"Don't you give in to some lame Titan's body!"

*thinking noises*

[yeagercat]

Other things the walled Eldians probably eat besides bread because I feel like the anime staff didn’t do any kind of research or actually think about the snk universe beyond it’s plot… but I find it soooo incredibly fun to think about~ So here we go, and explanations for my reasoning are below the list.

Poor folk:

beans

potatoes

eggs

cheese

milk

carrots

wheat

whatever kind of tea one could brew from the local flora or cheap tea leaves from the market

poultry (especially if they hunt)

rabbit, swine, venison, etc etc, but they would probably have to hunt this themselves, since buying it fresh would be pretty pricey.

fish, if you can find it from a nearby body of water or afford to buy it from the market, (it’d go bad pretty darn quickly though).

honey? (if you can find it and dare to risk fighting bees for it lol otherwise you’d probably have to be wealthy to get it)

apples, maybe. Probably the most common fruit one could obtain but moreso in the inner walls.

beer and other spirits. you can brew and ferment anything, no matter what class you are, humanity finds a way lol

(Those would especially apply to less popular and urban residences like Shiganshina^ but hunting/fishing probably less so since it’s such a small, enclosed, urbanized district. Fowl would probably be the best they could hunt if they could hunt at all)

Rich folk:

wine. This is probably a big treat for walled people.

various native fruits (if you can get it to grow, and you’re probably well-off if you could obtain it, this is probably a delicacy of a dessert)

sweets, ie: cakes, candies, cookies, pies, custards, whipped cream, pastries, etc etc etc. (Sugar is a rarity).

Fresh meat of whatever animal you like that is native to the land.

Savory and salty foods. (Salt is a rarity. and if you have it, you can brine foods and keep your meats longer too. A privileged wall Eldian really does have a pretty sweet little deal going for them in this “time of peace” lmao)

It’s plausible the walls have onions, depending on how the snk world developed vs our own in real life, but I can’t help thinking you’d have to be wealthy to get them if they exist.

chocolate in any form is also a plausible treat, depending again on how the snk world developed, but it’d definitely be one for the privileged.

If we take the leap of faith and make the assumption from the evidence we’re given that where the walls are is more or less late 1800′s Germany, with citizens of mixed heritages in neighboring countries like Norway, France, etc etc, basically general Europe, and maybe we can even be generous enough to say it probably includes Eastern Europe based on some of the facial traits and names we see among the citizens; that gives us a pretty healthy set of ideas to go from in projecting their culture, diet, habits, and lifestyles. But we must also consider that the walls have been isolating these people for 100 years, kept them in serious poverty with a huge divide in privileges, limited their lands beyond cultivation in some cases, and also has suppressed them from technological development. This means they’re actually quite limited in their dietary/sustenance options, (probably even medicinal options). Exotic things like ginger, lemons, rice, various spices, or anything from the east and further west would not be available, or if they are, it’d be extremely rare and valuable and only something the rich would be able to obtain. You can see why Armin and Eren think it’s a shitty place to live and want to get out and explore the world unlimited.

So no offense but I laughed when Annie ordered a freaking Limeade at the bar in Lost Girls, which 1. I doubt exists there, and 2. she likely wouldn’t be able to afford even as an MP recruit if it did. I lost it when Armin, Eren, and Mikasa were apparently just shopping for 15 kinds of bread to feed their whole families as kids in season 2, as if there were nothing else to eat in the west, as if Mikasa and Eren, the famous Doctor’s kids, were only given allowance to buy bread vs literally anything else useful for dinner, (I can see them having meat semi-regularly). And Jean’s mother bringing him all those apples in the second OVA was a really sweet sentiment, but it also makes me think Jean and his mother are a relatively privileged household with money since she had so many and Jean threw em like they were nothing to him. Sasha’s reactions to food are completely understandable and her thrill over meat is fairly sensible to me, considering that even a clan like hers that prides itself on their excellent hunting was struggling to even survive after the walls fell and they lost their wild lands. And I have to wonder if Mikasa’s father was particularly skilled at it, (he is an Ackerman after all), since it’s possible meat was even hard to come by before the walls fell.

Anyway, that’s my personal food for thought on the Paradisian diet (pun intended).

[meganearu]

Couple of fun things to note about Sasha's 3D gear upgrade! First is that her gear remains at her lower back like the old gear rather than her upper back like Connie's and the others'. It would seem that this is because she is using a sniper rifle rather than the hand held guns that the SC has borrowed from the royal MP's old gear. Her new 3D gear is also missing the chest brace that connects to the upgraded gear since, again, her gear is on her lower back vs the upper. She seems to lack a breast plate in this shot but it appears and disappears throughout her appearance in the chapter so I guess we'll have to wait for a real full view of her to know for sure whether or not she has one.

[survey-corps-potato-deactivated]

The SC started a fire on many roofs in the Liberio District:

That was the job of Floch and some other members. Civilians from those buildings should have evacuated by now, though even if there were any civilians remaining, they should have more than enough time to escape, since the fire started on the roof. Though, Floch was being typical Floch and was burning entire buildings…

This plan that the SC is using gave me some Armin vibes. Because, in ch64, it was Armin’s idea to use barrels full of oil that burn fast and create a lot of smoke, in order to create a smoke-screen so they could hide in it:

It appears to me that the SC plans to create a huge cloud of smoke above the Liberio district, and the only reason I could think of why they would do such a thing, is if they plan to escape through the air, using a zeppelin.

Magath said to seal off the internment zone, so that not a single SC member could escape. That is a logical move, and it must be something that the SC anticipated. So the only way for them to escape would be through the air. By creating a cloud of smoke above the district, the zeppelin could potentially land, pick up the crew, and escape unnoticeable. Or at least, by the time it is noticed, it would already be to late to make any counter measures.

The lights that Connie and other placed may be there to guide the zeppelin where to land, because they won’t be able to see much from above, once the cloud of smoke expands.

[meganearu]

A deleted yumihisu (yumikuri) scene from Graduation night, found in The Attack on Titan Guidebook~

Historia knows that Ymir did this to protect her and she’s rather annoyed about it, since Ymir is betraying her selfishness by sending her to the mp.

[meganearu]

SNK OST Analysis: “Call of Silence”

So I listen to the snk soundtrack a LOT, it's my work soundtrack and it always helps me focus while also pumping me and inspiring me, whether I'm doing physical work, physical exercise, homework, drawing, writing, whatever! And as such, I've noticed a ton of patterns in the music and thought they'd be fun to dive into and study formally~ So what better way to begin than with one of the most celebrated tracks on the new soundtrack: Call of Silence (aka, The Official Ballad of YumiHisu~)

"Call of Silence" is a song from the season 2 soundtrack, which is actually the third official soundtrack released for the anime. It is a remix of the previous tracks "eye-water" (from season 1's first ost) and "進撃gt20130218巨人" (from season 1's second ost) with added lyrics and vocals performed once again by Gemi (vocalist for “Vogel im Käfig” and “YouSeeBIGGIRL/T:T”. Furthermore, the melody of the song (and its related tracks) derive from the song "Call Your Name", the previous main ballad for snk's anime. "Call of Silence" is played during Ymir's awakening montage in Season 2 episode 10, "Children", and has been a beloved track of yumihisu fans ever since~

The lyrics are a little off beat (as are its father song, "Call Your Name"’s, lyrics) given that it's a foreign song with English lyrics, but they're hauntingly beautiful and echo a deep meaning nonetheless. Let's analyze them stanza by stanza, beginning with the title.

"Call of Silence" may be related to its father song's title, "Call Your Name". “Call Your Name” is a song featuring a speaker crying out for how much they miss their lover, while “Call of Silence” is virtually the opposite. “Call Your Name”'s speaker is calling out to a voice that does not answer, while “Call of Silence's” speaker seems to imply a disheartenment that no one is calling them, only silence. “Call Your Name” also features a male singer, while “Call of Silence” features a female singer, and likely highlights the tragedy of a caring man (Eren or Armin) versus the tragedy of an egocentric woman (Ymir or Historia), respectively, in a story meant to subvert various gendered tropes that so often plague anime and manga. Hiroyuki Sawano seems to understand the manga a little better than some of the anime staff if you ask me lol. This song also features a very lovely violin underscoring the melody, violins often coming with romantic connotations for us to apply to the song as we listen. However, since the title of the song implies that this is a call from silence, we might also be meant to interpret the song as one learning to love themselves since no one else will. I’m personally going to interpret the lyrics as Ymir/Historia “singing” about one another though, since they find the solace that this song sings about in one another.

And now the lyrical analysis:

The first stanza reads:

Don't you think of me enough? I've been burning my heart out I've got to face, need to tell you I won't run because I'm reticent

"Don't you think of me enough? I've been burning my heart out" implies the singer is longing for someone to consider them when they give and give so much of themselves. This fits the themes of both Ymir and Historia, two girls whom have lived their whole lives giving and giving to people and receiving so little in return other than tragedy in the form of murderous, greedy people.

"I've got to face, need to tell you, I won't run because I'm reticent" implies the singer is shamefully trying to confess to someone that they're about to let them down, or let themselves down, by not running away from their "responsibility". They're about to cave into their urge to give themselves up for someone else yet again. They are reticent, meaning they will not reveal their feelings readily, which I'm going to assume means the singer cannot seem to act on their own feelings and needs, because the urge to give and help others is overpowering them. Ymir is indeed about to give herself up to the world in both the flashback and current events transpiring in the episode this song appears in, but the lyrics also apply to Historia who may also feel a certain shame in the future for becoming the queen of the walls and taking responsibility for people rather than running away when she had the chance. (I love these heroic and selfish women so much<3 I hope everyone treasures them like I do :'3)

The second stanza reads:

You will know you're reborn tonight Must be ragged, but I stay by your side Even if my body's bleached to the bones I don't want to go through that ever again

This stanza seemingly refers to Ymir and Historia's second chances at life after killing themselves for the world. "Must be ragged, but I stay by your side" refers to their loyalty to one another (or themselves) through the hardships of the lifestyles they both have lived, and the promise to help and support each other against their inner demons of martyring, which they continue to struggle with every day. (God, I love snk so much for being so unabashedly anti suicide and pro self care. Especially using lesbian women as the symbols of it because women especially struggle with martyring and it's such a feminist blessing to have these 2 wonderful characters).

The final stanza reads:

So cry no more, oh my beloved Go ahead, be proud and fight it out You are the ONE, our rising star You guide us far to home yet girt

This stanza features the singer comforting their sad lover and praising their self worth. She tells her to be proud, and that it's okay to be proud, and furthermore tells her to keep fighting, (yes it's okay to struggle). She then tells her she's the ONE, our rising star. 

She is their hero and she not only guides them far to home, but girts as well. Girt means to enclose and encircle around something. In other words, she not only guides them to home, but provides one in the mean time. The singer loves her lover deeply and wants to make sure she knows her own self worth to be absolutely certain.

At least, that’s my interpretation~

[meganearu]

What happens if a male Eldian consumes the Female Titan?

What will his Titan look like? Will his Titan have boobs too? I assume the powers wouldn’t change, and that the power still transfers regardless of gender, but then does the Titan still have boobs?

This is a goofy question I wanted genuine answers to haha, but after a moment of thought, I think I have my own answer. And that answer is: The Female Titan would indeed look the same. 

Consider the other Titans and how masculine most of them look. 

This is even made a point within the story, in Chapter 4, as we see the teacher in the 104th’s class discussing the common traits of Titans, including the fact that most of them are “masculine” in appearance and lack reproductive organs (though, really, they just look androgynous if you ask me because they have no gender or sex). However, we also know that despite this “masculine” (androgynous) appearance, many Titans are actually originally female.

Thus we generally conclude: gender makes no difference to the Titan form you take on.

But what do we make of the shifter Titans? One of which is gender-specific? Well, here’s what I make of it: Consider that the Cart Titan maintains his masculine form, despite its host being female, and despite Isayama even considering making the host male.

Though we can probably guess that this Titan’s gender is male, this is not altered in any way by its host being a female shifter. A similar sort of idea is hinted at in Isayama’s fake preview where Mikasa’s Titan has a masculine form, with no feminine features whatsoever. Other examples include Ymir’s Titan having no feminine features whatsoever despite having a female host.

So if your Titan’s “gender” is specifically male, like Cart Titan’s seems to be, this will likely be retained when you transform. Thus, we can probably assume the reverse is also true. If a masculine man consumed a female-specific Titan, his Titan form would still be of the female gender.

I remember Isayama saying in the past that unlike most mangaka, he does not care about gender and thus he likely treats it in a liberal, indifferent way. This makes for an extra cool universe that is still yet unlike any other.~

More Notes: In the fake preview I mentioned above, you will also notice that Christa’s Titan has feminine features (boobs), similar to Frieda’s Titan form, likely because the Christa identity is gender-specific, and thus her Titan personification would be too. 

[meganearu]

Further discussion (a tangent about Founding Titan):

You may note that the founding Titan has feminine features (boobs) when it’s being hosted by Frieda. And we should note that the founding Titan originally belonged to the goddess Ymir, whom possessed feminine features.

This made me think that the founding Titan was specifically female and thus all the forms it takes would have feminine features, however we see that a masculine host does indeed arguably affect this (Left: Uri’s Titan; Right: King Fritz’s Titan):

And furthermore, Eren currently holds the founding Titan, yet his Titan form is masculine. 

But it’s possible that the founding Titan is not gender specific, and if the host is resisting Ymir anyway, as the Reiss family had been doing, there’s no telling what form or power it could take on. Best example of this: Eren, whose Titan takes far more, if not only, after the Attack Titan rather than the Founding Titan.  There is one definitively female Titan, however, and that is the Female Titan, the topic of this discussion to begin with lol.

And we’ve only seen one host for this Titan, and that’s Annie, a 16 year old girl. But since this Titan is specifically female, as stated above^ I’m going to have to assume all hosts of this Titan will maintain a female Titan form. So even if Eren had consumed the Female Titan power alone, his Titan form would have had boobs.

[meganearu]

What happens if a male Eldian consumes the Female Titan?

What will his Titan look like? Will his Titan have boobs too? I assume the powers wouldn’t change, and that the power still transfers regardless of gender, but then does the Titan still have boobs?

This is a goofy question I wanted genuine answers to haha, but after a moment of thought, I think I have my own answer. And that answer is: The Female Titan would indeed look the same. 

Consider the other Titans and how masculine most of them look. 

This is even made a point within the story, in Chapter 4, as we see the teacher in the 104th’s class discussing the common traits of Titans, including the fact that most of them are “masculine” in appearance and lack reproductive organs (though, really, they just look androgynous if you ask me because they have no gender or sex). However, we also know that despite this “masculine” (androgynous) appearance, many Titans are actually originally female.

Thus we generally conclude: gender makes no difference to the Titan form you take on.

But what do we make of the shifter Titans? One of which is gender-specific? Well, here’s what I make of it: Consider that the Cart Titan maintains his masculine form, despite its host being female, and despite Isayama even considering making the host male.

Though we can probably guess that this Titan’s gender is male, this is not altered in any way by its host being a female shifter. A similar sort of idea is hinted at in Isayama’s fake preview where Mikasa’s Titan has a masculine form, with no feminine features whatsoever. Other examples include Ymir’s Titan having no feminine features whatsoever despite having a female host.

So if your Titan’s “gender” is specifically male, like Cart Titan’s seems to be, this will likely be retained when you transform. Thus, we can probably assume the reverse is also true. If a masculine man consumed a female-specific Titan, his Titan form would still be of the female gender.

I remember Isayama saying in the past that unlike most mangaka, he does not care about gender and thus he likely treats it in a liberal, indifferent way. This makes for an extra cool universe that is still yet unlike any other.~

More Notes: In the fake preview I mentioned above, you will also notice that Christa’s Titan has feminine features (boobs), similar to Frieda’s Titan form, likely because the Christa identity is gender-specific, and thus her Titan personification would be too. 

[meganearu]

A thought:

Eren most likely joined the army because Armin was joining it.

Please note that in the manga, Armin joining the army was his own original thought based on his own feelings and situation forming a hatred for the government and he did not do it because of Eren.

Now, consider that Eren was adamantly going to join the army before the walls fell, (because of Armin), but what about after the walls fell? In the anime, he seems dead set on doing this anyway, but in the manga, it seems to be a question. The angry peasant suggests the idea to them while they tend the fields, but Eren does not give a response or confirmation like we might expect of him since he was so set on joining the army at the very beginning.

More realistically? I think he’d unspokenly abandoned this idea. I think he now has a family to take care of, (in the form of his sister, Mikasa, and his best friend/potential-romantic-interest, Armin). Mikasa made her feelings about joining the army clear when they were 9, even before the walls fell, while Armin seemed to not be intent on enlisting himself, probably believing he’d be more of a burden than any sort of help. I can only assume from this that before the walls fell, 9-year-old Eren most likely believed he would join the army, slay the Titans, bring honor to the dead soldiers of old, and win mankind’s freedom, including Armin’s. Nevertheless, the walls fell, and plans had to change. A 9-year-old’s view of the world and his own abilities would change significantly after this, and in Eren’s case, he know longer gets to believe in his strength without cause. But along with that, more than anything else, Eren has a family to take care of. And he needs to ensure that these 2 people that he loves, especially Armin whom is weak, suicidally stubborn, and brimming with an inferiority complex, (all of which makes him very similar to Eren in the worst ways), and may have a very hard time surviving on his own. So Eren has probably long since abandoned the idea... but lo and behold,

Armin joined the army. And Eren’s not about to let him do that alone. And neither is Mikasa.

But... maybe that isn’t such a bad thing, he might say. After all, it’ll give Armin and Mikasa a chance at a good life and good paying work, and will definitely keep them off the streets and out of the landfills... and as we see when Eren speaks with the trainees about his experience, he begins to find his drive again. The glory and attention he’s getting for his stories of encountering the Titans in Shiganshina feels great, and the memory of his mom being eaten, sparks his desire for revenge again, a passion he believes will burn and drive him to slaughter all the Titans. And then,

maybe Eren can even dream of going outside again. Wow, this feels great... But then what about Armin? Unlike Mikasa, whom already made it clear she had no intention of joining the Scouting Legion, and can take care of herself without his worry, Armin struggles so hard with his training. And it scares Eren to think Armin might join the scouting legion, no matter how much courage, strength, and potential he knows Armin has (see ch83-84). Well, maybe it’s best to keep that dream to himself then, because reminding Armin of that may inspire him to enlist in the Scouting Legion... but for whatever reason, Eren conscientiously brings it up again at last on graduation night.

And just as Eren feared,

Armin does indeed deny potential opportunities for himself in favor of the Scouting Legion...

But well, scary as that may be, Armin is here, and Eren has no intentions of leaving his side. 

And it was a good thing too, cuz just like Eren knew all along, 

Armin has been one of the greatest weapons the walled army has ever had. And through him, Eren was even able to save wall Rose from being breached in Trost.

The army was able to uncover the Warrior spies, defeat the Colossal Titan, take back Wall Maria... and Armin even restored Eren’s own courage.

Armin is absolutely Eren’s drive and the reason for his entire story. I hope we can all remember that...

[meganearu]

Zeke as an Armin Parallel

One of the big ambiguities in SNK that we’ve still yet to explore in the manga is Armin’s parents. But we can make some decent guesses about them with what little we do know about Armin, and about them, especially thanks to the anime. And I’ve noticed a few similarities, things to compare and contrast between him and Zeke based on my own personal theory on the matter of the Arlert parents, which you can read here, and I’ll be using that as the base for this analysis. However, since some points in this analysis are based on my own personal theories, you should said parts of this discussion with a grain of salt.~

Major things to note:

Both Zeke and Armin are extremely intelligent and have incredible strategic abilities, all deeply valued and praised by their armies.

Both Zeke and Armin were orphaned.

Both Zeke and Armin were raised by their grandparent(s).

Both are Titan shifters.

Both are blond.

Both sets of parents were sentenced to death by their respective governments.

They each rebel against their upbringing in their own way.

Both willingly joined the army.

Both will give anything to protect their loved ones.

(Assuming my theory about Armin is correct, both had bad parents).

Zeke wears glasses like his father, while Armin does not.

Zeke sells out to the Marley government, while Armin seeks stands up to the walled world’s government.

Armin has Eren and Mikasa as his companions.

Zeke also compares to Historia for having shitty parents who didn’t seem to care about him or his needs/views, finding love and care in the arms of another family member (his grandparents in Zeke’s case, and in Historia’s case, her sister Frieda).

More interesting things to note, and my personal analysis of the Zeke/Armin parallel:

Eldians are believed to be inherently evil and are constantly told they are so by the Marley, and each other. Zeke was raised in this world, and his parents inadvertently “proved” to him that Eldians were indeed evil by mistake. Zeke thus sold out to Marley and cast aside his humanity to turn in his own parents, whom he feels did not love him. Armin was constantly bullied as an “inferior” person just for being himself and was later beaten and called a heretic for believing mankind should go outside. But, despite the internalized struggle against it, he did not succumb to that rationale, because he had Eren (and Mikasa) to validate and value him, and his dream. He remains overall righteous today, and works hard not to stray from righteousness in the war because of this difference. Now both characters are rational, and can easily spot holes in things that aren’t right, (Zeke calling out Armin’s lie about Annie being tortured is a great example), but here is where Armin and Zeke differ: Armin had Eren (and Mikasa), while Zeke had Grisha (and Dinah).

Armin had Eren to validate him as good, valuable, and wise, and to validate his dreams of going outside. Grisha validates Zeke as inherently good and valuable, but forces his views on him and frightens him with his imposing dream of overthrowing Marley by using him to do so. Zeke’s potential rationale that Eldians may actually not be inherently evil, could not have come to pass, because Grisha and Dinah proved the notion to him by mistake, and in-come his symbolic corrective-lenses to affirm this. Armin might have agreed with the world around him that told him he was worthless and heretical, and maybe might’ve needed his own symbolic corrective lenses to fix his outlook, the way Zeke, Grisha, and Hange all require after their endless dabbling in grey morals and ethics, but Armin had Eren. Armin had someone to validate him and dream with him, but as far as we know, Zeke just had Marley and his fellow Eldian’s with their internalized racism; and Marley has toxic views which, unfortunately for our blind bearded friend, he views as righteous... and thus remains a lost victim of the world because of it. (Worth noting that in Modern American High School, Armin wears glasses as well, and did not grow up with Eren as his childhood friend, so he likely has been cursed with an irrational inferiority complex clouding his vision for now too).

[meganearu]

*Slump* There's a specific recurring motif of those who loved someone slumping to the ground instantly when they find out that person is dead... And it's quite interesting that Eren and Armin do it as instantly as the ex commander did for the woman he was in love with. Additional note: Mikasa slumps when she finds out Eren has died in Trost (shown above), but she doesn't do this instantly, she tries to keep fighting until she cannot find the power to drown out her pain over it anymore. It is a testament to her strength that she did not do it instantly. But it is also a testament to the love between Eren and Armin that they did crumble so instantly the second they see this has happened to one another.

[meganearu]

Just wanted to point out that while Eren holds his right hand in relation to the Titans’ power, (for whatever reason), even unconsciously like he has no choice in this matter anymore, he reaches out for Armin with his left hand, meaning his love for Armin is not of any relevance to the Titan powers, or previous owners, or any influence in relation to that.

There’s no reason to think it has anything to do with a set order from a higher Titan power, or something else implied by Eren Kruger mentioning Armin and Mikasa needing protection before they were even born, or any set of Titan memories.

Eren reached for Armin solely because he wanted to be with him and Isayama drew him using his left, completely human hand to prove that fact.

[meganearu]

So while I was searching up some old fan art of Eren and Armin on Pixiv, I noticed that in the oldest posts, the artists gave Armin brown/“gold” eyes, the same shade as they are in the manga now.

And that was interesting to me because I was always under the impression that Armin always had blue eyes in the manga up until recently for Shiganshina Arc wherein they suddenly become brown, which I theorized was to separate him from his radically different anime counterpart, (in the same way Eren’s grey eyes and black hair separate him from his own anime counterpart, or Mikasa’s black scarf among other things separates her from hers; meanwhile, Armin had no real visual distinction from his anime counterpart before).

Being curious, I decided to look up some of the oldest colored images of Armin I could, because I realized the ones I’d seen over and over from chapter 1 where he had blue eyes, were released with a volume that probably came out after the anime which may have influenced his design! So I knew I’d have to look up the Bessatsu covers with him for the truth on the matter, and unfortunately, Armin only appears on one cover before the anime went into production: the September 2011 issue, as seen in the first image (full size view here). In this cover (as shown above in the left side of the first image), he has a neutral brownish color for his eyes, according to my color picker, which look brown to the naked eye, especially compared to Eren’s which are grey. The next cover he appears in is the September 2013 issue (full size view here), which was released after the anime began production and its airing season; on this cover, he has blue eyes.

So while Armin's eyes are definitely brown now, as seen above in the image from the recent cover that ran in May 2016 when the second season began airing, and the colored version of the book scene in the special edition volume that was recently released, (image via the wonderful @survey-corps-potato),

it seems possible that his eyes were actually intended to be this brown color from the very start, back in 2010, and lasted until likely sometime in early 2013 or before, when the anime went into production and Araki consulted with Isayama heavily on Armin's character and development. I always (personally) thought it felt strange for Isayama to give Armin blue eyes when he's intended to complement Eren in most every way, because blue and grey eyes are pretty similar, realistically speaking, and not complementary, whereas brown eyes, (or “gold”, if you will), rather work as a direct complement to grey, (or “silver”), and it also seemed strange to me because Armin was intended as the ordinary and most relatable, human character, thus having classically idyllic, valued features like blue eyes seems almost like it's working against that notion. Looking at this possibility though, it turns out this may not have been the original intent for Armin’s design at all. It seems Isayama decided to reclaim his design for him come Shiganshina arc however, (shown above with this cover for May 2016), where the proper emotional intent could only come from his original Armin, with his love and tragic-hero character, vs anime!Armin whom contrasts with him significantly as a character, (especially since Araki has a rather morally grey, “dictator” sort of desire for him). This brown eyed design will also likely remain to serve at least as a continuous reminder that this Armin is not the same as the one in the anime.

Just some thoughts, take with it what you will, I could be 100% wrong, but I thought it was worth sharing.^^’

Armin’s blue eyes change to brown seemingly in Bessatsu’s cover for May 2016, pictured above. On the volume covers, they are blue for the last time for Volume 17, and then seemingly switch to brown by Volume 18 (shown below, respectively).

[meganearu]

There was a lot of talk about what Mikasa’s paralleling Eren from behind the vending machine in Modern American High School AU meant, but Isayama told us long ago with the Titan above (from chapter 47).^

A Japanese speaking friend of mine said the word Ymir uses from that panel to describe the Titan is actually “sensai” which literally translates to “delicate”, (and this is also used by Pixis to describe officer Kitz Weilman during Armin’s speech in Trost, comparing him to a fawn). Other scanlations of this term used “cowardly” or “weak”, but “sensai” seems to be a psychological word, denoting a delicate mind. 

So what this means is that Eren and Mikasa haven’t had their “awakening” yet, so to speak. They’re both still “delicate fawns”, who’ve yet to find their power, path, or courage to advance yet. At this point, Eren is probably still the boy who mindlessly fights with the other kids in town, while American!Mikasa is still the naive, traditional girl who feels no real sense of direction yet (which we can probably conclude anyway with her goth aesthetic that doesn’t suit her more traditional feminine, “pink” taste we see her sport in her casual fashion in main!verse). And these things change because... well it depends on who you ask since we don’t know for sure yet haha, but in my opinion, Eren awakens after meeting Armin, and finding his sense of direction through his wisdom, followed maybe by affirmation when he rescues Mikasa (and gives his scarf to her), and American!Mikasa must awaken some time after meeting Eren (at a point that we haven’t seen yet).

EDIT:

I’d completely forgotten that Sasha did this too in her flashback during Chapter 36 (thank you at @lenok993​ for pointing this out in the tags^^’)

And this only further confirms that this motif is intended to represent immaturity, lack of direction, cowardice, or more specifically, delicateness, since we see a cowardly girl with selfish, directionless pride, in this flashback followed by the heroic soldier she grew up to be following the rest of the chapter.

[meganearu]

A theory that could potentially mean Ymir is alive:

[meganearu]

@bigurl22 said:

I think it is quite likely that Ymir gave up a ton of her spinal fluid to the Marley and is held prisoner or is forced to defend the Marley as its soldier during the war. There have been 0 indications of Ymir’s physical strength as a human and she’s already smart enough to be put into the same category as Armin.

I think that Ymir would be essential to Marley for a few reasons like, being a bargain/leverage against the Paradis soldiers assuming they know their queen is basically Ymir’s gf. Another would be her skills, think about it, we know nothing about Ymir. And I’m talking about family wise and her ancestry. What if she’s born from an Eldian mum and an Ackerman dad like Mikasa? Since Reiner’s dad is a Marleyan and his mum is Eldian but we know that he can transform into a titan, I think it’s safe to assume that the Eldian gene is dominant and therefore it’s possible for Ymir to be an Ackerman and at the same time be able to transform into a titan, I mean we saw her agility and strength as a titan although her disadvantage was that she was tiny.

Or what if, Ymir’s parents or one of them is from the East sea clan?

And another reason that I think would be make sense for Ymir’s survival is the fact that she has close relations with Marley’s enemy’s queen. Ymir knows her from head to toe, her strengths and weaknesses, and she knows much about the survey corps.

Idk, I’m just grasping at straws here. I want her to be alive.

Those are great theories too! I particularly agree that she was a valuable asset and that throwing her away was a really rash decision. She knows the queen! And if Reiner is that loyal to Marley, I feel like he should’ve told them that regardless of what Ymir said. And either way, grasping at straws in this case is just trying to be logical about a shocking twist that made not-too-much sense, so I hope you keep musing on this matter!^^

[meganearu]

A theory that could potentially mean Ymir is alive:

 Remember this? This is when Reiner lost his head. It was blown off completely.

But Reiner survived by using what Bertholdt refers to as a last ditch effort that Titan shifters resort to when worse comes to worst: he transferred his consciousness elsewhere in his body until it could heal. I don’t know where his consciousness went, but this kept him safe until his body could regenerate. It blew up his brain itself. That is enough to kill a person, and I don’t know if losing the nape is required to lose the shifter power altogether, or if the spine and its fluid itself is required, but since the entire brain itself is gone, I’m going to say your consciousness itself is what matters and it can shifted elsewhere, regardless of your nape, rendering your brain mere tissue to be regenerated later.

Now let’s talk about the original Ymir, the goddess, the goddess we are explicitly told split her soul into 9 great Titans, (as stated in the manga and in actual Norse mythology regarding the real Ymir). I don’t know how she did that in this canon, but it stands to reason that it could definitely be done. And here’s how I think she did it: I believe the way to split one’s “soul”, is to split one’s spinal fluid. It’s pretty heavily implied in the snk world that what we consider a soul, one’s consciousness beyond their physical body, is actually one’s spinal fluid, which in this universe’s mythos, can be collected by shifters receiving a shifter power. So a soul is actually quite tangible in this world as it is just a fluid, and a fluid can be split into as many portions as is desired. If 9 different people drink a portion of her spinal fluid, that fluid, or soul, has been split 9 ways, and each consumer receives a shifting ability. Is there any reason to suppose a human shifter cannot do this as opposed to a goddess? We have no reason to think so yet, so let’s say they can.

And now my theory itself: I think our Ymir could have transferred her consciousness to another part of her body, let’s say the tail end of her spine, and if Porco left that portion of her spine alone when he bit her, she could possibly have regenerated. As long as there is a portion of the spinal fluid left in you, we can assume from the splitting theory above, that Ymir still contains at least a portion of the shifting power and can thus heal eventually and be alive again despite Porco taking the Titan itself. Porco might have her memories and shifter power, but if he didn’t eat her entire body or drink all of her fluid, then who’s to say even the smaller amounts can’t regenerate a whole human if their consciousness remains within it? Maybe this isn’t possible, but it equally is possible since we have no way to know for sure until we get more information or confirmation.

Here’s a scenario to help explain things better. Imagine our Ymir in the Marley prison, waiting in chains to be eaten, and now imagine her will power surging to the same level as Reiner’s and Eren’s. A willpower to live that outweighed all logic and chances of survival. Now, let’s say all that’s required for a shifter to transfer their consciousness is their spine. If you’ve got that and a shifter power, you can shift your consciousness wherever you want. Porco has just been injected and is now towering over her as a mindless titan. Suddenly, Ymir, as quickly as Reiner did, finds her will to live, and transfers her consciousness somewhere in her body. Probably to the end of her spine to be sure. Porco bites down from halfway up Ymir’s spine, pulls away, and swallows, leaving Ymir’s leftover body parts, specifically everything from the second half of her spine and downward, to bleed all over the place. Porco drank most of her spinal fluid, for convenience let’s call it 8/9ths of it, and shifts back to a human, taking the jaw titan and claiming Ymir’s memories. However, that carcass he left still has 1/9 of shifter spinal fluid in it, and it also has Ymir’s consciousness hiding in it. If her carcass is disposed of gently enough, and left to “rot”, then maybe it’s possible that Ymir’s body begins to regenerate just as Reiner’s whole head did. And slowly but surely, Ymir’s body heals, and she returns. Maybe with a little memory loss, but she returns after all. It may be a stretch, but we want Ymir to be alive because that’s very understandably important to a lot of people, particularly lesbians who have a right to be upset at her death, and honestly, I don’t mind an amazing miracle bringing her back so, right now I’m not ashamed to put my money on this possibility in the slightest, because it is a possibility. Thank you for reading<3

[meganearu]

Eren’s Suppressed Emotions and Ultimate Failure in Clash Arc

It didn’t occur to me until my most recent reading of this chapter that Ymir was trying to drop direct hints at Eren that she had a plan here. Ymir is so smart, on par with Armin as far as analyzing the situation and players involved, and Reiner even says that she had every intention of escaping from here via Eren’s Titan. In fact she was subtly begging for Eren to prove to her he could be smart enough to work with her. But she was only proven wrong, and concludes that she cannot put her faith in him, (until Cry, where he manages to use the coordinate power and thus the walls are the only hope for Historia’s future).

This was a big loss.

By being unable to suppress his rage and impulses, Eren renders himself useless in a scene where he had ample, healthy opportunity to learn vital information and gain Ymir as an official ally of the walled world. (For all he knew, he might’ve had a chance to turn Reiner and Bertholdt into allies). He is even put to sleep right when they begin talking about passing along shifter powers, and apparently Marley and the Warriors since Ymir references the plan for her to be eaten later when they begin their escape in the forest. He failed as a soldier here and failed himself.

Eren thinks his problem is that he cannot repress his emotions. He seemingly thinks he’s inherently flawed for being emotional and big hearted and extremely sensitive. He thinks he’s a failure because he cannot throw away his humanity. Eren has this habit of dehumanizing people in order to kill them when he needs to. This is why he calls Mikasa’s kidnappers rabid dogs who needed to be put down, and shouts that this is just natural and what they deserve through his tears as he stabs one of them to death. Because Eren’s humanity is all but inescapable, and it is hard for him to hurt people despite talking a big game.

And I know the instinctual interpretation to the confrontation scene above is that Eren caved into his emotions and that cost him the chance to gather information from Reiner, Bertholdt, and Ymir, but honestly I think it’s deeper than that....

You know what would’ve been a key means to keeping yourself quiet during a scene like this? A very grey scene where it’s not as simple as self defense against a gang of murderous kidnappers who took a little kid hostage? To access your empathy, your sadness over the situation, to find a reason to understand and listen to what these traitors have to say so you can find a sensible solution and at least gather as much information as you can. You see, Eren ALREADY suppresses his emotions. He’s extremely empathetic and very loving and incredibly sensitive. But that’s “not what a man should be”, so the only emotion he lets himself express loudly is anger. And anger can be detrimental on its own, as shown above.^ One of the biggest themes in snk is Eren’s struggle with toxic masculinity, and struggle to accept himself for who he is despite that not fitting his goals or wants for himself, being ultimately detrimental to his happiness. This is why he will feel caged even without walls surrounding him. This very political piece sets Eren on the journey into accepting himself and his emotions/sensitivity, as all men should, in the pursuit of freedom. With that in mind, most of his problems in the story tend to clearly come from being unable to process his emotions.

What Eren SHOULD have done, instead of giving in to anger and action, is let himself empathize and feel sad. Sadness helps us process hardships and when we repress it, it leads to… well, Eren’s caged mind which proves useless in dangerous situations because all he has to spare is empty anger. Had he let his other emotions, sadness, come into play, he might’ve asked healthier questions, like “why did you do this?” rather than “how could you do this?” and his refusal to be anything but angry is exactly why the very cool and calm Ymir decides she cannot rely on him. And Eren’s haste and rage costs him a vital chance at gathering information, keeping Ymir on board as an ally, and definitely any chance at turning Reiner and Bertholdt to their side. But to ask a teenager to embrace themselves in a world where he’s treated as inherently flawed for being himself is asking too much, and this just wound up being an unfortunate situation in the hands of an unfortunate youth.

[meganearu]

You know, we all agreed it would've been smarter for Marley to just keep Ymir alive and feed her to the chosen warrior with everyone else on the day it's meant to happen, cuz that's just more efficient and you don't have to waste another warrior in between. But they fed her to Galliard anyway. Like she was nothing. And Galliard amounts to nothing given that he'll just die with the others now when the ceremony comes soon. And that just really drilled into my head how little Marley actually regards Eldians even as soldiers... They're nothing but fodder. They amount to nothing at all. Even Zeke the highly acclaimed warrior general and "Boy Wonder" has to ask extra nicely for permission to speak to a Marley general at the table, and still has to be reminded he's nothing but Eldian scum when he does. It would've been smarter to not feed Ymir to anyone, and Galliard is pretty much throwing his life away instantly by eating her, but because they're Eldian and they have PLENTY to spare, they toss them away like table scraps. They're more racist than they are strategic. And that's chilling to me...