Armiert

i volunteer to drink the bath water :|

the subjects of ymir were historically the victims of brutal and atrocious human experimentation for warfare, it had to have been the case under the eldian empire as well, and then marley continues it for the same reasons. it played a part in how titans, and specifically the 9, came to be and were shaped into what they are in the present of the story. presently, i assume that annie and reiner (he’s the one in the top 2 images) bore the brunt of it due to their titans’ hardening nature as well as their purpose in close combat. iirc annie mentions being fed all kinds of things. i think it is apparent too with when u contrast their reaction to injury and pain/their pain tolerance with pieck (when porco cuts off her hand) or bert (when mikasa slashes him and reiner). there is also a lot as it ties to biochemical warfare (the serums, biochemical weapons used in ragako village, etc. this was most relevant to zeke for obv reasons)