#reiss is also like 15

[rizardofether]

Thinking about Reiss again. He's an artificially created asura. The inspiration came from a manga I was reading, where the protagonist got reincarnated in another world into an artificially made new body and at some point one of the other characters finds out about it and brings it up by saying: "Your face has such a gentle smile. You wouldn't think it was the face of an artificially created human." Which sounds really fucked up to say to someone in my opinion...

Anyway so it inspired me to make my own artificially created character, and asura were the perfect target, since they would be the type to do something like that. I was unsure if I wanted him to be basically the clone of his creator or just a mix of genes he got his hands on...

But then this happened:

For the first time I got the doppelganger targeting me and it just happened while I was playing on Reiss. Which then led me to think about if Reiss was a clone, then seeing a doppelganger of himself would feel very uncomfortable.

Reiss' story is that his creator wanted to try his hand at artificially creating asura, and used his genes to make clones. Reiss was the first successful one, though he ran out of funding for his secret project so he remained the only one. Though he had plans for more, he had to put the project on pause to secure more funding.

In the meanwhile, he began raising Reiss as his son/test subject. He was a messed up fellow who would have treated his actual children terribly as well and he never got anyone to consent to having children with him he was that rancid.

Reiss was made to be very intelligent even by asura standards, as well as physically stronger than any normal asura. It worked for the most part, though he ended up with poor eyesight, having to wear glasses. Reiss quickly learned to act in a way that pleased his creator, hiding his displeasure at his treatment, secretly working towards escaping from his lab.

Then one day he was caught in the Inquest attack to take over the golems, getting killed by one of them. Reiss who had secretly built and planted a listening device on him, learned of this and took it as a chance to escape and be free.

While Reiss is a clone, he is a younger version of his creator, who was already an old man, so at most people would only recognize him as his son, since he kept his project secret from everyone else. The name Reiss is one he came up with for himself, his creator only ever used a test subject number name for him.

[midnightraine131]

Love Letters from the Skies to the West Coast - Chapter 4 / 15

Pairing: Armin Arlert/Annie Leonhart Minor: Levi Ackermann/ Hange Zoe, Historia Reiss / Ymir Tags: Fluff, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Teenage Love, Awkward First Times, Slow Burn, POV Armin Arlert, Bottom Armin Arlert, Wet Dreams Warning: R18 contains sensitive topics If you are easily triggered by religions, specifically Christianity and Catholicism, I don't think this fic is for you. I have nothing against these religions and this fic is anything but serious. Summary: They say the most judgmental people are those who attend church on Sundays. Despite growing up in a Christian household, Armin Arlert felt overburdened by the pile of ministry activities assigned to him. So he made a pact with himself to never follow in his father's footsteps and become a pastor. With the goal of saving enough money to persuade his parents to let him move to another state after high school, he started accepting paid essay projects in school in secret. Everything in Armin's busy life seemed manageable until he met Annie Leonhart, a Californian girl whose parents had moved her against her will to Vermont. Upon discovering Armin's secret business, Annie approached him with a unique request- to write love letters for a long-distance lover. To craft the perfect love letters, she would help Armin embark on a journey of firsts— his first kiss, first hug, first date, and first everything in a relationship.thing in a relationship.

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

Awkward silence.

That’s the best word Armin could describe their current situation. Annie sat on the bench beside him, her arms crossed over her chest. Her right leg rested atop the other, gently swinging her foot up and down. He couldn't discern if she expected him to say something foolish again or if he should awkwardly excuse himself, blurting out, "Hi, Doc Hange! I just remembered I have some errands to run. Send the bills to my address! Gotta go!" Then, making a dash for the door as if his life depended on it.

But, no, that scenario was wishful thinking. His grandfather was picking him up from this clinic; he needed a ride home.

Armin closed his eyes in resignation. If there were an award for making a situation awkward, he'd surely earn a noble prize.

He shifted his gaze toward the counter, squinting to catch their reflection in its glass finish. Annie appeared disinterested, likely gazing out of the window. He followed her line of sight and spotted her watching tangerine-colored leaves dancing in the wind. One leaf glided and swirled mid-air before disappearing from view. Armin rarely appreciated such things, but as he turned back to Annie, seeing her face light up, he found tranquility in that moment.

Annie's countenance was a fortress for her emotions; she guarded them skillfully, hiding something fragile. In a split second, she smiled. As Armin blinked, her usual stoic expression returned. He made a mental note that the next time he caught her smile, he wouldn't blink so she couldn't shield herself. She’s indeed a very pretty girl, he mused.

Clearing her throat, Annie broke the silence. "That's quite awkward, isn't it? If you have nothing more to say, I'll return to my work."

Armin blinked, looking away and feeling his face heat up. He shifted his seat as far as possible. "I said what I meant."

"Do you really mean it?"

He nodded.

Of course, he did. They might not have been the usual words one would say, but it was Armin. He'd bluntly speak his mind without much thought. Before he could answer, the door burst open.

Hange, sliding a pen back into her white-coated pocket, reviewed a report on her clipboard. "As I suspected, your girl is extremely malnourished. She was just a week old and required extensive care for a few days before she could eat independently. Also, her wounds are infected, not too severe, but I need to prescribe some antibiotics." Scribbling down prescriptions, she then noticed the two awkward teenagers on the bench. "Oh, do you two know each other?" she inquired.

Despite Hange being among the brightest individuals Armin knows in town, she occasionally displays a certain naiveté, often unintentionally. She's been married for over two years to Levi Ackerman, a pet groomer, possibly her first boyfriend post-university. Rumours has it they've chosen not to have children, instead opting to be devoted "fur parents." Their love for their fur babies evolved into a business—a small clinic offering pet grooming services.

Armin rose and approached the counter, where Hange was jotting down notes. Somehow, he felt relieved to escape an awkward conversation with Annie. "Well, um, yeah, we know each other. So, what will the bill be?" he inquired.

Hange clicked her tongue and sighed. "I won't charge you for the consultation, but for her medications, milk, and vaccines. It might be a bit costly. Also, my clinic is currently filled with animals carrying diseases. I can't risk a small kitten falling ill, so she needs a home."

Armin sensed Annie standing behind him, listening. He glanced at her before returning his focus to the doctor. While he could persuade his parents to adopt the kitten, he didn't want to engage in discussions about shouldering the expenses with them.

"As much as I'd like to take her, my dad will probably kick me out before I bring the kitten home," Annie deadpanned.

"Hmm." Hange leaned on her table, chin resting on her palm. "I can see in Armin's eyes that he wants the cat too. How about co-parenting for the cat? Armin provides a home while Annie supports her needs in exchange for visiting rights. You're a full-time staff member at my clinic, so you are eligible for a staff rate, it won't hurt much."

Not a bad idea, but...

"Uh, that's fine with me. I'm not sure about Annie," Armin replied, looking down at the white-tiled floor.

"I have no issue with that," Annie said, crossing her arms.

"It's settled then!" Hange clapped her hands in delight. "I'll prepare her things so you can head home. I have a small cage here for you. I'll be right back." She continued to chatter as she vanished into one of the rooms, leaving the two blondes alone.

Armin smiled awkwardly at Annie.

Great.

Read more on AO3

[rivangel]

How come rod turned into the biggest titan if he just licked it? Is it because of his royal blood?

i'm guessing you saw my post about controlling the size of titans?? so the sergeant major filled the syringe almost entirely after saying he was going to make a 3-4 meter titan, and pure titans range from 3-15 meters. so it seems like the more serum you inject, the SMALLER the resulting titan is.

also, and tho this is mostly just implied, injection into/eating the spine is the "right" way to go about it, which makes sense, so there'd be complications to do it any other way.

rod reiss didn't even swallow any, he kind of just touched a little to his tongue? WOO what a disaster.

dina's titan was about 15 meters, which is the max. therefore pure titans of royal blood seem to be naturally tall, which makes sense. hence why reiss's titan is "tall", but he absorbed a tiny bit thru his tongue, not even of any titan serum, but ROYAL blooded titan serum from uri. as a result it makes sense for him to become a freakish titan like he did.

it honestly kind of resembled eren's founding titan in proportion with the tiny head, jutting spine, huge torso and spindly (but functional) limbs.

eren's case is complicated, but the brass tacks is that he doesn't technically have royal blood but transformed correctly, whereas rod had royal blood, but transformed incorrectly. either way, they did it wrong which is why they're funny lookin.

[cloudcountry]

Aaaaa and I don’t mind your responses to my long writings!! /gen I’m just happy that you’re reading them in the first place kdjfgkdffg— But please give your hands a rest-

Speaking of Ikevamp OCs!! Admittedly, I don’t know much about Freud, Salieri or Chaloner (from the other reblog posts), so I decided to look into them if I have the time >:D I MIGHT give a history lesson about them later--

I’ve also tried to make a comprehensible list of characteristics/things we’ve already got about Beethoven (who *cough* is already like,, half an OC if you squint-) And I’ve added some things of my own. As of right now, his Ikevamp self:

-Is headstrong, strong-willed, and proud

-Is impulsive, independent, and has a short temper

-Is a Grumpy Old Man™ with Grandpa Tendencies™ /aff

-Has a sharp tongue for insults and comebacks

-Values honesty, integrity, and virtue. He hates liars

-Really respects Mozart and hates Napoleon (lol-)

-Not afraid to speak his opinion, so if he doesn’t like you, you WILL know-

-Likes macaroni-and-cheese. I won’t elaborate. /J

-Loves walks in the forest and nature in general! He enjoys taking hikes, it’s a hobby of his :D During these walks, he’s able to clear his head and be inspired by the beauty of nature. He takes a walk around, even if the weather is bad. There was a time where he circled around in a park for hours, humming and composing in his head in pouring rain…

-If he ever were in the game, maybe he would be partially deaf?? Or at least have some hearing problems to pay homage to the real figure—

-Is pretty short,, He’s 5’3/162cm, so he’s grumpy AND short. The best combination /j /lh

-Doesn’t care about status. He was well-received by the Viennese aristocracy but he wasn’t subservient to them; rather, he regarded them as equals. So, he doesn’t see anyone above him or beneath him.

-His family is a touchy subject. For one, his father was an alcoholic, and he tried to exploit Ludwig as a child prodigy, wanted to make him the next Mozart. His father, also a professional singer, was a harsh teacher, "Every time Ludwig hit a sour note, his father's hands came crashing down on his son's with a loud, discordant thwack,” one writer states. He actually had eight siblings and was the second oldest, but only he and two younger brothers made it to adulthood. He deeply cares for his brothers, even though he didn’t approve of their wives- He and his sister-in-law Johanna Reiss hated each other, and he didn’t like his youngest brother’s mistress who would later marry him.)

-Is unlucky in love (Yes, sadly for the real Beethoven, he was pretty unfortunate in terms of romance- Beethoven first fell in love with a young countess named Julie [“Giulietta”] Guicciardi in 1801, but could not marry her because he was a commoner. His famous Piano Sonata No. 14, “Moonlight,” is dedicated to her. A few years later he met and fell in love with Josephine Brunswick, another countess, after he began giving her piano lessons. They would write a series of love letters, of which 15 by Beethoven survive, until her family pressured them to terminate the relationship. He was a hopeless romantic and fell in love many times, who in turn, got rejected each time. Though, it was mainly because of class divisions and marital statuses. He never married.)

I actually read the love letters he sent, and to my surprise, they’re,,, incredibly romantic?! Like legit, love letters are very private things to read in the first place, but even when I was reading his letters, I was like “Should I really be reading these…?” Asdfghjkl— His most famous love letter is the one called “The Immortal Beloved.”

I’m gonna give you some extracts from these love letters that I found really sweet- I hope you don’t mind!!

“My thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved I can only live wholly with you or not at all-

Be calm my life, my all. Only by calm consideration of our existence can we achieve our purpose to live together… Oh, do continue to love me, never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved.

Ever Thine, Ever Mine, Ever Ours.

-L.”

“Beat only in silence, oh poor heart, you cannot do otherwise. For you, always for you, only you, eternally you, only you until I die. My solace, my everything. Oh Creator, watch over her, bless her days, all the adversity upon me first.”

“My angel, my very self… Why this profound sorrow, when necessity speaks — can our love endure without sacrifices, without our demanding everything from one another; can you alter the fact that you are not wholly mine, that I am not wholly yours? — Dear God, look at Nature in all her beauty and set your heart at rest about what must be — Love demands all, and rightly so… No doubt we shall meet soon; and today also time fails me to tell you of the thoughts which during these last few days I have been revolving about my life — If our hearts were always closely united, I would certainly entertain no such thoughts. My heart overflows with a longing to tell you so many things — Oh — there are moments when I find that speech is quite inadequate — Be cheerful — and be for ever my faithful, my only sweetheart, my all, as I am yours. The gods must send us everything else, whatever must and shall be our fate. 

—Your faithful Ludwig”

“What a life!!! As it is now!!! without you — pursued by the kindness of people here and there, a kindness that I think — that I wish to deserve just as little as I deserve it — man’s homage to man — that pains me — and when I consider myself in the setting of the universe, what am I and what is that man — whom one calls the greatest of men — and yet — on the other hand therein lies the divine element in man… However much you love me — my love for you is even greater — but never conceal yourself from me — good night — Dear God — so near! so far! Is not our love truly founded in Heaven — and, what is more, as strongly cemented in the firmament of heaven?”

“Even when I am in bed my thoughts rush to you, my immortal beloved, now and then joyfully, then again sadly, waiting to know whether Fate will hear our prayer — To face life I must live altogether with you or never see you… Oh God, why must one be separated from her who is so dear. Yet my life in V[ienna] at present is a miserable life — Your love has made me both the happiest and unhappiest of mortals…”

So, he’s a grump, but he’s actually really romantic in nature,,, A romantic grump if you will

Oh, on another note!! I tried to make a Picrew for a concept appearance, and I actually kinda like what I came up with! The Picrew’s really close to what I had in mind, but maybe I might try to draw him someday??

https://i.postimg.cc/G3xgBVsN/241783-5r-TPl-J0n.png (I’m really hoping the link works, kjdfngd-)

And a quick description of what I had in mind for his appearance!!

-He’s short, but his aura, appearance and demeanour make him give off the vibe that he’s taller

-Wavy middle-length to long length darkish-brown hair he keeps in a low ponytail

-He wears a red jacket! Admittedly, while the colour is a tie-in to the red of the German flag, I feel like it makes him stand out more,, He dresses up very modestly

-Piercing blue eyes framed by round glasses (Ngl, I debated giving him half-moon glasses, but I went with round ones-)

-Overall, he looks pretty stern and intimidating

Jackdaw Anon 🐦

AHSGFD OFC IM READING THEM!!!! I READ EVERYTHING I GET IN MY ASKBOS WHAHAWH IM JUST HAPPY TUMBLR ISNT EATING TEHSE ESSAYS OR STOPPING EM FROM POSTING THEM ^^

I WOULD BE SO HERE FOR THOSE LESSONS AAAAA!!!!! BUT PLEASE REST YOUR HANDS TOO <33 (even though mine have issues whwahwahwah)

BEETHOVEN BEINGA ROMANTIC IS SUCH A SHOCK TO ME??? YOURE SO RIGHT AS I WAS READING THE LOVE LETTERS I WAS LIEK "um...shoudl i be here." LIKE IT FEELS SO PRIVATE GAHHH ITS LIKE HIS GHOST IS JUDGING ME RN

JSAGHFD YOU LITERALLY SUSMMED HIM UP SO WELL YOURE A WIZARD JACKDAW ANON I LITERALLY DONT KNOW HO WYOU DO IT ?>????

[unbridledbrainrots]

A day in their class...

Rating: PG-15  Length: ~600 words Genre: Slice of (school) life, modern!AU? probably Pairing: Sebastian Moran (from Moriarty The Patriot)  x  OC (named Marjorie Reiss) though I prefer this one is Marjorie-centric story featuring Sebastian at the end lol Notes: Highkey dry humour or absurd... huhh you name it, may contain inaccuracies, quick proofread so sorry for some errors! Oh, they’re still friends in this timeline

Attending math class after lunch break was one of several phases that Marjorie wouldn’t recommend to everyone. Especially when the nippy breeze struck her face like it was trying to hypnotise her into its abyss of unconsciousness. In addition, sitting further back in the class worsened the situation. To conclude, it was a perfect orchestra for her lullaby. 

And that’s… that’s what currently happened. 

Her right arm tried its best to bear her head that had been nodding for umpteen times. Her mind was on a brink of combustion whether to instruct her eyes kept wide open and her ears pricked up for the teacher’s explanation, or her entire system shut down for a nice power nap. Her glasses were taken off from her face eversince she was seduced by the zephyr. Her lips had been curled inward, merely avoiding any drool leaked from her mouth. Normally, she would slam the table by reflex every time a drop of saliva fell down and then miraculously regained her consciousness. 

Ahh, too bad it was math class! Marjorie could sneak some snacks to keep her alert, but Mr. Gregson had eagle eyes. He rarely allowed his students to eat during his class unless it was an emergency. Whenever he caught his students dozing off, he only asked them to wash their faces in the loo. Yet he calculated the time they spent in his head! That’s why no one dared to stop by the cafeteria or drag their feet back to the class. His class was indeed one of the strictests here. Never did she survive his class without accidentally sleeping. To the point that she thought he had tagged her as an easy target to answer the question on the chalkboard just by how often she got called out. 

She was one step closer to REM…

“Miss Reiss,” that hoarse voice awakened her, but her souls were still scattered around. In a full bafflement, she looked at Mr. Gregson who had been standing next to her. Silence, it was all blank stare. Everyone in the class knew she hadn’t woken up completely. 

That stern teacher handed over a stick of white chalk to her and chillingly half-whispered, “it’s time for you to say goodbye to your world.”

She slightly nodded, yet still puzzled. 

“Leave everything behind- no, you can bring your notes, and do number 2 there,” his hand aimed at the board that had already been divided into three sections. One was already filled by him as an example.

“N-now?”

“Yes, Miss Reiss.”

“But I haven’t done anything good in this world.”

“You’ve finished that number and I’ve checked it.”

“The grim reaper will grant you leniency if you finish it correctly,” he continued.

The living corpse ascended from her chair then dawdled her way to the blackboard.

“Number 3,” Mr. Gregson passed another chalk to Sebastian, in which it also snapped him back to reality. 

Shrk… shrk… the dusty white chalk slowly rubbed the slate. Marjorie kept shifting her glance between her notes and the board. But she barely understood her notes. It was too cryptic for someone who was half-asleep. Yet she was too indulged in writing the answer until her right hand crashed into someone’s left arm, making that person accidentally streaked a small part of his answer.

On an impulse, she stared at that person next to her. Unfortunately, her glasses were left on her table, so she could only see the outline of the person. Tousled, black… is this Sebby-chan? She pondered while squinting. 

Perhaps she snorted chalk dust too much as she abruptly handed her notes to him.

“Exchange.”

Instead of telling her to open her eyes, Sebastian gave her his notes without any hesitation. Hadn’t he already woken up? Or had he inhaled the dust as well? 

As though they shared one last braincell, Marjorie and Sebastian switched their spots. She did his, and he did hers. They continued solving the questions respectively, although he struggled deciphering her disastrous writing.

[stewblog]

The Menu

It’s best to go into The Menu knowing as little about it as possible. As such, if a pitch-black comedic (somewhat macabre) condemnation of foodie culture (from inside the kitchen and out of it) that also serves as a searing indictment of artists who forget why they’re even creating to begin with is your bag, then you’ll probably love The Menu. That’s all you need to know. Come back after.

You’re back? You don’t care about spoilers? Intrigued but too turned off by the darker elements teased? Let’s go.

The easiest way to describe The Menu without getting *too* deep into spoiler-territory is: “What if David Fincher, director of Fight Club and Gone Girl, directed his own version of Ratatouille?” Granted, The Menu is bereft of Ratatouille’s more outrageous elements. For instance, you won’t find an anthropomorphic rat hiding beneath Ralph Feinnes’ chef’s hat controlling his every move (though, frankly, the movie reaches a point eventually where even that wouldn’t have phased me). What the two share, however, is a common spirit expressed in often wildly disparate ways.

If you’re like me, the trailer gave the distinct impression the whole affair eventually devolves into a gastronomic riff on The Most Dangerous Game. Suffice to say it does not. The flavor of The Menu’s is one that slowly unfolds and doesn’t fully reveal the depth of itself until well until you realize things have sailed past the point of no return. Because for as much as The Menu’s marketing wants you to think this is some kind of slow-roasted horror movie, it’s really something closer to a modern day fable with a grounded premise but with sufficient splashes of absurdity to make you question the nature of its depicted reality.

Caught up within this smorgasbord of surreality is Margo (Anya-Taylor Joy). She’s a nonplussed plus-one who finds herself dragged along by her foodie culture-obsessed date, Tyler (Nicholas Hoult), into the pomp and circumstance of an evening at Hawthorne, the isolated, island-bound hyper-exclusive restaurant led by the world-renowned Chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes). This isn’t the kind of high-level restaurant where you can simply order the world’s most expensive steak to pair with a couple glasses of a 15-year-old cabernet. No, the food at Hawthorne must be An Experience. Forget bread as an appetizer. You’ll stare at the concept of bread on an empty plate right after you’ve eaten a seaweed crisp covered in fake food snow and you’ll be in awe as you do so. That’s the idea, at least. Save for Margo, everyone’s come to Hawthorne in order to flaunt something, be it status, money, idol worship. But as the courses become increasingly unhinged, the clearer it is that Chef Slowik has become tired of chasing Michelin stars and has far darker intentions for his guests.

What unfolds is a story that takes aim at chef and guests alike. At what point does passionate fandom become obsession? At what point do successful creatives who achieve the height of fame and success lose their way? What good is achieving that success if it ultimately comes at the cost of losing sight of the thing that made you happy in the first place? This is where it becomes truly of a piece with Ratatouille: Both films are about remembering what’s important when both creating and consuming art. The Menu just has 100 percent more stabbings.

Director Mark Mylod and writers Seth Reiss and Will Tracy have their knives out for everyone from sycophants to cheaters to smarmy tech bros, too. To say nothing of the utter contempt it has for the way kitchen culture has transformed into a near cult-like formation, both from inside the kitchen and out even as these chefs devolve into something resembling self-parody.

The Menu is largely an indictment of the ways fame and fandom have become something of an ouroboros slowly eating itself alive, but the filmmakers are just as angry at the ways modern society nourishes people who had little beyond their own perception of inherent value. Don’t mistake this for some finger-wagging missive, though. Even in the moments when the subtext becomes text, it’s handled with panache and humor and never feels preachy.

Even ignoring the thematic elements, though, it’s a joy just to watch the truth of this mystery slowly come into full view. It never achieves Agatha Christie levels of intrigue, but it’s a playfully tense affair that is happy to subvert expectations at nearly every turn.

If I have a single complaint, it’s that the script seems to run out of ideas on what to do with at least one or two members of its ensemble, leading to a violent encounter that feels borderline obligatory if only because the writers couldn’t figure out how else to inject some needed tension into a particular sequence.

Otherwise, this was a marvelous surprise that delighted my palette with every bite and I’ll happily take seconds.

Oh and it must be said that The Menu also features what may be the single best-looking double cheeseburger ever seen in a movie.

[new-berry]

Willock/saka suggestions.

Like back in joe's arsenal era he seemed closer with Reiss so maybe saka was jealous of that.

And also game wise both saka and Nelson were both competing for the right wing spot and people were comparing them a lot

I think a love triangle thing or maybe just a threesome would be nice.

Or like the other way round

Willock and esr both competing for the midfield spot and saka

Someone needs to write these three but idk how to write sancho. Joe's cross necklace is lovely.

Okay this is very very special information to me. There are only two years between them. Hmmmmm Joe just that little bit older. Just that little bit further ahead (despite how special Bukayo is. Not exactly hero worship. Bukayo doesn’t have a word for it in fact).

Family background similar but (I’m making this up for fic purposes) Joe’s a little rougher, little bit more nudging up against the grimmer side of things.

One a special alter boy, one of a bunch of boys of was reminded to go to church.

Bukayo’s not an idiot right? 9 GCSE’s (whatever they are called) he knows exactly what he feels. He’d rather pretend it’s hero worship. Safer.

Anyway John 15: 11 “my joy may be in you.”

[fahrni]

Saturday Morning Coffee

Good morning from Charlottesville, Virginia! ☕️

Last week was cold, this week has been like a perfect spring. We had plenty of sunshine with highs approaching 70. Of course next week we drop back into the 40’s. It is winter after all. 😃

Juli Clover • MacRumors

Apple’s EU Core Technology Fee Could Bankrupt Freemium App Developers

This is going to take some time to fully understand. Apparently one of the rules requires app makers to pay Apple the equivalent of $0.54 per app installation over one million. Now, if you’re selling a product for some hunk of change or have recurring revenue you’ll probably be fine if you manage to have one million plus installations. Heck, I’d love to have to think about this problem. 🤣

Having other stores to distribute your apps through also sounds interesting but you need to verify you have access to $1,000,000 dollars to handle support issues and keep the store running smoothly.

I’m curious to see what Epic and Spotify do.

As for me, I’ll stick with the good old 15-30% cut and hope someday I have to pay Apple 30% of my sales. Why? Because it would mean I’m making really good money.

M.G. Siegler • Spyglass

I’m honestly not sure I can recall a press release dripping with such disdain. Apple may even have a point in many of the points above, but the framing of it would just seem to ensure that Apple is going to continue to be at war with the EU over all of this and now undoubtedly more.

His analysis of Apple’s press release is a laugh. Apple is definitely trying to scare the crap out of folks. 🤣

Red Sweater

Black Ink for iOS (iPhone, iPad, and if all goes according to plan, visionOS), is now available on the App Store.

Congratulations, Daniel! Here’s hoping it’s a great launch and becomes a hit with the puzzle solving crowd. ❤️

Adam Reiss • NBC News

Former President Donald Trump must pay writer E. Jean Carroll over $83 million in damages for repeatedly defaming her, a jury found Friday.

The petulant baby man is finally starting to get some comeuppance.

He’s such a loser he stormed out of the courtroom.

Way to show what a leader you are. Things get tough and he walks away. A perfect quality for a President, right? Wrong.

Donnie boy, your weakness and low energy is on full display. Nice job. 🍊

Kyle Barr • Gizmodo

One place where Netflix won’t be is Apple’s upcoming Vision Pro VR headset. Why isn’t Netflix planning an app for what is Apple’s big $3,500 gamble on the future of augmented reality? According to co-CEO Greg Peters, it’s because the company doesn’t know if anybody’s actually going to use it.

I can’t say that I blame Netflix for their stance. Vision Pro is a brand new, extremely expensive, piece of technology. It may be cool and all but will enough folks buy into it to justify putting a lot of resources into it?

This doesn’t mean Vision Pro will be a failure. Remember, the iPhone didn’t exactly shoot out of the gate like a rocket. It took a couple iterations for it to finally gain mainstream traction. Heck, iPhone 1 didn’t even have an App Store, it only had “the sweet solution.” 🥽

Eric Berger • Ars Technica

Something has gone wrong with NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter on the surface of Mars. Although the US space agency has not made any public announcements yet, a source told Ars that the plucky flying vehicle had an accident on its last flight and broke one of its blades. It will not fly anymore.

Poor little copter lost a blade.

Let’s raise our glasses to the little copter who could! 🍻

Gary Leff • viewfromthewing.com

Boeing Whistleblower: Production Line Has “Enormous Volume Of Defects” Bolts On MAX 9 Weren’t Installed

Go read the comments from the Boeing employee. They’re terrifying. I have a fear of heights and flying. This news doesn’t help. 😳

Lois Beckett • The Guardian

LA Times fires 115 journalists in ‘HR zoom webinar’ following union protests

Here we go again. More firings. The hollowing out of news rooms continues.

We need the news and hard hitting articles to keep our government in check. It’s part of what makes America, America. 🗞️

Brian Linder • pennlive.com

Super Bowl announcement has some in MAGA crowd outraged. Here’s why

Please, allow me to fix that headline.

“Racists don’t want black singer to perform at the Super Bowl.”

These people are pathetic.😡

[mandrs-writes]

41 Reason why I ship Ereri

Eren and Levi is my all-time favorite ship. These two mean the world to me. And while I am not under any illusion that their relationship is canon, they’re canon in my heart and I want to share with you all the many different reasons why they’re so fucking shippable. Here are my 41 reasons 😊

1. Similarities in their past -- both willing to kill for the ones they love

Eren saves Mikasa by killing two men when he’s just a kid

Levi was trained to kill at a young age. It’s implied that he killed the people that hurt his dear friend Isabel in ACWNR

2. Momma’s boys -- definitely a parallel between them in these two shots.

3. Both had to watch their mom die and understand the pain of losing the people they love

4. Parallels between Levi, Isabel, and Farlan, and Eren, Mikasa, and Armin -- both are looking up at the stars and dreaming of something more

5. Eren has always admired Captain Levi. Just look how stars truck he is 🤩

6.The first time he meets Levi, he sees the Wings of Freedom on his back. The framing of this shot shows that Levi represents freedom for Eren

7. Levi is intrigued and impressed by the fire/determination when he first meets Eren. He is a spark of hope for Levi.

8. Despite many people claiming this scene is ‘abusive’ it is far from it. While it is brutal in nature, Levi’s aggressive display was the only way for him to save Eren from being handed over to the MP. Erwin knew that Levi would need to show the courtroom that he was strong enough to ‘handle’ Eren in order for the MP to give Eren over to the SC. 

It’s even explained to Eren after the fact that it was a necessary show of power in order to save him. 

It wasn’t something Levi wanted to do -- it’s clear he feels bad about how he handled Eren by asking him if he resented him. 

Despite everything, Eren understands why Levi had to do what he did and admits to not being resentful towards Levi, who ultimately appears relieved by that admission

9. They catch each other staring/giving each other eyes 😏 showing that they have an innate interest in each other

10. Eren is surprised that Captain Levi is so keen to following orders from the higher ups. When Petra tells him about his past, he’s shocked and wonders why Levi would join be in the Survey Corps. Eren definitely shows interest and curiosity in this scene and appears to want to know more about his mysterious Captain

11. They’re super cute together 🥺 Just look at theeeem

12. Levi is caught smirking at Eren when talking about him being creepy. Okay buddy 😏 

13. Levi sees that Eren is a monster and still accepts him anyway. He doesn’t judge or condemn him for being the way that he is. In the visual novel “Burning Bright in the Forest of the Night”, Levi even refers to him as “a beautiful monster”

14. He always gives Eren a choice, allowing him to make his own decisions, and be his own person. He’s only ever encouraged Eren to be true to himself. He’s never tried to change him

Even when Eren is struggling with accessing his father’s memories and Hange is bombarding him with questions, Levi defends his strange behavior

15. Levi defends Eren based on his “intuition” when everyone else sees him as a monster needing to be put down. Instead, he trusts Eren, standing between him and his squad. 

16. Levi visibly panics when he hears Eren transform during the Female Titan arc. He’s clearly worried about him and changes gears to try and save him

17. Levi feels like he failed by protecting Eren and he is visibly distraught when Mikasa calls him out on it.

18. Levi makes up for his failure by only caring about saving Eren, whereas Mikasa seems more interested in killing the Female Titan. He has to talk her down

19. Levi is able to motivate Eren and give him confidence when he’s feeling unsure about himself

20. Levi helps mold Eren into the person he becomes later in the story. Eren obviously looks up to Levi a lot and learns from him in more ways than one

21. Levi gives Eren the power/motivation to choose again, encouraging him to believe in himself.

22. They both have righteous anger

23. Eren is super determined to impress Levi and is visibly upset when he fails to meet his expectations

(Just look at the gay panic)

24. Eren unintentionally insults Levi when he calls Rod Reiss a tiny old man. While Levi appears unfazed, Eren visibly panics, clearly showing how much he cares about Levi’s opinion of him

Also I just love this scene. It’s funnyyy

25. Levi shows concern for Eren on more than one occasion

26. Levi has a thing for Eren’s ass... apparently

Just casually kicking his butt

and talking about it 😏

27. Eren isn’t afraid to stand up to Levi, despite his harsh exterior. This just goes to show that Eren understands that Levi is more compassionate and empathetic than he lets people believe

28. While Levi is conflicted about who to save with the Titan serum, he ultimately picks Armin. 

One of the reasons he choses Armin is because of what Eren says about how Armin is good and has dreams, which reminds Levi of the moment that they sat under the stars and talked about the ocean. Levi shows compassion for Eren and his friends

29. Levi gets upset when Erwin tells him to protect the horses instead of Eren

30. Even after losing his best friend, Levi comforts Eren and his friends, letting them know that he does not regret his decision, encouraging them to not regret it as well. Despite being in pain himself, he’s a pillar of strength and comfort for Eren and the others

31. Levi is sympathetic towards Eren’s situation after the Battle of Shiganshina and lets him out early despite his insubordination

32. Levi is disappointed in Eren after what he did in Marley and shows just how upset/affected he was by him leaving by kicking him on the airship. The scene feels very personal and while I could go on and explain why I think it’s incredibly meaningful for their relationship, snkception does a great job of explaining it. You can read their full post here

33. Levi is a protective boyfriend

34. When Eren keeps an important secret, Levi tells them they’ll talk about it later. There’s something incredibly personal about the way he says it that implies it’ll be a private conversation amongst other things

35. Their height difference though 😍

36. Levi is obviously important to Eren, since he shows up in his memory shards

37. Levi is visibly upset when his fellow soldiers talk about feeding Eren to someone else. After everything they’d been through, that’s the last thing that Levi wants.

Also, I think it’s important to note that when Levi remembers Eren, he doesn’t remember him as a monster, despite calling everyone talking about him that way. He remembers Eren the first time they met, when Eren was helpless and merely human

38. Despite his promise made early in the story to kill Eren if he ever went rogue or lost control, he tries desperately to come up with another solution, anyway out of killing Eren

39. When they realize that killing Eren might be the only way, Levi is visibly distraught

In paths, he is the only one on his knees, he’s so tired, beaten down, and lost over what to do that he’s unable to stand and hold himself up on the airship

40. There was so much that Levi wanted to tell Eren... what it was, I can only speculate. But something tells me he wanted to tell Eren everything, including his feelings for him

41. Lastly, they’re opposites. The sun and the moon, summer and winter, fire and ice, yin and yang. Eren is fiery, energetic and passionate and Levi is cool, calm, and introspective. Their dynamic is truly beautiful and I genuinely believe Levi is one of the few people who understand Eren completely and accepts him without judgment

[akarinittalovers]

How You Meet

•Nanaba

The first time you ever meet her was back in the cadet corps. You came from a hunter family from the forest inside of the wall Rose so when you first join the cadet corps you barely knew anyone there and you are quite shy because of your accent so that doesn't help at all.

It was Nanaba who approach you first. Both of you began to regularly chat with each other during your free time between training and classes. Over time both of you grew closer.

You decided to join whatever branch of the military that she will join. Even though both of you are one of the top ten graduates instead of joining the military brigade and life a peaceful life you decide to join her to the Survey corps.

While you plan to protect her during an expedition outside the walls for the first time the reality is much crueler than the story of Knight in shining armor. The truth is she is much stronger than you, while you are reasonably skilled as a soldier she just more proficient in fighting Titans. So in the end, she is the one who protected you.

Your first expedition was nothing sort of disaster. From more than twenty new recruits that join the survey corps, only you and Nanaba survive the whole ordeal. The only silver lining to this was both of your skill doesn't go unnoticed. Both of you are promoted and place on the best squad on the whole survey corps, the Erwin squad (This take place some years before the fall of Wall Maria).

After some years have passed both of your careers on survey corps were going well, especially after Keith Shadis step down as the commander and Erwin became his replacement. You get promoted as one of the section commanders and she was vice-leader of the Mike squad.

Side Story:

At first, you thought Nanaba was a man. When she tells you the truth, you immediately apologize to her profusely. You should have seen your panic face at that moment.

She just laughed at you and tell you not to worry. "Don't worry about it. It almost happens all the time, " she told you but That got an opposite effect on you. You just felt even worse for her and that resulted in you absentmindedly told her "You got pretty hair."

Trivia:

Her hobby is training/sparring with you. Two of her favorite exercises are close-quarter combat and ODM gear training.

Your current score of sparing with her is.

#CQB:

Nanaba vs Y/N

29-21

#ODM training

Nanaba vs Y/N

35-28

•Anka Rheinberger

When you are first to meet her it was at the orientation event of the garrison troops. You are one year her senior and you are left in charge of her in your squad.

She was the type of person who takes the job seriously and as you expected she was rose up through the rank quite was and in almost no time she was outranked you. She was even put under Commander Pixis squad directly.

One thing that wasn't expected was not long after she was put under commander Pixis squad you are also promoted there. Later you found out that Anka has written a letter of recommendation on your behalf.

While it's true that you are quite a reliable person and the only reason you weren't promoted was that you had some grievances with your superior officers and if you being honest you wouldn't mind not being promoted since are already in a pretty comfortable position but still it was incredibly nice of her. Now both of you are working side by side once again.

Side Story:

She doesn't like to drink or see people drink during the day, especially during work hours. This was probably due to her workaholic personality.

But during the night and day off, she absolutely loves to drink. Both of you are occasionally going to the pub together. Compare to you she was a heavy drinker.

Trivia:

Her favorite drink is beer and her least favorite liquor is wine.

•Rico Brezenska

The first time you meet her was in 850 during the battle of Trost District after the second appearance of the Colossal Titan. Particularly it was during the closing part of the Battle.

You were assigned to the elite team under her command to escort Eren Yeager to seal off the breach on Trost District. Miraculously this suicide mission was a success, the wall was managed to be a seal.

After that harrowing experience, you and Rico along with Mikasa Armin and Eren Yeager were evacuated by the Survey corps thus both of you doesn't get involved in the operation of retaking the wall, Trost. Since only both of you from the garrison elite squad survive the whole ordeal both of you place on the same squad from then point forward.

Side Story:

Rico was well known for her strict attitude because of that she was feared by her juniors and even her Superior. So they usually go through you first to get her.

Trivia:

There are rumors about you two dating and both of you are unaware of this.

•Lara Tybur

The first time you meet her was when she was first introduced as a new maid of the Tybur family. You were task to train her to be a good maid.

She was a great learner, she picked up maidservant skills pretty easily. That being said her skills as a maid were quite inferior compare to you.

So that is why you were angry when you learned that she will become the head of the maidservant and Butler of the Tybur family. The position is usually reserved for your family who faithfully served the Tybur family for generations.

Jealousy and curiosity as to why she was chosen to become the head of the servant make you act foolishly. One day you interrogate her on her true identity and that is how you learn that she was a member of the Tybur family moreover that she was the inheritor of Warhammer Titan.

But that was the start of an unlikely friendship between jealous Maid/Butler and Princess in disguise. She suggested that it became both of your little secrets.

Side Story:

Both of you are usually hanging out in the secluded part of the garden during your free time. Both of you usually have a launch there and chatting.

Trivia

Lara's favorite snack is Takoyaki the traditional food from Hizuru. She was an expert at cooking and her skill in that field are far surpassed you. Also, she loves sports and singing.

•Nifa

The first time you meet this stylish gal is when you first joined the Survey corps. Being your senior she was left in charge of you and your squadmate for your training & first expedition outside.

During your training as a survey corps - about at least three weeks before your first expedition outside - you grew to admire her. You saw her as someone who could be relied on. You aspire to become her.

After several expeditions outside of the walls, you become experienced soldiers and even got a nice position in your squad. Although Nifa is no longer with your squad because of her role there was only temporary.

Side Story:

You were crying a lot after your return from the first expedition. The combination of horror from Titan and seeing your comrades get eaten was too much for inexperienced soldiers like you. But Nifa was there to comfort you.

Trivia

Nifa is the most stylish member of the Survey corps. You often see her doing some sort of makeup in her free time.

•Frieda Reiss

You were Frieda's childhood friend. You grew up on a Reiss family farm where both of your parents work as a farmhand.

You meet her when she was visiting with her father on the farm. You were a shy kid so Frieda was first to approach you. Although you were resisted at first due to everyone's insistence you reluctantly agree to play with her.

Honestly playing with her wasn't that bad. She has a big sister aura around her and she is very smart so she can teach you a whole lot of things.

But one day an accident struck, both of your parents were involved in a stagecoach accident while delivering goods from Reiss estate. Unfortunately, your father passed away while your mother's right leg has to be amputated.

Though fortunately for you and your mother the Reiss family are willing to take care of both of you while your mother recovering from her injuries and later employs her as a maid. So, for a few years, you and Freida are living on the same roof.

Things go on like this for at least a couple of years until you reach the age of 15 years old. While you're thankful to the Reiss family especially to Freida but for some reason, you felt like a burden to them and you don't want to get more indebted to them. You decided to leave them behind and join the Survey corps.

Side Story:

Frieda is a couple of years older than you and she was the one who teaches you how to read and that is how you become the only literate member of your family.

Trivia:

Frieda loves to tease you. You see Frieda as a big sister figure.

[id-rather-be-an-outsider]

AOT Preference: Dogs

a/n: first time doing a preference in awhile, but I want to specifically say DO NOT EVER get an animal you are not completely prepared to care for. animals are animals and will act as animals do. if they act out that’s not on them, that’s on you. animals need to be in forever homes, and it’s your responsibility to create a suitable environment for them and to not put them in situations where they could potentially be harmed or harm others. know your animal, know their comfort zone, know their needs. don’t take an animal on unless you’re ready to parent a child that never grows up for 15+ years. be responsible pet parents!

edit: just realized I used she/her for Hange so I fixed it. apologies to all my nb folks!

masterlist

Annie Leonhart

Our girl Annie would have a Siberian Husky. Strong, agile, hyperactive and able to trek long distances, they’d be perfectly suited for one another. You would be invited to tag along, of course, but you would have to keep up, lest you fall victim to the whines of an overly dramatic husky who desperately wants you to get a move on.

Armin Arlert

English Springer Spaniel, for sure. He’d fall in love with their soft coat, and their size would make them the perfect lapdog for reading, and taking long walks outside... to do more reading. Definitely a bonus that they fit comfortably between you two in bed at night, and a bonus that their little tail looked oh so very precious when it wagged!

Bertholdt Hoover

A gentle giant himself, Bertie would end up getting a Great Dane. Unlike Reiner, he’s a lot better at managing his thoughts and feelings about their study abroad trip to Paradis gone wrong. All he needs is his gigantic lapdog and you, his adoring partner. Sometimes he’d pass out on the dog in the middle of a cuddle session, and the patient thing would stare at you with pleading eyes, waiting until Bertholdt finally woke up to escape from being stuck in his arms for another hour.

Colt Grice

Colt would get a pair of Dalmatians, one for each of you. He loves their spots, their sleek build, and their energetic, yet quiet temperaments. Picket fence and all, Colt would want the happy home life!

Connie Springer

Connie would insist on having two dogs, so they don’t get lonely when you’re away from the house. He would bring home a pair of puppies with floppy ears that were adorable - an American Foxhound and an American English Coonhound. To Connie, their howls at all hours of the day, only ceasing when he falls asleep, is absolutely glorious, but to his neighbors, it’s a sign they need to invest in earplugs. Sasha would regularly steal the pair away from you so she had a full squad to go hunting with, which you wouldn’t mind since they liked the trips and got their energy out that way.

Eren Yeager

Much like how Eren picks his friends, so too, would he pick his pets. Not caring much for pedigrees, nor where a dog came from, Eren would get a shelter mix pup, probably one that’s older and been sitting there for longer. He’d sense a kinship between them - two beings looking for peace, and they’d find it in one another. The dog being absolutely adorable in every way would only be a bonus.

Erwin Smith

Commander Erwin would have a wolf-dog hybrid. He’d find the creature out in the woods, abandoned by their mother, and see the strength in their limbs despite their fear, and their resolve to survive. He would take them on as his own and together, they’d be the perfect pair of leaders, alphas in their own rights. When you became the alpha female of the household, the little beastie took to you right away, hoping that maybe you would be the one to finally grant their wish of feeding them off your plate. Of course, you never did it, because that would be irresponsible! At least, you’d parrot what Erwin said until he was gone for the day. Then, if a few bites every week fell on the floor by some magic mistake, well, who else was gonna clean it up?

Hange Zoë

Hange would have a fox! They’d be so interested by their behavior, they’d end up testing them and doing fun (and very humane) experiments on them, like exposing them to different foods, toys and puzzles, to see how they’d react. Foxes aren’t a regular pet, and they’d be fully aware of that and even over prepared to care for them, doing research years ahead of time until they felt completely ready to take one on. Needless to say, you’d be fascinated by them, but would insist Hange keep a separate, pee-proof space for the little creature they rescued so long ago. As cute as they were, you preferred your house not be ruined by their inability to potty train.

Historia Reiss

Historia would intend to get a small dog. What she would end up with, however, would not be a small dog. She would fall in love with the warm, kindly brown eyes of a giant and adopt a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog right then and there, no hesitation. In the end, it would all work out. You couldn’t always be beside her in bed, but she was always guaranteed to have an enormous lapdog by her side at all times - her protector in the throne room, her helper on the farm, and her body pillow at night. Who needs a weighted blanket when you have a hundred-pound puppy sleeping on you?

Jean Kirstein

Jean would have a German Shepherd. He adopted them when he first wanted to join the Military Police, but after he changed his mind, he still cared enough to train his dog as militantly as he was trained. It actually helped him soften up a bit (which ended up catching your attention in the end), and who wouldn’t? With those big brown eyes and floppy ears, it’s hard to resist the urge to sweet talk... and maybe, just maybe slip one or two scraps of meat under the table. No one will notice, right? Other than you, of course, who notices everything, because Jean has never been good at hiding things from you.

Levi Ackerman

We all know Levi is a clean freak and would never want a small dog that does nothing other than bark. He’d have a Standard Poodle, probably an apricot color. They’re smart, good hunters, and most importantly, non-shedding! They also are very sweet, not unlike our Captain (even if he’s good at hiding it). The one thing he wouldn’t expect, however, would be to find a trouble maker in his home. Stolen shoes, stolen ties, stolen cravats, even - somehow they would all wind up somewhere his sweet dog seemed to frequent, but they were clever enough not to be caught, so what could he do?

Marcel Galliard

A chocolate lab! They’re sweet and adventurous, as well as protective, and are absolute cuties. Marcel would love having a fluffy companion, and would take his Labrador on long hikes every weekend.

Marco Bott

Marco loves to look forward to the future, and he’d love to experiment with a newer breed of dog. The Catahoula caught his eye with their well-muscled body, and your excitement over their coat pattern sealed the deal. When you both realized just how much energy they had, you ended up joining Annie and Marcel on their hikes and volunteering your pup for hunting trips with Sasha, so they weren’t up all night long playing.

Mikasa Ackerman

Mikasa is the only person out of this bunch that wouldn’t get a dog - she’d have two cats, at least one being a brown tabby. Mikasa’s so dedicated to her work that she wouldn’t see herself as a person with enough time for dogs, but she wouldn’t mind caring for two soft kitties who curled up on either side of you two every night, even if they somehow always managed to have their butts in your faces when you woke up. Cats have a way of doing that.

Pieck Finger

Pieck would own a Weimaraner. Curious, cute, and a standout, they both fit the mold of “dogs and owners who look alike” with their deep, inquisitive eyes and playful, loving natures.

Porco Galliard

Like Porco, Pitbulls can appear tough and menacing on the outside. Also like Porco, pitbulls are just big babies who want to be loved on. He’d likely already have one before you two fell for each other, and his pit would see the loving nature in you and start coming to you for snuggles - which might have made Porco feel left out, if he wasn’t always in the middle of it.

Reiner Braun

Pomeranian. This man has seen some shit, and what better form of comfort than you and a tiny puffball with googly eyes? Fortunately, his Pomeranian would be unusually mellow, understanding he relied on their calm to maintain his own headspace after everything that’s happened.

Sasha Braus

Sasha would get an Irish Setter and an English Setter. She would take her dogs on hunting trips to help her track down animals, and when they got home she’d sit up for a cuddle with her two favorite pups and her favorite partner, you. Cocoa after a long day of hard work is fantastic.

Ymir

Everybody knows that Ymir wouldn’t intend to have a dog. She wouldn’t want anything or anyone to depend on her, but one day, when a band of strays would come around her apartment and try to attack her, another random dog would come from out of nowhere, fight them, and chase the rest of the pack off. Upon seeing the heroic dog injured, Ymir would feel indebted and take them in. Just until they healed, of course - then, it would be off to the local shelter for them. But then, you would drop by for a visit and the dog would love all over you. And then, Ymir would keep waking up finding the dog had managed to crawl into her bed and sleep next to her every night. And then, one thing after another, Ymir’s heart would soften just enough to let the scroungy stray who saved her life have a spot, right next to the spot reserved for you, and your family of two would grow to be a family of three. And then, you would find a puppy on the side of the road and take them home to Ymir after you moved in with her, and your family of three would grow to be a family of four. And then, when the puppy grew up, Ymir would find her laying in a closet with a litter of semi-scroungy-looking pups, and your family of four would become a family of five, six, seven, eight... and so on.

Zeke Yeager

Zeke has wavy golden locks, and so do golden retrievers. They’re also both incredibly cute, sweet, and popular. Need I say more? Fine, if I have to convince you. They also both have very kissable, kind, and meddlesome faces. Don’t tell me you don’t see it there!

[asciendo]

Betrayal

Make it Right Series Chapter 16

Jean was the cocky bastard that walked around like he owned the place. Y/N couldn’t stand so when the time came that you were his sparring partner, you couldn’t wait to teach him a lesson.

Little did the both of you know, that sparring match would be the start of your unexpected relationship with Jean Kirschtein, that will change your life, and the rest of the Scout Regiment forever.

Chapter 1/Chapter 2/Chapter 3/Chapter 4/Chapter 5/Chapter 6/Chapter 7/Chapter 8/Chapter 9/Chapter 10/Chapter 11/Chapter 12/Chapter 13/Chapter 14/Chapter 15/Chapter 17/Chapter 18/Chapter 19/Chapter 20/Chapter 21

Tag list:  @empty-glass-full-of-emotion @dai-tsukki-desu @usernamehere91@princess-peaches1 @thestrugglesofateenagedirtbag 

The information that Annie was the Female Titan still hasn't sunk in. Despite seeing her body in her glass casket, it was hard for you to comprehend that someone you trained with for three years killed your comrades

Other than that, the events after that were also burning up in your mind as well. How everyone in Connie's village was gone except for one titan that he swears spoke to him.

Another thing was that Krista's real name was revealed, Historia Reiss. Which means she's bound to be the next Queen within the Walls.

That wasn't what was shocking to you though. As you met with Hange and the others, you discovered Reiner and Bertholdt were the other titan shifters, along with Ymir. Your heart sank as soon as the group came to the revelation. You couldn't believe it.

The other Scouts were in disbelief as well, talking about how Reiner was like a big brother to all of them and reminiscing about Berhtoldt's sleeping positions. Jean glanced at you knowing how close you were with Bertholdt. He was angry after finding out Reiner and Bertholdt were spies but his emotions turned to sadness after seeing the look on your face.

As you felt the room, you ran out to the lake and collapsed. You head buried in your hands and you were shaking. You suddenly felt strong arms around you, knowing it was Jean.

"I hate him." Jean said through gritted teeth. He hated both of them. How could they do this after three years of training with all of you? Reiner acted like he would do anything to protect you. Jean saw it with his own eyes how he quickly swooped in to save Armin from the Female Titan. Connie told him about how Reiner almost sacrificed himself to save them at Utgard. Finding out him and Bertholdt were the two spies made his blood boil. But he hated Berthold even more. Jean knew that other than him, you'd rely on Bertholdt. When Jean was assigned to other missions and formations, he was content knowing Bertholdt was with you, knowing he would take care of you.

Jean thought he and Bertholdt had some sort of understanding when it came to you. Jean was usually assigned to another position other than you and you were mostly with Bertholdt. Before parting ways on a mission, Jean would look at Bertholdt and he would nod back at him which gave Jean feel a sense of reassurance that he'd look after you since Jean couldn't be there.

Seeing you in this state, Jean hated Berhtold more than he's ever hated anyone. "Y/N...Don't let him get to you." He whispered, but your head was still buried in your hands. "FUCK!" Jean cursed, he was beginning to feel frustrated at himself, he felt like he didn't protect you from Bertholdt and cursed himself at the thought of you spending so much time with him when he could have hurt you at any moment.

"I swear I'm gonna kill him." Jean muttered and you finally looked up at him. He stopped and wiped the tears that were streaming down your cheeks. "Can you just hold me?" Jean's eyes widened, he's never seen you so vulnerable before. His eyes softened and he snaked his hands around your waist and just held you, in silence.

The next day, you and Jean are on top of the Wall with the others discussing the plan to seal the wall. Suddenly, Reiner calls over Eren and you look over nervously at Jean. You watch from the corner of your eye on their conversation and you can see Eren becoming angry.

Reiner suddenly removes his sling and you place your hand on your blade. There's a look of panic on Bertholdt's face and then he suddenly stares at you. You froze. You didn't know how to react. Bertholdt's gaze suddenly drops as he realized that you knew about him and Reiner.

Suddenly, Reiner moves to capture Eren and Mikasa springs forward. She cuts into Reiner's arms as he defends himself and slicing Bertholdt's neck open. She tells Eren to run as she goes for a killing blow at Bertholdt, but Reiner shoves her from the Wall while Eren watches in shock. The Scouts rush to Eren's aid and Armin tells him to escape, but Eren can only watch helplessly as energy begins to surround the two Warriors. Bursts of energy explode atop the Wall, knocking everyone back as the Armored Titan and Colossal Titan emerge in the chaos.

The Armored Titan takes Eren in its hand while the Colossal Titan grabs Ymir as Historia cries out. The Armored Titan descends Wall Rose with Eren in its grip, and Eren tearfully thinks back to the days of their training together. Bitterly accepting that his two friends are traitors to humanity, Eren transforms into his Titan and lets out a roar as he prepares to battle with Reiner.

There's a sharp ringing in our ear after the blast and you feel heat all over your body. You checked your surroundings and it was full of smoke. There were Scouts hanging from the walls and bodies next you.

You felt an arm grab you and pull you up. "Are you alright?" Jean cups your face and you nod. Looking down, you see that Eren has shifted to his Titan and is fighting Reiner.

Hange commands you to attack and none of you hesitate. Swinging down, you head directly to Bertholdt. Whenever you were near him, the steam he was emitting was too much to come closer to him.

Jean suddenly pulls you away and drags you on top of the wall. Out of nowhere Bertholdt disappeared and all you see is the Armored Titan fleeing with Eren in his grasp and Bertholdt and Reiner on his shoulders.

The expedition to rescue Eren was on its way. You were riding next to Jean. Looking at him, you could tell he was angry. His eyes were darted straight ahead and he was determined as ever to find Bertholdt and Reiner.

Suddenly, you heard rustling in the trees nearby.

"D-did you hear that?" Sasha muttered from behind you. Out of nowhere you heard a scream is heard deeper in the forest, and the Scouts pursue until they come across Ymir's Titan. Connie stops the others from attacking her, asking her where the others have gone.

"YMIR!" Sasha yells but Ymir seems to focused on something else. "Wait..." Armin begins as he starts to realize whats happening.

As soon as Historia appears, Armin starts to panic. "STOP HER!" Armin yells which makes all of you look at him confusion. "YMIR! STOP!" Armin yells as Ymir begins to move.

When Krista approaches, Ymir's Titan lunges at her and catches Krista in her mouth before making a quick escape. The others pursue her, realizing that Ymir's allegiance has changed and they were lured into a trap.

"KRISTA!" You yell as Ymir shuts her mouth and flees. "What's she doing?!" You shout back at the rest. "FUCK!" Jean curses as he speeds up. "FOLLOW HER!" Jean commands and the rest of you follow his lead.

When Ymir nears the edge of the forest, Reiner transforms into the Armored Titan and begins their escape. Bertholdt carrying an unconscious Eren grapples onto the Armored Titan's back alongside Ymir's Titan.

The others watch in disbelief as Eren is once again carried away by the Warriors, but Hannes rallies them into action. The soldiers return to their horses and begin a final pursuit for Eren's rescue.

[roll-da-credits]

Hello! I'm here for the serve you event!

So I was wondering if you could do Day 15 or just the prompt of Stargazing with my oc (Amelia Monroe) x Armin Arlert from Attack on Titan!

Amelia is the same age as him and they grew up together in Shiganshina with Eren. Literally grew up as neighbors with him, and was a trio before Mikasa joined and such. So all really close friends! Yet she grew up being closer to Armin. But at a young age when she learned of the outside world from Armin's books, she's always wanted to go out and see the world with him. She loves things like the ocean, but she mainly loves the moon and stars. While Armin is logical, she admires it greatly and does her best to try to see things logically, but she's just someone who thinks and acts with her heart.

What she looks like: She's 5'6 and rather slender, has a look to her that would make others think that the last place she'd be is in the scouts. She has short brunette hair that's slightly wavy at the end. She has blue-gray eyes and has freckles on her face and some over her body as well.

Extra facts about Amelia:

•Her mother (Evelyn) is the youngest sibling of Rod and Uri Reiss, so she is related to the Reiss family. Her mother worked hard ever since she was young and moved to Shiganshina to get away from the Reiss family stuff, so Amelia never met them growing up despite hearing about her uncle's briefly and seeing her mother writing letters to them sometimes when she was younger.

•Her mother was very passionate and worked hard to take care of her family + Armin, Eren, and Mikasa when Wall Maria fell. So they weren't complete orphans.

•Her father (Jonathan) is a high ranking scout that works closely with Erwin.

•She also has two younger siblings. A brother two years younger than her named Xavier and a sister named Elizabeth who was born a couple months before the fall of Wall Maria.

If you have any other questions, DM me! I hope I have enough info for you to make something out of this!

Day 15 - stargazing Armin x OC

Join my September event

"Continue closing your eyes, don't open it!" Armin yelled excitedly, as Amelia giggled her hands tightly covering her eyes.

"You know, when you said you wanted to go stargazing, I didn't think you'd lead me all the way to the edge of Paradis," she giggles even more as her bare feet touch the sand.

"Ok, open them!"

As Amelia took her hands off her face, she lightly gasps a the sight in front of her. A picnic blanket laid out on the sand, in front of it a weird contraption she had never seen before.

It stood on a stand, on top of it laid a long cylinder-like thing that pointed upwards at the sky, the part that was pointed down towards the sand was smaller as it gradually got bigger, it had some sort of lens on the tip that faced the sky.

Amelia walked closer towards the contraption, looking at it in wonder. It hadn't been long that Paradis made contact with the Azumabito Clan and the Anti Marleyan Forces. When they came, knowledge came along with them. With that knowledge, many contraptions they had never seen before came as well.

She had been in many meetings and discussions with both forces, but most of the time she had either chosen to leave or were not allowed at all. The ones that were allowed being Levi and Hange. It frustrated her to no end, but she knew they had good intentions behind it.

She can get slightly, emotional, whenever these things happened. getting defensive when they accidentally insult the scouts, or even getting the other side slightly annoyed by her questions.

"What is it?" she finally asked.

Armin took her hand in his and lead her towards the picnic blanket. He held the small end of it and adjusted it. Amelia continued to watch in wonder as Armin tinkered with the object.

"Look through this hole right here." he pointed at the small part of the contraption now adjusted to fit her height.

She looked at him for a moment with a teasing suspicion, though his smile made her confident everything was fine. So, she did as he told her. She leaned down slightly and looked through the glass.

"ARMIN!" she exclaimed once she realized what she was seeing.

Through the contraption, she could see the stars much closer. Bright white lights in the beautiful black sky. It was almost a dream. She placed both her hands on the contraption, and following with what Armin had done previously, started adjusting it to look to the side, higher, or lower.

Everything looked so much brighter, it was beautiful.

"What is it?" she asked him once she found it in herself to look away.

Armin smiled and pulled her down to sit on the blanket, he handed her a book. The alphabet is now familiar to her after spending quite a while studying it with Armin.

"Telescope?" she questioned, Armin nodded, "Yeah, they have these lenses at the end of both sides that magnify the sky. Yelena said scientists use them to look and study the stars."

She hummed in understanding, mind now focused on the book in front of her as she flipped through the pages. Armin watched her for a while, she had a bright smile on her face, and he couldn't bear to tear his eyes on the beauty in front of him.

That is until she suddenly stop as if some type of realization happened to her.

"Are you o-" before he could even finish the sentence. Amelia lunged towards him, tacking him in a tight hug.

Both Armin and Amelia fall to the ground from the impact, not that the two cared very much. The lovers were distracted by each other's embrace to notice the sand in their hair.

Finally, Amelia pulled away, looking up towards Armin's blue eyes, as he did to her own blue ones.

"Thank you," 2 simple words.

2 simple words didn't completely encapsulate how much gratitude she felt for the blonde man under her. Though it was a start.

The next step, as she had decided, was showing her love through kisses. Amelia grinned before littering Armin's face with tons and tons of kisses. He laughed loudly at the feeling.

When she was finally done the couple sat back up. They looked to the night sky with a sigh, the ocean's waves thrashing right in front of them. In a time of tense impending war, everything seemed so peaceful. Even if it was just a moment.

"Can you believe my great great great great great Grandpa decided that we weren't allowed to see this?" Armin knew she wasn't gesturing to the sky and instead gestures to the world they were locked away from.

"Well, we broke away from that, now we can see the world," Armin spoke, his hand reaching towards hers.

They stayed in silence for a short while. There were no words that could describe the calm atmosphere. So instead, they chose not to say anything. There wasn't much to be said anyways.

The two understood one another so well they could tell the silence was necessary. If not to think and ponder with what Eren might be plotting, then to relish in the feeling of a short peace. Something they might never be able to have ever again.

"Do you think anyone out there will be able to accept us?" Armin questioned.

Amelia shrugged. Truth be told, she didn't know what to answer him. She didn't know what to feel about people from the outside. Sure there were people who proved to be kind, but would they treat her with the same kindness once they figured out she was Eldian?

"Maybe, but I still don't know if I can forgive Reiner and Annie for what they did," she groaned thinking back about the tragedy.

"It wasn't completely their fault, you know?" Amelia immediately wanted the conversation to be over, "I understand you might be feeling frustrated, but maybe give them a second chance? I mean Annie's with us right now, the moment she wakes up it could be the time she gains our trust again."

Amelia looked over towards Armin. His eyes held so much hope, hope she hadn't seen in a while since they found out about the truth of the world. There wasn't a lot of hope to be felt, hope to win the war, sure, but Armin's hope was different.

Or perhaps she could be biased, his soft voice after all can distract her.

"Maybe," she spoke.

"I love you." Armin tightened his grip on her hand.

"I know," she stated, "I love you more than anything in this world."

Hi there! Ok so I don't know if I did her character right cause I still feel a bit iffy about it. I haven't really written about Armin a whole lot, so I'm not completely confident in writing him either. But anyways, thank you so much for joining my event and I hope you enjoy this!!!

[footballerimaginess]

2020 Imagines

Here are all of my imagines which I have posted in the year 2020. It has been a long year, so of course I have posted so much that I actually forgot I even wrote some of these imagines. But please enjoy reading these, I would love to know what your favourite imagine I wrote is. Also can you show this some love, I have put so much effort into writing all these imagines as well as putting this list together. 

JANUARY  1) Leroy Sane - You’re hiding something from me part 2 2) Roman Burki - Adopting A Princess Part 2  3) Jesse Lingard - She’s A Bully Part 2  4) Karim Benzema - Girlfriend Or Wife Part 2  5) Ben Chilwell - Member Of The Crew  6) Eric Dier - Birthday Love  FEBRUARY  1) Jack Grealish - After Game Fun  2) Andy Robertson - Friends Or More?  3) Trent Alexander Arnold - Press Conference  4) Kostas Manolas - Cup Of Tea  5) Dele Alli - Rebound  6) Pierre Emerick Aubamayeng - Not A Secret  7) Hector Bellerin - Back Home  8) Paulo Dybala - Down To The Wire  9) Trent Alexander Arnold - Morning Riser  10) Frenkie De Jong - Coffee Date  11) Dele Alli - Playstation  12) Trent Alexnder Arnold - Supportive Boyfriend  13) Hector Bellerin - In The Stands  14) Jan Vertonghen - Hard Times  15) Niklas Stark - Feeling Lonely  16) Mauricio Pochettino - Dad’s The Word  17) Federico Bernardeschi - Spa Day  18) Piotr Zielinksi - Pamper Session  19) Jesse Lingard - Secret Fan  20) Marcus Rashford - That Ex  21) Jesse Lingard - Mummy Daddy Fighting  22) Jesse Lingard - Jealous Boy  23) Federico Bernardesch - Surprise Birthday Party  24) Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Home Sweet New Home  25) Paulo Dybala - Old Football Club  26) Alex Meret - How We Met  27) Dele Alli - Say Goodbye  28) Jesse Lingard - New Boots  29) Federico Bernardeschi - Disney Princess  MARCH  1) Jan Vertonghen - Stupid Fight  2) Ben Chiwell - Barbecue Night  APRIL  1) Eric Dier - Baby Kicks  2) Paulo Dybala - Friends with benefits  3) Alex Oxlade Chamberlain - I want pickles  4) Jesse Lingard - Gender Reveal Party  5) Trent Alexander Arnold - Multiple Babies  6) Roman Burki - Baby’s Room  7) Harry Winks - Hormonal  8) Ben Chilwell - 9 Months  9) Kylian Mbappe - Missing The Birth  10) James Maddison -  Daddy’s Day Out  11) Julian Brandt - Sick Baby  12) John Stones - John The Softy  13) Frenkie De Jong - Blurb  14) Eric Dier - Easter Blurb  15) Neymar - Just No More  16) Julian Brandt - Easter Blurb  17) Harry Kane - Easter Blurb  18) Paulo Dybala - Easter Blurb  19) Eric Dier - Easter Blurb  20) Christian Pulisic - Baby Goes Home  21) Federico Bernardeschi - Sweet Music  22) Antoine Greizmann - Can We Have A Baby  23) Leon Goretzka - Baby Shopping  24) Dele Alli - I Feel Sick  25) Joshua Kimmich - Baby Kimmich  26) Virgil Van Dijk - My Little Mascot  27) Eric Dier - Lego Buddies  28) Tyrone Mings - Gym Workout  29) Ben Davies - Afternoon Nap  30) Jadon Sacnho - FaceTime Calls  31) Frenkie De Jong - Blurb  32) Julian Brandt - Blurb  33) Kepa Arrizabalaga - Blurb  34) Jesse Lingard - Blurb  35) Frenkie De Jong - Blurb  36) Pau Torres - Blurb  37) Christian Pulisic - TikTok Challenges  38) James Maddison - Night Walk  39) Dele Alli - Playstation Games  40) Reiss Nelson - Distraction  41) Alvaro Medran - Snakes And Ladders  42) Paulo Dybala - Work Work Work  MAY  1) Jan Vertonghen - Virtual Quiz  2) Ben Chiwell - Dinner Party  3) Hector Bellerin - Shaved Head  4) John Stones - Lockdown Date Night  5) Kai Havertz - Bake With Me  6) Julian Brandt - I’m with you  7) Pau Torres - Sore Loser  8) Thorgan Hazard - Painter  9) Harry Winks - The Baker  10) Ximo Navarro - Bored In The House  11) Ben Chilwell - Member Of The Crew Part 2  12) Jesse Lingard - Blurb  13) Jadon Sancho - Blurb  14) Eric Dier - Blurb  15) Virgil Van Dijk - Blurb  16) Eric Dier - Beauty Therapist  17) Hector Bellerin - Come Live With Me  18) Jadon Sancho - Blurb  19) Roman Burki - Blurb  20) Marcus Rashford - Blurb  21) Julian Brandt - Blurb  22) Federico Bernardeschi - Blurb  23) Paulo Dybala - Blurb  24) Sergi Roberto - Blurb  25) Dele Alli - Blurb  26) Trent Alexander Arnold - Blurb  27) Dele Alli - Blurb  28) Harry Winks - Blurb  29) Marco Asensio - Blurb  30) Eric Dier - Your Biggest Fan  31) Hector Bellerin - Two Dogs  32) Eric Dier - Amusement Park  JUNE  1) Trent Alexander Arnold - My Eyes Are Up Here  2) Kylian Mbappe - Grip your hair  3) Trent Alexander Arnold - You haven’t lost me  4) Ben Chilwell - There’s A Monster  5) Kylian Mbappe - Why are you in my room?  6) Jack Grealish - Don’t Leave  7) Kylian Mbaeppe - Stretch Marks  8) James Maddison - Dog’s Best Friend  9) Kylian Mbappe - My Body Wash  10) Marco Asensio - First Zoo Trip  11) Dele Alli - We’re not just friends  12) Neymar - I fell in love with you, not them  13) Dele Alli - In The Loft  14) Ben Chiwell - Nothing is wrong with you  15) Lukasz Pisczesk - Single Life  16) Donny Van De Beek - You make me weak  17) Marco Reus - The alcohol’s taking  18) Paulo Dybala - Stubborness  19) Nicolas Taglifico - Is That My Shirt?  20) Anyone You Like - Father’s Day  21) Jadon Sancho - Blurb  22) Dominic Calvert Lewin - Blurb  23) Dominic Calvert Lewin - Blurb  24) Ross Barkley - Blurb  25) Trent Alexander Arnold - Blurb  26) Trent Alexander Arnold - Blurb  27) Jadon Sancho - Blurb  28) Dele Alli - Blurb  29) Kylian Mbappe - Blurb  30) Dele Alli  Blurb  31) Jadon Sancho - Blurb  32) Lionel Messi - Blurb  33) Olivier Giroud - Blurb  34) Eden Hazard - Blurb  35) Jadon Sancho - Blurb  36) Trent Alexander Arnold - Blurb  37) Trent Alexander Arnold - Blurb  38) Jadon Sancho - Blurb  39) Harry Kane - Blurb  40) Robert Lewandowski - Blurb  41) Sergio Ramos - Blurb  42) Eden Hazard - Blurb  43) Jack Grealish - Blurb  44) Sergio Ramos - Blurb  45) John Stones - Blurb  46) Frenkie De Jong - Always On My Mind  47) Antoine Griezmann - I’m not being used no more  48) Leon Goretzka - You make me safe  49) Federico Bernardeschi - I think I’m in love with you  50) Jesse Lingard - It’s always been you  51) Marcus Rashford - I’m not going anywhere  52) Eric Dier - Bubble Bath  53) Antoine Griezmann - Rest Of My Life  54) Stefanos Kapino - Up All Night  55) Trent Alexander Arnold - So Kissable  56) Trent Alexander Arnold - The things you do to me  JULY  1) Dele Alli - Black Joggers  2) Ben Chilwell - Member Of The Crew Part 3  3) Hector Bellerin - To My Ex  4) James Maddison - A Little Miracle  5) James Maddison - A Little Miracle Part 2  6) Eric Dier - In The Shed  7) Isco - Blurb  8) Eric Dier - Blurb  9) Marcus Rashford - Blurb  10) James Maddison - Blurb  11) Ben Chilwell - Blurb  12) James Maddison - Blurb  13) Ben Chilwell - Blurb  14) Trent Alexander Arnold - Blurb  15) Dele Alli - Blurb  16) Leon Goretzka - Blurb  17) Eric Dier - Blurb  18) Federico Bernardeschi - Blurb  19) Federico Bernardeschi - Blurb  20) Toby Alderweireld - Blurb  21) Julian Brandt - Blurb  22) Christian Pulisic - Blurb  23) Tyrone Mings - Blurb  24) Harry Winks - Blurb  25) Jack Grealish - Blurb  26) Jadon Sancho - Blurb  27) Eric Dier - Blurb  28) Eric Dier - Blurb  29) Sergi Roberto - Blurb  30) Hector Bellerin - Blurb  31) Allison Becker - Blurb  32) Raul Jiminez - Blurb  33) James Justin - Blurb  34) James Maddison - Blurb  35) Steven Bergwijn - Blurb  36) Giovani Lo Celso - Blurb  37) Giovani Lo Celso - Blurb  38) Emil Krafth - Blurb  39) Nick Pope - Blurb  40) Tyrone Mings - Blurb  41) Virgil Van Dijk - Blurb  42) Jack Grealish - Blurb  43) Ruben Loftus Cheek - Blurb  44) Hector Bellerin - Blurb  45) Max Aarons - Blurb  46) Mason Mount - Blurb  47) Ruben Loftus Cheek - Blurb  48) Virgil Van Dijk - Blurb  49) Wilfried Zaha - Blurb  50) Hector Bellerin - Blurb  51) Sergio Aguero - Blurb  52) Dominic Calvert Lewin - Blurb  53) Dominic Calvert Lewin - Blurb  54) Dominic Calvert Lewin - Blurb  55) Dominic Calvert Lewin - Blurb  56) Dominic Calvert Lewin - Blurb  57) Dominic Calvert Lewin - Blurb  58) Aaron Connolly - Blurb  59) Raul Jiminez - Blurb  60) Jesse Lingard - Blurb  61) Dele Alli - Blurb  62) Trent Alexander Arnold - Blurb  63) Che Adams - Blurb  64) Neco Williams - Blurb  65) Todd Cantwell - Blurb  66) Jack Wilshere - Blurb  67) Todd Cantwell - Blurb  68) Jack Grealish - Blurb  69) Callum Wilson - Blurb  70) Sander Berge - Blurb  71) Tyrone Mings - Blurb  AUGUST  1) Eric Dier - I’m moving teams  2) Neymar - I’m moving countries  3) Reiss Nelson - I can’t ignore this  4) Paulo Dybala - I’m you number one supporter  5) Leon Goretzka - Surgery  6) Marcus Rashford - I can’t handle it  7) Dele Alli - The Media  8) Dele Alli - I’m so proud of you  9) Ben Chilwell - Dream  10) Marco Asenio - Medal round your neck  11) Harry Winks - My biggest game of my life  12) Federico Bernardeschi - I can’t play this season  13) Rhian Brewster - It’s an honour  14) Marc Bartra - My Baby  15) Ruqui Puig - I’m struggling not playing  16) Jadon Sancho - Play for your country  17) Alex Oxlade Chamberlain - Daddy has to go now  18) Ben Chilwell - Why does daddy need to go? 19) Trent Alexander Arnold - That Trophy  20) Dele Alli - I should have done better  *21) Noah Beck - Broody Beck  22) Kylian Mbappe - You could have been nicer  23) Eric Dier - The Dirty Text  24) Tyrone Mings - Sigh  25) Christian Pulisic - Attention  26) Jadon Sancho - Kissing your best friend  27) Trent Alexander Arnold - Naked  28) Tyrone Mings - Is your man still around?  29) Ben Chilwell - Rating the day  30) Trent Alexander Arnold - I ate all your snacks  31) Jordan Henderson - The wrong name check  SEPTEMBER  1) Paulo Gazzaniga - I have a human growing  2) James Maddison - You are pregnant?  3) Ben Chilwell - I miss daddy  4) Nicolas Tagalifico - Stretch Marks  5) Federico Bernardeschi - Pregnancy Test?  6) Marco Asensio - Wrapped round your little finger  7) Eric Dier - Bump is in the way  8) Harry Winks - My life is complete with you  9) Julian Brandt - The First Meeting  10) Eric Dier - You bought the kids a dog?  11) Eric Dier - I’m too young to have a baby  12) Kai Havertz - Troublesome Twins  13) Paulo Gazzaniga - I’m Late  14) Eric Dier - I can’t do this  15) Reiss Nelson - He is kicking  16) Jack Grealish - Skin To Skin  17) Marco Asensio - Pregnancy is hard  18) Paulo Dybala - I need a plaster  19) Antoine Greizmann - Stomach Bug?  20) Frenkie De Jong - Pregnant Again  21) Ben Davies - It’s your turn  22) Roman Burki - We do make cute babies  23) Joshua Kimmich - Pregnancy Hormones  24) Leon Goretzka - You are pissing me off  25) Nemanja Matic - Sneaky Wine  26) Jadon Sancho - Where do babies come from?  27) Harry Kane - Triplets  28) Trent Alexander Arnold - Homework  29) Dele Alli - Baby Clothes  30) Trent Alexander Arnold - Nothing fits me  OCTOBER 1) Tyrone Mings - Story - Trick Or Treat  2) Tyrone Mings - Story - Trick Or Treat Chapter 2  3) Tyrone Mings - Story - Trick Or Treat Chapter Three  4) Tyrone Mings - Story - Trck Or Treat Chapter Four  5) Tyrone Mings - Story - Trick Or Treat Chapter Five  6) Reiss Nelson - Trick And Treating  7) Dele Alli - Halloween Party  8) Leon Goretzka - You scared me  9) Dele Alli - Scary movie night  10) Ben Chilwell - Sweets  11) Jack Grealish - I hate scary films  12) Marcus Rashford - Ghost  13) Eric Dier - Halloween Decorations  14) Eric Dier - Scaredy Cat  15) Trent Alexander Arnold - Scary Date Night  16) Tyrone Mings - Prank War  17) Emre Can - Someone touched me  18) Reiss Nelson - Bedtime Story  19) Harry Winks - I’m not dressing up  20) Jadon Sancho - Ouijia Board  21) Christian Pulisic - I want them sweets  22) Eric Dier - Ghost Train  23) Ben Chilwell - Blurb  24) Eric Dier - Burb  25) Jack Grealish - Blurb  26) James Maddison - Blurb 27) Jesse Lingard - Blurb  28) Ben Chilwell - Blurb  29) Son Heung Min - Blurb  30) Stefanos Kapino - Blurb  31) Takumi - Blurb  32) Jack Grealish - Blurb  33) Hector Bellerin - Blurb  34) Eric Dier - Blurb  35) Hugo Lloris - Blurb  36) Mason Mount - Blurb  NOVEMBER  1) Pierre Emile Hojbjerg - Blurb  2) Eric Dier - Blurb  3) Harry Winks - Blurb  4) Eric Dier - Blurb  5) Jack Grealish - Blurb  6) Eric Dier - Blurb  7) Jack Grealish - Blurb  8) Eric Dier - Blurb  9) Eric Dier - Blurb  10) Jack Grealish - Blurb  11) Andy Robertson - Blurb  12) Jack Grealish - Blurb  13) Eric Dier - Blurb  DECEMBER  1) Ben Chilwell - Christmas Song  2) Toby Alderweireld - Wrapping Presents  3) Eric Dier - Die Hard  4) James Maddison - This Is my present  5) Ben Chilwell - Santa’s Naughty List  6) Dominic Calvert Lewin - Meet Santa  7) Trent Alexander Arnold - Cooking Dinner  8) Christian Pulisic - How many more times?  9) Christian Pulisic - Ugly Christmas Jumper  10) Ruben Loftus Cheek - You’re the biggest child  11) Jack Grealish - Such a pretty face  12) Julian Brandt - First Christmas  13) Mason Mount - I’m not going shopping  14) Jack Grealish - It’s absolutely freezing  15) James Maddison - Ice Skating  16) Harry Winks - Kiss me under the mistletoe  17) Marcus Rashford - Snowman  18) Eric Dier - Hungover On Christmas Day  19) Paulo Dybala - I hate Christmas  20) Jesse Lingard - Cat Climbs The Tree  21) Giovani Lo Celso - Advent Calander  22) Anyone you Like - Snowball  23) Eric Dier - Christmas Blurb  24) Jadon Sancho - Christmas Blurb  25) Trent Alexander Arnold - Christmas Blurb  26) Tyrone Mings - Christmas Blurb  27) Matty Cash - Christmas Blurb  28) Matty Cash - Christmas Blurb  29) Matty Cash - Christmas Blurb  30) Jack Grealish - Christmas Blurb  31) Anyone you Like - Blurb  32) James Maddison - Christmas Blurb  33) Anyone You Like - Blurb  34) John Stones - Christmas Blurb  35) Bastian Schweinsteiger - Christmas Blurb  36) Anyone you like - Christmas Blurb  37) Leon Goretzka - Christmas Blurb  38) Jack Grealish - Christmas Blurb  39) Eric Dier - Christmas Blurb  40) Reiss Nelson - Christmas Blurb  41) Mason Mount - Christmas Blurb  42) Eric Dier - Christmas Blurb  43) James Maddison - Christmas Blurb  44) Ben Chilwell - Christmas Blurb  45) Trent Alexander Arnold - Christmas Blurb  46) James Maddison - Christmas Blurb  47) Eric Dier - Christmas Blurb  48) Kalvin Phillips - Christmas Blurb  49) Trent Alexander Arnold - Christmas Blurb  50) Eric Dier - Christmas Blurb  51) Anyone You Like - Christmas  Tagging: @footballffbarbiex @evie-pr @lawsandother @meteora-fc @sanchos-dream @spursondele @kingkepaff @farmers-league @kkim120 @glam-khal @lxndonorris @footballxixstars 

[joestarsecrettecnique]

I am so very sick and tired of the toxicity that’s been poisoning the snk fandom as of the last couple years. I gave myself time to digest the ending and my feelings on it, before embarking in a journey to debunk many misconceptions and critiques I’ve seen floating in the fandom.

By the way, by no means I think this ending is perfect. I think this is textbook execution by Isayama to tie together every loose end left behind in an orderly manner, and I think that it was a bit rushed and oversimplified. I would’ve wanted more of Eren and Armin’s conversation, more of the squad realizing what his true goal had been, and some narrative choices I don’t 100% agree with. But still, what I saw in other fans’ critiques post 139 frankly appalled me, so I feel the need to make this. Also, this obviously are my own interpretations, I am not Isayama himself lol

“Ew, so Eren did pull a Lelouch after all”

No, Eren did not pull a Lelouch. While his action and the final result may seem similar, I find very different nuances between the two. Lelouch wanted for the whole world to be united in fighting against him, and thus he made himself the world’s greatest enemy. His will to turn himself into a monster was selfless. Eren didn’t give a damn about the world, he had no noble intentions whatsoever. He said it in chapter 122, his goal was to protect Paradis and, more specifically, his closest friends. He turned himself into a monster, killed 80% of human population, and endangered the lives of those very friends he wanted to protect, so that by stopping him, those friends could be safe. Eren had no intentions to break out of the cycle of hatred or unite the world against himself, he just wanted to give his friends a chance to survive, and that is not selfless, it’s selfish. Eren’s goal was incredibly selfish, and biased, and driven by his feelings instead of rationality. Nothing like Lelouch!

Now this, this I myself am not the greatest fan of. I feel like it makes that great scene in chapter 122 loose a bit of its strength, Ymir obeying the king for 2000 years just because she loved him. Honestly, I always thought there was a bit of Stockholm Syndrome going on, but I didn’t think it would be the only reason. However, like it or not, it’s undeniable that it makes perfect sense in the narrative that aot has always strived to tell. Love has been a theme strongly woven in the story, and it also draws a great parallel between Karl Fritz/Ymir and Eren/Mikasa. Ymir was a slave to her love for King Fritz, just like Mikasa was a slave to her love for Eren, in that she struggled to accept reality until the very end despite the atrocities that Eren committed. Ymir stayed bound by her love for King Fritz, until she saw Mikasa break from her own poisoned love, aknwoledge it, and kill Eren despite of it, or maybe because of it. Only Ymir knows that one, heh. But the point is, Mikasa showed Ymir that she could break free of a toxic love, she was that someone that Ymir had been waiting for to finally free her of her burden.

“What? But that makes no sense!”

Now, on my first read, I simply thought that Eren had ordered Dina to avoid eating Berthold, and that he had made her walk down that road unaware that his mother was trapped (because we know that the Attack Titan’s future memories aren’t infallible, there are still gaps), killing her indirectly. I’ve since then read some theories stating that Eren willingly killed his own mum in orther to give kid himself a reason to feel enough hatred to kickstart the whole story. Honestly, I like this version maybe more! But let me explain to you why this is not a plothole, like many people think. In this same chapter, we have Eren explaining how the Founder’s power works in synergy with the Attack’s: “There’s no past or future, they all exist at once”. This means that time travel in aot doesn’t work in a manner where Eren extracts himself from time and space, and from a separate realm he operates on the past. The way I understood it, the mechanics works kind of like Tokyo Revengers’ time travel. MInd you, I only watched episode one, so my understanding might be jackshit.

Spoilers for Tokyo Revengers’ episode one. In the show, the main character loses consciousness and finds himself reliving his past. He interacts with someone in this “new” past, and when he wakes up again in the present, past events had been over-written by the changes he made. I think this is how aot timetravel works, with the exception that, since past and future (and present, of course) all happen at once, side by side, there is no old past to be rewritten, neither a future to return to, and present Eren wouldn’t be aware of the changes that his future self would make. It creates sort of a time paradox, yes, in the sense that there’s a loop where present Eren’s mom has been eaten because future Eren, in the future, operated on the past by causing past Eren’s mom to be eaten, but all these Erens are one and the same, as all timelines exist at once.

“Boo-hoo they ruined Eren’s character, he’s such a wimp!”

I have to confess (isn’t this appalling, that this is a thing that I have to confess, what the actual fuck), I am an Eren stan. I absolutely do not consider myself a Jaegerist, I think Eren’s option was better than Zeke’s, yes, but it was morally wrong and awful and he absolutely was not only in the wrong, but also if he wasn’t dead I’d want him to be punished for his crimes. I didn’t particularly enjoy him pre-timeskip, and I started to like him because I found his evolution fascinating. I wanted to understand his motives, what was going on in his head, he was a puzzle that I wanted to solve. Maybe because I’m a psychologist, who knows. Anyways, if you’re an Eren stan only because he acted like a chad and now you cry his character was ruined, I’m sorry to say, you never understood him. Eren was not a god, he was not a strategist playing 5d chess with perfect rationality, Eren was the same he has always been. He was a young man spun along by his passions. Eren feels things with burning intensity, he lets himself be driven by his emotions. He almost flattened the world because he was disappointed that he and his friends weren’t the only human beings inhabiting it, for fuck’s sake, he’s always been irrational, selfish, and immature. Of course he doesn’t wanna die, of course he want’s to live with all of them. You really expected a 15 year old hot-headed brat to become Thanos after he suddenly found out he killed his own mum and all his dreams had been crushed? Of course he felt conflicted, of course he suffered, of course he wanted to live, “because he was born in this world”. Honestly, when I read his meltdown, I felt relieved that his character hadn’t been turned on its head, it was heartbreaking to see that he really was the same brat he’d always been, that he’d tried to steel himself to do horrible shit for his friends’ sake and that he felt bad about it! It made me appreciate his character a lot more, I felt nostalgic towards the times when I was irritated by his screaming and pouting. Suffice to say, this is also my answer to all those people that believe his internal monologue to convince himself the Rumbling was what he really wanted were bullshit since he “pulled a Lelouch”. How can it be bullshit? Maybe he planned to be stopped, but he also said that he thought he would’ve still done it if they hadn’t. He also said that killing a majority of the population was something that he wanted to do, not a byproduct of the alliance not stopping him early enough, because with the world’s militaries in shambles Paradis would’ve had time to prepare accordingly. Anyways, of course he needed to convince himself to do this awful thing even if he knew he wasn’t gonna succeed completely, can you imagine how horrible it would be to know your only chance is to kill thousands?

I also maybe think it was because of the spine centipede thingy? When Eren says “I don’t know why I did it, I wanted to, I had to”, he gets this faraway look on his face and we get a zoom in on one of his eyes, which is drawn very interestingly and kinda looks like the Reiss’ eyes when they were bound by the War Renounce Pact? So maybe it was also the centipede’s drive to survive and multiplicate that forced Eren to do the Rumbling so that its life wouldn’t be endangered. I don’t know how much I like this, I feel like it takes some agency away from Eren and also makes it feel like he’s not as responsible for the genocide he committed that we initially though, which mhhh maybe not, let’s have him take full responsibility for this. As I said, I’m not defending Isayama blindly, I do have some issues myself with what went down.

“What the fuck, did he say thank you for the genocide?”

Guys c’mon, this is like,, reading comprehension. Yes, it was poorly worded and a bit rushed, but by now you should have full context to make an educated guess on the fact that no, he didn’t thank him for committing a genocide what the fuck you guys. Armin started bringing up the idea that maybe they should have Eren eaten because he was doing morally questionable things ever since the Marley Arc, which for manga readers was like what, 2018? Isayama has been showing for three years how not okay Armin was with Eren’s actions, how could it make sense for him to thank him for a genocide? You see some poorly worded stuff, and your first instinct is to ignore eleven years’ worth of consistent characterization to jump to the worst interpretation possible? Let’s go over this sentences and reconstruct what they mean.

“Eren, thank you. You became a mass murdere for our sake. I won’t let this error go to waste”. Armin recognizes that Eren had no other choice, but does not condone it. He clearly calls it an error, which feels like an euphemism but for all we know the japanese original term used could’ve been harsher. Point is, he clearly states he think what Eren did was wrong. But he recognizes that Eren’s awful doing opened up a path for Paradis to break out of the cycle of hatred. Not a certainty, but an opportunity. He thanks Eren for giving them this chance, and promises not to waste it, even if it was born out of an atrocity. He thanks Eren for sacrificing himself for their sake, even if he doesn’t agree with the fruit of his labor, so to speak. He’s thanking Eren for the opportunity that his actions gave them, not for the actions themselves! Where the hell do you read “thank you for the genocide” guys, sheesh. I’m mad at y’all.

“How could Eren send MIkasa memories if she’s an Ackerman and an Asian, and their memories can’t be manipulated by the Founder? I call plothole!”

Now, here we’re going into speculation territory, so you’ve been warned. I don’t think that that information they gave us was true, about Ackermans being immune to memory manipulation. We know at least that the clan is in some way subject to the Founder’s power, or Mikasa and Levi wouldn’t have been called in the Paths by Eren multiple times. Stories never being entirely true or false, or relativity, better said, has been a strong theme in the story, we know this by Marley’s and Eldia’s different accounts of history compared to the actual Ymir backstory we got. So who’s to say that the belief that Ackermans aren’t manipulable is the truth? Maybe they’re just hard to control, not impossible. We know that by the Founder’s ability Eren experienced past and future happening simultaneously, so he could’ve very well been trying to send those memories into Mikasa’s head ever since the beginning of the story, only just succeeding in chapter 138. It would at least explain Ackerman’s headaches as Eren trying to manipulate their memories and failing. Of course, we’d need Levi side of thing to know for certain, as he had headaches too and we weren’t shown in the chapter if Eren spoke to him in paths like he did with the rest of the squad. We know he didn’t talk to Pieck, but he even went and spoke to Annie who he basically hadn’t seen since Stohess, so I hope he spoke to Levi too. Who knows, maybe he even spoke with Hanji, but she died before she could remember. I wish we were shown that, honestly, I’m sad that it was skipped, especially after Levi said in an earlier chapter that “there was so much he wanted to tell Eren”. Fingers crossed for the anime to expand on it.

“So Historia’s pregnancy was useless”

What? No, it wasn’t useless! Eren told her to get pregnant to save her life, so that she wouldn’t be turned into the Beast Titan. If she became the Beast Titan, then Eren would’ve had to enact the plan with her instead of Zeke, and yeah, Ymir brought the power of the titans with her, so theoretically Titan Shifter Historia would’ve had her time limit removed, but we saw that the only way for the Alliance to stop the Rumbling was killing Zeke, so Historia would’ve had to die. Useless to say, when Eren talked to her about his plan, she was very vocally against it, so I don’t think she would’ve helped Eren with his plan. It was Zeke or nothing, and the only way for Zeke to keep his titan was for Historia to be unable to be turned, hence the pregnancy. Did y’all read the same thing I read? Anyways, she could’ve definitely been handled better, but she wasn’t necessary to the plot anymore, and her being removed from it in such a way was sad, yes, but it made sense.

“They massacred Reiner!”

Yeah, can’t really say anything about this. I definitely understand the sentiment behind this scene, which I appreciate. It’s to show that thanks to his Titan being removed and the times of peace approaching, Reiner was finally able to shed the weight he bore on his shoulders and “regress” to his more carefree persona he had when he thought he was a soldier, instead of a warrior. I am very happy for him, and I think it’s a nice conclusion to his arc, that he’s finally happy, but it could’ve been portrayed in a less comic relief-y way. It just sledgehammers all his characterization. Feels surreal that we saw him attempt suicide a couple month ago in the anime and now he’s sniffing Historia’s handwriting.

Guys, this absolutely sends me. There are people who unironically believe Eren actually reincarnated in a bird? Guys. It makes no sense, it violates every rule that Isayama established for his universe’s power system. How could he even reincarnate in a bird? Guys, c’mon, this is symbolical! Birds have been heavily used in aot to portray freedom, and this is a nice, poetic, symbolic way to show that Eren who lived his whole life chasing freedom and never actually got it, is finally free, like a bird, now that he’s dead. It’s also a pretty explicit nod to Odin, I think. Aot is heavily inspired by Norse Mithology, and I think there were some pretty clear parallels between Eren and Odin/Loki in the later arcs of the story. Eren has been shown to “communicate” through birds like with Falco in chapter 81, or with Armin in chapter 131. Emphasis on “communicate” because again, this is symbolic, I don’t think he actually spoke through the birds, he simply talked to them via paths, but birds are associated with Eren’s character (see also the wings of freedom, y’know?) and the shots were framed so to give the impression that he was talking through the birds, but he wasn’t. Symbolism. Anyway, I really think they were supposed to be a nod to Odin’s crows.

Aaaaand that should be it! Even though I most definitely forgot some other criticism on the chapter, it’s crazy the amount of negativity floating around. Hope I didn’t bore you!

[spine-buster]

The President Wears Prada (William Nylander) | Chapter 12

A/N: Thank you all so much for the positive feedback on the last chapter despite very minimal Willy/Aberdeen interaction.  This chapter and the ones coming will definitely make up for it.

December 15th, 2019

Aberdeen Bloom was trying to get into the biggest gated house she’d ever seen in her life.  

She’d taken an Uber up to the Bridle Path, the exclusive street in Toronto filled with massive mansions the size of her high school with their own private gates and tennis courts and and pools and indoor pools and indoor basketball courts and bowling alleys and wine cellars and all the other frivolous things rich people could build in their houses.  She bet each one even had a heated driveway so that nobody in the house had to wake up at the crack of dawn to shovel.  The Uber driver had already driven away, not even bothering to wait to see if she got in safely, so she hoped to be let in soon.  

“Name, please?” a loud voice asked through the intercom-or-whatever-it-was system these rich people had for their house.  She bet they probably had cameras too and saw her impatiently waiting outside.  

“Aberdeen Bloom.”

“Abba-what?”

She rolled her eyes.  “Aberdeen Bloom,” she enunciated more clearly.  “Brendan Shanahan’s personal assistant.”  She was starting to get annoyed that she had to attach that caveat for anybody in the hockey world or the rich people world to take her seriously.  

The gate buzzed open, and Aberdeen walked quickly towards the front entrance, about the ring the doorbell before it opened magically for her.  A butler.  A butler opened the door for her and greeted her, offering to take her coat and letting her know she could keep her shoes on.  There were waiters and waitresses carrying around plates of expensive looking hors d’oeuvres and others carrying around flutes of champagne.  There was a giant, giant Christmas tree in the – the foyer?  The reception hall?  What did rich people call these things? – decorated with expensive looking ornaments, ribbons, and what Aberdeen thought had to be Swarovski crystals.  It had to be at least 15 or 20 feet high.  It was a far cry from her family’s Christmas tree, which was decorated with all the homemade ornaments she, Siena, and Camden had made throughout their years in school.  She almost felt like she was in the Eaton Centre.  There were even boxes upon boxes of presents underneath it, all wrapped with the same wrapping paper and with giant nametags.  Jolly Christmas carols were being played through some sort of speaker.  

She couldn’t believe rich people lived like this.  She couldn’t believe she was in a house on the Bridle Path with these rich people.  What had her life become?

“Aberdeen!” she heard her name being called.  She looked to her side to see Brendan approaching her, leaving his wife speaking to whoever they were speaking to for a quick second.  “So nice to see you!  You look lovely as always.”

“Oh, thanks Brendan.”

“Come with me,” he said, guiding her towards the people he was speaking to.  “Aberdeen, I want you to meet Dani Reiss, whose house we’re in.  Dani’s the CEO of Canada Goose.  Dani, this is my executive assistant, Aberdeen Bloom.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Aberdeen,” he said as they shook hands.  Aberdeen was hyperaware of his handshake and the fact that she was shaking hands with yet another billionaire.  She truly, truly couldn’t understand what her life had become.  She wished Siena or Kasha were here to do all the talking.  They were much better at it than she was, she thought.  “How are you enjoying working for the Toronto Maple Leafs?”

Aberdeen chuckled nervously.  She wondered if he really cared, but then remembered that they were having their Christmas party at his house, and he’d gone through all this trouble to keep them entertained, so he probably did.  “Oh, it’s amazing!  A bit hectic at times, but overall it’s been a great experience so far.  Everyone’s just been so great and welcoming – you wouldn’t even know that I didn’t watch hockey before I got the job.”

That led to a chuckle amongst Brendan, Catherine, and Dani.  “I bet a million people would kill for your job,” Dani commented through his laugh.

There it was again.  That thing everybody said to her when they learned what her job was.  She’d heard it for months now, since her first day on the job, and it was becoming abundantly clear with each passing day that it was something many people coveted.  “I know, sir.  I’m very lucky to have it and to work with such an incredible team.”

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Brendan smile.  Dani was already smiling at her.  “Well Aberdeen, mi casa es su casa!  Feel free to take a wander, grab some drinks, and enjoy the food!”

She thanked them as they left her there, walking towards another group with Leanne Hederson.  Aberdeen walked further into the foyer where the giant Christmas tree was, admiring it for a moment before looking around to see if she could see anybody she recognized.  She knew that, at this point, she could walk up to any member of the team or the administration and join in on their conversation, but the setting was slightly different than what she was used to (at the offices, of course) and it made her a bit nervous.  

“Brendan girl?”

Aberdeen visibly cringed.  She looked to her side to see her absolute favourite person in the whole entire world, Ethan Baker, walking over to her with a drink in his hands.  “Why are you here?”

She rolled her eyes at him.  He did this at every event they attended, as if she wasn’t allowed to be there.  “You constantly forget we work for the same team,” she said.

“Yeah, except one of our jobs is more important than the other,” he quipped.  She felt like punching him right then and there until she remembered this was a Christmas party at a billionaire’s mansion and it was socially frowned upon to start fights at parties.  “I didn’t know assistants were allowed to these things.”

“Peter’s here.”

“Doesn’t that mean you two should be helping the waiters?”

Aberdeen’s jaw dropped.  “What is your problem?” she demanded.  

“Aw, come on, I’m just ribbing you.”

“You know, just because I got the job over you—”

“—Cause you look really hot in those pants, Brendan girl.”

She stopped.  She was shocked at what he’d just said.  It had to be because he was already drunk.  She couldn’t think of another plausible expectation.  She couldn’t believe how hot and cold he was at these sorts of events, remembering what he was like at the Major Donor Gala.  “Besides,” she said through gritted teeth, “being a waiter isn’t something to be frowned upon.  A lot of my friends waited their way through university.”

“And you didn’t be a waitress or hostess?  With the way you look, you would have gotten really good tips.”

She felt like spiders were crawling underneath her skin.  She thought back to that day where she let him get in her head – when he’d called her a piggy for warming up a burrito.  “Are you trying to flirt with me?  Because you’re failing miserably.”

“I’m trying to—”

“Aberdeen!”

She looked to her side to see an excited looking Bee McTavish making a beeline towards her.  Bee somewhat-stared, somewhat-glared at Ethan as she hooked her arm with Aberdeen’s.  “You don’t mind if I steal her, do you?  A bunch of her friends are just over there,” she nodded her head towards a group that included Jason and Jennifer Spezza, Morgan, and John and Aryne Tavares. 

“I’m her friend,” Ethan quipped, smiling.

“I’m sure,” Bee nodded her head, grimacing every so slightly.  “Have a good night,” she dismissed him before tugging on Aberdeen’s arm and leading her in the opposite direction.  “God, that guy is such a skeeze,” she whispered to Aberdeen.

“Yeah.”

“Does he work here?”

“Tech and video playback,” Aberdeen informed her.

“Well, you’re with us now,” Bee smiled as she brought Aberdeen into the fold of the group.  

Aberdeen greeted and hugged everyone before noticing Will at the tail end.  She gave him a quick hug and a – God he smelled impeccable – and a cordial ‘Nice to see you!’ before he settled into his usual William behaviour.  “What do you think?” he asked.

She knew he was waiting for one of her famous retorts.  She took another look at his look: blonde hair, navy blue up top and an actual pair of burnt orange pants.  She wondered if his fashionable status edged on the side of completely insane.  Everything was tailored to perfection, and nothing was wrinkled or anything like that, but she couldn’t get over the orange pants.  “You look like Sailor Venus.”

Everybody burst out into laughter.  Even William smiled from ear to ear.  “Alright alright, very funny Aberdeen.”

“You know I’m right.”

The group talked about their Christmas plans.  This was Aryne and John’s first Christmas with baby Jace, so it was going to be extremely special for them.  Morgan’s parents and brother were flying in from Vancouver to spend time with him and Bee.  It was also Jason and Jennifer’s first Christmas in Toronto with their four girls – even though Jason was from here – so that was another special event that they’d be hosting at their house.  William would probably be Skyping with his family in Sweden, having his own version of a family Christmas.  It was unfortunate that whatever plans the boys had with their families would have to be cut short slightly because they had a game in New Jersey on the 27th, and it was even more unfortunate that because of a game in Minnesota, they’d all be away from their families on New Year’s – Aberdeen included.  It was the first time she would be out of Toronto for New Year’s, and not spending the night with her family or out with her friends.  

Jason and Jennifer ended up giving Aberdeen a tour of the parts of the house they’d already explored, with William following behind them somewhat lazily.  She saw Ethan at one point and could feel him staring at her.  There were a couple of different food stations, and she picked up some sushi and other appetizers on the way around.  The house was expansive, and again, she couldn’t believe rich people lived like this.  She could only imagine what the bedrooms looked like, or the basement, where she was sure there were ridiculous things like a bowling alley, or a 10,000 bottle wine cellar, or a home theatre.  

Dani Reiss ended up calling Jason and Jennifer over, so Aberdeen found herself alone with William.  William seemed to enjoy the situation, as he always did – the smirk on his face revealing all – but when Aberdeen looked past him, she saw Ethan staring at her again, pretending to talk to his colleague who worked in tech and video playback.  She bit her lip nervously.  She knew she couldn’t let him get to her, but he already had once before and it almost cost her the job she had – the one he so desperately wanted.  She couldn’t let him keep doing this to her.  She needed to be strong.  She needed to be—  

“Aberdeen.”

William’s stern voice broke her out of her trance.  “What?”

“Did you hear anything I just said about how nice you look?”

“N—N—Yeah…yeah yeah, thanks,” she said absent-mindedly.  

That wasn’t a normal reaction from her at all whenever he complimented her looks.  Usually it was an eye-roll and a ‘stop it!’.  William discreetly looked over his shoulder to where she was looking.  He saw Ethan look away once he caught him.  He whipped his head back towards her.  “Is he messing with you?” William asked, his voice low.

“What?  No no,” Aberdeen shook her head quickly.  “Don’t worry about it—”

“Aberdeen, if he’s messing with you, I’ll fucking kill him—”

“Will, no,” she stressed.  “Just leave it alone.”

“Is he bothering you?”

“No.”

“What was he saying to you earlier?”

“Nothing,” she said.  There was no way she was going to tell him.  “Just…just stupid stuff.  Work stuff.  It was honestly nothing.”

“You’d tell me, right?” William said.  He’d asked that question before.  She couldn’t discern his tone of voice but by the way he was looking at her she knew he was dead serious and knew there was at least a hint of worry.  “You’d tell me if he said something, right?  If he made you feel uncomfortable?  Because I’ve already tried to talk to Babs about it, and I know he’s gone now but I have no problem speaking to someone on your behalf if you’re too scared to.”

She felt like telling him.  She really did.  But she couldn’t – not now, at the Christmas party, and not ever, because it was something she needed to deal with on her own.  Somehow, at least.  She didn’t know how she was going to deal with it, only that she had to.  So instead, Aberdeen shook her head.  “It’s fine, Will.  Don’t worry.  And yes.  I’d tell you.”

So it was a little white lie.  Who hadn’t told a little white lie in their life?

William visibly relaxed at her words.  He finished his drink and placed it on the tray of a passing server.  “You ready to go outside?”

“Outside?” Aberdeen looked at Will strangely.  “It’s the middle of December.  We’re staying inside, thank you very much.”

“Nooooo no no no no,” he chuckled and shook his head.  He went to grab her hand but then remembered where he was, pulling it back towards his body.  “Come on.  Come with me.  You’re in for the surprise of your life.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Hey Aberdeen!  Willy!  You coming or what?” Jennifer Spezza called out as she waved them down from the sliding doors leading to the backyard.  “Come on!  It’s time to skate!”

Aberdeen threw William a confused look.  “Skate?”

They made their way towards the door, and when Aberdeen stepped through the threshold, she couldn’t believe what she saw: an entire skating rink – boards and everything – where she presumed Dani’s tennis court was, where some people were already skating.  There were lights, people were laughing, and there was even a whole skate rental helping out.  There were even fucking portable heaters.  Again, she couldn’t believe rich people lived like this.  She couldn’t believe that Dani would offer up his house, hire all the waiting staff, hire the catering staff, buy all those gifts, flood an entire portion of his backyard, and put up a skating rink so he could give the Maple Leafs a Christmas party.  Those closer she walked to the rink with William, Jason, and Jennifer, the more she couldn’t believe it.  

“What size are you, miss?”

“Uh, I’m a seven in regular shoes…” she said, not knowing if that made a difference.  The person turned around to look for skates, and Aberdeen turned towards William.  “I’m…I’m not good at skating at all.”

“You don’t have to be,” he smiled.  “You’ve got a team full of hockey players to help you along, minskatt.”

“No no.  I’m not just, like, saying that to be cute or whatever,” she said.  She needed to make that abundantly clear because she was sure she was going to make a complete ass of herself.  “I’m not good at skating.  I don’t even know how to tie them up properly.”

“Again, you have a whole hockey team at your disposal,” William said with a giggle in his voice.  When the skates were handed over, Jason took them before Aberdeen could.  “You gonna lace her up?” William asked him.

“I’ve got it,” Jason nodded his head.  “Aberdeen, go sit on the bench.  And give me your right foot.”

Aberdeen felt powerless as she did as she was told.  Jason shoved the skate onto her foot and kept it between his legs to tighten them and lace them up.  Jennifer put on her own skates right beside her, and William was on her other side doing the same.  “I feel like one of your children,” Aberdeen joked to them.

Jason smiled.  “You’re practically the same age as Sophia.”

“Am not!” Aberdeen protested.  “Sophia was born in 2010!”

“Yeah, and you’re born in 98.  I’m born in 83.  There’s fifteen years between you and I, but only twelve between you and Sophia,” Jason said.

“It’s practically the same thing!”

“No.  You’re a baby,” Jason chuckled.  “The both of you,” he nodded his head towards William, “are babies.”

Once her skates and helmet were fully on, and tight enough so her ankles weren’t moving so they wouldn’t snap in half, Aberdeen wobbled her way over towards the ice rink.  She looked out onto the ice and saw Bee skating, screaming as she slipped and fell right into Frederik Andersen’s arms.  The both of them laughed heartily as he held on to her like a knight in shining armour would catch his princess.  Morgan called out to them in a joking manner, feigning disgust and annoyance.

“Aberdeen?” she heard William’s soft voice.  Jason and Jennifer were already on the ice.  She hadn’t even seen them get on.  She had taken a while to psych herself up, apparently.  “You okay?”

“I’m just being an idiot,” she shook her head, embarrassed.

“You’re not being an idiot, minskatt.”

“Says the guy who was in skates before he was in shoes with soles,” she tried to joke.  “I work for a hockey team and I don’t even know how to skate well.”

Aberdeen watched as William extended his head.  “Come on,” he said.  “I’ll teach you.”

“Will—”

“Think of it this way,” he began.  “If you fall and crack your head open, you’ll probably suffer memory loss and forget who I am.”

Aberdeen snorted and laughed out loud.  She needed to hand it to William – he knew how to calm her down and diffuse any stress.  “You’re the worst, Will,” she chuckled out.

“I know I am.  Now come on.”

Aberdeen took his hand and stepped onto the ice gingerly.  William pulled her away from the edge of the rink slowly.  “Okay, bend your knees,” he began.  “You can’t skate with tight legs.”

For an almost embarrassingly long time, William taught Aberdeen the basic ins and outs of skating.  He was patient with her as he skated back and forth with her, pushing and pulling her along.  He’d grab her if she tripped, wrapped his arms around her if she almost slipped and fell, and tried to make her laugh as much as possible.  Jason would join in sometimes, holding her other hand as he and William pulled her along.  Jennifer and Bee acted like her own personal cheerleaders.  Eventually, she got the hang of it, able to skate around without having her hands out to balance her and with the ability to turn along the edges.  Morgan skated by and joked she was going to replace William on the line with John.  The smile on her face and giggle in her voice could light up the night sky.

For William, it was the best part of the night by far.

***

Brendan was so happy that everybody was having fun; so happy to see the smiles on people’s faces as they skated around the rink, running into each other like bumper cars and taking group pictures.  He loved seeing the comradery of his team outside the rink – the comradery of his entire organization outside of the offices.  The Christmas party was a huge success, and he couldn’t be happier.  

As he leaned his forearms down against the boards outside the rink, he watched everybody having a good time.  A few of the players skated by to have a quick chat.  Auston came first, then Jason and Freddie Gauthier together.  

“What a great party!” William smiled as he skated up to him, looking out at everyone having fun on the ice.  

Brendan nodded his head.  “We’re lucky Dani invited us and did all this for us.  Much better than some stuffy dinner, I think.”

“Definitely,” William agreed, nodding his head.  

Brendan nodded his head too, following William’s line of sight.  Aberdeen was posing with Bee McTavish, Aryne Tavares, and Courtney Muzzin.  Brendan smiled.  “Be careful, William.”

William’s brows furrowed at his words as he turned to look at him.  “Sir?”

“She can’t do anything with you until she leaves,” Brendan said, standing upright.  “And you can’t do anything with her.”