I loved reading your take on chapter 126 and Levihan. It brought back so many emotions. Thank you so much for that ❤️
I'd love to read your take on chapter 132 as well. You really made me curious with this:
"What we are not shed any light on here, is how Levi would have answered her question. But I do believe we get an answer for that in 132, when he literally dedicates his heart to her."
Wow thanks so much Anon! I’m really glad my interpretation of it resonated with you 😊
Omg 132 - so I would love to give my take on it, although I’m not sure I’ll be able to highlight anything that hasn’t already been said by some of the amazing Levihan meta writers and blogs already out there. Specifically, let me shout out @nocturnalmk and her masterlist here because some of this content is what got me thinking about 126 in the first place. Her own stuff and links to others regarding 132 are definitely worth checking out! Particularly, the information about Hange’s ‘unrequited love for Titans,’ and how Levi phrases this, is essential.
Also - this all ended up reaching a little past 132 and into later chapters too - hope that’s okay!
So I’m not sure if, after thinking about it more thoroughly and doing a little more reading, the way I phrased it previously is really correct - the idea that Levi dedicates his heart to her. It’s actually kinda more painful, in my eyes.
Disclaimer - here on out is my interpretation of events - everyone will see things differently and so I am no way claiming this is the only or correct way to look at these scenes. Anyway, on with my rambling then -
Let me explain firstly about the scouts’ salute and what it means.
It’s both the action and the words which give ‘shinzō wo sasageyo’ it’s meaning. Translated literally, shinzō is the heart, and wo sasageyo is to dedicate. As to who’s - yours, mine, his, hers - this is inferred from the context of the words. It’s abstract, mainly - more concerned with the action than the owner of the action. At least this is as much as my rudimentary Japanese tells me.
Another thing to note is that ‘shinzō’ is the word used for the physical organ, whereas ‘Kokoro’ is the heart when we talk about it in an emotional or spiritual sense. In light of this, when soldiers salute, it’s not the fortitude of their minds and the spiritual soul that they’re dedicating to the military, it is their literal hearts.
Think about that for a moment.
They are pledging their hearts - the organ that is responsible for keeping them living and breathing - to the military’s cause. In essence, they are pledging to lay down their lives for the cause. If they have to die - if they have to literally hand over their beating heart to whatever fate awaits them - they will do so.
The thud of the curled fist over the heart cements the promise - almost like one is literally saying - yes, here it is, in my chest, and I am giving up ownership of it. It’s no longer mine. My life is no longer my own - it belongs to duty and to the military, even if in the end I have to give it up.
So then let’s take a look at how the final salute between Levi and Hange goes:
(The fact that he calls her four eyes again here will always end me.)
I find these and the following panels especially heartbreaking, not simply because of Levihan’s goodbye, but because of the complex weight this moment holds for both of them, in terms of the ownership they have over their own lives, and the choices they are and are not able to make. It ties into the whole theme of freedom that runs through the heart of the manga.
In Hange’s final moments, it’s never been more apparent how far from freedom both of these characters are. They are not free, because they pledged their beating hearts to a cause, and now one of them must pay up.
Hange realises this. Like in the forest, she’s already made her decision when Levi speaks to her, because she’s true to her duty and she knows that it’s time to give up what she’s always promised she would when the time comes. But she’s terrified, still. Of course she is. This is why she can’t look at Levi. This is why she’s sweating profusely. This is why she tells him to just let her go.
It’s not the titans or death that she’s terrified of, though. How many times have we seen Hange face off with death? How many times have we seen her charge headfirst into hordes of titans without fear or care? Too many times to count.
But now she’s scared. Because something has changed.
No, it’s not death she fears. It’s her own ability to keep her promise - to dedicate her heart and body and life to the Survey Corps if Levi stands before her, looks her square in the eye, and asks her not to.
Hange is scared that Levi is the one thing that will crumble her resolve.
Why?
Because Hange heard Levi’s answer to her private, selfish wish from the forest earlier in the chapter. When Levi, in his typical direct and yet not direct at all fashion, insinuated that while her love for Titans may go unrequited, there are other loves in her life which will not.
Like her love for him.
That is how I interpret that earlier moment - as I said before, the links above are essential reading - and when you look at the moment of their goodbye in light of that, it cuts so deeply.
This is the face of a man warring with his own resolve, just as Hange’s is so close to cracking before his very eyes.
Levi’s expression goes from defiant, to defeated, to devastated. Realisation sets in that they were never free at all, and as people with integrity, neither of them could ever abandon the duty that they’ve pledged their lives to.
Even for each other.
So instead of pleading with her not to go like he clearly wants to from that pained expression, and the fact that he followed her even though she couldn’t bear to face him, Levi instead gives his blessing.
He presses his fist to Hange’s chest because he knows that it really has come time for her to ‘devote her heart,’ to put her money where her mouth is and give up her life for the continuity of the Survey Corps.
The hardest hitting part of these panels is not the way he puts his fist to her chest - not the idea that this is some ‘secret romantic gesture’. Because it’s really not. It’s devastating. What we should really be focusing on is how hard it clearly is for Levi to bring himself to do that - look at how pained he is. What it takes for him to make himself repeat that promise that now chains Hange to her fate - to her imminent death - and leads her living, breathing body away from his.
He doesn’t bring his fist to his own chest because it is not his heart - his body, or his life - that is going to be given up. It’s hers. And he wants to fully acknowledge that. What duty is costing him. Why he really does need to fight on and make what she devoted worthwhile. Sound familiar?
He probably could feel her heartbeat against his hand - a reassurance that in that moment, she was still alive and well in front of him, very physically present. Her whole life still ahead of her, with possibilities and opportunities and choices and freedom. But she gave all that up. She volunteered it readily, and even though Levi could have stopped her, he never would have. Because that’s just not who they were.
As is fitting, the final member of the Survey Corps to sacrifice themselves, and the last salute by Levi, prove to be the things that best encapsulate the idea of ‘shinzō wo sasageyo,’ and the true weight of that promise.
She didn’t want to go. He didn’t want to let her. And although the other characters look neutral or with small smiles, Hange looks filled with longing and pain. Notice how Levi never once says any of it was worth the sacrifice.
Levi is the only one in the end freed from his duty - the sole beating heart left out of so many, as symbolised by his final salute. The single tear is telling of what it cost him to get there.
why do tv characters never wear the same outfit twice that's just not realistic. just for once I'd like to see a character who rotates between maybe six shirts for their entire character arc like a normal human gremlin. this trope of never letting characters have a consistent wardrobe promotes extravagance and waste. in this essay I will
me rambling about how steven perceives himself pre and post incident and some other shit
this was supposed to be about his autism ( among other things like his depression ) bc thinking about how he dealt with and handled it throughout his life, pre incident and post incident, especially at the time he wouldve been alive pre-incident ( somewhere in the 80s - 90s likely ) is interesting and thinking ab his dynamic w pallet town and. everything is so.. grabhebhrhdbhn. God. I got off the rails. apologies. this is long as most things i ramble ab are.
Also known as me just. Talking about all of stevens life and my hcs and aspects of it because its really interesting to me. I think people underthink how much everything fucking affected him despite the story of SR being a tragedy and its so interesting and deeply depressing to me . i love overanalyzing mixed with headcanons that feel in character .
tldr; he masked a lot . and post incident (obviosuly) he was very fucking depressed
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steven always wanted to be a role model to the people of pallet town. thats like, his thing. its how i interpret the implied text ( like of red looking up to steven ) and everything. he babysat red and blue, and he specifically wanted to be someone the children of pallet town could see as a role model. pallet town is a small, countryside town. it did not have anyone like that. at the time the most it had was professor oak.
due to this, it probably also fueled his need to become champion - its just a further example of him wanting to be someone others could look up to, especially for the people of pallet. and probably to some extent wanting to prove that you can do anything if you put your mind to it, no matter who you are or where you come from
... but because of his need to be a role model, he tended to act in a sort of persona that wasnt. entirely him but also kinda was? basically, he tried to act cool because it makes all of that easier. him having a charmander, an extraordinarily rare pokemon, helped with that persona he liked to keep. ( especially later when he realized miki was special in how she evolves early and is stronger than others of her species. this did not help the Incident. )
although his mask would often go down around the people he was comfortable with. his brother, obviously, daisy, and to an extent red and blue. it slipped more often around them but they still thought he was cool, he just is like. also a dork loserboy under it. which is charming!
hes very much a people person or at least tried to be. small town. pallets the type of place you go outside and greet your neighbor, talk about what went on with your days, and then wave goodbye. he was kind of a natural at those sorts of interactions, but some other aspects of socializing were kind of hard for him, mostly admitting fault or fears and as such, hiding them deep deep away.
this probably contributed to the Incident somehow. he had a fear of death and by extent and arguably more, loss. he was very protective of people along with being pretty careful with anything that could accidentally hurt someone.
for comfort objects, he likes things like weighted blankets as they help him a lot with sleeping - if miki isnt sleeping on his bed, he needs a weighted blanket to mimic the feeling as he just always needs some sort of comfortable weight on him as he sleeps, and he also might have trouble with sleeping in general. is this me projecting? yes. but to a degree all of my hcs about his autism are me projecting my own autism both bc i love to project and because i genuinely think he'd be similar based on the canon text.
the most he'd have for a stim toy is like a rubix cube because he grew up in the 90s, and honestly thats what he prefers - not as a puzzle its just satisfying to move around, and even then thats probably more of mikes thing tbh. if you gave him a more modern one he would not be interested in it and would feel sort of infantilized ( remember that he has the need to put up a cool sort of persona ). he stims by more natural ways, mainly combing through his hair when hes nervous and pacing for the same reason. when he's happy im unsure bc i dont imagine him as a like. whatever you call fist moving up and down excitedly. bbbuut maybe? he'd like stress balls but theyre too firm for him ... once again this is all projection and bc i think he'd be similar. autoassume this for any of my hcs abt steven that are like this
not steven but once again i think mike is more of the stimtoy guy . steven is the 'i am going to take a one hour walk to destress myself' type of guy . which leads into him wandering kanto a lot post-incident, even if sluggishly
his special interests were probably battle strategies and pokemon in general. but this is up in the air bc i hc him as yk using miki for everything. battle strategies are more of reds thing, so.... who knows. battling in general, probably. the love of the game tbh
miki is basically his like... support pokemon in various ways. kind of. he never wants to be seperate from her and is very attached to her. in what way you interpret this is up to you, but for me its emotional support. maybe physically too? unsure of the details. also she is similarly clingy to steven as steven is to her. big ass oversized dog of a pokemon.
his strategy was mostly using miki by herself. everyone else was mostly for TM's and emergency backup - i've stated this before i think but if theres a serious issue miki cant handle he'll try to take advantage of the environment or think outside the box, akin to battles in the pokemon anime .
he's had a few close scrapes but i hc him as an undefeated trainer before everything. this, him becoming champion and finally giving pallet town it's local legend, and miki being so strong and unique while being his main pokemon... yea, this didn't make the incident easy for him whatsoever. especially given the legacy he left behind became very quickly tainted, making him more frustrated and depressed than anything. a local legend turned into a cautionary tale. i don't think people explore that enough so I WILL !!!
this is technically just me rambling about how he is pre-incident and how his need to be a role model affected his life and . other mental problems he had huh . Well. Real as hell ig. anyways back to it
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post incident he is blatantly a "i hate people" autistic . Shy vs introverted. oh no... people. vs ewww people. If anyone knows that image he is the 'eww people' with the middle fingers .
he barely interacts with anyone due to obvious reasons and his social battery is on a constant low since he can never fully recover it anymore due to just. everything.
before mikes death, he was canonically depressed. walking sluggishly almost every day to mikis grave in the pokemon tower, likely staying there for hours or even overnight sometimes... his legs were definitely numb, his body was excruciatingly tired, he barely ate, slept, or took care of himself. he wanted to just die, slow or quick. at least he'd be with miki then.
he hated peoples pity, hated accepting the food or drinks they offered. he hated being even seen in this state. he wouldn't do anything about it though. it's not like his reputation could be repaired without her. so trying to keep up appearances didn't really matter anymore, as much as he hated it. he saw it as a personal failure in a sense, so he stopped keeping up that mask even if he showed his 'ugly' and vulnerable side he hated so much.
i don't think him being exiled by the same town he grew up in and heavily cared about helps. he has insane trust issues and this was the worst possible outcome. although in a more stable mind he cant blame them, it still obviously doesn't feel good to be considered a threat or a freak by your entire region, and then to be quickly forgotten about as everyone shoves anything about you under the rug. salt in the wound.
... he still cares, even if he acts like he doesn't. he always cared, he always cared far too much. he'll still sometimes look at pallet from the stone fence at night longingly. some people will report they see one red eye from the border, watching intently.
he does get things put inside said borders of his exiled ''enclosure''. like food so... either they didn't fully forget or they feel bad. he never gets to see who drops these off. whether theyre to ''appease'' the man they think is a monster or out of genuine goodwill is uncertain, but he appreciates it regardless.
he barely lives each day and lives off of frozen food at best. hes living in a dying old home, his heat definitely doesnt work so if he takes baths they're cold ones, his lights probably flicker and break a lot, and his house is just on the cusp of death half the time. depression and autism mixing together to make him not take care of himself whatsoever
he no longer cares about his self image so his personality if you ever somehow interact with him is very different. he's pretty blunt, straight to the point, and will give you that Autistic stare that makes you look like he wants someone dead. he doesn't, probably, he just has a bad resting face and a very intimidating glare. like the Too much eye contact vs Avoiding eye contact. he avoids it if hes nervous or flustered, though.
im stopping righ here idk what else to add. but. oghghrhg... Steven. Steeeveen.... he makes me so emo.
i didnt want to rb again bc. long ass post. but i dont personally agree with the 's!3v3n / steven was always evil' thing bc its such a boring character motiv. smr just is not good at writing s!3v3n ( in general but just in a compelling or interesting way ), and also strangled red was the last one written where he actually was like, sympathetic. the 'backstory/prequel' written last curse tbh. itd be nice if the remakes were just faithful rewrites so theyd fix this or make it a lil better but.. yk.
i think missingno did enable these thoughts but in the sense that it made the intrusive thoughts and his worse gut reactions and instincts grow and grow until he just, did them. you know like when you say ' i want to kill someone ' but you dont really mean it you're just really fucking upset at them and want to take it out on something physically or mentally but cant? things like that. it makes the violent static in your brain grow and grow until you act without thinking, i feel. just by its aura and by existing.
but i also think interpretations where its 'entirely missingnos fault' aren't great either because it removes stevens agency as a character and also makes missingno even more of a plot device than it already is - which isn't even bad in strangled red but it Is a plot device.
he still strangled mike even if he was coerced into it. did he regret it after or not care and double down? YOU decide!
( i know miki doing it is the actual canon implication and yk. literal canon as confirmed by smr, but thats also fucking boring and lame. killing your brother with your bare hands via strangulation goes so much harder and is more thematically fitting. Thank you hyplull for that interpretation god bless )
the different hcs and interps of strangled red and steven are so nice ... everyone whos uber autistic about strangled red gather together in a circle we will hold hands and sing
