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[etoileholland]

so far the poll results are looking like the weekend is the best time to post, huh

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Please reblog so I can get a good sample size.

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Where Will All The Martyrs Go [Chapter 12: Please Call Me Only If You Are Coming Home]

A/N: Only 1 chapter left!!! 🥳 Be sure to vote in our final poll, which will be pinned at the top of my blog per usual 🥰

Series summary: In the midst of the zombie apocalypse, both you and Aemond (and your respective travel companions) find yourselves headed for the West Coast. It’s the 2024 version of the Oregon Trail, but with less dysentery and more undead antagonists. Watch out for snakes! 😉🐍

Series warnings: Language, sexual content (18+ readers only), violence, bodily injury, med school Aemond, character deaths, nature, drinking, smoking, drugs, Adventures With Aegon™️, pregnancy and childbirth, the U.S. Navy, road trip vibes.

Series title is a lyric from: “Letterbomb” by Green Day.

Chapter title is a lyric from: “Homecoming” by Green Day.

Word count: 5.8k

💜 All my writing can be found HERE! 💜

Let me know if you’d like to be added to the taglist 🥰

“What the hell do you need that for?” Cregan says to Helaena in the next aisle over, sounding alarmed. You are raiding a Kwik Stop just outside Colusa, California, following Route 20 west towards the Pacific Ocean. But when Helaena replies, her voice is perfectly soothing, lyrical, too serene for the way the world is now.

“It’s not for me. It’s just in case anyone ever finds themselves in need of one.” And this makes sense, even though you can’t see what it is she’s taken off the disorderly, ransacked shelves; Helaena is always picking up trinkets to keep stowed away in her burlap messenger bag until their utility becomes essential.

Cregan is relieved. “Oh, okay, gotcha. Whew, you almost gave me a heart attack there, Miss LaeLae…”

Ice is stretched out and dozing on the cool tile floor. Luke and Rhaena are keeping watch by the front of the store. Aegon is standing by the decommissioned Icee machine and showing Daeron which route he’s marked on his map and why.

“Why do I need to know this?” Daeron is asking.

Aegon snorts. “In case I get killed, dumbass…”

Fluttering pieces of paper hang taped to the glass doors of the empty refrigerators: Don’t go towards Sacramento; People in Santa Rosa killed my brother for his car; Andrew Lounsbury, if you see this we are headed to Aunt Sarah’s house, meet us there! Meanwhile, in your own aisle, Aemond is watching you as your fingers flit through packages of Starbursts and Jolly Ranchers and Life Savers Gummies, separating the trash from the ones that haven’t been opened yet. His expression is wary, uncertain. “What?” you ask him.

“Are you…okay?” Aemond says, low enough that no one else will hear.

Of course you aren’t; you keep walking into rooms and looking for Rio, and he’s not there. But you know what Aemond means. “Yeah. I’m okay.”

“Did I hurt you? Are you…” He steps closer, the blue of his eye gleaming with attentive, penitent concern, sins he is certain he must have committed. “Are you sore, are you bleeding at all?”

You smile, just the ghost of a curve at the edge of your lips. “No, really, I feel fine.” And in your body, this is true. There is a tension that has vanished from your muscles, a softness in your bones, not shards of glass shifting beneath skin but living things like the branches of trees, flexible, green, damp life awash within.

“I was trying to…you know…take it slow and be super gentle, but then…by the end…”

“Aemond, you did everything right.”

And he exhales all the iron-heavy dread he’s been carrying around since he woke up this morning to find you already gone—showing Aegon how to flip Bisquick pancakes as Cregan browned them in a skillet in the woodstove downstairs—and you realize how much you’ve scared him. “I’m really sorry about…” He touches his chin restlessly. “I should have asked you if you wanted me to pull out, I just got, uh…kind of…distracted.”

Your smile grows; now you can feel it in your eyes, warm and luminous. “It’s alright. I did too.”

He is hopeful. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I wouldn’t have told you to stop. And anyway, I think we’re safe.” But of course you’ve lost track of the days, and in your dark trance of grief and Tramadol you were entirely unaware of the rhythms of your body, pangs of desire or clear ample wetness, biological cues, primal timekeeping.

“Cool,” Aemond says, now trying to sound casual. “And next time…are you thinking that I should try to…maybe…just to be sure…?”

You shrug, then tell him the first thing that comes into your mind, that flashes in your skull like lightning bugs at dusk. “I’m thinking that life is too short and too rare to put effort into preventing it.”

Aemond’s eyebrows go up, but he doesn’t seem disappointed. “So we’ll see what happens.”

“If you’re onboard.”

“I’m totally onboard. I just want to take care of you. I…” He glances down at his palms—open, clean—and then looks back up at you. “I’ve never had anything that felt right before. Not my family, not myself, nothing. But this feels right. And it’s where I want to be forever.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” And this is what everyone thought: Jace, Baela, Rio. But you make the oath anyway, a hollow promise that echoes like a windchime.

“Me either,” Aemond vows.

You turn to leave the aisle and your backpack hits the shelf, knocking something off the top and onto the tile floor, where it lands with a thump. You gasp, and people come running; but it’s only a box of Honey Buns that was stashed somewhere too high for you to see. “It’s nothing,” you assure them. “We’re all okay, no need to get excited.”

“Death by Little Debbie,” Aegon says, chuckling nervously, his heart still racing.

You pick up the box and think of Rio with abrupt, violent clarity: he’s playing with French-speaking kids on the beach outside Djibouti City, he’s drinking cans of Guinness with you under a full moon on Diego Garcia, he’s reaching out from the pier to pet finless porpoises in Chinhae, he’s bleeding to death on a floor in Winnemucca, Nevada. Your vision is blurring with tears; your throat is knotted and scalding.

“I want him back,” Aegon says softly.

“I know. I do too.” You open the box of Honey Buns and pass one to Aegon first, then distribute the rest. There are only six total. Helaena tries to give hers to Cregan, but he rips it in half so they can share; Aemond insists you take the last one. You eat it wordlessly, sugar melting into your bloodstream.

“I think I saw a minivan down the side street,” Luke says as he chews his Honey Bun, waving his binoculars with his free hand. “It’s probably out of gas like all the others, but…”

“We’ll check it out,” Aemond replies, and everyone follows him as he departs from the Kwik Stop.

It’s a green Kia Carnival with a zombie trapped inside: once a young man in a Nirvana t-shirt, now a ghoul that paws at the glass with its oozing hands and licks the windows, long animal drags of a decomposing tongue. But the fuel cap is still closed, and while the van is turned off you can see the keys dangling from the ignition.

“Think there’s any gas left in the tank?” Daeron says brightly. The Targaryen beach house, following the indirect route you must take to avoid the cities, is about 250 miles from where you are now in Colusa. That’s two weeks on foot, or as few as five hours by car.

Rhaena goes for the driver’s side door. “Let’s find out.” She yanks on the handle to discover it’s locked. Cregan uses his axe to shatter the window, and the zombie tumbles gracelessly out onto the pavement, rancid skin and necrotic muscle ripping from its bones. As it crawls towards the siren call of fresh meat, Ice barks viciously and Cregan swings his axe. The blade slices easily through the monster’s skull, and its flailing, murderous limbs go still.

Rhaena reaches through the broken window to unlock the doors, climbs into the driver’s seat, and turns the key in the ignition. There is a blessed sound: the thunder of a living engine. “Half a tank!” Rhaena cheers.

Aegon gags as he opens the passenger’s side door. “Oh, it reeks so bad…”

“We’ll roll down all the windows,” Aemond says curtly.

“There are organs on the floor! What the fuck is that, a liver?!”

Aemond gives it a cursory glance. “Looks like a spleen.”

“I don’t want to sit near a spleen! I don’t even know what a spleen does!”

“Then throw it outside somewhere!” Aemond snaps. “You’re thirty years old, you can’t clean a minivan?!”

Aegon grumbles as he uses sheets of Burger King coupons from the glovebox to toss zombie guts into the grass. Aemond wipes down the hard surfaces with antiseptic. Luke keeps watch and Daeron shoots down several zombies as they lurch out of nearby houses and towards the Kia Carnival. You ask Helaena for the box of 9mm bullets in her messenger bag and she gives it to you. You load your Beretta M9, stow the remaining bullets in your backpack, and take aim at the approaching zombies to make sure you still know how to get into the rhythm, that you can still be a killer when the circumstances require it. You are out of practice, but you’re beginning to feel more like yourself again. Aemond brought you back. They all did.

When the minivan is as clean as possible, everyone hurries inside and Rhaena drives west on Route 20 under the afternoon sun. At the intersection with Route 53, Aegon directs Rhaena to follow it south around Clear Lake, then to take Route 29 west through rolling hills that were once filled with vineyards, wineries, music, weddings, horse farms. Now the land is hushed, and wild, and dotted with silhouettes that sway drunkenly and swipe at vultures when they try to gobble tattered strips of putrid flesh that unravel from bones like the bandages of a mummy.

The Kia Carnival rides Route 175 west and then Route 101 south, where the earth turns dry and rocky and barren, reminding you of northern Nevada and piling stones of heartache in your belly. In a place called Pieta—an old 1800s railroad depot, according to a plaque mounted just off the road—Rhaena slows down to get a better look at something that doesn’t make any sense. There is a souvenir shop of rocks and gems, now long out of business, and in a shed beside the main building hangs a gruesome specimen that you can see through the open doors. It has two arms and two legs, but it’s not a zombie. Its flayed flesh is a vibrant, healthy red; parts of the thighs and chest have been carefully carved away like cuts of meat are sliced from beef cattle. It is suspended on meat hooks. It is being butchered.

Cregan notes uneasily: “That ain’t an opossum or a bison.”

“I think it’s human,” Aemond says, horrified.

“Guess we’re not stopping for the night anytime soon,” Rhaena quips, then floors the gas pedal.

One of Aegon’s mixtapes spins in the CD player. From the speakers flows Somebody To You by The Vamps.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Do you see anyone now?” Aemond asks.

Luke speaks without looking away from his binoculars. “And for the fourth time, my answer remains no.”

After a night’s rest in a cabin at Camp Liahona Redwoods in Sonoma County, you followed California State Route 1 down the coast of the Pacific Ocean until the Kia Carnival finally ran out of gas just south of Olema, a small town founded in the 1850s. A ten-mile hike has brought you to the cliff where the fabled Targaryen beach house is perched with a few hours left before sunset. The ailing daylight is golden, the wave crests glittering, gulls cawing as they swoop through the salt-lashed air. From the road that twists like a snake through the slopes of Bolinas—thick with redwoods, Douglas firs, oaks, cypresses, tall grass that whips in the wind and tufts of eucalyptus—Luke is searching the property. It is less a house than a mansion, a museum, a monument, a work of art: sharp rectangular lines and glass walls, balconies, fountains, a pool, a garden.

Cregan whistles. “A place like that has to cost a million dollars.”

“Try fifteen million,” Aemond says distractedly, and Cregan gawks at him.

“Well, from what I can see it looks safe,” Luke declares, lowering his binoculars. “No zombies.”

“You really think they’re in there?” Daeron asks eagerly. “Mom and Criston?”

“Yeah, kid,” Aegon says, squeezing Daeron’s shoulder; but his voice is morose, like he knows he has surrendered to something, a path of least resistance, a hostile planet’s gravity. “Of course they are. Let’s go say hi.”

At the end of the driveway, the five-car garage is open. There is an Alfa Romeo, a Porsche, a Ferrari, a Ducati motorcycle, and a white Chevy Tahoe, which Aemond says belongs to Criston. And there are other items of interest mounted on the walls.

“Yes!” Daeron says as he runs to a quiver full of arrows for his compound bow. Aegon lifts a golf club out of its bag and makes an imaginary putt, getting reacquainted with the feeling of his hands on the grip.

“This is an iron,” Aegon says when he catches you watching him. In the shade of the garage, he pushes his neon green plastic sunglasses up into his windswept hair. “It’s metal all the way through and gives you good control over the shot. Drivers are for long-distance, and wedges and putters don’t have enough power. But an iron is just right.”

“Are you going to teach me how to golf?”

Aegon grins, his first real smile all day. “You think you can handle it, SunChips?”

“I don’t,” you answer honestly, and he laughs.

“If you teach me how to shoot, I’ll teach you how to golf.”

“An unfair trade! My skill is useful.”

Aemond knocks on the door that connects the garage to the main house. “Mom? Criston?” There is no response; all of you wait for one, listening intently through the crashes of waves and reverberating gull shrieks. Ice begins to pace agitatedly and nudges Cregan’s hands. He looks at Aemond, half-fear and half-sympathy.

“No,” Aemond says. “No, she’s wrong.”

“She might be,” Cregan replies, steady and ever-agreeable. Helaena is wringing her small, gentle hands. Everyone is watching Aemond to see what they should do next.

He pounds on the door again, this time with a closed fist. “Mom, we’re home! Mom? Criston? It’s me! It’s Aemond!”

Still, there is no answer. Aemond tries the doorknob, and it turns unimpeded. It is unlocked. He opens the door, peeks inside, and then crosses through the threshold. The rest of you trail him like he has eight shadows, the last in the shape of a wolf.

You step into the living room: wide open windows, the ocean breeze breathing through the house. The air tastes like sand and saltwater, sun and blue skies. There are three-story glass walls that overlook the water, a staircase leading up to the next floor, pristine white couches, black end tables topped with vases full of dead flowers, grey marble floors, bejeweled golden crosses that glint cruelly in the bloody late-afternoon light, family photographs on the mantle of the fireplace. There are many pictures of Aemond, and some of Helaena and Daeron as well. You don’t see a single photo of Aegon. He notices you scanning the snapshots in the frames and looks away, ashamed.

“Mom?” Aemond calls, his voice ricocheting through the vast, open space, clinical like a hospital or a morgue. “Criston?”

“Grandpa?” Helaena says meekly. Cregan is clutching his axe and peering around vigilantly. Ice whines and paces, her strange yellow eyes glowing like flecks of gold in a stream. Rhaena tries to soothe her with ear scratches; Ice begins to howl, low long mournful sounds.

You catch Aegon’s attention when he glances at you again. “This isn’t right,” you whisper. “If they were here, they would have heard us by now.”

Aegon turns to his brother. “Hey, Aemond…”

And then there are footsteps from upstairs, slow and shambling. Everyone looks, and it appears at the top of the steps like a mirage or a night terror, like a wrathful god glaring down from Mount Olympus. Long, filthy strands of white hair hang from what is left of its scalp. Its gore-stained teeth are bared. Its eyes are cloudy like the poisoned atmosphere of another planet, one gasp enough to singe your lungs and infect your bloodstream. The snarls pour out ragged and rasping from its disintegrating vocal chords. The man was wearing a suit when he died, and the pale blue shirt is now splattered with crimson and bits of rotting flesh. The black leather shoes on its feet clop as the zombie descends the staircase with staggering, unnatural steps, its decaying arms grasping for the mortals who wait below.

Daeron says numbly: “Dad?”

Aemond’s eye is wide and dazed. Ice is growling. Helaena is screaming and fleeing towards the wall; Cregan embraces her and she clings to him. “Aemond? Buddy?” Cregan shouts. “How do you want to handle this?” And what he means is: Do you want to kill it, or should someone else? Do you need time to process what’s happened? How can we help you?

“Aemond?” you say. You touch his arm; he doesn’t react. Rhaena draws her Ruger but doesn’t shoot yet. She is looking to Aemond for permission. Luke is standing in front of Rhaena and forcing her backwards as the zombie nears the bottom of the staircase. Now you can smell it: dark wet rot, spoiled meat, blood and oily fat and organs putrefying in a threadbare patchwork of flesh.

“Dad!” Daeron wails, and he’s covering his face with his hands because he knows what this must mean for the rest of his family too.

“Aemond?!” Rhaena yells. “Aemond, what do you want us to do?!”

You reach for your M9 as the zombie’s leather shoes settle on the marble floor. This seems to shake Aemond from his paralysis.

“No,” he says. “I’ll do it.” He grabs his Glock and aims, but his finger hesitates on the trigger. And you can see the ghosts of the people who have died by his hands lurking in the crystalline blue of his remaining eye: Alys, Jace, Baela and her baby…and now Viserys Targaryen too.

In the lull, in the indecision, Aegon roars and swings his golf club. The metal head collides with the zombie’s skull. Weak corroded bone collapses; blood and brains the color of black mold leak out onto the polished marble.

“It wasn’t enough, huh?!” Aegon screams, then hits the zombie again. The corpse crumples to the floor, but Aegon isn’t done yet. “You couldn’t just fuck everything up when you were alive, you had to keep torturing us from beyond the grave, you sick bastard, you selfish prick, what is wrong with you?!” He whacks the carcass with his golf club again and again. “I hate you! I hate you! You deserved so much worse than this! We crossed an entire goddamn country, and Jace died, and Baela died, and Rio died, all so we could get back here, and now it’s all for nothing because you’ve destroyed everyone you’ve ever touched! I fucking hate you!”

Aegon strikes the zombie one last time—the skull is a pulverized soup of gore and bone fragments—and before anyone can reach for him, he has bolted up the steps to search the rest of the house. You find them in their final resting places: bones in the hallway interspersed with gold rings and a medallion of Saint Irene of Thessaloniki, bones in the shower pierced with stainless steel surgical screws from hip and knee replacements, bones in the master bedroom entangled with shreds of a bloodstained silk nightgown and long locks of auburn hair. Daeron is sobbing, and Cregan takes Helaena outside to the garden to calm down, and Aemond wanders through the rooms in shock. You don’t know what to say to him; you remember how nothing anyone said made a difference when Rio died. But Aegon is furious. He tears away from everyone and goes to his bedroom: racks full of CDs, neon green blankets, an acoustic guitar propped in one corner. Then he ravages his hiding places—inside drawers, under his mattress, on tiny shelves he carved into the walls behind golf and Green Day posters—and collects mint tins. Then he pours out the white powder inside onto his desk and arranges it into lines like contrails behind airplanes, like wagon trails across the earth.

You try to stop him. “Aegon, wait, please don’t—”

“Get the fuck out,” he hisses, and for the first time you see the cold reptilian sheen of something like hate in his eyes. “You don’t have to pretend to love me. I can be alone. I’m used to it.”

“Aegon, I’m not—”

“They’re gone. You can leave too.” Then he slams the door and locks it.

~~~~~~~~~~

While Aegon is upstairs getting high and Helaena is downstairs inventorying supplies in the massive walk-in pantry, the rest of you use shovels from the garage to bury what is left of the bodies in the backyard, unceremonious shallow graves, the soil too rocky for anything more elaborate. Rhaena uses her jagged sliver of slate to mark stones with their names and a few kind words about each of them; but Viserys’ stone is left blank. Then Rhaena returns inside to help Helaena prepare for dinner, while Daeron inspects the perimeter of the house with Cregan and Ice. Luke uses a telescope near the pool not to gaze up at the rising stars but to study the neighboring properties.

Aemond murmurs as he stands in front of the four graves: “I should have gotten here sooner. Maybe I could have saved them.”

“You still have a family,” you say, begging him to believe that there are things worth living for. “You have Aegon and Daeron and Helaena, Rhaena, Luke, Cregan. And you have me.”

Aemond stares out over the Pacific Ocean. The sky above is red and lavender, fire and dreams. “How do we get to Diego Garcia?” He is only half-joking.

“Well you just find a boat and row about 10,000 miles that way.”

He sighs and drags his trembling fingers through his hair. It has always been his job to know what happens next, and now he doesn’t. Gulls squawk and wheel in the air. His right cheek glistens with tears.

“I never saw the ocean until I joined the Navy,” you say, and Aemond looks over at you, curious but not wanting to react in the wrong way and scare you into going quiet again. He’s always mining for details of your past, and you’re endlessly evading him. But perhaps you have been too secretive. He wants to know these things because he wants to know you, and you have no idea how long you’ll be here to shed your mysteries. If a story dies with you, it dies forever.

“Really?”

“Yeah. My mother…Mama, I always called her Mama…she went to Virginia Beach a few times while I was growing up, and that was her favorite place in the world. But she never took me with her. She’d go with my aunt or my oldest brothers. So when I got to basic training on the shore of Lake Michigan, that was the closest thing to an ocean I’d ever seen, and it absolutely amazed me.”

“Lake Michigan,” Aemond repeats, trying not to sound like he’s mocking you.

You smile. “And then of course I ended up in some more impressive places. But compared to Soft Shell, Lake Michigan was a whole different planet.”

“Soft Shell?”

“Like softshell turtles. They’re one of those animals that are so ugly they’re almost cute. We have a lot of them in Kentucky. Well, we used to. Maybe people ate them all when the food ran out.”

“Soft Shell, Kentucky,” Aemond says. “What was it like? I mean…I know you left, and I know you had good reasons…but I’ve never been to Kentucky. I’ve never really been to Appalachia period.”

“It’s beautiful. You get all four seasons, and you’re out in nature all the time, and it feels old, like hardly anything has changed there in thousands of years. You feel connected to the earth. I loved the forests and the mountains. I don’t think I realized how much I loved certain things about where I’m from until I’d been gone for years. I didn’t leave because I had to get away from Kentucky. I left because I had to get away from who I was when I was there, you know? Someone lonely and helpless. But how my family was isn’t Kentucky’s fault.”

“No,” Aemond muses. “I suppose not.” You begin walking together back towards the house.

“Ready for more bad news?” Luke asks, and gestures for you and Aemond to peer through the telescope. Aemond lets you go first, and immediately you see what Luke means. There are zombies in the surrounding hills, and not just a few. There are hundreds, stumbling around aimlessly and posing no current threat; but you are not safe here.

“We don’t have enough people to defend ourselves,” Aemond says once he’s taken a look, tapping his chin in that way that he does when he’s fearful but trying to hide it.

“No, we don’t,” Luke agrees.

“And there aren’t many natural resources here to subsist on. Even the fishing prospects aren’t great without a boat or a pier.”

“Right,” Luke says.

You wonder if Aemond is thinking the same thing you are. He might not know what has to happen next, but you do.

~~~~~~~~~~

The dining room table—large enough to seat twenty—is illuminated with candles, meticulously arranged with china and silverware, and cluttered with canned soups from brands you’ve never seen before: Amy’s, Pacific Foods, Health Valley. There are cases of Perrier and San Pellegrino to drink, and bottles of Chateau Lafite Rothschild red wine. Everyone else is here except Aegon. You are just about to go find him when he comes rushing down the staircase and into the dining room. He is wearing clothes from his closet here: a salmon pink polo that emphasizes his sunburn, khaki shorts, a white puka shell necklace, Sperry Bahama sneakers. The left shoe just barely fits over the bandages still protecting his healing left leg. There are fingerprints of white powder on the front of his shirt.

“Oh, look!” he announces. “Isn’t this precious? A family dinner?”

“Aegon, please sit down,” Aemond says briskly.

“Come on, it’ll be just like old times. We have all four of us kids, and then…Rhaena, you can be my dear departed Grandpa Otto, you just have to scowl at everyone…and Luke can be Criston.”

Luke is confused. “What—?”

“No no no! Don’t worry. It’s a very easy part. All you have to do is gaze worshipfully at Aemond and talk about how brilliant he is. There’s really not much to it, and honestly you do a lot of that already. And then…” Aegon floats by you, skimming his palm down the length of your hair. Something about the weight of his hand gives you goosebumps: careless, careful, fleeting, intimate. He sighs: “My beautiful, tortured mother.”

“Aegon, sit down,” Aemond orders.

“Father!” Aegon cries out suddenly, spotting Cregan at the head of the table. Cregan looks around the dining room, baffled. “You’ve joined us! How unusual! Did your Titanic replicas spontaneously combust? Did the world end? Well, actually, it sort of did…”

“Buddy, I have no earthly clue what you’re trying to—”

“Now this is a tough part,” Aegon says forcefully. “Patriarch of the Targaryen dynasty, big shoes to fill! But don’t worry, I’m here to help. I’ll give you your lines. All you have to do is repeat after me, okay?”

Cregan studies him and does not assent.

Aegon slams both palms down onto the table. “You’re so fucking stupid, Aegon. You’re a humiliation, Aegon. Why can’t you be smart like Aemond, or sweet like Helaena, or obedient like Daeron? Why did my firstborn child turn out to be such a fucking waste?”

“I’m not going to say that,” Cregan replies quietly.

“Say it,” Aegon seethes.

Now Daeron is weeping between spoonfuls of Amy’s tortilla soup straight from the can. “I want to go home.”

“We are home,” Aemond says.

“This isn’t home anymore, Aemond,” Daeron sniffles.

Aegon is still trying to feed Cregan lines. “Have you found a wife yet, Aegon? No, of course you haven’t. You’ve got hands like a rat and a disposition to match. You’re an overgrown vermin, you’re a plague to every house you enter. Who would fuck you out of anything but greed or pity?”

“Aegon, please stop,” Aemond pleads, wincing and rubbing his forehead.

Helaena folds her arms atop the table and rests her head on them, hiding her face. Luke and Rhaena keep their eyes downcast. Daeron reaches for a bottle of red wine, but Aegon swats his hand away.

“Nope. Illegal. You’re not 21.”

“Aegon, seriously, I’m so over that joke—”

“Shut up. You can’t even get a tattoo without parental consent.”

“Our parents are dead!” Daeron shouts. “They died terrible deaths and they’re never coming back and you’re making everything worse!”

“Then get rid of me! Put me out on the street and I won’t be anyone’s problem anymore! I’ll get murdered or eaten and it’ll be the best thing that ever happened to you!”

Helaena breaks down sobbing, and before Aegon can register what’s happening Cregan scoops him up off the floor and throws him over one broad shoulder. Then Cregan lugs him upstairs as Aegon struggles and yowls and punches at Cregan’s back, all in vain. You can hear a lot of commotion and then finally Cregan reappears, sweat beading on his brow but otherwise composed.

“I tied him to his bedframe with an extension cord,” Cregan says. “I don’t think he’ll be making any more trouble this evening.”

“Thank you,” Aemond replies, defeated.

“If he’s going to be up there all night, he’ll need water and food,” you say. “And enough blankets to make sure he’s warm.” It gets chilly when the sun goes down here, as low as the 50s. You grab two bottles of Perrier off the table and stand to bring them upstairs to Aegon, but Cregan gently takes them out of your hands.

“I’ll make sure he’s well supplied, Miss Chips,” Cregan insists, and you are convinced he thinks he’s doing you a favor. He doesn’t want Aegon to have the opportunity to upset anybody further. And yet a part of you is undeniably disappointed.

Aegon has been gone for ten minutes, and you miss him already.

~~~~~~~~~~

In Aemond’s childhood bedroom, a huge, impersonal, spartan space, the very few pieces of furniture all in the same color scheme of white and navy blue, you cannot say anything to bring his family back to life, or his friends, or the possibilities of what his life might have been before the dead began to walk. But you remember what he did for you when Rio died and you were sinking in dark, numb despair, and so you take Aemond’s hands and place them on your body—skimming under your t-shirt, circling around your waist—offering yourself like a sacrifice that you both desperately need, like a shot of antivenom that will only buy you hours. He draws you into his lap, and beneath your palms and your lips and your thighs, you can feel him coming back to you, filling up with light like a horizon at dawn.

“I’m still here,” you whisper as he throws you down onto the bed, eases himself into you, carries you away like a ship coasting out into open water. I don’t ever want to be anywhere but here.

Aemond holds you after, ensnared in sweat-damp sheets and entwined fingers, and he confesses: “I knew it was possible that they might not still be alive. Logically, I knew that. But it was like I never allowed myself to feel it. And now it’s…it’s…it’s all at once and it’s too much. I can’t fathom that I’ll never see them again. But I don’t even have time to mourn. I need to figure out where we’re going next.”

“Aemond?”

His lips to your forehead, his voice a drowsy murmur: “Hm?”

“I have to tell Rio’s family what happened to him.”

He pulls back to look at you. “You want to go to Oregon?”

“What if Odessa really is safe?”

At first he is bewildered; then he begins to consider it. “Criston’s Tahoe is in the garage. If we siphon the gas left in all the vehicles, we might have enough to get us halfway there.”

“That’s a lot better than none of the way there.”

“We’ll all have to vote on it. The trip will be dangerous.”

“Everything is now.”

“Almost everything,” he teases, his hand sliding down between your legs, taking you far away again.

~~~~~~~~~~

In the morning, you find Aegon at the cliffside smoking one of his Marlboro Golds, slow meditative drags, eyes bloodshot with lack of sleep. That’s alright. He can nap in the Tahoe. Rhaena won’t need his directions for a while; you’ll stay northbound on Route 1 for 200 miles before cutting inland as you near the Oregon border.

You sit down on the sandy, shrub-strewn ground beside Aegon and wait for him to speak. It takes a while, but you don’t mind. You’ve always had patience; you’ve always been a better listener than someone who fills silences.

At last Aegon says: “I don’t want to be like this anymore.”

“Then stop.”

He smirks bitterly, glaring out into the sunrise, orange light like fire on his sunburned face. “You make reinvention sound so easy.”

“It’s not easy. But it is simple. You decide to get out, and then you do it. You don’t let anything convince you to give up or change course. The only way out is through.”

“I have a proposition.”

“I’m still not interested in fake dating you.”

He cackles. “No, it’s something else.”

“Okay. Let’s hear it.”

Now Aegon is serious. “I don’t ever want to split up again. Not in a year, not in ten years, not in twenty. Never.”

You smile as you watch the reflection of the dawn in his eyes, murky faraway blue like oceans all across the globe. “I didn’t know you thought so highly of commitment.”

“I want to take care of you until you die. I want you to take care of me until I die. And that’s as far as commitment goes with me.”

“Deal.” You offer Aegon your hand.

He shakes it. “Deal.”

Two hours later, Criston Cole’s white Chevy Tahoe is loaded high with supplies—including several of Aegon’s golf clubs and his acoustic guitar—and heading north on Route 1, a Fall Out Boy song from one of Aegon’s mixtapes blaring through the speakers:

“When Rome’s in ruins

We are the lions, free of the Colosseums

In poison places, we are antivenom

We’re the beginning of the end…”

You rest your head on Aemond’s shoulder and wait for the sapphire-and-gold Bay Area to become the misty, primordial emerald green of the Pacific Northwest.

[onepiece-polls]

hi, i love your blog! i was thinking about a poll idea pertaining to the one piece live action that might be fun for you to do! it would be a fancast where people submit and vote on actors they think should play characters that haven’t appeared in the show yet (i.e., bartolomeo, doflamingo, hancock, etc…).

Okay, so this ask has been sitting in my askbox for a while (thanks for sending it!) So it would keep reminding me of it while I thought about the best way to do this. I'm not sure if this really works well in a classic tournament way though, but maybe in a way like you can submit them and we'll vote 'yay' or 'nay' (or 'maybe'?).

Unless a character gets submissions for different actors, then I could pit them against each other. We shall see!

Submit your opla fan-cast now!

Must be for canon manga One Piece characters that have not made an appearance in the first season yet. (cover stories are canon too)

Characters who are theorized to have been seen (like Crocodile), but not confirmed, count as 'not appeared' too.

Smoker counts too, as I couldn't find a name for his actor yet and we haven't seen his face (if he has been cast and the actor is known, please let me know. For now it could be anyone).

Submissions HAVE TO include a (link to a) picture of the actor in question, as I don't know many actors and don't want to use a wrong picture.

'Actor' doesn't have to have acting jobs on their name already, but you must be convinced they are able to act out the character convincingly, so acting jobs help.

Actors must be speaking English well enough for the job (accents are fine, they don't have to be native speakers).

Every submission will get in, so no need to submit the same twice. But please, keep it to serious submissions only. If I think something is a joke submission, I'll keep the right to not make a poll about it.

If you seriously consider trying out for a certain role, you may submit yourself, given that you are comfortable with your name and picture being on this blog. (but don't cry if people vote against you)

Please keep the submissions and propaganda free of manga-only spoilers!

I'll keep submissions open at least until the Shipping War is over, maybe longer, depending on how many submissions I get.

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

one frequently asked (by me) question and one comment

I’ve gotten a large number of series submissions over the last while, so I want to emphasize that when you submit a series, you are indicating to me that you want me to queue each book in the series individually. I do not poll series as a whole.

when submitting a series, please ensure that this is actually what you want me to do. if you just want to use the poll to gauge whether or not people are aware of the series in general, usually the first book in the series is an adequate proxy — you’ll get progressively diminishing returns for later books.

I’d also like to emphasize that these polls are not a value judgment about any of these books (though it may sometimes feel that way for books we love).

firstly, if there’s one thing that running this blog has made clear to me, it’s that everyone (myself included) believes on some level that their taste in fantasy is universal and everyone (myself included) is wrong. a NO result isn’t a rejection of the book — especially for books published by small presses or for non-bestsellers, or for older books that haven’t been reprinted in the last few years, the book may simply not have crossed people’s radar.

similarly, the results tell us nothing about whether people enjoyed the book — a book could get a majority YES result while only actually being enjoyed by 20% of its readers, and a book with a majority NO result could be beloved by everyone who read it. everyone I’ve given Laurie J. Marks’s Fire Logic to has loved it (except my father, not a habitual fantasy reader), even when they have extremely divergent taste in fantasy, but I would be shocked if it got more than 10% YES when the poll for it comes around.

finally, I’ve gotten a bunch of messages to the effect of “this blog has gotten me to add a bunch of books to my to-read list!” — for many people, a NO vote is really a “not yet”. I’ve had to vote NO on a number of polls for things that I intend to read in the near future but haven’t yet gotten around to.

anyway, I’m glad people are enjoying the blog so far! I mainly made it to give myself a reason to make some new book spreadsheets, so thank you all for providing me with more useful and interesting data. :-)

[haveyouseenthishorrormovie]

Have You Seen this Horror Movie - Poll Blog

Welcome!

This is a blog where we collect data about how many people have seen different horror movies with hourly or bi-hourly polls.

Feel free to interact with this blog however you like and discussion within the community is always welcome. We love talking about our favourite horror movies!

If you have any requests, you can submit them in the askbox if they haven’t already been covered. Requests are OPEN at the moment! Check list of previously covered movies.

Search movies by genre/subcategory, country of origin, decade, content warnings and franchise. Search other posts by miscellaneous tags.

See top poll records of all covered movies.

If you don’t have any requests, you can always send your questions in the askbox as well.

Have fun and happy voting :)

Meet the Mods!

mod Z 🔮🎶

tumblr acc: @zsterofficial

they/he ⛓️ genderfluid boi

Hey there, I'm Z, your resident indie horror film enthusiast and aspiring filmmaker/singer-songwriter. My horror journey began with animated stories on YouTube and creepypastas during my childhood, sparking a passion for horror lore. Although relatively new to watching horror films, I've become somewhat of a hardcore fan, specializing in French new extremity, occult, gothic, and cosmic horror. I also love Ari Aster movies, the Saw franchise and literally any movie with my boy Barry Keoghan in it. Excited to share my thoughts on movies with you all and contribute to this blog! If you guys want to read more of my opinions, you can read my reviews on my letterboxd.

---

Mod Sussur

They/them | Local cryptid uncle

I've been into horror media since getting slowly introduced to it since the teen years, and at the moment could be considered as an enthusiastic horror enjoyer. I love the monster/alien movies, big time gore and body horror as well as cosmic horror. My favorite horror movies are Bride of the Re-animator (1990) and Little Shop of Horrors (1986). I'm also dreaming of becoming a special effects make-up artist at some point in my life.

Would hold hands with Slenderman and totally not get murdered.

---

Hi I'm Laura and I was a giant anxiety-ridden wuss as a child which somehow morphed into being really into horror and true crime as an adult. I love literally all kinds of horror except extreme/torture. I also write scary stories for fun and very occasional profit.

---

!! mod chris !!

genderfluid (he/her/any)

hi hello !!! im actually terrified of everything so horror movies are a very good adrenaline pumper for me i love them so much. i draw sometimes as well. I love psychological thrillers, supernatural horror, and sometimes sci fi it really depends !! My favourite horror movie would be hard to say, but i guess the saw series (has only watched first one). I also have a cat called sophie who is a little menace and is so cute but might as well be the star of her own horror movie. please note i have autocorrect turned off so apologies for any mistakes i make.

[vintagetvstars]

I want to be clear that I'm not writing this in anger as my favourites are long gone and they didn't lose to her, but surely you must have noticed a pattern in the victories of one particular actress? What some of her fans are doing may technically not be against the rules but it feels against the spirit of the competition. I realise there is probably nothing you can do about it but it stinks.

Thanks so much for the ask and for your concern! We've been talking about this for quite a while and both had several points we wanted to address with this and so we decided to put our responses under the cut. There is also a TL;DR included at the bottom of the post for anyone who wants a more brief response.

~

Ah yes, the icon herself, Itatí Cantoral. Recently fans of Itatí have been tagging a popular blog with a large following in order to give more people a chance to vote for her - which is really great for all her fans! It's also extremely fun from our end to see the massive amounts of love pouring out from the fans in the form of extremely enthusiastic tags.

I understand this can be frustrating to those rooting for the competition though. Because we are a smaller blog with a smaller following and voting pool, it means that if her poll does get reblogged by a popular blog, then a massive amount of votes in her favor happen very suddenly, and it can quickly and unexpectedly flip the results.

Ultimately though, we love all the love for Itatí and don't want to stop people from participating or voting for her. The majority of her fans might not follow this blog directly or the tournament overall, but they do genuinely deeply love Itatí Cantoral and are extremely excited about her being included in the tournament!

We want this to be a fun experience for everyone, so we encourage anyone who sees their favorite contestant losing to reblog and tag their own favorite popular tumblrs and get other fans involved. This past round was close (Itatí only won by a margin of about 14% - less than 200 votes out of the total 1,287) and Lucy Lawless definitely could have turned it around and won if the poll had reached her fan base.

Don't lose hope for your remaining favorites yet - Itatí is beloved and deservedly so, but anything is possible in the finals.

- mod violet

~

Couldn’t have said it better myself. Ideally everyone participating has a fun time because really what we are trying to do here is give people a place to gush about their favorite vintage stars and share them with more people! But this is still formatted as a competition so it’s understandable to feel frustrated or upset when one or your favs is losing.

We want to encourage positivity on this blog and so far the large wave of Itati Cantoral fans we have been seeing have been largely positive and enthusiastically declaring their love for her and engaging with the polls she’s in!

We never want to stop excited and enthusiastic fans from participating because that’s what this blog is about! So if you find your fav is losing please feel free to get more engaged! Spread and share your love for your favorite with other fans who haven’t found our small blog yet! Don’t feel like you need to hold back propaganda for your fav either! If you want to share the same propaganda every round then we are happy to help spread it every round!

And lastly to everyone who has lost a fav and didn’t get to share everything they wanted to about them, please know as long as this blog is running we will always keep it a place for you to share your love for your vintage tv favs! In between tournaments and during the break before next years tournament we would love to continue sharing anything you’d like to say about your vintage tv favs whether they won, lost, or didn’t even compete in this years tournaments. We won’t be reblogging it during active tournaments as we don’t want to distract from those actively competing but anytime there isn’t a full blown tournament going on please feel free to tag us or send asks about your favs! We’ll be reblogging and talking about our favs during those times and would love to have more voices added to the conversation!

- mod vintage

~

TL;DR - Itatí Cantoral's polls are being tagged by a very popular blog, resulting in her flipping several polls dramatically during the last 24 hours. We understand that for fans of her competitors that this can be frustrating or disheartening, however, all the fans coming in are excited, enthusiastic, and staying within the spirit of the tournament, so we welcome their engagement. We want to encourage anyone who's favorite is losing in any of the polls to go out and tag popular blogs, submit propaganda, and drum up fan support.

[rating-bears]

Heya gang!

Since we have been gaining so many new friends here over the last week, I thought id take a moment to go over a few things for those who are new!!

My ask box is always open for bears, and I love receiving them! If it’s been a bit and you haven’t seen your ask posted, please send it again! Tumblr likes to eat them T~T

Feel free to tag me in bear posts, or send them to me a different way! I love bears and I love seeing what bears you all like!

Every week we do weekly theming here on rating bears, and the theme is picked by you all! Last weeks theme was bear memes, so every day at noon Eastern time I posted about a different bear meme! This weeks theme is video game bears, so every day at noon eastern time this week, I’ll post about a different video game bear!

The exception is on Sundays. Sundays are reserved for a poll with four options to pick out the weekly theme for the next week! Vote for what you want to see, and don’t feel bad if your pick loses, it’ll be there again next week!

I think that just about covers everything, thank you so much for joining me on this bear journey!! As I’m writing this we have slightly more than 1,000 followers here on this blog, and by the time this posts I’m sure that number will be larger! Thank you so so so much for everything, and I can’t wait to share more bears with you all!!

[seventeenlovesthree]

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! 

For the past week, I’ve hosted quite a few polls to estimate which are currently tumblr’s most popular Digimon Adventure ships! Thank you all for participating!

This main post will analyze the general vibe of the polls, discuss limitations and biases - because every single character will get their own analysis post in the upcoming days. Thus, this main post will continuously be updated under the cut, so if you’re interested, feel free to check in every once in a while! 

Discaimer: Please take into account that these results are no definitive display of the Digimon shipping landscape out there! This is just a little experiment I felt like diving into a little more for fun!

Main Polls

Taichi Yagami I & II

Yamato Ishida I & II

Sora Takenouchi I & II

Koushiro Izumi I & II

Mimi Tachikawa I & II

Jou Kido I & II

Takeru Takaishi I & II

Hikari Yagami I & II

Daisuke Motomiya I & II

Ken Ichijouji I & II

Miyako Inoue I & II

Iori Hida I & II

Meiko Mochizuki

Discussion & Links to Analysis

The vote was open from February 6th to February 13th. All the 12 main Chosen Children known from Digimon Adventure 01 and 02 received a main and a secondary poll. (Meiko Mochizuki got an additional poll.) While the main poll listed the other characters from their respective groups (either 01 or 02), the secondary poll listed each complementary group, plus a few potentially notable side characters that might be seen as viable choices in fandom.

Limitations & Biases

Before I go into presenting the most notable results, I NEED to address a few things worth taking into account.

Limited reach/exposure bias: Since there were two polls for every character (and the secondary polls got posted with a bit of a delay), the first poll usually got way more exposure than the second one. Thus, the secondary polls rarely (or only temporarily) made an impact. A few of the polls were reblogged by various blogs and thus gained more attention in general. 

Low sample size: Since the polls have not been shared as often, the numbers we’re talking about are not very reliable - in some cases, one singular vote was capable of changing the entire poll, whereas in other cases, singular votes didn’t matter in the slightest, especially when it came to ships that are considered to be “rare pairs”. Thus, those didn’t have a lot of time to shine overall. Additionally, the Digimon Adventure fandom overall is a lot more quiet these days (due to lack of new content), so the polls themselves were not thriving very well.

Follower bias: Since I was the one who posted the polls, my follower circle may have had a significant impact on who was picked for which poll. Naturally, people who follow me, who like the characters/ships I like, are more likely to vote for those certain ships. For example: Koushiro and Taichi may have gotten more votes (and for each other in particular), as their polls have also been reblogged several times, whereas others didn’t get reblogged at all. I can only assume that the results for several characters might have looked a lot differently in other spheres of tumblr - or the internet in general.

Choice bias: The additional characters in the secondary polls were based on my personal guesses, so I may or may not have forgotten other fanon ship choices, which I apologize for!

Redundant voting: It cannot be guaranteed that people haven’t voted for several options in the first and second poll, instead of picking the "someone from the other poll" or "others" choice. Or: If they picked "someone from the other poll", they might not even have voted there at all, we cannot tell. Thus, there might be contradicting votes, which is why I excluded the "someone from the other poll" option in poll 1+2 as well as the "others" choice from the first poll, since they might actually have picked someone mentioned in the second poll. There will be some honorable mentions of course, but it is very difficult to categorize these, so it's a learning for the next poll!

Notable results: Winners (overall)!

Disclaimer: As the “Someone from 01/02″ and “Others” options from poll 1 and the “Someone from 01/02″ option from poll 2 have been excluded from the final analysis and all results were culminated in another “final count”, the results will not be 1:1 to what the polls look like. See Taichi’s spreadsheet for transparency (all other sheets will be included in the respective analysis posts):

Taichi Yagami: Koushiro Izumi (27%)

Yamato Ishida: Taichi Yagami (37%)

Sora Takenouchi: Taichi Yagami* (32%) 

Koushiro Izumi: Taichi Yagami (55%)

Mimi Tachikawa: Jou Kido (22%)

Jou Kido: Mimi Tachikawa (38%)

Takeru Takaishi: Hikari Yagami (53%)

Hikari Yagami: Takeru Takaishi (44%)

Daisuke Motomiya: Ken Ichijouji (52%)

Ken Ichijouji: Daisuke Motomiya (61%)

Miyako Inoue: Hikari Yagami (31%)

Iori Hida: Takeru Takaishi**(22%) 

Meiko Mochizuki: Mimi Tachikawa (42%)

*due to their closeness in votes, both Taichi and Yamato are displayed as winners of her poll though - in true Taiorato fashion.

**even though Noriko Kawada (39%) won the secondary poll clearly, the overall votes evened it out.

Notable results: Stats

Now, let’s dive into the more interesting bits, shall we!

Most votes overall: Taichi (164), Ken (148), Takeru (135)

Least votes overall: Iori (93), Sora (107), Jou (109) + Meiko (54, as she had only one poll)

Most polls won*: Taichi (Yamato, Sora, Koushiro), Mimi (Jyou, Meiko), Takeru (Hikari, Iori), Hikari (Takeru, Miyako)

Clear victories (+50%): Ken (Daisuke, 61%), Koushiro (Taichi, 55%), Takeru (Hikari, 53%), Daisuke (Ken, 52%)

*interestingly enough, this somewhat corresponds with the poll asking for who are the most popular Chosen Children from Adventure as well.

Notable results: Clutch races

Taichi: Yamato vs Koushiro vs Sora; although Sora was almost always third place and usually only tied with Koushiro for short periods; Yamato was in the lead for the majority of the time, but was overtaken by Koushiro in the end.

Sora: Taichi vs Yamato; Yamato led first, was then overtaken by Taichi, then briefly surpassed by Yamato again. Taichi won with the tiniest of advantages in the end, hence the poll displays both of them as winners - ironically enough, as the question of “Taiora or Sorato/Taiorato triangle?” is probably one of the most debated ship discussions of all time.

Mimi: Jou vs Koushiro; Koushiro was in the lead for the majority of the time, Jou tied on a daily basis and took over in the end. This is similar to the Taiorato race, as the “Koumi vs Jyoumi” triangle is similarly debated, albeit not as heated.

Daisuke: Even though Ken was basically unbeatable from the start, Daisuke actually has most votes tied for third place (as you will see in his individual analysis).

Miyako: Hikari vs Ken; was very close from the beginning, but Hikari led the entire time.

Iori: Miyako vs Takeru; Miyako led first, was then overtaken by Takeru. Iori’s analysis overall, however, might turn out to be the most interesting in the end, as the segment below will explain further...

Notable results: Where the 2nd poll mattered

Jou: One of the reasons why the secondary polls were created in the first place was the number of people who voted for “Others” on Jou’s poll. And thus, it is absolutely no surprise that “Bike Girl” (literally the girl he took the bike from in “Diablomon Strikes Back”) came in third overall in the end, being very closely followed by his mystery “girlfriend” in Tri (which may or may not be also Bike Girl, but this was never confirmed or denied, so we’ll never know).

Iori: The “Others” option in his first poll even surpassed Jou’s by a long shot, which will be very interesting to look at in his individual analysis. To keep it shortly for now, this and the comments made in the tags may indicate that people either had a hard time shipping him at all/seeing him as asexual, shipping him with OCs - or, as we will see, with someone from the second poll, Noriko Kawada for example.

Hikari: Daisuke and Koushiro basically had a race for third place for the majority of the run-time, which was won by Koushiro in the end only slightly.

Takeru: Similarly to what happened to Hikari; Meiko came in third at first, but was overtaken by Taichi later on.

Miyako: Mimi and Daisuke had a race for third place for a good chunk of the run-time, which was very closely won by Mimi in the end.

Personal thoughts/observations on my behalf

I actually love how two of the most influental/popular triangles in the OG Digimon Adventure verse (Taiorato + Jyoumishiro) have been racing each other until the very end - while Takari for example was comfortably in the lead the entire time. Shoutout to kbondoxxxxav who has JUST today published this beautiful artwork depicting these exact triangles/ships. It has to be noted though that both triangle races have been incredibly close and could have turned out the other way in favour of Sorato and Koumi instead of Taiora and Jyoumi at any given time. (The same can also be said about Taiyama instead of Taishiro in Taichi’s poll. Personally though, I am very happy to see that the people who voted agree with my personal opinion that Koushirou, Yamato and Sora are the most shippable choices for Taichi.)

At first, the results were a lot more variable - so the graphic I made above could have included a looooot more ships (such as Koumi or Miyori). In the end, it got very even, with one side of the ship usually winning the other side as well (like Taishiro, Jyoumi, Takari and Daiken). Interestingly enough, the Jogress partnerships have been very popular in general as well (such as Taiyama, Daiken, Miyakari and Takori).

For characters like Iori, the votes have been very torn for the majority of the time - while Takeru and Miyako were still the more prominent choices in canon, it was very easy to see how much people were struggling to make a choice here. Same with Daisuke, who, as mentioned above, had three ships competing for third place!

I really hope I will be able to repeat the votings in the future with more participation, just to see how things may have turned out if more choices could get more time to shine!

Final verdict: It was a lot of fun to observe the polls for the past week, to see how certain results would change, with even a few surprises in between!

If you have any further questions, feel free to ask!

Individual Analysis Posts

Taichi Yagami Shipping Analysis

Yamato Ishida Shipping Analysis

Sora Takenouchi Shipping Analysis

Koushiro Izumi Shipping Analysis

Mimi Tachikawa Shipping Analysis

Jou Kido Shipping Analysis

Takeru Takaishi Shipping Analysis

Hikari Yagami Shipping Analysis

Daisuke Motomiya Shipping Analysis

Ken Ichijouji Shipping Analysis

Miyako Inoue Shipping Analysis

Iori Hida Shipping Analysis

Meiko Mochizuki Shipping Analysis

[paldean-ranger-brandy]

Brandy’s (not really) 100(+) Followers Event

//Howdy all! As mentioned in a previous post, I’ve reached my first milestone on this silly little blog and I wanted to do something to celebrate. I am neither good at nor enjoy drawing, but I do love writing and would love to celebrate all of the characters I’ve met on here.

(I know I make a lot of typos in my posts but shhhh don’t worry that’s because I’m on mobile 99% of the time and also don’t care to double check and also it’s Brandy making them shut up)

The poll I did indicated that most of you would be willing to let me write something with your character(s) and Brandy, so thank you for that! Before rotumblr I did spend a lot of time writing little fics for other people’s characters in a different fandom, and am decently confident that I can at least mostly match tone for other people’s characters (in fact it’s how I’ve made my longest standing friendships <3 it is a love language to me). There was also a decent bit of interest in me writing something just about Brandy, so I think how this is how I want to work this:

When the time comes, you can pop into my inbox to request EITHER;

1) A drabble/ficlet between your character and Brandy. Please include any limitations at all (i.e. I don’t want them to talk about X, or Billy-OC will not be actually travelling to Paldea, or literally anything else you DON’T want to see). If you have a prompt for what you do want to see me write about please send it in as well! Before posting anything I will send it to you directly for your approval, and it will be completely up to you whether the interaction is canon to your character or just a fun little story.

2) A specific chapter of Brandy’s life (i.e. write about their time in Johto, or one of their previous exes, or her time in ranger school). I know this option did get votes in the poll, but also I will not be hurt at all if no one submits any of these. I know the fun part here is getting free content of your own characters.

A few notes;

- Our characters do not have to have actually interacted for you to submit something for them. However, if I do not follow you/haven’t followed you for long/am otherwise not confident I will be able to write your character I may refuse your request.

- Not doing any NSFW. Don’t think I really need to say that but just in case.

- Fics will be sent with a Google Docs link to you for approval first, if you choose option 1. If this doesn’t work just let me know and we can figure something else out

I’m gonna start accepting requests this Thursday, July 13th at 8pm EST, and I’m gonna close requests…when I feel like it. I’ll post that they are closed.

That’s all! Thank y’all again, I hope at least some of you send in requests <3

[worstqueerbaittournament]

FAQ

After seeing some polls escalate and @autisticcharactershowdown quit their tournament because it all got too much, I just wanna give you all a heads up. I want us to have fun and it is fine to be passionate, but if you threaten other voters or me or start insulting people, I will block you instantly.

Are you still accepting submissions?

No, submissions are closed!

Who was submitted?

Here is the submission list

You haven’t answered yet!

I am keeping propaganda and pictures in my inbox as a resource! I might sometimes take longer to answer questions because I am only one person running this blog!

I don’t think this character/pairing should be on the list!

Challenges to the entries are also closed! We are moving into the tournament stage!

How are you handling propaganda?

If you want to make it easy for me (pls), you can reblog the polls and add your propaganda in the reblog! You can also send in asks and I will add the propaganda underneath the poll (if send in beforehand) or a reblog. Please don’t comment or add tags. That always makes it much more time consuming to check everything and add your comments in a reblog. You can make your own post if you want and I will reblog it, but I won’t add what you’ve written in your own post in a reblog to the poll.

How long will voting be open?

Polls will run for a week! The first few larger rounds will be split into multiple parts and scheduled!

How is the tournament going?

Here is a list of all of the polls and results!

[og-or-shiny]

Have you done one for Shuckle yet? They’re my favorite! If you haven’t, would you be willing to please let me know when it goes live?

Yup shuckle has already been done. I tag all the pokemon so if you search shuckle on my blog it should come up. Also don’t feel too bad if you didnt get ur vote in. It’s very likely ill rerun the polls at some point ^_^

[phanartist]

A few days ago I asked if I should get people to send in their own Phanart and there weren’t very many votes but no one said no.

So if would like to message me a picture of your DnP art and I might add it to the Phan art gallery. Things like fan fiction, poetry, Jewelry/Clothes, dolls, statues, and pretty much any form of art is allowed as long as it’s Phan art. You could also submit your art to the gallery but just know that it might not go up.

About Unknown Artist Thursday: you might have noticed that not all of the artists are unknown anymore and that is because some people have commented who made the art. If you recognize the art ,please comment and I will edit the caption to say who made it and to say thank you for letting everyone know.

Terms & Conditions:

• 16+ artists only

• You can only submit your own artwork

• You can only submit Phan art

• I’m the curator of a gallery and you’re the artist, you can’t complain if I decide not to put your art up

• All art forms are allowed as long as it’s Phan Art

• Phan art of Dan and Phil with other people are allowed

• if your art gets put up and you want it taken down just say so, no reason is needed but I will anytime you want.

• It’s your art not mine so if you do or don’t want a specific tag on the post, tell me

• It’s kinda my thing too put polls on my posts so if you want a specific poll, tell me

• You can send in more than one picture of your art piece

• I’m fine with you submitting more than once as long as it’s your art and your haven’t submitted it yet

• Art that has been posted on your blog is fine

[inlovewithpandora]

First, I wanna say thank you to all the new people who’ve been following me for the past couple of weeks and to everyone who’s been liking, commenting, and reblogging my fics! I appreciate you all so much🩷!!

Second, I’ve been noticing something lately and I wanted to bring it to everyone’s attention.

Lately, I’ve noticed lots of ghost followers/emoji anons and there’s been way fewer people interacting than usual which has been bothering me. When following please be interactive, I’ve been making multiple polls for the past few weeks and all of them have less than 100 votes (some less than 50) and I have tons more followers than that. Also to my emoji anons please be interactive as well, I love talking to each of you and always love receiving your requests.

Regarding requests I haven’t been receiving any and I’ve been making multiple posts asking for requests for different things so I could create more content for you guys to enjoy. When I ask for requests (I’ll use my college!au and hc req posts as an example) I’m usually free of all previous requests and are open to more, I will start working on them as soon as you send them in and post them as soon as possible. Also when there is a character I need more works for or I come up with an idea for a certain scenario I’ll make a req post. What I’m saying is don’t be shy to send in any requests you may have!

Being interactive really helps me stay motivated to put out content for you all because it lets me know you’re engaged and are liking the works I’m putting out. Seeing people be inactive does cause moments of feeling frustrated and discouraged because I’m trying my best to keep this blog up and running and put out entertaining content and by not receiving/seeing any interaction makes me feel like people are disregarding/ignoring my posts.

I have an event that I was planning on posting this week but I’m holding off until I notice more people becoming more interactive because I don’t want to post it and it flops from people aren’t engaging.

I’ve said all of this to say, please be active and not a ghost follower/emoji anon! It really helps me when you're engaging with my posts, etc.

Thank you for taking the time to read🫶🏾!

[just-a-dead-kid]

Sorry this blog hasn’t been as active as it could be, I’ve been really depressed and not doing the things I’d planned initially for this blog—I had wanted to do some posts with techniques for working against programming, for communicating with alters, etc, and I just… haven’t had the motivation.

It might help if I knew what you guys were interested in seeing, so I guess a poll could be useful for that

Don't feel like you have to follow to vote, I see you tag surfers that aren't sure if they want to follow yet, the post will be in the tags listed on this post in case you want to see.

And please, comment or reblog with any specific types of programming you'd like a focus on, we have a lot of experience with beast/dog type epsilon programming, beta, and omega programming personally, if any of those would help anyone.

[jack-kellys]

hello everyone and welcome to tonight’s meeting.

it has come to my attention that i have finally come to one thousand (1k, 1,000) followers on this blog. it’s been like. a couple weeks of me sitting on this knowledge because i wanted to do something and be able to give proper time to some event or fic for you all the enjoy and… perhaps take part in. SO:

i am opening drawing requests! i haven’t done this in a while, but i have a whole day tomorrow (until newsies w @etrsnaps 🤭) and my style has improved and i want to draw everyone’s special little guys as a thank you to you all :,)

secondly. i am trying to configure an interactive fic (basically you guys controlling the adventure via the polls feature here as each chapter goes) based on @claireverlasting’s ask, which tldr is a modern/futurist/magical robin hood newsies au!! feel free to send me asks about it so i can get it off the ground and get an idea of how to make it work for you all to vote on ur phones about what tool jack should use, or if race should run or fight, or if someone should…idk say i love you to someone else 🤭… i know that ao3 has a feature like this but you are my 1k followers so you’re going to be voting. it’s only fair!

♥️thank you guys so much!!! for everything!!! especially if you’ve been following me for the past…. god five years. i love you, i recognize all your urls, and i go like >:) when i see ur name. love you. please send me asks and requests!!!! i want to thank you all!!!!♥️