happy birthday to the best boy, allen :-)

The new chapter gave me a bit of closure to a major question I’ve had for a very long time.

“Did Mana really love Allen?”

Yea... I think he did.

Even if he ended up forgetting him later, during this moment, he loved him.

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D.Gray-Man Color Page and Preview of Volume 27 Road is on the cover!

Since we are going through Allen's backstory right now all I am imagining is that Allen is hallucinating all of it while starving with Kanda. Pics from Hoshino's Instagram

Click for better quality

i combined the two images from this ig post!!

D. Identity Crisis-Man.

Akuma and Allen Walker - The soul of a predetrmined weapon

This is a small post where I would like to share a specific reading about some elements regarding Allen`s character. I`d like to propose the idea that in a symbolic manner, Allen might actually resemble the Akuma. The elements I shall introduce and examine in this post are: 

- Living weapon 

- Predeterminism

Living weapons

In the beginning of the series, Allen describes the Akuma as follows: the Akuma are essentially living weapons, which have a soul implemented into them. This soul is then controlled by the Millenium Earl. The soul is then integrated into a mechanical body. While the Akuma seem to have an consciousness and be self-aware, their actions are heavily controlled by the Millenium Earl. We see this as while Claire is able to talk and express herself to Mark, she has no choice put to follow the orders of the Earl, as he commands Claire to kill Mark, and take his body. Road being able to make Akumas self-destruct also speak about the control, that the creators have over their creators. 

The reason why I bring this up is because to me, the Akuma appear as very predeterministic creatures. They are chained by their programming to kill and evolve as living weapons, and are controlled by the Earl.  

With this in mind, while I think the parallel is not perfect, I think one can find some symbolical connections between Allen, and the doomed fate of the Akuma. Allen is presented as an exorcist, with a parasite type anti-Akuma weapon. Bak describes these type of conformers as weapons, since they restrain the power of the innocence with their own bodies. While Bak indeed hastily corrects that Allen is a human, this gives the impression, that as a parasitic-type, Allen is some sort of living, breathing organic weapon. Allen further fortifies this impression, as he describes how his body reacts to the appearance of an Akuma, after a long awhile. 

So the parallel I am trying to craft here, is that both the Akuma and Allen give the impression of a living weapon, that seems to be following some sort, almost biological impulse. Of course the Akuma are way more bloodthirsty and brutal, when compared to Allen, but I think the comparison to some type of living weapon can be made.  

A predetermined fate

The next parallel connects to the point I made about the Akuma being predetermined beings, who while have a sense of self and consciousness, are slaves to their “programming” and to Earl`s control, as mechanical creatures. I think a certain predeterminism raises its head also, when it comes to Allen. The narrative portrays Allen as a character who while struggling, strives to find and carve his own path in life. He once lived for the sake of Akuma, but comes to the realization, that he lives both for the sake of the Akuma and the companions and friends, that he has made along the way. This is made very apparent in chapter 83. As a quick side note, I like that chapter since the dark matter power that the Akuma is using to break Allen into pieces, could be (in my opinion) read as symbolic deconstruction of Allen`s character and personality, as during that chapter we see a glimpse into his psyche. 

However things start to get a sinister turn, after the 14th Noah is introduced into the story. Allen starts to see images of a shadowy figure, feels as if someone is watching him, and things about Mana are revealed which make hims feel suspicious. This makes Allen melancholic and he starts to ponder if he has chosen this path he is currently walking on. The terrifying idea that this path has been chosen for him, pops into Allen`s head. 

Things get even more darker, as it is revealed that Allen has the memories of the 14th Noah inside him. Cross mentions to Allen, that eventually the implanted memory will erode away at the host little by little, and eventually turn Allen into the 14th. In further chapters we see Nea manifest himself more and more, and take control over Allen`s body and consciousness. So with this in mind, I think the narrative paints Allen in a similar way as the Akuma. The Akuma are creatures predetermined by their core programming, and the Earl´s hold over them. Now Allen is presented as person, who´s whole journey and path seems to have been rigged to follow a certain course from the very beginning. In a sinister reading, Allen can struggle all he wants, but just like the Akuma who the Earl controls, Allen´s fate is to finally morph into Nea, and lose himself. It is also worth noting that while not an identical parallel, the Akuma are created when a soul is integrated into a mechanical body, which takes on the form of another. Claire killed Mark quite literally, and took his body. 

In a similar fashion, Allen is someone who has been implanted with other person`s memories, and this other person will finally take control over Allen´s body and consciousness, by overwriting Allen`s personality with Nea`s. 

note that it works best with thin lineart (I used SAI2 for this, but I think you can use any art program  with a overlay layer mode)

allen icons!

feel free to use but please like/reblog or credit!

Kanda Yuu icons!  (◕‿◕✿)