Hello everyone! Since the official translation of chapter 139 has been released and has cleared some misconceptions from the bad korean scanlation it’s time to post my thoughts regarding Rivamika and the ending of Shingeki no Kyojin. I stronglyrecommend rereading the chapter with the official (Kodansha’s) translation (it’s easy to find).
Here goes…
While every shipper’s dream is to see obvious signs of canon for their pairing, I believe the Rivamika fandom will come out of this relatively healthy, and Rivamika fanworks will definitely thrive.
For one thing, both Levi and Mikasa are alive, Levi is well, and they’re going to meet. Isayama left things open-ended, but left us a few hints such as Armin implying Mikasa will find a nice man in the future, Pieck pestering Jean about his appearance, etc., that give us a little fuel for post-canon Rivamika. I won’t go into detail about Mikasa’s sorry state (that will go into another post where I will post my personal opinion about SNK’s ending as a whole), but it can be an amazing plot hook for any ship involving Mikasa - especiallyRivamika.
I have been preparing for this day ever since I created this blog in 2014, and as someone who is fandom!oldI have seen many OTPs of mine become officially canon - but no ship has ever gripped me like Rivamika. And Rivamika wouldn’t have been such an entrancing ship if Shingeki no Kyojin wasn’t a good quality manga. Only Rivamika was able to make me pour so many hours of work on a blog like this, and I do not regret one second of the time I spent on it. That’s why I hope the controversial ending of SNK doesn’t change your enjoyment of Rivamika, or detract you from the manga’s overall quality. An open ending with both Levi and Mikasa as one of the few survivors is one of the best things that could’ve happened to our fandom considering how dark Shingeki no Kyojin has always been. We have a bright future ahead of us, and in some ways a bittersweet ending can be an extremely effective kind of fuel for fanworks.
Finally, despite this blog’s name being canon-rivamika, please remember that canon isn’t the be-all and end-all to shipping. Rather, the purpose of this blog has always been to help gather the canon moments of development between Levi and Mikasa and the parallels between them in order to enrich our shipping experience. And so, rest assured that this blog will maintain its purpose as the Shingeki no Kyojin fandom enters a new era of fanworks. A final Rivamika timeline is slowly on the way. We also have merchandise, possible spinoffs, and the final season of the anime to entertain us for a while.
That’s it. A big and warm thank you to the 5k shippers who are following this blog! It has been, and still is, a pleasure to ship Rivamika with you all. :’)
Iwill post chapter 139 spoilers if they’re of interest to us (ahem), but be reminded that I always tag them snk spoilers . If you don’t wish to be tempted to peek at this blog and get spoiled, don’t visit the desktop version, block the snk spoilers tag and disable notifications. Stay away from tumblr or the internet if needed! Many people may forget to tag their spoilers after all.
It has been a while since I made Rivamika predictions, but it’s now or never right? It doesn’t hurt to write this down… no matter what Isayama decides next chapter, it has been a fun ride shipping Rivamika with y'all.
- Mikasa will probably break down while Eren’s colossal titan collapses around her. Levi will go for her rescue while shaking some sense into her.
- When they’re both safe, Levi will end up being the one to comfort her while Annie and Armin have their own moment.
Epilogue - I’d be happy with either one of these:
- Familial Rivamika: Mikasa marries someone else and has their baby, but Levi is present in her life and the baby’s, in a sort of happier Kenny - Kuchel - Levi parallel.
- Romantic Rivamika: Do I even need to describe it? Ackerbabies. Bonus points if Levi opens up a tea shop. Staying in Paradis or fleeing to rebuild Hizuru is also fine.
Incredibly, their roles are reversed now, because Levi knows his own limitations due to his injury: Last time Mikasa was the distraction, and Levi would finish the Female Titan in order to fetch Eren. This time, Levi is the one that distracts the other titans so Mikasa can fetch Armin!
if a work of fiction doesn’t make me think intensely about each character’s personal tragedy with that specific ache in my heart whenever i space out then what’s the point?
Posted this in the last minutes of Valentine’s Day but decided adding captions would be a lil fun hehe. Levi gave Mikasa sweet flowers. She wanted to return a kiss, but gentleman Levi hesitated, not wanting to kiss unless he knew how she felt for him.
