#quillsandblades 🗡️

[sunflowersunite]

"Lucky"

two idiots tangled in their gear. illustration of the fic "Lucky" by @quillsandblades

i was just curious about what they'd look like if they were messed up like this

[sunflowersunite]

I am watching you. Me and death, you'll never escape Swordslinger.

It's such an amazing feeling when someone picks up on something in your writing that you 100% intended but didn't think people would notice. Like, YES!! My writing properly conveyed the thing it was supposed to!!! You are so awesome for noticing that!!! I am so awesome for writing that!!! I feel so good about my story now!!!!

[sunflowersunite]

Hello, readers of “Where My Monsters Like To Hide”! Did you miss us? @quillsandblades and I are here for another teaser on the future events, a little looser-lipped than the last time, because the end of the hiatus keeps approaching and we’re both very excited about what’s to come.

Specifically, you can expect to see:

someone who was thought to be dead yet lurks, watches, waits for a slip

the crafting of new weapons (paired with a descent to the dark, a leap taken towards the sacrifice of morals)

love in times of war is a ray of hope, but sometimes, the price for it is blood and guilt

an omission costing them limbs and lives. A hand left half, a face marred and bloodied

Levihan jealousy (is it directed towards rocks and books this time or could we expect people as well?)

the answers to an old case, one shrouded by mystery, the start of a relentless rivalry

a generous helping of trauma

Those are the spoilers for today 😁 we hope you're as excited as we are and guesses are very welcome

🌻⚔️

[sunflowersunite]

Here for the headcanon game, and as usual I've got a lot to ask 😁

☾ - Eren, Armin, Erwin, Mike, Mikasa

★ - Erwin, Pieck

▼ - Hange, Mike

Hellooo Swordslinger! Thank you for indulging me in this fine day in this fine game and sorry for the late response, I wanted to think about this in depth 😁

I had way too much fun coming up with these, the plethora of characters presented here is so interesting!! It sparked my creativeness and I always love a challenge so without further ado

sleep headcanons

☾ Eren: he's the type to have the wildest dreams influenced by the whirlwind of emotions that drive him, and they're so vivid that he believes them to be true the next morning. He dreamt humanity defeated the titans and he was the most joyous he's ever been the next day. When he dreamt Hange dissected him with a cactus, he avoided her all week. His top dreams also include:

Connie stuffing his socks with molten cheese

Sasha munching on the flesh of his thigh and nibbling on his femur (it was terrifying)

Levi kicking him to the point of complete obliteration and Mike inhaling the remains (that happened after the jury scene)

Mikasa dating Jean. This one wasn't that extraordinary but Eren was mad at Mikasa for a whole day and he didn't even know why. He doesn't care, right...?

☾ Armin: he curls up in a fetal position, rolled up in a colourful blanket and he's warm and adorable, he must be protected at all costs. The 104th invented a game where the objective was to pick up Armin and carry him round like a baby while doing the craziest challenges like hopping on one leg or doing a handstand or having freezing water poured down their backs. The winner was whoever could do all that with Armin remaining asleep for the longest time. Reiner won more often, Connie lost all the time.

☾ Erwin: he's a sleep talker. that man hasn't slept soundly since the dawn of time, always on about the next day's mission while unconscious. You can even strike up conversations with him, Hange has tried and it's hilarious. he slurs out "charge" every two sentences into the discussion. he's even sleepwalked a few times; and trust me, it's not a sight you want to come across, your Commander emerging from the darkness clad in a nightgown and barefoot, terrifying blue eyes blown wide, staring into your soul, hearing

"charge"

loud and clear before returning to his room calmly and still asleep. it's happened to a soldier and they couldn't look Erwin in the eye again. it's also happened to Mike and he just said "ok" with a flat face and guided Erwin back to his room.

☾ Mike: he doesn't really like sleeping, it feels uncomfortable. He himself doesn't know the reason but I'll let you in on a secret; you can't smell anything while asleep and thus Mike is out of his comfort zone. Also he sleeps with his arms crossed, don't tell me it doesn't make sense. He instinctively wants to make himself smaller to fit on the standard sized military beds, because Mike is always bigger than any bed he finds himself in. After confirming his unbelievable strength and calculating the possibilities of Mike dying soon (very few), Erwin ordered him a bigger bed.

☾ Mikasa: if no threat is involved, Mikasa sleeps like a log. She might not look it because every time she's ordered to wake up she can be ready within minutes, but when nobody's in danger don't you dare separate her from the shadows that have claimed her. she often seeks beside her for something familiar to hold onto, usually Eren or Armin or after she joined the military, her scarf. She and Eren make a perfect sleeping match because she holds onto him tightly, stopping his neurotic moves, and eventually her calm heartbeat slows down his own too.

And they sleep soundly like they deserve 😀

sad headcanons

★ Erwin: in the end he was revealed to be driven by selfishness, able to send hundreds of soldiers out in the battle to die. it's easier for him than breathing to sacrifice people for what he wants to achieve. maybe it's because those deaths, those murders could never rival his very first; the murder of his own father. the twelve year old boy inside him never picked up the pliers to torture his father, the knife to end his life, but let his tongue loose, lead him to prison, lead him to his death. Erwin might pretend otherwise, he might wear the facade of the numb and fearless Commander, but the twelve year old boy never healed, never escaped the guilt. He gave up on Marie in his youth because all he does, all he can do, is to hurt those he loves. Maybe he doesn't deserve to be loved. Maybe he deserves to give up on his dream and die (his thoughts, not mine)

★ Pieck: (Pieck! I wasn't expecting her but she's welcome to the party, you're feeling bold today Mina. Either you know i'm fond of that sassy titan shifter or you're trying to catch me by surprise. Either way, i can find sad headcanons for everyone, so gotcha 😁)

Relationships scare her and I don't mean romance, I mean anything. Her mother isn't in the picture and her father is sick, Pieck lives with the fear of losing him. She trusted her comrades with her life, and they died. She was friends with Marcel, with Berthold, with Annie. They didn't return. Reiner did but he might as well have stayed back because all that returned home was a husk.

Porco died, which hurt more than she expected it to (she always kept his jacket). Pieck sometimes wishes she didn't care as much, she envies Annie for her stoicism and wishes she didn't get attached so easily, hopes friendships and love and care didn't scar her deeper than titan marks.

childhood headcanons

▼ Hange: she scolded literally anyone around her who smoked since she found out it's bad for one's health. She stole and threw away cigarette packs (even the expensive ones without batting an eyelash, a child doesn't give a damn about money and Hange Zoe surely never did) and proudly received the beating afterwards, gritting her teeth, because she knew she was doing the right thing long term. Maybe that's why she became estranged with her family, who knows 🤔

Unbeknownst to her, Hange started an anti smoking campaign among the neighbourhood kids who continued her legacy after she left.

Yeah Hange can't stand smoking

▼ Mike: he started speaking at six, maybe seven, much too late for a child to utter his first words. He studied the world around him attentively but couldn't speak to communicate with it, all his thoughts locked inside his own mind. For that, he was considered different and odd by some, including his parents. they took him to doctors, even the church of the walls eventually, to cure him. Mike himself didn't mind, he knew he'd speak when ready. He met Hange at some point in his childhood and she didn't care if he spoke or not, she played with him nonetheless. they communicated by signing random things in a sign language they made up on the spot, and by drawing on the dirt. They never met again until the army where they reunited happily, this time communicating vocally (but keeping in mind their private sign language for boring office meetings or teasing. Hange once kept signing "banana" over the assembly hall during lunch and Mike was mortified the entire time)

Thanks again Min! This was so much fun! 😉

headcanon ask game!

[dont-f-with-moogles]

when you get this, list 5 sounds that the world around us makes that u like to listen to, publish. then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (positivity is cool, but no pressure!) ♥️♥️

Thanks @sunflowersunite 🌻@starshower1215 💫 @quillsandblades 🗡️

Imma be honest, I just love silence.

[sunflowersunite]

@quillsandblades we all know how that went

Do y'all ever read a fic so good that it makes you want to elevate your own craft and also befriend the writer? It's almost like, "Hi! You write so well that you've inspired me to embark on a creative training arc. Also, can I yell about the character in your dms because you get it?"

[sunflowersunite]

domestic Eremika: wrestling matches

I mentioned in this post that Eren likes to hug Mikasa from behind and pretend it's a sneak attack, then this comment happened

Long story short, bon appetit

Eren loses their wrestling matches all the time. He wants to be mad but ends up being extremely attracted to his wife.

Referenced (okay, copied but didn't trace) the position from this sketch. (if the artist doesn't wish for their art to be copied, I will take it down)

(why yes, they are indeed living in Shiganshina. That over there is their tree. They take picnics there every day. They only use their dining room when they have guests other than Armin because if Armin visits, they all eat under the tree)

[sunflowersunite]

What are your headcanons for levihan if Hange had survived?

thank you SO MUCH @quillsandblades, I love those sorts of questions

firstly, after they've calmed down from the war and the Rumbling, Hange wants to travel. She wants to see all sorts of sights, learn everything, see everything. Levi follows, inevitably. He's always had her back (he's always been her left eye), so now he goes with her. it's natural to follow her by now.

they don't speak about their feelings immediately. They rushed to confess when the world was ending, and now that it's not, something keeps them from doing it. They've held off for so long that they don't know how to let go of their reluctance. Armin and the others roll their eyes, but wave goodbye at them at the airport.

it's all right, though, because they get to travel together, and start a whole another life.

Hange sees all sorts of devices, ancient or not. She goes to museums, sees human history unfolding before her. Artworks, statues, declarations of war, peace treaties, rusty machines and legendary monuments.

Levi watches her and smiles. He sees the old Hange again, the one without the weight of the Wings of Freedom.

Levi starts to look younger without the stress lines. He smiles a bit more. Hange smiles a lot, and she returns to her old self gradually. They're both so proud of each other (which means extra teasing)

She tries weird spicy food, while he sticks to the beverages. She wants to make him eat, because "you can't know you don't like it if you've never tried"

later, she discovers the Rubik's cube. It takes her about two days to solve it (two days straight, without food, and Levi had to force her to sleep)

Eventually, they settle down. They both want to return to Paradis and live there in anonymity.

They find a remote house in the forest, near the river, like they once promised to. They prefer to be calm and isolated-- or at least choose when they want to interact with the world. They live together, of course, it feels natural by now. It would feel unnatural not to, after everything.

The house has two bedrooms.

They go to Historia's for lunch often. She and her husband share weird looks, but they never say anything. Her daughter calls them aunt and uncle. She climbs on Levi's lap, and he doesn't complain, he just holds her nonchalantly and lets her touch the shaved part of his undercut.

When he asks Hange why she's smiling like an idiot, she tells him it's nothing.

Did I mention that he lets Hange cut his hair?

Hange studies plants, birds, has adopted some animals from time to time despite what Levi says.

Somehow, Levi manages to clean the entire house in no time. He also bathes Hange, because some things never change.

"Don't put pressure on yourself, that's an order," Hange tells him. "You're not my superior anymore," he reminds her. That holds more weight than he intended it to. They're free.

The weight of memories becomes to much to bear, eventually. With all the free time they have, all they do is remember those they've lost. The family that broke up.

Hange gets up at nights and goes to Levi's room. They don't exchange many words, she just crawls into bed with him. They sleep side by side. Eventually, the second bedroom turns into a study.

They treat each other's injuries, apply the necessary balms to the scars and the burns every day. It becomes their routine. Hange sometimes kisses the scar on his eye when she's done, just to see him flustered.

Levi doesn't do exactly the same to the burns on her back, but the touch of his fingers is so deliberately featherlight that Hange can't help but shiver. It's something that comes naturally, because he wants to take care of her.

They get married. It's the only possible outcome. They both knew it would happen, they just needed time to adjust to their newfound freedom.

"it wasn't that obvious," Hange complains when Historia makes a remark one day about "how great, it was about time".

"it was, Commander," Historia says. "We all saw it coming."

they share anecdotes, and the evening passes with Hange saying "wait, you were jealous??" and "that's why you said that??"

they both feel flustered when Historia reveals they were basically the parents of the 104th. They knew, but still, it being said out loud hits different.

Mikasa was maid of honour.

(now, whether they have kids of their own is another story.)

They're both awkward af, mostly Levi. At first when Levi wants to kiss her, he gets extra serious, catches her attention like "oi" and maybe grabs her by the hair.

They feel like Erwin's gonna appear out of nowhere and tell them that they're being unprofessional lol

For a while (or a lot) every time Levi wakes up, he feels like he'll open his eyes and it will all have been a dream, and he'll wake up back in the barracks with two eyes and more people to lose.

so Levi seeks next to him, finds Hange, and holds her, breathes in the scent of the forest and the sea salt on her. Only then does he open his eyes, when he feels like it's safe to. He's never told her.

They visit the sea very often. Levi stands up from his wheelchair then, and they hold hands and look. Now, the sea doesn't hold promises and vows, it's just sea. Blue and beautiful. They watch sunsets and sleep in the sand and watch sunrises together.

the house is full of photos of them and their trips, and little souvenirs and plants and Hange's research.

I feel like they would become legends as the time passed. Of course, Hange is a well known "historical figure" as the 14th Commander, but Levi? There are no pictures of him, only oral tales about "a soldier so strong he could defeat 30 titans at once". Yeah, right, as if. Where's the proof?

Hange becomes a herbologist or zoologist or astronomer or everything. Maybe she becomes a professor and does her own research on a field she loves. Some of her students come to her house and they see Levi Freaking Ackerman chilling like "wassup"

and they ask "did you really kill like 100 titans" "were titans even real?" (because scepticism and because they were too young to remember) And Levi just says "no" and goes about his day.

(there are swords on the wall, though)

Levi prefers to stay at home and be at peace. He helps refugees, of course, and "helps around" with Historia's orphanage (kids run around and he calls them brats)

Hange has made a bet with herself as they grow older that Levi will end up with more wrinkles around his eyes than between his brows. She's never told anyone.

(the bet is proceeding well)

eventually they grow old together and watch their "grandkids" (Historia's kids, Jean's kids, Aruani's kids, Mikasa's adopted kids, etc)

The kids call them their grandparents and they absolutely don't mind. Levi chastises them, but not harshly.

He teaches the kids how to flip butterfly knives. What is Jean going to do, tell him not to?

They absolutely adore Hange. She makes up those fun games and teaches them a multitude of things (although a parent must always be around because her games are kinda dangerous)

Levi wears Hange's clothes. The trope where the girl wears her man's T-shirts, and whatever-- that's Levi. And he can pull them off.

Hange wears his clothes too. I mean, Levi has broad shoulders and although the shirts might be kinda short, it's a fashion choice and she looks fabulous. They've forgotten which clothes are whose. Sometimes they even buy them the "wrong" size for the other one to steal.

Okay this is long, I gotta stop. But send me more questions like this, people, I love them

[sunflowersunite]

Update & Announcement 📣

It's not letting me post the link normally so read the chapter

HERE

@quillsandblades and I have returned with yet another chapter! (and an important announcement)

Allow me to present to you a rollercoaster of tattered morals and overwhelming emotions, a chance for two authors to go berserk and have fun with it as the Underground arc is wrapped up all nicely, with a bow on top ❤️

Without further ado, let's jump right into:

"if you can't afford the wrath of the elements, homemade is fine" 🌊

portrayals of betrayal

a brother's final (?) stand

a genius plan, its consequences and a live bait

Kenny's childhood dream coming true (unfortunately, for everyone involved)

Synopsis:

Crimson shot in the air, he smelt it before he saw it. Another pinch added to the tidal wave of scents hitting his nose. Blood was the strongest, always had been. When he was a kid and cried at the sight of it, when he stepped into the field for the first time and puked at the horrid, raw stench hitting his nose during a messy operation, and even now. Always the blood. Like the dead were reminding him of their tragedy, like those on the brink of it were reminding him that he gets to live while they die. Thugs and policemen mixed, their wounds leaking the same blood as every single person out there. Mike hated them so much, these criminals who made his people bleed.

Alright, another important thing we wanted to talk about. Mina and I are taking a small break from the updates. Real life has been catching up for a while now, we've been trying our best to continue posting through the accumulating responsibilities, and I think we did a great job of presenting a compelling story so far. But here's the thing: the next arc is going to require much more work, and our attention needs to be focused elsewhere for now. If we continued with the updates we'd get confused and lost in the details, thus the quality of the story would eventually decrease. That's clearly the last thing we want. We love this story too much to let this happen to it.

Therefore, "Where My Monsters Like To Hide" will be on hiatus until early June, when we'll both be more free to continue working on it and give it our full attention.

Meanwhile we'll post our backstage content for the rest of the chapters here on Tumblr and we'll take advantage of the time we'll have ahead of us to structure our next arc, so that in June we'll be ready to present you with the continuation!

Both of us would like to thank you all so much for following this story, and for your patience. See you in June! 😉

🌻⚔️

[sunflowersunite]

@quillsandblades Hange's speech defending Levi if he gets publically outed as a vampire

god forbid a white boy get a little bit freaky after dark

[sunflowersunite]

So, @quillsandblades and I were talking about Hange's parents and their relationship in our vampire AU. We haven't revealed much about it yet but from what little we find out in the fic, they give off a vibe of mutual respect and a deep connection, a healthy relationship that has raised Hange's standards on love.

So we settled that her thoughts on it must be "yeah love is cool and something my parents had but an emotion of such a deep extent only occurs once a century or so. Nah, I'm not gonna fall in love, I'm devoted to my work anyway and I ain't cheating on it--"

*Levi casually lying in the snow like sleeping beauty*

"...shit"

(I couldn't resist a small doodle where Levi looks something like a crossover of a Disney princess and a tragic Shakespearean character. The clothes' design by addiej01)

Also if you think about it Hange then does CPR on him giving him mouth to mouth and later he wakes up, so technically true love's kiss worked 😁 alright it's not true love yet but we all know where this is going

[sunflowersunite]

By Your Side

Verrry happy I got to finish this 😁

Illustration of the wonderful fic "By Your Side" by @quillsandblades the Swordslinger, which I'm lucky to say was a gift for me. A comfort story, took me on a long journey of pain and healing, ruined me and put me back together. I couldn't leave this masterpiece un-illustrated. Thank you Mina and here you go! 💜

(snippet with context below :)

They passed another tavern and music trickled out from its open windows. Hange followed its rhythm, stopping in her tracks to spin around and grab his arm. Any of his protests were doused by her excited grin and slurred request that they dance. He followed through a few halfhearted, uncoordinated moves before she flopped against his side. If he squinted, Levi could almost see the stars dancing alongside her as well, the night sky humming a song lost to man while the city held them in a gentle embrace. And she laughed. The sound hit his ears like soft bell chimes which was absurd since there was nothing gentle about the wild cackle she’d let out. But he could blame it all on the alcohol. From the way she swayed beside him and he wanted to lean a little closer, or the desire to reach out and card his fingers through her for-once neat hair (she actually took a bath before they came) and feel them against his skin, or wrap his arms around her and pull her close enough so he could feel her warmth, her heart. He wanted to say her name. Hange. She looked so soft in that moment, gentle, carefree and smiling, a woman not burdened and hardened by the reality of their world that he couldn’t call her Hange. Hange was her own way of drilling the harsh facts into herself, the name of a soldier. So he didn’t call her that, because in this moment he wanted just the two of them to exist. Instead he pressed his face into her shoulder and inhaled, making her stop for a moment. And he whispered. ‘Zoe.’ His fingers encircled her wrist in a feather-light touch.

background reference here on Pinterest

[sunflowersunite]

I guess you won't publish the story now it's been 4 weeks

Hey anon! No, there won't be an update today I'm afraid.

Those days both @quillsandblades and I have been handed quite a load of real life responsibilities each, and even through those we still try to work hard on the chapter. We try our best, but we can't write as quickly as before because of the aforementioned responsibilities.

That doesn't mean we have abandoned the story though. We're flattered to know that you guys are waiting for the update but we ask for a little patience because we're already doing our best. The support is appreciated but please no pressure. A month is an average update gap for a fanfic, many writers take more than that. It doesn't mean we're abandoning it.

[sunflowersunite]

How dare you, this is the sweetest

"uhh I meant your weird brain doesn't suck 100% all the time"

Hange just smiles as he walks away. They're both flustered messes

Me and who

[sunflowersunite]

It’s feeding time

We are hungry for blood!

Hungry for blood, you say? 👀

Then we shall serve. Though don't say we didn't warn you.

Although, till now, @quillsandblades and I are still very busy so we haven't started writing yet. Hopefully by the end of the month there will be an update. To defend ourselves we never said 'the early days of June', just 'June' 😁

[sunflowersunite]

Mother's Sickbed

from chapter 17 of "Where My Monsters Like to Hide" I present to you a doodle, product of a collab of crazy thoughts @quillsandblades and I had.

Eren stepped forward to check her temperature while Armin fussed around, arranging her pillows and asking if she needed another blanket and telling her to take better care of herself. “You gotta stay hydrated,” Eren instructed, taking up a tone Mikasa imagined he did with his patients in the emergency. “And drink chamomile tea, a warm bath would be nice too. And you have to rest so quit working for a while.” “Sure Dr Yeager,” Hange teased, then turned to Levi. “Did you note that down? We’ve got the expert’s opinion.”

so there is EMA, gathered around Hange's sickbed like Victorian children in dresses and bonnets, in agony over their mother's fate. Wretched white death disease, it has reaped hundreds this winter...

bonus: Hange's reading Dracula, totally not to compare Levi to him, nope, nuh uh.

(I just now realised that if Eren and Armin stand up they'll be a million metres tall. I messed up the measurements lmao)

(well um it's the symbolism because in canon they're titans and. yeah)

(and in case you're wondering, Mikasa does find Eren's "doctor Yeager" persona very attractive)