#I'm tired of people comparing Gabi/Falco to another pairing

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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.