Is there anyone else here not really able to torture their faves? Not that that is a bad thing to do. It's just something I cannot do when writing fics.
On the other hand I do have some OC characters in my own novel that went through what you could call heaps of stinking dead doves. But for fanfic that trope just does not work for me.
I find that difference interesting. It's nothing I need an answer for right now though.
I'm tryna serve y'all up a real good cowboy Sukuna fic and this one part just is not coming to me WHYYYYYYYYYYYY. Maybe I shoulda prayed, maybe I'm Micheal Jackson and god gave my idea to Prince.
Hello! I wanted to say that is how I see what would have happened if Megatron had been there when Eren said his infamous words to Mikasa.
Eren: Mikasa, I always hated you.
Everyone: *Gasps and yells of shock*
Megatron:
Eren: Megatron!? Why are you here?! *Memories don't show Megatron here*
Megatron: I was curious what kind of lie you would see, and I see a blatant one!
Eren: I am telling the truth! I hate Mikasa!
Megatron: Really? Then why do you still have her gift? *points at the red string*
Eren: . . .
Megatron: In addition, you asked Wrecker to take a picture of Ackerman when she was wearing her pink kimono.
Everyone: A pink what?
Mikasa: *blushing*
Eren: *Angry blush* Fuck.
On a more serious note, besides the obvious that it was a blatant lie from Eren, I never understood WHY you included that after you answered my question about Eren planning his death in AOP. After some thought, I remembered the memories he saw, one of Optimus's death and another of older Mikasa without her scarf while holding something, and that was before Founder powers were activated so he had limited idea but he could get some clues, and in conclusion:
He starts the Rumbling -> he kills Optimus -> Mikasa kills him to stop Rumbling.
So while he did not plan his death, if he gets killed by Mikasa, he will at least make it easier for her to kill him. Because whatever you can say, both of these dummies loved each other deeply, and you could believe Mikasa is obsessed with Eren, with my limited knowhow of AOT, I gained a sense that those two truly loved each other, Mikasa was just very overprotective of Eren, something you already tackled in AOP, but I can see that at the end of AOT, she could not let go completely of Eren, at least move on, even when Eren in the Cabin Moment, where he said after death she need to forget him and live freely. In AOP, while I don't think she can find love again, at least one as deep as she had with Eren, given she said that part of her still loves him, she can move on and live freely. But that part with love is my own opinion.
First of all, incorrect quote is hilarious.
Second of all, this is once again from the perspective of a manga reader waiting on a month to month basis for answers on what would happen next regarding the next chapter. Theories were running rampant, everyone had something to say, half of the fandom wanted Gabi dead, all that stuff.
It was around chapter 105's release, Sasha's death, and Eren's reaction that I had concluded that Eren was going to activate the Rumbling in full, and I wanted Optimus to be the one to kill him. To be hailed as a Savior from the stars. Mikasa had no real role to play when it came to Eren's death.
I also had no real thoughts of Eren being able to even the whole future. Hell, Eren being able to see into the future was just a theory, and we were never even given a full explanation on how Eren was even able to accomplish seeing the whole thing. Sure, he touched Zeke, but we've always seen memories in increments and gaps. Kruger was only able to reference Mikasa and Armin by name. We didn't even know if he was ever able to see their faces.
Before then, as I've stated, I was going to have Eren set everything up to have Optimus become the hero, but the backlash that happened in chapter 139 made me reconsider and rewrite stuff. Making Eren go the nihilistic route like Jobu Tupaki in Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. If everything is the same, over and over, then let him be selfish. Let him end it all.
In regards to Eren seeing a future with Optimus' death, the death would have remained that way had it not been for the interference and hard work of others. Again, we're never given a full run down on Eren's future visions, we didn't know he was seeing all of it instead of increments. Personally, I thought that Eren would be trying to change the future, because he was able to change the past in the cave. But the way that it was written in chapter 139, it made it seem like the future was set in stone and couldn't be change. It creates this cruel irony that Eren never really had freedom to begin with. Everything was decided. But it takes away Eren's choice. Almost like it absolves him? There are other snk critics that can explain it a lot better than I can. But I was leaning more towards the route of "the future can be changed, but Eren refused to do the work to change himself and the future". He refused to grow.
But there was a lot of discourse regarding Eren's feelings for Mikasa when the chapters were being dropped.
Prior to the Marley arc, it was clear that Mikasa had feelings for Eren, but it was never really clear if Eren held those same feelings. Sure, Eren did care for Mikasa, but people questioned whether or not it was platonic or romantic.
The time skip when the manga chapters were being dropped didn't help much with the discourse either. People were taken aback by the sudden whiplash in new characters, waiting for months on end for the Survey Corps to return. Everyone was questioning Eren's motivation. Why did he make the switch? Why did he go off grid? People had more questions that just weren't being answered.
And then chapter 112 dropped, where Eren flat out stated that he hated Mikasa because she was a slave. Note, we're still not given any information about the Ackermans, and we'll never really get it at this point, but many people around this time speculated that Mikasa and Levi's fierce devotion to the people they cared about, Eren and Erwin respectively, was because of them being an Ackerman. They had to have someone to serve. But everyone had something to say regarding Eren's words. Some believed that Eren genuinely meant those words, since recent behavior showed him lashing out and ignoring everyone and killing indiscriminately. Some believed that Eren was saying it to push Mikasa and Armin away, since his main goal was to enact the Rumbling, and he wouldn't want them to get caught up in it. Some just really wanted Mikasa to drop kick Eren in the face and burn the scarf.
But the discourse continued. People debated how much of Eren's feelings were real month after month. People debated whether or not Eren did love her. Some said yes. Some said no. Eren genuinely hating Mikasa or saying that to push Mikasa away were both real possibilities in that moment. There were moments of Eren seeing Mikasa from his perspective that pushed the argument that Eren did love her, but he still got her caught up in the Rumbling mess and forced her hand into killing him. I tried to rectify Eren's unclear feelings in AOT by having a few more moments in AOP, major one being the bracelet and Primus calling him out.
I don't deny Mikasa having feelings for Eren. She loves him. Full stop. But being a traumatized soldier will obviously interfere with her own emotional growth and feelings. I can't deny that. As a manga reader; however, Eren's feelings weren't clear until chapter 139, and when that dropped, oh boy the BACKLASH WAS WILD! I can understand Eren revealing his feelings like that, especially when he knows he's going to die soon and he is also an emotionally stunted teenager with a tremendous about of power. But to have someone commit to the bit of genocide and whine like a child in that moment, was despicable because of how many lives he's ruined and taken. How many people loved and cared and were killed needlessly, innocent and guilty? There's still the matter of Marley and the world's hatred, and Eren still wanting to protect the island to the extreme. But even Eren had to know deep down that killing the outside world wasn't the solution, especially when there was still infighting in the Walls without the knowledge of humanity not being extinct.
Even so, I didn't want Mikasa to continue to hold onto Eren so fondly like in the manga and anime. She had to draw a line for herself, especially with what he's done. Obviously, it would still be hard for her to move on. She's loved Eren ever since he wrapped that scarf around her neck, so it's still going to take time for her to move on and heal, which is something I want to explore in the Future Anthology.
But, I'd recommend for you, since your knowledge of AOT is limited, to look at different AOT analysis videos and essays to help you get a better understanding of what was going on, and give you a better idea of what people liked and didn't like about AOT. You can type in "snk (chapter number ie: 139)" for example on tumblr and you will get results from people that liked the ending or disliked the ending.
I hope that answers everything. There's a lot to discuss regarding the SNK discourse, so if you do decide to look into that, I do advise you to be careful because...it can get nasty in there.
I know this is fiction, and I haven't posted my work yet, but I sincerely wish for everyone reading and craving love / thinking they don't deserve it / being ashamed of wanting it, to find it.
I hope it won't be terrifying, just surprisingly warm. Tears of comfort, really.
I think that beyond the 'ship' you root for, there's some kind of wish to be comforted or receive the things you read about? Emotional intimacy and compassion, above all. Before the soft touches and most fragile kisses you long for. I genuinely hope you people will find your person (romantically - or friends, found family, anything that will be good and a source of comfort to you).
And please, let compassion guide your heart, before anything else. Question things, what your heart wants, what you stand for. Question where your love (for someone or something) guides you. Feel for others, think about them. Consequences.
But yeah. I hope my stories will be of comfort to you.
