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linkspooky · 1 year ago

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Art credit: @/charscounterattack reposted with permission.

INVINCIBLE VS. MY HERO ACADEMIA: WHEN HEROES KILL

Whether or not heroes should kill people is a hotly debated topic in comics.

There are people who think heroes should never kill, and others who think heroes should kill more. One of the most famous comic book storylines "Under the Red Hood" has Red Hood / Jason Todd debate whether or not it was ethical for Bruce to keep letting the joker live even after the Joker killed Jaso, especially after the Joker killed Jason. If killing the Joker earlier to prevent all future deaths would have been justified. There are like a hundred DC Aus that are like "What if Batman and Superman just started killing people?"

In order to explore this question I'm going to explore two situations in different comics, Invincible and My Hero Academia when the hero, a very idealistic young hero kills someone for the first time.

LET HORI COOK

Storytelling, especially for serialized storytelling which comes out week by week instead of all at once works on the premise of drawing people in by promising that certain future developments and plot points are going to happen. Stories are all about creating expectations, building them, and then paying them off.

Here's an example: The Dabi is a Todoroki theory has existed pretty much since the training camp arc. Horikoshi wasn't in your face about the hints about Toya, but there was just enough hints to make the theory seem more and more plausible. Toya having the same fire quirk as Shoto / Endeavor. Toya mentioning both of them by name. Shoto's two other siblings getting revealed but not Toya. Toya saying that Hawks should have paid attention to him most of all. All of these little pieces came together until Toya finally revealed his identity on live TV in front of both Shoto and Endeavor.

This worked because not only did it give the audience just enough clues that they felt smart for figuring it out, and get invested in the idea of Toya as a Todoroki, it also was well-paced so it didn't seem like Horikoshi forgot about it unlike the traitor plot which went hundreds of chapters without being mentioned. If Toya was revealed to be a Todoroki at the training camp arc with no buildup, it wouldn't be as effective bcause we didn't have years of waiting and theorizing. If Todoroki was revealed to be some guy named Steve after all the hints, it also wouldn't be an effective reveal because there were hints dropped for Toya Todoroki, but there were no Steve hints so it'd feel like the author lied to us.

Themes are like this too. I tend to explain story themes by oversimplifying it as "Question, and answer." The story asks a question, it provides us an answer, and we can come up with our own answer as well. However, there's a middle part I'm skipping out on which is deliberation. Before you can come up with an answer, you obviously need to deliberate it, either by presenting arguments for or against, hearing outside opinions or just thinking things through.

In other words, you need to "Let things cook."

If Toya calling Shoto by his full name at the Training Camp Arc is when we're first asked "Is Toya a Todoroki?" or when the theories first started, then the long middle period between Training Camp Arc and the First War Arc is the deliberation. This is when the story not only added more hints to the idea that Toya was a Todoroki, but also set up why that reveal mattered. Endeavor wanted to atone for his past sins, but one of his victims was no longer alive. Endeavor begins to move on anyway and think he's finally made himself a good hero, but now Toya appears to flip up the reverse Uno Card.

So let's follow this basic formula, for how ideas get developed in My Hero Academia and just any good story.

Question / Introduction

Deliberation

Answer / Conclusion

My Hero Academia and Invincible explore similar themes in regards to heroism, generational trauma and how to be better than the previous generation in both Mark and Deku. I'm going to streamline their arcs down to one basic question for the sake of time. For both the question is:

Can I be a better hero than my Dad?

Deku and Mark might be two characters who cannot possibly seem to be more different, but you can actually list off a lot of similarities between them right away. Deku and Mark are both people who in a world oversaturated with superheroes spent most of their childhoods with no superpowers at all. Also, they were genetically supposed to inherit a quirk / viltrumite powers, but Deku was born quirkless, and Mark was an extremely late bloomer. They are also people who while being powerless civilians for most of their lives worship heroes. Deku collects so much All Might Merch he even stole some from Nighteye after he died, Mark attends comic conventions even after he becomes a superhero.

They also grew up worshipping one hero in particular who was essentially earth's strongest hero, for Mark it was his dad Omni-Man, for Deku it was All Might. They also both get the opportunity to train directly under their favorite hero immediately after they get their powers. At first this makes it seem like they've been given everything they've ever wanted. All Mark has ever wanted was to be a hero like his dad and make his father proud. Not only did Deku just want one person to tell him he could be a hero too even without a quirk, but his very idea of heroism is built around seeing All Might always save people with a smile.

However, both of them suddenly hit complication just when it seems like they've been given everything they've ever wanted. They are both confronted with the fact that their heroes are not who they expected them to be. They are overly idealistic heroes who have been dreaming of being heroes since childhood only to be hit with a much greyer reality. To the point where there innocence becomes a flaw in and of itself. The way they've been coddled and protected all of their lives leaves them completely unaware and unable to spot the grey areas in the world, or the people around them.

For Deku the moral greys exist in the villains around them. In MHA Society, villains are basically just bad guys in suits for the heroes to punch on television. They're seen as a faceless enemy, and there's very little in way of rehabilitation for villains once they're captured. Deku lived in a very black and white world before this point, and he's suddenly presented with the idea that his villains could be morally grey.

Deku's image of All Might is a hero who saves everyone with a smile, so he could never imagine that there are people who All Might has failed to save. He's never stopped to consider where villains came from, or if any of them might have legitimate reasons for their grievances.

This becomes a pretty central theme in MHA. It's first brought up here when Shigaraki talks about All Might acting as if there's no one he can't save. Twice brings it up again in his first backstory chapter, that the heroes only save the virtuous ones.

This is further enforced in the same overhaul arc with members who are loyal to Overhaul because they are society's trash who would have been thrown out otherwise. There is a group of people fiercley loyal to Overhaul who is a terrible boss, because he is the only person who would accept them.

edits belong to @stillness-in-green from bring it all back a tone poem on returning to staus quo located here on ao3.

In the War Arc this long running theme basically reaches a climax with the Hawks and Twice confrontation, where Hawks decides to try to offer Jin a chance to restart because he's deemed him "good" but he won't extend the same helping hand to the league who Hawks has determined as "bad." He then asks Jin to betray his friends in order to be saved, something that Jin rightfully calls out.

That Hawks only wants to save Jin because he's one of the good ones, and he's written off the rest of the league and left them for dead. Hawks choosing to divide between good and bad victims ad only save the one he personally thought was worthy of redemption, makes it impossible for him to save Twice who would never under any circumstances give up on the rest of the league.

Twice's death is a tragedy, but it also presents us a clear example of the failures of the previous generation. Even a hero who sincerely sympathized with a villain and wanted to help them start over wasn't able to help them because of this attitude of selectively picking and choosing who to save. If the heroes only save the innocent the I guess the lives of the guilty are worth less.

This is the questio Toga poses to Ochako, if the heroes killed Twice then are you going to kill me in order to stop me. This is the central subject of Shigaraki's speech to the heroes. That heroes and villains will never uderstand each other, because the entire hero system perpetuates itself on ignoring the needs of societal outcasts and rejects in form of the "innocent people" and those outcasts who aren't having their needs met eventually turn into villains who get systematically put down by heroes. Heroes and villains are incapable of understanding each other and breaking the cycle, because the entire system isn't built on helping people, but merely maintaining the idea that heroes are perfect, faultless saviors so normal people will feel secure, while the people the heroes have failed get swept under the rug so society can keep "functioning."

"You heroes hurt your own families just to help strangers. You heroes pretend to be society's guardians. For generations, you pretended not to see those you couldn't protect. That means your system's all rotten from the inside with maggots crawling out. It all builds up, little by little, over time. You've got the common trash, all too dependent on being protected, and the brave guardians who created the trash that needed coddling. It's a corrupt, vicious, cycle. Everythig I've witnessed, the whole system you've built has always rejected me. Now I'm ready to reject it. That's why I destroy. That's why I took power for myself. Simple enough, Yeah? I don't care if you don't understand. That's what makes us heroes and villains."

So if the starting question is: Can I be a better hero than my dad?

Then everything I've detailed above is deliberation. Here we have, ever since the training camp arc, this slowly built up idea of why All Might was a flawed hero in the end.

Mark has to face the fact that his father is a more morally grey person than he could ever imagine, whereas Deku has to face the fact that the villains are more morally grey in his world, and that makes the heroes look more flawed in comparison as well. The deliberation is all slowly bringing Deku to think over what Shigaraki asked him all the way in the beginning in there first meeting.

Were there ever people that the heroes couldn't save? If so then what are you supposed to do with the victims you can't save after they grow up? This is when Deku begins to start forming his own answer.

Deku hears the advice of both the other OFA users, and The Stinky Old Man (Gran Torino) that killing Shigaraki is the best option, but wants to explore other options.

Scenes like this clearly telegraph what the answer / conclusion Hori is leading us to to be. The same way that Toya is a Todoroki is foreshadowed long in advance, statements like "All for one is a power meant for saving, not killing" clearly set up Deku's Endgame. Deku's end goal is to find a way use his power to save Shigaraki rather than killing him. Everything else is just a matter of deliberation, Deku knows what his edgoal is but the chapters between then and the end of the manga is Deku having to figure out how exactly to save Shigaraki without killing him.

You Heroes Hurt Your Own Families Just to Help Strangers

Invincible is the story of Mark Grayson, the son of Omni Man / Nolan Grayson. He's been told all of his life that his father is a viltrumite, a race of benevolent aliens who send out people like Nolan to alien civilizations in order to uplift their entire civilization. Which is what led Nolan to come to earth and become Earth's greatest heroes.

This turns out to be a big fat lie when within 12 chapters Nolan not only slaughters the guardian's of the globe, but also has a confrontation with his son.

Mark has wanted to be just like his dad his entire life. Only to be slapped in the face with the realization he's known nothing about his dad his entire life, shown rather brilliantly by these panels where Nolan tries to have a normal father / son conversation with Mark while covered in blood.

Nolan isn't from a futuristic utopia but from a brutal, fascist space empire. He didn't come to earth to help bring it up, but to weaken its defenses and make it prime for conquering. He didn't have Mark out of love, but to produce another soldier for the viltrumite empire.

Mark's entire schtick is that he's invincible, but he's so inexperienced as a hero that he gets beat up constantly despite the fact he has the strongest power set in the series b/c he has viltrumite powers. However, not only does the series introduce moral greys by continually showing how Mark even with the best power set in the series constantly gets his ass kicked, it also challenges Mark's black and white thinking and hero worship of his father by showing him the kind of man his father really is.

Mark has wanted to be exactly like his father his entire life, but now that's suddenly a bad thing. His father is a morally reprehensible person and Mark is now a descendant of an alien race meant to conquer worlds. Not only is Mark confronted by who his father really is, but now everyone in Mark's life judges him by comparing him with his father.

Mark has to work with Cecil and be his on-call Superhero, both to be able to pay for college, and also to prove that he's not his dad. The unspoken part of the agreement is that Cecil gets to keep a leash on Mark and Mark has to prove that he'll never turn out like his father to earn Cecil's trust.

Cecil is automatically suspicious of him because if Mark were to turn evil, the planet would have no defenses against him just like it didn't have any for Omni Man. Mark's mother starts to drink and blames Mark for Omni-Man leaving in a drunken moment of weakness because of how much the information that Omni Man only regarded her as a pet affected her.

The comic even shows us that in most alternate universes, mark actually did make the decision to join his father's conquest, and this universe is one of the few exceptions. This is also where we're introduced to a major reoccuring antagonist in the comics, and also the main antagonist / final antagonist of season 2 of the cartoon Angstrom Levy.

Levy is someone who can jump between dimensions and has traveled to almost all of them collecting his alternate selves. He has witnessed for a fact that in most universes Mark sides with his father instead of fighting against him.

Levy enlists the clone bros to build a device that would combine the knowledge of his alternate selves into one individual. This device ends up breaking tragically (partially mark's fault, but levy himself made the decision to stop the machine in order to stop the clone bros from killing Mark). Levy's memories become confused as a result of the machine malfunctioning, and he can't tell the difference between himself and his alternate universe counterparts. This means that Levy now remembers several alternate universes where Mark did turn evil, and remembers them as if they happened to him.

It's better elaborated upon in this post:

The process by which Invincible has had to condense and consolidate the plot beats of the original comic, coupled with the opportunity it's granted the writers to tighten up and emphasize its themes on a second pass, has resulted in a newfound appreciation for how unbelievably fucking good Angstrom Levy's whole character concept is. What's that, Mark? Your main emotional crisis this season is your fear of turning out like your father? Here, have an archnemesis who's out to kill you because his memories were inadvertently overwritten with the lived experiences of hundreds of alternate versions of himself whose friends and families were slaughtered in worlds where you did, in fact, turn out exactly like your father. Because it turns out that that is in fact the multiversal norm. That you turn out like your father. And now you're left to wonder what set of arbitrary coinflips pulled you back from that abyss in this dimension, and whether your luck is going to continue to hold into the future.

Mark is not only hit with the revelation that his father isn't as good as he thought he was, but also while he's in a crisis about about whether or not he will turn out like his father, he learns the answer is yes, in several dimensions he turns out exactly like his father.

In My Hero Academia there are families like the Todoroki's who balance the difference between a hero's obligations to society, and a hero's obligation to society. However, that's a side plot where I'd argue that the main plot for Invincible and it's main focus is what Mark owes to the world as a hero, and what Mark owes to his family.

It's not just that Omniman is trying to invade earth for the Viltrumite empire. It's not just that he failed as a hero, but that he failed as a father. What makes Mark snap, is hearing Omniman call Debbie a pet. Until that point Mark was in denial and still trying to reason with his father.

Invincible is about two intersecting themes: Is Mark obligated to use his incredible powers to help make the world better? Can Mark be a good hero and a good family man?

While MHA has more far reaching societal implications in its themes and questions, Invincible is more specifically about the Grayson Family. It's generational trauma on a society level, vs generational trauma on an individual level. The way Nolan was raised on Viltrumite effects how he raised Mark causing their conflict, and Mark's conflict with his father effects most of his young adulthood when he's trying to figure out what person he wants to be (read: not his dad), but also the way he parents his daughter with Atom Eve.

Omni-man failed Mark as both a hero, and a father. Mark feels the need to overcompensate for what his father did the world and all those innocent people by acting as Cecil's lapdog and doing whatever Cecil tells him.

However, Mark is much more hurt by the personal betrayal than he lets on. It's not just that his father killed a bunch of innocent people, it's also that Mark's father failed as a father, abandoning both him and mom and choosing to be a viltrumite rather than being Mark's father. Mark's stated reason for wanting to be a hero post the omni-man reveal is to prove he's not like his dad to the world, and also make up for the innocent lives he failed to save. However, his unstated underlying reason is Mark is hurt and betrayed his father didn't put his family first, and this causes Mark to always put his family first.

This leads to two insecurities / narrative flaws. One, Mark is insecure about becoming like his father so he tries to prove he's nothing like him by being the most selfless, perfect hero possible. Two, Mark is hurt by being abandoned by his father and doesn't want to become a deadbeat like Nolan so he gets extremely overprotective of his own family.

These two things are obvious in conflict with one another: A hero has an obligation to the common good which sometimes means sacrificing time with your loved ones. However, being a good family man requires a level of selfishness that directly contradicts the selfless hero that Mark is pushing himself to be. In the comic the way Mark prioritizes his family and loved ones over the common good and justice is made even more obvious. His first instinct on seeing Omni-Man again isn't to call him out for being an awful father, but to hug him and ask him to come home. Mark is a distraught son first, and a hero second.

Mark has two flaws, his fear of being like his father makes him try too hard to be a perfect hero, and his trauma over losing his father makes him prioritize his family over being a hero. It's very much a having your cake and eating it too situation, oftentimes heroes make huge sacrifices for their personal lives in order to be heroes, that's basically a theme discussed in the comic with Nolan being absent for a lot of Mark's childhood, and why Mark's relationship with Amber fails.

The show also introduces us to the idea that Mark is so afraid of becoming like his father that he deliberately holds back his punches. Which is good when he's fighting earth villains, but bad when he's facing viltrumites who can only survive being disemboweled, but will also come to wipe out all life on earth if they're allowed to live. In the show it's directly mentioned that Mark is holding back, in the comic it's implied when we see how helpless Mark is in the fight against other viltrumites. Mark lacks the resolve to kill someone and when fighting a viltrumite, failing to put them down can have consequences because they are galactic conquerors who will not show you any mercy.

This all comes to a head in the Angstrom Levy fight where Mark makes his first kill on-screen when beforehand he'd never fought to kill before, and even held back against galaxy conquering aliens who were out to murder him and his dad.

However. before we begin that.

Should superheroes kill?

People often act like whether or not super heroes should kill their villains is a black and white topic, where it actually depends highly on context.

Batman’s an entire character is written around how he wants to redeem Gotham and save the city, most of his villains aren’t even sent to prison they’re sent to Arkham a facility that’s supposed to rehabilitee the mentally ill so they can rejoin society. Batman has decided it’s his place to stop crime, not his place to decide whether or not people have the right to live or redeem themselves.

Batman is also at risk for being just like his villains, that’s why he’s foils with Harvey Dent, someone who tried to prosecute people under the law who then snapped and went full violent mobster vigilante. Batman actually is at risk for walking the same path as Harvey if he decides murder is an option.

In X-Men 97, there was a character known as Rogue who dropped Simon Bolivar Trask off of a building in an act of vigilante justice. This action makes sense in context for several reasons. One Rogue was raised by Mystique and Destiny, is a former member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and began as a terrorist in the comics. She's not really a "moral highground" character like Batman. Two, Boliver Trask built a giant killer robot that resulted in the deaths of millions in Genosha which Rogue is a survivor of. Number three, Trask had no sympathetic reasons for building the genocide robot, he built the sentinels out of bigotry to wipe out mutants. He's not a victim in any way, he's an oppressor facing consequences for his actions.

Batman shooting Harvey Dent, his former best friend, a victim of severe mental illness and trauma that still has hope for recovery, and Rogue dropping the guy who made a genocide robot off of a building are both wildly different situations.

So in the context of MHA we have Shigaraki Tomura, a terrorist who's goal is to destroy japan enough that it will dismantle the hero system for good. Shigaraki Tomura is a ten year old child who lost control of his quirk and killed his family for mistake, he wandered for days in crowded city streets but not a single hero stopped to help him, then he was found by the main villain of the story and groomed for ten years into becoming his successor. Shigaraki is also surrounded by a group of societal outcasts who were failed by society in similiar ways, so Shigaraki knows he wasn't the only one failed by hero society and he starts to wage his war for their sake as much as his own.

In Invincible we have Angstrom Levy. Angstrom is not plotting mass murder the way that Shigaraki is. He is specifically only targetting Mark Grayson's family for revenge (at least the first time he showed up, the second time during the invincible war arc was different). Angstrom's revenge against Mark Grayson is misplaced, but to be fair the accident messed with his brain hardcore and he doesn't remember clearly what happened. He doesn't remember that he's the one who decided to stop the machine in order to help Mark. It's tragic. Angstrom also has the memories of like hundreds of different universes of evil Marks. Even though he's the victim of a tragic accident, he's also a victimizer in that he doesn't choose to just go after Mark, he deliberately picks Mark's family, his mother, and his infant little brother as a way of hurting Mark.

So both of these characters blur the line between villain and victim, but neither of them are like Trask in that they have no sympathetic motivation whatsoever. Shigaraki's actions don't come from bigotry, and he's not an oppressor. Trask was actually trying to do something good before his machine broke and his brains got scrambled, and now he wants personal revenge and to blame all his problems on Mark which is petty yes, but not on Trask's level of heartlessness.

So, there's a case that can be made here for both of them that there's room to save them. After all Mark and Deku aren't killers to begin with. Mark especially has an incredibly vested interest in not becoming a killer. Even if they don't explicitly go out of their way to save and redeem these two people, we're still at this point expecting the heroes to at least take down these two sympathetic figures non-lethally. Mark doesn't want to be like his dad and Deku has said explicitly he wants to save Shigaraki, and that OFA is a power for saving and not killing.

Also to sidestep this argument before people comment on my post with it.

What do you expect the heroes to just let a mass murderer live?

YES!

It happens in comics literally all the time.

Magneto, Wolverine, Jean Grey / Phoenix, Emma Scott, heck, OMNIMAN himself, all characters who have killed lots of people and all characters who get to live and even be on the heroes side. Of these three Jean Grey of all people has the highest body count.

Shonen Jump also has Vegeta. Have you ever heard of Vegeta? Most popular Shonen Rival of all time? Omni-man and Viltrumites are basically just Saiyans.

In real life they wouldn't let a mass murderer walk away but comics are not the same as real life. That's why characters are always punching dinosaurs all the time. Fun fact, if you were to try to punch a dinosaur in real life it would probably hurt your hand. I would advise against it. Dinosaurs are for the most part much stronger than human beings.

As I outlined above Shigaraki and Angstrom are different characters than Trask. They might all be murderers, but the first two have sympathetic elements and are humanized, they are victims of oppression (Angstrom's been killed by viltrumites in a whole bunch of worlds) whereas Trask is an oppressor.

So for both of these stories we are not expecting to see Deku and Mark kill their final villains (for the series and for this season). Deku because he's spent the final third of the series trying to work out a way to save the villains, and Mark because he doesn't want to turn out to be a violent murderer like his father so he's trying to be the most selfless, most perfect hero ever.

I THOUGHT YOU WERE STRONGER

So we finally reach the scenes in question and I thought I'd compare them without much commentary, just highlighting what happens without adding much spin.

So the final episode of Invincible Season 2 and Issue #33 of the comic is where Angstrom and Mark have it out. Angstrom appears in Mark's home and threatens his family. he brings up the comparison between Mark and his father right away. This is also something Angstrom has seen first hand by traveling to multiple universes where Mark has sided with his father.

In the cartoon he's a lot more confused because he's constantly remembering other universe's memories as if he were his own so he genuinely thinks he's taking down an evil viltrumite, in the comic he's being more petty and blaming Mark for his deformity (I think he doesn't remember that he was the one to take the helmet off by choice). In both versions he uses Mark's family as hostages to keep him from fighting back as he tries to send Markk to his death in several different realities.

Angstrom then ups the threat of violence from holding them hostage to threatening to kill them. In both the show and comic he brutally breaks Debbie's arm. Mark is sent through several more realities, only to discover that Debbie's arm is broken and lose his temper.

Mark and Angstrom's fist fight comes to an end, and while Mark has him on the ground he keeps hitting and hitting and hitting long after Angstrom stopped fighting back. Which is what prompts the famous "I thought you were stronger..."

Now, in this situation it looks pretty justifiable that Mark attacked Angstrom so aggressively,. it was self defense for one against a man trying to kill him and he only got truly aggressive after he saw his mother's arm get broken. Not only that he didn't intentionally kill Angstrom, you can argue he went too far in a case of clear self defense. Other people even tell Mark that this one isn't on him, including Cecil who compares Mark to his father the most.

Then, why is Mark so disturbed?

It's because this....

Is a deliberate parallel to this...

It's not just that Mark killed a man, it's that he killed a man by pounding on him relentlessly long after he'd stopped fighting back the exact same way his father did to him during their fight.

There's a difference between Mark say, fighting against a viltrumite and making a deliberate decision to kill them because of the danger that viltrumites represent to other people considering they are planet conquerors, and Mark killing this man because he lost his temper and couldn't control his own strength.

Mark spends the entire season trying to not be like his father, only to see first hand that he's capable of the exact same violence that his father is. The last episode of Season 2 summarizes this moment pretty perfectly in a montage of season 1 moments while Mark screams and breaks the sound barrier trying to push his viltrumite powers to their limits.

Mark: I'm strong enough and I can do this. It's all I've ever wanted for as long as I can remember. I want to do what you do. I want to be just like you. Omni-Man: You will be, son. You will. Mark screaming. Omni-Man: You'll outlast every single fragile being on this planet. You'll live to see this world crumble to dust and blow away. Everyone and everything you know will be gone. Mark screaming. Cecil: You know who else said that to me? Mark: I'm not my dad. Mark screaming some more. KRegg: Your father will be execute and you can return to earth. You will assume the mission to prepare earth for our rule.

So not only is Mark hit with the realization that he's just as capable of being violent and angry as his father is. He also is being forced by the situation to become more violent out of pragmatism, because if he doesn't get strong enough to fight viltrumites then they're going to come to his planet and take everything.

Not only has Mark lost some of his innocence, he's also being forced to throw the rest of it away. It's why Mark drops out of college at the end of the season because any pretense of balancing between his human life and his duty as a hero is gone. He is basically forced to be a viltrumite full time now and will abandon any semblance of trying to live his own life for a very, very long time until his relationship with Eve starts to get serious.

Which is why a pretty justifiable murder in this context is presented as so bloody, gruesome and traumatizing an event for both the audience and Mark himself. We both know there's no coming back from this.

As for the death of main series villain Shigaraki Tomura, Deku ends up being forced to kill Shigaraki in a situation similiar to Mark. Though I will highlight one difference right away. Mark was trying to reason with Angstrom, but he was at no point like "I want to save Angstrom, he's a victim I want to find some other way of ending this bloody conflict between us." Mark just didn't intend to go so far as killing him.

Deku entered the fight with the explicit stated desire to save Shigaraki rather than killing him, which would make him different from the previous generation of heroes because he wouldn't turn a blind eye to society's faults and victims like Shigaraki accused him of.

Deku makes a journey into Shigaraki's mental landscape to find Tenko in a recreation of the memory of the day of his worst trauma. As Tenko's quirk activates, Deku attempts to grab the little boy's hands to comfort him.

Deku's "Why I am here" is markedly different from All Might's. Deku says the reason he wants to save others is to take their hands, comfort them and give them peace, whereas All Might as the strongest hero tried to keep peace by beating all the villains down. Deku's way to become the greatest hero once again, focuses heavily on saving others, and offering his hand to everyone without hesitation instead of picking and choosing who to save like previous generations.

Deku even says that he has to extend a helping hand to everyone because he's learning that the world is more complicated than he thought, he was ignorant to a lot of people's suffering, and he can't sweep their pain under the rug anymore.

For a moment Deku unconditionally extending a hand to Shimura Tenko even as his mental body begins to decay away wins over Shimura Tenko. Though Shigaraki also resists because much like Twice he doesn't want to abandon the rest of his friends even if it means he personally will be saved.

However, any attempts to save Shigaraki are interrupted by AFO suddenly appearing out of nowhere and taking control of Shigaraki's body yet again.

At this point Deku does exactly what Mark does, which is relentlessly punch Shigaraki's body to death in order to kill AFO along with Shigaraki. In some small defese Shigaraki was also there too punching AFO in his mental landscape so he was assisting Deku in defeating AFO he wasn't helpless the entire time.

But, basically we see the same scene happen with Mark.

A hero who does not wish to kill is forced by circumstance to kill a villain. In Deku's case it should be even more devastating because they explicitly went into the fight wanting to save Shigaraki and they believed their power was for saving and not killing.

Yet, we don't get nearly as horrified a response from Deku.

However, instead Deku's final words are just about how he couldn't forgive Shigaraki and had to put a stop to him no matter what.

Even the way the scenes are presented to us are entirely different. Mark punches Angstrom in a wasteland a dry, dead place, until he's soaked in Angstrom's blood, and painted everything around him red. Once again, it's a visual callback to Mark's father beating him half to death, which was Mark's own lowest point.

Whereas, when Deku punches Shigaraki until he disintegrates not only is the violence or horror of Shigaraki's death not acknowledged, but it's played as a triumphant moment where the clouds clear from the sky and the stun starts shining.

In the cartoon Mark killing Angstrom leads to a total screaming breakdown where he has traumatic flashbacks of his dad beating him and pushes himself to break the sound barrier multiple times. It also leads him to making big life changes like dropping out of college to become a hero full time and giving up any pretense of having a normal life. As seen in a scene where he watches Amber from the sky, and is tempted to go down and greet her and just flies off, because Amber represents his connection to his humanity.

Also, Angstrom doesn't even die. He comes back way worse and that's how invinicble war arc starts.

In the aftermath of killing Shigaraki, Deku gets melancholy about not being able to save Shigaraki only to be reassured he did save him in the end. Only to be told by All Might that it's okay because he still saved Shigaraki's heart even if he killed him.

DEKU: "I couldn't save Tenko's life." "I reached out to his heart, and even though his hatred was crushed," "to the very end, Tenko" "was the leader of the League of Villains." ALL MIGHT: "Let me tell you this as someone who has had a near-death experience," "I think it's in the expression on his face at the end." "If there wasn't a crying boy there," "I think his heart was saved after all,"

People also try to convince mark that he did nothing wrong and that there was no helping what he did in a situation like that, but he doesn't let himself believe them.

The ending lines about the last episode of Season 2, are this:

Eve: I'm sorry Mark. It's not fair. You don't deserve this. Eve: You don't deserve this.

Which has a double meaning. Eve is just trying to comfort Mark, because arguably he shouldn't have to feel guilty for fighting in self defense. On the other hand what Mark hears is You don't deserve this in the context of Eve's feelings for him. An alternate timeline version of Eve confessed her love for Mark. Mark was about to bring it up but decided not to. At that moment as Eve embraces and comforts him, what Mark hears because of his own self loathing is that he doesn't deserve Eve comforting him, or her love for him.

Just to clarify I don't think that Mark is crying over Angstrom Levy specifically. In fact over time he's painted to be pathetic in his obsession with revenge, and what he amounts to is just wanting to blame everything on invincible when it was partially caused by his own actions.

However, it's inarguable that killing (or rather seemingly killing Angstrom) deeply impacted Mark and how he saw himself as a hero. It's less about Angstrom, and more about the loss of control, and the realization of how powerful his anger and hatred can get and what that means for him personally.

It also shows us where Mark's priorities lie. Mark wants to be a perfect hero and a perfect family man, and Invincible shows us he can't be both, his desire to protect his family leads him to staining his blood when he was trying so hard to be a good, selfless hero. This is all a part of a deliberate arc where Mark chooses more and more to value his family over being a hero. I'm not going to say whether or not it's the right choice, but it's a choice he makes, as a part of his character development where as he grows up and becomes a father his priorities change.

My point is that this moment has an impactful change on Mark, for arguably the rest of the comic.

Now my question is, with My Hero Academia will the death of Shigaraki Tomura, the series greatest villain and it's greatest victim have an equal impact on Deku's character that Levy's death did on Mark's?

#bnha 424 #bnha spoilers #invincible #mark grayson #deku #izuku midoriya #mha 424 #mha spoilers #omni man #bnha meta #mha meta

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storminormins · 1 year ago

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My thoughts on CX-2 (or Scuttlebug, as his name shall remain forever in my mind) in light of the finale.

Only good things though!

I know the Tech girlies are all in mourning, I feel you, but I do want to analyze Scuttlebug further now that we know he isn't Tech.

Because they did spend a lot of time focusing on him; so why?

This recent interview with Jen and Brad confirmed my own theories (it's also a good fun read for picking their brains over making this show we all love)

CX-2 is Crosshair's narrative foil.

I noticed how when CX-2 is shown, its usually right before or after Crosshair is shown- or Crosshair is the one to sense/pay attention to him.

Anytime CX-2 goes up against the Batch, it almost always turns into a 1v1 between CX-2 and Crosshair- the sniper duel on the staircase, the knife fight in the river (of course), and Crosshair missing the shot to tag his ship after the Pabu invasion. (and the hand thing. oof.)

He's the intrusive thoughts breathing down Crosshair's neck [You chose the wrong side]. His personal failures made physical. What Crosshair could have been if he'd just made a slight few different choices.

Essentially, in Extraction, Crosshair fought his shadow self and... well, he didn't lose, but he didn't quite win either.

Because he doesn't think he really is different from CX-2. He believes he deserves worse for everything he's done- as he says in The Cavalry has Arrived.

And this is why it's so important that Hunter is the one to kill CX-2, AND right after Crosshair knocks CX-2's DIRECT KILLSHOT at Hunter off course.

(Gif credit here)

Hunter kills the shadow, kills the idea that Crosshair has anything left to atone for. Crosshair is his brother, and he's taking him home.

#star wars #tbb #the bad batch spoilers #the bad batch finale #hunter #crosshair #analysis #cx-2 #i just like them okay. just. phenomenal writing for the brothers. it was Hunter vs Crosshair for so long.#now we have them tag teaming Crosshair's shadow self #storminormin speaks #The bad batch

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orphiclovers · 1 year ago

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I think the most notable bit of character insight on Yoo Joonghyuk that Yoo Mia SS provides is how much the apocalypse did not change him at all.

It's one of those Big Themes orv has, and simply brilliant writing. Y'know how they kept beating us over the head with the concept of 'the people who find it easiest to adapt in a ruined world are those who could not adapt to real life?'. That applies to YJH too, and even more than other characters. But it's hard to notice on a casual main story read because genre conventions and his character archetype tell us not to look deeper, that he is just a basic brooding power fantasy manhwa protagonist, even when he's really not.

So the audience writes off his quirks because it's expected of his brooding hero archetype and the other apocalypse survivors write off his quirks because everyone who has gotten this far is a little nuts and also they have bigger problems.

But when Yoo Joonghyuk acts exactly like he does during the apocalypse in a pre-scenario world where there's no convienient explanation it's really clear that he is different and he just comes off as...off.

His silence during conversations is no longer mysterious and cool but just weird and a failure to read social cues. His 'glare' is frightening and people don't like when he makes eye contact with them. His manner of speech is off-putting. His blank emotionless face is not stoic repressed hero-esque but ""rude"" etc etc. Every single mainstream society conforming person can tell there's something off about him so they avoid him. And YJH doesn't know how to communicate so he ends up totally friendless (save for a literal mafia boss and a crazy time-traveling teenage girl - and only them, because they don't fit well into society either.)

Umm where was I. So, but I don't know how much effect all of that has on World of Zero. Firstly, because between Yoo Mia side story and World of Zero there are 3-4 years of '?????' where afaik we have no idea what Yoo Joonghyuk was doing. He stopped being a gamer at some point but also got rich at the same time (doing what?) and bought the house he daydreamed about and also became a total shut-in who 'doesn't go outside often'. I have fanfic-y theories but nothing canon.

Onto the second part of the ask.

With World of Zero era joongdok I feel like there's a lot of writers out there who have made their own versions that are better than anything I could come up with so I hope you wont be disapointed. That being said I do have some thoughts.

Speaking of fanfic, here is mine under read more lol.

I think it's super that Kim Dokja gains the power of an omnipotent god and the very first thing he does is devote his time to Yoo Joonghyuk's happiness and safety. The whole reason he became OD was because of his massive guilt complex about YJH, so it makes sense that he would try to atone.

Zero starts off mistrusting him but gradually KDJ proves himself as having Zero's best interests at heart 100% of the time. DKOS is YJH's guardian angel. And then KDJ stays watching over him even after the scenarios were over, seeing him go through boring life milestones, happy as long as YJH is happy, for seemingly no reason.

So it's no wonder Yoo Jooghyuk fell in love.

He might not know Salvation's real name or appearance or anything about him but he wants to get to know him, this person who has saved him so many times while asking nothing in return. It doesn't matter that he's a constellation because he is good, Yoo Joonghyuk knows. He confesses all of this to Salvation, looking up at the sky with eyes sparkling with life and passion.

Salvation lets him down gently, for what it's worth, but rejection is still rejection and it hurts.

In the following weeks, as he goes through the motions and pretends nothing happened, he continues to feel the gaze of Salvation on his back, but the constellation stays mercifully silent. Yoo Joonghyuk does not want to know if it's pity he's looking at him with. Even heartbreak heals, of course. Months pass, then years. Lee Seolhwa was a dependable companion to him during the scenarios and stays a steadying presence in the world after. They're compatable. She is someone with who he could see himself growing old.

Salvation told him to 'be free, to fall in love with someone who could be with him, to not waste his time chasing after a dream, to live his life to the fullest'

He knows about his attribute of course, just like he knows everything about Yoo Joonghyuk.

Yoo Joonghyuk sees no point in lying. He tells Lee Seolhwa everything. How due to his attribute he will grown old and die while the rest of them stay youthful as ever, how he doesn't remember his childhood or know his parents. His hopes and dreams, how he yearns to learn his origins. About the first scenario, about the constellation who would have been his sponsor, whom he loves.

Then he asks to marry her. She says yes.

Salvation is the first person Yoo Joonghyuk tells. He's happy for him, of course, says he always knew there was a spark between them.

They live a long 50 years together.

When Yoo Joonghyuk's hair started turning more salt than pepper, he told Lee Seolhwa that he wouldn't hold her. She laughed, stroked his head and said that she might not look it but she is two years older than him, that she vowed to be by his side till death did them apart and she will not break that promise.

When his time comes and he knows he has to leave, he tries to explain himself to Lee Seolhwa at least, if not the rest of his old companions. But he needn't have bothered. Before he could start, she took his hands in hers and smiled wistfully. She told him she always knew this day would come. That his heart has always belonged to someone else. She's thankful for the time he has given her anyway and that she could not have asked for a better husband. She sheads a few tears and Yoo Joonghyuk does too, but he leaves their house with a sense of purpose and a lightness in his heart he has not felt once since the day he beat the final scenario.

And then he accepts the sponsorship contract with Salvation.

... .. Sooo, that's how I think round zero went.

#half meta half fanfic. what do we think about this format. also i screenshoted it bc i hate how tumblr now squishes the answer into a box #yoo mia side story #yoo joonghyuk #orv spoilers #my posts #orv #omniscient reader's viewpoint #omniscient reader #asks

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p5x-theories · 2 months ago

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P5X Fourth Arc Summary

(last updated 5/9/25!)

Only the beginning of this arc has been added to the game as of the making of this post, and only about half of that fit into this post itself. I'll reblog to add the latter half, and continue to reblog and add onto this as more content is added in later updates.

Usual disclaimer: Please keep in mind this game still has no official English translation, so this summary uses a mix of what happens visually, what I understand of the Japanese dialogue, and Google translate for the Chinese text, in order to get the broader picture here. This will be focused on summing up everything that happens overall, without getting into a line-by-line translation.

Contrary to this blog’s name, this post is going to have as little speculation as possible, and stick to confirmed facts.

This post (and its reblogs) will cover the Shimotsuna Arc.

Picking up the next day after where Chapter 3 left off, Wonder arrives at school and sees his classmates gossiping, but continues on to his seat. However, Motoha jumps up from her own seat and stops him, greeting him and immediately asking if he's seen the morning news. When Wonder replies that he hasn't, she hands him her phone, and fills him in that Kei Akashi was murdered. The suspect was immediately arrested, but investigation into his relationship with Akashi is still ongoing.

Just then, Motoha and Wonder's phones both ping with a message, and Motoha takes her phone back as Wonder checks his own. It's the Phantom Thieves group chat- Riko asking if they've seen the news about Akashi. Motoha says she was just telling Wonder about it, while Shun reports that his entire classroom is talking about it. Riko's class is the same, although due to Akashi targeting her, they've been pestering her about it, too. Shun cuts to the point- should they meet on the roof during lunch? The others agree, and Chapter 4 officially begins.

At lunch, Shun brings up that people online are saying the murderer was also a phantom, called the Shibuya Scissor Man. He'd wander around the station, muttering to himself, waving a pair of scissors around, and making strange noises. Riko adds that there are two opinions on the internet right now: 1) That the phantom had no connection to Akashi, and was just killing indiscriminately, or 2) That the phantom was someone who had a grudge against Akashi.

Ruferu wonders if this is a popular topic because someone died, muttering that although it's just human nature, it's a bit more complicated for them, since they just changed his heart. Everyone's quiet for a moment, and then Motoha brings up that Akashi was stabbed in front of a police station, wondering if he was going to turn himself in, especially after he talked about atonement in his Magatsushin video. Starting to tear up, she says he suddenly died at a time like that.

Riko considers this, then asks if they think that's too much of a coincidence. The murderer just so happened to be near the police station, and Akashi just so happened to pass by him at the right time to get murdered. Ruferu asks what she's getting at, and Riko suggests perhaps he was silenced before he could turn himself in. The others react with shock, and Wonder asks if she means the mastermind could have done this, which Riko confirms as her theory- the same "that person" that both Miyazawa and Akashi mentioned, and the very person that told Akashi to infiltrate Kokatsu to learn the identities of the Phantom Thieves in the first place. Considering what Shadow Akashi said about "that person" before going berserk, they may have given up on him after seeing his Magatsushin video, which showed his heart had been changed.

Ruferu finds this plausible, while Motoha is horrified. Shun asks if that means the phantom that killed Akashi was also working for the mastermind... but even then, what kind of murderer for hire would kill someone right outside a police station? Riko admits that's a good point, but it could reflect just how powerful the mastermind's influence is. Motoha, alarmed, asks if this means that, if the mastermind finds out their identities, then they'll also be...? Ruferu merely replies that the mastermind is truly a formidable enemy- they'll have to be even more careful in the future.

Shun points out that, with such dangerous people out there, though, that means there's even more need for the Phantom Thieves to take action. So they should just keep taking out Palaces, and force the mastermind out of hiding! Motoha agrees- it shouldn't be the Phantom Thieves living in fear of the bad guys, it should be the other way around! Ruferu says they shouldn't stop what they're doing, they just need to be extra cautious about it. With that, they've already stolen four of the Treasures, so they should locate the next Palace as quickly as possible.

Riko, however, makes an awkward noise at this, drawing the others' attention. She really apologizes, but she may not be able to join them after school for the next few days, as the school festival is coming up soon, and it's pretty busy this year. Shun asks if it's that bad for the Disciplinary Committee, and Riko confirms that both in preparation, and on the day of the festival, there's a lot more to do than usual. But Riko, herself, has more to worry about than just that...

She flashes back to a panicking Executive Committee member running up to her, and explaining that Kokatsu is apparently supposed to be performing a play with another school, called Kiga High, for the festival. Riko exclaims that they don't even have a drama club at Kokatsu, but the student replies that she found out Yamanashi and Akashi set this up on their own accord, due to Kiga supposedly having students like a professional stage actor and a professional manga author, in the hopes of drawing more attention to Kokatsu's festival. Riko's not sure whether to call that superficial, or short-sighted... and she only found out now that Yamanashi and Akashi are gone? The student confirms, anxious about what to do, as Kiga's drama club seems really interested in this.

Returning to the present, Motoha worries that Riko replied with something like "I'll see what I can do". Riko slumps forward, her head in her hands, and says that's exactly what she said- she felt bad for the girl, and knows the Executive Committee members are busier than anyone right now. Plus, once she heard Akashi and Yamanashi were the reason for this, she couldn't ignore it. Wonder can worry that Riko's pushing herself again, but Riko replies that she's fine, especially since Akashi's changes here at Kokatsu have been reverted, and Katayama's back, so she can help Riko, and get the other teachers to help out, too.

Motoha grumbles that it sounds like Riko can handle it, but Yamanashi really left a mess behind when he left... Ruferu clarifies that Yamanashi surrendered himself to the police, and has been suspended from work, which Riko confirms, adding that it's unclear when he'll return to work, but it seems more likely he'll just be fired outright.

She checked his original plan for the play, and apparently he was going to make the Disciplinary Committee be the main actors on Kokatsu's part, along with students from other committees as well. Shun isn't impressed that he was going to force people to be actors, and Motoha points out that he was obviously just going to dump everything on Riko. Shun then asks if Riko's going to have her fellow Disciplinary Committee members act, like the original plan, but Riko says that's not possible, with how busy everyone already is for the festival. Motoha asks what she's going to do instead then, and Wonder can suggest an idea (apologizing and canceling, recruiting other people, or "You aren't making us act, are you...?").

Presumably regardless, Riko says she's planning to try recruiting other students instead. She admits she considered apologizing and canceling the co-production, but even though Yamanashi and Akashi organized this without anyone else's input, Kiga High might take it badly. Motoha agrees, they'd probably be mad that Kokatsu pushed for this and then cancelled. So, Riko wants to give it a try rather than giving up outright. Ruferu is impressed by her desires, and believes other students will find them infectious. Riko thanks him, but is worried she won't actually manage to recruit anyone.

Motoha jumps in, offering to ask her classmates about it, and suggesting Riko make some flyers. Shun matches her energy, though rather than ideas, he offers help if she needs it with anything, and admits he doesn't know anything about acting. Wonder expresses a similar sentiment. Riko is appreciative, but as lunch is about to end, they'll have to head back to class for now.

The next day, Motoha energetically approaches Wonder with a stack of flyers, explaining she's helping Riko's recruitment efforts. Ruferu is surprised she already has them ready, and Motoha replies that she can't just ignore a friend in trouble, then incorrectly quotes a saying as "good things come late", which Ruferu flatly corrects as "good things come to those who wait." Motoha brushes this off, and asks Wonder to come hand out flyers with her.

The day after that, however, Riko, sounding defeated, announces she absolutely could not recruit anyone. Motoha, also down, says no one would even stop to listen to her when she and Wonder handed out flyers after school. Shun adds that he tried asking everyone in his class, but they all said either they're too busy with club activities, or don't want to bother with the festival at all. Motoha is surprised that some people don't even want to go, and Shun explains that they were saying they just want to go home and sleep, if they don't have to go to class. This further shocks Motoha, who says she's already looking forward to all the delicious food she'll eat at the festival.

Ruferu summarizes this as all these students having lost their desires, to the others' surprise. Riko admits that the school festival does seem less popular this year, so maybe that's why they can't recruit anyone. Motoha adds that some people said they're too embarrassed to go on stage, though they said they'd at least watch the performance if "Shouki Ikenami" is in it. Wonder asks who that is, and Motoha explains he's a professional actor who's also a third-year at Kiga High.

Shun hasn't heard of him either, but Riko looks him up, noting that he hasn't been on TV much, mostly just stage plays, and is popular among middle and high school students. As Riko shows Shun her phone, Motoha says he's really popular in her class, and his rehearsal videos and other behind-the-scenes stuff especially so. Shun asks why his fans don't just sign up and perform with him, but Motoha explains that they think it's fine just to watch, and they shouldn't stand on the same stage as him. This is unbelievable to Shun, who says he'd be happy to cook ramen in the same kitchen as Toraiken's owner, but Motoha just mutters that ramen and acting are different, and it turns out Shun considers himself a fan of Yamagoshi's.

Riko shakes her head, and sighs that the day that Kiga High's coming to meet them is quickly approaching. She turns to Motoha, and hesitantly asks her if she'd be willing to act in the play, if they aren't able to find anyone else. Motoha is surprised Riko would want her to act, and Wonder can express support (or not), while Ruferu agrees that Motoha's acting was even good enough to fool Akashi.

Motoha nervously replies that stage acting is different, but Riko claps her hands together, and pretty desperately pleads with her, so Motoha can't bring herself to say no. She agrees, but only if they absolutely cannot recruit anyone else. Riko, relieved, thanks her, and Motoha reacts sheepishly, but then claps her own hands together and prays they'll manage to find someone to recruit.

The next day, Wonder overhears two girls excitedly gossiping about how Ikenami-kun's apparently at their school, before running off to try to go find him. Wonder reacts with confusion, but is immediately distracted by Motoha walking up and saying they have to head to the meeting room now. This confuses Wonder as well, so Motoha reminds him they're meeting Kiga High's drama club today. Riko asked them to come back her up, even though they're not directly involved.

Motoha and Wonder then leave the classroom, and meet up with Riko and Shun outside the meeting room. Riko thanks them for coming, and Motoha asks how recruiting turned out. Unfortunately, Riko still wasn't able to find anyone, so it seems she and Motoha will have to act in the play. Motoha makes a nervous noise, while Shun asks if that means it's only going to be Riko and Motoha contributing to the play on Kokatsu's end of things. Riko confirms, and admits Kiga's probably going to get a bad impression of them either way because of this, so all she can do now is explain, apologize, and give it her best effort if they still want to go through with the co-production.

After the four of them enter the room, Riko then invites the four Kiga students in, notably including the pink-haired girl that we've seen eavesdropping on the Phantom Thieves before. She reacts with surprise upon seeing them, evidently recognizing them. Once they've all sat down, Riko introduces herself as the one in charge of this co-production. The two NPC Kiga students in the middle are introduced as the president and vice president of Kiga's drama club. The boy to the far left introduces himself as Shouki Ikenami, and the pink-haired girl finally (hesitantly) introduces herself as Aran Hirano.

The club president then adds that, while they probably already know Shouki, Hirano is also known as the manga author ANRI. Motoha takes a second to think about this, then reacts with shock- ANRI, as in the author of Phantom Thief Family?! As Motoha is a bit starstruck, Aran seems a bit embarrassed, or just flattered. The club president is unimpressed by this, however- shouldn't they have already known?Isn't Kokatsu Academy the one who insisted Shouki and ANRI be part of the co-production? Aren't they specifically interested in this because they want to attract high school actors and manga authors to the festival? Riko takes this chance to explain the situation.

After hearing her explanation, the club presidents stands up from his chair, angrily asking if they really don't have a drama club, and only have two actors. Riko apologizes profusely. Motoha adds that they only just found out about this, since the dean who organized this was suspended. This doesn't calm the president at all, who asks if they think he's stupid. Riko apologizes again. He says they wasted time on this that they could have spent preparing for the Tokyo qualifiers, and they wouldn't even have agreed if the dean hadn't pestered them so much. Riko can only apologize again.

Shouki crosses his arms, and says it's fine. That means things just end here, right? Kokatsu doesn't actually want to put on a show, and Kiga's drama club doesn't want to perform on their stage, anyway. Neither of them want this co-production, so they can just end this discussion. The president admits that's true. Shouki adds that he wouldn't want to perform with people who aren't motivated, either.

Riko apologizes again, and the president backhandedly compliments Shouki's "professional awareness"; of course he wouldn't want to perform in a school festival. Shouki, caught off-guard, asks what he's getting at, and the president continues that they also don't want to work with people who just join a club to kill time after school, they should all be working together to win. Shouki stands up, and protests that he's always been serious about drama club activities, though the president sounds doubtful of this.

To the side, Wonder asks what they're talking about, and Riko explains there's a national competition for high school drama clubs called the "National High School Drama Competition" coming up. The president overhears this and reacts awkwardly, admitting he shouldn't have brought this up in front of a bunch of outsiders. He does agree with Shouki that he doesn't want to share a stage with them, so they should just pretend this never happened, and call it a waste of a trip here. Riko, Motoha, Wonder, and Shun react sheepishly, and Riko apologizes again.

Aran, however, calls out for them to wait. She stands up, and takes a second to formulate what she wants to say (saying this is difficult for her), then points to the Kokatsu four and declares that she wants to see them play the Phantom Thief Family, to literally everyone else's shock. The president asks why she's saying this all of a sudden, but Aran insists it isn't sudden, as soon as she walked into the room... when she first saw them, she... (she hesitates, like she's perhaps coming up with this on the spot)... she was inspired! The four of them perfectly match the image of the Phantom Thief Family! Motoha makes a surprised noise.

Aran walks around the table, and takes Riko's hands, saying she's the protagonist- no, the protagonist's younger sister! She then takes one of Motoha's hands- she's... perfectly like the protagonist! Motoha exclaims in disbelief. Aran then walks over to Wonder, puts her hands on her hips, and says he's perfect for the protagonist's brother. Wonder is confused, but she doubles down- the protagonist's brother. She then turns to Shun, and her expression becomes panicked, as she started to say "and you..." then drifts off... he'll be... the protagonist's... mother! Shun is shocked.

Aran then turns to the other Kiga kids and says she hopes they'll work with these four. The club president is unsurprisingly baffled and against it, but Aran insists they don't seem to have much acting experience, so the Kiga drama club will need to guide them. And if they refuse to do it, then she'll revoke their permission to use her work. The president is in disbelief. She adds that they were originally planning to use a short story she wrote for their entry into the Tokyo preliminaries, right? They're not allowed to anymore.

The president stutters out a protest, asking why she's doing this. Aran hesitates, then insists it's because she was hit by inspiration. The president grumbles that he can't stand geniuses and their sudden whims, then thinks this over and says, alright, Ikenami, you're in charge of them. They were originally just after him and Hirano, right? They don't care about the rest of the club. Riko starts to protest that's not true, but the president cuts her off, addressing Aran- she'll be satisfied as long as Shouki stays to teach them how to act, right? Aran agrees, as long as she can be with them- work with them, she's happy.

The president says it's decided, then, and that way the rest of them can focus on the competition. Shouki starts to argue that he wants to participate in the competition, too, but the president fires back that Shouki's role wasn't in the original script anyway, because they were worried he'd flake on them, to Shouki's surprise. The club president and vice president then take their leave, leaving Shouki and Aran behind.

Shouki sighs and shakes his head, and Riko apologizes, saying he doesn't have to stay if he doesn't want to, but Aran points out that if he leaves, then the co-production won't be possible. She wants to see their performance. Riko doesn't seem to know how to respond to this, but Shouki says he gets it; if Aran makes a fuss and revokes their right to use her work, it'll cause trouble for the whole drama club. However, if he's going to work with them, he expects them to take this seriously. Riko says of course, this is their school festival, after all. Hearing this, Shouki says that's "bene" (good), then, and starting from tomorrow he'll come to Kokatsu every day after school. Aran adds that she'll do the same, as long as she doesn't have work.

Once Shouki and Aran leave, Ruferu flies out of Wonder's bag (which was sitting on the table behind him), and Shun asks Riko if he really has to act, and in the role of the mom?! Riko replies that it seems like he's apparently perfect as the mom, though she doesn't understand why... Shun asks how that could be possible. Motoha mutters that the mom in Phantom Thief Family is a very gentle, beautiful, family-oriented character... but then it's revealed that she's actually very powerful. Wonder can ask if she has something to do with ramen, or suggest that maybe Aran saw through to Shun's kindness- if the latter is chosen, Shun seems kind of embarrassed, but pleased to hear Wonder say that, then remembers the context, and asks how she could possibly have figured that out when they've never said a word to each other before.

Riko says she hasn't read Phantom Thief Family yet, and asks Motoha if the four of them are really that similar to the protagonist and her family. Motoha thinks this over, looking troubled, and explains that the plot is about three siblings becoming phantom thieves to uncover the truth of their situation. The protagonist is a lively high school girl, her brother is smart, and her sister is cowardly, but strong. Motoha doesn't think the cowardly sister fits Riko at all, and Ruferu wonders if maybe that's just Aran's unique perspective as the author.

Riko brushes this aside, pointing out that the plan is set now, so they'll just have to work hard and try not to embarrass Shouki. She says she looks forward to working with Shun and Wonder, too, and they both react sheepishly.

The next day, Shun and Wonder find a group of girls gathered outside the gym, fawning over how they got to see Shouki today. Shun asks if they're here to help with the play, and one of the girls asks if they're going to be acting alongside Shouki. Wonder replies with an awkward confirmation, and another one of the girls thanks him emphatically for giving them the chance to see Shouki in person.

Shun says they shouldn't just watch, they should come join them, since they still need more actors, and Wonder agrees, but one of the girls forcefully replies that they have to watch from a distance, they absolutely couldn't join. Shun asks why, and she says they have to be cheering for and supporting Shouki. Another one of the girls then realizes she has to get to her own club's meeting, and they bid Shun and Wonder farewell, promising to bring Shouki gifts next time, before running off. Once they're gone, Shun mutters that having more actors would be more helpful than some gifts.

From around the side of the gym, Kiyoshi Kurotani watches (his name is already filled in on his text box, despite his previous appearance all the way back in Chapter 1 not including an introduction). He says he understands, it looks like someone might need help from the Chosen One. However, he'll just observe in secret for now. He then walks away.

Wonder and Shun meet up with the others in the gym, and after everyone greets each other, Shun mentions the girls that were gathered outside. Shouki thanks them for their support, and Shun is impressed that he can say something so formally and still look cool. Shouki adds that it seems his fans recently only know him from those videos that got popular, but he hopes they'll actually come see him on "the battlefield" sometime. Wonder asks, and he clarifies that the stage is his battlefield, even if he's just doing small theater performances. Not long ago, a magazine interviewed him and posted a video of his rehearsal online, and somehow that went viral, and now he's popular. He hoped they'd focus more on his acting performances, but of course that was too much to expect.

Aran returns (she seems to have left when the camera angle changed, as Wonder asked about "the battlefield"?) with a stack of papers- she's finished writing the play's script. After she hands a script out to each of them, Motoha exclaims in starstruck awe about how amazing it is that ANRI-sensei started writing the script yesterday, but already finished it. Aran shyly admits that she's been thinking about them so much that she finished the whole script in one night without realizing it. However, the five of them alone won't be enough actors to cover all the roles in this play. Riko agrees- besides the protagonists, there's also the antagonists.

Shouki reads through a bit of the script, then decides that he can probably play multiple roles, but they'll still need at least one or two more people. And they'll need some backstage staff to handle sound and lighting, as well. Riko suggests that she can try asking some of the Disciplinary Committee members about that, and Shouki requests that she please do. For now, though, he suggests they just start rehearsing with the actors they have.

On stage, Shouki tells them they'll just read through their lines in the script for now, and Motoha begins. The play starts with an explosion as the protagonist looks for her parents, and her mother pleading her beloved children to run away. The protagonist says it took everything from them. The younger sister says she'll fight alongside them to steal back their family's happiness. The brother says they'll have to become phantom thieves, and the protagonist calls them the Phantom Thief Family.

Shouki comments that their acting is still a bit stiff, but that's normal when starting out. Wonder asks Shouki what he does, and Shouki isn't quite sure how to answer- he just reads and focuses on the key points. He decides it would be easier to show them, and asks Riko to change the lighting to add a bit of atmosphere. Riko's caught a bit off-guard by the request, but says she thinks she can change a few of them.

Shouki then puts on a little one-man performance of the opening lines of the play that they just ran through, acting as all of the characters. Afterward, Motoha is extremely impressed, even clapping, and says it's like he split into three different people. Riko is also impressed, saying she was completely overwhelmed by his presence. Wonder reacts similarly, and initially Shun worries they won't ever be able to learn to act that well, but then recalls how he learned to make ramen, and amends that they won't know if they can do it until they try.

Shouki joins them off stage, and agrees that's correct- they just need more practice, and more familiarity with their lines. Only by deepening their understanding of their characters can they truly portray them well. It doesn't matter if they're not that great at the start, they just need to continue running through the lines. The others nod, and time skips ahead to the evening as they practice.

Seeing the sun is setting, Shouki calls it a day, and Motoha comments on how fun it was to try something new. The others nod, and Shouki smiles, saying the most important thing about performing is your own enjoyment. He asks if they want to meet again at the same time tomorrow, and Riko, surprised, asks if he's really free tomorrow. Shouki assures her he is, and that he's not going to slack off now that he's agreed to do this. He adds that, since they're all high school students, they don't need to use honorifics for himself and Aran. With that, he says goodbye to everyone, and leaves.

Riko then thanks Aran for sticking with them through their entire rehearsal, despite how busy she must be with work, but Aran explains that, since her manga is serialized monthly and posted online, she actually has plenty of time before her next deadline, and plans to work with them as much as possible in the meantime. Riko is a bit hesitant as to whether that's really okay, but admits she does feel a little more at ease with Aran present. Aran assures her that it's fine, and spending time with them helps give her more inspiration for her manga anyway.

Similar to what Shouki said earlier, she then adds that, since she's only a first-year student, they don't need to use honorifics with her, to Motoha's delight. She's a little startled to have Motoha call her "Aran" immediately afterward, but doubles down that that's fine for all of them.

Riko glances at the clock, and points out that they should get going, too. She asks Aran if she's heading to Shimokitazawa station as well, which she confirms. Motoha excitedly suggests they walk together, saying she wants to ask Aran a lot of questions about her manga work. Aran agrees with a smile.

As they head for the front gate, Shun spots Shouki being held up at by some of his fans, who Shun recognizes as some of the same ones that were waiting outside the gym earlier. One of the girls reverently thanks him for his autograph, while the other begs him for a picture. Shouki apologizes, but he's not allowed to take pictures with fans outside of working hours, as his agency's policy. The two girls keep pestering him, however.

Motoha notices it seems like he's in trouble, and decides to go say hi, but as she starts to call out, she's interrupted by another female voice calling out to "Shouki~!"

Shouki recognizes the woman as "Shimotsuna-san", and, clearly surprised, asks what she's doing here. She cutely replies that she knows a lot about him, and said she'd keep an eye on him. She then walks the rest of the way over to him, and in a much less friendly tone, points at the two girls and asks if they're fans of Shouki's, saying they should have some self-respect. Shouki's at a critical stage in his career, and can't just let them leak photos of his private life.

One of the girls mutters asking who "this lady" thinks she is, and the other suggests she might be from Shouki's agency. Shouki, looking a bit troubled, says she's not from his agency, and Shimotsuna finishes that, as the producer who brought him into stardom, she practically might as well be, right? One of the girls says she doesn't get what this lady's saying at all, and Shimotsuna turns cold again, calling her language coarse and her mind slow- the most annoying kind of fan. She whips out a pink, rhinestone-studded handheld recorder, points it at the girls, and asks them for their homeroom and names, warning them they're being recorded. The girl mutters about why she's recording this, calling it kind of scary.

Shouki reacts to this, and pushes past the two girls to stand between them and Shimotsuna, then turns to face them and apologizes, saying he really can't take a picture with them, and asking them to just go home. The girls are clearly confused, but one says if he's the one asking, they don't want to cause him any trouble, and the other wishes him luck with the play. They finally walk away, as Shouki waves.

Turning back to Shimotsuna, Shouki shakes his head, then tells her that recording random female students would cause trouble for him. He then asks more directly why she's here, and she explains that she's just here to cheer him up, after his hard work rehearsing with Kokatsu. She adds that her car is nearby, and invites him to have a meal with her- what does he want? Sushi? Yakiniku? French? Shouki somewhat awkwardly replies that he was going home, and going with her would be inconvenient.

Shimotsuna insists that he doesn't need to be polite, he needs to eat meat to replenish his energy after working so hard. She then turns to her assistant, and tells him to make a reservation for two at her usual wagyu restaurant in Ginza. The assistant leaves to do so, but Shouki stands his ground, looking annoyed and reiterating that he really needs to get home. Besides, this play is just a club activity, it's not work, so he has nothing to tell her if she wants an interview. Shimotsuna replies that's not true, he's a popular actor now. Acting in a stage play at another school is also a serious job, and they can't miss this opportunity to show off his charm.

Shouki tries to protest further, but Shimotsuna takes out her recording device again, crosses her arms, and leans in close to his face, saying he just needs to leave everything to her. He's working hard to help another school's performance, so she's going to write a recommendation article for him! She punctuates this with a laugh that sounds cute, but overall gives a slightly malicious impression.

Wonder and the others still watch from just inside the school grounds, and Aran has her sketchbook out. Motoha comments that "this person" seems even more troublesome than the fans before, and Riko adds that although it seems work-related, Shouki doesn't seem to like her very much. Wonder suggests they help him out, and Shun agrees, running over. He calls out to Shouki, and says he's "so glad" Shouki hasn't left yet. Can they talk to him for a second?

Shouki asks what they need, and while Wonder joins and can help with an excuse (or ask for an autograph), Shun claims that it's about the play- the teachers wanted to ask him something, and seemed kind of anxious about it. Shouki, looking a bit worried, agrees to come with them, then bows politely to Shimotsuna, and bids her farewell. Shun apologizes for borrowing Shouki, and then the three run off back into the school, ignoring Shimotsuna calling after Shouki.

Shimotsuna stomps her foot, and her assistant asks if he should cancel the reservation. Angrily, she asks him what his brain's for if he's not using it, and he backpedals, saying he'll cancel it immediately. She crosses her arms and fires back that he shouldn't need to ask about every single thing, he should be able to figure it out, unless he wants to be fired. He tries to apologize again, but she approaches him, and he immediately crouches down, clutching his head as if to protect it. Shimotsuna sighs frustratedly, and mutters that she's tired of looking at his face, and it's time for a new assistant.

Back inside the school, Shouki asks where the teachers are, and Shun explains that was a lie, since it seemed like Shouki was in trouble. Shouki's in disbelief for a moment, then finally catches up, letting out a surprised laugh and a "bravo", and saying Shun has a talent for acting. He slaps Shun on the shoulder, apparently hard enough that it pushes Shun forward a bit and he makes a bit of a pained noise. Motoha comments that it's like Shouki is suddenly a different person, and Shouki seems to remember where he is and reacts awkwardly, apologizing and saying he relaxed and wasn't thinking about it.

Riko comments that is seems they were right to rescue him, though initially they weren't sure whether they should, since it seemed work-related. Shouki thanks them for doing so, explaining the woman is a magazine editor who's taken an interest in him for some reason. He appreciates her writing articles promoting him, but inviting him to dinner is just... Motoha says she gets it (although in a way where it's hard to tell whether she really does, or is just saying that), while Shun adds that it seems like managing relationships in the entertainment industry is pretty difficult. Shouki agrees- plus, her magazine is extremely influential, so he really can't offend her.

He shakes his head, then reminds them of how he got popular because some videos of his rehearsal went viral, right? Shimotsuna is the one who posted those videos, then immediately featured him in her magazine. Shouki admits he doesn't want to be famous in the way he is right now, so he has mixed feelings about it, but he's gotten opportunities to work at TV stations since then, so that's good, at least. Motoha exclaims that's awesome, but Shouki looks troubled, saying he had originally planned not to take any acting jobs this year, as it's his last year of high school, and he wanted to focus on the drama club's competition entry. Since he can't refuse a job from Shimotsuna, however, he's ended up causing a lot of trouble for the drama club instead.

Motoha asks if that's what the club president was talking about, and Shouki confirms that they're all working really hard, so to them, this has just made Shouki look like a flake. He should probably just give up on the club, rather than causing them trouble, and focus on work... Motoha seems worried for him, and he apologizes for talking too much about a depressing topic. He thanks them again for saving him, and Shun says he can count on them if he ever needs help again.

Shun then asks what Aran's been drawing this whole time, and Aran explains she was just sketching, since she found everything that just happened very interesting. She shows everyone her sketches of Shouki and Shimotsuna. Motoha exclaims in amazement at how good ANRI's work is, and Aran shows another sketch of everyone rehearsing (the second image linked above), then puts her sketchbook away. Shun is also impressed, but asks what the point of sketches like that are. Aran replies that there isn't a particular reason- she just wanted to draw. Whenever she sees them all, she gets so inspired, she just has to draw.

Wonder can ask if it's helping her with ideas for her manga (or ask if she's going to put them in the manga), and Aran agrees, saying it'll probably help with her rough drafts later. Motoha blushes, very happy to help inspire ANRI. Riko then points out that the woman left, so they can all leave the school now.

The next day, they meet up for rehearsal again, but Shouki asks about making sets and props for the play. Motoha asks if they have to make those themselves, then Shun (looking worried? Or alarmed?) asks if they need to make costumes too, and Riko points out that they also need to prepare the sound system. Wonder can bring up the lighting system (or suggest they need "courage" too), and Motoha grumbles about how much there is to do. Shun asks if they can really get all this setup stuff done in time, but Shouki says they should start by taking stock of everything they need, asking Aran if she has any ideas for the sets.

Aran flips open her sketchbook, saying she thought about this a bit while writing the script, and lists out the scenes they'll need new sets for (there isn't actually dialogue specifying the scenes). Shouki nods, thinking that will help keep costs down, then adds that if it's a play for the school festival, the school should provide a curtain, which they can use to help with the sets. Riko confirms that each group can apply for up to 5 curtains, but if they need more, they'll have to settle that with the Executive Committee- but they can leave that to her. Shouki is impressed by her reliability, then thinks through what else they'll need.

With that figured out, he says he has a plan, which they can fine-tune as they're working. He suggests they go to Shibuya today to start buying what they'll need, and Shun laughs, commenting that it seems like Shouki's in a good mood today. Shouki's caught a bit off guard by this, but Shun says that's a good thing, since it means he's enjoying this. The group then heads to Shibuya.

As they walk down Central Street, however, Shimotsuna calls out to Shouki, cooing about what a coincidence it is to run into him here. They all react with surprise as she walks over, and asks who the students with him wearing Kokatsu uniforms are. Shouki explains they're working with him on the play, and they're here buying props. Shimotsuna says that's good- pictures of him doing such normal, youthful activities will definitely go viral! She pulls out her phone, but Shouki raises a hand up to block the camera, saying she can't take pictures of the rest of them, they're just regular students. Shimotsuna laughs that it's fine, she'll censor their faces, but Riko requests that she does not take pictures of Kokatsu's students, nor Shouki, who's currently in the middle of club activity for Kokatsu.

Shimotsuna's tone turns cold again, calling her self-righteous and asking who'd even want pictures of the rest of them. They're eyesores, just standing there, not looking photogenic or even good in general, they're nothing at all. This angers Motoha, but Shimotsuna just continues, warning them not to get close to Shouki. If Shouki was photographed standing next to some female nobodies, it could impact his future. They have a responsibility here. This confuses Riko, and Shimotsuna smugly pulls out her recording device, and explains that means they're not allowed to get close to Shouki. These days, ordinary people can be harassed online; they don't want to get targeted, do they? Motoha asks if she just pulled out a voice recorder, and guesses that means if they don't listen to her, they'll get harassed.

Shun says that's enough, and he and Wonder move to the front of the group, standing between Shimotsuna and the others. Shimotsuna reacts with surprise, then looks Shun up and down, and strokes his cheek/jawline as if appraising it, to his alarm. She mutters that he's a bit rough, but has a good figure and muscles- with some work, wouldn't he be something? Shun, freaked out, stumbles several steps back, asking what she's talking about. Without reacting to him, she turns her attention towards Wonder, and leans closer, commenting that he has a cute face, and asking if he knows anything about the entertainment industry. Wonder's responses are "Don't touch me", "Uh, not interested", or "I'm kind of interested..."

Regardless of the player's choice, Shouki starts to tell her to stop, but things are interrupted by the arrival of another character, who walks over to Shimotsuna and warns her (calling her "Shimotsuna-sama") that they're regular high schoolers, and there are too many people here, so this situation is- she cuts him off flatly, surprised but then unimpressed, and asks if he was seriously just telling her what to do right now. He hesitates, saying no, he wasn't, but these are minors, and-

Shimotsuna cuts him off again, saying she finally promoted him to replace that other idiot, but does he even understand his place? She discovered him, and now he's what? Her dog, yes? He reacts to this, and she continues that she hates dogs that bite their owners. Does he understand? Looking pained, he apologizes, and she smiles; as long as he understands.

Motoha calls her out as going too far, but the man puts an arm out in front of Shimotsuna, and insists it's fine. He turns back to Shimotsuna, and apologizes very seriously for doing something he shouldn't have, as her dog. He bows to her, but then Shouki seems to recognize him with surprise. The man only looks away. Shimotsuna, sounding friendly again, asks Shouki if he's free later; there's an excellent tea house nearby, they could have tea together! Shouki starts to turn her down, then rethinks, and says he'll go with her, to Wonder, Shun, Riko, and Motoha's surprise.

Shouki walks forward, and Shun calls out to him, but Shouki just apologizes, and says they'll have to go shopping together next time. Shun tries to protest, and Wonder says Shouki doesn't have to go with her, but Shouki only apologizes again, saying it's fine. Shun reluctantly agrees, and Shimotsuna, delighted, leads him and the other man away.

Motoha wonders why Shouki suddenly changed his mind, while Shun furiously wonders how Shimotsuna can be so full of herself. Riko points out that it seemed like Shouki agreed to go with her after seeing that other man, and Ruferu pops out of Wonder's bag, saying that that man's desires have been stolen, to Wonder, Shun, Motoha, and Riko's alarm. Ruferu then corrects that it would be more accurate to say their desires are being stolen- it wasn't obvious until he started talking to Shimotsuna, but Shouki's desires are being stolen as well, most likely by Shimotsuna herself.

Motoha reacts with disbelief, but Aran standing next to them is just confused- what happened? Why are they all staring at the owl? The others panic (evidently having forgotten Aran was there), and Motoha starts to say the owl was talking because, uh- and then Shun cuts her off, hissing that Aran can't even hear his voice in the first place. Motoha exclaims awkwardly, oh, that's right, um, uh... This does nothing to help Aran's confusion.

Wonder then gets the option to tell her either the owl is hungry, or it needs to pee, and Aran is impressed that Wonder can understand its needs just through the sounds it makes, wanting to note that down for later. Riko quickly explains that Wonder needs to take care of his owl, so they should part ways for today. Shun agrees that without Shouki, they don't know what to buy, anyway. Aran says that makes sense, and she'll head to an art supply store before going home. She bows and walks away.

Once she's gone, Motoha exclaims that was close, and Wonder really saved the day there. Shun mutters that if they told her the owl can talk, she'd think they're crazy. He then starts to ask Ruferu about what he was saying about stolen desires, but Riko stops him, warning that there are too many people here, and they have to think of the mastermind. Shun realizes she's right. Riko suggests they discuss more at lunch tomorrow, on the roof, and Ruferu agrees.

The game jumps ahead to lunch the next day, where Motoha immediately asks Ruferu about what he said yesterday- are Shouki's desires really being stolen by that Shimotsuna person? Ruferu confirms; he was a bit concerned when they saw her talking to Shouki in front of the school the other day, but now he's certain. That other man's desires are also being stolen.

At Ruferu bringing this up, Riko recalls that he wasn't the same assistant they saw with Shimotsuna the other day in front of the school. Shun wonders if she changes assistants every day, and Wonder brings up her treatment of the man, leading Riko to suggest maybe they're more like "servants" instead. Motoha thinks this is horrible, and can't imagine why he doesn't just quit, but Riko recalls that she said something about "discovering" him. Maybe she caught him with something...

Shun seems frustrated, then asks if they know for sure that Shimotsuna's the next Palace ruler. Ruferu says it's extremely likely, but they'll need to go to Mementos to confirm, once they have her full name. Riko points out that Shouki said she's a magazine editor, so they should be able to find it online- sure enough, she's Takami Shimotsuna, editor-in-chief of "Weekly Bakuro". Motoha adds that it looks like Bakuro frequently exposes celebrity scandals, and Riko further adds that it's published by "Shuubunsha" with that purpose in mind. She's found pictures, so there's no mistaking that this is the correct Shimotsuna, as apparently she's pretty famous herself. She's considered a shrewd editor who's full of gossip, and her articles are very popular.

(Translation note: Shuubunsha's name seems likely to be a pun on "scandal" (醜聞 shuubun) with "company" (社 sha). That writing of "sha" is commonly used in the names of real-world publishers, among other things. However, the name in-game is actually written as 秀聞社, the meaning of which is more like "Excellent Information Company".)

However, there are also a lot of people condemning her, and the subjects of the scandals she's exposed have often sued her. Ruferu asks if the lawsuits were about false reporting, but Riko sighs and says she can't find any mentions of her ever losing one of those cases. Shuubunsha is a huge publisher, so Riko's sure they have excellent lawyers, and thus it'd be hard to win even if the articles are false.

Motoha asks if Shimotsuna's ever been submitted as a phantom, but Riko replies that while it seems she was on Magatsushin's navigation page, she was never officially confirmed, and the submission was deleted. Shun wonders if Shuubunsha got it deleted to cover it up, and Riko chuckles and says that's more or less what everyone in the comments thinks, too, though some instead are theorizing that Magatsukami would never give in to the media, so the submitter must've deleted it themselves out of fear. Ruferu mutters that regardless, it seems Shimotsuna is a controversial figure.

Motoha then calls out to the others, saying she found an article written by Shimotsuna about Akashi, and shows them a page titled "The Truth Behind the Confirmed Phantom A's Death!" on her phone, with a screenshot from Akashi's Magatsushin video but a censor bar over his eyes. They all take a moment to read it, then Riko comments that it's an uncomfortable read, as while it starts out as a summary of true events... Motoha finishes, it devolves into stuff like "After being abandoned by his fiancée, A went crazy and lost himself" and "A's top ten scam methods". Motoha sounds troubled as she points out that the article was deliberately written to catch attention, but Akashi was also a murder victim.

Riko adds that Shimotsuna also conducted a follow-up investigation on some of Akashi's past victims, but titled the articles as things like "The Tragic Ending of the Sexually-Harassing Minister", which is also very disrespectful. She then makes a surprised noise, and asks everyone to look at something on her phone. Shun reads aloud, "The Fate of the Former Tyrannical Teacher of K Academy", which he and Wonder both recognize refers to Katayama, Shun looking furious.

They evidently immediately go find Katayama and show her the article, but she just laughs at seeing an article like this. Shun insists this is no laughing matter, but she reads aloud, "K used to be a delinquent, a former biker gang leader, and now she's a violent teacher that no one in the school dares mess with. Although A's confession saved K from punishment, her students still live in fear." Shun says that's nonsense, and they need to report this, but Katayama shakes her head, pointing out that it's not all nonsense (she was a delinquent, she was suspended, and she wasn't allowed to have contact with her students), and there may still be students that fear her.

Motoha tries to protest, but Katayama reminds her that the article mixes true facts with subjective claims that are difficult to disprove. That makes it difficult to overturn the report. Motoha says the article also claims K beat up a student, and the student became depressed, but that's a total lie. Katayama once again points out that there was the incident where she confiscated a lighter, however, which some people could consider violence. So it's difficult to prove that claim is entirely made up.

Shun says the way the article is written will make everyone misunderstand, though, and Wonder adds that they're on Katayama's side, but Katayama smiles and says they're very kind, but she's fine, since knows she has students like them that understand. She adds that she was also a phantom, and there are some aspects of that that aren't mentioned in the article at all. But no matter how much mudslinging she's subjected to, she can bear it. To her, that's part of atoning. However, the articles about Akashi and his other victims are definitely excessive and exploitative. They don't reveal the truth, they just do a disservice to everyone involved.

The four return to the roof, where Shun declares that even if Katayama doesn't mind it, Shun won't forgive Shimotsuna for this. Calling her a biker gang leader that controls students with fear is way too much! Motoha, downcast, points out that Katayama did have a point that some students might still be scared of her, though. Shun says he's only scared of her when he's late, or sleeping in class. Wonder asks about that, and Shun hastily explains that he only did that in his first year of high school, he doesn't dare to do it now. Motoha laughs and says he really is scared of her.

Riko considers, and comments that while they do contain some true facts, the truth only makes up about 30% of these articles, at most. So if the other articles that Shimotsuna's written, about other scandals, are the same, then they're likely just as exaggerated. Motoha asks what those people who were "exposed" are supposed to do with the rest of their lives, then, and Shun points out that's why they sued her, but then remembers that Shimotsuna's never lost a case.

He thinks about it, then asks how such a shady magazine managed to avoid getting closed down right from the start. Riko reminds him what Katayama said- the articles contain both true facts, and subjective "evidence" that's hard to disprove. Therefore, it can't be completely dismissed as libel, even in court. Ruferu points out that pursuing a case in court also costs people time and money, and can be a huge burden. If they're not sure they can win, it can be difficult to keep fighting. Riko adds that, after a lengthy legal process, the public also forgets about the incident, so unless it's a particularly major case, losing wouldn't really damage the magazine's reputation. Ruferu further adds that if the article increases magazine sales, the company could still ultimately make a profit, anyway.

Motoha finds this despicable, and Shun grumbles that as long as it makes a profit, they don't care if they ruin people's lives. Riko says the average magazine won't go to this length, but the public does like reading things like this. That's why Bakuro is so popular, and with Shimotsuna as its editor-in-chief, that proves her approach is "successful" from a business angle. Everyone is troubled by this train of thought.

Ruferu points out that if all this is true, then Shimotsuna could easily take advantage of it to ruin someone's life intentionally. Riko rephrases- rather than writing an article strictly for profit and as her job, she could deliberately write an article targeting someone innocent because she knows it'll work. Ruferu continues, she could turn the smallest mistake into something that destroys anyone she doesn't like, or that gets in her way. The others react with shock. Riko understands, though; the targeted person would only be able to watch, unable to do anything about it, and it would send a message to everyone else not to cross her.

Wonder says they need to make her have a change of heart right away, and Shun adds that this must be how she stole the desires of both Shouki and the man working as her assistant. Ruferu agrees. He'd hoped they could take a break until the school festival is over, but they can't ignore this. They resolve to head to Mementos after school.

Outside Shibuya station, Riko messages a group chat with Shouki and Aran, asking if they can cancel today's rehearsal. Motoha backs her up, claiming there's a test tomorrow and she's doomed if she doesn't study. Shouki gets it, wishing them good luck studying, and Aran says they can rehearse tomorrow. With that, they head in.

Reaching the door at the end of the current deepest path in Mementos, Cattle approaches it and touches it, and the door immediately opens. From there, they head into the new area.

Cattle then immediately listens for the voices of the heart, focusing on Takami Shimotsuna. As he does so, Wind comments that she sees how he locates Palaces now, and Closer remembers this is Wind's first time seeing this. Soy explains that, as long as Cattle has the person's real name, he can find their Palace. Wind becomes thoughtful, and when Wonder asks her why, she says that a lot of people use pseudonyms and internet usernames nowadays... could that potentially prevent them from ever finding a person's Palace...? Closer realizes that's a good point, like how Aran uses "ANRI" as her pen name.

Cattle abruptly declares he's located Shimotsuna's Palace, which is indeed in this area of Mementos, and adds that it doesn't have that sense of disharmony that Katayama and Akashi's Composite Palace did, either. Closer cheers that it was easy to find this time, but Soy points out that this means a lot of people have had their desires stolen like Shouki. Wonder says they'll steal them back, and Wind agrees.

Their first impression of the Palace is a dark forest, which Closer comments is kind of scary, like where you'd find witches. Soy is unimpressed- the great witch Shimotsuna? Don't make him laugh. Cattle says the Treasure is still far away, so for now they'll have to go through this forest.

When they reach a clearing, Wind points out a strange structure in the distance, commenting that maybe calling it a witch's forest wasn't too far off. Closer exclaims about what that could be, and Wonder and Wind suggest it might be some kind of tower, with how tall it is. Cattle still isn't quite sure what that might mean for her Palace's theme, but he senses the Treasure is in there, towards the top. Wind warns them that that likely means Shimotsuna's Shadow will be there, too, so they should be careful.

Up close, they can see the intricate, crystalline decor of the tower, which Closer comments is really something. Soy grumbles that it's way over-the-top, and practically blinding him. Wind notes that it's definitely not a publishing house, but its appearance does fit her impression of Shimotsuna.

They approach the entrance, but find it guarded by shadows. Wind suggests they hide and eavesdrop, as it seems like they're talking to some cognitions, and they might be able to get some information.

One of the cognitions in front pleads with the guards that he needs to get this article approved today or he'll be stuck here, while another begs to be allowed to see Shimotsuna-sama. The guard, unaffected, tells them Shimotsuna-sama is very busy, and doesn't have time for the likes of them. The other adds that if they want to meet Shimotsuna-sama, they should come back once they're an ikemen (attractive guy, essentially). A cognition apologizes for not being attractive, but insists that his work can't be completed without Shimotsuna-sama. One of the female ones wonders how she can possibly become an employee that attracts Shimotsuna-sama's attention.

From their hiding spot, Soy wonders what's going on, and while Wind isn't entirely certain, she has noted that those ant-like shadows have blocked every entrance. Closer suggests they just fight their way through them, but Wind warns her that a commotion could attract Shadow Shimotsuna's attention. Cattle agrees that phantom thieves shouldn't be too conspicuous, and Wind adds that it's also good to keep a low profile until they have a better idea of how this Palace works.

Closer spots another path leading away from the tower, and Wonder decides they should investigate that for now.

The path is partially overrun by brambles, but eventually leads back around to the base of the tower, where they discover a hole in the side. Wind senses movement inside, but she's not sure if it's from shadows or cognitions. They decide to head in and take a look.

Inside, they find an underground area, supported by plant roots and occasionally crystals, full of ant person cognitions sitting around at tree stump-like tables or pacing the room. Closer says she didn't expect it to be so dim in here after how bright the entrance was, and Soy thinks this feels more like a cave. Wind notes the ant people don't seem to care about them, and Closer thinks they're working.

The camera cuts over to some of the ants, who talk about desperately finishing their work for Shimotsuna-sama, and wanting to become her favorite. Wind determines that they're probably Shimotsuna's "worker ants", based on her colleagues and subordinates at Shuubunsha. Closer doesn't think that sounds great, but Soy reminds her Shimotsuna also calls her assistant her "dog" in the real world. Cattle speculates that this would mean Shadow Shimotsuna is the "queen ant" here. As the Treasure is still far away, he suggests they take a look around here for now.

The Phantom Thieves proceed to begin their exploration, traveling through underground tunnels and learning about the puzzle mechanics of the Palace, including portraits of Shimotsuna that turn diligent workers (ie, anyone who shows subservience to her portraits) into ants, and rebels (ie, anyone who insults the portraits) back into people.

They eventually reach a dead end with several ant guard shadows, and decide to try talking to them. One laments that Shimotsuna-sama didn't even look his way after he worked so hard, while the other shakes its head and wonders if it's because they're not attractive. Wonder tries to join the conversation, but the shadows become agitated, worrying that Wonder and the others are new workers who are way more handsome than the ant guards, and Shimotsuna-sama might like them better.

Soy wonders what's going on, and Wind sheepishly explains that they might only attack Wonder and Soy, for being handsome. Closer cheerfully wishes the ikemen duo luck in fighting the shadows, and Soy asks if she's joking. Cattle takes a moment to process the word "ikemen", then whirls around and demands to know why Closer didn't include him in the handsome group. Closer awkwardly tells him that people can't even easily tell his gender. Cattle brushes this off, and prepares for a fight as the two ant guard shadows come at them.

After the fight, they search the area, but find it truly is a dead end. Soy asks if that means the front entrance really is the only way in, and Closer suggests they go back and see if the guards have left. Unfortunately, they find the shadows haven't moved an inch. Soy says they should just fight the shadows, then, but Wind thinks they should return to the real world and try to learn more about Shimotsuna first. Otherwise, even if they force their way in, they might have trouble getting any further. Cattle admits it's true that they only really know she's a crooked journalist at the moment. Wind points out that even that only came from looking her up online. Closer wonders what else they can do, and Wonder suggests they return to the real world and think it over. Cattle agrees that they've made great progress just by locating the Palace at all today.

Back in the real world, standing outside Shibuya station, Motoha wonders what else they can do to investigate Shimotsuna. She works for somewhere called Shuubunsha, right? But they don't know anyone else there. Ruferu says their only real point of connection to her is Shouki, but Shun doesn't think Shouki'd want to talk more about her. Ruferu thinks it'd be okay to ask a bit about his past, and Wonder suggests they "wait for the right time" or "invite him to the diner". If the latter is picked, Riko worries it'd be a bit weird to invite him somewhere out of the blue, and might make him wary. She thinks they should ask him sometime more casually, and Motoha suggests they try during a break in rehearsal.

Shun mutters that he doesn't want to rehearse tomorrow, he wants to focus on the Palace now, but Riko insists they keep up with the play. They don't know what the mastermind might be paying attention to, and sudden absences might look suspicious. Motoha recalls that Akashi originally came to Kokatsu specifically to look for them. Riko assures them they can still work on the Palace, too, but they have to act like normal students preparing for the school festival. Ruferu adds that things like this add to their desire for life, too. Motoha grumbles that asking her to study would probably reduce that desire for her, and Shun seconds that.

The next day, after everyone gathers, Shouki suggests they go over Act 2, which apparently starts with the protagonists' mother (played by Shun). Shun enthusiastically says he'll get to show off the results of his late-night practice yesterday, then straightens up his posture, and says in a high-pitched voice that dinner's ready (presumably the first line of Act 2).

Time skips ahead, and Motoha cheers that she didn't mess up a single line today. Shun sighs that that's expected for her, but he got stuck on some words again. Shouki assures them they're all making rapid progress, then adds with an amused noise, especially Shun and his acting as the mother. Shun is thrilled, which prompts Motoha to mutter that he actually took that seriously.

Aran scribbles in her sketchbook, then says that everyone has a distinct personality and their performances are wonderful, so she can't help but sketch a lot. Wonder shows interest, and she says it'll help a lot with her rough drafts. Aran then lets everyone know that she'll have to miss tomorrow's rehearsal, as she has an interview with a manga information magazine called "Comic Notes", which is going to have a special article about Phantom Thief Family.

Shouki mentions he heard Phantom Thief Family has reached over 5 million copies in sales, and Aran bashfully confirms, to Motoha and Shun's shock. Motoha tries to figure out how much money that is- if one copy is about 600 yen... but Aran says she doesn't usually pay much attention to the profits, she asked her parents to help handle that. She just wants to make manga. And she plans to tell Comic Notes the same thing.

Riko then asks if Comic Notes is published by Shuubunsha, and Aran confirms, a bit surprised that she knows such a niche magazine. Riko says she was investigating, to Aran's confusion, and Riko brushes it off a little too quickly. Shouki repeats "Shuubunsha...?" to himself, and Shun loudly exclaims in realization that Shuubunsha is where Shimotsuna works. Shouki reacts with a !, while Aran asks, "Shimotsuna?", and Motoha elbows Shun, calling him an idiot. Shun, panicking, extremely awkwardly tries to twist "Shimotsuna" into "tsuna sandwich" (as in, tuna)- he wants a tuna sandwich, actually. Wonder attempts to back him up with three different options that also contribute to the sandwich idea.

Aran, however, asks them not to change the subject, and Shouki, not looking pleased, asks if they've been investigating Shimotsuna. Aran is momentarily confused, then flips through her sketchbook, and recalls that Shimotsuna is the woman who was pestering Shouki. Motoha mutters that everything's out in the open now. Aran asks why they're investigating her, but Riko replies that it's not really an investigation, she's just famous on the internet, so Riko felt like she'd seen her somewhere before, and casually looked her up. Shouki admits that she is a celebrity, and Shun hastily adds that since it seems like she was annoying him, they were just a little curious about her background.

Shouki is quiet for a moment, then tells them that if they're investigating her because they're worried about him, they should forget it- it's best not to get involved with her. Motoha makes a questioning noise, and Shouki amends that she has a strong personality, so if they approach her casually, they'll regret it. He's used to it because of his work. Wonder doesn't seem convinced that he's fine, but Shouki insists. He then diverts the topic back to their rehearsal, and suggests they run through a scene with himself and Motoha.

As the two of them do so, Riko approaches Wonder where he's standing off stage, and reminds him that Aran said she's going to talk to someone at Shuubunsha tomorrow. This could be their chance to get more information, so they should try asking her if they can come along. As Shun walks over, Ruferu agrees this might be their only chance to visit Shuubunsha, but he isn't sure how they should go about asking. Shun thinks straightforward is best- just say they want to visit, would they be allowed to join? Or maybe they could say they're interested in publishers, or seeing what a manga interview is like...?

Aran approaches, and asks if they're interested in seeing her interview, to everyone (especially Shun's) alarm. She apologizes, explaining they were looking at her while whispering over here, and she got worried. Riko apologizes for distracting her from her sketching, and Aran brushes this off, asking more directly if they want to come with her to her interview tomorrow. Wonder confirms, and Aran almost over-explains that she understands how they must just want to see behind-the-scenes out of curiosity.

Riko hesitantly asks if that's okay, and wouldn't disturb her work; Aran assures her it wouldn't be any trouble. Riko still isn't convinced, worried that non-staff members joining might be an issue, but Aran promises she'll take care of that, and she just has to call the editor to get permission. Shun, impressed, says they're counting on her, and Wonder expresses a similar sentiment. Aran, a bit awkwardly, mutters that they really want to visit that badly... then says she'll call right now to ask.

Time skips ahead again, and they seem to finish one last scene, then Shouki claps his hands and says they'll stop here for today, and he'll see them tomorrow. Shun apologizes, saying something suddenly came up, and asks if they can skip rehearsal tomorrow. Shouki guesses there must be another test, and says that's fine, though he suggests Shun practice more on his own so he stops getting stuck on some words. He then says goodbye, and leaves.

Once he's gone, Aran turns to the others, and says the editor agreed... but she can only bring one person. If five unrelated people came along, it could get in the way of things. Wonder replies that's fine, to Aran's surprise, who thought they all wanted to go together. Riko covers up that of course they would all like to go, but they recognize it's asking a bit much, so it's fine if only one of them can go. Motoha wonders how they should decide who should go, and Shun points out that if it's like picking a representative for their group... they turn to look at Wonder. Wonder is sheepish, and can reply positively or negatively, but presumably either way he's roped into doing so. The others thank him, with Motoha calling him "leader" and Shun telling him to fill them in after.

Aran is fine with this, but requests that he wear casual clothes (as opposed to his school uniform) tomorrow, though she only explains this as "you'll know why when the time comes". Wonder is understandably curious, but Aran continues that she'll send him the meeting information later, then bids him farewell.

(To be continued in the next reblog!)

#persona #p5x #persona 5 the phantom x #open beta #version 4.0 #game content

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foxx-queen · 7 months ago

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there's something fascinating to me about the fact that mythal's fragmented spirit went on to try and help the world. we don't know how much her spirit was fragmented, or how many pieces there were, but I think this appeals to me because it does connect with lore from the previous games

veilguard all but confirms the popular theory that andraste carried a piece of mythal's spirit. people have been talking about the mythal/flemeth/andraste similarities for years! morrigans cryptic comments seem to tell us that that same fragment later came to flemeth after she was 'betrayed by those sworn to love her', which is I think confirming the version of flemeths backstory that she was married to a poor poet who sold her to a lord, who then killed the husband and imprisoned her.

whatever her faults, flemeth has frequently popped up to help when the world needs it. we know she's spent time with the dalish over however many centuries, since they have their own name for her. even just looking at the previous games - we wouldn't be here without her. the warden? dead. hawke? dead. inky? lasts a little longer maybe, but still dead. I defs wouldn't say she was a 'benign' influence like emmrich says, but if not for her intervention, we simply wouldn't be here.

but there's other stories throughout the history of thedas that have been attributed to mythal.

there's yavana, an antivan witch thought to be a daughter of flemeth, who's protecting high dragons since they'd vanished from the world prior to the start of the dragon age, who is implied to contain a fragment. (this also makes me wonder, if this is a separate fragment of mythal, did flemeth go around finding her fragments and putting them to use? is this a fragment of the fragment flemeth contained? many questions)

there's tyrdda bright-axe, the mother of the avvar, who led her people to fereldan at the advice of her lover, a spirit in the form of an elf, who was said to be the lady of the skies. nice that mythal had a gf for a while, as a treat

in the hissing wastes in dai, we find the remnants of an ancient dwarven thaig built on the surface, the only known of its kind, that pre-dates the first blight. the codex entries imply that when they left because of a civil war between the dwarves, they knew to be wary of dragons, even though they'd never seen one before. there's a statue of mythal watching over the tomb of paragon fairel (the dwarf who led them to safety). did mythal lead these dwarves to the surface in a hope to help them given what was going to happen once the first blight happened? it's not hard to imagine she had regrets over the dwarves and the titans, and that she might've wanted to atone by helping in some way.

flemeth tells us in da2 that 'regret is something I know well'. while we don't know exactly what regrets mythal has, it's clear she has them, and it's easy to see that she might be watching over this world to make up for her part in breaking the one that came before.

is the fragment you meet in the fade a bit of a bitch? sure. I probably would be too if I'd spent hundreds of years unable to do anything but watch the world, when my very nature was to help it, and my only friend had never visited me but instead went on to try and destroy the current world out of a very misguided attempt to make up for our mistakes. and still, even though this is the fragment that's never grown from spending time in the world, she still helps us. of course she does.

however much I'm not really satisfied with the conclusion of her story (I wanted to see that vengeance that would shake the very heavens, I wanted to see her fight with us against elgar'nan, and instead it culminated in her just being used to persuade solas) I do think that the fact that she cares about the current world has always been there in the previous games. it's funny actually, because as much as the writers keep telling us the dalish were wrong about their gods, mythal ended up becoming what they believed of her. protecting the world as best she could.

biggest complaint was she should've been voiced by kate mulgrew tho

#dragon age the veilgaurd spoilers #datv spoilers #mythal #flemeth #datv #dragon age meta #idk what to tag this as really it got soooo long #like i wish we got more with mythal! I wish we actually saw some things from her pov regarding the evanuris #i wish we actually got to learn more of her outside of solas #i wish shed gotten to have agency and fight at the end!!#i wish we'd seen her fight i wish shed gotten her justice that was denyed to her #but the confirmation that shes been trying to help throughout history is based on stuff in all the games #and i do like that

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altocat · 10 months ago

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thank you for the answer. i am looking for someone who would be willing to write a quick scene of sephiroth visiting angeal’s grave. i have agreed with the theory that angeal was cremated but i still think he had a grave marked somewhere because the young soldiers all loved him. i keep seeing a picture of snowfall and sephiroth seeing the grave for the first time. you don’t have to but i know sad writings are your forte. just a thought 👉👈

I got you! Sorry for the wait! I have put this on AO3 as well. I hope you enjoy!

----------------------------------------

Modeoheim was cold. Gray trees in the mid-afternoon, pale sunlight dancing against windswept brick and brush. Black earth at his feet. Abandoned buildings that rusted forlornly in the far distance, forsaken to the elements, slowly rotting where they stood. A crow called in the far distance, the noise echoing off the frigid hills and peaks.

Sephiroth's breath was steaming, gusty plumes that clouded the thick winter air. He lifted his head to the sky, speculative emerald eyes studying the rolling clouds, tracing the hazy patterns of movement. Foreign gray gods above him. Oppressive. Looming. A storm would be rolling in soon. He could feel it on the wind, taste it on the breeze.

It didn't matter.

Nothing really mattered anymore.

The marker was exactly where Zack had mentioned, a modest slant of rock that overlooked the hillside. Sephiroth watched the scattered collection of open wilderness below, his fists clenched, teeth gritted. He'd always hated this landscape. Barren land. Shadowland. Desolate and lonely. Terribly austere.

An equally terrible place to die.

"You'd be so proud of him."

Low murmur against the wind, alien in his own throat. He brushed the thick tangle of silver hair from his eyes, chin lifted, breath smoking the air.

"Zack. He's changed since you left."

The clouds rumbled faintly somewhere beyond the mountains. Sephiroth wet his lips.

"He's grown tremendously as a First. We do excellent work together. I truly could not ask for a more capable colleague. He'll be the very best of us someday. SOLDIER's finest."

Silence. Cold as bone. Hollow. Sephiroth hadn't expected anything, really. He didn't remember the last time he ever had. Expectation was a loose luxury he'd long since discarded. The others were different, of course. Genesis had always adhered to the principle of reckless ambition, pushing himself, charging blindly ahead through every obstacle, menacing the competition with ruthless abandon. Glenn had viewed the world with more innocent eyes, convinced of some higher morality beneath the ugliness. Some grand duty of atonement, braving the harsh realities of the world with a sense of hope, resolution.

But they were gone now. Genesis was sick. And Glenn...well, Glenn couldn't help him anymore. Not at all.

Sephiroth closed his eyes, felt the shape of the wind. It rattled against the heavy weight of his armor, the great pauldrons slumping, calloused hands opening and closing again.

He stroked the marker. He withered. He wondered.

"You were different."

Zack had clipped the words together in the stone, etched the scraggly shape of a name through the craggy surface. Sephiroth could feel it against his palm.

"You were different from them. You were content where you were."

Black feathers at his feet.

"You knew yourself. You knew what you wanted. You worked for it on your own terms. On your own time. I respected that."

The crow called again. Louder.

"You...you always knew what you were doing. You understood the world. You understood people. You were always there, always present in the moment. That's what I always admired about you."

Louder. He shut his eyes and went away. It always made things easier. Especially now. There were better places. Better eras. Fragments. Better views and footfalls.

"I don't understand why this happened."

Any place but here. He could go. He could let his mind vanish. He could fall away.

Or apart.

"I don't understand..."

He was going, yes. Going away. Far away. Far back. Tumbling down. He was somewhere else now. And there was solace. Recollection. Warm hands. Foggy lamplight. The comforting press of bodies in a crowded booth, the smell of cheap beer and smoke. Sephiroth had met those dark blue Mako eyes once, met the golden moment between laughter and shy awareness. A timid duck of the head. Finger against his cheek, brushing away the faint wisp of a stray eyelash, murmur mild, yet perplexingly resolute.

And ghosts.

Pearly ghosts that shimmered like tears.

"Life's too short for regrets, Seph."

And a heaviness in his chest. A heaviness that clung. A heaviness that claimed him. A heaviness that brought him back just as quickly. Sephiroth's fingers rooted, scraped the rock. He bit his lip, fought the urge to strike, to break away.

"I don't understand."

His nails were bleeding. He didn't notice.

"I didn't want...this, Angeal. You know I didn't."

The wind rose and fell, collecting on the mountaintop, stirring through the trees.

"Don't you see...I have nothing but regrets."

Birdsong in the fields, small black specks that darted and circled through the brush, the shadowed ridges.

"What am I supposed to do now? Angeal. Tell me. What am I supposed to do?"

Hojo would have mocked him, subjected him to a litany of petty insults for his weakness. Strong soldiers did not break. Strong soldiers did not fall to their knees in the ice, cradle the cold stone with their bare hands. Sephiroth felt the angry rush of vertigo hitting him, his head spinning, the unpleasant lurch of his stomach rising as he clenched his teeth and counted. There was acid in his throat, the words threatening to spill, blame and hurt and broken admission. And all around him, the hills and mountains seemed to tilt and sway; arching black claws that scraped the clouds. He watched them spiraling all around them, watched the jagged, looming lines converging, splitting the sky. Could they cut the world? Could they tear into that listless gray void, rip apart the sun and stars and the cramping confines of space and time? Could they revive the dead? Could they even hear him?

Sephiroth didn't want to guess. The noise that arose was not entirely human. He wasn't even sure if it was completely his own. He did not initially register the first speck of white that flecked against his cheek, the tiny sprinkling shower making its gradual descent, painting the sterile earth like ash. Pale dots that drifted across the stone, working through the grooves, the grainy, half-scrawled markings that composed the dead man's crude, weather-worn epitaph.

It was snowing.

Sephiroth coughed. He wiped his mouth. He lifted his head back to the sky, icy flakes dusting the thick black slant of his eyelashes. He watched the spectacle, counted every steady, starlit trail, caught them on his palm, his fingertips. They coated his shoulders, his hair, his cheeks. Bitter water on his tongue. Bitter words farther beneath.

"Angeal."

It felt like rain.

"Angeal."

It wasn't.

"Angeal, are you crying?"

And that was somehow worse.

#asks #ff7 #ffvii #final fantasy 7 #sephcanons #crisis core #sephiroth #angeal hewley #genesis rhapsodos #glenn lodbrok #fanfiction #ao3 #sephgeal #angst #LET'S GET FUCKED UP #Angeal's death

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databoyreekoo · 5 months ago

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The True Dandelion [theory thread]

!Find the original twitter thread HERE!

Theory aside, I think Strel and Ava are both really good potential candidates of the True Dandelion’s identity. But...

From the beginning, Nomura has been setting up a grand reveal regarding Riku and what he truly is. I believe he may be revealed to be the True Dandelion. We know Nomura loves symbolism, and that he’s really inspired by mythology. Riku is a prime example of that.

Riku is symbolically tied to the following;

Dawn

[The] Sun

Halos

Hearts

Yellow (as well as purple and blue)

Dawn represents;

triumph over darkness

rebirth, regeneration, creation

unconscious into consciousness (awakening...destati?)

illumination and enlightenment

the beginning of salvation

Dawn is associated with;

Aries, The Ram

white horses (especially a chariot pulled by winged horses)

Note for later: Dawn is also connected to lightning/thunderbolts, also known as the celestial fire, which is a symbol of Zeus (Jupiter’s bolts symbolize chance, destiny and providence, said to be forces that will mold the future).

The Sun represents;

life, energy, will, earth and heart

the promise of salvation

the direct son and heir of the god of heaven

the guiding light

The Sun is associated with;

Apollo, Helios, Baldr and Jesus (sun/light deities in general)

Sun-heroes (Hercules, Siegfried, Mithras, etc.)

royalty

Pride (capital sin - superbia...y'know, what's written on the black box)

gold and yellow

tripods and discs

Apollo is the Greek god of oracles, truth, prophecy, light and the sun.

Helios is the Greek god of and personification of the sun, he is also the guardian of oaths.

Baldr is the Norse god of light, purity and the sun.

Jesus, a figure of Christianity, believed to be the son of god and the messiah (a savior of a group of people).

Halos, also known as solar crowns, aureoles and nimbi/nimbuses, represent;

glory and virtue

supreme power and divine energy

spiritual light and solar powers

eternal life (for those who "conquer" themselves and remain steadfast under trial)

Another note for later: Halos denote holy or sacred figures, rulers, heroes and demigods. They are attributes of Zeus, Apollo, Helios, Dionysus, Sol, Jesus, the Virgin Mary and angels. In ancient Egypt, the solar crown was depicted as a disc framed by the horns of a ram or cow.

Heart represents;

love, love as the center of illumination, the center of being, will, understanding and truth

the sun

Bonus: Sankofa, an African word and symbol, represents the importance of learning from the past in order to build a better future.

Yellow represents;

dawn, sun, earth, sunlight, illumination

intuition, dissemination and benevolence

jealousy/envy, deceit, betrayal, secrecy, melancholia

Yet another note for later: Yellow is associated with Apollo and Leo, The Lion. It can also denote traitors and heretics.

Purple represents;

royalty, noble birth and sacerdotal power

pride, dignity, justice, truth, sorrow and love

Blue represents;

sanctification, time and space, revelation, eternity, devotion, the unveiling of truth, hope

I brought up the connection between dawn and thunderbolts, as well as Apollo, the sun and tripods. A sacrificial tripod actually appears in Olympus - realm and home of the gods - in kh3, decorated with suns and thunderbolts…it’s where Riku’s heart ends up.

Almost forgot to mention, tripods are a solar symbol associated with heaven. They were sometimes given as prizes… the three legs correspond to sunrise, midday and sunset; future, present and past, respectively.

I also brought up the connection between dawn, the ram (Aries) and Apollo…

The ram represents sacrifice and atonement, the opposite of what a scapegoat represents. End of Pain and No Name reflect this; similar, but in different ways.

The Dandelions were a group of exceptional wielders assembled by Ava, a task granted to her by the Master of Masters. The role of the Dandelions was to maintain the balance by collecting Lux (fragments of light).

With that in mind, the True Dandelion would need to have the same or similar qualities; exceptional abilities, an aversion or resistance to darkness, and a desire to maintain a balance.

Luxu describes the True Dandelion as a “seed of light to be sown into the future.” This light would need to guide the others as a beacon of hope.

Others have pointed out the similarities to when Ventus was wrapped in white cloth and the replica body delivered by Demyx.

However, the scene where Luxu places the True Dandelion in the pod reminded me of how Jesus is depicted as a baby; swaddled in white cloth and placed in a manger.

The Master is looking for wielders with strong hearts, able to trap the darkness without falling to it.

Riku is the only wielder out of the current Guardians that has this ability, which was brought up by YMX in khddd.

This ability of Riku’s was also brought up in coded. He was used as a shield to protect the journal data.

He also became a Dream Eater in order to protect Sora from nightmares.

This ability is framed as natural, instinctive, something second nature to Riku.

So many different symbols that connect to each other. There’s so much set up…both symbolically and throughout the games.

Regardless if he gets revealed to be the True Dandelion or not, Riku definitely isn’t human and is someone incredibly special.

Oh. And there’s a Jesus fish in the Book of Prophecies on the same page as a black crown (Oblivion or Kingdom Key; both connected to Riku).

ICTHUS

Iota - i - “Jesus”

Chi (χ) - ch - “anointed”

Theta - th - “of God”

Upsilon - u - “son”

Sigma - s - “savior”

“Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior”

#kh #riku #theory

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tuxedoferret · 7 months ago

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Arcane finale was good....but

Spoilers for the finale of Arcane season 2, Arc 3 in general.

I'm probably screaming into the void but I wanted to get these thoughts out and see what other people think.

In general, I liked the endings for most of the characters. Their arcs make sense.

Vi, Caitlyn, Ekko, Jayce, Mel, Singed, and Viktor's story conclusions, I think were ended beautifully! (And Jinx too but I'll circle back to her in a second). Their endings made sense and were executed very well! I'm content with how their stories end!

And MOST of the deaths make sense... most of them.

Of course most of the minor characters are dead, no surprise since a majority of them we don't even know the NAMES of unless you scour the credits in the VA section.

Ambessa's death was well done, with Mel finally getting her mothers approval through breaking free of her control and finally being able to decide her own life and Caitlyn becoming a true leader.

The only thing that really bothers me, is the deaths of Heimerdinger and Warwick/Vander. Out of all of the champions in the game they're the only non-humanoid ones that made it into the show. They're also the only (game first) champions to actually die and they barely get to do anything. (I am one of the believers that Jinx is alive because there's no fucking way they would kill off one of their chief money makers, also based on evidence in the show).

With Heimerdinger in season 1 we see him serve as an oppositional force against Jayce, and then a mentor working with him. He gets kicked off of the council as a result of his conservative viewpoint. And he reflects on this, he leaves to go help the Zaunites however he can but gets shunned away. Then the goes and helps Ekko with repairing his board and getting home. In season 2 this continues with Heimerdinger helping Ekko get into Jayce's lab and them having the discussion about wild runes before getting sucked up into the anomaly. His last episode is him in the alternate universe with helping Ekko build the Z-Drive to return to his own universe. He puts it in the amplifier, is about to go with Ekko, then runs out and puts a few more things together and just... dies. Thats it for him. MAYBE he'll come back since he's a Yordle but this is new canon and the man had flesh and blood squished out of him. But in general his death feels cheap and unnecessary. What was the point of his death? How did it impact the narrative and what did the story gain from it as a result? Not fucking much really. He's never mentioned again afterwards. I feel like his death had no impact on the story whatsoever. I honestly think it would've been better if he had survived and returned with Ekko to fight in the battle against Noxus and Viktor. I would've liked to see him, either returning to the council or not, atoning for his mistakes by trying to make things better in Zaun with his inventions.

With Vander/Warwick there was so much hype around the theory that Vander would be returning as Warwick. And we were all super excited when that came true! We love it when the narrative rewards us for paying attention! But we get like... 3 episodes with him before he becomes a Viktor automaton. He was also still very much alive even after Singed drained his blood, so Viktor was wrong about how that would kill him. Warwick's role in the end felt very lackluster, and it felt redundant to just, kill him off AGAIN. Maybe I'm just a little mad because I have read up on Warwick and I feel like he had more potential for the narrative than just... make Vi watch her dad die all over again. The fight scene with Warwick could've been replaced with any big evil bruiser really (coughBlitzcrankcough). In general Warwick felt more like a Vi and Jinx accessory than his own potential character. Which kind of sucks. And maybe I'm a bit salty that we didn't get a full wolf Warwick. I think the whole his mind was reset/erased bit could've still been done if the explosion damaged his head and it healed back wrong/if singed replaced his head with one of the wolves' heads to make him fully Warwick in the end.

Isha's death kind of feels... not impactful at all to the story afterwards aside from Jinx's spiral. I would've liked it if her death did more than just that (Like I said, permanently damaging Warwick/Vander would've been nice)

This is about the league of LEGENDS and you'd think that Warwick and Heimerdinger would have bigger roles than just being killed off to further another characters story after barely impacting the narrative.

Also I feel like Sevika being on the council is like... stupid. I think she wasn't handled well at all after episode 4. She just completely disappears after running away with Isha. Why do we never see her hanging with Jinx and Isha again? I would have LOVED to see how Sevika reacted to Vander not being as dead as previously thought, the man she betrayed and ultimately ended up mirroring in the end with her refusing to give up Jinx to Piltover. I think it would've been fun if Sevika was the one to tell Vi when she woke up that Jinx gave herself up, despite all of Sevika's protests, an inversion of what happened with Vi and Vander. Putting Sevika on the council in the end is just kind of weird for her character. I understand it's like, the idea of Zaun finally getting representation on the council, Sevika getting a say in what happens in the undercity. But I feel like that could've just as easily been accomplished with finally letting Zaun have its own independence with Sevika being the "Baron" of Zaun, being the new leader. Because we've seen she's a genuinely good leader! She has a good head on her shoulders. It would've been fun to see how she'd struggle with being the new leader of Zaun, struggling against the Chem Barons if future series ever decided to look into Zaun again.

In general I'm fine with the ending of Arcane. But I feel like the endings could've been written a different way for those 3 characters. I honestly feel like it would've been better if the show ended off where the game picks up, and I don't even play League, I just like the lore from what little I've been reading.

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shakespearesdaughters · 2 years ago

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The Secret History Theories

I’m currently re-reading Donna Tartt’s The Secret History right now and I have several theories but no one to share them with, so I thought I would put them here to see what you all think!

Richard pushed Bunny.

Richard said he hates authors who skip over the grisly parts of their crimes out of shame/embarrassment/guilt but he does it.

He was not only involved in the planning of Bunny’s murder but encouraged it by telling Henry what Bunny told him about the farmers murder knowing that Henry was already thinking about killing him.

While he showed some guilt about the murder afterwards he had no qualms about going through with it and was involved in the planning of it every step of the way.

He had a vested interest in Bunny dying not just to help protect the group but because Bunny knew/implied he knew about Richard’s true background and that he was lying about having money. He would have wanted to keep his secrets. He also wanted to secure his place in the group and what better way to do so than to kill someone.

We don’t know how Bunny died, as Richard purposely skips over this information. The only thing we do know is that Henry walked towards him, Camilla checked to make sure Bunny was dead. But what exactly did Richard do? If Richard didn’t kill Bunny why wouldn’t he tell us how Bunny died?

2. Julian was more involved than Richard either was aware or wanted to admit.

I think he was the person Camilla remembered seeing at the Bacchanal. He and Henry had spoken before the Bacchanal and Julian had told him to do what was necessary.

Henry got the idea to do the Bacchanal from Julian. Henry and Francis both were interested in acquiring the land with Francis wanting to purchase the house and Henry finding the land sacred. Henry is implied to have spent more time with Julian than the others having been to his home and had private conversations.

He also calls Bunny by his nickname for the first time when it came to Bunny’s suicide note which was odd. He said he knew or was able to predict what his students were doing and with how close he was to Henry there’s no way he didn’t know what they were up to. Which is probably why he had to leave and did leave so quickly.

3. Richard was the author of Bunny’s suicide note as a confession. He spent a lot of time with Bunny and with Henry. He could have gotten the paper from either of them. The typewriter was in the study room for anyone to use.

Richard was an excellent student and could have written the note convincingly enough to sound like Bunny. It gives him the perfect out in the murder of the farmer because he’s not named once in them and it implicates the group especially Henry. Which could be Richards payback against Henry implicating him to the FBI. Also it’s the only way for Richard to confess just like he is confessing to us with the book for his guilt without having to actually atone for anything.

Richard also flip flops between insisting that Bunny was the author to it being possibly someone else. We also don’t know when the letter was dropped off because Julian doesn’t mention it. But from the way he was acting when he spoke to Richard and Francis and why he initially took it as a joke/brushed it off before speaking with Henry one could infer it was delivered after Bunny’s death.

4. Charles is the only other person who could have written the note because he was also close to Bunny and Richard notes he is an expert forger and the letter is one big middle finger to Henry and the only other person who had a reason to hate/implicate Henry as revenge besides Richard would be Charles.

5. Francis is a predator who was possibly abusing Charles and no one in the group seemed to care. He also tried to have sex/ SA Richard and foreshadowed doing it when he said “if you drank as much as he(Charles) does, I daresay I would have been in bed with you, too.”

6. A catamount killed the farmer, Henry lied about it so he could manipulate the group and to murder bunny.

There’s several hints about it being a big cat from Charles bite, to the way the body was found I mean how on earth did they rip open the stomach of a grown man and mutilate him without any weapons? They even go the catamount inn.

There would be something so deliciously ironic and really fulfill the themes of it being a Greek tragedy if it had all been a wild animal and Bunny was killed for nothing.

7. I think Richard was there at the Bacchanal and it was one of the many things he omitted.

He is a self professed liar, an excellent one at that. He has no problem going where he’s not supposed to as we saw him entering the room and calling the number to find out about the plane tickets Henry purchased. He was following the group around. It wouldn’t be a hard stretch that he followed them to the woods and saw the bacchanal/orgy.

He would have been upset he wasn’t invited because of his socioeconomic background. And upset that Bunny was invited over him.

Camilla thought she saw another person there. Henry thought he saw Dionysus there. Though it could have been Julian it could have also been Richard.

He admits he omits things and considered lying about Julian, he romanticizes Henry despite the murder, he easily went along with the murder of Bunny and has a thought of attacking and SAing Camilla and there is an implication he WAS lying about something very important. Which leads up to question what did he lie about?

He is not as horrified or concerned like a normal person would be when hearing your new friends just committed a brutal ritualistic murder. I think he was there, either as voyeur/bystander or he actually participated and was afraid Bunny might know or would find out which is why he goes along with it.

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mintedwitcher · 12 days ago

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Peter played that scene so so well, it's gut wrenching, I still haven't been able to watch anything after that. And oliver saying that was *him* sobbing and there were other takes with buck trying to shoulder his way in (but maybe he didn't do enough, right eddie?)... I already miss their father son dynamic, I don't think they really thought this through past "oh it would be such a good shock value to kill the father figure, the person who fought for his will to live". So many potential storylines for buck but also little scenes that really made the vibe of an episode are gone

I think that entire episode was just incredibly done. and this is why I'm so loud about criticising the show when it falls short because look! look what they're capable of! when they have a storyline they're passionate about, look what they can do with it! and then they immediately fumbled it.

I've said before that I actually believe this is Bobby's perfect ending - he went out saving his family. and with what we know about him - the drinking, the passive suicidality, the struggle he's had his entire life - it fits. I've had a lot of time to think about this story and while I don't think that the actual writers might have considered this, I think this is actually a good end for Bobby, because it fulfils the desire he's had since day one: to save his family.

everything we knew about Bobby, right from season one, is that he wants to be with his first family again. yes, he's overcome that suicidal urge, he's not actively seeking death anymore, he's content with his life, he still wants to be with them. he still wants to save them, through saving others. He's still atoning, even though he threw out his little book of names. he's still not done. so what can he do? what is there to do? two of his teammates - his family - are dying, he won't allow that. he's lost one family, he doesn't intend to lose another, not ever. it's why he fights so hard. it's why he's so determined on the job, he will not let anyone go through what he went through when Marcy and the kids died.

it's simple math. one antidote, two infected people. who is Bobby Nash going to save? himself? or the man who saved him?

we talk a lot about Athena and crediting her with saving Bobby, and she did, in her own way, but so did Chimney. he's a big part of how Bobby has even made it this far, and he's a major contributor to Bobby seeing himself as worthy of life to begin with. Chimney is a major part of why and how the 118 became a family, not just a team, and I think we tend to forget that, but Bobby never did.

so of course, of course, Bobby is going to save the man who gave him that family. he's going to save the man who saved him, all those years ago, when he was still raw and breakable.

I think, no matter who was in that room, no matter who was infected, the outcome would've been the same. Bobby Nash always, always, put his team - his family - before himself, and this was just another example of that. If it had been Hen, or Ravi, or Buck, or even fucking Eddie suffering that infection, Bobby still would have given them the only dose of the cure, because what else is he going to do?

this got away from me, I had to go back and read your ask again to actually address the rest of it lmao

anyway, yeah, I agree that I don't think the writers really put enough forethought into it. 8x16 was good, but 17 and 18 were absolute trash. it was an immediate fumble, and that's so bitterly disappointing, because 8x15 was so good.

I have my own ideas as to where the story could go from here, but we saw in 8x18 that they're basically just throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks, so I doubt that anything actually meaningful will come from it. all I know right now is that if Certain Theories are correct, season 8 will be the last season I ever watch of this show.

#911 abc #asks #anon #bobby nash

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thestrangesthell · 2 months ago

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⚠️kuroshitsuji spoilers⚠️

I’m sure this is a stupid idea, but while I don’t care about O!Ciel’s “real name,” (because he is Ciel by all accounts of the story), I do have my personal headcanon:

Ciel means sky, and can even be translated as “heaven.”

So, what if the other twin was named after the earth?

Now, here’s my reasoning:

The sky (especially birds) is reoccurring imagery throughout Kuroshitsuji. Sure, it’s a frequent motif in a lot of media but, given the context, I do find it especially interesting.

The sky and birds (as a unit) are definitively present through some of the ops/eds in the anime. Think ‘Atonement’ (the Public School Arc ending theme), where Ciel and Sebastian are literally floating through the sky towards the ground.

The most obvious example of this is ‘Bird’ by Yuya Matsushita

youtube

Not only is this song breathtaking, the (loosely translated) lyrics paint a story similar enough to support my HC.

Like the flowers and the trees, we are pitiful,

all we can do is grow upward towards the sky.

Looking down, once in a while, reminds of us,

but then we look back up again.

Granted, this is probably not a very concrete and reflective translation, but read it from the perspective of O!Ciel and you’ve got yourself crumb of evidence to support my silly little theory.

O!Ciel has done everything possible to pass in his position as head of the household, including besmirching his own name and faking his death in the process. From what we know, he views himself as disposable. Dirty, tainted. Grounded by his past and held back by illness.

There’s an obvious theme throughout the story so far of him attempting to soar as much as possible. Like a bird, born for the sky. Though images of his reality slip through; asthma, a sinking ship, a walking cane (though more likely a nobility indicator).

Trying to forget where we come from, attempting to grow past it to reach a vast and impossible sky.

To reach Ciel.

#kuroshitsuji #kuro headcanons #black butler #o!ciel #Youtube

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antigonewinchester · 5 months ago

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Severance speculation / kinda analysis (abt a very common theory for the 2nd season). spoilers up to 2x02.

rewatching 2x01 and 2x02 I am very very convinced that "Helly" is actually Helena. people are saying its way too obvious of a twist and yes, it is, because the show is well-written and so this idea makes a ton of emotional and metaphorical sense.

it's not just that Lumon doesn't want Helly being rebellious & making trouble on the severed floor, I think it's perhaps even more about a punishment for Helena. she wasn't able to "control" her innie and so it's Helena who has to atone, to pay the price by not just vouching for Lumon on the outside but also working within the severed floor, aka "hell," itself.

I'm not super into the philosophical question of "who are you?" within the show, but I am fascinated with severing & Kier's whole weird thing as a metaphor for the emotional walls people build up within their minds & hearts. I wasn't quite sure what to make of Cobel but on rewatch she of course mirrors the severed workers. she lives 2 different names & personalities whether she's at Lumon or not, and she's incredibly emotionally volatile (going from loving Lumon to smashing up her shrine), unable to control her inner feelings--just as Mark S, Dylan G, Irv B, and Helly R represent, quite literally, the underlying desires, feelings & wants that their outsides selves have suppressed. while Kier & his philosophy is supposedly about Something Great, as we can see with Cobel, her following it shaped her into a splintered, unhappy person, and her obvious parallel is in Helena and Helly R. based on what we've seen of her father & Lumon, Helena grew up in a shitty abusive cult, which she hates but is unable to express those feelings... until she's severed and Helly R is immediatly angry at being controlled & abused.

so, if the show is heading towards re-integration for its characters, then Helena on the severed floor could be a first step for Helena and Helly coming together. she has to literally live the life of that angry, rebellious part of her, and I think (optimistically) that will change her, even if she doesn't want it to. much of the show is about how people are shaped by their environments, both in terms of literally where they are but also their memories, the people around them, all of it. my guess is that Helena is somehow going to help Mark, Dylan, and Irv later on in the season, possibly by switching back to being Helly, aka finally metaphorically acknowledging that part of her as real & human & wanting to see her friends again. [plus, it would also mean Helena symbolically "killing" herself in switching back to Helly as a first part of her rebirth thru re-integration.]

#spoilers #severance #helly r #meta #or to put it another way...#if we fail to break the world's shell... we will perish without being born. destroy the shell... and revolutionize the world!

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billveusay · 4 months ago

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I watched Gundam Unicorn and...

...and we're back in the hot take zone, probably the hottest yet. Fine, yes, I didn't like Unicorn. I didn't hate it, but I still have a lot of issues with the whole Newtypes concept, at least when it's played straight (I have it on good authority that X does interesting subversions with it). And this is the "oops, all Newtypes" show.

I went into it knowing almost nothing about it, and what I knew wasn't encouraging. I saw gifs of the Unicorn going destroy mode in full CGI, which always makes me feel robbed of pretty 2D animation, and I knew there was an actual char clone named Full Frontal with a ridiculous hairdo and a collar that made him look stupid. However, by the end of the first episode, I was actually pretty invested. Large chunks of the plot were the same as always (young kid finds himself piloting a Gundam while his colony is getting attacked, etc) but the pacing and presentation were much better than F91, really did a favour to Unicorn by watching them back to back. And the first fight was entirely in gorgeous 2D and one of the best choreographed space combat scenes I've seen so far, dynamic but easy to follow.

However, most of my goodwill came from all of the mystery it was setting up. Oooh, what's the deal with this girl? Oooh, what's Laplace's Box? Oooh, political intrigue. Put the problem with catchy set-ups is that the pay-off must not be disappointing. And I was disappointed. In fact, captain something echoed my reaction pretty well.

There is so much wrong with this box.

So. If I got my UC history lessons correct, 60 years before Zeon Zum Deikun made his theory about Newtypes, and 80 years before they turned out to be a thing, every world leader not only agreed, with no basis, that maybe living in space will turn people into mutants, but also that it will probably be for the best if those eventual mutants are given ruling positions.

And... I'm absolutely not opposed to the idea of something impossible or highly implausible happening in sci-fi stories, that's what they're for. I don't mind you telling me that living in space makes some people psychic in your universe for some reason. But even though Newtypes are an integral part of the UC that we and the characters now take for granted, we have internalized that fact only because we were presented with concrete evidence of it in 0079 and all of the subsequent pieces of UC media. But it feels like the writer was so caught up in his grand and deep message about humanity that he didn't realize how much he took it for granted, and how weird this concept sounds when presented as purely hypothetical. And besides...

"Okay, I know that we, the ruling class, have sent you, the underprivileged, into space by force. And I'm really sorry about that. But to atone, I make you a promise: if you evolve into a new, space-adapted race, we will give you priority in government affairs"

"...can you stop oppressing us now instead?"

"Naaaah, you gotta prove that you're worth it. So chop chop, get evolving"

Moreover, the prime-minister decided to add that at the last minute, and every world leader was okay with it? And when they got hit by the terrorists and went "well now I'm not doing it", they managed to erase every trace of it besides the charter? In one of the biggest events in the history of mankind, and therefore one that was probably highly mediatized?

And finally, we're expected to believe that this thing had the potential to uproot the whole Federation and allowed the Vist Foundation to blackmail them for a century? Did they really think that the spacenoids would not only believe that this clause is real (how hard is it to fake a big slab?), but also be convinced to revolt by it?

"Oh my god! I could excuse the Federation oppressing us, but going back on a promise to give us rights if space turned us into mutants, and subsequently hiding it from us?! That I won't accept! To the streets!"

Even after the One Year War, where the existence of Newtypes is proven... well a spacenoid rebellion already happened. And then several more followed. So it's not like revealing the content of the box would have made much difference, people are already revolting against the Federation for much better reasons.

It's absurd on so many levels, I have trouble wrapping my head around it, and because it's the foundation of the entire plot it makes everything else fall apart. And with how pretentious the writing is ("It was a prayer... but also a curse..."), it had a long way to fall.

On that note, again, I have trouble with the points that Tomino and this show are trying to make. Partly because I have trouble understanding them since they're presented in such a messy knot of ideas and themes, partly because what I can understand, I find wonky. Some of it is just stuff that aged poorly, like the idea that colonizing space is the way to save earth from pollution. No better way to know that you're doing something wrong than having Musk give you the thumbs up. As for the other ideas, yeah, I guess that most of our problems come from not understanding each other. But when the proposed solution is "evolving into psychics so we can communicate without misconceptions"... it has to be allegorical since that will straight up not happen, but then what is it trying to actually say? I'm genuinely asking. Because like with Evangelion, there's always a small part of me telling me that maybe I just don't get it. And if I did it, maybe it would be a transcendental experience, you never know.

BUT. I'd still argue that there are better ways to convey your big important message than having whatever character is close to hand shout it out. Then shout it out again. And again and again and agai- I KNOW that people should understand each other. I KNOW that people's souls are weighed down by gravity. Take Disco Elysium. An incredibly intelligent game that deals with an abundance of psychological, political, philosophical and existential themes. At no point does it feel like the characters step aside to let the writer tell you directly all of his very intelligent thoughts. They always feel human, their opinions and motivations coming from their personal experiences and personality, and not the needs of the (gundam) narrative.

Plus, even admitting that the message is profound and meaningful, the Newtype concept still brings a bunch of issues with it. One thing I've already mentioned in a previous review is that the pilot skills just come down to having the good pilot gene. You can just shove Quess Paraya in a cockpit and she'll turn into a weapon of mass destruction. And since MSG, I can't think of a single time a fully-developped Newtype lost to an Oldtype (there's probably some, I've watched a lot of Gundam since then), so it's back to DBZ power levels deciding everything. And overall, it just gives too much power to the hand of the author. They can brush aside any challenge they introduce by having the protagonist yell for 10 minutes. 15 minutes if it's the climax. Then the FX department goes wild with the sparkles, emotional music plays, and everything is resolved. It's not just artificial, it's predictable. I don't feel suspense because I'm just waiting for the moment the VA finally gives himself laryngitis and they have no choice but to move on to the resolution. I know this is a me thing, it's omnipresent in anime so it has to appeal to most of its audience, this is just me explaining why I don't personally like it.

Phew. Okay, I'll admit that all of the above was not just about Unicorn but most of the Gundam stuff that I don't personally enjoy, it's just the show that I found most symptomatic of it, and so it was a good occasion to discuss it. But with all of that out of the way, what's left? Well, mostly stuff that we've seen before, because this show (or the novel it was adapted from) is, like so much of Gundam and especially UC Gundam, derivative as hell. I get that often it's the point, iterating on a similar formula to propose alternative takes. But you know how repeating a word a bunch of times makes it lose its meaning at some point? That's what this reminds me of. We've already seen a teenager finding himself piloting a Gundam developed by his father after his colony gets attacked. We've seen that teenager getting beaten up into a weapon by military officers. We've seen a mobile suit battle in a populated environment wreck havoc and destruction. We've seen the protagonist try to psychically reach out to a brainwashed girl. We've seen the psychic ghosts of every dead secondary character coming together in a climactic moment, etc... and at that point, we've seen all of that more than twice for most of them, so it just doesn't hit the same.

Moreover, while the repetition in some shows could be excused because say, they're from an alternative timeline that you can watch without having watched the rest of Gundam, here knowledge of everything from 0079 to CCA is required. I haven't watched ZZ yet (I skipped it because Zeta was a slog and I wanted to get to CCA and the pretty OVAs, but now it's actually one of the series I'm the most excited for) and even if I could follow the plot without too much trouble, there was a lot of stuff I noticed I was missing because of that. So the ideal viewer of Unicorn, who has all of the necessary knowledge, is guaranteed to have seen similar events play out multiple times.

As for the story and the character themselves, I found Banagher pretty bland as a protagonist. Yes, I'm saying that while Stardust Memory remains my favourite Gundam show, and I am STANDING by it. He doesn't differ much from the previous protagonists, and while there are differences in his backstory and trajectory, most notable being his tendency to get captured and recaptured by the other side at the beginning of each episode (that got a bit funny the fifth time it happened), in practice I struggled to find something that set him apart from his models.

Mineva is probably the most interesting character, and it was nice to see her again after Zeta, but her subplot of inheriting the leadership of a violent and extremist faction while being opposed to war fell into the muddled mess of philosophical concepts and politics by the end, so I mostly think of her as good potential, but not really paying it off.

And then there's Full Frontal. Fucking Full Frontal. No. I'm sorry. I can accept a Gundam with a moustache, I can't get over that hairdo and that collar. I can't watch any dialogue scene where he's involved without imagining the other characters refraining from chuckling. Shūichi Ikeda is doing some heavy lifting to keep him charismatic, but fortunately he's an incredible voice actor so it somewhat works. Hearing his voice echo through the comm systems of the Nahel Argama was very effectively chilling. But... remember when I talked about how I like my mecha stories at least partially grounded in reality? Yeah, so you can guess how I feel about him travelling to the heat death of the universe with his psychic powers, where a ghost tells him to stop being such a brat. This is why I have trouble enjoying even the good parts of Unicorn, because at the end they all devolve into something so over the top and disconnected from reality to the point of meaninglessness (again, this is how I experienced it, can't add "imo" to every sentence) that I can't stay invested.

Same goes for the fight scenes actually. As I mentioned, the first ones were incredible, but that was because they had some restraint, which allowed them to keep it readable. But because they need to up the stakes, they make the mobile suits progressively faster, they add more effects, more sparkles, more funnels, more explosions, more CGI, and by the end... well it becomes visual noise.

Sorry, tangent, back to the characters. Riddhe... I get the point of his character, but it felt poorly executed. He wants to preserve the statu quo because he fears chaos, ok. And he hates Newtypes because of that, but Newtypes represent change in the meta-symbolism, not in the diegesis of the story. It's like if Agent Smith hated Neo because he knew that he was a metaphor for transgenderism (among other things) and Smith was transphobic. Oh, and he also hates Gundams. Why? Gundams are just a brand of high-tier Mobile Suits that just happened to often be piloted by Newtypes. And... did he have a crush on Mineva? Is that why he got so butthurt? Because this becomes wrong on so many levels, least of which being, he went from hating her to helping her escape in- say it with me now -five minutes.

Who else... Marida and her adoptive dad were somewhat interesting, though I wish I knew her backstory from ZZ. Bright is Bright, true to form, a concrete traffic cone. I liked the moment where he chats with the picture of Amuro though. And we got to see my boy Kai Shidan! He doesn't do much, it's pure fanservice, but it's nice to see him well!

Before moving on to the visuals, little side note: man, Witch from Mercury took a lot from this one. The Gund format effect looks like the destroy mode, the main theme sounds similar, and the climax also ends with the Gundam using its weird glowy power to shield a space station from a giant laser. It's far from plagiarism, but it was fun DiCaprio pointing.

Okay then. Animation wise, all of the 2D stuff is gorgeous but as I've said, I don't like the CGI on the mobile suits. I hasten to add that I have nothing against 3D animation in general, I'm in 3D animation school, but cell-shaded 3D mechs don't trigger my dopamine receptors like hand-drawn ones do. The beautiful perspective, the details, the silhouettes, each frame a dynamic pose thought out to have maximum impact. You don't get that with CG, and it always kind of breaks my feeling of a coherent diegesis. But at least it's not on every shots, and the 2D ones are beautiful. As for the mech design... for the non-gundam ones, it threads the line between great and overdesigned. The Kshatriya is just under it, the Sinanju is just over it.

But the Unicorn and the Banshee I really don't like, at least in destroy mode. The red glowy highlights should be drawing the eyes of the viewer toward the important details, but here they just cover every part of the frame indiscriminately, so nothing stands out and it becomes visual noise that doesn't feel dynamic or purposeful. I think the gundams of WfM do it much better. And that's before the Full Armor version where we kiss goodbye to any sense of identifiable dynamic silhouette.

Okay. I feel like there's still a lot I want to talk about, but I'd never see the end of it, so I'm punching out here. One final "just my opinion" for the road and let's move on.

Next is 00, and even though it's flawed on many many levels, I'll have a lot more nice things to say about it. See you there!

My gundam reviews :

> Hathaway's Spark > Mobile Suit Gundam > Gundam Zeta > 0083: Stardust Memory > 0080: War in the Pocket > 8th MS Team > The Witch from Mercury > Gundam Thunderbolt > The Origin > Turn A Gundam > F91 > Gundam Unicorn > Gundam 00 > MS IGLOO > Gundam Narrative > Iron-Blooded Orphans > Gundam Wing

#gundam #mobile suit gundam #gundam unicorn #mobile suit gundam unicorn #banagher links #mineva lao zabi #review #gundam review

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