#idk what’s a little having your skull caved in. he didn’t stab you at least

[thychesters]

i like how zoro thinks he’s being merciful by using the blunt side of his swords on these shipwrights who aren’t their enemy. like no he isn’t hacking them in half but buddy you can still very much so kill them that way.

[arthurtristankingsmen]

*pokes head out of bushes* Hello I just found your blog and I already love you, so let me sing you the song of my people and throw a far reaching theory at you because I have so many thoughts right now. So, I watched The Future and I noticed the colors leaking out of Mystery's heart seem to correspond to people Mystery cares about (ex: blue for Vivi, and white for Shiro). ((1/???))

And whenever someone he cares about gets hurt, his heart becomes a little bit more damaged (and their corresponding color start's leaking out). Mystery also gains a tail. The tail gaining can be seen when Vivi gets hurt and when Shiro dies. Our fox dogo goes from 7 to 9 tails. Now going back to the heart- notice how there are 8 colors popping out it. If blue and white are Vivi and Shiro, then its safe to say that yellow and pink represent Arthur and Lewis. 

The reason why I say this is that- not only do the colors correspond- but in, Ghost, (when Mystery bites off Author's possessed arm) he is seen having six tails, and by Freaking Out and Hellbent 7. This gives me the notion that in the beginning, before the group entered the cave, Mystery had 5 tails. Then when he had to bite off Author's arm, he gained a 6th tail; and when he discovered Lewis's death a 7th sprouted. 

 Now going back to his heart. If 4 of the colors represent Vivi, Author, Lewis, and Shiro; then, what about the other 4? Well, if Mystery had 5 tails before entering the cave, it's safe to say that he had 4 painful experiences prior.

In Hellbent, there's a flashback where we see mystery sitting in (I'm assuming) one of Shiro's trees. In that flash back he has all nine tails. Also in Hellbent Viv's bat has a few talismans on it's handle, according to the wiki their Shinto omamori talismans. And considering that her grandmother is dressed like a shinto priestess- Vivi might be descended from a long line of priest and priestess. 

You maybe asking why I've mention this, well back in The Future, there appear to be 2 talisman like patches on Mystery's heart. It's possible that when Mystery joined up with Mushi, Mushi had to nerf his powers bringing his tails from 9 to 1. The reason for this? No clue but it would explain why he had 5 tails instead of 9. ((I'm sorry if this stuff seemed repetitive, I know other's have already said this but I felt like I had to build up for the crazy stuff. 6))

Now, to the far reaching part of this theory. So, after looking over Ghost again I noticed two things. 1, the shot where ??? possess half of Arthur- ??? seems to glare at Lewis before pushing him off. Afterwords raising his possessed hand bearing the ticked off symbol you see in anime. 2, the hand that ??? is possessing is the exact same color of green that's leaking out of mystery's heart. Coincidence? I think not! 

I am of firm belief that ??? has had it out for the mystery crew from the very beginning, or at least towards Lewis. Why else would ??? go out of it's way to wait in the cave (yes I believe it was in the bat) for the gang to show up when it could of posses anyone else, after all, I'm sure Arthur isn't the only person in the world that feels envy. Also who go out if it way to kill Lewis? If it just wanted a body, it could of waited and completely taken over Arthur. 

This brings us back to the heart. On Mushi’s character sheet it stats: ‘Her fate seems intertwined with the modern-day Vivi, but in what way currently remains a mystery’. I remember someone on here mentioning or interpreting it as Vivi having a parallel journey to Mushi’s. If that is the case, then what if Mushi went through the same thing Vivi when through. As in, Mushi’s lover was killed by a mutual friend. But, instead of being possessed, the friend really did mean to kill. 

Like back when Mystery had one tail, ??? was part of Mushi’s group. And like Arthur, they were jealous of whoever Mushi was with and killed them (or hurt them) causing Mushi and Mystery to retaliate resulting in ???’s death or banishment (causing Mystery to sprout a few tails). Hundreds of years later ??? stumbles across the Mystery Skulls and decides to take revenge. Idk, this was longer than expected. I will now return to the bushes. Sorry for spamming your inbox and thank you listening!

Hi wow!! first of all, thank you for the kind words! 

I was actually thinking similarly for most of this-- i noticed the colors and it relating to injuries too, but i wasn’t sure if it was related to bad enough injuries, or if it was ‘failure to protect’. I actually discussed the potential that Mystery grew two tails in the cave-- one being when Lewis died, which put him at six, and then the next when he removed Arthur’s arm, so the portrait is a moment before the next tail grew. I think the one tail is Mystery’s first he was born with, and that would probably be the one that’s inverse colors compared to the rest- it’s kinda close to his pallet color wise and looks different, and each of the others corresponds to a color.

I could certainly see given the ancestor felt like they were hunting Shiromori and Mystery, the family having some connection to dealing with spirits! The grandma apparently wouldn’t have let Vivi keep Mystery herself where her dad did, because apparently the dad isn’t ‘superstitious’ and white dogs are a bad sign iirc? So maybe it was a familial thing but Vivi’s dad stepped away from that kind of tradition instead, but most of vivi’s ancestor’s have been affiliated with spirit things, be it stabbing them with a sword or something more shinto related haha.

I still have my thoughts on if that kitsune is truly mystery due to some details, but honestly, I could see if that is Mystery, Mushi having to do something like that. I don’t know for sure, but it’s an interesting thought and would at least be a reason Mystery has the tags there.

The idea that they did have some kind of connection beforehand is really interesting though! They did say that there would be some kind of parallel to mushi’s story, but they definitely don’t elaborate. It’s possible it’s just associating/needing to fight a nine-tailed Mystery, and even fighting shiromori, or even just meaning they have a connection to one another kinda similar to reincarnation of sort....but it’s also possible it’s related to another aspect of Vivi that has happened, being the cave in a way.

Personally, I don’t think Arthur was jealous. I headcanon that Lewis and Vivi’s relationship was new, and Arthur felt left behind by how wrapped up in each other they became-- in the cave he was anxious and if he was already feeling insecure, those emotional vulnerabilities made him a target. But that opening might have even been a chance for ??? to enact it’s own jealousy in a way arthur would never even be tempted in.

The only struggle I find is how ??? ended up in middle of nowhere cave in tempo texas from probably japan, if that’s the case. But it’s entirely possible within the theory that ??? didn’t stumble on them by happenstance, and actually tracked them down, much like how shiromori was doing. 

It’s also possible in a different vein, that rather than it being something he failed to protect, that it is about damage and Mystery grew three tails in the cave-- if you subscribe to the thought arthur still is a bit possessed, and Mystery isn’t fully because of it (mainly because of the color scheme and the fact he has his red floof on the left side still) then maybe the green light is because of the damage he did to ??? as well, by rending it into pieces (one on in arthur, one in the arm)

It’s all really interesting theories and conjecture!