thinking about imu as the antithesis of luffy and what he wants to be. imu might be the most powerful person in the world, and yet they must have very little freedom. they could control most of the world, but only from the shadows. their very power is dependent on the world thinking they—the sole ruler of the entire world—don't exist. and to keep something so big a secret must come with a lot of restrictions on what they can and can't do. what imu has is exactly what luffy doesn't want: power at the cost of freedom.
my theory on what it could be…
i think that Higuchi’s ability will be called “Takekurabe” (Growing Up/Child’s Play) after her most famous work, and i believe it might have something to do with reincarnation. here’s why…
in this official art she is featured with red spider lilies, which are symbolic of death, but are also thought of as a bridge between heaven & earth…a reminder of the “cyclical nature of life & death”
Takekurabe also explores themes such as how life is fleeting. & also abt being forced into a role that you didn’t want, or wouldn’t have chosen for yourself
(plus potential foreshadowing: in this official art, Higuchi is surrounded by pinwheels— which symbolize childhood, but also the cycle of life, & the buddhist teaching of reincarnation)
back to reincarnation…
after being told that Akutagawa may never wake up, she reached out to him & a glow appeared around her hand— like she was activating an ability— before pulling away bc she remembered that he didn’t want her (or anyone’s) help
but this means that she’s able to give help in this sort of situation
additionally, the fact that she almost always appears in official arts w Akutagawa indicates that she will probably use her ability on him at some point, which makes sense considering his terminal condition
(note the pulse in the background, his bright eyes, & her white suit)
because we have yet to see her use her ability, i’m assuming that she can only use it once, so she’d be giving up her life for Akutagawa’s (a life for a life— his reincarnation)
this would imitate irl Higuchi’s unfortunately short life— with her having died at only 25 years old. it also makes sense to give her such a powerful ability since irl Higuchi is such an important figure in japanese history— japan’s first professional woman writer of modern literature
i wonder if Higuchi’s sister has anything to do with her ability (in bsd she’s unnamed, but her irl sister’s name was Kuniko so that’s what we’ll call her)
according to Higuchi’s bungo episode, despite her literary genius, irl Higuchi was practically useless without her sister
Kuniko was the one who made what Higuchi did possible & kept things functional behind the scenes
so i think it’d be super interesting (& a cool irl reference) if Kuniko was involved in some way with Higuchi’s ability (i also just want to see more of her bc this sister duo is so cute :’))
bonus: when i watched this anime adaptation of Takekurabe, this was the ending scene & i wonder if it was harukawa’s inspiration for this official art 🥹
white lilies represent purity, & since they were off by the side of the road, they might have represented the character’s fleeting purity. white lilies are also used at funerals to represent a soul’s return to purity & its journey to the afterlife… which circles back to the reincarnation theme 👀
uhh, dazai loses his ability for a day so he can pet the big cat <3
The “That’s immoral you shouldn’t write that, we need to get that taken down” discourse on tiktok right now is PISSING ME OFFF
Wdym you want censorship for a literal ARCHIVE are you fucking stupid
Ao3 was literally founded to preserve works that were largely getting taken down due to censorship
Censorship is the opposite of what Archive of Our Own stands for
The TAGS and WARNINGS are there for a REASON. Use them and stop complaining
The universal rule—don’t like, don’t read
It’s THAT simple
Francis final protocol better be taking Lovecraft out of the fucking ocean and send him and Steinbeck to this damn airport because I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE
atsushi seeing dazai and dazai telling him "i don't know anything, you do" is very important because this is just a clarification of what we already knew: atsushi is intelligent and capable. he holds the answers within himself. at the end of the day, he will be the one to save everyone, and it will be because he was always capable of doing so. even when he himself didn't believe it
Wonder who he got it from
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