#i’m back on my mountain goats bullshit

[iamumbra195]

Random Snippet from my What if AU: Rukia was killed in the Soul Society after Aizen removed the Hogyoku from her?

This is kinda random and I’m trying to figure out what sort of Zanpakuto I want Karin to have. basically what happened is that after Rukia died, Ukitake gave Ichigo Rukia’s asauchi and Ichigo kept with him until Karin is worried because Ichigo’s acting weird and refuses to talk about Rukia whenever she’s brought into conversation and because Goat-face also told them not to nag Ichigo too much about it. So she goes snooping through his room, warning Kon not to tell and finds the asauchi and feeling an odd sense of connection to it. Ichigo shows up at that time and they both kinda just stare at each other and then Ichigo talks her to Urahara’s shop the next day to figure out exactly what was going on. Urahara explains the whole asauchi situation and then Ichigo, confused because he never got an asauchi and still had Zangetsu, begins questioning things a bit more. While Ichigo’s originalpowers were sealed because of the masaki and Isshin hollow situation, Karin’s weren’t as much and extended exposure to Ichigo’s reiatsu had made so that she could actually seperate her body and soul without the shattered shaft bullshit. After a bit of needling, Ichigo does let Karin  get involved and learn stuff like Kido from Kisuke and Tessai, hanging out with Ururu and Jinta while Ichigo trains with the Visored

anyways, her Zanpakuto is ice/snow based: Kangetsu which means wintry moon and I thought that was fitting because all the shinigami Kurosaki's seems to have zanpakuto with a moon name (Engetsu, Zangetsu) and the elemental part of it has to do with how both Isshin and Kaien Shiba (Engetsu: Fire, Nejibana: Water) had elements so I combined the two and got this: cold fire that freezes whatever it touches

Also, it’s rukia’s asuachi so i thought the ice them was fitting

Also as a tribute to the whole quincy aspect of her heritage, I want her zanpakuto to turn into an arrow type thing, idk something like that

I haven’t figure out everything about it and am open to ideas 

(I’m also playing with the idea of making Tatsuki and Yuzu fullbrings ‘cause I think it’s cool)

anyways, here’s the snippet

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

She couldn’t breathe.

The spirit stared down their nose at her, killing intent-- reiatsu as Hat’n’Clogs called-- bearing down on her like a mountain. Cold sweat soaked her back and palms, her hands shaking from where they clung onto Rukia’s old sword like a lifeline.

Yuzu was behind her, unconscious and bleeding, and Ichigo wasn’t here to protect them.

Everything hurt.

She was alone.

Her breath hitched.

She was alone.

She was going to die.

Something cold trickled up her spine, slipping into her veins and settling oddly in her chest. The person-spirit twitched, tilting its head and narrowing its eyes at her.

‘What do you desire?’

What?

Karin resisted the urge to check and see who had spoken, refusing to take her eyes off the spirit even for a moment. Distraction meant death. Distraction meant she couldn’t protect Yuzu like she promised Ichigo she would.

‘What do you desire, Kurosaki Karin?’

Her eyebrows knitted into a scowl at the persistent distraction, especially for such a stupid question.

She wanted to protect her family. She wanted to be able to step up when Ichigo couldn’t. She wanted to protect Yuzu and Dad and Ichigo and all her friends. She wanted to be strong enough to protect them all, to make a difference.

The cold sensation intensified and suddenly the world tilted on its axis and Karin found herself stumbling, landing on her backside on something cool and sleek. The alley she had been in moments before had vanished along with Yuzu and the person-spirit.

Which meant Yuzu was all alone.

Karin scrambled to her feet, looking around at her unfamiliar surroundings wildly. It was a cave of some sort, large and spacious, covered in snow and ice. There were lamps hanging in the air, lighting up with some sort of odd blue flame.

“Don’t panic,” the voice from earlier spoke, louder and clearer than before. Karin froze but cool hands settled on her shoulders and her fear dissipated, immediately replaced by an odd sensation of safety. “She’s still safe. Stretch out your senses. Don’t hinder yourself with mindless panic.”

It was true.

She could still feel Yuzu’s presence like she was right beside her.

Karin turned slowly and the hands slipped away. There was a boy that didn’t look much older than her with dark skin, pale blue-white eyes, and unnatural white hair that fell across his face in lazy curls that looked unfairly elegant. His yukata was the same color as his eyes with a black sash and the sleeves and hem were adorned with what looked to be black spider lilies.

The most unnatural thing about him despite his other oddities was the halo of blue flames that hung above his head and what looked to be the remains of a hollow masks on his jaw.

His eyes were oddly soft and kind despite them only just meeting.

“I’ve always been with you, Karin,” he said softly, his lips twitching into a small as if he could hear her thoughts. “I’ve known you your whole life. Every hardship, every loss, every goal. I’ve been there. I’ve waited a long time for you to come meet me.”

Karin paused, comprehension slowly dawning on her. “You’re… my Zanpakuto. But that’s not possible! Urahara-san said I had a long way to go before I can call you!”

He laughed and Karin made a face, disgruntled by the amusement on his face. “Bouts of self-reflection often occur in our most desperate moments. You called for my help when you had no one else to turn to, no one to protect you but yourself. So, answer me one last time, what do you desire?”

Determination swelled in her chest. “I want to protect Yuzu. I want to be there when Ichi-ni can’t. I want to be strong enough to protect them all and win!”

His smile widened, unbridled joy glittering in his pale eyes. “Then call my name and I’m yours to wield. You can hear it now, can’t you?”

For a moment, Karin felt her chest tighten because she couldn’t hear anything and then the softest whisper carried through the cool night air.

The moon was bright tonight as snow fell from the winter night sky.

Karin’s grip tightened around her sword and a small smile tugged at her lips.

“ Freeze the flames of Hell, Kangetsu!”

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed …

- W. E. Henley

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Someone help me with the release command, how does kubo come up with so many cool names and release commands like???

You guys don’t realize how fun it’s going to be when Karin and Hitsugaya meet because he a) looks waayyy too much like her zanpakuto spirit, b) karin drew her zanpakuto spirit all over her notebook and Yuzu now thinks she has a crush on him c) they both have weirdly close zanpakuto spirits, like Karin has had her asauchi for maybe two weeks at this point and the fact that she’s achieved her shikai already? terrifying

I love Karin so much, she had so much wasted potential

Manga Karin for the soul:

[eurydicees]

TamaKyo 8

heyyyyyyyy so i had a bad dream last night and i woke up and decided to inflict my pain onto tamaki. you know. as you do. also, like, it's not my fault for this being my #8 song of 2022. i plead the fifth to allegations of listening to this song so fucking many times.

anyways.

summary: tamaki has a bad dream. kyoya gets him through the night. they’ll go down together, or not at all. prompt: spotify wrapped prompts #8, no children (the mountain goats) pairings: tamaki suoh/kyoya ootori words: 1990 warnings: slutshaming (very very brief)

dirt

In his dream, Kyoya is sitting at the piano bench and staring down at the keys. He’s not playing; he’s just staring down at the keys. He presses one, a lone discordant noise in an empty music room. Tamaki walks towards him, but with every step, Kyoya just seems to get farther away. He’s an oasis in the desert, never getting closer. He’s just a mirror image, no matter how many steps Tamaki takes. 

Tamaki starts to speed up, taking faster and faster steps, panting as he begins to run. “Kyoya! Kyoya! Kyoya—” 

He stops, breathing heavily. Kyoya is sitting right in front of him now. The music room is dark, melting away into an empty void. All that’s left is a piano and Kyoya and Tamaki, putting a hand out on his shoulder and squeezing. 

“I was looking for you,” Tamaki says, breathless. 

Kyoya brushes his hand off of his shoulder, the movement a snap of his wrist: violent and harsh. His voice is hard, dead and quiet, when he says, “Don’t.” 

“What?” 

Kyoya stands up, turning around. His eyes are dark, his gaze narrowed in on Tamaki. “Don’t touch me. You’re filthy.” 

Tamaki flinches, stepping back. Kyoya would never say that to him. Kyoya wouldn’t, he wouldn’t. Kyoya has always been better than that kind of bigotry and hatred. He’s always been caring, no matter how much he protests otherwise. He’s always been more accepting than anyone else, whether or not he’ll admit it. Kyoya wouldn’t say that. Wouldn’t call him that. Not when he knows how much it hurts. 

Tamaki does everything he can not to be offended by these things, by words like filth and bastard and harlot and disgusting. He’s stronger than that, most days. The words barely register as the insults they are when people like his grandmother spit them in his face, like when some of the other students whisper them behind his back. 

His mother told him to go to Japan with a smile. She had taught him to be stronger than the racism he was subjected to in France and the hatred his grandmother pushed on him, even as a child too young to understand any of what was being put on his shoulders. His mother had told him to ignore it, to be bigger than it, to be lighter than it. 

But Kyoya says, “You’re the bastard son of a slut. You think I want you to even come near me?” 

Tamaki thinks he stops breathing. “Kyoya.” 

“My name doesn’t belong in your mouth.” Kyoya takes a step forward, Tamaki takes a step back. The tension between them is a string tied taut around Tamaki’s throat, choking him tighter and tighter as he moves; Kyoya takes that string and pulls. Kyoya sighs. He closes his eyes like he does when he’s tired of Tamaki’s bullshit and trying to keep himself calm. The expression has never seemed so sinister before now. “You don’t have the right to say it. You’re disgusting.” 

Tamaki opens his mouth, ready to say his name again, beg him to tell him what’s going on, why he’s being like this, why he’s saying these awful things, but he’s suddenly choking on it. It won’t leave his tongue, as if Kyoya has taken hold of him and choked the sound out of his throat. 

“What are you talking about?” Tamaki manages to say. He can feel tears pricking his eyes like little pins and needles. 

Kyoya’s face is blank, careful not to betray anything. He’s always been guarded but—Tamaki was allowed on the other side of those walls so long ago that he’s forgotten what it felt like to not be able to read his expression. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. I’m only here because my father told me to get close to you, Suoh. But you make it harder and harder to be around you every day. You’re loud. Demanding. Stupid. Spoiled. Nothing more than an unwanted son. You’re nothing at all.” 

Tamaki swallows. Opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out but air. 

In his dream, Kyoya finally smiles, sick and twisted and warped, nothing like his usual half-smirk. It’s threatening. Tamaki is going to be sick. 

He wakes up with a start: breaths heaving, a weight on his chest that he can’t push away. He’s sweating, the sheets tangled around his ankles, and it takes a moment to realize it, but he’s weeping. The tears are slipping down his cheeks, drop by drop by drop, slipping down his cheeks and staining the pillow he had been lying on. The tears are running off and onto his neck now, wet and cold. Breath is coming in bursts, in gasps rather than inhales and exhales. 

“Kyoya,” he whispers, trying to make sure he can say it. Trying to make sure he can make the name fit in his mouth. Trying to make sure he still has the ability, the right. “Kyoya.” 

He rolls over in bed and presses his face into the pillow. It was just a dream. It was just a dream. It was just a dream. 

But everything that dream-Kyoya said to him is a thing someone has said to him in real life. Every word that had come out of his mouth in that dream is a word that Tamaki has heard while awake. Kyoya might have never said them to his face, but that doesn’t mean they don’t get traded like secrets everybody knows when he turns around. 

The problem, really, is that those names, those insults, they aren’t wrong. He is filthy, his blood is stained ink in his veins. He is, by all technical definitions, a bastard son, the regrettable result of an affair. He is loud and demanding and—

Tamaki lets out another sob. He can’t do this. He wants, on one hand, to wallow in this feeling forever; he wants to let himself sink into the dark void of that room in his dream, listening to the echo of Kyoya’s words on repeat. He wants to—

He rolls out of bed, and though the clock reads 3:19am, he stumbles towards the phone. Kyoya will be awake; he’s never asleep before 4am. Tamaki has called him at worse hours, and Kyoya has almost always answered. Tamaki dials his number, his hands shaking. 

Kyoya answers within two rings. He always does. I’m only here because my father told me to get close to you, Suoh.

“It’s three in the morning,” is the first thing that Kyoya says. “What’s wrong?” 

“Why does something have to be wrong?” Tamaki chokes out. “I could just be…I don’t know.” 

Kyoya sighs, barely audible over the phone. Demanding. Stupid. Spoiled. “You’re always in bed by 10pm. The only reason you’re ever awake at this hour is if something is wrong.” 

“Oh,” Tamaki murmurs. He sits, practically collapsing on the floor, the cord of the phone tangled in between his fingers. “You know my sleep schedule.” 

“I know you.” 

Tamaki swallows, squeezing his eyes shut. “Do you…like me? Like, as a person? A human being?” 

Kyoya is quiet. “What’s going on, Tamaki?” 

“Just…answer the question. Please, Kyoya.” 

“Yes,” Kyoya says. He exhales the word more than says it; breathes it as if it comes so naturally that there’s no need to think about it. “Yes, I like you as a person.” 

Tamaki lets out a breath. Just the tiniest bit of the weight has slipped off of his chest. His breathing is even again, or getting closer to it. “You can leave at any time, you know. If you have to. I know I’m—I’m dragging you down with me.” 

“What are you talking about?” Kyoya’s voice is sharp, cutting down Tamaki’s anxiety like an X-Acto knife put to cardboard. “Tamaki, what are you saying?” 

“I know you’re only here because of your father.” 

Kyoya sucks in a breath. There’s silence for a moment, like all of the words have been sucked from Kyoya’s lungs. Then, finally, “Tamaki…my father might have been why I came, but I—but he’s not why I stay.” 

Tamaki is quiet. He doesn’t have the words for this conversation. How can he say all of the things in his head? What words are there for it? I’m nothing. I never meant anything to anyone other than my mother, and my mother might as well have sold me. I’m covered in the filth of my parents’ mistakes. I have bad dreams and they stick with me and burn like leeches on my heart; I have bad dreams and one day they will come true. I love you and it’s going to take down both of us. 

“What did you mean you’re dragging me down with you?” Kyoya asks, something hoarse in his voice. 

“There’s nothing—” Tamaki takes a breath, opens his eyes to the dark of his bedroom. His words are bitter, but they shake. He gets louder as he speaks, and he doesn’t care if he wakes up the ghosts in the empty house, he just wants to fall apart within himself. 

“You know my reputation, Kyoya,” he continues. “You know who my mother is. You know why I’m even here, in Japan, in the first place. You know that I’m—I’m not good like everyone else you know! It’s not possible for someone like me to be good, I’m just—unlovable. I can’t stand up with the rest of the rich and beautiful and—” 

“Stop,” Kyoya cuts in. “Tamaki, you’re one of the most good people I know. You deserve—Tamaki. Tamaki.” 

Tamaki takes another breath. The tears are wet on his face, but they’re drying. “What is it?” 

“You’re not dragging me down. Don’t be fucking stupid, Tamaki, you’re not dragging anyone down. And I don’t give a fuck about your family history. I give a fuck about you.” 

You make it harder and harder to be around you every day.

“Tamaki,” Kyoya says again. He says his name desperately, like a prayer on his bitten lips, like a dream torn from his hands. “You already—I know—I know you know.” 

He sounds like he’s choking on the words and Tamaki wonders why they’re so hard to hear, because he does know. He knows how Kyoya feels. He also knows that nothing can ever be done about it, because Tamaki is dirty and he’ll never be beneficial to the Ootori family. 

Kyoya takes an audible breath. Over the phone, it sounds like static. “I know you know how I—feel. You’re not dragging me down, and even if you were dragging me down, you know that I’d let you. You know that I—if you’re dirty, so am I, okay? And I don’t care.” 

“Oh,” Tamaki chokes out. “Kyoya—” 

“I know you don’t feel the same,” Kyoya interrupts. “So don’t bother saying it. It’s fine. The point here is that you’re so, so lovable. You’re so loved, Tamaki, no matter your blood family or your history or how you sometimes do stupid things or any of that. You’re loved.” 

Tamaki takes a shuddering breath. The shadows of his bedroom no longer feel so dark. “So are you.” 

There’s silence on the other end of the phone call for a moment, and Tamaki wants, desperately, for Kyoya to read between the lines of his words.

Read: you’re everything to me. Read: I’m never going to be good enough for your family, but I hope the part of me that’s me before a Suoh is good enough for the part of you that’s you before an Ootori. Read: thank you for always picking up the phone when I call.

Read: I am going to ruin us, but thank you for letting me. 

“Okay,” Kyoya says quietly. “I’m here, no matter what. Blood or history or unlovable.” 

Tamaki closes his eyes. He wants to say so much, he wants to make so many promises, but all he can say at that moment is a whisper: “Okay.” 

[swilmarillion]

regret to inform you that I’m back on my mountain goats bullshit

[johnbazley]

I have two big hands and a heart pumping blood and a 1967 Colt .45 with a busted safety catch

On The Mountain Goats' "Going to Georgia" and the feeling of being in motion again

In a January 2010 performance for NPR’s All Songs Considered, John Darnielle interrupts himself. Three chords into “Going to Georgia,” the Mountain Goats frontman quickly stops playing his acoustic guitar, looks up, and blurts out “The thing is, about this song…”—quick pause for a laugh here, then he starts over:

“The thing is about this song, when…I mean, I’m still a young man and I’m permanently a young man and no matter how I start to look I’m still 20, right? But when you are a young writer, boys get this idea that to really show a woman the depth and purity of your love, what you have to do is something drastic and stupid. And young writers think it would be really intense to have a guy always harm himself real bad and then, you know, I tell these stories, and so I was a young writer once and here’s a song about a guy who travels someplace with a gun.”

He trails off toward the end before launching back into the three-chord progression to “Going to Georgia.” 

The song follows the plot of a young man coming home to Georgia, excited to see the woman he loves again after a long time away. He’s mostly excited about “the feeling of being in motion again.” When he shows up on her front porch, holding a “1967 Colt .45 with a busted safety catch,” he sees her in halo of blinding light, shining as she coaxes the weapon away from him. He’s overcome with joy as the song ends.

Darnielle has disavowed the song many times over the years, in no uncertain terms: in 2012, during a show in Vancouver, the songwriter said “I think ‘Going to Georgia’ is a bullshit song. Bottom line: I know it's got a nice melody, and it's got a cool vibe, but that dude is bullshit and I don't want to be involved with him anymore”; in 2016, in Chicago, he said “If you should find yourself in this song, heaven forbid, don't say 'Oh! What's the chance for epiphany here?' Call the cops. There's a fucking psychopath on my porch. I hate him, and I want him to go to jail. And if the police say 'What if he's having some deep feelings?' Tell them 'Take your patriarchal bullshit down to the garbage can where it belongs and haul this guy off to jail because he has a gun”; a year later, when a fan requested the song during an Alabama show, Darnielle simply said “Dude, I don't know if you got the memo, but I don't play that song anymore.”

I’m sure Darnielle has found himself in the company of many unpleasant people who idolize the deranged protagonist of “Going to Georgia” over the years, and I respect his decision to part with it for its glorification of what he sees as a violent misogynist. But I have always liked “Going to Georgia” for how Darnielle paints the small, myopic world of a man who oscillates between incredible stupor at the things he loves and the certainty with which he expresses his own impending doom. My enjoyment of the song now sits solely in these small moments within that create space for the possibility that one can be both enamored with the smallest, most beautiful idols of being, and beat down by the tragedy of their own existence. It’s metaphor more than anything, a vessel with which to deliver the feeling of the narrator’s pure love of existence as he stares down his own undoing. In the opening line, in a Springsteen-esque manor where too many syllables crash together over a short line of music, Darnielle sings “The most remarkable thing about coming home to you is the feeling of being in motion again. / It’s the most extraordinary feeling in the whole world.”

I discovered “Going to Georgia” during the fall of my senior year of high school. Big into the emo scene at the time, I liked anything laced with a sense of desperation, and I listened to the Mountain Goats, Bright Eyes, Brand New, and Neutral Milk Hotel every morning as I walked to my locker.

My world was small then, walled off by my high school and the edge of town. I had only started to think about going away to college, and I wasn’t excited about leaving my friends, my life at the beach. If I could have frozen time that fall, I would have, and I would have stayed seventeen forever, suspended eternally in my small world, my small group of friends, my small 2003 Ford Escape that wouldn’t start sometimes if the air was too cold and dry. 

But the hurricane came and cracked everything open. A few months before my eighteenth birthday, I rode my bike from West Long Branch to Monmouth Beach, assessing the damage wrought by Hurricane Sandy that hit the night before. I rode by downed power lines, traffic signals smashed in the middle of intersections, piles of sand that rose four feet tall on the sidewalk next to the beach, tree limbs crashed on top of sedans, broken windows. Some beachside storefronts were boarded up with words like “Closed for now” and “God bless us” and “Stay safe, New Jersey” spray-painted on the fiberboard used to secure the glass doorways. Others were simply flooded, and some of those still haven’t re-opened. 

Instantly, everything grew. I saw past the breakers in the ocean, past the cinder block walls of my regional high school, and realized, maybe for the first time, that the world had a beginning and an ending, that there was more to life than New Jersey, that the depth of destruction in my whole town was not the end of the world, but rather a bunch of big waves in one corner of one country. The world kept ticking on, the news rolled along, Halloween was cancelled in New Jersey, but the election still happened. 

In that second week of cancelled school, when our power had returned in West Long Branch, I listened to “Going to Georgia” for the first time. There, in the dim light that I was sure would flicker out at any time, as Darnielle sang “The most remarkable thing about coming home to you is the feeling of being in motion again,” I wondered if I had been standing still for my entire life.

My first year of college didn’t work out. I lived in a dorm room in Bergen County with a roommate who I must have spoken to less than 100 times over the course of my two disastrous semesters. He went home on weekends and slept at his parents’ house on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, so I rarely saw him. Mostly, I was alone.

My room didn’t have WiFi, so I bought a 25-foot ethernet cord and sat on my bed with my laptop and my guitar, looking up the chords to songs by Death Cab, Paul Baribeau, Against Me!, and the Mountain Goats. I strummed along as “Going To Georgia” played over the tinny speakers in my MacBook. 

Maybe “Going To Georgia” is just a song about the joy being alive. The narrator focuses on so few things in the short verses, and two of them are his own body parts—“I have two big hands and a heart pumping blood and a 1967 Colt .45 with a busted safety catch.” Here are my hands, how incredible is it that my heart pumps blood through them? How incredible is it that the chemistry of human life is possible? How perfect is it that I am alive, existing in a moment of utter joy, in motion again after a spell of sedentary solitude? Maybe the gun just exists as a symbol of contrast between the miracle of life that pumps blood through huge, stable hands, and the fact that something as old and broken as an old gun without a safety could take that all away?

I came very close to failing Physics that spring semester. I rarely went to class. I just sat in my dorm room, strumming my guitar, looking at Twitter on my phone, missing my friends.

During the last few weeks of the semester, I parked my car outside of my dorm room, where only sophomores were allowed to park. Campus security gave me a ticket. They emailed me about it every day until the last day of my semester. As soon as I signed the papers and officially dropped out, I received an email notification that my ticket had been voided. I filled my car with everything I owned, and left the parking lot, past the ever-shrinking pile of snow that had accumulated that winter. It stood barely two feet tall as I drove past it. I opened the windows as I drove south down the Garden State Parkway, my awful year shrinking in the rearview behind me, and the world shined. 

While introducing “Going to Georgia” at a 2006 show in Athens, Georgia, Darnielle says, as he strums the opening chords: “I wrote this song on Christmas morning in like, '93—I know, we're all old—and to me, at the time, Georgia was a distant continent, shrouded in mystery, and I never figured I'd ever see it. I lived on the West Coast. Those of us who grew up in California aren't really fully convinced that there's another world beyond southern California. I remember the day in 1998 that Simon Joyner and I were on the highway, and I crossed the Macon County line, and I was like holy fucking shit.” He laughs as the crowd cheers. 

This is my favorite Darnielle “Going to Georgia” intro because it omits the man with the gun entirely. Here, he claims it’s just about the realization that the world is bigger than previously assumed, that there’s a joy in realizing your entire existence is microscopic in comparison to the breadth of the world. 

I don’t listen to the studio version of “Going to Georgia” very often—I prefer the live version from All Songs Considered, the one where Darnielle interrupts himself to provide a disclaimer about how he was young once, or the 2006 performance in Athens, or a 2017 performance where Darnielle refuses to play the song until someone in the audience gives him $60 to do so. I like the way Darnielle sings it live, how he belts out the chorus, holds the note over his chords like he’s proving something about his own aliveness to the room. But I do appreciate the subtle differences in the studio version, where Darnielle’s voice is subdued and quiet, almost slipping into a speaking voice as he sings the introduction. He speeds up as he goes, like a statue taking a few careful breaths before coming to life. By the time the song ends, Darnielle is shouting, his voice breaking and the tape recording clipping as he pounds away on his guitar strings, like he’s proving something to himself. It’s almost enough to forget about the narrator, standing alone on his love interest’s front porch, gripping a faulty gun with his big hand and his heart pumping blood. 

A few days ago, I got so worked up about money that I took a walk around the block just to cool my head. It was warmer than I thought it’d be. I carried my sweatshirt in one hand as I headed toward the lake next to the boardwalk at the edge of town. I listened to “Going to Georgia” as I walked, and as I felt the sun shining on my face, I thought about how small the town was, how a simple sense of motion can calm me down on my worst days. I thought about Darnielle stopping himself before the chords play out. I hummed along, loud enough for only me to hear, as the chorus rang out.

[seravph]

cora linn daniels, the countess disonti / interview with the vampire / i want you, summer camp / the lighthouse / no children, the mountain goats

[hypaalicious]

What's your IS team Hypaa? I just had my ass beat severely before Lucien even got to make his move 🥲

Apparently Passenger and the Hand of Diffusion item are a good option to deal with... literally everyone in that stage, only that every time I try, Passenger's TRASH dp cost ruins the entire strategy 🙄 at one point little Kroos and Cardigan started clearing the maps on their own before I even got to deploy him lmfaooo they were rly like "fuck it I'll do it myself" 😭

It's so dangerous that it costs not sanity and the rewards are pretty good too (hi Shalem 🥺) Who is Real was also super entertaining, mainly because of clowns Saga and Mr Nothing 😭 Arknights is feeding us so well this month!!!

Me after every Crimson Solitare run that ends up with Lucien fucking murking my whole party:

I mean, at least I can get to the last stage fairly reasonably now as long as RNG don’t fuck me over. But man… this crazy cat is TRYING ME!! I’MA LEAVE YO ASS IN THIS CASTLEVANIA/ELDEN RING LOOKIN ASS CASTLE PHANTOM, DON’T FUCK WITH ME 😤

Phantom: … I’m not myself when I’m hungry, I’m sorry, can I has a Snickers? 🥲

Anyway last night, I thought I had him since I had BOMB relics. My medics had 100% ASPD. I got chalter, eyja and suzuran maxed out. I got a temp recruit Archetto murking crowds. I was ready.

TELL ME WHY LUCIEN STILL FACE TANKED ALL THAT DPS??? I hit Suzu’s s3 and Eyja’s s3 at the same time and phantom just strolled through anyway. FUCKIN BULLSHIT ima need to recruit SilverAsh too next time, idk. This man has too much hp, attack, Crownslayer warping and stealth to be doing all this!!!

Overall tho, I try to get a cornerstone to start off with; Mountain is the best, he can tank the first two floors with minimal support. You can get Thorns cause he’ll also clear but he needs E2 to do it and you can’t always rely on the recruit voucher RNG to hold you. 😔 Other than that, stay saving up Hope for heavy hitters like Chalter, Eyja, and SilverAsh. Surtr is a luxury if you get her, I wouldn’t waste Hope on her tho cause she’s situational despite her God mode in regular gameplay.

You don’t need to promote medics and most defenders (unless it’s Saria). Just focus on DPS cause that’s what’s gone clear it. Passenger IS god with that relic but he’s fucking squishy as hell so you have to have him locked in a bunch of Medics and pray he don’t fold in order to spam lightning LOL Steward and Kroos are still GOATed for no cost team building while you wait for the good shit to come through, so i totally can see you clearing with them over Passenger 😂

Always get the portable supply unit in the merchant shop. I stuck that behind Eyja and she supercharges her s3 to clear mobs, super helpful. Also great for mudrock or other self-heal units to keep their skills charged so they can hold a lane.

Other than that? Just luck and prayer 😭 I played Ceobe’s Fungimist so much I recognized most stages recycled in Crimson Solitaire (I cannot believe they brought back Barren’s Cadet only now it’s called sumn else BUT THE WORST FUCKIN STAGE EVER WITH ALL THEM SARKAZ LANCERS). But I was still struggling until I got a good spread to carry me. It’s gonna be a work in progress LOL

[high-and-away]

FFXIVWrite, Prompt #9: Friable

Gyr Abania's mountains bear no small amount of resemblance to Garlemald's. The same absence of wildlife. The same lack of climbing routes. The same barren, rock-studded slopes, the same heavy mantle of snow masking crevasses, the same wind screaming around the peaks. Really, it's like being back at home. The legionaries of III Squad huddle sullenly beneath an overhang, hunched against the cold and silent against the collective aura of resentment. Valens and De Meer are exceptions, backs to the blowing snow as they brave the elements for a quick smoke. Sawyer proves another as she stomps upwind of them while muttering a litany of curses under her breath. As always, she seems allergic to being cooped up. Exactly why they're this high on the mountain to set up vox shite is a mystery. The only thing to see is snow; no griffins nest this far up. If the Mhigans are watching, they're probably laughing their heads off. Victoria certainly isn't. Though she's used to the cold, she's not exactly fond of conditions this mercilessly harsh. Ilsabard's taiga is one thing. Somewhere too miserable for mountain goats is another. Even from here, she can hear De Meer whining around his cigarette. "--bloody ridiculous. Why've we got to get dropped into Ala Mhigo's frostbitten arsehole? Last I checked we weren't skywatchers. Just get the jens to set up a vox transmitter. I'm gonna lose my toes at this rate--" "Fuck's sake, shut up," groans a hunched bundle of gear that's probably Petrus. "Fuck you," retorts De Meer, practically pouting in petulance. "It's bloody cold and all my sodding fingers are gonna freeze off--" Whatever he's going to moan about next gets cut off as a snowball whacks him in the back of the head.  

The squad's collective gazes turn to Sawyer, whose expression and come at me, mate posture make it abundantly clear that she's not sorry. She gets a taste of her own medicine as Valens scoops up a rough lump of snow that puffs into powder when he wings it at her chest. The absurdity of it is what finally breaks their foul mood; Petrus bursts into great honks of laughter before getting to his feet and lumbering out into the snow. Both the miqo'te follow him a moment later. After a long moment wrestling with her own uncertainty, Victoria does too.  Servius rolls her eyes. Pointedly aloof, she turns her back on their bullshit; if she can't see it, it's not happening. Even still, she can't quite hide her smirk when De Meer shrieks operatically as three shots hit him at once. It's the first time in a while any of them have managed to fool around; the Mhigans have been hitting them relentlessly of late. There hasn't really been enough time for them to get bored and do stupid shite when left to their own devices. Maybe they needed a moment's relief more than they thought. When Victoria glances over at Sawyer, the grin on her face lets her look eighteen and not a burnt-out, exhausted twentysomething. It's sort of nice, really. She's too young to seem so hollowed by war. All of them are.

[sapphicq]

The magicians but it’s like, an emotional tabletop rpg with Kady as the exhausted DM. Greatest hits include:

- q and Alice putting their characters together as a joke, and never actually being able to break them up because every time one of them says “we talk out our differences and move on as friends :)” they roll, like, a nat 0 for wisdom and end up back together

- (Alice keeps screaming into her hands)

- actually the only time q rolled a nat 20 was when he and el’s characters remember the mosaic

- El immediately rolls a 2 for constitution

- Fen is the friend that came in 20 minutes after they started and had to wait for her character to get worked in

- the only time Julia rolled a nat 1 was getting into Brakebills.

- Margo: I’m elected high king of Fillory *rolls a nat 20*

- *incomprehensible screaming from the rest of the players*

- Kady keeps sending her character on increasingly unlikely quests so she can actually moderate the rest of these idiots

- Josh was late, then forgot his phone at home, then went on a snack run because he was late so his character keeps coming in and out of the game

- Eliot: I shoot the monster and magic comes back.

Kady: Roll for constitution and luck

Eliot: *nat ones on both*

Kady: the monster possesses you and becomes the new boss, and the library puts bans on magic

Eliot: *smacks his head into the table*

- El has to roll for himself and the monster now.

- Alice going niffin is basically a result of Julia egging her on and her character being forced to drink goat jizz earlier in the game. She actually rolled a nat 20 for this, but then Q rolled a nat 2 on wisdom later and she had to be human again as a result. She keeps kicking Q under the table.

- Q tries to end the game by killing ember, and rolls an 18 for constitution but a 3 for luck so magic ends up getting shut off and the game goes on for like another four hours.

- Julia: I become a goddess *rolls a nat 20* *incomprehensible screaming part 2*

- Penny replaces himself in the middle of the game with Penny23 because Julia’s being left out of the Julia-Penny-Kady relationship and he feels bad.

- this backfires when he can’t manage to work Kady into the tabletop version of their relationship too.

- Q’s death plays out like so:

Q: I fix the mirror, grab Alice’s hand as it explodes, and Penny travels us back to the real world in time for me to be reunited with El :)

Kady: Roll for luck

Q: *nat one*

The rest of the table: ...well shit.

- Q spends the rest of the game with his head in El’s lap, complaining that this is bullshit while El strokes his hair and tries to bring him back. Some instances of this include:

———

El: I send the letter to Q, changing the timeline and bringing him back to life

Kady: roll for constitution and luck

El: *rolls a nat 1 and a nat 2*

Kady: you throw the letter into a bottomless hole on the top of a mountain

Q: *quietly screams into Eliot’s stomach*

———

El: the weird doorway in my head opens, and Q’s spirit is behind it.

Kady: Roll for luck

El: *rolls a nat 3*

Kady: Charlton is behind the door.

Quentin: Kady this is biphobic

Kady, bi herself and bitter cause her boyfriend and girlfriend are having a baby together in the game but her character is Not With Them: I have no idea what you’re talking about.

———

Eliot, at the end of the game and his rope: the bracelet Santa gave me is a key to the Underworld and I go there to bring Quentin back and we live a long and happy life together

Kady: roll for luck

El: *rolls a 5*

Kady: you fuck Charlton

Quentin, muffled: CHARLTON?????

[vampiremansionpoolboy-moved]

sk8 au week - day 2: royalty and soulmate

reki kyan was nearing his eighteenth birthday and he had yet to meet his soulmate. reki has heard the whispers of the people in the town about people who don’t find their soulmates. it’s not that he didn’t have one -he did, for your information, thank you very much- but because reki was from a royal family, and therefore a prince, he was to be married off and did not have the luxury of being with his soulmate. unless his soulmate was from another royal family, but reki had seen where his red string lead: straight into the center of the town below. so no such luck for another noble as his soulmate.

reki’s mother had tried to let him build friendships and hopefully relationships with the other royal children around his age, but reki had dreams about meeting his soulmate and never developed anything more than friendship with the other royals.

reki stared at his red string, eyes tracing its path down into the village, hoping to catch a glimpse of someone. sometimes when he sleep he caught glimpses of a tall, pale, slender figure and bright blue eyes. reki wondered what those eyes would look like mere inches from his own.

suddenly a book smacked into the back of reki’s head, startling him from his daydream.

“what the fuck-“ reki’s head whipped around.

“hey there slime.” said a voice.

reki groaned at the sight of the boy sitting atop his desk.

“hello miya.” he grumbled.

“what’re you looking at?” the young prince asked, a catlike smirk breaking out on his face.

“nothing,” reki said pushing himself up and walking over to miya.

“so is your mom still making you meet that prince for dinner tonight?” miya hummed as he twirled a pen in his hands.

reki’s mother was much more kind with her son and his romantic predicament, compared to reki’s father who was ready to marry his son off without a meeting between the spouses. but after his father ran away with the sevrant girl he impregnated no one stuck to his old rules.

“yes, but i have a plan to escape and i need your help.” reki said placing his hands on miya’s shoulders.

“i’m all ears,” miya said leaning forward as if reki’s mother was outside the door and eavesdropping this very moment.

“ok so i need you to mix up joe and shadow’s schedules so they’re both in the great hall at the same time. we cant have a fancy dinner set up if the cook and florist are in there at the same time now can we?”

“i like what i’m hearing.”

“and then i need you and koyomi to either distract the stable hand while i sneak through the barn.”

“done. is that all you need?”

“yep. the rest is up to me. joe accidentally let it slip that his soulmate is the craftsman in town and that he sneaks out at the exit behind the greenhouses to meet him. so thanks to joe i’ve got my escape route all planned.”

“well look at this, prince reki ditching the feast planned just for him. who would have thought?” miya asked with a laugh.

“well after how the last dinner ended it’s not that surprising.” reki said with a shudder as he remembered the glazed goat falling onto the poor princess who was just looking for a potential marriage partner.

miya let out snicker at the memory. “well now that you say that...”

“anyways i have to hurry if i wanna make it before my mom sends a servant to make sure i’m ready.”

“oh right right let’s go. i’ll go get koyomi and head to the stables. see you soon.” and with a wink miya slipped out the door and was gone. grabbing a cloak from his bed, reki fastened the clasp and dashed out the room after miya.

he was sick of all this arranged marriage bullshit, he was sick of it all. reki just wanted to meet his soulmate and fall in love. he knew his thoughts were selfish though. he was the eldest of the four kyan children and his mom was doing her best to rule a kingdom by herself, so by default his marriage was bound to be political. it was very unlikely he would end up with his soulmate.

and so that’s why reki was going to meet his soulmate tonight. he would meet them and apologize for being a lousy soulmate before heading back to the castle to meet the prince who he was supposed to be dinning with.

for most of reki’s life he soulmate had lead to a place up in the snowy mountains. but within the past few years the string moved into the town below the castle reki lived in. just like fate his soulmate moved to his home town. but it was someone else’s fate, not his. so reki made up his mind weeks ago: meet his soulmate, apologize, then finally agree to a political marriage. his plan would take away his curiously about his soulmate, it would hopefully lessen his guilt about not being able to be with said soulmate, and it would make his mom happy. so why didn’t he like what he was about to do?

ignoring the heavy feeling in his stomach reki pushed on. running quietly through the halls reki hid behind stone pillars and over large plant pots when he needed too. finally reaching the barn reki slipped into there to see miya and koyomi talking away with the stable hand over a loaf of bread and some pieces of cheese.

slipping past the trio and out into the courtyard beyond reki doesn’t make a noise. he holds his breath all the way to the green house, and doesn’t let it out until he’s well into the tunnel behind it. some time ago a tunnel was dug in the large wall protecting the castle, the entrance was hidden by vines on both sides. the cave was known only to a select few.

as reki hurried through the cave he began to think back to some of his earlier suitors. he remembers his best friend who he could have seen himself marrying despite not being soulmates. but his friend got sick and went back to his kingdom and reki never heard from him again.

but tonight was about his soulmate. so reki trudged on, squinting for the cave opening.

before long the prince was stumbling out of the vines and onto the street. luckily it was mostly empty. empty except for a tall man with long pink hair and glasses.

at the sound of someone falling through the leaves he looked up but seemed shocked to see a teenager.

“your not kojiro.” the stranger blurted.

“and your not- actually i wasn’t waiting for anyone and i have no idea who you are...or who kojiro is.”

the man stared at reki for a minute before recognition flashed in his eyes.

“prince reki! what are you doing outside of the castle?”

“i um...well you see-“ but reki was cut off by a rustling behind the vines and a large figure falling out of said vines.

“kaoru you will never believe the day i had...” joe trailed off, eyes catching sight of a panicked reki and surprised kaoru.

“joe?” reki blurted at the same time joe said “reki?”

the two stared at each other before reki made a run for it.

but joe caught him by his hood so reki didn’t get far.

“kid what the hell are you doing here?” joe said apparently forgetting all formalities one should talk to their prince with.

“not of your business! and i could ask you the same!” reki yelled as he struggled to get free from joe’s grip.

“i’m meeting my soulmate. and i’m going to ask you again, what are you doing here?”

reki sagged, giving up the struggle. “same here,”

“you’re meeting your soulmate?” kaoru asked.

“yes, what about it?” reki said crossing his arms. it had all gone so good until now.

“aren’t you supposed to be in a arranged marriage?”

“yes so i’m going to meet my soulmate and apologize before agreeing to an arranged marriage.”

“what?” joe said, surprise causing him to loosen his grip. taking the chance reki dashed away. ignoring the yells behind him reki kept on running. nothing can stop me now, reki thought, i’ve come this far.

eyeing his string, reki ran through the streets watching it get tighter and tighter. reki was too focused on the string that he didn’t see the boy in front of himself until it was too late.

the boys slammed into each other hard, the medicinal products in the other boy’s hands clattering to the ground.

“oh shit sorry-“

“sorry-“

they both spoke at the same time causing the boys to look up at each other abruptly. the boy had bright blue hair that went down past his ears. he was tall and lanky, his skin almost as pale as snow. bright blue eyes that reki had sworn he had seen before. but when reki’s gaze meet the boy‘s hands, his heart stopped. a thin red string connecting reki’s own finger to this mystery boy’s, hung in the air. a red string of fate; a soulmate string. this boy was his soulmate.

eyes snapping back to the bright blue ones reki knew his soulmate saw it too.

“well shit.” reki blurted and the boy began to laugh. it was a sweet noise, like the chime of heavenly bells. and so reki began to laugh too.

“well i guess you’re my soulmate. that makes this search a lot easier then.” standing up and reaching out a hand to his soulmate, reki began to speak. “so you probably know who i am and therefore i can’t marry you -or be with you quite frankly- and i’m very sorry for that and it’s selfish of me but i have the responsibility of the kingdom on my shoulders and i can’t fail my people.”

“what? ‘kingdom’? what are you talking about?” the boy‘s blank stare bored into reki.

“...i’m the prince. and i’m going to be king someday. and as much i want to be with my soulmate -you-, i have to be responsible for my people -which includes you-.”

realization dawned on his face. “ooh, i see.”

“and honestly i don’t care about the difference of ‘rank’ between noble and townsfolk but other royalty do.”

“well my moms a doctor if that means anything.”

“a prominent roll indeed but unfortunately not enough for the in-law of a prince. well not in my eyes, but in the eyes of others.”

the boy hummed in though. “well she was the queen of the kingdom in the mountains before my father fell to illness and some corrupt politician overthrew her and had us banished. do that mean anything?”

“you- you mean you were a prince?”

the boy nods.

“oh my god. oh my god! this may just work then! i may be able to be with my soulmate and still have a marriage that pleases the royal court!” reki’s eyes light up in happiness. “that’s only if you do want to be with me i mean.” he added.

“well you’re my soulmate, are you not? so we’re meant to be together, no?”

“well yes of course. but i wanted to make sure you were comfortable with it and all...”

“of course reki.” the boy said sweetly while reaching out and clasping reki’s hands in his own.

reki almost melted at the use of his given name spoken by his soulmate.

“oh wait can i call you that? is that ok?”

all reki could do was dumbly nod.

“my names langa by the way.”

“langa,” reki said testing out the way the name felt on his tongue. “i like it!” he smiled and watched as langa’s face turned red.

“well should we head to the castle or something to relay the news?” langa asked, turning to reki.

“hmmm i think we can wait a minute. wanna show me around the town?”

“it would be my honor.”

and so the two boys disappeared into the lively bustle of the town as the laughed away and held each other’s hand like a lifeline.

~ ~ ~

@sk8-au-week

[apothecarinomicon]

Spring week 2 part 2

I brought the adventurers back to the cottage. This was the group that had been in the dungeon since last week—and they seemed to have run afoul of one of its denizens. I’ll admit I was excited—I haven’t given up on my dreams of adventure, and I had a lot of questions I wanted to ask. I thought it might be tactful, though, to wait until we weren’t in the midst of a medical issue before grilling them.

The one with the issue was the smallest of the party, and given the what she was wearing looked to be a witch herself (I noted wryly that we as a group did seem to have a distinctive style of dress). I got her to remove her hands from her face so I could assess the problem. She revealed that her nose had three large warts, all an unusual violet color. This, I’d actually seen before—it’s called Toad Nose (aka Witch’s Nose, though thankfully that pejorative name has fallen out of fashion), and it’s extremely common. In addition to causing visible warts, it can affect the mood of the patient, making them irritable and low-energy. I knew off the top of my head what I could use to cure it. I actually already had some potentially useful reagents at the cottage (the songberry, the princess toad droppings, and the vampire venom would all work for the mood aspect of the ailment), but I wanted to save them for emergencies if I could. Since I had to go foraging for something to help with the warts, anyway, I figured it wouldn’t be too hard to pick up something extra while I was out.

I had Ailean hop up onto my shoulder and told the group I would be back as soon as I could. The largest one, the clear muscle of the group, asked where I was going, and I told him I had to collect the ingredients for the potion. He asked why I didn’t have them around the cottage and I said I’d only just moved in and hadn’t had time to build up much of a stock yet.

For whatever reason, he didn’t seem to believe me. He stood and got very close and asked how they knew I wasn’t working for the Queen of the Strange. Both of the other adventurers told him to back off, but he stayed where he was.

I told him first of all that I didn’t even know who the Queen of the Strange was, and secondly if I was working for an enemy of theirs I would have left them where they were, helpless in the middle of a dungeon. Then I fired back, asking why as an adventuring party they didn’t have a healing member.

The third party member, the one in the black cloak who looked like she’d be good at sneaking around, admitted that their fourth party member had left the party, citing responsibilities in her hometown to tend. Having met these three, I couldn’t blame her. Then, the one in the black cloak stared at me for an uncomfortable amount of time, before turning to the others and saying that she believed me, I was actually going to go look for potion ingredients.

The big guy announced that he was coming with me but I said absolutely not. I didn’t need a seven-foot asshole stomping after me, trampling the plants and scaring the animals that might cure his friend. He said I seemed awfully defensive for someone with nothing to hide. I said he seemed awfully paranoid for someone who came to me for help.

He didn’t have a response to that. I told them to sit tight and that I’d be back as soon as possible.

 ────⊱⁜⊰──── 

I headed to Meltwater Loch first, remembering to bring a pair of wool gloves. There’s a species of frog known as smooth-croak that’s abundant there whose mucus helps with warts. Skin-to-skin contact is best avoided, though—while it does feel lovely and makes your skin very smooth, it’s rather painful for the frog.

Finding a smooth-croak was easy (as I mentioned above, they’re everywhere at the loch), and I was able to get enough of its slime on the gloves for the potion. It and Ailean were croaking back and forth the entire time—I assume she was comforting it, assuring it I wouldn’t hurt it. As I was folding up the gloves and putting them in my basket, though, something caught my eye. A bit deeper into the loch, there was a cluster of ancient planks floating on the surface of the water. Below them, there appeared to be a half-buried crate.

I waded into the shallows to get a closer look, and found it wasn’t a crate—it was a chest. It wasn’t buried at all, either. Instead there was a nearly-whole skeleton wrapped around it. The skull laid on top, as if whoever it used to be died while resting their cheek atop their possessions.

Now, while I’ve made a habit of saying ‘yes’ to things that clearly present themselves since I’ve gotten here, I hesitated with this one. It occurred to me that it had clearly been here for a long time, and at the same time it was easily visible from close to shore—where people would have come wading frequently. So, why had no one gone and retrieved it before me?

My gut told me to leave well enough alone and that’s exactly what I did. Maybe I’ll ask Evander about it and come back to it in the future.

 ────⊱⁜⊰──── 

I went to Moonbreaker Mountain next, this time looking to climb nearly to the summit. To help with the mood portion of the ailment, I was hoping to bottle a goat’s echo. That’s not the name of a plant—I was looking for a literal echo. It’s a magic thing; it’s difficult to explain. Don’t worry about it.

As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m not in the best of shape. By the time I made it to the top of the mountain, I was wheezing. I sat down on a boulder near a larger outcropping, and once my heart was no longer pounding in my ears I began to hear a bleating from the other side.

I hurried around, only to find not a goat but a sheep on the other side. I sighed and went to continue looking, only to find it following me. I asked what it wanted, and it trotted over to the far side of the mountaintop and bleated again. I followed it and looked down the side. At the bottom was what looked to be a small farm, with an isolated house, two fields, and a few other buildings scattered around.

I asked it if it was lost, and took its body language to mean yes. I told it I was sorry, but I had a patient to heal and I didn’t have time to guide it down the mountain. I told it I’d send someone up to help it as soon as I could, but that I had to keep moving.

A little while later, I did find a goat. It was walking along a sheer cliff face, slowly making its way up. They’re notoriously skittish creatures, so I stayed low and tried to make as little noise as possible, waiting for it to cry so I could catch its echo.

Before I got the chance, a great snapping of wood and clattering of rock sounded behind me, startling me and scaring the goat into bounding up the cliff face and out of sight. I cursed and strode over to investigate what had ruined my plan. I found none other than the big guy from the adventuring party, fallen over on his ass and trying to scramble out of sight.

I, of course, asked him what in the fuck he thought he was doing. He said he was just making sure I was safe as I collected what I needed. I reminded him that I didn’t need his protection, and that as a matter of fact he’d just scared one of the ingredients away. I told him to go back to the cottage and wait like I told him.

He said he just thought the timing was kind of funny, how his friend had been cursed and they’d run into the one person who could help immediately. I told him he could think whatever he wanted, but unless he wanted the warts to spread over his friend’s entire body until she was unrecognizable, he’d stop getting in my way. That’s not something that Toad Nose actually does—as the name implies, it’s limited to the nasal region—but I was tired of his bullshit and needed him out of my hair. It worked, and he sheepishly made his way back down the mountain.

I immediately returned to the lost sheep and said I’d help it find its way home.

 ────⊱⁜⊰──── 

It took about a half hour and a lot of soothing words to coax the sheep down the other side, and by the time we made it to the farmhouse the owner was outside waiting for us. She introduced herself as Ainsley Tennant, and I told her my name in return. She thanked me for bringing the sheep back and asked if I was the new witch in Greenmoor. I nodded, and she said she could tell from the clothes (this left me a bit miffed, as I thought I was wearing a rather sensible ensemble today). She said I was a worthy successor to the title. When I asked how she knew, she told me that the sheep I’d returned was named Senga, and that it had belonged to my predecessor—not as livestock, but as a pet. She said it was typically very skittish and wary of people, and that it had trusted me immediately was a good sign.

It took me a moment to process this. My predecessor had been painted as a loner by the information the townsfolk had given me. I suppose I had just assumed she was cold and antisocial—not nearly the kind of person who’d keep pets, especially not such nontraditional ones. It made me all the more curious about who she was, what she was like when she lived here, and what might have caused her to disappear.

I was curious about Ainsley, too. I asked her why she lived on the other side of the mountain from Greenmor, instead of with the others in town. She said that—like my predecessor—she wasn’t much of a people person, and that by the time she’d arrived in Greenmoor the need for livestock and crops had been met by the families already living there. Rather than try to fill a niche she didn’t have a passion for, Ainsley decided to be entirely self-sufficient. She said complete independence from anybody else was a short-lived pipe dream, but that she was proud of how much she was able to rely on herself for food and shelter in the end—though she mentioned it had been a bit lonely since my predecessor had disappeared, as she was the only person from town Ainsley had any kind of social relationship with.

I was curious to learn more about my predecessor, so I said I might be able to come around and visit every once in a while. She said I would always be welcome. Then, I said I had to get back to treat a patient. She thanked me again for guiding Senga back and gave me a bit of honey—to sweeten the potion, she told me. Then she sent me on my way.

 ────⊱⁜⊰──── 

As it was getting dark by the time I made it back over the mountain, I decided to suck it up and use one of my stored ingredients for the potion rather than spend any more time searching for a new one. So, I headed straight back to the cottage. I could hear the adventuring party bickering loudly as I approached. I steeled myself and opened the door.

They didn’t even acknowledge me, so I didn’t interrupt them.

I wasn’t paying too close attention, but the other two seemed to be angry at the big guy for following me—not because I had told him not to, but because it left only one of them in fighting shape in the case of some potential ambush. I decided if I never saw these people again after today I would be happy.

I decided before I even started brewing to call the potion Toad Turd Tonic, after one of its active ingredients. I figured it would make for a nice gross-out if any of these jackasses thought to ask what it was. Here is how I made it:

First, I built a fire and put the cauldron over it.

I put my mucus-soaked glove into the water, so that the slime could leach out as it heated up.

As I waited for the water to boil, I crushed the princess toad droppings I got from Glimmerwood Grove into a fine powder.

Once the mucus-water reached a rolling boil, I removed the glove with a poker and added the powdered droppings and Ainsley’s honey.

I stirred it briskly until it all combined into a uniform green concoction.

The final product was slightly thicker than water, but still poured fairly easily. Wordlessly, I thrust a cup of it at the afflicted adventurer, finally interrupting the group’s yammering. As soon as she’d downed it, the warts simply popped off of her nose and onto the floor. It did not occur to any of them to pick the warts up—they left them there for me to deal with.

The big guy was eager to leave and went outside as soon as his friend was cured. I was no longer eager to ask these three anything about adventuring, but there was one thing I was curious about. I asked the newly-cured patient why she couldn’t heal herself—she was clearly a witch. She said her training wasn’t in healing, but rather in illusion magic.

Of course it was. The worst magical vocation.

Then on that subject, the one with the black cloak said they were in need of a healing party member, and had the nerve to ask me to join their party. For any other group, I might have considered it. But to her I said that I had too many responsibilities in Greenmoor to just leave, and that I didn’t think I fit in with the group dynamic anyway. Thankfully, she didn’t press the matter and instead handed me my payment.

As they left, the big guy suddenly turned, trotted back to the doorway and said: “I just realized we never got your name.”

“What a shame,” I said, and shut the door in his face.

⇦●〇●⇨

[snkpolls]

SnK Chapter 132 Results

The chapter poll closed with 1,746 responses. This month’s chapter poll results were brought to you by /u/_Puppet_, /u/staraves, @momtaku​, @shifter-lines​ and /u/berthototototo

RATE THE CHAPTER 1,693 responses

When we compare “Wings of Freedom” with other chapter results we’ve recorded, it comes in 25th out of 41, making it middle of the pack as far as ratings go.  Looking at the chapter on it’s own, however, it’s very well received with nearly 86% of the fandom rating it good (30.4%) or great (55.3%).

I think it was definitely just a classic aot chapter, had that plot that always had you on the edge of your toes, had the emotional moments, the momentary funny and bittersweet moments, 10/10 chapter

It couldn’t have gone any better besides Hange’s death :/

wish Floch got a little more screen time upon death but otherwise, awesome chapter.

It felt a little bit rushed but I enjoyed it nonetheless

It was so well executed yet so sad. I'm pride of our Hanji but feel so much distress thinking it's over for her.

It was a great emotional piece, and last moment before the true final battle begins. There’s no going back.

It was a good chapter but I would’ve liked if there was more dialogue between the alliance members

The deaths were rushed and poorly written

It was good, but alliance focused chapters are still a drop in quality.

It was a solid chapter and did what it aimed to do well, though I think it had pacing issues with the two deaths.

It had a little something for everyone. Except Zeke stans.

WE’LL GET TO THE GOODBYES IN A SECOND, BUT FIRST, WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT?

1,695 responses

Hange’s sacrifice was the moment that people liked the most at 30%, and seeing the old Survey Corp crew was a stand-out moment for 21%. Seeing Mikasa and Annie have an almost casual conversation brought joy to 12.1%, and Floch’s determination and brutal death were appreciated most by 11.6%.

I love the final shots of the scouts being shown in the afterlife. Ty Isayama

The little moments between the characters was great because it reminds us that they're still human.

The overall scene was legendary seeing Hange dying for her comrades and even in her last seconds she thought that she sacrificed herself in order for her comrades to live. That's what she thought a great commander would look like. That's why Hange was one of the best commanders of the Scouts.

Mikasa is such a boss, love seeing her fight and hopefully we'll get more big moments from her (as opposed to Levi).

Chad, King, hero. Every moment that Floch was in is a great scene.

I loved the Colossus slipping down the mountain

My favorite part is Kiyomi refilling coal with a shovel alone :)

  WHICH OF THE GOODBYES WAS YOUR FAVORITE 1,699 responses

In a chapter filled with goodbyes it was Levi and Hange’s final moments that we found most endearing with close to 60% selecting it. “Please don’t make me choose” was a very distant second with 14.7%. Interestingly Annie and Reiner (10.4%) beat out Annie and Armin (6.5%) for third place.

i think isayama truly gave hange a great goodbye, and writing them still being cheerful and joking around made me feel so much more for their death.

It made me cry because of all the goodbyes. It reminded me of Erwin saying goodbye to the people inside the walls and people of the military. And his iconic “roar”. All of that before the battle.

Hange’s and Levi’s goodbye was very well done (that look in Levi’s eyes too, ouch), props to Isayama for breaking my heart.

The Reiner/Annie hug was all I could ask for, bless Yams.

I wanted a Levihan moment for this chapter and NOT a last levihan scene 😭

  WHO WAS THIS CHAPTER’S MVP? 1,700 responses

Who else could it be? Hange Zoe is the chapter MVP according to two-thirds of all poll respondents. Floch (13%), Engineer-kun (3.4%) and Mikasa (2.6%) all got tiny slivers of the remaining pie.

Hange was truly the hero of this chapter and i'm so happy to have been witness to their characters journey over the years!

Hange is overall my second favourite character and I looked up to them. For me Hange is the true embodiment for the Survey Corps which is for Humanity and their courage, optimism and selflessness really made me love them so much.

Hange was a flawed commander. We all know this. They made mistakes like any other human being would when faced with the stress of a leadership position. They tried desperately to fill Erwins shoes but in the end accepted that they should be themselve. But overall Hange Zoe is an incredible person and I will miss them so

Best girl Mikasa rocked it this chapter with the way she swiftly killed Floch!

While I don't agree with some of Floch's beliefs, he died trying to save his home by slowing down the Alliance. Goodnight, sweet prince!

Floch did his best he anchored all the way from the beginning to the hangar with a bullet wound and that mustve hurt like hell all that salt water coming in

Someone please send me help I can't do this my family and friends got so worried because I've changed. They be like "Bro you've changed and I be like yeah Hange died bro what do you expect I'm in genuine pain you won't understand."

  HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT HANGE’S HEROIC EXIT? 1,701 responses

Just over half of respondents loved the way Hange went out at 51.4%, and 26.5% liked it despite some quibbles. Not many of us saw it coming but it was at least emotional and a badass way to go. However, 9.6% hated it – there is an undeniable trend of every vaguely older character getting the chop. Who will poor Levi sit with in the retirement home with now?! 6.8% don’t really care about how the scene went. I suppose they’re the ones most prepared if no one in SnK gets to go to the retirement home.

A great ending to an amazing character, it's sad to see her go, but her time was up and she died fighting the creatures she loved.

I'm disturbed by how much it affected me

I loved it, but its not something i'll cry over.

I don't hate it but it did seem kinda unnecessary tbh could've been better

I STILL CAN'T STOP CRYING ABOUT IT. OPTION ONE IS GOOD BUT DOESN'T EXPRESS HOW MUCH THIS CHAPTER HURT ME.

It does break my heart,however the way and the time she do that, That was... Memorable

It happened too quickly for me to consider it perfect, but I'm glad she got to go out on her own terms.

Not heroic at all, she didn't even stop the colossals and was a cheap way for her to never face the consequences of her betraying the island

It was dope but Floch indirectly killed her so he takes that dub

I'M STILL CRYING ABOUT IT, SHE WENT OUT LIKE A FUCKING CHAMP

I'm super frustrated that she died, but she was heroic

She’s a traitor, nothing more to be said

i hated it. it was perfect. she really did go out with a bang and i hate it

Felt a bit pointless, would've loved to see some emphasize why it was crucial to kill these exact two titans. For me it looked like plain suicide

Had to go through the 5 stages of grief after that one, honestly. I was so angry immediately afterward because Hange is my favorite character of all time in any piece of media, losing them was almost like losing someone I've known and cared about for almost 7 years of my life. I've now come to accept that maybe death is the only happy ending any character can achieve in this story.

I don’t want to think about it

I don't like the idea of every Scout commander having a ""curse"" that they have to inevitably pay for with their lives. They're outstanding people and volunteers, just like their comrades, no one forced them to join.

  WHAT WAS THE ASPECT YOU LIKED MOST ABOUT HANGE’S LAST MOMENTS? 1,687 responses

This question was fun to write but looking at the even distribution of selections, I suspect choosing an answer was difficult. Levi saying devote your heart to Hange was top pick with close to 30% selecting it. Retaining their sense of humor to the end (17.1%), being able to reunite with their old comrades (14.7%), having a moment of amazement while confronting the titans (14.4%), being able to die on their own terms and say goodbye (12.3%), stealing death from Reiner yet again (8.2%) and telling Armin he can boss Levi around (3.4%) were the other selections.

I really love Hange and when i see her died and see erwin and other old friends and morbit helping her i just cannot cry (sorry for my english im french ^^)

I was never a really big fan of Hange, but that exit was badass as hell.

It was a heroic death but it felt forced and unnecessary and she was my favorite character, so I'm extremely salty and in denial.

Hange seemed too eager to just die, like welp, i guess my contract is up, gotta go die.....It felt like when actors are written off a show

I never really considered myself a fan of her, but her death got me good. I think it was because how she marvelled and was genuinely amazed by titans, even in her final moments.

glad to see the old titan obsessed hange back before her final sacrifice

Most people seem to think that Hange's death was a bullshit ending, but I think that it was perfect, going out the way they were introduced.

To have hange say that titans are amazing before she dies was just perfect! It shows how she stayed true to herself until the end. And the part where she reunited with Moblit, Erwin, Mike and the others was so beautiful.

  WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE HANGE QUOTE THIS CHAPTER? 1,686 responses

Hange really got to shine this chapter as we’re reminded of how off-kilter and fun they can be, even when the situation is at its most serious. We got a chapter chock full of memorable lines, but the favorite was of course “Titans really are incredible,” a call back to the reverence and respect for titans that made so many love the character to begin with.

"titans.. are truly incredible." was a fitting last(ish) words for hange.

  SO GOES THE 14TH COMMANDER OF THE SCOUTS, HANGE ZOE, FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THEIR PREDECESSORS. WHAT ARE YOUR FINAL THOUGHTS ON THEIR OVERALL LEGACY? 802 responses

GOAT

I think their legacy is one of grit and determination in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Not as revolutionary as say, Erwin, but they were perseverant and selfless, and innovative in their own right, as a scientist and researcher, always seeking new possibilities.

I will always remember Hange as our awesome scientist who came up with ideas for weapons! and was passionate about titans! and would stand up for a better comprehension of them instead of... whatever it is that Isayama made of Hange post-time skip that they no longer could shine about anything or would even reflect about what Eren was going through. Love you, Hange, you deserved that we followed your struggles more closely. <3

Hange became the commander in the most difficult moment and had bad times having to deal with politics, a whole new world and their own powerlessness. I think the Alliance is their most precious legacy and it really represents the old SC's spirit.

I adored seeing them go from loony scientist to a powerful and serious commander, even if it did come with a boatload of trauma. I also respect the hell out of them for being willing to watch their own culture destroyed if it meant not committing genocide. On a more personal note, as a nonbinary person it's just been really wonderful to see a character like Hange treated with such respect.

Amazing character and leader. Not on Erwin's level but she was a badass 😭😭 #rip

*you tried star*

A bit hypocritical. She was willing to stop Eren and endanger all Eldiana to save strangers from other nations that want to kill them. She also says killing is wrong, but proceeds to kill multiple Eldians unbothered, but when she sees Marleyans or people from other nations, she softens up.

Being a commander is not an easy job, and Hange's start was even more difficult because of Zeke annihilating like 90%(??) of the Scouts and the reveal in the basement and the crisis that followed. Still, she kept going, never giving up, even if she clearly had some moments of selfdoubt. I feel like Hange can be proud of herself and the life she lived, and I am happy that she was able go in her own terms. Her death bought them precious time, but it was a great loss as well. I feel a bit empty and wistful...

Brilliant character, brilliant way to let them go. I’m most interested to see how this death will effect Armin and his leadership as they alliance approach the founding titan. I’m also glad we got to see them in the afterlife, that was a bittersweet comfort.

Every commander dies young, rip armin

Hange was annoying. Glad they're dead.

Hange was incredible in their own field of interest, but definitely not fit to be the commander. Loved how they could be themself once again at the end.

Followed in Erwin's footsteps and even went beyond. Hange will be remembered as the commander who took Paradis from the titans and who explored beyond the island for the first time in 100+ years. Plus a rational commander, putting facts and science before everything else, as well as grasping how important diplomacy and politics are even beyond Paradis. Also although quirky, an example of tolerance.

Fuck that.. Their death was worthy of them.. it was a very sweet goodbye.. But I really thought they would make it to the end... And I really wanted them to. Hange was such an important character, they did so much for the cause and for everyone. They were someone who could be trusted but who didn't hesitate to do what had to be done. Incredibly smart and humbled, I just wish they believed in themselves a bit more.. cus they are incredible.

Hange was given a shit-circus to try and handle- complete with clowns, children causing mayhem, and a giant fucking monkey.

Her "gEnOcIdE iS wRoNg" quote with no actual solution in 126 really turned me off for her for a while as a character; overall however, Hange was one of the more memorable and likable characters from the series and it's sad to see her go.

Given the difficult job of rebuilding the Survey Corps after its destruction with very little help. Had to deal with the wannabe hegemon in Zackly who was doing lots of underhanded power grabs in the background. Had to deal with a populace who finally realized they were not alone. Had to deal with a moody weapon known as the Attack titan who knew all the answers but shared it with no one. Poor Hange who was never given a chance for victory

Hange was amazing character that got entirely too much flack for not being a "good commander" This is a character that above all stayed true to themselves in what they fought for and believed in.

Hange Zoe spat on the legacy of the scouting league by squandering their sacrifice to protect their families and communities. Hange's actions if successful will likely lead to the deaths of all their families which is something they would never support.

Considering how we never truly knew if Erwin was totally devoted to humanity or totally selfish, and considering Shardiz' inferiority complex, Hanji was the true one who gave her whole being to humanity and who truly embodied Survey Corps' abnegation, without any regard toward such senseless conception like homeland. No wonder why the title of her final battle is "Wings of Freedom"

Legendary commanders, each one going out with with a bang. Erwin going out by distracting Monke and Levi taking him out. Hange going out by taking care of a few Bert ripoffs, having the alliance survive a few more hours. And Armin, wait-

Hange helped the main characters in the story with her quick thinking and managed to put the missing pieces into place for us. Their different outlook on the whole situation gave us a fresh perspective and there’ll be no one else like them.

hange is great!!! too bad she tortured bean and sawney tho and sannes smh but 10/10 regardless love that mad scientist

Hange embodied the spirit of the survey corp. She was the commander that made unlikely alliances and advanced Paradis infrastructure.

Hange has been one of my favorite characters. They are the best Titan Scientist. RIP.

Thank you Hange, you did great 💖

  FLOCH FINALLY GOT THE GLOCK. OR ACTUALLY, THE ANCHOR. WHAT DID YOU THINK OF HIS LAST HURRAH? 1,660 responses

Let’s not forget that Hange wasn’t the only major death in this chapter.  After months of being voted most likely to die, Floch’s time finally came.  About 30% of respondents are just celebrating that he’s finally dead, a quarter are glad he’s dead but got this last fun scene, and 20.4% are glad he was able to screw with the alliance once more before dying.

🦀🦀🦀FLOCH IS DEAD🦀🦀🦀

A fitting ending for an interesting, yet very unpleasant character. Love how his death was contrasted with Hange's, and the fact that Mikasa was the one to off him (the symbolism of the person who represents Eren's humanity killing the person who keeps referring to him as the devil is... well, not subtle but it can't be ignored).

Could have done more, but he never wavered or lost his convictions, more of a hero than any of the alliance will ever be

he should have been dead since 129, makes no sense

He should've stayed on the island and failed

Died a hero, wouldn’t even beg for his life but for his friends and countrymen instead

Even though I didn't really like him, I have my full respect to him for following his beliefs till his last breath

Floch is one of the best characters, and most complex characters, he got a very good ending.

I love eren’s boyfriend ♡

He died a hero's death after carrying chapters 124-130 on his back. He also did nothing wrong.

He's a mega chad and I love him. Managing to survive underwater for 2 days and slowly losing blood, and then shooting the ship to stop the Alliance, and then having a bomb-ass speech? He was a legend that needs to be appreciated more.

His arm should've been blown off to begin with and even if it wasn't, he should've died from hypothermia. I think it was needed drama, but done poorly.

His death was far better executed than I thought. He shot the fuel tank instead of one of the SC or one of the engineers/Onyankopon. That should tells you that he just want them to stop, not killing them all. He stays true to his belief of saving Paradis by following Eren, even in his last words he is pleading for Paradis' instead of his own live. From someone whose country has been colonized once, I say that is a true soldier for his nation.

Oh fuck off floch, he was a dick with volatile ideals anyway. Fuck that guy honestly. Like I agree with his stance but like. Everytime it feels oddly implanted when he has an opinion, like he does think with his own head but gets influenced very easily into changing sides too fast? Like, he does the right things but jot for the right reasons because he doesn't really think them through enough? That's my vibe. Idk. Ignore all my answers I feel stupid

RIP Hero of Paradis. To save your civilisation is an admirable goal, although it being achieved through genocide is still morally wrong

I'm sad he didn't get to know how Eren used him.

  FLOCH FORSTER WAS A COMMANDER IN HIS OWN RIGHT, FIGHTING HIS WAY UP FROM HIS ORIGINS AS A BACKGROUND CHARACTER. ANY OVERALL THOUGHTS ON THE BIRD NEST BOI AND HIS IMPACT ON THE STORY? 912 responses

Best boy. Fly high you little devil :(( <3

a bitch but i respect the fact that he did what he believed in (even if its genocide😕)

Controversially, I have no opinion on him.

Ding dong the witch is dead

A character that was perfectly written for his purpose. AoT World isnt black and white and he showed us. Pain and loss made the Floch that died in 132. but Eldia and Marley made the Floch that survived to see all his comrades dead.

Floch is shit :) but also is a good character because its represents a real human.

A complete and satisfying character. It's not easy to summarize, but the way he went from a naive gloryhound to a single-minded guy trying to make his own survival/the deaths from the charge mean something while still remaining a relatively normal, unremarkable soldier was great. Also, I appreciate how he, Eren, and the Yeagerists basically reenacted Uprising by overthrowing a regime that would've just continued the royal family-eating and messed around until the island got destroyed. The prediction from Sannes all those years ago turned out to be too accurate, unfortunately.

A lot of people did hate Floch, I didn't. I think adding Floch to the story was just as essential as the other supporting characters. He played out a good and effectively annoying enemy. I think in every Action-thriller story, a Floch is a must as a villain. The hate on Floch reminded me of the hate on Joffrey from Game of Thrones. But Joffrey did have a great impact on the story, so did Floch. The way he was written just really did manage to get on our nerves, and I think that's what makes a character great.

A true patriot.

An asshole but at least he went out feeling like a rounded character

An nazi ass bitch

Based and Redpilled

Best character not named Eren or Erwin.

By far exceeded expectations.

Disagree with his agenda, but he's a very real character and a representation of the monster someone can become when driven by survivor's guilt and trauma.

He was the literally epitome of a roller coaster ride.

Floch always felt like a background character, and even though he gets far more to do than other background characters, he never felt like an actual person but rather just a plot device. He has no personality.

Floch was surprisingly good given he was such a minor character. He fully displayed the shades of gray of the narrative.

Heck him >:(

Floch has always been someone who held an opposing view to the main cast, and his entire arc revolved around his need to "bring back the devil" in order to ensure the safety of his land and his people. Some people seem to have forgotten that, but at his core he never changed. Sad to see him go out like this.

Floch has my respect for fighting until the very end (and even after the end since we all thought he'd been killed by Gabi) for what he believes in, but obviously it is not what I and my favourite characters believe in, so I'm glad he's gone. His impact is great as he earned the title of "most tenacious villain ever" when he only really started as a coward rookie soldier many chapters ago. Also props to him for holding onto this boat for such a long time and being up for a fight after probably being hauled in the sea and swallow more water he ever had his entire life.

The panel of him shushing Hanji will always be iconic. His descent into nationalism (new Eldian empire, anyone?) however, was not so cash money"

When Floch had captured Miss Kiyomi (ch. 128) he dismissed what she said and had his speech about ‘it’s important to know your place’, and then not even a minute later he was taken down by this same old lady smh. Previously, he wanted to kill Onyankopon and Yelena, but Jean deceived him and he failed. Later, he wanted to kill someone on the boat, but Gabi shot him and he failed. He wanted to stop the alliance, but Mikasa got him with her anchor and he didn’t just fail, he died. I’ve seen some readers applaud him for fighting for what he believes in and having a strong will, but they don’t see what else there is. Strong will? Not giving up? So many characters have the same traits in AoT. The difference is that Floch repeatedly never achieved what he wanted to accomplish, despite his strong will and belief to not give up. His determination and willpower made him achieve nothing. By contrast, Hange’s will and determination to keep fighting made her kill about 2-4 colossals and save her allies just in time for them to get away. Is the difference obvious enough? Their deaths are even put in the same chapter. Floch was not important, admirable, or whatever you want to praise him like. He kept interfering with the alliance and for what? He simply never knew his place.

He played a larger role than I ever thought he would and became one of the most interesting characters during this time. I’m glad he was here to push the story along, and I’ll miss him.

His fans are insufferable but he is a needed counterbalance to the alliance characters and stuck to his beliefs to the end.

He started up as a fodder and ends up as one of the biggest threats for SC. I might be in the minority when I said I already like him since pre time skip. He showed us how the war is like from the perspective of a normal soldier, not the talented ones who got into the 10 top ranks. Just a normal soldier who was inspired by the words of his leader to devote his heart, and came to a realization that it's an actual hell, just like reality. Maybe he's wrong to vent about choosing Armin instead of Erwin when Armin was feeling down, but I can understand. All his friends died, he's currently having emotional and survivor trauma over the suicide charge, and all of those sufferings came to a waste because of the people in front of him.

Pee pee poo poo

Good riddance. What a worthless pile of garbage.

Goodnight sweet prince

  ARMIN WANTS TO BRING ALONG THE LEFTOVER EXPLOSIVES. HOW WILL THEY BE USED? 1,638 responses

Chekov’s explosives are now in play.  37.7% of you think they’ll be used to try to blow Eren out of his nape, and 33.7% think they’ll definitely be used for another suicide mission.

Another failed suicide attempt by Reiner

Any of the above, depending on the situation. I think Armin isn't really thinking of anything in particular, simply that having the option to explode something is better than not.

Armin could use them as a suicide necklace to threaten Eren. If Eren still cares for Armin he may stop the rumbling if he knows it will stop Armin from killing himself and possibly Mikasa.

dude there's been so many unexpected turns and plot twists right now I really don't want to make any assumption. But the plane idea is interesting.

i still think armin will fight eren with his colossal titan. I can only hope for something truly epic.

I think they'll be used for more than one of the above

Idk, but for sure they want to damage Eren's Titan to buy some time in doing something

If Eren doesn’t comply I’d assume they will be used to destroy his “nape” if they can even find it. Someone probably has to go on a suicide mission to do so.

Kamikaze Onyankopon like its written all over the poor fellas face,

Levi will suicide bomb Zeke to cut off Eren's connection to paths

make my brain explode hopefully since this plot is ridiculously bad

Only Armin (and Isayama) knows how the explosives will be used. I'm sure it will have something to do with stopping Eren.

Plan A: Blast Eren nape, but it will fail so Plan B: Kamikaze

Reiner will try to use the bombs to commit suicide and take Eren with himself

they'll probably kaboom zook with that idk (I missed my monke so so much)

They will be as useful as farting on Eren.

  WHAT DID YOU THINK OF MIKASA AND ANNIE’S CONVERSATION? 1,665 responses

Mikasa and Annie have a heart to heart near the start of the chapter, after being rivals early in the story.  The two most popular options were being in awe of the cuteness when Armin became the topic, at 34%, and just loving seeing these two characters interact, at 31.3%.  17.5% are wondering how they made the switch to friends so quickly, 9.5% view it as rehashing what’s already been talked about, and 7.8% are more interested in that Mikannie action.

Mikasa's reaction was so cute after realizing Annie has a thing for Armin.

The chapter was also surprisingly humorous, with Mikasa's reaction to learning Annie likes Armin having me burst out laughing.

The sudden closeness between Alliance members who used to be enemies, such as Mikasa/Annie, feel forced and unearned, and the extra Armin/Annie shipping is just unnecessary and a waste of panels when we are so close to the ending yet many things still need closure.

Aruani😍

Mikasa and Annie's conversation almost made me gag because I feel so sorry for Annie having to put up with the constant misunderstanding of her feelings. Annie is aromantic and Mikasa needs to sit down and respect that fact quite like Armin himself does.

I legit laughed out loud when reading Mikasa and Annie's chit chat. At 1 AM.

  MIKASA TELLS ANNIE SHE HAS KEPT THE SCARF WITH HER. WHAT DO YOU THINK HER PLAN IS? 1,662 responses

The scarf has become an actual plot point as of late, with Louise stealing it and now this.  Will it be important for the end game?  45.1% of you believe Mikasa will use it to try to see if the Eren she used to know, who gave it to her is still in there somewhere.  29.1% of you don’t think she has any particular plans as of yet.  15.2% think she’ll comfort Eren in it once they stop him, and 10.5% are putting their money down on the “She’ll use it to strangle Eren” option.

Mikasa need to understand the Eren she remembers is no longer coming back from this.

Mikasa is really a frustrating character... but I think it's on purpose that she keeps swinging from realizing who he really is (chapter 123) and still wanting to be with him (or rather the idealized version she has of him aka the ""old Eren""), because her whole character arc is to separate herself from Eren and coping with it."It's up to Mikasa whether or not she'll be a slave. If she decides to fight against her slave instincts, Eren will have no choice but to kill her since, as an Ackerman, Mikasa, is immune to the memory-fuckery.

In fact, Mikasa should just hang herself with Eren's scarf and the story would become infinitely better and women might finally have better representation. I have never liked Mikasa, but now I actively despise her. She is nothing more than an Eren simp as was revealed to us when she said she's still holding onto that threadbare rag of hers despite everything Eren has proven himself capable of doing. You know, that whole genocide thing that Mikasa herself barely survived in this very chapter while her Commander very much did not. "

I feel tired of people who make fun of Mikasa. She is the one who still believes in Eren's good side and doesn't see him as monster. Everyone else see Eren as devil, while Mikasa still keeps memories about kind Eren and believes that this "old Eren" still is somewhere there. He is the most important person in her life and she will not give up on him as fast as everyone think. She is not obsessed. She is aware of Eren's dark side, of his cruelty and everything he has been doing, but on the same time she will still keep trying to help him and show him that he is NOT the devil, he is not as horrible person as he thinks he is. Everyone are saying that HISTORIA saved him in the cave when he was in his dark moments. Maybe this time it will be Mikasa who will save him from his darkest nightmare.

I can't wait for Eren × Mikasa confrontation "

  WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL HAPPEN WITH THOSE ON THE BOAT? 1,653 responses

The party has split in two, with one half going directly to Eren, and the other half…?  Nearly half of you think that they’ll certainly end up doing something to help the alliance still.  21.8% think they’ll run into the survivors of Liberio, 17.9% think they will in fact be absent for most of the story no, and 11% think they’ll dock at Paradis and do something of import there.

Please isayama, please don’t add any more needless sideplots with the boat doing something

Could have done many alliance interactions/good-byes better. Reiner didn't seem to care for the kids, despite them being his motivation to live. Bert never mentioned. Annie/Armin had no discussion. What are the boat crew even going to do?

"Falco & co. WILL join the battle! At least he has to, because the Jaw Titan is the only one who can break through the Warhammer's hardening!

With them leaving Falco behind (and therefore the Jaw titan's power), I think the explosives may at some point be used if Even tries to shield himself using the Warhammer's power.

Anyone that thinks Annie, Falco and Gabi sailed off is an idiot.

The only thing I'm not too sure about is Annie, Gabi, Falco, Yelena and Kiyomi staying behind. I was every character to have their chance to shine in the final battle. Hopefully, Isayama will find a way to bring these characters back into the conflict.

  WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT LEVI EQUIPPING HIMSELF FOR BATTLE? 1,661 responses

After being blown up and almost out of the story a year and a half ago, Levi is finally suiting back up to get a slice of someone or something, despite still being heavily injured and scarred.  Almost half of the fandom, at 44.6% are excited for his upcoming role in the story, but find it hard to believe he’s ready to fight, as it hasn’t quite been a year and a half in their world.  About a quarter, at 23.2% have been waiting for this moment to finally come for all that time.  15.1% want him to stay away from danger the way he has been, and 9.2% wish he would have just died all those chapters ago.

Kinda silly, but I'll roll with it.

Now that we know Levi is ready for battle, I think his role in the story at this point is for one final confrontation with Zeke (assuming Zeke is within Eren's Founding Titan body somewhere). There, Levi will kill Zeke once and for all to finally fulfill his promise to Erwin, but something tells me Levi will die shortly after he lands the killing blow on Zeke.

Beast Titan vs Levi Round 3

Can't wait till he's forced to team up with Zeke

He will go out in a blaze

Definitely going out with a bang. He’s done with life, it’s obvious he is just here now to complete an objective, he wants to go out strong because of the weight of the survey corpse members gave him. Everyone he has cared about has died. He wants make them proud in a sense, at least dying with pride, and finally getting to meet them again in the afterlife.

I think he should have died in the explosion BUT I think that to do that, he should have had a longer philosophical talk with zeke and overcome his erwin issues, AND THEN die

He’s survived this long- he’s definitely earned the rights to go out on his own terms.

His comeback to fight is just another asspull.

How can he even move, let alone fight? If he survives all of this I’ll be shocked.

I can only see a Pyrrhic victory. I'm scared.

Isayama still has the chance to have Levi die by Eren's hands. The entire story has been leading up to this. Levi was always right about Eren and the sweet irony is that Levi always fought and saw all of his comrades die for Eren only to get killed by Eren as well.

I don't know why people are angry at that. Levi is a soldier and is not a suicidal one. He has a definite role to play and I don't want him to sit around. He's been through much worse.

He is a liability, I don't see him surviving.

-Death flag initiated-

He ain't surviving this one, huh?

Good that he’s feeling better. But I don’t want him to die.

He’s going to make a final charge and die

The man can barely stand on his own, so I think fighting is pretty much out of the question. Really interested in seeing what a character who has always relied first and foremost on violence is going to do now that this has been taken away from him.

As a good commander (and letting annie stay) Hange or Armin had to tell him to stay in boat, like he s only going to kill himself against zeke if he crossed him

He'll be fine...right? RIGHT?!

he'll probably die in a suicide attack on the monke

I feel like this may be a death-sentence. Levi dying and finally getting the burden of killing Zeke off his chest is a likely/ and good way for his character arc to end.

I just hope he doesn't have a cliche death alongside Zeke.

He'll rest with his comrades soon

He will get more injured, then give a speech to mikasa about letting the man he loved die instead of becoming a monster, then he will die

Watching him makes my anxiety level raised to 100

He's gonna give monkey chan a thousand years of death two finger style

Please just let him rest, he's tired, I'm tired, we're all tired ffs

  YELENA IS HOLDING FAST TO HER BELIEF IN THE EUTHANASIA PLAN AS THE ONLY WAY TO PEACEFULLY END THE CONFLICT. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT ZEKE’S PLAN IN HINDSIGHT? 1,620 responses

While the plurality of fans acknowledge Zeke’s plan is better than Eren’s (at 48.2%), only 7.7% say they agree in hindsight, and 5.8% always agreed with Zeke, for a combined 13.5%.  This makes a total of 61.7% who would vote for it over Eren’s plan today.  Interestingly, when Zeke’s plan was first revealed in 114, 76% voted for his plan when given the choice between that and rumbling the world.  So after seeing the rumbling, the support for Zeke’s plan as an alternative has actually dropped.

I get it, Yelena’s something of an ideologue but the fact that she still thinks euthanasia is the way to go is sad

I originally thought forced euthanization was disgusting and now I’m hindsight it’s still disgusting and solves nothing.

I still hate it. The lesser evil doesn't mean it's an optimal solution. Would've kept Kiyomi's plan by sacrificing Historia and only attacking the military forces to keep them at bay.

Thinking with logic only, Zeke had a good plan, but if we put emotions and moral in to play, it's just horrible. I don't support it, not even now.

It's a terrible plan. Eren's plan is evil AF, but it's not stupid. Zeke's plan it's stupid. Imagine throwing your entire nation under the bus because your dad didn't hug you? Zeke's a loser.

Maybe so in this messed up world, but then again no. Both plans are awful, the answer to solving this question was to stop hatred in the first place and find a way to have a conversation with everyone. Clearing the air, stopping the rumors and fake news regarding Eldians being devils, etc.

Both plans are shit. 50 year plan + a partial Rumbling (in other words probably Armin's choice) is the most logical plan.

Denying children being born is denying a human being to grow and live their own live, and experience the world. I never accepted Zeke's plan and never will.

Depends whether you were born in Paradis or outside of Paradis.

Eren's plan is better. It ensures Eldians can survive and continue to grow. Zeke's plan just makes them die out. Me no likey.

50 year plan gang 50 year plan gang

Both plan suck.. But everything fair in love and war so...   The winner was the one who right

There has to be some third option we/they just can't think of that doesn't involve genociding the entire planet *or enslaving another young woman (Historia in this case)

Zeke's plan was the lesser evil OF THESE TWO (Rumbling and Euthanasia). They should have found a third, peaceful option that doesn't kill anyone off.

“Evil is evil, Stregobor. Lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I'm not a pious hermit, I haven't done only good in my life. But if I'm to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.”

  JEAN SEEMED RATTLED BY FLOCH’S FINAL WORDS. HOW DO YOU THINK THEY WILL AFFECT JEAN? 1,641 responses

We’ve seen Jean yearn for a peaceful life on Paradis, and Floch has tried to convince him to give in to that desire before.  Did Floch’s dying words do anything to further affect Jean?  About 69% of respondents say that we will see Jean think on them, but he’ll end up staying with his current convictions.  Interestingly, among the 17.8% who think he will change his mind on helping the alliance, 12.9% think he’ll join Eren and actively oppose the alliance, vs. the 4.9% who think he’ll just abandon the mission like Annie.

After 127 no way is Jean leaving the Alliance. However, I think this will affect his resolve and affect whatever discussion they end up having over how to stop Eren.

Dies trying to avenge Mikasa

He was rattled by Floch's dying moments, as he was one of the last survivors from the Survey corps of Erwin's time

He'll single-handedly stop Eren by telling him how cringe his followers are

he's gonna hesitate when he shouldn't have and will die for it

I feel like it's not the words, but the actions--Floch is who Jean could have been if he didn't see past his own self-interest.

Floch died so his homeland could live. His noble death will inspire Jean to fulfill his duty as a soldier of ELDIA, and oppose the alliance. Thus, Floch will have helped Eldia one last time. Even after he died.

He's too coward to do something about it. Jean's arc was all about suppressing his own desires and keep moving forward; he's a slave of his sense of duty.

I smell another sacrifice coming.

I think it's too late for him to change his mind at this point. We're almost at the end. He'll move forward because that's what he promised Marco. He won't be able to look him and his comrades in the eye if he alters his stance.

  WAS ARMIN THE BEST CHOICE AS COMMANDER? 1,639 responses

From Keith to Erwin, to Hange to Armin.  Was that the right step to take in the line of succession?  The majority, at 61.8% believe that Armin is the perfect choice, at least for this particular Eren scenario.  Just over a quarter, at 26.5% are sticking with Marco saying Jean has the potential to lead.  11.7% are wishing Hange stayed in command instead.

I didn't like the way Hange died and how she left the commander role to Armin. He's probably the worst person to take the job, not long ago he was literally trying to kill himself (chapter 126) cause that's how insecure he is.

"I both believe Jean makes a better overall commander than Armin *and* that Hange's choice in this instant was the correct one.

Jean has more of a skill and flair for leadership. He is, as Marco once said, the every man which makes it easier to follow him. With his attitude, he can inspire others to follow his plans even if they do not closely know him. He also has some more confidence in himself. He doesn't have Armin's mind for crazy strategies, but he still can reasonably think of his feet and is willing to take hard decisions and sacrifices as they are needed. If the story was still like it had been earlier in the manga, with a big Survey corps and regular missions, he should be the commander.

People are arguing who ""deserved"" to be the commander between Armin and Jean, when it doesn't fucking matter because there are like 5 people left in ""old"" SC and they are all on a suicide mission. What *does* matter is that everything was pushed on poor Armin yet again, first Erwin was allowed to die and his legacy was put on him and Hange, who never asked for this, now Hange killed themselves too and left Armin to solve this shit by himself. I wish he would call out Levi, because his decision in Serumbowl is what led to this mess, but we'll probably not get that.

Jean shouldve be the commander but it's okay to be armin

Either Hange should've lived or Jean should've been the commander

Armin becoming Commander was probably the highlight of this chapter for me

I thought it was a good death for hange, but also kind of a combo of all of the above choices; their death seemed rushed just to make armin commander. I don’t hate armin, but I don’t think he should be commander, and it feels so much like isayama had NOTHING planned for hange ad commander, which was extremely disappointing. but at least hans is at peace lol

Armin as commander? Really? He has never really led troops in to battle. He is not a logistician or a tactician. He is only a good strategist, but even then he failed to plan for everything that Eren has so far done. Can you imagine him turning into a titan and attempting to direct everyone? He’ll kill them all or put them on fire by waving his arms. I’m so worried for him and for Jean too. Jean is suppose to be the next commander or why else is he even here?

A bit sad we didn’t get much time with her a commander, but she was a GOAT

A "You Tried" commander that was truly ineffective. Erwin should've been kept around.

Each Survey Corps Commander (current or former) all dedicated their hearts to protect humanity. If someone or something threatens their mission and their lives, they do what is necessary to uphold the mission, mainly giving up their lives in order to give time for their comrades to act. Their sacrifices affect their closest allies to the point that they have to carry on their mission by any means necessary.

Felt like a filler commander for Armin wish Hange had gotten to do more and be more successful

1- Armin isn't the new commander of the survey corps because the SC belongs to Paradise island and he & his group betrayed that place .

2- Armin is the new commander of the alliance .

Not sure of making Armin commander the best choice but mmm yeah, Isayama needed them out of the way to make a final Armin/Eren confrontation *sigh*

survey cops commander is the worst position you can find yourself at the moment. I can't even imagine what's on Armin mind right now

Armin does actually make the better leader. The problem in front of them is Eren. Even though he doubts himself right now, Armin has always been able to understand Eren and get through to Eren in a way others (and definitely not Jean) can't. He's also capable of thinking outside of the box in a manner that this situation needs. Though he's only now made commander, throughout the Rumbling arc, we've already seen that his closest friends look to him for leadership/plans. And while he still lacks self-confidence (though, who knows, maybe he'll get a special Levi talk??) a lot of his other leadership flaws (like his limited ability to command and inspire groups) are not relevant now because there isn't huge group of people anymore. There is just a handful of his friends left who already trust in his abilities. He doesn't need to inspire loyalty right now; that has already been built over years.

Narratively speaking the Alliance are the true successors of the SC, not the Jaegerist and the 15th commander is Armin, not Floch.

Hange should've stayed alive.

king jean commander jean ftw

  COULD SOMEONE ELSE HAVE TAKEN CARE OF THE COLOSSALS IN PLACE OF HANGE? 1,621 responses

We’re losing a lot of veterans lately and suddenly.  After Magath and Keith’s sacrifice a few chapters ago, was Hange’s necessary as well?  The vast majority, at just over ¾ say that others could have technically taken the role, but Hange was still the best choice to stay behind, as morale would be drained much more by the commander sending others to their deaths.

A mix between love and hate. With Shadis' death (specially after Nile and Pixis) I thought that Isayama was judt getting rid of a veteran again. But Hange's death at least had her in character, and she was the one who deserved to see her comrades the most.

At first it was nice to see them sacrificing themselves but then I noticed i didn't really care much. It was too sudden and a copypaste of Magath's death

Hange died because the situation called for it. She did what she had to do because of Floch. I feel like the anime will make it much clearer that Hange HAD to die.

Shoulda been Reiner bruh

I think Armin could use his titan, stand on the water and push avery titan that was going to destroy the Angar but anyway

Shadis' death left a bad taste in my mouth since Magath could've handled the deed on his own. Shadis didn't need to die. Hanji too could've sent someone else in her stead; she is (was) the commander, a veteran, she was necessary. Not saying that I would've wanted Jean or Connie to die or anything, but sending one of these two or Mikasa to hold back the titans would've made sense.

  WHAT IS THE TRUTH BEHIND THE SCENE WHERE HANGE MEETS THE DEAD SCOUTS? 1,649 responses

The scene where Hange, after having died, seems to wake up to meet the rest of the deceased Survey Corps members was a scene unlike any we’ve seen before in this manga. Isayama hasn’t shied away from the depressing reality of death before, so what exactly is happening here? 45.9% of respondents think it was strange enough that something real was happening, Paths, afterlife… something. 30.3% don’t buy it being real and think it was a symbolic scene, perhaps to lessen the pain of Hange’s death. 23.8% think it was purely in Hange’s mind, a euphoric experience to lessen the physical shock of death. Whatever it was, it was remarkable.

Purely symbolic, though I don’t mind if it has to do with Paths

The comrades scene its a metaphore of the relief she had sacrificing herself, being useful just like her comrades and friends before her.

Probably Valhalla, would be pretty badass if it was confirmed in the end to actually be Valhalla or something.

THE AOT AFTER LIFE  IS REAL AND MY BBYS LIVE AGAIN 🤧😭

The author was trying to Placate the audience over killing off a popular character

The characters that died may have their happy ending in heaven

The dead comrades have always been watching over the living.

We only see Eldians, it very well could be a connection to Paths. And it seems like the people you go to are people you knew well and had a strong connection with. ALSO I'M HAPPY WE GOT A GLIMPSE OF SASHA and seeing Erwin for most likely the final time is cool too.

Afterlife real. Dead characters keep on living. Shifters go to PATHS, probably. Expect a specific someone to appear :)

Delusions of a naive and idealistic character. Hange saw what Hange wanted to see.

Dunno, but i REALLY hope that was just Isayama softening the blow for Hanji fans and what not, otherwise having a true afterlife would render all deaths and racrifices pointless and would ruin the whole theme of survival the manga has.

Eren may be using PATHS fuckery to comfort Hange in her death.

I believe the final scene did happen as Instructor Keith is seen in the back and Hange should have no knowledge of his death.

I don't think Isayama particularly cares for fan service in any regard (though Annie x Armin might signal a change), so I don't think he'd dedicate that to make Hange's death any less tragic. I think there's something to it.

  NOW THAT WE’VE SEEN THAT IT’S POSSIBLE FOR OUR DEAD FAVORITE CHARACTERS TO STILL HAVE THEIR SOULS, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE REST OF THE STORY? 1,621 responses

If these ghostly figures do make another appearance in the final confrontation, what on earth will they do?! 43.1% say they don’t matter damn it, because they’re not even real. 32.2% think the dead characters might be alive in some kind of afterlife, but it’s just an interesting part of the SnK universe. 18.8% think that PATHS will make its infinite fuckery known once again, and 6% think that those ghosts are going to make a difference standing up to Eren – how is he gonna fight against a million dead guys, huh?

The most interesting part about the data we got was a surge in responses for only this and the previous question. About 300 entries to the poll which only wanted to submit that “It was purely symbolic and Hange did not experience this,” and “I ain’t afraid of no ghosts. It was just in Hange’s mind or symbolic.” Now that is curious indeed. For someone who ain’t afraid of ghosts, I’m sensing some real trepidation here!

They likely will not interact with nor affect the coming events, as their roles have already played out.

" Valhalla’s battle-honed residents are there by the will of Odin, who collects them for the perfectly selfish purpose of having them come to his aid in his fated struggle against the wolf Fenrir {Fenir had been previously associated with Eren by fans} during Ragnarok – a battle in which Odin and the einherjar are doomed to die."

Setup for Reiner to converse with his fallen comrades.

Afterlife. Not convinced it's significant in any way, but would love it to be

An afterlife would be completely unnecessary for the story and make things needlessly more complicated for little reason/narrative payoff.

Feels like a set up for an ending where even if everyone dies they can be together in the afterlife

Mobuhan is fucking real

Hange is in heaven, surrounded by everyone who she's fought alongside. She can't help the alliance in any way, but she can watch them win. And they will win.

They are bystanders.

  CARE TO EXPOUND YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS SCENE AND WHAT IT MEANS? 611 responses

Through PATHS the thought of 'Afterlife' is possible. And if it isn't, then it's nice to hallucinate something good while they're dying.

Is hange really dead?

it means ERWIN KNOWS WHAT'S IN THE BASEMENT AYEEEE

IT MEANS ERWIN GETS MORE LINES WOOO

y'know how from the start there's been the idea that the survey corps have been making sacrifices that no one will ever care about? this is a rebuke to that. Hange, like every other survey corps member, is watched over by their own dead and now Hange gets to be a part of the ghost crew that watches over the corps and occasionally appears to freak out the commander. I also tend to dislike the idea that this manga has a perfectly happy afterlife because it cheapens the goal they're fighting for and comes dangerously close to validating Reiner's attempt.

You should have given a choice of this is symbolic. Ya'll should really read more fiction if ya'll think this is really the afterlife ffs

Afterlife makes all the deaths useless and less impactful, hope it's not a thing.

All the Eldians have the ability to “stay” alive after they die thanks to the paths dimension.

All this suffering to get an afterlife?!?

Although I do think that an afterlife could be possible, I don't think it'll affect the story. It may come back during the epilogue, but I can't figure out how Isayama could use it for the main story plot.

Anything is possible, either it's Hange's own hallucinations or something real. Though i would like for it to be smth tangible, (esp since a clue was that Hange didn't know Shadis died but he appeared anyways). idk I'd just like for everyone to be happy and see each other again 😭

Beetroot alive in PATHS and he's gonna kill Eren

Being dead is happier than living in this world, such an uplifting moral Isayama

Both Hange and Erwin thought about their comrades and "saw" them when their role was weighing on them. I don't think I have nothing against it being real, but I like the symbolism. Some things are cooler when I don't overthink.

Perhaps it will be less edgy to see so much death if there is an afterlife in SnK, but use the opportunity well! For me it was a gift to see the veterans again: Moblit caring for Hange, Erwin being in peace, Mike being there after the impact that he gave us…

every time "ghosts" have been shown in attack on titan they've just been visual depictions of the character's mental state.

Everyone who begged to see Erwin in another chapter can finally be at peace

Expansion of what chapter 85 already implied

I don't care, I'm just happy we get to see our babies again.

I think it is some sort of a special place in paths because they are standing on where Hange died, that's really weird if if it's afterlife, if it's afterlife they should be in a paradise or a peaceful place, but no. It's weird if they are all ghosts like almost the survey corps are in that area

I think it means that every dead soldier have meaning and we shouldn't forget them

I think it shows that their deaths weren’t in vain and they are watching over their comrades. It was a truly moving scene.

I think it's symbolic. Honestly with all the discourse around this scene I am not sure if it was even worth it to include.

I don't believe she's dead. We have an unexplained memory shard of her without glasses (ch130) and one of the panels this chp looks like she lost her glasses.

if levi could hurry up and join them that´d be great

If Yams tries to pull a kny I'm gonna rip him a new one. This is bullshit and he should stop before people believe there is an afterlife in aot. This doesn't fit into the story he created for years. But he is willing to kill his own world in hopes to get some readers back from stealing smth from a way more successful manga. It's pathetic.

Im still in doubt if the afterlife scene really happened since erwin is still missing his arm while the others are just fine. I hope its all just in hange's head and that someone from the boat could rescue her.

It might be the Path. Because just like Eren Kruger said, "All Eldians is connected to what we say the coordinate." This maybe a paradise or a heaven that Eren or someone with the founding titan and royal blood can control.

It only serves to dramatize hange's death. No shit, I was crying like hell when I read this scene😭😭 other than that it's just like other deaths we've seen before, only to set a dramatic and brutal tone for a thriller series

The remaining of Hange blood in the floor indicates she/he was already dead,  so no hallucinations in her last moments. Symbolic? Doesn’t sound like isayama. The only symbolic stuff in manga concerns the cult to Ymir. Has to be a connection through paths.

They really gave their hearts to humanity, they were all incredible, and it's really nostalgic to see them in this way

This scene wasn't here for no reason. It just felt different from any other vision we've seen, and I believe it'll come into play later on.

This was Hange's imagination because she saw the dead ones in the same shape she saw them alive last time like Mike and Nanaba. Erwin too(without one hand)

those who died are finally set free

You just died and entered spectator mode

  FAVORITE PIECK MOMENT THIS CHAPTER? 1,601 responses

For a chapter not focused on Pieck plotwise, there sure were a lot of short moments with her.  The two most popular options being her shooting down Hange’s ask for a ride with no hesitation, and vowing to give her comrade’s sacrifices meaning.  A moment of meme and a moment of serious nature, perfectly balanced.

Idk but Pieck is a bad bitch

Pieck sounds like she may turn on everyone in the end but I hope not.

pieck finger = some kind of marleyan erwin smith

Pieck is gonna DIE 😭

Pieck isn't really interesting....and she doesnt do any Import to the others....Just for Reiner maybe

Pieck will sacrifice herself for the sake of her fallen comrades. (that's what I think)

  WHICH “FRINGE” THEORY DO YOU BELIEVE IN? 1,597 responses

Despite the manga racing towards its conclusion crack theorists have had no shortage of new material, most recently with the bizarre amount of focus given to birds and Hange’s warm welcome to the afterlife. We wanted to find out which of these fringe theories have a broader appeal.

Nearly half the fandom is no fun at all, selecting “These theories are all just cope” (49%). For the rest of us “Birds are spies” apparently requires the least amount of tin foil since just over a third of the fandom thinks it has potential (35.4%). “The ghosts are real” (16.7%), Historia’s pregnancy is fake (13.7%) and the “The birds ARE the ghosts” (8.7%) didn’t fare quite as well.

Overall a great chapter. But this whole Theory of there being an afterlife in Attack on Titan is utterly ridiculous and extreme coping.

The afterlife thing was completely garbage and was easily the worst part of the chapter.

I believe that afterlife exists. It has nothing to do with paths, titan powers or religions. It is just afterlife, where souls of dead soldiers may find a peace. The world of SnK was always "cruel but also beautiful". Cruel - because innocent people die, but beautiful - because there is still a hope for happiness for their souls.

the birds...work for the bourgeoisie

I hope it's all symbolism but these "dead people" motive have been weirdly often mentioned in the story. People asking Erwin if he thinks that "dead have no regrets" in season 1. Levi Ova called " No regrets". Erwin asking Levi if he thinks that dead are watching them in S.3. There is also role Valhalla plays in Ragnarok in Mythology...

  WHICH MOMENT OF LEVITY BEFORE THE DOOM OF THIS CHAPTER WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 1,633 responses

THAT face from Mikasa was the highlight for 28.2% of you. I don’t think she’s ever been that stunned. 22.8% loved that one of Hange’s priorities was getting to ride the Cart Titan in the future, and Pieck not having it. 17.6% enjoyed Levi being the butt of a joke even as Hange was about to meet their doom, and 14.5% appreciated Levi throwing his fans a finger bone. Annie talking with Reiner about the good old days earned a laugh for 13.3% of you, and 3.5% liked seeing Levi throw shade at Yelena’s kinks.

the "what the heck" face on mikasa's face  after realising annieés feelings made my day.LOL

Levi x Yelena is cute and soon to be canon

Poor Levi. He cearly is still not recovered but his comment on being forgotten was a nice knock on the fourth wall.

Uh... you feeling okay, Yelena?

"I AM GONNA KILL THE BEAST TITAN"   "Okay grandpa, now let's get you to bed"

  DESCRIBE THE CHAPTER IN ONE WORD 1,065 responses

I get the feeling this chapter was a little upsetting for many. But then again, three over the top five words were the same as last month! Such is the life of an SnK fan. The top five words this time were:

Pain [143] Sad [56] Heartbreaking [29] Emotional [24] Sacrifice [20]

For those of you still thinking this is a cookbook, it's obvious you're making soup for your souls. Tangy, Cheesy, Hot, Chile, and YAMS must be the dish that represents this chapter.

  WHAT ARE YOU MOST HOPING TO SEE NEXT CHAPTER? 1,634 responses

Are we actually about to see the final confrontation?! I can hardly believe it, but 48.6% of you are goddamn ready for it. 17.9% still want to see Historia’s own POV (what, weren’t you satisfied with that one convoluted flashback?), and 15.5% would like to see some kind of discussion before the alliance launches into an undoubtedly insanely reckless maneuver. Also, Zeke had better come back soon or I’ll forget to put him in the options again!

girl i wanna see eren with the alliance

Next chapter I hope to see Zeke, you didn't put the option

We really really need to see Historia. She's been missing from the narrative for so long, and the flashback crumbs from Eren's memories explained nothing.

Surprises ..!!! More of them...flashback about carl fritz ...zeke ...more about eren ...we wanna more important moments and facts

I'd like to know what happened with Zeke. Is he dead? Is he merged with Eren? Is he still back on paradis? What's going on?

Alright, where is Zeke? I've lost my patience.

  WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 1,492 responses

Reddit maintains the lead this month, with just a few percentage points over Twitter, which takes second. A bit behind Twitter is “In real life”, which goes to show that Attack on Titan fans are total chads with social lives. Stay safe and don’t die though! After real life comes Discord, with 22.3% of the vote. Trailing Discord, in order, is Instagram, Youtube, “I don’t”, Facebook, 4Chan, the wiki, Snapchat, and Steam. Much to my dismay, this question was made multiple choice this month, which MEANS that, in theory, some of you could have ~erroneously~ voted Snapchat. Either that’s the case, or you lot are multiplying far faster than I’d anticipated… I’m going to elect to believe the former on account of not wanting to believe the latter.

  ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE CHAPTER? 497 responses

What the fuck is doing the survey corps

where is that goddamn monke

WHERE IS THE MONKE

snkpolls admins please hold me

Floch with wet hair looks cool.

Glad to see yams isnt afraid to kill characters, I was getting worried.

I have a love/hate relationship with Floch, and while I disagree with the rumbling, his last words got to me and it was sad.

I honestly found Floch's death to be tragic, even though he was a bastard, he still believed he was fighting for Paradis's wellbeing

I laughed when random Floch appeared, but I hate that his actions lead to Hange deciding to sacrifice herself.

Even though the manga it's coming to an end Isayama really gives us details which is interesting in order to understand the storyline but I'd like more action

Even though we didn't see him this chapter, Hanji's sacrifice took me from "Eren must be stopped" to "I WILL strangle Eren to death with my own two hands". Dude's ground-breaking idea of rumbling got Hanji killed and he will pay for that.

Everything about this chapter was just so breathtaking. I Loved this chapter so much it was just amazing. Words can’t even describe how I feel. Only thing I didn’t like was floch shooting the plane. God answering these just makes me wanna cry.

Also Bert mentions! We're finally going to see him soon and have a long-awaited RB-union!

REALLY GLAD I FOUND AOT BEFORE IT ENDS , I wish Annie and armin ends up, and jean and mikasa 👀👀👀 dont judge me please. It really gave more insight on the feelings of the alliance now.

WHY ISAYAMA, WHY?!

Why no Bertholdt :(

Why no one is happy?

I feel like the fandom would've broken if only an Alliance member died, so to make things equal, we lost a Yeagerist and an Alliance member.

EREN IS A VILLAIN

FLOCH DID NOTHING WRONG

Listen. I couldn't stop crying, like UGLY sobs, from the moment Hange says they're gonna "do it" and then they become all "Armin Arlert" and "I hereby name you" and then I was DONE. Buckets of tears, squealing noises, repeating "no no no" while rereading the same panels over and over again. I Loved Hange. I loved them so much. They were THAT kind of weird, they were passionate, smart, funny... I loved them, but I love how they got to choose how to die, and when, and especially knowing their death will be useful for the others. They died fighting brilliantly, and I will love them, and they will inspire me forever. Farewell Hange, have a nice time in the afterlife with all your fallen comrades, knowing you can stand tall and proud among them.

No one can force Annie to stay. But I can't believe everyone's just fine with this. The world is fckin' ending and only by a miracle they can win, there's NO WAY those people are compromised to the gravity of the situation if they're all just "yeah, Annie is a titan and she's out, let's get the other titan too because he's a kid, Pieck I thought you were coming to the ship too?", because it really sounds like they're not even trying at this point. Is this a walk in the park or the destiny of all people in the world?? :/

Levi’s “see you later, Hange” reminds me of Mikasa’s “see you later, Eren” in the first chapter. A foreshadow of Eren’s eventual demise?

There still isn't a third realistic alternative.

Hange sacrifice was the greater good and I hope the alliance makes the most of this chance, For those they have lost. For those they can yet save

Hange knows their time is near and they are correct.

There was no need to kill off Hange, felt forced and rushed

this armin/annie stuff had better go somewhere plotwise after wasting cringy panels on it that could have been dedicated to less rushed interactions between other alliance members. might as well just kill the alliance off at this point and let reiner finally die, since their chapters are such a drop in quality.

This chapter and the previous two are perfect reminders that we're at the point of no return in the final arc. While I want to see some good moments, twists, and any loose ends tied by now (Zeke, WHERE ARE YOU?!!), it's all going to be all doom and gloom from here on out. Whether Eren or the Alliance succeeds depends on how these next chapters turn out; Whoever wins, bloodshed will continue until the Rumbling ends.

I realised Hange probably has huge survivors guilt and that she wanted to die, and wanted to make her old friends proud(who are dead)

They all really cared for Hange a lot and that's sweet.

They should have a concrete plan on how to stop eren if they could

Things are gonna get wild.

Great chapter, and I'm really excited to see how the Alliance and Eren confrontation plays out. This ending has the potential to be absolutely legendary.

Half of the characters have no hope in what they are doing (the "leaders") but do that because "ThEY hAD tO" and another half will makes me sad because they dont care about eren plan really (not speaking about gaby and falco)

Hange could have exited the story in another way, I guess.

Hange's death should have been more dramatic.

Hange's death was handles perfectly and the chapter had it's fair share of humour.

Hange's death was rushed, could've been better handled. Floch's selfless death was the only high point,  and maybe LH being semi-confirmed.

Honestly, I don't hate Hange but I wish she had lived to see the consequences of her betrayal of Paradis, by putting her own feelings and morals over her own people's wellfare; for better or worse, her actions will have huge repercussions on the entire island and she should be there to take responsibility over the inevitable fallout. Even though she never tried to avoid responsibility over her choices, and I genuinely respect her for sacrificing herself over her ideas, it honestly feels to me like death was an easy way out from having to deal with Paradis' fate (SPECIALLY if the Valhalla stuff is real) while leaving Armin to clean up her mess.

Levihan is real

i expected sex on the ship or aruani huge/kiss/touch

Honestly, I'm just following it because I got used to reading a chapter every month, but the story is terrible now. Hange's death only served to confirm that Isayama intends to have a 'final battle' between childhood friends, nothing unexpected.

hope we get more from Jean

Hope we now start going into the final confrontation cause this chapter seemed setup to that.

As I've said before, I'll miss Hange. RIP you absolute legend.

Hopefully we get to see historia

Hoping for more Hanji backstory.

I don’t need a heart to live

I don’t see how this story can have any sort of a happy ending

I dont see a possible ending where all these characters can live the rest of their lives in peace but oh well

This chapter dropped massive death flags on Armin and Pieck. These two aren't going to last. Yelena is probably dead from compartment syndrome next chapter.

This chapter honestly makes me more scared for Levi because I was hoping he would get the kind of ending that Hange got. Now we just have to wait and wonder about how much more pain Isayama is going to put him through.

ZEKE WHEN ?????? I MISS YOU

I’m frustrated with the direction the story is going in. Armin being made commander, Hange dying, Annie being brought back just to confess to Armin and then be sidelined, Mikasa being the one to kill Floch, it all just seems to make little narrative sense. I don’t feel like we’re building to a clever twist, it all feels capricious and random

After comparing Hange’s death in the manga to Erwin’s death in the manga, I can safely say that Hange’s death was better. Hange’s had comedy like her complaining about how hot the CTs were and of course that line she said to Pieck, it was sad with the Levi and Hange moments and the chapter’s conclusion, and it was epic with her killing 3-4 Colossal Titans, getting scorched to death and her dead body falling until she got trampled in the Rumbling. Erwin’s was just epic with bringing the entire Survey Corps going down with him. If Mappa does well with the anime, this will break the internet for sure and this death will be remembered.

bruh my favorite character just fucking died

It was a quick way for removing another veteran. I feel that the vets sacrifice their lives too easily. They see their own existance like it was some rpg game and they were going to go back to life after while. First Magath and Shadis decided to commit heroic suicide, now Hange decided to leave this world "just like that"/ C'mon, people don't give up with their lives so fast..

Oh, and this chapter made me start shipping levihan!

characters stop dying challenge

This and next chapter are the calm before the storm. And once that storm comes, this is going to end up as either a great story or a perfect story. Also, what the heck happened to Zeke? I need answers on that matter.

At this point the only way for this story to end in a satisfying manner is for Eren to kill everyone, successfully finish the Rumbling and save his people.

Aún estoy llorando.

I feel Hange should have been given more space to make a bigger impact as a commander. It’s like, Erwin always made gambles that magically worked out for him in the grand scheme of things (for the most part and in a group with a horrible survival rate like the SC no less) but for whatever reason Hange just stuck their thumb up their butt and twirled the whole time. Sometimes making one character smart results in everyone else only being allowed to have one shared brain cell. Overall I liked Hange a lot but they were done dirty. And blaming Eren for everything? Lol Hange. You can put your clown nose on now.

Overall best leader? Jean. Best leader for this particular set of circumstances? Armin.

I can't wait until the Alliance realize their futile efforts and come face to face with the reality that, Eren has power over the memories of all subjects of Ymir and can control their titan shifting.

Isayama just want to kill everyone,isn't he? In every chapter we've got deaths this is just depressing. Isayama I respect you but I hate you but I respect you but I hate you.

I cried buckets while reading it, so props to Isayama for that! :)

I cried when Floch died and I laughed when Hange died .

I don't have words for that. I am just lucky enough to be able to witness this  work while

Pain. So much pain. Levihan pain. Aruani pain... *cries for a week while preparing self for more tears in the near future*

i just want everyone to be friends again😭

Jean has not been about stopping Eren from the get-go. I think we are up for a MAJOR revelation about his own involvement in Eren’s plans.

Hange should be survived

Hange should've not died in this chapter since we still do not know the clear plan of the alliance. Their death was written in a hurry, not as epic as Erwin.

Hange was my favorite character. But, as much as I am sad to see her go, her last moments were pretty epic, I am looking forward to see how it will affect the rest of the story.

Hange wasn't a good commander no matter how much her fans cry about it. her being a good character is another thing altogether.

My babies Yelena, Pieck, Reiner, Gabi, and Falco deserve the world.

Hange's manner of death, in her own terms fighting to save others, is my favorite so far.

Hanji death was unnecessary and Floch death only made Allience look worse then they already are

0/10 no Zeke

Jean is the only one who undestands eren and Floch

Jean never really supported the Alliance, he will try to reason Eren's plan isn't all that bad.

Jean will see Flochs words as a possible option but i dont see him going through with opposing The Alliance. He made his choice when he joined them.

(THE DEAD SPEAK LMAOOO) I really liked this chapter but it’s still horrible and traumatizing like the 131 (wait actually the 131 is way more horrible 😭)

Amazing art as always.

Amazing yet sad chapter since I respected both hange and falco and to see them die was pretty sad.

ANNIE AND ARMIN FOREVER. I want her to be free to be soft and caring and to have someone who loves and adores her. I love this dynamic and I think it’s a good foil to Eren and Historia

ANNIE IS THE BEST GIRL!

I want Reiner to live on as the clinically depressed sole survivor.

i’m still broken. hange and sasha were my comfort characters✌🏻😭

Idc but your quiz suck

Idk its just i'm pretty sad about hange's death cuz she was one oof my top waifus

One of my favorites ✊😔 rip Hange

One ship. I just want ONE CANON SHIP by the end of this, Isayama. JUST ONE. Is it really too much to ask, man. I've already given you plenty of my tears to sip on so idk what more you want from me...

Only Armin, Mikasa, Levi and Reiner will survive.

OUCH

Please stop making Levi suffer be it a final rest or a peaceful life anything PLEASE

Please, don't let anyone else die :(

Plot wise it was shit, but I love it for the drama

POGGERS

Poor Levi. Everyone important to him was taken away. Also, HANGE GOAT.

Poor Reiner.

rest in peace Hange "nonbinary icon" Zoe

rest in peace king, now is in Eren hand to keep giving meaning to your life

Really was good. Hange went out in a great way.

Surprised Floch didn't end up killing anyone, especially no named engineers, Yelena or Connie.

The way Mikasa shot the grappling hook at Floch’s throat was like how Levi killed an MP by shooting their throat during Uprising. Ackermans can access the battle experience of other Ackermans through Paths – Mikasa learnt that move from Levi.

I would think that this chapter should have gotten into more interactions between Armin and Annie, because i feel as though their relationship should be explored a bit further. Given that we know that both do like each other, it should be seen on how these two handled their possibly last goodbyes.

I'm just gonna let it flow

I'M NEVER GETTING OVER HANJI'S DEATH

Hange is one of the most well-written characters of a manga abounding with them. I love the way they always stayed true to their ideals without wavering, despite all their doubts about their suitability as Commander. Their open-mindedness, humour and love for knowledge make them truly special, and their most quintessential line must be this one from chapter 127: "'Just bringing freedom to this island is enough for me'. Do you think a single one of [the dead Survey Corps] would be so narrow-minded as to say that?" Chills. Very glad they chose Armin as their successor as well before taking down the colossals. They will be missed.

I'm quite curious about Armin's next moves. He is the commander now after all. Also, wondering what Levi is going to do now.

I'm really curious about the weapon that Yelena brought up to the alliance

i get the feeling that annie has had all the closure she needs and she’s gonna die but at least she might pass on her power to gabi ? either way i’ll be devastated to see her go

I HATE it that Hanji had to die, but loved the way she got her heroic moment. It's a love/hate chapter for me.

I have fears of Annie to die

I hope Levi lives just so he can be the most tragic character in AOT.

I hope soon, eren can stop all of this thing

I it wasn’t for the spoilers, Hange’s death would have break my heart.

I just hope Levi found his peace and die, please. He's already lost Hange, please don't make him suffering more.

I just thought it was impressive that this was one of the three moments in the whole story that actually made me ugly cry (Other two were Hannes' death and Serumbowl)

The more i think on Hanges death the more i like/understand it.

The sad looks on Levi and Hanji's faces are enough to say thousands of unspoken words. Nuff said.

Reiner is immortal

reiner looked hot af

This beast of a man, how many hours did he spend nearly drowning with a wounded arm? I got to really care about him even if his ""political"" choice was the worst. I just wanted him to have a dignified end and he had (even if Jean wasn't the one to do it). And the vignette... Perfect. In the end, he really fought as the devil he needed so much, no matter their identity. Relax, honey. Now you're safe from Eren's bullshit.

i miss hanji

I need HISTORIAAAA

I need more PATHS and I smell it coming

...i´m tired.

The Survey Corps never actually fought for humanity prior to the Rumbling, only against it. Hange even states this irony in chapter 89. The "well, the Corps was always fighting for humanity" rationalization is just disingenuous cope that ignores everything that got revealed with the basement and, by extension, the plot itself.

Super based

I really just want to see how this ends already.

I still can't believe Hange died. And to think that Levi's got no one else in his life anymore breaks my heart. I've always think that Levi and Hange should be together until the end. Not shipping them tho. I don't if it's platonic or romantic,but they love and care for each other. And Levi realising that his only friend is going to die and his eyes turn dark like an abyss really makes me feel like broken in half. And that dedicate your heart scene..oh my god I can't. And Hange still got some nerves to joke around at time really made me goes "HANGEEE-SANN!!"༼;´༎ຶ ۝ ༎ຶ༽

Floch's final moments were sorely needed to remind us just how human he really is. He didn't care about ruling the country or destroying the alliance. All he wanted was for his people and the island to survive, and he felt the alliance was putting that in jeopardy so he did what he thought he had to do.

Isayama keeps killing my favorite characters

I liked the chapter but it felt unnecessary Floch probably should have died before the boat left and Hange was killed off to lighten the cast and make Armin commander.  Hange and Levi probably could have died/stayed in the forest.

R.I.P. in horny titan jail

I like this manga. Very much so ❤

[hydra-collector]

Lost Without You, Half Dead

AO3

Ship: Anxceit

Characters: Janus Sanders, Virgil Sanders

TW: suicide attempt, self-harm, blood

Words: 1207

Summary: janus keeps virgil alive.

Note: title from the song "half dead" by the mountain goats. it was the first thing i thought of and it mostly fits ok

Virgil hovered his finger over the call button.

On one hand, he didn’t want to die without a note. On the other, Janus despised him.

Their friendship had ended… badly. Both of them had said things they regretted, things got a little personal and… it ended there.

Right when Virgil hoped it could’ve been something more.

He supposed that was partially the reason he’d dumped out a container of painkillers in his hand. That and the fact that he was nearly failing college, hadn’t had a real friend besides Janus since sixth grade, struggled to pay rent each month, and he’d been looking lovingly at bottles of bleach ever since he learned they could kill him.

Should he tell Janus what he was going to do?

The phone buzzed, his… friend picking up quickly as usual, despite his anger with him.

“What do you want, Virgil?”

“Mostly, to apologize. I’ve been shitty and said shitty things and you didn’t deserve that. I don’t know why I called you, it’s not like you care, I just needed to- needed to tell someone that I’m gonna be gone.”

“Gone where?”

Virgil’s mouth faltered, a lump forming in his throat.

“Gone where, Virgil?”

“Gone- gone forever.”

“If you don’t fucking wait for me to get to your apartment, I actually won’t forgive you. Don’t fucking try anything. You got that? You wait for me to get there or I’ll tell everyone what you tried to do, because you’re not gonna fucking die, and I’ll stop whatever you try to do, because I know you don’t have anything that can kill you that quickly, so you’ll be alive and left with whatever residue from your method, so you’re gonna fucking wait, okay?”

“Why do you care?”

“I’m the closest thing to a friend you’ve got.”

Janus wasn’t far. His own apartment was only a few blocks from Virgil’s, and he was a fast runner. It didn’t matter how many people he weirded out, he wasn’t letting Virgil do anything.

“What do you have?”

“Painkillers. Maybe if I take them now, I’ll have a chance.”

“I’ll have to make you vomit.”

“I don’t care about the goddamn discomfort, bitch. I’m willing to risk a little vomit if it means I get out of this place.”

He wasn’t sure where Janus was, which worked in his friend’s favor. By the time he heard the faint clicking of pills and Virgil’s “goodbye,” he was already dashing up the stairs.

“Get out, Jan. You don’t really care.”

“Up Virgil. Over to the toilet.”

He pulled him from his position on the floor, dragging him in front of the toilet. He made him vomit himself, pressing his finger to the back of Virgil’s tongue as he resisted. He squirmed, trying to get free, but Janus held tight.

“God, why didn’t you let me fucking die? It’s not like you care, like you ever cared. At least let this fucking stop, let me die and have no friends if you never liked me.”

“I am never going to let you die. I don’t care how miserable you are now, I’ve seen you happy and we both know it can happen again. Don’t give me any of the bullshit about ‘no one loves me’ because I know someone who does and it’s me, the person you brought here, so I think maybe that’s who you'd appreciate it from.”

“You were all I had! You were all I had and you left, I left, I lost that person who maybe fucking loved me because I’m a fucking piece of shit.”

“I’m here. What you have now is someone who loves you as much as a hundred people could. I haven’t told you, haven’t shown you enough of that, maybe you wouldn’t have felt so awful, so alone. I can’t help caring for you, even when I should hate you, when I should feel hurt. It’s disgusting how much I love you, it’s gross how I- how I want-”

Virgil’s lips collided with Janus’s, tears streaming down his face, his hands grasping his neck. They both stumbled towards the wall, Janus’s back pressed up against it. He wrapped his arms around Virgil’s waist, pulling him close. The stayed there for what felt like forever before Virgil broke it, letting his hands slip down to rest on Janus’s waist.

“You taste like vomit.”

“Fuck you.”

“Seriously, though, your first instinct after we break up as friends, I come to your house and save you from killing yourself is to kiss me?”

“To be fair, you were really fucking hot and saying gross romantic shit.”

“God, this is so much like us, isn’t it?”

“Now if you’ll excuse me while I wash the taste of vomit out of my mouth,” he said, pushing Virgil away.

“Oh, aren’t you going to hug and comfort me now? And I’m the one who vomited.”

“Yeah, but you kissed me. I didn’t have a choice.”

“...You literally made me vomit.”

“I didn’t have a choice, you’d just fucking swallowed twenty Aspirins.”

“...Well, while I wait for you, I’m gonna bury myself under the covers and cry some more.”

“At least rinse out your damn mouth.”

“God, fine.”

Janus joined him on the couch, limbs intertwining underneath a mountain of blankets. Virgil talked and talked about everything that had happened, and all Janus did was listen.

[cfjvde]

* connor jessup, nonbinary + he/him  | you know jude moore, right? they’re twenty-five, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, three months? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to no children by the mountain goats like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole sabotaging your own happiness, biting the inside of your cheek when you try to speak, the drop in your stomach when you just miss the next step thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is november 17th, so they’re a scorpio, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( ariel, 23, cst, ze/hir  )

hey y’all!! i’m back on my bullshit!! this is jude, one of my oldest muses. i’ve written and rewritten him for about 6 years now. This is his latest iteration and I hope y’all love him !!!!! or don’t i’m not your mom !!!!!

tw for homophobia, transphobia, neglect, abuse, alcoholism, divorce & abandonment

quick stats

NAME: Jude Daniel Moore D.O.B: November 17, 1995 AGE: 25 BIRTH PLACE: Luray, Virginia CURRENTLY RESIDING: Irving, North Carolina SEXUALITY: Polysexual GENDER (PRONOUNS): Nonbinary (he/him, tentatively trying they/them)

background

When asked to describe his father, Jude has a lot of words. Severe. Outrageous. Demanding. Violent. Drunk. No one would ever call Samuel Moore a loving father, except maybe his daughter from a previous relationship. When asked to describe his mother, Jude has fewer words. Absent. Empty. Selfish. She had to have been selfish. That’s the only way he could reason out her leaving Samuel but not taking him. He knows it’s cruel of him to assume that of her, but it was cruel of her to leave him behind to deal with the consequences of her rejection. Samuel had strict expectations, and he made the rules, usually as they went. He moved the goalposts constantly, always making sure Jude’s successes could be warped into failures. C in math? That’s a beating. Asking to hang out with friends too often? Grounded to your room, with nothing but a bed. Staying in your room too much? Locked out of the house. Samuel almost seemed to take joy in terrorizing his only son. 

In a way, Jude felt like a stereotype. An angry drunk dad, who ran off his mother, living in a small town and...gay? Was he gay? Maybe. At least a little. And y’know what he did with that little bit? Repression!! Just gonna shove that w a y down in there and wait to see how long that takes to blow up in his face. In the meantime, Jude did like girls. Sometimes. One girl in particular caught his eye, and it was definitely love. The two of them came from similar backgrounds, him with the alcoholic dad and the absent mom, and her with the inattentive mom and the revolving door of temporary stepdads. She was kind to him, and valued his thoughts. He admired her spirit, and considered her very dear to him. She had an obvious romantic interest, and he wanted his interest to be romantic, so they did what any two stereotypical down and out kids would probably do. They got married, straight out of high school, and they got the hell out of dodge. 

Marriage was bliss, too. At least at first. Both of them enrolled in school and worked, and with all of their time spent in their own worlds, and only occasionally crossing with each other, things went well. They got along well, and coexisted peacefully. Trouble began cropping up the closer they got to finishing their respective degrees. They’d been married nearly 4 years, and the problems they’d ignored til then were rearing their ugly heads. She wanted kids, stability, and the kind of security she was never afforded. Jude...had no idea what he wanted. He barely even knew himself. It was becoming more and more obvious that the two of them just...weren’t a good idea. But they toughed it out, really. They did their best to make things work, but. Last year she officially served him with divorce papers, and. That was that. he stayed with some friends at first, and she went back to Virginia, last he heard. He didn’t go home. Couldn’t go home. 

He needed to find himself, and going home would only spell trouble. He’d learned some things about himself while he was away from home, things that definitely meant it was best if he avoided home for now. His father wasn’t known for his tolerance and acceptance on the best of days, and having to explain that his son wasn’t his son, would prefer just “child”, actually, and that he was even remotely attracted to men, well...It wouldn’t be pretty. He’d heard enough of his father’s comments growing up to know that much. 

So Jude found himself in Irving, North Carolina on a total fluke. He has a cousin in town, who agreed to let him stay as long as he wanted, as long as he helped out with the bills. So Jude’s found himself starting over in another small town, truly on his own for the first time in his life.

Stats (to be added)

Pinterest

[supremeuppityone]

Author’s note: This was written for Klaroline Bingo @klaroline-events. Prompt: Pain. As an Original, Klaus thought he understood death. But it took meeting one brave human to show him how little he actually knew.

Warning: The angst is back. This idea came to me when I had a health scare earlier this year and I wasn’t quite ready to work through it until now.

Chapter 121: Special Care

“Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome.” ― Isaac Asimov

           Klaus was a selfish man. But he couldn’t be selfish about this. This was not about his pain. He watched Caroline’s blue eyes light up as she cradled the delicate blue flowers he’d given her. It was foolish, but he imagined that his gift brought color back to her cheeks. She was far too pale. Klaus had met Caroline when he was traveling through the Andes, searching for a powerful shaman to assist him with locating the final ingredients needed to break his hybrid curse. He’d been in a right strop when he tore through the mountain village, dripping blood and chunks of flesh, and it wasn’t until he’d paused at a stream to wash off some of the gore that he heard the sweetest, most sarcastic voice.

           “If you keep scrubbing that hard, you’ll rub off all your glitter.”

           From her impish grin, he assumed his expression was quite comical, but for the first time in centuries, he found himself at a loss for words.

           “You’re a vampire, right? Seriously?! How do you not know about Twilight?”

           For the first time since that half-witted shaman had betrayed him, he burst out laughing.

           And that was the moment his life changed. Because Klaus had never met a human so full of life like Caroline was. But Caroline was dying. As he thought of the pain she’d endured, he could feel his temper flaring, wishing he could unleash his fury at this indifferent world.

           “Stop it, Klaus,” Caroline’s melodic voice commanded, taking him by the hand and leading him out into the garden. “It’s not your job to be angry at my cancer. Trust me — I’m angry enough for both of us.”

           He watched her fussily arrange the brightly colored flowers in the lopsided vase she stubbornly kept from his disastrous pottery lesson, frowning when he noticed how her knees started to shake. He guided her to the plush daybed, mindful of his supernatural strength as he felt how painfully thin she was underneath her gauzy dress. “Trust me, sweetheart, I was furious at the world ages before you came along.”

           “Yeah, but I’m special. Something about beautiful and full of light, blah, blah,” she said with a wink.  “And before when you were pissed off, you’d just slaughter a village until you felt better, but this is different.” Her voice took on a more serious tone, and she slid her gaze away from his. “It’s metastatic breast cancer. I have tumors throughout my body. I can’t be cured; the best I can hope for is to keep up my herbal treatments here.”

           He shook his head, doing his best to quell his anger. None of this was her fault. He knew when she’d first been diagnosed in the States, she went through the conventional chemotherapy before moving to targeted therapy treatments, but each time the cancer grew back. Finally, she’d exhausted all of her options, and instead pursued a variety of alternative herbal therapies that eventually led her to Argentina. “The kenaf seed extract and aromatherapy seem to be working,” he murmured, placing a kiss to her temple.

           Caroline laced their fingers together, a familiar note of caution in her voice as she gently reminded him, “It’s true in lab trials, the extracts killed cancer cells better than some of the other herbal supplements I’ve tried. But with metastasis, there’s peaks and valleys — sometimes the disease is stable, and other times it progresses.”

           “But you’re stable now,” he blurted out, hating the uncertainty in his voice.

           Her smile was sunshine and joy and all of the sweet promises Klaus fervently wished he’d known centuries ago. How different his life would’ve been. “It’s like I reminded my doctors when they tried to talk me about of moving down here. It’s about the quality of my life, Klaus.”

           They were distracted when a vibrant blue and green hummingbird appeared, hovering over the orange and yellow bell-shaped flowers. He heard Caroline’s heart flutter in excitement, and he did his best to ignore her shortness of breath.

           Turning away, he observed the hummingbird, an odd sense of peace washing over him as he observed, “Such an extraordinary thing, mercilessly beating its wings just to stay alive. I’ve never witnessed a creature with such fire in its soul, fighting to earn every moment of its life.” He glanced back at her, his gray gaze intense while his voice was barely above a harsh whisper as he said, “Except for you.”

           “Are you always so charming,” she asked dryly, reaching up to poke at one of his dimples. “Or, do you normally let your dimples do all the work?”

           Klaus gave her an indulgent smile. He loved her sheer cheek; the way she never backed down from him even after she saw what he was. She was glorious. His equal in every way. “Let me turn you,” he pleaded, “my blood can heal you, and then you can be with me.”

           “Ask me tomorrow.” She laid her head on his chest, palm resting over his heart. “I’m always surprised that I can feel your heartbeat. It’s strong — like you.”

           “And I can hear yours,” he replied gruffly, her erratic pulse sending him into a panic that he did his best to cover up with a smirk.

           “Isn’t it amazing?”

           Klaus found himself leaning into the warmth of her embrace, protectively draping his body against hers as they watched the hummingbird flit from one flower to another.

           Amazing.

                             _______________________________________

           “You’re going to drop me,” Caroline said with a giggle, her voice muffled against his shoulder and Klaus cradled her against him.

           “Nonsense, love. Even as a lad, I carried deer that weighed more than you. Even some of our goats.” As she rolled her eyes, he hastily added, “But you smell much better.”

           “And I smell bullshit.”

           Her delighted giggles made his heart feel like it was breaking and healing all at once. They came to a stop at the blanket he’d spread out on the dock, and he carefully laid her among several pillows. Lake Lacár was a magnificent sapphire blue today, and Klaus knew he’d always see Caroline’s fierce gaze reflected in its still waters. Gesturing to the wicker basket, he said, “I thought you’d enjoy a picnic.”

           He shyly handed her a glass, pleased that the witch’s freezing spell had kept the smoothies the perfect temperature. “This has ginger in it. I thought it would help with your nausea.”

           She beamed at him, taking a sip and nodding enthusiastically, “Delicious. You’re too good to me.”

           He ducked his curly head, cheeks reddening slightly. “Many things have been said about me over the centuries, but ‘good’ never was one of them. I’m not a good man, sweetheart.” Snorting derisively, he added, “I’m not even a man.”

           Setting aside their smoothies, Caroline huffed impatiently. “Who the hell cares? I certainly don’t. You’re smart and tough and fiercely protective. You’re basically a Rottweiler with dimples.” She leaned forward, briefly brushing her lips to his.

           Every time they touched, Klaus felt as though his soul was sinking into hers a little more, and he welcomed how his loneliness seemed to vanish. He cupped her cheek, thumb lightly grazing the sharpness he found there. “And you are a cheeky minx.”

           Caroline grinned, gazing across the water at the people paddling their kayaks. “Hey, when you finally get around to breaking your curse, will you take on more wolfy characteristics?” She placed her hand over his heart, her voice endearingly curious as she questioned, “I mean...do you feel your wolf now?”

           Klaus was stunned — no one ever had asked him that before. “Being cut off from my wolf is...hurtful. Sometimes I fancy I can feel it move through me, but I’m never sure. My birthright is there, trapped in my blood and bones.” He sighed heavily, “And it’s beyond my reach.”

           “Nothing is beyond your reach,” she swore vehemently, “you’re Klaus Mikaelson. You’re the man who survived an unspeakable, violent childhood and now has powerful supernatural creatures as his minions.” She leaned over to kiss him on the cheek, dryly adding, “And you fearlessly attempted to teach me how to make alfajores.”

           “And then generously replaced your oven and repainted your kitchen.”

           Caroline playfully elbowed him in the ribs. “Okay, seriously? The first two fires were your fault. The third and fourth ones...meh, we’ll call it a draw.”

           Lips curling into a devious grin, he kissed her soundly, delighting in the tiny surprised squeak she emitted as he ran his hands down her back. He winced slightly as he felt the harsh ridge of her spine. She shuddered in his arms, and at first, he was alarmed that he’d hurt her, but then she moaned against him, dominating the kiss and he was lost within her.

           With a gasp, she finally pulled back, resting their foreheads together. A hitch in her voice was apparent as she said, “Just need to catch my breath.” Klaus found it endearing when she giddily told him, “I can feel my pulse. It’s racing! Isn’t that amazing?”

           “Amazing,” he agreed, cursing his supernatural hearing that told him her heart was pounding far too haphazardly. Needing reassurance, he lightly touched her chest, the feel of it moving with every breath both a blessing and a curse. “Will you let me turn you?”

           “Ask me tomorrow.” Caroline’s sunshine smile always filled him with warmth. He refused to see how her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

           When a jewel-toned hummingbird briefly hovered over the blue flowers near the edge of the water, her eyes lit up excitedly. “Do you think it’s the same one from the garden? Aww, he’s alone again. I hope he finds a friend soon. Everyone needs someone.”

                            _______________________________________

           Klaus knew something was wrong the moment Caroline didn’t answer her door. The morning felt different. Everything did. He took the spare key from the hideous ceramic frog she’d insisted on buying when they visited the village market because ‘it looked lonely.’ He loathed the panic in his voice when he called out, “Caroline?”

           He found her lying in bed. And far too still. And he could smell —

           No.

           Cursing his supernatural senses, Klaus flashed away, unable to be in her room a moment longer. That wasn’t Caroline anymore.

           Needing to feel close to her, he found himself in her garden. She loved being surrounded by flowers and once she’d grown too weak to tend them, she’d enlisted his help to keep everything blooming. Suddenly, a blue-green hummingbird flitted to the vibrant, bell-shaped flowers, and despite his sorrow, his lips quirked when he saw the hummingbird had brought a friend. Caroline would’ve liked that.  

           Caroline was gone. But she didn’t have to be. There was magic Klaus could use; a powerful coven was cheaper than buying an election these days. The right promises of power and protection coupled with the proper threats and even the most discerning of witches would pledge their loyalty.

           He clenched his fists, trembling. She would be whole again. Ageless and beautiful. And his. Except Caroline never wanted to be anything more than what she was. Human. All she’d ever wanted was more time. He saw it in her earnest gaze and bittersweet smile every time she rebuffed his offer. ‘Ask me tomorrow’ was her way of telling him she craved another day at his side as a human.

           Klaus was a selfish man. But he couldn’t be selfish about this.

[vespertine-legacy]

My new least favorite datacron: the Ossus endurance datacron. I wish I’d gotten more screenshots along the journey, but I was too busy shrieking in frustration.

I ended up using Dulfy’s written and video guide, because I would not have been smart/patient enough to figure out all of it on my own (and mostly my frustration at trying to just jump up the first mountain for the first switch like a damn goat made me start getting less and less interested in actually doing this The Right Way or whatever).

Ossus has tons of secrets. There’s Don, the Exiled Knight (a fun little side quest to find, and I’m pretty sure he’s become an alcoholic during his exile). There’s hidden caves that are tucked into the scenery as almost optical illusions like the doorways in a Labyrinth (that you can fall into if you’re not paying attention and actually looking for them because you’re actually trying to find the best spot to be a mountain goat for the switch for the datacron). There are the datacrons, which sit out in the open but require spelunking or convoluted exploring of the entire planet to actually get to.

My misadventure getting this datacron under the cut:

For this datacron, there’s a hidden personal instance on the edge of a cliff with a really pretty room (partially pictured above, at the end of the journey) with a neat gnarled tree, a stand for a holocron, and a giant ancient tablet with some symbols on it which match the symbols on the ancient switches you have to find and activate across the planet in the correct order. The switches are pretty well hidden (switches 1 & 5 require mountain goating, switch 2 requires artfully falling down a waterfall without falling too far down, because if you fall past the hidden ledge, you’ll fall to your death instead of landing inside the little crevice with the switch, switch 3 is in a secret cave behind the farms which I found on my own while exploring the first time I went to Ossus and had no idea what it was for, and switch 4 is inside the Jedi Library in an off-map area that you also need to go to when you’re looking for the Exiled Knight). I watched someone gracefully leap up the mountain for switch #1 and prayed it was a sorc who could pull me up if I asked nicely, but it was a merc, but they did stand there and watch me stumble my way up and we celebrated when I made it. 

Clicking the switches in the correct order applies a hidden buff to you that allows you to access the area where the datacron is hidden, inside the Jedi Library. You can return to the personal instance to check the tablet and make sure you clicked the switches in the right order. If you did, there will now be a little glowing circle mark above the symbols. If you did anything wrong, it will look the same as before and you have to start over. It starts in the same area as the story area, but before you get to where you would fight Malora/Gnost-Dural, along one of the hallways, you’ll notice a light on the wall that I’m pretty sure wasn’t there before. Lo and behold, if you climb up onto the ledge there, there’s a hole in the floor there. Jump down in the hole, even though logic screams at you not to, and now you’re stuck in a cave in near-pitch-darkness, with what looks like a giant gaping maw of the void in front of you and then a ledge with some glowing blue mushrooms. Walk straight over to the mushrooms. Or, exfiltrate because you’re on an Agent and a chickenshit and you really don’t trust that there’s a floor between you and that first set of mushrooms. When you get to to mushrooms, you get a nice light probe over your head so that it’s not completely dark in the cavern anymore, but it’s still pretty damn dark.

Again, logic says “Please, no,” but, follow the mushrooms. You’ll be climbing and jumping, doing some zig-zagging back and forth across the canyon as you go until you eventually end up on the second floor of the Library. A couple times, the Dulfy video used the Rocket Boots to make the jump across gaps, but I just exfiltrated and flung Raz face-first into the cavern wall instead. If you’ve got SCORPIO as your active companion, she’ll mostly walk along the cavern floor until you forget that she’s there until your camera autorotates and she walks up out of nowhere with her glowing eyes and you suddenly think there’s an enemy walking up right underneath you and it’s GREAT for your anxiety. Oh, and don’t worry! It is easy to get turned around and start accidentally backtracking, because you’re in an area that’s off-map so if you fall and you’re not very Boy Scout minded, you can just get overwhelmed and want to sit down on the cavern floor and cry until SCORPIO slaps you in the face and tells you to pull yourself together.

Once you get to the second floor of the Library, there’s a blue switch on the left. Click it, because that’s what ensures that if you fall to your death, you respawn here instead of at a medcenter. Now you get to hop across some giant cracks in the floor and make your way about halfway around the room until you get to the datacron. Yay, we’re done! Right...? Wrong! The datacron is in some sort of cage and can’t be clicked. Keep making your way around the room until you find another blue switch. On the last jump, you’ll probably need to use rocket boots because the switch is on a slightly higher ledge than you are (and you can’t walk along the ledge on the edge of the room, because an invisible wall will push you off and you will cry). This button does two really neat things: 1) it makes a light floor appear in all of the gaps in the floor making it safe to walk there and 2) it lowers the cage around the datacron. Okay, so now we’re done, right? Fucking wrong again. Return to the datacron again, and it disappears. But look at the little table it is sitting on. It matches the stand from the cave in the little hidden personal instance from the beginning of this nightmare. So go back there, and voila! There’s your datacron. It also makes the tree all glowy, and you get a weapon tuning that makes vines grow all over your weapon.

Important things to note that I didn’t see mentioned in the guide I was using: 

If you die at any point during this adventure, you will lose the buff that allows you to actually get this datacron. (Guess who fell off a cliff 100 meters from the instance when going back to check I had clicked them right and had to start over... Go ahead and guess...). 

Quick traveling does not interrupt the buff, so by all means, quick travel between the various points (which I haven’t included here, because Dulfy’s guide includes map screenshots and coordinates). 

I don’t think there’s a timer on the buff? I wouldn’t try to like log out in the middle of doing this nonsense, but I think it’s safe to take your time while trying to complete this.

This datacron is only Endurance +2, so like, don’t beat yourself up over it too much unless you’re a completionist and just really want all them datacrons like me (even though I know I’m never gonna finish the Indiana Jones bullshit one on Onderon lol).

[amixiifish]

Heat- Chapter 50: Zuko’s Thoughts

Actor Iroh was shown as a very rotund, round-faced man sporting a slightly exaggerated imitation of the real Iroh's hairstyle, complete with a top-knot, beard, and sideburns.

Actor Iroh holds up a platter of cake. “Prince Zuko, you must try this cake!”

Actor Zuko was looking through the telescope.

He is wearing a headpiece that sports the ponytail Zuko once wore, albeit slightly exaggerated. Zuko's scar; the replicated scar, while realistic, is worn over the wrong eye.

Actor Zuko turns. “I don't have time to stuff my face! I must capture the Avatar to regain my true alpha heritage.”

Everyone in the Gaang frowns.

Zuko? And alpha?

Anyone who has met the teen knows of his cuddly omegan nature.

Not that Zuko would ever admit to it.

Actor Iroh shrugs. “Well, while you do that, maybe I'll capture another slice.”

Actor Zuko leers at the other actor. “You are a sorry excuse for an alpha.”

Zuko flinches at the harsh words of the actor.

Katara immediately rubs his arms, saying he would never say that and he was fine.

Suki was still slightly pissed that they thought since Zuko was crown prince he had to be an alpha.

Toph was still smiling but it was significantly less than before.

Sokka and Jet share a look.

If they kept portraying Zuko this badly, it may not be good for his mental health.

Actor Iroh lazily gazes across the stage. “Let's forget about the Avatar and get massages!”

Actor Zuko turns around to shout at the man. “How could you say that?”

Zuko’s frown deepens.

“Don’t worry Sparky. We know the real you and that’s all that matters,” Toph says.

Toph wasn’t very affectionate but she understood that Zuko had a very strong bond with his uncle.

And this play was making it seem as though Zuko hated him.

***

The backdrop changes to the Southern Air Temple.

Actress Aang tiptoes to a bush with a white ponytail sticking out of it. “Hey look, I think I found something!”

She grabs it and picks up a puppet. “It's a flying rabbit-monkey! I think I'll name him, Momo!”

She puts her hand in the puppet and controls it to say, “Hi everybody, I love you!”

The audience once more roars with laughter.

“Ugh,” Aang says, miffed.

***

Actress Suki appears holding up two fans.

She lifts them up as Actor Sokka enters in the Kyoshi Warriors' uniform.

Actor Sokka points to his behind. “Does this dress make my butt look fat?”

The audience laughs, and Suki does too.

Sokka gives half-heartedly glares at her but also smiles when he notices Zuko’s mood lifting.

***

Actor Bumi comes on stage  with an Omashu background.

Actor Bumi cackles maniacally. “Riddles and challenges you must face, if you are ever to leave this place!”

Actress Aang dodges a swaying rock while a goat-gorilla chases Actor Sokka across the stage.

Actress Katara stands amidst several jennamite prop.

Actress Katara exaggeratedly groans as she ‘pushes’ the rocks. “Ugh! Oh!”

Katara gives a disgusted look and sticks up her middle finger.

***

Suddenly pirates come from all sides and attack the actors.

The pirates start fighting each other as the actors of the Avatar gang slip off stage.

Actor Sokka turns to look at Actress Katara. “Why did you have to steal that waterbending scroll?”

Actress Katara starts crying again. “It just gave me so much hope!”

Katara narrows her eyes from the balcony.

***

Actress Aang is tied to a platform, Actor Zuko in front of her.

“The Avatar is mine! Wait, who's coming?” Actor Zuko cries, looking off stage.

Blue Spirit jumps on stage with a huge mask and two swords. “I'm the Blue Spirit, the scourge of the Fire Nation, here to save the Avatar!”

The Blue Spirit walks across the stage waving his swords.

The guards fall down and Actor Zuko runs around the platform and throws a blue strip of paper to symbolize firebending.

The Blue Spirit points a sword at Actor Zuko, who runs away.

Actress Aang swoons, jumping on the large Blue Spirit mask. “My hero!”

Blue Spirit walks off stage.

Zuko gapes at the stage while Aang huffs.

That was not how that encounter had gone.

But it was reassuring to know that the Fire Nation thought Zuko and the Blue Spirit were different people.

***

Actress Katara and Actor Jet appear on a wooden platform, hefted in the sky by a crank system.

Actor Jet wipes tears off Actress Katara’s face. “Don't cry, baby! Jet will wipe out that nasty town for you!”

A large blue banner pulled by a stagehand dressed in black crosses the stage.

Actress Katara and Actor Jet descend from their platform.

Actress Katara swoons. “Oh, Jet, you're so bad.”

Both exit.

Katara grinds her teeth while Jet chokes on air behind her.

“I’m not a fucking omega!” Katara snarled.

Toph was finding it incredibly difficult to breathe with how hard she was laughing.

***

The team was now traveling on a large Appa prop with mountains painted in the background.

Actress Aang gasps. “Look! It's the Great Divide! The biggest canyon in the Earth Kingdom!”

Actor Sokka shrugs. “Eh, let's keep flying.”

***

The stagehand dropped a bag of fake snow on stage in one spot.

Actor Sokka and Actress Yue appear with a Northern Water Tribe background painting.

Actor Sokka clutches Actress Yue’s hands. “Don't go, Yue! You're the only woman who has taken my mind off of food!”

They kiss but Actor Sokka gags.

“Wait, did you have pickled fish for dinner?” he questions.

Actress Yue exits on the moon prop. “Goodbye, Sokka! I have important moon duties to take care of! And yes, I did have pickled fish!

Suki looks back at Sokka. “You never told me you made out with the goddamn Moon Spirit!”

Sokka said, fake tears in his eyes. “Shhh! I'm trying to watch!

Suki huffs and folds her arms, slightly annoyed that he wouldn’t give her the information she wanted.

***

Actress Aang wears a Koizilla costume and waves around an Actor Zuko stuffed toy.

Actress Aang laughs, stomping all over the small ship props. “The Avatar is back to save the day! Yay!”

Curtain drops and the audience cheers while Toph laughs.

All the other members of Team Avatar were disgusted.

Aang sticks out his tongue. “Ugh!”

***

Team Avatar exits the theatre and sits on the stairs on the far side.

Zuko leans back on Suki. “So far, this intermission is the best part of the damn play.”

Sokka opens a bag of fire flakes, sitting next to Jet. “Apparently, the playwright thinks I'm a dumbass who tells bad jokes about meat all the time!”

Suki stares at him. “Yeah, you tell shitty jokes about plenty of other topics.”

Sokka pops a fire flake in his mouth. “I know! Wait.”

Sokka glares at Suki as she snickers.

Aang huffs angrily. “At least the Sokka actor kind of looks like you. That woman playing the Avatar doesn't resemble me at all!”

Toph shrugs, stealing a fire flake from Sokka. “I don't know, you are more in touch with your feminine side than most guys.”

Aang stands up. “Argh!”

Katara rolls her eyes. “Relax, Aang. They're not accurate portrayals. It's all bullshit. It's not like I'm a preachy crybaby who can't resist giving over emotional speeches about hope all the time.”

Everyone turns to look at her.

“What?” she questions.

“Yeah, that's not you at all.” Aang grumbles, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Toph gives a pointed look to the group. “Listen, guys, it's obvious that the playwright did his research. I know it must hurt, but what you're seeing up there on that stage is the truth.”

“Wait till you're on the stage,” Jet comments.

The bell rings, symbolizing the end of the intermission.

“Here we go again,” Zuko mutters.