#literally already dying to reread and annotate

[lady-forest-1142]

okay I just read the summer palace for the first time and holy. fuck. I don’t know why I waited so long to read it but god am I glad I finally did. 

green but for a season: I fucking love jord and aimeric and they are SO underrated. second fave ship of the series and I’m not kidding. aside from getting to see my babies again, I really loved how this explored the loyalty of the prince’s guard to laurent, and how devoted they were to him even before princes rising. also. orlant and huet and the hat. iykyk.

the summer palace: my fave story of the whole book we been KNEW. I am such a sucker for sweet soft joyful epilogues and this was no exception. literally have nothing to say about this except that I was giggling and kicking my feet the entire time.

the adventures of charls, the veretian cloth merchant: listen I know I said the summer palace was my fave story but the LAYERS of this one?? the banter. the fucking dramatic irony used for comedic effect. LAMEN. and everything coming together to show just how calculating and skilled and BRILLIANT laurent is, how he can execute a political plot and have some fun with his husband at the same time?? icon. I loved this. already need to reread. 

pet: okay the slave-related stories (intentionally I think!) give me the ick, so this was my least favorite, but I still thought it was really interesting to see deeper into ancel’s motivations and the machinations of the veretian pet system, especially in contrast to the way the akielon slave system worked in the training of erasmus. 

all in all, completely essential reading. again, cannot believe it took me so long to get to. if you haven’t read this yet, get yourself to a kindle asap.

[134340am]

notes/annotations under the cut! (please do not perceive) (⊙x⊙;)

(rubs hands together gleefully) i’ve been dying to read this the entire day at work but i practised some self-control because i’m a big girl now :-( m super excited for this because liv NEVER misses + i’m in my levi feels because i just watched the episode where hange stitched him up and :-( he’s just a liddol guy you feel

okay i have my favourite candle lit next to me and my water bottle’s filled let’s goooo

The paint on the crumbling walls is cracking and peeling from the yellowing surface in large, unsightly clumps,

idk why this made me think of the yellow wallpaper (which i’m planning to reread someday hehe) 

is this foreshadowing? (probably not)

A pitiful creature sits curled in the corner upon itself, withered away to practically nothing—made up of sharp lines of sinew and bone under paper thin, pallid skin that has taken on a sallow tone.

no.... no no NO NO FUCK I JUST REALISED THIS IS THE SCENE WHERE KUCHEL D*ES RIGHT IN FRONT OF LEVI....... help help h elp my heart already hurts

“withered away to practically nothing” that’s the most accurate description of child levi i’ve ever seen, both literally and metaphorically :-( ouchies

“Was she your mother?”

was.... T T

The periwinkle soul is dealt with, and all too soon you find yourself again in Limbo.

ok quick pause from the storyline but “dealt with” is like. such a simple yet effective way to phrase things... if i wrote this i’d be tripping over myself trying to explain the soul reaping process and whatnot (while being 100% aware that i don’t have to, i just like to panic and overexplain) so...! note to self to be more succinct in the future and this is a good example to come back to ✍️ ✍️ ✍️

The fact that she can still smile so carelessly, carry herself so weightlessly,

tell me why i read this and just thought of nifa immediately. #percolateneverends 

another quick pause here to appreciate the abundance of imagery in the piece so far!!! the setting up of the scene in kuchel’s room - perfect, got the creeps like 2 lines in and wanted to crawl under my blanket to read the rest of this because i literally got chills... and i feel like i can see the bridge very vividly too (shudders)

His eyes meet yours briefly before they go unfocused and glassy, and then he passes out completely.

can levi see reader still? :-O or is it just a coincidence and he was just glancing in reader’s general direction? hmmm

also not being able to interfere pains me... 

But you also know that when he lets you leave he’ll do a thorough search of the immediate area for any signs of danger, and then perch on a rooftop until he sees you get to where you’re going—the very same thing he’s done for dozens of other women in his lifetime. That you’d seen him do with your own two eyes though he hadn’t been able to see you with his.

GASPS... HEL P LEVI is... levi killed a man when he was a kid but he protects people who’ve done no wrong, and only harms out of necessity ; ; levi... he’s my lil meow meow 

“I don’t pay for sex.”

That’s because you don’t get any, you want to add but don’t.

i’M WHEEZING 

You wonder if the euphoria that washes over you is something you’ve experienced before, in a lifetime that no longer lives in your memory.

no wait help i’m

a) excited because they kissed (and the build-up to it was soooo good like 1372894 rubber bands being stretched and released all at once. it was flirty, subtle, but so very in character especially for levi!!!)

b) intrigued and loving this au!!! :-O it’s just... so interesting to be reading from the pov of a non-human person

c) sad sad sad :-( does reader lose memories of her human life after becoming a reaper? has she always been waiting for levi? after all, she’s been following him almost his whole life... even the previous line “Have we met? You look… familiar.” seems to indicate that mayhaps they’ve met before...! like waaay before reader was a reaper and idK !!! IDK IDK ok i gotta continue reading before i get carried away lol

You suspect, now more than ever, that he must feel it t—a knot no power could unbind, that could be forced to separate but would never truly be apart—that tethers the two of you together.

eh!??!??!? THEY R SOULMATES!!!!

When Levi wakes, he thinks you’re gone, though you’re still there.

NO

You’ve seen the stars, you’ve followed the lines of his path more times than you can count as you lay in Limbo—you know it better than you know anything, could trace it even with your eyes closed.

help h elp im scared for levi and i can only cope with it by trying to b funny so girl (gender neutral) this is like the equivalent of stalking ur crush and searching up their name on google and finding the presentation they made about capybaras in third grade and memorising it

also i read the tags/warnings this morning and found nothing i’m uncomfortable with, but i already forgot what the warnings on this were AND I DIDN’T REALISE THERE ARE TITANS IN THIS...... H ELP

also i fucking love acwnr i’m gonna rewatch it after i read this (if i can recover from this, that is. hmmm)

You’d been offered a choice, so very long ago. Become a reaper, or face the tribunal of adjudicators to have the worth of your soul ruled upon.

this reminds me of a film i watched not too long ago -- Till We Meet Again (2021)

it was alright lmao but i feel like if this fic was adapted into a film it’d do much better than whatever i watched back then

And, eventually, they’re left to reap the soul to which they’re bound.

oh OW if it’s not already bad enough to be bound to someone who’s not even from ur realm... it hurts even MORE to be the one to reap their soul i’m ; ; on the verge of tears rn

Eld’s soul is a sunny yellow, Gunther’s a deep burgundy, Oluo’s a cool crisp lavender, and Petra’s a sparkling copper.

listen... LISTEN.... i love squad levi and it well and truly broke my lil heart when they died in the giant forest and. all these colours suit them so well. i’m sobbing

Kenny’s soul is silver, but it looks more blue in the sunlight—almost periwinkle if the rays catch it in just the right way. Like his eyes. Like Levi’s.

KEEENNNNYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY 😭😭😭😭 fuck im crying

Levi’s is every colour. An amalgamation of each soul who’s touched his life. Periwinkle, deep blue, amethyst, silver, emerald. You see every hue in him.

NAUR STOP RIGHT THERE sorry this is becoming increasingly incoherent i’m just. full of feels. levi’s the best boy ever i hope he knows that the people who died for him / under his leadership / in front of his eyes etc etc i hope he knows they all loved him in some way and that they don’t regret it

You make it to your platform and slip onto the last train just in time, stumbling through the closing door, triumph rising in your chest.

ok gonna geek out here for a bit but TRAINS!!! why do meetings always happen here...? in all my favourite films too

there’s probably something deeper and more symbolic here but i can’t think of anything now my head is spinning and my nose is stuffy :-( sobbles bobbles

“Have we met? You look… familiar.”

You tilt your head, watching the glimmer in his silver eyes as the lights outside the train windows flicker past.

“No,” you say, warmth in your words and your cheeks. “I don’t think we have.”

hic sniff this is the most perfect ending ever...! i don’t know what i was so worried about in the middle - they’re soulmates, so duh they’ll find each other again in every lifetime :’-) i love soulmate aus. there’s something so pure and precious about having this person be yours for all of eternity, and this was written so well - i love the idea of reader and levi being soulmates even when they’re from different realms. it proves how strong their bond is ; ;

defo a fic that’ll stay with me for a long time!!! the language is so gripping and evocative. i felt like i could vividly see the story unfolding in front of me, as if i was watching a movie. <3 also i learnt a couple of new words from here heh

i’m so glad i didn’t rush to read this and that i took my time with it after work! :’-)

the mortal price of crossing twice levi ackerman/grim reaper!reader (attack on titan) CROSSPOSTED TO AO3 word count: 8k tags: 18+ MINORS DO NOT INTERACT, grim reaper reader, soulmates, levi literally flirting with death, canon-typical violence, blood mention, knifeplay, smut, implied loss of virginity, angst with a happy(?) ending a/n: i wrote this one night and woke up and forgot i wrote it and then spent 10 months translating it into something vaguely readable--hope it was worth it!

The room is silent and still, the air stagnant and reeking of mildew and decay when you arrive.

The place is an absolute hovel.

To call it anything else would be an injustice to the squalor.

It’s damp, dim, and windowless—after all, there’s little use for windows in a place that sees no sun. The paint on the crumbling walls is cracking and peeling from the yellowing surface in large, unsightly clumps, with piles of plaster and paint collecting on the warped, jagged floorboards underfoot. 

The only light comes from the sad stub of a misshapen candle, lit on a rickety table on one side of the room. It’s burned so low that the flame seems sure to flicker out at any moment.

Much like the occupant of this place.

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