#jiyuu

transcript:

1st panel - legoshi is crouching down in the middle of an area surrounded by trees.

2nd and 3rd panels - legoshi is looking down on something, until a voice calls out. "um...hello?" he's startled, and his eyes widen.

4th panel - another student, around the same size as him, approaches him, looking apologetic. "hi...sorry for startling you...i'm an 8th grader...i was taking a walk and um..." they begin to say.

5th panel - "i um...was wondering if you're looking at an insect? i was following one earlier but lost it...and i was curious about you cz you were crouching down...sorry if i seem rude..."

legoshi responds with, "oh, sure!"

6th panel - legoshi reaches out his palm to show them the caterpillar he's holding. "here," he says.

The first time we see Levi reckon with the concept might be three chapters later during his conversation with Erwin before they leave for Shiganshina. He is shocked and dismayed to discover how important Erwin’s personal dream has been in his decision making. Erwin might as well really be drunk for how irrational the decision he’s making in that moment seems to Levi. Levi still chooses to trust him (hmm, why would that be?), but the revelation rattles him.

Later in the same chapter, he hears Armin going on about his dream to see the ocean and everything beyond the walls. Maybe in that moment he begins to realize the significance of Kenny’s words. Maybe everyone really is drunk on something. Does he take a moment to wonder what he might be drunk on himself? Perhaps not. On the rooftop in Shiganshina, as he remembers hearing Armin and Eren that night, his conversation with Erwin, Kenny in his last moments telling him that everyone was a slave to something, he says to himself, “Fools, all of them…” as if he doesn’t count himself among them. Maybe he just doesn’t want to.

If he admits to himself that he might be a slave to something, his question of whether to trust himself or his comrades becomes that much more complicated. If he asks himself what he might be a slave to, I can only see him coming to one conclusion. Why did he join the Survey Corps in the first place? Why didn’t he break Erwin’s legs? Why was he so upset to find out about the primacy of Erwin’s dream? All this time, he has been relying on Erwin’s vision. He had one thing he could trust in that he didn’t have to question. He didn’t even have to think about who was right or wrong if he could trust in Erwin as his Polaris. But everyone was a slave to something. Even him…

It pains him to see Erwin tormented by what his dream has meant for him. He loves him enough to free him from that, even if it means giving up his own attachment both to Erwin himself and to his own role in acting for the greater good of humanity. He helps Erwin break free of his bonds, but what does it mean for Levi? Does it free him as well? Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear so. In giving up Erwin, it seems that the promise he made to him before his sacrifice has come to stand in for that attachment, and as everything continually falls apart and the situation becomes more and more desperate, Levi has clung to that promise more and more.

I think the chances are good he’ll find himself remembering Kenny’s words again. He’ll remember Erwin’s face as he thanked Levi for relieving him of his burden. Will he choose to be one of those fools, enslaved by this desire, relying on this promise to keep carrying on (and what, as he asked Erwin, will he do when this dream of his comes true?), or will he choose freedom?

Jiyuu (自由) is a 6ft (183cm) foul mouthed, chain-smoking sex worker who wasn't really planning to be a mom, especially not in her 40's. But, she had a little oops, and when Jiraiya came along she couldn't help but love the little guy. Once he was old enough to walk, they moved out of the brothel they'd lived in and got a place of their own so she could keep work separate from their home life.

Her profession and brassy demeanor earn her the resentment of some villagers, but Jiyuu's dealt with that long enough that she doesn't much care. What really bothers her is when people comment on her not being married/Jiraiya not having a father present. Besides the fact she's aromantic, she can handle her kid just fine by herself. Her parenting style might be a bit hands off at times, but she's always there if Jiraiya needs her and he's plenty happy.