#zeke has strong opinions about how everything should go

[miniscule-meow]

I have written this next chapter twice, in two completely different ways.

I feel like my OCs are physically fighting me at this point.

[mouisorange]

☰ Yandere Personality Types  〔Big Five〕

☰ Overview

〔Disclaimer〕 Yandere behavior and mindsets are not healthy, nor should they be sought after: this is just meant to be a fun way to analyze characters and see/understand how they may fit into this specific genre of fictional horror. 

This personality ‘assessment’ was inspired by @ddarker-dreams​‘s ‘Yandere MBTI’ as I adore their writing and have always thought that their MBTI assessment is really cool! I also noticed how other people enjoy it so I thought I would make my own assessment, though mine is inspired by the ‘Big Five Personality Traits’. I even tried to be creative and add in the little circles that you can find on the actual Big Five assessment too (which is 100% free btw!). I don’t really think I did the Big Five assessment justice, and I think that a lot more goes into the complexities around this kinda thing, but hopefully this is somewhat interesting!

If you have your own thoughts or even wanna try this out, 100% feel free to use or talk to me about it! Check it out below the cut!

☰  OPEN   •  •  •  •  •  CLOSED 

〔Open〕 yanderes are blatant about their obsession. They do not try and hide it either because they believe it’s meant to be, because they’re too deep in their delusions to understand that it might be a good idea to keep their mouth shut, or simply because they’re in a position to not care about hiding their interest. Usually, this type of yandere is either seen as somewhat of a ‘lovesick puppy’ or a powerful character; though, being a ‘lovesick puppy’ doesn’t necessarily mean kind or affectionate. Whether it was ‘love at first sight’ or more of a slow-burn, these characters usually roll with their feelings with little to no hesitation. Situations with this type of yandere usually include darlings who are unaware of the yandere’s emotions (or even their existence) until they’re suddenly confronted, kidnapped, or confessed to seemingly out of the blue. 

examples︙Anasui 〔 jjba. Stone Ocean〕,  Diavolo & Doppio 〔 jjba. Golden Wind〕, Pina 〔Beastars〕, & Zeke Yeagar 〔Attack on Titan〕.

〔Closed〕 yanderes try to hide their obsessive mindset or behaviors. While they might not always be successful at hiding their interest, closed yandere types are either ashamed/embarrassed by their feelings or are frustrated by them in some way. Usually this type of yandere will ignore/avoid their darling in hopes of losing their feelings, or pretend their feelings don’t exist. This type of yandere is either upset at themselves for having these feelings or upset at their darling for ‘making’ them feel that way. Darling can possibly see their behavior coming and try to avoid the character, but this type of yandere is likely to ‘snap’ at some point and somehow corner their darling as an attempt at controlling their obsession or feelings (though, sometimes this is just the yandere trying to excuse their behavior).

examples︙Avdol〔jjba. SDC〕, Legoshi 〔Beastars〕, Alucard 〔Castlevania〕, & Klaus Hargreeves 〔The Umbrella Academy〕.

☰ Questions to consider when categorizing a yandere

〔 ⅰ. 〕 How does their behavior shift when they realize they’re obsessed?

〔 ⅱ. 〕 What are their opinions on their darling? Does this character adore them? Do they blame darling for their behavior (if so, are they angry about it)?

〔 ⅲ. 〕 How comfortable is this yandere with their feelings and/or actions in regards to their darling?

☰  CASUAL  •  •  •  •  •  DIRECT

〔Casual〕 yanderes do not actively pursue their darling. This type of character is typically laid-back. They either believe that darling will inevitably fall ‘into line’ or is mellow enough to be content with simply being in darling’s life. Casual yanderes are either delusional or are not possessive enough to want more than close friendship from their darling. Though it usually takes a specific type of character for this, some yanderes here believe that they’re already in a relationship with their darling and therefore feel no need to chase after them. This kind of character can confuse their darling, and make it more difficult to get away, as their behavior can be waived off if the character is perceived as harmless, gains darling’s sympathy in some way, or otherwise is not vocal about their delusional thinking/is charming enough to convince darling to just go along with it. Some of these characters are willing to let go if darling catches on early enough, though most will just slowly follow behind regardless of what darling does (though this behavior/these reactions will definitely vary/be different depending on the character).  

examples︙ Mista 〔jjba. Golden Wind〕, Luther Hargreeves 〔The Umbrella Academy〕, Connie Springer 〔Attack on Titan〕, & Cater Diamond 〔Twisted Wonderland〕.   

〔Direct〕 yanderes, as their name suggests, directly or actively pursue their darling. Usually strict or over-bearing, these characters actively chase after their darling’s affections (or otherwise whatever goal relationship the yandere wants). This yandere makes organized, sometimes step by step, plans in order to achieve their goal. It depends on the character whether they get angry when plans have to be changed or if they just shift their angle, however, these characters are focused and will not be discouraged should darling fight against their plans. If anything, some of these characters will be encouraged by their darling fighting back for various reasons (for example, if they’re delusional or just thing it’s a part of the whole ‘chase’ thing/enjoy it). These characters will almost never give up on their darling regardless of what happens.

examples︙ Giorno Giovanna 〔jjba. Golden Wind〕, Armin Arlert 〔Attack on Titan〕, Rook Hunt 〔Twisted Wonderland〕, & Jason Todd 〔DC Comics〕. 

☰ Questions to consider when categorizing a yandere

〔 ⅰ. 〕 How goal-oriented is this character, especially when it comes to their darling? 

〔 ⅱ. 〕 How lenient is this character? Are they trying to force a bee-line to a relationship with their darling or are they willing to play the long game?

〔 ⅲ. 〕 Is this character organizing a plan in order to achieve their goal(s)? Or are they completely winging it? If they’re winging it, are they just hoping that everything will naturally fall into place, or do they genuinely believe it’s fated to happen?

☰  DISCREET  •  •  •  •  •  INTENSE

〔Discreet〕 yanderes either do not have overly strong yandere behaviors or are able to hide said traits enough to be seen as ‘normal’. These characters will usually hide their behavior, regardless of the reasons, in order to have a normal relationship with their darling. While similar to closed character types, discreet yanderes differ in the sense that they usually do not struggle to hide their behavior, and will slowly (or suddenly, depending on the situation, one situation being kidnapping) merge this persona with their actual personality so that darling has no reason to want to leave. While not all characters within this category are fully aware of their behavior, most are intentionally manipulative and have some kind of end goal. They’re not ashamed of this mindset as they believe their reasons (such as “protecting” darling from something) excuse any tears that their darling might shed directly because of this yandere’s actions later on in the ‘relationship’. The period between “normal” and whatever end goal will vary based on the character. This type’s darling can have friends, and even other relationships to an extent (though this does vary), they’ll usually end up reaching the yandere’s goal without knowing about their behavior up until it’s too late to do anything about it. 

examples︙ Risotto Nero 〔jjba. Golden Wind〕, Louis 〔Beastars〕, Lilia Vanrouge 〔Twisted Wonderland〕, &  Sinbad 〔Magi〕. 

〔Intense〕 yanderes can be defined by their possessiveness, or otherwise intense behavior/mindset/emotions. This type of yandere will usually want to either isolate or monopolize their darling’s time in it’s entirety. While the character might not isolate themselves, they’ll do what they can in order to ensure that their darling is focused solely on them (or whatever goal yandere has in mind). Intense yanderes tend to come off as over-bearing or as harassers/bullies. Depending on their other traits, they will either direct their focus on getting other people away from darling or direct their focus on somehow getting darling away from other people (usually involving kidnapping or isolating them in their home). These characters have a tendency to be either cruel or manipulative and darling might believe that their yandere hates them in some way, even if the character says otherwise. 

examples︙ Illuso 〔jjba. Golden Wind〕, Melon 〔Beastars〕, Kouen Ren 〔Magi〕, & Leona Kingscholar 〔Twisted Wonderland〕.

☰ Questions to consider when categorizing a yandere

〔 ⅰ. 〕 How well would this character take rejection? Do they try and rationalize the rejection or do they just accept it (even taking whatever darling said to heart)?

〔 ⅱ. 〕 Can this character handle their darling having friendships? How do they react to darling spending periods of time without them? 

〔 ⅲ. 〕 Does this yandere need (or want?) to spend every waking (and sleeping) moment with darling? If so, what is time spent with this yandere like? 

☰  AGREEABLE  •  •  •  •  •  CONTROLLING

〔Agreeable〕 yanderes seem to genuinely care about their darling and see their darling as a breathing person with their own thoughts/feelings. These characters put their darling before themselves, sometimes going as far as seeing them as someone to worship or put on a pedestal, and believe that darling is better than them in some way. In some cases, they see darling as being unable to do anything wrong (to an extent). They’re willing to debate rights or loosen rules/chains (if they even decided to do chain darling in the first place) with darling and are willing to listen to what they have to say. This yandere’s end goal usually involves some kind of genuine relationship, regardless of how delusional that might be. 

examples︙ Haru 〔Beastars〕, Floch Forster 〔Attack on Titan〕, Tim Drake 〔DC Comics〕, & Vanya Hargreeves 〔The Umbrella Academy〕.

〔Controlling〕 yanderes do not view their darling as equal, either seeing them as childish (in the sense that they don’t understand things or can’t), seeing them as some kind of pet/trophy, or somewhere in-between. They usually do not care about their darling’s thoughts, feelings, or general well-being. Usually the only thing this yandere cares about is controlling their darling, the connection they have to their darling is the only important thing when it comes to darling as a person. Some of these characters even go as far as not minding if darling dies as long as they still view darling as being theirs (example being, if prince charming kept his princess asleep in order to keep princess to himself). While end goals will vary from yandere to yandere, those in this category typically don’t care how darling feels as long as they’re getting what they want from darling. 

examples︙ Kars 〔jjba. Battle Tendency〕, Judar 〔Magi〕, Cioccolata 〔jjba. Golden Wind〕, &  Diavolo 〔 jjba. Golden Wind〕.

☰ Questions to consider when categorizing a yandere

〔 ⅰ. 〕 Does this yandere view darling as a human with their own thoughts/feelings or is darling more of a possession/plaything? 

〔 ⅱ. 〕 Is darling’s mental or physical well-being important to this character? 

〔 ⅲ. 〕 How many rights does darling have and how quickly are said rights taken away/given back? Are they ever given back? What are the yandere’s motives in taking/giving these rights?

☰  RESILIENT  •  •  •  •  •  FRAGILE

〔Resilient〕 yanderes will almost never become discouraged. They’re confident in the sense that they know they’ll eventually achieve their goal. This type of character is willing to spend years trying to either break down their darling or otherwise induce a sort of ‘Stockholm syndrome’. Characters who heavily stalk their darling tend to fall into this category. More so, resilient yanderes are not likely to have any sort of breakdown over their darling, regardless of the situation. They’re strong in their thought process, and are not willing to change their mind-set/behavior towards their darling (or anyone else).

examples︙ Ibuki 〔Beastars〕, Bruno Bucciarati 〔jjba. Golden Wind〕,   Jade Leech 〔Twisted Wonderland〕, & Shigaraki Tomura 〔My Hero Academia 〕.

〔Fragile〕 yanderes, as their name suggests, are ‘fragile’ in their goals or mind-set. Usually this type of yandere is either meek or feel overly guilty about their mind-set/behaviors. These characters can be easily swayed by their darling in some way, and they can get distracted from their end-goal if darling plays their cards right. More adoring, worshipper yanderes tend to fall in this category. Characters here usually do not like upsetting their darling and (at times) are desperate for their darling’s approval. While not an inherently manipulative category, fragile yanderes will use methods like gaslighting in order to avoid any kind of confrontation.

examples︙ Pesci 〔jjba. Golden Wind〕, Allison Hargreeves 〔The Umbrella Academy〕, Jack 〔Beastars〕, & Niccolo 〔Attack on Titan〕. 

☰ Questions to consider when categorizing a yandere

〔 ⅰ. 〕 How emotional/insecure is this character? 

〔 ⅱ. 〕 Is this character confrontational, or would they rather avoid any kind of confrontation by whatever means necessary (such as gaslighting or blackmailing others in the situation)? 

〔 ⅲ. 〕 How patient are they? How long are they willing to wait and/or bide their time in order to achieve some sort of goal?

﹝☼﹞

[ratmonky]

Untamed Dog

Word Count: 10K

Warnings: non-con, major spoilers, predator/prey, biting, manipulation, gaslighting, breeding, blood and violence

AO3 Link

A gift to my friend and one of my favorite artists, @workofann​  

When King Fritz failed to retrieve his people to the island after the Great Titan War, all of the Eldians became slaves to Marley.

All of the nine titans were under the Marleyan army’s control, warriors who inherited one of the seven titans would receive the Marleyan title and a red armband along with the promise of a better life for their family even after their inevitable death.

The Wilbur family kept the Warhammer Titan and the Founding Titan was being fed to an ordinary Eldian family to keep it safe. Or rather keep Eldians in place, taking their hope of freedom away.

The remaining of the seven titans were hung down on a rope around a stick to trick Eldians into having power. Marley made Eldians believe that inheriting one of these titans could bring comfort to their life.

As long as someone inherited one of the titans, their entire family would live in comfort instead of poverty.

That silly promise worked. Since the many Eldians were living in poverty, they were willing to do anything to have a better life. Even if it meant to send their kids to death.

Eldian warriors started training from the moment they hit puberty and up until the moment they became adults. Only then, they were able to inherit the titans they were attained to.

In the hopes of living a better life, you were one of the many kids who had joined the warrior training program when you were little. You grew up in the army and experienced the destructive war from an early age.

You were lucky enough to be taken to the warrior candidate program later on. Which pretty much ensured your death but the impending truth that you were going to die for this country was honoring in a way. It was the least you could do, dying in the name of Marley was something you owed to them after everything devils like you made them go through.

In the end, it was all decided from the moment you were born with an armband to your left. Like many, you were carrying the blood of the titans, the curse of Ymir. To be freed from the shackles of the ‘devil’ title, you had to prove your loyalty to Marley. Dedicate your heart to your country.

You did.

So did your comrades.

However, only six of you could inherit one of the seven titans the Marleyan army used.

~~~

“My gear is totally dead,” you sighed, standing on top of the wall surrounding the enemy’s town that your comrades had destroyed, trying to take your eyes away from the mass of bodies scattered along almost every single inch of space, “I have no gas left.”

“Rookie mistake,” Jean snickered, trying to regain some humanity he had left. “We’ll go get some for you as soon as the others are done with the serum.”

It became silent.

“Is dinner or breakfast the most important meal of a day?” Connie asked to break the uncomfortable silence between his friends.

“Both,” Sasha answered without hesitation.

“No, you should only choose one and it’s obviously breakfast, moron,” Jean sighed audibly, looking down from the wall.

The rest of the people looked tenser than ever yet you still managed to offer the trio a smile before giving your answer, “I’d say it’s dinner. It’s where you and your family or friends are home, safe and sound. Dinner is like a blessing, in my opinion, don’t you think so, Jean?”

Jean met your gaze and blushed bright red before averting his eyes to look around himself rather than the bloodbath covering them everywhere.

“He hates his mom so he wouldn’t know,” Sasha spoke without thinking.

“Sasha!” Connie warned, trying to tell the airhead girl that it was a rude thing to say.

“We all eat dinner together,” you pointed out, “Breakfast is hard to eat together when each one of us has different chores but we all eat dinner together. We are family even without blood.”

“You’re right,” Connie gasped softly. “I never thought of it that way. I mean this about eating dinner together, of course. The family part is kinda weird though, you know since some of us will die no matter what.”

A cold breeze brushed their skin. Sasha anxiously started biting the inside of her cheeks.

“That’s why I think dinner is important.” You walked over to Jean and grabbed his bicep to pull him closer to the group. “At night, when we’re in the dining room altogether, eating and enjoying a meal together means that we’ve all made it through a day. We’re safe and alive, together.”

“I get it!” Jean pulled his arm free, “All this positivity won’t get you anywhere unless you stay on the lookout. We’re in the middle of a battlefield here.”

Only then the four of you came back to your senses. Connie had remembered why he had broken the silence. It was because his legs wouldn’t stop shaking or his jaw wouldn’t stop clenching. He shivered with the thought of what was going to happen soon.

Sasha remained silent yet anyone could tell how anxious she was with a single look in her direction.

Jean acted tough. He was worried but he knew better than to show weakness. He held his composure and even looked a little intimidating.

You on the other hand didn’t know what to feel or how to act. You weren’t sure why they were so worried. Even though you all had one more year left of your training, emergencies like this happened quite often. The Colossal Titan’s holder was about to die, so, of course, the Marleyan commander would order your commander to feed him to one of the only two candidates.

It was either going to be Armin or Bertholdt. One of them was going to become the Colossal Titan and the other one was going down a rank in the military to become a special force soldier.

It was that easy.

The weaker link had to leave. It was the rule of nature.

“You guys!”

You whipped her head around to see Reiner gliding through the air with his ODM gear to reach the top of the tall wall. He landed right beside you, looking rough and sweaty.

“Armin,” he breathed, “They gave the serum to him.”

Connie, Sasha, and Jean gaped but you were inanimate.

“He’ll be the colossal titan?”

“Yes, they’re going to kill us. It’s Eren and Mikasa’s fault, we’re screwed. Commander Erwin should have given the serum to Bertholdt!” Reiner gritted his teeth in anger. “Armin won’t be able to lead us anywhere-”

“Hey!” Jean pointed a finger at Reiner, “He’s the reason why most of us are alive. It was always him who saved us with his smart planning, alright?”

You nodded along while Sasha jumped down the wall to get to the other side of the opening so she could see what was happening. Connie followed after her right away.

“Bertholdt deserves the Marleyan title more than Armin,” Reiner confronted Jean.

The two of them were the only candidates for the Armored Titan, the way they were reacting and arguing was normal. In the future, it was going to be the same for them. Only one of them could inherit the Armored Titan. This argument was nothing but a desperate attempt to prove which one of them was worthy of a titan and ignore the impending truth.

It wasn’t how strong the soldier or how smart the soldier was. Marley didn’t choose its soldiers like that. They chose those who they could brainwash easily. The army wanted desperate young adults who were ready to dedicate their lives to a country that owed nothing to them.

It was nothing but pure manipulation. Destroying the lives of hundreds if not thousands of young people, just so seven of them could inherit these titans.

As the two of them were arguing, you walked to the edge of the wall, staring at the bloodbath of your enemies and titans, that would disappear in a couple of hours.

War Chief Zeke had gone a little berserk today with his titan but it was only normal. Everything had gone according to the plan, the rain of the titans was able to destroy most of the city while the Colossal Titan broke down the outer walls. Yet, nobody could foresee the enemy having the infamous titan spears. The Colossal Titan’s holder was hit by many of them, leaving him fatally injured. It was unfortunate that the last minutes of his life was here on the battlefield but it was one of the most fortunate things for the candidates who had enough time to be able to eat him.

Who deserved to be the Colossal Titan?

In your opinion, it should have been none of them.

Armin was smart, just like Bertholdt. however, they were both weak and childish.

You could guess that Armin was chosen only because Bertholdt still had some of his humanity left in him. Everyone knew he cried himself to sleep.

If you didn’t want to murder an entire country without remorse just so you could be blessed with that red armband, then you lost your chance.

Bertholdt should have known that.

Reiner probably knew that though but refused to believe the truth that was right in front of him. He was mentally unstable, making him the perfect new Armored Titan. Easy to manipulate, dumb enough to risk his entire being for the sake of Marley.

You took a deep breath to calm your senses and to block out the angry arguing happening behind you. There was a soft rumbling sound as you breathed out. At first, you thought it was your stomach thanks to the previous conversation with your friends about food but it was something louder.

Only then you realized that it was the faint screams of your enemies you had heard today, the memories of the loud squelching noises that happened when their flesh was being eaten by titans. It was all playing over and over and over again in your head.

Holding your hands up to cover your ears, you tried to block out the noises. Praying that they would stop but you were old enough to know prayers wouldn’t solve anything.

“(name),” Jean spoke through his teeth, he was still furious at Reiner. “Come on, let’s get you a new gas tank.”

You let your hands fall to your sides and walked towards him after turning around on your heels. The two idiots were having a staredown but as soon as you walked to the other edge of the wall, Jean wrapped an arm around you and jumped down. You held onto him briefly as he aimed his grappling hook towards a building on the verge of collapsing, at that moment he said something he shouldn’t have.

“People who obsess over the Marleyan title like that won’t get anywhere in life.”

You nodded in response, the title meant so little but the power of a titan… It meant everything.

As soon as you changed your gas tanks, it was time to go.

The enemy had already surrendered and there was nothing else you could do here.

“You brats.”

Turning your head, you looked at your captain. Both you and Jean saluted Levi as he walked towards you with an angry look on his face. Here it was coming, he was going to scold you for hiding to avoid the clean-up after the battle.

“Where were you?” he demanded an answer more than he asked.

“Uhh, we were with… Sasha and Connie. We were just… um… waiting for Commander Erwin to be done with the serum and-”

“I’m not talking about that,” Levi cut off Jean’s rambling. “Where were you during the battle?”

“We fought with our assigned squad, sir. Squad Leader Hanji gave us the orders to kill enemies on top of the walls with the titan spears.” You spoke clearly, still saluting, unlike Jean.

“That glasses saved our ass again…” Levi muttered under his breath. He then told you to stand easy.

Relaxing your posture, you looked at Captain Levi in the eye. “Squad Leader Hanji said they noticed the enemy on top of the walls at the last minute. Although our response was quick, we still couldn’t make it in time to protect our precious warrior, sir. Shall we go to sleep without dinner tonight again?”

Jean’s eyes widened at your words in panic.

“No need,” Levi sighed, eyes softening at your words. Even after so many years together, you were still oddly respectful and obedient when it came to your commanders. “You brats did good, nobody from our squad died. That’s why you deserve a break.” He pulled out his pocket watch to check the time. “Tell the others in the squad to gather at the entrance. We’re going to have cars coming in to get us to the harbor.”

“What about Eren?” you asked, knowing that he was most definitely with his friend right now.

“He’s my responsibility, you two should worry about getting everyone in the cars within an hour. If we don’t leave in time, we’ll have to take that shitty train.” Levi dismissed the two of you with a wave of his hand. “See you on the ship.”

“Yessir!”

“Yeah, sir!”

As soon as your commander walked away, Jean pointed a finger at your face threateningly. “You better stop that! Playing that obedient soldier thing is soooo dumb! You were gonna make us all sleep hungry again!”

“Well, I have to show them that I respect my country and army. When you show them respect, you get extra points. They think I’m a better candidate for the titan than that guy.” You were grinning from ear to ear. “That’s how you win, Jean.”

~~~

You were able to gather everyone at the entrance within an hour. The car ride took barely an hour but felt like hours thanks to your sore body.

In front of the ship, Squad Leader and War Chief stood next to each other as they were telling you and Annie about which rooms of the ship belonged to your squads.

“Make sure to get some rest.” Zeke took out a cigarette and placed it between his lips. “It’ll be a long trip until we make it home.”

“The monkey’s right! Get extra rest and eat lots! We asked Niccolo to make some warm food so better hurry up before it gets cold!!” Hanji crossed their arms over their chest with a large smile after giving you both the information papers about the ship and the schedule. “Good job on today’s battle!”

“Don’t praise them too much,” Magath said, appearing behind you. “We almost lost the Colossal Titan today.”

“Come ooooon, Magath, cut the young adults some slack! The Colossal Titan is in the right hands now. If you’re worried about Armin not being ready for the next battle, don’t worry!!! He will go under my titan training once we get back to Marley.” Hanji walked towards the General and put a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll sort it out!”

“Don’t touch me, devil.” Magath pushed their hand away.

While the two of them were about to argue, Zeke gestured with his head for you and Annie to walk away before you got caught up in it.

“You weren’t there for the cleanup mission,” Annie noted right away. “I had to carry all the corpses because Reiner was freaking out about Bertholdt.”

“I’m sorry,” you said. “I don’t have an excuse so I promise I’ll help you next time.”

She waved her hand towards her squad. “I bet you will.”

You noticed her smiling and scoffed while you gestured your own squad to come towards you. “I keep my word.”

“Yeah, we’ll see. You better learn to keep your squad in control, your idiots are more manageable than Reiner. You’re lucky to have those candidates with you.”

“You’re right. My idiots are easier to handle but that doesn’t mean they will inherit the titans. We’re a shitshow, your idiots have the courage, mine don’t.”

“We’re right here, (name),” Connie deadpanned and walked past you towards the ship after grabbing the paper you handed out to him.

“We have to train hard if we wanna be anything like these monsters,” you yelled after him but he was shaking his head, refusing to listen.

“Monsters?” Pieck raised a brow as she took a paper from Annie. “Is that what you think of your comrades, (name)?”

“No,” you said. “We spent all those years training altogether yet nobody from my squad can be compared to any of your strength.”

Pieck nodded languidly but Porco put a hand on her shoulder to push her forward. “Keep moving, we have to get food before that pig.” He gestured towards Sasha who stood at the end of the line with a worried look on her face, waiting impatiently for her turn to get on the ship.

“I’ll keep her busy, you guys should head inside.” You were smiling at them.

Pieck chuckled before leaving. “You’re too considerate for a warrior.”

“Uhh, where’s Armin and Eren?” Jean asked while taking the paper from you. He checked the planning and the schedule briefly.

“I don’t know, Captain Levi told me he would bring them here later,” you answered.

“Keep it moving, horse face,” Ymir shoved Jean away to grab one of the papers before walking away. “Good luck with the potato girl, (name).”

You looked at Annie who was already done handing out papers and was walking inside with her squad. Reiner was walking beside her, head down and shoulders slouched. He was still upset over Bertholdt losing against Armin.

“Um… Can we go inside now?” Sasha asked after ten minutes of standing outside.

“No, we’re waiting for uhh…. Armin.”

She sighed audibly and clutched on your arm. “You were right, dinner is the most important meal of the day… I’m so hungry, (name). Let’s go eat. Armin will find his way to the ship nonetheless if we wait for him… Please…”

Okay. Perhaps you could let her go now. Others must have gotten their food and all.

“You’re right, let’s-”

Sasha left your side and ran inside the ship without letting you finish your sentence. Sometimes, you wished you could be as honest as her. Life would be so much easier.

“(name).”

You stood at attention, keeping your head up.

“Commander Erwin!”

“At ease.” He looked around before speaking. “Is everyone from your squad inside?”

“No sir. Armin isn’t here. Eren from Annie’s squad isn’t here either.”

“Hmm, Levi will be bringing them here. We’re waiting for their car to arrive with the special force soldiers.” He put a hand on your shoulder and spun you around to pat on your back, pushing you forward. “Now, go inside and get some rest.”

You didn’t need to be told twice.

When you arrived at the dining compartment, Sasha was eating next to Niccolo who was still serving food. You walked over to the duo and the chef gave you a tray of food. “Good work today.”

“Thanks,” you replied and joined the rest of your squad on a table.

“I’m telling you, when I become the Cart Titan, I will have all of the ladies coming after me!” Connie smirked, “Everyone wants to get married to a Marleyan Warrior so they can live an easy life.”

“So you accept that no woman would tolerate you unless you have a red armband?” Ymir laughed. “Oh man… you are pathetic.”

The color drained from Connie’s face and he sat in silence.

“Besides,” Ymir said as you were taking the seat next to hers, “You’ll lose the Cart Titan against Pieck. That woman is unmatchable.”

You nodded to agree.

“Hey,” Jean hissed, slamming his cutlery on the table. “We’re all candidates. There’s no way of knowing who will get chosen and who will not be-”

“We’re the Paradis Squad, Jean,” Ymir groaned. “We’re the castaways, the second options, or better yet, we’re the backup plan for the Marleyan military.”

“Keep your voice down,” you shushed her.

“What? It’s the truth and nobody will hear us with the rumbling coming from the engine of the ship. We all know Armin got chosen to inherit the titan only because Bertholdt was a crybaby.” She took a bite from her bread and chewed slowly to speak at the same time. “That’s why you have to work harder than that Monkey Squad to be able to inherit whatever titan you're a candidate for.”

She was right but you needed her to shut up. The rest of the idiots hadn’t caught up with how unfair this candidate game was. Not yet.

“So you don’t wanna inherit the Jaw Titan?” Jean asked the most stupid question he could have.

“Why would I be in the military and become a candidate if I didn’t want to inherit the Jaw Titan?” Ymir was smirking widely, taunting the guys who saw as weak.

“But you keep saying we have no chance against those elite guys,” Connie whined.

“Oh, I will inherit the Jaw Titan. That Porco guy cannot even fight properly.” She had a dangerous glint in her eye as she glowered at Porco. He was omitting to her stare whilst eating next to Pieck.

“This isn’t a fair competition,” you added, tightly gripping your fork to stop the shaking of your hands. “You have to give it your best to win or it’ll all be for nothing. You’ll end up in the special forces and remain a devil in the eyes of Marleyans forever.”

“Dontcha worry, (name),” Ymir chirped, changing her tone effectively as she put her arm over your shoulder to pull you close. “You’ll inherit your titan. You’re the only one between these idiots who deserves to be a titan warrior.”

“Are you dumb?” Connie raised a brow. “(name) will never inherit a titan as long as War Chief is the Beast Titan.”

“He doesn’t get to decide who’ll inherit the titans. It’s Magath and the other Marleyans.” Jean spoke, his voice was blank, devoid of any emotion. “I thought our commanders decided which one of us it’d be when the time came but… apparently it’s the Marleyans who choose everything regarding if we’re inhumane enough.”

“Ah.” You could see it in his face. He was putting the pieces together slowly. After almost seven years in the military, he was finally grasping the bitter reality and the harsh truth of the future. “You realized that Armin wasn’t actually chosen for his talents, huh?” There was silence before you spoke again. “If you want to inherit a titan, you need to rid yourself of your humanity.”

Jean nodded knowingly and took a sip from his water with shaky hands.

It was half an hour later when the ship finally moved forward. It could only mean one thing… They were here.

Everyone except Ymir got up from their seats in the dining compartment. Seconds later the famous trio and Bertholdt walked inside.

“Armin!” Jean walked up to his comrade and hugged him while the other squad was welcoming their friend. “You’re too lucky!”

“Yeah, man! He’s gonna be treated like a celebrity now,” Connie was smirking as everyone from your squad started crowing around the blonde.

Armin blushed faintly, “I’m still me.”

“How does it feel?” you asked, curious if his body was going through any changes.

“Um, I don’t know.”

“Hey, where’s your red armband, huh?” Connie pointed at Armin’s yellow armband.

“He’s gonna get it when we get back home,” Eren replied instead and pushed his friend forward. “Now move away, we are starving.”

“Eren,” Mikasa warned, her eyebrows furrowing. “Everyone is excited, he’s the first one between you all to inherit a titan.”

Eren ignored her and walked towards the table Niccolo was serving food with Armin.

“He’s probably jealous. He just won’t admit it,” you reassured and patted on Mikasa’s back. “We’ll handle it, don’t worry.”

She nodded slowly and met your gaze. “Thanks.” After that, she reluctantly had to leave to join the special force soldiers in their own department.

Bertholdt was here for the last time, saying goodbye to his comrades. Soon, he would join Mikasa in the special force and if you were not careful you would too.

One year. Only one year left of your seven-year candidate program. Only one year until you inherited a titan or lost everything.

Anything could happen and things could go south. Just as today or when War Chief inherited his titan a couple of years ago.

Connie put a hand on your back and led you back to the table. You sat in between Ymir and Eren. The other three guys sat on the opposite side. Sasha was still busy devouring the food her supposedly lover had made for her.

“Shouldn’t you sit with your own squad?” you said jokingly.

“It’s none of your business.” Eren started eating, ignoring Jean who started scolding him for talking rudely.

Well, you knew he was upset that Armin inherited a titan before himself. The fact that his friend was stronger than him now hurt his ego and superiority complex.

“You should at least try to get along with people,” you said softly.  “After this year, we won’t be forced to hang out together anymore.”

“I am here to kill all of my enemies, not make friends.” Eren had never changed from the day he joined the candidate program. He was always hot-headed and full of an ego that couldn’t be humbled. In these seven years, he hadn’t once actually tried working together with anyone. He acted like he was better than anyone else. “It’s because of your stupid airhead that the Colossal Titan’s inheritor got injured. If only you paid more attention to the war, Armin wouldn’t have lost a year of his training.”

“Hey!” Jean raised his voice, “It was nobody's fault. Don’t go accusing people for no reason.”

His attitude was finally getting to you, making you drop your facade for the first time in years. “Actually, the Colossal’s holder got injured because of you. It was all your fault. If you hadn’t gone into a rampage like you always do, we would have noticed that the enemy had titan spears on top of their walls.”

Your comrades all stopped eating, Ymir was giving you a look for you to shut up and Connie was kicking you under the table. “You really went and said it,” Jean groaned.

Eren continued eating despite how badly his hands were trembling from anger.

“(name), let’s not start a fight,” Armin whispered but his advice went unheard.

“You know you don’t belong in the military,” Eren suddenly laughed. “Everyone thinks that you don’t belong here.”

“I don’t have anywhere to go,” you firmly answered. “This is the only place I belong.”

“You don’t belong in the military,” Eren insisted. “Don’t lie to your comrades.”

“Oh, now we’re comrades?” You glared at him and put your hand over your heart. “I pledged loyalty to serve Marley.”

“We all did.” Eren waved his hand dismissively. “There’s nothing special about you. I am here to kill all of my enemies, you’re here so you can live rich. That’s why I will inherit the Attack Titan and you won’t.”

For a single moment, your face showed pure panic at what he had just said.

“You really think that way?” Ymir forcefully scoffed, “What now? We’re all useless-?”

“You are. If you weren’t you wouldn’t be in this squad. You’re all nothing but a second choice.” Eren lifted his gaze up to Armin. “He is the smartest of them all, the Colossal Titan never needed a fighter. It needed a brain.”

Ymir’s smirk dropped and she let out a low sigh of discomfort. Jean and Connie were glowering at Eren while you were humbled by him once again.

You tend to forget how you actually were nothing. Titans needed a fighter, Marley needed a fighter. The Attack Titan needed a fighter.

You were only smart, you couldn’t fight as well as Eren and you weren’t a natural-born leader like him.

Against him, you had no chance of winning. This wasn’t about who was the smartest, the most powerful, or the most inhumane. Each titan needed something specific. The Colossal needed a brain, the Female needed strength, the Armored needed wrath, the Jaw needed speed, the Cart needed stamina and the Attack Titan needed… a leader.

Are you a leader?

“I will inherit the Attack Titan.” Your voice quivered but you stood tall and proud.

“You have no chance of winning against me.” He was confident, rightfully so.

It wasn’t fair! It wasn’t fair that you were in this situation, it wasn’t fair that Eren Yeager was going to destroy your life. It wasn’t fair that you were the one who got hurt all the time.

“You don’t belong in the military and you don’t belong here with us.” Eren put down his cutlery, nobody else dared to speak.

You were getting angrier and starting to tremble in rage. “I’m sorry but I’m not willing to run away from my responsibilities like you.” Your brows furrowed and your teeth were clenched as you practically yelled, “I will inherit the Attack Titan no matter what.”

Eren scoffed as he was looking at your eyes that were burning with rage, “Good luck, then.”

~~~

You were going to kill him.

“Don’t think much about it,” Ymir said.

“Y-yeah, he’s saying all that because he thinks he’s the strongest.” Sasha was trying her best to come up with words that would sound comforting but it was hard. She wasn’t present during your argument.

“He’s confident because his brother is the Beast Titan,” you hissed. “Zeke got lucky. If Mr. Ksaver hadn’t had a heart attack, he wouldn’t be here. If only the other candidate wasn’t away… Then he wouldn’t be the Beast Titan.”

“Hey,” Ymir warned. “Don’t say things that can get you in trouble.”

“Says the girl who bad mouths everyone.” You rolled your eyes in annoyance.

“A-anyway!” Sasha pulled the sheets over her head, “Let’s just sleep! You’ll forget about this tomorrow.”

“I agree with the piggy for once.” Ymir reached towards the candle and blew it out. “Goodnight, you two.”

“Goodnight,” Sasha murmured happily.

You were silent.

There had to be a way to get Eren out of the picture.

~~~

You couldn’t sleep, even though both Ymir and Sasha had already passed out. Today was exhausting for everyone yet every time you closed your eyes, you were seeing Eren getting the Attack Titan.

Kicking off your sheets, you jumped out of your bed to take a walk and calm yourself.

As soon as you left the room, you started wandering in the ship without a destination in mind. Without realizing it, you kept walking to the deeper, darker parts of the ship where there wasn’t a single light on. However, thanks to you being discalced, you could feel it when the floor under your feet changed height or direction. It helped you get around the tight hallways but you still had no idea of your whereabouts nonetheless.

Maybe it was a bad idea to be wandering around.

That was until you heard a sound that shook you internally. Your head whipped to the right, a large metal door was inviting you.

You could hear the familiar voices of people and hushed yelling from the other side of the door. Out of curiosity, you pressed your ear onto the door to listen.

“- stop causing trouble before they kick you out. If you don’t get the Attack Titan all of our parents’ efforts will all be for nothing.”

“You say that as if I won’t inherit the titan.”

That was… Those were the Yeager brothers.

“That girl, she’s obedient. She will get the upper hand if you don’t get your act straight, Eren.”

“It doesn’t matter if she gets the Attack Titan, you can give me your spinal fluid and I’ll eat her.”

“Eren!” A slam. You flinched, covering your mouth to keep quiet. Zeke had slammed his fist on a table or a wall. “Enough innocent Eldians died. You have to prove yourself worthy and earn the Attack Titan. Hanji and Erwin found who Marley was feeding the Founding Titan to. It’s some poor family by the outskirts of the city. We finally have all of the information we need. All you have to do is follow the plan.”

“The plan is that I inherit the Attack Titan, it doesn’t matter how I do it.”

Your heart was pounding, a cold sweat slicking your skin as you continued listening to them in terror. Did they want to betray Marley?

They were…

They were traitors.

“The plan is that you inherit the Attack Titan and become the symbol of hope for our people. If it weren’t for Levi or Mikasa, you wouldn’t be alive today. You need to prove to our people that you’re worthy of leading them to a better future. You must be convincing because nobody will riot against Marley if some bastard with anger issues eats the Founding Titan.” Zeke’s voice sounded conflicted. “Once you become the beacon of hope, you have to bring us peace. No more wars, Eren. We had enough wars.”

Eren spoke again after a long pause. “Do you think we should let them live after all they’ve done, Zeke?”

“Eren, we aren’t showing mercy to Marley. We are only ending the wars for our sake. Eldians have fought enough.”

Your eyes widened and a sickening smile spread across your face. This… This was your chance. You were going to become the Attack Titan. All you had to do was find a Marleyan, Magath… Anyone!

Taking a step back, you took a quick look around you before starting to walk further down the hall. As long as you revealed the truth about the Yeager brothers, you would inherit the Attack Titan. They were going to be banished and hopefully, executed. You were speeding down the hallway, keeping your hand on the wall to use it as a guide.

You couldn’t believe it, they were planning to betray Marley and eat the Founding Titan. Why would they even do that? You didn’t know and didn’t need to know. All you knew was that now, you were guaranteed to inherit the Attack Titan.

No matter how long you walked, you never came to the end of the hallway.

What if Commander Erwin, Captain Levi, and the Squad Leader Hanji were in it too?  

What about Mikasa and Armin? Were they in this too?

If you snitched on the Yeager brothers would they kill all of your other comrades?

They wouldn't, right?

Honestly, they were all better off dead.

You walked for a few more minutes until you had worked up the nerve to make a run for it. Your palm was clammy as you kept sliding your left hand on the wall and, without looking back, you darted down the hallway praying to whoever was listening that it wasn’t a dead end and would lead you to Magath’s office.

You got lucky and came across the dining compartment. At least you were getting somewhere, you only had to keep running. For a while, you followed the wall around without stopping but when you saw a silhouette ahead of the hallway, you skidded to a stop.

In the dark, you couldn’t make out who it was but you continued walking, hoping that it was a Marleyan or anyone you could tell about the Yeager brothers and their plan of attacking Marley.

There stood a glorious Marleyan soldier, Yelena.

You were going to win.

A wild grin spread across your face and you took a step forward at the same time Yelena became aware of your presence.

“Good evening,” she said, you could hear the smile in her voice. “Mr. Yeager.”

Your own grin dropped and you felt a large hand landing on your shoulder, gripping you tightly.

“Yelena, I told you to keep on the lookout.” Zeke’s voice was calm despite being caught. “This one eavesdropped on me and my brother as it seems.”

Yelena did something you had never seen a Marleyan soldier do to an Eldian before and she saluted Zeke. “My condolences, sir. Shall I kill her?”

“What?” It was you, voice breaking and heart hammering in your ribcage. What kind of conspiracy was going on here? “Miss Yelena, we have to tell Magath about this-”

“No, it’ll bring too much attention to us. I’ll handle it,” Zeke ignored your words and replied Yelena instead.

The woman nodded and stood at ease. “Is there anything else I can do?”

“Keep an eye on the hallways. I don’t need any more of these miscalculations.” Zeke’s hand moved to the back of your neck, he grabbed you tightly and turned around to walk away with you.

Your hands went to pry his hands off of you but it was futile, despite his looks, Zeke was stronger than you. As he was forcing you to walk the way you ran from, you spoke through your teeth. “I will kill you. I’m going to scream now and everyone will know that you-”

“We’re on a ship, (name). If I transformed right now, everyone would be dead. Everyone.” He was speaking calmly again but his grip around the back of your neck tightened, making you whimper in pain. “Do you want to risk it? I don’t think you would survive. Neither would anyone else other than Armin Arlert. If he managed to turn into the Colossal Titan before the ship sinks, that is.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” you hissed, biting back a sob.

“You don’t know where you stand just like Eren,” he sighed in irritation this time.

“Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to betray Marley? Don’t you feel guilty of the things we devils have done to them?” You were spitting out your words, an animalistic snarl rose up from your stomach. “You traitors!”

“The war must end,” Zeke said. “What we’ve done to Marley in the past was unforgivable but the way we’re being used as weapons against other countries… We will always continue to repeat history if we don’t end the war. And-”

“I will inherit the Attack Titan and stop you all.” Your limbs started to shake violently, you tried twisting your body to escape his hold but it was all futile.

“Didn’t you hear my brother? I can turn him into a pure titan and feed you to him.” Zeke leaned in to whisper, his voice carried a dark promise. He was serious.

You didn’t dare to utter a single syllable more. Your bottom lip was trembling as the realization of how bad your situation actually was started to settle in.

What you had thought to be your advantage against Eren was going to get you killed. You had no idea how many people were involved in this. Yelena had saluted Zeke as if he wasn’t a devil. A Marleyan bowed down before an Eldian.

How dare she betray Marley like that? Eldians did nothing but cause wars, you were all the devils who killed. You were a curse, a waste of space and air. To earn your place in this cruel world, you had to dedicate yourself to Marley. And-

Oh, how amusing to think like a loyal dog.

A giggle escaped from your lips.

Zeke raised a brow but continued forcing you down the hallway until the two of you reached a door. He pushed the door open and shoved you inside before walking after you.

“This is your first chance to prove yourself to me,” Zeke spoke. You immediately knew he wasn’t talking to you.

Stumbling forward, you fell on the ground. You used your hands to push yourself up as the door closed, seconds later you heard it being locked.

“Devoted as usual, (name).”  Eren crouched in front of you and grabbed you by your hair to pull your head back. “Do you think Marley would care if you died? I think they’d replace you with one of the many other soldiers.”

“Eren,” Zeke sighed. “Are you listening to me?”

The younger brother hummed lowly in response but proceeded to glare at the terrified expression on your face.

“She’s been brainwashed from birth by Marleyan propaganda. Every Eldian in Marley is like her. Their thoughts and motives are all the same.” Zeke took off his glasses and wiped them with a handkerchief he took out from his pocket. “I want you to teach her the truth and prove yourself to be a true leader.”

“Why should I? Is it so we can keep her alive?” Eren scoffed, lips curling up into a smile. “I wouldn’t mind killing her now, throw her off deck and tell everyone else she jumped herself-”

“Eren.” Zeke was tired, so tired of all the killings. So tired of the wars and deaths. He wanted peace. He wasn’t made for fighting, Mr. Ksaver knew that but still gave him the Beast Titan. Mr. Ksaver believed that Zeke could lead the Eldians to peace. To a life without any wars or deaths. Zeke knew he could lead his people to freedom but he couldn’t fight. He wasn’t powerful enough to eat the Founding Titan himself. That was the only reason he needed Eren for.

Why father?

Why did you fail at parenting your sons?

Grisha raised Zeke with hatred for Marley and tried embedding that fighting spirit he wanted so much into the little Zeke but failed. Immediately after his mother, Dina’s death, Grisha married another woman and had Eren. Only then Grisha came back to his senses and raised his younger son with love.

Yet, Eren turned out the exact way he desperately wished Zeke would be like when he was raising him.

Ironic if not poetic.

He sent both of his sons to the candidate program and here they were; Zeke trying his best to speak some sense into Eren while all his little brother talked about was killing everyone.

Kill. Kill. Kill.

Wasn’t he tired of it all?

He returned to the present, barely a second had passed.

“If you can’t convince one Eldian woman to join our cause then you’re not befitted to inherit the Attack Titan. I can always find another candidate who will take orders.” Zeke’s tone was colder than ice. He put his glasses back on and glowered down at his younger brother.

Eren’s sinister smile faltered and he frowned. “Why does it matter?”

“Don’t you understand?” Zeke clapped his hands together, raising his voice. “How can I give you the power to lead all of the Eldians if you can’t even lead a single brainwashed woman?”

“Fine.” Eren’s grip around your hair tightened and he slammed your face onto the ground out of a sudden.

You tried breathing but when you inhaled you only tasted blood. Your nose was bleeding furiously and the pain was unbearable. A whimper escaped your lips, his attack had been too abrupt.

“Eren!” The older brother took a step forward to stop his younger brother.

“Get out, Zeke.” Eren lifted your face up from the ground to show your blood-covered face to his brother before slamming it back down with a ferocious smile.

“Don’t hurt-”

“What? I’m not killing her, I’m knocking some sense into her,” Eren replied nonchalantly, lifting your face up once again. He grinned at you and lied to your face. “She’ll be fine, don’t worry. Just leave us alone.”

Zeke hesitated, his eyes were on you who was desperately trying to mouth something. The bottom half of your face was covered in blood and the stream of blood continued painting your neck and nightgown red.

“Don’t you trust me, big brother?” Eren knew what he was doing.

“Y-yes,” Zeke dragged a hand up his face, lifting his glasses in the process. He let his cold hand rest over his eyes and turned around on his heels. “I’ll be back in the morning, I’ll tell Yelena to guard this hallway.”

Your voice wouldn’t come out, your lips were trembling too much and the pain was overwhelming your senses.

When Zeke opened the door and closed it behind him, Eren lowered his face next to yours, “A slave to Marley, that’s what you are, (name). Loyal dogs like you disgust me. Do you bark when you’re told to? Won’t you bark for me?”

You used your entire strength into collecting all of your saliva and blood you had in your mouth on top of your tongue and spitting his face.

Your spit landed on his cheek and he looked unimpressed. He stared at you with boredom before shoving your face down onto the ground.

“I’ve always wanted to mess up your pretty face, (name).” He carded his fingers through your hair almost lovingly as you gargled in your own blood, coughing repeatedly. “Maybe if you were in the special forces, I’d have the chance-”

“You’re more pathetic than I thought,” you got over your coughing fit and spoke clearly. “Do you really believe people will betray Marley just because some egoistic guy with a superiority complex has the Founding Titan?”

Eren stopped petting your hair and flipped you over so he could watch your blood-covered face as you desperately tried to talk your way out of this. “I’m a slave to no one. I’m more of a leader than anyone alive,” he said as he glared at you.

“Yeah and for how long? Thirteen years? You’ll die when you’re thirty-three, what will be your biggest accomplishment?” you laughed at him. He was too stupid to see the bigger picture but you were going to make him see it.

“Bringing freedom to my people and-”

“What about Mikasa?” you asked, cutting his sentence short. You knew his weak point, you knew he treasured her. “Don’t you want to grow old with her?”

“Oh, her?” Eren hummed in thought. “She’s more of a loyal dog to me than anything.”

Your face contorted into something vile in disgust, the way he was dehumanizing her, your friend and comrade… It... It hurt more than it should have.

“You’re full of filth, nobody would let you lead them,” you gritted your teeth.

“You’re also full of lies. I can see right through you, we’re the same.” He grabbed your cheeks by the sides with a hand and squeezed them until your mouth opened from the force. He used his other hand to wipe your spit from his face and he spat in your mouth. “That goody-two-shoes act? You can charm everyone but me with that. I’m not stupid enough to fall for your lies.”

You gagged, wanting to spit his spit back out but he had pried your jaw open, it was impossible to get it out. You had to swallow.

Eren watched with sick amusement and you helplessly swallowed his spit.

Then, laughter filled the room.

It was you.

Raising a brow, he stared at you. Maybe, you were finally going insane.

“You can’t feel good about yourself unless you prove yourself to be the strongest, right, Eren?” You rolled over to try to get up from the ground. “It must feel good to be entrusted with leading some idiots into what you call freedom, huh? You must feel like a God!”

“Did I break you already?”

You wobbled as you got back up on your feet. The front of your nightgown was covered in blood and you could still taste your own blood, smell it too. You lifted your nightgown up to your face from the collar to wipe your nose.

“Break me? Maybe my nose but I’m smarter than you are. I can see everything clearly, I’ve been watching these people for years. I know who you are, a pitiful little kid trying to become the strongest to prove his worth. You’re never good enough, right?”

“You don’t know me, (name).” Eren was getting angry, your assumptions were upsetting him.

“I know you better than anyone else, Eren. You’re just a brat trapped in an adult’s body. You believe the answer is to kill all of your enemies and you’re worth nothing to anyone. Nobody likes you but your only two friends. One has already signed his contract to die and the other one is nothing to you, right? A pet as you said?” You were chuckling, taunting him to fight you even though you knew he was going to win. “I was at least smart enough to make them all trust me. If I become the Attack Titan, I will become a leader loved by everyone. I could carry out Zeke’s plan and follow orders better than you do. Don’t you think Zeke would love to have someone who obeys his orders to inherit the Attack Titan?”

His brows furrowed and he grumbled as he spoke. “You don’t believe our cause. Zeke won’t trust you.”

“Oh, now it’s your cause? I thought you were in it just to feel powerful! Are you just feeling threatened by me? Is it because you know I’m better than you?” you barked out a laugh, “You don’t know me at all, Eren.”

It was quiet for a long moment. He didn’t speak or move. Neither did you. Not until you decided it was time to end this.

“I’ll inherit the Attack Titan for you and carry out Zeke’s mission. You’re too much of a coward to obey simple orders because you’re way too narcissistic to listen to anyone other than yourself.” You grinned, your blood-stained teeth and lips looked eerie in the dark dim light of a candle. “I’ll lead my people to freedom.”

“You’re brainwashed. You only want to serve Marley.” He was trying to remind you of something so dumb, just an accusation without any real evidence.

“Did you believe all that because I said it?” You took a step forward, pointing a finger at him and giggling. “Do you really believe I would be a slave to some country or a person like you? I live for myself and I have the blood of the devil inside of me. I am a dog that can’t be tamed. But you, Eren Yeager, you’re nothing. Just a feral dog.”

“I’m going to kill you.” Eren took a couple of steps forward and brought his fist up in the air.

“Is that all you can do?” You started walking backward to avoid him. “Is that your solution to everything? Just kill the person who doesn’t agree with you? You’re talking about killing too much. Are you going to kill everyone but the Eldians to bring them peace? Is that your smartest plan? You’re pathetic.”

“I’m going to beat you until you can’t run your filthy mouth again.” Eren leaped forward and grabbed you by your nightgown, now, he had you in his hands. “Any last words?”

“I bet your father never told you he was proud of you. Is that why you’re obsessed with power-”

Crack.

You felt the burning pain on the side of your face that wrecked your nerves as his fist met your cheek. It completely knocked the wind out of you and you found yourself on the ground, your body bounced on the solid surface before blood splattered out from your mouth.

“Your face looks better when it’s battered up like this. Red is definitely your color, (name).” His tone was light, almost as if he was finally feeling himself. “And you said I didn’t know you!” He let out an airy chuckle.

Writhing in pain on the ground, you reminded yourself that the pain was temporary. If you let him win now, you would never be able to win against him.

“I’m not…” you groaned in pain before continuing your talk. “I’m not some special force soldier you can toy with. Those poor girls may be scared of you but I can assure you that you don’t scare me, not even one bit. You’re nothing but a man child in my eyes.” You stood back up, refusing to stay down. “You can mess with all the girls you want below your rank but the power you feel over them won’t last forever. It barely lasts two minutes, is what I’ve heard.”

Despite how much pain you were in, you smirked at him as he stood right in front of you, his height towering over yours.

“I’m going to wipe that smile off your face.” Grabbing you by the neck with one hand, he turned you around and pulled you flush against his chest. You struggled against his hold but it was useless, you were far too exhausted and the earlier fight had taken the last bit of your stamina away from you.

Eren nosed some of your hair out of the way and breathed into your neck before taking a deep inhale. The sweet scent of you and your blood filled his senses, his eyelashes fluttered with unsettling joy.

“I bet,” he whispered, lips brushing against the shell of your ear. “They won’t let you inherit the Attack Titan if you were pregnant.”

With that, he pressed himself against you and forced you to feel his growing bulge beneath his pants.

Your eyes widened and you fought back with renewed vigor, ferociously kicking and shaking your body. “I’ll kill you if you touch me, you bastard! Do you hear me? I’ll feed you to the dogs!!”

“No need for that, (name).” Eren squeezed the sides of your neck, pressing you harder against his body. “You called me a feral dog, right? I’ll fuck you like one.”

You shook your limbs trying to dig your nails into the skin of his arms to fight back but he stopped you with one single move.

Eren opened his mouth and let his teeth sink into the soft skin of your neck. A scream escaped your lips as he bit you harder until he tasted blood and wrecked all of your nerves. Your arms flailed uselessly by your sides before your entire body went limp.

His free hand moved up to knead the supple flesh of your breast as he continued biting you and rocking his hips into you.

Once he decided he couldn’t take it anymore, Eren took his hand away from your breast and hurriedly tugged down his pants. You whimpered and tried twisting your body away from him but his bite on your neck was like a predator’s, it didn’t let you move anywhere. Like a lion biting into a gazelle’s neck to keep it in place before ferociously devouring the poor animal, Eren was keeping you in place with his teeth only. He wasn’t going to stop, not until he proved his strength to you. Not until he devoured you whole.

Your plan had backfired.

He pushed you forward and both of you stumbled forward. You fell on all fours and he stayed on top of you, still biting into your neck. Growling, he hiked the thin skirt of your nightgown up using a single hand.

A pained sob left your lips. “Please, don’t.”

Eren smiled into the bite. He always knew how to get under someone’s skin, no matter how thick it was. He also knew that his threat of impregnating you was nothing but a way of humiliating you, reminding you of your place, the power he held over you, and how with a single move he could ruin your entire life.

You were the one who was nothing.

The real untamed dog was Eren. Not you.

At least, that was what he wanted to believe.

How childish.

He was nothing but a manchild.

Eren slid your underpants to the side and pulled his cock out. You sobbed as he lined himself up against your entrance.

“I will kill you. I will kill you. I will kill you-ahh-”

With a sharp thrust of his hips, he inserted the entire length of his cock inside you. He slapped his large hand on your mouth to keep you quiet but it still couldn’t stop your muffled screams echoing in the room.

He had been wanting to do this for so long. Just to shut you up and ruin you, to remind you of your place. Ahh, the power he felt right now was indescribable. It was as if he was on the tallest mountain in the world and nobody else could reach him. He was the strongest. The best. The leader. The Attack Titan’s next holder and Eldia’s new King.

In his twisted mind, he was the ruler of everything. Him having you around him like this and ravishing you only boosted his ego but the feeling of a small train of blood trickling onto his cock and down your thighs made him go berserk with a massive amount of power.

The thought of your helplessness as he took your innocence like this made him grow larger inside your cunt.

He started moving without giving you a chance to prepare yourself for his cock. Involuntarily moaning, you curled your toes and bit your lip to hold back your next moan.

Eren finally pulled his teeth away from your skin and chuckled as he tentatively pulled his hips back before abruptly slamming them forward. “I’ve always wanted to do this.”

Placing both of his hands on your hips, Eren began fucking you frantically, putting his entire weight behind each thrust and stroking every spot inside of your walls. Your virgin walls started to take the shape of his cock, making you his perfect cock sleeve.

“You’re gonna regret this, Yeager,” you hissed but it broke into a moan as he mounted you completely, his hips moving with a frenzied speed, punching the air out of your lungs.

“So far, I’m enjoying it,” he whispered into your ear, his hot breath sending a shiver down your spine and causing your teeth to chatter rapidly. It was as if you were flung into a blizzard.

Your body wasn’t doing it because it was cold in the room. No. It was then, you felt it for the first time.

Fear.

He groaned in pleasure as he continued fucking you frantically like a rabid dog in heat. His pace was ruthless, each thrust of his hips was punishing and hit deep deep deep inside of your pussy.

You could feel the very shape and girth of him, he was embedding it into your memory. With each thrust, he was making sure that you wouldn’t be able to be fucked by anyone without thinking of him. You were only going to think of the smell of his sweat, the sharpness of his teeth, the shape of his cock, and his lingering, calloused hands. Nothing else.

Eventually, his animalistic pace slackened and his hips started to move staggeringly. He desperately tried stealing a few more thrusts to indulge in your warm and slick cunt by humping you like a desperate dog but your pulsating walls caught him off guard.

As your pussy clenched around his cock, he snapped his hips forward to bury his entire length inside of you. You gasped in unwanted pleasure when the tip of his cock prodded against your cervix, ready to paint your insides white.

Eren’s cock throbbed and thick spurts of his seed flooded your womb. You let out a horrifying sound and sobbed whilst the warm feeling spread across your belly. He pulled out to watch his cum drip out of your pussy with a sinister grin on his lips at the same time you felt tears streaming down your face.

He was cruel. Always had been. However, he had finally proved who was stronger between the two of you.

It was him, he was the strongest.

You had lost against the other candidate.

The most important of them all, you had lost your pride, all of that training you had gone through in seven years felt like it was for nothing.

“I will inherit the Attack Titan,” he declared, simple and to the point.

You nodded in response, throat clenching in despair as you cried in defeat.

[pickalilywrites]

HI LILY!! oh my goodness i just saw your pokkopikku list and it brought back all the feels 😭 could i maybe possibly request a pokkopikku canonverse where porco has to deal with jealousy from pieck’s unit because of how close he is to her? you are literally so amazing

ahhh this is such a good idea!! i loved it immediately. i hope this is everything you hoped for and more ^^

---------------------------

This Isn’t What I Was Trained For 

GalliPieck. Canonverse. 

8456 words. 

Read on Ao3!

When Porco was informed that he would be the next inheritor of the Jaw Titan, his chest swelled with pride. Was he surprised at the news? Not at all. He had trained for this his entire life. Even when the chance had eluded him in the past, the military officials passing over him and selecting (in his humble opinion) the lesser-qualified Reiner Braun, Porco had bitten his tongue but still pressed on with his military training. As a child, he was a formidable soldier on the battlefield, charging into enemy territory with a rifle in his hands even as dust and burnt gunpowder stung his eyes. As he grew older, Porco grew more strategic on the field, planning missions instead of just forcing his way through battles with brute force. By the time he was fifteen, he was included in meetings with military officials (not to speak, of course, but it was an honor to just be let into the room) and had killed more men than he could count. Really, there was no one more qualified than Porco to inherit the Jaw Titan. 

Porco thought the transition from Marleyan soldier to Titan Warrior would be a smooth one. After all, he had already been informed on what wielding the Titan’s power would entail twice now: once when he was a potential candidate, and again now that the opportunity is presenting itself once more. He wasn’t concerned about the Titan transformation itself. He knew all the grotesque details: the injection of the serum into his spine, the strike of lightning that would crack through the sky before electrifying every bone in his body just as his Titanized form manifested, or the horrifying memories he would inherit from his predecessors. They were necessary if Porco was to become a Warrior, and he had accepted these horrors years ago when he was informed that he was one of the final candidates to be chosen as a Titan. When they had chosen Reiner over him, Porco was crushed, but it seems like all of those years of training were not in vain if the Jaw Titan is to now be in his possession. 

Dealing with military personnel was actually what Porco would consider more of an issue, especially with the tension between the Marleyan commanders and the Eldian soldiers. The grudge that the Marleyans held against the Eldians for their crime ran deep, but it was just. After being trained underneath Marlayan instructors for all of his youth, Porco knew that he wouldn’t run into any trouble so long as he kept his head down, answered orders with a simple yes or no along with a “ma’am” or “sir” tacked on at the end, and said as little as possible. 

Even dealing with the other Titan Warriors didn’t bother Porco. He had never been on the best terms with Reiner. Porco didn’t trust him to wield a Titan’s power back when they were children, and he certainly doesn’t now. Still, he’s not stupid enough to say so out loud and he’s smart enough to be civil whenever the Armored Titan’s holder comes near. He got along well enough with Bertholdt, the Colossal Titan, but he didn’t count on them becoming close friends. That’s fine anyhow. The military officials had said that the Jaw Titan would work more with the Cart and Beast Titans in future missions, so Porco only had to learn how to be comfortable with Zeke and Pieck. 

To be honest, Porco had always found the War Chief to be rather intimidating. He was nearly a decade older than Porco and the other Titan Warriors, so they hardly had anything in common aside from wielding a Titan’s power. He had stood in the same room as Zeke more than a few times, often to listen during military meetings. Zeke was the only Eldian allowed to speak during these meetings, confidently speaking his mind and bringing forth suggestions that weren’t, to Porco’s surprise, brushed off by the Marleyan officials. After all those times in meetings, Porco hadn’t uttered a word to the War Chief, although he would bow his head and keep his eyes lowered whenever Zeke approached and the Beast Titan would occasionally acknowledge Porco with a nod. Warming up to Zeke would take some time, Porco thought, so it’s a surprise when the War Chief comes up to him one day without warning to congratulate him. 

“I think they made a good choice in selecting you to inherit the Jaw Titan,” Zeke says, hand outstretched. There’s a smile on his face that doesn’t quite reach his eyes, but it’s the warmest expression Porco has ever seen on the man’s face. Porco’s so surprised that he almost forgets to take the War Chief’s hand. 

“It’s an honor to be chosen,” Porco replies and he firmly shakes Zeke’s hand, trying not to wince at how strong the man’s grip is. It’s a relief when Zeke finally lets go, his hand falling away from Porco’s. 

“I know you’ll be a powerful asset for our team.” Again, the smile. Zeke continues, “Feel free to reach out to me if you need any help with anything.” 

Porco blinks in surprise. Zeke had always been such an aloof man. He had this unapproachable air to him at times, and it makes Porco wonder if he had heard the man correctly. “Anything?” Porco repeats, regretting it immediately because it makes it seem like he’s questioning the validity of his superior’s statement. He’s about to apologize for his insolence when Zeke laughs and claps a hand on Porco’s shoulder. 

“Of course,” the man replies, patting Porco on the shoulder. “I’m your superior, after all. If you have concerns about anything at all, come find me. I’ll help you as best as I can.” 

“O-oh,” Porco says. He nods, unsure if he should smile back at the War Chief or give him a salute. The safest response, Porco decides, is a grateful “thank you” and an assurance that he will make sure to reach out to the War Chief if he ever needs it. The reply is enough for the War Chief, who nods back at the Warrior before leaving to attend to his other duties. Porco stares at the man’s retreating figure, wondering if the War Chief had meant the words he said or if they were just a formality. Porco doesn’t think he’ll need to seek Zeke if he runs into any problems. He’ll probably fumble through his issues like he did for the past 15 years, which has worked out for him so far. Still, he does file away the War Chief’s offer in the back of his mind on the slim chance that he needs it, but he hopes he never does. 

Pieck is a lot easier than Zeke. Unlike Zeke, she was the same age as Porco and, because she and Porco trained together when they were children, Porco felt more comfortable around her than he was around the War Chief. Although they hadn’t spoken much after she had inherited the Cart Titan and was whisked away to complete more important missions, she was still relatively friendly to him on the rare occasions their paths did cross. When Porco is informed about becoming the inheritor of the Jaw Titan, Pieck is one of the first to congratulate him, even bringing him a box of chocolates as a gift. 

“You didn’t have to,” Porco says in surprise as Pieck shoves the sweets in his face. The smell of cocoa is fragrant even through the packaging. He’s about to welcome Pieck in, but she slips past him easily even with her crutches. 

“It’s fine,” Pieck assures him, crossing the living room so that she can collapse on the couch. She lets her crutches fall against the floor with a dull thud. She’s lying on the couch, limbs splayed out and an arm across her forehead. “It’s a special occasion. It’s not every day that you get to be chosen to be a Titan Warrior, right?” Across her face flashes a smile, tired but cheeky. 

“I guess …,” Porco mumbles. He lets the door shut behind him and shuffles awkwardly to the living room where he settles into the armchair beside Pieck. He opens the box of confections and stares down at the little chocolate squares inside, some of them topped with nuts and sprinkles or drizzled with white chocolate. His mouth waters just looking at them and he wonders when was the last time he had eaten something so delicate and sweet. It must have been ages ago. Porco’s hand hovers over a particularly delectable-looking sweet, a dark chocolate in the shape of a star and dotted with little specks of white, but he remembers his guest and stammers, “D-did you want one, Pieck?” 

“Hmm?” she asks, rolling around lazily to lie on her side. She looks at him, expression somewhat amused. “No. It’s for you. You should eat it all.” 

Porco is about to insist that she takes one, but Pieck rolls back into her previous position, eyes closed like she’s sleeping. He wonders how she can do that, waltz into his home and act like she had been coming in and out for years like they were friends and they did this all the time. It should probably annoy him that Pieck was acting so comfortable in his house, especially since they weren’t exactly friends, but he finds that he doesn’t particularly mind it. It made him feel like they could be friends, that working with her wouldn’t be too difficult if they could be here like this so comfortably. If he could get Pieck on his side, then everything else would be easy. But Porco’s wrong. 

The most difficult thing about becoming a Titan Warrior is not the transformation, the Marleyan officials, or integrating himself amongst the other Warriors. The most difficult thing about becoming a Titan Warrior is the Panzer Unit. 

It’s not that the Panzer Unit has never crossed Porco’s mind. Because the group of specialized soldiers is specifically trained to fight alongside the Cart Titan, the Panzer Unit and Pieck come as a packaged deal. Porco is always sure to be polite to all the soldiers in the Panzer Unit and is even sure to remember all their names: Carlo, Hermann, Egon, and Theodor. He doesn’t expect them to treat him like a friend. They work exclusively with the Cart Titan and, although the Marleyan commanders plan for the Jaw Titan to work closely with the Cart Titan, Porco isn’t expected to have the same bond with the Panzer Unit as Pieck does, which is fine with him. The thing is … he hasn’t expected for the Panzer Unit to treat him so coldly either. 

At first, Porco thinks that the members of the Panzer Unit just need to warm up to him. The blank stares they give Porco whenever he greets them don’t bother him, and he doesn’t think much when their conversations fall silent whenever he approaches. Porco sometimes invites them to lunch whenever he goes for his break, but they always decline, mumbling incomprehensible excuses underneath their breath. He doesn’t even mind it when the Panzer Unit invites both Pieck and Zeke out to lunch and excludes him. 

“I think the Panzer Unit still needs time to warm up to me,” Porco comments absentmindedly to Pieck one day as they’re walking through town. He waits for Pieck to agree but, after she doesn’t respond, is surprised at the perplexed expression on his comrade’s face. “What?” 

“You mean they haven’t warmed up to you yet?” she asks. Pieck looks genuinely confused, which only makes Porco confused because he doesn’t know why she’s confused. 

“I mean … not yet. But I’ve only just started getting to know them recently,” Porco says. It makes sense that they haven’t gotten close yet. At least that’s what he’s been trying to tell himself, but Pieck’s expression is starting to make him rethink himself. “Are they … do they not like me or something?” 

Pieck’s eyebrows are raised in alarm. “No, nothing like that!” she says quickly, although her brows soon knit in concern and Porco can hear her mutter under her breath, “At least, they haven’t said anything like that to me. It’s a little strange though …” 

“What? What’s strange?” Porco asks. He probably shouldn’t blurt it out so desperately. Pieck looks at him in alarm, but he can’t help it. If Pieck thinks the Panzer Unit is acting strange, then she’s probably right. She’s worked with them for years, so she knows them best. Now, the Cart Titan looks hesitant to answer, but Porco begs, “Please just tell me. I don’t know if I’ve offended them without knowing, but I’d really like to work this out, especially since we’ll be working together in the future.” 

Pieck looks at him sympathetically but can only offer him a helpless shrug. “I honestly don’t know,” she tells him. “They’re usually so sweet. When I was introduced to them, we didn’t have a problem getting along. Even Zeke didn’t have any problems with them when we started working together on the field. I really don’t know why they aren’t friendlier to you.” 

If even Pieck doesn’t know why the Panzer Unit is treating him so coldly, then maybe there isn’t anything to be done. Porco should probably just accept it, but he feels his shoulders slump disappointedly anyway. He’s never felt the need to be liked, but it would be nice to be on friendly terms with the Panzer Unit. He can’t imagine working with them for the next thirteen years, being ignored by them every time he passes by. 

Porco forces a smile on his face. “It’s fine,” he assures her through gritted teeth. 

But it’s not fine at all. 

The first thing Carlo, the blond man in the Panzer Unit whose glasses are always constantly slipping down his nose, asks Porco the next morning is, “What did you say to Pieck yesterday?” It’s probably the most Carlo, or any in the Panzer Unit really, has ever spoken to Porco and the Warrior almost forgets to answer until Carlo stomps his foot down angrily. 

“Uh, nothing,” Porco says, wondering why his voice is wavering. Carlo is shorter than Porco, the Warrior towering above the bespectacled man by a few inches, but Porco still finds himself backing up. The glares Porco is currently receiving from Carlo’s comrades right now are also not helping. It’s clear that they don’t believe him, so Porco fumbles for an answer. “I just … talked to her about you guys and … how you treat me.” 

Carlo turns around, throwing his hands in the air frustratedly. “I knew he would do this! It’s just like him,” he spouts while the rest of his team stares daggers at Porco, Carlo whips his head around to shoot Porco a glare filled with pure hatred. “I hope you’re happy with what you’ve done. Do you know what Pieck said to us yesterday? Do you?” He’s in Porco’s face again, poking a bony finger into Porco’s chest while the rest of the Panzer Unit crowd around the Warrior. 

“I … not really, no,” Porco stammers. 

“She said she was disappointed in us!” wails Egon, the dark-haired boy behind Carlo. Beside him, the rest of the Panzer Unit nod angrily. There are even tears brimming in Carlo’s eyes as he glares up at Porco. “She said we had to be nice to you, as if we aren’t nice enough to you already!” 

“I hope you’re happy now,” sniffs Hermann, a man twice Porco’s age. Despite being much older than Pieck, the man looks just as affected by Pieck’s scolding as Carlo and Egon. 

Porco can’t truthfully say that he’s happy about all of this. In fact, he kind of wishes he hadn’t said anything at all. Porco had thought that the dismissive looks he had received before were bad, but they’re nothing compared to the glowering he’s receiving now. 

“I just don’t understand why you guys don’t like me,” Porco says. He feels pathetic as he hears the words that come out of his mouth. It’s not as if he’s five years old. He doesn’t need everyone to like him. 

Hermann scoffs. “And why should we like you? You don’t even know Pieck’s favorite color.” 

Porco’s not exactly sure what Pieck’s favorite color has to do with anything. Was he supposed to know everyone’s favorite color before he began working closely with them? Nobody informed him of that. 

“Look, I didn’t mean for her to get involved or anything,” Porco says hastily because the Panzer Unit is clearly unimpressed when the Warrior doesn’t deny not knowing Pieck’s favorite color. Porco why he’s so nervous around these men when he’s worked under drill sergeants that were far more intimidating. “I can just talk to her again, tell her it was a misunderstanding -” 

“Don’t you think you’ve done enough damage?” Hermann hisses, and the man’s words fill Porco with guilt. 

Porco is about to insist that he make things right between everybody when the Panzer Unit freezes in front of him, eyes wide. For a moment, he thinks there might be someone behind him — maybe Zeke or some Marleyan official — but the soldiers suddenly turn around, their backs straight as they salute Pieck. Porco hadn’t even noticed that she was approaching. 

“Pieck! How are you?” Egon gushes in a far more cheerful tone than he had used with Porco. “You look wonderful as always.” 

“Thanks, Egon. You’re very sweet,” Pieck giggles. She looks over the Unit, her eyes settling on Porco. Raising an eyebrow curiously, Pieck asks, “I trust you’re treating Porco well.” 

“Of course!” says Theodor, the eldest of the Panzer Squad. He glances back at Porco, eyes filled with disdain, before looking back at Pieck with a bright smile. “It’s like you said. He’s our comrade now, so we should work well with him and treat him as part of the team.” 

Pieck’s eyes crinkle as her smile widens. “That’s great to hear. It makes me feel so much better knowing that you guys are getting along well now,” she tells them, and the members of the Panzer Unit are practically vibrating with joy at the small bit of (undeserved) praise. “Shall we eat together then? I’ll treat.” 

The members of the Panzer Unit all heartily agree, but Porco hesitates. He’s sure that the Panzer Unit will be on their best behavior so long as Pieck is around, but they’ll probably resent him if he joins them. He’s even more certain when Pieck turns to him, waiting for his answer, and the members of the Panzer Unit also whip their heads around to glare at him. He doesn’t think he’s ever received such scathing looks. 

“Er, no, thank you,” Porco says, trying his best not to look at Pieck. He’s afraid his expression might give him away. If the Panzer Unit was upset about being scolded once, they’ll definitely be angry about being told off a second time. “I have … a thing to get to.” 

“A thing,” Pieck repeats. She waits for Porco to elaborate, but he never does. She sighs through her nose and gestures for the Unit to follow her. “Come on then. We’ll just have a delicious lunch without Porco. Let’s go, boys.” 

After Pieck’s back is turned, the Panzer Unit leaves, but not without passing by Porco with smug expressions on their faces. Carlo even has the gall to make a rude gesture as he walks past, one that definitely would have gotten Porco’s fingers broken in his school days had an instructor ever seen him make it. Porco would say something, but it’s pointless anyway. If Pieck can’t make the Panzer Unit like him, then it’s probably impossible. 

Porco had never felt the need to be liked. He was fine being by himself. He didn’t make many enemies, but he didn’t make many friends either. It’s how he lived for most of his life, and he was fine with it until now. He can’t explain why, but he wants the Panzer Unit to like him. He wants to get along with them, or at the very least he wants them to stop looking at him like they want to murder him. 

He tries to approach them alone the next few days, but they give him the cold shoulder. Even if they put on their brightest smiles around Pieck, they make it clear that they only tolerate Porco because it’s Pieck’s request. After Pieck’s gone, they want nothing to do with him. Porco has never wanted to be liked so badly. 

There isn’t anyone he can really talk to about this predicament. Pieck is definitely out of the question. If Porco were to bring this up with any of the military officials, they’d probably just laugh at him for having such a childish problem. And Zeke … 

The man did say that Porco could come to him with any problems he had, but Porco doubts that this is something that Zeke had in mind. Zeke had probably meant for Porco to ask him about any problems he had with his Titan or inquiries about future missions. Porco’s not even sure what Zeke would say if the Warrior told him about the Panzer Unit. Then again, maybe Zeke might be helpful. After all, Zeke also had to be introduced to the Panzer Unit when he first began working closely with Pieck. Maybe he had a similar experience and could give Porco a few pointers. Porco only regrets asking Zeke for help when he arrives at Zeke’s office and Zeke gives him a blank stare. 

“You … told me I could come to you whenever I had a problem,” Porco says as the War Chief stares. The Warrior almost doesn’t dare speak to Zeke about the Panzer Unit. There’s a chance that the War Chief will send Porco out of his office immediately and then spend the rest of the day at his desk wondering why the young Warrior was coming to him with such a childish problem, but Porco so desperately needs help and Zeke is the only person he can think of turning to that it’s a chance that he’s willing to take. 

“Ah, did I?” Zeke asks, putting down his paperwork. He leans forward, fingers steepled. It looks as though the War Chief doesn’t quite believe Porco. The War Chief must be busy if he’s forgotten an offer he made hardly a week ago. When it’s clear that Porco isn’t leaving until his problem is resolved, Zeke sits back with a smile. “Oh, of course. It’s only natural that I should help you with your problems. What is it again?” 

“The Panzer Unit hates me,” Porco sighs, slumping miserably in the chair across from Zeke’s desk. “Normally, I wouldn’t mind, but we’ll be working closely together now that I’m the Jaw Titan. I’d like them to be able to trust me, but it’s clear that they despise being in the same room as me and I don’t know why.” 

“Hmm,” Zeke hums as he fiddles with a pen, twirling it between his fingers like a baton. He doesn’t even really look as if he’s paying attention to a word Porco is saying. Porco’s about to repeat himself once more until Zeke opens his mouth to ask, “And you really have no idea why? They haven’t said anything to you?” 

Porco wrinkles his nose. To say that they haven’t would be a lie, but the short conversation he did have with the Panzer Unit a few days ago didn’t seem to be helpful. Maybe Porco just needs a new perspective. “They did mention something … about me not knowing Pieck’s favorite color?” he finally admits. He expects Zeke to look just as bewildered as he felt about this entire thing, but the War Chief just chuckles. 

“You don’t know Pieck’s favorite color?” Zeke asks, finally putting his pen down. His full attention is on Porco. Porco should be happy about that, but right now he just feels himself getting frustrated. 

“Nobody told me I had to know these things!” Porco protests, nearly throwing up his hands. He doesn’t understand why Zeke is still sitting there with such an amused expression. “What? Do you know Pieck’s favorite color?” 

Zeke grins lazily at Porco, leaning on his elbow with his chin resting in his hand. “Of course, I do,” the War Chief replies easily as if it would be ridiculous not to know Pieck’s favorite color. “Why wouldn’t I? It only makes sense for me to know such things about someone I work so closely with.” 

“I … I guess?” Porco says with a frown. Of course, it’s only natural that you would learn your comrade’s likes and dislikes after working with them, but he’s only really talked to Pieck for a few weeks. Surely, he isn’t expected to know everything about her in such a short amount of time. “Do you … do you know a lot about Pieck?” 

“Of course,” Zeke hums, but he doesn’t offer any information on what he does know about Pieck. Porco was hoping that Zeke would offer some details about Pieck — her favorite color, her least favorite foods, her pet peeves, anything — but the War Chief says nothing more. Porco isn’t sure if getting information from the War Chief is always this difficult or if the man is just that oblivious. 

“Alright then,” Porco says, standing up suddenly. He doesn’t think he can bear being in the same room with Zeke any longer. The silences are becoming more and more aggravating, and all he can think about is escaping from the War Chief. With a thin smile and a quick salute, saying, “I’ll be sure to take your words to heart, Sir.” 

“That’s good,” Zeke replies, although he’s not really listening to Porco anymore. He’s already going back to his paperwork, his pen in hand. “Be sure to come by and talk with me whenever you’re free. It’s refreshing to have a casual conversation with my fellow Warriors.” 

Porco doubts that Zeke means what he says, but the Warrior assures Zeke that he will stop by another time. As he hurries down the hall, the heels of his boots clicking against the hardwood floor, Porco vows to never again seek help from the War Chief. 

While the talk Porco had with Zeke was overall very disappointing, Porco decided that Zeke had a point. If he was going to work with the Panzer Unit, he had to learn as much about Pieck as possible. It’s clear that the members of the unit held the holder of the Cart Titan in high esteem. Porco himself respects Pieck a great deal, although he doesn’t show his appreciation for her the same way as the Panzer Unit does. Compared to the unit, Porco is quite ignorant regarding Pieck. Of course, the Panzer Unit would take Porco’s lack of knowledge on Pieck as an insult to the very woman they worship. If Porco had to learn everything about Pieck in order for the Panzer Unit to treat him like a human being, then that’s just what he was going to do. 

Over the next few weeks, Porco collects as much information on Pieck as possible. Some things he learns during casual conversations with Pieck. Occasionally, he slips in a question here and there, although he’s sure to keep the questions as unsuspecting as possible so that Pieck doesn’t catch wind of what he’s doing. He slips into stores and restaurants right after Pieck does to ask the employees what Pieck had bought or if there are things she makes sure to avoid. There are store clerks and waiters that give that information up willingly while others are a bit more difficult to work with, insisting that they can’t give up any details about customers’ purchases because it’s a breach of privacy. They usually change their mind after Porco slips them a few bills under the table. 

Of course, the closest and most abundant source of information about Pieck would be the Panzer Unit, but Porco can’t get close to them. Whenever he gets close to them, they shoot daggers out of their eyes until the Warrior escapes around the nearest corner, so asking them for any information about Pieck is out of the question. Fortunately, his military training has made him an expert in sneaking around and spying on others. He eavesdrops on an alarming amount of Panzer Unit conversations revolving around Pieck. He’s not sure if it’s because they have nothing else to talk about or if the Panzer Unit just likes Pieck that much. 

Whatever it is that compels them to talk about Pieck all day and night, Porco is grateful for it because he’s fairly certain that he’s become an expert on her before two weeks is even up. He knows her favorite color (green, but the mossy green you’d find in a forest), her pet peeves (people who sneeze loudly, men who take up way too much space when sitting down but for some reason she’s absolutely fine if a woman does it, and people who wake up before 8 AM), and her allergies (shrimp, chestnuts but it’s fine if they’re roasted, and certain citruses). Without looking at her, he knows the exact color of her eyes (a very dark brown with black flecks although the Panzer Unit swears they’ve seen little specks of gold in the right light), the angle of her nose (110 degrees, which Carol insists is the perfect angle for a nose), and her height down to the nearest centimeter (155.3 cm). If he were to be given a pop quiz on Pieck, Porco would be able to complete it in under ten minutes and he’d be more than confident about getting every single question right. Porco says as much to the Panzer Unit when he’s finally finished with his research on Pieck. 

“I know everything about Pieck,” he announces to the Panzer Unit one afternoon. This time, he doesn’t cower when they all turn to glare at him. He stands there confidently, his head held high as they glower. 

“Tch. Don’t kid yourself, Galliard,” scoffs Hermann, the thin man mirroring Porco’s stance. He’s taller than Porco by a few inches, but Porco still doesn’t back down. 

“Go ahead then. Ask me a question about Pieck and I’ll answer,” Porco challenges. 

The members of the Panzer Unit glance at each other, Carlo looking particularly hesitant. Egon, however, just shrugs, figuring that entertaining Porco won’t hurt anybody. The dark-haired boy steps forward, clearing his throat before asking, “Alright then … What’s Pieck’s favorite color?” 

The question is so easy that Porco has to laugh. “A deep mossy green, the kind you’d find in the forest on the side of a tree,” he answers while the Panzer Unit’s eyes widen in surprise. Porco lets out another guffaw before gesturing for Egon to continue. “That one was too easy. Ask me another one, one that’s actually a little hard.” 

Egon is starting to look a little uneasy now, shrinking back into himself like a turtle into its shell. He stammers something, but no coherent words come out. The boy glances nervously at his comrades, waiting for one of them to save him. 

Hermann steps forward, still at his full height but this time his hands are shaking even as he clasps them together behind his back. The man’s mouth is set in a grim line. “What foods does Pieck hate and why?” 

Porco pretends to think, enjoying the way the Panzer Unit tenses as they watch him. He rubs his chin and hums, drawing the silence out as long as possible even though he can answer in a heartbeat. “Let’s see,” Porco says, clicking his tongue as he pretends to struggle with the question. He knits his brow together and purses his lip in a pout. “It’s mushrooms, isn’t it? She hates their rubbery texture and would, I believe she said, ‘eat a leather boot.’” 

The soldiers are shaking now, practically quaking in their boots. Porco wants to gloat, wants to dance around them and laugh. They wanted him to become an expert on Pieck, and now he is. The fools probably thought he’d never be able to do it. 

“W-well, what about … her favorite place to go to relax?” Theodor asks, but he’s shaking too. He leans away when Porco moves in closer, turning his face away from the Warrior’s growing sneer. 

“The lake by the schoolhouse, of course,” Porco replies swiftly, and Theodor lets out a pathetic whimper. He cackles, his gray eyes scanning across each member before landing on Carlo. The boy looks as if he might faint, but it doesn’t stop Porco from stepping menacingly towards him. Porco juts his chin out, eyes shining. “Come on then, Carlo. You haven’t asked me anything yet. Surely, there’s something I don’t know about Pieck that you guys do.” 

Carlo cowers, trying to hide behind Theodor and Hermann, but it’s no use. Porco can already see in the boy’s eyes that the Panzer Unit has been defeated. Still, the boy feebly tries to ask, “W-what is Pieck’s favorite animal?” 

The question makes Porco throw his head back in raucous laughter, his cackling loud enough to make the Panzer Unit flinch. Porco’s shoulders are still shaking when he looks down on Carlo, ready to answer the boy. “The fencepost jumping spider,” Porco replies with a little laugh at the end. “She likes how cute and fuzzy they are.” 

The Panzer Unit stands there, stunned. Porco can see it in their faces: they’re torn between accepting defeat and screaming in his face that they’ll never accept a fiend like him in their team. 

“You think just because you know everything about Pieck that we have to accept you!” Carlo cries. There are even tears streaming down his face now, his cheeks a ruddy and indignant flush of red. “There’s more to being a part of the Panzer Unit than knowing Pieck’s every like and dislike!” 

Porco is about to roll his eyes and tell the squad to just give it up, but Carlo’s words make him pause. The Warrior hadn’t thought much of the Panzer Unit until he learned he would be working with them and even now he admits he doesn’t know much about them. He knows that they assist Pieck by acting as gunmen while the Cart Titan heads into battle and that they have a deep affection for the woman they assist, but now Carlo insists there’s more to them than just infinite knowledge on Pieck Finger and the ability to handle weaponry. 

“Really? Like what?” Porco asks, genuinely curious. 

“Well,” Carlo says, puffing his chest out. He looks around at the others a bit nervously and it’s clear that he’s stalling for time, but Porco waits patiently. Maybe the boy will come up with something interesting or at the very least entertaining. It takes Carlo another minute, but an idea comes to him and Porco can practically see the lightbulb flicker on above the boy’s head. Pointing a finger at Porco, Carlo says, “I can do a handstand for a whole minute.” 

“A handstand? For a whole minute?” Porco repeats. He’s confused about how doing a handstand would be beneficial on the battlefield. Is it supposed to help with blood flow? Porco’s done handstands back when he was a kid, but that was more for fun than anything. He can’t even remember if he’s held it any longer than fifteen seconds let alone a whole minute, but it doesn’t seem that difficult. He’s a Warrior now, so doing a handstand shouldn’t be that difficult, especially if that’s all it takes for him to be accepted by the Panzer Unit. He takes a deep breath and rolls up his sleeves. 

“Alright then,” Porco says, gesturing for Carlo to step forward so they can get this over with. He points at Hermann. “You. Count the time. We’re doing handstands.” Before anyone can say anything more, Porco is upside-down with his hands pressed against the dirt, little pebbles digging into his skin. He doesn’t look, doesn’t dare to look because his balance is precarious enough already without any extra movement, but he hears some fumbling across from him and sees an upside-down Carlo-shaped shadow beside him. 

The next minute goes by excruciatingly. Porco can hear Hermann counting beside him, but he can’t hear the numbers. Hermann might as well be counting in gibberish and it would be all the same to Porco. Porco can only focus on keeping himself upright, not even daring to breathe because he’s afraid the subtle movement will send him toppling over and there’s absolutely no way he’s losing to a shrimp like Carlo. The Warrior tries not to think too much about how all his blood is currently flowing to his head or how the pebbles on the dirt road are digging into his palms. He does his best to empty his mind, telling himself that this pain will soon be over even though it feels like an eternity has passed already. 

Carlo seems to be struggling just as much. The boy’s face is beet red and although he doesn’t sway on his hands nearly as much as Porco does, his arms tremble as he tries to hold himself up. Every so often, a strangled groan escapes the boy's lips, but he doesn’t dare give up. As Hermann continues to count down the seconds, Egon and Theodor crouch down next to Carlo to whisper-shout words of encouragement to the boy. 

“You can do it, Carlo! Just a few more seconds!” 

“Imagine how proud Pieck will be when she finds out you’ve beaten Porco Galliard!” 

“You’re almost there. Hold on, Carlo!”

Porco wants to tell them to shut up, but he doesn’t open his mouth for fear that he’ll fall over as soon as he gets the words out. He has to put up with it — the pain of pebbles pressing into his skin, the distracting words of encouragement that leave him to be ignored, and the dizziness that is slowly overtaking him — if he wants to win, and he wants to win so badly. 

“...fifty-nine, sixty!” Hermann announces, holding a hand up. As soon as he’s finished counting, the soldier steps back so that the two competitors can fall over onto the dirt road, their chest heaving as they try to catch their breath. 

Porco’s arms feel like jelly and he’s fairly certain he blacked out for half a second after hitting the ground. He turns his neck slightly to look at Carlo, who’s currently being taken care of by Egon and Theodor. 

“You did a good job, Carlo,” Egon murmurs, helping Carlo up into a sitting position and rubbing his comrade’s back. “Pieck would have been impressed if she saw you.” 

“R-really?” Carlo gasps. His cheeks are still a bright red and he looks bleary-eyed, still dizzy from standing upside-down for a full minute. 

“Absolutely,” Egon assures as Theodor hands Carlo a canteen full of water. “You were up there an entire minute! Not many can do that, you know.” 

“Hey, I ... did that too,” Porco pants. He’s not sure what kind of reaction he was expecting from them. After being rejected by the Panzer Unit even after proving he was a human encyclopedia of Pieck knowledge, Porco didn’t think they would accept him just because he did a handstand, but it doesn’t make it any less insulting when the Panzer Unit turns and glares at him like he’s an annoying pest. 

“Is that all you can do?” scoffs Hermann. His nonchalant tone is enough to make Porco snap. 

Porco stands up, not bothering to brush the dust on his clothing. The Warrior stalks up to Hermann, jaw squared and back straight. “What do you mean by ‘Is that all you can do?’” Porco snarls as he jabs the man in the chest with a finger, glaring up at Hermann. “I’ve done everything you said! I memorized everything about Pieck! I’ve done a handstand for a full minute! And you’re telling me I’m still not good enough? What do I have to do to please you people?” 

Hermann blinks, jaw opened slightly. It’s clear that the man hasn’t thought this through because he doesn’t come up with another on-the-spot challenge for Porco, and just stares blankly at the Warrior with a slightly terrified look on his face. 

“I can … I can whistle the national anthem in its entirety,” Egon says suddenly. He stands up so abruptly that Carlo nearly topples over. He puts on a brave face, lifting his chin heroically as Porco approaches, but his gaze wavers when the Warrior stops in front of him, gulping nervously. 

Porco is aware that the wicked grin on his face probably looks like it came from a villain out of a children’s fairytale, but he doesn’t care. He’s past caring now. If the Panzer Unit wants to play games with him, then he’ll play their stupid games and win every single one. He’s going to conquer every challenge they throw at him, one-up them at their own special talents, and prove that he’s the worthiest person to stand beside Pieck. 

“Let’s go then,” Porco says with a smirk, licking his lips as he rolls up his sleeves. He purses his lips and puts his fingers to his lips, ready to whistle. 

Porco spends the rest of his day proving himself to the Panzer Unit. After every challenge, they manage to come up with another one for Porco, each one more ridiculous than the next. He nearly busts a lung whistling the entire national anthem of Liberio, a complex song filled with too many soaring high notes and trills. By the end, both he and Egon are gasping for breath, wheezing and beating at their chests. 

After whistling comes apple stacking. The Panzer Unit and Porco raid a fruit stand by the roadside, insisting to the distressed fruit seller that his entire stock of apples was needed for official military business. Theodor claimed that he could stack twenty apples on top of each other without having them topple over, so Porco stacked twenty-one. He would have done more except a group of children ran past him, brushing past his tower of apples and sending them crashing to the ground. 

Porco and the Panzer Unit are in the middle of an intense push-up competition when footsteps approach them, familiar footsteps that they all would have noticed had they not been so preoccupied with their battle of brawn. 

“What the hell are you guys doing?” 

At the sound of Pieck’s voice, all five men collapse on the ground, Egon choking on the dust that flies into his mouth when he hits the dirt road. Pieck is staring at them amusedly, an elegant eyebrow raised. 

“H-hey,” Porco coughs, rolling over on his side before sitting up. He’s too tired to even brush the dirt off his clothing. As he catches his breath, Theodor pats him on the back sympathetically. The man is similarly winded, but he looks like he could get in a few more push-ups than Porco. The Warrior is kind of grateful they stopped when they did because he’s starting to lose all sense of feeling in his arms. He winces as he squeezes his tricep, not at all looking forward to how sore he’s going to be in the morning. “We’re just … having a push-up contest.” 

The answer must not be convincing enough for Pieck because she hums and asks, “For?” 

“Um. To see how many push-ups we can do?” Carlo swallows. The poor boy tried to keep his tone as neutral as possible, but lying must not be his strong suit because the end of his stance tilts upward ever so slightly and Pieck’s frown grows deeper. 

“And that is supposed to prove what, exactly?” Pieck prods, staring down at them. It’s a look that says that she knows that they’re all up to some nonsense and, whatever it is they’re doing, they had better tell her what it is or else she’ll be more disappointed about their lying than she’ll ever be about their mischief-making. Suddenly, Porco knows exactly why the Panzer Unit was so distraught when Pieck had been disappointed in them because he’s starting to feel equally distraught if not more so at merely the thought of Pieck being disappointed in him. 

“That we’re worthy of fighting beside you,” Hermann finally answers, muttering ashamedly as he draws a circle in the dirt to avoid Pieck’s gaze. 

Pieck only sighs. “I told you guys to quit doing this,” she says, sounding exasperated. “Being part of the Panzer Unit is a privilege, but it’s not an exclusive club and you shouldn’t treat it as one.” 

Porco and the Panzer Unit sit in front of her, heads held down and expressions like puppies getting scolded for soiling the carpet. They’re too ashamed to even answer her. 

Wither another sigh, Pieck gestures for them to stand up. “Come on then. Single file, all of you,” she commands and the Unit immediately follows, standing in line from youngest to oldest. Noticing that Porco is the only one left sitting down, Pieck snaps at the Warrior. “Come on, Porco, you too.” 

Porco doesn’t know why they’re standing in a line, but he does as ordered, slouching sadly behind Hermann. He doesn’t lift his head when Pieck walks to the front of the line, but he does hear Pieck share a few disappointed words with Carlo before hearing a sharp smack! The noise is enough for him to try and sneak a peek, but all he sees is Hermann moving forward while Carlo leaves, sniffling as he rubs a reddened spot on the center of his forehead. 

Porco has been flicked on the head when he was a kid, usually by his parents for being such a brat, but those flicks only ever left a small pink mark that disappeared within a few minutes. From the looks of Carlo’s forehead, Pieck looks like she flicks hard. Porco’s heard of the torture Marley inflicts on prisoners of war, but Pieck’s finger flicks look far worse than any form of torture. 

Thwack! 

Porco isn’t sure if it’s because he’s gotten closer to the front of the line or if Pieck’s flicking has gotten more powerful. He does hear Egon whimper as soon as Pieck’s finger hits his forehead, and the poor boy walks away with a spot that’s even bigger and redder than the one Carlo had walked away with. If Pieck flicks him, Porco’s pretty sure he might pass out from the sheer force of her finger hitting his forehead. Porco was a Warrior, but he wasn’t trained to deal with an exclusive clique, joining a Pieck fan club, an endless battle of useless talents, and he sure as hell isn’t trained to take a finger flick from Pieck. 

The Warrior’s feet move without Porco realizing. He only becomes aware of his subconscious desire to escape when Hermann holds him back, the man shaking his head sympathetically to show Porco that any attempts are futile. 

“We have to do this,” Hermann tells Porco almost sorrowfully. 

“Why?” Porco asks in a pathetic whisper. 

“Because it’s what comes with being a part of the Panzer Unit,” Hermann answers sagely before turning around so that Pieck can flick her finger against the man’s forehead. 

It’s a little comical seeing Pieck tiptoe to reach Hermann’s forehead, but the soldier does bend down a bit to give her easier access. Porco can hardly watch as Pieck places her left hand gently over the man’s face and pulls back on her middle finger with her right. Her finger hits Hermann with a loud thwack, and the man’s knees nearly buckle from the pain. Not at all sympathetic, Pieck merely scoffs before gesturing for Hermann to move out of the way so that she can get to Porco. 

“I would have let you off the hook if you had informed me about how they were treating you, but you just had to engage with them instead,” Pieck says. She glares up at him, somehow looking more intimidating than any of his military instructors ever looked despite being hardly over five feet. Then she says the most devastating words, completely shattering Porco into pieces: “Porco, I’m very disappointed in you.” 

Porco hardly has time to process these words when he feels Pieck’s finger smack across his forehead, the force of it knocking him onto his ass. Stunned, he lies there in the dirt, staring up at the sky wondering if his life was worth living anymore. 

He hears Pieck’s footsteps as she walks away and when he blinks, the Panzer Unit is surrounding him, looking down at him with expressions that say they know exactly how he feels. Surprisingly, Carlo offers a hand to Porco and, after the Warrior takes it, helps him up. 

“It’s okay, Porco. We’ve all been there,” Egon says as Theodor rubs Porco on the back.  

“It’s not all bad. She usually gets over it after a day or two,” Carlo adds. 

Porco knows that Carlo is trying to comfort him, but the Warrior isn’t sure if he’ll ever be over it. All he wants to do right now is bury himself in the ground in shame and never come out. It’s what garbage like him deserves anyway. 

“Come on, kid,” Hermann says, wrapping an arm around Porco’s shoulder. “Let’s get you some ice cream. It’s always what we do in times like these. I’ll even buy for you.” 

They start walking, Porco trailing behind confusedly. When the Panzer Unit notices Porco lingering behind, they turn back. Carlo even gestures for Porco to hurry up. 

“What are you doing? Hurry up!” Theodor says. 

“You guys really want me to join you?” Porco asks. He wonders if he had passed out when Pieck had flicked him. He’s half-convinced that he’s unconscious and that this is all a dream. 

“Of course,” Hermann says with a snort. “You’re one of us now. Now come on before I change my mind and make you pay for your own.” 

Porco doesn’t need to be told twice. He trots behind them, still feeling a little light-headed from the punishment Pieck had inflicted on him but oddly happy. It’s not exactly what he had in mind when he had first thought of getting to know the Panzer Unit, but he’ll take it. 

[jeanandthedreamofhorses]

Of Gods, Monsters, and Men

“Man is by nature a social animal [...] Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god.” - Aristotle

This diagram will make sense, I swear.

Part 1 - Humans, Gods, and Beasts

Aristotle’s tripartite system is profoundly embedded in the world of SNK.

Humans, the social animals, are the ordinary people who do not seek to make an individual mark on history, but instead live communal existences as cogs in a machine. The most important thing to them is usually the well-being of themselves and their loved ones.

They are considered weak as they do not struggle against the flow, but these very attributes are what make them human.

The vast majority of the human race fit into Aristotle’s definition of ‘social animals’, as that is the only way in which society can function. The existence of those ordinary humans, then, is worth preserving.

Those who are not social animals, but rather lead highly individual existences with the power to leave their own unique mark on the world, are Gods when viewed positively and Beasts when viewed negatively. Because they go against the flow and disrupt the status quo, they are demonised by those happy with that status quo and lionised by those who are not. In either scenario, they stand out from the crowd.

Gods are considered to be strong and special. 

The apex of this specialness is symbolised in the series through its pseudo-Gods, like Ymir Fritz, and those with godlike powers like the Ackermans and titan shifters, especially Zeke and Eren.

The entirety of the Eldian race, by virtue of the power to turn into titans, can also be considered special and so are lionised as gods by the Eldian nationalists.

However, they are considered Beasts by the rest of the world because of that same uniqueness. The apex of beastliness in the series is in the titans themselves, the ultimate ‘Other’. Nothing can be as estranged from the human social community as they are, as uniquely disgusting, uniquely powerful creatures.

With this tripartite system established, however, the series deliberately complicates all three of its boundaries. To begin with, let us examine the disintegration of the boundary between Beasts and Gods.

Part 2 - The ‘Other’

Beasts and Gods are ultimately the same thing - they are an ‘Other’, defined by their lack of dependence on their community and, consequently, their status outside of it. This separate status makes them an unsocial animal, and therefore, not human. Whether this inhumanity is a good thing or a bad thing - godly or beastly - is only a matter of perspective.

There is no better proof of this than the personage of Eren Jaeger. 

From the start, Eren has had no desire to be a ‘social animal’. He never catered to the opinion of the populace, and held them in outright contempt. 

He wanted to accomplish everything on his own, without relying on others.

He stuck to his dream of joining the Survey Corps no matter what anyone said, and won people round to his views instead of struggling to fit theirs.

Acting this way gained Eren a reputation as either a total idiot, as in Jean’s eyes, or as an example to be followed, as Connie, Sasha and the others saw him. When Eren’s titan power was unveiled, this dichotomy escalated: where Erwin saw humanity’s greatest hope, the Military Police saw an enormous threat to peace inside the walls.

He is seen as a beast or a god, but even before his titan powers were revealed, he would never let himself be considered a nobody. The values he nurtured - independence and the strength to go against the present flow - were part of his desire to become inhuman.

It is therefore thematically appropriate that someone so fixated on the inhuman should become a titan. In his efforts to become a god, he becomes the beast he sought to vanquish. For they are one and the same - and this goes for the titans, too. Their status as an Other, not merely as a beast, is what makes them the natural enemy of humanity.

Moral doctrines that try to sort beasts from gods and drive a hard wedge between them only serve to obscure the truth. 

The Church of the Walls is the best example of this exercise in futility. It reviles the titans as beasts and worships the Walls as gods for protecting them against such beasts - but the Walls themselves are titans too. The distinction between beasts and gods is thereby revealed as nothing more than a sham by the authors of public morality to keep the public in line. Indeed, how often is it the case that the devil of the new religion is the god of the old?

Like the Church of the Walls, both those who respect and revile Eren in the Final Arc observe the same truth about him in different lights: he is an Other. And they fight to the death to decide what kind of Other - a god, or a devil:

A murderer, or a messiah:

Gentle, or savage:

The fandom is no less divided over him than the characters are, each side assured of their rightness. He is either an incorrigible child or an enlightened superhuman, the most free or the most enslaved, unchanged or the most changed of all, a pit to be avoid or a height to which we might aspire. Eren is the circle that completes itself, both the best and the worst, a beast and a god. But whatever he is, he is nothing in between, nothing mediocre. He occupies extremes alone: that is what makes him special.

Eren is fundamental proof of the failure of our value systems. He is a thought experiment who manages to sit at both ends of the spectrum while neglecting the middle altogether. At this point, we may return to our diagram.

A horseshoe works much better than a straight line for our purposes. Eren sits between god and beast, good and evil, special and titan, but a world away from the multitude of humans at the centre of the horseshoe.

However, he was not always this way. His compulsion to move away from the herd is the same as ever, and that is likely what he means when he tells people he has never changed: but there was once a time when for all his efforts, he could not quite escape being a social animal.

The significance of this fact is monumental. Eren proves that the special and the human are not distinguished from birth, but that there is in fact a pathway between them. This leads us to our third part: the disintegration of the boundary between the Human and the Other.

Part 3 - The Philosopher

Like love, specialness is something you find when you’re not looking for it. Eren’s journey towards the special first began with his acceptance of his own normality.

Beforehand, behind his play at independence he longed for recognition and approval from others.

He was tired of never being taken seriously - by his neighbourhood bullies, by Mikasa, by Jean. They all dismissed him as either crazy or weak and in need of protection. He was so prone to flying out in a rage at this because they touched on his greatest insecurities - that he was really a nobody after all, and that he’d never amount to anything.

In this regard Eren had a great deal in common with Keith, who wanted above all else to prove that he was better than the rest and worthy of being admired.

This was why Keith’s story had such a big impact on Eren, and why it was placed at the end of the arc where he learns to accept being only human. One cannot become special for the sake of the approval of others. So long as you have that objective in mind, you will never be anything more than a social animal and therefore human.

It was only once Keith abandoned any hopes of being seen as special that he actually became so, when he committed the ultimate sacrifice away from the eyes of anyone living. He acted with his own conviction in his heart, and not the approval of anyone else.

So he can finally receive the title of hero - one he clearly did not expect to hear. And it is a compliment he extends to Magath, no longer feeling the need to raise himself above anyone else.

In Eren’s case, he first learned the true virtue of self-sufficiency in the crystal cave, where he saved his friends’ lives by choosing to trust in his judgement and power over everyone else’s.

Eren is shocked after his success, and the lesson does not fully sink in at first. But such sentiments as the one below...

...quickly evaporate in Eren’s next moral trial, the Serumbowl. He can no longer accept peaceful co-existence between people with different beliefs because their decisions directly threaten the lives of the people he loves. This is the moment he redirects his focus to the protection of his and his own, and in doing so renounces his care for the wider world. The revelation that he will crush that outside world into ashes reinforces his belief in this conviction as the only solution.

Thereon out, Eren embraces self-sufficiency. He chooses not to trust in his comrades and builds his power to the point that he no longer needs to take orders from anyone else. Any help he does employ - from the SC or from Zeke and his followers - is achieved through manipulation, where he is firmly in control.

He becomes self-sufficient to the extent that he even moulds the conditions of his own upbringing. It cannot be said that he is a social animal any longer. His independence allows him to surpass his humanity and become both beast and god - walking on heavenly planes in the one moment and rampaging as a skeletal monstrosity the next.

Eren passes from ordinary into special through his self-sufficiency and self-orientation. This rigid self-discipline, this self-transformation, is a practice which we might call - philosophy.

Eren?

A philosopher???

Yet this is the only way a human might become a beast or god. The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, whose works synchronise beautifully with SNK, added one crucial modification to Aristotle’s equation:

“To live alone one must be a beast or a god, says Aristotle. Leaving out the third case: one must be both - a philosopher.”

And when one really thinks about it, is the idea of Eren as philosopher so ridiculous? Summarising a philosopher as ‘one who seeks the truth’ - who has accessed more of the truth of the world than Eren? The Attack and Founding Titans give him access to literal worlds of understanding beyond the scope of any other. And although Eren is dense at the start, he grows increasingly introverted and soul-searching as the series progresses. I think it is by no means a stretch to claim that Eren has come into his own jaded sort of wisdom.

Furthermore, Eren’s restless striving for freedom, his ‘Will to Power’ in Nietzsche’s words, is so powerful that he became stronger than Mikasa could ever hope to be and hatched a plan that even Armin couldn’t predict. It is his force of will that has always allowed Eren to overcome his weaknesses. So too psychologically - his wanderlust has taken him beyond the pale of morality and so made him the series’ only real philosopher in Nietzsche’s sense of the word, as a creator of new values.

It is the drive for freedom, then, that can turn a human into a philosopher and by that means become special. The divide is that simple, that fragile. And so the monstrous Other is simply human: all too human.

Eren’s words to Ymir Fritz are the definitive illustration of this theme. Ymir, who possesses the heights of power as a pseudo-divinity, who lacks a shred of power as a slave, manages to still be human. What unites all three aspects, what allows them to co-exist, is that freedom to choose. The drive for freedom that turned Eren philosopher is what allows humans to roam into the territory of beasts and gods.

So, rather than a horseshoe, this process is best represented as a fishhook, where a pathway exists between the opposite ends of Human and Other. Through philosophy, through the discarding and creation of values, through the drive for freedom and the Will to Power, this gap can be bridged.

It is at this point we come back to the words of Eren Kruger, and consider the full weight of their meaning:

Whether an Other is a god or a beast is merely a matter of perspective - but so is the ability to become an Other in the first place. The titans of history, its movers and shakers, were not a species above and beyond. They were anyone, as human as you and me, only ones who embraced their freedom and made a courageous choice.

This is the purpose of the titans being revealed as humans. This is the purpose of the whole concept of titan shifting, where even such social animals as Reiner and Annie are elevated to the level of the special. This is the reason why mere humans are able to successfully combat the titan Others through their own skill and ingenuity. This is why our heroes possess such manifold weaknesses and flaws, to remind us that even people as average as Eren, as scrawny as Armin, and as cowardly as Jean were able to become special by choosing the Survey Corps - that is to say, by choosing freedom.

The world we inhabit is a sordid one. It’s sickening seeing the levels of cowardice people exhibit in all aspects of their lives. “I would help you, but...I would stand up to them, but...I would do something about it, but...” etc, etc, and people make excuses to run away from their problems every time. It’s enough to hate the world and everyone in it.

The message SNK delivers is able to restore this dwindling faith. Because no matter how disgusting human behaviour can be sometimes, in others and in ourselves, within every single human is the potential to become as beautiful as the characters we admire - to become someone special. A little bit of courage is all it takes.

That, to me, is what makes humanity worth something. Because it is through that metamorphosis into the special that we fulfil our function as human beings: creatures which have the choice to remain within their humanity or transcend it. Just possessing that potential is enough to make humanity a gorgeous species - and so, before accomplishing anything, Carla could value Eren simply for being born into this world. He doesn’t have to be better than anyone else, because it is a power we all possess.

This human potential to become both god and beast is what prevents the world from boring us to death. The beasts make it cruel, and the gods make it beautiful. And with gods and beasts being one and the same, there can be no world that is beautiful without cruelty, or cruel without beauty.

[ryuichirou]

Do you (and your gf, tell her anon said hi) have any top Eren headcanons? Or is Levi the main focus for you two?

opinion on how Eren would be in sex?

-------------------------

(I hope it’s ok if I reply to both of you here… sorry for the wait)

Levi isn’t the main focus, I just can’t shut up about him because he is my personal fave hahaha, but we love headcanoning stuff about all the characters, but especially the our main ships (eruriererizevi), so feel free to ask if you’re interested in anyone else! These are extremely fun to write.

What’s interesting about Eren is how he changes over the time… well, I don’t think he’s changed much to be honest, but we think he became more bold and mature. I’d say that he also became more open about what he likes, but I tbh I feel like Eren never really knew how to hide what he wants, it’s always written all over his face.

You can also check out my reply to the ask I received 3 month ago about why I like top!Eren so much, I talk about a lot of same stuff here too. And there are some manga caps, so it’s fun 👀

Ok, so here are some of our headcanons about Eren:

Eren is extremely physical. He loves to touch, to grab, to rub his face and to press his head against his lover’s shoulders, back, chest, etc. He became more touchy as he got older, now he grabs and hugs Levi whenever he feels like it. He just knows Levi would let him do that.

Eren doesn’t necessarily hate to be touched, but let’s just say that Levi is the only lover of his who is allowed to touch him wherever he wants. He’ll never say “don’t touch me here” to Levi, he adores him and he’s always hungry for him. He can smack Jean’s hand though, poor Jean.

Eren is very animalistic, very dog/wolf-like. Sometimes he’s straight-up feral. He growls a lot, he grabs very aggressively, he literally mounts his lover like a dog sometimes lol He also dry humps his lover through the clothes from time to time.

Oh and the most obvious thing: he bites A LOT. He’s EXTREMELY bite-y. His teeth are so strong it’s scary. Remember when he bit through his own meat 1023410 times in the manga? He does the same thing to Levi’s shoulders almost every time. He feels guilty afterwards, but as I mentioned in a previous post, Levi doesn’t mind, so this keeps happening.

Is it surprising to anyone that doggy is his preferred position?

Cowboy position with Eren is a little tricky. It’s impossible when he’s to horny, because he’ll end up still moving his hips, thrusting into his lover from below, and then he’ll just change position and take all the initiative anyways. Although sometimes he can just lay and watch his lover with a very bored and almost apathetic face. It’s either this or that, no in-between with him.

Same with blowjobs. He’d either watch his partner suck the d all bored and stuff, or just thrust into his face like if it’d kill him to stay still for a moment. He always goes straight to the throat in this case.

I should probably mention that he never looks bored with Levi (unless it’s needed for a very specific reason for a very particular AU…). Like I said, he adores him too much and respects him too much.

Eren doesn’t hate Jean or whoever else there is in an alternative ship with him. He still enjoys the process, he’s just a little mean lol idk how to explain this one, he’s a little bit condescending towards them, I think it’s based on the fact that Eren’s always bored and treats everyone like crap (it’s shown much better in Isayama’s High School AU) lol

Speaking of Jean, we have a headcanon that in the canonverse these two had some sexual experiments going on back when they were cadets fighting each other every day. This is one of the reasons Jean missed their bickering, Eren got a little distant overtime, and Jean kind of sort of misses that d and that rude attitude that comes with it.

Eren always ejaculates inside. He likes this feeling too much.

He’s very neglectful towards his own body, he doesn’t really think very well when he fucks, and a lot of times he ends up being absolutely exhausted.

He used to be very loud when he was younger. He was moaning, whimpering, mumbling, all this stuff. But now that he’s 19, there’s only heavy breathing and low growls. He doesn’t like to remember how he used to be, it makes him a little embarrassed.

He also used to cry after an orgasm almost every time. He was so overwhelmed and euphoric that by the end of the process he became a wet red crying mess that hides his face in Levi’s neck and bites him for distraction. Plus all the love he’s feeling for Levi becomes too much for him. He was shy about crying even back then but he couldn’t control it very well (Levi pretended he didn’t notice this stuff in order not to make Eren feel uncomfortable). This is the part Eren really doesn’t like to remember as well, this makes him even more embarrassed. Now that he’s 19 he very rarely feels that he’s getting teary eyes, but it still can happen.

I don’t want you to think that Eren in the past was a crying baby, he was still very thoughtful of whatever was going on, he thought about his admiration to Levi and how he should control himself and stuff, and he was still very initiative and... pervy, although the latter was happening by accident. It was just hard for him to think while having sex with Levi (who can blame him) and all his emotions were a mess, but still, the only thing that’s changed – Eren’s calmed down a bit.

Eren gets horny very easily. There were a lot of sudden boners when he was younger, a lot of them happened at very bad moments for him lol his teenage body was out of control. This doesn’t happen so often anymore, but Eren still can get a boner when you least expect him to. For example, sometimes he gets horny while watching a horror movie, even though he’s extremely bored…

If we’re talking canonverse, he definitely got a boner while he was in his titan a bunch of times. When he was crushing titans for the first time ever, when he was fighting Annie both in the forest and in Stohess, when he was fighting Reiner. He was emotionally distressed, but he felt some level of arousal in all of these situations, esp the first one.

When he was at his depressed emo stage, he was more gentle and less intense with Levi. Maybe it’s fair to say that he was asking for comfort with no words, because he couldn’t say anything about what was going through his head at that time, but he needed to run away from these thoughts just for a moment. He was also less bitey back then, but much more clingy.

Out of all the characters, his libido is the highest.  He’s the most interested in sex and probably has it most often compared to others. Especially in the AUs, where he has nothing interesting to do a lot of times and gets bored all the time.

A lot of Eren’s boldness came from him seeing how Erwin and Levi interact with each other. He was a little bit scared of Levi at first, well, rather he was scared that he might disappoint him if he got too clingy. But seeing how patient Levi was to whatever Erwin did to him made Eren think, “Can I really do that to him too?” And then he did. And never got scolded. And everything was great.

He’s the only lover of Levi that helps him with the cleaning afterwards. At least a little bit. He’s a responsible young man.

When he wants to be left alone with his lover to do the thing, it’s super obvious. It’s obvious that he hates everyone who doesn’t leave them alone at the moment, he looks like he’s about to bite your face off if you don’t leave. When he’s pissed off and horny enough, he can just ignore the presence of a person and start touching Levi, waiting for a person to feel uncomfortable and leave. This usually happens to Zeke.

Oof, this is… a lot lol. I feel like we can talk about Eren for even longer than about Levi, and this is saying a lot. His energy is bizarre… And this is such a small portion of everything we’ve discussed about Eren.

Hope you find any of it interesting! Haha

Thanks for your question

[argylemnwrites]

Fight or Flight - Chapter 12: Forward

Pairing: Drake Walker x MC (Riley Liu)

Book: The Royal Heir (canon divergent from the end of book 2)

Word Count: ~4800

Rating: PG (language only)

Summary: Two weeks since The Walker Absconding

Author’s Note: I’m back! And I hope to stay back and posting! It’s been a while since the last chapter, so as a quick refresher - Hana has been named Duchess of Valtoria by King-Regent Rashad, Amalas was somehow able to track down the Walkers in Xanthi, Greece (and wants to turn that knowledge into an alliance), and the Walkers are heading onto Athens as their options for survival as fugitives are not looking great.

This series follows the Walkers, their friends, and Cordonia as a whole after they flee the country with their daughter during Barthelemy Beaumont’s attempted coup. To catch up on this series, check out it’s masterlist. (link can be found via my bio - sorry, Tumblr is once again not putting my posts with links in tag searches)

Hana glanced around the palace ballroom, taking in the groups of people milling about the room. In so many ways, tonight was just like any other ball or gala. How many events had she been to in this room over the past three years, with mostly the same guests, the same food, and the same music? But tonight was different. Not only was this ball being thrown in her honor, welcoming her as Cordonia’s newest duchess, but it was the first event she’d attended without Riley by her side. Since that opening masquerade ball of Liam’s social season, they’d always been together for every formal event. But not tonight. Tonight, she was back to doing things on her own.

She stood over towards the front of the room, greeting the last of the nobility and well wishers. Soon, the dancing would start. It was strange how everything felt routine and totally different at the same time. She supposed that when Rashad gave a speech acknowledging her new title, things would really seem different. But for now, it was just a weird mix of emotions she was trying so hard to keep at bay as she shook hand after hand, nodded politely over and over again, and kept a gentle smile locked in place.

“Congratulations!” Penelope squealed, scurrying across the ballroom and throwing her arms around Hana, “This is so exciting! Isn’t it exciting, Zeke?”

Ezekiel nodded briskly and gave Hana a small little smile as he held out his right hand for her to shake, “Yes. Congratulations, Your Grace.”

“Thank you, both of you,” Hana replied, giving a nod that she hoped conveyed the right blend of gratitude and authority. She needed her first appearance as a duchess to go well for many reasons.

She knew intellectually that her appointment as the Duchess of Valtoria was a desperation move from Rashad. His first week and a half as king-regent had been far from smooth and calm. The groups of protesters in front of the palace had grown in number every day, the citizens of Lythikos were organizing, and the unrest in Valtoria was spilling into neighboring lands. Rashad had needed to do something, but as a temporary leader, making changes that were too aggressive would be poorly received and could possibly worsen the protesting. He had to walk a very fine line, and presenting Hana as a new regional leader looked like he was taking action without actually requiring him to stick his neck out and take a stand. For someone who hated courtly politics, his maneuver was pretty brilliant.

But because of the fact that her appointment to duchess was done by an interim leader, Hana knew she would be subjected to increased scrutiny. Not just from Barthelemy’s allies, who would likely object to the title going to someone with known close ties to the Walkers and to Liam, but also from Liam’s supporters, who were likely to object to any use of the powers of the monarch by Rashad, someone they considered an illegitimate king-regent. Part of her worried that she was being set up to fail, albeit unintentionally.

Still, she knew she was ready for this. She had prepared her whole life to hold a title at this level. She had trained and studied and practiced for years. This was the job she had been preparing for since she was a child. Granted, she had been taught that she would rise to this title through marriage, was told that her job would be to be a diplomat behind the scenes, supporting a husband in his role. But the concept was the same, even though this title was hers and hers alone. And maybe it was crazy and naive, but there was a part of Hana that felt proud. Someone had seen her talents and skills and contributions to Valtoria and decided to recognize them. No, to recognize her.

Of course, it wasn’t that simple. Given the method of her appointment, she was likely going to need to prove herself over and over again. Her mother had seen fit to remind her of that twice already this evening, as if that wasn’t already running through her brain constantly. If she was even a mediocre duchess, so many would get hurt. Rashad would find it difficult to gain any support to make any decisions if his first major one proved to be a poor choice. Liam’s bid to reclaim the throne would be damaged if one of his known close associates was an unpopular and ineffective duchess. And probably most importantly, the people of Valtoria deserved some stability and support in a time of national upheaval.

As much as Hana felt for Riley and Drake and understood why they made the choices they did for their family, she also felt for the citizens of Valtoria acutely. They didn’t ask to have their duchess and duke abandon them, did nothing to deserve this degree of political instability. Of course, that could probably be said for all the citizens of Cordonia. A power struggle amongst the nobility had triggered the loss of the country’s heir to the throne and a power vacuum that was going to leave them without stable national leadership for months. The whole thing made her feel almost ill to think about, but all she could do at this point was do her best to serve Valtoria and it’s citizens with her whole heart and mind.

“How are you doing, Hana Banana?” Maxwell’s hand on her shoulder jolted her out of her moment of introspection. She gave him a smile, accepting the glass of champagne he offered her and tapping it lightly against his.

“Tonight has been… a lot,” she said after taking a sip of her drink.

“Tell me about it. It feels like it was just yesterday that we were here for Riley’s ball, naming her the Duchess of Valtoria.”

Hana hummed lightly at that, and suddenly, Maxwell was rambling.

“Not that you took it from her or don’t deserve the title or anything! Because you absolutely do! Like, you are so wise and smart and crazy talented and -”

“-Maxwell, I know what you meant. I was just thinking about how I could do without a recreation of the end of that night.”

“Oh. Yeah. Me too. To be fair, I don’t think my dad’s hired a bunch of assassins. Of course, I didn’t think he was plotting a coup underneath my nose either, soooo…” Maxwell trailed off with a little shrug.

Hana glanced over, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving it a little squeeze. “I feel like we haven’t had much of a chance to talk. How are you doing with everything?”

He shrugged again and took a sip of his champagne. “Yeah, I haven’t been able to get away from Ramsford really at all this week. Bertrand is losing his mind prepping for Dad’s inevitable attempt to forcibly retake his title. He’s hunkered down in the west wing, while Dad’s taken the east. Bertrand’s already fired about one third of the staff because he’s caught them over on Dad’s side for no good reason, so Dad’s taken to firing staff he’s sure are loyal to Bertrand in retaliation. Soon, it’ll just be the three of us. Actually, the five of us. Savannah and Bartie get back tomorrow.”

“Have you decided whether to give her Drake’s number yet?” Hana asked, making sure she kept her voice low. Ever since Savannah had booked the tickets back for her and Bartie, there had been a bit of a debate over whether or not she should receive a burner phone and be told how to get in touch with her brother. Olivia firmly believed there were already too many people who knew, whereas Maxwell brought up that it was wrong to prevent her from talking to her brother when she was only coming back to Cordonia earlier than planned to help Bertrand fight his father’s bid to reclaim the title of Duke of Ramsford. He insisted that meant she had already proven herself a trusted ally, while Olivia remained unconvinced. Both Hana and Liam had taken a more neutral stance on the matter, but he had expressed to her that he didn’t think it boded well for them that their group was already facing such strong differences of opinion. Quite frankly, it was a significant sticking point that felt like it could implode at any moment.

Maxwell shook his head. “Not right away at least. Bertrand honestly is so engrossed with trying to align support for his claim to our head of house title that I don’t think he’s even realized we’re in contact with Drake and Riley at this point. When I talked to Savannah, she was pretty worried about him, so I don’t think she’d want to risk hurting his chances by talking to known ‘traitors and fugitives’ at this point.”

All of it just made Hana sad. More families torn apart by this scheme, more pain and paranoia in all of their lives. “Well, that will make Olivia happy at least.”

“One can only hope. She’s been in fine form lately.”

He wasn’t wrong. It seemed like Olivia’s small reserve of patience was used up on dealing with Liam and Leo. She hadn’t lashed out at Hana yet, but the only thing Hana had done to annoy her was arrange that meeting with Kiara, and all was quickly forgiven when Hana told her she had fostered a line of communication on that front. Maxwell, on the other hand, seemed to annoy her regularly even at baseline.

“She just has a lot on her plate, Maxwell.”

“I know, I know. But that shouldn’t give her the right to take it out on us.”

“It doesn’t, but right now I think we are all just trying to hang on and hope for the best we can.”

“Yeah, well here’s hoping for better soon.” And with that he clinked his glass against hers yet again. “Speaking of better, do you need me to cause a distraction so you can sneak out and chat with Kiara?”

She shook her head. “No, Hakim is officially representing their family tonight. She texted me that he is on high alert and that it would be too risky for us to meet tonight. She’s coming alone next week.”

“Ahh, for social season kickoff, take two?”

“Yes, so I should be able to speak to her then.”

“What do you think her endgame is? Or Hakim’s?”

Hana tilted her head to the side and let out a small sigh. She’d speculated endlessly for the past week, ever since her meeting with Kiara, but every idea felt just as improbable as the one before it. “I honestly don’t have a clue, Maxwell.”

“That’s alright, even you are allowed to not know the answers every once in a while,” he said, winking at her. “Now, come on. We’ve been moping here for too long. Tonight is your night, Hana! So what do you say? Dancing? More drinks? Grab some food? Or did I hear someone suggest dancing?”

She smiled, grateful that Maxwell understood the power of a morale boost and proud that he was still able to cheer up those around him, even as his family was falling apart before his eyes. “Maxwell, would you do me the honor of the next dance?”

“Why, Your Grace, it would be my honor,” he replied with a flourish, grabbing her champagne flute and placing both their glasses on an empty tray before accompanying her onto the dance floor.

As they settled into the rhythm of the song, Hana gave Maxwell’s hand a friendly squeeze. “Thank you, Maxwell.”

“For what?”

“For still being you.”

He beamed brightly at that. “Same to you, Hana. Definitely same to you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Liam stood off to the side of the ballroom, nursing a glass of water. It was his first public appearance in about a week and a half, and even though he had never had a problem handling his liquor, the last thing he needed tonight was to have his judgement at all altered or impaired. This whole evening was going to be stressful enough without having to worry about imbibing just a little too heavily.

He knew it was important for him to be here. He needed to be seen again, to show strength and resilience and fortitude to any who might doubt him. Additionally, Hana was one of his dearest friends, and he wanted to be present to support and celebrate her. This night was key for a variety of reasons. 

However, that didn't change the fact that tonight was just plain hard. He was surrounded by people he knew he could no longer trust. How many of them were plotting against him at this very moment? Were whispering how pleased they were about recent events over their drinks? Were watching him closely, latching onto any change of his expression as a sign of his suffering?

Other than Olivia, Leo, Hana, Maxwell, and Bertrand, people seemed to be steering clear of Liam tonight. It was clear they had no concept of how to handle interacting with him at this point. His circumstances were fairly unprecedented. Sure Leo had abdicated, but that had been his choice and he hadn't been the reigning monarch when he made that decision. Additionally, he had left the country for months after his abdication. But Liam was still here, in the heart of it all, after being stripped of the crown.

He wasn't used to having so much time to himself, both at formal events such as tonight's ball, and just in general. In the simplest sense of the word, he was unemployed. And while some, such as Leo, seemed to thrive without the pressure and responsibility that came from having professional duties, Liam was finding he didn't much like having… well, nothing. He had no career, no obligations, no partner, no children. He just… was. He existed.

He knew he needed to shake off this attitude. The social season would be officially, finally, starting in one week, and he needed to hit the ground running. He was essentially going to be campaigning for many months. The issue was that he had no desire to campaign. He had been born into his role and raised to serve Cordonia's people since he was a child. He wasn't supposed to have to fight to even have a chance to put that training to use.

Taking another sip of his water, he leaned against the bar, just watching as the rest of the nobility talked and laughed and enjoyed themselves. If he had opted for whiskey instead of water, he would have been doing a good Drake impression. Well, a Drake-of-several-years-ago impression. Ever since Bridget's birth, or maybe even Riley's pregnancy, Drake had been much more engaged at events like this one. Now that he had more time to contemplate that fact, he wondered how much of that came from Drake's own personal growth and opening up and how much of it was forced on him by the nature of Bridget being named heir to the throne. 

He scanned the room slowly,  his eyes eventually settling on Olivia dancing with his brother. She was wearing a grey dress, not a red one for once. He supposed that was a testament to how much she had come to respect Hana over the years - she had decided to forego her signature color and instead wore a less eye-catching one so that Hana could own the spotlight on her night. Eventually, the song came to an end. Liam watched as she laughed and rolled her eyes at something Leo said before stepping off to the side and making her way over to the bar. She slid up next to him, requesting a glass of Bordeaux before she turned to talk to him.

“So, how are you… uh, doing?”

He couldn’t help but smile at her awkward attempt at emotional comfort. She was trying, had been trying for days, in fact. But Olivia was just not well suited for gentle emotional soothing. Tough love was much more in her wheelhouse. It was nearly disconcerting that she wasn’t using tough love, he realized. He must not be coping as well as he wanted to be if this was the approach she was taking.

“I will admit that it is strange to be back here without my title. Coming to an event here, not hosting an event here is even more unsettling than I thought it would be. Of course that could be in part due to the fact that the exact same menu, music, and decor that was used for Riley’s ball welcoming her to the nobility is on display.”

“Did your assistant not think it might be wise to change it up at all?” she asked as she accepted her glass of wine from the bartender with a nod. 

“I’m guessing Rashad didn’t care to make any changes, and Stefan isn’t exactly motivated to enhance the perception of Rashad as a leader. After all, he stayed on to help him at my request.”

“Touché.” she said, taking a sip of her drink.

“Of course, this Duchess of Valtoria seems far less likely to leave her citizens and her country in a lunch by fleeing and abandoning her post.” Liam regretted the words as soon as he said them. The look Olivia was giving him was an unbearable mixture of pity and frustration. “Sorry, you know I didn’t mean that.”

“Liam…”

“Okay, I might have kind of meant it, but I don’t want to mean it. I am trying not to mean it. At the very least, it wasn’t something I should have said aloud.”

She paused for just a moment, running her bright red nails along the side of her wine glass before responding, “Maybe it would be helpful to frame your frustrations with those two differently.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, instead of being mad as hell that Riley didn’t take her responsibilities to Cordonia seriously, maybe be more frustrated that someone as impulsive as her took on all those responsibilities knowing she would never be able to stay true to them. It makes the whole thing seem a little more abstract and annoying, less personal and infuriating. At least, it does for me.”

He frowned at that. Her strategy was an interesting one, but he wasn’t sure it was going to help with the storm of emotions he was trying to keep locked away tonight. “I’m not saying you are wrong, but Olivia, the only reason she carried that title was because I offered it to her.”

“She could have turned it down. Don’t put this on yourself.”

Liam didn’t know if that was exactly a fair assessment. Of course Riley could have rejected his offer of the duchy, just like Drake and her could have turned down his request to name their child heir to the throne. But he had been the one who decided that she was a good fit to be Duchess of Valtoria, that they were good options to raise the next King or Queen of Cordonia. With the benefit of hindsight, those decisions looked terrible, so wildly ill-conceived and poorly executed. How had he convinced himself that both those choices had been for the best?

He’d been so focused on being a compassionate, trusting king. He hadn’t wanted to turn into his father, cold and calculating, seeing enemies around every corner. But maybe he had swung the pendulum too far in the opposite direction and become overly trusting and complacent. Would anyone else in his position have made the choices he made? More often than not these, he doubted that many of his decisions as king were sound.

His silence must have made Olivia uncomfortable, because she wrapped a hand around his wrist and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Liam, come on. Forget I said anything. You know I’m not great at the whole pep talk, emotional support thing. It was probably bad advice.”

Liam shook his head, feeling a sad sort of smile tug across his face, almost against his will. “No, I think it was good advice, Liv. It just has given me a lot to think about.”

“Liam…”

“I’m fine. I just am going to take a walk and clear my head.” With that, Liam set down his empty glass of water and turned around, walking out towards the doors and into his mother’s gardens. He knew he needed to be moving forward, not dwelling on the past like he was at the moment. The social season was only a week away, and with it came his bid to reclaim his title. Still, it was hard to be energized and optimistic about that prospect when all his failures and shortcomings seemed more numerous and prominent than they had ever been in the past. Or maybe he was simply more aware of them at this point. Either way, he couldn’t help but question how he was going to convince other nobles that he deserved the crown when he barely felt like he could convince himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Riley tensed as she heard the door creak open. Even though she was expecting Drake back around this time, she still half expected it to be Greek authorities, Montoressan spies, or Cordonian agents bursting through the door of their hotel room, ready to arrest her and take her baby away.

But it was Drake on the other side of the door. She let out a little sigh of relief when she saw his face. He, on the other hand, frowned. “What are you still doing up?” he asked as he closed and locked the door behind him. He kept his voice quiet, clearly not wanting to wake up Bridget.

Riley just shrugged. The truth was that whenever Drake went out, she was scared. Scared that he would be found and picked up and extradited back to Cordonia. Scared that she would be left alone in a country where she didn’t speak the language with a 10 month old baby. Scared that her family was going to be torn apart. But she couldn’t tell that to Drake, not when he was the only thing keeping them afloat. She knew him. He was already carrying enough stress without having to soothe her panicked and frazzled nerves every time he left to go earn them a little cash.

They had been in Athens about a week now, but Riley and Bridget had not left the hotel since they checked in. Bridget seemed to have resigned herself to the fact that her life now did not extend beyond these four walls and was usually content to play with her blocks or to listen to Riley read her the same three picture books over and over, which was both a blessing and mad depressing. Drake, however, had been venturing out daily, looking for places that would hire him under the table, without checking his ID or anything that might get them caught. She’d had to coach him on how to find these jobs, having looked for cash paying jobs many times when she needed to make rent back in New York. In some respects, it might have been better for her to be the one to go out job hunting since she had more experience, but they’d decided she was way more recognizable than Drake, particularly now that he had grown a beard to make facial recognition harder. Her inability to speak more than eight Greek phrases also clearly made Drake the better option.

He hadn’t had any luck the first four days, but then he found a restaurant owner who was willing to pay him straight cash every night to work as a dishwasher. Sure, the hourly pay was garbage and he didn’t get home until very late, but he also got to bring home leftovers every night, which meant that they had to spend less money on food. At this point, even slowing their bleeding of their minimal money supply was essential, particularly since the social season hadn’t even started yet, which meant that the earliest the Conclave could happen would be almost six months from now. Riley honestly didn’t know how they were going to feed themselves for that long, much less find shelter in the winter.

It’s not like Riley had never known poverty or living paycheck to paycheck before. But doing it now, with her baby girl, just felt so much more draining and awful. Bridget was just a kid, she didn’t ask for any of this, and she definitely didn’t deserve to suffer. But there was little Riley could do to make things better other than try and keep things happy and joyful when they were playing. Drake was doing everything else.

He handed her a bag of food before stripping out of his shirt and going to wash it in the bathroom. She peeked inside, seeing some dolmadakia, some bread, and some sort of chicken. A decent variety tonight. Trying not to rustle the bag too loudly, she pulled out some of the food and started eating, making sure to take less than half. She was sure Drake was lying when he told her he didn’t need much because he ate at the restaurant. She’d worked enough shitty, under the table jobs in her time to know that eating while on the clock was the quickest way to get yourself fired.

“So,” Drake said as he came out of the bathroom, taking off his pants and folding them neatly before climbing into the other side of the bed. “Olivia texted me while I was at work. She has a possible plan to get us our passports and some money, but she wanted to run it by us first.”

Riley knew her eyebrows had practically shot up to her forehead as she took in his statement. She handed him the bag with the rest of the food, turning onto her side to face him fully. “What’s the plan?”

“Well, Leo’s been back in Cordonia since we… uh… left. But he’s planning to take off before the social season kicks off.”

“Okay?”

“Well, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for him to spend a few days in Athens, taking in nightlife and clubs, that sort of thing.”

“Oh.” Riley wasn’t sure what to make of that. She always found Leo friendly and easy to talk to, but she’d heard enough stories to know that he was exactly the most responsible man on the planet. “You know Leo better than me, Drake. Is this a good idea?”

Drake let out a long breath, his eyes closing for a brief moment before he answered, “I don’t know, Walker. Him being here would not raise too many alarm bells, but he sometimes can draw the attention of the paparazzi - the “Party Prince” is usually good for a scandal or two, that sort of shit. And uhh, well… let’s just say I would count on him being an hour late if we went to meet him somewhere.”

“So not exactly your first choice to hold on to our passports then?”

“Not so much, no.”

Riley chewed on her lip for just a moment, her hand gently running over the back of Bridget’s head. She was sound asleep, nestled on the bed between them. Even though this hotel had a crib for them to use, Riley just couldn’t bring herself to fall asleep without her daughter right next to her. “We don’t really have a choice, do we?”

Drake shook his head. “We need money, Riley. Badly. I don’t know if Olivia is financing this or what, but I don’t think it matters anymore. We aren’t going to make it until January at this rate. Hell, I don’t think we’ll make it to September.”

She reached over and gave his wrist a little squeeze. He was trying to do so much to keep them surviving on their own. She knew it was killing him that they were having to take this risk, to potentially get themselves caught in some weird clandestine meetup with a former prince in order to get some more cash and their passports so that they could try and get forgeries made. It really was their best chance at being able to hide out through the Conclave.

“Well, then let’s do it. Work out the details with Olivia and get what we need to try and keep going.

Drake stared at her for just a brief moment before giving her a little nod. There wasn’t really much to say. All they could do was keep moving forward, day by day. So, Riley slid down into her pillow, finally ready to get some sleep now that she knew Drake was back and safe. The last thing she saw before her eyes fluttered closed was Drake letting out a heavy sigh before reaching into the bag of food.

Permatag: @walkerswhiskeygirl @riley--walker @bebepac @oofchoices @octobereighth @drakewalker04 @kimmiedoo5 @mfackenthal @thequeenofcronuts

TRR/TRH: @iaminlovewithtrr @ao719 @mskaneko @katedrakeohd @axwalker @jovialyouthmusic @marshmallowsandfire @kingliam2019 @dcbbw @sirbeepsalot @texaskitten30 @princessleac1 @ladyangel70 @yaushie @debramcg1106 @masterofbluff

Drake/MC: @no-one-u-know @drakeandcamilleofvaltoria @iplaydrake @gibbles82 @drakewalkerisreal @notoriouscs @drakesensworld @drake-colt-lover-99 @twinkleallnight

FoF: @burnsoslow @bobasheebaby @shz256​

[i-want-froyo]

My Two Cents: Why Eren may be the father

This fandom is so divided, with half of us convinced that Eren is the father and half completely opposed to the idea.

I do not think Eren being the father makes sense outside of Eren being in an amorous relationship with Historia. However, I think that the likelihood of such a relationship is high.

I think that Isayama tends to write his relationships with a very light hand: romantic feelings are tied heavily to the plotline, and tend to be hinted at as opposed to heavily delved into. 

For example, look at Sasha and Niccolo. They seemed to be dating, but their relationship was developed with a handful of scenes and exposition both before and after Sasha’s death. The relationship also subverted fandom expectations, because most of the fandom at that point expected Connie to be the one who was with Sasha. But Connie later says that she’s like his sister, so while they were very close, their relationship wasn’t romantic. And Sasha/Niccolo was definitely unexpected.

One of the things I appreciate about Isayama is the fact that his characters are heavily dynamic, and our perceptions of them as well as their behavior changes drastically over the story, but in a very coherent way.

I ship Erehisu. One of the reasons I ship it is actually because Eren and Historia weren’t terribly close in the first arcs. That the protagonist could end up developing feelings for another main character who he previously didn’t have much of a bond with breaks formula for a manga, but it’s also quite realistic: in real life, our relationships aren’t set in stone. Our opinions and feelings towards people shift with time.

Eren himself shifted with time. As a standard shonen hero, he had a lot of the idealistic traits that these types have: tenacity, strong desire to protect his loved ones, desire for freedom, headstrong desire to fight whoever may threaten his friends’ safety. 

Historia has been shown to have these tendencies too. She aches for love more than ideals. She asked Ymir if they could live for each other, rest of the world be damned. Then she saved Eren, declaring herself humanity’s enemy in the process. She and Eren share a strong attachment to personal relationships, desire for freedom from the manipulation of past generations, and a propensity to pursue those goals even if they’re not necessarily the best idea. Eren also loves Mikasa and Armin, but the two of them are more worldly-minded, and can see the big picture of things. Historia clearly impressed Eren with her commitment to interpersonal kindness and protection (the orphanage) over worldly involvement. In any other story, these traits would make Historia into a saintly figure, but in this story, these traits end up making her complicit with Eren’s genocide. Like him, she prioritizes people she loves over ideas about “right” and “wrong.”

I do think Eren and Historia could be lovers. His honesty with her and acceptance of her was significant to her, and her freeing him was very significant to him. They clearly grew closer over the four-year timeskip as well.

So let’s look at Chapter 130. There are a few peculiarities about the Historia exposition here. 

One, why Eren reveals his genocide plot to Historia directly. You could say “He cares about her and wants to make sure that she knows he’s going to save her”, which is fine and all. He wants to save Armin and Mikasa too, although he kept them in the dark about this until he revealed his plot to all Eldians. Historia is the Queen. She absolutely could have alerted the MPs to Eren’s plans and stopped him like that. He says “you just have to keep quiet” about the plot, and that’s all. So as far as we know, there was no strategic reason for telling Historia, and great potential risk if she decided to betray him. He reminds her of her words when she saved him to convince her to keep quiet, thus making her guilty by complacency in his literal genocide. This is an incredible level of trust and foolhardiness that indicates that they are very close at this point.

Secondly, if Historia knew that Eren was doing everything in his power to free her from being bred like cattle and was complicit with the plot, that she immediately decides to go have a strategic farmer baby anyways is a big plothole. You could probably think of a few reasons why she acted like that if you tried hard, but there’s nothing obvious with this conversation to suggest that Historia should want or need at this point to have a kid with Farmer-kun. 

There is a possibility some people have brought up, which is that Historia may already be pregnant in the ch. 130 convo. The way the official translation is worded is very ambiguous, and leaves it open to interpretation. Historia could be asking Eren’s opinion on having a kid (for reasons we don’t yet know) or she could be delicately implying that she is going to have one.

If it’s the latter, it becomes much more likely that Eren is the father of the child. Historia and Eren would then go to Farmer-kun to give Historia a cover. 

From Eren’s POV, this conversation is clearly very important to him. It’s intercut with Zeke questioning Eren about Mikasa’s feelings for him. Remember that Zeke is anti-natalist. Eren says that he has four years left to live at most, and then the next panel is Historia asking about a child. It seems to me that Zeke may be testing Eren against his own ideology, trying to see how Eren feels about sexual relationships (and by extension, their implication: offspring). Eren mentally associates his response (effectively “I don’t have the lifespan for a serious relationship”) to Historia’s question. Either way, both conversations seem to be connected. They could easily be connected because they present to Eren a challenge surrounding his goal to sacrifice himself and save Paradis, namely romantic relationships. He’s thinking about what he could have had if he had not chosen this path to go down, but then he says “they’ll [his loved ones will] live on.”

I think there were definitely romantic connotations with Historia in this chapter. She may have asked Eren to have a child with her for unexplained strategic or even more nebulous sentimental reasons (and he denied her because of the aforementioned four-year lifespan) or she is already pregnant with his child. In that case, he may be regretting his decision because he wants to have a family. 

Again, the fact that Eren tells Historia in this short chapter more than he’s told most of his other loved ones after the timeskip as a whole and fully trusts her to keep it a secret (and she has) speaks volumes imo to what kind of relationship the two have. I think that if Eren is the father, the pregnancy is definitely a result of love. Eren and Historia both value personal attachments and freedom. Instead of breeding like cattle, they bring a child into the world out of love. Eren Krueger told Grisha to find a woman within the walls to love, and then mentioned Armin and Mikasa, so his words were also directed at Eren. I think that this may also be a form of foreshadowing.

[boltsandashes]

TWD 10x08 impressions

bullets and overall thoughts under the break.

Ok I was wondering why Lydia wouldn’t have recognized crazy doc guy. ...But it also makes it just... really strange that he’d be so loyal to Alpha’s cause when he was so new and not really indoctrinated? He could’ve only been with her for a couple days at that point, right?

Ooh but I do like that he was the one doing the graffiti 

Fuckfuckfuck did they seriously just expose Dante right away?? So... Siddiq’s death actually meant nothing? What the fuck why would they.......... I’m mad about that.

Is it bad that just seeing Daryl and Aaron in the same shot makes me happy?

...Screw you though Daryl, that was your moment to call Carol out. I think I’m officially giving up hope on him waking the fuck up and doing anything useful this year. 

God Zeke just... wounds me. His eyes. He deserves better.

I hate how they picked Siddiq off and now they’re, what, having Gabriel act like an asshole to Rosita to open up the door for Eugene? ugh

That Aaron and Gracie scene though, that made me emotional in about six different ways. (I’m kind of stung by the implication that Aaron never talks about Eric to Gracie though ngl. But I still liked the subtle reference, so torn.)

Aaand ok. Wow Gabriel, unexpected. I’m not sure how I feel about that. Could be interesting for Gabriel’s character maybe? Depending on where they go with it? I’m not mad that he did a dumb thing and killed their information source, if it’s a sign of interesting Gabriel things to come, because it’s ok for characters to do dumb things sometimes, but damn was that a dumb thing for him to do.

Daryl and Connie are so damn cute that is all.

TBH it’s funny that Daryl says talking to Carol lately has been like talking to a ghost, ‘cause that’s pretty much how I feel about Daryl. He’s just... drifting through. No strong opinions, no strong actions. Not really giving a shit about the people he should be giving a shit about (Lydia) and barely stirring up any emotion when he finally confronts a person who’s been haunting him for years (Negan). He’s just... so barely there this year and really the only time he comes alive at all is with Connie, that’s why I’ve been loving them so much. But I am just... I am so meh on this Caryl thing.

Is anyone else just really annoyed by this unnecessarily twitchy new weirdo with Michonne’s group? Just... everything about the way he’s acting irritates me. Not explaining everything to a bunch of strangers makes sense, that’s fine, but the pointless vagueness and completely unwarranted panic is just... god, just say words.

“It’s time to find Lydia.” Thank christ.

Carol what the fuck is wrong with you?? (I get it, ok, I understand. She’s in revenge mode, she’s being irrational. And I get that as a character arc but CHRIST have you ever seen a more obvious trap in your damn life do not lead your people into this.)

Aaand oh look shocking it’s a super obvious trap who’d a guessed.

So.... yeah, I didn’t love this episode. I feel like I was irritated for half of it and bored for another third. Every single week I keep thinking “Ok but this is what’s gonna wake Daryl up” and then the next episode comes and he just keeps on keeping on. He needs to call Carol the fuck out, and then they can deal with what she’s going through, because as this point he’s really just enabling her and letting her put people repeatedly in danger and it sucks for both characters.

I hate that Dante died so fast, honestly. I hate that he was found out so fast, I hate that he’s just gone now. I also hate that walker!Siddiq didn’t bite him while he was attacking Rosita, during that scene I thought it might be sweet and kind of make his death a little bit meaningful if his walker!self ended up saving Rosita and Coco. Idk that was just a passing thought but yeah, since all the Dante stuff was resolved in this episode it really made that whole thing and Siddiq’s death feel so meaningless.

I’m probably gonna post some more thoughts about the characters and relationships over the next few days –– and please send me asks on anything you want me to ramble about! –– but for the moment I’m just... gonna let it settle in a bit. Maybe I’ll feel better about it later.

[snkpolls]

SnK S3E18 Poll Results (Manga Reader Version)

The poll closed with 381 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results of the manga reader poll. Anime only watchers are suggested not to read if you do not wish to be spoiled about certain events! Anime only viewers, click here to view your poll results!

RATE THE EPISODE 363 Responses

This was considered a very emotional episode for many viewers, but also highly praised. A majority 86.8% of viewers rated the episode 5/5, with only a few less thrilled viewers.

beautiful episode

Attack on Feels at its finest yet again

It felt slightly underwhelming, but I don't think it couldn't have been considering how great the previous episode was

I cried so much, but I liked it a lot.

Brilliant and excruciating

the most emotionally impactful episode for me so far. it was perfectly done

Awful, fast-paced, and just a statement that Araki wanted to get this out of the way before he could very probably put his eremika fillers. Him cutting out Reienr's tears is unforgivable. It lessens his relationship with bert when the fucking back-bump was a highlight of the OP.

Best of the season

Powerful episode with excellent voice acting.

It was absolutely perfect!

It was so emotional and dramatic, this show keeps getting better and better

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF THE EPISODE? 371 Responses

A number of notable moments split the chart into several nearly even pieces. In fact, 16.2% of respondents could not decide their favorite moment. 12.7% did favor watching Levi make his final choice, with Levi and Hange saying their goodbyes to Erwin, Hange’s speech, and the 104th holding Armin in the 9%’s.

Shirtless Armin really waters my crops

This episode was DEVASTATING. OnoD had only one line, but even that one, all soft and weak that made the Commander sound so *human*... I was practically sobbing. And the look on Levi's face just. Just ended me.

Eren and Mikasa's pain was beautifully done. Kaji Yuuki is an absolute marvel, his voice is always dripping with emotion and Eren's pain brought me to tears, too. Not to mention Mikasa's wail...

WHICH SEIYUU WAS THE MVP THIS EPISODE? 366 Responses

Of course, such emotional performances should be credited to the talented voice acting. 36.6% of respondents believe all of them deserve equal praise. 25.1% thought Eren’s seiyuu, Yuki Kaji, was MVP for this episode, followed by 17.8% Yui Ishikawa, who plays Mikasa.

Thanks to the voice actors it had more impact than the manga. I cried for Levi, who had to make the hardest decision of his life.

Yoooo i made a post on reddit appreciating Zeke's VA but he didn't get included in the VA list ;_;

i am a hardcore dub over sub person and yuki kaji had me in tears. SUPER phenomenal voice performance in this episode, jesus christ.

Might’ve been the best ensemble voice acting I’ve ever seen in anything and that included movies. Eren’s, Mikasa, and Levi’s performances were phenomenal. Also, Erwin and Bertholdt’s voiceactors made their deaths that much more impactful.

Great VA work. Growing increasingly attached to floch character because his VA is so good.

Regarding the voice actors this episode, everyone did an awesome job and I expect EreMika to take top place. I chose Hange though because this episode showed new sides of her and it felt like she had a bigger variety of emotions to display. From the relentless wish to kill a titan, which was something uncharacteristic of her usual self, to the strong and determined ""It was my decision"" and then her desperate and vulnerable speech, and finally, her worn-out ""He's already dead."

I may have said all the voice actors were MVP this episode(they are tbh lol added a lot to this already emotional episode) but Mikasa's crying omg I FELT THAT

Hands down to the voice actors this episode, man. They deserve all the praise they can get. 🙌

THIS EPISODE HAD A PROFOUND LACK OF BACKGROUND MUSIC. DO YOU THINK THIS WAS THE CORRECT DECISION ON THE PART OF THE ANIME TEAM? 369 Responses

The majority of the episode had minimal or no background music. 71% of respondents were especially supportive of the decision, with 19.2% who were simply content. The rest would have preferred some more soundtracks or didn’t even notice at all.

It was a great decision, we could focus on what was the most important during those scenes - pure emotion in an outstanding performance by the VA's.

I feel like a track could've been placed during Hange's speech, but otherwise I liked the silence

thanksArminTitan ruined everything

It creeped me out so much. Awful yet good

It was great. But it could also have been great with music so I don't know if it was a good choice.

The silence made it feel eerie, you were able to hear the sizzling body in the background.

THE LACK OF AN OP WAS AN EXCELLENT DECISION. JUST HEARING SHIGASHINA BURNING? EXCELLENT DECISION.

This episode destroyed me! I was nearly in tears during the whole episode and finally shed tears once the music started playing at the end 😭

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART ABOUT HANGE’S SPEECH? 371 Responses

Hange’s monologue about loss tugged a lot of heart strings. 35.8% of respondents preferred seeing the flashback of Moblit’s sacrifice. 33.2% liked everything Hange had to say, while 20.8% favored the hug between Hange and Mikasa.

WHO DO YOU FEEL WAS OBJECTIVELY THE BETTER PERSON TO REVIVE? 370 Responses

The decision between Armin and Erwin’s survival split the participants’ responses near evenly, though 47.3% thought the best objective choice was to revive Erwin, while 42.4% thought Armin was a better choice. (A small 10.3% thought neither were good options, you monsters!)

I want to say that depends on what sort of objectively we are looking for. Are we looking at it from an in character perspective? Then yes, I would've chosen Erwin. However, if we are looking at it from a story analysis/out of universe perspective, I feel Erwin should always have died, as Armin, in my opinion, has more potential for an additional narrative arc (though his character development would also have been perfect if he had died there) but also through Erwin's death, a lot more people gained new development (Levi, Hange, Armin obviously, Floche to some degree, to some degree the rest of the 104th) that I feel is much more important from a narrative point of view. This arc marks the moment where the status quo about the world is very violently shaken up, and Erwin's death does the same thing to the SC which I feel works best thematically.

OBJECTIVENESS ASIDE, WHO WOULD YOU HAVE CHOSEN TO REVIVE? 371 Responses

When it comes to personal preference, 70.1% of respondents would revive Armin, while 24% would have picked Erwin.

HOW DO YOU THINK ERWIN WOULD FEEL IF HE HAD BEEN PICKED INSTEAD OF ARMIN? 365 Responses

Had Erwin been chosen to receive the serum instead of Armin, 49.6% of respondents believe he would have mostly felt guilty. 25.8% believed Erwin would understand the final decision, while 15.3% think he’d be disappointed.

Accepting, but terribly sad, guilty and weary.

Happy to find out about the basement but once he confirmed his father’s theory, I think he would have preferred not being chosen.

Depressed. After the basement? Unmotivated and listless.

The first thing is he would want to go see the basement. After that, he'd continue to be crushed by his guilt and feel burdened with the responsibility of the titan power even though he no longer has a motivation to lead an army.

His speech made everyone go on a suicide charge with him, therefore after he would survive his guilt of fallen comrades would be unmeasurable. The charge was his final decision and his final redemption.

Erwin not only feel guilty at having been forced to live after coming to peace with his death, he would probably also come to resent Levi for breaking Erwin's trust by bringing him back.

Idk i feel he'd kinda be resentful like he was ready to die and he did value armin's skills so maybe he would view them killing off potential as a bad choice?

He would be suicidal like Reiner. Truth is Erwin wanted to die. And the basement reveal wouldn't make him happy. Like oh shit I found out the truth but now I have to worry about humans(Marley) instead of Titans now.

Very very tired. And saddened by Armin's death (cause the loss of potential, and I sorta feel Erwin does see his own younger self in Armin) but at the same time, it's also the same sadness over all the recruits that died. And again, that they died but he lived.

WHY DO YOU THINK LEVI INJECTED ARMIN INSTEAD OF ERWIN? 371 Responses

Multiple possibilities factored into Levi’s decision to pick Armin, though 45.8% of viewers believe it was mostly because Levi wanted to let Erwin rest. 42.6% believed it was a mix of all possible factors that played a role in his decision.

Erwin told Levi how he felt all his dead comrades were looking at him, Levi didn't want him to live with the guilt any longer.

I think ultimately, after Floch's speach Levi realized that Erwin was indeed becoming a monster and he didnt want him to go further down. But I also think that he cared for Armin and his dream enough that also played a part in his choice. He may have realized that he was being a hypocrite when he told Eren to set his feelings aside.

I believe that Levi wanted Erwin to escape this hellish world but also because he saw a more visionary future from Armin.

He realized Erwin gave up on his dream and made his mind to die but Armin hasnt and died while still longing for his dream. Plus he wanted him to rest from being a devil with guilt

Levi realized that Erwin had given all he had to give and that he’d only be bringing back an empty shell of who Erwin was. It would also be cruel to bring him back, as Levi explained.

He realized that Erwin and Kenny were both driven by the intoxication of their dreams, and wanted to set Erwin free from that.

Levi understood that Erwin's wish was to die there, at that moment when he was finally in tune with his words as a commander

Many factors influenced Levi's final decision. But I want to say something that suits better than simply saying "Levi chooses Armin". I mean, yes, he gave him the serum and the chance to be reborn to Armin, but I saw him more as if Levi chose Erwin as the best way for him, not for humanity. Both (and all) are slaves of a dream, a goal to achieve in their lives, and it is wrong to say that some dreams are more "good" or more valuable than others. Their lives cannot be measured by their actions, but by their souls. And Erwin soul was tired, full of pitty and guilt for how much soldiers and close friends died because "they gave their hearts" to him, their life and dreams for humanity, and every dead was a weight that fall in his shoulders, every mission, every year. And for Levi, Erwin is the most important person in his life, he knew all of his suffer. Erwin's death was the freedom for him, being freed of living in this hellsite and being called by the name of the devil. In summary, Levi decision was the most kind, empathetic and noble act in his life for Erwin. He loves this man so much, he needs to rest.

WHICH CHARACTER DO YOU FIND YOURSELF MOURNING THE MOST? 370 Responses

Three long-term character deaths happened in this episode. 58.4% of respondents grieved Erwin the most. Moblit was mourned by 18.9% of participants and 16.8% were more emotional for Bertolt’s demise.

Bertholdt deserved better 😔

I thought I got over Erwin’s death but haHA GUESS I WAS WRONG

RIP Erwin.

I feel almost cheated by having Bertl reduced to just titan fodder for the sake of pushing a protag’s story along.

F to Erwin

WHICH PART OF THE EPISODE GOT YOU CHOKED UP, IF AT ALL? 369 Responses

There were plenty of tearful moments that got viewers grabbing their tissues. Mikasa’s panicked crying when Levi was preparing to inject Erwin choked up 16.8% of participants the most. Levi’s reaction to Erwin’s death was the saddest to 13.3%, and 11.9% were emotional over Eren’s final plea to save Armin.

I teared up when Erwin died; I didn't realize the anime adaptation of Serumbowl would affect me so much. Kudos to the directors, VAs, animators, everyone for such an impactful episode

The episode was beautiful. It made me cry throughout most of it. The voice acting was amazing, especially Mikasa’s VA imo. Tons of respects for the VAs for delivering so much raw emotion and the animators’ amazing work on the visuals.

I'm not crying you're crying

Even if Eren and Mikasa were more demonstrative in their emotions, the one that made my heart broke is without hesitation Levi. His silent despair was much more poignant.

the "Which part of the episode got you choked up, if at all" made me insulted. I choked up the entire episode and this wasn't even a option.

I didn't cry like I did in the manga.

HOW WELL DID THE ANIME ADAPT THE CORRESPONDING CHAPTERS? 367 Responses

Overall, a majority of respondents believed the episode was very faithful to the manga with 80.4% rating at a near perfect score.

i wish the anime production team would realize that since anime ("film") and manga ("print") are two totally different media, you cant just adapt an anime episode "panel by panel" from a manga and have it be as good. it needs to be formatted for *anime*. such a lazy fucking way to go about adapting a show

Honestly this episode was emotionally exhausting, in a good way. The silence was a brilliant choice on the directors' part as it let the VAs raw emotion carry the episode. Character animation and expressions were also on point. Couldn't be happier with the adaptation of Ch.83-84.

IF LEVI HAD CHOSEN TO INJECT ERWIN, DO YOU THINK THAT THE CURRENT MANGA SITUATION WOULD BE AS DIRE? 370 Responses

It’s possible the events of the manga would have been different if Erwin were chosen instead of Armin. 24.9% of respondents the situation would be just as dire, 24.6% are not sure what would have happened, and 24.1% have faith in Erwin to come up with better strategies.

Armin will come through like he always does

His presence COULD have prevented a lot of factors, but this is just a guess, there is no guarantee he would change anything.

It would probably have been as bad, but Armin still has time to do something important.

Eren probably would've been a bit resentful over losing his best friend. Resulting in him going off on his own and being potentially more uncaring with the choices he makes

Would things be different if Erwin had been saved? I believe a lot of the shit that's going on in the manga right now is because cultists infiltrated the Survey Corps. I know Erwin is not perfect but his absence left a clear gap in their organization.

Hard to say. Grass is greener on the other side.

Just different. I don't think we can say that Erwin would've dealt with the current situation better because the current situation would not exist at all. From the moment of Erwin's death, the decisions became Hange's and her priorities shaped those. Erwin, from the start, would've made different decisions. Those may have led to the same situation occurring, those might have led to a whole different set of difficult circumstances. It is impossible to predict. Plus there is the Eren factor. We have Eren causing a lot of trouble for the SC right now, and that is an Eren who did get the revival of his best friend and his close companionship for a few more years. And Eren who lost Armin would've acted completely differently. Would he have resented the SC? Would he have even wanted to stay under the people who, in his eyes, killed Armin? Would anyone be able to talk him down. Would he strike out on his own more quickly and have another reason for potentially joining with Zeke? Maybe in a universe where Erwin was revived, sure, they would've had his experience and political savvy, but it is quite possible they would've lost Eren completely at a much earlier point. Does that lead to a better or worse situation? We literally cannot say.

I don't think there's a way to know for sure. Erwin stated that he wasn't sure what he planned to do after seeing Eren's basement, plus I'm not sure if he would have been able to handle any more guilt related to sending his soldiers to their deaths. Personally, I agreed with Levi when he said that Erwin deserved to rest.

No fucking Armin is useless as of now. That's what Hange was saying about leadership and insight. We could easily argue Isayama hasn't written anything for Armin, but you could also argue that attests to his lack of. Erwin wouldn't let Eren go rogue. The biggest question to ask all manga readers is whether Armin has done anything for humanity that Erwin couldn't have done thus far.

The situation inside the walls would definitely be a lot more organized, but when it comes to turning the tables on Marley, Armin seems to find the most creative ways to turn the tables on their enemies in a way that doesn’t leave a pile of corpses behind him the way Erwin does. The early part of this arc demonstrated what they lost with Erwin, but I believe it’s Armin’s turn to do something great again. And let’s be honest, it’s Eren’s fault that Armin hasn’t gotten the chance to do anything besides plan the Liberio reinforcements anyways.

EREN WAS UNABLE TO LET ARMIN GO, A SHOW OF HOW MUCH HIS FRIENDS ARE HIS WEAKNESS. DO YOU THINK HE STILL HARBORS THE SAME WEAKNESS TOWARDS THEM IN THE CURRENT EVENTS? 371 Responses

One of Eren’s biggest vulnerabilities is his attachment to his friends, although current manga events have displayed Eren’s less heartfelt treatment of his loved ones. 51.5% of respondents, however, still believe Eren harbors the same weakness for them now as he did back then.  25.6% aren’t quite sure, while 18.6% believe he has completely moved on.

He does care. He just isn’t weak about it. Or at least, he doesn’t show it. But he still wants to protect them.

I think only placing Armin or Mikasa in a deathly situation would descover If Eren still harbours feelings for them. In this point of the manga I believe Eren has forgotten all love and compassion and he needs a sparkle to remind them.

He grew up, so of course he has changed. But I still believe he cares about them, he just doesn't want them around rn and prefers to do this by himself.

Eren never really cared about his friends. He didn't wnat to let Armin go because he can't take no for an answer.

Some yes but I think he is influenced by so many previous titan shifters and the titans themselves it got kinda suppressed

Probably? Maybe he kept what happened here in mind in order to say the horrible things he did in Ch 112. I honestly hadn't thought of this before, that Eren himself would distance his friends because they were his weaknesses. :/

I don’t think Eren actually loves Armin, just what Armin symbolizes to him

Maybe a little but not as much

if we can believe what the message Isayama is making us read between the lines to see, yes, the 104th are his weakness and he is subjecting himself to be a terrible villain for their futures and freedom, 100%

HAS THE ANIME ADAPTATION OF THE SERUMBOWL™ CHANGED YOUR PERCEPTION OF EREN AND MIKASA IN THIS MOMENT? 367 Responses

When the Serumbowl chapters were first released, there were varying reactions to Eren and Mikasa’s actions. With years since then and the anime retelling, most viewers’ opinions remained unchanged, 69.5% of respondents say that they were always empathetic, while 10.1% are still indifferent, and 9.3% remain upset by their behavior.

I get where they were coming from, I still do. But I also still think they shouldn't have acted this way (neither of them, even Levi), but it was a tough and intense situation

It was badly animated and overacted so I cringed. But that’s not the characters’ fault

Eren was understandably sad but Mikasa proved her unlikability further with her need to resort to violence.

From their perspective, it was reasonable for them to feel that way. However, I felt disappointed that Erwin was going to die especially since I would have chosen him.

I understood their behavior, but they were in the wrong ( both versions)

Empathised before, but now moreso

It changed a bit from Eren side bc I was surprise by the ease he could have to rebel against someone he admire that much, but also Mikasa bc with a manga reader perspective, I saw that she wouldn't have killed none of Levi and Floch. But tbh I just  thought "Oh waw, it's almost scary to see how well they get along when it comes to murder someone"

EreMika being emotional during the serumbowl. Well that is understandable but not excusable. I could argue that Levi was emotional too, his decision to revive Armin wasn't just because he wanted Erwin to rest but also because he thought Armin had a good, pure dream (otherwise he wouldn't have gotten all those flashbacks of Armin flailing about the sea). But EreMika only wanted their friend alive, with little consideration towards Humanity's chances of survival, and only after a long process of persuasion did Mikasa finally let go of Armin...while Eren still did not. That, coupled with the fact that Mikasa legit attacked their one and only best soldier because emotions...I cannot find their actions justifiable…

Eren action just screams childish and selfish just like a child who is throwing a tantrum and crying out loud when his demand wasn’t fulfilled. I understand he can’t helped it since it’s his precious friend but it just shows his immaturity and his inability to understand other people pains other than his own. I don’t see him putting his faith in Levi’s decisions nor others comrades’ when the decisions didn’t go the way he likes; he was angry, bitter, he even forced to take it away and threatening.

FLOCH HAS COMPARED BOTH ERWIN AND EREN TO A DEVIL. DO YOU THINK HE SEES THE SAME QUALITIES IN EREN NOW THAN HE HAD SEEN IN ERWIN? 369 Responses

Floch believes only a devil can defeat their enemies. With the current happenings of the manga, 73.4% of respondents believe Floch thinks Eren holds similar “monstrous” qualities that Erwin had, though 14.6% are not quite sure.

Maybe Floch in the Manga is trying to become the devil because he knows no one else will do it.

HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT THE SPLIT SECOND FLASHBACK OF ERWIN RAISING HIS HAND AT SCHOOL? 367 Responses

The anime added a brief transition scene of Erwin raising his hand at school. 52.9% of respondents enjoyed the addition and felt it helped show that Erwin was in a dreamlike state. 40.6% of viewers though it was a neat extra touch that added more impact to the moment. A small amount of viewers could have done without it.

I jumped when i saw that moment, that was a perfect decision, this episode is truly poetic cinema.

Essentially the second option, but I'd like to say that it wasn't just a "neat" addition, it was a heartbreakingly poignant one.

really makes you realize how much erwin was stuck in the past

I blinked and almost missed it, so if they were gonna add it, they should have made it a tad longer

Apparently this still wasn't enough for people to realize that this was Erwin hallucinating, and not him rejecting the serum.

I feel like Erwin overheard everything & willingly rejected the serum, but was just so out of it that he couldn’t form the right words to tell Levi his actual thoughts on the matter. I think it’s good writing, generally speaking.

I started sobbing

It was funny and silly actually

This scene was made in perfection. It showed Erwin’s hopes and dreams but also his big heroism and dedication to the cause.

iM NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING

NOW THAT WE KNOW MORE ABOUT BERTOLT, HAVE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT HIS DEATH CHANGED? 366 Responses

More information on Bertolt’s backstory was revealed later in the manga, which had 31.7% of respondents feel more pity for him when watching his death in the anime. 24.6% were always sad to see him die and 21% of participants felt more sad about it.

Didn't really change. On one hand i feel bad for him but i also really disliked him.

His death in the anime mirrored Marco's and seemed fitting

Nah, i didn't felt anything when he died, and even tho i am more empatethic and pit for with him rn, he still killed hundreds of people. It's good to understand the characters reasons (somethign wedon't have with Eren) but it's also a fact that his reasons don't erase what he did.

I felt bad for Bert's death before the Marley arc. But more of a disturbing pity way. Now I feel alot more sympathetic. However, he still deserved to die unfortunately.

In that moment I felt so bad and there are times when I do but in general I prefer Paradis to Marley. Though I understand what an awful situation they are in. The music and how it was carried out was heartbreaking tho.

His reaction just broke me, in the end he was left alone, with his own guilt and unfulfilment.

I am more sympathetic, but I still believe that he brought that onto himself.

I've always been ambivalent about Bert's death; I'm not happy to see him die but I'm not particularly sad either.

No, he's one of the characters the series could never get me to care much for.

Seeing Bertholdt’s death made me a lot more emotional than the manga. His reaction and voice acting really hit it home for me since I have a soft spot for him after reading the manga. RIP Bertie, despite the circumstances he couldn’t control he definitely deserved better :’(

WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE ADDITION OF BERTOLT SMILING AS HE SPOTS HIS FORMER COMRADES? 368 Responses

The anime added a moment of Bertolt’s temporarily smiling when he saw his former comrades.  44.3% of participants thought the addition added more emotional impact to his death, and 28.5% of participants felt sorry for him. 14.9% were upset that Bertolt had the nerve to smile at all.

Dark as heck, I love it

After he clearly asked them to die, how could he think they would help him? (Granted, he was panicking and all but still...)

It was a good show that for a brief moment after regaining consciousness, he was back to thinking of his days as a solder and that his old friendship would save him, before realizing the gravity of the situation

Didn't notice until it was pointed out on Reddit; strange detail to add

It made the scene weirdly comedic

That moment of hope then realization did work emotionally, but I preferred the way it happened in the manga.

It wasn't a smile. More like a baffled-smile.

We all know that his actions were imposed, and the thought of them alone has traumatized the RBA trio. They have shown many times the guilt and need for forgiveness for everything they did. They don't deserve any of this, much less die in such a horrible way as being devoured alive! For me, Berthold was a background character, the boy who was always next to Reiner and that's all, but reviewing and watching more closely his evolution in the anime, even more his death, made me feel really bad for him. Berth deserved more attention in his life, more love and praise, because it is evident that his self-esteem was THAT LOW for all the comments that others gave, including Reiner, his best friend. Anyway, as I said in a post, the one who died was not the Colossal Titan, was a lonely, shy and noble teenager who just wanted to be loved.

I truly wish the survey corps were instead able to convert Bertolt and Reiner to their side instead of watching Bertolt die so brutally. The fact that he flashed a smile when he saw his former comrades really goes to show that he instinctively thought of them as his friends. Truly a sad addition to the anime. All he wanted was to be found.

WHICH SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 366 Responses

From the preview scenes of the Basement, a majority 39.9% of participants anticipate the scene of Eren being unable to unlock the door with the key. 29.8% of respondents are most looking forward to Eren, Mikasa, Levi, and Hange approaching the basement. 13.7% are anticipating the scene where Armin learns about the sacrifices made to revive him.

I just need to see Eren's face trying so Hard to lift the bar that fell on top of his house and Mikasa and Levi just lift it like it is a feather.

Levi opening the basement's door with his foot is one of the best scenes of the whole chapter and no one will ever change my mind

THERE HAVE BEEN RUMORS ABOUT A POSSIBLE ANIME-ONLY EM FLASHBACK SEQUENCE NEXT EPISODE TO MAKE SURE THE EPISODE ENDS WITH GRISHA AND FAYE LEAVING THEIR HOUSE. THOUGHTS? 367 Responses

There are rumors that the new episode will have an extended flashback with Eren and Mikasa.  60.8% of respondents are fine with the addition as long as it doesn’t detract from the manga material. Others are very excited about the flashback, don’t want the extra scenes, or don’t care.

As long as it contributes to what’s currently happening, I won’t have a problem with it.

I don't think anime has time for filler

The anime direly needs a breather episode to let people process the events of the last few episodes, and that would allow for it while also leading to an ending that brings in the next part of the story.

I dont like filler but if it's relevant and faithful to the story, why not

I like when they stick straight to the manga, but this will be interesting?

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

The anime deciding to work both 83 and 84 into an episode solved my biggest issue with Serumbowl just like that. By having both chapters flow into each other, the sense of urgency and chaos of the event actually resonated with me, rather that having lost that in the monthly wait between chapters. And I really appreciate that.

I was crying like a fuckin baby, this was amazing.

Wonderful episode. So much emotion. I was only disappointed to see that it removed the close-up shot of a crying Reiner. I believe it was the only scene of him ever shedding a tear since he became a warrior..

Hange may have suffered the most by losing her close friend/assistant and her close friend/commander + physically losing her left eye. She also has to step up to the mantle of being the new commander to fill the impossibly large shoes that Erwin left behind.

All the emotions I felt while watching this episode made me realise how much i am greatful for those who matter to me the most, this is why this episode was just the best.

Erwin will live forever in my heart. Best anime character

Sad that we didn't see Reiner crying.

I find it great that Bert's death was done in such a great way where whether you are a Manga or Anime-only viewer, you have tons of different conflicting opinions regarding Bert's death.

This episode was splendid, brilliant in every way, I just have to give a round of applause to the voice actors and animators who did this great work. And maybe for that reason and to relive these feelings already believed buried years ago, I thought about what things would have happened and not if another path had been taken. The death of Erwin was the breaking of everything. In that time (years ago) when I saw that Levi chose Armin, it was sad, VERY SAD, but I had faith that he would be the future and the hope to guide us to a better destiny, one without big conflicts and wise and transcendent decisions, but no. Until now Armin has not done much, almost nothing. The current situation of the government, the "betrayal" from Eren and genocide on Liberio, Historia waiting for the time to pass so that her son born and immediately introduce her to the curse that cost so much to get out, ingesting the Beast Titan from Zeke. All these factors make me think that if Erwin was alive none of this would have happened, his leadership and conviction are more necessary than ever now. And seeing it as a whole, more than the fact that Erwin is officially dead (I mean in anime and manga), it gives me even more pain and helplessness than before to see that maybe Levi's decision was not the right one. This feel of desolation also falls for Levi (ofc), Hange, Armin, Eren, Historia, in everyone! Perhaps if the situation had been different, maybe everything would be better, I don't know. However, I don't want to stop believing in Armin, if he was chosen is because he has a purpose to fulfill, perhaps being the new "Helos" that will stop this great war, I don't know either... We'll see it soon, I hope so.

Some of the timing in the animation was weird and irked me a little

"I read the manga, I know whats gonna happen, I'll be fine" - BOY WAS I WRONG! Cried like a bitch pratically the whole episode holy crap what a masterpiece this episode was

It was so so so so badly animated. It looked worse than the manga. The amount of completely still frames was absurd.

It feels like the end of an era. I don't think I'll ever be able to watch the anime the same way. After this, everything turns upside down, and everything seems tainted by the truth of their world. When I think like that I'm glad Levi let Erwin go when he did. Erwin would have thrived in the current events, for sure, but he would've hated it and himself for his part in it. I have no doubt Erwin would blame himself thoroughly for Armin's death, if he had been given the serum then.

Best episode of season 3 thus far. I feel like the art in this episode is the best out of any of them, mostly due to the fact that they probably brought back some of the season 2 staff to work their Close-Up-Facial-Shot-Magic™️. There was a lot of detail put into the faces of the characters this time around and I feel like that’s been lacking ever since season 3 started. I hope they stick around for the rest of the season.

As someone who is extremely neutral about Mikasa, this episode made me shed tears at the expression of utter pain she had when she accepted armin's death, 10/10 animation, how heartbreaking.

The last 3 episodes are the greatest Attack On Titan episodes ever. I just can't decide which one is the best. I am leaning on Hero, but both Perfect Game and Midnight Sun could easily take its place.

omg it was so good I died and thanked God that snk exists kjnhbdhcbdsapozkd

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 353 Responses

Thanks again to everyone who participated! We’ll see you again in a few days! 

[migila]

How I see Gabi Braun:

As far as I know, Gabi has had haters since her first appearance. Nothing weird or horrible about that, some characters just have that kind of effect on some people and that’s totally cool. I myself wasn’t a big Gabi fan when she first appeared ‘cause she seemed way too arrogant for my tastes, but I didn’t exactly hate her.

As the story goes on (before the attack) we learn more about her and, in my opinion, it is anything but hard to see that she’s completely brainwashed. I mean come on, the kid is totally fine with the idea that she and her friends will die young if they become warriors, in fact she wishes they will. While it’s understandable that she has some interest in becoming one since warriors are not only respected among the Eldians but also get a better treatment from Marleyans, normally people wouldn’t be so eager when they know it’d put them in an early grave. Furthermore, she truly seems to believe that she and everyone she loves really are devils so they deserve the shit they go through. The reason she works so hard is because she wants people to see that she and the others can become good Eldians, that if they work hard then some of the sins of being an Eldian could be overlooked, that they will eventually deserve to be treated as humans. Until Eren’s attack, this is her ultimate goal, not taking down the even more evil devils of Paradis. That is just a path to reaching the goal.

However, after Eren attacks Liberio, her goal changes to revenge against the demons of Paradis. Before she hated them because she’d been taught to do so, now she hates them also because she got a reason, because it got personal. (It’s a lot like Eren and the titans: he already wanted to become a scout and so kill titans before Wall Maria fell, but after it did and his mom died the hatred for titans became personal.) During the attack that personal hatred only grows as the place she grew up in gets destroyed and her friends die and/or get hurt. It’d be more messed up if she didn’t get messed up from all of it, really. This said, it’s not suprsing that when she gets a chance to kill an enemy, Lobov, she takes the chance without hesitation. Then, she sees a chance to follow after the enemies on to the airship and does so despite knowing that she won’t make it back. Again, a normal person would hesitate to go way more than Gabi did, but she’s so driven by not only anger and grief but by the teachings beaten in to her head that she doesn’t really hesitate. And when she gets on, she immediately fires a shot. Did it only happen to be Sasha or was she Gabi’s target all along? Who knows; on one hand it’d make sense to target her first since Sasha did kill the gate guards but could Gabi really identify her target so fast? Maybe not, maybe she just shot whoever was in the best place to shoot at and, sadly, that was our Potato Girl. Fortunately, before anyone else dies, Gabi gets captured and apparently doesn’t cause anymore trouble on the airship after seeing Zeke.

What goes through her mind during the airship ride? When they land on Paradis? When they travel to the jail they were held at? Who knows, all we get to see are a few panels with Gabi’s rather terrified face, so I guess she was scared. Natural, for despite being a trained soldier, she is just a human being, a child no less. And of course, she must have realized that she is in the hands of the people who are, according to what she’s always been taught, the most evil, horrifying beings on earth.

And some time during that, Gabi makes up her mind: she wants to see Zeke and get answers (and abandons the hope of getting back home ‘cause it’s impossible.) To do that she does her best to gather hersef up. She makes a plan to take down the guard and escapes with Falco. And then they run in to Kaya, which is when the more level headed Falco, who is able to see the big picture (at least better than Gabi is), takes control.

Kaya takes the two home, and that’s when Gabi first starts to doubt about what she’s been taught, doubt that these people might not be as evil as she’s been taught. They let them stay, they give them food, tell them to rest and it all shocks her. When Kaya tells she knows they’re from Marley, Gabi says that she knew that “a devil couldn’t be so kind”, meaning that she acknowledges how well they’ve been treated. She knows that something is off, that things aren’t going the way they should according to what she’s been taught. When Kaya tells about her mother and her fate, asking why it happened, Gabi desperately tries to hold on to what she knows, what she’s been taught, but you can see from her face that she has her own doubts. When Kaya tells her about Sasha, the older girl’s bravery (and recklesness) seems to impress her.

And that’s it, that’s what we’ve seen about Gabi so far. Now for my personal opinion: I like the character. Yes, I like(d) Sasha too and am absolutely devastated that she’s gone and yes, I remember it was Gabi who pulled the trigger, but I still like her. She starts as an arrogant child, probably having become so thanks to her superior abilities and the praise she gets for those, but we see another side of her quickly. We see the side that worries about her people and her cousin, showing that she isn’t just some arrogant brat who thinks she’s above everyone else just because she’s good at stuff. And this is why I went from mildly disliking to liking her, and liked her even more when Eren attacked. It was a good point of view, seeing everything from the eyes of a horrified child. A child that was strong enough to keep going after all she saw, a child that kept fighting. A warrior. But after killing Sasha and ending up on Paradis, she becomes that scared child again who just tries her best to survive and do what (she thinks) is right. She’s slowly starting to realize that everything isn’t so black and white and that upsets her a great deal. And that’s what makes her human, that’s what makes her a good character in my eyes. She’s made some mistakes, horrible mistakes, things that I can’t agree with, but not everything a character does can always be good. Yes, I hate what she did, but I don’t hate her.

To sum it up, Gabi is just a little girl who was raised in this cruel world and tries her best to survive and do what’s right, but she does some mistakes on the way, just like everyone else. She is not horrible, she is not evil, she is human.

I don’t know if anyone got anything out of this. To be honest my original intention was to point out how tragic it is that Gabi haters complain about her not understanding why Paradis attacks, why it’s justified in their eyes, when they don’t understand that they don’t really see things through Gabi’s eyes either, don’t understand her pain just like she doesn’t understand the pain of the people of Paradis. Congratulations haters, you’re a lot like Gabi.

That’s it, I’m out.

[momtaku]

SnK Chapter 91 Poll Results

The chapter 91 poll closed with 473 entries.

“Utter Garbage” or “I trust Isayama”?

We’ll start with the scale questions. The range was 1-5, from “utter garbage” to “I trust Isayama”. I realize that isn’t an accurate scale, but “I trust Isayama” is the comment I hear most when discussing Isayama’s more questionable decisions.

RATE THE CHAPTER (451 responses)

The reaction to the chapter as a whole was pretty positive. Only 23% of people ranked it towards the “utter garbage” side of the scale. A majority were  optimistic and almost 23% of respondents were downright confident Isayama is going to pull it off.

This chapter has really grown on the more times I read it.

[It] seems so naturally easy for a group of teens to gain success, while  the character we learned to appreciate experienced nothing but death. it feels unfair [...] but if Isayama is doing this, there must be a reason.

While there were definitely aspects that deserve creation (for instance we all know the amnesia thing was lazy writing) but overall I don't think the chapter was bad. I think the kids' unrealistic attitudes in battle was purposeful juxtaposition to the way our main cast has experienced war--it shows the extent of the brainwashing ...

Although there are a lot of cool elements, it's all just handled so badly and doesn't flow well at all. I hate just about all of the new characters. Everything about it feels lazy, rushed, and badly developed. Though the war stuff and new tech is cool and refreshing to see.

I always enjoy seeing what outsiders think of Paradis and the main characters. I appreciate how Isayama handles themes such as government propaganda and the way each side in a war can see their cause as righteous and just.

I thought this chapter was actually pretty cool. I've fallen hopelessly in love with Gabi! Fingers crossed that Annie gets the f*** outta that crystal soon though!

Seeing the extent of Marleyan brainwashing was exceedingly well done.

The random amnesia thing was really lazy and half-assed.

  HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE TIME SKIP?  (452 responses)

 I’ve never seen a scale so evenly divided. Opinions about the time skip are all over the place. A slim majority picked the safety of the middle option.

The time skip is perfect and Gabi is the best.

The time skip was needed for story progression but a lot of important questions and interactions were skipped in terms of character development. I just hope we get some of them in flashbacks and not have them completely disregarded

Timeskips should be illegal

After reading the full chapter and talking to someone else about it, I feel better about the timeskip. This chapter made me feel for RBA more, because they must've started out like Gabi and the rest.

Timeskips are cheap ?? Theres so much plot you could throw in there but noooooo

I believe there is no time skip but the chapter takes place during chapter 1-90 of the manga. So its showing a different perspective on the manga

Time skip means we will see older version of the main characters and that's both exciting and terrifying af

    HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE DIRECTION THE STORY HAS TAKEN?(452 responses)

Feeling about the direction of the story are almost a mirror image of the "Rate this Chapter” question. Despite disagreement over the time skip, confidence is still relatively high.

Love the story right now so much. The mix of ww1, fucked up war morals, fantasy is a personal favorite.

I will like this chapter, but only if Isayama concludes this story with a good twist, that is. If not, chapter 91 will in my opinion be the beginning of the end (end in a bad way).

Isayama fell asleep at the wheel

It's definitely not how I thought it would go, and it seems like it may only pay off if we exceed the previous 110 prediction for chapters. I've seen a couple of theories about the new characters and parallels between the Trost days for our characters. I will be extremely disappointed if we get no answer on what happened during the lost year of chapter 90. Or the lost 3 years between that and 91.

i think the story has potential still, and im interested to see how it will work out. im also just hoping this flash to the marley side isnt gonna be too long. 

I think this is going to be really interesting and we get to see the other side of the fight and their perspective.

  WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF THE CHAPTER (451 responses)

The reveal of the Jaw Titan was completely overshadowed by the brief glimpse of Reiner and insight into Marley. 57% of the vote focused on those two things.

Imagine how the poor kid that inherited "Cartman" felt like upon learning that that thing was their award for winning the marleyan hunger games.

I thought this was a pretty good world building chapter (despite the jarring time skip), especially since we've been waiting many chapters to see this place.  I don't ADORE these new characters, I'm more intrigued, which is better then hating them.  This is also a good set up chapter.  I'm interested to see if Reiner will interact with these new characters.  Since they look so similar to the 104th (design and personality), will he constantly be reminded of his past relationships with them?  Plus, will he see some of himself in them (specifically Gabi) and through them reminding of himself we'll see his backstory?  And is he going to just except his fate and get eaten, or be like "Screw this, nope, not dealing with it."

  WHICH NEW CHARACTER DO YOU LIKE BEST? (447 responses)

Support for Gabi is simply overwhelming. Gabi (38%) and Jerwin (25%) were our favorite new cast members. 

Gabi is such a badass, omg, do you see it Eren? This is how you getting out of horrible situations!

Dammit you Gabi! Fresh Face, Fresh Outlook in Life and Cute! I want to cosplay as her!

i feel like i'm the only one who doesn't  like the new characters

I'm so confused but Gabi is fantabulous

Gabi is such a ray of sunshine

my orphanage is full i already have too many kids to adopt in this series

  WHO DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO INHERIT REINER'S TITAN FORM? (434 responses)

Another close poll, Reiner keeping his titan form narrowly edges out Gabi as the armor recipient.

  WHO DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO INHERIT ZEKE'S TITAN FORM? (440 responses)

If respondents have their way, Zeke’s short term future is very secure. 

I also believe that Zeke will keep the Beast Titan (at least for a while), but ultimately Colt will be the one to inherit it. Zeke story is far from being over.

If Levi is taking down the beast titan and he finds out that not only is Zeke already dead, but his replacement is a weak-brows version of Erwin, I really hope it gives him pause.  That could be such a heartbreaking, earth shattering moment for him and I hope Yams handles it right.

  Attack on Clones

New character, same face. Most of these are self explanatory, but clearly I asked the wrong question with Falco since the majority picked “Other”. Grisha’s friend and fellow revolutionary Grice should have been an option.

Strong resemblance confirmed! I was especially please that the majority agree that Colt most closely resembles Erwin. Since I passionately hate the name “Colt”, I see this as permission to call him Erwin, Jr, or “Jerwin”. 

Zophia is clearly the traumatized medic who inventoried dead!Marco)

I don't really see a strong resemblance between the new cast and the old.

When I saw the new characters I thought: would the children of our main cast look like them?

Part of me wants to say that some key characteristics about Gabi not only resemble Eren or a younger version of him, but may also express some of the characteristics Isayama originally wanted to use for Eren when he considered making him female

Colt=Commander Handsome 2.0

Colt looks like Kenny tbh

WHICH OF LEAPINGTITAN'S REACTIONS BEST DESCRIBE YOUR REACTIONS TO THE CHAPTER? (404 responses)

Ya’ll know these questions are unscientific and purely for my amusement with questions like this. I thought Nick’s live chapter reaction (soundboard) summed things up perfectly. At least one respondent disagreed.

theleapingtitan's reaction wasn't that funny, and for a SNK Chapter poll, seeing stupid stuff like this just takes away the authenticity of the poll

who tf is nick (jk lol praise the walls)

"WHAT" was legitimately the keyword for this chapter but I trust Isayama with the story and with our heroes+ I hope we'll get to see the Jaegers reunion before anything bad happens to Zeke tho

  ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE DIRECTION THE STORY IS TAKING? (448 responses)

This question is nearly identical to the scale question at the top of the poll, but it’s nice to see the information presented in a different way. It’s obvious to me that while the majority still have faith in Isayama, people are hesitant to fully embrace his storytelling.

I was waiting for the story to explain what's going on the other side of the ocean. But not from these "copy and pasted" brats. Reiner is seen in just one panel and Zeke is barely mentioned. That's a shame.

I'm interested to see where this goes but a good 75% of my thoughts are concentrated on what the main characters possibly look like after the time skip.

I honestly dislike how Isayama uses these new characters to show us what Marley and being a warrior is like, instead of showing us RBA and Zeke's past :(

Really enjoyed the way the characters were presented. It gives the reader the chance to see Marley's side of things without being forced to have a story-generated opinion on them (aka screaming at us to hate them) because quite frankly, I was rooting for those Warrior kids to succeed with their plan!

Very unexpected change of character view from our beloved heroes to their"enemy"'s point of view. But I also think it's come at a good time in the overall SnK storyline.

It's disappointing. There's so much potential in the series but I feel like Isayama just wants to get the series over with.

DO YOU THINK YMIR IS DEAD? (445 responses)

Clearly, we’re keeping the faith until we see a corpse.

In reference to Ymir, I don't believe she'd dead because unlike the Zeke and Reiner, no warriors are competing to claim her power, so unless they already dealt with the one to claim her I think they've kept her alive for now.

WHICH CHARACTERS DO YOU GENERALLY ENJOY THE MOST? (450 responses)

I’ve asked this question with each poll and in the past “The Vets” have had the edge. That changes now. I suspect many of Erwin’s fans are no longer interested in the series and certainly not interested enough to take a poll. This number may continue to decline since “The Vets” now consists of only Levi and Hange. Fans of the “The Warriors” remain consistent in their dedication.

Final thoughts

There were more chapter thoughts in this post. Fandom hope for ponytail Levi is strong!  “Where’s Levi”, “Where’s Ymir” and “Bring back Annie” continue to be high on everyone’s mind.

Compiling this takes forever but I love getting a glimpse into what what others are thinking. If I didn’t publish your comment, please know that I read it. Thank you again for the support.

[pickalilywrites]

Enough

Request: Do you take shippy requests? If you do, could you try Jeankasa? I’d love to see your take on that. 

Word Count: 2,210

Is it shallow to be attracted to someone because of how they look? Perhaps, but you’ve go to start somewhere. And, Jean realizes after watching Mikasa during training, he isn’t so much infatuated with her as he is in awe of her. He’s not so much entranced by how silky and dark her hair is than he is with how she flies through the trees during 3DMG training. It’s not so much her unusual gray eyes than it is the dark and stormy look they have when she’s fighting hand-to-hand during combat training, her eyes glistening as she comes in for the kill. It’s not so much her beauty, he discovers later, than her overpowering strength that leaves all of the other recruits in the dust as they try to catch up.

He doesn’t know when his feelings shifted from attraction to admiration but he’s fully aware of it when she’s ranked first out of all of the trainees. He finds his mouth stretching into a smirk when he hears her name called. She doesn’t glance his way when she walks past – of course she doesn’t since the only people she ever interacts with are Armin and that Jaeger idiot – but he clears his throat as she walks past and says, “Mikasa.”

She turns to look at him and he suddenly feels nervous for some reason. It’s a strange feeling. He’s hardly ever nervous but he has to struggle not to fidget when she fixes her gaze on him. “Jean,” she finally says and waits to hear what he has to say.

“Good job getting ranked first,” he says. He knows how stupid the words are as soon as they leave his mouth. Everyone knew she was going to end up at the top of the class. Good job? Not only was that lame, that was a huge understatement about her abilities. And who the hell did he think he was talking to Mikasa Ackerman anyway?

His thoughts are interrupted when Mikasa says, “Thanks,” and he thinks that perhaps it wasn’t a mistake to open his mouth.

She wants to see Eren as soon as she’s checked out of the infirmary and he tells her she can’t.

“Jean, if you don’t move from that door right now, I will not hesitate to crush your skull with my bare hands,” she growls.

He doesn’t doubt her for a second. After seeing her in action after the battle for Trost and during the 57th expedition, he knows she’s completely capable of destroying him if she so wished. And she was certainly angry enough for it. But he stands against the door firmly, hands folder, and says, “No.”

She glares at him and then her fist shoots out, punching the door just right next to Jean’s face. He doesn’t even have time to flinch. When she pulls her fist away, there’s a definite imprint in the wood of the door and her hand is bleeding. She doesn’t seem to feel the pain though and she just stares at him all the while. “You know what I can do. Now move.”

He swallows nervously. “The doctor said you needed to rest,” Jean says. “And I think your little display of power really just earned you another visit from the doctor and a lengthened stay in the infirmary.”

She’s only ever looked at him with indifference. The only times he’s ever seen such a murderous look on her face was when she was chasing down Annie Leonhart. Seeing how Annie turned out, he isn’t sure he wants to be on this side of Mikasa. Still, her being up and about isn’t going to help her heal any better.

“Kirstein. Move out of my way,” she hisses.

“You don’t even know where Eren’s room is,” he points out. “The doctor is going to put you back to bed as you’re wandering around looking for him.”

She squares her jaw. If looks could kill, he’d be dead by now. Still, she knows he’s right and sits down on the bed dejectedly. “You have to tell me where he is,” she croaks. “He’s my only family now. Please.”

Mentions of Eren usually had his temper flaring but right now he can only see Mikasa in pain, an unusual and rare state to ever see her in, and he remembers seeing Marco’s corpse on the street. He knows that pain. He finds himself taking a seat beside her bed, unrolling the bandages that sit on the dresser to wrap up her hand. “I’ll patch up your hand,” he says, already taking her hand and wrapping the bandages around it. “If you’re up for it in an hour, I’ll sneak you out of here and take you to Eren’s room.”

She’s never smiled at him either, he realizes, but she’s doing that now. It’s not a head-over-heels-in-love smile. Not a you’re-my-hero smile. It’s a smile of gratitude, partly polite but also somewhat friendly too. And he’d take this one over any of the other smiles.

“Ow!”

“Stop being a baby,” she grumbles, trying to patch him up the best she can. “It’s just a little cut.”

“You don’t have to be so heavy-handed with if since it’s so little,” he says back. “You’re surprisingly bad at this stuff.”

He hasn’t had a lot of one-on-one conversations with Mikasa prior to being picked as a member of Captain Levi’s special operations squad. Despite all of the horrors and dangers they face, he’s a little grateful that he’s had chances to get closer together. Even if she’s probably making his hurting him more than she’s supposed to healing him.

“If you think you can do a better job, be my guest,” she sniffs. It’s funny to see her so insulted, especially since she’s so much better than him at everything.

“Nah, this is fine,” he replies. “You’re almost done anyway, right?”

“Yeah,” she says, slapping a bandage none too gently onto his cheek. “You were whining way too much. That cut barely went through your skin.”

He smirks, running a thumb over the bandage on his cheek. “It’s fine.” Beautiful is usually the word he uses to describe her but right now, with her indignantly defending her horrendous nursing skills, the only word that comes to mind when he looks at her is cute. “You did a good job. Thanks.”

“You’re damn right I did a good job,” she mutters under her breath.

He has to stop himself from snorting, knowing that doing so would only make her lose her temper again. It’s nice, he thinks, knowing that there were some things she couldn’t do perfectly.

He’s nodding off when someone sits next to him. Rubbing his eyes, he yawns and blinks sleepily at the figure. “Mikasa?”

“Go to sleep,” she tells him. “I’ll keep watch.”

Watch over Armin or watch over the Titans, he wonders. Zeke had retreated along with Reiner and the four-legged Titan long ago but there was a slim chance they’d come back for their revenge. So much has happened over such a short time that it’s a bit overwhelming. He’s surprised he can even think of sleeping at such a time. Then again, the rest of the squad was sleeping, probably exhausted after the battle against Zeke and the rest of the Titans. Mikasa seemed to be the only one who couldn’t sleep.

He sat up. “No, it’s fine,” he says. “You should really be sleeping.”

“It’s fine.” He waits for her to tell him to lay down with the rest of the sleeping soldiers but she doesn’t. Maybe she wants his company. Maybe she just doesn’t want to be alone. Either way, he doesn’t mind staying awake with her. He thinks they’re going to sit there in silence when she asks, “Do you think Armin will be okay?”

“Armin?” he echoes. He glances at their friend who was unconscious next to a sleeping Eren. Although fairly weak compared to the rest of them, Armin was one of the last remaining members of the 104th trainee squad, of the Scouting Legion actually, and he wouldn’t be surprised if Armin successfully transitioned into a Titan Shifter. “I wouldn’t worry too much. Armin’s pretty strong despite how he looks. He’s brave too. Not like me. If I can make it this far, there’s no doubt that Armin will too.”

The last bit about himself was an offhand comment so he’s surprised when Mikasa comments on it. “Coward? Is that how you think of yourself?” she scoffs.

“You disagree?” He’s rather surprised. He didn’t think she noticed him enough to form an opinion of how he really was.

“You led the attack against the Armored Titan when Sasha and Connie were frozen in fear. Without you, we’d all probably be dead. What part of you is a coward?”

Just thinking about it sends shivers up his spine. Even when barking out orders to Connie and Sasha his whole body was shaken. He’s sure there was a quiver in his voice as he commanded his friends to snap out of it and take action. Although they ultimately defeated Reiner in his Titan form, he’d never want to do it again. He never wanted to see another goddamn Titan ever again. “The part that’s afraid,” he finally answers. “The part of me that never wants to set foot outside of these Walls ever again. The part that would rather die than see another Titan.”

She shakes her head. “That doesn’t make you a coward. That only makes you afraid,” she says. She pulls her legs up against her and rests her head on her knees. “Being afraid, that’s natural. Even I’m afraid. But having fears doesn’t make you a coward. Being a coward is when you’re frightened and you do nothing except cower in the corner, complaining about your fate but doing nothing to change it.”

It’s strange for him to hear about Mikasa being scared. He had always seen her as fearless, but he supposes that being fearless didn’t mean that fear was absent. It was as present in her as it was in him. He supposes he should thank her for her words but he doesn’t think it’s necessary. They’re as much as a comfort to her as they are to him. So he pulls his cloak over her shoulders and tells her, “Go to sleep.”

She frowns but doesn’t protest like he thought she would. She only leans back against the wall of the broken house they’re taking shelter in, extending her legs so that they’re almost touching his but not quite. “You should go to sleep too,” she says quietly.

“It’s fine,” he says. “I’ll go to sleep soon.”

Mikasa doesn’t say anything else to him and he doesn’t either. It’s been a while since they had a good rest. He must have nodded off sometime during the night but he wakes up for a half a second and vaguely realizes that Mikasa’s head is resting on his shoulder. If this had happened in his trainee days, he’d be over the moon. Now, however, he just appreciates the fact that there’s someone in the world that understands him.

She knocks on the doorframe even though the door is already open. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah,” he says, grabbing his cloak on the way out. He’d never imagined that he’d be walking beside Mikasa like this. It seems like he had always been fantasizing about her but none of his dreams could have shown him just how amazing she is, with her frighteningly hot temper and her deep loyalty for those she loves. Somehow, he thinks, he likes this real her that he had gotten to know far better than the ideal Mikasa that his imagination had created years ago when her first laid eyes on her. “So, the ocean. Who would have thought? And when I first started out in the military all I wanted was the sweet security that Wall Sina would have provided me.”

She chuckles. “If you could go back in time, would you go back and trade places?”

He doesn’t even wait a beat before replying. “No.” His answer is firm and final. “I wouldn’t go back. Not for any of it.”

“Oh?”

“Not after everything that’s happened,” he says. He used to be nervous talking to her but now he can’t even remember why he found her so intimidating. “I used to be okay with living in oblivion, but I’ve been through too much to turn back now. I want to be there when it ends.”

“And if it doesn’t end well?” she asks.

“Doesn’t matter,” he answers. “I want to be there. If the oceans rise, the Walls tumble down, everything turns to ash, I want to be there to see it.”

“Well,” she says. “At least we won’t be alone if that happens.”

Maybe if this were romance story, one with less death and more happiness, he’d reach out and take her hand. That might have even been something he would have done had he not faced all of those tragedies during his time in the Scouting Legion. But he just basks in this moment he’s spending together with Mikasa, walking side by side with her. That’s enough for him right now.

[screwbait71-blog]

Should the Chicago Bears sign Kareem Hunt?

Running back Kareem Hunt is arguably the most talented free agent currently on the market. He’s only 23-years old, he was the 2017 rushing champ, and he has averaged 110 yards from scrimmage in his 27 game career.

With with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017, Hunt’s offensive coordinator was current Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy, and Hunt’s skill set was a perfect match for their (his) scheme and he was selected to the Pro Bowl. He was having an even better year in 2018 with K.C., and that’s where the “football” part of Hunt’s story ends.

Hunt was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list on November 30, 2018, following a video surfacing of him shoving and kicking a woman almost a year ago (February, 2017). The Chiefs released him shortly thereafter for lying about the incident when they were made aware of it.

Another assault accusation surfaced after the video was made public pertaining to an incident in January of 2017, and a third incident called a “minor altercation,” came up from June of 2017.

Many Bears’ fans have expressed an interest in Chicago signing Hunt for the 2019 season after Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace were asked about Hunt at their end of the season press conference. Neither shot down the possibility, so it naturally got fans thinking.

We ran a poll on Twitter to gauge the temperature of our fans.

Since our Facebook audience is much different than our Twitter audience (just trust me on this one), I wanted to run the poll over there too.

The results were surprisingly similar.

Since a lot of you guys that are regular readers of WCG don’t do the social media thing, we wanted to pose the same question here too.

Poll

Should the Bears sign Kareem Hunt?

69%

Yes

(833 votes)

30%

No

(368 votes)

1201 votes total Vote Now

Signing a player that has struck a woman is a non-starter for many people, but judging by the chatter on social media and sports talk radio, many fans are willing to give Hunt a second chance.

Nagy talked about his belief in giving a player a second chance at the presser, but he also said the team hasn’t had any official discussions about signing Hunt.

Bears Chairman George McCaskey made the media rounds earlier today, and the Kareem Hunt topic again came up. Much like Nagy and Pace, McCaskey didn’t shut the door on the possibility of the Bears signing Hunt once he’s removed from the exempt list, and when asked if the Bears would pursue him he said, “We’re not there yet.”

He also confirmed to the Chicago Tribune that there have been no internal discussions about adding Hunt. “Ryan (Pace) hasn’t said anything to me about Kareem Hunt. And Matt (Nagy) hasn’t said anything to me about Kareem Hunt.”

Hunt started to attend alcohol and anger management counseling in December, and he addressed his issues and apologized in an ESPN interview.

The league office will likely suspend him once he’s off the exempt list, but he’ll need to first prove to them his troubles are in the past.

More McCaskey from the Tribune:

“I think the important thing, as Matt pointed out,” McCaskey said, “is that he addresses his personal situation before worrying about football. I think that’s a demonstration of the kind of guy Matt is. He called him to have a non-football conversation because they had a player-coach relationship. I think that says a lot about Matt. He’s not just interested in these guys as football players. I think that’s one of the reasons the players respond to him so well.”

Nagy knows Hunt very well after coaching him for a year, and his recommendation will no doubt carry a lot of weight.

I gave my thoughts on Hunt signing in Chicago on my T Formation Podcast, but I’ll share the abridged version here.

If it was my call to make, if I were the Chicago Bears’ Chairman, I’m not signing Kareem Hunt. That’s just my personal feelings on the subject. I’m talking a pass on a man that strikes a woman.

However, if the Bears do add him a a free agent, it wont stop me from cheering for my favorite team. I’ve always looked at professional sports as a job. It’s a high paying job, but it’s a job nonetheless. Unless there’s a reason Hunt can’t work (i.e. he’s in jail) then I see no reason why a team can’t hire him. I’d just rather it not be my favorite team, but I have a suspicion it will be.

I asked a few of my colleagues to give me their take on the Bears signing Hunt and I’ll share their responses here.

Erik Christopher Duerrwaechter

This truly is a signing which represents opposite sides of the spectrum.

On one hand, this signing would put the Chicago Bears into a strong position at winning the Super Bowl; Kareem is precisely the type of back Matt Nagy is looking for in his offense. What’s more important, is Matt Nagy has already voiced his support for Hunt on not one, but two different occasions. In his philosophy, his mind, he (likely) believes Hunt deserves a second chance. Ryan Pace seems to have placed his full trust with Nagy, as he too didn’t rule out the possibility of signing Hunt. Mitchell Trubisky, for what it’s worth, has a close relationship with Hunt as well.

On the other hand, this is a public relations disaster that could ruin the Bears before the start of the season. The outrage will be fierce and relentless. The media, in all likelihood, would treat the Bears like the evil empire. Hunt’s actions are completely unacceptable, strictly from my own opinion. Never mind the fact he was caught unleashing violence on his girlfriend/ex/friend/whatever; he straight up lied about his involvement and investigation to the Kansas City Chiefs’ organization. He’s highly likely to be suspended at the start of the season, it’ll take an unprecedented miracle for him to escape the matter unscathed. It doesn’t matter if the charges were dropped, he’ll receive a firm hand from the NFL for the culmination of events.

As it stands, I do not support the idea of signing Kareem Hunt, from both a business and personal perspective. I will concede, though, I am human. I have no right to judge any person based on their life and their actions. There is not a single ounce of divine blood or nobility running in my veins. If Kareem is serious about earning the privilege of signing with the Chicago Bears, then let the man earn that right for himself. He’s been attending anger management classes, he’s been seeking help from numerous people. And, unlike a certain Kicker who resides in Chicago, he’s not playing the victim nor making a media tour about himself.

It’s a good possibility that a team will sign Hunt despite his baggage, and I see the Bears as a major player in that sweepstakes. I definitely do not like this idea whatsoever. However, I must place my emotions to the side, and think about everyone else’s perspective. If the entire franchise gets behind him, if Hunt proves that he can (somehow) be trusted again, and if he balls out; I will support him just like anyone else who plays for the Chicago Bears. This signing would by far be the biggest risk Ryan Pace has ever taken in his career, and this is an even bigger risk for Matt Nagy and his career. All I can and will do, is sit back, and watch what happens.

Robert Zeglinski

Robert, who is also the Bears beat writer for the Rock River Times, give us thoughts on the subject there in his article titled’ Kareem Hunt Is A Perfect Football Fit. The Bears Still Shouldn’t Acquire Him.

Josh Sunderbruch

I have a hard time with the idea the team of Walter Payton might also become the team of Kareem Hunt. I don’t want to see the legacies of those two mingled. I don’t want to get into it more than that, except to say that I think Robert’s exploration of the issue is thoughtful and thorough.

WhiskeyRanger

I think everyone knows my stance on it by now, but I’ll offer up the Cliffs Notes. Basically, Kareem Hunt isn’t Zeke Elliot or Saquon Barkley. He’s just a back that fits that system well, similarly to how Jordan Howard fit the Fox/Gase/Loggains system well. He’s well rounded, meaning he’s pretty good at about everything, but not GREAT at anything. Backs like that can be found on day 2 or 3 of the draft (Hunt was drafted in the 3rd round himself). So why bring in Hunt, and the baggage that comes with him, when you can find someone who can do the same things in this offense in the 3rd or 4th round?

Obviously the draft is something of a gamble, but Pace has a pretty good track record in the middle rounds. That’s why I never got the push to bring him in. Kareem Hunt wasn’t some kind of steal in the 3rd. That’s just where guys like him go. Let Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy continue to build through the draft, find their own guy, benefit from the rookie contract, and avoid the controversy that this team doesn’t need or want.

Robert Schmitz

Hunt fits the offense to a T, but he’s not a “star” RB so much as he’s a “really good system RB.” It’s frankly why I think there won’t be too much of a market for him. He obviously doesn’t fit in a smash scheme and he’s not fast enough for a pure speed scheme so he’s only going to succeed in a West Coast Offense. He’s a walking PR nightmare that would make our team the villain in the eyes of the press. I, personally, don’t want that and would rather find an equivalent back in the draft and get all 4 years of cheap production. It only bolsters that argument that our current draft picks are right in the strike zone for quality running backs.

Ken Mitchell

There are a lot of really, really good backs that we can draft that come without the baggage Hunt has.

Hunt may be a great player, but the running back position is one where there are many options out there.

I’m going to take a hard pass on Hunt.

Sam Householder

I’d rather not sign Kareem Hunt. I know myself well enough not to make any proclamation that I wouldn’t root for the team anymore, but I’d be very upset. There’s similar, if not better talent available if the team is able to scout it properly. I get the whole second chances thing and his previous relationship with Nagy but it’s just not worth it to me. I think that Ryan Pace and George McCaskey should’ve learned from the Ray McDonald signing. It only takes one slip up to be wearing egg on their faces. I’d like to see more proof that Hunt’s rehabilitated himself than just completing some courses and saying he’s moved on or bettered himself.

Sitting out games and talking isn’t enough. Talk about maturity or ‘mistakes’ all you want, but the fact is that plenty of players go out and get drunk or party or whatever and don’t end up assaulting people. There’s serious issues there that go beyond just ‘one night, one mistake.’ Pace and Nagy should know that the player they see in the facility during the day might not be the same person that’s out at the club or in the hotel at 4 a.m.

This locker room has been built on guys that are obsessed, right? Is Hunt really obsessed? Can you really imagine hearing that Trubisky or Cohen or Mack were at a hotel in the middle of the night, drunk and arguing with someone? It seems improbable, given what we know and what we’ve seen. We can’t say the same for Hunt.

Our staffers that chimed in are unanimous in not wanting the Bears to sign Kareem Hunt, but now it’s your turn. Be sure to vote in the poll, and also leave your thoughts in the comment section.

Just keep in mind our community guidelines when commenting. You guys can disagree with each other all you want, just don’t go about it like an asshole.

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2019/1/24/18193955/chicago-bears-fans-sign-kareem-hunt-kansas-city-chiefs-matt-nagy-jordan-howard-ryan-pace-mccaskey

[nicolebowdenlma11-blog]

Acting for Musical Theatre- Lesson 1- Introduction

28th September, 2017

Baber (2010) indicates “The stage is a magic circle where only the most real things happen”.

In our Acting for Musical Theatre module, we are focusing around different styles of acting.  The two styles we are focusing on are classical musical theatre and contemporary musical theatre. Personally, I didn’t know many differences between the two contrasting styles; which meant that it was important for me to go away from the lesson and concentrate on researching further into the differences between the two. This will help me understand the terms of both styles and help me gain a successful outcome for when it comes to our filming module. Researching further into both styles will help me physically and mentally when it comes to performing and filming two five minute pieces in the contrasting styles. 

As I researched further into Classical Musical Theatre, I found out more about the style than I thought originally. I firstly found out that any musicals before 1956 is classed as a Classical. West Side Story, The sound of Music and Les Mis are some of the few musicals which were released before 1959. This is also classed as the Golden Age musicals. (Golden Age is anything from 1943-1959). Classical musical theatre is difficult to find opinions and emotions within the text, therefore actors need to use colour in their voices. Whereas, contemporary musical theatre is more likely to feature dialogue or features which portray a characters emotions and opinions. Contemporary musical theatre is anything after 1959. Rent, Matilda and Book of Mormon are some of the few contemporary musicals. 

Brecht and Stanislavski are classical styles of acting. Brecht- “In epic theatre actors are not allowed to play their character in great depth that they get attached to it”. Brecht wanted to remind the audience they were watching a show and everything was fake.  This is so the audience wouldn't get emotionally attached to his performances, this is also mentally preparing the audience to what they are about to watch; this is known as epic theatre; and is partly why Brecht used montage-putting together short films and videos to show the audience factual things. This is also another reason why Brecht used placards throughout his performances. Minimal lights, props and costume were used because he believed that the stage should be brightly lit at all times; special affects to create moods were not allowed. Each character changed costumes on stage; again, so the audience don't get too attached to what is happening. Making this distinction, they helped to break the fourth wall between the audience and the stage. This is another reason why he also used freeze frames and tableaux. During Brecht’s performances, he wanted the audience to see and feel the motion which was being portrayed, so they could relate it to a social or political flaw. We will not be using Brecht’s style of acting, as it is fake, Whereas the Wizard of Oz is natural.   

We are working on Stanislavski in class at the minute. Stanislavski’s ideas are influential. His acting elements are naturalistic which strongly relates to the classical musical the Wizard of Oz. Stanislavski - “The life of a character should be an unbroken line of events and emotions, but a play only gives us a few moments on that line - we must create the rest to portray a convincing life”. 

I will follow the inspiration and knowledge from his work which I have researched and apply this in my own acting skills by portraying my character throughout my performance.                                                                                                    

Stanislavski’s 7 steps:

Who am I?

Where am I?

When is it?

What do I want? (the objective)

Why do I want it?

How will I get it?

What do I need to overcome?

For our classical piece of musical theatre, we will be focusing on the musical ‘The Wizard of Oz’. We will be performing the 1942 version commissioned by the St Louis Municipal Opera. We then had to research the circumstances of the synopsis of the Wizard of Oz for a clearer understanding of the musical.

We then had been put into groups; we had the chance to chose one of the characters. Personally, I wanted to choose a character which I thought would give me the ability to challenge myself and a chance for me to come out of my comfort zone. The character I will be playing is Zeke. The reason I had chosen this specific character is because I wanted to portray a character who I didn't know much about, therefore will help me research further. We were given the opportunity to get together with our group to read over the script. This gave me the chance to gain a clearer understanding of my character and what my character is trying to do within the specific scene we were given. This also helped me build up my knowledge on the relationships between my character and other characters within the musical. I exaggerated my characters actions throughout; this helped me to understand Zeke’ s thoughts and feelings towards others. I personally feel that our group has strong characteristics, as we find it clear to visualise how our characters may be feeling at this particular point which helps us understand our individual characters in a clearer knowledge.  

Each rehearsal process will be blogged in detail every week.

Reference:

AZ Quotes. (n.d.). Constantin Stanislavski Quotes. [online] Available at: http://www.azquotes.com/author/14003-Constantin_Stanislavski [Accessed 12 Nov. 2017].

Baber, P. (2010). Quotes about Theatre. Goodreads. [online] Available at: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/theatre  [Accessed 12 Nov. 2017].

IB Theatre. (2012). IB THEATER QUOTES ON BRECHT & EPIC THEATER. [online] Available at: http://kylavdh.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/brecht-quotes.html [Accessed 12 Nov. 2017].

[snkpolls]

SnK S3E17 Results (Anime Viewer Only Version)

The poll closed with 135 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note this is the anime only viewer version of the poll. Manga readers, please click here for the results of the manga reader poll!

RATE THE EPISODE 113 Responses

This episode has received a ton of positive views across the board, and the poll here is no exception. Over 90% of respondents gave this episode the highest possible ranking.

THIS EPISODE WAS SO EPIC!! Got me on the edge of my seat the whole episode. Too many emotions were felt once the episode ended

Loved the pacing of this episode

Best episode of season 3

Damn

The animation was soooo goooood!

Definitely one of the best this season

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT? 113 Responses

At 36.6%, Levi vs. the Beast Titan is the scene that anime only viewers appreciated the most in this episode. At 25.7%, Armin’s sacrifice makes for a strong second favorite scene. 18.6% of respondents simply couldn’t decide what part of the episode they enjoyed the most.

WHO WAS THE EPISODE’S MVP? 112 Responses

Unsurprisingly, Armin easily took the claim to the episode’s Most Valuable Person, with 80.4% of the vote favoring his sacrifice over the actions of the rest of the cast. Levi came in second with 15.2% of the vote.

WHO’S SACRIFICE HAD MORE EMOTIONAL IMPACT ON YOU? 110 Responses

64.5% of the fandom felt more emotionally compromised by Armin’s sacrifice, although we’re sure the choice wasn’t easy for many. Both characters pulled through with their heroic actions!

WHICH CHARACTER HAD THE BEST “FINAL BLOW” AGAINST THE ENEMY? 111 Responses

At just over half, 51.4% of anime only viewers were most excited about Levi’s final blow against the Beast Titan, shredding his nape open to reveal the human inside!

WHICH WAS THE BETTER ONE LINER FROM MIKASA? 111 Responses

“Annie. Fall,” remains the most notable pre-mortem one-liner from Mikasa among respondents.

THOUGHTS ON WIT CHOOSING TO OMIT ANY MUSIC WHEN EREN TAKES OUT BERTOLT? 112 Responses

78.6% of respondents appreciated WIT’s decision to leave the take-down of the Colossal Titan without any music at all, allowing the viewers to really focus on the moment unfold in front of them. 16.1% of respondents enjoyed the lack of music, but also wouldn’t have minded if WIT had included something. A smaller amount think the moment would have been more profound with something playing in the background. 

I didn't notice there wasn't any music

Was still in shock from about Armin so didn't notice

850 YEARBOOK VOTE: WHO HAS THE BEST TEETH? 109 Responses

With a slight edge over the Colossal Titan, the random Redshirt with the… very interesting facial features wins out this category with 27.5% of the vote. The Colossal Titan was in second place, and Eren’s titan ranked in third. Sorry, Zeke. We’re sure Levi would love to rearrange your teeth a bit.

WHO WORE THIS LOOK BETTER? 110 Responses

Reiner wins the most handsome look with 52.7% of the vote. We can probably thank WIT’s quality animation for this one!

WHAT DO YOU THINK ZEKE MEANT WHEN HE SPOKE ABOUT HUMANITY REPEATING THE SAME MISTAKES OVER AND OVER? 112 Responses

65.2% of respondents feel that Zeke was referring to the King’s brainwashing and how it causes humanity to repeat the same history over and over. 22.3% feel that it’s a more broad statement and criticism on humanity in general and how we’re doomed to forever repeat history. 9.8% either lean more on the “time loop” theory or just think we’re quite witty!

The only solution is extinction

The story is an endless circle

humans are stupid? Or maybe he thinks him and his warriors are better than normal humans?

YOUR REACTION TO LEVI VS. BEAST TITAN? 112 Responses

At 71.4%, the overwhelming majority of respondents were super pumped up for Levi vs. Beast Titan and weren’t disappointed. 13.4% felt that everything went relatively predictably without feeling disappointed. 11.6% were simply impressed, and a small percentage felt it was too predictable.

It's beautiful. I've looked at this for five hours now

Levi gave beast titan a nice shave

DO YOU THINK LEVI WILL GET ANOTHER CHANCE TO TRY AND FULFILL HIS PROMISE? 111 Responses

64% of respondents are feeling positively about Levi’s plight and believe he will be able to face Zeke again and see his vow through. 19.8% are slightly less optimistic, believing that Levi will get to face Zeke again, but still won’t come out victorious. 14.4% are certain that he simply will never get another chance to fulfill his promise.

He promised Erwin to kill him, after Erwin’s death I god damn demand the death of the Beast Titan!

Yes, and I have a bad feeling he might end up dying on his 2nd attempt

REINER LOST HIS MEMORY AFTER BEING INJURED. THOUGHTS? 111 Responses

68.5% of respondents went with the more sarcastically worded answer, but feel that he only lost his memory due to the fact that his head was blown off. 21.6% of respondents feel that it’s something that’s going to ultimately affect Reiner personality disorder, and 7.2% feel that the memory loss is simply just a side effect of titan shifting in general.

I didn't notice

I think it will be revealed later

No, this will be momentary

HOW RELIEVED WERE YOU TO SEE HANGE JUMP INTO BATTLE? 113 Responses

The majority of the fandom was relieved to see that Hange is still alive after a couple episodes of not knowing their fate. Bonus points for them coming back in one of the coolest ways!

SASHA WAS INJURED AND RENDERED UNCONSCIOUS. DO YOU THINK SHE’LL BE OKAY? 113 Responses

Nearly 70% of voters aren’t too concerned for Sasha’s fate. 22% don’t want to say either way, and a small 8% believe she’ll be confirmed dead by the end of the arc.

WILL LEVI HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO USE THE SERUM? 112 Responses

The vast majority of respondents are fully confident that Levi will inject another character to eat one of the enemy shifters.

PLOT PREDICTION: Erwin is barely alive but will bleed out soon. Levi has the serum, Eren suggests they use it on Armin, (despite already being dead and not knowing if the serum works on the dead.) Levi gets angry at Eren for this and that leads into the rooftop trailer from S3 Part 1's final episode. When Levi is pinned by Mikasa, Eren steals the serum and uses it on Armin, not knowing if it will even work.

IF SO, WHICH SHIFTER DO YOU THINK WILL BE SACRIFICED? 113 Responses

72.6% of respondents are confident that with Bertolt out of commission, he’ll be the one to be sacrificed should the serum be used. 15.9% believe that it will be Reiner. At third, a small percentage are firm in believing that the serum will not end up getting used for one reason or another.

HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT ARMIN’S SACRIFICE? 113 Responses

A solid 54% of the fandom were emotionally touched by Armin’s sacrifice, feeling that he went out bravely. 25.7% gained a lot more respect for his character than they had previously, and 15.9% feel very strongly about those who consider Armin to be a useless character. Just a few weren’t really moved by the sacrifice at all.

PepeHands look how they massacred my boy

I'm still traumatized... Armin was my 3rd favorite character and I just... can’t believe it

IS THIS A GOOD END FOR ARMIN’S CHARACTER? 113 Responses

78.8% of respondents believe that this is a satisfying and fitting end to Armin’s character arc. The remaining respondents still want to get something more out of him.

Why did Armin have to go ;-;

Ohh Godd! give us Armin back oh lord! ;-;

HOW DID YOU FEEL SEEING EREN FINALLY TAKE DOWN THE COLOSSAL TITAN? 113 Responses

Nearly half of the fandom were excited to see Eren finally take out the Colossal Titan, cheering on his victory. 33.6% were happy to see it happen and felt it was well deserved. 12.4% would rather give Armin credit for the victory, and a small percentage were either neutral or unhappy with the development.

What did it cost?

HOW HAVE YOUR OPINIONS ON THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERS CHANGED?

Naturally, Armin got a huge boost in favorability from this episode, and characters like Eren, Erwin and Levi have also gained fairly large boosts in this regard. Mikasa, Reiner and Bertolt mainly remain unchanged, with a few more favoring Mikasa higher, while Bertolt and Reiner are favored lower. Zeke, the Beast Titan, is the only character who’s favorability continues to move in a negative direction, unsurprisingly so. Yes, we do plan on asking this again after episode 55.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

;0;

Best episode yet

Floch came Clutch

Fucking awesome and hawt 💞😔🥵

Hyped for next episode

I noticed Zeke mentioned some underlying daddy issues. Poor guy's going through a phase... I bet he's about to be seriously grounded

Solidifies it as my favourite anime and dare I say perhaps even one of my favourite shows of all time

very noice

yeet

Thank you for running this poll. I've been looking forward to it every week since I discovered it at the beginning of the season and I appreciate the work you put in to it :)

(Thank you to the person who wrote the last comment! <3)

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 105 Responses

Thank you to everyone who participated! We’ll see you again in a few days!