#congrats you have discovered my not so tragic backstory

[apollosdrunkenmixup]

I’m not a girl anymore but I remember lonely wandering around the playground. It was a decent first school, so if I went up to a group and asked to join their game I was usually allowed. But I was never invited, and always felt like I was intruding. I had one friend but that was more circumstances than actual friendship. She was genuinely a lovely person, who got on with everyone, very smart, the perfect little girl. But I’m fairly sure she wouldn’t have even noticed me in the first place if our parents hadn’t been friends. My favourite playground memory is when a teacher, not another student, a teacher, taught me how to bend a certain plant so you could fire the head off of it. I spent hours making daisy chains and walking up and down the playground.

In middle school (year 4-year8) I spend my breaktimes in the library, and lunchtimes in weirdly niche clubs (Latin, knitting) with only a few other students. I never had classes with my one friend from first school, so I felt I couldn’t hang out outside of lessons. I did manage to join one group of friends, on the outskirts. But looking back none of them were very nice, they clearly viewed me as the annoying tag along.

When I got to senior school (9-13) I joined cadets, from that formed a friend group who hung out at breaks and lunches. But again I hung out on the outside. There was only three people who I really cared about in that group, but those three were all close friends and I hung around the outside of them. The big group eventually split into two smaller groups and I stuck with those three friends. Then two of them had a falling out and that group dissolved. And I was left alone again. I spent many hours in the library throughout all that, and even more after it fell appart. Year 11 I started hanging out with my cousin and her friends. They were a sweet bunch, but I was still obviously an outsider. 6th form (years 12&13) saw me find a group to hang out with during free periods. But the group had formed years before, so I way again an outsider. Then later I hung out with another group, but again I was an outsider. Because I hadn’t been there when it formed, and I was splitting my time between two groups.

Year 13 it finally improved. I became part of a friend group where I felt I finally belonged, and I was part of the main group, not hanging on the outskirts. All of them were year 11, but I still got on well with them and love them all. I had the other two groups to hang with during frees, but breaks and lunches I spent with the group I was actually part of, not just hanging on the edge of.

Even though I’ve left school, that group is the one I still in contact with. Even if I don’t see one of them for a couple of months there’s no awkwardness in meeting up. We just hug and say hi. And I do regularly meet up with several of them outside of school.

I know most of them are of tumblr, so if you guys see this, thank you for showing me what proper friendship is like. I love you all so much. ♥️

[finsterwalds]

Got a very inspired ask inquiring about the villains in my Better Call Saul french AU so here's Gus aka famous chef Gustavo Faure and his main waiter Léo haha. More info under the cut as always...

So at first I thought about making Gus a fast-food owner like his canon counterpart, but it just doesn't fit really well if you wanna frenchify it all with nuance. We have fast-foods ofc and we do enjoy fried chicken lol, but Los Pollos Hermanos has this very distinct "patriotic" feeling that wouldn't translate as well in France, as fast-foods are american in conception. I thought about making Gus the owner of some cheaper chain like Courtepaille lmao, but it feels too memey and doesn't have the prestige that his character has canonically. Gus assimilates perfectly into american society with his brand, and caters to the people locally, so I thought it would be fair for him to do the same in France. And if you wanna cater to lovers of chic, gastronomy and prestige, what's better than being the chef of some fancy restaurant, right? It felt cliché af and looses the "close to the people" part but it honestly fits his character well, imo...

He would be extremely respected locally but still friendly and approachable due to him crafting some kind of tragic backstory for himself and his restaurant. Basically he would play the "Chilean refugee that climbed to the top of foreign cuisine" card and everyone would buy it. French people love to eat and are fond of mixing their culture's meals with more international food, so yes: I think he would serve a fusion of french/Chilean food!

He'd also be an entrepreneur as famous french chefs often have side businesses like bakeries or published books, which I think respects his canon personality pretty well. Fancy french chefs also like to hang out outside their kitchen to greet their guests and I can totally imagine Gus do that. He'd still be able to conceal his shady side nicely. He's canonically seen to like fine wine, good products, and cooks Paila Marina for Walt, so congrats to Gus for already being french in conception and not making this idea feel like a stretch lol.

I have no idea about his exact role concerning drug traffic in Europe, as I said I'm pretty ignorant about that… But he'd use his business and image to form connections and launder his money. His backstory with Max stays the same in the AU aka Max was his business """"partner""" who died killed by the Salamancas.

I don't think changing his first name was necessary, but his last name sounding american I thought I would just frenchify it a bit lol. I don't know what the name of his restaurant would be, but definitely something short, spanish, and aesthetic/poetic. Maybe a reference to Max to allude to the Hermanos part.

Bonus : I know they don't canonically meet, but in my AU I think Chuck, as a rich lawyer, would eat at Gustavo's often. They'd be acquainted :) And maybe Jérôme aka Jimmy meets him thru his brother and later discovers Gus' shady side, when the events of BrBa start.

[acertainmoshke]

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR CHARACTERS!!!!!!!! (not forced! I'm just interested)

Congrats anon, you've given me an excuse to babble about the book that's in editing so I've been neglecting a bit on here lately! This book is my baby though, and I've been working on some variation of it since high school.

The most important things to know about this story is that it's basically a portal fantasy, but it's set in the 50's. Each sequel will be 15-20 years after the last one ends. Now, I'm going to just babble at length about my characters. It's going to get very long, and thank you in advance to anyone who actually reads it.

Shakatra is the main character. They are a changeling swapped for a human baby named Cassandra the year they were born, in 1916. This should make them 40 in 1956, but Fae aging is weird. Changelings tend to grow up normally until about 15 and then their aging slows waaaay down but at different, varying rates, because there's no logic to them.

So, in 1956, Shakatra is physically and mentally 20. I know that with precision, but they don't. In modern terms, they are also autistic, nonbinary, asexual, and some level of aro-spec. However. It's the 50's, so they know exactly none of that. All of it is just coding for the first book and will slowly become explicit later in the series. The lack of attraction is there if you notice it in a line or two but not super obvious because 90% of the people they interact with are their brother or children, so really it's like...they don't lust at random strangers on the street and they're not into the one girl they befriend.

The autism is pretty obvious if you know what to look for, but not named for obvious reasons. I was going to have them discover they/them pronouns via a Fae they meet beyond the veil, but now I think I'm going to keep the clear discomfort with any gender and then make it clearer later.

Their backstory is typically dramatically tragic: they were abused for being disabled a changeling (the line here is a bit blurry because changelings seem human but also "wrong" when they're young). They were bullied by their older brothers, hated school, and got blamed for the death of their younger brother. Around 12, they met Kris, a changeling already living on the streets, and became friends. When they ran away a few years later, the two stuck together and now consider each other siblings. Glamour and ice magic come very easily to them, though they have spent lots of time practicing, and they fight like a feral, frantic weasel.

When the book starts, Shaka is actually fairly content with their life. They use glamour to go unnoticed wandering the streets, sleep in the abandoned section of the city-tunnels under Seattle (originally were going to live in the Chicago subway but I decided this was more interesting), glamour people at diners into free food (they eat almost solely pancakes and chocolate bars), pick fights with wildlings (Fae from their own realm who moved here), and play dumb games with their brother. They never really wanted anything else. They don't even want to go on the quest, though it's their idea. But they realize that if they're turning 40 this year, so is the human they replaced, and feel obligated to go release her from whatever servitude the Fae have her in.

Shaka looks like a fairly standard fantasy Fae; purple-tinted skin, pointed ears, sharp teeth, silver cat eyes. It's self-indulgent, but you know what it's classic for a reason.

Kristoffer is Shakatra's brother, a changeling who grew up on the streets. He isn't sure exactly when he was born, but they guess it was also about 1916. He ages at a slightly faster rate, and in 1956 is physically and mentally 23 (not yet a noticeable difference; that comes later).

Kris is a trans man and bisexual. He doesn't have words for these things in the 50's either, but he's clear on their existence, unlike Shakatra. He considers himself a man, gave himself a name from the ones he heard human boys use when he was young, binds with scarves, and likes to people watch, both out of interest and desire. Other than being traumatized, he's neurotypical and has a secret wish for a normal, human-like life. Unlike Shaka, he doesn't enjoy fighting. Unlike Shaka, he actually has an interest in the way clothes look (though he's homeless and doesn't get to show this off). He gets bored of the same repetitive distractions. And it doesn't help that he's seemingly allergic to magic; though he can do it, it makes him violently sick so he stopped trying long before he met Shaka and has never mentioned it, just using his strength in fights, which is usually enough. The one exception, which neither of them realize is unusual, is that he has a sort of limited telepathy—he can reach out to communicate and others can think back but he can’t read minds. He and Shaka, connected like this for decades, can read each other’s emotions.

His backstory is even more tragic; he was abandoned by the family he was left with too young to even remember them and ended up living on the edge of a group of wildlings, not known for their nurturing qualities. He stayed only until he could steal food for himself, and remained completely alone until he met Shaka, lurking to watch human children play. He was excellent at surviving, but he didn't know how to read until they taught him (but then had a much bigger interest in it), and had no idea that he wasn't "supposed" to be a boy until they explained.

At the beginning of the story, Kris is restless. He isn't happy with their just-subsisting life, but even if he could leave he wouldn't abandon his sibling. So he's glad of the quest, although with new dangers the novelty quickly wears off. He likes to read, when he can, and even more than that he enjoys calculating things like years or whatever else he can think of. He's also artistic, and uses chalk and paint to draw pictures all over their home.

Kris is a Black changeling, and both he and the narrative are aware of how this intersects; a basic look-human glamour isn't enough to wander into a shop, they had to perfect one that changes everything about him and he hates it. Also people can be more scared of him at first, even though Shaka is the fiercer and more volatile of the two. He is tall and fat with brown skin covered in little spikes like acorn caps, with void-black eyes and long twisting horns that shine like abalone shell.

(ok those are the main two, the others will be a bit shorter really)

Maggie is the human who, in an ordinary portal fantasy, would be the protagonist. She was born in 1935, making her 21 in 1956, and has lived in a small mountain town her entire life. She's quirky and weird and an annoyance to her parents, but her life has been mostly alright. Her younger brother, Nicholas, was taken and replaced as a toddler. Maggie, a rare human able to see through glamour, knew immediately but no one believed her. In any case, the changeling was sweeter and she preferred him (she was like 7), so she moved on and loved him. But as his changeling traits became clearer, he faced more rejection and it became the two of them isolated in town. He died at around 13, which is actually very normal; changelings tend to be weak and ill, and Shaka and Kris surviving is the exception.

Since then, Maggie has been aware of strange Fae happenings in town that no one else saw, but largely ignored them until even the others noticed. When she meets Shaka and Kris, the entire town is huddled in the diner hiding from these beings. But all she cares about is getting out of there and finding her brother, rescuing him now that the other one is gone. So she bravely walks up to the first Fae she sees and demands to go with them. Neither have good enough social skills to refuse, so she's a part of the team.

She gets along with Kris immediately, and might even have chemistry, but they never get together (there is zero romance in this book). She's some sort of queer I think, but that won't be relevant until book 2. She distrusts and dislikes Shaka for a long time, but eventually the two bond.

Maggie looks like a typical white 50's girl (for now; might change in later drafts): hazel eyes, flipped black hair, round glasses.

Cassie is the human child who was replaced by Shakatra as an infant. She was taken to a Fae court in another realm and kept there for 40 years. She's not autistic, but she's also far from normal: she finds violence fun and exciting, is trained in singing and dancing to entertain the Fae around her, and is excellent at being in places she shouldn't.

She is also 10 years old. Because it turns out that most of the children stolen by the Fae are frozen at a young age and treated like dolls, decorations, or collections. They are expected to look pretty and have clever skills, but vanish when they aren't wanted. She represents a problem for our heroes: they were expecting to set a grown woman free and move on, but now they're stuck with a traumatized child who will never grow up.

Changelings grow to somewhat physically match the human they replaced, so she looks like a human version of Shaka: white, thick black hair, blue eyes. She chooses to go by Cassie because her full name, Cassandra, was used as a method of control and her Fae nickname, Berry, only reminds her of her trauma.

Zuri is the child that Kris replaced. Kris doesn't know his original name, so they find her by accident. Zuri is angry, and hurt, and more isolated than most of the humans at court. But she also likes to read and draw and is naturally pretty quiet.

She is 16 years old, because the Fae who took her in wanted an eternal daughter instead of a doll. She was used as a confidante and kept alone in an apartment instead of allowed to vanish without supervision like the other children.

She looks like a human version of Kris: Black, tall and fat, brown eyes, textured brown hair trimmed short. She keeps going by her full name, Zuri, despite its association with forced obedience, as a way of reclaiming what's hers. She has a nickname too, but I can't remember it at the moment.

Sparrow is Maggie's original brother. The Fae who took him was later killed so he ended up as someone else's inheritance, treated like a mildly interesting pet. He saw the other children, sometimes, but often ended up alone and became good at improvising games with leaves and rocks. He likes to hum and sing.

He's also only 4 years old, one of the younger eternal-children.

He looks a lot like Maggie: white (for now) with messy brown hair, hazel eyes, and freckles. He still goes by his Fae nickname, Sparrow, because being called his true name upsets and frightens him.

Moss is the de facto leader of the taken children. He's one of the oldest, in every sense, one of the few kept as a teenager and also having been there for several centuries. He longs for an escape but accepts that he's stuck with responsibility. He also, initially, resents Zuri for also being old enough but being kept away and not having to deal with children's drama. He's picked up a number of skills over the years, including fighting, all kinds of art, and even some limited magic (or maybe he was born with that skill as some humans are, who knows?).

He is Southeast Asian (I've gone back and forth on being more specific, but as he was taken as a baby like 600 years ago I'm not sure he'd know where exactly) with dark brown eyes and long black hair. He uses his nickname Moss, and honestly doesn't even remember his true name. It's been so long since anyone needed it to keep him in line...until now.

[teddybasmanov]

Unexpected FicRec

Since I’m super euphoric, because I’ve passed one of my exams almost without preparation today, I want to do something good for the world. So, I decided to share with you one of the jewels I’ve discovered on AO3 a month or so ago. A person who writes for an almost non-existent fandom and wonderful original works too.

ThiccDiccEnergy (yes, I know how it sounds, but bear with me)

I’m going to recommend two series – “Audio Roleplay Continuations” (pretty self-explanatory) and “Monster Fu**er” (honestly, also pretty self-explanatory, but these are the original works I mentioned). Technically, they also have a “Doom” fic (but it scares me with its size and even #sizekink doesn’t help), a “Naruto” fic, an “Among Us” fic and three “My Hero Academia” fics (and I’m not in the fandoms), go check those out if any of these is your thing.

Before I start going into details, keep in mind that all the fics are rated explicit, all of them include smut, sometimes graphic and all of them include graphic descriptions of violence and some other stuff, so read the tags carefully. All the fics, except for one “My Hero Academia” fic are reader-inserts. All reader inserts except for one are gender-neutral and all the readers are badasses. So, without further ado:

Audio Roleplay Continuations:

1.           “Continuation of Hollow_VAs A Mission With A Charming Spy” – you probably don’t even remember that Hollow has such a video, but he does (here it is). It’s literally a ten-minute-long one-shot – some back-story, some teasing, nothing more to it. Here, we have four chapters of even more backstory, great plot, action scenes, very exciting smut and (probably spoilers) an absolutely wonderful ending. This is one of the two fics that are currently finished.

2.           “A continuation of Hollow_VAs 'Noble Paladin Needs Your Help'” – again originally a one-shot with no continuation but this time in our beloved Sarrus. We’ve got quest set up and a very nice character with potential but that’s it. The fic is written partly on my request, which I still can’t believe, and for now has quest development, a sweet naïve paladin and an in every way experienced thief/rouge listener who gets “busy” with literally everyone (good for them), but also has a tragic backstory and a gentle soul deep down there somewhere. The other quest companions (if you remember, there’re supposed to be two more of them) are also very interesting and very well written characters.

3.           “Continuation of Siren Son ASMR's 'Comforting a Bull Man'” – man does not live on Hollow_VA alone, so here’s some Siren. Also written partly because of my recommendation and I can’t be prouder of myself. It’s a very recent work (I mean, while I’m writing this it came out just this morning) and it has only one chapter now, but Duke is one of my favourite characters and he deserves some comfort and protection and that’s exactly what’s the reader here is going to give him.

Monster Fu**er:

1.           “As Above, So Below the Bed” – have you ever wondered how would it be if a huge scary demon-monster lived under your bed you’d run from it, but then befriended it and you know… *points to the series title* Don’t wonder anymore, because that’s exactly what this work is about. Kind of also reminds me of an ASMR roleplay script written by Waterway The Wordsmith, but I’ve only listened to two first parts, so I can’t be sure. This is kind of gorier than the previous stuff, but it never stopped me. The other finished fic. This one has not just gore but VERY graphic smut - two versions of it - male and female - and I loved every word of it, every letter.

2.           “Loyal to the King, Never to the Kingdom” – this feels like it was written to target me personally. A protector/spymaster loyal to the king even when treated very poorly by him? But they actually love each other? And there’s also politics involved? I mean, have you seen my username? Count me in. The reader there has much more backbone than “I” do, though (good for them again).

3.           “You are Opal Eyes, and I Can Not Compare (congrats, you have your own symbiote now)” – this is technically a “Venom” fic, but it has nothing to do with the Marvel universe, except for the existence of a symbiote (and it’s not Venom, it's an original symbiote character). This is the only not gender-neutral fic out of all because it is *drum roll* for trans!masc readers! Where else would you get a badass trans guy, who's teaming up with a symbiote to kick some serious butt and then to screw each other? I don’t know, but you’ll definitely get it here.

That’s it, go give them a lot of love, they deserve it so much!

[sparda3g]

Attack on Titan Chapter 120 Review

It felt like forever to receive a new chapter. It’s probably the most thrilling follow-up yet in the series. It’s likely due to the ending hype, the crazy cliffhanger with a flying head, and endless theories from fans on where do we go next. One thing for certain: someone got it right. I can’t say the same for the following scene that really captivated me, and it’s not over yet. This chapter wasn’t all I expected, but I will gladly take this direction with its tensed psychological duel.

My anticipation to see the follow-up was beyond the scale. I can tell with my chilling feeling when turning a page. Either I was scared to know the truth or scared for the inevitable. Before the answer, the flashback does serve a great symbolic between Eren and Zeke and it is done with catching baseball. They may be brothers, but Eren dropped or missed the ball, which, in my opinion, symbolized their trust.

On one hand, you can argue that it’s a sign of one will die, which is Eren. However, recalling Zeke’s time with Tom, they always caught the ball as they are in the same page. Eren missing the ball strongly suggested that they are not. It is reinforced when Eren basically lied about him feeling weak. Trust lies on the ball. It’s definitely proven to be true, but we’ll get to that soon. It’s a great start to a thrilling chapter that will ultimately represent the theme.

It goes into a great morbid montage of an epic warfare. It’s a tensed sensation that no innocent would want to be part of. You have Braus Family in hiding, Marley’s men dying and devoured by titans, plenty of ongoing battles including Mikasa and Armin taking on Cart Titan, and to top it all off, decapitated Eren. What a nice sight of hell. Tons of theories were going around for a month. Did Eren alter the memories? Will he go back in time? Is he hiding somewhere? The answer is what you see; he legitimately lost his head. But, Zeke catches it in time and yes, the magic touch has come through. Good call on fans’ prediction. I mean it makes sense; I just didn’t know where it was flying to.

The whole moment was breathtaking. It’s probably because of no dialogues, which created a morbid sensation. It has the endgame feel to it as well. We don’t know if this is the last action phase, though I doubt it. I can’t imagine what the final battle would be like. The catch felt surreal. The past chapters played off as the defining moment and I certainly believed it. It’s even bone-chilling to see the collection of memories scattering over two pages. Some are Eren’s, some are not. There are few that may not have shown yet for us fans, but we may learn really soon.

The sight of PATHS is rather mesmerizing. I know it’s a simple beam of light, but the emphasis on that solo page brings out the magnitude of its atmosphere. It’s where everything will change forever, and it all comes down to Eren. Zeke is also there, but looks older. Apparently, the time within differs from outside world; probably years have gone by for all we know. Zeke did confirm that he made contact in time before Eren died. I assume that means he is really dead; however, it’s still possible for him to be resurrected by Ymir. My only concern is, what is happening currently outside. Losing his head might not only be done for shock value, but a reason to skip time. It depends on the path, no pun intended.

Ymir the Founder emerges and Zeke assures Eren that it’s her. It’s quite telling that Eren learned about her background from Zeke and the one that stood out the most is her loneliness. It’s true that anyone would be shocked and perhaps awed to hear a little girl in sadness, but he just heard many things connected to titans, yet only that one he reacted to. It’s perhaps a contrast to where Zeke was more amazed by her connection, while Eren was more on her being. Zeke is chained by “vow of renouncing war,” so he leaves Eren to do the final act; the final plead to save the world. Karma just keeps on coming.

Thanks to Armin and his recollections of subtle hints to Eren’s true intention, it feels so satisfying when Eren finally comes clean and backstabs Zeke. I can’t lie, but I was fooled by his act earlier. Some parts did show signs of hidden agenda, but his act was very convincing. Now, I am so damn happy for his “betrayal.” With that said, he still didn’t reveal his main goal; only desire for Ymir to share her power. Plus, we still need to know what he really saw in memories trip, including the supposedly truth of Ackerman. In due time. I can enjoy yet somewhat sympathize with Zeke weeping. His only family had double crossed him. It’s all over. Or so I thought.

In this series’ fashion, no twist is limited to one alone. Add a twist on top of the twist and you get the real twist. In a sense, Ymir denies Eren and favors for Zeke. I didn’t see that coming. The real twist is Ymir is actually a slave to Royal Blood and guess who has it. That’s right; Zeke has pulled a counter trap card or how fans would call it, a reverse card. I miss playing Uno.

This finally explains the reason for Zeke’s “revival.” This series is known to have every moment count. Have he not underwent the first time, he wouldn’t have understood everything. In his second trip so to say, he obtained many details and ploy an act to see if Eren is truly on his side. Otherwise, Zeke probably weep and witness the downfall entirely. This creates for an exciting development. We are back to protagonist versus antagonist, and that’s not a bad thing. Also, the two sides can finally go head-to-head (no pun intended?) in a thrilling psychological duel.

It’s interesting that despite the betrayal, Zeke is willing to go through one last attempt to bring his little brother to his side. I’m glad that he didn’t go out of his way and become cartoony villain with evil laugh and betray his character. It makes the most sense for him to try to convert because he is the only family he has left. His backstory and thought process complement his character. It speaks true brotherhood. The one way to try to convince him is to present Grisha as a mad man; only this time, his life behind the walls.

I’m amazed how much of a character Grisha has shown without being alive. Kudos to Isayama to remind the fans of his relevancy. It’s also amazing how much details we continue to learn about the past that we thought we’ve seen enough. Eren and Zeke travelled back in time to the moment when Eren was born. The vision presents the scene as one big happy family. Zeke congrats Eren’s birth, but he holds bare grudge against his father. It speaks volume how much he detested him till this day. Eren, on other hand, speaks for those who truly loved their family. That look on his face watching his family tells everything. It’s a sincere moment that shows two reaction from two sons.

Fans had wonder how Grisha discovered the Founding Titan’s location. Thanks to PATHS with its memory trip, we finally received the answer and it’s under our noses in a sense. It’s due to his status as a doctor that granted him an opportunity to travel and seek for those who has connection. This gives Zeke the firepower to convince Eren that their father was always selfish and cruel; putting his mission over his family. Eren looks to be convinced, but it’s more of what Zeke wanted to hear.

It’s really neat to see a montage of Grisha’s time as a family man. We have seen the plot points, but hardly in a slice of life scenario. There are best of times, there are worst of times. I always appreciate the cameo of Kenny in these past scenes. By this point, I still didn’t like Grisha and how he was too prideful to fulfill self-created destiny. I made that clear in one of my past reviews. But, these moments did grant us to see more of his human and normal self, colliding with his mission. Then, the scene that should have been the definitive strike happens, and Zeke definitely convert someone’s opinion.

Grisha discovered the Founding Titan’s location years before the start of the series. This could have been a “told you so” moment; by that, I mean Zeke is right. Grisha struggled to decide on what to do next. It’s like a video game. You have two choices and one will guaranteed a path differ another. However, there’s no return. If we go by that logic, the dark or renegade path would be going inside the basement. The light or paragon path would be ignore it. It was that moment that changed my mind on Grisha. He actually put his family first above his mission. In other words, he was a changed man.

This speaks tons of volume. In fact, it lined up really well with every moments with him. My impression was that he never really changed and always came off as a stubborn, prideful man. Even the last moment with him and Shadis felt ominous; like he was really sinister. Now, the impression I have is, he really did change for the better. It’s just unfortunate when the Wall broke down, the thought of the mission returned heavily.

The way I see it is similar to Reiner. Both lived in a new life and a better one at that. The only difference is Reiner was progressing his mission slowly. However, both took their time and enjoy what they had. Once tragic or a reminder struck, it came races through their head. Both can’t escape the past and must pay the price. Grisha was hit hard when his wife died, so he charged to the King of the Wall’s base, and the story of Eren begins. This is my assumption and it’s possible that the next chapter will reveal more of his side of the story, but I believe this is the case. This would paint him as a man who went through a redemption phase. If so, I’m glad to be wrong on his character. Yes, his past self was awful, but if one can learn, a second chance can appear.

Speaking of the past, an interesting element rise up once again and by that, I mean the possible interference within the memory. Krueger left an ominous message about Armin and Mikasa, even though he never met them. That scene has been driving fans crazy, but it looks like the answer is upon us. Grisha woke up and believed he saw Zeke, but in his current design, beard and all. Undoubtedly, a “what the hell” moment. On top of that, Grisha was dreaming something where he was apologizing Zeke for his mistake; further proving his redemption arc was complete.

This raised plenty of questions. Was Zeke’s presence alternating the past? Was it like that beforehand? This reminds me of Game of Thrones, where a character was interfering the past and ultimately changed someone for the present. I wonder who will hold the door. One fan would suggest that perhaps Eren is manipulating the scene to convince Zeke that he’s wrong. I don’t think so. I believe Eren knows everything. He takes the control, so to speak, to tour Zeke to see where he was wrong and why Eren won’t change his mind. It’s a very intriguing development and a clever use of uncovering all remaining pieces of Grisha’s past.

Overall, this chapter may be confusing at first, but surely, all answers will come, and the pathway of its memory trip will make everything sense. The idea is the two brothers are in psychological warfare. With that said, it was pretty compelling. I thought once the touch was made, it’s immediately game over, but this direction is more intriguing and insightful. Eventually, it will lead to the world-changing event. It abruptly ended with Eren ready to show the next phase. Whoever wins, the future will be set.