The Holy Knights Get More And More Interesting With Each Chapter! Honestly, I'm Loving Them As Antagonists!

"I didn't do much," said the guy who did half the work

Some nikolais because it was his birthday two days ago

Okay, so Chuuya needs reading glasses but he decided to switch to contacts sometime after SB and usually only uses his glasses at home. Which is fine and works out great.

Except Chuuya needed to wear the vampire contacts at Meursault. And he didn’t bring glasses with him out of habit. He can’t read anything.

The red contacts already made it hard to see in general but he can’t read anything while wearing them (the only consolation he had was that he also couldn’t see Fyodor’s smug face when he thought he controlled him). Then afterward he’s shoving his face close to his phone and squinting to try to see if he’s gotten any news about Yokohama while trying to also text anyone he can to speed up their extraction.

Dazai, trying to hack computers to contact Ango: You know you can make the print bigger so it’s easier to read, right?

Chuuya, also a total grandpa when it comes to phones: I can what?

Asagiri loves fake out deaths so much that both Yosano and Fyodor's abilities are, LITERALLY, fake out deaths.

Does Brook even know that the One Piece is a treasure? Like, he died before Roger even became a famous pirate, and the One Piece (and being the Pirate King) only became a thing after Roger's execution. For all Brook knows, One Piece could be the name of an island full of pirates, like Hachinosu, that Luffy is trying to find so he can become the king of this place, and therefore, the King of the Pirates, or something like that

So I just realized everyone's horny for Shanks' evil twin except me. I have never felt more like a lesbian than I do now

oh we're not ready... 💔

You know, for as much as bsd has spiraled, I don't think Fyodor's motivations have really changed all that much since we first met him.

He's always hated ability users. A fact which I think a lot of people tend to forget is that most regular people don't know that much about them, except that they were part of the war. They know they exist, but in contexts like the Port Mafia and vaguely aware of the Agency's existence. They're not people who are liked, they have to be watched by the government, and Fyodor's always hated them.

He wants to rid the world of ability users, because he believes they are a sin (despite him being one himself). We don't know why, and I don't want that Tragic Backstory™ because I'm happy hating him as he his now, but that's been the case ever since he tried to have the Agency and Mafia defeat each other. Ever since the movie where he was willing to team up and cause a Gifted Genocide via Gifted Suicide. Also, he's kinda right about Fukuchi's plan being flawed like...yeah, world domination has never worked out well in the past. So him wanting a war against all Gifteds and manipulating Fukuchi to do it actually makes tons of sense, considering what we know about him. He thinks that peace will come as soon as the Gifteds are done with.

Higuchi’s Unrevealed Ability

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

now for a less likely, but fun theory…

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 👀

Concept:

The dynamic of Ranpo and Yosano as kids is really interesting to me.

You have Ranpo who thought he had an ability and it saved him. He flaunts it to the public and takes great pride in displaying it.

He’s smarter than anyone else and he made that a strength of his instead of something to fear.

And then you have Yosano who has an ability and it hurt her. Her ability was abused and she was locked away when she tried to run.

She knows she can do so much good and that terrifies her.

I personally don’t think that Ranpo understood the weight of having an ability until they met.

Yes he was kidnapped for it and I’m sure Fukuzwa told him tales and the importance of this gifted business permit.

But I like to think meeting Yosano reminded Ranpo that he’s not untouchable.

That even now he’s still human.

I like to think they saw pieces of themselves in each other. Parts of them that they had long since lost.

Ranpo saw in Yosano the fear of one in a world full of monsters. Yosano saw in Ranpo her earlier confidence, when her ability was a point of pride.

That Ranpo tries to return to her with that butterfly pin he found in the wreckage.

Because you are human.

Because you are extradionary not because of your gift but because you are kind.

You wanted to help them.

And now I’m going to help you.