#hange zoe render

[prof-kenny]

[halechief]

honestly i think what bothered me the most about season six - and while i’m at it, season five, is how completely they subverted almost everything that we knew and understood about claire, in order to make her “more formidable” or “more dangerous,”  or “more compelling,” since i guess they felt the need to make up for the lack of francis. the thing about claire is that she has always been dangerous. and when they weren’t making her look stupid or insensitive in order to further the plot, i actually liked the way that they showed that in her. the intimidation she used with zoe, the way she tried the gentle approach with gillian cole and when that didn’t work, very very calmly and deliberately she revealed herself just enough to achieve the desired effect. am i really the sort of enemy you want to make? she was never, ever so heavy handed as francis. she used the soft touch in every situation right up until the moment that it no longer worked, and when the time came to move beyond that, the destruction was typically just as elegant as her mercy would have been. in seasons four five and six i really feel like so much of her characterisation just started getting... sloppy and awkward. and as far as the asides, i loved the first one, we make the terror. i even loved a couple of the ones after that because they were sparing, they were utilized at the appropriate moment. i loved the ones that might not have been asides at all, when she seems to respond to something francis has said, but the same words are used to the room at large, like when he says that she owes him and she says not true, and uses that to address the room, as well. season six simply took it way too far, and it’s obvious from the EVERYTHING ABOUT IT that they did it because they had simply decided that instead of writing us claire, they were going to write us Frank In Heels. let me bring us back to a little moment from season one for reference as to what i mean, and why i think it’s out of character.

it’s one of my favorite episodes,chapter 11, where claire leaves adam’s apartment in new york after the news about peter russo breaks. there’s a photograph that claire took in the park where she and adam had talked, where he’d asked her about fear and feelings and francis and what she had wanted from her life. he’d pointed out the young woman and said “if he’s looking for you, that’s where you are. over there. before you met frank. alone. curious. absorbing everything.” to which claire replies : you have no idea what i was like when i was a girl. she takes the photo after admitting to adam that what she’d wanted was not just to be seen, but significant. later, when they print out the pieces of the enlarged rendering, adam asks what they should name her :

claire: why does she need a name? adam: i never photograph anyone without knowing their name. claire: you didn’t take the photograph. i did. adam: i think . . . we should call her claire. claire: (laughs) she doesn’t even look like me. even a younger version, why do you keep saying that? adam: not her features, her .. expression. hey, we should mount it. you can hang her in your house. would francis object? claire: .... can we please .. not discuss francis?

from there it moves on, claire denies that frank’s presence is there between them even when she is visiting and ‘being with him’ ( although that is undoubtedly true, francis is always hanging between her and whatever person she tries to love. ) eventually by the end of the episode, claire and adam have had their massive argument, wherein adam says “that is what i find so frustrating about you claire. you chose not to be free.” and she says : no. what i chose is a man i could love for more than a week  ( . . . )  i have a life with francis, i have a future with him. and it’s bigger than a moment. 

HERE ARE THE EVEN FUCKING MORE IMPORTANT PARTS. 

claire rearranges the pieces of the photo laid out on the floor. she folds a swan into the centerpiece, and we don’t see this until adam wakes up after she’s left. the implication here is very clear : you don’t really know me. i am not this false image that you have of me. claire is disrupting this idea that he holds of her, of this caged person, of this person who chose not to be free, who is held captive by her marriage or her choices or whatever he thinks it is that binds her. he sees her as a persona, a painting he wants very desperately to save and keep for himself, and she knows that this is an image she has encouraged him to hold of her, the soft parts, the parts that she is not often given room to express, but i think after the argument that they had, she needed to show him that his view of the matter is wrong, and disingenuous, and reductive. that it is diminishing, though he holds it with affection, with desire, with longing. THEN, and this is why i will never, ever get behind the asides every episode bullshit that they did in s6 in order to replace the francis of it all : claire does this as she leaves:

she pauses, she pulls this subtle half turn -- i don’t know if this has been confirmed by any of the showrunners but to me, this is the first indication in the show that claire knows we are here. i can almost taste what she might have said. she turns, she thinks of addressing us, of explaining herself, why she’s rearranged the photo, why she stayed another night before leaving after the fight, why she came here at all or why she is going back despite us seeing what francis has done to her and how deeply the wound has run. then she doesn’t. why?

because she doesn’t have to. 

claire does not feel beholden to, or supported by the audience the way that frank does. she doesn’t need approval or fealty or admiration from us the way that he does... she does not long to share with us or to have us exalt in her actions, she does not wish to invite us into her thoughts and feelings, because they are hers. she is an incredibly private person ... it is not a performance, what she does with the photo, she doesn’t do it to hurt adam or to dig a finger into a wound so to address it, to call attention to it or explain as though it is any of our business would pervert the earnestness of the moment. the fact that she wanted to make a clean break, to end it without having to speak any more hurtful words or puncture his understanding of her in person. this is her life. not a scene, and it is not meant for us to understand or enjoy.

to go from this to what they did in season six, is just so ... wrong, to me. claire is not a person that gets off on making herself seem intelligent or cruel or wicked. she’s not as prideful as they made her seem, she’s not as detached or arrogant or cold. she is ruthless, she is calculating, she is capable of hurting herself and anyone else to get what she wants. one thing she is not, is ours to judge or decipher. she belongs to herself. and if i’m honest ... i don’t think she cares very much what we think of her choices.

[lunaefknlumen]

hange, but with dimples.

[aknileibo]

Wanted to post this for Semana levihan but I was busy with life. 🙈

Slightly inspired by Lord of the rings.

CC by:

Hange: hair: @ginko0613, hair 2 , necklace, tiara: @sclub-privee, dress: @sifix

Levi: clothes: @lady-moriel @dansimsfantasy

Elf ears: @simandy

Blender scenes: @vscenes

[ct-multifandom]

Assorted ML Headcanons pt. 2

Once again, adding a read more early in because this thing is like five times longer than pt. 1

Juleka has Dyslexia

The long-sleeved shirt Alix wears with the snakes on the sleeves has some sort of inappropriate band name or slogan on the front, so she wears that weird tank top thing over it to avoid getting dress-coded.

Alya keeps trying to find an “our show” to watch with Marinette, but Marinette keeps caving into temptation and watching ahead on her own. So Alya starts choosing only new shows that are currently airing, but if they don’t hang out the day the episodes come out, Marinette will still watch them. They mostly do movies now.

Kagami is great at drawing realism, and can gorgeously render her real life references, but she’s unsatisfied with her work because what she’s really interested in is stylized art. She wants to develop a beautiful manga-like style, but whenever she tries to draw fictional characters, it ends up looking more like anime George Washington than the picture in her head. She’s further discouraged by people praising her realistic art, feeling pressure to keep doing what she’s good at over what she actually likes

Adrien was an Animal Jam kid

Chloe is inflicted with We Can’t Let People Know We Have Interests. She hears Alix and Mylene chatting about some popular sitcom she also likes in class, but as many times as she could’ve butted into the conversation, she can’t make it happen. On her way to lunch, Sabrina got stuck talking to Max and Rose about their Animal Crossing islands. Well Chloe’s is super cute if she can say so herself,,, no, she couldn’t say anything at all. Hurry up, Sabrina. Chloe knows that classic anime is the fastest way to Adrien’s heart, but she can’t bring herself to strike up a conversation about it. Isn’t being a weeb cringe? Not that Adrikins could ever be cringe- I mean- uh-

Sometimes Luka gets stuck in customer service mode after work and uses The Voice around his friends. At band practice, he introduces the next song into the mic, and Nino’s like, “are we about to hear rock music or phone line hold music?”

Astruc implied that Nath wasn’t in the Christmas special because he’s Jewish, but Mylene and Ivan weren’t there either, and ofc nobody asked about them, so headcanons! Ivan is Eastern Orthodox, so his Christmas isn’t on Dec 25th, and Mylene believes in certain spiritual stuff, but doesn’t participate in any organized religion or specific denomination.

Rose used to do ballet, but she stopped because her time in the hospital made her fall too far behind. She still likes dancing, and has a good feel for it because of ballet, but she prefers modern styles now.

Alix was named after her dad. If she was born a boy, she’d be Alim Jr., but since she’s a girl he changed one letter.

Marc forces Nath to get out of the house, get vitamin D, interact with other people, and exercise, but Nath returns the favor by bugging Question Marc about his posture, especially while they’re working.

Zoe’s “one and only good friend” from New York who wrote I ��️ U on her shoe wasn’t a platonic gal pal at all.

Kim is colorblind, but he doesn’t know it

Mylene has that “not now, sweety. Mommy’s cyberbullying the mayor” t shirt

Alya learns that Hawkmoth reads the Ladyblog, and since he knows her identity but the public doesn’t, she hides passive aggressive “fuck you” jabs in her posts.

Alya putting the greater good over journalistic integrity by intentionally spreading misinformation on the blog if the team needs it. She’s staged a “candid” photo of LB with Marinette in the background after a close call. She “mistakenly” misreported the powers of a couple new villains as being brainwashing when they actually did things like grant wishes or were literally made of money so that people wouldn’t go after them and make them harder to defeat. She and Marinette set up “exclusive” semi-scripted interviews with the zodiac heroes where they told made-up origin stories so that Hawkmoth wouldn’t trace the compromised heroes back to their whole class or friend group. Alya is prohibited from typing the word “kwami”.

Luka has synesthesia and actually hears music when he sees people

Markov pretends to not have certain functions out of laziness. “Can you look this up?” I’m not a search engine (he’s not, but he has instant access to one). “Can you scan this document for me?” No. “Can you send my paper to the printer?” No.

He also pretends to be more advanced than he actually is. “Hey Markov, can you-” I am downloading your private browsing history as we speak. “Wh- you can’t do that!” I already did. Now I’m hacking into your Twitter account.

Markov likes to plays dumb and take everything literally. He understands jokes and sarcasm just fine, but enjoys a bit of trolling. He responds to idioms like Amelia Bedelia. If someone makes a joke with a euphemism, he pretends to be totally innocent. He says that Max put parental controls on him, but that’s a lie.

Everyone thinks Alix is an extrovert, but she’s actually an introvert. She’s very sociable, but hanging out too much wears her out, and she needs a lot of quiet or alone time to recharge.

Everyone thinks Marc is an introvert, but he’s actually an extrovert. He spends a lot of time in private, but that’s mostly because he’s shy, anxious, and afraid to leave his comfort zone. When he does, though, he gets that extrovert buzz.

The Sandboy kid, the Risk froggy kid, and the Kuro Neko cat girl based on Rhythm are all besties. Writing this reminded me of that kids’ book series called The Familiars about a blue jay, black cat, and frog.

Until he finally shows up again in the show, hc that the Sandboy kid is named Jay

Adrien is jealous of his friends’ ability to express themselves. He thinks about how he’d dress if not for his father and the brand. Would he dress alternatively or go for some aesthetic? Would he want to look rebellious or preppy (but not in a default Sims kind of way)? He doesn’t actually know, but wishes he could try stuff out.

Jalil is a cataphile (someone who explores the forbidden parts of the Paris catacombs, which is basically all of them except for the tiny tourist stretch, as a hobby). He goes with his friends, and brings Alix with him frequently. She’s practiced her spray painting skills down there.

Kagami and Juleka bonding over their affects and how their tone of voice doesn’t reflect how they actually feel, but from an outside perspective it just sounds like the most monotone conversation ever

Each of the doodles on Zoe’s shoes in canon corresponds to one of her friends and has a deeper meaning, even if it’s just a little inside joke. Okay real talk I need this lore in canon. We haven’t seen them super zoomed in and from all angles, but there are clearly individual, unique drawings on them.

Alya and Nino low-key had feelings for each other before Animan, but they were in denial and didn’t really take them seriously until then.

It started when Nino left school one day with sort of fluffy hair and a bit of bang, but came back the next morning with a buzz cut, and Alya was like huh he still looks cute somehow

Rose makes good tea and Nath makes good coffee

Mylene has a vegetable/herb garden on her balcony and rooftop. Her bedroom is also packed with potted plants. The air is so crisp.

The whole group has one big shared Minecraft server where they live in the same ever-expanding village together

Chloe likes those resource management mobile games where you run a cafe or build a kingdom or something

Nathalie plays video games in private, especially after she got sick. Gabriel doesn’t know. She usually buys whatever’s most popular lately, and prefers adventure games.

Ladybug explains the plan to her team and asks if they have any questions. Every time, they makes a point to ask the most off-topic questions possible. “What’s your favorite color?” Take a wild guess, buddy. (Saying pink might compromise her identity) “if you put a miraculous holder under a hydraulic press, would they die?” What the fuck? I don’t know, we’ve never encountered that problem and hopefully never will. Like, probably? “Who was your top artist on Spotify Wrapped?” That’s a secret (obviously Jagged). “If doing it would lead to instant world peace, would you rather kiss Hawkmoth or Gabriel Agreste?” Everyone shut up. Shut up. The villain is getting away.

Rose collects everything for her scrapbooks. Receipts, ticket stubs, stickers, brochures, you name it, tucked between photos of her hanging out with friends. “Hey, what was that cafe called that we went to last fall-” she has it all documented.

Adrien reads Marc and Nath’s ladynoir-centric comics laying on his stomach on his bed with his hands under his chin kicking his feet in the air and giggling

Once they made a comic with Carapace as the main character, and Nino was like omg THANK YOU :’-) and they’re like huh didn’t know he was such a big fan

Marc and Nath scrap the majority of their original concepts because they don’t want to give Hawkmoth any ideas. The angst stories and dangerous villains don’t make it to publishing so that Hawkmoth won’t copy them if he sees them. A lot of their villains are either real ones or original ones whose powers are fun but useless to Hawkmoth’s goals.

At the same time, sometimes Hawkmoth coincidentally makes villains similar to something the boys have already done, except Worse, like the trashiest bootleg equivalent.

LB: Rena Rouge texted me that someone just got akumatized over losing a chess tournament. CN: I wonder what their power is. Hey, this reminds me of that one comic issue with the chess villain. LB: oh yeah, The Grandmaster. She had that tall crown based off the white queen piece with the flowing robes, and she turned the whole city into a giant chessboard! We and the other heroes could only take turns moving across city blocks based on the piece role she assigned us. We had to let some of our friends get captured, but we managed to pull off a checkmate and break her akumatized crown. What if that story is about to become reality? The actual villain Gabe made: my name is The Bongcloud Opener. Everyone I touch turns into a giant lifeless pawn piece, and I look like a sentient checkered Van.

Kim has been blocked and unblocked from the group chat maybe five separate times for spamming memes

The “y’all watch bob l’éponge?” Tweet except it’s Zoe in New York

Chloe once had and maybe even still has a crush on Alix, but she doesn’t even really realize it because she has a severe case of comp het. Alix sees it, though. Of course, Alix is aro, so Chloe didn’t stand a chance regardless of her bullying. Alix uses this immoral opportunity to mess with Chloe as much as possible.

Everyone makes jokes about how Chloe is both gay and homophobic, but Adrien’s like oh sweetie you have to deal with those internalized problems

Rose got into embroidery, and she got Ivan into it too so that they could make punky battle jacket-like patches for themselves and their friends. They aren’t very good yet, but the shaky needlework is kind of charming.

Nino tells Adrien that his dad has such objectively horrible taste, anything he actually likes must be terrible. His designs? Ugly. His decor? Depression-inflicting. His “friends”? Assholes. The food he orders his private chef to cook? Unseasoned. Another time, Gabriel approaches Nino who came to his house to pick up Adrien, and tells him that he was genuinely impressed by Nino’s DJ work at his last fashion event. Nino shrivels up inside.

Anarka lets the kids try alcohol at home. Juleka thinks everything she’s tried is nasty unless it was drowned in fruit and sugar, but Luka thinks it’s okay. When Anarka gets wine, they try it together, and Luka tries to do the pretentious wine critic thing, but he can’t actually tell the difference between the types the way his mom can.

Y’know that hoodie Marc was wearing in his early concept art with the logo that’s a clear parody of Nirvana? Nath totally stole it from him and sleeps in it.

Marinette is Not Okay during exams week. She stresses tf out and gets like no sleep yet somehow still does exceptionally well

Everyone is suddenly ride or die during exams week. Tom and Sabine supply the kids with snacks while Max is compiling all the algebra formulas they might need to memorize into a Quizlet, Sabrina is trying to come up with mnemonic devices to help with physchem, and Adrien is doing a review lecture of the French readings like he’s on a podcast.

Marc folds cranes when he’s anxious

In the last post I wrote that Alix and Nath dyed their hair and did the messed up cuts together. Alix re-dyes hers more often to make sure it stays neon hot pink, which involves bleaching it the second her roots start showing, or else she hates it. Nath only re-dyes his when it starts looking really bad in that awkward phase with the faded color and long roots. Because of this, Nath maintains sooomewhat healthy hair, but Alix’s is fried. She doesn’t have to use as much hair gel or extra-fry it with a straightener now because it pretty much stands up on its own. It feels like straw. Juleka wants to scream every time she sees Alix has made it worse.

Rose makes cute contact names with a billion emojis for everyone in her phone

She has Juleka as “Juleka🦇🎸💜💘” [bat, electric guitar, purple heart, pink heart with an arrow], so she was offended when she found out that Juleka has her as “Rose”.

Turns out that Juleka doesn’t even make contacts for most people at all. The home screen of her text app is full of conversations with people who are just their phone number or “maybe: [name]”. The Kitty Section group chat is her, “Rose”, “Smurf”, and *Ivan’s phone number*

Speech and debate club Mylene

Marinette made all sorts of cute things for the kwamis under the guise of the dollhouse project. It started with the “dollhouse” being a temporary hiding place for the miracle box, but then she started making tiny clothes and furniture for the kwamis to play with, and wherever anyone asked she’d say she’s just gotten into making miniatures as a hobby. Fancy, decorative dollhouses used to be a big flex in Western Europe, after all, but this one is more like the one from the Borrowers.

Kagami has a traditionally Japanese bedroom arrangement with a futon that she puts away in the morning. The first time Adrien was in her room, it was during the day, and he’s like where the fuck is your bed

The girls play the wholesome fuck, marry, kills about the guys at their sleepovers like the "get them randomly assigned as your lab partner for a whole semester, get trapped with them on a broken elevator for ten hours, they’re your employee trainer for your new job at McDonalds” one from that one tumblr post

Kim tries to get the guys to play Truth or Dare at sleepovers, but they don’t really want to, reminding Kim that he legally can’t be involved in dares since Timebreaker. He makes them “play” anyways, but they can only do Truth, and the guys respond to each question with some smartass answer. They find loopholes in Kim’s wording like genies until they bully him into quitting/until it’s his turn.

Max and Alix got that 5D Chess game on Steam as a joke, but after messing around with it, they started really getting into it and taking it seriously

Adrien’s friends seeing his dad as cartoonishly villainous is already canon. They start a tabletop RPG campaign, and the major antagonists are suspiciously one-to-one with Gabriel, Nathalie, and the Gorilla.

Everyone jokes about dressing up as Gabriel, the scariest monster, for Halloween. Nobody actually does, but on a separate occasion, Kim tries to get Ivan to dress up as Gorilla and Nath to dress up as Nathalie and video call Kim from his tablet. Kim, dressed as Gabriel, takes the call from a remote room. Then, they break into Adrien’s house because that’s just what his friends do for fun, and they’re pretty much experts at this point. Nath tells Adrien his father needs to have a word with him, turning on the tablet to reveal Kim, who tells him, “Son. I need to have a word with you”.

Zoe and Marc are best friends, and Ivan and Luka are best friends. I think (?) this may be canon, but they’ve never actually said it.

Ivan is The Realest to Luka, like in Crocoduel when everyone was planning to manipulate him, Ivan stuck up for him. Also Luka explicitly hates liars and Ivan is physically unable to tell a lie. They make each other playlists and write lyrics together. The two of them have one of those Spotify Blends separate from the four-person Kitty Section one.

I feel like Zoe and Marc are a year below Marinette’s class, like they just give off younger sibling energy. As classmates, they spend more time with each other than with the rest of the group. In Gabriel Agreste, when Zoe manipulates Jean-Biblespoilers, she calls Marc afterwards instead of Marinette or Mylene or anyone else. They are wlw mlm solidarity. Ms. Mendeleev brings up a partner project and they look at each other like that Nicki Minaj Only meme with the Veggietales characters. They talk shit in really fast and informal English so that their classmates don’t understand them.

Rose’s sandals have a pink circle on the sole that isn’t positioned in a way for it to be the anchor between the sole and the rest of the sandal. It reminds me of this old Sketcher’s line called Bella Ballerina where the shoes had a round, spinning piece that you could balance and twirl on. Since Pigella’s design is inspired by ballet, I hc that Rose’s shoes also have that spinning piece.

Alix spreads historical misinformation to Jalil, who eats it right up, because it’s hilarious. Just trust me bro, I’m Bunnyx.

On the other hand, Jalil being like Ronaldo from Steven Universe by making absolutely insane conspiracy theories that happen to be 100% correct, and Alix is like shitshitshit how does he know??? Do I need to cover this up???

Kim is a great ally, and maybe even questioning, but he’s so confused all the time

Juleka tells him she’s a lesbian. Now she’s obviously French, but he’s pretty sure her mom is Scottish, and Jagged is a native English speaker. Is there some secret little island nation in the UK called Lesbia that he’s never heard of before?

Max: whoa, Nath, you’re ambidextrous? I didn’t know that! Kim: uh, dude? What rock have you been living under? He’s been with Marc for like five months

Zoe: don’t you think that girl over there looks a little, y’know, *limp wrist* Kim: you’re stereotyping someone based on their appearance and judging them? Wtf, I didn’t expect this from you. Zoe: uh, what? I’m wondering if I should ask for her number.

While Alix is gone, the kids fill in her place by putting her hat on and pretending to be her. What would Alix say if she were here? They try to copy her mannerisms while wearing it.

Y’know that one post I made about the true power of the rooster miraculous being that the holder can do anything they and the people around them believe they can do? Hence the concept of “pretension” as in pretending to be something you’re not, and the power of “sublimation” as in impressing people as well as turning something solid into vapor, like how the power is solid as long as people believe it but turns to vapor if they don’t. Yeah, that.

I feel like all the kids were Warrior Cats role players or the like at some point in their lives, even the “cool” ones, and some of them probably still are

I also feel like all of them would be good at grilling. I think every single one of them would be capable of making a great steak if they put their mind to it

All the Ace Attorney-like full name puns among the major cast are intentional in-universe:

“Anarka Couffaine” isn’t her given name; it’s a rock star stage name she came up with (Anarka=anarchy, acouphènes=tinnitus), but she changed it legally. When she had the twins, she gave them names that end with A to keep the acouphènes pun.

The Lavillants have that last name by coincidence, but when they had Rose, they intentionally chose the name Lavillant, Rose (la vie en rose, life in pink) to wish her a happy, ideal life

Mr. Anciel is an immigrant, and changed his name to be more westernized and easy to pronounce by French speakers similarly to Sabine. I’m thinking his given name had “Sun” in it and he was like, y’know what’d be so funny… which is how Marc Anciel (arc en ciel=rainbow) and any potential sibling(s) ended up being named after things “in the sky”.

I’m not applying this to Kim Ature ‘cause that’s not his canon name even though apparently one of his dads is Mr. Ature

Subcategory for family headcanons, but some of them are sad :(

Mylene has a mom who is black. She and Fred are happily married, but she’s usually pretty busy with work, so they mostly see her at home.

Rose has a bio mom and dad who love her very much, but they can be a little overbearing due to her illness and have trouble seeing her as not a little kid anymore. They don’t really get all that punk rock stuff she likes, but huh as long as she’s happy.

Alix had a mom, but she died a couple years before Origins. Jalil took after her while Alix took after their dad. Alix didn’t take it very well for a long time, but she’s better by the time this school year started.

Max’s dad died when he was very young, so he was pretty much raised by Claudie

Nino and Chris’s parents are divorced. It happened after Nino’s older brother died. (How much of this is canon? The Lahiffe lore is such a middle-of-the-iceberg thing, but apparently they’ve been putting off writing it into the show since season 2? Like can they please just explain it?)

The Cesaires have basically adopted Nino anyway

Nino used to bully tf out of Chris, but now he has to take on a more responsible role as an older brother, so he acts more mature.

If Kim’s last name is Le Chien, but he has two dads, Mr. Le Chien and Mr. Ature, does that imply that they’re divorced and Mr. Le Chien has custody? Maybe Kim is Mr. Le Chien’s biological kid from a previous relationship, perhaps with someone named Nguyen, and Mr. Ature is a stepdad? Sure, hc that they’re fiancés, and Kim accepts his soon-to-be stepfather as a dad.

In which case, hc that Kim is fully Vietnamese, but the stepdad is French

Nath’s family isn’t very cash money :(

Ivan has a pretty large family compared to everyone else. Lots of siblings and close extended family.

Sabrina’s family is Irish. Tbh this isn’t inspired by her being ginger so much as her miraculous being based off a piece of Celtic jewelry which I only learned after the official website made me Google what a torc is.

Is Marc the only major POC character who doesn’t have a canon ethnicity? I think he is… someone with a Twitter ask Astruc about this for me. I saw people hc him as Latino which is very valid, but I always assumed he was Asian. Hc that his mom is Chinese and his dad is Korean. Until canon proves or disproves me, I hc that the Sandboy kid is his brother.

I love the semi-popular hc that Marc and Marinette are cousins. I will hold on to it until canon proves it right or wrong, although if it’s true then I feel like they would’ve said so already. In this case, Shu Yin would be Marc’s mom. Since she lives in London and he lives in Paris, she and the dad would be divorced. Considering how the DPCs talk about her,,, it’d be no wonder. It happened recently, and Marc only moved to Paris from London in late season 2, which is why Marinette was already friends with him and checking in on him despite him appearing out of nowhere.

Marinette growing up hearing “you should be more like Marc. He’s so organized and dedicated” while Marc’s hearing “you should be more like Marinette. She’s so outgoing and ambitious” and they’re both like shut uppp

When they played pretend as little kids, the plot lines were always so complex. And each time they saw each other, they picked up from where they left off

The same way Roland is shown to be bigoted by having him be uncomfortable with everything that’s not super outdated, Shu Yin is shown to be bigoted by simply hating everything that inspires love and sparks joy

I need to meet canon Shu Yin at some point

Subcategory for the kids interacting with their kwamis after they become permanent holders. The pronouns I used for the kwamis aren’t my headcanons so much as me dealing with the “canon” ones being different across every dub.

Sometimes Kim forgets that Xuppu exists which allows him to get up to trouble on his own. Kim uses only the worst lies and most incomprehensible bs to explain the mischief Xuppu caused, but his dads are like eh, just Kim being Kim *shrug*. Kim is proud of himself for being so smooth about it but nobody has any clue what he just said.

Kim gets Xuppu going about something and then uses his rambling as background noise to help him concentrate better

Roarr annoys Sass for sport

Roarr is a big fan of the music Anarka tends to blast at an unhealthy volume on the Liberty. Juleka makes him playlists of songs she thinks he’d like, partially because sitting down and listening to them through an earbud prevents him from bouncing off the walls 24/7.

Sass low-key hates it here, but he has saintly patience and loves Luka, so he acts like he’s having a great time around him. Anarka’s immature behavior ticks him off sometimes, but he’d never tell him that.

Sass getting Luka to focus on things that benefit him instead of putting other people first all the time

Max builds Markov an update that allows him to actually see and talk to Kaalki. Maybe with the help of some magic alien technology sent over by Olympia and Aeon as a favor between superheroes.

Kaalki has a hard time believing that researchers and inventors can be glorious and famous until Max catches her up on the exponential growth of technology during the last ~200 years she spent inactive. Sure, Kaalki’s seen phones and computers, appliances, cars and planes, all that since becoming active again, but she never stopped to think about the humans who made all this stuff possible.

Kaalki having a “yassify Max” agenda vs Max trying to explain what light/dark academia is and that the vintage look is very much on purpose. Also Kaalki being the devil on Max’s shoulder trying to convince him to make more bad decisions, and he’s like that’s okay, Kaalki.

He gets on her case for backseat gaming too much, so she tries to only cheer him on when he plays, but with her prim and proper way of speaking it sounds absolutely hilarious. “Desecrate him, love! Yes! Absolutely fantastic execution!” It gets worse when she starts picking up on gamer lingo.

Daizzi tells Rose that they miss the little hats Ladybug would make them and Rose is like don’t worry I got you and pulls out her craft supplies

They have little tea parties together

Mullo bugs Mylene because they think it’s hilarious, and at first they get to her, but then she grows a tolerance to the pranks and jokes, and eventually starts to get revenge. Mullo will change Mylene’s phone alarm to horror monster heavy breathing audio and Mylene will just pull an air horn out from under her pillow and set it off in Mullo’s face.

She sprays water at them with a spray bottle like a naughty cat when they’re up to no good.

Orikko has very sophisticated tastes. When Marc asks what to feed him, he asks for caviar toast followed by truffle bouillon with a main course of wagyu steak and a gold leaf-covered pastry for dessert. Marc’s like yeah no give me something I can buy with the comic book money. Popcorn? Sunflower seeds? He’ll get a boxed sandwich from Carrefour, plate a tiny piece of it like it’s from a Michelin rated restaurant, and lie.

If Orikko could’ve chosen any holder he’d have gone with Adrien

On day one, Nath gives Ziggy some kiddy paints and construction paper while he’s working on the comic, and she dips her little hooves in it and starts finger-painting a picture that looks like something a little kid would make. When she’s done she’s like, “hey, look! I made a picture of you!” :) And Nath’s like aww that’s so cute :) Later, she tells him she’s been trying to catch up with all the contemporary and modern art movements she missed. She’s more comfortable with renaissance art. Anyways, here’s an indistinguishable study of a Rembrandt painting she made.

Nath regrets teaching Ziggy how to use his computer. She learns quickly and somehow gets into every piece of media with a reputation of being cringe. Nath is jumpscared awake by Ziggy playing FNAF in the middle of the night, and when he tells her to turn that off, she shows him her Michael Afton fan art where she made him way more attractive than he likely is in canon. He opens Spotify Daily Mix 1 expecting the usual ten-minute-long songs that are at least 30 years old, but his algorithm has been invaded by hyperpop. He opens his art program to find that Ziggy made a whole Baroque style painting on a single layer. He notices his Minecraft playtime has risen an inhuman amount, and after spending forever loading the server, finds a ridiculously detailed replica of Versailles. He opens his notebook and finds doodles of Among Us crewmates. She sleeps on an amoung pequeño plushie.

Sabrina and Barrk watch corny reality TV together and Discuss. They sit on the couch with a bag of peanut butter chips and comment on everything that happens. “I can’t believe that arrogant jerk got the last rose instead of that really sweet guy. Did you hear what he was saying behind The Bachelorette’s back?” “Why did they send home the only drag queen who actually did something super original while some of the other ones barely even followed the prompt? The judges are so biased.” They talk back and forth really fast, too.

Ivan gets Stompp to critique his poetry. They don’t know much about this stuff, but when they have an opinion, they tell it how it is.

Sometimes Stompp suggest taking a bit of a Machiavellian approach to Ivan’s problems and Ivan’s like, dude it is NOT that serious.

Nino and Wayzz have opposite tastes in everything. Wayzz likes green tea while Nino thinks it’s too earthy and prefers energy drinks that practically turn your piss into acid, to Wayzz’s horror. Wayzz likes minimalist decoration, neutral colors, and natural sunlight, but Nino’s room is full of neon colors, a million posters, and LED strip lights. Nino likes EDM, but Wayzz can’t see the appeal and prefers relaxing instrumental music, which bores Nino. They don’t look down on each other for liking different stuff, but it’s hard to live so close together and be so different.

They discover that they both like lo-fi and chillhop music. Nino empties out one of his larger desk drawers and converts it into a personal space for Wayzz, who is independent and values privacy. He decorates it the way Wayzz likes and threads some lantern string lights in there.

Here’s a pound it for reading the whole thing! You deserve it, whew!

[biggest-stupidhead]

Levi x Reader where Levi accidentally hurts the reader during a training exercise.

This was so fun to write! Thanks for sending it in, I loved this idea :)

Summary: Levi takes it a bit too far

Word Count: 2.9K

___

It was a sunny afternoon when they arrived. The trio stood up on the small stage elevated above the rest of the regiment. You were transfixed by the way they carried themselves, so unlike the other people that you had met thus far. The youngest one, a boisterous redhead with sparkling green eyes stood proud, chin held high with a dazzling grin. The blonde stood just as tall, his shoulders squared and blue eyes shining with excitement as the squad leader introduced them. However, the third one seemed hardly interested in giving off a warm or inviting greeting. While he stood just as tall, his arms were crossed and his eyes were narrowed as he surveyed the crowd.

"Introduce yourselves." The man said, stepping aside to give them a chance to speak.

"The name's Isabel Magnolia!" The redhead exclaimed as she gave a sloppy salute. You felt the corner of your mouth tug upwards in amusement.

"Farlan Church." The blonde said simply, his hand fell to the right side of his chest and you heard a few soldiers murmur at his small mistake.

"Levi." The other man said, not even bothering to give the salute.

"Dismissed, carry on with your daily training." The squad leader dismissed the soldiers and you found yourself glancing over your shoulder to watch the trio begin their tour of the grounds.

"Say, that dark haired man was rather mysterious." Hange leaned down to comment as she fell into step beside you.

"I'll say, didn't even give his last name!" You agreed as the two of you set off towards the sparring grounds.

"They sure are an interesting bunch." Hange rubbed her hands together and a blush began to blossom on her cheeks. You swatted her bicep and shot her a sharp glare.

"Don't go getting weird ideas now." You scolded and she whimpered dejectedly.

"No need to worry." She patted you square on the back and you jutted your bottom lip out in a pout.

"That's impossible when it comes to you." You scoffed as the two of you rounded the corner and came into the dusty field the scouts used to spar in.

"You're just being dramatic, now let's get started. I sure hope that you've improved since the last time!" With that, the two of you found an empty space and began to spar. You had been partners since your training corps days, seeing that Hange was so much better at it than you, she had offered to give you some pointers.

Towards the end of the afternoon, a few hours before dinner. The trio arrived at the sparring grounds, standing off to the side taking in the sparring soldiers. The redhead rushed fearlessly up to a group of younger girls who were on a short break. She fell seamlessly in with them and even began to spar with them a bit. Farlan gave Levi a clap on the back before jogging over to a group of men and also slipping easily into a conversation.

"Looks like grumpy needs a hand." Hange nudged you and you shook your head.

"Are you insane?! There's no way-"

"Oi! Levi! Over here." Hange yelled over you and waved excitedly at the man who's brows furrowed at the stranger calling out to him like an old friend. When he made no move to join you, a sense of relief filled you, maybe there was hope that you wouldn't have to speak to the grouchy stranger.

That was until Hange snagged your arm and hauled you in his direction. You stumbled after her, a furious blush filling your cheeks and neck as some soldiers looked up at the commotion. She came to a stop a few feet away from him, holding her hand out to him with a bright smile.

"I'm Hange Zoe! And this here is (Y/n), want to spar with us?" Hange introduced the two of you and Levi kicked the toe of his boot into the dust, causing a small cloud to fill the space between you.

"I'd rather not." He said bluntly and you tugged on Hange's jacket.

"See, I told you to leave him be." You hissed and Hange shrugged you off.

"I'm eager to see what you're capable of, and (Y/n) here needs a fresh sparring partner! I'm afraid she's gotten much better than me and you look like the perfect partner!" Hange shoved you closer and you swallowed thickly as his eyes raked up and down your form.

"Not interested." He stayed firm in his previous standing, however Hange was persistent.

"One match, that's all I ask." She held up a finger, glasses glinting in the light.

"If I do this, will you leave me alone?" He growled and you tried to take another step back, not eager to spar with the stranger.

"Of course." Your eyes fell on Hange's back, where her fingers were crossed at the small of her back out of his view. You let out a pathetic whimper at this.

"Fine." He raised his hands up, fists curled tightly as he widened his stance.

"Go get 'em champ." Hange clapped you on the back and you inhaled sharply, mirroring his stance. You weren't one to back down from a challenge, even if you knew you were about to get your ass handed to you.

"Last chance to back out." He warned, and you shook your head, he nodded in response. In the blink of an eye, he rushed you. Despite his short stature, he was rather fast, closing the distance between you in shocking speed. You narrowly dodged his experimental first blow aimed at your face.

You sidestepped him and swung at his exposed stomach, he blocked you effortlessly with his forearm and swiped at your own open abdomen. You weren't nearly fast enough to dodge this one, taking the blow, you used the force of the hit to take a healthy step back. He was relentless, pursuing you and taking another swing at you. This time you were ready, catching his wrist and steering him away from you. Now that you were back in his space, you tugged him closer, bringing your knee up and landing a solid hit to his lower stomach. You felt the rush of air tickle your face as you knocked some wind from his chest.

He grunted and swung again, this time landing a punch right on your chin, you felt the skin split as your ears rang from the impact. Your head fell to the side and you stumbled back, embarrassment flooding through you as the blood ran down your chin.

"Cheap shot." You growled as he stood back, allowing a moment to see if you fell to the ground, thus rendering him the winner.

"No such thing." He countered before stalking towards you. Your vision was still swimming as he began to rapidly attempt to punch you once more. You narrowly dodged them before spotting an opening in his own stance. You didn't even think before putting all your strength into an uppercut, you felt his sternum through his thin shirt and a small surge of pride filled you when he let out a pained grunt.

It was his turn to take a step back, but you remembered the ruthless way he had come at you moments before and you returned the favor, landing two more hits to his stomach before retreating. On your way to a hasty exit, he snagged your bicep in a vice grip, pulling you against him and turning you around, twisting your arm behind your back painfully.

You felt the joints crack as you were forced into the position. His leg swiped your own feet out from underneath you and you tumbled to the ground with him resting the majority of his weight on you. Your mouth was filled with the taste of iron as the gravel bit into the side of your face.

Even though it was clear that he had won, he remained on top of you, twisting your arm further and further. You finally let out an agonized yelp when you felt your arm slip out of its socket. He grunted, seemingly pleased with his work before standing up once more. A crowd had gathered around to look on in horror as he stood over your pitiful form.

"Anyone else?" He growled, chest rising and falling from the exertion of the fight. When nobody said anything, he turned on his heel and stalked back the way that the trio had come from.

"Didn't think so." He mumbled as he pushed past the few soldiers that had crowded around the two of you.

"Levi! Wait up!" Isabel called after him, the pair followed their friend, shooting an almost apologetic glance back at you as you propped yourself up on your good arm. Once they were gone, Hange rushed to your side, pulling you to your feet with concerned eyes. You hissed and pulled free from her grasp and she winced as you cradled your injured arm.

"I told you I didn't want to fight him." You snarled before storming off of the grounds, blood dripping down your face and arm aching. Now you wouldn't be able to participate in the upcoming mission all because some calloused man had taken a fight too far to boost his ego. Not to mention, the only reason you had been put in that position was because your friend had set you up, knowing full well how prideful you were.

--

You skipped dinner, too ashamed to show your face in front of the others. Instead you camped out in the infirmary, arm tied into a sling and chin covered in a massive bandaid. Not to mention the scratches on the right side of your face from being pressed into the coarse dirt.

As you had presumed, the injury that Levi had given you would take more than three weeks to fully heal, meaning you would be exempt from the upcoming expedition in less than two weeks. You were beyond pissed, you had worked so hard, finally improving in your ODM skills. It felt as if all of your hard work had been lost, and now you would have to work even harder to regain that skill after being prescribed rest with little to no training.

Two weeks later you watched the scouts pack up and head out for the expedition, you stood by the stables, glaring holes into the back of Levi's head as he guided his horse from the stall. He didn't even spare you a glance as he mounted the black mare and spurred her to fall into step with the other soldiers who were filing out of the castle gates.

If he lived, you vowed to approach him and give him a stern talking to. Hange snuck up on you, gripping the reins to her horse in one hand and using the other to ruffle your hair.

"See you soon." She promised and you nodded as she walked the mare out of the stables and mounted it, glancing over her shoulder to give you one last small wave. You nodded and cradled your arm in the sling as you watched your squad leave the grounds, the last group to depart.

The grounds felt empty and you felt even emptier as you wondered the halls of the castle on your own. You kept yourself busy with some chores that the doctor had given you the okay of completing. About halfway through the day, rain clouds moved in and began to weep over the dry earth. You stood near the window and gnawed on your cuticles, thinking of all the issues the storm brought that could interfere with the expedition. You could only hope that the rain had missed them and they were making good time.

--

Of course, luck had not been on the scouts side that day. Not that it wasn't surprising. They crawled back to the castle with their tails between their legs, bloodied and mangled. Only the lucky ones made it back alive, others meeting a much worse fate on the other side of the wall. You stood by the door holding it open for the medics as they hauled in the injured. Hange was helping a young woman in, offering you a pained grin as she passed. Your mouth couldn't even begin to return the smile, instead you nodded and closed the door behind her.

Erwin came in last, Levi following him like a shadow, wet hair covering his eyes as he followed the commander obediently. Your eyes narrowed in confusion, last you had checked, Levi had barely been able to look at Erwin without showing a hint of malice.

"Get some rest." Erwin dismissed him and you watched him split off, marching back towards the dining hall. You debated following Erwin and asking how the mission had gone, but the way his blue eyes avoided yours told you that would be a conversation for another time.

So instead you retreated back to your room, going to dinner would be too depressing. Seeing all of the empty seats always broke your heart.

--

It was months later that you found yourself alone with Levi for the first time. It had been an accident of course, you had crept down to the kitchen in search of a glass of water. The raven haired man was seated at one of the long tables, a cup of steaming tea in front of him. You silently closed the door behind yourself and rushed into the kitchen, hoping to quickly get what you came for and retreat.

However as you stood chugging the water, you couldn't help but feel bad for the man. Of course you had heard of the brutal ends his friends had met, and the harsh words that Erwin had given to him afterwards. You felt bad for him, nobody wanted to befriend him except for Hange, especially after what he had done to you and what he had planned to do to your commander.

So carefully, you set the glass in the sink and rounded the counter that separated the kitchen from the dining hall. You felt like you were walking on eggshells as you crossed the room to stand across the table from him.

"I-I should've said this earlier...but I'm sorry about your friends." You stumbled awkwardly over your condolence and Levi glanced up at you. Smokey grey eyes apathetic as always as he met your eyes.

"Wasn't your fault." He responded as he lifted his cup by the rim to his lips.

"No...but I'm sure you miss them. May I?" You asked, gesturing towards the open seat across from him.

"Knock yourself out." He shrugged and you sank into the seat. The two of you sat in silence for a few moments as you grappled for something to talk about, something to lighten the mood.

"Your arm is healed." He commented, nodding towards the arm he had yanked from your socket. You scoffed and rolled your shoulder, still feeling a small pang of soreness in the motion. The doctor had told you that it was unlikely that you would regain full motion anytime soon.

"Somewhat, no thanks to you." You meant it both teasingly and seriously, just because his friends had died didn't mean that he had your full forgiveness yet. You had lost people too after all.

"What was I supposed to do? Kiss it better?" He asked gruffly, lifting his cup for another drink. You let out a bark of laughter, head falling back as you laughed at his crass words.

"Maybe next time." You chuckled and Levi clicked his tongue in response.

"Surprised you think there will be a next time." Levi's brow was raised in slight amusement as you leaned forward on the table and grinned brightly at him.

"I'd like to get a few pointers." You shrugged and he rolled his eyes.

"Based on our last bought, I doubt you can be taught." He grunted and you gasped in offense.

"Oh come on, I did hit you a few times." You giggled and Levi glared at you sharply.

"Who's to say that I didn't let you have those hits?" He set his cup down and you scoffed.

"As if." You rolled your eyes and shot him a playful grin, he shook his head and slowly stood from his seat, moving towards the kitchen.

"Don't get cocky chicken wing." He called over his shoulder and you felt the blood rush to your face and the backs of your ears.

"Chicken wing!?" You stood and chased after him into the kitchen.

"Who came up with that, tell me or so help me-"

"I did." He shrugged as he began rinsing out his cup.

"Oh so you break my arm and then you call me mean names? What an asshole." You leaned against the counter as you watched him wash the tea leaves out of his cup.

"I didn't break your arm." He clarified and you seethed.

"Not the point."

"Do you want my help or not?" He asked, turning to face you, his expression neutral and a tad annoyed.

"Yes....but don't call me that again." You scolded, jabbing a finger in his direction accusingly, he only shrugged and watched you stomp out of the kitchen.

He couldn't help but feel the small tug of affection that filled his chest, after speaking to you he realized just how alike you and Isabel were. This only made things harder for him of course, after losing those two he became determined to remain detached. But now you and Hange were making that hard for him. And if he was honest, he couldn't say he was all that mad about it.

[fanmoose12]

I'm sending this to multiple authors because I just think this is fun but: Imagine Levihan and a blooming romance set at your current job/current course

It all starts with a physiology lecture.

Levi arrives to the auditorium only a minute later than usual, but his place is already taken by a bearded asshole in glasses. Arguing with Zeke isn't his favorite past time, but an acute necessity, and Levi debates if he should throw the asshole out of his seat, but professor enters the room just a second later, and so he has no choice but to find another seat.

The only available one is at the front of the auditorium, and Levi cringes as he realizes it. The front of the auditorium is always occupied by the same few people - the star of the course Hange Zoe and her squad of brainiac nerds.

All of them are notorious for their smart remarks and additions, but no one is quite as annoyingly good at it as Hange Zoe. Her answers are always unnecessarily lengthy and complicated, and she amazes every professor she comes across.

Levi is as annoyed by her loud personality, as he is fascinated by her dedication to the studies.

But he never approached her, never exchanged with her even a single 'hi' or 'do you have the copy of last lecture'. And so the prospect of sitting down next to her makes him more than a little bit nervous.

But professor clears his throat, urging Levi to move. He grits his teeth, but surrenders to his fate and takes a seat just at the edge of a row.

Hange shoots him a quick smile, but then turns her attention to the lecture and doesn't bother him until the very end.

Levi escapes the auditorium as soon as the lecture ends, and hopes this beginning was the end of his and Hange Zoe's relationship.

At the next lecture, he finds out he was wrong.

He makes sure to come early, so Zeke won't take his place once again. And he succeeds - Zeke isn't there.

However... Hange Zoe is.

"Hi!" she waves her hand energetically, her smile far too wide and bright for 8 AM lecture. "You don't mind me sitting here? I liked sitting next to you last time."

Levi doesn't quite understand what Hange liked about last lecture since they haven't exchanged a single word, but her open, friendly face and big eyes quickly render him unable to reject her offer.

"Just keep quiet, four-eyes," he mutters and takes a seat next to her.

And that's how it truly begins. The physiology curse ends and biochemistry starts, and Hange sits next to him there as well.

Soon she starts inviting him to study sessions and house parties, and, even though, he doesn't accept these invitations, Hange still somehow manages to get his phone number, and then begins to bother him even on weekends.

One night, after Levi just tumbles inside his room after a shift at the hospital, he receives a text with a link to some article. He makes a mental note to read it - he rarely replies to texts from Hange, but he always reads them, however as soon as he comes out of the shower, he falls asleep, overcome with exhaustion.

Next morning, he wakes up later than usual, so he doesn't have the time to read the article before his first class. He hopes Hange won't ask him about it, he'd feel bad about ignoring her, but when he comes to his first lecture, he finds Hange already in their usual place, an excited look on her face.

"Good morning!" she greets, as always far too cheerful for a morning class.

Levi grunts something noncommittal and sits down next to her.

There are a few more minutes before the class starts, and Levi entertains himself with sorting out his textbooks. He remembers the article Hange sent him, but reading it while she sits so close might seem rude. So he does nothing, and stares at the front of the auditorium, waiting for the professor to show up.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Hange shift and fidget, more restless than usually. He wants to snap and ask her to stop, but then Hange leans a bit closer, and whispers,

"Hey, Levi, I think our HLA aren't compatible."

Levi frowns and looks up at her, surprised to find that her face is all red.

"What?" he murmurs, utterly confused.

The red on her face becomes even brighter. "I said..."

"I've heard what you said," Levi grits, for some reason feeling just as embarrassed as Hange looks. "I just don't get what you meant by it."

"Oh..." Hange's face falls. "You haven't read the article. Oh, now this is awkward," she chuckles, scratching the back of her head. "Then, um, forget I said anything."

Levi wants to protest, he doesn't want to forget, he wants to find out what made Hange look so shy, but in that exact moment professor enters the room, and he has no choice but to keep quiet.

His curiosity is far from quiet, though, and unable to stop himself, Levi takes out his phone and opens that article.

Not paying attention to the lecture makes him feel awful, but Levi needs to know the reason for Hange's behavior. Besides, he tries to bargain with himself, the article is somewhat linked to microbiology, so technically he doesn't ignore the lecture completely.

The article Hange sent to him is about a study that focused on the importance of human leucocyte antigen and its many variables that appeared after years of battling with various pathogens. It also demonstrated that people are more inclined to find themselves an HLA dissimilar partner and that relationship tend to be more prosperous if partners share only a few of HLA alleles.

And Hange said their HLA weren't compatible... Oh. Now Levi feels his own cheeks heat up.

He reads the article a few more times, making sure that he understood everything correctly.

Then he turns his gaze towards Hange who refuses to even glance in his direction. The time moves with a speed of a snail, and when the professor finally announces the end of a class, Levi exhales in relief.

He had a whole hour to gather his thoughts and think of his next words, but they scatter, when Hange bolts up from her seat and starts frantically packing her belongings.

"Hey..." Levi calls, but Hange doesn't seem to hear him, or, more probably, tries her best to ignore him. "Hey, Hange..." he tries again, but Hange doesn't stop.

Bolder actions need to be implemented, and so Levi raises up too, holding Hange back by the sleeve of her shirt. "Four-eyes..." he begins, forcing himself to swallow his nervousness. "Sorry for not reading the article yesterday, but..." he clears his throat and locks his gaze with Hange. It's good to know that she looks just as flustered as he himself feels. "I think you're right. Based on what I feel, our HLA seem to be mostly dissimilar."

"Oh..." Hange looks lost for no more than a second, Levi envies her composure. A big grin blooms on her face almost instantly, and her eyes fill with joy. "We can discuss it further, if you want... Maybe, have a small study session."

"And go out for coffee," Levi adds, feeling just a little bolder. "I know a great place."

"Mm," Hange bites her lip, glancing at her wrist watch. "I have another class soon, but I'm free after that."

"Alright," Levi says, his mouth twitching in an attempt to hide his smile. "I'll be waiting for you then."

"Great!" Hange laughs, squeezes his shoulder and hurries away. She walks with a spring in her step, and just before exiting the room, she turns around and shoots Levi another happy smile.

"Dork," Levi mutters, as he watches Hange almost collide with another student.

As he gets out of the auditorium at a more slower pace than Hange, he takes out his phone and opens the browser. Perhaps, he should find an article for Hange to enjoy too.

Perhaps, it would allow him not just join her for a study session, but have her agree to a date with him.

Either way, Levi is eager to find out how his story with Hange Zoe will progress.

[wardenannie]

A very, very angsty one-shot. Warning for pregnancy loss. Crossposted on my Ao3.

-

Clouds of noxious smoke filled up the crystal cavern, wall to wall. It was only as Levi soared above it, over it with the vigilance of a hunting hawk, that he watched as the hook buried itself in Hange’s left shoulder. Time seemed to slow before his eyes, and that infernal shot was followed by three resounding bangs, each louder than the last in his ears. bang. Bang. BANG. 

The bullets were cloaked in sprays of red as they impacted Hange’s falling form. The hook unlatched and the assailant retreated in a burst of steam, but Levi’s eyes never strayed from the squad leader. 

“Hange!” More than one of the kids shouted her name in distress as the cavern began to shake. 

She struck a pillar, body limp, then slid down its faceted surface, leaving a trail of dark crimson in her wake. One of her hands cupped her bleeding middle, blood welling between her paling fingers. 

Levi cursed, dropping down to her side. The others were already crowding around, chips of glittering crystal were beginning to rain down from the cavern’s high ceiling. 

“Hange?” There was so much blood. It pooled around her, seeping out of her middle and between her legs. Her eyes were half open, aware but glassy. It looked like one shot had struck her sternum, another just beneath her breasts, and the last had lodged itself in her lower abdomen. 

“You-

She coughed, blood spattering from her lips. 

“You need to get... get out of here,” her fingers worked weakly against the smooth floor, body tensing like she meant to sit up. “I can’t... just leave me.”

Levi shook his head, pressing a gentle hand into her good shoulder, “Fuck that. Stay down. Moblit, Armin, can you carry her? She needs medical attention, now.” 

The men in question rushed to scoop her up, suspending her between their bodies. She winced and sighed, breath coming out in stuttering gasps. 

Levi watched them retreat, biting back a torrent of emotion as Hange’s toes dragged trails of blood into the floor. She was close to death, that was obvious. Three pellets of lead had lodged themselves into her insides and torn her body asunder. 

Hange Zoe. 

His Hange. 

The Captain’s heart was in his throat, hands shaking. He wanted to hit his knees and scream and beg whatever powers loomed above to spare her. He’d already lost so much. Levi felt as though his heart were being rendered in two. He would gladly have taken those shots for her, if it were possible, to spare her the pain and fear that accompanied death. 

Just the night before she had been so lively, excited for the coming battle. Sweaty over him, moaning under him. Kissing him. Whispering his name in mantra, like a prayer. 

Now he wasn’t certain that they would ever make love again, and he couldn’t even be at her side as she faded. 

It was Jean who broke him from his trance, “Your orders, Captain?” 

Levi shook his head, eyes still stinging, but no tears were shed. He steeled himself, braced himself for the ultimate loss of another friend, a companion, his secret lover. He was a wounded man, but also he was a soldier, and he had a duty to uphold. 

Anything for the greater good. Everything. 

When he spoke, motioning with his blade towards an opening in the crystal, his voice was low, dangerous, deadly and dripping with venom, “We kill Rod Reiss.”

Someone had to pay for what had happened to Hange. The true king of the accursed Walls would do nicely.

-

Rod Reiss was dead and Hange was alive. 

Upon his return from Orvud, that was all he knew of her condition. Alive. Badly injured, he knew. But gracefully alive. 

Levi wasted no time in stabling his horse and rushing through the neatly laid halls of HQ towards the infirmary. Perhaps he was being too obvious, perhaps the kids would catch on to his attachment, but he didn’t care. Hange was all that mattered, he cared about nothing else in that moment. 

They were keeping her in a private room, a benefit of her rank. Levi had no intention to leave her side for any longer than it took him to bathe. 

When he arrived he found Erwin had beaten him there. The man stood in a shaft of golden sunlight, it caught in his blond hair and brightened his icy eyes, which were paradoxically grim. Dust motes danced around him. Beside him stood redheaded woman in white nurses garb. Her lips were pursed, and when she spotted Levi in the doorway her expression darkened. 

Ignoring them entirely, Levi rushed to the side of the bed where Hange lay on top of the linens. She was naked from the waist up, but her entire upper body was bound in fresh bandages. There was a cool rag laid over her forehead and eyes. Relief flooded Levi’s chest and pooled in his gut. He knelt beside the bed, grateful for her peaceful expression and the steady rise of her chest. 

“Has she woken up yet?” Levi asked, gaze unwavering. He took her hand in his, not caring that the Commander was watching over his shoulder. 

“No,” The nurse answered. Then she cleared her throat, “Mr. Ackerman, there are some complications we need to discuss.” 

Levi’s thumb stroked over the backs of Hange’s knuckles. His brow furrowed and he scowled, forced to look away from his lover and at the nurse, “What?” 

His irritability seemed to surprise the woman, who took a step back. Levi’s reputation had clearly preceded him. 

Erwin laid a hand on her shoulder smiling sadly, “It’s okay, Nyla. I’ll take care of things here.” 

“But Commander it’s standard procedure that I inform-

“Shhh,” he shushed her delicately. “Dismissed. Take the rest of the day off.” 

She pursed her lips, but didn’t argue any further, retreating from the room on light feet. 

“What’s going on, Erwin?” Levi demanded, “You were both acting like someone shit the bed.” 

“Succinctly put,” the Commander answered, dryly. Then his expression darkened, and he continued. “I’ve known about the relationship the two of you share for some time now.” 

Levi paled, “Shit.” 

Erwin sighed, “Though I believe relationships between comrades are ill-advised, I’m not going to stop you.” 

“How did you figure it out?” 

His thick eyebrows shot up near to his hairline, amused, “Hange isn’t particularly quiet in bed. One stroll by her quarters was all it took.” 

Levi rolled his eyes, squeezing Hange’s fingers in his. Of course it was her fucking sex moans that gave them away, “I always tell her to keep it down.” 

Erwin cleared his throat, “That’s besides the point, though. I’m only informing you that I know as preamble for what I’m about to say. Levi, please sit on the bed. This is going to be quite the shock.” 

Feeling suddenly cold, Levi obeyed without a word. He still held on to Hange’s hand, her touch anchoring him to reality even from sleep. 

“When Hange arrived here she had already been stabilized, save for profuse bleeding from the vagina. They managed to dig out the bullet that had perforated her uterus, but the bleeding continued for some time.” 

“But she’s okay now, right?” Levi glanced back at her, down her lean body and between her thighs. She was wearing simple grey pants. They were unstained by blood. 

“She was pregnant, Levi,” Erwin stated, his voice was even and his eyes were emotionless. “They believe she was between three and four months along. The baby was killed when she was shot.” 

Levi went rigid, hands beginning to shake in his lap. His slate eyes widened and he looked up to Erwin with pure confusion and blended agony swirling in his eyes. 

“That’s not... that’s not possible,” his voice shook, his heart thundered in his aching chest. She had taken a contraceptive tea... Him? A father? 

Erwin pursed his mouth, extending a hand to rest on Levi’s shoulder, “I’m sorry, Captain.” 

Levi dropped his head into his hands, closing his eyes tight. It hurt. God help help him it hurt so badly. Every inch of him ached. They gave up so much for this life, and they did so willingly, happily even, but this was simply too much. A baby. Hange had been carrying a baby. Their baby. A baby that they had made together. 

“I need,” real, tangible tears stung at the corners of Levi’s eyes. “I need a moment, Commander.” 

Erwin nodded his head and left the room without another word, shutting the door carefully behind him. 

Finally alone, Levi turned to Hange where she lay unconscious. Her breath was even, chest rising in steady intervals, blissfully unaware of what they had lost. There was no way she had known, she would have told him immediately if she had even suspected she was pregnant. 

Levi cried silently, staring at her peaceful face. The tears were hot against his skin, and no matter how he tried he simply couldn’t stem their flow. 

He’d had a chance at a family, a life beyond the Survey Corps, beyond all of the violence and carnage and death. A fleeting, beautiful chance. And now it was gone, cruelly ripped from his hands on the floor of that damned crystal cavern. 

He looked out the window, at the sky which had once awed him as a boy from the Underground. Now the blue seemed dull, the sun dim. 

Nothing good ever seemed to stay. 

Nothing save for Hange, who still breathed peacefully beside him. He pulled a chair up beside the bed, content to wait at her side until she opened her wine-colored eyes again.

- 

It was two more days before Hange stirred, and when she did it was well past midnight. On the wall the steady ticking of a clock had lulled Levi into an uneasy sleep in his chair. Moonlight was the only thing illuminating the little infirmary room, splashing through the windowpane in long, silvery shafts. A vase of fresh picked wildflowers was sitting on the bedside table, courtesy of the 104th. 

Hange shifted on top of her sheets, shivering slightly in the cool air. Even that tiny reflex pained her, and she made a small discontented noise that awoke Levi with a start. 

“Levi?” She exhaled painfully, wincing as her shoulder pulled when she turned her head to face him. Her eyes brightened at the sight of him, ruffled and half asleep beside her. She smiled at him, “Levi, guess what?” 

Levi leaned forward, hand reaching instinctively to touch her cheek before dropping to settle over her own hand, “What, four-eyes?” 

“I’m not dead,” she wheezed out a laugh, which quickly morphed into a moan of pain. 

“No joking around right now,” Levi scolded softly, standing to help cover her with a blanket. “You need to rest.” 

Hange’s smile fell as she watched him unfold the blanket then drape it over her body, “Somethings wrong.” 

“Nothing’s wrong,” Levi lied, unable to meet her eyes. 

“Don’t lie to me, little man. I can read you like a book.”

Levi settled back into his chair, “I’ll tell you later, alright? Get some sleep.” 

“No,” she would have crossed her arms if she weren’t full of bullet holes. “Tell me now, Levi. Your eyes are a little swollen, you never cry. And you’ve got dark circles. Something bad happened. Tell me now... oh my God, are the kids alright?” 

She actually started like she might sit up, frenzied by the thought. Levi rushed to ease her back down onto the pillows. 

“Easy four-eyes. The kids are fine, I promise,” he soothed. He took her hand again, stroking her knuckles. 

“Then what’s wrong?”

Levi bowed his head, watery eyes obscured by his hair. His very soul ached as he whispered the words, “I love you, Hange.” 

She went very still under his touch. They had never said those words to one another before, each afraid it would make what they had too real, too painful were one of them to die. But it was obvious to Levi now that their apprehension had never mattered. 

“Levi...” 

“You were pregnant,” he choked. “You miscarried when you were shot. Three to four months along, they said.” 

Tears were streaming down his cheeks again, glimmering with a beauty that belied their source. His insides were a tangled mass of barbed wire, blood, and pure, unadulterated sadness. Everything hurt.  

Hange was quiet for a while, hands folded neatly over her middle, eyes trained on the ceiling. 

When she finally spoke her voice was so soft, so low that Levi could barely make out the words, “I should have known. All the signs were there but I ignored them as stress. Oh God, Levi. I should have known.” 

Levi leaned onto the bed, “You can’t blame yourself for this.” 

“Can’t I?” Wincing, she raised a hand to touch her forehead, “I went into battle pregnant, I allowed myself to be cornered and shot, pregnant. How did I miss this? How? I killed our baby.” 

“No.” Levi said, fiercely, “Kenny and his damned fiends killed our baby. Rod fucking Reiss killed our baby. They’re all dead now. I made sure of that.”

Tears were brimming in her eyes now, and Levi couldn’t help but touch her cheek.

“We needed you there, Hange,” he said, softly. “We’re soldiers. We have a duty to the people of the walls, no matter what.” 

The last three words were painful to say, but it was true. Their duty came above all else.

Hange cried softly for a while. Levi held her hand, crying silently with her. He touched her face, her hair, her hands. Eventually he leaned forward to kiss her gently on the mouth. She tasted of salt and blood, and she cupped the back of his neck to deepen the kiss. 

When they parted, he whispered into the narrow space between their lips, “If you had died-

His voice cracked, then. And he realized for the first time in two days that he really, truly still had Hange. As long as she was breathing at his side, everything would be okay. 

“Don’t think about that,” she breathed, and kissed him again. “We already lost so much.” 

Hange scooted over to the left side of the bed, patting the right with her hand, “Come here.” 

Wordlessly Levi joined her on the bed. The flow of his tears was beginning to stem. He savored the heat of Hange’s body next to his, and when he rested his head on her good shoulder he could hear the steady beat of her heart. His hand ventured delicately down the taut line of her stomach, settling reverently over her abdomen, right above where the baby had been. 

Hange laid a hand over his, sniffing, “Do you think... I mean, someday this will all have to end, right? Eventually?”

Levi kissed her neck, “Eventually.” 

“We can try again,” she promised, voice ragged, fingers combing through his hair. “When this is over, we’ll try.” 

Levi hummed into her skin, inhaling the scent of her, feeling her alive beneath his touch. 

“Levi?” Her voice was clearer now, tears slowing. Her fingers were rubbing circles on his knuckles over her abdomen. 

“Hmm?” 

“I love you, too.” 

[panicroom01]

"Just a phase" (Connor x reader)

TW: Mostly angst, a little fluff tho, cursing, weed bc it's connor, fem!reader, Connor is probably ooc.

Requested? Nope lol

A/N: This probably could've had a better name lmao, but I'm taking a break from the fics I have in the works to write this, I should hopefully be getting back to writing them lol, also I made this with the song "18" by Anarbor in mind, but it's not exactly like the song, basically Connor tells his parents that he and the reader were dating and she agrees to pretend to be his girlfriend and she eventually catches feelings, might make another version of this tho, or another Connor x Reader based more off the song again. Anyways stay safe!

Here you were laying on your bed with your best friend, Connor Murphy. You noticed he seemed uncomfortable so you decided to ask him about it "Hey Con, what's wrong," his answer came quickly "nothing," a blatant lie that you saw right through. You quickly sat up and tilted your head.

"Really, it doesn't look like nothing" you replied to him, Connor was never all that secretive with you, he would tell you everything. "Fine, just promise you won't be mad" he finally said, sitting up now, and you nodded. "We're partners in crime, I can't be mad at you" you teased, punching his shoulder lightheartedly.

"I told my parents you and I were dating" he admitted, running his fingers through his long dark hair and you were rendered speechless. "Wow" was all you could say and Connor took it as a bad wow.

"Shit, look, I'm sorry, my parents have just been so annoying trying to ask me if I'm dating anyone yet and getting in my love life so I just told them we were dating to get them to shut up" he explained and you nodded in understanding. "I get that, if you want we could pretend to date so they get off your case" you suggested and he smiled gratefully "that would be great, thanks."

You couldn't help but smile back at his dopey grin and ruffle his hair a little bit, which caused him to jokingly push you away.

A few days later and you're officially introduced to the Murphy's as Connor's girlfriend, you'd met them before, but it was always brief, like when you'd knock on the door to pick up Connor either to go to your house or go on a walk with him.

You had also been in the house on several occasions and it was just you and Connor, no one else.

Tonight was different, tonight you were actually having dinner with the rest of the family and it was your first time having to pretend to be Connor's girlfriend.

Naturally you sat next to Connor and observed the rest of the family. Mrs. Murphy, had made a gluten free lasagna for dinner, not what you would've chosen but food is food.

The awkward silence was finally broken by Mr. Murphy. "Connor's never mentioned you around us" he stated and you replied back "Connor's never talked to me about you either" that was a lie. You could name multiple occasions Connor snuck to your house to escape the noise of his parents arguing, or just wanting to avoid them overall and he trusted you.

More awkward silence filled the room, until another Murphy spoke, this time it was Zoe. You knew Zoe, she would occasionally sit with you at lunch with Evan, Jared, Alana, and Connor (obviously). But other days she would sit with her friends so you didn't know her all to well.

"Why, out of anyone you could be with, would you pick my brother? I see you guys at lunch and you two just seem like friends," she questioned, causing Cynthia to speak up "Zoe, that's not very nice" "yeah well neither is Connor, I just wanna know what she sees in him" she shrugged.

You answered her question "Connor's sweet and good to me" you looked over at him to see he was staring down at his now mostly empty plate. "May we be excused to Connor's room?" you asked and Larry nodded "keep the door open though," you and Connor nodded in agreement and quickly put your dishes in the sink and went up to his room.

Connor was relieved to finally be in his own room and away from everyone else. "You okay, Con, you didn't say a thing at dinner," you asked, a little concerned, and he sighed.

"Yeah I'm fine [Y/N], it's nothing," "well it didn't seem like nothing," you responded, crossing your arms. "It just feels unfair making you go through all this because I made a dumb mistake of saying something to keep them from asking me more dumb shit."

You frowned "this isn't your fault Connor, besides I wouldn't pass up an excuse to spend time with you" and he grinned slightly, pushing you playfully "you dork" he teased.

Two months later. That's how much time has passed since your first "date" with Connor. You had skipped out on going to a concert with tickets Cynthia and Larry paid for and were instead spending time in your house.

You and Connor usually skipped on these dates Cynthia and Larry paid for the two of you, so this wasn't anything new.

Connor was laying on your bed smoking weed, you were fine with him smoking in your room, you didn't mind the smell. Something about this night seemed different though, you didn't know what but you saw something in Connor.

You were attracted to your best friend, you had no clue why, but you actually started wishing you two were actually boyfriend and girlfriend. But you knew you weren't and it hurt because no matter how convincing he was with his parents you knew it was a phase. Connor didn't really love you.

A week later you started completely avoiding Connor all together. You ate lunch alone that week, ignored all his texts, didn't come over to his place like you normally did, and you definitely didn't invite him over to yours.

Throughout the week you'd gotten texts from Alana, Evan, and Jared asking what happened with you and Connor, because it was impossible for them to not notice, they saw how you would be talking with them one minute and make an excuse to leave when Connor came along.

You ignored them too. That friday Connor had stopped you in the hall to ask why you've been so standoffish but you just shrugged "it's nothing," you stated, trying to make your way to class. "It isn't, you've been ignoring me for the past week now," he said but you drowned out the sound of his voice by putting in your earbuds and playing your music.

That night you were trying to do your homework, but you were too distracted by the thought of Connor, you tried to play music to drown out the thought of him but that didn't work either so you ended up in your bed, putting on a black hoodie of his you had "stolen" from a time you were cold while spending time with him and he let you borrow it and you just forgot to return it. It smelled like him too.

He had a dozen of the same hoodies at home and you knew that but it didn't matter because he was willing to be cold temporarily for you.

You suddenly heard a knock at your window and got up to investigate, you opened it up and lo and behold was Connor Murphy "hey," he said "hey," you replied "can I come in," he asked and you simply nodded, stepping aside so he could climb into your room.

There was a long silence until Connor finally spoke and broke it "what did I do," he asked, "what do you mean?" you asked "you ignored me for a fucking week, when I tried to talk to you all you did was brush me off, so what did I do, did I say something I shouldn't have?" he explained, starting to guess now. You could hear the hurt in his voice and it hurt you.

"You didn't do anything" you said, taking a step closer to him and he looked at the ground "bullshit" he muttered.

"What," you asked, not hearing what he said "bullshit!" he shouted "so I'm asking again, what did I do wrong, please, I need to know, I need to make it right" his voice cracked at please which made your heart sink.

"I'm being honest Connor, you really did nothing, besides it was just a week, it wasn't like you didn't have Jared, Evan, or Alana" you said, "they aren't you, they're fun to hang around, but they don't get me like you do, so I'm asking you again what I did to upset you?" he said, you saw tears brimming at his eyes.

"I'm in love with you Connor" you said softly, and you saw his head lift up slightly "what," he asked "I said I'm in love with you, that day you got high in my room, a week ago, I saw something in you, I didn't want to make things awkward between us" you confessed.

Connor had walked over to your bed and sat on the edge of it "wow," was all he said. "Was that a good or bad wow," you asked. "I don't know" Connor answered.

"How long have you known?" he asked, running a hand through his long brown hair. "Remember that day we were supposed to go to that concert and you got high here instead?" you asked "of course I do," he answered "that's when I realized it, something about you looked different, but familiar too and I just realized that I liked you" you said, sitting on your bed next to Connor.

"Well if it makes you feel better, I think I fell for you that day too, I just thought it was the weed though so I ignored it" he said smiling softly, and you didn't believe him until you looked in his eyes and saw the truth.

You leaned in and kissed him on the lips, it wasn't like the times you kissed him around his family, this time it had meaning to you two.

"Is that the hoodie I lent you," Connor asked realizing what you were wearing finally. "Yeah but you have a dozen hoodies at home, besides, I couldn't stop thinking about you" you answered. "Psh dork," he teased, pushing you lightheartedly and you laughed "hey, I'm your dork," "my beautiful dork," he said with a smile and kissed you on the forehead.

[magsthemagnanimous]

Boy it’s been a while since I’ve written a Levihan fanfic (or any fanfic in general) so this is a little shitty. But here goes nothing.

And They Lived

Summary: Against all odds, despite the seemingly unending chaos, Hange Zoe, the fourteenth commander of the Survey Corps, survived. It wasn't long until she found herself living the life she thought she would never have – with one specific person, at one specific place, three years after the war ended.

Mornings never usually thrilled Hange, but as she continuously strolled through the woods, her footsteps leaving little crackles as dried leaves crumbled under her boots, she felt peace she hadn’t had in a long, long time.

The light from the early morning sun filtered through the trees, the air was crisp and fresh and it felt good when it brushed against her skin. When she looked around she could see wildflowers growing in every direction. The entire forest seemed to be a place full of vigor and life – and even hope, and it’s as if it was never a witness to the war that happened almost three years ago, which rendered the world almost completely uninhabitable for the remaining twenty percent of humanity who survived.

Thinking about the war, and even the years before that was almost too much to bear, Hange thought. She lost friends, comrades, family, and if she was being honest with herself she thought it almost possible for her to die, too. She had accepted her fate, resigned to her own death the minute she heard the colossal titans’ footsteps shaking the ground as they walked closer and closer to where she and the alliance were standing in.

But even amidst the chaos and the impossibility of it all, she survived. And to go on living and to finally live the life she wasn’t able to have, it was all that remained for her to accomplish.

Hange took a deep breath and continued her stroll, getting nearer to her destination – her home for the last two years. The basket she had on her hands was heavy but she figured that if she bought more goods from the market today, then she wouldn’t have to go back for the next five days or so, as going to the nearest district to buy necessities was too much of a hassle to do every other day, anyway.

It wasn’t long until she reached the little cottage she called home, and even before she reached it she could already see someone stirring inside from beneath the windows the cottage offered.

He’s awake. She’s kind of hoping he saw her note that she has gone out to the market that morning, as she did leave before the sun was up. He was still sleeping soundly – a rare occurrence, given his state – so she didn’t feel the need to wake him up.

Hange sped up her pace and soon enough she was inside the cottage already, dragging her heavy basket effortlessly and beaming at the face that greeted her when she entered.

“Good morning, Levi! Did you sleep well?” she greeted. Hange walked towards the kitchen counter and dropped the goods she had bought. A variety of vegetables, fruits, meat, and bread tumbled on the table.

“You were gone long, Shitty Glasses,” was Levi’s blunt reply. He rolled his wheelchair across the kitchen, getting to where Hange was messily stacking the foods she had bought. Levi clicked his tongue at the way she was keeping the fruits from falling over the pantry but was miserably failing. “The way you’re going at it, these fruits wouldn’t even last until tomorrow. They’ve got bruises all over thanks to you.” He bent forward and grabbed the oranges which were splayed on the floor, groaning as he did so.

Hange quickly stopped him and grabbed the fruits from his arms. “Don’t bother yourself with this, I can do it on my own. Chill over there, okay?” she pointed to the table. “Have you had breakfast?”

“I am not a child for you to fuss over, Hange.”

She grinned. “I would take that as a no. What do you want, tiny captain?”

Levi stared at her for a moment with a scowl on his face, but after a few seconds he turned his head to the side and pouted. “Fine. Just some bread and eggs. That is, if we have them.”

Hange smiled at him and went on to do the task. She cut a few slices of the bread she had bought, and put them on the pan to toast a little, doing the eggs next. She then prepared some black tea and poured it onto Levi’s favorite cup, the chipped, old thing she had saved from when she visited the headquarters – or rather what’s left of it – after her recovery.

Placing the plates and the cup onto the table, Hange noticed that Levi had busied himself with reading the newspaper she had bought as well from the market. Across the page she could see Her Majesty’s smiling face, along with her toddler and the nameless farmer who fathered her child.

“It says here that the brats have been appointed as diplomats, ambassadors of sorts, for peace talks between the outside world and Paradis,” Levi declared, then took a sip of his tea. His right eye flickered towards Hange to gauge her reaction to his words, then looked back at the paper before him.

Hange hummed. “I should say I’m not in the least bit surprised. They saved the world, after all. If there’s anyone who could broker peace between the Eldians and the world it is them,”

“And you,” Levi fixed her on his gaze.

She looked straight into him in return. “You more than me,” Hange said. “But it’s not our fight, not anymore. I wanted to, you know. To be among those people to put this world back into one piece, but I’m afraid the world would never listen to a useless commander,” she huffed out a chuckle at that.

Levi frowned, his brows furrowed at her words. “You did what you can. Stop saying you were a useless commander, Hange.” He sighed, he didn’t want to go over this matter again. He’s grown tired of it. “Do you think it’s wise to leave the fate of Paradis to the brats’ hands? Are they matured enough to handle it?”

Hange gave him a teasing smile. “You sound like a worried grandpa,”

He scowled at that. “It’s going to be a difficult task, especially after all they’ve been through.” For a moment, there was a look of longing on his face, like he was lost in the memories of smoke, blood, and tears, but it was gone before Hange noticed it. Levi spoke again. “They need you there, Hange.”

Hange had to look down at that. When she looked up, she saw Levi carefully analyzing her next reaction. She adjusted her glasses, checked if her eye patch was still in place, and then softly smiled. “But you need me more.”

Two years living in this forest had sure enough afforded Levi all the time in the world to heal and recover.

But he had to admit it to himself, he’s never the same as before. He had been in the goddamned wheelchair for basically three years, with only one eye working, and a constantly weakened bodily state. But even if he seemed paralyzed and most decidedly living like a broken man, he can swear he had never felt this peaceful in his life. Not even during his time as soldier, not even when he was a kid underground.

As he wheeled himself across the woods, carefully following the trails all too familiar in his mind, Levi thought back of the conversation he had with Hange earlier that morning. He had lost count of the number of times he’d spoken about her being an asset with peace negotiations with nations outside Paradis. He never thought Hange would step out like she did, leaving her post as commander and entrusting the Corps and the negotiations to Armin, being a person keen to her responsibilities as she had always been.

But she chose to stay with him, to care for him, for reasons he didn’t fathom why.

Levi dimly remembered that fateful day in Odiha, when he’d thought her already dead. Even if he didn’t look out the window to see it for himself, he could tell exactly that what he’d been dreading has happened, based on the looks of Armin, Mikasa, Connie, and Jean, and they’d declared that Hange fell onto the ground, already looking unconscious. The titans were fast approaching, but their plane won’t start just yet. Fortunately, Hange was able to take down one colossal titan, and this bought them much time as the other titans tumbled over one another.

Suddenly, when the engines of the plane started to roar and the Alliance prepared to leave, Armin cried out loud, and they saw Hange limping towards them, her brown hair and almost half her body burnt and smoking. They hurriedly took her in, and they left Odiha just mere moments before the titans were upon them.

The rest, of course, was history.

A year after the war ended and she was recovered enough, Hange renounced her title as commander and travelled back to Paradis with a severely injured Levi. She had a cottage built for them right in the middle of the forest where she’d sown his wounds all those years ago, fulfilling a wish – which, now that he thought about it, seemed more like a promise than mere wishful thinking.

This time around though, they wouldn’t need to run and hide. Not anymore.

Levi’s train of thoughts was interrupted when he’d realized where he’s at. He’s come upon a wide clearing, and from a distance he could see lots of and lots of wildflowers and herbs which grew in the area, some he’d seen, and some new to his eye. He wandered around and decided to pick up one specific flower which he hadn’t chanced upon seeing before.

He wheeled himself back to their cottage not long after, following the trails he’d set.

When he came back, Levi found Hange sitting in front of her desk at her makeshift study, scribbling something. Ever since they settled in, Hange had been writing this book, a compilation of her researches on the botany of Paradis, which she hoped would be published someday.

Hange looked up from her work when she noticed Levi at the doorway. She adjusted her glasses, which were already dangling at the tip of her nose. “How was the stroll?” she bluntly asked, then continued scribbling again.

Levi didn’t answer. Instead, he wheeled his way to where Hange was sitting, and dropped the flower he’d picked from the clearing. He wasn’t sure if she’d seen it before, but any help he could offer with her research had been accepted by Hange. Wholeheartedly, even.

This one was no different.

“Where did you find this? I haven’t seen one like this before.” Hange beamed as she brought the red, almost pinkish flower close to her face, carefully investigating, curiosity marred on her brown eye.

“In the clearing, probably thirty yards away from here.” Levi continued gazing at her. She was like a kid beaming at another new find, and somehow seeing Hange like this brought him back to the old times. “You sure it’s something new?”

“Yeah, but I’d need to take a closer look. It might be from an already existing species, but it has a different look to it. The pigmentation and structure, though, are quite the same. I think I’d like to visit the place where you got this to see the kind of environment it grows in to prove my theory right, but that’s a task for tomorrow as it is getting quite dark, after all.” Hange smiled at him, and he felt how genuine it is. “Thank you, Levi. Do you need help with anything? Do you need a glass of water? You must be tired from your stroll.”

“There’s no need for you to bother yourself, Hange. I got it.” was Levi’s only reply.

The stars were beautiful that night, Hange concluded, as she continuously gazed at the dark skies out through the window of her study. The wind was cold to the touch, and she wrapped her arms around her own body when a sudden chilly breeze fanned her way. She continuously marvelled at the sight before her, her research book long forgotten. On her desk, a quill pen rested on a parchment paper, and the candle which lighted the room already half-melted, its fire threatening to die out.

It wasn’t long after she decided to call it a night, though, no matter how beautiful the stars were, she was tired. Hange stacked the papers on her desk, neatly arranging them, then went out of her study. Before making her way to her own bedroom, she made sure that all the doors that would lead out were locked, as there’d been reports of burglars lately, and she wouldn’t risk waking up with all their belongings gone.

When she was sure everything was already in place, Hange made for her bedroom, but she couldn’t help but notice that the door to Levi’s room was slightly ajar, and she attempted to close it.

It was then, though, when she’d heard Levi groaning and muttering softly. Hange was hesitant at first but she pushed the door open, only to see Levi, seemingly sleeping, but he was stirring aggressively on the bed. At the sight, Hange hurriedly went inside the room and went to his side. “Levi,” she yanked him.

He continuously groaned, and Hange was almost hit when he pushed his fists forward.

“Levi, wake up, you’re having a nightmare!” she desperately called out to him, eager to ease whatever unpleasant memories have gotten into his sleep.

At the sound of her voice, Levi’s eye opened, grey meeting brown against the darkness of the room. Levi panted heavily, and sweat matted his forehead.

“I’m here, don’t worry. We’re safe, they’re gone,” Hange reached out and hesitantly cupped his face between her hands. She didn’t know what his nightmare was about or who this time, but she understood. It wasn’t the first time it happened, anyway. Over the last two years she’d often hear Levi screaming in his sleep, and she’d scramble out of her own bed and go to wake him up and comfort him. She always did.

It took a while for Levi to calm down, but he eventually did. He pushed himself up to sit on the bed and Hange waited until he’s settled. He tried to avoid her gaze, choosing instead to simply look at the wall. Moments later, he spoke. “I’m sorry,”

“What for?”

“For waking you,”

Hange had to chuckle at that. “You didn’t. I was just about to sleep, got caught up in the flower you brought me today.” She tried to look into his eye, to search through him, but he was purposefully avoiding her gaze, now looking down on his own lap, as if guilty of her coming to rescue him from his nightmare, again.

She sighed. “I have them too, you know,”

That caused Levi to look up. “What are they about?”

“It’s always the same one. That day in Odiha when I almost died. I saw flames, and I can still feel them against my body. It’s as if I was reliving the moment, whenever I dream about it,” Hange shifted on her seat. Her right hand flew to touch her left arm, feeling the uneven skin there which was the effect of the burns she suffered. “And then the next thing I know, I’d fall onto the ground and when I opened my eyes I’d see our fallen comrades looking at me, as if they were disappointed at my actions being the commander.”

Levi gritted his teeth at that. “If anything, they’d be looking at you with pride, not disappointment, in my opinion.” He tried to reach his hand out and lay it over her hand, but he didn’t. He couldn’t. “Hange, you have to stop feeling guilty for the actions you took when you were the commander. You did everything you believed was right. And at the time, no one, not even Erwin, could have led a charge against a world which was all new to us. You don’t give enough credit to yourself when you should.”

Hange smiled bitterly at his words. “I know… I just… think things could have turned out differently, you know. The rumbling couldn’t have happened, we would’ve saved all those lives. If only I had a decent plan. If only we got a hold of Eren, then things would –“

“Stop it, Hange.” Levi muttered. “I want you to promise me you’d stop feeling guilty anymore. None of it was entirely your fault, it was just the cards we’ve been dealt with and we played them according to how we believed they should be treated.” He displayed a knowing look. “I think the reason why you don’t want to be involved with peace negotiations is because you still think you aren’t capable. You still lacked the confidence. But bear in mind that none of us would still be alive if it weren’t for you forming the alliance and buying us time from those titans that day. So please, Hange, please.” He sighed. “Promise me,”

“I do think that has been the longest speech you’ve ever said to me, Levi,” Hange laughed, then her face grew serious. She contemplated his words, there was already a part of her that wanted to believe every word he’d said, but it would take time for her to fully accept. She still appreciated it though, what he was doing. She reached out to place her hand above his own. “I cannot promise anything, Levi. But… I will try.”

Levi nodded at her, resigning completely.

“What about you, what are your nightmares about?”

He was hesitant at first, but he squinted and started to speak. “Not being able to kill Zeke. It was always about the many fights we had together, but mostly on the one during the rumbling. Sometimes it’s about those many expeditions beyond the walls that we had before.” Levi let out a breath. “It’s a mix, really.”

“I see,” she hummed. “I still hope one day those nightmares would not hunt our sleep anymore. Anyone could wish. But I’ve started to think that they’re part of us already.”

“I’m afraid that’s true.”

Hange started to get up. “Well it’s getting pretty late, and we’ve got a big day tomorrow. Onyankopon had mentioned that they’d be paying us a visit, together with Armin, Jean, and Connie, and I don’t know who else, and we’d better look like we’ve been getting decent rest here, lest they insist for us to take residence in one of the districts.” She chuckled at that. “I’d rather the two of us just stay here.” Hange turned her back to leave. “Good night, Levi.”

“Hange,”

She looked over her shoulder and eyed him, carefully analyzing his face. “Yes?”

“Stay,”

Hange took a deep breath, then slowly turned to face him once again. It was one word, just one word she’d spent the last two years waiting for him to say.

She’d be damned if she said no to what he wanted.

[inmyarmswrappedin]

hello you probably already talked about this but why did you drop robbe season?

Hi anon! 🧩 I have mentioned it before, yeah, but I don’t mind talking about it in a bit more depth.

Admittedly Robbe’s season was already a hard sell for me before it even premiered. I have watched every Eva season, and that has always given me an indication of how things are going to go for the Isak season. Like, even though remake teams tend to go all out for their Isak season, and try harder than with their previous seasons (and I don’t think it’s controversial to say remake teams know their Isak season will majorly increase their viewership, even fandom has pointed this out as a reason Skam NL should’ve stuck it out for VDH’s season), you can already get a good idea in s1 about what they want to keep from Skam and where they’re going their own way.

I love Eva and I also tend to like her remakes. Honestly, I find Eva’s story really interesting, Jonas a good character when handled well, and I’ve generally enjoyed getting introduced to yet another iteration of the girl squad. I like the familiarity of the story beats. I also think how Jonas’ ideas are handled is a good indicator of how politically minded the team is, and how they plan on using their platform. 

And the thing is, despite all this, I found Jana’s season a struggle to get through. I had to try twice because I couldn’t get through the first time. At first, I thought it was because the writers had been super lazy with the adaptation. I loathe what they did with Jonas’ character, how little Jens knows about social justice. I was really put off by how, since they couldn’t write Yasmina into parties, they gave the drink throwing moment to Luca instead, but then more or less kept to the original storyline. Even back then, I was really concerned by how aggressive they made Moyo during the cabin trip clips. But then a friend binged the season after me, and brought up how terrible the pacing was (with Friday clips being moved to other days, destroying the momentum Skam builds through the week), how most of the actors sounded like they were literally reading from a script, and the utter spam of meaningless social media pics (with very few texts to go with it). And so I realized that this season I generally enjoy bored me, because Wtfock is generally just slapped together carelessly. 

Another issue I had was... Well, I’m not sure this comes across given my rabid love for David, but I actually think Skam s3 is as close to perfect TV as it gets. I don’t think this is a season that needs fixing. And as the Isak seasons succeeded each other, I realized I didn’t care for an Isak season that pretty much just took Isak and Even and put them in another country. I prefer the Isak seasons that did something Skam s3 never did, because they were never going to improve on Skam s3, and to do the same thing would just remind me how much better the acting, the music, the photography, the writing, etc. was in Skam. So I was hoping that maybe Wtfock’s Even would be a moc and they’d touch on racism for a change. However I knew the chances of Wtfock casting a trans man or a moc for their Even were slim to none.

But at the time it was kind of unthinkable that there would be an Isak season dropping, and people would not watch. And I in particular was a bit of a completionist, like I haven’t watched most Noora seasons, but I’ve watched all of the Eva seasons, and all the Isak seasons except for the last few episodes of Lucas L’s. These days I’m comfortable not tuning in (esp after trainwrecks like Arthur’s or Kato’s seasons), but at the time it felt kinda wrong to not give a season a chance, you know. Besides, a lot of people whose opinion I trust said s2 was great! Zoe and Senne one of the best noorhelms, if not the best! They really had fixed everything that was wrong with noorhelm, their social media game was so good, etc... I mean, you were there for s3 I assume, you know how people were hyping Wtfock at the time. And, for instance, Druck majorly improved in s2 after a more or less okay s1, so it’s not like remakes had never fixed their shit before.

So I started watching, but right away, I didn’t like the way they introduced Noor. She almost kinda seemed like the actual love interest in how cool she was, and how happy Robbe was hanging out with her that first night. I posted this, speculating about why Wtfock would introduce her that way. I should note that I posted that link on twitter as well, and Bram Renders liked my tweet... not too long after his tweet complaining about fans who read too much into the show would surface. 😂

Since I enjoyed writing that post, I thought I’d post weekly reaction posts in the style of Nat (@lightsandlostbells) and some others. The problem is that I’m just really good at procrastinating (I’ve been promising reaction posts in the same style for my favorite Skams seasons for... years now lol). And I wanted to keep my reactions fresh, so I stopped watching in real time. My plan was to watch the clips when I had enough time to write. This was like... Middle of week 2, I want to say. At the time, Sander hadn’t even been introduced yet!!

Even though I wasn’t watching, I still followed Wtfock-related accounts, like translators and subbers, so I still kinda knew what was going on. I was actually really let down by the way Wtfock didn’t take advantage of having Robbe and Sander in the same location for an entire week. Like, Sander was sticking a sandwich in Robbe’s mouth in a ~sexy way a few hours after exchanging their names, and yet it all kinda simmered down? No tension over social media really. Idk, I just feel like if Isak and Even, or Cris and Joana, or Matteo or David, had been stuck in the same house for an entire week shortly after meeting, Skam, Druck and eskam wouldn’t have let us forget about it for even a second. 

In the end, I never did write those posts, and I ended up washing my hands off the season because the tone of the discussions around the show was legit starting to get to me in a bad way. Like how LGBTI people were attacked for disliking the gay bashing scene. Or the discussions over whether the shower scene had gone too far or if Julie Andem had exploited Tarjei Sandvik Moe just as much. I disliked Moyo but also disliked the way white fans were writing about him. And the Britt bashing was just so gross. I was getting irl upset about a season I wasn’t even watching or following, so I put it out of my mind. 

[hanistarxx]

Against Elysium - Chapter 1

A Modern Greek Mythology AU with Fem!Hades & Fem!Persephone

Summary: All Omisha ever knew was death. She has never felt the warmth of the sun or the breeze of a stormy wind. She has never seen beauty in her kingdom of desolation, or heard the soothing music of assurance. Seraphina wanted to change that. All in the name of love. And Gods forbid anyone who dared to separate them. For if anyone did,a war is what would become of it.

Pairings: Zoe Kravitz x Adria Arjona (Fem!Hades x Fem!Persephone) 

Warnings: None, Mention of Pedophilia, Mention of Molestation and Attempted Rape 

Word Count: 1.5K

Against Elysium - Masterlist

“YOU’RE getting old, Willy,” 

Thana taunted, her focus on the opponent ahead, her hands clenched tightly on the carved hilt of her sai. Her feet steady on the ground, as she circled William, ready to strike again. 

Leaning against the stone walls that encircled the fighting arena, stood her sisters Saskia and Kiara. Both of them eyed viciously at the fighters, curious to see who would come out of the battle victorious. 

As Thana lifted her hands to land yet another blow on her competitor, William stuck his left leg out, tripping her as she advanced onto him. She fell front face to the ground with a cry, while her sisters merely winced. 

“Old, yes. Out of tricks? Never,” he said, with a smug smile plastered on his face. Thana turned, violently pushing her hair out of her face, displeased with the fact that she had lost a fight because she lost her balance. 

“Yeah, keep glaring at me like that. Maybe my head will explode, who knows?” he sarcastically continued. 

For a middle aged man, William Chavez sure did not look like it. Neither did he act like it. Alongside Naya, he was the royal advisor to the Queen. 

If Omisha was ever in doubt, she would turn to her most trusted compatriots. And while Naya advised through words, William was in charge of vodka shots and a whole lot of crying. 

At all times, William and Omisha would be the ones most drunk after their advisory meetings, resulting in a disgruntled Naya carrying them both off to bed. 

As for the Erinyes’, days in the Underworld passed by routinely. If they were not sent to the mortal realm, punishing criminals, they would waste their time hanging around Omisha.

Though this was strongly disliked by the latter, for their presence could sometimes be exasperating. 

On other days, when they were doing neither of those things, they could be found training and fighting in the Arena. 

“You’re a Fury and you lost another fight to the God of Non-Violent Death,” Saskia stated, “Non-Violent Death, Thana, could you be more humiliating?” 

“Shut up,” Thana replied seethingly as she pushed herself up from the dirt, her sai aimed towards her sister. 

“停下来,” Kiara intervened, stepping between them. “You two are acting like fools. It’s just a practise fight, calm down.” 

“Easy for you to say. You always win your fights,” Saskia mumbled. 

Kiara laughed, grabbing her katana and taking her stance, challenging William to another mock battle. 

Just as they were about to begin, they found themselves mysteriously shackled to the ground, They were bound and frozen by something unseen. 

Naya walked calmly towards the group. A sardonic smile on her face, clearly proving herself as the source of the mischievous magic. 

“Omisha needs us. The number of souls you’ve collected were too many. She needs a few more pairs of hands to sort them out,” Naya said to William.

“You three,” she continued, pointing to the Lins’ this time. “Someone on Earth is being a sick bastard. Go show him what happens to a pedophile, would you?” 

The sisters smirked, eyes turned menacing. It was time for them to have some real fun. 

They grabbed their weapons, headed to their garage and sped off on their matching black motorbikes. All ready to maim and torture. 

"Men. Dead or alive, they're bothering us," Will said, dragging himself back to work. Naya sighed, agreeing with her friend. 

Another day, another thousand souls.

----------

“BUT Mama, it’s not that far away,” 

Seraphina persisted. She was worn out after a long and tiring day. She had accompanied her mother in the paddy fields. Then after, the two went back to their greenhouse to continue gardening.

All she wanted to do for the rest of the evening was to enjoy a little summer breeze by the lake situated a few minutes away from her home. She wished for some time alone, a breather. A break from her mother. 

“It’s getting dark, miha,” Isabela said, “What did I tell you about going out after dark?” 

The mother daughter duo started walking back to their small house. It wasn’t much, but to Isabela it was home. A single story brick cottage, it’s exterior’s beige paint chipping off at some areas. Small little trails of vines, creeping around the edges of the windows. 

Their home nestled within numbers of tall trees in an indistinct forest. Cloaked and unseen by mortals, it was the perfect safe haven for her. Away from the bustling metropolitan city, where danger lurked in every dirty alley. 

Seraphina sighed, rolling her eyes discreetly behind her mother’s back. She knew her mother was going to deny her the freedom to go out, but she couldn’t help but to at least try.  

As they approached their house, a familiar figure stood, leaning against the archway pillar of their porch. Illyana Vince. 

With a gleeful smile, Seraphina skipped past her mother, to greet her friend. Illyana took her hands out of her signature denim jacket to welcome her with a hug. 

Seraphina would always be visited by her huntress friend, almost every day. Her social circle was extravagantly small, all thanks to her mother, but she liked it. She wasn’t, however, entirely content about it. She knew she could make more friends. 

If only she was allowed to go further past the picket fence that surrounded her realm. 

“Where were you?” she asked gingerly, their hands still intertwined.  

“I had a meeting with Moerani. I thought I’d drop by and spend some time with you.” Illyana winked. Seraphina turned to her mother and pleaded for permission with her eyes. 

“Fine, you can go. But, be back home by eight and Illyana has to be with you at all times,” her mother retorted. With that, Seraphina tugged her friend and they went off their way. 

Upon reaching the lake, the girls sat on the big rocks by the bank. They took their shoes off and dipped their feet into the cool water below. The sun had already started to descend making the sky looked as if it was on fire. 

“What was the meeting with Mr. Moerani about?” she asked, tearing her gaze away from the sunset and towards the girl beside her.

“I had to debrief him about what happened this morning. Some scum excuse of a man attacked a girl in a school. I heard her prayers, she sounded so terrified.” 

“What did he do to her?” she asked, slightly angered.

With a heavy disappointed sigh, Illyana said, “He molested her. He didn’t get that far. As soon as I got there, the Erinyes had him already. Pinned down on the floor. All bruised and bloodied.

I found the little girl hiding under a table. Brought her home and informed her parents. Poor girl, she was only seven. Men are really disgusting.” 

There was no secret that Illyana had a strong dislike for men. They had dicks for brains, as she would say so. The only three men she didn’t mind associating with were her brother, Jacob and William. 

Illyana talked about how she returned back to the school to finish the Erinyes’ work. If it was one thing the blonde loved doing, it was protecting the young, especially if it gave her the chance to beat up some second grade douche.  

Seraphina felt anger boil in her veins. How could anyone even think of committing such heinous crimes? She had heard countless stories from her friends about the world outside. Mortals were either killing each other or forcing themselves on others. 

That made her understood why her mother is keeping her within the cloaked abode of her realm. But she would not render herself weak or afraid. If she were to encounter such cruelty, whether it be upon her or someone else, she would raise Hell itself. 

“Raise Hell huh? I don’t think Omisha would like that. That lady took a thousand years to organize the chaos down there, ” Illyana spoke, smugly. 

Seraphina smiled sheepishly, realizing she had just spoke her mind, yet again. Curiosity sparked the goddess at the mention of the Underworld. Of course, she was curious about a lot things, but the Underworld called upon her the most.

In her mother’s eyes, it was a dark, gloomy and misty place. It was a place she was determined to keep Seraphina away from. But the stories told by her friends made her depict it in another way. 

Jacob mentioned the castle that housed the Underworld Gods and Goddesses, as ancient, yet sleek and stylish. Ilyana and Israel referred to it as the perfect hub to get wasted. Even Xander would often go there for sparring practice with the Lin sisters. Not a single one of them acted as if the place was a spook land. Just another world to hang out in.

She longed to experience everything outside of her mother’s boundaries. And visiting the Underworld was at the top of her list. 

----------     

tag list: @futureauthor-mabye @artwriteanimationinspo

----------

Chapter 2 (COMING SOON)

[thehauntrpg-blog]

Sallybrook lay in darkness that night. Not a light can be seen in the darkened houses lining each street, no movement from within breaking the stillness. From the sea to the east, a thick fog rolls in: slowly at first, then in a flood, shrouding the town in a mist that is at once unseasonably warm and bone-chillingly cold.

One by one, the crickets stop chirping. An owl hoots once, then never again. A lone fox, standing pensively at the edge of town, returns to its den.

In the blink of an eye, the abandoned bakery’s pastries mold and decay. At the coffee shop, the milk sours and spoils, while the coffee beans grow brittle and old. The wood of the many ships in the harbor grows soft and pliable; some vessels sink, while others barely cling to buoyancy.

As the fog thickens, so, too, does the darkness, smothering out the stars. And deep inside its depths, somehow everywhere and nowhere at once, a sinister force lurks.

Within the darkness, The Haunt waits.

The Church - Monday, Dec. 31st - 10:38 p.m.

An oppressive silence hangs over the pews in the darkened church, the only sound the distant tap-tap of a pacing chaperone. August sits unnoticed in a pew, staring sightlessly ahead, something small and red clutched in her hands, while Alice sits fretfully beside her.

From the silence issues a father’s scream.

“My daughter!” he wails, as one by one, people trickle out of their rooms to investigate the commotion. Emerging from the hallway, others follow, some annoyed, others concerned. Logan places a hand on his shoulder, but the mourning father shrugs it away.

“You!” he cries when he sees August, whose focus snaps back to the room as if waking from a dream. “You have her jacket—what have you done with her?!”

August looks down at the jacket in her hands in horror, while Alice stands in front of her protectively. Reilly emerges from the crowd just as the man tries to accost August. Jackie rushes in to pull him away. He elbows her in panic, causing her to fall backwards, nose gushing blood.

As Rosaline rushes to Jackie’s side to make sure she’s alright, Rowan peers over the scene cradling a half-empty bottle of booze. Miles observes the altercation quietly from the corner, while Will shoulders their way through the crowd. Reilly speaks a gentle word to the aggrieved father, who crumples into his arms.

August, hysterical, makes a beeline for the door, with Alice hot on her heels. It’s locked. Frantic, she spies the window beside the door. As she scrambles to get it open, Rowan inches closer to the door, with Dominik following not far behind. Though the window is locked, the wooden sill is soft with age and splinters away, allowing her to climb through.

Alice fiddles frantically with her key. Reilly notices August’s escape and heads for the door just as Alice leaves. Rowan makes a beeline for the door, but Reilly catches Rowan’s arm in a firm grip.

Rowan whips around, smashing his bottle on a pew, sending glass and liquor flying and spraying nearby Will with shards.

“Be still,” Reilly says, “God is with us.”

Rowan holds the broken bottle up to Reilly, and the two exchange a few heated words. Dominik sees his chance and strides for the door.

“Don’t come after me,” Rowan says shakily, “or I’ll fucking kill you.”

Shocked gasps and murmurs grow louder in the panicked crowd.

“It’s not worth it, Rowan,” Dominik says, laying a firm hand on his shoulder. Rowan’s gaze breaks from Reilly’s as he looks around the room, catching the frightened eyes of Sophie and Elliot, who are huddled together.

Rowan rips his arm from Reilly’s grasp and follows Dominik out the door, which slams shut behind them. As Ollie rushes for the door, the window slams shut too. Ollie throws himself at the door, but no matter what he does, it doesn’t budge.

He turns slowly to the horrified crowd.

“It won’t open,” he says. “We’re trapped.”

The Motel – Monday, Dec. 31st – 10:38 p.m.

It starts with the dreams.

Over and over the nightmare repeats, robbing sleep and sanity from the motel’s captive audience. The scent of earth—soft dirt under fingernails—muffled laughter from above—a mother’s ceaseless wail—and a thunderous rumble, a rumble so intense it shakes you to the bone.

Iris is the first to wake. She lets out a blood-curdling scream as a chunk of concrete falls just shy of her head, scratching her face and pinning her hair to the bed. As she tries desperately to free herself, Avery sees the commotion and bolts for the door. Iris rips herself free, shedding some hair in the process, and escapes the room.

Tegan is sitting outside, cradling an empty pill bottle, when the rumble starts. He springs to his feet as the ground below him vibrates with malice. Without looking back, he sprints away from the motel and down the road, leaving it far behind.

Tony, holding a bag of chips from the vending machine, spots Avery making a break for it. He stumbles as the ground shakes under his feet, then runs after them.

“Avery!” He calls, and the name seems to echo a little too far.

As Abigail swipes lipstick across her bottom lip, the shaking starts, causing her to draw a jagged red line across her face. She turns to leave the bathroom when part of the ceiling comes crashing down, blocking the door. Desperate, she claws the tiny bathroom window open and wriggles through, spraining her wrist on a bad landing.

Meanwhile, Noah and Elodie play cards, a half-empty liquor bottle between them.

“Go fish,” Elodie says flatly, and that’s when the bottle begins to rock. It tips out all over the table, soaking them. They stand to clean themselves up when the shaking intensifies, knocking them to the ground. Noah crawls to the door and opens it, and they both scramble out. As they pass by a closed door, they hear a piercing scream from Isaiah within, and Peter’s frantic protests, but the crumbling awning doesn’t allow them to investigate.

Imogen sprints down the hallway, calling frantically for everyone to evacuate the building.

Leila freezes up when the shaking starts, eyes wide and blank. Zoe hauls her to her feet and shoves her toward the door. Leila stumbles and bangs her head against the doorframe. While Leila’s head spins, Zoe drags her to safety.

Kira is writing in a journal when she hears Imogen’s calls. When dust begins to fall between the pages, she leaves the room. Pandemonium greets her outside: people covered in dust and blood, some sobbing, others pacing.

Just one door remains closed. As the crowd looks on, it creaks open slowly, revealing a startling sight. Marti and Aaron clutch eachother tightly, with not a speck of dust to be found. From the wrecked ceiling hovers a giant piece of concrete, suspended impossibly above them, with no signs of falling.

Alone behind the building, Abigail springs to her feet, nursing her throbbing wrist. She makes a break for it as fast as her shaking legs will allow. Just as she thinks she’s clear of the lot, however, she finds herself suddenly facing the motel again, on the opposite end of where she started.

“Guys,” she says, catching the attention of some of the crowd, “What the fuck is going on?”

Thus begins a week of torture for the residents of Sallybrook. While before the conditions of their confinement were bearable, they are now marred by chaos and confusion. No one may leave their lockdown location due to a mysterious impenetrable barrier that arose after the escapes.

At the Church, while the chaperones try to maintain order, widespread panic grips the populace, especially in the wake of the child’s disappearance. Some try to find a way out, certain there must be an exit somewhere, trying every window and door in the place. Others sit in their rooms and try to drown out the world and their own fears. While the Church is more habitable than the Motel, resources are dwindling fast.

At the Motel, what seems to be an earthquake has driven everyone out of their rooms. A particularly keen observer might notice the unnatural way the building collapsed in places, as if crushed like a soda can by some unseen force. Though most rooms contain some debris, one-third have been rendered uninhabitable. While the Motel is better supplied than the Church, the debris makes living there more difficult. Members of this group may go outside, but if they try to step beyond the limits of the parking lot, they find themselves on the opposite side of the lot, facing the motel once again.

Lastly, there is the group of Escapees. This group consists of Tegan, Avery, Tony, Rowan, Dominik, Alice, and August. Though they start out in separate areas, finding eachother is inevitable, as the town is otherwise completely deserted. If they choose to investigate the Church or Motel, they will find that the Church cannot be entered. If they try to step onto the Motel lot, they will appear at the opposite side, having skipped over it completely. They may also try to find food among the deserted shops, but anything fresh will be molded or spoiled. Canned food and shelf-stable items remain edible. If they try to leave the town, the fog becomes so thick that they cannot breathe.

Though these circumstances last one week in-world, OOC it will last through the end of January. This event provides the perfect opportunity to explore new facets of your character. Remember that your characters do not know when—or if—they will be able to escape. Will they panic and lash out at others, focus on their own survival, or team up and try to keep everyone sane? The choice is yours. You may choose to thread about the night the barriers went up, or about anything that happens during the week that they are trapped. Additionally, as always, flashback threads are welcomed.

Finally, I spoke with most of you about how The Haunt’s active presence will affect your characters psychologically. As a reminder, the categories are dreams/hallucinations, selective hearing/seeing of those around you, repetitive/risk-taking behaviors, personality changes, and time lapses/sleepwalking. Your characters may begin to experience these symptoms after the barrier goes up. It’s up to you whether they last the whole week or only parts of it. These symptoms will only intensify as we approach February’s finale. If you have not heard from me about this, you may choose your symptoms on your own, but you are also more than welcome to consult me about them.

If you have any questions or concerns, you are more than welcome to ask me (phnx). I want to make sure everyone enjoys this event to the fullest, whether that be generating ideas with you or clearing up any confusion.

Happy Haunting!

[aknileibo]

Mermaid Levi rescuing soldier Hans :D

Sorry I'm late for mermay :c

CC by:

Hange's outfit and hair: @satterlly @ginko0613

Poses: @sciophobis @btsims

[dawnquafam]

What Thanos Could Alter

First off: Potential IW and Avengers 4 spoilers ahead. Don’t read if you don’t wanna know.

So if you’re gonna scroll on, enjoy this gif of Tom breaking a chair before you go.

If you’re gonna read, well, enjoy the gif anyway before clicking read on.

So, now that that’s out of the way, I’m here to explain my theory as to what exactly Thanos could alter to require our heroes to time travel. This is by no means perfectly thought out, cause most of it hit me in the shower and it’s after midnight. But I felt the need to share anyway. And this is all assuming that, at the end of IW, Thanos altered the past to change the present to his advantage. So here goes.

Evidence used: Avengers 1 flashback pics, Zoe Saldana’s IG story, 1940s flashback pics, and the new pics with 2012-dressed Steve with Ant-Man

Avengers 1 Pics - Loki

So in some, we see Tom Hiddleston’s stunt double dressed up in Loki’s cuffs and chains. There’s zero reason for a stunt double at this point in the original movie. So what’s gonna happen?

Loki’s killed.

If this happens, and in the unaltered timeline he wound up a double agent against Thanos, it might cripple any advantage Loki gave them in IW. Also, he’s a powerful sorcerer who may have been able to give Thanos problems, so there’s that. And it’s not too much of a stretch to assume that, if he’s not around to help during Ragnarok, Hela would’ve defeated the Asgardians, thus removing Thor, Valkyrie, and Hulk from the equation as well.

And if Hela is the movie version of Death, well, Thanos may want to date her, so there’s that.

Avengers 1 Pics - Tony

In some of them, we see Tony in SHIELD gear. Why? He never joined, not in a way that would require a uniform. Well, I’m thinking maybe...

Thanos got rid of Stark Industries.

Think about it. If it’s pre-2008, Obadiah never has Tony kidnapped. Tony never builds the suits. Tony is never Iron Man. Rhodey is never War Machine. Heck, maybe Peter never even gets his suits.

If it’s much earlier, then maybe the bomb wouldn’t have killed the Maximoffs’ parents. They wouldn’t have joined Hydra and gotten their powers. So there’s no Scarlet Witch (or Quicksilver, if he’s resurrected somehow).

And maybe Tony never builds Ultron, who in turn never starts creating Vision.

Without Stark Industries, that’s up to 6 of the heroes rendered useless.

Zoe Saldana’s IG

In one or two stories, she was wearing Gamora’s GOTG 1 outfit. Now, since the Guardians don’t really have uniforms, this could mean nothing. Or...

Thanos prevents her from getting the Orb.

Perhaps he tells Ronan not to let her, or just calls her back to his side entirely. But if Nebula is sent as originally planned, things would go quite differently, because she’s far less reasonable than her sister. She would be willing to murder Peter, Rocket, and Groot to get the Orb, and likely would have in a heartbeat when they interfered. If they’re arrested together, she certainly wouldn’t trust them with the Orb, and against might just kill them for trying. Without the Orb, the Guardians have no reason to band together.

So there’s 6 heroes down for the count.

1940s Pics

We can guess that Steve survived to 2012 pretty much the same, so he’s not affected too much here. But who could be? Maybe it’s got something to do with Peggy, but I think the more likely answer is:

Bucky’s prevented from being turned.

If he’s not the Winter Soldier, Civil War doesn’t happen, not like the movie panned out at least. If Civil War doesn’t happen, then Team Cap never moves out. No one ever knows where Wakanda is. Which, without the aid of Cap, Sam, Bucky, Natasha, Hulk, Rhodey, and maybe Clint (someone may have spotted his head amongst T’Challa’s army in the trailer), and whatever foreign aid might come along in Black Panther, leaves the country far more vulnerable when the alien army invades. (Not trying to say they’re weak, but the movie is more than likely gonna portray that battle as nearly impossible to win even with the plethora of superheroes heading the army.)

So it’s that much easier to get the Soul Stone (if that theory’s correct), and T’Challa and his wealthy, technologically advanced country are of far less use to the outside world. And the Accords, if they were made, might be a stronger hindrance to the few heroes left after these alterations.

Conclusion

All in all, that’s up to 18 heroes out of the action. EIGHTEEN. And that includes Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Scarlet Witch, Black Panther and all of his country’s power, to name a few of the most powerful/intelligent/influential. Earth would be left with, like, Clint and Natasha. And as much as we love them, they are no match for Thanos.

Whoever’s left, whoever somehow escapes the magic or remembers the true timeline or something, would definitely need to start time-hopping to fix this mess. Which could explain how Scott, who couldn’t become Ant-Man until 2015, is hanging out with a Steve and Tony dressed for 2012.

Anyway, I just came up with that in the shower. So it could be complete nonsense. But if it floats your boat... enjoy

[aion-rsa]

Star Wars Visions Review: A Stunning Anime Reinterpretation of the Saga

https://ift.tt/39scnyS

Let’s get this out of the way: Star Wars: Visions is wonderful, a pleasure to watch from start to finish, even if it does tend to lean on the same subject matter from one anime short film to the next. But Visions‘ over-reliance on Jedi stories is more than fair. After all, George Lucas heavily borrowed from real samurai history and traditions for his laser sword-brandishing space wizards. It’s only right that the seven Japanese animation studios assembled to bring Visions to life should get a chance to reinterpret Jedi lore now.

I won’t be going into heavy spoilers in this review, as you should really go into each of these stories fresh. Plus, since most of the shorts are less than 20 minutes long, revealing even the smallest twists can give whole episodes away. But what I will say is that each short does an excellent job of capturing the classic feel of Star Wars while also offering something new, whether it’s visually, thematically, or even just a new perspective on a familiar situation.

I’m not exaggerating when I say there isn’t a bad film in this collection, but there are of course some absolute standouts that you’ll want to come back to once or twice a year from here on out.

Stream your Star Wars favorites right here!

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Studio Kamikaze Douga, which you might recognize from its work on Batman Ninja and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, delivers a visually stunning, monochromatic reimagination of Jedi lore that takes Lucas’ greatest heroes back to their Japanese roots. “The Duel,” which centers on a mysterious wanderer named Ronin, is at once a showcase for new ideas about lightsabers, kyber crystals, and dueling, as well as an ode to Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo, one of the many films that inspired Lucas’ galaxy. It’s the first film in the collection and somewhat of a mission statement for the rest of Visions.

Another favorite is “The Village Bride,” which, while also beautifully animated in a hand-drawn 2D style that’s sadly not often employed for Star Wars (it should be), introduces an environmental theme that permeates the rest of the collection, especially in “The Village Bride, the heart-wrenching “Lop and Ocho,” and the extremely cute “T0-B1.” Many of these stories examine the heroes and villains’ connection to nature and how they affect the environments around them, a perspective we don’t often see in the movies beyond the bad guys blowing stuff up. In “The Village Bride,” we watch as one group of characters go on a pilgrimage to pay respect to the natural beauty of their planet while another recklessly plows through a sacred forest. In “Lop and Ocho,” a family reckons with Imperial occupation and how it could irrevocably change the landscape of their planet. The little droids of “T0-B1” are determined to bring life to a barren planet. Even if all living things are connected through the Force, Visions is one of the few Star Wars stories where heroes actually care about the natural state of the worlds they inhabit. It’s a breath of fresh air.

Read more

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Ghost in the Shell and Psycho-Pass studio Production I.G takes a deep dive into Jedi lore in “The Ninth Jedi.” While the short presents a dystopian future for the Order that feels familiar, it examines it through the lens of characters not often seen in Star Wars, such as the last swordsmith in a lightsaber-less galaxy. There are more traditional stories of Jedi heroism, too, such as Trigger’s moody piece, “The Elder,” in which a master and his padawan confront great evil in the fringes of space. But even then, Trigger, the studio best known for creating Kill la Kill, makes it all feel new by exploring the mythology of the galaxy far, far away through Japanese aesthetics — lightsabers are drawn like katanas, Jedi robes look more like the hakama that inspired them. The same goes for Science SARU’s “Akakiri,” a grim film that’s just begging for a sequel.

In fact, most of these shorts will leave you begging to know what happens next after the credits roll, particularly two installments that reinterpret the story of Luke and Leia but from very different angles. Besides Studio Colorido’s rock opera-inspired “Tatooine Rhapsody,” which features Boba Fett and Jabba the Hutt hanging out at a concert together, Trigger’s “The Twins” is probably the wildest take on Star Wars you’ll find in this collection, with Force powers and lightsaber action on a scale that would make the movies and TV shows blush. It also nods to the franchise’s long tradition of superweapons but also uses its new take on Star Destroyers as a metaphor for the titular twins’ evolving allegiances. It’s very clever.

Geno Studio’s “Lop and Ocho,” meanwhile, explores the siblings trope but as a story of a found family bound by duty to the planet they’re sworn to protect. Where Luke and Leia are connected by blood and destiny, siblings Lop and Ocho get a choice, one that could completely alter the face of their home planet. It’s the most riveting story of the nine films, with characters you’ll immediately be engrossed by, especially rabbit-like hero Lop, who seems destined to become the breakaway star of the collection. She’s the character your little ones will likely love the most.

But age matters not. Whether you’ve been a fan since A New Hope hit theaters in 1977, or are introducing your kids to Star Wars for the first time ever (and Visions is perfect for that), this collection lovingly captures the essence of this saga with a variety of animation styles that by and large makes each short feel visually distinct. Yes, I would have loved to see a little more variety in the types of stories featured in Visions — they all involve Jedi and lightsabers in some way — but these are the most iconic elements of Star Wars. How could you celebrate galaxy far, far away without them?

Star Wars: Visions is streaming now on Disney+.

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