#King Fritz

[shmlnbstrcnd]

How AOT's main trio set Ymir free

Eren, Armin, and Mikasa all taught the Founder Ymir valuable lessons, and were instrumental in setting her free. All three of them caught Ymir's attention and she made the effort to reach out to them personally in different ways, observe them, learn from them.

First Eren reached her in the Paths and told her that she's her own person, and can choose what SHE wants rather than follow orders. This was the first time in her long, miserable life, that someone called her a human being. The first time in 2000 years (that would have felt even longer in the Paths, closer to millions of years), that she was told what happened to her was wrong. In her life, she had spent her whole life as a dehumanized slave without any acknowledgement of her own humanity. Eren opened her eyes (literally) to the injustice of her situation and taught her autonomy.

Then Armin arrived to fight Eren, and Ymir watched his every movement closely, even stealing him into the Paths with the Okapi and trapping him there. She watched his conversation with Zeke where he shared that the meaning of life is in appreciating the little moments and the love you already have rather than chasing an unattainable dream. In her life, she longed for an unattainable love/validation from King Fritz who was incapable of giving it to her, since he's a monstrous psychopath. She lived and died yearning for something she would never receive, rather than living for what she had (her daughters). Armin taught her the true meaning of life.

Lastly, Mikasa. From the moment Ymir noticed Mikasa's love for Eren, she was intrigued. She began to peak through Mikasa's lifetime memories, causing her headaches. Then Mikasa killed Eren despite loving him, knowing it's the right thing to do and proving she's not a slave. Ymir herself couldn't do this in her own life, instead choosing to die for the monster she loved, instead of killing him. Mikasa taught her that love does not equal submission.

In the end, all three of the main trio were instrumental in setting Ymir free. In her last appearance, Ymir had a vision of what she wished she had done, what she WOULD have done had she received these three lessons earlier in her life. She would have protected her beloved daughters, the truly important and precious things in her life, rather than being a slave to the abusive king. If she were given another chance, she would have let him die.

In the end, Ymir's deepest most primal desire was a pure and loving human connection, some semblance of tenderness and care, something she was so deprived of. This desire was so strong that it bled into every single Eldian, connecting them all to Ymir through the Paths. One lonely, abused little girl's desperate need to be loved, enveloping every one of her subjects, binding them all to her in an all-consuming web. She has always been desperately reaching out to other people.

In her ill young mind she mistook the king's sick """rewards""" as that love she craved. Eren made her realize "what he did to me was wrong and I have a right to my anger", Armin made her realize "I shouldn't have waited for love from him that would've never come and instead cherished the love of my children", Mikasa made her realize "I should have let him die/killed him myself". Acknowledging all this and making peace with her tragic life and the decisions she made, allowed her to let go. She finally moved on, and in this moment, she appeared not as an immature child, like she did throughout the Rumbling, but now as a grown adult woman.

Ymir's story in the finale is essentially a coming-of-age story from the perspective of a mentally ill, dehumanized slave. She starts the finale as someone with arrested development lashing out at the world, and ends it as an adult at peace with herself. Eren invited her to indulge in her rage. Armin helped her consider what was truly important. Mikasa healed her and allowed her to let go. All three protagonists were valuable and influential in freeing Ymir.

[melishade]

Not sure if this was asked and you can answer it or not but: what would happen if Orion and megatronous met ymir in peaceful timeline?

This is a very interesting case with an actual stake.

Because while Optimus and Megatron in the main Peaceful Timeline don’t have to go back, Orion and Megatronus absolutely need to go back. The war is over for Optimus and Megatron, and they would want to live out their lives in peace protecting the family that they have built. However, Orion and Megatronus have people on Cybertron who need them and are worried about them and their safety making the decision harder to stay protect Ymir.

But let’s get into it.

So Orion and Megatronus would get sent to the AOT world 2,000 years ago. There probably wouldn’t be too many timeline shenanigans needed for everything to line up, since this is there younger years, but Cybertronians do live for a ridiculously long time.

How they get there, probably some shady shit Alpha Trion does. But they end up near the battlefield with Ymir in her Titan form. Orion and Megatronus are obviously trying to figure out what’s going on, but King Fritz spots them and orders Ymir to attack them. Megatronus has to push Orion out the way before engaging Ymir in combat. Meanwhile, Orion thinking that the Eldians are the enemy, tells the Marleyans to run for their lives.

During this debacle, Orion does manage to pick up on Ymir’s crying through her screams of rage. He ends up looking back at the battle to see Ymir attacking erratically while Megatronus is attacking with calculated precision and ease. Orion shouts for Megatronus to not kill Ymir, stating that something is wrong, which catches Megatronus off guard allowing Ymir to land a direct hit against him. Now it’s just her and Orion, and Orion is scrambling for his life, trying to appeal to her while the humans are screaming at them both. Ymir ends up grabbing Orion and tries to squeeze him, earning cheers from the Eldians and strangled cries from Orion.

And as Orion is getting crushed, he still here’s Ymir’s cries and sees tears streaming down her skull of a face. He pleads his case with her, saying he and Megatronus can help her and set her free. Ymir loosens her grip at that but Megatronus fries at her hand, forcing her to drop Orion and for Megatronus to catch him. Megatronus ends up pulling Orion out of the line of attack.

Orion is frantically saying that Ymir is a prisoner and they need to help her, but right now, Megatronus is seeing her as a combatant, especially since she attacked Orion. But Orion keeps insisting he hears her crying and begs for Megatronus to just listen. Megatronus is uncertain of this, what with the chaos going around and the Marleyans fighting the Eldians but he opens his spark and he listens. He does hear Ymir’s cries of pain and fear, and he also hears someone barking orders at her. Megatronus finds the noise and see King Fritz screaming at her to follow his commands. He sees the way Ymir flinches at him, despite her size and her might. Megatron hated how familiar that was. How it reminded him of the slave masters forcing the lower caste to do hard labor with force, or forcing them to fight in the gladiator arena. It angered him.

Megatronus merely leaves Orion and walks over to King Fritz, Ymir tries to attack but Megatronus merely shoots at Ymir’s arm without even looking. He continues walking towards the Eldians, towards Fritz. He notices, and is now afraid. He orders his men to protect him, and they try to, but their weapons merely bounce off of Megatronus and he crushes them through his walk without a second thought. Fritz tries to bark an order to Ymir just as Megatronus is right on top of him, but Orion gets her attention by gently cradling her massive face, requesting that she look away. Ymir listens to those kind hands and that gentle voice as Megatronus lifts his pride and crushes Fritz with it, getting his blood and guts everywhere. He steps on the remains one more time before sliding his pede across the ground, smearing his blood everywhere. The Eldians and even the Marleyans are shaking in fear at such a cold hearted act. Megatronus snaps his helm to the Eldians adorned in blue and says one word to them.

“Run.”

The Eldians scramble, and the Marleyans quickly run after them once they realize that Megatronus wasn’t going to do anything to them. Megatronus spots Orion still dangerously close to Ymir and bolts towards the both of them, grabbing Orion’s shoulder and pulling him back before aiming his blaster directly at her. Orion reasons with Megatronus that she’s no longer a threat. Megatronus challenges that. How is Orion so sure? They then see steam coming out of the back of the neck and see Ymir’s human form stumbling out of it. She ends up slipping and falling down, but Megatronus catches her on reflex. He’s a little bit weirded out at the sight of her, but he feels sympathy once she looks at him with tears in her eyes.

Helos ends up looking back as they chase the Eldians down and see Orion and Megatronus handling Ymir with such care. Orion ends up glancing back at Helos, and tells Megatronus they should go while they were distracted. Megatronus agrees and the two transform and drive off together, taking Ymir with them. (Note: that Megatronus’ previous alt mode before the war was a tank, or at the very least a ground vehicle.)

A few notes:

-The Marleyan take spin includes both Orion and Megatronus. Orion being the god of compassion while Megatronus is the god of war/justice, since he was the one who killed Fritz. Not Helos.

-If Optimus and Megatron have limited knowledge on humans, then oh boy, Orion and Megatronus don’t know jack shit! When Ymir shows signs of bringing pregnant, they don’t know what’s happening and Ymir doesn’t have a proper education so of course she doesn’t know how to properly explain. The best she can communicate is that she’s fine and that this is normal.

-Orion and Megatronus decide to take Ymir to refuge in an abandoned Cybertronian ship, since they don’t have holoforms and think that a place that could house all three of them is the better option. Obviously, it’s not comfortable for Ymir. She doesn’t have the proper clothes. She’s cold, she’s experiencing pregnancy pains.

-Also, because they don’t completely understand the importance of disguise, they end up coming across Solveig in their bipedal mode while she’s foraging. She’s surprised at the sight and thinks they are gods.

Orion: We’re not god.

Megatronus: Well-!

Orion: Megatronus!

Orion ends up asking Solveig for assistance and shows Ymir to her, and Solveig immediately gets to work checking up on her and giving her fresh plants that are safe for her to eat.

Solveig: God damn it how did you not know this?! How are you even born?!

Orion: Our souls come out of the ground to inhabit a body!

Solveig:…I take it back, you’re not gods. You’re idiots.

Megatronus: HEY!

Solveig basically take Ymir in and coaches Orion and Megatronus on human anatomy.

-There’s obvious concern between both Orion and Megatronus, considering that they have a revolution to return to. And they have no idea how to take care of Ymir. Honestly, if Solveig didn’t intervene and welcome her into her home, they might have accidentally killed her. Megatronus and Solveig do talk with Orion present, suggesting that she take care of Ymir while the two of them return home. Solveig calmly states it’s a bad idea, but Orion reluctantly lists out the reasons they can’t stay and how they could harm her. Solveig says to run it by Ymir and see her point, so they do, and Ymir immediately panics. She begs them not to leave her. Begs them to stay and that she’ll do anything in her weak and broken voice. She says she’ll help them fight, hearing them talk about their conflicts. She’ll work for them. She’ll do anything! Just don’t go!

Orion is doing his best to comfort her while Megatronus is stunned. They were so terrible at taking care of her but-! Solveig reminds Megatronus that they saved her. That can influence a lot of emotions.

-The village ultimately finds out about Orion and Megatronus and there is some worship.

(Okay that’s all I have for now.)

[maekar76]

Attack on Titan

[klm-zoflorr]

I'm doing some!!! Very exciting timeline stuff for attack on titan, about ymir and rose and sina and maria and finding out their ages! I don't understand why i love this stuff so much but clearly i do. And i found something that's really.... Just fucking perfect man.

So, per the wiki Ymir original was turned into a titan in -1003. Karl Fritz was the 145th eldian king in 743.

That means the average reign of an Eldian king was 12 years. Which is rather not a lot, i'm used to seeing a lot bigger numbers (for example, the real life french capetian kings had an average of 23 years reign). But there is an explanation.... Because!!! They all have the founder titan!! They can't live more than 13 years!!

Dude did the fucking math like holy shit

[postwarlevi]

King Fritz: the real villain in Attack on Titan.

[cosmicjoke]

Hi!

what's your character analysis for Founder Ymir?

Was she really in love with king Fritz or was it Stockholm syndrome?

I really didn't get much of her character.

Thank you

Hi there,

Well, I'm not a psychologist, so it would be hard for me to give a definitive answer here, haha. But I've heard that Stockholm Syndrome isn't actually a real medical condition (I'm just repeating what I've heard, not stating it's an absolute truth).

I tend to think Ymir did truly love King Fritz, yes, or rather, she truly believed she did, but obviously there was a lot of psychological baggage underpinning that love. A lot of dependence on Fritz being her literal and figurative master. Ymir was, after all, a slave, before Fritz married her and forced her to have his children.

So it depends on how much one believes love can be real if the object of someone's love is also the person that completely controls you. The psychological ramifications of that kind of dynamic can't be overstated. Do you actually love the person, or is it a situation in which you simply feel like, or have been conditioned to feel like, you can't operate or exist without them? Have you become so dependent on this person's presence in your life, and the control they exert over your life, that you wouldn't know how to live without them? I think there's a big element of fear involved in Ymir's love for Fritz. She was probably terrified of the prospect of being separated from him because she simply wouldn't know what to do without him. She'd probably lost any sense of independent identity. I don't think she knew who she even was without Fritz. So she probably clung on to him and his command as a means of anchoring herself and her identity.

In that regard, it's hard to see her love for him as genuine. The power imbalance was just too great between them. Any time you have one party operating from a place of fear, and the other party taking advantage of that fear, it's going to call into question just how genuine the feelings of love are.

[hearts4jean]

₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ.

- mini analysis on ymir fritz -

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I haven't seen anyone talk about this in the finale of aot; Ymir Fritz' relationship with King Fritz. No one talks about how he took everything from her. He burnt her home down. Killed her parents. Cut off her tongue. Took advantage of her titan powers for the sake of his own gain in the war against Marley. Heck even see other women right in front of her. But she still loved him. I feel like this emphasises on womens standards of men where they'd love their male partner no matter how many wrongs they commit because the stake for male partners is so low and for women its the complete opposite. Her love was so strong for him that she even jumped in front of that spear. This could also be that she had some type of Stockholm syndrome. I think the reason why we never saw her speak was because King Fritz cut off her tongue, i mean it explains why never spoke. But we don't know if it was before or after she turned into a titan. Lets say it was after because she would still be able to regenerate but maybe she just collectively chose not to speak to obey Fritz' orders. That ending scene where we could see her with mikasa while she was cradling erens decapitated head, we could actually see her eyes and they were not covered by that shadow created by directional lines. I feel that it emphasises on the fact that mikasa freed her from king fritz' orders as the power of the titans was gone completely. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with us being able to see her eyes but King Fritz also says something along the lines of "slaves have no need for 2 eyes". Another way that depicts that Ymir is free of Fritz' wrath is that there is a visual of him getting hit by the spear instead and Ymir comforting Maria, rose and Sina. I suppose it just shows us a altered visual to emphasise that she's free and feels no need to protect him with her life, which unfortunately isn't the case in what really happened 2000 years ago. She was the one that started this story and she's so overlooked because the fandom choose to only pay attention to Eren and other characters, completely disregarding her presence.

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[attack-on-titan-confessionss]

Tr: "Historia is such an annoying character for me. I just find her personality extremely grating and her story super contrived. I know there are technically more hateful characters like Floch and King Fritz but they’re written to be hated so its easier to just shrug them off. But the story tried to get you to give af about Historia and I just couldn’t. Having to watch her level of self pity and self involvement when there were more dire things going on around her with other more interesting characters, just made her screen time unbearable. Horror literally happens upon everyone in the show and she’s there just like “my real name is Historia 🥺” like we’re supposed to care. "

------------------------------------

[kingdomofthelandofthelost]

There's a thread in attack on Titan that's very similar to dune.

Being able to see into the future and your life being dictated or divined by the "best" outcome is a tremendous power, however, if you choose to do what's "best" you no longer become "free" because actions chosen by an "other" trap this new God in itself.

Also there is a king that becomes a worm.

[idontthinkimokaymentally]

Hello there King Fritz fans.

[classichorrorblog]

Children Of The Corn (1984)

[davey-dammit]

A box of some of my vintage sci-fi and fantasy collection

[melishade]

I just read the Peaceful Timeline that if they met with the AOT Timeline, if Megatron manages to find the way to meet King Fritz, I can Imagine he would have a duel just like he had with the Insecticon and many of his soldiers were horrified by Megatron.

See, that's the thing: Megatron wouldn't grant him an actual duel. Megatron would just annihilate him out of spite and anger because of how messed up King Fritz is and how he's used and abused Ymir to do his dirty work.

And this situation would only happen if Optimus doesn't completely tear King Fritz to shred's first, which is what Optimus tried to do in this scenario: If Fritz survived the Peaceful Timeline

[dj-crack]

Sometimes a family is two elemental masters, their trans skeleton daughter, their snake with legs son and their penguin hat son.

[genericpuff]

And with that, 2000 years of history and 10+ years of an animated adaption later, Attack on Titan is over.

I wasn't planning on making an essay post about this but like all of my essay posts, it got crazy out of hand, so here we are. I have a lot to say on it and the more I wrote, the more I realized exactly what the Attack on Titan finale was about. It's cathartic. It's also kind of a big shitpost but not for the reasons you might think.

Spoilers for the Attack on Titan finale ahead! CW: DISCUSSION OF WAR AND GENOCIDE AHEAD!

Now for anyone who knows what I'm about to talk about (and anyone who follows my stuff here), I'm sure you're wondering , what side do I fall on in regards to Attack on Titan's ending? Am I about to talk shit about it? It's very divisive and somewhat inconclusive. It followed the exact ending in the manga which, while expected, was still disappointing to many who had hoped the anime would take some other path.

But I have to ask, could there have been any other way?

Eren committed mass genocide, bordering on extinction of the entire human race. There was no way that he was gonna come out of it redeemed or as a hero, and he knew it. He went straight up Walter White core here and like Walter White, he is not a hero.

The fact that the Marlayans have been constantly going to war with other countries using Eldians as their personal soldiers goes to show that for countries that seek out conquest, there's no target too small or insignificant that can't be marked as an "enemy", and we see that reflected in Eren as well, in his pursuing of "freedom", an ever-moving goalpost that can never truly be satisfied.

The Jaegerists were hellbent on creating a new empire on the bloodshed of Marley - 'an eye for an eye', so to speak.

Nothing was ever going to truly satisfy either 'side' in the conflict of humanity vs. Eldians because such conflicts' origins have been obfuscated in hundreds of years of history, propaganda, and generational trauma that has repeated itself for so long that many don't even know what they're fighting for anymore, aside from one thing - that they don't want to suffer, that they shouldn't have to suffer for the actions of their ancestors, that they want peace and happiness but don't know where to start with taking the first step.

I think people are disappointed in this ending because, let's face it, it's anime, and it's an anime adaption that took years to finish. We always want to see some kind of vindication from stories like these, but I think in having vindication, it ultimately removes the point altogether of what's being said.

As much as we may try to fight it, try to deny it, the course of human history travels in a circle. Conflict will always arise. History is written by the victors, and those victors will be seen as heroes by whichever side they're fighting for regardless of what heinous acts they may have committed to justify their salvation. And after all of that conflict, regardless of the result - time goes on, and new conflicts arise.

But I don't think that means we have to succumb to grief and suffering and that's a point that I'm seeing missed in a lot of the discussion around the finale. There's a very powerful scene between Armin and Zeke, in which Armin talks about how he was born to run up the hill with Mikasa and Eren. He recognizes fully that if his life isn't meant to be long, he can still cherish those small moments that he thinks back on fondly, the moments that defined his life with the people he cared about.

And that's really all life is. Small moments and experiences that stick with us until the end. The very act of being born in and of itself is a cosmic miracle that gives us the chance to experience things that bring us joy and stay with us forever - however short or long that 'forever' may be. We take these small moments for granted when we're comfortable, but we look for them the most when we're suffering.

If I can relate all this to another piece of media that says the same thing - albeit with a much brighter ending - FF XIV: Endwalker also asks a similar question to Attack on Titan - is the only meaning in life to suffer and die? Of course, by its end, we learn that while death and suffering is an inevitable part of life - not something that should be avoided - it shouldn't persuade us to give in to fear and despair as a constant state of being. And I think Attack on Titan goes for a very similar approach, albeit slightly more as a cautionary tale - a nihilistic reminder that ultimately, the losses and victories we find in our current point of history are still just that, a single point, a blip that will be forgotten until it's ultimately repeated, and there's no escaping that.

It cautions us that freedom cannot exist without constant vigilance for war and conflict. It cautions us that our values and core beliefs for attaining freedom, love and happiness can be twisted into a weapon to cause harm, vindication gained at the cost of another. It cautions us that when left in the wrong hands, power can and will be abused by the ignorant while propagandizing itself as "the greater good".

So why not just find the joy that we can? The friendships, the little moments, the things that bring us happiness even if only temporary. Conflict is inevitable, suffering is inevitable, but that doesn't mean life isn't worth living. "Happiness" is not a tangible end point - it's the side effect of living a meaningful life that's true to yourself.

Attack on Titan is over. Some will argue the ending was the only way, others will argue that there could have been another way and that the anime adaption had the chance to change it but still didn't for reasons beyond their comprehension.

But isn't that the whole point? We'll argue. We'll bargain. Many of the arguments made will reinforce our own beliefs further rather than sway us. Many of us will insist there had to be another way, just as Armin insisted that this couldn't have been the only way, that humanity must have had another option. Meanwhile, many of us will acknowledge that at the end of the day, this is the story Isayama wanted to tell, and regardless of whether or not it makes him an idiot toying with his audience and admitting defeat by lampshading it in the penultimate scene of Eren admitting to his own idiocy, this was the power given to him and he used it in the best way he knew how.

Much like in any conflict, there's one thing that unites both sides - the human need for joy, connection, and freedom.

We might not agree on how Attack on Titan ended, but we can agree that it was a hell of a ride, and I hope we can all agree that it was worth riding, even if it wasn't satisfying for everyone in the end. It brought many people together regardless of their backgrounds, experiences, and differences, and connected them through something they all loved for over ten years. And despite how big a part of our lives it was, life will still go on, and we'll move on to other things to watch, enjoy, and argue over. Isayama will move on to whatever awaits him next, knowing fully well that his choice was his own, that he created the series he wanted to create regardless of how people feel about it. We'll all look for our own forms of joy and happiness as life moves on around us, as conflicts come and go.

Isn't that really what freedom is at the end of the day?

[illustratus]

Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924) directed by Fritz Lang