ErwinBasement

ErwinBasement is the cargo ship between Erwin Smith and the basement from the Attack on Titan fandom.

Canon
The basement refers to the one in Grisha Jaeger's house, where secrets of the Titans and the world are hidden. Erwin is the son of a history teacher inside the walls. One day, his father is teaching his class, and he asks, "How do we know that there are no humans outside the walls?" In reponse, his father gives a short answer. His father believes it is near impossible for humanity not to have passed down an oral history.

Upon hearing this, a young and naive Erwin shares all about his father’s theory with his friend. The military police end up finding out and his father is tortured and killed for having this information. From that day forth, Erwin never forgot this and his entire goal to join the Survey Corps was based upon proving his father was right.

Later in life, Erwin meets Eren Jaeger and finds out he has the key to the basement. During the return to Shiganshina, he and Levi Ackerman and are found in a hopeless situation. Erwin confesses all of his most intimate feelings about the basement and his desire to prove his father's theory to Levi.

After Levi's words of encouragement for him, Erwin moves forward with his plan. However, ultimately, he is not able to reach his dream since Levi failed killing the Beast Titan and 96% of all the troops were killed. His last words have something to do with the basement once again. Erwin repeats the question he asked to his father in the classroom.

Fanon
Due to Erwin's dream being all about finding his father's theories were true from visiting the basement, fans have joked about this a lot of times. Since some fans call Erwin's dream an "obsession" of his, it makes this more of a meme within the fandom. Although some other fans have also made very lengthy and thoughtful analyses of Erwin's relationship to the basement. These same fans headcanon Erwin's reaction to the basement as a mixture between relief for the fact his dad's theories were true, and sadness for all the lives that had been lost to get to that moment.

Some fans accuse Erwin of being "obsessed" with the basement, to the point of being selfish. However, some other fans point out the fact this is not true, since Erwin never viewed the deaths of his comrades lightly, and he just wanted to reveal the truth of Humanity's history, that his father told him was in the basement.

Fandom
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