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[yuuago]

So, I've fallen face-first into Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan.

... By that I mean that I've been reading it over the course of a few days and man, I just can't stop!

Sure, the art is... uh. Not that great. But after Hetalia, I think I can handle some bad art. ;p At least in the service of an interesting story. Plus, it kind of suits the atmosphere of it somehow. Something about how it's scribbly and rushed and out of proportion, like it was put down in a hurry by someone whose time was running out. Or something. Not that it's likely to be intentional, mind you, except for deliberate distortion with the Titan anatomy of course, but anyway-

Yeah, it's pretty good - right now I'm partly through volume 7. I was nervous about getting into it at first, even though a ton of my friends have been reading/watching it, because the concept seemed so bleak and the comic itself so damn violent. But then I did some thinking and decided that if I could handle the Battle Royale manga, then I could at least see if I could handle this one. So far, so good. To be honest, BR bothered me more, so.

Mind you, I don't plan on writing fic of this series or anything. But it's nice to be enjoying something that so many people that I know are currently into. I don't usually follow a lot of anime fandoms because -- well, recently, I've started to admit it, I have a terrible attention span for anything in video format. So at least this one has a comic to go with it. Now, that can hold my attention.

Though not gonna' lie, I suspect some of my favourite characters will kick the bucket. Be right back, mentally preparin' myself for it....

Comments

[chambery]

There's something about fic in this fandom so far... I like this series a lot (it's starting to take over my tumblr, whoops - ) and I'm just eating all the art up, but I can't seem to get the urge to read fic about it yet! A little inversed, but I think I get where you're coming from there.

Maybe it's because of how little we know for sure about so many people, even now... a lot of question marks!

[yuuago]

Man, I haven't even properly started poking my nose into the fanart yet. Not until I finish all the volumes available, I think... I don't want to accidentally spoil myself. But what has floated across my tumblr dash has been nice. 8)

Originally I didn't find myself interested in fic at all; I think this is a series where, for the most part, I would only be interested in plot-heavy and action-heavy canon-compliant stories, and that kind of stuff is hard to find in fandom in general I think. ...But then I found myself interested in a small ship which was promptly sunk by canon a few volumes later and I'm still kind of "?!" about that plot development because I didn't see it coming (I'm not very observant with things) but someone said that there is actually fic of it and I'm curious as hell as to how people would even make it work without being AU, and

um

...Yes, anyway.

Ahh yes "Lots of question marks" - sometimes it can be a good thing, because there's lots of room to develop people in fic that we don't know much about. But with a story like SnK it can be a problem because things are Being Developed and there's no way of knowing how it'll turn out (not to mention who will end up dead). I really hope it won't end up being a zillion volumes long; I love it but in such a case I'm not sure I'd be able to keep up.

[chambery]

Goodness, now I'm wild curious if that's a ship I'd know! And yes, from what I've seen out of the past few updates (or at least heard from people who've been keeping up to date with it for a longer while) is that the usual reaction to new chapters really is "...!!!!(?)", usually turning into a near theorizing frenzy -

It's fun from that angle, but as fic fodder it's like it can lead to a lot having to be retconned as it continues. And that's not a exactly a terrible thing! Though from my angle, I guess when I do start reading fic for anything I get very comfortable with certain ideas I might find that I wouldn't have considered on my own. Like how something purely headcanon feels so right! And with Shingeki it seems like those things can be struck a blow at any moment, so I'm just waiting things out, in a way... explaining this is kind of tough, aa.

[yuuago]

Haha, well, the ship is actually Annie/Armin. There's that one line sort of early on where he's like "You're actually a kind person, aren't you?" and at that moment I went OH NO IT'S CUTE and kind of fell in love. ... and then plot happened. [/facepalm] When she first showed up, I thought she would be a Norway type of character: Cold, quiet, casually violent, and with little importance to the plot (aside from being a device to teach Eren how to fight). So it wasn't hard for my mind to start going in fluffy romance directions at all. But now... Uh. I have no idea how it could ever be functional. xD

...Anyway.

I'm still not quiiiiite caught up yet but I'm making my way through volume 11 right now and hot damn shit is getting real. BUT IT ISN'T FINISHED. That's my biggest beef with this manga, seriously. alksdjfd Never again am I getting into something that is not already finished, omg.

And yeah, I agree re: potential of stuff to be retconned. So I'm not likely to read fic for a while... I think. Unless I find something set during a very, very specific moment or something. (Or, hell, slap a canon-divergent AU label on it, and it'll probably be good enough for me. But yeah.)

Current prediction: Rocks fall, everyone dies

[chambery]

Rocks fall, everyone dies yep that's it, that's this manga.

It's even tougher with updates being monthly, iirc? Just - yes. Ngl, this is the first fandom where having a favorite character die has been something I'm totally fine with, if only because it's safer to figure, "Gosh, maybe there won't be anymore twists on their part..."

I can see how the comparison happened with Annie though, omg...! ;o; They really are an interesting pair even as they are - I can't turn it into a ship at this point unless it's au'd a good deal, yeah, but every time she and Armin have interacted it's made me appreciate them more as individuals. They get some incredible moments of insight.