#my snk posts

[safflora]

Re-reading the post time skip stuff to see if 134 feels better to me as part of the whole and noticed this thing in 107 for the first time somehow??

Shortly after Hange calls him out for talking to himself in the mirror:

Titan marks starting to appear around his eyes.

And here we get the sound effects like he’s actually starting to transform without a wound and without really meaning to?

How did I never notice this? I’m sure people were all over it back when this chapter came out, but I haven’t seen any discussion of it, and re-reading it now with all the new context we have and all the wondering I’ve been doing about how much influence the Attack Titan itself has over Eren, this is particularly interesting to me. I don’t think we’ve ever seen anybody else’s titan marks appear pre-transformation. They’ve always been residual from being connected to a titan body. Something else is going on here, and right after the very suspicious moment of Eren telling himself (”himself”?) to fight.

As a reminder, the first time Hange pressed Eren on his talking to himself while in a cell and he reacted with frustrated yelling was in 89 when he was recalling his father’s memories and seemed confused about where and who he was.

Curious.

[safflora]

That right there is Eren’s eye glowing. Now let’s talk about Eren’s eye glowing. Can we talk about Eren’s eye glowing? I’ve been dying to talk about Eren’s eye glowing with you all day, ok?

[safflora]

If hatred begets hatred is what you get from all the violence what massage does killing eren(people who love him) make? I don't get what isayama is trying to say anymore, if eren is saved it's also lame because what was the point of all of this death

Hi, anon! I’m going to have to split some hairs here, I’m afraid. “Hatred begets hatred” is not necessarily what I got from the violence - it’s what the dude delivering the speech in 134 got from it. The distinction is important.

As for Eren being killed by people who love him… I’m not sure what connection you’re making between that and the idea being expressed in the speech. Are you equating violence to hatred, setting it opposite to love, and saying the actions of the alliance are not the actions of people who love Eren? I think it’s more complicated than that when there are lives in the balance. It loops around and becomes less complicated again when it’s the lives of the entire world in the balance. Hatred is a non-factor in this decision being made out of necessity.

“Necessity”

Huh.

Necessity is a much more interesting motivator than Hatred in my opinion, and one that has driven almost every violent act in this story. If we want to examine what Isayama is trying to say, that’s probably a more fruitful place to start. Was it necessary to:

- send thousands to their deaths after the fall of Maria to ensure social stability and survival of the remaining population?

- break down Wall Maria in an effort to recover the Coordinate and save the world?

- kill Marco?

- let the people of Stohess die?

- snuff out individuals who threatened stability within the walls?

- torture MPs for information?

- kick fellow Eldians off the wall?

- imprison Eldians in internment zones?

- train child soldiers?

- reveal the true history of the Great Titan War to the world and declare war on Paradis?

- orchestrate an attack on Liberio?

- help Eren and Zeke with the attack on Liberio?

- overthrow the old order to restore the Nation of Eldia/ the Eldian Empire?

- etc, etc, etc.

The point of asking these questions is NOT to judge or justify any of these actions. It is NOT to say that they are all equivalent. It is simply to point out that every person who made these choices would, at the time of making them, answer “yes” and believe it to be true. These overlapping themes of fate, choice, regret, and ignorance vs. information just keep popping up! How many times has a character done something they wished they didn’t “have” to do after saying they had no choice? How many times has somebody questioned, “was there another way?” How many times has somebody done something awful, with varying degrees of regret, in the name of beliefs founded on incomplete information or cleverly sold stories? It seems to me that Isayama is making less of a definitive statement and more of an observation as he invites the reader to ask questions of the characters, of themselves, and of the wider world. How do we come by our beliefs? How do our beliefs affect our actions? Which of the evils in the world do we deem “necessary” and why? How free are we in our choices when we “have no choice”?

Eren and Armin are the characters who have most directly embodied these dilemmas recently (with the added element of Future Vision on Eren’s part), and I for one am very much looking forward to seeing how Isayama is going to continue exploring these themes in the final confrontation between them. I think if there’s a direct message that Isayama is trying to convey, that’s when it’s going to come out. But honestly, I expect that the message is likely to come in the form of questions to be examined. I’m down for that, I think. I don’t really want to be spoon-fed a message, and I don’t think Isayama ever intended to do that. Final thoughts pending the conclusion of the story.

Regarding the last part of your ask: “If Eren is saved it’s also lame because what was the point of all this death,”

First of all, I just can’t see Eren being “saved”. Interesting word choice, by the way. Saved from what? Death? Disgrace? Misery? Slavery? If he’s going to be saved from anything, I think that last one is most likely considering the hints we’ve been given that the Attack Titan may have a will of its own. But that could be a series of posts all on its own haha. Your question is: what was the point of all this death?

Does there have to be a point? I don’t think so. Narratively, sure, the point is to compel the characters to action and make them and the readers wrestle with what ends justify what means, and the way it is being depicted (as an absolute HORROR) is meant to convey as clear a message as we’re going to get (what is happening is bad). But in the world of Attack on Titan, unless there is an outcome that Future Vision Eren is aiming for that we don’t know about yet and that for some reason required it, this massive destruction may very well be pointless. And that may actually be the point. Again, final thoughts pending the conclusion of the story. Sorry for the cop-out, but I just don’t feel like I have enough info to call it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I, uh, hope I actually answered your question. It’s hard to give any straightforward answers for something as twisty as all of this is right now. I’m just playing a ~fun~ (🙃) game of Thought Experiment about it.

[safflora]

The Motif of Storytelling in Attack on Titan

Throughout the series, and particularly from the end of the RtS arc, we see repeated references to storytelling. I want to explore the significance of that and what it could point to as the story unfolds.

1. Historia (an especially aptly named character to start us off!)

Chp. 51

Chp 122

A storybook informed Historia’s estimation of her own value and shaped the persona she adopted for much of her life. This version of the titan origin story and the lessons she was taught from it are foundational for her character, and her arc involves breaking free of its grip.

2. Grisha

Chp. 85

Chp. 86

Chp. 88

Chp. 121

Grisha’s act of leaving his story behind changed the course of the world. Both times he was exhorted to take a difficult step, his will to act came from being told “you started this story, didn’t you?”, as if compelled to resolve a dissonant chord. He views his life as a narrative arc.

3. Kruger

Chp. 88

Stories become the effective “truth” of the world. On some level, people often prefer a simple story to a complex reality.

4. Zeke

Chp. 95

Zeke understands the power of a story to change minds, and he knows that whoever controls the narrative controls the people. I like how he looks directly at the audience as he introduces this concept of shaping a narrative about Paradis to the story. Might come in handy later…

5. Willy Tybur

Chp. 98

Chp. 99

The more entrenched a belief in one story is, the more compelling the new story has to be to change that belief. Willy understands the power of drama and spectacle, and he uses it as a tool here to reach people’s hearts. Nothing less than a production of this scale could have achieved his goal so quickly.

6. Yelena

Chp. 127

Yelena’s motivation seems to be helping to write the great new story of humanity’s salvation and carve a place for herself in it. She observes that everybody is seduced by the power of a grand story and the glamour of heroism.

Now it is time to don my finest tin foil hat and talk about what I think would be an interesting way for the story to further explore the theme that’s been set up here:

7. Eren

If Eren was formerly a slave to the story, what might his freedom look like? It could just be that now, instead of being a reactive character, he is forcing everybody else to react to his own actions. But let’s get meta with it, just for fun. What if we see his freedom from the story manifest by having him write a new story, in-universe, about Eldians/Paradisians and their place in the world?

Willy had his work cut out for him bringing the world’s military forces together. He had to put on a huge production to do it. The world’s hatred of Eldians goes about 2,000 years deeper than their hatred of each other, so Eren is going to have to upstage him in a big way.

He can’t stop at gathering the world’s journalists and diplomatic leaders - he needs the attention of the entire world ( ✅). He can’t put on a shadow play behind a curtain, cue the drums and lights, and douse actors with fake blood. He has to present a real, existential threat and strike terror into the hearts of the world ( ✅). He has to trust that his friends are going to choose to give up their own salvation in favor of saving the rest of the world by striking him down at center stage ( ⬜ - remains to be seen). By taking on the role of the Devil, he will have made heroes of his people. If that is not enough to challenge the world’s beliefs about Paradis, nothing will be.

**As a side note, this would be an interesting parallel to what Historia did in Orvud, taking down her monstrous father to save everyone and legitimize her rule in the eyes of the people. It’s especially interesting since Eren and Historia’s missing POVs are likely tied together in some way.

Chp. 100

With that in mind, this looks to me like the face of a man whose resolve has been strengthened by hearing the world be united by a stage play. Maybe there will be something better on the other side of the hell he’s pushing through.

8. Isayama

Ok. We got meta, now let’s get  M e t a . If, in the world of the story, Eren has made himself into the Devil for the purpose outlined above, what does that really mean? Hajime Isayama will have made Eren into a Devil bent on the destruction of his world and crafted a story in such a way that his audience believed it despite the more complex truth. He’ll have put us in the same place as the characters and used his own story to prove his thesis. Anyone can become a God or a Devil. All it takes is for someone to claim it to be true. If he’s trying to betray the readers, that would be such a cool way to do it. Provided that upon re-reading the story, Eren’s cryptic behavior can be interpreted in a way that legitimately points to this, I am so here for it.  

[safflora]

SnK Chp 128 Thoughts - Round 2: Yelena and Levi

Two of the most interesting panels in the chapter:

What is Yelena’s purpose in saying this?

Yelena flexes on people by reading them, and she’s good at it. This is just what she does. Her ability to see through people helps her get what she wants out of them, which is sometimes just her own entertainment. She might simply be trying to push Levi’s buttons by letting him know that she sees him. Trying to do that with this particular statement, though, would mean she thinks Levi must have some sort of sensitivity about this aspect of his nature. Either 1.) she’s right about that and the look on his face is him being affected by her words, 2.) she’s wrong and he’s either annoyed at her or pissed off about something else about this situation, or 3.) her intention is not to provoke in the first place.

I’m curious about the doleful look on Yelena’s face here. It seems for the first time that she may actually lament this situation. Yelena, who has been even more ruthless than Levi at times, may just be saying this because she knows Levi understands better than most. He understands that this is not only in his own nature, it’s in the nature of humanity. It’s part of the reason that, while he may have regretted its necessity and hates senseless death, he has never hesitated to use violence as a means to his ends (or even just to express himself). He’s not in the business of fighting nature.

As for Levi’s expression, we could assign all sorts of potential meanings to that. Choose your favorite(s) to project onto him until he finally speaks for himself!

- Annoyed by Yelena

- Who are YOU calling violent?? Why I oughta…

- Groggy after having woken up from his nap

- Pissed off that the plan has fallen apart and/or by his team’s incompetence

- Upset that he can’t go help his team

- Upset at himself for getting himself into a situation that made him unable to help his team

- Resigned to the futility of their situation and/or the human condition in general

- Must. Kill. Zeke.

- Am I actually a part of the problem, being how I am? Do I need to reconsider some things?

- Regret that they didn’t act sooner to prevent things from getting to this point since conflict is inevitable anyway

- This is where all of that pain has gotten us?

- I didn’t want to think about having to kill Eren, but damn maybe that’s what it’s going to take after all

- *Cringe* @ own use of excessive force and taking pleasure in it

- Fuckin Jaegerist scum

I’m a sucker for mystery, so of course I’m wondering what could be going on in this dude’s head.

I don’t read Levi as the most self-reflective of characters. He seems like the kind of person who accepted who he was early in life and didn’t see a reason to think much more about the topic. But so much of his life has been built around his physical capabilities, and now that he is incapacitated, he has nothing but time to sit around and think. It can’t be comfortable for a person who is very much not an in-his-own-head type of guy.

Not that he’s unintelligent by any means, but I think Levi’s strength has always come in part from not having to think, from being able to hold the ambiguity of a situation in his mind without agonizing over it and just acting. He’s a curious case. It’s shown as virtuous whenever the characters struggle to harm others, even when they fully believe in their cause. But even when Levi has admitted when he didn’t know who was wrong or right, he never hesitated for a second. He chose his allies, the people he trusted, and accepted his role as a weapon for the cause of humanity’s survival, free of the burden of having to think about it like some of the others on his team. Now that he can’t do that, I wonder where it will leave him.

[safflora]

This thought is probably out there somewhere, but I haven’t seen it yet so I’m going to share.

One of the immediate connections I made after reading 131 was to the scene between Eren and Armin in chapters 13 and 14, where Eren appears as his child self, stuck in a dream, seeing his parents alive at home while Armin tries to wake him up. Man, re-reading those chapters now is a real punch in the gut.

I think it’s clear we’re seeing Eren (or at least some part of him) stuck in some sort of dream now. The question is: Is this similar to what happened with Reiner, where a split has occurred and he’s sectioned off a part of himself so that he doesn’t have to deal with the guilt of his actions? Or is this something being done to him by another force? Or is it some combination? Or something I’m not seeing at all right now? (probably that)

We do know that the experience of the pure titans is that of a person stuck in a dream/nightmare and not in control of their own actions. We know that based on the words of Ymir (of the 104th), the one other person who we know laid eyes on Paths before all this went down. Does that relate at all to what we’re seeing now? Is it part of the mystery of the titans that has yet to be revealed? The words overlying the last image of Eren with his eyes closed are Armin’s, wondering about what is out there that we still don’t know. These are things that make me feel that something outside of Eren is involved in this in some way. Not to absolve him of the choices he’s made leading up to here. Not at all. There is at least a part of him that did want this. I just don’t know if he’s doing it alone. There are still too many mysteries for me to be satisfied at this point.

[safflora]

My boy Jean had some interesting moments in 124!

1. His own version of the “was there another path” regret that Mikasa and Armin have expressed:

Chapter 124 page 11

I don’t think he’s really trying to justify what’s going on here. In this moment of pain and confusion he is trying to rationalize it and relieve himself of the burden of responsibility (which of course his nature will ultimately not let him do), but he doesn’t really believe it. He’s just hurting.

2. His realization that the suffering that is about to result from Eren’s actions is partly for his sake, and the weight of that responsibility (as he sees it) pressing on him later in the chapter.

Chapter 124 page 12

Chapter 124 page 40

“There was nothing we could do about it… right?“ I don’t know if he can answer that question right now, but I think he knows he can’t let his regrets about the past control him. He has an opportunity to make a choice right now, and he needs to make the choice he’ll least regret. His face here is telling me that choice might mean rallying everyone to try to take down Eren. I mean, someone’s got to. I just so hope Jean is the one to do it!

Jean is amazing to me. He has struggled a lot with his own fear, but his integrity wins every time. I think maybe what we’re seeing here is him realizing he has to oppose Eren, even against all hope.

[safflora]

Ooh, this framing in chapter 111 feels important and pointed given how 127 left off.

If you want to see a Jaegerist, Rogue, maybe look to your left. At the very least, she knows where the Jaegerists are hiding. Maybe there’s something to the idea that Floch is serving Kiyomi rather than threatening her after all.

She’s making the exact same, unreadable face she was making in 111. What is she playing at? Who is she playing? And for what?

EDIT: lol nvm