What If The Muscle Bros Only Look And Sound Like Grown Men Because That's How Shigeo Sees Them? As So

Sketchy manga redraw, I'll probably color it when I have more free time ^^

Original panels here !!

Riza misquotes Shakespeare at one point in the manga and it got me thinking about what kind of plays they’d like

I think it’s worth pointing out that after Riza, Ed and Scar manage to talk Roy down from his rampage, his eyes look exactly the same as they do in the Ishval chapters. Even after he’s decided NOT to kill Envy, even after he’s backed away from the line between monster and human, he has the eyes of a killer. It’s not until he’s realized how far he almost went that Arakawa draws his eyes like this, btw. Here and in volume 15 there is a sorrow and a weariness in his eyes that only comes with the guilt and self-disgust that he feels when he realizes he almost crossed that line between human and monster.

Plus, he looks like this for the rest of the scene. Realizing he almost let himself become “a beast hiding in the skin of a person” (in Scar’s words) affected him more deeply and lingered with him a little longer than I originally thought.

Enami on pixiv

Spoilers for REIGEN spinoff.

reigen: i want to be famous and powerful and respected but not for who i am as a person, only so my talents are recognized and make people happy along the way. but i dont actually believe in my own talents even if they prove successful and i have zero self esteem because ive literally just been winging it my whole life to the point where i dont know who the real me is anymore and all thats left is the persona ive accidentally let take my place. and im so scared that all of this could come crumbling down at any moment so i just have to keep pretending like i know what im doing

dimple, immortal fart ghost who might as well not exist, who tried so hard to build a network of positive human connections so he wouldnt be lonely anymore but failed because the only way he knows how to do anything is through spooky ghost possession, looking at this super loud n charismatic dude winning at life by doing nothing: i fucking hate you

my predictions for mob’s haircut, if he gets one

ritsu and shou take everything they do seriously to a comedic extent they wouldn’t just write a grocery list they would map out where every product is in the grocery store and optimize the route so their grocery trips can be as efficient as possible

i love how reigen specifically picks on mob for being gullible and for letting himself be used by others – which is a BOLD MOVE for someone who is lying to and using him, but it’s such a realistic character trait that reveals so much of his inner turmoil. he resents how easy it’s been to use mob, he wishes mob would make things easier for his OWN conscience by calling him out on it, and of course he’s full of self-disgust over how he’s been taking advantage of mob’s good nature. he could alleviate the guilt by being honest, but he thinks that their relationship will end the moment he does, so he’d rather force mob’s hand than have to confess himself. and part of mob’s reluctance to accept the obvious truth – that reigen has been lying to him – has to be some shame over realizing that he bought the lie, hook line and sinker, for years! so hearing reigen constantly belittle him for being gullible? ouch! reigen is inadvertently pushing mob deeper into repression.

#tomeweek2023 Day 4: Telepathy

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And this right here is why we stan Reigen. He’s the best Master. And this is character development.

Best Master, not a failure:

No one thought Reigen should go up the tower. He has no powers and -after ep07- he knows that Mob knows, so there’s no excuse to expect that. Not only that, but for once Mob went out of his way to tell everyone to stay out of it, that they’d be in the way.

It wasn’t Reigen’s fight, or his fault for not going.

But he doesn’t see it that way.

He doesn’t treat Mob like an overpowered gun at his disposal, he treats him like the child he is, and sees it as a failure when he forgets to treat Mob as such. 

(He let Mob take the decision of what to do instead helping him through a plan as the adult he is, and now Mob is on the ground with his face all swollen and boy does Reigen regret it.)

He’s the best because when he realized his mistake, he didn’t hesitate to rush to the top to save him even though it’s obvious anything that beats Mob is likely not going to lose to some punches and an esper gun, but he has to try.

And he tried while making sure it’s clear to Mob that whatever happens next -his possible death- and whatever happened until now -Mob losing- is not Mob’s fault at all but his own. 

It was Mob who insisted everyone stay behind, but Reigen rewrites it like he was the one that allowed it to happen. He even goes as far as to praise Mob for what he’s done up to now, despite, again, anyone looking at the scene thinking Mob failed, and then tries to reassure him by promising they’d go eat like normal later.

And of course, the whole dialogue fight between Mob and Serizawa was a conflict of Masters, and Mob winning the way he did was proof of Reigen’s success as a Master (and a comparison to Toichiro’s shit exploitation of people)

(But Reigen doesn’t know about that and likely never will)

Character Development: 

Reigen said he made a mistake and called himself a bad Master. 

While that’s not a good development for his issues of self worth, it shows development in his willingness to be more forthcoming and sincere with Mob. 

He could have tried to make up an excuse where Mob isn’t at fault for the current state of affairs but neither is he. Instead he chose to admit his belief that’s he’s failed as a Master (even though his worst fear is Mob not needing him anymore, and between him knowing Reigen has no powers, and reigen failing to protect him, the chances of him leaving Reigen are higher, in Reigen’s mind)