Thread by @catgrlmikasa, thread on why eremika makes sense narratively, from a story telling point [...]

thread on why eremika makes sense narratively, from a story telling point of view (and why i think they are pretty much canon as of now despite what happens in the last 2 chaps)

first of all, aot literally begins with eren and mikasa (mikasa even being the one to speak first). the very first characters we see are these two, immediately letting the reader know that they are obviously going to have importance.

then arguably the two most important phrases in the show are established in the cabin scene with eren and mikasa, where we also get to see just how and why they have a relationship

once mikasa is rescued, two important things happen: one- eren gives mikasa the scarf (a symbol of their relationship, and also can be seen as a red string of fate) and two- eren becomes mikasa’s home and only family she has left.

moments (from mikasa’s pov) that strengthen the idea of the sense of home and familiar bond they share:

later mikasa finishes what i think is the most important phrase in aot and in a sense, is what aot is about. notice the framing in which the world = cruel and their relationship = beautiful (beauty is found in the relationships we have with others)

right when mikasa decides she is going to live and fight (“if we don’t fight we can’t win”) eren’s titan saves her, and this is how his titan is revealed to the readers even if we don’t know it yet.

(my point with this is that his titan form could have saved anyone (armin?) or it could have just been seen for the first time in a different way, but instead this is the exposition we get, with eren and mikasa)

another moment where this didn’t even have to be shown, and if it wasn’t important then it wouldn’t have been included

when on trial, eren is shocked he would do anything to hurt mikasa and then defends her after they suspect she’s not human either (what we should get from this: eren wants to protect her and defend her from any harm, he obviously cares about her a lot you cretins)

during the female titan arc, after annie transforms eren wants to protect M & A from annie but can’t transform, because he doesn’t have a concrete goal (what armin says), but then this interaction between M and E happens, with the famous phrase used once again

(he successfully transforms after that by the way)

at this point we’ve only had someone outside of eremika imply that their relationship is romantic (first image) but then after the battle with annie someone of significance to the story actually gives the readers the same idea as well (armin, second image)

at this point it should be painfully obvious for readers that their relationship isn’t like that of siblings

after all these little crumbs implying what their relationship is like, we finally get to chapter 50 which solidifies it and THERE IS A LOT TO UNPACK

eren becomes absolutely desperate as he and mikasa watch the same scenario from their childhood play out all over again

eren has always had low self esteem and here mikasa is the chosen character to refute his idea of himself because she is the only one who can— mikasa has always believed in him and his capability since day 1 and she loves him for it

i think at this point it’s safe to say M assumed this was their final moments being alive so she confesses to E despite being not good at communicating and explains he’s never been useless simply because he exists and because he was beautiful to her in this cruel world

“thank you for teaching me how to live” = “if we don’t fight we can’t win”
“thank you for wrapping this scarf around me” = “this world is cruel yet beautiful”

these two phrases are practically the foundation of their relationship and as well as their understanding of the world around them (the way eren sees the world, and he way mikasa sees it) and they ultimately get re-emphasized all throughout the story

this scene was drawn without any words to it and yet it perfectly encapsulates the idea of beauty in a cruel world— eremika is the beauty than can coexist while the scouts in the background are at their lowest point all getting killed and experiencing cruelty

right when they are about to kiss eren pushes her away and stands up NOT BECAUSE HE’S REJECTING HER- but because he can’t win if he doesn’t fight. he wants to fight on the brink of death for her, he wants to be useful to her and protect her even if it’s in vain.

then he says the famous line- he promises to wrap the scarf around her “again and again. forever”

what can we get from this?
- he wants her to know he doesn’t imagine a future without her, not one where he can’t continue to protect her

ADDITIONALLY— the scarf is not only a symbol of the red string of fate between soulmates, it’s also a symbol of their relationship itself and the time he saved her and they became each other’s home

twitter wouldn’t let me continue my thread unless i tweeted out what i had so if ur reading this now I HAVE NOT FINISHED MAKING MY POINTS

it’s safe to say everything mikasa said to him helped him regain confidence in himself as well as strength

also it’s important to recognize that there is a reason for everything in aot- every little detail that isayama puts has significance and that includes the fact that out of all characters mikasa is the one here with eren in this moment

it could have been eren mikasa and armin, or even just eren and armin, but that wasn’t the case— a clear separation is made between armin’s role in eren’s life and mikasa’s role

after chapter 50 their relationship changes— before eren hates the way mikasa would always save him and she didn’t really communicate with him, but after this i think they began to understand each other a lot better-

- mikasa understanding eren’s self image, and eren understanding mikasa’s motives.

eren even takes this whole event as like a pivotal moment for him to be stronger and to not hesitate, as he tells jean. eren gained a lot of confidence, motivation and determination because he has things worth fighting for

later on it’s revealed that eren was jealous of mikasa, which explains his hostile behavior from the early days when he would get saved all the time, and also tells us a lot of miscommunication between E and M came from eren’s feeling of being worthless

ever since chapter 50 mikasa is super aware of when eren begins to falter because she understands him better than before

around this point in the story mikasa’s role definetly develops from being only overprotective of him to something deeper— she is support to him, someone he finds strength in, and someone who reassures him.

at the same time, mikasa is a reminder of home to him, and he wants to be the one to bring back those days when they had a home, not just for himself but for her as well.

when they are finally about to reach the basement- we get panels that emphasize the importance of them going to their old home together- it could have been eren alone- but this was the past they shared and now the future of humanity they are going to build

mikasa being the reassurance eren needs (all she has to do is look at him and she understands). their relationship has developed extremely in comparison to what they were like at the beginning- they’ve matured individually and together.

eren is once again in need of strength and mikasa is there to provide that for him... he calms down after she puts her hand near his and they look at each other (for reassurance) and they literally open the book that had the secrets to all of humanity TOGETHER.

i think it’s obvious the importance eren has for mikasa but she literally stops eating once she hears he has a limited life span (and eren is the one to notice)

mikasa (and armin) are literally so important that it’s gets passed to eren kruger (interesting how these words apply to the current state of the manga

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mikasa (and armin) are literally so important that it’s gets passed to eren kruger (interesting how these words apply to the current state of the manga )

fast forward to the attack on marley and mikasa is the first to see eren after he’s been gone all this time. her first words are asking him to come home.

despite finally reaching a point where i believe eren and mikasa understood each other pretty well, this obviously crumbles when eren gains all those memories (future and past), and especially his disappearance in marley solidifies the newfound distance between him and her.

he sees her face and expression and falters for just a second— keep in mind what happened between them the last time they saw each other. but he quickly moves forward from that and doesn’t acknowledge what she said.

thus begins eren sacrificing his humanity and the relationships with people that make him want to be human (mikasa especially).

we get this phrase once again— but instead of being on the same page about this way of thinking M says it in a way where she questions the very validity of it (is it worth it?) while E seems to only be confirming to himself why this is worth it (he says it to his reflection***)

one of the very phrases that used to bind them together is now used to show the distance and lack of understanding between them and their motives.

later on, the scouts are trying to understand eren and mikasa is the one to point out that maybe he is doing it all for them, and brings up when he told them he all wants them to live long happy lives (“eren cares about us”)

also why focus on these two if there isn’t some of importance or implication behind that, hm?

continuing this later

before i move on i forgot to include this, which after mappa animated this scene i feel like a lot of people completely dismissed the fact that in the manga, the way eren falters after seeing her like this is clear.

anyways by 112, the table scene happens and there obviously isnt anything pleasant about this but because of the conversation eren has with zeke later on, we can conclude that eren was lying the entire time, about literally everything he said.

he says these hurtful things to armin and especially to mikasa to make them hate him so his job becomes easier and that way it hurts less for all of them. but after the are all put in a cell i think it’s obvious the way he’s not happy about what he’s done.

not even 2 chapters later it’s implied that eren had a motive behind hurting “the two people he used to care about the most”, and it focuses on mikasa’s reaction to this

then in 118, it’s heavily implied (not confirmed yet as of where we are in the manga) that eren was lying, especially by armin.

at the same time, we see mikasa no longer wearing the scarf (symbol of their relationship) and she just has it in her hand instead. eren and mikasa are both distancing themself— just in different ways. eren did it explicitly, but mikasa is doing it in a more subtle way.

right before eren reaches paths in 120, memories are shown— some are eren’s and some are not but either way his memory with mikasa (the first scene in all of aot) is shown centered and is the biggest (in other words, it has the most emphasis)

additionally, most of the shards are memories from really important events in aot— for example, the memory shard with armin is from when eren realizes for the first time he isn’t free.

also his talk with ramzi (another important moment for eren) and also his fathers memories— all of which have already been explained as of the current state of the manga— all except his memory with mikasa.

we don’t know why the first scene with mikasa under the tree waking eren up is so constantly emphasized... we just know it’s important.

while going through memories with zeke we are shown THE eremika scene, and how eren doesn’t even listen to what zeke is saying because he’s too lost in thought watching his younger self wrap the scarf around mikasa.

then we get to chapter 123, the last time they see eren before he disappeared in marley, and a lot happens.

first of all, despite eren not being in a good place mentally and he keeps zoning out, he and mikasa stay near each other for the majority of this chapter and they even share an ice cream together

later on, mikasa realizes eren isn’t with the others and she goes out to look for him. she arrives just minutes after what happened between him and ramzi (which we will see later on)

but it’s safe to say that eren isn’t in a good place mentally. besides the fact that he was sobbing earlier, he doesn’t know how to cope with the fact that he can’t change the future and he’s going to kill all those people— and of course he feels horrible about it.

and right before eren confronts mikasa, he’s talking about freedom. he says “us” but at the end of the day eren knows he has absolutely no freedom and is a slave to his future— and at this point he’s desperate to find any kind of sign that maybe things can be different.

in desperation eren asks mikasa what he is to her, and even if he already had a conversation with zeke regarding this he want to hear it from her mouth— he wants a reason to believe her and a reason to stay and maybe even not start the rumbling.

eren decides somewhere in his head that mikasa’s answer to his question is the only thing that can stop him, and you can see in his eyes he wants her to say it. the desperation in his eyes of wanting her to give him a reason to stay despite everything that will or could happen.

sadly mikasa is nervous and doesn’t understand why he’s asking that all of a sudden and she says the answer that comes easier to her— you’re family.

while mikasa’s definition of family means to her someone she values above all else and is worth everything to her, eren doesn’t understand that. when they get interrupted, eren is grateful because he’s taken mikasa’s answer as a rejection and as proof that he can’t change fate.