#House of marley related deals

[crazyk-imagine]

Movie Marathon

Pairing: Ben “Benny” Miller x GN!Reader 

Characters: Ben “Benny” Miller, GN!Reader, William “Will” “Ironhead” Miller (briefly mentioned), Santiago “Tago” “Pope” Garcia (breifly mentioned), Isabela Morales (briefly mentioned)

Warnings: Slight angst (hardly any), fluff, bad day at work, stress crying, cursing (nothing too bad), mentions of snot, sad comfort movies to get the sad out followed by a legit comfort movie, Benny is a sweetheart, 10 Things I Hate about You references

Word Count: 2,062

A/N: Requested on Wattpad by @princessmermaid1289​​

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why couldn’t things just be easy? Like seriously, who came up with the idea of a bad day. It sucks when you have a normal day and minor issues occur but it’s worse when you deal people at work just being absolute assholes. 

You zone out, your most recent Playlist of the week playing in the background as your bottom lip wobbles. 

You sniffle, take a deep breath, and close your eyes. 

Maybe if you lean your head back and- a few tears trickle down your cheeks. You quickly wipe them away before starting your car, driving to the one place you know can bring you comfort, something you crave right now. 

-

It takes a couple shakes for you to push the house key into the keyhole before you can turn it. You swear the key and door hate you, you’ve mentioned to Benny, your boyfriend of three and a half years, who you’ve lived with for about eight months now. 

The scent of his cologne lingers, bringing a small, short-lived smile across your lips. You wonder how long it’ll be before he comes home. It feels like it’s been days since you’ve seen him, which is a little true. 

He’s currently preparing for a fight (as far as you know) after being out of town for the weekend so he and the guys could have a bachelor party for Tago (he finally asked Yvonna to marry him). 

You set your bag down onto the nightstand, your keys clank as they land beside it. 

Finally, you’re in a quiet and safe environment; not that your work wasn’t safe or anything but when your coworkers are being absolute dick heads, it tends to not feel so nice. 

-

You plop onto the bed, debating if you should stay in your clothes or change into something comfy while you curl up in bed… you sit up, taking off your shoes and socks, tossing each item out of your way not in the mood to trip tonight. 

It would also save Benny from getting another bruise (and not from his opponent). 

Okay, now you love Benny, you do so so much but, even if you (and he) don’t want to admit it, he can’t always win his fights to which he replies with, “you weren’t there with me. I didn’t have my good luck charm.” 

It sounds a little bit like bullshit, but you can’t help the butterflies fluttering around inside you when you hear them. 

You think about how he's gonna react at the sight of you practically cocooned in bed, looking as sad as you feel while watching your sad comfort movies (The Notebook followed by Marley and Me) to help get the rest of the sadness out of you. 

You push that thought aside while clicking the Notebook. You were able to get through the Notebook with a less than the box of tissues left (that’s better than last time). 

You switch and click Marley and Me, not paying attention to the opening credits as you check your phone finding a couple of emails from your fellow co-workers. 

You sigh and toss your phone to the side unable to handle anything else that’s work related, you’ve officially checked out for the day. 

Your eyes start to close around the middle part of Marley and Me when the sound of the front door being slammed shut, alerts you. 

You know it’s your boyfriend, so you’re not scared but you wonder what’s got him in such a bad mood. You can hear him kicking off his shoes and the way they slam against the floor. 

Maybe he had a bad fight today, you hope that’s not the case; it’s never good when Benny’s upset (honestly, it’s never nice when either of you aren’t happy) but maybe a nice night in bed is all you two need. 

You open your mouth to call out for him when he enters your shared room and drops his gym bag in front of the closet and plops onto the bed beside you. 

You turn, laying on your side, tangling your hand in his hair. 

Neither of you say anything for a while, letting the movie become background noise just knowing the other one is there helps make the end of the day a little better. 

Benny removes his gaze from the ceiling and glances over at the TV realizing you’re also not having a good day. “Hey,” he mumbles, chin resting on his shoulder as he looks at you. 

You don’t want him to see how bad you currently feel and continue starring at the screen. 

“Hey.” 

He moves your hand away off his head so he can turn on his side, “What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing.” 

“I know somethings bothering you, spill it.” 

“I have nothing to share, besides it seems like you had a rougher day than I did.” 

“I’m not taking that as an answer, and you know it. C’mon, tell me what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours.” 

“It’s not important.” 

“It’s important to me.” 

“You’re just saying that.” 

“No, I’m not. You let me tell you when somethings bothering me, why can’t you tell me?” 

“It’s nothing, it’s- it’s stupid to complain about anyway.” 

“If it made you upset where you had to cry and watch the Notebook followed by Marley and Me, then it’s not. I tell you stupid stuff that I complain about all the time like today. This guy got a little rough during practice and I was kicked out for this fight because he clocked me in the head, and I was bleeding.” 

You push yourself up, gently grabbing his head, turning it towards you. “You’re bleeding?! Why didn’t you tell me?” 

His hands curl around your wrists, pulling them down so he set one in the place where his neck and shoulder meet while he pecks at the knuckles of your free hand. “I’m fine now. No major injuries today. Now, can you please tell me what happened?” 

“Do you really want to hear about all this?” 

He chuckles, “I know I don’t listen to Will all the time but if it’s you talking to me, about anything, then I’m all ears.” 

You pout in disbelief over this but rant to him about what happened at work and how the emails won’t stop coming in. 

“Wow.” 

“Wow? That’s all you have to say.” 

“You didn’t let me finish. Wow… you have a shitty job.” 

“Benny,” you scoff, smacking his chest. He smiles, staring at you with half his face deep into the pillow. 

“What’s that look for?” 

“Nothing,” he shrugs, “just staring at the beautiful person I get call my partner.” 

You roll your eyes, unable to fight the smile that surfaces across your lips. 

Benny can always find a way to make you feel better and you’ll never understand how that is. He drops his arm around your waist, “come ‘ere.” 

You scoot closer after Benny plops onto his back. Your head rests over his heart, you listen to the way it beats at a semi-irregular pace, not too much to where you think you have to take him to a hospital but enough to let you know that you’re the reason (which fills you with joy, distracting you from your sad day). 

Your eyes start to close again, you guess confiding in your boyfriend about what whatever it is that’s bothering you is a good thing. You can feel him moving but don’t care enough to open your eyes until you hear him sniff. 

You angle your head to look at him, watching as he tries to wipe away his tears before they fall (only to fail). “Are you crying?” You fight to hide your giggles; he never cries whenever you watch these movies but then again, you’ve usually finished them before he comes home. 

“No,” he sniffs again, “shut up… where did you put the tissues?” 

You grab the box and hand it to him. You can’t help but ask, “have you never seen these movies?” 

“If I know they’re sad movies, why am I going to watch them?”

 You shrug, “I don’t know.” 

The movie ends and you reach over and into the bottom drawer of your nightstand for a new box of tissues since your oh so caring boyfriend won’t share. 

“Can we watch your actual comfort movie now?” 

You let out a quiet, tearful chuckle as you throw away your snot filled tissue. “Yeah, let’s do that.” You pat the spot where you thought you left the remote only to find nothing. “I can’t find the remote.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“If it’s not in my hand then I don’t have it.” 

“Okay, okay. Watch where you direct that attitude, please.” 

“Roll over.” 

“Okay, I know I said we should try something new, but I don’t think-” 

A mix between a scoff and a chuckle escapes you, “Benny!” 

“Okay, I’m moving.” He’s on the side and you do, in fact, find the remote. “Got it. Now, lay back down. I wanna cuddle.” 

“I can definitely do that.” He pulls you closer as the beginning credits for 10 Things I Hate about You come on the screen. “Why do you like this movie so much if you’re not a fan of the “bet” trope?” 

“I don’t have an exact answer but I’m gonna go with the acting- and how do you know about the different kinds of tropes? I’ve never once heard you talk about this with anyone.” 

“You don’t know the kinds of conversations I have with Isabela... and I may have overheard you talking with Maria a while ago and I wanted to, you know, learn more about these things so we could have something else to talk about.” 

Your bottom lip starts to quiver, you try to hide the fact that you’re crying but it’s hard to when you have such a caring boyfriend who does nice things to further bond with you. You don’t think you can remember any of your boyfriends doing that before which makes this ten times more heartwarming. 

“Wait. Wait. Why are you crying? Did I say something wrong? Is this not the right movie?” 

You don’t respond and it freaks him out more. 

“I’m gonna need you to talk to me because I’m freaking out over here.” 

“No,” you shake your head. “You did nothing wrong. You’re just so sweet and it’s like you don’t even know it.” 

“Oh,” he’s cut off when you lean up to kiss him with everything you have to give. 

You pull back, needing to get air into your lungs. 

Benny blinks, “thanks?” 

You smile, knowing he’s a little out of it because you just laid a big, wet one on him and he had no time to prepare for it. “Believe me, it was for your pleasure.” 

“Is that how it is?” Benny hovers over you, his arms straight in a “girl push-up” position. “Because the way I see it, it’s for your pleasure.” 

The corners of your tug upwards, you follow along with the queen heinous bitch, Kat Stratford, “Am I that transparent? I want you; I need you. Oh, baby. Oh, baby.” 

His head drops down, chin close to his chest as he chuckles. “Damn, I guess I underestimated how many times you’ve watched this movie.” 

“Yes, and now that you know, lay down and keep quiet.” 

“So bossy,” he mutters under his breath. 

You shush him and tuck yourself back into his side. 

-

After finishing the movie, Benny winds up ordering from your favorite fast-food place and you search for the show you two started last week, feeling you two should begin to end the day with a bit of laughter. 

You take a quick shower while Benny answers the guy’s texts about their fittings (surprisingly, Santiago can be such a worry nelly). 

-

You toss your dirty clothes in the hamper and crawl into bed, barely settling in when he pulls you closer to him so you’re lying on his chest. 

It’s no surprise when you wind up falling asleep before him even with the TV playing a random movie, his heartbeat was the thing to lull you into a deep and peaceful slumber. 

It seems as though the day that you two thought was never going to end wound up becoming a damn good night.

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

After reading your opinion on Molly Weasley, i want to know: What are you're opinions on the Weasley family? Besides Ron & Molly that is.

Five characters? In one post? Well, alright, here we go.

The Weasleys as a Whole

I’ve mentioned this before but JKR writes the Weasleys to clearly be a believable but ideal family. They’re all fiercely loyal, progressive per wizarding world standards, love each other and Harry deeply, and have this wonderful off-kilter joyous house where there’s always some rambunctious thing going on. 

Harry comes to associate the Weasleys with family and, personally, I believe a large part of him marrying Ginny boils down to it will make him a Weasley for real. 

That said, they’ve got some major issues. They’re very righteous people who, as a whole, will ice you out the moment they even suspect you do something that disagrees with them. You don’t even have to do it, what you did or didn’t do doesn’t even have to be something terrible or something bad, but god help you if the family decides they’re done with you. 

They’re very resentful of people like the Malfoys. This isn’t just because Lucius is a smarmy, pompous, ass (he is) or that he indirectly almost murdered Ginny but seems to mostly be because Lucius has so much money. All of their interactions seem to boil down to the money. More than this though, the Weasleys seem fully supportive of laws that... well, used against themselves would be a travesty but used against the likes of the Malfoys it’s about damn time.

They’re unquestioningly loyal to Dumbledore. Granted, most people we see in canon are, Dumbledore’s very very very good at convincing people he’s a saint. However, these guys are practically his cult member to the point where they do things like refuse to have Harry over the summer, even before Voldemort returned, because Dumbledore told them not to. 

They also never really adopt Harry into the family. Oh they give him a nice sweater, he comes over every once in a while to the house, he’s very good friends with Ron but he’s mostly treated just like that, a good friend. Now, there’s nothing wrong with this, except the way JKR sets it up we’re supposed to believe this is the family Harry found. It’s just that the family Harry’s found let’s him stay in a house with bars on his window where twelve-year-old Ron tells them, “Harry’s muggle family is really really awful” in a way that should have been raising red flags. Hermione practically lives at the Weasleys, Harry never does.

Now, are the Weasleys evil? No, far from it, they’re ordinary people who act in ways I’d expect ordinary people too. Technically they didn’t have to do anything more for Harry than they did, they didn’t have to hate Lucius Malfoy for better reasons, and they don’t have to be even slightly less worshipful of Dumbledore. They’re people, and they’re fine characters, but the overwhelming worship and love of the Weasleys we see across fandom does get on my nerves.

But you asked for individuals, so here we go.

 Arthur Weasley

Arthur is the epitome of “Pretty Fly for a White Guy” in the worst of ways and is, frankly, a giant awful joke to me. He’s the white kid you see going around with dread locks, a beanie the color of the Jamaican flag, smoking weed, and attempting to speak like Bob Marley 

Only, because he does it with muggle things, we’re supposed to find him funny and progressive.

Arthur is absolutely, albeit unwittingly, condescending in his love of muggle knickknacks. He has no idea how any of it actually works, not limited to how muggles could possible survive without the gold standard, but ardently believes he does because he can enchant the car to fly. Seriously, that he believes he’s an expert on muggle culture, as a pureblood wizard who heads an office in the ministry on it, is the worst part. His love of toasters comes across as, “Wow, look how cool it is that these poor little muggles made all this neat stuff. We should absolutely love the muggles because of it!” And that he heads an office in the ministry called “The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts” which is all about catching down Jackass style pranksters who think it would be hilarious of they enchanted toasters to bludgeon muggles to death...

Goddammit Arthur, why do you exist?

Right, otherwise, he’s got some pride issues going on. Part of the reason Percy is excommunicated is not so much that Percy doesn’t believe Harry, but because Percy dared to do better than Arthur in his own career. Arthur is stuck in his position as head of a joke of a department, he is an underling at its finest, and frankly likely only has that position because he’s a pureblood and the idea of putting a halfblood or even muggleborn at the head of a department dealing with muggles just made the higher ups shudder. (Don’t tell Arthur that though, he likes to think he’s not benefitting from nepotism). 

Arthur goes so far to accuse Percy as Fudge’s secretary as spying on him. Arthur, the guy who heads “Misuse of Muggle Artifacts”. Yeah, Arthur, I’m sure Fudge is really wasting his time using his straight laced secretary to find out all your dirty secrets. 

He also tends to see the world as very black and white. When Skeeter in book 4 writes an article after the Quidditch World Cup disaster complaining about the ministry’s lax security in enabling domestic terrorists to enter (something completely valid and true by the way) Arthur is so personally offended that both he and Percy go straight to the ministry to complain about Rita Skeeter and her daring to assume freedom of speech! HOW DARE SHE CALL THE MINISTRY’S NON-EXISTENT SECURITY AT THE WORLD CUP LAX! (To be fair, she also cited Arthur as having been in attendance at the event, a ministry employee, and having done nothing but, well, this is also true Arthur. You’re in a guerilla, underground, resistance movement. If I didn’t already think the Order was a joke this would kind of highlight it for me).

He’s also very resentful of Lucius Malfoy, and it seems to mostly be about the money. Arthur and Molly have a severe spending problem and actively resent that Lucius is swimming in money. That Arthur is ardently pleased about a law being passed in which the ministry without warrant can ransack Lucius Malfoy’s home... 

Well, Arthur, imagine the slippery slope if the government decides that it would like to search the Weasley home without warrant? In fact, he doesn’t even have to imagine it, as the beloved government in a few short years turns against him and then it’s all about how corrupt the ministry is. 

Arthur’s delightfully narrowminded, basically, and reminds us at nearly every opportunity.

Percy Weasley

Mostly, I just feel bad for Percy. Percy’s the son/brother that nobody likes and he’s painfully aware of that fact. He doesn’t fit in with the others, he has far too much ambition for the Gryffindor family and they resent him for it, and then he dares to say things like “I don’t know guys, Voldemort resurrecting from the dead after decades doesn’t sound plausible, we know Harry’s a little off kilter, and Dumbledore’s one shady dude”. Percy happens to be wrong about Voldemort resurrecting (and admits as much when the evidence is plainly visible), but he’s pretty on the money with the rest of it.

Regardless, growing up we see Ron constantly hating on Percy along with the rest of the siblings. I’m sure Percy is obnoxious, and certainly full of himself after making prefect and head boy, but he’s very clearly even before Order of the Phoenix the Least Favorite Brother (TM).

Then the Weasley family completely ices him out for a) getting a very high ranking position very quickly as Fudge’s secretary and b) not being gung ho about Dumbledore saying crazy things in the paper. Remember that to Percy Harry is Ron’s weird friend who seems to get into highly illegal activities every other week. From Percy’s point of view, it’s probably a matter of time before Harry becomes a crack head in Knockturn Alley (or given how behind the times wizards tend to be, an opium den). 

He’s constantly getting Ron into not only trouble but life threatening situations, is erratic and apparently a parseltongue of all things, and now Harry’s flipped his lid and saying that Voldemort has been resurrected after having gone through a very traumatic experience of watching a classmate somehow die. 

While we see Percy kind of (sort of)  make up with the family it’s clear that for Percy to have any relation with these people he’s the one who will always, ALWAYS, have to come crawling back on his knees and begging for forgiveness. It’s the Weasley way or the highway and I imagine, at some point probably a little after/during that epilogue, Percy will just slowly drift away because it’s just not worth it anymore.

Percy’s very much the black sheep of the family.

Fred and George Weasley

You all are going to kill me, but I actually don’t care in the slightest about Fred and George Weasley. This is because they basically have no personality aside from “funny”. 

They just have their weird, tandem, twin act and are either playing jokes on the school or else serving as Deus ex Machina in giving Harry magical items such as the Marauder’s Map for no apparent reason. The plot told them it was time, I guess. 

Their jokes, while not as bad as Sirius and James’ “Let’s sexually harrass Severus Snape by pantsing and beating him at the edge of Hogwarts lake” or Sirius’ “Let’s get Snape eaten by a werewolf!” are still often needlessly cruel and... kind of pointless. They harass Slytherin house constantly just because they happen to be Slytherins, they’re acceptable victims (which of course makes house tension that much worse). Harry gets sent a toilet seat in the hospital because... that’s funny? Har de har? 

They’re so indistinguishable from one another I routinely see people mistake which one got his ear chopped off and which one died. Because the point is, that we can’t tell the difference! It doesn’t matter who lived and who died because all we know is that Freorge is dead! 

Similarly, you see tons of fics around where character of the day ends up in this weird twincestuous relationship with Fred and George and it’s not only for a) that delightful twincest but b) because they’re such a singular unit that any attempt to pair one with somebody else feels weird. So you just get these porn fics about Fred and George being weird rapey teenagers who seem like they’d be more interested dating each other. 

Charlie Weasley

I really have no thoughts on Charlie. He raises dragons in Romania, the family loves him. Now, dragon raising feels like one of the most dangerous jobs in the Harry Potter universe, like Charlie had just gone and signed up to be a lumberjack but he seems to like it?

We really don’t see much of Charlie, he’s just the obligatory older Weasley son so that the Weasleys can be this ridiculously large family.

Bill Weasley

We see slightly more of Bill, but again, not enough to really leave an impression. We know that his marrying Fleur sent Molly into a complete state, and that they’re going to have awkward Christmas dinners forever because of it where Fleur just sits there and pretends not to loathe every second of Molly’s presence while Molly notes how bad it is that Victoire got stuck with that ugly pink hair instead of the Weasley red. 

Bill doesn’t seem to really do anything about this. He still marries Fleur, but we don’t really see a major confrontation where he tells the family “Look, I’m marrying her, so grow up.” So, I imagine he just tries to smile pleasantly and tells Fleur to just endure it for another few hours. He loves his family, his family’s great, but they only have to see Fleur once a year at Christmas.

Ginny Weasley

Ginny is weird. She’s this weird, frankly, almost personality-less void whose sole obsession in life seems to be marrying Harry. She and Harry end up in the world’s weirdest relationship and I honestly have no idea how people ship it other than canon told them to.

Ginny’s... well, first off, she’s very much in love with an idea. She had always worshipped Harry Potter but then he personally saves her life in what was a horrifically traumatic year and so that feeling just grows even more. Despite being Ron’s sister, she barely seems to know Harry, and everything she seems to like about it are just things she made up.

I imagine her and Harry’s marriage will be littered with affairs on her end. Not divorce though, because Harry would never admit his wife is having affairs on him all the time even if someone directly confronted him. Harry also won’t admit he’s gay. 

More than though we get hints of a personality. Ginny’s a fiery red-head tomboy with a temper. But... Well, it’s only ever hints. She never felt like a real person to me. She has I think one throwaway line about the Chamber of Secrets incident and how it personally affected her. We’re told she’s great at the bat boogey hex so we know she’s a fiery independent woman.

She feels more like a character sheet than an actual person. 

Whenever she’s around I always had this nagging question in my head where I ask why Ginny’s here. She has a lot of potential but nothing’s ever done with her. And when something is, it’s to get her into this bizarre relationship with Harry where he imagines there’s a green rage monster in his chest that loves her skin.

Okay Harry, if you say so. 

TL;DR: The Weasleys aren’t evil or anything, I’m not on Team Bash Them All, but they are shortsighted, ordinary, people who don’t deserve to be worshipped as all that is good in this world.

[micheswife]

media belongs to the rightful owners.

It is good to have you back.

Warnings: fluff, angst, chpt 139 spoilers, romantic????

Ship: Levi x civilian OC.

Summary: Mira has managed to stick by Levi's side ever since he got out of the underground. Now, they finally meet.

Times were simpler back then. Back when the Eldians were unaware of what laid beyond the walls, when salt was a luxury and oceans only appeared in fiction. Mira was just nineteen year old civilian with an ordinary life. She woke up, cooked, cleaned, studied and sewed, enjoying everything life had to offer.

This was until her eyes caught the sight of a certain soldier, he looked rather cold, little did she know she would come to read the smallest changes in his expressions in a few months. The scouts had been returning from an expedition the first time she saw him, he looked devasted and she knew why. She had felt sorry for him, for them all. She so desperately had wanted to do something for them, but alas, she lacked the guts to stand up to the crowd jeering at the soldiers. Nor did she have the funds to donate, nor the courage to join them in the battle. She had been sad when she returned home that day, and her brother's portrait made it worse. He had lost his life outside the walls five years ago, on his first expedition. She ran a thumb over the wooden frame of the drawing, before writing a letter that would be the start of the painful journey that had left her with a heavy heart today.

It was a long expression of her support towards the survey corps, her sorrow towards her own lack of strength and everything in between.

"This is pathetic." She had exclaimed after having gone through the letter, ultimately tearing it apart and discarding it in the fire. The soldiers didn't need to hear her sob story.

The next month, she had rushed to the gates upon hearing the bells, a warm meal and a little note packed in her piece of rag. She secured it with her pink ribbon, tying it in an overly elaborate knot to indicate that it was present. She cringed as she recollected asking a kid to deliver the package. Having a crush does make people desperate afterall.

It was a particularly noisy group of kids she had approached, they were enamoured with the soldiers, but she was certain they were no longer alive today.

"Hey kids, I need you to deliver something." She had crouched down.

"Um...what?".

"You see captain Levi there? This is his lunch, could you please give it to him for me."

The kids were more than happy to have an excuse to interact with their hero, so the box was grabbed immediately. The innocent children never once wondered why the perfectly healthy lady couldn’t deliver that lunch herself.

"That girl wants to give you your lunch! Captain!" Mira heard one of the excited children as she scurried away into the dark alley, rushing home as fast as she could. She was terrified of having any sort of attention on her, more so when there was the possibility of rejection involved. She tucked her feelings in the back of her mind, assuming that the captain had indeed rejected her present. Mira was a pessimist like that.

But she had been wrong, because Levi was more than grateful to have received a warm meal. Even though it had resulted in a lot of annoying comments for the rest of his career, some soldiers had even claimed to have seen the mystery woman. It didn't help that the kids had described her as a thin, brown-haired woman. That was all they remembered, too excited to have spoken with Levi.

He had opened the package to find a note inside. His hopes were shattered when it revealed nothing about the sender, except for her shabby handwriting.

"Tch, could have written it neatly."

He muttered as he kept the note aside and opened the container, food still warm inside. He couldn't help but smile when he tasted the soup, there were tiny bits of meat inside. The vegetables and the freshly baked bread had fixed him for the day. He had washed the container when nobody was looking, but not before folding the note and securing it in his wallet. It was rare for people to address such gratefulness towards him, even after everything he had done.

He'd cherish those words forever, "thank you, captain Levi." Fortunately, people became more grateful after wall Maria had been reclaimed. But by that point, Mira's little notes were the only thing that comforted him. He had a friend who stayed. He would write to her after every expedition, pouring his grief, sadness and anger in it, making sure to leave out the any confidential details. In exchange, she gave him an invisible shoulder to lean on, hoping that the narration of her mundane days would somehow provide comfort. And it did, he liked knowing about the next embroidery she planned to make, he always waited for the next meal to fill his stomach, her next letter to fill his heart. She had a slightly different personality than him in that she smiled a little more, she had more innocence, but they both were equally distant, burying their need for companionship into oblivion.

They used to talk about their days, about their hobbies, but never about their relationship. They never acknowledged their type of relationship they had, but a few feelings would slip out.

Levi had stopped telling her about Hange after he felt a tinge of bitterness in her next letter, he wanted to let her know that him and Hange shared a deep but platonic love. He avoided it, however, not wanting to make things worse. It was at that moment, Levi had made a decision. If him and this mystery girl ever survived their cruel destiny, then he would pursue her. He would ask her name, and invite her over to the same place she kept his lunch box every week. Under a lone tree not far from the headquarters.

"Don't forget the dessert this time, and keep it under that tree with yellow flowers, it is behind the headquarters." He had placed his note in the clean box, and shoved it back into the hands of the same starry-eyed kid.

"Give it to her next time you see her." He wondered what happened to the little boy after their little arrangement was made. He had taken a leap of faith that day and it had worked, the girl had come back next month, she had been looking for another group of enthusiastic kids but the little boy from last month had approached her.

"The captain told me to give you this."

She had to convince him to not go up to Levi and cause and commotion. Little did she know, Levi had already seen her bribing the kid with some homemade candy which was meant for him instead. Over the next few months, Levi would try his hardest to remember her face, contemplating the decision to ask Moblit for a sketch. But he knew that Mira wound not agree, she, just like him was scared of getting too comfortable. Perhaps that fear had been the reason why they both had established such a weird dynamic. They had soon fallen into a routine of exchanging letters, and preserving them. Levi soon found comfort in the increasing familiarity, Mira's behaviour becoming more and more predictable. They both had their own set of circumstances that had prevented them from meeting in person, including the fear that it would ruin the sacred relation they had built. They could not afford to lose each other, Mira had deliberately approached him, and he had actively seeked her out in return, going as far as dealing with a noisy little brat to see the girl for once. They were not meant to cross paths, they were not soulmates, they were hardworkers. Levi barely had the time to sleep, and it took a lot of courage to talk about his feelings, get, he made himself vulnerable in those letters, grateful that someone was willing to listen.

Mira, on the other hand, had to sneak around to deliver the meals. She was poor, a mere house-helper for some rich families, but she worked extra hours to buy those fancy ingredients. Hiding letters from her parents required a lot of tact, so did rejecting each and every man her father introduced her to. All with the awareness that Levi did not and would not love her, ever. She had forced herself to find comfort in her loneliness, unlike Levi, she never poured out her emotions. She only wrote about the things she did, the funny little dreams she saw, but her feelings were a taboo topic. To top the emotional labour, the fall of wall Maria had driven her faraway from the new headquarters, so Levi would sometimes slip in some money to help her out. It felt good to provide for her, to take care of her, especially after she had lost her parents.

The relationship had went on for years, until Levi had finally expressed feeling fearful about his impending death.

"I may never come back, also, do not reply to this letter... I will have gone to Marley by the time this reaches you. Please live a long life." A tear dropped onto the letter, smudging the ink. Levi had been to Marley several times, but this was final. He needed to save the world, not just Paradis. She had cried until her lungs gave out, until she felt lightheaded, but not because Levi would possibly not return. She was scared about the pain he might experience in his final moments. Would it be a titan? A bullet? An explosion?

"God, please let there be someone to save him." she had prayed, and her prayers had been answered. The woman Mira would get jealous of had found Levi in a horrible condition. She had lost her cheer, no longer wanting the responsibility of her position. She had even suggested running away together to the Captain, and honestly Mira would have preferred for him to do that too, afterall, Hange knew him better and longer than her. But the Captain had a promise to fulfill, and he would never just give up.

Mira never knew any of it, she refused to look at the newspapers, too scared of facing the new world of extremists. The walls were gone, some scouts had returned, but she did not see the Captain. Her pessimistic mind assumed the worst, and soon enough, a little plant was dancing on her window in honour of a soldier she had presumed dead.

It had been a long time since the last letter was sent, and Levi was now in a wheel chair. He wondered about the girl, he had never bothered to ask her name, instead he had start calling her Lily, since she always wore one of those in her wavy hair.

He remembered his decision, if they survived the titans, then he would pursue her. This was his last mission life, little did he know, Mira had started pushing him out of her mind. She had been struggling with a phase, she would write long letters addressed to him and keep them tucked away to cope with her thoughts. The cold, lonely nights had been harsh on her, and she was losing her appetite. It was going to be okay though, Levi was already on a ship to Paradis, ready with a ring in his coat. For now, he would go over his speech for the first peace summit in Paradis, and then straight to Mira. He was sure he could find her.

[iamnightduchess]

Afterthoughts

(SnK 128)

To the Yeagerists thinking that they can take down both the Armored Titan & the Female Titan, well, hate to reiterate this BUT the last time someone managed to deal the final incapacitating blow to either one of them had been only one person:

Mikasa "BAMF" Ackerman

She, who was worth a hundred soldiers when she was a fresh graduate, at this point would have been worth more than several hundreds of Yeagerists and also fighting together WITH both titans.

"Boo... she's a slave. xx is better than her."

"She's an ice-cold bitch. How dare she treated Louise, a dying girl, like that?"

"How can she feel empathy for people of the world she doesn't even know of personally compared to a girl who worships her & somewhat 'emotionally blackmailed' her dedication towards Eren?"

"How could she work with the same group of people who tried to murder her days before?"

Bashing Mikasa herself as a character is one thing, comparing her to another character is a low blow. She grieved & mourned for Sasha, she's compassionate towards Gabi & Falco. She has compassion and mercy towards people that needs it. Louise is anything but.

Back to the Yeagerists, the trigger-happy bunch needs to hide behind guns & gears they're not even well-adapt on to instil fear, while homegirl need no more than her freaking bare hands to defend herself and fight for what she believes in.

"She's a traitor. She betrayed her own comrades and the people on the island."

Paradis is her home but do you think she'd rather sit quietly, turn a blind eye towards the Yeagerists' drunkenness towards power, ascension towards madness & live with bloods of the many innocents (related or non-related to Eldian history) on her hands? She would rather die fighting for what she believes in, just like how her parents have taught her. Her childhood was first destroyed when selfish, violent humans imposed into her family's home. She's been there at nine years old. Like hell she'll be okay with the Yeagerists' stand. If someone comes into your house to fuck with your freedom/rights, you have the right to defend BUT not to go on a killing spree of all potential criminals out there and take justice into your own hands unless you're Batman. Isn't that what Mikasa & co did when Marley's battalion came days before? Guess what? The battalion left the Warriors and Magath behind & that does not mean JCAM should kill the leftover Marleyans and watch passively as Eren released not a group but ALL of the CTs inside the walls to fuck with the rest of the world.

Chapter 127 & 128 are displaying the courage Mikasa needed to fight for her own ideals for the first time - even if that means going against Eren's will.

Just saying, some people can go on and on about the tasteless, exhausting slave memes/jokes or their neverending barrage of vitriol against the 'cringevengers' just because they believe in a will that is different than their 'genocidal overlord'.

At this point of his story, Isayama has clearly place both sides on the scale: there are no rights or wrongs, good guys or bad guys as we were initially introduced to. We have seen both perspectives.

If you think because it's fictional, therefore genocide is alright, go on ahead. Though that does not justify the hatred you've been displaying towards the MarleyParadis Alliance.

I understand Eren's drive & actions BUT it does not mean I accept his will. However, that does not justify that I should hate on & attack his character. If you want to project your personal ideals on either side's characters, you are more than welcomed to do so but please have more class than that.

I believe that is the series' creator's intention.

"If Isayama lets the cringevengers win, that is bad writing."

"I hope the cringevengers lose. They're ungrateful for what Eren's doing for them."

"The alliance are a bunch of idiots with no plan."

"Yes it's his series, but as a fan, I deserved the right to express my unhappiness with the way he wrote this and this."

So, you'd rather JCAM just sit on their asses & do nothing?

Eren wins. Freedom for Paradis achieved. Rest of cringevengers settle down & have kids while the rest of the world retaliates in 50 years. Magath, Warriors & co. can die. Ok, The End.

What kind of values do you think Isayama wants to deliver through HIS story?

Reiner & Annie understood that the Warriors have no right to ask JCAM of anything. Reiner even suggested they stay behind in safety so they won't be forced to make that difficult decision like they did. (Look at how far the kids have grown?)

Interesting theme to note: Mercy. Sasha showed Gabi mercy but the same girl that she spared shot her to death. Gabi didn't understand then. Second round, Mikasa showed her mercy and Gabi finally understood. It finally humbled her.

Hate on Hajime Isayama all you want, as everyone can see on BSM's latest cover, the man's filthy rich enough to open his own sustainable business after SnK wraps with the royalty he gets from merchandise, prints and all. His 'bad writing' got him published & he has set his mind on an ending that would hurt some of us. If the alliance loses, Eren perseveres & millions die, it would hurt me so much but I would respect that because that is the route Isayama has chosen. I am already grateful for the opportunity & the experience he had blessed us all with.

Isayama doesn't owe anyone shit. He's a content creator, he is telling HIS story, not yours. As fans, shouldn't you take his material and learn something from it instead of making fun of or hating his decisions? Debate constructively please but stop spreading the hate.

You can choose to opt out of the series, moan all you want but in the end, you'll be the first group of people who would be obsessing with any ounce of spoilers at the beginning of a new month. Stop attacking or provoking people who is 'on the other side' of the ideal you believe in.

I am just someone who wants to share. As fans, we have the right to disagree with some of Isayama's stance/direction but there are always lesson(s) to be learnt:

Respect & Love.

You can love someone & still disagree with their ideals and be on the opposite side. In the end, Mikasa loves herself enough to decide on her own to stop Eren. As fans, stop projecting your hate towards the characters. Learn from them instead.

[detectivedreameater]

What Are Friends For?||Solo

Marley’s eyes had locked with Jane’s when she’d come into the precinct that morning and she instantly knew something was wrong. 

We have Erin Nichols in custody. Here’s the evidence folder.

She wanted to bolt, wanted to run straight over to Erin’s and get rid of the evidence, but she needed to stay calm. Stay calm. She sat down at her desk and opened the file. Oh, fuck. Oh fuck. They had so much evidence. Shit. Shit. Marley needed to get rid of anything else, and fast. A cooler, photos-- Erin’s journal? How the hell had the police come upon this? An anonymous source, the log said. Marley’s eyes scanned the page for any explanation to help figure out who, but of course Jane was thorough and there was nothing.

Except that the evidence was delivered to Kavanagh. Big fuck. Marley shut the folder quickly, rubbing her temples. She glanced around, made sure no one was really paying attention, before grabbing her jacket and bolting from the place. Left a sticky note for Jane saying she was going for an early lunch. 

She drove as fast as possible over to Erin’s. Went around the back and punched in the code to get in through the elevator entrance. Clearing this place out wasn’t going to be easy, but Marley knew how. And she would make this place was fucking spotless. This was too big, too important to get messed up now. And Erin-- she wasn’t going to rot in jail. Marley was just starting to accept that they were friends. And this-- this is what friends were for, wasn’t it?

She emptied out the fridge she knew Erin kept the extra organ’s in. Anything admissible. Cleaned up the supplies, stuffed the papers into a bag, wiped down the entire place, and disposed of her gloves and the cleaning supplies in the same bag she’d thrown the inventory in. 

Finally, the money. 

She piled it carefully into another bag, her own bag, making sure it didn’t look out of place at all, hidden under folders and a book. It wasn’t too much, but it also wasn’t Erin’s right now. If she missed a payment, Roy and his cronies would be onto them and the whole operation would be a bust. She needed to make sure it stayed protected and he got his payment. 

Slipping out the back, she gingerly set all her bags in the trunk of her car. The irony of using her cruiser was not beyond her, but it was all she had right now. She slammed it closed and pulled out, making sure the coast was clear before peeling away. 

Though she really didn’t want to be keeping any of this evidence at her house, at the moment, she wasn’t sure where else to put it. She couldn’t dump it, either-- it was too important, and the police very often scraped through the lake for evidence. So her place it was. The office her apartment sat above was currently used as a storage area, anyway. She pried back the vent boards and began piling the papers in, before moving to the deep freeze full of booze. Painstakingly took out each bottle, before wrapping the organs from the coolers in plastic and butcher paper, setting them in the bottom. Laid down a flat board and covered that with some paper as well, before restacking all of her bottles back in. And then she reset the room so that nothing looked out of place and closed it up. She sat back, slumped, rubbing her chest from a temporary flare of what felt like heartburn. 

She contemplated her actions for a moment-- she was used to doing things outside of the law. To covering up supernatural related crimes and dealing with the culprits herself. To prying into peoples’ dreams for evidence and blackmail. But this? This was different. This was big. Bigger than anything she’d done. Her hands shook a little bit.

What had pushed her to do something like this for someone else?

She knew the answer, but she wasn’t going to say it. Didn’t need to think about it. In the end, this would all benefit her, too. She wasn’t doing this selflessly. At the end of the day, that was all that mattered.

The sun was finally dropping below the horizon and Marley slid her sunglasses on. There was only one thing left to do, and she’d need help for this one.

Pulled up their contact in her phone. And really hoped they were as willing to help with supernatural crimes as they’d previously said they were when she’d helped them deal with those cultists.

This was going to be a long night.

[arthurjdrake]

Caffeine Doesn’t Fix : Erin + Arthur

When: A week into the realisation of Mercy’s blindness.  Where: Coffee Plus Who: Arthur and @corpse--diem Summary: Apparently caffeine doesn’t fix everything. Who knew? Aka these two crank pots need a month long nap and this time Erin’s the one running outta the coffee shop like her pants are on fire. Will they ever have a normal conversation? We just don’t know.

To say the week had gone to hell in a handbasket was perhaps one of the biggest understatements anyone might be able to put into words. Unfortunately, it was the nearest summation Arthur had for his life. The repercussions of the weekend were still resounding through Arthur’s life. Mercy was back at home and settled in as much as he could make her feel there considering she’d died and come back without any trace of her sight. It was the first instance either of them had experienced the occurrence - the only difference in circumstances being Regan’s scream in the morgue. He’d tried his best to make the house more accommodating, but Mercy’s cursing had taken up most of the time inside whenever she walked into a counter or a table. There had been several smashed glasses as well that had led to a panicked moment of ordering her to stay right there, don’t move whilst he cleaned up.

Which only fed into Mercy’s frustration and guilt and made an already vicious cycle even more difficult to deal with. There was a learning curve, and Arthur felt he was falling behind at every hurdle he came to. Sleep was something he was finding hard to come by, and the time morning came around it felt as if he was running on fumes.

Explaining why he chanced his luck at coffee plus, he hadn’t been here since the last time he’d run into Erin and the awkward exit regarding his identity. Arthur knew he looked frazzled; tousled hair hidden by a flat cap, blood-shot eyes and dark circles under his glasses. But he was hoping no one he knew would be in. He could get in, get out and go to the grocery store to get the things they needed to stock up. He was picking up his drink when the bell over the door chimed, and a casual glance over in that direction had him freezing mid-reach for his coffee. Maybe he could get out before she saw him. Maybe… Maybe she wouldn’t see him. “Oh bloody hell,” he cursed as he missed the barista’s hand entirely in the transference, the drink careening onto the floor and spilling everywhere. “Oh fuck, I’m so sorry… Fuck I’m so sorry about that,” he apologised quickly going to grab some serviettes and try to clean up some of the mess internally cringing at the situation he’d put himself in.

If there was ever a week that Erin needed the tallest, strongest cup of coffee White Crest had to offer, it was this one. Dale was dead by her hand and she’d barely slept since Roy fucking Chambers had given her the order to do so. She didn’t feel sorry that he was dead. Didn’t even feel sorry that she had been the one to do it. That was what bothered her. Her mind looped in frantic circles while heavy unease made her bones ache, even when every part of her body begged for that release to come. Occasionally it did, when her eyelids felt weighted down with lead and her words came out in slurs as if she’d spent the entire day drinking. And it was never long enough when she finally snapped back into consciousness a few hours later. She’d crack her lip open once more, cringe at the bruise smattering her cheek and eye and remember all over again. God, she missed sleep. But not nearly half as much as she didn’t Dale.

Maybe soon, maybe next week, or the next. Maybe when this was over, a deep rest would welcome her again. Marley’s words tickled her ear. What’s next? Coffee. For now? Lots of fucking coffee.

She closed her eyes and pressed on into Coffee Plus, the bell startling her eyes open a little wider than before. And if it wasn’t for the sudden chaos ahead in line, there was a good chance she would’ve missed the mess of a man altogether. “Arthur?” She asked, but behind his own exhausted face, she could tell. She’d scoured his family history long enough to be sure of it. Almost sure she’d never forget it again, honesty. Had she startled him? Made sense, considering the way she had practically spooked him out of this very cafe once already. “Sorry, sorry,” she shook her head, holding her hands up, mustering a small, tired smile. “I come in peace in search of a caffeinated sustenance,” she nodded, staying still as if she was trying to calm a wild animal.

The days had begun blending into one, taking into account recent occurrences Arthur had opted to cancel his summer classes. He’d cited family emergencies, and he figured the term was applicable enough given the situation. Mercy at home without sight leaving the both of them scared that it might never come back. Perhaps it wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but right now it was too much of a shock to truly process on top of everything else that had happened. What would they do if it never came back? They’d have to learn new ways to communicate and navigate the world. But whatever the outcome, Arthur was set in the fact he’d do everything he could to try and help.

But coffee was the order of business, until it wasn’t and coffee was the dripping stain down the front of his white t-shirt. He cringed both at himself and the scene that had come about all because of-

Oh boy she was coming over. A mildly charginned expression overcame the scholar’s features, a look that he schooled into something more apologetic and world-weary, “no it’s fine… I’m all over the place today it seems,” A slightly nervous laugh escaped him, what was she doing here? What was she doing talking to him? What did she want? Deciding that it was perhaps best not to worry about that right now Arthur looked at her properly for a moment, “you look like you’ve been through the wars” he remarked knowing it was a rather rich remark considering his own state of being. “Here let me… What do you want? Consider it an… apology for me running out on you last time we spoke.” Even now, Arthur couldn’t bring himself to blame another person for spooking him enough to make him bolt. Better to make amends and move forward than dwell in the dirges of past actions.

All over the place seemed like an understatement. “So is your coffee,” Erin noted, giving a half-smile, half-cringe as at the mess that had become of the front of his shirt. Whatever it was she had done during their last interaction had stuck with him pretty good, apparently. “And to think I thought I’d finally gained the ability to make grown men cower in my presence.” A dumb joke, she knew it, but hoped even if he agreed, the terrible attempt might coax some of that stress she saw everytime he looked her way.

When he commented on her own appearance, she couldn’t stop her eyes from widening a bit, bristling from his words. Guess she wasn’t holding herself together as well as she thought. “Gee, thanks,” she chuckled but shook her head. “Been a long week.” She could only assume he probably understood that sentiment more than he let on. “Considering I kind of ambushed you the last time we spoke--don’t worry about it. Seriously. This one’s on me,” she assured him with a nod and a smile. Probably wouldn’t hurt to make a better impression on her friend’s… boyfriend? That fact was still a little unclear. But she’d try regardless. Without giving him time to politely turn her down, she skipped ahead and requested two of whatever Arthur had poured all over himself. “Guess you’ve seen some wars yourself lately, huh?” She asked as they waited for the fresh new drinks, drumming her fingers along the wooden counter. After a moment, she glanced back up at him. “I know I don’t know you super well but, uh, Mercy seems pretty fond of you. And I can’t help but notice it looks like someone chewed you up and spit you back out yourself,” she joked, but her smile was soft and sincere. “I’ve been told I’m a pretty good listener. I have nowhere to rush off to right now, so if you don’t either--” she shrugged, her words drifting to an end, but the implication was made with a gesture towards an empty table.

“Yes, it would seem so,” Arthur agreed with a slightly lighter laugh pulling at the fabric a little, thankful the heat didn’t bother him at all but it didn’t change the fact it wasn’t ideal to have coffee all down his shirt. “No harm done I guess,” but the smile grew a touch more genuine at Erin’s attempt at a joke, “don’t know about cower, I’d definitely say flee in terror,” considering their last conversation that was for sure but his grin tired as it was gave away his joke.

Arthur hadn’t meant offence and seeing the slight change in her demeanour immediately earned another apologetic look holding his hands up a little as if to try and placate a situation he really wasn’t sure he could handle right now “sorry, I- didn’t mean to upset you- It was a joke… I was… I just meant I can relate. Long week and all that...” He cringed internally at the whole thing, how did he end up here? He wanted to protest as she said about taking care of the coffee, but she was already ordering before he had a choice leaving him to back up a little and just watch from the sidelines.

“You have no idea, I feel like it” he remarked wearily, rubbing his eyes he’d barely slept for the amount of reading and things he’d been doing. What he wasn’t anticipating was the offer she made next. It made him blink in surprise, a mild gnawing suspicion eating away at him but then again she was Mercy’s friend. That counted for something. “I mean… Sure, and likewise… If you want to talk about whatever’s going on with you as well…” Whether he could help he couldn’t say but maybe it would be good for them both. The coffees were presented, and Arthur reached for his cupping it in his hands before gesturing for her to go ahead before following to slide in opposite. He sat sipping at his coffee before he set it down and spoke, “have you uh- heard from her lately? Mercy that is… Probably the best place to start.”

“No need to apologize, honestly. You’re probably right, anyway” Erin shook her head, trying to keep that smile on her face to show she was still very much being friendly. It was funny, she thought, as the coffee cups were set down in front of them. Same place, roughly around the same time as the last time they’d bumped into each other. Not a thing felt the same though. Her curious drive for answers from before was nowhere to be found, and while he was still jumpy as could be, the energy behind it was different. Even in the face of it all, he was still making a great effort to be kind, polite, and she could appreciate that for what it was. This town was brutal and it’s darkness was relentless. If they didn’t take moments like these, it would have torn them all to pieces by now. But as kind as the gesture was, Arthur absofuckinglutely didn’t need to know about her current personal plague. Just a little too illegal and a little too dark to throw on a guy she barely knew. Seemed like a safe assumption.

“I appreciate that,” she grabbed her cup, smiled warmly once more, then took a seat across from him. God, sweet caffeine. She was already sipping it before they’d properly settled in. At Arthur’s question regarding Mercy, her mind flashed back to their last visit. Beer, drunken sparring, inhuman healing. With all that had gone on, she hadn’t had a chance to connect with her since. “No,” Erin shook her head, a trickle of concern worming its way into her chest. “Not since, uh--” she paused, unsure as she tried to read Arthur’s expression. “She didn’t tell you about what happened the last time I saw her, did she? I know you guys are pretty close.” Close was the most polite way she could think of to touch on that whole story she’d also learned that day.

There always had to be some form of light in the darkness, Arthur did his best to look for it. Didn’t mean he was always successful in finding it, or that it held answers he particularly wanted but it was better than living day to day under the oppressive grind of horror and harm that seemed to pervade the very essence of this town. But like most people living here he managed to the best of his ability, though the journey wasn’t easy, the work it required made the outcome worthwhile. At least, usually it did.

Right now finding the light was easier said than done, but it wasn’t something he was quite certain how to put into words. So he focussed on his coffee mulling over the things he knew, the things he didn’t and the questions that pervaded the darkness around those things he didn’t know.

But the tiredness was replaced with a touch of a wry smile that came at the somewhat hesitant phrasing of her question, “no need to be delicate about it. You’re right, but she tells me pretty much everything so… I’m aware you’re privy to a fraction of our uh… convoluted history.” Which was putting it mildly. He took a sip of his coffee, but the small smile remained proof that he wasn’t mad. “Which and correct me if I’m wrong… She also told you about the… uh year in which that particular incident happened?” Which rather neatly segwayed into addressing their last unfortunate conversation in this very shop. But better to get a grasp of what Erin did and didn’t know first.

Erin had learned more than a few things about both Mercy and Arthur in one go. He knew it but his vagueness was an all too obvious fishing ploy. A friendly one, but fishing nonetheless. “Convoluted is a good word,” she nodded, hiding the small smirk forming behind a long, drawn out sip. But he clearly wanted to know exactly what she knew. Felt a little weird to be talking so personally to someone she barely knew--but at least it wasn’t her life they were digging into. It could stay that way. Finally, she set the cup down, shrugging. “I was a little--okay, a lot drunk. But you guys were… engaged, if I remember correctly?” She questioned, tapping her thumb against the coffee lid. “I understand now how different Mercy is--actually, ‘understand’ is probably a word I shouldn’t be throwing around. I don’t mean that negatively, trust me. But I hope you can understand why I’m still wrapping my head all around of… that,” she gestured vaguely towards him. Her eyes narrowed slightly, hints of concern bubbling to the surface, and her tone growing a tad sharper. “What’s going on with Mercy, Arthur? She’s okay, right? Can you at least tell me that?”

To say it was uncomfortable sitting in front of a stranger who knew all too much about your own life and private business was a little bit of an understatement. So while Arthur’s front was amicable, a polite if slightly reserved smile there were several guards that lay behind that presentation. He didn’t like people knowing his business, because the more people that knew or got involved the higher the risk of them talking or selling him out was. But she elaborated, and Arthur settled into a role he was just a fraction more comfortable with. The listener. It made it easier to try and process why he even felt compelled to sit down and have this conversation. Endure it. Erin knew too much even with the fragments she did have and that in itself was enough to set him on edge.

“Yeah, we were,” he confirmed, his jaw ticking at the memory of that own revelation a few months prior. His thoughts went to the wedding rings and the note left in the jeep. Left behind just in case Mercy did actually die. The memory soured his next sip of coffee and Arthur ended up placing it on the table and simply wrapping his hands around the cup as a small anchor and focus for himself. Trust me. A phrase he’d heard so many times across the centuries it was almost comical. Trust me. How many times had that ended well? And yet he was in the unfortunate position that he really didn’t have much choice. “Yes, I can appreciate this reality is a lot to process,” Arthur agreed, a deeper meaning to a simple phrase carefully chosen, calculated as most of his actions usually were. He knew because he’d lived that coming to terms over and over and over again, not to mention seeing that reality dawn on people on their own coming to terms with it. “As I’m sure is finding out what Mercy is.”

There was a pause and a subtle flare of a temper that was carefully kept in check, he didn’t appreciate information being demanded of him even if it was out of concern. So he took a moment to stop his temper bleeding over into his tone that remained calm but to the point, “please mind your tone, I’m here because you’re Mercy’s friend and you somewhat have a right to this conversation even if I don’t feel very comfortable with how much you seem to know about me.” Before she could interject or get her heckles up in regards to his statement he held a hand up to give pause before he answered her question “in short, no, she’s not alright. She was murdered at the lake and then came back but there were some complications… Which we’re taking care of… Hence,” he gestured vaguely back to his own mildly bedraggled appearance. “She’s staying with me for the time being until we can get her back to rights.”

A lot to process. That was putting it mildly. Erin lifted her eyes from the table to subtly check around them. People entered and exited with the speed most cafes exhibited. Some stuck around but thankfully not too close to where they sat. “Guess I’m just lucky I got relentlessly pelted with the ‘supernaturals are real’ bombs to help lighten the blow with this particular one.” It was still a surprise. Still centuries of lifetimes and secrets she had no clue were buried within one of her oldest friends.

Erin flinched. She hadn’t expected to be scolded for showing concern for her friend throughout this vague explanation and she sure as hell didn’t appreciate the ignorant hand that went up, presumably to stop her from expressing how the fuck she felt about that. As if she had come searching him out, forcefully sticking her nose into his business when it had all but fallen into her lap very accidentally. That anger returned, swelled, and she did her best to hold back everything but the equally annoyed glare she shot across the table. She could give him the benefit of the doubt here. She had to, she guessed--people grew sensitive when their secrets were exposed or made vulnerable. He was exhausted and she’d apparently touched a nerve. She’d let it slide for now, not that it mattered. As soon as she heard murdered, her anger hissed to a quick, cold death, like a bucket of water had been dumped onto a campfire. “Murdered,” she echoed, unable to stop the way her mouth gaped open. “But she’s--she’s staying with you? So that means she’s actually alive right? She’s okay--or will be? Because of the whole--who--what she is?” She asked, fear and confusion stunting her sentences. How could she be murdered if she was alive? Was that just one of those Valkyrie quirks? She still had so many questions that had gone unanswered from her and Mercy’s evening together. Not as prepared as she thought for this, she realized. “What the fuck? Why? Just--why?”

It was curious to see how different people reacted to the very fundamental pillars of their reality being shifted under their feet. Some leapt in headfirst, others tapped into denial and some became so paranoid about every bump in the night they struggled to function and sometimes you got an eclectic mix between all three. So where Erin glanced around, Arthur sipped his coffee but he couldn’t help the humoured laugh that came upon hearing her remark about her introduction “huh, if I’m honest that’s probably the easiest ways to come to terms with it.”

Perhaps it was fatigue or a combination of all the things that had been happening recently but a typically compliant patience was worn thin, less flexible to accommodation as it might have been otherwise. Arthur in all his years hated one thing. Having his control taken away. Even inadvertently shifting the foundations on which his methodical order and view of life threw him through a loop he didn’t always quite know how to cope with. So having someone demand more information, out of concern or otherwise didn’t set the best of tones. Still the glare was enough that it made Arthur wince, “sorry, I’m- snappy when I’m tired.”

“Yes, murdered” he confirmed giving Erin the time to process that particular reality. The questions that followed were warranted and Arthur sat back, shoulders slumping tiredly but did his best to explain. “Long story short, yes, she’s alive now. Valkyries can’t be killed,” he gauged her expression but her questions provided some clarity might be required “I don’t know how much detail she told you but generally if they do die they’ll uh-- resurrect isn’t quite the right word but it’s the best one I can think of.”

“So the other day she was drowned by some guy-- Nic I think his name was? While fighting some demon squid that was going to end the world or maybe just White Crest… I dunno details were a bit fuzzy there - pronounced dead at the scene, taken to the morgue, spent several hours in Regan’s freezer, came back just before her autopsy was due… Now she’s blind and living at my house for the time being while we try and figure shit out.” It was a lot, but those were the details of it in short.

The moment Erin heard Nic’s name come out of Arthur’s mouth, all the questions she hadn’t asked--hadn’t wanted to ask--about that night fell into place. She heard the rest of the explanation but it took more than a few moments for the words to properly process. Drowned. Woke up in Regan’s autopsy room. Her hands covered her face and she suddenly felt more exhausted than when she’d entered this goddamn coffee shop. “Of course,” she added on a heavy sigh, one that left her deflated right there at that table. They couldn’t just move past this, could they? There had to be just one extra entanglement that snared her right back in when she was trying to help him move on.

“He didn’t mean--” she stopped herself, shaking her head. Fuck, no. She didn’t owe Arthur anything here. It was an accident. Nic wanted to be part of this less than anyone involved. Mercy was fine. Blind, apparently, and probably a little bit traumatized. But fine. Alive. That’s all that they needed to know, but she felt the burn that came with admitting just three words too much. Time for a rapid fire subject change. “She’s blind?” Erin glanced up from her hands suddenly. “How?”

It seemed from where Arthur sat, trying to gauge Erin’s reaction that this was perhaps too much too soon. Typical that in trying to make things better it only seemed to make things worse. Looking away from her he turned his attention to his coffee cup instead as it he might find something helpful to say there. Unfortunately there was nothing but the black earth juice that fuelled most of his days and nights of late. What he hadn’t anticipated was Erin to elaborate regarding this Nic-- and his head lifted sharply “wait, you know him? Mercy wanted to speak to him…” Arthur didn’t really care for the idea, but he respected Mercy enough to afford her some benefit of the doubt.

The change of subject didn’t really go amiss, and Arthur’s brow furrowed a fraction even the memory of that night was horrific and sent a chill down his spine. “Yeah… I got her home from the morgue… Looked like she was crying,” his hands tightened around the mug, his own worry and unabiding fear creeping into his voice. “Then I realised they weren’t tears… It was blood.” He hadn’t slept much, but on the few occasions he’d fallen asleep that image had pervaded his mind, the crimson tracks against her pale skin and a chilling fear gripping his heart of being so helpless that nothing he could do would help. It was a terrifying thought. But Erin already knew too much and he doubted she’d understand that degree of fear.

The panic in Erin’s gut was real, and it only continued to escalate the longer she sat here. God, this whole trip had just been an excuse to get out of the house. Get some fresh air. Revitalize with some coffee. The plan hadn’t been to run smack dab into a wall of problems she didn’t know existed. “I do. He’s a friend.” Someone she’d trust with her life, even after all of this. God, this was exhausting. That fucking squid had ripped apart and ruined more lives than she could keep track of anymore and it was written all over Arthur’s face.

Sinking back into her chair, Erin shook her head again, that flutter-y anxiety that twisted her insides returning with a sharp yank. “I’m sure he’ll reach out to her. When he’s ready. This hasn’t been easy on him either.” But she couldn’t shake the image of Mercy waking up like that. Of that look in Nic’s eyes when he finally came home a week afterwards. Suddenly she couldn’t stomach the thought of another sip of coffee. Just one thing too much. She could practically feel her brain numbing and glossing over. “I’m sorry,” she swallowed, standing up faster than she realized possible. This was too much. “Please--tell Mercy I’m sorry. If there’s anything I can do to help her, or you, you’ll let me know, okay?” She insisted as she gathered her things, trucking steadily towards the door. She didn’t know where she was going but she knew she couldn’t handle this a moment more. “I hope you get some sleep!” she hollered as she hurried through the door.

“Oh… I see-” Arthur wasn’t quite certain what he thought about all this, no, that was a lie he knew exactly what he thought about all this. Erin clearly knew this person well enough to seem to have some idea what they would think about all this. To start trying to make an excuse on this Nic’s behalf. But hearing that he’d reach out sat wrong. Why should this man, this stranger get away with this and be left to his own devices? There was a flare of anger that coiled in his chest at the thought but it was tempered into a simmer. If this was how Erin wanted to play it. So be it.

Arthur sat and watched as any further length of this apparent ‘conversation’ Erin wanted to have was cut short as she pulled the same exact stunt he had last time. Cut and run. Did she know more about this than she’d let on? Was this all just an attempt to get more information and see what had been figured out? They were all questions that ran through Arthur’s mind as he watched this unfold before his very eyes. “Right....” the word was said slowly, and Arthur had no such intent. Erin had done nothing to prove he could trust her and running off like this instead of facing up to things that really needed discussing didn’t count in her favour either.

So the empty holler as she vanished out the door was met with a baleful look of resignation in the direction of the door as it swung shut as Arthur committed himself to finishing the coffee (it was free after all) and stew over the repercussions he wished would be enacted on this stranger who’d dared to cross him and his own. You can only run for so long Nic.

[alwaysahiccupandastrid]

what are your thoughts on the skeleton twins

Hi! I finished watching it last night but desperately needed sleep after because I knew I had things to do this morning, and I also wanted to process it (sometimes I have to take some time to process movies, other times I just word vomit about them).

This is kind of long but I’ll add a read more later when I have the chance!

Anyway; The Skeleton Twins...I really enjoyed it! I went in knowing absolutely nothing except that Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig were in it and playing twins, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I think, given the two actors I mentioned, I was expecting pure comedy or something? But I was so blown away by the film and the performances they gave.

Obviously I love both Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig anyway but this movie really showed their serious acting chops. There were some funny moments too, of course, but they’re both really talented doing genres outside of comedy too, and it sometimes takes me aback when I see comedians do such a good job with non-comedic roles - then again, comedy is probably the hardest genre to pull off, and so it’s no wonder they’re both talented anyway. (I’m rambling, sorry!)

{below here I’m talking about themes related to mental health/suicide, and I can’t put a read more at the moment because I’m currently on my mobile - I will be putting a read more here when I get the chance later!}

I was so taken aback though because the film starts with Milo attempting to commit suicide and Maggie contemplating it, and I guess...it’s something I have struggled with, and so it really made my heart drop especially when I saw Milo in the bathtub and the water turn red. It doesn’t show him actually cutting but we all know what happened. Without going into too much detail, SH and mental illness is something I really struggle with, even though I’m slowly recovering these days - it never truly goes away though, you know it’s there even if you’ve gotten better and it’s something you learn to cope and deal with.

Honestly, I was sort of pleasantly surprised by how well the film portrayed mental illness and suicide with both the main characters. I felt at times I should have hated Maggie for cheating and lying to her husband but I also sort of empathized with her (not with the cheating, just the whole situation and being in a huge mess), and I think what made the film was the relationship between the two siblings because it’s so real and natural, especially if you consider the circumstances when they were younger. Their interactions as siblings was so believeable too, like sometimes you’ll watch movies with siblings and the siblings are all mushy or too at each other’s throats, and it’s unrealistic. They both feel so relatable and easy to connect to, though I suppose I am kind of more biased towards Bill’s character because he’s the reason I watched it (after seeing the clip of him dancing online - that was literally the only part I had seen before).

This is kind of dumb, but as I said, I thought they did a great job portraying depression and the aftermath of the suicide attempts? Like when Maggie was drowning herself and then panicked and tried to swim back up but couldn’t - I’ve heard stories of people who have survived jumping off of bridges or whatever, and they’ve said that after making that jump they instantly regretted it. I think that’s so accurate - it’s not glamourizing suicide either, like it would have been so easy to have her sink peacefully and be rescued without her wanting it and then realize what she’s doing but instead they showed the panic, the regret.

I think what especially caught my eye, however, was the fact that Milo was wearing bracelets on his wrists later in the film to hide his scars and like...? That is so relatable, that is something I do during the summer if it’s been one of those instances, I wear bracelets and wristbands and sometimes even tie a bandana around my wrist to hide it.

I don’t know if that’s just something I do/have done and I’m projecting, or if it’s because actual research/thought was put into it, but either way it was something that really stood out to me and made him more relatable?

I can’t remember the name of Milo’s ex teacher but he can get fucked for all I care. He took advantage and manipulated a teenage boy and I think that’s important to remember. It would be easy to just freak out because omg cute gay couple but to me I just saw it as a one-sided unhealthy relationship where one is manipulative and abusive to the other who feels like they need their love, and it’s kind of depressing - but then Milo basically says “fuck that” by the end, and it’s beautiful because it’s like he’s deciding “you know what, I deserve to be treated better” - and he does, he really does. Beforehand it felt (to me) like he allowed himself to be used and mistreated because he felt like that was the only way he could feel worthy, but then he grows and develops and I think that’s so important.

I think I should also briefly mention that the scene where Maggie tells Milo “maybe next time you should cut deeper” genuinely broke my heart for many reasons - because she’s so upset and her marriage is ruined and everything is a mess, so much so that she actually says that to him before immediately regretting it. And ofc I was so upset because that’s literally something your brain tells you when you’re depressed and suicidal/self harm, that maybe next time...yeah. You can see the flurry of emotions on his face as he processes what she said, like he’s in genuine disbelief that she - his own sister, his twin - said such a cruel and disgusting thing to him like that. It genuinely broke my heart to see, though I was glad they did eventually mend things between them.

Some other things I want to mention but don’t have the brain capacity to talk about properly because I’m exhausted and a dumbass:

The Marley and Me joke was so relatable omg, I read the more child friendly version when I was little but I had no idea the dog died and it broke my damn heart, so that little joke about Marley and Me was hilarious to me

Honestly I’m talking a lot about Bill Hader but I do truly adore Kristen Wiig too, like she’s probably one of the most diverse actresses who does all sorts of genres and projects - from voice acting to drama to SNL etc - and she’s incredible in this film.

Lance was a sweetheart and I feel sorry for him? Like he genuinely loved Maggie and was such a nice guy, and while some of the stuff he said wasn’t always helpful or correct, it came from a place of caring and that’s what matters. Also he was totally cool with his brother in law who he never met before coming and living in his house, and he even helped Milo get some work (even if said work WAS clearing brush away)

The scene where the twins go out and Bill Hader is dressed in drag is honestly a highlight of this movie

Actually the scene where he sees himself the first time in drag is also a highlight

The scene where the mother is making a long ass toast while everyone is waiting to drink their wine, and Maggie/Kristen Wiig just downs her glass before she’s finished is so relatable

Okay but there’s a scene where Milo goes to a gay bar looking for a lay and just...the night he goes, of course it’s fuckin “Dyke Night” (their words, not mine!) and then he comes home absolutely pissed and telling his sister and his brother in law that he just wanted “some c*ck”, omg I was laughing way too hard. Also let’s not forget that he said the two “lesbian ladies” he met were lovely and taught him to play darts, we love mlm and wlw solidarity!!

Well since we’ve already established I’m fucking trash for Bill Hader, let’s just include that moment where his character is shirtless (kinda) in bed

That scene where Maggie meets up with some woman she knew (in high school I think?) and that woman has a son, and the son is a little dick and the mom and the son are cussing at each other was a whole new level of hilarious I didn’t expect, like I was deadass expecting this chick to go on about how wonderful it is to be a mother even when he’s a dick to her, how it’s a great gift, but nope, she knows and even says he’s a fucking dick 😂

THE DENTIST OFFICE SCENE JESUS CHRIST I HAD TO PAUSE BECAUSE I WAS GENUINELY PISSING MYSELF WITH LAUGHTER?!

THAT DANCE SCENE AM I RIGHT, OMG, like he’s so cute and happy in that scene and then she joins in and it’s so dorky and fun??

I LOVE all the water imagery and shit, like maybe it’s just because I’m an absolute geek for swimming (it’s one of maybe three sports I don’t totally suck at??) and I love the cinematography underwater, whether it’s the skeleton key ring sinking or the scuba diving or Milo’s goldfish. So much wonderful cinematography and imagery!

This film has ultimately shown me that Wiig and Hader deserve Oscars and awards ASAP

Also this is just a general note to anyone reading, feel free to recommend movies to me anytime because I’m a cinephile and love getting to watch new films!

[snkpolls]

SnK Chapter 122 Poll Results

The chapter 122 poll closed with 1,472 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

RATE THE CHAPTER 1,428 Responses

This is one for the record books. Chapter 122 is officially the highest rated chapter since we started the poll. A whopping 85.2% of respondents gave it the top rating. The previous record holder was chapter 101 (79.8%) which featured the long awaited return of the Survey Corps.

5 out of 5 for the pig who seeks freedom! Fight For Freedom! Revolt! Revolt! Revolt!

Each chapter is becoming my favorite every time and this one isn't different. It's a fantastic read.

In a single chapter Founder Ymir became one of my top five characters in this series point blank.

I thought nothing could top chapter 100. 122 is the best one of the entire story. 

A turning point. Very well executed. Congrats, Isayama, can't wait to see what you still have on store!

Yet another mind-blowing chapter, honestly one of my favorites in the series! Honestly, this was a chapter I have been awaiting since I started getting into SnK, and those feelings increased following the basement reveal chapters where we are left to wonder which parts of Ymir's story are true and which are false.

One of the best chapters of the series! Definitely gave me a new appreciation for Attack on Titan from a story telling standpoint.

I love how many questions this answers and also creates; I’m happy that there are still many things left a mystery!

Aamazing chapter, I fucking cried. Now give me Historia, Isayama. I need her.

I'm just so happy to see it finally coming together and not be let-down

If Floch doesn't die in the Rumbling I want a refund

Worldwide genocide, taking care of kids, get you a man who can do both

LEEEEET'S GET READY TO RUUUUUUUUUUUMBLE!!!

Damn, Isayama.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT? 1,439 Responses

You guys are almost as split on this question as Ymir’s Titan Powers are. Speaking of, she also happens to directly occupy the two most common answers, with 48.7% rating their favorite moment as either her backstory, or her conversation with Eren.The fall of the walls takes third place, followed by Eren’s revival and the cliffhanger at the end of the chapter.

WHO IS MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR 'STARTING THIS STORY?' 1,419 Responses

You started this story, didn’t you: pig who got freed?  45.1% feel that the earliest in story event makes for a good starting point.  Just over ¼ of respondents felt the Founder Ymir Fritz is most responsible.  8.4% feel it’s Eren, and only 3.4% chose Grisha for whom the quote originally signified.  The most popular write-in answer, King Fritz, overtook poor Grisha at 4.2%.  Variations on King Fritz in the write-ins numbered almost 200.

People's greed. It started with the first King Fritz and it continued with the next generations

The Eldians (First Fritz)

Isayama. He started the whole story! If that wasn't him, the pigs would not run away.

Everybody has played their own part, it is not simply a matter of what single person is the most responsible.

The Attack titan

The Marleyean military higher ups that ordered Bertolt, Reiner, Annie and Marcel to breach the walls of Paradis Island

Those that blamed Ymir

The spinal fluid that was inside the three because if that wasn't there, titans would have never existed in the first place.

The cycle of violence/hatred/slavery. The King Fritz probably wasn't the first to be this way. The story has no true beginning because it's a cycle, but Eren will be the end.

King Dickz

The first King. Why isn't it an option?

WHO DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST CONNECTED TO/PARALLELS YMIR THE MOST? 1,422 Responses

Our current queen seems to resemble the first queen quite a bit, with almost half of respondents, at 46.8% saying Historia parallels original Ymir the most.  35% feel Ymir is most connected to, well, Ymir.  14.3% chose Eren, and a sliver of votes went to Zeke at 1.6%.

Though there are more parallels to  Freckled Ymir, the pregnancy of Ymir Fritz can be a connection-foreshadowment of Historia's pregnancy plan. So I'll say that there are parallels to both Freckled ymir and Historia.

Mikasa is a lot like pre freedom ymir

Anyone who has been trapped in life

Connected to: Eren. Parallels: Freckled Ymir.

both Historia and freckled Ymir, obvs. And Mikasa, to a lesser extent

A lot of the cast parallel OG Ymir

Grisha

Definitely Freckled Ymir. She took the blame of all those people in the hopes of being useful or wanted through her sacrifice and then got the power of the titans. 

Ymir has parallels to Historia, freckled Ymir and Zeke

Time will show.

I'd say both Historia and Ymir: the cult picked up Ymir, who was a homeless child, similar to how Founder Ymir was a slave without name or status; the two of them stood for their people even after they've been denounced out of cowardice and fought for someone else until their very end, out of pure selflessness. Historia parallels Founder Ymir by how she became a slave of her blood, and a tool to be used.

I was gonna say Oluo, but he never actually lost his tongue.

HAVE YOUR OPINIONS SHIFTED NEGATIVELY ON ELDIA? 1,421 Responses

In a conflict with no clear start, we get to see further back into the past!  But did the revelations change your mind?  The vast majority at 66.3% don’t give a flying fritz about who started it, they just want to see the bloodshed end.  12.7% say their outlook has changed but Marley is more in the wrong still; and only 5.3% had this chapter change their mind to the Eldians being most at fault.

All the men in power are as bad as each other

Both nations committed atrocities

Both sides are slaves to history, Eldia today is not responsible for the actions 2000 years ago. 

Eldia in the past I always figured were some tyrannical force, I mean what else would happen with an ancient civilisation discovering the Power of the Titans. But Marley's propaganda having some truth to it doesn't mean they're justified in their treatment of Eldians in the modern day who had nothing to do with the original Eldia. 

How could we know? What was the relationship between eldia and Marley before Ymir turned into a titan? Was Marley in the wrong before they were overtaken by eldia/even before king fritz took Marley people prisoner?

King Fritz is the one to blame. Not all of Eldia and ESPECIALLY not the Survey Corps.

Marley is more in wrong because they are continuing to perpetuate the conflict in the present.

The current characters we love and want to end up happy have nothing to do with the past, they just want to be free.

EVERYONE IS IN THE WRONG BUT THAT'S HOW THE WORLD WORKS

There's neither bad or right in this story "Everyone can become a god or a devil, all it takes is for someone to claim that to be the truth" 

WHO IS THE BIGGEST ASSHOLE IN THE MANGA THUS FAR? 1,433 Responses

In a story filled with lovable characters, there’s also tons of douchenozzles.  67.7% believe the original King Fritz is the worst of them all. 17.2% took the intellectual route and responded with “Yes”.

All of them are rotten, selfish and full of hatred people who only think about themselves and are ready to manipulate own children (or other people) for own benefits.

first king Fritz of Eldia and Eren 

Gabi a.k.a. Garbage

I believe king fritz and gross deserve eatch other, they are the assholes of their times

I'm surprised Zeke finally got a rival in being the worst human ever in person of King Fritz.  

No recognition for our very own Darius 'poo-chair' Zackly? 

Most have a at least some humanizing (if not redeeming) qualities, but both King Fritz and Gross are evil to the core

King Fritz, but Flock is also an big asshole (it's never a bad time to point that)

Where's Zeke? To be honest I can't decide between Fritz, Floch, and Zeke.

Who the fuck put floch here, come here and fight 

Why on earth are Karina and Alma here? They were horrid mothers to their kids; the others are guilty of murder, torture and genocide.  

Ymir Fritz because she received godlike powers and decided to stay with a power hungry king; she was free and could have done anything but because of her slave mentality she decided to stay with him for 13 years! as uncle Ben said "With great power comes great responsibility"

The 145th king is the only one who did unreasonable bad things to his people, he literally allowed his people to be enslaved all over the world and he allowed the future genocide of his people. The worst thing is this doesn't do anything. It doesn't save the world from anything. Even the paradise he created was all for himself because he couldn't deal with reality. His logic is faulty, but even so he couldn't even do the job himself. The only one that can be worst than him is Zeke who's another evil man who wants to exterminate his own people. But, unlike Karl, Zeke is willing to do the job himself.

That goddamn pig

WHAT IS THE TREE YMIR FOUND? 1,424 Responses

In a chapter with so many answers, we still have vague origins!  Starting from the start, what in the world is that tree?  Over half of you, at 55.5%, think it’s Attack on Titan’s version of the Yggdrasil tree from Norse mythology.  24.2% say it’s the source of all organic matter we’ve heard discussed.  11.3% say it just grew out of what it’s housing, and 5.9% think it’s similar to the forest of giant trees.

A connection between a human and the Earth, hence the Devil of All Earth

A wellspring or hidden primordial lake

Yggdrasil but is the source of all organic matter somehow, and I think it's somehow related to the trees on Paradis being so big.

A hideout for that Hallucigenia thing left by the devil

It appears almost as a man and women embracing. Adam and Eve??

It doesn't matter. It was never about the origin of the titans, it was about the power of the titans and the moral implications of it. How the titans came to be is irrelevant.

The Great Deku Tree dungeon

Titan tree. It is probably the same species as the trees surrounding it, but has grown unnaturally large due to the parasite in it's water source.

Tree

WHAT IS THE THING IN THE TREE YMIR FOUND? 1,421 Responses

Another layer of mystery within the mystery tree!  Two main thoughts emerged and are almost even in popularity.  46.9% believe it is the source of all organic matter; wheread 44.3% say it’s a parasite of unknown origin.  3.2% say it’s in fact the devil itself.

A connection to the earth, making her the Devil

A *Symbiote* of unknown origin

A root of the tree that connects whoever it touches with the paths realm

A root of the tree that's been soaked and absorbing the water; the water is the real source.

I've seen enough hentai to know that is an alien

It could be the very first living being on this planet, a sort of progenitor from which all genes and all variations of biodiversity came to be.

Just a spine in the water turning little girl to big girl. What's supposed to be special about that?

This world's version of Níðhöggr, the many legged dragon that eats at the roots of the Tree of Life.

The spine of the previous founder

The Great Deku Tree dungeon boss. Ymir lost.

A poorly designed shit-machine that can't get the job done

A L I E N S

DID YMIR TEMPORARILY DIE WHEN SHE FELL IN THE TREE? 1,425 Responses

When Ymir fell into the tree, did she drown?  The majority of the fanbase doesn’t feel anything like that happened, whereas over a ¼ at 26.6% feel she died and was revived.  5% believe she died, and was thereafter controlled by the parasite type thing.

Dying and being brought back to life is meant to be Zeke's thing!!

I think she was almost dying but the parasite healed her.

It revived her and created a clone within the paths dimension.

I think Ymir's body as a child is still in that tree to this day, with the parasite still attached to her. It was deep underground, thus affecting the ground shared by its roots (assuming this is Paradis), and being the reason for all the giant trees. It also explains a little Titans being creatures of the Earth, and Ymir forming them with sand.

She became a Titan seconds before dying

She probably passed out for a few seconds after she drowned, and it was during that brief state of unconsciousness that parasite attached to her.

Ymir the human died, and Ymir the Titan was born. That's why Ymir the human is in the Paths and not Ymir the Titan. Ymir the Human sculpts the titan body for her Titan self, because time is infinite and strange in Paths.

A mix of both Yes answers - it revived her but also controlled her body so that she could only watch on as an observer. It makes her more of a slave without a free will as something else is literally controlling her body from within her and she can’t do anything about it

P A T H S

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST STANDOUT TO YOU ABOUT YMIR'S TITAN DESIGN? 1,429 Responses

We finally got to see the original founding titan in the flesh!  The ribs sticking out stuck out to 39.7% the most.  29.5% of you found it interesting that the overall design was uglier than the goddess like depictions we’ve seen.  17.6% went for the skull face she has, and 11.8% simply went for the HUGE size.

All of above, just look at that atrocity

Her missing eyes

Everything, the ribs were the first thing I noticed with the face being next. It took me a 2nd read through the chapter to realize that she is bigger than the Colossal titan. Definitely one of the best titan designs from Isayama

How malnourished it looks

It's terrifying and it's the fusion of the 9 titans

The fact that it looks nothing like I expected or imagined 

Everything about it - One can see exactly why the truth about her was easily manipulated.

ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 5, HOW OFFENSIVE TO YOU IS THE FACT THAT THE ORIGINAL WARHAMMER TITAN HAD HAIR? 1,418 Responses

This question was for that one guy who absolutely could not deal with the original WHT’s hair. You’re in good company, but the results are about as polarized as global politics. 35% want Emma back immediately, 16.4% don’t really care about this egregious crime, and 32.4% are totally indifferent. Only 16% had slight feelings in either direction. The poll lawyers are telling me that I have to clarify that Emma is still only a fandom name for the previous Warhammer. Get on it Isayama.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE DESIGNS WE SAW FOR THE ORIGINAL TITANS?

You guys liked Ymir’s Founding Titan so much that it’s literally off the charts. The original Attack Titan got some pretty mixed reviews, but the general consensus is that you guys prefer an Eren and/or a Jaeger to be driving that thing. The scourge of the hair comes back to beat down the original Warhammer’s ratings as well, but the majority remain indifferent. Speaking of indifference, more of you were indifferent about the OG Colossal Titan than had strong feelings one way or another combined. We’ll see how that result changes when it ends up CGI in Season 4. The general consensus on the original Armored Titan is, “It’s alright, I guess.” The Female Titan was the second on the list to have a majority “Love” rating, though whether this is due to the design or severe Annie Deprivation Syndrome remains to be seen.

DID YMIR MANAGE TO GRAB THE 'MOST TRAGIC BACKSTORY' AWARD? 1,422 Responses

Another tear jerking childhood to add to the list, but does it top it?  The overwhelming majority at 83.5% feel that she did earn that award of tragedy.  6.3% believe the classic sufferboi Reiner still tops the charts.  3.4% went for Levi, 1.8% for the other Ymir, 0.7% for Zeke and 0.4% for Historia.

Everyone has suffered uniquely in this series, how can I choose ?

First, I'm offended Grisha wasn't included here. Second, everyone's suffered too much. So they all win.

Her backstory definitely is the darkest and saddest one. Reiner, Historia, Ymir and the rest had their moments of happiness. They were surrounded by loving people. Ymir was always all alone; born as a slave, had full of sadness life and after death she was creating titans for 2000 years. She just wanted to be free and wanted be loved, yet she had none of that. 

Homegirl is still living her 2000-year-long tragic backstory, she definitely wins

I don't think tragic backstories should be a competition

I think you forgot about Mr Yeager :) those guys are not even close to him

Is this Suffering Olympics or something?

Ymir and Mikasa the most sad tragic backstory

Ymir is always showed as a mindless slave, even at the start of her backstory, it is too hard to empathize with someone that never acted as a human being and lived her whole life without any emotion

Grisha easily has it for me. Ymir's circumstances were worse from birth, and Reiner's dissonance and misery is tragic, but Grisha's perceived misery throughout his cycles of perpetual tragedy shows that he easily suffered the most. 

Give them all a hug.

P I G

WAS THE MURDERER OF YMIR HELOS? 1,408 Responses

Is Helos historical or completely fabricated?  10.7% believe the Marleyan who killed Ymir is in fact Helos, and 66.9% believe the character is based on him.  22.4% don’t believe the idea of Helos and this man are related in any way.

The one showing rebellion in this chapter is the figure serving as a role model for Helos. Unlike Ymir, he was powerless and only had his spear, but he took enough courage to show resistance to Eldia's domination and toss his spear at the king. He paid it with his life, but he fatally wounded Ymir in return, showing even the goddess of titans could bleed. I'm confident the myth of Helos is going to be relevant in the future chapters.

YMIR didn't die with the spear-throw..I think her conscious form was stuck in the paths before her body revived. 

Helos? Really?? Helos???

WHICH OF THESE LIKELY TO BE CENSORED SCENES WAS THE MOST GRUESOME? 1,421 Responses

In a series filled with gore, this chapter was above average with violence.  Ymir’s young daughters cannibalizing their mother was the most gruesome according to almost all of you at 89.2%.  Second place is a bit behind at 3.5%, with centipede spine Eren.

All of the above

Everything but Centipede Eren

The guy getting his tongue cut out that was even censored for the manga.

We've seen lots of people being eaten so not that, and Erentipede is going to be stunning animated so not that. Maybe head on a pike. 

The tongue cut from the beginning really horrified me, it put the chapter in a great atmosphere from the start

No mention about that slave getting his tongue cut out by those ancient Eldian soldiers? That was pretty grizzle. That panel implies that all people enslaved by the Eldians lost their tongues upon getting captured, which meant that Ymir likely lost her tongue as well. That really explains how she had no spoken dialogue in the past, and while the tongue may have regenerated following her first Titan transformation, the length of time she couldn't speak and her status most likely prevented her from speaking.

No need to be censored

WHAT DOES EREN MEAN BY 'PUT AN END TO THIS WORLD'? 1,419 Responses

Eren’s finally stated what he plans to do; but what does it mean!?  45.9% believe the world he plans to destroy is the paths realm, eldning titans that way.  25.4% think he just meant dismantling the status quo of the world.  14.4% say he’s just going to rumble enemies of Eldia, whereas 10.6% say the whole earth.

All options seem plausible

Destroy the PATHS realm and rumble the enemies invading Eldia. 

He plans to rumble all life, destroy the paths realm, AND erase all the memories of the remaining Eldians on Paradis so they completely forget about the history of the titans, thus effectively making the past 2000 years seem like they never even happened. ANDHe plans to destroy the PATHS realm, putting an end to titans

He wants to destroy the world as it is now. He wants to create a world where none of the things that happened to Ymir can ever happen again.

I think he just needs a nap

I understand that fandom wants to see Eren as good guy who will not destroy the world, but I think that everything is simple - Eren is planning to use full rumbling; destroy the whole world, kill millions of innocent people, animals and plants. 

IT ALL COMES RUMBLING DOWN RUMBLING DOWN RUMBLING DOWN

4+5

HOW DOES THIS CHAPTER RELATE TO THE SCENE OF EREN CRYING IN CHAPTER 1? 1,399 Responses

2,000 years ago, 2,000 years from now.  The titles of this and chapter one parallel, but what else?  Over half of you, at 52.7% believe Eren was sent Ymir’s feelings when she had her emotional epiphany.  33.5% say Eren was sent memories of what’s about to happen, and 11.1% don’t think anything from this chapter related to Eren crying in chapter one specifically.

1st Chapter name suggest it does, but it just make no sense as Eren at that point didn't had attack titan power, so he could not receive others memories

Eren crying will be due to the consequences of this chapter

Eren learns of Ymir's backstory

I don't think Isayama meant for it to originally mean anything this far in the story, but I think there could be some Paths tomfoolery going on.

Eren saw the memories of his death and literally everything until that moment

Eren was sent a message like a cry for help maybe? Strong, intense feelings of sadness and despair... Because in this chapter Eren says she'd been waiting for someone for 2000 years, so I am guessing 2000 years ago she started sending a message.

ON A SCALE OF "EH" TO "I NEED TO HUG HER, HOW DID YOU FEEL SEEING LITTLE YMIR TEAR UP? 1,417 Responses

Sad Girl Hours have officially been endorsed by Hajime Isayama himself. 73.7% of you guys are in full support, and an additional 15.2% of your mice slipped when answering. 6.9% of you guys kinda just wanna see something else happen, and the first one of you on Reddit to say “Nice.” about that is getting sent to Paradis. Lastly, a grand total of 60 of you defy all explanation.

I want to hug Ymir so bad :( mute babby

WHY WAS EREN THE FIRST TO OPEN YMIR'S EYES? 1,415 Responses

It took 2,000 years for Ymir to open her eyes and her heart, what about Eren got her to that point?  29.9% think he was the only person to ever empathize with her at all, 8.4% think it was simply Eren’s chadness, while 8.3% think it’s only because the previous royals viewed her as a slave.  The majority at 41.1% feel it’s a mix of all available options.

Because he was born into this world

Because he is the protagonist

He embraced her and showed her compassion- something she never felt before

Defiance of old wills. He does, after all "just keep moving forward."

Eren didn't seek to use Ymir as a slave

Eren made her realize that she isn't a slave OR a god. She was enslaved and in later years worshipped, but just like Eren: from the moment she was born, she was free

He knew/experienced everything she went through.

He manipulated her to be able to use her powers

He was the first person to tell her she could make her own choices

He was the only one that put his ideals over his personal gain to the end. Ymir is a slave, therefor Eren frees her from her slavery. /The previous royals viewed her as a slave

TALK NO JUTSU 2 GOOD; Eren is good at manipulating kids when it suits his needs best + He was the only one to ever empathize with her

WHAT IS YOUR PRIMARY THOUGHT ON THE CENTIPEDE SPINE THAT SAVED EREN? 1,417 Responses

Eren’s alive!  But what is that… thing?  IT LOOKS AWESOME!  32.9% had that as their first response.  It was nearly a three way split though, and 30.6% first thought of how it must look for those for whom only a moment has passed since his head flew off.  30.2% quickly made the connection that it looks like the parasite thingy Ymir Fritz found.  Only 3.2% thought it looked stupid as hell.

CREEPY but COOL

DO NOT WANT

100/10, better than Kaneki

Ken is hiring a lawyer for copyrights lawsuits against Eren.

I am wondering, what if this is basically Ymir's renouncing of the power she had, finally freeing herself, and thus passing it on to Eren?

I thought that Eren was becoming Níðhöggr, the literal devil that causes Ragnarok (the apocalypse). He looks really cool and frightening at the same time, I love this young man!

It cant be stopped anymore and weird for whom only a second passed

It looks less like a centipede and more like roots to me.

My thought, "The hell is that?!"

Nothing personal Eren, but burn that thing immediately.

Oh thank goodness Eren didn't split into two.

pure "why is the boss music changing to MORE intense?", and that's great

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT EREN SURVIVING THE BEHEADING? 1,410 Responses

44.3% of you are really enthusiastic about Eren surviving his beheading, despite proclaiming that you knew it’d happen anyway. It takes the noggin for a joggin’, but I’m not here to judge. 27.1% of you guys are relatively indifferent about it, and 21.1% of you didn’t think you’d like it, but ultimately bent the knee before Isayama’s storytelling abilities.

Am I surprised? No. Are you surprised? No

Disappointed but not surprised...

Excited, but wondering how he is actually going to die.

GABI GANG BTFO

It was predictable but the revival still felt epic

It was predictable since he's the main character, c'mon anyone else would die like Porco did.

oshiete oshiete

THE WALLS HAVE FINALLY FALLEN! WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THIS MOMENT? 1,410 Responses

A moment that’s been built up so long, what feeling took over when it finally happened?  Most of the fanbase, at 68.3%, were just in awe at how well Isayama pulled it off.  14.2% were filled with hope that Eren actually made it happen.  On the opposite end of the spectrum 13.5% were filled with dread.

All of the above. This story is a rollercoaster.

Dread as the wall titans are facing into Paradis so Eren's plan may backfire! 

Everything in the manga has led to this moment

I kind of thought/hoped the rumbling would be a red herring, but oh well. it'll still be cool

I want them do the colossal dance

I was hoping this chapter won't end with cliffhanger

IT ALL COMES RUMBLING DOWN RUMBLING DOWN RUMBLING DOWN

Looks very dramatic, will be momentous animated, still not surprising since I think a lot of us knew it was gonna happen eventually

meh, I want the story to advance, but the rumbling never grabbed me as an event I was waiting for

LETS GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!!!

I peed

IN SUCH A BEAUTIFULLY DRAWN CHAPTER, WHICH WAS YOUR FAVORITE DOUBLE SPREAD? 1,412 Responses

Isayama’s art truly has improved over the years and this chapter showcased that.  The final panel left the biggest impression on 33.7% of you.  25.1% felt a deep impact from Ymir’s emotional closeup, and the walls cracking and crumbling rounds out the top 3 at 14.8%.

All of them

Original 9 titans.

the one where Ymir was building thousands of collosal titans

not so beautifully drawn but still nice

The pages with Ymir alone in the Paths realm while Fritz tells his daughters to continue the reign of Titans and Eldia 

Ymir’s children eating her

IN CHAPTER 86 GRISHA MANAGED TO QUOTE KING FRITZ WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO READ THE "HISTORICAL" DOCUMENTS. HOW WAS THIS POSSIBLE? 1,406 Responses

In this chapter King Fritz used the same line Grisha did when learning about Ymir much further down the line.  Half of the fanbase at 50.6% don’t feel that anything’s at play and it was just Grisha making assumptions based on what information he had.  Just about ¼ at 25.7% feel paths are involved but they don’t have to explain anything after that.  14.2% feel there was a chain of memory sending that led to the result we got.

Actually Grisha never deciphered the documentation. I thought it was obvious he was being portrayed as extremist at the point to show the other side of the coin. Both sides just make up facts as they want.

I suppose it being the exact wording as what the King said made people think there was memories shenanigans but Isayama does these kind of parallels all the time, with characters saying something word for word that they don’t have knowledge of.

"Grisha how did you understand this?"  "Pretty pictures."

WILL THERE BE A RUMBLING? 1,413 Responses

The walls have fallen.  What will happen next?  In a near even split, 48.1% win out saying there will be a small scale rumbling, whereas 45% say it will be worldwide.  Only 6.9% feel there won’t be any form of rumbling at all.

I WAS WAITING FOR YEARS FOR THE RUMBLING!!!!!!

AWESOME! But i really don't want a full scale rumbling

Eren is becoming more and more the last antagonist of this story and it's just scary how some people in the fandom understand and support Eren's plan. Hopefully Marley, Zeke and the SC will working together to stop the rumbling and Eren. 

i really dont think eren is gonna go full rumbling or even in a small scale, hes gonna end the word dominated by titans by taking away the titan power from eldians

The rumbling isn't a metaphor people. Eren is planning to kill billions of innocents. Can't wait for the warriors and 104th to team up and put down that mad dog.

Zeke said it himself a few chapters back: Eldia would have no chance of fighting the entire World Army; the Rumbling really seemed to be their only way out, and launching those Colossal Titans now as a pre-emptive strike would be the best way to suppress the Army before they can even attack.

I have a feeling that the rumbling will turn out to be anti- climatic. Lots of people seem to be pinning their hopes on the rumbling being the cure-all to Eldia's problems, but the world of attack on titan is not that kind.

WHAT/WHO IS THE TITAN FORMING AT THE END? 1,412 Responses

The chapter ended with a titan forming, but what will it end up being?  Barely over half, at 51.6% believe it to be Eren with a power up from Ymir Fritz.  20.5% think it’s Eren with Ymir attached in some way, and 14.1% think Eren has accessed a new form on his own.

Eren and Ymir combined, rather than attached. Could be a new Titan form, could be Attack Titan on Titan Steroids. Need to wait until 123 to maybe find out.

Eren in Warhammer, he is not in the nape

Centipide Titan that will die after getting out of energy

Eren with full power from the Founder, Attack and Warhammer

I'm thinking it's some sort of founder-unlocked version of Eren's titan. Maybe Ymir is giving him full control now.

Eren and Ymir fused. Ymen

It's Eren but I don't know how his titan will look like and I don't care about it, cause I'm more worried about Gabi. 

Eren's founding titan form. He had it all along, but he could never use it, until now.

The last two sound so lewd without context

DEATH FLAGS! WHO IN SHIGANSHINA IS GOING TO DIE AS A RESULT OF IMMINENT EVENTS? 1,340 Responses

I was gonna ask for Fs in the chat for whoever led in the results for this question, but then I saw it was Floch, so… Fs in the chat for Magath I guess, because a lot of you seem to think Hulk Hogan is going to suplex him (and Floch) through a table at Royal Rumble DCCCLIV. That’s fancy talk for “die.” Pieck and Zeke are pretty high on the list as well. There’s a lot of information here, so I won’t give you all the specifics in this written part—take a look! Armin has 92 votes, which lands him at 6.9% don’t say it Reddit, and Mikasa has 117 votes, with only 8.7% of you suspecting death in her immediate future. For a brick, she flies pretty good!

I hope no one, but I'm sure everyone

Everyone without plot armor, in other words no main or supporting characters.

I think the named characters are still safe. For Now. But soon, not so safe.

Less people than realistically possible

literally no one because Isayama is a hack

For some reason I feel like Yelena will die soon

Pieck, Niccolo, I don't want it to happen but I feel like Nikolo's gonna go down protecting the Braus family! :(

None of the above

HOW WAS YMIR STRANDED IN THE PATHS REALM AFTER DEATH, BUT NO OTHER ELDIANS SEEM TO BE? 727 Responses

Because she sort of... disassociated there

I think her younger self was "recorded" and so a version of ymir was there ever since she fell down the tree. The tree itself being the physical portal to it or sth like that. No one else fell down that hole...

in order to create the other 8 titans, she gave up her soul and became stranded there. 

Because she started it all, she's the only one who touched the whatever it was that gave the titan powers.

I think it's obvious, she was the original slave, the only one that King Fritz's evil targeted specifically. Damning her to an eternity in the hellish isolation only making titans to oppress mankind, because that was his goal.

After she came in contact with what I believe to be the silver branch from Celtic Mythology, her conscious was unknowingly split into two; one in the paths and the other in the physical word. Once Ymir finally died in the physical world, her conscious fuse with the paths conscious and became aware of it.

I think the paths realm takes place inside the mind or dimension of that worm/nidhogg/ancient god parasite and she was brought back to it after she allowed herself to die. The sand Ymir uses to build titans may be her tapping into the reservoir of liquid underneath that giant tree or something.

she's tied to it as a slave and never had the strength on her own to break free

SHE created the PATHS dimension. She is the first titan and has almost unlimited power

A combination of being the bearer of the Centispine and the long years of abuse she went through making her unable to disobey yet another order. Hers is pretty much the most heartbreaking case of learned helplessness. What keeps her obeying the commands of the royals is the fact that she doesn't even realise there is another possibility. Because nobody ever cared enough about her to show her there is one. 

Another version of herself was created, when she came in contact with the thing, so that she could create her titan etc..

As the very first Titan, she is the conduit through which PATHS flows. The parasite had now host in the beginning so PATHS couldn't be conveyed until Ymir showed up.

Because with her started everything, i believe her “burden” was to be attached forever

Maybe it's because she's the only one that's physically attached to that weird, interdimensional organism. Maybe it's because her body was dismembered and consumed by 3 different people. Other titan shifters don't get stranded there because their spirits can in some way inhabit the one person who inherits their power. Maybe there is significance to Eren having gotten 3 titans, perhaps one from each lineage: Maria, Rose, and Sina, which now somehow allows Ymir's spirit to leave Paths. He certainly did work hard to get the War Hammer, specifically.

i think paths always existed and have always been there, but there wasnt someone to be in there, because no one discovered that spine under the giant tree. so, i think that ymir's soul somehow connected with the paths at the moment she gained the titan power, and when she died, her soul converted into the "ruler" of the paths

It was always her, she's the special one. There is nothing special about eldians, other than them being biologically related to Ymir. Ymir was always the one with the power, the only one. She was only limited by her slave mentality, if she wanted to, she could've ruled the world forever and she would've been the only one with titan powers. It seems she has given her powers and special function to Eren. That means that Eren alone will be the special one and he will rule the world forever with only him having titan powers. 

She held all 9 titan powers, and as the only person in history to do so, she has the ability to view all of the other branches on the tree. Similar to how a shifter might be able to view the memories of a past shifter.... Ymir can view ALL of them, for all time. 

The devil needed a host for his dimension

That's her curse. Possibly bound by her loyalty to the King Fuck-Face-Fritz

you know PATHS, i ain't gonna explain that

THERE ARE MANY THEORIES ABOUT THE CENTISPINE'S QUALITIES—WHAT ARE YOURS? 579 Responses

A number of responses here ranging from the hilarious to the creepy; The centispine. A great many of you (We can’t tell if you’re serious or not…) are talking about Aliens, whilst others postulate that the thing results in parasitic possession, ALA Sekiro. 

A parasite thingy? Source of organic matter?

A power-bestowing parasite, hence why it needs to be eaten

Alien would be the easiest. But maybe the tree is actually Yggdrasil and its roots pass through other worlds. And the parasite is from another world.

alien/prehistoric being capable of phasing matter through dimensions

Aliens

ALIENS

Bruh its an organic life form/parasite, when bonded to a host ot provides them the titan ability

Don't think it's a biological, probably a mythical being inspired by Norse mythology

Eren will become the human centispine

For me  the most plausible is the fact that it resembles a living creature from our world who is supposed to create the whole world 300 millions ago or so

I believe its power weakens the more it divides. The power of each of the 9 current titans is nowhere near that of how powerful Ymir was after she first got the power.

I don't think we'll get any concrete explanation, but it's some creature with fifth-dimensional qualities that unwillingly merged with Ymir. I think the 9 main spines on the bottom on each side doesn't necessarily represent the amount of Titans but how divisible Ymir's power is before it becomes warped (mindless Titans). I also think of some level the idea of the parasite being connected to the Titan power is an inherent correlation that only exists because of Ymir. The idea of power = giant big monster seems like a very childlike concoction, and an antiquated one too. Since we know willpower and manifesting a goal in mind are part of the Power of the Titans I don't think it's too far-fetched that those specific powers came from Ymir herself, and the parasite merely made them possible on her physical plane of existence. This would seem to be at odds with its connection to being giant existing before Ymir made contact with it, due to the giant tree and my inferred connection with it and the giant trees on Paradis, but remember this thing exists outside time itself, it's a frankly unperceivable organism.

I don’t fucking know 

WHAT ARE YOU MOST HOPING TO SEE NEXT CHAPTER? 1,383 Responses

Next chapter starts off the the new volume, but what do you want to see in it?  28.1% want to see the full rumbling begin, 23.4% want to see how Eren’s titan transformation turns out, and 15.4% just want to see some action in Shiganshina.  For those who want the scene to change, 11.9% want to catch up with Levi and Hange, 8.2% want Annie, 4.4% want Historia, and 4.3% want even more historical info dumps.

ALL OF IT BRING IT ON ISAYAMA

Armin transforming into the colossal titan 

Death and suffering

Eren's master plan and more history hopefully

Full rumbling AND Levi and Hange.

i really look forward to see annie but what i really want to see is what is going to happen to the others (pieck, gabi, falco, reiner, etc etc)

Levi/Hange AND Annie. I feel like if Annie is going to ever return to the story, it'll be at a climax of some sort.

The hizuru lady piloting the boat-plane over Shiganshina

Lore, HISTORIA PLEASE I LOVE HER AND WANT TO SEE HER, Levi/Hange, Eren, and the immediate consequences of the Walls crashing down.

What the heck the plan actually is. For all we know, they could be uncovering the wall titans just to send the material that makes up their bodies back to Paths land. An Ymir/Eren hybrid titan could just have them hold still and spend the next years devouring them. We literally know nothing.

Somebody stopping Eren and bringing a sense of honor and morality(preferably Reiner, Armin or Gabi)

The ending Audio might be next chapter

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 1,309 Responses

Reddit continues to dominate the discussion field, comprising 52.4% of this vote alone. Tumblr, Facebook, and Youtube follow far behind, and 4 of you said Snapchat. That’s 0.3% of respondents, which is technically a low enough percentage to make sense, so maybe I should believe you guys, but I don’t.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE CHAPTER?

My thoughts on Eldia after reading this chapter: "Oh, so Marley really wasn't fabricating history with how ancient barbaric ancient Eldia was, especially with how ancient Eldia treated them. Can't blame Marley for putting that on the history books and using that as part of their propaganda. Considering that and what Marley is doing right now, it just adds to the moral grayness of the story.

Eyes have always told a story in SNK, whether it was the intention of a character (Zeke, Grisha, etc) or their true feelings (Levi). Eyes, and the lack thereof, in Ymir's backstory, told us that THAT was finally the real history. Until now we've always had someone else's warped perspective of history, but now we know how it actually was.

 Eren's not JUST a murderer and teenage terrorist, look, he also hugs kids! 

Ymir's backstory was a bit disappointing, I expected it to be more grey; Ymir is basically a poor girl who never did anything wrong and King Fritz is the big bad who seems to be the greatest jerk of the story; I don't think this fits with the ""the world is grey"" theme of the story at all, even Gross had at least something interesting to say

Amazing turn of events. Ymir deserves to be released from her enslavement. If the devil has to come out now that his plan is being foiled by Eren, I think Zeke can be a good host for him to incarnate as, justifying Levi killing Zeke as the final main villain of the story.

Definitely one of the best chapters of the overall series.

Annie...oh Annie... God knows how isayama is going to put her back into the plot now!

As much as I want to see Levi and Hange again, I really want to know more about Eren's plans. We still don't have a clear answer, but the part where Eren hugs Ymir makes this my favorite chapter.

Barely feels like the same series, but in a good way.

Brilliant payoff after having the action suddenly halted for multiple chapters. Shit  is finally going down. 

Eren and Ymir deserve to succeed and completely destroy the world. It’s already been corrupted too much for it to be fixed any other way at this point. This world was crafted by filthy, bloody hands and it’s about damn time for Eren & Ymir to break it down so it can be crafted by cleaner hands.

Eren and Ymir have done nothing wrong ever at all fite me

Eren best dad. I'd rumble a million worlds for him to hub me like that. Yelling right into my ear is just a bonus.

Possibly the greatest chapter. The last 3 chapters together could be the greatest side story in Attack on Titan. Isayama is just...I am at a loss for words. He's just the greatest. He just needs to finish the story on a high note and that's it. Even if he doesn't, this is one of the greatest manga and anime of all time.

People who have unquestioning trust in Eren aren't invited to my birthday party

Honestly, I loved it. It was so well executed and so goddamn interesting. I love how Isayama gives us *almost* all the information we need to piece the whole thing together and leaves just enough for us to have our own speculations. I just hope that they're all resolved at the end though considering there's probably only 4 chapters left at least. 

I cannot wait to see the last 5 pages of this chapter animated, easily one of my favorite set of pages from the whole series

I couldn’t have ever thought this was going to be the content of this chapter but I’m so glad it came out the way it did

I cried so much, I love the story

I honestly didn't care much for Ymir's backstory. But hopefully the Rumbling will make things more interesting

I think this chapter might have benefited from being two chapters.  There was so much information to absorb in a very short amount of time, I feel like a lot of questions weren't answered that probably never will be now like- why are there 9 human controlled titans?  How did the mindless titans factor in?  Why did Ymir die from the spear when Eren can have his head shot off?  Why did the other slaves turn on Ymir in the first place?  Where did she come from originally?  Was she captured? Born a slave?  There was I think a missed opportunity to develop her character a little more.  I get the idea of even the narrator not really caring about what she's experiencing but getting a little more insight into her perspective would have been really interesting.  

I read earlier that the closest creature of the devil are human beings .. but humans are more evil .. King Fritz represents the devil .. Thank you Isayama .. In our reality many demons already exist and I have one in my house .. In the corridor

I see a lot of people shitting on Zeke (even comparing him to that asshole king) for ordering Ymir around, but like.... he just heard Eren saying he will end the world (plus remember what Grisha said about Eren memories/intentions), he must be really panicking, so of course he would  desperatly shout orders to Ymir and insisting he's of royal blood, that's basically at the moment the only way he could try to stop Eren. And yes, that's not nice to Ymir, but still that doesn't put him on the same level as King Fritz at all.

I thought Gross was the epitome of evil. Then came Fritz. HOLY. FUCKING. SHIT. Don't tell me Ymir doesn't deserve a little payback after 2000 years as a slave.

So Zeke endorses genocide, but not Total World Destruction? Whatevs, man.

Sucks to be Gabi after killing Eren only for this to happen a second later.

I was kinda shocked when Eren, given the shitty way he treated Mikasa in ch 112, started comforting Ymir and telling her she's not a slave. I never realized Mikasa meant that little to him. What a fucking asshole.

I'm glad the question "is Eren going to activate the rumbling as a part of his plan?" was finally answered. I also finally made up my mind about Zeke and I now know I don't like him due to how he acted towards Ymir. I love that we finally learned about Ymir, and that both Marley's and Eldian Restorationists' versions of history were partially correct. I love that the devil was actually King Shitz and Ymir wasn't a goddess but a slave to the devil, but she still helped the Eldians develop and thrive. Also, I love how most of my theories were proven to be true this chapter. Overall I really liked it.

IT CanNoT bE sTopPeD aNymOre

What is interesting to me is that Ymir's legend seems to be the opposite of what women in history usually get: Often great women are forgotten or their agency is reduced only to that of a mother, lover, wife or daughter of some man. Whereas Ymir is remembered even after 2000 years as the Founder and forebear of Eldia, but in reality she didn't do any of those things on her free will. She was just one of the many who were enslaved and used by Eldia, yet she is celebrated by Eldian rebels as a symbol of its former greatness. Heck, even her last name, Fritz, isn't her own, but her abuser's. Chilling and fascinating.

it was fucking amazing. holy hell, i’m in TEARS after reading this latest chapter. it was so beautifully executed and drawn, and the walls crumbling deadass made me cRY OKAY-

It was incredibly tragic but the final portion somehow combined sweetness and epicness 

It's been over a week and I'm still reeling. This series gets better every month and I really don't want it to end

Ymir Fritz being presented as she is defied a couple of perceptions we've got from her: the books either implied she made a deal with the devil, or she was a benevolent goddess, when she was neither. Born as a girl from a ravaged tribe, she didn't have any voice, or agency, yet deep down she believed showing kindness was her way to make people happier after the damages of war. She accepted being fingerpointed if the other slaves could keep their eyes, she served the Eldian tribe with her newfound power, fought their wars, bore the king's children and took the final hit for him. Her spirit is then condamned to serve her line for eternity. Truly the most pitiable character of SnK so far.

 I found Ymir's story too strange to be attached to her and I was a little disappointed to see that there was basically nothing that had come from her own will. It would have been more interesting in terms of conflict to see if there had been reasons why she had done this, if there was something that prevented her from acting against the Eldians for any reason. But in fact she just let herself be guided by the flow again and again, and I do not feel it's a valid reason to let herself go for more than two thousand years.

Never thought I'd hate a character more than Floch and Sergeant Major Gross, but here we are…

The whole Ymir's backstory moved me a lot because I didn't expect it to be so sad and full of despair. Ymir is definitely the most tragic character in the whole story and one of the most tragic characters in the world of manga/anime. I hope she will finally get some love and will be surrounded by honest and loyal friends. Every tragic character in SnK deserves a hug but I think that she needs it the most. 

 this chapter's artwork really stood out to me. The way literally no eyes were present in the flashback, even the king's, and the expression of fury and agony on OG Ymir's face when Eren tells her she has a choice. Isayama just keeps getting better and better with his art, and some of his style choices really made me see the individual panels differently.

Predictable and necessary. About this poll and the fandom in general: is amazing how the mayority (or the loudest part) of this sub tends to take things in the most literal way possible while praising Isayama as a genius or something like that, or labeling as "subtle" things that scream "HELLO I'M HERE MY NAME IS BRIAN" at your face, or misread characters in the most extreme way

Ragnarok has started and I don't know if I should be excited or afraid

Read this together with Ch.121. Eren is such a well-developed complex character. You may not like him, but credit must be given to his amazing character building trip. GJ Isayama

IT'S HAPPENING! THIS MANGA MAY END IN LESS THAN A YEAR FROM NOW, AND WITH AN EPIC ENDING IF THE ENDGAME SO FAR IS ANY INDICATION. I DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS, HELP

nothing to add, just amazing job from isayama

[lindsaywesker]

Good morning! I hope you slept well and feel rested? Currently sitting at my desk, in my study, attired only in my blue towelling robe, enjoying my first cuppa of the day. Welcome to the working week!

On New Year’s Eve, a group of mask-less protesters stood outside St. Thomas’ Hospital on Westminster Bridge Road and chanted “Covid Is A Hoax!” Okay, so let me get this straight: these people stood outside a hospital full of patients dying of or recovering from the Coronavirus, a hospital full of doctors and nurses who have spent the last nine months risking their lives dealing with Covid-19, and these brain-dead specimens still believe it’s some kind of government conspiracy? So, you mean all of the patients, all of the doctors, all of the nurses (and all of the people that have died) are in on this conspiracy? Every day, just for fun, I look to find the dimmest people on this planet and – by George! – I think have may found some very strong candidates?

The ‘Quite Interesting (QI)’ Twitter feed states, “Your strongest music-related memories are formed around age 14.” Which, for me, would mean 1973: Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’, Led Zeppelin’s ‘Houses Of The Holy’, Elton John’s ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’, Stevie Wonder’s ‘Innervisions’, The Doobie Brothers’ ‘The Captain And Me’ and Bob Marley & The Wailers’ ‘Catch A Fire’. Sounds about right.

As we have seen, both politicians and footballers have been flouting Covid regulations, and these are just the high-profile people. What about low-profile people? Word is reaching my ears that there is a huge network of ‘underground’ parties happening every weekend. Clearly, this situation is too hard to police? We’d need twice as many police men and women to catch all the offenders, and I’m certain there ain’t budget for that! Maybe we should just forget about Lockdown? Let people go their own way and do their own thing? Life your life and take your chances; if your family and friends reject you, that’s for you to manage. Would my life change that much? I doubt it. I would still stay indoors as much as possible and wear my mask on public transport and in shops.

Have a marvellous and momentous Monday. I love you all. And, remember, if you’re looking for an easy book to read, check out my second novel, ‘Whatever Makes Them Dance’; a love story about a DJ (available via Amazon.)

[corpse--diem]

Girls Just Wanna Be Shady | Marley & Erin

With: @detectivedreameater

Some peace and quiet. That’s all Erin wanted out of this day. The past few weeks had bled into each other until they’d been a garble of panic, blood, and tears. God, she was tired of it. Tired in general, really, but the dead never slept. So here she was, thankfully, back to work. This was normal. A very normal distraction. Until she heard the old lift machinery kicking to life across the room. Dale? Wasn’t he a little early for his usual pick-up? Erin reached for the scalpel on the table beside her, silently cursing herself for not just buying a goddamn gun for herself. Apparently people just thought it was okay to keep on waltzing the fuck into her basement like they owned the place. But that wasn’t who the elevator door opened up to. A woman, dark hair, attractive, and definitely not Dale. But judging by the black bag behind her, she couldn’t help but wonder if she knew him. “Sure. Just walk right in. This isn’t trespassing at all,” she shrugged, that tight knit of anxiety still bundled in her gut. Glanced at the bag behind the woman. “I’m guessing you don’t have any official paperwork for this one?”

“It’s not trespassing if I have a key,” Marley said nonchalantly. The bag behind her was slumped against the wall, the bitter remains of an old balam who had passed away in the middle of the night. She’d underestimated the strength of his heart, and found herself woefully stuck with a dead body at 2am. But it was okay, because Jack Nichols owed her one. Except, she suddenly found herself staring at someone else. Younger, attractive, nice cheekbones. Marley even pulled her sunglasses off, her red eyes glowing in the dim light of the basement she’d visited so many times. “Oh, shit,” she said, suddenly, “he’s dead, isn’t it?” She finally stepped off the elevator, glancing around. “You his daughter, then? He mentioned you a few times. Though he never mentioned how much nicer looking you are than him.” She gave a little smirk before pointing to the bag. “It’s a balam. Lots of good kitty parts in there for you to harvest. You...do still do this, right? I don’t have to like, re-uhhh...up our deal?” Slid her jacket back just enough to show the badge on her hip, giving Erin an innocent smile.

Erin did hear what this woman had to say. The words processed and sat there, waiting for her brain to react. But she was stuck staring at the red eyes she so nonchalantly revealed to her. Right. She was still talking. She knew her dad. Didn’t know her dad was dead though. Well, for good this time. Still fucking haunting her, apparently. “You have cats in there?” She narrowed her eyes. Balam. Was that a type of cat? Didn’t click right away that the bag was far too big for some housecat. When she flashed that badge, Erin actually felt her knees buckle, her chest tightening, like the wind had just been knocked out of her. Fuck this. This woman was a cop. It was over. Fuck fuck fuck. She’d be better, Erin remembered promising herself. She’d be better than he was. She wasn’t a coward. Not even close. It took a moment to gather her thoughts but she stood a little taller than before, meeting the red eyes watching her very carefully. “Jack’s dead, yeah. You’ll have to refresh me on that deal you two made. He didn’t exactly leave a lot of notes in his will about this side of the business, as you can probably imagine.”

“No, not cats,” Marley snapped, a little irritated. “A balam. It is in cat form, ironically, though. He woke up and freaked out and changed. Dumbass.” Clearly Erin didn’t know as much as her father did. Made Marley wonder if he was trying to get her out of this business when he kicked the bucket. In fact, he probably kicked the bucket trying that. He had too many clients for that to happen. The Nichols family was going to be in this business for generations to come, Marley was sure. “Hmm, poor Jack. My condolences, or whatever. Although, maybe not? Doesn’t seem like he left you a good deal, exactly. If you’re not...aware of all this.” She leaned up against the cadaver table and folded her arms across her chest. “Our deal, is that he takes care of anything I bring him, no questions asked, and I make sure the police don’t poke their noses where they shouldn’t belong in his business. All the profits from this little venture have to be swept under a run somehow, right?”

This woman had some nerve getting annoyed with her when she’d showed up unannounced with a sack of dead whatevers in tow. Erin rolled her eyes at her flippant condolences, though didn’t move from her side of the table, tightly squeezing the scalpel just out of her sight. As if attacking her would do anything but escalate her trouble with the police, it made her feel safer. Not by much, though. “He did one fucking thing right, at least,” she sighed out heavily. Protection went a long way, especially through law enforcement. Finally, she set the tool down, covered the decedent she’d been working on, and pulled off her gloves. “Sounds like a good deal, honestly,” she said, making a genuine effort to make her tone friendlier. She needed this connection like she needed air. Came around to the elevator before dragging her eyes back up to the other woman. “Erin,” she nodded at her, offering her a hand. They were business partners now afterall. “You’re right. He didn’t. Seems like I get a fun new surprise every day. But it’s nothing I can’t handle, I assure you” she smiled, then turned her head to the body. “Mind giving me a hand?”

Marley watched Erin closely, watched her face cycle through the emotions, as she was trying to decide what the best course of action here was. It was, of course, to agree to the deal again. Otherwise the police would be in this house tomorrow and they’d find everything they’d need to convict Erin for four lifetimes. Still, it was ultimately her decision to make. Marley wouldn’t take that away from her. Even if it was a rigged deal. “Hey, gotta make sure the business is protected, right?” She smiled finally, a genuine smile, though it looked a little out of place on her face. “Detective Stryder. But you can call me Marley.” She took Erin’s hand firmly, letting her feel how cold her own was. After a moment, she pulled away and looked at the body bag still in the elevator. “Jack never made me help, you know,” she said, glancing sideways at Erin, “didn’t he usually have a squirrely assistant around? Or am I thinking of someone else?” She shrugged. “Well, for you, I suppose I can help.”

“It’s a pleasure,” Erin nodded, noting her hands were colder than her own usually were. It was weird hearing her father’s name being thrown around in casual conversation like this. “Uh--Allen?” Erin cleared her throat, avoiding Marley’s eyes as she leaned down, grabbing the bag by the head. Whatever was in here, cat-people or otherwise, was heavy. Heavier than a human corpse usually was. “Much appreciated,” she groaned as she spoke, dragging the bag with her towards an empty table until she couldn’t go much further without Marley’s help. “My dad, uh--let him go,” she explained quickly, not really in the mood to dive into that zombie hell storm she’d just escaped from. “What if I promised whiskey for your generous assistance? I have that, and lots of it,” She caught her breath, raising a brow at Marley, hands on her hips. Smiled a little more genuinely this time and leaned down to grab the bag again. “I have a feeling his partner-relations skills needed a little work but I do try to please.”

“Allen!” Marley said, giving a snap and a headshake. “That’s right. Little weird Allen. Squirrely fella. Sad to hear he’s gone.” She shook her head, still not moving, finding it entertaining to watch erin try and drag the bag across the room herself. She gave a little chuckle. “Now you’re talking my language,” she finally pushed away from her spot and came over to where Erin was, leaning down and grabbing the feet. “On three,” she said, hefting the body up with her at the end of the count. It thudded loudly onto the table and Marley gave it a satisfying slap. “I think you’ll find this one full of lots of good parts. Poor fella woke up during a feeding and thought turning into a cat of all things would help him. Obviously, it didn’t.”

Ah, yes. Poor little weird Allen. He’d never been Erin’s favorite but not even he had deserved to go down at the wrong end of his dead ex-employer. As loyal as he’d been to her father, it seemed mildly appropriate after the fact. She blew out a hard breath after the bag was squarely on the table. “A cat,” Erin echoed, the disbelief evident in her voice. “I don’t know why I’m surprised anymore. I’ve already got two werewolves under my belt,” she gave a wry smile. Not entirely ready to dive right into it, she turned to the cabinet across from her and pulled out two glasses and a bottle of whiskey. “Hope you don’t mind it neat. I wouldn’t use the ice down here,” she glanced up as she poured one for the detective, handing it off. Quiet for a moment as she raised the glass to her lips. “So,” she watched her, gesturing towards Marley. “Are we going to talk about the red eye thing you’ve got going on here or are we just brushing that under the rug too?”

“Cat, jaguar,” Marley rolled her shoulders, gave a shrug, “same thing, right? They’re just bigger cats. Though, I’ve always had a fondness for cats. They’ve never liked me, though.” She frowned, remembering all the times animals had hissed or barked and snapped at her. Not that she cared. Of course she didn’t. She looked back over at Erin, pocketing her sunglasses. “Neat is my second favorite way to enjoy whiskey,” she said with a grin, taking the glass gratefully. Sipped it just as Erin spoke her question. Finally. Marley had wondered how long it would take. It was usually the first thing people asked. She could’ve bothered to keep them covered, but there was no point here. Erin, like Jack, was someone Marley didn’t have to hide her true nature from. At least, she hoped Erin was like that. “Do you like them? I’ve been told I have very alluring eyes,” she teased, setting her glass down and sauntering over to Erin. “Wanna see why?”

Jaguar? Erin flinched at the thought of what she was going to uncover under that zipper, opting to take a large sip of the whiskey she’d poured for herself instead. There was something about the detective that unnerved her--the red eyes didn’t help, sure, but there was more to it than that. It was almost like watching a sarcastic, attractive villain slither around and get under the hero’s skin. Erin was far from a hero, but Marley was certainly finding a way in. Her gaze never left Marley’s, standing firmly in place, even when she grew closer. They had a deal, and she’d given the woman whiskey for crying out loud. She wouldn’t hurt her. Probably. Hopefully. She swallowed, her heart pounding harder than before. “They’re pretty unique,” she teased back, a small smirk on her lips. “I do. But why does it feel like I’m going to regret this?”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Marley said, noticing the way Erin was looking at her as she made her way over. “I’m not gonna hurt you. I like you, and I don’t hurt people I like.” In all honesty, she also didn’t like hurting people just to hurt them. She used her powers to get what she wanted and what she needed, and that was it. It was never just about hurting people. She glanced down at Erin’s shirt, making sure not to look her in the eyes just yet. “But you are going to regret it, probably,” she said, before finally looking back up and meeting her gaze. The petrification would have been instant, her body freezing place, before red eyes consumed her and whatever fear she’d been hiding deep inside her chest burst forth. Marley’s arms tingled as she filled with excitement. She wanted to know what Erin’s fear was, but she’d stay out of it this time. This would be both a demonstration...and a warning. Of what stepping out of line might do.

Erin barely had a chance to blink before all she saw was red. The room around her faded to black, her body frozen. But all she saw, all she felt was red. Suddenly she was standing in the embalming room alone. The red morphed into flashing red lights, bouncing off of the walls. Police lights. Sirens screaming from outside. An icy chill punched her in the spine when she heard the door burst open upstairs. Dozens of footsteps thundered above her. Oh no. Oh fuck. Dread and crippling shame consumed her, made it hard to breathe. Handcuffs were slapped on her wrists and she was fighting them, as if this would suddenly change her fate. It only made the reporters lining her lawn all the more eager to shove their microphones in her face. “No!” She finally yelled, digging her heels in at the sight of the cop car. Her heart pounded, chest tightening, and she could feel the burning in the back of her eyes. “Stop!”

Marley didn’t look, this time, at what the fear was. She didn’t need to know in order for this to work. She barely even fed. This was just a display. Erin’s plea to stop was enough for her to blink and step away, putting her glasses back on. Not that she felt bad, but Erin wasn’t anywhere near as fun to toy with as Deirdre or other high stakes people. She had just wanted to give her a little taste. A little warning. Once Erin had stopped panting and come out of her vision, Marley held out her cup of whiskey to her. “You okay now?” she asked, concern in her voice. Whether or not it was genuine wasn’t relevant. She didn’t want to have to use that one Erin. Her father had reacted in a similar manner, after all. And he’d never stepped out of line after. “I told you it was special.”

Erin could have sworn she felt the officer’s hand on the back of her head, guiding her into the back of the car when reality came rushing back. Her legs hadn’t caught up with her mind, buckling beneath her as she struggled to hold onto the table beside her to keep from completely falling on her ass. “What the fuck?” she whispered coarsely. “Yeah, real fucking special. What are you?” she grumbled. Closed her eyes, shaking her head, trying to let the cool concrete under her knees ground her again. She didn’t know what the fuck Marley was but she sure as shit wasn’t going to make that mistake again. When she was finally able to stand without shaking, she took the drink and gulped it back in one go. Avoided eye contact completely as she went right for the whiskey bottle, the glass clinking against her cup. Wasn’t about to dig into the balam with her hands shaking like this anyway.

Marley frowned a little. “Didn’t your dad ever teach you not to ask a lady what she is?” she said, quirking a brow. “Or was he too busy selling organs on the black market?” It was meant to be a light-hearted tease, but Marley often got those moments wrong. “Too...too soon?” she asked, watching Erin pour another glass of whiskey for herself. She gave a soft chuckle. “I’m going to trust that you’ll never tell anyone this, but--” she put her glasses back on, just to comfort her. Most people didn’t know that mara could control when they caused the fear, and Marley wanted to keep it that way. “I’m something called a mara. Living nightmares, fear incarnate-- yadda yadda. Anyway,” she downed the rest of her drink and held the glass out for Erin to fill up again, “we feed on fear. Mostly by making people see visions of what they fear most, or through nightmares.”

Was Marley seriously trying to joke around with her right now? Unbelievable. Erin finally lifted her eyes to the other woman once the glasses were back on, nursing that second glass of whiskey. “Too soon,” she answered, blunt and annoyed now, though that was mostly the residual fear talking. Mara. Fear and nightmare machines. She nodded her head slowly at Marley’s explanation, watching the amber liquid glide along the edges of the glass. “You could’ve just said that,” she grumbled, taking another long sip out of her new glass. Stared at the glass Marley held out for her to refill, trying to think of anything but what she’d just experienced. Because of Marley. “I won’t tell anyone,” she finally answered, reaching for the bottle and pouring it into her cup. “But if you pull that shit on me again, I’d like to remind you who has the keys to the crematory,” she raised a brow, her tone playful. Mostly.

“Sure, I guess,” Marley shrugged, “but where’s the fun in that? People need to relax more around here.” Humans were always complaining about how “horrible” it was experiencing their fears. Fear was a natural thing, a natural emotion. They needed to get over it, really. It was a shame supernaturals held their fear better. Sighing, Marley took her drink back and sipped it. “Yeah, yeah, mutual destruction and all that. I’ll keep it in mind, Morticia,” she agreed, giving a little smile. “But don’t worry, I’m not interested in feeding off of you, I’ve got plenty of others lined up for that. But if you ever wanna have a healthy dose of fear, hit me up.”

Erin shook her head. “That wasn’t fun. Rock climbing? Kayaking? That’s fun,” she said, vaguely gesturing towards Marley’s sunglasses with the hand holding her whiskey. “You keep that shit away from me.” Police sirens flashed behind her eyes again and she finished off the rest of her drink. Her cheeks already were already flushed, from both the nightmare Marley had just unleashed on her and the large amount of alcohol she’d consumed in a very short time. Neither of those things, as much as she hated the first, were stopping her from thinking about how attractive a dangerous woman like she was. God, she needed another drink. She turned, pouring another, thankful the shaking in her hands were calming. “Yeah, I won’t be forgetting that anytime soon.” She cleared her throat, keeping her back towards Marley, quiet for a long moment before she turned slightly. “Is that everything, then?”

Marley frowned. No one understood. No one ever would. Just like everyone else in her life, it seemed like Erin didn’t want anything to do with Marley’s abilities, either. The only person she’d met so far that had was Evelyn, and there was still the tentativeness there, on whether Evelyn would ever end up rejecting her, too. Marley looked away, taking another hearty sip. “Fine,” she finally muttered, then brushed it all off. No sense in pouting about it. It wouldn’t change anything. “But rock climbing? That how you get your-- pun intended-- rocks off?” Shaking her head, she finished off her drink, “Yeah, we’re done here.” She reached back into her jacket pocket and pulled out a card. “If you ever wanna have some real fun, hit me up,” she said, setting it on top of the body bag on the table, before heading back over to the elevator.

[pransesdp]

Paulina/Star for the ship meme

How do much do I ship it?: Never heard of it/ Notp / Dislike / used to ship / neutral / maybe / ship it / aww / otp / IS IT CANON YET?

What non sexual activities do they like to do together?Shopping, doing makeovers, lounging at the beach, going to the spa... you know, the usual girly teen girl stuff ;p 

Who does chores around the house?They’d try to do an equal amount of the work (though if it gets too tough they’ll just hire a maid to finish it or something)

Who’s the better cook?Paulina’s been shown to be good at baking cookies one time in the show, I’d probably say her 

Who’s the funniest drunk?Both would be pretty funny, though Paulina would probably be a bit more “wacky” lol 

Do they have kids?Mmhm~ with the help of their friends Dash and Kwan they’d have two beautiful girls in my headcanon, Sasha and June~ ;p 

Do they have any traditions?Probably something like a full spa trip on the weekends or something 

What do they fight about?Nothing really too serious, mostly just little things like Star probably finding Paulina’s guy following kinda tedious to deal with at times (even if Paulina’s only using them for free gifts/money, since she’s ultimately more loyal to Star as a girlfriend :3)

What would they do if they found their paring tag on tumblr? (If they have one)They’d feel very flattered and proud to have such a dedicated fanbase~ 

Who cried at the end of Marley and me?Both probably would, I’d imagine :c

Who always wins at Mario kart?Star is pretty boss at the game with her main Rosalina, but Paulina’s been learning to catch up now and then with her own main Peach ;p 

One thing I like about this ship?How they’re both so close and actually pretty wholesome together (compared to how they’re so catty with everyone else lol)... gushing to eachother about their day and willing to do eachother’s hair while the next minute you’ve got Paulina literally crying out of fear for Star’s safety... like, idk about you but I just couldn’t help but find that super sweet, even for characters like them~ ❤️

One thing I don’t like about the ship?Not really enough canon depth to their relationship aside from a typical “besties” thing, especially since they both ended up as one-dimensional popular girls from start to finish... so, there was no real chance for deeper development to form between them, I’m afraid :c 

The song I would say fits them?“We R Who We R” by Kesha, with it’s themes of feeling all proud and fierce enough to rule over one’s peers... pretty relatable to two “queens” like Paulina and Star ;p 

Another headcanon about the paring? (Free space)Around the timeline of “Claw of the Wild” was where their romantic feelings would start to develop, even if not to a full-on “dating” level yet

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

👑🏰🐲🐲⚔️ DMODT 81 full

Eren was literally buried in paperwork. Seeing Marley couldn't physically come to castle to murder him, they seemed to be attempting to murder him with the sheer volume of paperwork that had been shipped over to the castle. With the sunroom too small for both he and Armin to work in, Eren was working out of the royal library leaving Levi to split his time between both of them, a solution that required multiple kisses for bribery. Though the problem would be solved if Armin would simply work from the royal library like he was, but then there was the risk of mixing of their papers up and Eren already had to make duplicates of everything to be sent to Europe to be checked over. Not that they replied especially fast. He'd sent a letter asking for permission to marry Levi, then had to wait a fortnight for a reply that stated they were discussing the issue. What was there to discuss? Literally everyone knew he was bonded to Levi. Marriage was only two pretty fancy rings and the right to boss Levi around on a legal level. He wanted to hurry up and marry his mate before Levi left him over the fact he was having more of a relationship with his paperwork than with his alpha. Viren had his own cot set up in the corner of the room now, while Luca preferred to follow Levi between him and Armin, his son appreciating the freedom that being home brought. Hearing the library door creak open, Eren pushed his papers aside. Lunch times were now his favourite time of day. Much like when he'd been researching how to untether himself from Levi, Levi would bring him food and dote over him. The main difference now was that the alpha didn't shy away from whatever he was feeling, and Erwin wasn't ushering him out the door to do paperwork of his own. Carrying the loaded lunch tray over to the desk, his mate showed off his dexterity as he picked his way through the countless boxes in the room, to where Eren had set up in the far corner of the table space. He'd hoped to work himself out of the mess by now, yet Marley was a complete mess. After the first week he'd simply accepted that he'd never reach the end of everything by the end of his 6 month prison sentence "Have you taken a break since this morning?" Placing the tray down, Levi dropped a kiss on his head "Yes. Twice. Your son was hungry, then we cuddled while we worked. Then he spat up in my hair and now he's taking a nap" "Sounds fun. If I stayed down here..." "I would never get anything done" "It doesn't look like you've gotten anything done as it is" Slumping back in the chair, Eren's head lolled back. He couldn't help but smile as his eyes met Levi's "We both know that's not true. You're the one who told me Armin was cursing my name over using the all messenger eagles" "Pigeons are too slow" "His correspondence doesn't have to go to Europe" "I know. What are we working on today?" "Land rights again. If Marley is going to have a government with its own tribunal system, I'm trying to find suitable members from the countries and regions that originally made up the area is occupies now, so that everyone can have a voice" "That sounds like a pile of shit" "It is. They really didn't appreciate the work of a good cartographer" "Oh no! Whatever shall you do?" "I don't know. Give up? Let myself be lost and buried in here forever" "I've got a few choice words to say about that" "I am not surprised in the least. Can you stay for lunch?" "I can stay all afternoon. Mikasa is making Armin train, and with the weather being reasonable, Luca thinks it play time" "Has he been behaving?" "He climbed up into Armin's lap and didn't want to leave, if that counts as behaving" "That's my boy. Do you want to get Viren for me? I'll move the tray over to the table near the lounge. It's easier to feed there" "So bossy" Levi a small pressed a kiss to his lips "You love it" "I do" Moving to the tiny lounge area, Eren settled down to feed Viren with his back against Levi's chest, the alpha's arms loosely wrapped around his waist as the both took a moment to enjoy not looking at piles of papers "What else is happening upstairs?" "Nothing. Not much went ahead while we were away, but you already know that. Armin's sent Petra and her squad to triple check the grounds for the new orphanage, to make sure it's completely shrapnel and bomb free before work begins. That's about all at the moment" "That's good. I'm happy almost all the city wide repairs are done and the contractors paid. I haven't seen all the bills from Marley, and I'm finding everything but what I'm looking for" Eren was reluctant to use magic in case he damaged anything he'd need in the future. It was long and tedious doing things by hand, and he was really regretting the fact he cared at all "More papers for the pile?" "Yes and no... like I said, I've been doing the whole land thing" "You don't need to hide it from me" "I know I don't. I'm not ready to deal with them. It's stupid, but every time I see Zeke's name on something I wonder if he ever really knew about it, or if it was Dina. I'm not ready to deal with their family dramas. I don't think I want to deal with those kind of things either. My head gets to busy" "You're spiralling" "Who's fault is that?" Shamefully, Levi had walked in on him balling his eyes out when he'd found a news report over Zeke's death. The elation of the first day home had passed once he and Levi woke from their nap. Then reality had reared its ugly head, and he'd kind of been scattered since. Admitting why he was crying to Levi was hard. He knew his mate understood, but it still felt cruel that Zeke had married him so easily and now Levi had to wait. He often worried that the alpha felt like Eren was comparing the two of them. After his small breakdown, they'd set up a system where everything royal family related was stacked in "the pile" "Mine. I'm sorry. I hate seeing you down here like this" "It's not terrible. I have the fireplace, and I have Viren. Plus it helps to do something" "That's because you can't sit still" "If only the leaders at the sanctuary could see their problem child now!" "Yep. A prince and a dragon, who would have thought" "No one. Has Historia replied yet?" "That's right. I forgot to tell you..." Eren shot up, disturbing Viren's feed and causing his son to cry. Sheepishly settling back down, he helped his son latch "She did?" "No. I forgot to tell you she hadn't" "You're a dick" Historia's two eggs still hadn't hatched. Eren was dying for news from her over them. Ymir was still playing the perfect mate, not that Eren doubted she wouldn't take care of Historia and their clutch, he was just impatient for news on the birth of their babies "She promised she'd let you know the moment they did" "I hope they don't hatch while I'm stuck here" "I thought you were ok with being in the castle?" "I am. I really want to meet her children. She wanted it for so long, and she's going to be an incredible mother" "Spoken from one mother to another" "Don't you mean from one princess to another?" "I don't know. I think you've been outclassed. Armin may rival you on demands now that he's gotten the hang of being a prince" "Armin isn't a prince. He's a Drama Queen" "You know you could have made working from sunroom work" "They sent me the last 5 years of papers. 5 years. I'm still finding claims for damages, but no one bothers to put their actual addresses on these things. Hello, yes, I need 900 gold pieces for my room and my name is Greg. Thanks Greg. How the hell am I supposed to allocate you funding when that's all I have, and what kind of roof do you want? You could a new damn house for that" Laughing softly Levi kissed his cheek "I think you're right about Armin being a drama queen" Eren's heart dropped, his scent shifting enough to alert Levi "What is it?" Moving Viren slightly, Eren forced a sigh as let the lie slip off his tongue "My breasts are a little tender, that's all" "Oh. Can I do anything?" "No. This is nice" This wasn't the first time Levi had become confused since they'd returned home. Eren had noticed it twice before, but simply put it down to the fact they were home and had been through so much "You're nice. You smell so good" "Stop sniffing me. You said Armin was training this afternoon, didn't you?" "Yep" "Do you want to take a break with me after we eat? We can play with the boys in the sun?" If Levi was starting to forget, Eren wanted as many moments with him before he did. His mate was a million times more important than paperwork "What about..." "You made think of how nice the sun would be. We should take Luca's ball down for him" "I'm not going to say no to skipping work" "Good. Viren should be done with his feed soon" Having eaten lunch, and dropped by their quarters to pick Luca's ball up, they were now down on the castle's training oval. It looked to Eren like training had gone out the window as Mikasa and Armin chased Luca around. A sword in their son's mouth that seemed to belong to Armin. Catching sight of his parents, Luca came barrelling towards them, dropping the blade at Levi's feet before darting behind Eren "Oh thank god! Armin dropped his sword and Luca was off with it before we could stop him" Poking his head around Eren's legs, his son blinked innocently up at Mikasa, the female alpha red faced as she slowed to a jog "I didn't drop my sword. You knocked it out of my hands" "The whole purpose of the exercise is to keep your hold on the sword" Shooting Levi a glare, Armin moved to snatch up his training blade "I'm well aware of that. What brings you all down here?" Throwing the ball for Luca, Luca ran happily after it "Levi said it was nice outside, and those papers only seem to be multiplying" "You're blowing off work?" To spend time with his family.... not that he was going to say as much "I'm taking a break to play with my son. How long were you chasing him around for?" "A good 15 minutes" Snorting at how drenched in sweat Armin was, his friend looked as if he'd spent all day chasing Luca "Don't give me that. You try chasing after him" Eren raised an eyebrow. He'd spent the most time with Luca out of all of them. He was well aware how cheeky his son was "I'm his mother. I know how fast he can be" "Does that mean you're going to be watching him so Armin can train?" "Yeah. Though, you could swap out, Mikasa and let Levi practice with Armin. If he's always training with you, he'll grow too use to the way you move" "Oi, brat. I thought I was here to watch the baby?" "Mikasa can watch Viren. She deserves a break after chasing Viren" "What about my break?" Nudging Levi with his elbow, Eren teased him gently "Is this your way of saying you're getting too old" "Fuck off. Mikasa, hold the baby. Armin, we're doing hand to hand" Armin gulped visibly. His face paling "Eren! No..." "You'll be fine. Just go gentle on him" "Who? Me or Levi?" "I'll leave that to you two, to figure out" Shifting into his dragon form, Luca came running over to him with his precious ball. The other one was still stashed away, and they were both amazed the first one had lasted this long. Bopping his son on the head affectionately, Luca bit at his toe, growling and tugging as he tried to wiggle backwards out of his hold. Releasing him suddenly, Luca let out a squeak as he rolled over backwards, blinking in confusion over what the hell had suddenly happened. Nudging at the ball with his nose, Eren sent it rolling, walking after it as Luca jumped up to keep his precious ball from his mother. * Levi knew he'd said it a hundred times, but dragons were idiots. Giant cat like idiots. Eren was barrelling around recklessly as he chased Luca and the ball around, Luca having the advantage with his smaller size. Armin's hand to hand training interrupted when his son dribbled the ball over to him, wanting him to play. This resulted in Armin and Levi, versus Luca, versus Eren in a game that he didn't know quite how to explain. It was like soccer with no goals and no clear rules. The aim was to get the ball, and that was it. On the sidelines Mikasa and her squad watched on, Mikasa waving one of Viren's tiny hands each time Eren claimed the ball. Receiving a pass from Armin, the ground shook as Eren ran towards him, passing back quickly Eren didn't change his course, instead knocking down Levi with his nose, where he gently took Levi's tunic in his mouth, tugging on the fabric "What do you want?" Lowering himself down, Eren titled his head "You want me to climb on your back?" Nodding quickly, Levi picked himself up "Us versus them?" Nodding again, Eren arranged himself for Levi to climb into his saddle, Armin yelling in protest when he realised what was happening. Luca wasn't sure he wanted a team as he sent the ball flying across the grass away from the all. Eren was still reckless, even with Levi settled in his saddle. The pair of them chasing their son down, where Eren started grooming the boy until the trilled angrily as Armin stole the ball again. Kicking it over to Mikasa's squad, horsefaced Jean complained over being roped into it all, yet Sasha and Connie were happy to jump right in. Eventually Jean was won over, with only Mikasa left on the sideline. Spending another half hour or so chasing the ball around, Eren bowed out less than gracefully, suddenly shifting back into his human form with no warning, leaving Levi squashing his mate's back as he dissolved into coughs. Climbing off Eren, Levi dragged him up, his mate smiling despite being crushed by him, and now hacking up a lung "You could have warned me you wanted to shift" Waving him off, Levi ignored it in favour of lifting Eren off his feet and carrying him over to Mikasa and Viren as the others started moving back towards them "What was that?" Tilting his head, Eren gasped out "What was what?" Scowling at him, Mikasa placed her palm on Eren's forehead "Shifting back like that. It was reckless" "It was fun" "You're coughing" "I may have over done it slightly. Worth it" "Over done it slightly? You're the colour of Luca's eyes" Eren was red. But that's what happened when you run around like an idiot "'m fine. Levi's fussing" Pretending to drop his mate, Eren yelped as he clutched at him "Arsehole" "I could have actually dropped you" "Please don't. You can stand me up though" "No. I'm good like this. Was Viren alright?" "I think he might need a nappy change, but he's been pretty happy. Pretty interested in drooling over his own hand" "He does that. He's also become a master at rolling over too" "He's growing up too fast" Levi had no idea how the last four and a half months since Viren's birth had passed so fast and so slowly. Viren wasn't content with simply laying around anymore. When he was laying on Levi's chest he liked to try to meet his gaze. His hands would grab at Levi's chin as he smacked his lips. Levi had the better deal. Eren had been pinched right on the nipple by a wayward hand, his breasts squishy toys beneath the boy's hands "Mmm. I'm not in a rush for another right away, a year or two maybe then we'll try again for another sibling. He's going to be such a handful when he's old enough to walk" Readjusting Eren, he balanced him on his knee as his mate stared up at him waiting for his reply, a hand covering his mouth as he coughed "Mhmm. Once we've got our house" "Yep. We should head on up. This cough isn't settling" "Ok. Mikasa, are you alright to carry Viren?" "I can walk" "You can walk once we're back up at the castle" Because his knees weren't what they used to be. Particularly his right knee, not that he could remember how he'd hurt it. Not that he'd ever admit it "Deal" Viren was screaming by the time they reached their quarters, his nappy less than appealing as Levi took over cleaning up their pup so Eren could take a shower. His mate slightly unsteady on his feet, and pinching the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache, recognising it as dehydration, Levi sent him straight to shower only for his omega to promptly throw up when the warm water hit his skin. Lowering the temperature, he double checked on his love before taking care of Viren. Not wanting Eren to faint and strike his head again. Not after the fun they'd had being stupid on the oval. Once cleaned, Levi settled their pup down on his stomach on their bed, Luca left to watch over him without suggestion or command. The dragon also not minding the small pups cries. Returning to the bathroom, Eren had progressed to washing his hair out. Stripping out of his sweaty clothes, Levi joined his omega, Eren sinking back into his hold as he wrapped his arms around his waist "How are you feeling?" "A little stupid for not realising I'm dehydrated" "We were out in the sun. Viren wasn't burn, but he's still crying" "He's probably hungry again, or annoyed we're back inside. He seems pretty curious about everyone" "I think you're over thinking it. Luca's watching him" Humming, Eren turned in his hold, his fingers moving to Levi's hair to massage his scalp "Luca adores him. Did you have fun?" "Until you shifted and scared the shit out of me" "Sorry. It's easier to cough in my human form" "Your lungs?" "Still a little sore. Throat's itchy too" "I'll prepare the kettle in case we need it" "Thanks. I didn't think everyone was going to join in" "If Sasha and Connie can shirk work, they will" "Jean even joined in" "Reluctantly. Luca seemed happy" "Mmmm. It felt good to play with him like that. We haven't been able to in months" "I'm sure he's sleeping it off" "Is that a hint?" Rolling his eyes, Levi groped Eren's arse "I'm not about to take advantage of you when you're dehydrated" "I feel like you haven't taken advantage of me all that much since we came home" "It's fine. Resting and recovery are more important" Reaching behind him, Eren grabbed the shampoo off the rack "Tell that to my dick" "You're just a horny little shit, so is that dick of yours" "It's been weeks and the most we've done are handjobs. I just want to make sure you're ok" Messy handjobs in the shower were better than no handjobs at all "I don't have any complaints. You should sit" "I'll sit on your dick" Groaning, Levi grabbed the shampoo from his omega "No dick for you. Not until you're recovered and rehydrated" Laughing softly, Eren conceded "You're probably right. My stomach feels like shit" "That's what happens when you throw up" "I still have paperwork to do" "No. You're taking the night off. We're going to rehydrate you, and you're going to think of something other than paperwork" "Our house?" Pouring out a generous amount of shampoo, Levi passed the bottle back to Eren before starting to soap his hair up "We can talk about our house. How many rooms do you want?" "5...? Is five a good number? What do you even have in a house?" "Being in this castle has spoilt you" "Being with you has spoilt me. There's the bathroom, kitchen, dining bit, the boy's bedrooms, our bedroom, and I want a space to grow herbs. What about you?" "A study would be nice... maybe rooms for future pups?" "Mmm. I, uh, you're not mad about what I said are you?" "About waiting? No. I want to have our house built by the time the next one comes" "I'd hope our house was built. I've been thinking about it. I think I want to build it out near the new orphanage" That wasn't in the plans... Eren had wanted a small grove like Hannes had... "The orphanage?" Looking away, Eren untangled himself at Levi's questioning tone "It's silly" "It's only silly if you don't explain it" "I was... thinking that we could help out there. Not all the time, but I can use magic to help with the crops. You can teach the kids to ride horses. I've been thinking about how to design economic hubs in Marley. I want to set up 5 trading hubs in each area, and I want to set up training in each area to promote cross hub trading. I also want to collapse the military ports down to trading ports... and... I was thinking Isabel and Farlan could do trapping and relocations in the area, you know, to make sure everyone there is safe" "You've been making plans" "You're not mad, are you?" "I'm not mad. I wonder what the tribunal will say" "I don't know. They still won't say yes to us being married" Eren was sore over that. Levi thought he'd spend his time planning their wedding, but instead he simply sulked over a lack of answer "I'm still going to marry the fuck out of you, even if it takes a little longer to do so" Mumbling something under his breath, Eren blushed bright red "What was that?" "Nothing..." With soapy fingers, he tickled his mate's sides until Eren took his hands and interlaced their fingers, staying out of range of his fingers "Eren, tell me" "I said "I wanted to get married to you then spend our honeymoon during my heat"" Levi dove in to steal a kiss, Eren blocking him by twisting away "I vomited. It's dirty" "It's not dirty when it's you" Frowning, he was denied a kiss and forced to give up on the idea. He wouldn't look at him until he replied properly "That's one way to spend it. That's a hell of a way to spend it. You're sure you want to spend your heat with me?" The idea of sharing Eren's heat with him was natural, but he didn't know if Eren was mentally up for it "Levi, you're the only one I can spend a heat with. You know my magic goes out of control" "It's not nearly as romantic when you say it like that" "It's what you get for making me repeat myself" Levi had missed something, or Eren wasn't thinking straight. He looked ready to drop as it was "I'm sorry. Why don't you rinse off? I'll be there soon" "Need to brush my teeth first" "Brush your teeth then get your butt to bed" "Yes, mum" God. He was such a brat. * Climbing out of bed, Eren gave up on sleep. Viren hadn't settled well, crying off and on all day, now he'd simply decided that instead of sleep time it was scream time. Eren hadn't had the best nights sleep the previous night thanks to some extremely graphic nightmares. Levi copping a bloodied nose for trying to wake him from his screams. Feeling Levi's hand grabbing the edge of his nightshirt, Eren reassured Levi that he had him and to try to go back to sleep. Things weren't like they'd been in Europe. If he needed sleep, he slept, letting Levi tend to Viren. If Levi was having a bad day, he'd stay up and let his mate sleep. Grabbing Levi's cloak from the wardrobe, he wrapped himself in the thick furs before rushing to collect his baby boy. Dawn was still a few hours away, his intention being to head down to work on the paperwork in the royal library, yet the cause of his son's distress was a soaked nappy. Changing the pup, he offered Viren his breasts, but having been in such a foul mood all day, his son refused to take it, grizzling himself back to sleep Eren was spared the cold walk down to the library though didn't know if he trusted the silence. Two kids and silence usually lead to trouble. No. Two kids and his alpha being silent usually meant trouble. Levi had been working far too hard lately. Armin was lucky enough to have caught up with paper work, where as Eren had only submitted all the claims papers he'd found, as well as his plans for the ports and trade hubs... and had gotten no reply. Levi had basically said "fuck it" to everything. They were a mess for whoever ruled Marley next, and now he was only allowed to focus on fresh mail. Cleaning up the bathroom from changing his pup, the omega ran himself a bath as a treat. His body aching from being back and forth from the cot to the desk all damn day, his head aching from his son's crying, and his breasts tender from Viren not wanting to feed. Soaking for a few hours sounded heavenly. Stripping off his nightshirt, he screamed as he span round to find Levi standing in the doorway. The alpha had his arms crossed as he casually leant against the frame "Don't do that!" "I did nothing. The sound of the water woke me" Throwing his nightshirt at him, Levi caught the thin garment. Eren half wishing he'd left the alpha's cloak on, the impact would have made the man stumble "Why are you running a bath?" "So I can take a bath?" "Did Viren need feeding?" "No. Now my breasts and my head are sore" Huffing, Eren wrapped his arms around his waist as he stared at Levi. They'd established he was taking a bath... so why was he still there "Can I help you?" "I don't know, can you?" "Levi..." "Sit up on the counter for me" He was so close to his bath! Now Levi was making him wait? Mentally sighing, he padded over to the bathroom counter and climbed up, watching Levi as he stripped his own nightshirt off, the alpha casually ignoring his erection as he moved between Eren's legs. Sliding his hands up Eren's sides, goosebumps erupted across his flesh "You said your breasts hurt?" "Mmm. Your son didn't want to feed" "That's a shame" Cupping Eren's breasts, Eren moaned into the touch of his alpha's thumbs against his nipples. Sex had definitely not been on his mind. Now it was all he could think of as Levi's aroused scent flooded from him. Shuffling closer to the edge of the counter, Levi rolled his hips against forward, rubbing his erection against Eren's rising own "Shit. They're heavy" "Full..." Applying his lips to Eren's right nipple, Levi started to suck. Letting his head loll back, Eren wrapped his legs loosely around the alpha's waist whimpering as his milk started to spill, slick starting to run as he rolled his hips into the touch. Drinking deeply, Levi milked his left breast. Milk running down his chest and stomach, pooling between their heated groins. With a light bite, Eren screamed as his back arched, his alpha not appreciating that his nipples already felt tender enough to be filled with glass "D-don't... hurts..." Pulling off, Eren's milk leaked from his released nipple, Levi using is tongue to clean the mess "It hurts?" "They're tender" "How about between your legs, is that tender?" Eren shook his head quickly "Wet... I'm wet..." "Let me see" Laying back on the counter, Eren dropped his knees apart. The smell of slick fighting the scent of Levi's arousal for dominance in the space. Without prepping him, Levi pushed two fingers into Eren's slick opening, Eren gasping as he grasped Levi's wrist "Fuck..." "Feels good?" "Warning would be nice..." "I'm going to finger you while I jerk your off, then I'm going to knot you" Pushing his fingers deeper, Levi knew exactly where his sweet spot was. Rubbing and working his fingers against his prostate, his mate jerked him hard and fast. He felt far to exposed sprawled out like he was, the sounds wet and lewd as he mewed for more. Bucking his hips, he wasn't quite sure what he was doing anymore. He wanted his alpha's knot, but Levi was insisting on teasing him into a spasming mess. Bringing him to the precipice of orgasm, Eren cried out when Levi tore his fingers from inside of him, the momentary feeling of loss had him cursing Levi. He'd been so close and now the fire in his belly was starting to cool. Taking him by the left hip, Levi teased his opening with the blunt head of his dick "You love it when it when I play with the opening, don't you?" Humming was an acceptable reply, Levi breaching him with just the tip. Maddeningly, the man worked at keeping his thrusts short and shallow "Please! Please just fuck me" "I am" "You're not... need it Levi" Taking his dick in his hand, Eren pumped himself. If Levi wasn't going to get him off, he'd have to do it himself. Snarling at the action, Levi pulled out, pulled him off the counter, bent him back over it and slammed into his heat painfully hard within the length of a few pants "I can't last" "Don't... hard and fast" Taken by the hips, Levi thoroughly fucking drilled him. His dick completely wrecking his hole as Levi rode him right up to the moment his knot made it physically impossible to keep moving. Burying himself deep, Levi lifted his leg as he tried to keep moving, hips stuttering in time with the pulses of cum landing on the counter door as Eren saw stars. Riding out the waves of pleasure, the omega dropped his forehead to rest against the spot he'd been previously sitting on, getting slick on his face in the process "Fuck... fuck..." Nuzzling into his lower back, Levi pressed kisses to his cooling skin "Love you. Love you so much" "Bath?" The word came out as a croak. Pulled backwards, it wasn't a terribly sexy shuffle or gainly position as Levi manhandled him into the bath, his knot nearly torn from his body as they figured how to get down into the water. A silent agreement of not to speak of it passed between them once they were finally in. Levi couldn't keep his hands off him. Sharing kisses, the alpha worked his spent penis. Moaning, his body was eager for more, his magic soothing his fatigue. Not that he wasn't tired, he was simply hornier than he was sleepy now. Grinding against Levi knot, he could feel himself rippling around his alpha's girth, trying to draw him deeper. As Levi's knot started to lessen, his alpha pushed him forward, Eren on his knees as the bath water sloshed over the side, soaked with slick and cum, Eren's hands scrambled to grip the taps as Levi took him hard and fast, flooding his body with pleasure, his mate reduced to snarls and growls as he fucked him, pulling Eren down to sit in his lap when he couldn't get as deep as he liked. Riding Levi sloppily, he found his mate's hand, holding it to his belly as came, Levi's knot flaring as he was coming down from his initial high, tearing his third orgasm from him and leaving him boneless as flopped back against his mate. Licking his lips, Eren closed his eyes. Nasally and rumbling purrs vibrating his chest as Levi's hand rubbed at his belly "That happened" "Mmm..." "You ok?" He was more than ok. Why hadn't they been having... no. That's right, real life was messing with their sex life "Mhmm" "Can't talk?" "Nnn..." Kissing his shoulder, Levi shifted them to sink lower into the bathtub "God. You're incredible" Nope. He was boneless and full. Drunk off his alpha's touches and pheromones. Moving his trapped hand, Levi placed it on his stomach with the second one, fingers ghosting across cross and making Eren whine "Doooon't" "Oh, you can talk" "I can when you're tickling me" "I didn't mean to. I can't keep my hands off you" "Fuck handjobs... let's just fuck in the shower in the mornings" "I would have happily fucked you. However, I seem to remember a certain pile of paperwork that's been taking up all your attention" "You know what it's like" "I know I don't get to see you as much as I want" "Mmmm. But think. A few more months and I won't be a prince anymore. We'll be free to do whatever we want. 6 months in January. It's already most of the way through August now. Viren's 5 months..." Levi hummed softly, tapping his finger against Eren's stomach as he counted "August, September, October, November, December, January. That's six" "Do you think July counts? Then we can get out of here before your birthday" "If it was up to me, I'd have it count from the moment you became a prince" "I wish..." Falling back to purrs, Eren let himself soak his mate's warmth and love in. Why couldn't it be January already? And why couldn't Europe give him permission to marry? Levi wasn't in any hurry to be a prince again. He wasn't going to contest the position as prince of the Marley empire. Both of them wanted to move out to the countryside raise their kids, disappear into history and then be reborn again... if you believed those kinds of things. End of story. Letting his heart rate slow, a smile played on Eren's lips. Levi would make sure their dreams came true. From the bath they stumbled over each other in a rush to their bed. Falling into bed together, Eren rolled himself over to straddle Levi's lap. Mouthing at his mate's neck, he teased his bonding mark with his teeth, his hands roaming across Levi lean body. His mate didn't like to have his nipples played with, not deriving the same amount of pleasure from it as he did. Marking his fiancé's neck with half a dozen deep hickeys, Eren smirked as Levi bucked his hips. He wanted to take his time to bring Levi apart. Kissing and mouthing his way down, he traced every inch of Levi's form, the sight one that only he got to see. Raising a leg, he slotted it between Levi's, the alpha taking a few moments to obediently spread his legs for him. Burying himself between Levi's milky thighs, Eren lifted Levi's thighs onto his shoulders, forcing the alpha to bend as lightly blew over his mate's tight opening, the ring of muscle twitching under his warm breath. With broad licks, Eren lapped at the spot, gradually beginning to fuck the taunt ring of muscle with his tongue. Growling and huffing, Levi's whole body was tense. They'd only done this a handful of times, Levi preferring to give rather than receive. Loosing his alpha, Levi loosened and relaxed in his hold. There was no way he'd ever be as loose as Eren was, or slick the way he did. Still, it filled Eren with pride to pleasure his alpha. Indulging himself until he felt like he'd burst without his mate's knot, Eren lowered Levi's legs back down. His mate's neglected penis oozing a thick trail of precum, the fluid arching from his stomach to the tip as he unfolded. Climbing forwards, Eren grasped the neglected organ, lining himself then sinking down slowly, drawing a hiss of pleasure from his mate. Rising slowly, Eren ran his hands over his body and up to his breast, continuing up to thread his fingers through his hair, as his pace increased slightly. Keeping his legs spread, he watched Levi's hands grip their blankets tighter, the alpha trying to stop himself from touching him as he enjoyed the show "Touch me too" A three worded command of his own "Beautiful. You're goddamn beautiful" "Good Alpha. Put your hand on my hips and keep watching me" Working himself up to fucking himself senseless on Levi's dick, Eren came hard enough for his cum to splatter across Levi's neck and chest. Holding him down on his knot, Eren dragged his finger through his cum to write on Levi's chest "Are you writing your prayers again?" "No" His first prayers had never worked. Now he feared the magic bolstered by semen. He feared somehow it would trigger the same kind of catastrophe all over again "Come down here and cuddle with me?" "Mmm, what do you say we blow off work again?" "We're only blowing off work if you promise to sleep. You didn't last night, did you?" The word sleep made him yawn "Exactly. We'll sleep, then you'll do paperwork when you get up. I'll watch the boys while you work, and once the papers are done, we'll continue this all over again" "What makes you think I want a round four?" "Because I want a round 5 and 6" "I think we can manage that" And that's exactly what happened for the rest of the day.

[thisloverpg]

RYDER LYNN is a 25-YEAR-OLD resident of Dent, South Carolina. He is currently the OWNER AND OPERATOR OF LYNN GENERAL. He is based on ALEX WHEATLEY from SAFE HAVEN and has the endgame of KYDER.

THE STORY SO FAR.

The path of the Lynn family was paved with good intentions. From coming to the town in order to start the only general store in the county to pushing their son to be the star of the city -- it was all based on the best of intentions, but the results were much different. Ryder was never one to falter under the pressure, but he was never one to live in it. The dream of him owning the store after his parents was never him, the dream of being the quarterback was never him, the dream of marrying Quinn Fabray and being happily ever after in Dent was never him. Knowing what was him was the problem, and was the only consistent question in his mind throughout his youth. It wasn’t until he was sixteen that he saw her and realized the answer -- Madison McCarthy.

On a Tuesday after Madison’s eighteenth birthday, Ryder and his new wife left the Dent court house hand-in-hand. The clerk had called his parents moments after the deal was done, but any efforts to get the two to undo their deed proved moot. After days of fighting and resistance from Ryder’s family, a compromise was made. Ryder would take over the business and his family would accept Madison as his wife -- a  deal too easy to make. To Ryder, having his wife and beginning his family was his true purpose. A few years later, they had their daughter, Lexie. A year and a half after they introduced her into the world, Dent said goodbye to Madison after a tragic accident. Just like that, Ryder was lost again.

Ryder and Lexie, now a bright-eyed five year old girl, are the sole workers of Lynn’s General. His parents had left to Charleston to enjoy their retirement, leaving their son and granddaughter to feel some relief of their loosened grip. Even then, Ryder can fully admit that he is flying blind in regards to raising a daughter. Still shackled by the grief of his wife, the townspeople use softer gloves when making their purchases at Lynn’s. Ryder still lives in the same home that he shared with his wife, her things still packed away in the drawers.

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS.

QUINN FABRAY. Being the children of two of the most established families in Dent bonded two unlikely friends more than most would’ve expected. With Quinn being the daughter of the long-time mayor and Lynn’s family owning the stable store in town, all eyes were on them in their youth. Quinn as a cheerleader and Ryder as the quarterback didn’t help with the rumors that the two families were pushing their children together romantically. It was a frustration that the two of them could only understand, giving each of them a place to vent. Quinn even helped Ryder admit his feelings for Madison and make the first move, a push that Ryder was always thankful for. Ryder even accepted the task of being Quinn’s alibi for the last summer of their senior year, despite never being told where Quinn really was. Honestly, he respected her enough not to ask.

MARLEY ROSE.  The two were all but strangers in high school. Poor girl from the outskirts of town and the football star – the only thing they each knew was their names. Following Madison and Emmett’s deaths, the two finally had a commonality in their grief to relate to each other over. It was almost sad that they don’t have much else to share sad looks over, until Lexie turned five and could finally attend kindergarten. With Marley as her teacher, the two were able to become close and Ryder finally found a little help with Lexie. In emergency situations, Marley always heads to the Rose’s property first for help with Lexie. It’s become harder now that Marley is needing to help her mother, but they still have momentary conversations to check in with each other.

KITTY WILDE. In a town with one general store, avoiding the manager is all but impossible. With Kitty stocking up on all the basics in her new home, Ryder Lynn turned out to be more of a nuisance than anything else. A constant flow of questions and good intentions, nothing spells more of a problem for Kitty than a genuine interest in her original roots. As much as sneaking through the isles gives her a few moments of stealth, Ryder’s daughter always finds a way to say hello and reel her into a short conversation. By that point, any attempt to avoid the pleasantries becomes futile. Even if he sees how much she’s hiding, there’s something that makes him wonder if there’s something deeper than the new girl with a chip on her shoulder.

[uraniaconjunctmc]

6th house

Saturn/Chiron/Jupiter/Uranus/North node: Career may be related to analyzing, doing a lot of research, collecting data, helping others, anything health related, taking care of domestic animals, working in a shelter. Not your job but, you may simply adopt/rescue multiple of them.

Saturn: Saturn’s lesson here is health is the most important thing we have in life. Once one grasps that they’ll have a more positive and less materialistic attitude towards life. “Money can’t buy health.” said Bob Marley, I suppose. In sum, you may need to learn how important your health is throug your own experiences or witnessing others’. (Please, I don’t want this to be understood negatively) For some it may indicate dealing with some hard tasks in life to be magnificent at what you’re occupied with.

Saturn/Chiron: Feels like carrying all the responsibilities of the world on your shoulders. Inexplicable sense of duty.

Saturn/Chiron/Jupiter/Uranus/North node: You may need to take the high road throughout your life, but that will benefit you- no matter how hard it is.

Saturn/Chiron/Jupiter/Uranus/North node: Life may force you to make your dreams or ideas real.

Mars: Being picky when it comes to sex. Cleanliness matters a lot. You may not appreciate unprotected sex and one night stands. Not that you’ll never have a one night stand, it’s just not your cup of tea.

Mars: Being a workaholic and perfectionist is likely. If there is an empty 12th house and no planets in Pieces you may go through a career change in your adult life. Something like less stressful. However, you always enjoy working and being occupied with something because that’s what energizes you.

Venus: High standards in beauty and love, -significant other. You may reject dating someone just because their shoes don’t match with their outfit even though you find them attractive. Super-ego is developed even in early years. You may be spending a lot of time with skin care a lot regardless of your skin’s condition. Trying to be fair and proper. You may believe, one has to look healthy first in order to be beautiful.

Mercury: Measuring and calculating almost everything. Excellent problem solving and analytical skills. More a thinker than a feeler unless the chart tells otherwise. Feeling mentally overwhelmed, sometimes.

Uranus: You know that you’re different. Why am I like this? is likely to be asked in early years, more effective especially if Uranus opposes the ascendant. You may not have a 9 to 5 job. Life may include many interesting experiences. Unique facts regarding your health. Doctors may not understand you. In fact, you may feel like no one understands you, sometimes. (with Mercury more likely)

Ceres: You may like organizing what you have. Your finances, your house, your room, your closet and so on. Making sure that everything around you is safe. Money may come in through hard work and discipline, and also you may have either a great deal of fortune or you may not have to deal with so many financial problems in your life. (Bill Gates has Ceres in the 6th) A financially secure life and good health unless the charts says otherwise.

Sun: You are likely to show Virgo traits. Reading sun in Virgo recommended.

Pallas: Your wit may be quickly noticed in your career and in general. Potential to be a genius especially if it hits the ascendant (This applies to Uranus too)

Juno: Partner(Spouse) or the major love interest in your life- even if you were married to someone else later in your life, may be a workaholic, fastidious and have high standards. May criticize you as well as others a lot. May expect you to have the same traits that they possess, which can be problematic during the relationship.

A chart is a whole. What’s said above may not resonate for some. Completely normal. I’ve ,too, read so many things that has nothing do with me.

If you have a stellium in the 6th- whether the planets are in the same sign or not, and/or aspected by multiple planets, their energy may shift, therefore you may not resonate with what you read about your placements, which is the chart has to be carefully examined.

URANIA 

[ineffablehusbandos]

Searching for a writing partner for a fic

I’m searching for a writing partner for my fanfiction In You Embrace. Which is an A/B/O fanfiction with Levi as an alpha and Eren as an Omega. 

Here is the summary for the story:  Not liking the laws and the way his people thought in regards to dynamics, Eren left Marley. Not wanting to deal with their views, he decided to build a house and live outside the walls. One day, while out hunting for food, he was found by a survey corps soldier, an alpha named Levi who happens to be Paradis' strongest soldier.

The thing with that story is that it was a project I had started on my own and then another fanfiction writer had joined me on it. Unfortunately, said writer hasn’t been active since, like, chapter two, which means I’ve been working on it all on my own since then. 

I’ve tried finding other people to work on it with, but unfortunately, they have all been inactive and had not contributed even once. (Which is why it baffles me why they had even offered to work on it with me in the first place)

The story currently has then (Short) chapters and I’m currently working on the eleventh. I have some plot related notes taken for the story, if you’re interested, pm me, it would be nice to have someone to write and bounce ideas for it with. 

[porkchop-ao3]

Doofus Rick x Reader

I wasn’t sure whether I should post this, but I decided to go ahead and do it. This is a pretty personal fic that I basically wrote just to make myself feel better lol. It’s a SFW Doofus Rick x reader comfort fic where reader is dealing with an alcoholic parent. I hope someone gets something out of this, even those who don’t fully relate with reader. Thank you for reading x

-

I was never a deep sleeper. The slightest thing could wake me, whether it be a conversation in the next room, a light breeze… the smell of burning. I shot up in bed, taking a few deep breaths through my nose, trying to figure out whether I was imagining it. No. Something was definitely burning. I threw the covers off and ran out of the room, checking every room I passed before making my way down stairs. The lights were on downstairs, despite it being past three in the morning. I got to the kitchen, being greeted by chaos. There was a broken egg on the floor, discarded ingredients and cutlery littering the work surfaces, eggs and baked beans bubbling away on the stove, and the source of the smell; toast under the grill. I pulled it out, burning my hand on the grill pan handle, sighing as I saw the blackened bread; practically charcoal at this point. With the fire hazard taken care of, I ran my burn under the cold tap, watching a blister form on the heel of my hand. It was too damn late for this crap. Well, early might be a better analysis, given the ungodly hour my mother was still up at.  

“Oh, you’re up. Want some eggs?” She asked as she entered the kitchen. Her words were slow and merged into each other. She’d started drinking at six on the dot, and it was evident she hadn’t stopped since.

“No thank you.” I told her, not turning to look at the swaying, squinty-eyed mess I knew I’d find. “Your toast’s burnt. I’ll make you some more.”

“Oh no, I only nipped to the bathroom. Thought I’d taken it out from under the grill.” She said, frowning at the smoking toast.

“No. Go and sit down, I’ll finish it.” I said, drying my hand off with a paper towel when the burning subsided.

“No, it’s okay, honey. I’ll do it.” She said, binning the burnt toast.

“Go on, sit down. I can’t sleep anyway, it’ll give me something to do.” I lied, finally turning to her and guiding her out of the room. Eventually, she accepted the offer. I took a deep breath once she was gone, then got to work on cooking some fresh toast. I gave the beans a stir, flipped the eggs, and cleaned up the mess she’d made.

This wasn’t exactly a rare occurrence. My mother tended to only eat at ridiculous hours of the morning, her medication messing with her appetite; only issue is, her drinking problem meant she was drunk most of the times she tried to cook for herself. This wouldn’t be the first, or last, time I’d have to step in to help. It didn’t bother me. Sure, I’d rather be sleeping, but at least I knew she had something in her belly to soak up all the beer. She wasn’t a bad mum. Not at all, she was my best friend. That’s why it hurt so much. I was completely powerless, I’d asked time and time again for her to try and cut down on the drink. Never once had she listened; only turned it all around and made out that I was ‘picking’ on her. She couldn’t seem to see that it was destroying me just as much as it was destroying her.

Once the food had finished cooking, I dished it up for her, bringing it into the living room where she was sat having a cigarette, watching some late night TV roulette show. Thank God she wasn’t a gambler to top it off, she just liked to guess the numbers before they came up. She was never right, of course. I handed her the food, she thanked me and tucked in, patting the seat next to her to ask me to join.

“I should be getting back to bed.” I told her, rubbing my tired eyes. I looked down at my hand, which was starting to hurt again. Sighing heavily, I leaned down to kiss my mother on the cheek. “Goodnight, mum. You going to bed soon?”

“After I’ve finished this.” She nodded.

“Okay. Love you.” I said, turning to leave.

“Love you too.” She called back. I climbed the stairs with a lump in my throat. I’d had a few weeks away from uni, and every time I was home long enough to see how bad things were, it made me feel worse and worse. I climbed back into bed and shed a few tears before going to sleep.

The next day entailed a regular trip to the supermarket. Mum dragged me with her at least three times a week, and every time I didn’t need to ask what we were going for. Occasionally we’d pick up bread, milk, something for lunch. But outside of the large shops we did to buy food for the next week or two, our frequent visits had one purpose. Two large crates of beer; twenty cans in each. Forty in total. It’d last a couple days. Sometimes we’d buy them two days on the trot, 'just in case we can’t come again for a few days’. It became rather embarrassing at times. The checkout people knew us, knew what we always bought, sometimes they’d joke.

“Having a party?” they’d say, amusement on their faces. My mum would just laugh. I’d cringe.

It got to the point where I could tell she was self conscious about it. I’d ask her what we needed to get. She’d stay silent for a while, then list off something I knew we didn’t need. Or we’d be in the supermarket, she’d have a cart full of beer and would pause to think of something else we could get. She acted like we needed extra bits and bobs, but I knew it was because she didn’t want to go through the check out with just beer for the second time that week.

And the sheer amount of money that went into it… I didn’t want to calculate it.

I needed a break from it. I needed to have a night off watching her poison herself, I needed to spend the day with her sober, and remember her that way when I went to bed. So when six o'clock rolled around, I left the house. I texted Rick, asking him if he was busy. If he was, I’d book out a cheap hotel or something for the night, but I couldn’t deny that I craved to see him. He was a little bright light that made everything around him disappear, and Lord knew that’s what I needed. To my relief, he texted back quickly, letting me know that he was just finishing cooking dinner and he’d like for me to join him, if I wanted to. I picked up the pace, walking the short ten minute journey to his house.

He gave me his usual beaming smile when I arrived, holding the door wide open to welcome me into his home. I wiped my feet on his doormat before stepping inside, shrugging my coat off and hanging it on it’s usual peg by the door.

“It’s lovely to see you, (y/n). Th-thank you so much for joining me for dinner, i-it’s nice to have company.” He said, closing the door behind me and straightening out the blue checkered apron he was wearing over his sweater. My mood lifted instantly, and I mirrored his huge smile.

“Thank you for having me. I… I fancied getting out of the house, and I can never say no to a meal cooked by you.” I told him, rubbing my hands together to warm them up. We’d had a chilly few days, even a few flurries of snow, but Rick’s home was toasty warm.

“C-come through, it’s almost done!” He said, leading me through to his kitchen, urging me to take a seat at the little round dining table in the corner. He had a vase full of flowers in the middle of it, as usual, this week it was a combination of lilies and these little yellow flowers that I didn’t know the name of. “We have homemade sweet potato and carrot soup, with some tasty salad on the side and fresh baked bread. I hope that’s okay for you.” He told me as he served up the food.

“That sounds perfect. Thank you.” I smiled, even though he couldn’t see with his back to me. “I love that you make your own soup, I usually only have it out of a tin.” I giggled.

“Well, the potatoes and carrots came out of my garden. I-I-I sometimes have so many, I don’t know what to do with them. Soup’s a good way o-of making use of them.” He explained, bringing over two bowls of soup and placing one down in front of me, before placing the other one on the spot next to me. Next, he carried over a bowl full of dressed salad, and a wooden chopping board with sliced bread on it. It all smelled so delicious. “S-same goes for the salad. It’s all home grown and fresh from the ground!”

“Can’t beat it.” I grinned. “So everything here has had your heart and soul put into it. It’s going to be delicious.”

“Well,” he blushed deep red as he took his seat next to me. “I should admit, th-the bread was bought from the bakery this morning.” He told me sheepishly, and I chuckled.

“I just watched you slice it. That’s good enough for me.” I teased with a wink, and he smiled in amusement. The first mouthful of soup had me humming in appreciation. Rick was the best cook in the world, I was sure of it. Every meal he made was to die for.

“Th-there’s plenty left, feel free to have seconds when you’re done. A-nd I’ll even give you some to take home.” He said. I shook my head and held a hand up to him.

“Oh, don’t let me steal it all. I know you like to save your leftovers for your lunch!”

“Please. Um, I wasn’t kidding when I said I have so much veg I don’t know what to do with it. Y-y-you’d be doing me a favor by taking it off my hands!” He admitted. I laughed, patting the back of his hand.

“Well, in that case I’ll take as much as you can give me.” I grinned. He smiled back, nodding his head eagerly. We fell quiet after that, and in the silence I noticed that he had the radio on. He was playing some Bob Marley quietly in the background, and the entire atmosphere served to drain me of any tension.

I ended up having two bowls full of soup, and Rick seemed impressed by my appetite, pleased that I enjoyed his food so much. I insisted on doing the dishes while he sat down and relaxed. I divided the leftover soup into two airtight tubs, and popped them in the fridge with the leftover salad. The bread was wrapped back up in the paper bag it came in, and placed in the wooden bread bin. Once the kitchen was nice and tidy, I joined Rick in the living room where he was working on a jigsaw puzzle. He was sat cross-legged on the floor, all the pieces spread out around him. I grinned ear to ear at the sight.

“Would you like to join me?” He asked. “Don’t feel obliged. I-I know some people find them a little tedious…”

“I’d love to join you.” I said, taking a seat opposite him. He handed me a cushion to sit on, since the antique Persian rug underneath us offered little padding from the hardwood floor. Rick’s house was full of interesting antiques. Most of which were collected from markets and car boot sales across the country. The rug we were sat on had been in terrible condition when he’d bought it, but he’d spent hours meticulously cleaning and repairing it, reweaving damaged areas by himself. He was extremely resourceful, and his talents seemed to have no end. The rug looked beautiful now.

“This is a ten thousand piece puzzle. I just recently spotted it in a thrift store, s-so let’s hope all the pieces are there!” He said, handing me the box with the picture on. It was a group of wild horses galloping through a dusty, isolated landscape. It was a very beautiful image, and like Rick, I hoped that there weren’t any missing pieces, so we could see it in its entirety. “I like to st-start at the edges and work my way in.” He explained with a smile, sifting through the pile of pieces. He’d already made a start, having joined a few pieces together, revealing what seemed to be the blue sky.

“I might be slower than you. I haven’t done a jigsaw in years.” I warned, and he shook his head.

“It doesn’t matter how long it takes us, it will be nice to work together.”

Rick hummed along with the music still playing quietly. He always paused to give an excited little gasp every time he found the right puzzle piece, and to my surprise I found myself doing the same. I didn’t think I’d have so much fun doing something as simple as a jigsaw puzzle, but I realised that anything with Rick was going to be enjoyable. He had a way of making me enjoy the little things. I had a handful of puzzle pieces, inspecting each one carefully, when I heard Rick give a different kind of gasp. I looked up at him in question, noticing that he was looking at my hand.

“H-how did you do that?” He asked me. I realised he was referring to the nasty burn on my palm. I dropped the puzzle pieces and he reached forward, taking my hand in his.

“The grill pan handle got really hot, and I stupidly grabbed it.” I told him with a sigh.

“Does it hurt?” He asked. I shrugged.

“A little.” I admitted. He rose to his feet, leaving the room for a moment. When he came back, he had a little woven basket in his hands. He set it down, and I peered inside; it was full of first-aid items.

“Y-you should really dress it. Otherwise it could- you could hurt yourself even more.” He told me, and I nodded.

“I was really tired when I did it, it didn’t even occur to me. I’d only just woken up, it was the middle of the night.” I explained, and he gave me a puzzled look.

“I-if it’s alright for me to ask… what were you doing cooking in the middle of the night?” He asked me. I stared at him for a while, unsure of how to answer. He sensed my discomfort, shaking his head as he pulled a bandage out of the basket. “Not to worry. Let’s get this covered up for you.”

“No, it’s okay. It was food for my mum. She… she burned toast and I had to step in.” I said, and a look of understanding passed over his features. He nodded and took my hand in his again, inspecting the wound.

“H-how, um, how is she?” He asked hesitantly. I took a shaky breath.

“Same as usual. I just… I notice it more when I’m not at uni.” I explained. He watched me carefully, his eyes were sad and I had to look away. I felt myself becoming emotional, but I didn’t want to put him in the uncomfortable position of seeing me cry.

“Um, I know it’s not quite my place to say… but I’d like to share something with you, if you don’t mind.” He said, beginning to wrap my hand up in a bandage. He worked so carefully, I barely felt his fingers moving over my hand; he was being overly gentle, trying not to hurt me.

“I don’t mind.” I said, looking back up at his face. He had a look of concentration on his face, a slight frown curving his brow.

“I… I’ve told you about the alternate versions of myself, do you remember?” He asked, and I nodded. Pretty hard to forget that one, I thought. “Well, I didn’t really tell you that, um, I-I-I’m quite different from them. They- ah, it’s difficult for me to explain. They don’t like the things I do and they act very differently, but that’s not what’s important. The thing is, they- a lot of them suffer with, uh, they drink very heavily.” He said, clearing his throat. “Alcoholism is very common among Ricks, and so I have a predisposition to struggle with it myself.”

“Is that why you don’t really drink?” I asked, and he nodded his head, giving me a little smile as he finished dressing my hand. He brought my hand to his face, giving my palm a light kiss. Butterflies erupted in my tummy at this, and I flipped my hand over so I could entwine my fingers with his.

“I used to drink. And f-for a while I was quite- I had a difficult time. Th-that’s when I decided to stop. Since then, I’ve been okay. Y-you know I have the occasional glass of wine with dinner, but that’s all.” He said, and I nodded in understanding. “But, if you noticed; I said I decided to stop.”

I stared at him for a while, trying to figure out the underlying meaning to his words. After a moment, he stood up, urging me to do the same. He guided me over to the sofa and we sat together, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

“I don’t want to make you feel hopeless, that’s not my intention. B-but I understand that you put a lot of pressure on yourself, don’t you?” He asked. I thought about this for a while and I had to agree. I nodded and looked up at him. “I want to help you to stop doing that, b-because it’s not worth it. I decided to stop. And that’s the only reason; nobody convinced me.”

“Oh. I see what you’re trying to say.” I sighed, looking down at the ground.

“I’m sorry, beautiful. I-I-I don’t want you to spend your life worrying about something that you can’t change. The truth is, your mother will make her own decisions, and I know that it’s difficult to accept, but… but nothing you do is going to effect that decision.” He said. It was quite blunt, but deep down I knew that he was right. I’d always known. All the hours I’d spent crying with her, begging her to get help, it wasn’t going to do anything. She was a grown woman, she made her own choices. If she wanted to stop, she would. If not, well…

“I see. You’re right, Rick. It’s just very difficult to sit back and watch it happen, you know?” I said, and he nodded, his expression sympathetic.

“I know. I-if it helps, you’re very welcome here. Any time you feel the need to get away.”

“Thank you.” I whispered, turning and leaning into his side. He pressed a kiss to the top of my head, his arm tightening around me.

“Th-there’s nothing wrong with you being there for your mother, or loving her, or even worrying about her. But it isn’t your job to babysit her. Y-you’re her little girl, sh-she should be the one looking out for you. Don’t give yourself a job you didn’t apply for, you see?” He spoke quietly, stroking his hand up and down my arm and resting his cheek against the top of my head. I nodded. “If you want to come over here whenever she starts… um, j-just know I’ll always open my door to you. W- uh, would you like to stay the night?”

“Yes please.” I breathed, relief allowing my shoulder to sag, my muscles to unfurl.

“I lo-” he started, then paused and cleared his throat. “You mean an awful lot to me, (y/n). S-seeing you sad makes me sad, a-a-and I want to do anything I can to help you.”

“Were you about to say-” I looked up at him, a flutter of excitement in my stomach. I paused and shook my head, not wanting to put him under any pressure. “Nevermind.”

“N-no, I uh, I mean… I was.” He said timidly, chewing on his bottom lip with those adorable crooked teeth of his. “I’m sorry.”

“You can say it. I’d like to hear you say it.” I whispered, stroking my hand over his chest. He caught my hand in his, drawing patterns on my palm with his thumb. He looked at me for a long while, his eyes moving back and forth between my own, searching them for something. I didn’t know what. He seemed satisfied with what he saw, it seemed, because his confidence grew.

“I love you.” He told me, and a smile broke out across my face.

“I love you too.” I replied. I craned my neck and kissed his cheek, and he laughed shyly, glancing down at our hands as he flushed.

“D-do you r-really mean that?” He asked me.

“Of course I do. I’ve never been more sure of anything.” I assured him, and he seemed to believe me. He grinned wider than he had all night, then leaned down to press a single kiss to my lips. Rick’s kisses were more often than not very timid. They were brief and soft, and they always left me craving more. I rarely pushed for more, though, preferring to move at his pace. On occasion, I was rewarded for my patience, and Rick would find the confidence to give me more than I could ever hope for. Times like that were what my dreams were made of, and I treasured them, their rarity increasing their value like a precious gem. They were always worth waiting for.