#anti zeke yeager

[harley-rose25]

Zeke Yeager is trash; and I don't like him.

I don't understand people who act like Zeke is a good person; as if he didn't make a game out of massacring the scouts like he was playing a game of baseball. It's like you give a guy a, minorly, sad back story and a cute brotherly moment and suddenly everyone forgets how much of an unrepentant psychopath he is. I mean; Eren killed more people but at least he felt bad about it... Also most those people sucked anyways so whatever, fuck 'em

[innocentimouto]

SPOILERS FOR THE FINALE OF ATTACK ON TITAN

Zeke really spent years and years within the paths thinking things over and Armin spoke with him for a few minutes that got him to change his mind, and he has one sentence of acknowledging how many lives he's killed which means absolutely nothing since so many character within this anime have felt guilt over their actions, even in self-defense.

I wish we got a moment of him thinking about the numerous people he turned into titans in the name of something that Armin just convinced him of wasn't worth it.

Levi killed him so fast got to love him for this great act of service.

[seeingivy]

aot characters as specific taylor swift songs 

**an: based on this post by @crazychaoticizzy - I just had to pick the songs for the albums that you picked bc they were so perfect :DDD 

- 

erwin smith a place in this world - from debut

seemed like a no brainer, erwin gives country vibes 

like idk how to explain it but he would wear cowboy hats, and cowboy boots, and out of taylor’s discography he would be THE country album

erwin from texas agenda

“don’t know what’s down this road, i’m just walking / im just walking / trying to find a place in the world”

historia reiss the way I loved you - from fearless

right. 

miss fearless for SURE 

this is pregnant historia s4 who deserved a happy ending w/ ymir’s SONG SPECIFICALLY

cuz I know that farmer has 0 heat, esp compared to the love of my life ymir 

“he says you look beautiful tonight / and I feel perfectly fine / but I miss screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain / it’s 2 am and i’m cursing your name / so in love that I acted insane but that’s the way I loved you” 

hange zoe mean - from speak now

idk just gives hange vibes

like they would LOVE to scream this song and air out their frustrations yk?? esp season 4 exhausted hange 

but hange does things on their own terms!!! hence the song 

“I bet you got pushed around / somebody made you cold / but the cycle ends right now / cause you can’t lead me down that road”

mikasa ackerman - sad beautiful tragic from red

so, basically any song on red. like the urge to pick all too well for the scarf line was too powerful 

BUT I had to pick this one cuz it’s so eremika it hurts

my red baby she is just like me fr 

“and time / is taking it’s sweet time erasing you / and you’ve got your demons / and darling they all look like me / cause we had a beautiful magic love affair there / what a sad beautiful tragic love affair” 

sasha braus - new romantics from 1989 

similar to 1989, sasha is all vibes, no skips, no emo crap

so, I had to pick the highest energy, scream at the top of your lungs, stick your head out the window song WHICH was the new romantics, obv. 

but song is just good vibes, makes u wanna dance which is very sasha I feel 

“and every day is like a battle / but every night with us is like a dream / we are too busy dancing, to get knocked off of our feet / the best people in life are free” 

levi ackerman - look what you made me do from reputation 

duh. 

may I quote that one scene where levi promises to kill zeke for erwin? yeah? yeah. 

also just has the whole revenge, justice thing in his vibes idk 

“the world moves on another day, another drama drama / but not for me, not for me, all I think about is karma / and when the world moves on, there’s one thing for sure / maybe I got mine but you’ll all get yours” 

connie springer - death by a thousand cuts from lover 

ok so

picked this song cuz baby connie just KEEPS GETTING BETRAYED  

let him rest. leave him alone. let him keep his friends. 

also sasha connie coded sorry I just know he’s stuck on things like this - sasha, his mom, eren 

“cause I can pretend it’s okay when it’s not / saying goodbye is death by a thousand cuts / but if the story’s over, why am I still writing pages?” 

armin arlert - this is me trying from folklore 

I don’t even have to explain this one

like rlly, I don’t 

“they told me all of my cages were mental / so I got wasted like all my potential / I just wanted you to know / that this is me trying” 

reiner braun - evermore ft. bon iver from evermore 

WOOP

evermore will be post-war reiner’s jam like he finally gets to have his peace after struggling for so long 

specifically the lyric change from “this pain would be for evermore” to “this pain wouldn’t be for evermore” bc reiner finally gets to live in peace 

eren yeager - you’re on your own kid from midnights 

was gonna pick anti-hero, because he, in fact, is the problem

but you’re on your own kid, just his SONG. 

“I looked around in a blood soaked gown and saw something they can’t take away / so make the friendship bracelets / take the moment and taste it / you’ve got no reason to be afraid / you’re on your own kid, you always have been” 

[tekitourants]

進撃の巨人// AoT Review:

Yes, took me awhile to finally dive into this cult fav. Finally did and I just have a lot to say so here’s a critical review that no one asked for.

“過去に囚われ、未来に誘導され”

ようこそ、残酷な希望なき世界へ。

Shingeki no Kyojin isn't afraid to get dark. It’s a brutal world where the lines between good and evil are constantly blurred. That's why I have to give credit to Hajime-sensei for tackling such mature themes. The exploration of the sins of the past and their impact on the present is undeniably powerful. The concept of self-punishment and generational burden in an enclosed world setting, while perhaps under-developed, draws a critical parallel to real-world historical cycles of violence.

But here's where the narrative falters for me: AoT focus on Eren narrows the scope of the story. We never truly see the world through other characters' eyes. The series elevates Titans to a near-mythological status solely based on bloodlines, neglecting the potential for a more nuanced exploration of political conflict. Imagine delving into the motivations and societal structures of Marley, or witnessing a more potent internal struggles for power within Paradis' government. It had potential but focusing on Eren essentially shuts this exploration.

What truly frustrates me is Eren's character development.

Eren Yeager's descent into villainy, while undeniably dramatic, felt like a missed opportunity. His motivations as an "angsty teen with future memories" lacked nuance, and his solution – the Rumbling – was a self-justified descent into violence. The world of AoT is meticulously crafted, rife with complex political machinations. Surely, with the power of the Founding Titan, Eren could have explored more strategic, (and to stick with dark fantasy theme) anti-heroic options. Negotiations, leveraging Paradis' hidden tech, or even the ethically dubious path of Zeke's euthanasia plan – all presented potentially more interesting narratives than the world-ending Rumbling. Perhaps, I was just… frustrated by the narrowness of everyone’s mind, each one a slave to their own problems.

Eren's journey, while tragic, felt like a downer ending to a series brimming with potential. The story does an excellent job of making you uncomfortable and angry, which is a testament to Isayama's storytelling. The setting, the world-making, and the themes are all incredible. But for me, the series falters by failing to break the cycle of violence through its protagonist. Letting the fans think is great, but with Eren's arc, there's a lingering sense of hopelessness that just doesn't resonate with me personally. Accepting the extreme choices that Eren made, that the Yaegerists fell into, and all the darkness and misery feels like a validation I refuse to give to real-life bad decisions made under the pressure of やむを得ない//“there’s no better way”.

Eren's character arc feels like a self-directed (自作自演) tragedy. His motivations are heavily influenced by his own premonitions, which limits his agency and makes him a pawn of his own fate. This deterministic approach to character development, while thought-provoking, ultimately feels unsatisfying.

Anyways, my opinion is my own and I admit that AoT successfully made me a critical fan and I appreciate the experience but as an avid, veteran anime-watcher, I just find it hard to fall in love with the series because I just can’t vibe with the characters 🥴🔫

[oxygenbefore1775]

I'm still aghast at how skimpily Zeke was guarded after Raid on Liberio.

Decision to hold him at a remote location that only Hange knew of I could understand — it's actually pretty smart but...

It's fucking Zeke Yeager they were guarding. Given how eager he was to meet Eren and how much he was insisting on it even as he was transported to the giant trees forest, of course he wouldn't agree to just sit around in the middle of nowhere waiting for the paradis government to finally make some decisions. Even if he pretended not to mind it initially. Zeke agreed to a massacre of his hometown which endangered the lives of the other fellow warriors and staging his own demise just not to raise suspicions of his side-change. You can't expect Zeke to play his cards straight.

I just wish Levi pressured Hange and Pixis a bit more to prevent Zeke's from transforming himself in the first place if he decides to turn on them (which he did).

Like, continuously keeping one part of his body cut off so he wouldn't be able to regenerate or strapping some explosive device to his body so that it explodes under the effects of transformation.

Zeke wouldn't be able to correspond to Yelena that his guarding conditions are inadequate so she and her anti-marleyan front with yeagerists wouldn't be able to influence any of that.

[madraleen]

Attack on Titan - Hajime Isayama Vol.26-27: A Roller Coaster of Emotions Commentary

-i'm laughing bc beast is literally like FUCK EREN FUCK YOUR REBELLION FUCK THE FOUNDER GIVE ME LEVI

-i hope levi gets his revenge and doesn't die

-ARMIN YOU HAVE NOT SUCCUMBED TO FACIAL HAIR SYNDROME EITHER I KNEW YOU WERE A FAVE FOR A REASON

-'the other ackerman' haha

-i miss eren. as in, i miss seeing his pov, seeing him talk, seeing him interact

-oh this is armin's plan

-i'm surprised eren isn't just eating jaws...? to get the titan power...?

-EREN IS COMING HOMEEE

-ooooh "assassin's bullet"? oh no... who's getting killed. should i get tissues. not one of ours?

-armin always reaching out to stupid eren help

-how long has it been eren, how long is it since he left, the jerk?

-oh levi. you haven't changed a bit, i love you

-"it's normal to kill them" jesus, gabi

-oh. oh sasha. oh no.

-ZEKE'S PLAN?!?!?! OH YOU BETTER DO SOME EXPLAINING YEAGER BOYS!!!

-"you put your trust in us... and we've lost our trust in you" nice hange

-mikasa crying for sasha, my heart

-eren imma need you to show emotions babe. babe please help us.

-anyway i feel better now that we're with the survey corps.

-my heart hurts for eren. i don't know what's happening, but it's eren and i love him and it hurts seeing levi confirm that he never expected to see HIM like this, and goddamn i need answers and reconciliation.

-i'm not just anxious to uncover all the mysteries, to see who lives or dies, i'm also stressed to see who will snap. who will slip. who will make a misjudgement and how much it will cost.

-YESS THREE YEARS AGO ON PARADIS HERE WE GO

-the pure titans be having a dance party in the background

-um. alright, anti-marleyan volunteers... but zeke kinda nearly destroyed us...

-OOOH OKAY, zeke turned ragako into titans.

-"to crush the world to dust" eren is OUT FOR BLOOD

-"welcome to our filthy island, home to defiled devils" LEVI I LOVE YOU

-WHERE WOULD THEY GET SEAFOOD, YELENA!

-why can't we have this kind of fun all the time :'(

-armin my pacifist bb :(

-ayy, eren's shot panel followed by sasha's getting shot panel, pain

-PAIN PAIN PAIN PLEASE LET ARMIN AND EREN FIND THEIR WAY BACK TO EACH OTHER OH MY GOD NOT EREN AND ARMIN

-will we come to understand eren? like, on page, not on analysis and intuition

-eren with a manbun and no facial hair. yes, good, keep this. I MISS EREN LET'S SPEND QUALITY TIME WITH EREN POV

-ngl i've missed seeing eren say 'fight.' it's been so long and it was so defining for his character.

-"my dark night!!" LMFAO SCHOOL MIKASA WTH

-what is this demon eren pose on v27 cover.

-okay but why is eren angry with US? why won't he talk to us, to hange, when HE put us in the worst position?

-ey, mikasa gets her speshul status too. she's hizuru's hope. welcome to the hope club, don't let the pressure break your back

-sir. you gave your father to the authorities, what do you mean you've always been loyal to your father's dream. sir. zeke. oh. oh i see.

-WHY IS HE ATTACKING HANGE, EREN WHAT ARE YOU DOING NO. man he's so desperate. you CAN'T turn against him, he so fucking desperate and hopeless and broken

-NO HANGE YOU'RE THE BEST COMMANDER DON'T SAY THAT

-who. who is the baby daddy? who is historia's baby daddy? does eren know about this?

-i'm so angry. i'm so angry at what we (the characters) have been through, at how we've been backed up against the wall again and again to the point that we (the characters) became like this, and i'm so angry at all the suffering we (the characters and the readers) have to go through. it's all so HOPELESS. part 1 was suffering and pain and questions, but there was always hope. there was "okay, we'll fix the thing, we'll learn the secret, we'll take back the city, we'll find the traitors," there was always a concrete goal and you could see hope at its attainment, you could believe that things would get better if only we had this thing. but now? there's no hope. there's no good outcome. there's nothing. there's literally us against the entire world, and the way we're going, us against each other as well. there's nothing!

"you all got so big... how dare you." L E V I I ADORE YOU

-why. why did gabi and falco have to go to the blouse house. why. so good. so painful.

-not to be armin, but... why can't we all just talk :'(

-why is the horse smiling when gabi falls, lol

-WHY DID LEVI FEEL THE NEED TO SAY HE WAS POPULAR ENOUGH WITH THE LADIES OH MY GOD HOW IS LEVI THE COMEDIC RELIEF IN THIS GODFORSAKEN MANGA

-i don't know who to trust! except levi ofc, levi is special

-what the fuck...someone blew up zackly...

-oh. eren has escaped. of course. because why not. to quote mikasa... “what the hell is happening?”

-eren back to his shirtless wonder era

[shunsao]

HIII OMG THANK YOU FOR REPLYING!!!

I am so glad that my post made you feel so happy/reassured because I absolutely love spreading positive comments onto people's posts, especially if it's about things I love, and Tribe Nine has been. like. the main thing on my mind for almost three years now.

And with as little of a fanbase it has it's always a pleasure to read long threads such as these, especially when, for once, I don't see my favorite characters be mischaracterized in them because they describe them with so much love for the character and accuracy. As is yours!! I am DEEPLY sorry if I sounded like I was trying to antagonize people with NPD... It was never my intention to do so and I am aware of how it affects people with the disorder. Honestly my wording was very insensitive and the morning after I was honestly scared of how you'd react😭 I should've made proper research and I posted that at like. 2 in the morning so it probably affected my train of thought heavily. Another reason why that probably is is I currently live under a person with NPD's guidance and NPD is a very common disorder to have in my family (I don't even know if I have it myself. honestly. because most of them are very anti-medicalist so it's hard to get a diagnosis) due to generational neglect and. well. we aren't the most functional family ever. So I was kinda speaking from experience/general observation... I guess?? Not that that excuses anything I did know about the part where it isn't exactly based on genetics but moreso on childhood experiences. It was what I was trying to get at with NPD being partly genetic and more as a result of the environnment they grew up in. However a lot of what you said was new to me and I thank you for that! Thank you for educating me and I promise you didn't sound aggressive at all. I am also drawn to characters like Ichinose often because of psychological/emotional traits that most people overlook/don't understand (see Zeke Yeager from Attack on Titan)! It's fun to see someone who feels the same! I completely understand the feeling of your disorder being heavily misrepresented in media when intentionally written by neurotypicals (yet being good rep when non-intentional) because as someone with autism it is a reoccuring experience (see The Good Doctor or that one 'autistic' character from SIA's movie).

ANYWAY!!!!! TYSM FOR ALL OF THIS!!!! :DDDD

@alfiely-art splendid thank you for enabling my autism

Ok so background:

There's this city called Shinagawa City that's part of Zero's gamer regime where he forces everyone in all the cities to rp. This is called XG

The XG in Shinagawa City is that it functions like a company does, with all the residents as the employees, except for the president. Employees can only be appointed to the role of director at most if the president likes them. In order for the president to like you you have to bribe him with japanese sweets. Every week the president executes some guy he doesn't like.

Ichinose is the director, and part of the "Numbers" as #1, appointed by Zero. We don't really know the specifics but essentially, they're the rulers of each city and Zero recognizes them as potentially worthy of being his gamer buddies if genericprotagboy doesn't pass

Ichinose's personality is. so hard to describe in a manner that isn't just slander because he's specifically created to be as unlikeable as possible. He abuses his power, his employees, who he really hates and calls useless and incompetent every chance he gets, loves murder, incredibly self-absorbed and constantly has to assert his excellence in the most vain cartoon villain way possible and never stops mentioning how he's #1 appointed by Zero himself which basically means he's like a prettier jesus, mean to everyone he ever meets, actually really fucking stupid and unfunny with no positive qualities his life is worth nothing and he serves zero purpose and he sucks so much and I fucking hate Tribe Nine. He is created to have no depth whatsoever. Anyway he beat Zero in being my favourite Tribe Nine character and half of the reasons as to why I'm not even sure were even deliberate writing choices

Auuuurrghhh where do I start. Do I go in order or like what. I made an entire 12 page doc Ichinose Bible just for this sick evil twisted obsession specifically to help me with articulating anything and yet I have still failed. Alright we're going unhinged mode I had enough I'm making a third doc. I came back to this weeks later sorry my brain is fried now this might not be very comprehensible

Okay so this is very important for later: he is a terrible boss. Absolutely horrendous!!! Every interaction with him and his subordinates is them fucking up their goon work, him screaming at them, them having a mental breakdown and shitting themselves from fear, him still verbally abusing them for 12 more minutes then walking away very annoyed full of hatred for his useless fucking henchmen that he abhors because they're so sucks. They only listen to him because they're for some reason just so absolutely terrified of him, mostly that he's just gonna execute them (he does that often) but also mostly its kinda weird you know. They actually, truly, have NOTHING to gain from listening to him. There is no benefit for sticking around him. No this isn't a "lollll why don't they don't overthrow the bad guy if i was them i would simply not follow his orders" situation, they actually genuinely have zero solid reason to do everything he says and give him that amount of power. Also he just completely lacks awareness that what he's doing might be a wee mean and just genuinely thinks he's disciplining them in a normal way and that they're just overreacting specifically to piss him off. One time he goes off on a screaming session at his subs until one of them faints and all the other ones are shaking and crying in the middle of trying to recruit the protag team to also work under him and they're just Standing there all this time until one of them has to intervene and gently coax him into shutting the fuck up with her feminine wiles

Anyway I mentioned executions right. And the President. Ok so the President is actually not a human but rather just this iron maiden robot with the face of zero's canon fursona (long story) and floating hands and exclusively speaks in all caps. It does not move its just permanently standing there in the Execution Plaza. The Director position makes it so the President can only hear his voice (he can register visual input but can't hear other than Ichinose) so Ichinose's the only guy he can talk with. And ichinose is just absolutely constantly sucking up to that guy, talking to others about how Unbreakable their Special Bond is and how much the President would never ever replace him because they're besties and he's his favourite meanwhile the President does not give a single fuck about Ichinose. He only lets him do whatever he wants because Ichinose just keeps giving him sweets everyday so of course he likes him but not in any deeper way and has zero problem with turning on him the moment he's framed for eating that cake he always wanted. Oh and also when the President said earlier that whoever finds and gives him that cake will be made director Ichinose says "hahahaaa you're so funny babeee you're joking about making someone else director again. haha. you're doing that again" which is just sad. toxic doomed unrequited human x robot workplace situationship yaoi. Ichinose also loooooooves executing people its his favorite activity of the week every time he watches a guy die inside the President (yeagh they have to go inside the President) he gets such as kick he goes "bwahaha! heeheehee!" and then laughs about it for a full minute. He also sucks up to Zero a lot but that's for later

How he took control of the Shinagawa Tribe (part of his subordinates) is also pretty weird if you ask me. So when Zero first implemented the XG rules in Shinagawa nobody really cared and just kept doing their own thing except for Ichinose who immediately started meeting with the President and bribing him until he gained enough favor to be appointed director. Nobody still really cared except for him up until the executions started and they realized that It's Bad Actually. Shinagawa Tribe started also collecting bribes for the President and Ichinose just came up to them one by one and whispered in their ear "lol. your leader doesn't care about you as soon as he becomes director he's actually gonna kill you source dude trust me. give me all the bribes instead and work for me now. lmao" and that was literally enough for all of them to just take Ichinose's side and offer him all the items they had then watch their leader get executed. I guess he was just really that charming and intelligent huh,,,,

He kinda manipulates the president into letting him choose who gets executed instead, while it was originally supposed to be the president who does that. He also forbids anybody else from offering bribes to the president so that only he is favored and him and his men regularly rob and beat the hell out of people that try to do so also this exchange:

also i just. liked the moment where he just got in a car and fucking left. + he's so desperately trying to be soooo witty and funny and failing he's so embarrassing i want to boil him i actually hate him he wants to be cool so bad he's running that insult to the fucking ground he peaked at middle school im gonna skin him i will kill hi

Before getting to the Cake Incident, let's talk about how he always talks about being #1. He constantly points it out and reminds everyone about how he's "#1, as appointed by Zero himself" and wants everyone to remember that, he constantly mentions it even when it's not even related to what he's talking about he just hypes himself up. He thinks it's the coolest thing ever and the proof of his superiority and it obviously it means a lot to him it sure would be terrible if anyway let's talk about the Cake Incident

Anyway, the Cake Incident is that the protag group finds that really cool cake and and tries to offer it to the president but also it was all a trick because they replaced it with a sponge. Ichinose is about to steal that when his subordinate notices that it's unusually light but doesn't tell him that because he doesn't give her a chance to also it's Ichinose. President eats that and immediately does a 180 on his opinion of Ichinose and wants him dead and buried. (also when Ichinose gets stressed out about this he talks to himself like "Ugh… Stay calm, Ichinose Kazuma. At a time like this…" Ijust think that's cute lmao). When Ichinose tells the President that he was actually tricked it turns out the protag team got a SECOND trick which is I shit you not they fed him to Oi's AI and showed President an AI generated image of him absolutely throating that original cake and President gets so mad he fucking kills him and I just wanted to dwell a bit on how Ichinose is canonically a victim of AI sludge. Anyway before Ichinose fucking dies he says "Eeek!" and starts ugly crying before getting executed and then it's all officially over post ended Ichinose is no more the wicked bitch is dea

Anyway this is where we actually really get into this, I will only get more unhinged from this point, we gotten past just the intro to my hellish essay. Ichinose actually is not dead and just rips President apart from the inside and it is revealed that he can never die because he was a robot the entire fucking time and also his head fell off and he doesn't pick that up for his entire monologue. He was born and raised a human but when he became #1 he got to pick his reward and that was to turn into a robot so he can be immortal.

ok i came back where was i. oh yeah so while he was quote unquote "dead" the protag team was discussing on how to change society somewhat and came up with replacing the Shinagawa company XG with XB games. Ichinose does not want that, he thinks XB is stinky and barbaric and he really hates it for some never explained reason, like its personal or something, and while he begs Zero to pleaseeeee give him another chance it is instead decided that him and protag team are gonna have a baseball showdown and whoever wins makes the Shinagawa rules. He grumbles a bit on how much he hates it when Zero makes these kinda decisions on a whim and also ewwwww baseball but doesn't really have a choice so he goes and gets that bat

XB kinda functions like debate showdowns in DR or reasoning death matches in RC with the added element of throwing balls at each other with mechanisms I do not understand. Anyway the main debate in XB about Ichinose is first about whether it was his fault for losing XG or his subordinates', and the second is whether he is actually fit to be a leader. Anyway before they start, Ichinose gets really mad and screams at his goon #38 because he just now found out that she didn't report to him about the cool cake being too light and blames her for his downfall. He is livid about having been accused that actually it might be his fault and keeps on hurling deaths threats/promises until they finally get him to throw that damn ball already

It has become very quickly apparent that... he has little to no arguments. He does not know how to defend himself without sounding downright incoherent or contradicting himself, just going "ummmm nuh uh......" and doesn't even attempt at lies, either. He just lets himself be a laughing stock in front of all the other players and all he has to say about it is just yelling insults and telling them to shut up and stop being mean to him because he's literally neurodivergent and a minor. Anyway, his first defense against the argument that "maybe if you weren't verbally abusing all your employees 24/7 they'd be more comfortable telling you things" is "[quoting] Z-Zip it! You imbeciles can't possibly understand what it's like to be in charge! They're the ones to blame! I've done nothing wrong!"

Anyway he moves on with his second argument where he realizes (..... though it's more like, him grasping at random shit, because he seriously gives of the impression that even he does not believe half the things he's saying) that the reason that his subordinate didn't report the Nefarious Cake Suspicious Weight was because she was trying to purposefully humiliate him that bastard goon. In his words: "I can understand wanting to backstab me for being so perfect, but there are lines that shouldn't be crossed!" which is great man anyway, Oi says that's stupid and Ichinose says execute that harlot. He then goes off saying that the recipe for success is to inform report consult and if you can't do that then you're beyond incompetent etc etc, and Iroha makes a point that he just took that cake from his subordinate by force without letting her report anything anyway, and he actually doesn't have a counterargument because he knows she's right but will keep on doubling down no matter what even if that just speeds up his eat shit era.

Anyway Gotanda tells him he sucks balls as a boss, nothing we haven't heard before, Ichinose says something about him "not knowing the hardships of those who stand above others" how he's done nothing wrong and and how he isn't disposable like those people because he is the ~Chosen~ #1, which he repeats a lot, very often using how he's "chosen" or "special" as an argument but not elaborating further than that even when/especially if he's asked. What I want to point out is that Gotanda says to him that his subordinates are more competent that him, and Ichinose, while angered... has no comeback. Because he knows that's true even if he'll never admit it no matter how hard it'll fuck him over in the long run.

Actually I don't really have to describe the next scene much and it could be just pasted here pretty fine without additional notes from me, but I don't want to keep it out of the post either:

Gotanda mentions that he spoke to a former colleague of Ichinose once, and they mentioned that he was "incompetent and useless" so let's keep that in mind,

Then we get these lines:

And, let's pause for a few seconds. Why is he even being listened to? Following him gives virtually no benefits aside from, I guess "1% less chance of getting executed", but even then it's stated that being close to him doesn't really do much to save you from that. His takeover of Shinagawa Tribe is downright nonsensical, and yet, him just saying a few words to him about how their leader is enough to terrify them all into submission permanently. Why is everyone so constantly scared shitless of him no matter what. There is zero benefit to following him. The only fucking reason that many people could fall for his bullshit for that long of a time, is if he had some sort of aura like superpower that turns everyone who he ever comes in contact with fucking stupid for the plot to work

Anyway the actual explanation for why he is able to do all this is because he actually has some sort of aura like superpower that turns everyone he ever comes in contact with fucking stupid

No I'm not kidding. This is actually canon this is the truth behind this perplexing case .

So, just, out of the fucking blue, after not saying anything about it for the whole goddamn chapter, Q just casually mentions "oh yeah, that's probably because of the Ichinose Curse. Lol. Lmao, even" we literally never heard about anything like this shit prior to this moment halfway through the XB match nor are we aware of how the fuck did he obtain that information. According to Q, the "Ichinose Curse" is a power of Ichinose that renders all his subordinates in a state of mind control caused by their fear of him. Soooo......... essentially, how I understand this and how I think it's meant to be like, is that the more scared they are of Ichinose, the more susceptible they are to get mind controlled because of that. So, even if his comments towards Shinagawa Tribe members back then were not that effective, then getting even a little bit spooked back then was already causing some effects, which obviously would skyrocket once he executes their leader in front of them. So he does not have to be skilled in any sort of master manipulation, he just has to be intimidating enough. (also explains why the protags are not affected by it, because they're kind of tired of his shit and instead of being scared of him after seeing the manager's execution, they're just really angry instead)

Except. Here's the thing.

I don't think Ichinose fucking knows that himself.

There is NOTHING in the game indicating or even hinting of him being aware that he's literally controlling people, and not just "persuading" them as he puts it with his awesome #1 strats. Nothing. Not even after this information drop from Q - he is never confronted about it by the protags. Ever. For his remainder of appearances. Never do we get a moment where he goes "buwahahaha so you have realized..... my fuckshit forte........ what will you do now......" even though it seems obvious that it'll happen at some point. Nobody ever.... brings the "Ichinose Curse" up to Ichinose himself, ever, and neither does he. Like it's irrelevant to him, or, I'll say this. His actions do not make sense for someone who knows they have a mind controlling power. None of them. Ichinose literally has no fucking idea and genuinely thinks that he's persuading all his subordinates with his own skills and he's that perfect, and, at the same time, does not even get why he's being even listened to anyway if we go off of a quarter of his dialogue.

I was about to say how I got no idea how Q got hold of that fucking information when even the ability-bearer himself, Ichinose, does not have it, but, it actually does make...... kind of sense, if you go into theory territory for a bit? According to me, and this is what I'm sticking with as most plausible, Ichinose is not the only person who has had that ability - and the Ichinose Curse is actually the power of the Ichinose family, which it gets it's name from, and how Q could have gotten that information. If he got relatives that could mind control people, then no matter how obscure that fact might have been in Neo Tokyo, Q could have gotten a hold of it and connect the dots. It could also explain why he didn't say anything earlier; he had heard of some line of Ichinoses with that kind of power, but he wasn't sure if Ichinose Kazuma was from them, but after observing him for enough time it became obvious and that's why he said so only after confirming it during the XB match. That's what I'm believing. The other equally plausible possibility is that the writers sharted but I'm putting trust in them

Anyway, the protags kind of shift the subject of the match, from arguing whether it was Ichinose's or his subordinate's fault for losing XG, to discussing whether working for him has any benefits to prove he sucks to his subordinates so they'll leave him. Whatever I don't care about them

Ichinose keeps making nothingburger arguments and defenses such as "well I'm #1 which means I'm the most outstanding one and being used by the #1 itself is a benefit so checkmate liberals". Or like, more accurately, when confronted by anything he always just answers that, well, he's part of the NUMBERS, and nothing else. His justification for every single one of his actions is that he's #1, which automatically makes him superior and inherently more worthy than the rest ("I am the chosen #1. I'm not disposable like those incompetent fools.") -- whenever it comes up, he always pairs having that title with surely making him Chosen and Special, and gets very upset with the protag group for "not realizing [his] greatness". He rarely lists himself being the literal Director (and the de-facto President via his bribery shenanigans) of Shinagawa City as what makes him so special, and this position is what seems to actually give him some real power and not just a fancy title. What does being "#1" in particular even entail? Who knows, but he sure is holding onto it for dear life. It would be a shame if. Nevermind

Moving on. He keeps failing at dodging arguments just as miserably as before -- Upon presented with reality and actually believing it somewhat he rationalizes and justifies to himself that he's never to blame regardless of how much his arguments don't make sense, knows that he's in the wrong or at least can't reason against it, at least subconsciously, cannot defend himself and is visibly nervous, the usual, whatever. Until he gets one match with Todoroki, and, just says something that's just a really odd comment.

For context, Todoroki is one member of the Trash Tribe/protag team, who is distinctive for two things: being insanely rich, and a massive asshole. He constantly acts superior towards, insults and is nasty to everyone he ever meets for virtually no reason and has no redeeming qualities. Him and Ichinose never had any meaningful conversation with each other. Ichinose just... not only paid enough attention to Todoroki specifically to notice that despite being established several times that he does not care for anyone other than himself and does not acknowledge anyone else in the room, he also recognizes that this behavior is indeed, a dick move (cheers for self-awareness). And basically, just. Sounded like he just started projecting completely unprompted.

From this moment on, it is absolutely pointless to even list all the arguments you have with him as a separate thing, as he constantly just makes the same defenses because he has none. He literally has zero fucking counterargument aside from "nuh uh" or "ok well but have you considered I'm literally #1. which essentially makes me like a prettier Yomi and the winner of this argument" if I'm ever in court and my lawyer is Ichinose I'm killing myself.

Like. Look at this silly silly unserious man.

Anyway, Gotanda goes up to all his subordinates and tells them "believe in thyself.... go work for me instead......" so they'll snap out of the Ichinose Curse and it's not very effective. Ichinose tells him to leave his kittens alone and that he has trained them to 100% obey him and that special relationship will never fall apart which is funny cause I'm pretty sure I've heard that some time ago before and it ended with him inside an iron maiden. Anyway Gotanda calls out to Ichi's subordinates by their actual names and Ichinose is a bit taken aback cause he forgot they got names. Gotanda asks how the fuck do you not know the names of any of your subordinates and Ichinose goes that they all look the same anyway. Gotanda uses that and it is very effective this time, and literally every single Ichinose henchman just decides that he sucks and they all leave. No this doesn't mean the game's over Ichinose is just alone now it's like a 1v9 perhaps more I didn't count all the protags. Ichinose gets extremely pissy and his featured yellow-highlighted argument is "I am the best in Shinagawa! I don't need anyone's help!" which ermmm ackshually, no one offered to help you, and also when you got sucked into the iron maiden for a thousand deaths your second instinct was to yell for help so. Ratio

Anyway he actually gets asked what his basis for saying that #1 is superior and to provide a reliable source for that too and his answer is that it's because Zero said so. Thanks for clearing that up

Anyway not only did Gotanda talk to his former acquaintance who said that Ichinose was incompetent and useless, he also got a hold of his HR evaluation report and they also said he was "bottom-tier and completely useless". Everybody hated that guy and he had zero skills or strengths before he became the Director so his argument about being inherently excellent special superior and a "born winner" was him lying through his teeth literally every piece of power he had was given to him by someone else, that he did not work for, either.

Anyway, this one's fun. Gotanda asks Ichinose to list his strengths, and he just can't. He just goes "uhhhmmm umm well there are too many itd be a waste of time to list them all and if I said it then you'd cry at how cool I am. Wait a moment I'm still thinking. Uhhhghhnng. ummmm. Well there's just too much to say..." and only after direct prompting from Gotanda to hurry the fuck up and stop stalling he musters up something about having charisma which makes everyone follow him (they literally all left. also no one tell him about the mind control), which is a vaguely abstract nothing trait. In the next, separate scene he has made significant improvements in being able to list any of his positive qualities aside from his status, and says that he's also hot. Great job Ichinose you beat the loser allegations! Anyway next scene he loses at XB miserably it was great while it lasted.

(Before that Gotanda also tells him "your self-esteem is so outrageous I feel embarrassed just listening to you… I'm actually starting to doubt your sanity." but like. Hmmmmm is it really self-esteem. Is it. Does he ever sound like it is.)

Anyway he immediately goes "AAAHHHHHH". Zero appears and vaguely insults his capabilities, Ichinose spares no time begging him to pleaseeeeee give him a rematch he won't slip up next time just pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee give him another chance sobbing and shaking cutely and Zero says no. Well, he doesn't actually say no but......

Zero says that now is a good time to tell him, that, actually, he is #1 because he is weakest of all the Numbers, and that he is a loser and cringe and completely yaoiless and also sucks. He didn't tell him that all this time cause he felt sorry for him.

Immediately after:

I love. Rotating this bastard in my mind.

Being the "Chosen" and "Special" #1 is what he based his entire worth off until this moment, a proof of his superiority and what made him "not disposable" like other people like he said so earlier. He talks about it all the time, it is his main and only argument and justification for everything he does and he's holding onto it for dear life even if as it was shown through the game it really did not have any significance aside from being a fancy sounding title. He can hardly list any positive traits of himself that don't have to do with being #1 without stalling. He probably was a nobody before becoming #1, according to Gotanda people really just considered him incompetent and completely useless. Literally every piece of power he had was given to him by someone else, that he hardly even worked for, and both of those superiors (the President and Zero) did not give a shit about him, while he believed they had a "mega special & unbreakable bond". He constantly sucks up to the people above him, and it's especially pathetic with Zero. Ichinose clearly thought they had Something, according to him he was "the only person who acknowledged [him]", gave him his approval, that reveal must have done unspeakable things to his brain. And even then, despite it all, he STILL tries to appeal to Zero, literally begs him again for a rematch like he's seriously got no dignity left. And being #1 really was the only thing he had going for him, he's a coward with no skills, lacks awareness in most areas but surprisingly still retains some of it regarding him not being a competent leader, has no arguments in XB (or theyre incoherent or contradicting, doesn't even attempt at lies) for the cake not being his fault, and working for him having benefits, probably does not believe either not that deep down but keeps doubling down, when Gotanda says his subordinates are more competent than him he has no comeback. He literally has a special ability that he does not even know about (or is in denial, who knows) hes never had to work for being listened to, truly thinks that its his Excellence and Perfection that makes people obey him, with his own skills, also doesn't seem to really actually get why he's being listened to he knows it makes no sense. The fucking Todoroki scene projection 1000. And I'm gonna go even further and say that him picking immortality as a reward is just proving he does not think over anything and is only shallowly chasing more power and security, immortality is famously a standard superpower that people don't really think about as hard as they should before they say that they'd want it, it will dissapoint you not be fun and you'll suffer for eternity wishing that fuckass snail was real. This feels so good to finally fucking write down and post this man is driving me insane I don't even think 99% of all that shit was even intentional or intended to be taken as seriously as I do by the writers there is a permanent Ichinose shaped organ right inside my brain and I can't take it anymore I

And this is just. Painful to read. But I mean, let him cope I guess, it's not hurting anyone, let him believe it.............. It'll help him stay functional

Anyway, regarding the robot thing, to add even more salt to the injury, Zero admits that he built him as shittily as possible with the parts he just had on hand, no regard for quality or durability. When Ichinose suggests that he pleaseeeee give him a rematch, Zero says that he's looking forward to it, but, he hates to break it to him that it's probably the end for him. Ichinose's mildly confused and Zero explains that he has a battery that drains pretty quick when he does any strenuous exercise (which he did play a whole match of baseball just a bit ago). Like, it's literally running out right now and he'll turn off soon. Ichinose asks him to then please recharge him, or give him a new battery, and Zero says "No <3". After panicking for a few seconds Ichinose just. Turns off and stays like that probably forever. Gotanda literally said that they are going to make sure that he never wakes up and they just. Leave him there. Like that's the end

And with that, finally, I fucking did it. I wrote down the Ichinose manifesto. Please tell me I'm not alone in my obsessive fascination with Ichinose from the fucking shitty Tribe Nine gacha. Why is it a fucking gacha.

Some other notable certified Ichinose momence:

When he first appears Kuronaka thinks that he has a "relaxed expression", but, he's actually like notably the character (next to Q) with the most prominent stress lines under his eyes. And also literally nothing about Ichinose to me screams "relaxed" man's in the fucking trenches emotionally every second of his stupid baka life

"you normie" <- actual line he said

Robot built so shitty he still feels thirst. The moist eyes comment

I don't even know what is happening in this scene

Sometimes he just makes this slutty af pose for no reason

[ayeeelee]

I don’t care wtf y’all say but Zeke looks like the fuckin pedo from lovely bones.

[vivika-ka]

[sonofthesaiyans]

Someone crafted this on Twitter. And honestly, can you really argue with them?

Attack on Titan is not aging well at all, and a lot of the problems do fall on the characters above. Their motivations for what they do poison everything established by the first three seasons. Season Four is fucking bullshit, I don't care how attached most here are to AOT.

That's to say nothing of Gabi Braun, Reiner, and even Annie Leonhart.

It seriously would be easier to declare Season Four noncanon. Nobody likes that fucking sad excuse of an ending anyway.

This story ended with the ocean.

[dabisdoll]

IMPORTANT !! CALL OUT POST : @erensyeagers

racism is racism. no matter who you are. however this person thinks that being a jewish grants jewish people the right to disrespect, make fun of and degrade other jewish people. basically an exception. thus this person likes to make jokes about jewish people and the holocaust. but let me tell you a very surprising fact, that none of your rude, some stupid while other sensible anons couldn’t make you understand.

JOKING ABOUT HOLOCAUST IS ANTISEMITIC.

whether you’re a jew or not has nothing to do with it. stop using the excuse of being a victim to justify what you’re doing is right. a devout jewish person doesn’t give you the right to belittle other jewish people nor any other person in the world. believing that you have certain exceptional, natural rights over others is the very essence of racism!

and it’s surprising to me how easily you can act like this and take no accountability for it. going around and saying ‘you hate jewish people’ for no reason is not a joke. it’s an insult to all jewish people, who are sane and sensible in mind, and an unreasonable threat to those who live in the fear of someone randomly calling them antisemitic, even when they are not. you are trying to destroy the seriousness of the issue. just what part of it is funny?

this person obviously has no intention of owning up to their mistakes and apologizing. they’ve closed their ask box and deleted all the asks that people have sent. yes, some of them were quite rude, but this person should’ve gotten a point from that !! that making such comments hurts others and their history can’t serve as a justification for that. racism does that. all it does is hurt and harm others, and you can’t simply say i can do whatever the fuck i want. that’s not how the world works.

it’s a serious issue man. it’s not enough to say ‘i’m a jew so i can talk shit about jewish people and make fun of them’ . no. being a jew doesn’t give you any exceptional rights or discriminatory treatment, whether for the better or for the worse. this is the very root of racism. this is a very toxic mindset that needs to be addressed.

so if you’re reading this, and you’re a part of the aot community, do us all a favor — block and report this person. and please reblog this to spread the word. i usually wouldn’t even bother posting on tumblr, but this person was far out of line.

block & report @erensyeagers !

PROOFS.

most of the asks have been deleted, but from these screenshots, you can see their behavior.

and read THIS POST that’s a proof in itself. it’s a shame to see that whether they’re attacking the op or joking about it, it’s equally as bad.

[ackerbabezzz]

NOT THESE PEOPLE ACTUALLY HOLDING A FUNERAL FOR EREN????

[incepstla]

Everything is going to hell in the latest chapter

1) End of life

2) New Life (Poor Historia)

3) Eren still being a war criminal and an ass

4) And Levi just being Levi

I needed that laugh thanks Levi I know I can count on you when shit hits the fan.

[porcelaintoybox23]

The ending of Aot is okay? A lot of Eren's motives make poor sense. Why couldn't Ymir have been freed without killing 80% of humanity? I just don't understand why? Like the outcome is the same. Heck now the world has even more reason to hate them.

Historia's role was made out to be more significant than it actually was.

Zeke didn't need to die at all, since Ymir was free of the vow. Also, getting rid of titans forever is the best plan why not just tell Eren and Zeke that, Ymir?

Also, Eren suddenly being super in love with Mikasa was bad. I don't like Eremika but I don't hate it. It could've been built up better.

Seriously, this all could've been achieved without the rumbling. She could talk to everyone. Just tell Eren and Zeke your idea and have someone kill Eren. Easy and involves no genocide.

I'm really glad I only recently got back into AoT...

Everyone tries so hard to be Code Geass...

Edit: the ending still confuses me. If Eren was the true ringleader why not rumble the whole world? Why would he do all of this to make his friends look good? If Ymir was running it, there had to have been a better way to communicate. But she couldn’t have because she was loyal to fritz for some sickening reason. Annie was barely used. Connie kidnapping Falco was unnecessary. Eren outright said he had no clue what he was doing. Some supporters say Eren didn’t know he’d be stopped, then how did he know he was making his friends look like heroes?

[bisexuwellbeing]

Snitches might get stitches

But Zeke's parents were both bitches

[thelemondraws]