Hello Moon, I’ve been rereading WBEOW, actually the whole Fuerte Salta series. And a question came to me.
Am I crazy, or does the narrative keep saying that Mr. Leonhart feels threatened by Armin? I mean, aside from the obvious fact that he already knows that boy and his daughter are fooling ehem I don’t feel like he’s necessarily intimidated by that. I don’t think he really cares that Annie has a boyfriend or anything like that.
What makes him feel threatened is that he can’t control Armin. He feels threatened because, with Armin, it’s obvious who Annie chooses, and he had already made peace with the idea that he would live with Annie and that she would always choose him over anyone else—and now this boy comes along and ruins all his plans.
He feels threatened because, with Armin, Annie shows a sweetness that was always hidden and that he couldn’t destroy. Seeing her so happy, falling in love, blushing, and acting like a normal girl in love… it’s too much for him, because he sees how much Annie STRUGGLES TO MANAGE HER FEELINGS and it reminds him of what he did to her since he found her as a baby. All the abuse and mistreatment, how he destroyed her body and soul. Seeing how genuinely Annie tries and behaves in ways he never imagined… it makes him drown in guilt, and he hates that.
So yes, honestly, I think Mr. Leonhart doesn’t like Armin very much because, indirectly, he shows him a side of Annie he’s not willing to see.
Also, Annie seems to choose Armin over him, and that makes him feel even more remorse for what he did.
It’s not that he wants Annie to stop loving Armin, but he does want the intensity to decrease so she can forget the past.
That’s also why he seems uncomfortable when Aofie and Connie visit Annie, because he can’t accept that the real Annie isn’t the Annie he has in his head. He idealized that when she returned, she would forgive him quickly and that all the displays of affection she gives, especially to Armin, would be for him. But that’s not happening.
And instead of trying to change, to show Annie that she can rely on him and behave like a father so it would be her choice to stay with him… he conditions her, and I don’t think he really realizes it. I mean, deep down he knows Annie doesn’t want to live with him, but he keeps it quiet and ignores how sad she seems by his side.
He wants to force a reconciliation and for her to behave toward him like she does with the ambassadors, Armin, Pieck, etc. But he doesn’t make an effort himself and expects Annie to do everything.
But as I said, Mr. Leonhart feels very threatened by Armin and this boy’s presence in Annie’s life. And in WBEOW (if I understood it correctly) you portrayed that really well.
Hellooooooo again!! Sorry, I took way too long to respond to this but omg T^T Thank you, this is so delightful to read!
Well, to answer your questions; we don't know exactly what Mr. Leonhardt thinks about Armin, although from what Armin can understand, he seems mostly indifferent. Since Fort Salta, actually, he hasn't been overbearing on Annie's decisions and I guess it's safe to say that could be a result of watching and observing Annie with all these "new people" (Paradisians, but also the warriors). Without a doubt, she is different from what he would've known.
I think the major conflict here is that Annie and her father are finding it incredibly hard to be "close". Whatever Annie had dreamt of throughout her Paradis mission, (even if it wasn't exactly a "happy father-and-daughter relationship"), it was certainly through some rose-tinted glasses that was also easy to wish for, given the circumstances. She thought he'd rejoice at her return, hug her more, and love her until she passed.
But things have changed, her life has changed (she now has one! a long one!), the people in her life have changed, she's no longer content with being alone with all her walls; Annie has people who love and care for her, and easily make it known without any hesitance or hurt. I'm not only talking about Armin, but also Pieck, Connie, Reiner, Jean, Mikasa, etc. Just being with them is enough to understand that here, she's loved simply as she is. Even if she isn't a warrior, or the female titan, or a skilled fighter, she's still loved. Simply as she is.
This makes it quite difficult for her to (subconsciously, at least) acknowledge that she doesn't just want her life to be about "Dad" anymore. He's a part, yes, she regularly visits him, spends time with him, talks to him, etc etc, but he's not... the center of her universe anymore. Somewhere along the way, he stopped being --- but how do you ever tell this to the person who raised you and fed you?
You don't. You can't. So the guilt starts to eat at her, like she's betrayed him.
But see, it seems like Mr. Leonhardt understands that, but his purpose in asking Annie to come back and live with him again isn't about regaining control over her (at least, in his head). Time has passed, and it's important that we give him the benefit of doubt; the blow of not seeing his daughter for years together could have chipped away at the hard, cruel bits and softened him. At this point in the present, he may very well be genuinely well-meaning and have every intention of being, finally, a "good father" (we won't know for sure tho unless he says something).
All that said, some of these warrior parents in Liberio were just... shit parents lol. Just went to really bad parenting classes and ended up ruining the lives of their kids - Mr. Leonhardt is no exception. So despite the passage of time, he's not exactly going to be the kind old man who reunites with his long-lost children and feeds them delicious food like in fairy tales. His personality is still stoic, reserved; that doesn't seem to have changed. With all that, it's just not... likely (imo, just my take) that he's going to get all close and chummy and bond with Annie. He's just not that kind of person.
Add to that the novelty of watching his daughter smile and laugh and look so happy with all these "new people", it just seems strange to him. Like who is this girl? The same kid he raised? Exactly what you said here:
because he can’t accept that the real Annie isn’t the Annie he has in his head.
It's hard to reconcile, yes. A hard pill to swallow too. A little scary. So he asks her to come back, in order to make up for some of the lost time, at least, and prove to her that he'll be better now.
Except, because they just don't have that father-daughter conduit in place, it all comes out wrong and now both of them are unhappy.
Back to Armin, he evidently is a huge part of Annie's life (taking up most of her brainspace like a king 😏), but... that's only because that boy has been able to "love" Annie in a way that Mr. Leonhardt cannot even fathom. It's foreign. And finally, I guess he feels like he's "lost" her to someone. Entirely. That because of his treatment of her, all the time away, and now also this physical distance between his cottage and the house where she stays, she may very well drift away for good and at some point, stop coming to see him entirely (yes it's blown out of proportion, clearly). It frightens him. His daughter is all he's known, he can't just let her go... just like that? He still has to prove he'll be a better father.
The result of all this is the catastrophic mess between chapter 30 to... *checks notes* 41 (🥲 h-holy shit... )
