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bratshaws · 2 years ago

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through the hourglass 128. brb x oc

a/n: aaaaa yeah I'm a bit nervous??? posting this??? idk why lol .my anxiety is a bit all over the place... reblogs and comments are super encouraged <3333

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

warnings: none.

goodness gracious (pls read this one to know more what this fic is about!!)

chapter

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/89/90/91/92/93/94/95/96/97/98/99/100/101/102/103/104/105

/106/107/108/109/110/111/112/113/114/115/116/117/118/119/120/121

/122/123/124/125/126/127

(pls let me know if you want to be added to the taglist! )

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@peachiicherries @mak-32 @lizziespidiepridie @roosterswifey @ollyoxenfrees @piceous21 @sqrlgrl22 @hofficoffi @lexhalstead3 @lorilane33 @legendarydreamersharkparty @luckyladycreator2

@emilybradshaw @j-6o @louisahale @leobabbyyy @kulicny @winter-run @ktjmac @graciereads @bigpoppajes @taytaylala12

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Christmas Eve.

It should be a relaxing time to enjoy the celebrations with your family, but Beatrice was extremely nervous. She made a list of food she knew her mother would usually make and the ones she couldn’t eat, she was staring at it now, flicking her gaze back and forth as she tried to make a connection if it was safe or not.

So far…everything was good. So far.

Beatrice was with Nicole, her little daughter lying on her stomach and playing with one of the many brain stimulating toys she got. They were for eight months and up but ever since she saw Nicole playing in Evelyn’s house, Beatrice thought it’d be a good idea to do that to her and she was right.

Because Nicole was really good with the pegboard puzzles already, barely needing much direction from her parents when she did so. Beatrice leans against the headboard, chewing the end of her pen as she hears Rooster’s feet coming up the stairs, her husband stops by the threshold and leans his shoulder on it, ‘Watcha doin’?” he asks, tilting his head ‘You look focused.”

“I’m signing what I can and cannot eat when we go to my parents.” she explains, “And what I can eat without rising suspicion.”

Rooster hummed, pushing himself off the threshold to smile at Nicole, who grinned up at him before chewing the silicon star happily, “And you are keeping mommy company,huh?” he asks sweetly, kissing her forehead and sitting down next to Beatrice, Nicole was surrounded by her parents’ legs almost like they were walls, “And how is it going,so far?”

“It’s…going okay?”

He peeks over at the paper, smiling when he notices she drew tiny christmas themed pictures all over the paper, alongside tiny cannolis that had extra ‘ok’ around them, “Your mom always does something new every Christmas. You told me she did that uhh…pasta pie once.”

“‘Ncasciata.” she says, “It was pretty good too…kinda heavy. Too much work too, amazingly my mother thinks that sometimes.” she taps the paper, “I can’t have…too much fish- no I can but only certain types. Swordfish is a no no, thankfully she’s not making that this year.”

“That fish was really good.” he recalls, “It’s probably one of my favorite things I had for christmas.”

‘She’s making a huge chicken this year, no turkey. One of my father’s friends has an organic farm away from San Diego and he has these huge chickens so they got that…what else,” she flips the page, “Oh, there’s also roasted garlic potatoes,which I can eat as long it’s not too much.”

“Okay.”

“...and the dessert, from all the options,” she taps the tip on each word, “I think it’ll be either chocolate lava cake or hazelnut chocolate tart, which I can eat. It adds to the babies’ diet.” she frowns,however, “....oh god I have to think about the things my aunt is going to bring.”

“Or,” he cuts her gently, “You can stay within your mom’s cooking and don’t worry about it too much.”

“...I guess.”

He smiles,kissing the curve of her shoulder and chuckling when she squeaked and bunched up to prevent the tickling from his mustache against her skin, which of course only made Rooster kiss her even harder, nuzzling the soft skin of her neck and then propping his chin on the curve of her neck, “You are worrying too much, babe.”

“...I know, it’s not–I don’t know Roos.” she whispered, “I want everything to go well, Nicole’s was fine.” Their little daughter was now sitting up, placing shapes in their respective holes with a gentle giggle, back to them, “And I want the twins’ to be fine. And we need to be careful…and…yeah.”

Bradley hummed, his voice vibrating against her skin as he kissed her neck one more time, this time wrapping his arms around her waist as carefully as he could, bringing her closer to his side, his lips moving up to rest against her temple,”It’ll be okay.” she made a little noise that he always found adorable even if it meant she was upset. His thumb drew random shapes on the fabric of her sweater, feeling the braided wool rubbing against his finger, “You’ll see….we just gotta be careful, that’s all.”

“I know…”

“But you are also worried because of your family.”

“And Mav. And Penny.” she whispers, “And Amelia, you know I did really good at the bar. Penny didn’t notice anything and neither did Shells.” she explains, “But…what if I slip up and do something? I just want the babies to be safe… and I don’t want anyone to think I’m being a bitch or anything, I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.”

Rooster loved how caring she was, it didn’t matter what or to whom,Beatrice has proven time and time again that she’s the sweetest human he had the privilege of knowing and of course, marrying and loving so much.He tries to cover his smile in her hair, sniffing the lavender shampoo that held onto the brown tresses, “You are so cute.” he whispers, kissing her scalp, “Cutest human being in this whole wide universe. I can’t handle you sometimes.”

She looked up at him with the perfect personification of the ‘:(‘ emoji and his heart clenched, “Baby….aw,honey.” he cups her close to his chest, letting her hug his middle and bury her face in his shirt, “My gorgeous girl, you are too sweet, you are too nice. You’d never hurt anyone.”

“Hrmmm…”

“I’m serious, you are just too kind.”

Beatrice only smiled up at him in thanks, then nuzzled his chest, “I try to…sometimes I think I am too kind.”

“You aren’t stupid if that’s what you are suggesting.”

Beatrice smiles more,hugging his middle and sighing quietly,enjoying the noises coming from Nicole’s constant trying to fit the shapes in its’ holes and the dogs walking downstairs, but her favorite sound had to be Rooster’s heartbeat, “Thank you,Roos.” she whispers, ‘...You know, it’s crazy that the first time you met my family was three years ago.”

“Hah.” his chest bounces with the sudden chuckle,”I had so much fun. It was the best Christmas I had in a while,gorgeous.” he says, twirling the ends of her hair with his finger as the two watch Nicole discover her brain by herself, babbling happily in front of them, “And now,I have a ring on my finger that you put it there and I put one on yours.” she giggles a bit, hugging him tighter, “We’ll be okay,Bea…I know you are still nervous,I can feel it in you.”

‘Hrm.”

“Your shoulders tense up like crazy.” he explains, running the tip of his index finger on her shoulder, following until he touched her shoulder blade, “And you clench your jaw. Not often, but enough notice.”

“Yeah…you are right.” she relaxes a bit, “I should let it go for now, if I worry too much people will…notice.I’m just not a good liar Roos,you know that.I can’t hide a lot from people.”

“I mean, you did lie sometimes.” he pinches his fingers, leaving a small space between them, “Just a little white lie. Nothing bad.”

She laughs,sighing again, “...anyway, let’s change the subject for a bit because I feel like I’ll get worse: are you excited for Virginia? We’ll go at the end of this week.”

His chest expanded over the mention of his home state, his eyes softening, “Yeah,I am.” he smiles, “I miss that place a lot sometimes.”

“...would you ever live there again?”

He purses his lips, shaking his head briefly, “Probably not. I love it there but…it brings a lot of bad,bad memories. I’d rather stay wherever you stay.” he smirks, dropping a soft kiss to her forehead, “It’s much better.”

“What if I want to go to the North Pole?”

“You hate the cold.” he says with his lips still glued to her forehead, “You’d never go to the North Pole, you’d stay somewhere warm and tropical…like Brazil.”

“Brazil,huh?”

“I had a Brazilian classmate, he was really fun.”

“And you’d go with me.”

“Of course,” he smirks, “You’d wear those tiny bikinis too,I’d be all for it.”

Beatrice swats his chest playfully and her husband laughs, holding his arms up in defense. Nicole looks back to stare at her parents, immediately forgetting about whatever she was doing to smile at them. She crawls over, squeezing herself between her parents and trying her best to push herself up only to fall back on her bottom on top of the mattress, “Birdie, you can’t stand up yet.” Rooster coos, cupping Nicole under the armpits and raising her to his lips,kissing those chubby cheeks over and over, “But with how things are going I wouldn’t put it behind you, baby girl, you are one smart little cookie.”

Beatrice just grins, watching the conversation between her husband and daughter, only looking away when her phone started to ring. Considering it was Christmas Eve, she assumed it’d be her distant relatives wishing her Merry Christmas or her siblings asking what time she was coming.

She was right about one thing.

It was her aunt Martha calling. She unlocks the phone to take the call, “Buon Natale,zia Martha.”

Her aunt’s laughter was heard by Rooster,”Preziosa, è ancora la vigilia di Natale. Christmas is tomorrow.” she says, “But, yes, buon natale. I was calling to ask if you all are coming at the scheduled time tonight?”

“Um…yeah, why?”

“No reason, I was simply curious. How is the little principessa?”

“She is,” Beatrice turns, smiling when she sees that Rooster just allowed Nicole to climb on his face and practically use him as her personal pillow, “Amazing, She’s great.”

“Good, good, she’s a healthy little baby. You two will have strong and healthy children.”

Beatrice blinked over her aunt’s words, “...thank you,auntie.”

“So don’t worry too much.”

Beatrice almost threw the phone out of her grasp, but instead chose to widen her eyes and inhale so sharply that Rooster heard her, lifting Nicole enough to look at his wife with his brows furrowed, “Thank you,zia.”

“Oh, do not thank me. I just want you all to be okay.” she put a lot of emphasis on the all “I have a special gift for you,by the way, well,all of you.”

“Oh,zia, thank you.” she says softly, “You didn’t have to.”

“Nonsense. I want to help you and your family, you know I adore all of you so much.” she could hear Martha was smiling through the phone. “Even those who aren’t here yet.”

Beatrice’s aunt was weird, she was a hippie witch that could undoubtedly control the weather and probably curse your entire generation with a snap of fingers. She figured out Nicole was to be born, was she really surprised about the sudden cryptic messages thrown her way? “...thank you,zia.”

“You are so welcome! Now, I must go, your mother needs my help with some things. I’ll see you all soon!”

“See you,zia.”

Rooster watches as Beatrice’s stare turns distant and the hand holding the phone drops to her lap, her lips in a tight line, “Bea?” he asks, flicking his gaze from the phone to her, “What’s wrong?”

“She knows.”

“Who knows?”

“My aunt.”

The dots were connected quickly, he didn’t have to think much and figure out what she was talking about. Martha knew Beatrice was pregnant,again, and mentioned it in her very own…specific way. Bradley lowers Nicole, his daughter fascinated by his mustache still and kept on brushing her tiny fingers over it, “...okay.” he inhales, arching his brows, “We should’ve expected that.”

“Roos…why is my family the cryptic Sicilian family that no one really knows how they do things?” she sounds genuinely confused mentioning that, “...I’m sorry you had to join such a crazy bunch.”

He stares at her as if she grew three heads, “Are you kidding? Have you met my friends? Have you met Mav? Who are you calling a crazy bunch?” she only smiles thankfully at him, sighing one last time and letting her back touch the headboard, “Will she say something?”

She shakes her head negatively, “No, she’s not the one who announces it to people, she didn’t announce Nicole’s. She…probably wants to talk to me about it, give me some tips since she had twins and such…I mean, that’s what I’m hoping.”

“Then it’s all good.”

“I guess.” she murmurs, “The one thing I don’t need is my mother appearing like a pirate’s parrot on my shoulder when that happens. Then we’ll be really f-ed up.” she murmured, tossing the phone to her side and interlacing her hands on top of her navel, looking over at Nicole and her wandering little hands all over Rooster’s face, “You okay over there?”

He gives her a thumb up and the side of his mouth quirks up in a smile, “Great. She’s just exploring.”

“Aa!”

“Yeah, you are.” he picks Nicole from his face and blows a raspberry under her chin,earning a high pitched giggle that only made their hearts fill up with joy. He pulls back to smile at Nikki, holding her just a few inches above his head, ‘Can you imagine hearing something so sweet three times?” he asks, playfully swaying their daughter as if she was bobbing in the ocean very gently, “The house is going to be so full of life.”

Beatrice smiled back, leaning her temple against the headboard, “Yeah…it will be.”

“You are still nervous.” he says without taking his eyes off Nikki, “Because of your aunt.”

“I mean,yeah.”

“You said she wouldn’t mention it.”

“She won’t but,” she sighs, “I don’t know, I’ll have to talk to her about it, if she says something. I kinda want my parents to know about it too? And Mav…ugh,this is stressful. I hate it.”

“Stress isn’t good for the baby.”

“I know.” she says, “...at least you’ll be there with me.”

“Always,gorgeous.” he says as if it’s obvious, smirking at her. He sees that her brows are still furrowed so he gently brushes his thumb over the small crease, then drags it to the tip of her nose and then over her lips, letting her kiss the pad of his thumb, “We’ll be okay.”

Beatrice doesn’t say anything, but nods with an appreciative smile before she drags herself to the edge of the bed, “I’m going to take a shower.” she says,running her hands through her hair, “Set our outfits ready and…then get the dogs?”

“I can do that.” he says, scooting to the edge himself, “The gifts are at your parents’ so that’s one thing less to worry about.”

“Yeah…right.”

“Bea,” she looks up when he calls, his eyes soft and smile gentle, “Baby, we’ll be fine. I promise you.”

Beatrice only gives him one weak smile then turns on her heel to the bathroom,disappearing from his view. Rooster stares at the space she once stood, then looks down at Nicole, holding her up like the precious doll she was, “Baby girl,we are going to give mommy a nice Christmas.”

“Aa!”

“Hell yeah we are.” he adjusts her on his grasp,”She deserves it.”

#bradley rooster bradshaw #rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw x oc #top gun maverick #bradley bradshaw x reader #bradley bradshaw x female reader #bradley bradshaw x named reader #tgm oc #tgm fic #tgm fanfiction

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kaus-quietis · 8 months ago

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Greetings, Anon! Thank you for your questions. I have to admit, even in the past, I refrained from posting reactions or speculations as BSD chapters release, but you already knew that, so I will indulge you. I'll answer each part of your ask. BSD ch113 thoughts below, manga spoilers ahead.

♠ "What was your raw reaction?" It was not a calm, quiet one, I can tell you that. No, in fact I screamed with excitement as if I was in a Roman amphitheatre and my favourite gladiator just got back up on his feet, out of sheer force of will, grinning and sweaty. My scream was the fastest way I could "verbalize" the fact that I was overjoyed to see him alive again, even if it's in the 15th century, and on top of that he seemed to be some kind of spy monk all chained up and having what seems to be a ridiculous amount of fun getting caught and discussing with Bram. This is all very in-character for him.

♠ "Was that something you expected?" Absolutely not. Yes, yes, I truly did not expect a jump back in time and this infobomb drop, despite the fact that we did get a few hints that Fedya seemed present at past events when all the other character really appeared younger than him (near the end of S4ep3, where on a rooftop Fedya says "It's not V, it's Five" and I am seriously like bruh I give up what I want to say is I need more data to work with, what am I supposed to do with this, rationally speaking?). However, we can't yet extract anything conclusive from this. Is he ageless? A time-traveler? Immortal? Does he revive? When was he born? Was he born at all or created differently somehow? Is he of BSD's world, or an external one (Beast liveaction finale anyone?)? Is this all within the Book and he's just… idk flipping the pages? Anything is possible and I refuse to spend a lot of time working with incomplete data. This is not very follower-friendly (as in, my blog is basically inactive in-between), I know and I apologize, but if after many chapters there will be something worthwile to add to my essay (with what Fukuchi said in ch113 I already have important stuff to add), under those circumstances I will consider writing an update. It's not yet time.

♠ "<Was that> something you felt different for the characterization we all made for Fyodor?" Hmm, I would hesitate to refer to a characterization "we all made" for him (I wish! T o T), because my analysis and blog are but a tiny tiny part of the fandom (I think…? I wonder about my Fedya essay's reach or influence sometimes). But let's say here we refer to one that comes close to what I tried to show in my essay. In that case, I would say that there is nothing to fear here in this chapter, but it's very understandable to have massive trust issues at this point. We went through a miserable, miserable time when the previous ones made the guy who visually memorized a full deck of used cards somehow not notice Chuuya wearing contacts and fake vampire teeth, despite knowing the vampire race since… well, the 15th century! I cannot even begin to describe what I felt reading ch111.5-112, I was beyond repulsed. Lovers of "villain" characters understand the following thing well: in most media, our fav has to lose, he has to die or disappear at some point, with rare exceptions. I, too, know this well, but that was no compelling way to solve BSD's villain threat. I still don't know how BSD will wash away that narrative stain, as I consider it, but then again one of the reasons we love this manga is that it keeps us on the edge of our seats and the most absurd yet fun turns can happen out of the blue. We can reasonably ask ourselves: ok, what is the purpose of showing Fedya's backstory now? If it's for build-up, we can already start grinning like Cheshire cats. What could possibly be next? I'm cautiously optimistic, things look in-character and good to me. Very good, in fact.

♠ "Or do you think it is later on going add some depth to his character?" Backstories are shown usually for a very clear purpose. We don't know the purpose yet, but if it's done well, then… then my whole essay could be at risk lmao (and I love this sensation). New info could add so much depth to his character, in fact, that his previously observed traits could gain new meanings, or even contradictory ones. Whichever it will be, I think it's pretty safe to bet on "his backstory will be very relevant".

♠ Bonus: even if I enjoy going "full analytical" and enter conference speech mode when asked, I am driven by strong emotions, by which I want to say – I am not immune to assassin/spy monk Fedya chained up like that and having the time of his life again. I missed seeing him entertained like that, and his current …………. visual representation in the.. uh. ..chapter, yeah, well, it's doing things to my Depeche Mode-worshipping heart.

Anyway, to conclude with some facts we know as of now:

a. Fedya and Bram are inside the Bran Castle, close to the Romanian city of Brașov, "deep in the Carpathians" although not built at high altitude itself. It's basically a fortress built between 1377-1388, with several later additions. The BSD representation of it is very accurate to how it looks today. It's near perfect, actually, I applaud.

b. Bram mentions King Matthias, and in this context that can only mean Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary for 1458-1490. The meeting between Fedya and Bram thus happens some year during his reign, when Transylvania was still part of the Kingdom of Hungary. What is still strange to me is that I can't pinpoint Bram's exact position, as in… were his people independent? Or avoided? I feel like I need to re-read past Bram-related chapters to think about this.

c. Nevermind Bram, the things that Fukuchi says, those are the real goldmine here, but the gold is still… encrypted? I mean: Fedya made the DoA plan (more than confirmed now), and because Fukuchi asked for the condition to keep casualties under 500, Fedya respected that and we got entertained for like half of the whole BSD manga: using coin bombs for terror, for economic/political destabilization, using the vampire infection to avoid further violence, these things. The more you think about it, the more insane it gets. Since Fedya agreed to this condition, it means causing (more) deaths and violence were expendable things to him. (But imagine this: Fukuchi said "I want max. 500 deaths" and Fedya said "Yeah I can do that", now if Fukuchi would've said "I want max. 2 deaths" I really believe Fedya would've still said "Yeah I can do that". What can't he do, especially since murder for murder's sake isn't his goal?). This is in perfect harmony with his "necessary deaths only" approach so far, and much much more. There are far more implications in what Fukuchi said, which I won't type out here now. Gotta keep them and build around them for a future analysis update.

This was a rather long read, but still, I hope this satisfies your curiosities, Anon. *bows dramatically & disappears in a borderline insufferable ENTP way*

#Lav answers #I can't believe I wrote so much #yet still I will keep true to my principle of not over-speculating with insufficient data #a proper essay update would be much more valuable than making separate monthly posts even though in this way I can't contribute to the hype #or despair #or both #but fans of patient analysis will profit .. richly from this #someday!#sigh why is it I can talk about Fedya for hours #why can't I..... ugh.......#Iiiiiiii caaaaan't stooooop lovinggg youuuu #OTL................#man I've chosen the best manga character of all time frfr #also as of ch113 my Philosopher!Fedya fanfic is basically.................canon-friendly to the highest degree and I can't believe it #it happens in like the 1440-1450s and I dont even know how to feel about this reveal skjdfng

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wangsejabin · 2 years ago

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Chapter 112

These words instantly made Pan'er wake up with a jolt.

What, is he planning to appoint a crown prince?

When the emperor ascends to the throne, apart from sealing the palace, one of the most important things he should consider is the creation of a crown prince.

After all, the crown prince is the foundation of the state, and most people who become emperor are not young, and most of them have already had sons, and more than one. It is a common belief that many sons are a blessing, but if you look at the royal family, you can see that sometimes this is not always true.

As the sons grow older, they are surrounded by more and more subordinates, tangible and intangible, subconscious and subconscious, and everyone is betting on them. Can the family prosper for another hundred years? Who doesn't want to last forever?

In her previous life, at first she never dared to think that Zong Yue could sit in the emperor's seat, after all, the crown prince's position was as secure as a mountain. It was only later, when there was a hint of it, and she found out that Zong Yue also had that kind of mind, that she gradually moved her mind.

But before that, that is, before Zong Cong mentioned it, she had not thought about it at all, and probably subconsciously felt that many things had changed in this life, so she did not think about it. She thought that Zong Yue was still young and did not need to think about this for the time being, but at this moment, Zong Cong's words made her wake up at once.

How to answer?

Although she and he were now getting to know each other better, and there was a little bit of heart-to-heart between them, and he was willing to talk to her about things that bothered her, these trivial matters were not the same as setting up a crown prince.

The crown prince was too sensitive, especially as she had given birth to the second son, Zong Yue.

So she turned over in his arms and said, "Your Majesty, that's a strange question to ask, I've never been a crown prince, how do I know whether it's good or bad to be one? This should be asked of Your Majesty, weren't you the Crown Prince before?"

"I used to be the crown prince, but a long time ago, I actually didn't want to be the crown prince."

Pan'er fell silent, and Zong Cong did not speak either, falling into memory.

Everyone thought that the crown prince was above all others, the future Emperor, and that he must have been a great success and highly valued. But they did not know that all this was a shackle, an existence that made them walk on thin ice.

The memories of the past, which Zong Cong never wanted to recall, were the days when he carried his mother and himself on his back, the days when he studied hard behind the scenes but pretended to be light-hearted on the surface, the days when he pretended to be generous even when he was angry, the days when he laughed in the face even when he knew that he was up to no good, the days when he had to tense his nerves every day, the days when he forced himself to be thorough and never missed a beat, and the days when he was not able to be a good friend. ......

Therefore, when he saw that Zong Duo seemed to be following his old path, Zong Cong's feelings were very complicated.

If he was in good health, he might have been relieved in his complexity, but he was not in good health and had to compete with Zong Yue.

But he could not blame the child, accuse him of not working too hard, and as for Zong Yue, he was even more innocent, was it a fault that he was smart and good at reading and had a competitive spirit?

Zong Cong could foresee that when the dust had settled, the court would definitely start a heated debate on the crown prince.

What should we do when the time comes?

"Brother Cong you'd better not think too much about it, after all those things have passed, you're now the emperor, I remember you told me before that you had a lot of things to do? You still have so many important big things to do, so why do you need to think about these small things."

Yes, he still had a lot of big things to do.

It must be said that Pan'er was still quite good at comforting, no, diverting, and Zong Cong's attention was soon diverted to his government affairs.

He was lost in thought, his hand stroking her back with one hand, while Pan'er breathed a soft sigh of relief.

It was clearly a cold day, but Empress Chen was very active, asking daily about the progress of the Ning Shou Palace's repairs.

It was the first year of the new emperor's ascension to the throne, so it was particularly significant that the Ning Shou Palace had not been repaired, and Empress Fu could not move out of the Kun Ning Palace.

Two snowstorms in a row meant that repairs had to be suspended.

Empress Chen was anxious but could not say anything on the surface. At the same time, Zong Duo fell ill again and although he was only coughing, he was still not well for half a month, which added fuel to the fire.

This was to be followed by the ceremony of the enthronement of the Empress and the investiture of all the concubines in the Eastern Palace.

After this, they have all become official and rightful ladies, although not yet moved to the palace, but several lower ranking concubines would not be able to be the master of a palace and instead would live under the supervision of a more senior concubine.

Kunning Palace and Jingren Palace is naturally out of the question, one is the empress residence, one is Su Guifei's residence. Su Guifei has always been solitary, and no one was allowed close, she's just favoured like that, it is not possible to get a person to their own palace to share favor. The only thing that remains is the palace of Consort Hu Shufei Zhou Xianfei and others.

At first, when Hu Shufei saw the frequent visits of Qian Guiren and others, she was a little surprised at what they were doing there. But she was always a meat and potatoes kind of person, and she was also a big fan of watching the fun, so she met them.

The two of them were sent away in a rare outburst of anger.

Qian Qiao and the two of them were still a bit aggrieved, so if they didn't want to, why did they have to get so angry? When the concubine Li found out about this, she even went to laugh at them.

"If you don't go to Concubine Su's place and run to Concubine Hu's, you're clearly saying that she's not in favour and needs your help?"

Qian Qiao and the two of them realized that they still had no choice but to go there, otherwise each of the six eastern palaces would be dominated, what if none of them wanted them or if they were given to concubine Li by the Empress?

They went back to Consort Xu, who was very decisive and refused on the grounds that the Fifth Prince had recently been unwell and it was inappropriate for someone to visit him.

After these two incidents, Consort De was not stupid either, so the Sixth County Princess were also a little uncomfortable.

So there were only two concubines left, Li and Zhao.

At this point, concubine Li was so pleased with herself that you didn't want to live in my palace because you didn't like me, so what are you doing here? The door was closed, and the concubine Zhao's place had been very busy lately.

These are all things that Pan'er heard from the people below her, just like listening to a book, and after listening to it,

After hearing this she poured cold water on the situation: "Even the Empress has not moved her palace, where else would the others want to move?

In fact, Pan'er's words proved true, and it was only a few days before the New Year's Eve that Empress Chen finally realised in despair that she would not be able to move this year and would have to stay in the Eastern Palace.

There was no need to think about the congratulations of the first wife, or about being worshipped on the phoenix throne.

On New Year's Eve, Zong Cong hosted a family banquet at Qianqing Palace. There were many people there, including princes and their families, some close relatives, the Grand Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager, several imperial concubines and the ladies of the Eastern Palace.

The atmosphere was very cordial and, although it may have been somewhat of an illusion, at least it proved that the majority of the people had come to terms with the reality of the new emperor's accession to the throne.

After the family feast, Zong Cong led the crowd to the Hall of the Nurtured Heart to visit the emperor.

This New Year's Eve, the Hall of the Nurtured Heart is probably the only place in the entire Forbidden City where there is no festive atmosphere, as the emperor has to recuperate from his illness and naturally needs quiet, especially since the emperor has been ill and cannot speak, his temper is getting worse every day, and the servants are all cautious and downcast as they wait on the sidelines.

The crowd of people dressed in auspicious clothes visiting the Emperor looked particularly sarcastic.

After all, it was not easy for the new emperor to think of the emperor at this point in his life, and even if he did, he was still being filial.

It was the emperor who seemed unusually unsettled, his mouth ahhhhh and not knowing what he was saying, but no one paid any attention to this.

The only one who took advantage of the Emperor's performance was the Prince of Qi, who made a fuss, reprimanding his lackeys for not serving him well, and saying that Zong Cong was treating the Emperor with apparent filial piety, but in fact he was secretly having people sparring with him, otherwise the Emperor would have behaved like this?

But no one believed him, not to mention the fact that so many imperial concubines were present and had to queue up every day to attend to their illnesses. It was Pan'er's idea for Zong Cong to attend to his illness, but it was a lie to avoid suspicion. The Prince of Qi is being unreasonable, and at the same time, he is at the end of his rope.

After all, if he really had a solution for Zong Cong, why would he make a fuss over such a trivial matter? There were many clansmen present, and they all had their own opinions.

On the first day of the first month, the new emperor paid homage to his ancestors at the Imperial Temple, and announced the change of the reign name to Jianying.

At the same time, the Kunning Palace was also bustling with activity.

The Empress Dowager Fu was in the centre, Empress Chen was on the lower left, and the concubines of the new emperor, including Pan'er, were standing on either side.

They were all dressed in gorgeous gowns, and it was difficult for the Home Office to rush so many gowns, but the momentum was really something like a new year.

But it's not a new year, since the fifth day of the first month, Zong Cong opened the seal, Zong Cong was all kinds of big action.

The first thing he did was to tell Empress Chen that her father had been made a marquis.

This is a distinction that only imperial relatives can have, and it is usually added to the shade of the mother's family when the empress is crowned, but it is a lower rank than in the previous life, when it was a dukedom.

Empress Chen was so happy and pleased that when Pan'er went to pay her respects, she could see the joy on her face.

But as a result, Empress Chen was even more anxious to move the palace, and after the first month was over, she was concerned about the repair of the Ning Shou Palace.

In the meantime, the six eastern palaces were also undergoing simple renovations, the only major one being the Jingren Palace, the residence of the princesses and the three southern houses where the imperial sons lived.

In time for March, Zong Duo and Zong Yue moved to the South Third House, and Pan'er made several trips there to see the new paint, new doors and windows, new furniture and furnishings, and she also opened a special storehouse and added a lot of furnishings and other things for Zong Yue.

In April, the Ning Shou Palace was finally repaired.

Empress Chen personally supervised the decoration and furnishings inside, and waited for half a month after everything was finished before carefully mentioning that the Ning Shou Palace had been repaired when she went to the Kun Ning Palace to pay her respects.

Pan'er was present at the time, and now that she is a consort of the new emperor, she naturally cannot be as lazy as before.

The Empress Court was not the only one, but there was still the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager, so she could not wait around for the concubines to come to pay their respects, so she gathered at Kunning Palace and paid her respects to Empress Dowager Fu, and then went to Cining Palace to pay her respects to the Grand Empress Dowager at her discretion.

It is not that Empress Dowager Fu is not willing to go, but the Empress Dowager also knows that she is old, every day tossing and turning disgusting, a month only on the first fifteen to come to ask for peace she will not say anything, other times to come to her are too noisy, and over time to go gradually less and less.

Although Empress Chen had already been very particular about the way she spoke, and did not open the door to the princesses, but made a reference to the courtyard where they lived, Pan'er still saw Empress Fu and Nianqiu beside her glance at each other.

The gesture was a little more meaningful.

So the Empress was no ordinary person, Pan'er sighed once more.

It wasn't that Empress Dowager Fu had tasted the hardships of being an empress before, and now she had to pick on Empress Chen. You think that the palace is so big, some of Empress Chen's actions will not fall on deaf ears, watching the repair process of Ning Shou Palace, at best filial obedience, at worst is eager to let Empress Fu move out of Kun Ning Palace.

But it's also true that she, the empress, wants to move into the Kunning Palace in a hurry.

So the hearts of the people are like this, no one is wrong, but it is inadvertently in everyday life that countless conflicts are gathered.

Fortunately, this had nothing to do with her, and Pan'er was sincerely grateful.

Empress Fu didn't delay much and ordered her minions to pack up the next day. She had been Empress for many years and had lived in Kunning Palace for decades, so there was as much stuff as one could imagine.

When Zong Cong heard about this, he even made a special trip, saying that the Ning Shou Palace had just been repaired and that it would be better to wait for the paint inside to dissipate for a while before moving it, as there was no rush anyway.

The Empress Dowager didn't say anything, she just said to move the things over slowly first.

When Zong Cong came out, Nianci told him what had happened yesterday.

He asked Pan'er why she knew.

It was because it happened that she had been recruited to go to Qianqing Palace that day, and Zong Cong had a rare moment of anger in front of her, demonstrating his displeasure with Empress Chen.

He was becoming less and less shy of Pan'er, but Pan'er was anxious. You say he said something bad about the Empress in front of her, should she, as a favoured concubine, to advise, or not advise?

#mtl #yingchong #lmao Empress Chen being so petty about the moving #in real history living in Kunning Palace was actually kind of inauspicious #several empresses committed suicide there #usually they wouldn't actually live there at all #in qing dynasty it was primarily used for wedding nights and other ceremonies #in Ming it was the main residence of the empress and that's about where the author has placed the plot timewise #usually the empress was more like to live yongshou palace

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ulfrsmal · 2 years ago

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2022 End of Year Fic Review

tagged by @aadmelioraa, thank you friend! This was super fun! :D

1. What is your AO3 account?

same as tumblr, ulfrsmal aka wolf-kissed

2. How many words did you write total in 2022?

Without counting Echoes, since that was both 2021 and 2022 and I cannot remember what chapters were published when, it's a whooping 383,780!

3. How many fics did you publish in 2022? How many multichapters vs oneshots?

Again without counting Echoes (mutichapter), 112 fics in total out of which 9 are multichapters... I was the king of oneshots apparently xD

4. What was your longest fic? Your shortest fic?

Technically the longest is Echoes with 262,310 words but since it don't count -- The Queen Of Thorns And Roses (The Spanish Princess) with 37,196. The shortest is Pregnancy (Vikings: Valhalla) with 348...

5. What was your most popular fic? Your least popular fic?

The most popular going by hits, Holy Water (The Witcher, DD:DNE) with 1921. By kudos and bookmarks, In Due Time (The Witcher) with 130 kudos and 25 bookmarks! Counting the private ones too at least.

[Echoes sits at 8608 views, 194 kudos, and 33 bookmarks]

The least popular is Snow (Vikings, DD:DNE) with 9 hits and zero kudos, and I have a whole lotta fics with zero bookmarks...

6. What fic didn’t perform as well as you thought it would?

Well everything I've published after marking my fics to be viewed Logged-In Only has had WAY less attention than when they were publicly available, but I don't really mind ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

7. What fic performed way better than you thought it would?

Steeler (The Last Kingdom). I thought it'd interest only me but I was way wrong!

8. What was your favorite fic you wrote from 2022?

OOF. Too many ngl XD To name a few...

Headlong (Spartacus)

Flame Of Knowledge (The Last Kingdom)

The Salt On That Ivory Skin (The Last Kingdom)

Nothing Can Break Me (I shall rise again) (The Last Kingdom)

Heathen Throne (Vikings, tw incest)

Vampire Heart (Vikings, tw incest).

9. What was your favorite fic that somebody else wrote in 2022?

Ah here we go, this is the question where I rant and rave! :D

Fields Of Joy by baku_midnight (Spartacus) is one of the most poetic stories I've ever read in the entirety of ao3, and poly to boot!

bound by flesh, freed by blood by @vveissesfleisch (Our Flag Means Death) is the kind of gory, sexy, messy DD:DNE I love most despite knowing virtually ntohing about its fandom, ahah!

polish the blood and the bruise by @underragingwaves (Vikings + Vikings Valhalla) has excellent character dynamics, little details all throughout, and superb military jargon

The Morning Doesn't Reach Us by crushcandles (The Witcher) is exhilarating, I love my Witchers poly and feral, and this fic delivers!

May He Rest In Pieces by geekinthepink (Outlander, DD:DNE) revived my love for horror stories and darkfics, plus I love the Murder Husbands trope

Bonus Fluff: The Man Made Of Love by Anonymous (The Witcher) is fluff made art 💟

10. Tag your friends to do this year-end fic review as well!

idk if y'all have been tagged yet so feel free to tag me into the comments if you have, bUT: @bouncehousedemons, @vveissesfleisch, @underragingwaves, @solinarimoon - TAG! YOU'RE IT! :D

#composing and editing the links and bold and red was a NIGHTMARE #but I love the results #also please let me know if I should add more TW or tags and I will; though I think it's decently tagged now?#wynne rambles #2022 in review #end of year fic review #2022 end of year fic review #thank you for tagging me!

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waitingforwinterwinds · 2 years ago

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Game of Thrones - 12 EDDARD II (pages 104-112)

Ned and Robert B. head out for a pre-dawn horse ride to dump some exposition and background lore in the early morning (northern) countryside.

The rising sun sent fingers of light through the pale white mists of dawn. A wide plain spread out beneath them, bare and brown, its flatness here and there relieved by long, low hummocks. Ned pointed them out to his king. "The barrows of the First Men." Robert frowned. "Have we ridden into a graveyard?" "There are barrows everywhere here in the north, Your Grace," Ned told him. "The land is old."

internally screams in "learn to burn your dead when your ancient enemy are freaking Ice Zombie Necromancers."

Ned did not feign surprise; Robert's hatred of Targaryens was a madness in him. ... Ned had named that murder; Robert had called it war. When he had protested that the young prince and princess were no more than babes, his new-made king had replied. "I see no babes. Only dragonspawn." Not even Jon Arryn had been able to calm that storm.

R+L=J Not even Lyanna's blood would have saved Jon from that, I don't think. As much as I can sit here and wish Ned had just told Catelyn the truth, to spare Jon so many years of abuse, all it would have taken would have been one single slip up. Littlefinger, the Lannisters, hell even Varys if he'd thought it would help his plans. The entire Stark line would have been done in for treason.

Ned: calm yo' tits Bobby B, if that sister selling beggar king tries to cross the Narrow Sea, we'll just bounce him like his visa application. Which would be super easy if you had a Warden of the West. Robert: Your nephew is a protohuman, he's way too young to have the spine of steel needed for border patrol Ned: Your big bro Stannis has the spi- why are you giving me that look? What have you done?Robert: So I kinda sorta already promised the badge to Jaime Lannister. Now I know he killed the last king, despite it being his job to protect said king, and he's in line for the Warden of the West, but he's my brother-in-law, so it's all good.

Robert has just. the most terrible ideas.

A man could not always be where he belonged, thought. Resigned, Eddard Stark put his boots into his horse and set off after the king.

Oooohhh, I like that line. "A man could not always be where he belonged." Nice. I also like how up until that last line, the chapter had been referring to him as Ned, not Eddard. Like he's drawing up the Duty of it all and putting the father away. mmmm, that probably didn't make sense, but you know what I mean? it's the formality of it.

#a song of ice and fire #asoiaf #game of thrones #got #eddard stark #a chapter a day reading #ned stark

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victoria-daydreams · 2 years ago

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The Hare and The Tower

AN: When I tell you I am treading in unfamiliar waters trying to write for Game of Thrones, I truly mean it. I was hoping there would be more Otto Hightower reader inserts by now, but there isn’t so now I have to be like Thanos and say, “fine I’ll do it myself”. I just hope to god I’ve done it somewhat right.

Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I’d like to believe that between his scheming and willingness to sell his daughter to the highest bidder, somewhere inside he’s still a romantic. Depending on how I feel, things may change in the story to how I see fit and if even I want to continue with this story. I’m happy to make a taglist if this garners traction.

Summary: A single butterfly sets off a chain of events for the minor, noble House Clarick and the eldest daughter, Jesmyn Clarick is the cause behind it.

Trigger warning: age gap

Word Count: 1.2k

Chapter One: Of Butterflies & Sketches

112 AC, Westeros

It was from the most mundane action which altered the course of young Jesmyn Clarick's life.

Seeking peace and quiet, she had found herself venturing to the castle garden, needing the fresh air to clear her head. The day was cool and the trees in the courtyard were full of red and gold leaves, many of which that were ready to drift gracefully to the ground. Lowering herself onto a stone bench, she lifted her face up to the sun and let her skin soak in the rays. Her soft, raven coiled hair danced across her back over the blue silken dress she wore. Another breeze swept across the courtyard, blowing strands of her hair over her face, but she made no move to fix it knowing it would be no use.

The moment Jesmyn's eyes reopened, a new chapter had begun to write itself.

A sketchbook comfortably rested on the lap of Jesmyn as she sketched the scenery in front of her. Light scratching filled the air as her quill traveled across the paper in light strokes. That was until the quiet fluttering of wings reached her ears. Jesmyn lifted her head and watched a butterfly land on the corner of her sketchbook.

A soft laugh passed her lips, "Well, hello little one," she greeted, studying the deep violet wings of the insect.

Jesmyn smiled while observing the butterfly slowly crawl across the paper. Placing her finger gently on the page, she silently invited the butterfly closer to her. To her surprise, instead of shying away the little insect moved onto her forefinger and she brought it level with her eyes. The manner in which the butterfly's wings slowly flitted up and down was calming to Jesmyn, enchanting even.

"Some days, I wish I could be just like you," she said softly to the creature. "When things become too much for me, I just want to fly away and leave all my worries behind," she murmured.

With great care, Jesmyn raised her right hand and extended it to the air letting the insect to take flight again.

"Be free," she whispered, watching as the butterfly gracefully flew away.

Jesmyn, still enraptured with the gorgeous creature climbing higher and higher, didn't notice someone had slowly approached her from behind.

"Do you possess knowledge of the language of butterflies, Lady Jesmyn?"

The sound of the King's Hand voice made Jesmyn rise to her feet immediately, dropping into a curtsy.

"Lord Hightower, my apologies," she said, her words rushing together. "I wasn't aware of your presence, I was lost in my own thoughts," she continued, her fingers tightly gripping the edge of her sketchbook.

"Well, do you?" Lord Hightower asked, as her eyes met his once more.

Jesmyn was slightly taken aback from The Hand's tone. Everyone in court knew of Lord Hightower's demeanor. He was never one to show any type of emotion on his features, other than the calculating gaze which never seemed to leave his eyes. Even after the Lady Hightower's death his gaze didn't waver in its sharpness, perhaps the skin beneath his eyes were a slight shade darker from the rings that formed, but nonetheless still the same. Now, however, Jesmyn thought she could see the faintest of lines crinkling at the corners of his eyes. Unless, the sun was playing tricks on her mind. Dare she think it, but it was almost as if he was amused, which for a man like him was a rare expression.

Her lips quirked up, "It is a dead tongue my lord," Jesmyn answered. "I've taken to locking myself in the library for hours, poring over pages of books to learn the intricacies of such a difficult language," she quipped shyly.

The moment the timid joke passed her lips, the voice of her mother echoed in her head.

“Shyness never attracted any men, Jesmyn."

A smile stirred at his lips, "If your presence is not required elsewhere, you must indulge me in your findings Lady Jesmyn,"

Jesmyn grinned and bowed her head, "Of course, Lord Hightower," she agreed.

Side by side, they strolled through the expansive courtyard passing brightly colored flowerbeds.

"The flowers are beautiful this year," Jesmyn commented, letting her fingers run across the velvet texture petals. "The gardeners have most certainly outdone themselves," she added, throwing a side glance at Lord Hightower.

"Do you come here often Lady Jesmyn?" he asked, his arms folded behind his back.

"Whenever I want to get away," she said, briefly pausing. "Which is, often," she admitted, with a light chuckle. "I do my best work in the outdoors, not cooped up inside the Keep," Jesmyn explained.

Lord Hightower gestured to the sketchbook, "May I?" he asked, outstretching his hand to her.

Jesmyn nervously glanced down at her book before hesitantly handing the drawing to the older man. She felt like her heart traveled to her throat as his eyes scanned over the page.

"It's not finished!" she informed hurriedly.

In response, Lord Hightower only glanced at her briefly and returned his stare back to her drawing without uttering a word. One long, bony finger lightly traced the outline of the sketch, studying the details of the drawing up close. Jesmyn kept her eyes straight ahead, her posture rigid, but she could sense the quick glances Lord Hightower would intermittently send her from the side of her face. It went on like that for another minute before Lord Hightower came to a stop in front of a large, ornate fountain in the center of the garden, still admiring her work. Or, at least she hoped so.

"This is not my best work," Jesmyn commented, before he could say anything. "I am sorry to disappoint you, Lord Hightower," she apologized, her thumbs twiddling against her stomach where they were resting.

A slight frown formed on the man's face, lifting his eyes to look at her. Jesmyn could only imagine what her appearance was, her cheeks were hotly flushed in embarrassment internally.

"Lady Jesmyn, this is wonderful," Lord Hightower said, and Jesmyn let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Your attention to detail is to be commended," he complimented, returning her book to her.

A slow, yet delighted smile broke out across Jesmyn's face and she dipped her chin.

"Thank you, Lord Hightower," she said, pride swelling in her chest. "It will be grander once it's on a canvas, and yours to keep when I am finished," she continued. "If it would please you, my lord," she added quickly, not wanting to be offend The Hand by sounding too overly familiar.

His gaze flickered across her face before settling on her dark brown eyes.

"It would please me very much, Lady Jesmyn. Thank you," Lord Hightower said, with a small nod of his head. "Though, I do believe you'll find it most difficult to do so without your most important tool," he pointed out warmly, before producing Jesmyn's quill from behind his back.

"Indeed my lord," she agreed, laughter escaping her.

Grabbing the quill, Lord Hightower's finger brushed against her own and the sensation caused her whole body to tingle with heat. With a shudder, a reaction she couldn't decipher whether it came from the breeze or the contact which was made; she realized it had been the first physical interaction that happened between them. Jesmyn's gaze was slightly downwards, but her eyes bashfully looked up to Lord Hightower through her lashes.

For a moment, she thought that she saw a twinkle in Lord Hightower’s eyes, but before she can be sure, it was gone.

Chapter Two: Heart’s Desire

#house of the dragon x reader #game of thrones x reader #otto hightower x reader #black!reader #black!oc #game of thrones imagine #house of the dragon imagine #game of thrones oc #house of the dragon oc #house of the dragon fanfiction #game of thrones fanfiction #otto hightower x oc #house of the dragon #game of thrones #hotd x reader #got x reader

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makeste · 3 years ago

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BnHA 326: What’s up Kids, It’s Me, Your Old Pal Stain

Previously on BnHA: Ochako shamed the U.A. Clown Mob into letting Deku go back inside his own fucking school by giving them an hour-long speech about how not to be humongous dickheads. Kouta and Gigantic Fox Lady saved the manga by being the only ones brave enough to give Deku a hug. Shouto was all “man, all this togetherness sure does remind me of that promise you made that we would handle Touya together which you immediately bailed on, doesn’t it, Dad.” Aizawa was all, “for the one and a half people out there who thought that my losing an eye and a leg might actually make me less sexy, I’m very happy to prove you wrong.” All Might was all, “[standing outside the U.A. fortress alone in the rain talking to someone or something??].” Like seriously, what was up with that though.

Today on BnHA: All Might is all “here I am in Kamino having a belated mid-life crisis because Deku abandoned me and I’m a terrible mentor and everything sucks and I hate myself.” Stain is all, “don’t make me come over there and give you a ten page speech about why you’re still the goat while menacingly holding you at swordpoint the entire time” because idk if you knew this guys, but Stain is pretty crazy actually. Anyway so he does that, and then All Might gets all emotional, and then the lady from chapter 92 shows up and gives All Might’s statue an encouraging pep talk, and then Horikoshi is all “and it even stopped raining lol can you believe this shit I’m not even a little bit subtle,” and he really isn’t. But I still got emotional anyway, because seeing people reassure All Might that everything he’s struggled for his entire life hasn’t been in vain just got to me okay. Horikoshi knows I am weak to the All Might feels and he just goes for the jugular every time, that bastard.

lmao. “in the neverending downpour, All Might is...” yeah, thank you, glad we’re getting right to that then

“All Might is driving 95 mph in his busted ass car in the pouring rain, is what he’s doing.” huh

so basically a day or two after his adopted child refused to accept the handmade bento that he packed with love, my man is out here acting like he’s got nothing to live for anymore. this sure bodes well for certain prophecies on which the clock is still ominously ticking down

his fucking face though omg. is it weird that I’m kind of hoping more people ambush him just because I think it’d be funny to see them get their asses kicked like the last bunch

(ETA: or maybe he will just stand there openly not giving a fuck and basically daring them to stab him!! get it together please All Might.)

side note, “anti-hero supporters” is such a strange way of saying “people who hate heroes”, which I’m assuming is what they actually wanted to say?? this makes it sound like it’s a group that really loves antiheroes. “these Hannibal stans have been a real menace lately. time to go deal with them”

ha ha ha, fucking ouch

are you really gonna do it Horikoshi you bastard. are you really going to let that be the final encounter between the two characters whose relationship you once described as the vertical axis of the entire fucking story. are you really gonna?? huh??

huh

you’re telling me you were driving 112 mph and you still didn’t get there in time. you’re losing your touch old man. lol Todo’s ice is almost fully melted already, how late were you

(ETA: so apparently this is taking place after the end of chapter 325, meaning he went to U.A., hung out for a bit, saw the kids come back with his bedraggled half-dead protégé in tow, watched as they shamed the civilians into some long-overdue character development, and then was all “welp, time to go argue with the hero-hating faction or something because I’m feeling useless.” and Edge just let him go, just like that. though to be fair I have to imagine it’s pretty hard to say no to All Fucking Might.)

also belated lol at the fact that the kids were all “yeahhhhhhh we are definitely not gonna touch that thing, let’s just leave it here, he doesn’t need it anyway.” probably the right call to make since they couldn’t get a hazmat team on such short notice

fuck. ha ha ha fucking ouch part two

All Might please put that thing down before you get gangrene. also yeah, you dropped the ball, good for you to acknowledge it. nobody’s perfect and you did your best. but yeah you could have handled a lot of things completely differently. but I still love you

is Horikoshi really putting this flashback here. are you serious. what kind of fucking sadist

look, I swear I’m not one of those people that runs up and down the street shouting “DEATH FLAG!!” at every third panel lol. but this shit screamed Death Flag when we originally got it, and it’s screaming DEATH FLAG!!! even more now. like with the capital letters and exclamation marks and all. and that’s just a fact. I don’t like it but that’s how it is

ffkdjslk

“DID YOU READ THE SIGN??!” Horikoshi asks while zooming in maniacally because he thinks we’re blind or something. lol what

-- though actually, it only just occurred to me that this sign is actually written in English. I never really paid attention up until now and had been assuming it was written in Japanese and translated by the scanlators, but the writing here is clearly part of the original image. anyway so maybe that’s why he’s zooming in?? just to make sure everybody pays attention lol

okay fuck this

see, this is the whole problem right here. once again All Might is all on his own. Deku’s self-destructive angst spiral was fortunately brought to a grinding halt because he actually has support from his friends and family and teachers and classmates. but All Might never had that same kind of support, and it’s made all the difference between the two of them, and not in a good way. Katsuki wasn’t wrong when he said All Might and Deku were both cut from the same cloth. but now when it’s All Might’s turn to go all “I WALK A LONELY ROAD~~” once again, there’s nobody in sight

just, after forty plus years of him carrying this torch, I just wish someone would finally come along to let him know he doesn’t have to. all those things that he wanted to say to Deku are also things that he needs and deserves to hear himself. Aizawa was making a little progress there, but now he’s got his sad zombie cloud boyfriend situation to deal with, and we can’t expect him and his perfect hair to solve all our problems. someone else has gotta step up

oh my god

“you rang?” never mind I take it all back sob

omg why am I laughing. shit

this man truly has the best PR game in the series. we were truly convinced he was gonna suddenly become a good guy and defend All Might against the other villains or some nonsense. as if this wasn’t the same man who decided on a whim that Iida Tensei deserved to be paralyzed, and that his fifteen-year-old brother deserved to die for daring to be upset about it

lol even All Might is all “I genuinely never saw this coming” lmao

just want to say, for the record, I have always harbored a very sensible hatred toward Stain. feeling very vindicated right now. good job Past Me

adsfklwkfsdwgkj

ffffwefjslkg. ghsdlkg. dsfkkkslkjldwkjrg

STAIN: heard you talking shit old man

ME: smh that’s what I thought you’d say you dumb fucking Stain

STAIN: how dare you talk about All Might that way

ME: gljfljgk

(ETA: in hindsight I have no idea how I didn’t clue in sooner that he didn’t recognize him -- or, well, ~didn’t recognize~ him, to be more accurate lol. I think it was the whole “is that a slight against the heroes?” thing that threw me. Viz’s translation makes it much clearer that he’s offended on behalf of All Might specifically, not heroes in general. anyways.)

sob. so All Might is all “yeah I don’t blame you for not recognizing me in this sweet leather jacket”

good thing he still knows how to do this party trick

A+ reflexes on Stain’s part presumably pulling the sword back a few inches to keep this dumbass from impaling himself with his whole pufferfish routine. can you imagine if that was the gruesome death Nighteye foresaw. and he was just too embarrassed to say anything

lol anyways guess I was wrong about Stain everyone

way to fucking go, Past Me. you really biffed this one

oh wait

Stain sure is one wacky rollercoaster ride

oh fuck me lol I forgot how much I did not miss this

(ETA: “this here is the sacred ground where All Might gave up the last of his power and turned into a shriveled old man!! please ignore the part where I admit to knowing all about that, and yet pretend not to recognize said man when he’s standing two feet in front of me.”)

Past Me, I know we’ve had our ups and downs these past ninety seconds, but I’m really starting to think you were on to something. this dude has always been kind of insufferable. always acting like his high horse is a fucking giraffe when it’s actually a Shetland pony

dammit now he’s got All Might going off on a depressed monologue

oh my god my heart

shit

why the fuck does that hit so hard. he became a hero because he couldn’t bear to just sit back and let bad things happen to people who didn’t deserve it. I mean that’s basically the same as every hero ever, right? so why does it still hit so fucking hard every single time though. what is it about seeing someone so determined to stand up for other people and fight on their behalf. it just never loses its impact no matter how many times I see that determination mirrored in so many of my favorite characters

“I wanted to make the world a better place.” omg. but you did, though. like seriously, I feel like people are always dogging on him for not being 100% perfect, and fandom really doesn’t give him enough credit for everything he still managed to accomplish. this man came of age at a time when Japan was by all accounts a total shitshow, and singlehandedly managed to bring about an era of peace that lasted for four fucking decades. can you imagine having peace for that long?? that’s longer than I’ve been alive. shit

and he gave people hope. he inspired them and protected them and made them feel safe. and no, he couldn’t save everyone, because he’s only one fucking dude (and also because the whole time AFO was also out there desperately working to undermine him so that he could keep preaching his narrative of “heroes are bad actually”). but you know what he did do, is inspire multiple new generations of heroes who, if they can all manage to work together, will finally be able to accomplish everything he never could

so yeah. forty years of peace, and inspired the “that’s how we all became the greatest heroes” generation -- that’s a fucking win in my book. talk about having a net positive impact on the world. lol anyways now I’m all fired up and ready to fight anyone who tries to talk any shit about you, All Might

“but what if I talk shit about myself” okay listen up All Might I’m gonna need you to try just a little bit harder to work with me here okay. please calm down and stop blaming yourself for every single bad thing that’s ever happened in the world. do you remember that time Bakugou was blaming himself for Kamino, and you gave him a hug and told him it wasn’t his fault, and that he was only a boy, and that even though he was strong, even strong people can struggle with the burdens they place on themselves, and that you were sorry for not seeing that earlier? do you remember all of that? that’s what I want someone to tell you too, dammit. anyway please stop breaking my heart please and thanks

wtf

are you dead All Might

I don’t even have the slightest idea what’s happening lol

oh snap did he grab him so they could hide??

hold the fucking phone. don’t tell me this person in the background with the umbrella is here to actually do something decent??

oh my godddd

and here come the feels. oh boy. okay don’t mind me, I’m just gonna sit here sobbing over this fictional lady and her simple act of kindness in this weekly shounen manga that I care about way too much

FUCKING DAMMIT AND HERE’S A SECOND HELPING

DON’T MIND ME, I’M JUST GETTING DISPROPORTIONATELY EMOTIONAL OVER THIS WOMAN’S DETERMINATION TO HONOR A MAN WHO SACRIFICED EVERYTHING TO SAVE HER AND COUNTLESS OTHERS. I’M JUST HAVING SOME FEELS OVER HERE ABOUT HER HEARTFELT, DOESN’T-EVEN-KNOW-ANYONE-ELSE-IS-WATCHING FEELINGS OF GRATITUDE THAT COMPELLED HER TO COME OUT HERE AND MAKE THIS SMALL BUT POWERFUL GESTURE. I’M JUST OUT HERE GETTING ALL PROFOUNDLY WORKED UP ABOUT STATUE MAINTENANCE AND THE HUMAN RACE. NEVER MIND. JUST IGNORE ME AND CARRY ON

holy shit. I was not even remotely prepared. you can’t just do that to me. you can’t just leave all these death flags on my lawn and then suddenly shift gears to show me the best of humanity in a chapter where I was expecting the worst. that fucks a person up lol

OH ARE WE STILL GOING

my heart. you see that, All Might. your legacy is so much more powerful and meaningful than you think

...has. has Stain actually been giving All Might a pep talk this entire time

I give up lol. this dude is a fucking enigma

YAYYY

it may just be a metaphor panel, but I’ll take it lol. I missed them. nice to see the traffic light trio front and off-center. I know the whole “this is the story of how we all became the greatest heroes” thing had left some questioning whether certain characters would continue to play a central role in the narrative, and hopefully this will help to ease those concerns just a bit

anyway, so idk if it’s getting a bit chilly down there in hell, but damned if Stain didn’t just give an actual decent fucking speech

I have to say, earlier when I was whining about All Might not having a support squad, I really was not expecting Stain to be the one to come over and pat his head and reassure him that he made the world a better place

-- okay LISTEN

YOU CAN’T JUST COME INTO MY HOUSE AND HIT ME WITH THOSE ALL MIGHT TEARS AGAIN GODDAMMIT THIS ISN’T FAIR. my god. first 317 and now this

holy fucking shit

“I’m just gonna pretend like I haven’t been stalking him for two days and didn’t see the entire Deku bentogate thing go down, and then I’ll give him the whole big speech that I rehearsed, and then I’ll turn around and be all ‘BUT IF YOU’RE A TRUE HERO’, and then I’ll toss him the super-secret AFO wifi password that I stole from Tartarus. god I’m such a badass. fucking give myself chills”

so basically what you’re telling me is that this whole time my “what’s up kids” characterization of Stain from this shitpost has actually been 100% accurate. just want to make sure I’m understanding this right. okay then

“and then I’ll dramatically spin around and be all NOW COME KILL ME BITCH”

it must be so much fun to write Stain. drawing this coked-out maniac who talks like a chatbot that was trained to speak by reading Alan Moore monologues. that must be a trip

anyway so All Might is still crying, the awesome lady from chapter 92 is admiring her handiwork totally oblivious to the batshit insanity going on fifty meters to her right, and it’s finally stopped raining lol

“THE RAIN WAS A METAPHOR YOU SEE” yes, yes, we got it lol. thanks for that Horikoshi. don’t think we needed any help putting the pieces together on that one but I appreciate the effort

so that’s the end! and as I mentioned in another post, I had the count off by one chapter, but next week should be cliffhanger week! so break out your U.A. Traitor bingo cards, friends and fiends. either that or something else happens that I’m completely not expecting at all. which, based on my success rate with Stain predictions, I’d say is more than likely lol

mmm but anyway, so now that the Hug Deku 2021 campaign has finally come to an end, what’s it gonna take to get a hug for my struggling bento-preparing jacket-rocking world-weary death-flag-waving husband who is the worthiest man to ever live and deserves the fucking world, goddammit

#bnha 326 #all might #yagi toshinori #stain (bnha)#bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha

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theerurishipper · 3 years ago

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The Ackerbond

One of the most controversial topics in this entire fandom is the concept of the Ackerman bonds. Beliefs range from insisting that the Ackermans are slaves, to insisting that there is no such thing as an Ackerbond. Not made better by Isayama's very vague descriptions in his Answers book, and by Eren's speech to Mikasa.

So, I'm writing this post to hopefully address all the interpretations out there and also share my own.

The Ackermans

In chapter 63, Mikasa and Levi have a chat, in which Mikasa reveals that her father's clan was persecuted in the cities, which led him to flee to the mountains. Levi reveals that Kenny Ackerman once had a moment where he felt an absurd amount of strength flow through his body, and then he knew what to do. Mikasa and Levi admit that they had moments like those too.

In chapter 65, Kenny's grandfather reveals that the reason the Ackermans were persecuted was because they refused to bow down to the ideology of the King any longer, after years of being the royals' sword and shield. They were one of the clans that was not affected by the power of the Founder, and so they were hunted down. Their persecution continued even after the head of the clan surrendered, and only ended when Uri Reiss put an end to it.

In chapter 93, Magath tells us that the Ackerman clan is a sub-product of Titan science, and that they only existed in the legends of the royals. So they don't know all that much about them in Marley either.

In chapter 112, Eren says that the Ackermans possess the power of a titan in a human body, which is why they are so strong. They receive the experiences of the previous Ackermans through Paths and are able to channel them.

In chapter 126, Hange points out that the only reason Levi survived his injuries was because of his Ackerman strength.

In 138, we find that Ackermans are not affected by the gas, and cannot turn into titans. It was kind of unclear in the earlier chapters, because it was unclear if Levi even drank the wine.

Eren's words

The controversy creator, the chapter that had all Mikasa haters on the edge of their seats. I'll just let Eren take the floor, cause his arguments are so poorly thought out on hindsight.

Basically, Mikasa imprinted on Eren in that moment by mistaking him for her "host," and lost her free will and her real self, becoming enslaved to Eren, which is why she follows him.

Now I could go ahead and shoot all this down, could let myself go to town on this, but why should I when Zeke does it for me? Chapter 130, for reference.

So there you have it, straight from the mouth of Zeke Yeager himself! There is no programed behavior or impulse. Mikasa just loves Eren so much she wants to follow him to the ends of the Earth (One could wonder how Zeke "emotional constipation is real, life is meaningless and nothing matters" Yeager is so knowledgeable on matters of the heart, but I digress).

Answers

The other most valuable resource for learning about the Ackermans, vague as Isayama is in it. @lostcauses-noregrets has an Ackerman Masterpost on their blog where there are some translations for what exactly has been said in the book. I'm not putting them here because they aren't mine, but the gist of it is that the Ackermans have the quality of choosing a person to "bond" with, but that it is simply their nature to choose someone to follow.

And they are not enslaved and unable to carry out their own wishes. Despite being "Ackerbonded" to Erwin, Levi let him go even when he could have saved him. Despite being "Ackerbonded" to Eren, Mikasa beheads him. They all disagree with the person they consider their liege many times, but they still continue to devote themselves to that person. And that is by their own choice.

And Isayama says that if they bond with someone, they are able to unleash amazing power. I think we see it when Levi chases Zeke, or with Mikasa in Liberio, or maybe when she chases Annie. These Ackerpowers are different from the Ackerbond though. The powers are awakened presumably when the Ackerman is in a high stress scenario, and then they know what to do thanks to the instinct.

We can't say when Kenny might have "awakened," but Mikasa awakened when she killed her kidnappers, and Levi might have awakened at the end of ACWNR, which I am inclined to believe because of how this paragraph is written.

Everything that Farlan and Isabel had—their dreams and hopes, their happiness and their sadness—they had taken all of those important, valuable things, and erased them from this world.

The six titans, done with eating every other person in sight, spotted Levi standing alone in stunned silence. They began to all approach him at once.

“You……bastaaaaaaaards—!!”

Something within Levi exploded.

Unbounded anger overtook him, painting his sight red, and whatever followed didn’t show any trace in his memory.

But this is my personal opinion, so feel free to disagree.

That being said...

The Ackerbond

It is established that it is an instinctive part of the Ackermans to form bonds with a person. It is also established that this does not stem from any sort of programming, rather from their own nature. Mikasa and Levi especially, are the kinds of people whose nature it is to protect. Their desire to follow someone isn't slavery, rather it is a conscious choice.

Let me put it this way. Anger is a trait that can be learnt in life and also acquired through genetics. If it is so, then anger is literally in a persons genes, it is part of their nature. They can't help but get angry. But whether or not the individual choses to act on it is not part of that. A person can choose to blow up and yell, or simmer quietly, walk away and calm down. That is a conscious choice that is made, whether or not to let the instincts take over.

It is the same here. Perhaps the desire to form that sort of a protective bond with someone is a common trait shared by all members of the clan, but whether they choose to act on it is up to them. In the story itself, all three Ackermans have found some person with whom they have established this sort of bond, because if they didn't, then what's the point of introducing this sort of concept?

The three bonds established in the series are Mikasa-Eren, Levi-Erwin and Kenny-Uri.

Mikasa and Eren

Mikasa and Eren's bond is the point around which the story revolves. It starts when Eren, in an act of kindness, wraps his scarf around Mikasa after she has lost everything. The world Mikasa had known before the loss of her parents had vanished and Mikasa had lost everything. In that moment, Eren gave her a home when she had lost hers. He saved her when she had lost everything. The scarf she wears, to Mikasa, represents her home, the kindness that Eren gave her. Eren is her home, and she does whatever is in her power to keep him safe.

As for Eren, Mikasa is someone who will protect him no matter what, and will love him unconditionally no matter how not special he is. Even if he thinks that people should live freely and not tied to another person, Mikasa's love means a lot to him.

What Isayama says he intended to portray with them is that Mikasa looked up and admired Eren as someone who gave her everything, and swore to follow him and protect him, but Eren was even more childish than Mikasa. The fact that Mikasa swore to follow someone who was a child, as a child herself, both lacking development as individuals helps us watch their journey.

Mikasa clings to the image of Eren as she knew, as the one who wrapped the scarf around her neck, and is forced to confront the reality of who he is, someone who has been kind to her, but also someone who is willing to hurt others. In the end, she comes to understand the part of Eren that she has ignored all this while. She decides to stay true to her principles and morals by killing Eren in the end, but now with a full understanding of who Eren really is, she decides to continue loving him for what he means to her, for all he had done for her by giving her a home and for promising to wrap the scarf around her.

Kenny and Uri

Kenny is someone who is driven by a desire for power, it is to power that he is a slave. Kenny hunts down Uri Reiss who captures him in his titan. When Uri kneels in front of him and asks for forgiveness, Kenny is amazed and moved that someone with so much power would bow down to someone like him. It is at this moment that he decides to follow Uri, to understand him.

As for Uri, I guess that the memories he inherited from the titan made him disillusioned in humanity, but meeting Kenny restored his faith in humanity, and he longed to build them a paradise. It was meeting Kenny that set him back on this path, and to him, their friendship is a true miracle.

Kenny sees that Uri has a unique vision of the world. He wants to build a paradise for people, he's kind, and despite his power, he kneeled before Kenny in humility. For Kenny, a person with power is capable of anything, and having power is the most important. But the one with so much power willingly bowed to him. Kenny sees the titan power Uri has, and he wants it so that he can see the world the way Uri does. The scene Uri sees of compassion, is what Kenny wants to see as well. It is for that reason that Kenny continues to fight, to see the scene that Uri saw, which is Kenny's connection to his liege, the person that saw something good in someone like him, who believed in him despite everything he was.

In the end of his life, Kenny realizes that even Uri was a slave to something, and understands that the power is not what makes someone compassionate. In a poetic end to his story, Kenny gives Levi the serum instead of using it on himself in a selfless act, and finally sees the scene which Uri saw.

Levi and Erwin

Levi and Erwin don't meet on the best of terms. Erwin coerces Levi into joining the Survey Corps, and Levi is intent on killing him. Upon the loss of Levi's only friends, everything he had, Erwin gives Levi a speech which awakens him to a sense of purpose. Levi understands that Erwin sees something he cannot and wants to understand what it is, which is why he follows him. In the years that pass, Levi understands that thing and decides to help Erwin achieve it. Levi decides to follow Erwin because he thought that he had altruistic motives that Levi had never considered. Erwin gave him purpose and direction in his life, which was otherwise empty.

As for Erwin, Levi is someone with whom he can share his burdens, someone he can truly trust to always be by his side. Levi gives Erwin his strength and provides him with motivation by offering support and encouragement no matter what his decision lead to. Even when it is revealed to Levi that Erwin has selfish motivations, he still remains unflinchingly loyal to him, and continues to follow him. And when Erwin finally breaks down on that crate, Levi is there to assure him of his worth and helps him take control of his life once more, and helps him let go of his dream and ride to his death. And Levi again, chooses to let Erwin rest so that he does not have to come back and suffer as a devil once more.

Levi makes a promise to Erwin, and it is something he is intent on carrying out as it is to him, Erwin's last order. Certainly he has his goal of saving humanity, but the promise is tied to Erwin in a way that makes it personal between them, as it is something they shared. This is what connects him to Erwin, and he is determined to carry it out. And no matter what, he will not regret letting Erwin go, and he will carry his burdens, content with the fact that he has let him rest at last.

A metaphor for Love, I would say.

Despite the obvious difference between Mikasa-Eren compared to Levi-Erwin and Kenny-Uri (both of which have some parallels if one wants to look at it in that way), there is one thing in common. In all of these, the person each Ackerman chooses is someone who has had a lasting impact on their life, without whom they would not be who they are today. This person is an integral part of their characters. And there is something tangible in the story itself, that connects the Ackermans to their lieges.

What sells it for me that this is not a relation between a master and a slave, however, is that even the people who are the "lieges" are impacted significantly by there relationships. The most significant scenes in their character arcs (for those who have one) happen alongside their Ackerman. Which means that it is a mutual, equal relationship on both sides.

The lieges in each case, give the Ackerman something worth living for, when they have lost everything, be it a home or purpose in life. They give the Ackerman a reason to live. And the Ackermans, in all cases, devote themselves to this person, and support them unconditionally, continuing to remember and fight for them even after they have passed. It is the ultimate expression of loyalty and devotion. It is the ultimate expression of love.

The end of the story itself, is about love. Ymir Fritz loved King Fritz, but wanted to break free from him, because she did not want to be a slave. She saw in Mikasa the ability to break free from her slavery to him. She saw in Mikasa her capacity for unconditional love, how she would continue to love Eren, and yet be able to break free from him. She saw how she would love Eren, always, but be able to kill him if that was what had to be done.

Eren believes that one must be unattached to be free, but fails to realize that Mikasa's freedom is in loving Eren, and following him. The freedom the Ackermans have, is in following the person who gave them everything.

I believe that SNK is perhaps not a romance, but it is most certainly a love story. Love is not portrayed as the magical, pink hearts and rainbow-y thing that we find in most kids shows. But however, love is a strong force in the story, something that can drive a person to do anything. Like Carla's sacrifice for her son, or the love between Ymir and Historia. In my opinion, no one represents this better than the Ackermans.

Mikasa, who would love Eren no matter how he hurt her, no matter what he's done, because she knows him, and she can accept him fully and continue to love him.

Levi, who would love Erwin enough to take away all his burdens from him, and allow him to rest in peace, even though he would like nothing more than to bring him back.

Kenny, who would admire and love him Uri he had never loved anyone else in his life, who wished to see what he saw, who fought for him even after he passed.

They aren't slaves. Everything they've done, they've done with free will. They loved freely and they were loved back.

Eren, who would love Mikasa for all she has done for him, and want her to be happy and free, who gave her a home to return to.

Erwin, who would admire and trust Levi deeply, more than anyone else, who would give him a purpose in life, and thank him for everything with a smile no else gets to see.

Uri, who would believe in Kenny and see the good in him, even when no one else would.

It's the selfless love, a powerful feeling. It is the one responsible for the start of the titan curse, but also the one responsible for its end. The relationships between the characters move the story forward, and not many are as significant as the bonds between the Ackermans and their lieges.

I wrote this somewhere else, but I'm putting it here too.

Ultimately, what he Ackerbond term means is that someone with the last name “Ackerman” decided to follow someone else. It was all their choice, and they chose to follow a person and devote themselves to them.

I have always held firm in my belief that one of the main themes explored by SNK is “the power of love.” Not that love is the ultimate force that overcomes all, but love itself, as one of the most powerful emotions in the world, something that can make people do unimaginable things, that is so strong and so beautiful. The Ackerman family explores that love. The Ackerbond is a metaphor for love. It shows how much people are capable of loving, how much this love impacts everyone, and what love entails. Devotion, commitment, security. It’s not just romantic love, it’s love in all forms. Mikasa and Eren’s love changed the world. The bond between Mikasa and Eren, Kenny and Uri, Levi and Erwin was integral to them and their characters, and in each case there was a facet of love explored.

And the Ackermans are the poster people for the theme of love, but the relationships between characters have been driving the story for a long time. Like Armin and Eren, Ymir and Historia, Jean and Marco, and so many others. Isayama has always placed an emphasis on love. It’s the most powerful feeling in the world. People can do anything for love. SNK might not be a romance, but it is a love story. And no one exemplifies that theme better than the Ackerman family.

#SNK #Levi Ackerman #Mikasa Ackerman #Kenny Ackerman #Erwin Smith #Eren Yeager #Uri Reiss #Eruri #Eremika #Kenuri #Meta #My meta #Ackerbond #Levi #Eren Yaeger #Eren Jeager #Eren Jaeger #Eren

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jaime-brienne-fic-exchange · 4 years ago

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Stats! Stats! Stats!

There are three days left until sign ups open and we thought it might be fun to look back at last year’s exchange through the fun lens of MATH!!

That’s right! Maths. The wonderful @im-auntie-social did the Lord of Light’s work last year tracking the published works on a spreadsheet and has helped to highlight some of the fun figures from last year.

The Raw Stats

There were 102 sign ups last year, but we ended up with 112 fics in total!

The total word count of all completed fics was 1,310,259 words, which is more words than A Game Of Thrones, A Clash of Kings and a Storm of Swords combined, and if you include the few WIPs we still have, we also top A Feast For Crows!

The mean number of words per work was 12479 and the median was 8281, with a standard deviation of 13029 wpf (words per fic), which I am told by our resident statistician is hilarious:

AuntieSocial — Today at 2:51 AM

okay so as of 8/25:

112 fics, 105 finished

total word count 1,310,259 (which does NOT include WIPs), for a mean of 12,479 words/finished fic

with a standard deviation of 13,029 words/fic, which is never not funny to me

a more useful number is the median words/fic: 8,281

(which means if you write the word counts in order, the 53rd value is 8,281, so half the fics are shorter than that, half are longer)

The rest of the mods:

So then she made some neat graphs instead:

(not included in this final image: the exponential growth of grey hairs on each mod correlating precisely with the countdown to the close of the collection as multi-chaptered fics grew in size while still showing no signs of completion!)

If you’re like us and bar charts confuse you, here’s a pie chart to show the distribution of word counts. Despite the massive total word count--and several writers’ increasing panic as their fics refused to end--most fics in the exchange were actually 10,000 words or less, and only 17% of the fics were longer than 20,000 words.

(The last bar, which is unlabelled, is for 60k and above, and belongs to the one, the only @writergirl2011. A round of applause to her!)

In addition to having a wide diversity of lengths for our fics, we also had a wonderful diversity of ratings!

Fics!

Fun With Tags!

The most common tags on fics were fairly predictable:

Alternate Universe - Modern Setting (50)

Fluff (10)

Angst (10)

Pining (10)

Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence (10)

Hurt/Comfort (9)

But one of our writers, @sapphiresandsunlight, had the tags on their fic go viral on twitter! (Give it a reread, it’s a banger.)

But we had other favourite tags too:

"just buy a hat and hold the fuck onto it"

"Red Ronnet fulfills his sole purpose in life yet again"

"rated for violence; laguange; some body horror (apologies it's not for sexy times),"

"There's goats, and--therefore--some minor violence,"

"jaime is definitely the miss piggy of this relationship,"

"you don't have to judge me i am judging myself,"

"I overshot the minimum wordcount just a bit" (on a 57k fic, AHEM)

"its cool guys Margaery has a plan,"

"everyone knows the one dude with a weird pet,"

"probably some deconstruction of Romatic Ideas as a treat,"

"no no she is literally a star,"

"unitards as a fashion statement,"

“lmao at my dumb ass for thinking this was going to be under 10k and finished on time,"

"I swear ths was just supposed to be a one-shot"

"Yes that title is in reference to an Ed Sheeran song" "WHAT OF IT?"

"some wolves do some harming but they get away with it,"

"'hey how is this 13k when it's just cave snuggling?'"

"Revealing your deepest secret and then passing out cold as flirting," "smuttier than that,"

"the minimum for this exchange is 1k" "here's 20 times that,"

“Cosplay as foreplay,"

"hey guess what? i have no idea how newspapers work and yet i picked that prompt anyway,"

"unconscionable abuse of italics,"

"academia is a trap!"

"math as a framework for love and trauma,"

"criticism of martini glasses,"

"Fic Exchange Yaaayyyyyy,"

"if there's a canon problem yo i'll solve it,"

"bet you didn't have this on your Winds of Winter bingo card,"

"this baby can fit SO MANY TROPES"

Then we had fun with tag clouds:

It was a monumental exchange last year and we’re so excited to see what we all come up with this year!

Sign-ups open very soon! Shoot us whatever questions you like and keep an eye out!

#jaime x brienne fic exchange 2021 #jaime x brienne #braime #jaime lannister #brienne of tarth #fun with stats!#the inherent romanticism of spreadsheets #we bin known on twitter #throwback to mid 2020 when everyone was quarantined and had nothing else to do but write #game of thrones #asoiaf #graph-ic content

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just-dreaming-marvel · 4 years ago

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Out Of Time ~ 112

MASTERLIST

< previous chapter

Word Count: 2,900ish

Summary: Captain America: Civil War --- tread carefully.

Steve landed the quinjet as Bucky and Y/N grabbed weapons.

“You shouldn’t come in with us,” Bucky muttered, shaking his head. “It’s too dangerous.”

“Too bad,” Y/N responded, slipping guns into the holster of her suit, that was thankfully in the quinjet. “I’m coming.”

Bucky sighed before looking up at Y/N. “I’m not the same man you knew.”

“I’m not the same woman. But…” Y/N stepped forward, took Bucky’s metal hand, and held it to her chest. “You’re still my Bucky.”

Bucky studied her eyes for a second before swiftly putting his free hand on the back of her head and pulling her in to meet his lips. She was shocked, not kissing back for a few, before remembering how much she loved the feeling of his lips on hers. He was the one to end the kiss, stepping away and breaking all physical contact with her.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that,” Bucky apologized. “I’m not in the correct mindset.”

He quickly made his way over to the back of the quinjet, waiting for the ramp to lower. Y/N joined him before Steve left the pilot’s chair and stood in the middle of them as the ramp lowered.

“You remember that time we had to ride back from Rockaway Beach in the back of that freezer truck?” Steve asked.

“Was that the time we used our train money to buy hot dogs?” Bucky questioned.

“Yes,” Y/N answered, with a reminiscent smile.

“You blew three bucks trying to win that stuffed bear for a redhead,” Steve continued.

“What was her name again?” Bucky asked.

“Dolores,” Y/N responded. “You called her Dot.”

“She’s gotta be a hundred years old right now.”

“So are we, pal,” Steve said, clamping his hand on Bucky’s shoulders.

The three of them looked at each other before Steve slipped his helmet on and they exited the quinjet. It was cold, the wind blowing harshly as snow covered the ground. Bucky led them to the entrance, set in rock. The door was open.

“He can’t have been here more than a few hours,” Steve said as they stared at the door.

“Long enough to wake them up,” Bucky said. Both men looked over to Y/N.

“Last chance. I really wish—“

“Save it Steve. You know I’m not leaving,” Y/N retorted.

Both men sighed. “Then no powers unless it’s absolutely necessary. I don’t need you throwing up in the middle of a fight.”

Y/N gave a small nod before Steve led them in, her in the middle and Bucky tailing. They entered a small elevator. She watched as the men nodded at each other while the elevator went down. Once it rattled to a stop, the men heaved up the doors. Steve held up his shield as the other two held up their guns, walking along a corridor, keeping close to a wall.

The trio headed up a flight of stairs, Bucky leading, Y/N in the middle, and Steve at the end, when they heard a noise from behind them. They swiftly spun around, aiming down the corridor. Still keeping his gun up, Bucky gently pushed Y/N down so that she was more hidden.

“You ready?” Steve asked.

“Yeah,” Bucky responded.

The three held their positions as the creaking of the doors at the end of the corridor continued. The double doors part, forced open by Iron Man. Both Steve and Y/N stared in surprise. Tony walked towards them, retracting the suits helmet.

“You seem a little defensive,” Tony commented.

Steve got up and walked towards Tony, keeping his shield up. Tony eyed Y/N who was slowly following.

“It’s been a long day,” Steve replied.

“At ease, Soldier,” Tony said. “I’m not currently after you.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Could be your story’s not so crazy. Maybe. My girl friend also wasn’t at the place that I left her. Figured she was with you.”

“Tony—“

“Ross has no idea I’m here,” Tony cut Y/N off to continue. He lended his shoulder against a large cement post. “I’d like to keep it that way. Otherwise, I gotta arrest myself.”

“Well, that sounds like a lot of paperwork,” Steve said, lowing his shield. It’s good to see you, Tony.”

“You too, Cap. Hey, Manchurian Candidate, you're killing me. There's a truce here. You can drop.”

Steve signals Bucky to lower his weapon, in which he does. Y/N walked up to Tony, hesitantly.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Nat called and warned me. I had to come help.”

Tony stared at her, studying her carefully for a moment. He had a feeling for a few days now that something was up, something besides the Accords. He just couldn’t figure out what.

“I’m sorry too,” he said quietly, pulling her into his arms. He held a kiss to her head. Bucky tensed at the gesture, which Tony noticed. “Alright, let’s go.”

Tony put his helmet back over his face and the four of them cautiously walked further into the bunker. The three men were positioned so that Y/N was in the middle of them. Iron Man was leading the way towards an enormous chamber with capsules standing in it.

“I got heat signatures,” Tony stated.

“How many?” Steve asked.

Tony paused before answering, “Uh, one.”

As the entered the chamber, the lights turned on. A hazy, yellow mist descended within the capsules around the room. Each capsule contained a soldier. They all looked around, bewildered.

“If it’s any comfort,” Helmut Zemo’s voice came over a speaker, “they died in their sleep.”

They all walked around, staring at the soldiers that had each been shot in the head.

“Do you really think I wanted more of you?” Zemo continued.

“What the hell?” Bucky muttered.

“I'm grateful to them, though. They brought you here.”

Zemo appeared in the control room, through a small window. Tony lifted up his hand as Steve threw his shield, but it bounced back.

“Please, Captain,” Zemo taunted. “The The Soviets built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR-100 rockets.”

“I’m betting I could beat that,” Tony retorted. The four of them rounded the center consul so that they could be closer to Zemo.

“Oh, I'm sure you could, Mr. Stark. Given time. But then you'd never know why you came.”

“You killed innocent people in Vienna just to bring us here?” Steve questioned. Staring Zemo straight on.

“I thought about nothing else for over a year. I studied you. I followed you. But now that you're standing here, I just realized . . . there's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes. How nice to find a flaw.”

“You're Sokovian,” Y/N stated, coming closer. “Is that what this is about?”

“Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell. No. I'm here because I made a promise.”

“You lost someone?” Steve wondered.

Zemo, looking grave, clicked his tongue. "I lost everyone. And so will you.” A screen suddenly turned on, bringing everyone’s attentions to it. “An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumples from within? That's dead . . . forever.”

They all moved over and looked at the screen. The frozen frame of a secluded road and the date, December 16, 1991. Tony’s face helmet disappeared, his eyes briefly met Y/n’s before flickering back to the screen that began to play.

“I know that road,” Tony stated, anxiously. “What is this?”

All eyes were now on the screen. A car came into the frame, crashing into a tree. Y/N watched as someone road up on a motor cycle and got off. The Winter Soldier. Steve watched Tony’s increasing unease. The driver got out of the car, crawling on the ground.

“Howard,” Y/N gasped quietly, eyes brimming with tears.

“Help me wife,” Howard begged on the video. “Please. Help.” The Winter Soldier walked over and hoisted him up by his hair. “Sergeant Barnes?”

“Howard!” Maria called.

Tony looked up and glared at Bucky, before his eyes found their way back to the screen. Y/N was unable to take her eyes off the screen, her heart began racing. On the screen, the Winter Soldier lifted his metal fist.

“Wait!” Howard begged, hand digging into his suit coat. “You don’t want to do this, Barnes. Look.” Howard pulled out the photo of him and Y/N dancing. “We knew each other… You know her… Remember.”

Y/N heart clenched as a sob torn through her. Her hand came up to her mouth, trying to keep it quiet.

“Please don’t,” Howard continued. “Remember Y/N at least.”

After a brief glance at the photo, the Winter Soldier punched Howard over and over.

“Howard!” Maria called again.

Howard slumped over, dead. The Winter Soldier put him in the driver’s seat, face against the steering wheel. He walked around the the passenger side, where Maria was located. The Soldier reached in and gripped her throat, expressionless as he strangled Maria. The Winter Soldier then walked up and aimed a gun at the surveillance camera, ending the feed.

Y/N’s heart was beating rapidly. It was the only thing she could hear. Her breathing was becoming increasingly unsteady. Losing her balance, she backed up into the wall and slid down it. Steve kept his eyes on Tony, who lunged towards Bucky.

“Tony, Tony,” Steve said, stopping him.

Tony looked at Steve, clearly consumed with grief and tears glistening in his eyes. “Did you know?” Tony asked, trying to control his emotions.

“I didn’t know it was him.”

“Don't bullshit me, Rogers! Did you know?”

“Yes.”

Tony stepped back, chin jutting up in a twitch. Looking over at Y/N, he sees her struggling with this as well, making him realize that she didn’t know either. Tony reengaged his helmet. He punched Steve to the floor and deflected gunfire from Bucky, disarming him. Grabbing Bucky, he flew across the chamber, slamming Bucky onto the floor. Tony pinned Bucky’s arms down but was unable to fire because Steve threw his shield at him.

Steve barged Tony backwards. Tony then shouldered Steve to the floor, shackling his ankles. Bucky came back up and punched Tony, who just listed him and slammed him against a machine. Tony raised a fist, but Bucky twisted it. A rocket shot out from the Iron Man suit, a fireball exploding. Steve sliced his shackles as a towering structure of pipework collapsed.

Barely registering what was happening around her, Y/N was quickly thrown back into her senses, as pieces of metal began to fall around her, boxing her into the corner.

“Ah!” She screamed.

Bucky and Tony were thrown to the ground by the metal, not hearing her screams. Steve though, did.

“No,” he whispered. Steve and Bucky stood up, making eye contact. “Find Y/N and get out of here!”

Bucky nodded. He quickly found her, throwing the metal to the side.

“I’ve got you, Y/N/N,” Bucky said quietly. “I’m so sorry.”

Y/N shaking in his hold as Bucky rushed towards the wall with the lowest platform. He hit a control panel, opening the over head roof. Tony shot at them, thankfully missing, before Steve landed in front of him.

“It wasn’t him, Tony,” Steve stated. “HYDRA had control of his mind!”

“Move!” Tony ordered, hovering. He began to fly over Steve.

“It wasn’t him!”

Steve grabbed onto Tony’s ankle in mid air, smashing the bottom of the boot. They fought while Bucky was trying his best to make his way up the platforms with an almost unresponsive Y/N in his arms. He began to notice that the trembling was increasing and that she was sweating everywhere.

Tony unsteadily soared upwards as Bucky jumped across to another platform, Y/n still in his arms. Tony kicked Bucky down, causing him to let go of Y/n, who rolled away. Tony then took aim but Steve quickly jumped in front of Bucky, using his shield to rebound the energy back to Tony. He dropped, landing on a lowering platform.

“He’s not going to stop,” Steve stated, helping Bucky up. “Go.”

“Steve, it’s too dangerous for me to take Y/N,” Bucky worried. “Look.”

Steve looked over to see Y/N shaking, with sweat dripping down her forehead.

“I’ve got her,” Steve stated. “Go.”

Bucky ran and Steve leaped over and shot a wire around Tony’s neck, dragging him down. Tony deflected Steve’s shield, before trying to target Bucky.

“Come on, come on,” Tony muttered.

“Targeting system’s knackered, boss,” FRIDAY warned.

“I’m eyeballing it.”

Tony’s helmet retracted and he shut one eye, taking aim at the opening hatch. He fired, hitting the giant hinge and cutting off Bucky’s escape route. Tony then flew up, blocking two swings from an iron pipe Bucky was trying to use. Tony grabbed Bucky around the neck from behind.

“Do you even remember them?” Tony asked.

“I remember all of them,” Bucky replied.

Bucky pushed them both of the walkway. Steve jumped into them to deflect their fall. Bucky landed on a platform while Tony and Steve landed on the concrete floor besides an opening in the wall where snow drifts in. Finally hearing more of the commotion, Y/N pushed herself up, looking over the side.

“No,” she panted.

The three men she loved most in the world where fighting each other and she had no strength to stop them. She winced as she felt a cramp in her lower abdomen.

“No, no, no,” she whispered frantically.

Pushing herself up, she shakily jumped down from platform to platform as the men still fought.

“This isn’t gonna change what happened,” Steve said to Tony.

“I don’t care,” Tony replied. “He killed my mom.”

The two began going at each other, with Bucky shown joining in. Y/N got down to their level as Bucky was blasted away from Tony, his metal arm blowing off. Tony zapped him again, throwing him to the side. Y/N rushed as quick as she could over to him.

“B-bucky,” she called, collapsing beside him. “Bucky, please…”

Bucky coughed up some blood. “Go,” he groaned. “You have to get out of here.”

“But you’re all killing each other.”

“And you shouldn’t have to see that… go… please…. I love you.”

“Bucky, I—“

“Go.”

With an unsteady inhale and a nod, Y/N opened a portal to the quinjet. She knew she couldn’t get much further than that. Closing it, she fell onto the ground. She had no more energy to move but her body still forced her to vomit. Y/N couldn’t focus on anything around her, black spots filling her vision. With one more heave, she blacked out.

~~~

Tony and Steve were both panting as Steve ripped the shield out of Tony’s suit and helped Bucky up. They began to walk away, leaving Tony on the ground.

“That shield doesn’t belong to you,” Tony said. “My father made that shield!”

Pausing, Steve raised his chin before dropping the shield. He walked around, with Bucky’s arm around his shoulder, leaving Tony to stare at the shield. Panting, he watched it until something suddenly hit him.

“Y/N,” he gasped. “No.” He pushed himself up. “Y/N!”

He called her name as she walked around, searching for her. Tony feared ash something terrible had happened to her or that she had gone with Steve and Bucky. He eventually, after almost an hour, gave up the search and headed out of the bunker. Tony was thankful to still see a quinjet here. As he entered the jet, he saw a body laying in the middle of it.

“Y/N… Baby?”

Tony slowly limped over to her. As he drew closer, he noticed the blood seeping from somewhere in between her legs. He rushed to kneel next to her.

“Honey,” he tried to be gentle but firm as he turned her over from the vomit she was in and patted her cheek. “Y/N, please.”

But nothing. He quickly moved to find where the blood was coming from. There was no gash, no wound. As he ran through all the possible things, Tony’s mind came to one solution.

“No,” he whispered. “No, no, no.”

He hurried and got the quinjet into the air and set for the compound before getting out of his battle torn suit. Tony then took Y/N into his arms, rocking her as he begged for her to wake.

“I can’t lose more than I already have… I’m so sorry…”

Dr. Cho was already there waiting for the quinjet when they landed back at the compound. Her and her people rushed Y/N away from Tony. He watched helplessly, falling onto his knees as tears trailed down his cheeks. And he did the one thing he’d never done before in his life. Tony Stark prayed.

“Please God… don’t take them from me… I’ll be better, work harder… I’ll do anything. I’ll give anything. Including my own life… Just don’t take them from me. I’m begging you… I-I-I didn’t even know… I didn’t even know…”

next chapter >

I’ll see you guys after Disney World! I’ll still be responding to asks and comments!

NOTES: from now on the taglist when be added by a reblog. I will reblog it using my second account, @just-dreaming-marvel-2. Just so that my main page doesn’t get too cluttered.

If you want to be added to the tag list, please dm me or send in an ask.

#the avengers x reader #avengers x reader #tony stark x reader #bucky barnes x reader #steve rogers x reader #iron man x reader #captain america civil war #civil war #captain america x reader #the winter soldier x reader #winter soldier x reader #marvel imagine #avengers imagine #tony stark imagine #steve rogers imagine #bucky barnes imagine

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kyojuuros · 3 years ago

Note

I'm the one who wrote you the anon message regarding my feelings with the manga feeling like a 'rush job' despite being fine with the conclusion. Thanks for your response. I'm going to be brutally honest and say everything after chapter 106 (the War for Paradis arc), IMHO, should've gone differently in certain ways. For starters, it was WAY too long (33 chapters) and could've used more breathing room by splitting it into two and then start with a completely NEW arc that would've been DEVOTED....

to addressing ALL the plot points and possibly leading to a more satisfactory conclusion. Eren's character arc was fine but, IMHO, needed better build up, a long with a better conclusion with more focus on him in the REAL world, his REAL persona, and not the hard-ass act and Path shenanigans. The manga has a dark setting and it's suppose to be sad/tragic/depressing/heart wrenching but I don't like a terrible terms he left with friends, Hange and Levi. I'm sorry but there's really no excuse.

I bolded the part that really stood out to me because I feel exactly the same way. I don’t think making his thoughts and feelings a total mystery while completely turning him into someone who feels totally different from the pre-basement portion of the series was a good move, like, AT ALL. It’d be like if Star Wars was presented in chronological order (and let’s say you don’t know who Darth Vader is when you start) and saw Anakin and Padme get married, and then ~time skip~ to him attacking Padme and Obi-wan and becoming Darth Vader... and only seeing his descent to the dark side just before he sacrifices himself for Luke.

People who’ve followed me for a long time know I used to be a lot more involved in the meta community and I was always theorizing and making long-ass posts about character arcs and relationships and predictions on what I think is going to happen. It was a lot of fun and even if I wasn’t always correct, I was never so far off that it actually made me upset (or if I was, it was warranted and even comical... I used to think the Beast Titan wasn’t a shifter and that there was an underground tunnel that lead outside the walls lol). I think the last extensive meta/prediction I had written was after chapter 112 had published, and once I realized that I apparently had no fundamental understanding of Eren at all anymore I completely stopped trying. It wasn’t fun anymore. I didn’t appreciate that I could no longer understand my favorite character (of all time, at the time).

But then I think back and I’m like, no... I did understand Eren. I understood him just fine before the time skip and that’s why everything after Marley frustrated me to no end because it was like he’d been ripped away from me and replaced with a fraud. I couldn’t even cry about his death because I’d become so emotionally removed from him by that point that it didn’t even matter to me anymore (and this is coming from someone who would cry about him a lot just listening to song lyrics or getting lost in thought or rambling with friends). It continues to frustrate me because I still love him as a character, and I don’t need to defend him (there is nothing defendable) but I wish I could feel confident in at least explaining his actions properly. I don’t mind that he became the antagonist, I just hate that I continue to feel like I can’t understand why.

I think that, had Isayama just told his story chronologically, and kept us privy to Eren’s POV, that we would have understood better. Seeing him descend into the darker side of himself would have made much more sense if we had actually witnessed it in real time. Giving us a random flashback here and there, barely getting his thoughts at all, and having the most underwhelming info dump in the final chapter (that STILL didn’t even clear things up properly, it just added MORE damn questions) was terrible for his character and the overall narrative. A character that used to give me so much hope (and I was in a very dark headspace when I stumbled upon snk) became a character that just made me feel disappointed.

Rambling over Eren aside, I also agree that the final arc should have been chopped up into 2 or more arcs (I generally treat the rumbling as its own arc at this point anyway). We should have gotten more from Historia. Levi should have interacted more with the 104th. We should have been able to see Hange blossom into their own as a confident commander (and not get killed just to make Armin commander for 5 minutes???). Armin and Annie’s feelings toward each other should have been explored more. Eren developing romantic feelings for Mikasa should have been explored more. Mikasa and the entire Azumabito/Hizuru subplot should have actually amounted to... literally anything. Ymir having a connection to Mikasa should have been explored much more (especially with the revelation that this was the most likely cause of the headache’s Mikasa has had since the 2nd chapter). I’m sure there’s plenty of other things I could think about that needed addressing, tbh.

The story feels concluded but incomplete, if that makes sense. The themes were wrapped up and are easy to pinpoint and that’s good and all, but for a story that’s very character driven to not have properly built up/wrapped up certain arcs, relationships and character-centric plot points just makes it feel hollow. So I understand why a lot of people are very frustrated and upset and ready to put the story on the shelf never to be touched again.

I’m trying to give Isayama some grace since he admitted the scope of the story was beyond his ability as an author. I just wish that instead of barreling forward with a narrative that he knew he couldn’t execute properly, he would have reconsidered the trajectory of the plot altogether and written something that he knew he could feel confident in. I can think of many ways the story could have gone post-basement that would have been both more interesting and probably more satisfying, regardless if the ending was dark, bittersweet or happy.

It’s a story I’ll read and watch again, many times, I’m sure. I’m still looking forward to part 2 of the final season. I still want to make content for it. I still want to buy and display merchandise of it. I still love these characters and the world Isayama created. I appreciate and treasure all of the joy SnK has brought me over the years. I just... disagree heavily with his narrative choices in the final arc. I’d like to think that MAPPA will somehow execute it a little better (there are things WIT did that I liked better, though they did I things I also liked less, lol), but I’m not going to get high hopes just to get let down again.

.... It appears I have pent up my frustrations a bit in an effort to maintain a positive presence. LOL

#snk spoilers #a little negativity under the cut sdghksjdghsdh #anon #reply

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halcyonstorm · 4 years ago

Text

The Girl at the Library Chapter 1

Short Fic - Levihan

Themes: College AU, Library, Fluff, Slow Burn, Falling in Love, Female Hange Zoe, Student!Levi

Word Count: 5730

Chapter: 1/3

Warning: Mild Language

Read on Ao3 - The Girl at the Library

Summary: Levi is a college student who needs help on his research paper. Luckily, Hange is a book worm and works at the library.

Levi was stressed and annoyed, mainly because he was in college. Of course with college comes infinite amounts of homework assignments, 100-question exams with astronomical amounts of topics on them, unnecessary research papers, and staying in a dorm room with a kid that happens to have no problem inviting his friends over every night to hang out and party with no regards to his sullen roommate.

Levi had a paper coming up. He had to come up with a topic, find sources, and finish his paper by the end of the semester. With three weeks left to go, he decided he’d rather get it over with. He began his brainstorming in the study lounge at the center of his dormitory floor. He was starting to stress. He sat on the big yellow leather couch in the way-too-bright study lounge with his laptop in his lap. He tapped his pen against his head as he tried to think of an idea.

“You have to write about a topic related to your major,” The professor explained. “This is the one and only paper you will have assigned this semester. I suggest you get it done as early as possible.”

If only it were that easy. He had the rubric pulled up in one tab, and a ton of “How to pick a research topic” websites in others. His major was pharmaceuticals, a field he was inspired to take on because of his mother. She was very ill when he was very young, so they were in and out of hospitals. He was sitting on the edge of his mother’s hospital bed when a nurse came in the room to administer her medications.

“This is…” His memory was blurry. “This medication will help… and make you feel better.” And it did. 9 year old Levi was fascinated. This one little pill or bag of what looked like water helped his mother feel better. Within hours, his mother’s skin went from pallor to beige. Her hands were warmer. She looked more awake, more alive. She didn’t wince at Levi’s touch. She was in less pain. She got better, like the nurse predicted.

Since then, Levi always asked questions whenever they visited the hospitals again and again. “What kind of drug is that?” “What does it do?” “How long does it take to take effect?”

Levi recalled the memory with a deep sigh. He missed his mother. She was at home, not too far away. Levi never had the time to travel the hour through the big city to visit her. When he did have free time, he spent it studying or sleeping. He felt his heart twinge at this. She had sacrificed everything to help him attend college and to give him a good life.

Now with his head cloudy, he went to reach his water bottle in his backpack. He opened the lid and took a sip. At that moment, he could hear some obnoxiously loud students throwing tennis balls back and forth to each other. He recognized these kids too, they were some (of many) of the lovely visitors his roommate had over most nights. Suddenly in the blink of an eye, Levi’s water bottle spilled all over his laptop, a tennis ball on the floor next to him, and some worried voices approaching him. Within seconds, the laptop started to steam and the screen went black.

His laptop was fried, he determined. He felt heat start to rise inside of him.

“Oh my god, man. I am so sorry,” One of the kids said, trying to hold back a laugh.

“Yeah, man. We didn’t mean to.”

Levi took a deep breath and stood up. These kids… were gonna pay.

He closed his broken laptop and stood up. These kids were much taller than him, but looked to be easily intimidated by Levi’s presence.

“Do you have the money to pay for this?” He sneered, getting very close to their faces.

“Eh… no, but we have jobs! We can pay you back over time,” One of the kids trailed off. They seemed to be intimidated by the short man. “You live in 112 right?”

Levi nodded, his face heating up with anger. “This laptop cost me a lot of money.”

“We get it, man! We said we’re sorry,” the other kid explained. “We’ll pay you back or whatever.”

“Tch,” Levi clicked. He was extremely pissed. These kids should not be throwing balls at each other in the hallway. Also, they spilled his water which made a mess. “Which room are you both in?” They responded with 118. The one kid explained they get paid on the 15th and 30th of each month. Luckily, their pay day was 4 days away.

“I’ll stop by Tuesday, the 16th,” Levi decided, before gathering his things and heading to the stairs. He began to walk through the campus. Fuck, now where was he gonna go? How was he gonna find his topics? His computer was fucked. Putting it in rice wouldn’t have helped. He was so occupied having a debate with himself about where to research, he almost missed it. If he looked the other way or even blinked in that moment, he wouldn’t have seen it. It was the campus library. No, not the campus library, but a campus library. It blended into the surroundings, hidden from the passerbyers. There was a sign in the window “We’re Open!”.

The library was small, to say the least. It was old fashioned, which contrasted the modern aesthetic of the university. It was a small, dark brown, wooden building with four-pane windows. The door was a lighter shade of brown. He decided it was easier to check out this little library instead of walking another 10 minutes to get to the main library. He didn’t have time to waste. He had to get started with his paper right away. He walked up to the door and opened it. When he did, a little bell rang at the doorway.

“Just a minute!” A woman’s voice called from the back. Levi decided to wander around. There were many books crammed on the shelves. There were two computers on each side when he walked in. They looked out of place, considering they were very modern compared to the architecture of the library itself. The books were all shades of bright, vibrant colors. It was strange. From the outside, it seemed creepy and gloomy. Once he walked in, it was very cozy. The dark walls of the library contrasted the beautiful colors of the books.

Then, he saw the woman come out. She came up to the desk. He expected an elderly lady with her glasses on a chain, but he assumed this woman was a student. She was a young woman who wore thin oval glasses and her brown hair thrown up in a messy half-up-half-down ponytail.

“Hi!” The woman said. “How can I help you?”

“I want to use a computer, please,” He announced. He glanced at her nametag which hung like a necklace around her neck. “Hange” was the name on the tag. It was strange and unordinary, but it had a nice ring to it. The name seemed to suit her.

“Sure! You are allowed up to two hours a day,” Hange explains. “You can choose whichever computer you’d like.”

The computers were unoccupied. In fact, the entire library seemed vacant except for him and the employee.

“Does anyone actually come here?” Levi asked, setting his stuff down next to a desk, and looking her way. She looked like someone who would work at a library.

The brunette chuckled. “You are my third visitor today!” She exclaimed proudly. It was already about 3pm. He remembered the sign in the front says “12pm-6pm weekdays”.

Levi chuckled silently, air huffed out his nose. “How do you stay in business?”

“Well, the university thinks it’s good to have a small library in the outskirts of the campus so students have access to books and computers because the main campus library is in the center of the plaza. Sometimes we get about ten people a day, and sometimes they don’t even take anything out. Sometimes I wonder how…” She began to ramble now. She definitely has not had anyone else visit her today.

She was starting to get on his nerves. It’s been 20 minutes since he arrived, and she was still talking. He zoned out until she caught his attention.

“Hey,” She said. “What’s your name? I have to track whoever comes in to use the computers.”

Why? No one else comes in. He noticed her clipboard with the sign-ins was blank.

“Levi Ackerman,” He announced. She scribbled his name down. “Okay, it’s 3:30 now, so you have till 5:30 if needed.” She pointed to the clock with her pen as she explained. He nodded and proceeded to walk towards the table with the computer he claimed. He sat down and began working.

He was an hour into his research when he finally threw his hands up in the air in frustration. He still couldn’t think of a topic. He groaned aloud.

Hange was leaning against the main desk, her nose stuck in a book. “How Trees Communicate” was the title. When she heard the young man groan, she looked up.

“Is everything okay?” She asked, peering over her book at him.

“Yeah, yeah,” He mumbled. “Fine…”

Hange raised an eyebrow. She placed her bookmark at her spot, then strolled around the desk and walked over to him.

“What are you working on?” She asked, sitting in the seat next to him and put her hands on her knees, looking at him curiously. He scoffs. It was none of her business, he thought to himself. And it’s an invasion of privacy.

He was frustrated and desperate. Hoping for a miracle, he managed to tell her anyways.

“I need a topic for my paper and I can’t think of any…” Levi began. “It needs to be based on pharmaceuticals, my major. It also needs scientific evidence to back up my research…”

She was fully absorbed in what he had to say. She was bored, so helping Levi would’ve been something to do at least. Besides, Levi was in luck. She was an avid reader, always reading about anything and everything. She was studying plants and botanicals, but she found herself frequently taking out books about cooking; religion; war; animals; and medical topics including surgery, pathophysiology, anatomy, and pharmaceuticals.

“What about how diuretics affect blood pressure?” Hange suggested. Levi was taken aback. His eyebrows furrowed, and he shook his head in confusion. “Or if anti-alzheimer drugs actually help slow the progression of Alzheimer’s? Why do you take different medications during certain stages of Alzheimer’s disease? Or how do anti-seizure medications work? That is something I ask myself all the time. You take this little pill and BOOM! You’ll be fine, no seizure! Oh, oh, oh! Or, how certain medications cause certain adverse effects? How come so many medications cause anxiety?” Her eyes started to light up as she talked. They were a dark brown, but when she started to talk, they seemed to morph to a captivating hazel. He felt he could see every color in her eyes. He saw brown and green and the little lines of her iris. Hange’s hands would move as she talked, and her smile grew wide. She couldn’t keep still. She was getting excited by coming up with all these ideas. She seemed so passionate and so willing to help; he was overwhelmed by her.

Levi was in shock. His day started off horrible. Now, he was almost glad his laptop was fucked. This woman was making his mind race with ideas.

“Are you okay?” Hange asked for the second time within his visit there. Levi nodded slowly. “I am just… How do you know all that? Are you a med student?”

Hange chuckled and waved her hand at him. “No… I am a bookworm! Also, my mom is a nurse, so she used to teach me about nursing stuff all the time. Oh! You could write about the pathophysiology of anticholinergics! Or beta blockers! Or how the body reacts to the use of long-term steroids?”

Levi took a deep breath. He felt euphoric. He had been casually trying to think of topics since last week. All of a sudden, this woman can just ramble off hundreds of ideas? Levi smiled visibly.

“Actually… I really like the final topic you suggested. About steroids.” Levi admitted.

Hange smiled back at him. “Great! I can try to help you find some sources or books.” She directed him to open a new tab and to go to a certain database. “This is where you can find reliable sources. Over here,” She pointed to his screen at the left side. “You can add filters. You can change how old or new you’d like the sources to be, filter out certain words or phrases, et cetera.” She had been closer to him now; she scooted her chair closer so she could explain the database to him. It was hard not to look at her as she explained. She was captivating.

Levi began to type in words for his topic.

“Steroids”, “Long-term use”, “Cushing’s Disease”, “Addison’s Disease”, “Addisonian Crisis”, “Pathophysiology”.

He felt like he was finally getting somewhere. He was finally making progress.

As Levi was walking home, he couldn’t get his mind off that girl. He decided to brainstorm about his topic in his room once he got there. The thing was, though, he couldn’t think of any more ideas. He found it funny. Of course he was full of ideas and inspiration when he visited that library, but now he’s void of any.

Levi’s weekends were no different than the weekdays. He made it appoint to visit the library again the next day, Saturday. It was a sunny, cool Saturday morning. Levi had inspiration to write. He needed a computer and Hange’s ideas. When he arrived, it seemed busy. There were three other patrons at the library. He recognized Hange right away, helping a tall blonde man with a big nose. He wondered if she was the only employee there. The man she was helping was taller than her, so she had to reach up on her toes to point to items. She was an average height, but this action made her seem shorter than she actually was.

Hange looked his way and greeted him with a toothy smile. Levi waved at her and started to head down one of the aisles of books. He was in the nonfiction section, but was lost. For now, he just casually browsed the section, but quickly got impatient. He needed Hange’s help to find books for this paper. He heard her laugh with the patron. Maybe he’s a friend, he thought to himself. Her laugh was airy and full of heart. It seemed genuine and passionate. Levi felt an urge to make her laugh, too.

She finally made her way over to him. Levi was looking down at a book when she caught his eye. “Hey, stranger!” She greeted him with a wave. “Whatcha looking for?” She placed her hands on her hips.

“I’m trying to find some sources for my paper. Steroids is the topic,” Levi explained.

“Oh, right. I remember! After you left last night, I tried to look for some books for your topic,” She said. She was trying to help me? Levi thought to himself.

She curled her finger in a “follow me” gesture and he did. She brought him to another aisle or two over from where they were. “These are the 600’s, where you’ll most likely find what you’re looking for. I found a book or two about Addison’s disease, but it’s more of a memoir. You can look around though if you’d like. Anything in the 610’s should be right up your alley.” She explained as if she was going to leave, but she didn’t. Hange looked for books with him.

After a moment, she made a noise. “Look at this!” She exclaimed. She reached next to him to reach for a book. She was on her toes again. “Mmmm,” She moaned as she tried to reach. “Actually, I’m gonna get the step stool. I don’t think I can reach it.” Quickly, she left and came back with the stool. It looked unreliable, but Levi was sure he’d be able to prevent any accident from occurring. Hange placed it on the ground and stepped up on it, grabbing the book with ease. She stepped down with the book in her hand. This book had a white cover with a blue label and was titled “Coping with Prednisone”. Levi was surprised she even knew what prednisone was.

“Here!” She reached it out for him to grab. He took it and looked at her face. She had that same look in her eyes. “Did you want to use the computer?” He nodded and she led him towards the front of the library. The library was small from the outside, but very deep inside. It reminded him of a forest.

“I got your name, don’t worry,” She said, clicking her pen and writing his name down on the sheet.

“Oops!” Hange made a quick grimace. “I added an ‘e’ at the end. I’ll just cross it out.” The statement sounded like it was addressed to herself rather than to anyone else. She crossed out the extra letter.

“Ackermane”. Levi was gonna attempt to make her laugh.

“If you thought I looked like a horse you could’ve just said so.”

Mane, horse mane. Get it?

It felt like forever before Hange responded. She looked up at him, starting to laugh. It was a short but audible laugh. Her head nodded back and she smiled. Her cheeks turned pink and her eyes lit up for a moment. It made his heart skip a beat. It was a bad joke yet she still laughed. She chuckled. Giggled? No. Laughed lightly. Chortled? Maybe that’s the right word. Whatever it was, he wanted to do it more, maybe even more than that.

He followed her to the computers. The blonde guy she was helping earlier was on one computer. She led him to the two computers across from the other ones and sat down in the chair next to him.

“What are you doing?” Levi asked, placing the book she found for him on the table.

Her eyebrows raised, and after a moment she reacted. She waved her hands in front of her.

“I’m sorry! I thought you may have needed help. I should get back to work anyway. I gotta go through a new box of books that just came in.”

Levi looked up at her. Is she blushing? he asked himself.

“I’ll let you know if I need help.” Levi responded. She smiled at him before quickly walking away.

He started to find some evidence-based practice articles about how steroids can cause long-term side effects, especially if stopped abruptly. He made sure to keep the tabs available. He’d have to cite them later. Levi’s mind was racing with words and sentences and ideas. He had to get them down on paper. He opened Documents on the computer and started typing away.

The clicking of the keyboard soothed him. He was a pretty fast typer, he didn’t make many mistakes either. The library around him began to become quiet as his typing got louder and he got deeper in thought. Before he knew it, his two hours were up. He felt someone approach him from his right.

“Hey,” Hange said, gently tapping the table next to him. “It’s 2pm. I gotta close up.”

Levi snapped out of his focused trance with a quick head shake. “Right. Sorry.” He pulled out a flash drive from his backpack and plugged it into the computer. He transferred his document. “I got the first page done.”

Levi asked himself for a brief moment why he was sharing this information with someone he just met. Maybe since she helped him, he felt she should know.

“That’s great! It seemed like you were really focused,” Hange said, walking away to shut off some lights. Only then did he notice the white noise of the overhead lights quickly dissipate. The room buzzed with silence now. Levi and Hange were alone in the library. Suddenly, Levi felt nervous. He watched Hange walk around the room frantically, making sure to shut off all the lights and computers. She grabbed a bag. The bag was a fabric material with a patchwork design that had a long strap that hung on on her shoulder. Maybe she made it herself. She grabbed her big mess of keys and walked towards him.

“Ready?” She said. He nodded and walked outside, holding the door for her. She thanked him, locking the door behind her. They began to walk down the street slowly.

“Want to grab lunch?” Hange asked, looking at him. Levi looked back at her. She looked pretty.

“Sure, I can eat.” Hange chuckled at that. He didn’t try, but it made her happy for a brief moment. He seemed nervous but she was too.

They decided to eat at a cute restaurant on campus called “Life in Paradis”. It was a small, dainty place with a green and yellow checkered awning. The building was made of yellow brick, and the door was bright green. There were flower pots outside on the windowsill. Again, this place seemed totally out of place in the modern aesthetic of the university.

“This place is adorable!” Hange exclaimed. “I love the food here. You’ll love it too. They have all kinds of food here.” Levi felt a smile grow on his face. The way she talked made his heart flutter. She was always so passionate. They entered and got a table for two. This is not a date, Levi kept telling himself. Then why were his cheeks red?

They sat down and looked through a menu. Levi wasn’t extremely hungry even though he hadn’t had anything but tea this morning. He peered over his menu to look at the girl. Her hair was different today, he determined. Today all her hair was in a ponytail, and it was higher on her head. She wore a light yellow button-down with a long, light blue cardigan. Hange caught him staring at her and blushed.

“What would you two like to order?” The waitress asked him first.

“I’m gonna get a sandwich, I think,” He said, crossing his arms across his chest. “Turkey sub.” “I think I’m gonna get a chicken caesar salad,” Hange said. He nodded, grabbed the menus, and walked away.

Hange began to talk about how beautiful the flowers outside the restaurant were. They were all variants of pink, purple, yellow, and red. She described the petals and the leaves, the flowers’ origins, and all the meanings of the flowers. Levi wasn’t annoyed by her tangent this time. He actively listened to this girl talk about what fascinated her so much. He found it soothing. It made him wonder how her brain can contain all the information she was spewing at him. He enjoyed watching the way her eyes lit up when she talked. The beautiful green that blossomed at the bottom of her irises when the light hit her eyes at the right angle. The way her lips curled into a big smile when she talked to him. Her cheeks flush to a light pink when she describes the petals of the flowers or how flowers were used to express feelings when words cannot. It made his heart race.

“Levi,” Hange said. Her affect was the opposite of earlier when she was rambling. She wore a frown on her face, feeling guilty.“I’ve been rambling… sorry. It’s such a bad habit of mine. I can talk for hours and hours.”

“Don’t apologize, four-eyes,” Levi replied, leaning his elbows and forearms on the table in a crossed position. Hange smiled at him. Levi meant it. She shouldn’t apologize for talking, especially if it’s about something she loves. The food had arrived at the table. They ate. Levi felt the need to open up to her about something. He already learned so much about her, and her presence made him feel like he can open up.

“I like to run,” Levi said abruptly. Hange looked at him intently, chewing on a forkful of salad. “I don’t do it competitively or anything, but I enjoy running. I try to run once or twice a day.” Hange’s eyebrows raised and she nodded in agreement.

“That’s awesome!” She smiled again at him. “I like to run too. I’m really slow and get tired easily, but I enjoy feeling the wind in my hair and feeling my heart pound.” She took a bite of her meal again. Levi nodded and began to eat too. This sandwich was really good.

After talking some more about hobbies and school, they both finished their meal. The waiter brought over the check. Hange reached into her pocket for her wallet.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Levi asked. Hange furrowed her brows.

“I invited you out to lunch. I will pay,” Hange determined, her wallet now in her hands.

“No,” Levi said too quickly. “I will pay. It’s the least I can do. You helped me with my paper after all.”

The bickering lasted a very long minute. Before she got to think of the idea, Levi grabbed the checkbook and shoved his card inside before handing it to the waiter. Hange looked surprised. She sighed, putting her wallet away.

“Thank you, Levi. But you really didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to.”

In all honesty, Hange didn’t have much money. She worked at that library four times a week, but the money she made went towards paying off her tuition. She really wanted to treat this man, her new friend. She wasn’t sure if he thought the same way about her. Did he consider her his friend? She felt slightly embarrassed. She did most of the talking and felt like she was annoying him. Maybe he just wanted to pay so she would lay off.

But the truth is, Levi felt the opposite way of how she was thinking. He was interested to hear more from her. He was addicted to the way his heart raced when he saw her.

Over the next couple of days, Levi would go to that library whenever he was available. He knew it was closed on Sunday, so he went Monday and Tuesday to the library. Fortunately, he got his first batch of money from the brats that fried his computer. He received $100. Of course it was not enough, but it was a start. Wednesday the 17th came around. This specific day was a wild card. The weather was unpredictable. Levi entered the library just in time; it had started to downpour. The little bell rang as he entered the library. To his surprise, Hange was not working that day. There was a boy behind the counter who was tall and had a brown bowl cut hairstyle. He almost thought about turning around and leaving when he realized she wasn’t there. The rain charged towards the earth viciously, so he decided to seek shelter in the small library. It almost looked like a hurricane. He felt his mood change into a bad one. He didn’t remember to ask how often she worked.

“Hi there!” The man said. His name tag read “Moblit”. That’s a dumb name.

“I wanna use a computer,” Levi muttered, walking up to the main desk.

“Okay. Name?” Moblit grabbed the clipboard and a pen.

“Levi Ackerman.”

“Oh, I see you’ve been here before. A lot, actually.” Levi scoffed and rolled his eyes at his comment. He turned around, picked a computer, and sat down. He felt really stupid to not ask her about her schedule.

The two hours he spent working on his paper was incredibly slow. He didn’t get much done that day. He had writer’s block. He was almost done, so he didn’t worry about it too much. He didn’t know Hange’s schedule. He knew she worked Friday, the day they met; Saturday; Monday, and Tuesday. Maybe she only worked four times a week? Before he knew it, he asked Moblit aloud. It was almost an accident.

“Uh, she’ll be in on Friday,” Moblit replied. He probably couldn’t give out that information to some creep who began visiting daily with an attitude. He muttered a “thanks” before finishing up and heading out. The weather was holding up for now, so he decided to make a run for it. He didn’t say goodbye to Moblit.

He didn’t have an umbrella. The sun was trying to shine through the dark, eerie clouds. It wasn’t trying hard enough. He heard thunder rumbling in the distance.

Levi realized that this girl was all he thought about the past few days. Something about her enticed him. Something about her eyes and her presence drew him towards her. His heart skipped a beat whenever she’d graze his hand on accident, or even when she just talked to him. She made him happy. He hadn’t had too many friends in college. Although they just met last week, he felt a deep connection with her.

Suddenly, the sun poked through the clouds for a brief moment. The world lit up. It was at that moment he recognized a familiar face. Hange. She was walking towards him. She grinned when she saw him. She wore a fitted black t-shirt and baggy, light blue jeans.

“Levi!” She exclaimed. “I forgot my jacket in the library, so I came down to get it.”

“You didn’t tell me you weren’t working today.” Is all Levi said. Once he said it, he realized how creepy it must’ve sounded. A man she just met happens to go to this library to work on his project every day, who happens to come up with multiple reasons to interact with her. Maybe she thought he was a perv.

“Ehh!” She sighed. “I’m sorry! I thought I told you I was off today.” Levi shook his head. The comment itself may have sounded rude, but it wasn’t. She genuinely felt bad. “Walk with me.” Levi followed. Guess not.

“I don’t work Wednesday’s and Thursday’s. Well I’m not supposed to be,” Hange explained. “Mobilt, one of my co-workers, is always calling out sick. So I basically run the place.” They walked towards the library again and entered.

“Hey, Moblit. How’s it going?” Hange said in a normal tone, heading towards the back of the library. Moblit responded briefly, following Hange. Levi decided to hang back, he figured it was a secure area. He looked around awkwardly.

“Hange, you didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend,” Moblit said, following her towards the back.

Hange chuckled nervously. “He’s not my boyfriend,” she said bluntly. “He’s just a friend.” Moblit scoffed, rolling his eyes. “If he’s not your boyfriend, how come his mood entirely changed once he saw you?”

Hange found her jacket, folding it over her forearm. “Huh?”

“He was, like, in a bad mood when he came in. He used the computer but he seemed to be pissed or something. Now that he’s with you, he seems… tolerable.”

Hange laughed, feeling her cheeks blush. “It’s nothing like that. People have bad days, you know.”

Hange rolled her eyes and smirked, then headed towards the front of the library. “Ready?” Levi nodded and turned around.

“See you Friday,” Moblit called out. “See ya.” Hange replied.

The two started walking down the street. The air smelt of rain, and the ground was wet from the rain earlier. “Which building is your dorm in?” Hange asked. He was a bit surprised she asked him that, and she was so direct about it.

“Saint Maria,” He replied. She smiled. “Me too! I can’t believe I haven’t seen you around!” The wind picked up and the sky turned darker than before. They both looked up. “If you can’t make it to the library, you can use my desktop in my dorm room,” Hange offered. Levi’s cheeks turned bright red.

“Thanks, maybe tomorrow I can stop by,” Levi said. It was more of him thinking aloud than a statement. It was too late though, Hange already heard him. He could’ve sworn he didn’t say it aloud.

“That’s fine! I only have a class early tomorrow morning. Come by around 11, okay? My room number is 506.” Levi nodded. Thunder rolled and sounded closer now. They were almost at the dormitory building when it started to downpour. The rain was forcefully coming down on the two. Levi groaned in annoyance. He hated being in the rain. He hated being wet; he hated the wet socks and how gross he felt when it rained. He would’ve started to run to the building to seek cover, but he was taken aback by his new friend.

She was soaked and embracing it. She lifted her head up to face the sky and she laughed. It was loud, happy, genuine, and it took Levi’s breath away. Hange reached her hands out wide and spun around. He saw a strike of lightning light up the sky. He stared at her in awe. His heart swelled. Levi smiled big. After laughing, Hange looked at Levi and shared the look that he wore just a few moments ago. She loved his smile. She wished to make him smile more. She was also determined to make him laugh, too.

She grabbed his hand. “Let’s take cover!” And she pulled him into the dormitory hall. Saint Maria’s hall was beautiful. It had ceiling-to-floor glass pane windows that were always crystal clear. There was a big black modern chandelier that hung from the ceiling. It contained visible light bulbs. Hange secretly loved it. There were the same big, yellow, leather couches in the living room as there were in the study area on his floor. They both wiped their feet off on the big rug in the entryway.

“I love the rain,” Hange deduced, turning her head to look at him. As if Levi couldn’t tell. Her hand was still holding his. Levi looked up at her. “I like it, too.”

#levihan #levi x hange #levi x hanji #levihan fic #aot #snk #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #snk fic #aot fic #rivahan

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