I know they are just 2D characters, but it honestly hurts me to see them go through so much pain and suffering. Both I and the fictional characters that reside in my heart need a break, so here’s a modern AU where Levi actually has a tea shop/cafe and the 104 trainees are a bunch of high schoolers that always hang out there.
Levi owns a cute little cafe that makes amazing chai tea lattes
There’s cute plants and mahogany tables and comfy couches.
The place is impeccably clean.
There are huge glass windows along the front walls that lets plenty of light in.
It’s just a super cozy space.
Mikasa always comes there after school to study with her friend Armin.
I mean, how could she not? Being related to Levi comes with the perk of eating for free.
This benefit extends to Armin by association. Of course, he always insists on paying but both Ackermans ignore him.
Eren doesn’t come since he’s too busy doing whatever it is psychopaths do when they’re a teenager.
One day, Marco comes around seeking a caffeinated, caramel flavored energy boost when he runs into the pair.
“Oh, my uncle owns this shop. We’re literally here everyday.”
As soon as this information gets relayed to Jean, he suddenly begins suffering from intense caffeine cravings that are totally not related to him wanting to see Mikasa and suggests they head to the cafe later.
Of course, Marco, Connie, and Sasha see right through him.
Connie and Sasha exchange a look; a look that affirms a mutual understanding of what the two each already know in their hearts. It is time to roast Jean.
They find about 100 different ways to call him a simp on the way there.
Once they enter, Jean tries to play it cool and fails miserably.
Marco manages to save him, though. The four of them join Mikasa and Armin at their table.
When they go to buy drinks, Jean notices Sasha doesn’t get up.
Sasha would never decline an opportunity to eat, she must strapped for cash again.
Jean buys a muffin to slide to Sasha while everyone else is busy talking.
Discrete acts of kindness are the purest acts of kindness UwU
And, oh wow, they actually end up getting a lot of stuff done. Maybe they should start coming here more often?
So it becomes a regular thing, just the six of them studying together, naturally flowing between deep concentration and being stupid.
Levi, being as perceptive as he is, notices Sasha always eyeing the pastries in the little counter display.
“Hey, I accidentally screwed up this order. You want this sandwich? I’m going to through it away if not.” (this is a lie, he just wanted to give this girl something to eat but is too stubborn to say this out right)
Sasha loves it.
“Mr. Levi, can you please teach me how to make this? It’s so good.”
“Fine.” He could use a new employee anyway and this brat seems eager to get in the kitchen.
So Sasha starts working there on weekends and is very good at her job. She loves and appreciates food, so she treats it like an art.
Although he never brings it up, Levi definitely notices her eating some of the merchandise.
But anyways, the 104th trainee squad just have this space to hang out, have great lattes, and be great friends without constantly being surrounded by death and despair.
He will never admit it, but Levi loves seeing the smiling faces of his niece and her stupid bratty friends.
so imagine you’re making ratatouille and you don’t like tomatoes. you don’t like the taste, the texture, the putting them in the water and the peeling them - eugh! so you say to yourself “lookit, this whole dish is nothing but vegetables, so what does it matter if i leave the tomatoes out?” a seemingly innocuous decision on the surface, but 2 hours or whatever later when you’re done cooking, you open the oven to find a complete mess! just a pot full of baked vegetables, none of them congealed or somehow unified. what happened to your beloved ratatouille? so you take to google and find that actually the tomatoes are an essential ingredient of ratatouille, as they form a “sauce” of a certain kind that makes the whole thing work. and so a seemingly innocent decision has destroyed the very foundation of the established order with disturbing ramifications towards the whole. in this essay i will examine how martin luther’s 95 theses lead to protestants being more boring than catholics
i think you have a lot of good points i wish his people either managed him more or less whichever is making him have these mistakes. like back when he was getting into more fights online last year with people i remember being shocked his team didn’t take away his accounts. a 15 year old messing with his brand online? where are his management team? who would let a 15 year old celebrity with millions of fans run their own socials.
I don’t really know about the fights or anything involving Aidan since I’m really just a TUA fan and a David Castenada simp but I agree with you!! Children should be protected and his management team isn't doing the best job (who can blame them, though? social media is such a new territory to navigate) I honestly just think all celebrities should go to therapy ://
patreon anon here tbh i’m torn i see how it’s not fair for a pay wall but also i think from his posts on there he’s so desperate to be able to connect to people and seems so happy to reply and ask for our input and get honest feedback and engagement that isn’t bullying. the online bullying is so excessive even gerard way couldn’t post umbrella academy stuff without most of the comments being aidan hate. people are way too enthusiastic with hating him i wish he would go offline.
Yeah honestly its just an extremely unfortunate situation. I’m happy to hear he feels happy with his newfound connection though (: Maybe you could bring up any issues you see with paywalling since you’re on his patreon?
RE AIDAN G i know everyone hates him but i excuse even his more problematic things because i remember how poorly i handled stuff as a teen when i ran a semi large fan group. i was an ass but also hormonal, scared and prone to throwing my weight. i grew out of it because life and also your brain gets better at modulating responses to things. i feel protective over all teens growing up online right now because you are just your WORST version of yourself and you have millions of bystanders 1/2
(2/2, anon continued) not saying there aren’t some things he’s done that are worthy of addressing and apologizing for some day. i just wish people remembered how horrible teens are to each other in general, and how it’s kind of weird we give these little sociopaths access to millions of people. And then refuse to let them grow as people and change. And also maybe we shouldnt bully a child to death (some of his recent comments on IG are very red flaggy and I hope he has people keeping an eye on him)
I agree!! I genuinely feel like people are bound to say/do dumb things when they’re teenagers. I definitely did. The one difference is when most of us messed up, people waved it off as, “They’re just a kid.” The standards and expectations society put on child stars while also keeping them under a microscope is insane. I am not really invested in his social media presence, but I do know people make fun of his singing (which is so messed up!! What do they expect from a literal child?? Why can’t people just let others make art to express themselves??) Unsure what red flaggy things he might be saying, but I hope no teen suffers from cyberbullying, especially at such a socially deprived time like now :((
i don’t want to say too much because the whole reason he created this it seems was to make a smaller community of people who won’t bully him, but he seems very desperate for connection and feedback and seems to be really enjoying having a smaller group to interact with. i agree a paywall sucks in some ways but it also from his POV makes a smaller group of people. he said a lot in comments about feeling overwhelmed and anxious with so many people on instagram.
Yeah I really don’t have any criticisms for Aidan Gallagher himself!! He is an amazing actor, but more importantly he is a child. I remember how awkward and lonely I felt at 16, and can only imagine that feeling being amplified by fame and cyberbullying.
I just don’t like the fact that who’s in this smaller group is based on who’s willing to pay. Also, I don't really understand the point of tiers if not for the money. Like if it isn't for profit, I don’t know why a fan with $20 of monthly disposable income should be more included than someone with only $5, which is a lot overseas already considering the US dollar conversion rate.
I do hope he finds a safe space on the internet. I think virtual connections are the only thing keeping lots of us sane during quarantine, and hate the idea of anyone facing harassment every time they turn to it. I just wish the adults in his life would give him better solutions than this. Patreon requires parental consent for minors to solicit memberships, and maybe these issues didn’t cross their minds when they gave the green light. I don’t want to assume there is malicious intent since I know none of these people personally. I just think there may unforeseen implications and consequences of a Patreon that should be addressed.
Oh no, not Aidan Gallagher’s team deciding to make a Patreon and charging $20 to interact with him… This is wrong because:
Patreon is a platform made to empower small artists, not celebrities
A sense of connectedness should not be marketed as a commodity
It takes advantage of his fan base that largely consists of teenage girls who are especially lonely during quarantine
It is actually exploiting a minor for his personhood… the Patreon packages don’t include song mp3′s/art/acting tutorials, but literally the opportunity to interact with him as a person, aka giving the internet interpersonal access to a child in exchange for money.
I am not criticizing Aidan Gallagher because he is a child, who I doubt even realizes this is wrong. In fact, I think the internet should be a lot nicer to him. However, I think whatever adult is managing his public image and finances definitely needs to rethink their decisions and strategy.
If he had some rewards like exclusive music or whatever, that would feel a lot less exploitative than selling his… companionship. Which adult in charge thought this was a good idea? I mean, there’s plenty of pedos with access to $20 a month. Did they think that aspect through at all?
And what young fan is going to pass this opportunity up? If, back in the day, I coulda personally hung out with Hanson over some equivalent of Discord for that price I’d have been doing anything I could to find get that access regardless of what my parents said. And his manager/PR person has got to know that.
I feel like someone is taking advantage of both him and his fans and I don’t like it.
First of all he’s try to give exclusive content and have one on one with his fans.
You also fail to consider that he may be doing this so that he can give his fans content without fear of being harassed or judged. His fans want him to go live,be more active and personal, but he hasn’t since people started shitting on him. He’s just trying to have a good time.
Have you considered that maybe it isn’t about money. I believe i recall him saying he actually didn’t pocket the money from his looped calls. He’s probably not going to pocket this money either. 
I really don't have an opinion on the actor himself in this situation. I don’t believe children should be held responsible or accountable for any business or marketing ventures they are reeled into. Additionally, I do not want to make assumptions about Aidan Gallagher or his intentions, since I do not know him personally. My criticisms are not directed at him, but at the creation of a Patreon itself.
I am all for any artist’s wanting to connect with their fans and share more of their content with them. However, I don't believe money should factor into the exclusivity of said content. Do I want Aidan Gallagher not to be bullied online? Of course. No one should be subjected to bullying, especially not sixteen year olds. I just don’t think fans should have to pay to prove they aren’t there to harass him. A paywall for those who want to be more involved and supportive of him is wrong, especially since it’s a global recession and since his fanbase consists heavily of young girls.
Celebrity use of Patreon does not sit well with me. Patreon is a platform made for small artists as supplemental income so they can invest more time into their passions. It’s in the same vein as Bella Thorne making an OnlyFans. The wealthy should not occupy spaces meant for small content creators.
When I did my research, I found nothing about Aidan Gallagher saying he does not pocket the money. If you could forward me the link to that, I would greatly appreciate it.
Just fyi i’m in aidans patreon and they aren’t charging for a couple months while he tests stuff and there’s giveaways, autographs, music stuff, and exclusive content in terms of perks he just hasn’t updated the actual tiers list. The stuff he listed sounds pretty standard and worth it it’s not just hangouts and access to him but i hope his team works with him for better managing and structuring it because he’ll burn out. he seems to want to do TOO much and he needs to be clear about rewards.
oh thanks for taking the time to inform me of this!! In that case, I think his media team should have delayed creating a Patreon until they fully learned to manage/structure it and could give a more straightforward answer about what each tier receives. I’m glad to read there's some tangible benefits like autographs and music, but I’m still pretty against the idea of paywalls, especially for someone with such a young fan base. I got a comment that his Patreon was created so the young actor won’t be bullied online (as it should be, everyone deserves to feel safe and respected), but then again you essentially have to pay to prove you’re a fan. Something like a newsletter or weekly Twitch streaming with disabled donations would make more sense imo. Of course, I’m neutral towards Aidan Gallagher in this situation. Since he is a minor, I assume his agent or publicist or parents or whatever takes care of all business ventures. Plus, I really don’t think anyone should try and make moral judgements of a literal child, especially one they don’t know in person.
Oh no, not Aidan Gallagher’s team deciding to make a Patreon and charging $20 to interact with him... This is wrong because:
Patreon is a platform made to empower small artists, not celebrities
A sense of connectedness should not be marketed as a commodity
It takes advantage of his fan base that largely consists of teenage girls who are especially lonely during quarantine
It is actually exploiting a minor for his personhood... the Patreon packages don’t include song mp3′s/art/acting tutorials, but literally the opportunity to interact with him as a person, aka giving the internet interpersonal access to a child in exchange for money.
I am not criticizing Aidan Gallagher because he is a child, who I doubt even realizes this is wrong. In fact, I think the internet should be a lot nicer to him. However, I think whatever adult is managing his public image and finances definitely needs to rethink their decisions and strategy.
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