#Xaver Live

[janjvagner]

Proslov Václava Klause. (28. října 2023)

28. října 2023 v Praze u Obecního domu. Proslov bývalého prezidenta České republiky Václava Klause u příležitosti 105. výročí vzniku samostatného Československa.

#státní svátek #28. října 1918 #Československá republika #Habsburská monarchie #deklarace národa #praha #obecni dům #Petr Hájek #Ladislav Jakl #Jiří Weigl #Luboš Veselý #Xaver #Xaver Veselý #Petr Macinka #Václav Klaus #Miroslav Šefčík #Radek Vondráček #XTV #Xaver Live #Dušan Tříska #samostatné Československo #proslov #česká státnost #náměstí Republiky #Obecní dům #Prašná brána #shromáždění #28. října 2023 #28. 10. 2023 #28. 10

[angry-pinscher]

Today was perfect. Public training with Bayerns players.

Yesterday's Start-XI had a break, but they still came for photos and autographs.

Sorry for the big smiley, I don't want to post my face online 😅 but I wanted to show you these cute guys

Joshi wasn't there at first, but he came for a short time. He didn't have time for photos because his wife was coming with the kids. But I got an autograph! 😍

Well and this 😂

And the stuff

I couldn't take pictures with everyone, but I got a loooot of autographs

From Kimmich, Goretzka, Ulreich, De Ligt, Sabitzer, Pavard, Schenk, Tel, Upamecano, Neuer, Hernandez, Mazraoui, Choupo, Mané and Nagelsmann.

And with some delay they started training

While Joshi played with his kids. Sorry my camera is really crap

#fc bayern live #Joshi was really right in front of me 🥺 #I still can't believe it 🥰 #joshua kimmich #leon goretzka #sven ulreich #matthijs de ligt #marcel sabitzer #benjamin pavard #johannes schenk #mathys tel #dayot upamecano #manuel neuer #lucas hernandez #noussair mazraoui #eric maxim choupo moting #sadio mané #xaver zembrod #julian nagelsmann #fc bayern #long post

[comtessezouboff]

Paintings from Buckingham Palace: part II

A retexture by La Comtesse Zouboff — Original Mesh by @thejim07

Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the Royal Collection Trust. The British monarch owns some of the collection in right of the Crown and some as a private individual. It is made up of over one million objects, including 7,000 paintings, over 150,000 works on paper, this including 30,000 watercolours and drawings, and about 450,000 photographs, as well as around 700,000 works of art, including tapestries, furniture, ceramics, textiles, carriages, weapons, armour, jewellery, clocks, musical instruments, tableware, plants, manuscripts, books, and sculptures.

Some of the buildings which house the collection, such as Hampton Court Palace, are open to the public and not lived in by the Royal Family, whilst others, such as Windsor Castle, Kensington Palace and the most remarkable of them, Buckingham Palace are both residences and open to the public.

About 3,000 objects are on loan to museums throughout the world, and many others are lent on a temporary basis to exhibitions.

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The second part includes paintings displayed in the Ball Supper Room, the Ballroom, the Ballroom Annexe, the Bow Room, the East Gallery, the Grand Entrance and Marble Hall, the Minister's Landing & Staircase, the Vestibule, the Chinese Dining Room and the Balcony Room.

This set contains 57 paintings and tapestries with the original frame swatches, fully recolourable. They are:

Ball Supper Room (BSR):

Portrait of King George III of the United Kingdom (Benjamin West)

Ballroom (BR):

The Story of Jason: The Battle of the Soldiers born of The Serpent's Teeth (the Gobelins)

The Story of Jason: Medea Departs for Athens after Setting Fire to Corinth (the Gobelins)

Ballroom Annexe (BAX):

The Apotheosis of Prince Octavius (Benjamin West)

Bow Room (BWR):

Portrait of Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge (William Corden the Younger)

Portrait of Princess Augusta of Cambridge, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Alexander Melville)

Portrait or George, Duke of Cambridge (William Corden the Younger)

Portrait of Frederick William, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Franz Xaver Winterhalter)

Portrait of Augusta of Saxe-Weimar, Princess of Prussia, later Queen of Prussia and German Empress (Franz Xaver Winterhalter)

Portrait of Prince Leopold, Later Duke of Albany (Franz Xaver Winterhalter)

Portrait of Ernest, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langeburg (Franz Xaver Winterhalter)

Portrait of Ferdinand of Savoy, Duke of Genoa (Eliseo Sala)

Portrait of Marie Alexandrina of Saxe-Altenburg, Queen Consort of Hanover (Carl Ferdinand Sohn)

Portrait of Leopold, Duke of Brabant, Later Leopold II, King of the Belgians (Nicaise de Keyser)

Portrait of Marie Henriette, Archduchess of Austria and Duchess of Brabant, Later Queen of the Belgians (Nicaise de Keyser)

East Gallery (EG):

Portrait of Leopold I, King of the Belgians (Franz Xaver Winterhalter)

Portrait of Victoria, Queen of England in Coronation Robes (Sir George Hayter)

Portrait of Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, King of the French (Franz Xaver Winterhalter)

Portrait of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Consort Queen of England with her Children at Windsor Castle (Benjamin West)

Portrait of Prince Adolphus, later Duke of Cambridge, With Princess Mary and Princess Sophia at Kew (Benjamin West)

The Coronation of Queen Victoria in Westminster Abbey, 28 June, 1838. (Sir George Hayter)

The Christening of Edward, Prince of Wales 25 January, 1842 (Sir George Hayter)

The Marriage of Queen Victoria, 10 February, 1840 (Sir George Hayter)

Portrait of the Royal Family in 1846 (Franz Xaver Winterhalter)

Portrait of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as King Edward III and Queen Philippa of Hainault at the Ball Costumé of 12 May, 1842 (Sir Edwin Landseer)

Grand Entrance and Marble Hall (GEMH):

Portrait of Edward, Duke of Kent (John Hoppner)

Portrait of Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (George Dawe)

Portrait of Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saafeld, Dowager Duchess of Kent (Franz Xaver Winterhalter)

Portrait of Albert, Prince Consort of the United Kingdom (Franz Xaver Winterhalter)

Portrait of Victoria, Queen Consort of the United Kingdom in State Robes (Franz Xaver Winterhalter)

Portrait of Louise d'Orléans, Consort Queen of the Belgians, with her Son Leopold, Duke of Brabant (Franz Xaver Winterhalter)

Portrait of Feodora of Leiningen, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langeburg, with her Daughter, Princess Adelheid (Sir George Hayter)

Portrait of George, Prince of Wales, Later King George IV (Mather Byles Brown)

Portrait of Victoire of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Duchess of Nemours (Franz Xaver Winterhalter)

Portrait of Augustus, Duke of Sussex (Domenico Pellegrini)

Portrait of Leopold I, King of the Belgians (William Corden the Younger)

Minister's Landing and Staircase (MLS):

Portrait of George, Prince of Wales in Garther Robes (John Hoppner)

The Loves of the Gods: The Rape of Europa (the Gobelins)

The Loves of the Gods: The Rape of Proserpine (The Gobelins)

Vestibule (VL):

Portrait of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the Prince Consort (Unknown Artist from the German School)

Portrait of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, Later Grand Duchess of Hesse (Franz Xaver Winterhalter)

Portrait of Princess Helena of the United Kingdom, Later Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (Franz Xaver Winterhalter)

Portrait of Princess Louise of the United Kingdom, Later Duchess of Argyll (Franz Xaver Winterhalter)

Portrait of Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom, Later Empress Frederick of Germany (Franz Xaver Winterhalter)

Portrait of Victoria Mary of Teck, Duchess of York (Edward Hughes)

Chinese Dining Room or Pavilion Breakfast Room(CDR):

Set of Four Painted Chinoiserie Wall panels I (Robert Jones)

Set of Four Painted Chinoiserie Wall panels II (Robert Jones)

Set of Four Painted Chinoiserie Wall panels III (Robert Jones)

Set of Four Painted Chinoiserie Wall panels IV (Robert Jones)

Balcony Room or Centre Room (BR):

Chinoiserie Painted Panel I (Robert Jones)

Chinoiserie Painted Panel II (Robert Jones)

Chinoiserie Painted Panel III (Robert Jones)

Chinoiserie Painted Panel IV (Robert Jones)

EXTRAS! (E):

I decided to add the rest of the tapestries from the story of Jason (wich hangs in the Grand Reception Room at Windsor Castle) and (with Jim's permission) added the original mesh for paintings number 2,3,4 & 5 from the Vestibule (seen here and here) wich was never published. These items are:

The Story of Jason: Jason Pledges his Faith to Medea (the Gobelins)

The Story of Jason: Jason Marries Glauce, Daughter of Creon, King of Thebes (the Gobelins)

The Story of Jason: The Capture of the Golden Fleece (the Gobelins)

The Story of Jason: The Poisoning of Glauce and Creon by Medea's Magic Robe (the Gobelins)

Sea Melodies (Herbert James Draper) (made by TheJim07)

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Found under decor > paintings for:

500§ (BWR: 1,2,3,4,5,6, & 8 |VL: 1)

570§ (VL: 2,3,4 & 5 |E: 5)

1850§ (GEMH: 1 & 3)

2090§ (GEMH: 2,6,7, 9 & 11)

3560§ (GEMH: 4,5 & 10 |BSR: 1 |EG: 1,2,3,4 & 5 |MLS: 1 |BAX: 1)

3900§ (CDR: 1,2,3 & 4 |BR: 1,2,3 & 4 |EG: 10 |VL: 6 |GEMH: 8)

4470§ (MLS: 2 |E: 1)

6520§ (BR 1 & 2| MLS: 3 |EG: 6,7,8 & 9 |BR: 1 & 2 |E: 2,3 & 4)

Retextured from:

"Saint Mary Magdalene" (BWR: 1,2,3,4,5,6, & 8 |VL: 1) found here.

"Sea Melodies" (VL: 2,3,4 & 5 |E: 5)

"The virgin of the Rosary" (GEMH: 1 & 3) found here.

"Length Portrait of Mrs.D" (GEMH: 4,5 & 10 |BSR: 1 |EG: 1,2,3,4 & 5 |MLS: 1 |BAX: 1) found here

"Portrait of Maria Theresa of Austria and her Son, le Grand Dauphin" (CDR: 1,2,3 & 4 |BR: 1,2,3 & 4 |EG: 10 |VL: 6 |GEMH: 8) found here

"Sacrifice to Jupiter" (MLS: 2 |E: 1) found here

"Vulcan's Forge" (BR 1 & 2| MLS: 3 |EG: 6,7,8 & 9 |BR: 1 & 2 |E: 2,3 & 4) found here

(you can just search for "Buckingham Palace" using the catalog search mod to find the entire set much easier!)

Disclaimer!

Some paintings in the previews look blurry but in the game they're very high definition, it's just because I had to add multiple preview pictures in one picture to be able to upload them all! Also sizes shown in previews are not accurate to the objects' actual sizes in most cases.

Drive

(Sims3pack | Package)

(Useful tags below)

@joojconverts @ts3history @ts3historicalccfinds @deniisu-sims @katsujiiccfinds @gifappels-stuff

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#the sims 3 #ts3 #sims 3 #s3cc #sims 3 cc #sims 3 download #sims 3 decor #edwardian #victorian #regency #georgian #buckingham #buckingham palace #wall decor #sims 3 free cc #large pack #this was exhausting

[city-of-ladies]

You have probably already heard of the famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. But did you know that he had an equally talented sister who was sidelined?

This is her story. 

A child prodigy 

Maria Anna “Nannerl” Mozart (1751-1829) was born in Salzburg, Austria, to Anna Maria Mozart (née Perti) and composer Leopold Mozart. She was thus immersed in a musical environment from early on.

She began learning music at the age of 8. Like her little brother, Nannerl was a child prodigy and excelled at playing the harpsichord. But she wasn’t supposed to make a living out of it. Her musical education only aimed at increasing her value in the marriage market. 

Between 1763 and 1766, she toured Europe with her brother. Nannerl was 12 and Wolfgang 7. They gave concerts in no less than eighty cities. Contemporary praised Nannerl’s musical abilities, calling her a “wonder”, “prodigy” or “virtuoso”. She could indeed play the most difficult pieces “with precision, incredible lightness, with perfect taste”. She was sometimes even billed first. 

End of an artistic career 

Nannerl helped write down some of her brother's compositions and wrote her own as well. Wolfgang was supportive and encouraged her. He frequently asked for her opinions on his work. She sent him at least one piece and he called it “beautiful”. Her father said nothing of it.

A musicologist made the hypothesis that Nannerl could have written two of Wolgang’s concertos for violin. Sadly, as far as we know, none of her music survived. 

Nannerl, who referred to herself as an "obedient daughter", stopped touring and performing in public at 16. It was now time to prepare for marriage and her father now focused only on Wolfgang's musical talent. 

A loveless marriage 

Nannerl was 33 when she ultimately married an older aristocrat who already had five children from previous marriages and whom she didn't love. She had three children with him. She didn't completely give up on music and kept giving piano lessons.

After her father’s death, Nannerl managed to garner all of his estate. Her relationship with her brother became strained and their correspondence ceased after 1788.

Preserving her brother’s memory 

Wolfgang died in 1791. Nannerl later encountered Franz Xaver Niemetschek’s biography of him and was deeply moved by it, learning of the difficult conditions he spent the end of his life:

“Herr Prof. Niemetschek's biography so completely reanimated my sisterly feelings toward my so ardently beloved brother that I was often dissolved in tears since it is only now that I became acquainted with the sad condition in which my brother found himself.”

She later helped Georg Niklaus von Nissen (who had married her brother’s widow, Constance) in writing a biography of Wolfgang by lending him an important collection of letters.

Nannerl became blind at the end of her life and died in 1829 at the age of 78.

Her fate leaves us wondering what she could have become in a more supportive environment and what her music could have sounded like. 

Feel free to check out my Ko-Fi if you want to support me!

Further reading:

Gault Philippe, "Mozart : Sa soeur Maria Anna, dite Nannerl, a-t-elle composé certaines œuvres signées Wolfgang ?"

Laleu Aliette de, Mozart était une femme : histoire de la musique classique au féminin

Melograni Piero, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: A biography

Milo Sylvia, "The lost genius of Mozart's sister"

Solomon Maynard, Mozart: A life

#nannerl mozart #mozart #wolfgang amadeus mozart #18th century #history #women in history #women's history #artists #composers #female artists #female composers #austria #classical music #maria anna mozart

[life-imitates-art-far-more]

Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805-1873) "Portrait of Countess Marie Branicka de Bialacerkiew" (1865) Oil on canvas Located in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States The Countess Marie Branicka de Bialacerkiew [née Princess Sapicka] belonged to a socially prominent and wealthy Polish family living in Paris, where this portrait was painted

#paintings #artwork #genre painting #female portrait #franz xaver winterhalter #oil on canvas #fine art #philadelphia museum of art #museum #art gallery #german artist #history #portrait of a woman #polish aristocracy #aristocrat #aristocrats #white dress #dresses #pink #clothing #clothes #dark hair #curly hair #aesthetic #aesthetics #1860s #mid 1800s #mid 19th century

[fumblingmusings]

I absolutely will find a way to get a version of this portrait into my female England fic with Matt (minus the moustache), baby Oz, and Zee because UNGH look at all that lace. So much pudge.

But in general, I can imagine a female England constantly commissioning art. Heck Arthur too for sure. The kind of parent who nowadays is the type to pay for professional photography shoots and hangs the final results around the living room. It's just because they're really proud of their kids guys it is absolutely not an exercise in vanity don't be ridic-

Anyway. More examples. Most if not all by Franz Xaver Winterhalter because I have a type...

The wee sailor suit oh my gawwwwwwdddd.

The hours the poor kids had to sit through though. Alasdair comes in at one point screaming, 'the bairns need to be in tartan' and refuses to leave until he gets his way. Mattie would be much older by this point if it's the 1840s and 50s like these portraits are, but he would still have to sit for them, of course.

Also, sorry to be a leech, but I remember @draw-a-circle-thats-the-compass once had a few ask answers of compilations of baby portrait inspo.... do you still have any to hand? 🥺

#hetalia #hws england #hws canada #hws australia #hws new zealand #hws scotland #five eyes group #historical hetalia #headcanon #op

[dorminchu]

Between Heaven and Earth: Prologue: Part Two

a/n: Woah, this fic is picking up faster than I expected. Here's part two of the set-up before the Trainee Arc.

Two years of mandatory service eroded any illusion of normality or prestige for the newly-made Warriors. Model soldiers for the public, in photographs. To become viable in the eyes of the Titan Society, each of them had to serve their country like any other cadet. They stood apart from the teenaged boys and younger men conscripted into service, robbed of their childhoods but not old enough to be treated any better than nuisances or cannon fodder. Just a bitter consequence of the war effort and the weighted odds Marley faced.

The Warriors, placed on reserve until the Titan Society made its final decision, spent their time working in factories and farms, it was as though they'd never been promoted at all. Despite the claims to the contrary, despite the smartly-pressed uniforms and red armbands to prove their worth against the rest of their peers. All of them, in some way or another, were looking for a way out of their lives in the ghettos, from the ineffable stamp of Eldian bastard, none more than P. Galliard and Braun.

The morning of their coronation, crowded into a small cart and brought back to the old trainee camp in Liberio. Doctors from the Titan Research Society had agreed to hold a lecture with the proffered candidates.

Dr. Xaver, a short stout man who came over to greet the Commander and gave Colt Grice a brief nod. Pieck Finger's father, a neurologist, was busy speaking with a third man. His threadbare coat and spectacles set him apart from Magrath and the rest of the Marleyans in their well-tailored uniforms.

Xaver introduced him as, "My good colleague Dr. Jaeger, who works in the Titan Biology and Research division alongside myself and Dr. Finger."

"I don't remember him from Liberio," Braun muttered.

"He might be a foreigner," said M. Galliard.

"Pure Titans," Dr. Jaeger said," are what we call Eldians transformed by the Progenitor Titan. They vary in size, shape and intellect, and are controlled unconsciously by the Eldian within the Titan's nape, like a parasitic host."

"The Titan Society's first breakthrough were duplicates. With Tybur's blessing and the cooperation of the royal family on Paradis, we figured out a way to cultivate a variety of strains using the Progenitor's genes as a basis. Man-made Pure Titans are the simplest example. They're able to move around without sunlight, can be activated upon command, and the serum is cheap to produce."

"Still, there are downsides we can't ignore," said Dr. Xaver. "Without the use of a Coordinate, Pure Titans are essentially mindless. The man-made ones tend to act in ways we don't fully understand."

"Now," said Xaver, "there is a way for a Pure Titan to regain human form, by ingesting the spinal fluid of a Titan Shifter. The subject inside the Pure Titan will inherit the power and memories of that previous candidate. It is common for the subject to recall past events as if from a nightmare, or become overwhelmed by their inherited memories and decommissioned. There is an immense physical and psychological risk that comes with inheriting the power of a Titan Shifter through consumption."

Hoover and Braun exchanged glances.

"Each Titan Shifter in the Warrior Unit is injected with a specialized serum. The candidate retains his or her intelligence, and can return to human form at will. As each of you mature, your body will continue to function at peak physical condition for an average of thirteen years, depending on myriad factors. The Titan inherited, frequency of transformations or regeneration."

A hand rose from the crowd of Warrior cadets. "Why not create multiple Titan Shifters of one type?" said M. Galliard. "Wouldn't it be simpler to command a smaller squadron of Armoured Titans?"

Xaver and Finger shared a strange look. "Curating a particular strain of serum can take months, sometimes years depending on the complexity of the Titan's abilities. If there are complications, the fault comes back on us and we're apt to lose funding. By focusing on a small pool of candidates, we're able to ensure a higher rate of success."

"When the Shifter first activates their Titan, they may enter a state similar to the Pure Titan's unconsciousness. It is possible to regress into what is essentially an uncontrollable Pure Titan. Conditioning is critical."

Sometimes, candidates were selected into their early teen years, or as young as eight years old, but the age at which they were deployed as part of the Warrior Unit was ten to twelve with rare exception. "In the beginning," Mr. Finger said, "the Titan Society experimented on adult volunteers, so the results are still very skewed. But the serum doesn't appear to have adverse effects on children, male or female."

…

Letters were sent out to each family, dryly commemorating their child's placement. On the day of their coronation, each candidate was given the opportunity to say goodbye.

Hoover's father was a clergyman and his mother a schoolteacher. Finger's parents were neurologists. Galliard's father showed up to see his sons off in their mother's stead. Leonhardt, leaning against the wooden partition between the track and base, watched at a distance.

Braun couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her. That eagerness to prove herself, it always came off like she was putting on airs. Same as his regurgitation of political slogans, or P. Galliard running his mouth. The only purpose should be proving their loyalty to Marley and its tenets—to embrace them, because what non-Eldian would extend the same courtesy? Between rotting in the ghettos as a bastard, and making use of his cursed blood, it was a straightforward choice.

Leonhardt could scuff every grasshopper that crossed her path, she could play at indifference until there was no one left to prove herself to. Still, anyone who deigned to put Galliard in his place when he got too full of himself, Braun could respect.

This time, Braun's mother brought Gabi and Falco along. Gabi's hand secured in her aunt's while Falco walked by himself. Braun accepted a hug from his mother and reassured the three of them he'd be back in a year. Gabi eyed his armband, looking up at him with innocent awe.

"Have you killed any Marleyans yet?"

Braun shrugged. "It's not that exciting, Gabi. Just basic training."

Her face pulled into a look of deep thought, then brightened. "Does your dad know you're going to be fighting on the front lines?"

Braun's mother shot her a severe look and gripped a little tighter. Gabi winced, but looked to her cousin for approval. Braun's expression faltered. "Not yet. But I'll tell him when I get back. I'll have some experience by then."

"Karina." Mr. Leonhardt limped over. "It's been a while."

Ms. Braun took the opportunity, offing Braun a half-apologetic smile before excusing herself. Before she was out of earshot, Gabi turned around and fixed Braun with a conspiratorial stare. "Aunt Karina said you've got a nervous consternation."

"Constitution," said Falco under his breath.

Gabi frowned. "Yeah, I know what I meant. Quit tryin' to talk for me."

"Don't be so hard on your cousin," Braun said. "He's got to look after you while I'm gone."

Gabi looked up. "I can look after him, I don't mind. Right, Falco?"

The boy smiled. "Yeah." Scanning the grounds, past Braun, his expression pensive. His eyes fixed briefly on Leonhardt, alone. Suddenly, his face lit up. "Colt!" Falco took off running across the courtyard, threw his arms around his brother's waist.

Gabi side-eyed Braun. "He's such a kid."

Colt ruffled his hair and said, "Hey, Falco. You're getting taller."

Falco's grin faltered. "You're going to be away again." He averted his eyes down the field back to Braun and Gabi. "I wish you didn't have to be."

Good-byes were especially difficult. Falco only saw his brother once a year, at best. Even with Gabi to keep him on the straight and narrow, it wasn't the same as having a brother to wrestle with.

Turning back to Gabi, who had slipped away. He scanned the length of the field and finally caught sight of her, next to Leonhardt, leaning on the post in a child's fascimile of indifference. He jogged over, trying not to crack a smile.

Leonhardt shot him a look as if to say, I'm not here to babysit. Get your impressionable sibling away from me.

"She looked sad," Gabi nudged Braun in the ribs. "Which Titan is she?"

"Dunno, I haven't asked her."

"Why not?"

"She's not friendly."

"I guess. She wasn't really that bad. You probably made fun of her or something, that's why she doesn't like you."

"She wouldn't put up with that," Braun said. "She's tougher than she looks."

Gabi was watching Leonhardt over her shoulder. Her father had limped over to stand beside her. "Are there a lot of girl candidates?"

Braun took her firmly by the arm and said, "Colt'll want to say hello."

His mother was back by Colt’s side. Falco was making an effort to keep his composure. Colt put his hand to his brother's shoulder, saying, "It won't be as long as it seems. I'll write whenever I can."

Falco nodded through a tight smile.

"He's so fortunate to have you in his life," Ms. Braun said. "Once this war is over, you two can be a proper family again."

…

While the Mid-Eastern forces had no Titans of their own, their aerial and ground surpassed Marley's and attacks on the coast were becoming frequent. The newest candidates from the Warrior Unit had never lived through an air raid, though Bertholdt and the Galliards had a few stories passed down from their parents. Five of the graduates were smuggled into a train car and taken out of Liberio. The Warrior Unit would continue operations in secret. Their families would be relocated until further notice.

Finger and Braun and M. Galliard were huddled at the centre of the boxcar. Colt stayed by the door with a pistol, just in-case they had to make an unannounced stop.

Leonhardt sat in the corner with her back to the wall, hugging her knees. Hoover came over and squatted beside her. No one really sat with him apart from Braun, at meals, and Hoover had been the one to initiate that friendship anyway. If Leonhardt didn't wish to be bothered she'd be the first to make herself clear; Braun had learnt that lesson several times over. It wasn't right that she should be cast aside from the group just because she was aloof or competitive. They were stronger as a collective.

"Did they tell you what you've been selected as?" she asked without looking at him directly.

Braun was placed as an Armoured. He and P. Galliard got into a row about it. Galliard said a lot of terrible stuff about his father and his family, and Braun just took it on the chin, because only one of them was going to be on reserve. The Jaw went to M. Galliard, while Porco would spend the next three years with boys his age until they were conscripted. With his father's connections and the title of Honorary Marleyan, he could get into whichever military academy he desired, or reapply for the Warrior Unit.

Hoover hadn't told anyone what his selection was. Leonhardt was pretty good at keeping secrets. "Colossi are slow-moving and difficult to destroy. On the battlefield, they're often targeted by enemy artillery and aircrafts. And they have the shortest terms of any Titan Shifter." He swallowed and looked forward. "It's uncommon for a Warrior to be selected as a Colossus. Maybe I'll just be placed on reserve like Porco. That's not so bad."

"There's probably a good reason," said Leonhardt. The flashes of light through the slats in the boxcar caught her pale blue eyes. She was looking ahead at the end of the car, but it was like she was somewhere else. Too tense to be deep in thought.

Hoover edged closer, close enough to brush her shoulder. His palms were clammy inside the pockets of his chinos. "If something happens to me, you—you have to stick with Reiner."

"We don't know what's going to happen," Leonhardt said, squaring her shoulders. "Don't talk yourself out of this."

She was smaller than Pieck, but he'd seen her unarmed combat techniques. She'd make a great Attack Titan, no question there, a compliment to Braun's Armoured. And here he was in the middle of it all, just a runt of a Colossus that didn't make it into one of the Walls. If he'd been apart of Fritz's armistice, he’d be of some use. It was useless to sit here and mope, but he couldn’t help the way he felt.

"Sometimes, I feel like you're the only one I can really talk to. Everyone else just tries to make me feel better or says I should be grateful I was chosen."

Leonhardt said nothing. Hoover's exhale was barely audible over the clacking of the wheels.

"If it were so serious," Braun was saying, "why were we allowed to say good-bye?"

"They could have attacked right afterwards," M. Galliard said. "We don't have enough information to go on. It's useless to expend our time worrying about what could have happened."

"He'll be safer away from the front-lines," Finger added, "I'll work twice as hard for the both of us."

"I don't need you to fight for my brother's sake," M. Galliard snapped. "He's going to be in Mer, right by Lago. If there's another bombing, like the one three months ago—"

"—just because he isn't a Subject of Ymir," Finger said, "it doesn't make him less important to Marley."

"Easy for you to say. Your parents are in the Titan Society."

"That doesn't mean I'd think less of someone who isn't a Warrior," said Finger. "I'm sure Porco will be fine."

…

By the time they’d gotten to base camp, it was a little after sunset. The officer that opened the door of the boxcar raised the gas-lamp to get a better look at them. He asked for their names, then split Finger and Leonhardt away from the rest of the group. Just a physical, the officer explained, which was routine for all selected candidates. Nothing to worry about.

Besides the mountain range to the north, the camp was secluded by trees on all other sides. A pair of barracks, an infirmary and stables. During the Mid-Eastern Conflict this used to be a training camp for Eldian ground troops. Given the Marleyan High Command’s preference towards Titan Shifters and naval warfare, the materials and weaponry weren’t up-to-par.

The bunks were clean and sparely decorated. At least, the officer said, they wouldn’t be bivouacking whilst they lived here, outside of mock expeditions.

The infirmary, too, was a lot nicer than the one in Liberio. The officer turned to the pair of them. “Since you’re older than Leonhardt, you’ll go first,” he said, motioning to Finger. “You,” he glowered at Leonhardt, “sit there and wait until you’re called.” He motioned to a row of leather chairs.

Finger shot her a worried glance, but said nothing. Leonhardt sat and didn't make eye contact with anyone. The only other people wearing red armbands were kids. Not all of them were from her graduating class. She didn't see Finger's father or Dr. Xaver.

In Liberio, the Marleyans doctors were indifferent and handled them like livestock. Physicals for girls set them apart by muscle mass and phisiology; once a month, as soon as they reached puberty. Outside of venereal disease and pregnancy, discussions by the nurses were perfunctory at best. Warriors weren't encouraged to settle down and start families of their own. The non-Warrior kids her age were less scandalized than the adults, or at least sympathetic.

Male candidates had less to worry about on that front. Leonhardt's smaller stature made her look younger than she was. Finger was just a year older and dreaded physicals. There weren't any female doctors. Not that it would make a difference, as long as the patient was Eldian.

Doors opened and closed, and sometimes an officer would lead a child with red armband through a door and twenty minutes later, he'd come out clutching his wrist and sweating, or accompanied by a nurse. None of them addressed Leonhardt, sitting by herself, counting the minutes in her head.

After forty, Finger hadn't come back. Leonhardt was getting antsy. Finger was probably at the mess hall with the other candidates. She glanced down the hall for the hundredth time but nothing changed. Maybe this was just another test. The doctors would probably ask a lot of tedious and embarrassing questions but Leonhardt only cared about getting in and out as efficiently as possible.

When the aide called her name, Leonhardt followed down the hall to a non-descript room. The aide made her wait while she knocked on the door. "I've brought the recruit."

"Thank you." Dr. Jaeger, dressed in a different threadbare suit. He caught Leonhardt's eye and smiled. "Come in and have a seat."

Leonhardt did so. There were no windows in the room, only a gas-lamp. Elongated shadows played over the walls and table as the doctor moved. "I'll need you to take off your ring." Leonhardt hesitated. "I'll give it back to you once we're finished." Leonhardt slipped it off and placed it on the table as he sat adjacent to her. "Before we begin, I'd like to ask you a few questions. You are Annie Leonhardt, born 22nd March, 1898?"

"Yes, sir."

He retained eye contact. "You've been selected as an Attack variant."

"Yes, sir."

"How do you feel about your selection as a Warrior?"

Leonhardt paused. "It's a promotion."

"Do you miss your old life, back home?"

Leonhardt stiffened her shoulders. "Not really."

The doctor glanced at the ring on the table. He picked it up, studying it closely. His thumb hovered over the switch but didn't press it.

"Who gave this to you?"

"My father." She forced herself to relax in the chair. Glanced at her knuckles.

He clicked the switch. "It's not just for decoration."

Leonhardt studied his bag, then his face. The same webbed scarring she'd seen on Grice's face. Dr. Jaeger’s eyes were grey. He wasn’t as old as her father. Titan Shifters didn’t serve terms longer than thirteen unless they rarely transformed, which was counterproductive. It wasn’t likely he’d be one of the volunteers, or else he would have gone to hospice with the rest of them years ago. But she’d never actually talked to a Warrior that wasn’t Colt Grice or training to-be.

"Is something on your mind?"

Leonhardt blinked. It was rude to stare. “Are all of the doctors here Warriors?”

"Some of them have children who served the Warrior Unit. It's uncommon." The doctor chuckled. "I'm much too old." He opened the bag. "This is a perfectly safe procedure. You will enter into a state of increased relaxation and focus, but you will be in control the entire time."

"Raise your left hand, please." Leonhardt raised her hand. "Very good." He produced a syringe from his coat and filled it with a translucent liquid. "Lay your arm on the table for me," he said. The needle pierced skin. "You will activate this ring, and pierce your skin with the blade. You must concentrate on your goal clearly." He placed the ring against her open palm. "Each time you activate this ring, it is for your protection. Only in a situation where unarmed combat will not work."

He put the syringe away. "How do you feel?"

Her skin tingling at the point of contact. Perspiration gathering on her nape. Leonhardt swallowed dryly. "Fine." Doctor Jaeger was looking at her carefully. "Can I go back?"

"We're nearly finished." He bandaged her arm. "You'll be staying overnight in the infirmary. If you feel anything is wrong, don't hesitate to find one of the doctors."

The aide took her down the hall. A different aide, talking to Braun, sitting and staring blankly ahead. He was holding his forearm. When Leonhardt walked past he didn't acknowledge her at all. Hoover came out of a different room, his skin shiny with sweat.

"Annie?"

At the sound of Hoover's voice, Braun raised his head in that general direction. The officer gripped Leonhardt's shoulder and said, "Keep walking." As they rounded the corner, a different aide was saying, "Why don't you have a seat and wait for Braun?"

…

Finger was already in her bed. She barely reacted to Leonhardt. On the floor, near the head of her bunk was an apple, uneaten. Bruised where it had hit the ground. Leonhardt picked it up. There were dozens of red apples in different flavors and families. If she were to tear into it it’d be pale white, like whalebone. These ones tasted sweet.

Leonhardt spat it out immediately. Her mouth flooded with saliva and the taste of salt and iron. She felt around her mouth for any lacerations or chipped teeth and came back slick with saliva. She wiped her hands on her chinos. Not supposed to do that, but she’d clean them anyway and she didn’t want to dirty the freshly laid sheets.

Finger’s body shifted upright, shrinking into herself. Her eyes, wide and grey and filmed over, found Leonhardt’s. “I couldn’t eat,” she whispered. “I thought of you.”

“All I can taste is—blood.”

“Spinal fluid,” Finger mumbled. “It’s just spinal fluid. It’s a phantom memory.”

Leonhardt flopped on the bed without changing. The room spun around, even though she was laying in place. That shouldn’t be happening. Maybe Finger could tell her if this was part of the adjustment process. Sweat accumulated under her clothing. A flush spread down her forearms and legs like sunburn. Her throat tightened.

“Annie?”

Leonhardt stumbled out of bed. Her skin felt tight and flaky, as if straining against muscle and bone. Like throwing your body over a pyre until it blackened. Holding her hand to the metal until it started to smoke. If she tried to speak she would throw up, and she didn’t want to bring a nurse or doctor over. He’d see the apple and Finger would get in trouble for stealing from the mess hall.

If she could get outside, all the way to the river, she could throw herself in. She stumbled and collapsed to all fours, emptying the contents of her stomach onto her knees and the polished wooden floor. Someone was shouting but the words weren’t distinguishable. She could barely concentrate on keeping herself upright. She didn’t want to fall into her own vomit.

A pair of calloused hands materialized under her armpits, pulling her back to surface. Sitting hunched on the bed, the nurse was barking at her to breathe through her nose and out through her mouth, keep her head down. Someone was rucking up her shirt. Cool, damp pressure on her back. Leonhardt sucked in air, thick into her lungs like steam.

The needle pierced her and her groan stuck in her throat. She laid there, wide-eyed and still, watching Finger on the other bed. Involuntary tears tracked down her face. Leonhardt’s pain slowly abated into a dull nausea. Her legs would occasionally twitch.

Laid on her side, in case she had to throw up, the bedpan just out of reach. If only she were a little bigger.

…

"She's awake, sir."

The sheets discarded. Her arms contacting linen. Cotton shirt and trousers.

Hoover sat next to her bed. She touched her own face. Smooth, unblemished skin.

"You were thrashing around a lot," said Hoover. "How are you feeling?"

Leonhardt shook her head. Her tongue felt like cotton. She gesticulated to her throat. Grice flagged down one of the nurses for a glass of water. "Don't drink it all at once," he said.

Leonhardt had already drained it. "How long have I been out for?"

"Twenty hours," said Grice. "A lot of recruits don't make it this far."

She sat up abruptly. "The shot," she said. "He gave me, it—" Rolling up her sleeve, nothing but unbroken flesh. Her chest tightened.

"You shouldn't have any bruises," said Colt. "Or evidence of the shot. That means the serum is in your spinal fluid." 

Her stomach twisted. The first dredges of nausea working up her throat. She let her hands fall on her lap. "What happens now?"

"Once you get your strength back, you'll be reincorporating your techniques, and the skills you've learnt in basic training. Then you'll be deployed." Leonhardt started patting down her shins, hips. Nothing but cotton. "What's the matter?"

"My ring," she muttered. "Where is it?"

"Do you usually wear it to bed?" Hoover asked.

Leonhardt glowered at him.

"Well," said Hoover, "it's probably still there, so I wouldn't worry." The longer she glared, the quicker Hoover's expression hovered into a place between sympathy and fear. As if he had any right to sit there and dither. "You should rest. I'll tell Reiner you're OK."

Grice stayed by her bedside. "As Warriors, it's our duty to atone for the sins of our Eldian forefathers. We have the blood of the devil, we cannot change that. To use this power takes a great deal of responsibility and discipline. It can be overwhelming at first." His gaze went someplace else. "My mother had Falco when I was ten. By that time, I was already a Warrior. I never got to see him as a baby, but they’d write to me, each year. One day, I stopped getting letters back. Commander Magrath took me aside and told me that they'd been feeding information to a defector in the Marleyan military." He swallowed. "Last time I spoke to mum and dad was before my coronation. Falco's been living with Reiner's mum ever since."

Leonhardt clenched, unclenched her hands.

"They told him his parents died in an air raid. In four years he'll be old enough to join the Warrior program. He's going to grow up in a world where he's just a subject on a clipboard. He's got Ms. Braun, and Gabi. Eventually my term will end. Every time I think of him ending up here, I can't sit by idly. If we can get the Progenitor and end this war, he won't ever have to face what you and I will."

“Which Titan are you?”

Grice hesitated. "The candidate's term ended prematurely. Dr. Xaver took that chance when no one else would." He shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't mean to talk as much as I have. I'll let you rest."

As he got up, his hand flexed. He patted her forearm lightly and walked away.

…

Leonhardt had never seen a Titan outside of history books. The artist's depiction of an androgynous, humanoid shape, fifteen metres tall. Not all of them were bipedal.

"The process is linked to the subconscious," Mr. Finger explained. "The doctor implants a suggestion, so you'll be able to focus on your goal clearly while you're transformed. It's not as if you are being controlled. It won't work unless you, yourself, believe it will."

In death the Titan dissolved, and the Warrior was reborn from the sinew and hemic tissue. The Titan's shell was just an extension of the Warrior's body. With each transformation, her mind grew a little clearer. Scars etched across her cheeks, down her chin in parallel lines, from the corners of her mouth, the only indicator of the devil in her blood outside of medical tests. Within a couple hours they were gone.

The Warrior Unit—Braun, Finger, Leonhardt, Hoover, M. Galliard and Grice—was deployed four weeks after initial injection. A year spent on the front lines crossed over into two. The situation between Marley and the Mid-Eastern Alliance was too dangerous and important to leave their defenses up to chance.

During an operation outside of Fort Slava, Leonhardt crushed a group of Mid-East soldiers huddling against the trench. At fifteen metres tall, an enemy soldier was really no different than a bug. Clear a path efficiently. She started kicking them around, making up a game in her head. By aiming for the tanks, hardening her shin, she could cleave through without damaging herself. Her implementation of techniques was impeccable, but she would always go on ahead, backing up her allies implicitly.

Colt's Titan, a gargoyle-like beast with deep red eyes and rows of teeth inside its beak. He could fly for a limited time, but the lack of defense made him easy target for artillery at close-range. He could command Pure Titans and alert Titan Shifters by screaming—a psychic command.

Leonhardt got reprimanded for recklessness. She ought to consider Braun as an example.

Galliard was the fastest. The Jaw Titan could rip through Leonhardt or Braun's hardened skin with its teeth. A burst of artillery fire or a well-timed grenade could disable him before he could heal, and he couldn't harden his flesh.

Finger was second fastest, and could remain in her Titan for a week before feeling nauseous or disoriented.

Braun was used much like a tank. He threw himself into the battlefield with as much fervor as those tracts. Unlike Leonhardt and Galliard, he followed orders faultlessly. He would jump at the chance to protect his comrades from shellfire, given his hardening abilities.

Due to the Colossi's enormous size and low mobility, Hoover didn't transform except for special cases. They were dropped out of planes over Fort Slava and Hoover made the drop without a parachute. When the dust cleared, there wasn't anything left to capture.

Out of Marley's finest Warriors, only four of them were chosen. Leonhardt, Braun, Hoover and M. Galliard joined their Commander and Colt Grice. This mission would determine not only the fate of Marley, but Paradis as a viable country. 

The Progenitor Titan, if it fell into the hands of the Mid-Eastern Alliance, could easily turn the Warriors upon their Marleyan homeland. If the Walls were compromised, Paradis would have to be destroyed.

The map of Paradis Island depicted a set of three walls, each set with four pocket towns like the points of a compass, intended to draw the Pure Titans attention. The closest was Shiganshina, on the southern coast of Wall Maria.

As Fritz had cut off all contact with the outside world after Wall Maria was erected, there was no quick and immediate way to confirm the Progenitor's location. Currently, it was suspected that the bearer must be within the centre of Paradis, or living undercover. It could be in a vial, or in the spinal fluid of an Eldian. If Paradis was destroyed in the long-term, it was an unfortunate but unavoidable consequence for the good of humanity.

"The four of you," said Commander Magrath, "will clear a path through the Walls, starting with Shiganshina. You'll assimilate as civilians during the aftermath. There are three major military branches—you'll focus on the Garrison, who have widespread access throughout the colony, and the Military Police, whom are allowed into the capital, Mitras. All of your efforts must go to locating and retrieving the Progenitor. Grice will join up with you separately. He'll be your source of communication between Paradis and Marley, but once you set foot on the island, you're on your own."

Leonhardt glanced over to Hoover and Braun. M. Galliard seemed uneasy. The only limitation, besides the military's budget, was Marley High Command's indifference towards human life.

"In Paradis," Commander Magrath said, "there are no second chances. Should the enemy become aware of your nature, you will kill him before he does."

…

In the past, Marley set up anti-aircraft units to keep the Titans from getting close. Operations outside of Wall Maria could only take place at night, or during cloudy weather. Three to five metre Titans wandered the beaches and plains, unopposed. They never attacked each other, but sometimes, they would stop and watch the boats passing by. A soldier could be forgiven, if he mistook that concentration for something profound. A passing recollection of life lost, where there was only latent hunger.

A disproportionate number of Pure Titans roamed Paradis's southern cape. Without a propensity for sunlight, or need for sleep, they would cluster within the massive wealds.

On horseback, they shouldn't have to resort to transformation until they were in-range. The Titans had no interest in any creature besides humans. At dusk, the four Warriors secured their horses and gathered brush for a fire, picking over their rations. No one spoke much.

"I've got a cousin back home," Braun said, "Gabi. She's only six. You met her, didn't you, Leonhardt?" Leonhardt glanced at him. "She reminds me of you." Leonhardt raised her eyebrows. "She's always running around and trying to climb things. When she grows up she'll probably want to become a Warrior." He nudged Leonhardt's shoulder.

Leonhardt scowled. "So, I just… will a horde of Titans to run towards Shiganshina by screaming?"

"Once they hear the sound, they'll come running," said M. Galliard. "With the breach to the wall, they won't be able to resist."

"Can't they tell the difference between a Titan Shifter and a regular human?"

"They're happy to eat whatever is in front of them," said Hoover with a slight shiver. "The Colossi are unique, because they don't seem to eat anything."

An uncomfortable silence fell over the group.

"If the Progenitor is so important," Leonhardt stressed, "why did Marley allow Paradis to hold it for so long?"

"Who knows? When the Eldians had it, they just lorded over the rest of humanity," said M. Galliard, prodding at the fire. "Fritz was just too powerful to oppose with modern weapons. The Eldians in Paradis are too stupid to realise they're imprisoned. We're doing them a favor."

Hoover glanced at the horses. "I'll take first watch."

…

Daybreak.

Braun's scream cut through the silence.

The horses whinnied, secured at the post, left untouched.

The report would say M. Galliard died an honorable death, protecting his fellow Warriors. When Marcel transformed, Braun would tell her, his body was already ripped open from the chest up. As long as the spine was connected to the brain, a Warrior could transform, but usually the Titan would be malformed and weaker. So the Pure Titan could simply leap onto his half-formed body and dig its teeth into the Titan's nape, and that was the end of M. Galliard.

Hoover grabbed her by the arm and ran. Braun outstripped them both.

Leonhardt considered her options. She could let Braun go, banking on the fact that he would draw the Titan's attention. Dishonorable, but practical. It left them stranded in enemy territory. She’d be stuck either with Hoover, too cowed to do anything but plead her to reconsider, or Braun, the hard-headed idiot who’d just made his problem into a collective one.

The Pure Titan didn’t follow them. 

Braun stumbled, prostrating himself in the shade of a beech tree. It was the only one of its kind for metres. There were no settlements or people beyond the white strip of Wall Maria in the distance.

Braun was mumbling to himself.

"Get up," Leonhardt said hoarsely. "M. Galliard gave his life to save yours. This is how you thank him?"

"How can you talk like that?" Braun pushed himself up. "You never gave a damn about this mission. The only reason you're here is your father."

Leonhardt stiffened. A sneer worked itself onto her mouth. "You're never going to make a good soldier, groveling to Marley like that."

Instead of losing his cool, as Leonhardt expected, Braun's lip trembled. He started blathering on about the sum of his pathetic life, as if he were a Restorationist under interrogation. How he couldn't go home empty handed. How his mother and Gabi were counting on him more than ever and his father—

Leonhardt kicked him in the stomach to snap him out of it. "You're not the only one with something to lose!" It was not authoritative, the way her father or Commander Magrath would bark, but tinged with the same elevated pitch in Braun's voice. She kicked him in the face, as if violence could erase the truth in her tightening throat. "You think I'm going to throw my life away for your sake? Well, you're right, I don't give a shit about Marley or Paradis."

Braun didn't fight back. He just curled into himself. She kicked a bruise into his clavicle.

"If you don't get up," she spat, "all you'll be an Eldian bastard."

"Stop it!" Hoover cried, "both of you, stop."

Leonhardt stepped away. Breathing hard. "I'm going back," she said hoarsely. "I'll get Galliard, and then we can go to the Titan Society."

Braun was spitting up blood. His mouth steamed.

"Annie," said Hoover in a controlled voice, "I don't think that's possible anymore."

"Of course, you're taking his side—"

"—by the time we track down this Titan, if we can even find it, it might be too late. The Titan could have already transformed back into a human. We'll never find it then."

Leonhardt simpered. "If you and Braun showed an ounce of consideration back there, we would be at Wall Maria by now."

"Your only solution is just going back empty-handed?" Hoover's tone sharper than before. "The Marleyan High Command won't just punish you. It'll be our families too. We have to keep going, we can still turn this around. I—" he swallowed dryly, his eyes on hers "—I'll do whatever I have to. Braun will, as well."

Leonhardt had no other argument. "We've wasted enough time already. Braun will transform first. I’ll make the next leg of the journey, since I’ll be the one luring all of these Titans to—"

Hoover's eyes moved past her shoulder. Braun got her on the ground, in a chokehold. Shouldn't have turned her back. He squeezed so tightly her vision flashed black. Hoover was shouting something. The pressure let up, enough for her to wheeze. She clawed at his arm but couldn't get any words out.

"Galliard's been decommissioned. Which makes me the commanding officer," he said in a low, flat voice. "Raise your hand against your fellow soldier again, it'll be the last time."

Wheezing, Leonhardt didn't touch her throat. Braun spat a mouthful of blood, his eyes glazed over and emotionless.

Hoover was still looking at her. She looked away.

"Get back," Braun snapped, "by the tree. Leonhardt will draw the Titans out first. I'll run the rest of the way and you'll break through Shiganshina."

…

Towering high above the ground, her Titan was still dwarfed by the inordinately-sized coniferous. Hoover and Braun made a nest of her hair. Pure Titans in the forest. Leonhardt kept running.

The sun was reaching its lowest point in the sky. A white stripe stretched across the horizon, blazing in the sun.

Inside the Titan, Leonhardt caught her breath. A low, guttural screech that could not have come from the throat of a human or animal. The sound reverberated across the grassy plain.

The earth rumbled. She did not turn her head to look. Hoover's breath picked up. His grip tightened on her hair.

Leonhardt didn't stop running until the breadth of Wall Maria took up her vision. Only then did she remove herself from her Titan. Hoover had to climb down and excavate her from the crumbling shell.

The Colossus Titan was too short to peer over the wall. A giant, skinless doll. Blunt feet, like a horse's hooves.

…

"Where's Galliard?" Braun muttered. "He should've met up with us by now."

"Marcel isn't coming," said Hoover. "He didn't make it, Reiner."

Braun blinked. His posture almost imperceptible. He licked his lips and said, "He must've been trampled tryin' to get to one of the boats."

Leonhardt stood up just to disperse herself from the situation.

A row down from them, a boy and girl were huddled together.

The girl put an arm around the blond boy. "Eren wouldn't just wander off."

The boy shook his head. "He was with me on the boat."

The girl squeezed his hand. "We'll ask the Garrison as soon as possible."

"This operation is overseen by Military Police. They won't do anything about it."

"Don't think like that," the girl said sharply. "Eren is counting on us as much as we are."

Her patriotic duty to Marley became living in poorhouses as Braun's little sister. Hoover became a lay brother for the Wallist church. No one asked why her brother slept closer to his childhood friend, or why they never talked about their hometown in detail. She was shy, Braun explained, and they only had each other to rely on.

Braun was not sick, he just had a condition. A splintering of constancy between his life on Paradis as an orphaned refugee of Ragako, and the Honorary Marleyan with a family back home. Whenever he woke up, lost and adrift, it was Hoover who anchored him back to the present. Leonhardt had to pick up the slack in Galliard's stead.

Stabilizing Braun the Warrior was easy, because he just had to prove himself as a capable soldier. In the midst of devastation, there was no shortage of need for work. After the operation to reclaim Wall Maria, there were even more vacancies.

There were so many bodies the first year, they had to start leaving them behind or throwing them over Wall Rose.

Hoover became more familiar with the Wallists. A religious cult who sprang up throughout Wall Maria and Rose, worshiping each division as a Goddess. They fiercely sanctioned the preservation of the Walls and the mindless Pure Titans as Subjects of Ymir. The current royal family, Hoover said, were rumoured to be descendants of Karl Fritz.

During the Mid-Eastern Conflict, some of them began to sympathize with their Eldian brethren trapped within the Walls. They denounced their royal lineage, adopted the surname Reiss, choosing to lead a simpler life in the country. The Reiss family still had direct contact with the interior by way of King, who was little more than a proxy for the government in Mitras.

Fritz had worked closely with the nations of Hizuru and Marley up until the Walls were erected. All contact with the interior stopped, and no reports came to or from Paradis. All the while, Marley and the Mid-Eastern Alliance remained locked in a cold war for Paradis's reserves of iron ore and aluminum, untapped. Nickel and cobalt to the south; sapphires and gold to the east. Paradis's population went on unknowing.

…

The first spring, coming off the height of the famine, the government had concluded its operation to retake Wall Maria. A steep decline in Paradis's population necessitated an increase in soldiers for the Garrison and Scouting Legion. The age of conscription was temporarily lowered to twelve rather than fifteen.

Braun paid for a couple horses with the money they'd scraped together working in the fields, and the three of them set off towards Trost. Fields frozen over, the sun's rays did nothing to thaw the vegetation beneath. There were few normal trees left in Wall Rose, as the majority of them had been cut down decades ago and the majority of the fauna lay to the northern regions of Paradis within Wall Maria.

They'd been riding since morning, and they weren't close to any village. "There's a light in that house," Hoover said. "Maybe we can stay for the night."

The man who took them in had family, in Ragako. He was away, on business, when he got the letter a few weeks after Maria fell. He'd been living off the land ever since. He cleared out the loft in the barn for them to sleep in, and hot meal in return for keeping the house clean and horses fed. Hoover thanked their boarder while Leonhardt followed Braun's lead.

"Where are you kids from?"

"We're from Ragako," Braun said. "My sister and I were trying to get back home when the wall was breached."

The man frowned. "That's a ways from Shiganshina. What were you doing there?"

"We have family there," Braun said.

"Most families in Rose don't travel outside of that circle."

Leonhardt caught Hoover's eye. His hands drawn tight on his knees. "My brother is just confused," said Leonhardt, "sometimes he gets confused."

Braun held his tongue. His shoulders stiffened. Sitting upright.

"That's a damn shame," the man said, "he'd make a fine soldier."

…

One morning, Hoover woke up and tended to the horses and checked the firewood as usual. Braun and Leonhardt fixed breakfast but the old man never sat down to eat. He didn't leave a note, so he couldn't have gone into town.

Trost was hours away on horseback. Most villages would just elect to amputate a frostbitten limb. One of them could transform and cover the same distance in a quarter of the time, if the Pure Titans or Scouting Legion didn't catch on to the lightning first.

Braun moved slower, putting his weight on his left leg. He'd snap at Hoover if he asked about it too much, that he didn't need to be mothered. Warriors were supposed to be able to heal quickly from injuries.

"You're limping," she said.

"Just my foot," he said. "It's probably nothing that won't fix itself."

"It'll rot."

Braun's grip flexed on the edge of the counter. "Why don't you ask Hoover to come in and help us," Braun said curtly. "I'm sure he's hungry."

She found Hoover by the barn.

"Something's wrong with Reiner," she said.

Hoover snorted. "That's new." Immediately he cringed into himself, resting his forehead against the shed door. "I didn't mean it like." He shook his head, pushing himself upright and exhaling. "I don't know what to do, Annie. I wish there was something concrete and straightforward towards the Progenitor."

"Reiner thought you'd be hungry."

Hoover swallowed. He looked paler. "I don't think so."

"You've been working here since morning. Tell the old man to hurry up."

Hoover's expression hardened. "There's something you need to see."

The old man dangled from the oak tree. "I found him like this," Hoover muttered. "He didn't seem different. I didn't want to tell Reiner in case something about it set him off, or..."

"I'll be damned," said Braun. "He ain't been dead long."

Hoover and Leonhardt both startled. Braun shook his head, averting his eyes. "We should--check the house. He might have money, or--"

"Reiner, he's dead."

"Then he ain't going to be using it," Reiner said shortly, "we're the ones begging for scraps like all the other refugees."

The ground was too stiff to dig a shallow grave. Braun took his clothes from the chest at the foot of his bed, because Hoover was growing tall enough to wear them, and took what money was left over.

As Leonhardt and Hoover walked back outside, Braun limped after them. His boots were caked with mud, you couldn't even see the leather anymore. He took another step and almost dropped to his knee.

"Goddam," he hissed. "I got to--" his eyes darted to the shed. "Bertholdt, come with me a minute." Braun threw the old man's coat over Leonhardt's shoulders and told her to wait outside, but she could hear them arguing through the crack in the door.

Hoover kept insisting it wasn't for Leonhardt to do. Braun said Hoover was strong enough to do what was necessary. He'd been chosen as a Warrior.

They stopped talking. Leonhardt pushed the door open.

Braun had taken his pants and underwear off and was sitting on a stool meant for milking cows. His leg blackened halfway up to the calf. Hoover knelt beside him with the old hacksaw, trembling and splattered with blood. 

Braun looked up at the sound of the door. His jaw set. "Shut it behind you."

Hoover put enough distance between himself and Braun and doubled over, vomiting. Leonhardt stared at the tough, shredded mess of Braun's leg. Braun, paler than usual and splotched with blood, picked up the hacksaw and kept cutting. The cloying, sweet stench of blood and rotting flesh filled her senses. Leonhardt couldn't bring herself to throw up.

"Get a rope," Braun grit out, "need to stop the bleeding."

Leonhardt looked around in a daze. Hoover sprang to his feet and sprinted towards the rack, grabbing the rope, back to Braun, who tied a knot around the amputation. He was breathing through his teeth. 

Hoover staggered back.

A thick plume of steam billowed in the air between them, opaque. Braun's breathing evened out.

Hoover wiped his mouth on his tattered sleeve. "Once his leg heals, we'll keep moving. If a Titan comes after us..." Hoover's breath wavered, exhumed in front of him, "well, let's hope that doesn't happen."

Leonhardt balled her hands in her pockets to retain a little warmth. "Won't someone notice the lightning?"

"Could wait for a thunderstorm," Braun said through ragged breaths. He was already trying to get his pants and underwear back on. "Or a hailstorm."

Hoover's teeth were chattering. Braun pushed himself to stand and limped over on a leg raw and flaky and still growing into its toes. He threw his arm across Hoover's shoulder and grabbed Leonhardt by the scruff of her ratty jacket and pulled them close.

…

After two winters of Braun showing himself to be capable and hard-working, Hoover and Leonhardt on his heels, they were old enough to enlist in the 104th Trainee Corps Southern division. That first night in the girl's barracks, Leonhardt didn't make a lot of friends. She was quiet and standoffish and would rather stand by the wall and pick out a bunk herself. She'd picked a couple out, but no one seemed interested in sharing a bunk with her.

"Need someone to bunk with?" A fresh-faced girl with pigtails extended her hand. "I'm Mina Carolina."

"Annie." Leonhardt glanced at the beds. "Which bunk do you want?"

"It's all the same to me. I grew up with siblings, so it's nice to have a bed all to myself." Carolina climbed up the ladder. "I can take the top bunk, if that's all right with you."

Leonhardt hummed in compliance.

"My sister's already in the Garrison," Carolina added, climbing back down, "which is what I'm aiming for."

"That's smart."

The other girl shrugged. "It's just common sense. Not everyone is going to be a prodigy. My mum said it was either join the Training Corps or wait until I was old enough to marry. I don't think I'd have minded a less exciting life, to be honest. I'm no good with ODM gear." She peered over the side of the bunk. "Which division do you want to go into? When you graduate, I mean?"

"Military Police."

"I see," said Carolina. "You're very serious about it." She chuckled and looked down. "Me, I'm definitely not cut out for the Military Police. But even if I'm not that strong or sharp, there's always some use for the soldiers who get caught in the middle."

"You talk a lot."

Carolina blinked. "Oh, am I making you uncomfortable? You're just—easy to talk to, I guess."

The lights cut.

#fanfiction #fanfic #snk #aot #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #annie leonhardt #reiner braun #bertholdt hoover #grisha jaeger #mina carolina #canon divergent #slow burn #ao3 #ffnet

[oxygenbefore1775]

so strange reading people say that Zeke is a narcissist and doesn't care for human lives making those traits the main points of his dislikeability as a character - as if he was born with them and they are not, in fact, learned behaviours

i suppose he wouldn't hold human life as something precious, given that throughout his upbringing, all he witnessed was the constant mistreatment, belittling, and degradation of human (Eldian, to be more precise) lives, reducing them to nothing more than vermin - most evident in the way how he was always reminded of Faye's death or Xaver's family's fate

and i suppose he would feel entitled to decide for Eldians, given that throughout his childhood, he frequently heard how special he is and he alone has the ability to change anything about the way the world works

#none of this excuses him still it explains the way his mind works and that he wasnt a monster from the start #without those influences he may have grown into a different kind of person entirely #zekeposting #zeke #zeke yeager #zeke jeager

[gogmstuff]

ca. 1860 Lady by Franz Xaver Winterhalter (Christie's - Live auction 2282 Lot 304). From artsdiary365.wordpress.com/2010/01/05/portrait-of-a-lady-by-f-x-winterhalter-christies-new-york/; fixed cracks & spots w Pshop 2088X2574.

#1860s fashion #early Victorian fashion #Franz Xaver Winterhalter #straight hair #under-dress #V décolletage #jover-dress #ruching

[lostcauses-noregrets]

hi lost i just saw one of your replies to a tweet about eruri's canonicity. i am also an eruri but i don't think the ship is canon(in the classical fandom sense). it's largely not about what kind of relationship they have, but about isayama himself. i think he is a stereotypical person and gets a lot of his inspirations from other media. he wouldn't create two masculine heroes(as how he sees erwin and levi) to make them gay for each other since that's not common in media generally. he isn't the kind of a person who would do something revolutionary like that. eruri is very strong and i'd say they are as canon as it can get as of chapter136, but i can never get myself to think that they in fact are canon, just because of this reason. sorry for bringing twitter discourse into tumblr, i didn't know where else to contact you anonymously.

Wait…are we talking about the same Isayama here? The one who described himself “a little bit of yaoi fangirl” and who said he knew Levi would be popular with yaoi fans as soon as he created him?  That Isayama??

You are right that Isayama gets a lot of his inspiration from other media though. The same week that chapter 84 was published he wrote a blog post about how he had been influenced by Life Is Strange saying: 

The unbearable losses and partings in our lives. The story is about whether or not we can accept them. Frankly, this month’s chapter is greatly influenced by it. And more than anything, it’s Yuri! Yuri is the best! Life Is Yuri!

Also I can highly recommend reading this fascinating post by @pieckscart, which @tsuki-no-urai pointed me towards, which talks about Isayama’s relationship with the media critic and screenwriter Machiyama Tomohiro.  Machiyama is apparently gay himself and “vocal about LGBT issues in both America and Japan”.  Such is Isayama’s admiration for Machiyama that he apparently based elements of Zeke’s character and Xaver’s design on him. 

While I do agree that Isayama has been bound by the constraints and conventions of the shonen genre, I do think he’s much less “stereotypical” than you give him credit for, and within those boundaries he’s created a remarkably diverse case of characters. 

I also think it’s interesting that  you say you don’t believe that Eruri is canon “in the classical fandom sense”.  I’m not sure what you mean by that. Do you mean that you don’t believe they’re canon because we never see them kiss? Because they never marry?  Because the main focus of the story isn’t romance?  All those things are true, but in my opinion, they’re also not the only things that make a relationship canon.  Particularly when that relationship is between two war-weary 30 year old men who have been fighting for survival almost their entire lives. The irony is that, in some ways, Erwin and Levi’s relationship is actually quite conventional. They really do behave a bit like an old married couple.  They have a long standing relationship that has matured over many years, they have their own weird sense of humour, they’re not afraid to challenge each other, but they care about one another deeply, and they also trust each other unconditionally.  That’s all the canon evidence I need tbh.

#asks #eruri #eruri relationship #snk

[winterlovesong1]

with the dawn of redeeming grace

Summary: A holiday/winter collection of stories for Spike/Buffy (spuffy). Collection title from lyrics from "Silent Night" composed by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr.

Chapter Five: warmth

Based upon the prompt from this list: "I made you hot chocolate, with marshmallows, of course.”

-/-

"Hey..." she draws her word into his ear again. "Take a sip before it gets cold," looking up at him with those eyes that seemed to hold more lifetimes than even he has ever lived.

He holds her gaze, "I'm taking in all the warmth, pet, rest assured of it all."

Read the rest here

#spuffy fanfic #spuffy winter fanfic #spuffy fanfiction #tv: buffy the vampire slayer #spuffy

[eclipsedshadowk]

What is it that you like about Salieri? When I was still in school it was mandatory to watch amadeus in music class and he was not really depicted in a favourable light imo, but I may have also forgotten some crucial parts. So what is it that you enjoy about him? (This is by no means shade)

First off, same with the mandatory watching of Amadeus. I honestly slept through it when I was 13-14 years old because I was depressed bean stuck in a toxic environment. I hate to admit that I wasn't a fan of the 1984 movie, though I don't mind watching it.

Second, it was Mozart L'opèra Rock that made me love Salieri so fucking much. I don't remember what made me love and hyperfixate on the guy. Salieri in Mozart L'opèra Rock has a kind of poetry to his character, even though it has some basis on Amadeus. His vibe somehow captured me and maybe the fact that his songs were easy to play on guitar kinda helped with that. He was enigmatic when he first appeared, @antoniosalieri's analysis on the guy made me open to the symbolisms of his songs and the guy was such a distinguished bi disaster, even though they made him quote on quote "sexually ambiguous".

But it was my curiosity on what's up with him and Mozart made me want to learn more about him and his life.

I learned that he was a crucial part of the entire history of classical music, being the teacher of such people who became famous like Beethoven, Schubert and Liszt, he taught people who aren't royalty for free, he handed out golden buttons to children who were impoverished as a roundabout way of helping. I learned that despite the rumors of him "poisoning" Mozart and their professional rivalry, they were still friends and Salieri still taught Franz Xaver, who was Mozart's youngest son. I learned that he became a father figure to his students and he was a loving father to his son and daughters (the death of Alois Engelbert in September of 1805 affected him so much that he became paralyzed and mute with grief). I learned he was taught of music by Gluck, Gassmann and his brother, Francesco, how as a child he seemed to have had a love for music and how likely it was that he had a prodigal talent of his own. I learned of how he is often tossed around like a hot potato before landing to Vienna when he became orphaned at 13-14 years old. I learned of other things too, like how he had a sweet tooth (to the point there were instances of Mozart calling him 'Signor Bonbonière'), how he sneaked out to see his brother perform in festivals which lead to him getting locked up by his father, how he jumped onto an old spinet because the owner was too frugal to replace the broken thing, how he often joked about having terrible German despite having lived there for most of his life ever since he was fifteen, small moments like him treating Schubert out and buying him ice cream.

I like some of the other interpretations of Salieri as well. Fate/Grand Order has an almost similar characterization to Mozart L'opèra Rock's, except more edgy and I love how Lostbelt 1 handled him. Classi9 clearly has an inspiration to Amadeus' but I somehow want to see more of this Salieri. I would like to know of Crash Fever's Salieri, but I like how Alice Fiction's Salieri is a break from the edgy anti-villain that was inspired by Amadeus, which in turn was inspired by Pushkin's. Alice Fiction's Salieri may look like a generic anime girl, but she's adorable and soft to me. Rhythmstar's Salieri may have kept the poisoning rumor, but I love how they kept him as a teacher and I can't wait to see the spin-off game where he is the main character, I kinda want to see ANB elaborate on him.

There's even a fucking musical on Salieri, but it's in Korean, with no subtitles and there's only clips of it available, so it's kinda sad, even though I want to see its story.

I don't quite remember what made me so hyperfixated on him, but damn do I love Antonio Salieri so fucking much

[str4wanzerin]

Underrated German Crime Shows - München 7

by Franz X. Bogner who's one of the most popular and best creators of bavarian TV shows.

The main characters:

Xaver Bartl

Was born, grew up and probably will die in the heart of Munich. Lives in a hotel that belongs to his sister Irmi, right at the famous Viktualienmarkt.

He's a real "Grantler", but with a big heart. He basically knows everyone around Munich, including the petty criminals. That's why he often solves problems in an unconventional way. Could be the boss of the police department but has zero motivation to make any carreer. He just loves to wander around his city, helping people.

Felix Kandler

A young policeman and the partner of Xaver. He once was a professional counterfeiter but - as his late dad was the partner of Munich's police chief - got a second chance. His mom and the police chief would like him to make a career, but - like Xaver - he just wants to be left alone and just be a normal policeman.

Still has contact to his former gang, but at the beginning, they are still offended for him becoming a cop. Women fall in love with him easily, but he's basically stressed out by any relationship 😆

The Setting:

The stories are basically at the same locations as Tatort München - it's not in the same universe though because people in this show watch Ivo and Franz in TV ;)

But unlike Tatort, München 7 is all about the everyday police work in a big city: car crashes, pickpockets, neighborhood disputes, stolen tour bus, tricksters etc.

And it's mostly about all the lovely chaotic characters: Like Felix' and Xaver's struggles to understand women. The cops at the department learning tango. Gossip of the market women.

Felix trying to protect his ex girldfriend Lilo and his ex boy friend Zagreb (who still engage in activities that are not very legal) from getting into trouble with the police.

Xaver coaching a really, really bad jail bigband (that's played by the musicians doing the soundtrack) 😆

Really, if you like Tatort München, chances are good you'll love this show. Also most characters - including the croatian gangster boss Zagreb - talk authentic Bavarian. And if you want to see how people in Munich really are: that show gets really close to reality 😆

#München 7 #German Crime Shows #Tatort München #Underrated TV Shows #Franz X. Bogner

[royal-diaries-podcast]

Maharaja Duleep Singh (4 September 1838 – 22 October 1893)

A young Maharaja Duleep Singh.

Maharaja Duleep Singh (4 September 1838 – 22 October 1893),  was born in Lahore in 1838. He was the youngest son of the legendary Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Lion of Punjab, Duleep Singh ascended to the Gaddi of Lahore in 1843. This period also saw the once impenetrable Punjab annexed by the British East India Company. 

Promptly de-throning the young Maharaja, the Company was determined to cut him off from his now erstwhile subjects to curb any chance of a rally of support to re-instate him. He was removed from Punjab by British authorities, sequestered to the Hill Station of Mussoorie, followed by his de facto exile to England. 

In 1849 at the age of 10, he was removed from the Punjab with his title and power devolved. The Koh-i-Noor Diamond, part of his inheritance, was surrendered to Queen Victoria. 

Queen Victoria wearing the Koh-i-noor as a brooch

He was subsequently kidnapped by the British Crown, and thereafter exiled to Britain at age 15 where he was befriended by Queen Victoria, who is reported to have written of the Punjabi Maharaja: "Those eyes and those teeth are too beautiful". 

Duleep Singh (1838–1893) in 1854; portrait by Franz Xaver Winterhalter

Duleep Singh became known for his extravagant lifestyle, enjoying the countryside and game-shooting in particular. Duleep Singh also rebuilt the church, cottages and school in Elveden. Despite his lifestyle in Britain, he decided to fight to reclaim his land and title in the Punjab. 

Duleep Singh photographed by Dr. Ernst Becker in 1854 on the lower terrace at Osborne House

In 1886 he returned to India where he re-converted to Sikhism. He went to live in Paris where he enlisted the help of Irish revolutionaries and the Russians to lead a revolt against the British in the Punjab but he was ultimately unsuccessful in bringing these plans to fruition. 

The Koh-i-noor diamond (which may have been referred to in Mesopotamian texts dating to 3200 bce) mounted in the centre of the cross pattée on the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's Crown.

#the royal diaries #queen victoria #Victoria: May Blossom of Britannia #maharaja duleep singh #history of india #koh-i-noor diamond #british colonialism #british imperialism

[glassesandswords]

Saw the anon ask about Zekehan now I raise you another weird fic idea:- what if Hange is the one instead of Miche when the beast titan was first introduced. Like Miche was shocked that a titan could speak and tried to fight back but I have a feeling that if Hange was there then they would try to talk with Zeke to get more information this can go both in good or bad ways

I feel like the whole beast titan encounter would have gone better with Hange than with Miche, although I can't say anything about the chances of Hange's survival. Miche was terrified and shocked to see a titan talk so clearly (understandably so) but I feel like Hange would have dealt with it better, because they've read Ilse's notebook firsthand, knew that the titans could talk, and tried communicating with titans again and again.

I feel like Hange would have been extra cautious (and curious) with the Beast Titan around, since they are an expert when it comes to studying abnormal titan behaviour. Maybe they would have dodged that flying horse instead of freezing in shock.

Maybe Hange would talk and try to leverage the info about the odm gear for their survival, considering that Zeke halted the titans with his command, but if Hange did not come up with a solid plan then and there, they would have definitely died too, since Zeke has no mercy towards eldian lives in general.

The best case scenario would be Zeke taking Hange in as a prisoner, and trying to extract info from them (and maybe become friends with them on the way because they reminded him of Xaver). Worst case is pretty much a repetition of what happened to Miche. And boy that was bad.

#zekehan #hange zoe #hanji zoe #zeke jaeger #aot #snk #asks

[lyna91fr]

Book Thoughts - Dans les fôrets de Sibérie (Consolations of the Forest: Alone in a Cabin in the Middle Taiga) by Sylvain Tesson

It all started with a quote that Namjoon shared on IG, from the book "Dans les forêts de Sibérie" (Consolations of the Forest: Alone in a Cabin in the Middle Taiga) by Sylvain Tesson. I don't know whether he read the book, but since it was on my reading list...

Note before we start: This is going to be a French and English thread. There was no way I would have read this author's work in English! So, if you have any questions, feel free to ask them.

This is an autobiographic story, with a simple pitch: the author decides to fulfill a dream - to live as a hermit for six months in a small wood cabin next to the Baikal lake in Siberia, before he turns 40. The book follows his journey, his introspective experience, as a diary.

This book is a gem! The poetry and the wordplay is beyond beautiful. While I wanted to share many quotes, the translations did not deliver the impression I had in French. An example: "Pointillé des pas sur la neige : la marche couture le tissu blanc."

The translation goes: "Footsteps dot the snow Walking sets short black stiches into the white cloth"

The English version does deliver the global feeling though, but yeah...

The author learns the ways to survive in this remote place, compares his hermit daily life to what he would do in his fast Parisian life, reads a lot (brought TONS of books with him). He gradually sets in a routine, recording and writing down his experience and his thoughts. Days go by slowly. Time does not have the same meaning there.

"Time wields over the skin the power water has over the earth. It digs deep as it passes."

In fact, everything he writes is not only deeply meaningful, but you can visualize his words so easily in your mind.

"Time wields over the skin the power water has over the earth. It digs deep as it passes."

"If nature thinks, landscapes express the ideas... There would be the melancholy of forests, the joy of mountain torrents, the hesitation of bogs, the strict severity of peaks, the aristocratic frivolity of lapping waves."

Another example of this "visual representation" of the author's way of writing:

"When the lake is as slick as oil, the reflection is so pure that you could misread which half of the mirror image was which... The reflection is the echo of the image; the echo is the image of the sound."

Apart from the external part of the daily life, there is also the introspective journey. The author wonders what he will find if he looks inside. That's another reason why he chose to go there, alone.

"The courageous course would be to face things: my life, my times and other people... What am I?"

I don't know whether NJ read that book, or just the quote from somewhere else, but I was surprised to read about another book NJ posted on IG in this book too. But then, as I mentioned previously, the author read a lot during his 6 months...

"Addressing the young poet Franz Xaver Kappus, Rainer Maria Rilke writes in his letter of 17 February 1903: 'If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it, blame yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches"

Speaking about quotes, this is the one Namjoon put on IG, with the original text in French:

"Ecoutant la musique de la houle, je regarde griller mes poissons embrochés sur des pics de bois vert en pensant que la vie ne devrait être que cela : l'hommage rendu par l'adulte à ses rêves d'enfant."

Who else but the author to give you an idea of what he felt and wrote in his book? I found a very short interview on YT with some snippets of the documentary that he did while living there. He speaks English fluently.

The French documentary on the author's experience, is complementary to the book he wrote. Here goes the English version.

There is also a 2016 movie called "In the Forests of Siberia" and while it is a great movie, it's not the original story from the book but an adaptation with a new character. The music is hauntingly beautiful and matches perfectly the visuals. Here goes the trailer of the movie:

Do I recommend the book? Yes! I really enjoyed escaping to this hermit life in the first days of the year! If you can, I recommend reading the French version. Maybe watching the short interview will help you understand the mindset of the author too.

#bts #bts books #namjoon #bts army