I ran intoĀ a little problemĀ with writing this chapter, which isĀ kind of theĀ reason it took soĀ long. Ā While reading some manga chapters toĀ refamiliarizeĀ myself withĀ the order of certain events, I was hit with aĀ bigĀ panic that my characters hereĀ donātĀ really seem true to theirĀ canonicalĀ selves. Ā For some reason this really bothered me and got into my head, andĀ IĀ struggled to write anything thatĀ wasnātĀ basic dialogue without psychoanalysingĀ the way my characters interactedĀ with each other, the way they spoke and acted. Ā And when I say struggled, I mean really struggled. Ā I wroteĀ the majority ofĀ this chapter while travelling, which is usually my primeĀ uninterruptedĀ time whereĀ IĀ knowĀ nobody'sĀ gonna be able to sneak up on me and read over myĀ shoulder. Ā But instead, I spent a lot of my travel-writing time sitting glaring at my laptop or looking out of the window trying to summon the ghost of Shakespeare to help me out with whatever the fuck I was struggling with. Ā IĀ donātĀ think I realised why I was struggling until after finishing all theĀ canonicalĀ manga inserts, which, you know,Ā isnātĀ ideal at all. Ā IāveĀ dealt with writing slumps before, but this was different, this was anxiety over it. Ā No hobby of any kind should make anyone anxious, especially ifĀ it'sĀ something they love. Ā Which I do, love this,Ā itāsĀ the wholeĀ reason whyĀ I write it. Ā I enjoy the versions of Erwin & Levi that I have in my head, and I like putting them down into myĀ work, the way that I think of them. Ā So,Ā IāveĀ decided that from now onĀ IāmĀ going to follow canon as closely asĀ possible butĀ not worryĀ whenĀ the characters diverge. Ā Because in no world can you change something so fundamentally basic about two characters and have them act completely the same. Ā If the canon says āhurryā but I say āquicklyā,Ā IĀ wonātĀ lose more sleep worrying over it. Ā As of this chapter (16) releasing,Ā IāveĀ updatedĀ all ofĀ my chapters andĀ put in short generic descriptions of what each chapter is going to be about. Ā I willĀ alsoĀ update the description of the whole fic to better resemble what the fic is going to look like,Ā maybe notĀ complete retelling but character-is-slightly-different, but canon compliance as close as I can get it. Ā Now thatĀ IāveĀ made this decision, and written this paragraph out,Ā IāmĀ going to return to my writing with fresh eyes. Ā 8-hourĀ car ride ahead of me, laptop, please hold up your charge! Ā Ā