Hi! I read most of your meta analysis about Levihan and I liked them all. As a Levihan shipper myself, I want to ask your opinion. Who do you think fell in love first, Levi or Hange? I want to know your HC and Canon interpretations 😉
Oh hi! Omg, thank you so much for reading my meta posts and I’m glad you liked them! 💗💗 As someone who still struggles with social media anxiety from time to time, it really means the world to me that you took some time to read my ramblings and even liked them, I’m honestly moved beyond words.
So now, the infamous question every Levihan shipper has thought of and tried to answer ahaha! This is always a tricky question for me because the truth is that both of them were compelled and interested enough by each other to just become the tightly-knit duo we’ve seen them be from the beginning to the end of AoT, so both scenarios make sense for them. But I’m more aligned towards Levi being the first to truly fall for Hange (and when I say “fall for Hange”, it’s still in that dubious, unclear, queerplatonic way even in my own headcanons), and I think canon is going more in that direction than the other way around. My headcanons are usually very tied with what’s happening in canon, simply because I enjoy Levi and Hange’s relationship most in canon and I don’t feel like I have to “add” or “tweak” anything to their bond to “make it work” if that makes sense. And even in my own fics (except maybe one where I took more liberties and tried to write a more allonormative relationship), I never really invent anything between Levi and Hange. Obviously there’s always your own interpretation of the characters that will never make a fic exactly like canon where authors appropriate characters and write them in their own style and artistry, but I like to keep closest to what we see in canon when writing Levi and Hange’s bond. Like if I include a scene where they’re clearly doing telepathy, I’m not inventing that, it’s literally in the story. Therefore, my headcanons are usually very aligned with canon material, so sorry if they might be a bit underwhelming or “boring” due to that, but sometimes it’s just very hard to compete with canon. Like I can’t imagine something stronger than “we understand each other through telepathy”. It’s already top tier and says everything we need to know about their relationship.
But yes, why do I think that Levi is the one who fell first and not Hange despite Hange being the one to reach out to him first? Well, that's because it just comes naturally to Hange to befriend people or get to know them. Hange is exactly like that extrovert friend who adopted an introvert person and now they became besties. So when Hange first reached out to Levi, I don't think it's because they "fell for him" at that moment or anything like that, but it's because they were inspired and in awe of his skills and because they were interested enough in him to want to learn more from him. And not just to learn from his skills but also to learn from him as a person: his personality, his values, what he stands for. And Hange understands all of that. So they don't just know that Levi is a clean freak or is grumpy and does poop jokes. Hange also understands his fundamental values. One example of this is in chapter 51 (and I have a post coming exclusively about this scene too) where Levi gets all distressed when he learns about the possible theory that Titans can be humans. And Hange senses his distress because then they tell him that "there's no solid proof yet" despite being a pretty solid theory, because it happens to be correct. So Hange is trying to comfort him here and they can do that because they know how much Levi cares about people and hates killing. So Hange knows that Levi is not only just a clean freak and Mr. Beyblade, but also that he values human lives above all else, that he hates when people die for no reason (and this is the real reason behind his "obsession" with Zeke) and that he hates people who enjoy killing others. Hange tries to comfort him again in chapter 61 when Hange's squad was killed by Kenny and his allies. Levi feels responsible for their deaths as he was in charge for their safety for that mission, so he comes to Hange to apologize for "letting them die". And the first thing Hange does is not to get mad at him for allowing this to happen, but to ask him if at least they completed the mission, if they neutralized the MPs. Hange is basically trying to make Levi feel a little bit better about their soldiers' deaths even if it's not working because Levi and his squad didn't manage to neutralize all of the interior MPs, including Kenny, the most dangerous of them. But that's what I mean when I say that Hange knows Levi hates pointless deaths, because they're trying to make him feel less bad by saying "hey, at least they didn't die for nothing" even if at that point in time, Kenny is still on the loose so the mission is far from completed.
So when Hange comforts him back when he's in need because that's just who Hange is, offering him that care that Levi gives to others while never expecting anything in return, it's not improbable to say Levi does feel touched that someone finally sees that he's worth being cared for too. Levi's flaw is to care so much about others, to be so incredibly selfless, to give himself to others and to accept being used as a tool just to protect others that he neglects in a way his own well-being and worth as a person. Levi sees the worth in everyone except his own. So when Hange pushes back against that mindset by providing him with small acts of care like comforting him when he gets distressed, it's not that Levi will now care more about Hange, but he will definitely appreciate Hange caring for him. That they see him even if he completely devalues himself for others. And Hange doesn't "return" his care either simply because Levi cares about them too. They just do it because they care for him, because he's their friend and they have his well-being at heart, exactly like Levi when he offers his compassion to them and to others. And that's why for me, Levi would be the one to fall first in that queerplatonic, alterous way. Before Hange, except for Furlan and Isabel, Levi was seen as a thief, a threat, a tool or someone below everyone else from the Survey Corps because he came from the Underground. So for Hange to care for him in a way that honours his worth and values, well it certainly affected Levi in some form or another. He is not heartless, far from that, we all know how deeply Levi feels, how he wishes no one would ever get hurt, so it would only make sense for Levi that Hange's care towards him would warm his heart.
So that's basically my take on this question. I'm sorry if I stuck more into canon territory than give out headcanons, but as I said, their canon relationship is just so strong already that whatever headcanon I make up in my mind will just not hit as hard lol. I also saw your ask earlier, but my internship is keeping me busy and I couldn't find the time to answer it properly. I must say I've seen so many Levihan shippers try their hand at answering this question that I never really bothered to answer it for myself because for me, really, whoever falls first is just a detail. There were enough affinities between them that their relationship took shape and I'm satisfied enough with that. But it was definitely fun trying my hand at finally answering this infamous question, so thank you so much for that and for your ask!
