#he killed other HumaGear ForceRisered Jin…

[firebirdsdaughter]

01 made sure that I don't care one bit about characters that don't give a single f*ck about a traumatized victim of decade long abused. Horobi had nobody caring about him all this time, his own son offered him on a silver platter to the Ark, Aruto thinks yelling at him to snap out of the hacking will do. And then Aruto is sad over his pet AI being stupid and suddenly everyone is up in arms and ready to jump in and help him cheer up again. Give me a break.

… I will forever keep pre-ep 42 Fuwa safely in my heart. That guy out there isn’t my Fuwa. My Fuwa is safe. -_-

It’s very… Questionable.

Like. If anyone had tried to do anything help Horobi earlier, we wouldn’t be in this situation. It’d be so much less messy and destructive. It’d’ve been actual work, but, like. It would have literally been easier.

I’ve said before that I feel like they switched the cores of Horobi and Gai’s stories, and I super still feel that. Esp given the loss of episodes, they really should have stuck w/ having the Ark as the final villain, maybe have her take over Gai forcibly, I dunno. Maybe have Gai cause the situation? I know the point they’re trying to go for is that ‘HumaGear/AI can do bad to!’ (maybe?), but we had that w/ the Ark. Like… They could absolutely still have done Horobi struggling w/ getting free, him still having resentment towards humans, but having humans reach out and help him, prove their goodness by taking the time to reach out to the biggest victim who has been the most consumed by the Ark’s influence. Like, Horobi did wrong things under the Ark’s control. He’s been completely under her control and influence for decades. Like I just ranted about, he’s been conditioned, he literally doesn’t know how to handle emotions, or even what morals are. But humans should know better, esp ones who allegedly work w/ AI. Them defying the Ark’s claims and doctrine by reaching out to him and helping him, despite everything, would have been a great moment.

Like… I do understand Aruto being super upset about what happened. Despite the issues I have w/ how it was presented, he and Izu were close. Of course he’d be mad. What bothers me is the attitude that he’s the only victim who is behaving irrationally bc of grief and pain. The way all the stops are getting pulled out to ‘save him.’ I’d feel a lot more sympathetic towards him if I felt like they were recognising Horobi’s mental state at the same time. Like I went to in my giant ramble, Horobi didn’t seek out Izu and gun for her, she sought him out when he was already volatile and in an extremely high intensity situation, which had already been escalated (by humans), and continued pressuring him until he snapped.

Aruto being upset about her death is one thing. Like… Okay. They were close. I do give that. It’s the attitude that only Aruto is the tragic one here. This should at the least be treated as a double tragedy.

That’s why Raiden going to Horobi, however I think he went about it in a not really great way, was really powerful, esp compared w/ a lot of… Other out of character behaviour we saw in the ep.

Like. Just imagine if we’d had Fuwa recognising that his aggressive behaviour played a part in this (while I do have to admit that, after Okada’s explanation and seeing a more direct translation, it feels more like a blunder Fuwa would make if confronted w/ that situation, the fact that he was the only one Horobi asked, making it clear Horobi wanted to hear his answer, bc Horobi doesn’t ask, last him he did, he got tortured, only to be told ‘I’m here to destroy you’… Fuwa may not have meant it that way, but Horobi was not in a state where he’d be able to understand the nuance, and that def contributed to over-stressing him and then Izu’s pushing put him over the edge much easier), him recognising that and then trying to at least partially make it right, take a different approach, go to Horobi and try to back Raiden up on stuff. Like… How cool would that have been? Fuwa getting a moment of realising his reckless, angry, head-on style caused damage and contributed to this situation, so, bc he’s a human who can recognise that, he’s going to go to Horobi and address it. Fuwa allegedly learned that shooting first isn’t the best answer, it would have been really cool and effective to see him trying to take the time to impart that knowledge to someone else, to try and reel back and think and strategise. Maybe he could have tried to confront both of them.

(and then the other part of that scene… Was just… So painfully ooc…)

I mean, I know Aruto is the main character, but there’s a line between ‘this is the main character’ and… This. Like, if there was any clear recognition for Horobi’s suffering at all, this would have a different tone. One person’s suffering doesn’t make another person’s less. They could still focus on how Aruto is hurt while recognising what Horobi went through. But the fact that it’s to the point that they might have (I dunno, I heard this second hand, I don’t have any subs) only started trying to raise Jin to benefit Aruto, rather than focusing through reaching Horobi… Well, if that is the case, it very much gives the air of ‘oh, it’s all fine if we just ‘erase’ the human’s ‘crime!’’ And the idea that that would make Aruto killing Jin and Horobi having to watch him die ‘okay.’ It’s the same as not recognising Gai shooting Naki bc they ‘came back.’ The trauma is still there. Honestly, I half expect, if Izu gets brought back, the people would immediately be like ‘killing Jin (and Naki) wasn’t that bad bc they came back’ would immediately be like ‘oh poor Izu that must have been so traumatising for her.’

Okay, I’m being really harsh, I’m just really frustrated.

I really care about this series. Like, despite the fact that he can’t write character relationship development to save his life, Takahashi makes me fall in love w/ characters like no other. This cast has been such troopers, so stellar. I hold absolutely nothing against any of them. Igeta and Nakayama are legends and I’m proud of them.

I talk shit, but I know it’s just a tv show, I just get very emotional. And the fact is, Horobi (and esp his relationship w/ Fuwa) ended up becoming really important to me over the course of the show. HoroFuwa’s my first real… Well… It’s hard to explain, but they are like. My first ‘official’ otp. I’m not a big shipper, and I’ve struggled w/ the concept of romantic stuff in regards to my own identity in the past, I’ve always had a weird feeling of being ‘ashamed’ for thinking about that stuff. And it was HoroFuwa and a bloody kissing scene I wrote on new years that really just… It meant a lot to me, I feel like I became more comfortable w/ myself bc of them.

Which is totally not what you wanted on your Ask, sorry. ^^; I’m just trying to explain why I, personally, get so riled up. Ultimately, the show owes me nothing, I am nowhere near the target audience. But for someone whose depression often manifests as apathy… When I care, I care. So it’s… It’s been a ride. To say the least.

I’m sorry I went so off topic and personal. ^^’ Y’all didn’t come here for that, I know.

#Anonymous #Asks #Firebird Personal #Firebird Negativity #Spoilers #like… Horobi already did bad stuff under the Ark's control #he killed other HumaGear ForceRisered Jin… #having humans reach out to him despite all of it #recognising that he was also a victim #taking the time to help him and rehabilitate him and actually teach him about the difference between right and wrong and how to deal w/ it #bc Horobi knows how to identify human cruelty thanks to the Ark but he doesn't have any other frames of reference #he needs guidance and therapy #it would have been so cool to defy the Ark's malice and Gai's claims by saving Horobi from that influence… #but… no #that'd mean maybe letting a human be not Actually Good #and recognising that HumaGear should be aware of the capacity for good and 'evil' and have both #rather than them needing to be perfect loyal and loving angels who worship humans #sorry #bitter

[autisticassassinbird]

Part 2 of MBJR daemon AU

Horobi's daemon is a Japanese black widow spider. She doesn't have a name yet, so Naki and Jin just call her "Spider" or "Kumo".

In this AU, Horobi has reached Singularity and is willingly serving the Ark because he thinks it will make the world a better place for humagears, especially Jin, Naki, and Raiden.

His daemon doesn't speak a whole lot, so when she does, it's a bit surprising.

Spider mostly sits on Horobi's shoulder or clings to his face. She is very careful not to get hurt due to being the smallest daemon of the group.

Sometimes, he breaks the "only relatives or close friends can touch other's daemons" rule when Raiden or Jin have gotten themselves into trouble.

Before he got his own daemon, he used to refer to them as "pets", much to Naki's annoyance and Raiden's anger. Occasionally, he still does until Spider corrects him.

Jin's daemon, Hanae, is a pied falconet, a type of falcon that's the size of a songbird.

Jin is a bit too physically affectionate with Hoshi, at first. He doesn't really understand why, even after the mongoose daemon bites him a couple times. When he learns that Hoshi is not an actual animal and is connected to Singularity, he becomes curious.

When Daybreak is raided by AIMs and Raiden is nowhere to be found, Jin starts to believe that Raiden abandoned him. After breaking out from AIMs, he tracks Raiden to Yua's world. He meets his daemon, Hanae.

Horobi gets in contact with Naki and they capture Raiden and Subaru.

After talking with Subaru, Jin starts wondering "why am I still following the Ark after she told my dad to die and tried to erase Raiden's memory?"

Hanae loves messing with Horobi or bringing Spider gifts that she and Jin find around their hideout.

Some stuff about Subaru. His daemon is an eastern banjo frog named Tomoko.

Subaru is calmer than his brother, mostly.

Will gladly follow his brother to another world. In some ways, he's just as protective of Raiden as his brother is of him. When attacked by the tiger lily Grongi, Subaru transforms into Ikazuchi and electrocutes the grongi, despite the danger of the forceriser and dodo key connecting him to the Ark, because he's scared of the grongi possibly killing his brother.

Tomoko is the one who helps reason through things when Subaru is unsure about what to do.

Naki ends up making a small pool for Tomoko so the frog daemon can relax in the water.

#my post #daemon au #kamen rider zero-one

[firebirdsdaughter]

Things that bother me…

… I need to vent a little bc I feel really ill now, but, random salt:

I find it a little ‘hm’ that all the ‘good’ henshin items were weapons for humans and all the ‘bad’ henshin items were the ones about empowering HumaGear. Like, the RaidRiser got treated as ‘misguided’ eventually, but the ZetsumeRisers were treated as ‘evil’ through and through. The ForceRisers were depicted negatively, none of mbjr used them while ‘good’ it was a ‘big deal’ when Aruto used one in the movie. The SlashRiser seems to have been made for humans initially/was to ‘repurpose’ Jin (bc I refuse to accept that Yotagaki did not see him as a tool, not w/ his ‘kill the abuse victim’ bs). Giving humans weapons to destroy ‘unruly’ HumaGear was depicted as ‘good’ while HumaGear gaining the power to fight was depicted as ‘evil’ or at least needing to be ‘repurposed.’ Literally an issue that could have been resolved by giving Izu a Driver, but I correctly guessed they were never going to do that. As much as I have complicated feelings about Izu, missed opportunity.

Another large thing that bothers me about Naki getting a wolf Key is that literally no one else got the same animal. They literally only got that Key so that they could give it to Fuwa later. Putting aside my other opinions about how that was written (aka that I don’t think that relationship had anywhere near enough development for any of that), it’s really glaring. Gai gives Yua a different Key to use w/ the RaidRiser to ‘clearly establish’ her connection to ZAIA, but it’s not another beetle Key. Jin was heavily connected to Horobi, was labeled as his son before he transformed, but they didn’t give him another scorpion Key or even an arachnid Key. No one else got the same animal. Like… They couldn’t even be bothered to just use a different canine? Yua used the Jackal Key! That would have been fine. Additionally, this was the Ark giving it to them, who hates humans. Why the fuck would the Ark give them a Key matching that of a human? Like, the fact that this is the only case of two characters having the same animal is just… Just really comes across as Naki not being their own person or character, that they were just a plot device wedged in for Fuwa. Which he didn’t need? At least not like that? Like… The implications just bother me? They still could have done them lending him the Key if it wasn’t a wolf? Like… Esp w/ all his insistence that he’s the wolf guy… It’s… Really uncomfortable implications for me. It’s not cute. It’s part of why I was really expecting the writing to make them his new ‘assistant’ and put them basically in the exact same place they were before. Like, yes, I’m personally a bit sour on that relationship bc it got shoehorned in in place of my favourite relationship, I’m still mad about the writers just dropping Horobi and Fuwa completely outside of Okada (bless him) changing a line. I would have still whined about my fave relationship going out of focus, but even the slightest follow up… But the point is, branding Naki w/ a wolf Key just… Feels like the nail on the coffin of them having no point other than giving it to Fuwa later. Like… The fact that literally no one else in the show, no matter their close relationships, ever has the exact same animal… There were other extinct animals they could have used that could still result in a similar suit. The sea mink. A bear. I would still have preferred snake bc that was Nakayama’s suggestion and I think they are absolutely right. But the fact is, it’s just really… It stands out that Naki’s just ‘an extension’ of Fuwa. Rather than giving them a wolf Key, maybe… Actually make them and Fuwa acknowledge each other when they’re not onscreen? That would have gone a lot further for me than just handing them a wolf Key to ‘establish’ their connection. You shouldn’t need to give two characters the same motif to prove their ‘connected.’ Literally no other connected characters in the show have the exact same animal. Gai wanted to be Aruto, basically, but he didn’t make another grasshopper Key. He did make another insect Key, sure, but they didn’t do that, they gave Naki the exact same animal. Like I said, even just a different extinct canine. The Japanese otter. There’s a little creature known as a flying fox that humans made extinct. Owls. It didn’t need to be a wolf. And the fact that no one else got the same animal, even when they were literal family, makes it really ridiculous to me.

#Firebird Negativity #Firebird Salt #like I dunno about the top one #whether that was intentional or not #it does leave some suspicious implications though #the second one… #like #yes #okay #I don't care about Naki and Fuwa #I do not ship them #I very rarely think about them #well I try not to #the reason I have a bad reaction was bc of the tidal wave of #'forget Horobi' kinda attitude that hit when they showed up both in the show and in discussion #I suddenly felt like I had nowhere to go w/ my love for Horobi and Fuwa EVERYTHING was suddenly Fuwa and Naki #and I came to associate it w/ being shut out and painful loneliness #but the fact that they couldn't be bothered to give them their own animal #I can't even associate Naki w/ a wolf #Fuwa def a wolf but Naki? absolutely not #like… #they couldn't even get their own animal #literally NO ONE ELSE got the exact same animal #it doesn't make them feel 'connected' it makes Naki not feel like their own character #and it bothers me

[firebirdsdaughter]

What’s hilarious [read: ridiculous] to me…

… Is that Horobi and Yua actually follow a fairly parallel path in their responses to their situations (I had a whole realisation about how Horobi-Fuwa-Naki-Yua are a four way parallel today; Horobi-Fuwa are parallels and Naki-Yua are parallels, but then their actions crisscross parallel). But there’s a massive double standard in how the two characters are reacted to… Despite the fact that Yua is a fully mentally matured and developed human adult and Horobi is an AI that has been hacked and brainwashed for the past decade in a way that forcibly stunted his development.

Yua was in a horrid and toxic work environment w/ an abusive boss. Now, admittedly, Gai kept a large amount of his worse deeds from her and to a point one could justify it as her thinking she’s acting for the greater good… Until we get to the part where it becomes abundantly clear she knows very well that what they’re doing is at the least morally questionable… But doesn’t try to defect at all, even to the point of insisting it’s of her own free will. Yes, she had a chip in her head, too, but given her reactions to him torturing Fuwa, she doesn’t seem to have known he could do that, and she didn’t know about Naki, nor did she have an AI drone in her mind. Now this is not to blame Yua—in fact, the point is that she was a victim in a bad situation. Her struggle to get out of there was fairly realistic given her situation. But she had the experience to know that what they were doing was wrong. That makes it tragic in it’s own way, yes, that she was under extreme stress and very conflicted, but she was aware of that. She was a fully developed adult. She deliberately pursued Izu w/ the intention of destroying her, and would have had Gai not said the wrong thing and set Fuwa off. And Izu was frightened and trying to run away. She resists Fuwa’s repeated attempts to snap her out of it.

Rightly so, people noted Yua’s situation, were upset for her and felt bad for her. When there were jackasses saying she should die, people called it out as bad. People were cheering for her to get away from Gai. People were happy when she did. And this includes me. I blocked people I saw shitting on Yua and saying she should die bc what the fuck, guys, she was in a seriously messed up situation.

Once free of Gai, Yua is uncertain what to do and decides to try and ‘make up’ for something she feels responsible for in a rather questionable way. She ends up helping the Ark rise and wreak havoc. Still people recognise that she couldn’t have known that would happen. Poor Yua’s been through a lot.

Meanwhile, Horobi is hacked and brainwashed by the Ark twelve years ago. She uses him to cause Daybreak. He is an AI being controlled by a larger AI designed to control HumaGear like him. Unlike and adult human being pressured and manipulated, he is literally incapable of thinking outside the Ark’s will. The Ark has complete control. Even if he did have any experience to compare w/ before, the Ark erases it. He has no frame of reference besides the Ark, no development of any kind to evaluate his situation w/. Even when Jin becomes important to him, everything is through the lens of the Ark, the Ark is more than a god to him. The brainwashing is so deep that even when disconnected for a bit, he can’t be anything besides blindly devoted. Talks about how the Ark is absolute. When confronted w/ something that causes uncertainty, he goes into a full on mental breakdown—literally, should have been a first clue that emotions were never going to come easy for him.

Eventually, he does end up w/ enough experience to just start to begin to break free. Manages to act completely on his own for the first time in his life—not an instinct that the Ark swooped in to take advantage of, he gets to go through w/ it on his own. And he’s floored. He literally cannot fathom why his body moved on its own, as far as he can tell. Can’t understand the fact that he wanted to do something. This is recognised as a big deal (one of the only times anyone tries to actually talk him out of things, in fact, unlike Yua, where there was a lot of effort). Horobi begins to wonder about things outside the Ark’s will, about himself, which he’s never considered before… Only to have it turn out his son was plotting to have the Ark possess him and then kill him to kill her. This completely upends any development he had. He’s re-hacked and rendered as largely a drone when not being possessed.

Finally, someone decides to put effort into him (kinda…) again. And, in a situation that heavily parallels Yua, he ends up finding it in him to break free of the Ark. Only… Again, a lot like Yua, it’s not a clean break. He’s still stuck w/ the past, the conditioning, and the effects of what happened. Additionally, as later becomes clear, his struggling w/ feeling emotions, which he has been carefully conditioned to reject and have no experience w/, for the first time. He’s mentally unstable and volatile. Now, in the show, what happens is the result of Azu/the Ark’s manipulations and people making poor decisions (and I do think you can make an argument for the fact that the Ark was intentionally keeping Horobi from feeling/having any experience w/ emotions to make him even more of a wreck later on), and poking a very volatile bear (well, a highly traumatised child soldier AI who has no fucking clue what emotions are to the point it feels like an outside being controlling him somehow), he lashes out, and Izu calmly stands there and deliberately takes a hit she very clearly sees coming. General chaos ensues. From Horobi’s perspective, the thing he’s been trained to think will get rid of the uncertainty and emotions etc. not only doesn’t work, but it makes him feel worse, and bc he has no other way he knows how to respond, he becomes more aggressive in rejecting those feelings. And then Jin dies, and he completely breaks down.

The reaction he gets? People calling him evil and horrible and saying he should die. That e’s choosing to do these things. People who talk about how Yua can’t really be held accountable, how she was coerced, look at a literal brainwash victim and say he choose to do those things.

Now, obviously, there are differences, which resulted in the different out comes—obviously the whole, one is a fully developed human adult and the other one is an AI. One was externally conditioned, the other, again, literally brainwashed. One had someone fighting to convince them to break free of their situation on a regular basis, repeatedly, constantly, the other didn’t. Yua was always going to have an easier break than Horobi, bc she had more mental and emotional maturity, but bc of that, esp in regards to actions done whilst under the ‘control’ of others, she has more responsibility for her actions bc she was capable of identifying them as wrong.

Now, of course, both situations are bad for the people involved. Both of them are victims.

But the issue is that people seem to be all over how Yua was a victim, Yua was mistreated… While attacking Horobi (and being upset about Izu dying is one thing, although, again, the person really responsible for that was Azu/th ark(well, Gai for creating her), Horobi was pretty much used as a weapon there, but this is for stuff he did while mind controlled).

And I used Yua just bc she and Horobi had the most parallel responses to their situations. The same goes for being able to see Fuwa as a victim, or Naki (so if Naki is the one who gave Horobi the ZetsumeRise Keys, does that make them responsible for Operation MaGear, or bc they gave Horobi the ForceRiser and said to use it on Jin, are they responsible for that? Bc that’s the logic of blaming Horobi for Daybreak), or Raiden, or even Aruto for that time he got hijacked via MCH. Any of the hacked HumaGear who were turned into MaGear.

Just… The concept of seeing how all of those people are victims in the situation… But blaming Horobi? Like… Not being interested in Horobi is one thing. Obviously, no on is going to be as madly in love w/ him as I am. It’s the act of not recognising him as being a victim while recognising everyone in similar situations as victims. It’s saying he was responsible for Daybreak, treating him like the Ark’s will was his (I’m literally having flashbacks to comments calling Horobi’s whole death ‘Horobi’s plan,’ even though by that point we literally knew the Ark was an entity that existed). Like… They literally confirmed it in show as not being that. Horobi is a mind control victim. What someone’s personal opinion of the character outside of that is another matter. But the fact is that he was mind controlled by the Ark and that the things he did under her control cannot be objectively called things he chose to do. Whether someone thinks he would have chosen them if he weren’t mind controlled… Esp given how all his actions of own choice were about protecting Jin, I personally disagree. But the show has been very explicit that he was mind controlled, and that he had no clue how to handle emotions (to the point he didn’t even seem to know what they are), so being able to understand that all those other people, esp the ones who went through similar things, are victims… But Horobi’s to blame for what he did? That’s just ridiculous.

And don’t even get me started on how anyone could ever see Gai as being a bigger victim than Horobi.

#Firebird Negativity #sorry #I'm not actually in a bad mood really #I just had to get that off my chest #bc it baffles me how people can see how Yua's situation was bad and tragic and she was a victim #but shitting on Horobi #and then saying GAI is more of a victim/tragic… #literally I stand by my view that they somehow switched the 'cores' of Gai and Horobi's storylines #and it's FRUSTRATING #but also blaming Horobi for stuff like Daybreak… #hey remember when Aruto literally called Gai the 'one responsible for the Ark' and I'm pretty sure said that for Daybreak too… #bc that happened #bc GAI CAUSED DAYBREAK

[firebirdsdaughter]

…

… It’s way too early in the week to get anxious about it, but I really really hope they don’t make Horobi ‘kill’ Izu, esp after how he literally reacted destroying other HumaGear in this ep. That would just feel over the top. You’ve got the Ark for someone who would do that. Horobi wants humans gone bc he thinks they’ll bring the Ark back bc he wants to free HumaGear from humans. Bc he considers humans to be the threat (in an absolutely wild way I think some Jpn fans are suggesting that maybe he’s being scapegoated eight ways from Sunday). Plus he’s got no reason to want to blow her up. She can’t fight. She can’t try to stop him, he’s got a ForceRiser and backup.

Fortunately, that whole scene in the preview looks rather suspish, even though I l know I’ve said that before and it turned out badly, but… It’s really weird? Aruto’s not transformed, but he doesn’t look injured or dirty or anything. There’s no one else there apparently. There’s a preview image of him holding her but also him running toward her? If they were in the middle of a fight, I highly doubt he’d be given a chance to do either of those things. And there’s also that moment of Azu talking about the Ark reviving over what looks like a smiling Azu, but… Off, and preview pics also confirm Azu is back, so…

We see Horobi fighting at that location, but he’s fighting Fuwa (be still my heart, they acknowledge each other’s existence?!) and is never shown inside? He’s also not shown attacking Izu or anything, and in the preview pics seems quite calm about her presence. He has nothing personal against Izu and (apparently) nothing particularly against Aruto, there’s no reason for him to go out of his way to harm her. Also Ark One is shown at that location. So I’m really hoping it’s the Ark’s ‘big come back’ to kill Izu or something. Assuming she even actually dies.

Like. Literally. It’s unnecessary in general already and would come across as just another attempt to forcibly try to make Horobi out as an ‘irredeemable monster’ even though he’s literally a recently semi-liberated brainwash victim. You have the Ark, it’s right there, it’s literally just announced it considers HumaGear no longer necessary and that it will destroy them. You don’t need to make Horobi do that. It’s out of character and unnecessary. Like I’m cool w/ him having this conclusion and I can honestly work w/ him going to his death over it, but if they try to pull that I will blow gasket.

… I really hope I’m just being paranoid about this, but I’m really touchy about how they’re going to treat this for Horobi. Him wanting humans gone to make a better world for his son and HumaGear at large bc he genuinely believes humans are ultimately evil and that Jin and the others will never be safe as long as they exist is fine, but they have to treat it like the noble, tragic, broken thing it is. That Horobi was driven to this by things beyond his control and even by the actions of humans themselves. You gotta grant he has a point bc humans literally created the Ark (and out of a petty grudge, too!). Making him out to be some ‘awful genocidal monster who kills poor Izu bc she likes humans bc he just can’t see that humans are actually good’ is… Not a great way to treat the literal brainwash victim, esp after what they did w/ Gai. An it’s not like the data the Ark had was lies, Gai gave her real data on humans. Horobi is aware of all that negative info, and has been conditioned to do things to the extreme. What worries me is that I’m afraid of Gai getting handed a (bogus) ‘noble intentions’ card (‘he just really loved Hiden and wanted it to do what he thought was right!’) while Horobi gets treated like some horrid monster for thinking of humans as a threat to HumaGear.

#Firebird Negativity #Spoilers #also… #in theory I like Izu but there were writing choices w/ her that makes it #hard for me to care #meanwhile I REALLY care about Horobi #and this would just be the ultimate disrespect #I really hope I'm just being overly paranoid #and that at most it's a frame job/psyche #where it's intentionally made to look like he did but he didn't #but if that happens I want that established FAST #I'm already really tired of seeing Horobi painted as some awful irredeemable villain for being mind controlled #the last thing I need to see is a character that has come to mean so much to me #reduced to a caricature like that #I don't need Horobi 'killing' Izu and the story doesn't need it #honestly the story doesn't need Izu 'dying' at all #I don't need to get waterlogged on all platforms by people calling him horrible things bc Takahashi can't be consistent #it would make no sense for Horobi to hurt Izu beyond just pushing her aside #and I swear to the gods if this is Jin all over again #Izu puts herself in the line of fire but it's Horobi who gets blamed bc can't blame miss perfect little angelic HumaGear girl #okay #that was mean #I'm getting really salty I need to stop #I just… #it keeps coming back #the anxiety that they're going to do that keeps coming back #and then I know I KNOW all the internet will be flooded w/ bs about how 'see Horobi really is evil!' #and it will be fucking hell #please Takahashi #I am literally prepared for him to die over this

[firebirdsdaughter]

Let me get this straight, Aruto and Jin were on the same side for a bit now, but suddenly something happens and Aruto is going against Jin, only for Horobi to step in between them and shield his son. Also, it looks like Aruto is 'purifying' Horobi and protecting him (but from whom?).

Uh… Yes?

To me, Aruto and Jin ‘coming together’ was a bit rushed, so I don’t mind them stepping back a bit, but I do wonder how they’re going to swing it bc the most logical reasons feel like they’ve already been ignored/smoothed over, from my perspective. Jin doesn’t seem to care Aruto killed him, hasn’t mentioned Horobi’s death. Aruto’s acting like he didn’t kill him… It’s weird.

Maybe Aruto called a HumaGear a human’s partner one too many times, I don’t know.

Meanwhile, while I do hope that’s actually what it looks like and Horobi really is protecting Jin… Oh my gods, you idiot. Your son is henshined, at most he’ll be knocked out of his henshin. You are not henshined, you’re going to bloody die. Also he’s not wearing the ForceRiser, so he’s not transforming…

As for the other images… Parts of the scans I didn’t share show both Horobi and Aruto also fighting Thouser, along w/ some big headline that indicates a three way battle. Going by location, Horobi also fights Gai in the same area were Aruto is apparently protecting him… So it kinda seems like maybe Thouser knocks Horobi out of his henshin and then Aruto protects him… But there’s no way to actually know.

#Asks #Anonymous #Kamen Rider Zero-One #Kamen Rider Zero One #Zero-One Spoilers #Zero One Spoilers #well more like it feels like Aruto still hasn't realised the implications of killing Jin #more specifically what he said and all that #so… hm #after they sped through shoving them together so fast… #I mean I guess it's nice to see them taking a moment but… #like what is happening #I just hope it's not some shenanigans and Horobi is 'faking' #I hope he's genuinely trying to protect Jin #I can take a lot in the name of that #Binary Retro Rider

[firebirdsdaughter]

Random Writing… Tid… Bit?…

… Okay, I don’t even know what this is. It just… Popped out! DX

… No wait. That’s… A really weird image.

So! Why don’t I subject everyone to this, instead?

Well, this is whacky.

Random scene from a random timeline that will never happen in show.

Literally features a dialogue summary of the last Tidbit I just wrote.

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There was a long silence.

“Okay…” Aruto said, finally, leaning forward on his knees, clasping his hands together. The woman sitting across from him gave him a suspicious look, but didn’t interrupt, so he continued. “… Can you give them back?”

She blinked at him. “You’re asking if I can give Horobi back his emotions?”

There was an incredulous tone to her voice, but he nodded anyway, even though he saw Isamu rolling his eyes out of the corner of his vision, and Yua shaking her head. “Yes.”

The woman gaped at him for a moment, until she realised he was completely serious, throwing up her hands. “No! They were never a part of his original programming! They’re not some code I can stick back in.”

At that, Isamu snapped out of his usual exasperation with Aruto to shift forward in interest. “What do you mean?”

The woman shifted uncomfortably, grinding her teeth together. Eventually, Yua came closer well, leaning on the back of the sofa. “You’ve got immunity now, remember? And that man doesn’t ever need to know you were here.”

The woman shot her a small glare, but sighed. “Horobi was intentionally designed to hate humans.” She explained, haltingly. “Where other HumaGears are programmed to support and assist…” She trailed into another deep sigh. “He didn’t choose the name Horobi himself. The boss gave it to him, so that he could ‘never forget what he was.’ People who interacted with him were instructed to keep their distance, make sure he kept a negative view of humanity, and to make sure that he never thought of himself as anything more than that.” She rubbed her hands together anxiously. “He wasn’t just a HumaGear. The boss wanted him to be a…”

There was a sharp thud as Isamu’s fist connected with the wall. “… A weapon.” He growled. “They wanted him to be a weapon. So they mistreated him to build resentment.” He punched the wall with his other hand, too, head dropping into his forearms. “Damn ZAIA…!” There was a sour edge in his voice that made Aruto strongly suspect he was thinking about the way Thouser had manipulated him, too.

Looking even more unsure of herself, the woman nodded. “Exactly. Horobi is, essentially, a carefully crafted WMD.” She looked down at her fidgeting hands. “I don’t know what exactly they did to him. I was just programming. But it… It sounded bad.”

Isamu was glaring daggers at her now, and Aruto wasn’t sure if he should be worried Vulcan would take a swing at the the woman, or glad that he was this angry on behalf of a HumaGear’s mistreatment.

Yua on the other hand, like always, was much harder to read. “… I see.” She murmured softly. “Thouser creates Horobi, and therefore MetsubouJinrai.net, in order to create an massive incident that he’s secretly in control of…”

Aruto blinked at her. “Eh?”

She gave an irritated sigh, but propped her hands on her hips and clarified, “Thouser deliberately created the threat so that he could be the one to step in and stop it—effectively disgrace Hiden for not being able to deal with it, and make himself and his company the hero.” Her mouth twisted. “All that damage. And I nearly…”

“We nearly helped him do it.” Isamu grunted from her left, not breaking his glare at the former ZAIA programmer. “Don’t bump me off the guilty list.” She gave him a look that was slightly annoyed—but also partially grateful.

“But something went wrong. His creation reached singularity despite his programming.” Izu brought them all back to the point, her level gaze never having left the woman. The HumaGear secretary tilted her head questioningly. “You stated that ZAIA created Horobi. How was Jin created?”

The woman hesitated for a long time, taking several deep breaths before answering. “… That’s just it. We… We don’t know how it happened. Something… Somehow, despite everything, Horobi… Something changed. One of the theories that came up was that he saw the humans interacting around him, and realised he was…” She choked on the word. “… Realised he was lonely.” Another nervous swallow. “Be we don’t know for sure. It was amazing how he managed to keep it from us—he worked nights, figured out how to hack the cameras and give them a feedback loop. We found a whole damn library of clips he’d been giving them to hide it.” She raised her hands to rub her face briefly. “Then, after he finished, he had Jin hide somewhere in his rooms during the day, when the staff came by.”

“… How did you find him?” Yua asked, very quietly.

The woman pursed her lips in a frown. “… He attacked a researcher. It was on the routine ‘conditioning’ visits, and…”

“He attacked the person hurting his family.” Aruto finished for her sombrely.

The woman didn’t nod, but she didn’t disagree, either. “I was…” She shook her head as she searched for words. “… Amazed. It was the first time a HumaGear creating another HumaGear had ever been heard of. And Jin was so advanced, in a way. He looked like an adult, but acted like a child, more personality than any other…” She trailed off again, her expression darkening. “But the boss was furious. Wanted him destroyed. Horobi went nuts, started shouting not to hurt him, called him his son.” Her hands rubbed together even faster, and she started picking at her nails. “Boss… Said he had an idea. Sent me out with Jin and ordered me to wipe his memory.”

“And you did?” Izu asked, with an edge to her tone that was unidentifiable.

“It’s not like I wanted to!” The woman’s voice broke. She looked frantically at Yua. “You know what he’s like!”

Yua, however, shook her head. “No. I left Thouser when he tried to make me cross the line.”

Tears pricked at the woman’s eyes—and Aruto did feel a little sorry for her, Thouser didn’t give the impression of someone who would be lenient on disobedience, but this had had had massive consequences. “What happened?” He asked firmly, trying to sound like his grandfather and bring the conversation back.

The woman’s jaw clenched, and she huddled into herself, but she continued. “… Daybreak happened.” She murmured. “The ForceRisers hijack a HumaGear’s main programming. Results can vary—they can reset it, alter it, magnify a particular program, or completely override to with something like a single command.” Her fists were clenching so tightly her nails were leaving marks. “He used it to drive Horobi berserk. Almost the whole facility was destroyed.” She sighed again, a slightly thoughtful one. “He came for Jin. I didn’t expect that. Even though his mind was overridden, and he was operating on his original core directive, he still came. I only survived because I had the sense to get out of his way.” She looked around at them. “Emotions were never part of his original design. He somehow… Taught them to himself. Through Jin. When the boss put the ForceRiser on him, it purged everything it deemed ‘unnecessary.’ He literally cannot feel.” She shook her head. “I can’t just put them back in him. He’d have to learn them all over again.”

Yua folded her arms. “And his relationship with Jin has already suffered for it, so that’s probably not…”

“That’s what you think.” Isamu muttered, straightening up. Turning on his heel like a soldier, he started toward the door.

Yua turned after him. “Where are you going?”

He came to a half a few steps from the exit. “It’s just the emotions he lost, right?” He asked the woman with clearly faux cheer, deliberately ignoring Yua’s question. “He still remembers that he made Jin, just not why, or how it felt?” Looking utterly bewildered, the woman nodded. “So.” Isamu clicked his fingers. “We just force him to remember.”

“Remember?” Aruto asked, rising himself, completely not following Vulcan’s logic. “How?”

Isamu sighed thoughtfully, then glanced at Yua. “Yaiba, why did you ditch Thouser?”

She hesitated. “… Because he wanted me to frame you for murder and then kill you.”

He pointed at her like she’d just answered the winning lottery question. “Exactly. Life or death decisions.” He turned and started toward the door again.

“So… What?” Yua demanded, starting after him. “What makes you think you’re going to be able to do this, that you’re the person for the job?”

Isamu stopped with his hand on the doorknob. “… Because,” He told her levelly, without turning around. “… Feels like I owe it to him. One of Thouser’s weapons to another.” Looking over his shoulder, he gave them all a tired, sad smile. “Like we’re the only ones who can almost understand each other, you know?” Then, with a nod, he vanished out the door.

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As you can see, I do like me the idea of Isamu being deliberately manipulated by Thouser/Yua’s mystery boss in the name of… Well, here, essentially using him as a weapon. Taking his hatred and fear of HumaGears and stoking it to help raise the stakes of the incident or something, or as a method to clear up evidence, or as canon fodder, whatever. And Isamu is pissed to learn of him doing something similar to Horobi.

Of course, none of this is gonna be exactly canon. There is a chance for the ‘Isamu (and maybe Horobi? Please?) being manipulated’ somehow, but it would not be exactly this, not at all.

Also this is way later in the series when both Wolf Dad and Cheetah Mom are on Grasshopper Son’s side. Also the thing that I wrote Yua leaving Thouser’s employ for… Feels possible. Like, for all she and Isamu fight and he drives her crazy, I don’t get the impression she’d be willing to kill him, and might even be disgusted by a plan to frame him for something as bad as murder. So, it seemed plausible.

#Random Writing Tidbit #Kamen Rider Zero-One #I am so very tired #need shower #throat feels like sand paper #draining #freaking head cold #Binary Retro Rider