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hollowandmerciless · 3 years

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So it was a love story after all

One of the things that has been said over the years about Attack on Titan is that it had no romance. Isayama, was the general consensus, didn’t write a love story. AOT is not about ships. It’s about the nature of humanity, about hatred, about racism and the will to survive. It’s got its roots in Norse mythology, in real life events from the recent past and a more ancient past. But love and romance, so everyone thought, never had a place in this story.

How wrong we all were.

As it turns out, Eren’s motivation for everything he did was always his eternal and undying love for Mikasa.

Here’s where I stumble.

I never saw any convincing signs of Eremika in this story. I didn’t like their dynamics in the first place – Eren seemed annoyed with her a lot of the time, or at best consider her his adopted sister – and what really rubbed me the wrong way during the entirety of the story was Mikasa’s unhealthy obsession with Eren. Yes, he saved her, and yes, she’s an Ackerman, who are known for their intense bonding to their host (although this was a false assumption as well, according to Zeke), but her obsession was unhealthy and annoying to the point that I was unable to see her character development or her actions.

Her looks didn’t make her special to me (contrary to a lot of male fans I encountered on social media and irl), to me she was just one of the characters, albeit a rather uninteresting one, so I wasn’t paying as much attention to her as they did – we all pay most attention to our favourites (which in my case are Eren and Levi and to a lesser extent Hanji and Connie), and as a result I may have been blind for any character development she had.

Maybe it’s because I’m a woman and I feel like she’s one of those poorly written -“the man is my only goal in life” -women. Women who in a story solely seem to exist as an appendage to the main character and have no life or will of their own. Eren and Mikasa were, in my opinion, never equals in this story.

I know many people do see Mikasa’s character development, and do see meaningful interactions between Eren and her, but I’m sorry, I can’t see them unless I use a microscope, and I think this is the main flaw in Isayama’s writing: with all the twists and foreshadowing (which I so thoroughly enjoyed), some hints he left are way too small, while some of his red herrings are too in your face to ignore.

It also feels like Isayama changed the ending too often and forgot about a lot of foreshadowings along the way.

This is why it feels that we’re left with so many plot holes – if you read closely, there aren’t many, but the red herrings were sprinkled so abundantly throughout the story that we may have expected way too much. The origins of the Ackermans, the importance of Historia’s’ baby and “who is the father”, Zeke’s presumed 4D chess and Eren’s 5D chess, the Underground cities as protection against the rumbling, what caused the titan forest trees to grow so large, what happened 854 years ago in the year 0, Reiner heavily being foreshadowed to become the new Helos, what is the Hallucigenia thing, where did it come from and how does it create titans, where did Ymir’s first titan come from if there was no one in PATHS yet to build it – we don’t need all these answers, but somehow Isayama made us believe there was more to this than there actually was, and that’s why many of us feel robbed of the ending we wanted or expected.

The Historia storyline bothers me the most. The dynamics between her and Eren were much more interesting and realistic than those between Mikasa and Eren. To begin with, they were equals. Whatever happened, they always had each other’s backs. So it made sense to me that Eren had at least something to do with her choice to have a baby, especially because he was so vocal against it. Instead, she too married a guy who hadn’t been particularly nice to her in the past and nothing of it had anything to do with Eren or his plans, or their shared memories of previous founders.

Parallels between OG Ymir and Historia seemed abundant, but apparently, in the end, we were supposed to see an essential parallel between Ymir and Mikasa. Her Stockholm-syndrome-love for the first King Fritz felt like a sort of deus ex machina (and yes, if you reread chapter 122 there were hints, but so scarce, so small, that they didn’t seem to hold much significance).

I find the fact that OG Ymir needed to see someone break loose from the clutches of obsessive love in front of her own eyes to finally break loose from her own love for Fritz a bit far-fetched, especially since I consider that this is what the entire story hinges on.

(Now we do understand why Isayama had Levi so severely wounded in chapter 114 (the explosion). Had he been fit, then he had most likely been the Ackerman who killed Eren (because this has been foreshadowed too, multiple times) – and that wasn’t supposed to happen. It had to be Mikasa, or else OG Ymir wouldn’t understand how to break loose from her bond.

Another thing that bothered me was Eren’s sudden confession of his love for Mikasa to Armin. Like I said, I found the Eremika dynamics particularly uninteresting, so this confession felt very unnatural and far-fetched to me – but, again, this is what the entire story is built upon.

He does what he does for them, specifically for her.

It’s actually kind of sad that some fan theories were better/more interesting than the canon ending, but Isayama is the creator of this story and we’ll have to accept his ending – I do know that the more I’ve been rereading the final chapter, the less it bothers me how the story wrapped up. I might even come to like it, and when I reread the full story (which I will certainly do, I LOVE this story) I’ll pay more attention to the small hints Isayama sprinkled between the lines for us about the love Eren felt for Mikasa, to see if his words in 139 will finally make sense to me.

For now, Eren’s motives don’t feel real or grounded. If he’d cried about the millions (billions?) of deaths he’d caused instead of about Mikasa, it would have made more sense in the grand scheme of things. He’d cry for the lives he’s taken, and for the realisation that it has all been in vain, because the ones he tried to protect so that they can live long and happy lives, will now be consumed with grief and survivor’s guilt.

Still, could any of this have gone differently?

No.

Eren was rightfully desperate when he, from behind the bars of his cell, yelled at Hanji if there was another way. Because there wasn’t.

The irony was that Eren always fought for freedom, but all his life he had been a slave to his own destiny. He was unable to change the future, and could only try to influence it. Or else, as Kruger said, this cycle would repeat itself, again and again.

All in all I feel there was more to this story than what we got, it could have gone deeper, more foreshadowing could have paid off instead of being a red herring.

A bittersweet ending

Levi surviving and finally getting closure with the knowledge that this was what all of his old SC friends died for, brought me to tears. And that smoke, was that the disappearing of his Ackerstrength?

The frame where he travels the world with his carers/adopted children Gabi and Falco and his new best friend Onyankopon (friend? lover? just look at that glance they share) made me so happy that this is now the desktop background of my laptop.

(I hope they’ll travel to the AOT equivalent of the UK so he can finally enjoy some decent black tea)

To me, at least this part was sweet. The rest: bitter, even the fates of the Alliance members. This is a story with an open ending. We don’t know if they’ll succeed on their peace mission, we don’t know what the Yaegerists will accomplish, we don’t know what the rest of the world will do; all options are open again, but maybe that is the point. Eren never meant to end the hatred, there’s no fighting the nature of humans. Erwin knew this already: mankind won’t stop fighting among themselves until there’s only one person left.

Eren’s goal was to end the titan era, and at the cost of his own life and that of 80% of humanity, he succeeded.

Learning that Eren, who held freedom in such high regards, was a slave to his own destiny all along was painful and ironic, but in a way he lives on as a bird, finally free, finally Vogel aus dem Käfig.

Thank you, Isayama.

#snk #aot #snk meta #eren yaeger #snk spoilers #snk 139 #snk 139 spoilers #mikasa ackerman #levi ackerman #eremika #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #aot 139 #long post

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nikakistos · 3 years

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The mindset of Eren Yeager: The reason he rumbled the World

The topic I will be analyzing this time is Eren Yeager’s decisions and motivations in the final arc of the series. Many words have been said about our main protagonist, especially after his appearance in the final chapter, which made many question him and his actions. Given the dialogue between him and Armin it is not really hard to understand why. Isayama’s word choices have confused many fans. So, here I am. Trying to explain to the best of my ability what was going through Eren’s mind. Of course, I might be wrong. There have been many interpretations of the character after all, not to mention that Isayama will be releasing a character book the next month, which might explain things better. But, seeing as I will be in the army at the time, I figured I should write this now and compare my view to Isayama’s later on.

To begin with, we have to answer a very important question. What was Eren wish and what kind of life did he want to live? This question can easily be answered just by looking at Mikasa and Armin, Eren’s two most beloved people. These two represent what Eren wants out of life. Armin is responsible for Eren’s desire to be free. The outside world for Eren is freedom. Mikasa on the other hand represents Eren’s desire to be loved. She is his home to return to. You see, these two desires perfectly correspond with the visions Eren shared with his two friends in the paths. He used the paths to see with Armin all the places from Armin’s book that they imagined back when they were kids and he used the paths to live with Mikasa the life they never had the chance to live in the real world. Eren himself says he doesn’t want to die. He wants to live with Mikasa and everyone else. This is the kind of life he wants.

But he couldn’t. And it wasn’t because of some supernatural force that guided his own actions and prohibited him from making another decision. No. It was because of his personality and the circumstances he found himself in. After Eren saw the future his attitude changed. He was by far more silent and sad than usual. He saw himself committing mass-genocide. He also learnt that the world was not what he imagined it to be. Eren wanted the world to be just like Armin’s book described. Empty of humans, but full of beautiful places. However, between himself and his dream stood enemies. Countless people who had never seen them, all wishing them dead. The outside world had betrayed his expectations. For him, all these people that stood between him and his dream were just like the walls in Paradis. An obstacle. This is why, despite knowing that the Rumbling went against the justice he was supposedly fighting for, he decided to complete it. Deep down, he hated this world and he wanted to burn it down. This is in part due to his idea of freedom. For Eren, freedom is living your life the way you want it to, without ever taking orders from anyone. Doing whatever you want. This is why he was surprised by Levi’s follower attitude towards Erwin. With all his strength, he expected Levi to be the freest person in the legion. A world that continued to chain him down and disappoint him was something Eren could not tolerate. And when he got the power, he just wanted to erase it. He was free to do so. It is no coincidence that the panel of his father saying to him “you are free” appears at the same time that Eren reveals his desire to destroy the world. This burning desire of his to erase the world contradicts his view on people being special because they were born in it. If this world makes people special just because they were born in it, then why the fuck would you completely destroy it Eren? Well, that’s exactly the point. Eren’s though process is entirely irrational. That’s true for all humans to a degree. Our deepest and darkest desires are irrational. The part of Eren that wanted to bring the Apocalypse, just because the world wasn’t like he wanted it to be is exactly that. Eren had to choose between what was just and what made him feel free. He chose the latter.

Moving on to the more rational side of his motivations for doing the Rumbling. That is the safety of his friends and his island. Eren genuinely cared for all of his friends. Mikasa and Armin were special, but he also cared for Historia, Jean, Connie, Sasha etc. He even cared for fucking Floch. And, obviously he cared for the island that he was raised in. He couldn’t just let the world annihilate them. This is like, the core of his ideology. If you fight, you might survive. If you just roll over, then you get fucked. Eren is not the type to get fucked. However, this did not mean that Eren wouldn’t opt for a different solution if a better option presented itself. After all, he did appear in the speech given by the Organization that protected the rights of the Eldians. The first problem here is that when Eren saw the memories of the future he had just 8 years left to live. Zeke had 5. Eren was displeased with this lack of time. The second problem was that he was stuck with a hilariously incompetent leadership. The leadership of Paradis failed spectacularly in finding a good solution and wasted half of Eren’s remaining lifespan. At the rate the Survey Corps were progressing, Zeke would have died and without him they wouldn’t be able to use the Founding Titan at all. Additionally, none of the solutions they tried to find were exactly great. The 50 Y.P. required the sacrifice of Historia and her line, without ensuring with 100% certainty the eternal existence of Eldia. Since Eren cared about Historia and the island, he couldn’t accept such a proposal. The rest of the Survey Corps felt the same way. Hizuru on the other hand didn’t help them at all and Hange’s plan to approach the Organization that wanted to protect the rights of the Eldians failed spectacularly. Eren was left out of options.

The biggest turn off for him though was the revelation of Zeke’s real plan. When Yelena learnt that the SC would visit Marley she approached Eren and told him all about Zeke’s euthanasia and how to contact him. From this point on, Eren really had no other option left to save Paradis. If the meeting with the Eldian Rights Organization were to fail then he would have no choice but using Zeke’s blood, especially given his brother’s limited lifespan. He would never get another chance to visit Marley, nor was it certain that Zeke and he would manage to make contact. Worst case scenario, Zeke dies before meeting Eren, Colt gets the Beast, the Global Alliance attacks Paradis and they get fucked. Or, the SC somehow manage to find a serum to turn Historia into a dumb Titan, have Mikasa and Levi alongside Eren restrain her and use the Rumbling anyway, while also having sacrificed Historia.

Things might have been different if Eren had actually decided to talk about the future he saw. Knowing what would happen if they didn’t try hard enough, might have made the Corps work harder. Of course, Eren just couldn’t predict the outcome of such a decision, so he decided to stay quiet, since, as established above, deep down he wanted to destroy the world.

Eren’s decision in the end came down to this: either he destroys the world or he says “fuck all” and elopes with Mikasa. He loved her enough to abandon everything and live his last few years peacefully with her. His dream about the outside world, Armin, Historia, Paradis, he was ready to turn his back to all of them just so he could selfishly survive with Mikasa. However, both he and Mikasa are incredibly shy people who can’t quite express their feelings easily. So, instead of telling her that he was in love with her, he left it all to her. To top it all off, he framed the question in such a way, that gave her the chance to pick an easy answer, without risking rejection. Then they got interrupted and the rest is history. He said fuck it and accepted his fate.

Attack on Titan’s world does operate under a fixed timeline. Destiny exists. Ever since Ymir became a titan up to Mikasa killing Eren was predetermined. They were meant to happen, exactly as they happened. However, the reason for that is not entirely supernatural. It is just that the personalities of each and every major character led to the result we saw. It is entirely because Eren cared about his friends and because he dreamt of freedom that he chose to rumble the world. It is his and Mikasa’s shyness that robbed them of a future together. Ymir had nothing to do with all that. It wasn’t Ymir who made the Santa Titan dumb enough to not bite Eren properly, nor was she the one who made the Azumabito clan greedy as hell or the Marleyans imperialists.

Eren knew what he would do and this of course played a major role in his decisions. But nobody forced him to do it. And, more than anything, he also knew why. Deep down, he knew. Eren decided Rumble the world, because he wanted his friends and island to be safe and because he hated the world. Eren accepted his fate, because he was left with no choice that he liked, time was running out and because Mikasa didn’t give him the right answer. The result? 80% of humanity dead, some of his friends dead, the ones who survived are mostly well, with Mikasa being the saddest one. The world is slowly marching to war, with the Yeagerists having regrouped and Armin and the co are trying to prevent this. The island’s survival is by no means guaranteed.

Was it all for nothing? I don’t think so. Eren saved Paradis for some time, giving the chance to Armin to save humanity. After all, he did tell him so himself. Eren believed that with the Rumbling leaving the world in the state we saw, Armin would be able to find a solution. The series seems to imply that this is what will eventually happen.

In the end, Eren acted just like himself. Just like he told Falco. His reasons are not that complicated. He kept moving forward, because he was seeing something beyond this hell. We know now what that something was. His actions make total sense. It is just that his deep desire to end the world is rooted in his own childish view of freedom and of the world. In a story about children who need to become adults, Eren remained a child. His two friends on the other hand didn’t. Armin accepted his role as the Commander of the Survey Corps and despite the world not being what he wanted it to be, still fought to protect it from the person he once wished to explore this earth with. Mikasa accepted her role as a guardian of humanity and not Eren’s, like she believed herself to be, and despite wanting to share her life with Eren, she killed him. Eren saved Mikasa and Armin. This is his legacy. A world without titans.

#Eren Mikasa Armin #Eren Jaeger #Mikasa Ackerman #armin arlert #hajime isayama #attack on titan manga #manga #chapter 139 #attack on titan final chapter #aot meta #snk meta #character analysis

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spilledsinnamontea · 3 years

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Do You Have a Membership?

Summary:

Levi went to a convenience store, and he was welcomed by a dazzling cashier. [LH Modern AU]

Words: 2081

A/N: A Oneshot that was Inspired by a real life event that my friend had experienced. It was so funny and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Hence, I want to immortalized their story by turning it into a Levihan fanfiction.

LINK: AO3 / FFNET

DISCLAIMER: Shingeki no Kyojin / Attack on Titan belongs to Hajime Isayama.

Levi had visited this gas station a few times before, but he had never bought something from the convenience store. However, one day, when he was driving Isabel to her university, he found himself in needed for gas. At the same time, he had also promised Isabel to buy her snacks for her faculty camping trip. Hence, to save some time, they decided to go to the convenience store after filling his car with gas.

Well, at least, that was the plan. But he should have known that Isabel is far too rebellious for his plan, no matter how simple it is. Because, in a quick motion, Isabel unfastened her seatbelt and went straight to the store, leaving Levi to queue for the gas alone.

Few minutes later, after he got what he needed, he parked the car in front of the small store. From the look of it, the store seemed to be vacant. Levi opened the glass door and heard a bell ring.

"Welcome to Rose Mini Mart!"

Additional voice was heard alongside the ringing of the bell. Levi was quite taken aback by a cheerful greeting that he got, which was a bit jarring from the usual greeting that he got from tired and underpaid retail workers.

Levi threw a quick glance at the cashier and glanced away. However, soon enough he found himself glancing back at the cashier. It was proven to be a bad decision because he locked eyes with the person. In an instant, he glanced away and walked further inside the store, focusing on his task to find a teenager with bright red hair. Fortunately, the store was small, so it was not hard for him to find her. She was standing in an alley that was filled with snacks and candies.

"Jesus, Isabel. Do you want to rob the entire shop?" Levi commented as soon as he saw Isabel—who was trying to fit various selection of potato chips into her hands.

"What do you mean? I just want to be prepared. What if I got lost in a forest?" Isabel replied nonchalantly as she grabbed another bag of potato chips.

"Don't be over dramatic. It's a fake forest, a playground for adults. You have to be stupid enough to get lost in there." Levi took two pairs of potato chip bags from her before putting it back on the rack. "It's only three days, Isa. Just buy what you need."

Isabel pouted and reluctantly put back most of her snacks, muttering under her breath as she did that. Levi insisted that he would not pay if she bought a lot, but Isabel kept persuading him to let her to buy another package. After throwing arguments back and forth, in the end, Isabel's haul consisted of a bag of chips, a bar of chocolate, two cartons of strawberry juice, and a package of dry toasted almond.

"Wow, you got a lot in there." The cashier remarked with a chuckle when Isabel put her snacks on the counter. "You're going somewhere?" She asked Isabel.

Isabel then proceeded to tell the cashier about her faculty camping trip. The cashier nodded to Isabel's story as she took each item and scanned it.

Now that Levi stood near the cashier, he was able to scan her appearance. She was wearing a long black sleeves shirt and a green apron. Her hair was knotted into a messy updo from which a few baby hairs could be seen coming out. She also wore rectangular glasses that sat on top of her roman nose.

There was nothing special with the way she dressed or styled herself. Nevertheless, Levi was somehow captivated by her, and he did not know why or how it happened. Was it because she looked so genuine when she smiled? Was it because the way her auburn hair shines from the sun that peeked through the store window? Was it because her genial attitude toward Isabel? Or was it because she looked—

"Alright, that will be $20.50, sir."

Levi was brought back from his stupor to meet a pair of sweet chocolate eyes. He blinked once as he muttered, "Ah."

"Will that be cash or charge?" She asked.

Levi took his wallet from his pocket and grabbed two pair of 10 dollars bill and a coin. "Cash." He said as he gave her the money.

"Do you have Rose membership?" She inquired when she took the money and count it.

"No."

"Do you have coupons?"

"No."

She nodded, "alright, you paid exactly $20.50 so there will be no change." The cashier clicked a few keys on the keyboard, put the money on the register, and gave him the receipt. "Thank you!" She said with the same smile that never falter since the beginning.

After making sure the receipt was right, Levi took Isabel—who had already put the snacks inside her canvas bag—by the elbow and led her outside.

"See you again." She told them before they left.

•──────✦──────•

Levi started his car and drove his car away from the gas station. However, he found himself lost in a haze of his own mind. He could not even focus to hear Isabel's rambling because his thought was filled with a certain someone. It was strange, because he did not even know her name, but she had caught him by surprised.

Levi thought that maybe it was because he did not expect someone like her to work as a cashier in a gas station convenience store. Granted, nothing is wrong with the job, but Levi had never met a cashier that… that is… that is so…

"LEVI!"

Levi jolted in his seat from the sudden loud voice that came from the girl that seated next to her. He looked on the road, expecting the worst, but luckily nothing happened. For a second, he was scared that they would die or something. After regaining his composure, Levi furrowed his brows at her and exclaimed, "What the fuck, Isabel?"

"I had to scream because you didn't respond!" She said in her usual high voice. However, Levi noticed a hint of urgency on her voice.

Levi sighed and clicked his tongue. "Sorry."

"Yeah, yeah, apology accepted. Now that we have made our peace, I want us to go back to the store."

"Huh?" Levi could not believe her request. He was barely driving for ten minutes, and she already want to go back? Well, it is not like he did not like that idea…

"We need to go back." She repeated as she sat awkwardly on the seat. Her countenance was nothing out of ordinary, but there was a sign on her forehead that said, 'something is definitely not right'.

He narrowed his eyes, scanning her suspiciously. "What do you mean we need—"

"WE NEED TO GO BACK!"

"I HEARD YOU!" He replied in an equally loud manner before lowering it again as he asked, "Why? You forget something?"

"Not really..." Isabel muttered before finally looking at Levi with much seriousness in her face. It was rare for her to make that face, so whatever this thing is, it must be so important. "Okay, listen Levi. I need to buy a tampon."

Levi raised one of his brows. "What? How could you forget something as important as that?"

"Well, I didn't know I got it until now." The words easily flew from her mouth, almost like she just told him about the weather today.

Levi paused before his face finally turned horror as he glanced at Isabel with bewildered eyes. He opened his mouth and asked in a low voice, "… Are you freaking serious?"

"No, it’s a prank."

Silence.

"OF COURSE, IT’S NOT. I'M SERIOUS, LEVI." Isabel grabbed his shoulder to shake him. "That's why we have to go back! Do you want me to—"

"Fuck no!" Levi shook his head in disbelief before looking at her again. "Are you even sure about it?"

"YEAH, I'M SURE! I KNOW MY BODY, OKAY?!"

Levi grunted before finally taking a turn to go back to the gas station. They parted away as soon as they arrived at the gas station. Isabel went to the toilet, walking in slow and painstaking steps. Meanwhile, Levi sprinted and barged into the store, making the bell rang loudly as he did.

"Welcome—Oh, it's you again."

Levi gave her a nod before walking to the personal care aisle and grabbed Isabel's usual choice of brand. He went to the cashier in hurry and immediately pocket his wallet from his pocket.

"You came back." The cashier remarked in a voice that was buoyant and tender.

"Yeah."

She grabbed the package and scanned it. "Oh, seems like your sister forgot this, huh?"

"Yeah—" He answered before furrowing his brows at her. "Wait, how did you know?"

"Deduction, I guess." She chuckled as she took a glance at the monitor. "From the way you two argued over potato chips and dry toasted almond, I knew immediately that you two are siblings."

On one hand, Levi was taken aback, and a little bit impressed by her observation. He and Isabel do not look exactly alike, so there had been some awkward instances where people would mistake them as any other but siblings. Although, on the other hand, Levi was kind of embarrassed by the fact that he and Isabel quarrelled loudly in public.

"Alright, that will be $6.68." She looked back at him with gleam in her eyes. "Will that be cash or charge?"

"Cash" Levi opened his wallet, grabbed two bills, and put it on the casher table before opening the small compartment where he put his coins. Levi then grabbed a few coins and started to count it.

"Do you have Rose membership?"

"No."

"Do you have coupons?"

"No."

"Do you have a partner?"

"No— What?!"

Chink.

Series of metal sound hitting ceramic was heard loudly on the quiet store. Levi stared blankly at his coins that scattered all over the floor. Then, he heard a feminine laughter coming from the cashier. Levi's started to feel his cheek burning from the event. He immediately crouched down and started to collect his coins.

"I'm sorry." She said before leaving the register and went to kneel in front of him. She helped him to grab some of the coins, she even willing to grab the coin that got stuck under the table. He was grateful for her help, but she just could not stop laughing while doing so, and it made him even more self-conscious.

Oddly enough, he was able to let it slide. He just could not find himself angry at her, not when she laughed like that. Her laughter was so sweet, so enchanting, and so addicting. So much so that he let the corners of his mouth lifted for a second.

After making sure that she did not miss any coins, she stood up and returned to her post. A few coins on her hand and she counted it. Then she grabbed the money that he had left on the counter and said, "six dollars…" before showing him the coins that she had on her hand, "…and sixty-eight cents."

“Ah, yeah—" He muttered in a croaky voice, a clear sign that he was being betrayed by his body. He cleared his throat and repeat his sentence in a clearer voice. "Yeah, thank you."

"You're welcome." She giggled and gave him the receipt.

Levi nodded as he took the receipt and the item. He glanced at her and at the door, contemplating on what he should do. In the end, his pathetic self decided to nod at her again before turning his body to the door.

"I'm Hange, by the way." She suddenly told him in a soft voice, almost like she was hesitating to speak it.

Levi halted on his step and returned to look back at her. A subtle flush could be seen on her cheek and Levi had to mentally stopped himself from staring at her like an idiot. He rubbed his nape and said, "Levi."

She was beaming with joy at his response. "Then, see you again…?"

Unlike the one that she said to him and Isabel, this time she voiced it more like a question than a statement. Levi smirked before he walked to the exit and answered, "only if my sister forgot something again."

Well, if there is one thing he knew about Isabel, she tends to forget things.

-fin-

#cha cha real smooooottthhhh #this was fun!!#it's nice to write in a more casual english #tftae is slowly turning me into shakespeare #ngl I went to walmart page to check on the price bcs idk the value of dollar :D #it's been so long since I wrote them in modern AU #levihan #levihan fanfiction #bluemallow

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lostcauses-noregrets · 2 years

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Sometimes I'm unable to sleep at night when the real unanswered questions of SNK are keeping me awake... What is the real story behind Levi's Captain ranking? Whose black jacket is THE black jacket that Levi occasionally wears? Why was Levi seen in the same classroom as smol Erwin? Why Erwin in new survey corp uniform was robbed from us?

Fear not Anon, I have all the answers to ensure you have a peaceful night's sleep 😴

1. What is the real story behind Levi's Captain ranking?

You can find one answer here: Levi's rank. Though of course the real reason is that Captain is not Levi's rank, it's a term of endearment that Erwin calls him in bed.

2. Whose black jacket is THE black jacket that Levi occasionally wears?

Erwin's. I mean it's not called The Boyfriend Jacket TM for nothing. Receipts are here (X / X) and no, I will not be taking questions at this time.

3. Why was Levi seen in the same classroom as smol Erwin?

Only Isayama knows the truth and he's not telling. The bastard. Luckily you can read some fan theories instead.

4. Why Erwin in new survey corp uniform was robbed from us?

Such would have been the overwhelming power and majesty of Erwin Smith in the new leather uniform and military issue bondage gear that he would have made the Titans look feeble in comparison. The power of the Titans would thus have been vanquished by Erwin's sheer sexiness magnificence, bringing the story to a swift and satisfying climax. And we can't have that.

I hope that answers your questions Anon, and you're able to sleep as soundly as Erwin.

#asks #eruri #snk

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misamerglova · 3 years

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SNK 139 spoilers and rant bellow

So I finnished the chapter. Well... I’m kinda empty now.

What the fuck was that. In a good way.

The ending was overwhealmingly positive. I expected some shocking horrible twist and a typical AoT shitshow instead I got basically everybody living happily ever after. It felt weirdly normal.

Felt kinda like The Code Geass with Eren sacrificing himself for his friends - I wasn’t really surprised nor sad, just kinda felt ok with it. Also yeah, we got his perspective and everything, everybody being sad for him and stuff but since I didn’t really like him in the first place the first part of the chapter rang kinda hollow to me. Had to be there and I get it, still can’t get myself to feel anything but meh about him, sorry, Eren...

The titan curse was lifted, noone died, everybody saw their loved ones again. That was really touching and to me unexpected as fuck

Levi saluted, I sobbed

Levi seeing his comarades with Hange and Erwin in the front for one last time felt very very sad

Seeing Levi on a wheelchair three years after that felt even sadder though, it’s the kind of ending I was really hoping for him not to get since it seems nice on the paper but I sort of cannot imagine any kind of positive life for him considering all he had lost. But who knows. He was there with Gabi and Falco and Onyankopon so maybe he found some sort of peace for himself. It feels extremelly bitter though

But damn Hange was robbed

I mean fuck, Hange was so much robbed and fuck you for that, Eren...

I mean, even CONNIE’S MUM got a fucking better ending than Hange

They should have stayed in that fucking forrest and it should have been Erwin - two things I will get carved on my tombstone. And no, I don’t care about other opinions on that...

Oh yeah, Gabi and Jean and Connie got turned back into human form - something I considered wishful thinking considering noone ever got back in AoT (except Levi and Zeke but those two were kinda plotarmour)

It felt extremelly satisfying that Connie and Jean got to see Sasha one more time. No Marco though

Annie lives!

Annie’s dad lives!

Pieck lives!

Dammit, Reiner survived too. Him living feels to me the same as Levi, more positive though since he’s younger (sorry, Levi) and had less to loose (still has his mom, still has those kids he tried to save, still has at least some of his friends from Marley times). And seeing him after the timejump gave me more optimism about him finally embracing life than seeing Levi on a wheelchair

Yeah, no, I’m not getting over Levi on that fucking wheelchair with that sad blank face any time soon

Dammit Levi, you deserved better. I hope you at least opened that fucking teashop of yours and called it ‘Teas of freedom’ of some shit like that...

Reiner reuniting with his mum and Annie with her dad was so nice and long overdue

Jean, my boy Jean survived and I’m so happy about that

No HorseCart but still. Seeing cocky hairflipping Jean after the timeskip really made me smile - his storyarc throughout this whole story was awesome and thanks for that, Isayama

The bickering between Jean and Reiner in the end gives me life

Mikkasa leaving to burry Eren and kinda fading away from things felt right. Her character never had much appeal to me and her storyarc felt very much concluded by that. Basically, I’m ok with that and I think she found her peace

Nevertheless, Ackermans got really fucked here...

Same goes for Armin, I never had much of connection to his character (cause, ya know my should-have-been-Erwin feelings) and his storyarc felt right. He’s finally shaping to be the person he had a potential to be. I wasn’t super impressed with him but nor was I unhappy. The whole trio got basically the expected endings and not much more

No Aruani but if any ships in AoT are still alive their feels kinda the strongest

Historia’s baby having no real significance whatsoever felt very satisfying

Ymir finally let go of things thanks to Mikkasa - I didn’t much get how but I expect to understand it more after reread

80 % of humanity dead. Daaaamn, Eren, you really didn’t waste any time, did you?!

Eren killed his mum using his founding titan powers?!!!

Paradis being the new military powerhouse with war-lust tendencies is not a surprising turn of events to me - after all, humanity proves again and again that people will follow their worst impulses no matter what and it feel very much aligned with the overall tone of the manga. I’m glad that the alliance is still opposing it and trying to fight it with diplomacy. It feels right

Overall, I’m happy right now about the way things ended (though I’m really bitter about that wheelchair). It feels more or less peacefull and calm for all the characters, no big surprises, no big plottwists. I’m glad they all got the moments of seeing their dead loved ones once again and I’m glad it didn’t end up all in flames and misery. I wish some characters got better lives but if this is the next best thing in the store I’ll take it.

Thank you, Isayama, it was a great ride ❤️

#aot #attack on titan #snk manga #snk #snk fandom #aot 139 #aot 139 spoilers #snk 139 #snk 139 spoilers #aot chapter 139 #snk chapter 139 #aot levi #levi ackerman

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sonofthesaiyans · 2 years

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The real heart of AOT.....

God how much she deserved better. And so did we.

I had to share this amazing fanart I saw over on Twitter. Obviously I claim no credit, and I hope I’m not pushing my luck by posting it here......

There really is no fathoming how much I hate what happened to Sasha. My hatred for Assassin’s Bullet. And how much I hate the guts of the man who made it so, and of the fans who still are making excuses for Gabi Braun to this very day.

This is what they stole from us, for their own pathetic little waifu, the entire series was robbed the day Isayama gave Sasha the axe four years ago in the manga. And in the end, absolutely nothing about it was justified. And who were the ones who got indulged by exploiting Sasha post-mortem? THE GABI BRAUN FANS.

You still proud of yourselves for putting the brat on a pedestal? For your part in bringing down the series by indulging the man who insisted on pushing this damaged merchandise on us that served no meaningful purpose by the end? For the fact that your waifu actively exploited Sasha and all her connections?

Still proud of yourselves?

Sasha had so much more to give. She was more integral to the story than those who still with season four will ever admit. What happened in season four was a perversion and exploitation of the show’s original cast, in favor of ones who contributed nothing of value. It’s extraordinarily difficult to enjoy Sasha anymore because everything that ever follows now is centered on the unjustified manner in which she was killed off. And the fans who defend it are just as guilty as the asshole who made that call.

There is no Attack on Titan without Sasha. And there is no Attack on Titan with Gabi. Sasha Deserves Better. She still does. Gabi’s fans? They aren’t owed a goddamned thing.

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warm-starlight · 3 years

Note

Hi! Do you think that if Hanji wouldn’t have asked Levi to let go her go, it would have been harder (or even impossible?) for him to do so?

Well, we would at least know what words he would use to ask her to stay. Isayama Robbed us.

But ultimately, these are the most responsible, mature, adult people in the series so i think he would end up giving up on his personal desires for humanity's future as he always did.

#snk #aot #levi ackerman #levi #rivai #hanji zoe #hanji #hange #levihan #anonymous

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linkspooky · 4 years

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Eren and Historia

Eren and Historia have a connection to one another. No, I don’t think they are romantically connect, nor do I believe they are co-conspirators plotting to destroy the world together. However, the narrative is pushing the idea that Eren and HIstoria are somehow connected and continually pushing them next to each other. Eren kissing Historia’s ring is the trigger for his vision that commits him to the path of destroying the world. Eren uses Historia as a reason to accelerate his plan. Eren confides his plan solely in Historia. The reason this line is drawn between the two characters is that they are CHARACTER FOILS. Eren and Historia are two people who seem like opposites but they’re actually incredibly similiar to one another. Almost too similiar to ever et along. The extreme similarities between Eren and Historia, and their character foiling underneath the cut.

1. Historia’s Regression

So I’ve gotten countless asks on my opinion of Historia’s behavior in the final arc. My opinion is that we’re being shown the result of her regression to her pre-uprising arc self. Is this the best writing choice for Historia’s character? I do not know. There are two schools of literary analysis that boil down to “Is the writing good?” or “what is the author trying to say?” and I much prefer to stick to the latter. I think the text is attempting to portray Historia regressing on her character arc, and as a person to mirror Eren’s own regression.

Everybody is regressing in the final arc. Armin lets his poor self-esteem sabotage his decision making ability like he did in Trost. Mikasa is struggling to find a way to live without Eren and see herself as a person seperate from Eren because of her codependent nature, once again like Trost. Annie wants to pretend that this all has nothing to do with her, like in the female titan arc. Hange can’t make a decision without Erwin around and wants to leave it all up to him even though he’s literally dead. The characters in the final arc are written as still struggling with what we think they should have gotten over with in earlier arcs. Heck, Jean still beats up Reiner over what happened to Marco.

It’s not because after all this time the characters haven’t progressed in their character arcs at all. It’s because the story structure of Attack on Titan is chiastic. The beginning and the end are written to mirror each other.

Chiastic structure, or chiastic pattern, is a literary technique in narrative motifs and other textual passages. An example of chiastic structure would be two ideas, A and B, together with variants A' and B', being presented as A,B,B',A'.

Sometimes instead of character development being a straight journey from point A to point B, it’s instead more like a helicopter hovering around the point, continually circling it. The character has brief moments of revelation where you think they’ve had their big change only to regress later. Lemme use this example from Tokyo Ghoul to illustrate my idea.

A character seems to be progressing, and we believe they are, only to regress in the end. I think narratively there is a very strong reason for Isayama using this style of character development. Every single major character is either a child soldier right now just barely on the cusp of adulthood, or they like Levi were child soldiers at one point or another. The adults, few that they are, are all either cast as incapable of acting as strong decisive role models (Hange) or are killed off eventually (Erwin).

It’s like what Magath expresses in his final words, these children were never allowed to have a normal life because of him. If the narrative is about the evils of using child soldiers on both sides, both the Scouting Corps and Marleyans, then it would make sense that every single character is portrayed as either a child unable to grow up or an adult that has continually failed them.

What we are being shown is every major character with an arc struggling with being unable to truly grow past who they were as children. Even when given the oppurtunity to grow, they falter with it, because they are child soldiers stunted by their trauma and that’s not an easy thing to overcome. Rather than a straight line we’re shown a circular process. Gabi and Falco are the only characters being shown with fully straight line arcs, but they are also far simpler than the other characters because they are children, and not stunted adults acting like children. Armin is passive, day dreaming, indecisive like he was when he was a child. Mikasa is overly attached to Eren like she was when she was a child. Heck, even Connie’s major flawed decision this arc is wanting his mother to return. Whcih is a symbol of wanting to return to the safety of childhood that he was suddenly and abruptly cut off from.

Okay, that was a long tangent but I hope I have made my point on what I mean by regression. Eren and Historia are paralleled with each other because they more than anyone else, are regressing to their childhood selves. Where we see at least hints of progress with other characters (Armin, MIkasa, Jean) indication that they will eventually rise to the responsibility of adulthood we see only stagnation for these two characters. It’s because once again Eren and Historia are incredibly similiar as people. Heck, even the fact that they’re regressing the most is paralleled. The same chapter in which Eren declares he’s using the child Ymir’s power to destroy the world, we’re shown a flashback of Historia first and foremost.

Eren empathizes with little girl Ymir, and Historia was told as a child that she should learn to be like Ymir, always kind and always putting others first. They both see themselves in Ymir and it symbolizes why they are connected, because deep down they are both that powerless little child.

There are two big connections between Eren and Historia immediately. Number one is that the inciting incident of their trauma is the same. Yes, Historia grew up in a household where she was eteranlly bullied and belittled where Eren grew up fairly love and secured but they both suffer from the same traumatic incident.

A titan suddenly killed the person who was the symbol of unconditional love and security in their lives, for Eren it was his mother, and for Historia her older sister. In a situaiton where they were completely powerless, they watched a titan kill their security and destroy their home and are rendered homeless children after that point. They both join the titan corps as a way of survival. The reason that Eren is shown encouraging his father to pull the trigger and completely eliminate the Reiss family, is because narratively these two events are supposed to be connected. They’re narrative parallels. Eren suffered the loss of his mother which is the root of his trauma, and then has a hand in inflicting that same trauma on Historia.

They are two people connected by the nature of their worst trauma and what it did to them. Every time they try to progress as people, they instead regress because what happened then was so fundamanetally damaging it robbed them of the ability to be able to grow up. They will never feel like they have the security that children need in order to grow into adults.

Historia and Eren are mirror images even in their lives. Eren is an ordinary child given an ordinary childhood. Historia was marked as different from birth and raised as a special person. However, they ended up in relatively the same position. They both regress. The nature of Eren’s regression should be obvious because he’s trying to destroy the world. In essence Eren has remained the same character all throughout, his primary goal was to kill all the titans beyond the walls, it’s just his target that has changed.

So, let’s focus instead of how Historia has regressed. I will say before I begin though that Eren and Historia regress as opposites. Eren will always choose to be active, even if it means stealing agency from others. Historia will always choose to be passive, even if she has power over others. When they are pushed into a corner by circumstances they fall back on their worst habits and that’s why we see them regress. Externally, they have different mechanisms to handle it. Eren steals agency, Historia gives up agency. Internally, it’s practically for the same reason, because whatever security they have is continually ripped away from them leaving them unable to grow as people.

So what is Historia’s regression? Basically Historia, like Eren is lacking of a sense of self. Historia has no consistency deep down to show who she is. Even with most of the other characters as childish as they can be have this, Mikasa is overprotective and likes family, Armin is a dreamer who wants to explore the world, Annie is self centered and wants a peaceful life. Eren even comments about this in regards to himself when comparing himself to Eren. Eren centers himself around violence, war, and his hatred. Armin has something else besides fighting, in order to build himself around. Therefore, Eren considers himself lacking as a person in comparison to Armin. Who would Eren be if he wasn’t trying to destroy all the titans? That’s a difficult question to answer.

Historia is much the same way. Historia builds herself and her self of identity around the roles that other people ask her to play. The little girl Ymir is kind because she always did what others ask of her. Historia is always performing some role for the sake of everybody around her.

I wouldn’t say that Historia’s arc in Uprising ends on a triumphant note, but rather an ambiguous one. The arcs aren’t lines, they’re circular. Historia even questions herself if she’s moving for the sake of herself or others.

Here is how I see uprising. Your interpretation might differ. Historia steps out of the role of Krista. Historia, tries to be herself for a moment. At the end of the arc, rather than true liberation Historia chooses to step back into the role of queen. The only slight progress made is that she doesn’t entirely listen to Erwin’s orders. However, even her act of slaying a titan within the wall was a pre-planend action, a performance. It’s just one Historia altered slightly to give herself a more centered role.

If Historia is not someone moving to help others than who is she? We know she’s spunky, angry, etc. etc. but as a character she hasn’t really developed goals or wants and needs outside of that. We continually see her on the brink of that point, but never quite crossing the line.

Eren and Historia are at the center of their existence very performative people. The reason nobody quite understands Eren is that he’s always putting on an act around other people.

Eren and HIstoria even doubt the same things in chapter 68. That is to say, they doubt themselves. They doubt if they are really truly people who are capable of moving for themselves. Eren sees himself as someone who has nothing special about him, and therefore doesn’t matter. Deep down he’s always viewed himself as a weak and pathetic person. Historia doesn’t think she’s capable of making decisions for herself. It’s because they’ve been continually made to feel helpless all of their lives, that they doubt themselves to this degree.

Their response to this is to perform for everyody else around them. Eren si continually performing as this super strong, determined child ready to fight the whole world. Whereas, Historia is performing in the roles that other people give her. She is Krista Lenz. She is the queen Historia Reiss. She is, always, always, always, what other people need her to be. Whereas, Eren performs what he wants to be, which is powerful.

When Historia and Eren break down it is shown just how deeply similiar they are inside. They become what they continually are made to feel like, helpless children. Eren is constantly boasting about how he is going to kill all the titans, and yet deep down he’s always believed that he was all talk and that for him there was nothing behind those words.

It’s the same for Historia just in an opposite direction. Historia is constantly talking about helping people, but deep down she doesn’t see herself as a genuinely altruistic person. Not only does she see herself as helpless (therefore incapable of helping people because she can’t help herself) but she sees her motivations for helping people as selfish.

In the Uprising arc we even see this parallel. I mean I know many people interpret this as Historia’s big moment of independence, which is also a valid interpretation. I’m just giving you my interpretation. I also see this as Historia having a massive mental breakdown in the middle of a crisis moment. When they are pushed to their absolute limits and they can no longer pretend, Historia and Eren both break down and we see what they view themselves as. Eren sees himself as a crying and begging child insignificant, unpowerful, and helpless. Historia sees herself as a selfish child and a bad person. This is also something that reflects their upbringing. Historia was continually made to feel selfish due to being an abused bastard, for wanting even the most basic necessities a child needs like love and security. Eren had his security ripped away suddenly when his mother died and he was at the time, a helpless, crying child only able to watch.

When Eren breaks down he says the same thing always. Nothing has changed from back then. Nothing has changed from when I saw my mother died. When Historia breaks down she says she can’t live up to the expectations of other people around her.

Eren and Historia both see themselves as fundamentally unable to change from who they were as children, and that’s why we see them regressing to their most childlike selves here in this final arc.

2. What is the point of Uprising Arc, then?

I know I read uprising differently from most of the people on this site. However, I’m not saying that Historia didn’t grow in Uprising at all, or even that she doesn’t have a chance to grow. Honestly, I think Uprising does a good job at portraying the complexity of Historia’s character and why it’s really, really hard for her to grow in a straightforward manner. She’s not really the heroine of the story where she defeats the bad guy, and then overcomes her flaw in a dramatic fashion at the end of the arc.

Okay, so I’m going to try to address how Historia’s arc is still... you know, an arc, even though it doesn’t continue on in a straightforward fashion from Uprising. Uprising isn’t pointless because it shows us the great depth and complexity of HIstoria’s character, and also establishes why it is so hard for her to change. It’s not a straightforward arc, more of a dig into her psyche. Historia steps out of the role, Historia tries to be true self for a moment, Historia steps into another role at the end of the arc. It may seem pointless to read it this way, but I’m going to try to dig in from this point forward to show the complexity that this demonstrates.

So, like I said Historia is a character who lacks a sense of self. The reason that Eren perceives this of her so strongly that it’s what forges their friendship in this arc is because Eren is the same way.

Eren picks up on the fact that Historia was always striving to meet the expectations of everyone around her, because Eren is very much the same person. The kill all the titans thing is an act. Everyone around him believes it to such an extent that not a single person, even his closest childhood friends understood him enough until it was too late.

Eren also tells Historia he sees her as a normal girl, because it’s who Eren wants to be accepted as, but feels like he never can be. Before I go into uprising itself there’s the big inciting events for both of them that lead into where their characters are in the lead up to Uprising.

Eren and Historia both have a moment with their respective love interests in the prelude to this arc. Historia begs Ymir to come back with her so they can both live on as themselves. Mikasa tells Eren that he doesn’t need to be able to defeat titans, that what he did for her was showing her the small kindness of wrapping her scarf around him that day was enough for her.

It’s Mikasa and Historia who reach out, but Ymir and Eren both refuse that closeness. Eren chooses to fight, and Ymir chooses to sacrifice herself to Reiner and Bertolt.

I know a lot of people take issue with this writing choice, but sorry this post isn’t about the quality of the writing, just how it all comes together in the big picture. The point is, Historia and Eren are both offered what they have always wanted which is to live as themselves with a person who loves them for who they are only for it to get them taken away.

There’s also an interesting irony written in Ymir’s death. Historia has always idealized the path of a martyr. She always thought living a good, selfless, altruistic life is what would earn her the love of her sister.

Part of the problem is, the only source of love both Eren and Historia has was taken away so suddenly. Historia got the idea in her head, that all love was conditional and she had to act good in order to earn that love because love was never freely given to her. So Historia’s martyr act is a way to earn love. However, Ymir’s choice inflicts upon Historia the pain other people feel when she decides to martyr herself.

The path of the martyr isn’t a good one, it’s thorny, and wracked with pain. What Ymir does is a genuine act of altruism. She makes a choice out of sympathy for both Reiner and Bertolt who have suffered all their lives just like her, and also a belief her sacrifice will buy something for HIstoria in the bigger picture. It’s at least partially an altruistic decision, and Historia’s not happy about it at all, she’s downright bitter. Because, Historia isn’t the altruist deep down inside she pretends to be. Historia idealizes self sacrifice and selflessness, but when faced with the harsh reality and consequences of such behavior she realizes this is not what she wants.

Ymir’s death throws the narrative Historia has always held onto into question, because she’s now the victim of somebody else’s self sacrifice. By killing herself, Ymir has also deprived Historia of her place in the world. Which sends her into self doubt. This moment of reflection is once again where we see the real Historia.

Eren calls out the fact that Historia is actually very selfish. When she’s not performing goodness, most of her worries and actions are centered around herself. Everyone is out risking her lives, and Historia is kind of busy like “Who am I? Why won’t people love me for the real me?” These questions are selfish because they are focused and centered around the self. Historia is, egocentric in the way a child is, and the way that Eren is, because she doesn’t have a fully developed self.

Uprising is where we’re shown very clearly that rather than having a centralized sense of self, a goal to focus herself around, all of these things normal characters have Historia is someone who wildly swings between two.

Historia is indecisive on whether or not Krista or Historia constitutes the real her. There is the act that Historia portrays on the surface as someone who always worries about others, and then her history (Gosh, golly gee I wonder why her real name is Historia... obvious symbolism is obvious). The question for HIstoria is which one she should let efine her, is she defined by the trauma she accumulated by being born into this world, or the person she wants to be. Historia’s failure to reconcile herself between the two extremes is what results in her behavior, as swinging back and forth between both.

I don’t believe that the point of uprising is to show Historia finally reconciling these two, but rather to show her wildly swinging between the two. HIstoria is someone who wildly swings between great feats of selfishness and selflessness.

We are given several hints of Historia’s progress in this arc, but also several unhealthy signs of her back sliding. For exmaple there’s the scene where Levi infamously bullies Historia into calling herself the queen. One this scene fundamentally demosntrates what Historia’s problem is, she can’t make decisions or act for herself because she doesn’t really know what she wants.

And when Levi beats her up and pushes her, she decides to perform again. Now the question is if you see the final climactic scene of Uprising as her triumphantly overcoming this cycle or falling back into it. My interpretation is that it portrays the swinging between.

HIstoria, confronted with the feelings of insecurity she’s had since childhood unable to feel consistently loved or that she was even worthy of love is about to fall back on her mechanism of total and complete selflessness. Believing that her self sacrifice will at least mean she was a good person that meant something to the world, that her self sacrifice will earn her something. The reason that Eren yells I’M NOT NECESSARY is it’s because what their trauma made them feel like, and deep down what they’re afraid of hearing.

Historia first appears entirely passive and selfless, then she takes an active role and screams she’s the worst girl on earth and she’d rather let the whole world die than sacrifice one person. Her response isn’t to reconcile these two entirely divergent selves, but rather we’re being shown her flipping between them.

Historia declares one moment she doesn’t care about the rest of the world they can all die, and the next moment she says that if there’s a crying child she will always help. What we see is not a reconciliation so much but rather a flipping between, because it’s Historia’s tendency to swing back and forth between the two.

Here’s my defense of my point. Uprising ends on an ambiguous note. As I’ve said above uprising doesn’t end on Historia becoming her full realized self, but rather wondering if she’s become her full realized self.

Not only that but everything that seems like it was forward progress initially in uprising becomes undone later. Erwin is freed in Uprising, Erwin dies the next arc. Eren says he doesn’t need to become a special person to change the world, Eren is back on his bullshit by the time skip. The uprising puts the good guys in charge of the government and so now the government is no longer an obstacle to the path of saving humanity. The Jaegerists come take over in a second uprising, and the government becomes an obstacle once more. Even the decision they made to never feed Historia to a titan in order to sacrifice the world, is something the main characters go back on as they debate on whether or not to have her eat Zeke. Everything that seems like it’s forward progress becomes undone.

So why would Historia’s arc not become undone, too? This isn’t a question of quality of the writing. If you think this is a bad writing decisoin you’re completely valid I just am trying to remind you this isn’t the place to have that discussion. The deicsion to regress however, portrays the conflicts the characters are dealing with as cyclical ones. My argument is that as a whole Attack on Titan is being written as a cyclical story where characters circle.

Eren and Historia are just the two biggest contenders of this regression. Which is why we see them conspiring together in this the final arc. (Yes there is a problem with Historia being mainly offscreened) however narratively the decisions we are shown Historia making in this arc are all passive ones. Also ones meant to pacify the people around her.

Eren will always choose to be the activest character he possibly can, and to take agency even if it means stealing it from others. Historia will always choose to be passive, and will give up agency even if it means people steal things away from her.

We are kept mostly out of Historia’s head. We are also kept mostly out of Eren’s head. What we are being shown recently though is a continuation of what we witnessed in uprising. Uprising ended with the question of if Historia is Krista Lenz, or Historia Reiss unresolved.

This scene is Eren browbeating Historia into submission so she’ll go along with this plan. However, for HIstoria it’s also a confrontation with both sides of herself that she has shown to other people. Eren is basically telling HIstoria there are two wildly different hers, there is the Historia who would sacrifice herself, and the Historia who would say fuck the entire world she’s not sacrificing herself even if it makes herself the enemy of humanity.

My argument is that the story has gone to great length to portray that to some extent, both of these HIstorias are real. Historia is someone who swings between wild feats of selfness and selfishness. Historia can say both of these things and mean them, that she wants to sacrifice herself for the sake of the world, fuck the world she wants to be herself.

The same way Eren can imprison his friends, tell Mikasa she’s a slave, tell Armin he’s useless and that he’s despised both of them always, and also believes that he’s doing all of this for the love of his friends. Eren can say both and mean both, because he also does this inconsistent swinging back and forth.

The foiling between the two of them shows how utterly broken Eren and Historia are as people due to the neglect they faced as children. It’s not actually a question of whether they are good or bad people. (Though Eren, is a jerk). It’s to show how unhealthy these mechanisms are. They mechanisms they rely on to survive, do not allow them to grow or develop all the way as people so they remain stunted. Historia is still in an incredibly unhealthy and precarious position in regards to her identity. Eren’s mechanism is to take agency, Historia’s is to give it up, the result however is the same between the both of them.

We see Historia make a choice. In all fairness we don’t know what that choice is. However, we also know what she didn’t choose. She knew what Eren was going to run off and do, and what he was planning, and she didn’t stop him.

Another important part of the final arc is showing how everybody else’s decisions also led to Eren doing what he did. Armin’s choice to never confront Eren’s real self turned him into Eren’s enabler. Mikasa’s inability to try to live without Eren, made her completely unable to see this coming. The scout corps in general was unable to stop Eren, because they didn’t understand him. Historia also made a choice to enable the situation to happen in some way, because she didn’t choose to just... tell somebody else what Eren was planning, or stop it.

While yes, she may be trying to stop it all on her own. It’s still a choice she made that’s frighteningly similiar to the choices Eren has been making all along. That is the choice not to trust people, the choice not to openly communicate what she inteded, the choice to instead go off on her own and try to solve everything by herself.

That’s also the choice she always makes when backed up against a wall, and therefore it’s a sign of regression. I don’t think Historia is conspiring with Eren or even agrees with him. However, I do think she has made a similiar choice as Eren which is to try and attempt to solve everything on her own without trusting the others which is why we’re seeing her get so much foiling with Eren in this the final arc.

Historia will overcome this regression when rather than swinging between Historia Reiss, and Krista Lenz, that she is both, and always has been both. You are who you are deep down inside. You are also who you pretend to be. The choice to show Historia’s wavering between makes her arc longer, difficult, more frustrating, but it also shows how hard it is for Historia.

It shows the struggle of someone like Historia with lifelong trauma. How hard it is for her, not to be a queen, or a good girl. How fundamentally, it’s difficult for her to even juts be a normal person. And how in the end that’s what she is fighting for, to rediscover herself as a normal girl once more after being denied that by the environment around her her entire life. Historia too, can be a normal girl in the face of all that trauma.

#historia reiss #eren jaeger #aot meta #attack on titan #attack on titan meta #attack on titan theory #eren meta

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