Heartbreakers: Nine recs

[island_of_reil]

bur — "Freckles"
Jean has made it his mission to count all of Marco's freckles. Erotic fluff ending in Trost!angst. Canonical character death, needless to say. A wonderful job of showing, not telling, for both the fluff and the angst. Mature (graphic gore); 730 words.

asuralucier — "Memento"
Sweet and sad. Sasha is assigned to clean for Levi while he recuperates. She realizes someone used to share his room with him. A very nice character study of them both. Teen and up; 1,550 words.

anonymous — "Always want what you can't have"
Levi/Petra, getting off during sex on the possibility of him getting her pregnant. Strangely (to me, as this is so not my kink) hot — and bittersweet, knowing what we know ultimately happens. Sexually explicit; 630 words.

anonymous — "the drop of water hollows the stone" (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Parts 4a & 4b)
Erwin and Levi come together, then grow apart, over the course of their working together in the Survey Corps, from Erwin first teaching Levi to salute to the aftermath of the 57th Expedition. There's a little Levi/Hange at the end. Beautifully written and characterized for all three of them; full of poignant observations about mortality and psychological damage. Because when it comes down to it, for all his bitterness and resentment and anger and grief, the only thing Levi truly blames Erwin for is not letting him die with them. Mature (graphic violence); 9,928 words.

anonymous — "Draining the Ocean"
The author of this WIP intended to have Armin kidnapped by slavers instead of Mikasa, then for him and Eren to reunite at 15, with Eren a soldier and Armin a sex slave — and the only one who can control Eren in his titan form. However, they left SnK fandom for health reasons, and the fic ends at the doorway to the kidnappers' cabin. Still, it's very much worth reading. The writing is breathtaking, the author crystallizes essential elements of the boys' characters at age nine, and there is already achingly sweet if poorly understood romantic longing on both their parts. Mature (graphic gore); 7,912 words.

queertitan — "as long as there are stars above you"
Men are toy soldiers in Erwin's hands, and like toys, they break. Warning: Major character deaths. This highly regarded Eruri fic is bleak, gutting, and absolutely worth reading for its brilliant use of language and its incisive character study of Erwin. Explicit for both sex and violence; 3,645 words.

anonymous — "to the old world"
Lyrically written second-person Eren POV, present tense, from childhood until a canon divergence in the 57th Expedition arc (warning: major character death). Can be read either as gen or as pre-OT3 for the Shinganshina Trio:

The three of you wander outside, and it's dark—it's very dark, and you can see the stars shining brightly above you. Their soft twinkling is warm somehow, and the moon-glow illuminates your skin in a pallid color; Mikasa makes a knowing noise beside you and Armin raises his hands to the sky and names off the constellations one by one—"Draco, Bootes, Lacerta, Perseus, Cygnus, Leo Minor, Canes Venatic, Serpens Caput, Ophiuchus"—and he continues reciting them, index finger delicately poised to trace over imaginary lines in the sky.

There are some lovely moments with others of the 104th too. Mature (graphic violence/gore); 4,546 words.

Anarhichas — "Parasitoid"
This Eremin mpreg fic is mostly known for body horror, and there's certainly that, but it also made me choke up at numerous points. The author chooses not to warn but has given permission to provide a few warnings whited out: loss of bowel and bladder control, surgical guro, and major character death. There are also a few funny lines. Mature, shading toward explicit at points; 10,587 words.

Aisca — "The Enemy"
Plotty canon divergence in which Levi's squad survived the 57th Expedition. The MPs abduct him, flog and otherwise beat him, and gang-rape him — while his squad watches in horror from the rafters, unable to rescue him without risking arrest for treason and disbandment of the Corps. The beatings are very, very graphic. But the author only hints at the rapes, interspersing them with Levi's memories of reuniting with his squad after the 57th, and the effect is emotionally pulverizing. That said, I wasn't in tears until his post-rape reunion with his guilt-stricken squad and the touch of Ereri at the end. The themes of leadership, loyalty, and sacrifice strongly undergird this entire fic. Mature, shading toward explicit at points; 10,083 words.