And, all of a sudden, I find myself wondering once again whether to be happy writing my fanfic or to let my soul wither away by studying to the point of exhaustion. 💔
Her surname, ‘Zoë’, is of Greek origin and means ‘life’
Most of what they know about the Titans in their universe is thanks to her. She possesses the most advanced knowledge in this field.
However, in the manga’s dialogue, the third-person pronouns used are ‘that person’ or ‘Hange-san’, and there is never a scene that clearly indicates their gender. In the official, authorised English and Chinese versions of the manga, the third-person pronouns for Hange are ‘SHE’, “she” and ‘Miss Hange’; and in the TV anime series, Hange is explicitly established as female (she is female in the Levi spin-off, ‘No Regrets’).
In the early chapters, we learn that Hange holds the rank of squadron captain within the Survey Corps; however, her actual authority was greater than that of an ordinary squadron captain
I never quite understood where Hange’s passion came from. Of course, it’s explained that she started out hating the Titans, but during an operation, when she kicked the head off a 3-metre Titan, she was surprised to discover that the Titan’s body was abnormally light, which left her with deep doubts and a desire to find the reason behind it. That said, the fact that she harboured an intense passion and curiosity about them didn’t mean she stopped hating them. To avenge her comrades! Through her research into the Titans, Hange contributes to the Survey Corps whilst seeking vengeance for her fallen comrades.
Because sometimes life’s little things come and go and never quite find their place until it’s too late to wish they could be anything more than what they could never be again.
Because existence tended to be erratic in its great wonder of being born and living a long life.
The silence that hung in the air came from far away, beyond the edge of the world and closer than one could tell.
There are no words that can express it simply, and I wanted my words to be etched in my mind like that melody I hear every morning, amidst the whisper of the wind and my longing for the beautiful view of the sky.
For even if I were to enter hell, I feel as though I were touching beautiful clouds, as though a cool breeze were filling my very being.
The sound of the horse’s hooves with every gallop, as it sped along without realising it, over the green, damp grass, and the sight of the trees, which offered a pleasant glimpse of the sun through their luminous leaves with every ray of that morning’s light.
Her rider seemed distracted; she was lost between her own world and the one that had just been revealed to her, with the possibilities, with the thrill of having received something she had sought ever since she joined the legion. The gust of wind and her tousled hair made her feel the adrenaline that riding at full speed could bring at that moment.
That joy and energy were liberating, like the effusive cry that escaped her throat when they were going fast enough and it was impossible for her to finish her drawing, which could easily be carried away by the wind, with her cloak billowing behind her.
It was wonderful: that electrifying sensation she felt upon seeing an extraordinary titan with extraordinary abilities, that tingling in her chest that ignited her passion, and that irrepressible desire to learn more, to feel even more fascinated by what that abstract world had to offer her.
Squadron Leader Hange. The title echoed in her head over and over and over again.
It was astonishing. To have survived simply because, at that very moment, she felt an overwhelming urge to go out and kiss even the ugliest Titan she could find.
Moblit would scold her for it, but at that moment she felt driven by something far greater.
It was surely her thoughts, or the uncontrollable adrenaline coursing through her veins; her sketch flew away on the wind. She turned, reaching out a hand to grab that perfect sketch of the unsettling face of a Titan she had observed on her last expedition, but it was lost in the breeze. She turned her face too late; she only managed to see the hole in the ground, an opening leading to a dark void. Of course, she wasn’t prepared for the impact of bringing a horse galloping at full speed to a halt.
The animal’s hind legs acted as a springboard, sending her flying towards the other end
Shit, shit, shit...
She thought desperately as she clung to the edge of the hole with one hand—it seemed to be a considerable height—; her long fingers slipped on the earth. She tried to grab hold with her other hand just as the chunk of rock broke away completely. The darkness of the sinkhole engulfed her as she fell with nothing to hold on to.
As she plummeted down, she caught a glimpse of the landscape: damp rock, crumbling caves, jagged peaks...
What on earth is this place?...
She didn’t quite manage to answer that question before the ground caught her with open arms and a pool of water and mud soaked her through.
Silence enveloped the place for a while, before Hange came to her senses; her shoulder ached, a deep, cruel throb that made her grimace, her face covered in mud.
The dripping sounds from the landscape grew more frequent after her fall, with the dull echo of a sound leading to a place not far from there.
Hange looked up at the hole; it let in light from a blue, shimmering sky—it was not darkness that now surrounded her.
The laugh escaped her before she realised it, before turning into a long sigh of resignation as she bowed her head.
— This must be a joke…
Nobody asked for it, but I love Chapter 0, and to be honest, I wanted to explore in more depth how Levi meets Hange in the underground. ☆⌒(*＾-゜)v
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