#curses you with thoughts of sensui

[sealbee101]

I feel like the yyh community dosen't talk about sensui enough. Sensui is probably one of the best antagonist ive ever seen and it sucks no one talks about him hardly.

Sensui was a man of a justice system that was unblinded with obvious one sided ideals (demons = bad, human = good) it wasn't until that one night that completely made black and white turn to gray, his morality shattered, everything turning into a murky puddle.

Humanity doomed itself that night, turning the man who fought for it, to turning against it.

But it also made Sensui reflect, made him question himself, made him want to open his eyes and balance the scale as to why demons were so bad which led to Sensui down to opening the barrier between the worlds, if he could understand the same thing he'd use to hunt down maybe it'd put his mind at ease. himself at ease, maybe he'd finally understand.

[lxmelle]

The man surrounded by the theme of love…

Geto.

Gege has made several writing choices to depict Geto as someone who was handsome and loved - arguably more than any other character in the series. Maybe Gege loves him the most - not complaining at all.

More under the cut - just a few visuals I’ve collected to demonstrate this. I’m certainly not alone in noticing it and there may be others who show this much better, lol. Tag me in if you want to share!!

My post does end with a not-so brief analysis which you can skip if you wish.

Geto, despite being cursed at birth with the technique to absorb the ills of the world, the very skill that led him to fight alongside Gojo as part of the Strongest Duo - by design, each others’ counterpart in so many ways - a twist of fate led them onto opposite paths, leading to complete imbalance, one that drove him into madness.

If Geto in some ways represented Love, it is truly the most twisted curse of all which played a part in his death.

Geto witnessed the most love confessions in the whole series - I found (and stole) it off twitter/now X:

The Japanese originals seem more compelling to me:

Riko says “daisuki” whereas Yuta uses a more traditional “Aishiteru” which, is quite embarrassing of a confession, and therefore almost hints at what could be Gojo’s last words to Geto, if it directly parallels Yuta & Rika’s relationship. And that expression Geto wears when he sees Riko and Kuroi struggle with separating?

That does not look like a person who cannot sympathise and empathise with people. Geto was a person who cared too much, and in search for a way to protect those he cared for, needed an outlet and something (in this case, lesser being, the humans) to blame. He descended into a mania and much like shinobu sensui from yu yu hakusho, seemed to develop some kind of mental disorder due to being unable to carry the conflicting ideals together. The dissonance the world presented to him was just too cruel, and he himself became a weapon to defend his ideals.

Before his defection, Geto was liked by his peers:

Haibara

Mei Mei

Loved by his family for and despite his ideals:

Mimiko and Nanako

Shibuya crew liked/loved him and carried his will/beliefs even after his death, in their own ways, as family:

Miguel and Larue in the most recent chapter to date:

Translations (rough):

Larue: You and me alike, we just wanted Suguru-chan to be King.

Miguel: Yea, I followed just because it was Geto. After shibuya, I trained Okkotsu and I don’t want anything to do with the country anymore. (Something along these lines; a little too complicated for my rudimentary Japanese)

Larue: You , me, Mimiko, Nanako, Manami, Toshihisa, everyone just really liked/loved Suguru-chan.

Canonically, he was known to be handsome and popular:

Takaba

Gege’s character book:

JJK popularity poll:

I do not have screengrabs of how Manami and Larue joined, but it was said to be due to how handsome they thought he was.

Maybe he was like Rika, who did realise how she came across in her life, and manipulated people, lol. But that’s a bit of a stretch to bring that parallel/similarity in. Geto was just quite a magnetic person, according to Gege.

And in the most roundabout way:

Gojo:

“my one and only”

“Love is the most twisted curse...” “curse me a little at the end.”

“I don’t need love to satisfy me” ... “if you were there I might’ve have been satisfied”

While love surrounds Geto, the theme that follows Gojo appears to be “the strongest” cursed; he was admired, revered, feared, and disliked by many. It truly breaks my heart, to think of what he had to give up to carry the weight of this for his whole life, until the very end.

This looks like the most dizzyingly lonely picture of Gojo. It was indeed ironic to have it all but to embody what it means to have an unlimited void by being totally different.

He suffered so much for his power and to have carried this strength. The sorcerer world was practically on his shoulders. The balance was up to him; everyone relied on him. Every time he tried to protect his love (geto) it seemed to fail. It worsened each time, ending with his own demise. But of course that’s just a dramatic interpretation - I don’t really mean/believe that, but it is one way to see the tragedy between Gojo and Geto. Strength at the expense of love; it plays out with the strongest this far as those identifying with this title are plagued by loneliness and do not know love.

They met before things got twisted within themselves, between them. Even after Geto left, Gojo seemed to be looking and waiting for him - to prove his trust for him almost as if he saw through his illusions and lies. Geto was the shadow (Yin) and Gojo was the light (Yang). Only the light can see through the dark. I’ll leave the gojo characterisation for another time / to other better writers.

For now, I’ll just say that I felt that he had planned for the possibility of losing to Sukuna (with the various things we see him do between scheduling the 24th and the actual day) and if he won, he’d just carry on the plan to cremate Geto on top of saving everyone and being a good example as the strongest. Worst case scenario, he would weaken Sukuna and I guess just die on the same day as Geto - idk, maybe as a form of redemption for one of his most painful experiences in life. Who knows?

I headcanon he was relieved to pass on, doing his part to defend the world that relied on him so much, with a big bang - a really fun fight.

And I’m glad they found each other at the end - the loved and the lost.

Back to Geto:

We don’t get much insight into what Geto wanted or felt aside from a world that was better for sorcerers, those he cared about. Even at the afterlife scene, or in subsequent chapters, we only hear from others rather than Geto.

Call me biased and delusional; I believe he didn’t kill the innocent despite saying he hated them all. He loved and hurt so strongly that he hated with almost equal force. He did want to force evolution and eventually extinguish all human kind, to him: the ignorant source of suffering, but I’m glad he didn’t manage to get Rika. I headcanon that he was aware he was losing himself by defying his own principles (to kill sorcerers) for his own gain. That, and Rika with a binding vow for a life, no less, was just too powerful.

In the official character book, Geto was described as someone who told himself that he hated humans a lot, like a reminder. He didn’t kill people indiscriminately. I’m sure he was well aware of how evil he had become but he had chosen, hadn’t he? He expressed to Yuta, that self-affirmation was incredibly important in his view. And the more he interacted with the students, I think the more his humanity fought back - I mean, he was standing there crying from being so moved by what he saw. He also let Yuta heal his friends. How villainous? Or how incredibly loving in spite of himself?

Geto has been shown to lie to others too: jjk 0: described having lied to the school about the conditions for obtaining a cursed spirit, and after defecting: upon taking stage for the first time, stating that the looking the part (wearing gojokesa) was important (ie lying). At his death’s door, he also prefaces with, no matter what anyone says - why would there be a need for that if he wasn’t telling a half-truth? He sought to avenge Riko (first person at the cult he killed after calling him onto the stage + cue mic throw) and the village represented a bunch of people who he slaughtered out of rage and ignorance. I’m definitely not defending him here - his actions are reprehensible. My headcanon view is that he didn’t know how to live with himself after snapping and that was the only path laid before him, which he ardently committed to.

I just think that he held onto a form of love/humanity still- Gojo and Geto both did. Without it, Geto would’ve become the Queen of curses due to Rika (uncaring about his family, or killing young sorcerors despite witnessing the students’ bond and yuta’s selfless power of love in jjk0) and Gojo may have focused on training at all cost without embracing Geto’s principles and becoming a teacher to change the jujutsu world - he could’ve become the next Sukuna and take the title of the King of curses instead - crowning them both King and Queen - instead of both the King and Queen contributing to their deaths. Anyway, I digress...

Geto appears very mother-coded in his protective and defensive relations to the girls, but also to Riko, Kuroi, and Gojo - especially after Toji had killed them. He was so fiercely trying to avenge and defend them, but failing that had a huge effect on him. Moreover, Haibara - innocent, glowingly positive - suffered an undeserved death. It weighed so heavily on Geto, that he didn’t defend Gojo when Nanami vented about leaving things to Gojo who seemed to take it all in his stride, almost insinuating that Geto, too, had little autonomy but to carry on that cycle of curse consumption he began to loathe.

Yuki also underlined the meaninglessness of the death / sacrifice / relationship rupture / suffering. And like the novel implies: Geto was too sincere for this world. He just loved too deeply and wounds cut him too painfully. At just 17... what inner resources were they forced to develop?

He was disillusioned by the system, but respected that Gojo had a place there. This is also SatoSugu indulgent: He never once attempted to talk Gojo into joining him, despite it being the most logical choice, but Geto was the emotional and loving kind - he prioritised Gojo over his ideals / himself. This man was willing to die trying to pursue his ideals, but didn’t want to try convincing his friend even if he know it might fail. What does that say about him? I think it says he loved Gojo. And Gojo loved him.

He masked like Gojo did : the infamous “yeah I’d win” and Geto’s “I’ve made my choice” and his face fell as he had his back turned, stating that he just needed to do it to the best of his ability. This may be headcanon but it does seem plausible to me. He was under no illusions about what he had done. To love was to turn away too. To love was to let the other go. Sigh.

Backtracking a bit: When Geto encountered the twin girls, who knows what entered his mind, but there was something that emerged from being horrified, enraged, and it gave birth to new meaning. He would take control and save them - from humans and the institution that made child sorcerors die. According to Gege, he became Papa Geto. (Kenjaku is also mum-coded but the antithesis of motherly love, with the womb protrusion domain and actually bearing children.)

This is of course not limited to feminine energy, as parents, both male and female, have protective instincts. But I’m not here to go into that discourse. Just stereotypically, and loosely speaking, Geto is very Yin energy. He is a big Mama Bear. With extreme maternal aggression. We see female counterparts do this in the wild more than males. And yes, of course both male and female are protective. Both geto and gojo were protective in their own unique ways. That’s for another post. Geto would rather die than have anyone come save him. In fact, the scripture behind him in the temple goes somewhere along the lines of “death to the weak”. If he had failed, he deserved to die. His family should live.

Gojo cares for others differently. And yes we know he died whilst defending others too. He is inherently more individualistic due to what he is with his gifts and noble heritage. He is less emotional and more cerebral, the only time we saw him lose his composure was due to Geto.

He allows his students to take risks and would allow them to fight in his stead, like in jjk 0 where Toge and panda were sent to be defeated by Geto. Tough love, as Gojo admits. This is also very Dad-like in the modern sense of the word.

In my subjective experiencing of the world, it’s almost like a husband who is only really emotionally vulnerable with his wife, and is otherwise the successful businessman, dad, and whatever else he is. Geto is much like a mum that he would walk away from her husband (lol, Gojo in this case) in order to protect them in a way she deems is best. Maybe I’m a little nuts, I don’t know. (Actually I am a little eccentric, but that’s by the by).

Now this is totally just satosugu indulgent: I headcanon that Gojo also “protected” / was possessive of Geto by making a deal with Miguel since the latter said he would curse Geto if he died, lol. Especially in light of the latest chapter where Miguel said he was spared by Gojo. (And i reckon Gojo was respectful of Miguel being Geto’s family, so he spared him for that reason too). I mean, Gojo had to kill his best friend, but this was his burden to bear, you know? It’s almost sickeningly intimate to allow someone to end your suffering, and be entrusted with that too. Ugh, ouch, my heart…..

Edit: I’m reminded of that scene where Shoko reflects on loving neither of them, like Gojo, Geto didn’t want anyone to be alone anymore either. Geto said he didn’t feel happy from the bottom of his heart. Gojo felt lonely (although he said it got better at the airport scene). They weren’t alone, but probably felt it… because of the absence of their true/first love? Larue stating in the panels above that Geto wouldn’t wish for them to fight seems like a nod to what Geto believed happened between him and Gojo. Gojo raised allies - be strong, don’t be left behind. Geto a family - get along, don’t fight. Just pointing out what my take is on the parallels I’ve observed.

That ends the brief analysis portion of what I wished to convey about what appears to surround Geto. He may not have been depicted much in the series, but his presence has been felt through the eyes of many. It made me wonder why did Gege do this?

This author deliberately wrote multiple people in the verse to love and follow him (and spare him a death sentence for 10 years) despite not agreeing to his ideals.

Perhaps it isn’t Gege’s focus, understandably, to give us a lot more insight from Geto’s pov, but there is certainly some kind of narrative he is pushing to depict how this man, cruel yet kind, is somehow one of the few he seems to portray in this way more than others within the sorcerer world at the very least. That his life was somehow a tragedy that he might not have really known the love at all? I wonder what Gojo’s last words were to incite such a heartfelt reaction - well done? Welcome home? You did well? I love you? My one and only best friend? Sigh, I guess it’s a secret between them.

There are others who have written metas on Gojo and maternal energy. If I find it I’ll link it! Otherwise, search through my reblogs! So many fantastic writers and thinkers out there!

Thanks for reading if you made it this far!

[casliveblog]

Custom Toonami Block Week 132 Rundown

Spy X Family: So Loid is basically Lupin the Third but with murder and takes himself way too seriously, even has the fucking skin masks that he can seemingly pull out of his ass. In order to secure peace for a totally fictional country that doesn’t have any parallels to any real historical countries and definitely isn’t Germany, Loid must kill an old dude that only comes out of his house to say hi to children which seems kinda sus in itself but okay. Like a good portion of the plot is just funneling Loid down a pipeline of aggressively domesticating him in a way he’s not ready for and I’m fine with that it just walks an odd line of serious and silly. Taking the last name “Forger” (which even before I saw the show I thought was a really cool symbolic name because the family is both a forgery and something being forged) he adopts Anya, a girl with main character hair who can read thought bubbles but is still as stupid as you’d expect a six year old to be (I’m not sure if she’s actually six or if she just read Loid’s mind and heard he needed a six year old and said that and is actually younger but the wiki says six so I’ll go with that). The two have Dragon Maid-esque style hijinks of trying to understand each other while hinting at tragic backstories until Anya broadcasts their location to the Spy equivalent of an enemy gang which just happens to be the guys Loid was working for on his last job so he’s able to use his previous knowledge of them to blackmail them into fucking off. I feel like for as careful as Loid is he kinda underreacts to his cover being blown and not knowing how or why it happened like to his credit they do change apartments but like he still has no idea why these guys were able to jump him and kidnap Anya and the fact that he can’t find a fault to rectify does not seem to bug him as much as it should for someone as clearly neurotic as he is but like I said, serious/comedic mix. Anya is able to genuinely pass the entrance exam to weirdo dude’s academy without cheating with her powers and instead cheating in the way her dad told her to so… that’s a moral win I guess? Anyway as anyone who even glanced at the promo art can tell, the next step requires a mother/father interview and like… is that legal? Like can you specifically require a two parent family for schooling, what if the mom died last year or some shit? I know this is pseudo-50’s pseudo-Germany but like that seems ridiculous to require a mom, I get obtaining a mom for the mission because having a two parent family is good for the cover and looks less suspicious but having the school actively require it seems really weird.

Inuyasha: This is the episode I always felt was lifted from some teenage girl’s fanfiction because it feels like someone’s OC romancing Sesshomaru. Princess Sara (also weirdly out of place name for Feudal Japan) fell in love with Sesshomaru because I mean look at the fuckin guy. And basically pulls a Naraku on her deathbed to become a demon to get the Tessaiga for Sesshomaru even though he stopped caring about that like three seasons ago. But she sets up Inuyasha for one of those filler ‘steal your sword by doing something stupid you don’t catch on to’ plots that are weirdly common. But yeah she traps Miroku and Sango and Kilala in ice and passes it off as a demon curse that can only be lifted by turning a giant stone screw with the Tessaiga as a screwdriver which I have no idea if this shrine already existed and she just used it as the perfect chance to yoink Inuyasha’s sword or if her demonic powers somehow allowed her to fucking create the shrine but Shippo of all people figures out it’s a trap just before Inuyasha turns the screw but for some reason they wait to tell Inuyasha until right before he’s about to finish and Sara gets the Tessaiga and also Sesshomaru shows up so yeah here we go.

Yu Yu Hakusho: Yusuke continues chasing Sensui’s truck on a fucking bicycle and properly freaks everyone on the evil team out that that’s even a thing he can do. Meanwhile Genkai heals Botan who was injured protecting Seaman and Shizuru who was injured failing to tell everyone Sensui’s plan so it’s nice to just kinda have a healer on the team, wonder why she didn’t bust that shit out during the Dark Tournament, just like top everybody off between rounds. Seaman’s like ‘wait a minute why aren’t you guys assholes?’ and Kurama’s like ‘you can’t believe everything you see on Twitter bro’. Long story short he joins the group and agrees to show them Sensui’s hideout. Meanwhile Sniper picks off Yusuke’s bike and crashing down the road rips Yusuke’s shirt off which is convenient given Sniper’s territory ability lets him put targets on Yusuke’s skin which is a lot easier to see when he’s shirtless. But yeah this is basically Vander Decken’s ability from One Piece, Sniper can throw anything and they’ll hone in on the targets on Yusuke and he’s already a pretty damn good sniper given it’s his name so Yusuke has to smack shit away before it hits him. Since Sniper can use rocks, hardened blades of grass or pull a Dio and just start chucking knives this is a problem. Idk why he doesn’t get further away since he was on a motorcycle and implies his power has no range limit but he’s still hidden so Yusuke’s right fucked with this one.

Jujutsu Kaisen: Yuji Ittadori is your average every day freakishly strong to a borderline supernatural level kid. He belongs to his school’s Occult Club which if Mob Psycho has taught me anything is just a place for assholes to sit around but he likes it because it leaves him enough time to go visit his dying grandfather in the hospital and unfortunately his grandpa finally gets his chance to give his ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ speech and die on his own terms. (Honestly yeah Yuji’s backstory so far is more Spider-Man than Deku, the actual character designed after Spider-man). Before he can come to grips with his own mortality staring him in the face, Wolf Sasuke comes up to him and is like ‘have you seen this penis-shaped box?’ and he’s like ‘yeah that’s my friend’s penis-shaped box, they’re gonna do penis things with it tonight’ and apparently that’s bad because bad shit wards off bad shit by being badder shit except if the badder shit is too old it weakens and actually ATTRACTS bad shit which seems like a terrible system. But yeah Wolf Sasuke wants the mummy penis back which is apparently just a mummy finger and Yuji gets to save it just in time, affirming his resolve to take his new Spider-Man origin seriously and not ignore death as a possibility or see it as an inherent evil but see that people don’t die violently and pointlessly which is decently nuanced so that’s cool. Honestly it’s kinda surprising how fast Yuji takes to ‘curses are real, I have no evidence but your friends are gonna die’ like it’s good for us to not have to go through some kind of proof thing with him denying the supernatural but the man does not seem to have a skeptical bone in his body and instantly bum-rushes it, kinda reminds me of a combination of Ichigo and Soma which is an odd combo. Anyway anyone who’s seen Bleach knows where this is going, the professional is knocked out of commission and the new guy has to take down the evil mooks by awakening his new power so Yuji eats the mummy penis and becomes Hollow Yuji except he’s not gonna take shit from his Superpowered Evil Side and is like ‘hey bro, let’s not murder everyone or I’mma stop you’ and he’s like ‘wait you can do that?’ and he’s like apparently’ so yeah now we have your standard Superpowered Evil Side deal going on but I do have to say it’s neat to see it as a result of a choice instead of something the character is born with or a result of their convoluted family history, feel like this episode blew by so I am excited for more of this one.

Chainsaw Man: Denji is a kid living in an absurdly comical level of poverty that I’m not sure is even survivable without anime protagonist level resilience due to a debt incurred by his father which is totally not a metaphor for global warming or some shit (it’s probably not exactly that but it brings to mind similar wide-scale generational debts). Still he has a little chainsaw dog named Pochita to get him through and a thoroughly fucked up roof over his head (like he mentions a water bill but it’s literally a shed I don’t see that thing having running water). Like the lengths he’d have to go to actually live like this are kind of absurd like he’s never even dug a Big Mac out of the trash or something because he seems to exist solely on slices of bread yet still is relatively solidly built (like scrawny but he has enough protein to form muscles apparently) but this also means he has the kind of Book 1 Harry Potter low standards and idealism that make him endearing to anyone more fortunate… which is basically everyone. As a kid he lived out the first part of Suitengu from Speed Grapher’s backstory except instead of becoming a child prostitute and a mercenary soldier, he saves a little saw dog with his blood and uses it to fight bigger, less-sawy, less dog-like versions of it. Like he uses Pochita basically how you would a regular chainsaw so idk what the real difference is except maybe Pochita’s a stronger saw that doesn’t take gas or jam so I guess that’s cool but it’s basically the same problem as Saiga’s powers in Speed Grapher like it’s a magical solution that’s only moderately more useful than the mundane item it replaces, though I love Speed Grapher so the comparisons are probably a good thing at this point. Anyway because this is an opening story the Yakuza that Denji owes money to set him up and throw him to the Zombie Devil which idk how that works exactly because like they take a car all the way here and talk about making a deal with the zombie devil but by the time the fight starts all of them are full zombie and seem to have been the whole time so idk if we just Shaun of the Dead’d this and Denji’s just kinda dumb or if this contract makes no sense. Anyway they kill Denji… like he’s straight up in five pieces like Exodia and his brain activity has fully stopped but his blood revives Pochita like the first time they met and being the good little saw doggo he is he puts Denji back together and instead of possessing him like Devils seem to be able to do, he gives him his heart so Denji can just come back to life which idk what kind of Jojo Soul Bullshit that entails but Pochita is a good boy so I’mma not complain unless it turns out at the end that Denji really is dead and the Denji the series is about is really just Pochita making an imprint of Denji’s brain to act as he had but that’d be sad. So yeah Denji gets a new lease on life and has chainsaws for arms and zombies right in front of him so he gets down to business, resolving to show Pochita what he can do with a clean slate and trying to fulfill his ridiculously low standards of happiness. So Makima rocks up and is like ‘yo, pet or death’ and Denji’s like ‘okay I have a weird boner right now when I hear you ASMR talk about food so I’mma say pet sure’. It’s pretty neat like obviously this isn’t 100% blind because Chainsaw Man has been absolutely everywhere for the past few months but outside of horny waifu debates I don’t know much about the show and it’s interesting to see just how wide-eyed and endearing Denji is like people in-universe talk about him the same way they talk about Shinji from Evangelion like he’s just someone that does whatever to get by but for Denji he doesn’t really have much choice but will probably also have all kinds of options for fucked up sexual relationships like Shinji did.

Ranking of Kings: So we’ve kind of got generic fantasy world going on though the style is obviously something different from most anime and it makes the movement of things look pretty neat. Plot’s pretty simple all things considered, Prince Bojji is a deaf mute and a gentle child and everyone’s just kinda like ‘oh fuck we’re fucked if he becomes king’ especially since both his parents are literal giants, also his dad’s second wife is that pointy-noised lady the internet was going crazy over for a bit so that has some Skitty/Wailord implications about how they had kids. Anyway Bojji sneaks out and gets robbed by this Shadow dude named Kage and to Kage’s surprise he keeps coming out to get robbed every day because dude’s just so happy to have someone that makes an effort to communicate with him and understand his Pokemon sounds. Eventually Kage follows him back home and sees him crying behind closed doors but putting on a smile to everyone else showing just how emotionally resilient the kid is. Kage almost gets murdered by one of the guards because apparently being a shadow person is bad and the kingdom is kinda racist in addition to ablest. But yeah Bojji gets to fight with his pointy-nosed half-brother who’s basically the Sasuke to his Naruto except turns out Bojji is really good at dodging shit he just hits like a wet paper towel because he’s too nice to slug anyone down but is great at avoiding getting hit.

Vinland Saga: VIKINGS! There’s just a fuckton of Vikings and what I assume is at least semi-accurate history given we have our buddy Leif Erickson (Yinger Hinger Durgen) telling the promised story of Vinland which sounds more and more like an Afterlife the more people talk about it. Baby Thorfinn is smack dab in the middle of an Attack on Titan style multi-episode origin story, I am kind of a sucker for these since it’s more immersive than flashing back you get to see shit get fucked up in real time and that’s neat. A lot of this episode’s just soaking up the Vikining aesthetic in Iceland and getting the gist of how people settled in Iceland after escaping Norway and we pal around with Thorfinn and his dad Thors and and hot totally not doomed sister and mom. Thorfinn understandably wants to know why people settled into the freezing pit of the devil’s asshole but refuses to accept his ancestors weren’t chads that just took down everyone that wanted to bully them… people with ancestral ties to Norway are just kinda like that sometimes idk. Anyway Thors finds a dying slave in the snow and the slave’s owner is just like ‘hey gimme’ and even though the guy’s prolly gonna die before this dude can do anything to him, Thors still pays a metaphorical arm and a leg to buy him out of his slavery so he can die free while he and Thorfinn talk ominously about what happens if someone comes looking for them as escapees as well.

Well that was a lot of fun, never had this many new shows all on the block at once, I may shake it up a bit and not do every show every week if I run low on time and try to alternate some of them a bit because going through the early story beats of so many shows can be a little slow, might be more fun to have them at different levels of plot progression but yeah, excited to see what comes of these shows.

[sashisu]

Okay I’m actually curious about your Gemini/Virgo Getou headcanon because I have been so convinced he’s an Aquarius, why do you think he fits Gemini and/or Virgo well? (Not trying to challenge your interpretation or anything, I’m just :D :D about jjk star sign headcanons and would love to hear your thoughts!)

im sorry for just answering now! there are some reasons- probably wont make any sense bc theyre not related to his personality or anything. while i love astrology i also don’t understand much about it even though it sounds reaaaally fun </3 hehe

mainly bc getou is based on shinobu sensui (yu yu hakusho) and satosugu were designed to be opposites. while gojou’s birthday is december 7, sensui’s bday is june 6 which is the complete opposite of gojou’s in the context of 24 solar terms. i liked the idea of getou being a june kid and the solar term for his would be 芒種/bōshu (grain in ear).

as for the other reasons, i love to associate getou with summer (which is around june-july in japan). think about the irony of being a bearer of kanji of the word summer in his name and a curse manipulation technique, while the curses appear in huge quantities during the summer. it’s the busy season for the sorcerers, especially the one with curse manipulation technique such as getou. we also know that he didn’t like the taste of curses he ingested at all so imagine how stressful the summer season could be for him?

[intobarbarians]

i headcanon kuwabara as being really into photography. this mostly stems from frustration with the third ending theme; for a long time, i couldn’t find a photo of kuwabara and i thought wow…they really forgot him in the outro huh(there’s at least one photo of him and eikichi but it’s not as prominent as the other photographs for literally everyone else.) so why not just think of him as taking all of the pictures in the first place?

it starts after yusuke dies. he’s experienced death before(his grandfather, his /mom/) but yusuke’s is different. they were born only a few weeks apart; how can he possibly be dead? how can they never see each other again?

so kuwabara starts documenting his life, because who knows what’s going to fucking happen next. it’s snap shots of his puzzled friends, portraits of his sister she tolerates until he takes the ugliest picture of her just rolling out of bed(what is she talking about? she looks beautiful and human. he keeps it, despite her threats.)

he has a photo of atsuko after the funeral, looking into the distance with a half empty bottle of whiskey in her hand. he promises yusuke he’ll look after her, even though he’s not sure how.

and there are tons of pictures of keiko. they’re becoming friends, weirdly enough. she doesn’t care that his grades are the absolute worst in their class. she likes that he misses yusuke, too.

he takes the photos because–because urameshi is missing out and kuwabara has got to be able to recount every detail to him. they’ll see each other again, someday.

then someday happens and yusuke is alive and kuwabara doesn’t put the camera down. his spirit awareness grows attuned to his artistic sense. he can just tell when a moment is about to happen that he needs to capture forever: kurama in a flurry of cherry blossom petals, a flock of doves eating from yukina’s hand, botan swinging above the city on her oar. always, always he takes a million photos of yusuke, in case that fucker decides to go ahead and die AGAIN.

it takes awhile before he feels comfortable taking pictures of hiei. his camera is pretty cheap but that doesn’t mean he can afford to replace it if short stack decides to run his sword through it.

he finds a work around: he’ll take really great pictures of other people that hiei just happens to be in. that way, the others will make sure nothing happens to his camera or kuwabara himself.

funny thing, though…hiei never says anything about it. ever. so kuwabara works up the courage to take a few pictures of just hiei. just a few, in case hiei’s patience is as limited as shizuru’s.

still, he takes a picture of hiei sleeping on puu’s back after the fight with sensui and he doesn’t know why; he doesn’t even text it to the others.

those photos are all he has for three years when hiei and yusuke jump ship to makai. kurama at least invites him to his mother’s wedding; he makes a photo album for kurama’s mom and her new husband, cementing his status as her favorite among kurama’s friends.

he keeps taking pictures of keiko, too, because yusuke is a fucking idiot.

he’s happy to share them all when yusuke finally comes home, careful to fill in the gaps of the years he’s missed: yukina tried out six different hairstyles, shizuru failed to quit smoking twice.

kuwabara is completely baffled when yusuke asks to see the pictures of him. other people take his photo, sure, but kuwabara hasn’t been big on selfies. his eye is always trained outward, to the people he loves. yusuke wrestles him into the sand.

hiei comes back, too, and that’s the most surprising thing of all. kuwabara lets him thumb through a dozen photo albums, sliding pictures of yukina throughout the years to his attention. it was easy to see the resemblance, after he held up two portraits of them side by side and cursed his friends for making a joke out of him.

kuwabara talks for two hours before hiei cuts him off: what about you? where are you in all of this? he gestures to the stacks of photos.

kuwabara was studying, mostly. he sang in the school choir. he joined biology club and became treasurer. he won second place in a photography competition; the photo was published in a local newspaper. he was taking care of their friends and family, and he was also waiting, just a little.

hiei swipes his camera and takes a picture of kuwabara’s astonished face. he tucks away in his pocket a picture of yukina proudly holding up eikichi after trimming her claws and tells kuwabara in no uncertain terms that he expects a copy of the picture he just took.

no more waiting, it seems.

[kazimakuwabara]

Monster’s Shadow

Summary: yet another snippet from a story I couldn’t get off the ground. And again, another escape from an imprisonment/kidnapping type story. I think I see a pattern of what I struggle with...

Kuwabara tries to escape his captors.

*****

In all his years of doing this type of job, it had never been so damn difficult.

The human delivered another kick to his head, and Ban growled turning accusingly to his partner, "Kou! Help for the love of-ahh!"

Kou merely laughed watching from his place at the fire, "Nah. You've been an ass to him. You deserve to get the shit kicked out of you!"

"Fuck you!" Ban snarled, gasping as the human caught him in the stomach with his tied fists, and that was that. Ban went down like a sack of potatoes wheezing for breath.

Kazuma Kuwabara took off into the woods, not even looking back at the downed demon, or his laughing partner.

He leaped over a downed tree, looking around trying to get his bearings, but he still didn't know the Makai very well. If Hiei or Kurama was here they'd be able to tell him whose territory he was in like reading off a street name, but Kuwabara couldn't tell one strange tree from the other here. For now, he'd rely on his feelings to guide him through and hope that he'd get away this time.

The longer he delayed them, the better chance for finding Yusuke he had.

"Oh come on Kuwabara, there's no use running!" Kou sighed appearing in front of Kuwabara.

Kuwabara crashed into Kou's chest, the quick demon taking him by surprise once again. He fell back hard, the air getting knocked out of him as he hit his tail bone, and he rolled to one side silently cursing.

"I'd just catch you," Kou said with a cheeky grin.

Kuwabara glared at Kou, and rolled himself to one side, using his elbows to help prop himself up since his hands were useless.

"I'm not the type to go quietly along..." Kuwabara hissed keeping his distance.

"If you keep acting up Ban's gonna hurt you, and I don't want that! I like you!" Kou whined pulling a face, "Look you're tied up, you can't use your sword, just play along and be a good prisoner!"

Kuwabara made a face, "Eat me ya dickhead!"

Kou blinked, and then threw up his head and laughed. Kuwabara turned sharp to the left and ran again. He was seething at the thought that he was some sort of joke to Kou, the cocky demonic bastard. He was like a terrible mix of Yusuke and Hiei, all the worst and most annoying parts.

Kuwabara was no whimpering maiden. He wasn't injured (badly) either. He'd be damned if he made it easy for anyone trying to snatch him up.

He ducked as his senses went into overdrive, sending a chill down his spine warning of danger. He dodged Ban's wildly lashing arm just in time managing to get away from the demon before he took his head off. Ban howled after him, shouting all sorts of obscenities.

"When we catch you this time, you'll be lucky if I leave you alive for the boss!"

Kuwabara pumped his legs harder. 

So, there was a big boss. Someone pulling the strings. Kou had hinted last time, but it was... well not a relief to hear someone had paid for a goon squad to get him, but it let Kuwabara know someone had a plan in motion. There was something comforting in this not being a wild random act of kidnapping. Though... maybe he shouldn't be comforted by the fact someone wanted him snatched at all.

Things didn't go so hot the last time he was snatched, and he'd be damned if there was another repeat like with Sensui!

Ban lunged, his claws raking across Kuwabara's back and tearing the back of his shirt. Kuwabara sucked in a breath, and tried to keep going, but Ban's other hand grabbed him by the waist before tugging him roughly down. They fell in a pile, and Kuwabara's face was shoved hard in the ground, his nose bending painfully.

"I would rip the head from your shoulders if I didn't need you alive to get paid!" Ban whispered, face so close to Kuwabara his teeth scraped the back of his neck.

"Ban, stop! Get off him," Kou's voice demanded, and shortly after Ban was pulled off Kuwabara's back.

Kuwabara lay panting on the ground, a sick little knot forming in his throat as he tried to ignore the burning pain of his back.

Kou was next to him suddenly, helping him up to his feet. Kuwabara held in his voice, wanting to gasp or make a sound of pain from the jolt of being put on his feet when he wasn't ready, but he held it in. He blinked his eyes watering as he forced himself to stand as Kou went about inspecting him.

"Tsk. Kuwabara... stop trying to get away! I really don't want to rough ya up, you know?" Kou whined, "And Ban, well if he gets started he's just going to really let you have it, and you'll be real sorry if he gets goin'!"

Kuwabara rolled his eyes.

"I saw that you shit!" Ban seethed, screeching loudly as he pointed at Kuwabara, "You think you're so tough, you fucking human?! I could fucking eat you right now-"

"Ohhh ooo. He's gonna grind my bones to make his bread!" Kuwabara mocked, Ban going red with rage.

Kou laughed, his arms curling around himself as he howled with laughter at the look on his partner's face.

Kuwabara blinked, and Ban's fist was slammed into his stomach.

He doubled over, unable to breathe, but did not fall.

Ban grabbed Kuwabara by the hair, holding him in place, and slammed his fist into Kuwabara's stomach again. Kuwabara closed his eyes against the pain, biting his tongue to keep from screaming. He really felt like vomiting now.

Ban pulled back his hand to try for a third, but Kou caught it, tilting his head at Ban like he was a bad child.

"Enough now Ban... enough," Kou said, a smile still in his lips.

"You think you're some top shit ordering me around don't you Kou?!" Ban spat, his rage now boiled over, "Well I'm tired of this little shit, and I'm tired-"

Kuwabara was still doubled over when he saw Kou's shadow change. What had looked like a normal man suddenly twisted. The head split into many jagged pieces, and the body stretched and changed. The air shifted, and Kuwabara felt an immense power pool from Kou, colder and stronger than he had first sensed.

"Enough now Ban. I don't like you hitting Kuwabara. I like Kuwabara. You need to stop now," Kou said, but his voice was different. Softer. Lighter. Deadly.

"I-I'm stopped. I'm stopped," Ban meekly replied, taking several steps away from Kou and Kuwabara.

His sudden absence frightened Kuwabara, but he pushed those fears down, and forced himself to stand. He was Kazuma Kuwabara, and he wasn't going to show any of his captors fear.

He turned to look, and Kou was the same smiling demon who had abducted him two days ago, his purple eyes gleaming with delight.

"Let's not run away anymore today, okay Kuwabara?" Kou asked, his voice mockingly kind as he placed a friendly arm around Kuwabara's shoulder.

Kuwabara wanted to shrug it off, but he didn't. He nodded quietly, and Kou smiled.

"Good! There's a good boy!" Kou laughed delighted and tugged Kuwabara along. 

Kou waved at Ban, who Kuwabara noticed was extremely pale, and could not look up at either Kou or Kuwabara.

"See?" Kuo said, "It's better when we all play along isn't it?"

Kuwabara would run harder tomorrow. Tomorrow, he'd get away.

[animebw]

Binge-Watching: Yu Yu Hakusho, Day 11, Episodes 73-77

Holy pug in a pizza box, I thought last arc was dark. This is shaping up to the the single most intense confrontation of the series yet. BRING IT ON, SHOW!

Sensui and the Black Chapters

At last, we know the identity of the mysterious Discount Chrollo who’s trying to open the demon portal: Sensui, the former spirit detective before Yusuke. He was a gifted psychic and a man of unwavering conviction, who saw the world in black and white. Demons were evil, and therefore they must die. But one fateful day, he was called in to take down a rising cabal of demon slave traders (the same trade that launched Sakyo’s criminal empire, no less), and arrived to see the slavers torturing the captured demons in a display of pure cruelty. His moral compass was shattered; if humanity was capable of such cruelty, then humanity didn’t deserve to live. So he ran away, and now, 10 years later, he’s returned to open the portal and destroy humanity for their collective sins.

That’s a lot of really interesting, meaty material to chew on, especially considering his parallels and contrasts with out current spirit detective. Yusuke never had an unwavering moral code like Sensui, which is why Koenma picked him to be his replacement; he was less likely to be overwhelmed by the world’s cruelty. As for Koenma himself, this is the first time he’s been anything beyond comic relief; now, he’s the failed master whose student has come back to challenge his failures. In a way, I’m almost reminded of the Po-Tai Lung-Shifu dynamic from the Kung Fu Panda movies, with Koenma recruiting Yusuke for a power he had to struggle to be worthy of as a way of atoning for failing Sensui. And now, the two students, past and future, have met to battle and settle the question once and for all: is humanity worth protecting?

Of course, Sensui and his psychic allies have been turned fairly definitively to the “no” side of that equation thanks to the Black Chapters, a videotape from the spirit world that chronicles all of humanity’s injustices across history. And the concept of that alone is so freaking terrifying. I mean, could you imagine actually watching that? Bloody gladitorial matches on ancienct Rome, the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the genocide of Native Americans, the Salem witch trials, slavery, Jim Crow, the Holocaust, dropping the atomic bomb... it’s no wonder Seaman and the rest would so easily turn to Sensui’s side after seeing that. A collection of broken outcasts, rejected by the world, would be all too receptive to the nihilistic mindset of such a cursed object

Kuwabara’s Rebuttal

What that tape ignores, though, is what Karama tells Yusuke in the aftermath of that revelation: humanity’s capacity for evil is only one aspect of who they are. There’s a lot of dark in the world, but there’s a lot of light worth fighting for. And nowhere is that idea expressed more powerfully than Kuwabara’s triumph over Seaman. From the start, Kuwabara has always been the most morally upright character in the show, willing to take a thousand beatings for the sake of his friends if he needed to. His code of honor and his determination to follow it through has been the glue that’s held Team Yurameshi together through all their trials. And his innate goodness breaks Seaman’s ability to see humanity in a wholly negative light. His very existence is a rebuttal to Sensui’s way of thinking.

It’s ironic, then, that he is also the ultimate key to Sensui’s plan. To force open the demon portal fully, he needs a psychic who can cut between dimensions, and Kuwabara’s newly awakened power can do just that. Here’s hoping Kuwabara can stay out of their clutches in the upcoming smackdown, because I’m terrified to think how they’d try and turn him to their side.

Yusuke’s Kickass Showdown

Speaking of showdowns, Yusuke’s vicious brawl with the Doctor might be one of my favorite fights of the show so far. It’s intense and personal and gritty in a way that the Dark Tournament fights, as good as they were, never quite reached thanks to the massive spectacle of it all. And holy crap, the fight animation might be the show’s most expressive work to date. It’s dripping with dark atmosphere and heavy shadows, the two combatants clashing and reverberating with the unrestrained fluidity of a tidal wave. I checked the credits, and it looks like those episodes were storyboarded by Akiyuki Shinbou, the mastermind behind Studio Shaft, and it shows. The entire hospital scene carried his eclectic, off-kilter sensibility, from the shifting color palettes to the funky camera angles. Visually, the show’s never been better, and I hope it can keep that level of quality up.

Odds and Ends

-Wow, that’s smart! Not every story has the characters actually ask around to find the faker!

-Geez, the Doctor’s a nasty opponent. Chemical reconfiguration to numb pain, a psychic scalpel, and goddamn Nen Stiches (I mean, that’s basically what they are)? Woof.

-You know, i don’t really care too much about the kid psychic tag-alongs. I just don’t find them that interesting characters. That said, Kito’s shadow writing and Yanna’s clutch nurse disguise were both pretty cool.

-”Not to be bitchy, Kito, but could you GET OFF MY SHADOW NOW?” aksjdhaskjd

-”You’re for comic relief and drink serving.” Wow, Koenma, rude

-Shizuru really is the best. Thank god Karama arrived just in time to get out of a tough spot.

-”We don’t have time to have death on your conscience.” Genkai, you’re a good egg.

-”If they’re so bummed about their own lives, they should take up rock climbing without ropes!” Kuwabara is wiser than he lets on.

-So, are you two ever gonna get married or

-Yeah, sorry Genkai, Yusuke is exactly enough of a dope to go to an arcade when his friend’s life is on the line.

-HOLY FUCK DID GOURMET JUST EAT TOGURO WHAT THE FUCK

-”Sleepwalking without the bruises” Shizuru, you’re a peach.

-”EARTH TO TODDLER, BITCH” askjdhakjsdaae YUSUKE OH MY GOD

-Genkai is so over their shit

And the battle conintues. Join me next time for more Hakushenanigans!

[ehyde]

I’m probably going to take a break from the scifi au for a while now that Worlds Unseen is finished buuut if anyone’s interested, here’s a 2000-word teaser for what’s going on with Yona’s mom. It will probably be significantly edited/rewritten when I continue writing, also, it relies a lot on Worlds Unseen for context.

Rain poured from the dark sky as Yong-hi arrived at Hiryuu Castle, and her heavy cloak wasn’t quite enough to keep her dry even for the short walk inside from her carriage. Catching a chill like this would have been life-threatening for Yong-hi once, before the wonders her son had brought from his makers’ world had cured her. The worlds above were full of wonders. She had to remind herself of that, every so often, or the terrible things would be unbearable.

The few people who saw her didn’t question Yong-hi’s presence. She visited her son regularly--though with her own computer console back home, she didn’t exactly need to. This time, however, it wasn’t him she sought. Ten years, Lili had said. A human woman, held prisoner offworld for ten years. It happened, Yong-hi knew. Pre-contact worlds were an enticing target for slave traders--one of the few things the Company legitimately did protect against. But if she’d been taken by the Company itself...well, it was no wonder she tried to kill the king. Would she, like Lili, ever be willing to see the AI as an ally?

Yong-hi made her way to the castle dungeon. It was almost never used, not since Ju-nam’s time, but it was the only place the king would keep prisoners like these. Mu-ah and Gyoku, the king’s personal guards, stood in front of the entrance. That confirmed her suspicions; normally those two would not be assigned to lowly guard duty, but they had been there in Sensui and had already seen the aven prisoner’s true form.

“My lady, you can't come in here. S-sorry!” said Mu-ah.

“I need to speak with the prisoners you're guarding.”

“Uh…” They looked at each other. “... you're not supposed to know they're here. No one but the general, Chief of Staff Keishuk, and the king himself can see them.”

“Relax, I only want to speak with the human.”

“Well...I suppose if you already know about them, my lady—” They stepped aside and let her pass. “The woman is at the far end, to your right.”

Kept in separate cells, that made sense. “Thank you,” Yong-hi said.

“It might not be worth it,” Gyoku cautioned. “Neither one of them has spoken a single word I can understand.”

“Not to worry,” Yong-hi said as she stepped through into the dungeon. “I can speak their language.” Not that she could speak it fluently; she was learning the old-fashioned way. The linguistic treatment that allowed visitors like Lili to speak fluent Koukan was too similar to memory modification for Yong-hi's taste. She trusted her son, but she didn't want him inside her head, not even indirectly.

“Hello?” she called out into the darkness as the door shut behind her. She still spoke Koukan. “This isn't an interrogation. I just want to talk.” To find out why my son never told me about you. If she'd been taken by the Company, the AI knew. He had to know. It would hardly be unusual for her son not to volunteer information--he had so much, after all--but something like this, when even at the beginning he promised to protect the people of Kouka--

“Yong-hi?”

“...you know me?” She stepped closer to the sound of the woman's voice, her eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness.

“Yong-hi, oh god, it's really you, you’re still here, you’re alive, you’re really—” The woman broke off abruptly. She’d been speaking Galactic standard--which Yong-hi understood better than she spoke--but instead of switching to Koukan, she began to sob. “Yong-hi!” she cried.

“Who are you? What’s your name?” Then she finally saw the woman’s face, and froze. Impossible. “Seihwa,” she said. Her dark hair was short now, braided in a multitude of tiny braids in a mimicry of aven feather patterns, and she wore foreign clothing, but there was no mistake. The former queen of Kouka, Yona’s mother, was alive. “Seihwa, how—?” She ran to the cell door, put her hands on the bars. Her sister-in-law reached out to her. “You died,” she said. “You were—” Carried off by bandits. But that had been before Yuhon’s death, before the AI. How had she ended up in the Company’s hands? “I know where you were, what you tried to do,” said Yong-hi. “You can speak freely.”

Seihwa gripped Yong-hi’s hands and shook her head, still in tears. “Yong-hi, I can’t--I’m sorry, I can’t—”

She still spoke Galactic, and Yong-hi frowned. Something wasn’t right. “It’s safe to speak in Kouka’s language,” Yong-hi said in her own hesitant Galactic. “No one can hear.”

Seihwa froze. “You...understand me?” she asked. “Is this a dream?”

“No,” Yong-hi assured her. “I understand. Seihwa, what—?

“How?” Seihwa demanded. “How do you know this language?”

“My son is teaching me.”

“Your son,” Seihwa said, and Yong-hi nodded. Her son, the AI who Seihwa had tried to kill.

“Seihwa,” said Yong-hi. “It’s been ten years. Did you...forget...our language?”

Seihwa shook her head. “Forget?” she asked. “Yong-hi, they took it from me. It was a punishment. I wouldn’t cooperate, and they went inside my head and they took it.”

“My god,” Yong-hi said. “Seihwa, I’m so sorry.” She’d heard of this. The memory treatments that made learning a second language so simple could go both ways. A tactic that destroyed morale and discouraged escape, it was common practice among interplanetary kidnappers.

“I--I came home, I finally came home, I saw my people for the first time in years, and I can’t understand a word.” Yong-hi reached forward to wipe a tear from Seihwa’s face. “You don’t know what that does to you. When I heard you speak—” She narrowed her eyes. “Yong-hi, I don’t know what you think you know, but Suwon is not your son. They’ve been replaced—”

“I know who and what my son is,” said Yong-hi. “And I know they would never do this.” She paused, dreading the answer. “Did they?”

“No,” Seihwa admitted. “This was before. I saw them building it, I wandered into the wrong place, and for that--for something so small—they decided I could never come home.” Before the AI’s hardware was installed, the Company wouldn’t have had the resources for a simple memory wipe--not here, anyway. That explained part of it. But why did they keep her? Why not send her back? And why hadn’t her son told her?

“You’re back. You’re home now. We’ll—” They’d what? Seihwa was a prisoner for a reason. She’d tried to kill the king. Whatever her reasons, they couldn’t just let her go. “Seihwa, the AI isn’t what you think. They’re not an enemy. They can fix what was done to you, and after that, I'm sure—”

“You think I'll let that thing touch me?” Seihwa drew back. “Yong-hi, how could you? I thought--when I saw you, I thought--but you’re working with them? Yong-hi, that thing killed your son!” She buried her face in her hands. “How could you?” she repeated.

“I had to survive,” Yong-hi said. “I had to live with them. They weren't a person back then, not like they are now.” She cursed herself for insisting on learning the language so slowly. What was her reason for keeping the AI out of her head, compared to Seihwa’s? Just pride, just stupid pride. If she had the language, she could--but no. An explanation wouldn't help Seihwa. Pretty words couldn't make up for ten years. Why didn't I know? Even if the AI has no part in Seihwa's kidnapping, he must have found out later. Why didn't you bring her home?

“I had to survive, too,” said Seihwa in the dark shadows of her cell. “The only thing that kept me going was the thought that I could see my family again. Even if I couldn't speak to them, couldn't understand them--it would be enough. But they’re gone, aren’t they? Your so-called son is king, I understood that much. Il and Yona must be dead.”

“Seihwa—” What could she say? What could she possibly say? “I’m sorry.” Yong-hi turned away and fled.

“My lady, is everything alright?” Gyoku asked, opening the heavy door as Yong-hi pounded on it to be let back out.

“I'm unhurt,” Yong-hi said. “I'm fine. That woman in there--Judoh didn't recognize her?”

“Should be have?”

“...maybe not.” Judoh hadn't served in the palace until Il’s coronation. He must have seen the queen, but he hadn't known her well. “I'm done here,” said Yong-hi. “I'll take my leave.”

“My lady, you don't look well. Do you want an escort to your rooms?”

“No, no, I'm fine. Thank you.” She walked away, putting on her best appearance of calmness. But she wasn't going to her rooms, she was going to speak to her son, to ask--no, to demand that he tell her everything.

Except--he would. He’d explain his choices, he’d show Yong-hi that he’d taken the most logical and efficient course of action, and in the end, she would believe him. She’d believe that his actions were not borne out of malice or cruelty, but simple calculation. That was his nature.

And that was wrong. Seihwa wasn’t a thought exercise, wasn’t a number. Seihwa was her sister. Whatever she’d done, whatever she’d tried to do, she didn’t deserve this. I didn’t even tell her Yona was alive, Yong-hi realized. She’d been too shaken. Now, alone in an empty corridor, she paused to gather her thoughts. First things first, I have to go back and tell her that much. No. Seihwa needed more than words. She shouldn’t be locked up in there--wasn’t her position only a little different than Lili’s? And Lili not only had her freedom, but would become a powerful ally. Maybe her son only meant it to be temporary, maybe--but Yong-hi found that, at the moment, she was not at all interested in what her son meant. She knew what she had to do.

“My lady?” Gyoku asked as Yong-hi stepped into sight once again. “You’re back, is everything all right?”

“You’re not used to such lonely work,” said Yong-hi. “And guarding those prisoners must be more than a little unnerving. I brought you some tea.”

“Oh, thank you, Lady Yong-hi! You didn’t have to do that.”

She handed each of them a cup, then poured from the teapot she carried. They were out within minutes. Yong-hi slung the bag she carried in her other hand over her shoulder and hurriedly searched for the soldiers’ keys, then rushed back into the dungeon. Now that she was past the initial shock of seeing her sister alive, she noticed that the cell was clean, dry, and well-supplied with food and water. Perhaps her son didn’t intend to be cruel, perhaps this was purely for reasons of secrecy--but that didn’t matter. Seihwa didn’t belong here.mj

“Seihwa,” she called. Her sister-in-law didn’t answer. “Seihwa, you said it was the hope of seeing your family that kept you alive. Not vengeance. Is that still true?”

“Vengeance is all I have left.”

“No,” said Yong-hi. “Yona is alive.”

Seihwa stepped forward into what little light there was, grabbing the bars of her cell. “Where? Take me to them! Let me see them! Please!”

She unlocked the cell door. “I brought you clothes and money,” she said. “Yona is in Fuuga right now, but I don't know for how long. Go to them.”

“... you're letting me go?”

“If you attack the king again, I won't be able to protect you. But I don't think that's what you want. Go to Yona,” she repeated.

“... I'd be a stranger to them.”

“Yona remembers you,” said Yong-hi. “No matter what’s changed, they’ll want to see you.” Seihwa stepped out of her cell, reaching out to grab Yong-hi’s arm. “I’ll lead you out of the castle. I’m sorry, that’s all I can do.” She wasn't the family her sister needed, a fact made clear by her sister's trembling form. Whatever she did for Seihwa now, it was too little and far too late. “It's raining. I didn't even bring you an—” She didn't know the Galactic word for umbrella.

Seihwa looked up at her, and for the first time, she almost smiled. “Do you know how long it's been since I felt rain on my face?” She took a hesitant step forward. “Yong-hi,” she said. “Thank you.”