MHA: THE GOD OF DESTRUCTION

Warning! The following contains spoilers from My Hero Academia. You have been warned.

We learned in recent chapters that the students of Class 1A and Class 1B tried to sedate Gigantomachia before he could reach Tomura Shigaraki. Now, it looks like that plan failed with dire consequences. After escaping the clutches of the students, Gigantomachia switched into a new form before mopping the floor with the surrounding superheroes. Fortunately, the students were evacuated with minor injuries, but the superheroes were defeated and possibly killed by the giant supervillain. Just as I predicted, once Gigantomachia entered the fight, the battle at the mansion became a one-sided massacre.

With the superheroes and students dealt with, Gigantomachia continued his rampage across Japan as he made his way toward Shigaraki. By my count, over twenty cities are in the process of being demolished by both Gigantomachia and the remnants of the Paranormal Liberation Front. By the time Gigantomachia and the Paranormal Liberation Front reach Shigaraki, half of Japan will be in ruins.

One must consider the long term consequences of Gigantomachia’s rampage. Almost every superhero in Japan was involved in the battles against the Paranormal Liberation Front. As a result, many cities were defenseless. The superheroes gambled everything they had in this war and it looks like they are losing big time. Even if they defeat or capture Shigaraki, Gigantomachia can track his scent no matter where they take him, even Tartarus Prison. Worse, the public’s trust in the superhero community was already badly shaken after All Might’s retirement. With so many cities destroyed and lives lost, the public will likely never trust the superhero community again as it is now.

As for the surviving students, I believe their self-confidence in their capabilities as superheroes will be very badly shaken. They used all of their training and best efforts to bring Gigantomachia down and failed miserably. Now, a lot of superheroes are dead, leaving a growing power vacuum in the superhero society. The aftermath of this battle will likely motivate the students to fill the void left by the dead superheroes.

A SUPER-ORGANISM

There are some cases of organisms that become larger and more complex than others. When these factors are pushed to the extreme, they can produce super-organisms. Both in my zoology book and dinosaur series, I will be featuring my own super-organism. It will consist of various organisms fusing together to form a version of symbiosis where every creature it consists of benefits from the fusion. I have taken inspiration for this fusion from the Portuguese man o’ war jellyfish, which consists of multiple jellyfish working together in a single body. This super-organism will be the largest in the series, bigger than any dinosaur, and it will have the potential to consume entire landscapes if given the chance.

MHA: ALONE AND INCOMPLETE

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Warning! The following post contains spoilers from chapter 283 of My Hero Academia. You have been warned.

We finally get to see the side effects of Tomura Shigaraki’s incomplete surgery. Even with the impressive augmentations his surgery gave him, Shigaraki’s body cannot fully withstand the immense power the All For One quirk accumulated. Although he still can regenerate, Shigaraki’s healing process has slowed down. Despite his initial confusion, Shigaraki shrugged off this inconvenience and continued his assault on the superheroes.

The fact that Shigaraki cannot fully withstand his new power is similar to how Izuku Midoriya initially could not withstand the power of One For All after receiving it. One could argue that Shigaraki’s surgery was his equivalent to the hellish workout Izuku received from All Might before receiving One For All. This is a beautiful example of parallelism that further connects Izuku with Shigaraki. I suspect that even though he had his surgery, Shigaraki still has a long way to go before he is the ultimate supervillain and will have to learn to control All For One on his own. Considering the fact that Shigaraki is a fast learner, I can imagine he can overcome this limitation rather quickly.

If Shigaraki was able to cause this much damage at 75% completion, I can only imagine how much stronger he would be at 100%. That missing 25% was probably what would have allowed Shigaraki to master All For One through the surgery. Now, Shigaraki may need to acquire that missing 25% on his own with practice and willpower. I imagine that once Shigaraki truly masters All For One, he will be an even more overpowered monster than he is now. Only time will tell.

SUPERHERO BOOK PUBLISHED!

Good news! My eighth book, Herawulf Rising: Origins, has been published this morning! Enjoy!

THE FUTURE IS WILD

One of my all-time favorite documentaries on speculative evolution would be The Future is Wild, which depicts how animals could evolve in three different time zones. Like books such as After Man and The New Dinosaurs, this documentary was partially created by Douglas Dixon. This documentary really stimulates the mind and makes one wonder what is evolutionarily possible. In order to gain inspiration for my dinosaur zoology book, I have been rewatching this documentary in order to better understand the functionality of an animal’s adaptations and how they would cope with extreme environments. Just as medieval documentaries helped me with my fantasy series, these kinds of documentaries will help me with both my zoology book and my dinosaur series as a whole.

LEARNING PREHISTORIC ANTHROPOLOGY

In order to create my new species of human for my dinosaur series, I have been binge watching a number of documentaries that talk about early humans. One such example is Walking With Cavemen, which covered seven million years of human evolution. I have learned about hominids that were specialists, some that lacked imagination, and a few that were innovators. I am thinking of combining traits from these various species into one group of humanoids. Compared to the hairy and rugged hominids of the past, my hominid will be sleek and graceful with a feral beauty about them. Unlike the reverse engineered dinosaurs, which were deliberately created, these hominids will be the result of a chance mistake.

PRIMORDIAL OOZE

Four billion years ago, a pool of volcanic water became inhabited by microbes. Over time, these microbes evolved into the ancestors of every creature that is alive today. I am thinking of doing a homage to the primordial ooze in my dinosaur series.

A NEW HUMAN

Once there were many species of human throughout history. Now, homo sapiens are the last of their kind. However, the origins of the human race played a significant role in prehistory. With this in mind, I am planning to introduce my own unique species of human in my dinosaur series. When I include it in the zoology book, I am planning to have the illustrator draw it like an anime character. Sadly, sharing the planet with other hominids has never been humanity’s greatest strength. It is what compelled us to murder our Neanderthal relatives. Because of this, this new humanoid’s existence will rustle a lot of feathers.

PROVIDING CONCEPT ART

In preparation for the illustrator for my dinosaur zoology book, I am in the process of collecting concept art. This concept art consists of images I find online and sketches I draw myself. Each of these images will provide a piece of each creature such as their head, body, legs, tails, and so on. They are like pieces to a puzzle and I instruct the illustrator how to put them together. While I am not a professional artist, I am able to give a decent idea of what I am envisioning. I specialize in drawing heads, but the other body parts require images I can find online in order to complete the idea for the creature. By utilizing these images, I am giving the illustrator a vivid idea of what I am looking for. I look forward to seeing the final illustrations of my creatures.

THE EIGHTH CONTINENT

I just learned something intriguing! It turns out there is a hidden eighth continent that sleeps under the Pacific Ocean: Zealandia. Zealandia is an underwater continent that is right next to Australia and connected to the Ring of Fire fault line. The only parts of Zealandia that are on the surface include New Zealand and a collection of smaller islands. 70 to 80 million years ago, Zealandia was on the surface and part of Australia, which in turn was a part of the ancient continent Gondwana. Sadly, after breaking away from Australia, Zealandia sank into the sea. Scientists discovered its existence and started studying it in 2017. Up until then, Zealandia was thought to just be a series of underwater mountains, but its geological composition proved otherwise. Because of its size, Zealandia tends to cause volcanic eruptions when it grinds against the surrounding fault lines. Because of its mysterious nature and prehistoric history, I am thinking of giving Zealandia a role to play in my dinosaur series.