birdstump:

WOW YOU HAVE OPENED THE FLOODGATES MY FRIEND

SNK IS ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF TRAUMA AND HOW DIFFERENT PEOPLE HAVE ADAPTED TO PSYCHOLOGICALLY SURVIVE THE AWFUL, LIFE-ALTERING CIRCUMSTANCES THEY FIND THEMSELVES TRAPPED WITHIN. ALSO HOW INDIVIDUALS SEARCH FOR VALUE WITHIN A SOCIETY IN WHICH COMPLACENCY IS ENCOURAGED AND DEATH IS OVERWHELMINGLY MEANINGLESS.

okay bail on the caps, on the surface it’s about our species having been hunted to near extinction by an endless race of titans who live only to joyfully eat humans in terrifying ways. there are a lot of horror and gore elements, so stay away if that’s not your thing. but it is SO FUCKING GOOD AT BEING MORE THAN A HORROR NARRATIVE. and apparently i have reached the saturation point of not being able to coherently explain the thing i love most of all right now, so i’m going to direct you to this g r e a t post by rainglazed which explains the nuances and themes far better than i ever could. this whole paragraph is just ugh yes:

“While on the surface Titans reflect human’s primal fear of being prey, I think they also represent our fear of sacrifice having no meaning, of not only dying in grotesque, agonizing ways, but also doing it for no reason.  The real enemy of the Scout Corps is the claustrophobic helplessness of their situation, the feeling of throwing one’s self into the void for lack of a better option, in the hope that something will work.  Anime, as a specific kind of Japanese narrative, often idealizes the principle of ‘ganbatte!’ or ‘Try your best!”  But here there is no guaranteed payoff for hard effort — trainees work hard for years only to be eviscerated before using their first sword.  There is no red shirt army — more than half of the named characters are dead within the first ten chapters.  The narrative strikes at the heart of our choking fear, of living futile lives and dying futile deaths fighting against giants we cannot win against and who could care less about us.  With a side of vivid gore, of course.”

SO GOOD, REAL GOOD. 

of course the strength of any series like this lives and dies in the depths of its characters. snk is fucking amazing on that front - and this is not a small or stable cast. it’s also very easy to start placing characters in trope boxes until you realise that half of them are actually purposefully subversive - including the supposed hero. it is honestly so refreshing to watch these characters evolve in ways that are realistically driven by complex reactions to an intensely aggressive world. and there’s so much i can’t even touch on because nearly everything is a spoiler (don’t even go near the tags unless you want to see major reveals). 

i’ve also got to say that i think the reason why snk has really blown up on tumblr in the past couple of weeks (aside from dismemberment and what the fuck gore), is actually down to how open the manga is with diversity. the mangaka, isayama, is a top quality dude with how he writes women especially (there’s a whole bunch of examples, but this spread of him refusing to portray mikasa as anything but the absolute bruiser she is… GLORIOUS). and it’s not just female physicality that’s represented well - it’s everything. these are characters who, as a whole, represent a huge variety of strengths and weaknesses - mental and physical - and in no instance is it ever limited by gender. 

there are also multiple queer characters whose sexuality isn’t used as a constant defining point or as a stereotype, which is honestly still pretty rare - especially in shonen.

damn, i don’t know how to wrap this up. i think the reason i personally have fallen so hard into snk is that it’s hitting everything i have been desperately missing in superhero comics. it’s an intensely driven series, written by someone unconstrained by editorial demands or dc/marvel whims. it has purpose, it has one of the fastest moving plots i’ve ever encountered, it’s going to have an ending instead of limping on forever. most importantly it has characters that defy my expectations, and that challenge all the ways in which superhero comics have trained me what to expect of certain tropes. 

it’s fucking good shit that i have absolutely no hesitations about recommending. and you can read it here, or at any of the other manga sites.

fotisha:

Did some quick Raven painting last night before bed - couldn’t decide which version was better so you get TWO. like woa, i know. :B

Clark: You know, there are still people who think that you and I —
Diana: Yes, I am aware. But friendships like ours do not sell magazines.
Clark: Just as well. They wouldn’t understand.
Diana: No. They wouldn’t understand at all.

(Wonder Woman V2, #226)

antispirals:

[x]

fmacity:

let’s draw fma went up and i thought it was pretty awesome! i had a few hours around dawn to kill, so i did this. i didn’t deviate that much from the original picture because i am uncreative.

Hayley Atwell for GQ Magazine