誓った！

Made this post over on my Twitter, but figured I'd share here as well!

Here's the actual link to the post for the clips used!

From watashi:

to ore:

[chapter 80]

(To be fair, he'd use omae to refer to Levi anyway as a more "manly" pronoun)

And from addressing Hange as kimi:

To omae, and ore for himself:

[chapter 57]

Nile is actually the one with whom he normally uses ore with, which does hint at without explicitly saying that they go a long way back:

[chapter 53]

But basically, Erwin's pronoun use is actually quite complicated.

Caveat that I'm also very much a manga only so I'm not sure if there's other or different uses that happen in the anime that I may have missed.

(If you have any interest, I do have a bunch of linguistic minded posts, if you're interested in a particular topic, I can dig up the relevant posts or write it up...)

大分の方言 「よだきぃ」→「めんどくさい」 「せれれん」→「やってられない」

In other words, the manga doesn't depict those underground as speaking a different sort of dialect from above, which would actually make things rather incomprehensible. But what's more interesting is actually their speech patterns, and in general, Farlan is the most normal of all and knows how to behave and interact in society XD, Levi uses casual form and coarse/manly/slurred speech all the time even when he shouldn't be, he pretty much talks like Kenny, and Isabel pretty much talks like Levi in what I assume is a way to express her looking up to him, but I saw that she also used ore for herself, so maybe it's also a bit of his manner of speech being the only thing she knows, although I still feel there's some Big brother worship involved because I assume Farlan could have corrected her because he knows better but she didn't care XDD

(Farlan being the only one who knows how to do this properly but then, I think his delayed adding on the desu still came across like a bit of insubordination XD)

And then the biggie which is how Levi's speech really fits in in the scheme of things, and this I think is the latest post I've made on this, and I'm picking this other one for the explainer for how the politeness and speech level adjustment works.

Hope that helps! :)

Made this post over on my Twitter, but figured I'd share here as well!

Here's the actual link to the post for the clips used!

From watashi:

to ore:

[chapter 80]

(To be fair, he'd use omae to refer to Levi anyway as a more "manly" pronoun)

And from addressing Hange as kimi:

To omae, and ore for himself:

[chapter 57]

Nile is actually the one with whom he normally uses ore with, which does hint at without explicitly saying that they go a long way back:

[chapter 53]

But basically, Erwin's pronoun use is actually quite complicated.

Caveat that I'm also very much a manga only so I'm not sure if there's other or different uses that happen in the anime that I may have missed.

(If you have any interest, I do have a bunch of linguistic minded posts, if you're interested in a particular topic, I can dig up the relevant posts or write it up...)

[translation: yusenki​ | editing: @birbwin ​] [source: x]

Disclaimer: Please do not re-post the translation elsewhere without permission.

The hole in the stone wall which surrounds the whole castle also serves as the gateway to the castle. Decayed but sturdy wooden gates are littered on the ground floor.

There are spaces with roofs attached to those gates, and walls allow for people to climb on top of them*. There are hidden holes to release arrows over there.

* Note: Arrowslit

It is proof that in the past, large numbers of humans were fighting against each other. It must have been a long time ago when knights wore armors and fought each other.

“What are you looking at?”

A voice calls out from behind Erwin, who has been looking straight ahead to the outside of the castle from there.

“It’s you, Levi. How is Eren doing?”

“I left him under the squad’s care. This is Hanji’s authorization document.”

“Then it’s fine” Erwin says. His blue eyes don’t move from the outside scenery.

“Over there is…the path to the imperial city, right?”

“Yes, if we’re going to fight against the monarchy, this point will be a strategic stop.”

“Ha…I won’t laugh even if that is a joke.”

Levi shrugs and proceeds to look outside through a hole beside the one that Erwin is peeking from.

“Under normal circumstances, Eren’s case will attract attention from the central. We’re in the position of refraining ourselves from making any improper statements.”

“If you [Levi] are the one who asks [for something], nobody would complain.”

“…You just say the things you want to say.”

For Levi, still he cannot read a lot of Erwin’s behaviours.. Even so, because his decisions always bring the best result, he believes in and follows him.

This guy…if it is needed for humanity’s liberation, he will even turn against the king. Hmph.

Whilst thinking that, Levi peers at Erwin’s expression from the side of his eyes.

He offers his heart for the sake of humanity’s freedom, not for the king or the authorities.

“Such an interesting person you are. Despite being born from a normal family, you purposely dive into a hell full of titans, all because you want to liberate humanity.”

“It’s not only the people born from a poor background who are not satisfied with the current situation, right? For the current me, this existence within the walls feels like being behind bars.“

"Tch, you said the same thing as the brat.”

“You mean Eren? According to the report, before the fall of Wall Maria, he used to say something along the lines of ‘living within the walls an entire lifetime is the same as being livestock.’”

“I also understand that…” Levi sighs. “Hmph, sometimes he is like a beast…his eyes are like a beast hunting for meat. He also holds a grudge towards the titans. But more than that, it is his dissatisfaction towards the current situation that burns most within his eyes; that dissatisfaction towards a society that forbids him from going outside the wall, as well as his frustration at being clueless and powerless.”

“So I am the same?”

“Sometimes.”

“So you are saying that I look quite young because I have the same eyes as a young new soldier?” Erwin laughs. His expression when he laughs makes him look like a young boy. Levi replies with a frown.

“I am not praising you!”

"I know.”

But he will follow him.

Finally, Erwin looks away from the outside scenery and looks at Levi’s face. Levi tilts his face up, looking up to the taller man.

“Yes, soon this depressing rain will stop. Seems like a clear wind is starting to blow…”

"In the debate over whether to save Erwin or Armin, people always say that Erwin has more experience and wisdom than Armin, and that saving him is the logical choice; but when we look back at all of Erwin’s strategic decisions, very few of them were successful, whereas with Armin, we see success from the very beginning. Humanity’s few successes against the Titans are Armin’s doing. What I mean is that without Erwin, we lose leadership and a man who can convince you of anything—a fundamental pillar of a commander. But strategically, he has always left much to be desired; in fact, in this very battle, he was always one step behind Zeke, costing his own life and those of the other soldiers. One also has to wonder if Erwin’s style—gambling almost everything on risky bets and leaving a trail of dead soldiers in his wake—is a viable long-term plan for humanity."

There's so much of this that is just plain untrue but I have no idea how to articulate my thoughts for a response without spoilers for the reactor beyond midnight sun. I do know that it's entirely unfair to compare how Erwin handles Zeke to how Armin handles Bertholdt because Erwin is going in completely blind against a man whose titan they've never faced and who came prepared from a place where things are far more advanced than Paradis and also while Zeke has had the time to study the ODM gear he snatched from Miche and Intel from Bertholdt and Reiner on top of that.

Meanwhile Armin personally knows Bertholdt and they've some idea on how to face the colossal from previous encounters, which is not to say Armin’s plan wasn't impressive because it was, but it feels like a huge disservice to Erwin to say he's always a step behind Zeke considering those factors.

Guess I'm just curious about your thoughts on that comment cus I've always really appreciated your meta 🙏

After over a decade in the fandom, my tendency when I see hot takes like this, particularly when they’re based on nothing more than “trust me bro”, is to take a deep breath, close my laptop, and walk away.  If you have the energy to engage with people like this, more power to you!  There’s so much wrong here it’s hard to know where to start, so let’s break it down. 

Erwin has more experience and wisdom than Armin, and that saving him is the logical choice

True. 

when we look back at all of Erwin’s strategic decisions, very few of them were successful

Untrue. For example Erwin guessed very early on that there was a spy in the Survey Corps, and he devised a strategy to flush them out.  Although his plan to capture the Female Titan didn’t succeed, he did prove that they had indeed been infiltrated by the enemy.  Erwin also planned and successfully executed a bloodless coup to overthrow the corrupt royal government with minimal loss of life. That’s a pretty major strategic success. I’d also argue that the Expedition to Shiganshina succeeded in most of its objectives, as a result of Erwin’s strategic decisions, although the victory came at a terrible cost.  As a  result of Erwin’s sacrifice, they were able to defeat the Beast Titan, reach the basement and uncover the truth of the world. The only reason that they didn’t actually capture the Beast Titan as well is that Levi hesitated at the last moment.  And we all know why that was. 

whereas with Armin, we see success from the very beginning. Humanity’s few successes against the Titans are Armin’s doing.

Untrue. One of Armin’s earliest plans, to capture Annie by luring her into the Underground where she could be prevented from transforming, failed because she saw straight through it.  This resulted in the Female Titan and the Attack Titan fighting in the streets of Stohess causing the death of hundreds of civilians.  Erwin took responsibility for these deaths, which is right and proper as he was the commanding officer, but the plan was Armin’s. 

without Erwin, we lose leadership and a man who can convince you of anything—a fundamental pillar of a commander. 

True

strategically, he has always left much to be desired; in fact, in this very battle, he was always one step behind Zeke, costing his own life and those of the other soldiers. 

I’m not entirely sure what “one step behind Zeke” means here. On the one hand, yes, Erwin had little or no knowledge of Zeke and what he was capable off, so he was always going to be on the back foot, on the other hand, despite facing desperate odds, Erwin he still managed to defeat him, by sacrificing himself and his soldiers to act as a distraction enabling Levi to use Zeke’s Titans to get close enough to launch a surprise attack on the Beast Titan and bring him down. It was an all or nothing plan but it did actually work.  The other unknown factor in this battle that people tend to forget about is Pieck.  The Cart Titan appears for the very first time in Shiganshina and there is no way that any of them could have known how fast and agile they were.  She certainly took Levi by surprise when she dived in to rescue Zeke. 

One also has to wonder if Erwin’s style—gambling almost everything on risky bets and leaving a trail of dead soldiers in his wake—is a viable long-term plan for humanity.

Honestly. This again? Yes Erwin was a risk taker, but he calculated the cost of every risk and he did everything in his power to minimise casualties, both military and civilian.  All the Survey Corps commanders were responsible for the death of hundreds of soldiers, but Erwin was the first to come up with a successful strategy to minimise losses with his long distance scouting formation.  The overthrow of the royal government is another perfect example of Erwin’s ability to carry through an incredibly risky plan with minimal loss of life.  To be honest I’m pretty sure that if Erwin had lived he would have come up with a viable long-term plan for humanity based on strategy and diplomacy rather than genocide, which is one of the reasons he had to be removed from the plot.   

Anyway, if you do have the energy to reply to the person you mentioned, this might give you some pointers. Alternatively you’re very welcome to borrow my Effin Birds picture that I’ve saved for occasions such as these.

Art by せんいち

Art by  maino_merry