Even if he wasn’t motivated by freedom, even if his only goal was to save the people of Paradis instead of recreating the images within Armin’s book, The Rumbling would’ve been his only option.
The other option he was given…
𝑻𝒉𝒆 50-𝒀𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒏 – 𝑨 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝑹𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈
… would not have worked out.
Manga, chapter 107
So the 50-year plan, according to Kiyomi Azumabito, consists of using a partial Rumbling to destroy Marley’s military force and threatening a full Rumbling to keep the rest of the world complacent for at least 50 years until Paradis can develop the technology to fight them.
Why wouldn’t this plan work?
Because Titans are starting to phase out of warfare. The rest of the world has started to advance into weaponry built to destroy titans, and are succeeding. That’s why Marley wants the founder; they’re grasping at straws, with the rapid failure of their global dominance, and want to reach for the ultimate global nuke to keep their enemies cowed before they can get too big to defeat.
Manga, chapter 86
Manga, chapter 93
And it’s not just the smaller pure titans that are being shoved out, the larger, more formidable nine titans are being pushed out too.
Manga, chapter 91
Manga, chapter 92
If the anti-titan artillery is strong enough to pierce the armored plating of Reiner’s titan, the titan that Marley often uses as a literal shield and battering ram due to the sheer impenetrability of his armor, what do you think will happen when they’re turned on the colossal titans, who don’t even have skin?
They’d absolutely obliterate them.
And that is the technology available at the time the plan was conceived, not 50 years afterwards, if the rest of the world even decided to wait that long.
By destroying Marley’s fleet, the partial Rumbling would stall an attack. From Marley. The other nations would still be perfectly intact. The attack would fuel their racialized rage against Paradisians and push them to speed up the development of anti-titan artillery to destroy them faster. I’d give it a maximum of ten years before they mobilized and nuked Paradis into oblivion.
The second option..
𝑨𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏'𝒔 𝑷𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝑻𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒔
…would only work if the outside world were rational and willing to listen to reason.
Manga, chapter 100
You cannot reason with people who literally cried tears of joy at the prospect of wiping your people off of the face of the Earth.
Manga, chapter 87
You cannot reason with people who think your people are animals that deserve to be put down.
Manga, chapter 98
You cannot reason with a world that treats your people so badly that a nation that fed a little girl to dogs is considered nice in comparison.
And why would they listen to Armin, of all people? He’s an “Eldian devil”, someone they view as the lowest scum of the Earth.
Armin’s solution of talking things out is extremely idealistic and the manga itself hints that such methods would not be enough to succeed at the end of chapter 106.
Words cannot erase a century of violent oppression and hatred.
Even the mainland Eldians – who are in pretty much the same boat, being despised by the entire world – want the people of Paradis Island dead. They blame them for their suffering at the hands of Marley and believe that, once they’re gone, the world will have nothing to hold against them.
The Eldian rights movement only extends sympathy to those on the mainland – they want the people of Paradis Island dead.
The Eldian restorationists despise the Paradisians for abandoning them in Marley.
There was no talking to them.
It was either kill or be killed.
A full rumbling was the only way for Paradis to survive.
it is so easy to sit comfortably in your home, with a roof over your head and food on your table, and rant and rave about how good god is, how great he is, how he has blessed you, how everyone should just believe in him and trust that he will do great things for them. of course it is easy to believe in a benevolent god when your life has given you very little reason to question his benevolence. but what about the children starving under rubble? what about the people praying every day for food, safety, shelter, for their families to survive? what about the people who have begged god for a better life and never received one? are their prayers less sincere than yours? are their lives somehow less important? and if the answer is that god is “testing” them, then what kind of test is it to starve a child? what kind of benevolent being creates people who will suffer unimaginably, watches them beg for help, and then either refuses to intervene or punishes them for not believing in him? I genuinely cannot understand how anyone can look at the suffering of innocent people and still call god good. if god is real, I do not think there is any being more selfish than one who demands worship from the people he is constantly testing, or more cruel than one who would punish people for failing to believe in him.
the thing that i really don't get about people who are 'pro-life' is the fact that they're always saying some shit like 'that embryo might've become someone important' or 'they/it might've changed so many people's lives'. key word: MIGHT'VE. if it never exists, it literally couldn't have changed anyone's life anyway.
the world isn't going to just freeze or leave some empty void where a person was "supposed" to be. it will continue to move on, it'll continue to grow, and it will keep developing regardless.
take my own friends, for example. if i had never been born, they wouldn't be sitting around all depressed and lonely right now mourning my absence. they wouldn't even know i existed for fuck's sake. they just would’ve made different friends, lived their lives, and maybe become entirely different people.
you literally cannot miss someone who was never fucking there in the first place. oh my god.
that’s why using some "potential future" as an excuse to ban abortion feels so backwards. you’re basically forcing a real, living person to give up their own life and body right now, all to protect a totally made-up timeline for something that doesn't even have a consciousness yet. it’s like prioritizing a "what if" over a real human being standing right there.
reblog and like this comment. pro-lifers fuck off. this post is for people who value living, breathing humans over a bunch of hypothetical "what-ifs". you wanna argue with me? fucking try me.
does anyone remember that "androphobia" is a real word that means being genuinely Afraid of men. and it's mostly used to describe women who are intensely scared of men following abuse/assault. and this is a whole thing where you can have a service dog that keeps men away. because i remember that, having known several women both cis and trans who were like this, and it really is odd to see the term misused as another word for misandry lol that is not what it means
Yes, the characters and the scenarios they're in are fictional, but the chemical surge in your brain from frequent exposure and/or sexual gratification derived from viewing that stuff is very much real.
Your reward center can't tell the difference between what's fictional and what's not. It doesn't go "oh, this child is not real, I'd better turn of the chemical reactions!" It just gets bombarded with a crap-ton of feel-good chemicals and associates that goodness with whatever stimulus caused the arousal.
If you consistently view content of, for example, children being sexualized, where that pedophilia is painted as acceptable and enjoyed, you are conditioning an arousal response to children and/or childlike characteristics.
You can go on and on about how you're immune and fiction can't affect you, but you aren't. Psychology says so;
The sexual script approach has been widely used in the literature to examine the relationship between pornography consumption and the endorsement of specific sexual attitudes and behaviors (Wright et al., 2022).
The 3AM Theory (Wright, 2011) provides further insight into this relationship by suggesting that individuals acquire new behavioral scripts through media exposure (Acquisition). These scripts can later be triggered by similar media content (Activation) and applied in real-life situations (Application). According to this model, pornography provides consumers with sexual scripts where violence is depicted as normal, acceptable, and even enjoyable.
The activation of such scripts is influenced by content-related factors (e.g., attractiveness), individual characteristics (e.g., gender, motivations), situational factors (e.g., sexual arousal), and the accessibility of the script (e.g., vividness). The application of these scripts is further influenced by beliefs and moral standards. If a script conflicts with internal moral values, it may be suppressed (Wright, 2011).
The normalization of violent sexual behaviors in widely consumed media, such as pornography, contributes to the justification of violence during sexual encounters, shaping societal views on acceptable sexual practices.
Source here for the above two.
"Dark romance novels promote and romanticize abuse, illegal activity and a lack of consent. The novels have real-world implications and should not be dismissed just because they are fiction."
Source
Psychological research heavily links the consumption of media that glamorizes sexual assault to an increase in Rape Myth Acceptance. These myths are false cultural beliefs that excuse perpetrators and blame victims.
Source
2. "Fiction doesn't affect reality!"
Where did this narrative of "fiction doesn't affect reality" even come from? There are multiple real life examples that show the opposite.
Jaws is a fictional movie. Yet it lead caused a massive, wide-spread panic surrounding sharks and their "potential for bloodlust", leading to the overhunting of millions of sharks, almost to the point of near-extinction.
Minstrel shows were fictional depictions of black people, yet they managed to influence the perception of us as "stupid, violent and sexually immoral". Stereotypes we still struggle to shake to this day.
Media often presents manipulative relationship dynamics as evidence of deep, passionate love rather than abuse.
Stories like “Twilight” or “Fifty Shades” present controlling, possessive behavior as romantic devotion. Stalking becomes “persistent courtship,” isolation becomes “wanting to spend all our time together,” and manipulation becomes “caring so much that boundaries don’t matter.”
Romanticized portrayals can teach audiences that controlling behavior is normal or desirable in relationships. Dramatic portrayals can make people miss subtle real-world manipulation.
Source for the above two
A study published by Oxford University Press, called "Fantasy and Reality: What is the truth?" states;
When I discuss the effects of exposure to mass media with various audiences, one of the comments I hear most often is that anyone old enough to “know the difference between fantasy and reality” is not affected by media content. In other words, fictional stories do not influence us because we “know they are not real.” This fantasy/ reality argument represents a major misunderstanding of the psychology of the media…
An article published in association with the American Academy Of Political and Social Sciences, called "The Impact of Factual versus Fictional Media Portrayals on Cultural Stereotypes" states;
Sociological research suggests that human minds are hardwired to first accept everything we comprehend as true, and only later exert the mental energy to evaluate and reject what is false. Because fiction bypasses our natural skepticism, it serves as one of the most potent forces shaping human culture, law, and empathy.
3. "I use it to process my trauma!"
That behavior is known as "reenacting" your trauma. It does not help.
In general, reenactments are an unconscious attempt to reconcile, reframe, or repair a trauma that occurred in childhood. Sexual reenactments are no different. Most sexual reenactments originate due to childhood sexual abuse or sexual assault in adolescence or adulthood. Although not every former victim of sexual violence will have a need to reenact their trauma, many do. This is because most sexual trauma goes unprocessed. Most sexual abuse victims don’t talk about it due to feelings of shame and the fear that they will not be believed. Many try to put it in the past the way friends and family encourage them to do. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work, and they end up reenacting the abuse in some way. As it is with other forms of abuse, typically, former victims tend to either reenact their trauma by continuing to be victimized or by becoming abusive.
Source
Ongoing reenactments are a reflection that a patient is continuing to act in stuck and rigidified ways. In addition, reenactments often lead to revictimization and related feelings of shame, helplessness, and hopelessness. Consequently, an important goal of treatment is facilitating an understanding and control of reenactments. Reenactments are caused in part by powerful unconscious forces that must eventually be verbalized and understood. Thus, in order to address reenactments and to break their repetitiveness, the therapist should help the individual to understand why they occur. However, before proceeding into this phase of treatment and exploring past traumatic relationships and experiences, the therapist must first have achieved a strong and solid therapeutic alliance with the patient. In addition, the patient's safety must be firmly established, and any acute problem areas, such as chemical abuse problems or ongoing self-destructive behavior, need to be stabilized. Once these issues have been resolved, exploratory therapy may begin.
Source
It is a maladaptive coping strategy which functions much like a band aid on a bullet wound.
Using sexual content to cope can reinforce traumatic neural pathways or lead to an escalation in the intensity of content needed to achieve the same numbing effect, potentially recreating aspects of the trauma.
You are not healing. You are numbing yourself, and you think that because you don't feel anything you are fine. This is not fine.
Experts do recommend interacting with the cause of your trauma, but not through violent pornographic material. Experts recommend addressing the root causes of the trauma through trauma-focused therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) rather than relying on sexual behaviors, which are viewed as symptoms of unresolved distress rather than solutions.
4. "Anti-ship is pro-censorship!"
According to Marriam Webster, the act of censoring is defined as;
Let me be clear when I say this;
Anti-shippers do not want these topics to be removed from media as a whole.
There are many tasteful ways that these topics can be explored in a narrative which can make for great storytelling and help victims feel represented.
All we want is for these topics to be taken seriously, and not portrayed as something good or acceptable.
5. "Anti-shippers are puritans!"
It's honestly so funny to see y'all misuse that word all the time.
Actual Puritans are against sex being in media as a whole, whether it's vanilla or not.
Actual Puritans are religious fanatics who believe a parasocial relationship with god is the only means of salvation from sin.
Anti-shippers don't want that. Anti-shippers want you to stop wanking it to written/drawn child porn.
Anti-shippers do not want sex to be entirely removed from any piece of media.
So we do not meet the dictionary definition or historical characteristics of actual Puritans and, therefore, cannot correctly be referred to as Puritanical.
Do your research before you go name-calling.
6. "Anti-shippers are fascist!"
What exactly relates fascism with anti-shipping?
Fascism is the belief that your nation and/or race are above all others. How does that correlate with being against the romanticization of abuse?
7. "Anti-shippers are perpetuating purity culture!"
Again with the misused terms 🤦🏽♀️
8. "Don't like, don't read!"
Is just another form of anti-intellectualism. The fandom equivalent of "it's not that deep". If you don't want to be criticized, then don't post it.
9. "Video Games make you violent hur de hur!"
Video game violence doesn't hijack your dopamine pathways the way sexual content does.
The sheer flood of positive chemicals released during sexual gratification can be accurately compared to doing hard drugs - the only difference is that hard drugs prolong the chemical flood to unnatural lengths.
Video game violence, on the other hand, simply reduces emotional and violent impulse control. It doesn't necessarily "make you violent", it just shortens your fuse.
source
Violent sexual content is a completely different ball game. And according to the studies provided above, it does, indeed affect you negatively.
10. "They're just pixels, we're not hurting anyone!"
Sure, they are just pixels. But that's how it all starts.
It's not the fictional characters we're worried about - they're fictional, after all - its the consumers of that content.
Pedophilia, zoophilia, necrophilia and the like are paraphilic disorders.
A paraphilia is defined as;
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fifth Edition; DSM-5), paraphilias are defined as any “intense and persistent sexual interest other than sexual interest in genital stimulation or preparatory fondling with phenotypically normal, physiologically mature, consenting human partners”
Not all paraphilias are bad, they only become bad when they involve harming others (i.e. pedophiles harming children, zoophiles harming animals). Then, it is known as a paraphilic disorder.
An article on Paraphilia published on MD Searchlight says;
These types of disorders often lead to harming others, which can result in legal problems. This fear of getting into trouble with the law can discourage these individuals from seeking help. Generally, those who do get professional help are often required to do so by law, or persuaded by their family, friends, or partners.
An article published by Psychology Today, on Paraphilias, says;
Behaviorists suggest that paraphilias begin through a process of conditioning: Nonsexual things can become sexually arousing if they are repeatedly associated with pleasurable sexual activity.
The process of encouraging a paraphilia by repeatedly viewing or masturbating to related content is called "habituation".
And, in the context of harmful paraphilias, refers to a behavioral escalation where the individual becomes desensitized to the initial stimulus, leading to an increased need for stimulation or more extreme behaviors to achieve the same level of sexual arousal.
Read up on "Drug Habituation", which is very similar.
Eventually, jerking off isn't going to be enough.
Eventually, fictional sexual material of children and animals are not going to be enough.
The thing about paraphilias is that they escalate. You may think that they're small and harmless for now, but, with continued encouragement, it only gets worse.
The same way a drug addict becomes tolerant to a lower dose and begins to seek higher and more dangerous ones, you will eventually see fiction as insufficient and move on to harming real people.
controversial opinion but if your holy book includes your omnibenevolent god commanding his followers to indiscriminately commit genocide upon entire nations and execute other people simply for following a religion different than theirs then you're lucky i take your complaints about "religious intolerance" seriously
“Oh, but the Bible doesn’t say that being gay is a sin 🥺 it was actually a mistranslation—” I don’t CARE. I DON’T CARE.
It literally does not matter what a three thousand year old book has to say about gay people 💀 I do not give a single flying fuck what it does or doesn’t say. Maybe it was a mistranslation, maybe it does actually say that being gay is a sin. Who cares??
Gay people are real. I care more about living, breathing gay people than some old book that a man three thousand years ago wrote. Stop basing all of your morals off of the Bible omg 😭
Do Christians Realize How Bad The "Free Will" Argument Makes Their god Look?
Picture this;
A parent is watching their kid play in the backyard of their house. Suddenly, the neighbor's German Shepherd jumps the fence and starts to attack them. The child screams for help. The parent does nothing; because the dog deserves free will more than the child deserves to be protected.
A police officer is walking down the street at night. He sees a man dragging a teenage girl into an alleyway to rape her. The girl screams for help. He does nothing and keeps walking; because the man deserves free will more than the girl deserves to be saved.
A security guard at a school witnesses an armed gunman entering a classroom. They hear the children crying for help as they're getting shot. They do nothing; because the gunman deserves free will more than the children deserve to live.
This is what the Christian god is doing up in heaven.
Sitting there, with all the power in the world to help at his fingertips, doing nothing. Watching as the people he swore to love and protect suffer and die.
The free will argument makes god look uncaring and cruel.
He had no problem changing the heart of the pharaoh - and taking his free will as he did so - in Exodus. What exactly is stopping him from doing the same for bad people today? What's stopping him from making the billionaires feel compassion? What's stopping him from turning the hearts of child predators and murderers?
white tumblr liberals if this site existed in 1800s america: idkkkkk i know slavery is bad but like uh i dont like when slaves say they want to kill plantation owners thats kinda icky like….uhh wheres ur empathy..? they are giving you a job…no seriously i know slavery is bad but like if you do a revolt and kill them for raping your women and using your children as alligator bait and skinning people alive to use their body as furniture you will just continue the cycle like you’ll be even worse than them! you cant hate them! wheres ur compassion dude they probably feel rlly bad about whipping you it probably gives them bad vibes
i’m so fucking tired of young girls on tumblr basically BEGGING to be groomed like baby please find some light in u and leave that old rat creature u call daddy!! i totally understand the concept of daddy issues but this isn’t the answer. it will leave a permanent damage on ur very soul
