I'm morbidly curious, would you want to be a titan if we were working with parasite AU lore/rules? No thirteen year life limit, you don't have to eat another person to be a titan, but you are infected with a highly infectious worm.
Been thinking about it, and I feel like Girafarig might actually be the best choice for Reiner!
"The head on its tail contains a small brain. It can instinctively fight even while facing backward."
"While it is eating, its tail makes chewing and swallowing motions as if it were also eating."
Reiner's alters take turns for who's the head and who's the tail. And when he evolves, the second head covers the first when Soldier!Reiner is in charge.
"Cunning and cautious, this Pokémon survives by stealing food from others. It erases its tracks with swipes of its tail as it makes off with its plunder."
"Aided by the soft pads on its feet, it silently raids the food stores of other Pokémon. It survives off its ill-gotten gains."
He breathed heavily as he slowly made his way down the corridor. His legs shook violently, threatening to collapse with every step. Marco was gasping for breath, his chest ached and burned. But simply walking was using up all of his effort. He couldn't feel his legs below the thighs.
To think, walking, something that comes so naturally to people was such a struggle for him now.
He let out a weak yelp when his knee abruptly folded, causing him to tumble to the ground. His aching body complained at him, but Marco was too feverish to listen. All he knew was that this place was no good, and he needed to get out of here. He needed to get back home, to apologize to Jean-
"Marco!" Lara's smooth voice interrupted his thoughts.
He desperately tried to get up, but she quickly approached him.
He should've known she'd realize he wasn't in his room, she checked in on him regularly. Even though she was a noble woman, she refused to let her maids lay even a finger on him. The level of devotion in her eyes frightened him…
"What are you doing out of bed?" She scolded him gently. Lara let out a soft sigh. "I wish you would listen when I tell you that you aren't well enough to walk around yet. Come here." She lifted him up easily, purring loudly as she held him to her chest.
Despite himself, he closed his eyes and leaned into her, allowing her purrs to soothe him.
He was tired, the infection had sapped away almost all of his strength. He grew steadily more aware that there was nothing he could do to stop the parasite. It would grow and consume him as it pleased. He would simply have to let it. Fighting only drained him more.
So, he would save his energy, and wait for an opportunity to flee this place.
He could only hope he'd be the same when he came out on the other side…
Yandere Behaviors, Mentions of Force-feeding, Parasitic Infection
Lil Notes
Titans work differently from canon.
Marco was starting to gain his strength back. However, unlike normal infections, Lara mused, this meant that it was winning.
Not his body.
Still, she made her way to his room to check in on him like the ever dutiful sister she was. Gently, she rapped her knuckles on his bedroom's doorframe.
"Marco?" She called for him, but he didn't respond.
He never did.
Opening the door, she peered into the darkened room. Marco was curled up under his blankets, suffering as he usually was. She approached slowly, his name on her lips.
"Marco, dear, are you hungry? You haven't eaten today…"
She knew he wasn't quite feeling well, but couldn't allow him to make a habit out of not eating. The parasite would run his body into the ground. He could become incredibly sick, he could-
She wouldn't allow him to skip any more meals. Even if she had to tube feed him, he'd eat.
"Marco? Why are you not answering me?" Despite her best efforts, a hint of annoyance slipped into her tone.
A low sound came from under the blankets. Lara peeled them back, unflinching as Marco loudly hissed and threw his pillows at her. He curled up on his side, his belly exposed to her. His pupils were fully dilated, his lips curled into a snarl. He growled lowly as she stared at him, unmoved.
"Feeling a bit feral, are we?"
He hissed again, drooling and slapping the plush bed.
It was a rather pathetic display, in the most sincere sense. Lady Tybur did not at all feel threatened by her brother's aggressive display, no, she just felt bad for him.
In a swift and bold move, she grabbed his nape. As she expected, he went lax in her hold, shutting his eyes tightly and mewling. Gently, she pulled him into her lap, purring to soothe him.
As she had suspected, his parasite was cloned from her own.
-Grisha, Dina, and Zeke are living a pretty normal life in Marley. Grisha is being a good father to Zeke.
-Dina gets sick, and passes away.
-Grisha has a mental breakdown, and tries to kill a bunch of people. He is then captured and ruled criminally insane and institutionalized.
-Zeke is adopted by Mr. Ksaver.
-Grisha escapes the institution and flees to Paradis. He calms down after crossing the ocean and is taken into the walls. Meanwhile, on Marley he is assumed dead.
-Marley doesn't want to destroy Paradis, but they do want to get their hands on a founding titan, so they send spies to find one.
-Cue RBA arriving, but without destroying anything, they are taken in similar to how Grisha was.
-They eventually go back to Marley, Bertholdt and Reiner tell Zeke about Eren.
-Zeke: Wait, you find an attack titan named Eren Jaeger?? Do you know his dad??
Bertholdt: Some doctor named Grisha.
Zeke: *screaming internally*
-Cue to Zeke going to Paradis with the plan of forcing Grisha to transform in front of his family, in the hopes that they will abandon him. Which would force him to return to Marley.
-No ones really sure how long the titans have been around, a lot of written history was lost during the frantic transition to living within the walls. But they've been around for a while.
-The humans have a sort of tenuous peace with the giant creatures. As they only seem interested in feeding on humans during the fall months. Avoid them during that time, and you'll be okay.
-No one's really sure why they do it. Usually just grabbing one or two before vanishing back into the wilderness.
-If it was for food, then wouldn't they always hunt humans? If it was for fun, again same thing. Why only during fall?
-However, they aren't the only creatures that live here. Other large predators also seem to enjoy the taste of human flesh, and aren't picky about when they'll partake in some.
-The Survey Corps mostly fight off animals like bears, wolves, and large cats. The titans usually just watch them explore from the dark wilderness, but don't intervene.
-They avoid going outside the walls during the fall months, unless absolutely necessary. And even then, only within the small clearing outside the walls that can be defended with canon fire.
-Still, intrepid explorers will escape the walls, and are often never seen again.
Perspective Titans
-Humans are interesting little creatures. They wear a removable secondary hide and cannot regenerate. They're rather weak.
-Titans have lived along side them for many millenia, created by mighty god Hallucigenia.
-While titans find humans very interesting, the small animals are also incredibly aggressive, so titans prefer to stay away and watch from a safe distance.
-In order to reproduce, they have to consume a human. It is how titans continue their life cycle. Eating humans is neither bad nor good, it is simply continuing a natural process.
-Well in some ways it is good, it brings happiness to families.
-Though, since the humans have hidden away in their den, the titans have had a much harder time reproducing. Wanting couples usually have to wait for one to wander too close to their camp to snatch up.
Biology
-Titans are obligate carnivores and apex predators. They usually feed on large grazing animals, or other carnivores.
-They can eat plants, but most fruits and veggies are too small to provide meaningful nutrition.
-However, they can provide extra energy and nutrients when in human form.
-They are entirely sexless, possessing neither genitalia nor any internal sex organs. They also don't have an anus, belly button, or any nipples.
-They have a mostly complete set of internal organs, a complete circulatory system, respiratory system, nervous system, but their digestive system is incomplete. Their large intestine is the end of it, and it ends abruptly at the ascending colon.
-Titans, as you may have guessed, don't poop. They hold eaten material in their body until it is fully absorbed. Because of this process of completely breaking down food, they only eat one large meal once a day.
-They don't pee either, any excess fluid evaporates in the form of steam/sweat.
-They are mammals. Their mammary glands are in their throat, however. They spit up milk and partially digested flesh for feeding young. They also produce milk for sickly members of their colony.
-While it is possible for titans to have breasts, those are vestigial and do not possess any mammary glands.
-Titans are incredibly long lived creatures, able to live for centuries before their body finally gives out.
-While titans are very physically healthy, with a superb immune system, they frequently suffer from mental illnesses. Most of which stem from their human memories trying to leak through into their consciousness. Those that suffer from these afflictions are typically kept in a special den and cared for by healthy members of the colony.
-Though sometimes, they are cared for by their "parents" and kept in their den.
-Being sexless, they reproduce by infecting humans. This process can happen one of two ways: Exposure to titan spinal fluid, or more commonly, "pregnancy."
-For titans, "pregnancy" is technically a sort of reverse parasitism, where they forcefully infect and gestate an uninfected host. During this process, they pass their spinal fluid onto the new host, allowing the parasite to reproduce. Their DNA is also mixed with the new host's allowing for more genetic diversity. As opposed to, creating a genetic clone of their parasite.
-This also means that their "offspring" possesses a mix of the "parent" and former human's features.
-To start this process, a titan will swallow a human whole. The human is put into a temporary organ called a false stomach, where they are gestated for the six month period.
-The birthing process as also quite simple, the false stomach fuses into the titan's hide, spitting the "baby" out. Similar to a cell removing something via vacuole.
-They are only interested in reproduction during the fall months, entering a gestational period that lasts six months, where they give birth in the spring when the weather is warm and life is plentiful. Outside of fall, they have no interest in breeding whatsoever.
-Given that titans are completely sexless, they don't have sexual dimorphism. Instead, a titan's appearance relies on their own view of their gender. While male and female titans do typically fall in line with human ideas of gendered appearances, they can appear anywhere on the spectrum of masculine or feminine. So it is entirely possible for female titans to appear masculine, and male titans to appear feminine depending on their personal view of gender.
-Those that are nonbinary can fall anywhere on the spectrum, and may even slowly shift appearance over time if they are gender fluid.
-Roughly every month, titans will molt. The process is incredibly uncomfortable and often painful for them. Their outer layer will harden and begin to peel, their teeth will fall out, and any hardened parts like armor will become brittle and break away. While it is very unpleasant, it is necessary to keep their hide healthy.
-During the molting process, they are cared for by the other members of the colony. Fed milk, pain reducing herbs, and sometimes having special creams rubbed into their hide to ease the process along.
Growth Cycle
-They are born about a fifth of the size of their gestational parent, with sealed eyes, no teeth, and no hide. During this period of life, they are almost completely helpless and rely entirely on their parents/colony members.
-Before a titan's hide grows in their only means of defense is the immense heat radiating off their body.
-After the first month of life, they grow their first hide.
-After three months, they open their eyes, and can crawl very effectively.
-At six months, they start walking and talking.
-By the first year, titans can typically walk short distances and speak in simple words.
-By five years old, they can speak in simple sentences, and are able to walk and run fully. They are also half-way to their final height.
-By ten years old, they can grasp more complex language and are almost physically fully mature. They only thing they lack is ability to breed. Titans can also assume human form at this point, and will look like an equivalently aged human child.
-At twenty years old, a titan is fully developed both mentally and physically. Their twentieth birthday is also the first year they are able to breed.
-Titans can live for hundreds of years, appearing young and healthy for most of them. When a titan is nearing their end, their hide will begin to wrinkle, their hair will gray. When they are ready to pass, they will leave their colony behind and collapse somewhere in the forest to feed the growth of new life.
Culture and Behavior
-Titans are highly social creatures that live in large groups of multiple families of usually the same breed, called colonies.
-Colonies are typically matriarchal in structure, being ruled by the eldest female members. However, young males will sometimes branch off and form their own small colonies.
-While colonies typically consist of a single breed of titan, they can be multiple breeds living together.
-They typically avoid human contact, only curiously watching the smaller creatures from afar. The only time that they will seek humans out, is to breed.
-They're generally pretty docile creatures, only becoming aggressive when they feel threatened. Even then, they will usually only pretend to throw a hit to scare off whatever is threatening them. As large as they are, not much frightens them.
-They have no written language, but a rich oral history and traditions. They possess an amazing memory, and are even able to pass memories down to offspring, ensuring their culture is remembered.
-They also love to sing and tell stories, and will paint their dens with natural pigments.
-To humans, titan language just sounds like grunting and deep cat noises. All titans speak the same language, though their accent varies depending on breed.
-Healthy members of the colony will often eat extra to produce milk for the young, or the sick.
-While titan's do not have any sex, they can be any gender or sexuality. Their population is roughly 30% het and 70% some form of queer. Gender wise, they're approximately 40% female, 40% male, and 20% somewhere on the non-binary spectrum.
-While they typically eat food raw, they can cook and often create various concoctions in large, heated stone bowls. Usually medicines and nutritional mixes.
-They purr to soothe other members of the colony, when distressed, or when happy and content.
-Titans will also knead injured colony members to ease their pain as they heal, or just to comfort them.
-They sometimes cultivate specific species of plants, or will keep and breed livestock.
Different Breeds
Armored- Heavily protective of their colony members, typically live in rocky camps and dry areas.
Attack- Very playful when young, most likely to become aggressive, they favor more shady forested areas and often collect the pelts of their prey for bedding. Often live in smaller colonies, and most like to break off and form their own.
Beast- Typically prefer colder climates, will collect and display skulls, skeletons and hides of prey. They tend to form their dens out of bent trees. Usually travel in packs.
Cart- They enjoy more open areas with plenty of trees or tall rocks to climb and play on. They tend to carve their dens from solid rock and will line their camps and nests with moss and foliage.
Colossal- Tend to live in hot, dry, rocky or volcanic areas. They pummel the earth into soft gravel for their nests, and prefer to carefully arrange rocks to form their dens. In desert areas, they crush the sand into stone and use that to form their dwellings. They are also the most docile breed and will flee if approached.
Founding- ??? Haven't been spotted in the wild. Assumed extinct.
Jaw- They prefer areas with either massive, hardwood trees, or giant jagged rocks for gnawing on. Their dens are formed from hardened mud that has been packed tightly together, and lined with pelts and dry grass.
Skinless- They prefer warmer, more humid areas near the base of mountains. Preferably ones with nearby meadows. They carve their camp into the rocks, separating individual dens with animal bones and carved tree trunks. They prefer to line their nests with animal pelts.
War Hammer- Very handy with tools, they will often create mock swords and weapons, putting them on display as shows of pride. They prefer temperate forests and surround their camps with large, sharp rocks. Their actual dens are also carved from solid rock and lined with moss and animal pelts.
Rot(Fan titan)- They prefer to live in dense, shady forests with plenty of moisture and foliage. They usually carve their dens out of the trunks of ancient trees, and line their nests with moss. A rot titan camp can generally be distinguished quickly, by the heavy presence of large mushrooms.
Shadow(Fan titan)- They live in cool, semi-dry areas, typically under the shade of massive, ancient trees. The only breed that lives solitary lives and doesn't form colonies.
