#when eren was chained up underground

[selene-moonie]

i'll bitch and moan that i wanted more romance in aot, but one thing i will NEVER complain about is the lack of fanservice. everybody's bodies were covered and it was amazing.

[tojiscrack]

i will forever defend eren with my life. i will forever defend HIM, eren, not his actions. i will forever defend eren !!

it was clear to us that the cycle of oppression would continue despite eren’s conclusion (committing genocide). when he lived in eldia, behind the walls, him and the rest of his comrades truly believed that humanity outside of the walls was pure, a goodness that none of them had ever experienced as they’d been fighting against humanoid giants that sat at the top of the food-chain, fighting EACH OTHER, even, in the underground, simply to live. in their eyes, the world beyond the walls was peace, a life full of freedom.

when it was revealed that there was a divide between the marleyans/rest of the world and the eldians, all hope had been lost. when it was revealed that the marleyans were the ones subjecting the islanders to be titan-food instead of saving them, reconciling with them, just because of something their ancestors had done that they had no recollection of, all hope had been disintegrated.

i will never understand the love for marley and the idea that both sides were as bad as each other. it’s stupid and dumb, and here’s why:

eldians were the ones that started it.

fine, agreed because king fritz was evil as fuck.

but by that logic, because eldians were the ones that started the war, years ago (might i add), shouldn’t the entire world be at war with EACH OTHER than with eldia?

the eldians that the marleyans were oppressing and abusing now had nothing to do with what their ancestors had done before.

so, using that logic that marleyans had the right to do what they’d done to the current eldians, shouldn’t south asians declare war against the current british for what they had done to their people BEFORE? shouldn’t the few native americans left declare war on the europeans because their ancestors had committed heinous crimes against their people? shouldn’t women from korea, china, vietnam, and more, punish current japanese men for what their ancestors had done to the past women of their countries in ww2?

see what i’m saying? why were marleyans punishing the current eldians for what their ancestors had done? something that they had no control over?

eren wanted a world where they didn’t have to fight for basic human rights. genocide is never the answer, but the scene where he grabs hange by her clothes and demands to know what other plan there is as a substitute proves his desperation: that he never wanted to kill so many people, that there was simply no other way. eldians would never be accepted in the outside world, no matter how hard they tried to convince them.

we also have to remember that he was up against the clock too. if they didn’t find a solution soon, he would have died anyway due to the 13 years he had to live. by the time his plan was set in stone, he only had 4 more years to live and the scouts didn’t really have a solid plan. they lived with the outside world, undercover, and never actually managed to find a solution that benefited everyone.

and also eren said sorry so 🫨

he is so bbg and i love him and i’ll always defend him so bye it’s nearly midnight where i live lmao

[sunflowersunite]

why are those not on ao3, genuine question. Moving on.

Sometimes, Levi wishes he'd died in Hange's place. many times.

He doesn't know how to navigate through that new world of freedom without her enthusiastic remarks guiding him through confusing freedom. ("let's check this out!" "Let's drink that!" "Can this machine truly fly?")

Because freedom is confusing. Levi Ackerman never was free, bound to the rules of the Underground or bound to his own will, to protect humanity. And now that there's no one to protect, now that he's frail and weak, he's chained again, waiting to die.

Hange would thrive in freedom. Her smile would light up the world, she'd run restless until she'd seen everything twice over and she's drag him along, wheelchair or not.

And now there's a glaring void in his heart and absence between his fingers because they were made to be slotted through Hange's but now they're not.

She's missing from him. Isn't that what it's called? So fitting, sounds more true than "I miss you" because in reality "I" is nothing without "you".

Levi's condition starts to deteriorate, he's sickly, bed bound, hollow. And then Gabi takes him to Historia's orphanage, set on helping but unwilling to leave Levi alone at home. She leaves him to wait by a box, and a boy approaches him. He points at it, tries to speak to him in a language he doesn't understand, and Levi reaches over and gives him something random.

A lollipop.

Hange's image flashes through his mind, vivid as though it hadn't been a day.

And then he understands.

When Gabi and Falco find him he's smiling again, a small smile, a Levi smile, and they think he's dying. Instead he asks "do you have any more of these boxes?"

When he visits the sea, the wheelchair is pushed by another ghost, by Mikasa, pale and hollow in the aftermath of Eren's death. If Levi could, he'd kick him for the pain he caused her. But he's missing from them, all of them.

Mikasa settles on the sand next to him.

"How can you do it?" she asks.

Levi looks to his right and he sees Mikasa. He looks to his left and Hange watches the sea, pointing at dolphins in the distance.

"You live like they never left"

Post-War Levihan Idea [No. 4]

TW: Suicidal thoughts, gaslighting (self-gaslighting)

Levi didn't look when Hange left. He wouldn't meet their eyes, he just touched his fist to their heart and gave them his forgiveness for leaving. He never quite said farewell, not to them, at least, nor did he see what it was that his squad was crying about as the plane took off. Eyes downcast, he said only this: "So long, Hange. Watch over us."

Levihan lenses on. Let's investigate, shall we? Levi doesn't know how Hange died. He never saw them fight, never saw them burn, he has no idea of their last words. In the depths of his wildest nightmares, Hange dies over and over and over. In thousands of ways. Crushed beneath the feet of the titans, knocked into the ocean where they drowned, shredded to bits by their hands, roasted and charred alive as they had been. Had they cried? Had they felt alone in that last flicker of life? Had they smiled, or had they screamed? What had his squad seen, for them to be reacting like that? Levi jolts awake every morning, brittle and half-crumbling beneath the weight of the responses that his mind provides.

But then again, Levi has no clue how Hange died. He didn't see their wounds, didn't watch the light flicker from their eyes. He didn't see the pain. Their last moments in his mind? Unconfirmed. And how does Captain Levi Ackerman document soldiers who are unconfirmed to be alive or dead?

Missing in action.

So Levi is wheelchair-bound, broken, exhausted, falling apart, and alone save for this single soul who went missing. Well, what was it again that everyone kept telling him? Armin, Mikasa, Jean, Connie. Even Onyankapon, now. Oh, yes: "You've done enough to help us, Captain. Rest now, and live for yourself."

So he does. And he chooses to spend his life searching for his lost friend, his Hange.

In the initial idea, Levi was hallucinating once again (this account has been over his hallucinations, but it's not done yet). He's sad and depressed and has nothing to live for anymore, so his Monkey Brain has to design something to keep him going.

He lays in bed some nights, unable to fall asleep, even after Falco came by and made him tea. Even after Onyankapon embarrassed them both by trying to set him to sleep with a story. Even after Gabi sang, albeit terribly, to try to soothe him. He just pretends at that point, afraid to be a burden, until they go away and his eyes pop right back open. The thoughts run rampant, then, when his mind conjures up the ghosts of his loved ones, their bloodied and bruises corpses staring back with empty eyes.

"Wouldn't it be better if I just died, right here? Nobody would have to come by anymore, or see me in this pathetic state, pushing myself in a wheelchair because I can't stand for even a half hour. I wouldn't have to wake up anymore, go to physical therapy, try to feel happy when there's nothing for me to be happy about. We made it to the end, didn't we? Why can't I rest?"

"Why would you rest?" He sees for the first time that Hange isn't there. The voice is a hush in his ear, but still it overtakes the volume of his thoughts. "Hange is missing from you. Where is Hange, Levi?"

He stiffens. "Hange is gone."

"Gone where?"

"Gone..." Levi is baffled into a scowl. He really, really doesn't want to think about that. He doesn't want to cry himself to sleep. "Just gone. Shut up and let me sleep."

But he swears he hears their voice, low and deep in the air. "I haven't been gone that long, clean freak. Don't you remember me?"

Levi jolts, wide awake.

Where is it coming from? The curtains billow, as though disturbed by the sky's cold breath, yet he feels no breeze. Hange's voice comes again. "What have I been trying to teach you this whole time?"

Lightning flashes outside his balcony, then the night is invading. Pressing into his bedroom from every crack in the walls, from the balcony, the slit beneath the door, rushing in like water. It's a typhoon of indigo, speckled with light, and it twists and whirls until it's sunken into the shapes and curves of Hange's body.

He's been here before. "The paths," Levi and Hange both say.

Hange grins. "I didn't know how else to find you."

"But you found me." Levi blinks several times, shakes his head like a dog, but they're there. Hidden in a cloak of night, but they're there. He feels his eyes welling up and he swipes at them quickly. He wants to see.

"I don't think I can stay for long." Their voice reverbrates in the cavern of the bedroom. "But we'll see each other again, won't we? You'll come find me. You always do."

"That's not possible. You're gone."

Hange's gaze softens. "I'm right here, Levi."

A tear slips down his cheek. He can't believe they're making him say it out loud, and he hates how helpless it makes him sound. How small he feels when it's out in the open. "You're gone."

Hange regards him, quiet for once. "You don't believe that. I refuse to believe that I didn't rub off on you. You have more hope than that, Levi. Even in this hopeless world." Their fingers brush his, and he's shocked by the flush of warmth their touch brings. "I know it. I came all this way to find you, didn't I?

"The least you could do is find me, too."

Levi jolts, wide awake.

He stares at his ceiling in a cold sweat. He feels as though he's being torn in two directions. On one hand, Hange was gone. They had to be gone. He'd gone through all this pain, knowing they were gone. To delve back into the past was to undo all he'd fought for since they'd left.

But what if they weren't gone? What if they really were out there, broken bodied and half-alive, but alive? It was difficult to think about either way, but could there be a possibility?

Levi recalls their voice, their touch, their reminder. He turns over his thoughts in his mind one last time, then pulls himself out of bed. He can't stay for long, after all.

Hange is waiting.

-----

At some point, I transitioned into fictional writing. Hopefully that made sense. Anyway:

So, deep down, he knows himself well enough to trick himself. He's always been a hero. He can get up if it means he'll be someone's hero, because Captain Levi is Captain Levi, and who is Levi, if not the person who feeds others when he's still hungry himself?

And to be Hange's hero, when they've saved him so much? When they came to him, warm as a hearth and inviting as a home, like no one ever had before? It isn't even up for discussion. He'll do it.

After all, what did he dedicate his heart to?

End Note: I think in some languages, the verb "to miss" is kind of translated directly like "You are missing from me." The source was likely a delusion, but that in mind, this may just be Levi missing Hange to a big, big extent.

[starstruckkittensweets]

“Kisses in the Morning Rain” Pt. IV

Fandom: Attack on Titan  Pairing: Eren x Reader  Words: 4k 

Warnings: Season 4 spoilers (namely for Part 1), canon divergence, Reader is a Titan Shifter, open discrimination against Eldians and Paradis, blood and violence, references to depression and coping with PTSD, disregard for said PTSD, mentions of past romantic feelings (which may or may not be reciprocated and/or still strong in the present tense) 

A/N: I’m *finally* back with another chapter, woohoo! I’m sorry this came out later than I originally intended. Right now I’m a bit preoccupied with writing my Levi/OC fic, so that’s taking most of my time when I’m not working on this story. I’m almost done with Part 5 but I might wait to post it until I have the majority of Part 6 written out, just so I’m not rushing myself. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! It’s a bit of a slower one, but it gives (in my opinion anyway) a little bit of a break from the events of the last couple chapters. If you want to be added to the taglist, let me know and I’ll include you! (And if I forgot to tag anyone I’m incredibly sorry!) 

Taglist: @ranitani, @dream-alittlebiggerdarling, @katsies​, @lattebabie​

“Kisses in the Morning Rain” Masterlist 

The first thing you notice when you open your eyes is how cold the air is. Musty, damp, the scent of dirt strong against your nose. Your back is stiff, your shoulder hurts like hell.

You reach up and touch your forehead. At least the cut has healed.

A single lantern hangs in the corner of the room—on the other side of a set of steel bars. A prison cell, you realize with a shiver. Probably in the underground dungeons, directly below Mitras. Or at least, one of the districts of Wall Sina.

But why? Why are you still alive?

You don’t remember much after passing out. You remember falling in and out of sleep, hearing all kinds of voices speaking around you, none of them saying words that made any sense. You remember feeling cold, hard bands around your wrists, but when you glance down at them, you can’t see anything. You’re not chained to the wall or tied up or handcuffed in any way. Just trapped in a prison cell underground.

A cage, and you almost laugh bitterly.

There’s no one outside the cage, not even a couple of guards to keep watch. Why not? Even if the Scouts brought you back to Paradis and kept you alive as their prisoner, why wouldn’t they at least make sure you were being watched?

Never mind that. You can break out of this cell at any time, with the War Hammer’s power. Just one flick of your wrist and—

The gentle sound of footsteps echo through the hall. You sit up in the bed (the only piece of furniture in the cell, minus the sink and toilet) and watch as the newcomer steps into the light.

Your chest aches when you see Commander Hanji Zoë, staring at you through the bars of the cell with her one good eye.

You haven’t seen her since the day you left Paradis. Since the day the Scouts found out about the outside world. She’s changed in the last four years—not just her hairstyle, but that familiar glow of laughter in her eyes is gone. You faintly remember losing Moblit in the battle for Shiganshina; losing him must’ve been a huge blow for her.

She sighs softly, before leaning against the wall directly across your cell. She’s dressed in a familiar green overcoat that reaches down to her knees, with the Wings of Freedom sewn over the chest pocket and sleeves. You remember wearing those wings once, and actually being proud of them.

The memory makes you want to cry.

“Why did you keep me alive?”

Hanji hangs her head. “It was Eren’s idea.”

Your temples start to pound with a headache. Wasn’t Eren going to eat you back in Marley? Use the Jaw Titan’s teeth to crush your Titan’s crystal to pieces and steal the War Hammer Titan from you? It makes no sense for him to want to bring you back to Paradis alive, rather than devouring you right there on the battlefield. He must know of the danger you pose to Paradis and the rest of its citizens; in fact, all of the Scouts should know that by now. So why bring you back with them in the first place?

“It’s been a while,” Hanji says weakly, offering you a slight smile. Not like the ones she’s given you in the past, full of hope and pride and affection. “How’ve you been?”

Your gaze drops to the ground. Why is she asking you something like this? You don’t know how to respond, so you simply shrug your shoulders at her.

“I see…” She sighs again and sinks to the ground in a sitting position. You follow suit, the ends of your festival dress brushing against the steel bars. “Eren told me what happened that day…after you left.”

Of course he did. You cross your arms against your knees, hugging them to your chest. Hanji takes your silence as a sign to continue—and honestly, the sound of her voice is somewhat soothing, even after all this time.

“It didn’t make sense at first, why you would leave with them. We didn’t suspect you with Reiner and the others, when the Female Titan attacked for the first time. You never gave us any reason to suspect you; we never had a Titan to link you to.” She laughs a little at that part, and suddenly you’re reminded of her love for Titans beyond the Walls, and you wonder if she still has that wild spark inside of her somewhere. “You insisted you didn’t know anything, even when we questioned you about it. You’re a very capable liar, I suppose.”

Liar, hero, heir, traitor. So many words have been used to describe you over the years, and not a single one of them were false.

“You never interfered with our plans to attack the Armored and Colossal Titans in Shiganshina, nor did you stop us from trying to take on the Beast Titan. And yet…you never shared any of your intel with us. Never helped us with our strategies, never warned us of what the enemy could do next.”

“There was nothing to share,” you mumble into the crook of your arm. “You figured it out pretty fast, Commander.”

She scoffs at the title. “Maybe so, but we could’ve used your help. Maybe we could’ve saved a few lives, back in Shiganshina.”

You know instantly she’s thinking of Moblit. Of Erwin, the previous Commander of the Survey Corps, and the countless other Scouts who perished on that day. Is their blood on your hands, as well?

“Still,” she continues, “you left with them in the end. Even after you told the Beast Titan you wouldn’t.”

So why?

Suddenly, you want to tell her everything. The possibility of seeing Fine again, the tarnished reputation of your family’s name, the promise of glory upon returning to Marley—and even the pain that grew in your chest that day, with every passing moment, until you finally said goodbye to Eren in the middle of the night.

But what good will come of it? Who is she to have pity on you, especially at a time like this? To someone like you, who’s killed more Scouts and civilians both directly and indirectly, thanks to your involvement with Marley? Who sat by and watched as your fellow Scouts struggled to understand the concept of intelligent Titans, to even consider the possibility of Titan Shifters in the first place. You, who could’ve played a huge role in bringing glory to Paradis and the rest of humanity on the island, saving at least a hundred lives in the process…

But you didn’t. You were a bystander until the end—until you ran home like a coward, seeking refuge across the sea.

“Listen,” Hanji finally says, and your head jerks up at her voice, “I’m well aware that you were probably in the same boat as Reiner. You were mostly likely forced to do Marley’s bidding without any will of your own. So I don’t blame you for that. However,” there’s an edge to her voice now, “the same cannot be said for the way you abandoned us. After so many years of fighting against Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie…why would you go back to them at the very end?”

You reach down and start to pick at a loose thread of your skirt, the frayed ends barely clinging to the fabric. Hanji’s staring at you intently now, silently demanding an answer from you.

You have no business obeying her; she’s not your Commander anymore.

And yet, you find yourself mumbling out, “Because I couldn’t bear to stay here.”

For the first time in all the years you’ve known her, Hanji is stunned to silence. Slowly, you raise yourself off the ground and dust off the skirt of your dress, meeting her gaze and struggling to keep calm.

“You already know I’m a Tybur. One of the most influential Eldian families within Marley. I was selected to carry the burden of the War Hammer Titan and use it to steal the Founder away from the citizens of Paradis. But once we actually started that mission…” Tears cling to your eyelashes, threatening to drip down your cheeks. “…I realized that it couldn’t be done. We were kids, Hanji. I was a kid. And I didn’t want to answer for Marley’s sins anymore!”

Your head is pounding something fierce now, electric jolts flooding your veins. You can feel your Titan surging forward at the fury, but you will it to stay back and contain itself. There’s no use in breaking out now and running the risk of possibly killing Hanji. Not when she’s shown a bit of mercy towards you.

���So I played dumb. I didn’t want anything to do with Reiner or Bertholdt, so I pretended to be one of you. I wanted to forget about Marley and just pretend I was an Eldian. None of you knew you were Eldians, good or bad…you were just people! And I wanted to be a part of that.”

Everything comes crashing down on you at once. Training with the 104th cadets, acting like the kids you were. Sharpening your blades just in time to defend the city of Trost, when the Colossal Titan mysteriously appeared once more. Battling Annie in Stohess District in her Titan form, and solidifying your loyalty to the Scouts and Paradis—and watching the sick betrayal wallow up in her Titan’s eyes at the realization.

Everything else from that moment on followed suit: your rejection of Reiner and Bertholdt, your determination to defend Eren and Historia, and your refusal to return home in the end with Reiner and Zeke. Only, you had betrayed that sense of loyalty to the Scouts, as well as Paradis. You had abandoned them when they needed you the most, damning your name on the island of devils.

“Zeke found me and Eren, after the battle. He said my family wanted me to come home, and I thought of my cousin—she’s more like a sister now, and the other kids… They were still waiting for me to come home! And I didn’t want to leave them without at least saying goodbye first! But…I never found the chance to come back, like I planned…”

It wasn’t as though you’d be welcomed back with open arms, anyway. From the way Eren looked at you that night, green eyes filled with tears, angry red Titan marks etched on his skin… You knew you would never be allowed to return to this island alive.

So then…why was it Eren who insisted on bringing you back with him?

An unsettling silence forms between the two of you. Hanji clears her throat and leans against the wall again, while you rest your forehead on the cold steel bars. Your Titan’s energy has died a little, the thrumming less pronounced beneath your skin. At least you’re in control again, you remind yourself. But it doesn’t do anything to lessen the pain in your chest.

“…You always did seem a little out of place with them.” You glance up at Hanji, who manages to smile at you through the bars of the cell. “With Reiner and Bertholdt, I mean. You always seemed to fit so well with Eren and Armin and Mikasa.”

…I did? You never thought of yourself as one of them, even before learning about Eren’s Attack Titan ability. You never deemed yourself worthy enough to be considered as part of their group, no matter how much Eren insisted you were.

“Also,” she adds, with a sly smile stretching across her face, “you were attached to the hip with Eren. I’m surprised Mikasa never got jealous of you, honestly.”

Words that intend to bring up a happy memory, maybe even a sense of longing for the past. But instead you sink to your knees in the dirt of your cell, wrapping your arms around your upper half. The tears come hard and fast, cascading down your cheeks like little rivers.

You don’t want to live in Marley. You don’t want to go back to that horrible place.

You don’t want to stay in Paradis with the people you betrayed. The people who treated you as one of their own for the longest time.

You don’t want to be stuck in this endless war anymore. A cycle of hate that keeps on living, two different kinds of people always clawing at each other’s throats. You don’t want to be a pawn in their game anymore.

You don’t want to be the head of the Tybur family. You don’t want to use the power of the War Hammer Titan, not even to break yourself out of this damned cell.

You don’t want to fall asleep at night, thinking of the countless people you’ve murdered over the years. You don’t want to scrape your hands raw beneath the running water every time you visit the washroom, trying so hard to clean the blood off your skin, even when you can’t see it anymore. You can still feel it, no matter how many times you wash them off—you don’t want to feel it anymore.

All you want is to spend the last four years of your life with the green-eyed boy you used to love, in the little cabin at the heart of an unknown forest, just as you’ve always dreamed about.

Eren Jaeger. After all these years, you’re still in love with Eren Jaeger.

Hanji watches you from the other side of the bars, awkwardly shifting her weight from one foot to the other. The Hanji from before, the one who didn’t know you were part of Marley’s Warrior Unit yet, would sink to her knees alongside you and pull you close to her chest for a hug.

But you don’t expect her to do anything like that; not when she knows you can kill her at any second.

Still, she doesn’t leave without saying a few more words: “This cell is beneath Stohess District, just so you know. You won’t do much good trying to break out—so please, try not to do so.”

You barely have the strength to nod as she turns away and disappears down the hall. Only when you hear the heavy door slam shut do you bury your face into your hands, sobbing uncontrollably as the War Hammer’s power thrums to life beneath your skin.

“How is she faring, doctor?”

You can hear the man’s voice on the other side of the door, soft and gentle as he speaks to your aunt. “A little shaken up, but she’ll be fine. I suggest you give her some time, though. God only knows what she’s seen over there.”

Over there. On the other side of the sea, on the island of devils.

“But I wouldn’t worry,” the doctor continues, and you can just imagine him shaking his head. “She’s a strong girl. She’ll get through it eventually.”

“I hope so.” You can hear your aunt sigh, and your hands curl into fists on your lap. “She’ll forget about the time spent over there, I’m sure. It must’ve been hard for her, surrounded by so many devils. Pretending to be one of them.”

But you are one of them. Whether you live on one side of the sea or the other, they’re all the same. They share the same blood of the devil, the same curse they were born with.

But it won’t do you any good to point that out to your aunt. As caring and understanding that she can be, she has little tolerance for talk about the Eldians living on the other side of the ocean. Those are the cursed Eldians, while the ones in Marley (like your own family’s bloodline) are the honored ones. The ones blessed to live in a place like Marley to begin with. The ones that can travel freely throughout the nation, and not just trapped within the gates of Liberio.

The ones not confined by a cage.

But it still feels as though you’re in one.

So you snap your lips shut and wait for your aunt to finish talking to the doctor. You’ll go along with whatever treatment they have planned for you, to help you with the nightmares and episodes. It’ll be better for everyone if you don’t mention anything from that damned island at all, much less the devils living there. The last thing you want is to upset Fine and the other children with horrible talk like that.

They are the devils, you remind yourself, over and over again as the months crawl by. They are the devils of the world. It’s their fault we’re in this mess to begin with.

But in the dead of night, curled up in your bed with nothing but the shadows to keep you company, you can feel the tears slipping down your cheeks, as the memories come flooding back, one by one.

They are all devils—but so are we.

So am I.

The days pass by slowly. You remain in your cell, offered meager meals and water twice every single day from a pair of guards. But then you’re left to your own devices once more, staring at the lone lantern hanging from the corner of the cell.

Hanji comes to visit you a few more times. You half-expect her to drag Captain Levi down here with her one of these days, just so he can beat the living hell out of you for your betrayal. You wouldn’t be surprised—you just aren’t exactly looking forward to it. But he doesn’t visit you.

Neither does Eren. Although, you don’t really expect him to, at this point.

Armin visits you one day, and at first you almost don’t recognize him. His hair is cut shorter than you remember, styled in an undercut, and his eyes have lost that hopeful blue luster. But he still tries to smile at you, when he greets you from the other side of your cell.

“I think I get it, now,” he mumbles, as the two of you take a seat on either side of the bars. “Why you guys did what you did…on that day.”

The day Wall Maria fell…the day Shiganshina fell to the Titans. The memories make you shudder.

Of course, Armin would try to understand you. He was always the most empathetic, forming a bond with you at the first opportunity. The two of you always had a special connection, nowhere near as emotional and intimate as the one you shared with Eren, but something else entirely. Something else that was still just as special to you. Throughout your years on Paradis, you never once regretted meeting Armin Arlert.

You ask him the same question you asked Hanji, and he answers you with downcast eyes: “Eren thought you could be useful to our cause—that’s why he managed to convince Commander Hanji and Captain Levi to keep you down here.”

You can only scoff and shake your head. “Then why was he prepared to kill me back then, in Liberio? He was going to take the War Hammer Titan for himself…so why didn’t he do it when he had the chance?”

Armin sighs in defeat, lowering his head to the dirt below. “I…I think he might still have a soft spot for you.”

Now that is completely unrealistic. Armin’s usually smarter than this—has he hit his head or something?

There’s no way in hell Eren Jaeger has a soft spot for you. Not after everything you’ve put him through. Not after you left him in the middle of the forest that night, angry tears streaming down his cheeks, fists rigid against the collar of your shirt. You remember it all too well, and even after all this time, the swirl of guilt has never left your stomach.

You wonder if he wants to kill you himself, once this is all over.

“He hates me,” you spit out, “I’m sure of it. You heard about what happened that night, didn’t you? How I left him and the Survey Corps behind?” To go back to Reiner and Zeke, so we could escape back to Marley?

“He told us,” Armin replies without missing a beat, “but I’m sure you had your reasons. You were probably threatened, weren’t you? You probably still have a family over there…”

His voice trails off awkwardly at the mention of them. Anger sears through your veins as you remember your uncle, broken and bloody as the Attack Titan swallowed him whole. Your uncle, who planned to die before the night was up, leaving the rest of his family behind to pave the way for Marley’s survival.

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” you growl, pressing your palms into the dirt. “It’s not like I’m ever going to see them again. I’m not making it out of this cell, am I?”

Armin opens his mouth to object…then snaps it shut soon after. He heaves another sigh, and you know right then and there, that you’re not walking away from Paradis any time soon.

“They’re still deciding on what to do with you,” he finally breaks the silence. “Either to keep you as a prisoner or give the War Hammer to another soldier…or maybe to Eren himself.”

You squeeze your eyes shut. Of course, that would be their plan. Eren tried to do the same thing in Liberio, so why not just help him along and—

“But he refused.”

“…What?”

“He said he didn’t want your Titan. He didn’t want its power…at least, not yet. So I guess that buys you a little more time in here.”

He doesn’t…want to inherit the War Hammer Titan? It makes no sense—why would he try to devour you back in Liberio, but not do it now, when you’re weakened and incapable of fighting back? Now is the perfect opportunity to take the War Hammer from you, and he’s just throwing it away like it’s nothing.

“But why wouldn’t he take it for himself? And don’t say it’s because he has a soft spot,” your lip curls at those final words, and Armin winces beneath your gaze. “There has to be another reason.”

Armin clears his throat before rising from his seat. He brushes the dirt off his coat, blue eyes fixed on you the entire time.

“I suppose you can ask him that yourself. But if you want my opinion,” he smiles weakly, and for a moment you see a flash of the mischievous boy you once knew inside the Walls, his eyes the color of the sea’s salty waves, “I don’t think he’s completely let go of the past.”

What does he mean by that? Does Eren still despise you for betraying the Scouts, for leaving Paradis for Marley in the dead of night? For breaking his heart after you made him promise to live with you once the war was over? For giving him false hope that you could lead a somewhat normal life once the Titans were defeated in the battle for Shiganshina?

Or…is there something else to Armin’s words, something he’s not outright telling you? Is it possible that Eren, even after all this time and everything you made him suffer through, still looks at you and sees the young girl from the 104th Training Corps? The one who made him smile and held back his arm when he threatened to fight with Jean, the one that bared her blades at a moment’s notice, ready to protect him alongside Mikasa? The one he shared a silly tavern room with the night before the battle, the one he promised to live together with once this damn war was over?

Maybe Armin’s right, as crazy as it sounds. Maybe, after all these years, Eren still sees you as the girl he once loved.  

Well, I suppose that makes two of us.

But Armin’s gone before you can ask him anything more. The heavy door slams at the end of the hall, echoing through the darkness. You turn to rest on the bed in the corner, to mull over what he’s just told you—but then you hear something else, a soft sound through the shadows.

Another pair of footsteps, closing in on the cell. You hold your breath and face the newcomer head-on, your blood singing in your veins.

“…Eren.”

[lrissa]

Part 2 Of ‘I Promise To Marry You’

requested by @seltoir and @melonva so i did best of both worlds.

summary: levi had forgotten his dear promise to you, costing your life against the female titan

warnings: violence, swearing

first part here

�� ೃ༄*ੈ✩

The breeze tickled your silky exposed skin and made your tiny hairs stand on end. Your hands went to your arms and held tightly onto them like a hug, the night breeze whisking it’s way under your skin. Exiting the door to the stables you gazed up at the bright stars reflected by the shining moonlight, lighting up the greeny surroundings.

Walking along the gravel path as your steps made faint sounds amongst the silence of the night. Finding the patch of grass you had always found comfort in when it was the night before an expedition. You sat quietly, staring up the stars with soft eyes

From beside you you felt the presence of someone sit down in the grass, their hand finding a place on yours in a gentle manner, tangling your hands together.

“Levi.”

“I missed you, brat.” He spoke blandly, his gaze finding themselves in the sky above him. You let out a light sigh. Turning to look at the man who was seated by you, squeezing his hand.

“I missed you too.”

It had been a few days since you two had seen eachother. Levi was caught up in his paperwork that flooded his desk as you worked extra hours to train the cadets for the next expedition that was tomorrow.

You rubbed his tough hand with your thumb gingerly. Up until now the two of you still remained close friends, although you two had considered dating but Levi was afraid of the distraction. As if you weren’t one already. There had been little exchanges of kisses between the two of you, especially after the death of your two other best friends, Isabel and Farlan. You and Levi seeked companionship in eachother deeply after their casualties.

Gradually you set your head on his shoulder, he had stiffened a bit from the gesture but let it be. His eyes peered down at you carefully, a faint gentleness glossing his eyes.

A memory struck your mind as you thought back to the underground.

“I’ll even wear a pretty dress.” You concluded and gazed at your fingers, extending them out infront of you, “And a pretty ring!”

“Shut up, marriage isn’t even close.” He stated as you pouted, kicking his leg with your foot. “Well.. since it’s far away,” You took your head off his shoulder and turned to face him.

The memories whizzed by until a certain one came.

“Fine. I promise to marry you.”

A soft gasp left your lips as you snapped your head off Levi’s shoulder, your mouth agape in shock. The raven head turned to watch you, arching his brow in confusion.

“Levi,” You turned to him, reaching your hand out as they went for his collar. Tugging away the accessories whilst he stared at you with an annoyed expression. Your fingers caught metal as you slowly pulled, revealing the dirty, faded jewelry you had given him that day. Your letter still attached to the chain.

A delicate smile creased your lips as you held it, fingers barely trembling. Pulling your own out you held them, finally looking up into Levi’s eyes. His face had a little scowl, you invaded his personal bubble but he’d let it slide because it was you.

“Do you remember these?”

“Of course, idiot.”

Slowly you lowered his, whilst Levi’s eyes gazed at your necklace. The faint remembrance of that wishful day, you two were so stupid and young at that time. The corner of his lips hardly turning up as he reached his hand out, setting it over the one holding yours.

“I remember how pissed off you made me.” He retorted, you laughed.

Clutching his hand tightly in yours you held in a breath, before asking,

“Do you remember what you promised?”

Levi paused for a moment, his brain racking the fading memories but to no avail he answered with,

“No.”

Your grip loosened on his and you gave a gentle frown, turning your head away and looking up at the sky. Tears stung in the back of your eyes, your heart beating wilding against your chest. Why would he need to remember such a promise, why were you so upset?

“Was it important.” He asked while he watched your faltering smile.

Biting back tears you bit the inside of your cheek, heart pinging in your chest like hundreds of needles stabbing you again and again. Softly, you lifted your finger and rubbed the escaping tear away. Looking back at Levi with a pained smile, squeezing his hand weakly.

“No.”

──────────⊹⊱✫⊰⊹──────────

“Hey, don’t spoil him, Petra.” Spoke Oluo from as he caught your attention back onto the conversation, “What did he do anyway? He was pathetic. He just kept whining. Well, coming back alive on your first excursion is pretty good. But it doesn’t count until the missions over.” You just rolled your eyes, ever since Eren has joined the Scouts everyone has been giving him nothing but shit.

“Jeez, I know that!” Eren spoke with a shaky voice as he stared up at Oluo towering over him before grappling away.

“Just ignore that runt.” You commented and followed after Oluo, with the rest trailing behind shortly. The squad grappled through the trees as Eld turned to look back, “Oluo, Petra! You guys pissed your pants and cried on your first mission. You’re all grown up now!” Petra looked horrified before she screamed, shaking her head as you let out a snort, “Dont say that!” The girl shouted, “What if he stops respecting me!?”

“It’s true?” Eren asked

“It sure is. And I didn’t, by the way, Eren.” Eld spoke with a cocky grin, confidence oozing off his words.

“Idiot!” Yelled Oluo, you shook your head and toned out the conversation. Eyes scanning through the trees as you narrowed your eyelids, something felt wrong within the deep rooted forest. Suddenly green smoke cut through the leaves into the breezy air.

“That might be Captain Levi, everyone stayed alarmed! Something is wrong with this forest.” You commanded as they all went silent, honing in the towering trees.

Gunther landed on a branch, raising the smoke gun above his head while his other plugged his ear before shooting it off into the sky and joining the squad again.

Moments passed before you heard ODM to the far left of you, head turning behind your shoulder as you stared at the emerging cadet. Was it Levi? It couldnt have been, he doesn’t move like that.

“Who are you!” Gunther yelled, your eyes widening as you shot farther. Letting off gas to reach him, “Gunther no—“ You shouted until the attacked unsheathed their blades sliced right through the poor young man.

His body toppled over as he hung from his last grapple, hanging in the air by his ODM gear, “Gunther!” Eren shouted and looked to check on him, his eyes widening in fear as he surveyed Gunther was very much dead.

“Keep moving! Don’t let them get you!” You screamed and continued your pursuit further, head snapping to look behind you as the striker fell back. Gasping you realized, was this the female titan? Were they going to transform?

“Shit! She’s transforming, everyone—“ Your words were cut short as a massive lightning strike shook the ground fiercely, wind richoeting against the trees as it blew your hair away from your face.

“The Female Titan!” Eld screamed, the squads eyes widening in sheer panic before turning around. Flying forwards with their ODM gear.

“Damn you. This time, I will defeat it!” Eren shouted, Eld’s eyes snapping to the boy, “No, dont! The four of us will kill the Female Titan. You will continue to head straight for HQ at top speed!” You looked back at the titan, it was sprinting straight towards you, “I’ll fight too!” Eren argued, “No! This is the best move.. Your power is too risky!”

Eren blinked in fear, you turned your eyes to him. “Do you doubt us, Eren?” Your unusually calm voice even under these circumstances, maybe you had known Levi too long. “Do you find it hard to trust us?” Eren shot his gaze to you, scowling before spinning and taking off infront of him.

“I believe my squad will be victorious!” Eren shouted, “Goodluck!”

You smirked, releasing your grapple and spinning around, grappling at the Female Titan as your squad followed in pursuit. Eld went to strike her, her hand reaching out to grab him before Petra and Oluo came forwards and grappled her eyes, slicing through them to make her blind. You came from behind, aiming at her nape before her hand made it first, hardening just as quickly as you sliced.

Metal snapping broke through your ears as your eyes gradually widened, fear had finally creeped up to you then. Jumping off her hand you grappled to a tree whilst getting new blades. The Female Titan had backed into her tree, her underarms exposed as she used her hands to protect her nape.

Petra and Oluo swung around before slicing through above her armpits and fleeting, the squad continuing this tactic till her arms would fall so you could strike her nape. Eventually her arms fell limp beside her sides but her neck was still pressed against the tree.

“Now strike her neck!” Eld shouted as he began to plummet at her, the titan suddenly opening its one eye and turning its head, mouth slamming down on Eld’s as his lower half hung from her lips. You gasped in terror, eyes turning hazy for a moment as you watched her chomp down, his body falling through the air and onto the lovely ground beneath.

“Eldo!” Petra screamed from beside you, her falling figure barely catching itself before she grappled. Staring wide eyed as the Female Titan sprinted towards her, towering over her in an instant. You reacted and grappled her nape, screaming as you went to slice down. Her nape had hardened, your new blades cracked and snapped in half again as you slowly slid off her icy nape. Falling, watching as she raised her foot and stomped Petra into a tree. Tears pricked your eyes, shutting them furiously before opening them again with a new found rage.

You shot the ODM around her, watching from the corner of your eye as you saw Oluo attempt to slice at her nape, the same fate happening to him before she whipped her arm back. Sending Oluo plummeting into a tree, blood splattering everywhere.

“No!” You screamed in pain, tears freely falling from your eyes as you rounded around to face her. Grasping new blades as you stared at her head on. “I’m going to fucking kill you!” You shouted and shot to a nearby branch, she had anticipated this and swung a hand out. Your face turned to see your welcoming doom. Of course she had foreseen this.

Pain exploded through your abdomen as you flew backwards, swinging around the branch a few times as your grapple sticked to it. Blood oozed from your stomach, a large gash in your side with two broken legs. Limply you fell backwards, your legs in the air with your head facing the ground. Your vision went blurry quickly, everything felt painful and all you could think about was sleep, sleeping eternally sounded better than this hell.

The last thing you saw was blazing yellow lightning and your cape whipping violently in the wind as you found peace.

From afar Levi was soaring through the trees, he had heard two titans transformed and assumed the worst. A shiny object on the ground caught his attention, releasing the grapple he gradually fell the ground and walked towards it, picking it off from the grass.

Time stopped as his eyes stretched open in fright. His heart squeezing into nothing as his fingers lightly wiped the blood from it. What he was clutching onto dearly was your necklace, it had fallen off during your chase and was coated in thick layers of blood and dirt.

Tears stung at the back of his head, his chest throbbed in heartache. Finally be shot the ODM forwards, finding blood droplets on the trees. As he neared the death zone he was met with Eld’s half eaten corpse, Oluo’s mutilated body, and lastly Petra’s body slammed into a tree as blood streeked down the bark.

Fear was coursing through his veins, where the fuck were you? Until finally he pushed forwards and saw the body hanging from the tree, faltering he frowned. Grappling to the body.

He hung beside the body from the branch as he gradually moved the cape from the face, meeting your shut eyes. Levi flinched back violently, his heart dropping down to his stomach.

“No..” He whimpered softly to himself, grabbing your front half he flipped you over right, rubbing the dirt and blood away from your face. A cough sputtered from your lips weakly, blood landing on his cheek as he froze. His hand still wiping away the grime away.

Levi felt tears prick his eyes, gently, he’d speak

“Y/N... Brat, speak to me.” Levi commands, his fingers trembling against your cheek. Slowly you’d open your eyes to see his relief flood face. A tear streamed down his cheek and he let out a shaky breath, caressing your scratched cheeks.

“Please.. You can’t go yet.” He whispered, gripping onto you tighter as you smiled weakly. Feverishly, you stretched a hand out infront of you, your middle and pointer finger absent. He tightly gripped your hand, new tears flowing without his command.

“I remember.... We were going to get married.” He’d say weakly, his grip tightening on you. Tears found themselves in your eyes before streaming down your already dirty cheeks.

“I’m sorry..” You croaked delicately, coughing up a new round of blood as it stained his Survey Corps coat. “Levi..”

“No goddamnit, brat. You stay alive! I command you to.” He grabbed your collar, his fist clumping your blood stained shirt. “I..” He lost his words, a lump forming in his throat. Never had he experienced such heartbreak before in his life, it was tearing him to shreds and leaving no crumbs.

“We will... get married, above..” You smiled at crumbling man in front of you, his world slipping away in his fingertips. Never until now had he wished nothing more than to still be living the underground by your side. You pointed to the clouds, using your last ounce of strength before it fell limply to your side.

Levi brought his hand to yours, picking it up he held it upright. Slowly with trembling fingers he’d wrap his pinky around yours once last time, kissing the intertwined fingers softly.

“I promise Y/N, I will marry you.” He’d sob out finally. A fragile smile on your lips before your eyes shut and the world fell silent.

sorry for any spelling mistakes i posted it right away

mentionables: @pizzarollsfordayz, @fluffyleviackerman

[welkinsky]

Could I request a scenario where

Levi's wife y/n and their 5 year old son both get kidnapped by kenny and the military police and get taken to the crystal cave with eren and historia. And when levi goes to rescue his family he is vivid. Luckily no harm was done to his wife and child and they made it out of the cave safely❤❤

Levi X Reader | He Saves You

Masterlist

You were in your kitchen making dinner while humming because you knew Levi will be coming back anytime now. You heard your son talking to someone. First, you thought he was just singing some song, this is the habit that he picked from you. But as you tried to listen to which song he is singing you heard a man's voice too. You were in the kitchen so if someone would have entered your house, you would have known. This scared the shit of out you. You took a knife in one hand since you were trained for self-defense by Levi you knew a thing or two.

As you entered his room you saw an old tall man standing with your kid in his hand and a gun in the other. He immediately asked you to put down your knife while playing with your kid as if it was nothing. When you demanded to know who he was he just smirked and said it is Grandpa Kenny. You were in shock for a second because Levi has told you about him before and the information wasn't pleasing at all. You tried closing the gap between you two carefully but he said, "Okay so mama Ackerman wants it to be the hard way?" while looking at your son. Kenny gave his loaded gun to your son and looked at you with a smirk and said, "On your knees, now.". You had no other way but to follow as he demanded. He took the gun back and signaled someone standing in the back. The next thing you remember is being chained to a wall in a very cold place and as you opened your eyes you saw your son and honestly, all the pain went away for some time as you hugged him. But you knew this isn't time to celebrate because you could hear gunshots outside and it wasn't too far too. You tried to figure out where were you but the only thing you could understand is that you're either underground or in some cave. You heard footsteps and immediately hid your son behind your back. It was Connie. You relaxed knowing that they knew you were here, that he knew you were here. He freed you from the chains not before almost getting shot. He asked you to keep low till the shooting stopped. And as it stopped you spotted Levi and he was facing Kenny. They both were on top of the pillars. Levi ordered, "Run to Armin." without taking his eyes off Kenny. You got the signal and took your kid in your arms and covering him as much as you can, especially his eyes and his ears, and started running towards him. Kenny's soldier started shooting towards you but the Levi squad took them down one by one and. It was raining soldiers that day for you. Before Kenny could even come close to you Levi swing by and threw him into a completely different direction with a, "Not this time." But before you could turn back to see if he is okay or not Armin took your hand and helped you to a cart which then dropped you at the small cottage farm. The people there helped you in settling down. You were worried about what happened there and where were they. If Levi's okay. Why was Kenny all of a sudden in the picture? You had so many thoughts in your head that all disappears later that night as Levi came running to your room and picked you up in a hug. His kisses were never this passionate honestly. His nose was red so you could tell he had been crying. He hugged you for solid 5 minutes before going to see your son who was sleeping now. He never let you go that night and made sure that you two were always surrounded by soldiers to make sure that none of this ever happens again. Although he doesn't trust anyone all the time so he tried his best to be with you as much as possible to make sure that you two were okay.

___________________

Thanks for the asks!

Asks are still open if you want to submit any ;)

[shesalittlelost]

I'm literally talking about people calling Mikasa a dog and horrible names for being fiercely loyal when that is a trait i.e: loyalty that levi also has. WHERE did I call Levi a dog?? Did you even read my post?

I know I shouldn't reply to you because it's going to be pointless since you're just running around in a circle because apparently, even mentioning your precious Levi in the same sentence as Mikasa is some great offense but all I'm gonna say is that if you genuinely think Levi followed Erwin simply because it's his job with no emotional weight to it then I don't think you actually like or even understand your fav.

How would you define emotionally dependent?

Mikasa doesn't wilt and die without Eren's attention. Mikasa isn't desperate for his validation. Mikasa's worth never depended on Eren's behaviour to her. Mikasa is a very self-sufficient person from the beginning who needs very little from people. Eren is one of the very few people she chose to love and her love for him is empowering. At her lowest moment, it is his memory that motivates her to pick up her blade and fight for her life. It's his words that trigger her Ackerman ability and teach her to fight. That she was able kill him for the sake of humanity and still continue to love him is a prove of how independent and free she always was. What you're calling emotional dependence here is simply that, love. She loves Eren. Simple. I don't think you understand or appreciate her character enough so it's understandable you have such superficial opinions about her.

Mikasa and Eren are neither superior officers of one or the other. Mikasa would disobey chain of command for Eren as she's shown multiple times.

And? What is this point proving exactly? The point is Levi and Mikasa both being fiercely loyal to the people whose ideologies they seem to adopt or internalise. Like Mikasa repeating Eren's "only way to win is to fight" and Levi going from a petty thug underground who only cared for himself and his friends to becoming one of the best soldiers of humanity because he believed in Erwin. It's called character analysis. People do that sometimes I'm fandoms you know? It requires you to think a little deeper than just surface level understanding of characters, relationships and story itself.

Mikasa being hated for the same traits that people find “hot” in Levi is one of the most glaring examples of misogyny in the fandom. She is called a “dog” and whatnot just for loving and following Eren but Levi isn't although his relationship with Erwin is the same? Yeah y'all are very transparent.

[plan3tlvrs]

Pinky

Summary⛧ eren a underground mafia leader visits a strip club with his friends.

Contains ⛧ 18+, nsfw, oral sex, (male and female receiving), riding, mentions of spit, gagging, face fucking, spanking, car sex, modern au 

2.k+ words

⛧ x fem!reader

⛧ mafia eren

A/n⛧ this is my first post so I hope you all enjoy and feel free to leave request.

Saturday night’s was when the club you worked at got the most customers; it was called the Pinky. You’ve worked there for almost two years now, first starting when you were a sophomore in college. Of course, you needed the money to pay for your tuition fast and debt free as your college days were ending and you were soon to be graduating. 

You landed this job with a friend that you met in college. Her name was Jenny. You didn’t think you would qualify for the job, but somehow Jenny worked her way around the requirements and here you are almost two years later. 

The club was lit up with different colored LED lights, mainly pink obviously. 

"Hey I need you at table ten in about five minutes" Rick, your manager, spoke to you through the mirror with a clipboard in his hands. 

You nodded and adjusted your outfit so you wouldn’t be uncomfortable all night. It was packed and you knew it by the sound of the crowd outside the dressing room door. You could see the strobe of the lights peeking from under the door as people passed by. 

Ruffling your hair in the mirror, you checked yourself once more and made your way out of the dressing room. Heels clicking on the floor as you surf through the crowd of people and make your way to the bar and pick up your notepad and pen. 

"Yo _____ did Rick tell you about table ten?" Jenny yelled over the music while sitting at the bar. She was on one of her many breaks of the night. 

She rarely did anything but somehow still managed to make money. 

"Not really, he just told me he needed me there in ten minutes" You looked at your phone before shoving it back in your pocket "well now two". 

Jenny laughed a little before putting her drink down. "You see those group of guys in the booth over there" 

You looked over at the booth and saw four men seated in all black from head to toe. They all had some type of expensive jewelry on, as you could tell from the watches, rings and chains they had, including some of them having piercings. 

"Yeah, what about it?" 

"Well, I heard that they are part of the biggest underground mafia in the city. Apparently they come here often and tip big. That's why Rick is always quick to get someone to their booth." Jenny reached over the bar and poured another drink. 

You studied them more as she spoke about them. The one on the far right sported a mullet, with a slight scruff forming around his face. Next to him, the blond had somewhat of a bowl cut that surprisingly went well with his undercut. You could see his piercing blue eyes from where you were standing. The third person was a brunette with his hair in a low messy bun, with a few pieces falling around his face here and there. To you, he was the most attractive. The way he sat with his legs spread, not even bothering to care about the men seated around him, showed that he carried himself highly. And lastly, the one at the end had a buzz cut, his hair kind of shady gray. You don't know how he pulled it off, but somehow he did. 

"The one with the mullet is kind of cute don't you think?" Jenny spoke, snapping you out of your trance.

"Eh I'm leaning towards the one with the bun" You placed your hand on your hip before looking at the clock above the shot glasses. "Shit" You hissed, turning back to Jenny, "I gotta go. I'll catch up with you later tonight?" 

Jenny dragged, obviously a little tipsy, "Yeah girl, go make that money."

Laughing, you walked away and, to your utter surprise, the table Rick had assigned you to wait at was in fact the so-called mafia gang Jenny was babbling about. 

"Good evening gentleman, can I get a few drinks started for you?" Taking out your notepad and pen, you looked at the men scanning them as they all stopped talking. 

The brunette with the man bun stared at you harshly with his green orbs before he spoke, his voice taking you back a bit. 

"Yeah, I'll take you and a round of vodka shots for me and my boys," the brunette smirked, looking around at his friends as they all let out small laughs. 

"Okay, vodka shots and some manners coming right up," you scribbled on your notepad as you returned your gaze to the brunette.

By now, his friends were astonished at your response and found themselves bursting into laughter as if it was the funniest thing on the planet. 

"Damn Eren, she really got you didn’t she" The one with the buzz cut said, slapping his hand on the brunette's shoulder. 

"I'm not gonna lie Eren, she's got sass. "The one with the brown mullet said, leaning back into the booth more. 

"Shut it horse face you too baldie," Eren said sternly, and the two men immediately straightened up.

"Tch" you said before walking away to retrieve their shots.

Eren watched you walk back as your hips moved with ease and your thighs rubbed together against the skimpy uniform shorts you wore. He could feel himself tighten up in his lower region. 

"Alright, a round of vodka shots will that be all for now?" As you leaned down to place the tray of shots on the table, your deep cleavage was visible as you leaned back up.

"Actually, I would like a dance" Eren spoke up, looking at you. 

"Sure, I'll go get someone for you. Just give me a sec" Before you could walk away, Eren spoke again. 

He leaned up from the booth, resting his elbows on the table with both of his fists under his chin.

"No from you" he said, looking you in the eyes. 

"Sorry pretty boy, I'm just the waiter" you said, picking up the tray of now empty shots. 

"I'll pay you name your price," Eren said before you walked away.

He just doesn't stop does he? 

"I don’t need your money" You turned your heels to make your way back to the bar. 

"Ten grand take it or leave it" 

You swear your heart stopped beating for another ten grand? That was more than you made here at night. That was more money than you made in a week, and you could really use it. You stood there deep in thought before making your decision. 

"Fine, but it can't be here. I could get fired" 

Eren smirked widely "That’s fine with me baby. My car is just out back when your shift is over. Meet me out there yeah?" He leaned back and continued a conversation with his friends who couldn't believe what had just happened. 

You waited tables and helped the bartender all night. Sometimes you would catch a glance of Eren staring at you with a hard gaze as you chatted up with people in the crowd which was made up of manly men. 

Eren had seen you talking to another group of guys laughing at something the raven haired man had said. For some odd reason, it made his blood boil like tea in a kettle. He was watching you the whole night and you knew it. Just by your body language, he could tell that you knew his eyes were on you every step you took. 

"Dude, you gotta stop staring at her like that it’s becoming creepy" The one with the buzz cut spoke. 

"Connie I'm not being creepy, I'm just observing" 

"Jean tell Eren he’s being weird," Connie said, rolling her eyes. 

"Is he being weird or creepy? "Pick one, Connie," the blond said, picking up a shot glass.

"Oh shut it Armin" Connie said harshly, leaning back into the booth. 

"Well, he is being kind of weird but-" The one with the mullet spoke after downing what was his sixth shot. 

"Thank you! Jean "Connie exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. 

"I wasn't finished Connie" Jean said, looking at him. "What I was going to say before I was so rudely interrupted was that it seems like Eren here has the hots for her already" 

By 2am you were in the backseat of Eren's car with his cock shoved down your throat. You didn’t know how a lap dance could turn into this, but it did. 

"Fuck yes just like that" Eren kept his hand on your head tangled in your hair as you bobbed your head up against his length.

Eren was bigger than most guys you had been with, but you weren't complaining as he shoved himself down your throat more and more with the push of his hips, lifting him lightly off the seat. You pushed your head as far as you could take him, your nose meeting the top of his stomach. He was seriously toned and had strong abs along his stomach. You gagged around him slightly as spit formed around your mouth and dripped down his shaft to his thighs. 

"You're taking me so well baby yes" Eren praised you as his eyes stayed on yours. 

Looking up at him, you could see that the bun he had on his head was falling out as sweat formed around the baby hair on his forehead. He looked so good above you like that as he smirked, catching you in a starry gaze with his dick in your mouth.  

He pulled you from his length, a trail of spit connecting you to his head. 

"Lay down" Eren ushered

Eren was already removing your skimpy shorts as you lay in the back seat.

"Watching you walk around all night in these made me want to ruin you even more," he said as he stroked your thighs.

"Yeah?" you inquired.

"Yeah" His voice was raspy as he grinned at you.

"Do it" you said eagerly. 

"Be careful what you wish for princess" 

Eren toyed with the hem of your panties, staring down at your aroused cunt, seeing it clench at nothing. He took his thumb and ran it over the material circling around your clit as you squirmed for more. 

"Fuck" 

"Use your words baby, tell me what you want," Eren said as he continued his actions. 

"Please" You squeaked 

"Please what" 

"Please fuck me" You pleaded with your eyes wide. 

"Don’t worry, I planned on it" 

Eren pulled your panties off as the hot air of the car hit your cunt. Bending his head down, he placed a soft kiss on your bud, trailing it down to your hole. Licking from the entrance to the top, he gripped your thighs in his hands, working his tongue at a fast pace, taking some time out to even suck on your clit. 

You were a moaning mess, your head pressed against the backseat window of his Mercedes. The windows were fogged up all over and there was a strong odor of sex in the air, but that didn't bother you. You could care less about getting caught by the club security guard. The thought of getting caught made you want to continue even more. 

Eren let go of your right thigh and reached for your soaking cunt, which was mixed with your slick and the spit from his mouth in one. Trailing his two fingers around your hole, he collected your juices before bringing them to your lips. 

"Open" He spoke slowly. 

You opened your mouth, allowing him to push his fingers inside, swirling your tongue around the tips before going all the way down to his knuckles. You could taste the sweetness of your cunt on the tips of his fingers. 

He watched you with lazy eyes and a smirk, grunting "fuck you look so hot right now". 

Eren pulled his finger out of your mouth, trailing them back down to your pussy before entering the two digits. His fingers began to move at a steady pace before you urged him on with your moans. As you grabbed the handle bar above the window to keep yourself from collapsing, his fingers hit the perfect spot.

He was so good with his fingers, the way he would move them against your walls. You couldn’t wait to feel the rest of him inside you. 

"Eren I'm gonna-" You let out a panted breath as he latched his mouth to your clit once again, flicking his tongue as his fingers continued their work. 

"Hold it," Eren said before pushing his fingers knuckle deep inside of you, hitting your g-spot every time.

Your legs shook as he held your left thigh in his hand and your right thigh over his shoulder, preventing you from closing your legs. Placing a hand on top of his head, pushing his hair from his face. He looked like a Greek god from below, those green irises glistening in the moon light that peaked through the fog of the window. You could hear the music from the club still going on and people walking through the parking lot. 

"Fuck Eren, I'm gonna cum right there" Your hands gripped his hair tightly as he let out a groan. 

"Your gonna cum all right, all over my dick now come here" Eren separated himself from your pussy by grabbing you by the hips and squeezing you into his lap.

Hands went behind his head to grip the back of the seat. Eren teased the tip of his cock against your slick folds, getting it wet with your arousal before pushing the tip in bit by bit. You shuttered above him, eagerly waiting for him to enter you fully. 

"Stop teasing" you said, looking him in his eyes. 

"You sure you can take it?" 

He grinned as you nodded your head, quickly placing his hands on your hips, he slammed your hips down. Letting out a wincing moan at how big he was inside of you, his tip kissing your cervix. Eren started guiding your hips in a back and forth movement after letting you adjust to his size. He was long and thick, splitting your walls perfectly. 

You moved your hips at a steady pace while leaning your face in the crook of his neck, kissing him softly and nipping at the skin. You wanted him to remember how he ruined you in the back of his car for the next week. You wanted him to constantly think about how he fucked you into oblivion. 

"Good girl, you're taking me so well, darling," Eren grunted, lowering his hands to your groin and gripping the flesh with both hands. He gave it a few slaps as he started to go faster with each one. They left his large hand to bring in red markings.

Of course, he had fucked many girls before, but you were his favorite by far. Your attitude made him want to have you even more. He wanted to teach you a lesson. 

Eren stopped your hips and lifted you up slightly. 

"Let me do some work," he said before ramming his hip into you at a fast pace. 

Your mouth hung open and jaw slack as he fucked you into next year. Eyes rolling into the back of your head and tears forming at the ends of your eyes. 

"Shit shit shit right there don’t stop" Your hand reached up to grab your breasts, which were still hidden beneath your bra.

You detached your hands from around the seat and around your back to take off your bra as he fucked you into the roof of the car your head almost hitting the ceiling. Eren took your naked breast into his mouth while looking up at you as if he was innocent. Eyelashes fanning against the skin as his hips continued to meet your ass. 

"Yeah right there you like that don’t you?" "Use your words, baby," Eren grunted, jutting his pelvis into yours.

"I do, oh my god." Your hands wrapped around the base of his nape, holding onto it. 

Eren grabbed your neck making you look him in the eyes as he fucked you. Brining you down as your lips connected with each other’s molding perfectly. His tongue entered your mouth as your moans muffled.

His moans became staggered signaling that he was close to his own release.

A few strokes later, you felt the bubbly feeling in your stomach reappear again and your legs began to shake more than they already were. By now tears had streamed down your face and your mascara running. Eren smirked as he watched you cry, giddy with delight at seeing you gasp for him every time he jutted his length into your walls.

"I'm cumming" You spoke as your orgasm ripped through you like a blade. 

Legs shaking as Eren continued to fuck into you, pulling out at the last minute to release himself over your stomach. 

You rested your head on his shoulder and it was silent as you both tried to catch your breath. Rolling to the seat next to him, you sat sweaty and sticky with arousal. Looking to the side, Eren was doing the same but staring at you out the corner of his eye with a grin before speaking.

"So you want ten grand or are you gonna let me take you on a date?"

_________________________

[tundrainafrica]

How do you think was Erwin and Hanji's relationship? We barely see anything from them but we see him confiding in her, they planned so much together, and he left her as a Commander... What do you think he did that? I mean, what do you think he saw in her that made him think "Hanji is the correct option"? Hanji is my fave so i absolutely believe he was right but likex, his reasoning?

Hi anon, 

I really feel like I have answered this ask before but I can’t seem to unearth it so I guess I’ll be answering it again. 

How do you think was Erwin and Hanji's relationship?

Actually, this is an interesting relationship for me to headcanon. In a lot of my current WIPs actually, I’ve been trying to explore the relationship of Erwin and Hange a little more for reasons... which I’m not gonna delve into now because I don’t wanna spoil one of my fics. 

I have another fic which hasn’t been posted yet though but I think people will get it once I post it because I actually wrote a fic as a character study of a romantic relationship between Erwin and Hange and what Erwin can offer Hange which Levi can’t so I’m not going to go into too much detail on this until I get the fic out so feel free to ask me about my opinion and I can do another meta on this after I post that one shot. 

What do you think he chose Hange as the next commander?  What do you think he saw in her that made him think "Hanji is the correct option"?

To answer this question, I think the best thing to do first is to consider all other options Erwin had at that time. 

In Season 1, who were Erwin’s other options for commander? Based on the vets which I saw, there was the captain of Armin’s squad during the Annie expedition, who died very quickly, there was Mike and there was Hange. 

So among the squad leaders, the possible three leaders right after Erwin were actually just Mike, Hange and Levi.

Mike died soon after season 2 started so he didn’t really become an option. 

But for the sake of just loving Hange, I’ll point out the reasons why I think Hange would have been chosen as commander even if Mike survived. 

Hange’s good with logistics and plan execution.

Hange is extremely good with logistics and I have mentioned this in a previous meta already, Hange is a master of plan execution. Although she falls short against Armin and Erwin when it comes to the actual strategy process, I think the reason we can still call her a brilliant strategist is because although Hange can’t answer the big ‘hows,’ she can answer the small ones. 

For example, during missions, it’s not obvious but Hange is the one who handles the questions on how to transport the captured titans, how to transport the weapons, how to build the supply bases. She is the head of their research and development department after all and a lot of the expeditions post shiganshina were actually the team trying to build a sustainable way to get to Shiganshina so it involved a lot of building bases and building a supply chain. 

And given Hange’s extensive knowledge on how the weapons work and how the supply bases are made, I’m sure that Hange straightened out a lot of the miniscule details when it came to planning the supply bases based on the geography of areas, etc. 

It was more obvious in the video game but in canon we see hints of it.

Remember that scene in Season 2 where Hange told Erwin to look at the forest with the big trees when they kidnapped Eren? I think this is actually connected to how Hange thinks or what kind of work she has been doing since she became squad leader. Hange probably knew they would rest there because when she was planning the supply bases, a lot of her thinking work relied on finding ways to position the supply bases and finding the best route to get the soldiers to Shiganshina in the least amount of time. 

What about Mike?

Mike could have been a brilliant strategist too but even when crumbs of Hange’s own brilliance were subdued in canon, I found that she still had a lot more crumbs of brilliance compared to Mike (correct me if I’m wrong?)

But at that point in time, sure Mike had leadership skills, sure he had combat skills but I think if Erwin were to choose, he would actually pick Hange since she not only has some handle of her squad but due to the nature of her work, she would probably have better adjusted to the commander position since she deals not just with her squad but with all the squads since she handles weaponry, research and the overall strategy for the expeditions.  

So what about Levi vs. Hange?

Tbh, when comparing Levi, Hange and Mike based on combat ability, I would actually rank Hange third based on the narration or canon confirmation that Mike was second strongest next to Levi. But after Hange took down 3 colossals though? Since I’m biased, I’ll make her second. 

Hange would have totally beaten Levi to the position and we saw that already in canon. Hange was chosen over Levi for numerous reasons and I actually don’t even think this is a close fight. 

Hange had more traits needed for the commander position.

First, she is a better large scale strategist than Levi. I think Levi probably does better strategy combat wise as seen in Season 3 in the crystal cavern scene, (Levi was the one who came up with the plan then), Hange was the one though who actually figured out how to get there in the first place iirc.A lot of Hange’s work, compared to Levi, involved buttering up the right higher ups, working politics in their favor and just figuring out the secrets and the hints behind a lot of it and don’t you think that a commander should be someone who is better at gaining influence, has a mindset for searching for the truth beyond the walls and has the capability of executing large scale strategy? With just this idea, I think Hange takes the cake. 

She was better educated for a position that requires a lot of professionalism.

On top of that, I had a headcanon for a while that Levi didn’t know how to read but after rewatching some scenes, yeah, Levi knows how to read but it doesn’t change the fact that he probably isn’t as accustomed to life above ground as Hange is and he isn’t at all used to brushing elbows with the higher ups. This probably isn’t obvious in the English dub or sub but Levi’s way of speaking Japanese is incredibly rough and he never uses polite Japanese, like even when addressing Erwin or the other higher ups. He has never even used honorifics when addressing anyone. (which is incredibly important in Japanaese)

Since polite Japanese is learned very late in life for a lot of Japnaese people (it’s actually learned in school towards junior high and high school), inability to speak in formal Japanese is usually a sign that someone lacks education and give that he’s from the underground and grew up in gangs I don’t think Levi actually had the best education which makes him not as qualified as Hange when dealing with paperwork, talking to the higher ups, politicking and research

About Levi’s speech patterns: I only remember one scene in the whole show where Levi actually used polite Japanese and he could have been just mocking some rich guy there. He used it once as well when referring to Historia but when we consider the fact that that’s a strict military setting, the way Levi addresses people just does not work and compared to Hange whose speech patterns when she became commander were very very very professional, I do not think Levi would have been the best choice for commander. 

Hange actually climbed up the ranks.

On top of that, Levi actually never climbed up the ranks. The captain of the special squad is a special position given to Levi because he’s just that strong and there are only four soldiers under him who were hand picked while Mike and Hange both had twenty or even fifty soldiers under their squads so we can see from the start, Levi never really climbed the ranks conventionally thus was never groomed or trained to deal with the actual commander position so it makes more sense that Hange takes it anyway. 

That’s all I can think of now but will add if I can think of other reasons. Thanks for the ask and thanks for reading!

[verratensduo]

💍 Rod Reiss was dead and Marco had saved Eren from the tyrant's clutches. Marco took Eren back to the Bodt Family's Summer House and treated his wounds Marco walked into the bedroom where Eren was resting.

"Morning, Sunshine." Marco greeted. He carried a tray with a bowl of soup and a small velvet box in it and set it on the night stand. "How are you feeling?" (good Marco Verse)

Eren wasn’t sure how he had been so careless. Marco had already saved him once, and then he went and got kidnapped again. This time he had awakened in chains and in an underground cavern full of crytals. He had been on his knees, and then the king transformed into some sort of horrors faceless being that tried to grab Eren. He wasn’t sure what it had planned, and admittedly he was blubbering like a baby for mercy after everything he had been through. He wasn’t the strong and brave warrior he once was anymore…

He was shocked when a sudden shape bust into the room. He moved as swift and angrily as Levi, but he was taller. Eren couldn’t quite make out the face, now until the beast was slain and the figure ran up to him to free him. “M-Marco…you still came for me.” He managed, his voice still pretty messed up from crying and begging for his life.

He had then lost consciousness again.

He came to a couple days later in a house. The same house Marco had brought him too after freeing him from that cell in an underground prison.

A small smile crossed his face when Marco came in with the food, and that angelic voice hit his ears again.

“I am doing much better. Thanks for saving me again. I am sorry I got kidnapped again…I feel so…” His eyes fell on the box. His eyes watered some as he ate and looked back to Marco, a smile coming across his face.

“If this is what I think it is, yes Marco, I will marry you. I am done fighting. Life with you sounds really nice, and I have always had a crush on you.”

[ghostmartyr]

SnK 132 Thoughts

This month, more people scream and die.

Exactly as keikaku.

Unlike certain keikakus, however, this keikaku is still missing the essential element of a keikaku in that there is no actual keikaku there’s just a lot of people running around screaming while they try not to die and then the screaming only stops when they die.

People also die when they are killed.

...Maybe.

Before we approach the obvious, the most interesting part of this chapter to me is that once again, Eren is presented with the option of stopping. While he’s in the planning stages of his assault, it is explained quite plainly that strategic strikes will completely undo any country’s attack on Paradis.

Hizuru favors a limited test run of the rumbling. Yelena provides a tactic that uses only a bit of the outer wall. She explains the reasoning. She isn’t wrong.

We’ve already had plentiful examples of what the Wall Titans can do. They can swim. They’re easy to spot from the distance, but there is no ammunition or strategy that can deal with them. Running is the best option, and even that is a risk.

Systematically destroying every single port would have bought Paradis all the time in the world. Yelena has this discussion with Eren back when she is wanting Eldians to die out, so they have different view of what counts as a win, but if Eren had wanted to, he could have easily wielded his massive power to keep every nation’s military from fucking with them.

He doesn’t do that. Instead of a small portion of the walls, he wakes up the entire part. Instead of targeted strikes, he goes for armageddon.

Eren has options. Hange can say that Eren has no solutions, hope, or future, but the lack of hope is all that comes close to the truth. There is a solution right here. Fight anyone who would oppose you, and win. Make it clear that the assaults only happen because they made the mistake of declaring war on Paradis.

Eldians might be treated like crap everywhere, but Eren’s murdered plenty of Eldians with this plan. If his only care is the island, he could have worked to protect it.

Instead, even in the most generous of reads, he's deconstructed Paradis’ government in a time of incredible strife, sowing the seeds for an ugly civil war that has already had its beginning skirmishes.

Eren’s actions are destructive in every single category. When he first activates the walls, Armin still has that flash of hope that Eren is only using the amount of force he needs to put an end to this assault.

He doesn’t. He wakes up every single titan, sends them marching, killing people on this island he’s supposed to care for so much, and now his closest friends are stuck in a world where to prevent genocide, they are probably condemning their own people to an even worse future than they already had.

The thing about this level of power is that you can do what you want. No one can stop you. If this starts with people forcing Historia into a breeding farm, Eren can just murder anyone who’s in favor of that.

(Sidebar: I still am annoyed that no one came up with the obvious solution for that problem. If they need someone with royal blood to still be around in fifty years, just turn Historia into a mindless titan and ditch her underground with specific instructions each new Founder can follow. Titans are functionally immortal when left alone. They’re much less fragile than humans. Any dedicated person could easily kill off all the royal heirs, so might as well simplify the process, keep one royal heir around and relatively invulnerable. Then each Founder has easy access to their power if they just go to the right place. Obviously there are risks, but honestly it’s more straightforward than having a bunch of free-minded little kids be your backup plan.)

Eren can destroy an entire country before even the most knowledgeable titan experts can work out a reliable plan.

Paradis was never in danger. They had this. The rest of the world had a hundred years to forget, but a handful of public demonstrations illustrates the point very, very clearly. Yelena’s strategy was meant to serve Zeke’s plan, but if what Eren wants is Paradis to thrive, it works. He doesn’t have much time left, but he doesn’t need it to destroy other countries’ options of attacking Paradis.

Hizuru is interested in allying with Paradis because of this power. They’re the first. They would not be the last.

At the very least, this would give Paradis more time, which they’ve all seen the need for.

Instead, Eren chooses to destroy everything that might even consider being a threat to Paradis. There is no diplomacy. There is no measured use of force. There is no plan. There is the monsters he’s always hated, and falling so far into the darkness that the freedom he claims to want is destroyed by his own hands.

There were countless threads Eren could have followed, being a demigod. He very honestly could have done whatever he wanted.

So he did.

I feel like we’re still missing why. By the time his head has gotten blasted off, he’s encouraging his dad to murder the Reiss family, and he’s hallucinating himself as a child, I think it’s more than fair to say this war has won against Eren. He’s broken, and this is the path he’s on.

Maybe it’s as simple as thinking in such stark black and white terms that he needs a future with a guarantee, and death is the strongest guarantee he can come up with.

Except going back to just last chapter, this is not what Eren wants. It is not something he is approaching with the passionate conviction of being in the right. He’s in tears over it. He’s horrified by the future he causes, but chained to it because he knows he causes it.

It’s a difficult problem to explain. From a plot perspective, I’m frustrated because there are so many ways this didn’t have to happen. I’ve said before that tragedy should feel inevitable, and with each reveal of what Eren got up to in the shadows, this tragedy feels entirely avoidable.

However, from a character perspective, it does make sense that once Eren’s course of action has been decided, he doesn’t see the other options. The inevitability is a trick of his mind, but it’s a trick that he’s bought into completely, so the tragedy is found in how truly unnecessary this all is. The tragedy is that the most powerful person on the planet is a slave to his own mind.

Here’s where that stops working for me:

We see that character arc play out better elsewhere.

That’s Floch’s role.

Floch is an unlikable, divisive zealot who will happily kill civilians and throw children out of airships. He joins the Survey Corps when it’s the hip and happening thing to do, and has none of the conviction to back up their ideals.

He is the sole survivor of a suicide charge. Everyone around him dies in the space of a few minutes, and he’s left alone to make sense of it.

The only sense he finds is that this has to be necessary.

This is how they win.

The world is chaotic and vicious, and the only way to answer that evil is with evil. This world that hates them is not allowed to wipe them out, and anyone who tries will feel their wrath.

Floch doesn’t bother with mercy or kindness. He doesn’t mind that the rest of the world has to die for them to live.

This is how his world operates. Kill or be killed. Those are clearly the rules. Those have been the rules for a hundred years, more clear than ever when they step outside and are eaten on contact.

If the rest of the world lives, Paradis dies.

Paradis is home.

For as long as it’s existed, it’s been hated. Never mind that the current people living there are also victims of the Eldian Empire. They’ve lived in a bubble, and forces keep showing up to pop that bubble, leaving nothing but bodies in their wake.

It is cruel and appalling.

But Paradis is still alive.

Because Erwin murders all these new recruits, Paradis lives.

Floch is the only one left alive to know that so intimately.

It is not a kind assessment.

It is one he redefines his life by.

Answer devils with devils. Their enemy is the entire world. There can be no rest. There can be no sympathy. As long as the outside world exists, Paradis will be a target for its hatred, and that hatred will eventually succeed in killing them.

Floch believes this. Genocide is not something he has a problem with. He’s been living in a world where it’s Us or Them, and has repeatedly made it clear that he will choose Us.

Floch is a teenage boy who survives brutality he’s not prepared for, and reconstructs his entire worldview around the tactic that tries to kill him. He’s a dick, and he does terrible things.

He believes in what he is doing.

He believes that if he doesn’t stop the plane, Paradis will die. He believes that our little ragtag group of heroes are the final, greatest threat to his home. He believes that Eren’s evil is the only thing that will keep them all safe.

At the end of the day, his only hope is that the Devil is on their side.

Floch dies believing in that hope, and he dies to the people hellbent on destroying it.

It’s tragic and sad, because he could never see anything better.

Our first real introduction to him is him on a rooftop, arguing that a boy whose eyes sparkle at thoughts of the ocean is not a good contribution to the war effort.

On that same rooftop, his devil argues that that is exactly why that boy needs to stay alive.

I understand that Eren’s somewhere that we can’t really reach right now, but I don’t feel like the story has shared the thread of how things got this bad. I can point to a dozen different factors that finally broke the camel’s back, but I wouldn’t say any of those are the reasons canon is operating under. We know that Eren came completely undone when the memories of the future were unlocked, but as late in the game as Marley, he’s still devastated by what he’s about to do.

So why does he do it? Why this choice? Why this way?

I think I spent most of last month’s post arguing that, so I won’t belabor it much more, but... I really feel like something’s being overlooked, and I don’t understand it. It’s hard to say if the story simply has a much different vibe than I expected, so my mind is rejecting all this, or if it’s intentionally weird. I’d like to think it’s intentionally weird, because in my opinion that’s a much better story, but either way, right now everything Eren’s doing feels like an incredibly pointless detour.

...Sure, that will end the world, but who cares about that, give me my character work.

How did hope become an impossibility for Eren?

To less painful things, I suppose.

No one suffers like Mikasa suffers.

I like Annie. She has always, very emphatically, wanted nothing to do with this. She has pride in her skills, but she spends years of her life undercover for a government that hates her, planning the deaths of people she respects. I like her opting out. This has never been her war, really, and she’s finally among people who will respect that she’s done with it.

It adds to the sweetness that Reiner is one of those people, now. As her self-appointed leader, he drives Annie into things she can’t stand, clearly favors Bertolt, and is generally just a pain who’s trying too hard in all the wrong areas.

Reiner gets that, and instead of bullying her into participating when she doesn’t want to, he lets her go.

Annie finally gets to pick her battles without anyone negging her.

It’s not a resolution I expected, but it’s one I’m glad for. It follows the trend of our leftover cast being completely past done with violence.

Who knows if that will turn out well for them, but I like the story taking the gentler approach. The world’s ending, so they might as well take the time to be kind to each other. It’s the opposite path of what ultimately destroys Floch, and I love to see it.

The Survey Corps is represented by their yearning for knowledge. Understanding. For a hundred years, that yearning has been paired with war, and the dead bodies have piled up.

Now, the remaining bodies left who call themselves Scouts are kind of. done with that. They’ve seen too many friends die. They’ve built trains. They’ve seen the ocean. They’ve tried foods from other countries they didn’t even know existed.

Surveying the outside world required weapons because otherwise you’d die, but there’s a reason why Levi keeps on missing the promotion to Commander. Levi is a defender of humanity. When he dedicates his heart, he does it to protect people. Learning more about the world is a side effect.

To match the Survey Corps’ ideals, violence is the side effect. It’s not what they’re meant to be about. Yet somehow they’re all soldiers with huge body counts, guilty even of killing their countrymen.

Levi lets Erwin go on that roof because he rejects Floch’s desire to condemn one of them to being a devil for the rest.

That results in letting a boy who dreams of the ocean live.

Hange becomes the Commander and gets to see their world expand. New friends are made, new technologies discovered. New civilization. New, new, new.

Aaaaaaand it’s still all trying to kill them.

Hange begins as a recruit who hates titans. What saves Hange from that hate is curiosity. At the end, that curiosity and awe is still alive. Even heading into death, we return to that beginning spark of salvation.

“Titans really are... incredible.”

No one else in the world looks at these monsters and sees something amazing. Hange is enamored with them. The world is burning, these things are responsible, yet still. There is wonder to be had in looking at them. They are an incredible, impossible creation, and Hange gets to see them up close.

A world like that has to be called incredible.

That’s why Armin gets to be Commander. Jean’s there to help. Mikasa’s there to help. Connie’s there to help.

But the Survey Corps exists to go out into the world and understand it. If something is hidden under a rock, you lift the rock. If you don’t know why someone’s doing something, you talk to them.

The world is fucking beautiful.

If the person in charge doesn’t remember that, they’re all doomed.

(This is why Levi is not allowed to be in charge.)

It’s a good sendoff for Hange. Time spent with Levi, getting to be a chaotically cool genius who saves everyone... yeah. It’s a good finish.

But this better not be fucking going where I think it’s going.

Let me politely frame my issues with dream sequences and time travel in fiction. I feel that I have done it before, but let us revisit, briefly.

There’s this show called Supernatural.

A thing that happens enough time to warrant its use as an example is that characters see or go into the future, and find that everything is fucked beyond belief. It is all bad, everything is wrong, see how you must avoid this so it never gets this bad.

The frustrating part is that hey, these characters in the future should have the same degree of agency as this guest from the past. Except they don’t. Because the past character is the main character. Future crew is just an extended what-if, and soon the entire plot will be devoted to making sure this what-if never happens. They are not real main characters, so they don’t get to do cool stuff. They’re forever doomed to failure.

The ghosts of the Survey Corps watching the progress of their living comrades isn’t a new concept. Every veteran has been haunted by them. Seeing them at the end of the story, doing exactly what we’ve been told they’re doing... fine, okay.

I just am starting to feel like the story’s quaking for a reset button.

Everything is bad. The world is fucked up beyond repair. There is no plan to deal with it, except to try to keep the global genocide from living its dream. In a world where they succeed in that, Eldians will be more hated and feared than ever before, Paradis being wiped off the map will probably be an international priority, there will be no Founding Titan to protect them, and there’s no path to recovery.

Then we’ve got a shot of ghosts all looking over the current happenings.

We know from Paths magic that all of Ymir’s people are connected. This doesn’t use that imagery; it’s based much more simply in the oath all these soldiers swore. But the point is, we see dead people. At a point in the story where many, many dead people are being produced.

I don’t mind a character being welcomed to an afterlife. A lot of stories go there.

But I am a suspicious, terrible person, and getting a glimpse at sentient dead people at this time makes me wonder if we’re allowed the privilege because they’re going to be newly present in the story.

And I am fine if we go the way of a Madoka ending. It’s better than a Lelouch option, and I like Madoka.

The only thing is, if we are going to hit a reset button, I become very, very cross at some of the choices made. Because sure, the characters might have still made those decisions, but the author knows that things are free to go as badly as whimsy will take them, because it won’t last. And with how my primary objection to the current plot is that it feels unnecessary, and like the choice to go here was made without enough reason to back it up...

It hasn’t happened yet, there’s nothing more than a suspicion that it might happen, but there are some specific kernels of “this needs more canon explanation” that I think the story should have, and if we’re stepping into the afterlife, magic solutions don’t seem far off, and if we get a magical solution without first establishing the non-magical ways we first ended up here, I will have a problem.

But hopefully none of that will even be an issue, and I’ll look back and feel silly for bringing it up.

...It’s just that our main character is not only threatening, but committing global genocide, and as of right now, the win condition is a moral win where everyone lives to oppress Eldians another day.

-tosses charred confetti-

And I feel like that is an incredibly pointless and boring story, so maybe it is not the story we’re being told, so.

So.

To next month.

[bakubabes-tatakae]

For The Love Of Humanity’s Strongest (Part Four)

Author’s Note: If anyone wants to be in a taglist for this feel free to let me know! Happy to do it for anyone!

(Levi Ackerman x Reader)

Summary: When all seems lost Y/N knows that she can count on one person to always be there for her brother, Eren Jaeger, and herself. Can humanity’s strongest not only keep Eren in line, but keep his relationship alive as well?

AO3 Link

Part One, Part Two, Part Three

Part Four:

It took days for us to clean up the onslaught that the Titans had put on us. Cannons were firing constantly and mercilessly to keep from piling up outside the walls. The scouts had to cut down the rest that weren’t being drawn to the walls.

Zoe Hange, our mad scientist, had also captured two of the Titans during our clean up for her research. Levi was not satisfied with the answer the Commander Erwin had given him about my brother and nothing I said seemed to help his growing suspicion.

Even after Eren had helped to take back Wall Maria in these times, he was still locked up in a dungeon, underground, away from all life. I had pleaded with them, but my pleads fell on deaf ears. Everyone was too afraid of him and what he might do. Whenever Erwin would go and see him he always allowed me to go with them.

Seeing Eren locked up wasn’t easy, but he had been asleep for days. He was completely comatose after his transformations the other day. He had basically slept through everything, he hadn’t even known he was put into a jail cell. The more time went by without he stirring much, my worry grew. Until one day, as Levi, Erwin, and I stood outside his cell, he awoke.

Eren jolted up right, staring at the three familiar faces outside his cell. We knew that we were on business, not friendship, so neither Erwin nor Levi could be gentle to him. Erwin spoke to him, the silence seemed to be uncomfortable for him. “Any questions?”

Eren looked from Levi to Erwin and then to me, stopping when our gazes met. “Where am I?”

Erwin hadn’t moved from the chair that he was sitting in. “I think it’s obvious. Let’s just call it a dungeon. You’re currently in the custody of the military police, we’ve been granted permission to see you a couple times. This is the first time you’ve actually awoken in days.”

Levi re-situated himself, getting a better look at Eren. He leaned against the wall with one leg planted on it. Eren looked down and noticed the chains attached to him. Erwin suddenly held something up in his hands, and when I saw what it was I was in shock. Eren sat forward and we both spoke at the same time. “Where’d you get that?”

“Off of you.” He pointed to Eren. “Don’t worry, you’ll get it back.” Erwin looked over at me and then between the two of us. “Let’s talk home, more importantly, the good doctor’s cellar back in Shiganshina. Pretty big secret in there right?” Eren and I looked between each other. We had never known or been told what was in there, let alone allowed to be in the cellar.”About the Titans..”

Eren and I had always had our suspicions on what it could be, we were pretty sure it had to be about the Titans. Eren spoke before me. “Yea. I think so.”

Levi spoke next, his words were cold, even toward me. “Must suck having your dad and your memories MIA at the same time. Unless, of course, that’s just a cover story.” What did Levi think we were hiding?

Erwin looked over at Levi, clearly sensing my tension and scolded him. “Enough.” He growled a little. “We’ve been over this already. We know he has no reason to lie. And you’re going to speak of your girlfriend of seven years that way?” He looked back at Eren. “How about you shed a little light on this by telling me your intentions?”

Eren looked confused and I looked over at Erwin. “Intentions? Erwin, what are you trying to get at?”

“I’m going to give you guys the lay of the land. We want to make a visit to your dad’s cellar in Shiganshina. Sealing the breach there like we did in Trost would be the best way to go about it. Naturally we’ll need his special powers. Any way you slice it a Titan is deciding our fate.” He looked from me to Eren. “We’ve come to the conclusion that the Armored Titan and the Colossal Titan are more or less the same as you. It’s why I ask your intentions. They could be the key to turning the tide forever.” He held up my dad’s key. “You could save us.”

Eren sat in silence and Levi spoke up, clearly getting impatient. “Come on, it’s an easy question. What the hell is it you want to do?”

Eren was shaking, his anger getting the best of him. He had a growl to his voice as he spoke, shaking with rage. “I wanna become a member of the scouts, and slaughter every Titan that crosses my path.”

Levi’s eyes grew a little, barely enough to notice, but he was intrigued by his words. “Well played,” Levi walked up to the bars of Eren’s cell and held them, staring at him like a caged animal. “I’ll take responsibility for him. Let the higher ups know what’s going on. Not that I completely trust him, of course, it’s more of a matter of me trusting myself to deal with him. Kill him if I have too.”

That line caught my attention. “Levi!” Erwin put his hand up to stop me.

“The big wigs aren’t likely to raise a stink. My record more than speaks for itself, I’m sure of it.” He smiled at him. “Good news Jaegar, you’re officially a member of the scouts.”

* * * * * *

I sat on the couch in Levi and I’s apartment and stared out the window. Levi was in the kitchen, attempting to do the dishes, even though so many other things were on his mind. When my mind couldn’t take it anymore I stood and approached him. “What did you mean by you not trusting Eren, Levi? You’ve known him for a majority of his life. You pretty much watched him grow up. He’s always wanted to be a scout.”

Levi put the dish he was washing down and turned to me, leaning against the counter. He wasn’t in his scout uniform anymore, it was always weird seeing him in anything but his uniform since he worked so much. He sighed. “It’s not that I don’t trust his character, Y.N. It’s that I don’t trust his ability. He doesn’t even know how to control it yet.”

“And if it came down to it and you really did have to kill him?” I crossed my arms, trying to sound angered instead of about to cry. My emotions had been everywhere since the events of the attack on Trost.

“If I have to do it Y/N, then I have to do it. I know you’ll probably never forgive me, but if I didn’t and the military police take him into custody they’ll use him as a human test subject. You know very well they wouldn’t hesitate.”

I sighed. Why did Levi always have to be right? Levi reached a hand out for me and I grabbed it, being pulled inside the muscular arms of the Ackerman that had won me over all those years ago. His familiar scent filled my nose and I relaxed a little. “I just don’t even know how I feel about all of this and then I have all these people that just want Eren to suffer.”

“He won't suffer Y/N. I’ll be sure of that.” He ran his hand through my hair and held me tighter. “I love you, and he’s family, I’ve always thought of him that way and I always will.”

Taglist 💕 @super-peace-fangirl @pjimochi @izzythefanfreak @gamegirl23100 @always394patronus​

Part Five, Part Six: *NSFW Ahead!*, Part Seven

Updated: 5/13/2020

[aotopmha]

I'm really starting to disagree with the reaction I see around Mikasa's indecisiveness.

At first I got it and I still get it a little bit - the phrasing is mostly used as a proxy for Mikasa getting little to do, but I also don't agree with the interpretations of her character that sometimes come out of those complaints.

Mikasa never was this super proactive Battle Goddess to me. She was always what you call a "reactive character".

Conflict came to her and she dealt with it, rather than jumping into everything herself.

Since she lost her first one, her purpose in life was to protect her family - people even now reduce it down to her just being protective of Eren, I and many others have always thought it's more complicated than that, but now I personally think there is even more to it than that.

At this point her not just being protective of Eren actually is also a pretty common perspective around, too.

I think it's about stuff past that - the specific way she cares and why.

The people around her are the ones who give her meaning and direction and thus she acts depending on how they do.

Where they go, she goes.

Her moment of proactivity in Trost was her way of releasing tension; a reaction to trauma, not her "taking action" and again and again I see this cited as some super cool moment.

She was actually falling apart on the inside and her ultimate resolve was still to go on living for those she loved - in that case, Eren's memory.

She is someone who unconditionally lives for others and to me the contradictions around the criticism of her character start here.

People want her to grow to be more independent, but because of the nature of her trauma, her journey to independence will inevitabily contain a period of indecisiveness.

That's just how this kind of trauma works.

Eren is a constant, her friends are a constant. Tearing her away from that safety will naturally lead to indecision and she will have to do work to find another reason to act that doesn't involve them.

If you are torn away from the people you live for, you are going to be indecisive.

People don't want the resolution to be that she just cuts herself away from her connections and kills Eren, either because that might come across as her story just being about suffering and going through pain over and over again.

But for her to grow more proactive and "learn to be more decisive" as Armin roughly puts it, she has to go through a separation.

She can't learn to be more proactive when she is in state of mind where her only purpose for living is living for others.

So it's a catch 22 situation, where the solution to both is separation, but separation will lead to indecisiveness.

Which is then called meekness and what people usually call "sexist writing" because it involves the female character growing passive, but these are actually two very different things.

Meekness is delibrate passiveness and not even wanting to do anything, indecision is confusion and not knowing what to do.

Mikasa wants to do something, she just doesn't know what to do.

"What should I do?" she asks.

"What could I have done to prevent this?" she asks.

Naturally, what is meant by meekness is also a lack of retorts. She doesn't go around disturbing or questioning the chain of command or escalating situations for the worse with her remarks post-timeskip anymore like she did with Rico and Ian during Trost, with Kitz Weilman (the "my speciality is slicing flesh" situation), Levi in the forest (she got his ankle sprained), the "I have no heart to spare" when chasing Eren or even standing against Levi in the serumbowl.

This kind of "meekness" is actually something basically everyone in this story is going through right now, but for some reason people just mostly keep pointing at Mikasa as if she's the only character that way, but I get it, cold and sharp-tongued Mikasa is probably better written for some because well, maybe it just has more personality for some.

Character development isn't good when it "takes away" stuff you like the character for in the first place and people like the sharp tongue of the single-minded teenage Mikasa.

I'm really happy this chapter actively made her indecision as part of her character, before I might've thought Isayama just didn't know what to do with her at points - I can definitely see that complaint for the Uprising arc, especially, but now it's clear her indecisiveness is the point and Mikasa has a new thing going that's not just about her relationship with Eren. She will have to find a purpose to act and goal to strive towards when everyone she personally cares about is gone and I think we might've just seen that purpose when she called out Eren for causing so much harm to others.

She would live so no child would have to suffer like she has and could live a happy life.

This chapter actually made me kind of tear up for her.

I'm not even sure I like Armin calling her out for not being The Independent Woman Who Needs No Man because everyone she cares about is being split apart from her and relationships with other people are everything to her. Taken in a certain way, it could be just read as "stop having feelings".

Sasha died and she was sitting by her grave, holding her head because of a headache, experiencing the same pain she did all over again as she did with her parents, Eren's parents, as with Eren back in Trost and Armin in Shiganshina.

But now that everyone she cares about is going their own direction, she is helpless.

So, as said, her arc is about her finding direction again and learning to stand on her own feet and I think she will.

That... or we'll go the negative character arc route and she'll go insane from loss and isolation, which I don't think feels like the direction the story is going.

Oh, but Levi is like her and he doesn't have such an extreme reaction!

Well yeah, but Levi's principles are different and his arc is different.

I'd even argue that Levi doesn't even have an arc - we just learn how his principles developed, which is prioritizing survival at all cost (which he learned to do in the underground city) and don't regret your decisions (which according to No Regrets is from Erwin). Maybe he softened up a little bit, but even then we saw he already had a "soft side" the moment he was introduced.

Levi could've developed a unhealthy relationship with Erwin given more time, but his childhood was never defined by trauma and living for other people. It was trying to stay alive. The youngest we saw him, he was malnourished and taken in by a serial killer. A different arc.

Here you could argue why Isayama just didn't make Levi the same character, in which case you could bring up the good old sexism word, but also that he wanted to write each character differently.

Mikasa is the only female or male character that values the relationships she has that much except for, well, at this point, Eren. Whose perspective is deeply ingrained in experiencing loss just like Mikasa's. He wants to genocide the whole world so his friends could live.

Mikasa's arc is specifically *about* the trauma of losing someone dear to you and what it can do to a person and why it does that.

Those she loves are Mikasa's safety blanket and now they're all basically gone.

Sasha is dead and Historia is isolated from this incident.

Armin is panicked and stuck in his mind between all the possibilities, so he runs off on his own to get something done in his mind - Connie, Annie. It's all swirling together in his mind, in panic, when Mikasa is looking for support.

Connie ran off on his own because of his own trauma.

Jean is probably the most grounded right now, but stuck with a lunatic extremist and paralysed into indecision himself.

Hange and Levi are also off somewhere else.

This is the first time Mikasa is truly standing on her own and isolated and it made me sad.

I guess you could call me sexist, but I feel like her not knowing what to do in this situation is pretty human and delibrately good writing.

It just makes sense to me and I don't see this apparent "meek" turn Mikasa's character has taken, when she has always been a reactive character.

The "no heart to spare" teenager Mikasa is the better character for some because her character gives the illusion of "agency" because of her assertive, sharp dialog, but she's never been to actively go and do something that doesn't involve what she cares about.

But it's kind of hard to do that when the people you actually say these things for either told you they hated you or are preoccupied with their own issues and scatter off on their own.

For who will you go on a suicidal rampage, use your "speciality to cut flesh" for and to which enemy will you "spare no heart" when you have nobody left to fight for?

Man, writing this made me sad. All Mikasa wants to do is to be with those she loves.

Once again my full chapter thoughts will be out once the CR version/other versions are out.

There was also some nice juicy Annie stuff, which I'm looking forward to digging into.

[starshine-effendy]

How would reader aka eren’s girlfriend react to the first time see him tranform? (Long hair eren plz his so hot oh my god)

A/N: MIKASA!

Summary: Okay maybe when Eren was like:

-“Mikasa >:C” 

-“I’ve always hated you! >:(” 

-He got a girlfriend in other words you

-You don’t know a thing about his transformation! Heck you don’t even know about Annie

-So... When he first transformed in front of you

Characters of AOT Belong to Hajime Isayama

Warning: S4 spoilers~ 

Eren brought you to room that has Mikasa, Armin and Gabi (GABIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII hehehe)

(I’m sorry I had to) 

You sat beside Eren with your hands on the table. Mikasa kept glaring at you because can’t remember who you are but really you’re one of his childhood friends. Not as close like Armin or Mikasa but still somewhat close. Eren always told you that you had the brightest smile and that’s one of the things he likes about you. 

When Eren said “Mikasa... I’ve always hated you,”

You couldn’t believe your ears. You thought this was just a reunion or something. You watched Mikasa held Armin down who attempted to attack Eren. Eren called his team to take you away because this was getting violent. 

You waved good bye before you were escorted out by one of the Yeagerists. Next thing you knew you were climbing up stairs with a girl with black hair chained with Gabi. You waited by the door with the Yeagerists blocking most of your view. Eren has ordered them to protect you no matter the cause. So you were jumping to see what’s happening when a titan burst from the floor attacking Eren’s legs. Eren transformed and you were there... Astonished? Shocked? Surprised. Yes. All of them. 

He never told you he was a titan shifter. You trusted Eren though. You might not know the Eren now but you definitely know the child Eren who would sacrifice his life for his friends no matter what. You were sent away to safety and if you get a chance to talk to Eren again then you need answers. You were sent to the underground prison with Armin and Mikasa :D 

Mikasa wanted to question you about what Eren was doing and if he really meant what he said but you... As his girlfriend felt like you were more in the dark here so you started asking questions first. You got answers from Mikasa and Armin but they got no answer out of you because well... You didn’t even know Eren can transform. 

[justanotherlifeff]

Levi Ackerman × reader

Genre: Angst, Hurt/comfort, Fluff, matured themes, slowburn

Warning: There's mentions and descriptions of underage rape and suicidal themes and self harm. DETAILED SMUT IN THIS CHAPTER

No one's POV

(Y/N) knocked on Erwin's door. The ring was already on her finger. Levi opened the door with an annoyed face. His expression brightened slightly after seeing it's (Y/N) as he held the door for her. "(Y/N), please sit" Erwin told (Y/N) pointing at the chair in front of his table. "Now that both of you are here, what's the news that you wanted to give me, Levi?" Erwin asked Levi as (Y/N) sat down. "(Y/N) and I are engaged now. I thought you'd want to know." Levi told Erwin in a bland tone.

"I wonder why I'm not surprised." Erwin sighed as he replied to Levi's statement with sarcasm. “Levi, as her only guardian, I can't allow you to marry (Y/N) unless you get a stable home. We all know that raising a child in the regiment headquarters isn't possible." Erwin added. "Yes, I thought about it too. I'll make arrangements for a house and try to get on with this shit as quickly as possible. After all, this peace won't last forever." Levi answered to Erwin.

"Anyway, I called both of you here for a different reason..." Erwin started but was interrupted by (Y/N). "You called me for something?" she asked with a confused tone. Levi only told her to go to Erwin's office to break the news about their extremely bland engagement. (Y/N) wasn't concerned about the fact that Levi's proposal wasn't very glamorous because she never cared about grand romantic gestures and all that. She was just immensely happy because Levi took the effort to buy such a nice ring for her, that after abandoning his duties. Levi wouldn't do all that if he didn't love her. Erwin looked at Levi and raised his one of his massive eyebrows.

"I forgot to mention that to her" Levi said casually. He definitely wasn't gonna let them know that he was so nervous while telling her to get the ring that he forgot to mention (Y/N) that Erwin called her. "I see. Well, now that you're here, there's a mission I'd like to discuss with you. If you're uncomfortable with it, you can always refuse." Erwin told (Y/N) with a slightly concerned voice. "What's the mission?" (Y/N) asked monotonously.

"Well, you see, we weren't able to capture all the lords who worked for the Reiss family and enthroned the fake king. There are exactly three lords who are not captured yet and we got a lead that they have properties in the underground city. Almost all rich lords have properties there in case the wall breaks or for any emergency situation. The documents on those properties are as shady as it can be and can't give us any right information. I was planning to send Levi and Hanji to pinpoint their location by an undercover mission but Hanji, having a curious mind like herself, can attract attention. Levi alone can't do it because in his time, he was quiet popular in the underground. They will recognise him if he tries to spy on people. You, (Y/N), are the most capable person after him but given that you're expecting and your past, I didn't want to involve you into this. But, right now, we don't have much of a choice. If you're uncomfortable with it, we will have to send Mikasa with Levi but she's not as matured as you are and may make bad decisions which could turn out to be risky for us." Erwin explained.

A rush of bad memories went through her mind but at the end, (Y/N) decided that she had to face her past. "I'll go." she answered calmly. Erwin scanned her face before saying, "I see, well, the mission is simple. You two won't engage in fights with anyone. You will only pinpoint their locations and report back. The rest will be taken care of by Levi squad and Hanji squad. You will have to go to the upper class whore houses because knowing how Lords usually are, you probably will find them there. There's this tavern out there where all the upper class people goes to drink. It's called the Devil's Punchbowl.." Erwin was interrupted as Levi snorted.

"I know that place. The owner had a shit load of ego" he muttered. (Y/N) decided that she wanted to hear the story behind that. "As I was saying, (Y/N), you will get inside and get information. You're not too popular yet, at least not in the underground. That's more or less the plan now." Erwin explained. "I see. Understood." (Y/N) replied. Just then, Hanji entered the room with 39 other squad leaders of the survey corps. (Y/N) and Levi looked at Erwin with a confused expression. "Commander, I fetched everyone here." Hanji said before saluting. Erwin stood up and came in front of them. (Y/N) did the same and stood beside Levi.

Erwin then, explained the whole situation, "I was planning to choose the next commander before our next expedition to reseal wall Maria. I am confused about who to choose because I have two candidates on my list. It's either Hanji because of her quick thinking and innovative ideas or (Y/N) because of her quick thinking and ability to see patterns in the enemy and counterattack perfectly. I thought if all the squad leaders here except Hanji help me out with a voting. It's pretty simple, when I call out one of their names, you will raise your hand to vote for her." Erwin explained. (Y/N) was shocked at the whole thing but Hanji, however was not because Erwin mentioned that she was a candidate for the next commander long ago.

"Anyone voting for Hanji, raise your hand." Erwin commanded and 20 people raised their hands. "I see.. I guess it's a tie. This makes things rather difficult." Erwin sighed. "Commander? May I have a word?" (Y/N) told Erwin with a confident voice. "Yes?" Erwin asked. "I don't think I'm fit for this role." she stated. "Why is that, (Y/N)?" Erwin asked, curious about why she was throwing out the huge career opportunity.

"Commander, I am not suitable for this role because, firstly, I'm not the type of person with good leadership skills. My trainee corps records clearly states that I'm not good at teamwork. I will never be able to achieve the trust of a whole military division just by my strength. Yes, I might be able to make quick decisions but I can't ever make actual battle plans. Commander, you yourself invented a whole battle formation. I could never do something like that. Hanji however, made that explosive added with 3DMG within a few hours. I believe that Hanji would be a better choice." (Y/N) explained.

"But... But you outsmarted Commander Erwin that time... No one has ever been able to do that..." Hanji tried to interject but Levi stopped her. "Hanji, that's because you never tried to outsmart the commander." he said to her. Then he turned at Erwin and said, "Commander, I'd like to change my vote to Hanji. I just realized that Hanji will do a better job than (Y/N)." "Well, it's decided then. Hanji will be next in the chain of command." Erwin declared. Then he turned to (Y/N) and said, "As for (Y/N), you still deserve a promotion. I think, as you're almost as strong as Levi, a second special operations squad could be formed with you as a squad leader. I will complete the paperwork for that.".

"Thank you, Commander." (Y/N) replied professionally but a smile crept on her face. This really was an amazing day for her. Erwin then turned at everyone else and said that they were dismissed and everyone walked out of Erwin's office. While going out, Levi told (Y/N), "Congratulations on your promotion." with a smug look. "Thank you. How do you think we should celebrate it?" (Y/N) answered with an equally smug expression. "Well, I have some things in mind. We need to go to our room though. Shall we?" Levi mumbled near her ear, making her the skin tingle due to his warm breath on her neck. "After you" (Y/N) answered with a smirk.

When they reached Levi's room, Levi pinned (Y/N) to a wall and kissed her passionately. He helped her get rid of the survey corps coat that she had on and also the uniform underneath. "Go to bed, (Y/N). I'll be back shortly" He commanded her before picking up the clothes and retiring to the closet. (Y/N) knew that he will fold those up now. After all, he was the neatest person she met. She remembered a day from back when she just joined the special operations squad. She had been given stable duty that day.

"How do you never complain when heichou gives you stable duties? Everyone hates mucking the stables and he is downright unfair to you because you win sparring challenges with him sometimes." Eren ranted. He was walking with (Y/N) to the stable. "Well, he wasn't wrong. I did dirty his uniform this time. I could've been more careful with the tea if I wasn't reading a book while working. I don't think anyone would tolerate their subordinate throwing tea at them." (Y/N) muttered as a reply.

"Well, you're not wrong... But you did apologise. If he made you clean his uniform, that would be more fair. Mucking the stable seems like a bit too much." Eren told (Y/N) with a sympathetic look. (Y/N) shrugged it off and said, "Well, he's the captain. He's the one who makes the decision of what punishment we should get. I'd rather trust his judgement instead of calling it unfair.". "No wonder he doesn't hate you as much as he hates us..." Eren muttered before leaving (Y/N) alone.

Levi came to check how well the mucking was going to find (Y/N) scrubbing the last stall. It had only been three hours and Levi didn't expect (Y/N) to be done with the third stall. He checked the other stalls and found them practically spotless. The horses were tied on a tree nearby. "I didn't expect her to figure that out so soon... Eren took 3 times of re cleaning to figure that out..." Levi thought. The cleaning was above average. Almost as good as him. "You're pretty good at this. You'll be cleaning my room from now on." he commanded. Since then, (Y/N)'s cleaning duties were to clean Levi's room. They would chat while she was cleaning about books they both read. They had many friendly conversations, ones that lead to them having feelings for each other. Ones that lead to (Y/N) trusting Levi with her past.

It seemed stupid to (Y/N), how they denied their feelings for so long when they were there all that time. Levi came back, naked, while (Y/N) was lost in thoughts. "What are you thinking?" Levi asked her before pinning her down on the bed and kissing her neck. "I was thinking about that day. The day when you asked me to start cleaning your room?" (Y/N) sighed.

"Mhhm? That was a good decision. Those brats can't clean as good as you." Levi mumbled before going back to kissing her neck. His hands moved towards her vagina as his kisses got rougher, leaving marks on her neck. She was panting slightly as his fingers made his way into her vagina, stretching it, filling it. When he felt like she was wet enough, without any warning, he positioned himself and plunged into her making her yelp in pleasure. He moved in a rough pace, making her come closer to euphoria.

Meanwhile, Erwin sent Hanji to collect (Y/N)'s trainee corps report card and her so called birth certificate. Hanji, as she had nothing to do due to the lack of a lab in this survey corps branch, decided to get done with her work as fast as possible. She knew that (Y/N) was staying with Levi and decided to go to Levi's office, which was attached to Levi's room. To Levi's distaste, she never knocked before entering Levi's office and this time was no exception. Only, this time, she actually regretted doing it.

After entering Levi's office, she clearly heard the sound of sex and (Y/N)'s moaning from the other side of the door to Levi's room. She thought it would be funny to interrupt them and thus she called out, "Oi Levi! I need (Y/N) here for a second. Erwin sent me to get some documents from her." The noise stopped and after a minute or so, a fully dressed Levi came out of the room with an annoyed expression. "Don't you understand the concept of knocking, Hanji?" he told Hanji with his voice filled with contempt.

"Hey, not in mood for one of your boring lectures. I asked for (Y/N) anyway. Not you." Hanji said casually with a smile. "She probably will kill you when she's here." Levi replied in a deadpan voice. Just after Levi finished his sentence, (Y/N) came out of the room with a murderous glint in her eyes. "You have amazing timing, Hanji." she sneered at Hanji. Hanji deserved it though because she arrived just moments before (Y/N) reached an orgasm.

"Come on (Y/N)! I'd not..ahem..interrupt if I didn't have a good reason!" Hanji tried to reason with her. Hanji understood the fact that (Y/N) did not approve of her little joke at all and she didn't want to make (Y/N) hate her. After all, she considered (Y/N) as a good friend and the fact that (Y/N) set up her and Moblit together proved it. "I'm not carrying shopping bags for you again if you don't have a good enough excuse. What documents do you want?" (Y/N) asked in an annoyed voice. She wasn't as angry as before.

"Erwin asked for your trainee corps report card and your birth certificate. They are required for the paperwork for your promotion." Hanji explained herself. (Y/N) didn't reply to that and retired to Levi's room to dig those documents out from her bag. She didn't get a chance to unpack yet. When she found those, she handed them to Hanji and asked, "Well, is that all?" in a tone that clearly made Hanji realise that she wasn't wanted in the room anymore. Hanji understood why and decided to give them the privacy. "Yep. That's all" she answered cheerfully before leaving the office.

(Y/N) POV

Levi was pounding into me and just as I started loosing all sense of my surroundings and reach orgasm, Levi stopped. "Don't stop! please!" I gasped but he pulled out and grunted with a sarcastic tone, "Shitty glasses is here. That woman didn't knock again and that must be the most amazing timing I can think of". " I'll kill her" I muttered before getting up on the bed. After Hanji was gone, I looked back at Levi and said, "Well? Let's continue where we left off?". Levi looked at me and said, " You know what (Y/N), I'll give you two options. We can either continue where we left off or try something new. You choose." with a smirk.

I decided that something new would be better since I was far from an orgasm right now. "Let's try something new." I answered. "Good choice. Now, go wash your asshole." he commanded. I was confused by his command but I stripped and went to the bathroom and did what he said anyway. When I was back, our clothes were already folded and Levi was putting them back in the closet. He made me suck his dick to get it hard again and then he made me turn around and bend. After that, he fucked me and made me cum. Did he forget about trying something new? Just when that thought crossed my mind, I found him using his fingers to scoop up my cum from outside my vagina and smothering them on my asshole. Then I felt his finger poke at it.

Suddenly, I understood what this was about. I read about it in books. He was going to try anal. I blushed furiously at the thought. I felt one of his fingers getting inserted in me slowly and a satisfied sigh escaped my mouth. He moved the finger to and fro slowly making me feel the weirdest sensations ever. More fingers were inserted, the sensation increased gradually by time until I felt his dick poking on that hole.

"Levi, it wont fit..." I tried to tell him but he suddenly plunged it all in, making me yelp in pain and pleasure. He didn't move for a while giving me some time to adjust to his size. "Tell me when you're ready" he muttered as he pulled my hair to get my face close to his. After a while, when the pain subsided, I told him, "You can move now..". He didn’t waste a second and started out moving slowly, increasing his speed rapidly. The amazing sensation was numbing my legs and blurring my mind. Suddenly, I felt something warm flowing inside me.

"Do me a favour and clench your ass." Levi muttered to me before pulling out. I did what he said and after pulling out, he picked me up and went to the bathroom because he figured out that my legs were jelly at this point. After getting me to the toilet seat, he commanded me to wash myself before leaving the bathroom.

No one's POV

It was time for lunch and (Y/N) was already dressed. Levi, however took time because the smallest crinkle on his clothes were unacceptable to him. (Y/N) often wondered how he managed to notice such small details on his clothes. Even during combat, he always tried to stay as clean and tidy as possible. "Levi, when are you buying that house that you talked about to Uncle Erwin?" (Y/N) asked as Levi was ironing his shirt with a metal pot filled with warm water.

"I'm planning to buy it before going to the next expedition. We will have to order the furniture too. Those will take a few months to be ready..." Levi muttered as he tried to get rid of that one crease which didn't seem to be going no matter how hard he tried. "Well, do you have any plans about where we should get the house?" (Y/N) asked. Levi paused at that. He didn't make any plans as he never thought he'd be in a situation like this. "Well, we could think about it later" he replied before wearing his shirt. As they were walking towards the canteen, he told (Y/N), "You're not seating with my squad today. You're a squad leader now so sit at the squad leader's table." (Y/N) nodded at him as they went together towards the squad leader table.

"Hey, maybe I should let the squad know about my promotion. After all, we will still be working together and they deserve to know why I'm not sitting with them.." (Y/N) started to say before getting interrupted by Levi who simply said, "Go ahead" before walking towards the leader's table. (Y/N) went to Levi squad's table and before she was able to say anything, the team started congratulating her on her promotion. "News does travel fast" (Y/N) thought. "I'll be sitting at the leader's table from now on but I'll see you guys during training. Our squads will be working together you see" (Y/N) started but was interrupted by Sasha.

"(Y/N), don't worry about us. We are your friends. We will find a way to spend time with you. You better become a better squad leader than Levi Heichou" she said but before (Y/N) could reply, Connie said, "Pretty sure that squad leader (Y/N) is scarier than Levi heichou sometimes." "Oi, call me (Y/N). You're not in my squad and we graduated together. By the way, how am I scarier than Levi?" (Y/N) asked, completely confused. "Well, you see, you're scary enough yourself but if anyone tries to hit on you or mess with you, that's basically picking on a personal fight with Levi Heichou. I'm surprised that horse face is still alive" Eren elaborated with a protesting Jean muttering "Shut up you suicidal bastard!".

After having a small talk with Levi squad, (Y/N) went to the Leader's table with her lunch. Hanji was already there and Levi was absent. "Where's Levi?" (Y/N) asked Hanji as she sat down beside her. "Oh, well, Queen Historia came to visit Erwin on some business. She called for Levi. He will be here soon." Hanji explained. The squad leader's table in this scout regiment branch was a long table that went horizontally to both ends of the canteen. It was placed at the end of the canteen, conveniently near the buffet table. Squad leaders were still coming in.

As (Y/N) started eating, two male squad leaders that she didn't know sat in front of her and Hanji on the other side of the table and one of them said, "Well, it seems like we have a new face around here. Weren't you a cadet only like a few months back?" "Yes. I got promoted today." (Y/N) answered politely. "Yes, we know that. We were there when it happened. You're sleeping with Levi aren't you? I don't understand why Commander Erwin gives a shitty thug so much importance. I heard you're even carrying Levi's bastard. Is that how you got the promotion? Just asking cause you don't look like you can take down a fly. Strongest woman my ass" the other man said with a smirk.

"For your information Steve, (Y/N)..." Hanji started with an angry expression but was interrupted by (Y/N) as she said, "Oi Hanji, don't you think the stew tastes amazing today?". Hanji was surprised by (Y/N)'s extremely calm reaction and she figured that (Y/N) had a plan and thus, didn't talk much on that matter. The guy named Steve, however, did not understand and continued, "Oi Tom, she isn't even denying it. Heard she calls the commander 'uncle'. The commander isn't her uncle for sure. Heard she's from the underground and was taken in by the (L/N). Pretty sure she has an affair with the commander too. What do you recon she'll do to the bastard?" he asked his companion who was named Tom.

"I dunno, probably sell it to some lord or something like any whore would." Tom chuckled but stopped immediately to find (Y/N) looking at him with a calm but piercing look. (Y/N) gave him a small smile and said, "You see, Steve and Tom, you are wrong in three places. You're right. I am a whore. Judging from how nosy you people are, I'm pretty sure you two know that I was found in a whore house in the underground. Here's where you're wrong. Firstly, you clearly didn't do much research on anything from after I got out from the underground. If you did, you'd not question my promotion. Heck, you'd not try to mess with me. Well, as you two didn't do your research properly, let's start with a fist fight. Practical classes are always better than theoretical ones right? Oh, and I don't want to fight Tom. Steve, you're the big guy, let's do a round. If I can't get you under my feet in 30 seconds, you win.".

"You'll fight me? Sugar, I don't hit women" Steve smirked. The whole leader's table were looking at (Y/N) and Steve. Levi arrived the scene just a while ago and heard most of what (Y/N) said. "(Y/N), I'll take care of him.." Levi tried to say but (Y/N) stopped him and said, "Let me do this by myself." "Do you happen to be afraid, Steve? " (Y/N) asked Steve as she stood up from her chair, rolled the sleeves of her shirt and walked in front of the seated Steve. "Steve, she's asking for it. Just beat her ass" Tom told Steve in a bored voice. Steve didn't answer to that and stood up. There was quiet a bit of space between the buffet table and the leader's table. The whole canteen was looking at Steve and (Y/N) now.

Steve charged at (Y/N) but (Y/N) simply used her hands to use Steve's height and weight to knock him down. She saw Eren do that to Jean multiple times and practiced it with Levi back when she was getting knife training. Of course, most people weren't surprised by such a feat from (Y/N) because they all trusted Erwin's decisions. As Steve was trying to get up, he saw (Y/N) casually walking towards him and kick him in the face with an extremely accurate amount of speed and at an extremely accurate area of the head which knocked him out.

"Well, Tom, do your research better next time. By the way, your second mistake was to think that Uncle Erwin isn't my uncle, because, he is. Thirdly, you shouldn't have said that thing about me selling my kid. I wouldn't have given lowlifes like you any attention if you didn't do that. Now that you succeeded in attracting my attention, help your friend to the medics. He'll have a concussion." (Y/N) told Tom, who was speechless by (Y/N)'s abilities. After Tom left with an unconscious Steve, (Y/N) sat back at her seat and started with her stew.

"Those are the bullies among the squad leaders. There are three types of squad leaders around here. Bullies like them, the normal ones, and people like myself or Levi, the ones who actually are assets to the Survey corps. These bullies thought you're one of the normal ones but they didn't think you'd be with the elites. They don't usually sit with us. They just came here today to mess with you. You'd not see them around usually." Hanji explained. "I reckoned you'd find this type of divisions in the military police. Not the Survey Corps." (Y/N) muttered as she slurped down her now cold stew. "(Y/N), every military division has shit like this. Some more than the others. None of the divisions are perfect." Levi answered to that before looking at Hanji and asking, "Hanji, where do you reckon we should buy a house?"

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: Remember how (Y/N) walked on to Petra kissing Levi while getting to her cleaning duties before the 57th expedition? Now you know how she got the duty of cleaning Levi's room in the first place.]

To be continued...

Taglist: @reality-is-often-disappointing, @kingtamakimurder

[lerfmuses-moved]

@gerichteter​  plotted  starter !

                       the  loss  of  erwin  smith  and  armin  arlert  had  been  a  hard  blow  to  take .  a  tragedy  that  could’ve  easily  been  prevented  for  one  of  them ---  an  opportunity  lost  due  to  pointless  squabbling  over  who  deserved  it  the  most .  erwin ,  the  one  who  had  the  experience  to  lead  them  to  victory .  or  armin ,  an  exceptional  young  man  with  so  much  left  to  live  for .  in  the  end ,  neither  of  them  survived .  what  they  did  get  out  of  the  incident  was  an  unwanted  prisoner .

                      hange  nearly  advocated  for  his  slaughter ,  but  it  wouldn’t  be  like  them  to  let  an  opportunity  like  this  slip  past  their  fingers .  all  this  time  wanting  to  learn  about  titans ,  understand  their  enemy ---  finally  they  had  captured  one .  and  while  it  was  unlikely  he’ll  talk  of  his  own  free  will ,  hange  had  become  familiar  with  the  art  of  torture .

                      to  defeat  your  enemy  you  have  to  understand  them .  inside  and  out ---  it  was  the  only  way  to  gain  a  real  advantage  when  the  odds  seemed  impossible .  and ,  while  they  had  the  books  left  in  grisha  jaeger’s  basement ,  they  were  out  of  date .  bertholdt  huber  was  the  one  person  they  had  access  to  do  with  the  most  up - to - date  information  on  marley .  and  they  planned  to  squeeze  every  single  drop  of  it  out  of  him .

                      they  had  been  thinking  about  how  to  truly  start  interrogations  for  a  while  now .  currently ,  bertholdt  was  chained  up  underground .  they  kept  him  as  isolated  as  possible ,  giving  him  the  bare  minimum  for  survival .  they  couldn’t  have  him  dying  on  them ,  after  all .  though ,  that  wasn’t  going  to  get  them  anywhere  if  they  wanted  him  to  talk .  torturing  a  titan  shifter  ---  that  was  a  tough  one .  if  they  were  too  rough ,  drew  any  blood ,  he  could  blast  them  away  right  then  and  there .  not  just  them ,  but  everyone  above  as  well .

                      they  enter  the  cell ,  bringing  in  a  small  cart  of  supplies .  a  large  tub  of  water  being  the  most  noticeable ,  though  there  were  some  smaller  tools  hange  had  brought  along  just  in  case .  ‶  hello ,  bertholdt .  ″  they  raise  their  one  eye  to  look  at  him ,  a  small  frown  tugging  at  their  lips .  the  other  couldn’t  respond ,  gagged  to  prevent  transforming ,  but  hange  would  fix  that  soon  enough .

                      in  all  honesty ,  hange  feels  completely  apathetic  towards  bertholdt  as  a  person .  they  understood  his  situation  well  enough  from  the  books  left  behind  by  eren’s  father  ( of course ,  bertholdt hadn’t been informed of what they knew ) ---  perhaps  they  felt  a  bit  of  pity ,  but  even  that  would  be  pushing  it .  what  really  made  them  feel  strongly  was  his  actions .

                      the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  lives  he  had  been  responsible  for  ending ,  the  people  that  suffered  due  to  his  actions ,  the  soldiers  who  died  in  that  explosion  ( moblit . . . ) ,  the  loss  of  their  eye ,  the  death  of  armin .  and ,  in  a  way ,  despite  it  being  entirely  the  fault  of  those  who  fought  levi  in  the  moment ,  they  blamed  him  for  erwin’s  death  as  well .  they  had  to  vent  their  frustration  somewhere ---  and  they  certainly  couldn’t  take  all  of  it  out  on  eren  and  mikasa .  they  understood  where  the  two  were  coming  from ,  but  if  they  just  hadn’t  been  so  adamant  about  it . . .  if they  had  allowed  levi  to  save  erwin .  well ,  at  least  they  would’ve  lost  one  less  life  that  day .

                      ‶  i’m  gonna  be  keeping  you  company  for  a  little  while ,  i  hope  you  don’t  mind ,  ″  the  way  they  talk  takes  on  a  more  casual  tone .  they  relax  themself ,  searching  through  some  of  the  things  they  bought .  ‶  you  know ,  all  your  old  training  buddies  are  pretty  torn  up  about  all  this .  not  that  i  can  blame  them ,  really .  must  be  rough ,  i  can’t  imagine  what  they  must  be  thinking  right  now .  ″

                      they  find  what  they  were  looking  for ,  a  small  metal  object  with  indents  on  the  top  and  bottom .  they  hold  it  between  their  thumb  and  forefinger ,  turning  to  face  him  once  again .  ‶  lucky  for  you  and  me ,  i  never  got  to  know  you  personally .  in  fact ,  i  have  no  emotional  connection  to  you  whatsoever .  so  you  can  be  content  in  knowing  this  is  strictly  business .  ″  hange  releases  the  gag ,  pulling  it  out  of  his  mouth  and  allowing  it  to  drop  to  the  floor .  one  hand  grabs  both  sides  of  his  face ,  gripping  it  tightly  as  they  forces  his  mouth  open ,  shoving  the  rectangular  object  they  had  grabbed  earlier  into  his  mouth .  his  teeth  rest  in  the  groves  of  the  object ---  a  mouth  prop .  while  he  may  not  be  able  to  articulate  as  well ,  at  the  very  least  he  won’t  be  able  to  bite  down  at  all .  that  should  stop  him  from  biting  his  cheek  or  tongue  and  transforming  that  way .

                      ‶  i’ve  got  a  lot  of  questions  for  you .  so ,  either  you  can  start  ‘fessing  up  now  and  make  it  easy  on  yourself ---  or  i  make  your  life  a  living  hell ,  ″  their  nails  dig  slightly  into  his  cheeks ,  but  not  at  all  near  the  force  it  would  need  to  draw  blood .  their  eye  meets  his  gaze ,  the  tone  of  their  voice  taking  a  darker  turn  as  they  continue  to  speak .  ‶  you  called  us  devils ,  yeah ?  i’d  be  more  than  happy  to  prove  you  right  about  that .  if  you  want  to  see  what  a  real  demon  looks  like ,  just  give  me  the  word  and  you’ll  experience  it  first  hand  !  ″