#after like a lifetime snks

[museeofmoon]

Doing this after 5000 years bcs why not, 5 songs i have been listening to tagged by @kindastudyingstuff

deep deep sleep_ woodz

I'm gonna love you_D.O wonstien

Goodbye, my danish sweetheart_mitski

Everyone adores you(atleast i do) _matt maltese

Drunk dazed_enhypen [yes again]

Tagging: @venetianwindow @halcyondayss @rainacademia @a-students-lifebuoy @ckmstudies @rae-blogging

[bipabrena]

Because We’re Family (Kenny-Levi-Erwin centred fic) chapter 19.

A fic where SNK is rewritten from the start. Kenny steps up as a parent for Levi. Many years later, Erwin accidentally crosses paths with Kenny, the one ghost of his past, and blackmails him and Levi into joining the Survey Corps. Because of his relationship with the Reiss, Kenny has vital information about humanity, and he makes his own deductions that will change everything for the story. All canon arcs will be rewritten, until the time to fight the outside world comes. Main pair is eventual Eruri (huge enemies to lovers). Read here.

They could hear the soldiers working, even from up here. Without an upcoming expedition to train for, the soldiers had to focus on more menial work. Today, a section of the barracks commuted from the gates to the mess hall. The shipments of food for the next three months had arrived, and it was hefty work to unload everything from the multiple wagons. 

Kenny watched them aloofly from the window. 

They will all die, he thought. It could be in a year, five years, or perhaps not in their lifetime. But their children could be killed, or their children’s children, and so on. Many generations may pass before that day comes, but it was a fact they would die.

This world will crumble, Uri and Frieda had said. And the First King corroborated it.

The Subjects of Ymir. They had to pay for whatever sins the Eldians of the past committed. The outside world will pay whatever violence they ever inflicted ten times in turn.

His sombre eyes did not waver as the voices in the room grew increasingly louder. Despite being right next to them, he couldn’t make out what Erwin and the others were saying. A disagreement, perhaps. Either way, his mind was not in it. He couldn’t focus and, frankly, unless directly addressed, he didn’t care. 

He brought his fist to his lips, eyes still focused on the soldiers that carried dozens upon dozens of crates with flour bags. 

A hand touched his shoulder. It took him one, two, three seconds to react. He looked back to find Flagon, who seemed a bit too grim. There was also a certain gentleness in his eyes. He’d sure mellowed down to him in the last two months, Kenny recognised. “You can move ahead, pack your things and do what you want until midday. We’ll finish up here.”

Kenny briefly glanced at the working soldiers one last time and left the room without a word. The silence with which he left lingered in the air. The remaining men were reluctant to break it.

“I think we’re ready,” Erwin said later as he took a final glance at the documents. 

“Then we’d best move on now,” added Lutz with urgency. “Kit and Soren need us, and we have a regiment to save. Commander, is there anything else?”

“No, that will be all. Make haste. I’ll stay here, as we still need a backup plan,” Shadis said. “I already have a meeting set with a financial and legal advisor. Like Dorian said, we must be prepared for the possibility you won’t get this done in time.”

The soldiers all seemed to agree, but a loud sigh brought their attention to Dorian.

He reluctantly placed his file on the table. “Commander, I’m… sorry, but I can’t do this.”

Their brows rose.

“I didn’t sign up for this. I didn’t sign up to deceive a fellow soldier by using his child, regardless of who that soldier used to be. And we don’t even know what he might do to get the information, since the stakes are so high for him. People may get hurt, and I can’t be a part of that. I have a few days off accumulated and I request to use them in the following days.”

Erwin and his friends could only be astonished by this. By the looks of it, so was Shadis.

“Section Commander,” Erwin intervened, “I apologise for my impudence as I do not intend to question your authority, but we could use your help for this. It’s for the greater good of the regiment.”

Flagon and Lutz silently agreed. Having their Section Commander would make them feel a lot safer. He’d always taken care of them, after all.

“I stand by my words and have no further comment to add,” Dorian replied.

Erwin didn’t seem to like this.

“And no further comment is required,” Shadis spoke after a brief silence. “Take your time off, Anja will take your place in the headquarters for now. This is a good time for anyone hesitating to back down from this.”

From the rest, the only one who seemed unsure was Flagon. His brows were furrowed, and his lips tight. He was clearly very tempted to back down.

He slowly moved to place his folder on the table, but gave his friends a final glimpse. He watched Mike, the calculated Erwin, and the frowning Lutz. From them all, it was Lutz with his pitiful eyepatch that affected him the most.

He couldn’t bear to leave his best friend. 

He stopped and held the folder to his chest. Erwin let out a silent breath of relief. 

Dorian waited no further and, visibly disappointed with not only Flagon but also the rest, left the room.

“Very well,” said Shadis. “You may leave now. Get ready, wait for Kenny and go. Keep me updated and, above all, stay safe.”

“Sir,” they saluted.

They individually went to their rooms to pack their belongings. Essentials, their documents and a gun each from the armoury. When they were near the gates to await their carriage, they perked up cautiously when Kenny and Dorian crossed paths from afar.

“Are you not ready to leave yet?” Kenny asked, luggage in hand. “I was told the carriage would arrive at noon. I didn’t take ya to be tardy.”

“I will not be partaking in the mission.”

“... Because?” asked Kenny when silence lingered. He wondered about the frown on Dorian’s face. 

“I…” Dorian’s eyes moved down. “I, uh…”

What he was struggling to say didn’t seem to be easy, Kenny noticed. Like it weighed on him. 

“I… I, I…”

“Well, don’t pop a vein, will ya?” Kenny jested, although his face was perfectly serious. “See ya, then.”

Dorian watched him saunter away, and he surprised himself when he reflexively called Kenny’s name. Kenny turned to look at him, waiting.

Don’t go. We’re lying to you. We’re lying. 

Dorian wanted to say it, he was struggling not to, and Erwin could tell. Should he intervene?

“Be careful,” is what Dorian managed to say. 

Kenny said nothing, his gaze simply lingered on Dorian a few more seconds, and then he left. He did appreciate the concern, however. Dorian had always been kind to him and Levi.

He reached Erwin and the rest, but did not greet them. He remained in silence, eyes in the distance, as he patiently waited for the carriage. The others didn’t dare speak. They couldn’t, and even when it arrived, and they were safely on their way to the river canal, they still didn’t manage a word. 

Kenny seemed too calm, they individually thought. He even seemed to be enjoying himself when he produced a book from his bag and he read away.

They couldn’t tell whether this was good or bad.

When they reached the river canal, they sailed because it was the fastest mode of transportation. They reached their destination in under two hours. They disembarked and hauled a carriage to midtown. Erwin’s throat clenched as he walked out of it. The last time he’d done this, everything had gone wrong. Kit and Soren had arrived hours later, only for them to be taken from him, now held off who knew where.

He wasn’t alone now, though.

He felt at ease when seeing Lutz, Mike and Flagon by his side. The world seemed to get much smaller, however, and the air seemed to feel much tighter, more constricted as Kenny was the last to leave the carriage, pressing his hat with one hand as he walked out. His presence seemed to dwarf everyone else's, even when Mike was by far the largest and tallest of the group.

The initial plan had been to check at an inn with strategic positioning, although one different from the Aquatic Pub. Erwin didn’t want them to stay in the same tavern Ennis had already busted them in. So, they wanted one that was strategic, but Kenny had been quick to shut this down.

“We’re staying at my old place,” is what he stated. His tone made it clear he wasn’t suggesting or negotiating.

“Your cabin?”

“No,” Kenny was quick to respond. “Home is sacred, ya don’t let filth in it.”

Funny, Erwin thought. Levi had been quick to tell him the same thing when he’d asked to be let in his room.

“No, we’re going to my old place. In the Underground.”

They all stiffened immediately. Lutz gulped heavily, clearly more taken aback than the others. He absolutely did not want to return to that place. 

“May I ask why?” spoke Erwin.

“It’s just better,” is all Kenny said. 

He began walking with purpose, and the others were reluctant to follow. When they realised Kenny would move on with or without them, they felt they had no choice. Erwin was the first to move, and by reflex the others followed.

They entered the Underground and reached his old home without issues. Even here, the strongest gang would think twice before taking on five large, strong men who walked with purpose and straight faces. From the would-be robber’s perspective, there was a chance they could all be armed. So, an attack was highly unlikely.

Kenny felt a sense of nostalgia as he turned the lights on. His eyes centred on the whisky table, where he’d usually sit to drink and read, then lingered on the living room where the table would usually be crooked so that Levi would have space to train and practise his moves.

It was all perfectly organised now. As clean as any home that had been left unattended could be, but it wasn’t soulless despite the lack of inhabitants. 

“It’s… a lot nicer than I thought it would be,” admitted Flagon.

The other men ambled around the place, not quite finding themselves.

“We’ll need to do some light shopping, as there’s nothing to cook, and we can’t rely on inns for every meal,” Kenny instructed. “Some of us can head for the markets whilst the rest stay cleaning up. There are still some supplies around here.”

“Good idea,” said Erwin. “Let’s divide the chores so we can get to work.”

Mike and Erwin would shop for supplies. Food, a few pots and pans and some cleaning supplies. Kenny guided Lutz and Flagon to the nearby well so they could haul water for both cleaning and consumption. He then left them to their devices, excusing himself for unmentioned reasons, whilst they all kept themselves busy.

Kenny briefly considered the possibility the soldiers could come across Guinne. They wouldn’t recognise him, as from what he’d been told, Guinne had been masked when he’d attacked them, but Guinne would certainly recognise them. 

He wasn’t sure whether he should pay him and Moritz a visit to give them a heads-up. Frankly, he was a little lost right now.

Something gnawed at him. Clearly, the soldiers weren’t telling him everything. It was simply so weird for Levi to disappear like this. Somehow he recalled the Ackerman persecution. With enough firepower and men, he understood Levi would be forced to submit. The Ackermans were nearly driven to extinction for that reason. They’d been overwhelmed despite their strength. But Kenny had been a special case, he’d adapted beyond what any other Ackerman ever had. Even as a child. He was so sure Levi would be the same, especially with Kenny’s training. 

From what they told him, the innkeeper had told Erwin they’d gone along willingly. What exactly did Ennis, or his men, tell them so they came along? The threat they’d shoot up the place? He understood Kit and Soren would comply, their duties as soldiers would compel them to. But Levi? Surely he could easily sneak away.

With enough threats to innocent life, would Levi submit? Somehow, Kenny was a little afraid to admit he doubted it. 

No matter. Those were questions he’d make once he had Levi safe and sound. Yes, that’s what he should be focusing on. Just find him. How he got caught is meaningless. 

Just find him.

By the time Kenny was back home, the place was clean and smelled of smoke. Mike and Lutz were working on a meal, simple and not great, and as tasty as they could make it in a place like this. A bubbly potato cream soup with hot crusty bread that was much too stale, and a side of greens. No different from what they already ate in the military, Kenny was disappointed to find.

It’s not that getting used to this food was hard. Not quite. He’d gone hungry for over a decade of his life; he knew what it was like to starve. Still, for a shorter but still considerable chunk of his life he had been used to fancy, delicious foods cooked by the best offered within the Walls. And, after moving out of the Reiss Estate, he’d eaten very well in the time he lived in the cabin with Levi. Levi loved to cook, and Kenny enjoyed doing it alongside him at times. It was a great skill he’d picked up thanks to the Reiss chefs once he decided to shape up for Levi. Going back to eating bland food, well… he wasn’t a fan, but he wouldn’t repel it, either. Fuel was fuel.

They sat down to eat with little conversation, and after Erwin and Flagon finished cleaning up, they all got to work.

They spread their documents over the living room table, and they all huddled around it to discuss their plans of action. First, they of course needed to know their enemy. Once they did, they’d have to think like their enemy to anticipate their moves, and plan appropriate responses. 

“The man we’re up against is called Ennis Vernier, the man you encountered that night, Erwin,” said Kenny. “He’s Lovof’s head of security and without a doubt the one in charge of the entire operation.”

Erwin found this curious. Ennis seemed so young the night they met, he wouldn’t have imagined he’d be something as important as head of security for a duke. 

“I’d wager since Erwin slipped from his grasp, he’ll be on the lookout for new faces in the interior. He’ll know the Survey Corps won’t give up so easily, but also won’t be so stupid as to send the same person… although, to be fair, they did. He most likely has sentinels placed all over, hence why Kit, Soren and Levi were captured so quickly. The truth we’ll have to face is that, no matter where we go, we’ll have at least one person following us or listening to us. So, we have two ways of doing this: Either we gather real evidence like you want to bring Lovof down, or we simply play the game and force him to back down before the Faction Leaders and the Commander-in-Chief.”

“And how do we play the game?” asked Erwin.

“We don’t have enough time to play fairly. We go straight for where it hurts Lovof; his kids.”

“Wait, what!?” Lutz cried out. “What do you mean by that?”

“We take his kids, obviously,” said Kenny. “Ennis is certainly working behind the scenes, doing far more than… whatever he’s doing to Levi. And Kit and Soren. If anything, that’s a job for his subordinates. If I had to guess, they’re alright. Ennis would be more focused on gathering additional information on the Survey Corps’s response to this.” 

“You’re not actually asking us to kidnap children, are you?” Flagon’s throat clenched. 

“I'm not asking you to, but I also couldn't give less of a shit how you feel about it. By taking the brats, Ennis will be forced to put whatever he’s doing on hold. His job is to protect everything Lovof owns and loves. Cantaceres means nothing if Lovof’s children are unsafe, and the second they are, it’s Ennis’s job to retrieve them.”

“How many?” asked Erwin.

“He’s got tons of brats, but there’s two who are his favourite,” he raised two fingers. “He’d risk anything for them.”

“We won’t be hurting them, will we?” asked Mike warily. 

“‘Course not,” said Kenny sincerely, although a bit too aloofly for their liking. “Unless he doesn’t comply, of course. Then we rearrange some faces or perhaps mail a few body parts. Relax,” he said when Lutz produced a wail. “It won’t come to that. He loves those brats, it’s probably his only redeeming quality.”

“This is no time for sentimentalities,” Erwin reminded curtly when Lutz and Flagon frowned hesitantly. “If Lovof loves his children, we won’t have to hurt anyone. The faster we can get this done, the better.” He looked back at Kenny. “Where do we find them?”

"I can’t tell you that. I’ll be the one to retrieve them. In the meantime, you’ll scatter across Sina to look nice and pretty. We’ll need bait, so you must dress up in the Survey Corps uniform.”

“Wait, are you sure?” Mike’s brows creased. “The whole point of the operation was to be inconspicuous. We shouldn’t be hanging a large sign on our backs.”

“Wrong. You absolutely should hang a large sign on your backs. Like I said, Ennis will be on the lookout for the Survey Corps’ response to this. The faster we can lure his men to us, the better.”

“And what if Ennis anticipates this?” asked Erwin. “He figured me out in a flash. I’m sure he’d anticipate this.”

“He absolutely will, but he’ll still have no choice but to dig in. It’s true our main mission is to make Lovof back down from Cantaceres, but whilst we do that we also have to get Levi’s and your men’s whereabouts. The faster we do that, the better. I trust I don’t have to explain to you what you must do should you lure and capture some of their men.”

Lutz and Flagon gulped heavily.

“You don’t,” said Erwin. “We’ll get it done. I presume in the meantime you’ll retrieve Lovof’s children. Will you bring them down here?”

“I will. And then Lovof will come looking for them.”

“I have a question,” chimed Lutz. “When we go above ground, what exactly do we look for? Erwin said Kit and Soren asked around in the skid rows and, well, look what happened. I know we’re bait, but what do we do? The same as they did?”

“Like I said, your job is to look pretty. You’re bait, that’s all you are. If you can best their men, that’s fine, but I’d prefer it if you got captured.”

“H-hold on, what!?” Lutz shot up from his seat. “No way in Rose’s name, uh-uh! I’m not getting captured to be tortured by anyone! I’m here to rescue the ones getting tortured! I can’t do that i-i-if–”

Kenny was unimpressed by the outburst. “Flagon, please control your woman.” 

“Lutz is right to be concerned,” Erwin said, “getting captured isn’t an ideal thought for us.” Lutz seemed happy Erwin agreed that this madness was unacceptable. “But do quiet down, Lutz, please.” 

Well, he didn't agree, it seemed. Lutz whined huskily with impatience. “I can’t believe we’re actually considering this!”

Flagon tugged him so that he sat down, which he did.

“Why must we get captured?” Erwin asked. 

“Because I want you to lure their men. When Ennis went after ya, it must’ve been to get information on what you had, not just through interrogation. Tangible evidence. Documents. Things you very much have. He’ll want that.”

“And you want us to lure them here?”

“That’s right. At least one of you. If the rest get captured and sent to their hideout, that’s fine, so long as one of ya manages to get ‘ere.”

“But what if you get here with Lovof’s kids? His men will be here and–”

“Yes, they will. What about it?”

“H-hold on,” Flagon defended himself, “I know it sounds like a stupid question, of course it’ll scare them to see their Duke’s children kidnapped, but I mean what if that doesn’t work somehow, and they shoot without asking questions?”

“No need to concern yourself with that. Just do as you're told.”

“You’re asking us to get kidnapped here, man, come on! At least tell us your whole plan!” Lutz’s hand shot up.

“No.”

“Huh!? What do you mean no!?”

“I mean no. Goddamn, you’re annoying. Just get captured, it ain’t as bad as ya think.”

Lutz wailed in complaint. 

“If we manage to subdue his men first, do we take them here?” Mike asked.

“Yes.”

Erwin was wary of Kenny’s secrecy. 

“What should we expect?” asked Mike. “If we capture them first or if they capture us. Besides the mission to catch you, we’ve never done any operations against humans. Now this with the Ennis guy, it’s–”

“And how did you catch me, exactly?” Kenny asked curiously. “The whole secret thing. Who told you that?”

Mike suddenly wished he hadn’t said anything at all.

“That’s not what we’re here to discuss,” Erwin came to his aid. “Mike’s question is a good one, however. What do you reckon we prepare for?” 

“For someone to approach you or try to kidnap you. Dying is something you won’t have to worry about yet, I’d wager.”

“We don’t?” Flagon raised his voice, sounding relieved.

“No, he won’t kill ya. He’s too smart for that.”

“So, while you retrieve Lovof’s children, we should just… go around the interior luring them to us?”

Kenny was growing irritated. “Yes, how many times do I have to say it?”

“Sorry, sorry!” Flagon waved his hands. “I’m just nervous.”

“You won’t die and you probably won’t get tortured, not too badly.”

“Not too badly…” Lutz mumbled. “God, I hate this so bad, I want to go home. I don’t like this place,” he touched his eyepatch. “I hate this place. Why can’t they just leave us alone? Fuck, I hate… oh, fuck…”

He placed a hand on his chest as his breathing began to accelerate. Recognising what this meant, Flagon immediately placed himself across him. 

“I know,” Flagon cooed. “Breathe slowly. Count out loud.”

Lutz complied. He slowed his breaths and counted each one. He began trembling.

“Five,” said Flagon, and to this Lutz said, “Friends.”

“Four,” said Flagon, and to this Lutz said, “Warmth.”

“Three,” said Flagon, and to this Lutz said, “Crackling fire.”

On they went. When they repeated this, Lutz’s answers became a lot more descriptive.

Kenny’s brows creased with curiosity. “What’re they doing?” 

“Lutz suffers from panic attacks,” Mike said softly. “Has for a while now. It was never easy to calm him at first, but we found a little method.”

“The 5-4-3-2-1 method,” Erwin chimed in. “It’s a grounding exercise. When we notice the first signs he’s going to have one, one of us tries to ground him in the present moment, so he can focus. It involves all five senses. Sight, touch, hearing, smell and taste. With deep breaths, he must decreasingly describe something he’s asked. So, five things he can see, four that he can feel, three that he hears and so forth. If he can’t focus and see, feel, hear, smell or taste anything, he can just describe his favourite things for each sense.”

Kenny’s brows rose. “Does it always work?” he asked as he watched Flagon stand before Lutz, guiding him without crowding him.

“If we catch him like this when it’s about to start, it does, yes. When it has already started, it’s trickier, but helping him with his breathing normally suffices. The important thing is to give him space and not overwhelm him, hence why only one of us should step in.”

Kenny’s eyes narrowed slightly. That day… he thought.

The deafening shots. The screaming. The feeling of warm blood pooling underneath his bare feet as waning, dying eyes stared at him. 

He’d had to run as fast as his feet could carry him, along with the girl who barely held his hand, as though she’d lost life of her own. All whilst hearing the derisive laughter in the distance, mocking them, expressing they’d get them, too. The voice that had joyfully shouted to release the hounds. 

The sound of the barks, the vicious barks. They’d run for so long their feet had bled.

How many times had Kenny had to ground Kuchel? When he wanted to break down, too, but couldn’t because he just had to be strong for them both?

He’d never broken in his life. Maybe that’s why he hurt all the time.

No. Don’t think about that, not right now.

He silently moved away to give them space. He didn’t want to pretend to read the documents or any of that shit, so he simply poured himself some scotch to drink. He sat at the counter to wait. 

Truthfully, he was a little taken aback by Erwin’s expression. It was soft and gentle. Not to mention the juggernaut Mike, who was usually so stoic. Then, shortly after, it seemed Lutz came back to them. He opened his eye. He glanced around in recognition of his surroundings. 

“Thank you,” he muttered, to which Flagon nodded. He seemed very embarrassed and awkward when his reluctant gaze met Kenny’s. He held the back of his neck. “Err… I’m sorry. I know that was unpro–”

“No words are necessary. If you’re feeling better, we can get started.”

Lutz nodded.

“Shall we meet down here to discuss the day’s proceedings in case we find nothing?” asked Erwin. 

Kenny gathered his things. “Sure, sure. One of ya can stay behind to look after the place if ya want. Four days is what we’ve got. That’s plenty o’ time.”

Without further words, he left the house.

Erwin squinted at the door. It was then Mike sighed. “What is it?” he asked. “I know that look.”

“He’s being so secretive. I wonder what he’s hiding.”

“That’s rich,” Mike said sarcastically.

Erwin was surprised by how much his comment had bothered Mike. They shared a strained look while Lutz chugged some water.

“I don’t want to get captured,” Flagon spoke up, mostly to break the tense silence.

“Me neither. God, what if they take my other eye!? You guys always joke about that and now it may actually happen! God, this sucks !”

Flagon rubbed Lutz’s back with an amused smile. 

“I’m not sure whether we should–”

“Let’s just go along with what the man is asking,” Mike interrupted Erwin. “It’s the least we can do.”

Erwin didn’t seem to like this. More than anything, he was wondering why he’d irritated Mike so much. “There’s not much else we can do, realistically. I suppose we must lure Ennis’s men to us and see what plays out.”

“Should someone stay behind?” Mike asked, heeding Kenny’s words. 

“If we’re going to lure them to us, we might as well stay together. This place is safe on its own.” 

“Do you really think we can do this before the four days are up?” Lutz asked Erwin.

“I do now.”

Read the rest of the chapter at here.

[theneverwriter]

Unfinished SnK/Pacific Rim Fanfic

I found this draft while cleaning out my computer. I'll likely never finish it but I wanted to share because I think with a few edits it could be good lol.

It all began in the year 2013. Out in the middle of the Pacific, a scientific phenomenon occurred. The fabric of time and space was torn apart, and in its place, an interdimensional portal opened itself up. Scientists and academics from all over the world were baffled by this spectacle and simply named it the Breach.

Then came the many questions. What exactly was the breach? Why was it here? How did it happen? Where did it go and, more importantly, what was on the other side? Months of studying and experimentation took place, desperate to find the cause of this curious gate. But no amount of testing could tell us any more than we already knew. In the end, the Breach was left and monitored until finally, four months after it was discovered, the first Titans emerged.

The Titans were named as such after their uncanny resemblance to human beings. Their sizes ranged from three meters to fifteen meters in height, all possessing one sort of deformity or another; some had different-sized heads and limbs, some lacked skin and other subcutaneous tissues. The first attack by the Titans was on a small scale, with only a handful rampaging through New York. They destroyed buildings and a few casualties before they were taken down by the military. Once the threat was secured, the Breach was guarded and closely observed whilst scientists researched the Titans. Their goal was to discover everything there was to know about these creatures in case of another attack so that the human race would be prepared.

The second and third waves were larger, but it seemed that these monsters were easily taken out by our arsenal. The cities closest to the Breach began to mass-produce weapons to find the onslaught. Black markets opened up around the globe, selling these weapons to everyday folk desperate to protect themselves in case the Government failed to do so. However, no cities seemed to come under any harm as borders were set up across coasts in anticipation of the waves of Titans.

People began to think they were safe.

That was until the Colossal Titan surfaced.

One year after the first wave, the human race thought they had control of the situation. Although they were no closer to finding out what the Titans were, where they came from, what they wanted or how to shut the portal, the casualties from the attacks were minimal despite the increase in numbers in each wave. It was easily manageable. But when a terrifying figure manifested from the Breach and attacked Manila, in the Philippines, the world was in uproad.

This Titan towered at sixty meters high and bore no skin, only thick, taut muscles that were difficult to pierce. It took six days and an excessive amount of resources to take down the Colossal Titan, by which time four cities had been decimated, and tens of thousands of people had lost their lives.

After the attack the world leaders pooled their resources together and put aside their differences. None of them could be sure if this was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. They didn’t want to take any chances. Humanity needed a weapon unlike any other in case another of this horrifying Titan, or something much worse, returned to wreak havoc.

Thus, the Jaeger program was born. Designed by Dr. Grisha Jaeger and a team of the world’s brightest minds, these giant mechanoids were built to withstand an attack from a sixty-metre class Titan. The machines were built to be controlled by two humans who shared a neural link, which became known as ‘‘drifting’’ and allowed them to control one-half of the Jaeger each.

[fanmoose12]

Hello, my beloved! Do you have any LH HC post rumbling?

I have three theories from fluff to pain:

1. They end up together living a peaceful life in a small house far away from the city with a pet. They die of old age.

2. Hange can't stay away from the action, so she travels with the kids to Paradis and helps Armin with the whole Peace deal. Meanwhile Levi doesn't return and stays far away from Paradis. Hange returns to Levi when she feels they're safe and start a life with Levi. At the moment Hange return to Levi, they're both older and wiser and they're very happy to see each other again. I like to think that Levi welcomed Hange with a rude remark, but his eyes showed all the longing he felt after seeing her again.

3. REALLY PAINFUL TELENOVELA STYLE. Hange survives, but she doesn't find Levi or the others since they never come back to the port. Hange finds a farmer-kun with whom forms a family, but dies rather young due to their injuries. Hange had told their kid so many stories about her great friend who was Humanity's strongest, so when Hange pass away they decides to look for him. Because this is ff, they found him and Levi's shocked to see a kid so simmilar to Hange. When they tell him that they're her kid, Levi can't believe his eyes and he feels so bad because he thought Hange was dead all this time, but he was happy to know Hange got a little time of happiness and peace on her life.

I hate LeviHan so freaking much because they live in my heart rent-free and my head can't stop thinking of cringe scenarios between them. They truly deserved a lifetime together.

nooooo, farmer-kun??? him ruining a perfect romance again, oh nooo

as for my personal headcanon (it's actually canon in moose's version of snk) hange stays with the kids just long enough to make sure that armin is ready to step into the shoes of the commander, and then levihans get the fuck out of paradise bc they technically are still traitors and they still are very much hated by yeagerists. for a while they travel around the world, helping survivors of the rumbling with whatever they can. sometimes the sight of all this ruination becomes too much for hange and she breaks, but levi is always there to hold her and help her get back on her feet. and whenever levi feels down, starts to feel insecure bc of his injuries, hange is always there for him too and picks him up with the right words and a terrible joke. after a while, they decide to settle down for real and so they get themselves a place in marley, hizuru or whatever country survived after eren. hange gets a position at one of the universities where she's able to both deepen her knowledge about the world outside their walls and teach others about eldia, its technology and history. levi becomes sort of a househusband, he cleans the house, prepares meals, does laundry, but after a while, he gets a little bit bored and after onyankopon pitches to him an idea about starting his own teashop, gabi and falco help him to set it up. hange too helps whenever she can, and she is the one who invites their old squad of brats to visit on the day of opening. levi is kept in the dark about their visit, and when they arrive, he's shocked, overwhelmed but so very happy. and when the kids rush to wrap him and hange in a group hug, he realizes that the war is really over

oh, and also they have lots of pets. the first one was a stray dog hange found during a rainstorm. then was a cat that followed levi home after he gave it some food. then hange brought a parrot..... gabi gifted them a turtle, falco brought a rabbit..... and their little apartment turned into a zoo lmao

[cosmicjoke]

Ah, and now onto one of the most depressing chapters in all of SnK, chapter 132.

You know, if anyone ever needed a reason to despise Floch any more, how about the fact that he’s literally the reason Hange died?  If this bitch ass ho hadn’t shot the fuel tank of the plane full of holes, Hange wouldn’t have had to engage with the Titans to buy time for them to fix it, and they wouldn’t have died.  So, fuck you Floch.  I wish you’d suffered more before Mikasa finally ended your ass.

Well, anyway, what can I say about this chapter that hasn’t already been discussed?  Probably nothing, but I’ll try my best to give my observations anyway.

This really is Hange’s chapter, and Levi’s, in terms of putting a spot light on the importance of their relationship to one another.  

Hange’s sacrifice in this chapter is heartbreaking, it truly is, and such a major blow to everyone.  But to Levi most of all, and for so many reasons.

First of all, what stands out to me is the exchange between them, after Pieck tells Hange to stop being “gross”.  What I want to talk about here is when Hange asks Levi if he thinks their dead comrades are watching, and if he thinks they’ll be proud of what they do here today.  Levi tells Hange to stop talking like “him”, meaning of course Erwin.  This scene is just heart-wrenching, and part of that is, I think, because of Levi’s reaction to what Hange is saying.  He has, once again, such a weary, resigned looked on his face, and it’s because, I think, of the parallels he sees with Erwin.  I think Levi already knows, at this point, that Hange is going to die, in some way.  He recognizes the same, fatalistic bent to Hange’s mindset as he saw in Erwin, that day in Shinganshina, the same burden of guilt.  Just as Erwin began to bow and break under the weight of all the lives that had been lost under his command, Hange too is beginning to break, overcome by despair and hopelessness at what they perceive to be their failures.  Hange expresses this outright in the scene with Yelena, when Yelena tries forcing everyone to admit that Zeke was right, and Hange just resignedly agrees, saying that it was because of their failure to come up with a plan, because of their loss of hope, that Eren’s done what he has.  Of course, this isn’t true, just like Erwin blaming himself for the deaths of all those soldiers wasn’t based in any kind of truth.  But the sense of guilt is the same.  Hange blames themselves for what’s happening now, and they say this in front of everyone, including Levi.  And then Hange says what they do to Levi, about their dead comrades, and I think this must have been like the worst kind of deja vu to Levi, this kind of guilt driving Hange towards despair and hopelessness.  He tells Hange “Don’t you start talking like him, too...” because he can’t bear it.  He can’t bear to see his last, true friend succumb to the same fate as Erwin.

And then the Rumbling shows up, and Hange refuses for anyone else to engage with the Titans but themselves.  They tell everyone “I’m the one who led us here.  I pressed on, even at the cost of so many lives.  Time to face the music.”, and it’s Hange willingly taking on the role of martyr, the same one Levi had to help Erwin to accept for himself, in order to give their comrades a chance at victory.  Hange’s selflessness here is the definition of heroic.  True, unwavering conviction to what they believe is right.

But once again, similarly to Levi’s final push to help Erwin become the commander everyone believed him to be, Levi recognizes for Hange, in their final moment together, what it is they need.  He doesn’t try to stop Hange, doesn’t try to convince them against their chosen course of action, doesn’t cry out after them.  The same way Levi recognized in Erwin the way he was being crushed under the weight of his guilt, and understood how it would be a mercy and a salvation to make for him the decision to let go of his dream and die, Levi also recognizes in Hange that same burden and suffocating sense of guilt, and knows this is a decision Hange has made for themselves, their final absolution and ownership of their past choices, and that this is the thing Hange needs to relieve them of their burden.  A way for them to bear the burden of their past choices without regret.  Hange implores Levi to let them walk away and do this, and Levi does, because he understands, the same as he understood with Erwin.

But we finally see in full view the consequences for Levi in making these decisions, in letting his two, closest friends go to their deaths for the sake of their cause.  Levi’s expression in the following three panels is one of such unfathomable heartbreak.  He looks like a man utterly resigned to losing every good thing in his life, conscious and accepting of life’s bitter injustice and the grief of loss, but no less affected by it.  Levi is in so much obvious pain here.  Not physical (though obviously there’s that), but emotional and mental.  Hange is it for him.  They’re his last, real connection, his last, true friend, his last person.  And he has to let them go here.  Both for the sake of humanity, and for Hange’s own sake as well.  It truly is the bitterest pill to swallow.  And once again, it is a desperately heartbreaking display of Levi’s own selflessness, that he lets Hange go, that he lets Hange do this thing that needs to be done, without complaint, without protest, without influence from his own feelings, sacrificing once more what would be best for him for the sake of everyone else.  Levi looks devastated as he lays his fist against Hange’s chest and tells them “dedicate your heart”.  This final acceptance of his own, tragic loss, and Hange’s own choice to sacrifice their life.

And it continues when Hange flies away, at last, and we see Levi standing with the rest of their group.  Everyone around Levi has expressions of shock, dismay, and disbelief.  They haven’t yet accepted that this is happening, that Hange is flying to their death to buy them the time they need.  They look astonished and horrified.  But Levi is the lone exception.  He doesn’t look shocked, or disbelieving, but only continues to carry that same expression of weary, despairing resignation and acceptance.  And I think what we see in Levi, in this final arc is, in many ways, the culmination of a lifetime of loss and grief.  Levi’s lost more than probably any other character in SnK.  He’s experienced the most extreme forms of poverty and depravation from the time he was born, and with the death of Hange, has now lost every, single person that he ever formed any kind of close bond with.  With Hange’s death, Levi is left finally, completely alone.  And the look of defeat on Levi’s face throughout this entire arc is, I think, reflective of the affirmation he must feel, of the cruelty and injustice of life’s indifference to the suffering of everyone.  Every experience in Levi’s life has driven home to him the lesson, again and again, of the unfairness and cruelty of existing in this world.  And the events of this final arc, Eren’s betrayal, Zeke’s manipulations and cruelties, the deaths of so many comrades, the Rumbling, violence and destruction and allies turning against one another, and finally, Hange’s death, can only solidify for him the hopeless cynicism he’s fought against all his life, the awful comprehension of life’s brutality.  With Hange’s death, Levi is made to face once more what he’s always, deep down, known, which is that to exist in this world is to suffer with no purpose.  

And yet, still, Levi fights on.  He accepts Hange’s death with all the pain the loss crushes him down with.  He tells Hange goodbye, and asks them to “Just watch us.”.  Because even with the affirmation of all of Levi’s greatest despairs, he still finds a reason to make the fight worth it.  To realize the dream they all fought for, the salvation and future of humanity, and through the realization of that dream, to give meaning and importance to the lives of all those who have died in that dreams name, and meaning and importance to the lives of those yet still there.  Levi refuses, still, to give up, refuses to accept the futility and insignificance of people’s lives, even as he’s so ruthlessly reminded again and again of it.  And it’s in Hange, I think, that Levi finds that strength.  Because Hange also refused to give up.  Like they told Floch as he bled out, “We still can’t give up.  Even if we fail here, now, maybe someday...”  Maybe someday, life really will get better.  Maybe someday, people won’t have to suffer so much.  Maybe someday, there really will be a point to all of it.  Even in the face of total despair, Hange and Levi both found reasons to keep fighting.

Also, just some smaller observations about Levi’s physical state, and what it also says about his determination to not give up, but also about his perception of himself.

Levi is doing BAD here.  I didn’t notice this on my first read through, but when they’re all gearing up with their ODM gear, Levi is the only one sitting down on a crate, while everyone else is standing.  We see earlier in the chapter, when he leaves his room on the boat, he can’t even stand without the support of a handrail on the upper deck, or Armin’s arm around his shoulders.  And then when we see him testing his grip on the handle of his ODM’s blade, his hand is visibly shaking.  Levi’s physically too weak to stand on his own at this point, too weak to even hold his blades steady.  He must be in absolutely horrific pain.  Probably dizzy and lightheaded, probably nauseas even.  He’s FAILING physically.  On the verge, it seems, of collapse.  The fact that he’s even up and making the effort to move is something of a miracle, let alone that he’s prepared to engage in intense, physical combat, which just a short time later, he DOES.  That’s remarkable, and such a testament to Levi’s incredible will and unwavering conviction to fight for humanity.  He’s dying.  I think literally, he’s extremely close to death, genuinely frail.  But he still is ready and willing to give his all.  I think, over the course of the few chapters before this one, it must have been horrifically hard for Levi to sit by and watch as everyone else risked their lives to fight.  This isn’t something Levi is used to, being helpless and unable to fight for others.  He isn’t used to letting others take the risk while he stays back.  When Levi comes out of his cabin and Armin tries to convince him to go back to bed, Levi snaps with impatience that if he keeps resting, they’re all going to forget he even exists.  This reveals a lot about Levi’s perception of himself as someone who needs to make himself useful in order to matter.  As a tool to utilize.  He feels useless and like dead weight if he isn’t able to fight, and so, even on deaths door, he pushes himself to do just that, to become a weapon to be used in the coming battle.  It’s heartbreaking, to see Levi regard himself this way, even as it proves his incredible devotion and heart.  Once again, his own well being takes a backseat to the cause of others.  His health is secondary, in his mind.  For someone who always shows so much compassion and kindness and understanding for others, it makes it doubly heartbreaking, to see that Levi can’t manage the same compassion for himself, can’t give himself a break, or a pass for his weakness.  That he can’t allow himself that vulnerability, or for others to fight for him, even as all his life, he’s done nothing but fight for others.  

[lostcauses-noregrets]

Chapter 139: Additional pages, additional thoughts

I’ve had a few Anons asking if I’ve seen the additional page leaks, I have, and I’ve also seen a lot of outraged yelling about them from certain parts of the fandom.  Everyone is entitled to feel angry, hurt or disappointed if they dislike the end of a series that they’ve invested so much time and emotional energy in. However expecting any piece of mass media to cater specifically to your whims, and to threaten violence to the creators if you don’t get your way, is just arrogant and childish beyond belief.  Honestly, it shouldn’t have to be said. Sheesh.

From my perspective, the additional pages don’t really change my opinion of the ending.  I’m still disappointed that there wasn’t stronger condemnation of Eren’s actions and I’m still disturbed that his friends were so willing to forgive him for slaughtering 80% of humanity.  Nothing in the new pages changes that.  However, I do appreciate the small glimpses of clarity these pages provide, particular with regard to Ymir and Mikasa.

It seems clear now that Mikasa’s headaches were a result of Ymir “peeking into her mind”, so that’s one mystery solved at least.  It also appears that by killing Eren, Mikasa enabled Ymir to rewrite her own story, so that she no longer felt compelled to sacrifice her own life to save the king, thus saving her daughters from the awful fate of having to consume her corpse, which is what originally caused the Titan curse to be passed on to the Children of Ymir.   I think it was the fact that Mikasa was able to kill someone she loved that enabled Ymir to make that choice, to realize that she had the power to free herself from the shackles of a love that was a never ending nightmare.

I know some readers have expressed disgust at Mikasa thanking Ymir for bringing her children into the world, when those children were born as a result of an abusive and coercive relationship. While that may be true, I don’t think that there’s any question that Ymir loved her children deeply and by freeing Ymir from her sacrifice, Mikasa ensured that these children did not loose their mother, as she herself had, and that they were saved from the appalling fate their father forced them to suffer.  I thought the fact the Ymir and her daughters appeared briefly in the fake preview as a normal mom and kids on their way to the cinema was a really nice touch.

I don’t have particularly strong feelings about Mikasa and her family.  Her partner could be Jean but it’s really not clear, so that’s a shrug from me.  I guess I’m happy that she did have a life and a family of her own, as family has always been so important to Mikasa.  It’s clear that she never forgot Eren though, which is honestly a lot more than he deserved, but it’s also to be expected.  Mikasa is an Ackerman after all.

I got an ask last week about what I thought the main themes of SnK were and I said the futility of hatred and war, the power of love, and the dichotomy of fate and freewill.  @tsuki-no-ura​ added freedom to that list.  Having seen these final pages, I think another important theme is family.  It really struck me that in the last few pages we see Ymir, Historia and Mikasa all portrayed living happily with their children.  I don’t think Isayama is suggesting that women can only be happy and fulfilled if they have children, at least I sincerely hope that’s not what he’s getting at.  If there’s a message there, I think it’s about the unconditional love that ideally exists between parents and children, a love that so many of the characters in this story have lost or been denied. I do think it’s interesting that all three fathers are “absent” in one way or another; the king is dead, Mikasa’s partner is unidentified, and farmer-kun remains a nameless enigma.  I know there has been reams and reams written about the figure of the absent father in literature, but I’m really not the right person to analyse what, if anything, this might mean in the context of SnK.

There’s been a lot of speculation about how much time has passed in the last four pages.  Some readers have pointed to the phenomenally rapid modernization of Japan over the last century as evidence that change of this nature can occur within a few generations. It’s impossible to put any kind of precise timeline on events, though I think it’s clear that the destruction of Paradis occurs at least a generation after the main cast’s lifetime.  Whether that destruction was caused by civil war or external conflict is unclear, but I’m pretty sure that a direct line can be traced back to Eren’s genocide.

The fact that the tree survived the razing of Paradis has raised a few eyebrows, however almost every city that has been destroyed by war seems to have a single building or monument that miraculously survives, whether it's the Genbaku Dome in Hiroshima or the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin.  Though in this case, it does seem like there is more than chance protecting the tree.

One other thing I liked about the additional pages was the fact that Levi didn’t appear.  That might sound odd, but I thought his ending was pretty much perfect as it stood and I don’t want anything to change that.  Some people have interpreted the empty wheelchair at the end as being the one that belonged to Levi, but I’m pretty sure it’s Mikasa’s, as she is obviously very elderly by this stage. Knowing that Levi will have passed away long before these scenes take place is deeply poignant.

I also rather like the ambiguous open ended nature of the final panel.  It could be leaving the door open for a sequel, but I don’t think that’s it’s primary purpose.  I think Isayama’s intention is just to leave us with a question mark.

The fake preview also made me laugh.  Poor Isayama, he can’t win.  People will be arguing over his story until the cows come home. ��I think this is the first and only time I’ve ever agreed with Eren though.  For me, the most important thing about this story has been sharing it with friends.

So thems my thoughts, I think I like the ending more with the additional pages than without them, but my original criticism still stands. Also the dog is still a very good boy. 

[iamnightduchess]

Kiss Me More #02

"Don't Dream It's Over"

(Formerly named 'The Soulmates Series')

Read Ep.01

Pairing: Reiner x Mikasa (ReiKasa)

Universe: SnK High School Caste Canonverse

(Feat. Quarterback!Reiner & Goth!Mikasa)

Trope: Unexpected Date

Summary: He sees her sitting all alone at the matinee waiting area with a large popcorn bucket, a large soda with two straws and the saddest eyes he's seen on her ever. It wasn't his intention to turn that frown into a smile by the end of the evening, but he did it anyway.

Rhythmic Muse: Don't Dream It's Over by Crowded House

"Don't dream it's over. They come to build a wall between us, we know they won't win."

He stands in a long queue in front of the cinema's ticketing booths, next to a vigil Bertholdt. The tallest boy in their school has his nose buried in a new dystopian novel he just bought from the bookstore only 30 mins ago. From the looks of it, his best friend's already passed the first 3 chapters - evidence that he's already won over by the new universe crafted by the sci-fi series' famous author. Reiner's eyes squints to read the screens displaying showtimes from the far distance. Times like these, the recurring suspicions that he might need a pair of glasses doesn't seem too farfetched after all.

A low snort and a guffaw break his focus as he looks at the Galliard brothers; Porco, the younger one, is showing a funny meme on his phone to his older brother, Marcel, a first year student from Marley University.

"Hey," he calls for their attention, "which movie are we catching?"

Porco whips his head to his direction, "Captain Marvel, duh."

"Most of the earlier tix are selling out fast. I'd rather we just get the evening show so we could still get the best seats." He suggests, before continuing, "I'm ok if we stayed until dinner time. My mum's not needing my help for the whole day."

Marcel, the oldest one in the group, nods in agreement. "Sounds good to me. I could also check out the IT store for some hardwares."

Porco and Bertholdt shrugs, the former suggesting 'Arcade' while latter suggesting 'Cat Cafe' to kill time until their possible movie time.

Reiner lets out a small laugh in response and chides, "We have time to do both." He whips his phone out and goes on his 'gram, scrolling past pictures of Jean standing next to a horse that's trying to eat his face. He quickly types, 'Hey Jean, your uncle's missing you so much isn't he?' in the comment box, not forgetting to include an evil laugh emoji before he presses the send's arrow button. He scrolls past his feed, occasionally commenting when he sees something of interest and chuckles hard when he sees the pop-up notification of Jean's reply to his earlier comment with some unsavory curse words.

His thumb pauses on his screen the moment an image of a petite, blonde-haired beauty appears in his feed. He likes the photo before scrolling down towards the comments section. He cringes the second he registers the flirty comments singing praises towards the girl's picture. He sighs, 'When will you notice me, Historia?'

Marcel quips, "I heard the sigh. What's up?"

"Nothing."

Bertholdt peers from the top of his book and gives a side glance at the school's star quarterback. "Unrequited crush."

"Hey, Historia's the girl of my dreams!" Reiner falters, right before he sheepishly adds, "I want to marry her someday. She's the girl I want to have that white picket fence whatever thing, one day with. Sort of."

Marcel lowers his head to take a good look at the picture on his screen. "She seems...well...." The older Galliard brother shrugs his shoulders. "So, you like the blonde, princess types huh?"

"What?"

"Nothing. What makes your boat floats, I guess. Didn't think you'd go for the plastics." That blonde hair, blue-eyes and ruthless eyes with a background of constant luxury materials just screams a lifetime of high maintenance, gaslighting and emotional manipulation. Marcel Galiard has an innate ability to read people's true characteristics only by seeing their faces - a gift that he's been more content in keeping to himself and between his parents. Even his younger brother isn't aware of such things.

"She's not a plastic! She's pretty, kind and has a nice smell!," objects Reiner adamantly.

Marcel jibes further, "Ok....and?"

"What else do you want me to say?"

Marcel shares his immediate observation. "Rich man's daughter? Drives a convertible or has a driver that waits on her hand and foot? Designer dresses and shoes bought with Daddy's black card? Gangs up on those who look different? Walks with her nose up in the air?"

"Fine. Stop it. No one's perfect. I don't care--" Reiner almost chokes on his own response. "--what everyone in school says about her. I know she has a good heart."

"Did she ask you to either do her homework or run some errands for her, just so she'll able to get to her facial appointments or shopping spree, dude? Uses you like a boyfriend but never sees you as one?"

Reiner curses. "Dammit. Shut up, Marcel!" He doesn't like that the older boy's shallow, judgmental perception were spot on even when he'd never even met said girl.

Marcel shrugs. "I've seen more of those type of girls in college, Reiner. Believe me when I say this - pretty faces alone ain't the ones you'd want to bring home to mom in 10-15 years. You'd best be setting your sights on a homegirl not a trophy wife."

Porco looks up from his own phone and chimes in, "The Queen Bitc-I mean, Bee? Hah, dang right. Reiner always goes for the hot, manipulative ones who's always 'Me, Me, Me'."

"What's your type then, Marcel?" Comes the challenge in his words. How dare Marcel even judge Historia and groups her with the girls he'd seen in his campus. Historia is special. She's a QUEEN.

The brunette scans around the cinema hall and shares, "That, that and that."

"You're just being random."

Marcel releases another low chuckle. "I'm not looking to date but IF I was, I'll definitely march my ass over to that lounge and talk to that cute goth over there. Now, that is a girl I'd know I could have an amazing conversation with."

The three boys follow his line of gaze and all three have different expressions on their faces - Bertholdt's almost beaming, Porco's gasping and Reiner with a surprise on his face.

"Ackerman?" The synchronized voices exclaim out loud, upon registering the identity of the girl who has ensnared Marcel's interest.

"Wait, you guys know her?"

While the other three boys are conversing, Reiner sees her sitting all alone at the matinee waiting area with a large popcorn bucket and a large soda with two straws and the saddest eyes he's ever seen on her ever. He'd seen when those eyes held nothing but either sheer determination or fascination when they were in classes together. Despite how the popular clique jeered at the school's wallflower, whispering behind her back and calling her with unsavory names, Reiner knows that underneath those thick makeup and black eyeshadow - that layer of cosmetics actually conceals a human being with a high IQ and EQ despite her introverted front.That girl's secretly a gifted genius yet not even once she wanted anyone to know. He'd once overheard the conversation that confirmed this taking place between the school's counsellor, Mr. Dietrich with Ms. Brzenska, their Physics teacher after school hours.

Bertholdt's voice breaks his instantaneous train of thoughts as the tall boy offers the information of said girl to the group. "She's the new transfer student from East Sea. Came in last summer. Already surpassed Reiner's top spot in the school's Calculus, Physics and Maths ranking and based on the grapevine of the teachers' lounge - a potential valedictorian."

"Beauty with brains, huh? And graduating?"

"Bro," Porco jumps into the conversation, "She threw a ball right across the hallway gobsmack into my balls on her first day in school. I had to get myself iced the whole day. Ackerman's got a strong grip. She would've made a good linebacker if there's a girls football team."

Marcel nods his head in admiration. "Beauty with brains and balls of steel who terrified my brother? I'm going to get her number."

Reiner snorts. "Sure, if you're planning to go to jail."

Porco shivers in reflex. "Bro don't. She'll stab you in the guts. I heard she transferred from a juvie."

Completely ignoring his baby brother's plea, Marcel presses on. "Isn't she your classmate?"

"She's fifteen but she's in the senior's class and Porco, shut your mouth. She's from an elite convent school not juvie. Get your facts straight. Jesus." Reiner's eyes had almost roll back into his skull at that point.

The nineteen year old's mouth gapes open in sheer disbelief. "You don't say." There is a gleam of admiration on Marcel's face as if the metaphorical sun's ray just glazes over him out of nowhere.

Porco quips, "I thought she's always with that loser Jeager and nerd Arlert?"

Before Reiner could answer the question, Bertholdt lifts his head again from his reading and offers an information that even he wasn't aware of. "They're always together but Eren seems to be more annoyed with them both constantly hovering around him."

"How did you know about her?"

"We're in the Theatre Club together. We do talk to each other, you know. Besides, everybody in school knows about her legendary crush on Eren."

"The unrequited crush, huh?" repeats Marcel, giving nod to to the taller boy's earlier remark. "Hey, do you follow her 'gram?"

Reiner squints his eyes and asks, suspicions visible in his dark hazel eyes. "Why?"

"I'm just curious."

Reluctantly, Reiner hands over his phone to Marcel. The latter's eyes reflects the light from the screen as he scrolls down the feed on his classmate's social media profile. He gasps shockingly and snatches the phone away when he realizes what Marcel is doing by double tapping on the screen. "What the hell, man? Those are old posts. She might think I'm stalking her!"

Marcel whistles low. "Hey, I didn't know you guys took a selfie together before? You guys actually looked cute together."

"When did--oh that was for a proof of our Physics project in the lab." After a while only then he registers Marcel's last sentence. "Wait what did you just said earlier?"

"Why did you never like it? Douche." There was an evil grin on the older Galliard brother's face. "Like." He reaches over and double taps on the screen of the phone in his hand.

"You asshole!"

"You can't unlike now or you'll be the asshole." Marcel sends him a sly wink instead. "The future you will thank me a lot in the future."

The group standing in front of them shift, forcing them to move along and he'd almost missed the figure belonging to the topic of their conversation passing by unnoticed.

"Mi-mikasa!" Bertholdt called out for the goth girl's name. Reiner could only hope she never gets the notification on her phone or notice the way his eyes are almost popped out of his sockets upon seeing her up close.

His eyes sweeps over the younger girl. She'd actually look adorable in the full dark purple plaid overall dress and fishnet stockings, a fresh change from her usual attire in school - black shirts and red or black gingham skirts.

Mikasa pauses, her hands still full with her snacks and two movie tickets of a show that had actually began 30 minutes ago. "Bertholdt?" She looks up to the gentle giant with a tight smile on her face. A smile that never seem to touch her eyes. Not the same as the one he'd seen whenever she's around Jeager.

"Great seeing you here," says Bertholdt, a sincere tone in his greeting.

Mikasa nods her head slowly. She looks like she'd rather disappear there and then than having small talk with the same group of people she tends to avoid at school. "Eren took a raincheck." Reiner didn't miss the visible look of disappointment on her face when Jeager's name slips out of her lips.

Porco pipes in unabashedly. "He stood you up? That sucks Ackerman. Ow--" He yelps when Marcel's palm hits the back of his head due to his insensitive remark.

She hands over the huge tub of popcorn and the large drink tumbler in her hands towards his bestfriend's hands. "I don't think I'll be needing this anymore, Bertholdt. Please enjoy it and don't worry, I haven't taken a sip yet."

Reiner felt the nudge from Marcel's elbow against his ribs, prompting him to ask, "Are--are you leaving already?" When did he even begin stuttering?

She gives another slow nod in return.

Bertholdt took the offered snack and already sweating beverage container as the ice had melted quite a while since it was bought. "But it's raining outside. You can't be waiting for the bus in this weather."

"I'll wait." Comes the slow, hesitant reply. It's fairly obvious to everyone there with the exception of Porco who has an inability to read his surroundings, of the well-concealed dejected sigh underneath the girl's breath. She was really looking forward to this 'movie date' with the guy who stood her up.

"Hey," eases Marcel, "Why don't you join us? If you don't mind catching the new Marvel movie. Afterwards we can stay and wait together with you at the bus stop if it's still raining after."

Mikasa's eyes widen in astonishment at the stranger's friendly offer. "I--....Thanks but it's alright."

Reiner smacks his palm on his own forehead. "Marcel, stop being a creep. She doesn't know who you are."

"Introduce me then."

Reiner clears his throat, mildly embarassed at his senior's boldness and eventually introduce them to each other. "Mikasa, this is Marcel Galliard, we've been friends since we were kids. He's studying in Marley U. Marcel, this is Mikasa Ackerman, our classmate."

"Galliard?" Her eyes dart back and forth between the older stranger and the blonde-haired jock whom she knows from school; the latter seems to still be terrified of her ever since the 'ball-busting' incident on her first day in Paradis High.

Porco stammers, "Yeah...he's my big brother. Please don't throw anything at me, Ackerman." He almost hides himself behind someone, which happens to be Bertholdt 'the human wall' Hoover, to take cover like a second nature now. This girl is so dangerous up close and personal. He'd never be caught dead trying to pick a fight with her. She'd be the type to shank him with a swiss knife she'd hidden somewhere inside her combat boots if he'd even so much look at her the wrong way.

He could only gulp in nervousness when he sees his own brother extending a hand towards the girl, which she shook gently. With kindness and a smile. With kindness. And a smile. What the fuck? Porco stares, horrified when he sees an unfamiliar beam and a soft gaze on his own brother's face.

Somebody call the Devil because hell has frozen.

Marcel is already smitten with this girl and they just met!

-oo-O-oo-

Reiner saunters wordlessly next to Marcel who's already smoothing his way into a conversation with the goth girl while the group heads towards the arcade on the fifth floor. Mikasa, despite the initial awkwardness and who seems to be a bit shy at first, gradually settles herself into a cordial conversation with the older teenager. They've got time to kill. Their movie's not starting for at least another one and a half hour.

"So, Reiner told me that you guys are lab partners. Did he mooch off his work a lot on you?," asks Marcel, jokingly.

Mikasa shakes her head. "Not quite. He's been really helpful."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Reiner listens in to their conversation, being the silent spectator while Porco is already dragging poor Bertholdt towards the front of the group. The boy's hand is already shoveling a handful of the caramel popcorn from the tub in the latter's hand straight into his mouth.

"What do you like to do for fun, Mikasa?" He heard Marcel's question, to which she responds to with a quick, "Besides beating your baby brother up?"

Marcel couldn't hold back a loud guffaw from his lips. "Shit- sorry, yeah, besides beating my brother up."

"I like to take a walk into the woods and offer little sacrifices to appease the Dark Lord."

"Se--seriously??"

"Not really. I only hex people for fun."

Marcel's face is already turning pale.

"Just joking."

"Holy crap. I really thought that you're a witch."

"I only ever messed with an Ouija board once. You really don't wanna know of the literal skeletons in my closet."

"Occult lover huh?"

Reiner's already clutching his belly, trying to hold his laughter down. He'd never realize how much he's been missing her quirky comebacks and oddball humor ever since she's become much closer to Jeager. It's like when she's around Eren, she hides the true real person from within.

Just like how he's always putting on this façade of a popular, devil may care and life of the party kind of a guy in school, especially in front of Historia.

The things we do and front just to impress people who don't even think we're worth a minute of their time.

"Bertholdt told me you might be graduating earlier than your peers. Done any college tours yet?" He'd heard Marcel's query towards the soft-spoken girl, who's now walking in between them.

"Not yet. I'm looking into pre-med programs in Karanes or maybe in Hizuru."

"You know, Marley U has an amazing science foundation for medicine. If you ever feel like checking it out, maybe you could give me a text and I can always give you a tour around campus."

"I really don't want to trouble you."

"No sweat. Here, let me give you my number. Whether you text me or not, it's really up to you."

Reiner immediately rolls his eyes when Marcel gives him a sly, victorious smirk; flexing his smoothness.

'Fifteen' He mouths sternly, sensing a natural inclination to be slightly protective over his younger classmate.

-oo-O-oo-

"It's funny that you've never noticed what's in front of your face all this time, Reiner."

"Whatever the hell was that supposed to mean?"

"A polite girl who you can talk to about anything, who has a quirky sense of humor, who saved our asses in House of The Dead 4 and kicked our asses in Street Fighter? That's a keeper, man, for sure."

"Pfft."

"She's a homegirl."

"Haha..."

"Make sure she gets home safe."

"Give it up, Marcel."

"We'll see."

"I'll book you a place in prison if you even dare text her for a date."

"Aah to be able to see the blossoming seeds of jealousy. 'Twas an amazing feeling."

"Shut up."

Reiner suggests out loud as they both stand in front of the mall's entrance, "Hey, I don't think the bus is going be here anytime soon and it's almost getting dark. Let me give you a lift."

"There's no need, really. I really don't like troubling anyone." She shakes her head, a hand lifting in a timid resistance.

"I insist." He could feel a smile on his face when the shakes turn into a tiny nod. "I also insist you keep the jacket on too. The wind seems to be a bit chilly than usual tonight." The cold draft of the evening wind only makes the prickling blush on her cheeks turn a shade darker.

"Thanks. I really appreciate it." She encloses his bomber jacket around her front and she pulls at them snugly. Despite the jacket being two sizes bigger, it truly feels comfortable enough for her.

"Sorry if it smells a bit funky. I always wear it in school."

"I don't even notice at all. Maybe because I'm already used to sitting next to you in classes?"

Reiner couldn't help the little chivalrous feeling from within when he sees her small action ever since she accepted the offer of his jacket from inside the movie hall hours earlier. Unlike a certain girl who wrinkled her nose in disgust whenever he offered it to her in school especially during rainy days. She said it reeked of his sweat.

Marcel's right. Mikasa is a really polite girl.

He pries open the door to his trusty old four-wheeler, a priceless hand-me-down from his uncle and apologizes to her for a potential discomfort. "My car heater's a bit busted so--"

"Do you always apologize when you're nervous?"

"Whuh?"

"I notice that you do that a lot. Especially in class."

"I do?" He waits until she manages to hikes herself up against the worn out leather upholstery of his car seat. He pushes the car door shut and gets into the driver's seat, instantaneously turning on the ignition by reflex. The engine roars to life before regulating into a steady rhythm.

"You notice things like that about me?" He quickly checks on his rearview before heading out of his parking spot, navigating the lanes into the main road carefully.

"We're lab partners for more than 2 terms, it's really difficult not to start picking up things about you."

"I'm really flattered to hear that, Ackerman."

Her eyes remain fixed to the road ahead. "Are you nervous about something?"

"Well, it's just that apart from my mom and baby cousin, you're actually the first girl who's ever ridden in this 4-wheeler with me driving."

She whips her head around, mildly disbelieving his sudden, voluntary proclamation. "That's surprising." She immediately squints as she mock whispers, as if there could be anyone watching or listening in. "Won't your squad be giving you trouble if they know about this?"

"Eh-- don't worry about it. Bert and Porc's seem to be surprisingly cool with you today. Even Porc said his brother's crushing hard on you today."

"Marcel?" She finds it difficult to believe that she had to repeat the name again. "Marcel?"

"Yeah...I'm just curious, what do you think of him?" The grip against his steering wheel tighten apprehensively, waiting to hear her response. Out of pure curiosity as a friend of course.

A quick notification ding diverts her attention towards her own phone, letting his question remains unanswered, and robbing off the demure smile away from her slightly flushing face.

"Is everything ok?"

Mikasa nods her head, yet her pursed lips tell him the opposite. "Just a text from Eren. Saying he's sorry that he just remembered we're supposed to catch a movie together today."

"But you said earlier it was a raincheck?"

She drops her head down in an awkward silence, her hand presses on the phone's lock button. A bit embarassed that he might've caught on to her little white lie.

Eren never texted her earlier to let her know. He'd only texted her at 6pm when the show would've ended by more than 3 hours ago.

He actually left her hanging all by herself just like that.

Reiner huffed none too gently. His mother raised him to be a gentleman and seeing Mikasa's face lost the cheer it had only a minute earlier frustrates him a lot. He quickly turns his head towards the passenger seat, asking, "Hey, are you alright?"

Her quivering lips told him the answer she couldn't say. He gives her the space to gather her breathe, without pressing her any further.

She eventually divulges, "I was fine and I really had a great time with you guys but it only takes one text message to pull me back from that good place."

He listens wordlessly, his eyes focusing back to the road.

She asks, "Have you ever feel so strongly for someone so much that it still hurts you over small things they do or didn't do?"

Reiner nods slowly. "I have." Still do.

The next thing he knows, Mikasa is seen burrowing her face into the folds of his jacket. Her heaving shoulders only confirms her unexpected breakdown.

"Crap" He panics, trying to rummage through his glove compartment for a napkin to offer and grunts when he couldn't find one. As a guy, he didn't really see the need for him to prepare such things but now is also a very bad time to regret his vehicle furnishing decision - or lack of it. On a second thought, he realizes that maybe what she truly needs from him is just his empathy.

And his bomber.

He tries to alleviate the piercing silence by switching on his radio and a slow 80's rock song could be heard mid-play from the vehicle's stereo speakers. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be insensitive but I thought maybe you'd prefer not to be heard. Not that I have a problem with either way you prefer to process."

Mikasa eventually lifts her head up and he finally sees her teary face. "I might have soiled your jacket. I'm sorry."

"Hey, you're the first girl who's ever ridden in my car and the first girl who has a minor meltdown in front of me, so don't feel bad about it. I'm secretly honored."

She takes a deep breath before rubbing at her eyes using a hand. "I was being petty over small things."

"You're not." He pauses his sentence when he stops to make a turn into a cross junction. "You always are quiet in class. This is the first time I'm seeing you like this. Hold on, let me just pull over."

"But...why?"

"So I could be able to listen to you better if you need to just talk."

He pulls the car to the side of the curb where it's safe and left the engine running. He places the hand gear to P, waiting for a little while until the engine slows down to idle. The light and easy rhythm of a slow rock ballad serves as a suiting, albeit slightly out-of-place accompanying music to their current situation. Like a scene from a cheesy teen movie. She's the sad, jilted female lead and him the ever loyal classmate slash good friend who's offering her a shoulder to cry on.

"I think I might have stamped all of my eyeshadow on the inside," sighs the goth girl as she pulls the big outerwear aside. Her lips purses in shame upon registering the unintended stains left behind by her sudden burst of tears.

Dismissing her guilt away, Reiner wouldn't be caught dead in ever admitting this out loud, but with her makeup almost gone from her face, he could finally see this girl's natural beauty - the one that's always been hidden underneath her regular cosmetics.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shakes her head without hesitation. "No, thank you."

"Alright then," he clears his throat from the chilly evening air, "but, a little unwarranted advice if you don't mind....from one friend to another."

He holds her teary gaze in his own unyielding stare. He could perceive her anticipation of his next words. He's a bit wary that he could have offended her in any way, considering they've never conversed anything beyond academics or the occasional shared preferences of music in school.

She tilts her head to the side, nodding once and he takes in the gesture as her acceptance.

"I know that you don't want anyone to know of how smart you really are but shedding tears for a guy who wouldn't appreciate your time? It's not befitting coming from someone so intelligent like you."

Another single tear trickles down her cheek when she hears those genuine words. She's stunned. Speechless. She'd never knew that the star quarterback has a lot more empathy than what he's usually displayed in public at school. He's one of the holier than thou do-gooders club members that picks on kids who just doesn't fit their status quo. She could barely tolerate his clique in school.

But on his own, Reiner actually has a good heart all along.

"And you," she chides, "Why do you hide your kindness whenever you're in school? Acting like the cool heartbreaker, trying to impress the head cheerleader?"

"I think we both might have been too caught up in trying to get the attention of the one we like."

They both look down in mutual contempt upon realizing that they could somehow see through the other's façade when it was just the two of them.

"You're setting yourself up for a heartbreak when it comes to Jeager."

"I think you could use your own advice too when it comes to the school queen."

The immediate closeness between them - discovered through their shared plight - instigates an unfamiliar yet a very welcomed feeling. He lifts a thumb to wipe away the melted mascara stain running down her cheek, causing her skin to flush even redder than before.

Have you ever look at someone's face and happened to realize how much you want to stop their tears and take their pain away?

Reiner relishes in the fact that he can now say yes to that question for the very first time.

When she grips his hand and squeezes it appreciatively in return, he could feel his heart's almost bursting out of his chest from such a simple action.

In movies, this is usually the part where they somehow find themselves in a magical trance before sharing a kiss.

"Your hand smells of popcorn." She remarks nonchalantly with a grin and they both burst into a hearty laughter.

"Shh Mikasa...you're breaking the spell you had me in just now."

"What spell? You really believe that I dabble in dark magic?"

"The way you make even the toughest guy like Marcel to be charmed by you upon first sight?"

"Really? How come it works on Marcel but not you?"

"What makes you think that it didn't?"

"Very funny, Braun." She shakes her head as she wipes her cheeks dry with the cuff of his bomber, fighting off the smile on her face.

Reiner smirks at their banter. At least his intended half truth-half humor had made her stop crying.

"Thank you for listening."

"And?" He leered at his jacket.

"Thank you for the jacket."

"Maybe I'm your Dark Knight after all huh?"

"That was a joke that Eren doesn't seem to get." There is a brief pause in her words as she realizes another truth. "But you do."

She's putting him under another spell and she doesn't even know it.

A distinctive guitar riff intro of a song came through the speakers and both their eyes lit up at the same time, proclaiming "That's my jam!"

"Jinx!" Their hands automatically searches the other's. He's very sure she's not the only one with a wide beam on her face inside the car.

Reiner grins as he turns the volume dial up and Crowded House's vocalist begins to sing.

"It can be our jam now. Give it up top, Ackerman!" He lifts his hand up and the girl's smaller, dainty hand meets his in an impromptu high five this time.

"Ready to go?"

She nods.

He puts the gear back to D and steers the car back into the main road, traversing the route heading towards her destination at a cruising speed. He hums the rhythm before he starts to sing along, his deep voice resonates against the four walls of his car.

But you'll never see the end of the road while you're travelling with me.

She remains mum but she couldn't help herself when she eventually joins him mid-chorus.

Her voice is just beautiful. Her speaking voice is slightly deeper than most girls he'd ever met but her singing voice; she could make the angels weep in envy.

'Damn you Marcel for putting ideas in my head.'

He decides to ease up on the accelerator just so he could prolong this moment with her, just feeling like they're on top of the world. No thoughts of Eren. No thoughts of Historia.

If Eren deems his time too important for her today, he'll be more than happy to keep her smiling until the moment he sends her at her door step.

She asks, "Reiner, are you in a rush for dinner with your mother?"

"Not really. She's actually at my uncle's house. Anything?"

"My aunt is inviting you over for dinner at her diner. On the house. As a thank you for treating me to the movie earlier--" She pauses and she bites her lips nervously, before finding the courage to share her appreciation. "-- and also for the company."

He snickers in glee. "You know it's rude for me to say no to a free meal."

"Great. Her diner's meat pies are to die for."

"You know there's a saying, 'A key to a man's heart is his stomach.' I'm flattered, Mikasa."

"Ha-ha." She derides his cheeky joke with a sarcastic laugh.

"Whatever happens in this car, stays in this car."

She rolls her eyes but even in the dim lighting of the sunset from outside the windows, he could still see the ghastly vision of the sweetest smile he's ever seen on her face.

Until he'd heard her asking, "Reiner....why did you like my old photos?"

Crap. Damn you Marcel.

-oo-O-oo-

End of Ep.02. Read Ep.03

[randomlonelymusician]

Random Levi and Erwin Thoughts

It was a day of sorrows that changed Levi’s life forever. On a stormy day in 844, Levi’s friends — who were almost like his siblings — died while trying to assasinate Erwin. It left Levi angry, but most of all, broken.

I remember reading the manga for Levi’s backstory and watching as he confronted Erwin against the gloomy backdrop. And when Erwin told Levi humanity needed him as the sun began to peek through the clouds…

I think what I love about their relationship is that it isn’t a picture-perfect romance or friendship. It’s flawed, just like the characters. It took time to build, especially with the original feelings Levi had toward Erwin. It feels honest.

I wonder what Levi thinks of that day he confronted Erwin now. It kind of reminds me of the song “The Reluctant Heroes” from the SnK soundtrack.

“Remember the day of grief

Now it's strange for me

I could see your face

I could hear your voice…”

Maybe he views it as a turning point.

“Remember the day we met

It's painful for me

Because nobody wants to die too fast

Remember a day we dreamt

It's painful for me

I could see your face

I could hear your voice…”

Maybe it’s a bittersweet day for him.

A moment between them that I always liked was when Levi finally found out the truth about Erwin’s goals. Before this, Levi viewed Erwin as a flawed man, of course, but also a man with a selfless goal. He admired this about him; his goals were his original reasons to follow him.

When Levi found out, he was angry, of course. But he still accepted this selfish side of Erwin and stuck with him.  

Return to Shiganshina was one of my favorite points in their relationship because of how much emotion it displayed from both characters. I was an anime-only at the time the RtS arc was adapted, so that was really when I started to notice something special between these two. I remember questioning why Levi was so attached to Erwin. Sure, I knew they were friends, but this? This was different.

After Erwin’s charge towards death and the recovery of his wounded body, I was overwhelmed by the sheer emotions Levi displayed. It was so strange to see a man who usually had a cold expression on his face look so… broken? Conflicted? Hurt? I don’t know how to describe it.

I don’t know exactly how I feel about Erwin dying on a Shiganshina rooftop just moments away from fulfilling his dream. Levi was definitely thinking more with his heart while he made that decision… but it may have been for the best. Without a dream to push Erwin forward, he’d be forced to face reality. And he’d be weighed down by the guilt of letting so many people die for his cause.

I remember when Erwin thanked Levi in the manga. That’s all I have to say about that.

I think Levi and Erwin’s relationship was very special. I loved seeing a mature relationship between two adult men who deeply loved and cared about each other, especially in the grim setting of SnK. It felt real. I wonder how much heartbreak Levi endured after Erwin’s death. I wonder how he dealt with it. Did he cry in private? Did he bundle up his emotions until the very end? Or did he never really move on?

Can he ever let go?

I’m glad Levi had Erwin in his life. He shaped his character, his future, and him as a person. And thought Levi has lost so many important people to him, I’m still happy he had them for that brief amount of time.

Those small moments can last a lifetime, can’t they?

[ghostmartyr]

/clears throat/ so, Immi, I hear you like the locked tomb, which is fantastic! from one person also escaping the snk series into TLT to another, what did you think of the characters and plot in HtN? are there any things you're most excited to see when Alecto comes out in 2022?

-pats lifeboat- This baby can fit so much trauma.

SPOILERS, naturally.

With another paragraph informing the curious that unspoiled is the way to go into HtN, since if you aren’t lost and confused, are you really reading Harrow the Ninth?

I read it all in one day, and that was a choice. It does mean my memory and understanding of what all went on is slightly dependent on someone else on the internet exploding over a particular set of paragraphs and explaining their significance to me, but I still enjoyed the hell out of it.

HtN disappointed me on one front in that I was hoping seeing more of Harrow 1.0 would help out any future fic endeavors. On everything else, like the first one, being told the story is such a good time that I’m willing to wait on a full comprehension of where it’s going.

I also really like second person.

What I loved most about HtN is how even without Gideon mentioned until very, very late in the book, you can feel her absence everywhere. In the wrong bubble flashbacks you’re commanded to examine the strangeness, but even in Harrow going about her day, the isolation and the wrongness of it decorate her every action. She’s alone, and she shouldn’t be, and the loss she’s unaware of bleeds into a constant echo of grief.

I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated absence as a narrative tool so much. Obviously griddlehark hours go hard once they start in HtN, but even before then, there is so much power to their connection that looking into a world where it never exists still manages to punch you in the heart with how much each one inhabits everything the other is.

The whole series is amping me up with a few thoughts on loneliness, honestly. Gideon and Harrow grow up alone on the Ninth, save for each other. It takes leaving for that to be any kind of good thing. The first book is tag team Among Us with everyone in their little clusters, slowly learning what other people are about as they all drop dead.

The second book has a different vibe and different plot things going on, but it’s similar in that the protagonist gets thrown into a world they don’t fit and have to put on a show. Only now there are even fewer people to familiarize with, with that number correlating directly to how they all killed the person closest to keeping them from being alone.

Lyctorhood is taking the person dearest to your heart and trapping them there forever while they’re stripped of everything that made them who they are.

...Also Ianthe is there.

Gideon, Mercy, and Augustine are the last Lyctors standing after 10,000 years. There were only seven, starting out. Sixteen acolytes who came to the First. The only pair who didn’t succeed in condensing themselves is separated from the pack and sent to live away from their peers on a tiny planet that no one has anything good to say about.

Alecto is John’s -- who even knows, past A Lot, and he puts her to sleep and locks her in a prison no one but he can get past.

God has seven friends. More if you want to count the people in the Cohort, but realistically, he has seven friends. Then they keep dying.

Harrow spends HtN in a spaceship with five people.

One is trying to kill her.

One ordered that one to try to kill her.

Two could not care less about the useless baby Lyctor.

One is Ianthe.

There is no real endgame. There is surviving life, and life has become a game of running as far away as possible so you don’t share your ruin upon your inevitable death.

It’s bleak and sad.

Harrow’s healthiest relationships are with dead people, and some of them she didn’t know at all in life.

Reiterating it, the most plot significant bit of the world is finding someone else in the world, swearing yourself to them, and smashing your souls together until you’ve lost the connection entirely.

My brain’s not in the best place so I can’t do more than gesture loudly at it, but a few people have mentioned that the series’ thesis is a counter to Ianthe’s statement that love is acquisitive.

Harrow tightens her hold around Gideon until Gideon would rather she just strangle her and get it over with, all things considered. It fucks them both up, and when they start working to get past it, circumstance wraps a chain around both their throats.

The necromancers who become imperfect Lyctors have all acquired their cavaliers, and besides the cav, it kills that bond.

Harrow’s rejection of that is why Gideon’s soul is still in the world of the living (and John blood).

She has spent her entire life eating pieces of Gideon to keep herself a horrid imitation of whole, and when she is finally offered that, she refuses.

Grief and how Harrow just can’t are active elements of the book, and Magnus gives her more therapy in five minutes talking about it than she has ever had in her life, but the reason why that isn’t the end of Gideon is because, unlike all the other Lyctors, Harrow turns the offer down.

With the exception of Babs and Ianthe, the relationship between cavaliers and necros about to do the Lyctor thing is cavaliers promising to burn for an eternity while their necromancer lives off the fumes.

Fuck that is Harrow’s response.

Cytherea says, in the aftermath, that they had the choice to stop.

Harrow stops.

A lifetime of doing exactly what Gideon is telling her to do with her death, and Harrow chooses to stop.

Harrow remembers Ortus’ poetry. She regularly sees her congregation off to their deaths. She keeps Gideon’s glasses. She views Palamedes, head exploded and all, as an infinitely better person than she is because of the quality of his exemplary character. She pulls Gideon the First from the incinerator on the night she plans to kill him.

Kiddo has so many fucking issues, but somewhere, she has learned to respect people for being people. That’s why she and Gideon are the heroes of the story, ultimately, and Ortus saying that they’re heroes worthy of the Ninth doesn’t fall flat. They’re actually trying.

Where that puts us for Alecto, I don’t pretend to know.

Since the first book is the temptation of an end to isolation, only to have it snatched away, the second book is the continuation of isolation with a few promising sparks of human connection that pave the way for hope...

That leaves the third book to shed the isolation and allow the connections to thrive.

With Gideon and Harrow MIA.

I know that the books kick things up into high gear in the final acts each time, but if they’re both gone for the majority of the book, no matter how much fun it is, I’m going to miss them. They’re the core leads, and I don’t want to be without them in the final part.

The 2022 release date has aged my soul. I deliberately planned my GtN read to land a month before HtN came out, then suffered when that was delayed. When really that was nothing at all. I hate waiting.

(Insert note that I’m very glad they aren’t forcing Muir to rush anything out. It’s been a rough time, but also, just in general authors should have the opportunity to create the best versions of their art they can, so the extra time hurts, but it’s obviously for the best.)

What I’m most excited for is probably the cover art. The first two have been awesome, and the artist said he’d likely do print sales for all three when the third’s revealed. My wallet cries but my heart does not.

What I dare not be excited for is the potential for Gideon and Harrow meeting again and perhaps hugging. In their own bodies.

I’d take other bodies, but ideally, y’know.

Also I would love for Harrow to finally meet her popsicle girlfriend.

I doubt it would be a wholly positive experience, but by golly I want it. Maybe they could hug too. It would probably kill Harrow again, but who doesn’t expect several people to die again in the third book?

However it plays out, I’m expecting to enjoy AtN. The writing’s the sort that I’ll happily follow wherever it goes. For everything else, there’s fanfic. The only real worry I have is the whole book will be narrated by Ianthe, and while I mentally groan at that, I actually find Ianthe’s commentary delightful, so even in the worst case scenario I’m having a good time.

Thank you so much for the ask.

[peachymess]

Any advice on how to deal with bad news or an undesirable outcome? Or just anticipating the worst? I've always sucked at handling that and I'm not dealing with the last chapter of SNK well. Any general tips for the future? 😔

Hi, anon. I’ll do my very best to give some advice, although it is not lost on me that it’s a bit of an ironic act, as I can be very slow to let go myself. But then again quick, it just depends.

And what it depends on, is emotion dependency.

If I have used something as a comping mechanism, connected something directly to my happiness or health, or otherwise feel like I need something in order to be ok, then... it’s hard to accept losing it. For instance, I can not stand change in my childhood home or mom and dad’s mountain cabin - and least of all grandma and grandpa’s country side cabin. Why? Because due to my depression, I feel like happy moments is hard to obtain. I know I’ve had many good moments in these places, and so I’m terrified of them altering so that they will no longer be able to produce the same happiness-inducing environment as in the past. (But guess what, there will always be happy moments; I am not dependent on having any given building/place accessible to me in order to obtain it).

What I’m trying to say is, the most important advice is this: don’t trick yourself into thinking your life or happiness makes or breaks depending on this or that thing. Bar the things you actually need, like meds and doctors and all that (I trust you to tell essential and non essential dependencies apart). I’ve made this very mistake. I put an ‘=‘ between “my ability to be happy/live” and “Armin surviving the story”. And at one point: “snk in general”. Try not to to give into that urge. This is a coping mechanism. When you need a solid thing to turn to, because happiness feels otherwise too elusive. In the future, try not to take the easy way out and bind yourself to something so concrete. Because when you do - when happiness begins to actually depend on something concrete never changing - you will at some point lose. Because everything solid eventually changes. Ends. Sours.

So begin to build trust in yourself. The goal is to know that even if everything around you crumbles, you will be ok in yourself. I’ve come to learn that this also applies to people. All friendships change over time. Some last a lifetime, others drift apart. Others might hurt you. And it’s natural to hurt from drifting or betrayal... But so long as you don’t lean your full weight on someone else, you will maintain your balance once a pillar crumbles. Just like older family will one day leave you and you’ll need to be secure enough in yourself to stand not having parents to run to forever.

... ok, that got bleak, I’ll shift gears. Anon, for the future, my advice would be to approach situations with the knowledge that very few things will actually break you. And even more: that no situation has a fixed way of being read. Take arriving too late at the bus stop, for instance. The bus is pulling back into traffic and you barrel after if, but it’s too late. In the dust, you stand there panting and cursing. It’s easy to get mad, say “day ruined” or worse “damn it, this is the third time I’ll be late for work, I’m getting fired”. But... the bus is lost, man. It’s done. It is something you can’t change now. So you have two options: either spend your good time pulling yourself down into the negative by cursing how much you hate what is. OR, you can acknowledge that this turn of events leaves you off somewhere, and utilize it the best you can. It’s the “when life gives you lemons” - only with dogshit. Yeah, it smells bad and I guess you could like... make it into compost or something. Or, anon, you can just walk away from it. Who said you had to take the shit?

Now that you have to wait for the bus anyways, might as well take the time waiting to listen to some more of a podcast you like, or reply to the emails you didn’t get to answer before running out the door. And what about the job? Well, firstly, it’s not a given yet that you lost it. But if you did - listen. This is where the “many ways to read a situation” comes in. Who decided this job was your only possible path? You. And falsely. “No, it’s the only job I could get, I can’t just sell the house and live in an RV for a year selling my art on Etsy”. Why not? That’s you deciding certain options to be a non-option. But the option is there. Do things come with work and sacrifice? Yes. Just like the job you had meant you had to live within physical reach of it. Every path takes you shaping to their requirements. And some things might seem daunting because it asks you to bend into a new shape than you’re used to. But look at all the different kinds of people and paths taken by people. Losing that bus today, was not a make or break of you having any path at all. It didn’t end your path. If it did anything at all (because who knows, maybe work didn’t even notice you came late or turns out there was a flood so they were closed anyways), and at most it just altered the path.

This is my stilted way of saying: when you realize just how non-essential most things are to your life - how you’ll always be ok as long as you keep going and looking for solutions - you’ll stop feeling doomed every time seemingly bad stuff happens.

“So you want me to be apathetic and care about nothing?” No. Not at all. I want you to love and enjoy the life around you. But I want you to be ok with it not lasting forever. Because when something ends, you don’t end. For you, their end, only alters your surrounding.

I don’t know if I’m making sense. And if I am, I’m still aware that “that’s just the way it is” is a hard pull to swallow. I know some situations are much, much harder to be ok with... and to that I say: yeah. I’m sorry about that. Some paths are harder than others. And some paths are only available to some and not all. But mindset is - simply is - your most important tool. You have the power to make any situation awful to you, or even good.

When bad shit happens to me, I have that essential steam blow of going through all the negatives, then I breath and look around for where to head next. I move on, because I realize no amount of moping will undo or alter the situation. It’s up to me to make something of the lemons/dogshit - or leavening it to find something else. Otherwise, I’m just standing still on the trail, crying next to a foul smelling shit for eternity. No thanks.

Another good trick I’ve found for when unlucky things alter the path, is this: I ask myself “what lesson can I take from this?” I even go as far as think “I guess this was meant to be a lesson for me”. I try to always find a way to grow from a situation, good or bad.

I don’t know... it’s taken a long while for me to live by this as well, anon, but I think the most important thing is just attitude. If you tell yourself: “I am able to grow from bad experiences and move on”, you will be more prone to do so, than if you say “this has ruined my life”. The event was the same, but the mindset shaped it.

So I ask you... even though it’s bitter, will you be able to heal from snk with time? Will you be able to move on and grow?

[polaris-thehunter]

Do you think Mikasa will die in the end? I don't want her to, I'd like her to be happy with or without Eren, maybe with Jean or maybe even go to Hizuru to meet her biological non-Ackerman family.

Omg thank you for this great ask! I’ve been actually thinking about Mikasa’s endgame, because she’s such an interesting figure in the snk universe and I am curious and excited of the role she will play in stopping Eren (Yes, he will be stopped. There’s no way the world’s ending, that I’m sure of 90%, but 10% of me is scared that yams will troll us haha.)

This post is going to be a bit long, and might deviate from your ask, so I hope you don’t mind dear 🥺 

My answer largely depends on the theory/ies I subscribe to on the “itterasshai / see you later, eren” panel, because I believe that that scene will show Mikasa’s (and to an extent, eren’s) fate.

Initially, I thought that there’s no way Mikasa will die. She’s a survivor as many metas have already mentioned, and she will live. It’s just how I perceive her character to be. But after reading this theory, to be really honest, a reasonable doubt has been sown in my brain and I can’t get rid of it.

So what do I think of the “see you later, eren” panel? I subscribe to three theories which i believe all have equal chances of happening (I owe a lot to the awesome meta writers here dropping ideas here and there): 

1.) Mikasa will be alive in the current timeline, but Eren will meet her in a different timeline through paths. Maybe they will both talk it out and probably be together there for a long time, and Mikasa will show Eren a peaceful, beautiful life, the “what could have been” life. And when it’s time for Eren to  return/wake up to the current timeline, Mikasa will say, “itterasshai, Eren” because they will literally see each other again. Will Eren die? Maybe yes, maybe no. 

This idea reminds me of the movie Inception, where Cobb and Mal spent years in their dreams, they grew old together there, etc, and when they woke up (returned to reality), it was like no time has actually passed.

2.) Mikasa will be alive, rumbling will be stopped, Eren will survive, and they will live together until Eren succumbs to the Curse of Ymir, that’s why Mikasa’s hair will grow longer per the panel in Ch 1, than her current amazing bob right now, because three/four years will pass. When Eren’s dying, Mikasa will say “itterasshai, Eren”, probably in the hope that they will be together again in another lifetime 😭

This is my favorite theory, because (lemme put this on record) I dont like the theories where Mikasa will kill Eren (but that’s reserved for another post). As the eremika fan in me, I can’t help but hope for a happy (?) ending for them, even for just a brief period of time.

3.) Mikasa will die, and the Mikasa who will say “itterasshai, Eren”, will be her ghost who will guide Eren in stopping the rumbling. Again, I just got this idea from the post I linked above, and I gave credence to it given the dead Scouts appearing in Chapter 132. 

There was also this creepy audio played during the FInal Exhibition which allegedly depicts the end, and I took note of the fact that it was only Armin calling out to Eren. Why was Mikasa not there? Unless she’s dead at that point in the battle. Huhu.

If Mikasa does survive and Eren doesn’t, I think it will be better for her to go to Hizuru, maybe bring everyone with her and explore the world. I don’t know if Mikasa could actually love someone else other than Eren. I love Jean, so I don’t want him to just be the second choice/rebound. He deserves to be loved wholeheartedly, and I don’t know if Mikasa could give him that. If she does, then I’m all onboard the ship. Tbh at this point, I just want everyone to be happy in their own terms. This manga has been making us and our favorite characters suffer for a decade, I hope they (and we!) find peace, contentment and joy in the ending Isayama will bless us.

I’m so sorry this has been too long, I got carried away 🥺 But thank you for the ask 💓💓💓

[isthatbloodonhisshirt]

Hey, I just read that you don't read in the fandom you write for. I admit I was really 😱😱 lol, but I'm a fanfic reader before being a writer, so maybe that's why it surprised me like this. Still, this made me really curious. Is it a conscious decision, like, you don't want to be influenced by other fics so you can really write how you feel about the fandom? Or is it something else, because I also read you would read TW fics when you're out of the fandom... in 2050 lmo (yes you are hilarious🤣)

First off, thank you, please tell my irl friends I am the funniest person ever, they wholeheartedly disagree ;) lol 

Not reading in the fandom I actively write for is a personal decision due to past experience in another fandom I used to be in. I feel like when you have a fic idea in your head, it works specifically for those characters, and you can’t have it cross fandoms (at least for me). 

For example, I have a baller zombie fic that I was SUPER excited to write for the SnK fandom, and when I jumped into TW, I so badly tried to make the idea fit for Sterek but it just doesn’t. Same with another superhero-type fic, I am like, CONSTANTLY trying to re-work it in my head to make it fit, but it doesn’t. There is no Hanji in Teen Wolf. Derek and Levi are NOT the same. Eren and Stiles are NOT the same. I just can’t do it. If I have an idea, it only works with those characters the idea was created for. With my brain the way it works, the idea suits the characters, which is why I can’t pick up an idea from one fandom and plop it into another (no matter HOW HARD I TRY). 

So for me, reading in all the fandoms I do except Teen Wolf is like assurances to me that I won’t get influenced by something someone wrote and accidentally write something similar. I legit get anxiety when people are like “This fic is similar to this one!” because in the old fandom I was in, a LOT of BNF used to send their legions of followers after the little guy because “You have ONE ENTIRE SENTENCE that sounds EXACTLY like what I wrote in MY fic!” 

I’m not here for drama |D I’m not here to start a fight with someone over something that I wrote that sounds 1% similar to something someone else wrote. I get an idea, I write it down. Sometimes I post it, most of the time I don’t. At the end of the day, I write for me, and I share it because people seem to enjoy it (for the most part, can’t please everyone). 

So when I start actively being involved in writing for a fandom, I can’t read in that fandom to avoid anyone claiming I’ve stolen an idea from someone else. Does that work? I mean, probably not, no one will believe me if I say I’ve never read a fic, but at the end of the day, I know that I haven’t and that makes a difference to me. 

Of course, I make exceptions (if my friends write me something, or if they write something they really want me to read), but for the most part I don’t read in the Teen Wolf fandom. I’ve got enough in the DC fandom to last me a lifetime, so I can afford to stay away from TW fics for now lol. As soon as I’m done writing TW though, my ridiculously large bookmarks bar is going to get devoured ;)

Hope that semi-answered your question? >.> Sorry if it didn’t |D 

TL;DR - I don’t read in the Teen Wolf fandom for personal reasons 8D 

[duker42]

Levi always receives small notes from reader who is sweet and bubbly. The notes either compliment him or encourage him throughout the day. It's a nice change bc she wasn't afraid of him and he slowly fell in love. So what does he do? Ask Mike and Erwin for advice on how to write a love letter but they just tease Levi (these boys are all dorks). Finally Levi gives up and just tells it to her straight.

***SOOO sweet!!!! I would TOTALLY do this if I were in the SNK Universe! ❤️❤️❤️

💜Love Notes💜

When Levi opened the door to head out towards Erwin’s office, he found another little note stuck in the nameplate. Opening the folded piece of paper, he devours the words written inside it.

You always looks so handsome wearing your cravat.

Y/N

He had been receiving this little notes in random spots over the past few weeks. One was in his ODM Gear, talking about how graceful he looked when he was maneuvering. He found one in his tin of tea talking about how good he smelled, like tea, sunshine and horses. His favorite was the one he found in between his reports, she had told him that she had never met a man who cared about other like he did.

It was refreshing that someone didn’t cower in fear from his harsh tongue or cold looks. He had a fluttering in his stomach every time he opened a new note. The first one had been so simple, yet had made his day. He carried it in his pocket daily, and pulled the now worn paper out to read when his emotions overwhelmed him. Three simple words.

You are wonderful.

Y/N

At first he had believed it to be some trick, or way to curry favor with her superior. But he had watched as she just gave him a bright smile and walked past him, day after day, offering nothing more that the words of encouragement or compliments. He had never thought himself a greedy man, but with every note he found, he anticipated the next rush of bliss her words brought him.

Throughout the weeks of receiving the notes and closely watching the way Y/N interacted with those around her, Levi felt a piece of his heart fall into the gracious girl’s hands. She was hard working, always willing to put in the effort to better herself, and he had witnessed her spending extra time working with a comrade who had struggled with their formation positioning. She was the epitome of everything he thought his mother was in his muted memories.

Entering Erwin’s office, he found Mike and the Commander already seated, chatting about various things. Sitting down, he fingered the paper in his pocket as he tried to think of some way to express to Y/N how her words made him feel, how he felt about her.

He must have been sitting there contemplating his options for longer than he realized. When he looked up, both men were looking at him in amusement.

“What are you two idiots staring at?” He quickly throws a glare at them, trying to hide his slight embarrassment.

Erwin quirked one of his large eyebrows. “I’ve called your name 3 times. Where was your head at?”

Staring down at his feet, he asked the question he never thought would roll of his tongue in his lifetime. “How would you write a love letter?”

Mike started laughing as Erwin blurted out, “To a woman?”

“No, to a fucking horse, of course to a woman!” Levi instantly regretted opening his mouth. His glare intensified as the two blonde giants in front of him laughed at his expense.

“Tell her if she were a Titan you would kill her last.” Mike bent over, clutching his stomach at his own horrible joke.

Erwin, not to be outdone, “Or, or, you tell her she smells less like shit than everyone else!”

“No, I’ve got it! You tell her she’s filthy, but you wouldn’t mind cleaning her up!” Mike howled with renewed glee as Erwin wiped the tears from him eyes.

Levi turned and walked to the door. “The altitude has killed your brain cells. You’re both fucking idiots.” And slammed the door on his way out.

~~~~~

Later that night, Levi still considered his options. Even though he would NEVER ask those idiots he considered friends for advice EVER again, he knew he needed find a way to tell Y/N how he felt.

Making up his mind, he flung his door open, ready to walk down to Y/N’s quarters. Except, Y/N was standing in front of his door and he ran headlong into her, causing them both to fall down on the floor.

Levi looked down at the surprised girl. A pretty blush washed across her face as she stared up at the man sprawled on top of her. Levi felt his mouth dry out, nervousness robbing his ability to do anything but gape at her.

“Uh, you....I......like, well...,think ermmmm.....pretty....ughhh.” He closed his eyes in mortification as he listened to himself sound like an idiot. If he had a knife, he would gladly slit his own throat to end his suffering.

Pushing himself off of Y/N, he adverted his eyes as he held a hand out to help her up. His ears had turned red hot from embarrassment, and he shuffled his feet as he tried to look everywhere but at the beautiful girl.

“Captain?” Oh Thank God, Y/N mustn’t have understood his incoherent babbling. Relief flooded his system as he looked at her. Her eyes were bright with amused affection as she brought her hand up to rest on his chest. “I understood, Levi. I like you too.”

Sheer terror and joy battled within his body as what she said sank in. His lips curved into a small smile as she placed a kiss on his cheek. It turned out better than he had hope, but he still should have written a note.

Mobile MasterList

[gear-project]

Do you think that the announcement that a Last Blade character will be DLC for Samsho's season 3 pass and the fact that they're licensing the Neo Pocket edition of Last Blade Destiny for Switch is indication that SNK may produce a Last Blade 3 (with or without Swery)?

That’s a bit of a jump in terms of speculation.

I think for now they’re just trying to test the waters and see how people react to a Last Blade character in Samurai Shodown as a game in the first place.

I don’t think it’s a bad idea by half, but at the same time I’m also concerned about which character it actually will be.

KOFXIII lore implies that an immortal like Kagami Shinnosuke exists, or perhaps even Setsuna or Musashi Akatsuki, among other strange characters that exceed human lifetimes.

It’s implied timeline-wise that Last Blade 1 and 2 take place nearly 100+ years after Samurai Shodown’s events... so at the very least they would have to have a character that fits that setting more.

As for Swery, he no longer has anything to do with SNK, unfortunately, so it’s unlikely they’d have him on board or even consult him for anything Last Blade related at this point.

[cosmicjoke]

Man, I love chapter 123 of SnK!  It’s really the last time we get to see every, core member of the SC together and not at odds, and there’s something incredibly bitter sweet about that.  I won’t talk about all the events in this chapter, or Eren’s behavior or motivations, because I know they’ve been discussed at length already, and since we already know how that all turns out, there’s no point.

One thing I want to talk a little about though is how it’s in this chapter where I think we really start to see a kind of open, deeply vulnerable despair in Levi.  I want to talk about why I think we really start to see that here.

In the scene following the incident with Ramzi, after Levi saves him from the angry mob, the SC members are all at Azumbabito’s estate, discussing what they overheard the crowd saying, about blood testing and their expressions of hatred and fear for the Eldian’s.  This was the SC’s first, real glimpse of the kind of prejudice held against their kind by the outside world, their first time really seeing it in action, and how deep it runs.

Levi’s expression in these panels strikes me as the most resigned, really, as the saddest, along with Hange I supposed, and I think it’s really important, and interesting.  Hange I think because they’re in charge of this mission, and the weight of its success rests on their shoulders.  But the reason for Levi is, I think, different.  It’s kind of easy, through the course of the story, to forget where Levi comes from, and what his background is.  He’s the only one there who came from the Underground City.  And the Underground was a place where the unwanted, rejected, disowned people of society within the walls went.  These were people who didn’t hold citizenship above ground.  A subset of people who experienced, every day of their lives, very real prejudice and tangible rejection from society.  They weren’t allowed to live above, would be deported back Underground if they attempted to leave, unless they were able to buy their way up, which of course most of them couldn’t hope to ever do.  They were, within the Walls, second-class citizens, or even less, considering they weren’t afforded the recognition of citizenry even.  And so, Levi, being from this place, being born into a place where he was automatically denied the rights and privileges and benefits of every person born above ground, born into a situation in which he was, through no fault or action of his own, deemed an undesirable, a pariah, determined to be a lesser being, by simple dint of his birth, he has here a unique understanding of what it is they’ve all just experienced.  Levi is really the only one among them who understands what it feels like to be prejudiced against, and how pervasive and impossible to overcome those prejudices can be.  I think this is why, while most everyone else in this scene looks almost angry, and even affronted, or just neutral, Levi has such a look of despair and resignation on his face.  He understands the pain of prejudice, because he lived a literal lifetime of it, for longer than most of the people in that room have even been alive.  

I think this also played a part in why Levi was the first and only one to act when the mob around them started really threatening Ramzi, picking him up and running.  Again, because of his experiences growing up, no doubt having been through something similar in terms of being regarded by others as somehow less than human, somehow less deserving of humane treatment, etc...  again, simply by dint of his birth.  Levi understood the danger of the situation, and how rapidly it was growing in danger, before anyone else, and he acted.  I don’t think it can be overstated at all, how important and meaningful is Levi’s experience with prejudice, with being treated as a second-class citizen, with being treated like a lesser being.  He’s really the only member of the SC who’s dealt with these things before, who lived such an experience before, and not for a short time, but for the majority of his own life.  It really allows Levi a unique ability among all of them to comprehend the battle they’re all facing, and a unique ability to understand the consequences and trauma one suffers from experiencing genuine prejudice.  It’s one reason I scoffed at Zeke’s proclamation that Levi could never understand what he’d experienced growing up, or what he understood about the world, because out of everyone in the SC, it was Levi who could have understood best of all.  But of course, Zeke never gave him the chance to even try.  

Also, Levi saving Ramzi was just such a genuinely heartwarming thing to witness.  Actions speak louder than words, and Levi’s actions always betray his soft heart.  I also think it’s interesting that he stops Ramzi from stealing Sasha’s purse, but then when Ramzi later steals his own, Levi just shrugs it off and says he doesn’t care anyway.  He doesn’t want Sasha to lose her spending cash, because she, along with the other members of the 104th, are all having such a good time, buying food from all the stalls, etc...  Levi is looking out for Sasha here, and wants all of the kids to have a good time, and at the same time, isn’t thinking about himself having a good time at all.  Levi really just gives off the impression here of severing as a supervising adult, haha.  He doesn’t show any real interest or concern with this big, new world around them, with all these things none of them have ever seen or experienced.  Instead, he tells Eren, Armin and Mikasa to “stay with the group”, observes with unease how Connie and Sasha and Hange are making too big a deal out of seeing a car, and how it’s drawing unwanted attention to them, keeps Sasha from being robbed, etc...  People make jokes all the time about Levi being a “parent” to the 104th, but it’s because he DOES act like a parent, his main concern being the safety and well being of his group.  I just think it’s incredibly sweet and endearing.  Levi’s just such a good person.

[dorovahkiin]

SnK Theory (MANGA SPOILERS): Why I believe Historia’s pregnancy is fake.

Some time ago, I read this theory on Reddit that Historia’s pregnancy is fake. I thought it was an interesting idea, but the user didn’t elaborate that much, so I perceived it lacked evidence. However, I kept the idea in mind. Over the next chapters (and especially since the newest chapters so SPOILER ALERT) we actually did get subtle evidence that Historia’s pregnancy could be fake. At least that’s what I believe. Since I haven’t seen any decent explanation of the theory on the internet, I decided to do it myself. It will be very long, so grab a cup of tea Levi has just prepared for you and enjoy :)

© to the artist. I haven’t found an artist anywhere, so if this is your pic and you want it to be removed or given credit please tell me

And again, this will contain manga SPOILERS up to chapter 125.

You have been warned.

Before we actually start with the theory, we first need to summarize Zeke’s “secret plan” again. Just as reminder. Zeke’s secret plan was the following:

Rumble the world as deterrent in order to protect Paradis for the next 50 years

Raise the military strength to a global level in this time until rumbling is no longer needed

Chapter 107

…And finally….

In order to maintain the rumbling a founding Titan and a Titan with royal blood is always required. Since titan shifters die after 13 years, you'll need several candidates of royal blood. Passing the titan-power down from generation to generation. Since there are only two persons of royal blood left alive (as far as we know), who are Zeke and Historia, they'd need to reproduce in order to make the plan happen.

Chapter 107

Chapter 107

…When reading this the first time, I already thought that something was wrong…

This plan is way too risky, has too many incalculable factors and too many holes. But that’s another topic. Anyways, in the latest chapters it turned out that Zeke was fooling everyone and hid his true intentions:

He wanted to use the founding titan in order to make contact with Ymir. Then he wanted to command her to take away the Eldian’s ability to reproduce. Just in a matter of decades, the Eldian race would extinct without any more casualties and the world would be at peace (until new conflicts arise e.g. nuclear weapons lol). I guess the reason for not telling the truth was because the Eldians would have never agreed to that. Maybe there were more reasons, but that’s what came into my mind.

Chapter 122

Anyways, Zeke did not tell his true intentions. He made up this fake plan to get to Paradis and to manipulate and deceive everyone so he could get in contact with the founding Titan (Eren) in order to make his true plan come to reality.

Back to chapter 107. When Hanji reacts to Zeke’s fake plan, she seems to be conflicted and not happy about it. She doesn’t like the imagination of enslaving Historia (or anyone) into a breeding machine because of her royal blood only to be eaten soon. Again and again.

(Side note: Why the fuck does Historia have to reproduce and not Zeke? Because Historia offered it first or what? In Zeke’s remaining year he is able to reproduce more than Historia in a lifetime. Histora can only bear once a year whereas Zeke could father hundreds of children a year. Why didn’t anyone consider this in the assembly?!)

…Hanji’s reaction to Zeke’s fake plan is the following:

“Will it really end in 50 years…?

No matter what else might be developed, the earth-shaking is an immensely powerful weapon…

If we must depend on it, the danger of assassination would follow these heirs to the royal family down through the generations…

From parent to child, just like the Reiss family…

Again…

…And again…

…Does that mean we should leave our children in a lose-lose situation?

Just because it saves us now…

Of course not. There’s no way this could be allowed. And yet.”

Chapter 107

I guess Hanji wanted to say something like: “And yet what other options do we have?” or something like that.

However, this tells us that Hanji has:

Doubts about Zeke’s plan (probably doesn’t trust him anyways)

Doesn’t like the idea of using anyone as breeding machine, feeding people to titans regularly and putting future generations in danger

But she also doesn’t know any alternative at this point. So what options does she have?

Either accept the plan or reject the plan. If she wants to keep the allies (and she has to keep them because otherwise they are screwed at that point), she has to agree to that plan. In other words she cannot openly reject it because otherwise they will lose the allies. She has to play along. On the other hand, she doesn’t like and trust the plan for the reasons above. Therefore both options are a choose between the devil and the deep blue sea and Hanji knows that. Especially because the allies want an answer immediately because Zeke doesn’t have much time left to live.

HOWEVER. There is a third option nobody mentions: Gaining more time in order to think about new ideas to solve this madness by BLUFFING. To be more clear: Historia has to pretend to be pregnant. Fake pregnancy.

By doing so you would not only save Histora from turning into a breeding machine, but the allies would also keep being allies and think everything is fine. At least for some time. And Hanji needs the time to come up with a better plan.

Maybe you remember, but Eren initially said that he doesn’t like Zeke’s plan and they should instead think of other options and Hanji kinda agreed as she later states “We haven’t found another way out yet”:

Chapter 107

(Sidenote: It’s interesting because what Eren says now is quite the opposite of what he said in those panel about NOT destroying the world. I guess he changes his mind? lol)

Furthermore a (fake) pregnancy would save Historia from turning into a titan (at least for nine months, but that’s buying time again). If you remember right other people wanted Historia to eat Zeke once he’d come to Paradis. A (fake) pregnancy would hinder this because it’s too dangerous and there are too many unknown factors:

This is all from chapter 108

So now you might think: How is Historia able to fake pregnancy?

…Well that’s actually not as hard as you think if you plan it thoroughly:

Pregnancy suit. You don’t need ultra technology to tailor one.

Hanji is not only a skilled scientist, but also clever as fuck, in fact the most intelligent character in the series with Zeke. If you look at her statistics you’ll see that her Wits scores 10/10 and her Intelligence scores 11(!)/10.

I got this from Hanji’s Wiki article. You can also check the guidebook if you have it

…If anyone is able to fake Historia’s pregnancy it’s Hanji. In the past we’ve seen how many times her intelligence saved the Survey Corps’ and humanity’s ass. She’s not the new Survey Corps’ commander for nothing. She has bluffed and gambled a lot of times. Faking this pregnancy suits her past tactics.

Furthermore, in my opinion Hanji acted way too average so far. She didn’t really have any moments to shine and to prove how smart she truly is. Because there is more behind what we have seen so far.

To make fake pregnancy successful, you'll need friends who help you. People you can trust obviously. Because otherwise it won't be easy to keep the farce for a long time. So who could be those people? I think next to Historia and Hanji there are at least three more people who are in on the secret. But before we'll take a look at those three persons in detail, we'll shift our look to the “at least” part:

Historia is a popular Queen and loved by the civilians. She saved Paradis from the Rod Reiss titan and she is of royal blood. There are probably a few of those civilians Historia trusts. For example a maid, a tailor, a doctor or a farmer. This would be helpful to fake the pregnancy.

(Sidenote: I don’t believe that Yelena would be THAT strict and want to see Historia’s naked belly. As proof. Not only because it’s disrespectful, but also because there’s no reason. Yelena wants Zeke to live as long as possible, so the pregnancy suits her plans well. And even if it’s fake it wouldn’t make a difference because a fake pregnancy would still mean that Zeke would live longer. So I guess she doesn’t really care because either option doesn’t destroy her goals. Furthermore, wanting to see Historia’s belly would imply Yelena doesn’t respect and trust her allies and that would deceive her appearances.)

I wondered if anyone of the 104th training corps would know about the fake pregnancy since they are close to Hanji and Historia, but I think they rather don’t (except for one person I will mention later). I mean it would not surprise me if they knew, but there is simply no reason for them to know because there is no advantage to it. And the more confidants you have the harder it is to keep a secret an actual secret.

Now, let’s move on to the three persons I believe are not only confidants, but also took a big part in plotting this farce:

Farmer-kun

Eren Jäger

Levi Ackermann

Let me explain.

1. Farmer-kun

So, the official version is that Farmer-kun is the father of Historia’s baby and her partner. When Nile and the MP dudes talk about it, they seem to assume that Farmer-kun and Historia are a romantic couple that didn’t get married for some reasons (this is already suspicious).

This is both from chapter 108

A lot of fans already do agree that Farmer-kun is not the father. It’s mainly the EreHisu shippers, but they do have a point here. Why would Historia choose this random guy as her partner and as the father of her child? It just seems too suspicious and too random for us readers, different from what we are used to regarding Isayama’s writing. We have to look at the big picture: What is Historia’s purpose in the story? Giving birth to a child she had with a random nobody no one cares about and keep being used as a political tool until the end?

That would be disappointing, especially because she had awesome development in the past (for example in the uprising arc).

I believe Isayama wants to fool us here.

Furthermore, it seems like Historia doesn’t even like this guy. Notice her face when she is around him. That’s not how you look at someone you love. She looks depressed and annoyed (I guess because she feels like a slave):

Chapter 108 and 107

I find this is veeery fishy. Let me present you an alternative that matches with the fake pregnancy theory. Look what Nile says in the picture above:

“He’s (Farmer-kun) been checked out. We know he’s no one’s pawn". Whereas Farmer-kun seems to be suspicious for us readers, he is not suspicious for the citizens or military. A random nobody without any reputation, influence or money. No one cares about him, no one knows him. Since he is a simple farmer and not a nobleman or military guy, he is neutral and not indebted to any important institution (“He is no one’s pawn”). There is nothing he can offer Historia (other than love), therefore no higher institution can manipulate Historia through him. I believe that is what Nile meant when he said “He is no one’s pawn”. This being said, for them Farmer-kun is not suspicious or dangerous at all. This would also mean they wouldn’t observe him that thoroughly as if he were a man of higher status. They probably rather believe she chose him because of love which they find naive, but accept it.

Because of those reasons, Farmer-kun is the perfect candidate as cover-up fake father for a fake pregnancy. I believe he is an active part of the conspiracy.

Why helping her?

It is stated above that he used to throw rocks at her when they were children. And now he feels guilty about it, thus he works at her orphanage. Maybe he even has a crush on her. And she saved him and everyone else from that Rod Reiss titan and became his Queen. In this case it makes sense why he would help. He is indebted to Historia and that’s why she can trust him that he will play along.

Chapter 107

…I believe that his statement: “You need to take better care of yourself” is just another phrase that is supposed to fool us. At first sight you might think okay, he says this because she is pregnant and he wants her to take care of herself and the baby. But I think at this moment, the phrase doesn’t make any sense if you understand it that way. It would make sense if Historia just did something dangerous that could harm the baby and herself, for example drinking or doing heavy physical work. But she is just sitting outside literally doing nothing. It’s not harmful at all. So why would he say this in a moment like that? Out of nowhere?!

Consider another point of view: She is sitting outside. People can spot and observe her easily. If she doesn’t pay attention for a moment, she could do something stupid that reveals that her pregnancy is fake and if anyone is watching she has a problem. So I believe by that phrase Farmer-kun meant that she shouldn’t do anything suspicious and therefore take care.

That’s also why he wants her to come in. Because then nobody could observe and approach her easily.

…Now, let’s move on to the next person I believe is a confidant:

2) Eren Jäger

I already inclined Eren as confidant before, but let’s go more into detail.

The first argument why Eren is a confidant is an easy one: He knows the future through the power of the attack titan, therefore it’s inevitable that he might know anyways. We learned this in chapter 121 (that was a real wtf moment for me by the way):

Chapter 121

Now the question is: If he knew about a fake pregnancy anyways, why would he play along with it?

Eren might be a bit crazy right now and the fandom is arguing about his actions at the moment, but it’s fact that he cares for Historia. In chapter 106 Eren revealed that he can control Titans by touching a Titan with royal blood, which he experienced by touching Dina Fritz. When Levi asked why Eren hid this important fact, Eren replied that he did it because he wanted to protect Historia. His theory was only an assumption anyways. Eren hates the thought of Historia becoming a titan. And I strongly believe he would also hate it if she is being used as breeding machine (just like Hanji’s opinion). That would enslave her. And there is nothing Eren hates more than being enslaved.

Chapter 106

Furthermore, since we now know Eren’s true intentions (revealed in chapter 123), it should be clear that Eren wasn’t planning on playing along with Zeke’s plan anyways. Neither Zeke’s fake plan, nor Zeke’s real plan.

Chapter 123

Eren’s true intention is it to destroy the outside world in order to protect his people and his home. We’ll not discuss about this intention itself, that would be another subject.

Since chapter 125 we know that Eren’s true plan was not spontaneous, but long planned out. Floch confirms that and even reveals Eren told him about his true plan 10 months(!) ago.

Chapter 125

Because Eren was never willing to conduct any of Zeke’s plans anyways, he knew it would also be useless to force Historia into pregnancy. For is own objection Historia being pregnant wouldn’t do anything (Imo the Ymir reincarnation theory doesn't make sense). A fake pregnancy would be much more convenient:

By this the allies would be content but deceived and Historia is protected. Again a reminder: I believe Eren truly cares for Historia. Not in a romantic way (though this is up to interpretation), but as a friend.

Anyways. In order to make Eren’s true plan happening, Eren had to fool both Zeke and his friends. He couldn’t reveal his true intentions. Both Zeke and Eren’s friends wouldn’t second this plan for obvious reasons. Since he told Floch (and maybe some other Jägerists?) though, Floch also could have known about the fake pregnancy and supported it to deceive the allies. So in order to get Ymir’s power to destroy the world Eren had to betray everyone (besides fucking Floch). This having in mind is important for my next point.

Look at this scene (I cut it down to the most important bits):

This is all from chapter 107

…This happens after the rumbling in Marley and Hanji is disappointed by Eren, who acted on his own. Again, Eren did this in order to fulfill his own secret intention he told no one about for the reasons I stated above.

(Sidenote: The last picture his interesting. You see Eren’s desperation. I think he wanted to avoid his final objective, but didn’t see any other way at this point anymore. He is very conflicted and shows that to Hanji. Since Hanji doesn’t understand him and doesn’t trust him any longer, she thinks he is a bit crazy in my opinion.)

As Hanji points out, through his rushed actions Eren put both Paradis and Historia in trouble. Why? I believe we don’t have proper explanation, so this is my own interpretation: The Survey Corps’ main point of attacking Liberio was - next to taking Eren and Zeke with them - to destroy Marley’s naval fleet since Marley kept sending military ships to Paradis. Eren however took it too far. He not only wanted to get the Warhammer Titan in addition, but he also wanted to demonstrate strength to deliver the message: “See what happens if you mess up with me, so fuck you and beware”. He started his attack at the peak of Willy’s speech, so choosing this exact instant of time which would create the most drama confirms that the demonstration/propaganda of power was a crucial part of Eren’s intention. By this he killed a lot of civilians. People like Floch don’t care about this, but people like Hanji, Levi or Jean were clearly against it, which would also mean they didn’t like the idea of rumbling the shit out of the world in the first place just like Zeke’s fake plan suggested.

Furthermore, through Eren’s brutal strategy, the world had now another huge and illustrated reason to be afraid of the Eldians of Paradis. Important people of the whole world were present after all. This fear leads to hate, and this hate leads to the decision to fight against Paradis more than ever in order to get rid of the threat. So in short words, even if a country was still conflicted about Paradis, Eren’s action helped them to decide to fight Paradis as they witnessed Eren’s brutality at first hand. But the consequence of this is that not only Marley but also the rest of the world would take actions against Paradis earlier than initially planned. That’s why it stole Paradis precious time to think of other ways. Ways to not only end the whole conflict, but also to protect Historia from Zeke’s shitty secret fake plan. The fake pregnancy is only a temporary solution you cannot maintain forever after all. This scene shows that they haven’t found another solution yet (besides Eren and his genocide plan lol), and you can feel the pressure and the desperation.

Hanji reproaching: “I always knew that you wouldn’t sacrifice Historia” and “Do you not care about what happens to Historia now?” shows us that:

Hanji cares about Historia and wants to protect her

Eren cares about Historia (or at least he did in the past, but I believe he still does. He also evades Hanji’s question which confirms that thought)

Eren and Hanji must have discussed about Historia’s fate in the past. I believe they came up with the idea of faking the pregnancy as temporary solution to protect her, but since time is running out now they have a problem and haven’t come up with another way to protect Historia in the long term yet (at least Hanji doesn’t). This scene illustrates that conflict pretty well.

Before we’ll finally move on to the third confidant, let me just shortly summarize why I believe Eren is not the father if the pregnancy were real. I know a lot of fans believe in that theory. It is actually not THAT far-fetched, but it has too many holes. These are the most important holes in my opinion:

Eren has only a few more years left to live. Historia can only bear a child once a year and according to Zeke’s plan she has to bear as many children as possible. Why choosing a titan shifter as dad who dies soon? That means Historia needed another partner for making children with once Eren died in the near future. I don’t see the advantage for having several men as dads. It’s rather annoying, especially for Historia.

When Historia is “pregnant”, Eren is already in Marley. When was he supposed to impregnate her? How when he was in Marley? Did he swim back to Paradis only to father a child or what?! Check chapter 123 again. Some people believe that he could have done it before he went to Marley in the first place, but I do not believe this because in 123 Eren didn't seem to care about Hisu romance at all

Eren was the first person who wanted to protect Historia from becoming a titan and a breeding machine. Furthermore, he doesn’t want to follow Zeke’s plan anyways. Then why should he be the first idiot who wanted to impregnate her? He is not the type of man who wants to have an excuse to hit. That’s not what Eren is like.

And that is my personal interpretation: In my opinion Eren and Historia never showed any romantic feelings/interactions towards each other. People can have a strong emotional bond without wanting to bang each other! We did have evidence they care for each other, but there was not one singe romantic evidence. And if it happened off screen then it would be really meh imo. When it comes to the final panel I think the man is Grisha. Furthermore, Eren has other problems to deal with right now. Starting a relationship and becoming a dad wouldn’t be a good timing at all. I think that’s why he doesn’t have the desire for it at the moment either. But again, this is only my own interpretation.

People think Eren is the father because they reckon he is the hooded figure in that one scene. There is a good chance the hooded figure is Eren, but there are more candidates imo (and why would that be a proof of him being the father anyways?!)

Don’t worry I haven’t forgotten about this important scene.

It will be discussed very soon.

…This chapter is done. Let’s move on to the third confidant:

3) Levi Ackermann

According to my theory, Hanji is the main actor and plotter. Nothing against Historia, but I believe Historia is not smart enough to fake pregnancy all by herself (she is a great actress though).

Anyway, what does Levi have to do with all of this? Well, A LOT.

Levi and Hanji are very close comrades. They are not only great friends, but have proven to be a perfect team in the past when it came to plotting (for example in the uprising arc). They rant at each other all the time, but when it comes to serious matters, they always act in concert. They know each other horrifyingly well and trust each other. I mean look, they are even able to read each other’s mind :D

Chapter 106

This is one reason why I believe Levi took part in that. Hanji wouldn’t have done this without at least talking to Levi about it. But that’s not enough evidence. Levi is not Hanji’s puppy, but a human being with his own opinions. So let’s go deeper…

We already talked about the flashback in chapter 106 where Eren reveals that he can control Titans by touching a Titan with royal blood, which he experienced by touching Dina Fritz. We already discussed Eren’s role in this.

Now, let’s focus on Levi in this scene of chapter 106:

Chapter 106

…Levi is pissed that Eren withheld this important information. When Eren reveals his reason Levi simply replies: “We’ll talk about THAT later”.

This happened before the time skip, but we NEVER saw this “We’ll talk about THAT later” conversation between Levi and Eren. Did Isayama not include that scene because he thought it was irrelevant?

Absolutely not. We were just not supposed to know yet. Also, in my opinion Levi and Eren had very little screen-time together since chapter 91. Suspiciously little. I believe we’ll see those scenes soon though. Again, we were just not supposed to see these yet.

Now the question is, would Levi agree to the plan of faking Historia’s pregnancy?

We don’t have proof yet and this is only my own interpretation, but I believe yes, absolutely:

If you really know Levi, you also know that deep inside he is not that bitchy cold ass he seems to be on the outside. He is a selfless person with a big heart who hates casualties. He is a man who deeply cares for individuals.

His relationship with Historia might be a bit strained due to past incidents, but I still believe that he truly cares for her (not shipping here, just to be clear !!!).

Remember when Historia established the orphanage? Levi was helping her a lot with it:

Chapter 70

…I believe he wants to avoid that Historia becomes a breeding machine or turn into a titan. Because he cares for her personally.

HOWEVER… Levi’s biggest goal is it to save humanity and he puts that goal above individual sacrifices. He hates it like nobody else, but that is still what he thinks is the right way. For example when he asked Historia to become Queen. He thought it was the right way, even if he treated her very harshly. For the sake of humanity. Because he didn’t see any other way and because it was Erwin’s idea in the first place. And Levi trusts Erwin. So I believe even if Levi would hate it and even if he cares for Historia, he would still be agreeing to the plan of her turning into a titan and becoming a breeding machine. BUT ONLY if he absolutely didn’t see any other way and if Historia did it by free will. And that’s the point. Faking the pregnancy is a temporary solution and a gamble that gives some time to think about new ways. And gambling is the Survey Corps’ way.

…But the even bigger point is that this is Zeke’s plan we’re talking about in the first place…

We have seen Hanji’s reaction to Zeke’s “secret plan” and her being conflicted about it, but we haven’t seen Levi’s thoughts. Even if he is not as smart as Hanji, I’m sure even he was conflicted about the plan and saw the holes. Furthermore, Levi HATES Zeke. He wants to kill him. Zeke is the last person Levi would trust. I mean if this “secret plan” were Erwin’s idea, things would have been different.

But it’s fucking Zeke Jäger.

I’m sure Hanji talked to Levi about her concerns. So even if Levi didn’t have any doubts in the first place (I believe he did though), Hanji would have told him. And Levi trusts Hanji. As I said before, they are a dream-team. That’s why I believe he agreed to that farce. Also as far as I remember, we didn’t have many (or even any?) scenes with Levi and Hanji discussing anything alone since chapter 91. This is suspicious in my opinion. Moreover, there is a reason why Isayama removed Hanji and Levi from the plot since chapter 115. I don’t believe they are dead by the way. At the moment we are just hoping for them to be alive, but we totally forget that they could have been involved in some big act. Our worries for them distract this important fact.

(125 UPDATE: My babies are alive I’m so fucking happy!)

Onto the next point. There is a good chance the hooded figure is Eren, but I believe the hooded figure is either Hanji Levi, though I tend more to Levi.

Let’s have a look:

Chapter 108

…Most people say this is Eren because of the jacket, but it’s not the same jacket. Eren’s jacket is way darker and fully inked, this is not. (Check it yourself by looking at the one Eren pic above). Actually, the jacket doesn’t say anything. If the person is hooded, he or she doesn’t want to be identified that easily. Furthermore, it is obvious that this person plays an important role and that Isayama is hiding something from us. The jacket itself is not important though. It’s just a random and ordinary jacket you can get anywhere in order to hide your identity. Of course the person wouldn’t appear in the clothes we know him or her. That would spoil everything for us. Moreover look, a lot of people have a jacket that looks similar, not only Eren does:

Chapter 53

…So the jacket itself doesn’t reveal anything…

Then who is the hooded figure? Now since I believe Levi is plotting with Hanji they were the ones who advised Historia and one of them is the hooded figure. If it were Eren, why would he visit Hisu being hooded since he visited her in his casual clothes many times before? We know they regularly meet and touch to trigger memories as Jean confirms it in chapter 70:

Chapter 70

 Levi and Hanji however are high ranked individuals who are not that close to Hisu, so it makes more sense to hide their identity. Nobody is suspicous when Eren visits Hisu since they are friends, Hanji and Levi on the other side...

I tend to think the hooded figure is Levi because the person looks small and second…

…Notice the hands. They’re inside the pockets. Levi is a person who puts his hands inside his pockets A LOT. More than any other character. Just observe a few pictures of him and you’ll see. If you’re too lazy to research yourself, I provided a few examples for you:

…There you have it…

I wouldn’t be surprised if Isayama put this little hint in here, since he always likes to put little hints every now and then.

The MPs and some others believe it’s Yelena, but I think that’s not true. If it were her, Isayama wouldn’t have presented us the right answer right away. And she is too tall. So nahh.

Chapter 108

Remember what the MPs said about the hooded figure:

“Someone must have informed the Queen. They told her the corps wanted to feed Zeke to her as soon as they could. But if she got pregnant, she wouldn’t have to become a titan until after she gave birth. Someone gave her that advice”

This implies that the hooded figure knew what the corps wanted early on and Levi is one of them, so he knew. But I believe just as Hanji and Eren he secretly didn’t agree forcing Historia to eat Zeke straight away (instead faking pregnancy to buy more time to think of other solutions), because he cares for Historia and prefers to leave the choice to her. The next scene proves that:

Chapter 112

Since to Levi Zeke is more suspicious than ever in this situation, Levi decides that it’s inevitable to get rid of him and to feed him now. But instead of insisting Historia to eat him instantly, Levi suggests a Jägerist to take on the temporary role. Because he wants to protect Historia and doesn’t want to put her in danger if it’s avoidable.

Also, him saying: “Then, if Historia’s prepared like she says she is, we’ll feed the titan to her next” implies that he is not pushing Historia, but instead leaves the final choice to her. This also matches with the advice of the hooded figure to wait until “birth”.

Furthermore this explains Historia’s gloomy mood because she knows that a horrible fate awaits her (and she is ready to take it) if they can’t think of another option very soon.

I know Levi says: “Once she gives birth in a few months” implying she is actually pregnant, but of course he can’t tell them that it’s fake therefore he’s lying.

…So what do you do after nine months when you’re faking pregnancy, but there is no child? That’s not that hard. A miscarriage or a dead born baby happens occasionally. It wouldn’t be suspicious to state that as excuse when no child exists. If you do it in a clever way, it’s not a problem.

The real problem is what to do afterwards if you don’t have a new plan? I mean that’s the situation right now, they haven’t come up with anything yet…

But since we now know that Zeke’s secret plan was fake all the way, the whole thing doesn’t make any sense anymore anyways. Besides, Eren revealed his true intention in chapter 123, everything has changed since then.

It will influence a lot of story-lines. I cannot wait to read what happens next.

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS LOOOOOONG ANALYSYS! ♥

I am aware that I still might be wrong because I cannot read Isayama’s mind and there is a lot of my own interpretation, but with this theory I just want to provide a different idea :)

Have a nice day and never forget to SHINZOU WO SASAGEYO!!!!