Gymnopédies

ATOD Chapter 3 is OUT NOW!

and oh boy, it's 10k words long this time.

New Rivetra Fanfic is out 👌

Word count: 20,106

Spice level: 🌶🌶🌶🌶/5 (R18+)

I've just posted chapters 11, 12, 13 and 14

There won't be any more weekly updates. I'm going on a hiatus, but I promise I'll finish this story one day. I'll come back and post the rest of the chapters in another dump once the whole story is finished. It's not a goodbye, it's a see you later 🖤

(Entire work here)

Read here.

Rivetra. AU - canon divergence. R18+. Multi-chaptered. The finale to the Telomeres series, a world where Petra lives.

Chapter vii. (yours in the end) - Series Finale

"Ya got an hour, Olympia," the guard muttered. Levi already knew that wasn't his mother's name, but understood he meant her. "Don't go past the arch. And keep that kid in your arms. Don't want him running where you can't find 'im."

His mother silently nodded at that before she adjusted him on her arms. Then she slowly approached the archway from which all that bright golden light came.

They stayed close to the archway's pillar, his mother leaning a hand against it. It was even colder up here. The oversized clothes he was swaddled in were much too thin to help his small, frail body fight against the chill, but his mother's warmth kept him from shivering.

Beyond the archway's threshold was a sight to behold for his young eyes. The ground was made of cobblestone instead of the moist soil below ground. But the roads were covered by a thin blanket of white powder. Snow, his mother had told him. She said it tends to fall around the time of his birthday.

But it was the sky that held him captive.

His mother had said that it was usually pale blue most of the day, like their eyes. But just before the darkness of night takes over, for a few hours, the sky would turn into a soft orange, and the sun would glow gold, the same shade as one rare coin she sometimes received from a generous client.

Even with the Walls of Sina looming high, Levi could still see that sun's crown peeking over the top. He reached a small hand toward it, fingers splayed, letting its warm light stream between them.

"All children should see this light, Levi," his mother said. "Children should feel this warmth. No one deserves to live alone, in darkness."

She told him this before she doubled over, coughing so hard she spat blood into her palm.

A year later, his mother died.

And Levi was alone, in the cold and the dark.

And he still felt like he was alone, in the cold and in the dark, even after he was able to leave the Underground City and thrive on the surface, where he had now seen countless blue skies and setting suns.

Cold. Dark. Alone.

Then Petra came.

And she was that first sunset all over again. Radiant, rare, and warm enough to thaw something in him that he thought had frozen for good.

He didn't reach for the light this time. This time, the light came to him.

And he took her all in. Every fiber of her being. Every breath, every freckle, every scar. Down to the very telomeres in her cells– the fragile ends of life's thread that marked how long she has left in this world.

Rivetra. AU - canon divergence. R18+. Multi-chaptered. The finale to the Telomeres series, a world where Petra lives.

Chapter vi. (the rhythm of eternity)

Petra tilted her head. "Telomeres?"

"That's something new. Never heard of that." Hange murmured, eyes narrowing thoughtfully as they leaned forward, eager to listen for more.

"They discovered it not too long ago. They're like caps at the ends of chromosomes," Onyankopon said, using his fingers to gesture. "They protect the genetic material whenever a cell divides. Normally, they shorten as people age. But for Eldians, they still appear to be longer."

"People from Hizuru also have long telomeres," Kiyomi added. "They say it is a reason for our people having long average life spans. It is not uncommon for some of our citizens to live past a hundred."

"That's incredible," Petra said, brows raised. "I've never met anyone older than eighty."

Levi scowled. No one in Paradis ever made it past that age because the former monarchy had enforced a quiet, brutal policy: once the elderly were deemed unproductive, they were sent beyond the walls. It was a means to control the population. An unspoken culling to preserve food and resources. Everyone in the Underground knew about it. Many of the elderly would often escape below ground, only for them to die later from famine and disease. Or homicide. Whichever came first.

Few above-ground knew. Fewer dared to speak of it. Only the inner nobility and high-ranking officers were ever told and exempted. Erwin had known. And it was one of the first things he had Historia abolish the moment she became Queen.

"If Hizurans have similarly long telomeres, then what makes us Eldians different?" Petra asked, her voice laced with the same curious spark Hange often had when unraveling something unknown.

Kiyomi set down her cup with a soft clink before answering.

"Eldian telomeres do not shorten," she said calmly. "You might say, it is as if there is no natural end to your life span… that your race is said to 'live forever'. I believe that is part of what makes your people feared. The very structure of your being defies nature as we know it. Add to that the ancient belief that your bloodline descended from a 'devil'… suddenly that fear isn't just myth. It becomes science. And the possibility that you might live longer than the rest of the world becomes harder to ignore."

From his place by the table, Levi could see the way Petra's brows knit together, her eyes fixed on something distant as she processed the weight of those words.

And then, in the quiet that followed, she murmured under her breath.

"No one lives forever."

For some odd reason, the way she uttered those words brought a chill beneath his skin.

Levi turned back to the potted tree. One of the buds near the tip of a slender branch had already parted slightly.

Almost absentmindedly, he reached out and brushed a finger against it gently, like coaxing something fragile out of hiding. The petal resisted, refusing to unfurl any further. Not yet ready to bloom for this life, almost like it feared that doing so would lead it closer to death.

(No one lives forever.)

Those were Petra's words, spoken approximately eight months ago.

And she had been right.

Death always comes for all of them. It didn't care for race or reason. Death comes. They arrive by natural means. By hunger. Disease. Murder. Titans.

Sacrifice.

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TW: flashing lights.

Please message me for access to #181 gifs of JONATHAN BAILEY in Various Non-Period Projects. All gifs have been made by me, so please like or reblog this if you find them helpful! Due to people not following my rules, I am now only sending links to those who confirm with me that they have reblogged the post (or have explained why they are unable to do so.) Give me a heads up if you use them to create gif icons or crackships - I don’t generally have a problem with it, but I have a few rules as far as crediting me!

A huge thank you to Feifer @pochunts​ for helping me get the footage for ‘Hooten and the Lady.’ She is truly the greatest! 

Just published the first chapter to my new rivetra fic, with some help from my grumpy buddy. He says you should give it a read.

Link: