#fragmented; i'm not really sure what to do with the paneling lol

[pettyoddity]

acoustic

[screebyy]

Part 6: The Summit Prev | Next (Soon™️) | Start

Two parts left! sorry to end on a lil cliffhanger of sorts. also sorry i'm going to continue to be very mean to jolyon. also also sorry i will not be finishing this before tfs launches lol 🥲

ID below cut like and subscribe etc

Panel 1: Wide shot of Crow and Jolyon sitting on a rock on the summit of a mountain, looking down at the dreaming city below. The sun is starting to rise over distant mountains, and the dreaming city is covered in taken essence, with black taken orbs hanging all around it. Jolyon is leaning forward with his arms crossed and his elbows resting on his knees, while Crow is leaning back on his hands. Jolyon: “Thanks for doing this with me.” Crow: “Of course. It’s been… really nice, catching up.” Jolyon: “Yeah…

Panel 2: Close up of Jolyon’s hand from the side. He is curling it into a tense fist where it’s resting on his bicep. Jolyon: “... Can I ask…”

Panel 3: Close up of Jolyon’s face in profile. He is staring straight ahead with a pained expression on his face as he speaks. Jolyon: “Why now?”

Panel 4: Side view of Crow as he turns to look at Jolyon. He has a curious expression on his face. Jolyon (offscreen): “A few years ago… I heard about what happened, with Savathun. That you had remembered your past life.”

Panel 5: Side view of Jolyon. He is turning away from the Crow, and his expression is not visible. Jolyon: “When you didn’t reach out… I guess I just assumed you hadn’t remembered me.”

Panel 6: Side view as Crow looks at Jolyon with a mournful expression. Crow: “I…”

Panel 7: Crow turns forward again, looking down at the ground with a sad expression. Crow: “I’m not sure I did, at first.” Panel 8: Flashback of the Radiant Accipiter, idling in empty space. Crow is visible through the windshield of the ship, he is hunched over in the pilot’s chair with his head in his hands while glint floats beside him. Crow (Present day): “He was so far gone at the end - whenever I tried to think about his life, it was like a bomb going off inside my brain.”

Panel 9: Close up of Crow looking down past the camera. He is clutching his face with both hands, one hand is tearing desperately at his hair while the other is covering his cheek, nose and mouth. He has a horrified, distant expression on his face, and a tear is running down his cheek. In the background, a cracked surface shows many scenes from Uldren’s rampage. One fragment shows a close up of Uldren’s eyes as he turns towards the viewer with a hateful expression. Black rivulets of corruption are flowing from his eyes like tears, and the sclera of his corrupted eyes are black and seeping into the iris. Another fragment shows several dead corsairs lying on a stone floor in pools of blood. Another fragment shows a close-up of Cayde-6’s face, staring up at the viewer defiantly. His face plates have been badly damaged. The final fragment shows a close up of Uldren’s hand holding the Ace of Spades hand cannon, with smoke coming out of the barrel. Crow (Present day): “Nothing made sense, all I could feel was… what he felt. The things he did…”

Panel 10: A wide shot of Crow lying in bed, bundled up in his blanket. The room is dark, and a window is open, with bright sunlight shining in through the curtains. Crow (Present day): “But eventually…”

Panel 11: A close up of Crow holding Glint with one hand. Glint’s eye is closed, and he is humming gently. Crow (Present day): “I was able to start picking up the pieces.” Panel 12: Closer shot of Crow lying in bed. He is clutching Glint against his chest with one hand, rubbing his shell gently. With his other hand, he is holding a golden ring on a chain. He is staring blankly at the ring with a sad, tired expression. Crow (Present day): “To put together who he had been before.” Panels 13, 14, 15, and 16: A sequence of fuzzy, incomplete memories. The first is a shot of Jolyon in his uniform, from his waist to his chin. Most of his face is not visible, but he seems to be scowling. He is partially obscured by a misty, dark blue background. The second memory is a shot of Uldren lying back in green grass on a sunny day, eating raspberries. He is looking to his right, at someone just offscreen. He is laughing lightly, and looks peaceful as he holds a raspberry up to his mouth. The third memory is a shot of Jolyon’s dark blue Supremacy rifle leaning against a wall, next to where his green cloak is hanging. The fourth memory is a partial shot of Uldren resting on his hands and knees above Jolyon, who is not visible. Uldren is shirtless, and a golden ring is hanging from a chain around his neck. Jolyon’s hand is reaching into frame, holding the ring in his palm where it hangs. Uldren is smiling down at him warmly. Crow (Present day): “You were… A puzzle that took me a long time to figure out. A face I couldn’t quite name, a feeling I couldn’t quite place.”

Panel 17, 18, and 19: Another sequence of memories, which are more clear than before. The first panel is a head-on shot of Uldren, staring up past the viewer with a confused, strained expression. The scleras of his eyes are black, and the corruption is starting to seep out of them. The second panel is a head-on view of Jolyon, staring down at Uldren with an intense, searching expression. The third panel is of Uldren, who is looking away to scratch at his right eye with the heel of his hand. His hands are cuffed together at the wrist, and he looks frustrated, and distracted. Crow (Present day): “When it finally came together, And I realized how terrible he had been to you… I was too ashamed.” Panel 20: In the present day, Crow is leaning forward, and staring distantly down at the ground, while Jolyon watches him talk. Crow: “To let himself fade away like that, to forget you, while you were standing right in front of him…”

Panel 21: Close up of Jolyon as he looks away, and stares sadly into the distance. His brow is furrowed and he looks conflicted and tired. Crow (offscreen): “I didn’t think I could face you, after that. I didn’t think you’d want me to.” Jolyon: “...”

Panel 22: front view of Crow and Jolyon sitting side by side. Crow is leaning forward heavily, looking down at the ground with a grim, slightly frustrated expression. Jolyon is turning slightly towards Crow, though he is not looking directly at him and is expression is sad and distant. Jolyon: “What changed your mind?”

Panel 23: Close up of Jolyon’s face. He looks slightly surprised and is looking directly at Crow, offscreen. Crow (offscreen): Petra.

Panel 24: Shot of Crow as he hunches away from Jolyon, rubbing his right arm self-consciously. He is glancing out of the corner of his eyes back at Jolyon with an uncertain, guilty expression. Crow: “Last week, hunting Riven’s eggs took us… Somewhere that reminded me of you.”

Panel 25:  Close up of Jolyon as he watches Crow out of the corner of his eyes. His brow is slightly furrowed, and he looks uncertain.

Crow (offscreen): “After we got back, I asked Petra how you had been, and…”

Panel 26: Close up of Crow. He is smiling lightly, staring down at the ground with a distant, soft expression and blushing faintly. Crow: “She talked some sense into me. Reminded me that I shouldn’t just assume you were better off never knowing me. That I at least owed you the chance to make that decision for yourself.”

Panel 27: front view of Crow and Jolyon sitting side by side. Crow is turning back towards Jolyon with a soft smile. Jolyon is also looking at Crow, smiling faintly. Crow: “I guess… some things haven’t really changed, right?” Jolyon: “Ha.”

Panel 28: Close up of Jolyon’s face from the side. He is staring straight ahead again, smiling faintly. Jolyon: “Right…”

Panel 29:  Jolyon looks slightly down, his smile has fallen and his brow has furrowed as his expression grows distant. Dark, scratchy marks are bleeding into the edge of the panel, fading out the edges. Jolyon: “...”

Panel 30: extreme close up of Jolyon’s eye, squeezed shut. Dark scratchy marks surround the panel, creating a chaotic background and bleeding into the panel. Voice offscreen: “Jolyon…”

Panel 31: A younger version of Jolyon turns towards the camera from the side, with a confused expression. His hair is pulled back into a bun, and he is wearing a light green sweatshirt. The background is faded purples and blues, and Jolyon is outlined in surreal surreal shades of pink and purple. The panel is outlined by dark scratch marks, spiky thorns, and black flowers outlined in vibrant shades of pink, purple, and green. The text bubbles appear to be glitching out, with scratchy fragments coming out of them. Voice offscreen: “Why’d you do it?” Jolyon: “What?”

Panel 32: Shot of Uldren sitting on a rock, from behind. He is leaning forward, resting his hands on his knees, and staring down at the ground. His hair is falling over his face, and his expression is not visible. The surreal lighting continues in this panel, and Uldren is outlined in pinks and purples with the panel being surrounded by dark scratch marks, spiky thorns, and black flowers outlined in bright colors. Uldren: “Why did you come with us, Jol?”

[haleigh-sloth]

For the mystery panel: I feel like there's definitely a time gap between Tenko being picked up by AfO and him getting his hands/room/killing the punks that we haven't accounted for. I thought maybe it was just some minor inconsistencies with the art but you can tell in the anime and manga that he's taller and his face shape is a little different. I wonder if he had some "training" that he's still repressing not because its "worse" but because he NEEDED AfO to be a safe adult in his life.

I'm personally not a big fan of the garden memory being false route, and I hope it doesn't go that way. Can't write it off or anything, but I personally don't want previously established circumstances just changing out of nowhere. Yes memories are weird, but Shigaraki's feelings toward his memories are already super unreliable and twisted. I'd rather his actual memories themselves not just be false.

The only way I'd be down with that is if it turns out AFO just straight up altered his memories. Which imo would kind of make this scene here make not a lot of sense:

We just....don't have any reason to doubt what happened to the Shimuras, the circumstances, etc. AFO and Ujiko having this conversation away from him--meaning Shigaraki wasn't the one telling us this part of his backstory--shows that his memories haven't been messed with or that AFO and Ujiko are hiding the truth behind them. The only thing that really needs to be uncovered (for Shigaraki) is how he really feels about it, and then figure out how he's going to remember it from this point on.

So idk, while I won't complain a whole lot if it turns out the garden memories are false, I'm not sold on it and I'm not a fan of it.

What I definitely wouldn't mind is the panel of hands on the wooden floor being your other suggestion--a memory he hasn't acknowledged or uncovered yet.

Because I have said before that I do also wanna see a little more of the time he spent under AFO's care. We got enough information to know how influential AFO's raising was on him, and we DID see the point where he started actually killing after careful thought (and psychological torment and a sprinkle of gaslighting), but I wanna see when taking other peoples' lives became practically second nature to him, and when he started pointing his frustrations at All Might, and when he really decided he hated heroes, etc. When he realized that AFO isn't just the dude who took him in from the streets, but that he's also this century+ old criminal who's been wanted by the authorities for a very long time. Like at what point did he learn that and go "Oh, I'm on the villain side of things." I would like to see those thoughts and that process within him, and with that extra backstory I feel like that panel could make sense and be some other situation.

BUT

My initial thought, that I feel is most likely tbh because it was soooo early on in the manga, was that it was just something Horikoshi changed later on. I really feel like that is a possibility and it feels the most likely to me.

I think it's likely we could get more backstory for sure, but that specific panel--IDK, it was in chapter 69. Shigaraki hadn't had a whole lot of development quite yet. It was so early.

I'm open to whatever. I'm usually not displeased with whatever he does with Shigaraki.

On the time skip--I think you're right.

I feel like it's safe to assume some time had passed before he completely "forgot" what happened to his family and before it all became fragments.

That makes sense, and his hair looks a bit longer. It's kinda weird though, like where was he sleeping during that time in between? Lol. Oh well.

I'm cool with more memories being uncovered though. Bring it on.

[wynsnerdyrambles]

Whether or not the Train Demon is real is kind of like the KNY fan's version of the Inception ending debate LOL. I'm honestly not even sure what my own opinion is anymore, because, like, it makes so much sense as the first Dream that Enmu casts. The weird Surrealism in the 'Rengoku-Aniki' sequence, not to mention the lack of humanity present in the Train Demon(s). I honestly hadn't considered their lack of any recognizably human traits as a key into Rengoku's psyche, but I do like that interpretation of the demon. The one issue with it being a dream, is that both the manga and anime imply that it is real. [If you want a TL;DR, just read the last paragraph]

There are panels in the manga, as well as a scene in season 1 of the anime that directly teases the very demon we are looking into, and it was upon a re watch of the Rehabilitation Training arc that I realized that the anime directly teased it. Unfortunately, I don't have a scan of the manga page in question that also teases it, since I have the physical volumes of the Mugen Train Arc. The story seems to imply that the Train Demon is the cause of the disappearances that Rengoku goes to investigate. Now, this all to well could serve as a red herring, leading the audience to believe that all is well when Rengoku slays that first demon, but if it is a red herring, it's not a particularly good one.

There's also the issue of how poorly thought out Enmu's plan was, (ah yes, I shall wait for the night that 4 Demon Slayers, including a powerful Hashira who might be able to break my spell, are on the train before becoming the demonic Thomas The Tank Engine reference I was always meant to be) But to be honest, I chalk that down to simple arrogance on Enmu's part.

So is the train demon real, or is it not? Literal monster, or figment of Rengoku's psyche? My answer: Yes.

Now, before you shake your head and sigh in resigned disbelief; I have a theory. The Train Demon, at least in a form, was real. We are unsure of how long Rengoku has been on the Mugen Train when the Kamaboko Squad meet him on board, but given that at least by the anime's timeline, he departs probably 2 weeks before they finish recovery training at the Butterfly Mansion. So, in all likelihood, Rengoku's been on the train for a few days. In that time, he encountered and killed the train demon, but could still vaguely sense Enmu's presence, hence why he remains on the train. And like how we so often do in dreams, fragments of his memory construct a demon based off the last one he killed; but twisted by his own mind's perception of it. Hence why the demons in the dream are so devoid of humanity, showcasing Rengoku's subconscious view of all demons as inhuman monsters. (and from a meta-narrative standpoint, you give your audience a look at the new character's powerset before the arc hit's its halfway point).

And honestly, that pointed view of demon's in Rengoku's mind is really quite fascinating. Of all the Hashira, Rengoku is one of the 2 who as far as we know, did not become a slayer due to the loss of a loved one, or the transformation of a family member. He doesn't have nearly the level of vehement hatred Sanemi has for demons, yet in his mind, they lack any redeeming human traits. I think this is precisely because of the relative distance of demon related tragedies in his life. He has only experienced others being victimized by demons, not the fact that the demons themselves were also once victims.

You know those two random demons Rengoku killed after his train ticket got punched? I think that whole situation was obviously his first dream, but their design intrigued me. They looked… monstrous. We see every demon in the show have a bit of humanity, showing emotion and the like. But they didn’t, because Rengoku only sees them as bloodthirsty monster with no humanity left. Kind of a neat detail!

Oh. Ohhhhhh.

Dang, what a good interpretation, I'm bound to see it that way now. (Well, it in the manga, when he faced only one. Ufotable gave him a second demon to really show off his skills.)

Actually, it didn't occur to me until later viewings that this wasn't even real, I had so plainly assumed that Enmu brought throw away demons on board, but it makes waaaay more sense that they were dreaming from the instant the tickets were punched (you'd think I'd have figured that out from the very first time watching the "Rengoku-aniki" scene, haha). What that implies, though, is that they all synced and saw the same dream while their sleep was still light. And, if your interpretation is correct, then Rengoku's subconscious was extremely influential on what the Kamaboko boys saw too.