(smallcornerofblue) Kawahira being a Mist User, a powerful and ancient one at that, brought an answer to question I had which is; Why no one knew beforehand about the Arcobaleno? While Bermuda said that each ritual of choosing have time between them to have that info to fade, I believe Kawahira had a hand to it. It is possible that he erased not only writings but also minds. Minds being wiped can indirectly affect the history of mankind, especially if they hold high positions of power or related to them. So I wouldn't be surprised if he's indirectly responsible for creating dark and somber moments in history which helps create more flame users. Another cycle attached to another cycle. After all in his mind, small sacrifices are needed.
hi there, thank you for the ask!
ohohoho, this is dark and i love it, you KNOW i'm here for it, thank you for dropping this in my inbox. the more fucked up we can make the arco curse to be, and the more i'm all here for it tbh lol.
but anyway, yeah, agreed!! personally what i've always gone with is that kawahira normalizes the curse--or, well, not the curse itself because the more it remains an absolute secret the better it is, but he normalizes the fact that every generation seven babies pop up who also happen to be the world's strongest. and in this case i feel like just letting enough time pass between each arco generation would be enough to keep the whole curse thing a secret because no one feels like digging into normal stuff, right? into stuff that has been the norm for as long as anyone can remember. in fact no one would even think to think twice about it, or connect dots that may already be there "hiding" in plain sight.
that plus kawahira erasing their life as adults when they're cursed while/or attributing everything they did before they were cursed to their baby form. which i think is safer than erasing minds because like you said that can be tricky and have tricky consequences, but in this case he'd just mess up with only seven existences among billions, tho of course that'd still have its consequences because it's not like they were living in a vacuum. but there'd definitely be fewer consequences than him messing up with everyone in the world, right?
that said, i think wiping minds (and writings and any trace of the curse at all) worldwide between each arco generation works just as well, if not better and easier, and also i just really love the idea. in fact in this thread @ mania-motherofsouls talked about it too and first introduced me to the idea! and i think it works really well especially when it comes to how kawahira managed to keep cursing arco post bermuda despite him presumably tirelessly trying to get in his way and stop that cycle.
(also talking about bermuda, do you think kawahira also did something to stop him to ever come in contact with arco to be/current arco in any way, shape or form? because one thing i've always wondered is why bermuda, as far as we can tell, never tried to warn the arco after him at the very least, or try to get them on his side to fight against kawahira like he does with reborn in canon? or has he been doing that all along, kawahira letting him like in canon, and--what? it just never worked out? but why not? like we know why it didn't work out in canon that one time, but what about all the other times if they were any?)
that part about kawahira creating flame users so to choose the strongest seven among them tho, hello, it's sooo good an idea!! it's like, the curse is already intrinsically linked with destiny what with the sky arco and the trinisette choosing/having rightful bearers, but with this there'd also be the idea of free will, or lack thereof.
okay just think about it with me for a bit, the chosen seven right? who make it to the top of the world through tears and sweat and blood, and likely through pain and loss and failures too, but they make it and then become the world's strongest, making all of it worth it, but then... turns out none of it was of their own free will, not entirely anyway... turns out they were only walking on a path someone else carefully laid out in front of them, guiding them on it with a hand on their shoulder they couldn't feel... turns out they might have walked entirely different paths, or made different choices, or lived different lives if it weren't for that hand on their shoulder...
like??? can you imagine finally making it to the top of the world at who knows what cost only to discover this? awesome. insane. tragic. i'm shaking and losing it and i love this idea so much, holy shit
(@echtach-messy-place i feel like you might like this)