#but on this show the only main person who left was Connie and it was after season 1

[ofspacecrafts]

You know what else is very rare with this show?

Only one major cast member decided to leave and it was after season 1.

Since season 2, we’ve had the same core group . Actors haven’t decided to leave and there’s been no main character deaths.

[gwenyn28]

The "real" reasons why these actresses left 9-1-1

Because it is a common accusation Buddie fans have to deal with I wanted to talk about the reasons why the female love interests for Buck and Eddie left the show.

I already talked about it on twitter but due to a limited space I couldn't post links and go deeper into the stories. Therefore I will talk about this a bit more on here.

I will admit that there might have been some fans out there who were really mean and acted weird/rude towards these women. But still... there are real reasons for leaving the show, not "the Buddie fans bullied them and they couldn't handle it anymore so they left".

Connie Britton (Abigail Clark)

When 9-1-1 started in early 2018 Connie Britton was part of the main cast. She was casted as the dispatcher "Abigail Clark" so that the viewer could have not only the firefighter's view but also the dispatcher's. After an incident at a rollercoaster where Buck lost a person Abby looked up his number to ask if he was okay. They started to talk and soon after got into a relationship.

To begin with, her contract was just for one season and she left when her contract was up. Ryan Murphy said in an interview that they were renogotiating her deal because she loved the cast and wanted to come back for a couple of episodes (what we later got with the train wreck in the season 3 finale). But just as a guest star, not as a main cast again. In the meantime, for that dispatch connection, Jennifer Love Hewitt as Maddie Buckley (now Han) was cast.

It was also the plan NOT to bring her back in season 2 so that Buck could grow on his own and that this growth won't be connected with Abby anymore. After all, they just had a brief relationship and she left him at the airport and ghosted him afterwards.

(Source)

So, all in all, she was just supposed to be there for one season only. She didn't want to have a longer contract because she prefers to work just for one season of any tv show. And because she and Ryan Murphy are good friends, he agreed on this, wanting her appearance on his new show in 2018 to help him get the series off the ground.

(Source)

Tiffany Dupont (Ali Martin)

Buck and Ali met in season 2 during an earthquake where she was rescued by him and Eddie. Later on they met again and started to date. When Buck was crushed by a ladder truck and severely injured she broke up with him afterwards in the hospital. She told him that she couldn't live with him being in danger and that he wanted to continue with this risky job after his leg would be better again.

Tim stated in an interview 2019 that he loved Ali but she wasn't his first choice. Because she had chemistry with Buck and Eddie he decided to bring her back for Buck. Their relationship would have to go through the "make it or break it" because she knew that Buck's job was hard and dangerous and Ali wasn't a first responder. So, it had to be decided if she could live with that or not. In the end Tim wanted to keep her as an option for the next season as he reintroduced her but the relationship didn't make it.

(Source)

Megan West (Taylor Kelly)

Megan West was already one of Buck's former hook-ups who was introduced in an earlier season but came back in season 4 and 5 to play Buck's love interest. The possibility to give her a bigger role was there due to Jennifer Love Hewitt being on maternity leave. Therefore her character could get some screen time and she got a whole backstory.

Kristen Reidel, showrunner at that time, stated in an interview the inevitability of the couple's separation because of the people they were. Their characters were the complete opposites and even though sometimes opposites attract this didn't happen with Buck and Taylor. The break-up was the only logical conclusion.

Since Taylor's story arc came to an end with this break-up and the narrative of the show didn't demand another independant character, Megan West left the show after her story was told.

(Source)

Annelise Cepero (Natalia Dollenmeyer)

At the end of season 6 Buck met Natalia, a death doula, and started to date her. It seemed as if they had a connection (a weird one, but still a connection) and so she was Buck's girlfriend at the time season 6 ended.

In an interview mid-March Tim Minear said that he wasn't really interested in going down the road with Natalia when he took over again from Kristen Reidel as previous showrunner for season 5 and 6. He decided that it was time for Buck to stop talking about death, it was boring. He wanted Buck to live some more and to pursue joy. Buck should finally find happiness.

It seems like it was not just a creative decision. Not only storywise Tim decided to break up Buck and Natalia over hiatus. Annelise is based in New York. After the end of season 6 there was the writer's strike happening and season 7 was postponed. During that prolonged hiatus she got a contract on Broadway for "Hotel Happy" that premiered in February 2024. Therefore she couldn't join 9-1-1 again.

And since Tim was also fine with her not coming back storywise... it was mutual for her not to return.

Gabrielle Walsh (Ana Flores)

Gabrielle Walsh was a guest star and played Ana Flores, Eddie's love interest. When they first met when she was Chris' teacher, they really didn't get along. But later on, in the "Jinx" episode, Eddie asked her out and they started dating.

In an insta video (uploaded on youtube) she stated that she liked being on the show and that she loved her role, praising all the cast members. She admitted that she was sad to go but in the end everybody deserved to be with who they really loved. Some people interpreted this as a comment towards Buddie because directly afterwards she also talked about the Buddie fans and that there are no hard feelings concerning them, that she loved them.

Edy Ganem (Marisol)

Edy Ganem played Marisol and was brought in last-minute. She was kind of a hardware store fling for Eddie in the season 6 finale. Back then nobody knew if 9-1-1 would be renewed (or taken over by abc) so Kristen Reidel wanted to give every character a partner and love interest in some kind of closure if the show had ended back then. Marisol who was introduced earlier on on a call seemed to be a fit for Eddie in Kristen's eyes.

Coming to season 7 she was not planned to come back at first because Eddie was supposed to start dating Tommy Kinard. But then, as already stated above, Annelise Cepero wasn't able to come back as Natalia. This would have left Buck without a storyline. So Tim decided to switch from Tommy dating Eddie to Tommy dating Buck. Edy Ganem was free and could come back as Marisol for season 7 to play Eddie's love interest because Tim Minear didn't want both Buck and Eddie without a partner.

In an interview in April 2024 he stated that he had no clue about Marisol and her character. (She doesn't even have a last name.) He didn't want to give her screentime to explore the character and went with what he had. Or better, what Kristen gave him - the nun storyline. The idea was amusing to him and he thought it would help to learn more about Eddie.

In the end Marisol didn't stick around. She didn't even get a proper on screen break-up, just vanished after the end of the Vertigo storyline for Eddie.

It might have to do with the actress behind the character. She showed her true self more than once, posting trans- and homophobic things on social media and kind of victimized herself. Therefore it was a win-win to let her go after season 7, story- and personwise.

In conclusion: I read it very often that people say that the actresses left just because they were harassed by Buddie fans. Like I said in the beginning, there might have been some fans that have acted that way.

But the reasons I listed above where the cause for them to leave or not to return to the show - other obligations, wrapped storylines etc. And not just because "Buddie fans were mean to them".

[dandysworldhcs]

OK, Imma dump my AU here + some HC -I like to imagine that The toons irl are different from the show, with them having a humanoid body and necks (Inspired by Rawrmoona and Vita_Biosphere) -Some of the passive ability toons have active ability, like Boxten whose ability is he gains more extraction speed by 10% when using a wrench (Quote: "Hopefully, this goes well...") -The Twisted are called Reapers and some of them wear cloaks for fit the theme better (Gigi, Tisha, Connie, Finn and RND + the mains are the only reapers that don't wear cloaks) -R! Poppy happens to have blister around her body, so she wears them for her safety. -Connie could possess the TVs all around the map + the theatre -The syntche they carry can be shared when any survivors had one heart -R! Boxten and R! Glisten shares the same mechanic

(I will dump on the Mains later)

THE SURVIVORS:

-Since the Reaper Incident (AU version on Ichor Incident), Tina, the left one who is Cosmo's Cousin, happens to change her personality from caring to nothing. -She's starts acting proctective over Cosmo, checking in the injuries he's gone through -Malik, the middle who is a Milkbox, is in stage one of becoming a Reaper, but he's not dangerous towards the pastry cousins -The eyepatch are causing them to be normal, if removed they might get hungry for Ichor -Oh and Ichor's like those tounge parasite fish KK, that's all I have goodbye

okay this is really cool but HOW ARE YOU PEOPLE SENDING IMAGES

[crowvert-bird]

i support dandys world now :D!!! rant on it at the very bottom of the cut and in green

i actually wanted to respect the original designs (and by extension qwel) this time!! had a LOT of fun remaking the twisteds mechanics too (under cut)!! i dont rlly feel like continuing working on this anymore tho cuz i started this whole project out of anger at rox being in the dev team and i directed it to bashing on the character designs (i still have the opinion that theyre very generic and mid rather than being good or bad), so now that hes gone heres wats left of it, some of the pics arent cropped properly beware

there was gonna be a canon compliant shelly design too (where shes a shell) and more polished twisted dandy designs (both canon compliant and with remade mechanics in mind), but i dont rlly feel like drawing more stuff

Basis for the Twisteds' Mechanics

This is the most fun part!! They're all based off of their abilities and stats or how you normally use these Toons, but in a way that makes them dangerous to you. And they have to be as dangerous as Twisted Pebble.

Pebble gets Twisteds to focus on him (distracting), Twisted Pebble gets players to focus on him. Vee gets information on Twisteds and machines through her abilities, and is the slowest out of all the Mains. Twisted Vee disrupts the flow of information and is also the slowest. Shelly helps everyone get machines done quickly through her ability, Twisted Shelly slows down progress on machines. Sprout is a medic who scavenges for tapes, Twisted Sprout is a supporting Twisted (not the main threat) who scavenges for players. Astro helps players who are running out of stamina, then slinks back into the shadows using his stealth. Twisted Astro ambushes players from the shadows. Both Dandy and Twisted Dandy are the main characters of the show, with everything going their way.

Twisted Pebble, Had to be Nerfed

he stays the same, except his footsteps are louder

Twisted Vee, World's Most Dangerous Wall

Keep the ads but make them happen slightly more often.

She is as wide as the narrowest corridor in the game, and CONSTANTLY roams the map at a speed slower than Shrimpo or Connie. She will attack anyone very close to her with her long microphone arm or regular arm, depending on which one is the closest to them.

She sometimes blares audio clips from a Vee-centric episode or something on the news during that time (if you want that juicy lore) for a few seconds. It actually plays at normal volume, and instead, ALL audio (including skillcheck and encounter noises, and footsteps) are significantly more muffled and quieter so that it doesn't hurt your ears. This is telegraphed by her bringing her microphone arm up to her speaker, as she cranks the volume knob all the way up to the max.

Her line of sight is a very big and very visible glowing green circle. If you're in it, she gives you the "spotlight" effect for 10 seconds. This effect makes it so that other Twisteds can see you through walls, and makes your stealth worse than Shrimpo's. Only one person can have this effect at a time. If someone has the effect already, no one else can get it. But if that person has already had the spotlight effect for 5 seconds, someone else can step into Twisted Vee's line of sight and take that effect from them. She walks towards anyone with the spotlight effect (with the same speed as her roam speed lol) until they lose that effect.

Twisted Shelly, More Annoying but in a Hopefully Slightly More Fun Way

Keep her fast movement speed and attention span.

When planting her very visible hijack on a machine, she physically goes to and puts it there. It gives you the same debuff as confused 2, but for that machine only.

When she's on the floor, the text that appears explaining how to perform a skill check are changed to explain her fake skill check mechanics. Fake skill check bars will now sometimes appear (definitely less than 30% chance). And when it does, it always replaces a real skill check. It makes slightly pitched down and distorted skill check noises. The white and gold parts are slightly bigger than normal, and it looks a bit like a child drew it.

The dark grey part of a fake skill check now has the color of ichor, hitting it gets rid of the fake skill check. The white part gets rid of both the fake skill check and Twisted Shelly's hijack (if the machine has one). The gold part works the same as a regular failed skill check, except this time Twisted Shelly will start chasing you no matter where she is on the map, even if she's already chasing someone else (sorry not sorry distractors, running in circles the whole run gets boring anyways, might as well add a bit of spice). The text that appears when you fail a skill check is replaced with "Be careful! She's coming for you."

Twisted Sprout, Twisted Flutter but Worse

He has the same roam and chase speed of whatever his current canon chase speed is. He never stops moving, but he moves like he has tank controls, telegraphing his turns by slowly turning his head, then body, to a direction he wants to move in.

His tendril traps now look like black strawberry vines. They work the same, but now they spawn in set positions around the map.

His line of sight is narrower than normal, but he can see further and he can see you through walls. To compensate for this, his line of sight is represented by a red glowing oval. You can see it through walls. It's invisible when you're far away from him, but it gets more and more visible the closer you are to him.

Twisted Astro, Jumpscare Simulator

He has two phases, the roaming and chasing phase (they work differently than regular Twisted roams and chases).

He always starts in the roaming phase. In this phase, he is completely invisible, except for his red star eye. He targets the player with the highest stealth and gives them the tired effect, which lasts until their turn is done. After some time, he positions himself in front of the player he's targeting.

The chasing phase starts with Twisted Astro attacking the player 4 times (one for each arm) as soon as they get near him. At the same time, he becomes fully visible. (There's a delay between him noticing that you're there and him attacking, so you can bait out his attacks then run away.) After a short moment, the chase itself starts. It lasts for about 5 seconds, starting with him chasing the player at Twisted Pebble's chase speed, and ending with him not moving at all.

He then goes back to his roaming phase, this time, targeting the player with lower stealth than the last player. This cycle repeats until he reaches the player with the least stealth. After he's done his chasing phase with this player, the cycle repeats, and he starts targeting the player with the highest stealth again.

Twisted Dandy, Glorified Timer

He works like canon Twisted Glisten, except you need him. He's half-Twisted like Twisted Glisten, he never attacks you, and he can still talk. He roams at a speed that is slightly faster than the regular Twisted.

When he's on the floor, the whole floor gets a visual effect, like it's snowing. It's actually his dandelion seeds. You get infected by these seeds the moment the elevator door opens, and a timer appears on your screen.

This timer shows how much time you have left until you die. The closer the timer gets to 0, the more the Dandy-like flowers on you bloom. When you die because the timer ran out, you leave a small patch of those same flowers behind (they don't do anything other than look scary).

You can push the time limit back by being near Twisted Dandy, where you can give him 1 tape for 3 more seconds. If you don't have anymore tapes, he takes 3 of your stamina instead.

the rant

srry for being so mean to qwel the entire time (she designs the characters), i thought she knowingly enabled rox and that rlly tainted my view of the entire game (i personally believe that she still did bad stuff for helping rox in censoring people, but is still ultimately a victim given roxs pattern of behavior towards his friends, her apology hints to her being sorry for the censorship too (specifically the "I do not condone Rox's actions in any way" part (i rlly hope im not just coping here))

maybe my opinions will change again once all the characters have been reanimated(and maybe the colors are touched up a bit)?? cuz they looked great in the tv animations (even poppy and vee)!!! but more lifeless in the actual 3d environment (prob cuz of the stiff animations), ill definitely try to not make them be completely different designs again IF i ever decide to make anything else related to dandys world!! (except for shelly, i completely disagree with her being a shell instead of some kind of dino even if ammonites existed at around the same time dinos did, it just makes her seem more ocean related like finn than dino related)

[chasingshadowsblog]

"I'm no lady, I'm a Duck!" - Female Representation in 'The Mighty Ducks' Franchise

The Mighty Ducks trilogy may not be the first movies that spring to mind when considering female representation. After all, it is a trilogy in which there are only ever two girls at a time on each line-up of the Ducks team. However, these three girls, in their equally shared screentime with the rest of the cast, come across as considered, well-established characters with a diverse range of talents and personalities, who, depite their gender, cannot be considered as simply the girls on the team, but as players on the team. In D1 they were Connie Moreau and Tammy Duncan; in D2 Connie stayed and was joined by Julie 'The Cat' Gaffney, who both survived to D3. Each of these girls brought something special not only to the Mighty Ducks team but to The Mighty Ducks movies, and each is memorable for their own individual reasons and moments.

"Let's show these Hawks something really different." Movies like The Mighty Ducks are usually aimed at boys, and as such, the odd time a girl appears, they are the annoying older or younger sister, the bratty, sneering, cajoling, motherly, concerned, unattainable love interest girl character. Always on the margins, to be ridiculed, pined after or fought with briefly then forgotten about while the rest of the story happens. Depending on the role, they'll appear again at the end of the movie, achievement unlocked. While none of the girls in The Mighty Ducks are like this, Tammy Duncan, who could so easily have been the annoying older sister or the pretty love interest, is not portrayed in this way. Tammy is a figure-skater, recruited by Bombay, along with her younger brother Tommy, after he sees Tammy's figure-skating skills before a practice session. Bombay sees Tammy and imagines applying her skills to the hockey rink. "What do I know about hockey?" she demands angrily of her brother, after Bombay convinces her to give it a try. "More than you think," says Tommy, as he lays sprawled out on the ice after being knocked down by his sister in her anger. In the pivotal final game against the Hawks, Tammy and Tommy perform a goal-scoring trick using one of Tammy's figure-skating techniques. Tammy scores the goal. Tammy is an older sister. She is a girly-coded figure skater, compared to the traditionally boyish hockey players. She is scouted by Bombay for her talent and her potential to bring something alternative to the team. She joins in on the classroom fight, ending up in detention with everyone else. She insists that Bombay refer to them as "people" not "guys" and he complies (because she's there, too and she's proven willing to stand up for herself). Tammy is not annoying, or spoiled, or motherly, or a love interest for any of the boys. She is a part of the team and brings something unique to it. She's talented and tough, and, like Connie and Julie, her femininity is neither lost to her nor emphasised. She's a Duck.

"I wanna play. When am I gonna get my chance?" Julie 'The Cat' Gaffney is introduced to us in D2 as having "won the state championship for Maine, three years in a row" - single-handedly, I would assume, because it only takes her one hand to save the deciding goal against Gunnar Stahl and win Team USA the final game against Iceland. Nicknamed 'The Cat' or 'Cat Lady', for her quick reflexes in the goal, Julie is side-lined in D2 for almost the entire movie in favour of Goldberg. While it can be frustrating to watch this faster and (let's say it) superior player sit on the bench in favour of Goldberg, something important happens in the middle of the movie that brings depth to Julie's character - an admirable thing to do for a newbie in a sequel, let alone a female character. Julie goes to Bombay's office and demands to know when he's going to let her play. "I left my team in Maine to show the world what I can do," she says earnestly and justifiably, in an effort to convince Bombay to give her a shot. In this scene, Julie fights for her rights as a player on Team USA. She was scouted by Hendrix as being one of the best players in the country in their age bracket. It's only in anger about Goldberg's poor performance against Iceland that Bombay first lets her on to the ice - an opportunity she ruins by taking a dig at two of the opposing players before the game starts again. She could have easily stayed quiet, she was a new face in the Ducks-heavy team, but the writers gave Julie a chance to speak up for herself. As the second goalie, she is in a different position to all of the other new players - Kenny, Dwayne, Portman and Luis can all hop off and on the ice throughout a single game and get a chance to play, Julie has to wait for Goldberg to be out of the action. She knows she's talented, she's ambitious and she's frustrated that she isn't getting the opportunity to show that talent off. It's only by the end of the final game, in the shoot-out with Gunnar Stahl, that she finally gets to do that. It's only one goal, but it's one goal that wins Team USA the game. Is it frustrating that Julie is on the bench for most of the movie? Yes. Is it justified by her winning save at the end of the movie? Somewhat. I would argue, however, that it isn't the save that fortifies Julie's role in the movie as more than a "girl character", but her certainty of her own skills and her willingness to fight for her corner.

"I'm no lady, I'm a Duck!" Unlike Tammy and Julie, Connie has no unique or specialised skill to bring to the table. She is simply a solid, consistent hockey player, like Averman, Guy or Jesse. A fact which is just as important as Tammy's figure-skating or Julie's goal-keeping abilities. It's just as important to have these filler roles (for lack of a better term) be played by an array of genders, races and sexualities, as it is to have them up front and shining. It normalises the idea of a young woman, a person of colour, or someone from the LGBT+ community being there, being a part of something and not being special. Connie Moreau is a reliable player, who works hard and gets as much ice time as anyone else on the team. After Bombay meets the District 5 team for the first time, Connie is the first person to approach him with any kind of friendliness, she introduces herself with a smile, and proves to the audience that while none of the team shows any promise yet, she knows enough about hockey to talk stats. Connie isn't here to tick a box, she's here because she likes ice hockey. It's important to mention Connie's relationship with fellow player, Guy Germaine, in the context of this topic. A romantic relationship doesn't automatically weaken a female character, it's when the woman is defined by her relationship to a man that a romantic sub-plot becomes an issue. Fortunately, this is not the case with Guy and Connie. The two have a cute but subtle little romance arc throughout the trilogy that never over-shadows either the main plot or either of their own personalities. Like Guy, Connie maintains her autonomy as a person and a character outside of her relationship, and their relationship never gets in the way of their performances as hockey players. The romance could be deemed unnecessary but in this case it is handled so deftly that it only ever acts as a cute background detail to the wider story, it's a positive embellishment that fleshes out the setting and the story, as arcs like that should be. "Oooh, the Connie-meister! The Velvet Hammer!" Throughout the franchise Connie comes across as an open, kind and supportive individual, which is smoothly juxtaposed with her willingness to fight anyone who tries to mess with her team. She proves again and again that she will stand up for herself and her team mates no matter what, against the Hawks, against Iceland and against the Varsity Warriors. It is also worth mentioning, that in the 2021 reboot, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, an adult Connie Moreau (excuse me, Senator Connie Moreau) is shown briefly showing two of the girls on the Don't Bothers team the best way to tackle a player that's bigger than you. Connie represents a wonderfully colourful character. She is caring and supportive (traditionally feminine qualities) and displays her affection for her team mates by standing up to opposing players, off and on the ice. Connie may not have a flashy skill like Julie or Tammy but it is her entirely realistic and relatable personality that makes her stand out.

It might be difficult to hear this, but The Mighty Ducks movies aren't perfect. While they should be celebrated for their equal treatment of the main cast and the naturally gender-blind writing of all of the kids, there are a few instances that, while they don't diminish the good work done, shouldn't be ignored either. Interestingly, the majority of these shortcomings occur in D3 - notably, the only script in the trilogy not written by Ducks creator, Steve Brill.

D3 is often thought of as the best of the two sequels; D2 pulls a few fast ones on the audience in terms of internal hockey logic, while D3 holds up in that regard. While this can't be argued with I do think it falls short in some areas. D3 pulls back on the hockey content and focuses more on the kids, now teenagers and freshmen in a private school. It gives less time to the Ducks and more time to Charlie (their stand-in main character now that Bombay is out of the picture), and his battle with the new coach, new school and new team image. It's easy for something like female representation to get lost underneath everything else that's going on in the movie, but when you're looking for it there's something to see - and it's not great. Connie and Julie are largely left unscathed by the plot. Julie gets a very light romantic sub-plot with Scooter, the Varsity goalie, but I would argue that so little happens between them that, like the Connie and Guy romance, it doesn't detract from Julie's character but adds a bit of fun to the overall setting. She initially ignores his attempts at conversation after their first game, and when he approaches her at the end of the movie, she looks surprised but pleased and the scene is so brief it doesn't diminish either of their characters or the ending.

D3 does, however, introduce us to Linda, a student at Eden Hall who catches Charlie's attention. And… that's it. I like Linda, but she is the opposite of what Julie, Connie and Tammy represented in the first two movies. Linda is introduced in D3 asking Charlie to sign a petition that will change the name of the school's offensive 'Warriors' moniker. When she realises that Charlie is a jock she turns away, but Charlie doesn't back off. Later on, they interact again and he manages to wear her down; she attends a hockey game and despite Charlie's behaviour during that game, begins to fall for him. After the Varsity game, Linda approaches Charlie and they kiss, after she thanks him for having the "demeaning Warriors name" replaced by a new Eden Hall version of the Ducks logo, which…Charlie had nothing to do with? Linda is a textbook "girl character". She is completely innoffensive, appears initially as a foil to the sports-loving Charlie, but in a single scene is charmed by his wiles(?) and tries better to understand him. She never interacts with another Duck, other than being present at the hearing, then appears again at the end of the movie, completely won over by him, without Charlie having done anything other than talk to her on a bench.

A similar character appears in D2, Maria, Team Iceland's trainer (the "Iceland is nice" lady). Maria's presence is brief in the movie, much shorter than Linda's, yet she only really appears as a passing love interest for Bombay, but not really for Bombay. His interest and their date seem to happen only so that Gordon can be caught by Portman and Fulton, and to supply another reason for the kids to lose their faith in him. After this, Maria is largely left to stand in the background with the rest of Team Iceland, without anymore play in the story. Compared to the other adult woman in D2, Michelle McKay, Maria's role is clearly there to serve a purpose relating to her gender. I would argue, however, that in this instance Maria is less a victim of the male gaze as she is a victim of narrative convention.

Outside of the main cast, there are two more women that share significant screentime with the Ducks, and both represent the negative and the positive aspects of the Ducks scripts when it comes to writing women. First there is Casey Conway, Charlie's mother and Bombay's love interest in D1. Casey disappears in D2 with a throwaway line about her marrying some random guy, and so she is no longer Bombay's love interest or present in the movie. As well as that, the kids are away from home at the Goodwill Games and so Charlie doesn't need his mother for now. Casey returns again in D3 to act as the adult influence in Charlie's life while Gordon is absent. Like Linda, there is nothing inherently wrong with Casey, but she is only present for her relationships to the men in her life - Charlie mostly, Gordon briefly. If she was meant to be the grown up voice in Charlie's head during D3, then why have Charlie ignore her advice and admonishments and why bring Bombay back to give him the speech that changes his mind?

"CHANGE IT UP!" In D2 we have Michelle McKay, who is brought to the Goodwill Games as the team's teacher. She is a foil for Gordon during his Air Bombay phase, but is otherwise her own character. I would argue that she is more defined by her role as a teacher (with no interest in the Goodwill Games) and her relationship with the kids than she is by her interactions with Gordon. Ms. McKay listens to the kids, develops a relationship with them and confronts Gordon when they can't. She is soft-spoken and doesn't seem to be interested in sports, although she does enjoy her brief stint as Coach. She is supportive when Gordon is neglectful. And while she does act as a foil for him for a lot of the movie, once he is back to normal again, she retains her personality. Bombay kisses her on the cheek in thanks for jumping in as coach, but nothing romantic comes of this. Their relationship is entirely platonic and no one will ever convince me otherwise. Like Tammy, Connie and Julie, Michelle retains her femininity (through her traditionally feminine traits as well as her physical appearance, dress and mannerisms) without becoming defined by it. Her personality survives intact to the end of the movie; she is there for the kids and isn't won over by Gordon or the sport.

I'm sure that female representation was the least of everyone's concern when The Mighty Ducks reboot, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, was announced, but it's clear that the good work done in the trilogy is being carried on here. While we haven't gotten to know these girls as well as their predecessors, Sofi, Lauren and Maya continue to represent a diverse range of personalities and talent levels, while holding their own narratives on the screen. As well as this, what Game Changers does differently - and which is representative of the eras both products were made in - is show girls playing on the rival teams. While the girls of the trilogy were wonderfully fleshed out characters, they were also the only girls. No other team in the franchise had a girl playing on it - something I've always thought was meant to reaffirm the Ducks as being the good guys and everyone else as the bad guys. In Game Changers, none of these girls ever speak, but neither do the boys - in The Mighty Ducks no one on a rival team ever speaks unless they are on the rival team. Like Connie had to do on her own thirty years ago, the addition of female players, simply in the background, normalises the idea of young women appearing in sports-oriented media (and movies in general), without making a big to-do or having to justify their place in the world.

The Mighty Ducks franchise is not without its problems when it comes to female representation but these movies deserve to be noted for their treatment of their female characters. In the few moments where they are singled out for their gender, those moments, and the characters involved, do not go unpunished. Early in D2 Portman refers to Julie condescendingly as "babe" and is immediately called out by Adam then, most notably, his future Bash Brother Fulton; during the first USA-Iceland game, Gunnar and another skater laugh at USA for sending Julie into the goal, for which she knocks them over and is disqualified for the rest of the game. These scenes are not meant for laughs, each one highlights the perpetrator as being in the wrong. Portman's behaviour causes a fight between the team and the instance during the Iceland game only reaffirms to the audience that these are the bad guys. The Mighty Ducks does not take its female characters for granted, none of them are there to tick the token girl box. The fact that there are only two on the team at a time may even be representative of the interest levels in girls' youth hockey at the time (this I can't say for sure as I wasn't alive when these movies were being released). There's a quick scene in D2, around twenty-nine minutes, that follows Connie as she skates circles around the Trinidad and Tobago players then passes the puck to Kenny, resulting in a score. During those few seconds of Connie handling the puck the camera cuts briefly to a girl in the stand cheering her on. If D1, D2 and D3 are representative of the time they were made in then I hope that Game Changers is also indicitave of the growth and current levels of interest and access for young girls in hockey. I'd also be interested to know how much The Mighty Ducks had an impact on that growth.

[eddiegettingshot]

okay. mourning s1-s4 tim minear anon here. just finished my season 3 rewatch and ohhhhh boy oh boy. honestly I could write so much about that finale alone because s6 and s7 have made me forget what a good finale can be (athough I will say that the s3 finale has me thinking a wholeeee bunch of insane things about the s7 finale like buddie things and how the writing choices are were insane (complementary) that I will not elaborate on here because Im already rambling too much about how good s3 is). but genuinely all the character arcs were SO GOOD this season its insane. athena (hate the copaganda here but the general emotional journey with athena and athena/may): establishing what being a cop means to her -> showing that not even the murder of her fiance could sway her from policing and finally arresting the man that did it -> experiencing something traumatic first hand that makes her question her ability to do the job again. and then may: hating what her mom does, going as far as to write her college essay about it, then insisting on taking the pictures with her mom for prom despite her injuries from policing/not being ashamed of her. and also appreciating it to the point of also wanting to help people but as an acab truther pursuing a different way of doing it (911 operator. also imagine they made may a cop thank god that didnt happen lmao). michaels feeling of loneliness and isolation leading up to his diagnosis, then ending the season by meeting his endgame and knowing he gets to live. buck starting the season being insecure about losing his place with the 118 and being the person left behind again and ending the season confronting the last person who left him + feeling secure in his relationships with the 118. bobby's refusal to let buck do anything at the beginning of the season due to his injury + general recklessness vs doing buck's suggested rescue to save both victims. both the henren IVF/fostering arc AND the hen arc were great and thank god because the henren of it all was seriously lacking before this season. but hitting the girl with the ambulance -> reconnecting with her first rescue -> introducing her issues with Drs and their ability to listen and help patients to their full ability -> pursuing med school SO GOOD. and remember when madney used to get character arcs UGHH soooo good. developing chim + his mom/albert/his dad more. having maddie actually confront what happened with doug via therapy (btw maddie stalker plot good example of how to do an insane storyline well!!). this leading into the love confession and also the conclusion/start to the pregnancy arc they set up in !!! episode 1 !!! them not just dropping the josh arc completely after the heist trauma he suffered and seeing it through to a satisfying conclusion. and like I do have one nitpick in hindsight like the eddie arc was so good up until he got caught in the fighting ring and he cried about the divorce and then it was just never brought up again in favour of doing the mini chris stories in 3x10/3x12/3x15. like you literally had a chance to address and conclude eddie's mourning shannon arc in eddie begins or the episodes surrounding that and just didnt LMAO idk maybe they had plans and it got scrapped for the buck/red/abby arc because connie agreed to come back because really it was the only thing that did not feel concluded relative to literally every other character arc this season. anyways where is this tim. TIM WAKE UP!!! come back and give your characters arcs!!! one thing that is super obvious from rewatching the early seasons is there is still SO MUCH interesting stuff to explore with these characters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am begging please give eddie a story with a satisfactory conclusion please give maddie and chim stories please stop torturing hen and karen via fostering/adoption please conclude a buck plot in satisfactory fashion please have bobby and athena explore his past properly please make ravi a main

ohhhh my god THIS MADE ME MOURN S3 TOO 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 what the fuck COME BACK TIM 😭😭😭😭😭 i want him BACK 😭😭😭😭😭

[jacki-daytona]

OK OK

From the very first episode we can see that all going well, Evan Buckley is meant to be the Next Fire Captain. There’s a reason the show starts with Buck becoming a fireman. In the (all going well, several things falling into place, plan for the worst but have things in place for the best) future iteration of the show, Buck is narratively primed to be the fire captain - we see his beginning, middle and end represented by way of his own character, his fellow firefighters who are established in the career, and his captain, who represents the final evolution.

What we have now, is a show in its 8th season. Several things have gone well. We’re probably looking at 2 more seasons AT BEST of Peter and Angela. Over the seasons, Buck has had storylines that PRIME him for the position of Lead - potential career ending injuries have been overcome, personal growth in himself, his work and his relationships - on the other hand, you could say this for all the main characters at certain points in their storyline so, swings and roundabouts etc.

His love interests have not been primed in the same way. They COULD have been, ie: Abby would have worked perfectly as co lead, being in a related field but I believe it was always the case that Connie had only committed to one season? (Please correct me if I’m wrong here)

Taylor could also have been utilised in this fashion, had her storyline been resolved in the way most of our main characters get - understanding, forgiveness, etc. As a reporter, she could have been utilised in a way that supports the first responder nature of the show - please everyone a moment of silence for the buddy comedy of Reporter Taylor and Detective Lou crime solving and bitching while looking Hot To Go - it was over too soon.

As an aside, while Buck has always been primed to be the next lead (etc etc all going well, actor becoming beloved etc etc), that doesn’t mean I don’t want another main as new lead - of COURSE, Captain Wilson and her wife Mrs Rocket Scientist would be amazing. BUT. We’re 8 seasons in and (probably due to actor and show reasons that we’re not privy to) there has been no move to have Karen become a main character. And while I would love to see two Black Lesbians a co leads, in this case I don’t think it has ever been an option.

In a universe next door, we’d bee (haha typo) having this conversation about Eddie Diaz and his wife Maddie Diaz - who, by the way, would have fit the bill perfectly, and were potentially a murky, unfinished back up plan in case in case etc.

So. Season 8. Buck has a love interest in Tommy who (all going well, etc etc) fits the bill of co lead - connection to and history with main characters, fits in the first responder theme, character complications that involve other mains - this has all been said about his validity as a long term love interest but it also supports the potential for becoming a main or a co lead.

Even in the case of not all going well, the addition of Tommy can be argued to have future benefits by way of a potential spin off backup plan - audience reaction to him was certainly positive, and if I were running the show I’d have mumbled vaguely about in the case of a breakup of Buck and Tommy, all going well, audience reception, addition of co-workers for Tommy, maybe spin off search and rescue show, mumble mumble. I mean, plan for failure but hope for success right?

So. We’ve got whatever time left with Peter as Captain Dad, and we’ve already had a big moment of his approval of Buck and how far he’s come as a fireman and as a person AND in his love life. I would argue we’re only gonna see more of this theme, to pass the Captain Hat. I HOPE we see more of Captain Wilson, and truly, this could all just be the ravings of a mad woman - maybe there is no plan for future co leads to fill Peter and Angela’s shoes!

What they have already is a main cast that could carry that weight without them, but I’d argue that this season is the season to pull that together, if that is the plan. Co lead characters like Bobby and Athena have a solidity in their relationship together and in their work lives (for the most part - this is a drama after all) that is reassuring and I’d argue that only Maddie and Chimney have that same feel, taking into account that Buck and Tommy are still a newer couple and we don’t know Tommy that well yet - and as Karen is technically not a main character, along with the way the Wilson’s ended season 7 a bit fractured - with Chimney and Maddie providing the solid ground for them, as nice bit of evidence for my point above.

*this is it so far but I have more thoughts so maybe I’ll refine this later but here you go - some words.

Evan Buckley and Tommy Kinard are being perfectly set up to be the new Bobby and Athena on the TV show 911, in this essay I will

[ackerpreach]

This ending .... I can name 500 reasons and I will name them right now, because I don’t think I’m the only one who is upset with how things turned out. (Also, A positive message for all of you at the end)

MAJOR LEAKS SPOILERS/ READ WITH CAUTION

Update: after reading more theories from fellow RM bloggers, and sleeping over it one day, this entire chapter might be an april fools... Don't fully lose hope yet beautiful people. It's me just giving a review on a possible fake April fools chapter

After following this franchise since 2013, so nearly a DECADE. this ending is a pure disserve to the entire fandom. I feel like Yams has rushed it just for the sake of being done with the entire manga. So many things are left open, characters and their developemt are reverted back all the way to chapter 1 or are left even worse than that...

Mikasa’s worthless character development/ Aaronmika’s horrible toxic codependent relationship 

Oh honey... Let’s start with how horrible Isayama has treated her. We were all rooting for her, because we all felt like she was so misunderstood. She had a horrible childhood and imprinted on a guy who treated her like trash 99 percent of the story. And then, slowly but surely, she starts to realize she has to stop obsessing over him in the uprising arc with the help of a real man who treats her like a queen, more importantly, he treats her like a real human being. This man sees her for her abilities and that she has the power to be self dependent. She learned parts of herself, that she was able to work together with him like no one else could.  She learned parts of herself she was unable to do so if she kept obsessing about Aaron. All this love, care, mutual understanding and RESPECT these two shared. 

but...NAH FUCK THAT, right Yams?? Throw all this development away, all this bonding. Let’s make the main female lead even more yandere than she already was in the first season. Let her make out with his decapacitated head (like dude, this is also pure disrespect to Aaron’s dead body btw) and let her obsess even more about the guy who has treated her no better than a piece of toilet cloth 99 percent of the time. The guy who was never really appreciative in front of her for saving his ass billions of times, who always pushed her away, who yells at her and snaps at her whenever he can instead of reasoning and talking calmly with her in mature way. (EVEN PARODY YOUTUBE CHANNELS WHO DONT SHIP ANYTHING MAKE IT A TROPE WHERE AARON TELLS MIKASA HE HATES HER GUTS WHENEVER HE CAN) 

Then after all that, suddenly Yams tries to last minute persuade us Aaron’s always been head over heels for her???  He should have build their relationship better which he hasn’t even tried to do so... He must be thinking his fans are stupid for eating this from his hands.    

Like seriously??? What is this??? 

Isayama is just fully contradicting himself. It’s like someone tipped him off with a buttload of money for him to write Aaron like this to satisfy shipping needs and to cash in those extra money’s from it. Even if he tried to cater to Erem*ika, this is not how you write a loving and caring couple which people will root for. 

This next two panels just freaking infuriates me to the core of my soul. I can’t even describe how dissapointed I am with Mikasa. 

Why is she clutching that head so obsessively like that?  Why is she walking and turning her back away from her comrades? After everything they have done for her, after all they’ve been through?! After everything Armin has done? Standing up for Mikasa, beating up Aaron for hurting her. I feel like even Jean, Connie and Sasha have cared more for her in a healthy way.  Sure, Aaron cares for her romantically too apparently (What a twist Yams :)), but has he aided her to becoming a mentally healthier individual? Has he aided in her mental stability? The answer is a big fat NO!  All I see between these two after today’s raw Chapter’s are too Yandere obsessed individuals who have no clue on how to maintain a healthy relationship. 

Love should only go as far as the heart can endure and it seems like her character is not willing to be aware of that. Even Armin was able to let go of Aaron in those latest panels. Why does her entire character resolve around this guy??? I really do not understand. Her Ackerbond and her age is not an excuse for her to throw her life away like this. 

Shonen’s disgusting portrayal of women 

I’ve seen this countless of times in the many years I’ve watched anime. SasuS*ku from Naruto, Ichih*me from Bleach, Shinji and that oranged hair girl from Neon Evangelion.. Why do these women get decreased to simpletons with one single goal? And that is to obsess over a bland male lead who either treats them like trash or doesn’t notice them up until the last last chapter (LITERALLY WHAT YAMS HAS DONE). Some go even as far as the male leading wanting the kill the female love interest and yet the female lead is still in love with them???. It’s disgusting for him to write the MAIN female character this way. 

It’s dissapointing we believed in Isayama doing Mikasa’s character right. That she’s finally being able to let go of her codependency and to live for herself maybe live in Hizuru and find more about her roots???, but every single time she shows some improvement, it’s burried deep in the ground again by the Author. It almost seems like a lowkey kink of some of the male Mangaka’s to write about a girl obsessing over them no matter what. I see this so many times to the point that I truly stand behind it that some of them might have this fantasy. 

I wished he didn’t portray her last panels like this. Everyone else is living their lives while Mikasa is still grieving about him. I’m not saying she’s not allowed to grieve and everyone takes it at their own pace, but cmon... Show her living her life too. This is too much. Her being next to his grave and grieving him as her last panels just shoves it in our faces that YET AGAIN, BEING OBSESSED WITH AARON IS ALL HER CHARACTER STANDS FOR. 

I truly despise how Isayama handles her grieving, kissing his decapacitated head, carrying it around like some handbag, and her last panels being thissss.

The world leaving Paradis alone miraciously after all that??? 

It’s so weird and out of place with so many political feuds and disagreements between the world and Paradis, the entire Rumbling happening and we can see Mikasa just chilling outside in Paradis with no one bothering them. You can see the rings of the walls in the picture below.  I don’t know the exact reason behind as the manga is still in Korean, but from what I see, the story went the route of: throwing a happy ending without enough proper reason and  it was all fixed just like that in a snap! It doesn’t fit the entire narrative of attack on titan for things to be so peacful out of nowhere. When it comes to the narrative, how things work in that world, how hard it is to achieve peace, everything made somewhat sense up until chapter 138. 139 seems so so out of place...  It’s like I’m reading a chapter from a totally different manga. 

Aaron Yoghurt got defeated so easily/ Aaron’s character assassination

The build up on the first part of the rumbling was great, those kids carrying coins. You could feel humanity’s fear and Aaron’s hatred in those pages. As if he truly had a goal and he has turned away completely from his comrades and his closest friends with no return. The world seemed truly doomed, but he  got defeated just like that. He was in the nape all this time (because screw the warhammer power of hiding yourself elsewhere in his ginormous titan body). There is no master plan as we all expected, and in the end he just acts all yandere in the paths with Armin and that’s it... They massacared his entire character as well. Many fan theories created a better ending with his character. Him being reincarnated as Historia’s baby would be so much better. For him to still keep on seeking and to strive for power. It has always been his motive. It’s his personality from the start until chapter 138. Even if things are okay, to keep on going and to seek that adventure, but then.. He’s so weak and directionless suddenly.. It’s so weird... This is not Aaron at all???

Using Aaron for him this entire post, because I don’t want others to invade our tags... :)))

Historia’s baby 

The only panel we got from Historia’s child was this. Just a normal kid, normal life... Why did Isayama put so much effort in highlighting Historia’s pregnancy if it was nothing too spectacular anyway? It seemed he had major plans for this kid and for their development too??? It’s again, big plans, big developments, big relationship dynamic, but all  got thrown out of the window... 

Don’t read the next sentence if you are a minor :’) 

It’s like almost ejaculating, but stopping right before it and repeating that every single Arc.

My energy when writing about this chapter is the same as Nostalgia Critic and his hatred for atla the live action

In Conclusion...

I know us fans should not be deciding on how this story should end, because this is Isayama’s story after all, but I truly wished for him to wrap up things much more rounded. There are so many unanswered questions... Again, I think for the sake of being done with this manga, he rushed all of it. He’s become a millionaire from this story and now his pockets are jammed full, I guess he doesn’t need to put in any effort anymore, right? Perhaps a controversial opinion, but I really wished he cared for his fans a little bit more with this last chapter by giving some answers that make sense at least. It’s his fans who gave him this platform and the opportunity to tell his story and for him to at least give in a bit of effort especially in the last chapter is the least he can do. Rivamika being canon or not, he truly rushed it without thinking much about the entire story line. He expanded it so much, he didn’t know how to bind it all together.

Even after all this, I’ll still ship them in the headcanon type of way. I do give credit to Isayama for giving us a template for such a beautiful dynamic between Levi and Mikasa. He decides to waste it, but that doesn’t mean we have to.  I want to thank all the people with amazing writing skills, the ones who give us beautiful art like @carmenlee @phit chan @vialesana​ and many more. I want to remind all of you that we can create something beautiful of our own and we don’t neccesarily need canon lore for that. The art I’ve seen, the fanfictions I’ve read have touched me deeper than Isayama ever could at times.The Mikasa in our mind is appreciate of Levi, is mature, classy and has a strong will for herself. They spend their remaining days together peacefully. Keep writing, keep drawing, stay creative. 

I love you all so so much, I’ve only been publicly active since March, but thank you Rivamika fandom for giving me so much joy as a lurker these past 7 years <3

[bakugohoex]

So I saw your add calling for us Jean simps and I have an idea for Jean like having a crush on a medical helper or something that deals with medicine

“you could always kiss it better”

pairing: jean kirschtein x female reader

cw: fluff, season three spoilers, kissing

word count: 1900+

a/n: hi, you guys like my jean stuff so here’s some more

summary: in which jean falls in love with the medical helper who is a part of the survey corps

↞ back to attack on titan masterlist

It was never a dull day in the survey corps, the injuries that came in after the scouting missions had been increasing ever since the uncovering of Eren being a titan. You had been brought along on every scouting mission always prepared to help the wounded and being almost like a daughter to Erwin gave you some perks. If you could call them that, after your parents had died, Erwin had took you in and here you were in the Survey corps having graduated with the 104th but being assigned to the medical area.

It was of course what you had always wanted to do but you had joined on a whim and now after a couple months of the hectic survey corps. You had settled in sort of, Jean and Armin had had to pretend to be Historia and Eren and it was chaotic to say the least. Being on the run was hassle and you missed everything even the scouting missions outside the walls.

The only thing that made being on the run somewhat enjoyable was the brown-haired flirt, he had always flirted with you when you were both cadets. Nobody having really known how close you and Erwin were until the ceremony of where you chose which regiment you wanted to join.

They had all seen you hug the tall blonde and utter confusion had erupted from them, you told them all about it and Jean and you had gotten even closer. His head would pop in and out of where you stayed after being separated from the main corps. You spent a lot of time with Erwin but after the whole Reiner issue, you and others had joined the Levi squad. Making your time with Jean become a lot more than you had ever anticipated.

He hated wearing the wig and you could almost hear him scowl from beside Levi.

“Behind us look out.” Levi spoke falling to the ground as a wagon with one horse and three men sat upon it taking the bait.

Sasha misspoke but quickly spoke over self, you and Mikasa crouched beside Levi before Mikasa got up and ran. You could almost sense Jean’s frustration and being Eren and second time, you all had followed and were brought to a larger building.

Whilst you and Mikasa peeked through the window you could see Jean and Armin with a man who looked to be groping the blond. You both flew back to Levi who looked uninterested as usual. He spoke to Mikasa and you, you had barely been paying attention to their conversation only hearing his message to the rest of the squad. Your main worry was Jean and how you felt for him always ending up tied up. All you wanted to do was hug the poor boy.

Before you watched over what was happening, staying beside Mikasa you and her both having been strong enough to get in the top ten. You both had always been competitors but now working together you were both prospering.

“If you get the first two guys, I’ll get the other two.” You muttered as four men approached the warehouse. She nods taking out her gear, before you took your own out. You heard the men talking about getting the accurate men before you both pranced on the men .

Having both been behind a wooden container as soon as they walked past you both jumped out, taking the back two, you quickly knocked one of them unconscious whilst Mikasa did the same. You heard a barrel being loaded, before you both knocked out the other two. Both Armin and Jena having gotten out of their own restraints. They tied the two men down before you grabbed one of them, holding him down whilst Mikasa spoke.

“Connie are these four really all of them?”

You heard his faint yeah from one of the windows, you had looked up at the boy as he continued, “no one else in the area.” But hadn’t realised the sound of the man underneath you getting his gun out. At the sound of it you turned but an arrow swooped past you hitting the gun. You looked up seeing Sasha on top of the wooden container.

“Move again, and you won’t like where the next shot hits.” She spoke putting the arrow already through the bow.

“Alright, first we get these guys secured.” Mikasa stood in front of you, both having heard Levi’s words prior. “Then we meet up with the captain.”

“What do you mean?” Armin questioned confused out of his mind.

“Those are his orders.” You answered having tied the man up in the rope, watching him fidget under you.

“I feel disgusting.” Jean mutters on top of a guy after having gotten out of the restraints.

“Are you hurt?” You ask seeing his pretty hair and face., you moved closer to him to make sure he was okay not paying attention to anybody else.

He shows you some cuts that needed some bandages which you had but that was it. Sitting him down you see as Mikasa paces back and forth, knowing you wouldn’t have time to help him now.

“You’ll be fine for a little bit.” You grab his arm helping him up.

“Yeah yeah, Y/n, don’t be too worried, I’ll survive.” You both jump out of the building with your gear soaring through the sky as you see Levi swing past.

“I hear shooting.” Sasha says to Connie, “from there.” She points left as you stood beside Jean.

“Do you think they ran into some trouble?” He speaks not looking at you.

You look forward, “It seems likely.” You pause about to speak looking at Mikasa, “the captain gave us a message, as of now, it’s not just titans.” You see the shock on their faces out of confusion, “we’re fighting humans too.”

“Huh, you don’t mean.” Jean questions but both you and Mikasa fly away from them, going to see the chaos that was occurring.

Everybody follows in tow before Connie notices them, “look there they are.”

You see a bloody Levi swing through following the wagon, before noticing him being chased by men. “What the hell is that?” The question that ran through all your heads came out from Jean’s mouth.

All watching the murder and chaos occurring, “follow the wagon.” Levi speaks, both you and Mikasa nodding, you had seen too many people killed in your life. To be immune to shock in these scenarios, hell you’d killed people yourself, but it was all in the name of justice.

Following Levi’s command as he spoke about how they were trained to kill people; you listened and knew that you’d have to kill even more people. Going with Levi and Mikasa whilst Jean and Armin went to secure the wagon. You knew how life and death worked, and how the world was kill or be killed. But you saw at how Jean had hesitated to kill the person and Armin doing it himself.

You’d have to talk to Jean about it, not wanting him to be overtly upset or guilty about it. You easily slashed through more people, before seeing the men gang up on Armin and Jean, grabbing Jean you took his out of the wagon making him miss their gun shots.

You and the rest of the squad were back in the warehouse where one of the men who you remembered from Trost was. As Levi spoke you bandaged him up, making sure to take care of his wounds. The cut on top of his arm being stitched up with ease, Levi had been speaking to Armin and Jean. The sound of how he talked about being a killer, you had stopped paying attention to the conversation making sure Levi was fine.

He gave a thanks before you moved onto Jean, wrapping the cuts closed he watched as your delicate fingers did all the work. He had been speaking about killing people and you knew that inside he was feeling even more guilty than he should have. You both watched as Levi went to the man who you remembered from Trost. “Are you okay?”

You spoke moving onto his side which had been knocked into the wall when you had grabbed onto him. “I could’ve killed her myself.”

You felt the boy, putting your hand on his side to feel if there was anything wrong. “Jean, murder, it takes a toll on people, but after a while life and death, it’s all the same.”

He looked down in shock at what you had said, “life and death.”

“I’ve seen a lot of it in my lifetime and I know I’ll see even more, by humans and titans, we’re all the same, its kill or be killed.” You coughed out before seeing a bruise, “I can’t fix a bruise.”

He nods before you turn to hear the conversation with Levi and the man, talking about a plan, before you could join them for the plan to take place. “Y/n.” It a whisper but you looked up to him with bright eyes.

“Thank you again, we’ve been through a lot and I guess you’re something consistent in my life.” You nod at the boy, not being able to form words. The intimacy you had felt when touching his waist had sent shoots of fireworks up your spine, but you hadn’t said anything. Being as professional as ever and worrying about Erwin.

As quick as the plan had been told, you had easily knocked out the men and gained two of the MP’s with the man from Trost who you had consistently forgotten his name. You all waited outside the doors of where the torture was occurring, Hanje barging through you saw a sadistically look to do with human torture.

“You’ll be the one to have to fix them up.” Sasha spoke out, you nodded hearing screaming coming from below.

Jean was still wary about the situation and Armin talked about being killers, you didn’t speak up knowing he still felt guilty and felt like a bad person. All you did was give a sympathetic look to the boy; you leaned your head against your arms before feeling Jean’s hands move through your hair.

You enjoyed the sensation, enjoyed his touch and you craved even more from him, “I think I got a scratch on my arm; can you have a look?” He mutters over the screams and shouts from the man downstairs.

“Let me have a look.” You get up, his fingers still in your hair, whilst looking at his other arm, you see the gash, “all I can do is bandage up, I don’t have everything I need.”

He smiles as you take him away from the others, you both go to a different room before you bandage his arm up, “you could always kiss it better.” He smirks out.

“You’re such an idiot.” You mutter but comply, bringing the bandage arm to your lips, you kiss the bandage before kissing his knuckles.

It wasn’t intentional but you had a feeling everything was about to turn to shit, he looked up at you, grabbing your face in his hands. You looked up at the boy, the silence was unsettling with both of you just looking up at each other. “I’d kill…” You tilt your head in confusion, “I’d kill if it meant protecting you.”

You smile at the boy, closing the gap as you felt his soft lips attack to yours. It was slow and soft, a comforting movement, where you moved in sync. It was filled with love and as he brought your closer with his hand grabbing onto the back of your neck, your own fingers rubbed circles on his cheek. It was perfect and you knew that even with the chaos approaching you both had each other. 

i’d really appreciate if you guys could leave a like, reblog or comment, thanks x

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[conniespringerblkwife]

Drummer Boy

(Connie Springer x Female Reader | NSFW)

A/N: So i was using the bathroom and then BOOM Connie fic idea. In conclusion, using the bathroom=best ideas.

Also I wrote this awhile back and since it’s Connie’s bday today, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to post it.

Warnings: Connie with eyeliner, Smut: Fingering, rough sex, and Connie grabbing the headboard

Summary: Y/N and her childhood best friend, Connie grew apart when once they began college. Three years later, Connie sees Y/N practicing and his feelings return for her.

*2,785 words*

Songs I listened to while writing:

Bubblegum Bitch by Marina and the Diamonds

Bad Romance (Lady Gaga) by Halestorm [Cover]

You and Connie used to be close friends since you were three all the way up to college.

Even though you two were best friends, you were polar opposites. He was an extrovert and you enjoyed quiet time by yourself. You had straight As, and Connie on the other hand, struggled in school. A D was an A to him. And although Connie was more popular than you, there was always one thing that brought you two together. Music.

Music has always been something you two can bond over. You played the violin and he played the drums. Even though you two enjoyed different genres of music, you understood each other's passion. Connie always wanted to play in a band and you always wanted to travel with a big orchestra and be first chair. You two understood each other's motives and worked hard everyday.

When you two started to grow up, you guys made a promise to never forget about each other when you two become famous. But that promise was broken, when you went to college. You and Connie both attended the same university, but became distant as you two joined different groups. You guys didn't realize the relationship died, it just gradually happened.

You both were caught up in different careers and lost time for each other.

You two met again, while you were practicing your solo, for an upcoming concert. You didn't realize anyone walked in until you heard the sound of clapping and a voice. "Wow!"

Your eyes adjusted to the figure below and you realized it was Connie. "That was amazing Y/n, you really have grown." He flashed a smile and you gave him a small one in return.

"Thanks Connie." You started to place your instrument in the case.

"How you've been?" He asked softly.

"Fine. And you?" You turned around to make eye contact with him.

"Good." You two stood in awkward silence. It's been so long since you two interacted with each other. You didn't know what to say. You guys haven't talked since freshman year of college, you're a senior now.

"Well, I'll go now." You gave him another small smile and proceeded. As you were heading out, you heard him call out your name.

"Wait Y/N!" You turned around and saw him jogging towards you. "Come to my gig tomorrow night."

"I don't know, I think I have practice tomorrow."

"Well if you don't." He pulled out a folded piece of paper out his pocket and handed it to you. "You're always welcomed." You studied the flyer and saw at the top, "10 pm: Riot of the Red Heart will be performing, 'There's a Hole in My Stomach.'"

"I'll see." You smiled and left the building.

*

You plopped on the bed and studied the flyer. "Riot of the Red Heart," you said to yourself. You decided to look them up and was amazed how popular they were on campus. You noticed they had an Instagram and clicked on their page. There were three members: Connie, a girl and a guy. The guy hair was pretty long and he had a beard, and also played guitar. The girl, you assumed was the main singer, had light brown hair and in her right hand was a potato.

As you continued to scroll through their page, you took note how happy Connie looked. Something in your heart twisted as memories came back, but you suppressed them and told yourself that you were happy that he was happy.

Unlike Connie, you didn't make any close friends during your four years of college. You had one friend named Mikasa and that was because she was your stand partner in orchestra, but outside of practice, you two never talked and if you did, it was only about what time practice was.

You put your phone on the charger and placed the flyer on the nightstand next to you, heading off to bed.

*

The next day you found out you didn't have practice and a part of you was happy that you could have a break. You decided to head back to your dorm and take a nap. It was rare for you to go a day without practicing, but you deserved it. You've practiced so much that your shoulders hurt more than usual. You would always forget to do stretches before and after practicing and would have to suffer the consequences because of that. As you drifted off to sleep you thought about Connie and wondered what he was doing right now.

*

"You guys excited for the night?!" Connie said wrapping his arms around Jean and Sasha's shoulders.

"Yep!" Sasha exclaimed, "Also after our performance can we go out to eat? I was thinking about that steak house down the street."

"Do you wanna go there because you've been crushing on that waiter?" Jean teased.

"What's his name?" Connie scratched his head and then smirked, "Niccolo?"

Sasha elbowed Connie in the side and walked off, " That's not true, I just liked the food there." Sasha crossed her arms while staring at the pavement trying to hide her embarrassment. "

"Mhmm, whatever you say." Jean remarked.

"Oh guys I invited someone." Connie spoke up.

"OOO who??" Sasha said.

"Her name's Y/n, she's a childhood friend." Connie rubbed the top of his head. "I want you guys to meet her."

"Oh she must be really special," Jean teased Connie.

"Yeah she is actually."

"Well I cant wait to meet her." Sasha said while throwing her arm around Connie's shoulders. Ever since Connie saw you yesterday, he couldn't get you out of his head. Connie used to have crush on you from middle school all the way to high school, but it left as you two grew apart. But those feeling returned when he saw you playing.

He didn't say anything that day when he entered the building and saw you practicing. He just stared in awe as you engrossed yourself in the music. Although you music was placed in front of you, your eyes were closed. It made him think how hard you have been working that you didn't even need to look at the music. He hoped you come tonight because he really missed you, and wanted to start over with you and possible relationship.

*

When you woke up , you saw that it was 9:00 pm. Your eyes then traveled to the flyer next to your clock. Connie's performance started in an hour. "I guess I could go." You said to yourself as you got ready.

You threw on a sweatshirt and jeans and fixed your hair before grabbing your purse.

Connie's band was performing at a small place called, The Corps Club.

When you entered the club, there were a lot of people, but it was pretty calm. Everyone was genuinely having a good time and you cursed yourself for not bringing Mikasa with you. You felt awkward as you sat at the bar fiddling with your purse, hoping to see Connie.

"Can I get you something?" A bartender said while cleaning a cup.

"Just a lemonade please, thank you." You were so focused on watching the bartender pour your drink you didn't even notice the presence beside you.

"Y/N Hey!" It was Connie. You took in his appearance and noticed he had on black eyeliner and wore a gray shirt that no sleeves along, a sliver necklace around his neck, and a chain that hooked to his pants. "I wasn't expecting you to come." He leaned on the table, "Hey Levi I'll pay for it."

"Oh no Connie that's okay." You protested but the man already took the money. "Thank you." You said softly while taking a sip of your drink.

"Thanks for coming y/n, I really appreciate it."

"Of course."

Connie then grabbed your arm and pulled you through the crowds of people. "I want you to meet my friends." He shouted and lead you through a door. "Guys I want you to meet y/n."

You seen them before, but it was different seeing them in person. "Y/N this is Sasha and Jean."

"It's so nice to meet you!" Sasha said and then pulled you into a hug. "Any special friend of Connie's is ours too. You want some chips?"

"No thanks," You said, your face heating up slightly at the thought of Connie talking about you to his friends.

"I'm Jean." He said as he held out his hand. You didn't imagine him to be so tall you thought as you shook his hand. "Connie you didn't tell us your friend was hot." Your eyes widened at his words.

"Jean please shut up you're making her uncomfortable." Connie said while hitting the back of his head.

"Anyways y/n, we're performing a song called There's a Hole in My Stomach. It's about a guy and girl who are twin flames, but the girl gets shot in her stomach and the boy basically loses another piece of himself." Your mouth opens slightly at the sad, but oddly specific, story behind the song. "I know right depressing, but it was Connie's idea." Sasha continued.

"We have five minutes 'till we perform...Y/N I'll show you a good spot to watch us." Connie said while grabbing your arm. He led you to the front row, "This seems like a good spot." He then pulled you into a hug and you felt your heart beat quicken. "Thank you y/n," he whispered into your ear. He pulled away and ran off, leaving you stunned.

You were blown away how good Connie's band was. Although the topic of their song was depressing, they played as if it wasn't. The three complemented each other so well. Sasha's voice was also beautiful and powerful. Jean played the guitar with a smirk plastered on his face as he rocked his head back and forth (let me stop before i turn this into a jean fic).

You then looked over to Connie and saw how intense he was as he hit the drums. It was like he was different person. You seen him play the drums before in high school, but that was nothing compared to now. His muscles flexed as he drummed. You thought he looked sexy, especially with the sweat gliding down his face and his eye liner starting to smudge. As if he heard your thoughts, Connie made eye contact with you and winked and quickly looked away.

After the performance you met up with the three and congratulated them. "You guys did amazing and Sasha your voice is so beautiful."

"Thank you." She said while wiping the sweat off her forehead. They all were sweating and you saw how Connie's eyeliner was now smeared across his eyes. "Are you coming with us to eat?"

"Oh no, it's late, I need to get back to my dorm."

'Are you sure Y/N?" Connie said while patting his neck with a towel.

"Yeah..Thank you."

"Well let me walk you back since it's late." He said while throwing his towel on the couch.

"Bye y/n!" Jean and Sasha said as you and Connie headed out.

The walk back to your dorm was silent until Connie said, "Thank you for coming. I'm so happy to see you again."

You smiled, "Of course Connie."

"It's been a long time since we seen each other." You hummed in agreement. "I missed you so much y/n" Connie stopped walking and stared into your eyes.

"I missed you too." There was tension between you two and you didn't know why, but you continued walking anyway.

You two were now in front of your dorm's door. "Thank you for inviting me Connie. Good night." As you were going to open your door Connie then said, "Y/n wait." You turned around in confusion.

"I want to start over."

"What?"

"I really missed you. Like a lot." You nodded your head, confused to where he was going with this. "Fuck it." He then pulled you by your waist and pressed his lips against yours. Your eyes widened at his sudden actions. You knew you should've pulled away but you couldn't.

You two were now in your dorm and you made out with each other as you straddled his waist at the edge of your bed. His tongue explored your mouth as he rubbed and squeezed your thighs.

Wanting more friction, you decided to rock against him and he groaned in your mouth. "Keep doing that." He said against your lips as he slid his hands under your sweatshirt to unstrap your bra. You were still in shock that you were making out with your old best friend, but that thought left when you felt his big hands cup your breasts and his thumbs circle your nipples.

He pinched and twisted your nipples as his mouth traveled from your cheek to your neck to suck on the skin.

You ran your hands through his hair and noticed that it was longer than last time you remembered. You giggled as a memory of you calling Connie a bald penguin popped up in your mind.

He then took your sweatshirt off and stared at your breast and then he squeezed your hips, urging you to keep grinding on him. "Stop staring."You whispered in embarrassment. He then attached his mouth to your nipple and you gasped at the wet feeling. His hands traveled your body up and down, his hands rubbing your curves and then cupping your ass as you continued rocking against him.

Your panties were wet and you wanted nothing more than for him to touch you where you most needed it. He didn't notice you unbuttoned your pants until you grabbed his hand and slid it down to cupped you down there. He felt how warm and wet you were and began caressing you gently through your underwear.

He then pulled your panties to the side and rubbed a finger up and down your folds before placing his middle finger inside of you. You hid your face in his neck as you rocked against him while he placed another finger inside of you. He rubbed his other hand up and down your back to ease you. "You're so beautiful," he said softly before placing a third finger inside of you.

"Connie" You moaned his name and that's when he lost it. He pulled his fingers out of you and laid you on your back. He shoved your pants and underwear down while he peppered kisses on your neck. You kicked the remaining clothing off your legs and pulled his shirt off while you wrapped your legs around his waist.

You two were now fully naked as Connie teased your folds with his penis. You bit your lip in anticipation. "Connie pl-" before you could finish he pushed himself inside of you and you clawed at his back as he stretched you out. He moved slowly first and you watched as his chain dangled in front of your face. You took that opportunity to grabbed him by his chain and pull him into a kiss.

He started to pick up his pace and you had to hold onto his shoulders for support. "So fucking tight." He said as he watched how you took him so well. When he felt you loosen up, he took the opportunity to lift your legs over his shoulder and pound into you. This new angle had you gasping for air as his hips snap against the back of your thighs.

His hand was gripping the headboard to go faster and his other hand also had a death hold grip on your waist, you knew there will be a bruise there tomorrow but you didn't mind. The more you said his name, the faster he would go.

He slowed down a bit when he felt your walls clench around him. You were close and he had to control himself because he wanted to make you cum first before him.

Your eyes rolled to the back of your head as you came intensely and then a few moments later, Connie also came.

Connie then pulled out and collapsed on top of your body, then proceeded to give you small kisses between your breast. You both were breathing hard and you felt a small smile slowly form on your face. "I know this wasn't the proper way to build our relationship back up." He said against your skin. "Let me make it up to you and take you out tomorrow." He looked up at you through his long eyelashes.

You smiled and brought his head up to kiss him again, "I would love that."

*

*

*

Follow me on Instagram @//jungjaehoe127

[angel-tries-to-write]

New life from the darkness: Light reveals the end

Fandom: Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan Rating: Teen and up Pairing: Levi Ackerman x Hanji Zoë, Eren Jäger x Mikasa Ackerman Word count: 3271 Genre: fluff, humor

A very free form in a very alternate universe, where Eren actually did nothing wrong, titans were defeated somehow else and all my main ships are real, alive and happy.

The day was exceptionally hot, to the point when even the slightest movement was making people sweat incredibly. Yet the work had to be done, but everyone was seeking even the slightest possibility of getting cooler, so when Connie got rid of his shirt, his friends followed his idea. It seemed great at the beginning, lack of clothes really helped to bear the temperature, but it quickly turned out that basically every person in this squad was incredibly good looking, so everyone who had any crushes, kept staring at them, while they should be working. Levi, being a master in hiding his feelings and pushing them aside, had to constantly remind them of working and it was the only thing that could actually make them do what they were supposed to do. Otherwise they all would just stare: Eren and Jean at Mikasa, Mikasa at Eren, Connie at Sasha, Sasha at food and occasionally at Connie, Armin at Annie and Annie at Armin. Only Levi and Hanji weren't that obvious, though it was possible to catch them stealing some glances.

At some point it turned out that this staring did some good, when Eren dared to stop what he was doing and approached Mikasa, who refused to take off her red scarf. It was still warm, despite being worn almost every day through all these years, so it was making her even more hot and not in terms of looks. Unfortunately she could be really stubborn sometimes. Eren was the first one to notice she didn't look good, therefore he decided to confront her.

“Mikasa” the young man spoke with his calm yet firm voice.

“What happened, Eren? Is something wrong?” she asked, looking at him. She was clearly exhausted, her face was all red and sweaty, it was obvious she was extremely uncomfortable.

“Yes. Give me that” he unwrapped the red scarf from her neck and while her black eyes were expressing shock and betrayal, she immediately looked better. “I understand and appreciate that you want to wear this, but it's way too hot for that and I'm not going to let you hurt yourself.”

“Eren, I—” she tried to protest, but her voice died down her throat. First of all, she knew he was right. Second of all, she realized that a very shirtless, very sweaty, very muscular and deadly handsome Eren was standing really close to her. Loose strands of his hair that escaped his bun were sticked to his forehead and neck, his turquoise eyes stared deep into her soul, his face was serious and worried, and beads of sweat were running down his broad chest and toned abs.

“You know I'm right” he stated gently, trying to show her he wasn't angry, just concerned about her well-being.

“Y-yes, I know” she admitted quietly.

“Oi, brats, get back to work!” Levi scolded them.

“I'm keeping it for now” Eren squeezed his hand around the scarf more firmly. “But once it's cooler, I'll wrap it up for you again, I promise” he smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear, and left to continue his work, before the captain got angry at him. Mikasa stared at him with loving gaze for a while, then picked up her task again. It was suddenly much easier to work, now that she didn't have her scarf. Maybe Eren was right, after all.

When the sun set, the air cooled down, so it was time to rest. Obviously after a mandatory bath, because Levi was ready to beat the crap out of everyone who dared to stay sweaty and smell. For the first couple of days they tried to keep the old rules, so they had to bathe separately, but after Mikasa and Annie called Levi out for breaking the rules himself by bathing Hanji, they decided to give up. Besides, through all these years everyone grew so close to each other, that nudity stopped being any taboo. After all there were more terrifying things in the world than seeing your friends naked. So when the evening came, everyone but Levi, who hated to bathe with others, and Hanji, who was too busy to bathe when everyone else did, were sitting in the cold lake, chilling after a tiring day. Jean, Connie and Sasha were talking about some weird stuff that only the three of them could understand, no one else was actually paying attention to them, Mikasa was washing Eren's long hair, Armin was lost in thoughts and Annie just sat next to him unamused, just like Levi she didn't like to bathe with others, but she was doing it for Armin.

“Why do you always do that?” she asked finally, looking at Mikasa. The black haired girl looked at her former rival, her expression was quite ambiguous.

“I simply like it” she replied casually.

“Washing my hair or testing captain's patience?” Eren chuckled, actually knowing the answer.

“Both.”

“He's always mad when he sees us like that. He knows we're breaking the rules and not breaking them at the same time.”

“That doesn't make any sense, you can't do those things simultaneously” Armin spoke, getting out of his own world.

“But we do. We are closer than it's allowed, yet we don't do anything inappropriate” Eren explained, but his best friend still wasn't convinced.

“I don't know, man. That still doesn't make sense.”

“Armin is right, that sounds stupid” Annie agreed. Suddenly Sasha stood up and left the lake, with no reason.

“Leaving already, Sash?” Mikasa asked, looking at her friend.

“I'm hungry” she answered, drying herself with a towel. Now that explained everything.

“You're always hungry” Jean rolled his eyes.

“Not always!” Sasha protested. “Just most of the time...”

“Right, because that's so different.”

“It is!”

“Stop it, Jean, leave her alone” Connie poked his best friend in the ribs with his elbow.

“Ow! What the hell, man? That hurt!”

“It didn't, stop being a crybaby, you've had worse.”

Eren opened his mouth to say something, but he quickly shut it, biting his lower lip when Mikasa pulled his hair. It worked every time. But apparently this time Jean was in the mood for picking up fights.

“I saw it, Jäger.”

“I didn't say anything!”

“But you wanted to!”

“What is your problem? Are you jealous again?” Eren looked at him intensively.

“He totally is” Connie laughed, shamelessly exposing his friend.

“Well, it's not my fault Mikasa loves me. You know you can't change her feelings, I've tried for years and nothing worked. And thank goodness, I was such an idiot” he smiled fondly, looking at his girl. “But I'm sure you'll find someone one day too.”

“Yeah, man, don't worry” Connie agreed with Eren. “Love is always unexpected, you never know who and when.”

“Fuck you. Both of you” Jean stood up and joined Sasha, who was almost fully dressed and ready to go.

“Ew. I don't judge, but I personally prefer girls” Connie joked, trying to not be obvious which particular girl he had in mind.

“Yeah, if I ever allow anyone do that, it'll be only Mikasa” Eren said more bluntly and shamelessly, making said girl blush. She pulled his hair hard enough to look him in the eye. “Ow, that hurts!”

“Good, it's supposed to hurt. Shut your mouth before you say something you will regret” she warned him, finished washing his hair and let him go.

“Alright, alright, I'll be good” he promised, sitting up. Armin chuckled, watching them. “What?”

“Nothing. I just remember how you always rebelled against anything she said, yelling she's not your mom, and now you obey her without batting an eye.”

“I've just realized it's better to listen to her instead of fighting and then admitting she was right, like I used to do.”

“You've clearly grown up since then” the blonde said, looking at his friends affectionately.

“We've all grown up. I can't believe how fast time flies. I feel like yesterday we were little kids, and now? Just look at us” Eren looked at his friends with nostalgia all over his face.

“I don't know. I prefer you now” Mikasa smiled lovingly.

“Alright, I'll leave you, lovebirds” Connie raised his hands in a gesture of surrender and left.

“I think I should be leaving too. I'm cold” Annie complained, but made no move, clearly waiting for Armin, who didn't take a hint.

“I can warm you up” he blurted out instead, then he realized everyone was staring at him with wide eyes. It was unlike him to say something suggestive, he was usually too innocent for that. “No, I mean... I don't... not like that... ugh” he tried to explain, but ended up stumbling over his words, so he quickly left the lake.

“Armin, wait” Annie followed him, she actually liked when he wasn't so innocent.

“Maybe not everyone grew up” Eren chuckled, watching his best friend's embarrassment.

“Or not everyone is as shameless as you” Mikasa pointed out.

“I'm not... Alright, you have a point.”

“Are you guys coming or not?” Connie asked, looking at the couple.

“Nah, we'll chill out for a little more, but you can go” Eren answered, closing his eyes.

“Captain will be furious when he finds out you're here all alone.”

“I'll gladly fight him if it's necessary” Mikasa shrugged.

“As you wish.”

They waited for a few minutes until the rest of their friends walked away, before Eren approached his girl and kissed her passionately.

“Quick, we don't have much time” he whispered, pulling her on his lap.

“Oh, I'm sure you can use all your time properly” she smirked and kissed him again.

When they came back, captain was indeed furious.

“Where have you been?” he asked angrily, his hands were crossed and his eyes narrowed. The scars on his face were making him look even more terrifying.

“Oh, we decided to take a walk and watch the stars, sorry for being late” Eren lied smoothly. Mikasa hid her face in a red scarf her companion wrapped up for her, just like he promised.

“Get off my sight before I chop you to pieces” Levi growled, not buying it in a tiniest bit, but he didn't want to fight about it. Mostly because he had heard Hanji's footsteps behind him. The young couple quickly did as they were told.

“A walk, huh? Maybe we should take a walk too?” Hanji smiled widely.

“Not even a word, four-eyes. Don't you dare.”

The remaining time they all spent resting and preparing mentally themselves for the next day full of hard work, so in the morning they could wake up and continue their job. The only difference was that this time Eren wasn't working with them. He was taken somewhere by Hanji, who claimed they needed his help. And that was only partially not true, they actually needed it, but they also chose Eren for a reason: they wanted to spend some time with him. After all, those kids, Hanji and Levi grew somehow close, to the point they were almost like a family. And Eren, being a titan shifter for the longest time, sharing Hanji's impulsive personality and being bound to the Ackerman, no wonder he was their "favorite child", even now. Recently they didn't have much time to spend together, so Hanji decided to change that.

“You know, we've never even had a chance to talk, just the two of us, since all of this happened” Hanji said, breaking the silence they worked in.

“Yeah. And we used to spend quite a lot of time” Eren smiled with nostalgia. “I kind of miss us hanging out.”

“How are you doing?”

“I'm fine.”

“I mean it, Eren. Look at me and tell me in the eye that you are actually fine” Hanji looked at him seriously, their good eye expressed concern. They ditched their eye patch to help Levi feel better about his injuries, so their own bad eye was in full display, but none of 104th seemed to care.

“Honestly... I've been better” he admitted with a sigh. “If it wasn't for Armin and Mikasa, I don't know how would I take all of it” he was so embarrassed he couldn't even look at Hanji.

“I understand. You know, on the one hand, I'm glad that titans are gone and we're finally safe, but on the other hand... I miss them” they smiled sheepishly when Eren looked at them surprised. “Don't look at me like that. I've spent so many years researching them and doing experiments, they felt like a part of me. I can imagine it must be hard for you too, since you've been a titan yourself.”

“And I hated it.”

“So did I.”

“But you do have a point. I guess I sort of miss it too, mostly being powerful. It's been so long that I find it hard to get used to being normal again. Last week Mikasa saved my leg from being chopped off, because I forgot I can't regenerate it anymore, so I wasn't careful enough. If she wasn't there... I guess she was right saying that without her I would die a very tragic and a very young death” he smiled fondly, thinking about the girl.

“You love her” Hanji grinned. ���Don't even try to deny it. You have the exact same face as Armin when I ask him about Annie” they added, reading his expression.

“Armin and Annie...?” he asked dumbfounded, he was so occupied by his own relationship, that he didn't even notice his best friend's one.

“Come on, don't tell me you don't see it. They're obviously into each other, but they're both too shy to act. I've been their matchmaker basically since we came here and nothing works. Either they are too difficult and stubborn, or I am too bad at this. Then I'm so glad you and Mikasa did it on your own. Sometimes I wonder how I, with one eye and glasses, can see more than them, both with pretty good sight.”

“But we're not—”

“Eren, please, do you think me and Levi believed in your last night's "sudden walk" lie? We're not stupid, we know you had a date, or something” Hanji deadpanned, looking at the young man with a very done expression. “You two are as obvious as Armin and Annie. But don't worry, we're not going to punish you, in fact, we are happy that you are happy, as long as you are responsible. Just better be careful, and here's a little tip for the future: Ackermans are screamers, have that in mind” they smirked.

“Yeah, I know” he answered. It was the moment when both of their brains started actually processing what they said.

“WAIT NO!” they screamed unison, then stared at each other shocked.

“How do you know that?!”

“What do you mean you know?!”

Another silent minute has passed before Eren spoke again.

“So you and captain...”

“Not a word, kid. If you tell anyone, I'll murder you. And if you think you should fear Levi, you just don't know me well enough” Hanji was deadly serious, saying these words and they were actually scary.

“I won't tell a word if you won't. Me and Mikasa don't want any trouble either.”

“So we have a deal.”

“Deal.”

They worked in silence before Eren spoke again, this time about something else.

“Hanji-san... Do you think the others... I mean, other than Mikasa and Armin... Do you think they hate me?” he asked, still unable to look them in the eye.

“Why would you even think that?” Hanji asked with shock.

“When Armin told me Mikasa loves me, I couldn't believe it at first. Even when she confirmed it herself, I still didn't think it was real. How could she loved me, when even I couldn't love myself? I wanted to do terrible things, I wanted to commit a genocide! I actually believed it was the right thing to do and I really wanted this. If it wasn't for you all... I don't know what would happen. How anyone can not hate me? How can anyone ever love me?” he asked, with every question his voice was breaking more and more. It was clear he needed support.

“Come here” Hanji pulled him close and hugged firmly. “We all love you, Eren. Levi would never want me to say it out loud, but you are like our children to us. All nine of you — I'm counting Ymir and Historia — are a part of our weird family and we really love you. We were killing for you, we would die for you, we would do anything to protect you.”

“Yeah... Sometimes... Sometimes I think that captain was a better dad than my actual father. Even though he seems to hate me, at least he taught me useful things and actually helped instead of causing problems and disappearing” Eren admitted, wiping his eyes and smiling sheepishly. “And while I could never forget my mom or stop loving her, I think you are quite a good parent too. I couldn't ask for better parent figures.”

“I can promise that Levi would burst with pride if he heard that. You know him, he can be harsh and rough, but that's because he actually cares, he just never learned to properly express his actual feelings. I'm so proud of you too and I'm very honored to hear that you consider me a good parent, because I don't see myself as one” Hanji confessed, holding back their own tears. “It's probably good, I'm supposed to be your commander, not your parent, but I can't help but feel bad about it.”

“You shouldn't. You're not a bad parent” Eren assured.

“You're not a bad kid yourself. Or a bad person. Just because you wanted to do something, it doesn't make you better or worse, because you didn't actually do that. You have no idea how many times I just wanted to get Levi and run away to spend the rest of our lives in peace, just the two of us. But I never did it, even when I learned that he shared my dream. He wanted to peacefully settle down as much as I did, even more after I barely saved him, yet both of us knew that our duties were more important. So we stayed and it was so worth it. Now we know for sure that in a few years, once we are done fixing it all, our dream will become our reality. And that's all that matters, you know? That we didn't run away, no matter how much we wanted to.”

“I want this too, you know? To settle down with Mikasa and just live a normal, boring life. Maybe even start a family one day...”

“Good luck. I personally feel like we're a bit too old and too scarred to start a family, other than just the two of us and you nine, our adopted children. Besides, with small children even two pair of eyes aren't enough sometimes, while me and Levi together have one pair” they chuckled. “But it will be nice to finally rest. It was worth to wait and always go back to fight for this possibility.”

“Thank you, Hanji-san. For helping me to get it all off my chest.”

“Any time, kid. Now let's get back to work before Levi wanders here and decides to judge or punish us” they laughed, but both of them were fully aware that if he only wanted, Levi actually would do that. Unless Mikasa got involved, then maybe they could stand a chance. A little one.

[ohnogoosie]

Attack on Titan x Haikyuu: Which team the aot character would join/fit in best?

Eren Yeager: Karasuno

Middle Blocker/Decoy

183 cm

Strong minded and unwavering confidence. His goals are set and he will stop at nothing to achieve it.

Like a crow, is willing and able to try new strategies to reach the top.

Hinata 🤝 Eren

Loud and shining presence, making him a great decoy

Ambitious like no other

Ass first, head later main characters

Mikasa Ackerman: Shiratorizawa

Right-Wing Spiker/Ace

176 cm

Outrageous individual ability (worth over a hundred soldiers) and unbelievable strength that her teammates rely on.

Exceeds the requirement of a tall and strong player

Mikasa 🤝 Ushijima

Dense (intelligence wise) but has a unfaltering physical aptitude. Can and will give her 120% + more

An intimidating opponent that everyone is familiar with and is wary of

Good at everything meat suits who have the emotional intelligence and range of a peanut

Armin Arlert: Nekoma

Setter

168 cm

Brains of the team

Nekoma is known for their unbreakable defense and being able to connect, aligning with Armin's ideals and mindset

Armin 🤝 Kenma

Not known for his physical strength

Can easily perceive his opponents strategies and is quick to counter them

Video game nerds who have no idea why they joined volleyball, but love their tall idiot best friends respectively and have an appreciation for the sport

Annie Leonhardt: Inarizaki

Outside Hitter/Defense Specialist

153 cm

Strongest challengers as their strategy is seen as unconventional which matches Annie's unique fighting style

She would be known for her exceptional skills and this school is marked for having very strong players in their midst

Annie 🤝 Kita

Seen as cold and unimpressed most of the time, but actually does care about her team

Confident in her abilities, isn't swayed by nervousness and people are often surprised to see if she shows any emotion other than her usual blank stare

Has no idea what feelings are until they get hit w a big ass wave of emotions that make them cry like a baby

Secretly cares for everyone on the inside, scares and hates everyone on the outside

Jean Kirstein: Aoba Johsai

Setter/Captain

190 cm

A powerhouse school with players that are capable of being aces in their own right

The team relies on their leader who is able to accentuate everyone's abilities to the highest extent

Jean 🤝 Oikawa (lil shits)

Perceptive of both his teammates and opponents thoughts, strengths, and weaknesses

Easily envious of people they consider opponents, but cares very much for his friends and team

Confident in their own abilities, but are both lil shits w childish antics that their team loves them for even tho their team is tired of their shit on the daily

Sasha Braus: Jozenji

Left-Wing Spiker

170 cm

The party team suits her as she can be known for her carefree attitude

Unpredictable, but can easily adapt and keep up with the flow of the match

Sasha 🤝 Takeharu

Type of person to enjoy the game and play for fun with her natural athletic ability

Can be childish, but knows when to be serious during the competition

Sasha def wouldn't play the game too seriously at first, but will get into the game eventually bc she hates losing

lil idiots who only know how to have fun and has no idea what serious means until it hits them in the face

Connie Springer: Fukurodani

Left-Wing Spiker

180 cm

A powerhouse school that's headed to nationals thanks to their strong ace

An ace that is powerful thanks to the support of their team

Connie 🤝 Bokuto (self aware idiots)

Impressive individually, but undeniably childish and airheaded

They got jokes and are both the hype man for their team, and can serve as an inspiration to their enemies

Same idiot energy and big heart and can def give the best hugs uwu

Simpletons who are good at what they do 😌

Ymir: Sarukawa Tech

Middle Blocker

172 cm

Nationals level team with consistent and average plays which matches how Ymir is not in the top ten but is still very skilled

Utilizes strategies of pressuring and intimidating opponents little by little correlating to how Ymir plays the long game

Ymir 🤝 Kanazawa/Shiramine

Confident in her abilities

Can raise her teams spirits ironically (I pulled this outta my ass yo I couldn't find any character that rly fit Ymir tbh lmao)

Rising up every time bc Ymir literally rose outta the ground and lived bro

Can hold a long ass grudge if they wanted to and thinks way too into the future

Reiner Braun: Nohebi

Right-Wing Spiker

188 cm

Known for cheating, but still a strong contending team

Has gained favors with the higher ups or bosses

Reiner 🤝 Daishou (snakes)

Strong minded and strategic thinker, but quick to get emotional

Can be two faced and manipulative

Cheaters who still lose lmao idk

Bertholdt Hoover: Date Tech

Middle Blocker

192 cm

This dude taller than the wall, literally 🥲

He is third of the 104th so he got skills other than height so he'd be good at read blocking all things considered, and is an over thinker

Bertholdt 🤝 Aone

His titan looks scary, but he is really a kind and respectful guy

Determined, but barely speaks

Literally both are walls

Tall yeah yeah they got height on em yee yee

idk if i like how this turned out lmao it's been in my drafts for the longest time so yeah. is it accurate tho? i think some of it is LMAO

[aotopmha]

Attack on Titan in 2020

I've sort of dropped doing detailed chapter posts on the series because that type of writing wasn't very fun for me anymore and I have taken a liking to a bullet point kind of approach where I list the elements that stood out for me in the chapter or make a separate post for some specific topic I'd like to talk about in it.

I've started like 10 different posts to attempt to talk about AoT this year and I always end up with incoherent rambling because of all of the elements I'd love to to talk about.

This year's chapters were 125-135 and this year's episodes episodes 1-4 of season 4.

The anime episodes in particular have given me a lot of food for thought, so I'm just saying fuck it.

I think the biggest misstep of the story for me will forever be the fact that it decided to use fairly specific historical imagery.

The Eldians are clearly supposed to have allegorical equivalency with Jewish people, but the Jewish people were never the oppressors. There weren't any Jewish empires. That's conspiracy theory bullshit.

But on the other hand, the series clearly takes great effort to not stereotype any of the groups it's portraying and gives complex reasons for what both sides do. It's one of the few Japanese series that I've seen not stereotype Middle Eastern-coded people (Ramzi and Halil) or black people (Onyakapon). Everyone are people, it says. It even champions diversity:

(Chapter 118)

It is also very much true that a bunch of fascist states use long-term history as an excuse for their actions:

(Chapter 127)

Nation did X 2000 years ago therefore our conquest of them is justified.

This makes discussion about the series' themes like a minefield.

The people who are very critical about its imagery are right, but the people defending the series aren't wrong, either because it condemns all of those nasty ideas of conquest and hurting innocent people.

You can't have a more clear-cut condemnation of genocide:

(Chapter 127)

If you combine all of these details instead of zoning in on them one by one, to me what the story is saying is that *even if* all of that conspiracy bullshit is true, innocent people don't deserve to be slaughtered no matter the reason because they are still people who have their own feelings, thoughts and wishes.

The story clearly gets the baseline, but fumbles the details. I decided to look up some more discussion surrounding this these past few days and I just wish there was more good faith discussion about it. A lot of it feels like a moral superiority contest.

I think it's these kind of flawed stories that actually deserve detailed scruitiny over stories that are rotten to the core because they are *almost there*. Talking about them is a good topic starter in what to do and not to do in a story like this.

Speaking of rotten to the core, I think the absolute highlight of the chapters this year is Eren and some of the chapters this year finally gave me a pretty clear picture of what is going on with him.

Context from 123 certainly helps, though:

(Chapter 131)

This is about Eren's perspective. He can't accept the destruction of Paradis.

It's not that this solution was inevitable looking in from the outside (which is one of the interpretations I see around for Eren's actions), it's that *Eren* can't see any other way out of this except the most extreme because of all of the horrible things he has seen from the outside world. It is very similar to the way suicidal people can only focus on the negative.

You can tell them everything is going to be okay, but those words won't reach them because their mind won't let them and loops them back to those negative thoughts.

Eren can't see the ice cream or silly clowns. But he can see how the other Eldians in the league of Eldians are willing to push Paradis under the bus. He can see how Grisha's sister was killed. He can see how racist and cruel Marley is towards the Eldians in Liberio (and how the people have racist leanings towards other nations, too).

He can only see those bad things. But he also understands how everyone outside of the walls are human just as the people inside of the walls are.

So he is torn to pieces by guilt.

He doesn't want to do this, but he can't see any other solution.

This is why I also think he can't rob his friends of their agency. He is fighting for them to have a good future:

(Chapter 133)

(Chapter 131)

What really stood out to me on a revisit is that Eren considers himself much worse than Reiner.

I've seen criticism on how the story pushes the narrative of both sides being the same and this detail is really important to me because this is the story acknowledging that what Eren is doing is worse and gives all of the following exchanges about this the context of it being a similarity in principle.

Both sides have killed for what they think is right and have to deal with how they have killed people. This is such an important detail in the Uprising arc, too, where Erwin firmly acknowledged that overthrowing the government might not actually be the right choice by him. It was simply what he saw as right. On a narrative level this avoids absolute truths and preference of one character perspective over the other and once again makes it about individual perspectives.

The theme of individual perspectives is so ingrained in this story at this point in my eyes that it's another cornerstone in understanding what is going on with Eren to me.

I think it's great.

I also really appreciate Annie and what was done with her in this chunk of chapters.

(Chapter 127)

There has been this narrative going around that proposes that the story is in Eren's corner too much. But these chapters are nothing but questioning Eren and Annie is one of the main voices in this. It's the Marleyan girls, really and I think this is a very necessary part of making the narrative work. Once again, it separates the narrative and character perspective.

It says that the Paradis side caring is about character perspective, not what the narrative sides with and Annie is even sympathetic to Mikasa in that instance.

She gets it. Unexpectedly, I think Annie might play a bigger role in taking down Eren than expected. Her character arc about deciding to no longer go with the flow because she doesn't want any more tragedy to happen is basically calling for it.

(Chapter 128)

Another element I've seen brought up is the fact that nobody seems to address the Bert-sized elephant in the room, but some of our characters are certainly thinking about him.

This is such a thematically strong element and really interesting because Connie joined the military to make his mom proud and be a good soldier. This is the motivation behind his claim when he says they are going to save the world. But what does becoming a good soldier mean, exactly?

Well, apparently possibly gunning down people you care about.

This moment is so good because it's another moment where the idea of glory in war is taken down a peg.

The moment with Connie declaring they're going to save the world is so often criticised, but it is actually turned on its head in 128. There is no heroics in this. This is actually Connie's big "killing a person" moment because it strips away the final bit of comfort in killing in war, the excuse of killing for good moral reasons.

It is also a wonderful complex evolution of the series' themes. Trost was about fighting monsters. In the Female Titan and Clash of Titan arcs some of those monsters turned out to be human. In the Uprising, Return to Shiganshina and Marley arcs all of those monsters turned out to be human and here in the War of Paradis arc, everyone is human and the only separating system is what everyone views as right.

I really hope the anime will let this chapter breathe a little bit more.

Moving on, I guess it is time to address the rumbling.

I love it as a horror spectacle.

(Chapter 130)

And I really I think it needs to be non-CG when animated. CG is fine in spectacle battles, but not in horror settings because it is too clean.

The rumbling needs to be disgusting and dirty.

Chapter 132 gave me one of the few moments in which I truly cared about Levi. I think him telling Hange to dedicate her heart was a very good moment to cap off their relationship. He sent another SL commander to fulfill their duty.

The speech about hatred in chapter 134 also stood out to me. I think it definitely should be fitted in there somewhere in this, but I also see a bunch of criticism for it.

I want to point out that this is the side of present Marley talking here. It's the military dictatorship.

It's the Nazis. I think the Nazis should feel regret for exploiting innocent people and admit they're wrong.

I also like how the horrors here are undoing the brainwashing and showing the truth to the citizens.

I guess you could read it as heavy-handed, but it is also something that needs to be addressed and in principle, it's not wrong.

I'm also going to put a mention of Historia here. I've talked about how this is my biggest and most glaring problem with the series because of how thematically unfitting it feels, but I've also talked about it in many posts. I wanted to focus more on other stuff in this post.

So now, we make it back to chapter 135.

I think having stewed on it for a month now, I like the element of mindscrewing our cast with the Titans of the people they love is the strongest element of it. It's making them face their personal traumas and we also get some great character moments and payoffs from it.

Mikasa ended off the year in a very good note in my eyes.

Even this deep in the story, this chapter left me in a situation where I have no idea how things might turn out.

I might have rough ideas, but not anything specific and that's fun.

Well, this is it on my retrospective.

2021 is confirmed to be AoT's final year of publication as volume 34 is set to be the story's final volume.

Those who hate the story can finally be free of it and those who care for it, can look back on it with fondness and sadness and many other emotions and evaluate.

It's been 7 years for me. What a wild ride.

So, I'm asking everyone, what are some of your observations on AoT in 2020?

Is there anything you'd like to add or do you have any observations or counterarguments for anything I've said?

I'd be curious to see what everyone else thought of AoT in 2020!

[levis-hazelnut]

Summary: when you and your best friend, Hanji, were younger, you had made up stories about your dream guys - what they would look like and how you would meet. What happens when the one you had made up appears to be real?

Warning(s): I don’t think there are any in this chapter. But, please do tell me if there are any.

Taglist (closed!): @castellandiangelo @fandom-addict19​ @20coldhearts​

Status: completed!

part 4 > part 5 > part 6

series masterlist

It's been exactly five days since that time I yelled at Jean and Levi. What did I do during these days? Well, first of all, both males had sat down with me at lunch the next day, making Hanji, Connie, Sasha and Armin leave the table. Surprisingly, they apologised for things they weren't at fault for, so I shut them up, telling them they did nothing wrong. After that, they told me they won't stick their noses in my business and would let me tell them what was on my mind if I wanted to. We sorted everything out and ended up spending the rest of lunch being stupid, including Levi who tried covering up a couple of chuckles behind coughs. Since our table looked fun, those who left came back, along with Petra, Isabel and Farlan.

After uni ended that day, Jean and I stopped by at the cafe Eren worked at. I spoke to him about how I think he should forget about me because the relationship we had was in the past and he should move on. He did seem upset (obviously) but he understood what I was saying. Of course, however, he continued flirting with me. But that made sense since he can't just get over me like that and it's a habit of his to flirt with the first girl in sight. He claimed he was glad that I wasn't avoiding him or acting awkward around him. Soon, we parted ways and headed home. And the rest of the four days, I got over the fact that Petra and Levi were now in a relationship and I can't do anything about it. So, I was back to my usual, crazy, energetic and friendly self which Hanji, Eren, Jean and Levi were happy about. Though, one of those people had no way of showing me that (Levi). Now, it's Saturday (one week after the raven and strawberry-blonde went on their first date). Once again, me and Levi were sitting at the table with our laptops in front of us. Instead of hot drinks, we had iced drinks with all the windows open, seeing as how the weather was smouldering. This time I didn't have a gloomy expression, more like a smile which would often widen as Levi and I messed around. And there wasn't the depressing sound of Lo-Fi, we took turns in playing summery songs that only made our moods better. "Oi, stop singing. You sound like a cow and sheep fucking." I laughed and chucked a pen at him since it was the only projectile near me and he swiftly dodged it. Unfortunately, for the brunette with glasses, who happened to walk behind Levi at that moment, she got hit by the pen. I quickly apologised before locking eyes with Levi. "As if you sing any better," I retorted, about to take a bite of my sandwich, but it soon disappeared from my grip because of Hanji who took a bite before passing it back to me. "Hey, by the way, Erwin's coming over soon, but then we're going to go out," Hanji announced as she chewed on the food, causing both me and the raven to scrunch our noses up in disgust. "Wait. Erwin?" he repeated and shot me a questioning glance. "Yeah, our professor," I confirmed his vague query. "They're in a relationship." What the hell?" he murmured which I snorted at. "Anyway, that's fine." "You aren't going to be distracted?" "Uh, we're barely even concentrating because of the heat and this assignment isn't exactly fun," I said, standing up and stretching before taking Levi's glass and going into the kitchen to refill our glasses with mojito that I made. "You don't mind, right, Ackerman?" I questioned and placed the glass in front of him. "Yeah, whatever. It's not my apartment," he stated, looking down at his phone. I flicked his forehead, causing him to scowl once he glanced up at me. "What was that for, brat?" "I'd appreciate it if you give me your full attention when I'm talking to you," I smirked. "Sure, your majesty." He rolled his eyes but put his phone away, nevertheless. "What do you want?" "Nothing, really. Just wanted to make you look up." "To see your repulsive face? You're torturing me too much," he teased and I snorted before taking a sip of my drink. "Hm. You're really thirsty, aren't you?" If I hadn't swallowed the minty beverage a second before his remark, it would have spewed onto his face. My face grew red and I chucked a pencil at him. He dodged it once again as a smug smirk rested on his lips. "I hate you, you know," I muttered. I was so grateful that Hanji went back to her room because she would irritate the hell out of me about it, with Levi's presence here or not. "Yeah, right. Just as much as you hate that Eren kid?" "I have no romantic feelings for him. He's my best friend, other than Hanji, and he's a hell of a lot better at keeping me company than you." "Well, I obviously can't give you the attention he does since I'll be cheating." "Ugh, why did I even invite you?" "Because you don't hate me and I'm amazing at keeping you company." "Say whatever you want, Ackerman." "... Oi." "What?" "I'd appreciate it if you had your attention on me while I'm talking." "Yeah, give me one second," I told him as I continued typing away on my phone and I heard a sigh, which made me look up at him. "Is your pitiful ass upset because I'm not noticing you?" I mocked in an innocent voice. "Tch." He crossed his arms over his chest and faced away from me. "Why would I be upset, darlin'?" "Because you love me so much. And I'm your bestest friend in the whole, wide world." "You're such a child," he chuckled lightly. which made me smile. "Thank y--" I was cut off by the sound of the buzzer, so I stood up and approached the front door before getting pushed by Hanji who sprinted down the corridor to answer the door for her boyfriend. I clicked my tongue before going back to the table where Levi and I sat. "Someone's horny," I mumbled. "Hey, I'm not bothered to carry on with this. Let's just chill." "Sure. What do you want to do?" "I don't know. You should never ask me what I want; I'm the most indecisive person." "Fine. Seeing as how the weather is nice, let's go out somewhere." "Stop, stop!" a hushed voice giggled, catching mine and Levi's attention. "(Y/N) and Levi are here." I rolled my eyes and I could see that Levi was holding back a laugh. "Forget about them. So, where should we go?" I inquired, which Levi shrugged to before both of our heads turned towards two figures entering the room. "Hey, Erwin," I greeted with a smile. "Ah, hi, (Y/N). I didn't expect to see you here, Levi." "Likewise, Smith." The blonde male didn't regard the way in which Levi spoke and simply smiled at both of us. I'm going to be completely honest and say that Hanji is lucky to have a man like him. He's handsome, caring, polite and basically the embodiment of charming. And Hanji mentioned how great he is in bed. I never wished to know that, but whatever, it's Hanji so no one can stop her from saying her shit. Nevertheless, I love her. And I would never think about moving onto her boyfriend, well, it's not like I actually developed feelings for him. I kind of see him as an older brother or something of the sort. "Hey, Hanji, what's something fun to do outside today?" I questioned. "Um... Picnic in the park, go to the beach, cycle, visit a zoo--" "Okay, thanks," I cut her off before there would be too many decisions to choose from. "Why are you asking?" she asked before gasping in excitement. "Are you going on a date?!" "I don't see why you would be so surprised if I had a date, but no, I don't," I said, arching a single brow. "Me and Levi gave up on this shitty assignment, and since we shouldn't be inside when it's so sunny outside, we decided to do something," I told her before realising that the work we were doing was for the professor standing beside her. "I mean, we've finished it and we deserve a reward for doing so well," I joked and the male with cerulean eyes chuckled softly. "I appreciate your choice of words for describing the task I gave you. I'll be sure to remember that when I grade it," he teased, with an undertone of warning. "You know, you're the best professor in our uni." He shook his head and smiled. "Go out. I don't want to ruin your fun because of 'this shitty assignment'." "Haha, you know I was only joking about that. Anyway, let's go, Mr Moody," I said and got up from my seat, stretching. "You're going to out in your pyjamas?" "Oh, right. Wait here, I'm going to quickly change." "Okay." I rushed into my bedroom and sifted through my clothes, finding a white, lace singlet, along with baby blue, jean shorts. I slipped both pieces of clothing on before styling my hair into a half-up, half-down ponytail and put on sunglasses to rest on my head for now. I grabbed whatever I needed and stuffed it into a small bag, hooking it onto my shoulder before leaving my room. Hanji and Erwin were on the sofa as I spotted Levi leaning against the table, we previously sat at, with his backpack slung over his shoulder. I gestured for him to come and he came to my side as we both waved at the couple before proceeding to leave. We both slipped on our shoes and left, taking the stairs to go down. As soon as I opened the main door of the building, the heat slapped us and the sun blazed in our faces so I positioned my sunglasses to protect me from the light that threatened to blind me. "So where are we going?" the male beside me asked. "Pick from the things Hanji suggested. Maybe not a picnic since we didn't prepare any food for that unless you want to be lazy and just buy things. Also, not the beach because it'll take a while to get there and then there'll be no point since we'll only be there for a short while." "So picnic, cycling, and the zoo?" he listed and I nodded as he thought about it. "... Picnic in the park - let's be lazy and buy things." "Okay. Shall we head to the shops first?" "Yeah." ~/~ The grass tickled my bare skin as I laid on my back, with my eyes closed, one leg was arched as the other was stretched across the ground. My head leaned on one of my arms as my other arm rested over my stomach. Music rang in my ears, which I softly hummed to, from Levi's phone that rested in between us. Said male laid on his side, propped up by one of his elbows. He had his head in his palm and held a book in his other hand. Before we were relaxing like this, we had eaten the snacks and food we bought, though, some remained since we may have gotten too much stuff. Then, we decided to take over the playground, and apparently, we seemed to have intimidated some kids. Pfft, they're such scaredy cats. Why couldn't an eighteen (me) and nineteen-year-old (Levi since he's a few months older than me *eye roll*) mess around as well? Once we laughed at the children's faces, we came back to this spot and decided to just relax. Barely any words were spoken. A sigh left my lips when I felt my phone vibrate in the back pocket of my shorts. I fished it out before bringing it to my ear. "Hello?" "Hey, (Y/N)!" "Hi, Petra," I smiled and rolled over, onto my stomach. "What's up?" "I was wondering if Levi is still with you." "Yeah. We're in the park. Is something wrong?" "No, no. I was just trying to call Levi, but he wasn't answering his phone." "Oh, here you can talk to him.” "Thank you," she said before I passed my phone to Levi, so he could talk to Petra. He put his book down before taking my phone. I took his book and read the blurb before turning to the first page, trying not to listen in into their conversation. I'd say I've improved - there's barely any jealousy in me (okay, maybe a little), I don't turn bitchy when I see them two, and I don't have to fake smile anymore. The tone in which he spoke in was hardly any different to how he talks to anyone else, but I could hear a hint of something gentle. A soft smile touched my lips when I listened to his voice (not his words, mind you) and I wished I could listen to it on repeat. It was his usual nonchalant voice, mixed with a soft timbre, which was a sign he cared about Petra. He spoke in a hushed tone that almost sounded like a purr. I wasn't even concentrating on the book in front of me anymore. I kept on reading the same sentence over and over but I still wasn't able to understand the printed words since I was stuck in a daze because of Levi's voice. "What are you smiling about?" "Your voice is nice," I blurted out without thinking what I was saying. Once I realised what I said, my eyes slightly widened as I averted them from the book to him to see he was smirking. "I mean--" "Whatever, you weirdo," he cut me off, the smirk still present. He gave my phone back and stole the book from my hands and flipped the pages over until he reached the one he stopped on before his phone call. "And what are you smirking about?" "It's amusing to see you get nervous," he replied with a shrug, his eyes absorbing the information on the page. With a roll of my eyes, I returned to my original position but rested my head on Levi's lap this time since he was sitting with his legs outstretched. He flicked my forehead, which I ignored, as I took my phone in my hands when I got a few messages from Eren after taking a sip of the iced tea I bought. 'Hey (Y/N)' 'I got off work early today' 'Wanna go out somewhere since the sun's out?' I wasn't bothered to type so I decided to call him. He picked up after about five seconds and spoke a small 'hello'. "Hi, Eren." "Hey." "Basically, the thing is... I'm in the park with Levi right now." "Oh." "But," I began before glancing up at the raven whose eyes were still on the book. "Hey, Ackerman?" "What?" "Would you mind if Eren came?" "He's your boyfriend, do whatever." I rolled my eyes. "Sorry about that. But, you could come and join us, or we can go out somewhere later?" "I don't mind. What did Levi say?" "He doesn't care. We aren't really doing anything, though." "What park are you at?" "The one near my apartment." "... Do you mind if I come since I'm around there?" "Of course, I don't, you doofus. And, we can still do something later." "Okay. I'll be there in a few minutes. See you later, angel." "Bye, love," I went along with the joke. "And you say he isn't your boyfriend," Levi muttered. "He isn't. I already told you we're just stupid kind of friends that act like a couple by calling each other names. Don't think anything more of it." "Well, why are you so defensive? Also, you've never mentioned that you have an interest in someone." Yeah, well, that's because the person I have interest in is you and you're taken, I thought. "Just because I haven't mentioned it, doesn't mean I don't." "Well, do share, darlin'." "I thought you weren't going to get involved in my business." "But you don't seem upset about it." "Look, you asshole, I have no obligation to tell you, so--" "Hi," a voice cut me off and I flitted my eyes over to the figure that was protecting me from the sun. "Eren!" I beamed and tugged on his wrist which caused him to fall. I hugged him as he struggled to get off of me. "Where are you going? I haven't seen you for the entire week." "I'm probably crushing you right now. Let go of me, (Y/N)." "Hmph. Fine." I released him from my grip and he rolled off of me, sitting up next to me as I still laid on my back. "This is a park, you two might want to keep it PG," the male that I rested my head on commented. "Shut up and read your book." I scowled at him before facing Eren. "There are snacks and drinks, help yourself." "Okay, thanks," he grinned and laid down next to me, resting his head on Levi's leg as well. "Oi, I'm not a fucking pillow." "You are now," I told him bluntly. "So, how was work?" "It was all right. Horseface came in and decided to annoy me. However, he did look kind of upset about something. When I asked him what's up, he just scoffed and told me that it's none of my business. Typical of him, but I think if you ask him, he'll tell you." "I'll ask him later. Right now, I just want to relax without having to deal with anything," I sighed and turned to look at the sky. Eren glanced at Levi to see that he was still engrossed in whatever book he was reading and he slightly nudged me. I gave him a questioning glance and he motioned for me to come closer, so I did. "What's wrong?" I questioned the teal-eyed male. "How come you aren't depressed anymore?" "I got myself together. I realised there's no point in getting upset over something I can't change and just pushed everything to the back of my mind. Are you proud of me for doing that?" I asked like a little child, wanting praise. "Yeah," he smiled, tousling my hair. I shifted my head to rest on Eren's shoulder and closed my eyes, breathing in his entrancing scent and feeling content next to him. "Ackerman?" "Hm?" "Are you okay?" "Yeah, why?" "You're unusually quiet." "Maybe because I'm reading. Are you okay? You're being unusually kind." "Excuse me? I'm always nice." "As if," he scoffed. If my eyes were open, I would have rolled them. "If you're so nice, why don't you have a boyfriend?" "Seriously? You're still asking about that?" I didn't even bother to look at him since I was comfortable with my position. "Forget about it. Forget I said anything about liking someone since I have no intention in telling you, or anyone, right now." "... Is it Eren?" "No," I huffed. No matter how much Eren and I acted like a couple, we would never develop feelings for each other. I always have and always will see him as a brother, but not one that annoys the hell out of me. The one that cares for me and gets angry if someone would hurt me. The love we feel for each other is not romantic. ~/~ "Ah, it feels so nice to have a shower after sweating all day," I sighed in delight and plopped down onto the sofa in between Eren and Levi, who were talking about something before they both fell silent. I only cocked an eyebrow but didn't say anything, brushing it off. "Eren?" "Sure," he already replied without hearing my request. I grinned and passed him my hairbrush as he proceeded to brush my hair when I slightly turned my back towards him, now facing Levi who had his gaze on the floor. "Do you two want something to eat? We haven't had dinner and it's already nine o'clock," I suggested. "Yeah. But, do you have things to cook?" Eren pointed out. "Yep. What do you guys want?" I asked them, and Levi only shrugged, leaning back against the sofa. "What do you have?" "I'm not sure. I'll have to check, but I know we have ingredients to make a simple meal." "I kind of just feel like pasta," Eren spoke. "But like really saucy and cheesy." "What, like me?" I chuckled at my own stupid joke and I could imagine he rolled his eyes. I witnessed Levi's lips curl upwards slightly as he shook his head at my stupidity. "Anyway, I'm sure we've got pasta, and stuff to make the sauce, and cheese. Thanks, by the way," I smiled at Eren when he passed me back the hairbrush. I got up and quickly placed it back in my room before going back to the living room. "Both of you can have a shower while I cook something if you want," I told them as Eren nodded, leaving the room. "Darlin', there's one bathroom, so you better not be suggesting anything." I rolled my eyes. "There's actually two. Hanji has an ensuite and she won't mind if you use it. I'm sure you don't want to sit around after sweating, especially with you being a clean-freak, so go ahead. You can borrow Eren's clothes since I'm pretty sure he's left some here." "And you still claim you aren't in a relationship with the boy?" "Yes. Also, if we were dating, why would we hide it? And don't you think that I would've just given up and told you by now?" "Maybe you hide it because you're ashamed of something. And you're a stubborn brat, I doubt you would break." "Just shut up and go have a shower," I snapped with a playful tone, showing him I wasn't actually annoyed. "I'll get you some clothes and leave them on Hanji's bed; there should already be a towel in there." "Okay, thanks." I went to look for some of Eren's clothes. After a bit of hunting, I found a t-shirt and joggers, neatly folded, and I left it on Hanji's bed. When I went to the kitchen, I noticed Eren already fishing through the cupboards and had previously already found the pasta. "Hey," I spoke, catching his attention. He turned around and gave me a grin before looking for ingredients again. "You can sit down, I don't need help." "Are you sure your clumsy ass doesn't need help? I do remember when you nearly sliced your finger off like an idiot. And when you tripped over your own feet and dropped a plate. And--" "Okay, okay. Fine, you can help," I pouted. "I'm not that clumsy, though," I muttered to which Eren only chuckled softly. "Whatever you say, princess. Boil water in this pot," he told me and I nodded, doing as he said. I then helped him look for everything else as we set everything out on the counters and began preparing our dinner. It was silent until the teenage male spoke up. "... (Y/N)?" "Hm?" "What are you going to do about Levi and Petra?" he asked quietly, causing me to look up at him as he came by my side. "I don't know... There isn't anything I can do. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens. I mean, me and Hanji did say that there would be so many girls chasing after him, yet he still chooses me," I described another detail in the stupid story thing we created. "Hey, don't look so down. It's been five months, not a few years, so you still have time to see what the future holds," Eren grinned, noticing the gloomy expression that cast over my visage. I gave him a small smile and looped my arms around him, feeling him embrace me tighter as my cheek pressed against his chest. I wish I could live in Eren's hug, there's nothing I love more than his hugs since he always comforts me and cares for me, and he smells so damn good, especially after coming out of the shower. "Oi, lovebirds." I huffed inaudibly before parting from the hug. "... What?" I spat, not meaning for it to sound so harsh, as I turned around to look at the raven. "Hm, so you are dating?" he smirked and went to sit down at the dining table, crossing his leg over the other. "What do you mean?" I inquired, folding my arms over my chest as Eren continued cooking. "If you weren't dating, you would have responded to 'lovebirds' or at least retorted with something. However, you didn't." "Or maybe I just got tired of correcting you." I arched an eyebrow, approaching him to flick his forehead. But, he grabbed my wrist, preventing me from doing that. I wiggled out of his grip and just frowned at him. "What will it take to prove that we aren't in a relationship?" "I just want to point something else out: Eren doesn't deny it whenever I say you two are dating." "Because he thinks you're an idiot. Now, tell me what it'll take." "Not a legitimate answer, but whatever. Anyway, you know I'm just messing with you when I say all this. I know you two aren't boyfriend and girlfriend." "Tch. Why do you have to be so annoying?" I muttered, plopping down in a chair next to him and he ruffled my hair. "I only annoy you, darlin'. You should be happy that you're special." "Whatever. I'm going to go help Eren with dinner." "Do you need help?" "Two people are enough. Thank you, though." "You just want to be alone with your boyfriend, don't you?" Levi stated when I turned my back to him, but he never knew I was holding a knife in my hands. So, to let him know, I faced him. "You better shut your mouth before this accidentally pierces you, Ackerman," I growled and he only laughed under his breath. God, what being on Earth is able to make that sound? Why is he so gorgeous in so many ways? Why can he make me feel like this, yet, I have no effect on him? Why can't I just jump onto him, and hug him, and kiss him, and love him, and marry him?

[universallywriting]

Hello, I stan Connie and I’m going to use my English degree to prove she’s going to be super important in SUF. There’s obviously no personal bias here, so let’s get started with my 100% flawless logic.

We've finally got an outright statement of personal issues in Prickly Pair and Little Homeschool, really starting off Steven’s character arc. How you doin' over there Steven?

"I've already said enough."

Cool! That's some crippling repression there, champ. Gold medal in refusing to talk about stuff. He made a new baby, he dumped all of his issues onto it, it grew up with rage issues and just wanted a hug. History repeats itself, right Steve-o? You’ve heard that one a couple times before. But everyone's already talking about Steven's bad time. I’m going to let smarter people than me talk about Steven.

Instead, I wanna talk about Connie and how she’ll play a big part in his arc.

Because at the beginning of this new series, I remember Steven giving a cool rundown of what everyone was doing. Sadie's touring with the Killers, Lars is in his pastry shop, and Connie's getting a headstart on college prep. And we finally got to see them! Sadie, Lars, how's that going?

Lars is going to space.

Sadie's band is breaking up.

Way to go, Steven. You’re nailing it this season. It looks like people certainly are changing and moving on from Steven's expectations. Not to mention that Little Graduation specifically calls out the things Steven doesn't know. Steven doesn't know how Lars and Sadie decided to end it - it was private, none of his business. He can't be involved in every conversation. People don't tell him everything. And, sometimes, the assumptions he makes about people are completely off base.

Unlike a lot of other cartoons, Steven's love interest Connie is a reoccurring character rather than a main. She's more likely to be missing from an episode than in it. One of the biggest arguments the fan base has had for this over the years is that it makes it feel like Connie has her own life. All the way up through Nightmare Hospital we know that Connie is still studying hard, playing tennis, and playing violin, despite us rarely seeing it, because those are things Connie does around Steven.

Continuing this line of logic, it’s also important to note that Connie is the one of the few people in the series who doesn't constantly dump their problems on Steven.  And if people don't dump their problems on him, Steven assumes they don't exist. We've even seen this several times with Connie before. Unlike the Crystal Gems, Connie doesn't breakdown sobbing. She doesn't scream. She goes flat and internalizes those feelings. And Steven really struggles with that.

Steven: You don't seem mad Connie: I'm thinking mad.

Connie: But I'm hurt. Steven: No you're not! You're safe!

Much like the relationship between Lars and Sadie, there’s probably a lot going out out of Steven’s sight, and he assumes that means there’s nothing there. Does Connie still struggle with her parents? Probably, but she doesn't tell Steven. Does Connie still struggle with making friends? Probably, but she doesn't tell Steven. Is Connie scared about her future, confused about what comes next? Probably, but she doesn't tell Steven. After all, this is a girl who was locked up on Homeworld and her only concern was making sure Steven felt okay. Connie knows what Steven goes through:

Connie: Even though it must be hard for him having to be the adult for a bunch of super-powered children!

And she knows he's dealing with bigger things than she is:

Connie: No, Steven. I understand now! Your legacy, your destiny, you are everything! And I... I am nothing... But I can do this for you! I can give you my service!

So, if Connie is struggling, I don't think Steven would know. She wouldn't bring those problems to them. She wouldn't reach out. She and Steven are very similar in that, and in a lot of other things. As she said earlier in Sworn to the sword, “I don’t wanna be a burden, I wanna help!” Which brings us to what Connie might be struggling with, and how they could go through it together.

Steven: Guess plants aren’t as cool as liberating the galaxy.

The movie and Steven Universe: Future both seem very preoccupied with the idea of what happens to the hero after he’s finished his story. Steven saved the galaxy, and that was big and important and wonderful, but he was also fourteen. If you include dismantling the empire, sixteen. Even if he lives a normal human lifespan, he’s got a long way to go. So what do you do after that? How does anything in normal life compare to making that big of a difference, after spending years pushing and training for a singular goal? And who could understand that?

I’m not exactly subtle with what I’m going for. It’s Connie “I want to be part of your universe” Maheswaran. She drops everything to come help Steven the moment he calls. She always has her sword ready. She was with him every moment she could be while they were on Homeworld, and went through the worst of it by his side. 

The fact that most of Connie’s character development has come through learning to fight is something that’s been criticized because her character is so centered around it. Her little character arc in Gem Hunt/Crack the Whip is about her gaining the courage to fight. She’s able to confront her mother in Nightmare Hospital because of her sword training. Her problem in Mindful Education is that she’s been training so hard it’s leaking into her every day life.

But that could actually mean something. Steven has finished his hero’s quest, so who is he without it? Connie has been a faithful knight, but there’s no enemies left to fight, so who is she without it? At 14 and 12 Steven and Connie stood side by side to try to liberate the galaxy. And then you just go back and… what? Be human? What does that even mean? Connie probably assumes it means going to college, because that’s what the plan always was before.

So maybe Connie Maheswaran was defined by her sword, and her ability to fight by Steven’s side because they want to show what happens when they take it away.

It’s a coming of age story, and our two child war heroes have no battles left to fight. I think they’ve got plenty to talk about, and I think Connie is the character best able to understand his position.

Or maybe she’s just a love interest support toy and she’ll just show up and give him a hug after he fixes everything with, like, Spinel or something. I don’t know, y’all, I’m not a prophet. I just want my daughter back. Where’s my daughter, Becky? Studying and space camp are not acceptable answers.

[sofijaeger]

so i took my psats today and lemme tell you...

IT SUCKED ASS

i sat for four hours reading about bumblebees and ravens, for what? to most likely receive a three-digit number as my score😫

And it didn’t help that I thought about:

HOW THE AOT FAM TAKES BIG > TESTS <

| modern, high school au |

eren. would be completely out of the zone from the start. Waking up early only to sit still for hours, on top of trying to complete questions within restrictions of time gets him so frustrated. How can he answer the questions when he’s forced to read page-long excerpts in less than a minute? He thinks the tests are absolutely ridiculous (and used these reasons to back up his real excuse of never knowing there was a prep course).

jean. To be fair, he did try at the beginning, and understood a good amount of the questions, but his brain couldn’t separate math and calculator, so by the start of the third section he was a goner. Probably watched the PSAT cheats and tricks on tik tok for prep, and by the end he just randomly bubbled answers in hopes the majority of them would be right.

armin. Let’s all think logically here and say that armin prepped before it was even mentioned at school, and he plugged his scores into his early college account from the previous years so it was ✨personalized✨ for his advanced learning capabilities. He still didn’t enjoy sitting in his seat for so long, and became fatigued quickly. Mom and Pap’s were most likely the main source of pressure, and he studied so much the poor baby didn’t see his friends for weeks:( Besides that, it’s safe to say he’s winning a National Merit Scholarship😌🏆

mikasa. I see her being such a great student and making very little mistakes, but those small slip ups can affect a lot and IT BOTHERS HER. Can she answer all the questions? with pin-point accuracy, but she’s completely unaware of time management, and she’ll be bubbling her answer into question 9 out of 36 at the ‘10 minutes left’ mark. Lowkey gets pissed in the last few sections and might even bubble random answers if she must.

Reiner. The poor dude has so much potential, and is a very academically and athletically inclined student, but cannot function in silence no matter how hard he tries. Something about hearing his own thoughts gets the best of his anxiety, and he probably shakes his leg like a motor engine or uses his #2 pencils to become the lead drummer in a rock band to think out each questions. Every, single, one. Everyone continuously tells him to stfu.

Historia. she also prepped for the test, but not as much as armin because she has to keep her social life in check too. Was definitely prepared for the test until she got there, because she wore a light blouse or something and forgot that testing rooms are ALWAYS cold. (idk man it’s the algorithm). bb was shivering the whole time and could barely focus

Ymir. Who the fuck put ymir at the opposite side of the classroom as Historia. Ymir couldn’t really care less about the test, but actually tried until she heard tiny teeth chattering from the other side of the room. She was so pissed the entire time watching her poor girl freeze, and she would’ve gotten up and given her, her jacket if it werent for Levi sitting at the desk right next to her.

Levi. HAH he’s the supervisor. Mainly because he’s the only person who manages to shut the entire class up, yet he seemed very content knowing he could receive a peaceful quietness for a few hours. His eyebrows even unfurrowed for the first time in well, forever. I know y’all would think he did exceptionally well, but this dude didn’t give one shit back when he was in high school. (Still managed to snag a decent score bc he’s god-like🙄🤚🏼)

Sasha. Academic wise she did quite well, and didn’t stress in either subject bc she’s pretty smart, she just won’t admit it. But when this girl realized she couldn’t touch her snacks for 4 freaking hours she threw a fit. Had a whole thanksgiving meal before she got to school, and kept fidgeting in her seat to make her tummy grumbles go away. (they never went away).

connie. he assumed it wasn’t mandatory and didn’t show up to school for his freashman practice. He slept through his sophomore one too. By Junior year though he wanted to take it more seriously and tried asking teachers and friends around for help, but since covid rolled around, it wasn’t mandatory anymore. Babes never signed up and has still yet to take it😩.

I might do a part two, so let me know if you’d like that!!