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snk2014-07-02 01:58 pm
silkycuttle) wrote in snk2014-07-02 01:58 pm
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CHAPTER 59 DISCUSSION
Discuss chapter 59 (or previous chapters) in this post!
Spoilers can be posted here without warning.
Chinese raws here: http://www.ishuhui.com/archives/3147
Spoilers can be posted here without warning.
Chinese raws here: http://www.ishuhui.com/archives/3147
Re: tl;dr Jean is my baby
(Anonymous) 2014-07-07 02:48 am (UTC)(link)Ooh. I'll be in my bunk.
… no, seriously, I didn't think Levi was going to light into Jean for hesitating. I find it impossible to apply the word "nice" to Levi, ever. Here, I see him as being a responsible and pragmatic leader. The job includes not only kicking people's asses when necessary but boosting their morale when it's so low it threatens their ability to perform. It's very, very hard for most people to kill another human being, especially a young kid who's never done it before, and I'm sure Levi's aware of that.
We already have the precedent of him telling Eren that you make your best decision in the moment and live with it -- which he reiterated to Jean. And if Armin continues flagellating himself for having killed that soldier, he's not going to be any use to the rest of them. He needed to hear that he did the best thing possible under the circumstances, and to accept that his hands are dirty and move on.
And, yeah, I am completely unsurprised that Armin was able to do the necessary thing in the moment but that he lost his shit as soon as they were safe. It's completely in character for him. He wants to be ruthless, he's willing to try, but he struggles hard with issues of morality more than anyone else in SnK does.
As for why Levi "couldn't use his words" with Historia, I wonder if it had anything to do with his just having tortured Sanes. He seemed far less shaken than Hange was -- in fact, when we first see him in the apron (whose spatters imply that he's tortured people before), he's got a dreamy, in-the-flow expression on his face. But we also know that although he's not a good person, neither is he totally devoid of conscience, given how he reacted when he found out that all titans are people. One recurrent theme of this canon is that making these sorts of hard decisions have psychological as well as other consequences. Also, I think they were up all night torturing Sanes, and sleep deprivation never improves anyone's judgment (remember, he also failed to pass the information on to his squad until the very last minute, which he admitted was a mistake). So his thought process w/r/t Historia could have been, We spent hours pulling fingernails and teeth out of this guy and he gives us the key to solving our dilemma, and you're not going to go along with what we want?! Yeah, we'll see about that, you shitty brat.
I was waiting for Good Guy Marlo to make his reappearance! I'm rather surprised about Hitch, but I guess that when push comes to shove she's got more basic decency than she pretends. I suspect, though, that they've served their plot purposes and will die in the next few chapters. :(
Re: tl;dr Jean is my baby
(Anonymous) 2014-07-07 10:37 am (UTC)(link)Yeah, I don't think he's particularly nice, either, just doing a good job of handling the situation, but it surprised me because with him it's not a given.
Good point about the Historia thing. From what I remember, it really seems like they had that convo basically right after torturing Sanes for the whole night. Levi is much more affected by the violence and the pain around him, including those he himself inflicts, than what it seems at a first glance, despite his best efforts to come off as completely cold and ruthless. Of course this doesn't justify some of the things he does, but his character makes a lot more sense (and is more interesting) if you take this into account, instead of buying into the tough guy facade he puts up like a lot of fandom does.
I was always under the impression Hitch was a lot like Jean pre-Trost, going to great lengths to put up this loud, assholish attitude to hide what she perceives as her weak points, but actually capable of caring.
I gotta say what really surprised me about her, however, was how brave she was. There's that scene in which they've just been captured and they're kneeling on the ground and Levi is just about wondering what to do with them, and she goes right ahead and starts talking about how the SL killed civilian in Stohess and her friend Annie. That required some guts. Even Marlowe was surprised.
I hope they stay with us for at least another couple chapters, but yeah ;3;
Re: tl;dr Jean is my baby
(Anonymous) 2014-07-07 12:20 pm (UTC)(link)Re: tl;dr Jean is my baby
(Anonymous) 2014-07-07 01:30 pm (UTC)(link)Re: tl;dr Jean is my baby
(Anonymous) 2014-07-07 01:23 pm (UTC)(link)I agree with you that Levi is more affected by the horrors around him than he lets on, but I don't believe it's a façade, in the sense that he consciously covers it up. I think that, at this point, the mask is welded on.
Have you ever read the fic "Audacity"? There's a description of his reaction when hears about the death of someone he liked and respected:To me that reads just right. He has come to value emotional detachment because it has allowed him to survive, but he's been practicing it for so long that it's no longer a choice.
I was always under the impression Hitch was a lot like Jean pre-Trost, going to great lengths to put up this loud, assholish attitude to hide what she perceives as her weak points, but actually capable of caring.
I didn't feel that I'd seen enough of Hitch to draw much beyond superficial impressions, but now that you say it, I think you're right. And, yeah, she's got more spine than I thought — and is a quicker thinker as well.
Re: tl;dr Jean is my baby
(Anonymous) 2014-07-07 02:00 pm (UTC)(link)That's...actually a much better way of wording it. It's probably partially a leftover of his days as a thug and not something he could be getting rid of even if he wanted to, yeah.
Audacity
I will have to read that fic sooner or later, since people keep reccing it to me. I don't read that much Erwin/Levi but I like fics with the premise of exploring the finer implications of dominance/submission dynamics so it sounds right up my alley.
Until now we really didn't have much on Hitch, but I remember somebody back at their first apperance comparing the scene with Annie, Hitch and Marlowe talking with a similar scene between Annie herself, Jean and Eren and I was like, "oooh I can see that alright".
Re: tl;dr Jean is my baby
(Anonymous) 2014-07-07 03:08 pm (UTC)(link)AYRT: Be aware it's been jossed both by ACWNR and the main manga, so the canon divergence/AU factor is pretty strong by now. There are some scenes featuring Eren as a very small child (which are totally adorable), but otherwise there is no 104th presence at all yet. And for a fic of its length (and still in progress) it contains very little explicit content.
That said, if you like subtle D/s dynamics, UST, and loyalty, plus a great deal of plot and character development (including for secondary characters), you will probably like it. I've seen some complaints that Erwin is creepy in how he pushes Levi's boundaries, without the narrative acknowledging it. Personally I haven't gotten that read so far. Shoi has said, however, in comments that she does intend to go to darker places with Erwin's dominance over Levi, mirroring his moral ambiguity in canon.
Until now we really didn't have much on Hitch, but I remember somebody back at their first apperance comparing the scene with Annie, Hitch and Marlowe talking with a similar scene between Annie herself, Jean and Eren and I was like, "oooh I can see that alright".
Now I see it too. I wonder if Annie would have ended up mentoring Marlo to the same extent she did Eren, had she been able to keep her cover and remain in the MP for longer.