Throughtout The Time Reigen Knew Mob, He Bought Books So He Could Better Understand Him And Be Prepared

Friends, once again :’)

there is a lot of talk (rightfully so) about ???% and how mob has been invalidating and repressing him pretty much his whole life, and how ???% feels about that - i really recommend this excellent post by user luciferstit (I'm not able to @ them for some reason), which really hits the nail on the head imo. no matter how much mob wishes they'd disappear, his powers have saved him countless times, and to reject that idea is to live in denial.

but somehow it never occurred to me until this episode how much the reverse is also true. it's not like the show was trying to be subtle about it, but for some reason i never properly thought about it. ???% wishes mob would disappear because he feels that he's only been holding both of them back, but... mob is the reason they have friends and other people in their life. mob is the one who's been reaching out, over and over, and forging connections. the anime really drove the point home by having this shot of mob extending his hand to ???%.

how many times have we seen mob reach out to people just like this? i've lost count at this point. the side of shigeo that believes in other people's ability to improve themselves and change, the side of him that forgives those who have done wrong in the past and gives them an opportunity to grow, the side of him that shapes others and is shaped in return... that's all mob.

???% says (in the manga) that he doesn't trust anyone and that he doesn't care if no one will come near them, and maybe that'd be true at first, but. people need other people. that's one of the key messages in the show. without mob, living life the way ???% wants to, they'd be completely alone.

???% may (rightly) feel like mob has been invalidating him, but repressing mob in return and making him disappear isn't the answer either. it's like reigen said, everyone has multiple sides to them, but it's because of each of those sides that we are who we are. we just have to accept them.

???% has saved both himself and mob, multiple times, so they survive. but mob has given them connections with other people, so they can live. both are equally important.

seeing @gittetj’s post (sorry, hope you dont mind the ping! also everyone should check it out) is really making me think about ritsu and shous relationship again. how shous taken on the gargantuan responsibility to put his own dad in jail. how hes run away from home, taken his own lackeys, stored psychic power into a fuck-off bomb for two months, sent hot spring tickets to ritsus parents so ritsu can go and help shou beat up touichirou without worrying them. he puts a lot of effort into all the little details of his plans to improve on it - you know, setting fire to ritsus home so mob could become motivated to fight, stuff like that.

but, hes not that great at it! the biggest oversight ofc is that he didnt anticipate his dad doing what he did, but for twenty years. hell, shou had no idea what sort of esper power touichirou had and it kind of ended up being important. him trying to motivate mob into action knocked mob out for like. a day.

this omake is a pretty good example of what kind of guy shou is. hes good at thinking a few steps ahead, but ultimately gets help from ritsu to fill out the blind spots.

ritsu, who’s crazy good at being studious and polite and responsible, but has only done out of obligation. the kid who had his whole arc revolve around breaking down from the burden of being the perfect student, the perfect child, the perfect brother. ritsu, who only went along with shous hot springs plan because he figured whatever was happening this was the safest way they would be out of harm’s way, then gradually gained admiration Shou Suzuki, Warrior of Justice, who proudly wore responsibility like a badge.

ritsu makes it very clear that he wants to see what someone else in his position could do against something that is seemingly insurmountable (and again, his first response to shous questions is his sense of responsibility). its only a bit later duing ritsus fight with shimazaki that ritsu finds a proper answer - that he will try with all his might to live happily, and that will be his responsibility to himself. between shou, who’s lost the burden of the responsibility he carried, and ritsu, who finally finds a goal he can wholeheartedly strive to achieve, i can tell you that these two could develop a deeper relationship post-claw arc.

valleys of the young

hey ! any tips on how to draw ritsus emo ass hair? u dont have to tho

here are my tips n tricks + general assumed structure

i dont draw his hair consistently but tbh you dont have to. just give him bangs and spikes that sprout from the whorl and ur good

i’m upset that part of the Shigeo/Mob conversation that was cut in the anime was Shigeo holding Mob’s face almost lovingly, with Mob being the one to eventually push the hands away. i just feel like that would’ve added a shit-ton of subtext to the confession arc that the anime didn’t really provide.

repost of this lovely boy

Looks like someone needs to call in "???" to school

This is my favorite omake/4panel strip:

a) It canonically confirms Mob did not know Reigen was a fraud from the very beginning, but found out some other time (since here he thinks the smoke rings are a power)

b) Reigen as usual being a good dad person by deciding to quit something because he doesn’t want a kid around smoke (and then finding out a financial reason why this is a good idea)

c) Cute 11yo Mob thinking smoke rings are psychic power and being awed