#and i dont like formidable it just gets here because it plays and i skip it

[res--publica]

@famosoentrescalles tagged me in the receiptify thingy

i have to say i barely use spotify, only to listen to podcasts tbh so i put the medium term so it has more variety

(although its just 3 different musicians lol)

i tag @lordmeowdemort @no-passaran @marazt @guillemelgat

and honestly everyone that wants to do it

[free-pancakes]

the commander’s voice

LeviHan - a canonverse oneshot

Characters: Levi, Hange, Onyankopon, Jean, Armin, Sasha, Mikasa

Summary: Onyankopon gifts Hange a vinyl record player from Marley, and Levi uses it to help the dear Commander find a small moment of respite among her stressful duties.

Notes: Hange has been really sad lately in the anime, so here's a happy Hange oneshot. The song Hange sings is called “Mrs." by Leon Bridges

crossposted to AO3

The Commander’s Voice

Hange gripped her fingers gently around small cup of tea in her hands—she smiled softly as the warmth caressed her fingertips and the earthy aroma tickled her nose. She took a small sip, and stole a quick glance at Levi, searching for signs of his approval.

A tiny flicker in his warm, grey eyes signaled his liking. To everyone else in the room, Levi maintained an unreadable glare, but Hange knew better. She playfully tapped his foot with her own, with a sly smile plastered on her face. Levi returned the gesture with a swift kick to her shin.

Hange was already accustomed to arguing under the table like this, and quickly bit her tongue to keep herself from yelping out in pain. She quietly grumbled as he smirked behind the cup he held up to his lips. He hated when she could see right through him like that—but he supposed it wasn’t an entirely bad skill for someone around here to have.

“Is it up to your standards, Levi? It’s only the finest tea from Marley! I only have a few boxes stashed away with me.” Onyankopon looked towards Levi earnestly for a reaction, but per usual, his genuine friendliness was met with a blank stare. Hange had convinced Onyankopon to share the tea with their little group today, hoping it would convince Levi to trust their allies a bit more, and she panicked at Levi's seemingly negative reaction.

“No, no, Onyankopon, Levi thinks it’s delightful! Thank you for sharing it with us,” Hange said with a bright smile.

Happy conversation buzzed around them in the large tent, but their table was jarringly silent. Hange, Levi, Jean, Armin, and Onyankopon had a long day of planning their strategies moving forward, but since they finished earlier than expected, they thought they’d sit together, talk, and relax a bit. Sitting and relaxing clearly wasn’t an issue, but maybe they had too little in common to really have a casual chat.

The silence gripped fiercely at Hange’s sides, and it felt as though it was trying to squeeze words out of her— it was absolutely unbearable. She had to break the silence, and at least attempt to get these socially incompetent fools to talk to each other.

“Hey Onyankopon, can you possibly tell me the name of this song? I kept hearing it play on one of your comrade’s radios a few weeks ago!” Hange closed her eyes as she tried to remember the melody, and she flawlessly hummed the tune, filling in a few lyrics that she could recall here and there. The sound resonated in her chest, and the tenseness in her shoulders relaxed as singing this song made her ridiculously happy. She wondered if it was the song that made her feel that way or if it was simply the person that seemed to permeate her thoughts whenever she hummed it to herself while working alone in her office.

She opened her eyes, and cocked her head to the side in confusion at the sight. All of Onyankopon’s Marleyan comrades around them were turned, facing their table, all eyes on her. Armin turned to look at Jean, whose jaw dropped at the sound of Hange singing, and nudged him. “Jean, come on, you’re making the Commander uncomfortable.”

“What? Levi, what is everyone—“ she shifted in her seat, embarrassed at the sudden and unwavering attention on her. Before she could see Levi’s reaction, he was standing up, glaring at everyone in the room. “Oi, what are all you nosy scumbags staring at? Have some respect for the Commander,” he hissed with a threatening tone, evoking fear in all the people in the room. The sound of talking and commotion resumed quickly, maybe even louder than before as no one wanted to further anger the formidable Levi Ackerman.

“Wait hold on a second, why did everyone just—“

“It’s because you have a beautiful voice, Hange-san, I don’t think any of us have ever heard you sing before actually…” Armin whispered softly, with a bashful, yet encouraging smile on his face.

Hange felt the blood rush to her cheeks, and she looked down at her hands, twiddled her thumbs, and let out a nervous chuckle. “Oh, I um, sorry. I guess I don’t usually do that...in public. My apologies.”

Onyankopon gently touched Hange’s hand—“I know exactly what song you referenced. Here, how about you all go get some sleep, and I’ll give you something special regarding the song in the morning, okay?” He gave her a reassuring look, and Hange felt more at ease. They saluted each other, and four Paradisians retreated to their tents for the night.

————- “Hange-san, here you go—It’s all ready for you!” Onyankopon held a large, box-shaped device in his hands, along with what looked like colorful cardboard envelopes on top of it. He set it down on the table as Hange, Armin, Levi, and Jean hovered around it.

Hange and Armin bent down to observe the object closely, opening its lid to reveal a flat surface with a small spoke in the middle, and a metal arm jutting across with a small needle on its end. The two eyed each other, both utterly fascinated at the intricate device.

“This here is a vinyl record player, and I picked out a few songs along with the one you told us about last night. I marked that one, and wrote out the lyrics for you!” he exclaimed with a grin.

Hange’s eyes glowered at the wonderful gift, and couldn’t help but give him a warm hug.

Levi walked towards the two, inserting his arm between them, cutting their embrace short. “Okay it’s time to go, Commander,” Levi said curtly as he guided her shoulder towards the horses.

“Levi, wait it’s still early, we have a lot of time to—“

“Until next time, Onyankopon,” he muttered with a glare and gave a half-hearted salute. He grumbled as he hurried Hange away, while she tried to wave back at Onyankopon. Armin and Jean looked at each other trying to stifle laughter at the scene—Armin took the record player and vinyls, and nodded at Onyankopon. “Sorry about that sir, I assume you already know how that goes...”

“Yeah, the Captain’s pretty protective over Hange-san, isn’t he?”

“Yeah you could say that,” Jean said with a small laugh. He waved goodbye, and the two hurried towards the horses, as it seemed Levi and Hange were already set to leave.

————- Levi sipped at the tea Onyankopon sent them home with. He sat alone at a table, listening to the 104th crew talk and laugh animatedly a few tables away, bickering and yelling as they finished up their dinner. He hated to admit how relaxed he felt seeing them having fun like that—it reminded him a lot of how he, Hange, Erwin, Mike, and Nanaba used to be with each other years ago. He sighed and stood up with purpose—Hange skipped dinner again. He brought a sandwich with him as he silently slipped out of the mess hall and made his way to the Commander’s office.

He saw the glowing light spilling into the hallway through the slightly cracked-open door, and pushed it—he was met with bright light, both literally and figuratively. He looked at Hange busy writing, not even noticing him walk in and close the door.

He gently slid the sandwich towards her, and she slightly jumped in her seat, startled. “You gotta warn me when you walk in sometimes, yknow??”

“Eat, and meet me outside. The usual spot.”

“I have a lot of work to finish up! I don’t think I can take a break right now—“

Levi placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, his eyes softening as he stared into hers. She returned his gaze, and he didn’t need to say a word for her to understand. She gave in.

“Okay, fine, fine. You’re right. It’s been awhile since I’ve taken a step back, hasn’t it...”

————- Hange stepped out into the clearing behind the barracks, the light of the moon melting over the cover the trees and illuminating the blades of grass beneath her feet. She heard a small scratching noise, and suddenly...music played. She turned the corner and saw Levi sitting on the ground with the record player. She skipped over happily and knelt down next to him. “Isn’t it amazing? You don’t have to wait on the radio for a song you like to play! You can just play the same song you like, over and over again whenever you want.” She stared at the spinning vinyl excitedly, and Levi looked at her, a tiny smile tugging at his lips. After they listened to the one song, Levi picked up the other vinyls—“Hey, so which one of these was the song you sang to us that night, the one that got that whole damn room staring at you?” Hange smiled shyly and felt herself blush. She reached over and pulled the specific record from the pile in Levi’s hands.

Inside the barracks, Jean, Armin, and Sasha walked down the back hallway on the second floor, exhausted. Suddenly, they heard...music? Jean and Armin made eye contact, and ran towards the sound. “Hey, wait up! What’s going on??” Sasha yelled. The two barged into the room where the sound was echoing through the loudest. Mikasa was sitting on her bed, folding her clothes calmly, unphased by the two breaking in. She gave them both a mostly blank stare, but a tiny hint of a questioning lingered in her gaze.

“Hey, rude! Dont just go barging into our room like that!”

“Shut up, Sasha! Listen!” Jean whispered aggressively. The calming sound filled the room through their window facing the clearing among the trees behind the barracks.

“Onyankopon said that sound is one of something called... an electric guitar?” Armin said quietly. The wonderful sound made them oddly want to sway, along with the mellow, waltzing backbeat of the drums underlying this so-called electric guitar.

“Hange-san sung this song to us at our last meeting with the ally Marleyans.”

“She...sang?” Mikasa asked, almost confused at the idea of Hange singing.

“Hold on, listen, listen!” Jean said in a hushed tone. The four of them pressed their faces up against the window, and spotted the Commander and Captain standing together out in the grass below, their figures shrouded by the white glow of the full moon.

“You really like the tea, and the record player. It was genuinely kind of him to share that with us—so why can’t you trust our allies?” Hange asked, an innocently questioning look in her eyes.

“You never know, Hange. It’s good to be a bit skeptical of them for now. But, let’s forget about that.” She felt Levi’s fingers search her skin for the ties of her medal, a symbol of her role as the Commander. He untied it, slipped it off from her neck, and placed it gently into the grass next to the record player.

“Tonight, you’re relieved of your Commander duties. Right now, you’re just Hange.” Hange lost herself in the soft grey sea dancing in his eyes, and fought back tears at Levi’s gesture, his attempt to help her feel like... feel like Hange again. The Commander role often seemed to strip her of the privilege to be simply, and unapologetically, herself.

He took her left hand, interlaced his fingers in hers, and gently placed his other hand behind her right hip. He slowly pulled her close, and she closed her eyes, finally relaxed from her duties, nearly melting in his embrace. She rested her cheek on his shoulder, and he felt even, puffs of breath from her nose on his skin—keeping him warm in the cool night breeze. He swayed her back and forth, and she followed his lead.

“Why do you like this song, anyway?”

“Because... the lyrics make me think of us a bit, Levi.”

His eyes widened at her words, and he wanted to listen closer now—and suddenly he had an idea.

“Can you sing it to me?”

Hange lifted her head abruptly, staring straight into Levi’s face. “So you did like my singing! I was wondering about that—sad I didn’t get to see your reaction.”

He was relieved she didn’t see his face in that moment—he had never felt so vulnerable. Her singing made his knees weak.

“Hmph. It wasn’t bad, four-eyes.”

The four watched the two start dancing, and when the sound of Hange quietly singing reached Sasha and Mikasa’s room, Sasha squealed in excitement. “Hey Armin, wanna dance too?” She gave him a big, goofy grin, and he agreed with a laugh. Jean turned to Mikasa, bowed slightly and reached out his hand, “May I have this dance, m’lady?” She let out a smile at his dumb little gesture, and took his hand.

They all couldn’t help but smile at the sound of their Commander’s voice along with the calming song as they swayed around the room—it was nice to forget about the weight of the world for a little bit.

She sang the whole song softly into Levi’s ear along with the record, singing one part a little louder than the rest:

“Sometimes I wonder why I went knockin' on your door. Then you come knock, knock, knockin' on mine and I remember—I remember how it felt the first few times. Skin-to-skin before you knew how to get under mine. If we get it, get it right... we'll be together for life.”

She buried her face into the crook of his neck, and he felt her lips curve into a smile against his skin.

The two heard Jean, Armin, Sasha, and Mikasa's laughter from the only window with the lights on in the barracks.

“Looks like we aren’t the only ones enjoying the night,” Hange whispered happily.

Levi smiled. “Hey, can you sing the song again for me?”

“Of course. But only if you join me!” She playfully shoved Onyankopon’s lyric sheet into his chest. Levi grumbled in reluctance, but he gave in.

They let the song replay over and over again as they continued to dance and sing to each other, late into the cool, starry night.

[booksandchainmail]

nanoha vivid liveblog: episode 10

and the tournament goes on, with miura and vivio now definitely going to fight. We’ll probably also see Rio vs. Harry at some point, and some combinations of Victoria, Sieglinde, Lutecia, Chantez, Einhart, and Corona

Corona centric episode? Maybe she’ll be fighting einhart (or losing to someone einhart will have to fight)

Oh wow, we’re already pretty far into the tournament

Also, I’ve never seen any bracket design before that doesn’t show the defeated’s names

It’s tricky to balance enjoying fighting and wanting to win with wanting your friends to succeed. It’s one thing to have friendly matches, but losing here does have consequences, if only emotionally.

Oooh. Yeah that’ll be even rougher

I guess we’re saving the other contestants for past the qualifiers? Makes sense so we don’t have to introduce even more characters.

Also the two who lost (Mica and Els) were the two not introduced with everyone else in that montage in episode 7

Nanoha you made literally all of your friends by fighting them

Oh shit OP change 

(this probably happened earlier, I just don’t always pay the most attention during this section)

The closing shot is for the mentors, and now we’re out of the vacation arc and into the tournament that’s shifted to the numbers

Looks like I was wrong about saving all the other introduced characters for past the qualifiers. I’m guessing victoria will win this, based on experience and her having more connections to other fighters

Also I think there are only six groups?Eight groups would work better for tournament structure, but I don’t think we have enough people for that. So six people advancing, and two of those competitions are vivio vs. miura and einhart vs. corona, now victoria vs. chantez and presumably harry vs. rio, which leaves sieglinde and lutecia as the only other introduced characters in this tournament? Though sieglinde might be seeded further up.  

i do like chantez’s generally cockiness

Who the fuck let sein be one of her attendants. Though I can see that they get along

also, going by the original purpose of seconds, I’m picturing a version of the tournament where the coaches fight if the contestants are knocked out

This name is pretentious but not that bad, and it has a historical basis, so i’ll let it slide

~tempting faaaate~

I really like polearms, and this one has a pretty cool design. Looks like it mostly should be used axe-style, not much room for hooking. 

not really, I’m sorry

this is very true

I was not expecting such a realistic analysis instead of just vague assurances. Do you have a plan to make it not fighting like usual?

Huh, we’re skipping the first two rounds

All of the fights we’ve seen before have been over in one round, but it makes sense they won’t all be that quick, especially since both sides are using weapons. This way we get to jump ahead to when they pull out their best techniques.

I can’t tell if this episode is jumping around in time a lot, or if it’s partially a factor of the subtitles using round to refer to both bouts within a match and stages of matches within a group

huh, that’s more careful and strategic than i’d have thought

is she musically themed? or just has that aesthetic

oooooooh

nice! also brutal

and victoria just catches the swords. I’d say this is product of having that armor, but I think everyone in this tournament can do that

i’m a fan of this speed-based bait and switch fighting style. It really fits chantez as a character

OH

Dual swords indeed

No wonder she fought carefully and won only slimly in previous matches, that’s the kind of technique where surprise gives you a huge bonus

is victoria just letting the clock run down to be dramatic

oh wow that really did basically no damage

but she might only need to hit you once, and you can’t count on her never getting lucky 

this is unfortunately blurred, but the polearm fight scene is great

awww, baby delinquent chantez

and yeah, chantez is definitely going to lose, because her arc should be realizing that sister schach cares for her and is proud of her even if she doesn’t win

and there’s the thunder part of “thunder emperor”

Did her polearm transform into a sword?

oh that’s cool, she can pull off the base of her polearm to use as a lightning short sword. That’s a neat way around the range problem.

damn, that’s really impressive. the combination of clones and disguise abilities is formidable, and setting it up in advance like that was a good plan. no wonder victoria couldn’t figure out which clone was the real one

Oops

well fuck. she’s just not taking damage at all

i like how the clones are freaked out in unison, while chantez is still being cheerful

dramatic, but i’ll allow it

is this naruto

how many different attacks does she have?! the dahlgren family has really kept their techniques going.

the electric blue hair is a good touch. i don’t think ive ever seen that particular variant on color changing hair before

Victoria is entirely out of fucks to give

Chantez gives the impression of being a ditz (and I think she plays it up a bit), but she fights smart in a way most of the others don’t. Holding back in earlier matches, setting up a trap long before revealing her clones, using a move called “maximum clones” that doesn’t actually use all of them... she’s good at manipulating expectations

awwww

sein! but fair point i guess

oh gods. she’s tsundere about being a good student

Looks like corona has been working on her general stamina and hand-to-hand. It’s a good idea to make sure einhart can’t take her out instantly if she slips past the golem

Has she been studying with rio?

What the fuck

maybe dont train without telling your coach?

yeah thats what happens! you might be able to design a new technique, but you don’t have the experience or perspective to actually evaluate it

Yeah, but a technique that endangers yourself is not worth using in a competition

This was a whole thing in StrikerS too, and there the stakes were a lot more real

is corona the teana of vivid?

aww

i guess this is a reasonable compromise. she’s gonna go ahead with the new technique anyways, so best to figure out how to minimize its use

oh i want to see einhart vs. sieglinde

corona must expect this though, its a very obvious weakness, and she presumably has a counter

WHAT THE FUCK

GODS

this is actually a great way around the time issue without having to tack on a whole new style

just look at the scale of that. this is going to be an interesting fight

awwwwwww