#snk 65

[fortheloveof-ichiruki]

Everyone when Levi shows up: It's THE ACKERMAN!!!

Mikasa: *being an Ackerman too

[soraekii]

my boy armin was ✨ SHINING ✨

here's the speedpaint for this one!

[a-rikachu]

This is probably one my most anticipated scenes that im waiting for in season 2. Someone just hug him PLZ

[canon-rivamika]

do you think that the AOT/SNK fandom will ever stop talking about Levi and Mikasa being cousins? Frankly, I don't think Hajime has dropped any obvious hints or said something that implied relation between the two, besides the whole "Ackerman" thing.

Hi anon! Technically, they’re (distant) cousins, and it’s canon alright. Isayama didn’t drop any obvious hints about them at first, and that’s precisely how he stoked the Ackerman mystery surrounding Levi and Mikasa starting from chapter 56, when he dropped the Ackerbomb… back then, many believed they could be as close as siblings!

Yet Isayama made it very clear in chapter 65 (less than a year later) and in the databook (2016) that, despite sharing a surname, Levi and Mikasa are third cousins at the closest, which means they could be even more distantly related, and it’s very likely that they’re no more related than many people (from the main bloodline inside the walls) are.

There always will be a part of the fandom that will prefer to stay blind to these facts due to their own shipping preferences or because it makes them uncomfortable - and that’s perfectly okay, to each their own!

[canon-rivamika]

Hi there! I have a theory I'm afraid to post on my blog, but I want to share. With chapter 86 we now know about Eldians and Marleyans, but I think Ackermans (and Touyou too) are neither of those races. Remember the family in the very beginning of Levi's introductory chapter? I think that was a family of Ackermans. And that scene was on Paradise Island, at the start of titanized Eldians being dumped there. I think Ackermans are native to Paradise (Madagascar.) What do you think?

Hello nonnie, you don’t need to be afraid! But thank you for sharing your theory with me.

So you believe these poor people from chapter 9.5 are Ackermans?

In truth they could be anything, since we don’t know what exactly happened during King Fritz’s escape. There are two versions to this story, one told by Grisha’s father and the other by Dina Fritz. Both stories say that the King built the walls (almost) as soon as he arrived in the island. Also, it looks like Paradis was populated before the King arrived, because the island was part of the Eldian kingdom and many people, like the family you’re talking about, did not make it inside the walls in time when the titans appeared.

But what if, as part of his plan, immediately after escaping inside the walls the King transformed everyone else left outside into titans? Then yes, the people who didn’t transform couldn’t possibly be Ymir’s descendants, but people from a different bloodline. And if they’re Ackermans then it would be a huge foreshadowing hint from Isayama, naming chapter 9.5 “Captain Levi” and all. (;

Or, like you said, these titans were dumped there by the Marleyans. We know they have the means to do it, but not how they obtained it, or if it was before or after the great escape, so I’ll leave it at that.

I agree with you that the Ackermans and the Touyou (or East Sea Clan) don’t seem to have inherited Ymir’s blood. (Not sure about the Marleyans though). Chapter 65 hinted at multiple bloodlines inside the walls and what made them different from the majority bloodline.

From this and chapter 86′s information, I assumed Ymir’s People were the majority bloodline, because they were the only ones affected by the King’s memory wipe, and by logic, the only ones who can transform into titans. But this is just me assuming.

Grisha’s father taught him that the Empire of Eldia practiced eugenics. That would make a lot of sense if spreading Ymir’s blood was the Eldians’ way of controlling the dominated masses (either by using the coordinate to control them as titans or by erasing their memories). Being “Eldian”, then, meant you had Ymir’s blood running in your veins.

But Grandpa Ackerman tells us in chapter 65 that the Ackerman Clan served the Royal Government before they moved inside the walls, and that his generation was the first born since the great escape. That’d mean the Ackermans were part of the Eldian empire, but not Ymir’s descendants, since they’re from a different bloodline… and thus, they lived in the mainland together with the Royal Family - at least the ones with high status.

Furthermore, the new databook not only confirms this but says that the East Sea Clan also served the Royal Government long ago. (!) I did a double take at this because that’s news to me. The only other thing we knew about the Asians from reading the manga was that they had some status as a minor bloodline, but were persecuted just like the Ackermans because they disagreed with the King’s philosophy, and some of them became targets of sex trafficking because of their “exotic” appearance. Before, I was starting to believe that the East Sea Clan were the original inhabitants of Paradis Island, but I’m not so sure anymore. 

To sum up, so far it looks to me like both the Ackerman and East Sea Clans escaped from the mainland to Paradis Island together with the Royal Government. The poor family from chapter 9.5 is either from a minor bloodline other than the Ackerman and Touyou, or from the majority bloodline like everyone else and just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Or maybe these people didn’t exist at all since the story from chapter 9.5 is basically the one told inside the walls: fake.

Thanks for the ask!

[canon-rivamika]

Monthly Ackertalk post

By now all of you must be tired of hearing us complain about the Ackertalk.

Before chapter 85 I wasn’t holding my breath for it happening anytime soon, but now that chapter 86 has been released I’m feeling like, this is it. 

Lol really, hear me out.

Here’s why I’m excited about it: It doesn’t seem like Grisha’s story is over yet. How did he become a shifter after being sent to Paradise Island? How did his eye color change? How did he find out about the coordinate being in the Reiss’ possession, and not the Fritz’s? How does the Coordinate work exactly? What about Eren’s (the King’s) memories? 

If Grisha did his homework, during his investigation he must’ve learned something about the Asians (East Sea Clan) and the Ackermans, like their origin, or the reason only they, together with the East Sea Clan, turned against the monarchy. You know, besides everything else he knew just from being Papa Ackerman and Mamakasa’s friend / doctor and Mikasa’s adoptive father. 

I mean, who else knew stuff about these two bloodlines? Grandpa Ackerman’s dead and so is Kenny. I don’t recall Kenny taking notes of Grandpa’s knowledge about the Ackermans on his deathbed, and the only things Kenny left Levi with were the serum case and the truth about being Kuchel’s brother. Oh, and Historia is the only Reiss left. So how the hell are Levi and Mikasa supposed to know more about the Ackermans and the East Sea Clan, respectively? They can’t just reach easily into Eren’s memories, or else Grisha’s books would be a useless plot device. And also, while Eren should be the intended reader of this memoir, remember: Grisha and Carla cared about Mikasa. It would make sense for him to write about her heritage, if he knew its secrets.

While the Answers databook did explain some things about the Ackerman and East Sea Clans, it left everything else as a mystery that was to be revealed in the future. Therefore, now is the perfect time to uncover it with the help of Grisha’s books. And boom, cue the Ackertalk. Right?

TL;DR: The only remaining source of info about the Ackerman and East Sea Clans that we know of, at least inside the walls, should be Grisha’s memoir. In it he might have written all his knowledge about the two bloodlines, or at least pointed the reader to something or someone inside / outside the walls that has the answers Levi and Mikasa desperately need. 

[canon-rivamika]

Ackermans (and their memories)

About the Ackermans’ innate strength and where I believe it comes from. (not exactly a Rivamika post)

Before we even knew the Ackerman family was a lineage of warriors whose purpose was to protect the royal family, everyone thought the source of Mikasa’s strength was her Asian genes. Why? Because that was the one thing that made Mikasa stand apart from every other character.

There were also people who compared Levi’s strength to Mikasa’s and again assumed it could also be due to genetics. Some even pointed out that he could be Asian as well, so it was possible to relate the source of Mikasa’s strength to Levi’s.

But everything changed when the First Interior Brigade attacked.

Who would’ve thought? Suddenly, Levi became related to Mikasa because of the other half of her lineage - the Ackermans. Everyone was so invested in the Asians and their mysterious origin and exile that no one suspected THE Ackermans. Immediately everyone concluded that Levi’s and Mikasa’s super strength and battle prowess came from their (now canon) shared lineage (and its ackerpowers).

Now, the Ackerman clan was very close to the royalty, and they had a purpose for living - to protect the King, to serve the Royal Government and also ensure humanity survived. For that, they needed to be exceptionally strong. 

But they didn’t have any other racially distinguishing features, like the Asians. Mikasa herself pointed it out to Levi.

So we could say that by appearance alone, they are the same as the people inside the walls (or the majority, as Grandpa Ackerman calls them). 

But Grandpa made sure to point out that theirs was a separate bloodline.

So what makes the Ackermans so different as to make them immune to the mass brainwashing?

Perhaps it’s their memories. Yes, the Ackerman’s powers must come from their accumulated memories, passed down from generation to generation of soldiers. Years and years of battle experience that can be awakened when the time calls for it.

If “suddenly knowing what to do” …

Or having “a power awaken inside”…

Or “believe they can do anything” and “assume perfect-self control”…

… actually translates to “to remember something”.

So the Ackermans may not be genetically engineered (is that even possible in this world?) to be stronger and faster… But given what we know about supernatural powers in the manga (more specifically the Reiss’ power to alter memories), the Ackermans must somehow inherit their ancestor’s memories, and they lay dormant until the person is driven to the brink of survival. 

And who could’ve made such a thing possible? The Reiss, of course. The Reiss started a lineage of warriors to protect them using their memory power alone. And somehow, these memories could be inherited (one doesn’t need to have them transferred by the heir to the Reiss).

The Ackerman memories must work a bit differently than the heir to the Reiss’ memories, which are inherited together with the coordinate power (by eating the person as a titan and therefore also becoming a shifter).

And that’s why the King’s influence cannot affect the memories of the Ackermans - because somehow, they must’ve have already been overwritten by their “soldier” memories through the exact same power. It’s ironic, really.

And when the time came for the King to rewrite history, the only way to wipe the Ackerman’s memories of times past was to wipe out the entire clan - hence their exile.

That’s pretty much what I can assume with the info Isayama has revealed so far.

…Right, but what about the Asians? They just look different. There isn’t anything that could possibly make them immune to the memory overwrite, right?

Perhaps what the Asian clan passes down to its children is not just a symbol. Perhaps it could a way to pass down their culture and make it survive, as in their sealed memories…?  

Yeah, we’re probably overthinking it.

Edit: Reblogged for the SNK Crack Theories Week 2016!  Prompt: Ackerman Monday (July 25)

[heartfilias-dragon]

so i ship historia and eren now?

how the fuck did that happen