#ch 398

no, this still says ikitai (生きたい), ‘i want to live.’

so it should be no news that i think the ending is bullshit. i think it's cheap as fuck that the solution to the resolution of fate is that lloyd came back in a different body and therefore the world had no problem with him coming back despite being previously hellbent on not allowing him to remain in it because of his status as a protagonist. like. i think that makes little to no sense and i think it's stupid. what do you mean fate is faceblind. that's the same fucking guy it's been trying to kill for almost five years now just because he now looks korean doesn't change that he's the one that disrupted the flow of the plot so hard he turned into an unauthorized main character. i think it's cheap and stupid and not that good of an explanation.

HOWEVER

i was just thinking about how it kinda sucked that the way the ending is structured means that javier was never really freed from the narrative. like yes his tragic fate changed and he's no longer beholden to the original plot of tkobai but he's still very much the protagonist. lloyd dying didn't free him from that role, it just meant that javier was now the only main character in the world and so fate was no longer gunning for him or his loved ones. but then i went and reread the way the jewel of truth described what would happen once one of them died and let the other as the sole protagonist.

[Once one of you disappears, the world will finally choose the remaining person as the rightful protagonist and perceive there to be no more error to fix. That is only when the incomplete reset plan to carry put the restoration of destiny will come to a halt and the story will develop around the existing hero.] -Ch 328: You or Me (3)

that last bit. the story will develop around the existing hero. once one of them disappeared fate would give up with the original story and just make a new one around the one protagonist that remained. which by the end of tged is javier.

javier. javier whose main priority at some point shifted towards keeping lloyd safe. whose main goal became keeping lloyd alive at almost any cost. this javier:

There was no more sign of life from the mischievous smile on the face of his lord. The young master he had sworn to serve breathed his last as his head dropped. He had died. "... No way." This wasn't supposed to happen. Javier was in disbelief. He refused to believe what he saw. This was not the ending he had desired. -Ch 398: Last Resort (3)

I never, ever thought once about life without Master Lloyd, not even right now. -Ch 400: Farewell (2)

this javier is the one the story is meant to develop around now that he's the only protagonist in the world. this javier is the one the plot is meant to be built around.

do you understand where i'm getting at

i think that it was javier's status as protagonist that allowed lloyd to come back without getting backlash from fate anymore. i think javier's resolve to keep lloyd safe, to have a life at his side, was what allowed destiny to accept lloyd back into a world that had rejected him before. i think that when the story tried to develop around javier "i never thought of a life without lloyd" asrahan it couldn't do it in a way that didn't include lloyd in it and so lloyd was allowed to come back without fate retaliating against him.

javier was the one that accidentally brought lloyd into his world, he was the one that purposefully brought him back to it and he was the one that unconsciously allowed him to remain in it. he's literally the reason that lloyd is there at all in any capacity.

do you get what i'm saying. i feel like i'm going crazy.

I dont even know where to begin but WOW. wowowowoWOW

NANA FLASHBACKS , a mild repeat of Toshinori n Izuku's first meet (he even lands beside the rooftop where his secret first slipped out to Izuku), and finally one of my personal headcanons confirmed. Also does this mean Nana met Toshi after giving away Kotaru?

Also the whole "I'm quirkless, a nobody without a purpose. Please let me have a reason to exist" [paraphrasing] just parallels so hard. He was here before and rose, now he remembers where he came from and that he can rise up again.

This time with the support he's finally accepted from others that he cares about. This is why he's going to live.

All Might has had his time. Now Toshinori deserves the chance to live.

AND HE KNOWS IT.

this isn't artistic symbolism. His eyes are changing. The irises are rounded instead of tall ovals.. There's light again, there's hope again. there's eyebrows again holy crap were they always there lul His eyes darkened after That Fateful Fight and Nighteye's prediction. And now? They're no longer cast in shadow (even the one behind the helmet is lightening) because he's looking up and to the future, the fate he and his kid twisted together.

he's pushing himself pretty dangerously hard here, AfO levels even--but he's not sesnselessly throwing himself away. he (mostly) knows what he's doing and he WILL survive (whether he survives intact is another story eheheheh...)

First of all. Javier??? 🥺

It hurt.

Javier inadvertently chuckled at the phrase that praised selfless behaviors.

What an outrageous bullcrap.

He could only laugh bitterly, after actually having moved his body to protect someone else and shed blood in his place.

It just hurts. A lot.

Suddenly reminded very strongly that this is a young man in his mid to late 20's who likes fizzy drinks and to tease his friends. Screw Sir Javier, the Knight of Blood and Iron - this is Javier Asrahan, a boy from Frontera County.

And after all that awful contemplation on how pain is just pain, there's nothing noble in it, we get such a beautiful and cool fight scene. He's fighting while completely bleeding out, just desperate to give time for "that fraudster" to run away. "Please." He begs internally, again and again, until he's literally just moving on instinct.

And then Lloyd the sonofabitch gets himself donut-holed right in front of him saying it's "all part of the plan" so "stop crying"???? Motherfu-

Lloyd terrible plan-sharing skills aside, the fact he can smilingly meet his death this time, when in the previous chapter he was nearly having a panic attack? He can put on a brave face for his friend huh.... ? (´°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀)

And then he dies

This wasn't supposed to happen. Javier was in disbelief. He refused to believe what he saw. This was not the ending he had desired. He desperately cried out.

Before the chapter even starts and I’M SO HYPED! Let’s go!

Yamato-fruit revealed! A makami is apparently a deification of an extinct Japanese wolf, also known as oguchimagami. From.. the Yamato province (now: Nara Prefecture). Makami were known to punish the wicked and protect the good — a fitting fruit for Yamato, in other words.

Nice yin-yang symbolism in the breath nexus.

And then, the highlight of the day! Which will continue BECAUSE THIS IS NOT ALL, FOLKS!

Black Maria seems to have some useful powers, creating illusions like that.

Sad for her that her opponents have accepted their losses ages ago and the illusions are therefore useless, but Robin’s tears above and the panel below still broke my heart:

And the character growth!

At Water 7, this was exactly what happened — Robin truly believed herself to be a burden and that the crew would be better off without her. But now she has accepted her new family and that’s why the illusions don’t work and Black Maria’s taunting is ineffective. Robin knows that her crew would do anything for her and that they just don’t stop, even in the face of the world government, to get her back.

Because she’s seen this. And after that, nothing will sway her trust in her crew.

And of course Sanji’s character growth, actually mirrored in the same arc (can’t ask for help when fighting a woman) but that’s for another time.

And Brook. You are a skeleton. You really shouldn’t.

And Giant Robin vs. Black Maria? Can’t wait!

Finally, a teaser for what’s to come:

So proud of him, so proud of his journey!