 responses

Mikasa has shown unconditional loyalty throughout the series toward Eren, but are his current actions enough to shake that loyalty? 41.3% don’t seem to think so, believing that Mikasa will ultimately still support Eren in whatever his future actions may be. 32.5% think that she may continue to stick by him, but don’t want to say for sure. 26.3% feel certain that Mikasa would ultimately choose her other friends over Eren if push really came to shove.

ARMIN INSINUATES THAT SINCE PARADIS NOW HAS ACCESS TO SERUMS, THE MILITARY WILL TRY TO HAVE SOMEONE MORE “TRUSTWORTHY” EAT EREN TO TAKE HIS POWERS. DO YOU THINK HIS HUNCH IS RIGHT? 79 responses

Few, if any, militaries in the world tolerate insubordination and the Paradisian one is no exception. The majority (67.1%) believe the military will attempt to have Eren fed to a more trustworthy individual, in contrast to 10.1% who believe that they won’t. 22.8% simply aren’t sure.

WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS THE POINT IN THE FLASHBACKS THIS EPISODE? 80 responses

This episode’s flashback was received rather positively, but this series does not include any flashback for no reason and this one is probably no exception. The majority (60%) believe it’s there to showcase the glaring difference between Eren’s current and former demeanor. In contrast 35% think it’s there to reiterate the idea that Eren still loves and cares for his friends. A select few also noted that perhaps it’s there for exposition/angst or were simply unsure.

It just gets better; the flashbacks are definitely important to show Eren's progression and his seemingly contradictory actions, but I definitely feel like the emphasis on how much he cares for his friends is more important than it currently seems.

LOOKS LIKE WE’RE GOING BACK TO GABI AND FALCO NEXT WEEK. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IT? 80 responses

Many are looking forward to seeing Gabi and Falco’s Bizarre Adventure, with 77.6% giving it a rating of 3 or higher. Are you a proud member of the Gabi Gang? Wow! Let us know!

Gabi sucks

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

People who spoil, dig a grave and crawl in it and die please

Awwwww why are Levi and Hange not included in the "shippy" moments? I like how Mappa balances out the heavy and light stuff and showed how different Eren is from before and how it makes people keep on thinking if he still really care for his friends, but the previous episodes have been better for me, maybe just because of the content. I did not really fell good seeing the scene of Eren and Hange. I think he couldn't be like that had Levi been there. Also, I think farmer boy is the real father. Isayama just didn't see the importance of revealing it and what with only 2 chapters remaining and people still really curious about it, this chance has come up.

Kind of slowish. I appreciate the big plot points, but I always want to see more of Levi.

Again, back to not knowing what the fuck is going on...so many flashbacks and plan details. Imma still watch tho !! Thanks MAPPA for the food <3

Eren is hot (lmao sry but he didnt really catch my interest UNTIL this episode)

Honestly loved it,like i loved every other episode,i just hope that no one else dies but i know they will

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 76 responses

Thanks again to everyone who participated!

[not-majestic-bluenicorn]

Puzzle || Ink Prints JohnKun Chapter 5

Fandom(s): NCT (127 & WayV)

AU: Soulmates AU

Genre: Romance, Fluff

Relationship: Johnny x Kun

Language: English

Status: 5/5

Chapter WC: 3,884 words

Warnings: Mentions of alcohol, Bruises (someone falls of a bike), Divorce.

Chapter Warnings: None apply

Summary:

“Let’s take a picture of our extra tattoo and send it at the same time,” Johnny suggested.

Kun’s heart began beating fast again. He had been so giddy about Johnny also having an extra mark that he had forgotten they might be different. Johnny knew this too, because otherwise he wouldn’t have been asking for proof. Kun nodded nonetheless. They were soulmates, weren’t things supposed to work out for them in the end?

Author’s note: Help me decide on which Ink Prints series to work next by voting on this twitter poll!

AO3

<< Previous Chapter || Ink Prints Masterlist 

Tagged: @queen-of-himbos​

“Oh,” Kun felt the thundering in his chest diminish. 

It was like a bubble popping right in front of him, letting relief flood out from his chest. Johnny also had an extra mark. He had been worrying nonstop about it since finding out they were soulmates, but now he felt calmness fill him. He didn’t even know what to say.

“Oh? Kun?” Johnny’s nervous voice resonated through the speaker. “Are you mad? Are you disappointed?”

“Hyung, I have a mark too,” Kun let out a laugh, “and extra one, I mean.”

“Wait- Really?!” Johnny yelled, and Kun had to pull the cell phone away. “Hold on, are you serious right now?”

“Yeah!” Kun laughed again, giddy. “I’ve been worrying about it too, I was actually going to tell you before leaving, but I couldn’t bring myself to…”

“That’s okay, I couldn’t either,” Johnny sighed. “I have an idea, though.”

“I’m all ears,” Kun nodded enthusiastically.

“Let’s take a picture of our extra tattoo and send it at the same time,” Johnny suggested.

Kun’s heart began beating fast again. He had been so giddy about Johnny also having an extra mark that he had forgotten they might be different. Johnny knew this too, because otherwise he wouldn’t have been asking for proof. Kun nodded nonetheless. They were soulmates, weren’t things supposed to work out for them in the end?

He struggled to take a picture of his back, right between his shoulder blades, as his second tattoo liked to rest there. Kun ended up having to ask one of his parents for help, but eventually he had the picture in his camera roll and was ready to send it. He waited until Johnny was ready.

“Wait, wait-” Kun pulled the phone away and put Johnny on speaker before turning on his own camera.“Turn on your camera.”

Johnny was wearing a hoodie, and the hood was fully tightened around his face, making him look funny. Kun chuckled as he waved hello. Johnny waved back at him before taking a deep breath. They were both nervous, and it was quite easy to tell. After agreeing to do it at the count of three, they counted together and then pressed send.

The picture that greeted Kun was not the American kestrel he had been expecting. Instead, there was a gray bunny. Dread filled his stomach as he looked up. Johnny looked just as shocked as he felt. Kun smiled and tried to shake it off. They didn’t have the same mark, but that didn’t have to mean anything. Still, it felt… disappointing.

“B-But-” Johnny stuttered, but the words died in his throat.

“Hey, it’s okay, right?” Kun tried to remain optimistic, but he couldn’t hide the strangeness he felt in his chest.

“Kun, I-” Johnny scrambled for the words, but he didn’t know what to say, and frankly, neither did Kun.

“It’s okay,” Kun assured him. “It’s quite late, maybe we should sleep on this and talk about it tomorrow?”

He felt all of the exhaustion from before wash over him again. Suddenly, all he wanted was to go sleep and ignore whatever ugly feelings were pooling in his chest. He disliked seeing Johnny so affected and thrown off, especially when he was always so cool and in control of himself.

“Are you sure?” Johnny asked, looking back and forth between the pictures they had just sent.

“Positive,” Kun did his best to smile, “I think we both need it.”

They wished each other a good night before hanging up. Kun didn’t know how exactly he felt, but it wasn’t as positive as he would have liked. He didn’t want to think about it though, so instead he forced himself to fall asleep, convinced that they would solve it the next day.

--

Johnny was absentmindedly staring at this phone when he accidentally dropped it on his face. He yelped, bringing his hands up to rub at his poor nose. He had woken up at some point in the early morning and had abandoned all hopes for sleep. His dreams had been plagued by bunnies and birds and bunnies turning into birds. He was not feeling okay.

He grabbed his phone again and looked at the picture Kun had taken. After some research, he had figured out it was an American kestrel. It was so pretty and colorful and small. They both had small creatures as their other soulmates… Johnny sighed. He still couldn’t believe they didn’t have a shared tattoo. He had always known it could be a possibility, but he had hoped it wouldn’t be.

Soulmate relationships, and relationships in general, were always more complicated than simply sharing or not the same tattoos. Of course, it was easy if you only had one tattoo, and your soulmate also had only one, if you could manage to find them to begin with. But when there was more than one mark…

What if he found his other soulmate and they didn’t like Kun? What if Kun found his other soulmate and they didn’t like him? Johnny didn’t want to be forced into choosing, and he could never even imagine doing that to Kun either. But he was getting ahead of himself, what if that didn’t happen at all?

He sighed and put his phone away. His mental state was not in the right place to be talking to Kun at the moment. He needed to clear his mind and figure out where his feelings stood. Johnny decided to go and visit his friends. If anything could help him, was most definitely the opinion of those three crackheads. It would probably be wise to call them first, though.

“Hello Johnny,” Seungcheol picked up Jeonghan’s cellphone.

“Oh, Cheol?” Johnny smiled, closing the door to his dorm behind him. “Is Jeonghan asleep still?”

“You know him,” Seungcheol scoffed, “but also, you’re calling unbearably early, what’s up?”

“Would you mind housing a poor, lost soul?” Johnny left the dorms and walked down the campus to the bus stop.

“Did they already evict you?” Seungcheol sounded genuinely surprised, which just threw Johnny off.

“What do you mean already?!” He yelled, lowering his voice when he noticed someone glaring at him. “You three are so mean to me…”

“Just come already, I’ll leave the door unlocked,” Seungcheol laughed before hanging up.

Johnny made his way to their apartment while listening to music. He was listening to a few Chinese artists that Kun had recommended to him, but doing so made him miss his voice. It felt a bit silly, though, because he had just talked to him the previous night. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to call him, not yet.

Seungcheol, Jeonghan and Jisoo lived in an apartment close to campus. It was cozy and not very big, since the three of them were usually very clingy and liked to spend time with each other. Johnny kind of admired them for it, because their personalities could be quite contrasting, and he wasn’t certain how they had built their relationship around their situation. Maybe that was the reason he was there, they could give him advice.

Jisoo opened the door for him and greeted him with a handshake. He immediately offered him something to drink as they headed to their living room, catching up on what they had done during recess. Seungcheol joined them later, with a sleepy Jeonghan following right after him and complaining that they had woken him up.

“Okay, spill,” Jisoo pointed after a while, “why are you here?”

“Can’t I just visit my friends for pleasure?” Johnny pouted.

“The only thing you’ve done in the past month or so is have virtual dates with Kun,” Jeonghan pointed out, “so no, I don’t think you’re here for pleasure.”

“Did something happen with Kun?” Seungcheol asked. He was leaning back, one arm propped behind Jisoo.

“Why are the three of you so perceptive…” Johnny sighed. “I showed him my extra mark. He also had one…”

“Isn’t that good, then? I don’t get it.” Seungcheol frowned.

“It’s not the same mark,” Jeonghan immediately guessed. “That’s why our Johnnyboy is looking so gloomy right now.”

“It really isn’t,” Johnny grumbled, “I’m pretty sure that in the wild, his mark could potentially eat mine.”

The other three couldn’t help but break into a laugh, which only made Johnny pout harder. He was there to receive some attention and love, not to be laughed at because of his unfortunate situation.

“Yours is a bunny, right?” Jisoo asked, leaning forward. “What is his?”

“A sparrowhawk,” Johnny sighed. “How did the three of you make it work? Jeonghan and Jisoo don’t have marks for each other, right?”

“We don’t,” Jeonghan agreed “but marks aren’t a limitation for love, Johnny.”

“They are guides,” Jisoo agreed. “I mean, Seungcheol really, really disliked us in the beginning.”

“You were- are, brats, truly,” Seungcheol grumbled. “But it’s true, my marks for them indicate I was meant to fall in love with them, but they didn’t have that type of attachment, and yet… here we are.”

“Jeonghan is as much of a soulmate to me as is Seungcheol,” Jisoo smiled. “I’m certain you can make it work too, even though it’s a bigger number of people.”

“Just trust what you have Johnny,” Jeonghan nodded. “I know you’ll be able to work things out if it comes down to it.”

“I feel like you have more faith in me than I do…” Johnny sighed, leaning back into the sofa.

--

A week passed without either of them attempting to call the other. They still messaged everyday, mostly in the mornings and evenings, but both could tell it wasn’t the same. It bothered Kun a lot. His mind felt confused and fuzzy, and the safety he had felt during his second week in Korea had already vanished. Of course, he wasn’t the only one to notice things were off.

“Kun, can I come in?” His dad knocked softly on the door.

“Of course,” he nodded, putting his cellphone with the bunny picture away. “What’s wrong?” He asked once the door opened.

“That’s what I would like to ask you,” his dad smiled, sitting at the border of his bed. “Is everything alright with your soulmate?”

Kun sighed. He had known that at some point his parents would come to ask, because Johnny hadn’t said hi to them in a while, and they really liked him. He didn’t blame them, though, even he could tell that he was acting different due to the worry and stress the situation was putting on him. If there was anyone who could provide him with answers though, were his parents.

“Johnny and I have extra soulmate marks, but they’re different…” Kun explained, looking at this lap. “I have a bird, he has a bunny.”

“That sounds cute,” his dad smiled. “Must be a nice person.”

“You’re missing the point here…” Kun grumbled, twiddling his fingers.

“Am I?” His dad tilted his head. “I don’t think so, truly. You see, wouldn’t it be great if both of Johnny’s soulmates turn out to be great people?”

“And what about me?” Kun muttered.

“Oh, but you’re not worried about yourself, I know you well,” his dad chuckled.

“I don’t like this conversation, where’s papa? He would side with me.” Kun groaned, crossing his arms, making his dad laugh.

“He’s out at work, but you see, we’re a good example of why you shouldn’t be worried!” His dad crawled over the bed until he was sitting next to him, wrapping his arms around Kun. “You remember your dad and I aren’t soulmates, right?”

“I do, but you don’t really talk about it…” Kun muttered. “You never found your soulmate, and his already passed away.”

“That’s right,” his dad nodded. “I met his soulmate, actually, she was a beautiful woman. Your dad loved us both very much. She passed away long before we adopted you.”

“I didn’t know you had met her,” Kun’s eyes widened. “How…”

“The thing is, Kun, that even though we’re destined to love some people, it doesn’t mean we can’t choose who to love,” his dad shrugged. “Destiny is not an excuse. If you meet your other soulmate, you’ll love them as much as you love Johnny, and so will Johnny if he meets his other soulmate…”

“But?” Kun leaned forward.

“But love makes things work out,” his dad smiled. “Neither of you might ever meet your other mark. And if you do, it might even be that they are soulmates to each other, and you could go on a lot of double dates.”

“So you think it will work out,” he let out a deep exhale.

“I know it will,” his dad nodded, pushing Kun’s hair back. “But you two need to stop punishing each other first, your hearts crave for each other, and self-inflicted pain is not the way to go.”

“I have one more question though,” Kun muttered. “If you met your soulmate now… What would you do?”

“I would introduce them to your father, and we would work from there,” he patted Kun’s hands. “Not everything in life has to be a dramatic challenge, although you’re barely about to reach your twenties so I guess it makes sense you feel like this.”

“Are you calling me dramatic?” Kun frowned, pushing his dad softly.

“I am not not calling you dramatic,” his dad smiled, pushing him back. “Just don’t overthink it, alright? I’m gonna go prepare supper.”

Kun grabbed his phone again and stared at it as his finger hovered over the call button. He had put a picture of his Clydesdale tattoo as Johnny’s picture, and looking at it made his heart swell. He didn’t get to press the button, though, because Johnny called him first, causing him to yelp out of surprise. He answered and put him on speaker.

“Johnny?” He asked, unsure.

“Hey,” Johnny sounded a bit breathless. “So I’ve decided I don’t like this thing where we don’t talk.”

“Are you okay?” Kun asked, a bit concerned about how he sounded.

“Huh?” Johnny took a deep breath. “Oh yeah, I’m just running, to uh… You know, clear the mind?”

“Is it working?” Kun chuckled. It felt nice to talk to him again, it helped him breathe easier.

“Not really, no,” Johnny laughed too. “But Kun, I really didn’t like not talking to you this past week.”

“I didn’t like it either,” Kun sighed. “I was actually just talking to my dad about it.”

“What did he say?” Johnny slowed down, and decided to walk instead, trying to not breathe so hard into the microphone.

“In summary, that we should stop being so dramatic,” he grumbled, but Johnny let out a breathy laugh.

“I think he’s right, actually,” Johnny cleared his throat. “We don’t know if we’ll meet our other marks, why don’t we enjoy what we have now?”

“I agree,” Kun nodded. “I missed talking to you.”

“I did too,” Johnny’s smile could be felt through his voice, and it made Kun smile as well.

“I might also be falling in love with you,” Kun confessed. It made his heart skip a beat, but it was nothing compared to the reaction it produced on Johnny.

“You can’t do this to me Kun,” Johnny groaned. “You’re usually more reserved about your affection, what is this?”

“I will hang up on you,” Kun threatened, not liking that Johnny was teasing him.

“I’m sorry, I’ll shut up,” Johnny added quickly. “I’m also falling in love with you, quite quickly I should add.”

“Idiot,” Kun scoffed, but he was smiling. 

“I’ll take it as a show of affection,” Johnny laughed. “I can’t wait to see you.”

“I can’t wait either.”

--

Johnny glanced at his phone one more time. He was sitting at one of those uncomfortable metal airport chairs, bouncing his leg nonstop. Kun’s flight had been delayed, so he had already been there for a few hours, and he was feeling very impatient. Kun had agreed to arrive a week before classes started so that they could spend time together, catch up, and finally talk face to face about their tattoos. However, they had already lost a full day and the sun was starting to set. He simply wanted to see his soulmate.

He looked up at the announcement chart and jumped to his feet when he saw that the plane had just arrived. Without thinking twice, Johnny headed towards the marked gate, nearly running. He stopped with the other people waiting for their loved ones to arrive, and gripped his cell phone tightly in his hand, waiting for a sign.

Kun crossed the gates with two suitcases behind him, looking around with expectation. He almost tripped over himself when he saw Johnny, standing behind other people and looking like he wanted to push them out of the way (he didn’t). He walked as fast as the suitcases let him, and Johnny met him halfway, embracing him in a hug that almost threw them both to the ground.

“Wait wait wait-” Kun laughed, trying to keep them from tipping over. One of his suitcases had fallen to the ground, but the other one still stood next to him.

“I missed you so much!” Johnny exclaimed, still holding him close.

“I missed you too but we’re in the way!” Kun complained, although he still wrapped his arms around Johnny’s middle.

“Okay, okay, let’s get out of the way,” Johnny chuckled, grabbing the fallen suitcase and pulling both it and Kun along with him.

“How long have you been here?” Kun asked, noticing Johnny’s unruly hair.

“Way before you told me your flight was delayed,” Johnny replied sheepishly. “I took a shower in the morning and then came straight here.”

“Don’t do that,” Kun shook his head. “You could’ve slept more.”

“I was excited to see you! What do you want me to say?” Johnny pouted. Kun let out a laugh and grabbed his empty hand, entwining their fingers.

“Can we drop these off and then go eat?” Kun gestured at his luggage. “I’m starving.”

“Of course, let’s go.” 

They didn’t stay more than five minutes in the dorms as they dropped everything off and then went to have dinner together. They had both been up since very early in the morning, and the time they had spent in the airports (and flight), waiting, had made them both incredibly hungry. Johnny took them back to the little restaurant they had gone to together in one of their first dates, and ate until they were sated.

Since they were close to campus, they made their way back by walking. Johnny didn’t waste time before holding Kun’s hand, still marveling at the fact that he could finally touch him again after the few months they had spent away from each other. He listened to Kun’s story about his short trip with undivided attention, almost managing to trip twice because he was too busy staring at him.

When they arrived at the door of his room, Kun pulled him along, as if it was the normal thing for them. His luggage was neatly tucked in the corner of the room. They sat down on what Kun had claimed as his bed. He was going to have a roommate, but he didn’t know who it was yet, but he hoped it was either Junhui or Yanan, as he already knew them.

“Johnny can I ask you for a very big favor?” Kun said after a little while, looking at their interlocked fingers.

“Of course,” Johnny nodded.

“Can I look at your tattoo? The bunny one.”

The request surprised Johnny. They had talked a little more about their extra tattoos over the days, but they hadn’t actually tried to look at them again or made serious discussion about it. He wondered what Kun was thinking of, but he knew this was not something he had thought about lightly. He had probably spent the whole flight thinking about it.

“Of course,” Johnny agreed after thinking it over. He stood up and lifted his shirt just enough to show the area of the ribs.

Kun stood up right after him and crouched just enough that the rabbit tattoo was at eye level. That soulmark was small, and gray, and it always liked to nest right in that spot. Johnny didn’t see it often, so it was a little strange to have someone else look at it. He felt the tips of Kun’s fingers gently trace over it, and it made him shudder a little. Kun’s eyes were so focused on the mark, and Johnny suddenly felt a very strong urge to just…

“Kun can I kiss you?” The words were out of his mouth before he had even thought them out. 

“What?” Kun stopped right where he was standing.

He looked at Johnny with a frown and Johnny pulled his shirt down, suddenly feeling very exposed. He was a bit embarrassed that those words had come out of his mouth, but he didn’t regret them. He had wanted to kiss Kun for a long time now, after all. Kun’s frown slowly transformed into a smile. He grabbed Johnny’s face with both hands and reached up to kiss him.

It took his brain a second to process that Kun was kissing him, but his body was thankfully not as slow. His eyes closed and he placed one hand tentatively on Kun’s middle, leaning into the kiss. The kiss was very soft, but it still made butterflies bloom in his stomach and break havoc inside. He felt Kun smile into the kiss, and he couldn’t help but smile too, their noses accidentally bumping into each other.

“I really missed you so much!” Kun exclaimed, wrapping his arms around Johnny’s neck.

“I missed you too,” Johnny agreed, still surprised at Kun’s boldness.

“Stay the night.”

“W-What?” Johnny stuttered, once again shocked beyond words.

“Just stay here, for tonight,” Kun laughed, “please.”

It was kinda hard, but they managed to cuddle together on Kun’s bed. It was warm, which was probably not ideal in the late summer weather, but it felt nice to finally be together again. They hadn’t even been separated for that long, but a lot had happened in that time. They deserved this, at least.

“Why did you want to look at my tattoo?” Johnny asked.

“Dad said that a bunny must mean you’ve got a very nice soulmate, or something like that,” Kun shrugged. “I was curious.”

“Are you worried about it?” Johnny turned his body just slightly to be able to look at him.”

“Not really,” Kun smiled. “Dad said that love finds the answers eventually. Let’s put it this way: we’re like a four piece puzzle, and we’re missing a couple of them.”

“And what will happen when we find them?” Johnny still didn’t fully understand, it made him a little anxious.

“When we do,” Kun leaned closer to peck the corner of his lips, and grabbed his hands tightly, offering comfort. “We’ll put the pieces where they go, and once we see how nicely they fit, we’ll make things work out.” He smiled. 

“You promise?” Johnny asked. He had seen things not work before, but Kun sounded so certain, and he wanted to believe him.

“I promise.” Kun nodded, and Johnny chose to believe him.

[yumi-michiyo]

Drinking From an Empty Cup [1/1]

Rating: R21/M for very, very explicit sex and some swearing

Genre: "Romance"/Fluff/Humour/Angst

Pairings: Rachel Berry/Quinn Fabray

Summary: Coaching college cheerleading isn't exactly what Rachel Berry would have imagined for herself, but she's happy. Now, if only the coach of rival cheerleading team, the Cheerios, didn't hate her... Cheer!AU. Faberry. Complete.

Links: Fanfiction dot net | AO3

As always, if you're just here for the story, links are above; if you want to read the extended notes, click on the cut below.

Extended Notes and Meta: Ther was a time I used to write tons of these massive oneshots for Glee and dump them on the world. I now never wanna do that again; writing, editing, and more writing was a real headache for me.

This fic started about 3 years ago when I had the bright idea of writing a Faberry fic where Quinn and Rachel are rival cheerleaders. I got about 1k words of self-indulgent smut before I realized the plot didn't make any sense, and scrapped it. But as y'all probably know, I never delete anything. It all goes to a folder in my Google Drive marked scraps to languish.

A couple of months ago, I watched Cheer on Netflix, and immediately I knew: what if Rachel and Quinn weren't rival cheerleaders, but rival cheerleading coaches? And based on that, this fic was back alive.

Immediately, I hit a ton of snags. I didn't have a plot apart from the (natural) Faberry happy ending. I didn't know how much canon I wanted into put into this very, very AU premise. And most importantly, I knew shit about American cheerleading outside of the show (not too keen on Glee's Cheerios).

So this became my recreational project: I usually write scraps and snippets of all my various fandoms and pairings so I don't forget the ship dynamics or lose my writing style. I continued to work on this fic while focusing on my main project (at the time), Shifting Skylines. I told myself I wouldn't start another major project before finishing that story. And so the 1k of smut grew into 10k of Faberry flirting.

After Shifting Skylines wrapped, I had to choose which of my Faberry scraps were gonna be my next project: this Cheer!AU, or a high school Faberry (coming soon!). The deciding factor was when I shared some snippets of both on the Faberry Discord, and polled them on a fluffy oneshot or an angsty multichapter. Fluff won, you're welcome.

(Full disclosure: the angsty story would've included a subplot about Beth as one of Rachel's cheerleaders keeping Faberry apart.)

The next disaster was when I decided to change the tone to be less comedic; that meant a tense change. Finally, the plot got revised quite a bit to expand more on Quinn's side of the story and explore Rachel's background a little more.

I think the most difficult part of this story was deciding how to translate Rachel and Quinn's motivations and dynamic from canon. Without the high school history, there's going to be a few gaps in how they interact, and I wanted to do their canon dynamic justice.

Finally, this is one of the rare Gleefics I write that doesn't have Santana in it! Not having a friend she can count on is a large part of this story's Quinn, and it was surprisingly easy to exclude Santana once I'd planned out the story.

On Rachel Berry

The theme of "it's lonely at the top" for Rachel is a theme I've extensively explored in my Faberry fics. In this story, my Rachel actually switches careers because of her disillusionment with the emptiness of achieving one's dreams - and nothing else. It was a struggle working that in without taking away too much focus from the Faberry dynamic, and the person Rachel is now. Especially since the fic is from Rachel's POV, so she couldn't just monologue and give us readers her life story.

On Quinn Fabray

This universe's Quinn is alone, essentially, constrasting with Rachel's loneliness. She's had a hard life without Santana or any of the usual support, and that's left its mark on her. I imagine her having less difficulty accepting her lesbian identity because she isn't worried about her public image, but nevertheless the idea of becoming vulnerable is something that Quinn struggles with during the story. This Quinn spends a lot of time angsting on her own, until a little shit comes along and won't leave her alone...

[marinetteplztakeabreak]

The year is 2021. The first few episodes of mlb Season 5 were just aired. Tumblr’s exploding with fanfics and theories. The show’s new director is conducting cryptic polls about which friendships and teamups the fans want to see most. Adrien is finally realizing that his dad sucks and has gotten more direct in his small moments of rebellion. Kagami, Adrien, and Marinette have a group chat that’s 90% just elaborate plans for sneaking out. Marinette’s been getting better and better at acting normal around Adrien since the beginning of season four and she’s realized that regardless of romantic feelings, she desperately wants to be his friend.

Everyone’s posting about the latest episode, Lady WiFi 3.0, where Alya got akumatized because she was jealous that Adrien was stealing her best friend. Marinette was so busy panicking and blaming herself that she forgot to slip away and transform, which lead to half the episode being Marichat. Chat Noir had a few lines that may have implied he know that she was Ladybug and every word of their dialogue is now being picked apart by theorists. After they won the battle, there were copious amounts of communication and apologies from Adrien, who was immediately yelled at by both girls because “Adrien stop apologizing for hanging out with your friends you’re allowed to do that, you self-deprecating idiot.” The episode ended with Adrien becoming Alya’s secret behind the scenes co-runner of the Ladyblog, and he’s thriving at the chance to work without being directly watched by the public and she’s thriving at the fact that she has a dedicated co-worker who’s just as obsessed with superheroes (especially Ladybug) as she is.

Now that months have passed since the season 4 finale aired, people are finally calming down. Mayura got so close to winning that she managed to take Chat Noir’s miraculous, discovering his secret identity in the process. Chat Noir didn’t end up telling Ladybug about this: partly due to fear that he’d lose his Miraculous, because he’s gotten so good at being a team with Ladybug that he’s afraid Paris would be in danger without him. Also, now that Ladybug is the guardian, she’s the only one who could choose a new Chat Noir and therefore would know the secret identity of anyone she picked. Also, it’s never been directly confirmed, but everyone’s pretty sure that he knows that Marinette is Ladybug, and without his Miraculous, he would lose his only means of defense if Mayura did hunt him down in his civilian identity and grill him for Ladybug’s identity. He also seems to think that he’s the less important hero and it doesn’t matter as much if he gets hurt or captured so long as he manages to protect his Lady. His decision spawned endless discourse, but everyone can at least see where he’s coming from. The heroes are doing their best but there’s obvious moments where they’re cracking under the stress and could desperately use an adult on their team. #givemarinetteanap was trending on Tumblr for a few days. Adrien had canonically acknowledged depression and has actual medical reasons to force his dad to let him interact with friends at times, although his father still does the absolute bare minimum.

A week ago, in the season 5 pilot, Natalie faked a coughing fit to stop Hawkmoth when he was about to hurt Chat. She’s still trying to take the Miraculouses and still wants Hawkmoth to succeed but she’ll literally die before any harm comes to Adrien, and she’s the only one who knows he’s also Chat Noir. Adrien knows that Mayura knows his identity but he has no idea that Natalie knows, so he’s confused about why she suddenly seems to understand why he’s exhausted after midnight akuma battles and even clears his schedule, so he can rest. She still rarely shows direct affection, but the small things are becoming more and more frequent and groups of dedicated fans are eagerly awaiting her redemption arc.

The amateur fashion business that Marinette started halfway through season 4 is taking off, thanks in part to celebrity promotions, from Jagged Stone to Clara Nightingale to Adrien Agreste. She’s under a lot of pressure dealing with actual money and orders and the stress of running a real business, but she’s clearly happy with it, and it gives her something productive to do with the time that she used to spend obsessing over Adrien. She also taught herself how to crochet for a project and now brings string and a hook with her everywhere to stress-crochet when anxiety spirals hit. It’s become something of a joke within the fandom but no one can deny that it’s a strangely calming aesthetic. The shine for Adrien in her room has been taken down and replaced with a wall of the designs she’s the proudest of, which caused a barrage of conflicting emotions for everyone watching.

Chloe has become a permanent part of the friend group as well, after she exposed Lila’s lies. She’s still has no filter and causes a few akumas when she hurts others’ feelings, but she’s genuinely trying to be a decent person, so she can make real friends. She also manages to pull Marinette out of an anxiety attack a few times by being ridiculously blunt and startling Marinette out of her train of thought.

The show openly calls Juleka and Rose a couple, they’re had a few on screen kisses and people make YouTube compilations of them saying the phrase “my girlfriend.” Half the class comes to them for relationship advice because they’re literally the steadiest and healthiest couple in the class. Also, it’s revealed that Chloe never had a crush on Adrien. She was literally just fighting Marinette for his platonic attention the entire time, which she thought was common knowledge. “Ew, why would I want to date Adrien, we’ve known each other since we were toddlers?” Someone asks Chloe if there’s anyone she does have a crush on and she says not really, no one in their class is even that cute, Ladybug’s low-key gorgeous though in a celebrity crush kind of way. Marinette is the only person in the class who’s actually surprised to find out that Chloe might have a crush on Ladybug.

Teamups with the Miraculous holders are becoming more and more common. Queen Bee has openly said that she doesn’t care about the danger of her identity being revealed and has become a frequent member of the lineup. Alix, juleka, Rose, and Nathaniel have each been given Miraculouses a few times, as well as several newly introduced characters. In an episode we only have a trailer for so far, Marinette is having such a bad panic attack that she knows she won’t be able to be Ladybug, so she discretely slips her earrings into Alya’s bag and Alya has to save the day as Ladybird. During a different high-stakes akuma battle near the end of season 4, Hawkmoth knew that he’d be causing a lot of collateral damage so he locked Adrien inside with heavy supervision to keep him safe. Unable to sneak away, he managed to slip his ring with a note into Chloe’s bag, because she was over for a business meeting and also the only person he knew that Ladybug would trust with a Miraculous. Chloe got to be Reine Chat for the day and she was surprisingly mature about it, listening to everything Ladybug told her and putting the Miraculous back where she got it after the battle was won She’d never admit it, but it was clear that she was genuinely scared for one of the first times in her life.

Now, the fans theories for what’s going to happen continue to pour in. The episode titles for the entire season were just uncovered. The finale is going to be Princess Justice parts 1, 2, and 3. The current predominant fan theory is that Sabine is going to have to be Ladybug for part of the episode and fight an akumatized Marinette. It’s been defended by so many long winding arguments that no one can remember if it’s a crack theory or genuine. The episode just before the finale is titled Emilie and it’s causing different kinds of massive panic throughout the fandom. The season trailers show tons of interactions between all sides of the love square. Adrien is going to break down in tears in Marinette’s arms at one point in the season. That trailer clip has also been overanalyzed to death at this point. Adrien has learned to bake macarons at the bakery and Marinette has learned to win a staring contest with Gabriel Agreste. All is well.