ritsu: dude sorry for traumadumping on you all of a sudden
shou: no no go on i think im figuring something about how I feel about my dad
Secret Agent AU
(aka when I watched that first Mob Psycho PV back in 2016 and thought Reigen was an FBI agent investigating supernatural crimes)
telepath microaggressions
the implications of tiny kid mob seeing spirits and not understanding how Horrifying it would be to a normal person is so freaking funny I just picture like
shigeo, nine years old: look!! i drew you this!!
reigen: aw that’s nice let me see
the drawing: crayon kid-penmanship of reigen sitting at his desk with a massive Eldritch Horror of a spirit looming over his shoulder
reigen, white-knuckling it: oh! ……. how nice! Is that behind me, then?
shigeo, nodding: yeah!! it likes you!
reigen: o h ! that’s great mob!
reigen internally: h oohohhlly sh i t
aroace reigen stans rise up!!
[ID: A digital comic of Reigen Arataka from Mob Psycho 100.
The first panel is Reigen leaning back in his desk chair with a self-satisfied smile. He says "Eh, you want advice on how to ask a girl out, Mob? Of course, I know aaall about that."
Behind him we see the inner Reigen who is clasping a hand over his mouth, looking anxious and sweating profusely. He is clutching the ace and aro flags in his left hand and thinking "Shit what do I tell him, I have no clue..."
Next panel is Reigen turning around looking desperate and thinking "well surely Serizawa-"
His thought is then interrupted by the next panel which shows Serizawa smiling brightly and saying "I've never liked a girl in my life!" surrounded by sparkles. Behind him Reigen can only watch in faint horror, thinking "WE'RE FUCKED." end ID.]
A little old but still funny
spiritual successor to this post
I have a hc that mob eventually picks up on some reigen mannerisms... hes not sure how to feel about this development
i got into mp100 recently aaand
yeahhh
(re*mobs shooo)
Im feeling so normal abt reigen being a father figure to teru
MP100 be reiterating the importance of positive adult influence in child development.
ritsu is so funny to me. he says shit like "I'm a completely normal middle schooler, I'm the utmost case of plain and simple" which is clearly something normal people say. he keeps a spoon in his pencil cup. and in his pocket. he got up in the middle of the night and did weird poses around the sink to try to make water float. he's a rude and judgy bitch but only in his head. when asked if he has friends, he responded with "I talk about the weather with pretty much anyone, so don't worry about me." he canonically doesn't listen to music. his brother thinks of him as his calm and collected little brother who always knows what to do, when in reality he's the most neurotic kid on the planet. he saw teru wearing a giant wig and thought "wow his brain must be so big." when he and shou first met, they beat the shit out of each other until he was knocked unconscious, and then when they met the second time, it was when shou came to his house unannounced and was like "hey do you want to help me kill my dad" and ritsu was like "okay. btw I think we have similar family trauma." he tried to zap a bug with psychic powers and then screamed for his brother's help when he couldn't get it. he used to cry as a child about spoons. his first instinct when seeing a spirit for the first time was to slam it repeatedly into his knee. he is the thirteen year old of all time.
They couldn’t get along for five minutes
my inner monologue is just always thinking about ritsu way too hard
mogami tv show box set is $40. mogami variety show appearances free on youtube
That one Series of Unfortunate Events quote
Revised key frames by animation director Yoshimichi Kameda.
Idea: Takenaka is using his powers in this scene. He notices Reigen staring at him, and decides to listen to Reigen’s thoughts to see what’s up. But what Takenaka realizes in that process is that the man is also reading him like an open book – this telepath can hear Reigen breaking down every miniscule aspect of his current presentation, and the conclusions he’s drawing are so uncannily accurate that he might as well be a telepath himself. Being read like this is a new experience for Takenaka since he’s always been on the other side up to now, and this is honestly really unnerving for him.
ABoT does DnD. It’s like Actor AU except they’re a group of frustrated nerds arguing about stupid details at 1 am on a Friday night in Mogami’s basement
Ft. these scenarios probably break all the DnD rules but we’re having fun
We had an interaction assignment, and GUESS WHAT I DID!!!
Happy birthday my love, my man ;;; w ;;;
Full-color animation character designers of Shigeo “Mob” Kageyama and Arataka Reigen, featured in Spoon.2Di Vol. 21 (Amazon US | eBay), illustrated by character designer Yoshimichi Kameda (亀田祥倫).
Glad Ritsu is still the page image for Spoon Bending on TV Tropes. Feel like he'd take pride in that
After watching Cinderella (the original animated movie, which was my favorite as a child), it strikes me how it solves many common problems people have with this fairy tale. Like:
Why did they try to identify the mystery girl using her shoe size? Because the bullheaded king's only clue to her identity was the shoe the Grand Duke picked up off the steps.
Why didn't the prince recognize her by her face? Because his father wouldn't involve him in the process at all, and wasn't the one going around trying to find her.
Why did the prince want to marry a lady he only met that night? Because his father was going to force him to marry someone, and he genuinely liked this woman.
Why did Cinderella want to marry a man she only met that night? Because marriage was her best and most secure way to freedom. Fucked up, but you can't say it's unrealistic for the setting of a fairy tale. She also genuinely liked him.
If they're using the slipper to find her, wouldn't it be more sensible to search for the person with the other slipper? Yes. The King is purposefully nonsensical and the Duke is purposefully terrified enough of him to carry out his orders to the letter. Furthermore, they end up doing that in the end anyway, because the Duke's glass slipper is shattered, and Cinderella brings out the one she has to prove her identity.
Why didn't the stepmother and stepsisters recognize Cinderella at the ball? Because they were dancing too far away, and then left the party to dance in private, which was possible because the King wanted very badly for his son to hit it off with someone and tried to arrange the best conditions for that to happen.
Why didn't Cinderella save herself? Because in real life, abuse victims should not have to shoulder that responsibility, and usually can't. In real life, you need and deserve an external support system. Asking for help, in this kind of situation, is very important. She is saved by others because she is loved. Because she is not alone. Because she has friends who love her, and want her to be happy and safe and free. Because in real life, people who want to help someone who is suffering are like the mice. We can't pull out miracle solutions, but we can provide companionship and if we're in the right place at the right time, we can help the person find a better life.
Why didn't the fairy godmother save Cinderella from her abusive household, or try to help her sooner? Because she's magic, and magic can't solve your problems. Quote: "Like all dreams, well, I'm afraid it can't last forever." This (and Cinderella's dream of going to the ball) is a metaphor for pleasurable things in bad circumstances. An ice cream won't get rid of your depression, but it will provide you with momentary happiness to bolster you, as well as the reminder that happiness in general is still possible for you. Cinderella doesn't want to go to the ball so she can get away from her stepmother and stepsisters, or so she can meet someone to marry and leave with. She wants to go to the ball to remind herself that she can still have things she wants. That her desires matter. This is important because the movie does a very good job of illustrating Lady Tremaine's subtle abuse tactics, all of which invisibly press the message that Cinderella doesn't matter. While going to the ball and fulfilling her dreams may not be a victory in the material sense, it is still a victory against Lady Tremaine's efforts.
Why is Cinderella's choice to be kind and obedient framed as a good thing, when you are not obligated to be kind to your abuser? This one walks a very fine line, but I think the movie still makes it make sense. Lady Tremaine never acknowledges her cruelty. She always frames her punishments of Cinderella as Cinderella's fault. Cinderella is interrupting, Cinderella is shirking her duties, Cinderella is playing vicious practical jokes. Cinderella is still a member of the family, of course she can go to the ball, provided she meet these impossible conditions. Lady Tremaine's tactics are designed to make Cinderella feel like she must always be in the wrong and her stepmother must always be in the right. If Cinderella calls her stepmother out on her cruelty, or attempts to fight back, Lady Tremaine can frame that as Cinderella being ungrateful, cruel, broken, evil, etc. If Cinderella responds to her stepmother's cruelty defiantly (in the way she's justified to), she's not taking control out of Lady Tremaine's hands. Disobedience can be spun back into her stepmother's control. She wants Cinderella to be angry and sad and show how much she's hurting. So since Cinderella is adapting to her situation, she chooses to be kind. Not only because she naturally wants to be and it's part of her personality, but because it is a form of defiance in its own way, and it allows her to keep a reminder of her agency and value. Her choice to be kind is her chance to keep her own narrative alive: she is not obeying because her stepmother wants her to and she has to do what her stepmother does, but because she wants to. It's a small distinction, but one that makes all the difference in terms of keeping her hope and identity. (Fuck, I wrote a whole paragraph about how this doesn't mean you can't be angry at people who hurt you or that you need to be kind to deserve help, and then deleted it by accident. Uh. Try again.) Expressing anger and pain is an important part of regaining autonomy and healing. Although it is commendable to be kind while you are suffering, it is NOT required for you to get help or be worthy of help. If Cinderella's recovery was explored beyond "happily ever after" she would need to let herself be angry and sad to heal. Cinderella is not only kind because it comes naturally to her, but because it's her defense against the abuse she's suffering. Everyone's story and experiences are different, and one does not invalidate the other.
Bonus round for answers that aren't part of the movie:
Why didn't Cinderella run away? Where would she go? Genuinely, in hundreds-of-years-ago France, where would she go if she snuck out of the window with a change of clothes? With her step-family, she's miserable and abused, but she's fed, clothed, and in no danger of dying or being taken advantage of by anyone other than her stepmother and stepsisters. Even if she escapes and manages to find financial security, her stepmother might be able to find her and get her back.
Why didn't Cinderella burn the house down with them inside it/slit their throats in the night/poison their food/etc.? Because that's a revenge fantasy, and this story is a fantasy about being saved. There's nothing wrong with making Cinderella into a revenge fantasy. That's perfectly fine, as long as you acknowledge that the other type of fantasy is also a valid interpretation. (I mean, the original fairy tale features the stepsisters getting their feet mutilated and all three of them getting their eyes pecked out, so go for it.)
Why isn't Cinderella more proactive in general? Because she's a child who has been abused for the back half of her life, who has had to be focused on survival because. you know. she's an abused kid.
How did she dance in glass slippers? Gotta agree with you there man, that's weird.
Same Age AUs are so fascinating to me, and of the ones I've seen I really like them. In particular if we have Reigen and Shigeo both as middle schoolers because instead of an older mentor figure Shigeo is ending up with another kid. He gets to have a friend his age who gets to drag him around to do stuff and it's nice, really nice to have a friend he can relate to. Meanwhile Reigen has soooo many ✨issues✨ but hey he's great at bullshitting and is getting Shige to open up some more, while on the flip side he's also getting a friend and can go out and do more now that he has someone to do stuff with. Plus they make great business partners so this is going amazingly :D
Another version I like is if this is the result of some time travel shenanigans, mostly because I like seeing a more stark contrast between kid Reigen and adult Reigen, especially through Shigeo's eyes because... this isn't his shishou, not exactly, because kid Reigen doesn't have the years of life experience that helps his words hold more meaning, even if kid Reigen is still a great talker and bullshitter. He can't say everything right that Shige needs to hear and its a bit off putting, especially if kid Reigen has different views on being "special" and whatnot (considering... "I want to be someone"). But there's still elements there that is just so Reigen in the way he talks and the way he moves that its like. Yeah, this is a kid, but it's the same person and everyone can see just how Reigen is, this is how he started. He's not Shigeo's shishou but he's still Reigen.