[ SECRET POST #2588 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2588 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 05 pages, 103 secrets from Secret Submission Post #370.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[applemagpie]

I also find the pairing a bit odd, but I think the prevalence of it has to do with the extreme popularity of Levi's character?

[ketita]

I personally think the mentoring possibilities are a large part of the attraction, but to each their own

[(Anonymous)]

The mentoring thing is not Eren x Levi exclusive though so I don't see why that would even be a selling point. Levi could be a mentor to any of the 104th kids even moreso than Eren because Eren's abilities are more titan based. That is Hanji's area of interest. Eren barely ever uses the swords or 3dgm, he's only killed 1 titan like that most of the time he has to shift into a titan anyways. What could Levi possibly teach him?

Eren is already obedient to higher powers and doesn't need to fight the same way the rest of his rest of his friends do.

[applemagpie]

I personally love the mentoring relationship that Annie had with Eren

[ketita]

This is just a weird claim. Levi interacts with Eren far more than any of the others, of course people would jump on that.
I have actually seen a very adorable fix of Levi comforting Connie, though, and I hope to see more in that vein.

Look, it's ok to not like a pairing. I have pairings I don't like too.

[(Anonymous)]

DA

I think it's mostly because Eren is the main character. I like Eren a lot, I just hate the way the ship is interpreted 90% of the time.

And it seems like shippers are incapable of writing anything other than schmoop for it, always discounting the skeevy stuff, and it's so frustrating. I'd like to see some serious fic for that ship to be honest.

[ketita]

//nod I get you, and tbh even though I like the pairing I don't enjoy most of the fic because I think they get the characterizations and issues wrong. There could be so much /more/ done with them, you know? In a way, I'm in love with the idea of the pairing, though I think that few fics manage to maximize the potential I feel that the pairing has.

(I actually write ereri myself, upon occasion, and I do actually avoid schmoop - though, I do disagree with a lot of what is considered skeevy by the detractors of the ship. I think that people sometimes work too hard to make it out to be nasty and abusive, and while there are many issues that would be kind of awful in our time, context and social context is important, imo. But that's just my 2c)

[(Anonymous)]

Late reply oops. Yeah it's disappointing because the pairing has lots of potential for both gen and kink, at this point I'm quite turned off by majority of the fanworks.

And even if something is out of character canon-wise, I'd read it if it was technically well-written and/or had depth. But it just isn't there mostly. I blame it on the relative youth of the fans.

(Haha I thought Playing Favourites was quite schmoopy :P

IMO, there are a few issues (mostly power difference) that I think could be addressed in a more mature way rather than OH-SO-ROMANTIC-YAOIZZ. Just acknowledgement would be cool. I'm not a huge fan of fluff for this fandom considering how grim the canon usually is.)

[ketita]

(Playing Favorites was basically my first fic in the fandom AND written for a kinkmeme! I've written 50k for the fandom since then T^T Besides, did you miss the part where Levi spent most of the fic assuming that Eren wanted to sleep with him for his protection? Though I guess I can't really judge my own fic XD I've just seen stuff that's like... teeth-rottingly schmoopy. I would also, for a serious moment, argue the difference between 'fluff' and 'schmoop' But argh, nevermind >_<)

Oh, I agree that power difference should be addressed /more/, that's for sure, but I personally am willing to accept a bit of balancing out in that while Levi has authority, Eren can turn into a titan. My biggest gripe is more that nobody writes plot anymore. You have entire fics where very little happens, and if there's a ship, so sexiness is usually a shortcut to overcome any potential issues or complications in the relationship.

I get that people want fluff as a counter to the grimness of fandom, but I guess the real lack is just nuance. Things are either ANGST EVERYBODY DIES or fluff forever (and in both versions, little plot...)

[(Anonymous)]

(haha, no worries XD I have your Levi Judaism fill bookmarked for when I'm feeling like reading SnK again!)

I like plot (ahaha in my main fandom I'm always griping about the lack of focus on canon and plot), but I also like fics where relationship dynamics can be conveyed through dialogue and/or even sex.

Like you say, the real lack is nuance. :(( I've always kind of wondered if I could drag a few writers from the slashfic side of fandom I'm in... but anime is not very accessible to people who don't already like it, I guess.

And I think it's a thing in any kind of fandom that fluff is unequivocally the most popular. It's weird. I guess it appeals to people's id?

(Thanks for letting me rant to you!)

[ketita]

(tbh, I do actually try to write stuff that has actual plot going on, and I mostly write within canonverse. Whether or not I succeed is up to the readers to judge...)

It's funny you say that, because until now in all my fandoms the big focus was on angst, not fluff... this is my first time that I'm in a fandom that's so unrelentingly fluffy. Though, I have also noticed that as time goes by I get more demanding about plots in fics I read. I've seen 50k epics (not in this fandom, specifically) that are hailed as masterpieces and they actually have no plot at all. There is no tension. I don't get it.
So I'm not sure that slashfic writers necessarily do it better - I read fic for Merlin and Supernatural too.

Haha, ranting right back at you! I'm just happy you're actually checking the thread to see my replies XD

For me, when I judge plot/characterization, what I ask myself is, if you remove the romance, what is actually happening? Like, if you take out all the sections that deal with being emotional inside the characters' heads about the relationship, what are they doing? What are their life goals and desires and how is the romance interacting with them?
In many fics, if you remove that, what's left is basically nothing. Love or sex is often the sole motivator, the sole conflict, and that's why fics always end when the characters get together. Because there's nothing to say past that moment.

And a last defense of Playing Favorites: it could have actually worked without the romance. I very nearly didn't go the romance route, actually. It could have had Eren realize that he wasn't actually after sex, he just wanted somebody to not be afraid of him, and then have a happy mentor-type relationship with Levi.

[(Anonymous)]

Hmm, wow that's strange and funny! I've been in fandom for longish and fluff always tends to trend.

It could be that you're more of a gen reader? :) (just assuming here) I like gen sometimes too, but I think I'm looking for human connections. Not necessarily romance sort of stuff but human relations. The way we interact with each other, emote, etc. I love dialogue that sounds natural. I occasionally like atmospheric pieces where nothing re:plot happens but the writing is powerful, subtle.

I didn't feel this way donkey years ago in anime fandom so my tastes have definitely changed.

And that's what I discovered that slashfic has more in abundance (the nuance and characterizations) because the writers tend to be older. (Because TV tends to be more accessible so easier to get more fans?) I mean, slashfic has its share of shit too (FFN is really bad for slashfic, and AO3... sigh these days also terrible) but I've been pretty amazed by the quality. I know I shouldn't compare, but sometimes it's frustrating! haha)

(And I'm also ridiculously excited you read fic for Merlin and SPN, oops. And yeah I'm not usually into the so-called fandom classics much.)

And yeah, I don't really like superficial romance much. There has to be more than that. Life goals, personality. I like when they won't fucking wilt just because they long for someone lol. And that's why I like established relaionship fic too, dealing with what comes after. But I know many people who don't read fic for that.

RAHH RAHH MORE RANTING hahahaa. It's nice to talk to you! (I should get back to work, uh... but I'll reply if you do)

[applemagpie]

I can certainly see how there are dynamics in the pairing that make people like it, but I do feel the overwhelming prevalence of it in fandom is tied to Levi's popularity. (And maybe why the pairing is a bit lost on me, because while I do like Levi, he's not one of my favourite characters.)

[(Anonymous)]

Yep, you would be right. Pretty much all the popular pairings are Levi pairings. Everyone who gets shipped with Levi and it's that characters most popular ship.

Which sucks if you don't care much for Levi. I was pretty ambivalent towards him, but he seems to find is way into every corner of fandom. Sucks that Armin gets shafted as a main character and replaced with Levi on most merchandising things.

[applemagpie]

Yeah, I like Levi, but fandom has made me a bit burnt out of him. There are interesting relationships between the characters that don't have Levi in them too