#aot speaks so much about our failed human nature

[ourmondobongo]

I've been reading vol.33 again and I still can't fathom how anyone can think eren was right. Seeing him crushing all these innocent lives was chilling and just wrong, even if they hated the people of paradis they were just as ignorant as the yeagerists who held the same unbased hatred born out of fear. Hange, Armin and the rest had the right idea, they needed more time for negotiations and to learn about one another, it wasnt out of reach. The one who disagreed was the impatient, raging, impulsive boy who was trapped in his childhood and the childish logic that if you kill your enemies it's problem solved. Just because he had all that power doesn't mean he was finally free. He was just more powerful than the others and thought that gave him freedom to do as he pleases. Half-hearted apologies be damned, Eren deserves no redemption and shouldn't be hailed as a tragic hero or receive any thanks.

Hey ya!!

Let me get on board on the rant time because what you said is really great.

Ugh, I also hate that a significant deal of people glorifies Eren for what he did, and with the excuse of "his love for Mikasa" and "his friends"!

And Eren lied left and right after RtS, and gave in to his obsessive, anarchist, and immoral idea of freedom instead of accepting his powerlessness against a invisible enemy (humanity’s irresponsible, fear and hate-driven mentality), and he gave up of trying to find a solution for everyone with the help of others because his visions of the future mainly showed his dreams would come true (the Titans eradicated). And he helped killing his own mother (and his whole blood family actually if you consider his and Zeke’s grandparents). And after all the killing he had just done, the guy literally said he would have flattened the whole Earth and let it "full of carrion fattened insects"?

This terrifies me and grosses me out so much. Especially because this part of him is monstrous but easily falls forgotten with his pathetic confession about Mikasa and Armin's conflicted attempt of "thank you - though I can't understand you, I still love you, bro". And instead of for once let things absolutely clear, with the route Yams choose to end snk (changing from a dark ending to a bittersweet/more peaceful one), this all just made Eren's case more complicated.

And you're so right in your talk about Hans, Armin and the others needing more time! True options for peace through communication and diplomacy didn't have time to develop on their times properly! However, this problem runs deeper, and from way sooner than just the latest chapters...

So, if you don't mind, now excuse me while I turns this rant into something longer 😅 Because I think there is something uncommon about Eren's character and AOT's world, and it's adaptation into anime, and Isayama's Schrödinger writing that makes people take many things at face value, or further confused about what we should "support" in the snk journey.

Disclaimer that this is just my particular view, and that I have a tendency to look for the human part of the characters. Maybe my INFP side explains this lol

I fully agree that Eren shouldn't be viewed as a tragic hero! And that he shouldn't receive any thanks for the genocide!

However, considering everything Eren had lived, and how much he helped Paradis (and our loved ones) up until chapter 90, I find it hard to see him as a whole monster - as if he alone was carrying all of AOT's sins on his back. Because otherwise, imo, this becomes a way to excuse the responsibility of all other characters of their World who did nothing to change the Eldian race calamity.

I know there is a hate treatment toward Eren too - as if he had always been "like this" - but I can't take part in it because while of course I'm disappointed and condemn Eren's later actions, a few things I do not forget are that:

1. he saved Mikasa from becoming a sex slave child at 9 years old; 2. he witnessed his mother being eaten by a giant monster while he was still 10 years old; 3. he ate his own father; 4. He saved Armin, Mikasa, and the SC many times up to until the Ocean moment...

So - while only Ymir knows how he manipulated the timeline (that's kinda conflicting) -, whatever happened up to the moment Eren saw the whole thing on the Ceremony, Eren did it unconsciously at each given moment. Which holds some value for me, in the way that I do condemn his actions, but I can't bring myself to hate him. I suffered years with Eren's pre-Marley arc, hoping he wouldn't lose the last ones he loved, and that his powers could continue to save my beloved ones...

On the other hand, when I learned that Yams wanted to draw a "dark ending" for snk, I was hoping Eren would destroy everything, but learn the last minute lesson and show us a very painful ending but with a satisfying sense of "lesson learned" over "what happens when we give too much credit to ourselves or give in to our dark nature". Bittersweetly, I don't think I got either 🤡 Just a 19 teenager that I used to cheer on and suffer with being called incel because his pathetic jealous display is really pathetic for the story in THAT HEAVY MOMENT, or the retinue of Yeagerists praising a mass murderer as if he was a hero 🤦‍♀️ And let's not even talk about Mikasa and the bird thing...

I would rather Yams could have gone for a full dark ending and ripped my heart out with suffering or astonishment with something unique than getting this weird soup of "I want to hurt the reader, but more peacefully" LOL. Also, I wish he had handled his gag ideas better in the manga. (Hanji trying to talk to a car and them buying carrots is another stupid joke that I facepalm whenever I re-read that chapter 😒)

About Diplomacy in AOT

Again, you're so right! Hans and Armin needed more time! But the problem with communication is very old - since Hanji’s time trying to communicate with Titans... Which also leads us to another problem - the use of physical and verbal violence to achieve results.

Generally speaking, when we readers/anime watchers, as humans, love to be on the "right side", and grow attached to our characters, we sometimes agree with violence as being a path to solve things; we support it when it benefits us; we support it "because the real world is like this", and there was "no other alternative". We excuse it when our favs are hurt or in danger, as it's their right for being hurt first, and they need to survive. We support it because it looks cool, or brings forth some advancing results... In other words, when everything else fails, violence seems to always work because of the fear they evoke that makes people take action/to submit/change their minds/produce the necessary results when time is short.

However, if you reread the whole thing, from the beginning with Annie freaking out in the forest under Levi's threat to cut her up; to Reiner showing his split personality in the forest after kidnapping Eren and Ymir; to Armin using Annie's supposedly torture to destabilizing Bertholdth during Eren's kidnapping, and again in the RtS battle; to Ymir not staying in the Island to tell the truth about the world; to RBA killing Marco; to the Yeager Brothers not talking things through with no one; to Eren hiding things from Hanji; to Levi doing Zeke's interrogation about the same topic over and over expecting a different answer he knew that wouldn't come like that; to Zeke downplaying the chances to talk and only focusing on the cruelty of the World while he held undeniable power as a Shifter with Royal Blood; to Marley refusing to admit their wrongness over all Eldians by they themselves turning people into monsters (either literally, as Pure Titans and Shifters, or by increasing the fear and hate Marley people and other nations had over Eldians in general, perpetuating the hard to break cycle of hate); to Kiyomi admitting that she hadn't tried all she could to help Paradis... when we notice the details within those moments, we see that everyone, at one point, failed to understand and communicate properly.

One of the things that stuck in my mind while rereading snk is that Isym wanted to draw the different reactions people had under the pressure of living some kind of apocalypse/ human extinction. And something that was pretty much evident through the whole manga was the terrifying sense of fear and being driven into an impossible corner to make decisions.

Taking this into account, I always remember what happened in chapter 128:

They all used to be friends before this. They fought for their lives together against Titan at the beginning of the manga. And here they all hesitated to kill each other in this sequence. Yet, because of their overwhelming fear and the urgency of the situation, they couldn't settle their differences properly. They were on the same side, but human nature is treacherous when dominated by fear.

Which brings me to something you pointed out:

Seeing him crushing all these innocent lives was chilling and just wrong, even if they hated the people of paradis they were just as ignorant as the yeagerists who held the same unbased hatred born out of fear.

THIS IS SO TRUE! But also this goes to the root of the problem in the AOT world: that the majority of people just DIDN'T WANT TO LOOK FOR UNDERSTANDING.

This by no means justifies what Eren did to them, tho. Eren WAS WRONG, period. Killing everyone who disagrees with you is not the answer! But the lesson here - looking beyond his despicable actions - is about our human nature.

And by Magath's realization in chapter 128, as well as Marleyans and Eldians of the Continent in the depths of despair (135), it seems to hint that the world could have been better if people had actually acknowledged what was wrong with it, and tried to change it for the better rather than furthering their hell. And while older (but still present) generations refused to acknowledge their mistakes, nothing would really change.

So, (putting Eren aside) some questions that linger are - why do humans wait for the worst things to happen to them to finally acknowledge their responsibilities and mistakes? Why do humans need to get on the verge of death, and their worst nightmares come true, to really seek change? Why do humans alienate their personal responsibilities over making the world a better place to be passive in the face of injustice and unfairness with the wrong majority?

Which brings us to this panel right:

"They'll want to know what we saw" is almost equivalent to "they will want to hear because they'll want to understand how such thing happened."

And that Levi's bubble was initially "the pain we feel" hurts even more along with his face because, imo, it shows again how much suffering and loss he/they had to endure from the beginning to the end - until their world finally started to learn with their mistakes. Still, thankfully THEY LEARNED for as long as Levi was alive. My only consolation with this snk ending was that Levi died in peace.

The one who disagreed was the impatient, raging, impulsive boy who was trapped in his childhood and the childish logic that if you kill your enemies it's problem solved.

Ngl, imo, Eren wasn't even caring much about killing enemies or not. Idk, I still have not settle my thoughts about his ending, but Eren seems to have fallen into the glorious delirium of finally turning into the most powerful being in the world, and tried to deceive himself with the idea he was doing all that destruction for people's sake while in fact, Eren was doing it because he WANTED and COULD.

And he also used the excuse of eradicating the Titans to fuel his destructive intentions even more. So he surrounded himself with reasons to do what he already wanted to do, and this I think is what is tricky about his "redemption arc". Which I now tend to see not exactly as a redemption attempt, but once more like Yams with his Schrödinger writing letting readers decide whether what happened was worth it or not while his characters bear the consequences of Eren's disastrous actions. Unfortunately, he didn't make it explicitedly enough what he REALLY wanted to accomplish with Eren's character.

Back in 2009, Eren started as a powerless victim of a hellish world where people were eaten alive by giant naked people; and up to 2017, he fought nails and teeth to save his friends. And now in 2021, he ended up as the killer of his own mother, Hanji, and 80% of humanity. This had everything to be a perfect dark and hurtful story if Yams hadn't rushed and lost sight of what he was trying to tell...

I wonder though, if Eren had done all the Rumbling and the Titan curse hadn't been broken, how he would have felt about his own actions. Because Eren seemed to have found at least some real motivation in knowing that his terror Mikasa's actions would lead to the eradication of every last one of those animals that's on this earth™. And while I would love to have seen Eren falling in the pits of despair like the end of the movie "The Mist", the Titans were indeed gone.

So the only thing I can realistically keep questioning is: Was the end of the Titan curse done like that really worth it all tho? Even for the devoted hearts?

[ihaveathingforfictionalmenlol]

My opinion on Chapter 139 and a little bit about the entire series (OBVIOUSLY THERE ARE SPOILERS SO PLEASE BE AWARE):

First of all, excuse my English since I’m Spanish and I may commit some Grammar mistakes.

I feel a little bit empty after reading the end, and even though I liked it I feel something is missing. It’s weird trying to express how much AoT has changed my life and how much the characters have had an impact on me. Even my best friend and I were brought closer together because of the series. I EVEN SHOW MY FATHER AOT (he loves it btw, we’re watching it together). I have to do a special mention to Erwin, Mikasa, Reiner, Levi and Jean, my favourite characters throughout the entire series.

My perspective regarding morality was compromised between what was revenge and what was justice, and while people say (spoiler) Eren’s death was in vain due to the war still going strong, I think that was one of the most realistic parts. As humans, cruelty is part of us and selfishness would always push nations to start wars. The human factor has always been the key point for me liking the manga/anime so much: it was an honest and raw view of our nature.

I still can’t believe it is over since I’ve been here for 8 years and I’m having this existencial crisis that occurs when you finish a masterpiece. I have no words to say, just thank you Isayama for sharing your piece with the world.

Also, it’s funny how much I despised Eren throughout the whole fucking thing (from the second chapter to 138) until the last chapter, where I finally understood him. Even if I hated him I somewhat cared for him. It’s funny that I only began truly loving him from the chapter where most of his stans have started hating him. I’ve always been suspicious about his actions, but it wasn’t until I heard the words from his mouth that I finally saw him as the child who was charged with the biggest burden of all. It’s funny how he seeked freedom and ended up being a slave of the mission he was entrusted. However, despite not being free, he was freedom. I truly wish with all my heart that Mikasa moves on, because that queen deserves nothing but the best. And I’m happy that after all the misery, pain, grief and the atrocities the characters have encountered, they have somewhat found peace (Reiner despite his depression has managed to move forward, brilliant portrayal of how mental illnesses can bring us down and we still can go on).

I’ll speak about Erwin Smith and then I’ll shut up, I swear. He’s been my favourite character despite being death for ages lmao. I’m even planning to get a tattoo with his name, and my best friend getting Levi’s (simbolising also the Ackerbond because those two bitches were truly something else, I love them with every bit of my heart). That man never failed to bring tears to my eyes, because he sacrificed everything in order to achieve his dream. I see myself so much in him and his actions, I want to become a politician to change things and I know that some sacrifices must be done in order for me to acquire such position. I understand the burden, the pressure, the questioning yourself. Despite it all, despite the selfishness of wanting to see his father’s theory become true, he still pushed humanity forward, and without him Paradis would’ve been stuck until Marley knocked on their door to finally end it all. He was just human and had dreams, like all of us do. And my blood boils when people call him a cold mf with no feelings because Erwin had no choice but to deshumise himself and the people that surrounded him in order to preserve his mental health while being a Commander. Otherwise, he couldn’t have kept going (look at Shadis). In his final moments you can see the burden and guilt he feels, and is finally ready to die as the demon he had to become, giving up on the dream that gave a purpose to his existence, specially with the memes that never fail to crack me up.

That being said, I’ll shut up since I can keep ranting all day. Thank you Isayama and thanks to the fandom for improving the experience.

[ourwingsofwarriors]

AOT Day 3 - Moments -

AOT day 3 - Moment

Characters: Hanji, Levi (mentions of Mike, Erwin & Nanaba)  Rating: PG, Fluff.  Word Count: 1297

I’m Here

However much the birds sung, I could never believe in peace or the harmony of nature, I was envious of those birds, who could spread their wings and fly to distant lands, see the most beautiful lands, live in freedom.

For us however, it was always the same, the walls blocked out the sun, the walls blocked out nature… the walls are our cage and until we can find our freedom, we are forever stuck inside, only having a small glimpse of what was outside of the walls.

I longed for that feeling of complete freedom, to be that song bird. To explore those lands, to be part of nature… to die, a free woman.

I could only lay here, on the roof of our headquarters, to feel only a little piece of that harmony, that freedom.. However for how long would I feel this? For how long could I continue to be like this? Sighing would only cause me more pain, crying would make me seem foolish. There was no answers to my problems. I had lost too much to stop fighting now, my best friend, my commander… old friends. Who else would I have to see die before I could stop this hellish life? I couldn’t bare it anymore.

We had hopes, we had dreams which we shared, that we all wanted to see come true, we had hopes for the future, having families, living in peace, exploring… but those dreams died with the people who had them, and there was only so much we could do to save our own dreams from completely shattering into thousands of tiny pieces, for us to step on, causing us pain and bloodshed.

“Hanji…” I heard his calming voice behind me, I didn’t look back, I stared out into the city, the lights shimmering back at me “Hm?” I responded, I didn’t want to draw attention to my own thoughts, I couldn’t be seen as weak.. I wore his bolero now, I couldn’t let myself become afraid of it. “I thought i’d find you here” He said, sitting down next to me, his small figure, lying down his legs, resting his weight on his hands. His hair was as black as the night sky, his piercing grey eyes looking outwards to the city. “So.. why did you come?” “To find you…” He looked towards me, his eyes were bloodshot, hints of dark circles informed me he hadn’t been sleeping, I guess he was feeling the same as me right now.

“Levi, are you….” “Neither of us are okay Hanji, we have to accept that” He sighed, looking back to the city “It’s been hard since we lost Erwin, but.. We can’t give up all of our hope because he isn’t here to give us that hope” “Levi, I can’t do this” I said, pulling off the Bolero tie, holding it in my hand, the green stone shining in the moonlight… specs of his blood on the rope. “Why did he chose me?” “Because he knew” He paused for a moment, looking at the Bolero, he didn’t want that responsibility, Erwin knew he didn’t want that role. “Because you have that dream of going beyond the wall” “But what if… I can’t do it anymore, what if he was wrong about me?” “Are you doubting yourself Hanji?” Levi sighed “What a pity” “I have lost my eye, I lost part of me when Erwin died… I just..” “Two eyes or one, Erwin continued to fight with just one arm, he knew he was useless on the battlefield, but look what he did for us.. He sacrificed himself, just so we could have even a small chance of killing the beast titan”

“I couldn’t even help, I was useless… I could of stopped him from..” “There was no stopping him Hanji, his mind was set, he was ready to die” “I could of stopped him!” I snapped, without realising, I felt my emotions coming to a boil, about to overflow in front of Levi. “I could of made him stay, I would of taken his place! I wih sometimes that I did…” “Don’t you think we all did! Don’t you think about how I had to chose who lived and who died that day! He stopped me from turning him into the devil and he wa ready to die, I couldn’t even change his mind! I would of killed a thousand cadets just to have Erwin back but there is no going back Hanji! We have to keep living because if we don’t… we will all be titan food” “Levi, we lost everyone…Mike… Erwin..Nana..” “And we are still here! Our hearts are still beating and until the day they stop, we have to keep going”

He looked at me, his face looked disappointed, he was disappointed in me. I failed Levi on so many occasions and now here, on this rooftop. Where the four of us would meet, talk about our dreams and hopes, sharing a bottle of wine. Erwin… Mike.. Nanaba.. “We have to fight for humanity, until the bitter end”

I had fallen in love with everything Erwin did in this exact spot. I remember him telling me everything he knew about the wall, the titans.. The world outside. I wanted to follow him to his dreams.. I wonder if he even loved me back? A drunken kiss doesn’t mean anything when you never speak about it again. But I hope, I hope he knew that I devoted myself to him, on our first adventure up to this rooftop.

“Hanji Zoe, you never cease to surprise me”

Mike confessing to Nanaba under the stars, with Levi, Erwin and myself listening in, before Moblit shouting in a panic at me that it was rude to listen in. Ruining the moment for the two of them, but they didn’t care, because they had found each other in this hellish world.

“You are the reason I stay alive Mike…”

But now, they ever all gone.. It was just me and Levi. And it was me complaining about everything, I was a fool and I was selfish, Levi too had been through everything, and if anything he was there for me. But here we were, not sharing a happy moment, but it seemed more like… we were mourning together, finally letting out our feelings, in a special place, where we could relive our memories.

“Levi, I’m sorry… I am being a fool” “You are always a fool” He smirked a little “You can never change that four…” he stopped himself before he called me four eyes.. Because he felt awful, he hated seeing me like this, he just was never going to admit that to me, or anyone. “You can’t make tea, you stink, you babble on about those shitty titans and expect me to listen… yet here you are my commander” “Levi…” “You expect everyone to hate you for being commander, you think you can’t be a good commander, when will your doubting stop because I am here. I am here right by your side and no matter what happens I will continue to be here, just like you were for Erwin, how I was there for him too, I am here for you. Lead me to my death, and I will follow that path.. Lead me to freedom and I will be there with my blades cutting through those thorns. Hanji. For one moment in your life can you remember that you are strong” A tear fell from my eye. Levi was staring at me, his hand found it’s way onto mine, grasping at it, holding it tightly. “It’s okay to cry Hanji.” He moved closer to me, his fingers intertwining with mine

“Because I am here… with you”