#rbi asks

[devileyeswriting]

Let's go Eva!!

For Eva and Reiner and then Eva and Floch.

What is their favourite qualities of the other one? And what is their least favourite qualities?

and!

What was your reason for creating Eva?

-🦌

YES let's go Eva! thank you for the questions!!! these were good, I had a lot of fun sittin' and thinkin'

Eva/Reiner

Eva's favorite quality of Reiner's: Eva loves Reiner's patience. She could just bask in it all day. This is something he has intentionally honed over the years, so it's EXTRA sexy because she knows he struggles with being so patient sometimes. IDK. It shows that he is mature and has great emotional regulation and that is very very sexy to miss Eva yes it is! husband material!

Eva's least favorite quality of Reiner's: Reiner's a little too forgiving and it pisses her off. Of course he would be — he has deep regrets about his past actions, and is extremely grateful for the second chance he has been given, so he thinks (most) others deserve the same. Eva's a little more black and white.

Reiner's favorite qualities of Eva: Her prickly attitude. It's a symptom of her wearing her heart on her sleeve, which Reiner finds refreshing after being a political pawn for the majority of his life, surrounded by liars. Eva having the inability to contain her emotions — especially her annoyance, which would usually be best kept repressed — is instinctually comforting because it is a sign that he can trust her.

Reiner's least favorite qualities of Eva: Her definition of loyalty. Eva has a hard time turning against those she once trusted, even if they clearly do not have her best interests at heart.

Eva/Floch

Eva's favorite qualities of Floch: Floch's protectiveness. Eva always felt like Floch's top priority, and knew he would defend her in the face of anyone, even their superiors, fiercely.

Eva's least favorite qualities of Floch: his belligerence

Floch's favorite qualities of Eva: Eva's acceptance of him, including his flaws. Having felt rejected by everyone (his family, society, etc.) he feels that Eva is the only person who understands him, accepts him, and loves him.

Floch's least favorite qualities of Eva: Eva's risk-adverse attitude. While Floch would take numerous risks on Eva's behalf, rarely does she reciprocate that sentiment. She'd prefer they live as quietly and as simply as possible, whereas he envisions a grander future for them both.

[devileyeswriting]

Has Eva ever betrayed anyone?

Pre-Paradis arc, you could point at her spying on The Survey Corps and call that “betrayal”, although deception might be a better word. She never swore them her loyalty or anything, but she did befriend (or at least become cordial with) some of them and lie to them.

If you ask Ryker, she betrayed her country and The Yeagerists by siding with The Survey Corps during the Paradis arc….but he’s a dick and that’s HIS opinion. Not mine.

If you ask Eva, the one person she has truly betrayed is Floch. It is her belief that she’s the reason he’s dead. Then, she leaves The Yeagerists, which is seen as his legacy / she feels like she’s betraying him yet again. THEN she falls in love with, marries, has kids with, etc. REINER of all people.

(To clarify, I think she would have felt like she was betraying him by moving on with anyone, but of course getting hitched to The Armored would probably not be Floch’s first choice.)

She also sees the wine incident / her sister dying as a result as a ‘betrayal’, but she didn’t even know about the spinal fluid until it was too late.

So does SHE think she has betrayed people? Yes. Do OTHERS think she has betrayed them? Yes. Do I think she has actually betrayed anyone? No, not intentionally or maliciously.

[devileyeswriting]

Is there a lie that Eva says a lot?

Hmmm honestly? No. She’s a pretty bad liar and — especially in FOL — she has no issue speaking her mind. So there isn’t anything she consistently lies about.

[devileyeswriting]

What are some memories that Eva would rather just forget?

pregnancy scare with Floch ... it did not end well and traumatized her from ever expressing a desire to have children again. luckily Reiner helps her get over that and they proceed to have 4 kids because ... y'know .... Marley's gotta be repopulated.

every time Cato has confessed his feelings. Eva really, really wishes he just kept it to himself. she values their friendship but hates how he's complicated it with voicing these unrequited feelings on multiple occasions

seeing her sister as a pure titan during Marley's raid on Paradis

[devileyeswriting]

What are some of Eva's good coping mechanisms? What about the bad?

Eva has two main coping mechanisms:

For situations where the largest source of her stress = her surroundings, she has to find some way to be useful and will exhaust herself in task-based activities. This mainly stems from losing her mother at age 9 and watching her sister step immediately into that caretaker role for the family.

For situations where the largest source of her stress = internal struggles, she self-isolates. This behavior was positively reinforced by Floch, seeing as he always seemed to be kinder to her when she was completely dependent on him and nobody else. Being alone gives her a sense of security.

I see positives and negatives in both responses

This was a good question!!! I really had to do some thinking.

[devileyeswriting]

What is something about Eva that people looking at her wouldn't expect?

this answer became way longer than I anticipated. forgive me 🙇🏻‍♀️

People who meet Eva (assuming they haven’t already heard the rumors) would be surprised to know that she was once a victim of extreme domestic violence.

Perhaps this is because she truly does not see herself as a victim, and probably never will. She understands her situation from an outsider’s perspective, but they’ll never be able to change her mind about Floch, and she’ll never regret their years together, or how he treated her, etc.

After Floch’s death, as she slowly (slowly, slowly) forms an identity that does not revolve around him, this becomes even harder to detect. To most people (her subordinates, strangers, etc) she comes off as extremely self-assured and unyielding. They’d never imagine that she would let herself get the absolute shit beaten out of her and then apologize for it.

And to some extent, they’re right. She’d sure as hell never let Reiner lay a hand on her — and if he did, she’d never forgive him. That’s not to say she does not come to love him just as much, but Reiner and Floch hold two very different pieces of her heart, neither of which overlap. She does NOT see Reiner as a replacement for Floch and she makes that very clear very early on.

But to those that know Eva, they can see glimpses of those scars — the biggest indicator being how she lets Yeagerist leadership treat her (namely Ryker, but even Cato has his moments). She is also excruciatingly insecure and has very little self-respect despite the show she puts on for everyone.