#snk 17

[mandaax]

There he sat in his wheelchair, in the middle of the road. It was sunny, very warm outside.

"I'm here now, Levi." You spoke, eyes welling with tears. You felt your voice quickly going hoarse.

"I came back, for you. I've been..." Sob. Sob. Sob. "Looking for you.."

He stayed quiet, he was in disbelief. No words and no thoughts. It was like time had stopped for him.

When was the last time he saw you.. a decade ago now? In the Underground, he remembers you.

You were Isabel's friend, more like a caretaker, almost. Always hanging arou d her, he remembers you as quite the energetic girl.

Question is, what are you doing in 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘆?

You... survived the Rumbling, somehow. He's deeply impressed, and... glad, he supposes.

"...𝘆/𝗻?"

[to-rise-above-monsters]

happy late birthday armin and an even later halloween

(i’ve never posted art before pls be nice,,, i didn’t know what to do with the background im sorry)

[stilemawillow]

Unbeneficial [Levi | Reader | Modern AU!]

i - the benefits of you | ii - unbeneficial

Most people you knew would much rather never step in your shoes in terms of location. You lived in a big city and the school you attented was only reached by catching a single bus at exactly 7:15 every morning. Your home wasn't even in the suburbs, your neighbourhood was just that vacant. So every school day, you got up at 6 a.m. and left for the bus stop at 7 a.m. It was a tradition now. The same bus, the same seat, the same passengers, the same cigarette butts on the same side of the pavement. Boring but fascinating in a way, how the tedium of habits persisted. Some people's schedules were like clockwork and yours was one of them.

Then arrived the abnormality differing from the usual picture you'd gotten used to. He stood by the bus stop sign, stoic and taut. His habits were easily noticeable. Always holding his suitcase in his right hand, so he could easily lift the left one to check the time on his expensive watch. Never stuffing it in the pocket of his dress pants because they would crease, and fixing his plain tie every five or so minutes. Never observed his surroundings. The only thing his austere eyes were looking forward to seeing (with questionable zest, if any at all) was the bus that would drive him to work and you - to school.

It took you a week to figure out his strict routine and now you were just eyeing him with unhidden curiosity - something he seemed to notice but never openly acknowledge. That was until the second week, when he finally got annoyed with your persistent stare. A single glare from eyes such as his was enough to make your body turn at a hundred and eighty degrees as you nervously clenched in your clammy fist your bland uniform skirt.

By the third week he'd stopped glaring, maturely having concluded you'd keep spying on him - albeit less blatantly. And you did. Arriving at the bus stop had never been as exciting as it was when he was around, with his broad shoulders and variety of plain ties.

At times he would show up with a cup of tea in hand. You blinked at him like an overly curious child - which at the time you might've been - uncaring of what any other woman would've noticed and focusing on the funny details about his conduct and appearance. You didn't see the attractive features or the sculpured body under the suit - you saw the amusing sour expression that made his lips seem comically thin when he frowned at his watch and the interesting scar on his earlobe that, after a lot of pondering, was deemed a result of a piercing during a rebellious period that never healed properly.

On the topic of rebellious periods and piercings, you couldn't help but wonder how old he was. You stood five feet from him, nudging the cigarette butts around with the tip of your left shoe and intensely staring at the ground. He was obviously one of those pricks who worked at a famous company, so he didn't exactly need experience if he had connections. Which meant the possibility of him being twenty was as plausible as the one stating he was thirty. You'd never give him thirty, though. Looking closely, the only thing hinting at whatever age after twenty was the crease between his thin brows and the look in his eyes - knowing but dull, having experienced things a young adult was yet to encounter. So how old was he?

The tea and the stiffness said grandpa. The face said a teenager punk. The suit and watch said responsible, thirty-year-old adult. Then, having considered the many possibilities, you built his backstory in your mind and smiled incredulously at your own imagination. Not even a professional writer would manage to weave a resume so realistic.

His name was Bernard Lewis (because it had to suit his British pale complexion) and he was a twenty-one-year-old college student. He'd grown up in a big city a long way from here but had recently moved due to the internship his father had forced on him. As a compliant son, Bernard had gotten rid of his old earring from the time he'd been in a band in high school and taken his grandfather's favourite watch, moving into his new abode. Imagine his disappointment when he'd been refused a car and forced to take the bus every morning. His plain ties were presents from his mother and he got a new one every Christmas. Last but not least, his constant frown was caused by his seperation from his girlfriend, Crissie, just when his best friend Dylan had started giving her a suspicious number of rides all over the city too. Little additions were that he was trying to quit smoking and most suits he wore were actually his father's - cue his nitpicky behaviour in attempts to keep them neat.

Bernard's character was perfected by the end of the fourth week, which coincidentally turned out to be the week when your first interaction took place. On a very fateful Thursday, Bernard was holding his usual cup of tea and you were kicking around the cigarette butts when a middle-aged lady with a bit too much lipstick collided with the ebony-haired male's back, resulting in some scalding spillage and a very vindictive curse on his side. The deep timbre with the husky edge wasn't how you'd imagined his voice, but you had no time to ponder that because he was about to do a lot of damage to the rude lady if somebody didn't intervene.

Putting a fragile hand to his stained cuff, you saw his snarl turn in your direction with a feral glare that had the ability to cut. Your shoulders shrank a size but you handed him your handkerchief with a shy smile and a silent plea not to attack the lady, which he very reluctantly complied with. Slender fingers dripping with tea brushed against yours as he took the handkerchief and muttered a curt word of gratitude. You just stood there, smiling at his face from up close and relishing the sound of his voice. It suited his eyes, that timbre. He stuffed the handkerchief in his pocket, saying he'd return it the next day after he washed it. You nodded, about to ask his name (you were begging all the Gods above for it to not be Bernard because it no longer suited his voice) when the bus arrived and you had to get in.

Stopping yourself from annoying him further by sitting next to him, you occupied your usual seat and quietly bounced up and down in fervent wait for tomorrow. How easily stirred the teenage female heart was.

The anticipated Friday arrived and you set out to walk to the bus stop earlier, seeing as Bernard was always there before you, which would now give you more time to muster the courage to ask his name. He was waiting by the sign already, watching you hastily glide down your skirt and fix your hair as you smiled at him. He pulled the clean handkerchief from his pocket - folded and pristine, making a bashful pink tint your cheeks as you took it and questioned the state of his skin. He brushed your consideration off with a scoff, but you didn't give up, eyeing him with a curious look that you'd later learn had been way too penetrating to be ignored.

You were hardly conversing but you were attempting to make it work, longing to hear more of his voice and thus forgetting your initial goal of obtaining knowledge of his name. The bus arrived at exactly 7:15 and you got on, deciding to stand by the ebony-haired male with the expensive watch as he furrowed his brows at the vehicle's doors. You muttered a small 'bye' as he stepped forth when his stop arrived and he graced you with a cold glance and the most diminutive nod he could've given. You took it with a big smile and a kind of nervousness that left your skirt creased due to too much fidgety clenching. You were looking forward to the following Monday with excitement you'd never felt up until now.

And when it came, he wasn't there. He wasn't by the bus stop sign, holding his steaming cup of tea in his left hand and his suitcase in the right one. He wasn't making a funny expression that showed his cutely scrunched-up nose at the expensive watch on his wrist and he wasn't glaring at you as you childishly spied on him out of the corner of your eye, thinking yourself sly. You'd just decided today would be the day you learned his name and now he wasn't there, leaving you weirdly disappointed and pouty. You kicked the cigarette butts around until the bus came and you got on, taking your usual seat with no enthusiasm whatsoever.

A little pinch of hope had clung to the edge of your mind so you ran to the bus stop the next day, expecting him to be back. He wasn't.

A week passed like that. You decided it was futile to wait for him, so you just went on with your life. It wasn't like you liked him or anything. Not his deep voice or his cute nose. Or the far from scary scowl that had the ability to make you smile even when you were tired and moody, just because you admired his energy to frown that early into the morning. You hadn't grown attached to the slender fingers stiffly fixing his plain ties or the satisfied hum at the back of his throat when he drank from his tea. You had no interest in learning his name or age, or everything else he could tell you. No interest whatsoever in him. He was a random man who only glared at you and washed your handkerchief once. Nothing big, even for an inexperienced high school girl.

Almost two weeks after his disappearance, you were running to the bus stop after the first time you'd overslept. Your chances of reaching it in time were slim, but there. You just had to run as fast as the wind, which would result in your underwear totally showing from under the boring uniform skirt you wore. So risk somebody seeing your pink undies or risk being late for school? The choice wasn't exactly easy for a goodie-two-shoes like you, but you at least had the decency to admit your attendance mattered a bit less than your dignity. So you ran as fast as your skirt allowed, watching the bus take the lead a block away. Your eyes widened in horror as you sprinted but your breaths were ragged and your lungs felt like balloons about to pop. You tripped, trying to find the voice to call out to the driver, but all that came out was a pathetic croak.

The bus was taking off and so was your hope. Your pace slowed and your calves protested even when you walked, finding it hard to balance your breathing. You were leaning on the bus stop sign when a car pulled up in front of you and the door opened, vouchsafing your eyes a sight that made them widen in visible shock. The ebony-haired male invited you in with a sigh, explaining that he'd understand if you refused his offer to drive you to school but would very much appreciate a quick decision on your part since he had somewhere to be too. You got over your shock with a hasty nod and jumped in the front seat prior to closing the door and profusely thanking your stoic savior after telling him the address of your school.

The radio in the clearly expensive car was playing an old song you remembered from your childhood and your heart was now beating fast not only because of all the running you'd done. You were stupid for getting in his car - who knew what he would do? This was exactly what your mother had spent years teaching you not to do and yet here you were. Amazingly dumb of you, getting into a stranger's car. And why? Because you'd missed his cute nose and non-scary frown? Not a good enough reason for when you'd try explaining why you'd been assaulted on your way to school. Two sides of a coin were fighting inside you - a protective one and a defensive one.

You felt ashamed for thinking so badly of somebody who might've just wanted to help you but then again - how many high school girls had been kidnapped and killed this exact way? Because they'd been naive and their abductor was attractive? A lot, but this wasn't the case because the ebony-haired male wasn't a bad person, he was only more or less returning a favour. Why did he suddenly have a car now though? Why had he been on the bus for a whole month only to suddenly show up with an expensive car when you most needed transport?

You shook your head with an inward scowl, deciding to distract yourself by apologising for the inconvenience, to which your savior/possible abductor scoffed and noted it wasn't a big deal since his workplace was close to your school. Upon being asked of his profession, the pale man took a small card from his pocket and handed it to you without even glancing in your direction. You took it from his slender fingers, then observed them fix his black tie and grip the steering wheel. Your hues eyed the card. A strange name sat at the top, next to the name of a pretty famous bank that had a branch in the big office building that could be seen from your school's rooftop. A work phone number and an email address were lined under a strict greyscale pattern and above it - the words 'branch manager' in a somber font that made your lips purse.

Your eyes widened in realisation and you looked back and forth between the card and the stoic man who had handed it to you until he shot you an impatient glare.

"What?" Annoyed with the stare, certainly. You couldn't find the words to answer. Was it a shock that you'd seen his name already? In those boring magazines your father loved buying and reading just to pass the time while getting drunk? Was it a shock he was currently driving you to school when he was famous enough to be written into a whole-ass magazine? Or was it a shock than he wasn't a sixty-year-old grandpa with dyed hair and a silly pair of glasses like his name had first made you think? All three together maybe formed the perfect explanation you'd have a hard time articulating properly.

"I'm sorry for the discomfort I'm causing," you began bashfully. "Also thank you, again, for this." There was a beat of silence. Then, at last, you blurted out: "I'm (Y/N) (L/N), by the way. Since, um, I learned yours, I think it's only appropriate to give mine." It wasn't a dignified introduction, merely the most you could muster in such an awkward moment.

He didn't speak for the next five minutes and you only watched the card in your hold with silent admiration and wonder. Levi Ackerman. Sounded times better than Bernard Lewis. First correction to your imaginary story. Branch manager of a bank office instead of an intern. Second correction. Not twenty-one then. Third correction. Your lips pursed in thought. The expensive watch was probably bought with his own money, so fourth correction. You only crossed your fingers for him to have not been picking and buying the ties he wore - it was really the only feature of your story you wanted to have been true.

Questions that would further jeopardise your fantasy's credibility were impossible to ask. Was a girlfriend (actually maybe wife) present in his life? Did his mother buy his ties? Had his father forced him into the business? Was he trying to quit smoking and had he ever been in a band in high school? No, no. Impossible and improper. Actually, fuck improper - it was straight-up rude and the most insolent thing you could do when he was literally wasting his time driving you to school in his very expensive car. Noticing your inward panic as it had obviously written itself on your features, the male glanced at you and stiffly questioned your lateness as to offer a distraction.

You spent a minute ranting about your alarm clock and disappointment when he stopped in front of the school building and looked at you expectantly. You thanked him once more, this time very quietly and with a downcast gaze. You asked him why he'd been taking the bus when he had a car and he clicked his tongue, promptly pointing out you were being impudent prior to snorting in amusement at your shamefaced expression and quickly explaining a friend had borrowed his car for awhile and then crashed it, making him wait an additional two weeks for it to be repaired. You turned to him in surprise and he shooed you off once noticing the hint of a smile at the corner of your mouth. You got out of the car but had a hard time closing the door. You had to say something that wasn't a 'thank you' or a stupid question.

"You have a nice name," you stated with a smile, too fazed to realise the filter between your brain and mouth had disconnected and you were in the process of embarrassing yourself major time. "It suits your voice way better."

"Than what?" A single quirked brow and the non-scary frown was gone. His stoic gaze spoke of mild confusion you happily cleared out with your next words.

"The one I gave you." His brows twitched, in amusement or discomfort you didn't know, and then you became aware of the things you were saying. Your eyes widened in horror and you slammed the car door shut when you saw his lips part. Not waiting for the branch manager to call you mental, you ran for the school building faster than you'd run for the bus less than an hour earlier. Levi Ackerman, you were sure, would never drive past your bus stop again. Even more, he'd probably try to avoid it at all cost. Or so you thought for the remainder of the school day before you walked out only to see a very familiar expensive car outside.

"I get off earlier on Fridays. Now I'd like to learn about the name you've given me." It was what he greeted you with, as all passing students stared at your fidgety figure next to the slick surface of the car he was leaning on. You cracked an awkward smile whilst trying to excuse yourself but when he offered you a ride and a free cup of coffee your lips pursed in great emotional pain as your dry throat called for the caffeine and your heart called for the sound of the ebony-haired male's voice. You agreed after a whole two minutes of thought, getting in the front seat under the multiplying gazes of curious peers and bystanders. This was last thing in the world you were supposed to be doing. Or was it?

You liked Levi's company and though it would take you awhile to get used to the fact he was way different a person than what you'd imagined, there was nothing wrong in just talking to him - right? Yes, he might've been rich and not exactly your age, and you admitted you knew zero facts about his personality but he didn't look like somebody who always had an ulterior motive at the ready whenever he drove school girls to class so they wouldn't be late. So you ignored the stares and you ushered him to drive, sensing as your whole face had started heating up due to the excessive amount of attention.

You found the bravery to question your intented destination, to which the branch manager snorted prior to stating he'd be dropping you off at the bus stop. No romantic detours such as you might've imagined. His crude words made your lips pout in displeasure as you opened your mouth to respond and then remembered he was the adult in the situation and you were taught to never speak back to adults. The grey-eyed male noticed your determination waver and turn into uncertainty, and he did something no adult had ever done in your life. He encouraged your argument. Telling you to defend yourself if you considered his words unjust, the ebony-haired male turned the wheel and the car followed, with your speechless self in it.

It took you thirty seconds to finally voice your retort. Then the next ten minutes you spent arguing in a half-joking, half-serious tone you could call neither friendly nor hostile. You were getting to know his opinions on certain things, some of which included the suspicious aspect of an acquaintance like yours from a third point of view and his reluctance to be dragged into any kind of public drama. In actual fact, he'd been reluctant to offer you a ride that morning, seeing as it would be deemed extremely improper. Then it came - the moment you dropped your guard and asked him how old he was since he was speaking of everything as if it would be illegal.

A weird look was thrown your way. Then a pair of thin lips uttered the vital piece of information you'd come to accept and him - hate. Twenty-six didn't sound old in perspective but became inappropriately ancient the moment it was positioned in a small car space shared with a fifteen-year-old girl. You stared at the road ahead prior to gifting his stoic profile a bright smile and a compliment stating he looked way younger. On the topic of which, as he was quickly reminded:

"What is this name you've given me now?" Levi's grey eyes shot you a brief glance, then focused back on the street signs outside. You clasped your hands together and began nervously chewing on your bottom lip, feeling like your temples would soon start sweating buckets.

"... Bernard," you admitted after a minute-long pause, making the man next to you scrunch up his nose at the car's interior. You avoided looking at the tip of it twitching because you might just start swooning. Such a stoic man didn't deserve a nose so cute.

"Too tacky for me. Who even has that kind of lame-ass name anyway? His mother must hate him." His comments were too out of character for somebody you considered a responsible adult but you weren't allowed to laugh - it would seem as if you were making fun of him. Yet you burst out laughing right then and there, cackling til your stomach hurt and he was looking at you weirdly. You wiped at the still tears at the corners of your eyes with a shit-eating grin, then explained:

"I'm not laughing at you."

"I don't really care about that - you just seem to be having an unusual amount of fun when you're stuck with somebody this boring."

"Boring?" You echoed, blinking in innocent confusion and making him click his tongue in exasperation. You spent the rest of the ride to the bus stop arguing whether he was boring or not, and then - out of nowhere, you heard yourself blurting out an invitation for a cup of tea. He locked eyes with you and felt obliged to refuse as strictly as he could. Then you were making doe-eyes at him and pleading. You promised it wouldn't take long and you'd never interact with him after that - though inwardly you longed for the opposite. He kept saying 'no' over and over again, then you were at the bus stop and he was ushering you out of the car. This had been merely a favour on his part and he didn't wish for it to become anything more.

Then you asked - in the most hopeful voice you'd heard out of your own mouth - if he would be willing to use the bus just once more on Monday. He furrowed his brows at you and said one last 'no' prior to shutting the car door and driving off. You were sulking all the way to home. Your father was fast asleep on the couch and your mother had left you a note stating she would be out with collagues because of her incoming business trip. You went in your room and just... sat, thinking. Thinking and thinking. 26 wasn't a big number. 15 was just smaller. And what about it? His body was also bigger than yours, it was normal for his age to have been too. His hands were bigger than yours and so was his experience on the topic of the world. There was nothing particularly inappropriate about that.

But then again he might've been married or dating somebody. Such weird offers out of the mouth of an underage school girl had to have been terribly repulsive. So you settled with the thought of not seeing him again, if nothing else you'd be coming across his name in magazines. Maybe it would no longer bring the image of a sixty-year-old grandpa with dyed hair and silly glasses to the surface of your mind. Maybe it would make you picture the slender fingers fixing a plain tie as their owner glared at you with a beautiful pair of grey hues and a cutely scrunched up nose. Maybe he'd be holding a suitcase in his right hand.

You made preparations for Monday anyway, because you were a fifteen-year-old that had a proclivity to be too hopeful and optimistic sometimes. Because you were taught to always be prepared, always see things in a positive light. There was nothing positive about the 'no' your question had been answered with but you went ahead hoping for the best in spite of it. You made a cup of peppermint tea and added just a little bit of honey, because such a bitter person couldn't possibly like excessive sweetness, then you headed out, humming and holding the steaming beverage in your left hand. You arrived at the bus stop around the usual time and he was standing by the sign like a mirage, stiff and taut, holding his suitcase in his right hand and eyeing the watch on the left with furrowed brows.

At first you walked closer than you usually would just to check if he was real or not. Then he looked into your eyes and you froze, enveloped by the scent of tea and suddenly so very uncharacteristically happy it was worrying. Your heart was beating fast as you handed him the cup and asked if he liked peppermint, and when he told you the process of offering somebody something went backwards you just laughed, forcing him to take the cup with a shake of his head. You didn't question his change of heart and he certainly wasn't one to address it of his own accord, which you were perfectly fine with. You spoke of the weather and his work, and he nonchalantly shared as little as he could whilst satisfying your curiosity as best as possible.

They were all trivial topics that would under no circumstances hint at the imminent relationship that was to form. Who of the two was to think you'd be, in only three years, sitting on the couch in his apartment, arguing about your relationship prior to kissing like the world was coming to an end? Neither so far. Levi would sense it later on - way later when his feelings would become more conflicted, and you'd never suspect the problematic nature of what was to come, as you'd never consider it an actual problem. That would all come in time, though. For now you were only the numbers 15 and 26 riding in a big bus that would drive him to work and you - to school.

Later you'd inquire about his work hours. Asking him if he had a girlfriend came a week after that. And then you found yourself spending minutes staring at each and every car passing your bus stop in the morning in search of his. You saw him less than a month later after his friend crashed his car for the second time that year. There would be three more, but he'd never seem all too angry about it. Riding the bus together became a shared activity for numbers 15 and 26, and by the time they became 16 and 27 the latter had already agreed to a cup of tea in a café and the former had fallen quite hopelessly in love. Your date on the hood of his repaired car would occur during a very chilly October and your first kiss would take place two months later, in the front seat in a vacant parking lot during a snowstorm.

All in all, Levi's ongoing emotional conflict made things indescribably hard for you and your adolescent optimism but it was eventually overcome. A secret relationship began on a very unmemorable date some weeks later, brought to life by your desperate wish for Levi to give you a chance and his incapability to refuse. Running from the inevitable had meant nothing to him until awhile ago but he'd begun sprinting back when he was still twenty-six and he needed some rest a year later, a little taste of what he'd been afraid of. A taste of something bad, something he wasn't meant to be doing. God, how your beautiful smile spoke of the opposite. It beckoned him closer to the fire until he burned, but it didn't hurt - there was only warmth. So he stayed, in spite of how unbeneficial he thought that was.

[aquietjune]

Little Bird, Chapter 17: will she learn to do math, instead? (part 2) is out on Ao3

Snippet!

She was heading to the Warrior candidate training, again.

“Now, Annie,” her father was saying as he was accompanying her to the gate, “When you get to HQ, remember this: obey your superiors but do not trust them. They are not your allies, understand? Even if they’re nice to you, you have to assume they are trying to get something out of you.”

“Yes, sir,” Annie said.

Her father nodded, and for a while, he looked at her saying nothing. Then, he added, “The same count for the other kids. They can seem nice, but they too aspire to be chosen as Warriors. They’re not your friends.”

“Understood,” Annie said.

Months ago, she had another night paralysis while they were camping out in the wastelands. It was the depth of winter, but the sky at night was grey with debris. She didn’t remember much of where they were, or for what reason: everything of that period was a jumble in her memory, but it must have been one of the regions where the fires were extinguished first, because it was cold.

She remembered, in fact, the cold, greasy air on her skin as she gained back her consciousness. Her cold tears. And Armin’s arms.

“Annie! It’s okay,” he whispered to her ear, and kissed her on the head. “Are you cold? I’m sorry. I had to get you outside.”

She was still sobbing, after all. The others must have hated her, as it was already difficult to get some sleep in the first place, in those missions.

Yes, she was cold, and felt unpleasant all over, and yet she’d rather stay there, with Armin. She held onto him. He must have felt cold, too. But then, if they went back inside the tent, they could not touch each other like that, could they?

“Please…” she started saying. But then the opening of the tent was unhooked and Reiner came out.

“Armin, um, heh,” he said. And then, “Oh, Annie. You’re… you’re awake.”

He looked concerned, and almost hurt. As she felt fear running through her, she knew she had one of her cold stares.

“Um,” Reiner said, and extended his arms to them, showing them what he was carrying. “I brought you a blanket. I thought…”

“Thank you, Reiner,” Armin said genuinely. He reached for the blanket, and wrapped it around Annie and himself. “Sorry for waking you up.”

“No… no problem.”

Reiner threw her another glance, meeting her eyes briefly, and then went back inside.

Annie felt so embarrassed.

[zaddyazula]

you’re taking the piss

[lady-eny]

Chapter 17/17 - The end!

Previous chaps: 1  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Some Tags: AU - Historical, Period romance, Drama, Love Triangle, Hate to Love, Forced Marriage, Levihan, Slow Burn

Summary:

Hange Zoe is in love with Zeke Yeager, a humble soldier. But to save her family, she's forced to marry one Levi Ackerman, entering into a marriage she despises. Regardless, will Hange be able to find real love even in a situation where hate prevails?

((Thank you to everyone who’s left kudos, commented, sent messages to my tumblr, and just, for following this story to the end. It means a lot. You can't even imagine how happy reading all your reactions have made me. Week after week, you always lighted up my weekends.

If you just stumbled with this story, thanks for choosing to spend your time with this, I hope you enjoyed! As always, comments and constructive criticisms are very much appreciated.))

[itsfantasticac]

Chun-Li illustration by former SNK artist Shiroi Eiji, for a 2001 Capcom vs. SNK 2-themed giveaway by Arcadia magazine.

Arcadia magazine No. 17 (Oct. 1, '01), pg. 133

[sailorspica]

sole salvation: zeke jaeger, messiah claimant

this is so long it has a table of contents, and prompted by an ask from @oxygenbefore1775:

salvation and atonement

recapitulation

genealogy

the paths as wilderness

biblical fiction

all the english bible citations are from the NRSVCE, i reference the gospel of john just once because it sucks, this is barely proofread and about ~4k. two shorter posts that might be of interest:

the founder ymir eve-mary replacement theology run

krista/christa

none of this is arguing iseyama consciously made any allusions!! this is just comparative reading

1. salvation and atonement

i looked up the japanese title for snk 114, "唯一の救い," mostly for the second part. "唯一" is kind of obviously "sole" or "only" (if i know any CJK characters it's number radicals), but i wondered about the nuances of "salvation" because of the association i have for it below. this had me running to good ol' biblegateway.com, whose only japanese bible translation is the from the heavily paraphrased/colloquial Living Bible. a search of "救い" lands us in exodus, isaiah, and my second-favorite gospel, luke.

you guessed it: it's part of the word choice for "messiah." section titles in bible translations are editorialization, really, but the beginning of the nativity story in matthew is headed

約束 さ れて いた 救い主 promise (...tense stuff idk) savior

救 = rescue, aid, salvation; 主 = host, leader, lord

in the hebrew bible context of exodus, 救い most often refers to god delivering the israelites from egypt through moses, while isaiah is christians' favorite prophet for all his shit cited as prophesying the messiah. the title "christus" is latinized from the earliest greek translation of the bible from hebrew, which used "christos" for "messiah." kings good and bad were anointed with oil (chrism) at the start of their reign, so "anointed one," "messiah," and "Christ" really just meant a monarch. quoting some old testament pseudepigrapha (psalms of solomon 17:23-24), the messiah was understood in second temple judaism as a future davidic king expected to "thrust out sinners from the inheritance / to crush all their substance with a rod of iron / to destroy the lawless nations with the word of his mouth." (rod reiss, zeke as marley's spear, the scream, etc)

now for the "sole" bit. i am cursed to read the kodansha USA title "sole salvation" with the connotation of the solae of the protestant reformation, which are 2-5 doctrines articulated by various reformers but not necessarily codified (or creed-ified, as it were), uh, in protest of early modern catholicism. theological authority comes sola scriptura (not the pope), justification comes sola fide (not by following rules the best), and salvation is available to all sola gratia (through god's grace, not individual merit/how many indulgences you can afford).

how we apply all this to zeke:

what is wild about christianity and islam after it is "humanity"'s fall from grace and the promise of a messiah to remedy it were initially about just one people. AoT's dramatic irony has the paradisians refer to themselves as the whole of humanity until grisha's basement, so jaegerist ethnonationalism is, really, in keeping with the prehistoric tribalism detailed in the history books of the hebrew bible. when the israelites encounter egyptians and semitic peoples of canaan and babylon, they know them as pagans, and proselytization is not on their minds at all, nor these other peoples' relation or lack thereof to adam and original sin. with zeke, we see this idea of salvation and its scale and recipients flipped between grisha and ksaver: grisha promises the restorationists that zeke will save eldia, while ksaver and zeke swear to save the world from titans with eldia as the sacrifice.

the lack of consensus of how to "save" eldia mirrors the hairsplitting of soteriology into what modern commenters call theories of atonement. there are many, but the only ones i'll mention are

substitutionary theory: the vague but broadly understood starting point that jesus died for humanity, and most subsequent theories hammer out the details. with this you'll often see writing connecting it to the story of abraham and isaac, and a classic work is derrida's the gift of death chapter 3, but i have to say if this story echoes for anyone in AoT, it is tom ksaver and not just because of the ram.

ransom theory: humanity has been satan's hostage ever since the garden of eden, so jesus was born and raised, incarnated as human by god, to be the perfect sacrifice to buy back our freedom. this is weird because it calls into question god's omnipotence: why respect satan as a debt collector?

satisfaction theory: jesus' sacrifice is more about ethics and respect in that his death is the "minimum" price for our sins, but he goes above and beyond by walking willingly through the exact cavalcade of physical torture that was the passion, which "satisfied" god, working from a classical/medieval fixation on honor and dishonor.

penal (not penile) substitution theory: god cannot forgive sin willy nilly, so jesus bore god's punishment for us. this is lutheran, and if you read martin luther's diaries from when he was an augustinian, this man just wanted a morally perfect Dom. libs and catholics don't like this because it makes god look bad. s/o my kenny post where i put grandpas ackerman and jaeger side by side with a bit of penal substitution, but it also makes me think of grisha (below)

and my favorite, recapitulation theory, which is simply the most literary way to read the gospels: christ's life, not just death, are a do-over of adam's. he succeeds where adam failed, perfectly inverting everything about the first man: he was born of a woman (the cause of adam's fall 🙄) but chaste himself (allegedly), he's tempted directly by the devil and resists, and in death the piercing of his side by a roman centurion echoes that eve was made from adam's rib. it's the root of the idea of jesus and mary as the "new" adam and eve that i dip into in the krista post—antisemitic supercessionism is a later addition. mary "recapitulates" eve by obeying god, not satan, etc.

i didn't do that comprehensive a skim, but grisha and zeke seem to be the only ones who use "salvation" language, while karina braun uses "atone" in snk 94. "atonement" has one of the silliest etymologies of all time: at + onement, unification, when two become one. so framing the crucifixion as "atonement," and referring to mysticism as self-effacement, jesus' death is supposed to reconcile man with god, like we were divorced. its more pedestrian, legal definition is for reparations and such, but i don't think the soteriological version can describe marley and eldia at all. it's not just penal, but penitential (sacramental) semantics on kodansha USA's part. i might go pester @tsuki-no-ura for a direct translation later. but the jesus-est and adam-est thing about zeke, to me, is physical at-onement when ymir fuses his body into the founder, or as zeke says to armin in snk 137, "did ymir eat you, too?" so the death of jesus' earthly body is a horror story if you aren't trinitarian: he is subsumed into god, made indistinct.

2. recapitulation

recapitulation is a useful idea for FOUR AoT characters: zeke, historia, eren, and mikasa. i really think the figures that do the most to "recapitulate" the eldian creation myth are mikasa and historia, though:

historia: have already said my bit! she's the anti-mary, snk 65 has the juiciest theological language of all. see my second favorite gospel luke. she disobeys where ymir's daughters didn't: she says hell no, she kills her dad. she's my hero.

mikasa: eren and armin's conversation about mikasa and ymir more casts ymir as a god with mysterious motivations, so i'd say "whatever mikasa did" gives us a more medieval "satisfaction" model of pacifying her rage

eren: the whole metaphor on humanity penned in like livestock, ymir's leaving the gate open for the pigs. eren's defence of historia, even from her own self-sacrifice in volunteering to inherit the beast, also makes him an anti-daughter of ymir.

zeke: has all of the prologue and expectation to make him seem like a savior. if he recapitulates any part of "from you, 20,000 years ago," he starts out as fritz by attempting to order ymir with his royal blood, but ends up just as bound as her. there's a screencap we've all seen overlaying the storybook illustration of "ymir" and "the devil of all earth" with eren, zeke, and ymir in the paths. i have feminist tbh satanist thoughts on the nature of knowledge and forbidden fruit that i slghtly get into in that krista/christa post

this is the point where it's important for me to say this is an atheist post and blog, and jesus of nazareth was one of like half a dozen messiah claimants knocking around judaea at the time, including his own cousin john the baptist. the first coming of the messiah was a nearly as absurd a prospect to jews in the late roman empire as the second coming of jesus is to us, so "claimant" doesn't even mean they said so themselves. some were preachers whose followers got a little too hype, or just actual con artists. but! zeke does have a lot more christian echoes going for him beyond the exact function of his death.

in the original question mae asked about zeke in either marian or christian terms, so i gotta say that jesus was also human and subordinated to god's will, in a similar position to mary, as was adam. adam's rib symbolism is so erotic and penetrative and all i think about when titans in AoT are constructed spinal cord first. to me everything about titan shifters is a feminist issue of bodily autonomy regardless of gender, and the power of the founder to "rewrite" eldian biology is the most god-like, terrifying, violating thing about it. this is where a lot of more progressive christian theologians struggle, too, with the question of how is god, in all his power and goodness, still permissive of suffering? or is it that god is not in fact powerful, simply all-knowing? and is that worth jack shit? which is the issue of the royal family keeping the founder after the walls went up.

and we leave this section with the jesussy, or more specifically "the holy lance" that made jesus' side wound. but i think levi went for, idk, his appendix? good enough.

3. geneaology

the gospels of luke and matthew start with lengthy and conflicting geneaologies in support of the claim that jesus of nazareth is of the davidic line through the tribe of judah, but matthew's is patrilineal from abraham through joseph, while luke's is surgically imprecise about jesus' father and thus is often argued to be jesus's geneaology through mary backwards to adam, supported by luke being the gospel to feature women the most prominently. not knowing those intricacies or how legal adoption worked in 1st century judaea, you can say that mary is royalty and joseph is just some guy, ben david or not, because he famously did not contribute sperm. looking at zeke, grisha is just some guy, and dina's blood is the whole justification for zeke's suffering. had she not married grisha, she still would be affiliated with the restorationists, and whatever other child she had would be sacrificed much the same. this supposes that jesus of nazareth was just some guy himself, a typical second temple jewish teacher whose followers were especially rowdy; whether god is real or incarnated himself as human is inconsequential when mary is directly descended from david.

but joseph Does matter from a purely pragmatic point of view of protecting and providing for mary and jesus, from keeping his troth with a pregnant teenager he'd probably never met before to the matthew account of fleeing with them to egypt to hide from herod, and in christian ethics through shit like the Feast of the Holy Family, which replaced the much cooler Feast of the Circumcision.

point is, jesus had two dads! joseph is generally understood as a dead during the time of jesus' three-year ministry, but any time jesus refers to his father he does not mean joseph. like ever. zeke nation knows better than i how often zeke discusses grisha, but in my recollection he calls him his full name or says "your father" if talking to eren. in my subtitles for the above panel re: the second paradis mission he says something like "as the former son of the terrorist grisha jaeger."

but to be clear joseph of nazareth is comparatively a non-person. it's reasonable to think he taught jesus his trade of carpentry, though, and two of the greatest songs of all time play with that, along with that tumblrina poem that goes around here frequently.

beyond daddy issues, protestants like this binary of "high" versus "low" christology to discuss jesus as god and jesus as man, though the exact meaning of either varies and frankly i question the historical accuracy of using either to describe ancient/antique christological debates. the way the liberal protestants at the seminary i dropped out of tended to use it is basically sorting jesus's qualities and behaviors in the gospels as divine or human. divine activities = miracles, prophecy, rising from the dead; human activities = flipping tables, being rude to his mom, getting hangry. now these mostly look like venial sins, to err is human et cetera, but the fig tree story is one of the silliest little humanizing details about him, to me tantamount to zeke having a cat's tongue. zeke's whole problem is he holds himself to an extrahuman (not divine, no, since he probably would go with demonic) standard while forgetting what makes him human. ironically, zeke rejects his inhumane father to claim his very human mentor as family, but ultimately half-lives his own life holding himself to or counter their visions of salvation.

the other bit of jesus' family worth connecting to zeke is his cousin john the baptist. but he more belongs to the next section.

4. the paths as wilderness

the torah or pentateuch, the first five books of the hebrew bible, have 99 uses of "wilderness" in the NRSV, and it pops up about 150 more times throughout the prophetic books. of all AoT's hamhanded judaic imagery, i think the paths actually get at something theological as opposed to earthly/fixated on eldia as a persecuted people. the wilderness is a testing ground and a kind of punishment itself, especially in genesis and exodus, for prehistoric figures like hagar, moses, jacob, david, and of course the israelites once they left egypt, wandering for 40 years. they starve and god saves them with manna; left unattended for two seconds they turn to idolatry; and they of course conquer various tribal people of canaan, including the philistines (root of palestine). after that, "wilderness" is much more metaphorical, referring poetically to estrangement between god and his people, the israelites exiled in the babylonian captivity, the destructon of solomon's temple, etc.

but there's one literal wilderness in the gospels. jesus' cousin john the baptist is introduced by a quotation:

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'" (Mt 3:1-3)

john the baptist is jesus' maternal cousin who he likely only meets once in adulthood, and i am too pedantic not to explain that baptism, or ritual bathing, is not a christian invention. he hung out around the river jordan wearing a hair shirt and preaching and dunking people in a kind of open-air mikveh. jesus visits him to get dunked as he starts his three-year ministry that ends with his death, but before they meet there are already whispers that john the baptist is the messiah. herod antipas, a roman tetrarch, had john beheaded shortly after this at the request of his stepdaughter, so when herod hears stories of jesus' ministry and miracles he dreads that he's john the baptist returned to life.

one could say the fateful meeting of john and jesus is the turning point for the birth of christianity, like the jaeger brothers in shiganshina, in part because the gospels have john insist up and down he himself is not the messiah, he's just preparing the way for him. this kind of makes him look like a bigger loser than he was; contemporary jewish historians of the time say he had a following to rival or even larger than his cousin's.

but right after his baptism, jesus fasts in the wilderness for 40 days, where the devil tempts him. it's the most detailed in luke 4 and matthew 4. jesus resists like a champ, but returning to "low" christology and questioning what actually makes "perfection:" after three years of preaching in galilee, jesus' resolve wavers, and the "willingness" of his sacrifice is 2,000-year-old point of debate. two moments in the gospels that show he fears his death are praying between the last supper but before his arrest, and just as he dies on the cross. gethsemane, or the mount of olives:

And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want." (Mt 26:39)

And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. He said, "Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want." (Mk 14:35-36)

Then he withdrew from [the disciples] about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done." (Lk 22:41-42)

and as he dies in matthew and mark, he quotes psalm 22, "eli, eli, lema sebachthani?" or "my god, my god, why have you forsaken me?" he shows resolve and despair, i think so very like zeke. his line in snk 114 of "are you watching, mr. ksaver?" makes me think jesus' relationship to god was similarly distant, and three years of ministry have to have changed jesus as much as oh, 13 years of being a human weapon changed zeke. ymir "tests" both jaeger brothers in the paths, so i bet there's some heresy out there that jesus "stole" john the baptist's role and followers from him.

one thing i'm fascinated by that i haven't seen laid out is that grisha and the restorationists deify ymir, even calling themselves "the chosen children of god" (woof), while ksaver the scientist asks the more materialist question of "what was that 'something'" that ymir encountered if not "the devil of all earth"? but zeke has to split the difference between these two. or, the power of the founder and the paths are simply too "god-like" (kenny's words uwu) for anyone to remain rational.

when zeke first describes the paths after he blows himself up, the first thing i thought of was biblical wilderness. in snk 137, he tells armin he's spent "an astounding amount of time" in the paths trying to understand ymir; i'm cursed to fill in that blank with 40-something, years or centuries or millennia. zeke using the sand all around them as an example of lifeless objects that don't seek to multiply reminds me of two things in genesis:

god's covenant with abraham in genesis 15, reiterated in 22 after a ram(!!!) shows up to take isaac's place: "Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore" (Gn 22:16-17). of course ymir building titans from sand recalls genesis 2, that god molded adam from dust, but before god formalizes this covenant with abram/abraham, he also says "I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth; so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted" (Gn 13:16)

the memento mori verse that makes up the blessing for ash wednesday is "remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Gn 3:19) as he casts adam and eve from eden.

as a metaphor, i suppose wilderness in the bible evokes a time before creation, the void of possibility, and whether you find that beautiful or bleak, whether dust to dust makes you hope or dread, makes you closer to armin or zeke. my other atheist bestie from seminary was optimistic about the death of the human race because non-human life goes on, and that's okay and probably better; the earth can bounce back from the damage we dealt it, which is what trees growing in the colossals' footprints in the epilogue makes me think of. this makes me sound pro-apocalypse and well! i think this all solidifies that armin is the perfect counterweight, not just for the leaf and baseball; armin has always been curious about the planet, is a true scout, while zeke has been beyond the walls all his life, and has seen too much to be grateful. it's very mercury versus jupiter, details versus big picture.

5. biblical fiction

if you want to read the gospels as a total newb, start with mark because it's shortest, then i recommend matthew, then you can do luke and the acts of the apostles. but for juicy fiction that really digs into jesus as a human who struggles with the weight of expectation, you gotta get into:

the last temptation of christ (1988, dir. martin scorsese): i haven't read the book and only could stand the movie twice, yes even feat. david bowie as pontius pilate, but this was my first reaction to the the endng of AoT and the eremika cabin: jesus on the cross is tempted one last time by satan with a vision of running away and living as an ordinary man with mary magdalene. unfortunately zeke does not get a cabin vision but torment, and frankly his time in the paths is more like the three days jesus spent in hell before easter.

the liars' gospel by naomi alderman: is so crazy good, i love this writer deeply. it's more like four novellas stuck together of jesus' life and ministry and death narrated by his mother, judas iscariot, one of the sanhedrin that "tried" him prior to pilate, and barrabas, the criminal or revolutionary that pilate released to mark passover—all jewish, historical judean perspectives. to mary, jesus is kind of a deadbeat, awful eldest son (two of the gospels give him siblings; she did not die a virgin) who really should be working as a carpenter; to judas, he's an unworthy leader; etc. i think it's an excellent model for a novel-length, canon-compatible zeke fanfic.

if any sources are vague it's almost certainly out of the jewish annotated new testament (ed. levine/zvi brettler, 2017)

also tagging @pisspope 💜

[moonspirit]

The sexuality of AoT characters according to your interpretation.

1) Eren

2) Mikasa

3) Armin

4) Jean

5) Sasha

6) Connie

7) Historia

8) Levi

9) Hange

10) Erwin

11) Reiner

12) Bertholdt

13) Annie

14) Pieck

15) Gabi

16) Falco

17) Onyankopon

The answer to this question might turn out to be quite elaborate, so feel free to skip this ask if you think it'll take too much of your time.

Helloo!!!

Hmm, unfortunately it's not the elaborateness that matters here, but it's more that... this is a question I don't have any real answer for xD

I don't think much at all about the sexual orientation of any character in SnK tbh. They're all such interesting people to me, and then there are the ships - I like so many of them, some compliment others whereas others contradict?? I don't know, frankly, it's hard to describe.

The best thing about SnK is the incredibly intricate web of connections and relationships forged among characters having varying motives and perspectives coming from wholly different worlds. For me personally, it's always been the exploration of characters interacting with each other and trying to understand the influence of various elements and facets of events and human emotions on how these characters develop and grow that's been the most interesting. This is not to say that I think headcanon-ing about sexual orientation is anything inferior - nope, absolutely not! It's a lot of fun to come up with and I know so much of thought goes into making them! It's just not something that I spend time thinking about, however xD

So... that's it, unfortunately xD Sorry to disappoint! Perhaps I'll have something better to offer next time!

[satoshi-mochida]

Metal Slug Tactics ‘Gameplay’ trailer, PC demo launches today - Gematsu

Publisher Dotemu and developer Leikir Studio have released a new gameplay trailer for strategy RPG Metal Slug Tactics exploring the game’s reimagining of Metal Slug combat. A demo will also be available for PC via Steam starting today at 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. ET as part of Steam Next Fest: June 2024 Edition from June 10 to 17.

Get the latest details below.

Metal Slug Tactics‘ demo joins the series’ starring warriors for a challenging, strategy testing approach to combat spanning the first region of the full game. You’ll begin in the squad’s barracks, a home base for upgrading characters and buying equipment, where you’ll choose fighters to deploy together on a mission. Consider each character’s unique abilities while building a team; the group’s dynamic will be key to attacking, flanking and outwitting the cast of enemies returning from the Metal Slug series, including a few devious new foes. Clear high-tension fights to unlock Tarma as a playable character, an energetic powerhouse who’s invaluable when it comes to the boss battle-tier showdowns seen in the full version of Metal Slug Tactics. Metal Slug Tactics is both a respectful homage to an all-time classic and an imaginative new way to celebrate the renowned series, channeling Metal Slug‘s timeless aesthetic through gorgeous pixel art and fluid animation. The game’s highly replayable battlefields pair shuffled layouts from hand-crafted sectors of terrain with subtle roguelite elements, pushing fighters to adapt and overcome unpredictable clashes as they master dynamic, strategic combat. Wield classic Metal Slug weaponry, leveraging skill trees, perks, and a super attack-fueling adrenaline system to outwit and demolish the flanks of the series’ signature villains. The action is backed by an original soundtrack featuring music from Tee Lopes (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, Sonic Mania, Streets of Rage 4‘s “Mr. X Nightmare” downloadable content). Metal Slug Tactics is wholly developed by Leikir Studio with support from Dotemu and access supplied by intellectual property owner SNK.

Metal Slug Tactics is due out for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC via Steam this fall.

Watch the gameplay trailer below.

Gameplay Trailer

[dressycobra7]

13 and 17 for any SNK character

aww thank u for the ask 💜!

13. Wish they had more hype: hmmm 🤔 definitely Bertholt. I found his character pretty interesting and wish we could’ve seen more of him in canon and wish the fandom liked him more!

17. Wished had less screentime: Floch no questions asked. Like I think he was a well written character from what we saw of him I just don’t like him at all 🤷‍♀️ other then that there’s not really anyone else I can think of

[demifiendrsa]

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves ｜Official Trailer

Japanese version

Mai Shiranui Character Trailer (English version)

Mai Shiranui Character Trailer (Japanese version)

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves will launch for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store on April 24, 2025.

A “Secial Edition” will also be available, which includes the base game and Season Pass 1 for $59.99 / €59.99.

Users who pre-order the game will receive a Terry Bogard costume based on his classic Fatal Fury appearance, as well as three days of early access starting April 21, 2025.

Screenshots

Latest details

South Town’s Finest Unite

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves brings together a diverse roster of familiar faces and new blood, with 17 playable characters at launch. Iconic fighters like Terry Bogard and Rock Howard return to the scene alongside debuting challengers, like the science prodigy Preecha and street assassin Vox Reaper. An additional five downloadable content fighters will be added in Season Pass 1.

SNK revealed the latest fighter, Mai Sharinui (voiced by Rebecca Rose in English, Ami Koshimizu in Japanese), the globally renowned ninja now sporting a new look.

Mai is the successor to Shiranui-style ninjutsu. Following an important tip-off from dutiful monk Sokaku Mochizuki, this modern-day kunoichi proceeds to South Town with purpose—her intense flame and ever-refined techniques lighting up the darkness therein.

Game Features and Modes

City of the Wolves blends innovative new mechanics with familiar features for a captivating and rewarding experience for both newcomers and veteran players alike.

REV System + Returning Systems – Unleash the all-new REV System, offering powerful offensive moves like REV Arts and REV Blows, pushing the excitement to the max until the REV Meter overheats. Classic systems like Combination Attacks, Just Defense, and S.P.G. return, reimagined for today’s battles.

Controls for Veterans and Newcomers – Arcade Style offers precision and technique, while Smart Style allows for easy, flashy combos with simple inputs. Both newcomers and seasoned pros can feel powerful with their control scheme of choice.

A Story of Fates Intertwined – Embark deep into South Town in Arcade Mode, where fighters clash over the legacy of Geese Howard. Driven by powerful emotions and past rivalries, they race to a long-awaited showdown. Dive toward the future and uncover the truth of the epic saga in South Town’s narrative climax!

Episodes of South Town RPG Adventure – Introducing “Episodes of South Town” (EOST)—a solo RPG where challengers battle foes under unique conditions, earning XP and building skills along the way. Level up and chase the crown in South Town to forge a legend unlike any other.

Rollback, Cross-Platform, and More Online Features – Experience Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves with integrated rollback netcode and cross-platform functionality, offering flawless matches with players across any system. Choose from Ranked, Casual, and Room Matches, and watch as AI technology crafts clones from player’s styles to challenge others or even themselves!

Customization With No Bounds – Adjust the appearance of any fighter by way of outfit and gear colors, as well as distinct patterns—which are all unlocked in Episodes of South Town—and more! Players can also jam out to a vast catalog of iconic tracks across the FATAL FURY series, including additional music from another South Town classic, The Art of Fighting. Create personalized playlists to customize the background music for specific modes and rev up to the music!

[warm-starlight]

There will be 17 stories of voice drama done by SnK VAs that will tell "what if" scenarios in the official snk afterparty event

Interesting!

The stories will be done by EMA, Jean and Levihan voice actors.

[mongoose-bite]

fic writer interview @nevermindirah tagged me! Thank you, Happy New Year :3

I'm tagging @thana-topsy @baratrongirl @amazinmango @raindrop-rouge, but only if you want to, no obligation.

How many works do you have on AO3?

83.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

1,369,970

There you go, substantially more than a million words, for the sheer love of it.

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Fuck: My Life Nearly 190k of eruriren porn star AU. Of course it's my top fic.

These Weren't Memories ereri canonverse, written after the first season. It's old, and I don't like all of it, but it's a classic of the ship as I tried to make it work as close to canon as I could.

Neither Tarnished Nor Afraid ereri, and the first true AU I ever wrote. It's a weird police procedural, and I think it's up there just because it's old and has had more time to accumulate kudos to be honest.

The Beneficent Gentleman Finally a non-snk fic. Kingsman, hartwin, and my only epistolary story, loosely based on the novel Daddy Long-Legs, and I'm quite proud of how it turned out.

Flight (When None Pursueth) And we're back to ereri; it was just the biggest ship I ever sailed. This was my serious take on a reincaration AU, and it was not fluffy.

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Usually I do now, but back in the heyday of the SNK fandom I rarely did, cause there were just a lot of them. I responded to long ones or ones that asked a question. I also think the culture has changed on it too; ten years ago it was much less expected for authors to respond to generic 'i liked it!' comments, but as comments have dried up overall, it's become more common.

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

If There is a Cure Skyrim fic. Delphine/Dragonborn, and there is no happy ending.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

95% of all my other fics tbh.

7. Do you write crossovers?

I don't enjoy crossovers. I wrote one tiny Ojisan to Neko/Persona 5 fic that probably would have been funnier as fanart, but I can't draw.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Ooh yeah, back in the day on ff.net in the early 2000's I had a guy get all caps on me cause I paired the PC of a game with an older woman, and a few others that were clearly designed to sap my confidence, presumably because I was writing the wrong ship.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes. Consensual.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not as far as I'm aware.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yeah a few times. Very flattering. I even had a translator pass on translated comments once.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes but it's rare. Honestly I've only ever met one person with whom I really clicked as a collaborator. That was a long time ago, and we do very different things now. It's fucking magic if you can find the right person though.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Ereri is not my current interest, but it really was something special. I sometimes wonder if I'll ever write like it's 2014 again...

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I don't have one. The only fic I never finished I abandoned completely.

15. What are your writing strengths?

Description; I can do a lot with few details.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Sloppy editing, repetitive phrasing, (a symptom of the former) and the pacing on long serialised fics can get very baggy.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Keep it to a minimum. If you don't need it, don't use it. It's more trouble than it's worth (I'm wearing my reader's hat for this one; my eye will just skip over it.)

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Morrowind.

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

There isn't one. I've missed fandom a lot over the past few years, and if I'd wanted to write something I would have.

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

My Old Friend. It's barely a fic, really. A man goes back to his hometown to bury his abusive uncle and reconnects with the father of his childhood friend, on whom he had a powerful but obviously unrequited crush on as a teenager. I had to string together a bunch of unrelated prompts as part of an event, and it just turned out really well. I'm proud of it.

[ddddd-pixels]

About Me

Name(s): Ddddd, D, D⁵, anything like that... My elder sibling tends to call me DD on here, and a friend usually says 5Ds, so I'm pretty flexible with it.

Age: 18, first got Tumblr late into 17.

Interests: ...It's mostly just fighting games, lol. I first got into the genre from Street Fighter, which is also the one I'm most familiar with story-wise, but I'm pretty knowledgeable on other series' as well - my personal favourite fighting game is Dead or Alive 4. I also have an interest in Pokémon (not as much as I used to be, I know pretty much nothing about anything beyond Gen. 7.), and I listen to a lot of K-pop, but I'm not really in the fandom for that.

Focus: I started this blog to share my sprite art - I pretty much exclusively work in the style of SNK's Neo Geo Pocket fighting games, although I experiment with other styles occasionally. This is also where I post about and share my M.U.G.E.N. creations; I'm still very new to making stuff there, but I can only improve with time! You can find all of my currently public creations here.

Extra, less-important stuff below:

Identity stuff: From the UK, white, queer but I don't really care much about labels. Asexual is a simplified way of putting it, I suppose.

Other socials:

Sideblog for reblogging things & occasionally talking about non-pixels stuff.

DeviantArt for posting finished spritesheets of my characters.

YouTube for announcing my character releases, and sharing WIP updates and occasional combos.

M.U.G.E.N. Archive, for... something. I don't really use it for much besides downloading characters.

Not really a social, but my Drive folder with all my M.U.G.E.N. stuff.

List of fighting games that I've played:

Street Fighter IV (all versions up until Super: AE, including 3D)

Street Fighter X Tekken (very briefly, no DLC)

Mortal Kombat (2011), and Mortal Kombat XL (hardly played 2011, no DLC)

Injustice 2 (no DLC)

Skullgirls Mobile

Dragon Ball FighterZ (no DLC)

Dead or Alive 4, 5, 6 and Dimensions (no DLC for any)

Soul Calibur IV and 6 (no DLC)

Super Smash Bros. for 3DS (no DLC)

WWE All-Stars (no DLC)

[zeninprincess]

📨 blog directory

noelle ❔️

she/her | 17 | animanga + vgs 🎐

very NSFW be very careful when opening and reading, may contain DARK FICS so handle with love and care. don't like? please block.

#𝐙𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒 on ig and twt

જ⁀➴ all characters belongs to the respectful authors/company. everything i write is fiction and not based on anyone, any similarities on events are unintentional . . .

I DONT EXCLUSIVELY WRITE DARK FICS. I WRITE NORMAL, FLUFF, GENERALLY OKAY FICS TOO. 𓍼ོ

multifandom 🌊; requests are not open unless stated otherwise!! rules and masterlist below.

꩜ rules . . .

character x fem!reader only

don't like? block and ignore. don't report my blog/tumblr

yes to: cnc, dubcon, non con, faux incest, incest, yandere, kidnapping, obsession, gangbang, canon type, violence, baby trapping, misogyny, dbf, age difference, pervy, etc.

no: scat, gore, farting, underage, raceplay, lolicon/shotacon

requests are closed for now

꒰ঌ ⋆｡𖦹 masterlist . . .

JJK TKR KN8 WINDBREAKER (ANIME) SNV/ROR BLLK HAIKYUU KNY SNK DUNMESH BLEACH BSD JJBA VINLAND SAGA BLUE PERIOD

LAD WUWA GENSHIN IMPACT HSR MLBB FE3H P5 FF(VG)

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝

©️ zeninprincess 2024. reposting, plagiarizing, translating, or claiming my works are strictly forbidden.