#anyway there's lots to like about snk!

[joogios]

There’s a lot to be explored in Zeke’s character and backstory both within the context of being a soldier growing up in what seems to be a very racist military dictatorship but also within like—every aspect of his character being a walking checklist of someone who’s been abused/+ dehumsnised; him willing to use his literal spinal fluid (not exactly something Zeke can obtain on his own….) for plans, the entire forced euthanasia plan that he came up with as a teenager , the numerous times he’s seen shirtless when most if not all characters rarely are clearly implying he’s a lot more comfortable with it, the way he was chained in the Paths, him being unable to scream lest he creates monsters. So many things that he’s willing to do feel so invasive, it’s really morbid once you seriously start reading between the lines and it raises up a hullva lot of questions, especially in relation to both Grisha who first and foremost used Zeke as a mole and Tom Ksaver who both had no queries on the forced euthanasia plan and who was the prior holder of the Beast Titan that built up a connection with Zeke for years before Zeke became the Beast Titan via eating Ksaver.

The fact that even long after a decade he’s so dead set on the belief that Grisha abused Eren to the point where he’s willing to kidnap Eren raises questions for me, the fact that he stiffened up when Grisha hugged him in the Paths is Something and the fact that his death is literally him prompting Levi to kill him to cut the connection between Ymir and the Jaeger blood becomes a lot more skeevey once you start putting the whole picture together.

Obviously I don’t believe Isayama intended anything serious by it or we would’ve seen something when Eren and Zeke were going through the man’s memories but irl to me it reads like some seriously fucked up long-term conditioning and childhood abuse.

[gothamcityneedsme]

i can't believe i never posted any of my snk fic. like. i have MULTIPLE NOTEBOOKS of handwritten stuff, and a LOT on my phone but like. i was into snk when i didn't have access to a computer. so almost none of this is typed and so thus also none of it was ever posted.

[momomallowart]

Been working on making some AoT fanart since the finale but I keep getting sidetracked...

but I figured I'd share this WIP bc I've been trying to share more! ʕ⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴥ⁠ꈍ⁠ʔっ✨

[starshower1215]

AOT/SNK Veterans: Academic Headcannons (but Marauders-style/vibes!)

This is from an ongoing idea I had and a post I saw saying that the veterans are just AOT's version of the Marauders Era. It's for that 5% crossover in both fandoms.

Levi Ackerman is the Remus Lupin when it comes to playing pranks on the school. He lived the thug life (ATYD reference), he knows the ins and outs of not getting caught.

Hange Zoë is a bit Sirius Black. She actively searches for ways to prank, unlike Levi, and whenever he has the slightest idea, she is all over it, filling in the details and making the actual plans.

She loves to blow things up in classes and lectures, too. She has a streak for mischief.

Erwin Smith has James Potter's heroic streak, but Remus' study habits. He and Levi always pretend not to be amused by Hange and Mike Zacharias' prank ideas, but they find themselves participating for some unknown reason anyway.

Unfortunately, most Marauders content doesn't go into detail with Peter, because a lot of people hate Peter (young Peter is so innocent, though). Mike is now Peter Pettigrew because he sniffs and Peter is a rat (I just did them so dirty, I'm sorry).

Now I am imagining that instead of houses, the school is just split into the Military Police, the Survey Corps, and the Garrison. I am not sure what that means, though.

All four of them are known for their smarts, because what are the Marauders if not effortlessly [and infuriatingly] intelligent? Erwin is top of the class every time, and is often seen studying and putting the work in. Mike follows soon after, despite being seen as a slacker (nobody ever seems to be able to find him studying). Levi studies like a normal human being and passes with low A's. Hange doesn't really study, but she goes out of her way to apply the knowledge outside of lectures and classes; she may not have the best exam scores, but she knows the material the best (because the school system is broken).

Erwin always looks perfectly put together; necktie done, buttoned up to the throat like a loser (jk), his hair done as it usually is. He is unerringly civil with his peers and underclassmen, and people look up to him as some sort of star student.

Levi is the same in appearance, though with his blazer thrown stylishly over his shoulders instead of worn correctly (he took Hange's). He's seen as very aloof by his peers, but not unkind. Though I imagine he did bully Erwin (not entirely seriously) when they were younger. This amused Erwin to no end. He didn't care then, but now Levi is made fun of for it.

Mike looks fashionably disheveled, but not in the way that makes it look intentional (though, it may be intentional). His tie is a little loose, top few buttons undone, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The whole charade.

Hange looks unfashionably disheveled, but as is insisted upon by my biased mind, he's still really beautiful. He's one of those people who are only ever outside with their hair up; only Levi, Erwin and Mike (their dorm mates, I suppose) have ever seen him with his hair undone. It is oddly intimate, but nice.

Each of Hange's friends carries a spare pair of glasses for her, because she always breaks her own in the strangest of ways.

For their lunch hour, the four of them routinely congregate in the same bathroom because Levi makes them all wash their hands before leaving to actually eat.

Erwin and Hange are study buddies! They like to sit in the library as a pair and Hange will quiz Erwin because he cares about studying. He likes to study with her because she always has interesting things to add on, or she might be elaborating on a piece in the textbook and helping him understand better.

Of course, they do all sit in the library together. Erwin and Hange do their studying, Mike gets bored and bothers Levi, and Levi gets annoyed as he drinks his tea and reads a book.

They stargaze as a group in their dormitory, either at the windows or on the rooftops.

They also get drunk together and stumble home laughing on the weekends or on hot summer nights.

[cosmicjoke]

Alright, so, I wanted to write a little here about the new story from Isayama coming out, and address a few things. Before I get to that though, I want to say how special I think this is. Unlike some of the complaints I'm hearing about regarding the story being about Levi, and it being "unnecessary" because we supposedly already know about Levi's childhood, well, no, we don't. We don't actually know a whole hell of a lot about Levi's childhood. People don't realize that, in the main canon, we never actually get a real look at Levi's childhood Underground except through a handful of panels, all of which aren't from Levi's perspective at all, but from Kenny's. We get no insight whatsoever into Levi's mental or emotional state, into what he's actually thinking or feeling. Again, it's all from Kenny's POV, not Levi's. So how anyone could say that 'we already have Levi's backstory, we don't need more', blah, blah, blah, is beyond me. You're wrong if you think that. We're finally going to get a look at Levi's life growing up and finally get a look at how those events actually shaped him and affected him. We could only engage in extrapolation before, based off what little we did know. Levi's voice here is important to acknowledge and hear, because it's the voice of a child growing up in extreme poverty and violence. Levi was a victim of social indifference and disenfranchisement. He was a victim of persecution and poverty and violence. And we've never, before now, gotten the chance to hear him, or hear what those experiences did to him. We've only gotten to see the end result. So anyone saying 'we don't need' to know more about Levi's childhood, again, you're dead wrong. You might as well say that it's not important or necessary to hear the voice of any child who's suffered the things Levi has simply because you know the basic outline or generalized facts of that child's life. Get the hell outta' here. Yes we do. I can scarcely think of anything more important.

Secondly, for anyone whining about the story being about him and not about one of the other vets, you have to understand, Levi is to the vets trio as Eren is to the EMA trio. He's the focal point. He's more than just a side-character, or a supporting character. Levi is, in many ways, an embodiment of some of the most core themes of SnK. He's representative within the story of some of its most essential messages. He's just as vital to the story as Mikasa, or Armin, or even Eren, in terms of understanding its thematic thrust. He's as much of a main character as Mikasa or Armin, in many ways. So a greater exploration of Levi's childhood, through Levi's perspective, is vital and important, I think, to further understanding the whole of SnK.

Anyway, with that out of the way, like I said, I think this is really special. I think it's amazing that we're getting more background on Levi, when for all intents and purposes, it seemed Isayama was done with SnK. People should be grateful, instead of whining as usual because they didn't get exactly what they wanted. Jesus. If the story had been about anyone else, I wouldn't have complained. But Levi is a special character. There's a reason he's so popular. And it isn't because he's "the strongest" or a bad-ass, or "cool". It's because he's an incredibly deep, layered and complex person, a character that connects with so many people because there's something intrinsically real about him. He is, in many ways, what we all wish we could be. He's a genuine hero. Someone who's suffered immensely, but who, despite that suffering, not because of it, is still a deeply good and kind man. He's someone who didn't let the cruelty of the world ruin him, or corrupt him, despite him personally experiencing more of that cruelty than really any other character in the story. And so Levi is in many ways representative of the story's hope. Of how goodness and kindness can still exist, even in the face of such overwhelming darkness. Even in defiance of that darkness. Levi overcomes in a way no other character in SnK does. He experienced and lived through the worst humanity had to offer and still came out the other side as the best humanity has to offer.

So that's why it's important for this story to be told. Seeing Levi live through the horror of his childhood, but within the context of knowing him to be a genuinely good and kind man, of him being a genuine hero, will drive that theme home. That the world's cruelty and the cruelty of other people doesn't have to end with us ourselves also becoming cruel.

Anyway, I don't care what anyone says. I can't wait. And I know the vast majority of fans can't wait either. If you're disappointed the story isn't about some other character, fine, fair enough, but don't shit on other people's excitement, and don't shit on Isayama because of it. We're lucky to be getting anything extra from him at all. Also, I don't know why anyone would be surprised that the story is about Levi, since Isayama said months and months ago, after he was asked if he had any plans to continue AoT, that he had a story specifically about Levi that he wanted to tell. This isn't out of nowhere, and this isn't just to capitalize on Levi's popularity. This is something Isayama wanted to do.

[scumbagjaeger]

what do you think the AOT guys would major in college?

COLLEGE MAJORS WITH THE SNK MEN

starring: Eren, Jean, Armin, Connie, Porco, Reiner, Levi, Zeke

rating: sfw!

notes: Thanks so much for the ask! I really appreciate your support(: I actually plan on doing a college series with each of the snk men having individual sets of drabbles, so this goes along perfectly with that!

EREN:

- I’m going to say Computer Science SOLEY because my Com Sci friends always seem to hang out on campus?

- Like not even in class, idk why but Eren’s just constantly there??

- Hanging out in the cafe, lounging around the courtyard, bowling in the recreation room, etc. No one’s ever heard him say “I gotta go to class”

- The man acts as if he doesn’t have a class to go to

- Most of his work is actually just completed at night anyway, when he’s not out at parties or with friends he stays up all night doing his homework

- Doesn’t really talk much about his classes but he probably does really well in them actually

- He probably doesn’t have too many Com Sci friends because he’s a bit intimidating in class? Hood up and headphones usually in or around his neck?

- But somehow he’s a social butterfly outside of his major, knows someone from every single one of your classes somehow

- I feel like freshman year he probably went overboard with parties? By the time he’s a junior he probably eases up on them, opting to stay up late doing his classwork last minute

- He might work at the campus tech office helping repair laptops for students! It’s better than working at a coffee shop in his opinion

- Probably plays intramural sports like soccer? Volleyball? Just for fun, probably decent at most group sports

- “Just for fun” but gets mad at his friends when they don’t attend his games “Eren I had an EXAM” “Don’t care, you should have rescheduled”

JEAN:

- My college headcanons for Jean are lowkey inspired by this annoying kid from high school who grew up and became hot? We had a love hate thing for a while😌

- So I’m going to say Poli-Sci just for that? But also I think it would actually fit Jean a lot

- He wants to see change in the world and he won’t have much patience for hypocrisy or overall assholes

- “Oh you don’t like (political candidate)? You think they’re the antithesis of American ideals? Name one of their policies. What does it about?”

- He’s really good at figuring out which of his peers just seem to parrot back things they’ve heard, yk? Like the students who memorize a Ben Shapiro argument but then cannot comprehend or form their own opinion?

- I think he’d be super understanding and accepting of other ideas, and honestly do a really good job of explaining both sides of debates?

- Understands that a lot of people shy away from actually investigating their political ideas and values because it can be intimidating, so he’d love to just talk to you about things and he’d make it really easy to understand

- Honestly I think he’d be a really good college professor someday, I bet he’d consider that as a career path once he saw his classmates turning to him for help

- He would want to be involved with the student political field on campus, councils and boards to advocate for his peers— I’d even imagine his classmates recommend him to join the student council

- But he wouldn’t have time for that(‘: he needs his time away from school sorry

- That’s his excuse to go out with friends a lot and fuck around

- At various parties throughout the week, bars, events, etc etc man’s a bit popular

ARMIN:

- Double major in History and Anthropology!!

- You already know this boys a total braniac

- Takes the most specific but random history courses in hopes of “really developing a broad spectrum of historical context”

- I was a history major and I took a nonhuman/abstract history course? I think Armin would hate a course like that at first, but then it ends up becoming his favorite

- The concept of my course was that studying nonhuman history (like animals or nature) reveals a lot about the people who did the research? And what they were passionate about?

- I did my final research paper on Greenland Sharks and how they live for hundreds of years, and how I’m fascinated by them because I’m fascinated with mortality? And so my paper juxtaposed a race to find the “key to immortality” through Greenland Shark DNA, and the history of death and our conscious awareness of death… I think Armin would eat that shit up

- One of the students who goes into their professor’s office hours just to talk to them about their theses and concepts

- Keeps in touch with his professors after he graduates too!

- Volunteers at the Student Writing Centers to help other undergrads with their papers, just reads through them and gives them some feedback

- Also takes a few creative writing courses!! Might have a poem or short story published in the student-run literary journal! He frames his copies on the wall(:

- As far as off campus activities he probably is active in lot of clubs or groups! Especially things like DnD! He is the Dungeon Master for his campaign

- But also involved in student orgs and clubs, loves checking out the activities board and exploring what the campus events are’

CONNIE:

- Business Major

- So sorry to all of my business major friends and anyone following me who’s a business major

- But at my school it was a joke? The major for people who didn’t know what they wanted to do?

- One of my friends had to decorate a Monopoly board for their final

- He’d probably pay Armin to write his papers? Or try to at least

- Honestly I bet he’d take the most random electives though? I don’t know how many Business majors need but his are so diverse and he’s super engaged in all of them

- Might take a Ping Pong course as a joke (my school offered one) but then takes Atmospheric Science? Imperial Russian History? Yoga? Latin??

- He claims it’s so that he can be a one-man-team in trivia nights and smoke everyone else

- But honestly I think he’d just have a lot of fun learning all of the random stuff!

- Habitually five minutes late to every class, but I think his professors would really like him otherwise?

- He’s extremely active and involved in class discussion, even if he’s just cracking a joke or giving an opinion

- If he’s not in a frat himself, he’s probably super close to all of the frats in town and gets invited out a lot!!

PORCO:

- Architecture Major

- Have you ever seen those “Architecture Majors be like: I have a whole building due on Friday 💀”

- He’d get so offended by those omg?? “That’s literally not true” or “Ha ha it’s funny when you say that but I actually have a model building I need to make”

- But the mode is made out of foam board and toothpicks or something bro chill

- Probably has glue on his fingers like 24/7? Hates building models with a passion. Especially with their super quick curing glue?

- Might actually make Armin help out with his models since Armin paints DnD and Warhammer models??

- I think Porco would prefer the design aspects of architecture and not the hands on part as much

- Is on the school’s soccer team! So he is usually at practice after school

- Probably hogs a squat rack or a bench at the campus gym, sorry not sorry

- I mentioned this in my college Porco headcanon set but I think he’d also go on runs daily around campus in the morning

- Probably one of those guys who brings around a gallon jug of water or a protein bottle

- You can tell Porco is nearby when you hear the protein bottle shake shake shake shake shake (yk with that little metal ball in it)

REINER:

- Okay I struggled with this one but I think he’d start off as a anatomy/physical science major? But then might switch off and go into education 😭

- I just think he’d be a great elementary teacher okay

- At first he’d want to go in to become a Physical Therapist?? So he’s super knowledgeable on anatomy and physical training

- Also on the soccer team, maybe the captain even! He leads warm ups and he’s super observant when it comes to his teammates and their physical capabilities (makes them personal workout routines and Bert is the only one who follows it precisely)

- I think halfway through his sophomore year he realizes that being a physical therapist isn’t what he wants to do? It’s work he’s good at, but does he like it?

- So he switches to be an education major!

- Honestly I could see him becoming a gym teacher or a general primary teacher!!

- He’d be really honored with the opportunity to make a difference in kids lives

- I know that teachers are horrendously underpaid (I’m studying to teach myself), but also shuts people down when they make tease him about that because he’s so proud that he’ll be aiding in the education and support of children!! He’s not in it for the money!

- Works at the gym, basically lives at the gym

- I think he would also be super passionate about activities on campus and school pride?? He and Armin are at every event hahah, his closet is full of different free r shirts he’s picked up

- Not necessarily popular by any means, but his classmates ADORE HIM! He’s super kind, the kind of classmate who will raise his hand and ask the teacher to repeat something or explain it further, even if he knows the content but if he knows a peer struggles with it?

LEVI:

- Literature major, maybe a philosophy minor??

- Similar to Zeke, I always imagine him as a grad student or TA

- One of the snarky, no nonsense students who will shut down his peers if he doesn’t agree with them

- Open to debate his ideas, but no one seems to want to 💀 he’s just a bit intense

- Probably one of those people who gets mad when his essay gets a B+ “I don’t think the Professor was able to comprehend my views, if he did he would have given me an A”

- As a Graduate Student he may teach a class to the undergrads and he’s super engaged with the content, and will just talk and analyze the stories for the class if they don’t participate??

- But he will not tolerate missing assignments

- As a philosophy minor he probably appreciates a lot of the history and context behind the philosophy

- Also probably laughs a bit at the pompous nature of most of his peers? Their whole “nobody understands life like I do” thing?

- Might secretly fuck with his peers by saying the most absurd and ridiculous things in a deadpan way to get them to agree with him “Dwelling on death is like thinking you need to shit soon, but not knowing when you need to go.” And then he waits and stares at them. “Yes, Levi, I agree completely”

- I think he’d be a columnist, or studying to be one? Journalism might have been a better route for him but I think he’d appreciate his courses on classical literature too much to not take them

- Might even take a creative writing course or two? Stays up all night in his apartment, under a poster that has the Ernest Hemingway quote: “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed”

ZEKE:

- Biochemistry loser nerd science man

- I always imagine him as a med student?? So if he’s not in biochem he’s already in med school, a couple years older than you!

- Probably wants to go into neurology or oncology, something intense!!

- I also think he would have taken a lot of history courses as an undergrad though? Enough that his advisor suggests he just gets a history minor

- I don’t know how this man has the time but he’s probably a research assistant for the chem labs or a TA for some of the history courses he liked taking

- He’d probably be a little pretentious about it, saying that TA-ing his history courses are the most relaxing part of his day

- Like shut up we get it you’re a nerd

- But honestly the biochem courses are extremely hard?? Especially if he’s a lab tech or RA!

- He’s probably one of those students who believes that through enough pressure he’ll become the perfect student so he does not take care of himself (🙋🏻‍♀️ I’m that student)

- So any free time he has he dedicates entirely to school or other resume filling activities that he can on campus

- I love the HC of him coaching little league baseball though? That’s probably the one time that he’s just a regular guy lol

- Makes sure his Tuesday and Thursdays are light on course load so that he can take the train to his hometown and coach the kiddos, might hit a bar with his biochem friends on Thursday nights afterwards

Thanks so much for the ask!! This was honestly one of the more challenging requests to do but one of my favorites?? Since I’m trying to come up with a little college series for each individual character, this definitely gave me some inspiration, you’ll likely see more come from this, so I hope you enjoyed(:

[starstruckkittensweets]

“Letters to My Love” | Hanji x Reader

Fandom: Attack on Titan  Pairing: Hanji x Reader  Words: 4k 

A/N: This is a self-indulgent, completely unfiltered, messy little fic that deals with my love for Hanji. Ever since I started reading AoT back in 2015, I’ve had a soft spot for Hanji. My little ray of sunshine, one of my first comfort characters, the one character I could actually see myself becoming friends with in real life. Seeing her death finally animated (beautifully) brought a lot of feelings forward. She was brave and gorgeous and kind and absolutely amazing. It actually feels like I’m saying farewell to a close friend of mine. And so this messy fic was born, mostly unedited but with a lot of my personal feelings channeled into the reader’s POV. You can read this as either a platonic or romantic relationship, whatever floats your boat. I hope you enjoy the fic! 

Warnings: lots of angst, major character death, implied reader death, some blood and violence, struggling to cope with grief, post-war/post-snk 139 world, Hanji is referred to as female with she/her pronouns 

THIS FIC CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR AOT S4 PART 3 (AND THE UPCOMING PART 4) AND SNK 139! PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE NOT ALL CAUGHT UP, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! 

It’s all so stupid. A stupid idea, a stupid reason behind it, a stupid man telling you about it in the first place. Why even bother with this in the first place? It’s not like it’ll help you in the long run.

But Falco’s still staring up at you with those big eyes, the slightest quiver of his lip, arms stretched out towards your own.

“Please?” His voice is unnaturally soft; it might be the lighting, but you can almost see a tear in those huge eyes. “At least try it, won’t you? I promise, you’ll feel better. Just like Dad says.”

You don’t have the heart to tell the kid his father’s full of shit, just like everyone else in this horrible world. Nothing’s left for you to enjoy, nothing you can cling to during the tough times. Those days are gone, the memories of bliss vanishing with every passing day.

But he looks so sad, so fucking hopeful, as though he still believes you can do it. You can lift this crushing weight off your chest with just a pen, some paper, and a few words every day.

“…Fine.” He practically shoves the dusty old notebook into your chest with a smile. “I’ll give it a shot.”

You’ll try, but you already know it’s a waste of time.

I’m not good at this. Writing’s never been my strong suit—not when it comes to other people. But you already know knew that, didn’t you?

Mr. Grice gave me the idea. Says writing everything down is a lot better than saying it out loud sometimes. Falco said the same thing; he still writes to his brother every other week. 

I don’t understand why. It’s not like I’ll ever send them, they’re just gonna sit in my desk collecting dust. But I told Falco I’d try for him. He’s a sweet kid, I can see why you like liked him. Sorry, it’s a habit. 

I don’t know what else to say. I guess I’ll try again tomorrow.

It’s me again. Onyankopon came to visit again. He checks up on me at least once every week. Same day, same time. It’s like he doesn’t trust me. Maybe he’s just looking out for me. That’s what Levi says.

Things are slowly going back to normal. He says it’s been almost five months since you left the battle. It’ll be spring soon. This winter hasn’t been too bad though. I miss the snow a little bit. Maybe one day we can go further north to see some next year. I know Gabi and Falco would enjoy it.

I can’t think of anything else to write down. I’m sure I’ll be back soon though.

Mundane topics. What you ate today. Who you saw at the market. The stories Gabi and Falco would make up whenever they were bored.

It’s all so stupid, but you write it down anyway. Stuff she’d like, stuff she wouldn’t like. Not her name, never her name. You can’t bear to say it out loud, not even spell out the letters without bursting into a fit of sobs. What’s the point, anyway? Not like she’s here to answer her own name anymore.

Still, you keep writing. Every day, at least something goes down in that little brown notebook. You’re the only one who reads it. Mr. Grice refuses to, says it’s for your eyes only. Falco sometimes shares what he’s written to his brother, but only when the two of you are alone. He has a little brown book of his own, same shape and size too. Always keeps it in the first drawer of his nightstand, same place you keep yours.

The days crawl by. Every breath hurts less and less. Slowly but surely, you wonder if you’re actually getting better.

I thought of you today. The kids wanted to stop in a bookstore during our shopping trip so I let them. They can be so eager and hyper when they want to be. (Why can’t they be like that when it comes to their chores?)

They both went for the bookshelf in the far corner. Books about the world; about weapons, inventions, plants, animals, experiments, I couldn’t keep track of how many there were. And the kids just sat there for hours, leafing through book after book. I ended up leaving just to drop off the groceries at home before heading back to pick them up. And when I got there they were still poring over those dusty, wrinkled pages.

You would like the bookstore. It’s on the smaller side but it doesn’t feel crowded. It’s got a few benches for people to sit and read for a bit, and there’s a café right next door too. But when I told Levi about it he got a little snippy; I think he’s jealous, his tea shop will always be superior.

He’s doing okay, I know you’re probably worried about him. His leg still gives him trouble but he’s getting better every day. He gave me a job after the shop opened a few weeks ago. Right now I’m just cleaning off tables and fixing up pastries in the back. Gabi handles inventory with Levi (she’s actually pretty good at it) and Falco takes care of the customers up front. He has the best attitude out of all of us, I think. The job is a bit boring sometimes but it beats killing Titans, using ODM gear, being a soldier

Never mind. I’ll write more later, I have to go for now. I’ll be back.

It’s really warm today. I keep thinking about that summer we spent in Krolva, in 848. You kept hunting for strange plants and flowers in the forest and had me and Moblit chasing after you all day! But you didn’t stop, not even when Levi threatened to knock you out and haul you back to base.

Sometimes I can still see Erwin’s smile, hear Mike and Nanaba’s laughter, feel the light summer breeze against my face.

I can still remember the way you said my name. I miss hearing the sound of your voice.

For the first time in a long while, you wake up with a smile on your face.

Your cheeks are stained with tears, still. You haven’t gone to sleep silently once in the past six months or so. Always stuffing your face into the pillow, muffling your sobs, praying neither Levi nor the kids hear you being so pathetic.

Your head is pounding, throat tight but chest feeling lighter than ever. You have to write it down, you don’t wanna forget, don’t forget—

The notebook is resting on your dresser. Your hands still shake when you reach for it, almost clatters to the floor when you try to pick it up. The pen leaps from your trembling fingers. The first words you write are barely legible, but you don’t stop writing for anything.

I had a dream about you last night. I can’t remember everything but I know you were in it and you were still alive smiling.

Still had both eyes, silly girl.

None of our comrades were there; no Levi, Moblit, or Mike. Just me and you, sitting on the rooftop of the old Survey Corps base, watching the stars twinkle above us. Your arm was so warm against my shoulders. Your messy hair tickling my cheek. You were laughing about something, I can’t remember what. But you looked so happy, so carefree and joyful. You haven’t looked that relaxed in years.

You whispered something in my ear, and my throat exploded with laughter. You held me close, lips brushing my cheek, eyes shining in the glowing moonlight.

You were happy, so I was happy.

But then I woke up, you were gone, and I was cold again.

Summer’s almost halfway over. The tea shop has been busier, Levi seems to enjoy the success. He’s still not very sociable but he’s learning to be more pleasant with the customers. They’ll keep coming back if he’s not rude to them all the time.

The town is expanding. Onyankopon thinks one of the nearby cities will start offering jobs, either railroad work or seamstress positions. A lot of factory jobs will start coming back too, and they’ll pay well. He says I could apply, just to keep my hands busy. Says it’s good to get out of the country once in a while.

Still undecided, I’d be going alone. Levi refuses, he hates the idea of city living, and he has the tea shop to worry about. The kids would stay with them; Gabi doesn’t like the smell of smoke, and Falco wouldn’t go anywhere without her. I can go, I don’t have anything tying me down.

What do you think I should do?

Four weeks left. It’s getting harder and harder to keep writing. I thought it would get easier, like Falco said. But I still feel that horrible pit deep in my chest. A weight that’s making it harder to breathe every day.

I don’t know what to do. I’m a burden. I can’t do anything on my own anymore. It’s always Levi or Onyankopon who’s there to hold my hand. Always Gabi and Falco to bring me back, remind me I have to keep living, to keep my head out of the clouds. But sometimes I wish I could run away. Leave it all behind. Maybe that city idea doesn’t seem so bad.

I wish you were here with me.

August 22nd. Two weeks to go.

Levi’s been quieter nowadays. Onyankopon isn’t as eager when he’s talking about the recovering towns and cities. Even the kids are more solemn than usual.

Still hoping this is all a bad dream. That I’ll wake up and you’ll be at my side, smiling and laughing like you do. Not a single care in the world.

The calendar is torn to shreds, left on the kitchen table for everyone to see. Gabi is utterly silent, a far cry from her usual loudmouthed self. Falco is quick to pull her aside as you storm past them, down the hall and into your room, slamming the door with a thud.

Burying your face in your hands. Chest wracked with sobs. Throat burning as her name rips itself from your mouth.

Hanji.

Stop it.

Your back hits the wall, knees buckling beneath your weight. Nails tear at the roots of your hair, scraping down your cheeks, eyes growing warm even though you keep them shut.

Hanji.

Another scream, you throw yourself against the wall. Your shoulder collides with the bookcase, but the pain doesn’t help. Nothing helps you anymore, not even writing in that shitty little book—

Someone’s calling your name on the other side of the door. Tiny fists pound on the wood; the knob twists and turns in vain. You made sure to lock it after coming in here.

Stop it. Can’t they see you want to be left alone?

Alone. You’re all alone now. You have no one left.

No parents, no children, no comrades…

And no other half.

Hanji.

“Stop it!” But you can still hear her name, swirling around in your head, a chorus of a thousand voices.

Hanji, Hanji, Hanji.

“Leave me alone!”

Something shatters against the wall. Your palm stings with something fierce, a shadow of red seeping from the skin.

The book, the book, where is it? Where did you put it?

There it is—right on your bed where you left it last. You’re scrambling over broken glass to grab at it, bloody fingers clutching the pen stuck between the pages. The tears are hot against your cheeks. Hurt like nothing else, not even the pain in your chest.

And they just keep on coming as you keep on writing.

Why did you leave me? Why did you have to go? Why did you have to kill kill yourself like that?

We could’ve handled it. Without your help. Maybe if you’d let us you’d still be alive with me. If you’d just trusted me—why didn’t you trust me? I trusted you, why didn’t you return the favor?

It’s your fault I’m like this now. I was fine before but then you fucked it all up.

Did you think you were some kind of hero? You’re not. Going out in a blaze of glory? Selfish asshole.

You’re not. You never were. You left me and now I’m alone and I hate

I hate you.

I hate you I hate you I hate you didn’t have to leave me but you did and now I hate you I can’t believe I love loved you how could I ever love someone so selfish fuck you so selfish

I HATE YOU

YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO DIE WHY AREN’T YOU HERE WITH ME ANYMORE WHAT DID I DO TO MAKE YOU LEAVE TO MAKE YOU GO WHY WHY WHY

I STILL HATE YOU

Levi finds you hours later. Sitting on the floor at the foot of your bed, hands trembling against your knees. The book is lying halfway across the room. Must’ve thrown it earlier.

He heaves a sigh, dragging his hand across his scarred face. And despite the ache in his leg he still kneels down to your level, taking a seat beside you against the bed. Wrapping up your hands in one of the spare shirts you tore from the dresser just minutes before.

“Brats were worried,” he finally says, and he sounds so fucking tired. There’s an inkling of guilt blooming in your chest. Such a burden to him, as always. “Said you’d run off and started crying.”

“…So?”

He rolls his eyes, focusing on your bloodied hands. They’re dry now, and he makes a sound of disgust in the back of his throat.

Eventually he pulls you on your feet, leads you to the washroom and runs your hands under the warm water. He wraps up your hands in some clean bandages; over his shoulder you can see two sets of eyes staring at you from down the hall. One brown, one hazel.

“Quit beating yourself up like this. That’s not what she died for, brat. And don’t ask me,” he snaps when I open my mouth, “what she died for. Because you and I both know the answer to that. …So don’t make me say it.”

You’re still blubbering like a child, fat tears rolling down your cheeks, splashing onto the clean bandages around your hands. Levi sighs again before pulling you in close, one arm looped around your shoulders. His chest is warm, heart strong against your palm.

But it’s nothing compared to hers—and the thought makes you cry even harder.

“I get it.” His lips are warm against your forehead, hand cupping around the back of your head. “I miss her, too.”

You’re not sure when he makes you leave the washroom. But once he does he brings you down to the kitchen, giving Gabi and Falco each a pat on their heads. You give them a smile, tears still fresh in your eyes, before gathering the torn pieces of the calendar in your bruised hands.

Maybe you can fix this. It’s the fifth of September, after all. Not a day you want to forget just yet.

I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it, I swear on my life. I wanna rip those pages out but I’ll lose the other letters and I don’t want to lose them like I lost you.

I don’t hate you. You’re not selfish, you never were. I know you did the best you could as Commander of the Survey Corps, with the incredible weight on your shoulders. Your main priority was always keeping us safe and giving us hope.

I know why you left that day. But I wish you hadn’t left me behind. I could’ve gone with you, helped you out that day. We could still be together dead or alive.

I love you. I wish I could’ve said it when you were still alive with me. I wish I could say it to your face instead of writing it down in a dusty old notebook.

I love you. I miss you. I wish I could see your smile one last time. Hear your voice again. See the beautiful shine in your eyes.

Because I love you, and I always have. Maybe someday I’ll see you again and tell you face-to-face. Maybe by then I won’t be such a coward.

Hope you enjoy your birthday up there.

Every day brings something new. Smells, tastes, sounds, even the wind outside is different every day. People passing each other hour after hour, car horns filling your ears, the sting of smoke deep in your lungs; it’s easy to get lost in the atmosphere.

You take it in stride. Onyankopon is standing there, holding out his hand, ready to guide you deeper into the city. He’s offered to carry your suitcase but you insisted you do it yourself; too many memories are stuffed in between the clothes inside.

You suck in a breath and take his hand. A little awkward, with a suitcase in your other hand, and the old tattered notebook resting in the crook of your elbow. But the damn thing has already wormed its way into your heart, no way are you leaving it behind now.

A tight swallow, a soft smile from Onyankopon, as you let him lead you towards the next chapter of your life.

City life isn’t as hard as I thought it would be. It’s busy and crowded but it keeps me looking forward. No time to dwell on the past here. Maybe that’s why Onyankopon was so adamant about me living here.

There’s a bookstore here, much larger than the one back home where Levi and the kids live. It pays well, the owner’s nice, and she lets me borrow some of her own books from her personal collection from time to time.

She wears glasses too—not as cute as yours, though.

I try to visit Levi and the kids every other weekend. Gabi and Falco come to visit once in a while but Levi always stays behind. Blames it on the bad leg but we both know the truth. Too many bad memories of Mitras has made him wary of crowded cities.

But I like it. I have my own apartment, right next door to Onyankopon’s, with a balcony and a slew of potted plants. Onyankopon says some people like to name their plants just for the fun of it. The two sitting on the windowsill are Sawney and Bean. (You’re welcome, silly girl.)

It’s hard work but I’m getting better. I don’t dread writing in this book anymore. I can think of your smile without bursting into tears. For now I’m content to sit back and enjoy city life, until whatever god watching over us decides my time is up.

I promise to write soon; have to head to work now. I’ll be back.

It’s been a year since you left me. I still want to see you again.

Onyankopon and I are heading into town for a few days to visit Levi. He says he doesn’t need help around the shop but he never complains whenever I show up at his door. Sometimes I wonder if he feels obligated to put up with me. If he thinks you’ll haunt him forever if he turns me away. That sounds like something you would do, silly girl.

I had another dream about you last night. Right after the celebration for Shiganshina, the night before the expedition to reclaim Wall Maria. We were laughing and drinking and sharing old stories—but we weren’t alone. Erwin and Levi were there. So was Moblit, and by some miracle, so were Mike and Nanaba.

I hope we’ll all be together again soon. I hope they’re all watching us, waiting to see what we’ll do with this new world we’ve forged for ourselves.

I know you are. You’re always watching, aren’t you?

I have to go now, or Onyankopon will head out without me. I’ll let you know how Levi and the kids are when I come home.

Miss you more every day. I hope I’ll get to see you again soon. Until then, I’ll just have to keep writing these silly little letters. I think you’d like them anyways.

See you later, Hanji.

It’s bright when you open your eyes. Too bright, a soft breeze kissing your cheeks, nose scrunching up as you shield your face with your hands. Funny, you don’t remember leaving the window open when you fell asleep. Or sleeping outside, for that matter.

You’re lying in the grass, a bed of wildflowers sprawled beneath you. There’s a forest at the edge of the valley, close enough for you to see the shadows of animals spilling across the trees. The sun is warm on your skin, so bright and beautiful, not a single cloud in the sky.

Almost too good to be true.

Is this it? Have you finally reached the end of your line? All those days with Levi, Onyankopon, and the kids, moving from town to city for work, seeing what little of the new world you could for both you and your other half…

Has your time finally run out?

“Hey, over here!”

Your blood freezes in your veins. A shadow crosses yours in the warm sunlight. A heavy cape blows in the wind, a dark green to match the forest beyond the meadow.

A pair of wings splashed against the fabric. Messy brown hair tied up haphazardly. Shiny glasses reflecting in the sun. Warm brown eyes that remind you of home.

“I was wondering when you’d get here. It’s been kinda lonely, I have to say…”

Hanji Zoe is standing right there in front of you, looking as radiant as ever. No scars or bruises to be seen, nor the black patch over her left eye. No burns or charred fabric on her body.

She looks…happy. Safe, content.

Alive.

“…Dumbass,” you finally find your voice, rushing into her outstretched arms. “You had me worried sick! Are you hurt? Can I do anything for you? I swear, I won’t let you go anywhere alone ever again! I’ll be right there by your side for as long as you—”

“Hey, hey, hey, come on now! You’re gonna make me blush with all that sweet talk!”

But you can’t stop yourself. And before you know it you’re sobbing into her chest, arms wrapped tight around her wrist, feeling the soft b-bmp of her heart against your ear.

“Love you, you know that? I love you, so please don’t leave me again…”

You’ll say it over and over, as many times as she wants to hear it. But for right now she’s silent, her arms resting around your waist and shoulders, tugging you in for a bone-crushing hug. Her messy hair is tickling your nose again, her smile could rival the sun in the sky. She shakes her head and lets out a laugh, before pressing a warm kiss to the apple of your cheek.

“I won’t ever leave you again, alright? I’m sorry about that, I never meant to hurt you. I didn’t mean to leave you like that…”

You hold her tighter, knocking her down into the wildflowers below. She lets out a real laugh this time, hair sticking out like a halo above her head, palms against your cheeks. For the first time in months—no, years—your chest feels whole again.

“I know you didn’t. It’s okay, I promise, it’s okay…”

A comforting silence washes over the two of you. It’s so warm right here, in this little meadow of your own, surrounded by a thousand wildflowers. She’s finally safe in your arms, after all these years, and you are never letting her go ever again.

“…I love you, Hanji.”

“I know,” she answers with a smile that makes your heart soar, “and I love you too.”

[lostcauses-noregrets]

Hii Lost! I just want to thank you for everything you have done and are still doing for the eruri community. Every time I get discouraged from a bad experience with the fans, it's you, your posts, and your fics that keep me going (Momtaku, too. I miss her :( ) . Now, I have a question. Is aot tactics game canon? Are we to take anything mentioned there as an addition to canon?

This is so weird. I can see this ask on the tumblr app, but it isn't in my inbox on desktop. I usually only answer asks on desktop so I wonder how many others I've missed that only show up in the app??

Anyway, I'm glad I caught this ask because I wanted to say thank you for your kind words, which I'll also pass on to @momtaku ♡

In answer to your question I'd say that this is definitely a case of YMMV. Everyone has a different opinion of what constitutes canon. I tend to see canon as a sliding scale that goes something like this: SnK manga, official guide books & interviews with Isayama, anime & OVAs, Smartpass content, other officially sanctioned content including Tactics and other games.

I know there are fans who regard the manga as the only canon content but I think it's important not to disregard the Answers Guidebook and Character Guides. They were written by Isyama with good reason and the date of their publication was not coincidental. The Answers Guidebook was published the same week as chapter 84 and provided a wealth of detail about Erwin and Levi's relationship, among other things.

The Smartpass content tends to get overlooked these days, but it's really worth delving into as it includes lots of really lovely stories and "interviews" that give real depth to the characters. You can find Smartpass translations on @yusenki's blog (X), @momtaku's (X) and @tsuki-no-ura's (X).

Tactics content is harder to come by but I've just discovered that some fabulous nerds have posted *everything* on reddit. Bless them. The "Attack on Titan: Tactics" Complete Archive.

[ryuichirou]

Hello!! I'm too shy to send you this out of anon, but I wanted to let you know how much I admire you. I'm a TWST artist myself, and I like certain problematic tropes and pairings. I also want to draw nsfw of my favorite ships, but I'm too afraid of doing it. The anti movement in fandoms is too overwhelming and I'm scared of people going after me. I don't mind kids yelling at me for drawing teens doing what most teens do nowadays (like sex) but everything has escalated so far that people are willing to doxx you and ruin your life over what you ship or draw, and that's what I'm scared of. I know that you probably get nasty messages and people bothering you, but seeing you and Katsu continue creating regardless of what people might say gives me encouragement to post whatever I want. And you seem to be a sunshine of a person, not to mention that your art is amazing. I wish I could post daily as you but sometimes I'm a little bit lazy and I yet need more confidence even if I've been drawing since I was a teen. Anyways, sorry if this got longer, but thank you for contributing amazing art to the TWST fandom. (I'm also into Hetalia and SnK!!! Seeing that you like DenNor made my day haha)

Sending you and Katsu my best regards!

First of all, thank you so much for your support and for your kindness, Anon. And thank you for messaging us at all about this topic, even if anonymously. I think this is a very important thing to talk about, and your message honestly made us kind of emotional. It was a bad idea to read it before going to bed lol

Just like you said, the anti movement is honestly psychotic. I feel like a lot of people who participate in it simply don’t realise the weight of their actions and words, which make sense, because the majority of them are very young; and the ones that are adults are usually quite deranged and dangerous. It’s not rare for their actions to lead to horrible consequences, but I guess this is nothing new. It used to be overbearing conservative parents, now it’s some kids with too much free time. That being said, these days we see more and more people who ignore, criticize or ridicule the antis for their hypocrisy, and this is very nice to see.

We really do get quite a lot of hate, but honestly, we used to get even more stupid comments, even though we haven’t been hated with such passion before. But still, the support we’re getting now is also much more impactful and vocal than what we used to get. There also are people who aren’t even into our ships, but would defend us just because of what this whole thing represents: their own right to do whatever they want when it comes to fiction.

Our personal thing is that we’re just way too spoiled and self-indulgent with stuff that we like. Even if it meant that we’d never get hate, we would be miserable if we had to restrict ourselves for the sake of others; and I know that because we tried. So the worst thing that could happen is that we’ll stop posting, but we’ll still continue creating, because it gives us too much joy to give it up just because someone has no friends at school and wants to impress other antis with their sick (moronic) post when they completely miss the point of our content and ignore our 18+ warnings.

So yeah, I hope you’ll remember what you love about drawing and keep doing whatever you want, even if you don’t post it. But I also think that, if you’re comfortable at any point, you should also post it. You can create an account with no link to your regular acc and your personal info whatsoever and post whatever you want there. You could still get hate, but at least it will be safer and without any high stakes, although I understand you might feel fear because people could recognise your artstyle and connect the dots.

Also preventive bans work wonderfully. If we stumble upon a post that has certain aggressive messages (you know the ones), we simply block everyone who interacted with that post. It takes time, but it’s worth it, I think. Hell, people use “call-out” (because there is nothing to call out, we’ve stated everything plainly ourselves) posts with us to block people.

Also also, ironically, ignoring the hate also kind of helps… I know it’s easy to say, and it’s not a 100% guarantee, but we just think that people are more prone to attacking you if you react to hate in any way. So the best thing is literally to just block and delete it. Oh, and always report it if it gets aggressive – this could do nothing, but it could also bitchslap them out of nowhere lol

Anyways… I am very grateful and glad if we could give you any type of reassurance and comfort with our posts. I hope to see your stuff one day, and I hope there’ll be more people who post whatever they want, so fandoms can become healthier again.

And I’m very happy you like Hetalia and SnK too, especially DenNor! <3

Thank you again from both of us, and I hope you’re having a good day.

[sangpires]

i've been following you for a very very long time (the snk askblog days !) and your art still blows me away every time. i just love your colors and painterly style. do you have some art tips, tutorials, brush recommendations etc ? i really want to improve my digital painting skills and i'm curious about your process

Oh no! Not the ask blogs..... but thank you so much for your continued support of my work 🥺♥

I think the most important things I always keep in mind is colour theory though I can't say im always successful each time I do it 😂 Honestly when I see guides it all never makes sense to me?? What do they want me to do even!!

These guys explain things pretty well though and much more professional than me:

Emel's Colour theory notes Gigi's colour/lighting notes And also this image right here

Honestly main things are

limit your palette - use a colour fill set to low opacity overlay or 10% opacity normal for the mood you want for the piece, your character might be wildly coloured but this brings it together

split/complementary palettes are great, saturate one side, desaturate the other for contrast (looks teal but its actually a grey if you swatch it )

don't you dare use white grey or black to shade! dont you dare!!!!

add a slightly more saturated colour in the middle of your shading gradient for some pop

personal taste but i like to dab some colour elsewhere where it might not belong 🤷‍♀️

my personal pet peeve is that i dont actually like swatching from character sheets im sorry the cat is out of the bag whats the fun if you cant play around with lighting and mood

most important skill is to not be scared to try things that are hard that you think wont work out!! trust in the process!! itll look like ass the whole way through!! use colour balance at the end if you need to!!

also colour theory relies on the ryb wheel rather than rgb which really messes with you in digital settings... thats something i still need to memorise more... awful

Also tosses this out here too: Jing's brushes are my current go to since I work more in procreate now

Anyways half the time I dont even listen to myself and forget the stuff i should be doing and i have to go back and ref my own art style so who knows!!! take this all with a lot of salt

[bluemallow-log]

✍️ fic authors self rec!

When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to other writers you know. Let's spread some self-love! 💛

Omg!! Hi hi hi! Thank you for the ask (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)

Ok so here goes my favourite five fics that I’ve written (in no particular order):

1. Celestial Bodies (Series)

This series consisted of two fics titles: UPRIGHT MOON and REVERSED STAR but I’m going to count them together. I really love writing this fic because it gave me the opportunity to: (1) explore Yachi’s character as an adult; (2) explore Tsukki’s character as an adult; and (3) show the readers about why I think the relationship between Tsukki and Yachi would work very well if they got together.

The Tsukiyachi fandom is very small (especially when compared to other ships in Haikyuu) but that did not deter me from writing almost 60k words of fic for them. As a matter of fact, my love for them grew tenfold after I finished writing this fic ❤️✨

2. Of War and Theatrical Play

This fic was originally inspired by the SNK S4 soundtrack (Memory Lane). Somehow when I listened to that soundtrack, I thought of a scenario about: “what if Levi and Hange met during a war?”

Then, as someone who loves learning about history, I decided to set the stage during WW2. Then as I did my research, I found that people actually refer to the war arena as “theatre”. It was such an interesting term, and so I kinda made it the main theme of this fic.

It took me quite a long time to finish the fic but afterwards, it felt so great! I really love how the story turned out in the end. I feel so proud of myself because I really pushed myself out of my comfort zone in order to write this 🫶🏼

3. Bunny Slippers

This is my first-ever tsukiyachi fic. I wasn't sure anyone would read it but I wrote it anyway because I simply love writing their dynamics 🥰

I really enjoyed putting a lot of subtle romantic elements in the story. I think the idea behind this fic is how your space will slowly be influenced by your partner as your relationship progresses.

I had a lot of fun writing this (:

Also, without this fic, the Celestial Bodies series would not exist

4. Tales from the Ackerman Estate

This fic literally raised me as a writer. I learned a lot of things from writing this fic

I never would’ve thought I would write a long-ass fic but here I am. 200k words and still counting 😳

At first I thought no one would read it because afaik not many people enjoy historical genre. But clearly I was wrong. I’m so glad people seem to like this fic 💕

I really love working on this fic because I feel I have this place where I can share my passion for history and for psychoanalyzing these characters 😆❤️

5. Don’t You?

If I can offer you some advice, please do not read this fic‼️ I had only my phone notes app and my love for levihan when I published this fic HAHAHA

This fic was not beta-read AND IT WAS NOT PROOF-READ. I’m PRETTY sure this fic was written with bad grammar and poor spelling (I don’t even want to read this fic to check because I’m too embarrassed).

But still, I have a special place in my heart for this fic because this is legit THE first fic that I’ve ever published.

Despite how hard I cringe at the writing, I do recall the happiness and joy that I felt when I wrote this fic. I can still remember the thrill and the nerve when I decided to publish it. I also remember the excitement that I felt when I received my first-ever comment. That’s precisely why I’ll never delete or edit it.

It’s my time capsule. I look at this fic as a proof that I am brave and as a sign that I have come a long way. I keep them with love as it is the one that started my journey, and I’m very grateful that it exist 🥰

[micia-posts-stuff]

Hey! It's been ages since we've talked! Just came back to the fandom couple months ago, after years on hiatus. Anyway, I got this ask and I remembered you <3 "Firstly, when you get this, you have to answer with 5 things you like about yourself, publicly. Then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool!) ✨♥️" Hope we can keep in touch though even despite this

Hey, welcome back! Sure we can keep in touch, my asks and dms are always open ^^ I don't make analysis posts about snk anymore because it's over and I don't really keep up on the latest news, but I still reblog Levihan fanarts amongst other things. Anyway let's get to it

1. I like that I can understand other people well. When I want to help someone feel better being able to understand what's bothering them is nice

2. I love my memory, I'm pretty proud of the fact that I'm able to remember a lot of things long term (not short term, I really suck at that ahah), sometimes I just spend some time remembering stuff to freshen them up in my mind

2. I like that I'm a pretty optimistic person, not to say that I'm happy all the time, but I can often find even small but good things to be glad about

4. I'm proud of my academic achievements. I'm towards the end of University and I'm proud of what I was able to accomplish, good job to me

5. I like what I draw. It's not perfect, there are a lot of things that I still don't know how to do and I want to continue improving and experimenting with my art, but I've reached a point where I don't hate what I draw and I'm able to look at it and be proud of it

[littlelasagne]

It's good to hear from you! Please go easy on yourself and take the time you need. Your health and wellbeing comes first. Did you see the final episode? I hope you liked it ❤️

Thank you, I'm trying. I just had covid a few weeks ago and I'm down again with a bad cold 😭 So it's slow climbing out of the pit of despair👍🏼

I loved the final ep. Just everything, the animation, the music, it was well done. Jean and Connie's frame together got me good. Loved Levi's changed ending. You should've seen my face when eren and armin's talk was extended. I just couldn't believe how much was explained. I get the need to alter the 'thank you' line but then a lot more was explained. I have mixed feelings about that. I don't think a story has to explain itself and hand answers on a plate (Especially one like snk where the writing for most of the show isn't subtle anyway....lol) but make people think. But I get why. It was still good. Loved the whole 'see you in hell' bit lol.

Either way, I asked myself if it was a satisfying ending and yeah, it was to me. That final frame in the end credits was 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼 I'm looking forward to the bad boy thingy.

[lylaseb]

Tbh I was really worried going into season 4 because my mom has watched very little anime (just naruto and snk so far and obviously we’re not even done with snk) and I thought she might not be able to follow very well. But she surprisingly did better than I thought she would. I watch reaction videos online and I’ve seen several who were confused watching the start of season 4 as well but my mom at least knew what was going on so I’d say it wasn’t bad at all. I was expecting a lot worse because the first time we watched naruto I had to explain so many things to her lol I explained the whole thing anyway and asked her questions just in case but she did get most of it on her own. The only time she was really confused was when I paused and then asked her at the end of episode 3 who the guy next to falco was. What was really funny was she immediately noticed he had green eyes but she didn’t know who he was 😂 I asked her several questions and even repeated the flashback scene with Reiner as the last resort but she still didn’t get it 😅 she was thinking really hard but she had absolutely no idea lmao and I did a bad thing because I couldn’t resist...I spoiled it for her and told her it was eren. I know a lot of people get it right away anyway and I know it gets formally revealed literally in the next episode but I really shouldn’t have. It would’ve been so much better had I just waited a bit more. I imagine she would’ve exclaimed “huh??????” but now I’ll never know. Oh well. But she was surprised enough and she asked, how come his leg didn’t regenerate? She said she didn’t consider that it could’ve been eren because the guy’s leg was missing

And then another funny thing was when porco was like, you’re kidding, can’t you see I’m a titan? These guys are just humans yet they’re coming to kill me? These guys, they’re the devils of paradis! Or something like that and my mom kind of smirked/chuckled and said well yeah they’ve been fighting titans for how long now that’s literally part of what the survey corps does and they’re very good at it 😂 I had the same reaction the first time I watched it lol literally what was he expecting tho

And then this might be my imagination or maybe what I saw was really what happened but I think she took a deep breath when gabi and falco were screaming for Reiner to help them. I think she had a bit of a grimace on her face but I’m not sure because I was sitting a bit behind her. I’ll have to ask her about this

And when floch wanted to throw gabi and falco overboard and jean couldn’t accept it she said yeah because it’s just going to be a never ending cycle. I’m so glad my mom isn’t one of those people who believe they should’ve been killed right there or that they should’ve been thrown overboard. I’m not mad at those people but I find it so exhausting reading their comments and I can’t imagine how tiring it would’ve been had my mom been like, yeah throw them overboard they deserve it after everything they’ve done or whatever...these are literal children tho...I never liked gabi, like even before she shot sasha I never liked her and even disliked her actually because of her personality and falco I had no feelings for at the time, but I understood that for the majority of the eldians in Marley they simply had no choice but to be the way they were. Through instinct. For survival. No matter how smart you think they are and no matter what they’ve experienced, a child is a child. Your brain isn’t even fully developed until your late 20s and the last part that finishes development is the prefrontal cortex which is in charge of making good decisions. No matter what kind of knowledge or experience you think you have, an underdeveloped brain is still an underdeveloped brain. That’s why so many young people make mistakes that they end up regretting later on. And the brainwashing is another can of worms and the reason why a lot of them don’t change their minds even throughout adulthood. Not to mention gabi and falco just witnessed the survey corps killing the people they knew and trampling all over their homeland. Do I think that gabi and falco were in the right? Just to be clear, no. Absolutely not. Especially not gabi. Falco was a lot more perceptive. Just because I empathize with certain characters does not mean I agree with their ideals or actions. The whole situation was ugly for everyone involved, not just for the people of paradis. But that’s also just my take on it. Maybe I’m wrong. Anyway I’m just relieved my mom shares my sentiment

Also I was hoping I’d hear more about Sasha’s death but all I got from my mom was, “so they’re going to kill sasha here?�� Like pretty much that was all. She didn’t cry or anything but she was a bit upset I think when the blood wouldn’t stop and she shook her head and said it was hopeless. I still don’t know what she really thinks of sasha though and I’ll ask her for her opinion very soon

[corner-stories]

⭐️

Fanfic Writers: Director’s Cut

Reblog this if you want readers to come into your ask box and ask for the “director’s commentary” on a particular story, section of a story, or set of lines. Or, send in a ⭐star⭐  to have the author select a section they’ve been dying to talk about!

I fully believe that, in all my years of fic writing for fandom, this one lil 800 word Jeankasa one-shot called "Wishing For More" is my Magnum Opus.

This was in the era where the Marley arc was happening in the manga but SNK was on people's mind because S2 and S3 came out. While pics of Reiner looking depressed/hot and Zeke memes dominated most of the fandom, I was in that little subset of people wondering what tf the Island Devils were up to.

And remember, this was months before the reveal of the post-timeskip Scouts so I had no idea what anyone looked like or how the characters changed after 4 years.

I fell into the category of people who believed that Jean and Mikasa became some flavour of lovers at one point or another so that's where Wishing For More came from.

The entire plot is just Jean and Mikasa spending time together in a room at an inn and Mikasa observing the scars he sustained from the Retaking of Shiganshina. I liked the concept of writing characters with various scars back then and I like it now.

At the time I had this whole lil scenario where the Scouts were stationed at an inn for weeks and were just told to be on standby, so unless they were needed they were largely left to their own devices. It lead to me writing a lot about Jean and Mikasa either seeing each other a lot in the hallways of the inn or spending time together in their respective rooms.

All I could assume about Mikasa at that time was that she was wrangling with the mess of emotions that come with realizing your childhood BFFs will succumb to the Curse of Ymir in 8/13 years, as a result she's more on the quiet introspective side bc her thoughts are constantly plagued with what the meaning of life is if it can end so cruelly.

And this was definitely what started me on my "Mikasa deserves to be happy" agenda because post basement reveal I could already anticipate that her life would just get more distressing from that point on.

Is it a surprise that I was compelled to write her finding comfort in the arms of the hot funky horse man? Or write a scenario where she sees the collection of scars on his shoulders and back before gently running her fingers across them? Or have her slowly realize that unlike the resident Titan Shifters, Jean is a normal human who can't heal from traumatic injuries?

Anyways, thanks for the ask bc I've read too much JK hate on twitter and needed a palate cleanser. And also thanks to everyone who kudos'd and commented on the fic over the years. It means a lot to me, especially now since I'm starting to trolling comments on my fics. Y'all are the real MVPs.

[this-is-krikkit]

thank you for sending this in about 84 years ago, Vabe!! 🥹🤦🏼

this was such a fun challenge, and i ended up liking writing it so much once i got the idea for it!! it’s light on the erumike side, as discussed, but i tried my best hehe 😉

side note, a thousand thanks for helping me recover it when i accidentally deleted this entire thing this morning 😭♥️ i really do not learn from past mistakes, do i?

anyway, thank you, i love you, i hope you enjoy this ♥️♥️♥️

58. “you smell like a wet dog”

send me a prompt and a character/ship, and i'll write you a drabble!

Gossip Girl(s and Boys)

Relationships: yumihisu, erumike, eremika (implied, one-sided), jeankasa (implied, one-sided), levihan (implied, one-sided),

Tags: feat that s1 castle temporary HQ, eren pov, fluff, snk veterans, the 104th kids, everyone has a crush okay?? you figure it out, basically the scouts regiment is a big high school drama!, they/them pronouns for Hange Zoë, headcanon backstory for Hange Zoë, this is very very silly and fluffy really

Eren grunts as he sits down next to his friends, letting his head fall on the old wooden table in front of him and barely missing his plate thanks to Mikasa’s reflex of pushing it away. He hadn’t expected his life would get easier once he’d joined the Scouts, and although he is thankful deep down for all the work –he knows it’s only turning him into a better soldier to eradicate Titans and he’s glad he’s not being dissected to death by the MP like he almost did– he’s fighting even harder than usual to not skip dinner altogether tonight. To be fair, he’s had to handle both a particularly rough bit of Hange experiments this morning, and regular training with everyone else in the afternoon without having had a chance to rest in between, and without any of the warm up his comrades got before noon.

“You look completely worn out,” Armin says softly, worriedly, jolting him awake from the slumber he was falling into.

Eren sits up and puts one hand over his own face, sighing. Even Jean is looking at him with something that looks like concern in his eyes, and Eren doesn’t know how he should feel about that.

“I am. You know, at first I was thankful when Mike showed up and distracted Hange away from me. But I didn’t think I’d have to catch up with you all after that. They didn’t even tell me themself, just sent their assistant to let me know there wouldn’t be any more proding today,” he recalls, picking up his spoon and tasting the broth. “It was weird, even for them.”

“That does sound odd. And you know, I think it’s only the second of third time I see Squad Leader Zacharias showing up out here,” Sasha points out, already done with her share of dinner.

“He must have had something important to say to Hange-san,” Armin muses out loud, and Eren recognizes the usual faraway look he gets whenever he thinks something over on his face.

“Yeah, I bet he said a lot of things to them. All afternoon. In a closed room with no one else around to overhear,” Connie points out unexpectedly, smirking at his friends.

Sasha and Jean both roll their eyes at him and Eren frowns, shooting a curious glance Mikasa’s way. She shrugs, obviously not in on it.

“From what I understand, he spends most of his time with Major Erwin in HQ,” Armin replies, looking even more serious and deeper in thoughts than before, “so he may indeed have had sensible military intel to share with them regarding the next expedition.”

“I’m sure he shared a whole lot more with them than military intel, if you know what I–

"We get it, Connie, you think they’re boning,” Jean interrupts, flicking the back of his head.

Eren’s thankful he swallowed his mouthful before he heard that, because he’s pretty sure it would have sent his food down the wrong way. Mikasa arches an eyebrow in surprise, and Armin handles this brutal crash back to reality by blushing more furiously than even Eren’s ever seen him.

“That’s right, I do! And I still don’t understand why you guys disagree,” Connie retorts.

“I’ll admit they seem close, but Squad Leader Hange is always sweating and covered in various dirt,” Jean says, sounding weary and bored and like it’s far from the first time he’s having this argument. “Zacharias and his freaky nose would bail at the first attempted kiss.”

“I hate to agree with Horse-face over there, but I think I do,” Ymir admits out loud.

She winks at Eren who’s sitting directly to her right –as she always does when borrowing his favorite insult for their comrade– and draws her chair closer to Krista’s on her left. She ignores Jean’s raised middle finger and his answering jab about her freckles being a poor make up effect to hide acne spots, and throws her arm over the short blonde’s shoulders nonchalantly.

“He’d probably sniff loudly like he always does,” she picks up, doing exactly that above Krista’s hair, “and tell them something like, ‘sorry Zoë baby, but you smell like a wet dog’,” she says in a deep, unnatural voice, wiggling her eyebrows at Krista.

Eren joins his friends and laughs at her poor attempt at imitation.

Unlike them though, he doesn’t miss the creaking sound of the heavy door opening and revealing two silhouettes behind it.

“What’s all this noise, aren’t you brats supposed to be sleeping by now? Maybe we’re not working you hard enough.”

Captain Levi’s voice chills the atmosphere as he walks fully into the room, and even Eren can feel the hair at the back of his neck standing up although he knows they've done nothing wrong. Mikasa is the only one who doesn’t shy away from his stare, but she still doesn’t verbally react to his words.

The tense silence thankfully breaks when the other figure walks in and Nanaba chuckles, ruffling Levi’s hair like it’s not an offense punishable by death.

“Forgive him, gang,” she says, withdrawing her hand before Levi slaps it away like she’s had years of practice doing exactly that. “Heichou here gets restless when it’s been too long since he’s sliced up a Titan.”

Levi glares back at her, and everyone else shares a relieved sigh and an amused glance behind his back.

Ymir uses the distraction to bring her face even closer to Krista’s than it already was, and Eren preemptively cringes at whatever line he's going to overhear, sitting right next to them.

“You, for the record, do not smell like a wet dog at all,” Ymir whispers with her most flirty smile.

Krista sucks in a deep breath and immediately fails to contain a coughing fit, attracting everyone’s attention to them.

“Walls, take this to the dorm room, ladies!” Nanaba jokes when she notices how close they are.

“I’d rather they don’t,” Levi groans, uncrossing his arms and revealing a cup of tea he’d been holding in his peculiar way, hidden in the crook of his elbow. “And before you start, I know it’s not technically illegal to date another soldier, but do they have to be horny teenagers on your explicit orders?”

“It’s not against the rules? Fraternization amongst Scouts?” Mikasa asks hurriedly, her eyes widening at her own question.

Jean barely suppresses a groans and Eren pointedly ignores the glare he sends his way, just like he ignores the pitiful look Armin shoots between his two childhood friends.

“Why do you care, Ackerman?” Levi scoffs.

She bares her teeth at his mocking tone, and Eren almost feels scared for his Captain for a moment.

“We were just trying to settle a bet here,” Jean intervenes before she does or says anything she'd regret.

“We were!” Sasha confirms, giggling nervously to defuse the renewed tension. “Connie here thinks Squad Leaders Zacharias and Zoë may be an item.”

Nanaba blinks twice as she processes that information, before she explodes in laughter, holding her sides. Even Levi visibly pinches his lips together and quickly hides his mouth behind his cup.

“What the hell is wrong with you? They’re siblings!” the veteran Scout manages to say when the worst of her hilarity has subsided.

“But… they don’t have the same name, and they don’t look like each other at all,” Reiner points out while everyone else exchanges shocked looks.

“Well, they grew up together. They were both found as infants, and as you may know, it is common for orphanages under His Majesty’s authority to assign last names that start with the same letter to kids they take in during the same year!”

“That's enough details,” Levi chimes in.

But Nanaba casts him an unimpressed side glance, and he sighs in defeat.

“These guys are Scouts now, Levi. They're family,” Nanaba says with a warm smile directed at everyone of them, including Eren. “And Hans loves telling that story so much, I’m surprised they didn’t know it already. Or,” she adds, her voice switching to a much more mischievous tone suddenly, “are you just getting defensive because they thought your crush was dating mine?”

“You have a crush on Mike?” Sasha squeals out, her hand slapping the table so hard she makes her own empty plate jump up and spin on itself for a few minutes.

Eren wants to point out that if Nanaba does, it probably doesn’t have much to do with just how much food Mike can inhale in one sitting, unlike Sasha’s own… admiration for the veteran Scout. But he bites his own tongue and decides to only listen for a little longer.

“I don't,” Nanaba replies, grinning again. “It’s an old inside joke that started when we were recruits, back when Levi here wasn’t even in the picture; I spotted Mike from across the room on our first day of training and pointed him out to Erwin. And well, let’s just say, it’s never been relevant who has a crush on either of those two since then.”

A few shocked gasps echo in the room, and one of them might even have escaped Eren himself.

“Wait, why not?” Connie asks, frowning.

Jean, the first one to recover from those news, rolls his eyes again and bends to say something in his ear.

“No way! You’re kidding, right?” Connie asks, eyes even bigger and rounder than usual.

“Okay, that’s enough gossiping,” Levi calls out. “Brats, get to bed already. You’re starting especially early and with a special round of exercises tomorrow morning.”

They all leave the room one by one, Jean grumbling about the alluded promised suffering of the next day. Eren trails behind everyone else, his legs having trouble carrying him up and along the corridor that leads away from the dinner room.

“Oi, Levi,” he hears Nanaba call over the noise of plates getting stacked together.

“What now?”

“Notice how they were surprised about a lot of what I said, but no one batted an eye when I mentioned your crush on Hange?”

There’s a short a silence then, disrupted only by the sound of dishes clanking against each other again, followed by a surprised huff from Nanaba.

“Careful, don’t drop them. They’ll be harder to clean if they’re in pieces, and you know I’ll be checking that you did it right.”

“Wow, you're really making me wash the dishes in your place? Man, you must be really pissed to give up your favorite hobby like that.”

Eren walks away faster after he hears Levi swear, and Nanaba’s answering laughter follows him up into the stairs to the dorm rooms.