You believe in life after death, but not in hell? Why is that?

*clears throat, cracks knuckles* All right buckle up, it’s about to get theology in here.

I don’t believe in a traditional fire and brimstone hell. Honestly the way that’s taught in evangelical Christiandom is like… God is a teacher who leaves everyone with a bunch of textbooks and is like good luck kiddos figure out which one is the right one! And then he never really shows and then whoever fails the test at the end of the year gets lit on fire. That’s just dumb. I also didn’t come up with that analogy but I think it fits. So, bah to religious litmus tests for hell. 

I’m a Christian, right? So part of it has to do with the way I interpret different Biblical verses via looking at the original context and the original language used in the text (sorry white American evangelicals it wasn’t English). There are beautiful verses like about God is love and then about Jesus reconciling all things to himself–and the word used in Koine Greek really means, like, all things, like everything ever, like everyone ever. A lot of the hellish imagery is almost certainly a writing tool (cough Revelation) not prophecy, and the traditional fire and brimstone hell is really not an idea that originates with Hebrew texts or with early Christian ones, but instead with nearby cultures. I could go on and go more in depth, but those are just my religious beliefs. 

But in another reason irregardless of specific religion: I’ve seen a lot of fucked up shit in person in this world. Like a three week old baby too far gone to save from starvation. Like a four year old I knew left to die in a hospital hallway from a scorpion sting because he was the wrong caste. Like a boy whose mother was raped and then lit on fire in front of him, who never smiled in the three years he was at the school I worked with. Like kids whose parents sold them into prostitution. I despise the people who hurt these kids I care deeply about. I still do. I wish they would spend time in prison and if I saw them I don’t know what I’d do. 

But I’ve also seen abuse victims go on to abuse others, and I’ve seen students I love try to murder other students I love. I saw a boy cruelly mock his disabled peers, and then found out his mother lit herself on fire to escape his father’s abuse and his father hung himself on the same day. I saw a child who molested another child because they had been molested, and after exhausting legal options, we had to give the child back to the person we believed was abusing them. I love those kids too. It’s easy to condemn them, and people did. And of course, first priority is to protect their victims from them, and we did. But don’t those kids need help, too? It’s agonizing when you can’t give them that help. When justice won’t happen for any of the above people I mentioned.  

The only way I can cope with the problem of evil is the idea of, somehow, a loving God. If God is not loving, I don’t want jackshit to do with him/her. If God is Love, then I cannot ever imagine sending someone you love to suffer forever. Even if your child is a totally terrible person, you should still love your child but not the deeds. Not only that, but I think humans are limited in understanding and there are so many factors–genetic and nurture too–that go into making someone who they are. Which isn’t to excuse responsibility, because I look at certain political leaders and I want them to rot because they are responsible for their choices and they’re hurting people. I’d think that breaks God’s heart, and that he has plans to redeem all this horror somehow. Because the world sucks in a lot of ways. 

But in terms of infinity, I think humans have finite minds. I also don’t think everything done in this life should be swept away and justice shouldn’t exist because that is not love in any respect, but I don’t think it looks like an eternity burning in hell. In short, I don’t know, but if God is love and I believe he is, then I trust him. I don’t think mercy and justice are two opposites, but rather that they compliment each other and work together in an ideal world. 

So I don’t really know what an afterlife looks like in terms of justice, but I do know that I choose to have faith and trust. I don’t need to know everything, nor do I want to (sorry cult I grew up in, certainty is dumb). I am comfortable with grey matter, but that’s just me. I am also sorry if this isn’t very clear. I have not yet had my morning tea. 

Do you think it’s lazy writing if Isayama just brings Annie back into the story after being gone for years in the narrative? Her character has been “dead” for such a long time that it would feel somewhat hamfisted to just drop her back into the story after missing and being absent for so long.

Nope. It’d be lazy writing never to address her again. Characters go in and out of narratives all the time, but they should return, so I’m not sure what you mean by hamfisted. If you leave a running plot line for a long time, and you leave said plotline alive, readers expect said plotline to return. There’s been build up for her to come back in recent chapters as well. 

Oh you write original fiction?? What’s the genre of some of your stuff? If dont mind me asking ^^

It’s mostly YA!! Sometimes with fantastical elements, sometimes with historical elements, but I like writing from a teenage point of view. I think teenagers get far worse a rap than they deserve in general. It’s a pivotal time in a lot of peoples’ lives, not that it’s nearly as important as it seems nor is it as unimportant as adults like to pretend sometimes. Teenagers are awesome and they deserve to have their stories told without being condescended to, or without ya know, none of the teenage characters actually thinking or acting like teenagers. 

are you a writer or do you dabble in literature? I know one doesn’t need to be an expert on a field to hold an opinion on subjective stuff like literature, but you appear to know a lot on the subject. So I was just curious.

I have a Bachelor’s in Literature and Creative Writing! And I taught it for high schoolers for a year after I finished college, though now I work at a university (not in a teaching capacity). I love to write; it’s my dream to get a novel published (I had two short stories published in anthologies before, but it was a long time ago), but even if I don’t, writing makes me happy. It helps me relax, whether fictional or analytical writing. 

And thanks lol. The thing about writing and literature is that you’re always learning, so I may have a degree, but I’m still learning and oftentimes learn from people who don’t have degrees! 

I don’t want to send this and make it like I’m looking for a fight, but comparing eiji and ash’s relationship with historia and ymir’s isn’t quite fair, I’m a lgbt person and as far as we know ymir did love historia in a romantic way but we can’t say that historia loved ymir in a romantic way as well you can see it that way in your headcanon but please don’t go saying it’s canolically a thing.

Anon, I really do believe it’s canonically a thing, and I don’t think it’s really textually debatable, though you are welcome to disagree. I’m pretty “death of the author” but I believe someone involve with creating the anime actually confirmed they’re in a relationship so. But even going by the text, If Historia acted the same way towards a male character that she did towards Ymir, saying things like that being with that character makes her feel unafraid, etc., crying at a goodbye letter, in a depression after he left, saying she would betray humanity for a chance to help him like she says she will for Ymir, remembering Ymir in her moment of temptation and being inspired to live her own life by that memory, no one would be saying it’s purely platonic. It doesn’t need to be spoonfed to the audience, and I for one am glad it was never sexualized even with a kiss. It’s clearly there. That’s what the original ask was saying, and I frankly agree it’s there. If someone wants to deny that it’s textual, they’re entitled to do so, but it’s missing a key component of the relationship. That’s why I responded how I did. I am sorry if it offended you, but I stand by my response that it’s canon. 

I don’t mean to sound annoyed at you, Anon, but it’s also frustrating to me that LGBT+ representation is constantly being denied or having to pass far higher standards of obviousness than straight pairings. It really, really frustrates me. Spoonfeeding an LGBT relationship shouldn’t be necessary any more than it is for a straight couple. I don’t think Historia and Ymir’s relationship is that much different from Ash and Eiji’s, in terms of how they express affection for each other, how far they’re willing to go for each other, etc. That’s why I used that comparison. Again, I didn’t mean to offend, but I think it’s canon. 

Hi! It seems like a large portion of the fandom seem convinced that Nicolo and Sasha were actually dating due to Kaya’s remark. Do you have any thoughts on that? I always enjoy reading your analyses! :)

*shrugs* there’s no way to know! Nicolo’s feelings absolutely seem to be romantic, but we have no idea about Sasha and won’t because she’s dead. They might very well have been. 

Tbh, I think it’s a bit cheap writing-wise to shoehorn the romance element to add motivation for Nicolo’s actions last chapter, when what he said about her teaching him he could do good in the world with his cooking honestly would have sufficed given that someone in his position being mentally unstable would hardly be unusual, and that statement made me cry on its own. This is just my opinion though and is not a judgement on it, people are welcome to disagree! It just reminded me of Kaya trying to kill Gabi–didn’t seem quite necessary for the drama and themes of the scene, but w/e. Many people seem to like it, so that’s great! 

It makes me sad that many people are reluctant to see Historia as a lesbian and that she returns Ymir’s love😥 If Ymir were a boy, I bet this wouldn’t be the case, since Hisu boldly says things like “As long as I’m with you I’m not afraid” and has a breakdown when Ymir leaves. It’s weird how just a few years ago, most accepted them as THE canon couple of snk but nowadays there’s more dissent. Anyway, I’m really glad to find a great writer like you who understands their relationship so well 💖

Well, we don’t know she’s a lesbian! She could very well be bisexual. (Ymir, on the other hand, bluntly agreed she had no interest in men, so I think it’s safe to say she’s a lesbian.) That being said, Historia also has not explicitly canonically shown interest in a man, so she might well be a lesbian. 

But yeah, Yumihisu is canon. It’s like denying that Ash and Eiji in Banana Fish have romantic feelings for each other–they certainly love each other in a way that is almost spiritual, in a sense, and their love has many facets, but Historia and Ymir, like Ash and Eiji, absolutely have a romantic component to their relationship. To say otherwise is to misread the text. Historia and Ymir never kissed that we saw, but she thinks of Ymir whenever she needs inspiration to keep living (like in the cave). In contrast her current relationship with Farmer-kun is like… miserable. She’s miserable. Historia can of course move on and find someone and be happy, that’d be beautiful too and I don’t fault people who want this, but Yumihisu was definitely a thing. 

But Ymir has been out of the plot so long, it’s understandable there isn’t much content right now. I really hope Ymir’s memories via Porco play a role in jump-starting Historia’s positive development again. 

Seeing all the love being sent ur way, I want to say thank you too. I’ve been going through a rough mental spot for a while and it’s nice being able to ask someone questions on something I’m interested in. So I’m sorry if I’ve sent you a lot of anon questions as of late, but thank u for ur time and for answering them.

Thank you, Anon. I am so sorry you are going through such arough time–I am too, so while I don’t know why people have sent me so many nice anons lately, I’m very very grateful. Sending you hugs, and I really hope things improve for you soon.

No need to be sorry–I enjoy getting asks as answering them helps me relax and is genuinely fun, often prompting me to think about something in an entirely new way! It’s a way for me to cope with a rough time in life as well 😀 

I also apologize if I haven’t gotten to all asks lately (life’s kind of wild rn!)