Thread by @cactuzzshash

AoT Manga Spoilers//

I’m a big fan of how this dynamic developed over the course of the manga which culminated in one of my favourite chapters, 138. It embodies the themes of home, beauty, cruelty, freedom, and the war between selfishness and selflessness perfectly imo.

Eren matured from a brat with an awfully hidden jealousy/inferiority complex to someone more secure in his own role and more appreciative of others he had previously wished to become. He learnt to gain strength through the one he wished to protect, not solely by himself. +2

Mikasa matured from a broken girl with a dependency complex to someone willing to sever that same tie for the things she believes in. The parallel to ymir accentuates her arc of gaining independence and ‘freedom’, it doesn’t make her more of a slave or anything stupid. +3

The scarf grows from a symbol of attachment to one that represents a gift of life that allows her to make her own choice. It’s hugely important to the both of them and embodies a complex bond that remains despite erens monstrosity and mikasas independence. +4

The cabin dream is beautiful because it’s an impossible reality, a ‘what if’ had their characters or circumstances not been what they were. Eren DID continue the slaughter and mikasa WOULDN’T abandon her friends, because of who they both are. A shared representation of home. +5

Eren tells her to forget him (something we know his selfish side doesn’t want) but mikasa refuses to do that in order to become free, because she already is. She answers his darkest fear without even knowing it was there. +6

I’m not a shipper at all and please don’t involve me in stupid discourse about headcanons. I am however interested to hear opinions from others who are civil as i’m aware this may not be the most commonly held opinion. What are your thoughts, if any?

end.