#I think I might've oversimplified it with this one

[icantdothistodaybruh]

sending this anon because my main blog is disconnected from my sideblog LOL. i’m sorry i keep spam liking and reblogging all your posts but they are SO GOOD. you’ve motivated me to get back into art after a long one year hiatus (college has been rough >>). i saw that you haven’t been well lately and i sincerely hope you feel better!

my favorite headcanon is that sometimes, ciel wakes up earlier than sebastian can wake him. ciel sneaks on sebastian’s robe, much too large for him, and he tip toes down to the kitchen where he knows he will find sebastian preparing breakfast and tea. “oh, my lord, you’re up much too early- but you look so tiny and darling in my robe.” “well, that is what happens when you’re not beside me when i wake up.”

take care!

Spam liking and reblogging is great Anon! life saving even!!! don't ever let anybody tell you otherwise!!!!

I do feel better, and I'm very happy for you, may a hiatus that long never come your way again🌹🌹🌹

I really loved your headcanon, it's so so so very soft and cute, and hits me just right... Thank you so much for writing about it to me, it made me really happy that day!

I hope you won't mind if I post my vision for it separately from this post so as to not make it too long🤭

[hamliet]

I'm very sure you might've answered this somewhere, but what is your take on Eren's character arc in total?

Do you think the story was too kind to him?

Do you think his actions should've had more positive consequences?

I've been revisiting the story now that a pretty good amount of time has passed and I think my biggest true issue is that the ending was so 'selfish'.

AoT generally acknowledges all perspectives, but I feel like the ending was too skewed towards the main cast and the "bigger picture" suffering was kind of an afterthought.

Somehow I just can't imagine the more empathic characters like Jean and Connie not even mentioning the grander suffering Eren caused by the end.

It feels like rather than including another perspective on the matter, the narrative was skirting around it a little for at least a somewhat hopeful ending for the cast because if realistically 80% humanity gone means 80% Earth gone, there is no hope for a future for *anyone* in the longer run and that really does make the Alliance's effort of stopping Eren pretty pointless.

And that's fine for the point that blind, selfish genocide doesn't really solve the issue of people being people or racism or anything like that, but I feel it's more as a result of the narrative being selective than natural theming.

I love that it breaks the whole cult of personality thing with Eren, though and depicts him as this pathetic, screwed up dude in his manbun form.

It really is only him and his friends who benefitted from his actions in any way.

Also I feel Annie's line about him not caring about himself has been a pretty overlooked element of this whole thing.

His actions are destructive in many ways, including self-destructive and his genocide still didn't prevent Paradis from being at least war-torn.

He gave his friends the rest of their lives, but it was at the cost of literally the rest of the world.

I can see people being uncomfortable with the scene of people going to see his grave, but he also did save Paradis from certain destruction for a time.

I get it, but I also wish the story really had at least one of his friends be more critical of the consequences *after* he was gone.

Something like "he saved us, but at what cost?"

A little more "telling" in that aspect?

In general, I think it was fair to Eren, definitely not too harsh, but neither was it too light. I don't think his actions should have had any more positive consequences at all haha.

I think I am in the "it was fair to him" category, but I do think the final conversation with Armin could have been framed a bit better, like with a comment much like you say here (at what cost?). Isayama himself said he felt he oversimplified it a bit there, and I think this is the case.

That said, I think people being uncomfortable with people visiting his grave is missing the point to an extent--or at least, the fact that Eren's loved ones visit his grave is, I think, important to the themes.

There's the deep humanity of SnK that made me actually like that, even if I think the majority of people won't accept visiting his grave. I think people tend to live in black and white this day and age, welcome people in or out. The reality is that even if someone you love turns out to be a fascist or a monster or any number of things--it doesn't change your feelings immediately. The "right" thing for you to feel is not necessarily hate--it's obviously a moral imperative not to deny it or to excuse it. And some may hate or cut ties, and that's okay. But that doesn't happen overnight, and even if you end up cutting contact, that doesn't change the impact a loved one has had on you. You will always have once loved them.

So, I think the end message of Mikasa's arc captures this nuance beautifully. Even if Eren is a monster whom the world justifiably loathes or honors for his monstrosity (which means his evil continues long after his death, so he's still harming the world), he saved her once, and that's something she refuses to forget simply because she doesn't want to forget it; for her, that moment was beautiful in a sea of horror. She didn't excuse him: she executed him for his crimes, to stop him, and she and the others live their lives to stop him post his death by telling everything. But because she loves him, she's glad he existed. It's not about morality.

It's just that he was born, and he existed, and she loved him. She accepts that without moralizing or justifying or faulting herself for this love, or feeling pressured to shrug it off and forget, or pretend it wasn't love.

[fonulyn]

I think RE:ID proves that Leon is competent and can take care of himself and others.

It also says loud and clear that Leon is extremely lucky BUT he's still skilled and trained and it's unwise to underestimate him.

It also proves yet again that Capcom can't write and depending on whether they want Ada to be involved in the story or not, they are going to write Leon's storyline in such a way that he will either need her help or not.

By the way, the awful lines in RE2 Remake about keeping score of saving one another's asses didn't help the matter in my opinion.

I do agree that ID shows that really clearly, and I really really like the bit they had in there about "oh it's just luck" "no luck doesn't get you that far" bc like sure he's gotten lucky a few times but it doesn't in any way diminish his actual accomplishments and/or capabilities.

but honestly I don't think we needed ID to prove it, because it has been clear from all the other installments already. okay we can argue that the RE2 Leon is the least competent one but he's an actual baby lol he's just a rookie on his first day and I don't think we can demand the skills of a trained agent from him. he still does well, considering. but in the other parts of the series? we clearly see him being incredibly competent. it's not like ID does something very revolutionary by showing that.

also honestly I personally don't think it's that much about bad writing in this case tbh. I think it's more the fandom's tendency to oversimplify everything and think in absolute extremes. like... most of the instances where Ada saves Leon aren't things where there are only two options, get saved or die. they're situations wherein it's great she did show up but if she hadn't, I don't think it'd be outrageous to assume that Leon might've gotten out of it on his own regardless one way or the other.

like let me use RE4 as an example (I don't have the time to delve into all the games/movies now lmao). I put it under a cut because wow I rambled :'D

Ada saves Leon when she rings the church bell and it makes the ganados disperse but honestly, Leon has been in bigger pinches and survived so I don't think we can argue that he would've 100% failed if she hadn't helped with the distraction. it absolutely helped but it wasn't like if she hadn't rung the bell he would've rolled over and died for sure. then she shoots Mendez when he's stomping Leon but there I think we can again argue that if she hadn't shown up he might've still gotten out, it wasn't like he was doomed to die without her help. (besides, that's an optional thing in the main game and it doesn't necessarily even happen unless you go back intentionally, so it could be argued it might not even canonically happen?)

the third time she helps Leon she shoots Krauser's knife when Krauser's about to stab Leon. and okay here the odds were definitely not in Leon's favor :'D but I think we can make a case that he still had a chance to survive even without her interference. in the game you can die in that part, but it's more about your own skills in holding back the knife for long enough so it's not Ada-related really.

and I know some people would now add she saves Leon's life by throwing him the jetski key but I must say I disagree very strongly because c'mon, she set the whole island to explode and gambled on him possibly being able to get out on time. it's not her saving his life, it's her giving him a slim chance to save himself.

plus I've seen people say she saves Leon's life when she takes him on the island with the boat in the first place and like... what do people think would've happened if she hadn't offered a ride? that Leon would've turned around and went "oh well, mission failed!"?? there are more ways to get on a damn island :'D

so like I've said before, my intention isn't to badmouth Ada at all! she's a certified badass, and there's no denying that she does help Leon at some points. but I'm trying to say that I've seen way too many people saying that Leon would've absolutely failed his mission and died a dozen times had it not been for her interfering and I just... don't think it's right.

and I don't think it's bad writing that puts him in impossible situations where he needs to be saved, I think it's more an attempt to make an immersive and exciting gaming experience. it could be bad writing if he would've clearly been actively imprisoned and dying each single time he needed help but like I said, most of the instances are things where the help was most definitely appreciated but it wasn't exactly and explicitly the only possibility for his survival.

you can obviously still think it's bad writing, it's a matter of opinion! :3 but personally I don't think a character needing help is bad writing even if it is a character as competent as Leon. it would be more ridiculous in my opinion if he would never need anyone and would be an invincible superhero who never encounters any hitches or troubles. I feel it makes him more compelling as a character that he goes through all that crap.

idk I didn't mind the RE2 keeping score lines tbh, I felt they were clearly making awkward jokes in a tense situation. I don't think it's any more deep than that? but might be just me.