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lampmanliveblogs · 2 years ago

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His Hollow Mind...

Here is the post I promised I’d make talking about some of the details I missed in the paintings. A huge shoutout to @thequietmanno1 who sent me all of these higher-quality images. As it turns out, there were quite a few things I missed. So let’s go over some of them.

These are not all the images I was sent, these are just the ones I thought were notable enough to talk about.

Starting out with one that I think I missed altogether because I don’t remember seeing this one. Well, we see Philip and Brother playing. Philip is wearing the wooden mask and using the toy sword Brother made for him. Brother is wearing a classic witch hat, which leads me to believe that Philip is playing the role of a witch hunter. Combined with the following image…

In the painting, we see the brothers Wittebane playing, with people in the background holding pitchforks. I think the implication here is that the brothers saw or heard about the witch trials going on around them while they were growing up and as kids do, they were playing it… even if they didn’t fully understand what was going on.

I had such a difficult time getting a good look at this one when doing the liveblog. I could never quite pause at the right time, Hunter kept blocking the view. After a while, I gave up and resigned myself to a fate of a half-obscured painting.

Now that I can get a good look at this one, I can see Philip looking disapprovingly at his brother holding hands with a witch.

Speaking of things I didn’t notice on the first time through… how about the fact that there are three people in this painting? Yeah, I’m not sure how that happened, she (assuming it’s the same witch from the other paintings) is wearing a bright red cloak. My eyes must’ve tricked me.

Anyways, this combined with the previous painting is starting to paint a clearer picture of what happened…

I bring this one up because in my liveblog I said that it looked like Philip might’ve been in his monstrous form here. Upon closer examination, I don’t think so, I think it’s just because Philip is covered in shadows here. Oh, and Brother is holding a knife of his own, which I didn’t notice before.

This is another case when there was a big part of the painting that I just didn’t see; Philip didn’t tattoo the glyphs onto his arm, he cut them with a knife. The same knife he used to kill his brother with by the looks of it, though I’m not 100% if this would take place before or after that event.

Speaking of the things Philip has done to himself, one reader brought up that in this one, the implication is supposed to be that he cut his own ears to be pointy. Which honestly makes me think of Opal Kobi from the Artemis Fowl books, except, you know… the other way around.

(there are some interesting parallels between Philip/Belos and Opal now that I think about it… or maybe I’m just in an Opal mood since she made a cameo in my latest fanfic)

I also got some better images of the paintings of the previous Golden Guards. In my liveblog, when I first saw this one, I said it looked like a triumphant pose, but on closer look… no, he was petrified. Right in the middle of standing up to Belos, by the looks of it. I also got to see that two other previous Golden Guards met their ends by being blasted with red magic and one was (possibly) buried (alive).

So about Brother Wittebane…

Now, based on these paintings I’ve managed to put together a sorta coherent story.

Once upon a time, the brother’s Wittebane lived and grew up in a newly founded town in Connecticut called Gravesfield circa 1635. This was at the time the Connecticut Witch Trials were going on, so the brother grew up hearing stories of witches and those brave who hunted them. They often played games together based on these stories.

At some point, they encountered togehter a strange woman in the woods, one with marvelous powers from out of this world. A witch. As we see, Brother Wittebane was fascinated and excited by this, while Philip… was not so much.

Somehow, they end up in the Demon Realm. The exact sequence of events at this point are not entierly clear to me, but we know for a fact that Philip was looking for a way home. It’s possible that his brother too sought a way home and followed him on this journey, at least for some time.

However, there was a rift growing between the brothers. Brother was, ah… fraternizing with the witches, which Philip disapproved of. Brother seems to have made very good friends with one witch in particular, Possibly the same one they met in the woods who brought them to the Demon Realm.

At some point, Philip began experimenting with magical powers he ought not to have. By consuming the life force of palismen, his body begins to mutate and he turns into a monstrous form, though his brother still loves him.

Philip on the other hand… does the unthinkable and kills his own brother. Brother’s awesome girlfriend blasts Philip with a magic spell and that’s the last seen of her (for now…?).

(see what I did there? I’m drawing parallels between Brother and Luz as they were both humans who came to the Demon Realm and made friends with the people there and got awesome witch girlfriends. Unlike a certain someone I could name)

At some point, Philip gets the idea of the Day of Unity and starts working on it. He meets Luz and Lilith on their time travel excursion and he gets the scar on his face.

After that, he dons the identity of Belos and begins campaigning across the Isles, trying to sell his Coven system, which he needs for his Day of Unity plans to work. He also creates the first grimwalker.

That’s roughly the timeline of events. There are a lot of unanswered questions still that I’m looking forward to finding the answers to. Maybe I’ll find out in the next episode, whenever I get around to it. Until then, take care of the planet Earth and remember that anything can happen in space!

#toh s2e16 #hollow mind

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goldenkamuyhunting · 4 years ago

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in regards to Ogata's shot on Usami- the panelling basically shows the bullet's trajectory in reverse before he fires it, so yeah, he 'did' shoot the bullet through two windows after usami had cleared the corner of the building- perhaps counting on Usami lowering his guard after he was out of the direct line of fire?

Sorry, I placed those two asks together because they talk of the same scene.

Well, I also think Ogata didn’t meant to shoot Sugimoto AND that he shoots through the two windows.

I’m not sure which was the visibility he had, Sugimoto, Asirpa and Ostrog weren’t in pitch black darkness so it’s possible there was a light inside.

After all outside was night so there wasn’t meant to be much light. But well, since Noda was vague and since anyway Sugimoto wasn’t Ogata’s target but Usami, it’s really impossible to tell. Who knows, maybe the volume version will clear things up.

Well, why he felt completed as a sniper is something tied to chap 243, which introduced Ogata and Usami’s relation and foreshadowed this ending, how Ogata thinks he would be complete as a sniper only if he were to shoot down someone (technically it’s tied to how you say sniper in Japanese but it might also psychologically tied to how Ogata ultimately didn’t shoot Asirpa on the ice field).

Regarding Usami though, I’m not really sure if he thought Usami would lower his guard when he supposedly wasn’t visible any longer, it’s not like Usami could really protect his back even previously.

On an interesting note though, Ogata didn’t shoot him through the head but went for an ‘easier’ target, his chest so maybe he didn’t have the best visual or he really had only an extremely small amount of time to shoot before Usami would completely be out of range so he couldn’t aim as accurately as he wanted.

Well, at least this is the Watsonian explanation.

The Doylist one though is that Noda wanted Usami to exchange some last words with Tsurumi.

Thanks for you ask!

#Ogata Hyakunosuke #Usami Tokishige #Ask #Thequietmanno1 #Other people's posts

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makeste · 5 years ago

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some meta on chapter 236 regarding Kotaro, Tomura's quirk upgrade, and potential ways for AFO to continue tormenting the Shimuras in the future

okay I’m back. here’s another ask from @thequietmanno1! I think there’s like four or five more of these to go. my initial goal of getting through them all in an evening and then going on to respond to other asks as well may have been sliiightly unrealistic. idk sometimes you just sit down and you’re all “fuck yeah I’m about to type me some WORDS” and you get carried away.

this ask is in regards to chapter 236, I’m pretty sure!

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To be honest, when Kotaro smacked Tenko with the weed clippers (giving him the mouth scar he has today) I read that as being a bit accidental and fueled by panic. I think he was trying to maybe push Tenko back with the weed clippers, use them as a pole to shove him away before whatever effect his quirk was causing affected him. But due to his blind panic, footing due to the decaying ground, and perhaps a subconscious anger towards his son for what he’d done, he hit him in the face again. Partly by accident and bad luck- his face afterwards is clearly somewhat shocked and ashamed by what he’d just done, though he’s still scared of Tenko- but his next action, rather than resuming his attack with the weed clipper in his right hand, was to reach out with his empty left hand towards Tenko, perhaps realising that he didn’t want to hurt him, and he needed to treat his son with kindness, appeal to him as a parent rather than as an abuser. But it was simply too late.

You could also see this as a kind of “what you are in the dark” test that Kotaro failed- his wife tried to help Tenko to her last breath, but when faced with his impending death, Kotaro’s action was to instinctually protect himself with violence. Still, it’s interesting that the whole “AFO give him the decay quirk” doesn’t have any definitive answers to support or deny it yet. Like, if this was just a casual reader checking out the story, they might accept the “destructive mutation” explanation without question, but thanks to your theorising there’s a definite possibility of there being more to the story than Tenko knows. But crucially, while Horikoshi hasn’t outright confirmed it yet, he hasn’t given us anything that denies this as a possibility either, so it lets us, the readers, feel smart for noticing the little clues before they become relevant.

That said, again this chapter brings up something Re-Destro and Toga alluded to- that the concept of ‘personality powers’ is very much at play in the MHA universe, and may even be enforced by the power itself. Toga had a yearning and lust for blood as the result of her quirk; even though that isolated her from normal society, it was still part of her psyche, something that just existed alongside her, as natural as the urge to breathe. Similarly, Tenko here seems to have had a natural urge to destroy things around him. His statement about how “the itch went away” leads me to believe that the itch was his subconscious desire to destroy contrasted with his childlike innocence and non-desire to harm others. Hell, perhaps his allergies were a side effect of suppressing his power’s potential and it causing microscopic damage to his body- decaying his skin cells, for example. At the very least, the weird damage around his eyes doesn’t seem to be caused by a normal allergy. Plus, if he got the quirk at some point before we think he did- he might have received it as some undocumented point in the past, and the policeman dropping him off could be AFO in disguise checking up on his investment and his progress towards using the quirk- then there’d be time for it to affect his body and be mistaken for an allergy. The damage to his eyes doesn’t seem to be too bad when we first see him, so he can’t have had it for long.

Incidentally, here we can see that Tenko’s powers effect seems to be tied to his emotions, similarly to how black whip is to Deku (perhaps, when Shigaraki gets All for One’s quirk, he’ll be gifted with Quirks that complement and contrast with Deku’s own 7 quirks, just to balance out their battles?) Tenko’s first use on Mon seemed accidental and left the dog mostly intact- you can see the whole left side of his body in one piece, so the dog was killed simply because he was in contact with Tenko’s fingers. But with the others, it seems like the decay almost sought them out, moving from object to object until it reached its intended targets, like a wave of corruption. Hana wasn’t directly touched- Tenko just grabbed her clothes, and his mom and the grandparents were destroyed when the decay spread through the grounds towards them. On the panel where Kotaro first sees Tenko and the destruction, you can see that the decay stopped shortly after reaching the spots where their bodies were standing. And when Tenko sees Kotaro, the decay- which had stopped- starts up again even stronger than before, completely destroying the yard and preventing Kotaro from running away. It seems like the decay is fueled by Tenko’s subconscious hatred towards his family for their treatment during his abuse, attacking them based on his pure emotional response towards them even when his mind and heart are screaming otherwise. It’s like it’s keyed directly into the emotion of Pure Hate, and that may be why Tenko’s usage of it varies so much throughout the series.

I think AFO telling him to keep the hands close may have been a sick means of giving him control over that Primal Emotion, and the quirk with it. The feeling of hatred that drives Tomura now is so all consuming that his Quirk’s initial usage seems indiscriminate- he hates the world entire, so his quirk destroys everything all 5 fingers touch, but that ‘5 finger discount’ rule may just have been a rule AFO helped implant in his mind during his Control phase growing up. He can actually use the decay without it, but doing so seems to make it more powerful. Like, learning to use it with 5 fingers made the quirk easier to control, but weaker overall, hence why Aizawa didn’t lose his arm. As the series has progressed and Tomura’s enmity with Midoriya and the losses he’s had to endure around the new symbol have shaped him, Tomura’s become more capable of mastering his actions and emotions, his personality slowly changing from the experiences he’s faced into someone more in control of himself. Hence his power now reaching a new, more controlled state as he remembers his childhood trauma and thus unlocks the raw destructive power he had with that trauma, now more emotionally equipped to handle it, focus it and use it to his will.

This ‘targeted’ aspect of the quirk may be why it suddenly seems to develop a ‘corruption spreading’ effect during this arc. If the Quirk’s tied into his emotions and perceptions of what he’s using it on, then he was able to dust the entire group and once (and part of the street they were standing on) because his sleep-deprived perception perceived them as one large object, hence allowing him to use it on a large area. Similarly, when Shigaraki dusts the tower, neither Giran nor Re-Destro were affected despite this chapter making it clear that the decay can spread through the ground, because Shigaraki didn’t see them in the tower, and wasn’t ordering the quirk to affect them. (His desire to rescue Giran may also have been a factor.) And it didn’t affect Re-Destro because he’d just been a voice on a radio to Shigaraki up till then, so he didn’t have an ‘image’ to focus the decay with.

Also, I read this somewhere- can’t remember the source- but the deaths of Tenko’s family are symbolic of their relationship and actions towards Tenko’s abuse. Mon died loving and hugging Tenko and not making a sound despite literally being spit into pieces, because he was the boy’s source of comfort after he got locked in the garden. Hana turned her back on Tenko when she pinned the blame on their trespassing on his desire to see his grandma, and died with her back to him. The grandparents died standing far away from Tenko, just as they stood aside when Kotaro locked him out. His mother died trying to make a futile attempt to love and confront him that never managed to reach him or stop the pain he was feeling. And Kotaro died leaving a physical scar on his son, rather than a ton of mental ones, and was the only one the decay was focused on, hence why his body was almost completely decayed apart from the hands, and his house that he built to deny heroes was also destroyed. Also here we get an idea of what Tenko’s decay actually does- it seems to split the target apart into small individual chucks like they’ve been hit by a messy version of a Blade Mode move from Revengance. The more modern, controlled version Shigaraki uses in the present day seems to apply the principle on a microscopic level, appearing to ‘dust’ the target as it falls apart into its component molecules. The preciseness of the splitting seems to vary with the level of enmity and Shigaraki’s perceptions. Hana and the rest were somewhat intact, but Kotaro seemed to get more shredded than the others, because Tenko focused his pure hatred on him and the house that symbolised his control over his son, and the torment he’d suffered within its walls, so his currant ‘hate everything’ mentality allows him to freely use the quirk within the self-imposed ‘5 finger’ restriction in a more precise and focused manner in the present.

Lastly, I feel confident in predicting that at some point in the future, Midoriya is gonna discover the truth of Shigaraki’s origins, and that will, in turn, let Nana witness what became of the son she left behind. I see two ways this is possible. Firstly, Deku’s freaky past-vision powers that he’s experiencing with OFA may also allow him to somehow interact with Shigaraki at some point and see inside his nemesis’s head, giving him a good idea of what made him into his mortal enemy and letting him recontextualise Tomura as his opposite- someone who started from a similar place, but took a different path to him. Perhaps the fact that Tomura has part of Nana’s DNA would allow Midoriya the ability to interact with him in specific circumstances- OFA contains Nana’s spirt, so it may react to familiar DNA that it once resided in and was nurtured with. Alternatively, AFO, after being freed by Shigaraki, may lure Midoriya to a remote, isolated location and, rather than hurting him, will play footage of Tenko’s origin and subsequent rampage in front of the horrified teen, captured from Spy cameras he discreetly planted around the house shortly after he gave Tenko the Quirk, just to taunt Midoriya, and more specifically Nana and All Might, about how hard the previous generations failed him, and how he’s nothing but a vessel of evil and hatred worthy of carrying AFO’s legacy forward. Perhaps your theory that AFO was the actual first Holder and the two Quirks are one and the same, and thus joined together, may allow him to directly interact with and taunt the previous holders ‘face-to-face’ as it were. My fondness for the former makes me reluctant to support the “AFO gave Tenko his Quirk” theory simply because it would be so much more ‘devastating’ if he was actually innocent of this particular tragedy, and could smugly rub that fact in the heroes faces.

Frankly, we won’t get answers to the theory that he gave Tenko an extraordinary lethal quirk and just waited for the explosion until he’s out, but I like the fact that, one way or another, AFO had a hand in shaping Tenko’s origin as a villain by forcing Nana to abandon Kotaro and then killing her before they could reconcile. That said, I feel it would be so much more narratively traumatic and damaging to the heroes if he could claim, with complete honesty and no means of lying or twisting the truth, that that indirect abandonment was the extent of his involvement. Sure, he took advantage of a godsend opportunity, but he’s innocent of the abusive household atmosphere that poisoned Tenko and his subsequent Lethal Rampage- that’s all on All Might, Gran Torino and most especially Nana. If the former ‘past-vision’ method is how Midoriya learns of it, then it would also allow Nana to show and express her grief at how badly things turned out for her child and her well-meaning intentions- I can totally see this so far strong, confident, charming and reliable woman that we’ve seen so far in All Might’s flashbacks being so overwhelmed by the enormity of her failure that she collapses to her knees in a wordless scream, exactly like Deku did when Bakugou got dragged through the Warp gate. If it’s the latter ‘spy camera’ version, then it would serve no purpose for Midoriya directly, but would allow AFO to hurt the previous Holders through him. After all, doesn’t he seem like exactly the kind of person who’d cause a dead woman to cry, just to savour her misery?

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damn dude, you sure know how to paint a picture lol. this is a very specific theory, and I’m not sure I could see it happening myself, although it would sure make for some good angst. but... how to explain this. just, I’m very attached to the idea of Nana being every inch the strong, unshakable woman with an indomitable spirit that All Might saw her as. so I wouldn’t actually want to see her break down like this. this is the woman who taught All Might, the Symbol of Peace, what it means to smile. this is the person whose spirit carried him through his darkest times. so the thought of her being reduced to a helpless image of grief, needing Deku to avenge her, just rubs me the wrong way. if anything, were she to ever learn the full truth, while she would no doubt be shaken, I would want her to respond with determination to save her grandchild. AFO’s already basked in enough misery; he doesn’t deserve to win this one. he consistently underestimates people’s hearts and spirits, and I want that to continue to be his downfall.

backtracking to the beginning of your post, I like your interpretation of the complicated thoughts running through Kotaro’s head in his last moments, and his actions. he was scared, and clearly isn’t one to shy away from violence. but at the same time this was his son, and in spite of his abusive behavior, he still clearly cares about him, and was already feeling remorse about his earlier actions based on his conversation with his wife and in-laws. I really like what you said about the contrast between him and Tenko’s mother. it really is a shame, Kotaro. in another life you could have been a better man.

I’m still holding out hope for the AFO-gave-him-the-quirk theory to be true, though it could go either way! as I’ve said, I still think Tomura will turn on AFO eventually, although it will definitely take some time, and I agree with @addermoray that Tomura’s already far gone enough at this point that his initial response to learning about the deception might even be gratitude. but I’m still banking on his once-it-has-time-to-sink-in response being decidedly less grateful (or at the very least, being more of a “you know what, my family may have sucked, but fuck you too”). that may require some Deku-jesusing to put things into perspective for him. anyways, this is basically just more of the same old speculation, and I think you know my thoughts on that by this point lol.

I don’t think Tomura is actually going to get AFO’s quirk, though? I could be dead wrong about that one. but that’s one thing I could never see AFO doing, even if he did intend to die and leave Tomura to carry on his legacy. I feel like he’d let the quirk die with him. Tomura, in any case, certainly appears to be strong enough on his own as it is now, sob.

I think you’re absolutely right about the nature of Tenko’s quirk and how it ties in to his emotions. and interesting analysis of how Tomura’s decay and its spread works! I haven’t attempted to give it much thought (part of me may be hoping that Horikoshi’s constant urge to explain quirks in great detail will win out sooner or later and we’ll get an official explanation), but this seems pretty accurate.

and that symbolism with Tomura’s family’s deaths also went over my head when I read the chapter, but that also seems spot on! I keep finding new ways to appreciate this flashback, man. it just traumatizes in all the right ways, damn.

#bnha #bnha 236 #bnha spoilers #shigaraki tomura #shimura kotaro #all for one #midoriya izuku #shimura nana #bnha meta #makeste reads bnha #asks #thequietmanno1

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camthewizard · 6 years ago

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hey, first time blogger on your posts here, but I'm just sending this ask to inform you that your day 16 girl genius post is affected partially by the tumbler shutdown- I've heard that you can contest these things and remove the notification, and I'm kind hoping that happens, cause honestly, I love girl genius and i'm loving the live-blogging you've done with it, and I'd like to read it all start to finish

Well that’s weird. There’s no button to request like there usually is. Also, if I try it on mobile, it’s not even blocked.

Don’t worry about it for now. It’s not that important a post anyway, so you can just read on.

#thequietmanno1 #camthewizard #girl genius #girl genius liveblog #day126 #agatha heterodyne #day16

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pdaliceliveblogs · 3 years ago

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asks pt2

Ooh, love that. The portrait with him in the tree and a rope on the ground, yeah? I hadn’t seen that one yet when I made my big portrait post but it’s spooky as hell. He really didn’t ever grow up.

Ha, yes. People using that as “the” definition of insanity bothers me slightly when it isn’t actually, but it is a good line.

And Belos kept his own lack of natural magic completely quiet from Hunter, despite pretending to hold him in confidence, so he’d continue to feel that way!

Mnn, I’m not a hundred percent on this one-- the Grimwalker grimoire showed an infant growing up, so I think the process probably creates a baby every time, which Belos then hands off to an orphanage or somehow grows in a pod or something until it’s old enough to be useful. So I don’t think he made Hunter as a sixteen-year-old. But I do think he was rushed into the position, perhaps because the Day of Unity was coming, perhaps because of his predecessor coming to his senses with inconvenient timing.

Exactly! Philip absolutely refused to be in his nibling’s life, but used the title of nephew for his perfect puppet.

...intriguing. I’m not sure if I’d see that as having in-universe significance but it’s definitely symbolic on the part of the writers/artists.

Ha, I like that. But yeah, it really is amazingly hypocritical how in his witch-hunting fervour he’s made himself so deeply entwined with magic that it’s presumably all that’s keeping him alive.

Hollow rotten husk of a man. The other character called a hollow rotten husk of a boy is one I really like, go read Hanna is Not a Boy’s Name if you haven’t

It’s interesting, because in a kids’ show you always have to balance letting your young protagonists carry the burden enough that they’re truly the heroes while also having the stakes be genuinely high-- higher than an actual kid could handle. I think they’ve done really well with that here, because Luz really has been thrust into this whole thing way out of her depth, and her guardians are trying so hard to protect her but at the same time her unique position as a human really keeps dropping her in again.

#owl house #the owl house #owl house liveblog #owlblog #pdaliceblogs #owl 216 #TOH spoilers #asks #thequietmanno1

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pdaliceliveblogs · 3 years ago

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asks pt 1

I assume it is indeed actual blood from a Titan, seeing as Eclipse Lake and its tunnel systems were noted to be specifically the Titan’s veins. It’s possible it changes as he grows, but I think it’s not unlikely that Hooty just didn’t recognize it-- Titan’s Blood is incredibly rare, remember, and they didn’t have that glove’s worth of it to reference until the next episode. Hooty had probably never seen Titan’s Blood before.

Yesss that’s so cute. And also worries me slightly that we may see King get hurt enough to bleed, maybe even more than that one shot of Dell, because I’m reminded of how in the film of Stardust, they had the princes all bleed blue as a simultaneous pun and way to keep the rating down.

It is pretty cute, yeah-- I want to say ‘he can’t have known, can we really give him credit?” but tbh that’s true of most of his accidental success in that episode, ha.

Oof, yeah. I do suspect that Eda and Lilith aren’t in there, either, which makes it easy pickings. Endgame time....

I mean, I don’t know if that makes it 100% clear-- the skulls they wear are Titans’ skulls themselves, so the attacker there could still be another Titan, especially since he seems quite large (unless he’s just foregrounded a LOT). I’m not saying that’s definitely not what it shows, I’m just saying it’s not definitely what it shows, you know?

But yeah, Jean-Luc’s flesh magic is definitely concerningly familiar-- but I wouldn’t necessarily connect that to the Collector? Luz found that glyph in and among all the others in Philip’s diary, and he’d clearly been working on making very complex glyph arrays (such as the teleportation one) well before he made contact with the Collector. I think it’s more likely that, given that the glyphs are ‘commanding the surrounding magic’, that flesh is more just one of the Titan’s Humours, it’s an element, you know? I don’t think I distrust Jean-Luc. We’ll see.

It’s possible for sure! The Collector is definitely double-dipping, and has multiple plans to ensure his freedom in place, but I don’t know if he set up their initial hatred of Titans-- they seem to have only known him as a trapped creature, one they wish to free by slaying the last Titan, and presumably if he’d already made contact with him when they were doing some slaying in the Hunts of Old they could have freed him then. Hmm.

It is a bit funny that the Collector is helping Philip try to Murder All Witches while being fully aware and casually not mentioning there are wild witches on other islands, haha.

I apoligize for giggling at your typo but now I’m thinking of Camila as Carmilla.

But yeah, it’s a great character flaw, and very nicely delivered, her tendency to exaggerate things in her mind. I definitely wouldn’t blame her lack of friends on it, though-- remember that she was bullied for her ‘weirdness’, and that she made friends with Willow and Gus really quickly, and also that Vee pretty much met the human world immediately being sent off to normie camp-- where she necessarily met other weird kids who someone had thought needed to be toned down. They accepted her weird out-of-world awkwardness just like she accepted theirs. Remember that she says “these guys” are cool, when Luz is warning her to beware of teenagers. Luz was bullied by bullies, not because she’s not confident in herself.

That’s cute as hell tbh. He’s been so scared of losing her, and now he’s gonna be the key to everything. That’s a lot of responsibility to put on such a little guy’s head, but... he can make a way through.

#owl house #the owl house #owl house liveblog #owlblog #pdaliceblogs #owl 217 #TOH spoilers #asks #specter-177 #thequietmanno1

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pdaliceliveblogs · 3 years ago

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asks pt 1

Mn, I wouldn’t say he shot himself in the foot by trying to kill Hunter, I’d say he shot himself in the foot by failing to kill Hunter. I do think Hunter was past the point of no return when it came to trusting Belos. Even if he’d just tried to glibly explain away the other dead Guards… even poor brainwashed Hunter wouldn’t have been able to fully buy it and go back to his side.

Yeah! It definitely hurt. I’m sad we didn’t get to see how Hunter and Darius made contact again between Labyrinth Runners and CotH, honestly, but it makes sense as a casualty of the shortened show. That must have been painful, trying to explain to Hunter that he was indeed trustworthy. I bet Darius messaged him on penstagram like “kid. Are you alive pls confirm.”

I mean, I do think that’s a coincidence, especially now that we’ve also seen Alador go purple (which we may not have yet when you sent this ask). The green versus blue one really stuck out to me last season, though, yeah. I wonder if it has something to do with how unstable his body is, like maybe his eyes are the colour of the last palisman he ate?

Yep, that’s a theory I put forth quite a while back! I really love the idea of after all this is over, Luz pulling a beanie on her new bro to cover his ears and dragging him to the Human Realm for some bbq he can digest. As for Belos, I do suspect he doesn’t eat food anymore. He’s a warped creature of mud and stolen souls. I don’t think that requires a McRib.

I don’t know if I’d go all the way to fake eyes, but the eye imagery has been very strong throughout the show— not just with Belos, but with Eda too, with her window, her and Lily’s acquired heterochromia, Wartlop’s scam’s sigil being an eye, etc. Eyes and hands, man, they’re everywhere.

I will point out that not quite every other character has eye shines— a few side characters don’t, including Viney, and I think the Titan Trappers don’t either. And Belos did get an eye shine when Hunter gave him the key. So I think it’s less of a literal lack of light in his eyes and more an indication of how sort of dead-souled he is and how the acquisition of some titan’s blood was one of the first things in years he’d really cared about.

Oh, yeah, Hunter was definitely never meant to survive the DoU. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Belos is hoping it’ll wipe the Collector out, too, as they’re clearly also a creature of magic, which he loathes.

As for Hunter’s sigil, I’m not sure how it’ll affect him. The fact that Raine’s plan included sealing Eda suggests that they do have some effect even on a powerless Witch, which is our closest category to Hunter. And if the Draining Spell is meant to wipe out all Witches on the Isles, then clearly it does more than just steal their magic— otherwise it would just leave them all powerless like Eda and Lily (and Hunter). Belos wants them dead.

Oddly enough, I’ve always assumed that if Wittebro is a Clawthorne ancestor, that it would have been through Dell, not Gwen. The carving seems to go along with that, and Dell’s hairline/beard shape being similar to Philip’s is one of the first reasons people started speculating about a relation, iirc.

I do think it’s possible Wittebro was an albino, and I like that idea a lot.

I don’t know if Philip had any hand in that statue, though. He’s been on the Boiling Isles for hundreds of years; given his single-minded determination to wipe out witch kind I can’t really imagine him popping back and forth to help set up some statues on Earth. I think it’s more likely that the brothers were known and beloved of the community, and when they disappeared were kind of considered martyrs/sad lost symbols of the community and the rough life of the New World, you know? And statues rarely show people goofy and laughing, especially not older ones.

EDIT: also I didn’t notice you say so at first, but “had nothing to do with Philip’s witch hunting”? I don’t agree with that at all. There’s several portraits of the both of them with pitchforks or sticks. I think they were both avid about it, it’s just that Wittebro changed his mind when he met real witches and Philip didn’t.

Ha, true. I’d be more likely to chalk that up to writing inconsistency than Hunter being that sheltered but that’s a funny way to take it.

#owl house #the owl house #owl house liveblog #owlblog #pdaliceblogs #owl 220 #asks #thequietmanno1

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pdaliceliveblogs · 3 years ago

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asks pt 2

Yeah, ha. I’m inclined to think of “The Collector” as a little more ‘real’, if only because that’s what they were credited as in the flashback in KKKOHD, but still. Honestly, they give me big Squire of Gothos energies (props to Mike for remembering the name of that ep and mentioning it, I just had “that one TOS ep where the all-powerful creature gets grounded by his parents at the end” in my head). Maybe we’ll find out their true name when their mumma shows up.

I mean, his work with the Collector might allow him to recognize a young Titan. But it also might not. Philip is definitely still manipulative and controlling, and I wouldn’t put it past him to try and get one over on the Collector-- I think it’s entirely possible his eventual downfall will involve him trying to double-cross them and getting put down for it-- but I don’t think we know enough to say that that’s what he was doing here.

I do think that it’s not only his freedom that the Collector is after; he seemed genuinely excited by ‘playing’ in the destruction the Day of Unity will cause.

I think it’s possible they were hunkering down in the house-- why would we see them, they’re not the type to come out with their hands up-- but I do agree that it’s more likely they’re not in there.

...man, should I watch Home Alone someday?

Ahah he managed the poke from Tinella pretty much fine!

Yeah, that makes sense. It didn’t crop up in my head bc I don’t know of ones that make such bright colours, but... maaaaaagic.

Yes! And it’s immediately after he said that that Eda agreed to let them go....

Oh yeah huh, both work, lol.

You know, I didn’t see it myself but now that you’ve mentioned it I can totally see the vibes! The playfulness of her VA definitely helps. Man, I loved She-Ra, I should rewatch it some time.

#owl house #the owl house #owl house liveblog #owlblog #pdaliceblogs #owl 217 #TOH spoilers #asks #overlord-flinx #thequietmanno1 #anonymous #windoftime #martinkhall #tmpulsar

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goldenkamuyhunting · 4 years ago

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chapter 257 - well, the story's defiantly in the endgame now. In addition to the reveal of the final tattoo, what are the odd's that Kadokura's luck will result in him accidentally touching the wet skins to iron somehow, exposing the method to identify the fakes from the real skins and allowing aspira to finally crack the actual code with the collected skins they have?? probably about the same as him saving himself from Poison by consuming more Poison, I'd Say

Well...

I’m sure Noda had Kadokura fall in the water and wet the skins in order to show us, and more importantly to the cast, the method to differentiate between fake skins and real skins. Sure is Kadokura is really his own brand of very lucky.

Kadokura is an awesome guy. Not only despite not being very strong he put all himself in serving Hijikata but he’s also conveniently very lucky!

Hijikata will do better to give him a raise!

#Hijikata Toshizou #Ask #Kadokura Toshiyuki #Thequietmanno1 #Other people's posts

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makeste · 5 years ago

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on Re-Destro and the source of the “stress” that fuels his quirk

continuing to make my way through @thequietmanno1′s asks! once I’m done with these I’ll work on going through the rest of my inbox.

I received this ask after chapter 238, if I'm not mistaken (so things have changed just a little bit, but that's my bad for not responding to this earlier).

And now I’m kinda feeling bad for Re-Destro, just a little. Like, that flashback doesn’t show much, but it speaks volumes about his character. The smart suit, the focused, determined yet somewhat resigned, unhappy look on his face, the neatly groomed hair, standing beside presumably his mother in front of some faceless shadowy figures telling him he must fulfil their ambitions.

I wonder if, at one point, Re-Destro didn’t want to fulfil his legacy, but wanted to choose his own path in life, yet the pressures and responsibilities heaped upon him by Destro’s old supporters and his family made him bury that desire, that part of himself that resented having to take up the mantle, until it because an unconscious source of strength for him. His power grows from stress, so his unknown resentment at being born a figurehead for a movement he might not have truly agreed with at his core caused him to build up stress from having to become someone he didn’t want to be, and fulfil a grand objective he might not have been confident he could pull off. He outright said that Quirks have a Personality Power aspect to them, so his own Quirk is indicative of the burden his role has placed him in, one he’s been in for such a long time that he’s forgotten who he was before he because Re-Desto.

I’m wondering if all his little breaks of temper and swift and sudden outburst of extreme violence may have been because of this unconscious desire to not be Re-Destro- because if the movement fails, or is mocked and looked down upon, he’s then wasted his life for a cause that he was forced to support, and never had to chance to be someone else- and he was lashing out because of the rage and anger that he’s had to hide behind a mask since he was a kid. Like, he seems to become calmer and focused when he’s raging because he’s finally able to act like he wants to, but is still controlling himself tightly because that’s how he’s been raised, to be a perfect leader even at the worst of times.

Ironically, it seems this hidden resentment may be why he failed to kill Shigaraki, since he outright says his stress is fading away. Maybe he recognised Shigaraki as someone similar to himself (probably some bullshit about understanding someone by crossing blades/fists with them) and actually respected the teenager for having the courage to reject his own legacy and forge his own path according to his own desires. There’s been quite a few evil counterparts between the league and the MLA – Dabi and Genten over their conflicting views about how quirks define them; Skeptic and Twice over their instability born from failure (Twice from failing all the time and feeling worthless for it; Skeptic for refusing to fail and be considered worthless more than once); Trumpet and Spinner over both of them being people who define themselves via their relationship to someone else’s dream. And here we get to see how Shigaraki’s rejection of his own family legacy counters Re-Destro’s acceptance and hidden resentment of his own legacy. Many villains have called Shigaraki a simple, one-dimensional character for just focusing on destroying the things he hates around him. But that same desire is simple, it’s pure, and it doesn’t waver under pressure. Just Like Spinner couldn’t be crushed under Trumpet’s breaking speech because he’s already accepted his poor character and flaws, Shigaraki’s pure desire to destroy makes him more grounded, focused and determined than Re-Destro, who has been struggling with his own flaws and dissatisfactions in private for his whole life.

Going forward, this simplicity may be what allows Shigaraki to rise to the top, much like AFO had the simple desire to become a “King of Evil” and set out to achieve exactly that. This is actually true of every character who’s had an origin chapter - a reminder to themselves of the simple desires that drove them to become who they were, and by bringing that to the forefront of their mind, allows them to redefine themselves and their purpose and continue on their path with renewed purpose. The whole fight is symbolic of that really. Initially Re-Destro seems to have the upper hand in numbers, resources and goals, but as the fight drags on, each one of these gets broken under the league overcoming their personal demons to become stronger for the sake of their simple desires. When Re-Destro first fights Shigaraki, he overwhelms him in speed, power and convictions, crippling his hands and trying to tear him down to prove he’s the better villain between them (which, now I think about it, served no real purpose to Re-Destro, but may have been a way for him to quell the hidden resentments he had about being forced into his role, by striking down an upstart challenger to his destined throne, and reinforcing his wish to prove that the whole MLA wasn’t a mistake he was forced into making). But once Shigaraki recovers his memories and his origin, he just keeps tearing through Re-Destro’s arguments and attacks one by one with his pure desire to destroy. He overcomes the two finger limitation, proving he’s not as limited or weak as Re-Destro thinks, and keeps destroying his ultimate attack, becoming more sane, focused and confident as he does. Re-Destro keeps trying the same move- the apex of his power and probably something he was forced to develop in childhood, so to him it represents the absolute conviction that the MLA is the correct Choice for the Next Villain overlord. Yet Shigaraki keeps striking it down again and again with one simple, pure move every time, no matter how much he ups the power or used more complex mechanisms to enhance it. That’s why his stress starts to fade- because some part of him, that he’s long buried and forgotten, despite it fuelling a great amount of his quirk, recognises and respects Shigaraki as an equal, as someone who had the courage to reject his defined path in life and make his own, consequences and social conventions be dammed.

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was making you think he didn’t exist, and perhaps the greatest trick AFO pulled was giving Tomura the illusion of choice in Becoming the Symbol of Fear. As far as the boy could see, he alone was responsible for the death of his family, unconsciously on behalf of everyone else, willingly on behalf of his father, and that warped perception of himself let AFO give him the little pushes necessary to complete the transition. If there’s one thing this arc has shown, it’s that villainy is perhaps a lot like gravity- you only need a little push to go from nobody to outcast, with no-one to accept you but the rejects of society.

---

nothing much to add to this, except perhaps another apology for being late in replying. I think it’s clear as of chapter 239 that this analysis is spot on. RD clearly did grow to respect Tomura during their battle, and I think you nailed it down as to exactly why Tomura was able to earn that respect.

I still don’t know if I can honestly say I feel sorry for RD, but I appreciate the way that Horikoshi slowly developed his character over the course of the arc. he never gave us a real, complete backstory for him, but he didn’t really have to; the little tidbits he dropped here and there, along with RD’s own passionate villain monologues about the MLA's philosophy and its history, were more than enough to establish why he is the way that he is. and it led up to the perfect ending, IMO. this was a really great arc.

#bnha #bnha 238 #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #re-destro #makeste reads bnha #bnha meta #asks #thequietmanno1

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makeste · 5 years ago

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more discussion about BnHA 237, and the “bystander effect”

Makeste, it’s been hinted for a long time now that Tomura had personally experienced the bystander effect when he was younger. When he had his little therapy talk with Midoriya at the mall he was pissed at how the people around him were just going about their lives and ignoring other people’s problems, thinking only about themselves. And when Midoriya pointed out that a hero would arrest him, he brought up that although anybody’s quirks could let them fight back and perhaps stop him, no-one would do so if he went on a rampage- their complacency and trust in hero society meant that they couldn’t conceive of such a thing happening to them, and so they would default back to letting heroes or the authorities arrive and save them, rather than saving themselves. Like sheep to a slaughter, they just couldn’t bring themselves to act, because they would rather support a peaceful society that protects them than willingly fully endanger themselves.

I actually liked that Horikoshi made it clear that some people were willing to help Tenko, so it wasn’t that Tenko coincidentally wandered into a street full of uncaring assholes, but his ghoulish appearance was a major factor in driving off the help he so desperately wanted. Just, looking at him, you can see the kid’s gone through something horrible, and if they got involved, they might have risked whatever caused it to happen to them next. They were scared of him, and didn’t want to risk getting involved in something they weren’t equipped to handle. Better to leave it to police, or authorities who have trained for similar situations and can protect themselves. Whereas the ‘defenceless’ citizen could tell at a glance that Tenko was something beyond their ordinary lifestyles, an unspoken threat to their peace and safety. Maybe some did call the police and authorities and Tenko had wandered off. But you can see why, for a society that, because of the whole ‘restrict your quirk and don’t perform heroic actions without a licence’ stuff, has been taught that they’re supposed to act normal and not get involved in dangerous situations or criminal activity, helping Tenko was too personally involving for those citizens.

You also got a hint of that when Tomura was restrained at the bar- the flashback’s words even spell out that “before long a hero will…everyone said things like that, but they all ignored you, didn’t they?” Maybe AFO had a hand in helping Tenko get isolated here. He could have had a subtle quirk that manipulated their emotions and fears to drive them to ignore Tenko, or he could have simply just used his connections to stifle any calls or reports of Tenko’s appearance to the proper authorities, and left him in the ‘care’ of the nearby public. Personally, my money’s on the latter. Either way, his appearance here definitely rings too good to be true- he was probably shadowing Tenko whilst he walked through the streets- but I get the impression that he honestly didn’t do much to make the general public act the way they did towards Tenko. He just let the boy experience the isolation and apathy of a society focused on ignoring danger unless there’s someone authorised to handle it.

It’s actually something that’s pretty common in some Japanese media. There’s a great example of this in the Anime ‘Psycho Pass’, set in a futuristic society that’s kinda a mashup of Minority Report and Mega-City One, wherein a city-wide monitoring system called the ‘Sybil System’ constantly monitors people’s emotional and mental states. Should they exceed an accepted threshold that denotes how likely the person is to committing a crime even in advance of them committing any crimes, that person is pursued by law enforcement and either arrested or executed, so they don’t spread undue stress and emotional instability to people around them and cause more people to become ‘crime co-efficient’.

(interrupting here to add a *spoiler warning* for season one of Psycho-Pass, just in case anyone is planning on watching it at any point, which I would recommend actually; it’s a pretty good show.)

The main Villain of Season 1 is a psychopath that, due to his unique mental mind-set and view of people, doesn’t register as9)crime co-efficient when thinking about or committing crimes, rendering him effectively invisible to the system and incapable of being judged or sentenced under it, which is a problem since it’s illegal to hurt others unless authorised by the system. Despite this advantage, much like Shigaraki, the villain can tell how screwed up the world he lives in is, and seeks to awaken others from their blind dependence on the Sybil system, to think and act for themselves. In ep 14, he starts distributing helmets that shield the wearer from the Sybil System’s monitoring, allowing others to commit crimes to their heart’s content. This leads to a harrowing scene where a helmet-wearing stalker, in the middle of a busy, crowded street in public, walks up to his target and beats her to death with a hammer, in full view of everyone. No-one does a thing to stop him, their dependence and complacency making them think it’s some kind of performance art piece, incapable of thinking that it’s anything sinister or a problem for them to take action against. Even as the woman screams for help, they don’t lift a finger, and the Sybil monitoring robots actually start cornering the victim as she bleeds out, confronting her on how her emotional stability has exceeded the acceptable threshold, and she’s now crime co-efficient, even as she dies.

This isn’t the last time the Villain performs social experiments to demonstrate the inherent flaws of humanity in a society that lets a system control and define their actions. He lures the protagonist to an isolated room with a chasm in the middle, no way for them to cross to him, but no obstacles on his side to hide behind. Thanks to his invisibility, even as he speaks of killing more people, admits to his guilt, and tells the protagonist that he will keep hurting more people to prove his point, the Government-issued gun keyed to the Sybil system won’t fire on him. The villain has located and loaded an ordinary gun and left it on the protagonist’s side, challenging them to use it to shoot him dead. The system is incapable of judging him, so the only way for the protagonist to save lives is to take action without it, to act on their own initiative and do the right thing, even if it’s illegal in the eyes of society. The villain is fully willing to risk his own life if It means he can wake one person up for their society-wide bystander syndrome and make them act and think for themselves.

(END PSYCHO-PASS SPOILERS)

Honestly, I’d love it if, going forward, Shigaraki took similar steps to underline the inherent flaws in a hero-worshiping society, running social experiments that force heroes to avoid participating and ordinary civilians to make the heroic actions and save the day, just like the twin ferry scene from ‘The Dark Knight’, perhaps closely monitoring everything so he can publicize how they made the correct decisions if the government tries to condemn them for taking illegal actions to save themselves. It would be a great way of causing an indirect attack on ordered society. And freeing up people to use their quirks more freely would also tie into the MLA’s vision of society, so that could be a case for what’s left of the army to work with Tomura for now, rather than get steamrolled by Giganto again and their cause forgotten.

If that’s what ends up happening, then that could be the main cause for Deku and Shigaraki to clash time and again against each other, as Midoriya keeps interfering in these experiments and performing heroic deeds to save those in need. Because the one thing that’s always been consentient about Deku- powerless or not, legal or not, he will step in to save someone regardless of the reasons not to get involved. It’s a shame, really, that Tenko and Midoriya didn’t meet when they were kids- you know Deku would have helped him because he needed it, regardless of the potential danger.

---

first off, I just want to clarify that I do understand this scene, and I understand that the series has been clearly hinting at a scenario like this almost from the start. I can also understand and accept the logic behind it. it’s just that I dislike it. I understand the point it’s trying to make; I just disagree with it. I think it’s cynical and dystopian. I think the world is better than that, and I think people are better than that. I’m not gonna go into a whole rant, but there’s this psychological phenomenon called negativity bias that basically means that negative things tend to leave more of a psychological impact in general than positive things. put that together with the constant bombardment of negative shit in the media and online and basically everywhere, and over time that tends to lead toward people perceiving the world as being worse than it actually is. this is something that really bothers me about modern online culture, actually, because the overall effect it has on a lot of people (myself included) is to leave them feeling overwhelmed and depressed, and depression in turn drains your energy and makes it more difficult for people to actually do anything about the bad shit. which, I suspect, is intentional on the part of the institutions responsible for most of said media. let’s energize the far right, and dishearten and discourage the left.

but anyways, that’s getting off track and veering towards territory I don’t have the spoons to discuss further lol. okay, so back on topic. a lot of people pointed out that we don’t actually know whether anyone called the police or not, and it’s very possible that they did. this is a fair point. as for AFO subtly having a hand in influencing the passerby’s emotions as well, I’m all for that too. that was always my original theory. because it’s always been clear that, at least from Tomura’s perspective, this is exactly what went down -- something bad happened, and no one tried to help him. we’ve always known that was the case. I just hoped that it wouldn’t prove to actually be the case, and that we would learn that Tomura had misunderstood, or that AFO had intervened. I didn’t hope for this because I thought it had canon support and was logical; I hoped it because I, personally, disagree with the supposition that the average person, when faced with a situation in which a child is in trouble and needs help, would not help, regardless of the potential danger to them. my own personal belief, supported by my admittedly limited personal experience, is that they would.

lastly, I have seen Psycho-Pass (the first season, anyway; I need to check out season 2 one of these days) and enjoyed it a lot, actually. but it’s one of those things I enjoy simply as a what-if, kind of like The Hunger Games. it’s great entertainment if you’re in the mood for some dark and gritty stuff. but it’s a very 1984 type of worst-case scenario government-controls-your-thoughts type of story, and not something I personally would go “oh yeah, I could see this happening in real life” while watching it. it’s more of a fun cautionary tale warning people about the potential consequences of taking extremes too far, even in the name of the greater good. plus it has these really awesome guns that transform and look really cool and splatter the shit out of people. and Amano did the character designs, so if you liked the character designs in KHR it’s definitely worth a watch for that alone, just putting that out there.

anyway. I’ve completely run out of time, so I’ll just post this and I apologize for not wrapping up my argument neatly. or, you know, at all sob.

#bnha #bnha 237 #shigaraki tomura #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #makeste reads bnha #bnha meta #asks #thequietmanno1

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makeste · 5 years ago

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more essaying about AFO and whether or not he’s the final villain

so @thequietmanno1 , I finally have some time to sit down and answer your asks so let’s get to it lol. I’ll start with the most recent one.

Gonna put my hat in the ring with you and @addermoray about AFO. I agree that currently he intends to turn everything over to Tomura. That was a good point about his little private insight into what makes a good teacher and how it reflected on his intentions going forward with his student. It makes sense for a successful villain like AFO to have the kind of personality and quick judgement to know when to fold em, or change the game up if your current hand won’t get you a satisfactory result. He’s has literal generations to learn how to be an effective evil overlord, so he must be used to playing a mean game of Xanatos speed chess depending on the situation so he always walks away with an advantage.

Switching from raising Tomura to be his loyal tyke bomb to being his own independent villain and leader may explain why Tomura’s development seemed so incomplete in his first appearance. I know that he needed to experience defeat to begin maturing into someone more competent and capable of handling himself, but at the same time, his attitude during the USJ invasion seemed a little too immature for someone his age- like he wasn’t exactly on the same emotional maturity level his body and mind were at after AFO had finished giving him basic training to prepare him. I guess AFO losing his head and not being able to push Tomura’s development forward in a new direction means Tomura got stuck emotionally for a few years whilst his master semi-recovered, not helped by the fact that AFO’s previous grooming attempts were intentionally preventing him from dealing with the emotional scars of his familial massacre. So he kinda stagnated for a bit until All Might and Deku knocked him off his high horse.

(you know what, I’m gonna put the rest of this under a cut; it’s a very long post lol)

After AFO realised he’d basically permanently lost his dream to take over the world, I can totally see him reacting to that in a very thought-out and methodical - but still very immature - way, not unlike the tantrums his pupil used to pull. Destroying the whole board so it’ll end on his terms. I don’t know if he planned for Tomura’s vision of the future to be one where you can rebuild society however you want and the survivors will be free to act how they please, or if he wanted Tomura to turn Japan into a living hellhole for everyone until there’s nothing left for anyone to work with, both heroes and villains. It could be both, frankly; given his adaptability levels I mentioned earlier, he could be fine with either outcome, so long as the society All Might created is destroyed in the process. In any regard, it’s quite likely that he planned the whole situation under the assumption that he’s going to kick the bucket at some point before he got thrown into Tartarus. But if he learns about Eri’s rewind quirk, I think that’ll prompt another change in priorities for him- though obviously that won’t happen until he’s outside.

I’m not sure if Tomura will kill him himself, unless there’s a drastic change in priorities. Like addermoray said, even if he did give Tomura his quirk, he’d still be grateful for it after his recent liberation, so he won’t kill him for his family’s deaths and whilst AFO still has such a highly useful quirk to pass onto him. His dialogue very much stated that was the eventual plan, so AFO is probably safeish until then. Besides, in either scenario, Tomura feels indebted to AFO for being the only one who noticed him and ‘saved’ him from his abused and ignored lifestyle. Really, I think, if anything, AFO would probably set himself up to kill or be killed by Deku in a final confrontation to further motivate Tomura to become the new Symbol of Chaos and focus his efforts on destroying Deku’s fledgling Symbol. See, going forward, I very much see AFO getting out of prison, but then choosing to leave Tomura running the organisation he’s built up in his absence- which won’t require any management from AFO himself anyway- and focus all his effort on analysing and psychologically manipulating Deku from behind Tomura’s back whilst the latter is focused on his current campaign of societal collapse, like the Joker focusing on breaking Batman’s spirit.

See, the thing I think a lot of people miss about Deku is that he is by far the youngest inheritor of OFA so far. I mean it seems obvious given his age and inexperience with the power that is way beyond what his predecessors had to deal with, but in All Might’s flashback to what I presume is his first meeting with Nana and his own Origin story, it looked like teen Might was a few years older than Deku at the time, and that was before he had to be trained to handle the power. We know that at the very least, he had the quirk and was doing heroics against AFO by 18, but you’ve got to remember that AFO being on the scene and in his prime meant Yagi’s era was more chaotic and dangerous for everyone than Deku’s is, so it’s likely that Yagi was already more prepared for the combative lifestyle that Deku was, even with the fact that he inherited OFA a few years later than him and having had time to sort out his resolution with the power. As opposed to Deku, who basically wanted to be All Might and spent a lot of time getting that hammered out of his skull, and has had issues with sorting out what kind of hero he’s supposed to become through his own merits, given his vague terms of describing his ambition.

Whilst it’s not determined when everyone got the power, we know that the First Wielder was an adult when it first manifested, and given the ages of the other generations that we’ve seen, I think it was implied that they were all chosen after they’d proved themselves capable of using the power against AFO, meaning they all had various heroic and emotional experience before getting OFA. Actually, I’m not certain, but I think it’s implied that Yagi was the youngest chosen before Deku, which, given his quirklessness and youth, makes it more poetic that he was ultimately the one to take him down twice.

That said, Deku is clearly not as prepared for going up against someone like AFO as the other Wielders were, either physically or mentally. All Might ushering an era of peace means that Deku doesn’t have nearly the same level of experience the others did by his age, and his whole 100% power/7 quirks thing is further complications in him becoming a new symbol asap. One aspect of this was time- All Might’s wounds and weakening health were pressuring him to find a successor more than AFO, who already had a handy-dandy prepped tyke-bomb in Tomura available- the perks of planning ahead. So when All Might Found Deku, it was a snap decision, and one he feels justified in, but it also meant Deku was rushed through the basic requirements of being able to Hold OFA without being prepared to actually ‘use’ it. His first smash came whilst he was under fire in the middle of a high-level exam for Christ’s sake, and All Might getting his own teacher taken away from him when he was still in school means he’s never been taught by someone else on how to be a good teacher, or how to recognise when he’s being a bad teacher. Not to mention the whole natural genius thing.

Point is, I don’t think any of the other Wielders made their choices so soon after meeting them, and probably not before they’d given them some advanced preparations for passing the power on to someone who was ready and capable of using it for a good cause. Adding to that, AFO’s got an unexpected advantage over Deku compared to the others- he knows who he is and where to find him. I think it’s heavily implied that past the first wielder, the others had to raise their successors in secret once they’d outed themselves to AFO as the next wielders, so he couldn’t pre-emptively cut the chain of succession, since if AFO knew who the next person was, he’d have ended them before they got a handle on their new power. Being in a more chaotic age- and the implication that they were older and more independent than Deku- meant the successors were capable of avoiding AFO’s gaze when needed, so they made up for their lack of All Might strength with subterfuge and tactical thinking whilst the power grew. Heck, All Might himself had to leave Japan for America so he’d be capable of handling himself and his abilities to the fullest when he returned. Deku doesn’t have that advantage- he’s in a school, with close friends and family, all of whom AFO can use to force him to fight him if needed. But I see him taking his time with this. Deku’s an unknown variable to AFO- he didn’t know about him till the USJ attack was finished, and after that the ball was already rolling on his incarceration scheme, so he didn’t make any moves. But once he’s out, I forsee him using his new lease on life to learn all about the new OFA holder and what makes him tick, as well as subtly messing with him in indirect means.

Given his declining health, and based on the fact he doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to waste away in a medical bed, I totally believe there’s going to be a showdown between them at some point, with AFO banking on either killing Deku and ending OFA for good, or further motivating Shigaraki if he falls. Granted, Eri’s quirk may change his mind on this, but again, AFO’s adaptable- I can totally see him having thought that outcome up after learning about Deku, and considering it a good way to go out. Regarding that Showdown, whether in his prime or at the end of his currant lifespan, I totally believe that’s when AFO would bring up any revelations about Tomura’s fall from grace. Like Addermoray said, it wouldn’t affect Shigaraki anymore- but it would affect the previous wielders through Deku, specifically Nana. I can totally see AFO using that family drama and revelations against his deceased nemeses by emotionally compromising Nana, and through that, perhaps disrupting whatever “avatar state” setup Deku goes into when he converses with them before getting down to brass tacks with him whilst he can’t contact them for advice.

In any regard, AFO’s definitely gonna be focused solely on Deku when he gets out- he’s totally done with All Might, having done everything he could to undermine him as a heroic symbol of peace before he was taken out. And leaving him to rot, powerless to help in the rising chaotic times, would be sweet revenge for him, forcing All Might into a similar position he himself was in. Shigaraki will be running whatever Empire he’s building just fine without AFO, and even if he intends to replace him eventually, AFO will probably consider Deku the more pressing engagement now that he’s got some room to think and work on his own terms. Running an evil empire is probably very taxing work, and very time consuming, which is probably why he didn’t take the OFA wielders as seriously as he should have until All Might’s time. So now he’ll be free to relax and get to know Deku before he attempts to utterly break him. Whichever way that turns out, I do think there will be some genuine Villain respect on his behalf towards Deku- there’s a lot of points those two have in common, so I think he’ll see a little of himself and his brother in this newest successor.

---

okay, a lot of different points here, so I’ll try to break them down and address them one by one. these aren’t necessarily in order either:

(1) good points about AFO probably shifting gears on Tomura after receiving his injury. clearly that would have thrown a wrench into his plans, regardless of what said plans actually were.

(2) about Deku being the youngest inheritor of OFA “by far” -- I have doubts that this is the case. young Toshinori was wearing a middle school uniform in the anime flashback when he spoke with Nana about wanting to become society’s pillar, so that would put him at the same age Deku was in chapter one, if not younger. moreover, you have to consider that young All Might was very much in the same boat Deku was as far as wanting to attend U.A. despite being quirkless. so it’s very likely that Nana pulled something similar to what he himself later did with Deku. otherwise it’s hard to envision how he could have passed the U.A. entrance exam. so I’d say chances are good All Might was the same age as Deku was when he inherited OFA, if not younger.

(3) I think Deku is actually more prepared than the other wielders in some ways, even as he lags behind in others. consider, first of all, the fact that he managed to pull off something none of the other wielders even knew about, much less came close to achieving, with the SIXQUIRKS. so there’s that. and then the other advantage that I think he has over the past wielders is that the other OFA users appear to have been loners, by and large. most likely for the reasons you laid out -- they had to lie low so as to prevent AFO -- who at the time was at his full power -- from taking them out, along with their loved ones. by contrast, Deku is exposed, so in that regard he’s much more vulnerable. but he also has a great advantage that none of the other wielders so far have had -- he’s not alone. it’s not just the bad guy who knows his secret. his teacher knows. his rival knows. he’s not fighting this battle alone. and that’s going to be critical moving forward. AFO may find it more difficult to break him than he anticipates. and frankly, his emotional naivete may prove to be as much of an advantage as it is a weakness, if not more so. he has resilience and optimism and those are critical strengths.

(4) I think we have different ideas as far as Horikoshi’s endgame plans for the series. the main thing I keep coming back to is Horikoshi’s pacing. this is a remarkably fast-paced story as far as the shounen genre typically goes. the one time he intentionally dragged an arc out, (a) he got bored his own damn self, and (b) despite his best efforts he couldn’t make it longer than 40 chapters. compare that to your average arc in Naruto or One Piece. compare that to fucking Dressrosa arc, or the damn Soul Society arc in Bleach. my point is, Horikoshi knows how to be concise. and a key thing is that he’s said in interviews that he doesn’t intend for the story to drag out forever. he’s a perfectionist, and he knows he doesn’t have infinite energy or infinite ideas, and I think he’d like to end things while he’s still on top. he also knows how he wants to end the story, and he’s mindful of making sure he’s constantly driving the plot forward. in this interview, he mentions he originally wanted the story to end around volume 30 (we’re currently in what will become volume 25), but he’s acknowledged he’s still got a lot of stuff he needs to set up, so the original target is clearly way off. but still, I think it’s a safe bet this series won’t be dragged out as long as others.

so that being said, when we consider future developments in the story, I think we need to take into account how much time there is left in the story. there isn’t time for characters to be slow and crafty in their schemes. we’re at a point where just about all the pieces needed for endgame have to be in place already, or at least established. we can’t expect new plot twists to keep being introduced. so while I like the idea of AFO playing the long game when it comes to Deku, I’m not sure how likely that actually is to happen. proper mind fuckery takes some time to pull off. I think it’s more likely we’ll see an accelerated version of that, if anything, with their relationship being crafted in the span of just one or two arcs rather than it being a more drawn out thing.

(5) so basically, here’s a quick rundown of where I personally see the story going

Tomura completes his Rise to Power and starts to make good on his vow to end the world

the pros and police struggle and take heavy losses in several high-profile incidents, resulting in further instability to a society already beginning to show its cracks. things begin to look kind of bleak

Deku -- now under intense pressure to unlock the rest of his new powers as quickly as possible -- is of course somehow intricately tied to every single one of these incidents, and continues to grow stronger while somehow escaping through the skin of his teeth

rinse and repeat as things build to a head

AFO breaks out of prison and joins the League in an attack on U.A.

he steals Eri’s quirk and is restored to power. meanwhile, Tomura kills All Might, but also learns of AFO’s manipulations in the process. he has conflicted feelings about this

Deku meets the Obi-Wanned All Might in the Avatar State, and unlocks the rest of his powers, preparing for the final showdown

there is a final showdown. it’s fucking epic. in the end Tomura delivers the killing blow to AFO in a move that surprises him as much as anyone

that’s the cliff notes version, more or less. pretty straightforward, but I think the purpose of a story shouldn’t be to surprise and shock so much as it should be to move and excite and thrill the audience, and reward them for their investment in the story and the characters. and this is a classic hero’s journey outline, and it’s a classic for a reason.

anyway, to bring this all back around on track and conclude things, the story could probably work both ways -- with either Tomura as the final villain, or AFO. but based on the pieces we have so far, I think AFO being the final villain is the more logical and satisfying story. and I just really like the thought of him being done in by all these pawns he overlooked and underestimated. Deku, who barely seems to be an afterthought in his planning thus far; and Tomura, whom he’s manipulated to be this devastating agent of chaos and destruction, but whom he arrogantly continues to think of as being his. if he dies in prison, and Tomura does become the final villain, and is only redeemed at the end of the story, when he either dies or goes into exile or whatever -- that’s not satisfying. it disregards all of the worldbuilding being done to explore the mythology of OFA and AFO. it leaves us frustrated as we’re forced to side against a villain we now empathize with. it’s too fucking dark. so for now I’ll continue to root for AFO being the final villain. because it’s something I want, just as much as it is something I think things are leaning toward.

#bnha #boku no hero academia #all for one #shigaraki tomura #midoriya izuku #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #makeste reads bnha #bnha meta #asks #thequietmanno1

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