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nalusion · 3 years

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Hiya Peach! A lot of people say ere////mika will be the romantic end game (if there will be one) of this manga and yeah I can see that, but then I see all these canon eremin moments that are happening in the recent chapters and I just keep thinking… is Isayama hinting at something? Is he suggesting otherwise? What do you think? Hope your day is going wonderful!

Warning: long post. TL;DR at the end in bold

Hello,friend! My day is going amazing, actually! I hope yours is too!

Whenit comes to eremi//ka (in this post, I’ll referred to this ship as “EM”), Ihave a lot of mixed thoughts. On my first five watches of the anime, as well asmy first read of the manga, I did actually not notice the romantic tensionbetween Eren and Mikasa what so ever. From the very start, till the most recentchapters, I got the vibe of siblings from them. It wasn’t until I got involvedwith the fandom that I stumbled across the EM ship and realized it was a thing.However, I have started to give in to the notion that Mikasa might actuallyhave developed romantic feelings for Eren after all, or at least something notcompletely sisterly. I do not think it will amount to canon EM, though,especially since it took a noticeable turn after chapter 50. I think ereminwill be canon – if there will be a romantic endgame – and I’ll soon explain toyou why.

Isayamahas said that he likes to avoid clichés, and I think fictional romance isusually where you find the biggest tropes. Male protagonist sees femalesupporting role, they eye each other and flirt until they seal it with a kisstowards the end. It would be like giving in to the biggest cliché of all ifEren ends up with his female co-protagonist – quality of the ship aside. Now,this is not the beam I’ll choose to lean on, this is merely a digression that Ithink is worth mentioning. You could argue that EM is already a cliché-defyingship by being somewhat incestuous (debatable!), or that their dynamic isuncommon alongside other “regular” Hollywood romances (strong one-sidedattachment/overprotectiveness, regular aggressive outbursts from the other,etc.). That way, EM could already be the problematic rule-breaking ship Isayamais looking for. But the story itself, I feel, shows us that eremin will be theendgame (will get more into that soon) instead and it is, in its simplicity, easilyrecognized as cliché-defying because it’s homosexual. It’s worth mentioning,though, that Isayama once said that he felt uncomfortable with people (granted,from his home town) becoming romantic when they grew up together, because itmade them almost siblings. So even if EM and eremin are the two ships I thinkare the most serious contenders at this point, they might both be ruled outsince the trio grew up together – at which point, I am confident the endgamewill be non-romantic (perhaps the best cliché-defiant move of all).

Ianswered another ask yesterday where I said I might post the timeline of how Ibelieve EMA’s feelings towards one another have changed throughout the courseof the story, and I think I’ll do it in this answer, to show you how I’ve cometo the conclusion I have – which is that the story is building up to eremin becomingcanon.Actually, let me tell you quickly how I believe it goes, before providing examples:by the end of training, Armin has feelings for Eren and so does Mikasa. Arminhas noticed Mikasa’s feelings and backs off to give her first dibs because 1) hedoesn’t think he’s worthy of Eren and 2) he knows the chances are low that Erencould be into guys anyways. Armin tells himself he’s not pursuing romancebecause he is, in fact, (too smart to be) in love in the first place. Inchapter 50, Mikasa opens up to Eren when she thinks their time is over. Shegoes in for the kiss but is rejected. It might have been simply because of badtiming (Eren seriously had no time to act on it, even if he wanted to), but itfeels like a rejection to her either way. Finally accepting that she is not theone for Eren, Mikasa’s eyes open to the possibility that there might besomething more between Eren and Armin; she has already noticed the signs, butup until now she’s only brushed it off as their tight friendship. Afterlistening in on Eren’s monologue about Armin’s eyes in 73, however, she finallyunderstands just how much Eren loves Armin. This causes her to change herstance on how important it is to take care of Armin. Similarly, 73 is whereArmin actually starts believing Eren might like him back, too. That’s whereArmin starts allowing himself to hope, and thus acknowledging his feelings forEren in full.

Whenit comes to Eren, he has always seen Mikasa as a sister. He has, however,changed from regarding her as frustrating and annoying (yet dear to him), toappreciating her strength and her support. I believe the only feeling that hasgone more or less unchanged, is Eren’s love for Armin; he doesn’t question whyhe loves him, only allows it to be that way. The only change - my headcanon,which is little more than a headcanon (for now) - is that he was made aware ofthe tension in 73 by how Armin reacted. And after almost losing him in 82-84, Ithink he’s finally starting to wake up to the fact that he loves him as much ashe does.

IfI’m right and this is really how they feel, I would say Isayama is portrayingthe “obvious” love interests as being a mismatch in order to contradict cliché– a “welp, I tried” – before going ahead with the “right”, norm-defying ship,which is eremin. I’m not necessarily saying this ship is the better ship(although I favor it), only that it seems to be going their way as well is itfitting the criteria.

Now,am I right? Let’s have a look.

1.Armin is in love with Eren.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, the AU Smartness interview heavily impliesthat Armin is in love with somebody. Aside from the fact that he blushes around Eren, I’ve also written many metas on his feelings around theirshared dream, his love declaration, and more – all concludingthat he is, in fact, in love with Eren. I think this is the thing most set instone, which is why I’ll move to the next:

2.Armin stepped down

Justas the AU Smartpass interview shows that he has a crush, it also very clearlyshows how he tries to pretend he doesn’t. Why? If we accept that he likes Eren,what reason could he have to step down? Looking at his character, we see thathe struggles with feelings of inferiority. If he thinks he isn’t worthy ofEren’s friendship, he definitely wouldn’t feel like he is good enough to be hisboyfriend. What more, if Mikasa – somebody he also seems himself as lesser than– also was interested in Eren, would it not be natural for him to think thatMikasa is the more worthy of them to have him? When he starts telling himselfhe doesn’t like anyone, it becomes easier also to support his friends in theirlove – which he does, as shown by this very suggestive gesture:

Tome, this looks like Armin showing Mikasa that he knows her feelings for Erenand that he not only supports it, but also wishes her good luck with gettingthe guy.

3.Mikasa is in love with Eren

Granted,I have gone back and forth about what Mikasa’s feelings for Eren really are,but I think in the very least, they are something undefined and bordering onromantic. If we look at the wave Armin gives her in chapter 34, as shownabove, it appears that Armin, who know them best, seem to think so. What more,by Mikasa’s blush, we can deduce that she understands Armin’s insinuation – andunlike other times, when she corrects the person who hints at EM, she doesn’ttry to correct Armin but rather seems to admit to it by showing obviousshyness. Armin is also not the only one who brings that topic up; Mikasa’ssuperiors have mentioned it on several occasions (enhanced in the anime, granted), to which Mikasa has been seen to respond with blushing. I think this is done to serve two purposes: firstly, to show Mikasaflustered to insinuate that she does indeed like him, and two, to show thereaders how the trope of male-female protag ships are so worked into all of usthat we instantly assume it’s a thing. Case in point:

Anothermoment of blushing worth taking a look at:

I’llalso leave the chapter 50 lean-in here, for you to decide for yourself if sheis indeed leaning in. I’m not completely sure myself, but for the sake of notcrowning eremin the only ship based on canon feelings and thus the instantwinner, I’ll say this is Mikasa showing romantic feelings for Eren.

Sidenote: a long time ago, I wrote about how 50 could also be seen as ereminheavy, and I still believe this is relevant because of how 50 marked the endof Mikasa pining and the rise of eremin.

4.Chapter 50/73; Mikasa

Isay that Mikasa accepts that she is not to be Eren’s after 50, and I say sobecause of her visible change in behavior before and after this chapter. Whilebefore, she would blush and hold on to his jacket and go on about how it wasimportant that she keep him safe, etc., she now seems more resigned yetconfident. What I mean is she doesn’t seem to add subtext or romanticundertones to her interaction with Eren anymore – and that she seems ok withthis! I feel like her reaction after they arrive back to the walls in chapter51, shows it clearly:

Ifwe accept that she is a girl who just opened up and experienced rejection in50, her calm behavior doesn’t look like someone who still has something unsaid.She doesn’t look like someone who’s still looking for hints to analyze, or likeshe’s eagerly waiting Eren’s further response on the matter. Granted, she ishurt and tired, but calm and well enough to tell Eren she’s fine and to showthat she’s ok. To me, she looks like someone who tried honesty, got rejected inhonesty, and most importantly: like someone who accepts the reply in honesty,no hard feelings. She loves Eren as family too, enough to accept it if Eren’shappiness isn’t with her. Again, I’m not saying she was necessarily rejected,only that she took it as such. Personally, I feel like she found some peace, asif she put aside something that was stagnating her. When she stopped wonderingwhere their relationship could go and where their feelings for each other lie,she became more focused and was thus able to mature more. I think she realizedthat they don’t necessarily have to be tightly laced to have an unbreakablebond, and that letting Eren be his own person could not only be ok, but goodfor the both of them. Looking at the current Shiganshina arc, she definitelylooks like she is taking care of her family, not her “sort of family, butmaybe… something else…?”.

Then:

Now:

Especiallytheir silent support for one another in 85 felt like calm, confident familialcare to me. At least if you compare this to the lingering nervousness Mikasahad in her interactions with him before. There is no longer the wondering,unsure element of where their feelings lie/could go, just their confident bond.

Now,the biggest change is still another:

5.Mikasa finds new value in Armin

Don’tget me wrong, Mikasa always loved Armin, we know that. But it’s confirmed, aswell as shown, that she put Armin in the category of “I’ll protect him if I’mavailable, otherwise I’ll leave him and everyone else in the dust to saveEren”. It’s simply a matter of prioritizing. Although she loves Armin secondlyafter Eren, she is still closing herself off from getting too attached topeople because she is of the opinion that this world is cruel and that it willtake everyone away from you. It’s a matter of self-preservation in a worldwhere if you love too much, too much can break you. In the new answer book,it’s said that Mikasa believes Armin should be able to protect himself. This isan opinion she contradicts over and over in the newest arc (coming to Armin’said as he was talking to Bertolt, reaching for Armin to hold him down duringthe explosion, the willingness to fight Levi for the serum – vs. grabbing Erenand leaving Armin behind as they’re being shot at with a canon during the Trostarc), meaning she changed her opinion somewhere along the way. I believe this changehappened in chapter 73; I think Mikasa realized that Armin is so important toEren that if he’s hurt, Eren’s equally hurt. I think that is the best way toexplain how Armin was suddenly bumped up on her priority list; she didn’tsuddenly love him more, so he must have somehow gotten a new link to the thingshe does prioritize this viciously already. Coupling her heightened level ofsecurity around Armin, with her stepping down after 50, I would say it’s notthat far of a stretch to come to the conclusion that she realizes Eren lovesArmin more than just a little. I said that I believed she had seen the signsalready because of the way she doesn’t look surprised what so ever by herrealization.

Granted,you could argue that Mikasa was already protective of Armin, but I’d still sayher behavior towards him has changed to one of more patience, warmth andconcern; yes, she stopped him from marooning himself on a roof in Trost whenshe was there to stop him, but at the same time she left him to fend off acannonball on his own, as well as saying she had nothing left in life when Erendied.

6.Armin thinks Eren might like him back

Now,we’ve already looked at the AU smartpass interview and how we see that Arminlikes Eren but won’t admit it. However, I believe he realized the feelingsmight be mutual in 73 and that he opened up to the possibility after that: heseems taken aback by how Eren talks about his eyes, like it’s something fairlyshocking to say – while Eren, of course, says it matter-of-factly because itis, to him. The fact that he blushes when Eren says they might be looking atthe ocean next year also points to him feeling like there was something to beshy about in that statement. And up until now, their dream has only been theirdream (he though); nothing underlying or intimate. I believe that after Eren’smonolog, Armin realized the depth of Eren’s love for him and that because ofthis, when the ocean was mentioned again, it was put into another light forhim: the dream was now revealed to Armin as their bond, the embodiment of theirlove for one another, the way they say “I love you”. Later, Armin recites backEren’s words of getting strength from thinking about their dream, much like a“I feel the same way” before delivering what I have called his love declaration in chapter 82. Over all, my impression is that he very obviously lets hisfeelings for Eren show after 73, and thus, something had to have happened in 73to take him out of the mindset shown in the AU smartpass interview – namelythat he now thinks the feelings are mutual.

7.Eren sees Mikasa as family

Asthis ask was about ships, and because I’ve discussed my take on Eren’s feelingsfor Armin here, as well as in the other links provided, I’ll say itsimply: I believe Eren loves Armin back. As such, the ship is alive and welland can proceed in what I believe is a steady positive development. When itcomes to Mikasa, there is for instance an interview that states that Eren sees Mikasaas a mother-figure. And while he says once that “you’re not my mother or my bigsister”, I believe this does not mean he doesn’t see her as family; it soundedlike something an upset kid says to someone who’s trying to parent him despitehaving a questionable authority – the same way an angry teen says “you’re notmy dad” to a strict step-dad. There’s also that time he felt bad about lettinghis emotions get the better of him because he remembered that Grisha was dearto Mikasa too – like a “he was (like) her dad, too”. It’s important to notethat this does not make their love for one another any less real or important.I’m not trying to discredit anything, merely trying to explain how EM seem notto be meant to be – as the “default” ship Isayama is going to step away from.

Ofcourse, all of this is my analysis of the development. It’s my take on things,and I might be wrong. However, all of these points have a lot of details tothem that I did not include. I’ve spent too long on this already and I feellike I covered most of the broad strokes.

In conclusion, anon, I believe eremin is the ship that is on the rise. At any rate, they already love each other stronger and more healthily than many canon fictional relationships, and that’s something.

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