#and it would just turn into another “historia parallels with another character” post

[shreddedleopard]

Thoughts on chapter 137, and why it makes complete sense and cements the themes and lessons of Attack on Titan.

I have so many thoughts, I just want to word vomit them out at a million miles an hour, but I’ll try to do this in some sort of order and not my usual chaotic mess.

Attack on Titan is about family and belonging, and THIS is the dream that Ymir was drunk on. This is ‘that scenery.’

Ymir, the founder, just wants to belong somewhere. With someone. She wants to be loved and valued as a person, not as a slave; not as someone who merely fulfils a role. In the latest chapter, Zeke explains how he failed to understand her, but Eren did.

Look at Eren’s words to Ymir in this moment, several chapters earlier:

All Ymir has ever wanted is to be held. To be loved like a person. To feel that connection because of who she is, not the role she fulfils.

Eren understands this, in contrast to Zeke, who once again tries to impose her role upon her:

Ymir has been hanging around in paths all this time, unable to fully die and let her consciousness pass on to the next world, because she needs to find this thing that she’s been searching for since the start of the story.

It’s not just about romantic love. It’s about connection. That sense of being understood and belonging with someone else, whether that be romantically, platonically, as family ... we keep seeing the same theme brought up throughout the entire manga.

Who else is a character that constantly searches for the same thing? Mikasa.

She has so many parallels and yet also opposites with Ymir. Ymir is told she is a slave, she obeys the king, that is her role. And she accepts it. Because she believes that it’s the only way to find happiness; to find this belonging she’s been craving. However, unlike Ymir, who does not truly love the king, I believe that Mikasa does truly love Eren - what form that takes doesn’t necessarily matter to me at this point. It’s just about connection.

Whether Eren feels the same, tragically for him, doesn’t matter. Because Eren knows he is destined to be the one to end the cycle of hatred and free Ymir. And that will ultimately cost him his life. That is why, when Zeke asks him what he will do about Mikas’s affections - which have nothing to do with her bloodline and everything to do with him - Eren cannot answer. That choice has sadly been taken from him.

When Eren asks Mikasa what she is to him, I think he genuinely wants to know at that point. I think he cares about her so deeply and wants to know she feels the same way, and it’s not just about him being ‘her saviour’. But as we’ve seen before, Eren cannot afford to stop for too long and dwell in the moment, because he must push on towards freedom - the freedom of Ymir and the Eldian people from the curse of the Titans.

This brings his conversation around the table with Armin, Mikasa and Gabi into a whole new light. Eren insults his friends in an attempt to push them away from him - because he knows he won’t be around to live that ‘long, happy life’ with them. So instead, he wants to push them to confront their feelings in the arms of others. He pushes Armin to really consider what Annie means to him, and for Mikasa, I believe that Eren intends her to perhaps look towards Jean, who is truly willing to give her the love she has always sought from Eren. Because again, so tragically, Eren will not be around to provide that for her - regardless of whether it’s something he wants or not. His own wishes no longer matter on the path he has been set upon.

Back to Ymir. Eren tells her, he will put an end to this world:

He doesn’t mean the human world; the living world. He means the world of paths, where Ymir is trapped, unable to let go of the souls of dead Eldians, because she’s still searching for that connection she craves so much. Her paths world is an attempt to quell that feeling of loneliness she’s been plagued with, but ironically, she’s more lonely than ever, stuck there, serving the bloodline she’s created from a place of misery and duty, rather than love.

The rumbling and the destruction of Marley is a very tragic consequence of what Eren has to do to put an end to the curse of the Titans. He’s searched for another way to no avail; we’ve seen his remorse when he apologises to Halil or Ramsey in chapter 131:

I think the anger and devastation that’s unleashed in the rumbling, is a result of the hurt and mistreatment both Eren and Ymir have felt at points in their lives.

Eren understands that to destroy the paths realm, first this devastation is necessary, because he’s seen it in his future memories, despite the conflicting feelings it’s evoked from him - he doesn’t really want to destroy humanity outside of the walls, but his own future is telling him that he must and he will. But it’s not Eren’s emotions that drive this initial destruction - it is Ymir’s. These emotions are no different in nature than the ones that Eren felt in response to Armin’s childhood bullies - that sense of unfairness and need to lash out at oppressors - but tragically, unlike Eren who in that moment of intense, irrational emotion had only his fists to vent and release, Ymir is in possession of one of the most terrible and destructive weapons there is - hordes of colossal Titans. And in that moment where Eren finally gives her that validation she has been searching for, and allows her that feeling of release from the duty she’s felt she needed to fulfil for thousands of years, Ymir releases that frustration and anger too and sends them walking.

This theme of the oppressor and oppressed switching places in an endless cycle of revenge and stealing from others what has been stolen from you is a theme that we see repeated throughout not only the AOT manga, but also soundtrack and additional content too.

Eren was right that it would be Armin that saves humanity - because Armin is the one that makes the connection in paths - he understands what is being shown to him with the leaf - and tragically, it actually highlights how, even up until the very end, Eren and Armin knew each other very well. Eren trusted Armin to make sense of what he’s had to do - even if it’s only Ymir that he understands, because while Eren is the one to give Ymir her freedom and unleash this terrible devastation, Armin is the one who must stop it.

But how does this idea of family and connection tie in to the rest of the events in the chapter, and wider manga, and what’s up with Historia’s pregnancy? And how is paths going to be destroyed, if the rumbling has been stopped and Ymir is free, but the Titans are still around?

This is where the rest of our cast fit in - namely Zeke, Levi, Historia and Reiner. If my theory is correct.

Eren gave Ymir the validation she needed and that sense of connection, freeing her from her role, and this bought that final bit of time needed for Historia to give birth to her child. Why is Historia’s child important? Because it is the ‘new dawn’ we’ve seen foreshadowed repeatedly throughout the series. The birth of a new history. And this comes in the form of a new bloodline, no longer infected with ‘parasite’ of the founding Titan.

Unlike Ymir’s bloodline, which stemmed from a place of duty and slavery - as she was ordered by the king to take ‘his seed’, and carried the parasite of the creature that bound to her within the depths of the tree, creating the paths realm and an almost purgatory type space free of death or heaven or earth or anything, Historia’s bloodline will be ‘cleaned’ because of the genes of the child’s father. And not only this, it will be born out of a moment of love and connection, rather than duty. This new combination will make it impossible for a child of the royal bloodline to become a Titan. There will be no coordinate - no link for Ymir from her paths realm to the living world, because the last link to her bloodline - a Titan with royal blood - will no longer exist.

This really brings home the gravity of the moment where Levi cuts Zeke down - he’s the last of the royal Titans, but the reader knows Historia’s baby is about to be born - will they inherit the Titan, and the cycle will re-start?

They will not. The cycle will be broken with them, because - and here’s where it gets wild - Historia’s child is not a Fritz, or a Reiss - they are an Ackerman. They physically cannot turn.

Why does all this fit in symbolically? Let me draw your attention to the genre of Seikaikei.

Attack on Titan uses this idea with our two Ackermans.

We have both endings. Eren and Mikasa, our bittersweet ending, where Eren ultimately chooses the fate of humanity over his relationships with Mikasa and Armin, and Levi, who, in a moment of selfishness, allows himself to put aside his role for a night - probably at the railroad banquet, where he was supposed to be making sure the likes of Eren and Yelena were kept apart - and indulges in this connection that he’s formed with Historia. You can read my 10 reasons post if you want to for why the heck I would think these two would form a deep bond - it’s all there in the Uprising Arc. They have been the same as Ymir - yearning for a sense of love and connection, but bound by roles neither of them asked for or particularly wanted - reluctant heroes comes to mind. Remember how freckled Ymir’s parting wish was for Historia to live for herself?

The result is an accidental pregnancy which, ironically enough, is what is going to annihilate the curse of the Titans and save the world. How poetic that the Titans will not be ‘driven out’ by hate, violence, and destruction, but instead by love, connection and new life.

Remember Kenny and Uri’s miracle?

Kenny and Uri’s chapter, ‘Friends’, was exactly halfway back into the manga. History moves in repeating cycles in AOT, and we see things change slightly each time, on this journey to freedom. At this point, the Ackermans and royals were one step away from where they needed to get to in order to build this paradise - and Levi and Historia complete the cycle by becoming ‘lovers,’ tragically, the thing that Eren and Mikasa could not become, because Eren had to undertake the rumbling and be the one to free Ymir from her sorrow and loneliness. She can make the choice now - will she fight to be reborn as Historia’s child - fight for dominance with the Ackerman bloodline - or will she concede, finally laid to rest because the cycle has been broken by two people that love one another, just like the couple Ymir saw long ago and wished for.

Remember how Eren asked Zeke whether the ackermans act the way they do from a place of duty or genuine feelings? He needed to check it was the real deal that would break the curse, and finally lay Ymir to rest peacefully, after 2,000 years of hatred and searching. She will see that her descendant, Historia, finally has what she always dreamed of. That idea of dreams pushing us onwards - Ymir’s dream is realised through Historia and Levi.

As for the parasite itself? I believe Reiner will be the one to lock it in a Crystal prison with himself, deep underground.

A new dawn will come, and a new world will be built from the ashes of the old.

[iamnightduchess]

SnK 139 (A personal thought on Reiner & Mikasa's ending)

We have finally reached the end. For those who began this fandom since 2010, it's been 11 years of happiness, tears and heartbreak, on top of character discourse with our respective favorites. This manga is rich with amazing life values that requires more than just a quick zip through of every chapter. It requires a thorough, repeat reading. Hajime Isayama weaved his universe in a way that never cease to blow all of his readers' minds away but still touched our hearts in an emotional way.

(Special thanks to @pethellhounds for the key pointers for this post!)

No doubt, I love all of the characters, each of their flaws, strengths and growth but my two favorites have always been Mikasa and Reiner, individually.

Upon the first two reads, I was saddened, I was devastated and I allowed my emotions to filter the absolute value of the final chapter; in particularly to my most favorites. All thanks to the discourse we had in our RK discord, my brethren offered me a different perspective on how we could truly perceive ch.139 for what it truly is: a bittersweet farewell which only leads to new beginnings.

Reiner Braun

Armin was destined to save humanity, Eren confided on that himself. Even if it was Mikasa's personal choice on ch.123 that is the ultimatum that had saved humanity by eradicating the power of the Titans from the world for good. As referenced on this post, it has been Mikasa that was destined to free Ymir all along through her selflessness.

Upon first read, the following panel seemed to portray the remaining alliance members in a different light. Everyone looked amazing, happy as they exchanged banter just like how old friends with shared traumatizing experiences do. After all they're all celebrated world heroes - living with possibly an upgraded lifestyle, fame and wealth even within those 3 years. But upon several more reads and deeper observation, one could not entirely disregard the rather dark and gloomy atmosphere beyond the bright surface. In particular Jean and Reiner, who seemed to be a bit more noticeable.

Jean somehow is putting on a front as a skirt-chaser (having preference for younger girls) while Reiner seemed to be simping over his old crush (who's already married & has a child in Paradis).

The above panel seemed comical because the actions & lines seemed a bit "out of nowhere", but beyond the surface - everyone's hurting secretly from within, some are masking their pain, though some remained unaffected because they all shared a heavy burden of guilt towards Eren's death & Mikasa's withdrawal from the group to lay their friend in his final resting place all the way in Paradis. Jean and Reiner both are putting on a front.

Do remember that during the Marley arc, not even once was Reiner shown to reminisce about Historia very specifically. Not even in a fleeting thought, thus why it could also be deduced that she did not actually have a huge impact on his memory or his genuine affections beyond just a fleeting crush to hide his tormented mental state from within. How could someone who has been shown to have tremendous emotional growth and a consistent, albeit shaky psychological regulation during his primary arc was reduced to a typical simp archetype in the final chapter? This is not, a "Reiner can finally be his real self who's free of his burdens & he is someone who's enjoying his new life" moment.

The last time he portrayed this "simping" behavior? When he was 17 years old during the 104th's first SC excursion and when his psyche was almost teetering on its edges as his Warrior!alter is wrestling control against his soldier personality in Utgard Castle.

Reiner's simping (which was an intended joke) was also an indicator of a bleak truth: his DID regressed, from his regulated state and his psyche was completely torn apart from that day. In Marley, he had been extremely depressed but he was a loyal, strong and steadfast soldier who had only his duties in mind. To see him do a complete 360 & reverted to a creepy old behaviour, is truly saddening. He's been masking his pain with this front. Even Pieck could be seen sending him a silent, understanding look of concern for his letter-sniffing action.

In 139, despite having a new chance at life, having his mother's genuine love and acceptance & achieved his original dream in becoming a respected hero who is recorded in history, one could not entirely rule out the possibility that Reiner's DID has regressed to the point that either he reverted back to his soldier persona as a facąde or he'd might have developed a new alter altogether after having to experience Survivor's Guilt for the second turn. Yet this time, with no known time limit since the Curse of Ymir had been eradicated. DID is a lifelong condition. It does not go away, it cannot be healed even with modern medicine but yes, could be managed. That letter, the mentioning of Eren's name and their impending arrival on Paradis - the place he felt the happiest of his life - could be his trigger to put on that front. He, (along with the rest of the alliance on that ship) had to live with the fact that his and his family's new life and future had been at the expense of two people's livelihood; Eren & Mikasa. Eren sacrificed his life. Mikasa chose to bury Eren at his final resting place in Shinganshina and remain there to honor his memories on her own, without anyone by her side despite having fought together & almost on the verge of dying together.

(Thank you @lancerofdarkness for pointing this out!) We can see the banter between Reiner and Jean is very reminiscent of Reiner and Bertolt, where the latter cautioned the former on "not getting too carried away". Where Bertolt had a filtered approach, Jean had a more direct, head-on snipe. This dynamic had been initially observed much earlier in this post.

The alliance members could possibly have made a silent pact between them on not mentioning either Eren or Mikasa's name out of respect for that 3 years. Or if they, as well as the others, were not divulged of the real truth by Armin. With or without this knowledge, Eren's death and Mikasa's silent departure from the alliance do affect everyone. Some are more obvious than the others.

Once again, I feel compelled to share an unpopular perception that Reiner's simping is not his true self's behavior. It is a mask. A fake persona. It is a front to hide the real pain from within.

He cared about both Eren and Mikasa respectively, as much as the others do.

Mikasa Ackerman

Upon first reading, I was initially devastated for Mikasa's conclusion. It was her decision and selfless act that had saved all of humanity and won Ymir over, which completely destroys the Paths as well as removing the titan powers together with its curse. The woman who had been at the frontlines, placing her life at stake, almost dying first to protect the men in the alliance; she who had sacrificed everything ended up with nothing but only memories of the one who could never be and loneliness.

To throw salt into the wound, we saw Eren uttering in Paths on how he refused to accept the notion of Mikasa being with another man, he wanted her to only love him and have him in her heart even 10 years after his death. It was indeed a last spur of the moment declaration that ironically contradicted his plea in 138.

Their relationship was never meant to take off by riding into the sunset together, they are not destined to be with each other, even if their feelings are mutual. Despite my personal observation of their relationship as a form of enslavement in itself: Mikasa still sees it as her devotion & commitment to Eren. I have to respect her perspective on this.

Ymir mistaken Stockholm Syndrome as love, she perceives enslavement as love. Being used as a tool of war and breeding, surrendering all her will to her captor, yearning for his validation - she saw those as love. Now the glaring parallel between Ymir and Mikasa are truly obvious. Because of love, Ymir tethered herself to Paths or purgatory for 2,000 years and in exchange of Mikasa's decision & action, Mikasa remained tethered to her love for Eren & his memories for at least another 10 years if not for the rest of her life on earth. That is truly heartbreaking.

I was devastated. I personally believe she deserves better. She too deserves to have her happy end, to be loved and have a family of her own.

When Armin had dreams of seeing the world beyond the walls, Mikasa has always been a simple girl with simple dreams: i) to go back home within that forest in Shinganshina and ii) to be by Eren's side forever. Once we realised this, Mikasa actually had everything she ever desired after all. She's back home in Shinganshina, living in solitude and in peace with no burden of world peace, diplomatic affairs on her shoulder and has no need to put on a facąde. She's been grieving and she still cried for her yearning to see Eren's face again even after 3 years that she might not stop shedding tears in the next 7 years just like Eren wanted. That is how psychologically and emotionally affected she is with Eren's words, actions and death. She chose to remember Eren and keep her in her heart that it is almost seen as an imprisonment but she's also free from other wordly responsibilities unlike the rest of the alliance members.

Did I wish she would have a better ending than this? Absolutely. This young woman has never been on her own ever since she was born, it's heartbreaking to see her having to process her grief alone without even a single companion by her side. She lost all of her incredible physical strength and had to learn how to fortify her emotional strength through her grieving process. She has only learn on how to love and be loved by Eren, which has major missing components left to be desired. Mikasa deserves to be loved, to receive that affection openly in return from someone who would be ideal, respectful, trustworthy, expressive, equally devoted, the raindrop to her seed, the sun to her cold days and loving towards her and maybe one day, eventually would be able to grow a real family from that genuine love.

The last two bottom panel above we can actually observe the innocent kid!Mikasa just like Isayama promised. She is ready and curious to once again, learn more about the beautiful but cruel world. She is ready to leave the forest upon realizing that no matter where she goes, Eren will always be inside her heart.

She is at peace. Even if she looks way thinner, fragile that she should be and could be seen collapsing as she was hit by another wave of strong grief. But since the members of the alliance are coming to Paradis for a potential negotiation, it is been stated by Mikasa that they are also coming to see Eren's final resting place to pay their respects. She will be meeting her friends after 3 years for the first time and I could really hope that they can be the support that each other needed for true healing. I am holding on to the possibility of her being ready to move on and start living again after putting the course of her life on hold by mourning for Eren the moment she is reunited again with Armin, Annie, Reiner, Jean and Connie.

The bird flew over the ship carrying the alliance as it is heading towards Paradis before heading towards Mikasa's location, giving his answer to her "You're happy right?" question by wrapping that scarf around her neck for one last time. He wanted her to be free after 3 years of grief. He wanted her to move on when she meets their friends again because she does not deserve to be consumed in her grief not even another day. Not even for another 7 years. Not even for the rest of her life.

Anything that we envision happening after 139 is valid in this universe. I believe Mikasa will begin living her life to the fullest as the end of the series is also the beginning of her next journey. But this time, she will be doing it in the company of her loved ones. Together.

[miscellaneousramblings]

The world is cruel and unfair. My thoughts about the end of SnK.

This is a post about my feelings re: the end of SnK. I try to mix a bit of analysis and express where, in my opinion, it went wrong.

I’ve only read the last chapter once for now. Managed to avoid every spoiler until the official release. What can I say? I think this ending is disappointing and unsatisfying, despite not being The Worst Thing I’ve Ever Read. It’s serviceable at best, which by default is underwhelming in a work that has almost always tried to go above what we usually see in comparable pieces of fiction. Over almost 140 chapters, SnK offered its readers genuine emotions, either positive or negative, and, until this final chapter, managed to stay true to its themes. But this final chapter is basically a 4/10 or 5/10 ending in an overall 9.5/10 story.

I hope that, after the initial shock of the ending, I’ll be able to look back on it, not fondly, but with a bit more appreciation for some of its (too few) genuinely good moments. I also hope it won’t sour the experience of reading SnK too much for me. Of course, I accept the ending, I accepted it literally the moment I read it even though I saw it go further and further from my expectations and understanding of the story by the second. And obviously, I respect Isayama as a writer and genuinely cherish some parts of this manga.

But I won’t ever think this ending was good, and am going to try to explain why.

First, something quite subjective. I think the chapter lacked genuine emotion. I didn’t feel much of anything, except a crushing sentiment of sadness and a bit of anger when I saw Mikasa alone by Eren’s grave at the end. A lot of what happened felt either incomplete or forced, and often both. For example, I had imagined the moment the curse of Ymir broke would be the most beautiful moment in the manga, but instead it just... happened? This was supposed to be the peak of this story, the miracle that all these terrible sacrifices were made in the name of. I keep thinking about the moment the curse breaks at the end of Fruits Basket (a great read btw) and how genuinely emotional this chapter is even though the genre is different from SnK’s. Considering Isayama’s talent when portraying emotions, I can’t help but feel terribly underwhelmed by his version of this moment, which should have made us feel like everything was worth it, but didn’t.

Second, the pacing in this last arc (and especially post 123) was messy. I know it’s easy to criticize as a reader, but objectively, spending 7 chapters on the alliance going from point X to point Y and not giving the main character the spotlight he deserves is a major mistake. I kept holding hope that all of the buildup since chapter 130 was going to amount to the last 2-3 chapters slapping extremely hard (like, say, the Grisha-centered chapters in return to Shiganshina, or the Reiner-Eren conversation in Marley), but for the first time, Isayama disappointed me in that regard.

While mostly uninteresting fights got dragged out, some plot points were almost forgotten. Some setups never got a proper conclusion. Eren barely got the time to explain his motivations or what he saw. Historia’s conversation from chapter 130 never got an ending. The parasite and Ymir literally disappeared even though they were the focus of the last two chapters before this one. Some memory shards went unexplained. We never got to see Grisha’s death even when this panel exists?

Regardless of the actual things I don’t like in the ending, I think it would have been more palatable if this last stretch of chapters had been given time to breathe, if only to expand on the characters’ motivations or give us more interactions (for example, Eren’s talks with Annie, Reiner, Connie...).

Third, characterisation and themes. Oh boy. My favourite character is Eren, and my other favourites are Mikasa, Armin, Reiner and Zeke. I think that among these five, the only one who got a true, complete character arc was Armin (and arguably Zeke as well, though the lack of resolution between him and Eren is a hate crime towards me, specifically). Reiner had a great character arc overall but his last appearance in the manga was distateful and a regression. I won’t expand on it.

Mikasa... my poor girl. My most charitable take about her ending is that Isayama wanted to portray her inner strength, the fact she can always live on in the face of adversity and cherish her own life despite the setbacks while remembering those she loves. Well, I guess he succeeded. But in a weirdly unsatisfying way, because this renders her character arc entirely cyclical. Those qualities have characterised Mikasa since the start. It’s established since the very first arc that she’s prideful, brave, and that she has the inner strength to live without Eren if he ever disappears from this world. But the way Isayama made it happen? Having her kill him and then cry next to his grave in the final panels of the manga is what her arc amounted to? I had always hoped that Mikasa could actually save Eren from himself and show him how to live and share his burdens with him (all things that have been foreshadowed in the manga itself, btw). I thought her tattoo would hold some significance, either by

A/ being transmitted to her potential child with Eren were he to survive (didn’t happen)

B/ foreshadowing a future political role for her as a bridge between Hizuru and Paradis (didn’t happen, and furthermore she’s the only alliance member living in Shiganshina and is deliberately separated from the rest of them)

C/ having some kind of supernatural power that would allow her to change the game, were she to enter paths or reach the coordinate (didn’t happen).

So what? In the end, Mikasa’s Big Choice amounted to giving up on her love (but also not really because she’s never going to be able to move on and isn’t allowed to feel anything else but pain), resulting in her losing her family for the third time and never being able to welcome Eren home. This is horrifyingly sad. I’m also frankly disturbed by the sort of ~parallel Eren establishes in this chapter between Ymir and Mikasa, about the topic of love. So the message of SnK was that... love is a chain? Everything happened because Ymir was too attached to the King and couldn’t leave this world, so Mikasa had to show her that she could give up on love for the greater good by killing Eren? I wish I just misunderstood this but that’s what I got from the chapter and I hate it. Also, I really thought Isayama was above the traditional “female character who sacrifices everything and never reaches happiness but stays quiet and endures for the common good” trope. I was wrong.

Mikasa might have been the centerpiece of the story, but she got the short end of the stick. At this point, the writing pretty much does the opposite of what it is supposed to by inadvertently justifying the validity of Mikasa and Eren’s “selfish” dream in chapter 138. Initially, I thought that their dream was wrong and not something truly enviable because in it, they led a life of guilt and regret while knowing full well that Eren would end up dying anyway, leaving Mikasa behind, alone. Naively, I thought that surely choosing the responsible path would be more rewarding for Mikasa, one way or the other. But as it turns out, the path of selflessness also led her to a life of solitude, except now she carries her burdens all on her own without having tasted happiness. Amazing. I genuinely do not know how I am supposed to root for this.

Finally... Eren. Oh boy. Oh, good lord. I’ll admit I wanted him to live, but I was also ready to accept an ending where he dies. But... not like this. I already said I don’t like the fact Mikasa killed him, but what I like even less is the lack of general resolution his character received. He’s the MC for god’s sake! But post-chapter 123, he has received second, if not third-grade treatment, save from chapter 131, which was brilliant.

Overall, his motivations are a mess, which I get. Him getting confused because of all his powers and memories is understandable. Him having conflicting motivations is actually appealing to me. He wanted to save Eldia, but was also disappointed in the outside world (when he says “I would have done it anyway”, I thought about what he said to Ramzi and the "scenery” in 131) , and wished for his friends to become heroes. I get it, it’s fine.

But Isayama went too far with the tragic aspect of his character. As in, there is no catharsis, just crushing pain. Isayama deliberately went overkill by stating that Eren killed 80% of humanity (what the hell), and, even worse, actually drove Dina to Carla. I literally couldn’t believe this. I have seen people theorize about this months ago and immediately discarded it by thinking it was ridiculous and amount to character assassination. To make things clear, I’m not discussing Eren’s actions in the last arc from a moralistic point of view, because this would be another topic entirely, I’m talking about what makes sense in the narrative that has been presented to us since the Paths chapters started and Eren’s plan was revealed. For example, however awful the contents of the scene was, Eren manipulating Grisha to kill the Reiss family was not only amazingly written and drawn in chapter 121 but also narratively motivated by the fact he needed the Founding Titan’s power. This scene also had other functions, such as revealing the Attack Titan’s premonition powers or making Zeke interact with Grisha and understand the truth about his father. Compared to this, the “moment” we have in 139, this abrupt, absurd revelation about him indirectly killing his mother is rushed and nonsensical. Even if this was to kickstart the whole story by awakening his hatred for the titans, I can’t help but feel shaken by how... gratuitous a “plot-twist” it is. What does it say about the attachment Eren had to his mother and her words to him? (”because he was born into this world”). This nullifies one of the most impactful scenes of the manga, because the ending makes it clear that in the end, existing as a human being by the simple virtue of being born wasn’t enough for him. It just couldn’t be, for some reason that I’m yet to fully understand. Instead, he endured and endured, and never got to experience the simple, humane existence Carla wished for him. So were these beautiful words a lie all along? Why did Isayama go to such an extreme with Dina? The only conclusion I can come to is that it’s because he needed Eren to be absolutely, totally irredeemeable. Eren needed, storywise, to be this unstoppable extremist who would get burned to ashes by his uncontrollable desires.

Because yes, apparently, Eren had to die. There was no escape. Worst of all, Eren died a slave. A slave to his desire for freedom. A slave to the destiny he saw at age 15. A slave to his titan powers. This is what I truly can’t forgive about this ending. I won’t stand for the “but he chose this” answer, because it was a choice made out of despair, and all the alternatives are presented as non viable by the narrative (are they really though? or is it just a cope-out to justify the last arc of the manga unfolding as it did?). In short, Isayama justifies this “choice” that was forced on Eren by telling us: his life was destined to be short, he had a violent side he just wouldn’t repress, Mikasa didn’t give him the answer he wanted, he was overwhelmed by what he saw, and their enemies were zeroing in on them. Canonically, all of this made him start the Rumbling. Fine. But I always thought that, at the end of it all, even if Eren were to die, this narrative would be challenged. That Eren would at least have a big cathartic moment, and that he would make another choice upon realising that the freedom he looked for was illusory, and that he would fight to the bitter end for what was right, what he truly wanted, before finally either going to rest or living on with the burden of his actions but the support of his loved ones. I wished for the perfect blend of bitterness and hope. The tragedy of irredeemeable actions completed by the powerful liberation of free will. The idea that change is possible.

But what did we get instead? Eren reaffirming that the Rumbling would have happened anyway while feeling tremendous guilt, as usual (living a life with regrets, and consequently, a death with regrets), refusing the support Armin was ready to lend him (refusing to even try to defy what he thinks is his destiny and pushing others away again) and erasing the memories of all his friends after having manipulated them into ending him against their wishes (going against the most basic concept of freedom). And because we as readers and he as a character have to suffer until the very end, Eren finally clearly expressed his wish to live, to stay with Mikasa and his friends. Only to die 5 pages later, for good.

The main character of this story truly died as a disembodied head, in a titan’s mouth, killed by the person he loved the most before being buried in a nameless grave. One of his mottos was “fight”, but in the end, he didn’t. He let fate happen. In a story about freedom, this is unfathomable. This is beyond the realm of sadness for me, and I’m leaning more and more towards indignation. Where was his dignity as a character? I know that Mikasa, Armin and the others know “the truth about him” but I’m sorry, this isn’t enough. Now, if I ever get the strength to re-read SnK, I won’t be able to look at Eren without thinking about all the things he sacrificed: love, friendship, happiness, humanity, morals, principles, justice, freedom, the lives of countless others, the peace of mind of the person he loves, and his own life. A sacrifice so great should have gotten us a reward as great, if not greater. But we only got the end of the titan curse, without even an apparition or a word from Ymir, the one who actually started all of this, and now Paradis is ruled by the Yeagerists or something. The wings of freedom defaced by two rifles. How great. How satisfying.

In the end, I can’t really fathom what Isayama wanted to say with this chapter. The story itself, the 138 chapters that preceded it seemed clear to me. The world is cruel but also very beautiful. But after having read 139, I don’t know where the freedom the characters chased is. I don’t know why love was portrayed as something so precious but also something that in the end was predestined to be discarded. I don’t know why characters such as Mikasa went against fate only to be crushed by it further down the road.

I never thought that SnK would go into this almost grimdark direction, but it did. I can barely find the beauty in this chapter. Mikasa’s last panels are heartbreaking, but even the strength of her love can’t shine through the countless sacrifices the characters - and especially she and Eren - made, for the sake of a future that already seems extremely compromised. I guess that all in all, the world’s cruelty overshadows everything, and those who make the greatest sacrifices also are those who never get repaid. The world is unfair. I know that, but it was my naive wish that reading a piece of fiction would help me take my mind off this reality by showing me there is also more to it.

PS: the best moment in the chapter was those panels:

Finally, even if it was too little and too late, someone showed Eren he wasn’t alone, and didn’t need to be. RIP, my beautiful boy. You truly did deserve better than what this story allowed you to be.

[underthedekutree]

Young Link might have PTSD - Part 2: Termina is NOT a Parallel World, Technically

This is a continuation of my last post so if you’re seeing this and haven’t read it, go here.

This is the part where I somewhat smoothly segue into Majora’s Mask. Link, lonely and filled with unprocessed trauma, leaves Hyrule in search of Navi. According to most sources (which take from Hyrule Historia probably? don’t quote me on it), Link falls down a hole into Termina, a parallel world to Hyrule, that contains many familiar looking denizens of Hyrule, but playing different roles. And well, if you probably guessed by the title, I have a rather different interpretation.

Okay, so in a nutshell my theory is that Termina is in fact all a dream, kind of like Koholint Island. Except the one dreaming up this world isn’t some deity like the Giants or Skull Kid or the Moon. It’s Link.

(big explainey hoo hah below)

Evidence 1: Link begins the game sleeping. Yes, I know literally every Zelda game begins this way and it’s a whole tradition thing. I am beginning with the weakest points first and working my way up to the strong ones. We’ll get there.

Evidence 2: The reuse of character and environment models from Ocarina of Time. The literal IRL reason for this is of course the game famously being given only one year of production time, which meant that the most practical method was to reuse as much material from MM’s predecessor as possible (eg. Romani Ranch sign is the Kakariko Village sign, and still says Kakariko Village on it). It seems like a rather offhand afterthought for Nintendo to chalk it all up to “oh its just a parallel world like Link to the Past or something. But think of it like this; when we dream, we often see familiar people from throughout our lives put in strange and unexpected situations, like that irritable old farmhand you hated so much is now a depressed circus master for some reason. Dreams don’t make sense. Things you know will mix with other strange inexplicable things, fleeting thoughts in your mind, all roughly tied together by whatever emotions you had been feeling when you went to bed. Malon is split into two people, Romani and Cremia, her older and younger self. This might reflect how Link feels about Malon, that she changed so much in those 7 years that she’s like a different person entirely, that it’s hard for him to process that they are the same, because the change was so shockingly sudden for him.

Evidence 3: Gorons in the snow, Gerudo by the sea. Yes, I know that sounds a lot like good evidence for a parallel world (that’s why the idea is widely accepted in the first place, it has merit), but it also works in as dream world evidence too. As a child, my family was obsessed with skiing. We would go to the same mountain every winter, and we would stay at the same lodge. It almost became like a second home for me. So much so, that one night I dreamed that my house had been replaced by the lodge, so it wasn’t on a snow-capped mountain, but in a bushy Australian suburb. Okay that kinda got off subject but I’m bad at conclusions so in summary Dreams Just Be Like That (tm). You get what I’m saying right? No? Sorry, let’s just move on.

Evidence 4: The Milk Bar. AKA my favourite location in the game! It’s often overlooked as the “haha funny they couldn’t put alcohol in kids game so its kiddy milk hee hee”, but it is actually a strong thematic pillar of Majora’s Mask. As I mentioned in Part 1, if you put a 9 year old in a 16 year old’s body and call him an adult before ripping that all away is probably going to leave the kid with an identity crisis. What is a mature place open at late hours when children are sleeping? A bar. What is a drink associated with the young, being produced for the purpose of helping children grow? Milk. No please don’t go I swear there’s more to this, stay with me. In order to gain access to the bar, Link must prove he is mature enough by wearing a mask, a disguise, like Adult Link is to Young Link. Being adult isn’t earned through years of natural living experience and mental development, it’s a thing you are given by adults to just BE when they deem you worthy, at least from how Link sees it. So that is the amalgamation of dream thoughts that is the Milk Bar. Is it mature? Is it childish? What is the line between the two? Is there one? It’s the culmination of his anxieties and confusions that he doesn’t know how to express. Another, smaller expression of this anxiety is the Clock Town Guards. When Link is a Deku, the guards say they don’t allow children outside the gates. When Link turns back however, the guard goes to stop him because he looks too young, but sees that he has a sword, and lets him pass. Why the sword? Well, in one way this is a callback to Kokiri Forest, where Mido doesn’t let Link see the Deku Tree until he has a sword. But also, what is the item that lets Link travel through time and become an adult in OOT? The Master Sword. Link seems to believe that adulthood is measured by the things you have, physical markers of maturity, which is how lots of children see adulthood. You’re an adult if you can drink, if you’re tall, if you’re married, if you have a house, a car etc. But in reality this isn’t how it works. Heck, I’m technically an adult but I sure as hell don’t feel like one, because I know I still have things to learn about responsibility, patience and all the other things, that can only come with time, which is the moral conclusion of OOT, but clearly Link missed the memo. Don’t get me wrong, there are some indicators to show he’s grown a bit. He can ride Epona, use the bow, do flips like some kind of acrobat etc. But those strange and confused feelings linger, and manifest in the young boy’s dreams.

Evidence 5: The four transformation masks. The four masks represent different aspects of Link’s self, and the way he grew and changed in OOT. Deku Scrub the Innocent, Goron the Confident, Zora the Mature and Fierce Deity the Hero. Link began only knowing the Kokiri Forest, and nothing of the world outside. As he set out on his journey, he grew more confident in his skills and defeated greater foes. When evil took over, he learned from his fatal mistake and worked to right it. And when it was finally time to face the greatest threat, he was ready, with all the heart pieces, bottles full of fairies, Biggoron Sword in hand. At that moment he struck the final blow he probably felt like the strong and unstoppable hero everyone in Hyrule told him he needed to be. And that feeling of pure uncompromising strength, with the whole world behind him, manifested in the Fierce Deity. Fierce Deity is much taller than Adult Link, and packs so much of a punch that he can beat Majora without batting an eye, like some overpowered Super Saiyan. It reminds me a lot of Undertale, with young Asriel becoming what he imagines to be an all-powerful godlike being, like something you’d see as a children’s drawing. Fierce Deity gives off those vibes, like “he has a HUGE SWORD that SHOOTS BEAMS OF LIGHT and he’s 8 FOOT TALL and CAN KILL ENEMIES IN A SINGLE BLOW!!” Before the final battle on the moon, when Majora gives you the mask, he childishly asks if you want to play a game of good guys and bad guys. And the good guy always wins, no matter what. Fierce Deity makes the final boss a cakewalk, but its supposed to.

Evidence 6: Anju and Kafei. Short one, because it falls a lot into everything else I’ve said regarding childhood vs adulthood. Kafei is effectively a switcheroo of what happened to Link in OOT. An adult shrunk back to childhood, uncomfortable in his new body and looking for a way to fix everything. He’s a reflection of how Link now kinda feels like an adult in a child’s body, because he had started to be used to being called an adult.

Evidence 7: The Moon. I haven’t super touched on the main meat of the game yet, so here it is. The moon and the 3 day mechanic is an allegory for constant mounting pressure, that builds and builds, never ceasing, because the world is in danger, and there’s only one person who has been chosen to save it. I’ve always been interested in the Chosen One narrative, and how different media explore the idea of the world’s very existence being pushed onto one person. How at the end of it all, they can never be the same again after all they’ve gone through. When you’re somehow expected to hold up the Moon itself single-handed, and your life and everything you care about suffers because you’re putting everyone else before yourself. That feeling of complete loneliness under a crushing weight, and although other characters may come to help you, in the end its still all down to you, and you never had a choice in any of it, as all the decisions were made by someone else. You must do what they tell you. Believe in yourself, believe...

Evidence 8: Skull Kid. The story goes that long ago in Termina, the Skull Kid and the Giants played together, until one day, the Giants left, leaving the Skull Kid alone and heartbroken, with nobody to turn to. As life moves on, things may change, and people always come and go from your life. Your friend might move overseas, or stop texting you, or you might fall out of friendship after an awkward event from which you could never recover (no, these have totally not all happened to me, shut up i’m fine), or your fairy companion might just disappear without so much as a goodbye after their task is complete. And it feels like you didn’t matter at all. That they never really cared about you, and you’re as easy to drop and move on from as a child’s toy. You might get angry, and want to shut them out, and give them a taste of their own medicine. Majora’s Mask teaches you that this isn’t the case. Life is ever changing, but you will always have the memories of times with your friends, and a chance to make more with new friends, like a sassy talkative fairy sprite and her shy brother or a child made of wood who wants to destroy the world. Friends come from unlikely places, so accept that change will happen and hope that wherever the people you knew are, they’re okay. You’re thinking about them, so they might be thinking about you too. And who knows? Life is unpredictable. They might just come back one day, and it’ll be like they were never gone.

Evidence 9 (the final one, I promise): The Song of Healing. At the end of all things, after losing ones you love, connections to family and friends, memories of things long past... you need time to heal. Link’s journey through Termina is a constant gauntlet of running into his own past traumas, forced to relive them again, and again, and again. But sometimes you should take a deep breath, gather your thoughts, and take time to heal. Although it can be important to confront your fears and learn to surpass them, it is exhausting, and you can end up more emotionally broken than when you started. The three masks all had regrets of powerlessness; unable to protect your community, your loved ones, or even yourself. Troubles you’ve gone through that keep plaguing your mind, and you’re wondering if you’ve done enough, seeking answers where none can be found. And the best thing you can do... is accept and move on. Be kind to yourself, and give yourself time to heal. Link’s way of processing his grief and trauma is to create an entire hellscape world in his own head, but not everyone processes it the same way. Sometimes you feel like you need to busy yourself, or listen to soothing music, or talk to people you trust, or spend copious amounts of money, or make some angst art, or cuddle your plush toys until their stuffing squeezes out. Sometimes life hits you in the face and you want to blame yourself for standing in the firing line, but it’s not your fault. It’s okay to feel however you feel, whether you’re drenched in a pool of tears or you just feel numb, it’s okay and natural. You’re okay. You’re here.

Okay so it got kinda personal at the end there but I hope it was informative, and made you think a little bit differently about Majora’s Mask and Ocarina of Time. You probably want to go back and play them now. Me too.

So was this all just an excuse for me to gush about how cool Majora’s Mask is? Hell fucking yes it was. Congratulations for making it through my monstrous ramblings, you get the secret prize of looking at my weird art on my DA. Here you go. Have a nice day, Zelda Nerds.

[dorovahkiin]

SnK Chapter 130: My personal thoughts (SPOILERS)

This chapter was wild - and not surprising at the same time 👀.

- As expected, Annie would break down when finding out about Odiha plan and her father's possible death. It was nice seeing this desperate, emotional side of her since she barely shows it

- Snk-polls' judgement "Annie becoming human" is trash. Annie has been human before

- Annie says she wants to leave, but I'm sure she won't, would be a waste of character after being gone for so long. I think she is either gonna change her mind or (more probable) someone is gonna convince her to stay

- Seems like we won't get Annie vs. Mikasa fight

- Now let's switch to Eren POV. I don't even know where to start... I understood it as almost all (future) flashbacks in this chapter happened when Eren kissed Historia's hand

- All the memories on page 6 are very significant. I think Grisha looking wtf on page 6 is pretty much the moment of the final panel. Dude has the same hair and shirt

- Page 7 could be a tumblr post alone... Eren implies he all wanted this, which is really important to keep in mind!

- Almost all memories on page 7 are future memories in S3 Eren's POV. I don't know how Eren saw Falco. However, I want to focus on the tiny Bertholdt panel on the right which seems to be a past memory:

- It's Bert from Dina's POV as she ignores him to enter Shiganshina immediately (Chapter 96). Why the heck does Eren see this memory?

- There is the theory Eren controlled Dina to ignore Bert and to head directly to his house to kill Carla. To trigger his motivation and the whole plot ("I wanted this all"). By that, it would be a future memory again because he'd manipulate it in the future

- I believe this is absolutely possible. Eren forced Grisha to kill innocent children after all. And even if he loves his mom, I think he is definitely capable of killing her if it serves his grand goal. I wouldn't be surprised if he also manipulated more events

- Imo the story would already be great without this plot twist (if it's true), but if people need it to understand Eren's character I support the theory

- Eren's toxic understanding of freedom is the most important thing to him. He cares about his friends, yes, but freedom is more important. That's why I think he mainly does the rumbling for his philosophy, not for his friends ("I wanted all this")

- This whole chapter was about Eren dehumanising which supports the last point. Calling his enemies "animals" was a peak (No, it was NOT a mistranslation)

- The last pages of kid Eren wanting to destroy titans and adult Eren wanting to destroy the "animals" was a nice parallel which also supports Eren dehumanising. Is dehumanising the right word after all? He was like this all along, "born this way" 🤔

- Since he first claimed to sympathise with his enemies and now calling them animals, I wouldn't be surprised if he'll change his mind about his friends and Eldians either. It would be wtf af if he wanted to eventually kill them either in order to end the cycle of hatred (because Eldians still fight each other). That would be a total peak of Eren dehumanising and I would love that plot twist. Just a wild guess

- Now let's turn to the Hisu flashbacks. I made a whole post about that alone. To summarise it:

- Imo the arrangement of Hisu flashbacks are not in the right chronological order, they are also interrupted by other flashbacks

- I think the last Hisu flashback of the chapter (which fitted perfectly to the Zeke scene THEME-WISE) is chronologically the first moment of the EH scene. So it would be like:

1) Well Eren, what do you think about me having a baby? (follow up of 107 when Kiyomi presented the 50 years plan)

2) This leads to the 50 years plan and MPs talk between Eren and Historia

3) Eren says he doesn't like it and tells her his alternative plan and it stops at Hisu's reaction after "You're the worst"

- This makes much more sense imo, Hisu wouldn't suggest a baby right after this manipulating line of Eren (Yes, I think it's disgusting manipulation, he twisted her words she said back in the cave scene) she first has to emotionally collect herself before proposing something like that out of nowhere

- E + H = Y is still the biggest bs this fandom has ever produced imo

- Hisu is obviously manipulated by Eren, it reminds me of Ymir being manipulated by the first King and her environment. Hisu not exposing Eren's genocide plan has the same reason why Ymir never rebelled against her trash husband, although it destroyed her. This kind of manipulation happens a lot in real life too

- Yes, I still think Historia is against genocide. And I believe she HAS a good heart, she is NOT an evil bitch. Her official stats say Altruism 10/10 after all

- However, even if Eren manipulated her, he still cares for her (though his freedom philosophy is more important again)

- We learn this when love Guru Zeke tells him Mikasa's protectiveness is the result of love, not nonexistent Ackerbond (112 You fcking liar Eren!) and Eren thinks about Historia while Zeke talks about Mikasa

- He notices he is also protective of Historia and might like her in whatever way (He didn't notice before, Zeke just made it clear to him, so another reason why Eren is not the father, especially not in a romantic way)

- Adding the baby flashback during Zeke talk about protecting was perfect theme-wise because Eren wants to protect Historia especially FROM getting pregnant by force as he stated it many times before

- Eren says he has only 4 more years to live, implying he is not interested in a relationship or family. This is another big point why Eren is not the father and I already mentioned that point in November

- Everyone says this chapter confirmed Eren is the hooded figure, but for me it was the confirmation he was not. I don't understand how people constantly miss those points:

- Eren's jacket is FULLY inked, the HF's jacket is not. It's a completely different jacket

- Why would Eren hood himself in the first place at Hisu's farm? He's been there many times before, was never hooded, nor is he hooded in 130

- Furthermore they are outside where everyone can spot them and Eren was not even hooded. It doesn't make fcking sense!

- People literally call me "high" for this take and of course I might be wrong but yes, I still think the hodded figure is Levi

- Yes, I also still believe in fake pregnancy and the hooded figure scene plays a huge part in that. I made a super long post about it in November

- Even if I am wrong and Farmer-kun is the dad (it's definitely NOT Eren), it won't play any importance in the story, the "who's the father" shit distract people too much from the real relevant questions regarding the plot

- Character of this month: Eren and him being more obvious about his true nature

- My rating: 10/10

- Predictions for next chapter: Alliance again, full talking chapter, maybe also a POV switch to Zeke, Floch, Annie's dad or even Historia if we're lucky

- I know a lot of people will hate me for my thoughts on 130, but I'm fine with that

[safflora]

What’s the deal with Historia? (Post chapter 122)

One of the Hot Topics I’ve seen lately has been the identity of the father of Historia’s baby. I have mostly ignored this question in favor of focusing more on trying to discern Eren’s motives and goals and thinking up overly speculative theories on Titan lore. What is interesting to me, however, is the related concern over what the current situation means for Historia’s (and Eren’s) character development. So much time and care has gone into developing Historia, I just cannot fathom that Isayama would be undoing that now. I have too much faith in him as a writer for that. I feel he’s earned it. But now I have a theory that might explain where he is going with all this:

I think Historia may have received some memories of the first Ymir and the origin of this world under titan rule. I think, perhaps, this is what we saw in those memory shards just before Eren entered Paths: Historia, moved to tears (weren’t we all!) by what she has learned, recounting it to Eren. From that point, she and Eren have been working together to free Ymir and free the world from the titans. Here’s what I’ve got:

1. Eren and Historia have a close relationship, but the specifics of it have been intentionally obfuscated.

First of all, we’ve seen a special relationship develop between Eren and Historia. Ever since their conversation after Reiner and Bertholdt’s escape with our Ymir, that’s been clear. We know they’ve spent a lot of time together. Enough to make Mikasa jealous. Enough for Jean to remark on their “holding hands”. I’ve suspected that they’re in on something together, and now we’re starting to get clearer signs of what that could be. But aside from these hints, we haven’t gotten to see them actually interact much. Eren and Historia have a close relationship, but the specifics of it have been intentionally obfuscated. Why? The same reason we haven’t been allowed to see much of Eren’s thought process. It must be because their relationship is important to the big endgame plan that we’re meant to agonize over until it’s finally revealed.

2. It may be possible that all this contact has revealed important memories/visions to Historia as well. I think the source of these memories could be the Founder Ymir.

This is well illustrated in this post by Momtaku. We know that contact with Eren has revealed her own hidden memories in the past, and there is reason to believe that could have continued. The memories revealed to Eren have become increasingly complex as time has gone on and more information has been uncovered. Could the same be true for her? It may be possible that all this contact has revealed important memories/visions to Historia as well. In the past, this was easier to explain. She was simply having her own hidden memories uncovered. It’s not like she is connected to a titan and able to see past or future holders’ memories. But I believe she may also be able to receive others’ memories. We saw hints of this at the moment she killed her father, and in the anime when she read Ymir’s letter. Could she now be receiving them from another source? I think so. I think the source of these memories could be the Founder Ymir.

3. The Founder Ymir does have a will that she can and does exercise to some extent through Paths.

It’s implied in chapter 122 that Ymir is the one who sent visions to Eren as a child. Eren says as much when he asks her if she is the one who led him all the way there to Paths, as if he could sense he had been led in some way. At this point in the story, I don’t think we have time for another bait and switch here. I think we’re being told this actually is the case. The titles of Chapters 1 and 122 seem to me to confirm this. What this means is that the Founder Ymir does have a will that she can and does exercise to some extent through Paths. I’d speculated in chapter 115 when Zeke was resurrected by Ymir that she was pulling some strings. I got away from that idea a bit after chapter 120 when it seemed that Zeke’s royal blood had forced her to save him per his dying wish. Now I think my first idea is more probable. What Zeke was remembering in his dying moments was the conversation in which Eren tells us his intention is to end 2,000 years of titan rule, which is what Ymir seems to want as well. It is also clear in this memory that contact with Zeke is necessary for this to happen. So Ymir intervenes. She is leading Eren to her.

4. It appears that Founder Ymir can see something of the natures of her people and selects who to interact with. Historia’s primary motivation in life is to help people exactly like Founder Ymir.

She singled out Eren. This may have something to do with the nature and history of the Attack Titan and its relationship to Ymir (which I may explore more later), though her first messages reached him before he possessed it. It may also be that he just has a spirit that values freedom over all else, abhors the enslavement of others, and never gives up a fight (the result of having a father who possessed the AT?). Either way, it appears that Founder Ymir can see something of the natures of her people and selects who to interact with.

She may also have some connection to our Ymir, being the only other character we’ve seen who was able to see Paths. Lots of people have outlined the parallels between Founder Ymir and 104th Ymir. If Founder Ymir can watch her subjects and has some understanding of their spirits, I can certainly imagine her feeling some sort of kinship with 104th Ymir, allowing her to be conscious of Paths for a time. How fitting that our Ymir was so instrumental in Historia’s personal development, helping her find the strength to determine her own path in life. A path which is defined by her desire to rescue others who are made to believe they are worthless… In fact, Historia’s primary motivation in life is to help people exactly like Founder Ymir.

If Ymir knows this, wouldn’t Historia be the perfect person to reveal her story to? No matter who, no matter where, Historia will come to her rescue.

Taking another, completely different angle, her name is Historia, y’all. Did Isayama name her that because she is the one to receive the truth of the History of the World? (The World being the condition of being under titan rule, the thing Eren and Ymir wish to destroy, not the actual, literal physical world and all the people in it. Come on now, folks.)

5. Historia and Eren are working toward the end of freeing Ymir and thereby freeing the world of titans. Historia is co-mastermind of this whole thing.

If we follow this line of thinking and take for now that Ymir likely revealed her story to Historia, I’m going to make another leap and conjecture that the distressed Historia we saw in the memory shard in Chapter 120 is her telling Eren what she has learned. I mean, that’s pretty much what I looked like after reading 122.

If this is true, she is the one who has motivated Eren to get to where he is now. They have a shared goal. Historia and Eren are working toward the end of freeing Ymir and thereby freeing the world of titans. Their natures, their stories, make them uniquely situated to be motivated to do this and to achieve this goal together. They have been in cahoots all this time! Historia has not been controlled and manipulated by the forces around her as it appears. She is where she intended to be. Historia is co-mastermind of this whole thing. She is a true Queen.

Now, this all raises some questions:

- At what point did this occur? It could be soon after the award ceremony. It could have been years later, the event that prompted Eren to go over to Marley, meet with Zeke, and steal the War Hammer. It could have happened in stages in those intervening years. We just don’t know enough right now.

- How should we interpret Eren’s reaction to seeing Ymir in Paths for the first time? He’s purposefully been made hard to read in all the recent chapters, so this is difficult. He does seem to be somewhat surprised. As for why, we can only speculate. I think there was still a lot left unknown to Eren and Historia about the specifics of how this plan would work. Eren knows that his goal is to contact Ymir somehow and that it requires getting to Paths, but he doesn’t seem to be prepared for anything beyond that. He doesn’t know what it’ll be like there or what she’ll be like. Maybe he’s surprised that she’s a rag-clad little girl and not some glorious goddess. Maybe he expected the grown Ymir, old enough to have had three daughters. Maybe it’s not a look of surprise at all. It could be the look of someone who has realized how close he’s come to his goal, that the moment is finally upon him. (Is he smiling or upset about the “scenery”? Is the dress white and gold or black and blue?)

This “always here all alone” comment feels to me like an odd first remark about her presence. It feels like he already knows something about her.

- What is the point of Historia’s pregnancy? Who is the father (and does it matter)? Shoot, y’all, I don’t know. I’ve seen a lot of people saying that her baby will be Ymir reincarnated. Maybe? I don’t hate that idea. I just feel like I don’t know enough to figure out how that all works. Is it just a symbol of being Freely Born Into the New World™?

(お前は自由...だ? can’t quite make out that last one --> you are free)

Maybe, but I hope there’s a more concrete purpose. Is it merely the natural result of all the ~contact~ that Historia and Eren have had? I will make no claims and offer no opinions.

- Why does Historia look so upset? Well, one explanation is that the world is kinda falling apart and a lot of people are going to die and also she’s been made even more keenly aware of the depth of the evil that can exist in people. That seems pretty likely to me. She could be worried about how things are going to turn out. As I’ve stated, I don’t think they know all the details of this plan. There’s the possibility of failure. She might just be upset that all she can do right now is sit around and wait to see how things turn out without lending a hand to the efforts of her loved ones.

She might just be annoyed at this guy hovering over her. The worst case scenario is that the pregnancy was never part of her plan and that she’s actually upset about it. Please no! Thankfully I think there are enough plausible alternative explanations that I can avoid despairing over this for now.

- Why does this have to be a secret from everyone? The single most frustrating question to me right now. The only thing I can come up with at the moment is that they felt it would be impossible to convey sufficiently the need for the actions they had to take without inciting opposition earlier than was ideal. I’m not really satisfied with this and very much hope there is a better explanation.

So. Simply put, I think there is reason to believe that Historia is going to end up being one of the most important, badass, and well-crafted characters in this story. I have faith in Yams. Could be I’ve just got to be drunk on that to keep carrying on right now, but I’ll take it.

[victorvictor00000]

FALCO/GABI AND EREN/MIKASA PARALLEL

Having recently reread the manga and after the last few chapters i have noticed a few key similarities between 2 relationships in the manga. These are the Eren-Mikasa and Gabi-Falco relationships. Going through the series, i noticed many parallels between them, which is why i decided to make this post. I am sorry if this has been done before, i didn't notice it. Also, it will be a bit long.

So, let's begin by examining who is who in these dynamics. Eren is obviously Gabi. I think i am not being really innovative suggesting that. These two have constantly been compared to each other, since chapter 91. They have similar hairstyles, they are impulsive to a fault (one could say suicidal), they are brave and the begin as two people full of hate. Gabi hates the Walldians, thinking that their existence hinders the quality of life of the "good" Eldians with her goal being to exterminate them all, just as Eren hated the titans and swore to kill them all. Here we can see them announcing their goals: 

Both of them have their hometowns attacked and destroyed and they travel to their enemie's country and see how they think and live with their own eyes, eventually deciding that the enemies they hated were regular humans, just like them.

Moving on to Mikasa and Falco, they both play the protector, lovestruck-type of role in the relationships. First of all, they were born the same day, February 10. They are both in love with the person they want to protect and they do everything in their power to accomplish that, as seen in the following examples:

 They try to stop their loved one's dream from coming true. Mikasa doesn't want Eren to join the Survey Corps, because she thinks that he will die, while Falco doesn't want Gabi to inherit the Armored Titan, because he knows that her lifespan will be greatly reduced. In that effort, they have the full support of another person. For Mikasa, that person is Carla, Eren's mom, while for Falco, it is Reiner:

  Both Eren and Gabi are also completely oblivious to Mikasa's/Falco's feelings,

   and

 In Eren's case, his obliviousness is portrayed via Marlowe, who has also been compared to Eren and doesn't get why Hitch didn't want him to go and everyone gets angry at him. Well, besides Eren, who doesn't get what happens and Mikasa just looks at him disappointed. Falco just wants Gabi to marry him and live a happy life. Mikasa is quite like him in the sense that she joined the army and the survey corps later, because of Eren. What she really wanted was to live a simple life with him.

Of course, as we know, both Eren and Gabi are hard people to stop. So, since they can't stop them from following their dreams, they decide to follow them and protect them. Mikasa only resolved to go to the military, because she wanted to be close to Eren and the same thing happened in the survey corps,

 Falco, followed Gabi when she climbed to the blimp, which was met with criticism by Gabi,

As of now, there have been quite a few scenes and situations between the 4 to simply be coincidences. For example, in chapter 112, we have Gabi trying to convince Armin and Mikasa to take Falco as a prisoner and kill her, since he did nothing wrong,

 That scene reminded me of the part where Eren defends Mikasa in his trial,

Even earlier, there are also similarities between Gabi and Falco's actions during the battle at Fort Slava and Eren and Mikasa's during the day they first met. The way Eren and Gabi tricked and killed their respective enemies is very similar, along with their protector trying to come to the rescue immediately after:

 and

The ''coincidences" and similarities continue, when in chapter 111, Nicolo tries to hit Gabi, only for Falco to put his body in her place, just as Mikasa did for Eren in chapter 50:

 I also find it really funny that Mikasa saved Gabi and Falco was motivated by Eren. Seems the trend continues even when interacting with their loved one's counterparts. Even the fake names Falco chose, Mia and Ben, resemble Mikasa's and Eren's in the first and last 2 letters respectively. Interestingly, Falco's story, that they are siblings who lost their home is also very similar to Eren's and Mikasa's. Gabi's reaction to her playing the little sister, saying "Why am i your little sister", is close to Eren's outbursts when he says "I am not your kid" to Mikasa. Also, Kaya's made up excuse for Falco's and Gabi's argument in chapter 109 "Mia is jealous that her big brother's getting stolen away from her", is kinda similar to Mikasa's jealousy of Eren's relationship with Annie at the beginning and Historia in chapter 70.

Of course, there are similarities not just between the counterparts, but between Mikasa&Gabi and Falco&Eren. For the girls, both are at the top of their class, proven fighters with immense talent and accomplished. The Eren-Falco comparison though is way more interesting. Essentially, Gabi is a talented Eren, while Falco is a non-talented Mikasa. In this case, we have two boys, weaker than the closest female to them, unable to be the protectors, leaving them to try harder in order to surpass them. With Falco, i have already established that. But with Eren? How does Eren want to be a protector? Well, answer is in the beginning of chapter 50,

 The reason Eren was able to motivate Falco, is because of his mom back then. That's why his words resonated to Falco. He knows how it is to feel powerless to protect people he cares about. The funny thing about the dynamic between Eren and Mikasa is that they are really similar as characters. They both get saddened and frustrated by the fact that they want to protect each other, but they always feel powerless. Of course, for Eren it's a little more complex than that. Besides wanting to protect, he also wants to advance. To fight until the end. He is similar to Gabi, in that she also wants to fight till the end, until her perceived enemies are defeated.

But, here lies the biggest difference between the two. Gabi's goal, is for all the good Eldians to be eventually free from their oppression. To do that, she wants to defeat the demons of Paradise. She is brainwashed. Her mind is fragile and her willpower, while great, pales in comparison to her male counterparts. Coming to Eren, it is impossible to brainwash him. No amount of propaganda would have had any effect on him. His willpower is off the charts. Which is why he is more dangerous than Gabi. He knows he walks down a path with no turning back, but he keeps going. Gabi can't do that. Notice how guilty she feels in the latest chapter, when she understands that the Walldians are people and how she trusts Nile to deliver Falco:

 Now, notice Eren:

  and

 Eren and Gabi both understand. They know that there are good people in both sides, people who don't deserve death and who have led good, decent lives, without hurting anyone. Unlike Gabi, Eren keeps going. He accepts his role as the devil and he steels his resolve to kill them all. Throwing away his humanity, to protect the ones he cares about the most and achieve his dream of freedom. Just like Erwin. And, as we all know, Erwin eventually gave up.

Back to the dynamic of the two relationships. In one of the most recent chapter Falco confessed to Gabi how he feels about her, in a moment that had them both blushing and resembled a lot the moment where Eren spoke to the 104th about how much he cares about them:

 and 

 We have seen by now that Mikasa and Falco only ever blush when it comes down to Eren and Gabi. Interestingly, both Mikasa and Gabi have been questioned about the nature of the relationship they have with Eren and Falco respectively:

  It's also really funny, when you think about it that way. Falco, a kid, is more honest about his feelings than Mikasa who is an adult now.

 Even back then, Mikasa was not honest with herself and how she felt. Notice how she pauses, before saying family.

Before the rereads, i thought i was seeing things. But after careful observation, i found way too many similarities for this to be random. Especially considering that this is Isayama we are talking about. It's no coincidence that the relationships that get the biggest focus in the last arc of the manga are these two. The whole thing about the scarf and armband tossing symbolism in the same chapter, the "why does he say he hates me?",

 "i like you", again in the same chapter have not been put there by mistake. It���s important to note Mikasa pony tail in 108 when Eren says that he cares about them and Gabi ponytail 118 when Falco confessed. That was the only scene we saw Mikasa with ponytail and after that it was cut off for no reason.

 I don't know how all those will come into play in the chapters to come, but they are sure to be important.

[hopeymchope]

So, I'm trying to understand this, from a person who has next to no knowledge on the series. What exactly is going on with Attack on Titan? And I'm more than willing to read a long rant if it means I get an explanation.

If you’re wondering why the tag for the manga blew up in recent weeks, that’s one specific thing - a character “death” (or at least, character-serious-injury) that’s got fans freaking out.

If you’re wondering why everything has been sucking for like two straight years of manga and people like me keep making very salty posts about it, that’s a whole other topic.

And that’s what I’m gonna cover in this rant: How Attack on Titan has been shitting its own bed for more than a year now.

Basic Setup: Attack on Titan takes place in a world where the remnants of humanity live in a walled city. The city’s walls protect them from gigantic, grotesque “Titans” who attempt to devour people on sight.

…but naturally, as the story went on, it got way more complicated.

Most of the problems with the manga began circa the time-skip (which is also where the Anime is going to catch up to once the current season 3 is finished). Rarely has there ever been a time-skip in fiction that’s been wonderfully received, but the four-year gap between “Return to Shanganshima” and the “Marley” arc has to be one of the worst.

But the whole crash-and-burn kind of starts right before the time-skip, when we first learn the name “Marley,” begin to learn the true origin of Titans, and uncover true enemy opposing our heroes via a forced flashback. For the purposes of this little essay, let’s just put all of the Marley-related information into one big collection - I’m not gonna separate the last couple chapters pre-timeskip from all the tons we’ve had afterwards. All things dealing with the aforementioned “enemy” will just go into one big fuckpile.

SO. The time-skip jumped forward fouryears into an arc that lasted almost a year without letting us see any of our established protagonists. Instead, we follow… the enemy I just mentioned.

And since Attack on Titan begins and goes for most of its duration without any clear enemies outside of “TEH TITANS” and “general assholes within the system,” this is where I have to put a spoiler cut.

A Rant on Titan

So the enemy of the characters we know so far is Marley, the actual source of the titans. The world isn’t destroyed at all, naturally. Our heroes just live in one isolated place on the planet, which is forced to be surrounded by Titans because Marley shoved them into that walled city and then created Titans on the regular.

Marley is a nation of………………

…*SIGH*…

okay, look. I could try to call Marley  a “Nazi Germany allegory,” but the allegory is so thin that they’re basically just incredibly overt Nazis. They’re a military-focused nation of incredible genetic pride where purity is celebrated and where one particular race - a group of both different genetic descendancy than them AND of different religious beliefs - are treated as inferior garbage. The Marley government sees “Eldians” as disposable. They are forced to wear armbands with stars on their arms (YES, REALLY) to identify them in public, and they also make them lived in fenced-off, separate communities.

Marley’s science experiments on Eldians (yup, they tossed that in, too) resulted in the creation of the TITANS. It turns the Eldians into mindless prisoners of their own bodies who grow in size, deform, try to eat people instinctively, and long only for their own deaths.

If they made a third AOT video game, it’d have to be something like this. …. So maybe we shouldn’t.

ANYWAY. During this Marley story arc, we mostly follow child soldiers. They’re of “low birth” because of their race. They chose to enter military service in exchange for having their families treated like regular human beings one day, if they earn their way to become titan-shifters. Nevermind that titan-shifters all die within seven years because of the power of turning into a titan - it’s worth it to raise their family’s status beyond just your regular Jews Eldians, right? Nevermind that they’d never really be seen as equals. Even those who have elevated their own rank by becoming shifters are shown to still be subject to some snark and disdain,but yknow - you were just born that way, so you’re shitty regardless, right?

Through this horrific scenario, we follow a few kids in particular - most notably Falco, who is gradually seeing reality and realizing how they don’t deserve to be treated like shit and that this is all a work - and Gabi, who is becoming increasingly militant and more zealous over time.

RELEVANT SIDE NOTE: Gabi’s character design is based upon a sketch Isayama once did of a gender-shfited Eren Jeager (Eren Jaeger is the main protagonist of the series). For that reason, you might be inclined ot think that Gabi is some kind of alternate/parallel Eren.

Except that’s fucking ridiculous, of course!

Gabi is shown to only care about her own rage against the people within the walls of “Paradis” (the sarcastic name for the walled city where all of our heroes come from) above ALL else. She doesn’t care about her family at all, never noticing her brother’s suicidal tendencies and pain even as Falco is acutely aware of it. The fact that her parents are pained by her following her brother’s dark path to becoming a shifter. She doesn’t notice or care. The more evidence that is put in front of her that the other side might not be as evil as she thinks? That just makes her want to commit murder MORE.

Oh, and she DOES murder people. And try to murder more. A lot. She even successfully murders a fan-favorite character - a character who shows her mercy by pointing a gun at her, seeing she’s only a child, and opting to let her live. Gabi repays this mercy by shooting that character in the back later and boasting excitedly about it to anyone who will listen for multiple chapters in a row.

She then tries to top that by attempting to murder that character’s little adopted sister, who is like, maybe 10 years old, tops? Gabi is then protected from harm by Mikasa and now seems to be on the path towards some kind of “redemption arc” because… uh…………..

………………..because Isayama is shitty?

By contrast, Eren struggles throughout the ENTIRE NARRATIVE to bring harm to people who betray him/those he cares about or those who try to kill him/those he cares about, but often runs into incredible challenges when fighting these douchenozzles. The entire time we followed Eren up until now, he always prioritized his family and friends above EVERYTHING. He would risk ANYTHING to protect them and his comrades in the Paradis military… this was true from when he was a young boy at the start of the story up through him being a young man at this point. And he is ESPECIALLY intense about protecting his closest friends, Armin and Mikasa, who he’s known for nearly his entire life. They grew up together.

That’s set in fucking stone for like 90 chapters, so we’re good. Yeah?

Oh, sweet summer child. Perhaps you were so unprepared for Isayama’s Nazi mallet that you didn’t see his secondary weapon coming?

See, the post-timeskip Eren treats his friends like shit. He lies to them, betrays their trust, runs off and starts a literal war on his OWN, and then tells them how much he hates them. Claims he always hated them.

So in the course of just a couple chapters, he goes from saying this:

To swiftly saying THIS:

Note that devastated look in her eyes. Wonderful.

And yes, he’s GOT to be lying, because I don’t think Isayama would juxtapose those two scenes so closely together in some unwitting fashion. But he’s doing so much damage to them by now that I honestly don’t even know if it matters?

Take Hange.

She’s the intelligent leader of the team, the one who always has a wild, unlikely plan. She’s a science whiz and comes up with longshot plans that always seem to weirdly… work out.

We’re told that, three years ago, she was presented a plan to overthrow Marley by Zeke - a fucking bastard who is clearly a member of the enemy, he’s lived with them his whole life, as a child he betrayed his parents to them and had them executed for being disloyal to Marley, and he’s killed COUNTLESS comrades of our heroes - and Hange decided Zeke’s plan was the only possible option and came up with no alternatives for four years. So she made them ally up with the least trustworthy person IMAGINABLE for a terrible plan,b because Hange’s… a stupid sucker now, I guess.

And why is it a terrible plan — aside from the fact that there is literally zero reason to ever believe anything Zeke says to you, since he’s the most evil fucker in the world? Oh, because it hinges HEAVILY around forcing another member of the team — Historia — into a pregnancy to churn out a baby they intend to use for the country’s gain.

Historia’s big character arc in “Attack on Titan” has been her coming to terms with her own identity and OWNING it. She’s been hiding under another identity or been controlled by other people much of her life. She finally comes out under her true name, declares that she’ll never leave in fear or be maniuplated ever again, and then—

… oh wait.. she’s manipulated into being barefoot and pregnant against her own wishes, because their greatest enemy asked for it.

There’s a lot to hate about the post-”Return to Shinganshima” Attack on Titan, in short. From characters becoming inversions of themselves to full fanatical Nazis being treated like redemption babies to complete destruction of self-actualization of other characters and the fact that, even if this is part of some larger plan being manipulated by multiple players (which seems likely), it still won’t really make up for much of the damage… and for that matter, how plausible would it even be?

But basically, there’s going to have to be quite an 11th-hour ass-pull to make this turn out decently in my eyes by now. And that’s not IMPOSSIBLE.

But it’s looking pretty unlikely.

[aspoonofsugar]

There is a recurrent mirror game between Levi and Mikasa (battle poses, personal story in terms of family loss and personality beyond all that). Do you think this is due to a reason perhaps script or is it just done to support the parallel vets - EMA and the Ackerman clan in general?

Hello anon!

Sorry if I took a while to answer you!

As far as battle poses and other superficial similarities go, I think that they are made in order to underline Mikasa and Levi both being Ackermans and so soldiers far superior than others. Let’s also underline that Levi being an Ackerman is something which is unknown in the beginning, so emphasizing his similarities with Mikasa was used as foreshadowing. This is why we have Armin mistaking Levi for Mikasa when he appears and later on Armin commenting that soldiers like Levi and Mikasa could defeat even a shifter. These little things were put there to highlight the fact the two of them were linked somehow and that their strength was something odd which would have been explained later on.

However, I do think Levi and Mikasa have interesting parallelisms which are important for their characters and I would also say Eren has some parallelisms with the two of them as well.

First of all, the parallelisms I am gonna talk about are relevant up until the serum bowl meaning that I am not sure they are still present in the current arc and I will need to wait to see how these three characters’ arcs turn out before I can analyse the way they foil each other in a way which is true to the story. Because of this, this analysis will mostly concentrate on the events up to the Return to Shiganshina arc.

First of all, it is interesting that the three characters are the protagonists of the serum bowl in the sense that they are the characters who get into a fight over who should receive the serum. Moreover they all arrive to a different conclusion for different reasons.

Eren and Levi are motivated by personal feelings. However, in the end Levi’s personal feelings lead him to change his stance and to let Erwin go.

Letting the person she loves go is the choice Mikasa makes in the end. However, in her case it has to do with her accepting Hange’s argument about the necessity of losing people for the greater cause. In short, Mikasa overcomes her personal feelings and accepts to sacrifice a person she loves for the sake of their battle.

In short, you can see that the three characters approach the problem in similar and yet different ways and these similarities and differences can be used to highlight something more about all three of them.

First of all, Levi and Eren are presented to have a somehow common mentality in the beginning in the sense that they are determined to kill the titans and to free their people from the walls. I have already written about it here and probably in some other posts, so I won’t repeat it. The point is simply that Eren admires Levi and wants to become like him, whereas Levi appreciates Eren’s determination in pursuing his objectives and him being ready to kill the titans. They both are convinced that titans are evil and that they should exterminate all of them.

However, this vision of the world is challenged in the Clash of the Titans arc. In that arc it is discovered that titans are humans and that two members of the 104th are titan shifters. These discoveries are shown to greatly disturb Eren and Levi because they go in the way of the line they draw in their minds between titans and humans. Eren has to accept that the friends he grew fond of and the people who destroyed his house are the same and Levi has to accept that all the titans he has been killing were people.

During the Uprising, they are both paralleled with Historia (see here for Levi and Historia’s parallelism). I am not sure they are paralleled also with each other in such a clear way and, as for now, I can’t see it. However, it is true that both keep developing in that arc through them facing a father figure. Levi faces Kenny and Eren faces the truth behind Grisha.

Because of this truth, Eren has to accept that he is not “special” as he thought he was and this is something which leads to a breakdown on his part. He is able to overcome it thanks to what Historia says here:

In a world where right and wrong are getting mixed in Eren’s head and are not so easy to distinguish anymore Historia offers him a perspective which is rooted in people and which helps him. Levi doesn’t have a breakdown like Eren has, but I think he too has to face a world which is changing and benchmarks which are collapsing.

Quoting from the meta I linked above:

Kenny himself realizes while dying that he has been a slave to his own strength and to his obsession for power:

He also asks Levi what is enslaving him:

“What are you? A hero?!”

Among all the things Levi could use his strength for he chooses to join a group of dreamers who are willing to sacrifice their lives in order to save humanity and he also takes up the nickname of “humanity strongest soldier”. He becomes “Captain Levi” like the title of the chapter called after him (let’s note that Levi is the only case where the grade is used in a chapter titled after a character).

In short, Levi uses his strength in order to become a hero as Kenny puts it and it is interesting how this choice is perfectly coherent with the evolution of a child who wants to be praised by his parent because of his strength. If Historia tries to be loved by playing the role her father gave her, Levi tries to make himself accepted by society through his strength like Kenny taught him.

Levi has been given an incredible strength and he tried to use his strength to protect the people he cares for and to help others. However, the revelations about the world make things more complicated. In such a situation Levi becomes more and more motivated by people.

For example, when Erwin reveals to him that his dream is more important than humanity for him he still chooses to follow him and in this way it already appears clear that Levi, just like Eren, is a person whose motivations lie mostly in his loved ones.

In short, when it comes to Eren and Levi they start as people that, at least superficially, are motivated by the convinction that the titans as their enemies must be eliminated, but start being challenged more and more showing in this way how they are deeply motivated by their loved ones. Because of this, it is interesting that both of them approach the serum bowl motivated by the love they feel for a person. However, they feelings of love lead them on making opposite choices. As a matter of fact Eren wants Armin to survive no matter what, whereas Levi chooses to let Erwin go.

Letting loved ones go and learning to live without them is a central part of Mikasa’s arc as I explained here.

The root of Mikasa’s character is that she is a child who lost her family and who is terrified from the prospective of losing it again and to remain alone.

(...)

However, the narrative keeps challenging her on this aspect to the point that I wouldn’t be surprised if, by rereading Mikasa’s arc at the end of the series, it would turn out that the whole story was preparing her to say goodbye to Eren (and possibly to Armin):

After all Mikasa has been now tricked twice into thinking that she was losing a member of the costitutive group representative of her happy childhood. To me these two occurrences seemed rehearsals to what will be Mikasa’s final trial. Moreover, she is even told that both Armin and Eren won’t live long.

It’s as if the narrative is warning her that she has to move on and to become more independent because one’s life isn’t reduced to the family nucleus one is born in, but a person can forge new relationships and find warmth and happiness even outside it.

In short Mikasa’s story starts with her being totally unable to face a traumatic loss and it is possible that it will end with her having become strong enough to actually let go. It would be a beautiful way to end her arc imo because it would tie it back to her original trauma (her family being killed) and would solve it together with her relationship with Eren who firstly taught her that she could keep on living even without her loved ones.

Levi’s arc deals with grief as well. As I stated above Mikasa keeps being tricked by the narrative into thinking she is about to lose either Eren (in Trost) or Armin (in Shiganshina), whereas Levi has basically lost a person important to him in all the major arcs he has played a major role. In the Female Titan arc he lost his squad, in the Uprising he lost Kenny and finally he lost both the recruits and especially Erwin in Shiganshina. Even in the current arc we are shown that Levi is still struggling with grief and his motivations lie in his wish to honour the deads.

In short, both characters must learn to deal with loss, but (at least up until The Return to Shiganshina) their growth happens in different ways. Mikasa must struggle to become more independent from Eren. This is why we see her becoming more trusting of her comrades and starting to embrace the SC ideals more than she did in the beginning. Levi becomes instead slightly more open with his new squad and shows more vulnerability to them like the end of the Uprising arc shows. The serum bowl shows this different change very clearly. Both Mikasa and Levi chooses to let respectively Armin and Erwin die, but they do so for opposite reasons. mikasa sacrifices her feelings for Armin, whereas Levi acts on his feelings for Erwin.

Another interesting parallelism is the one Mikasa, Eren and Levi have in the Female Titan arc. As a matter of fact in that arc all three characters end up giving in to their rage towards the Female Titan. Levi does so by threathening her and this is among the reasons why Annie cooses to make a dangerous gamble and escapes. Eren attacks Annie instead of running after Levi squad has been killed and this leads to him being captured. Finally, Mikasa attacks Annie out of rage and would have died if Levi had not saved her.

In that situation Levi makes an interesting remark:

He underlines that there is a difference between killing an enemy and protecting a friend. In the world of snk these two things often end up overlapping. For example, Eren saved Mikasa by killing her kidnappers and Mikasa herselfwants to protect Eren by cutting down his enemies. However, as the story goes on as it is made clear these two things are not always the same.

Levi’s character could actually be the embodyment of this since he has killed more enemies than anyone else, but has still lost countless people he could not protect.

I am underlining this because it is interesting to consider when it comes to Mikasa and Eren’s behaviours.

Mikasa and Eren are foils in the sense that both have been traumatized by the death of their mothers. They reacted to this loss in a violent way, but they directed this violence in different directions. Mikasa wants to use her strength to protect his new family, while Eren wants to kill his mother’s enemies.

Again, these two approaches make so that the two characters have initially similar behaviours, but I wonder if as the series approaches its conclusion a difference will be highighted between these two ideas:

Here Mikasa remembers when Eren saved her, but differently from before she is disturbed by the violence of the scene. Similarly, it is possible that Eren wants to protect his friends, but he is going at it in this way apparently:

Of course this last point is very up in the air because we don’t know what Eren’s motivations and plans are (it’s also important to say that Eren is not motivated by vengeance anymore), but at least it is interesting to think about it.

Take this whole analyses with a grain of salt since currently we don’t know what will happen to Levi and Eren’s interiority is a mystery for us.

Thank you for the ask!

[shreddedleopard]

10 Reasons it would make narrative sense for Levi and Historia’s character arcs to conclude together.

I’ve been wanting to do this for ages, but I’ve been nervous of the backlash. Feels like it’s now or never though, and theorising for/analysing stories is one of my favourite things to do - I’m clearly missing those literary analysis essays from university days. So please excuse me if you think I’m deluded - I probably am - but the analyst in me won’t let me be until I’ve got this all out of my system.

Beware, it’s a long one. There's some thoughts on chapter 130 nearest the bottom!

1. Childhood Parallels - The Abandoned Children

Levi and Historia’s childhoods mirror one another - there are striking similarities, but then also sections that fit together to complete each other, as though they are matching jigsaw pieces. The characters start out in worlds that are opposite - Historia has the comforts of a safe home, food on the table, and fresh air and sunshine. She has all the physical nourishment she needs, but she does not have her mother’s love. On the contrary, his mother’s love is the one thing Levi does have, otherwise living in poverty underground. Both their mothers, however, appear to be using sex and the idea of love as a means to survive or way to try and improve their circumstances, and it is out of this necessity that both end up being born.

Levi is clearly affected when he first hears Historia’s tale of her childhood - Isayama shows this through the fact that Levi’s plate is the only one left untouched at the end of her story. He has been so sucked in by what she’s relayed, and probably saddened, that he hasn’t been able to bring himself to eat as the others have. Historia’s story rings true with some of his own experiences, but also highlights the world he may have found himself in without his mother’s love.

Remember, Isayama consciously thinks about each panel he’s drawing - he wouldn’t include a small detail like that without reason. We see more of these instances of small but significant stylistic choices and minor details as we progress. Isayama stated in an interview that he wants to give fans an ending that fans would never guess, but that when they look back, the clues were there all along.

Continuing on with the theme of their childhoods and Isayama’s stylistic choices, let’s take a look at two significant moments:

Both characters, although experiencing different forms of deprivation initially (Physical vs. Emotional Nourishment) were abandoned at crucial moments in their lives - when they were looking for validation from their primary caregivers and the people who should have been responsible for demonstrating affection. Historia was abandoned when, after reading and taking onboard information she read in books just like her mother, she reached out to hug her, and Levi was abandoned at the moment he demonstrated that he’d absorbed everything Kenny had taught him. The parallel between these images is very powerful.

Kenny is a character that highlights more parallels between Historia and Levi.

Kenny’s words highlight the literal lack of growth in height for both Historia and Levi - both are particularly short, and also look youthful - but we can also take the words to suggest that the characters are still very much defined by what happened to them in their pasts, and have yet to step away from their demons and achieve closure on what has happened to them as children.

At this point, we can definitely say that Isayama has chosen to tie both Historia and Levi’s stories together through their childhoods - their backstories are revealed alongside each other, in the same arc of our story, and in terms of experiences, they are both identical and mirror opposite at different points.

2. Shared Values

Despite being deprived of affection for large portions of their childhoods, both Levi and Historia appear to have experienced glimmers of kindness in their darkness as well, and this has shaped some of their values and behaviours.

Levi experienced his mother's love for a short while until he lost her - we know how deeply she cared for him from her refusal to give him up despite Kenny’s advice to her when she fell pregnant. Historia had Frieda’s kindness instilled in her, even though she's not able to consciously remember her actions until later. 

Both display an affinity for animals, with several manga and even anime-only scenes where we see them being affectionate and kind to their horses. We don’t see this as prominently with any other characters.

But one of the biggest shared values is their desire to protect children. I've posted on this before, but here are a few examples of Levi being driven by this value:

It’s clear Levi has a soft spot for children. And Historia? We know her feelings on children from her first action as Queen - realised with the support of Levi.

3. Kenny’s failure … Levi’s success?

These next scenes we’ll focus on represent the moment that Levi and Historia are set up to undergo that ‘growth’ Kenny was referring to earlier in the uprising arc. Note Isayama’s choice of words here, and the symbolism of the whole scene. Kenny doesn’t tell Levi, ‘I couldn’t be someone you looked up to,’ or ‘I wasn’t fit to act as your father figure,’ he literally says ‘I can’t be some kid’s dad.” What does he do then? He shoves the titan serum at Levi.

Isayama pays great attention to this - dedicating several panels to the weighty moment, and Levi’s expression. It’s very dramatic. Notice how the word ‘Dad’ even has it’s own speech bubble. It’s almost as though Kenny is passing the mantle on to Levi - passing that responsibility on to him. It feels as though the passing of the serum replaces the missing words, ‘but you can.’ Isayama didn’t have to have Levi ask that question in the moment before Kenny passed the serum on to him. He could have positioned it so that the discussion about dreams was the precursor to the serum being passed over - which in my head, for the context of the scene, would make more sense. But he didn’t; he chose to have Kenny say that exact line to Levi - to admit his inadequacy as a father figure, with that focus on the word dad - and then hand the item over to Levi.

By itself, the scene could be seen as highlighting the ways that Levi is already a better father figure than Kenny. He has been somewhat paternal in his role as a Captain. But it’s the very next scene that brings Historia immediately into focus.

Historia looks suddenly so much maturer here, and the way the scenes sit immediately after one another feels too much like foreshadowing.

If you want the full effect of what I mean here, just rewatch this section of the anime!

We are presented with parallels between them once again. The focus of the crown and power of the monarchy being bestowed on Historia parallels the gift of the serum from Kenny to Levi - drawing on the ‘titan science’ element of the Ackerman heritage, perhaps?

Let me take a moment here, while we have these two visual representations of the Ackerman and Royal bloodlines side by side so perfectly, to point out that Isayama chose to answer a question in Bessatsu Shonen Magazine regarding the nature of a child born of both these bloodlines in 2018:

Q: If a child were to be born between two people from the royal family and the Ackerman family, which blood would take precedence? 

A: I think that both [of their bloodlines] would be reflected.

4. Blood Lines, Identity and Destinies - the Acker/Royal connection

We are still missing some information about the Ackermans, and Mikasa’s own Ackerman powers and behaviours have been a focus in recent chapters, prompting more questions. This suggests that the role of the Ackermans will be important in the story’s finale. With that said, lets have a look at what information we have about them so far in relation to the Royal Family:

- They worked closely with the Royal Family at one time, even being described as their sword and shield until they fell out of favour.

- They cannot be controlled by the king’s vow or have their memories tampered with. For this reason, they became enemies of the crown and the two bloodlines became at odds with one another.

Do either of these scenarios sound familiar in a romantic setting? The knight and princess trope has been hugely popular in fiction for as long as stories have been told - Lancelot and Guinevere is a well known classic. And two feuding families finally brought back together through love by the younger generation? Romeo and Juliet, anyone?

Okay, so maybe I’m reaching here. But Isayama has opened the discourse around this connection between the two bloodlines without concluding it, so I am certain it will have a part to play in upcoming chapters. Why create two characters from said bloodlines with such satisfyingly parallel but awful childhoods, if not to use them in some way to conclude this part of the narrative in the future?

5. The Beast Titan.

Another common plot point that Levi and Historia have is Zeke. The Beast Titan is a defining element in both their arcs. Levi is driven forward by his vow to kill Zeke, and this is repeated to the point where we expect this to be realised, or at least to see some satisfying resolution between the two. Historia’s situation is defined by her vulnerability to being turned into a Titan in order to consume Zeke. This threat to Historia’s life as a normal girl is also repeated across the later story arcs, just as Levi’s vow and apparent destiny to face off again with the Beast Titan is. If we link back to the knight princess trope, we could suggest that Historia is the metaphorical princess, Levi is the metaphorical knight, and The Beast Titan is the metaphorical dragon. The dragon must be slain in order to protect the princess, and the one to do this is always the gallant knight, or the hero. We know that Levi has been labelled Humanity’s Strongest, and even a hero, before.

It has been Levi’s destiny from the start. What's more, what is the crux of Zeke’s plan for Eldians? 

Euthanasia by preventing reproduction. Zeke’s ideology basically directly opposes the values of Levi and Historia - who wish to save as many children as possible.

6. The Smile

If there is one scene Levi fans lost their heads over, it’s this one. The Smile. Who was responsible for getting the sullen Captain to smile? None other than Queen Historia. The one time we get to see a genuine smile from him, in all 131 chapters of SNK, is when Historia playfully punches his arm. I think by this point, it is absolutely fair to say that Levi has a soft spot for her, although I’m not suggesting this is anything romantic at this stage due to her still being a child. What else is interesting about this scene? Let’s look at it from Historia’s point of view. She’s still a 15 year old girl. I’m hardly suggesting she’s got deep, meaningful feelings for a Captain so many years her senior. What I am suggesting, is that clearly there is the beginnings of her seeing him in a different light, and feeling some sort of fondness towards him too. This is also the stereotype of innocent, youthful infatuation - how many times have we seen teenagers play-fighting or bantering with the object of their affections? Something might just be stirring in Historia towards the Captain as she begins her transition into adulthood.

7. THAT (deleted) Scene

Okay, so we can’t very well talk about the smile in the context of this topic without addressing this scene:

There were a few scenes cut to make the uprising arc in the anime more streamlined. This is one of them, and again, has been one of the most talked about. People either love or hate this scene. In the manga, it absolutely sets up some major character growth for Historia, when she goes from being scared and allowing Levi to threaten her into taking an action, to standing up to him atop the wall at Orvud district, throwing his own words back at him. In contrast to Historia’s willingness, Levi becomes more receptive to her perspective and backs down, which also shows his growth. (More on that shortly!)

So, if it adds to the narrative around Levi and Historia, and is a key part of their development as characters, why did Isayama let the studio remove it? It must be because their influence on one another’s growth is no longer important to the story, correct?

If you ask me, that couldn’t be further from the truth. 

Isayama has stated there were some elements of Uprising that he was unhappy with. Just, for a moment, think how this scene would fit into the bigger picture of a relationship (whether that be deeply platonic or even romantic) between Historia and Levi. Could people get behind that knowing that once, he handled her so roughly? Does keeping this scene as canon for the anime open a can of worms in terms of what is and isn’t acceptable (even more so than the age gap already does) when it comes to a relationship? Could Isayama be seen as glorifying abuse and suggesting that female characters are likely to develop feelings for men who have treated them so poorly in the past? I completely understand Levi’s reasoning for acting this way in this scene, and I loved the set up and pay off later in the arc. However, I do believe that animating this, and then having them become much closer later in the story, could make a backlash likely.

My conclusion to this particular section is - if their influence on one another as characters was unimportant, and the payoff of them reaching a stage where they bring out the best in one another wasn’t relevant to the rest of the story, then The Smile shouldn’t have made it in, right? So much of the set up was removed that it would have been far easier to scrap the scene than to try and figure out another reason for Historia to punch Levi, and make him smile.

That punch was important. It remains for a reason.

8. Levi’s Echo

So, since we discussed the impact of Levi’s words on Historia in the previous point, and how Isayama uses them to illustrate her character growth, let’s jump ahead all the way to chapter 130. We’re now post time skip, where Historia is nineteen. She’s matured now into a young woman - a woman old enough to acceptably conceive a child. This is the chapter which caught everyone’s attention due to Historia’s words to Eren regarding the idea of said child. But first of all, I want to focus on a scene which appears a couple of panels before her question:

‘It’s not as if I’ve just been tending to cattle all this time.’

What does this line mean? The only thing we know in terms of what Historia has been doing in the time skip is that she set up an Orphanage that Levi was also very much invested in and supported her with. So she’s not only been tending to cattle, but ... tending to orphans? With the Captain’s help?

Remember how we said that Isayama doesn’t include subtle details unless there’s a reason. Having Levi support her with the orphanage as a way to show how much he cares about the poorer children wasn’t needed - we already know from several instances discussed earlier that he cares about that topic deeply. So surely this must have been a small detail to set up for a later reveal?

This line alone is interesting, but not necessarily enough to suggest a big influence from Levi. But it’s the next line that grabs attention:

‘There’s no need to fight or run.’

What does this echo?

In my mind, the reason served by this dialogue in 130 is twofold. It works with both the literal events of the deleted scene, and also with the reader’s knowledge that the scene was disregarded later:

1. There is no reason to run or to fight, because Levi is on her side now. When he originally spoke those words to her - run from me or fight me - they were used in reference to what he and the corps were going to make her do - ie, become Queen. Now, they are not forcing her to do anything - they aren’t making her comply with the 50 year plan of producing as many royal children as possible and turning herself into a titan. Instead, she’s empowered by them, and very importantly, him, to make her own decisions while they try to figure out an alternative. (Why do I say him? I’ll cover this in the next point). And yet ... she still chooses to bear a child. A child born of love, not necessity. This is the difference between the birth of her child, and her own birth. And funnily enough, Levi’s birth, too. 

The cycle of history is being broken.

2. Her words serve as a reminder that in the revised version of events, Levi never even forced that choice upon her in the first place. He’s always been her ally and treated her with care and respect. Even more reason for her to value and care for him in return. There really is no need to run or fight - from the military police, because she will bear a child, stopping them from turning her - or from Levi, either. 

9. The Hooded Figure

As promised, let me explain why I say that Levi empowers Historia (yet again) to make her own decisions. My good friend Key made a wonderful discovery regarding the hooded figure panel, and honestly, based on the evidence I’ve seen, I’d be prepared to bet a whole lot on this next claim:

Levi is the hooded figure who warned Historia of the plan to turn her.

I’ve shared Key’s original post previously, but here’s the gist, with some added observations.

Levi from the hallway; Levi from that iconic scene, fits the dimensions of the hooded figure perfectly, without having to adjust the panel sizes. 

The jacket worn is lighter in colour than Eren’s standard black one, but is reminiscent of the jackets worn by the Levi Squad in the uprising arc. The only other clue we’re given to work from is that the figure has their hands in their pockets.

Hmm ... you know who else has a habit of stuffing his hands in his pockets?

So if Levi is the one who warned Historia, is that why she subtly uses his words when talking to Eren?

Let me return to chapter 130 once more, and just invite you to read the following panels from a different angle.

10. Mikasa-Eren/Levi-Historia Parallels

Alright, so this is a bit of a head-mash, but just consider what I’m about to say. In our panels with the Historia-Eren-Zeke conversation, Mikasa is never mentioned by name once. Zeke mentions ‘this Ackerman girl,’ however there is no confirmation that Eren was in fact talking about Mikasa when he asked Zeke about the Ackerman traits ...

Isayama only shows us the conversation with Zeke after Eren has just spoken to Historia about her fate and what the Paradis government want her to do in terms of bearing children. If these are just all memory fragments of Eren’s, why would discussing this with Historia suddenly make Eren think of a conversation about Ackerman traits with Zeke?

In this conversation, Zeke puts two and two together and gathers that Eren is asking these questions because of Mikasa. He then tells him how much Mikasa obviously cares about Eren, regardless of any ‘ingrained behaviour.’ What does Eren then link this with?

The conversation where Historia asks him what he’d think if she was to bear a child. What does ingrained Ackerman behaviour and Mikasa’s true feelings have to do with Historia’s child?

I want to suggest this possibility: this conversation has nothing to do with Mikasa’s feelings for Eren, and everything to do with Levi’s feelings for Historia.

Eren even confirms that Zeke has the wrong end of the stick with asking him how he will respond to Mikasa’s feelings.

What are you even talking about?

Here, he is not considering how he will respond to Mikasa, because he can’t even contemplate that with what he is about to do, and how long he has left to live (although this may have then prompted his later conversation with Mikasa after the market - where he sees Levi save the boy that he will later kill - do you see how this is all linking together?)

Here he means the lives of Historia, her child, and potentially even Levi, as well of course as Armin, Mikasa and the rest of his friends. Want to know why I think that? Isayama hinted it. Again.

We have the image of Historia, suggesting the idea of bearing a child, followed by the image of the child Levi saved, followed by the image of Levi himself.

Isayama draws every detail in every panel for a reason. If part of his conclusion to this manga involves Levi and Historia intertwined and the birth of an Ackerman-Royal child, it won’t be a massively random idea.

It will contribute to an ending where the clues were there all along, but we never really considered them.

(There’s more, so much more, but I have to stop somewhere or I won’t leave my computer. If anyone wants a part two because you’re thirsty for more of this crap, drop me a comment!)

[jackredfieldwasmyjacob]

SONGS GAME SKAM ESPAÑA PART 3

Here is the previous part for reference: https://jackdragon20.tumblr.com/post/184939832676/skam-espa%C3%B1a-songs-game-pt-2

This edition is gonna be only of the girls, because the boys songs were not really that strong honestly. Dylan’s was cool, but Dylan’s always cool so that’s no fair.

Anyways, let’s start!

-CRIS: “I Won’t Say I’m In Love” / “No Diré que es Amor” (Hercules) [I prefer the Spanish version, but I’ll put the English lyrics for good measure]

This song is perfect for her. Literally perfect. What’s the main thing of her character that they’re exploring this season? Her not being able to fall for anyone. Until Joana, of course. This is basically her song. I imagine her singing this on her way home at the end of the first episode (or maybe the second?), roaming Madrid’s streets and confused as heck, singing this song and realizing she’s in love with Joana. Also I would like to imagine the muses would be her other friends, that appear randomly in the background doing the backing vocals and trying to convince her of her love for Joana.

Some lyrics for reference:

“Girl, you can’t conceal it / We know how you feel / And who you’re thinking of”

“No chance, no way / I won’t say it no, no / (You swoon, you sigh) / (Why deny it? uh-oh) / It’s too cliché / I won’t say I’m in love”

-EVA: “A Quien Quiera Escuchar” (Maldita Nerea)

The title translates to “To Whoever wants to Listen”. You’ll see it with the lyrics, but the song talks just about what Eva is going through at this moment. She’s starting seeing Cristian, and she’s starting to fall in love again, but she’s scared and still holds Jorge really deep in her heart. She sings this song tearing her heart open, maybe getting ready for a date with Cristian, trying to pull herself together. Here are some of the translated lyrics:

“Another turn in the story / Another beginning” (these are the opening lyrics)

“Now that I wasn’t looking for it / Love comes and finds me again”

“It’s not the fear in the soul / It isn’t, no / Is the doubt of entering / It’s you / It’s you, it’s the hope / that invites me to let it go”

“Although later this always / turns into a never” (this verse repeats throughout the song, changing the last word, first is “always”, then is a “maybe” and finally a “never”)

-AMIRA: “That’s what you get” (Paramore)

Ok this one was a bit difficult to see. I imagine maybe in a parallel universe or in a future, the girl group gets in a big fight and dissolves. And Amira, being the greatest friend ever, puts all of them back together and sings this song, full of anger so they can see what they’ve done to her, and reconcile. Some lyrics:

“So take a seat, we’re settling the final score / And why do we like to hurt so much?”

“Pain, make your way to me, to me / And I’ll always be just so inviting”

-NORA: “Gloomy Sunday” (Billie Holiday)

I chose this song because with her voice it could sound SO pretty and amazing. Also because I think this song could fit well with her character. I imagine her with a guitar, maybe in her house balcony, thinking about all the Alejandro situation and feeling miserable, pouring her heart out into this song. Some lyrics:

“ Sunday is gloomy, my hours are slumberless / Dearest the shadows, I live with are numberless / Little white flowers will never awaken you”

“Death is no dream, for in death I’m caressing you / With the last breath of my soul I’ll be blessing you”

-VIRI: “Historias de Amor” (OBK)

The title translates to “Love Stories”, and for me is one of the most over-the-top songs in Spain’s history. Of course, it’s perfect for Viri, as a confession to Alejandro. I imagine her putting on a show, involving the other girls of course, and Alejandro walking into some kinda place (maybe allured by Nora?) And bam, Viri starts thinking this jewel.

Some translated lyrics are:

“Love stories / eyes that look dreamy / passions lived between the two / impossible to erase” (this is the chorus)

“I have a lot to say / I hear voices without reasoning / I can’t live without you”

-JOANA: “Somebody to Love” (Queen)

And last but not least, Queen Joana (see what I did there?). I imagine her being really extra with this song. Like, similar to Viri’s song, I imagine Joana wanting to surprise Cris, especially now that Cris is horny af. That’s why, with the help of the other girls, they get Cris to some kind of bar or something like that, just for her, and there appears Joana, really seductive and sensual, singing this song, to satisfy all Cris’ horny desires. 

Some lyrics:

“Find me somebody to love / Find me somebody to love / Find me somebody to love / Find me somebody to love”....

That was all, hope you liked them! Let me know your thoughts :)

[snkpolls]

SnK Chapter 109 Poll Results

The chapter 109 poll closed with 1070 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

RATE THE CHAPTER 1,038 Responses

With overall good reviews, the chapter had an average score of 3.86 out of 5. Many people appreciated the breather and the info dump while others felt like nothing really happened and are becoming more impatient to get answers or see their favorites again.

Apart from the depressing lack of Levi, I enjoyed the chapter. Hange's look of resolution was a relief, showing that Erwin was right to choose Hange as the next commander. Kaya's simple questioning and Falco's responses were moving. Poor Gabi still doesn't get it, but I hope she will.

Glad to see the dots getting connected up in the story slowly. I expect big revelations in the next chapters to come. Also nice to see some more intrigue and character developing moments, and not just back-to-back action. I love this series for chapters like this one.

Fantastic chapter. I was so sad when it ended. I can't wait for shit to hit the fan.

My rating is a high 3. Not that it was an average chapter, but just slower and focused on Gabi and Falco where there was a LOT of setup and a good bit of pay-off. Basically, I feel like it was mostly setup and so not that great on its own.

Honestly, this was a meh chapter. I'm really wanting to see the EMA conversation.

I believed we were going to see EMA talk + more information about Historia's pregnancy + Nicolo with his bottle of wine, but it looks like Isayama decided to surprise us and give us "" The Big Adventure of Falco and Gabi"".

I thought it was really well done and its making me warm up to seeing some of the characters I wasn't too fond of in the past

IT WAS SO GOOD OH MY GOD! The flashbacks just bring up old feelings especially seeing the full story of Sasha saving Kaya. I am absolutely ready and not ready for what will happen next.

loved it, I live for character driven chapters

  WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF THE CHAPTER? 1,048 Responses

With a heavy character-focused chapter, 23.5% of respondents found Gabi being bitten by the horse their favorite moment (though is that because of the Jean joke or the content of the chapter itself?). In 2nd place, 20.6% chose Kaya’s recollection of Sasha, and in 3rd with 15.1% Mikasa remembering Eren.

Does Jean have mind control powers over the horse that bit Gabi?

Horse Paths

I wonder if the horse that attacked Gabi was actually Sasha's horse? Animals can sense things we can't.

The horse' smirk after biting Gabi is the proof Isayama is the best mangaka

Gabi, this is the work of Isayama after all... devilry is to be expected.

Nice to see Jean getting more development

This whole calling every horse Jean shit that this fandom does is so tired.

The part at the end of the chapter with Gabi, Falco and Kaya might be one of my favorite moments in the entire series. I can't wait to see what kind of effect it has on Gabi. While I don't think Gabi's brainwashing will be broken completely, this moment definitely should have opened her eyes a little.

Since it wasn't included, I'm adding it here: my favourite moment was Kaya, Gabi and Falco's final conversation about the ""heritage of sins"". Kaya's ""Why did my mother have to die like that?"" parallels the same sentiment of a lot of characters (Eren in particular), and I'm liking this approach for Gabi's development. Really heart-wrenching.  A special mention to the best dad ever, Papa Blouse. He's really kind-hearted and I loved that panel where he thought Gabi's reaction to his wife (?) petting her head was because Gabi had an abusive family. Or, at least, that's what I got from that.

I really appreciated the grim take on kid Eren's savage attack against the human traffickers, because it was exceptionally creepy in real life standards. You can see Eren stabbed the guy at least six or seven times and continued even when the guy was clearly not moving anymore.

  WHICH NEW DETAIL DID YOU GET MOST EXCITED ABOUT? 1,038 Responses

35.5% of respondents were excited to learn that Yelena actually did contact Eren prior to his time in Marley. 14% were pleased to find out that Kaya overheard Falco and Gabi talk about getting back home. 12% are intrigued by the boat and about nearly the same amount of people were excited to learn that both Floch & Co released sensitive information about Eren and that Louise is the girl Mikasa saved back in chapter 6.

Hanji seems to be preparing something...

Paradis is maybe planning to test the rumbling power in Shiganshina

That the girl Sasha saved is named Kaya

The series is so complicated right now little tib bits are flying way over my head like “Eren has a house” and “Shiganshia is being evacuated”. Completely missed those.

Floch is now a hardcore Eren stan (character development!)

The fact that at least one person (two if we count that one drunk MP) is paying attention to all these red flags which screams "ZEKE IS PLAYING YOU ALL LIKE A FIDDLE: ABORT MISSION"

Floch is swirl-head no longer.

Zackly's appearance and his title as "head of state"

I want to know so much! What did Zeke/Yelena tempt Eren with? What was so convincing to the Floch Faction?! Is Levi okay?!?

 WHICH OF THE NEWLY NAMED CHARACTERS WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 1,043 Responses

Kaya made a big impact on most readers, with 64.5% liking her most out of the more-newly-introduced characters. Louise is next at 31.7%.

if Ms. Kaya actually becomes the next generation Sasha my acne will clear.

Kaya is just so sweet I love her lots she just admires Sasha so much and will play a huge part in Gabi's character development I think.

Kaya is adorable and I will love and protect her with my entire life

Louise is awesome since she still has a youthful optimism that has been beaten out of the main crew for a long time, and Kaya is an awesome character

I love Gabi. I love Falco. I love Hange. I love Kaya. I love Mikasa. Too much to love in the series, what do I do?

The scene between Louise and Mikasa surprised me. I didn't expect this girl to appear again and I didn't expect her to dedicate her heart to Mikasa. That felt almost romantic..

I want more Louise teasing to Mikasa

  WHICH FLASHBACK HAD THE MOST EMOTIONAL IMPACT FOR YOU? 1,044 Responses

42% of respondents most felt a connection to Kaya’s story about Sasha saving her. Following up in 2nd with 31.1% is Mikasa’s memories of Eren, and Hange rounds up 3rd with 22.8.

I cried when Kaya sad she want to be like Sasha.

First time reading gave me chills (when kaya said she wanted to be like Sasha)

adore how, when Louise asks if Eren saved Mikasa, Mikasa remembers him wrapping the scarf around her, while the moment when he literally saved her life by killing two of her abductors is cast sinisterly (just like it was in Chapter 6). It really makes crystal clear that it was his kindness, not his violence, that saved Mikasa. (Like how Sasha didn't just save Kaya's life, the Brauses took her in, too.)

  HOW GREAT WAS IT TO SEE FLEGEL IN THIS CHAPTER? 1,039 Responses

Flegel returns to the manga after over 50 chapters, sporting Isayama’s hallmark post-time-skip beard!

I just loved all of it. Loved to see past characters reappear like Flegel, Louise, Peaure, Roy, etc.

  WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE CAUSE OF MIKASA’S HEADACHES? 1,028 Responses

Nearly half of respondents believe that Mikasa’s headaches are something purely connected to her “AckerAsian” biology and are unique only to her. 18% believe that it’s something related to the Eldian paths, and another 18% think it’s something about Louise specifically. We received many interesting write-in theories as well:

A mix between her AckerAsian biology and something regarding Eren and/or the coordinate.

I think it’s paths affecting her and that she is somehow connected to paths because of her Ackerman background.

Either Zeke or Kiyomi trying to manipulate her memories or release new feelings about them? We know that Ackermans can't forget, but they could be affected differently. But then... Eren would have needed to do something to her. I hope not.

AckerBond breaking

Maybe she is starting to actually question Eren and will turn against him

Her headaches are triggered by stressful memories or circumstances. PTSD maybe?

I think Mikasa always gets those headaches in times of great stress, ever since she got hit in the head by those traffickers as a child.

As others have said, fear of losing her family again

I think she experiences these headaches whenever she feels she's about to lose or lost someone she cares about. If she's having doubts about what kind of person Eren is, in a way she's losing the Eren she knows. I'm not sure, though!

Louise had the wrong idea about Mikasa after she was saved by her so Mikasa is having a realization that she has likely misread Eren this whole time.

I hope that Mikasa will go on her own road and will disconnect from Eren. She got a headache because she remembered a painful event and this time she was able to see Eren's cruelty and insanity. She didn't see it before. Maybe this memory will cool her so she can move on and live for herself, not just for Eren. She needs to make her own decisions and create her own path. The event with Louise probably helped her to realize that.

    THIS CHAPTER WAS HEAVY ON CHARACTER FOCUS AND WE’VE SEEN A LOT OF DIFFERENT IDEAS ABOUT HOW THINGS ARE BEING PERCEIVED. WITH EACH STATEMENT BELOW, INDICATE HOW MUCH YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE.

Falco is still without a doubt best boy, and even though she seems to be the most hated character in the fandom right now, most people don’t think Gabi is all that bad. More importantly, we still really like seeing these two little rascals together.

I like gabi as a character +she's pretty skilled for her age (overparanoid yes but that's what happens when u'r an eldian soldier in marley

Gabi is really tearing my feelings apart - I hate, despite and pity her at the same time.

Getting tired of Gabi being just "that brainwashed kid". She needs some serious character development. She used to be one of my favourites but the "gotta kill everyone" and "muh marley" is getting old. She deserves better.

I'm not angry at Gabi. She has been brainwashed and raised in pro-Marley family. I'm not surprised she acts this way. I believe that she is slowly starting opening her eyes and she will find the truth soon. Yet, I'm surprised of her different type of ""development"". In Marley she was the most skilled and bravest warrior, while on Paradis she cannot do a simple farm work properly and she is afraid of a horse.  

Falco is more of a plot device than a realistic character at this point. Gabi is a hundred times more interesting.

Loving the focus on Falco and Gabi, I love those two.

All the Gabi/Falco focus is boring and undeserved, I hope future chapters don't spend so long in them

I loved the character development of Best Boy and Garbage. If things turn out right, Garbage will be redeemed and I'll actually start liking her again

The most divisive character actually seems to be Floch.

On the subject of Floch, I think he only speaks a very superficial ""truth"". His truth appeals to immediate emotional responses, but isn't capable of processing complexity and following the proposed reasoning to its logical end, the consequences.

Wtf I love floch now

Floch may be crazy but he might be onto something

The fandom appears to be conflicted about Hange’s leadership abilities. Most of us however seem to agree that Hange and Pixis were justified in containing Floch, Yelena and their following.

I feel hange (cuz i can't figure out the right choice if there is one either)

Hanji is totally right in arresting Floch and Louise, they (SC) still don't know Eren's intentions

I feel bad for Hange; she's not a good commander, but it's not her fault. She's just not suited for that kind of role.

Just leave my Hange alone! (┳Д┳) She has the shittiest work in the world…

I've seen people calling Hange a fascist. Trust me, I know a fascist when I see one. Wouldn't that be Floch? It's normal for Hange to suffer or make mistakes, but I'm sure she'll rise again.

    HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN THE HORSE BIT GABI? 1,049 Responses

A 50/50 split here on those who are pro-horse or pro-devil.

THE HORSE IS BEST BOY

The devil horse was the hero of this chapter. Bless Jean and his equestrian paths.

The horse' smirk after biting Gabi is the proof Isayama is the best mangaka

Shitty Devils

  WHEN IT COMES TO WHAT’S BEST FOR PARADIS, WHO WOULD YOU SIDE WITH? 1,041 Responses

Many respondents had a hard time choosing, but at nearly 37%, #TeamHange is where the largest group sided. 27% of respondents believe that neither side is correct and 22% believe Floch is the person to side with. There were many write in allegiances as well such as Armin, Levi, Zeke and even Erwin. #TeamEren was the most popular write in response.

Both sides are in the wrong. Hangs and Armin are too naive and unwilling to take action while Floch and his gang are wrong to break the chain of command and leak information. I’m with mikasa - neutral and confused as to which is “more” correct.

Siding against Zeke seems like the best option tbh

Eren because he knows the most out of all of them and I think there’s a valid reason as to why he’s been keeping silent.

For now I'm team Zeke/Eren because I want to believe in Eren. Team Floch is a no no - everytime he says The New Eldian Empire I just shiver. Please no.

Both sides are trying to improve, but it's also leading down to a bad path if they can't balance each other

I need to know what is Eren's plans and reasoning before making a side. Tht boy must had some trippy PATHs shittery going on.

Floch is a nationalist fool who would see the rest of the world burn for the glory of his homeland.

Hange had such good ideas for Paradis and moving forward, and then Eren had to go and fuck them all up.  Poor Hange.

I side with Eren. He has his own agenda and that is to save his people. And Floch doesn't know what Eren's motives are.

im so torn ughhhhh

We still don't know everything that happened before the attack on Marley. I'll wait with passing judgement until we've seen everything.

#TeamJägerbrothers

Erwin

  WHICH QUESTION INTRODUCED IN THIS CHAPTER ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO BEING ANSWERED? 1,046 Responses

With 37.4% of the votes, most people are longing to see the conversation Yelena had with Eren. Apparently we’re all itching to find out why Eren ran off to Liberio on his own. The second most popular choice with over a fifth of all votes was “What is Hange going to investigate?”. I guess with all that teasing, we are desperate to see the wall titans -who are facing inwards- run amok. Mikasa’s headaches and the reason why she keeps getting them ended up in third place.

All of the above

Everything with the word "Jaeger" in it.

What is Hange up to. For real I want her thoughts and investigations - she's been dealing a lot with people relations (Eren in jail, Floch & co. discussion and jail, the media) and i want more of her plans and thoughts unveiled

Are the shit machines still up and running

I'm excited about the conspiracy of Yelena, Floch&co. and Eren. I'm sure it ties in with Historia's current condition, so I can't wait to find out what they have been up to this past year. When we find that out, we might also finally get to hear what circumstances could possibly have led to the attack in Liberio.

I'm really excited to see where the Gabi/Falco/Kaya story is headed.

Everything. There are too many things being dragged out for too long.

  WHAT ARE YOU MOST HOPING TO SEE NEXT CHAPTER? 1,049 Responses

The next chapter closes the volume and the arc so expectations are high. EMA conversation, information about Historia’s pregnancy and a Jaeger brothers conversation are at the top of our wish list.

Banquet flashback! I want to see the gang in formal dress.

Feed me Reiner

We get all this fuss about Eren that, Eren this. But when are they actually going to show Eren himself to answer all of these questions? I’m tired of this. It’s just been side-character central the entire time with no Eren, Warriors, and Zeke.

Ummm Levi?? What's happening with him? I'm worried for him!

Gabi’s realization/reaction that she shot the girl who saved Kaya. And also flashbacks to the time in Paradis while Eren was gone.

Anything besides Gabi.

What Yelena told Eren

Falco aging 10 years whenever Gabi grabs a piece of cutlery during The Really Awkward Dinner™

ERWIN FLASHBACK PLZ ONE PICTURE ANYTHING

Can we finally see what happened to Marcel ? those flashbacks never fully explained it! 

  WILL THE ICEBURST POWERED FLYING BOAT TAKE OFF? 1,029 Responses

Interestingly, only ⅓ of us want the flying boat be the end of Zackly and Kiyomi. The majority want to see the flying boat take off.

Show us Zackley's ART on the flying boat

I think it's time to build yourself a boat and get far away from everything concerning Paradis and Marley. There is no way this ends good

  MOST RELATABLE PANEL. CHAPTER 109 EDITION. 1,043 Responses

We’re just as done with it as Hange is. Dramatic gestures and all.

....reaaaally wishing Hange still had Moblit around to help manage all the shenanigans with Eren and his cultists, especially with Levi gone monkey sitting.

Hange looked so tired and weary.

Hange's reaction summarizes my feelings about the whole Marley arc pretty accurately. Not impressed and I'd rather see other questions/plot points answered.

We feel ya, Hange. We all feel ya.

  ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE CHAPTER?

that shit about Jean biting Gabi in the first question had me dissociating for two minutes wondering if i even read the chapter considering i missed something that big. then i lost one more minute considering how OOC it was of Jean to bite anyone, especially Gabi since he should technically just arrest her again, before I finally understood you were talking about the horse. Geez. It's late for some of us here.

It was a good chapter, not the best, but still a good transitionnal chapter. I missed Ereh, historia, Zeke and Armin here (we're seeing armin less and less imo) and I really want to know more about the plan and how it all happened...anyway we'll get to it soon ! I'm just being impatient.

Mikasa briefly reminded me of Sasuke's 'youre so annoying' for a moment when she was telling Louise to stfu... it was hot.

This chapter complicated things for me. I thought things would be pretty straightforward, Eren is in league with Flocke and the others and they all share the same goal. It now seems to me that there are at least three camps. Hange, Armin, ect. who need no introduction, Eren and Zeke and assumably the volunteers, who want to see an end to the cycle of violence on their own terms, and Flocke and his pals, who are nationalists who can only look to the past of the Eldian Empire rather than to the future of mutual cooperation. At the moment, the latter two are merged into one, but eventually their goals too will diverge into separate interests.

As usual, it raised more questions than it answered.

Man I so want answers to Historia and her pregnancy. Plus, as much as he thinks he is, I don't think Eren considers Floch to be on his side, his head is screwed and he might think of him simply as a pawn in a larger plan. Reiner and Porco really need to sit down and talk everything out. After Liberio, maybe Porco will empathise with Reiner. Meanwhile, I don't think Reiner will even consider sparing any of Paradis now, if he was before. He wants Gabi and he wants Falco. He doesn't care what else happens IMO.

The past four chapters have moved at such a slow pace and focused on so many side stories instead of getting to the main plot and characters, that I now find myself a bit disinterested with the manga. I love Gabi and Falco, but this much focus on them is not necessary. We're barely getting any new information, everything is still shrouded in mystery. Moreover, the "reveals" that we've gotten over the past few months feel disingenous. Sure, Kiyomi is money hungry, but seeing as she's playing all sides of the field this woman is more than just a drooling fool. Zeke's backstory feels like Isayama is trying to pull the wool over our eyes, but failing terribly. Finally, the characters we want to see have had very little screen time, the questions we want answered are purposely being avoided. It just feels like Isayama is stretching the material he has as thin as he possibly can. What he has created this past few months is good, but it feels like I'm eating a dinner consisting out of side dishes, and just like my girl Sasha, I just want to get to the meat.

I miss when things were optimistic and it was good vs evil. All this gray is making me depressed.

[Mikasa’s headache] has to have some sort of connection to both Louise and Eren. Whenever Louise talks to Mikasa, she gets flashbacks of Eren. I think this is a demonstration of a loss of innocence and ignorance. The first headache flashback Louise caused was her as an innocent kid and at a time when Mikasa viewed Eren as a god and the only thing that matters. The second time, Louise was no longer innocent, and Mikasa's viewpoint of the exact same flashback became sinister. Just a thought.

Before Liberio's assault, i strongly agreed with Hanji p.o.v. For me, this was still the best way to have a happy end. But it will be hard to make peace now that Eren crushed some diplomate guys, so i suppose we don't have the choice anymore.

idk why people are siding so much with floch, he seems too extreme and radical (not in the surfer way)

As a person who finds Gabi super interesting and sees her as a symbol of redemption and hope for the future of this mess up world, all the hate for her is super annoying.

o annie where art thou ;-;

After last year, I feel like I'm going through withdrawals whenever Reiner only gets one or two panels (or none, like this chapter). Where is he? I want to see my little boy.

Honestly can't see a good ending for Paradis.  Communicating with the world before that dead guy told the world about Paradis' current situation and NOT KILLING everyone was how I was hoping they'd try to integrate themselves into the world.

For now, though, I think Mikasa's distress is what really got through to me in this chapter. This is the girl who bases her entire life and survival on Eren's wellbeing and now she's questioning him. MIKASA is questioning EREN'S actions. And not just any actions (they've disagreed plenty before now) but the very act that made him the focus of her life. I'm heartbroken.

And of course, Isayama is really dragging out the emotional impact of Sasha's death here. It sucks. I see why Gabi is the way she is, but I still don't like her. It feels rude or disrespectful almost, to have her be such an important part of the aftermath of Sasha's death. Still, ask me again in six months. Knowing Isayama's twisted mind I might have changed my opinion.

Can we all just appreciate that Isayama doesn't make every kid in this story super ripped? Like Gabi and Falco are obviously, but Kaya has those chubby little cheeks that just make me wanna give her a big hug and tell her everything's ok even though it's NOT.

I'm very super glad about how Sasha's death has been treated. Sasha was, in essence, just an ordinary soldier. She wasn't an amazing super weapon like Eren or the Ackermans. She wasn't a crazy strategic genius like Erwin or Armin. On the whole of it, she was ordinary and very replaceable as a soldier. And yet this ordinary person, this ordinary soldier, is having such a profound impact on others both during her life and during her death. I think it is a great reminder that it isn't just the super special people who can make a difference (which is what we usually see in these kind of stories). Everyone, even an ordinary person, can do it.  

I loved Sasha getting a last laugh beyond the grave via the inspiration to Kaya disarming Gabi's hostility

Horse is my fav character now.

I bet Jean loved putting Floch in jail!

I feel like I'm in the minority here but I'm not very interested in gabbi & falco's arc. gabbi is an obvious hate sink, especially since she killed sasha, but her dealing with her chugging of the kool-aid just feels like a shitty reprisal of grisha's & reiner's childhoods in marley. it'll pay off as it always does, but for now I don't give a shit.

I feel so bad for hans ;// they're all alone and so tired, petition to bring erwin and moburrito back!!

There are people in the world like Gabi - with very strong views about others who speak their mind on it and feel certain people will be condemned to hell so I feel her character is very interesting and important. I like Gabi and I look forward to where this story takes her character.

Was hoping for more focus on Eren this chapter after the big blushy flashback, but this was still solid. Isayama juggling a million converging narratives much better than in 107.

I just loved Kaya calmly dropping the bombshell that she heard them loudly arguing and that's how she knew they were from Marley. Also #FalcoBestBoi

I am a very calm person but if Floch harms Hanji in any way i will stab him with a fork.

Glad to see Sasha's kindness and bravery has been honoured and her actions in saving Kaya have become relevant to the plot.

I've been feeling a bit disconnected from the series for a long while, I didn't like all the new characters and how big the conflict is getting, but for me this chapter was better as it focused more on a few characters and their feelings about the situation.

This was a slow chapter, but I'm not really upset about it. Sometimes they're necessary for character development and exposition. The way I see it, if a story is all action all the time then it may look cool, but I wouldn't be able to understand what the heck is going on most of the time. I think my main disappointment here is that Historia didn't show up at all and we still don't know the truth about her situation.

I look forward to Gabi breaking her brainwashing and then something horrible happen to her because this is Attack on Titan and happiness is forbidden.

Bit of a boring chapter, to be honest. But there was a lot of interesting information being offered between the lines, so I'm also very curious about finding out where all the hints are leading.

Even when you think it's starting to make sense, something happens to remind you that Isayama will never let you past square one.

I just want more.  The series has become so interesting since the start of season 2 of the anime.  

Once Reiner and friends get to the island, we could finally have a chance to see Eren use the Warhammer and Attack titan combined. HURRY UP ISAYAMA

inb4 EMA breaks up like the Beatles and Annie emerges from the crystal to smack some sense into everybody

Is it me or Louise was being a total Mikasa stalker and was hitting on her?

Isayama really likes hurting characters on their birthdays...

Can't wait for the anime to cut parts out and for people to go absolutely apeshit over their favourite panels being cut in 5 years time.

You rock, poll people! Also where is Reiner's glorious ass?

Can I be in the additional comments please I swear I want to be original but I never be IN THE FUCKING SPECIAL ADDITIONAL COMMENTS SO PLEASE thanks :Q

That’s it for this month! A big thank you to everyone who voted! We’ll be back on 10-10 for the Chapter 110 poll ;)

[kyojinofbraveos]

Snk // Watchmen Paralells - Rorschach

It is no secret that Isayama has inspired a lot by the legendary comic Watchmen, written by Alan Moore, which is another kami-sama by the way. In this post, I’ll explain some parallels between Rorschach’s character and Shingeki no Kyojin series as a whole.

I know Levi was inspired by Rorschach and that is why he is wearing that cravat and such but as you’ll read this post, I think you too will that understand Rorschach’s character did not just affected Levi’s character, but the whole manga.

I don’t know if anyone pointed out that parallels, I have never seen that kind of post either but if anyone did it before well... Sorry not sorry.

And one last thing, I think if you haven’t read Watchmen comics, you are missing a lot. Like really. A LOT. Get out from the cave you were living before and read it.

Comic spoilers and deep character analyze below!

There are heroes who wear masks.

And there are heroes who has become their masks.

Rorschach is in the second category.

Rorschach was born with the name of Walter J. Kovacs. He was the only child of Sylvia Kovacs which earns her bread as a prostitute. Which is our #1 parallel with Levi, his mother Kuchel was also a prostitute as well.

But unfortunately, the parallels between Sylvia Kovacs and Kuchel Ackerman are just that. They are both prostitutes, that is all.

While Sylvia beats Walter, he is Walter back then, and blames him for all the struggles she is going through, but we know Kuchel is a loving person and she loved Levi more than anything. How do I know? Just look at Levi’s personality. I don’t think Kenny nor The Underground City had the environment for him to become this compassionate and understanding person. He learned it from somewhere. Read @momtaku ‘s post HERE for a detailed explanation.

Also to quote @teetanjaeger ‘s Kenny / Levi analyze:

In developmental psychology, empathy is generally considered a learned ability. We are not born with an innate sense of empathy for other people. This is why children are really egotistical little humans. (You know that joke about children being sociopaths? Its kind of true…) So, in order for Levi to have this level of empathy, he had to have learned it somewhere. It certainly wasn’t from Kenny as I already established Kenny lacks the ability to empathize.

But Walter is not capable of that because of the way Sylvia treats him.

Sylvia beats Walter, blames him for her struggles, she tells the poor kid she should’ve listened other people and made an abortion. I know, mother of the year indeed.

His papa has went to buy milk and never came back, his mama gives him sweet trauma candies and our baby Rorschach turns out a psycho, he is not just incapable of empathy, also asexual when he becomes an adult. He has no idea what love is, what understanding means, and of course he is not capable of building healthy relationships with other people.

Not just that, the kids around are not accepting him because he is son of a whore, they make fun of him. And suddenly there comes a moment where Walter has his first special Ackermoment and he jumps on the little kid and chops of his nose and he burns the other’s skin with a cigarette. 

I sometimes wonder if Levi had to go through the same mocking words. Like, did people ever treated him bad just because his mother was a whore? Anyway, back to Walter.

With that, Walter learns a clever surprise attack can make many things. We also see that in Levi, as well. Both of our sweet psychos know a fast, clever attack can make many things. 

Both Levi and Rorschach are smol trauma balls that are capable to do anything at anytime, they are both ready to take action, their mind state is pretty close. Just like their height as shorties and I don’t remember where I’d seen that, but in Levi’s first sketches Isayama wanted to make him more ugly, just like Rorschach is.

Chapter 56.

And not just that, both Rorschach and Levi tend to use violence to get what they want, or to do what needs to be done.

Note: Manga: Right to left // Comic: Left to Right. For those who always miss it like me!

Rorschach is asking information from an Underground Bar, Issue #10.

Levi is helping Historia to make a choice, Chapter 56.

Let’s return to Rorschach, the times while he still was Walter.

After the incident, they sent Walter to a school for problematic kids where he’ll stay for five years. There, Walter shows academic talents, he is incredibly good at literature and also religious subjects and also he shows physical talents too, like gymnastic and amateur boxing. Rorschach also uses a different, poetic in his own way language and most of his sentences are turndown. He sometimes gets nasty, but not as much as Levi.

Well, as you read my last sentence you guys probably thought wow, so that is why Heichou speaks so different you might think. Yeah, while it is kinda true that Levi has his own, weird way of talking, it is not as deep as Rorschach, he just has a nasty mouth. But Rorschach speaks poetic, almost like the way Homeros wrote Iliad in Rorschach crazy way. So, Rorschach probably just inspired Isa, but Isa didn’t take the way Rorschach talks to himself.

At 1956, the year Walter is gonna start to work in a garment factory, he finds out that his mother was murdered. The only response he gives is a simple “good”. That is all. But after Kuchel’s death, we can see how devastated Levi was. He stays by the side of her mother’s dead and never lefts the room for who knows how long, when Kenny founds that skeleton boy wrapped in his mother’s clothes, he asks him whether he is alive or not.

Even though Walter acts cold-blooded about his mother’s death, we know that the year he started to work in a garment factory is the year his mother was murdered. So he must have felt something. Resentment. That is one of the main elements in both Walter’s and Rorschach’s character. Maybe he got angry to his mom for ruining another thing he has, school, he just dropped it. 

But Levi does not have any traits of resentments in his character, yet. Maybe a little to Zeke, but we don’t know that and waiting for Isayama to tell us how he felt. Anyway, moving on. He didn’t felt any resentment to EMA and even tried to comfort Armin with his classic No Regrets™ speech. If Rorschach would be there, I swear to you all he would tear everyone apart to make what he decided to choose.

I don’t know if you have noticed this yet, but when I am talking about the young Rorschach I am using Walter. But when I am talking about the upgraded Rorschach in the comics I am using his hero name. There is a reason why I am doing this, because to Rorschach these two are two different people. Walter got two mushrooms to eat before he can upgrade to Rorschach, a.k.a the final form of Mario. 

And we hit at our rock to eat our first mushroom.

The death of Kitty Genovese.

That happens right outside of her apartment, and while the event takes place all neighbors sit there, does nothing and some of them even watch it. That hits Rorschach because Kitty Genovese is the creator of Rorschach’s classic mask.

At first, it was not a mask though. It was a dress but the company didn’t like it and Kitty throw it to trash with disappointment. But to Rorschach, that fabric was the most amazing thing he has ever seen. He was amazed that the dress is just black and white, with no gray. That symbolizes Rorschach’s world view, to quote him:

“There is good and there is evil, and evil must be punished. Even in the face of Armageddon I shall not compromise in this”

He sees the world as black and white. Not a single part of gray is aloud to exists. This remind me something...

Chapter 31.

Chapter 31.

Chapter 6.

Chapter 73.

Chapter 86.

And like people who sees the world black and white like Rorschach, these characters are also tend to do whatever it takes to do the right thing™ . Or sometimes, what they find right.

Levi, thank to gods, does not have that trait. He got his lesson all the way from Underground to clear sky. 

After the death of Kitty Genovese, Both Walter and Rorschach also become extremely protective over the women. Maybe who knows, with that way deep down he is also trying to save his mother, in his crazy sub-conscious way.

Ah, that reminds me! We hit the second rock, and a mushroom popped up! Hurry, we gotta catch it!

The death of Blair Roche.

So, Blair is the girl of a bus driver and her family is really poor but some maniac mistakes her with the daughter of some company, if I am correct. So, that maniac wants a bigass amount of money and poor family runs to Walter who pretends to be Rorschach that time.

I am just gonna ruin your mood with panels from comic. I am gonna let the Rorschach speak and tell us how Walter died. (Read left to right!)

Issue #6 page 17.

Walter might be anything, but he is not an idiot. It doesn’t took his time that much to understand what happened to little Blair.

And that is just Gross.

You see what I did there? Muhahah.

And out of that madness, Walter dies. He is no longer a person wearing a mask, he has become Rorschach, his alter-ego, the mask he has been wearing all that time. There is no Walter anymore, it is just Rorschach. And if you read the comics, you’ll see Rorschach refers his mask as his face because to him, Walter Kovacs is dead and burned to the ashes. And dead can not walk among living, that is why that mask is his face.

Rorschach does not give a fuck about evidence, you idiot. He wants to serve justice, and I am not talking about judges and lawyers, I am talking about the blind goddess with a scale on her hand. Rorschach serves her, not to lawman has created.

Justice? Served.

Am I the only one that sees the screaming Shingeki no Kyojin parallels?

For example, what Rorschach has gone through is really close to what Ackermans have lived when they found their liege. Not same, but quite similar.

Like Blair, we also have one innocent child that has been fed to dogs.

But that was the most obvious one.

These words sound really familiar, too.

Where did I heard that speech before?

But unlike Rorschach who thinks this world is stinky and disgusting, Ymir finds it fascinating.

To Rorschach, there is nothing more, that is why this world is so wrong. Because the reason this world is so wrong is us, humans. No devil, nor god. Just humans. And we are still making more madness, doing more mistakes and sins even when the world is already so wrong.

To Ymir, there is nothing more, that is why this world is fascinating. Because out of that madness, if you are lucky enough, you may also see a little beauty in it out of all those horrible things. There is no god, nor devil. Just humans. And we can still create, built and dream even with al the madness around us.

After that, Rorschach never changes. He never compromises. Even after The Keene Act, where government orders all masked heroes to stop, the cops find a serial killer with a love letter on his chest: NEVER. 

Because if he stops being a hero, nothing left from him at all.

Here, I am a little scared for Levi. I trust his compassion and understanding but I am scared he won’t agree if there comes a time they need to compromise with Zeke. I am worried if he looks and seeks for his death like Rorschach did when Adrian Veldt and Dr. Manhattan agreed that a giant squid will unite the whole world.

And Rorschach never compromises. So Dr. Manhattan murders him.

And I don’t want that to happen Levi.

Rorschach literally begs bloomy bloomy blue guy to murder him because he knows, after that even if he stays alive Rorschach is gonna die, too. He will be empty, he will be meaningless. The world around him changes, people change but he never does. NEVER.

Rorschach is like a ronin, a homeless samurai who fights on even though there’s no clear path to victory. A samurai with no master.

And Ackermans are associated with knights who serve a liege, as Isayama said so. 

Kenny went down with ‘go Ronin or go home’ after Uri’s death and he seek to find him somehow and that caused his death.

Levi please go home.

I beg you.

Rorschach was never able to accept change.

He ws never able to compromise.

He was never able to understand the way this world is.

He was never able to understand human nature.

And that caused his death.

Sounds familiar. *cough*Jaeger*cough.

I wonder which way Isayama will choose?

‘Kill just Rorschachish ones or kill them all’.

We’ll see.

Thank you all for reading!

[aspoonofsugar]

I saw, in one of your metas on snk, that you had made a parallel between Sayaka - Madoka and Eren - Armin. The question is a little vagueness so I understand if you don't want to answer, but could you explore another parallel between snk and pmmm? These are two mangas / anime that I love especially and I found that what you had done last time was very interesting!

Hello anon!

Tbh I don’t remember the post you are talking about and I tried searching my blog, but found nothing, so could you please give me a more precise description of the post?

That said, I can still try to talk about these two series since I like them as well :)

Some time ago I made this post about Madoka Magica I may use as a reference since it is a synthesis of the major themes of the series.

First of all, both PMMM and Shinjeki no Kyojin are set in a world with supernatural creatures which symbolically represent the worst parts of the characters or the parts the characters don’t want to accept.

As it is explained in the post I linked above, each witch the girls fight is a metaphorical representation of a character’s fatal flaw and the twist of the witches actually being magical girls whose soul gems got tainted stregnthens this idea.

Similarly, in snk, titans are seen as the enemies of humanity in the beginning, but it is soon discovered that they are none other than humans which were transformed into monsters.

In short, both witches and titans represent the worst of humanity and this is why the revelation of them actually being humans is firstly suggested through a character with a white and black mentality transforming into one of the so much hated monsters:

Another similarity between pure titans and witches is also that the process is considered impossible to invert. Once a magical girl transforms into a witch she can not be brought back and the same can be said so far for a pure titan who can’t change back into a human unless he eats one of the nine original titans.

All in all the two systems are similar and they are the reason why the characters are stuck in an endless cycle of tragedy.

However, two people are said to possess a power which might change the world.

The Coordinate Eren possesses is said to be the point where all the paths meet. This concept is similar to what Kyubey says about Madoka:

“You are the central point of karmic destiny from many different timelines”.

Kyubey, ep 12

The difference is that Eren’s power is something which was born for unknown reasons and who he has inherited by chance (even if there could be some kind of destiny to it), whereas Madoka’s power is the result of Homura’s attempts to save her.

However, it is important to underline how in both cases the person who has the power is a common individual who ends up with such potential because of the relationships developed with others:

“I wasn’t special at all. It’s just...that I was the son of a special man”.

Eren Jeager, chapter 71

And Madoka is Homura’s friend.

That said, this doesn’t mean that Eren and Madoka don’t have value as individuals, but their value doesn’t lie in their powers, but in who they are.

This is specifically shown in Madoka’s final wish. I am quoting myself from the post above:

The idea of making of one’s lifestyle their own dream is something which has been touched at the beginning of the series. There, Madoka wanted to make of her magical girl style of life her wish, but back then she was still looking at things in a superficial way. As a matter of fact Madoka was trying to solve her self-esteem and self-loathing problems by acquiring magical powers. By the end of the series she doesn’t become a magical girl in order to grow up, but she can become one because she has grown up.

Through her wish Madoka shows to have realized her value as an individual also thanks to Homura’s efforts to protect her and can now use this power she acquired thanks to her friend’s suffering to change the world.

I think (hope) that by the end Eren too will find a way to use the power of the Coordinate to subvert the system he is a slave to and that this way will mirror who Eren is as a person and his love for freedom.

All in all, both Madoka and Eren’s characters are in the beginning presented as willing to be special and they try to reach this objectives by embracing a specific “profession” and nurturing what are superficial attributes (like the physical strength to kill titans or magical powers). However, they ignore that there are people who love them for who they are and who would prefer them to be safe over them being martyrs:

Mikasa and Homura are people who are struggling with grief and loss and who refuse to let go of a person they love for this reason.

Mikasa’s parents’ death resulted in her attaching herself to Eren as a defense mechanism. However, the story is slowly asking her to let go of him and to become more independent.

Similarly, Homura can’t accept Madoka’s death and starts a hopeless journey to prevent it.

Both Homura and Mikasa’s characters find their value in the other person and this is something they both have to overcome in order to find value in themselves.

When it comes to Homura, her later conflict with Madoka which is set up in Rebellion might be similar to the possible one between Eren and Armin which the story seems to be building up in the current arc:

H: “Kaname Madoka, do you treasure this world? Do you consider stability and order more important than desire?”

M: “Well, I…Um…I do treasure it. I guess I do think it’s kind of bad to break the rules because you feel like it”.

H: “I see…Then I suppose one day you will be my enemy as well”.

Homura treasures personal feelings and individual desires over the world, whereas Madoka thinks the other way.

This could be the very root of a conflict between Eren and Armin if it turned out Eren gives more importance to the interests of Paradis and to the well-being of his friends, while Armin treasures the world the most. All in all, it is too soon to say, but we’ll see soon.

Let’s also underline that Eren hiding things from his friends, putting them in a cage to possibly keep them safe and so on are actions which are very similar to what Homura does at the end of Rebellion.

Finally let me underline how Sayaka and Kyouko’s inverted arcs are similar in concept to Historia and Ymir’s ones.

Both couples have a character who superficially appears as too much selfless:

And a character who appears as too much selfish:

However, it is revealed how the apparently selfless character has selfish reasons for her selflessness. To be more specific, Historia’s selflessness is born from a martyr complex, whereas Sayaka’s one is a way to refuse that her wish was animated also by a selfish desire to be recognized by the boy she loves.

At the same time it is revealed how the apparently selfish character used to actually be extremely selfless and became more self-centred because of a tragic experience in their past. As a matter of fact, Ymir’s attempt to protect the people around her ended up turning her into a pure titan, whereas Kyouko’s wish made so that her family was destroyed. Not only that, but both Ymir and Kyouko see in respectively Historia and Sayaka their old selves and want to help them.

However, Historia and Sayaka react differently. On one hand Historia is able to integrate with Ymir and to become more “selfish”. On the other hand Sayaka fails to let go of her rigid vision of the world and ends up dying.

Finally, both Kyouko and Ymir show that their “selfless” selves had not really disappeared and in their final moments sacrifice themselves for someone else claiming to do that without regrests.

These are some of the major parallelisms between the two series I was able to find. The series have some common themes, but also very different ones and are structured differently. However, trying to find how they are similar was fun!

Thank you for the ask!