#zeke literally is ymir fritz.

[persephozee]

@joogios speaking of the japanese face myth...zeke looks like KING FRITZ

[shmlnbstrcnd]

How AOT's main trio set Ymir free

Eren, Armin, and Mikasa all taught the Founder Ymir valuable lessons, and were instrumental in setting her free. All three of them caught Ymir's attention and she made the effort to reach out to them personally in different ways, observe them, learn from them.

First Eren reached her in the Paths and told her that she's her own person, and can choose what SHE wants rather than follow orders. This was the first time in her long, miserable life, that someone called her a human being. The first time in 2000 years (that would have felt even longer in the Paths, closer to millions of years), that she was told what happened to her was wrong. In her life, she had spent her whole life as a dehumanized slave without any acknowledgement of her own humanity. Eren opened her eyes (literally) to the injustice of her situation and taught her autonomy.

Then Armin arrived to fight Eren, and Ymir watched his every movement closely, even stealing him into the Paths with the Okapi and trapping him there. She watched his conversation with Zeke where he shared that the meaning of life is in appreciating the little moments and the love you already have rather than chasing an unattainable dream. In her life, she longed for an unattainable love/validation from King Fritz who was incapable of giving it to her, since he's a monstrous psychopath. She lived and died yearning for something she would never receive, rather than living for what she had (her daughters). Armin taught her the true meaning of life.

Lastly, Mikasa. From the moment Ymir noticed Mikasa's love for Eren, she was intrigued. She began to peak through Mikasa's lifetime memories, causing her headaches. Then Mikasa killed Eren despite loving him, knowing it's the right thing to do and proving she's not a slave. Ymir herself couldn't do this in her own life, instead choosing to die for the monster she loved, instead of killing him. Mikasa taught her that love does not equal submission.

In the end, all three of the main trio were instrumental in setting Ymir free. In her last appearance, Ymir had a vision of what she wished she had done, what she WOULD have done had she received these three lessons earlier in her life. She would have protected her beloved daughters, the truly important and precious things in her life, rather than being a slave to the abusive king. If she were given another chance, she would have let him die.

In the end, Ymir's deepest most primal desire was a pure and loving human connection, some semblance of tenderness and care, something she was so deprived of. This desire was so strong that it bled into every single Eldian, connecting them all to Ymir through the Paths. One lonely, abused little girl's desperate need to be loved, enveloping every one of her subjects, binding them all to her in an all-consuming web. She has always been desperately reaching out to other people.

In her ill young mind she mistook the king's sick """rewards""" as that love she craved. Eren made her realize "what he did to me was wrong and I have a right to my anger", Armin made her realize "I shouldn't have waited for love from him that would've never come and instead cherished the love of my children", Mikasa made her realize "I should have let him die/killed him myself". Acknowledging all this and making peace with her tragic life and the decisions she made, allowed her to let go. She finally moved on, and in this moment, she appeared not as an immature child, like she did throughout the Rumbling, but now as a grown adult woman.

Ymir's story in the finale is essentially a coming-of-age story from the perspective of a mentally ill, dehumanized slave. She starts the finale as someone with arrested development lashing out at the world, and ends it as an adult at peace with herself. Eren invited her to indulge in her rage. Armin helped her consider what was truly important. Mikasa healed her and allowed her to let go. All three protagonists were valuable and influential in freeing Ymir.

[sailorspica]

imo the funniest thing about aot is its germanness is shallow, if anything it appropriates/bastardizes western and northern european cultures in a similar way to FMA (ymir is norse and sticks out in a potpurri of anglo and germanic names except for literally just jean), hence my crusade to add more slavic names to fanfiction like rico brzenska and uplift its (east) asianness

all of my reading of parent-child relationships here are grounded in how filial piety and various asian family ethics perpetuate abuse: children are expected to forgive everything (annie, reiner) and give care (pieck, connie); pay for their parents' crimes (the grice boys, rod referencing grisha's "sin", the marleyan military's dangling of "eldian atonement"); carry on their legacies (the fritz king's will, erwin's guilt toward his father)—oh, the very premise of children cannibalizing their parents, which sounds like an L for the parents but is the opposite, the kid is even more physically beholden to them than simple birth, inheritance is more of a burden than a boon. arguably zeke and historia's massive refusal of this piety / redirection to other causes (ksaver's suicidality, the zackly junta) lead to the rumbling, or cement the circumstances for eren to do it at all

said it in my big dumb astrology post but here's the shortest version of my paradis = japan thesis statement: [link]

diversity and "purity" in the world eldian diaspora vs marley's "ethnic cleansing" propaganda: [link]

how i approach iseyma's handling of of anti-jewish policies and canards: [link] [link]

i write about parent-child and cross-generational relationships in attack on titan all the time, because i do this all as a filipino with the twin cultural diseases of confucianism and catholicism ruining my life and health well into adulthood: [link] [link] [link]

...and then there's the tiny japanese visuals, like eremika's tokito sibling-style firewood backpacks, jean's omelet is an omurice bento

in general you'll find these annoying ass political readings tagged #aot politics, and my larger meta tag is #aot meta

[klm-zoflorr]

Incorrect quotes..... Parthogenesis

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Eren: This revenge shit is very unrewarding it turns out. I have lost all my friends and am devoid of the sweet sweet burn of anger now that I've accomplished my goal. Everybody hates me. I'm not allowed less than 50 meters from a government building. Help.

Armin: I TOLD YOU SO!

Eren: Well, good for you!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Commander Magath: *driving down the road*

Hange, driving up the same road: *yelling out the window as she passes him* PIG!

Commander Magath: *yelling back at Hange* BITCH!

Commander Magath: *rounding next curb, he crashes into a hug pig in the middle of the road and dies*

Ymir Fritz, watching on: Ah, if men would just listen

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Sasha: "sex" literally isn't real. "ohhh i just had sex" you "had" sex? where did it go? did it grow legs and run away?? idiot

Marcoco: Stop saying sex when what you mean is gender!!

Connie: I had gender with your mom

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Mikasa: Are you sure this is legal?

Annie: Why, are you taping this?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Hange: God I do not like a single thing about you

Zeke: Tell me more

Hange: This isn't sexting

Zeke: It's better than sexting tbh

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

*Mikasa getting ready for her date with Eren*

Levi: Tell him if he breaks your heart, I'll nail gun his.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Eren: Your future self is talking shit about you right now.

Annie: Joke's on her. I'll ruin her fucking life.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Jean: Connie, Sasha! How could you possibly have gotten into this much trouble in one day?!

Connie: It... It didn't take us the whole day...

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Hange: The bad news is you've lost a lot of blood

Sasha: What's the good news?

Hange: Well we've found most of it!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Grisha: *Calling the doctor* My wife is going into labor what do I do I have forgotten all of my medical training

Doctor on the other end of the call: Is this her first child?

Grisha: No this is her husband

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Kuchel: You are so incredibly full of issues, you should do something about it! Go see a shrink, I don't know!

Kenny Ackerman: Oh yes!

Kenny: I've always been a big fan of head shrinking!

Kuchel: That's not-... That's not what it means...

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Falco: Why is "dark" spelled with a K and not a C?

Zofia: Why not?

Falco: Because you can't "C" in the dark...

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Kenny, at the therapist: Well, that is disappointing

Therapist: What is?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Levi, at Mikasa's funeral: I need a moment with her... Alone. Please.

Everyone: Of course. *They leave*

Levi, leaning over Mikasa′s coffin: Okay, listen here you little shit. I'm not fooled by your cadaver palor and unnatural stillness. I know you’re not dead.

Mikasa: Yeah, no shit.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Connie: Me and Annie, we get along fine in my beat up honda civic. We just don't have room to disagree.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Sasha: It's been hard not having Ymir around. I never thought I'd miss being waterboarded so much.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

*Annie and Porco on their first day as coast guards*

Boss: 7 people died on your watch today

Annie, looking off into the distance: Yes but the coast is fine

Porco:

Boss:

Porco: They were all very mean and refused to tip. So, we just threw them back in the water.

Annie: Also you only found seven. We killed a lot more.

Porco: Yeah, but you didn't have to mention that tho

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Therapist: Kenny, you have a problem verbalising your emotions

Kenny: Can't say I'm surprised

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Hange: Love the train so much.... ...... I sit... ..... It goes........ ........ We arrive!!!!!

Connie: I understand that, but it still doesn't explain why we get to carry all the rails in 40 degree* weather while you sit in the shade and drink a monster energy on the rocks

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Carla: Can I have a private talk with you?

Grisha: Sure, as long as it’s not about tampons, because I just don’t understand them.

Hannes, wearing tampons as earplugs: How? It's so obvious what they're used for!

Carla: I asked for a PRIVATE talk with him!

Grisha: Oh, you just can't separate me and Hannes. We're a package deal!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Eren: Don't you think you're being a little dramatic about me letting your cactus die?

Floch: Dramatic? Perhaps a little.

Floch: Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to look out the window with a grimly satisfied expression.

Floch: I paid this skywriter a lot of money to write “Eren likes pineapple on pizza” in the clouds.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Levi: The sexual tension between me and self-destruction

Kenny: Nothing has sexual tension with you, kid

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Eren: You can diffuse any situation by saying, "are we about to kiss, right now?"

Historia: Eren, not only is that completely false and a ridiculous concept, but it's also not appropriate at all, we are at your trial for global genocide for fuck's sake-

Eren, leaning towards her: Are we about to kiss, right now?

Historia:

Historia, beet red: Nevermind.

Gabi: Can we PLEASE find another judge for this?!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Jean: I've got a joke for you. What's "Ereh" short for?

Armin: What for?

Jean: He's got little legs

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Annie: Im a lesbiab

Annie: Lesbiam

Annie: Less bien

Mikasa: Its okay take ur time

Annie: Girls

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Mikasa: Annie and me buried the hatchet, figured you could try doing the same?

Ymir: I don't bury hatchets

Ymir: I sharpen them.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Eren: I don't like being an adult

Carla: Yup I told you

Eren: You remember how you told me you put me in this world and you can take me out?

Eren: Take me out.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Mikasa: So, you want to be the Sun in my life?

Jean: Yes.

Mikasa: Good, then stay 92,935,700 miles away from me

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Mikasa: Eren, stop! This isn't you, you've gone mad with power!

Eren: Well of course I have.

Eren: Have you ever tried going mad without power?

Eren: It's boring.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Ymir: Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves. One for your foe, one for yourself.

Zeke: What a stupid fucking quote. I'm killing way more than two people idiot

Eren: Don't even bury them. Let them rot.

Zeke: Plus it's not like I'm gonna bury myself anyways? Why would I provide free cleaning labor like that

Eren: Maybe you're supposed to die in the grave?

Zeke: I'm not gonna dig myself a grave so someone can push me in and I can die as the biggest idiot that ever walked this Earth

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Udo, watching Gabi: If you were religious, that would be straight-to-hell behavior...

Gabi, putting scorpions in Zeke's dresser after he called her a shitty little kid: I don't believe in heaven or hell, but I do believe in Revenge

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Armin, about Eren: If karma doesn't hit you real quick, I fucking will.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Falco: You know how in greek myths the people that die tragically sometimes get placed among the stars by the gods?

Colt: Yeah?

Falco: Call that a constellation prize.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Sasha, taking care of Reiner after he got injured: It's okay Braus, stay calm, stay calm

Reiner: My name isn't Braus, it's Braun

Sasha: I know, I'm talking to myself.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

*Pieck sliding $5 to the zookeeper*

Pieck: Maybe one of those penguins ends up in my car?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Historia: Fun fact: Blueberries are the only fruit named after a color

Armin: Starfruit

Historia: So close! That's a shape <33

Mikasa: Orange

Historia: Try again! <3 The color orange is named after the fruit.

Connie: Grape! "Gra" for gray! 🍇🤲😊

Historia:

Jean: You also forgot blackberries

Sasha: You idiot, black isn't a color.

Gabi: What about raspberries

Ymir: Green beans?

Falco: Lemons!! ♥️🥰☺️

Reiner: Wait aren't berries not fruit?

Historia: You all are so fucking stupid.

Zeke: What about dragon fruit

Historia: I am going to stone you

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Mikasa: Are oranges named orange because oranges are orange or is orange called orange because oranges are orange?

Connie: Which came first, the orange or the orange?

Historia: Orange was first used to refer to the fruit 1280 years ago but was not used as a color until around 1000 years ago.

Eren: What was the color called before then?

Sasha: There was no color, duh! Everything was black and white!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Hitch: "I'm kind of in a weird mental place right now" I say, as if there are times when I am not in a weird mental place

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Erwin, bleary eyed at 7am: Why are you opening all the windows?

Levi: We have to let air in

Erwin: But it's raining!

Levi: You're not made out of sugar, are you?!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

*Eren getting into Mikasa's car*

Eren: Let's go

Mikasa: Uh... Uh... Hi? Nice to see you too?

*Armin getting into the backseat*

Armin: Wait, she's our Uber driver?

Mikasa: Uber driver? I thought we were going on a date, Eren!

Armin: I thought this was a guy's night out!

Eren: There's been a change of plans.

Mikasa: You could have just asked?? You didn't have to trick us?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Porco: I'm not a 🚩 i'm more like a ⚠️ cause I do warn you, you just don't be listening

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Pieck: I'm not a 🚩 I'm a 🏁 cause you winnin' over there

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Hange: I don’t know the first thing about fashion. Pretty much all I can do is look at something and tell you if it’s clothes or not. This titan? Not clothes.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

*Thru the phone*

Erwin: Hey, I need your help, can you come back?

Hange: Uh, I can't, I'm buying clothes.

Erwin: Alright, well hurry up and come back to base.

Hange: I can't find them.

Erwin: What do you mean you can't find them?

Hange: I can't find them, there's only soup.

Erwin: What do you mean there's only soup?

Hange: It means there's only soup!

Erwin: Well then get out of the soup aisle!

Hange: Alright you don't have to shout at me!

*Silence*

Hange: There's more soup!

Erwin: What do you mean there's more soup?

Hange: There's just more soup!

Erwin: Go into the next aisle!

Hange: There's still soup!

Erwin: Where are you right now?

Hange: I'm at soup!

Erwin: What do you mean you're "at soup?"

Hange: I mean I'm at soup!

Erwin: What store are you in?

Hange: I'm at the soup store!

Erwin: Why are you buying clothes at the soup store?!

Hange: Fuck you!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Zeke: And then we'll be transported to the Paths dimension, and we'll meet Ymir Fritz, that's our long-dead ancestor...

Eren: I can barely tolerate the living, why would I want to commute with the dead?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Armin: Does necromancy only work on animals? What do you do if you accidentally necromancy a fence and then it starts growing branches?

Armin: WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU NECROMANCY A BOTTLE OF SHAMPOO AND IT TURNS INTO AN ENTIRE PILE OF LIMES?

Armin: What if I accidentally necromancy a vaccine and then someone gets an armful of very live pathogen?

Armin: WHAT'S THE LIMIT ON DEADNESS? HOW RECENTLY DOES SOMETHING HAVE TO BE DEAD? COULD I NECROMANCY A DINOSAUR FOSSIL? WHAT IF I NECROMANCIED THE GROUND AND THEN DINOSAURS STARTED APPEARING?

Armin: WHAT IF I NECROMANCIED A LIMESTONE WALL AND IT JUST TURNED INTO A PILE OF MOLLUSCS? WHAT IF I MOLLUSCED A BUILDING? A MOUNTAIN?

Annie: Armin.

Annie: are u ok

Armin: NO

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Colt's contributions to meetings: What about the impact on civilian populations? Do we have enough ammunition, provisions in storage to not rely on outside help?

Falco's contributions to meetings: Do you think stars have feelings?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Grisha: It's been ten year since my beloved son Zeke died...

Zeke: I was never your beloved son! And quit telling people I'm dead!

Grisha: Sometimes it feels like I can still hear his voice...

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Historia: *wearing a shirt reading "cunt era"*

Eren: *wearing a shirt reading "I'm high as fuck and have a gun in my backpack"*

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Grisha: The bad news is that you have a really rare disease

Rod Reiss: Oh, no. What's the good news?

Grisha: Well, you get to name it!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Eren: What's a good starter vice for someone who wants to get into ruining their life?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Gabi: Smarties

Yelena: Heroin and mass murder

Levi: You're both at very different ends of the spectrum yet I don't think either of you understood the question

Levi: The real answer is Erwin Smith

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Zeke, getting up in the middle of a meeting: Pieck and I are not longer dating

Pieck: Zeke, that's a horrible way to tell people that we got married

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Zeke: My mother and I spent some quality time together. Got our hands dirty.

Pieck: Gardening?

Zeke: Grave-digging.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Historia: Food trucks but instead of food, it's therapy and they're called automofeels

Rod Reiss: I know you're my last living descendant but with that kind of suggestions, I feel like I'd be better off picking a manged rat off the street

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Floch: If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're impressed.

Yelena: But you do know better.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Eren: I wanna be a reverse tooth fairy where I rob people and then scatter human teeth on their bed

Sasha: a dentist

Eren: I don't know what your dentist is doing to you but I think you need to go to the police

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

*Pieck is coming back with McDonalds*

Zeke, reaching for his happy meal: Sorry, but there's no "we" in "fries"

Pieck: But there is an "I" *she steals all of his fries*

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Jean: Well, if you're not at least a little bit gay for your friends, then what kind of friend are you?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Mikasa: The feminine urge to be ominous & terrifying...

Hange: Mood

Mikasa: You are like if a moth was wearing clown shoes.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Eren: A fun fact about me is i have never forgiven anyone for anything

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Bertholt: Have you ever been told you can be a bit intimidating?

Annie: Yes, every day of my life since kindergarten.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Sasha: Being alive is great because there are so many different great vegetables you can sauté. But then there are also The Horrors

Falco: So true

Falco: Actually no. This is weird.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Uri Reiss: What is a sex drive where is the sex going does it even have a licence

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Levi, to Erwin: You're gay because you like men

Levi: I'm gay because I hate women just a tiny bit more than I hate men. We are not the same.

Hange: Yaoi vs shounen

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Annie: What’s it like being tall?

Historia: Is it nice?

Armin: Can you reach comfortably for the cupboards?

Reiner: I live in constant fear of the short people, who, in my experience, will climb four chairs, two boxes, a small coffee table, and six oddly placed stools to get what they want.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Eren: I don't know whether to bail you out, Mikasa, you've been in jail three times.

Zeke: Dad, Eren is cheating.

Grisha: Calm down, son.

Zeke: You are supporting him just because he bought you a hotel on Park Place

Eren: Someone has to take care of him in his old age? Who is going to do it but me? You?

Mikasa: *slyly knocks the Monopoly board off the table😼*

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Reiner: Hey girl ive been yearning for you the normal amount

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Grisha: Great. Here comes the woke mob to cancel me for killing and eating several people.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The 104th, Hange, Erwin, Levi, Grisha, Carla, Hannes wearing party hats, popping confetti cannons and cheering: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Eren: Uh. Thanks I guess?

Historia: You don't like being celebrated?

Eren: I prefer to be villified, my name invoking fear over a great cloud of darkness...

Carla: Muffins, Overlord?

Eren: Thamk you

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Connie: I like you lets go to hell together

Sasha: Hell? More like HELL P!! Ahah

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Rod Reiss: We need back-up with the military police!! Are you free?

Kenny: No actually, I am very expensive.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Connie: Since when are drapes flammable?

Historia: Since always, Connie! Drapes have ALWAYS BEEN FLAMMABLE!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Mikasa: I have yet to encounter a problem where a sword didn't factor into the solution at least in some way.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Parental figure: Don't go into the forest, it's full of lemon-stealing whores!

Teenage Hange: Ooh, spooky!

Teenhange: What specific parts of the woods are they in, so I can avoid them extra hard?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Reiner, in front of Sasha's grave: Rip i was always into you

Sasha, popping out from behind a tree: ? Worst confession ever

Reiner: You're not dead??

Reiner: I lied

Reiner: You are nothing to me

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

*Gabi and Falco looking over the bones of Rod Reiss*

Falco: What happened to him?

Historia: Ah well, he tried to outpizza the Hut

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Falco: I heard it's supposed to rain

Colt: Oh, yeah? But look at this sun!

Zeke:

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Pieck: Brr, getting a bit cold, uh?

Gabi: Yeah, it's supposed to rain later

Zeke:

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

*Zeke passing through next to Magath adressing the kids*

Commander Magath: We're not gonna do the lesson outside today, it's supposed to rain

Zeke:

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Annie: Galliard, mind helping me set up the tables outside for my mind reading scam?

Porco: Don't start this now, it's supposed to rain this afternoon!

Zeke: I heard it's never going to rain again.

Porco: What is the fucking matter with you

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Pieck: I decided I'm actually not gonna break up with you over your corny jokes, Porco convinced me otherwise.

Zeke: What a re-LEAF. I should get you flowers. I know it STEMS from a place of love, now our relationship can BURGEON out of bounds.

Pieck: I changed my mind.

Zeke: Ok, but Porco avocated for me?? Really?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Annie: Zeke? What was that message you sent me?

*Shows him the phone, with a garbled texting mess on it that reads as follows: pleusr bereing qi 2 auffce chabi goht pik 🏹. shi went hair glleiteur pin. kiuk houry aim worrded*

Zeke: "Please bring the key to the office back, Gabi is threatening Pieck at gunpoint, she wants her glitter pen back and I seem to be the only one worried about it."

Annie: I read serial killer diaries with better punctuation than this

Zeke: But do you have the keys?

Annie: No.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Annie: What about the bow emoji?

Zeke: They censored the gun on my phone

Annie: No, look there's the little water gun...

Zeke: It doesn't convey the urgency of the situation

Annie: Nothing in your message conveys the urgency of the situation since you need a degree in foreign languages to understand it

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Commander Magath: Do you have any children?

Dina Fritz: Yes, I have one that's just under two.

Commander Magath: I know how many one is

Commander Magath: Is he big enough to man a cannon yet

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Yelena: Blackmail is such an ugly word. I prefer extortion. The X makes it sound cool.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Reiner: Be myself?? The person who got me into this mess???

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Ymir: Will I find a purpose?

Annie, posing as a fortune teller: No.

Ymir: u didn't do the thing with the cards

Annie: *flips one card, maintaining eye contact* No.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Pieck: *unbuttoning shirt* Oh my god, it's hot as hell in here.

Yelena: Yes, but why are you unbuttoning my shirt?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Connie: You into cars?

Ymir: Yes, it truly was a masterpiece of a film

Connie: No i mean are you a cars person

Ymir: I'm a human.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Connie: I tried making my own Red Bull with crushed up caffeine pills, twenty-one shots of expresso, carbonated licorice water and gummy vitamins. The doctor said I'm lucky to be alive.

Connie, 24 hours before: I can perceive twenty-three spatial dimensions and am fighting my own soul. I'm winning by the way.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Levi: i am at a loss for words to describe how absolutely stupid this plan was!

Sasha, narrating: Despite being at a loss for words, the Captain yelled at us for the next thirty minutes.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

*Hange getting ready to go on an expedition in the titan forest*

Hange: If you hear me screaming bloody murder, there's a good chance I'm enjoying myself.

Levi: ...figured that one out

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Mikasa, when Eren leaves for Zeke's side: You're leaving me? I'm coming with you.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Gabi: What's the difference between Reiner and a magnet?

Gabi: A magnet has a positive side!

Reiner: Ah-Ah. Very funny.

Falco: A magnet would have laughed at this quality joke!

Reiner: I wish I were an household item

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Hange: You know, you look pretty fit yourself. What do you play?

Erwin: Anybody that gets close enough.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Mr. Xaver: I'm sorry Zeke, your dad was pronounced dead

Zeke: *tearing up*

Zeke: I've been pronouncing it wrong this whole time??!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Historia: I tried your "salad" thing today, and Ew. I only ate one of those red and white nasty apple things, and I couldn't handle it after.

Pieck: Radishes, Historia

Historia: Mini dirt apples

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Kenny the Boomer, looking at his dead phone: How do we bring this thing back to life? Magic? Live sacrifice? I know a guy in town-

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Floch, lovingly, to Eren: You inspire me to be so much worse

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Floch, interviewing people: What do you want for Christmas?

Annie: Uhhh... for me to be alive

Levi: You know those microfibers cloths they have at big stores?

Historia: I just want Captain Levi to have a great time. Cause, he's been really really sad and angry lately. And you know, that's all I really need, more happiness in the world.

Connie: I'll say I want a big booty hoe, sitting on my face right now. Blrrr!

Sasha: Free weed!

Eren: Uhhhh.... World peace

Mikasa: Dick

Hange: *Pouring everyone a big glass of her special cocktail* Mental stabilityyyy baby!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Jean: I'd roast you, but my mom says you can't burn trash.

Jean: *moon-walks out of the room*

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Annie: I'm not sure whose twisted idea it was to put hundreds of adolescents in underfunded dilapidated training camps, taught by people whose dreams were crushed years ago, but I admire the sadism.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Yelena: I've tried some eyeliner, thoughts?

Floch: Sorry but someone already has swag in this enimity and it's ME

Yelena: You? Cool? You are like if a moth was wearing clown shoes.

Floch: Where did you even hear that expression

Yelena: Idk

Floch: Well you look like you could stab someone with these anyways

Yelena: The clown shoes?

Floch: The eyeliner.

Yelena: That's the goal

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Zeke organising a play about his life: Porco, I think you should play the role of my father.

Porco: I don't want to be your father??

Zeke: That's perfect, you already know your lines!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Marcel: I don’t know why I do the things I do. Never did. I’m a damn mystery to myself. It makes my existence... Exciting, you know. You never know what's gonna happen. Am I going to jail, am I getting a medal for bravery? Am I driving on the highway at three in the morning to ruin my life and everybody in this town's again??

Ymir: Are you gonna get caught, cooked and eaten by a random girl in the woods?? Who the hell knows.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

*Porco, in his jock attire, yelling at the tv*

Bertholt: You're yelling like the players are actually gonna listen to you

Porco: You're in love with a girl who doesn't even know you exist

Bertholt:

Bertholt: Never talk to me again

*Bertholt goes to his room to try and glue back the shattered remains of his ego*

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Historia: I think my dad never loved me.

Zeke: HA! Loser. I always KNEW my dad never loved me.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Sasha, leaving the Training Corps in s2 to go save her family: There I go side questing again!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Flight attendant: Is there a doctor on the plane?

Armin: Yes, but I'm not that kind of...

Flight attendant: The pilots are debating the merits of the terminologies of "the dark ages" vs. "late antiquity" vs. "the early middle ages".

Armin: Okay. I'm here.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Bertholt: Annie... I need to tell you something.

Annie: Alright?

Bertholt: You're hot then you're cold, you're yes then you're no, you're in and you're out, you're up then you're down, you're right when it's wrong, you... I guess what I want to say is you're incredible and I care about you. You're so good... At everything. I deeply admire you. I could get lost in the blue of your eyes, I feel like I'm flying when I look at you. Your hair is a golden crown, which you deserve because you are a queen. Your laugh is rare and dry like an oasis in the desert, it's the only thing in the world that can quench my thirst. What I'm trying to say is... I love you.

Annie: Alright.

Bertholt:

Annie: Thanks. You... Uh... You always fill a room with your presence... Like a stately sequoia tree.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Sasha: *sees a ghost* omg are you dead

Ghost Gabi: Of corpse

Ghost Gabi: The other ghosts said they'll beat my ass because of this joke. Grave mistake.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Levi: Oh yes, my uncle is out of town, said something about tying up loose ends?

Uri Reiss:

Kenny: *tying up the ends of a black bag filled with a dead body*

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Falco: Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

Gabi:

Gabi: I don't think you know what this sentence means

Gabi: But yes, it's a gun.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Connie: Are you alright?

Historia: I'm fine.

Connie: No, but really?

Historia: I mean yeah i carry around an immense sadness that destroys my will to live more and more everyday but like im fine

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Erwin: I rarely find cocaine jokes funny.

Erwin: But occasionally, an one-liner makes me snort.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Annie: We have an issue. Most of your bleeding is internal.

Marcel: Well, isn't that good news?! That's where the blood is supposed to be anyways!

Pieck: I don't think it's in the benefit of humanity as a whole to try to save him...

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Mikasa: I act as if I don't care if people dislike me. But deep down? I secretly enjoy it.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Yes, do believe good cop/bad cop is the essence of the MikAnnie dynamic

Yes, I know titans aren't supposed to leave bones behind. I'm gonna need you to get allll the way off my back about this!

Yes, I did watch the Wednesday series recently. It's a good show, innit? Full of punchy one-liners!

Yes, this end note is getting entirely too repetitive.

Yes, there's more?

*: 104° F for you eagle people

[aot-brainrot-my-beloved]

I'm feeling kinda nostalgic and silly so I decided to tell you some of the theories I had back in the day while watching aot (at least the ones I still remember to this day). It's really funny for me to look at them and then compare them to what actually happened in the show lmao

The world has ended with like a zombie virus or something, so the titans are the infected people and Paradis is the last bastion of life left in the world

Grisha was experimenting on people he treated in the hospital and also Eren to either stop the virus or that maybe he was the one who created the virus

Yes, I totally believed that Marco was actually alive and faked his death because he was a titan shifter or something

I thought that Krista was the Female Titan

Levi was like a long-lost brother of Mikasa or just some type of close family

Zeke was Erwin's or Armin's dad (yes, because of the blonde hair and glasses lmao)

I thought that Ymir and Ymir Fritz were the same person because of the name, like she was some kind of immortal being

For the longest time, I believed that the big reveal would be The Church being the main bad guys. Like literally I felt so proud of my logic skills and I even told my BFF that this will 100% happen and TO QUOTE ME ON THAT LMAOO

Yeah that's mostly it I think. I probably had some more theories but it was so long ago I forgot about them

Anyways if you want, you can reply with your own theories you had cause I would love to read some of them :>

[madraleen]

Attack on Titan - Hajime Isayama Vol.22-25: A "Herein I Start To Lose My Mind" Commentary

-oh dina killed mama yeager?! er. that's. huh. how life works out

-what are you talking about, they're not the transformers, you literally INJECT THEM WITH TITAN SPINAL FLUID TO TURN THEM INTO TITANS AND THEN CALL THEM MONSTERS YOU MORON!?

-HE NAMED EREN AFTER THE OWL

-GODDAMN MANGA EXTRA SPECIAL POWERS AND THEIR GODDAMN TIME LIMITS, THIRTEEN YEARS FFS ARGH I HATE YOU

-if we time-jump to eren's weakening body when his time's up i'll kick something

-"I'm sorry. I can't hate anything anymore."

-so much juicy info, i cannot take it all in and i desperately want more

-sensei, did you specifically have levi say that eren is fifteen only because he looks seventy in the next panel?

-so wait, we're essentially at war with another nation that we didn't even know existed until a few days ago

-so fight genocide with genocide is the the marley logic

-...for real? that's a thing owl actually said, 'mikasa, armin and the others' or is eren confused?

-i'm sorry, but “i'll pick a fight with anything and everything that moves if it offends my sensibilities” eren is and will always be the best eren

-it's nice seeing eren empower armin, like armin's done so many times for eren

-who is this being eaten by dogs?

-this is the first time eren's not being transparent. i mean, he's not very good at it, but still

-okay, we're now about a year later from the first attack. i think.

-eren's hair is longer :)

-EEEEEE WE'RE SEEING THE OCEANNN

-WE'RE *IN* THE OCEAN!

-i have loved this story and the characters so much that i'm constantly worried that somewhere along the way i'll get disappointed

-HISTORY TEACHER ERWIN

-i was like, why is levi not a PE teacher or sth, but no, janitor's right, he's always cleaning up everyone's messes

-I WANT TO READ ATTACK ON SCHOOL CASTES!

-what four years? what is fort slava? where are we? is this a random concurrent war?

-I VOTE FALCO FOR OUR NEXT WARRIOR! YOUR NEXT WARRIOR. wait. whose side am i on again

-hilarious. marley persecutes the eldians for being the titan bloodline, while at the same time saying "the power of the titans is absolute" as it keeps them in their military. hilarious. (i am not laughing.)

-reiner with the facial hair, alright alright i see you

-this is disgusting. these are literal human-titan bombs. how dare you, marley

-it's weird to see that even zeke succumbs to the marleyans as an eldian

-paradis be like I'M THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE I EAT YOUR SHIPS FOR BREAKFAST

-"a force of flying freaks"?!?! WATCH YOUR MOUTH, ROYAL BOY!

-OH! galliard has ymir's titan? rip ymir.

-gabi is so entertaining

-eyyy, the reiner fam!

-oh we're touching on soldiers' ptsd, i see i see

-mannn... this "we're the good eldians, it's the island eldians that are the devils" rhetoric...

-reiner has aged fifty years in this family dinner

-i'm loving the marleyan chapters. a welcome respite, a welcome change of pov

-DON'T CALL OUT SASHA LIKE THAT REINER YOU JERK

-come now, that's jean slander

-marley has gone to war with everyone at some point, goddamn

-man, with all this info i wish i could go back and reread everything with reiner's pov in mind and catch all the little nuances. i mean, i CAN go back and read it, but you get what i'm saying.

-did eren actually look that bloodthirsty or is it reiner's pov, i can't remember anymore

-EEEEEEE REINER IS KILLING HIMSELF WHAT. wait. what about the armor titan?! he didn't do it, okay, but what was the plan here?!

-HOLD UP HOLD UP IS THAT EREN?! ARE THEY INFILTRATING MARLEY?! DON'T LEAVE ME HANGING LIKE THAT

-is this grandpa yeager is eren meeting the fam

-hahaha reiner paying for the kids at the festival

-okay but that facial hair on eren? not working for him, no offense baby. on reiner? great, fantastic, good choice. on eren? bring the shaving cream

-WHAT WILL TYBUR ANNOUNCE JUST SAY IT, GODDAMN!

-yes, right, it's eren yeager that single-handedly opposes fritz's peaceful world, FUCK YOU

-OH OKAY EREN IS STILL ON FIGHTING MODE THANK GOD I WAS WORRYING HE'D MAKE HIMSELF A SACRIFICIAL LAMB

-no wait i'm scared i'm not convinced, how is this helping paradis, this is making things worse

-if eren turns himself into a sacrificial lamb for any reason, like sacrifice himself in a 'kill your bad guy to have peace' way, i'm actually gonna be angry. FIGHT! that's what we've always said. FIGHT!

-(i can't wait to see the paradis' people pov, this has been all so distancing)

-i think it's knowing that "the end was divisive" that's destroyed me. when i started the manga, it was a fact, something to go 'haha' about. now that i'm invested, i'm like BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? WHAT IF I DON'T LIKE THE ENDING? WHAT IF IT SULLIES EVERYTHING THAT CAME BEFORE?

-i am in peak obsession, that's it, i've peaked.

-bon appetit eren. enjoy that tybur i guess

-in this endless cycle of violence gabi can be marley's eren, you know. she WILL destroy you if you get her mad

-ah udo getting crushed by the mob... that's the worst

-do we want this, do we want to fight war hammer, i don't understand the plan 

-EEE PARADIS WHOOSH WHOOSHING

-eren please go home. i don't know what this is about yet, but mikasa is right

-ah yes, hi jean. i see the true mark of boys growing up is long hair and facial hair

-OH this wasn't a plan-plan, it was eren! PLEASE GIMME POV PLEASE, eren, bb, what are you doing. eren bb mikasa's still saving your ass, eren talk to us

-and hello sasha, i see the true mark for girls growing up is cutting their hair shorter

-CONNIE SHORT HAIR AND NO FACIAL HAIR HE'S THE MVP HE'S THE HERO WE NEED

-LMFAO GALLIARD BOOKED IT at the thought of levi

-C'EST LEVI MY HEART MY LOVE MY ANGEL MY PRIDE AND JOY MY TREASURE MY-

-what are we doing here guys why are we here :'( EREN WHAT DID YOU DO

-i don't know, eren, at this point... chomp man chomp! *FACEPALM*

-levi my love you are so beautiful.

-everyone: uniforms. levi: A CAPE

-please, please spare me from this hell i just want to read attack on school castes please

[novakstiel]

people liked the attack on titan ending? how lol

[nikakistos]

The Perfect Closure of EreMika

The title is pure clickbait (as always), there will be lots of tags (as always) and this post will be huge. As always. So, let’s examine and evaluate the perfect conclusion of the most important relationship in Attack on Titan. We will analyze why this is the best conclusion they could have gotten and of course we are going to talk about what their scenes meant for their relationship, their feelings for each other and the themes of the story.

First, let’s ask the question: What was the purpose of this chapter? Ending the fight obviously, but also giving closure to the relationship between Eren and Mikasa. Now, there were 3 questions that needed to be answered in order for the two of them to have closure. 

Why did Eren say to Mikasa that he hated her?

What does Eren feel for Mikasa?

What would have happened if Mikasa had given Eren a different answer back in chapter 123?

Isayama answered all 3 of them in a spectacular way. Let’s see how he did it. The chapter literally starts with Isayama, via Mikasa, setting up the closure. This was achieved by having her wonder if this really was the end for her and Eren. Could it be that their last interaction ever ended with him saying that he hated her? 

Isayama answers that with a big, fat NO.

That’s the purpose of Mikasa’s vision. Mikasa’s vision is not there to introduce us to Alternate Universes or to portray her as a delusional fangirl that can’t cope with reality. It’s purpose is to answer the above 3 questions. And that it does.

Essentially, Mikasa’s vision is a “What if” scenario. If Mikasa had chosen the ideal for her answer back in chapter 123, Eren would have abandoned everything and lived with her. This means that Eren is also in love with her.  He said that he hated Mikasa, because he wanted her to forget him. That’s why he also asked her to throw away the scarf.

Mikasa though, being the truest representation of all major, positive themes in the series says no. She chooses to remember him. That’s essentially the meaning of life. That’s what Armin taught to Zeke back in chapter 137. Memories of everyday life. That’s the meaning of life. Back in Trost, Mikasa said that she couldn’t die, because she wouldn’t be able to remember Eren. Even back then, Mikasa always knew the true meaning of life. 

Afterall, the series heavily criticizes the usage of memory manipulation. Deleting memories or altering them have been methods empoyed by the Royal Family for years, hiding the truth from the people. One of the themes of the Survey Corps is remembering their fallen comrades and carrying on the torch. Mikasa forgetting Eren would be an insult to the themes of the story. As would be if Eren was revealed to have been sending fake memories and dreams to Mikasa out of pity for her. 

Finally, Mikasa decides to kill Eren. Not because he hated her or because he didn’t have romantic feelings for her. Because she had to save the world and because that’s exactly what Eren wanted. Back in chapter 133 Reiner foreshadowed Eren’s desires. He explained that it is very hard for Eren, mentally, to handle the murder of the entire human race. Through Reiner, Isayama reveals that Eren wants someone to end it all for him. That someone was Mikasa. That’s why Mikasa knew where to find Eren. His relieved face when he saw her swinging the blade said it all. That was Eren’s design and Mikasa delivered.

And so, the chapter that starts with Mikasa thinking that the only closure she would get with Eren was the “I’ve always hated you”, ends with the first and the last kiss between the two of them that puts all of her worries to rest.

Is Mikasa delusional?

I’ve seen this being thrown around, so i have to also tackle said point. No, Mikasa is not delusional. This wasn’t a fantasy that only she experienced. This dream of hers is the same dream that Eren had back in chapter 1. Eren experienced the exact same things she did in the dream. We even see him with his titan marks. It is clear as day that they shared these moments.

Also, i have to give credits to Isayama here for his usage of “itterasshai”. The word generally means “Go and come back safely” and is usually said to people leaving the house. For Mikasa, Eren is her home, but she is also home for him, as shown in the RtS arc:

These were the perfect parting words for the two of them. Nothing else could encapsulate their relationship better. Eren of course, won’t come back, but that’s the irony of the word here.

Moving on to the next point, Mikasa’s characterization in this final arc is about her seeing Eren for the person he truly is and stop ignoring his faults. It starts from the Marley arc and it concludes with chapter 123 where she realizes that this was simply part of Eren’s nature.

He always had it in him to become the monster that he became. However, he always had a different side to him. A side that had been shown to her a few times. At first, when he wrapped the scarf around her and later when he asked her “What am i to you”. Finally, it manifested as a desire to live quietly with her in their shared dream. It would contradict her development and characterization in the final arc, to have Mikasa start seeing an incomplete Eren again, after realizing earlier who he really was. Mikasa understood who Eren truly is and she accepted him and continued to love him anyway, even though she didn’t agree with his genocide. 

It is not out of character for Eren to run away with her either. At least not in that instance. The series highlights the moment that he asked Mikasa “What am i to you” as a pivotal one. Sure, under normal circumstances, Eren would have chosen to fight, but we saw him breaking down just moments earlier. The only person that could have saved him was Mikasa. Alas, that wasn’t meant to happen.

In any instance, the biggest indicator that Mikasa is not just a delusional girl who kissed the decapitated head of the man she loved, when he never really loved her in the same way, is Ymir’s face at the end of the chapter.

Ymir, as i have mentioned in previous posts, is a girl who never knew real love during her lifetime. She didn’t understand what she was looking at, when she first say a couple kissing with their friends cheering them on. And after that she was sentenced to a cruel life, with a man who never loved her and only viewed her as a tool. This girl, remembers longinly that scene of the couple kissing for 2000 years. She was waiting for 2000 years to see real love again.

She witnessed that through Eren and Mikasa. In a scene that would have otherwise been painted in a negative light, Ymir’s warm smile at the sight of the final act of love between two people who never got to be together the way they wanted to, clears any and all doubts regarding Eren’s feelings for Mikasa and the latter’s sanity. Eren reciprocates Mikasa’s feelings and he was alive for enough time to kiss her back, before completely fading away. Eren and Mikasa replaced the married couple and Ymir replaced the crowd that was cheering at them from 2000 years ago.

Of course, one might ask, could Eren really kiss her? Didn’t she just take advantage of him? No, he did kiss her. The way the scene was directed, it shows us that the events, which take place in their dream, mirror the events in real life. Just look at Eren’s lips one moment before Mikasa kissed him and compare them to the picture above, where they kiss. They are different.

 Also, you have to remeber that decapitation doesn’t kill immediately and does not immobilize facial muscles. That was the entire reason that Eren and Zeke managed to get the Coordinate. Eren survived long enough from Gabi’s shot to make contact with Zeke. Even his facial expression changes as you can see below:

More importantly, was there really any chance that Ymir would look at Mikasa beheading and kissing Eren, while also smiling in approval, if Mikasa was a delusional girl who was unable to understand Eren’s feelings for her up to the very end? Most of all, do you think she would have allowed him to die, without experiencing real love? She died in such a way and she stayed for 2000 years in the Paths waiting for someone to show her real love. Eren was her benefactor. Would she ever allow him to die in such a way, when she was being mistreated (sexually and in many other ways) by King Fritz? I doubt it. Actually no. I don’t doubt it. I’m sure this is not the way we are meant to interprete the scene.

Eren’s relationship with Mikasa, from the very start, is an allegory for the world of AoT. The world is cruel, but is also very beautiful. Eren’s story with Mikasa starts with him murdering in cold blood her kidnappers (cruelty) and then warmly and gently welcoming her to his family by wrapping a scarf around her (beauty). Their story ends with Mikasa decapitating him (cruelty) and kissing him (beauty).

Eren’s tendency for violence has always been portrayed as going hand in hand with his better side. That side has always been represented by Mikasa. It is only fitting for them to have their most beautiful moment happening almost at the same time as their most cruel one. This is how Isayama juxtaposes this duality:

If we interprete this scene as Mikasa being delusional and Eren not being in love with her we get a very disturbing and creepy scene, between an obsessed, psychosis-suffering girl who can’t understand the feelings of Eren, a genocidal maniac who never had any chance or willingness to live a normal life, even though there are hints of that, and a 2000 year old ghost who just happily smiled at the decapitation and forceful kissing of her emancipator. I am pretty sure this is not the message Isayama wants to send. Not simply, because it is a disservice to Mikasa as a character and to her relationship with Eren, which has been one of the most prominent and consistent part of the series from the very first chapter, but because it is also a huge disrespect to Eren as a character as well. Does anyone really think that Isayama would choose to write Eren’s death like that? Not a single important person in the entire story has gotten such an exit. Not even Floch. Even Zeke, who thought that his father never loved him and only used him as a tool, got to see that his father truly did love him, before finally dying. Of course Eren and Mikasa would get the same treatment.

What i mean to say is that Eren and Mikasa’s closure won’t be recontextualized in a way that will paint their feelings for one another and their relationship in a negative light. If anyone’s expecting that, he/she will be disappointed. Eren and Mikasa were confirmed as a canonical couple in chapter 138.

On the other hand, if anyone’s expecting that this wasn’t their real closure and that they will get an even happier ending, he/she is also coping hard. Eren died here in this chapter. There won’t be a scarf rewrap (i’m here to eat my words if it happens), because Isayama gave the couple a kiss. A kiss that was in the makings ever since chapter 50 dropped. And of course, there is not going to be a baby born to Eren and Mikasa. Like, no way it’s happening. Eren is not coming back to life as that would turnish the series and it’s ending.

In conclusion, Eren’s relationship with Mikasa ended in the same way it started. Violently and Beautifully. Tragically and Happily. They acted on their romantic feelings for each other the very moment they had to part ways forever. This is how Isayama hurts us. The essence of a bittersweet conclusion.

EDIT: EATING MY WORDS AS PROMISED. EREN DID REWRAP MIKASA’S SCARF. HE KEPT HIS PROMISE.

[persephozee]

thinking about how Grisha dropped his son into the hands of Marley because of his own selfish dreams the same way he took his sister outside of the Internment Zone. he fed Zeke to the dogs

thinking about Zeke was turned into a inhuman monster yet forced to SMILE through it all as Marley's Wonder Boy yet still clinging to a selfish desire to be the Savior and please Grisha

[halcyonstorm]

AOT Character Names and their Meanings

So, I happened to look up Mikasa’s name out of curiosity for what it stood for, and then I got recommendations for other AOT characters’ names. Some of them are extremely fitting. This goes to show how much thought Isayama really put into naming these characters.

MANGA SPOILERS! 

Here is the list. The bolded ones are the ones I found extremely creepy and foreshadowing.

The Jaeger’s

Eren - ‘saint’ or ‘God’

Very eerie… considering this is how he views himself and ended up committing genocide in the end

Grisha - ‘watchful’

He had to deal with Carla dying even when he knew it’d happen, he watched Eren become a monster, he watched as his eldest son Zeke turned him into the authorities

Zeke - ‘God strengthens’

Dina - ‘God has judged’

Literally… turned into a titan because she was judged

Carla - ‘free’

Her name is pretty much the opposite of her character. She wasn’t free from her fate of being eaten by Dina’s titan

The Ackerman’s

Mikasa - three hats of bamboo, ‘to resolve’

Resolves the rumbling in the end, also resolves problems when Eren is in trouble

Levi - ‘united’, ‘joined in harmony’

United with the SC in the end of the manga (dedicate your heart); starts to incorporate teamwork into the SC

Kenny - ‘handsome’ (lol), ‘extreme’

104

Armin - ‘hero’, ‘universal’, ‘whole’

Becomes the 15th commander of the SC

Jean - ‘gracious’

Marco - ‘warlike’

Connie - ‘constant’

Sasha - ‘to defend’

Sasha defends Kaya in season 2

Ymir - ‘a mythical giant’ 

This goes for Ymir Fritz and Ymir Freckles. I don’t think this one needs an explanation.

Royalty

Historia - act of seeking knowledge

Christa - ‘chosen one’

She is the chosen one to become queen

Fritz - ‘peaceful ruler’

Bitch you were anything but that

Marleyeans

Annie - ‘grace’, ‘merciful’

Shows mercy to Armin in season 1

Reiner - ‘judgment warrior’ or ‘deciding warrior’

Reiner always wanted to be a proud Marleyan Warrior… This is too fitting

Bertholdt - ‘bright ruler’

Pieck - ‘actual God’ (lol… tru)

Porco - ‘hog’ i felt so bad putting this lol… figured i couldn’t leave it out

Colt - ‘young horse’

Falco - ‘falcon’ 

this is implied… but again… he literally becomes the flying titan (like a falcon)

Gabi - ‘heroine of God’, ‘strength’

Yelena - ‘shining light’

Onyankapon - ‘the sky God’, ‘the great one’, ‘creator of all things’

Flies everyone (except Hange… rip) to safety during the rumbling

Vets

Hange (Zoe) - ‘blessed life’, ‘necessity’ 

Hange Zoe is ‘needed’ to sacrifice themselves for the others’ safety (debatable)

Erwin - ‘respected friend’

(Mike) Zacharias - ‘God remembers’

I am pretty sure no one knew how Mike died… but God remembers.

Nanaba - ‘god returned with her’, ‘gift of God’

Nifa - ‘beautiful’, ‘luck’

Petra - ‘rock’

Moblit - ‘inner strength’, ‘thanks’

Thanks to Moblit and his sacrifice, Hange was saved

Which one shocked you the most? Let me know! If I missed any names, feel free to add them on!

[omgitsshrimp]

Parallels between Historia’s ed and Eren’s ed show links to Ymir the founder. and other things I’ve noticed.

I feel like since the new ed dropped, people really ran with the idea that Eren’s ed is a call back to Mikasa’s but I actually saw more links to Historia’s ed. So in this post I’m going to get into some of the similarities I noticed and my interpretations of ed 7 and a link I saw to Ymir.  

So first off, white flowers. 

Both endings feature a field of white flowers. I think white flowers represent innocent lives, people. I think it could also represent the dead. And both eds have them.

Both eds show Eren and Historia walking/running through a field of white flowers. Theyre walking through all the souls lost to violence and hate, all the people who’s lost their freedom. This has particular significance for Eren because he’s doing the rumbling and literally taking lives. But also, considering Historia knew about his plan and moved forward with him anyway, she is also partially responsible. So them moving in the same direction in the same setting ties in well. 

***

The next two shots I think are very significant because it ties into a very important character in the story.

Blood hitting white flowers. I think this symbolizes innocent lives lost, the loss of freedom. Maybe showing Eren and Historia as two people who lost their freedom (ie Historia becoming queen, Eren having to be humanity/Paradis’ savior). Both Eren and Historia’s experiences relate a lot to the founder Ymir.

(Side Note: I feel like Eren and Historia developed a bond because theyre going through similar experiences of having to be sort of forced into a role they have to fulfill for the greater good. I think they understand each other on this level, and maybe this whole ordeal with Eren doing what he wants and Historia doing what she wants, implies that the two have decided to live for themselves together; like Ymir and Historia were going to do in season 2 but never got the chance to.) 

Ymir has the same symbolism connected to her as well. Blood hitting a white flower. 

The top image was shown in the new op, and a shot of Ymir comes directly after. The bottom image is from the manga. This white daisy represents Ymir, and the blood hitting it, represents her life and freedom being taken away, just like Eren and Historia. 

Ymir was forced to be Eldia’s titan weapon, Eren was Paradis’s titan weapon. Ymir was forced to have baby’s for King Fritz, Historia was going to be forced to have baby’s for Paradis and be their queen. 

These three characters are definitely linked. There’s alot of posts online about the parallels between Historia and Ymir (and King Fritz and Eren), but I won’t go into all of it because its alot of info and its been said a lot already. Its not hard to find online. 

*** 

Something else I wanted to touch on was what I think the scenes in the new ed (7) could mean. 

It shows shots like this of Paradis in ruins, and a young Eren looking on smiling. I think this was the “scenery” Eren was talking about seeing (he mentioned it when he was in paths with Zeke). In these images,I don’t think Paradis was destroyed, I think they were all able to leave. They were free to leave the island and explore the world because the rumbling was completed. The image of the walls being broken shows that the titans arent in the wall anymore, which means the rumbling took place. 

Young Eren is smiling because this was what he wanted since he was little. He wanted to be able to leave the “cage” they were in and explore the world he saw in Armin’s book. And the last shot of Eren disappearing at the end, I’m guessing is him returning to the paths after seeing the “scenery”.

A lyric from ed 3 “Yuugure no Tori” also alludes to this.

To expand we have to decide who is our clan 

Basically, in order to be able to freely go out into the world, a line needs to be drawn of ‘us’ and ‘them’. The world has already drawn that line against Paradis and, from Eren’s perspective, Paradis must do the same if they are to survive. There was never any possibility for negotiation. 

The whole song sounds like Eren talking to the people of Paradis tbh. He’s saying come along and sing with me (I’m parahrasing) = come celebrate out freedom (after the rumbling. He’s saying I’ll sing out with my girl = I’ll celebrate our freedom with my girl/Historia. It all ties in very well, very neatly. 

***

Well thats it. Thanks for reading! Feel free to let me know what you think. Please credit me if you refer or use my work, thank you! 

[sailorspica]

its scares me that a good chunk of the characters.(notable ones too) we need to delve deeper into them ie july leos vs august leos. also how yams is a virgo himself but putting like 2 of the arguably worst characters (karina and rod reiss) as virgos. also if yams is the creator of the world, that means aot world's god is a virgo?????

begging for astrology asks

yams put himself in a sandwich between a cop (MP ralph aug 26) and karina (sept 3) like?? virgo is notably the least populated of all the signs in my all character breakdown, like he wanted to avoid himself, but the narrative weight these virgos pull does the opposite imo

on leo: you have fallen into my trap of advanced/esoteric soapboxing: decanates. so! each sign is a 30 degree wedge in the sky. the sun moves about 1-degree per day, hence why each sun sign "season" is a month long. astrologers divide these 30 degrees into 10-degree (in sun terms, 10 days) slivers called decans. there are different ancient systems of assigning planetary rulers to these decans, but the most popular, chaldean, has uses in tarot

1st decan (mostly july), ruled by saturn: willy, niccolo, sasha, dina fritz, zeke, reiner

2nd decan, approx. aug. 2-11, ruled by jupiter: onyankapon, pieck, marcel

3rd decan, approx. aug 12-22, ruled by mars: colt, keith shadis

the decans create basically 36 mini-signs, which neatly corresponds to the minor arcana of tarot without the court cards. for leo, we're in the fire suit of wands that is the most MARtial:

1st decan = ♄ = 5 of wands

2nd decan = ♃ = 6 of wands

3rd decan = ♂ = 7 of wands

the pamela colman smith cards:

the five of wands shows a kind of pointless fight. night of the end vibes. aggression for aggression's sake, prolonging a conflict because well! we're in it. i like seeing niccolo and reiner here as soldiers who came to paradis and were challenged and changed, much like the joining the cadets did for sasha and her libertarianism. but also, doesn't it look like stage combat like from stupid willy tybur's fuckass play?

the six of wands is so painfully what all the warriors, or soldiers in general, are taught to aspire to: surviving war, returning home, and earning recognition. it's a card for honorary marleyans, but the trio of characters whose birthdays are here is kinda sad: marcel never made it home; ony's home country is presumably rumbled; pieck only cares about her dad, not any wider renown or the myth of eldian atonement

the seven of wands is so... so... colt and shadis. oh my fucking god. i'm kinda ill looking at it ngl. they both could have saved themselves, if colt literally just ran for cover from falco's transformation, if shadis jumped ship like magath told him to, but they go down fighting, to protect other people. kids! shadis still looks at the 104th as his students. jesus christ

further things about leo in AoT:

of my chosen major characters the only paradisians are sasha and shadis

three sets of warrior + parent: dina fritz and zeke, reiner and sperm contributor, and pieck and her dad. we can throw in colt grice and his uncle

zeke, marcel, and colt. two brothers GOAT chapter episode

i've said this elsewhere but i'm quite sure the return to shiganshina arc happens in the fall, zeke, reiner, and pieck all had birthdays back to back on that docked marleyan warship, i assume. do they actually celebrate? doubt it

and not to be dark on your last point: virgo is a maiden, the mutable earth sign. i think it's genesis 7 where a million different translations say the abrahamic god made adam out of dust, clay, soil, etc. if there is a creator god, it's founder ymir.

[jokerrenren]

Random Aot Headcannon

✦ Aot Skating Headcannon ✦

✦ Knows how to roller skate:

✰ Sasha Braus

✰ Bertholdt Hoover

✰ Gelgar

✰ Moblit Berner

✰ Petra Ral

✰ Nile Dok

✰ Colt Grice

✦ Knows how to skateboard:

✰ Connie Springer

✰ Eren Yeager

✰ Jean Kirstein

✰ Ymir Fritz

✰ Eld Jinn

✰ Gunther Schultz

✰ Furlan Church

✰ Porco Galliard

✰ Zeke Yeager

✦ Knows how to ice skate:

✰ Erwin Smith

✰ Armin Arlert

✰ Annie Leonhart

✰ Historia Reiss

✰ Nanaba

✰ Oluo Bozado

✰ Marco Bodt

✰ Niccolo

✰ Willy Tybur

✰ Onyankopon

✰ Hitch Dreyse

✦ Can do all three:

✰ Levi Ackerman

✰ Mikasa Ackerman

✰ Kenny Ackerman

✰ Reiner Braun

✰ Hange Zoe

✰ Miche Zacharias

✰ Isabel Magnolia

✰ Pieck Finger

✰ Yelena

✦ Can't do any:

✰ Marlowe Freudenberg

✰ Floch Forster

(No hate to these guys (except Floch jk jk) but I literally don't see them doing any of these)

Honestly, I was really bored and then this popped in my head so have fun, I guess.

[dangerousstrawberryshark]

Random Thoughts: A Dark Past

This came into mind; the Male reader is a prisoner of war and is taken back to the mainland. As usual, me and @softboy5393 fanboying over this.

I went overboard with this.

You were taken by a Titan with a long face, like a horse into its mouth. You fell unconscious during the whole time.

When you woke, you were in some room. You looked around to see where you were, you noticed you had a red armband on your left arm. 'What the... where am I?'

Then the door opened. "Ah, I see you're awake." the unknown person said along with others. He had blonde hair and an undercut style which was pushed back. [This] He also had an armband on, but his was more of a lighter red.

You took the people that walked and noticed that Reiner was there. "YOU DAMN TRAITOR!" you attacked him. You didn't do that much damage before getting pulled off of him.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS! DON'T TOUCH ME!" you yelled trying to get away from them.

"So, you're the guy that Pieck took? You island devils are sure are something." The one with blonde hair said, sitting down. Reiner was dusting himself off.

"I guess we should introduce ourselves? I'm Pieck. You already know Reiner. The one with glasses is Zeke and the one next to you is Porco." The girl- Pieck said. She had long, disheveled shoulder-length black hair, a Greek nose, and relaxed dark brown eyes.

"You probably have questions as to where you are?" you calmed down a bit to respond.

"Yes. And why am I here? Why did you take me from my home?" you said, backing away from them.

"You're in the nation of Marley. And it was Reiner's idea to take you."

⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓

It had been 4 years since you were captured. You've kind of gotten used to the new environment. 'So, humanity didn't die after all?'

You were shocked by the outside world. There were these flying ships in the skies, a cart that was driving without horses leading it. The food you have never seen before. A picture that was too detailed for any person to draw.

"That's a blimp, that's a car, and that's a photograph," Zeke said, showing you everything.

You also got to meet others. "That's Gabi, Falco, Sophia, and Udo. They are the next in line to inherit the Titans."

Gabi looked at you with mistrust. She had hatred in her eyes. "Don't mind her, she hates anyone from the 'Island of Devils.'" Zeke whispered into your ear.

It has taken a while for Gabi to get used to you but in due time.

⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓

You were walking with Pieck, Reiner, and Porco in the Liberio Internment Zone. There were stands everywhere and colorful decorations everywhere. You were amazed.

"Today's the festival, M/n. Ambassadors and famous families from all over the world are going to be here for Willy's speech. Of course, since you're with us, you'll be joining too." Pieck said she was your favorite out of all of them.

"Let's go try some things. Try this." she gave you some kind of dessert with a cone?

You gave it one lick... "WHY IS IT SO COLD?!?!" you said, others were looking at you weirdly.

"What's this?" You picked some triangle-shaped food with toppings and cheese? "Mmm, this is good! I never had anything like it!"

⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓

You had a fun time at the festival but now it was time for Willy Tybur's speech. You sat with the others but Porco, Pieck, and Zeke were requested.

Then the sounds of instruments began to play and Willy came on stage. He bowed before starting. "Allow me to tell you a story."

(This is the entirety of Willy's speech)

"Approximately one hundred years ago, the Eldian race ruled the world with the power of the Titans."

"Between the appearance of the Founder, Ymir, and the present day, Titans have stolen the lives of so many people that the present population of the world..." showed Titans eating people. "Could die thrice over and still not compare."

Then the lights turned red, people appeared covered in blood and screaming. "Because of Titans, and an extraordinary number of races, and the cultures ad histories thereof, have been stolen from the world."

"That slaughter has defined human history and the history of the Eldian Empire. And when the Eldian Empire ran out of enemies, it turned to the killings of its own kind."

You were shocked. Was this the history of your ancestors? Were they like this?

"Thus began the Great Titan War."

"Houses holding eight Titans shed blood in combat among themselves. In these desperate times, one Marleyan saw a path to victory. He was our hero, Helos."

"By artfully waging an information war, he led the Eldian Empire's biggest threats to turn against and kill one another. By joining hands with the Tybur family, they forced the unbeatable King Fritz to flee and retreat to Paradis island." the crowd began to clap. You were awestruck.

"But even exiled to the island, the king still held power. Tens of millions of Titans are capable of crushing the world flat still slumber on that island." the crowd gasps at the revelation and fear.

"The fact that our world still exists undisturbed to this day is pure luck. That is the only explanation our Titan experts could muster up. My fatherland, Marley, decided to take the initiative against the island and sent four Titans to neutralize the threat, but that plan failed and only the Armored Titan returned."

'That's why Reiner broke down the walls.'

"In other words, the Eldian Empire, the scrounge of human history, is alive and well."

"Now, the story up to this point consists of facts known to everyone. The truth, however, differs slightly. From here on, I'll discuss the memories passed down in my family alongside the Warhammer Titan."

"The complete truth will be revealed here and now for the first time. Approximately one hundred years ago, the one who ended the Great Titan War was neither Helos nor the Tybur family." Two people standing side by side to him.

One was represented Helos and the other, the Tybur family.

"The man who brought an end to that war and saved the world was King Fritz. He came to regret the Eldian Empire's savage history and the infighting among his own people."

"Above all, he grieved for the Marleyans and the oppression they lived under. When he inherited the Founding Titan, he and the Tybur family devised a plan." The lights turned blue with King Fritz and the Tybur family shaking hands in agreement.

"To establish a single Marleyan as a hero in the war. His name: Helos. After that, King Fritz moved as many Eldians to Paradis as he could. Erecting the great walls around them."

"He left a warning if anyone threatens his peace, countless Titans would be unleashed in retaliation. However, he never intended make good on this threat." Things began to add up to you. That's why the world hates Eldians. 'I'm not what they say we are!'

He continued. "King Fritz made a vow of renouncing war and bound his successors to uphold it, just as he had. Thus his ideology was passed down to each new King of the walls and the Titans with the power to crush the world remain dormant."

"Marley didn't stop Eldia and pure luck hasn't kept the world from being crushed, it was the king of the walls, Karl Fritz, a man who yearned for peace. That's it. That's all he wanted. He said if Marley grew strong someday and came in force to shatter his peace and seize the Founding Titan, he would accept it."

"He believed the sins his people committed were so horrific that they could never be atoned for."

"When the day of retribution finally comes, I will accept it until then let me enjoy this walled paradise, free from strife and conflict. I ask for nothing but a brief span of peace."

"Those were the final words the king left us with." King Fritz stood next to Willy bowing.

The crowd erupted into chatter. "What does this mean?" Gabi was shocked to along with her friends. You were twice as shocked as they were.

"If what he saying is true..."

"So, Marley and the Tybur family didn't save the world?"

"Willy wouldn't lie..."

"That means Paradis doesn't actually pose a threat, right?"

Willy spoked, the crowd went silent. "It's true, to secure our own safety, my family joined hands with King Fritz and became heroes to the world. While our fellow Eldians became devils but plainly, we Tyburs are petty thieves, growing fat on honor we did not earn."

"I stand before you willingly parting with my false glory because I have come to understand that the world we share is in grave danger" the crowd began to chat again. The drums began to ring.

"With the Founder's might, King Fritz erected three walls, using a great host of colossal Titans..." the background changed to colossal titans conjoining arms. "Counted together, the walls surely contains tens of millions of colossal Titans."

"They guard the King's peace as his shield and his spear or they did, but now, that peace is being threatened from within. An uprising has taken place on Paradis, the king has been deposed, the Founding Titan stolen."

The background changed to a devil. "The thief is an enemy to every man, woman, and child outside his island. An enemy of peace, his name... IS EREN JAEGER." Your eyes widen...

"If the colossal of Paradis are ordered to walk, the rumbling will be felt across the Earth and death will follow. Until now, only royalty has had the power to wield the Founding Titan and King Fritz's vow has kept his descendants from using it, but this Eren Jaeger has found a way to use the founder without having royal blood."

"Which means he could begin the rumbling at any moment. Once the walls of Paradis begin to walk, there will be nothing we can do. Except flee in vain from the sound of Earth-shaking steps that will herald our doom." your face turned into a worried one. Was this going to happen?

"These monsters will crush every city, trample every tree and flower, they will literally flatten our world. I have always hated my blood and more than anyone. I have wished that my race would disappear."

Willy sounded like he gonna burst into tears. " However, I confess that I want to live. That despite everything, I believed this world is my birthright just as it is yours."

"The people gathered here may belong to different races, different nations but if we're to survive this crisis then for the first time in history, we must join as one. SO PLEASE, if you wish to live and lend me your strength, help me protect our world's future!" The cameras began to flash. The crowd erupted into cheering.

"If we work together, we can overcome any obstacle, any threat! I ask each of you to join me as I go to fight the devils who would plunge our world into hell! HELP ME DEFEAT THEM!"

The crowd continued to clap and cheer. "Here and now, as a representative of Marley's government, I send this message to the devils of Paradis!"

"CONSIDER THIS, A DECLARATION OF WAR!" As Willy said that, a Titan erupted from the building behind the stage. A Titan you knew very well.

"Eren..."

[0aurelion-sol0]

The Fall Of Mikasa's Character (3/?)

SNK Endgame posts (4/?)

So wait...

Eren says the Founder's power made it so that there's no past and future and it kept messing with his head...

But that isn't the Founder's power.

It's supposed to be the Attack Titan's power.

This chapter literally retcons the rules it setted chapters before it.

The Founder's power has nothing to do with Time, it is the Attack Titan.

These are the Abilities of the Founder: Titan creation, Titan behavioral control, memory and body manipulation of Subjects Of Ymir (except Ackerman but the last chapter retconned that too since Mikasa speaks about "THAT DAY WHEN EREN CAME TO VISIT US") telepathic communication with Subjects of Ymir.

Moreover, how come Eren said time messed up with his head when he was literally able to mindplay Zeke in 120 into thinking he was in control of the memories while it was him who controlled the memories in the first place hence in control of his power through time?

Also Frieda didn't know about it and she had the Founder, Grisha suspects that it's because of Karl Fritz's will but he still says that every titan is unique in it's own way. If the Founder is capable of travelling through time, the Attack Titan is no more unique.

And if the Founder is capable to travel through time, DON'T YOU THINK A CERTAIN KARL FRITZ WOULD HAVE USED IT TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING GOES ACCORDINGLY TO HOW HE WANTED IT TO HAPPEN ?

Moreover The Attack Titan doesn't travel through time. It travels through memories big difference. So how come is Eren capable to go back to memories of people who do not have the Attack Titan, nor the Founder.

Also talking about the so called Lelouch plan of Eren.

Eren didn't have all the memories, how come is he able to make sure of that supposed end point with Mikasa will happen? After all in 121, Grisha gave up at the last second, it's Eren who had to influence him.

If anything the memories he saw could just change since even in the past things needed to be influenced. After all, in 134, he threw rocks at them while they were flying in mid air and the plane could've just exploded with everyone inside and all of his plan could've fell apart.

If Eren wanted his friends to pull a Lelouch, why did he put them in all of these dangerous situations ? So at times Eren can do something like in 131, but when Hange is about to get killed, he doesn't do anything ? It all seems too convenient to me. Was it him that send Falco the dream than ? Or is it something else ?

You can't have Eren not controlling his powers but able to in certain cases because "It's fate" and pull a Lelouch with so much limited information that he has when he himself doesn't have all the memories and doesn't understand most of them.

So we can manipulate the past but we can't change the future ?

In that case if the Attack Titan was striving for freedom ever since it existed. Does that mean Eren literally influenced all the events of the story including past wars ? Why does the Attack Titan strive for freedom when they are not even persecuted like during the Eldian Regime ?

If Eren has the power to influence the past, why doesn't he influence past events that created the whole mess between the Eldians and the world in that case ?

People are going to say it's Ymir, but the Attack Titan always refused to obey the King's Order and Ymir was devoted and "in love" with him so it can't be her ?

The Attack Titan's Owners eye colors changes when they get the Titan and ressemble those of Eren. Just like Frieda when she is taken by Karl Fritz's will.

But here, we see Eren's (and Grisha's titan) with two different eye color, pre-timeskip and post-timeskip. It seems more...translucid but Eren didn't have the Full Founder's power during Liberio so did Eren influence itself in titan form. If so, if it is him, why has Eren been shown to be afraid of his own will ? Why did Eren physically change to look more and more like his Titan ? Shouldn't he just look like himself ?

Also Eren had the Founder pre-timeskip, why his eyes changed colors during Liberio and not during the pre-timeskip ?

After all in one flashback when the Volunteers arrive on the island, Eren still has a semblance of pre-timeskip eyes. But is starting to turn into post timeskip eyes.

So does that mean Eren influenced everything into the story or is it just it's will that's controlling people ?

By the way how come their eyes changes to those of Eren, if they literally existed before him ? Did Eren sent his DNA to the past ?

So does that means Eren influenced wars even at times when Eldians weren't persecuted, killed Faye, killed Carla just so because he wanted to do genocide ?

Eren says it's because he had an endgame which was Mikasa's choice, than says it's because the Founder messed with his head and than he says it's because he wanted to do it. And let's not even count past chapters and how Eren's motivation changed like a hundred times.

Why doesn't he tell anybody about what he saw during the ceremony in chapter 90 ?

He seemed afraid by the Rumbling but still wants to do it ? Because he has to ?

So Eren can manipulate 2000 years of history but isn't capable of saving his own mother from a titan he already controlled before ? Because yet again, it's "fate." But Eren already hated the titans before his mother died, both in chapter 1 and 73, we learn that Eren already wants to go outside and is mad at the titans for stealing his freedom. His mother doesn't need to die since he is already angry anyway.

If Eren doesn't go with Zeke's plan, Zeke doesn't suggest to retake the founder during the meeting at the start of the Marley arc and the Liberio event doesn't happen.

That man manipulated the whole conflict. If Willy doesn't die (he says that to Magath), most of the world won't believe him and therefore an international attack on Paradis is very likely not to happen. They knew they were being spied upon and that they were going to get attacked.

Eren says he wants his friends to be heroes but half of them died and are forced to kill many people including innocents during Liberio including Armin who blew up a whole port.

Nothing is consistent in this story anymore.

Eren cannot be able to manipulate possibly hundreds of people and titan shifters before him and change the past to how he wants it (like in 121) than be unable to stop Dina, a titan who he was able to control earlier because the Founder messed up with his head and time when 121 proves otherwise.

So Eren is capable of precisely erase the memories of all his friends (including an Ackermam) in the blink of an eye but isn't able to save his own mom ?

All of this speaks "The power works when the author wants it to work".

By the way, if The Attack Titan only travels through memories of past owners, how come Eren was able to sent a memory to himself in chapter 1 when he didn't have the Founder nor the Attack Titan ?

Also how can he receive that memory from the future when the Memory Wipe of Karl Fritz stops any memory that has something to do with the outside world or something he doesn't like ? This was shown with Eren who had headaches about his father injecting him the serum but couldn't remember it because of that Memory Wipe.

Why would Eren send that memory to the past ? To change something but what ? He wanted to do the Rumbling ? Oh Of course I forgot his thoughts were inconsistent but he is able to manipulate a titan through 2000 years of History including his own father.

It was with Kruger who only had the Attack Titan that we were shown you can receive memories from the future. Kruger doesn't even know whose memories belong to and why would Eren sent a memory there when none of them know who Mikasa and Armin are ?

Also if Eren manipulated everything, how come Grisha who lost his first wife a few hours before he met Carla fell in love with her after seeing her for the first time? Did Eren influence his own father to be in love with his mother so he could be born just to destroy 80% of the world ?

I mean he does exactly what Kruger told him to do, he loves someone while the guy lost his first wife just a few hours before that moment.

Grisha should be a little more troubled by this.

Also VERY IMPORTANT!

Why does Grisha give Eren the Founder and the Attack Titan when he saw the Rumbling and asked Zeke to stop Eren ?

Why did Eren wanted Zeke to see that memory ? What was important in that memory ? Why is it never brought up again ?

Why would Grisha tell to Eren that if he wanted to save his friends, he'll have to control that "power" when Eren literally influenced him in the past and he saw that Eren got the Full power of the Founder in the future and unleashed the Rumbling ?

What power was he talking about ?

Why did he give Eren the Titan when he knew what he was about to do and didn't agree with it ?

Did Eren influence him but why would he tell Eren to control this power when he already does in the future ?

What was the point of that ?

I'm really starting to question whether this was Isayama's original ending anymore.

The Eremin teaser (4.5/?)

[tomorrow-and-tomorrows]

SNK 139.5: Towards the Final Pages with no Final Answers

The final pages of the updated ending are bold, but I think ultimately more evocative than the original preliminary ending.

Even after the intensely polarized reader reception that took issue with the lack of storytelling precision and clarity when it was most needed, SNK chose to end with a decisively ambiguous symbol. In literature, a symbol is something that clearly means something -- but with the most "literary" symbols, their meaning cannot be absolutely defined; any attempted answer as to what a symbol represents has no finality or certainty, and interpretation will remain ever open to debate. A symbol both invites and resists interpretation.

Naturally, the immediate response to the symbolic tree on the final page is to try answering the invitation to the question, "What does it mean?"

One prominent answer I've seen is that it symbolizes the continuation of the cycle of war and violence either because a) of the symbolic parallel to Ymir or b) on a more literal level, that it implies the actual potential revival of new era of Titans. A reasonable interpretation either way, but also, I think, an incomplete one.

The first reason for this is that "the endless cycle of war" was already clearly and powerful represented in the preceding panels:

The cycle of war was already continuing in the decades or centuries before the child arrived at the tree. A culminating image symbolizing the persistence or resurgence of an era of war as the final panel would thus arguably be redundant and unnecessary.

Furthermore, the chapter is entitled "Toward the Tree on That Hill." If the tree were simply a symbol of war, by implication the chapter could equally be called 'toward the endless cycle of war'. But such a relentlessly bleak and tonally flat ending sentiment would be firmly incongruous with the story's recurrent conviction in the equal cruelty and beauty of the world -- a conviction that I believe it has been faithful to all the way to its end.

The Long Defeat

But while on this topic of war, let's linger a moment on the "cruelty" side and the consequence of this wordless construction and subsequent destruction of a city -- the most bold and possibly controversial additional panels that are also my personal favourite additions.

One objection that has emerged against this brief sequence of Paradis' apparent destruction is that it renders the entire story to be "pointless". Eren's 80% Rumbling, Armin's diplomatic peace talks between the remnants of the Allied Nations and Paradis, and before that, the proposal of the 50-year plan and Zeke's euthanasia plan... everything, to the very beginning to the Survey Corps' dreams of some kind of freedom; was it all for nothing? All that striving, that hope, that final promise bestowed upon Armin: was it all a pointless story? Even more radically, is the story suggesting that Eren might as well have continued the Rumbling to 100% of the earth? Was Zeke's euthanasia plan the cruel but correct choice all along? What was the point of rejecting the 50-year plan if that had a greater chance of success at preventing this outcome?

I think Isayama suddenly pulling back to such a long-term view of history to the scale of decades or even centuries into the future calls for a reorientation in attitude towards exactly what kind of story we have been reading. Yes, if the metric is Paradis' survival, maybe it was indeed all "pointless". But that's also to say that, on the broadest scale, SNK is a story about futility, that it is a deliberate representation of the struggle to make one's actions historically meaningful.

In the long view of history, all the events, from Grisha running beyond the wall to see the airships and the first breaking of Wall Maria to Erwin's sacrifices, Paradis' discovery of the outside world, and finally to the Battle of Heaven and Earth, it would all merely be a handful of chapters in the history textbooks of the future. A future in which war and geopolitical conflict will continue even without Titans. That does not mean that all paths to the future are equal -- the 50-year plan would not have put an end to Titans, and Zeke's euthanasia plan distorts utilitarian ethics into just another form of oppression; there are better and worse decisions that lead to more and less degrees of suffering, but no decision can ever be the final one.

The additional panels remind us that in history, there never exists a singular "Final Solution". The reason there are readers who vehemently support Eren to have flattened 100% of the world, and the reason the Paradisians supported the oppressive, authoritarian, proto-fascist Jaegar Faction under Floch and even after the Rumbling, is that because they want to believe that a Final Solution to end conflict exists and will work. They resist the fundamental uncertainty and complexity of the situation, instead preferring a singular, unified, and coherent Answer to Paradis' struggle to survive. I'm reminded of the scholar Erich Auerbach's theorization of why fascism appealed to many people during periods of political and social crisis, change, and uncertainty. Writing in exile after fleeing Nazi Germany, he observed that:

"The temptation to entrust oneself to a sect which solved all problems with a single formula, whose power of suggestion imposed solidarity, and which ostracized everything which would not fit in and submit - this temptation was so great that, with many people, fascism hardly had to employ force when the time came for it to spread through the countries of old European culture." (from Mimesis p. 550)

This acutely describes the Jaegar Faction's rise to power and continued dominance in Paradis. But their promise of unity, of a single formula to wipe out the rest of the world either literally through the Rumbling, or to dominate them with military force, is a false one. Even if Eren had Rumbled 100% of the world instead of 80%, history would still go on. The external threat of the world may have been eliminated, but internal conflict and violence would still continue onward throughout the generations born on top of the blood of the rest of the world. Needless to say, out of all the options, Eren's 80% Rumbling is the very epitome of perpetuating the cycle of violence as it creates tens of thousands of war orphans like Eren once was, and it would justify employing violence for one's own self-interest to an extreme degree. For the generations to come that would valourize Eren as a hero, it would set a dangerous precedent for what degree of destruction is acceptable for self-defence -- nothing short of the attempt to flatten the entire world. It is no surprise that Paradis would meet a violent end when its founding one-party rule of the Jaegar Faction has their roots in such unapologetically bloody foundations.

Neither the 80% Rumbling nor the militaristic, ultra-nationalistic Jaegar faction that come to govern Paradis are glamourized as the "correct" solution to ensuring Paradis' future. (This can also put to rest any accusations of SNK's ending as "fascist" or "imperialist" propaganda, since the island's modern nation that they founded ends in war. All nations must fall eventually, but not all do in such blatant destruction). Importantly, neither is Armin's diplomatic mission naively idealized as that which permanently achieves world peace. No singular or unifying formula can work because reality is complicated. Entrusting oneself to seemingly simple Answers is simply insufficient, even if they are ideals of peaceful negotiation; that method may work given the right conditions, but the world will always eventually complicate its feasibility.

After all in the real world, there's the absurd irony that some in the West had called the First World War "The War to End all Wars". These days, WWI is merely one long chapter in our textbooks just a few pages away from the even longer chapter of the Second World War that is followed by all the rest of the conflicts that have followed since then even with the establishment of diplomatic organizations like the United Nations. In this sense, showing Paradis' eventual downfall is perhaps the only way to end such a series that is so concerned with history, from King Fritz's tribal expansion into empire, the rise and fall of Marleyan ascendency, and finally of the survival and apparent shattering of Paradis.

From its beginning to its end, SNK has poignantly evoked J.R.R. Tolkien's conception of history as The Long Defeat. In one character's words, "together through ages of the world we have fought the long defeat". That is to say, "no victory is complete, that evil rises again, and that even victory brings loss".

No heroes, only humans

Eren's desperate, fatalistic resignation to committing the Rumbling, along with the characters' rejection of all the rest of the earlier plans to ensure Paradis a future, are merely the actions of human beings to that began with the need to find not even necessarily a Final Answer, but at least an acceptable and feasible one for the time being. But the characterization of Eren's confusion, childishness, and regret in the final chapter is startlingly real in how it demonstrates how, all along, we have been dealing not with grand heroes, but simply people who have no answers at all. SNK has always been about failures - and often ironic failures; it has always been a story about painful and frequently futile struggle.

People make mistakes, they can be short-sighted, selfish, biased, immature, petty, and irrational, and I think the ending follows through with depicting the consequences of that.

Erwin's self-sacrifice before being able to reach the basement (and his regression to a childhood state in the moments before his death), Kenny's futile chasing after that universal compassion he had seen in Uri, Shadis never being acknowledged by history despite his final heroic action, and so on -- these stories of ironic, futile failures are still meaningful in their mere striving. Eren's ending and Paradis' demise despite Armin's endeavour to ensure them a peaceful future are entirely consistent with this.

SNK certainly follows the shounen trope in which young individuals are bestowed great power and correspondingly great responsibility, and must then reconcile the burden of possessing that greatness on which the fate of the world depends. Yet it is equally defined by its representation of the state that us normal human beings confront everyday: the struggle against the apparent powerlessness to enact any meaningful or lasting change at all. Simultaneously, this helpless state does not exempt us from the responsibility to act in whatever small capacity we are able to resist oppression, ideological extremism, and the perpetuation of violence.

Towards That Symbol

That was a rather long but vital digression about the additional "construction and destruction" pages. To return to the issue of the symbolism in the final panel, here I will turn from seemingly affirming the tree as symbolizing the cycle of violence, towards what I think is the greater complexity of what the tree might "actually" symbolize.

As I've said above, I don't believe that the final chapter title is synonymous with 'toward the endless cycle of war'. In tone, theme, and characterization, SNK has always been defined by the tension between cruelty and beauty, the will to violence and the underlying desire for peace, and the rest of the contradictory impulses that all simultaneously coexist. The end of SNK as a whole commits to a similar lack of closure, ambiguity, and interpretive openness.

So far I have rambled on about only a view of the perpetual "cruelty" of history. Where, then, is the "beauty"?

In short, the "tree = cycle of violence" interpretation is obviously based on how that this tree recalls the original tree in which the spine creature, as the source of the power of the Titans, resided. But it's worth first considering, what exactly is this creature? We seem to get our answer in the chapter that most precisely crystallizes the dual "cruelty and beauty" of the world:

The spine creature might be said to be life itself. Or more specifically, the will of life to perpetuate itself, for no reason at all but for the fleeting moments in which we feel distinctly glad to have existed in the world.

The creature at the source of the Titans, and in extension the Titans themselves, is neither inherently a positive or negative, "good" or "evil", creative or destructive force. It's both and all of those at once. As with any power, the Titans were merely a tool that was put to use to oppressive ends.

So as I now suggest that the tree at the end is symbolically a "Tree of Life", I don't at all mean "life" in the typically celebratory or optimistic sense: rather, I mean it in the ambiguous, ambivalent, uncertain, and complex sense that has been evoked throughout the above discussion of the inevitable continuation of war.

The title "Toward The Tree on That Hill" is derived from its associations with Eren and Mikasa, but more specifically of course, from Armin's affirmation of existence. However, the tree as a symbol of existential affirmation is undercut with the revelation that, despite Armin's diplomatic mediation between the Allied Nations and Paradis, the island nation never escapes war just as no nation in the history of the earth has ever fully escaped war.

The image of Armin running toward that life-affirming tree by the end becomes twisted and complicated, as the image of the anonymous child approaching the Tree of Life evokes both awe at its beauty and grandeur, and a deep dread at the foreboding of its cyclical return to Ymir's tree that signalled the beginning of a bloody era.

And I think that is precisely it: Life is not some idealized, beautiful vision that we always want to run toward; it is also ironic, complicated, and dreadful. It is ambivalent. Like a literary symbol, the meaning of life cannot be pinned down absolutely. The tree therefore becomes itself a symbol of uncertainty, of an open future that is cyclical both in its beauty and war.

As a final observation, it is surely no coincidence that, the small, black, birdlike silhouettes of the war planes destroying the city from the sky is replaced by the similarly small black silhouettes of birds in the final panel.

If the birds represent freedom from war, the irony is that the immediately surrounding land appears to be one completely empty of people save for the exploring child; it is a freedom attained only without people's presence. Yet at the same time, a child from some existing civilization has reached it; perhaps it is freedom that they have reached, perhaps it is something else that they see in the tree. What is it that they were looking for? What does the tree and its history represent for the child, and what does it mean for their future? Alternatively, does the child-in-the-forest imagery negatively recall the warning that the world is one huge forest of predator and prey that we need to protect children from entering?

Rather than providing answers, this tree embodies all of the potential questions, and all of the potential answers. These possibilities will unfold themselves into an uncertain future beyond the chapters of history that Eren, Armin, Mikasa, Zeke, Erwin, and all the rest of the characters were part of and left their mark on; and whatever future this child will witness or create, it will similarly be one of the struggle against futility, as the journey begins anew with each generation in every new era. Neither - or both - hopeful or despairing, the final image of this tree, just like life itself, contains those innumerable irresolvable tensions as it gestures towards all possibilities, both oppressive and free.