#still need to figure out her actual backstory since i know fuck all about wh but shhhhhh i'm having fun playing dress up with her for rn

[dirge-requim]

made my rt in bg3 since i have an extensive list of mods installed & can get her look down :3 once again, i cannot resist making characters with long braids and excessive nose piercings lmao

[salenakingston]

Decided to forgo the prompt thing this time around and write a little something that came to my head on my way home from work. Been writing a lot more backstory related stuff to the main trio, and I don’t intend to stop. It’s so fun to play around with.

Prompt: None

Warnings: Medical Procedures (minor), Blood

Timeline of Events: Whitegale Estate (Backstory)

Total Word Count: 3,117 words

The halls of this estate seemed to just go on and on. Guess that was to be expected when being invited to a place like this. The Whitegale name was one that stretched far beyond the reaches of Sweden, for a number of reasons. Alexander’s wealth and power was nothing to scoff at, but more than that, it was what he had chosen to do with it. He could very well be running his own country with the number of contacts he had, and the people that flocked to him on the promise of a good paycheck. The Whitegales never seemed to be short of work.

And that’s why he was here.

News articles continued to pile up on top of one another, the gap between his own kills becoming shorter and shorter. It seemed that since discovering his project had been a failure, he was not allowed much room to breathe. The demon had put up with him before then, no doubt already knowing the outcome before even his host had learned the price of dealing with those that were already dead.

Magic was real, but even in this new world, there were laws that had to be obeyed. No one could come back from the dead without being broken. Pleas and cries haunted the mind, be it in the waking world or when asleep.

He couldn’t stay at his office anymore, not without risking getting caught. His brain argued with him that he deserved to be taken in. He had lost count of how many lives he had stolen away, be it from those that deserved death or not. He did not care so long as he could get a laugh out of it. He would take.. And take.. And take until there was nothing left of who he once was. Life was slipping away from his fingers.

Sometimes he even wondered what the point of fighting was anymore.

Malceum had found himself on the steps of the estate, mostly by chance. Forced to flee his home country. It was quite the jump to make, Germany to Sweden. Anywhere else might have been a better idea, a place where he might be able to isolate himself so that he couldn’t thrive off the thrill of others… but there was one thing that drew him in to the promise the Whitegales proposed.

Stability.

A roof over his head.

A job.

He could be left wandering country to country without the promise of being able to see anyone. No one owed him anything, and he couldn’t very well work and move at the same time. He needed a new place to call his own. While the estate itself didn’t belong to him, since Alexander had taken him in, he was granted his own space along with the other medical personnel in the building. He had work, or at the very least, something to keep him occupied. On the plus side, with so many people around, he couldn’t just do as he pleased. Someone would notice if one of the staff went missing, or if he had slipped out of the building.

It was a bit of a win win actually.

Unfortunately, it didn’t keep the hollow’s witty commentary silenced.

Alexander had called upon him specifically for a task. Guess the man himself had been impressed by the surgeon’s work. At least that’s what he assumed before stepping inside the office. It was for a stranger reason that he had been chosen. Alexander’s wife had seen him in a vision. Said woman was quite the enigma. Seeing her was rare outside of briefings and events. He had gazed into her unseeing eyes, and could swear that she was somehow still staring back at him. It was enough to unsettle anyone.

He didn’t believe her vision, at least when it seemed like it was something so minor. It was just another surgical job. What did it matter if he was the one who did it, or someone else. Alexander had explained that he never questioned anything his wife had seen, nor was surprised at Malceum’s skeptic tone.

Well… whatever. He had a job to do.

Returning him back to his path through the halls. He had finally managed to figure out where he was going, though it probably helped that he dropped the files he had been flipping through from his eyesight. Anything already on a person’s medical record could help him to understand his patient’s body. Their strengths and weaknesses, at least on a physical level, and what kind of treatments one had already undergone. Which worked, and which ones did not.

But this file just left him dumbfounded.

It was for someone by the name ‘Salena Kingston.’ The first thing that struck him as odd was the inclusion of a ‘species’ tag on her records. Species? It labeled her a wolf, but this had to be some kind of mistake. True, magic was a possibility, but this just seemed too much of a stretch as to what could be considered real now. Humans seeing the future? Believable at the very least. Humans channeling enough energy to bring the souls of others back from the dead? He had seen it first hand. Humanized animals? Unheard of.

Brushing past this mistake, he got into the meat of her records. It baffled him that the list of problems with her physical attributes grew longer and longer with each person that had seen her, yet they had all cleared her to return to duty. Were all of them so negligent with their jobs, doing this on purpose so they could make another sum of money from their wealthy employer? Or was this Alexander’s own doing? It was clear he had contact with everyone on his medical team. Surely he wouldn’t be worse than the doctors.

Well, he wasn’t going to be like them.

Malceum stopped as he came to the medical wing. He knew the path here, but not to this specific room. It seemed strange to be directed to one room, as many others he had taken care of were spread through to whichever space was available. This was ���her room.’ Just how often was this person here to have a room all of her own?

The surgeon steeled himself, and then opened the door. Strange that this door requires a pin number to open, sliding rather than opening like any normal door.

A pair of blue eyes peered over at him.

The door shut behind him, effectively locking him in the room with a literal beast. So that species part of her documents hadn’t been a typo after all. There, sitting in the bed, was a wolf with a humanized figure. He couldn’t find one thing to focus on, his eyes moving all around her. Her red face markings, visible scars across the top of her muzzle and neck, the curved notches in her ears, the traces of bags under her eyes, but mostly that piercing gaze that fell on him.

A gaze that seemed to be narrowing the longer he stood still. He even found his hands shaking slightly. No, it wasn’t fear that was causing this. He seemed delighted by this turn of events.

“Hey.”

What? Oh that was her voice.

“Are you going to stand there gawking at me, or are you actually going to do your job?”

Malceum was taken aback. Never in all his career could he recall a patient speaking to him in such a way. Annoyance replaced his surprised expression. Oh, he could tell he wasn’t going to enjoy taking care of this one. He set her file down on the small table next to her bed. As he drew closer, he noticed the tubes sticking out of her nose, a tank on the opposite side from where he was standing. Oxygen? Was she having trouble breathing? There were so many problems on the list, it was likely his brain skipped over it, much like the fact of her ‘species.’

“Hey.”

“Y-Yes, st-top.”

His hands were shaking again. She’ll be fun to play with.

Y-You ca-an’t-t.

Oh I’ll find a way.

He gave an audible sigh, an eyebrow raised on the woman? Wolf? In bed. Right, he must look like a crazy person. She was glaring at him at this point, so he might as well match her attitude, “W-well M-Ms. Kin-ngs-ston, I can h-hones-stly s-say in all m-my l-lif-fe I’ve n-nev-ver se-e-een s-som-meo-one as b-brok-ken as y-you are a-and-d s-stil-ll w-wil-llin-ng to m-mout-th off t-the p-per-rson w-who’s-s b-been a-assig-gned to h-help you.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble Sorrowgrave. You’re hardly the first person to be assigned to me as you put it.”

She knew who he was? He hadn’t even been here that long, and he’d never seen her before. Did Alexander tell her about him before summoning him? He mentally shook off that train of thought, scoffing at her, “S-So I’ve s-see-en, a-and it s-seem-ms n-non-ne of t-them-m h-have b-bee-en t-treat-tin-ng you p-pr-rop-perly.”

“And you think you can do better?”

“I k-know-w I c-can.”

“Doubtful.”

Now he was getting more than just annoyed. Were it not for the mask covering his mouth, he was sure his sharpened teeth would be flashing to accompany his growl, “Y-You d-doub-bt my s-sk-kills-s?”

Her tone didn’t change. From the moment she first started talking to him, it seemed she was intent on holding onto her level of sass, but content. Was it acceptance? It was too soon to tell. She didn’t shut up, “Oh no, I’m sure you’re great at what you do. I’m just saying I doubt there’s anything you can do that the other doctors haven’t already tried, or improve upon. My body’s fucked.”

Und-der-rst-tatem-ment-t.

“T-Then-n c-care to ex-xp-plain to m-me w-why y-you’v-ve b-bee-en cl-lear-red e-ev-ver-ry s-sin-ngle t-tim-me y-you’ve b-bee-en h-her-re wh-hen ev-ven you are a-awa-are th-hat s-somet-th-hing is w-wron-ng w-with you?”

“Have you been paying attention? I told you there’s nothing that you can do to improve my condition. You’ll either clear me like the rest of them or I spend the rest of my life sitting in bed. Sounds far too dull.”

“Wh-hy are y-you h-her-re t-then?”

The bitch seemed to roll her eyes at that question, “Did Alexander not even bother to tell his new surgeon why he was being sent here? Just send him off with a file and expect him to wing it?”

Obviously she wasn’t pleased, but was that directed at him, or at her employer? She had to be working for the man if she was in her own private room, but also referred to the Whitegale man by his first name. How was it that she seemed more annoyed than he was having to put up with this? He glared over at the file, as if it had committed a crime by simply being in the room, “H-he s-said his w-wif-fe s-saw me h-her-re in a v-vis-sion.”

That was the thing that seemed to shut her up. Her attitude melted away, head moving up slightly from its slouched over position, “Cassandra saw you? I see.”

So she knew something about the man’s wife too. Just what was so special about this woman and what she could see? Why was it a driving force for so many decisions made around here? It was largely irrelevant for the present moment. He still had a job to do. He found his face easing slightly, “N-Now t-th-hen. W-What-t are y-you in f-for t-tod-day?”

“I need stitches. The staff have been able to do what they could for the wounds, but they won’t heal properly without that work, and Alexander won’t let me do the ones I can reach myself. I’ve been instructed not to move as much until someone got here to take care of the problem.”

She’s capable of doing her own stitch work? Perhaps their employer didn’t want her to do it, feeling more confident with a professional surgeon on staff. Guess his reputation from his home country had something to do with that.

There was a spot for Malceum to prepare for this small task, doing his best to get his hands to stop shaking before he got to work. When he turned back around, he noticed that she had placed her wrists above leather straps on each side of her bed. Restraints, yet she was so casual about their use. She was looking so expectantly at him, “I d-don’t-t s-see a n-nee-ed to hav-ve to u-use t-thos-se.”

“Look Sorrowgrave, I know you’re new here, but trust me on this one. Unless you want to risk my claws finding your skin or impaled on accident, you will strap me down.”

“Y-You c-can’t-t do wor-rse t-than-n wh-hat has al-lre-eady b-bee-en d-done to me.”

“What?”

What?

She didn’t seem to buy that, trying again, “Trust me on this one Sorrowgrave. You’re going to want me restrained. I wouldn’t ask you otherwise if I didn’t think there was any danger to this.” It baffled him in a way that she was willing to be tied down, for his own sake. She was aware of her own power, able to assume she had some from the way she phrased her words, and took her own measures to ensure the staff’s safety. Seeing no need to fight her further, he stepped over to her bed, tightening the straps as tight as he could around each wrist. Her eyes turned forward, waiting now.

He only stepped away to gather his materials before coming to her side, “I’ll n-nee-ed to re-em-move y-your g-gow-wn.”

“Go ahead.”

He had done this so many times before, so there was no need to be so hesitant. The gown was laid across the railing closest to him, his eyes focusing to the new bundle of white and red along her shoulder. So one wound there. He could see the same along her upper chest, another spot along her side, and one last one near her thigh. Whatever mission she must have been on didn’t include an instruction on being careful.

His hands moved around the bandages, removing them. Sure enough, the cuts were deep, jagged in some places. He couldn’t help but notice the ones along her upper chest were different. They were straighter, each one with more than one line next to them. They looked very similar to scars that already littered her upper body. Eyes narrowed, staring on them, and she must have caught onto him again, “As much as I would love for you to keep gawking over my body, do you mind getting on with it? I hate sitting still.”

A low growl passed through his lips, sitting back up so he was at a better angle to do his job. No point in entertaining her rebuke. The sooner he could get these stitches done, the sooner he could leave. A syringe moved towards her wrist, sticking her in a safe place. It shouldn’t take too long for her body to grow numb. While he waited, his eyes moved over the wounds. Whichever medical personnel came to see her before him did a good job cleaning them out. All of them were clear of any signs of infection. Good. He would have hated to do more work than necessary.

He was always careful with his work, testing to make sure the anesthesia was in effect before the needle even touched her skin. Salena barely moved during the entire procedure, making this far easier. Guess he was right that she actually didn’t need to worry about the restraints. He couldn’t help but manage a smug look behind his mask. Good thing she couldn’t see that.

Clean bandages were wrapped back where the dirty ones used to be, leaving the surgeon with nothing else to do aside from clean up. He took care of himself before returning to his patient’s side, freeing her wrists and offering the discarded gown back to her. She snatched it from him, draping it back over her form. Guess his work here was done, so he could leave.

Before he could input the pin to the door panel, he heard her voice again, “Wait.”

Wait? Why? He thought she would be thrilled to have him leave her space. She was rubbing one of her wrists when he turned his eyes back onto her. Her gaze moved to the side, “Thanks. Let me compensate you for your work. I know something you may appreciate more than whatever Alexander will pay you.”

Weird. What could she possibly offer someone like him. Eyes widened when a pocket of magic She stuck her arm inside of it, pulling out a vial. What had he just witnessed? Truthfully, he wasn’t sure, but it fascinated him. Just what was this woman capable of?

Eyes trailed down to the vial, the magic having disappeared, and this what was offered out to him. He took it in his hands, fingers rolling it back and forth as it rested along his palm. The vial contained some kind of green liquid. He was about to question her when she noticed his confusion, “It’s a dreamless sleep potion. I can see the dark bags under your eyes. If they’re anything like mine, I can guess partly why you’re not getting sleep at night. Figured it might help.”

“I-It’s a w-what-t?”

It’s a what?!

One was thrilled, and the other panicking. He couldn’t lose the only outlet he still had for the time being to break down his host. Malceum’s hand began to tremble, grip moving around the vial. Audible cracks from the glass rang in the small room. He tried to save this small act of mercy she had offered him, but he was stronger. The vial shattered, potion spilling between his fingers. Tiny tears pricked at his eyes, red mixing with green along his hand.

He turned around, punching in the code to allow himself to leave, racing down the hall once the door opened.

She didn’t miss the orange flickering in his gaze.

He could tell she was a danger. She had something that could help him, and he made them flee. He wanted to go back to her, beg her for another one, but it was useless. He was going to make him pay for this new found hope.

Salena’s eyes didn’t leave the man, even as he sprinted past the window looking into her room. There was something very wrong with him. Cassandra saw him being sent to her. There was some reason they were meant to meet. Her gaze shifted down to the puddle on the floor, green mixing with red. He wanted that.

Something else made him break it.

And she would find out what.

[snkpolls]

SnK Chapter 122 Poll Results

The chapter 122 poll closed with 1,472 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

RATE THE CHAPTER 1,428 Responses

This is one for the record books. Chapter 122 is officially the highest rated chapter since we started the poll. A whopping 85.2% of respondents gave it the top rating. The previous record holder was chapter 101 (79.8%) which featured the long awaited return of the Survey Corps.

5 out of 5 for the pig who seeks freedom! Fight For Freedom! Revolt! Revolt! Revolt!

Each chapter is becoming my favorite every time and this one isn't different. It's a fantastic read.

In a single chapter Founder Ymir became one of my top five characters in this series point blank.

I thought nothing could top chapter 100. 122 is the best one of the entire story. 

A turning point. Very well executed. Congrats, Isayama, can't wait to see what you still have on store!

Yet another mind-blowing chapter, honestly one of my favorites in the series! Honestly, this was a chapter I have been awaiting since I started getting into SnK, and those feelings increased following the basement reveal chapters where we are left to wonder which parts of Ymir's story are true and which are false.

One of the best chapters of the series! Definitely gave me a new appreciation for Attack on Titan from a story telling standpoint.

I love how many questions this answers and also creates; I’m happy that there are still many things left a mystery!

Aamazing chapter, I fucking cried. Now give me Historia, Isayama. I need her.

I'm just so happy to see it finally coming together and not be let-down

If Floch doesn't die in the Rumbling I want a refund

Worldwide genocide, taking care of kids, get you a man who can do both

LEEEEET'S GET READY TO RUUUUUUUUUUUMBLE!!!

Damn, Isayama.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT? 1,439 Responses

You guys are almost as split on this question as Ymir’s Titan Powers are. Speaking of, she also happens to directly occupy the two most common answers, with 48.7% rating their favorite moment as either her backstory, or her conversation with Eren.The fall of the walls takes third place, followed by Eren’s revival and the cliffhanger at the end of the chapter.

WHO IS MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR 'STARTING THIS STORY?' 1,419 Responses

You started this story, didn’t you: pig who got freed?  45.1% feel that the earliest in story event makes for a good starting point.  Just over ¼ of respondents felt the Founder Ymir Fritz is most responsible.  8.4% feel it’s Eren, and only 3.4% chose Grisha for whom the quote originally signified.  The most popular write-in answer, King Fritz, overtook poor Grisha at 4.2%.  Variations on King Fritz in the write-ins numbered almost 200.

People's greed. It started with the first King Fritz and it continued with the next generations

The Eldians (First Fritz)

Isayama. He started the whole story! If that wasn't him, the pigs would not run away.

Everybody has played their own part, it is not simply a matter of what single person is the most responsible.

The Attack titan

The Marleyean military higher ups that ordered Bertolt, Reiner, Annie and Marcel to breach the walls of Paradis Island

Those that blamed Ymir

The spinal fluid that was inside the three because if that wasn't there, titans would have never existed in the first place.

The cycle of violence/hatred/slavery. The King Fritz probably wasn't the first to be this way. The story has no true beginning because it's a cycle, but Eren will be the end.

King Dickz

The first King. Why isn't it an option?

WHO DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST CONNECTED TO/PARALLELS YMIR THE MOST? 1,422 Responses

Our current queen seems to resemble the first queen quite a bit, with almost half of respondents, at 46.8% saying Historia parallels original Ymir the most.  35% feel Ymir is most connected to, well, Ymir.  14.3% chose Eren, and a sliver of votes went to Zeke at 1.6%.

Though there are more parallels to  Freckled Ymir, the pregnancy of Ymir Fritz can be a connection-foreshadowment of Historia's pregnancy plan. So I'll say that there are parallels to both Freckled ymir and Historia.

Mikasa is a lot like pre freedom ymir

Anyone who has been trapped in life

Connected to: Eren. Parallels: Freckled Ymir.

both Historia and freckled Ymir, obvs. And Mikasa, to a lesser extent

A lot of the cast parallel OG Ymir

Grisha

Definitely Freckled Ymir. She took the blame of all those people in the hopes of being useful or wanted through her sacrifice and then got the power of the titans. 

Ymir has parallels to Historia, freckled Ymir and Zeke

Time will show.

I'd say both Historia and Ymir: the cult picked up Ymir, who was a homeless child, similar to how Founder Ymir was a slave without name or status; the two of them stood for their people even after they've been denounced out of cowardice and fought for someone else until their very end, out of pure selflessness. Historia parallels Founder Ymir by how she became a slave of her blood, and a tool to be used.

I was gonna say Oluo, but he never actually lost his tongue.

HAVE YOUR OPINIONS SHIFTED NEGATIVELY ON ELDIA? 1,421 Responses

In a conflict with no clear start, we get to see further back into the past!  But did the revelations change your mind?  The vast majority at 66.3% don’t give a flying fritz about who started it, they just want to see the bloodshed end.  12.7% say their outlook has changed but Marley is more in the wrong still; and only 5.3% had this chapter change their mind to the Eldians being most at fault.

All the men in power are as bad as each other

Both nations committed atrocities

Both sides are slaves to history, Eldia today is not responsible for the actions 2000 years ago. 

Eldia in the past I always figured were some tyrannical force, I mean what else would happen with an ancient civilisation discovering the Power of the Titans. But Marley's propaganda having some truth to it doesn't mean they're justified in their treatment of Eldians in the modern day who had nothing to do with the original Eldia. 

How could we know? What was the relationship between eldia and Marley before Ymir turned into a titan? Was Marley in the wrong before they were overtaken by eldia/even before king fritz took Marley people prisoner?

King Fritz is the one to blame. Not all of Eldia and ESPECIALLY not the Survey Corps.

Marley is more in wrong because they are continuing to perpetuate the conflict in the present.

The current characters we love and want to end up happy have nothing to do with the past, they just want to be free.

EVERYONE IS IN THE WRONG BUT THAT'S HOW THE WORLD WORKS

There's neither bad or right in this story "Everyone can become a god or a devil, all it takes is for someone to claim that to be the truth" 

WHO IS THE BIGGEST ASSHOLE IN THE MANGA THUS FAR? 1,433 Responses

In a story filled with lovable characters, there’s also tons of douchenozzles.  67.7% believe the original King Fritz is the worst of them all. 17.2% took the intellectual route and responded with “Yes”.

All of them are rotten, selfish and full of hatred people who only think about themselves and are ready to manipulate own children (or other people) for own benefits.

first king Fritz of Eldia and Eren 

Gabi a.k.a. Garbage

I believe king fritz and gross deserve eatch other, they are the assholes of their times

I'm surprised Zeke finally got a rival in being the worst human ever in person of King Fritz.  

No recognition for our very own Darius 'poo-chair' Zackly? 

Most have a at least some humanizing (if not redeeming) qualities, but both King Fritz and Gross are evil to the core

King Fritz, but Flock is also an big asshole (it's never a bad time to point that)

Where's Zeke? To be honest I can't decide between Fritz, Floch, and Zeke.

Who the fuck put floch here, come here and fight 

Why on earth are Karina and Alma here? They were horrid mothers to their kids; the others are guilty of murder, torture and genocide.  

Ymir Fritz because she received godlike powers and decided to stay with a power hungry king; she was free and could have done anything but because of her slave mentality she decided to stay with him for 13 years! as uncle Ben said "With great power comes great responsibility"

The 145th king is the only one who did unreasonable bad things to his people, he literally allowed his people to be enslaved all over the world and he allowed the future genocide of his people. The worst thing is this doesn't do anything. It doesn't save the world from anything. Even the paradise he created was all for himself because he couldn't deal with reality. His logic is faulty, but even so he couldn't even do the job himself. The only one that can be worst than him is Zeke who's another evil man who wants to exterminate his own people. But, unlike Karl, Zeke is willing to do the job himself.

That goddamn pig

WHAT IS THE TREE YMIR FOUND? 1,424 Responses

In a chapter with so many answers, we still have vague origins!  Starting from the start, what in the world is that tree?  Over half of you, at 55.5%, think it’s Attack on Titan’s version of the Yggdrasil tree from Norse mythology.  24.2% say it’s the source of all organic matter we’ve heard discussed.  11.3% say it just grew out of what it’s housing, and 5.9% think it’s similar to the forest of giant trees.

A connection between a human and the Earth, hence the Devil of All Earth

A wellspring or hidden primordial lake

Yggdrasil but is the source of all organic matter somehow, and I think it's somehow related to the trees on Paradis being so big.

A hideout for that Hallucigenia thing left by the devil

It appears almost as a man and women embracing. Adam and Eve??

It doesn't matter. It was never about the origin of the titans, it was about the power of the titans and the moral implications of it. How the titans came to be is irrelevant.

The Great Deku Tree dungeon

Titan tree. It is probably the same species as the trees surrounding it, but has grown unnaturally large due to the parasite in it's water source.

Tree

WHAT IS THE THING IN THE TREE YMIR FOUND? 1,421 Responses

Another layer of mystery within the mystery tree!  Two main thoughts emerged and are almost even in popularity.  46.9% believe it is the source of all organic matter; wheread 44.3% say it’s a parasite of unknown origin.  3.2% say it’s in fact the devil itself.

A connection to the earth, making her the Devil

A *Symbiote* of unknown origin

A root of the tree that connects whoever it touches with the paths realm

A root of the tree that's been soaked and absorbing the water; the water is the real source.

I've seen enough hentai to know that is an alien

It could be the very first living being on this planet, a sort of progenitor from which all genes and all variations of biodiversity came to be.

Just a spine in the water turning little girl to big girl. What's supposed to be special about that?

This world's version of Níðhöggr, the many legged dragon that eats at the roots of the Tree of Life.

The spine of the previous founder

The Great Deku Tree dungeon boss. Ymir lost.

A poorly designed shit-machine that can't get the job done

A L I E N S

DID YMIR TEMPORARILY DIE WHEN SHE FELL IN THE TREE? 1,425 Responses

When Ymir fell into the tree, did she drown?  The majority of the fanbase doesn’t feel anything like that happened, whereas over a ¼ at 26.6% feel she died and was revived.  5% believe she died, and was thereafter controlled by the parasite type thing.

Dying and being brought back to life is meant to be Zeke's thing!!

I think she was almost dying but the parasite healed her.

It revived her and created a clone within the paths dimension.

I think Ymir's body as a child is still in that tree to this day, with the parasite still attached to her. It was deep underground, thus affecting the ground shared by its roots (assuming this is Paradis), and being the reason for all the giant trees. It also explains a little Titans being creatures of the Earth, and Ymir forming them with sand.

She became a Titan seconds before dying

She probably passed out for a few seconds after she drowned, and it was during that brief state of unconsciousness that parasite attached to her.

Ymir the human died, and Ymir the Titan was born. That's why Ymir the human is in the Paths and not Ymir the Titan. Ymir the Human sculpts the titan body for her Titan self, because time is infinite and strange in Paths.

A mix of both Yes answers - it revived her but also controlled her body so that she could only watch on as an observer. It makes her more of a slave without a free will as something else is literally controlling her body from within her and she can’t do anything about it

P A T H S

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST STANDOUT TO YOU ABOUT YMIR'S TITAN DESIGN? 1,429 Responses

We finally got to see the original founding titan in the flesh!  The ribs sticking out stuck out to 39.7% the most.  29.5% of you found it interesting that the overall design was uglier than the goddess like depictions we’ve seen.  17.6% went for the skull face she has, and 11.8% simply went for the HUGE size.

All of above, just look at that atrocity

Her missing eyes

Everything, the ribs were the first thing I noticed with the face being next. It took me a 2nd read through the chapter to realize that she is bigger than the Colossal titan. Definitely one of the best titan designs from Isayama

How malnourished it looks

It's terrifying and it's the fusion of the 9 titans

The fact that it looks nothing like I expected or imagined 

Everything about it - One can see exactly why the truth about her was easily manipulated.

ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 5, HOW OFFENSIVE TO YOU IS THE FACT THAT THE ORIGINAL WARHAMMER TITAN HAD HAIR? 1,418 Responses

This question was for that one guy who absolutely could not deal with the original WHT’s hair. You’re in good company, but the results are about as polarized as global politics. 35% want Emma back immediately, 16.4% don’t really care about this egregious crime, and 32.4% are totally indifferent. Only 16% had slight feelings in either direction. The poll lawyers are telling me that I have to clarify that Emma is still only a fandom name for the previous Warhammer. Get on it Isayama.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE DESIGNS WE SAW FOR THE ORIGINAL TITANS?

You guys liked Ymir’s Founding Titan so much that it’s literally off the charts. The original Attack Titan got some pretty mixed reviews, but the general consensus is that you guys prefer an Eren and/or a Jaeger to be driving that thing. The scourge of the hair comes back to beat down the original Warhammer’s ratings as well, but the majority remain indifferent. Speaking of indifference, more of you were indifferent about the OG Colossal Titan than had strong feelings one way or another combined. We’ll see how that result changes when it ends up CGI in Season 4. The general consensus on the original Armored Titan is, “It’s alright, I guess.” The Female Titan was the second on the list to have a majority “Love” rating, though whether this is due to the design or severe Annie Deprivation Syndrome remains to be seen.

DID YMIR MANAGE TO GRAB THE 'MOST TRAGIC BACKSTORY' AWARD? 1,422 Responses

Another tear jerking childhood to add to the list, but does it top it?  The overwhelming majority at 83.5% feel that she did earn that award of tragedy.  6.3% believe the classic sufferboi Reiner still tops the charts.  3.4% went for Levi, 1.8% for the other Ymir, 0.7% for Zeke and 0.4% for Historia.

Everyone has suffered uniquely in this series, how can I choose ?

First, I'm offended Grisha wasn't included here. Second, everyone's suffered too much. So they all win.

Her backstory definitely is the darkest and saddest one. Reiner, Historia, Ymir and the rest had their moments of happiness. They were surrounded by loving people. Ymir was always all alone; born as a slave, had full of sadness life and after death she was creating titans for 2000 years. She just wanted to be free and wanted be loved, yet she had none of that. 

Homegirl is still living her 2000-year-long tragic backstory, she definitely wins

I don't think tragic backstories should be a competition

I think you forgot about Mr Yeager :) those guys are not even close to him

Is this Suffering Olympics or something?

Ymir and Mikasa the most sad tragic backstory

Ymir is always showed as a mindless slave, even at the start of her backstory, it is too hard to empathize with someone that never acted as a human being and lived her whole life without any emotion

Grisha easily has it for me. Ymir's circumstances were worse from birth, and Reiner's dissonance and misery is tragic, but Grisha's perceived misery throughout his cycles of perpetual tragedy shows that he easily suffered the most. 

Give them all a hug.

P I G

WAS THE MURDERER OF YMIR HELOS? 1,408 Responses

Is Helos historical or completely fabricated?  10.7% believe the Marleyan who killed Ymir is in fact Helos, and 66.9% believe the character is based on him.  22.4% don’t believe the idea of Helos and this man are related in any way.

The one showing rebellion in this chapter is the figure serving as a role model for Helos. Unlike Ymir, he was powerless and only had his spear, but he took enough courage to show resistance to Eldia's domination and toss his spear at the king. He paid it with his life, but he fatally wounded Ymir in return, showing even the goddess of titans could bleed. I'm confident the myth of Helos is going to be relevant in the future chapters.

YMIR didn't die with the spear-throw..I think her conscious form was stuck in the paths before her body revived. 

Helos? Really?? Helos???

WHICH OF THESE LIKELY TO BE CENSORED SCENES WAS THE MOST GRUESOME? 1,421 Responses

In a series filled with gore, this chapter was above average with violence.  Ymir’s young daughters cannibalizing their mother was the most gruesome according to almost all of you at 89.2%.  Second place is a bit behind at 3.5%, with centipede spine Eren.

All of the above

Everything but Centipede Eren

The guy getting his tongue cut out that was even censored for the manga.

We've seen lots of people being eaten so not that, and Erentipede is going to be stunning animated so not that. Maybe head on a pike. 

The tongue cut from the beginning really horrified me, it put the chapter in a great atmosphere from the start

No mention about that slave getting his tongue cut out by those ancient Eldian soldiers? That was pretty grizzle. That panel implies that all people enslaved by the Eldians lost their tongues upon getting captured, which meant that Ymir likely lost her tongue as well. That really explains how she had no spoken dialogue in the past, and while the tongue may have regenerated following her first Titan transformation, the length of time she couldn't speak and her status most likely prevented her from speaking.

No need to be censored

WHAT DOES EREN MEAN BY 'PUT AN END TO THIS WORLD'? 1,419 Responses

Eren’s finally stated what he plans to do; but what does it mean!?  45.9% believe the world he plans to destroy is the paths realm, eldning titans that way.  25.4% think he just meant dismantling the status quo of the world.  14.4% say he’s just going to rumble enemies of Eldia, whereas 10.6% say the whole earth.

All options seem plausible

Destroy the PATHS realm and rumble the enemies invading Eldia. 

He plans to rumble all life, destroy the paths realm, AND erase all the memories of the remaining Eldians on Paradis so they completely forget about the history of the titans, thus effectively making the past 2000 years seem like they never even happened. ANDHe plans to destroy the PATHS realm, putting an end to titans

He wants to destroy the world as it is now. He wants to create a world where none of the things that happened to Ymir can ever happen again.

I think he just needs a nap

I understand that fandom wants to see Eren as good guy who will not destroy the world, but I think that everything is simple - Eren is planning to use full rumbling; destroy the whole world, kill millions of innocent people, animals and plants. 

IT ALL COMES RUMBLING DOWN RUMBLING DOWN RUMBLING DOWN

4+5

HOW DOES THIS CHAPTER RELATE TO THE SCENE OF EREN CRYING IN CHAPTER 1? 1,399 Responses

2,000 years ago, 2,000 years from now.  The titles of this and chapter one parallel, but what else?  Over half of you, at 52.7% believe Eren was sent Ymir’s feelings when she had her emotional epiphany.  33.5% say Eren was sent memories of what’s about to happen, and 11.1% don’t think anything from this chapter related to Eren crying in chapter one specifically.

1st Chapter name suggest it does, but it just make no sense as Eren at that point didn't had attack titan power, so he could not receive others memories

Eren crying will be due to the consequences of this chapter

Eren learns of Ymir's backstory

I don't think Isayama meant for it to originally mean anything this far in the story, but I think there could be some Paths tomfoolery going on.

Eren saw the memories of his death and literally everything until that moment

Eren was sent a message like a cry for help maybe? Strong, intense feelings of sadness and despair... Because in this chapter Eren says she'd been waiting for someone for 2000 years, so I am guessing 2000 years ago she started sending a message.

ON A SCALE OF "EH" TO "I NEED TO HUG HER, HOW DID YOU FEEL SEEING LITTLE YMIR TEAR UP? 1,417 Responses

Sad Girl Hours have officially been endorsed by Hajime Isayama himself. 73.7% of you guys are in full support, and an additional 15.2% of your mice slipped when answering. 6.9% of you guys kinda just wanna see something else happen, and the first one of you on Reddit to say “Nice.” about that is getting sent to Paradis. Lastly, a grand total of 60 of you defy all explanation.

I want to hug Ymir so bad :( mute babby

WHY WAS EREN THE FIRST TO OPEN YMIR'S EYES? 1,415 Responses

It took 2,000 years for Ymir to open her eyes and her heart, what about Eren got her to that point?  29.9% think he was the only person to ever empathize with her at all, 8.4% think it was simply Eren’s chadness, while 8.3% think it’s only because the previous royals viewed her as a slave.  The majority at 41.1% feel it’s a mix of all available options.

Because he was born into this world

Because he is the protagonist

He embraced her and showed her compassion- something she never felt before

Defiance of old wills. He does, after all "just keep moving forward."

Eren didn't seek to use Ymir as a slave

Eren made her realize that she isn't a slave OR a god. She was enslaved and in later years worshipped, but just like Eren: from the moment she was born, she was free

He knew/experienced everything she went through.

He manipulated her to be able to use her powers

He was the first person to tell her she could make her own choices

He was the only one that put his ideals over his personal gain to the end. Ymir is a slave, therefor Eren frees her from her slavery. /The previous royals viewed her as a slave

TALK NO JUTSU 2 GOOD; Eren is good at manipulating kids when it suits his needs best + He was the only one to ever empathize with her

WHAT IS YOUR PRIMARY THOUGHT ON THE CENTIPEDE SPINE THAT SAVED EREN? 1,417 Responses

Eren’s alive!  But what is that… thing?  IT LOOKS AWESOME!  32.9% had that as their first response.  It was nearly a three way split though, and 30.6% first thought of how it must look for those for whom only a moment has passed since his head flew off.  30.2% quickly made the connection that it looks like the parasite thingy Ymir Fritz found.  Only 3.2% thought it looked stupid as hell.

CREEPY but COOL

DO NOT WANT

100/10, better than Kaneki

Ken is hiring a lawyer for copyrights lawsuits against Eren.

I am wondering, what if this is basically Ymir's renouncing of the power she had, finally freeing herself, and thus passing it on to Eren?

I thought that Eren was becoming Níðhöggr, the literal devil that causes Ragnarok (the apocalypse). He looks really cool and frightening at the same time, I love this young man!

It cant be stopped anymore and weird for whom only a second passed

It looks less like a centipede and more like roots to me.

My thought, "The hell is that?!"

Nothing personal Eren, but burn that thing immediately.

Oh thank goodness Eren didn't split into two.

pure "why is the boss music changing to MORE intense?", and that's great

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT EREN SURVIVING THE BEHEADING? 1,410 Responses

44.3% of you are really enthusiastic about Eren surviving his beheading, despite proclaiming that you knew it’d happen anyway. It takes the noggin for a joggin’, but I’m not here to judge. 27.1% of you guys are relatively indifferent about it, and 21.1% of you didn’t think you’d like it, but ultimately bent the knee before Isayama’s storytelling abilities.

Am I surprised? No. Are you surprised? No

Disappointed but not surprised...

Excited, but wondering how he is actually going to die.

GABI GANG BTFO

It was predictable but the revival still felt epic

It was predictable since he's the main character, c'mon anyone else would die like Porco did.

oshiete oshiete

THE WALLS HAVE FINALLY FALLEN! WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THIS MOMENT? 1,410 Responses

A moment that’s been built up so long, what feeling took over when it finally happened?  Most of the fanbase, at 68.3%, were just in awe at how well Isayama pulled it off.  14.2% were filled with hope that Eren actually made it happen.  On the opposite end of the spectrum 13.5% were filled with dread.

All of the above. This story is a rollercoaster.

Dread as the wall titans are facing into Paradis so Eren's plan may backfire! 

Everything in the manga has led to this moment

I kind of thought/hoped the rumbling would be a red herring, but oh well. it'll still be cool

I want them do the colossal dance

I was hoping this chapter won't end with cliffhanger

IT ALL COMES RUMBLING DOWN RUMBLING DOWN RUMBLING DOWN

Looks very dramatic, will be momentous animated, still not surprising since I think a lot of us knew it was gonna happen eventually

meh, I want the story to advance, but the rumbling never grabbed me as an event I was waiting for

LETS GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!!!

I peed

IN SUCH A BEAUTIFULLY DRAWN CHAPTER, WHICH WAS YOUR FAVORITE DOUBLE SPREAD? 1,412 Responses

Isayama’s art truly has improved over the years and this chapter showcased that.  The final panel left the biggest impression on 33.7% of you.  25.1% felt a deep impact from Ymir’s emotional closeup, and the walls cracking and crumbling rounds out the top 3 at 14.8%.

All of them

Original 9 titans.

the one where Ymir was building thousands of collosal titans

not so beautifully drawn but still nice

The pages with Ymir alone in the Paths realm while Fritz tells his daughters to continue the reign of Titans and Eldia 

Ymir’s children eating her

IN CHAPTER 86 GRISHA MANAGED TO QUOTE KING FRITZ WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO READ THE "HISTORICAL" DOCUMENTS. HOW WAS THIS POSSIBLE? 1,406 Responses

In this chapter King Fritz used the same line Grisha did when learning about Ymir much further down the line.  Half of the fanbase at 50.6% don’t feel that anything’s at play and it was just Grisha making assumptions based on what information he had.  Just about ¼ at 25.7% feel paths are involved but they don’t have to explain anything after that.  14.2% feel there was a chain of memory sending that led to the result we got.

Actually Grisha never deciphered the documentation. I thought it was obvious he was being portrayed as extremist at the point to show the other side of the coin. Both sides just make up facts as they want.

I suppose it being the exact wording as what the King said made people think there was memories shenanigans but Isayama does these kind of parallels all the time, with characters saying something word for word that they don’t have knowledge of.

"Grisha how did you understand this?"  "Pretty pictures."

WILL THERE BE A RUMBLING? 1,413 Responses

The walls have fallen.  What will happen next?  In a near even split, 48.1% win out saying there will be a small scale rumbling, whereas 45% say it will be worldwide.  Only 6.9% feel there won’t be any form of rumbling at all.

I WAS WAITING FOR YEARS FOR THE RUMBLING!!!!!!

AWESOME! But i really don't want a full scale rumbling

Eren is becoming more and more the last antagonist of this story and it's just scary how some people in the fandom understand and support Eren's plan. Hopefully Marley, Zeke and the SC will working together to stop the rumbling and Eren. 

i really dont think eren is gonna go full rumbling or even in a small scale, hes gonna end the word dominated by titans by taking away the titan power from eldians

The rumbling isn't a metaphor people. Eren is planning to kill billions of innocents. Can't wait for the warriors and 104th to team up and put down that mad dog.

Zeke said it himself a few chapters back: Eldia would have no chance of fighting the entire World Army; the Rumbling really seemed to be their only way out, and launching those Colossal Titans now as a pre-emptive strike would be the best way to suppress the Army before they can even attack.

I have a feeling that the rumbling will turn out to be anti- climatic. Lots of people seem to be pinning their hopes on the rumbling being the cure-all to Eldia's problems, but the world of attack on titan is not that kind.

WHAT/WHO IS THE TITAN FORMING AT THE END? 1,412 Responses

The chapter ended with a titan forming, but what will it end up being?  Barely over half, at 51.6% believe it to be Eren with a power up from Ymir Fritz.  20.5% think it’s Eren with Ymir attached in some way, and 14.1% think Eren has accessed a new form on his own.

Eren and Ymir combined, rather than attached. Could be a new Titan form, could be Attack Titan on Titan Steroids. Need to wait until 123 to maybe find out.

Eren in Warhammer, he is not in the nape

Centipide Titan that will die after getting out of energy

Eren with full power from the Founder, Attack and Warhammer

I'm thinking it's some sort of founder-unlocked version of Eren's titan. Maybe Ymir is giving him full control now.

Eren and Ymir fused. Ymen

It's Eren but I don't know how his titan will look like and I don't care about it, cause I'm more worried about Gabi. 

Eren's founding titan form. He had it all along, but he could never use it, until now.

The last two sound so lewd without context

DEATH FLAGS! WHO IN SHIGANSHINA IS GOING TO DIE AS A RESULT OF IMMINENT EVENTS? 1,340 Responses

I was gonna ask for Fs in the chat for whoever led in the results for this question, but then I saw it was Floch, so… Fs in the chat for Magath I guess, because a lot of you seem to think Hulk Hogan is going to suplex him (and Floch) through a table at Royal Rumble DCCCLIV. That’s fancy talk for “die.” Pieck and Zeke are pretty high on the list as well. There’s a lot of information here, so I won’t give you all the specifics in this written part—take a look! Armin has 92 votes, which lands him at 6.9% don’t say it Reddit, and Mikasa has 117 votes, with only 8.7% of you suspecting death in her immediate future. For a brick, she flies pretty good!

I hope no one, but I'm sure everyone

Everyone without plot armor, in other words no main or supporting characters.

I think the named characters are still safe. For Now. But soon, not so safe.

Less people than realistically possible

literally no one because Isayama is a hack

For some reason I feel like Yelena will die soon

Pieck, Niccolo, I don't want it to happen but I feel like Nikolo's gonna go down protecting the Braus family! :(

None of the above

HOW WAS YMIR STRANDED IN THE PATHS REALM AFTER DEATH, BUT NO OTHER ELDIANS SEEM TO BE? 727 Responses

Because she sort of... disassociated there

I think her younger self was "recorded" and so a version of ymir was there ever since she fell down the tree. The tree itself being the physical portal to it or sth like that. No one else fell down that hole...

in order to create the other 8 titans, she gave up her soul and became stranded there. 

Because she started it all, she's the only one who touched the whatever it was that gave the titan powers.

I think it's obvious, she was the original slave, the only one that King Fritz's evil targeted specifically. Damning her to an eternity in the hellish isolation only making titans to oppress mankind, because that was his goal.

After she came in contact with what I believe to be the silver branch from Celtic Mythology, her conscious was unknowingly split into two; one in the paths and the other in the physical word. Once Ymir finally died in the physical world, her conscious fuse with the paths conscious and became aware of it.

I think the paths realm takes place inside the mind or dimension of that worm/nidhogg/ancient god parasite and she was brought back to it after she allowed herself to die. The sand Ymir uses to build titans may be her tapping into the reservoir of liquid underneath that giant tree or something.

she's tied to it as a slave and never had the strength on her own to break free

SHE created the PATHS dimension. She is the first titan and has almost unlimited power

A combination of being the bearer of the Centispine and the long years of abuse she went through making her unable to disobey yet another order. Hers is pretty much the most heartbreaking case of learned helplessness. What keeps her obeying the commands of the royals is the fact that she doesn't even realise there is another possibility. Because nobody ever cared enough about her to show her there is one. 

Another version of herself was created, when she came in contact with the thing, so that she could create her titan etc..

As the very first Titan, she is the conduit through which PATHS flows. The parasite had now host in the beginning so PATHS couldn't be conveyed until Ymir showed up.

Because with her started everything, i believe her “burden” was to be attached forever

Maybe it's because she's the only one that's physically attached to that weird, interdimensional organism. Maybe it's because her body was dismembered and consumed by 3 different people. Other titan shifters don't get stranded there because their spirits can in some way inhabit the one person who inherits their power. Maybe there is significance to Eren having gotten 3 titans, perhaps one from each lineage: Maria, Rose, and Sina, which now somehow allows Ymir's spirit to leave Paths. He certainly did work hard to get the War Hammer, specifically.

i think paths always existed and have always been there, but there wasnt someone to be in there, because no one discovered that spine under the giant tree. so, i think that ymir's soul somehow connected with the paths at the moment she gained the titan power, and when she died, her soul converted into the "ruler" of the paths

It was always her, she's the special one. There is nothing special about eldians, other than them being biologically related to Ymir. Ymir was always the one with the power, the only one. She was only limited by her slave mentality, if she wanted to, she could've ruled the world forever and she would've been the only one with titan powers. It seems she has given her powers and special function to Eren. That means that Eren alone will be the special one and he will rule the world forever with only him having titan powers. 

She held all 9 titan powers, and as the only person in history to do so, she has the ability to view all of the other branches on the tree. Similar to how a shifter might be able to view the memories of a past shifter.... Ymir can view ALL of them, for all time. 

The devil needed a host for his dimension

That's her curse. Possibly bound by her loyalty to the King Fuck-Face-Fritz

you know PATHS, i ain't gonna explain that

THERE ARE MANY THEORIES ABOUT THE CENTISPINE'S QUALITIES—WHAT ARE YOURS? 579 Responses

A number of responses here ranging from the hilarious to the creepy; The centispine. A great many of you (We can’t tell if you’re serious or not…) are talking about Aliens, whilst others postulate that the thing results in parasitic possession, ALA Sekiro. 

A parasite thingy? Source of organic matter?

A power-bestowing parasite, hence why it needs to be eaten

Alien would be the easiest. But maybe the tree is actually Yggdrasil and its roots pass through other worlds. And the parasite is from another world.

alien/prehistoric being capable of phasing matter through dimensions

Aliens

ALIENS

Bruh its an organic life form/parasite, when bonded to a host ot provides them the titan ability

Don't think it's a biological, probably a mythical being inspired by Norse mythology

Eren will become the human centispine

For me  the most plausible is the fact that it resembles a living creature from our world who is supposed to create the whole world 300 millions ago or so

I believe its power weakens the more it divides. The power of each of the 9 current titans is nowhere near that of how powerful Ymir was after she first got the power.

I don't think we'll get any concrete explanation, but it's some creature with fifth-dimensional qualities that unwillingly merged with Ymir. I think the 9 main spines on the bottom on each side doesn't necessarily represent the amount of Titans but how divisible Ymir's power is before it becomes warped (mindless Titans). I also think of some level the idea of the parasite being connected to the Titan power is an inherent correlation that only exists because of Ymir. The idea of power = giant big monster seems like a very childlike concoction, and an antiquated one too. Since we know willpower and manifesting a goal in mind are part of the Power of the Titans I don't think it's too far-fetched that those specific powers came from Ymir herself, and the parasite merely made them possible on her physical plane of existence. This would seem to be at odds with its connection to being giant existing before Ymir made contact with it, due to the giant tree and my inferred connection with it and the giant trees on Paradis, but remember this thing exists outside time itself, it's a frankly unperceivable organism.

I don’t fucking know 

WHAT ARE YOU MOST HOPING TO SEE NEXT CHAPTER? 1,383 Responses

Next chapter starts off the the new volume, but what do you want to see in it?  28.1% want to see the full rumbling begin, 23.4% want to see how Eren’s titan transformation turns out, and 15.4% just want to see some action in Shiganshina.  For those who want the scene to change, 11.9% want to catch up with Levi and Hange, 8.2% want Annie, 4.4% want Historia, and 4.3% want even more historical info dumps.

ALL OF IT BRING IT ON ISAYAMA

Armin transforming into the colossal titan 

Death and suffering

Eren's master plan and more history hopefully

Full rumbling AND Levi and Hange.

i really look forward to see annie but what i really want to see is what is going to happen to the others (pieck, gabi, falco, reiner, etc etc)

Levi/Hange AND Annie. I feel like if Annie is going to ever return to the story, it'll be at a climax of some sort.

The hizuru lady piloting the boat-plane over Shiganshina

Lore, HISTORIA PLEASE I LOVE HER AND WANT TO SEE HER, Levi/Hange, Eren, and the immediate consequences of the Walls crashing down.

What the heck the plan actually is. For all we know, they could be uncovering the wall titans just to send the material that makes up their bodies back to Paths land. An Ymir/Eren hybrid titan could just have them hold still and spend the next years devouring them. We literally know nothing.

Somebody stopping Eren and bringing a sense of honor and morality(preferably Reiner, Armin or Gabi)

The ending Audio might be next chapter

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 1,309 Responses

Reddit continues to dominate the discussion field, comprising 52.4% of this vote alone. Tumblr, Facebook, and Youtube follow far behind, and 4 of you said Snapchat. That’s 0.3% of respondents, which is technically a low enough percentage to make sense, so maybe I should believe you guys, but I don’t.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE CHAPTER?

My thoughts on Eldia after reading this chapter: "Oh, so Marley really wasn't fabricating history with how ancient barbaric ancient Eldia was, especially with how ancient Eldia treated them. Can't blame Marley for putting that on the history books and using that as part of their propaganda. Considering that and what Marley is doing right now, it just adds to the moral grayness of the story.

Eyes have always told a story in SNK, whether it was the intention of a character (Zeke, Grisha, etc) or their true feelings (Levi). Eyes, and the lack thereof, in Ymir's backstory, told us that THAT was finally the real history. Until now we've always had someone else's warped perspective of history, but now we know how it actually was.

 Eren's not JUST a murderer and teenage terrorist, look, he also hugs kids! 

Ymir's backstory was a bit disappointing, I expected it to be more grey; Ymir is basically a poor girl who never did anything wrong and King Fritz is the big bad who seems to be the greatest jerk of the story; I don't think this fits with the ""the world is grey"" theme of the story at all, even Gross had at least something interesting to say

Amazing turn of events. Ymir deserves to be released from her enslavement. If the devil has to come out now that his plan is being foiled by Eren, I think Zeke can be a good host for him to incarnate as, justifying Levi killing Zeke as the final main villain of the story.

Definitely one of the best chapters of the overall series.

Annie...oh Annie... God knows how isayama is going to put her back into the plot now!

As much as I want to see Levi and Hange again, I really want to know more about Eren's plans. We still don't have a clear answer, but the part where Eren hugs Ymir makes this my favorite chapter.

Barely feels like the same series, but in a good way.

Brilliant payoff after having the action suddenly halted for multiple chapters. Shit  is finally going down. 

Eren and Ymir deserve to succeed and completely destroy the world. It’s already been corrupted too much for it to be fixed any other way at this point. This world was crafted by filthy, bloody hands and it’s about damn time for Eren & Ymir to break it down so it can be crafted by cleaner hands.

Eren and Ymir have done nothing wrong ever at all fite me

Eren best dad. I'd rumble a million worlds for him to hub me like that. Yelling right into my ear is just a bonus.

Possibly the greatest chapter. The last 3 chapters together could be the greatest side story in Attack on Titan. Isayama is just...I am at a loss for words. He's just the greatest. He just needs to finish the story on a high note and that's it. Even if he doesn't, this is one of the greatest manga and anime of all time.

People who have unquestioning trust in Eren aren't invited to my birthday party

Honestly, I loved it. It was so well executed and so goddamn interesting. I love how Isayama gives us *almost* all the information we need to piece the whole thing together and leaves just enough for us to have our own speculations. I just hope that they're all resolved at the end though considering there's probably only 4 chapters left at least. 

I cannot wait to see the last 5 pages of this chapter animated, easily one of my favorite set of pages from the whole series

I couldn’t have ever thought this was going to be the content of this chapter but I’m so glad it came out the way it did

I cried so much, I love the story

I honestly didn't care much for Ymir's backstory. But hopefully the Rumbling will make things more interesting

I think this chapter might have benefited from being two chapters.  There was so much information to absorb in a very short amount of time, I feel like a lot of questions weren't answered that probably never will be now like- why are there 9 human controlled titans?  How did the mindless titans factor in?  Why did Ymir die from the spear when Eren can have his head shot off?  Why did the other slaves turn on Ymir in the first place?  Where did she come from originally?  Was she captured? Born a slave?  There was I think a missed opportunity to develop her character a little more.  I get the idea of even the narrator not really caring about what she's experiencing but getting a little more insight into her perspective would have been really interesting.  

I read earlier that the closest creature of the devil are human beings .. but humans are more evil .. King Fritz represents the devil .. Thank you Isayama .. In our reality many demons already exist and I have one in my house .. In the corridor

I see a lot of people shitting on Zeke (even comparing him to that asshole king) for ordering Ymir around, but like.... he just heard Eren saying he will end the world (plus remember what Grisha said about Eren memories/intentions), he must be really panicking, so of course he would  desperatly shout orders to Ymir and insisting he's of royal blood, that's basically at the moment the only way he could try to stop Eren. And yes, that's not nice to Ymir, but still that doesn't put him on the same level as King Fritz at all.

I thought Gross was the epitome of evil. Then came Fritz. HOLY. FUCKING. SHIT. Don't tell me Ymir doesn't deserve a little payback after 2000 years as a slave.

So Zeke endorses genocide, but not Total World Destruction? Whatevs, man.

Sucks to be Gabi after killing Eren only for this to happen a second later.

I was kinda shocked when Eren, given the shitty way he treated Mikasa in ch 112, started comforting Ymir and telling her she's not a slave. I never realized Mikasa meant that little to him. What a fucking asshole.

I'm glad the question "is Eren going to activate the rumbling as a part of his plan?" was finally answered. I also finally made up my mind about Zeke and I now know I don't like him due to how he acted towards Ymir. I love that we finally learned about Ymir, and that both Marley's and Eldian Restorationists' versions of history were partially correct. I love that the devil was actually King Shitz and Ymir wasn't a goddess but a slave to the devil, but she still helped the Eldians develop and thrive. Also, I love how most of my theories were proven to be true this chapter. Overall I really liked it.

IT CanNoT bE sTopPeD aNymOre

What is interesting to me is that Ymir's legend seems to be the opposite of what women in history usually get: Often great women are forgotten or their agency is reduced only to that of a mother, lover, wife or daughter of some man. Whereas Ymir is remembered even after 2000 years as the Founder and forebear of Eldia, but in reality she didn't do any of those things on her free will. She was just one of the many who were enslaved and used by Eldia, yet she is celebrated by Eldian rebels as a symbol of its former greatness. Heck, even her last name, Fritz, isn't her own, but her abuser's. Chilling and fascinating.

it was fucking amazing. holy hell, i’m in TEARS after reading this latest chapter. it was so beautifully executed and drawn, and the walls crumbling deadass made me cRY OKAY-

It was incredibly tragic but the final portion somehow combined sweetness and epicness 

It's been over a week and I'm still reeling. This series gets better every month and I really don't want it to end

Ymir Fritz being presented as she is defied a couple of perceptions we've got from her: the books either implied she made a deal with the devil, or she was a benevolent goddess, when she was neither. Born as a girl from a ravaged tribe, she didn't have any voice, or agency, yet deep down she believed showing kindness was her way to make people happier after the damages of war. She accepted being fingerpointed if the other slaves could keep their eyes, she served the Eldian tribe with her newfound power, fought their wars, bore the king's children and took the final hit for him. Her spirit is then condamned to serve her line for eternity. Truly the most pitiable character of SnK so far.

 I found Ymir's story too strange to be attached to her and I was a little disappointed to see that there was basically nothing that had come from her own will. It would have been more interesting in terms of conflict to see if there had been reasons why she had done this, if there was something that prevented her from acting against the Eldians for any reason. But in fact she just let herself be guided by the flow again and again, and I do not feel it's a valid reason to let herself go for more than two thousand years.

Never thought I'd hate a character more than Floch and Sergeant Major Gross, but here we are…

The whole Ymir's backstory moved me a lot because I didn't expect it to be so sad and full of despair. Ymir is definitely the most tragic character in the whole story and one of the most tragic characters in the world of manga/anime. I hope she will finally get some love and will be surrounded by honest and loyal friends. Every tragic character in SnK deserves a hug but I think that she needs it the most. 

 this chapter's artwork really stood out to me. The way literally no eyes were present in the flashback, even the king's, and the expression of fury and agony on OG Ymir's face when Eren tells her she has a choice. Isayama just keeps getting better and better with his art, and some of his style choices really made me see the individual panels differently.

Predictable and necessary. About this poll and the fandom in general: is amazing how the mayority (or the loudest part) of this sub tends to take things in the most literal way possible while praising Isayama as a genius or something like that, or labeling as "subtle" things that scream "HELLO I'M HERE MY NAME IS BRIAN" at your face, or misread characters in the most extreme way

Ragnarok has started and I don't know if I should be excited or afraid

Read this together with Ch.121. Eren is such a well-developed complex character. You may not like him, but credit must be given to his amazing character building trip. GJ Isayama

IT'S HAPPENING! THIS MANGA MAY END IN LESS THAN A YEAR FROM NOW, AND WITH AN EPIC ENDING IF THE ENDGAME SO FAR IS ANY INDICATION. I DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS, HELP

nothing to add, just amazing job from isayama

[fauhwn]

(wtf fauhwn uses proper grammar??) Howdy folks; this is pretty well overdue considering I made up these kids back in August, but I kept changing the story so there's a lot of inconsistency, and I apologize for that, haha.

Anyways today we-well-I, will be discussing/sharing Ryan's backstory

btw i have little to no knowledge on the military which will be a big part of ryan's story, so forgive me.

(The ski mask son of a bitch)

Again I make changes to the story every 0.2 seconds that my mind can functionally think. Also warning this will be fairly long considering I write a lot.

Ryan McClain (fake identity, not his actual name) was born in Michigan, in the more Northern, rural regions. His birthday is on November 13th, and was born anywhere from 1982-1990, also 6'5. (he's 25 in the story I just quite haven't put a pin on what year it takes place in. But the years are around 2005-2011) His father's name is John Reyes. His mother was Deborah Reyes. She died when Ryan was around 4-5 due to a sickness. John was heartbroken, since he really loved her. He's not a very good father to Ryan, and even before Deborah's death he was pretty shit. Anyways he always brings some woman home every couple of months. Ryan had like 3 or 4 stepmoms lol. They were all bitches too so Ryan didn't like any of them.

When Ryan's mother died, his uncle, David Reyes, took care of him a lot. (Even before her death him and his uncle would get along.) David is a super kind man, and is the older brother of John by quite a lot of years. He was born in like the 1940s or 50s, likely the latter, and was part of like, the Special Forces or something I think. Is also a Vietnam Veteran. Before Ryan was born his wife and son were killed in a car accident, so I guess Ryan reminded David of his son and only caused him to love him more. Anyways he and Ryan would go hunting a lot, and Ryan caught his first animal with a rifle at the age of 7. With the help of his uncle of course. Most of the time Ryan just did all of these things to try and impress his father, who basically did not care. David felt bad for him and he just loved Ryan so he always made sure to give Ryan the attention and love he deserved.

So basically David was the father figure that Ryan needed in his life.

David inspired Ryan a ton, and he'd always marvel at the various medals that David has hung up in a small room in his house, and Ryan wanted to join the military too when he was older. David was in his uh.. 50s, but he still had lots of fight left in him, and teached Ryan a lot of self-defense tactics as well as going to shooting ranges with him. David was a medic too I think. Well he had some prior knowledge on medicine anyways. So he passes that down to Ryan too, and teaches him how to treat stab wounds, bullet wounds, tying a tourniquet, stopping blood loss, etc.

Straying away from Ryan and his lovely uncle we now delve into some more personal shit. So anyways Ryan develops a crush on this girl, Susan, when he first went to high school. They actually dated quite a while later after being friends for a bit, and dated for a long time. And Ryan really liked her.

Now Ryan finishes high school and he's enlisted. He's got a lot of knowledge from his uncle, and it was his uncle who inspired him to join the Marines. He promises his girlfriend and uncle that he will spend as much time with them as he can when he isn't on tour.

Fast forward Ryan is on tour, he's with some guy named Richard Stilles. They're both very capable men, and got along well.

Ryan met this little boy while he was there. He knew no English, but Ryan, being the soft piece of shit he is, sort of just stayed with the little kid for a bit, gave him some snacks and such, tried to have fun with him amidst the war.

Then later, when Richard and Ryan were looking out, they were told there was a little child carrying a bomb. Ryan was like "shit i ain't killing a child"

Suddenly the little boy that Ryan helped out comes out. Ryan smiles, happy to see him okay, but Richard has that constant neutral face on him. The kid starts walking towards Ryan, and Richard pulls up his gun.

"Woah woah Rich, what are you doing?"

"You heard them. Kid has a bomb."

"Wh-wait we can't know for sure it's him! Put the gun down!"

"Can't take any half-measures, Jim."

"We can't kill a fucking child!"

"It's him or us Jim."

Anyways Ryan tries to stop Richard, but the kid kept coming forward.

"Richard please, put the fucking gun down."

Richard starts to aim 😎

"RICHARD PUT IT DOWN-"

BANG!

So the kid drops dead to the floor and Ryan is like 😱 and Richard is like 😐 (He always has a neutral face on) and this shit traumatizes Ryan. Also Richard is some psychopath or something.

Turns out the kid didn't even have a bomb, and Ryan was literally shaking with anger and had tears in his eyes, and nearly beat the shit out of Richard but his other buddy, Samuel, talked him out of it.

Anyways a few more years later Ryan is honorably discharged at 24 years old. He returns home to find out that the 'love of his life' was constantly cheating on him. This shatters Ryan, and he gets just so fucking furious, and Susan and Ryan have a fight. Obviously they break up, and part ways.

Not too long after, Ryan is walking around, when he discovers Susan and some other man. He starts harrassing her, which escaltes to assault. Ryan immediately jumps in, but the dude was pretty fucking aggravated. (It was because Susan said something that wasn't a big deal but he wasn't having it.) In the process, Ryan kills the guy. He's like 😱😱 and Susan is like 😨. Instinctively Ryan rushes to his uncle's house, panicking. Eventually he spills out what just happened to his uncle. David is obviously shocked, but tells Ryan he needs to leave. He knows a guy who can give out fake identities. So anyways David hands Ryan the information.

While Ryan tries to leave, he bumps into Susan. She promises she won't say anything, saying she'll just say it was an 'act of self-defense' by her. Ryan is worried she'll get arrested but Susan is like 'nah i'm a woman we don't go to jail'. She's a bitch but she's still a mildly good person.

Anyways Ryan flies to New York City where he spends his time wearing the infamous ski mask in public to hide his identity (pretty stupid but it just became a habit). His uncle heard he lives in New York, and moves to Vermont. Ryan visits David whenever he can, usually once or twice every few months. But they're in good touch anyway since they're close to each other lol.

Remember our insignificant but soon-to-be-pretty-significant guy Samuel? Turns out he's in NY too. Is paid to treat people outside of the hospital. Anyways so Ryan and Samuel get in touch too.

Fast forward to a year is where the story starts and Ryan meets Zoey.

Oh and about his personality - he's a very pragmatic guy, and is overall pretty chill, cold, and distant. Well if you're close to him then he's more bright. A bit witty if I might add. Doesn't talk much unless-again-you're close to him.

[commentaryvorg]

Danganronpa V3 Commentary: Part 2.11

Be aware that this is not a blind playthrough! This will contain spoilers for the entire game, regardless of the part of the game I’m commenting on. A major focus of this commentary is to talk about all of the hints and foreshadowing of events that are going to happen and facts that are going to be revealed in the future of the story. It is emphatically not intended for someone experiencing the game for their first time.

Last time, as we finished up the second trial proper, Kaito continued to be adorably supportive and encouraging to Shuichi, Kirumi was desperately, furiously determined to save “everyone”, Shuichi was brave enough to face the truth and do his own version of saving everyone, and Kaito noticed Shuichi being a hero apparently without his help (even though he definitely still did need Kaito’s encouragement to do so, just not directly in that precise moment).

Now for the trial conclusion and Kirumi to continue to be determined.

Kokichi:  “Phew, thank goodness we managed to get through the class trial again!”

Yeah, no thanks to you, who could have made it take half as long if you hadn’t been an asshole.

Angie:  “Hey, hey, how long have you been lying to us? Is that why you took such good care of us? So you could deceive everyone?”

More of Angie not giving a fuck about anyone ever – she’s happy to immediately jump to assuming Kirumi never cared about them and was always deceiving them, rather than being hurt that she apparently did so.

Kaito:  “Hey, Kirumi. Tell me… Why? You were always thinking about everyone around you… How could you kill someone?”

Kaito, as always, really wants to understand! He could respect Kirumi for her selflessness and caring about everyone else, and that just doesn’t add up with someone who’d commit murder, so he’s desperate to make sense of it.

Monokuma:  “Puhuhu… Human beings have always been selfish, self-centered creatures.”

That’s rich, in this game. Kirumi isn’t even remotely the only selfless person here.

Kiyo:  “Well, Kirumi? Were your feelings towards us simply another falsehood?”

Kokichi:  “N-No! It can’t be! Say it ain’t so! That… was just another lie, too?”

Kokichi is still trying to get everyone to think that if someone seemingly trustworthy lied to everyone then nobody is trustworthy ever.

Shuichi:  “I don’t… think so… I still believe Kirumi cares about us.”

Maki:  “…And how would you know?”

Shuichi:  “I can’t say for certain, but I can sense that this trial has been agonizing for her.”

Shuichi is also showing some good people-intuition! Although if he really did get this sense then I don’t know why he pictured her grinning evilly during the Closing Argument.

And of course Maki is the one to question that, because she runs on the belief that if someone is a murderer then you should just assume they’re a horrible person and stop trying to understand them further or consider whether they still care about people despite that, right?

Kirumi:  “I’m just… lost. Because if I tell you why I did it, you will regret what you’ve just done.”

Isn’t that what she wants, though? To make everyone try and sacrifice themselves for her so she stands a chance of escaping? She should be quite happy to tell them her motive. Maybe this apparent conflictedness is also part of her gambit.

Kaito:  “Spit it out already. Otherwise… we can’t accept this outcome.”

Kaito still just really wants to understand and can’t accept things if he doesn’t.

Kokichi:  “Does that mean someone broke the agreement and traded you your motive video? Alright, fess up! Which one of you did it! Close your eyes and raise your hand if it was you!"

Obviously Kokichi knows full well nobody showed Kirumi her video because she received her own. He’s just trying to make everybody think that everyone’s agreement to co-operate by not sharing the videos was all a big lie and someone secretly stabbed everyone in the back because that’s always what people will do, right?

Monokuma:  “Hmmm? Y’know, I meant to bring this up earlier cuz it’s been bugging me for a while… All this talk about videos being switched… What does that mean, exactly?”

Monokuma did not intend to switch the videos! Everybody was meant to see their own and nobody else’s.

The kubs argue for a bit about them getting accidentally switched and admit that that’s what happened, then:

Monokuma:  “Ah, it seems I misunderstood. I completely forgot that the plan all along was to redistribute the videos.”

Monophanie:  “D-Daddy!”

Monokuma:  “It’s not your fault at all, kids. It’s my fault for forgetting.”

This is clearly Monokuma lying to save face and try and pretend to the audience that he’s still a good gamemaster who totally knows what he’s doing. The truth is that the videos getting switched was completely unintended.

Kirumi:  “I see… The Monokubs merely distributed the motive videos at random… Receiving my own video was nothing more than… bad luck.”

I really like how Kirumi considers receiving her own video to be bad luck, and not good luck! She would have preferred to remain blissfully ignorant of the fact that her country was in danger than to know about it and feel forced to sacrifice her friends.

Monokuma:  “Only Kirumi could save the country from impending doom. Yes! The future of the country rests entirely on her capable shoulders! But Kirumi is up to the task, for she only accepts requests that only she can fulfil.”

The emphasis on the fact that only Kirumi can do this is pretty important. If someone else could save the country without her, then it’d be wrong of Kirumi to sacrifice thirteen people to escape when she doesn’t need to. But, given the Flashback Light properties of these videos, I can completely buy that Kirumi might have become convinced that only she was capable of saving everyone and therefore that she had to escape or everyone would definitely die without her. Maybe some of the other students should have questioned that part a little more, though.

What with Kirumi being the de facto prime minister and the one responsible for saving the country from impending doom via meteorites and space virus, one has to wonder what her connection with the Gofer Project was supposed to be. Kirumi would never have approved of a strategy that only saved a tiny handful of people including herself and left most of the country to die. The Gofer Project was presumably run by a separate part of the government that didn’t believe Kirumi was capable of saving everyone and figured it would be better to at least save some people. Still, that brings the Ultimate Hunt part of the backstory into question, since Kirumi would never have given up her position as prime minister and her ability to save everyone by erasing her talent-related memories. She’d have wanted to avoid the Hunt, but she’d have also wanted to continue acting as prime minister and trying to save everyone at the same time – if anything, she could have used her influence as prime minister to try and shut down both the Ultimate Hunt and the Gofer Project.

Again, this backstory is actually pretty flimsy when you think about it for a while.

Kokichi:  “And we just stopped Kirumi from doing that, because we selfishly wanted to live… Wh-What should we do? D-Did we just make a terrible mistake? If everyone outside dies because Kirumi is dead… Doesn’t that mean we pretty much destroyed the country!? Wh-What do we do!?”

This is another one of those outbursts from Kokichi that sounds pretty genuine and therefore probably involves Kokichi telling himself that he’s totally just acting and he doesn’t really feel this way at all.

Monokuma:  “I am the ruler of this world. Nothing is beyond my power.”

Shuichi:  “Nothing is beyond your power? What kind of arrogant, ridiculous—”

Keebo:  “That is 100% a lie! It is impossible that he could bring disaster to a country!”

Monokuma is telling the truth, but only in the sense that he’s talking about “this world” as in this fictional story, which he can manipulate the backstory of as he pleases. In this universe, Monokuma can’t actually bring disaster to the whole, real world. Junko’s ridiculous despair-spreading powers don’t exist here.

Monokuma:  “Let’s talk about Ryoma. It would be a shame to completely neglect him.”

In this game, it makes perfect sense that Monokuma would want to take the time to explain Ryoma’s motive. Not for the sake of spreading despair, but for the sake of making the story more interesting. What’s the point in having this whole story about how Ryoma gave up on living if nobody ever hears it?

Kokichi:  “We know your motive to kill, but why did you kill Ryoma specifically?”

Kirumi:  “Because he was easy to kill…”

Because even with how determined Kirumi was to save everyone outside, she still couldn’t bring herself to directly kill anyone who wanted to live.

Ryoma:  “So… you got a reason to survive… That’s the complete opposite of me… Heh… That’s good… If you’ve got something to live for, it means your life has value. Hmph…”

Kirumi:  “After he said that, he told me he would clean up the tennis balls lying around… And then, he turned his back toward me.”

Ryoma just let Kirumi kill him. He never wanted to throw his life away for no reason, but he was happy to die in chapter 1 to let everyone escape the time limit. By showing him her motive, Kirumi gave Ryoma a reason to die.

Kirumi:  “A person like him would have noticed my bloodthirst emanating. He already knew…”

Kirumi is aware of how perceptive Ryoma was! Although calling her feelings “bloodthirst” is a bit much; it’s not like she was going to enjoy killing him.

Shuichi:  “Then Ryoma… knew he was going to be killed…”

Kaito:  “…”

I like that it makes a point to pan over to Kaito saying nothing here. He is not happy about this.

Kokichi:  “Wait a minute, it’s Maki’s fault that Ryoma decided he didn’t want to live anymore.”

Maki:  “…What?”

Kokichi:  “Ryoma only gave up on life after you showed him his motive video. Well, since you didn’t watch his motive video, I guess you had no way of knowing…”

Yes, she didn’t, so let’s stop trying to make it sound like Maki’s a terrible person who deliberately led Ryoma to his death, shall we, Kokichi? The only person who knew the contents of Ryoma’s video before he saw it and therefore arguably led him to his death by helping him see it was you. Good job deflecting that responsibility onto someone else.

In fact, yeah, Kokichi could absolutely have prevented Ryoma’s death. Most people, if they’d seen Ryoma’s video and had him asking them where to find it with the earnest plea that he just wants a reason to live, would awkwardly be all “uhhhh not sure you should see it actually”. A reaction like that would probably result in Ryoma figuring out what it contained anyway, which would be just as bad as him seeing it. But Kokichi? He is the one person who could just go “Nope! Not gonna tell you! Because I’m eeeevil, nee-heehee!” or something to that effect, and Ryoma wouldn’t have questioned it. That would have been Kokichi using his villainous persona in a way which is secretly for the purpose of saving someone, like I see frequently argued as what his character is supposedly about. But that’s not what he did. He did the exact opposite, being “helpful” for once and in doing so deliberately giving Ryoma information that he knew was likely to lead to his death.

Shuichi:  “Wait a minute, you’re talking as if Ryoma saw that motive video… Didn’t you just say that he only checked the name and didn’t watch the video?”

Uh, localisers? Think you made a booboo here. Shuichi’s definitely supposed to be talking about how Kokichi supposedly only checked the names and didn’t watch the videos in full.

Maki:  “…You’re right. He was looking for a reason to live.”

Kokichi:  “Which means you shouldn’t have shown him his motive video in the first place.”

Kaito:  “Wh-What do you mean? What… did his video show?”

I like how Kaito butts in here because he cares about understanding what happened to Ryoma and can’t comprehend how a motive video could possibly have given him less reason to live.

Monokuma:  “This message is for Ryoma Hoshi, the Ultimate Tennis Pro… Unfortunately, there is no one in the world who is important to you!”

Gah. Monokuma just puts it so goddamn bluntly.

Just, seriously, poor Ryoma. Even though he had no reason to live that he knew of, he was so desperate to find one, to find even the tiniest shred of hope. Going to his motive video, where he expected to find that hope, only to be met with absolutely nothing… that right there is genuine despair. These games love to throw around the words “hope” and “despair”, so much that honestly most of the time they kind of forget what the words actually mean, but Ryoma’s story here is a perfect example of their real meanings. And the game doesn’t need to use either of those words at all while telling it!

Kaito:  “Th-That’s what he was shown…? If he saw something like that…”

See, I think even Kaito gets it after seeing that.

Tsumugi:  “He just… gave up, then?”

Kaito:  “To hell with that! That damn moron!”

Kaito does not for a second actually think Ryoma is a moron for being suicidal after what he’s just seen. He’s just lashing out and deflecting his own pain because he realises now more than ever that he could have helped, that he should have helped, and if he had then maybe Ryoma wouldn’t have even wanted to see his motive video and wouldn’t have given up on life like this.

Kirumi:  “You are free to judge me for killing Ryoma… I would bear the burden of being seen as evil for the sake of my nation and its people. Because *that* is what it means to serve with selfless devotion.”

I love all of this game’s selfless murderers who are willing to turn themselves into horrible people and become the villain for the sake of others. It’s not that any of them don’t think the murder they commit is an awful, unforgivable act – they’re just selfless enough that they’re okay with corrupting their own integrity and decency like this if it’s the only way they can save everybody else.

Gonta:  “Monokuma… Gonta have question…”

Monokuma:  “Oh? What is it?”

Gonta:  “Can Gonta be blackened instead of Kirumi?”

Oh, Gonta. Of course one of our future selfless murderers would be the first one to offer himself up as a sacrifice to let Kirumi save the rest of the country.

Several of the others agree with Gonta that Kirumi’s life is more valuable than their own and maybe they should have got the culprit wrong.

Shuichi:  (Then… what was the point of me doing all this…? Why did I reveal the truth? What have I done…? Was I wrong? I-I shouldn’t have—)

More fuel for Shuichi’s issues about how he’s afraid of revealing the truth! Not only is the idea of the murderers doing it for selfless reasons a strong running theme of this game, but it also fits very well with Shuichi’s arc about the truth being painful sometimes.

Kaito:  “What kind of face is that, Shuichi? If you’re my sidekick, then suck it up!”

Shuichi:  “…What?”

Kaito:  “That goes for all of you! To hell with all this value of life shit! Life’s not just some thing! You can’t trade it or put a price on it!”

Shuichi:  “Kaito…”

Kaito:  “And your life doesn’t just belong to you. It’s for your parents, your grandparents, your friends, even your neighbors. It’s not something you can just decide to throw away on your own. So we didn’t do the wrong thing! Life’s purpose is to be lived!”

Kaito is so good, yet again. He believes that life is infinitely valuable, and therefore that one life is worth just as much as several and that no one should go throwing their life away, no matter the reason.

Kaito:  “So I’m just gonna go ahead and say it! I wanna live!”

I like the way he phrases this. He knows that everyone in this room still wants to live, but it’s like they’re all afraid to admit it because they don’t want to come across as selfish next to Kirumi’s desire to save the country. Kaito puts it this way, as if he’s coming out and saying the thing everyone else also wants to say but won’t, because he believes that there’s never anything selfish or shameful about wanting to live – that’s just what living things are supposed to do.

Kaito:  “I haven’t even traveled to space yet. There’s no way in hell I’m gonna die here!”

Reminder #2 that KAITO CANNOT DIE BEFORE HE HAS GONE TO SPACE. This is still important and will never not be.

Maki:  *sigh*… “The idiot’s talking again.”

Tenko:  “But… he’s right. I mean, you’re right, too. He is an idiot. But he’s right.”

Angie:  “Yep! He’s an Atua-damned idiot!”

Miu:  “Hahahaha! I dunno why, but idiots always fill me with inspiration!”

Kaito:  “H-Hey, shut up! I told you to stop calling me an idiot!”

Yeah, sure, he’s an idiot – an idiot who potentially just saved everybody’s lives with his “idiocy”. All they really mean by “idiot” here is that he’s incredibly straightforward, with his fundamental belief that throwing your life away is always bad regardless of how complex the situation may be, like it is now.

Kokichi: “Maybe his stupid speech is just what we needed to hear. Kirumi certainly looks shaken by it.”

Gonta:  “Huh? Shaken…?”

Kirumi:  “…”

Kokichi:  “Do you really think someone as desperate to live as Kirumi would give up so easily? Of course not. In fact, she probably still hasn’t given up, even now. She was hoping that learning the truth would make one of us volunteer to die in her place.”

See? Kaito just quite possibly saved everyone by having the conviction to not let go of his own desire to live.

Kokichi:  “But Monokuma would never allow a blackened to escape punishment, so maybe… she wanted everyone to rebel, so she could use that as cover to escape on her own. …How about it, Kirumi? Am I close?”

Kirumi:  “You… are the most detestable cretin I have ever met. You knew exactly what I would attempt, yet allowed me to explain anyway.”

Damn right, Kirumi. Someone needed to say it. She’s got an especially good point that even though he knew her plan, he let her carry it out anyway. Someone who genuinely cared about helping the others would have used that insight to warn everyone before Kirumi started trying it. There are so many things about this killing game that Kokichi is more aware of than everyone else and could be telling the others about to help them stand more chance of escaping – but he doesn’t, because he doesn’t give a fuck about anyone except himself.

(Also, as underhanded as her methods may be right now, Kirumi is so impressively determined. She is still looking for any possible way to get out of this alive even though her situation is almost completely hopeless at this point.)

Gonta:  “You… try to trick Gonta!? Try to trick everyone!?”

Miu:  “Seriously!? You back-stabbing cunt!”

I would say it’s harsh of people to blame Kirumi for being manipulative when their own desires to sacrifice themselves for her were still genuine. But it does make sense coming from Miu and Gonta specifically – Miu because she’s the second-least trusting of anyone here, and Gonta because he’s still just barely learning to wrap his head around the idea that anyone can be manipulative and want to trick people.

Kaito:  “Enough! She was just trying to stay alive in her own way. Nobody can blame her for that!”

But of course Kaito would be the one to shut that kind of talk down. He wants to live strongly enough that he’s not willing to throw his life away for Kirumi’s, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t still respect Kirumi’s desire to live and want her to get out of this alive too if at all possible.

Kirumi:  “So no matter what, I cannot die!”

This is accompanied by a voice clip of Kirumi saying, “You must live!”. Oops again, localisers. In Japanese, such a phrase wouldn’t have a subject, and apparently when translating the short voice clips, they didn’t necessarily know the story context they’d be used in, so they clearly didn’t realise that this one was obviously supposed to be “I must live!”

Shuichi:  (She just ran as fast as she could. …I heard my voice call out.) “R-Run… Run! Run, Kirumi!!!”

Tenko:  “Please ruuuun!!!”

Keebo:  “Run! Please hurry!”

Kaito:  “Hurry! Run!”

I like everyone else cheering her on like this – even after what she did to them, they still all want her to survive! Even Kaito, who was the one who stopped everyone else from sacrificing themselves for her!

Also, props to Kirumi’s voice actor for going all in on this part. Like, damn.

It’s a neat touch how in the usual “Game Over” animation, Kirumi is still running the fuck away instead of being dragged. I’m not sure where she’s planning on running to, though. Presumably the only way out of the trialgrounds is the elevator, which I imagine only works when Monokuma wants it to. The only other things in the trialgrounds she could run towards would be… oh, yeah, right. The execution devices. Whoops.

I’m reasonably appreciative of Kirumi’s execution, because it’s very relevant to her relentless determination to escape and her willingness to utterly destroy herself for the sake of her people. Could do without yet more fanservicey clothing damage, though.

Apparently, it’s based off a Buddhist story about a prisoner in Hell who was given the opportunity to escape by climbing out up a thin thread, but then other prisoners started climbing up beneath him, he didn’t want them to escape with him and he shook the thread causing it to break and all of them to fall back into Hell. But I gather the point of that story is supposed to be that the prisoner’s selfishness was his downfall, because he wasn’t willing to let anyone but himself escape. That really doesn’t fit for Kirumi. She would have been more than happy to escape with everyone else if she could have done. It’s only thanks to Monokuma’s ruleset and not her own will that she had to try and sacrifice them.

Kokichi:  “I… I can’t take this anymore… Even Kirumi was killed so brutally… WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!! I DON’T WANNA DO THIS ANYMOOORE!!!!!”

Sure, Kokichi, you just keep overexaggerating your feelings so that you can tell yourself they’re all just an act and you don’t actually care at all that someone was killed horribly.

Himiko:  “A-Am I… gonna… end up like that too…?”

A rare case of Himiko actually expressing how scared she is! The shock of the awful execution might have brought it out of her and made her forget to hide it behind Atua.

Shuichi:  “That must be why Kirumi did not want to show the videos. She thought that if everyone felt the same murderous rage that she did… this killing game would become pure chaos. She… wanted to stop it.”

Kokichi:  “If that’s the case, then we really shouldn’t show our videos to each other!”

Keebo:  “That was our consensus from the beginning. Not including you, of course.”

Shuichi’s right, and this is exactly why Kokichi’s attempt to get everyone to watch the videos without any sense of camaraderie was a terrible idea and why his reasons for doing so were not for everyone’s sake.

Kiyo:  “I had assumed Kokichi would try to show us our videos to… get under our skin. But that did not come to pass. What, I wonder, were his intentions…?”

Kokichi:  “Huh? I’d never do anything like that. I’m still thinking about what Kirumi said.”

Yeah, Kokichi, you’d never try to get under people’s skin, it’s not like that’s your entire talent and the point of your “secret, evil organisation” or anything.

By “what Kirumi said” he means the hint that the videos worked like Flashback Lights, which, now that we know that, is a very good reason to not share them. But Kokichi saw his own video too, so he’s the only other person who might have already known about their Flashback Light effects. If he knew that before he tried to show everyone the videos then he clearly cared even less about protecting everyone.

Shuichi:  “Still… how could Kirumi remember something she never should have forgotten? Serving the entire nation seems too important for her to just… forget.”

Yep, it’s almost like Flashback Lights don’t recover lost memories at all.

Tenko:  “Does that mean we have motives to kill that we’ll remember by watching our videos?”

Shuichi:  “And if that’s the case, maybe it’s for the best that we don’t watch the videos. As long as we don’t see the videos, we won’t know our motives.”

Kaito:  “Yeah, now I’m convinced. It’s probably for the best. Those motive videos would just mess us up. It’s better if we just believe in each other.”

The first time Kaito “changed his mind” about what to do with the motive videos, it was less that he’d really changed his mind and more that he’d just gone from being unsure to actually having a strong opinion. But now he’s very decidedly changed his opinion to the opposite one. Kaito is very adamant about sticking to his convictions, but despite this he is still also willing to change his views if new information comes to light that makes him re-evaluate things and realise he was mistaken.

Kiyo:  “Hearing you speak of everyone’s sake is the least believable lie I’ve heard yet…”

Kokichi:  “How rude. I’m always doing stuff for everyone’s sake. I’m sure you won’t believe me when I say stuff like that, so I’ll just keep lying…”

No. Kokichi is not doing anything for everyone’s sake. If he really cared about everyone else, he should be acting in literally any way other than this.

Kokichi:  “But maybe seeing Kirumi’s final moments has made me change my views.”

I doubt it, considering how completely impossible it is to get Kokichi to even acknowledge how he really feels on the inside, let alone act upon it and change himself as a person.

Kokichi:  “Running away to live… might not be a bad idea.”

…Although this is interesting. Implying that Kokichi wasn’t already planning on living, and Kirumi made him vaguely consider actually finding a way to survive himself. But, well, guess he really doesn’t change his mind about that after all, then.

Kaito:  “Yeah, true… It’s okay to run sometimes. You just gotta win in the end. That’s all you gotta do…”

Meanwhile this situation has genuinely made Kaito change a little and realise that you can’t always throw yourself recklessly at every obstacle and expect to never get killed. He’s accepting that sometimes you have to back down and take minor losses for the sake of surviving, just so long as you don’t give up overall.

Gonta:  “It’s just… even when all this bad stuff happens, stars are always so pretty. But stars here different. Not same ones Gonta used to.”

Shuichi:  “Different? Do you mean… the position of the stars?”

Gonta:  “Yeah… Gonta looking, but no can find star he remembers.”

This is supposed to be a hint at the backstory of them all being sent to space. It wouldn’t be hard to give Gonta memories of stars that are different to the ones up there.

Although… isn’t the story that they were taken back to Earth? That’s what the fake outside world on the other side of the tunnel is for. They were only meant to be in cold sleep for a few hundred years; the stars shouldn’t have changed significantly enough in that time.

That said, the stars they’re seeing are only false projections onto the dome, so they could be anything. But in story, the starscape projected onto the dome would presumably be the correct one, right?

Regardless, I’m also calling bullshit on the fact that Kaito doesn’t recognise that the stars are wrong too. You’d think he’d be another person who’d definitely know what they’re meant to look like.

Kokichi:  “Everyone seems to be treating me like some kinda compulsive liar… But that’s ridiculous! There’s a way worse liar than me in our group!”

Shuichi:  “A liar worse than you?”

Kokichi:  “… …I’m talking about Maki.”

Of course Kokichi would think that Maki, who is lying about precisely one thing, is a “worse liar” than someone who lies every other sentence. Because someone who lies all the time and never gives anyone any reason to trust them is totally fine, but someone who claims to be trustworthy and is lying about that – that’s the most terrible kind of lie anyone can tell, right?

Kaito:  “What do you mean, Maki’s a liar?”

Ha, of course Kaito would care and butt in about this.

Kokichi:  “Ryoma was blackmailing you, wasn’t he, Maki?”

Keebo:  “B-Blackmail?”

Kokichi:  “Ryoma just so happened to discover Maki’s true identity. So he used that to blackmail her. I bet he said something like… ‘If you don’t show me my motive video, I’ll tell everyone what you really are.’”

This is complete and utter bullshit. Ryoma is not the kind of guy who would threaten another person like that. Especially not when he would have seen in the video exactly why Maki is an assassin, and when he himself has killed several people and is therefore in no position to judge someone else for it. Kokichi is only assuming that Ryoma blackmailed Maki because that’s exactly what he would have done in Ryoma’s position, and he’s projecting his own distrusting, manipulative assholery onto everyone else.

I think it’s likely that Ryoma mentioned that he’d seen Maki’s true talent, which might have contributed to Maki being unwilling to admit that they met, but there’s no way Ryoma would have threatened to tell anybody else about it. To put it how Ryoma would, that’s just not cool.

Kaito:  “Wh-Why you… What shit are you making up now? Maki’s true identity? What—”

I like how Kaito assumes that Kokichi is making up shit to discredit Maki. It’s almost like that’s basically what Kokichi was doing the entire trial and Kaito has every reason to assume he’d keep doing that even though this time he’s actually telling the truth.

Kokichi:  “Nee-heehee, I’ve known Maki’s true identity the whole time.”

Maki:  “…!”

Shuichi:  (For a moment there, I thought Maki had disappeared… She moved so fast…)

Kokichi:  “…Gh!”

Maki is so terrified of everyone finding out. The moment she hears confirmation that Kokichi definitely knows her talent, she immediately attempts to shut him up. Even though this attempt is desperate and hopeless – they both know that she can’t kill him in front of everyone unless she wants a very swift trial and execution. She’s just trying to intimidate him into keeping quiet, but since he’s smart enough to keep his cool and know that the threat is empty, it won’t work.

Kaito:  “H-Hey, Maki! What the hell is going on?”

Kaito is still trying to understand Maki and figure out why she’d suddenly threaten to kill someone like this.

Kokichi:  “Y-Yeah… you can probably… snap my neck like a twig right now… But that’s… not your style… Y-You would rather… kill from the shadows…”

As if it’s remotely about this being her style and not the fact that if she killed you in front of everyone she’d be immediately executed. He’s still just trying to force across the fact that since she’s an assassin she’s obviously a sneaky, horrible, backstabbing person that nobody should ever trust or like, right.

We don’t see what happens after Kokichi reveals her talent, but Maki probably dropped him in defeat as soon as he did. There’s no point her threatening him any more now that the worst possible scenario has come to pass, after all.

I imagine that she left to hole herself up in her dorm without a word soon after, while everyone else was busy being shocked. And that Kaito tried to call out to her and get her to talk, to no avail.

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[Chapter-end ramble] [Next post]