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jjkeremika · 6 months

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it is hot (with you; love you)

description: eren and mikasa make love in a hot spring… that is all…

pairing: eren x mikasa, eremika (aot, snk)

universe: og/original

**smutty**

Eren found peace in the hot springs, often spending his free time hiking well within Wall Maria to the hot spring, sauna and spa resort in the mountains.

A small cabin complex for weary travelers, wedged into the side of the mountain, small pools of hot water scattered, isolated. The long trees and tall rock structures surrounded the spring like a cocoon, wooden planks imitating walls creating roof-ed structures.

Eren would sit naked on the smooth wooden surface, let the steam tickle his skin with a warm embrace. The hot dewy air made it easier to breathe, easier to bear the reality and responsibilities of this world. The bright shine of the near-setting sun on the water highlighted what little beauty was left to enjoy, made it more difficult to close his eyes on it.

He heard a splash and ignored it, keeping his eyes closed and breathing meditatively, spacing out his breath into three intervals of five seconds: five second inhale, five second hold, five second exhale. He was always alone here, the splashes always being a small animal or a twig falling in.

Being lost in the crystal-clear air of the mountains had its perks, one being that rarely did he encounter anyone. No one to ask who he was, why he was there, where he was going to, who he was running from. He never had an answer for those questions, or at least never a good one.

Never having to introduce himself, never having to actively be himself... The feeling erupting in his chest, like he had been uplifted from the ancient curse, like the weight of eternal and immortal expectations had dissolved like acid kissing skin... A taste of freedom.

It could only be made better with the company of select friends, the presence of certain family, the close shared proximity with the love of his life.

He thought of her... of leaving her behind. It was inevitable, and he was searching through his dreams for some solution to stop it, to live on by her side. His attempts felt futile, and as he sat in the most beautiful place alone, wondering if maybe he’d end up wasting the rest of his time cluelessly searching for a way to extend it, instead of spending it with her and everyone else too.

He used his forearm to wipe the water droplet from near his chin. Another perk of the sauna is, if it was hot enough, the sweat was indistinguishable from the tears.

*********

Eren had been feeling particularly dirty today and he'd had an awful premonition that were getting more horribly more vivid and despite Erwin and Hange's disapproval Levi still used Eren as titan-target practice. So it was a long day, and he really wanted nothing more than to hurry to the hot springs.

But Mikasa had insisted on visiting the replacement graves for their parents today, citing that it might be the last time in a while before they can visit again, and only Eren knew just how correct that statement was.

They were silent on the walk there, their bodies actively fighting the magnetic pull between their fingers as they walked.

At the grave site, they had become aware of the temperature drop, and Mikasa started shivering slightly, her muscles too fatigued from training to resist the cold.

He draped his sweater over her arm, his hands lingering on her shoulders as he thoughtfully placed the fabric in a way to keep her warm. The touch from his hands was warm enough, the area instantly heating up her skin and radiating throughout her body.

It was the walk around the cemetery, no particular destination, when Mikasa finally broke the silence: "How are you doing, Eren?"

He stopped walking momentarily, the question catching him off guard. He thought about what he was doing all the time; never how he was doing. Did he even want to burden her with that?

Was there any point in lying? This was Mikasa, she knew so much about him she could likely tell if he were lying from the sound of his voice.

And yet she trusted him so deeply she’d also reject that.

She stopped a couple paces in front of him and turned to face him. He debated how much to divulge. The details were long and nuanced and boring and he was still sorting them out.

“I'm... adjusting," Eren answered neutrally after pondering. Mikasa eyed him carefully, squinting as the final ray of golden light struck her face, lighting up her eyes.

He smiled lightly as he stared her, heat erupting from the center of his chest and spiraling out like an untamed fire. He suppressed the forming tears in the corner of his eyes, blinking them away. He always did think she was beautiful. He never told her that.

Maybe he should tell her that. "I'm happy right now." He smiled softly. With you.

She turned around to face ahead. She was skeptical, but she also doubted that skepticism, leaving her at a crossroads. He felt the stinging signal spread to his tear-glands, forcibly swallowing to take his mind off the sensation. "That's good. Maybe we should visit here more." She started walking again.

Maybe it was because deep down he wanted her to know that despite everything, he was still human, and he still needed joy and relief to survive; maybe it was because he wanted the most serene place in the world to be her surviving memory of him; maybe it was because the weight of the world was crushing him and the strongest soul in existence stopped in front of him and he so desperately didn't want to be alone.

Eren took a rushed couple steps and grabbed her wrist, pulling her to a stop and causing her to twist her body to face him. "I want to take you somewhere. Come with me."

He didn’t wait for a response, just started leading without looking back to see if she truly stayed. She followed Eren to the mountains obediently, asking questions at first but stopping after becoming frustrated with Eren's cryptic answers. This place was sacred, exposing this place meant exposing his remaining solitude, his last freedom. Or maybe she'd be the spoon making it easier to taste.

When they'd finally arrived, Eren quickly rushed Mikasa through the main entrance and out the back. Mikasa was confused as there was little time to process her thoughts and surroundings, but she was amazed at how comfortable Eren was here, that alone was strikingly obvious.

He brought her to his most frequented spring, his favorite because of how isolated yet comforting it was. The enclosure was small and warm, moss covering the rocks and wisteria--fake, maybe--hanging between. He stopped in front of the open door and held his arm out, gesturing for her to enter. She did, glancing around in wonder, still taking it all in.

"A hot spring?" Mikasa asked, turning around to face the doorway. "This is where you come every day." It was more of a processing statement than a question and it didn't necessarily require an answer, but Eren nodded anyway. His future and dreams were cloudy and ambiguous; he didn't want tonight to be.

He started taking his shirt off, already warming up from the steam accumulating in the loosely closed-off room. "I love it here," he answered quietly, eyes gazing around the room, noting the small differences from yesterday. He moved on to remove his shorts.

Mikasa's face erupted into various shades of pinks and reds, her eyes widening slightly and fixating on Eren's eyes, biting her lip to relieve the tension from holding her gaze above his sculpted collarbones.

He shifted slightly to pull the short off his foot and Mikasa's eyes glanced at the glistening sweat forming on his sharp collarbones, pointing like an arrow towards the tough ridges that make up his abs.

She licked her lips, catching glimpses of his firm ass as he stepped into the spring, wading to the middle where it reached his naval. She gulped harshly as the water kissed up his thighs, instantly hugging his skin.

"I can't describe it," Eren sighed, running his hands over his face and letting the hot water forge different trails to his chest, his brown hair turning black as it absorbed the water. Mikasa's eyes followed the sweat traveling down his chest, watching it culminate into the reflection of the same site and watching the process in reverse. "You have to try it, Mikasa."

She pursed her lips, hesitant, before complying by slowly undoing the buttons on her shirt. She could feel Eren's eyes on her, intensely watching the finite movements of her fingers caressing the button, and she felt the heat rising to her cheeks. The thought of asking him to do it for her crossed her mind.

She shrugged off the top and her hands moved to the buttons on her pants, surprised at the increased breathability for her skin. Mikasa briefly caught Eren lick and bite his lip as he kept his eyes trained on her hands.

Eren waded closer, the water line settling now just above his hips. The water lapped at the paler skin, inching threateningly closer to where his cock was starting to harden. His breath hitched at the sight of her bending over to pull the pants over her knees, her cleavage rounding and the weight of her boobs distorting the structure, starting to fall out of the bra.

He kept his eyes fixed on her chest, fully aware of her gaze on him, as she started to stand up and stepped out the pants, leaving them on the floor.

She placed her hands delicately on the thin straps of her lace panties, and she was secretly psyched at her bold choice this morning. Eren stepped forward, the water loudly splashing out of the way, a splash lapping at her feet.

"Wait," he said quickly, "wait." He looked up at her from in the pool, the water to his knees. He held one hand up to her. "May I?" There was a hopeful rejuvenation sparkling in his eyes, an unspoken promise on his tongue.

His hands were inching towards her hips, giving in to an unseen magnetic pull, like he already knew she'd say yes. She'd paused in disbelief, her body becoming unbelievably warm. "Mika?"

As soon as the breathless "Yes," landed in one ear, Eren's hands snapped to her hips, holding the thin delicate fabric so tightly in his rough hands. His palms and forearms rested against the length of her thick thighs, the fading light still highlighting the muscle.

Eren took a slight step forward, disturbing the peace of the water and pressed his face to her crotch, still clutching onto the panty straps, like he'd drown if he let go. Eren inhaled deeply, a shiver ran down his spine and pulsed right to his cock because she smelled so, weirdly delicious.

He swallowed the saliva building on his tongue and rested his chin just above the top panty line. He stared up at her to find her staring at him, both hands reaching to his hair for stability. He could feel her heart beat to the pelvic muscles; she could feel the panty fabric dampen.

His throat was dry and he was at a loss for words as he stared at her and slowly started tugging down the straps. He stopped when the fabric had bunched just above the lips, letting them teasingly peek out at himself, and he licked his lips. Eren bit the fabric quickly, pulling back, looking up to make eye contact with it in his teeth before abruptly letting it recoil back and roughly yanking the rest of the panties down.

His hands immediately wrapped to her butt cheeks, grabbing one in each hand, like they were his new life support in the still pleasant waters. Mikasa moaned as he fondled the skin, grabbing and folding the soft flesh in his strong, rigid grip.

Meanwhile his mouth pressed kisses like it was paying a nonexistent fare as his mouth ventured lower, lips meeting lips. Her soft gasps served as conductors, waving him on. He sucked firmly, licking out exploritorily, smirking as his tongue registered the taste of her.

Eren lowered one hand from her ass cheek to between her thighs and swirled his thumb in the fluid. She was more wet than the steamed air.

He smirked at the gasp Mikasa released as his thumb cautiously pressed between the labia, his tongue following his finger and his mind making mental notes of where he'd touched that she was the loudest.

His thumb slid easily on her wet skin, alternating pressure with light thin tongue flicks or hard flat licks. Butterflies and extreme heat erupted in her stomach, spreading across her body like wildfire instantaneously.

"Oh, Eren!" she moaned loudly, clutching onto his scalp and pushing her weight onto him slightly, her knees wobbling from the pleasure.

Eren firmly grabbed one thigh in his hand and guided it to rest on his shoulder, his other hand supporting her standing leg. He supported her weight and she pressed into him and tightened her thigh to his face as he continued to lick hungrily at her clit, happier with this angle, with the weight of her thigh against his cheek.

After a few moments he smacked her cheek and pulled his head away, staring up at her with shiny eyes and a moist mouth. “On the ground,” he ordered.

Mikasa instantly obeyed, scampering onto the cold stone ground and sitting down. She hummed as the strangely cool rock soothed the hot stinging of the smack.

He leaned over her a heart’s beat later. Within seconds he was hovering over her legs, manhandling and kissing up her thighs, biting at the skin and licking to make up for it.

Eren moaned when he tucked his nose to her pussy and delicately touched his tongue to her clit again, his hands gripping her thighs that squeezed together, blocked by his head, pressing against his cheeks instead.

The pleasure went on for minutes, the sound an ungodly symphony, before the skin became too raw and too sensitive and Mikasa had to push his face away.

She was aching to catch her breath, her chest heaving, her heart racing, her pulse electrifying. He was smirking at her, also breathing deeply, like he were willing to sacrifice air to drink more of her. His eyes sparkling like he were staring at an angel; she was shining with a halo of sweat and condensation.

Mikasa opened her mouth to say something, barely got the semblance of an “I” out when Eren had lunged to her, the magnetic pull becoming too overwhelming to ignore anymore. Their mouths collided, his hand reaching out to hold her in place, and it felt like the steam from the sauna had penetrated their barriers.

She had moved to hover over his lap, lower thighs kissing but upper thighs barely touching, yearning out and aching to close the space. Eren’s hands were too busy exploring her breasts and upper back to pull her closer, and he was too overstimulated to focus on the drops landing on his hard cock, the mixed droplets of his saliva and her discharge.

Eren’s brain was short-circuiting: there was too much of her to focus on, and there were so many sensations of her skin of his to process. She was overwhelming.

Eren loudly moaned when her hand shyly reached for his cock, confidently gripping it yet stroking it coyly. The contradictory strokes sent electrifying waves of pleasure to his brain, pumping more blood back to his cock so he could feel it more.

The noises blissfully slipped out of his mouth as she tugged on him, kissing and nipping softly at the skin on his neck while bouncing lightly on her knees, letting her clit just grace his tense thigh, the ghostly friction teasingly divine.

When the heat boiling inside became too much and the heat from the moist air made the sweat stick to his skin, Eren roughly gripped her bum with both hands and pulled her onto her lap.

She fell into him, yelping at the sudden motion then quickly moaning at the friction between her wet clit and his thigh, the moist sheen between causing her to slide towards his crotch, his hard cock upright wedged between their abdomens.

He waited until she made eye contact before kissing her, brushing a strand of hair from her eyeline then holding her neck. He used his other hand to guide her hips as she rocked back and forth, both of them moaning softly into the other’s warm mouth.

Mikasa used her hand to lather his cock in the wetness that had gathered between her legs, the mixture of sauna steam and sweat and saliva and fluid. Eren’s eyes screwed shut and his face twisted in pleasure at the movements, pulling away from the kiss and softly moaning her name, his grip on her skin tightening.

The steam was infiltrating his mind, he could feel the water lift the weight of everything despite the very real muscular weight shifting in his lap. He felt the buoyant feeling in his chest, lifting the shackles.

“Mikasa,” he started softly, tears welling into his eyes, “whatever happens…” He tucked his nose into her neck, unable to look at her. A hot tear slid down his cheek. The words choked in his throat, making it hard to breathe.

Her hand firmly gripped his cheeks and forced him to look at her. She was smiling so softly, a look that made the warmth of the sauna air around them feel cold. Her thumb unknowingly wiping away the tear.

“I know, Eren,” she replied soothingly, rubbing her thumb once or twice against his cheekbone. “Me too.” He returned her smile before she kissed him gently, slowly, so slowly Eren wondered if time had been paused. “Always,” she murmured against his lips.

“Always,” he whispered quickly in agreement, foreheads pressed together, eyes closed.

She lowered onto his cock, the explosive burst of electricity inside drastically drowning out their quiet tones, amplified the feeling ten thousand-fold.

Eren’s lips hovered over her chest, panting, periodically pressing kisses or nips to the goose bumped skin. He pawed between her bum and hips as he rocked his hips in rhythm with her bounce, drinking in her loud moans.

The motion was slow, not greedy like before. The kisses were softer and more tender, the touches were longer and warmer. The pleasure felt amplified somehow, like the crowded steam air made it impossible for it to evaporate, keeping it condensed inside them, making every touch and every movement and every kiss feel so much more powerful.

He gently rolled them over, carefully placing his hand behind her head to prevent it from hitting the hard rock.

Her nails clawed into his back, breaking through the steam-heated skin but stopping at the strong muscle, leaving raised red reminders for tomorrow.

He thrusted in and out, slowly, taking his time, like he had all of it in the world. Mikasa’s fingers clawed at his pecs with one hand and the other grabbed a fistful of Eren’s overgrown hair, dragging him closer.

When the sensation in her pelvis spread to the rest of her body and her toes started to curl, she wrapped her arms underneath Eren’s shoulders and held him close, eliminating as much of the distance between their skin. The sweat acted like magnetic glue, pulling and sticking their bodies together with intricate forces.

She moaned loudly and unapologetically, taking each thrust as he whispered compliments and novelties in her ear, telling her she looked so gorgeous like this, being fucked by him.

She was too breathless to tell him he looked and felt godly, hand crafted by a higher power. She worried he’d laugh at her anyway.

Eren was rapidly approaching his climax, and from the way her thighs clenched around his waist—so tight practically preventing him from moving—he could tell Mikasa was too.

He pushed deeper, fighting against the strength of her thighs around him to pull out ever so slightly and using even more force to push deeper inside. Only two hard pumps and he came inside her, Mikasa still grinding herself against his overstimulated cock, causing him to choke out her name and jerk his hips back, which her hips instinctively chased.

Her thighs loosened around him and he slipped out. He layed onto the cool stone and pulled her into his arms, resting her head onto his chest, her skin hot and red and sweaty.

He stared at the wooden ceiling, wondering if his vision was so blurry because of her or the steam. He closed his eyes. He didn’t even care if it was blurry. He was in his favorite place with his favorite person, living in his blissful freedom.

She lifted her head a little to look at Eren, their eyes and lips aligning. “Mikasa… I…” She stared at him with a happy, cozy smile, like the ones they’d wear when they snuggled with his mother by the fireplace when they were kids—at home.

The words choked in his throat. Tears welled in both their eyes, but her expression didn’t waver. He kissed her instead, mouthing the words into her mouth, etching them inside with his tongue.

He relaxed into her touch, fell into her intoxicating kiss all over again, when she carved the reciprocal sequence of letters into his mouth.

Love you.

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lostcauses-noregrets · 6 months

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By Rafael Motamayor, New York Times, Nov. 5, 2023

On Saturday, the final episode of the anime adaptation of Hajime Isayama’s “Attack on Titan” premiered on Crunchyroll and Hulu, ending an epic tale that started back in 2013.

Like the manga, which ran from 2009 to 2021, the anime was an instant hit, becoming one of the defining shows of the modern anime era, with spinoffs, live-action and video game adaptations, and even a comic book crossover with Marvel’s “Spider-Man” and “Avengers” titles.

Since the fourth and final season started airing in 2020, “Attack on Titan” has been one of the most popular shows on the internet — episodes have routinely trended on social media, streaming servers have occasionally crashed, the opening theme song became a rare anime song to hit the U.S. Billboard charts. Parrot Analytics said it was the most “in-demand” show in the world in 2021, a metric based on analysis of streaming, social media, search and other online behaviors. The manga has continued to be popular as well, selling over 120 million copies worldwide, and several of the published volumes have charted on the New York Times graphic novels and manga best-seller list.

What started as a thrilling yet relatively simple tale of a young boy seeking revenge against the giant humanoid monsters that ate his mother quickly evolved into a thought-provoking war epic. The tonal shift in “Attack on Titan” also came with one of the biggest heel-turns in modern anime, with the protagonist, Eren Jaeger, devolving into a radicalized monster threatening worldwide genocide.

Since the manga ended in 2021, there has been plenty of speculation and debate over Eren’s antagonistic turn and what the story’s ending means. Ahead of the release of the final episode, the manga creator Hajime Isayama, speaking through an interpreter, David Higbee, talks about the restrictive nature of writing and the story’s dark ending. These are edited excerpts from the interview.

The manga ended a couple of years ago, and the anime is just finishing now. How do you feel about the story coming to an end?

For this anime to be made and for that to go beyond the borders of Japan and to reach a worldwide audience is something that’s been a very happy occurrence for me. In a sense, “Attack on Titan” has connected me to the world, and that’s something that I’m very glad happened.

How much of the ending from the manga did you have in mind when you first began writing “Attack on Titan”? And how much did it change along the way?

That was pretty much there from the beginning, the story that starts with the victim who then goes through this story and becomes the aggressor. That is something I had in mind right from the get-go. Along the way, certain aspects of the story didn’t go as expected, and I adapted and fleshed out certain aspects. But I would say the ending of the story didn’t change much

There’s a much-talked-about scene where Armin, who is struggling with Eren’s turn into a mass murderer, seems to thank him for his actions. Can you talk about the meaning behind that conversation?

My thinking there wasn’t really that Armin was trying to push Eren away for the sake of justice or whatnot. It was more that he wanted to, in a sense, take joint responsibility. He wanted to become an accomplice. In order to become an accomplice, Armin had to make sure that he used very strong wording so that he could take those sins upon himself. And so that was the intent behind it.

You have a scene where Eren apologizes to a kid for the carnage he’s going to commit and says he was disappointed in the world he saw beyond the walls. What does that say about his motivation?

I think that refers to the fact that Eren was dreaming of going to this world outside of the walls where there was nobody and there was nothing. There was an excitement about this world that was just empty, a clean slate. I don’t really know whether that’s a good or a bad thing, and I don’t really know why that was the ideal that I set up for Eren as a part of this story. But what I can say is that, when he does get across the wall at that point, he says he sees that the world is really not that different from what’s within the walls in the world that he already knows. I believe that’s probably the disappointment that I’m referring to in that specific scene.

Eren says in the final episode of the anime that he had no choice but to follow the future that he saw, that he was powerless against the powers of the Founding Titan. Armin even asks if he’s really free. Was he telling the truth or do you see this as him telling an excuse?

So the truth is the situation with Eren actually overlaps in a certain sense with my own story with this manga. When I first started this series, I was worried that it would probably be canceled. It was a work that no one knew about. But I had already started the story with the ending in mind. And the story ended up being read and watched by an incredible number of people, and it led to me being given a huge power that I didn’t quite feel comfortable with.

It would have been nice if I could have changed the ending. Writing manga is supposed to be freeing. But if I was completely free, then I should have been able to change the ending. I could have changed it and said I wanted to go in a different direction. But the fact is that I was tied down to what I had originally envisioned when I was young. And so, manga became a very restrictive art form for me, similar to how the massive powers that Eren acquired ended up restricting him.

You have been involved in the anime production for a little while, supervising the adaptation’s storyboards, and have been known for asking for changes to the story in the adaptation. Did you personally ask for anything for the final episode?

Yes. Absolutely. I checked the script, but the main thing was the storyboards. There were different things I suggested. When it comes down to it, it’s really the role of the production to make those decisions. But I wanted to at least give my input so that they could take those into account when they were making the final decisions.

The manga ends with you showing the future of Paradis and sort of the cycle of war continuing. Is there no end to the conflict and the cycle you present in the story?

I guess there could have been an ending where it was a happy ending and the war ended and everything was fine and dandy. I guess that could have been possible. At the same time, the end of fighting and the end of contention itself kind of seems hokey. It kind of seems like it’s not even believable. It’s just not plausible in the world we’re living in right now. And so, sadly, I had to give up on that kind of happy ending.

[New York Times, 5 November 2023]

#hajime isayama #this is really interesting #the analogy between himself and eren is fascinating #interview #new york times #snk

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levmada · 6 months

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(Hiei and Rorschach respectively)

(Rorschach was the basis for Levi’s personality. he has a particular hatred of filth btw)

#i’ve read this interview but he’s on my mind much more than usual somehow..#levi ackerman #levi aot #snk levi ackerman #captain levi ackerman #aot levi #aot levi ackerman #snk levi #attack on titan levi #attack on titan levi ackerman #levi.thoughts

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arteastica · 11 months

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reiner for eldian weekly (summer 2023)

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iaknaide · 2 years

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Thank you Hajime Isayama for creating Hange Zoe, such a dedicated soldier.

a fearless leader who always stands up for what she believes is right no matter what. a character whose passion for discovering the unknowns never dies. a free being not bounded by any real world standards.

#happy birthday sunshine #yes last line isayama's words in an interview #hange zoe #hanji zoë #hanji zoe #snk #attack on titan #aot

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comfortfoodcontent · 1 year

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World Heroes Perfect Behind The Scenes Development Sketches & Developer Interview from Neo Geo Freak #3

#behind the scenes #concept art #interviews #design sketches #world heroes #world heroes perfect #video games #video game magazines #snk #neo geo #neo geo freak

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ourmondobongo · 1 year

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A "YES" and a "NO... MAYBE...?"

#lol #this is SO Isym!#But it will do him some good to just relax for now #it would be interesting a Levi spin-off by Isym himself tho #he can better explore the characters he killed too soon #like Mike #and of course #I WANNA SEE LEVIHAN BONDING GODDAMMIT AAAA #every crumble is worth it!#snk interviews #Isayama Q & A #levihan

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sixpennydame · 10 months

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I have some fun, bonus drabbles for Make. Believe., including interviews Levi and Zeke do for the AoT final part premiere.

With that said, I need some help with what Levi would wear to the premiere. Send me your ideas!!

#the interview is gonna be so fun #and exclusive only to tumblr #sixpennydame make.believe.#actor!levi #aot actor au #aot fanfiction #snk fanfiction

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jeanandthedreamofhorses · 2 years

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Interview with Isayama at the Hita SNK Museum

Several months ago I visited the official SNK Museum in Isayama’s hometown of Hita. You can see everything else about it here, but the most interesting part for me was a recorded interview with Isayama. I didn’t film it because I didn’t have time and didn’t know if it was allowed, but I did write notes to keep the content fresh in my memory.

My record of Isayama’s comments is in bold; the rest is context and my own thoughts.

Growing Up in Oyama

Hita is part of Oita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu. Oyama, where Isayama grew up, is a part of Hita today, but during his childhood it was an independent town. It’s an area surrounded by mountains, and its name literally means ‘big mountain’. Here’s a picture by the dam for reference:

When asked what it was like growing up there, Isayama commented on the sense of seclusion that came from these mountain borders. He said that, while Oyama seemed big to him, he was vaguely aware there were bigger cities out there, like Hita. He knew that past that was Fukuoka (the biggest city in Kyushu), and that past that was the sea – and beyond there, even more places.

It was intriguing to me that, for the young Isayama, the edge of his known world was Kyushu. He didn’t even mention the rest of Japan: it was equally as foreign to him as other countries. Oyama’s large mountains seem directly analogous to the Walls, cutting off its people from the rest of Japan just as the Walls cut Paradis off from the world. Young Isayama was in a similar state of ignorance to what lies beyond as the Paradis Eldians. And just as they believed themselves the entirety of humanity, so did Oyama seem a world unto itself to Isayama.

The way Isayama spoke about the outside world, it felt to me as though he had struggled to wrap his head around it. Perhaps he had felt curiosity, like the young Armin; but perhaps he had also felt fear at the enormity of a world so far beyond what he knew. I say this because all this reminded me of Eren pointing across the ocean in Chapter 90.

He was so disappointed that the edge of the ocean was not the edge of the world, like he had always thought, and so overwhelmed by the presence of so much complex human life on the other side. It enervates him to the point he admits, in Chapter 131, to wanting to just wipe it all clean.

I wonder if Isayama felt something similar in regard to a wider world existing beyond Kyushu. He did say in another interview that he had often wanted the world to “go to hell”, and fantasised about living in a world without people: just like Eren had wanted the outside world to be uninhabited.

–Would you say part of you wished the world would be destroyed?

Isayama: What, like, “Screw the world, let it all go to hell”? Yeah, I used to really think that quite a bit — like, I’d wonder what it would be like to live in a world without people, like in I Am Legend.

While this was Isayama’s unique experience in Oyama, I wonder if this attitude is something felt by many Japanese people. The country famously cut itself off from the world for two hundred odd years just like Paradis, and to this day the idea that the Japanese are fundamentally different from the other peoples of the world is propagated in Japanese schools and media: a kind of ‘Japanese exceptionalism’. The consequence is an insular attitude among many Japanese people, where Japan feels also a ‘world unto itself’; even though it incorporates culture from around the world, it does so in a uniquely Japanese fashion.

So, the perspective of Eren and the Paradis Eldians may resonate across Japanese culture as a whole. The potential of this attitude to result in ultranationalism and extremism, as it did in Japan in the 30s, is also portrayed in the manga through the behaviour of many Jaegerists.

What Is SNK about?

If he were to put it in a sentence, he wanted to tell a story about someone who starts as a victim but ends up as an aggressor. He thought it would be interesting for this person to become a monster just like the one that attacked him.

This was very interesting. Not only had this been Isayama’s plan from the start, but it also confirms it’s at the core of SNK’s purpose as a story.

How Does He Feel about the Museum?

Isayama thinks manga is about showing everyone the most embarrassing sides of yourself. So, while he’s very embarrassed for stuff like his childhood drawings to be on display, he thinks it’s a good thing.

This is the first time I’ve seen it phrased this way, but I think this attitude to storytelling is one I share. Putting all your vulnerabilities, all the thoughts you’re too afraid to say directly, to the forefront. This attitude is evident in Isayama’s dedication to portraying human weakness as well as courage: Carla calling out ‘don’t go’ after telling Eren to run being the quintessential example (I’m sure this was mentioned in another interview, but I can’t find it - sorry).

Perhaps one of the ‘embarrassing sides’ of himself Isayama showed us was his childhood feelings about the outside world?

Isayama’s Drawing Methods

Sometimes he draws a panel he thinks is no good, so he cuts it out and redoes it. But in cases where the assistants have already gone to the trouble of toning these rejects, he can’t bear to throw them away. Instead, he sticks drawing paper on the other side of them and presses them against a light-box, so he can trace the old outline for his second attempt. He then erases the pencil lines, inks them, and has them toned.

I just thought this was wholesome.

I don’t know if you can find the interview online, but if you’re in Japan, please check out the museum! It’s well worth it.

#shingeki no kyojin #snk meta #eren jaeger #eren yeager #hajime isayama #interview #snk spoilers #aot spoilers #history #japanese culture

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kyojinacts · 5 months

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Actor AU Headcanons for some of my favorite SNK/AOT characters!

1) Tea with honey is a staple resource on set due to the amount of screaming that the show requires. Eren was, naturally, the one who made the most of that tea during the earlier seasons. However, he was able to temporarily trade off his reputation as a screamer with Zeke, given that his character became more solemn and quiet as time went on. And, well, Zeke's character couldn't be what he was without the screaming.

2) When the iconic members of the 104th training corps met Levi for the first time, they caught him while he was method acting, and were intimidated. Little did they know that, outside of work, Levi has a very warm, kind, and charismatic personality. This catches both actors on set and fans off guard due to the stark contrast it provides against his character's demeanor. He finds it very, very amusing.

3) While we're on the topic of contrast, Hange actually finds titans very unnerving to look at, unlike their character. They typically don't have to encounter many due to most titans being animated via CGI, but there are some (like Sawney and Beane) that were constructed for "authenticity of reaction", much to Hange's chagrin. They maintain a professional front as much as they can. The only one who knows about their discomfort is Levi.

4) Mikasa breaking the floorboard in the scene where she strikes the human trafficker was entirely an accident. According to her, the floorboard had been unnaturally squeaky, but it was the last part of filming for the day, so she and the stage crew agreed to power through it. The poor girl apologized profusely, but Eren argued that it made the scene cooler. It seems as though Isayama agreed as the take was kept, though the audio team had to do some extensive cleaning to wipe out all the gasps and cries of shock that came from the unnatural breakage.

5) Sasha and Ymir are roommates who were both approached by a casting agent while volunteering at a food pantry. Ymir, though intrigued, was almost 100% sure that it was a scam, while Sasha did the research to check and dragged her friend to attend the auditions for shits and giggles. When they got their respective roles, they freaked out. Sasha almost dropped out, out of fear for what her family would think for being reckless, but Ymir urged her to take charge of her life, because opportunities like these don't come by.

6) The plot point of the Attack titan being able to send memories across time distresses Armin due to his belief that there are several timelines/futures that Eren's character could have chosen to follow rather than the one that was settled on. Isayama had to formally ask him to not discuss it during interviews, because the two of them knew that if Armin began his tirade, he won't stop.

6) Grisha and Carla are neither Eren's actual parents (in fact, Grisha is not even a father outside of work) but they both care about him as if he was their own since they saw him grow up on set. Zeke likes to joke that Grisha's method acting is spectacular in that way, since it took Grisha a bit of time to warm up to Zeke due to the latter's later appearance in the show.

7) The boy in the ending credits scene with the dog is Mikasa's little brother. He was always a big fan of his sister, and when presented with the opportunity to be a part of his sister's bigtime project, he took it with both hands eagerly.

8) The first scarf that Eren wraps around Mikasa was the only scarf that they used throughout the show. It has gone through a LOT, and is threadbare in many places. Despite this, Isayama refuses to have it mended. In an interview, Mikasa admits that she had gotten used to wearing the scarf, so during scenes when she wasn't supposed to wear it, she felt very exposed and empty.

9) Annie and Armin have a lot of deleted scenes/bloopers regarding their interactions for when Annie's character was in the crystal. In one scene, Annie is seen to dancing inside her crystal behind Armin as he monologued. In another, they switched places.

10) Connie and Jean are the ones to curse the most frequently after botching a scene. The others keep a tally on how many times. In the end, Connie barely ended up cursing more than Jean by two times. Connie's favorite curse words are "damn" and "shit" while Jean's is any variant of "fuck" like fuck, motherfucker, fucking hell, etc.

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