#And some people have definitely interpreted the fact that they don't socialize w each other off the clock as ''they hate each other''

[princehendir]

Don’t that myth buster guys hate each other or am I mixing up cohosts

ehhhhhh it's complicated? Depends what we mean by "hate each other" and also there's not really any way to know for certain bc they've blessedly always been kinda private people. I will say confidently though that Adam & Jamie have clearly never been friends outside of work and they definitely don't talk much now that their professional relationship is largely over lol

[unproduciblesmackdown]

thinking how autistic ppl have talked about that thing where it's like "oh autistic ppl don't notice and/or don't understand Social Cues" and how instead it's not that what is considered such A Cue has actually gone unnoticed or particularly misinterpreted, it's just that the autistic person doesn't read into it as Certainly having one precise internal motivation / intended to be conveyed meaning in it. (while naturally autistic ppl's own cues Are unnoticed &/or misinterpreted as [certainly meaning xyz] including instances/behaviors that are not meant to be Cues as having some intended silent social message for the other. and the eternal "how do i explain to ppl that when i say things it doesn't have a secret double meaning to read into it without them trying to read a secret double meaning into it" matter where using language to be explicit about a Message is also misinterpreted (or unnoticed))

not to mention that of course the idea that allistic ppl are all simply aware of some set of rules for the correct way to act and always get it right when it comes to interactions is just Made Up and an assertion that follows having already been terrible at an interaction w/an nd person. cultural rules w/variations on any scale and no true universal / objective rules to be found anywhere, misunderstandings all the time as a fact of life, what's polite here vs never expected there vs considered rude or even hostile elsewhere, and that people who are like "oh yeah i ascribe to that rule too" but can disagree about it and about the Secret Double Meaning that's supposed to be behind it

also makes media interpretation a whole time when like, even [show don't tell] via descriptions of events in text as like Adequately Subtle Setup is like oh i didn't assume it definitely pointed to xyz, but wuh oh when there's often supposed to be like "& This thing is meant, ideally/correctly, to be interpreted as indicating This thing" & hopefully it's not crucial to understanding a whole narrative you're here for. suppose an explanation there is just having the entire perspective that everyone does read into [cue / indication] the exact same way and you don't think about how else it could be interpreted, like e.g. just kind of setting it aside to wait for more information but that was all you're gonna get (and now people are reading into your (possibly supposed lack of) response incorrectly w/o any consideration that this Could be incorrect) like, well, when that's the perspective you have and think that Everyone has. classic. which feels like it corresponds re: all the [characters based on nt people who make media having unknowingly interacted w/plenty of autistic ppl] unknowingly "an autistic person" based characters and how they'll just be understood to be Weirdo Others to all, same as how the entire audience will have the nt understanding that we all do go around successfully reading each other's minds at all times. and/or that ofc also being "wrong" / only having a limited perspex here / those framed as Others To All in a work are actually the Selves To Many irl, can all be disregarded b/c hey you're the ppl getting to make the work anyways so whatever. re: that in irl interactions it's also that, say, an autistic person can't get any benefit of any doubt / be Allowed to do xyz not necessarily b/c it can't even Possibly be considered "wrong" for someone allistic to do it, but b/c an autistic person has less power in whatever situations / social circles and That's the priority / guiding principle, such that some people will have to continue to Lose (& supposedly deserve it for w/e reasons, the Justifying Narrative comes after the fact & is just for dismissing anything that suggests they should, or even could, be acting otherwise) while other ppl will get to keep Winning, including to a point their deliberate inconsideration / hostility in social interactions, supposedly the reason nd people deserve to be disliked / excluded / punished, becomes proof of "that's right they're so epic they don't need to play by the rules to keep being considered epic" / simply proof that other people Are more socially constrained; the fact that [some ppl are just better] intrinsically coexists with, & implies, that [some people are just worse], and also vice versa. and, tbt, how w/Media ofc [this is a) the Normal Perspective, which others some people / is wrong abt them; but also b) who cares if it's not universal b/c we're the ppl getting to convey all this] applies to whatever other groups, e.g. for another obvious manifestation being men as media creators and women as [others] in it to be wrong about (that they're sexual objects; be shopping; always show up in a role that is in helpful/desired relation to men; etc)

anyways that yeah it's like sure i noted the Thing but i didn't assume it necessarily meant [xyz] and that everyone on earth would understand it thusly (they wouldn't) the supposed Social Skills(tm) that are "we're all mind readers, and right about it" where ofc being "right" can mean having the social capital such that, when you're wrong, you don't even have to be aware of that b/c a) your Success is predetermined by other elements and b) other ppl Don't have the clout to even make you aware you're wrong. like oh breaking news another abled cishet white man with rich family who gets to think his success proves he's simply more correct abt other people about how to act and what to do to get everything you want and be in charge, b/c you so deserve it....vs the lens of Negative Misinterpretation put on others and the violence of responses that can be supposedly warranted/deserved for it.

[n1kolaiz]

The Six Realms

Okay, so I was pretty close to giving up on writing analyses but I'm back LMFAO plus I see we're close to 100 followers and I just want to thank you guys for being so very supportive <3

Alright, I'm not sure if anyone's ever written about this, but if an analysis like this exists, please do let me know because I'm kind of curious as to what other people think about this, too!

Remember that time Fukuchi spoke about bringing "about the five signs of an angel's death"?

I read a little bit more about it, and as a minor content warning: this analysis will focus on a few religious aspects (Buddhism + Hinduism). So if I get any of the facts wrong, firstly: I do not mean any disrespect to either religion, and secondly: please do correct me if I interpret anything in the wrong way.

Spoilers for BSD chapter 90 onwards + BEAST!AU under the cut!

So I'll start by talking about the Decay of Angels. As we all know, the members include Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Nikolai Gogol, Sigma, and Bram Stoker, and their leader, Fukuchi Ochi. After Fyodor's arrest, the Decay of Angels came into light with Nikolai murdering four government officials in a week. These murders symbolise the Buddhist cycle of existence, or otherwise known as samsara: the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.

"We are the Decay of Angels—hiding here as terrorists, a 'murder association', five people who will announce the demise of the celestial world."

Nikolai Gogol, chapter 57

Samsara is described to be a concept beyond human understanding. According to Hinduism, samsara is the physical world where every being has its soul trapped into a physical vessel. The Hindus believe that everything has a soul, and due to a soul's attachment to desire, it is forced into a deathless cycle of being born, dying, and reincarnating into a different body. In Buddhism, the ultimate way to break free from this cycle is by obtaining nirvana.

Nirvana is a Sanskrit word for the goal of the Buddhist path: enlightenment or awakening. In Pali, the language of some of the earliest Buddhist texts, the word is nibbana; in both languages it means "extinction" (like a lamp or flame) or "cessation." It refers to the extinction of greed, ill will, and delusion in the mind, the three poisons that perpetuate suffering. Nirvana is what the Buddha achieved on the night of his enlightenment: he became completely free from the three poisons. Everything he taught for the rest of his life was aimed at helping others to arrive at that same freedom.

- TRICYCLE'S definition of nirvana

As Fukuchi mentions in the panel above, there are six different realms of existence. These realms represent every possible state of existence, but one cannot live in a specific realm forever. Depending on whether or not one's past actions were morally good or bad, an individual is born into one of these realms. Basically, the controlling factor of which realm a person is born into is dependent on their respective karma. The realms are separated into two categories: the hellish ones and the heavenly ones.

The Deva Realm: where beings are rewarded for the good deeds they have done. This realm is void of anything unpleasant. It is basically paradise— empty of unfulfilled desires, any form of suffering, and fears of every kind. Religious individuals, however, do not seek to be born into this realm since its attitude is more or less carefree.

The Asura Realm: where demigods are admitted. Asuras are driven by greed and envy, and may come in conflict with human beings since they are quite similar. They are powerful beings, but quarrel with each other quite a bit, making this realm quite undesirable to be reborn into.

The Animal Realm: where beings are given the form of an animal (you probably guessed that lol). Individuals here don't actually have good karma to take pride in, but rather, they are born into this realm to work off their bad karma (by being slaughtered, hunted, or forced to work, etc). Being born into this realm forces one to atone for their past sins by living out their life as an animal.

The Hell Realm: where one is punished for their evil actions. The most merciless of realms, where one pays for their transgressions through pure suffering, methods of which include: dismemberment, starvation, and psychological/physical torture. However, once a person's term is fulfilled in this realm, they are presumably promised to be reborn into a higher state.

The Preta Realm: similar to the hell realm, in which beings pay for their past sins (specifically: greed and stinginess) by having to survive through hunger and thirst. This realm is also known as the 'ghost realm,' because some pretas are psychologically tortured by being forced to live in places their past selves have lived in. They are invisible to human beings living at that time, which pushes them to face the depths of despair and loneliness. Your typical horror movie, really.

The Human Realm: the only realm where one's actions determine their future. The status (social ranking, physical wellbeing, and so on) of a human being in this realm is determined by their past actions, but due to the fact that a person has their own conscience to differentiate good morals from bad, the actions they commit in this realm have the power to determine which realm they are sent to next.

Okay, so now that I've got that out of the way, let's shift our focus to the Book. Very little is known about the Book, but the basic fundamentals of how it works is that whatever is written in the book will come into existence only if its contents follow the rules of karma. In addition to that, only a few sentences can be written into a single page of the Book, and it must follow the current narrative of the story.

If I'm not wrong, the first time the Book was mentioned was by Fitzgerald, who wanted it to resurrect his deceased daughter in hopes of restoring his wife's mental health. The next time the Book is brought up is when Fyodor's intentions to possess it are divulged; his goal was to decimate the global population of ability-users. And now, the current arc has the Book as its central focus, with a single page in Fukuchi's possession.

[ BEAST!AU spoilers ]

The Book acts as the central point of multiverses, with each character's lives differing from universe to universe.

Dazai committing suicide in this alternate universe stands in sharp contrast with how he decided to start up a new life in the main universe.

Oda staying alive to act as a mentor to Akutagawa in the ADA differs from how Oda uses his death to prompt Dazai to "be on the side that saves people."

And of course, the way Atsushi and Akutagawa have their positions switched in the two universes depicts how different their lives would be if they were given the chance to be mentored by different people— these are just a few examples of how the Book houses an endless amount of possibilities.

[ end of BEAST!AU spoilers ]

Hypothetically speaking, this kind of reminds me of the differing realms I mentioned before, where suffering is promised in some realms, and better things are granted in the rest, depending on one's karma, or the deeds they've done in their past lives. In this scenario, perhaps one's past life can be understood as one's current life in a different universe. That's just a personal opinion though. Take it as you will.

side note: Keep in mind that the person who is more or less impervious to the Book's effect is Dazai, with his nullification ability. I wouldn't want to propose any theories in this aspect (I don't believe I'm fully fact-checked ;_;), but I could use Dazai as a raw example of how your choices affect your future. If Dazai had decided to stay in the Port Mafia after Oda's death, or if he even decided to go through with his suicidal fixations, life would've been different for him in the root universe (obviously, ryley) I mean, you could basically understand that from how he ended up in the BEAST au, but imagine if he really did slip up in his decision-making in any of the universes.

Many analysts have proposed that he went MIA (early in his life) from the main universe for a while to figure out how the BEAST universe worked, whilst having the Book to his advantage. Perhaps his actions were guided? I'm not saying he's all-knowing, but he's sure as hell smart. I'm not sure if Kafka was trying to highlight the concept of karma when it comes to Dazai, but if he is, then I suppose you could say that Dazai is pretty much unaffected by the rules of karma, existing as the centerpiece of all the multiverses. No Longer Human is the namesake of his ability, but the book talks about disqualification from societal norms and generally, the world. I was talking about it with a friend, and they reminded me that Yozo (the main protagonist) was pretty strong in his views against society. Like he didn't speak out of total defeat, he spoke out of defense. If there was anything Dazai actually lost to, it was his guilt— "Living itself is a source of sin."

Then again, that's my personal interpretation since everyone has their unique perspective of his writings. In terms of the actual adaptation, you could translate the word 'disqualification' to 'insusceptibilty' when if it came to the Book's effects on Dazai? This side note is becoming really long lmao anyways I'll link a few theories which afflicted me with brainrot down below.

Another thing before I wrap up, the name 'Decay of Angels' stemmed from Yukio Mishima's book entitled 'The Decay of An Angel.' This is the final novel to the author's tetralogy: 'The Sea of Fertility.' The main protagonist, Honda, meets a person he believes to be a reincarnation of his friend, Kiyoaki, who takes the form of a young teenage boy named Tōru. The last novel of this series enhances Mishima's dominant themes of the series as a whole:

the decay of courtly tradition in Japan

the essence and value of Buddhist philosophy and aesthetics

Mishima’s apocalyptic vision of the modern era

Again, this could be referred to what Fukuchi goes on to say:

Some people view the concept of samsara optimistically, justifying it by saying that perhaps each individual is given a second (third, fourth, fifth, who knows) chance to refine their actions in order to be birthed into a better realm, with their karma being the independent variable.

On the other hand, other people, specifically the Hindus, view the cycle of existence as some sort of plague. To them, the flow of life and being forced to endure the suffering of mere existence in any form was somewhat frowned down upon. Some Hindus viewed samsara as a trap. Besides, having one's soul being limited to a physical body for the rest of eternity was not very appealing, especially since where they ended up at depended on the karmic value their past actions surmounted.

Even so, particular types of Buddhists don't seek nirvana, but instead, like the Hindus, they make an effort to be good people of society, building up their good deeds to increase the likelihood of being reborn into one of the better realms.

As mentioned before, the Deva Realm was the home of angels, the most carefree, gratified beings to exist. Fukuchi describes these angels as the people who don't get their hands dirty, the people who act as the puppeteers of society: politicians.

In terms of parallels, angels were the most fortunate and powerful, but they didn't have anyone ruling over them. A lack of supervision would lead to the abuse of power, which is what I believe Fukuchi was referring to. Deeming himself the Decay of Angels, he sought to prove himself as the 'sign of death that falls on the nation's greed.'

A few fun facts (okay, not really) about Yukio Mishima: he committed seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment) on the day he held a speech to voice out his unpopular political beliefs to the public. Mishima deeply treasured traditions and opposed the modern mindset the nation was advancing forward to adapt eventually. In his last book, The Decay of an Angel, he spoke about the five signs which complete the death of an angel:

Here are the five greater signs: the once-immaculate robes are soiled, the flowers in the flowery crown fade and fall, sweat pours from the armpits, a fetid stench envelops the body, the angel is no longer happy in its proper place.

The Decay of an Angel, p.53

The reviews about this series I've read so far describe Mishima's works to be quite complex; his writings demanded a lot of time to deconstruct and understand. They were highly symbolic, and he was pretty obsessed with death and the 'spiritual barrenness of the modern world.' I think you could attach a few strings from here to the mindsets of the DOA members. Of course, this parallel is completely abstract, but I'll go on rambling anyway:

He should have armed them with the foreknowledge that would keep them from flinging themselves after their destinies, take away their wings, keep them from soaring, make them march in step with the crowd. The world does not approve of flying. Wings are dangerous weapons. They invite self-destruction before they can be used. If he had brought Isao to terms with the fools, then he could have pretended that he knew nothing of wings.

The Decay of an Angel, p.113

I suppose you could resonate Nikolai with that excerpt. As much as Fukuchi takes the lead in this whole murder association, I'd like to believe that each member of the DOA plays an equally interesting part in whatever movement they're trying to execute. Fyodor feels it is his god-sent purpose to cleanse the world of its sins, his motto being, "Let the hand of God guide you." Sigma doesn't know where he belongs, since his origination comes from a page in the Book, and is fueled by the desperation to find a reason to live. Bram holds one of the most powerful abilities which is counted to be one of the "Top Ten Calamities to Destroy the World."

What I mean to say is that the DOA members are incredibly powerful, and they're not your ordinary antagonists (or I'm just biased). It's not just overthrowing authorities, mass genocide, and world domination— you could say that each individual is trying to utilize their purposes to their fullest expenditures, and the way they're trying to assert their plan into action is a little more passive-aggressive (framing the Agency, having a convo with a suicidal dude in jail, etc). They're the gray area between evil and good. As they framed the good guys for their own crimes, they're trying to conquer the bad guys for exploiting the innocent as they please.

This post would definitely age well if all hell breaks loose in the current arc (as if it didn't) and Kafka doesn't give us a happy ending.

That's all I have to say for now I guess! Thank you for reading, and once again, if anyone else something they wanna share, feel free to do so <3

sources (tryna follow Q's example ^_^) :

the six realms

samsara

the decay of angels

beast!au

the book

the sea of fertility

yukio mishima

theory: dazai’s emotional/mental state in beast!au

q’s theory: dazai being the protector of the book

theory: beast!dazai and the book

[tartagilicious]

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐘𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐃𝐑𝐔𝐈𝐆 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐊𝐀𝐑𝐈 - 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒; i genuinely believe this is what will put me at my lowest point. i am psychotic. slightly embarrassed to post this. i literally spent a day doing nothing more than studying the dynamic of a fictional couple with four scenes together. is this who i am?? is this what i was made for?? anyways, love talking to people about this movie and pretending that i like it a normal and socially acceptable amount. i really felt like these characters were glossed over, and fair, i know the writers probably didn't expect them to be so popular, but now we're left with the damage of 2,500 years of blank space, so let me map out my interpretation of their relationship for you! i hope this series is renewed so i can make a second part of this post in 3+ years (●'◡'●) if i don't go crazy first.

✧･ﾟ: if you have any of your own thoughts, or simply want to add commentary, you’re more than welcome to add them in the replies! this will be updated if we get any new additional information/my understanding changes <3

✧･ﾟ: major spoilers for the eternals movie ahead!!

𝟏.𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

-> in babylon, 500BC, is when we're first introduced to the cast. they're all seen doing different things in this build-up, but one thing i noticed is how druig and makkari were almost always together in these scenes. after reading the comic “eternals: 500 year war” (which is available for free on webtoon!) the assumption of them being something close to partners could be made. there’s kind of an extra layer of flirtation there, seen from the way they interact he addresses her as “the beautiful makkari” — though, at this point, i personally would chalk it up to that mostly being their dynamic at that point

-> i’d like to say that they loved each other then but 🧍🏼‍♀️ it was probably more of a friendship kind of love, and more likely just crushes that they had been sitting on for thousands of years. ofc, we don’t know anything about their past tho!!! they only had four scenes together!! >:’)

-> aside from that, taking into account this period of time, it seems as though makkari is really the one he sticks to. and when remembering their partner-like relationship, this makes sense.(ex: when introduced, when thena first lost control, when druig was arguing with the others about what to do with the village, essentially every scene in the flashback)

-> honestly, this point is arguable, but i think it's important that the first time he controlled people in the show because of a conflict, it was when people were fighting in front of him and makkari. not only does he listen to her when she touches him to stop, but he thinks nothing of it and jokes back at her. despite the difference in scale to the other main conflict in mind controlling people, druig still has a deep-rooted trauma associated with letting humans fight in front of him no matter what. had someone else been in her shoes, i guarantee he would've been a lot less yielding and would have likely gone further.

-> and forgetting the fact that druig is honestly, generally unpleasant to be around, he seems so considerate with her! he notably stops to listen to what she has to say, and vice versa.

-> something i really wish they would've done, though, is highlight what happened after ajak "set them free". there had to have been a goodbye of sorts. i genuinely can't see makkari as someone who would leave the situation as it, esp knowing that it left someone she cares about really hurt.

-> i personally think that leaves a good chunk of space for her to speed after him, maybe say their goodbyes? hell, maybe she even spent some time with him for a bit in her travels around the world. that might be just me though LMAO. either way, i think this 2,500 year period definitely has some secrets hidden in it 👀

𝟐. 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐃𝐀𝐘

-> ok!! i haven't seen someone say this yet and i need confirmation. maybe this is reaching, but was he nervous to talk to her again? was he wandering around looking to pick up something else just so he could have an excuse to talk to her? it was really cute how that item ended up being the same emerald tablet druig knew she was searching for before, though D: i was surprised that he saw it and immediately made the connection.

-> the transition from "the beautiful makkari" to "my beautiful makkari" is really important here ;-; but, hear me out, i don't think it's entirely romantic either. referencing back to the hypothetical (and tbh realistic possibility) of a goodbye, it would also make sense in that context that she's "his beautiful makkari" as in, his only makkari, that he made a promise to return to so long ago and has finally honoured. i that makes any sense at all. ofc, it also is flirty as hell and that should be acknowledged.

-> also, i know that she can't hear the way he whispers, "did you miss me?" but it's the way he whispered it that gets me. it was so full of feeling and wonder, and he was looking straight into her eyes. you can't tell me he wasn't starstruck. please.

-> i mean, we're pretty much all in agreement that there’s some loving feelings there are this point, right? but when and why did this happen? personally, i think the separation was enough to strengthen the feelings that were already there. it makes sense, too, judging by the way he just went for it like that. druig is probably attempting to make up for some sort of lost time, or maybe even trying to pick up where they left off -- because seeing her has obviously ignited some sort of past feelings.

-> do i think it could've been done better? yeah. a little clarification might've sufficed, but whatever, because it still shows that the two characters care about each other. the flirty comments just go largely unexplained, so we’re left to assume.

-> but, we can't forget that druig is just generally a serious guy. even if he's thrilled to see makkari again, he's still not completely in good graces with everyone, and also wants to hurry up with the plan -- hence a lack of scenes from then on.

𝟑. 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐇

-> *keysmash* *rips out hair* *shakes fist at sky* *falls to ground in fetal position* this was so beautifully done. og my gof. when she goes vocal for the first time just to scream when ikarus throws druig into the ground? chef's kiss. they've just reunited after thousands of years, and suddenly she's led to believe that he was taken away from her. if you think about it, it's even more sad, considering the fact that they may be the only one the other person truly had. they were both in isolated roles after being "set free", with druig leading a mind controlled village for centuries, and makkari staying on the ship for that same amount of time. when they came back to, nothing had really changed between them, while the others had developed complicated relationships with the outside world.

-> i think the cinematographers did a really good job with the lighting in this scene. the sunset hitting his back as he showed up out of nowhere, suddenly alive and walking right towards makkari? really nice. and, there’s no hesitation here either. this man that is unpleasant and pretty much eternally pissed off, literally grins as he walks up to her and sways her in his arms. wtf. i'm know i'm weak for the "i hate everyone but her trope", but oh my god?????/ and it's a tight hug too. like, i used this edit as a reference when writing this section, and you can see it!! it’s so heartfelt i am literally decomposing just looking at it.

-> and, obviously, the forehead touch. the whisper of "it's okay, i'm okay." that's so blatantly loving i don't even have to explain it. this whole section is just me gushing. the way they're staring at each other while doing this is also so adorable and telling.

-> and honestly, i thought about this last point for a while. yall are gonna laugh at me because i genuinely agonised over this LMAO ...i don't think this means they're a couple yet. i think mostly, the emotions in this scene come from almost losing someone who has could be more to you. they obviously have feelings for one another, but have never acted on more than flirting.

-> the hug symbolises a change in their relationship, maybe the new willingness to break down boundaries to get there? i think this is done purposefully, because obviously they expect to be making a second movie, and from there it will show how they develop into an actual couple. this is only the beginning of their journey and their story.

-> if you need me i'll be waiting impatiently for them to kiss LMAO

tldr; they’re partner-like friends who have always loved each other in one way or another, open in a flirty way. then reuniting after 2,500 years is essentially a new beginning, and druig’s near-death experience is likely what they need to realise that the kind of love they feel for each other may not be entirely as they expected.

[silver-wield]

Okay, as requested a few days ago, a Cloud and Aerith analysis. I feel like I've spent a lot of time in chapter 8/9 today lol 

Ok, spoiler warning for ppl who haven’t played – do I still need to do this? Eh ok, (I tag FF7R spoilers as final fantasy 7 remake spoilers) and it’s gonna be reasonably long.

Also, this is one person’s interpretation of the scene, so if you disagree that’s cool and we’ll agree to disagree.

You’re also gonna have to excuse the janky quality on some of the screens, I’m grabbing them from Youtube and it’s frustrating af trying to get the exact moment I want.

Other analyses if anyone’s interested.

Shinra HQ vision scene (Cloti/plot analysis) 

Chapter 3 (Cloti reblog) 

Tifa character analysis 

Aerith Resolution (plot analysis/theory – I should probably update this since I’ve had other ideas since then) 

Train graveyard (not really an analysis, but I got some sweet screenshots of Cloti) 

Clotiscrew tunnel analysis 

Cloti reunion analysis 

The Promise Analysis 

Andrea’s approval (Cloti ask response) 

Leslie analysis (not mine, but a good read) 

Cloti action touching 

Aerti friendship analysis 

Cloti body language chapter 3 

Cloti healthy disagreement 

Cloti post heliboss battle (chapter 15) 

Clerith playground scene 

Cloti body language plate fall 

Cloud and Barret friendship 

Resolution scene analysis (A) 

Barret character analysis (chapter 13) 

Cloud character analysis (Honey Bee Inn) 

Cloud character analysis (Barret's death) 

Now, strap in and enjoy the ride.

Recap time!

Okay, our delightful heroine (I will rein in the sarcasm, but Aerith aggs me when Cloud says no and she ignores him. No means no.) and our moody af hero have finally got done with the flowery side quests, kiddos, Rude and the giant hands of crash crash boom oops there's an invisible wall there minigame trip through sector 6 to reach sector 7.

Aerith says “let's take a break.”

Cloud says, “No.”

They take a break anyway.

(I've already done the slide analysis, link above)

Back down from the slide and it's time to go. Aerith opens up the underground link into sector 7 and we're venturing into awkward goodbyes.

So, we're starting with Aerith being chipper and cute with the quips. Standard stuff. It's possible she's feeling regretful they're parting, but I've said plenty of times that of everyone in this, Aerith has the best poker face. There's very few times she lets that mask slip and lets us see what she's really feeling and it's usually in times of intense stress. This isn't stressful, although she was feeling down a few moments ago while talking about Zack, so maybe that'll make her a little easier to read. For now, though, she's fronting like a boss.

Hmm interesting. He's definitely thoughtful here. So, I'm gonna have to put together some possibilities.

He's clearly mellowed his attitude towards her – he was proper stroppy at her house the day before, shouting and so on – so this isn't negative. We could say he started feeling more positive towards her through their interactions over the day or maybe when he saw the whole Rude bit and realised she's not quite what he first thought. Or it might have been when he saw her looking downcast about not high fiving or it could've been their chat on the slide that finally thawed him out towards her.

And Aerith's the same. Her smile falters just a bit and she can't meet his eye. Maybe she knows they have no reason to meet again or that her mother told him not to see her. We don't know for sure, but it's possible, otherwise why is she disappointed? She could expect to see him again. They could make plans. It could be meta!Aerith knowing that Cloud is probably better off not getting to know her.

Eugh dammit. Does anyone know how hard it is to analyse people's motives when you can't see their faces clearly? I bet this was on purpose, thanks Square.

I mean, having to go by the above data I've mentioned, they could both be feeling the same lingering regret intuitively. You know like how you just get the sense how someone's feeling? That.

Their poses are identical, and coupled with the slightly awkward intonation on “so” I'd look at this and say this comes across like a couple of teenagers who kinda like each other and don't know how to take the next step. You know, that kind of immature I have no idea what I'm doing with my life kinda deal. That's not to say it's romantic, especially not from Cloud. He's an awkward introvert. Aerith has no social skills. They're not friends and up until five minutes ago Cloud was annoyed af at her. That'd make for an awkward goodbye.

Aerith laughs, Cloud doesn't, and she moves aside so he can leave. Looks like the moment’s over.

Before going, Cloud turns back to ask if Aerith can get home ok. This looks like polite concern, which I'd expect considering they just came through an area full of monsters, mech and bandits. If Cloud wasn't concerned, I'd call him a douchebag. His eyes widen a little as he speaks, but it's not that same kind of expression he pulls whenever we're suspecting a visit from real!Cloud. This is SOLDIER!Cloud asking. 

(I've said that typically Cloud's eyes go very wide as a hint that his real self is reacting to things, but widening eyes on their own do not indicate real!Cloud. It's something about the way he does it that shows it's not quite right for the SOLDIER persona we usually see. I can't explain it properly, but it's likely something the devs have done to his microexpressions on purpose to differentiate between the two and without knowing exactly what I can't put a pin in it. All I can say is when it looks like real!Cloud is expressing himself and when it isn't because there’s a difference that I’ve picked up on.)

This is flirting. Plain and simple. Head tilted, little smile, crinkling eyes. She's amused and teasing him in a flirtatious manner and her dialogue backs that up, although at the same time the tone she puts it in also sounds quite matter of fact, like she's genuinely asking what if she wasn't ok? That likely does appeal to the protective SOLDIER side of Cloud. He wants to be known as the hero. Still not romantic.

That's what I like to call a shit-fuck-bollocks moment. The realisation he should take her back home and make sure she's safe, but then he's also got to get back to sector 7, and this is all SOLDIER!Cloud's debate. There's no sign of real!Cloud and there's a quick decisive result that he should do the right thing, which is why he says he’ll take her home.

This is nothing like in the honey bee inn later when you see the clear back and forth of his eyes darting around as he argues with real!Cloud about dancing to get Andrea's approval.

And Aerith laughs again because I think she's aware how ridiculous it is that he'll walk her back when he needs to get home. She was teasing the entire time, but it looks like it went over Cloud's head – colour me unsurprised.

I mean, there's no romantic undertone to her expression here. It's genuine amusement and I'd definitely say friendship towards Cloud.

Ah the image that certain people hang their hat on. Let's get this one done.

Aerith says she has a backup route for emergencies that's safer than the one they used. You can hear Cloud start to speak—- ask a question because the sound is a “W” -- then cuts himself off and smiles. That smile is a mix of bemused and amused. 

For anyone who doesn't have a stupidly large vocabulary and thinks those two are the same thing:

Bemused

adjective: puzzled, confused, or bewildered.

Amused

adjective: finding something funny or entertaining.

Cloud's bemused because back at the start of the collapsed expressway he literally asked if there was a better way and she avoided answering. So, he's caught her in a lie and what can he do about it? Nothing. That's why he's all "of course there's a safer route".

And then we're back in control and moving onto the next part of the game.

Conclusion:

Well, they're awkward. Both of them. Cloud is an introvert with mental issues and Aerith has no social skills and a terrible personality flaw in which she bosses everyone around and doesn't listen.

I wouldn't say they're friends, more like comrades. Cloud's still very resistant to her company even after she helps him save Tifa.

[gittetj]

by no means is this an excuse for shou's mom, and tbh you've probably sucked up all the information on her you could already, but i remember that when she had her final convo w toichirou, he said that 'shou is starting to show interest in my powers, too' so it's possible she was under the impression that shou was happier living with his father? like, we don't know shou's age at that time but i think it was before he realized his dad was kinda a shitlord. and maybe by the time he realized it 1/2

You’re most welcome to start a discussion about Shou’s mom, she’s an interesting character to speculate about! Now look, you made me go off with receipts and everything haha

Have I ever said anything about Shou’s mom here, other than that comment about how I didn’t think it was forgivable for her to leave her son behind? Well, I still don’t think it is, but she’s just a human being, I don’t consider her inherently bad or good. Even though I can’t find it in me to defend her actions I can still understand the reasoning that might have led to them and how she might have felt about it.

Anyway, it’s not so much the fact that she left that gets to me, it’s the fact that she stayed absent. Leaving I can understand, leaving for a while might have been smart, might have given her some space to consider her situation and show Touichirou that she was serious about not tolerating the path he’d gone down. And it didn’t seem like she or Shou were in danger; as far as I can read there has never been anything in canon suggesting Touichirou was violent or even particularly controlling toward his family (until he beats Shou up and tries to kill him in the WD arc of course).

Leaving Shou with his dad, who we know he looked up to at the time, seems like a pretty straightforward decision. Pulling the kid out of his normal daily routine while everything was still chaotic and his mother wasn’t sure what to do and where to go probably wouldn’t have been in his best interest.

So far so good, but, let’s consider why she left at all.

She realized that Claw was (or was turning into, there’s some timeline stuff that doesn’t add up for me) a terrorist organization, right? She realized they were using violence and breaking the law to reach their goals. She realized that Touichirou was acting increasingly distant and anti-social even long, long before she left.

There’s a scene where Touichirou remembers her taking in a stray cat while Shou was just a baby, kind of to try and coax a caring side out of him. She was already worried about it back then. I operate with the belief that Shou was 7 or 8 when his mother left, it’s debatable, but he was at the very very least 5 - so 5+ years where she most likely continued to try and continued to fail at setting Touichirou straight.

She knew he was emotionally distant and ruthless and uncaring about anything or anyone else than his idea of an esper society. Judging from that one omake where Shou dreams of his mother crying because he was using his powers, she clearly didn’t associate esper powers with anything good.

Touichirou was obsessed with his powers and he spoke about Shou like he was going to grow up and follow in his footsteps, take on the same belief that espers are superior to other people.

As a caring, non-esper mother, does that sound like a man you want to raise your child? Does that sound like a good path for an impressionable 5- to 8-year-old kid? It sure as hell doesn’t sound like one to me. Whether Shou loved and looked up to his dad is completely irrelevant. Of course he did! He couldn’t possibly know any better at that age.

From there on, it all comes down to speculation, because, again, we know so little about Shou’s mom. My personal belief is that she was so disgusted by Touichirou’s actions that it extended to Shou. She came to a point where all she could see in Shou was a mini-Touichirou, so she just… let go of him. I suppose she thought if there was no way to change Touichirou, then there wouldn’t be a way to prevent Shou from becoming like him either.

Maybe giving up on it all was a gradual thing, maybe it didn’t happen until after she left. I think leaving was a spontaneous and mildly selfish action. Staying gone was a not at all spontaneous and highly selfish action.

She put herself first and left Shou behind. It’s that plain and simple. Sure, you have to save yourself first before you can save anyone else, but again, there is nothing suggesting she was in danger and she was in a sound enough state of mind to stand her ground and have a big argument with Touichirou before she vanished. No matter how I look at it I can’t think of anything redeeming to say about it. She knowingly left her very young son behind with an emotionally absent, dangerous, bad, bad man. So, there.

The way Touichirou speaks about her, it sounds like he hasn’t talked to Shou’s mom at all since she left. He didn’t even have any idea Shou had been in contact with her.

Look at him, does that look like the face of someone who had even considered the possibility that Shou’s mom was reachable?

For that reason I don’t believe it was the mother’s initiative to search out Shou; Shou must have made that happen himself. How long have they been in contact? Who knows. Long enough for them talking to each other to become a “from time to time” thing - I’d say a year at the very least.

At least a year where she hasn’t figured out something is wrong, hasn’t tried to pull Shou away from the situation he’s put himself in? Of course, we don’t know that she hasn’t tried to do something, but it sure doesn’t sound like it.

I personally don’t think Shou let her know anything about what was going on, I think he lied to her the whole time, let his mom think everything was fine, because deep down beneath the whole tear-Claw-down-and-save-the-world hero spiel, what Shou’s really trying to do is bring his parents back together so they can be the normal, happy family he vaguely remembers they once were - or at least likes to believe they were.

But, lies or not, it’s hard to believe that there wouldn’t be any signs for Shou’s mom to pick up on the fact that something was very, very wrong. Shou says she always asks about Touichirou, but since Shou has apparently managed to keep it from her what his dad was working toward, her questions must have been very superficial.

That situation at the end of the WD arc is the hardest to wrap my head around. Shou and his mom talk on the phone, he visits her sometimes, but she apparently takes no stock of what Shou’s doing the rest of the time, does little to no mothering, asks about Touichirou but doesn’t take it any farther than that. All of it just gives me the feeling she’s still really reluctant to engage with Shou at all.

So why does she keep up with it? I suppose she’s stuck between regretting her actions and wanting to make things right, and still not knowing what to do with her son who, at least in some ways, must have drifted quite far away from how his mom attempted to raise him when he was little.

I don’t think Shou’s mom ever wanted him out of his life, but her need to cut Touichirou and Claw off is bigger than her desire to hold on to her son. I think that was true when she left and I still think it’s true at the end of the WD arc.

If I’m gonna be really mean about it, I’d say Shou came into the world as a bargaining chip for his mom to try and make Touichirou change and maybe she’s trying to distance herself from that ulterior motive, too, because man, that’s not very nice… Maybe Shou subconsciously picked up on that and that’s why he’s so hellbent on proving to her that he can make his dad see reason.

I’m sorry, this is all very awful, but Shou’s mom just hasn’t done anything to make me think she isn’t as messed up as the rest of the family. Does it make her a terrible person to purposely overlook Shou’s issues and put herself first? I don’t know, but it definitely makes her a lousy mom.

Anyway. mp100 is all about change and overcoming past mistakes, so for Shou’s sake, let’s hope that applies to his mom, too.

And of course, this is just my interpretation of the situation.

[elizabethrobertajones]

Regarding Lily and her relationships with angels. I've only seen the ep once, so I may just be forgetting an explanation, but did Lily ever actually say who her daughter's father was and what happened to him beyond the fact he's human? I feel like a few things could have occurred (and please correct me if I'm wrong): a) Lily said she summoned an angel but I don't remember a timeline w/ respect to when her daughter was born. Could Ishim have taken her husband(?) as his vessel? 1/2?

Or, could Ishim have shown up in his vessel, but Akobel takes Lily’s husband as his vessel for her protection? I don’t remember them saying a lot on Lily’s feelings for Akobel other than the protection thing. I know when reading his “crimes” said he had broken their sacred oath by laying with a human and fathering a nephilim. But, we know that the nephilim thing is a lie cooked up by Ishim. Could he have also been lying about Akobel sleeping with Lily due to his jealousy? 2/3

It’s also possible Ishim wasn’t lying about their relationship, just the nephilim. A new thought occurred to me though. I don’t discount the oath - the fact it was read as a “crime” proves it exists. However, if Akobel was truly there for protection and nothing else, but the lies spread by Ishim saying they had a sexual relationship - that could definitely pave way for how the other angels interpret Cas’ relationship with Dean/make a precedent.

Hi! Sorry I didn’t answer this last night - I was reeeally tired and out of it, even for me :P

Lily never explained who Mr Sunder (if that was his name) was - before getting to your headcanons - I had assume he died at some point which was why she was a single mother… I don’t know the exact rules but in the past being a widow was actually a fairly good social position for a woman, grief aside. She may or may not inherit everything directly, but generally if her husband was kind and/or rich she’d be provided for, and it was one of the ways to be single but not have society breathing down your neck QUITE so much. As an academic, AND a mom, Lily had her work cut out for her without needing to bother with the husband part too :P So I think it makes more sense in the society that even if she had a fairly exceptional social standing anyway, with being, well, a woman of letters (lowercase although I have my suspicions that a lot of questions are answered about 9x11 and the MoL’s detailed angel lore they couldn’t possibly have known :P). If she had a child out of wedlock AND was an intellectual, well, actually, I don’t think she’d get as far as having that professor job, 100 years ago >.> I’m fairly sure single mothers were still getting thrown in asylums in the 1920s. So that all adds up to me as widow. (And if people thought she had married Akobel/actually DID marry him to keep up appearances, then as a widow it’s not weird to remarry, but she’d have choice)

Anyway, I really like the idea that Ishim possessed her husband. They never say as much but it would add a whole extra layer to it. Especially his entitlement to her love and to her daughter as a part of that. I’m now imagining that Lily and her husband worked together on stuff and he volunteered for some experiment which called an angel down - idk, maybe going at it from the vessel direction? And Ishim happened to be the angel connected to her husband (just like if you’d done this to Jimmy some time before Cas happened to him, as part of the bloodline of Cas-vessels, perhaps it could have specifically summoned him? :P) 

It would also explain in more emotional detail why she said that summoning him and looking at him for the “first time” felt like looking into the divine - angels look like regular people from the outside, and there was nothing magically altered about Lily yet at that point as far as we know - the whole thing about her being “powerless” when Ishim comes for her daughter suggests she only started applying her research afterwards to get revenge. If she did a summoning and Ishim popped up in a summoning circle and she’s never seen an angel before, we’d have a meeting like Dean and Cas, where he didn’t know what Cas was, and he looked so ordinary (yet so NOT ordinary) but it wasn’t until Cas spread his wings for Dean (that sounds wrong) that there was any proof… Even knowing she PROBABLY summoned an angel, in vessels they look fairly underwhelming on first glance. But Lily sounds like she immediately knew… 

So, imagine she and her husband are working on the spell and suddenly Mr Sunder is bathed in white light and a moment later he’s looking at her like he’s never seen her before, moving and talking as a different being - that way angels hold themselves above humans and look at them as if they’re another species (and Ishim was great at that :P) 

Also, I like this image, where Ishim comes in:

You have May there as well, clutching her doll that her father gave her and looking terrified of him as well. Obviously there’s a lot of extenuating circumstances for why she’d be terrified of Ishim, but @chiisana-sukima made a great addition to this post about Ishim, about domestic abuse:

https://chiisana-sukima.tumblr.com/post/156851184446/there-was-a-moment-when-ishim-throws-cas-down-and

I think it’s really horrifying but if he was possessing Mr Sunder, then the way that he’s treated Lily’s family, that she needs protection from him (and I think we can trust Lily here as Ishim had a “true colours” sort of reveal which means I think we can assume most things we learned from him were a lie, so that would include Lily and Akobel’s supposed relationship, that Lily claims was just because she needed protection. Akobel genuinely cares for her, probably thought Ishim was a total dick anyway so was happy to do this for her, and when Ishim confronts him, with hindsight Akobel is like “who are you to tell me about shame” or something, because HE knows what Ishim did before we do…) Anyway, the daughter looks horrified, and there’s this connection where the father is specifically mentioned to the doll, and then Ishim kills her and we see that by the doll being dropped… Yeah, there’s a lot of really really horrifying implications and metaphor about a father turning abusive on his family… 

And yeah, I agree that the whole thing shows that angels can either make up or assume a lot of things. Honestly it would take like one angel to spread the rumour that Dean and Cas have a thing but in a way that just suggesting Cas has broken their taboo is enough to get the angels muttering to each other. Ambriel said that the *nicest* thing they say about Cas is that he kills angels. Mirabel reminded him of the angel fall, while Ishim had some really pointed looks at Dean and Sam in the diner, and of course compared Dean n Cas directly to how he felt about Lily. 

(The whole taboo in angel society thing is making me flip out because FORBIDDEN LOVE Aaaaah… but also just Cas’s resistance to breaking the taboo - we’re shown that even after all of his rebelling against Heaven and so on through the years, how he’s picked humanity (and Dean) over and over and over, and doesn’t seem to be following their way at all any more… but when he’s confronted with a Nephilim his response is immediately falling back on his angel rules, and of course we then immediately get another story showing how he’s obeyed them unthinkingly in the past, and how it’s now some internalised thing he’s never REALLY questioned, and that apparently all this time he’s been carrying around the assumption that humans and angels are NOT MEANT to have sex? Like yeah the OTHER angels think he and Cas are doing it and probably have been since like, season 4 at a worst estimate, but this tells us that Cas himself has been suffering away under this rule the entire time we’ve known him… Yikes. Talk about a hurdle to overcome… But one they’ve shown us in the text, and one that is ALREADY being questioned when it comes to nephilim… which I suppose now will be code for how Cas feels about sleeping with humans :P (I already have talked about how I think Cas will eventually change his mind because of the set up of him starting off adhering to this absolute rule but beginning to change his mind.. That’s the direction character growth lies in, so…))

[icharchivist]

I read some interesting meta on a tumblr blog called badlywrittendgm about Nea and Mana's relationship. I gotta say their analysis on Nea being abusive towards Mana/Adam was pretty compelling. We don't know for sure on everything but Nea being twisted even if he did love Mana wouldn't be that out of the realm of possibility. We still know so little about him and every ally he had either is dead, hates working w/him or definitely is (Timcanpy) or will (Allen) feel conflicted about it.

I think i found the meta in question, this one right?

I kiiinda have mixed feelings but i also kinda see it? But also Not?

The meta mentions specifically Nea being abusive to Adam and i think this one is mainly true. Nea is manipulative toward Adam, and he is completely spiteful that he’s no longer the Mana he loved and knew. There are aspect of psychological tortures in the way he behaves around Adam, so yeah on this one, I would agree that Nea seems to show more abusive tendencies toward Adam to specifically trigger distress. So at least: Nea is abusive toward Adam, the current incarnation of Mana who doesn’t seem to have any memories of being Mana. This much I see.

Nea loved Mana, I don’t doubt it one second. But as you mention, abuse can come from a place of love, depending how twisted Nea was, so this argument is nothing in his favor.

Now here’s my mixed feelings reason: we don’t exactly know what pushed Nea to slaughter all the Noah.

We have no indication of his relationship with Mana as adult before the Noah’s slaughter except that Nea was being isolated by the others Noah after Mana was determined the Earl.

The meta mentions rightfully that their behaviors would have changed from being a kid, and tbh, yeah. As kids, it’s obvious Mana was sick and Nea worried and perhaps overprotected him because of that.

But their... adult dynamic is still too blurry to establish a dynamic of abuse.

I’m sorry i’m kinda sensitive about abusive stuff so i’m warry of throwing the word around without proper backup. Abuse mostly implies a systematic reccuring issue that willingly or not, indulge a lot of harm on someone. It can mostly be a tactic of controle or of massive neglect. Abuse is also a powerdynamic, with the abuser taking advantage of the abused in some way or another. As a result it works mostly in powerstructured dynamics (family, workplace hierarchy, adult/children, Someone with more massive power than the other are easy powerstructure to take advantage of, friendships, age hierarchy, and this kind of things can become abusive when the abuser set a powerstructure that wouldn’t have been there otherwise. Mentioning it for later in the post.)

Considering the reasons that finally led Nea to the final straw of killing the Noah, seemingly for a more broad personal goal (whenever to get rid of the Noah clan or to become the Millenium Earl himself), i don’t know if those elements completely apply.

What I will say however is that any dynamic that ends with someone deciding to murder their family is Toxic.

And in that level, Nea was completely toxic to Mana. Nea’s goals as they are set on were Toxic to Mana, and developped a dangerous behavior that would affect Mana in the future and had Mana develop a trauma regarding Nea, enough to blow up his own face in regrets, enough to call out for Nea in grief.

As for Adam reacting with such trauma indicated, Nea did attempt to murder him, Nea did murder all of Mana’s family, Nea did put Mana in a situation where he had no other way than to murder/devour his own beloved brother, beloved twin, what Hoshino refers to in Japanese as “the second part of a whole”. (let’s not forget Hoshino is herself a twin after all, (hell they were planned to be triplet until one of them disappeared in the womb and they talked about them a lot as “if they were there, living inside of me, through me” and that’s what inspired the “third being” of the Noah memory. I don’t think that can be neglected in how she writes Nea and Mana specifically.) so i suppose there is more complex feelings going on in whatever dynamic she planned for the twins). Mana has all the reasons with what Nea’s decisions were in the end and the betrayal to act with such trauma indicated response. 

What i could see be considered specifically abusive toward Mana specifically is the way to keep him for last and force him to suffer the loss of every Noah- if it’s an action taken specifically to hurt Mana in a torture way. Then it could also just be Nea not managing to face killing his brother yet and idk how that would fall in the scale there. In such an “unreal” scenario as the one of the Noah it’s a little harder to apply “normal people” social lense.

I will need a little more tangible scenes to set it on abuse per se. I could see it but I just would rather not use such a strong term until i get more ammo. Especially when “Toxic” fits perfectly so far and has just as much of the implication of Nea destroying and hurting Mana.

as for Allies not liking working with him, it could be because he’s a douchebag in general (which he is). But there’s a leap between being a dick and being abusive.

For Tim we know he had ended up loving Allen so he’s conflicted about Nea (and let’s not forget the Noah are generally kinda safistic people toward people who aren’t from their family. It’s not an excuse in any way but god knows how Nea behaved outside of family structure. As I mentioned earlier, outside powerdynamic has to be enforced by an abuser much more likely than inside a family.) For Past!Allen we have no idea how their relationship went except that Allen was ready to give up everything for Nea. And we know Cross and Nea can’t stand each other but it’s Cross we’re talking about to start with.

Also regardless Nea doesn’t have to be abusive to anyone else to be abusive toward his family and especially his brother.

tbh if only for the fact Nea was rejected and the underdog of the Noah the powerstructure of the family as we know it makes that for Nea to be an abuser he would have had to overcome said family powerstructure, which I think is something to take into account and we have no idea how he specifically behaved outside of the murderspree. It could be just as valid to think Nea was abusive toward his “siblings” until he snapped and killed them, than to think that Nea was the outsider who suffered from that position (therefore putting more the rest of the family in a powerstructure in which they would be the abusers) and he would have ended up turning it around with the murderspree, or if it was just toxic all the way around. And that enters into a lot of different ifs to interpret the lenses of Nea’s dynamic with his family.

And it’s still very tricky to mention murder attempt as inherently abusive especially in a long term goal than Nea had. especially if Nea wanted to get rid of the Noah to “save the world” or whatever.

I’m not trying to excuse Nea’s actions tho. It’s just that “being a douchebag”, “being a murderer”, “being toxic to the people around you” don’t fall specifically under “being abusive”.

But again yeah I consider Nea must have had a toxic impact on Mana, if not before the murderspree, during it, as he consciously put his brother through this. It was toxic, and it remains a valid thing to call their relationship out on. And the toxicness of said relationship is established at this point and established as leaving major scars on Mana/Adam that cannot be overlooked.

“Abusive” is loaded. I would wait for more content over Nea and Mana to call it that. But I do agree Nea’s attitude toward Adam seems to fall much more under abusive pattern due to the psychological pressure and the fact Nea takes Adam’s vulnerability to create a powerdynamic to overwhelm him. That much we’ve seen.And therefore yes I can see it valid in HCs so far to believe he might have extended that to Mana. The meta you mentioned makes valid starting point for this theory would the manga further this angle.But until more depth from their relationship is shown to us, i’ll stick to “Toxic”.

Hope it makes sense?

Take care!